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annotate runtime/doc/gui_x11.txt @ 2033:de5a43c5eedc
Update documentation files.
author | Bram Moolenaar <bram@zimbu.org> |
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date | Wed, 06 Jan 2010 20:52:26 +0100 |
parents | 5232b9862f23 |
children | 7c8c7c95a865 |
rev | line source |
---|---|
2033
de5a43c5eedc
Update documentation files.
Bram Moolenaar <bram@zimbu.org>
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1 *gui_x11.txt* For Vim version 7.2. Last change: 2009 Oct 28 |
7 | 2 |
3 | |
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar | |
5 | |
6 | |
7 Vim's Graphical User Interface *gui-x11* *GUI-X11* | |
8 *Athena* *Motif* | |
9 1. Starting the X11 GUI |gui-x11-start| | |
10 2. GUI Resources |gui-resources| | |
11 3. Shell Commands |gui-pty| | |
12 4. Various |gui-x11-various| | |
13 5. GTK version |gui-gtk| | |
14 6. GNOME version |gui-gnome| | |
856 | 15 7. KDE version |gui-kde| |
11 | 16 8. Compiling |gui-x11-compiling| |
17 9. X11 selection mechanism |x11-selection| | |
7 | 18 |
19 Other relevant documentation: | |
20 |gui.txt| For generic items of the GUI. | |
21 | |
22 {Vi does not have any of these commands} | |
23 | |
24 ============================================================================== | |
25 1. Starting the X11 GUI *gui-x11-start* *E665* | |
26 | |
27 Then you can run the GUI version of Vim in either of these ways: | |
28 gvim [options] [files...] | |
29 vim -g [options] [files...] | |
30 | |
31 So if you call the executable "gvim", or make "gvim" a link to the executable, | |
32 then the GUI version will automatically be used. Additional characters may be | |
33 added after "gvim", for example "gvim-5". | |
34 | |
35 You may also start up the GUI from within the terminal version by using one of | |
36 these commands: | |
37 :gui [++opt] [+cmd] [-f|-b] [files...] *:gu* *:gui* | |
38 :gvim [++opt] [+cmd] [-f|-b] [files...] *:gv* *:gvim* | |
39 The "-f" option runs Vim in the foreground. | |
40 The "-b" option runs Vim in the background (this is the default). | |
41 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. | |
42 | |
43 *gui-fork* | |
44 When the GUI is started, it does a fork() and exits the current process. | |
45 When gvim was started from a shell this makes the shell accept further | |
46 commands. If you don't want this (e.g. when using gvim for a mail program | |
47 that waits for gvim to exit), start gvim with "gvim -f", "vim -gf" or use | |
48 ":gui -f". Don't use "vim -fg", because "-fg" specifies the foreground | |
49 color. | |
50 | |
51 When using "gvim -f" and then ":gui", Vim will run in the foreground. The | |
52 "-f" argument will be remembered. To force running Vim in the background use | |
53 ":gui -b". | |
54 | |
55 "gvim --nofork" does the same as "gvim -f". | |
56 | |
57 If you want the GUI to run in the foreground always, include the 'f' | |
58 flag in 'guioptions'. |-f|. | |
59 | |
60 ============================================================================== | |
61 2. GUI Resources *gui-resources* *.Xdefaults* | |
62 | |
11 | 63 If using the Motif or Athena version of the GUI (not for the KDE, GTK+ or Win32 |
7 | 64 version), a number of X resources are available. You should use Vim's class |
65 "Vim" when setting these. They are as follows: | |
66 | |
67 Resource name Meaning ~ | |
68 | |
69 reverseVideo Boolean: should reverse video be used? | |
70 background Color of background. | |
71 foreground Color of normal text. | |
72 scrollBackground Color of trough portion of scrollbars. | |
73 scrollForeground Color of slider and arrow portions of scrollbars. | |
74 menuBackground Color of menu backgrounds. | |
75 menuForeground Color of menu foregrounds. | |
76 tooltipForeground Color of tooltip and balloon foreground. | |
77 tooltipBackground Color of tooltip and balloon background. | |
78 | |
79 font Name of font used for normal text. | |
80 boldFont Name of font used for bold text. | |
81 italicFont Name of font used for italic text. | |
82 boldItalicFont Name of font used for bold, italic text. | |
83 menuFont Name of font used for the menus, used when compiled | |
84 without the |+xfontset| feature | |
85 menuFontSet Name of fontset used for the menus, used when compiled | |
86 with the |+xfontset| feature | |
87 tooltipFont Name of the font used for the tooltip and balloons. | |
88 When compiled with the |+xfontset| feature this is a | |
89 fontset name. | |
90 | |
91 geometry Initial geometry to use for gvim's window (default | |
92 is same size as terminal that started it). | |
93 scrollbarWidth Thickness of scrollbars. | |
94 borderWidth Thickness of border around text area. | |
95 menuHeight Height of the menu bar (only for Athena). | |
96 | |
97 A special font for italic, bold, and italic-bold text will only be used if | |
98 the user has specified one via a resource. No attempt is made to guess what | |
99 fonts should be used for these based on the normal text font. | |
100 | |
101 Note that the colors can also be set with the ":highlight" command, using the | |
102 "Normal", "Menu", "Tooltip", and "Scrollbar" groups. Example: > | |
103 :highlight Menu guibg=lightblue | |
104 :highlight Tooltip guibg=yellow | |
105 :highlight Scrollbar guibg=lightblue guifg=blue | |
106 :highlight Normal guibg=grey90 | |
107 < | |
108 *font-sizes* | |
109 Note: All fonts (except for the menu and tooltip) must be of the same size!!! | |
110 If you don't do this, text will disappear or mess up the display. Vim does | |
111 not check the font sizes. It's the size in screen pixels that must be the | |
112 same. Note that some fonts that have the same point size don't have the same | |
113 pixel size! Additionally, the positioning of the fonts must be the same | |
114 (ascent and descent). You can check this with "xlsfonts -l {fontname}". | |
115 | |
236 | 116 If any of these things are also set with Vim commands, e.g. with |
7 | 117 ":set guifont=Screen15", then this will override the X resources (currently |
118 'guifont' is the only option that is supported). | |
119 | |
120 Here is an example of what you might put in your ~/.Xdefaults file: > | |
121 | |
122 Vim*useSchemes: all | |
123 Vim*sgiMode: true | |
124 Vim*useEnhancedFSB: true | |
125 Vim.foreground: Black | |
126 Vim.background: Wheat | |
127 Vim*fontList: 7x13 | |
128 | |
129 The first three of these are standard resources on Silicon Graphics machines | |
130 which make Motif applications look even better, highly recommended! | |
131 | |
132 The "Vim*fontList" is to set the menu font for Motif. Example: > | |
133 Vim*menuBar*fontList: -*-courier-medium-r-*-*-10-*-*-*-*-*-*-* | |
134 With Athena: > | |
135 Vim*menuBar*SmeBSB*font: -*-courier-medium-r-*-*-10-*-*-*-*-*-*-* | |
136 Vim*menuBar*MenuButton*font: -*-courier-medium-r-*-*-10-*-*-*-*-*-*-* | |
137 | |
138 NOTE: A more portable, and indeed more correct, way to specify the menu font | |
139 in either Motif or Athena is through the resource: > | |
140 Vim.menuFont: -*-courier-medium-r-*-*-10-*-*-*-*-*-*-* | |
141 Or, when compiled with the |+xfontset| feature: > | |
142 Vim.menuFontSet: -*-courier-medium-r-*-*-10-*-*-*-*-*-*-* | |
143 | |
144 Don't use "Vim*geometry" in the defaults. This will break the menus. Use | |
145 "Vim.geometry" instead. | |
146 | |
147 If you get an error message "Cannot allocate colormap entry for "gray60", | |
148 try adding this to your Vim resources (change the colors to your liking): > | |
149 | |
150 Vim*scrollBackground: Black | |
151 Vim*scrollForeground: Blue | |
152 | |
153 The resources can also be set with arguments to Vim: | |
154 | |
155 argument meaning ~ | |
156 *-gui* | |
