Vim tips

David Rayner, Gavin Gilmour August 15, 2010

Contents
1 Text manipulation 1.1 Searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1.1 1.1.2 1.2 1.2.1 1.2.2 1.2.3 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Search for declaration of subroutine/function under cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Search for visually highlighted text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Filter all form elements into paste register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Substitue within substituion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Substituting a visual area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 8 8 9 9 10 10 10 12 12

Substitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Global command display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Global combined with substitute (power editing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Changing case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reformatting text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Deletion without destroying buer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Essential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2 File Manipulation 2.1 Exploring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

CONTENTS CONTENTS 2.2 Opening les & other tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 Multiple les management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . File-name manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Command over multiple les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sessions (set of les) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.7.1 Creating your own GUI Toolbar entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Markers & moving about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Editing/moving within insert mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.10.1 Display RGB colour under the cursor eg #445588 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Registers 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 List your registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appending to registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Using a register as a map (preload registers in .vimrc) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Redirection & paste register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4.1 Copy full path name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Useful tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 13 14 14 14 15 15 15 16 16 17 17 17 17 17 18 18 19 19 19 20 20 21 21 21

2.10 Abbreviations & maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 Advanced 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 Command line tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . External programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3.1 Operating a Recording on a Visual BLOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Quick jumping between splits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Visual mode basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vimrc essentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

CONTENTS 4.6.1 4.6.2 4.6.3 4.7 4.8 4.9

CONTENTS Launching IE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 FTPing from vim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Autocmd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 22 22 22 23 23 23 24 24 24 24 25 25 25 25 26 26 26 27 27 27 27 27 28 28 28

Conventional shifting and indenting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Pulling objects onto command/search line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Capturing output of current script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

4.10 Inserting DOS carriage returns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.11 Perform an action on a particular le or le type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.12 Inserting line number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.13 Numbering lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.14 Advanced incrementing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.14.1 Create list starting from 223 incrementing by 5 between markers a,b . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.14.2 Create a map for INC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.15 Digraphs (non alpha-numerics) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.16 Complex vim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.17 Syntax highlighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.18 Preventions and security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.19 Taglist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.20 Folding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.21 Renaming les . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.22 Reproducing previous line word by word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.23 Reading MS-Word documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.24 Random functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.24.1 Save word under cursor to a le . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.24.2 Delete duplicate lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.24.3 Columnise a CSV le for display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.24.4 Highlight a particular csv column . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

CONTENTS 4.25 Miscallaenous commands

CONTENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 29 29 31 32 32 32 32 32

4.26 Vim traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.27 Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Fun 6 Contact 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Author (David Rayner) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Maintainer (Gavin Gilmour) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1.1

Searching

TEXT MANIPULATION

1
1.1

Text manipulation
Searching
/joe/e 3/joe/e+1 /joe/s-2 /^joe.*fred.*bill/ /^[A-J]\+/ /begin\_.*end /fred\_s*joe/ /fred\|joe /.*fred\&.*joe /\<fred\>/i /\<\d\d\d\d\> /\D\d\d\d\d\D /\<\d\{4}\> /\([^0-9]\|^\)%.*% /^\n\{3} /\(fred\).*\(joe\).*\2.*\1 /^\([^,]*,\)\{8} /<\zs[^>]*\ze> /<\@<=[^>]*>\@= /<\@<=\_[^>]*>\@= /<!--\_p{-}--> /fred\_s*joe/ /bugs\(\_.\)*bunny :h \_ :bufdo /searchstr/ :bufdo %s/searchstr/&/gic ?http://www.vim.org/ /\c\v([^aeiou]&\a){4} cursor set to end of match nd 3rd joe cursor set to End of match plus 1 cursor set to start of match minus 2 normal search for lines beginning with one or more A-J search over possible multiple lines any whitespace including newline search for fred or joe search for fred and joe in any order search for fred but not alfred or frederick search for exactly 4 digit numbers search for exactly 4 digit numbers same thing search for absence of a digit or beginning of line nd 3 empty lines using rexexp memory in a search repeating the regexp (rather than what the regexp nds) search for tag contents, ignoring chevrons (:h /\zs) search for tag contents, ignoring chevrons search for tags across possible multiple lines search for multiple line comments any whitespace including newline (\_) bugs followed by bunny anywhere in le help multiple le search (use :rewind to recommence search) multiple le search better but cheating (n, then a to stop) search backwards for a URL without backslashing search for 4 consecutive consonants

1.2 Substitution 1.1.1 Search for declaration of subroutine/function under cursor :nmap gx yiw/^\(sub\<bar>function\)\s\+<C-R>"<CR> 1.1.2 Search for visually highlighted text

TEXT MANIPULATION

:vmap // y/<C-R>"<CR> with spec chars :vmap <silent> // y/<C-R>=escape(@", \\/.*$^~[])<CR><CR>

1.2

Substitution
:%s/fred/joe/igc :%s/\r//g :%s/\r/\r/g :%s= *\$== :%s= \+\$== :%s#\s*\r\?\$## :%s#\s*\r*\$## :%s/^\n\{3}// :%s/^\n\+/\r/ :%s#<[^>]\+>##g :a,bg/fred/s/dick/joe/igc :%s= [^ ]\+\$=&&= :%s= \f\+\$=&&= :%s= \S\+\$=&& :s/\(.*\):\(.*\)/\2 : \1/ :%s/^\(.*\)\n\1\$/\1/ :%s/^.\{-}pdf/new.pdf/ :%s#\<[zy]\?tbl\_[a-z\_]\+\>#\L&#gc :%s/// :help /\{-} :s/fred/a/g general substitute command delete dos returns ^M turn dos returns ^M into real returns (xes joined lines) delete end of line blanks same as above clean both trailing spaces AND dos returns same thing deleting empty lines delete blocks of 3 empty lines compressing empty lines delete html tags, leave text VERY USEFUL duplicate end column same as above usually the same reverse elds separated by : delete duplicate lines delete to 1st pdf only lowercase with optional leading characters delete possibly multi-line comments help non-greedy sub fred with contents of register a

1.2

Substitution :s/fred/\=@a/g :%s/\f\+\.gif\>/\r&\r/g | v/\.gif\$/d | %s/gif/jpg/ :%s/a/but/gie|:update|:next :%s/suck\|buck/loopy/gc :s/\_\_date\_\_/\=strftime("%c")/ :%s:\(\(\w\+\s\+\)\{2}\)str1:\1str2: :%s:\(\w\+\)\(.*\s\+\)\(\w\+\)\$:\3\2\1: :%s/\d\+/\=(submatch(0)-3)/ :g/loc\|function/s/\d/\=submatch(0)+6/ :%s#txtdev\zs\d#\=submatch(0)+1#g :%s/\(gg\)\@<=\d\+/\=submatch(0)+6/ :let i=10 | a,bg/Abc/s/yy/\=i/ |let i=i+1 :let i=10 | a,bg/Abc/s/xx\zsyy\ze/\=i/ |let i=i+1 :%s/"\([^.]\+\).*\zsxx/\1/ :nmap <leader>z :%s#\<<c-r>=expand("<cword>")<cr>\># :vmap <leader>z :<C-U>%s/\<<c-r>*\>/

1 TEXT MANIPULATION better alternative as register not displayed multiple commands on one line then use @: to repeat ORing (must break pipe) insert datestring working with columns sub any str1 in col3 swapping rst and last column (4 columns) decrement numbers by 3 increment numbers by 6 on certain lines only better version of above increment only numbers gg\d\d by 6 (another way) convert yy to 10,11,12 etc convert xxyy to xx11,xx12,xx13 (more presise) nd replacement text, use \zs to simplify substitute pull word under cursor into LHS of a substitute pull visually highlighted text into LHS of a substitute

