# Julia REPL paste "magic" macro
**URL:** https://discourse.julialang.org/t/julia-repl-paste-magic-macro/3610
**Category:** General Usage
**Created:** [May 9, 2017, 4:34am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/julia-repl-paste-magic-macro/3610 "2017-05-09T04:34:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@joshbode](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/joshbode)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2017, 4:34am UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/julia-repl-paste-magic-macro/3610/1 "2017-05-09T04:34:41Z")
I use Python and Julia and use the REPL a lot in both.
One thing I really like in the Python ecosystem is IPython (yes, I’m aware of IJulia 🙂 ).
One _particular_ feature I use a lot of in IPython is the `%paste` magic command, which takes the contents of your copy-buffer and submits them to the REPL, without showing the pasted text or entering it in your history.
I wanted something similar in the plain Julia REPL and came up with this macro:
```julia
# ~/.juliarc.jl
module __magic__
export @paste
"""Evaluate the copy buffer"""
macro paste()
include_string(clipboard());
end
end
importall __magic__
```
Then, in the REPL I can simply do:
```julia
julia> @paste
```
and whatever text I have copied will be evaluated in the Julia REPL.
Hopefully this is useful to someone!
---
### Author:  [@dpsanders](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/dpsanders)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2017, 1:58pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/julia-repl-paste-magic-macro/3610/2 "2017-05-09T13:58:45Z")
Is this different from just typing Ctrl-V (or command-V on Mac)?
---
### Author:  [@rdeits](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/rdeits)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/julia-repl-paste-magic-macro/3610/3 "2017-05-09T15:38:48Z")
I think the idea is that this doesn’t display the pasted text, which would be useful if one were pasting a large block of text and doesn’t want it cluttering up the screen.
---
### Author:  [@joa-quim](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/joa-quim)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2017, 7:56pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/julia-repl-paste-magic-macro/3610/4 "2017-05-09T19:56:22Z")
And specially the history.
---
### Author:  [@stevengj](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/stevengj)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/julia-repl-paste-magic-macro/3610/5 "2017-05-09T20:46:25Z")
Why should this be a macro and not a function? (A lot of things IPython accomplishes with “magic” macros, i.e. extensions to Python syntax, can be accomplished with regular Julia functions.)
---
### Author:  [@joshbode](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/joshbode)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2017, 9:22pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/julia-repl-paste-magic-macro/3610/6 "2017-05-09T21:22:41Z")
Exactly 🙂
A lot of the time I build up something larger in a text editor and since I’m iterating towards something that actually works, I don’t need any of the intermediate steps on screen or in history.
---
### Author:  [@joshbode](https://discourse.julialang.org/u/joshbode)
#### Post date: [May 9, 2017, 9:34pm UTC](https://discourse.julialang.org/t/julia-repl-paste-magic-macro/3610/7 "2017-05-09T21:34:14Z")
True - it could definitely be a function - I was looking for something that looked similar to what I was familiar with in IPython (`%paste -> @paste`) - I also didn’t want to have to type the empty brackets (e.g. `paste()`) so a macro worked well for that.
An earlier version I’d played around with was this:
```julia
# ~/.juliarc.jl
module __magic__
export paste
"""Evaluate the copy buffer"""
function _paste()
include_string(clipboard());
end
"""Wrapper to call function when displayed at the REPL"""
type DisplayWrapper{F <: Function}
f::F
end
(x::DisplayWrapper)(args...; kwargs...) = x.f(args...; kwargs...)
Base.display(x::DisplayWrapper) = x.f()
paste = DisplayWrapper(_paste)
end
importall __magic__
```
which abused the `display` method at the REPL to allow you to paste by simply executing:
```julia
julia> paste
```