intro.txt For Vim version 7.4. Last change: 2014 May 24LINK

VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar

Introduction to Vim ref referenceLINK

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

8. Definitions definitions

==============================================================================

1. Introduction introLINK

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 plain 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).

An overview 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

:help command (just type ":help", without the bars or quotes).

The 'helpfile' option can be set to the name of the help file, in case it

is not located in the default place. You can jump to subjects like with tags:

Use CTRL-] to jump to a subject under the cursor, use CTRL-T to jump back.

Throughout this manual the differences between Vi and Vim are mentioned in

curly braces, like this: {Vi does not have on-line help}. See vi_diff.txt

for a summary of the differences between Vim and Vi.

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.

pronounceLINK

Vim is pronounced as one word, like Jim, not vi-ai-em. It's written with a

capital, since it's a name, again like Jim.

This manual is a reference for all the Vim commands and options. This is not

an introduction to the use of Vi or Vim, it gets a bit complicated here and

there. For beginners, there is a hands-on tutor. To learn using Vim, read

the user manual usr_toc.txt.

bookLINK

There are many books on Vi that contain a section for beginners. There are

two books I can recommend:

"Vim - Vi Improved" by Steve Oualline

This is the very first book completely dedicated to Vim. It is very good for

beginners. The most often used commands are explained with pictures and

examples. The less often used commands are also explained, the more advanced

features are summarized. There is a comprehensive index and a quick

reference. Parts of this book have been included in the user manual

frombook.

Published by New Riders Publishing. ISBN: 0735710015

For more information try one of these:

http://iccf-holland.org/click5.html

http://www.vim.org/iccf/click5.html

"Learning the Vi editor" by Linda Lamb and Arnold Robbins

This is a book about Vi that includes a chapter on Vim (in the sixth edition).

The first steps in Vi are explained very well. The commands that Vim adds are

only briefly mentioned. There is also a German translation.

Published by O'Reilly. ISBN: 1-56592-426-6.

==============================================================================

2. Vim on the internet internetLINK

www WWW faq FAQ distribution downloadLINK

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://vimdoc.sf.net/

Downloading: ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/MIRRORS

Usenet News group where Vim is discussed: news usenetLINK

comp.editors

This group is also for other editors. If you write about Vim, don't forget to

mention that.

mail-list maillistLINK

There are several 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. There are

quite a few people watching this list and answering questions, also

for beginners. Don't hesitate to ask your question here.

<vim-dev@vim.org> vim-dev vimdevLINK

For discussions about changing Vim: New features, porting, patches,

beta-test versions, etc.

<vim-announce@vim.org> vim-announceLINK

Announcements about new versions of Vim; also for beta-test versions

and ports to different systems. This is a read-only list.

<vim-multibyte@vim.org> vim-multibyteLINK

For discussions about using and improving the multi-byte aspects of

Vim.

<vim-mac@vim.org> vim-macLINK

For discussions about using and improving the Macintosh version of

Vim.

See http://www.vim.org/maillist.php for the latest information.

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 mail).

- Maximum message size is 40000 characters.

subscribe-maillistLINK

If you want to join, send a message to

<vim-subscribe@vim.org>

Make sure that your "From:" address is correct. Then the list server will

give you help on how to subscribe.

maillist-archiveLINK

For more information and archives look on the Vim maillist page:

http://www.vim.org/maillist.php

Bug reports: bugs bug-reports bugreport.vimLINK

Send bug reports to: Vim Developers <vim_dev@vim.org>

This is a maillist, you need to become a member first and many people will see

the message. If you don't want that, e.g. because it is a security issue,

send it to <bugs@vim.org>, this only goes to the Vim maintainer (that's Bram).

Please be brief; all the time that is spent on answering mail is subtracted

from the time that is spent on improving Vim! Always give a reproducible

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!

It will help to include information about the version of Vim you are using and

your setup. You can get the information with this command:

:so $VIMRUNTIME/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!

If Vim crashes, please try to find out where. You can find help on this here:

debug.txt.

In case of doubt or when you wonder if the problem has already been fixed but

you can't find a fix for it, become a member of the vim-dev maillist and ask

your question there. maillist

year-2000 Y2KLINK

Since Vim internally doesn't use dates for editing, there is no year 2000

problem to worry about. Vim does use the time in the form of seconds since

January 1st 1970. It is used for a time-stamp check of the edited file and

the swap file, which is not critical and should only cause warning messages.

