Vim documentation: various
main help file
*various.txt* For Vim version 7.3. Last change: 2010 Aug 10
VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
Various commands *various*
1. Various commands |various-cmds|
2. Using Vim like less or more |less|
==============================================================================
1. Various commands *various-cmds*
*CTRL-L*
CTRL-L Clear and redraw the screen. The redraw may happen
later, after processing typeahead.
*:redr* *:redraw*
:redr[aw][!] Redraw the screen right now. When ! is included it is
cleared first.
Useful to update the screen halfway executing a script
or function. Also when halfway a mapping and
'lazyredraw' is set.
*:redraws* *:redrawstatus*
:redraws[tatus][!] Redraw the status line of the current window. When !
is included all status lines are redrawn.
Useful to update the status line(s) when 'statusline'
includes an item that doesn't cause automatic
updating.
*N<Del>*
<Del> When entering a number: Remove the last digit.
Note: if you like to use <BS> for this, add this
mapping to your .vimrc:
:map CTRL-V <BS> CTRL-V <Del>
See |:fixdel| if your <Del> key does not do what you
want.
:as[cii] or *ga* *:as* *:ascii*
ga Print the ascii value of the character under the
cursor in decimal, hexadecimal and octal. For
example, when the cursor is on a 'R':
<R> 82, Hex 52, Octal 122
When the character is a non-standard ASCII character,
but printable according to the 'isprint' option, the
non-printable version is also given. When the
character is larger than 127, the <M-x> form is also
printed. For example:
<~A> <M-^A> 129, Hex 81, Octal 201
<p> <|~> <M-~> 254, Hex fe, Octal 376
(where <p> is a special character)
The <Nul> character in a file is stored internally as
<NL>, but it will be shown as:
<^@> 0, Hex 00, Octal 000
If the character has composing characters these are
also shown. The value of 'maxcombine' doesn't matter.
Mnemonic: Get Ascii value. {not in Vi}
*g8*
g8 Print the hex values of the bytes used in the
character under the cursor, assuming it is in |UTF-8|
encoding. This also shows composing characters. The
value of 'maxcombine' doesn't matter.
Example of a character with two composing characters:
e0 b8 81 + e0 b8 b9 + e0 b9 89
{not in Vi} {only when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
feature}
*8g8*
8g8 Find an illegal UTF-8 byte sequence at or after the
cursor. This works in two situations:
1. when 'encoding' is any 8-bit encoding
2. when 'encoding' is "utf-8" and 'fileencoding' is
any 8-bit encoding
Thus it can be used when editing a file that was
supposed to be UTF-8 but was read as if it is an 8-bit
encoding because it contains illegal bytes.
Does not wrap around the end of the file.
Note that when the cursor is on an illegal byte or the
cursor is halfway a multi-byte character the command
won't move the cursor.
{not in Vi} {only when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
feature}
*:p* *:pr* *:print* *E749*
:[range]p[rint] [flags]
Print [range] lines (default current line).
Note: If you are looking for a way to print your text
on paper see |:hardcopy|. In the GUI you can use the
File.Print menu entry.
See |ex-flags| for [flags].
:[range]p[rint] {count} [flags]
Print {count} lines, starting with [range] (default
current line |cmdline-ranges|).
See |ex-flags| for [flags].
*:P* *:Print*
:[range]P[rint] [count] [flags]
Just as ":print". Was apparently added to Vi for
people that keep the shift key pressed too long...
See |ex-flags| for [flags].
*:l* *:list*
:[range]l[ist] [count] [flags]
Same as :print, but display unprintable characters
with '^' and put $ after the line. This can be
changed with the 'listchars' option.
See |ex-flags| for [flags].
*:nu* *:number*
:[range]nu[mber] [count] [flags]
Same as :print, but precede each line with its line
number. (See also 'highlight' and 'numberwidth'
option).
See |ex-flags| for [flags].
*:#*
:[range]# [count] [flags]
synonym for :number.
*:#!*
:#!{anything} Ignored, so that you can start a Vim script with:
#!vim -S
echo "this is a Vim script"
quit
*:z* *E144*
:{range}z[+-^.=]{count} Display several lines of text surrounding the line
specified with {range}, or around the current line
if there is no {range}. If there is a {count}, that's
how many lines you'll see; if there is only one window
then the 'window' option is used, otherwise the
current window size is used.
:z can be used either alone or followed by any of
several punctuation marks. These have the following
effect:
mark first line last line new location
---- ---------- --------- ------------
+ current line 1 scr forward 1 scr forward
- 1 scr back current line current line
^ 2 scr back 1 scr back 1 scr back
. 1/2 scr back 1/2 scr fwd 1/2 scr fwd
= 1/2 scr back 1/2 scr fwd current line
Specifying no mark at all is the same as "+".
If the mark is "=", a line of dashes is printed
around the current line.
:{range}z#[+-^.=]{count} *:z#*
Like ":z", but number the lines.
{not in all versions of Vi, not with these arguments}
*:=*
:= [flags] Print the last line number.
See |ex-flags| for [flags].
:{range}= [flags] Prints the last line number in {range}. For example,
this prints the current line number:
:.=
See |ex-flags| for [flags].
:norm[al][!] {commands} *:norm* *:normal*
Execute Normal mode commands {commands}. This makes
it possible to execute Normal mode commands typed on
the command-line. {commands} is executed like it is
typed. For undo all commands are undone together.
Execution stops when an error is encountered.
If the [!] is given, mappings will not be used.
{commands} should be a complete command. If
{commands} does not finish a command, the last one
will be aborted as if <Esc> or <C-C> was typed.
The display isn't updated while ":normal" is busy.
This implies that an insert command must be completed
(to start Insert mode, see |:startinsert|). A ":"
command must be completed as well. And you can't use
"Q" or "gQ" to start Ex mode.
{commands} cannot start with a space. Put a count of
1 (one) before it, "1 " is one space.
The 'insertmode' option is ignored for {commands}.
This command cannot be followed by another command,
since any '|' is considered part of the command.
This command can be used recursively, but the depth is
limited by 'maxmapdepth'.
When this command is called from a non-remappable
mapping |:noremap|, the argument can be mapped anyway.
An alternative is to use |:execute|, which uses an
expression as argument. This allows the use of
printable characters to represent special characters.
Example:
:exe "normal \<c-w>\<c-w>"
{not in Vi, of course}
{not available when the |+ex_extra| feature was
disabled at compile time}
:{range}norm[al][!] {commands} *:normal-range*
Execute Normal mode commands {commands} for each line
in the {range}. Before executing the {commands}, the
cursor is positioned in the first column of the range,
for each line. Otherwise it's the same as the
":normal" command without a range.
{not in Vi}
{not available when |+ex_extra| feature was disabled
at compile time}
*:sh* *:shell* *E371*
:sh[ell] This command starts a shell. When the shell exits
(after the "exit" command) you return to Vim. The
name for the shell command comes from 'shell' option.
*E360*
Note: This doesn't work when Vim on the Amiga was
started in QuickFix mode from a compiler, because the
compiler will have set stdin to a non-interactive
mode.
*:!cmd* *:!* *E34*
:!{cmd} Execute {cmd} with the shell. See also the 'shell'
and 'shelltype' option.
Any '!' in {cmd} is replaced with the previous
external command (see also 'cpoptions'). But not when
there is a backslash before the '!', then that
backslash is removed. Example: ":!ls" followed by
":!echo ! \! \\!" executes "echo ls ! \!".
After the command has been executed, the timestamp of
the current file is checked |timestamp|.
A '|' in {cmd} is passed to the shell, you cannot use
it to append a Vim command. See |:bar|.
A newline character ends {cmd}, what follows is
interpreted as a following ":" command. However, if
there is a backslash before the newline it is removed
and {cmd} continues. It doesn't matter how many
backslashes are before the newline, only one is
removed.
On Unix the command normally runs in a non-interactive
shell. If you want an interactive shell to be used
(to use aliases) set 'shellcmdflag' to "-ic".
For Win32 also see |:!start|.
Vim redraws the screen after the command is finished,
because it may have printed any text. This requires a
hit-enter prompt, so that you can read any messages.
To avoid this use:
:silent !{cmd}
The screen is not redrawn then, thus you have to use
CTRL-L or ":redraw!" if the command did display
something.
Also see |shell-window|.
*:!!*
:!! Repeat last ":!{cmd}".
*:ve* *:version*
:ve[rsion] Print the version number of the editor. If the
compiler used understands "__DATE__" the compilation
date is mentioned. Otherwise a fixed release-date is
shown.
The following lines contain information about which
features were enabled when Vim was compiled. When
there is a preceding '+', the feature is included,
when there is a '-' it is excluded. To change this,
you have to edit feature.h and recompile Vim.
To check for this in an expression, see |has()|.
Here is an overview of the features.
The first column shows the smallest version in which
they are included:
T tiny
S small
N normal
B big
H huge
m manually enabled or depends on other features
(none) system dependent
Thus if a feature is marked with "N", it is included
in the normal, big and huge versions of Vim.
*+feature-list*
*+ARP* Amiga only: ARP support included
B *+arabic* |Arabic| language support
N *+autocmd* |:autocmd|, automatic commands
m *+balloon_eval* |balloon-eval| support. Included when compiling with
supported GUI (Motif, GTK, GUI) and either
Netbeans/Sun Workshop integration or |+eval| feature.
N *+browse* |:browse| command
N *+builtin_terms* some terminals builtin |builtin-terms|
B *++builtin_terms* maximal terminals builtin |builtin-terms|
N *+byte_offset* support for 'o' flag in 'statusline' option, "go"
and ":goto" commands.
N *+cindent* |'cindent'|, C indenting
N *+clientserver* Unix and Win32: Remote invocation |clientserver|
*+clipboard* |clipboard| support
N *+cmdline_compl* command line completion |cmdline-completion|
N *+cmdline_hist* command line history |cmdline-history|
N *+cmdline_info* |'showcmd'| and |'ruler'|
N *+comments* |'comments'| support
B *+conceal* "conceal" support, see |conceal| |:syn-conceal| etc.
N *+cryptv* encryption support |encryption|
B *+cscope* |cscope| support
m *+cursorbind* |'cursorbind'| support
m *+cursorshape* |termcap-cursor-shape| support
m *+debug* Compiled for debugging.
N *+dialog_gui* Support for |:confirm| with GUI dialog.
N *+dialog_con* Support for |:confirm| with console dialog.
N *+dialog_con_gui* Support for |:confirm| with GUI and console dialog.
N *+diff* |vimdiff| and 'diff'
N *+digraphs* |digraphs| *E196*
*+dnd* Support for DnD into the "~ register |quote_~|.
B *+emacs_tags* |emacs-tags| files
N *+eval* expression evaluation |eval.txt|
N *+ex_extra* Vim's extra Ex commands: |:center|, |:left|,
|:normal|, |:retab| and |:right|
N *+extra_search* |'hlsearch'| and |'incsearch'| options.
B *+farsi* |farsi| language
N *+file_in_path* |gf|, |CTRL-W_f| and |<cfile>|
N *+find_in_path* include file searches: |[I|, |:isearch|,
|CTRL-W_CTRL-I|, |:checkpath|, etc.
N *+folding* |folding|
*+footer* |gui-footer|
*+fork* Unix only: |fork| shell commands
*+float* Floating point support
N *+gettext* message translations |multi-lang|
*+GUI_Athena* Unix only: Athena |GUI|
*+GUI_neXtaw* Unix only: neXtaw |GUI|
*+GUI_GTK* Unix only: GTK+ |GUI|
*+GUI_Motif* Unix only: Motif |GUI|
*+GUI_Photon* QNX only: Photon |GUI|
m *+hangul_input* Hangul input support |hangul|
*+iconv* Compiled with the |iconv()| function
*+iconv/dyn* Likewise |iconv-dynamic| |/dyn|
N *+insert_expand* |insert_expand| Insert mode completion
N *+jumplist* |jumplist|
B *+keymap* |'keymap'|
B *+langmap* |'langmap'|
N *+libcall* |libcall()|
N *+linebreak* |'linebreak'|, |'breakat'| and |'showbreak'|
N *+lispindent* |'lisp'|
N *+listcmds* Vim commands for the list of buffers |buffer-hidden|
and argument list |:argdelete|
N *+localmap* Support for mappings local to a buffer |:map-local|
m *+lua* |Lua| interface
m *+lua/dyn* |Lua| interface |/dyn|
N *+menu* |:menu|
N *+mksession* |:mksession|
N *+modify_fname* |filename-modifiers|
N *+mouse* Mouse handling |mouse-using|
N *+mouseshape* |'mouseshape'|
B *+mouse_dec* Unix only: Dec terminal mouse handling |dec-mouse|
N *+mouse_gpm* Unix only: Linux console mouse handling |gpm-mouse|
B *+mouse_netterm* Unix only: netterm mouse handling |netterm-mouse|
N *+mouse_pterm* QNX only: pterm mouse handling |qnx-terminal|
N *+mouse_sysmouse* Unix only: *BSD console mouse handling |sysmouse|
N *+mouse_xterm* Unix only: xterm mouse handling |xterm-mouse|
B *+multi_byte* 16 and 32 bit characters |multibyte|
*+multi_byte_ime* Win32 input method for multibyte chars |multibyte-ime|
N *+multi_lang* non-English language support |multi-lang|
m *+mzscheme* Mzscheme interface |mzscheme|
m *+mzscheme/dyn* Mzscheme interface |mzscheme-dynamic| |/dyn|
m *+netbeans_intg* |netbeans|
m *+ole* Win32 GUI only: |ole-interface|
*+osfiletype* Support for the 'osfiletype' option and filetype
checking in automatic commands. |autocmd-osfiletypes|
N *+path_extra* Up/downwards search in 'path' and 'tags'
m *+perl* Perl interface |perl|
m *+perl/dyn* Perl interface |perl-dynamic| |/dyn|
N *+persistent_undo* Persistent undo |undo-persistence|
*+postscript* |:hardcopy| writes a PostScript file
N *+printer* |:hardcopy| command
H *+profile* |:profile| command
m *+python* Python 2 interface |python|
m *+python/dyn* Python 2 interface |python-dynamic| |/dyn|
m *+python3* Python 3 interface |python|
m *+python3/dyn* Python 3 interface |python-dynamic| |/dyn|
N *+quickfix* |:make| and |quickfix| commands
N *+reltime* |reltime()| function, 'hlsearch'/'incsearch' timeout,
'redrawtime' option
B *+rightleft* Right to left typing |'rightleft'|
m *+ruby* Ruby interface |ruby|
m *+ruby/dyn* Ruby interface |ruby-dynamic| |/dyn|
N *+scrollbind* |'scrollbind'|
B *+signs* |:sign|
N *+smartindent* |'smartindent'|
m *+sniff* SniFF interface |sniff|
N *+startuptime* |--startuptime| argument
N *+statusline* Options 'statusline', 'rulerformat' and special
formats of 'titlestring' and 'iconstring'
m *+sun_workshop* |workshop|
N *+syntax* Syntax highlighting |syntax|
*+system()* Unix only: opposite of |+fork|
N *+tag_binary* binary searching in tags file |tag-binary-search|
N *+tag_old_static* old method for static tags |tag-old-static|
m *+tag_any_white* any white space allowed in tags file |tag-any-white|
m *+tcl* Tcl interface |tcl|
m *+tcl/dyn* Tcl interface |tcl-dynamic| |/dyn|
*+terminfo* uses |terminfo| instead of termcap
N *+termresponse* support for |t_RV| and |v:termresponse|
N *+textobjects* |text-objects| selection
*+tgetent* non-Unix only: able to use external termcap
N *+title* Setting the window 'title' and 'icon'
N *+toolbar* |gui-toolbar|
N *+user_commands* User-defined commands. |user-commands|
N *+viminfo* |'viminfo'|
N *+vertsplit* Vertically split windows |:vsplit|
N *+virtualedit* |'virtualedit'|
S *+visual* Visual mode |Visual-mode|
N *+visualextra* extra Visual mode commands |blockwise-operators|
N *+vreplace* |gR| and |gr|
N *+wildignore* |'wildignore'|
N *+wildmenu* |'wildmenu'|
S *+windows* more than one window
m *+writebackup* |'writebackup'| is default on
m *+xim* X input method |xim|
*+xfontset* X fontset support |xfontset|
*+xsmp* XSMP (X session management) support
*+xsmp_interact* interactive XSMP (X session management) support
N *+xterm_clipboard* Unix only: xterm clipboard handling
m *+xterm_save* save and restore xterm screen |xterm-screens|
N *+X11* Unix only: can restore window title |X11|
*/dyn* *E370* *E448*
To some of the features "/dyn" is added when the
feature is only available when the related library can
be dynamically loaded.
:ve[rsion] {nr} Is now ignored. This was previously used to check the
version number of a .vimrc file. It was removed,
because you can now use the ":if" command for
version-dependent behavior. {not in Vi}
*:redi* *:redir*
:redi[r][!] > {file} Redirect messages to file {file}. The messages which
are the output of commands are written to that file,
until redirection ends. The messages are also still
shown on the screen. When [!] is included, an
existing file is overwritten. When [!] is omitted,
and {file} exists, this command fails.
Only one ":redir" can be active at a time. Calls to
":redir" will close any active redirection before
starting redirection to the new target.
To stop the messages and commands from being echoed to
the screen, put the commands in a function and call it
with ":silent call Function()".
An alternative is to use the 'verbosefile' option,
this can be used in combination with ":redir".
{not in Vi}
:redi[r] >> {file} Redirect messages to file {file}. Append if {file}
already exists. {not in Vi}
:redi[r] @{a-zA-Z}
:redi[r] @{a-zA-Z}> Redirect messages to register {a-z}. Append to the
contents of the register if its name is given
uppercase {A-Z}. The ">" after the register name is
optional. {not in Vi}
:redi[r] @{a-z}>> Append messages to register {a-z}. {not in Vi}
:redi[r] @*>
:redi[r] @+> Redirect messages to the selection or clipboard. For
backward compatibility, the ">" after the register
name can be omitted. See |quotestar| and |quoteplus|.
{not in Vi}
:redi[r] @*>>
:redi[r] @+>> Append messages to the selection or clipboard.
{not in Vi}
:redi[r] @"> Redirect messages to the unnamed register. For
backward compatibility, the ">" after the register
name can be omitted. {not in Vi}
:redi[r] @">> Append messages to the unnamed register. {not in Vi}
:redi[r] => {var} Redirect messages to a variable. If the variable
doesn't exist, then it is created. If the variable
exists, then it is initialized to an empty string.
The variable will remain empty until redirection ends.
Only string variables can be used. After the
redirection starts, if the variable is removed or
locked or the variable type is changed, then further
command output messages will cause errors. {not in Vi}
:redi[r] =>> {var} Append messages to an existing variable. Only string
variables can be used. {not in Vi}
:redi[r] END End redirecting messages. {not in Vi}
*:sil* *:silent*
:sil[ent][!] {command} Execute {command} silently. Normal messages will not
be given or added to the message history.
When [!] is added, error messages will also be
skipped, and commands and mappings will not be aborted
when an error is detected. |v:errmsg| is still set.
When [!] is not used, an error message will cause
further messages to be displayed normally.
Redirection, started with |:redir|, will continue as
usual, although there might be small differences.
This will allow redirecting the output of a command
without seeing it on the screen. Example:
:redir >/tmp/foobar
:silent g/Aap/p
:redir END
To execute a Normal mode command silently, use the
|:normal| command. For example, to search for a
string without messages:
:silent exe "normal /path\<CR>"
":silent!" is useful to execute a command that may
fail, but the failure is to be ignored. Example:
:let v:errmsg = ""
:silent! /^begin
:if v:errmsg != ""
: ... pattern was not found
":silent" will also avoid the hit-enter prompt. When
using this for an external command, this may cause the
screen to be messed up. Use |CTRL-L| to clean it up
then.
":silent menu ..." defines a menu that will not echo a
Command-line command. The command will still produce
messages though. Use ":silent" in the command itself
to avoid that: ":silent menu .... :silent command".
*:uns* *:unsilent*
:uns[ilent] {command} Execute {command} not silently. Only makes a
difference when |:silent| was used to get to this
command.
Use this for giving a message even when |:silent| was
used. In this example |:silent| is used to avoid the
message about reading the file and |:unsilent| to be
able to list the first line of each file.
:silent argdo unsilent echo expand('%') . ": " . getline(1)
*:verb* *:verbose*
:[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
For logging verbose messages in a file use the
'verbosefile' option.
*:verbose-cmd*
When 'verbose' is non-zero, listing the value of a Vim option or a key map or
an abbreviation or a user-defined function or a command or a highlight group
or an autocommand will also display where it was last defined. If it was
defined manually then there will be no "Last set" message. When it was
defined while executing a function, user command or autocommand, the script in
which it was defined is reported.
{not available when compiled without the |+eval| feature}
*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 at a visible position. {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.
==============================================================================
3. 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.
top - main help file