> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://ploegert.gitbook.io/til/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://ploegert.gitbook.io/til/tools/vim/read-in-the-contents-of-a-rails-file.md).

# Read In The Contents Of A Rails File

The [`rails.vim` plugin](https://github.com/tpope/vim-rails) allows you to quickly navigate to specific types of files with the `E` prefix. For instance, `:Emodel` will scope you to just the models directory.

You can use this same approach with the `D` prefix. Instead of navigating to the specified file though, this will read in the contents of that file into the current buffer.

Do you need to copy and tweak the contents of a similar view? Open up your new view file (e.g. `:Eview posts/edit.html.erb`) and then enter `:Dview posts/new` to quickly copy in its contents.

h/t Josh Davey