|
18879
|
1 *usr_09.txt* For Vim version 8.2. Last change: 2017 Aug 11
|
|
7
|
2
|
|
|
3 VIM USER MANUAL - by Bram Moolenaar
|
|
|
4
|
|
|
5 Using the GUI
|
|
|
6
|
|
|
7
|
|
14347
|
8 Vim works in an ordinary terminal, while gVim has a Graphical User Interface
|
|
|
9 (GUI). It can do the same things and a few more. The GUI offers menus, a
|
|
|
10 toolbar, scrollbars and other items. This chapter is about these extra things
|
|
|
11 that the GUI offers.
|
|
7
|
12
|
|
|
13 |09.1| Parts of the GUI
|
|
|
14 |09.2| Using the mouse
|
|
|
15 |09.3| The clipboard
|
|
|
16 |09.4| Select mode
|
|
|
17
|
|
|
18 Next chapter: |usr_10.txt| Making big changes
|
|
|
19 Previous chapter: |usr_08.txt| Splitting windows
|
|
|
20 Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt|
|
|
|
21
|
|
|
22 ==============================================================================
|
|
|
23 *09.1* Parts of the GUI
|
|
|
24
|
|
12785
|
25 You might have an icon on your desktop that starts gvim. Otherwise, one of
|
|
7
|
26 these commands should do it: >
|
|
|
27
|
|
|
28 gvim file.txt
|
|
|
29 vim -g file.txt
|
|
|
30
|
|
|
31 If this doesn't work you don't have a version of Vim with GUI support. You
|
|
|
32 will have to install one first.
|
|
|
33 Vim will open a window and display "file.txt" in it. What the window looks
|
|
|
34 like depends on the version of Vim. It should resemble the following picture
|
|
|
35 (for as far as this can be shown in ASCII!).
|
|
|
36
|
|
|
37 +----------------------------------------------------+
|
|
|
38 | file.txt + (~/dir) - VIM X | <- window title
|
|
|
39 +----------------------------------------------------+
|
|
|
40 | File Edit Tools Syntax Buffers Window Help | <- menubar
|
|
|
41 +----------------------------------------------------+
|
|
|
42 | aaa bbb ccc ddd eee fff ggg hhh iii jjj | <- toolbar
|
|
|
43 | aaa bbb ccc ddd eee fff ggg hhh iii jjj |
|
|
|
44 +----------------------------------------------------+
|
|
|
45 | file text | ^ |
|
|
|
46 | ~ | # |
|
|
|
47 | ~ | # | <- scrollbar
|
|
|
48 | ~ | # |
|
|
|
49 | ~ | # |
|
|
|
50 | ~ | # |
|
|
|
51 | | V |
|
|
|
52 +----------------------------------------------------+
|
|
|
53
|
|
|
54 The largest space is occupied by the file text. This shows the file in the
|
|
|
55 same way as in a terminal. With some different colors and another font
|
|
|
56 perhaps.
|
|
|
57
|
|
|
58
|
|
|
59 THE WINDOW TITLE
|
|
|
60
|
|
|
61 At the very top is the window title. This is drawn by your window system.
|
|
|
62 Vim will set the title to show the name of the current file. First comes the
|
|
|
63 name of the file. Then some special characters and the directory of the file
|
|
12045
|
64 in parens. These special characters can be present:
|
|
7
|
65
|
|
|
66 - The file cannot be modified (e.g., a help file)
|
|
|
67 + The file contains changes
|
|
|
68 = The file is read-only
|
|
|
69 =+ The file is read-only, contains changes anyway
|
|
|
70
|
|
|
71 If nothing is shown you have an ordinary, unchanged file.
|
|
|
72
|
|
|
73
|
|
|
74 THE MENUBAR
|
|
|
75
|
|
|
76 You know how menus work, right? Vim has the usual items, plus a few more.
|
|
|
77 Browse them to get an idea of what you can use them for. A relevant submenu
|
|
|
78 is Edit/Global Settings. You will find these entries:
|
|
|
79
|
|
|
80 Toggle Toolbar make the toolbar appear/disappear
|
|
|
81 Toggle Bottom Scrollbar make a scrollbar appear/disappear at the bottom
|
|
|
82 Toggle Left Scrollbar make a scrollbar appear/disappear at the left
|
|
|
83 Toggle Right Scrollbar make a scrollbar appear/disappear at the right
|
|
|
84
|
|
|
85 On most systems you can tear-off the menus. Select the top item of the menu,
|
|
|
86 the one that looks like a dashed line. You will get a separate window with
|
|
|
87 the items of the menu. It will hang around until you close the window.
|
|
|
88
|
|
|
89
|
|
|
90 THE TOOLBAR
|
|
|
91
|
|
|
92 This contains icons for the most often used actions. Hopefully the icons are
|
|
|
93 self-explanatory. There are tooltips to get an extra hint (move the mouse
|
|
|
94 pointer to the icon without clicking and don't move it for a second).
|
|
|
95
|
|
|
96 The "Edit/Global Settings/Toggle Toolbar" menu item can be used to make the
|
|
|
97 toolbar disappear. If you never want a toolbar, use this command in your
|
|
|
98 vimrc file: >
|
|
|
99
|
|
|
100 :set guioptions-=T
|
|
|
101
|
|
|
102 This removes the 'T' flag from the 'guioptions' option. Other parts of the
|
|
|
103 GUI can also be enabled or disabled with this option. See the help for it.
|
|
|
104
|
|
|
105
|
|
|
106 THE SCROLLBARS
|
|
|
107
|
|
|
108 By default there is one scrollbar on the right. It does the obvious thing.
|
|
|
109 When you split the window, each window will get its own scrollbar.
|
|
|
110 You can make a horizontal scrollbar appear with the menu item
|
|
|
111 Edit/Global Settings/Toggle Bottom Scrollbar. This is useful in diff mode, or
|
|
|
112 when the 'wrap' option has been reset (more about that later).
|
|
|
113
|
|
|
114 When there are vertically split windows, only the windows on the right side
|
|
|
115 will have a scrollbar. However, when you move the cursor to a window on the
|
|
|
116 left, it will be this one the that scrollbar controls. This takes a bit of
|
|
|
117 time to get used to.
|
|
|
118 When you work with vertically split windows, consider adding a scrollbar on
|
|
|
119 the left. This can be done with a menu item, or with the 'guioptions' option:
|
|
|
120 >
|
|
|
121 :set guioptions+=l
|
|
|
122
|
|
|
123 This adds the 'l' flag to 'guioptions'.
|
|
|
124
|
|
|
125 ==============================================================================
|
|
|
126 *09.2* Using the mouse
|
|
|
127
|
|
|
128 Standards are wonderful. In Microsoft Windows, you can use the mouse to
|
|
|
129 select text in a standard manner. The X Window system also has a standard
|
|
|
130 system for using the mouse. Unfortunately, these two standards are not the
|
|
|
131 same.
|
|
|
132 Fortunately, you can customize Vim. You can make the behavior of the mouse
|
|
236
|
133 work like an X Window system mouse or a Microsoft Windows mouse. The following
|
|
7
|
134 command makes the mouse behave like an X Window mouse: >
|
|
|
135
|
|
|
136 :behave xterm
|
|
|
137
|
|
|
138 The following command makes the mouse work like a Microsoft Windows mouse: >
|
|
|
139
|
|
|
140 :behave mswin
|
|
|
141
|
|
|
142 The default behavior of the mouse on UNIX systems is xterm. The default
|
|
|
143 behavior on a Microsoft Windows system is selected during the installation
|
|
|
144 process. For details about what the two behaviors are, see |:behave|. Here
|
|
|
145 follows a summary.
|
|
|
146
|
|
|
147
|
|
|
148 XTERM MOUSE BEHAVIOR
|
|
|
149
|
|
|
150 Left mouse click position the cursor
|
|
|
151 Left mouse drag select text in Visual mode
|
|
|
152 Middle mouse click paste text from the clipboard
|
|
|
153 Right mouse click extend the selected text until the mouse
|
|
|
154 pointer
|
|
|
155
|
|
|
156
|
|
|
157 MSWIN MOUSE BEHAVIOR
|
|
|
158
|
|
|
159 Left mouse click position the cursor
|
|
|
160 Left mouse drag select text in Select mode (see |09.4|)
|
|
|
161 Left mouse click, with Shift extend the selected text until the mouse
|
|
|
162 pointer
|
|
|
163 Middle mouse click paste text from the clipboard
|
|
|
164 Right mouse click display a pop-up menu
|
|
|
165
|
|
|
166
|
|
|
167 The mouse can be further tuned. Check out these options if you want to change
|
|
|
168 the way how the mouse works:
|
|
|
169
|
|
|
170 'mouse' in which mode the mouse is used by Vim
|
|
|
171 'mousemodel' what effect a mouse click has
|
|
|
172 'mousetime' time between clicks for a double-click
|
|
|
173 'mousehide' hide the mouse while typing
|
|
|
174 'selectmode' whether the mouse starts Visual or Select mode
|
|
|
175
|
|
|
176 ==============================================================================
|
|
|
177 *09.3* The clipboard
|
|
|
178
|
|
|
179 In section |04.7| the basic use of the clipboard was explained. There is one
|
|
|
180 essential thing to explain about X-windows: There are actually two places to
|
|
|
181 exchange text between programs. MS-Windows doesn't have this.
|
|
|
182
|
|
|
183 In X-Windows there is the "current selection". This is the text that is
|
|
|
184 currently highlighted. In Vim this is the Visual area (this assumes you are
|
|
|
185 using the default option settings). You can paste this selection in another
|
|
|
186 application without any further action.
|
|
|
187 For example, in this text select a few words with the mouse. Vim will
|
|
12785
|
188 switch to Visual mode and highlight the text. Now start another gvim, without
|
|
7
|
189 a file name argument, so that it displays an empty window. Click the middle
|
|
|
190 mouse button. The selected text will be inserted.
|
|
|
191
|
|
|
192 The "current selection" will only remain valid until some other text is
|
|
12785
|
193 selected. After doing the paste in the other gvim, now select some characters
|
|
7
|
194 in that window. You will notice that the words that were previously selected
|
|
11473
|
195 in the other gvim window are displayed differently. This means that it no
|
|
7
|
196 longer is the current selection.
|
|
|
197
|
|
|
198 You don't need to select text with the mouse, using the keyboard commands for
|
|
|
199 Visual mode works just as well.
|
|
|
200
|
|
|
201
|
|
|
202 THE REAL CLIPBOARD
|
|
|
203
|
|
|
204 Now for the other place with which text can be exchanged. We call this the
|
|
|
205 "real clipboard", to avoid confusion. Often both the "current selection" and
|
|
|
206 the "real clipboard" are called clipboard, you'll have to get used to that.
|
|
|
207 To put text on the real clipboard, select a few different words in one of
|
|
12785
|
208 the gvims you have running. Then use the Edit/Copy menu entry. Now the text
|
|
7
|
209 has been copied to the real clipboard. You can't see this, unless you have
|
|
12045
|
210 some application that shows the clipboard contents (e.g., KDE's Klipper).
|
|
12785
|
211 Now select the other gvim, position the cursor somewhere and use the
|
|
7
|
212 Edit/Paste menu. You will see the text from the real clipboard is inserted.
|
|
|
213
|
|
|
214
|
|
|
215 USING BOTH
|
|
|
216
|
|
|
217 This use of both the "current selection" and the "real clipboard" might sound
|
|
|
218 a bit confusing. But it is very useful. Let's show this with an example.
|
|
11473
|
219 Use one gvim with a text file and perform these actions:
|
|
7
|
220
|
|
|
221 - Select two words in Visual mode.
|
|
|
222 - Use the Edit/Copy menu to get these words onto the clipboard.
|
|
|
223 - Select one other word in Visual mode.
|
|
|
224 - Use the Edit/Paste menu item. What will happen is that the single selected
|
|
|
225 word is replaced with the two words from the clipboard.
|
|
|
226 - Move the mouse pointer somewhere else and click the middle button. You
|
|
|
227 will see that the word you just overwrote with the clipboard is inserted
|
|
|
228 here.
|
|
|
229
|
|
|
230 If you use the "current selection" and the "real clipboard" with care, you can
|
|
|
231 do a lot of useful editing with them.
|
|
|
232
|
|
|
233
|
|
|
234 USING THE KEYBOARD
|
|
|
235
|
|
|
236 If you don't like using the mouse, you can access the current selection and
|
|
|
237 the real clipboard with two registers. The "* register is for the current
|
|
|
238 selection.
|
|
|
239 To make text become the current selection, use Visual mode. For example,
|
|
|
240 to select a whole line just press "V".
|
|
|
241 To insert the current selection before the cursor: >
|
|
|
242
|
|
|
243 "*P
|
|
|
244
|
|
|
245 Notice the uppercase "P". The lowercase "p" puts the text after the cursor.
|
|
|
246
|
|
|
247 The "+ register is used for the real clipboard. For example, to copy the text
|
|
|
248 from the cursor position until the end of the line to the clipboard: >
|
|
|
249
|
|
|
250 "+y$
|
|
|
251
|
|
|
252 Remember, "y" is yank, which is Vim's copy command.
|
|
|
253 To insert the contents of the real clipboard before the cursor: >
|
|
|
254
|
|
|
255 "+P
|
|
|
256
|
|
|
257 It's the same as for the current selection, but uses the plus (+) register
|
|
|
258 instead of the star (*) register.
|
|
|
259
|
|
|
260 ==============================================================================
|
|
|
261 *09.4* Select mode
|
|
|
262
|
|
|
263 And now something that is used more often on MS-Windows than on X-Windows.
|
|
|
264 But both can do it. You already know about Visual mode. Select mode is like
|
|
|
265 Visual mode, because it is also used to select text. But there is an obvious
|
|
|
266 difference: When typing text, the selected text is deleted and the typed text
|
|
|
267 replaces it.
|
|
|
268
|
|
|
269 To start working with Select mode, you must first enable it (for MS-Windows
|
|
|
270 it is probably already enabled, but you can do this anyway): >
|
|
|
271
|
|
|
272 :set selectmode+=mouse
|
|
|
273
|
|
|
274 Now use the mouse to select some text. It is highlighted like in Visual mode.
|
|
|
275 Now press a letter. The selected text is deleted, and the single letter
|
|
|
276 replaces it. You are in Insert mode now, thus you can continue typing.
|
|
|
277
|
|
|
278 Since typing normal text causes the selected text to be deleted, you can not
|
|
|
279 use the normal movement commands "hjkl", "w", etc. Instead, use the shifted
|
|
|
280 function keys. <S-Left> (shifted cursor left key) moves the cursor left. The
|
|
|
281 selected text is changed like in Visual mode. The other shifted cursor keys
|
|
|
282 do what you expect. <S-End> and <S-Home> also work.
|
|
|
283
|
|
|
284 You can tune the way Select mode works with the 'selectmode' option.
|
|
|
285
|
|
|
286 ==============================================================================
|
|
|
287
|
|
|
288 Next chapter: |usr_10.txt| Making big changes
|
|
|
289
|
|
14519
|
290 Copyright: see |manual-copyright| vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl:
|
