various.txt For Vim version 7.4. Last change: 2014 Aug 06LINK
VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
Various commands variousLINK
1. Various commands various-cmds
2. Using Vim like less or more less
==============================================================================
1. Various commands various-cmdsLINK
CTRL-LLINK
CTRL-L Clear and redraw the screen. The redraw may happen
later, after processing typeahead.
:redr :redrawLINK
: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 :redrawstatusLINK
: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>LINK
<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 :asciiLINK
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}
g8LINK
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}
8g8LINK
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 E749LINK
:[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 :PrintLINK
:[range]P[rint] [count] [flags]
Just as ":print". Was apparently added to Vi for
people that keep the shift key pressed too long...
Note: A user command can overrule this command.
See ex-flags for [flags].
:l :listLINK
:[range]l[ist] [count] [flags]
Same as :print, but display unprintable characters
with '^' and put $ after the line. This can be
further changed with the 'listchars' option.
See ex-flags for [flags].
:nu :numberLINK
:[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].
:#LINK
:[range]# [count] [flags]
synonym for :number.
:#!LINK
:#!{anything} Ignored, so that you can start a Vim script with:
#!vim -S
echo "this is a Vim script"
quit
:z E144LINK
:{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 twice the value of the 'scroll' option is used,
otherwise the current window height minus 3 is used.
If there is a {count} the 'window' option is set to
its value.
: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 cursor line
---- ---------- --------- ------------
+ 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#LINK
Like ":z", but number the lines.
{not in all versions of Vi, not with these arguments}
:=LINK
:= [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 :normalLINK
Execute Normal mode commands {commands}. This makes
it possible to execute Normal mode commands typed on
the command-line. {commands} are executed like they
are typed. For undo all commands are undone together.
Execution stops when an error is encountered.
If the [!] is given, mappings will not be used.
Without it, when this command is called from a
non-remappable mapping (:noremap), the argument can
be mapped anyway.
{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.
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.
The display is not updated while ":normal" is busy.
{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'.
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-rangeLINK
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 E371LINK
: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.
E360LINK
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 :! E34LINK
:!{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 ! \!".
A '|' in {cmd} is passed to the shell, you cannot use
it to append a Vim command. See :bar.
If {cmd} contains "%" it is expanded to the current
file name. Special characters are not escaped, use
quotes to avoid their special meaning:
:!ls "%"
If the file name contains a "$" single quotes might
work better (but a single quote causes trouble):
:!ls '%'
This should always work, but it's more typing:
:exe "!ls " . shellescape(expand("%"))
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.
After the command has been executed, the timestamp and
size of the current file is checked timestamp.
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.
:!!LINK
:!! Repeat last ":!{cmd}".
:ve :versionLINK
: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-listLINK
+ARP Amiga only: ARP support includedLINK
B +arabic Arabic language supportLINK
N +autocmd :autocmd, automatic commandsLINK
m +balloon_eval balloon-eval support. Included when compiling withLINK
supported GUI (Motif, GTK, GUI) and either
Netbeans/Sun Workshop integration or +eval feature.
N +builtin_terms some terminals builtin builtin-termsLINK
B ++builtin_terms maximal terminals builtin builtin-termsLINK
N +byte_offset support for 'o' flag in 'statusline' option, "go"LINK
and ":goto" commands.
N +cindent 'cindent', C indentingLINK
N +clientserver Unix and Win32: Remote invocation clientserverLINK
+clipboard clipboard supportLINK
N +cmdline_compl command line completion cmdline-completionLINK
N +cmdline_hist command line history cmdline-historyLINK
N +cmdline_info 'showcmd' and 'ruler'LINK
N +comments 'comments' supportLINK
B +conceal "conceal" support, see conceal :syn-conceal etc.LINK
N +cryptv encryption support encryptionLINK
m +cursorbind 'cursorbind' supportLINK
m +cursorshape termcap-cursor-shape supportLINK
m +debug Compiled for debugging.LINK
N +dialog_gui Support for :confirm with GUI dialog.LINK
N +dialog_con Support for :confirm with console dialog.LINK
N +dialog_con_gui Support for :confirm with GUI and console dialog.LINK
N +diff vimdiff and 'diff'LINK
m +directx Win32 GUI only: DirectX and 'renderoptions'LINK
+dnd Support for DnD into the "~ register quote_~.LINK
N +eval expression evaluation eval.txtLINK
N +ex_extra Vim's extra Ex commands: :center, :left,LINK
N +extra_search 'hlsearch' and 'incsearch' options.LINK
N +file_in_path gf, CTRL-W_f and <cfile>LINK
N +find_in_path include file searches: [I, :isearch,LINK
CTRL-W_CTRL-I, :checkpath, etc.
