A method, apparatus, and article of manufacture providing an "append" extension to cut and copy commands for a clipboard function in a computer system. Data is displayed on a monitor of the computer and a first command is received from an operator to select a portion of the data displayed on the monitor. A second command is then received from the operator to copy or cut the selected portion into a clipboard in a memory of the computer, wherein the second command indicates whether to replace the contents of the clipboard with the selected portion or whether to append the selected portion to the contents of the clipboard.