There might be a year 2038 problem, when the seconds 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, it will never affect normal editing.

The Vim strftime() function directly uses the strftime() system function.

localtime() uses the time() system function. getftime() uses the time

returned by the stat() system function. If your system libraries are year

2000 compliant, Vim is too.

The user may create scripts for Vim that use external commands. These might

introduce Y2K problems, but those are not really part of Vim itself.

==============================================================================

3. Credits credits author Bram MoolenaarLINK

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

Mohsin Ahmed encryption

Zoltan Arpadffy work on VMS port

Tony Andrews Stevie

Gert van Antwerpen changes for DJGPP on MS-DOS

Berkeley DB(3) ideas for swap file implementation

Keith Bostic Nvi

Walter Briscoe Makefile updates, various patches

Ralf Brown SPAWNO library for MS-DOS

Robert Colon many useful remarks

Marcin Dalecki GTK+ GUI port, toolbar icons, gettext()

Kayhan Demirel sent me news in Uganda

Chris & John Downey xvi (ideas for multi-windows version)

Henk Elbers first VMS port

Daniel Elstner GTK+ 2 port

Eric Fischer Mac port, 'cindent', and other improvements

Benji Fisher Answering lots of user questions

Bill Foster Athena GUI port

Google Lets me work on Vim one day a week

Loic Grenie xvim (ideas for multi windows version)

Sven Guckes Vim promoter and previous WWW page maintainer

Darren Hiebert Exuberant ctags

Jason Hildebrand GTK+ 2 port

Bruce Hunsaker improvements for VMS port

Andy Kahn Cscope support, GTK+ GUI port

Oezguer Kesim Maintainer of Vim Mailing Lists

Axel Kielhorn work on the Macintosh port

Steve Kirkendall Elvis

Roger Knobbe original port to Windows NT

Sergey Laskavy Vim's help from Moscow

Felix von Leitner Previous maintainer of Vim Mailing Lists

David Leonard Port of Python extensions to Unix

Avner Lottem Edit in right-to-left windows

Flemming Madsen X11 client-server, various features and patches

Tony Mechelynck answers many user questions

Paul Moore Python interface extensions, many patches

Katsuhito Nagano Work on multi-byte versions

Sung-Hyun Nam Work on multi-byte versions

Vince Negri Win32 GUI and generic console enhancements

Steve Oualline Author of the first Vim book frombook

Dominique Pelle valgrind reports and many fixes

A.Politz Many bug reports and some fixes

George V. Reilly Win32 port, Win32 GUI start-off

Stephen Riehm bug collector

Stefan Roemer various patches and help to users

Ralf Schandl IBM OS/390 port

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

Dany St-Amant Macintosh port

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

Mike Williams PostScript printing

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!

love peace friendship gross-national-happinessLINK

In this documentation there are several references to other versions of Vi:

Vi viLINK

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://vi-editor.org [doesn't currently work...]

PosixLINK

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.

See posix-compliance.

NviLINK

Nvi The "New" Vi. The version of Vi that comes with BSD 4.4 and FreeBSD.

Very good compatibility with the original Vi, with a few extensions.

The version used is 1.79. ":version" returns "Version 1.79

(10/23/96)". There has been no release the last few years, although

there is a development version 1.81.

Source code is freely available.

ElvisLINK

Elvis Another Vi clone, made by Steve Kirkendall. Very compact but isn't

as flexible as Vim.

The version used is 2.1. It is still being developed. Source code is

freely available.

==============================================================================

4. Notation notationLINK

When syntax highlighting is used to read this, text that is not typed

literally is often highlighted with the Special group. These are items in [],

{} and <>, and CTRL-X.

Note that Vim uses all possible characters in commands. Sometimes the [], {}

and <> are part of what you type, the context should make this clear.

[] Characters in square brackets are optional.

count [count]LINK

[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]LINK

["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 others. The

uppercase and lowercase letter designate the same register,

but the lowercase 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.

{}LINK

{} 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).

{char1-char2}LINK

{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.

{motion} movementLINK

{motion} A command that moves the cursor. These are explained in

motion.txt. Examples:

w to start of next word

b to begin of current word

4j four lines down

/The<CR> to next occurrence of "The"

This is used after an operator command to move over the text

that is to be operated upon.

- If the motion includes a count and the operator also has a

count, the two counts are multiplied. For example: "2d3w"

deletes six words.

- The motion can be backwards, e.g. "db" to delete to the

start of the word.

- The motion can also be a mouse click. The mouse is not

supported in every terminal though.

- The ":omap" command can be used to map characters while an

operator is pending.

- Ex commands can be used to move the cursor. This can be

used to call a function that does some complicated motion.

The motion is always characterwise exclusive, no matter

what ":" command is used. This means it's impossible to

include the last character of a line without the line break

(unless 'virtualedit' is set).

If the Ex command changes the text before where the operator

starts or jumps to another buffer the result is

unpredictable. It is possible to change the text further

down. Jumping to another buffer is possible if the current

buffer is not unloaded.

{Visual}LINK

{Visual} A selected text area. It is started with the "v", "V", or

CTRL-V command, then any cursor movement command can be used

to change the end of the selected text.

This is used before an operator command to highlight the

text that is to be operated upon.

See Visual-mode.

<character>LINK

<character> A special character from the table below, optionally with

modifiers, or a single ASCII character with modifiers.

'character'LINK

'c' A single ASCII character.

CTRL-{char}LINK

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'LINK

'option' An option, or parameter, that can be set to a value, is

enclosed in single quotes. See options.

quotecommandquoteLINK

"command" A reference to a command that you can type is enclosed in

double quotes.

command New style command, this distinguishes it from other quoted

text and strings.

key-notation key-codes keycodesLINK

These names for keys are used in the documentation. They can also be used

with the ":map" command (insert the key name by pressing CTRL-K and then the

key you want the name for).

notation meaning equivalent decimal value(s)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

<Nul> zero CTRL-@ 0 (stored as 10) <Nul>LINK

<BS> backspace CTRL-H 8 backspaceLINK

<Tab> tab CTRL-I 9 tab TabLINK

linefeedLINK

<NL> linefeed CTRL-J 10 (used for <Nul>)

<FF> formfeed CTRL-L 12 formfeedLINK

<CR> carriage return CTRL-M 13 carriage-returnLINK

<Return> same as <CR> <Return>LINK

<Enter> same as <CR> <Enter>LINK

<Esc> escape CTRL-[ 27 escape <Esc>LINK

<Space> space 32 spaceLINK

<lt> less-than < 60 <lt>LINK

<Bslash> backslash \ 92 backslash <Bslash>LINK

<Bar> vertical bar | 124 <Bar>LINK

<Del> delete 127

<CSI> command sequence intro ALT-Esc 155 <CSI>LINK

<xCSI> CSI when typed in the GUI <xCSI>LINK

<EOL> end-of-line (can be <CR>, <LF> or <CR><LF>,

depends on system and 'fileformat') <EOL>LINK

<Up> cursor-up cursor-up cursor_upLINK

<Down> cursor-down cursor-down cursor_downLINK

<Left> cursor-left cursor-left cursor_leftLINK

<Right> cursor-right cursor-right cursor_rightLINK

<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-keyLINK

<S-F1> - <S-F12> shift-function keys 1 to 12 <S-F1>LINK

<Help> help key

<Undo> undo key

<Insert> insert key

<Home> home homeLINK

<End> end endLINK

<PageUp> page-up page_up page-upLINK

<PageDown> page-down page_down page-downLINK

<kHome> keypad home (upper left) keypad-homeLINK

<kEnd> keypad end (lower left) keypad-endLINK

<kPageUp> keypad page-up (upper right) keypad-page-upLINK

<kPageDown> keypad page-down (lower right) keypad-page-downLINK

<kPlus> keypad + keypad-plusLINK

<kMinus> keypad - keypad-minusLINK

<kMultiply> keypad * keypad-multiplyLINK

<kDivide> keypad / keypad-divideLINK

<kEnter> keypad Enter keypad-enterLINK

<kPoint> keypad Decimal point keypad-pointLINK

<k0> - <k9> keypad 0 to 9 keypad-0 keypad-9LINK

<S-...> shift-key shift <S-LINK

<C-...> control-key control ctrl <C-LINK

<M-...> alt-key or meta-key meta alt <M-LINK

<A-...> same as <M-...> <A-LINK

<D-...> command-key (Macintosh only) <D-LINK

<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 its 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.

