Vim documentation: various

 *various.txt* For Vim version 7.3. Last change: 2011 Mar 03 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar Various commands	*various* 1. Various commands	|various-cmds| 2. Using Vim like less or more	|less| ============================================================================== 1. Various commands	*various-cmds*	*CTRL-L* CTRL-LClear and redraw the screen. The redraw may happen	later, after processing typeahead.	*:redr* *:redraw* :redr[aw][!]	Redraw the screen right now. When ! is included it is	cleared first.	Useful to update the screen halfway executing a script	or function. Also when halfway a mapping and 'lazyredraw' is set.	*:redraws* *:redrawstatus* :redraws[tatus][!]	Redraw the status line of the current window. When !	is included all status lines are redrawn.	Useful to update the status line(s) when 'statusline'	includes an item that doesn't cause automatic	updating.	*N<Del>* <Del>When entering a number: Remove the last digit.	Note: if you like to use <BS> for this, add this mapping to your .vimrc: :map CTRL-V <BS> CTRL-V <Del>	See |:fixdel| if your <Del> key does not do what you	want. :as[cii]	or	*ga* *:as* *:ascii* gaPrint the ascii value of the character under the	cursor in decimal, hexadecimal and octal. For	example, when the cursor is on a 'R': <R> 82, Hex 52, Octal 122 	When the character is a non-standard ASCII character,	but printable according to the 'isprint' option, the	non-printable version is also given. When the	character is larger than 127, the <M-x> form is also	printed. For example: <~A> <M-^A> 129, Hex 81, Octal 201  <p> <|~> <M-~> 254, Hex fe, Octal 376 	(where <p> is a special character)	The <Nul> character in a file is stored internally as <NL>, but it will be shown as: <^@> 0, Hex 00, Octal 000 	If the character has composing characters these are	also shown. The value of 'maxcombine' doesn't matter.	Mnemonic: Get Ascii value. {not in Vi}	*g8* g8Print the hex values of the bytes used in the	character under the cursor, assuming it is in |UTF-8|	encoding. This also shows composing characters. The	value of 'maxcombine' doesn't matter.	Example of a character with two composing characters: e0 b8 81 + e0 b8 b9 + e0 b9 89 	{not in Vi} {only when compiled with the |+multi_byte|	feature}	*8g8* 8g8Find an illegal UTF-8 byte sequence at or after the	cursor. This works in two situations:	1. when 'encoding' is any 8-bit encoding	2. when 'encoding' is "utf-8" and 'fileencoding' is any 8-bit encoding	Thus it can be used when editing a file that was	supposed to be UTF-8 but was read as if it is an 8-bit	encoding because it contains illegal bytes.	Does not wrap around the end of the file.	Note that when the cursor is on an illegal byte or the	cursor is halfway a multi-byte character the command	won't move the cursor.	{not in Vi} {only when compiled with the |+multi_byte|	feature}	*:p* *:pr* *:print* *E749* :[range]p[rint] [flags]	Print [range] lines (default current line).	Note: If you are looking for a way to print your text	on paper see |:hardcopy|. In the GUI you can use the	File.Print menu entry.	See |ex-flags| for [flags]. :[range]p[rint] {count} [flags]	Print {count} lines, starting with [range] (default	current line |cmdline-ranges|).	See |ex-flags| for [flags].	*:P* *:Print* :[range]P[rint] [count] [flags]	Just as ":print". Was apparently added to Vi for	people that keep the shift key pressed too long...	Note: A user command can overrule this command.	See |ex-flags| for [flags].	*:l* *:list* :[range]l[ist] [count] [flags]	Same as :print, but display unprintable characters	with '^' and put $ after the line. This can be	further changed with the 'listchars' option.	See |ex-flags| for [flags].	*:nu* *:number* :[range]nu[mber] [count] [flags]	Same as :print, but precede each line with its line	number. (See also 'highlight' and 'numberwidth'	option).	See |ex-flags| for [flags].	*:#* :[range]# [count] [flags]	synonym for :number.	*:#!* :#!{anything}	Ignored, so that you can start a Vim script with: #!vim -S echo "this is a Vim script" quit	*:z* *E144* :{range}z[+-^.=]{count}	Display several lines of text surrounding the line	specified with {range}, or around the current line	if there is no {range}. If there is a {count}, that's	how many lines you'll see; if there is only one window	then twice the value of the 'scroll' option is used,	otherwise the current window height minus 3 is used. :z can be used either alone or followed by any of	several punctuation marks. These have the following	effect: mark first line last line new cursor line 	---- ---------- --------- ------------	+ current line 1 scr forward 1 scr forward	- 1 scr back current line current line	^ 2 scr back 1 scr back 1 scr back	. 1/2 scr back 1/2 scr fwd 1/2 scr fwd	= 1/2 scr back 1/2 scr fwd current line	Specifying no mark at all is the same as "+".	If the mark is "=", a line of dashes is printed	around the current line. :{range}z#[+-^.=]{count}	*:z#*	Like ":z", but number the lines.	{not in all versions of Vi, not with these arguments}	*:=* := [flags]	Print the last line number.	See |ex-flags| for [flags]. :{range}= [flags]	Prints the last line number in {range}. For example,	this prints the current line number: :.=	See |ex-flags| for [flags]. :norm[al][!] {commands}	*:norm* *:normal*	Execute Normal mode commands {commands}. This makes	it possible to execute Normal mode commands typed on	the command-line. {commands} are executed like they	are typed. For undo all commands are undone together.	Execution stops when an error is encountered.	If the [!] is given, mappings will not be used.	{commands} should be a complete command. If	{commands} does not finish a command, the last one	will be aborted as if <Esc> or <C-C> was typed.	The display isn't updated while ":normal" is busy.	This implies that an insert command must be completed	(to start Insert mode, see |:startinsert|). A ":"	command must be completed as well. And you can't use	"Q" or "gQ" to start Ex mode.	{commands} cannot start with a space. Put a count of	1 (one) before it, "1 " is one space.	The 'insertmode' option is ignored for {commands}.	This command cannot be followed by another command,	since any '|' is considered part of the command.	This command can be used recursively, but the depth is	limited by 'maxmapdepth'.	When this command is called from a non-remappable mapping |:noremap|, the argument can be mapped anyway.	An alternative is to use |:execute|, which uses an expression as argument. This allows the use of	printable characters to represent special characters.	Example: :exe "normal \<c-w>\<c-w>"	{not in Vi, of course}	{not available when the |+ex_extra| feature was	disabled at compile time} :{range}norm[al][!] {commands}	*:normal-range*	Execute Normal mode commands {commands} for each line	in the {range}. Before executing the {commands}, the	cursor is positioned in the first column of the range,	for each line. Otherwise it's the same as the	":normal" command without a range.	{not in Vi}	{not available when |+ex_extra| feature was disabled	at compile time}	*:sh* *:shell* *E371* :sh[ell]	This command starts a shell. When the shell exits	(after the "exit" command) you return to Vim. The	name for the shell command comes from 'shell' option.	*E360*	Note: This doesn't work when Vim on the Amiga was	started in QuickFix mode from a compiler, because the	compiler will have set stdin to a non-interactive	mode.	*:!cmd* *:!* *E34* :!{cmd}	Execute {cmd} with the shell. See also the 'shell'	and 'shelltype' option.	Any '!' in {cmd} is replaced with the previous	external command (see also 'cpoptions'). But not when	there is a backslash before the '!', then that backslash is removed. Example: ":!ls" followed by	":!echo ! \! \\!" executes "echo ls ! \!".	After the command has been executed, the timestamp of	the current file is checked |timestamp|.	A '|' in {cmd} is passed to the shell, you cannot use	it to append a Vim command. See |:bar|.	A newline character ends {cmd}, what follows is	interpreted as a following ":" command. However, if	there is a backslash before the newline it is removed	and {cmd} continues. It doesn't matter how many	backslashes are before the newline, only one is	removed.	On Unix the command normally runs in a non-interactive	shell. If you want an interactive shell to be used	(to use aliases) set 'shellcmdflag' to "-ic".	For Win32 also see |:!start|.	Vim redraws the screen after the command is finished,	because it may have printed any text. This requires a hit-enter prompt, so that you can read any messages.	To avoid this use: :silent !{cmd}	The screen is not redrawn then, thus you have to use CTRL-L or ":redraw!" if the command did display	something.	Also see |shell-window|.	*:!!* :!!Repeat last ":!{cmd}".	*:ve* *:version* :ve[rsion]	Print the version number of the editor. If the	compiler used understands "__DATE__" the compilation	date is mentioned. Otherwise a fixed release-date is	shown.	The following lines contain information about which	features were enabled when Vim was compiled. When	there is a preceding '+', the feature is included,	when there is a '-' it is excluded. To change this,	you have to edit feature.h and recompile Vim.	To check for this in an expression, see |has()|.	Here is an overview of the features.	The first column shows the smallest version in which	they are included: Ttiny Ssmall N	normal Bbig Hhuge mmanually enabled or depends on other features (none) system dependent	Thus if a feature is marked with "N", it is included	in the normal, big and huge versions of Vim.	*+feature-list* *+ARP*Amiga only: ARP support included B *+arabic*	|Arabic| language support N *+autocmd*	|:autocmd|, automatic commands m *+balloon_eval*	|balloon-eval| support. Included when compiling with	supported GUI (Motif, GTK, GUI) and either	Netbeans/Sun Workshop integration or |+eval| feature. N *+browse*	|:browse| command N *+builtin_terms*	some terminals builtin |builtin-terms| B *++builtin_terms*	maximal terminals builtin |builtin-terms| N *+byte_offset*	support for 'o' flag in 'statusline' option, "go"	and ":goto" commands. N *+cindent*	|'cindent'|, C indenting N *+clientserver*Unix and Win32: Remote invocation |clientserver| *+clipboard*	|clipboard| support N *+cmdline_compl*	command line completion |cmdline-completion| N *+cmdline_hist*	command line history |cmdline-history| N *+cmdline_info*	|'showcmd'| and |'ruler'| N *+comments*	|'comments'| support B *+conceal*	"conceal" support, see |conceal| |:syn-conceal| etc. N *+cryptv*	encryption support |encryption| B *+cscope*	|cscope| support m *+cursorbind*	|'cursorbind'| support m *+cursorshape*	|termcap-cursor-shape| support m *+debug*	Compiled for debugging. N *+dialog_gui*	Support for |:confirm| with GUI dialog. N *+dialog_con*	Support for |:confirm| with console dialog. N *+dialog_con_gui*	Support for |:confirm| with GUI and console dialog. N *+diff*	|vimdiff| and 'diff' N *+digraphs*	|digraphs| *E196* *+dnd*	Support for DnD into the "~ register |quote_~|. B *+emacs_tags*	|emacs-tags| files N *+eval*expression evaluation |eval.txt| N *+ex_extra*	Vim's extra Ex commands: |:center|, |:left|,	|:normal|, |:retab| and |:right| N *+extra_search*	|'hlsearch'| and |'incsearch'| options. B *+farsi*	|farsi| language N *+file_in_path*	|gf|, |CTRL-W_f| and |<cfile>| N *+find_in_path*	include file searches: |[I|, |:isearch|,	|CTRL-W_CTRL-I|, |:checkpath|, etc. N *+folding*	|folding| *+footer*	|gui-footer| *+fork*Unix only: |fork| shell commands *+float*	Floating point support N *+gettext*	message translations |multi-lang| *+GUI_Athena*Unix only: Athena |GUI| *+GUI_neXtaw*Unix only: neXtaw |GUI| *+GUI_GTK*Unix only: GTK+ |GUI| *+GUI_Motif*Unix only: Motif |GUI| *+GUI_Photon*QNX only: Photon |GUI| m *+hangul_input*	Hangul input support |hangul| *+iconv*	Compiled with the |iconv()| function *+iconv/dyn*	Likewise |iconv-dynamic| |/dyn| N *+insert_expand*	|insert_expand| Insert mode completion N *+jumplist*	|jumplist| B *+keymap*	|'keymap'| B *+langmap*	|'langmap'| N *+libcall*	|libcall()| N *+linebreak*	|'linebreak'|, |'breakat'| and |'showbreak'| N *+lispindent*	|'lisp'| N *+listcmds*	Vim commands for the list of buffers |buffer-hidden|	and argument list |:argdelete| N *+localmap*	Support for mappings local to a buffer |:map-local| m *+lua*	|Lua| interface m *+lua/dyn*	|Lua| interface |/dyn| N *+menu*	|:menu| N *+mksession*	|:mksession| N *+modify_fname*	|filename-modifiers| N *+mouse*	Mouse handling |mouse-using| N *+mouseshape*	|'mouseshape'| B *+mouse_dec*Unix only: Dec terminal mouse handling |dec-mouse| N *+mouse_gpm*Unix only: Linux console mouse handling |gpm-mouse| B *+mouse_netterm*Unix only: netterm mouse handling |netterm-mouse| N *+mouse_pterm*QNX only: pterm mouse handling |qnx-terminal| N *+mouse_sysmouse*Unix only: *BSD console mouse handling |sysmouse| N *+mouse_xterm*Unix only: xterm mouse handling |xterm-mouse| B *+multi_byte*	16 and 32 bit characters |multibyte| *+multi_byte_ime*Win32 input method for multibyte chars |multibyte-ime| N *+multi_lang*	non-English language support |multi-lang| m *+mzscheme*	Mzscheme interface |mzscheme| m *+mzscheme/dyn*	Mzscheme interface |mzscheme-dynamic| |/dyn| m *+netbeans_intg*	|netbeans| m *+ole*Win32 GUI only: |ole-interface| *+osfiletype*	Support for the 'osfiletype' option and filetype	checking in automatic commands. |autocmd-osfiletypes| N *+path_extra*	Up/downwards search in 'path' and 'tags' m *+perl*Perl interface |perl| m *+perl/dyn*Perl interface |perl-dynamic| |/dyn| N *+persistent_undo*	Persistent undo |undo-persistence| *+postscript*	|:hardcopy| writes a PostScript file N *+printer*	|:hardcopy| command H *+profile*	|:profile| command m *+python*Python 2 interface |python| m *+python/dyn*Python 2 interface |python-dynamic| |/dyn| m *+python3*Python 3 interface |python| m *+python3/dyn*Python 3 interface |python-dynamic| |/dyn| N *+quickfix*	|:make| and |quickfix| commands N *+reltime*	|reltime()| function, 'hlsearch'/'incsearch' timeout, 'redrawtime' option B *+rightleft*	Right to left typing |'rightleft'| m *+ruby*Ruby interface |ruby| m *+ruby/dyn*Ruby interface |ruby-dynamic| |/dyn| N *+scrollbind*	|'scrollbind'| B *+signs*	|:sign| N *+smartindent*	|'smartindent'| m *+sniff*	SniFF interface |sniff| N *+startuptime*	|--startuptime| argument N *+statusline*	Options 'statusline', 'rulerformat' and special	formats of 'titlestring' and 'iconstring' m *+sun_workshop*	|workshop| N *+syntax*Syntax highlighting |syntax| *+system()*Unix only: opposite of |+fork| N *+tag_binary*	binary searching in tags file |tag-binary-search| N *+tag_old_static*	old method for static tags |tag-old-static| m *+tag_any_white*	any white space allowed in tags file |tag-any-white| m *+tcl*Tcl interface |tcl| m *+tcl/dyn*Tcl interface |tcl-dynamic| |/dyn| *+terminfo*	uses |terminfo| instead of termcap N *+termresponse*	support for |t_RV| and |v:termresponse| N *+textobjects*	|text-objects| selection *+tgetent*	non-Unix only: able to use external termcap N *+title*	Setting the window 'title' and 'icon' N *+toolbar*	|gui-toolbar| N *+user_commands*	User-defined commands. |user-commands| N *+viminfo*	|'viminfo'| N *+vertsplit*	Vertically split windows |:vsplit| N *+virtualedit*	|'virtualedit'| S *+visual*	Visual mode |Visual-mode| N *+visualextra*	extra Visual mode commands |blockwise-operators| N *+vreplace*	|gR| and |gr| N *+wildignore*	|'wildignore'| N *+wildmenu*	|'wildmenu'| S *+windows*	more than one window m *+writebackup*	|'writebackup'| is default on m *+xim*	X input method |xim| *+xfontset*	X fontset support |xfontset| *+xsmp*	XSMP (X session management) support *+xsmp_interact*	interactive XSMP (X session management) support N *+xterm_clipboard*Unix only: xterm clipboard handling m *+xterm_save*	save and restore xterm screen |xterm-screens| N *+X11*Unix only: can restore window title |X11|	*/dyn* *E370* *E448*	To some of the features "/dyn" is added when the	feature is only available when the related library can	be dynamically loaded. :ve[rsion] {nr}	Is now ignored. This was previously used to check the	version number of a .vimrc file. It was removed,	because you can now use the ":if" command for	version-dependent behavior. {not in Vi}	*:redi* *:redir* :redi[r][!] > {file}Redirect messages to file {file}. The messages which	are the output of commands are written to that file,	until redirection ends. The messages are also still	shown on the screen. When [!] is included, an	existing file is overwritten. When [!] is omitted,	and {file} exists, this command fails.	Only one ":redir" can be active at a time. Calls to	":redir" will close any active redirection before	starting redirection to the new target.	To stop the messages and commands from being echoed to	the screen, put the commands in a function and call it	with ":silent call Function()".	An alternative is to use the 'verbosefile' option,	this can be used in combination with ":redir".	{not in Vi} :redi[r] >> {file}Redirect messages to file {file}. Append if {file}	already exists. {not in Vi} :redi[r] @{a-zA-Z} :redi[r] @{a-zA-Z}>	Redirect messages to register {a-z}. Append to the	contents of the register if its name is given uppercase {A-Z}. The ">" after the register name is	optional. {not in Vi} :redi[r] @{a-z}>>	Append messages to register {a-z}. {not in Vi} :redi[r] @*> :redi[r] @+>	Redirect messages to the selection or clipboard. For	backward compatibility, the ">" after the register	name can be omitted. See |quotestar| and |quoteplus|.	{not in Vi} :redi[r] @*>> :redi[r] @+>>	Append messages to the selection or clipboard.	{not in Vi} :redi[r] @">	Redirect messages to the unnamed register. For	backward compatibility, the ">" after the register	name can be omitted. {not in Vi} :redi[r] @">>	Append messages to the unnamed register. {not in Vi} :redi[r] => {var}	Redirect messages to a variable. If the variable	doesn't exist, then it is created. If the variable	exists, then it is initialized to an empty string.	The variable will remain empty until redirection ends.	Only string variables can be used. After the	redirection starts, if the variable is removed or	locked or the variable type is changed, then further	command output messages will cause errors. {not in Vi} :redi[r] =>> {var}	Append messages to an existing variable. Only string variables can be used. {not in Vi} :redi[r] END	End redirecting messages. {not in Vi}	*:sil* *:silent* :sil[ent][!] {command}	Execute {command} silently. Normal messages will not	be given or added to the message history.	When [!] is added, error messages will also be	skipped, and commands and mappings will not be aborted	when an error is detected. |v:errmsg| is still set.	When [!] is not used, an error message will cause	further messages to be displayed normally.	Redirection, started with |:redir|, will continue as	usual, although there might be small differences.	This will allow redirecting the output of a command	without seeing it on the screen. Example:  :redir >/tmp/foobar  :silent g/Aap/p  :redir END	To execute a Normal mode command silently, use the	|:normal| command. For example, to search for a	string without messages:  :silent exe "normal /path\<CR>"	":silent!" is useful to execute a command that may	fail, but the failure is to be ignored. Example:  :let v:errmsg = ""  :silent! /^begin  :if v:errmsg != ""  : ... pattern was not found	":silent" will also avoid the hit-enter prompt. When	using this for an external command, this may cause the	screen to be messed up. Use |CTRL-L| to clean it up	then.	":silent menu ..." defines a menu that will not echo a Command-line command. The command will still produce messages though. Use ":silent" in the command itself	to avoid that: ":silent menu .... :silent command".	*:uns* *:unsilent* :uns[ilent] {command}	Execute {command} not silently. Only makes a	difference when |:silent| was used to get to this	command.	Use this for giving a message even when |:silent| was	used. In this example |:silent| is used to avoid the	message about reading the file and |:unsilent| to be	able to list the first line of each file. 	:silent argdo unsilent echo expand('%') . ": " . getline(1)	*:verb* *:verbose* :[count]verb[ose] {command}	Execute {command} with 'verbose' set to [count]. If [count] is omitted one is used. ":0verbose" can be	used to set 'verbose' to zero.	The additional use of ":silent" makes messages	generated but not displayed.	The combination of ":silent" and ":verbose" can be	used to generate messages and check them with	|v:statusmsg| and friends. For example: :let v:statusmsg = "" :silent verbose runtime foobar.vim :if v:statusmsg != "" : " foobar.vim could not be found :endif	When concatenating another command, the ":verbose"	only applies to the first one: :4verbose set verbose | set verbose  verbose=4   verbose=0 	For logging verbose messages in a file use the 'verbosefile' option.	*:verbose-cmd* When 'verbose' is non-zero, listing the value of a Vim option or a key map or an abbreviation or a user-defined function or a command or a highlight group or an autocommand will also display where it was last defined. If it was defined manually then there will be no "Last set" message. When it was defined while executing a function, user command or autocommand, the script in which it was defined is reported. {not available when compiled without the |+eval| feature}	*K* KRun a program to lookup the keyword under the	cursor. The name of the program is given with the 'keywordprg' (kp) option (default is "man"). The	keyword is formed of letters, numbers and the	characters in 'iskeyword'. The keyword under or	right of the cursor is used. The same can be done	with the command :!{program} {keyword}	There is an example of a program to use in the tools	directory of Vim. It is called 'ref' and does a	simple spelling check.	Special cases:	- If 'keywordprg' is empty, the ":help" command is used. It's a good idea to include more characters in 'iskeyword' then, to be able to find more help.	- When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man", a count before "K" is inserted after the "man" command and before the keyword. For example, using "2K" while the cursor is on "mkdir", results in: !man 2 mkdir	- When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man -s", a count before "K" is inserted after the "-s". If there is no count, the "-s" is removed.	{not in Vi}	*v_K* {Visual}K	Like "K", but use the visually highlighted text for	the keyword. Only works when the highlighted text is	not more than one line. {not in Vi} [N]gs	*gs* *:sl* *:sleep* :[N]sl[eep] [N]	[m]	Do nothing for [N] seconds. When [m] is included,	sleep for [N] milliseconds. The count for "gs" always	uses seconds. The default is one second.  :sleep "sleep for one second  :5sleep "sleep for five seconds  :sleep 100m "sleep for a hundred milliseconds  10gs "sleep for ten seconds	Can be interrupted with CTRL-C (CTRL-Break on MS-DOS).	"gs" stands for "goto sleep".	While sleeping the cursor is positioned in the text,	if at a visible position. {not in Vi}	*g_CTRL-A* g CTRL-AOnly when Vim was compiled with MEM_PROFILING defined	(which is very rare): print memory usage statistics.	Only useful for debugging Vim. ============================================================================== 2. Using Vim like less or more	*less* If you use the less or more program to view a file, you don't get syntax highlighting. Thus you would like to use Vim instead. You can do this by using the shell script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.sh". This shell script uses the Vim script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.vim". It sets up mappings to simulate the commands that less supports. Otherwise, you can still use the Vim commands. This isn't perfect. For example, when viewing a short file Vim will still use the whole screen. But it works good enough for most uses, and you get syntax highlighting. The "h" key will give you a short overview of the available commands. top - main help file