intro.txt - html version
intro.txt - html version
*intro.txt* For Vim version 5.3. Last modification: 1998 Aug 18
VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
Introduction to Vim *ref* *reference*
1. Introduction |intro|
2. Vim on the internet |internet|
3. Credits |credits|
4. Notation |notation|
5. Modes, introduction |vim-modes-intro|
6. Switching from mode to mode |mode-switching|
7. The window contents |window-contents|
1. Introduction *intro*
Vim stands for Vi IMproved. It used to be Vi IMitation, but there are so many
improvements that a name change was appropriate. Vim is a text editor which
includes almost all the commands from the Unix program "Vi" and a lot of new
ones. It is very useful for editing programs and other 8-bit ASCII text. All
commands are given with the keyboard. This has the advantage that you can
keep your fingers on the keyboard and your eyes on the screen. For those who
want it, there is mouse support and a GUI version with scrollbars and menus
(see |gui.txt|).
Throughout this manual the differences between Vi and Vim are mentioned in
curly braces. See |vi_diff.txt| for a summary of the differences.
This manual refers to Vim on various machines. There may be small differences
between different computers and terminals. Besides the remarks given in this
document, there is a separate document for each supported system, see
|sys-file-list|.
This manual is a reference for all the Vim commands and options. This is not
an introduction to the use of Vim. There are many books on Vi that contain a
section for beginners. I can recommend "Learning the Vi editor", by Linda
Lamb, published by O'Reilly. But, that book is for Vi, not for Vim.
A summary of this manual can be found in the file "help.txt",
|help.txt|. It can be accessed from within Vim with the <Help> or <F1>
key and with the command ":help", |:help|. The 'helpfile' option can be set
to the name of the help file, so you can put it in any place you like.
2. Vim on the internet *internet*
*www* *faq* *FAQ* *ftp* *distribution* *download*
The Vim pages contain the most recent information about Vim. They also
contain links to the most recent version of Vim. The FAQ is a list of
Frequently Asked Questions. Read this if you have problems.
VIM home page: <http://www.vim.org/>
VIM FAQ: <http://www.vim.org/faq/>
Usenet News group where Vim is discussed: *news* *usenet*
comp.editors
See <http://www.vim.org/news.html>.
*vimdev* *mail-list*
There are three mailing lists for Vim:
<vim@vim.org>
For discussions about using existing versions of Vim: Useful mappings,
questions, answers, where to get a specific version, etc.
<vim-dev@vim.org>
For discussions about changing Vim: New features, porting, beta-test
versions, etc.
<vim-announce@vim.org>
Announcements about new versions of Vim; also beta-test versions and
ports to different systems.
See <http://www.vim.org/mail.html>.
NOTE:
- You can only send messages to these lists if you have subscribed!
- You need to send the messages from the same location as where you subscribed
from (to avoid spam mails).
- Maximum message size is 40000 characters.
If you want to join, send a message to
<vim-help@vim.org>
Make sure that your "From:" address is correct. Then the list server will
give you help on how to subscribe.
You can retrieve old messages from the maillist software, and an index of
messages. Ask vim-help for instructions.
An archive is kept at:
<ftp://ftp.ii.uib.no/pub/vim/mail-archive/vim/maillist.html>
<ftp://ftp.ii.uib.no/pub/vim/mail-archive/vimdev/maillist.html>
<ftp://ftp.ii.uib.no/pub/vim/mail-archive/vimannounce/maillist.html>
[Note: it doesn't work anymore]
This was announced, but I don't think it works:
<http://www.findmail.com/listsaver/vimannounce.html>
Bug reports: *bugs* *bug-reports* *bugreport.vim*
Bram Moolenaar <Bram@vim.org>
Please be brief; all the time that is spend on answering mail is subtracted
from the time that is spent on improving Vim! Always give a reproduceable
example and try to find out which settings or other things influence the
appearance of the bug. Try different machines, if possible. Send me patches
if you can!
In case of doubt, use:
:so $VIM/bugreport.vim
This will create a file "bugreport.txt" in the current directory, with a lot
of information of your environment. Before sending this out, check if it
doesn't contain any confidential information!
When Vim crashes in one of the test files, and you are using gcc for
compilation, here is what you can do to find out exactly where Vim crashes:
1. Compile Vim with the "-g" option (there is a line in the Makefile for this,
which you can uncomment).
2. Execute these commands (replace "11" with the test that fails):
cd testdir
gdb ../vim
run -u NONE -s dotest.in test11.in
3. Check where Vim crashes, gdb should give a message for this.
4. Get a stack trace from gdb with this command:
where
*year-2000*
Since Vim internally doesn't use dates, there is no year 2000 problem.
There might be a year 2038 problem, when the seconds since January 1st 1970
don't fit in a 32 bit int anymore. This depends on the compiler, libraries
and operating system. Specifically, time_t and the ctime() function are used.
And the time_t is stored in four bytes in the swap file. But that's only used
for printing a file date/time for recovery.
The Vim strftime() function directly uses the strftime() system function. If
your system libraries are year 2000 compliant, Vim is too.
3. Credits *credits* *author*
Most of Vim was written by Bram Moolenaar <Bram@vim.org>.
Parts of the documentation come from several Vi manuals, written by:
W.N. Joy
Alan P.W. Hewett
Mark Horton
The Vim editor is based on Stevie and includes (ideas from) other software,
worked on by the people mentioned here. Other people helped by sending me
patches, suggestions and giving feedback about what is good and bad in Vim.
Vim would never have become what it is now, without the help of these people!
Ron Aaron Win32 GUI changes
Dany St-Amant Macintosh port
Tony Andrews Stevie
Gert van Antwerpen changes for DJGPP on MS-DOS
Berkeley DB(3) ideas for swap file implementation
Keith Bostic Nvi
Ralf Brown SPAWNO library for MS-DOS
Robert Colon many useful remarks
Kayhan Demirel sent me news in Uganda
Chris & John Downey xvi (ideas for multi-windows version)
Henk Elbers first VMS port
Eric Fischer Mac port, 'cindent', and other improvements
Bill Foster Athena GUI port
Loic Grenie xvim (ideas for multi windows version)
Sven Guckes Vim WWW page maintainer
Darren Hiebert Exuberant ctags
Bruce Hunsaker improvements for VMS port
Andy Kahn Cscope support
Steve Kirkendall Elvis
Sergey Laskavy Vim's help from Moscow
Felix von Leitner Maintainer of Vim Mailing Lists
David Leonard Port of Python extensions to Unix
Avner Lottem Edit in right-to-left windows
Paul Moore Python interface extensions
Vince Negri Many Win32 GUI enhancements
George V. Reilly Win32 port, Win32 GUI start-off
Stephen Riehm bug collector
Olaf Seibert DICE and BeBox version, regexp improvements
Mortaza Shiran Farsi patches
Peter da Silva termlib
Paul Slootman OS/2 port
Henry Spencer regular expressions
Tim Thompson Stevie
G. R. (Fred) Walter Stevie
Sven Verdoolaege Perl interface
Robert Webb Command-line completion, GUI versions, and
lots of patches
Ingo Wilken Tcl interface
Juergen Weigert Lattice version, AUX improvements, UNIX and
MS-DOS ports, autoconf
Stefan 'Sec' Zehl Maintainer of vim.org
I wish to thank all the people that sent me bug reports and suggestions. The
list is too long to mention them all here. Vim would not be the same without
the ideas from all these people: They keep Vim alive!
4. Notation *notation*
[] Characters in square brackets are optional.
*count* *[count]*
[count] An optional number that may precede the command to multiply
or iterate the command. If no number is given, a count of one
is used, unless otherwise noted. Note that in this manual the
[count] is not mentioned in the description of the command,
but only in the explanation. This was done to make the
commands easier to look up. If the 'showcmd' option is on,
the (partially) entered count is shown at the bottom of the
window. You can use <Del> to erase the last digit (|N<Del>|).
*[quotex]*
["x] An optional register designation where text can be stored.
See |registers|. The x is a single character between 'a' and
'z' or 'A' and 'Z' or '"'', and in some cases (with the put
command) between '0' and '9', '%', '#', ':' or '.'. The
uppercase and lower case letter designate the same register,
but the lower case letter is used to overwrite the previous
register contents, while the uppercase letter is used to
append to the previous register contents. Without the ""x" or
with """" the stored text is put into the unnamed register.
*{}*
{} Curly braces denote parts of the command which must appear,
but which can take a number of different values. The
differences between Vim and Vi are also given in curly braces
(this will be clear from the context).
*{motion}*
{motion} A command that moves the cursor. See the list at
|motion.txt|. This is used after an operator command
|operator| to move over the text that is to be operated upon.
If the motion includes a count and the operator also had a
count, the two counts are multiplied. For example: "2d3w"
deletes six words. The motion can also be a mouse click. The
mouse is currently only supported for MS-DOS, Win32 and xterm
under Unix. The ":omap" command can be used to map characters
while an operator is pending.
*{Visual}*
{Visual} A piece of text that is started with the "v", "V", or CTRL-V
command and ended by the cursor position. This is used
before an operator command |operator| to highlight the text
that is to be operated upon. See |Visual-mode|.
*<character>*
<character> A special character from the table below or a single ASCII
character.
*'character'*
'character' A single ASCII character.
*<char1-char2>*
<char1-char2> A single character from the range <char1> to <char2>. For
example: <a-z> is a lowercase letter. Multiple ranges may be
concatenated. For example, <a-zA-Z0-9> is any alphanumeric
character.
*CTRL-{char}*
CTRL-{char} {char} typed as a control character; that is, typing {char}
while holding the CTRL key down. The case of {char} does not
matter; thus CTRL-A and CTRL-a are equivalent. But on some
terminals, using the SHIFT key will produce another code,
don't use it then.
*'option'*
'option' An option, or parameter, that can be set to a value, is
enclosed in single quotes. See |options|.
*quotecommandquote*
"command" In examples, the commands you can type are enclosed in double
quotes.
*key-notation* *key-codes* *keycodes*
These names for keys are used in the documentation. They can also be used
with the ":map" command.
notation meaning equivalent decimal value(s)
<Nul> zero CTRL-@ 0 (stored as 10) *<Nul>*
<BS> backspace CTRL-H 8 *backspace*
<Tab> tab CTRL-I 9 *tab*
*linefeed*
<NL> linefeed CTRL-J 10 (used for <Nul>)
<FF> formfeed CTRL-L 12 *formfeed*
<CR> carriage return CTRL-M 13 *carriage-return*
<Enter> same as <CR> *<Enter>*
<Esc> escape CTRL-[ 27 *escape* *<Esc>*
<Space> space 32 *space*
<lt> less-then < 60 *<lt>*
<Bslash> backslash \ 92 *backslash* *<Bslash>*
<Bar> vertical bar | 124 *<Bar>*
<Del> delete 127
<EOL> end-of-line (can be <CR>, <LF> or <CR><LF>,
depends on system and 'fileformat') *<EOL>*
<Up> cursor-up *cursor-up* *cursor_up*
<Down> cursor-down *cursor-down* *cursor_down*
<Left> cursor-left *cursor-left* *cursor_left*
<Right> cursor-right *cursor-right* *cursor_right*
<S-Up> shift-cursor-up
<S-Down> shift-cursor-down
<S-Left> shift-cursor-left
<S-Right> shift-cursor-right
<C-Left> control-cursor-left
<C-Right> control-cursor-right
<F1> - <F12> function keys 1 to 12 *function_key* *function-key*
<S-F1> - <S-F12> shift-function keys 1 to 12 *<S-F1>*
<Help> help key
<Undo> undo key
<Insert> insert key
<Home> home *home*
<End> end *end*
<PageUp> page-up *page_up* *page-up*
<PageDown> page-down *page_down* *page-down*
<kHome> keypad home (upper left) *keypad-home*
<kEnd> keypad end (lower left) *keypad-end*
<kPageUp> keypad page-up (upper right) *keypad-page-up*
<kPageDown> keypad page-down (lower right) *keypad-page-down*
<kPlus> keypad + *keypad-plus*
<kMinus> keypad - *keypad-minus*
<kMultiply> keypad * *keypad-multiply*
<kDivide> keypad / *keypad-divide*
<kEnter> keypad Enter *keypad-enter*
<S-...> shift-key *shift*
<C-...> control-key *control* *ctrl*
<M-...> alt-key or meta-key *meta* *alt*
<t_xx> key with "xx" entry in termcap
Note: The shifted cursor keys, the help key, and the undo key are only
available on a few terminals. On the Amiga, shifted function key 10 produces
a code (CSI) that is also used by key sequences. It will be recognized only
after typing another key.
Note: There are two codes for the delete key. 127 is the decimal ASCII value
for the delete key, which is always recognized. Some delete keys send another
value, in which case this value is obtained from the termcap entry "kD". Both
values have the same effect. Also see |:fixdel|.
Note: The keypad keys are used in the same way as the corresponding "normal"
keys. For example, <kHome> has the same effect as <Home>. If a keypad key
sends the same raw key code as it non-keypad equivalent, it will be recognized
as the non-keypad code. For example, when <kHome> sends the same code as
<Home>, when pressing <kHome> Vim will think <Home> was pressed. Mapping
<kHome> will not work then.
*<>*
Examples are often given in the <> notation. Sometimes this is just to make
clear what you need to type, but often it can be typed literally, e.g., with
the ":map" command. The rules are:
1. Any printable characters are typed directly, except backslash and '<'
2. A backslash is represented with "\\", double backslash.
3. A real '<' is represented with "\<" or "<lt>".
4. "<key>" means the special key typed. This is the notation explained in
the table above. A few examples:
<Esc> Escape key
<C-G> CTRL-G
<Up> cursor up key
<C-LeftMouse> Control- left mouse click
<S-F11> Shifted function key 11
<M-a> Meta- a ('a' with bit 8 set)
<M-A> Meta- A ('A' with bit 8 set)
<t_kd> "kd" termcap entry (cursor down key)
If you want to use the full <> notation in Vim, you have to make sure the '<'
flag is excluded from 'cpoptions' (when 'compatible' is not set, it already is
by default).
:set cpo-=<
The <> notation uses <lt> to escape the special meaning of key names. Using a
backslash also work, but only when 'cpoptions' does not include the 'B' flag.
Examples for using a literal "<Home>" in a mapping:
:imap <C-H> \<Home>
:imap <C-H> <lt>Home>
The first one only works when the 'B' flag is not in 'cpoptions'. The second
one always works.
To get a literal "<lt>" in a mapping:
:map <C-L> <lt>lt>
For mapping, abbreviation and menu commands you can then copy-paste the
examples and use them directly. Or type them literally, including the '<' and
'>' characters. This does NOT work for other commands, like ":set" and
":autocmd"!
There are several references to other versions of Vi:
*Vi*
Vi "the original". Without further remarks this is the version
of Vi that appeared in Sun OS 4.x. ":version" returns
"Version 3.7, 6/7/85". Sometimes other versions are referred
to. Only runs under Unix. Source code only available with a
license. More information on Vi can be found through:
<http://www.vim.org>
*Posix*
Posix From the IEEE standard 1003.2, Part 2: Shell and utilities.
Generally known as "Posix". This is a textual description of
how Vi is supposed to work. The version used is a draft from
beginning 1996, so all remarks are "expected to comply to"
this. Anything can change though...
*Nvi*
Nvi The "New" Vi. The version of Vi that comes with BSD 4.4 and
many free Unix versions. The version used is 1.79.
":version" returns "Version 1.79 (10/23/96)". Source code is
freely available.
*Elvis*
Elvis Another Vi clone, made by Steve Kirkendall. The version used
is 2.1b, which is a beta-test version. Version 2.0 is the
last official release. Source code is freely available.
5. Modes, introduction *vim-modes-intro* *vim-modes*
Vim has six BASIC modes:
Normal mode In Normal mode you can enter all the editor
commands. If you start the editor you are in this
mode (unless you have set the 'insertmode' option,
see below). This is also known as command mode.
Visual mode This is like Normal mode, but the movement commands
extend a highlighted area. When a non-movement
command is used, it is executed for the highlighted
area. If the 'showmode' option is on "-- VISUAL --"
is shown at the bottom of the window. See
|Visual-mode|.
Select mode This looks most like the MS-Windows selection mode.
Typing a printable character deletes the selection
and starts Insert mode. If the 'showmode' option is
on "-- SELECT --" is shown at the bottom of the
window. See |Select-mode|.
Insert mode In Insert mode the text you type is inserted into the
buffer. If the 'showmode' option is on "-- INSERT --"
is shown at the bottom of the window. |Insert-mode|
Command-line mode In Command-line mode (also called Cmdline mode) you
Cmdline mode can enter one line of text at the bottom of the
window. This is for the Ex commands, ":", the pattern
search commands, "?" and "/", and the filter command,
"!". |Cmdline-mode|
Ex mode Like Command-line mode, but after entering a command
you remain in Ex mode. Very limited editing of the
command. |Ex-mode|
There are four ADDITIONAL modes:
Replace mode Replace mode is a special case of Insert mode. You
can do the same things as in Insert mode, but for
each character you enter, one character of the existing
text is deleted. If the 'showmode' option is on,
(which is the default), the string "-- REPLACE --" is
shown at the bottom of the window. |Replace-mode|
Insert command mode Entered when CTRL-O given in Insert mode. This is
like Normal mode, but after executing one command Vim
returns to Insert mode. The string "-- (insert) --"
is shown at the bottom of the window.
Insert Visual mode Entered when starting a Visual selection from Insert
mode. When the Visual selection ends, Vim returns to
Insert mode.
Insert Select mode Entered when starting Select mode from Insert mode.
When the Select mode ends, Vim returns to Insert mode.
6. Switching from mode to mode *mode-switching*
If for any reason you do not know which mode you are in, you can always get
back to Normal mode by typing <Esc> twice. You will know you are back in
Normal mode when you see the screen flash or hear the bell after you type
<Esc>. This doesn't work for Ex mode, use ":visual".
*i_esc*
TO mode
Normal Visual Select Insert Replace Cmd-line Ex
FROM mode
Normal - v V ^V *4 *1 R : / ? ! Q
Visual *2 - ^G c C -- : --
Select *5 ^O ^G - *6 -- : --
Insert <Esc> -- -- - <Insert> -- --
Replace <Esc> -- -- <Insert> - -- --
Command-line *3 -- -- -- -- - --
Ex :vi -- -- -- -- -- -
- NA
-- not possible
*1 Go from Normal mode to Insert mode by giving the command "i", "I", "a",
"A", "o", "O", "c", "C", "s" or S".
*2 Go from Visual mode to Normal mode by giving a non-movement command, which
causes the command to be executed, or by hitting <Esc> "v", "V" or "CTRL-V"
(see |v_v|), which just stops Visual mode without side effects.
*3 Go from Command-line mode to Normal mode by:
- Hitting <CR> or <NL>, which causes the entered command to be executed.
- Deleting the complete line (e.g., with CTRL-U) and giving a final <BS>.
- Hitting CTRL-C or <Esc>, which quits the command-line without executing
the command.
In the last case <Esc> may be the character defined with the 'wildchar'
option, in which case it will start command-line completion. You can
ignore that and type <Esc> again. {Vi: when hitting <Esc> the command-line
is executed. This is unexpected for most people; therefore it was changed
in Vim. But when the <Esc> is part of a mapping, the command-line is
executed. If you want the Vi behaviour also when typing <Esc>, use ":cmap
^V<Esc> ^V^M"}
*4 Go from Normal to Select mode by:
- use the mouse to select text while 'mousemodel' is "ms"
- use a non-printable command to move the cursur while keeping the Shift
key pressed, and the 'select' option is set
*5 Go from Select mode to Normal mode by using a non-printable command to move
the cursor, without keeping the Shift key pressed.
*6 Go from Select mode to Insert mode by typing a printable character. The
selection is deleted and the character is inserted.
If the 'insertmode' option is on, editing a file will start in Insert mode.
*Q* *mode-Ex* *Ex-mode*
Q Switch to "Ex" mode. This is a bit like typing ":"
commands one after another, except:
- You don't have to keep pressing ":".
- The screen doesn't get updated after each command.
- There is no normal command-line editing.
- Mappings and abbreviations are not used.
In fact, you are editing the lines with the "standard"
line-input editing commands (<Del> or <BS> to erase,
CTRL-U to kill the whole line).
Vim will enter this mode by default if it's invoked as
"ex" on the command-line.
Use the ":vi" command |:visual| to exit "Ex" mode.
7. The window contents *window-contents*
In command and Insert/Replace mode the screen window will show the current
contents of the buffer: What You See Is What You Get. There are two
exceptions:
- When the 'cpoptions' option contains '$', and the change is within one line,
the text is not directly deleted, but a '$' is put at the last deleted
character.
- When inserting text in one window, other windows on the same text are not
updated until the insert is finished.
{Vi: The screen is not always updated on slow terminals}
Lines longer than the window width will wrap, unless the 'wrap' option is off
(see below). The 'linebreak' option can be set to wrap at a blank character.
The bottom lines in the window may start with one of these two characters:
'@' The next line is too long to fit in the window.
'~' Below the last line in the buffer.
If the bottom line is completely filled with '@', the line that is at the
top of the window is too long to fit in the window. If the cursor is on this
line you can't see what you are doing, because this part of the line is not
shown. However, the part of the line before the '@'s can be edited normally.
{Vi: gives an "internal error" on lines that do not fit in the window}
The '@' occasion in the 'highlight' option can be used to set special
highlighting for the '@' and '~' characters.
The 'showbreak' option contains the string to put in front of wrapped lines.
*wrap-off*
If the 'wrap' option is off, long lines will not wrap. Only the part that
fits on the screen is shown. If the cursor is moved to a part of the line
that is not shown, the screen is scrolled horizontally. The advantage of
this method is that columns are shown as they are and lines that cannot fit
on the screen can be edited. The disadvantage is that you cannot see all the
characters of a line at once. The 'sidescroll' option can be set to the
minimal number of columns to scroll. {Vi: has no 'wrap' option}
All normal ASCII characters are displayed directly on the screen. The <Tab>
is replaced with the number of spaces that it represents. Other non-printing
characters are replaced with "^{char}", where {char} is the non-printing
character with 64 added. Thus character 7 (bell) will be shown as "^G".
Characters between 127 and 160 are replaced with "~{char}", where {char} is
the character with 64 subtracted. These characters occupy more than one
position on the screen. The cursor can only be positioned on the first one.
If you set the 'number' option, all lines will be preceded with their
number. Tip: If you don't like wrapping lines to mix with the line numbers,
set the 'showbreak' option to eight spaces:
":set showbreak=\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ "
If you set the 'list' option, <Tab> characters will not be shown as several
spaces, but as "^I". A '$' will be placed at the end of the line, so you can
find trailing blanks.
In Command-line mode only the command-line itself is shown correctly. The
display of the buffer contents is updated as soon as you go back to Command
mode.
The last line of the window is used for status and other messages. The
status messages will only be used if an option is on:
status message option default Unix default
current mode 'showmode' on on
command characters 'showcmd' on off
cursor position 'ruler' off off
The current mode is "-- INSERT --" or "-- REPLACE --", see |'showmode'|. The
command characters are those that you typed but were not used yet. {Vi: does
not show the characters you typed or the cursor position}
If you have a slow terminal you can switch off the status messages to speed
up editing:
:set nosc noru nosm
If there is an error, an error message will be shown for at least one second
(in reverse video). {Vi: error messages may be overwritten with other
messages before you have a chance to read them}
Some commands show how many lines were affected. Above which threshold this
happens can be controlled with the 'report' option (default 2).
On the Amiga Vim will run in a CLI window. The name Vim and the full name of
the current file name will be shown in the title bar. When the window is
resized, Vim will automatically redraw the window. You may make the window as
small as you like, but if it gets too small not a single line will fit in it.
Make it at least 40 characters wide to be able to read most messages on the
last line.
On most Unix systems window resize works ok. {Vi: not ok}
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