How can I reshape a column of words into a single line using vim?

Question

I have a column of words:

text
text 
text
text
text

and I am searching for a vim command that will produce:

text text text text text

A macro will work of course, but is there something simpler for this purpose?

Answer 1

A macro would work, yes, but it's probably not the most efficient method.

How about a simple substitution:

:%s/\n/ <-- whitespace!

Or simply a "join":

5J

edit

Not knowing what your file looks like, it's difficult to propose a definitive answer. The substitution assumes that the buffer only contains the lines in your example (the % means "whole buffer") while the join assumes those lines are somehow located in a sea of text and uses an absolute count for more precision.

The J normal mode command, like its sister the :join Ex command, can work on a range/selection so it is entirely possible to select visually those lines and hit J:

V<down><down><down><down>J
v4jJ
5VJ
etc.