<>LINK

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, or "<Bslash>".

3. A real '<' is represented with "\<" or "<lt>". When there is no

confusion possible, a '<' can be used directly.

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 works, but only when 'cpoptions' does not include the 'B' flag.

Examples for mapping CTRL-H to the six characters "<Home>":

: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"!

==============================================================================

5. Modes, introduction vim-modes-intro vim-modesLINK

Vim has six BASIC modes:

Normal Normal-mode command-modeLINK

Normal mode In Normal mode you can enter all the normal 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. See Visual-mode.

If the 'showmode' option is on "-- VISUAL --" is shown

at the bottom of the window.

Select mode This looks most like the MS-Windows selection mode.

Typing a printable character deletes the selection

and starts Insert mode. See Select-mode.

If the 'showmode' option is on "-- SELECT --" is shown

at the bottom of the window.

Insert mode In Insert mode the text you type is inserted into the

buffer. See Insert-mode.

If the 'showmode' option is on "-- INSERT --" is shown

at the bottom of the window.

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 line. Ex-mode

There are six ADDITIONAL modes. These are variants of the BASIC modes:

Operator-pending Operator-pending-modeLINK

Operator-pending mode This is like Normal mode, but after an operator

command has started, and Vim is waiting for a {motion}

to specify the text that the operator will work on.

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. See Replace-mode.

If the 'showmode' option is on "-- REPLACE --" is

shown at the bottom of the window.

Virtual Replace mode Virtual Replace mode is similar to Replace mode, but

instead of file characters you are replacing screen

real estate. See Virtual-Replace-mode.

If the 'showmode' option is on "-- VREPLACE --" is

shown at the bottom of the window.

Insert Normal mode Entered when CTRL-O given in Insert mode. This is

like Normal mode, but after executing one command Vim

returns to Insert mode.

If the 'showmode' option is on "-- (insert) --" is

shown at the bottom of the window.

Insert Visual mode Entered when starting a Visual selection from Insert

mode, e.g., by using CTRL-O and then "v", "V" or

CTRL-V. When the Visual selection ends, Vim returns

to Insert mode.

If the 'showmode' option is on "-- (insert) VISUAL --"

is shown at the bottom of the window.

Insert Select mode Entered when starting Select mode from Insert mode.

E.g., by dragging the mouse or <S-Right>.

When the Select mode ends, Vim returns to Insert mode.

If the 'showmode' option is on "-- (insert) SELECT --"

is shown at the bottom of the window.

==============================================================================

6. Switching from mode to mode mode-switchingLINK

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. This doesn't work for Ex mode

though, use ":visual".

You will know you are back in Normal mode when you see the screen flash or

hear the bell after you type <Esc>. However, when pressing <Esc> after using

CTRL-O in Insert mode you get a beep but you are still in Insert mode, type

<Esc> again.

i_escLINK

TO mode

Normal Visual Select Insert Replace Cmd-line Ex

FROM mode

Normal v V ^V *4 *1 R gR : / ? ! Q

Visual *2 ^G c C -- : --

Select *5 ^O ^G *6 -- -- --

Insert <Esc> -- -- <Insert> -- --

Replace <Esc> -- -- <Insert> -- --

Command-line *3 -- -- :start -- --

Ex :vi -- -- -- -- --

-- 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 'selectmode' contains "mouse"

- use a non-printable command to move the cursor while keeping the Shift

key pressed, and the 'selectmode' option contains "key"

- use "v", "V" or "CTRL-V" while 'selectmode' contains "cmd"

- use "gh", "gH" or "g CTRL-H" g_CTRL-H

*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.

CTRL-\_CTRL-N i_CTRL-\_CTRL-N c_CTRL-\_CTRL-N v_CTRL-\_CTRL-NLINK

Additionally the command CTRL-\ CTRL-N or <C-\><C-N> can be used to go to

Normal mode from any other mode. This can be used to make sure Vim is in

Normal mode, without causing a beep like <Esc> would. However, this does not

work in Ex mode. When used after a command that takes an argument, such as

f or m, the timeout set with 'ttimeoutlen' applies.

CTRL-\_CTRL-G i_CTRL-\_CTRL-G c_CTRL-\_CTRL-G v_CTRL-\_CTRL-GLINK

The command CTRL-\ CTRL-G or <C-\><C-G> can be used to go to Insert mode when

'insertmode' is set. Otherwise it goes to Normal mode. This can be used to

make sure Vim is in the mode indicated by 'insertmode', without knowing in

what mode Vim currently is.

Q mode-Ex Ex-mode Ex EX E501LINK

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.

Note: In older versions of Vim "Q" formatted text,

that is now done with gq. But if you use the

vimrc_example.vim script "Q" works like "gq".

gQLINK

gQ Switch to "Ex" mode like with "Q", but really behave

like typing ":" commands after another. All command

line editing, completion etc. is available.

Use the ":vi" command :visual to exit "Ex" mode.

{not in Vi}

==============================================================================

7. The window contents window-contentsLINK

In Normal mode 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.

If the window has room after the last line of the buffer, Vim will show '~' in

the first column of the last lines in the window, like this:

+-----------------------+

|some line |

|last line |

|~ |

|~ |

+-----------------------+

Thus the '~' lines indicate that the end of the buffer was reached.

If the last line in a window doesn't fit, Vim will indicate this with a '@' in

the first column of the last lines in the window, like this:

+-----------------------+

|first line |

|second line |

|@ |

|@ |

+-----------------------+

Thus the '@' lines indicate that there is a line that doesn't fit in the

window.

When the "lastline" flag is present in the 'display' option, you will not see

'@' characters at the left side of window. If the last line doesn't fit

completely, only the part that fits is shown, and the last three characters of

the last line are replaced with "@@@", like this:

+-----------------------+

|first line |

|second line |

|a very long line that d|

|oesn't fit in the wi@@@|

+-----------------------+

If there is a single line that is too long to fit in the window, this is a

special situation. Vim will show only part of the line, around where the

cursor is. There are no special characters shown, so that you can edit all

parts of this line.

{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. This makes it possible to

distinguish them from real characters in the buffer.

The 'showbreak' option contains the string to put in front of wrapped lines.

wrap-offLINK

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, resizing the window is recognized and handled correctly

by Vim. {Vi: not ok}

==============================================================================

8. Definitions definitionsLINK

screen The whole area that Vim uses to work in. This can be

a terminal emulator window. Also called "the Vim

window".

window A view on a buffer.

A screen contains one or more windows, separated by status lines and with the

command line at the bottom.

+-------------------------------+

screen | window 1 | window 2 |

| | |

| | |

|= status line =|= status line =|

| window 3 |

| |

| |

|==== status line ==============|

|command line |

+-------------------------------+

The command line is also used for messages. It scrolls up the screen when

there is not enough room in the command line.

A difference is made between four types of lines:

buffer lines The lines in the buffer. This is the same as the

lines as they are read from/written to a file. They

can be thousands of characters long.

logical lines The buffer lines with folding applied. Buffer lines

in a closed fold are changed to a single logical line:

"+-- 99 lines folded". They can be thousands of

characters long.

window lines The lines displayed in a window: A range of logical

lines with wrapping, line breaks, etc. applied. They

can only be as long as the width of the window allows,

longer lines are wrapped or truncated.

screen lines The lines of the screen that Vim uses. Consists of

the window lines of all windows, with status lines

and the command line added. They can only be as long

as the width of the screen allows. When the command

line gets longer it wraps and lines are scrolled to

make room.

buffer lines logical lines window lines screen lines

1. one 1. one 1. +-- folded 1. +-- folded

2. two 2. +-- folded 2. five 2. five

3. three 3. five 3. six 3. six

4. four 4. six 4. seven 4. seven

5. five 5. seven 5. === status line ===

6. six 6. aaa

7. seven 7. bbb

8. ccc ccc c

1. aaa 1. aaa 1. aaa 9. cc

2. bbb 2. bbb 2. bbb 10. ddd

3. ccc ccc ccc 3. ccc ccc ccc 3. ccc ccc c 11. ~

4. ddd 4. ddd 4. cc 12. === status line ===

5. ddd 13. (command line)

6. ~

==============================================================================

vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: