Mercurial > vim
annotate runtime/doc/intro.txt @ 5146:6ec6b7ff2d43 v7.4a
Vim 7.4a BETA release.
| author | Bram Moolenaar <bram@vim.org> |
|---|---|
| date | Sat, 06 Jul 2013 15:44:11 +0200 |
| parents | ceb5f21cda79 |
| children | 09c88160095d |
| rev | line source |
|---|---|
| 5146 | 1 *intro.txt* For Vim version 7.4a. Last change: 2013 Jun 17 |
| 7 | 2 |
| 3 | |
| 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar | |
| 5 | |
| 6 | |
| 7 Introduction to Vim *ref* *reference* | |
| 8 | |
| 9 1. Introduction |intro| | |
| 10 2. Vim on the internet |internet| | |
| 11 3. Credits |credits| | |
| 12 4. Notation |notation| | |
| 13 5. Modes, introduction |vim-modes-intro| | |
| 14 6. Switching from mode to mode |mode-switching| | |
| 15 7. The window contents |window-contents| | |
| 16 8. Definitions |definitions| | |
| 17 | |
| 18 ============================================================================== | |
| 19 1. Introduction *intro* | |
| 20 | |
| 21 Vim stands for Vi IMproved. It used to be Vi IMitation, but there are so many | |
| 22 improvements that a name change was appropriate. Vim is a text editor which | |
| 23 includes almost all the commands from the Unix program "Vi" and a lot of new | |
| 24 ones. It is very useful for editing programs and other plain text. | |
| 25 All commands are given with the keyboard. This has the advantage that you | |
| 26 can keep your fingers on the keyboard and your eyes on the screen. For those | |
| 27 who want it, there is mouse support and a GUI version with scrollbars and | |
| 28 menus (see |gui.txt|). | |
| 29 | |
| 30 An overview of this manual can be found in the file "help.txt", |help.txt|. | |
| 31 It can be accessed from within Vim with the <Help> or <F1> key and with the | |
| 32 |:help| command (just type ":help", without the bars or quotes). | |
| 33 The 'helpfile' option can be set to the name of the help file, in case it | |
| 34 is not located in the default place. You can jump to subjects like with tags: | |
| 35 Use CTRL-] to jump to a subject under the cursor, use CTRL-T to jump back. | |
| 36 | |
| 37 Throughout this manual the differences between Vi and Vim are mentioned in | |
| 38 curly braces, like this: {Vi does not have on-line help}. See |vi_diff.txt| | |
| 39 for a summary of the differences between Vim and Vi. | |
| 40 | |
| 41 This manual refers to Vim on various machines. There may be small differences | |
| 42 between different computers and terminals. Besides the remarks given in this | |
| 43 document, there is a separate document for each supported system, see | |
| 44 |sys-file-list|. | |
| 45 | |
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46 *pronounce* |
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47 Vim is pronounced as one word, like Jim, not vi-ai-em. It's written with a |
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48 capital, since it's a name, again like Jim. |
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49 |
| 7 | 50 This manual is a reference for all the Vim commands and options. This is not |
| 51 an introduction to the use of Vi or Vim, it gets a bit complicated here and | |
| 52 there. For beginners, there is a hands-on |tutor|. To learn using Vim, read | |
| 53 the user manual |usr_toc.txt|. | |
| 54 | |
| 55 *book* | |
| 56 There are many books on Vi that contain a section for beginners. There are | |
| 57 two books I can recommend: | |
| 58 | |
| 59 "Vim - Vi Improved" by Steve Oualline | |
| 60 | |
| 61 This is the very first book completely dedicated to Vim. It is very good for | |
| 62 beginners. The most often used commands are explained with pictures and | |
| 63 examples. The less often used commands are also explained, the more advanced | |
| 64 features are summarized. There is a comprehensive index and a quick | |
| 65 reference. Parts of this book have been included in the user manual | |
| 66 |frombook|. | |
| 67 Published by New Riders Publishing. ISBN: 0735710015 | |
| 68 For more information try one of these: | |
| 69 http://iccf-holland.org/click5.html | |
| 70 http://www.vim.org/iccf/click5.html | |
| 71 | |
| 72 "Learning the Vi editor" by Linda Lamb and Arnold Robbins | |
| 73 | |
| 74 This is a book about Vi that includes a chapter on Vim (in the sixth edition). | |
| 75 The first steps in Vi are explained very well. The commands that Vim adds are | |
| 76 only briefly mentioned. There is also a German translation. | |
| 77 Published by O'Reilly. ISBN: 1-56592-426-6. | |
| 78 | |
| 79 ============================================================================== | |
| 80 2. Vim on the internet *internet* | |
| 81 | |
| 838 | 82 *www* *WWW* *faq* *FAQ* *distribution* *download* |
| 7 | 83 The Vim pages contain the most recent information about Vim. They also |
| 84 contain links to the most recent version of Vim. The FAQ is a list of | |
| 85 Frequently Asked Questions. Read this if you have problems. | |
| 86 | |
| 87 VIM home page: http://www.vim.org/ | |
| 88 VIM FAQ: http://vimdoc.sf.net/ | |
| 89 Downloading: ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/MIRRORS | |
| 90 | |
| 91 | |
| 92 Usenet News group where Vim is discussed: *news* *usenet* | |
| 93 comp.editors | |
| 94 This group is also for other editors. If you write about Vim, don't forget to | |
| 95 mention that. | |
| 96 | |
| 97 *mail-list* *maillist* | |
| 98 There are several mailing lists for Vim: | |
| 99 <vim@vim.org> | |
| 100 For discussions about using existing versions of Vim: Useful mappings, | |
| 824 | 101 questions, answers, where to get a specific version, etc. There are |
| 102 quite a few people watching this list and answering questions, also | |
| 103 for beginners. Don't hesitate to ask your question here. | |
| 7 | 104 <vim-dev@vim.org> *vim-dev* *vimdev* |
| 105 For discussions about changing Vim: New features, porting, patches, | |
| 106 beta-test versions, etc. | |
| 107 <vim-announce@vim.org> *vim-announce* | |
| 108 Announcements about new versions of Vim; also for beta-test versions | |
| 824 | 109 and ports to different systems. This is a read-only list. |
| 7 | 110 <vim-multibyte@vim.org> *vim-multibyte* |
| 111 For discussions about using and improving the multi-byte aspects of | |
| 112 Vim. | |
| 113 <vim-mac@vim.org> *vim-mac* | |
| 114 For discussions about using and improving the Macintosh version of | |
| 115 Vim. | |
| 116 | |
| 117 See http://www.vim.org/maillist.php for the latest information. | |
| 118 | |
| 119 NOTE: | |
| 120 - You can only send messages to these lists if you have subscribed! | |
| 121 - You need to send the messages from the same location as where you subscribed | |
| 122 from (to avoid spam mail). | |
| 123 - Maximum message size is 40000 characters. | |
| 124 | |
| 125 *subscribe-maillist* | |
| 126 If you want to join, send a message to | |
| 1624 | 127 <vim-subscribe@vim.org> |
| 7 | 128 Make sure that your "From:" address is correct. Then the list server will |
| 129 give you help on how to subscribe. | |
| 130 | |
| 1624 | 131 *maillist-archive* |
| 132 For more information and archives look on the Vim maillist page: | |
| 133 http://www.vim.org/maillist.php | |
| 7 | 134 |
| 135 | |
| 136 Bug reports: *bugs* *bug-reports* *bugreport.vim* | |
| 137 | |
| 2833 | 138 Send bug reports to: Vim Developers <vim_dev@vim.org> |
| 139 This is a maillist, many people will see the message. If you don't want that, | |
| 140 e.g. because it is a security issue, send it to <bugs@vim.org>, this only goes | |
| 141 to the Vim maintainer (that's Bram). | |
| 7 | 142 Please be brief; all the time that is spent on answering mail is subtracted |
| 143 from the time that is spent on improving Vim! Always give a reproducible | |
| 144 example and try to find out which settings or other things influence the | |
| 145 appearance of the bug. Try different machines, if possible. Send me patches | |
| 146 if you can! | |
| 147 | |
| 502 | 148 It will help to include information about the version of Vim you are using and |
| 149 your setup. You can get the information with this command: > | |
| 7 | 150 :so $VIMRUNTIME/bugreport.vim |
| 151 This will create a file "bugreport.txt" in the current directory, with a lot | |
| 152 of information of your environment. Before sending this out, check if it | |
| 153 doesn't contain any confidential information! | |
| 154 | |
| 502 | 155 If Vim crashes, please try to find out where. You can find help on this here: |
| 156 |debug.txt|. | |
| 7 | 157 |
| 502 | 158 In case of doubt or when you wonder if the problem has already been fixed but |
| 159 you can't find a fix for it, become a member of the vim-dev maillist and ask | |
| 160 your question there. |maillist| | |
| 7 | 161 |
| 162 *year-2000* *Y2K* | |
| 163 Since Vim internally doesn't use dates for editing, there is no year 2000 | |
| 164 problem to worry about. Vim does use the time in the form of seconds since | |
| 165 January 1st 1970. It is used for a time-stamp check of the edited file and | |
| 166 the swap file, which is not critical and should only cause warning messages. | |
| 167 | |
| 168 There might be a year 2038 problem, when the seconds don't fit in a 32 bit int | |
| 169 anymore. This depends on the compiler, libraries and operating system. | |
| 170 Specifically, time_t and the ctime() function are used. And the time_t is | |
| 171 stored in four bytes in the swap file. But that's only used for printing a | |
| 172 file date/time for recovery, it will never affect normal editing. | |
| 173 | |
| 174 The Vim strftime() function directly uses the strftime() system function. | |
| 175 localtime() uses the time() system function. getftime() uses the time | |
| 176 returned by the stat() system function. If your system libraries are year | |
| 177 2000 compliant, Vim is too. | |
| 178 | |
| 179 The user may create scripts for Vim that use external commands. These might | |
| 180 introduce Y2K problems, but those are not really part of Vim itself. | |
| 181 | |
| 182 ============================================================================== | |
| 323 | 183 3. Credits *credits* *author* *Bram* *Moolenaar* |
| 7 | 184 |
| 185 Most of Vim was written by Bram Moolenaar <Bram@vim.org>. | |
| 186 | |
| 187 Parts of the documentation come from several Vi manuals, written by: | |
| 188 W.N. Joy | |
| 189 Alan P.W. Hewett | |
| 190 Mark Horton | |
| 191 | |
| 192 The Vim editor is based on Stevie and includes (ideas from) other software, | |
| 193 worked on by the people mentioned here. Other people helped by sending me | |
| 194 patches, suggestions and giving feedback about what is good and bad in Vim. | |
| 195 | |
| 196 Vim would never have become what it is now, without the help of these people! | |
| 197 | |
| 198 Ron Aaron Win32 GUI changes | |
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199 Mohsin Ahmed encryption |
| 7 | 200 Zoltan Arpadffy work on VMS port |
| 201 Tony Andrews Stevie | |
| 202 Gert van Antwerpen changes for DJGPP on MS-DOS | |
| 203 Berkeley DB(3) ideas for swap file implementation | |
| 204 Keith Bostic Nvi | |
| 205 Walter Briscoe Makefile updates, various patches | |
| 206 Ralf Brown SPAWNO library for MS-DOS | |
| 207 Robert Colon many useful remarks | |
| 208 Marcin Dalecki GTK+ GUI port, toolbar icons, gettext() | |
| 209 Kayhan Demirel sent me news in Uganda | |
| 210 Chris & John Downey xvi (ideas for multi-windows version) | |
| 211 Henk Elbers first VMS port | |
| 29 | 212 Daniel Elstner GTK+ 2 port |
| 7 | 213 Eric Fischer Mac port, 'cindent', and other improvements |
| 214 Benji Fisher Answering lots of user questions | |
| 215 Bill Foster Athena GUI port | |
| 1624 | 216 Google Lets me work on Vim one day a week |
| 7 | 217 Loic Grenie xvim (ideas for multi windows version) |
| 1668 | 218 Sven Guckes Vim promoter and previous WWW page maintainer |
| 7 | 219 Darren Hiebert Exuberant ctags |
| 29 | 220 Jason Hildebrand GTK+ 2 port |
| 7 | 221 Bruce Hunsaker improvements for VMS port |
| 222 Andy Kahn Cscope support, GTK+ GUI port | |
| 223 Oezguer Kesim Maintainer of Vim Mailing Lists | |
| 224 Axel Kielhorn work on the Macintosh port | |
| 225 Steve Kirkendall Elvis | |
| 226 Roger Knobbe original port to Windows NT | |
| 227 Sergey Laskavy Vim's help from Moscow | |
| 1624 | 228 Felix von Leitner Previous maintainer of Vim Mailing Lists |
| 7 | 229 David Leonard Port of Python extensions to Unix |
| 230 Avner Lottem Edit in right-to-left windows | |
| 231 Flemming Madsen X11 client-server, various features and patches | |
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232 Tony Mechelynck answers many user questions |
| 7 | 233 Paul Moore Python interface extensions, many patches |
| 234 Katsuhito Nagano Work on multi-byte versions | |
| 235 Sung-Hyun Nam Work on multi-byte versions | |
| 236 Vince Negri Win32 GUI and generic console enhancements | |
| 237 Steve Oualline Author of the first Vim book |frombook| | |
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238 Dominique Pelle valgrind reports and many fixes |
| 1624 | 239 A.Politz Many bug reports and some fixes |
| 7 | 240 George V. Reilly Win32 port, Win32 GUI start-off |
| 241 Stephen Riehm bug collector | |
| 242 Stefan Roemer various patches and help to users | |
| 243 Ralf Schandl IBM OS/390 port | |
| 244 Olaf Seibert DICE and BeBox version, regexp improvements | |
| 245 Mortaza Shiran Farsi patches | |
| 246 Peter da Silva termlib | |
| 247 Paul Slootman OS/2 port | |
| 248 Henry Spencer regular expressions | |
| 249 Dany St-Amant Macintosh port | |
| 250 Tim Thompson Stevie | |
| 251 G. R. (Fred) Walter Stevie | |
| 252 Sven Verdoolaege Perl interface | |
| 253 Robert Webb Command-line completion, GUI versions, and | |
| 254 lots of patches | |
| 255 Ingo Wilken Tcl interface | |
| 256 Mike Williams PostScript printing | |
| 257 Juergen Weigert Lattice version, AUX improvements, UNIX and | |
| 258 MS-DOS ports, autoconf | |
| 259 Stefan 'Sec' Zehl Maintainer of vim.org | |
| 260 | |
| 261 I wish to thank all the people that sent me bug reports and suggestions. The | |
| 262 list is too long to mention them all here. Vim would not be the same without | |
| 263 the ideas from all these people: They keep Vim alive! | |
| 4992 | 264 *love* *peace* *friendship* *gross-national-happiness* |
| 7 | 265 |
| 266 | |
| 267 In this documentation there are several references to other versions of Vi: | |
| 39 | 268 *Vi* *vi* |
| 7 | 269 Vi "the original". Without further remarks this is the version |
| 270 of Vi that appeared in Sun OS 4.x. ":version" returns | |
| 271 "Version 3.7, 6/7/85". Sometimes other versions are referred | |
| 272 to. Only runs under Unix. Source code only available with a | |
| 273 license. More information on Vi can be found through: | |
| 274 http://vi-editor.org [doesn't currently work...] | |
| 275 *Posix* | |
| 276 Posix From the IEEE standard 1003.2, Part 2: Shell and utilities. | |
| 277 Generally known as "Posix". This is a textual description of | |
| 278 how Vi is supposed to work. | |
| 161 | 279 See |posix-compliance|. |
| 7 | 280 *Nvi* |
| 281 Nvi The "New" Vi. The version of Vi that comes with BSD 4.4 and FreeBSD. | |
| 282 Very good compatibility with the original Vi, with a few extensions. | |
| 283 The version used is 1.79. ":version" returns "Version 1.79 | |
| 284 (10/23/96)". There has been no release the last few years, although | |
| 285 there is a development version 1.81. | |
| 286 Source code is freely available. | |
| 287 *Elvis* | |
| 288 Elvis Another Vi clone, made by Steve Kirkendall. Very compact but isn't | |
| 289 as flexible as Vim. | |
| 290 The version used is 2.1. It is still being developed. Source code is | |
| 291 freely available. | |
| 292 | |
| 293 ============================================================================== | |
| 294 4. Notation *notation* | |
| 295 | |
| 296 When syntax highlighting is used to read this, text that is not typed | |
| 297 literally is often highlighted with the Special group. These are items in [], | |
| 298 {} and <>, and CTRL-X. | |
| 299 | |
| 300 Note that Vim uses all possible characters in commands. Sometimes the [], {} | |
| 301 and <> are part of what you type, the context should make this clear. | |
| 302 | |
| 303 | |
| 304 [] Characters in square brackets are optional. | |
| 305 | |
| 2596 | 306 *count* *[count]* |
| 7 | 307 [count] An optional number that may precede the command to multiply |
| 308 or iterate the command. If no number is given, a count of one | |
| 309 is used, unless otherwise noted. Note that in this manual the | |
| 310 [count] is not mentioned in the description of the command, | |
| 311 but only in the explanation. This was done to make the | |
| 312 commands easier to look up. If the 'showcmd' option is on, | |
| 313 the (partially) entered count is shown at the bottom of the | |
| 314 window. You can use <Del> to erase the last digit (|N<Del>|). | |
| 315 | |
| 316 *[quotex]* | |
| 317 ["x] An optional register designation where text can be stored. | |
| 318 See |registers|. The x is a single character between 'a' and | |
| 319 'z' or 'A' and 'Z' or '"', and in some cases (with the put | |
| 237 | 320 command) between '0' and '9', '%', '#', or others. The |
| 7 | 321 uppercase and lowercase letter designate the same register, |
| 322 but the lowercase letter is used to overwrite the previous | |
| 323 register contents, while the uppercase letter is used to | |
| 237 | 324 append to the previous register contents. Without the ""x" or |
| 7 | 325 with """" the stored text is put into the unnamed register. |
| 326 | |
| 327 *{}* | |
| 328 {} Curly braces denote parts of the command which must appear, | |
| 329 but which can take a number of different values. The | |
| 330 differences between Vim and Vi are also given in curly braces | |
| 331 (this will be clear from the context). | |
| 332 | |
| 333 *{char1-char2}* | |
| 334 {char1-char2} A single character from the range char1 to char2. For | |
| 335 example: {a-z} is a lowercase letter. Multiple ranges may be | |
| 336 concatenated. For example, {a-zA-Z0-9} is any alphanumeric | |
| 337 character. | |
| 338 | |
| 36 | 339 *{motion}* *movement* |
| 7 | 340 {motion} A command that moves the cursor. These are explained in |
| 341 |motion.txt|. Examples: | |
| 342 w to start of next word | |
| 343 b to begin of current word | |
| 344 4j four lines down | |
| 345 /The<CR> to next occurrence of "The" | |
| 346 This is used after an |operator| command to move over the text | |
| 347 that is to be operated upon. | |
| 348 - If the motion includes a count and the operator also has a | |
| 349 count, the two counts are multiplied. For example: "2d3w" | |
| 350 deletes six words. | |
| 351 - The motion can be backwards, e.g. "db" to delete to the | |
| 352 start of the word. | |
| 353 - The motion can also be a mouse click. The mouse is not | |
| 354 supported in every terminal though. | |
| 355 - The ":omap" command can be used to map characters while an | |
| 356 operator is pending. | |
| 357 - Ex commands can be used to move the cursor. This can be | |
| 358 used to call a function that does some complicated motion. | |
| 359 The motion is always characterwise exclusive, no matter | |
| 360 what ":" command is used. This means it's impossible to | |
| 361 include the last character of a line without the line break | |
| 362 (unless 'virtualedit' is set). | |
| 363 If the Ex command changes the text before where the operator | |
| 364 starts or jumps to another buffer the result is | |
| 365 unpredictable. It is possible to change the text further | |
| 366 down. Jumping to another buffer is possible if the current | |
| 367 buffer is not unloaded. | |
| 368 | |
| 369 *{Visual}* | |
| 370 {Visual} A selected text area. It is started with the "v", "V", or | |
| 371 CTRL-V command, then any cursor movement command can be used | |
| 372 to change the end of the selected text. | |
| 373 This is used before an |operator| command to highlight the | |
| 374 text that is to be operated upon. | |
| 375 See |Visual-mode|. | |
| 376 | |
| 377 *<character>* | |
| 378 <character> A special character from the table below, optionally with | |
| 379 modifiers, or a single ASCII character with modifiers. | |
| 380 | |
| 381 *'character'* | |
| 382 'c' A single ASCII character. | |
| 383 | |
| 384 *CTRL-{char}* | |
| 385 CTRL-{char} {char} typed as a control character; that is, typing {char} | |
| 386 while holding the CTRL key down. The case of {char} does not | |
| 387 matter; thus CTRL-A and CTRL-a are equivalent. But on some | |
| 388 terminals, using the SHIFT key will produce another code, | |
| 389 don't use it then. | |
| 390 | |
| 391 *'option'* | |
| 392 'option' An option, or parameter, that can be set to a value, is | |
| 393 enclosed in single quotes. See |options|. | |
| 394 | |
| 395 *quotecommandquote* | |
| 396 "command" A reference to a command that you can type is enclosed in | |
| 397 double quotes. | |
| 4119 | 398 `command` New style command, this distinguishes it from other quoted |
| 399 text and strings. | |
| 7 | 400 |
| 401 *key-notation* *key-codes* *keycodes* | |
| 402 These names for keys are used in the documentation. They can also be used | |
| 403 with the ":map" command (insert the key name by pressing CTRL-K and then the | |
| 404 key you want the name for). | |
| 405 | |
| 406 notation meaning equivalent decimal value(s) ~ | |
| 407 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| 408 <Nul> zero CTRL-@ 0 (stored as 10) *<Nul>* | |
| 409 <BS> backspace CTRL-H 8 *backspace* | |
| 410 <Tab> tab CTRL-I 9 *tab* *Tab* | |
| 411 *linefeed* | |
| 412 <NL> linefeed CTRL-J 10 (used for <Nul>) | |
| 413 <FF> formfeed CTRL-L 12 *formfeed* | |
| 414 <CR> carriage return CTRL-M 13 *carriage-return* | |
| 415 <Return> same as <CR> *<Return>* | |
| 416 <Enter> same as <CR> *<Enter>* | |
| 417 <Esc> escape CTRL-[ 27 *escape* *<Esc>* | |
| 418 <Space> space 32 *space* | |
| 419 <lt> less-than < 60 *<lt>* | |
| 420 <Bslash> backslash \ 92 *backslash* *<Bslash>* | |
| 421 <Bar> vertical bar | 124 *<Bar>* | |
| 422 <Del> delete 127 | |
| 423 <CSI> command sequence intro ALT-Esc 155 *<CSI>* | |
| 424 <xCSI> CSI when typed in the GUI *<xCSI>* | |
| 425 | |
| 426 <EOL> end-of-line (can be <CR>, <LF> or <CR><LF>, | |
| 427 depends on system and 'fileformat') *<EOL>* | |
| 428 | |
| 429 <Up> cursor-up *cursor-up* *cursor_up* | |
| 430 <Down> cursor-down *cursor-down* *cursor_down* | |
| 431 <Left> cursor-left *cursor-left* *cursor_left* | |
| 432 <Right> cursor-right *cursor-right* *cursor_right* | |
| 433 <S-Up> shift-cursor-up | |
| 434 <S-Down> shift-cursor-down | |
| 435 <S-Left> shift-cursor-left | |
| 436 <S-Right> shift-cursor-right | |
| 437 <C-Left> control-cursor-left | |
| 438 <C-Right> control-cursor-right | |
| 439 <F1> - <F12> function keys 1 to 12 *function_key* *function-key* | |
| 440 <S-F1> - <S-F12> shift-function keys 1 to 12 *<S-F1>* | |
| 441 <Help> help key | |
| 442 <Undo> undo key | |
| 443 <Insert> insert key | |
| 444 <Home> home *home* | |
| 445 <End> end *end* | |
| 446 <PageUp> page-up *page_up* *page-up* | |
| 447 <PageDown> page-down *page_down* *page-down* | |
| 448 <kHome> keypad home (upper left) *keypad-home* | |
| 449 <kEnd> keypad end (lower left) *keypad-end* | |
| 450 <kPageUp> keypad page-up (upper right) *keypad-page-up* | |
| 451 <kPageDown> keypad page-down (lower right) *keypad-page-down* | |
| 452 <kPlus> keypad + *keypad-plus* | |
| 453 <kMinus> keypad - *keypad-minus* | |
| 454 <kMultiply> keypad * *keypad-multiply* | |
| 455 <kDivide> keypad / *keypad-divide* | |
| 456 <kEnter> keypad Enter *keypad-enter* | |
| 457 <kPoint> keypad Decimal point *keypad-point* | |
| 458 <k0> - <k9> keypad 0 to 9 *keypad-0* *keypad-9* | |
| 459 <S-...> shift-key *shift* *<S-* | |
| 460 <C-...> control-key *control* *ctrl* *<C-* | |
| 461 <M-...> alt-key or meta-key *meta* *alt* *<M-* | |
| 462 <A-...> same as <M-...> *<A-* | |
| 463 <D-...> command-key (Macintosh only) *<D-* | |
| 464 <t_xx> key with "xx" entry in termcap | |
| 465 ----------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
| 466 | |
| 467 Note: The shifted cursor keys, the help key, and the undo key are only | |
| 468 available on a few terminals. On the Amiga, shifted function key 10 produces | |
| 469 a code (CSI) that is also used by key sequences. It will be recognized only | |
| 470 after typing another key. | |
| 471 | |
| 472 Note: There are two codes for the delete key. 127 is the decimal ASCII value | |
| 473 for the delete key, which is always recognized. Some delete keys send another | |
| 474 value, in which case this value is obtained from the termcap entry "kD". Both | |
| 475 values have the same effect. Also see |:fixdel|. | |
| 476 | |
| 477 Note: The keypad keys are used in the same way as the corresponding "normal" | |
| 478 keys. For example, <kHome> has the same effect as <Home>. If a keypad key | |
| 479 sends the same raw key code as its non-keypad equivalent, it will be | |
| 480 recognized as the non-keypad code. For example, when <kHome> sends the same | |
| 481 code as <Home>, when pressing <kHome> Vim will think <Home> was pressed. | |
| 482 Mapping <kHome> will not work then. | |
| 483 | |
| 484 *<>* | |
| 485 Examples are often given in the <> notation. Sometimes this is just to make | |
| 486 clear what you need to type, but often it can be typed literally, e.g., with | |
| 487 the ":map" command. The rules are: | |
| 488 1. Any printable characters are typed directly, except backslash and '<' | |
| 489 2. A backslash is represented with "\\", double backslash, or "<Bslash>". | |
| 490 3. A real '<' is represented with "\<" or "<lt>". When there is no | |
| 491 confusion possible, a '<' can be used directly. | |
| 492 4. "<key>" means the special key typed. This is the notation explained in | |
| 493 the table above. A few examples: | |
| 494 <Esc> Escape key | |
| 495 <C-G> CTRL-G | |
| 496 <Up> cursor up key | |
| 497 <C-LeftMouse> Control- left mouse click | |
| 498 <S-F11> Shifted function key 11 | |
| 499 <M-a> Meta- a ('a' with bit 8 set) | |
| 500 <M-A> Meta- A ('A' with bit 8 set) | |
| 501 <t_kd> "kd" termcap entry (cursor down key) | |
| 502 | |
| 503 If you want to use the full <> notation in Vim, you have to make sure the '<' | |
| 504 flag is excluded from 'cpoptions' (when 'compatible' is not set, it already is | |
| 505 by default). > | |
| 506 :set cpo-=< | |
| 507 The <> notation uses <lt> to escape the special meaning of key names. Using a | |
| 508 backslash also works, but only when 'cpoptions' does not include the 'B' flag. | |
| 509 | |
| 510 Examples for mapping CTRL-H to the six characters "<Home>": > | |
| 511 :imap <C-H> \<Home> | |
| 512 :imap <C-H> <lt>Home> | |
| 513 The first one only works when the 'B' flag is not in 'cpoptions'. The second | |
| 514 one always works. | |
| 515 To get a literal "<lt>" in a mapping: > | |
| 516 :map <C-L> <lt>lt> | |
| 517 | |
| 518 For mapping, abbreviation and menu commands you can then copy-paste the | |
| 519 examples and use them directly. Or type them literally, including the '<' and | |
| 520 '>' characters. This does NOT work for other commands, like ":set" and | |
| 521 ":autocmd"! | |
| 522 | |
| 523 ============================================================================== | |
| 524 5. Modes, introduction *vim-modes-intro* *vim-modes* | |
| 525 | |
| 526 Vim has six BASIC modes: | |
| 527 | |
| 528 *Normal* *Normal-mode* *command-mode* | |
| 529 Normal mode In Normal mode you can enter all the normal editor | |
| 530 commands. If you start the editor you are in this | |
| 531 mode (unless you have set the 'insertmode' option, | |
| 532 see below). This is also known as command mode. | |
| 533 | |
| 534 Visual mode This is like Normal mode, but the movement commands | |
| 535 extend a highlighted area. When a non-movement | |
| 536 command is used, it is executed for the highlighted | |
| 537 area. See |Visual-mode|. | |
| 538 If the 'showmode' option is on "-- VISUAL --" is shown | |
| 539 at the bottom of the window. | |
| 540 | |
| 541 Select mode This looks most like the MS-Windows selection mode. | |
| 542 Typing a printable character deletes the selection | |
| 543 and starts Insert mode. See |Select-mode|. | |
| 544 If the 'showmode' option is on "-- SELECT --" is shown | |
| 545 at the bottom of the window. | |
| 546 | |
| 547 Insert mode In Insert mode the text you type is inserted into the | |
| 548 buffer. See |Insert-mode|. | |
| 549 If the 'showmode' option is on "-- INSERT --" is shown | |
| 550 at the bottom of the window. | |
| 551 | |
| 552 Command-line mode In Command-line mode (also called Cmdline mode) you | |
| 553 Cmdline mode can enter one line of text at the bottom of the | |
| 554 window. This is for the Ex commands, ":", the pattern | |
| 555 search commands, "?" and "/", and the filter command, | |
| 556 "!". |Cmdline-mode| | |
| 557 | |
| 558 Ex mode Like Command-line mode, but after entering a command | |
| 559 you remain in Ex mode. Very limited editing of the | |
| 560 command line. |Ex-mode| | |
| 561 | |
| 1624 | 562 There are six ADDITIONAL modes. These are variants of the BASIC modes: |
| 7 | 563 |
| 564 *Operator-pending* *Operator-pending-mode* | |
| 565 Operator-pending mode This is like Normal mode, but after an operator | |
| 566 command has started, and Vim is waiting for a {motion} | |
| 567 to specify the text that the operator will work on. | |
| 568 | |
| 569 Replace mode Replace mode is a special case of Insert mode. You | |
| 570 can do the same things as in Insert mode, but for | |
| 571 each character you enter, one character of the existing | |
| 572 text is deleted. See |Replace-mode|. | |
| 573 If the 'showmode' option is on "-- REPLACE --" is | |
| 574 shown at the bottom of the window. | |
| 575 | |
| 1624 | 576 Virtual Replace mode Virtual Replace mode is similar to Replace mode, but |
| 577 instead of file characters you are replacing screen | |
| 578 real estate. See |Virtual-Replace-mode|. | |
| 579 If the 'showmode' option is on "-- VREPLACE --" is | |
| 580 shown at the bottom of the window. | |
| 581 | |
| 7 | 582 Insert Normal mode Entered when CTRL-O given in Insert mode. This is |
| 583 like Normal mode, but after executing one command Vim | |
| 584 returns to Insert mode. | |
| 585 If the 'showmode' option is on "-- (insert) --" is | |
| 586 shown at the bottom of the window. | |
| 587 | |
| 588 Insert Visual mode Entered when starting a Visual selection from Insert | |
| 589 mode, e.g., by using CTRL-O and then "v", "V" or | |
| 590 CTRL-V. When the Visual selection ends, Vim returns | |
| 591 to Insert mode. | |
| 592 If the 'showmode' option is on "-- (insert) VISUAL --" | |
| 593 is shown at the bottom of the window. | |
| 594 | |
| 595 Insert Select mode Entered when starting Select mode from Insert mode. | |
| 596 E.g., by dragging the mouse or <S-Right>. | |
| 597 When the Select mode ends, Vim returns to Insert mode. | |
| 598 If the 'showmode' option is on "-- (insert) SELECT --" | |
| 599 is shown at the bottom of the window. | |
| 600 | |
| 601 ============================================================================== | |
| 602 6. Switching from mode to mode *mode-switching* | |
| 603 | |
| 604 If for any reason you do not know which mode you are in, you can always get | |
| 605 back to Normal mode by typing <Esc> twice. This doesn't work for Ex mode | |
| 606 though, use ":visual". | |
| 607 You will know you are back in Normal mode when you see the screen flash or | |
| 608 hear the bell after you type <Esc>. However, when pressing <Esc> after using | |
| 609 CTRL-O in Insert mode you get a beep but you are still in Insert mode, type | |
| 610 <Esc> again. | |
| 611 | |
| 612 *i_esc* | |
| 613 TO mode ~ | |
| 614 Normal Visual Select Insert Replace Cmd-line Ex ~ | |
| 615 FROM mode ~ | |
| 1624 | 616 Normal v V ^V *4 *1 R gR : / ? ! Q |
| 7 | 617 Visual *2 ^G c C -- : -- |
| 618 Select *5 ^O ^G *6 -- -- -- | |
| 619 Insert <Esc> -- -- <Insert> -- -- | |
| 620 Replace <Esc> -- -- <Insert> -- -- | |
| 621 Command-line *3 -- -- :start -- -- | |
| 622 Ex :vi -- -- -- -- -- | |
| 623 | |
| 624 -- not possible | |
| 625 | |
| 626 *1 Go from Normal mode to Insert mode by giving the command "i", "I", "a", | |
| 627 "A", "o", "O", "c", "C", "s" or S". | |
| 628 *2 Go from Visual mode to Normal mode by giving a non-movement command, which | |
| 629 causes the command to be executed, or by hitting <Esc> "v", "V" or "CTRL-V" | |
| 630 (see |v_v|), which just stops Visual mode without side effects. | |
| 631 *3 Go from Command-line mode to Normal mode by: | |
| 632 - Hitting <CR> or <NL>, which causes the entered command to be executed. | |
| 633 - Deleting the complete line (e.g., with CTRL-U) and giving a final <BS>. | |
| 634 - Hitting CTRL-C or <Esc>, which quits the command-line without executing | |
| 635 the command. | |
| 636 In the last case <Esc> may be the character defined with the 'wildchar' | |
| 637 option, in which case it will start command-line completion. You can | |
| 638 ignore that and type <Esc> again. {Vi: when hitting <Esc> the command-line | |
| 639 is executed. This is unexpected for most people; therefore it was changed | |
| 640 in Vim. But when the <Esc> is part of a mapping, the command-line is | |
| 641 executed. If you want the Vi behaviour also when typing <Esc>, use ":cmap | |
| 642 ^V<Esc> ^V^M"} | |
| 643 *4 Go from Normal to Select mode by: | |
| 644 - use the mouse to select text while 'selectmode' contains "mouse" | |
| 645 - use a non-printable command to move the cursor while keeping the Shift | |
| 646 key pressed, and the 'selectmode' option contains "key" | |
| 647 - use "v", "V" or "CTRL-V" while 'selectmode' contains "cmd" | |
| 648 - use "gh", "gH" or "g CTRL-H" |g_CTRL-H| | |
| 649 *5 Go from Select mode to Normal mode by using a non-printable command to move | |
| 650 the cursor, without keeping the Shift key pressed. | |
| 651 *6 Go from Select mode to Insert mode by typing a printable character. The | |
| 652 selection is deleted and the character is inserted. | |
| 653 | |
| 654 If the 'insertmode' option is on, editing a file will start in Insert mode. | |
| 655 | |
| 656 *CTRL-\_CTRL-N* *i_CTRL-\_CTRL-N* *c_CTRL-\_CTRL-N* *v_CTRL-\_CTRL-N* | |
| 657 Additionally the command CTRL-\ CTRL-N or <C-\><C-N> can be used to go to | |
| 658 Normal mode from any other mode. This can be used to make sure Vim is in | |
| 659 Normal mode, without causing a beep like <Esc> would. However, this does not | |
| 660 work in Ex mode. When used after a command that takes an argument, such as | |
| 661 |f| or |m|, the timeout set with 'ttimeoutlen' applies. | |
| 662 | |
| 663 *CTRL-\_CTRL-G* *i_CTRL-\_CTRL-G* *c_CTRL-\_CTRL-G* *v_CTRL-\_CTRL-G* | |
| 664 The command CTRL-\ CTRL-G or <C-\><C-G> can be used to go to Insert mode when | |
| 665 'insertmode' is set. Otherwise it goes to Normal mode. This can be used to | |
| 666 make sure Vim is in the mode indicated by 'insertmode', without knowing in | |
| 667 what mode Vim currently is. | |
| 668 | |
| 669 *Q* *mode-Ex* *Ex-mode* *Ex* *EX* *E501* | |
| 670 Q Switch to "Ex" mode. This is a bit like typing ":" | |
| 671 commands one after another, except: | |
| 672 - You don't have to keep pressing ":". | |
| 673 - The screen doesn't get updated after each command. | |
| 674 - There is no normal command-line editing. | |
| 675 - Mappings and abbreviations are not used. | |
| 676 In fact, you are editing the lines with the "standard" | |
| 677 line-input editing commands (<Del> or <BS> to erase, | |
| 678 CTRL-U to kill the whole line). | |
| 679 Vim will enter this mode by default if it's invoked as | |
| 680 "ex" on the command-line. | |
| 681 Use the ":vi" command |:visual| to exit "Ex" mode. | |
| 682 Note: In older versions of Vim "Q" formatted text, | |
| 683 that is now done with |gq|. But if you use the | |
| 684 |vimrc_example.vim| script "Q" works like "gq". | |
| 685 | |
| 686 *gQ* | |
| 161 | 687 gQ Switch to "Ex" mode like with "Q", but really behave |
| 688 like typing ":" commands after another. All command | |
| 689 line editing, completion etc. is available. | |
| 7 | 690 Use the ":vi" command |:visual| to exit "Ex" mode. |
| 691 {not in Vi} | |
| 692 | |
| 693 ============================================================================== | |
| 694 7. The window contents *window-contents* | |
| 695 | |
| 696 In Normal mode and Insert/Replace mode the screen window will show the current | |
| 697 contents of the buffer: What You See Is What You Get. There are two | |
| 698 exceptions: | |
| 699 - When the 'cpoptions' option contains '$', and the change is within one line, | |
| 700 the text is not directly deleted, but a '$' is put at the last deleted | |
| 701 character. | |
| 702 - When inserting text in one window, other windows on the same text are not | |
| 703 updated until the insert is finished. | |
| 704 {Vi: The screen is not always updated on slow terminals} | |
| 705 | |
| 706 Lines longer than the window width will wrap, unless the 'wrap' option is off | |
| 707 (see below). The 'linebreak' option can be set to wrap at a blank character. | |
| 708 | |
| 709 If the window has room after the last line of the buffer, Vim will show '~' in | |
| 2642 | 710 the first column of the last lines in the window, like this: |
| 7 | 711 |
| 712 +-----------------------+ | |
| 713 |some line | | |
| 714 |last line | | |
| 715 |~ | | |
| 716 |~ | | |
| 717 +-----------------------+ | |
| 718 | |
| 719 Thus the '~' lines indicate that the end of the buffer was reached. | |
| 720 | |
| 721 If the last line in a window doesn't fit, Vim will indicate this with a '@' in | |
| 2642 | 722 the first column of the last lines in the window, like this: |
| 7 | 723 |
| 724 +-----------------------+ | |
| 725 |first line | | |
| 726 |second line | | |
| 727 |@ | | |
| 728 |@ | | |
| 729 +-----------------------+ | |
| 730 | |
| 731 Thus the '@' lines indicate that there is a line that doesn't fit in the | |
| 732 window. | |
| 733 | |
| 734 When the "lastline" flag is present in the 'display' option, you will not see | |
| 735 '@' characters at the left side of window. If the last line doesn't fit | |
| 736 completely, only the part that fits is shown, and the last three characters of | |
| 2662 | 737 the last line are replaced with "@@@", like this: |
| 7 | 738 |
| 739 +-----------------------+ | |
| 740 |first line | | |
| 741 |second line | | |
| 742 |a very long line that d| | |
| 743 |oesn't fit in the wi@@@| | |
| 744 +-----------------------+ | |
| 745 | |
| 746 If there is a single line that is too long to fit in the window, this is a | |
| 747 special situation. Vim will show only part of the line, around where the | |
| 748 cursor is. There are no special characters shown, so that you can edit all | |
| 749 parts of this line. | |
| 750 {Vi: gives an "internal error" on lines that do not fit in the window} | |
| 751 | |
| 752 The '@' occasion in the 'highlight' option can be used to set special | |
| 753 highlighting for the '@' and '~' characters. This makes it possible to | |
| 754 distinguish them from real characters in the buffer. | |
| 755 | |
| 756 The 'showbreak' option contains the string to put in front of wrapped lines. | |
| 757 | |
| 758 *wrap-off* | |
| 759 If the 'wrap' option is off, long lines will not wrap. Only the part that | |
| 760 fits on the screen is shown. If the cursor is moved to a part of the line | |
| 761 that is not shown, the screen is scrolled horizontally. The advantage of | |
| 762 this method is that columns are shown as they are and lines that cannot fit | |
| 763 on the screen can be edited. The disadvantage is that you cannot see all the | |
| 764 characters of a line at once. The 'sidescroll' option can be set to the | |
| 765 minimal number of columns to scroll. {Vi: has no 'wrap' option} | |
| 766 | |
| 767 All normal ASCII characters are displayed directly on the screen. The <Tab> | |
| 768 is replaced with the number of spaces that it represents. Other non-printing | |
| 769 characters are replaced with "^{char}", where {char} is the non-printing | |
| 770 character with 64 added. Thus character 7 (bell) will be shown as "^G". | |
| 771 Characters between 127 and 160 are replaced with "~{char}", where {char} is | |
| 772 the character with 64 subtracted. These characters occupy more than one | |
| 773 position on the screen. The cursor can only be positioned on the first one. | |
| 774 | |
| 775 If you set the 'number' option, all lines will be preceded with their | |
| 776 number. Tip: If you don't like wrapping lines to mix with the line numbers, | |
| 777 set the 'showbreak' option to eight spaces: | |
| 778 ":set showbreak=\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ " | |
| 779 | |
| 780 If you set the 'list' option, <Tab> characters will not be shown as several | |
| 781 spaces, but as "^I". A '$' will be placed at the end of the line, so you can | |
| 782 find trailing blanks. | |
| 783 | |
| 784 In Command-line mode only the command-line itself is shown correctly. The | |
| 785 display of the buffer contents is updated as soon as you go back to Command | |
| 786 mode. | |
| 787 | |
| 788 The last line of the window is used for status and other messages. The | |
| 789 status messages will only be used if an option is on: | |
| 790 | |
| 791 status message option default Unix default ~ | |
| 792 current mode 'showmode' on on | |
| 793 command characters 'showcmd' on off | |
| 794 cursor position 'ruler' off off | |
| 795 | |
| 796 The current mode is "-- INSERT --" or "-- REPLACE --", see |'showmode'|. The | |
| 797 command characters are those that you typed but were not used yet. {Vi: does | |
| 798 not show the characters you typed or the cursor position} | |
| 799 | |
| 800 If you have a slow terminal you can switch off the status messages to speed | |
| 801 up editing: | |
| 802 :set nosc noru nosm | |
| 803 | |
| 804 If there is an error, an error message will be shown for at least one second | |
| 805 (in reverse video). {Vi: error messages may be overwritten with other | |
| 806 messages before you have a chance to read them} | |
| 807 | |
| 808 Some commands show how many lines were affected. Above which threshold this | |
| 809 happens can be controlled with the 'report' option (default 2). | |
| 810 | |
| 811 On the Amiga Vim will run in a CLI window. The name Vim and the full name of | |
| 812 the current file name will be shown in the title bar. When the window is | |
| 813 resized, Vim will automatically redraw the window. You may make the window as | |
| 814 small as you like, but if it gets too small not a single line will fit in it. | |
| 815 Make it at least 40 characters wide to be able to read most messages on the | |
| 816 last line. | |
| 817 | |
| 818 On most Unix systems, resizing the window is recognized and handled correctly | |
| 819 by Vim. {Vi: not ok} | |
| 820 | |
| 821 ============================================================================== | |
| 822 8. Definitions *definitions* | |
| 823 | |
| 824 screen The whole area that Vim uses to work in. This can be | |
| 825 a terminal emulator window. Also called "the Vim | |
| 826 window". | |
| 827 window A view on a buffer. | |
| 828 | |
| 829 A screen contains one or more windows, separated by status lines and with the | |
| 830 command line at the bottom. | |
| 831 | |
| 832 +-------------------------------+ | |
| 833 screen | window 1 | window 2 | | |
| 834 | | | | |
| 835 | | | | |
| 836 |= status line =|= status line =| | |
| 837 | window 3 | | |
| 838 | | | |
| 839 | | | |
| 840 |==== status line ==============| | |
| 841 |command line | | |
| 842 +-------------------------------+ | |
| 843 | |
| 844 The command line is also used for messages. It scrolls up the screen when | |
| 845 there is not enough room in the command line. | |
| 846 | |
| 847 A difference is made between four types of lines: | |
| 848 | |
| 849 buffer lines The lines in the buffer. This is the same as the | |
| 850 lines as they are read from/written to a file. They | |
| 851 can be thousands of characters long. | |
| 852 logical lines The buffer lines with folding applied. Buffer lines | |
| 853 in a closed fold are changed to a single logical line: | |
| 854 "+-- 99 lines folded". They can be thousands of | |
| 855 characters long. | |
| 856 window lines The lines displayed in a window: A range of logical | |
| 857 lines with wrapping, line breaks, etc. applied. They | |
| 858 can only be as long as the width of the window allows, | |
| 859 longer lines are wrapped or truncated. | |
| 860 screen lines The lines of the screen that Vim uses. Consists of | |
| 861 the window lines of all windows, with status lines | |
| 862 and the command line added. They can only be as long | |
| 863 as the width of the screen allows. When the command | |
| 864 line gets longer it wraps and lines are scrolled to | |
| 865 make room. | |
| 866 | |
| 867 buffer lines logical lines window lines screen lines ~ | |
| 868 | |
| 869 1. one 1. one 1. +-- folded 1. +-- folded | |
| 870 2. two 2. +-- folded 2. five 2. five | |
| 871 3. three 3. five 3. six 3. six | |
| 872 4. four 4. six 4. seven 4. seven | |
| 873 5. five 5. seven 5. === status line === | |
| 874 6. six 6. aaa | |
| 875 7. seven 7. bbb | |
| 876 8. ccc ccc c | |
| 877 1. aaa 1. aaa 1. aaa 9. cc | |
| 878 2. bbb 2. bbb 2. bbb 10. ddd | |
| 879 3. ccc ccc ccc 3. ccc ccc ccc 3. ccc ccc c 11. ~ | |
| 880 4. ddd 4. ddd 4. cc 12. === status line === | |
| 881 5. ddd 13. (command line) | |
| 882 6. ~ | |
| 883 | |
| 884 ============================================================================== | |
| 885 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: |