157 -display {display} Run vim on {display} *-display* | |
158 -iconic Start vim iconified *-iconic* | |
159 -background {color} Use {color} for the background *-background* | |
160 -bg {color} idem *-bg* | |
161 -foreground {color} Use {color} for normal text *-foreground* | |
162 -fg {color} idem *-fg* | |
163 -ul {color} idem *-ul* | |
164 -font {font} Use {font} for normal text *-font* | |
165 -fn {font} idem *-fn* | |
166 -boldfont {font} Use {font} for bold text *-boldfont* | |
167 -italicfont {font} Use {font} for italic text *-italicfont* | |
168 -menufont {font} Use {font} for menu items *-menufont* | |
169 -menufontset {fontset} Use {fontset} for menu items *-menufontset* | |
170 -mf {font} idem *-mf* | |
171 -geometry {geom} Use {geom} for initial geometry *-geometry* | |
172 -geom {geom} idem, see |-geometry-example| *-geom* | |
173 -borderwidth {width} Use a border width of {width} *-borderwidth* | |
174 -bw {width} idem *-bw* | |
175 *-scrollbarwidth* | |
176 -scrollbarwidth {width} Use a scrollbar width of {width} | |
177 -sw {width} idem *-sw* | |
178 -menuheight {height} Use a menu bar height of {height} *-menuheight* | |
179 -mh {height} idem *-mh* | |
180 NOTE: On Motif the value is ignored, the menu height | |
181 is computed to fit the menus. | |
182 -reverse Use reverse video *-reverse* | |
183 -rv idem *-rv* | |
184 +reverse Don't use reverse video *-+reverse* | |
185 +rv idem *-+rv* | |
186 -xrm {resource} Set the specified resource *-xrm* | |
187 | |
188 Note about reverse video: Vim checks that the result is actually a light text | |
189 on a dark background. The reason is that some X11 versions swap the colors, | |
190 and some don't. These two examples will both give yellow text on a blue | |
191 background: | |
192 gvim -fg Yellow -bg Blue -reverse | |
193 gvim -bg Yellow -fg Blue -reverse | |
194 | |
195 *-geometry-example* | |
196 An example for the geometry argument: > | |
197 gvim -geometry 80x63+8+100 | |
198 This creates a window with 80 columns and 63 lines at position 8 pixels from | |
199 the left and 100 pixels from the top of the screen. | |
200 | |
201 ============================================================================== | |
202 3. Shell Commands *gui-pty* | |
203 | |
204 WARNING: Executing an external command from the GUI will not always work. | |
205 "normal" commands like "ls", "grep" and "make" mostly work fine. Commands | |
206 that require an intelligent terminal like "less" and "ispell" won't work. | |
207 Some may even hang and need to be killed from another terminal. So be | |
208 careful! | |
209 | |
210 There are two ways to do the I/O with a shell command: Pipes and a pseudo-tty. | |
211 The default is to use a pseudo-tty. This should work best on most systems. | |
212 | |
213 Unfortunately, the implementation of the pseudo-tty is different on every Unix | |
214 system. And some systems require root permission. To avoid running into | |
215 problems with a pseudo-tty when you least expect it, test it when not editing | |
216 a file. Be prepared to "kill" the started command or Vim. Commands like | |
217 ":r !cat" may hang! | |
218 | |
219 If using a pseudo-tty does not work for you, reset the 'guipty' option: > | |
220 | |
221 :set noguipty | |
222 | |
223 Using a pipe should work on any Unix system, but there are disadvantages: | |
224 - Some shell commands will notice that a pipe is being used and behave | |
225 differently. E.g., ":!ls" will list the files in one column. | |
226 - The ":sh" command won't show a prompt, although it will sort of work. | |
227 - When using ":make" it's not possible to interrupt with a CTRL-C. | |
228 | |
229 Typeahead while the external command is running is often lost. This happens | |
230 both with a pipe and a pseudo-tty. This is a known problem, but it seems it | |
231 can't be fixed (or at least, it's very difficult). | |
232 | |
233 *gui-pty-erase* | |
234 When your erase character is wrong for an external command, you should fix | |
235 this in your "~/.cshrc" file, or whatever file your shell uses for | |
236 initializations. For example, when you want to use backspace to delete | |
237 characters, but hitting backspaces produces "^H" instead, try adding this to | |
238 your "~/.cshrc": > | |
239 stty erase ^H | |
240 The ^H is a real CTRL-H, type it as CTRL-V CTRL-H. | |
241 | |
242 ============================================================================== | |
243 4. Various *gui-x11-various* | |
244 | |
245 *gui-x11-printing* | |
246 The "File/Print" menu simply sends the current buffer to "lpr". No options or | |
247 whatever. If you want something else, you can define your own print command. | |
248 For example: > | |
249 | |
250 :10amenu File.Print :w !lpr -Php3 | |
251 :10vmenu File.Print :w !lpr -Php3 | |
252 < | |
253 *X11-icon* | |
254 Vim uses a black&white icon by default when compiled with Motif or Athena. A | |
255 colored Vim icon is included as $VIMRUNTIME/vim32x32.xpm. For GTK+, this is | |
256 the builtin icon used. Unfortunately, how you should install it depends on | |
257 your window manager. When you use this, remove the 'i' flag from | |
258 'guioptions', to remove the black&white icon: > | |
259 :set guioptions-=i | |
260 | |
261 If you use one of the fvwm* family of window managers simply add this line to | |
262 your .fvwm2rc configuration file: > | |
263 | |
264 Style "vim" Icon vim32x32.xpm | |
265 | |
266 Make sure the icon file's location is consistent with the window manager's | |
267 ImagePath statement. Either modify the ImagePath from within your .fvwm2rc or | |
268 drop the icon into one the pre-defined directories: > | |
269 | |
270 ImagePath /usr/X11R6/include/X11/pixmaps:/usr/X11R6/include/X11/bitmaps | |
271 | |
272 Note: older versions of fvwm use "IconPath" instead of "ImagePath". | |
273 | |
274 For CDE "dtwm" (a derivative of Motif) add this line in the .Xdefaults: > | |
275 Dtwm*Vim*iconImage: /usr/local/share/vim/vim32x32.xpm | |
276 | |
277 For "mwm" (Motif window manager) the line would be: > | |
278 Mwm*Vim*iconImage: /usr/local/share/vim/vim32x32.xpm | |
279 | |
280 Mouse Pointers Available in X11 *X11_mouse_shapes* | |
281 | |
282 By using the |'mouseshape'| option, the mouse pointer can be automatically | |
283 changed whenever Vim enters one of its various modes (e.g., Insert or | |
284 Command). Currently, the available pointers are: | |
285 | |
286 arrow an arrow pointing northwest | |
287 beam a I-like vertical bar | |
288 size an arrow pointing up and down | |
289 busy a wristwatch | |
290 blank an invisible pointer | |
291 crosshair a thin "+" sign | |
292 hand1 a dark hand pointing northeast | |
293 hand2 a light hand pointing northwest | |
294 pencil a pencil pointing southeast | |
295 question question_arrow | |
296 right_arrow an arrow pointing northeast | |
297 up_arrow an arrow pointing upwards | |
298 | |
299 Additionally, any of the mouse pointers that are built into X11 may be | |
300 used by specifying an integer from the X11/cursorfont.h include file. | |
301 | |
302 If a name is used that exists on other systems, but not in X11, the default | |
303 "arrow" pointer is used. | |
304 | |
305 ============================================================================== | |
306 5. GTK version *gui-gtk* *GTK+* *GTK* | |
307 | |
308 The GTK version of the GUI works a little bit different. | |
309 | |
310 GTK does _not_ use the traditional X resource settings. Thus items in your | |
311 ~/.Xdefaults or app-defaults files are not used. | |
312 Many of the traditional X command line arguments are not supported. (e.g., | |
313 stuff like -bg, -fg, etc). The ones that are supported are: | |
314 | |
315 command line argument resource name meaning ~ | |
316 -fn or -font .font font name for the text | |
317 -geom or -geometry .geometry size of the gvim window | |
318 -rv or -reverse *reverseVideo white text on black background | |
319 -display display to be used | |
320 -fg -foreground {color} foreground color | |
321 -bg -background {color} background color | |
322 | |
323 To set the font, see |'guifont'|. For GTK, there's also a menu option that | |
324 does this. | |
325 | |
326 Additionally, there are these command line arguments, which are handled by GTK | |
327 internally. Look in the GTK documentation for how they are used: | |
328 --sync | |
329 --gdk-debug | |
330 --gdk-no-debug | |
331 --no-xshm (not in GTK+ 2) | |
332 --xim-preedit (not in GTK+ 2) | |
333 --xim-status (not in GTK+ 2) | |
334 --gtk-debug | |
335 --gtk-no-debug | |
336 --g-fatal-warnings | |
337 --gtk-module | |
338 --display (GTK+ counterpart of -display; works the same way.) | |
339 --screen (The screen number; for GTK+ 2.2 multihead support.) | |
340 | |
341 These arguments are ignored when the |+netbeans_intg| feature is used: | |
342 -xrm | |
343 -mf | |
344 | |
345 As for colors, Vim's color settings (for syntax highlighting) is still | |
346 done the traditional Vim way. See |:highlight| for more help. | |
347 | |
348 If you want to set the colors of remaining gui components (e.g., the | |
349 menubar, scrollbar, whatever), those are GTK specific settings and you | |
350 need to set those up in some sort of gtkrc file. You'll have to refer | |
351 to the GTK documentation, however little there is, on how to do this. | |
352 See http://developer.gnome.org/doc/API/2.0/gtk/gtk-Resource-Files.html | |
353 for more information. | |
354 | |
355 *gtk-tooltip-colors* | |
356 Example, which sets the tooltip colors to black on light-yellow: > | |
357 | |
358 style "tooltips" | |
359 { | |
360 bg[NORMAL] = "#ffffcc" | |
361 fg[NORMAL] = "#000000" | |
362 } | |
363 | |
364 widget "gtk-tooltips*" style "tooltips" | |
365 | |
366 Write this in the file ~/.gtkrc and it will be used by GTK+. For GTK+ 2 | |
367 you might have to use the file ~/.gtkrc-2.0 instead, depending on your | |
368 distribution. | |
369 | |
370 Using Vim as a GTK+ plugin *gui-gtk-socketid* | |
371 | |
372 When the GTK+ version of Vim starts up normally, it creates its own top level | |
373 window (technically, a 'GtkWindow'). GTK+ provides an embedding facility with | |
374 its GtkSocket and GtkPlug widgets. If one GTK+ application creates a | |
375 GtkSocket widget in one of its windows, an entirely different GTK+ application | |
376 may embed itself into the first application by creating a top-level GtkPlug | |
377 widget using the socket's ID. | |
378 | |
379 If you pass Vim the command-line option '--socketid' with a decimal or | |
380 hexadecimal value, Vim will create a GtkPlug widget using that value instead | |
381 of the normal GtkWindow. This enables Vim to act as a GTK+ plugin. | |
382 | |
383 This really is a programmer's interface, and is of no use without a supporting | |
384 application to spawn the Vim correctly. For more details on GTK+ sockets, see | |
385 http://www.gtk.org/api/ | |
386 | |
387 Note that this feature requires the latest GTK version. GTK 1.2.10 still has | |
388 a small problem. The socket feature has not yet been tested with GTK+ 2 -- | |
389 feel free to volunteer. | |
390 | |
391 ============================================================================== | |
392 6. GNOME version *gui-gnome* *Gnome* *GNOME* | |
393 | |
394 The GNOME GUI works just like the GTK+ version. See |GTK+| above for how it | |
395 works. It looks a bit different though, and implements one important feature | |
396 that's not available in the plain GTK+ GUI: Interaction with the session | |
397 manager. |gui-gnome-session| | |
398 | |
399 These are the different looks: | |
400 - Uses GNOME dialogs (GNOME 1 only). The GNOME 2 GUI uses the same nice | |
401 dialogs as the GTK+ 2 version. | |
402 - Uses the GNOME dock, so that the toolbar and menubar can be moved to | |
403 different locations other than the top (e.g., the toolbar can be placed on | |
404 the left, right, top, or bottom). The placement of the menubar and | |
405 toolbar is only saved in the GNOME 2 version. | |
406 - That means the menubar and toolbar handles are back! Yeah! And the | |
407 resizing grid still works too. | |
408 | |
1121 | 409 GNOME is compiled with if it was found by configure and the |
410 --enable-gnome-check argument was used. | |
411 | |
7 | 412 |
413 GNOME session support *gui-gnome-session* *gnome-session* | |
414 | |
415 On logout, Vim shows the well-known exit confirmation dialog if any buffers | |
416 are modified. Clicking [Cancel] will stop the logout process. Otherwise the | |
417 current session is stored to disk by using the |:mksession| command, and | |
418 restored the next time you log in. | |
419 | |
420 The GNOME session support should also work with the KDE session manager. | |
421 If you are experiencing any problems please report them as bugs. | |
422 | |
423 Note: The automatic session save works entirely transparent, in order to | |
424 avoid conflicts with your own session files, scripts and autocommands. That | |
425 means in detail: | |
426 - The session file is stored to a separate directory (usually $HOME/.gnome2). | |
427 - 'sessionoptions' is ignored, and a hardcoded set of appropriate flags is | |
428 used instead: > | |
1621 | 429 blank,curdir,folds,globals,help,options,tabpages,winsize |
7 | 430 - The internal variable |v:this_session| is not changed when storing the |
431 session. Also, it is restored to its old value when logging in again. | |
432 | |
433 The position and size of the GUI window is not saved by Vim since doing so | |
434 is the window manager's job. But if compiled with GTK+ 2 support, Vim helps | |
435 the WM to identify the window by restoring the window role (using the |--role| | |
436 command line argument). | |
437 | |
438 ============================================================================== | |
12 | 439 7. KDE version *gui-kde* *kde* *KDE* *KVim* |
1121 | 440 *gui-x11-kde* |
574 | 441 There is no KDE version of Vim. There has been some work on a port using the |
442 Qt toolkit, but it never worked properly and it has been abandoned. Work | |
443 continues on Yzis: www.yzis.org. | |
11 | 444 |
445 ============================================================================== | |
446 8. Compiling *gui-x11-compiling* | |
7 | 447 |
448 If using X11, Vim's Makefile will by default first try to find the necessary | |
449 GTK+ files on your system. If the GTK+ files cannot be found, then the Motif | |
450 files will be searched for. Finally, if this fails, the Athena files will be | |
451 searched for. If all three fail, the GUI will be disabled. | |
452 | |
453 For GTK+, Vim's configuration process requires that GTK+ be properly | |
454 installed. That is, the shell script 'gtk-config' must be in your PATH, and | |
455 you can already successful compile, build, and execute a GTK+ program. The | |
456 reason for this is because the compiler flags (CFLAGS) and link flags | |
457 (LDFLAGS) are obtained through the 'gtk-config' shell script. | |
458 | |
459 If you want to build with GTK+ 2 support pass the --enable-gtk2-check argument | |
460 to ./configure. Optionally, support for GNOME 2 will be compiled if the | |
461 --enable-gnome-check option is also given. Note that the support for GTK+ 2 | |
462 is still experimental. However, many people have reported that it works just | |
463 fine for them. | |
464 | |
465 Otherwise, if you are using Motif or Athena, when you have the Motif or Athena | |
466 files in a directory where configure doesn't look, edit the Makefile to enter | |
467 the names of the directories. Search for "GUI_INC_LOC" for an example to set | |
468 the Motif directories, "CONF_OPT_X" for Athena. | |
469 | |
470 *gui-x11-gtk* | |
471 At the time of this writing, you may use either GTK+ version 1.0.6 or 1.2. It | |
472 is suggested that you use v1.2 since not all of Vim's GUI features are present | |
473 if using v1.0.6. For instance, there are no tearoff menus present in v1.0.6. | |
474 Using a version from GTK+'s CVS tree may or may not work, and is therefore not | |
475 supported and not recommended. | |
476 | |
477 For the experimental GTK+ 2 GUI, using the latest release of the GTK+ 2.0 or | |
478 GTK+ 2.2 series is recommended. CVS HEAD seems to work fine most of time as | |
479 well. | |
480 | |
481 Lastly, although GTK+ has supposedly been ported to the Win32 platform, this | |
482 has not been tested with Vim and is also unsupported. Also, it's unlikely to | |
483 even compile since GTK+ GUI uses parts of the generic X11 code. This might | |
484 change in distant future; particularly because getting rid of the X11 centric | |
485 code parts is also required for GTK+ framebuffer support. | |
486 | |
487 *gui-x11-motif* | |
488 For Motif, you need at least Motif version 1.2 and/or X11R5. Motif 2.0 and | |
489 X11R6 are OK. Motif 1.1 and X11R4 might work, no guarantee (there may be a | |
490 few problems, but you might make it compile and run with a bit of work, please | |
491 send me the patches if you do). The newest releases of LessTif have been | |
492 reported to work fine too. | |
493 | |
494 *gui-x11-athena* | |
495 The Athena version uses the Xaw widget set by default. If you have the 3D | |
496 version, you might want to link with Xaw3d instead. This will make the | |
497 menus look a bit better. Edit the Makefile and look for "XAW_LIB". The | |
498 scrollbars will remain the same, because Vim has its own, which are already | |
499 3D (in fact, they look more like Motif). | |
500 | |
501 *gui-x11-neXtaw* | |
502 The neXtaw version is mostly like Athena, but uses different widgets. | |
503 | |
504 *gui-x11-misc* | |
505 In general, do not try to mix files from different GTK+, Motif, Athena and X11 | |
506 versions. This will cause problems. For example, using header files for | |
507 X11R5 with a library for X11R6 probably doesn't work (although the linking | |
508 won't give an error message, Vim will crash later). | |
509 | |
510 ============================================================================== | |
11 | 511 9. X11 selection mechanism *x11-selection* |
7 | 512 |
513 If using X11, in either the GUI or an xterm with an X11-aware Vim, then Vim | |
514 provides varied access to the X11 selection and clipboard. These are accessed | |
515 by using the two selection registers "* and "+. | |
516 | |
517 X11 provides two basic types of global store, selections and cut-buffers, | |
518 which differ in one important aspect: selections are "owned" by an | |
519 application, and disappear when that application (e.g., Vim) exits, thus | |
520 losing the data, whereas cut-buffers, are stored within the X-server itself | |
521 and remain until written over or the X-server exits (e.g., upon logging out). | |
522 | |
523 The contents of selections are held by the originating application (e.g., upon | |
524 a copy), and only passed on to another application when that other application | |
525 asks for them (e.g., upon a paste). | |
526 | |
527 The contents of cut-buffers are immediately written to, and are then | |
528 accessible directly from the X-server, without contacting the originating | |
529 application. | |
530 | |
531 *quoteplus* *quote+* | |
532 There are three documented X selections: PRIMARY (which is expected to | |
533 represent the current visual selection - as in Vim's Visual mode), SECONDARY | |