+fork Unix only: fork shell commandsLINK
+float Floating point supportLINK
N +gettext message translations multi-langLINK
+GUI_Athena Unix only: Athena GUILINK
+GUI_neXtaw Unix only: neXtaw GUILINK
+GUI_GTK Unix only: GTK+ GUILINK
+GUI_Motif Unix only: Motif GUILINK
+GUI_Photon QNX only: Photon GUILINK
m +hangul_input Hangul input support hangulLINK
+iconv Compiled with the iconv() functionLINK
+iconv/dyn Likewise iconv-dynamic /dynLINK
N +insert_expand insert_expand Insert mode completionLINK
N +linebreak 'linebreak', 'breakat' and 'showbreak'LINK
N +listcmds Vim commands for the list of buffers buffer-hiddenLINK
and argument list :argdelete
N +localmap Support for mappings local to a buffer :map-localLINK
m +lua/dyn Lua interface /dynLINK
N +mksession :mksessionLINK
N +modify_fname filename-modifiersLINK
N +mouse Mouse handling mouse-usingLINK
N +mouseshape 'mouseshape'LINK
B +mouse_dec Unix only: Dec terminal mouse handling dec-mouseLINK
N +mouse_gpm Unix only: Linux console mouse handling gpm-mouseLINK
N +mouse_jsbterm JSB mouse handling jsbterm-mouseLINK
B +mouse_netterm Unix only: netterm mouse handling netterm-mouseLINK
N +mouse_pterm QNX only: pterm mouse handling qnx-terminalLINK
N +mouse_sysmouse Unix only: *BSD console mouse handling sysmouseLINK
B +mouse_sgr Unix only: sgr mouse handling sgr-mouseLINK
B +mouse_urxvt Unix only: urxvt mouse handling urxvt-mouseLINK
N +mouse_xterm Unix only: xterm mouse handling xterm-mouseLINK
N +multi_byte 16 and 32 bit characters multibyteLINK
+multi_byte_ime Win32 input method for multibyte chars multibyte-imeLINK
N +multi_lang non-English language support multi-langLINK
m +mzscheme Mzscheme interface mzschemeLINK
m +mzscheme/dyn Mzscheme interface mzscheme-dynamic /dynLINK
m +ole Win32 GUI only: ole-interfaceLINK
N +path_extra Up/downwards search in 'path' and 'tags'LINK
m +perl Perl interface perlLINK
m +perl/dyn Perl interface perl-dynamic /dynLINK
N +persistent_undo Persistent undo undo-persistenceLINK
+postscript :hardcopy writes a PostScript fileLINK
N +printer :hardcopy commandLINK
H +profile :profile commandLINK
m +python Python 2 interface pythonLINK
m +python/dyn Python 2 interface python-dynamic /dynLINK
m +python3 Python 3 interface pythonLINK
m +python3/dyn Python 3 interface python-dynamic /dynLINK
N +quickfix :make and quickfix commandsLINK
N +reltime reltime() function, 'hlsearch'/'incsearch' timeout,LINK
'redrawtime' option
B +rightleft Right to left typing 'rightleft'LINK
m +ruby Ruby interface rubyLINK
m +ruby/dyn Ruby interface ruby-dynamic /dynLINK
N +scrollbind 'scrollbind'LINK
N +smartindent 'smartindent'LINK
m +sniff SniFF interface sniffLINK
N +startuptime --startuptime argumentLINK
N +statusline Options 'statusline', 'rulerformat' and specialLINK
formats of 'titlestring' and 'iconstring'
N +syntax Syntax highlighting syntaxLINK
+system() Unix only: opposite of +forkLINK
N +tag_binary binary searching in tags file tag-binary-searchLINK
N +tag_old_static old method for static tags tag-old-staticLINK
m +tag_any_white any white space allowed in tags file tag-any-whiteLINK
m +tcl/dyn Tcl interface tcl-dynamic /dynLINK
+terminfo uses terminfo instead of termcapLINK
N +termresponse support for t_RV and v:termresponseLINK
N +textobjects text-objects selectionLINK
+tgetent non-Unix only: able to use external termcapLINK
N +title Setting the window 'title' and 'icon'LINK
N +toolbar gui-toolbarLINK
N +user_commands User-defined commands. user-commandsLINK
N +vertsplit Vertically split windows :vsplitLINK
N +virtualedit 'virtualedit'LINK
S +visual Visual mode Visual-mode Always enabled since 7.4.200.LINK
N +visualextra extra Visual mode commands blockwise-operatorsLINK
N +wildignore 'wildignore'LINK
S +windows more than one windowLINK
m +writebackup 'writebackup' is default onLINK
+xfontset X fontset support xfontsetLINK
+xpm pixmap supportLINK
m +xpm_w32 Win32 GUI only: pixmap support w32-xpm-supportLINK
+xsmp XSMP (X session management) supportLINK
+xsmp_interact interactive XSMP (X session management) supportLINK
N +xterm_clipboard Unix only: xterm clipboard handlingLINK
m +xterm_save save and restore xterm screen xterm-screensLINK
N +X11 Unix only: can restore window title X11LINK
/dyn E370 E448LINK
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 :redirLINK
: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 :silentLINK
: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 :unsilentLINK
: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 :verboseLINK
:[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-cmdLINK
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}
KLINK
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_KLINK
{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 :sleepLINK
:[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}
Also process the received netbeans messages. {only
available when compiled with the +netbeans_intg
feature}
g_CTRL-ALINK
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. Using Vim like less or more lessLINK
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: