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740 lines
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740 lines
29 KiB
Text
*various.txt* For Vim version 7.0aa. Last change: 2004 Jul 05
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VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
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Various commands *various*
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1. Various commands |various-cmds|
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2. Online help |online-help|
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3. Using Vim like less or more |less|
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==============================================================================
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1. Various commands *various-cmds*
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*CTRL-L*
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CTRL-L Clear and redraw the screen (later).
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*:redr* *:redraw*
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:redr[aw][!] Redraw the screen right now. When ! is included it is
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cleared first.
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Useful to update the screen halfway executing a script
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or function. Also when halfway a mapping and
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'lazyredraw' is set.
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*:redraws* *:redrawstatus*
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:redraws[tatus][!] Redraw the status line of the current window. When !
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is included all status lines are redrawn.
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Useful to update the status line(s) when 'statusline'
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includes an item that doesn't cause automatic
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updating.
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*N<Del>*
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<Del> When entering a number: Remove the last digit.
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Note: if you like to use <BS> for this, add this
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mapping to your .vimrc: >
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:map CTRL-V <BS> CTRL-V <Del>
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< See |:fixdel| if your <Del> key does not do what you
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want.
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:as[cii] or *ga* *:as* *:ascii*
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ga Print the ascii value of the character under the
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cursor in decimal, hexadecimal and octal. For
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example, when the cursor is on a 'R':
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<R> 82, Hex 52, Octal 122 ~
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When the character is a non-standard ASCII character,
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but printable according to the 'isprint' option, the
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non-printable version is also given. When the
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character is larger than 127, the <M-x> form is also
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printed. For example:
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<~A> <M-^A> 129, Hex 81, Octal 201 ~
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<p> <|~> <M-~> 254, Hex fe, Octal 376 ~
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(where <p> is a special character)
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The <Nul> character in a file is stored internally as
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<NL>, but it will be shown as:
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<^@> 0, Hex 00, Octal 000 ~
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Mnemonic: Get Ascii value. {not in Vi}
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*g8*
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g8 Print the hex values of the bytes used in the
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character under the cursor, assuming it is in |UTF-8|
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encoding. This also shows composing characters.
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Example of a character with three composing
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characters:
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e0 b8 81 + e0 b8 b9 + e0 b9 89 ~
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{not in Vi}
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*:p* *:pr* *:print*
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:[range]p[rint] Print [range] lines (default current line).
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Note: If you are looking for a way to print your text
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file, you need an external program for that. In the
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GUI you can use the File.Print menu entry.
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(For printing on paper see |:hardcopy|)
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:[range]p[rint] {count}
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Print {count} lines, starting with [range] (default
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current line |cmdline-ranges|).
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*:P* *:Print*
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:[range]P[rint] [count]
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Just as ":print". Was apparently added to Vi for
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people that keep the shift key pressed too long...
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*:l* *:list*
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:[range]l[ist] [count]
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Same as :print, but display unprintable characters
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with '^'.
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*:nu* *:number*
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:[range]nu[mber] [count]
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Same as :print, but precede each line with its line
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number. (See also 'highlight' option).
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*:#*
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:[range]# [count] synonym for :number.
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*:z* *E144*
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:{range}z[+-^.=]{count} Display several lines of text surrounding the line
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specified with {range}, or around the current line
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if there is no {range}. If there is a {count}, that's
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how many lines you'll see; otherwise, the current
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window size is used.
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:z can be used either alone or followed by any of
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several punctuation marks. These have the following
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effect:
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mark first line last line new location ~
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---- ---------- --------- ------------
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+ current line 1 scr forward 1 scr forward
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- 1 scr back current line current line
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^ 2 scr back 1 scr back 1 scr back
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. 1/2 scr back 1/2 scr fwd 1/2 src fwd
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= 1/2 src back 1/2 scr fwd current line
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Specifying no mark at all is the same as "+".
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If the mark is "=", a line of dashes is printed
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around the current line.
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:{range}z#[+-^.=]{count} *:z#*
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Like ":z", but number the lines.
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{not in all versions of Vi, not with these arguments}
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*:=*
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:= Print the last line number.
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:{range}= Prints the last line number in {range}. For example,
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this prints the current line number: >
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:.=
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:norm[al][!] {commands} *:norm* *:normal*
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Execute Normal mode commands {commands}. This makes
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it possible to execute Normal mode commands typed on
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the command-line. {commands} is executed like it is
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typed. For undo all commands are undone together.
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If the [!] is given, mappings will not be used.
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{commands} should be a complete command. If
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{commands} does not finish a command, the last one
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will be aborted as if <Esc> or <C-C> was typed.
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The display isn't updated while ":normal" is busy.
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This implies that an insert command must be completed
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(to start Insert mode, see |:startinsert|). A ":"
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command must be completed as well.
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{commands} cannot start with a space. Put a 1 (one)
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before it, 1 space is one space.
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The 'insertmode' option is ignored for {commands}.
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This command cannot be followed by another command,
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since any '|' is considered part of the command.
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This command can be used recursively, but the depth is
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limited by 'maxmapdepth'.
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When this command is called from a non-remappable
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mapping |:noremap|, the argument can be mapped anyway.
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An alternative is to use |:execute|, which uses an
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expression as argument. This allows the use of
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printable characters. Example: >
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:exe "normal \<c-w>\<c-w>"
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< {not in Vi, of course}
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{not available when the |+ex_extra| feature was
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disabled at compile time}
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:{range}norm[al][!] {commands} *:normal-range*
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Execute Normal mode commands {commands} for each line
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in the {range}. Before executing the {commands}, the
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cursor is positioned in the first column of the range,
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for each line. Otherwise it's the same as the
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":normal" command without a range.
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{not in Vi}
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Not available when |+ex_extra| feature was disabled at
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compile time.
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*:sh* *:shell* *E371*
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:sh[ell] This command starts a shell. When the shell exits
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(after the "exit" command) you return to Vim. The
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name for the shell command comes from 'shell' option.
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*E360*
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Note: This doesn't work when Vim on the Amiga was
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started in QuickFix mode from a compiler, because the
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compiler will have set stdin to a non-interactive
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mode.
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*:!cmd* *:!* *E34*
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:!{cmd} Execute {cmd} with the shell. See also the 'shell'
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and 'shelltype' option.
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Any '!' in {cmd} is replaced with the previous
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external command (see also 'cpoptions'). But not when
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there is a backslash before the '!', then that
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backslash is removed. Example: ":!ls" followed by
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":!echo ! \! \\!" executes "echo ls ! \!".
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After the command has been executed, the timestamp of
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the current file is checked |timestamp|.
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There cannot be a '|' in {cmd}, see |:bar|.
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A newline character ends {cmd}, what follows is
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interpreted as a following ":" command. However, if
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there is a backslash before the newline it is removed
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and {cmd} continues. It doesn't matter how many
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backslashes are before the newline, only one is
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removed.
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On Unix the command normally runs in a non-interactive
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shell. If you want an interactive shell to be used
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(to use aliases) set 'shellcmdflag' to "-ic".
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For Win32 also see |:!start|.
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Vim redraws the screen after the command is finished,
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because it may have printed any text. This requires a
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hit-enter prompt, so that you can read any messages.
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To avoid this use: >
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:silent !{cmd}
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< The screen is not redrawn then, thus you have to use
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CTRL-L or ":redraw!" if the command did display
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something.
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Also see |shell-window|.
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*:!!*
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:!! Repeat last ":!{cmd}".
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*:ve* *:version*
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:ve[rsion] Print the version number of the editor. If the
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compiler used understands "__DATE__" the compilation
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date is mentioned. Otherwise a fixed release-date is
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shown.
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The following lines contain information about which
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features were enabled when Vim was compiled. When
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there is a preceding '+', the feature is included,
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when there is a '-' it is excluded. To change this,
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you have to edit feature.h and recompile Vim.
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To check for this in an expression, see |has()|.
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Here is an overview of the features.
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The first column shows the smallest version in which
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they are included:
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T tiny
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S small
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N normal
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B big
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H huge
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m manually enabled or depends on other features
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(none) system dependent
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Thus if a feature is marked with "N", it is included
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in the normal, big and huge versions of Vim.
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*+feature-list*
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*+ARP* Amiga only: ARP support included
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B *+arabic* |Arabic| language support
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N *+autocmd* |:autocmd|, automatic commands
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m *+balloon_eval* |balloon-eval| support
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N *+browse* |:browse| command
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N *+builtin_terms* some terminals builtin |builtin-terms|
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B *++builtin_terms* maximal terminals builtin |builtin-terms|
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N *+byte_offset* support for 'o' flag in 'statusline' option, "go"
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and ":goto" commands.
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N *+cindent* |'cindent'|, C indenting
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N *+clientserver* Unix and Win32: Remote invocation |clientserver|
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*+clipboard* |clipboard| support
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N *+cmdline_compl* command line completion |cmdline-completion|
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N *+cmdline_hist* command line history |cmdline-history|
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N *+cmdline_info* |'showcmd'| and |'ruler'|
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N *+comments* |'comments'| support
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N *+cryptv* encryption support |encryption|
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B *+cscope* |cscope| support
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N *+dialog_gui* Support for |:confirm| with GUI dialog.
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N *+dialog_con* Support for |:confirm| with console dialog.
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N *+dialog_con_gui* Support for |:confirm| with GUI and console dialog.
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N *+diff* |vimdiff| and 'diff'
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N *+digraphs* |digraphs| *E196*
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*+dnd* Support for DnD into the "~ register |quote_~|.
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B *+emacs_tags* |emacs-tags| files
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N *+eval* expression evaluation |eval.txt|
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N *+ex_extra* Vim's extra Ex commands: |:center|, |:left|,
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|:normal|, |:retab| and |:right|
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N *+extra_search* |'hlsearch'| and |'incsearch'| options.
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B *+farsi* |farsi| language
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N *+file_in_path* |gf|, |CTRL-W_f| and |<cfile>|
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N *+find_in_path* include file searches: |[I|, |:isearch|,
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|CTRL-W_CTRL-I|, |:checkpath|, etc.
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N *+folding* |folding|
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*+footer* |gui-footer|
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*+fork* Unix only: |fork| shell commands
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N *+gettext* message translations |multi-lang|
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*+GUI_Athena* Unix only: Athena |GUI|
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*+GUI_neXtaw* Unix only: neXtaw |GUI|
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*+GUI_BeOS* BeOS only: BeOS |GUI|
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*+GUI_GTK* Unix only: GTK+ |GUI|
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*+GUI_Motif* Unix only: Motif |GUI|
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*+GUI_Photon* QNX only: Photon |GUI|
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m *+hangul_input* Hangul input support |hangul|
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*+iconv* Compiled with the |iconv()| function, may have |/dyn|
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N *+insert_expand* |insert_expand| Insert mode completion
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N *+jumplist* |jumplist|
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B *+keymap* |'keymap'|
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B *+langmap* |'langmap'|
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N *+libcall* |libcall()|
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N *+linebreak* |'linebreak'|, |'breakat'| and |'showbreak'|
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N *+lispindent* |'lisp'|
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N *+listcmds* Vim commands for the list of buffers |buffer-hidden|
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and argument list |:argdelete|
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N *+localmap* Support for mappings local to a buffer |:map-local|
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N *+menu* |:menu|
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N *+mksession* |:mksession|
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N *+modify_fname* |filename-modifiers|
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N *+mouse* Mouse handling |mouse-using|
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N *+mouseshape* |'mouseshape'|
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B *+mouse_dec* Unix only: Dec terminal mouse handling |dec-mouse|
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N *+mouse_gpm* Unix only: Linux console mouse handling |gpm-mouse|
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B *+mouse_netterm* Unix only: netterm mouse handling |netterm-mouse|
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N *+mouse_pterm* QNX only: pterm mouse handling |qnx-terminal|
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N *+mouse_xterm* Unix only: xterm mouse handling |xterm-mouse|
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B *+multi_byte* Korean and other languages |multibyte|
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*+multi_byte_ime* Win32 input method for multibyte chars |multibyte-ime|
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N *+multi_lang* non-English language support |multi-lang|
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m *+mzscheme* Mzscheme interface |mzscheme|
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m *+netbeans_intg* |netbeans|
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m *+ole* Win32 GUI only: |ole-interface|
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*+osfiletype* Support for the 'osfiletype' option and filetype
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checking in automatic commands. |autocmd-osfiletypes|
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N *+path_extra* Up/downwards search in 'path' and 'tags'
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m *+perl* Perl interface |perl|, may have |/dyn|
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*+postscript* |:hardcopy| writes a PostScript file
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N *+printer* |:hardcopy| command
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m *+python* Python interface |python|, may have |/dyn|
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N *+quickfix* |:make| and |quickfix| commands
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B *+rightleft* Right to left typing |'rightleft'|
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m *+ruby* Ruby interface |ruby|, may have |/dyn|
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N *+scrollbind* |'scrollbind'|
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B *+signs* |:sign|
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N *+smartindent* |'smartindent'|
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m *+sniff* SniFF interface |sniff|
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N *+statusline* Options 'statusline', 'rulerformat' and special
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formats of 'titlestring' and 'iconstring'
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m *+sun_workshop* |workshop|
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N *+syntax* Syntax highlighting |syntax|
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*+system()* Unix only: opposite of |+fork|
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N *+tag_binary* binary searching in tags file |tag-binary-search|
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N *+tag_old_static* old method for static tags |tag-old-static|
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m *+tag_any_white* any white space allowed in tags file |tag-any-white|
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m *+tcl* Tcl interface |tcl|, may have |/dyn|
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*+terminfo* uses |terminfo| instead of termcap
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N *+termresponse* support for |t_RV| and |v:termresponse|
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N *+textobjects* |text-objects| selection
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*+tgetent* non-Unix only: able to use external termcap
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N *+title* Setting the window title |'title'|
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N *+toolbar* |gui-toolbar|
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N *+user_commands* User-defined commands. |user-commands|
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N *+viminfo* |'viminfo'|
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N *+vertsplit* Vertically split windows |:vsplit|
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N *+virtualedit* |'virtualedit'|
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S *+visual* Visual mode |Visual-mode|
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N *+visualextra* extra Visual mode commands |blockwise-operators|
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N *+vreplace* |gR| and |gr|
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N *+wildignore* |'wildignore'|
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N *+wildmenu* |'wildmenu'|
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S *+windows* more than one window
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m *+writebackup* |'writebackup'| is default on
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m *+xim* X input method |xim|
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*+xfontset* X fontset support |xfontset|
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*+xsmp* XSMP (X session management) support
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*+xsmp_interact* interactive XSMP (X session management) support
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N *+xterm_clipboard* Unix only: xterm clipboard handling
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m *+xterm_save* save and restore xterm screen |xterm-screens|
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N *+X11* Unix only: can restore window title |X11|
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*/dyn* *E370* *E448*
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To some of the features "/dyn" is added when the
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feature is only available when the related library can
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be dynamically loaded.
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:ve[rsion] {nr} Is now ignored. This was previously used to check the
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version number of a .vimrc file. It was removed,
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because you can now use the ":if" command for
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version-dependent behavior. {not in Vi}
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*:redi* *:redir*
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:redi[r][!] > {file} Redirect messages to file {file}. The messages which
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are the output of commands are written to that file,
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until redirection ends. The messages are also still
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shown on the screen. When [!] is included, an
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existing file is overwritten. When [!] is omitted,
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and {file} exists, this command fails.
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Only one ":redir" can be active at a time. Calls to
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":redir" will close any active redirection before
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starting redirection to the new target.
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To stop the messages and commands from being echoed to
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the screen, put the commands in a function and call it
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with ":silent call Function()".
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{not in Vi}
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:redi[r] >> {file} Redirect messages to file {file}. Append if {file}
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already exists. {not in Vi}
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:redi[r] @{a-zA-Z} Redirect messages to register {a-z}. Append to the
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contents of the register if its name is given
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uppercase {A-Z}. {not in Vi}
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:redi[r] @* Redirect messages to the clipboard. {not in Vi}
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:redi[r] @" Redirect messages to the unnamed register. {not in Vi}
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:redi[r] END End redirecting messages. {not in Vi}
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*:sil* *:silent*
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:sil[ent][!] {command} Execute {command} silently. Normal messages will not
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be given or added to the message history.
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When [!] is added, error messages will also be
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skipped, and commands and mappings will not be aborted
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when an error is detected. |v:errmsg| is still set.
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When [!] is not used, an error message will cause
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further messages to be displayed normally.
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Redirection, started with |:redir|, will continue as
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usual, although there might be small differences.
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This will allow redirecting the output of a command
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without seeing it on the screen. Example: >
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:redir >/tmp/foobar
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:silent g/Aap/p
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:redir END
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< To execute a Normal mode command silently, use the
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|:normal| command. For example, to search for a
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string without messages: >
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:silent exe "normal /path\<CR>"
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< ":silent!" is useful to execute a command that may
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fail, but the failure is to be ignored. Example: >
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:let v:errmsg = ""
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:silent! /^begin
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:if v:errmsg != ""
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: ... pattern was not found
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< ":silent" will also avoid the hit-enter prompt. When
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using this for an external command, this may cause the
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screen to be messed up. Use |CTRL-L| to clean it up
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then.
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":silent menu ..." defines a menu that will not echo a
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Command-line command. The command will still produce
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messages though. Use ":silent" in the command itself
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to avoid that: ":silent menu .... :silent command".
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*:verb* *:verbose*
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:[count]verb[ose] {command}
|
|
Execute {command} with 'verbose' set to [count]. If
|
|
[count] is omitted one is used. ":0verbose" can be
|
|
used to set 'verbose' to zero.
|
|
The additional use of ":silent" makes messages
|
|
generated but not displayed.
|
|
The combination of ":silent" and ":verbose" can be
|
|
used to generate messages and check them with
|
|
|v:statusmsg| and friends. For example: >
|
|
:let v:statusmsg = ""
|
|
:silent verbose runtime foobar.vim
|
|
:if v:statusmsg != ""
|
|
: " foobar.vim could not be found
|
|
:endif
|
|
< When concatenating another command, the ":verbose"
|
|
only applies to the first one: >
|
|
:4verbose set verbose | set verbose
|
|
< verbose=4 ~
|
|
verbose=0 ~
|
|
|
|
*K*
|
|
K Run a program to lookup the keyword under the
|
|
cursor. The name of the program is given with the
|
|
'keywordprg' (kp) option (default is "man"). The
|
|
keyword is formed of letters, numbers and the
|
|
characters in 'iskeyword'. The keyword under or
|
|
right of the cursor is used. The same can be done
|
|
with the command >
|
|
:!{program} {keyword}
|
|
< There is an example of a program to use in the tools
|
|
directory of Vim. It is called 'ref' and does a
|
|
simple spelling check.
|
|
Special cases:
|
|
- If 'keywordprg' is empty, the ":help" command is
|
|
used. It's a good idea to include more characters
|
|
in 'iskeyword' then, to be able to find more help.
|
|
- When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man", a count before
|
|
"K" is inserted after the "man" command and before
|
|
the keyword. For example, using "2K" while the
|
|
cursor is on "mkdir", results in: >
|
|
!man 2 mkdir
|
|
< - When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man -s", a count
|
|
before "K" is inserted after the "-s". If there is
|
|
no count, the "-s" is removed.
|
|
{not in Vi}
|
|
|
|
*v_K*
|
|
{Visual}K Like "K", but use the visually highlighted text for
|
|
the keyword. Only works when the highlighted text is
|
|
not more than one line. {not in Vi}
|
|
|
|
[N]gs *gs* *:sl* *:sleep*
|
|
:[N]sl[eep] [N] [m] Do nothing for [N] seconds. When [m] is included,
|
|
sleep for [N] milliseconds. The count for "gs" always
|
|
uses seconds. The default is one second. >
|
|
:sleep "sleep for one second
|
|
:5sleep "sleep for five seconds
|
|
:sleep 100m "sleep for a hundred milliseconds
|
|
10gs "sleep for ten seconds
|
|
< Can be interrupted with CTRL-C (CTRL-Break on MS-DOS).
|
|
"gs" stands for "goto sleep". While sleeping the
|
|
cursor is positioned in the text (if visible). {not
|
|
in Vi}
|
|
|
|
*g_CTRL-A*
|
|
g CTRL-A Only when Vim was compiled with MEM_PROFILING defined
|
|
(which is very rare): print memory usage statistics.
|
|
Only useful for debugging Vim.
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
2. Online help *online-help*
|
|
|
|
*help* *<Help>* *:h* *:help* *<F1>* *i_<F1>* *i_<Help>*
|
|
<Help> or
|
|
:h[elp] Open a window and display the help file in read-only
|
|
mode. If there is a help window open already, use
|
|
that one. Otherwise, if the current window uses the
|
|
full width of the screen or is at least 80 characters
|
|
wide, the help window will appear just above the
|
|
current window. Otherwise the new window is put at
|
|
the very top.
|
|
The 'helplang' option is used to select a language, if
|
|
the main help file is available in several languages.
|
|
{not in Vi}
|
|
|
|
*{subject}* *E149* *E661*
|
|
:h[elp] {subject} Like ":help", additionally jump to the tag {subject}.
|
|
{subject} can include wildcards like "*", "?" and
|
|
"[a-z]":
|
|
:help z? jump to help for any "z" command
|
|
:help z. jump to the help for "z."
|
|
If there is no full match for the pattern, or there
|
|
are several matches, the "best" match will be used.
|
|
A sophisticated algorithm is used to decide which
|
|
match is better than another one. These items are
|
|
considered in the computation:
|
|
- A match with same case is much better than a match
|
|
with different case.
|
|
- A match that starts after a non-alphanumeric
|
|
character is better than a match in the middle of a
|
|
word.
|
|
- A match at or near the beginning of the tag is
|
|
better than a match further on.
|
|
- The more alphanumeric characters match, the better.
|
|
- The shorter the length of the match, the better.
|
|
|
|
The 'helplang' option is used to select a language, if
|
|
the {subject} is available in several languages.
|
|
To find a tag in a specific language, append "@ab",
|
|
where "ab" is the two-letter language code. See
|
|
|help-translated|.
|
|
|
|
Note that the longer the {subject} you give, the less
|
|
matches will be found. You can get an idea how this
|
|
all works by using commandline completion (type CTRL-D
|
|
after ":help subject").
|
|
If there are several matches, you can have them listed
|
|
by hitting CTRL-D. Example: >
|
|
:help cont<Ctrl-D>
|
|
< To use a regexp |pattern|, first do ":help" and then
|
|
use ":tag {pattern}" in the help window. The
|
|
":tnext" command can then be used to jump to other
|
|
matches, "tselect" to list matches and choose one. >
|
|
:help index| :tse z.
|
|
< This command can be followed by '|' and another
|
|
command, but you don't need to escape the '|' inside a
|
|
help command. So these both work: >
|
|
:help |
|
|
:help k| only
|
|
< Note that a space before the '|' is seen as part of
|
|
the ":help" argument.
|
|
You can also use <LF> or <CR> to separate the help
|
|
command from a following command. You need to type
|
|
CTRL-V first to insert the <LF> or <CR>. Example: >
|
|
:help so<C-V><CR>only
|
|
< {not in Vi}
|
|
|
|
:h[elp]! [subject] Like ":help", but in non-English help files prefer to
|
|
find a tag in a file with the same language as the
|
|
current file. See |help-translated|.
|
|
|
|
*:helpg* *:helpgrep*
|
|
:helpg[rep] {pattern}[@xx]
|
|
Search all help text files and make a list of lines
|
|
in which {pattern} matches. Jumps to the first match.
|
|
The optional [@xx] specifies that only matches in the
|
|
"xx" language are to be found.
|
|
You can navigate through the matches with the
|
|
|quickfix| commands, e.g., |:cnext| to jump to the
|
|
next one. Or use |:cwindow| to get the list of
|
|
matches in the quickfix window.
|
|
{pattern} is used as a Vim regexp |pattern|.
|
|
'ignorecase' is not used, add "\c" to ignore case.
|
|
Example for case sensitive search: >
|
|
:helpgrep Uganda
|
|
< Example for case ignoring search: >
|
|
:helpgrep uganda\c
|
|
< Example for searching in French help: >
|
|
:helpgrep backspace@fr
|
|
< Cannot be followed by another command, everything is
|
|
used as part of the pattern. But you can use
|
|
|:execute| when needed.
|
|
Compressed help files will not be searched (Debian
|
|
compresses the help files).
|
|
{not in Vi}
|
|
|
|
|
|
When no argument is given to |:help| the file given with the 'helpfile' option
|
|
will be opened. Otherwise the specified tag is searched for in all "doc/tags"
|
|
files in the directories specified in the 'runtimepath' option.
|
|
|
|
The initial height of the help window can be set with the 'helpheight' option
|
|
(default 20).
|
|
|
|
Jump to specific subjects by using tags. This can be done in two ways:
|
|
- Use the "CTRL-]" command while standing on the name of a command or option.
|
|
This only works when the tag is a keyword. "<C-Leftmouse>" and
|
|
"g<LeftMouse>" work just like "CTRL-]".
|
|
- use the ":ta {subject}" command. This also works with non-keyword
|
|
characters.
|
|
|
|
Use CTRL-T or CTRL-O to jump back.
|
|
Use ":q" to close the help window.
|
|
|
|
If there are several matches for an item you are looking for, this is how you
|
|
can jump to each one of them:
|
|
1. Open a help window
|
|
2. Use the ":tag" command with a slash prepended to the tag. E.g.: >
|
|
:tag /min
|
|
3. Use ":tnext" to jump to the next matching tag.
|
|
|
|
It is possible to add help files for plugins and other items. You don't need
|
|
to change the distributed help files for that. See |add-local-help|.
|
|
|
|
To write a local help file, see |write-local-help|.
|
|
|
|
Note that the title lines from the local help files are automagically added to
|
|
the "LOCAL ADDITIONS" section in the "help.txt" help file |local-additions|.
|
|
This is done when viewing the file in Vim, the file itself is not changed. It
|
|
is done by going through all help files and obtaining the first line of each
|
|
file. The files in $VIMRUNTIME/doc are skipped.
|
|
|
|
*help-xterm-window*
|
|
If you want to have the help in another xterm window, you could use this
|
|
command: >
|
|
:!xterm -e vim +help &
|
|
<
|
|
|
|
*:helpfind* *:helpf*
|
|
:helpf[ind] Like |:help|, but use a dialog to enter the argument.
|
|
Only for backwards compatibility. It now executes the
|
|
ToolBar.FindHelp menu entry instead of using a builtin
|
|
dialog. {only when compiled with |+GUI_GTK|}
|
|
< {not in Vi}
|
|
|
|
*:helpt* *:helptags*
|
|
*E154* *E150* *E151* *E152* *E153* *E670*
|
|
:helpt[ags] {dir} Generate the help tags file(s) for directory {dir}.
|
|
All "*.txt" and "*.??x" files in the directory are
|
|
scanned for a help tag definition in between stars.
|
|
The "*.??x" files are for translated docs, they
|
|
generate the "tags-??" file, see |help-translated|.
|
|
The generated tags files are sorted.
|
|
When there are duplicates an error message is given.
|
|
An existing tags file is silently overwritten.
|
|
To rebuild the help tags in the runtime directory
|
|
(requires write permission there): >
|
|
:helptags $VIMRUNTIME/doc
|
|
< {not in Vi}
|
|
|
|
|
|
TRANSLATED HELP *help-translated*
|
|
|
|
It is possible to add translated help files, next to the original English help
|
|
files. Vim will search for all help in "doc" directories in 'runtimepath'.
|
|
This is only available when compiled with the |+multi_lang| feature.
|
|
|
|
A set of translated help files consists of these files:
|
|
|
|
help.abx
|
|
howto.abx
|
|
...
|
|
tags-ab
|
|
|
|
"ab" is the two-letter language code. Thus for Italian the names are:
|
|
|
|
help.itx
|
|
howto.itx
|
|
...
|
|
tags-it
|
|
|
|
The 'helplang' option can be set to the preferred language(s). The default is
|
|
set according to the environment. Vim will first try to find a matching tag
|
|
in the preferred language(s). English is used when it cannot be found.
|
|
|
|
To find a tag in a specific language, append "@ab" to a tag, where "ab" is the
|
|
two-letter language code. Example: >
|
|
:he user-manual@it
|
|
:he user-manual@en
|
|
The first one finds the Italian user manual, even when 'helplang' is empty.
|
|
The second one finds the English user manual, even when 'helplang' is set to
|
|
"it".
|
|
|
|
When using command-line completion for the ":help" command, the "@en"
|
|
extention is only shown when a tag exists for multiple languages. When the
|
|
tag only exists for English "@en" is omitted.
|
|
|
|
When using |CTRL-]| or ":help!" in a non-English help file Vim will try to
|
|
find the tag in the same language. If not found then 'helplang' will be used
|
|
to select a language.
|
|
|
|
Help files must use latin1 or utf-8 encoding. Vim assumes the encoding is
|
|
utf-8 when finding non-ASCII characters in the first line. Thus you must
|
|
translate the header with "For Vim version".
|
|
|
|
The same encoding must be used for the help files of one language in one
|
|
directory. You can use a different encoding for different languages and use
|
|
a different encoding for help files of the same language but in a different
|
|
directory.
|
|
|
|
Hints for translators:
|
|
- Do not translate the tags. This makes it possible to use 'helplang' to
|
|
specify the preferred language. You may add new tags in your language.
|
|
- When you do not translate a part of a file, add tags to the English version,
|
|
using the "tag@en" notation.
|
|
- Make a package with all the files and the tags file available for download.
|
|
Users can drop it in one of the "doc" directories and start use it.
|
|
Report this to Bram, so that he can add a link on www.vim.org.
|
|
- Use the |:helptags| command to generate the tags files. It will find all
|
|
languages in the specified directory.
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
4. Using Vim like less or more *less*
|
|
|
|
If you use the less or more program to view a file, you don't get syntax
|
|
highlighting. Thus you would like to use Vim instead. You can do this by
|
|
using the shell script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.sh".
|
|
|
|
This shell script uses the Vim script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.vim". It sets
|
|
up mappings to simulate the commands that less supports. Otherwise, you can
|
|
still use the Vim commands.
|
|
|
|
This isn't perfect. For example, when viewing a short file Vim will still use
|
|
the whole screen. But it works good enough for most uses, and you get syntax
|
|
highlighting.
|
|
|
|
The "h" key will give you a short overview of the available commands.
|
|
|
|
vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
|