534 (which is ill-defined) and CLIPBOARD (which is expected to be used for | |
535 cut, copy and paste operations). | |
536 | |
537 Of these three, Vim uses PRIMARY when reading and writing the "* register | |
538 (hence when the X11 selections are available, Vim sets a default value for | |
539 |'clipboard'| of "autoselect"), and CLIPBOARD when reading and writing the "+ | |
540 register. Vim does not access the SECONDARY selection. | |
541 | |
542 Examples: (assuming the default option values) | |
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543 - Select an URL in Visual mode in Vim. Go to your browser and click the |
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544 middle mouse button in the URL text field. The selected text will be |
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545 inserted (hopefully!). Note: in Firefox you can set the |
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546 middlemouse.contentLoadURL preference to true in about:config, then the |
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547 selected URL will be used when pressing middle mouse button in most places |
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548 in the window. |
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549 - Select some text in your browser by dragging with the mouse. Go to Vim and |
7 | 550 press the middle mouse button: The selected text is inserted. |
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551 - Select some text in Vim and do "+y. Go to your browser, select some text in |
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552 a textfield by dragging with the mouse. Now use the right mouse button and |
7 | 553 select "Paste" from the popup menu. The selected text is overwritten by the |
554 text from Vim. | |
555 Note that the text in the "+ register remains available when making a Visual | |
556 selection, which makes other text available in the "* register. That allows | |
557 overwriting selected text. | |
558 *x11-cut-buffer* | |
559 There are, by default, 8 cut-buffers: CUT_BUFFER0 to CUT_BUFFER7. Vim only | |
560 uses CUT_BUFFER0, which is the one that xterm uses by default. | |
561 | |
562 Whenever Vim is about to become unavailable (either via exiting or becoming | |
563 suspended), and thus unable to respond to another application's selection | |
564 request, it writes the contents of any owned selection to CUT_BUFFER0. If the | |
565 "+ CLIPBOARD selection is owned by Vim, then this is written in preference, | |
566 otherwise if the "* PRIMARY selection is owned by Vim, then that is written. | |
567 | |
568 Similarly, when Vim tries to paste from "* or "+ (either explicitly, or, in | |
569 the case of the "* register, when the middle mouse button is clicked), if the | |
570 requested X selection is empty or unavailable, Vim reverts to reading the | |
571 current value of the CUT_BUFFER0. | |
572 | |
573 Note that when text is copied to CUT_BUFFER0 in this way, the type of | |
574 selection (character, line or block) is always lost, even if it is a Vim which | |
575 later pastes it. | |
576 | |
577 Xterm, by default, always writes visible selections to both PRIMARY and | |
578 CUT_BUFFER0. When it pastes, it uses PRIMARY if this is available, or else | |
579 falls back upon CUT_BUFFER0. For this reason, when cutting and pasting | |
580 between Vim and an xterm, you should use the "* register. Xterm doesn't use | |
581 CLIPBOARD, thus the "+ doesn't work with xterm. | |
582 | |
583 Most newer applications will provide their current selection via PRIMARY ("*) | |
584 and use CLIPBOARD ("+) for cut/copy/paste operations. You thus have access to | |
585 both by choosing to use either of the "* or "+ registers. | |
586 | |
587 | |
588 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:ft=help:norl: |