1.2.1

Filter all form elements into paste register

:redir @*|sil exec g#<\(input\|select\|textarea\|/\=form\)\>#p|redir END :nmap ,z :redir @*<Bar>sil exec \ g@<\(input\<Bar>select\<Bar>textarea\<Bar>/\=form\)\>@p<Bar>redir END<CR> 1.2.2 Substitue within substituion :%s,\(all/.*\)\@<=/,_,g :s#all/\zs.*#\=substitute(submatch(0), /, _, g)# :s#all/#&^M#|s#/#_#g|-j! :%s/.*/\=cp .submatch(0). all/.substitute(submatch(0),/,_,g)/ replace all / with AFTER all/ same thing sub by splitting line, re-joining sub inside sub

1.3 Global command display 1.2.3 Substituting a visual area :<,>s/Emacs/Vim/g gv remember you DONT type the <.> re-select the previous visual area (ULTRA)

TEXT MANIPULATION

1.3

Global command display

display with line numbers (YOU WANT THIS!) dick display all lines fred but not freddy delete all blank lines delete lines not containing string delete lines not containing string not line based (very powerfull) 10 previous lines delete empty lines but only between ... delete empty lines (both types) compress empty lines compress empty lines ORing double space le (pu = put) reverse le (m = move) reverse a section a to b duplicate every line copy lines matching fred to EOF copy lines matching stage to marker a delete all lines containing at least 80 tabs match all lines containing somestr between markers a & b as above but also do a substitution delete every other line increment numbers increment numbers append all lines fred to register a (empty reg a rst with qaq.) 8

:g/gladiolli/# :g/fred.*joe.*dick/ & display all lines fred,joe :g/\<fred\>/ :g/^\s*\$/d :g!/^dd/d :v/^dd/d :g/fred/,/joe/d :g/-------/.-10,.d & delete string :g/{/ ,/}/- s/\n\+/\r/g :v/\S/d :v/./,/./-j :g/^\$/,/./-j :g/<input\|<form/p :g/^/put_ :g/^/m0 :a,b/^/mb :g/^/t. :g/fred/t\$ :g/stage/ta :g/\(^I[^^I]*\)\{80}/d :a,bg/somestr/co/otherstr/ :a,bg/str1/s/str1/&&&/|mo/str2/ :%norm jdd :.,\$g/^\d/exe "norm! \" :a,bg/\d\+/norm! ^A :g/fred/y A

1.5 Changing case :g/fred/y A | :let @*=@a :let @a="|g/Barratt/y A |:let @*=@a :a,b g/^Error/ . w >> errors.txt :g/./yank|put|-1s//"/g|s/.*/Print &/ :g/^MARK\$/r tmp.ex | -d :g/<pattern>/z#.5 :g/<pattern>/z#.5|echo "==========" :g/|/norm 2f|r* :nmap <f3> :redir @a<cr>:g//<cr>:redir END<cr>:new<cr>:put! a<cr><cr>

1 put into paste buer

TEXT MANIPULATION

write out to errors.txt duplicate every line in a le wrap a print around each duplicate replace string with contents of a le, -d deletes the mark display with context display beautifully replace 2nd with a star send output of previous global command to a new window

1.4

Global combined with substitute (power editing)

:a,bg/fred/s/joe/susan/gic :g/fred/,/joe/s/fred/joe/gic :/fred/;/joe/-2,/sid/+3s/sally/alley/gIC can use memory to extend matching non-line based (ultra) nd fred before beginning search for joe

1.5

Changing case
guu gUU Vu VU g$\sim$$\sim$ vEU vE$\sim$ ggguG vmap ,c :s/\<\(.\)\(\k*\)\>/\u\1\L\2/g :%s/[.!?]\_s\+\a/\U&\E/g g<C-G> lowercase line uppercase line lowercase line uppercase line ip case line upper case word ip case word lowercase entire le titlise visually selected text (map for .vimrc) uppercase rst letter of sentences count words in text le

1.8

Essential

TEXT MANIPULATION

1.6

Reformatting text
gq} gqap ggVGgq Vgq :s/.\{,69\};\s*\|.\{,69\}\s\+/&\r/g format a paragraph format a paragraph reformat entire le current line break lines at 70 chars, if possible after a ;

1.7

Deletion without destroying buer

"_d "_dw what youve ALWAYS wanted delete word (use blackhole)

1.8

Essential
* # g* g# % . @: <C-N><C-P> <C-X><C-L> /<C-R><C-W> /<C-R><C-A> :set ignorecase :syntax on :h regexp :nmap ,s :source \$VIM/_vimrc nd word under cursor () (forwards/backwards) match brackets and tags {}, [], (), etc. repeat last modication repeat last : command (then @@) word completion in insert mode line complete SUPER USEFUL pull onto search/command line pull onto search/command line you nearly always want this colour syntax in perl, HTML, PHP etc. list all help topics containing regexp (TAB to step through list) read from vimrc 10

1.8

Essential :nmap ,v :e \$VIM/_vimrc :vmap sb "zdi<b><C-R>z</b><ESC> :vmap st "zdi<?= <C-R>z ?><ESC> open and edit local vimrc wrap <b></b> around VISUALLY selected text wrap <?= ?> around VISUALLY selected text

TEXT MANIPULATION

11

2.2

Opening les & other tricks

FILE MANIPULATION

2
2.1

File Manipulation
Exploring
:Exp(lore) :Sex(plore) :ls :cd .. :args :lcd %:p:h :autocmd BufEnter * lcd %:p:h \be \bs le explorer (note: capital E) le explorer in split window list of buers move to parent directory list of les change to directory of current le change to directory of current le automatically buer explorer list of buers buer explorer (split window)

2.2

Opening les & other tricks

gf :nnoremap gF :view ga ggVGg? ggg?G :8 | normal VGg? :normal 10GVGg? <c-a>,<c-x> <c-r>=5*5 :e main_<tab> main_<c-x><c-f> open le name under cursor (SUPER) open le under cursor, create if necessary display hex,ascii value of char under cursor rot13 whole le rot13 whole le (quicker for large le) rot13 from line 8 rot13 from line 8 increment, decrement number under cursor insert 25 into text (mini-calculator) tab completes include NAME of le in text (insert mode)

1 Script

required: bufexplorer.vim http://www.vim.org/script.php?script_id=42

12

2.4

File-name manipulation

FILE MANIPULATION

2.3

Multiple les management

:bn :bp :wn :wp :bd :bun :badd file.c :b 3 :b main :sav php.html :sav! %<.bak :sav! %:r.cfm :sav %:s/fred/joe/ :sav %:s/fred/joe/:r.bak2 :!mv % %:r.bak :e! :w c:/aaa/% :e # :rew :brew :sp fred.txt :sball,:sb :scrollbind :map <F5> :ls<CR>:e # :set hidden goto next buer goto previous buer save le and move to next (super) save le and move to previous remove le from buer list (super) buer unload (remove window but not from list) le from buer list go to buer 3 go to buer with main in name eg main.c (ultra) save current le as php.html and move to php.html save current le to alternative extension (old way) save current le to alternative extension do a substitute on le name do a substitute on le name & ext. rename current le (DOS use rename or del) return to unmodied le save le elsewhere edit alternative le (also ctrl-^) return to beginning of edited les list (:args) buer rewind open fred.txt into a split split all buers (super) in each split window pressing F5 lists all buers, just type number allows to change buer w/o saving current buer

2.4

File-name manipulation
:h filename-modifiers :w % :w %:r.cfm help write to current le name change le extention to .cfm 13

2.7

Modelines :!echo %:p :!echo %:p:h <C-R>% "%p /<C-R>% full path & le name full path only insert lename (insert mode) insert lename (normal mode) search for le name in text

FILE MANIPULATION

2.5

Command over multiple les

:argdo :bufdo :windo :argdo %s/foo/bar/e %s/foo/bar/e %s/foo/bar/e exe %!sort|w! operate on all les in :args operate on all buers operate on all windows include an external command

2.6

Sessions (set of les)

gvim file1.c file2.c lib/lib.h lib/lib2.h :mksession gvim -S Session.vim load les for session create a session le (default session.vim) reload all les

2.7

Modelines
vim:noai:ts=2:sw=4:readonly: vim:ft=html: :h modeline makes readonly says use HTML syntax highlighting help with modelines

14

2.9

Editing/moving within insert mode

FILE MANIPULATION

2.7.1 amenu

Creating your own GUI Toolbar entry Modeline.Insert\ a\ VIM\ modeline \ <esc><esc>ggOvim:ff=unix ts=4 ss=4<CR>vim60:fdm=marker<esc>gg

2.8

Markers & moving about

. . g; g, :changes :h changelist <C-O> <C-I> :ju(mps) :help jump-motions :history :his c :his s q/ q: : jump to last modication line (SUPER) jump to exact spot in last modication line cycle through recent changes (oldest rst) 2 reverse direction 3 show entire list of changes help for above retrace your movements in le (starting from most recent) retrace your movements in le (reverse direction) list of your movements explains jump motions list of all your commands commandline history search history search history window (puts you in full edit mode) commandline history window (puts you in full edit mode) history Window

2.9

Editing/moving within insert mode

<C-U> delete all entered

2 (new 3 (new

in vim 6.3) in vim 6.3)

15

2.10

Abbreviations & maps <C-W> <HOME><END> <C-LEFTARROW><C-RIGHTARROW> <C-X><C-E>,<C-X><C-Y> delete last word beginning/end of line jump one word backwards/forwards scroll while staying put in insert

FILE MANIPULATION

2.10
:map :map :map :map

Abbreviations & maps

<f7> <f8> <f11> <f12> :a,bw! c:/aaa/x :r c:/aaa/x :.w! c:/aaa/xr<CR> :r c:/aaa/xr<CR> :ab php :map , set wak=no <CR> <ESC> <BACKSPACE> <LEADER> <BAR> <SILENT> iab phpdb exit("<hr>Debug <C-R>a list of abbreviations beginning php list of maps beginning , allow use of F10 for win32 mapping (:h winaltkeys) enter escape backspace backslash execute quietly yank all variables into register a

");

2.10.1

Display RGB colour under the cursor eg #445588

:nmap <leader>c :hi Normal guibg=#<c-r>=expand("<cword>")<cr><cr>

16

3.2

Appending to registers

REGISTERS

3
3.1

Registers
List your registers
:reg :reg a "1p.... :let @y=yy@" qqq :let @a=@_ :let @a="" :let @*=@a display contents of all registers display content of individual registers retrieve numeric registers one by one pre-loading registers (put in .vimrc) empty register q clear register a clear register a copy register a to paste buer

3.2

Appending to registers

Yank 5 lines into a then add a further 5 "a5yy 10j "A5yy

3.3

Using a register as a map (preload registers in .vimrc)

:let @m=":a,bs/" :let @s=":%!sort -u"

3.4

Redirection & paste register

:redir @* :redir END :redir >> out.txt 17 redirect commands to paste buer end redirect redirect to a le

3.5

Useful tricks "*yy "*p :a,by* :%y* :.y* :nmap p :let @* = substitute(@*,[^[:print:]],,g)"*p yank to paste insert from paste buer yank range into paste yank whole buer into paste yank current line to paster lter non-printable characters

REGISTERS

3.4.1 unix:

Copy full path name

nnoremap <F2> :let @*=expand("%:p")<cr> windows: nnoremap <F2> :let @*=substitute(expand("%:p"), "/", "\\", "g")<cr>

3.5

Useful tricks
"ayy@a yy@" u@. :norm qqy$jq execute vim command in a text le same thing using unnamed register execute command JUST typed in paste normal commands without entering insert mode

18

4.2

External programs

ADVANCED

4
4.1

Advanced
Command line tricks
cat xx | gvim - -c "v/^\d\d\|^[3-9]/d" ls | gvim gvim ftp://www.somedomain.com/index.html gvim -h gvim -o file1 file2 gvim -c "/main" joe.c & open joe.c gvim -c "%s/ABC/DEF/ge | update" file1.c gvim -c "argdo %s/ABC/DEF/ge | update" *.c gvim -c "argdo /begin/+1,/end/-1g/^/d | update" *.c gvim -s "convert.vim" file.c gvim -u NONE -U NONE -N gvim -c normal ggdG"*p c:/aaa/xp gvim -c s/^/\=@*/|hardcopy!|q! gvim -d file1 file2 dp do :grep somestring *.php :h grep lter a stream edit a stream! uses netrw.vim help open into a split jump to main execute multiple command on a single le execute multiple command on a group of les remove blocks of text from a series of les automate editing of a le (ex commands in convert.vim) load vim without .vimrc and plugins (clean vim) access paste buer contents (put in a script/batch le) print paste contents to default printer vimdi (compare dierences) put dierence under cursor to other le get dierence under cursor from other le internal grep creates a list of all matching les use :cn(ext) :cp(rev) to navigate list

4.2

External programs
:r!ls.exe !!date :%!sort -u :a,b!sort -u !1} sort -u map <F9> :w:!c:/php/php.exe % map <F2> :w:!perl -c % :runtime! syntax/2html.vim reads in output of ls same thing (but replaces/lters current line) sort unique content as above sorts paragraph (note normal mode!!) run le through php run le through perl convert txt to html 19

4.3

Recording

ADVANCED

4.3

Recording
qq q @q @@ 5@@ "qp <ctrl-R>q "qdd @q nnoremap ] @l:wbd record to q end recording to execute to repeat to repeat 5 times display contents of register q (normal mode) display contents of register q (insert mode) put changed contacts back into q execute recording/register q combining a recording with a map (to end up in command mode)

4.3.1

Operating a Recording on a Visual BLOCK

dene recording/register qq:s/ to/ from/g^Mq dene Visual BLOCK V hit : and the following appears :<,> complete as follows :<,>norm @q

20

4.6

vimrc essentials

ADVANCED

4.4

Quick jumping between splits

map <C-J> <C-W>j<C-W>_ map <C-K> <C-W>k<C-W>_

4.5

Visual mode basics

v V <C-V> gv o "*y V% V}J V}gJ 0<C-V>10j2ld enter visual mode visual mode whole line enter VISUAL BLOCK mode reselect last visual area (ultra) navigate visual area yank visual area into paste buer visualise what you match join visual block (great) join visual block w/o adding spaces delete rst 2 characters of 10 successive lines

4.6

vimrc essentials
set set set set set incsearch wildignore=*.o,*.obj,*.bak,*.exe shiftwidth=3 vb t_vb=". browsedir=buffer jumps to search word as you type tab complete now ignores these for shift/tabbing set silent (no beep!) make open directory use current directory

4.6.1

Launching IE

:nmap ,f :update<CR>:silent !start c:\progra~1\intern~1\iexplore.exe file://%:p<CR> 21

4.8 Pulling objects onto command/search line :nmap ,i :update<CR>: !start c:\progra~1\intern~1\iexplore.exe <cWORD><CR> 4.6.2 FTPing from vim

ADVANCED

cmap ,r :Nread ftp://209.51.134.122/public_html/index.html cmap ,w :Nwrite ftp://209.51.134.122/public_html/index.html gvim ftp://www.somedomain.com/index.html # uses netrw.vim 4.6.3 Autocmd autocmd autocmd autocmd autocmd bufenter *.tex map <F1> :!latex % bufenter *.tex map <F2> :!xdvi -hush %<.dvi& BufRead * silent! %s/[\r \t]\+\$// BufEnter *.php :%s/[ \t\r]\+\$//e programming keys depending on le type launch xdvi with current le dvi automatically delete whitespace, trailing dos returns same but only for php les

4.7

Conventional shifting and indenting

:a,b>> :vnoremap < <gv :vnoremap > >gv >i{ >a{ >% <% conventional Shifting/Indenting visual shifting (builtin-repeat) visual shifting (builtin-repeat) block shifting (magic)

4.8

Pulling objects onto command/search line

<C-R><C-W> pull word under the cursor into a command line or search 22

4.11

Perform an action on a particular le or le type <C-R><C-A> pull <C-R>pull <C-R>[0-9a-z] pull <C-R>% pull <C-R>=somevar pull

4 WORD under the cursor into a command line or search small register (also insert mode) named registers (also insert mode) le name (also #) (also insert mode) contents of a variable (eg :let sray="ray[0-9]")

ADVANCED

4.9

Capturing output of current script

:new | r!perl # :new! x.out | r!perl # :new+read!ls :new +put q|%!sort opens new buer,read other buer same with named le create a new buer, paste a register q into it, then sort new buer

4.10

Inserting DOS carriage returns

:%s/$\<C-V><C-M>&/g :%s/$\<C-Q><C-M>&/g :%s/$/\^M&/g :set list thats what you type for Win32 what youll see where ^M is ONE character display invisible characters

4.11

Perform an action on a particular le or le type

autocmd VimEnter c:/intranet/note011.txt normal! ggVGg? autocmd FileType *.pl exec(set fileformats=unix) Retrieving last command line command for copy & pasting into text

23

4.14 Advanced incrementing i<c-r>: Retrieving last Search Command for copy & pasting into text i<c-r>/

ADVANCED

4.12

Inserting line number

:g/^/exec "s/^/".strpart(line(".")." ", 0, 4) :%s/^/\=strpart(line(".")." ", 0, 5) :%s/^/\=line(.).

4.13

Numbering lines
:set number :map <F12> :set number!<CR> :%s/^/\=strpart(line(.)." ",0,&ts) :a,b!perl -pne BEGIN{$a=223} substr($_,2,0)=$a++ qqmnYPn^Aq :.,$g/^\d/exe "normal! \<c-a>" show line numbers map to toggle line numbers number lines starting from arbitrary number in recording q repeat with @q increment existing numbers to end of le

4.14

Advanced incrementing

let g:I=0 function! INC(increment) let g:I =g:I + a:increment return g:I end function 4.14.1 Create list starting from 223 incrementing by 5 between markers a,b

:let I=223 24

4.17 Syntax highlighting :a,bs/^/\=INC(5)/ 4.14.2 Create a map for INC

ADVANCED

cab viminc :let I=223 \| a,bs/$/\=INC(5)/

4.15

Digraphs (non alpha-numerics)

:digraphs :h dig i<C-K>e i<C-V>233 i<C-Q>233 ga :%s/\[<C-V>128-<C-V>255\]//gi :%s/\[-\]//gi :%s/\[<C-V>128-<C-V>255<C-V>01-<C-V>31\]//gi %:exec "norm /\[\\x00-\\x1f\\x80-\\xff\]/" yl/<C-R>" display table help enters e enters (Unix) e enters (Win32) e View hex value of any character where you have to type the Control-V Should see a black square & a dotted y All pesky non-asciis same thing Pull a non-ascii character onto search bar

4.16

Complex vim
:%s/\<\(on\|off\)\>/\=strpart("offon", 3 * ("off" == submatch(0)), 3)/g :vnoremap <C-X> <Esc>."gvP"P swap two words swap two words

4.17

Syntax highlighting
:set syntax=perl force Syntax coloring for a le that has no extension .pl 25

4.20

Folding :set syntax off :colorscheme blue vim:ft=html: :syn match DoubleSpace " " :hi def DoubleSpace guibg=#e0e0e0 remove syntax coloring (useful for all sorts of reasons) change coloring scheme (any le in vim/vim??/colors) force HTML Syntax highlighting by using a modeline example of setting your own highlighting sets the editor background

ADVANCED

4.18

Preventions and security

:set noma :set ro :X prevents modications (non modiable) protect a le from unintentional writes (Read Only) encryption (do not forget your key!)

4.19

Taglist

:Tlist <C-]>

display tags (list of functions) jump to function under cursor

4.20

Folding
zf} v}zf zfa zo zc fold paragraph using motion fold paragraph using visual fold to mark open fold re-close fold

4 Script

required: taglist.vim (http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script id=273)

26

4.21

Renaming les

ADVANCED

4.21

Renaming les

Rename les without leaving vim :r! ls *.c :%s/\(.*\).c/mv & \1.bla :w !sh :q!

4.22

Reproducing previous line word by word

imap ] @@@<esc>hhkyWjl?@@@<cr>P/@@@<cr>3s nmap ] i@@@<esc>hhkyWjl?@@@<cr>P/@@@<cr>3s

4.23

Reading MS-Word documents

:autocmd BufReadPre *.doc set ro :autocmd BufReadPre *.doc set hlsearch! :autocmd BufReadPost *.doc %!antiword "%"

4.24
4.24.1

Random functions
Save word under cursor to a le

function! SaveWord() normal yiw exe :!echo .@0. >> word.txt endfunction
5 Program

required: Antiword (http://www.wineld.demon.nl)

27

4.25 Miscallaenous commands 4.24.2 Delete duplicate lines function! Del() if getline(".") == getline(line(".") - 1) norm dd endif endfunction 4.24.3 Columnise a CSV le for display

ADVANCED

:let width = 20 :let fill= | while strlen(fill) < width | let fill=fill.fill | endwhile :%s/\([^;]*\);\=/\=strpart(submatch(1).fill, 0, width)/ge :%s/\s\+$//ge 4.24.4 Highlight a particular csv column

function! CSVH(x) execute match Keyword /^\([^,]*,\){.a:x.}\zs[^,]*/ execute normal ^.a:x.f, endfunction command! -nargs=1 Csv :call CSVH(<args>) Call with :Csv 5 to highlight fth column

4.25

Miscallaenous commands
:scriptnames :verbose set history? :function :func SearchCompl list all plugins, .vimrcs loaded (super) reveals value of history and where set list functions List particular function

28

4.27

Help

ADVANCED

4.26

Vim traps
In regular expressions you must backslash + (match 1 or more) In regular expressions you must backslash (or) In regular expressions you must backslash ( (group) In regular expressions you must backslash { (count) /fred\+/ /\(fred\)\{2,3}/ /codes\(\n\|\s\)*where /\vcodes(\n|\s)*where matches fred/freddy but not free note what you have to break normal regexp very magic

4.27

Help
:h quickref :h tips :h visual<C-D><TAB> :h ctrl<C-D> :helpg uganda :h :r :h CTRL-R :h /\r :h \\zs :h i_CTRL-R :h c_CTRL-R :h v_CTRL-V :h tutor <C-[>, <C-T> gvim -h :helptags /vim/vim64/doc :help add-local-help vim quick reference sheet (ultra) vims own tips help obtain list of all visual help topics list help of all control keys grep help les use :cn, :cp to nd next help for :ex command normal mode whats \r in a regexp (matches a CR) double up backslash to nd \zs in help help for say C-R in insert mode help for say C-R in command mode visual mode vim tutor Move back & forth in help history vim command line help rebuild all *.txt help les in /doc

29

4.27

Help

ADVANCED

30

FUN

Fun

:h 42 :h holy-grail :h! vim -c ":%s%s*%Cyrnfr)fcbafbe[Oenz(Zbbyranne%|:%s)[[()])-)Ig|norm Vg?"}

31

6.4

Links

CONTACT

6
6.1

Contact
Author (David Rayner)

Please email any errors or further tips etc to david(at)rayninfo.co.uk Updated version at http://www.rayninfo.co.uk/vimtips.html

6.2

Maintainer (Gavin Gilmour)

Please email any comments, suggestions including spelling, grammatical and/or formatting issues with this document to gavin(at)brokentrain.net Updated version available at: http://gavin.brokentrain.net/projects/vimtips/vimtips.pdf

6.3

Source

The source of this document is available at: http://github.com/gaving/vimtips/.

6.4

Links
http://www.vim.org/ http://chronos.cs.msu.su/vim/newsgroup.html http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vim http://u.webring.com/hub?ring=vim http://www.truth.sk/vim/vimbook-OPL.pdf http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/ http://www.faqs.org/faqs/editor-faq/vim/ Ocial site Newsgroup and Usenet Specic newsgroup VIM Webring Vim Book Searchable VIM Doc VIM FAQ

32