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1 *options.txt* For Vim version 7.2. Last change: 2008 Nov 25
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
7 Options *options*
9 1. Setting options |set-option|
10 2. Automatically setting options |auto-setting|
11 3. Options summary |option-summary|
13 For an overview of options see help.txt |option-list|.
15 Vim has a number of internal variables and switches which can be set to
16 achieve special effects. These options come in three forms:
17 boolean can only be on or off *boolean* *toggle*
18 number has a numeric value
19 string has a string value
21 ==============================================================================
22 1. Setting options *set-option* *E764*
24 *:se* *:set*
25 :se[t] Show all options that differ from their default value.
27 :se[t] all Show all but terminal options.
29 :se[t] termcap Show all terminal options. Note that in the GUI the
30 key codes are not shown, because they are generated
31 internally and can't be changed. Changing the terminal
32 codes in the GUI is not useful either...
34 *E518* *E519*
35 :se[t] {option}? Show value of {option}.
37 :se[t] {option} Toggle option: set, switch it on.
38 Number option: show value.
39 String option: show value.
41 :se[t] no{option} Toggle option: Reset, switch it off.
43 :se[t] {option}! or
44 :se[t] inv{option} Toggle option: Invert value. {not in Vi}
46 *:set-default* *:set-&* *:set-&vi* *:set-&vim*
47 :se[t] {option}& Reset option to its default value. May depend on the
48 current value of 'compatible'. {not in Vi}
49 :se[t] {option}&vi Reset option to its Vi default value. {not in Vi}
50 :se[t] {option}&vim Reset option to its Vim default value. {not in Vi}
52 :se[t] all& Set all options, except terminal options, to their
53 default value. The values of 'term', 'lines' and
54 'columns' are not changed. {not in Vi}
56 *:set-args* *E487* *E521*
57 :se[t] {option}={value} or
58 :se[t] {option}:{value}
59 Set string or number option to {value}.
60 For numeric options the value can be given in decimal,
61 hex (preceded with 0x) or octal (preceded with '0')
62 (hex and octal are only available for machines which
63 have the strtol() function).
64 The old value can be inserted by typing 'wildchar' (by
65 default this is a <Tab> or CTRL-E if 'compatible' is
66 set). See |cmdline-completion|.
67 White space between {option} and '=' is allowed and
68 will be ignored. White space between '=' and {value}
69 is not allowed.
70 See |option-backslash| for using white space and
71 backslashes in {value}.
73 :se[t] {option}+={value} *:set+=*
74 Add the {value} to a number option, or append the
75 {value} to a string option. When the option is a
76 comma separated list, a comma is added, unless the
77 value was empty.
78 If the option is a list of flags, superfluous flags
79 are removed. When adding a flag that was already
80 present the option value doesn't change.
81 Also see |:set-args| above.
82 {not in Vi}
84 :se[t] {option}^={value} *:set^=*
85 Multiply the {value} to a number option, or prepend
86 the {value} to a string option. When the option is a
87 comma separated list, a comma is added, unless the
88 value was empty.
89 Also see |:set-args| above.
90 {not in Vi}
92 :se[t] {option}-={value} *:set-=*
93 Subtract the {value} from a number option, or remove
94 the {value} from a string option, if it is there.
95 If the {value} is not found in a string option, there
96 is no error or warning. When the option is a comma
97 separated list, a comma is deleted, unless the option
98 becomes empty.
99 When the option is a list of flags, {value} must be
100 exactly as they appear in the option. Remove flags
101 one by one to avoid problems.
102 Also see |:set-args| above.
103 {not in Vi}
105 The {option} arguments to ":set" may be repeated. For example: >
106 :set ai nosi sw=3 ts=3
107 If you make an error in one of the arguments, an error message will be given
108 and the following arguments will be ignored.
110 *:set-verbose*
111 When 'verbose' is non-zero, displaying an option value will also tell where it
112 was last set. Example: >
113 :verbose set shiftwidth cindent?
114 < shiftwidth=4 ~
115 Last set from modeline ~
116 cindent ~
117 Last set from /usr/local/share/vim/vim60/ftplugin/c.vim ~
118 This is only done when specific option values are requested, not for ":verbose
119 set all" or ":verbose set" without an argument.
120 When the option was set by hand there is no "Last set" message.
121 When the option was set while executing a function, user command or
122 autocommand, the script in which it was defined is reported.
123 Note that an option may also have been set as a side effect of setting
124 'compatible'.
125 A few special texts:
126 Last set from modeline ~
127 Option was set in a |modeline|.
128 Last set from --cmd argument ~
129 Option was set with command line argument |--cmd| or +.
130 Last set from -c argument ~
131 Option was set with command line argument |-c|, +, |-S| or
132 |-q|.
133 Last set from environment variable ~
134 Option was set from an environment variable, $VIMINIT,
135 $GVIMINIT or $EXINIT.
136 Last set from error handler ~
137 Option was cleared when evaluating it resulted in an error.
139 {not available when compiled without the +eval feature}
141 *:set-termcap* *E522*
142 For {option} the form "t_xx" may be used to set a terminal option. This will
143 override the value from the termcap. You can then use it in a mapping. If
144 the "xx" part contains special characters, use the <t_xx> form: >
145 :set <t_#4>=^[Ot
146 This can also be used to translate a special code for a normal key. For
147 example, if Alt-b produces <Esc>b, use this: >
148 :set <M-b>=^[b
149 (the ^[ is a real <Esc> here, use CTRL-V <Esc> to enter it)
150 The advantage over a mapping is that it works in all situations.
152 The t_xx options cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
153 security reasons.
155 The listing from ":set" looks different from Vi. Long string options are put
156 at the end of the list. The number of options is quite large. The output of
157 "set all" probably does not fit on the screen, causing Vim to give the
158 |more-prompt|.
160 *option-backslash*
161 To include white space in a string option value it has to be preceded with a
162 backslash. To include a backslash you have to use two. Effectively this
163 means that the number of backslashes in an option value is halved (rounded
164 down).
165 A few examples: >
166 :set tags=tags\ /usr/tags results in "tags /usr/tags"
167 :set tags=tags\\,file results in "tags\,file"
168 :set tags=tags\\\ file results in "tags\ file"
170 The "|" character separates a ":set" command from a following command. To
171 include the "|" in the option value, use "\|" instead. This example sets the
172 'titlestring' option to "hi|there": >
173 :set titlestring=hi\|there
174 This sets the 'titlestring' option to "hi" and 'iconstring' to "there": >
175 :set titlestring=hi|set iconstring=there
177 Similarly, the double quote character starts a comment. To include the '"' in
178 the option value, use '\"' instead. This example sets the 'titlestring'
179 option to 'hi "there"': >
180 :set titlestring=hi\ \"there\"
182 For MS-DOS and WIN32 backslashes in file names are mostly not removed. More
183 precise: For options that expect a file name (those where environment
184 variables are expanded) a backslash before a normal file name character is not
185 removed. But a backslash before a special character (space, backslash, comma,
186 etc.) is used like explained above.
187 There is one special situation, when the value starts with "\\": >
188 :set dir=\\machine\path results in "\\machine\path"
189 :set dir=\\\\machine\\path results in "\\machine\path"
190 :set dir=\\path\\file results in "\\path\file" (wrong!)
191 For the first one the start is kept, but for the second one the backslashes
192 are halved. This makes sure it works both when you expect backslashes to be
193 halved and when you expect the backslashes to be kept. The third gives a
194 result which is probably not what you want. Avoid it.
196 *add-option-flags* *remove-option-flags*
197 *E539* *E550* *E551* *E552*
198 Some options are a list of flags. When you want to add a flag to such an
199 option, without changing the existing ones, you can do it like this: >
200 :set guioptions+=a
201 Remove a flag from an option like this: >
202 :set guioptions-=a
203 This removes the 'a' flag from 'guioptions'.
204 Note that you should add or remove one flag at a time. If 'guioptions' has
205 the value "ab", using "set guioptions-=ba" won't work, because the string "ba"
206 doesn't appear.
208 *:set_env* *expand-env* *expand-environment-var*
209 Environment variables in specific string options will be expanded. If the
210 environment variable exists the '$' and the following environment variable
211 name is replaced with its value. If it does not exist the '$' and the name
212 are not modified. Any non-id character (not a letter, digit or '_') may
213 follow the environment variable name. That character and what follows is
214 appended to the value of the environment variable. Examples: >
215 :set term=$TERM.new
216 :set path=/usr/$INCLUDE,$HOME/include,.
217 When adding or removing a string from an option with ":set opt-=val" or ":set
218 opt+=val" the expansion is done before the adding or removing.
221 Handling of local options *local-options*
223 Some of the options only apply to a window or buffer. Each window or buffer
224 has its own copy of this option, thus can each have their own value. This
225 allows you to set 'list' in one window but not in another. And set
226 'shiftwidth' to 3 in one buffer and 4 in another.
228 The following explains what happens to these local options in specific
229 situations. You don't really need to know all of this, since Vim mostly uses
230 the option values you would expect. Unfortunately, doing what the user
231 expects is a bit complicated...
233 When splitting a window, the local options are copied to the new window. Thus
234 right after the split the contents of the two windows look the same.
236 When editing a new buffer, its local option values must be initialized. Since
237 the local options of the current buffer might be specifically for that buffer,
238 these are not used. Instead, for each buffer-local option there also is a
239 global value, which is used for new buffers. With ":set" both the local and
240 global value is changed. With "setlocal" only the local value is changed,
241 thus this value is not used when editing a new buffer.
243 When editing a buffer that has been edited before, the last used window
244 options are used again. If this buffer has been edited in this window, the
245 values from back then are used. Otherwise the values from the window where
246 the buffer was edited last are used.
248 It's possible to set a local window option specifically for a type of buffer.
249 When you edit another buffer in the same window, you don't want to keep
250 using these local window options. Therefore Vim keeps a global value of the
251 local window options, which is used when editing another buffer. Each window
252 has its own copy of these values. Thus these are local to the window, but
253 global to all buffers in the window. With this you can do: >
254 :e one
255 :set list
256 :e two
257 Now the 'list' option will also be set in "two", since with the ":set list"
258 command you have also set the global value. >
259 :set nolist
260 :e one
261 :setlocal list
262 :e two
263 Now the 'list' option is not set, because ":set nolist" resets the global
264 value, ":setlocal list" only changes the local value and ":e two" gets the
265 global value. Note that if you do this next: >
266 :e one
267 You will not get back the 'list' value as it was the last time you edited
268 "one". The options local to a window are not remembered for each buffer.
270 *:setl* *:setlocal*
271 :setl[ocal] ... Like ":set" but set only the value local to the
272 current buffer or window. Not all options have a
273 local value. If the option does not have a local
274 value the global value is set.
275 With the "all" argument: display all local option's
276 local values.
277 Without argument: Display all local option's local
278 values which are different from the default.
279 When displaying a specific local option, show the
280 local value. For a global/local boolean option, when
281 the global value is being used, "--" is displayed
282 before the option name.
283 For a global option the global value is
284 shown (but that might change in the future).
285 {not in Vi}
287 :setl[ocal] {option}< Set the local value of {option} to its global value by
288 copying the value.
289 {not in Vi}
291 :se[t] {option}< Set the local value of {option} to its global value by
292 making it empty. Only makes sense for |global-local|
293 options.
294 {not in Vi}
296 *:setg* *:setglobal*
297 :setg[lobal] ... Like ":set" but set only the global value for a local
298 option without changing the local value.
299 When displaying an option, the global value is shown.
300 With the "all" argument: display all local option's
301 global values.
302 Without argument: display all local option's global
303 values which are different from the default.
304 {not in Vi}
306 For buffer-local and window-local options:
307 Command global value local value ~
308 :set option=value set set
309 :setlocal option=value - set
310 :setglobal option=value set -
311 :set option? - display
312 :setlocal option? - display
313 :setglobal option? display -
316 Global options with a local value *global-local*
318 Options are global when you mostly use one value for all buffers and windows.
319 For some global options it's useful to sometimes have a different local value.
320 You can set the local value with ":setlocal". That buffer or window will then
321 use the local value, while other buffers and windows continue using the global
322 value.
324 For example, you have two windows, both on C source code. They use the global
325 'makeprg' option. If you do this in one of the two windows: >
326 :set makeprg=gmake
327 then the other window will switch to the same value. There is no need to set
328 the 'makeprg' option in the other C source window too.
329 However, if you start editing a Perl file in a new window, you want to use
330 another 'makeprg' for it, without changing the value used for the C source
331 files. You use this command: >
332 :setlocal makeprg=perlmake
333 You can switch back to using the global value by making the local value empty: >
334 :setlocal makeprg=
335 This only works for a string option. For a boolean option you need to use the
336 "<" flag, like this: >
337 :setlocal autoread<
338 Note that for non-boolean options using "<" copies the global value to the
339 local value, it doesn't switch back to using the global value (that matters
340 when the global value changes later). You can also use: >
341 :set path<
342 This will make the local value of 'path' empty, so that the global value is
343 used. Thus it does the same as: >
344 :setlocal path=
345 Note: In the future more global options can be made global-local. Using
346 ":setlocal" on a global option might work differently then.
349 Setting the filetype
351 :setf[iletype] {filetype} *:setf* *:setfiletype*
352 Set the 'filetype' option to {filetype}, but only if
353 not done yet in a sequence of (nested) autocommands.
354 This is short for: >
355 :if !did_filetype()
356 : setlocal filetype={filetype}
357 :endif
358 < This command is used in a filetype.vim file to avoid
359 setting the 'filetype' option twice, causing different
360 settings and syntax files to be loaded.
361 {not in Vi}
363 :bro[wse] se[t] *:set-browse* *:browse-set* *:opt* *:options*
364 :opt[ions] Open a window for viewing and setting all options.
365 Options are grouped by function.
366 Offers short help for each option. Hit <CR> on the
367 short help to open a help window with more help for
368 the option.
369 Modify the value of the option and hit <CR> on the
370 "set" line to set the new value. For window and
371 buffer specific options, the last accessed window is
372 used to set the option value in, unless this is a help
373 window, in which case the window below help window is
374 used (skipping the option-window).
375 {not available when compiled without the |+eval| or
376 |+autocmd| features}
378 *$HOME*
379 Using "~" is like using "$HOME", but it is only recognized at the start of an
380 option and after a space or comma.
382 On Unix systems "~user" can be used too. It is replaced by the home directory
383 of user "user". Example: >
384 :set path=~mool/include,/usr/include,.
386 On Unix systems the form "${HOME}" can be used too. The name between {} can
387 contain non-id characters then. Note that if you want to use this for the
388 "gf" command, you need to add the '{' and '}' characters to 'isfname'.
390 NOTE: expanding environment variables and "~/" is only done with the ":set"
391 command, not when assigning a value to an option with ":let".
394 Note the maximum length of an expanded option is limited. How much depends on
395 the system, mostly it is something like 256 or 1024 characters.
397 *:fix* *:fixdel*
398 :fix[del] Set the value of 't_kD':
399 't_kb' is 't_kD' becomes ~
400 CTRL-? CTRL-H
401 not CTRL-? CTRL-?
403 (CTRL-? is 0177 octal, 0x7f hex) {not in Vi}
405 If your delete key terminal code is wrong, but the
406 code for backspace is alright, you can put this in
407 your .vimrc: >
408 :fixdel
409 < This works no matter what the actual code for
410 backspace is.
412 If the backspace key terminal code is wrong you can
413 use this: >
414 :if &term == "termname"
415 : set t_kb=^V<BS>
416 : fixdel
417 :endif
418 < Where "^V" is CTRL-V and "<BS>" is the backspace key
419 (don't type four characters!). Replace "termname"
420 with your terminal name.
422 If your <Delete> key sends a strange key sequence (not
423 CTRL-? or CTRL-H) you cannot use ":fixdel". Then use: >
424 :if &term == "termname"
425 : set t_kD=^V<Delete>
426 :endif
427 < Where "^V" is CTRL-V and "<Delete>" is the delete key
428 (don't type eight characters!). Replace "termname"
429 with your terminal name.
431 *Linux-backspace*
432 Note about Linux: By default the backspace key
433 produces CTRL-?, which is wrong. You can fix it by
434 putting this line in your rc.local: >
435 echo "keycode 14 = BackSpace" | loadkeys
436 <
437 *NetBSD-backspace*
438 Note about NetBSD: If your backspace doesn't produce
439 the right code, try this: >
440 xmodmap -e "keycode 22 = BackSpace"
441 < If this works, add this in your .Xmodmap file: >
442 keysym 22 = BackSpace
443 < You need to restart for this to take effect.
445 ==============================================================================
446 2. Automatically setting options *auto-setting*
448 Besides changing options with the ":set" command, there are three alternatives
449 to set options automatically for one or more files:
451 1. When starting Vim initializations are read from various places. See
452 |initialization|. Most of them are performed for all editing sessions,
453 and some of them depend on the directory where Vim is started.
454 You can create an initialization file with |:mkvimrc|, |:mkview| and
455 |:mksession|.
456 2. If you start editing a new file, the automatic commands are executed.
457 This can be used to set options for files matching a particular pattern and
458 many other things. See |autocommand|.
459 3. If you start editing a new file, and the 'modeline' option is on, a
460 number of lines at the beginning and end of the file are checked for
461 modelines. This is explained here.
463 *modeline* *vim:* *vi:* *ex:* *E520*
464 There are two forms of modelines. The first form:
465 [text]{white}{vi:|vim:|ex:}[white]{options}
467 [text] any text or empty
468 {white} at least one blank character (<Space> or <Tab>)
469 {vi:|vim:|ex:} the string "vi:", "vim:" or "ex:"
470 [white] optional white space
471 {options} a list of option settings, separated with white space or ':',
472 where each part between ':' is the argument for a ":set"
473 command (can be empty)
475 Example:
476 vi:noai:sw=3 ts=6 ~
478 The second form (this is compatible with some versions of Vi):
480 [text]{white}{vi:|vim:|ex:}[white]se[t] {options}:[text]
482 [text] any text or empty
483 {white} at least one blank character (<Space> or <Tab>)
484 {vi:|vim:|ex:} the string "vi:", "vim:" or "ex:"
485 [white] optional white space
486 se[t] the string "set " or "se " (note the space)
487 {options} a list of options, separated with white space, which is the
488 argument for a ":set" command
489 : a colon
490 [text] any text or empty
492 Example:
493 /* vim: set ai tw=75: */ ~
495 The white space before {vi:|vim:|ex:} is required. This minimizes the chance
496 that a normal word like "lex:" is caught. There is one exception: "vi:" and
497 "vim:" can also be at the start of the line (for compatibility with version
498 3.0). Using "ex:" at the start of the line will be ignored (this could be
499 short for "example:").
501 *modeline-local*
502 The options are set like with ":setlocal": The new value only applies to the
503 buffer and window that contain the file. Although it's possible to set global
504 options from a modeline, this is unusual. If you have two windows open and
505 the files in it set the same global option to a different value, the result
506 depends on which one was opened last.
508 When editing a file that was already loaded, only the window-local options
509 from the modeline are used. Thus if you manually changed a buffer-local
510 option after opening the file, it won't be changed if you edit the same buffer
511 in another window. But window-local options will be set.
513 *modeline-version*
514 If the modeline is only to be used for some versions of Vim, the version
515 number can be specified where "vim:" is used:
516 vim{vers}: version {vers} or later
517 vim<{vers}: version before {vers}
518 vim={vers}: version {vers}
519 vim>{vers}: version after {vers}
520 {vers} is 600 for Vim 6.0 (hundred times the major version plus minor).
521 For example, to use a modeline only for Vim 6.0 and later:
522 /* vim600: set foldmethod=marker: */ ~
523 To use a modeline for Vim before version 5.7:
524 /* vim<570: set sw=4: */ ~
525 There can be no blanks between "vim" and the ":".
528 The number of lines that are checked can be set with the 'modelines' option.
529 If 'modeline' is off or 'modelines' is 0 no lines are checked.
531 Note that for the first form all of the rest of the line is used, thus a line
532 like:
533 /* vi:ts=4: */ ~
534 will give an error message for the trailing "*/". This line is OK:
535 /* vi:set ts=4: */ ~
537 If an error is detected the rest of the line is skipped.
539 If you want to include a ':' in a set command precede it with a '\'. The
540 backslash in front of the ':' will be removed. Example:
541 /* vi:set dir=c\:\tmp: */ ~
542 This sets the 'dir' option to "c:\tmp". Only a single backslash before the
543 ':' is removed. Thus to include "\:" you have to specify "\\:".
545 No other commands than "set" are supported, for security reasons (somebody
546 might create a Trojan horse text file with modelines). And not all options
547 can be set. For some options a flag is set, so that when it's used the
548 |sandbox| is effective. Still, there is always a small risk that a modeline
549 causes trouble. E.g., when some joker sets 'textwidth' to 5 all your lines
550 are wrapped unexpectedly. So disable modelines before editing untrusted text.
551 The mail ftplugin does this, for example.
553 Hint: If you would like to do something else than setting an option, you could
554 define an autocommand that checks the file for a specific string. For
555 example: >
556 au BufReadPost * if getline(1) =~ "VAR" | call SetVar() | endif
557 And define a function SetVar() that does something with the line containing
558 "VAR".
560 ==============================================================================
561 3. Options summary *option-summary*
563 In the list below all the options are mentioned with their full name and with
564 an abbreviation if there is one. Both forms may be used.
566 In this document when a boolean option is "set" that means that ":set option"
567 is entered. When an option is "reset", ":set nooption" is used.
569 For some options there are two default values: The "Vim default", which is
570 used when 'compatible' is not set, and the "Vi default", which is used when
571 'compatible' is set.
573 Most options are the same in all windows and buffers. There are a few that
574 are specific to how the text is presented in a window. These can be set to a
575 different value in each window. For example the 'list' option can be set in
576 one window and reset in another for the same text, giving both types of view
577 at the same time. There are a few options that are specific to a certain
578 file. These can have a different value for each file or buffer. For example
579 the 'textwidth' option can be 78 for a normal text file and 0 for a C
580 program.
582 global one option for all buffers and windows
583 local to window each window has its own copy of this option
584 local to buffer each buffer has its own copy of this option
586 When creating a new window the option values from the currently active window
587 are used as a default value for the window-specific options. For the
588 buffer-specific options this depends on the 's' and 'S' flags in the
589 'cpoptions' option. If 's' is included (which is the default) the values for
590 buffer options are copied from the currently active buffer when a buffer is
591 first entered. If 'S' is present the options are copied each time the buffer
592 is entered, this is almost like having global options. If 's' and 'S' are not
593 present, the options are copied from the currently active buffer when the
594 buffer is created.
596 Hidden options *hidden-options*
598 Not all options are supported in all versions. This depends on the supported
599 features and sometimes on the system. A remark about this is in curly braces
600 below. When an option is not supported it may still be set without getting an
601 error, this is called a hidden option. You can't get the value of a hidden
602 option though, it is not stored.
604 To test if option "foo" can be used with ":set" use something like this: >
605 if exists('&foo')
606 This also returns true for a hidden option. To test if option "foo" is really
607 supported use something like this: >
608 if exists('+foo')
609 <
610 *E355*
611 A jump table for the options with a short description can be found at |Q_op|.
613 *'aleph'* *'al'* *aleph* *Aleph*
614 'aleph' 'al' number (default 128 for MS-DOS, 224 otherwise)
615 global
616 {not in Vi}
617 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
618 feature}
619 The ASCII code for the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The
620 routine that maps the keyboard in Hebrew mode, both in Insert mode
621 (when hkmap is set) and on the command-line (when hitting CTRL-_)
622 outputs the Hebrew characters in the range [aleph..aleph+26].
623 aleph=128 applies to PC code, and aleph=224 applies to ISO 8859-8.
624 See |rileft.txt|.
626 *'allowrevins'* *'ari'* *'noallowrevins'* *'noari'*
627 'allowrevins' 'ari' boolean (default off)
628 global
629 {not in Vi}
630 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
631 feature}
632 Allow CTRL-_ in Insert and Command-line mode. This is default off, to
633 avoid that users that accidentally type CTRL-_ instead of SHIFT-_ get
634 into reverse Insert mode, and don't know how to get out. See
635 'revins'.
636 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
638 *'altkeymap'* *'akm'* *'noaltkeymap'* *'noakm'*
639 'altkeymap' 'akm' boolean (default off)
640 global
641 {not in Vi}
642 {only available when compiled with the |+farsi|
643 feature}
644 When on, the second language is Farsi. In editing mode CTRL-_ toggles
645 the keyboard map between Farsi and English, when 'allowrevins' set.
647 When off, the keyboard map toggles between Hebrew and English. This
648 is useful to start the Vim in native mode i.e. English (left-to-right
649 mode) and have default second language Farsi or Hebrew (right-to-left
650 mode). See |farsi.txt|.
652 *'ambiwidth'* *'ambw'*
653 'ambiwidth' 'ambw' string (default: "single")
654 global
655 {not in Vi}
656 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
657 feature}
658 Only effective when 'encoding' is "utf-8" or another Unicode encoding.
659 Tells Vim what to do with characters with East Asian Width Class
660 Ambiguous (such as Euro, Registered Sign, Copyright Sign, Greek
661 letters, Cyrillic letters).
663 There are currently two possible values:
664 "single": Use the same width as characters in US-ASCII. This is
665 expected by most users.
666 "double": Use twice the width of ASCII characters.
668 There are a number of CJK fonts for which the width of glyphs for
669 those characters are solely based on how many octets they take in
670 legacy/traditional CJK encodings. In those encodings, Euro,
671 Registered sign, Greek/Cyrillic letters are represented by two octets,
672 therefore those fonts have "wide" glyphs for them. This is also
673 true of some line drawing characters used to make tables in text
674 file. Therefore, when a CJK font is used for GUI Vim or
675 Vim is running inside a terminal (emulators) that uses a CJK font
676 (or Vim is run inside an xterm invoked with "-cjkwidth" option.),
677 this option should be set to "double" to match the width perceived
678 by Vim with the width of glyphs in the font. Perhaps it also has
679 to be set to "double" under CJK Windows 9x/ME or Windows 2k/XP
680 when the system locale is set to one of CJK locales. See Unicode
681 Standard Annex #11 (http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr11).
683 *'antialias'* *'anti'* *'noantialias'* *'noanti'*
684 'antialias' 'anti' boolean (default: off)
685 global
686 {not in Vi}
687 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled
688 on Mac OS X}
689 This option only has an effect in the GUI version of Vim on Mac OS X
690 v10.2 or later. When on, Vim will use smooth ("antialiased") fonts,
691 which can be easier to read at certain sizes on certain displays.
692 Setting this option can sometimes cause problems if 'guifont' is set
693 to its default (empty string).
695 *'autochdir'* *'acd'* *'noautochdir'* *'noacd'*
696 'autochdir' 'acd' boolean (default off)
697 global
698 {not in Vi}
699 {only available when compiled with the
700 |+netbeans_intg| or |+sun_workshop| feature}
701 When on, Vim will change the current working directory whenever you
702 open a file, switch buffers, delete a buffer or open/close a window.
703 It will change to the directory containing the file which was opened
704 or selected.
705 This option is provided for backward compatibility with the Vim
706 released with Sun ONE Studio 4 Enterprise Edition.
707 Note: When this option is on some plugins may not work.
709 *'arabic'* *'arab'* *'noarabic'* *'noarab'*
710 'arabic' 'arab' boolean (default off)
711 local to window
712 {not in Vi}
713 {only available when compiled with the |+arabic|
714 feature}
715 This option can be set to start editing Arabic text.
716 Setting this option will:
717 - Set the 'rightleft' option, unless 'termbidi' is set.
718 - Set the 'arabicshape' option, unless 'termbidi' is set.
719 - Set the 'keymap' option to "arabic"; in Insert mode CTRL-^ toggles
720 between typing English and Arabic key mapping.
721 - Set the 'delcombine' option
722 Note that 'encoding' must be "utf-8" for working with Arabic text.
724 Resetting this option will:
725 - Reset the 'rightleft' option.
726 - Disable the use of 'keymap' (without changing its value).
727 Note that 'arabicshape' and 'delcombine' are not reset (it is a global
728 option.
729 Also see |arabic.txt|.
731 *'arabicshape'* *'arshape'*
732 *'noarabicshape'* *'noarshape'*
733 'arabicshape' 'arshape' boolean (default on)
734 global
735 {not in Vi}
736 {only available when compiled with the |+arabic|
737 feature}
738 When on and 'termbidi' is off, the required visual character
739 corrections that need to take place for displaying the Arabic language
740 take affect. Shaping, in essence, gets enabled; the term is a broad
741 one which encompasses:
742 a) the changing/morphing of characters based on their location
743 within a word (initial, medial, final and stand-alone).
744 b) the enabling of the ability to compose characters
745 c) the enabling of the required combining of some characters
746 When disabled the character display reverts back to each character's
747 true stand-alone form.
748 Arabic is a complex language which requires other settings, for
749 further details see |arabic.txt|.
751 *'autoindent'* *'ai'* *'noautoindent'* *'noai'*
752 'autoindent' 'ai' boolean (default off)
753 local to buffer
754 Copy indent from current line when starting a new line (typing <CR>
755 in Insert mode or when using the "o" or "O" command). If you do not
756 type anything on the new line except <BS> or CTRL-D and then type
757 <Esc>, CTRL-O or <CR>, the indent is deleted again. Moving the cursor
758 to another line has the same effect, unless the 'I' flag is included
759 in 'cpoptions'.
760 When autoindent is on, formatting (with the "gq" command or when you
761 reach 'textwidth' in Insert mode) uses the indentation of the first
762 line.
763 When 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is on the indent is changed in
764 a different way.
765 The 'autoindent' option is reset when the 'paste' option is set.
766 {small difference from Vi: After the indent is deleted when typing
767 <Esc> or <CR>, the cursor position when moving up or down is after the
768 deleted indent; Vi puts the cursor somewhere in the deleted indent}.
770 *'autoread'* *'ar'* *'noautoread'* *'noar'*
771 'autoread' 'ar' boolean (default off)
772 global or local to buffer |global-local|
773 {not in Vi}
774 When a file has been detected to have been changed outside of Vim and
775 it has not been changed inside of Vim, automatically read it again.
776 When the file has been deleted this is not done. |timestamp|
777 If this option has a local value, use this command to switch back to
778 using the global value: >
779 :set autoread<
780 <
781 *'autowrite'* *'aw'* *'noautowrite'* *'noaw'*
782 'autowrite' 'aw' boolean (default off)
783 global
784 Write the contents of the file, if it has been modified, on each
785 :next, :rewind, :last, :first, :previous, :stop, :suspend, :tag, :!,
786 :make, CTRL-] and CTRL-^ command; and when a :buffer, CTRL-O, CTRL-I,
787 '{A-Z0-9}, or `{A-Z0-9} command takes one to another file.
788 Note that for some commands the 'autowrite' option is not used, see
789 'autowriteall' for that.
791 *'autowriteall'* *'awa'* *'noautowriteall'* *'noawa'*
792 'autowriteall' 'awa' boolean (default off)
793 global
794 {not in Vi}
795 Like 'autowrite', but also used for commands ":edit", ":enew", ":quit",
796 ":qall", ":exit", ":xit", ":recover" and closing the Vim window.
797 Setting this option also implies that Vim behaves like 'autowrite' has
798 been set.
800 *'background'* *'bg'*
801 'background' 'bg' string (default "dark" or "light")
802 global
803 {not in Vi}
804 When set to "dark", Vim will try to use colors that look good on a
805 dark background. When set to "light", Vim will try to use colors that
806 look good on a light background. Any other value is illegal.
807 Vim tries to set the default value according to the terminal used.
808 This will not always be correct.
809 Setting this option does not change the background color, it tells Vim
810 what the background color looks like. For changing the background
811 color, see |:hi-normal|.
813 When 'background' is set Vim will adjust the default color groups for
814 the new value. But the colors used for syntax highlighting will not
815 change. *g:colors_name*
816 When a color scheme is loaded (the "colors_name" variable is set)
817 setting 'background' will cause the color scheme to be reloaded. If
818 the color scheme adjusts to the value of 'background' this will work.
819 However, if the color scheme sets 'background' itself the effect may
820 be undone. First delete the "colors_name" variable when needed.
822 When setting 'background' to the default value with: >
823 :set background&
824 < Vim will guess the value. In the GUI this should work correctly,
825 in other cases Vim might not be able to guess the right value.
827 When starting the GUI, the default value for 'background' will be
828 "light". When the value is not set in the .gvimrc, and Vim detects
829 that the background is actually quite dark, 'background' is set to
830 "dark". But this happens only AFTER the .gvimrc file has been read
831 (because the window needs to be opened to find the actual background
832 color). To get around this, force the GUI window to be opened by
833 putting a ":gui" command in the .gvimrc file, before where the value
834 of 'background' is used (e.g., before ":syntax on").
835 Normally this option would be set in the .vimrc file. Possibly
836 depending on the terminal name. Example: >
837 :if &term == "pcterm"
838 : set background=dark
839 :endif
840 < When this option is set, the default settings for the highlight groups
841 will change. To use other settings, place ":highlight" commands AFTER
842 the setting of the 'background' option.
843 This option is also used in the "$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim" file
844 to select the colors for syntax highlighting. After changing this
845 option, you must load syntax.vim again to see the result. This can be
846 done with ":syntax on".
848 *'backspace'* *'bs'*
849 'backspace' 'bs' string (default "")
850 global
851 {not in Vi}
852 Influences the working of <BS>, <Del>, CTRL-W and CTRL-U in Insert
853 mode. This is a list of items, separated by commas. Each item allows
854 a way to backspace over something:
855 value effect ~
856 indent allow backspacing over autoindent
857 eol allow backspacing over line breaks (join lines)
858 start allow backspacing over the start of insert; CTRL-W and CTRL-U
859 stop once at the start of insert.
861 When the value is empty, Vi compatible backspacing is used.
863 For backwards compatibility with version 5.4 and earlier:
864 value effect ~
865 0 same as ":set backspace=" (Vi compatible)
866 1 same as ":set backspace=indent,eol"
867 2 same as ":set backspace=indent,eol,start"
869 See |:fixdel| if your <BS> or <Del> key does not do what you want.
870 NOTE: This option is set to "" when 'compatible' is set.
872 *'backup'* *'bk'* *'nobackup'* *'nobk'*
873 'backup' 'bk' boolean (default off)
874 global
875 {not in Vi}
876 Make a backup before overwriting a file. Leave it around after the
877 file has been successfully written. If you do not want to keep the
878 backup file, but you do want a backup while the file is being
879 written, reset this option and set the 'writebackup' option (this is
880 the default). If you do not want a backup file at all reset both
881 options (use this if your file system is almost full). See the
882 |backup-table| for more explanations.
883 When the 'backupskip' pattern matches, a backup is not made anyway.
884 When 'patchmode' is set, the backup may be renamed to become the
885 oldest version of a file.
886 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
888 *'backupcopy'* *'bkc'*
889 'backupcopy' 'bkc' string (Vi default for Unix: "yes", otherwise: "auto")
890 global
891 {not in Vi}
892 When writing a file and a backup is made, this option tells how it's
893 done. This is a comma separated list of words.
895 The main values are:
896 "yes" make a copy of the file and overwrite the original one
897 "no" rename the file and write a new one
898 "auto" one of the previous, what works best
900 Extra values that can be combined with the ones above are:
901 "breaksymlink" always break symlinks when writing
902 "breakhardlink" always break hardlinks when writing
904 Making a copy and overwriting the original file:
905 - Takes extra time to copy the file.
906 + When the file has special attributes, is a (hard/symbolic) link or
907 has a resource fork, all this is preserved.
908 - When the file is a link the backup will have the name of the link,
909 not of the real file.
911 Renaming the file and writing a new one:
912 + It's fast.
913 - Sometimes not all attributes of the file can be copied to the new
914 file.
915 - When the file is a link the new file will not be a link.
917 The "auto" value is the middle way: When Vim sees that renaming file
918 is possible without side effects (the attributes can be passed on and
919 the file is not a link) that is used. When problems are expected, a
920 copy will be made.
922 The "breaksymlink" and "breakhardlink" values can be used in
923 combination with any of "yes", "no" and "auto". When included, they
924 force Vim to always break either symbolic or hard links by doing
925 exactly what the "no" option does, renaming the original file to
926 become the backup and writing a new file in its place. This can be
927 useful for example in source trees where all the files are symbolic or
928 hard links and any changes should stay in the local source tree, not
929 be propagated back to the original source.
930 *crontab*
931 One situation where "no" and "auto" will cause problems: A program
932 that opens a file, invokes Vim to edit that file, and then tests if
933 the open file was changed (through the file descriptor) will check the
934 backup file instead of the newly created file. "crontab -e" is an
935 example.
937 When a copy is made, the original file is truncated and then filled
938 with the new text. This means that protection bits, owner and
939 symbolic links of the original file are unmodified. The backup file
940 however, is a new file, owned by the user who edited the file. The
941 group of the backup is set to the group of the original file. If this
942 fails, the protection bits for the group are made the same as for
943 others.
945 When the file is renamed this is the other way around: The backup has
946 the same attributes of the original file, and the newly written file
947 is owned by the current user. When the file was a (hard/symbolic)
948 link, the new file will not! That's why the "auto" value doesn't
949 rename when the file is a link. The owner and group of the newly
950 written file will be set to the same ones as the original file, but
951 the system may refuse to do this. In that case the "auto" value will
952 again not rename the file.
954 *'backupdir'* *'bdir'*
955 'backupdir' 'bdir' string (default for Amiga: ".,t:",
956 for MS-DOS and Win32: ".,c:/tmp,c:/temp"
957 for Unix: ".,~/tmp,~/")
958 global
959 {not in Vi}
960 List of directories for the backup file, separated with commas.
961 - The backup file will be created in the first directory in the list
962 where this is possible.
963 - Empty means that no backup file will be created ('patchmode' is
964 impossible!). Writing may fail because of this.
965 - A directory "." means to put the backup file in the same directory
966 as the edited file.
967 - A directory starting with "./" (or ".\" for MS-DOS et al.) means to
968 put the backup file relative to where the edited file is. The
969 leading "." is replaced with the path name of the edited file.
970 ("." inside a directory name has no special meaning).
971 - Spaces after the comma are ignored, other spaces are considered part
972 of the directory name. To have a space at the start of a directory
973 name, precede it with a backslash.
974 - To include a comma in a directory name precede it with a backslash.
975 - A directory name may end in an '/'.
976 - Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
977 - Careful with '\' characters, type one before a space, type two to
978 get one in the option (see |option-backslash|), for example: >
979 :set bdir=c:\\tmp,\ dir\\,with\\,commas,\\\ dir\ with\ spaces
980 < - For backwards compatibility with Vim version 3.0 a '>' at the start
981 of the option is removed.
982 See also 'backup' and 'writebackup' options.
983 If you want to hide your backup files on Unix, consider this value: >
984 :set backupdir=./.backup,~/.backup,.,/tmp
985 < You must create a ".backup" directory in each directory and in your
986 home directory for this to work properly.
987 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
988 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
989 uses another default.
990 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
991 security reasons.
993 *'backupext'* *'bex'* *E589*
994 'backupext' 'bex' string (default "~", for VMS: "_")
995 global
996 {not in Vi}
997 String which is appended to a file name to make the name of the
998 backup file. The default is quite unusual, because this avoids
999 accidentally overwriting existing files with a backup file. You might
1000 prefer using ".bak", but make sure that you don't have files with
1001 ".bak" that you want to keep.
1002 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
1004 If you like to keep a lot of backups, you could use a BufWritePre
1005 autocommand to change 'backupext' just before writing the file to
1006 include a timestamp. >
1007 :au BufWritePre * let &bex = '-' . strftime("%Y%b%d%X") . '~'
1008 < Use 'backupdir' to put the backup in a different directory.
1010 *'backupskip'* *'bsk'*
1011 'backupskip' 'bsk' string (default: "/tmp/*,$TMPDIR/*,$TMP/*,$TEMP/*")
1012 global
1013 {not in Vi}
1014 {not available when compiled without the |+wildignore|
1015 feature}
1016 A list of file patterns. When one of the patterns matches with the
1017 name of the file which is written, no backup file is created. Both
1018 the specified file name and the full path name of the file are used.
1019 The pattern is used like with |:autocmd|, see |autocmd-patterns|.
1020 Watch out for special characters, see |option-backslash|.
1021 When $TMPDIR, $TMP or $TEMP is not defined, it is not used for the
1022 default value. "/tmp/*" is only used for Unix.
1024 Note that environment variables are not expanded. If you want to use
1025 $HOME you must expand it explicitly, e.g.: >
1026 :let backupskip = escape(expand('$HOME'), '\') . '/tmp/*'
1028 < Note that the default also makes sure that "crontab -e" works (when a
1029 backup would be made by renaming the original file crontab won't see
1030 the newly created file). Also see 'backupcopy' and |crontab|.
1032 *'balloondelay'* *'bdlay'*
1033 'balloondelay' 'bdlay' number (default: 600)
1034 global
1035 {not in Vi}
1036 {only available when compiled with the |+balloon_eval|
1037 feature}
1038 Delay in milliseconds before a balloon may pop up. See |balloon-eval|.
1040 *'ballooneval'* *'beval'* *'noballooneval'* *'nobeval'*
1041 'ballooneval' 'beval' boolean (default off)
1042 global
1043 {not in Vi}
1044 {only available when compiled with the |+balloon_eval|
1045 feature}
1046 Switch on the |balloon-eval| functionality.
1048 *'balloonexpr'* *'bexpr'*
1049 'balloonexpr' 'bexpr' string (default "")
1050 global or local to buffer |global-local|
1051 {not in Vi}
1052 {only available when compiled with the |+balloon_eval|
1053 feature}
1054 Expression for text to show in evaluation balloon. It is only used
1055 when 'ballooneval' is on. These variables can be used:
1057 v:beval_bufnr number of the buffer in which balloon is going to show
1058 v:beval_winnr number of the window
1059 v:beval_lnum line number
1060 v:beval_col column number (byte index)
1061 v:beval_text word under or after the mouse pointer
1063 The evaluation of the expression must not have side effects!
1064 Example: >
1065 function! MyBalloonExpr()
1066 return 'Cursor is at line ' . v:beval_lnum .
1067 \', column ' . v:beval_col .
1068 \ ' of file ' . bufname(v:beval_bufnr) .
1069 \ ' on word "' . v:beval_text . '"'
1070 endfunction
1071 set bexpr=MyBalloonExpr()
1072 set ballooneval
1073 <
1074 NOTE: The balloon is displayed only if the cursor is on a text
1075 character. If the result of evaluating 'balloonexpr' is not empty,
1076 Vim does not try to send a message to an external debugger (Netbeans
1077 or Sun Workshop).
1079 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
1080 |sandbox-option|.
1082 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
1083 evaluating 'balloonexpr' |textlock|.
1085 To check whether line breaks in the balloon text work use this check: >
1086 if has("balloon_multiline")
1087 < When they are supported "\n" characters will start a new line. If the
1088 expression evaluates to a |List| this is equal to using each List item
1089 as a string and putting "\n" in between them.
1091 *'binary'* *'bin'* *'nobinary'* *'nobin'*
1092 'binary' 'bin' boolean (default off)
1093 local to buffer
1094 {not in Vi}
1095 This option should be set before editing a binary file. You can also
1096 use the |-b| Vim argument. When this option is switched on a few
1097 options will be changed (also when it already was on):
1098 'textwidth' will be set to 0
1099 'wrapmargin' will be set to 0
1100 'modeline' will be off
1101 'expandtab' will be off
1102 Also, 'fileformat' and 'fileformats' options will not be used, the
1103 file is read and written like 'fileformat' was "unix" (a single <NL>
1104 separates lines).
1105 The 'fileencoding' and 'fileencodings' options will not be used, the
1106 file is read without conversion.
1107 NOTE: When you start editing a(nother) file while the 'bin' option is
1108 on, settings from autocommands may change the settings again (e.g.,
1109 'textwidth'), causing trouble when editing. You might want to set
1110 'bin' again when the file has been loaded.
1111 The previous values of these options are remembered and restored when
1112 'bin' is switched from on to off. Each buffer has its own set of
1113 saved option values.
1114 To edit a file with 'binary' set you can use the |++bin| argument.
1115 This avoids you have to do ":set bin", which would have effect for all
1116 files you edit.
1117 When writing a file the <EOL> for the last line is only written if
1118 there was one in the original file (normally Vim appends an <EOL> to
1119 the last line if there is none; this would make the file longer). See
1120 the 'endofline' option.
1122 *'bioskey'* *'biosk'* *'nobioskey'* *'nobiosk'*
1123 'bioskey' 'biosk' boolean (default on)
1124 global
1125 {not in Vi} {only for MS-DOS}
1126 When on the BIOS is called to obtain a keyboard character. This works
1127 better to detect CTRL-C, but only works for the console. When using a
1128 terminal over a serial port reset this option.
1129 Also see |'conskey'|.
1131 *'bomb'* *'nobomb'*
1132 'bomb' boolean (default off)
1133 local to buffer
1134 {not in Vi}
1135 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
1136 feature}
1137 When writing a file and the following conditions are met, a BOM (Byte
1138 Order Mark) is prepended to the file:
1139 - this option is on
1140 - the 'binary' option is off
1141 - 'fileencoding' is "utf-8", "ucs-2", "ucs-4" or one of the little/big
1142 endian variants.
1143 Some applications use the BOM to recognize the encoding of the file.
1144 Often used for UCS-2 files on MS-Windows. For other applications it
1145 causes trouble, for example: "cat file1 file2" makes the BOM of file2
1146 appear halfway the resulting file.
1147 When Vim reads a file and 'fileencodings' starts with "ucs-bom", a
1148 check for the presence of the BOM is done and 'bomb' set accordingly.
1149 Unless 'binary' is set, it is removed from the first line, so that you
1150 don't see it when editing. When you don't change the options, the BOM
1151 will be restored when writing the file.
1153 *'breakat'* *'brk'*
1154 'breakat' 'brk' string (default " ^I!@*-+;:,./?")
1155 global
1156 {not in Vi}
1157 {not available when compiled without the |+linebreak|
1158 feature}
1159 This option lets you choose which characters might cause a line
1160 break if 'linebreak' is on. Only works for ASCII and also for 8-bit
1161 characters when 'encoding' is an 8-bit encoding.
1163 *'browsedir'* *'bsdir'*
1164 'browsedir' 'bsdir' string (default: "last")
1165 global
1166 {not in Vi} {only for Motif, Athena, GTK, Mac and
1167 Win32 GUI}
1168 Which directory to use for the file browser:
1169 last Use same directory as with last file browser, where a
1170 file was opened or saved.
1171 buffer Use the directory of the related buffer.
1172 current Use the current directory.
1173 {path} Use the specified directory
1175 *'bufhidden'* *'bh'*
1176 'bufhidden' 'bh' string (default: "")
1177 local to buffer
1178 {not in Vi}
1179 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
1180 feature}
1181 This option specifies what happens when a buffer is no longer
1182 displayed in a window:
1183 <empty> follow the global 'hidden' option
1184 hide hide the buffer (don't unload it), also when 'hidden'
1185 is not set
1186 unload unload the buffer, also when 'hidden' is set or using
1187 |:hide|
1188 delete delete the buffer from the buffer list, also when
1189 'hidden' is set or using |:hide|, like using
1190 |:bdelete|
1191 wipe wipe out the buffer from the buffer list, also when
1192 'hidden' is set or using |:hide|, like using
1193 |:bwipeout|
1195 CAREFUL: when "unload", "delete" or "wipe" is used changes in a buffer
1196 are lost without a warning.
1197 This option is used together with 'buftype' and 'swapfile' to specify
1198 special kinds of buffers. See |special-buffers|.
1200 *'buflisted'* *'bl'* *'nobuflisted'* *'nobl'* *E85*
1201 'buflisted' 'bl' boolean (default: on)
1202 local to buffer
1203 {not in Vi}
1204 When this option is set, the buffer shows up in the buffer list. If
1205 it is reset it is not used for ":bnext", "ls", the Buffers menu, etc.
1206 This option is reset by Vim for buffers that are only used to remember
1207 a file name or marks. Vim sets it when starting to edit a buffer.
1208 But not when moving to a buffer with ":buffer".
1210 *'buftype'* *'bt'* *E382*
1211 'buftype' 'bt' string (default: "")
1212 local to buffer
1213 {not in Vi}
1214 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
1215 feature}
1216 The value of this option specifies the type of a buffer:
1217 <empty> normal buffer
1218 nofile buffer which is not related to a file and will not be
1219 written
1220 nowrite buffer which will not be written
1221 acwrite buffer which will always be written with BufWriteCmd
1222 autocommands. {not available when compiled without the
1223 |+autocmd| feature}
1224 quickfix quickfix buffer, contains list of errors |:cwindow|
1225 or list of locations |:lwindow|
1226 help help buffer (you are not supposed to set this
1227 manually)
1229 This option is used together with 'bufhidden' and 'swapfile' to
1230 specify special kinds of buffers. See |special-buffers|.
1232 Be careful with changing this option, it can have many side effects!
1234 A "quickfix" buffer is only used for the error list and the location
1235 list. This value is set by the |:cwindow| and |:lwindow| commands and
1236 you are not supposed to change it.
1238 "nofile" and "nowrite" buffers are similar:
1239 both: The buffer is not to be written to disk, ":w" doesn't
1240 work (":w filename" does work though).
1241 both: The buffer is never considered to be |'modified'|.
1242 There is no warning when the changes will be lost, for
1243 example when you quit Vim.
1244 both: A swap file is only created when using too much memory
1245 (when 'swapfile' has been reset there is never a swap
1246 file).
1247 nofile only: The buffer name is fixed, it is not handled like a
1248 file name. It is not modified in response to a |:cd|
1249 command.
1250 *E676*
1251 "acwrite" implies that the buffer name is not related to a file, like
1252 "nofile", but it will be written. Thus, in contrast to "nofile" and
1253 "nowrite", ":w" does work and a modified buffer can't be abandoned
1254 without saving. For writing there must be matching |BufWriteCmd|,
1255 |FileWriteCmd| or |FileAppendCmd| autocommands.
1257 *'casemap'* *'cmp'*
1258 'casemap' 'cmp' string (default: "internal,keepascii")
1259 global
1260 {not in Vi}
1261 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
1262 feature}
1263 Specifies details about changing the case of letters. It may contain
1264 these words, separated by a comma:
1265 internal Use internal case mapping functions, the current
1266 locale does not change the case mapping. This only
1267 matters when 'encoding' is a Unicode encoding,
1268 "latin1" or "iso-8859-15". When "internal" is
1269 omitted, the towupper() and towlower() system library
1270 functions are used when available.
1271 keepascii For the ASCII characters (0x00 to 0x7f) use the US
1272 case mapping, the current locale is not effective.
1273 This probably only matters for Turkish.
1275 *'cdpath'* *'cd'* *E344* *E346*
1276 'cdpath' 'cd' string (default: equivalent to $CDPATH or ",,")
1277 global
1278 {not in Vi}
1279 {not available when compiled without the
1280 |+file_in_path| feature}
1281 This is a list of directories which will be searched when using the
1282 |:cd| and |:lcd| commands, provided that the directory being searched
1283 for has a relative path, not an absolute part starting with "/", "./"
1284 or "../", the 'cdpath' option is not used then.
1285 The 'cdpath' option's value has the same form and semantics as
1286 |'path'|. Also see |file-searching|.
1287 The default value is taken from $CDPATH, with a "," prepended to look
1288 in the current directory first.
1289 If the default value taken from $CDPATH is not what you want, include
1290 a modified version of the following command in your vimrc file to
1291 override it: >
1292 :let &cdpath = ',' . substitute(substitute($CDPATH, '[, ]', '\\\0', 'g'), ':', ',', 'g')
1293 < This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
1294 security reasons.
1295 (parts of 'cdpath' can be passed to the shell to expand file names).
1297 *'cedit'*
1298 'cedit' string (Vi default: "", Vim default: CTRL-F)
1299 global
1300 {not in Vi}
1301 {not available when compiled without the |+vertsplit|
1302 feature}
1303 The key used in Command-line Mode to open the command-line window.
1304 The default is CTRL-F when 'compatible' is off.
1305 Only non-printable keys are allowed.
1306 The key can be specified as a single character, but it is difficult to
1307 type. The preferred way is to use the <> notation. Examples: >
1308 :set cedit=<C-Y>
1309 :set cedit=<Esc>
1310 < |Nvi| also has this option, but it only uses the first character.
1311 See |cmdwin|.
1313 *'charconvert'* *'ccv'* *E202* *E214* *E513*
1314 'charconvert' 'ccv' string (default "")
1315 global
1316 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
1317 feature and the |+eval| feature}
1318 {not in Vi}
1319 An expression that is used for character encoding conversion. It is
1320 evaluated when a file that is to be read or has been written has a
1321 different encoding from what is desired.
1322 'charconvert' is not used when the internal iconv() function is
1323 supported and is able to do the conversion. Using iconv() is
1324 preferred, because it is much faster.
1325 'charconvert' is not used when reading stdin |--|, because there is no
1326 file to convert from. You will have to save the text in a file first.
1327 The expression must return zero or an empty string for success,
1328 non-zero for failure.
1329 The possible encoding names encountered are in 'encoding'.
1330 Additionally, names given in 'fileencodings' and 'fileencoding' are
1331 used.
1332 Conversion between "latin1", "unicode", "ucs-2", "ucs-4" and "utf-8"
1333 is done internally by Vim, 'charconvert' is not used for this.
1334 'charconvert' is also used to convert the viminfo file, if the 'c'
1335 flag is present in 'viminfo'. Also used for Unicode conversion.
1336 Example: >
1337 set charconvert=CharConvert()
1338 fun CharConvert()
1339 system("recode "
1340 \ . v:charconvert_from . ".." . v:charconvert_to
1341 \ . " <" . v:fname_in . " >" v:fname_out)
1342 return v:shell_error
1343 endfun
1344 < The related Vim variables are:
1345 v:charconvert_from name of the current encoding
1346 v:charconvert_to name of the desired encoding
1347 v:fname_in name of the input file
1348 v:fname_out name of the output file
1349 Note that v:fname_in and v:fname_out will never be the same.
1350 Note that v:charconvert_from and v:charconvert_to may be different
1351 from 'encoding'. Vim internally uses UTF-8 instead of UCS-2 or UCS-4.
1352 Encryption is not done by Vim when using 'charconvert'. If you want
1353 to encrypt the file after conversion, 'charconvert' should take care
1354 of this.
1355 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
1356 security reasons.
1358 *'cindent'* *'cin'* *'nocindent'* *'nocin'*
1359 'cindent' 'cin' boolean (default off)
1360 local to buffer
1361 {not in Vi}
1362 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
1363 feature}
1364 Enables automatic C program indenting. See 'cinkeys' to set the keys
1365 that trigger reindenting in insert mode and 'cinoptions' to set your
1366 preferred indent style.
1367 If 'indentexpr' is not empty, it overrules 'cindent'.
1368 If 'lisp' is not on and both 'indentexpr' and 'equalprg' are empty,
1369 the "=" operator indents using this algorithm rather than calling an
1370 external program.
1371 See |C-indenting|.
1372 When you don't like the way 'cindent' works, try the 'smartindent'
1373 option or 'indentexpr'.
1374 This option is not used when 'paste' is set.
1375 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
1377 *'cinkeys'* *'cink'*
1378 'cinkeys' 'cink' string (default "0{,0},0),:,0#,!^F,o,O,e")
1379 local to buffer
1380 {not in Vi}
1381 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
1382 feature}
1383 A list of keys that, when typed in Insert mode, cause reindenting of
1384 the current line. Only used if 'cindent' is on and 'indentexpr' is
1385 empty.
1386 For the format of this option see |cinkeys-format|.
1387 See |C-indenting|.
1389 *'cinoptions'* *'cino'*
1390 'cinoptions' 'cino' string (default "")
1391 local to buffer
1392 {not in Vi}
1393 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
1394 feature}
1395 The 'cinoptions' affect the way 'cindent' reindents lines in a C
1396 program. See |cinoptions-values| for the values of this option, and
1397 |C-indenting| for info on C indenting in general.
1400 *'cinwords'* *'cinw'*
1401 'cinwords' 'cinw' string (default "if,else,while,do,for,switch")
1402 local to buffer
1403 {not in Vi}
1404 {not available when compiled without both the
1405 |+cindent| and the |+smartindent| features}
1406 These keywords start an extra indent in the next line when
1407 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is set. For 'cindent' this is only done at
1408 an appropriate place (inside {}).
1409 Note that 'ignorecase' isn't used for 'cinwords'. If case doesn't
1410 matter, include the keyword both the uppercase and lowercase:
1411 "if,If,IF".
1413 *'clipboard'* *'cb'*
1414 'clipboard' 'cb' string (default "autoselect,exclude:cons\|linux"
1415 for X-windows, "" otherwise)
1416 global
1417 {not in Vi}
1418 {only in GUI versions or when the |+xterm_clipboard|
1419 feature is included}
1420 This option is a list of comma separated names.
1421 These names are recognized:
1423 unnamed When included, Vim will use the clipboard register '*'
1424 for all yank, delete, change and put operations which
1425 would normally go to the unnamed register. When a
1426 register is explicitly specified, it will always be
1427 used regardless of whether "unnamed" is in 'clipboard'
1428 or not. The clipboard register can always be
1429 explicitly accessed using the "* notation. Also see
1430 |gui-clipboard|.
1432 autoselect Works like the 'a' flag in 'guioptions': If present,
1433 then whenever Visual mode is started, or the Visual
1434 area extended, Vim tries to become the owner of the
1435 windowing system's global selection or put the
1436 selected text on the clipboard used by the selection
1437 register "*. See |guioptions_a| and |quotestar| for
1438 details. When the GUI is active, the 'a' flag in
1439 'guioptions' is used, when the GUI is not active, this
1440 "autoselect" flag is used.
1441 Also applies to the modeless selection.
1443 autoselectml Like "autoselect", but for the modeless selection
1444 only. Compare to the 'A' flag in 'guioptions'.
1446 exclude:{pattern}
1447 Defines a pattern that is matched against the name of
1448 the terminal 'term'. If there is a match, no
1449 connection will be made to the X server. This is
1450 useful in this situation:
1451 - Running Vim in a console.
1452 - $DISPLAY is set to start applications on another
1453 display.
1454 - You do not want to connect to the X server in the
1455 console, but do want this in a terminal emulator.
1456 To never connect to the X server use: >
1457 exclude:.*
1458 < This has the same effect as using the |-X| argument.
1459 Note that when there is no connection to the X server
1460 the window title won't be restored and the clipboard
1461 cannot be accessed.
1462 The value of 'magic' is ignored, {pattern} is
1463 interpreted as if 'magic' was on.
1464 The rest of the option value will be used for
1465 {pattern}, this must be the last entry.
1467 *'cmdheight'* *'ch'*
1468 'cmdheight' 'ch' number (default 1)
1469 global
1470 {not in Vi}
1471 Number of screen lines to use for the command-line. Helps avoiding
1472 |hit-enter| prompts.
1473 The value of this option is stored with the tab page, so that each tab
1474 page can have a different value.
1476 *'cmdwinheight'* *'cwh'*
1477 'cmdwinheight' 'cwh' number (default 7)
1478 global
1479 {not in Vi}
1480 {not available when compiled without the |+vertsplit|
1481 feature}
1482 Number of screen lines to use for the command-line window. |cmdwin|
1484 *'columns'* *'co'* *E594*
1485 'columns' 'co' number (default 80 or terminal width)
1486 global
1487 {not in Vi}
1488 Number of columns of the screen. Normally this is set by the terminal
1489 initialization and does not have to be set by hand. Also see
1490 |posix-screen-size|.
1491 When Vim is running in the GUI or in a resizable window, setting this
1492 option will cause the window size to be changed. When you only want
1493 to use the size for the GUI, put the command in your |gvimrc| file.
1494 When you set this option and Vim is unable to change the physical
1495 number of columns of the display, the display may be messed up. For
1496 the GUI it is always possible and Vim limits the number of columns to
1497 what fits on the screen. You can use this command to get the widest
1498 window possible: >
1499 :set columns=9999
1500 < Minimum value is 12, maximum value is 10000.
1502 *'comments'* *'com'* *E524* *E525*
1503 'comments' 'com' string (default
1504 "s1:/*,mb:*,ex:*/,://,b:#,:%,:XCOMM,n:>,fb:-")
1505 local to buffer
1506 {not in Vi}
1507 {not available when compiled without the |+comments|
1508 feature}
1509 A comma separated list of strings that can start a comment line. See
1510 |format-comments|. See |option-backslash| about using backslashes to
1511 insert a space.
1513 *'commentstring'* *'cms'* *E537*
1514 'commentstring' 'cms' string (default "/*%s*/")
1515 local to buffer
1516 {not in Vi}
1517 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
1518 feature}
1519 A template for a comment. The "%s" in the value is replaced with the
1520 comment text. Currently only used to add markers for folding, see
1521 |fold-marker|.
1523 *'compatible'* *'cp'* *'nocompatible'* *'nocp'*
1524 'compatible' 'cp' boolean (default on, off when a |vimrc| or |gvimrc|
1525 file is found)
1526 global
1527 {not in Vi}
1528 This option has the effect of making Vim either more Vi-compatible, or
1529 make Vim behave in a more useful way.
1530 This is a special kind of option, because when it's set or reset,
1531 other options are also changed as a side effect. CAREFUL: Setting or
1532 resetting this option can have a lot of unexpected effects: Mappings
1533 are interpreted in another way, undo behaves differently, etc. If you
1534 set this option in your vimrc file, you should probably put it at the
1535 very start.
1536 By default this option is on and the Vi defaults are used for the
1537 options. This default was chosen for those people who want to use Vim
1538 just like Vi, and don't even (want to) know about the 'compatible'
1539 option.
1540 When a |vimrc| or |gvimrc| file is found while Vim is starting up,
1541 this option is switched off, and all options that have not been
1542 modified will be set to the Vim defaults. Effectively, this means
1543 that when a |vimrc| or |gvimrc| file exists, Vim will use the Vim
1544 defaults, otherwise it will use the Vi defaults. (Note: This doesn't
1545 happen for the system-wide vimrc or gvimrc file, nor for a file given
1546 with the |-u| argument). Also see |compatible-default| and
1547 |posix-compliance|.
1548 You can also set this option with the "-C" argument, and reset it with
1549 "-N". See |-C| and |-N|.
1550 Switching this option off makes the Vim defaults be used for options
1551 that have a different Vi and Vim default value. See the options
1552 marked with a '+' below. Other options are not modified.
1553 At the moment this option is set, several other options will be set
1554 or reset to make Vim as Vi-compatible as possible. See the table
1555 below. This can be used if you want to revert to Vi compatible
1556 editing.
1557 See also 'cpoptions'.
1559 option + set value effect ~
1561 'allowrevins' off no CTRL-_ command
1562 'backupcopy' Unix: "yes" backup file is a copy
1563 others: "auto" copy or rename backup file
1564 'backspace' "" normal backspace
1565 'backup' off no backup file
1566 'cindent' off no C code indentation
1567 'cedit' + "" no key to open the |cmdwin|
1568 'cpoptions' + (all flags) Vi-compatible flags
1569 'cscopetag' off don't use cscope for ":tag"
1570 'cscopetagorder' 0 see |cscopetagorder|
1571 'cscopeverbose' off see |cscopeverbose|
1572 'digraph' off no digraphs
1573 'esckeys' + off no <Esc>-keys in Insert mode
1574 'expandtab' off tabs not expanded to spaces
1575 'fileformats' + "" no automatic file format detection,
1576 "dos,unix" except for DOS, Windows and OS/2
1577 'formatoptions' + "vt" Vi compatible formatting
1578 'gdefault' off no default 'g' flag for ":s"
1579 'history' + 0 no commandline history
1580 'hkmap' off no Hebrew keyboard mapping
1581 'hkmapp' off no phonetic Hebrew keyboard mapping
1582 'hlsearch' off no highlighting of search matches
1583 'incsearch' off no incremental searching
1584 'indentexpr' "" no indenting by expression
1585 'insertmode' off do not start in Insert mode
1586 'iskeyword' + "@,48-57,_" keywords contain alphanumeric
1587 characters and '_'
1588 'joinspaces' on insert 2 spaces after period
1589 'modeline' + off no modelines
1590 'more' + off no pauses in listings
1591 'revins' off no reverse insert
1592 'ruler' off no ruler
1593 'scrolljump' 1 no jump scroll
1594 'scrolloff' 0 no scroll offset
1595 'shiftround' off indent not rounded to shiftwidth
1596 'shortmess' + "" no shortening of messages
1597 'showcmd' + off command characters not shown
1598 'showmode' + off current mode not shown
1599 'smartcase' off no automatic ignore case switch
1600 'smartindent' off no smart indentation
1601 'smarttab' off no smart tab size
1602 'softtabstop' 0 tabs are always 'tabstop' positions
1603 'startofline' on goto startofline with some commands
1604 'tagrelative' + off tag file names are not relative
1605 'textauto' + off no automatic textmode detection
1606 'textwidth' 0 no automatic line wrap
1607 'tildeop' off tilde is not an operator
1608 'ttimeout' off no terminal timeout
1609 'whichwrap' + "" left-right movements don't wrap
1610 'wildchar' + CTRL-E only when the current value is <Tab>
1611 use CTRL-E for cmdline completion
1612 'writebackup' on or off depends on +writebackup feature
1614 *'complete'* *'cpt'* *E535*
1615 'complete' 'cpt' string (default: ".,w,b,u,t,i")
1616 local to buffer
1617 {not in Vi}
1618 This option specifies how keyword completion |ins-completion| works
1619 when CTRL-P or CTRL-N are used. It is also used for whole-line
1620 completion |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L|. It indicates the type of completion
1621 and the places to scan. It is a comma separated list of flags:
1622 . scan the current buffer ('wrapscan' is ignored)
1623 w scan buffers from other windows
1624 b scan other loaded buffers that are in the buffer list
1625 u scan the unloaded buffers that are in the buffer list
1626 U scan the buffers that are not in the buffer list
1627 k scan the files given with the 'dictionary' option
1628 kspell use the currently active spell checking |spell|
1629 k{dict} scan the file {dict}. Several "k" flags can be given,
1630 patterns are valid too. For example: >
1631 :set cpt=k/usr/dict/*,k~/spanish
1632 < s scan the files given with the 'thesaurus' option
1633 s{tsr} scan the file {tsr}. Several "s" flags can be given, patterns
1634 are valid too.
1635 i scan current and included files
1636 d scan current and included files for defined name or macro
1637 |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D|
1638 ] tag completion
1639 t same as "]"
1641 Unloaded buffers are not loaded, thus their autocmds |:autocmd| are
1642 not executed, this may lead to unexpected completions from some files
1643 (gzipped files for example). Unloaded buffers are not scanned for
1644 whole-line completion.
1646 The default is ".,w,b,u,t,i", which means to scan:
1647 1. the current buffer
1648 2. buffers in other windows
1649 3. other loaded buffers
1650 4. unloaded buffers
1651 5. tags
1652 6. included files
1654 As you can see, CTRL-N and CTRL-P can be used to do any 'iskeyword'-
1655 based expansion (e.g., dictionary |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K|, included patterns
1656 |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I|, tags |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]| and normal expansions).
1658 *'completefunc'* *'cfu'*
1659 'completefunc' 'cfu' string (default: empty)
1660 local to buffer
1661 {not in Vi}
1662 {not available when compiled without the +eval
1663 or +insert_expand feature}
1664 This option specifies a function to be used for Insert mode completion
1665 with CTRL-X CTRL-U. |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U|
1666 See |complete-functions| for an explanation of how the function is
1667 invoked and what it should return.
1670 *'completeopt'* *'cot'*
1671 'completeopt' 'cot' string (default: "menu,preview")
1672 global
1673 {not available when compiled without the
1674 |+insert_expand| feature}
1675 {not in Vi}
1676 A comma separated list of options for Insert mode completion
1677 |ins-completion|. The supported values are:
1679 menu Use a popup menu to show the possible completions. The
1680 menu is only shown when there is more than one match and
1681 sufficient colors are available. |ins-completion-menu|
1683 menuone Use the popup menu also when there is only one match.
1684 Useful when there is additional information about the
1685 match, e.g., what file it comes from.
1687 longest Only insert the longest common text of the matches. If
1688 the menu is displayed you can use CTRL-L to add more
1689 characters. Whether case is ignored depends on the kind
1690 of completion. For buffer text the 'ignorecase' option is
1691 used.
1693 preview Show extra information about the currently selected
1694 completion in the preview window. Only works in
1695 combination with "menu" or "menuone".
1698 *'confirm'* *'cf'* *'noconfirm'* *'nocf'*
1699 'confirm' 'cf' boolean (default off)
1700 global
1701 {not in Vi}
1702 When 'confirm' is on, certain operations that would normally
1703 fail because of unsaved changes to a buffer, e.g. ":q" and ":e",
1704 instead raise a |dialog| asking if you wish to save the current
1705 file(s). You can still use a ! to unconditionally |abandon| a buffer.
1706 If 'confirm' is off you can still activate confirmation for one
1707 command only (this is most useful in mappings) with the |:confirm|
1708 command.
1709 Also see the |confirm()| function and the 'v' flag in 'guioptions'.
1711 *'conskey'* *'consk'* *'noconskey'* *'noconsk'*
1712 'conskey' 'consk' boolean (default off)
1713 global
1714 {not in Vi} {only for MS-DOS}
1715 When on direct console I/O is used to obtain a keyboard character.
1716 This should work in most cases. Also see |'bioskey'|. Together,
1717 three methods of console input are available:
1718 'conskey' 'bioskey' action ~
1719 on on or off direct console input
1720 off on BIOS
1721 off off STDIN
1723 *'copyindent'* *'ci'* *'nocopyindent'* *'noci'*
1724 'copyindent' 'ci' boolean (default off)
1725 local to buffer
1726 {not in Vi}
1727 Copy the structure of the existing lines indent when autoindenting a
1728 new line. Normally the new indent is reconstructed by a series of
1729 tabs followed by spaces as required (unless |'expandtab'| is enabled,
1730 in which case only spaces are used). Enabling this option makes the
1731 new line copy whatever characters were used for indenting on the
1732 existing line. 'expandtab' has no effect on these characters, a Tab
1733 remains a Tab. If the new indent is greater than on the existing
1734 line, the remaining space is filled in the normal manner.
1735 NOTE: 'copyindent' is reset when 'compatible' is set.
1736 Also see 'preserveindent'.
1738 *'cpoptions'* *'cpo'*
1739 'cpoptions' 'cpo' string (Vim default: "aABceFs",
1740 Vi default: all flags)
1741 global
1742 {not in Vi}
1743 A sequence of single character flags. When a character is present
1744 this indicates vi-compatible behavior. This is used for things where
1745 not being vi-compatible is mostly or sometimes preferred.
1746 'cpoptions' stands for "compatible-options".
1747 Commas can be added for readability.
1748 To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the
1749 "+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|.
1750 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
1751 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
1752 NOTE: This option is set to the POSIX default value at startup when
1753 the Vi default value would be used and the $VIM_POSIX environment
1754 variable exists |posix|. This means tries to behave like the POSIX
1755 specification.
1757 contains behavior ~
1758 *cpo-a*
1759 a When included, a ":read" command with a file name
1760 argument will set the alternate file name for the
1761 current window.
1762 *cpo-A*
1763 A When included, a ":write" command with a file name
1764 argument will set the alternate file name for the
1765 current window.
1766 *cpo-b*
1767 b "\|" in a ":map" command is recognized as the end of
1768 the map command. The '\' is included in the mapping,
1769 the text after the '|' is interpreted as the next
1770 command. Use a CTRL-V instead of a backslash to
1771 include the '|' in the mapping. Applies to all
1772 mapping, abbreviation, menu and autocmd commands.
1773 See also |map_bar|.
1774 *cpo-B*
1775 B A backslash has no special meaning in mappings,
1776 abbreviations and the "to" part of the menu commands.
1777 Remove this flag to be able to use a backslash like a
1778 CTRL-V. For example, the command ":map X \<Esc>"
1779 results in X being mapped to:
1780 'B' included: "\^[" (^[ is a real <Esc>)
1781 'B' excluded: "<Esc>" (5 characters)
1782 ('<' excluded in both cases)
1783 *cpo-c*
1784 c Searching continues at the end of any match at the
1785 cursor position, but not further than the start of the
1786 next line. When not present searching continues
1787 one character from the cursor position. With 'c'
1788 "abababababab" only gets three matches when repeating
1789 "/abab", without 'c' there are five matches.
1790 *cpo-C*
1791 C Do not concatenate sourced lines that start with a
1792 backslash. See |line-continuation|.
1793 *cpo-d*
1794 d Using "./" in the 'tags' option doesn't mean to use
1795 the tags file relative to the current file, but the
1796 tags file in the current directory.
1797 *cpo-D*
1798 D Can't use CTRL-K to enter a digraph after Normal mode
1799 commands with a character argument, like |r|, |f| and
1800 |t|.
1801 *cpo-e*
1802 e When executing a register with ":@r", always add a
1803 <CR> to the last line, also when the register is not
1804 linewise. If this flag is not present, the register
1805 is not linewise and the last line does not end in a
1806 <CR>, then the last line is put on the command-line
1807 and can be edited before hitting <CR>.
1808 *cpo-E*
1809 E It is an error when using "y", "d", "c", "g~", "gu" or
1810 "gU" on an Empty region. The operators only work when
1811 at least one character is to be operate on. Example:
1812 This makes "y0" fail in the first column.
1813 *cpo-f*
1814 f When included, a ":read" command with a file name
1815 argument will set the file name for the current buffer,
1816 if the current buffer doesn't have a file name yet.
1817 *cpo-F*
1818 F When included, a ":write" command with a file name
1819 argument will set the file name for the current
1820 buffer, if the current buffer doesn't have a file name
1821 yet. Also see |cpo-P|.
1822 *cpo-g*
1823 g Goto line 1 when using ":edit" without argument.
1824 *cpo-H*
1825 H When using "I" on a line with only blanks, insert
1826 before the last blank. Without this flag insert after
1827 the last blank.
1828 *cpo-i*
1829 i When included, interrupting the reading of a file will
1830 leave it modified.
1831 *cpo-I*
1832 I When moving the cursor up or down just after inserting
1833 indent for 'autoindent', do not delete the indent.
1834 *cpo-j*
1835 j When joining lines, only add two spaces after a '.',
1836 not after '!' or '?'. Also see 'joinspaces'.
1837 *cpo-J*
1838 J A |sentence| has to be followed by two spaces after
1839 the '.', '!' or '?'. A <Tab> is not recognized as
1840 white space.
1841 *cpo-k*
1842 k Disable the recognition of raw key codes in
1843 mappings, abbreviations, and the "to" part of menu
1844 commands. For example, if <Key> sends ^[OA (where ^[
1845 is <Esc>), the command ":map X ^[OA" results in X
1846 being mapped to:
1847 'k' included: "^[OA" (3 characters)
1848 'k' excluded: "<Key>" (one key code)
1849 Also see the '<' flag below.
1850 *cpo-K*
1851 K Don't wait for a key code to complete when it is
1852 halfway a mapping. This breaks mapping <F1><F1> when
1853 only part of the second <F1> has been read. It
1854 enables cancelling the mapping by typing <F1><Esc>.
1855 *cpo-l*
1856 l Backslash in a [] range in a search pattern is taken
1857 literally, only "\]", "\^", "\-" and "\\" are special.
1858 See |/[]|
1859 'l' included: "/[ \t]" finds <Space>, '\' and 't'
1860 'l' excluded: "/[ \t]" finds <Space> and <Tab>
1861 Also see |cpo-\|.
1862 *cpo-L*
1863 L When the 'list' option is set, 'wrapmargin',
1864 'textwidth', 'softtabstop' and Virtual Replace mode
1865 (see |gR|) count a <Tab> as two characters, instead of
1866 the normal behavior of a <Tab>.
1867 *cpo-m*
1868 m When included, a showmatch will always wait half a
1869 second. When not included, a showmatch will wait half
1870 a second or until a character is typed. |'showmatch'|
1871 *cpo-M*
1872 M When excluded, "%" matching will take backslashes into
1873 account. Thus in "( \( )" and "\( ( \)" the outer
1874 parenthesis match. When included "%" ignores
1875 backslashes, which is Vi compatible.
1876 *cpo-n*
1877 n When included, the column used for 'number' will also
1878 be used for text of wrapped lines.
1879 *cpo-o*
1880 o Line offset to search command is not remembered for
1881 next search.
1882 *cpo-O*
1883 O Don't complain if a file is being overwritten, even
1884 when it didn't exist when editing it. This is a
1885 protection against a file unexpectedly created by
1886 someone else. Vi didn't complain about this.
1887 *cpo-p*
1888 p Vi compatible Lisp indenting. When not present, a
1889 slightly better algorithm is used.
1890 *cpo-P*
1891 P When included, a ":write" command that appends to a
1892 file will set the file name for the current buffer, if
1893 the current buffer doesn't have a file name yet and
1894 the 'F' flag is also included |cpo-F|.
1895 *cpo-q*
1896 q When joining multiple lines leave the cursor at the
1897 position where it would be when joining two lines.
1898 *cpo-r*
1899 r Redo ("." command) uses "/" to repeat a search
1900 command, instead of the actually used search string.
1901 *cpo-R*
1902 R Remove marks from filtered lines. Without this flag
1903 marks are kept like |:keepmarks| was used.
1904 *cpo-s*
1905 s Set buffer options when entering the buffer for the
1906 first time. This is like it is in Vim version 3.0.
1907 And it is the default. If not present the options are
1908 set when the buffer is created.
1909 *cpo-S*
1910 S Set buffer options always when entering a buffer
1911 (except 'readonly', 'fileformat', 'filetype' and
1912 'syntax'). This is the (most) Vi compatible setting.
1913 The options are set to the values in the current
1914 buffer. When you change an option and go to another
1915 buffer, the value is copied. Effectively makes the
1916 buffer options global to all buffers.
1918 's' 'S' copy buffer options
1919 no no when buffer created
1920 yes no when buffer first entered (default)
1921 X yes each time when buffer entered (vi comp.)
1922 *cpo-t*
1923 t Search pattern for the tag command is remembered for
1924 "n" command. Otherwise Vim only puts the pattern in
1925 the history for search pattern, but doesn't change the
1926 last used search pattern.
1927 *cpo-u*
1928 u Undo is Vi compatible. See |undo-two-ways|.
1929 *cpo-v*
1930 v Backspaced characters remain visible on the screen in
1931 Insert mode. Without this flag the characters are
1932 erased from the screen right away. With this flag the
1933 screen newly typed text overwrites backspaced
1934 characters.
1935 *cpo-w*
1936 w When using "cw" on a blank character, only change one
1937 character and not all blanks until the start of the
1938 next word.
1939 *cpo-W*
1940 W Don't overwrite a readonly file. When omitted, ":w!"
1941 overwrites a readonly file, if possible.
1942 *cpo-x*
1943 x <Esc> on the command-line executes the command-line.
1944 The default in Vim is to abandon the command-line,
1945 because <Esc> normally aborts a command. |c_<Esc>|
1946 *cpo-X*
1947 X When using a count with "R" the replaced text is
1948 deleted only once. Also when repeating "R" with "."
1949 and a count.
1950 *cpo-y*
1951 y A yank command can be redone with ".".
1952 *cpo-Z*
1953 Z When using "w!" while the 'readonly' option is set,
1954 don't reset 'readonly'.
1955 *cpo-!*
1956 ! When redoing a filter command, use the last used
1957 external command, whatever it was. Otherwise the last
1958 used -filter- command is used.
1959 *cpo-$*
1960 $ When making a change to one line, don't redisplay the
1961 line, but put a '$' at the end of the changed text.
1962 The changed text will be overwritten when you type the
1963 new text. The line is redisplayed if you type any
1964 command that moves the cursor from the insertion
1965 point.
1966 *cpo-%*
1967 % Vi-compatible matching is done for the "%" command.
1968 Does not recognize "#if", "#endif", etc.
1969 Does not recognize "/*" and "*/".
1970 Parens inside single and double quotes are also
1971 counted, causing a string that contains a paren to
1972 disturb the matching. For example, in a line like
1973 "if (strcmp("foo(", s))" the first paren does not
1974 match the last one. When this flag is not included,
1975 parens inside single and double quotes are treated
1976 specially. When matching a paren outside of quotes,
1977 everything inside quotes is ignored. When matching a
1978 paren inside quotes, it will find the matching one (if
1979 there is one). This works very well for C programs.
1980 This flag is also used for other features, such as
1981 C-indenting.
1982 *cpo--*
1983 - When included, a vertical movement command fails when
1984 it would go above the first line or below the last
1985 line. Without it the cursor moves to the first or
1986 last line, unless it already was in that line.
1987 Applies to the commands "-", "k", CTRL-P, "+", "j",
1988 CTRL-N, CTRL-J and ":1234".
1989 *cpo-+*
1990 + When included, a ":write file" command will reset the
1991 'modified' flag of the buffer, even though the buffer
1992 itself may still be different from its file.
1993 *cpo-star*
1994 * Use ":*" in the same way as ":@". When not included,
1995 ":*" is an alias for ":'<,'>", select the Visual area.
1996 *cpo-<*
1997 < Disable the recognition of special key codes in |<>|
1998 form in mappings, abbreviations, and the "to" part of
1999 menu commands. For example, the command
2000 ":map X <Tab>" results in X being mapped to:
2001 '<' included: "<Tab>" (5 characters)
2002 '<' excluded: "^I" (^I is a real <Tab>)
2003 Also see the 'k' flag above.
2004 *cpo->*
2005 > When appending to a register, put a line break before
2006 the appended text.
2008 POSIX flags. These are not included in the Vi default value, except
2009 when $VIM_POSIX was set on startup. |posix|
2011 contains behavior ~
2012 *cpo-#*
2013 # A count before "D", "o" and "O" has no effect.
2014 *cpo-&*
2015 & When ":preserve" was used keep the swap file when
2016 exiting normally while this buffer is still loaded.
2017 This flag is tested when exiting.
2018 *cpo-\*
2019 \ Backslash in a [] range in a search pattern is taken
2020 literally, only "\]" is special See |/[]|
2021 '\' included: "/[ \-]" finds <Space>, '\' and '-'
2022 '\' excluded: "/[ \-]" finds <Space> and '-'
2023 Also see |cpo-l|.
2024 *cpo-/*
2025 / When "%" is used as the replacement string in a |:s|
2026 command, use the previous replacement string. |:s%|
2027 *cpo-{*
2028 { The |{| and |}| commands also stop at a "{" character
2029 at the start of a line.
2030 *cpo-.*
2031 . The ":chdir" and ":cd" commands fail if the current
2032 buffer is modified, unless ! is used. Vim doesn't
2033 need this, since it remembers the full path of an
2034 opened file.
2035 *cpo-bar*
2036 | The value of the $LINES and $COLUMNS environment
2037 variables overrule the terminal size values obtained
2038 with system specific functions.
2041 *'cscopepathcomp'* *'cspc'*
2042 'cscopepathcomp' 'cspc' number (default 0)
2043 global
2044 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2045 feature}
2046 {not in Vi}
2047 Determines how many components of the path to show in a list of tags.
2048 See |cscopepathcomp|.
2050 *'cscopeprg'* *'csprg'*
2051 'cscopeprg' 'csprg' string (default "cscope")
2052 global
2053 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2054 feature}
2055 {not in Vi}
2056 Specifies the command to execute cscope. See |cscopeprg|.
2057 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2058 security reasons.
2060 *'cscopequickfix'* *'csqf'*
2061 'cscopequickfix' 'csqf' string (default "")
2062 global
2063 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2064 or |+quickfix| features}
2065 {not in Vi}
2066 Specifies whether to use quickfix window to show cscope results.
2067 See |cscopequickfix|.
2069 *'cscopetag'* *'cst'* *'nocscopetag'* *'nocst'*
2070 'cscopetag' 'cst' boolean (default off)
2071 global
2072 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2073 feature}
2074 {not in Vi}
2075 Use cscope for tag commands. See |cscope-options|.
2076 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
2078 *'cscopetagorder'* *'csto'*
2079 'cscopetagorder' 'csto' number (default 0)
2080 global
2081 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2082 feature}
2083 {not in Vi}
2084 Determines the order in which ":cstag" performs a search. See
2085 |cscopetagorder|.
2086 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
2088 *'cscopeverbose'* *'csverb'*
2089 *'nocscopeverbose'* *'nocsverb'*
2090 'cscopeverbose' 'csverb' boolean (default off)
2091 global
2092 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2093 feature}
2094 {not in Vi}
2095 Give messages when adding a cscope database. See |cscopeverbose|.
2096 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
2099 *'cursorcolumn'* *'cuc'* *'nocursorcolumn'* *'nocuc'*
2100 'cursorcolumn' 'cuc' boolean (default off)
2101 local to window
2102 {not in Vi}
2103 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
2104 feature}
2105 Highlight the screen column of the cursor with CursorColumn
2106 |hl-CursorColumn|. Useful to align text. Will make screen redrawing
2107 slower.
2108 If you only want the highlighting in the current window you can use
2109 these autocommands: >
2110 au WinLeave * set nocursorline nocursorcolumn
2111 au WinEnter * set cursorline cursorcolumn
2112 <
2114 *'cursorline'* *'cul'* *'nocursorline'* *'nocul'*
2115 'cursorline' 'cul' boolean (default off)
2116 local to window
2117 {not in Vi}
2118 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
2119 feature}
2120 Highlight the screen line of the cursor with CursorLine
2121 |hl-CursorLine|. Useful to easily spot the cursor. Will make screen
2122 redrawing slower.
2123 When Visual mode is active the highlighting isn't used to make it
2124 easier to see the selected text.
2127 *'debug'*
2128 'debug' string (default "")
2129 global
2130 {not in Vi}
2131 These values can be used:
2132 msg Error messages that would otherwise be omitted will be given
2133 anyway.
2134 throw Error messages that would otherwise be omitted will be given
2135 anyway and also throw an exception and set |v:errmsg|.
2136 beep A message will be given when otherwise only a beep would be
2137 produced.
2138 The values can be combined, separated by a comma.
2139 "msg" and "throw" are useful for debugging 'foldexpr', 'formatexpr' or
2140 'indentexpr'.
2142 *'define'* *'def'*
2143 'define' 'def' string (default "^\s*#\s*define")
2144 global or local to buffer |global-local|
2145 {not in Vi}
2146 Pattern to be used to find a macro definition. It is a search
2147 pattern, just like for the "/" command. This option is used for the
2148 commands like "[i" and "[d" |include-search|. The 'isident' option is
2149 used to recognize the defined name after the match:
2150 {match with 'define'}{non-ID chars}{defined name}{non-ID char}
2151 See |option-backslash| about inserting backslashes to include a space
2152 or backslash.
2153 The default value is for C programs. For C++ this value would be
2154 useful, to include const type declarations: >
2155 ^\(#\s*define\|[a-z]*\s*const\s*[a-z]*\)
2156 < When using the ":set" command, you need to double the backslashes!
2158 *'delcombine'* *'deco'* *'nodelcombine'* *'nodeco'*
2159 'delcombine' 'deco' boolean (default off)
2160 global
2161 {not in Vi}
2162 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
2163 feature}
2164 If editing Unicode and this option is set, backspace and Normal mode
2165 "x" delete each combining character on its own. When it is off (the
2166 default) the character along with its combining characters are
2167 deleted.
2168 Note: When 'delcombine' is set "xx" may work different from "2x"!
2170 This is useful for Arabic, Hebrew and many other languages where one
2171 may have combining characters overtop of base characters, and want
2172 to remove only the combining ones.
2174 *'dictionary'* *'dict'*
2175 'dictionary' 'dict' string (default "")
2176 global or local to buffer |global-local|
2177 {not in Vi}
2178 List of file names, separated by commas, that are used to lookup words
2179 for keyword completion commands |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K|. Each file should
2180 contain a list of words. This can be one word per line, or several
2181 words per line, separated by non-keyword characters (white space is
2182 preferred). Maximum line length is 510 bytes.
2183 When this option is empty, or an entry "spell" is present, spell
2184 checking is enabled the currently active spelling is used. |spell|
2185 To include a comma in a file name precede it with a backslash. Spaces
2186 after a comma are ignored, otherwise spaces are included in the file
2187 name. See |option-backslash| about using backslashes.
2188 This has nothing to do with the |Dictionary| variable type.
2189 Where to find a list of words?
2190 - On FreeBSD, there is the file "/usr/share/dict/words".
2191 - In the Simtel archive, look in the "msdos/linguist" directory.
2192 - In "miscfiles" of the GNU collection.
2193 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
2194 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
2195 uses another default.
2196 Backticks cannot be used in this option for security reasons.
2198 *'diff'* *'nodiff'*
2199 'diff' boolean (default off)
2200 local to window
2201 {not in Vi}
2202 {not available when compiled without the |+diff|
2203 feature}
2204 Join the current window in the group of windows that shows differences
2205 between files. See |vimdiff|.
2207 *'dex'* *'diffexpr'*
2208 'diffexpr' 'dex' string (default "")
2209 global
2210 {not in Vi}
2211 {not available when compiled without the |+diff|
2212 feature}
2213 Expression which is evaluated to obtain an ed-style diff file from two
2214 versions of a file. See |diff-diffexpr|.
2215 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2216 security reasons.
2218 *'dip'* *'diffopt'*
2219 'diffopt' 'dip' string (default "filler")
2220 global
2221 {not in Vi}
2222 {not available when compiled without the |+diff|
2223 feature}
2224 Option settings for diff mode. It can consist of the following items.
2225 All are optional. Items must be separated by a comma.
2227 filler Show filler lines, to keep the text
2228 synchronized with a window that has inserted
2229 lines at the same position. Mostly useful
2230 when windows are side-by-side and 'scrollbind'
2231 is set.
2233 context:{n} Use a context of {n} lines between a change
2234 and a fold that contains unchanged lines.
2235 When omitted a context of six lines is used.
2236 See |fold-diff|.
2238 icase Ignore changes in case of text. "a" and "A"
2239 are considered the same. Adds the "-i" flag
2240 to the "diff" command if 'diffexpr' is empty.
2242 iwhite Ignore changes in amount of white space. Adds
2243 the "-b" flag to the "diff" command if
2244 'diffexpr' is empty. Check the documentation
2245 of the "diff" command for what this does
2246 exactly. It should ignore adding trailing
2247 white space, but not leading white space.
2249 horizontal Start diff mode with horizontal splits (unless
2250 explicitly specified otherwise).
2252 vertical Start diff mode with vertical splits (unless
2253 explicitly specified otherwise).
2255 foldcolumn:{n} Set the 'foldcolumn' option to {n} when
2256 starting diff mode. Without this 2 is used.
2258 Examples: >
2260 :set diffopt=filler,context:4
2261 :set diffopt=
2262 :set diffopt=filler,foldcolumn:3
2263 <
2264 *'digraph'* *'dg'* *'nodigraph'* *'nodg'*
2265 'digraph' 'dg' boolean (default off)
2266 global
2267 {not in Vi}
2268 {not available when compiled without the |+digraphs|
2269 feature}
2270 Enable the entering of digraphs in Insert mode with {char1} <BS>
2271 {char2}. See |digraphs|.
2272 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
2274 *'directory'* *'dir'*
2275 'directory' 'dir' string (default for Amiga: ".,t:",
2276 for MS-DOS and Win32: ".,c:\tmp,c:\temp"
2277 for Unix: ".,~/tmp,/var/tmp,/tmp")
2278 global
2279 List of directory names for the swap file, separated with commas.
2280 - The swap file will be created in the first directory where this is
2281 possible.
2282 - Empty means that no swap file will be used (recovery is
2283 impossible!).
2284 - A directory "." means to put the swap file in the same directory as
2285 the edited file. On Unix, a dot is prepended to the file name, so
2286 it doesn't show in a directory listing. On MS-Windows the "hidden"
2287 attribute is set and a dot prepended if possible.
2288 - A directory starting with "./" (or ".\" for MS-DOS et al.) means to
2289 put the swap file relative to where the edited file is. The leading
2290 "." is replaced with the path name of the edited file.
2291 - For Unix and Win32, if a directory ends in two path separators "//"
2292 or "\\", the swap file name will be built from the complete path to
2293 the file with all path separators substituted to percent '%' signs.
2294 This will ensure file name uniqueness in the preserve directory.
2295 On Win32, when a separating comma is following, you must use "//",
2296 since "\\" will include the comma in the file name.
2297 - Spaces after the comma are ignored, other spaces are considered part
2298 of the directory name. To have a space at the start of a directory
2299 name, precede it with a backslash.
2300 - To include a comma in a directory name precede it with a backslash.
2301 - A directory name may end in an ':' or '/'.
2302 - Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
2303 - Careful with '\' characters, type one before a space, type two to
2304 get one in the option (see |option-backslash|), for example: >
2305 :set dir=c:\\tmp,\ dir\\,with\\,commas,\\\ dir\ with\ spaces
2306 < - For backwards compatibility with Vim version 3.0 a '>' at the start
2307 of the option is removed.
2308 Using "." first in the list is recommended. This means that editing
2309 the same file twice will result in a warning. Using "/tmp" on Unix is
2310 discouraged: When the system crashes you lose the swap file.
2311 "/var/tmp" is often not cleared when rebooting, thus is a better
2312 choice than "/tmp". But it can contain a lot of files, your swap
2313 files get lost in the crowd. That is why a "tmp" directory in your
2314 home directory is tried first.
2315 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
2316 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
2317 uses another default.
2318 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2319 security reasons.
2320 {Vi: directory to put temp file in, defaults to "/tmp"}
2322 *'display'* *'dy'*
2323 'display' 'dy' string (default "")
2324 global
2325 {not in Vi}
2326 Change the way text is displayed. This is comma separated list of
2327 flags:
2328 lastline When included, as much as possible of the last line
2329 in a window will be displayed. When not included, a
2330 last line that doesn't fit is replaced with "@" lines.
2331 uhex Show unprintable characters hexadecimal as <xx>
2332 instead of using ^C and ~C.
2334 *'eadirection'* *'ead'*
2335 'eadirection' 'ead' string (default "both")
2336 global
2337 {not in Vi}
2338 {not available when compiled without the +vertsplit
2339 feature}
2340 Tells when the 'equalalways' option applies:
2341 ver vertically, width of windows is not affected
2342 hor horizontally, height of windows is not affected
2343 both width and height of windows is affected
2345 *'ed'* *'edcompatible'* *'noed'* *'noedcompatible'*
2346 'edcompatible' 'ed' boolean (default off)
2347 global
2348 Makes the 'g' and 'c' flags of the ":substitute" command to be
2349 toggled each time the flag is given. See |complex-change|. See
2350 also 'gdefault' option.
2351 Switching this option on is discouraged!
2353 *'encoding'* *'enc'* *E543*
2354 'encoding' 'enc' string (default: "latin1" or value from $LANG)
2355 global
2356 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
2357 feature}
2358 {not in Vi}
2359 Sets the character encoding used inside Vim. It applies to text in
2360 the buffers, registers, Strings in expressions, text stored in the
2361 viminfo file, etc. It sets the kind of characters which Vim can work
2362 with. See |encoding-names| for the possible values.
2364 NOTE: Changing this option will not change the encoding of the
2365 existing text in Vim. It may cause non-ASCII text to become invalid.
2366 It should normally be kept at its default value, or set when Vim
2367 starts up. See |multibyte|. To reload the menus see |:menutrans|.
2369 NOTE: For GTK+ 2 it is highly recommended to set 'encoding' to
2370 "utf-8". Although care has been taken to allow different values of
2371 'encoding', "utf-8" is the natural choice for the environment and
2372 avoids unnecessary conversion overhead. "utf-8" has not been made
2373 the default to prevent different behavior of the GUI and terminal
2374 versions, and to avoid changing the encoding of newly created files
2375 without your knowledge (in case 'fileencodings' is empty).
2377 The character encoding of files can be different from 'encoding'.
2378 This is specified with 'fileencoding'. The conversion is done with
2379 iconv() or as specified with 'charconvert'.
2381 Normally 'encoding' will be equal to your current locale. This will
2382 be the default if Vim recognizes your environment settings. If
2383 'encoding' is not set to the current locale, 'termencoding' must be
2384 set to convert typed and displayed text. See |encoding-table|.
2386 When you set this option, it fires the |EncodingChanged| autocommand
2387 event so that you can set up fonts if necessary.
2389 When the option is set, the value is converted to lowercase. Thus
2390 you can set it with uppercase values too. Underscores are translated
2391 to '-' signs.
2392 When the encoding is recognized, it is changed to the standard name.
2393 For example "Latin-1" becomes "latin1", "ISO_88592" becomes
2394 "iso-8859-2" and "utf8" becomes "utf-8".
2396 Note: "latin1" is also used when the encoding could not be detected.
2397 This only works when editing files in the same encoding! When the
2398 actual character set is not latin1, make sure 'fileencoding' and
2399 'fileencodings' are empty. When conversion is needed, switch to using
2400 utf-8.
2402 When "unicode", "ucs-2" or "ucs-4" is used, Vim internally uses utf-8.
2403 You don't notice this while editing, but it does matter for the
2404 |viminfo-file|. And Vim expects the terminal to use utf-8 too. Thus
2405 setting 'encoding' to one of these values instead of utf-8 only has
2406 effect for encoding used for files when 'fileencoding' is empty.
2408 When 'encoding' is set to a Unicode encoding, and 'fileencodings' was
2409 not set yet, the default for 'fileencodings' is changed.
2411 *'endofline'* *'eol'* *'noendofline'* *'noeol'*
2412 'endofline' 'eol' boolean (default on)
2413 local to buffer
2414 {not in Vi}
2415 When writing a file and this option is off and the 'binary' option
2416 is on, no <EOL> will be written for the last line in the file. This
2417 option is automatically set when starting to edit a new file, unless
2418 the file does not have an <EOL> for the last line in the file, in
2419 which case it is reset. Normally you don't have to set or reset this
2420 option. When 'binary' is off the value is not used when writing the
2421 file. When 'binary' is on it is used to remember the presence of a
2422 <EOL> for the last line in the file, so that when you write the file
2423 the situation from the original file can be kept. But you can change
2424 it if you want to.
2426 *'equalalways'* *'ea'* *'noequalalways'* *'noea'*
2427 'equalalways' 'ea' boolean (default on)
2428 global
2429 {not in Vi}
2430 When on, all the windows are automatically made the same size after
2431 splitting or closing a window. This also happens the moment the
2432 option is switched on. When off, splitting a window will reduce the
2433 size of the current window and leave the other windows the same. When
2434 closing a window the extra lines are given to the window next to it
2435 (depending on 'splitbelow' and 'splitright').
2436 When mixing vertically and horizontally split windows, a minimal size
2437 is computed and some windows may be larger if there is room. The
2438 'eadirection' option tells in which direction the size is affected.
2439 Changing the height and width of a window can be avoided by setting
2440 'winfixheight' and 'winfixwidth', respectively.
2442 *'equalprg'* *'ep'*
2443 'equalprg' 'ep' string (default "")
2444 global or local to buffer |global-local|
2445 {not in Vi}
2446 External program to use for "=" command. When this option is empty
2447 the internal formatting functions are used; either 'lisp', 'cindent'
2448 or 'indentexpr'.
2449 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash|
2450 about including spaces and backslashes.
2451 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2452 security reasons.
2454 *'errorbells'* *'eb'* *'noerrorbells'* *'noeb'*
2455 'errorbells' 'eb' boolean (default off)
2456 global
2457 Ring the bell (beep or screen flash) for error messages. This only
2458 makes a difference for error messages, the bell will be used always
2459 for a lot of errors without a message (e.g., hitting <Esc> in Normal
2460 mode). See 'visualbell' on how to make the bell behave like a beep,
2461 screen flash or do nothing.
2463 *'errorfile'* *'ef'*
2464 'errorfile' 'ef' string (Amiga default: "AztecC.Err",
2465 others: "errors.err")
2466 global
2467 {not in Vi}
2468 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
2469 feature}
2470 Name of the errorfile for the QuickFix mode (see |:cf|).
2471 When the "-q" command-line argument is used, 'errorfile' is set to the
2472 following argument. See |-q|.
2473 NOT used for the ":make" command. See 'makeef' for that.
2474 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
2475 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
2476 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2477 security reasons.
2479 *'errorformat'* *'efm'*
2480 'errorformat' 'efm' string (default is very long)
2481 global or local to buffer |global-local|
2482 {not in Vi}
2483 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
2484 feature}
2485 Scanf-like description of the format for the lines in the error file
2486 (see |errorformat|).
2488 *'esckeys'* *'ek'* *'noesckeys'* *'noek'*
2489 'esckeys' 'ek' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
2490 global
2491 {not in Vi}
2492 Function keys that start with an <Esc> are recognized in Insert
2493 mode. When this option is off, the cursor and function keys cannot be
2494 used in Insert mode if they start with an <Esc>. The advantage of
2495 this is that the single <Esc> is recognized immediately, instead of
2496 after one second. Instead of resetting this option, you might want to
2497 try changing the values for 'timeoutlen' and 'ttimeoutlen'. Note that
2498 when 'esckeys' is off, you can still map anything, but the cursor keys
2499 won't work by default.
2500 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
2501 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
2503 *'eventignore'* *'ei'*
2504 'eventignore' 'ei' string (default "")
2505 global
2506 {not in Vi}
2507 {not available when compiled without the |+autocmd|
2508 feature}
2509 A list of autocommand event names, which are to be ignored.
2510 When set to "all" or when "all" is one of the items, all autocommand
2511 events are ignored, autocommands will not be executed.
2512 Otherwise this is a comma separated list of event names. Example: >
2513 :set ei=WinEnter,WinLeave
2514 <
2515 *'expandtab'* *'et'* *'noexpandtab'* *'noet'*
2516 'expandtab' 'et' boolean (default off)
2517 local to buffer
2518 {not in Vi}
2519 In Insert mode: Use the appropriate number of spaces to insert a
2520 <Tab>. Spaces are used in indents with the '>' and '<' commands and
2521 when 'autoindent' is on. To insert a real tab when 'expandtab' is
2522 on, use CTRL-V<Tab>. See also |:retab| and |ins-expandtab|.
2523 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
2525 *'exrc'* *'ex'* *'noexrc'* *'noex'*
2526 'exrc' 'ex' boolean (default off)
2527 global
2528 {not in Vi}
2529 Enables the reading of .vimrc, .exrc and .gvimrc in the current
2530 directory. If you switch this option on you should also consider
2531 setting the 'secure' option (see |initialization|). Using a local
2532 .exrc, .vimrc or .gvimrc is a potential security leak, use with care!
2533 also see |.vimrc| and |gui-init|.
2534 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2535 security reasons.
2537 *'fileencoding'* *'fenc'* *E213*
2538 'fileencoding' 'fenc' string (default: "")
2539 local to buffer
2540 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
2541 feature}
2542 {not in Vi}
2543 Sets the character encoding for the file of this buffer.
2544 When 'fileencoding' is different from 'encoding', conversion will be
2545 done when reading and writing the file.
2546 When 'fileencoding' is empty, the same value as 'encoding' will be
2547 used (no conversion when reading or writing a file).
2548 WARNING: Conversion can cause loss of information! When
2549 'encoding' is "utf-8" conversion is most likely done in a way
2550 that the reverse conversion results in the same text. When
2551 'encoding' is not "utf-8" some characters may be lost!
2552 See 'encoding' for the possible values. Additionally, values may be
2553 specified that can be handled by the converter, see
2554 |mbyte-conversion|.
2555 When reading a file 'fileencoding' will be set from 'fileencodings'.
2556 To read a file in a certain encoding it won't work by setting
2557 'fileencoding', use the |++enc| argument. One exception: when
2558 'fileencodings' is empty the value of 'fileencoding' is used.
2559 For a new file the global value of 'fileencoding' is used.
2560 Prepending "8bit-" and "2byte-" has no meaning here, they are ignored.
2561 When the option is set, the value is converted to lowercase. Thus
2562 you can set it with uppercase values too. '_' characters are
2563 replaced with '-'. If a name is recognized from the list for
2564 'encoding', it is replaced by the standard name. For example
2565 "ISO8859-2" becomes "iso-8859-2".
2566 When this option is set, after starting to edit a file, the 'modified'
2567 option is set, because the file would be different when written.
2568 If you do this in a modeline, you might want to set 'nomodified' to
2569 avoid this.
2570 This option can not be changed when 'modifiable' is off.
2572 *'fe'*
2573 NOTE: Before version 6.0 this option specified the encoding for the
2574 whole of Vim, this was a mistake. Now use 'encoding' instead. The
2575 old short name was 'fe', which is no longer used.
2577 *'fileencodings'* *'fencs'*
2578 'fileencodings' 'fencs' string (default: "ucs-bom",
2579 "ucs-bom,utf-8,default,latin1" when
2580 'encoding' is set to a Unicode value)
2581 global
2582 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
2583 feature}
2584 {not in Vi}
2585 This is a list of character encodings considered when starting to edit
2586 an existing file. When a file is read, Vim tries to use the first
2587 mentioned character encoding. If an error is detected, the next one
2588 in the list is tried. When an encoding is found that works,
2589 'fileencoding' is set to it. If all fail, 'fileencoding' is set to
2590 an empty string, which means the value of 'encoding' is used.
2591 WARNING: Conversion can cause loss of information! When
2592 'encoding' is "utf-8" (or one of the other Unicode variants)
2593 conversion is most likely done in a way that the reverse
2594 conversion results in the same text. When 'encoding' is not
2595 "utf-8" some non-ASCII characters may be lost! You can use
2596 the |++bad| argument to specify what is done with characters
2597 that can't be converted.
2598 For an empty file or a file with only ASCII characters most encodings
2599 will work and the first entry of 'fileencodings' will be used (except
2600 "ucs-bom", which requires the BOM to be present). If you prefer
2601 another encoding use an BufReadPost autocommand event to test if your
2602 preferred encoding is to be used. Example: >
2603 au BufReadPost * if search('\S', 'w') == 0 |
2604 \ set fenc=iso-2022-jp | endif
2605 < This sets 'fileencoding' to "iso-2022-jp" if the file does not contain
2606 non-blank characters.
2607 When the |++enc| argument is used then the value of 'fileencodings' is
2608 not used.
2609 Note that 'fileencodings' is not used for a new file, the global value
2610 of 'fileencoding' is used instead. You can set it with: >
2611 :setglobal fenc=iso-8859-2
2612 < This means that a non-existing file may get a different encoding than
2613 an empty file.
2614 The special value "ucs-bom" can be used to check for a Unicode BOM
2615 (Byte Order Mark) at the start of the file. It must not be preceded
2616 by "utf-8" or another Unicode encoding for this to work properly.
2617 An entry for an 8-bit encoding (e.g., "latin1") should be the last,
2618 because Vim cannot detect an error, thus the encoding is always
2619 accepted.
2620 The special value "default" can be used for the encoding from the
2621 environment. This is the default value for 'encoding'. It is useful
2622 when 'encoding' is set to "utf-8" and your environment uses a
2623 non-latin1 encoding, such as Russian.
2624 When 'encoding' is "utf-8" and a file contains an illegal byte
2625 sequence it won't be recognized as UTF-8. You can use the |8g8|
2626 command to find the illegal byte sequence.
2627 WRONG VALUES: WHAT'S WRONG:
2628 latin1,utf-8 "latin1" will always be used
2629 utf-8,ucs-bom,latin1 BOM won't be recognized in an utf-8
2630 file
2631 cp1250,latin1 "cp1250" will always be used
2632 If 'fileencodings' is empty, 'fileencoding' is not modified.
2633 See 'fileencoding' for the possible values.
2634 Setting this option does not have an effect until the next time a file
2635 is read.
2637 *'fileformat'* *'ff'*
2638 'fileformat' 'ff' string (MS-DOS, MS-Windows, OS/2 default: "dos",
2639 Unix default: "unix",
2640 Macintosh default: "mac")
2641 local to buffer
2642 {not in Vi}
2643 This gives the <EOL> of the current buffer, which is used for
2644 reading/writing the buffer from/to a file:
2645 dos <CR> <NL>
2646 unix <NL>
2647 mac <CR>
2648 When "dos" is used, CTRL-Z at the end of a file is ignored.
2649 See |file-formats| and |file-read|.
2650 For the character encoding of the file see 'fileencoding'.
2651 When 'binary' is set, the value of 'fileformat' is ignored, file I/O
2652 works like it was set to "unix'.
2653 This option is set automatically when starting to edit a file and
2654 'fileformats' is not empty and 'binary' is off.
2655 When this option is set, after starting to edit a file, the 'modified'
2656 option is set, because the file would be different when written.
2657 This option can not be changed when 'modifiable' is off.
2658 For backwards compatibility: When this option is set to "dos",
2659 'textmode' is set, otherwise 'textmode' is reset.
2661 *'fileformats'* *'ffs'*
2662 'fileformats' 'ffs' string (default:
2663 Vim+Vi MS-DOS, MS-Windows OS/2: "dos,unix",
2664 Vim Unix: "unix,dos",
2665 Vim Mac: "mac,unix,dos",
2666 Vi Cygwin: "unix,dos",
2667 Vi others: "")
2668 global
2669 {not in Vi}
2670 This gives the end-of-line (<EOL>) formats that will be tried when
2671 starting to edit a new buffer and when reading a file into an existing
2672 buffer:
2673 - When empty, the format defined with 'fileformat' will be used
2674 always. It is not set automatically.
2675 - When set to one name, that format will be used whenever a new buffer
2676 is opened. 'fileformat' is set accordingly for that buffer. The
2677 'fileformats' name will be used when a file is read into an existing
2678 buffer, no matter what 'fileformat' for that buffer is set to.
2679 - When more than one name is present, separated by commas, automatic
2680 <EOL> detection will be done when reading a file. When starting to
2681 edit a file, a check is done for the <EOL>:
2682 1. If all lines end in <CR><NL>, and 'fileformats' includes "dos",
2683 'fileformat' is set to "dos".
2684 2. If a <NL> is found and 'fileformats' includes "unix", 'fileformat'
2685 is set to "unix". Note that when a <NL> is found without a
2686 preceding <CR>, "unix" is preferred over "dos".
2687 3. If 'fileformats' includes "mac", 'fileformat' is set to "mac".
2688 This means that "mac" is only chosen when "unix" is not present,
2689 or when no <NL> is found in the file, and when "dos" is not
2690 present, or no <CR><NL> is present in the file.
2691 Also if "unix" was first chosen, but the first <CR> is before
2692 the first <NL> and there appears to be more <CR>'s than <NL>'s in
2693 the file, then 'fileformat' is set to "mac".
2694 4. If 'fileformat' is still not set, the first name from
2695 'fileformats' is used.
2696 When reading a file into an existing buffer, the same is done, but
2697 this happens like 'fileformat' has been set appropriately for that
2698 file only, the option is not changed.
2699 When 'binary' is set, the value of 'fileformats' is not used.
2701 For systems with a Dos-like <EOL> (<CR><NL>), when reading files that
2702 are ":source"ed and for vimrc files, automatic <EOL> detection may be
2703 done:
2704 - When 'fileformats' is empty, there is no automatic detection. Dos
2705 format will be used.
2706 - When 'fileformats' is set to one or more names, automatic detection
2707 is done. This is based on the first <NL> in the file: If there is a
2708 <CR> in front of it, Dos format is used, otherwise Unix format is
2709 used.
2710 Also see |file-formats|.
2711 For backwards compatibility: When this option is set to an empty
2712 string or one format (no comma is included), 'textauto' is reset,
2713 otherwise 'textauto' is set.
2714 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
2715 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
2717 *'filetype'* *'ft'*
2718 'filetype' 'ft' string (default: "")
2719 local to buffer
2720 {not in Vi}
2721 {not available when compiled without the |+autocmd|
2722 feature}
2723 When this option is set, the FileType autocommand event is triggered.
2724 All autocommands that match with the value of this option will be
2725 executed. Thus the value of 'filetype' is used in place of the file
2726 name.
2727 Otherwise this option does not always reflect the current file type.
2728 This option is normally set when the file type is detected. To enable
2729 this use the ":filetype on" command. |:filetype|
2730 Setting this option to a different value is most useful in a modeline,
2731 for a file for which the file type is not automatically recognized.
2732 Example, for in an IDL file:
2733 /* vim: set filetype=idl : */ ~
2734 |FileType| |filetypes|
2735 When a dot appears in the value then this separates two filetype
2736 names. Example:
2737 /* vim: set filetype=c.doxygen : */ ~
2738 This will use the "c" filetype first, then the "doxygen" filetype.
2739 This works both for filetype plugins and for syntax files. More than
2740 one dot may appear.
2741 Do not confuse this option with 'osfiletype', which is for the file
2742 type that is actually stored with the file.
2743 This option is not copied to another buffer, independent of the 's' or
2744 'S' flag in 'cpoptions'.
2745 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
2747 *'fillchars'* *'fcs'*
2748 'fillchars' 'fcs' string (default "vert:|,fold:-")
2749 global
2750 {not in Vi}
2751 {not available when compiled without the |+windows|
2752 and |+folding| features}
2753 Characters to fill the statuslines and vertical separators.
2754 It is a comma separated list of items:
2756 item default Used for ~
2757 stl:c ' ' or '^' statusline of the current window
2758 stlnc:c ' ' or '-' statusline of the non-current windows
2759 vert:c '|' vertical separators |:vsplit|
2760 fold:c '-' filling 'foldtext'
2761 diff:c '-' deleted lines of the 'diff' option
2763 Any one that is omitted will fall back to the default. For "stl" and
2764 "stlnc" the space will be used when there is highlighting, '^' or '-'
2765 otherwise.
2767 Example: >
2768 :set fillchars=stl:^,stlnc:-,vert:\|,fold:-,diff:-
2769 < This is similar to the default, except that these characters will also
2770 be used when there is highlighting.
2772 for "stl" and "stlnc" only single-byte values are supported.
2774 The highlighting used for these items:
2775 item highlight group ~
2776 stl:c StatusLine |hl-StatusLine|
2777 stlnc:c StatusLineNC |hl-StatusLineNC|
2778 vert:c VertSplit |hl-VertSplit|
2779 fold:c Folded |hl-Folded|
2780 diff:c DiffDelete |hl-DiffDelete|
2782 *'fkmap'* *'fk'* *'nofkmap'* *'nofk'*
2783 'fkmap' 'fk' boolean (default off) *E198*
2784 global
2785 {not in Vi}
2786 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
2787 feature}
2788 When on, the keyboard is mapped for the Farsi character set.
2789 Normally you would set 'allowrevins' and use CTRL-_ in insert mode to
2790 toggle this option |i_CTRL-_|. See |farsi.txt|.
2792 *'foldclose'* *'fcl'*
2793 'foldclose' 'fcl' string (default "")
2794 global
2795 {not in Vi}
2796 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2797 feature}
2798 When set to "all", a fold is closed when the cursor isn't in it and
2799 its level is higher than 'foldlevel'. Useful if you want folds to
2800 automatically close when moving out of them.
2802 *'foldcolumn'* *'fdc'*
2803 'foldcolumn' 'fdc' number (default 0)
2804 local to window
2805 {not in Vi}
2806 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2807 feature}
2808 When non-zero, a column with the specified width is shown at the side
2809 of the window which indicates open and closed folds. The maximum
2810 value is 12.
2811 See |folding|.
2813 *'foldenable'* *'fen'* *'nofoldenable'* *'nofen'*
2814 'foldenable' 'fen' boolean (default on)
2815 local to window
2816 {not in Vi}
2817 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2818 feature}
2819 When off, all folds are open. This option can be used to quickly
2820 switch between showing all text unfolded and viewing the text with
2821 folds (including manually opened or closed folds). It can be toggled
2822 with the |zi| command. The 'foldcolumn' will remain blank when
2823 'foldenable' is off.
2824 This option is set by commands that create a new fold or close a fold.
2825 See |folding|.
2827 *'foldexpr'* *'fde'*
2828 'foldexpr' 'fde' string (default: "0")
2829 local to window
2830 {not in Vi}
2831 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2832 or |+eval| feature}
2833 The expression used for when 'foldmethod' is "expr". It is evaluated
2834 for each line to obtain its fold level. See |fold-expr|.
2836 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
2837 |sandbox-option|.
2839 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
2840 evaluating 'foldexpr' |textlock|.
2842 *'foldignore'* *'fdi'*
2843 'foldignore' 'fdi' string (default: "#")
2844 local to window
2845 {not in Vi}
2846 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2847 feature}
2848 Used only when 'foldmethod' is "indent". Lines starting with
2849 characters in 'foldignore' will get their fold level from surrounding
2850 lines. White space is skipped before checking for this character.
2851 The default "#" works well for C programs. See |fold-indent|.
2853 *'foldlevel'* *'fdl'*
2854 'foldlevel' 'fdl' number (default: 0)
2855 local to window
2856 {not in Vi}
2857 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2858 feature}
2859 Sets the fold level: Folds with a higher level will be closed.
2860 Setting this option to zero will close all folds. Higher numbers will
2861 close fewer folds.
2862 This option is set by commands like |zm|, |zM| and |zR|.
2863 See |fold-foldlevel|.
2865 *'foldlevelstart'* *'fdls'*
2866 'foldlevelstart' 'fdls' number (default: -1)
2867 global
2868 {not in Vi}
2869 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2870 feature}
2871 Sets 'foldlevel' when starting to edit another buffer in a window.
2872 Useful to always start editing with all folds closed (value zero),
2873 some folds closed (one) or no folds closed (99).
2874 This is done before reading any modeline, thus a setting in a modeline
2875 overrules this option. Starting to edit a file for |diff-mode| also
2876 ignores this option and closes all folds.
2877 It is also done before BufReadPre autocommands, to allow an autocmd to
2878 overrule the 'foldlevel' value for specific files.
2879 When the value is negative, it is not used.
2881 *'foldmarker'* *'fmr'* *E536*
2882 'foldmarker' 'fmr' string (default: "{{{,}}}")
2883 local to window
2884 {not in Vi}
2885 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2886 feature}
2887 The start and end marker used when 'foldmethod' is "marker". There
2888 must be one comma, which separates the start and end marker. The
2889 marker is a literal string (a regular expression would be too slow).
2890 See |fold-marker|.
2892 *'foldmethod'* *'fdm'*
2893 'foldmethod' 'fdm' string (default: "manual")
2894 local to window
2895 {not in Vi}
2896 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2897 feature}
2898 The kind of folding used for the current window. Possible values:
2899 |fold-manual| manual Folds are created manually.
2900 |fold-indent| indent Lines with equal indent form a fold.
2901 |fold-expr| expr 'foldexpr' gives the fold level of a line.
2902 |fold-marker| marker Markers are used to specify folds.
2903 |fold-syntax| syntax Syntax highlighting items specify folds.
2904 |fold-diff| diff Fold text that is not changed.
2906 *'foldminlines'* *'fml'*
2907 'foldminlines' 'fml' number (default: 1)
2908 local to window
2909 {not in Vi}
2910 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2911 feature}
2912 Sets the minimum number of screen lines for a fold to be displayed
2913 closed. Also for manually closed folds.
2914 Note that this only has an effect of what is displayed. After using
2915 "zc" to close a fold, which is displayed open because it's smaller
2916 than 'foldminlines', a following "zc" may close a containing fold.
2918 *'foldnestmax'* *'fdn'*
2919 'foldnestmax' 'fdn' number (default: 20)
2920 local to window
2921 {not in Vi}
2922 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2923 feature}
2924 Sets the maximum nesting of folds for the "indent" and "syntax"
2925 methods. This avoids that too many folds will be created. Using more
2926 than 20 doesn't work, because the internal limit is 20.
2928 *'foldopen'* *'fdo'*
2929 'foldopen' 'fdo' string (default: "block,hor,mark,percent,quickfix,
2930 search,tag,undo")
2931 global
2932 {not in Vi}
2933 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2934 feature}
2935 Specifies for which type of commands folds will be opened, if the
2936 command moves the cursor into a closed fold. It is a comma separated
2937 list of items.
2938 item commands ~
2939 all any
2940 block "(", "{", "[[", "[{", etc.
2941 hor horizontal movements: "l", "w", "fx", etc.
2942 insert any command in Insert mode
2943 jump far jumps: "G", "gg", etc.
2944 mark jumping to a mark: "'m", CTRL-O, etc.
2945 percent "%"
2946 quickfix ":cn", ":crew", ":make", etc.
2947 search search for a pattern: "/", "n", "*", "gd", etc.
2948 (not for a search pattern in a ":" command)
2949 Also for |[s| and |]s|.
2950 tag jumping to a tag: ":ta", CTRL-T, etc.
2951 undo undo or redo: "u" and CTRL-R
2952 When the command is part of a mapping this option is not used. Add
2953 the |zv| command to the mapping to get the same effect.
2954 When a movement command is used for an operator (e.g., "dl" or "y%")
2955 this option is not used. This means the operator will include the
2956 whole closed fold.
2957 Note that vertical movements are not here, because it would make it
2958 very difficult to move onto a closed fold.
2959 In insert mode the folds containing the cursor will always be open
2960 when text is inserted.
2961 To close folds you can re-apply 'foldlevel' with the |zx| command or
2962 set the 'foldclose' option to "all".
2964 *'foldtext'* *'fdt'*
2965 'foldtext' 'fdt' string (default: "foldtext()")
2966 local to window
2967 {not in Vi}
2968 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2969 feature}
2970 An expression which is used to specify the text displayed for a closed
2971 fold. See |fold-foldtext|.
2973 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
2974 |sandbox-option|.
2976 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
2977 evaluating 'foldtext' |textlock|.
2979 *'formatoptions'* *'fo'*
2980 'formatoptions' 'fo' string (Vim default: "tcq", Vi default: "vt")
2981 local to buffer
2982 {not in Vi}
2983 This is a sequence of letters which describes how automatic
2984 formatting is to be done. See |fo-table|. When the 'paste' option is
2985 on, no formatting is done (like 'formatoptions' is empty). Commas can
2986 be inserted for readability.
2987 To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the
2988 "+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|.
2989 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
2990 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
2992 *'formatlistpat'* *'flp'*
2993 'formatlistpat' 'flp' string (default: "^\s*\d\+[\]:.)}\t ]\s*")
2994 local to buffer
2995 {not in Vi}
2996 A pattern that is used to recognize a list header. This is used for
2997 the "n" flag in 'formatoptions'.
2998 The pattern must match exactly the text that will be the indent for
2999 the line below it. You can use |/\ze| to mark the end of the match
3000 while still checking more characters. There must be a character
3001 following the pattern, when it matches the whole line it is handled
3002 like there is no match.
3003 The default recognizes a number, followed by an optional punctuation
3004 character and white space.
3006 *'formatprg'* *'fp'*
3007 'formatprg' 'fp' string (default "")
3008 global
3009 {not in Vi}
3010 The name of an external program that will be used to format the lines
3011 selected with the |gq| operator. The program must take the input on
3012 stdin and produce the output on stdout. The Unix program "fmt" is
3013 such a program.
3014 If the 'formatexpr' option is not empty it will be used instead.
3015 Otherwise, if 'formatprg' option is an empty string, the internal
3016 format function will be used |C-indenting|.
3017 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash|
3018 about including spaces and backslashes.
3019 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3020 |sandbox-option|.
3022 *'formatexpr'* *'fex'*
3023 'formatexpr' 'fex' string (default "")
3024 local to buffer
3025 {not in Vi}
3026 {not available when compiled without the |+eval|
3027 feature}
3028 Expression which is evaluated to format a range of lines for the |gq|
3029 operator. When this option is empty 'formatprg' is used.
3031 The |v:lnum| variable holds the first line to be formatted.
3032 The |v:count| variable holds the number of lines to be formatted.
3033 The |v:char| variable holds the character that is going to be
3034 inserted. This can be empty. Don't insert it yet!
3036 Example: >
3037 :set formatexpr=mylang#Format()
3038 < This will invoke the mylang#Format() function in the
3039 autoload/mylang.vim file in 'runtimepath'. |autoload|
3041 The expression is also evaluated when 'textwidth' is set and adding
3042 text beyond that limit. This happens under the same conditions as
3043 when internal formatting is used. Make sure the cursor is kept in the
3044 same spot relative to the text then! The |mode()| function will
3045 return "i" or "R" in this situation. When the function returns
3046 non-zero Vim will fall back to using the internal format mechanism.
3048 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3049 |sandbox-option|.
3051 *'fsync'* *'fs'*
3052 'fsync' 'fs' boolean (default on)
3053 global
3054 {not in Vi}
3055 When on, the library function fsync() will be called after writing a
3056 file. This will flush a file to disk, ensuring that it is safely
3057 written even on filesystems which do metadata-only journaling. This
3058 will force the harddrive to spin up on Linux systems running in laptop
3059 mode, so it may be undesirable in some situations. Be warned that
3060 turning this off increases the chances of data loss after a crash. On
3061 systems without an fsync() implementation, this variable is always
3062 off.
3063 Also see 'swapsync' for controlling fsync() on swap files.
3065 *'gdefault'* *'gd'* *'nogdefault'* *'nogd'*
3066 'gdefault' 'gd' boolean (default off)
3067 global
3068 {not in Vi}
3069 When on, the ":substitute" flag 'g' is default on. This means that
3070 all matches in a line are substituted instead of one. When a 'g' flag
3071 is given to a ":substitute" command, this will toggle the substitution
3072 of all or one match. See |complex-change|.
3074 command 'gdefault' on 'gdefault' off ~
3075 :s/// subst. all subst. one
3076 :s///g subst. one subst. all
3077 :s///gg subst. all subst. one
3079 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3081 *'grepformat'* *'gfm'*
3082 'grepformat' 'gfm' string (default "%f:%l%m,%f %l%m")
3083 global
3084 {not in Vi}
3085 Format to recognize for the ":grep" command output.
3086 This is a scanf-like string that uses the same format as the
3087 'errorformat' option: see |errorformat|.
3089 *'grepprg'* *'gp'*
3090 'grepprg' 'gp' string (default "grep -n ",
3091 Unix: "grep -n $* /dev/null",
3092 Win32: "findstr /n" or "grep -n",
3093 VMS: "SEARCH/NUMBERS ")
3094 global or local to buffer |global-local|
3095 {not in Vi}
3096 Program to use for the |:grep| command. This option may contain '%'
3097 and '#' characters, which are expanded like when used in a command-
3098 line. The placeholder "$*" is allowed to specify where the arguments
3099 will be included. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See
3100 |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
3101 When your "grep" accepts the "-H" argument, use this to make ":grep"
3102 also work well with a single file: >
3103 :set grepprg=grep\ -nH
3104 < Special value: When 'grepprg' is set to "internal" the |:grep| command
3105 works like |:vimgrep|, |:lgrep| like |:lvimgrep|, |:grepadd| like
3106 |:vimgrepadd| and |:lgrepadd| like |:lvimgrepadd|.
3107 See also the section |:make_makeprg|, since most of the comments there
3108 apply equally to 'grepprg'.
3109 For Win32, the default is "findstr /n" if "findstr.exe" can be found,
3110 otherwise it's "grep -n".
3111 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
3112 security reasons.
3114 *'guicursor'* *'gcr'* *E545* *E546* *E548* *E549*
3115 'guicursor' 'gcr' string (default "n-v-c:block-Cursor/lCursor,
3116 ve:ver35-Cursor,
3117 o:hor50-Cursor,
3118 i-ci:ver25-Cursor/lCursor,
3119 r-cr:hor20-Cursor/lCursor,
3120 sm:block-Cursor
3121 -blinkwait175-blinkoff150-blinkon175",
3122 for MS-DOS and Win32 console:
3123 "n-v-c:block,o:hor50,i-ci:hor15,
3124 r-cr:hor30,sm:block")
3125 global
3126 {not in Vi}
3127 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled, and
3128 for MS-DOS and Win32 console}
3129 This option tells Vim what the cursor should look like in different
3130 modes. It fully works in the GUI. In an MSDOS or Win32 console, only
3131 the height of the cursor can be changed. This can be done by
3132 specifying a block cursor, or a percentage for a vertical or
3133 horizontal cursor.
3134 For a console the 't_SI' and 't_EI' escape sequences are used.
3136 The option is a comma separated list of parts. Each part consist of a
3137 mode-list and an argument-list:
3138 mode-list:argument-list,mode-list:argument-list,..
3139 The mode-list is a dash separated list of these modes:
3140 n Normal mode
3141 v Visual mode
3142 ve Visual mode with 'selection' "exclusive" (same as 'v',
3143 if not specified)
3144 o Operator-pending mode
3145 i Insert mode
3146 r Replace mode
3147 c Command-line Normal (append) mode
3148 ci Command-line Insert mode
3149 cr Command-line Replace mode
3150 sm showmatch in Insert mode
3151 a all modes
3152 The argument-list is a dash separated list of these arguments:
3153 hor{N} horizontal bar, {N} percent of the character height
3154 ver{N} vertical bar, {N} percent of the character width
3155 block block cursor, fills the whole character
3156 [only one of the above three should be present]
3157 blinkwait{N} *cursor-blinking*
3158 blinkon{N}
3159 blinkoff{N}
3160 blink times for cursor: blinkwait is the delay before
3161 the cursor starts blinking, blinkon is the time that
3162 the cursor is shown and blinkoff is the time that the
3163 cursor is not shown. The times are in msec. When one
3164 of the numbers is zero, there is no blinking. The
3165 default is: "blinkwait700-blinkon400-blinkoff250".
3166 These numbers are used for a missing entry. This
3167 means that blinking is enabled by default. To switch
3168 blinking off you can use "blinkon0". The cursor only
3169 blinks when Vim is waiting for input, not while
3170 executing a command.
3171 To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see
3172 |xterm-blink|.
3173 {group-name}
3174 a highlight group name, that sets the color and font
3175 for the cursor
3176 {group-name}/{group-name}
3177 Two highlight group names, the first is used when
3178 no language mappings are used, the other when they
3179 are. |language-mapping|
3181 Examples of parts:
3182 n-c-v:block-nCursor in Normal, Command-line and Visual mode, use a
3183 block cursor with colors from the "nCursor"
3184 highlight group
3185 i-ci:ver30-iCursor-blinkwait300-blinkon200-blinkoff150
3186 In Insert and Command-line Insert mode, use a
3187 30% vertical bar cursor with colors from the
3188 "iCursor" highlight group. Blink a bit
3189 faster.
3191 The 'a' mode is different. It will set the given argument-list for
3192 all modes. It does not reset anything to defaults. This can be used
3193 to do a common setting for all modes. For example, to switch off
3194 blinking: "a:blinkon0"
3196 Examples of cursor highlighting: >
3197 :highlight Cursor gui=reverse guifg=NONE guibg=NONE
3198 :highlight Cursor gui=NONE guifg=bg guibg=fg
3199 <
3200 *'guifont'* *'gfn'*
3201 *E235* *E596* *E610* *E611*
3202 'guifont' 'gfn' string (default "")
3203 global
3204 {not in Vi}
3205 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled}
3206 This is a list of fonts which will be used for the GUI version of Vim.
3207 In its simplest form the value is just one font name. When
3208 the font cannot be found you will get an error message. To try other
3209 font names a list can be specified, font names separated with commas.
3210 The first valid font is used.
3212 On systems where 'guifontset' is supported (X11) and 'guifontset' is
3213 not empty, then 'guifont' is not used.
3215 Spaces after a comma are ignored. To include a comma in a font name
3216 precede it with a backslash. Setting an option requires an extra
3217 backslash before a space and a backslash. See also
3218 |option-backslash|. For example: >
3219 :set guifont=Screen15,\ 7x13,font\\,with\\,commas
3220 < will make Vim try to use the font "Screen15" first, and if it fails it
3221 will try to use "7x13" and then "font,with,commas" instead.
3223 If none of the fonts can be loaded, Vim will keep the current setting.
3224 If an empty font list is given, Vim will try using other resource
3225 settings (for X, it will use the Vim.font resource), and finally it
3226 will try some builtin default which should always be there ("7x13" in
3227 the case of X). The font names given should be "normal" fonts. Vim
3228 will try to find the related bold and italic fonts.
3230 For Win32, GTK, Mac OS and Photon: >
3231 :set guifont=*
3232 < will bring up a font requester, where you can pick the font you want.
3234 The font name depends on the GUI used. See |setting-guifont| for a
3235 way to set 'guifont' for various systems.
3237 For the GTK+ 2 GUI the font name looks like this: >
3238 :set guifont=Andale\ Mono\ 11
3239 < That's all. XLFDs are no longer accepted.
3241 For Mac OSX you can use something like this: >
3242 :set guifont=Monaco:h10
3243 < Also see 'macatsui', it can help fix display problems.
3244 *E236*
3245 Note that the fonts must be mono-spaced (all characters have the same
3246 width). An exception is GTK 2: all fonts are accepted, but
3247 mono-spaced fonts look best.
3249 To preview a font on X11, you might be able to use the "xfontsel"
3250 program. The "xlsfonts" program gives a list of all available fonts.
3252 For the Win32 GUI *E244* *E245*
3253 - takes these options in the font name:
3254 hXX - height is XX (points, can be floating-point)
3255 wXX - width is XX (points, can be floating-point)
3256 b - bold
3257 i - italic
3258 u - underline
3259 s - strikeout
3260 cXX - character set XX. Valid charsets are: ANSI, ARABIC,
3261 BALTIC, CHINESEBIG5, DEFAULT, EASTEUROPE, GB2312, GREEK,
3262 HANGEUL, HEBREW, JOHAB, MAC, OEM, RUSSIAN, SHIFTJIS,
3263 SYMBOL, THAI, TURKISH, VIETNAMESE ANSI and BALTIC.
3264 Normally you would use "cDEFAULT".
3266 Use a ':' to separate the options.
3267 - A '_' can be used in the place of a space, so you don't need to use
3268 backslashes to escape the spaces.
3269 - Examples: >
3270 :set guifont=courier_new:h12:w5:b:cRUSSIAN
3271 :set guifont=Andale_Mono:h7.5:w4.5
3272 < See also |font-sizes|.
3274 *'guifontset'* *'gfs'*
3275 *E250* *E252* *E234* *E597* *E598*
3276 'guifontset' 'gfs' string (default "")
3277 global
3278 {not in Vi}
3279 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled and
3280 with the |+xfontset| feature}
3281 {not available in the GTK+ 2 GUI}
3282 When not empty, specifies two (or more) fonts to be used. The first
3283 one for normal English, the second one for your special language. See
3284 |xfontset|.
3285 Setting this option also means that all font names will be handled as
3286 a fontset name. Also the ones used for the "font" argument of the
3287 |:highlight| command.
3288 The fonts must match with the current locale. If fonts for the
3289 character sets that the current locale uses are not included, setting
3290 'guifontset' will fail.
3291 Note the difference between 'guifont' and 'guifontset': In 'guifont'
3292 the comma-separated names are alternative names, one of which will be
3293 used. In 'guifontset' the whole string is one fontset name,
3294 including the commas. It is not possible to specify alternative
3295 fontset names.
3296 This example works on many X11 systems: >
3297 :set guifontset=-*-*-medium-r-normal--16-*-*-*-c-*-*-*
3298 <
3299 *'guifontwide'* *'gfw'* *E231* *E533* *E534*
3300 'guifontwide' 'gfw' string (default "")
3301 global
3302 {not in Vi}
3303 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled}
3304 When not empty, specifies a comma-separated list of fonts to be used
3305 for double-width characters. The first font that can be loaded is
3306 used.
3307 Note: The size of these fonts must be exactly twice as wide as the one
3308 specified with 'guifont' and the same height.
3310 All GUI versions but GTK+ 2:
3312 'guifontwide' is only used when 'encoding' is set to "utf-8" and
3313 'guifontset' is empty or invalid.
3314 When 'guifont' is set and a valid font is found in it and
3315 'guifontwide' is empty Vim will attempt to find a matching
3316 double-width font and set 'guifontwide' to it.
3318 GTK+ 2 GUI only: *guifontwide_gtk2*
3320 If set and valid, 'guifontwide' is always used for double width
3321 characters, even if 'encoding' is not set to "utf-8".
3322 Vim does not attempt to find an appropriate value for 'guifontwide'
3323 automatically. If 'guifontwide' is empty Pango/Xft will choose the
3324 font for characters not available in 'guifont'. Thus you do not need
3325 to set 'guifontwide' at all unless you want to override the choice
3326 made by Pango/Xft.
3328 *'guiheadroom'* *'ghr'*
3329 'guiheadroom' 'ghr' number (default 50)
3330 global
3331 {not in Vi} {only for GTK and X11 GUI}
3332 The number of pixels subtracted from the screen height when fitting
3333 the GUI window on the screen. Set this before the GUI is started,
3334 e.g., in your |gvimrc| file. When zero, the whole screen height will
3335 be used by the window. When positive, the specified number of pixel
3336 lines will be left for window decorations and other items on the
3337 screen. Set it to a negative value to allow windows taller than the
3338 screen.
3340 *'guioptions'* *'go'*
3341 'guioptions' 'go' string (default "gmrLtT" (MS-Windows),
3342 "agimrLtT" (GTK, Motif and Athena))
3343 global
3344 {not in Vi}
3345 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled}
3346 This option only has an effect in the GUI version of Vim. It is a
3347 sequence of letters which describes what components and options of the
3348 GUI should be used.
3349 To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the
3350 "+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|.
3352 Valid letters are as follows:
3353 *guioptions_a* *'go-a'*
3354 'a' Autoselect: If present, then whenever VISUAL mode is started,
3355 or the Visual area extended, Vim tries to become the owner of
3356 the windowing system's global selection. This means that the
3357 Visually highlighted text is available for pasting into other
3358 applications as well as into Vim itself. When the Visual mode
3359 ends, possibly due to an operation on the text, or when an
3360 application wants to paste the selection, the highlighted text
3361 is automatically yanked into the "* selection register.
3362 Thus the selection is still available for pasting into other
3363 applications after the VISUAL mode has ended.
3364 If not present, then Vim won't become the owner of the
3365 windowing system's global selection unless explicitly told to
3366 by a yank or delete operation for the "* register.
3367 The same applies to the modeless selection.
3368 *'go-A'*
3369 'A' Autoselect for the modeless selection. Like 'a', but only
3370 applies to the modeless selection.
3372 'guioptions' autoselect Visual autoselect modeless ~
3373 "" - -
3374 "a" yes yes
3375 "A" - yes
3376 "aA" yes yes
3378 *'go-c'*
3379 'c' Use console dialogs instead of popup dialogs for simple
3380 choices.
3381 *'go-e'*
3382 'e' Add tab pages when indicated with 'showtabline'.
3383 'guitablabel' can be used to change the text in the labels.
3384 When 'e' is missing a non-GUI tab pages line may be used.
3385 The GUI tabs are only supported on some systems, currently
3386 GTK, Motif, Mac OS/X and MS-Windows.
3387 *'go-f'*
3388 'f' Foreground: Don't use fork() to detach the GUI from the shell
3389 where it was started. Use this for programs that wait for the
3390 editor to finish (e.g., an e-mail program). Alternatively you
3391 can use "gvim -f" or ":gui -f" to start the GUI in the
3392 foreground. |gui-fork|
3393 Note: Set this option in the vimrc file. The forking may have
3394 happened already when the |gvimrc| file is read.
3395 *'go-i'*
3396 'i' Use a Vim icon. For GTK with KDE it is used in the left-upper
3397 corner of the window. It's black&white on non-GTK, because of
3398 limitations of X11. For a color icon, see |X11-icon|.
3399 *'go-m'*
3400 'm' Menu bar is present.
3401 *'go-M'*
3402 'M' The system menu "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim" is not sourced. Note
3403 that this flag must be added in the .vimrc file, before
3404 switching on syntax or filetype recognition (when the |gvimrc|
3405 file is sourced the system menu has already been loaded; the
3406 ":syntax on" and ":filetype on" commands load the menu too).
3407 *'go-g'*
3408 'g' Grey menu items: Make menu items that are not active grey. If
3409 'g' is not included inactive menu items are not shown at all.
3410 Exception: Athena will always use grey menu items.
3411 *'go-t'*
3412 't' Include tearoff menu items. Currently only works for Win32,
3413 GTK+, and Motif 1.2 GUI.
3414 *'go-T'*
3415 'T' Include Toolbar. Currently only in Win32, GTK+, Motif, Photon
3416 and Athena GUIs.
3417 *'go-r'*
3418 'r' Right-hand scrollbar is always present.
3419 *'go-R'*
3420 'R' Right-hand scrollbar is present when there is a vertically
3421 split window.
3422 *'go-l'*
3423 'l' Left-hand scrollbar is always present.
3424 *'go-L'*
3425 'L' Left-hand scrollbar is present when there is a vertically
3426 split window.
3427 *'go-b'*
3428 'b' Bottom (horizontal) scrollbar is present. Its size depends on
3429 the longest visible line, or on the cursor line if the 'h'
3430 flag is included. |gui-horiz-scroll|
3431 *'go-h'*
3432 'h' Limit horizontal scrollbar size to the length of the cursor
3433 line. Reduces computations. |gui-horiz-scroll|
3435 And yes, you may even have scrollbars on the left AND the right if
3436 you really want to :-). See |gui-scrollbars| for more information.
3438 *'go-v'*
3439 'v' Use a vertical button layout for dialogs. When not included,
3440 a horizontal layout is preferred, but when it doesn't fit a
3441 vertical layout is used anyway.
3442 *'go-p'*
3443 'p' Use Pointer callbacks for X11 GUI. This is required for some
3444 window managers. If the cursor is not blinking or hollow at
3445 the right moment, try adding this flag. This must be done
3446 before starting the GUI. Set it in your |gvimrc|. Adding or
3447 removing it after the GUI has started has no effect.
3448 *'go-F'*
3449 'F' Add a footer. Only for Motif. See |gui-footer|.
3452 *'guipty'* *'noguipty'*
3453 'guipty' boolean (default on)
3454 global
3455 {not in Vi}
3456 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled}
3457 Only in the GUI: If on, an attempt is made to open a pseudo-tty for
3458 I/O to/from shell commands. See |gui-pty|.
3460 *'guitablabel'* *'gtl'*
3461 'guitablabel' 'gtl' string (default empty)
3462 global
3463 {not in Vi}
3464 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled and
3465 with the +windows feature}
3466 When nonempty describes the text to use in a label of the GUI tab
3467 pages line. When empty and when the result is empty Vim will use a
3468 default label. See |setting-guitablabel| for more info.
3470 The format of this option is like that of 'statusline'.
3471 'guitabtooltip' is used for the tooltip, see below.
3473 Only used when the GUI tab pages line is displayed. 'e' must be
3474 present in 'guioptions'. For the non-GUI tab pages line 'tabline' is
3475 used.
3477 *'guitabtooltip'* *'gtt'*
3478 'guitabtooltip' 'gtt' string (default empty)
3479 global
3480 {not in Vi}
3481 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled and
3482 with the +windows feature}
3483 When nonempty describes the text to use in a tooltip for the GUI tab
3484 pages line. When empty Vim will use a default tooltip.
3485 This option is otherwise just like 'guitablabel' above.
3488 *'helpfile'* *'hf'*
3489 'helpfile' 'hf' string (default (MSDOS) "$VIMRUNTIME\doc\help.txt"
3490 (others) "$VIMRUNTIME/doc/help.txt")
3491 global
3492 {not in Vi}
3493 Name of the main help file. All distributed help files should be
3494 placed together in one directory. Additionally, all "doc" directories
3495 in 'runtimepath' will be used.
3496 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. For example:
3497 "$VIMRUNTIME/doc/help.txt". If $VIMRUNTIME is not set, $VIM is also
3498 tried. Also see |$VIMRUNTIME| and |option-backslash| about including
3499 spaces and backslashes.
3500 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
3501 security reasons.
3503 *'helpheight'* *'hh'*
3504 'helpheight' 'hh' number (default 20)
3505 global
3506 {not in Vi}
3507 {not available when compiled without the +windows
3508 feature}
3509 Minimal initial height of the help window when it is opened with the
3510 ":help" command. The initial height of the help window is half of the
3511 current window, or (when the 'ea' option is on) the same as other
3512 windows. When the height is less than 'helpheight', the height is
3513 set to 'helpheight'. Set to zero to disable.
3515 *'helplang'* *'hlg'*
3516 'helplang' 'hlg' string (default: messages language or empty)
3517 global
3518 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_lang|
3519 feature}
3520 {not in Vi}
3521 Comma separated list of languages. Vim will use the first language
3522 for which the desired help can be found. The English help will always
3523 be used as a last resort. You can add "en" to prefer English over
3524 another language, but that will only find tags that exist in that
3525 language and not in the English help.
3526 Example: >
3527 :set helplang=de,it
3528 < This will first search German, then Italian and finally English help
3529 files.
3530 When using |CTRL-]| and ":help!" in a non-English help file Vim will
3531 try to find the tag in the current language before using this option.
3532 See |help-translated|.
3534 *'hidden'* *'hid'* *'nohidden'* *'nohid'*
3535 'hidden' 'hid' boolean (default off)
3536 global
3537 {not in Vi}
3538 When off a buffer is unloaded when it is |abandon|ed. When on a
3539 buffer becomes hidden when it is |abandon|ed. If the buffer is still
3540 displayed in another window, it does not become hidden, of course.
3541 The commands that move through the buffer list sometimes make a buffer
3542 hidden although the 'hidden' option is off: When the buffer is
3543 modified, 'autowrite' is off or writing is not possible, and the '!'
3544 flag was used. See also |windows.txt|.
3545 To only make one buffer hidden use the 'bufhidden' option.
3546 This option is set for one command with ":hide {command}" |:hide|.
3547 WARNING: It's easy to forget that you have changes in hidden buffers.
3548 Think twice when using ":q!" or ":qa!".
3550 *'highlight'* *'hl'*
3551 'highlight' 'hl' string (default (as a single string):
3552 "8:SpecialKey,@:NonText,d:Directory,
3553 e:ErrorMsg,i:IncSearch,l:Search,m:MoreMsg,
3554 M:ModeMsg,n:LineNr,r:Question,
3555 s:StatusLine,S:StatusLineNC,c:VertSplit,
3556 t:Title,v:Visual,w:WarningMsg,W:WildMenu,
3557 f:Folded,F:FoldColumn,A:DiffAdd,
3558 C:DiffChange,D:DiffDelete,T:DiffText,
3559 >:SignColumn,B:SpellBad,P:SpellCap,
3560 R:SpellRare,L:SpellLocal,
3561 +:Pmenu,=:PmenuSel,
3562 x:PmenuSbar,X:PmenuThumb")
3563 global
3564 {not in Vi}
3565 This option can be used to set highlighting mode for various
3566 occasions. It is a comma separated list of character pairs. The
3567 first character in a pair gives the occasion, the second the mode to
3568 use for that occasion. The occasions are:
3569 |hl-SpecialKey| 8 Meta and special keys listed with ":map"
3570 |hl-NonText| @ '~' and '@' at the end of the window and
3571 characters from 'showbreak'
3572 |hl-Directory| d directories in CTRL-D listing and other special
3573 things in listings
3574 |hl-ErrorMsg| e error messages
3575 h (obsolete, ignored)
3576 |hl-IncSearch| i 'incsearch' highlighting
3577 |hl-Search| l last search pattern highlighting (see 'hlsearch')
3578 |hl-MoreMsg| m |more-prompt|
3579 |hl-ModeMsg| M Mode (e.g., "-- INSERT --")
3580 |hl-LineNr| n line number for ":number" and ":#" commands
3581 |hl-Question| r |hit-enter| prompt and yes/no questions
3582 |hl-StatusLine| s status line of current window |status-line|
3583 |hl-StatusLineNC| S status lines of not-current windows
3584 |hl-Title| t Titles for output from ":set all", ":autocmd" etc.
3585 |hl-VertSplit| c column used to separate vertically split windows
3586 |hl-Visual| v Visual mode
3587 |hl-VisualNOS| V Visual mode when Vim does is "Not Owning the
3588 Selection" Only X11 Gui's |gui-x11| and
3589 |xterm-clipboard|.
3590 |hl-WarningMsg| w warning messages
3591 |hl-WildMenu| W wildcard matches displayed for 'wildmenu'
3592 |hl-Folded| f line used for closed folds
3593 |hl-FoldColumn| F 'foldcolumn'
3594 |hl-DiffAdd| A added line in diff mode
3595 |hl-DiffChange| C changed line in diff mode
3596 |hl-DiffDelete| D deleted line in diff mode
3597 |hl-DiffText| T inserted text in diff mode
3598 |hl-SignColumn| > column used for |signs|
3599 |hl-SpellBad| B misspelled word |spell|
3600 |hl-SpellCap| P word that should start with capital|spell|
3601 |hl-SpellRare| R rare word |spell|
3602 |hl-SpellLocal| L word from other region |spell|
3603 |hl-Pmenu| + popup menu normal line
3604 |hl-PmenuSel| = popup menu normal line
3605 |hl-PmenuSbar| x popup menu scrollbar
3606 |hl-PmenuThumb| X popup menu scrollbar thumb
3608 The display modes are:
3609 r reverse (termcap entry "mr" and "me")
3610 i italic (termcap entry "ZH" and "ZR")
3611 b bold (termcap entry "md" and "me")
3612 s standout (termcap entry "so" and "se")
3613 u underline (termcap entry "us" and "ue")
3614 c undercurl (termcap entry "Cs" and "Ce")
3615 n no highlighting
3616 - no highlighting
3617 : use a highlight group
3618 The default is used for occasions that are not included.
3619 If you want to change what the display modes do, see |dos-colors|
3620 for an example.
3621 When using the ':' display mode, this must be followed by the name of
3622 a highlight group. A highlight group can be used to define any type
3623 of highlighting, including using color. See |:highlight| on how to
3624 define one. The default uses a different group for each occasion.
3625 See |highlight-default| for the default highlight groups.
3627 *'hlsearch'* *'hls'* *'nohlsearch'* *'nohls'*
3628 'hlsearch' 'hls' boolean (default off)
3629 global
3630 {not in Vi}
3631 {not available when compiled without the
3632 |+extra_search| feature}
3633 When there is a previous search pattern, highlight all its matches.
3634 The type of highlighting used can be set with the 'l' occasion in the
3635 'highlight' option. This uses the "Search" highlight group by
3636 default. Note that only the matching text is highlighted, any offsets
3637 are not applied.
3638 See also: 'incsearch' and |:match|.
3639 When you get bored looking at the highlighted matches, you can turn it
3640 off with |:nohlsearch|. As soon as you use a search command, the
3641 highlighting comes back.
3642 'redrawtime' specifies the maximum time spent on finding matches.
3643 When the search pattern can match an end-of-line, Vim will try to
3644 highlight all of the matched text. However, this depends on where the
3645 search starts. This will be the first line in the window or the first
3646 line below a closed fold. A match in a previous line which is not
3647 drawn may not continue in a newly drawn line.
3648 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3650 *'history'* *'hi'*
3651 'history' 'hi' number (Vim default: 20, Vi default: 0)
3652 global
3653 {not in Vi}
3654 A history of ":" commands, and a history of previous search patterns
3655 are remembered. This option decides how many entries may be stored in
3656 each of these histories (see |cmdline-editing|).
3657 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
3658 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
3660 *'hkmap'* *'hk'* *'nohkmap'* *'nohk'*
3661 'hkmap' 'hk' boolean (default off)
3662 global
3663 {not in Vi}
3664 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
3665 feature}
3666 When on, the keyboard is mapped for the Hebrew character set.
3667 Normally you would set 'allowrevins' and use CTRL-_ in insert mode to
3668 toggle this option. See |rileft.txt|.
3669 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3671 *'hkmapp'* *'hkp'* *'nohkmapp'* *'nohkp'*
3672 'hkmapp' 'hkp' boolean (default off)
3673 global
3674 {not in Vi}
3675 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
3676 feature}
3677 When on, phonetic keyboard mapping is used. 'hkmap' must also be on.
3678 This is useful if you have a non-Hebrew keyboard.
3679 See |rileft.txt|.
3680 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3682 *'icon'* *'noicon'*
3683 'icon' boolean (default off, on when title can be restored)
3684 global
3685 {not in Vi}
3686 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
3687 feature}
3688 When on, the icon text of the window will be set to the value of
3689 'iconstring' (if it is not empty), or to the name of the file
3690 currently being edited. Only the last part of the name is used.
3691 Overridden by the 'iconstring' option.
3692 Only works if the terminal supports setting window icons (currently
3693 only X11 GUI and terminals with a non-empty 't_IS' option - these are
3694 Unix xterm and iris-ansi by default, where 't_IS' is taken from the
3695 builtin termcap).
3696 When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original icon will be
3697 restored if possible |X11|. See |X11-icon| for changing the icon on
3698 X11.
3700 *'iconstring'*
3701 'iconstring' string (default "")
3702 global
3703 {not in Vi}
3704 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
3705 feature}
3706 When this option is not empty, it will be used for the icon text of
3707 the window. This happens only when the 'icon' option is on.
3708 Only works if the terminal supports setting window icon text
3709 (currently only X11 GUI and terminals with a non-empty 't_IS' option).
3710 Does not work for MS Windows.
3711 When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original icon will be
3712 restored if possible |X11|.
3713 When this option contains printf-style '%' items, they will be
3714 expanded according to the rules used for 'statusline'. See
3715 'titlestring' for example settings.
3716 {not available when compiled without the |+statusline| feature}
3718 *'ignorecase'* *'ic'* *'noignorecase'* *'noic'*
3719 'ignorecase' 'ic' boolean (default off)
3720 global
3721 Ignore case in search patterns. Also used when searching in the tags
3722 file.
3723 Also see 'smartcase'.
3724 Can be overruled by using "\c" or "\C" in the pattern, see
3725 |/ignorecase|.
3727 *'imactivatekey'* *'imak'*
3728 'imactivatekey' 'imak' string (default "")
3729 global
3730 {not in Vi}
3731 {only available when compiled with |+xim| and
3732 |+GUI_GTK|}
3733 Specifies the key that your Input Method in X-Windows uses for
3734 activation. When this is specified correctly, vim can fully control
3735 IM with 'imcmdline', 'iminsert' and 'imsearch'.
3736 You can't use this option to change the activation key, the option
3737 tells Vim what the key is.
3738 Format:
3739 [MODIFIER_FLAG-]KEY_STRING
3741 These characters can be used for MODIFIER_FLAG (case is ignored):
3742 S Shift key
3743 L Lock key
3744 C Control key
3745 1 Mod1 key
3746 2 Mod2 key
3747 3 Mod3 key
3748 4 Mod4 key
3749 5 Mod5 key
3750 Combinations are allowed, for example "S-C-space" or "SC-space" are
3751 both shift+ctrl+space.
3752 See <X11/keysymdef.h> and XStringToKeysym for KEY_STRING.
3754 Example: >
3755 :set imactivatekey=S-space
3756 < "S-space" means shift+space. This is the activation key for kinput2 +
3757 canna (Japanese), and ami (Korean).
3759 *'imcmdline'* *'imc'* *'noimcmdline'* *'noimc'*
3760 'imcmdline' 'imc' boolean (default off)
3761 global
3762 {not in Vi}
3763 {only available when compiled with the |+xim|
3764 |+multi_byte_ime| or |global-ime| feature}
3765 When set the Input Method is always on when starting to edit a command
3766 line, unless entering a search pattern (see 'imsearch' for that).
3767 Setting this option is useful when your input method allows entering
3768 English characters directly, e.g., when it's used to type accented
3769 characters with dead keys.
3771 *'imdisable'* *'imd'* *'nodisable'* *'noimd'*
3772 'imdisable' 'imd' boolean (default off, on for some systems (SGI))
3773 global
3774 {not in Vi}
3775 {only available when compiled with the |+xim|
3776 |+multi_byte_ime| or |global-ime| feature}
3777 When set the Input Method is never used. This is useful to disable
3778 the IM when it doesn't work properly.
3779 Currently this option is on by default for SGI/IRIX machines. This
3780 may change in later releases.
3782 *'iminsert'* *'imi'*
3783 'iminsert' 'imi' number (default 0, 2 when an input method is supported)
3784 local to buffer
3785 {not in Vi}
3786 Specifies whether :lmap or an Input Method (IM) is to be used in
3787 Insert mode. Valid values:
3788 0 :lmap is off and IM is off
3789 1 :lmap is ON and IM is off
3790 2 :lmap is off and IM is ON
3791 2 is available only when compiled with the |+multi_byte_ime|, |+xim|
3792 or |global-ime|.
3793 To always reset the option to zero when leaving Insert mode with <Esc>
3794 this can be used: >
3795 :inoremap <ESC> <ESC>:set iminsert=0<CR>
3796 < This makes :lmap and IM turn off automatically when leaving Insert
3797 mode.
3798 Note that this option changes when using CTRL-^ in Insert mode
3799 |i_CTRL-^|.
3800 The value is set to 1 when setting 'keymap' to a valid keymap name.
3801 It is also used for the argument of commands like "r" and "f".
3802 The value 0 may not work correctly with Athena and Motif with some XIM
3803 methods. Use 'imdisable' to disable XIM then.
3805 *'imsearch'* *'ims'*
3806 'imsearch' 'ims' number (default 0, 2 when an input method is supported)
3807 local to buffer
3808 {not in Vi}
3809 Specifies whether :lmap or an Input Method (IM) is to be used when
3810 entering a search pattern. Valid values:
3811 -1 the value of 'iminsert' is used, makes it look like
3812 'iminsert' is also used when typing a search pattern
3813 0 :lmap is off and IM is off
3814 1 :lmap is ON and IM is off
3815 2 :lmap is off and IM is ON
3816 Note that this option changes when using CTRL-^ in Command-line mode
3817 |c_CTRL-^|.
3818 The value is set to 1 when it is not -1 and setting the 'keymap'
3819 option to a valid keymap name.
3820 The value 0 may not work correctly with Athena and Motif with some XIM
3821 methods. Use 'imdisable' to disable XIM then.
3823 *'include'* *'inc'*
3824 'include' 'inc' string (default "^\s*#\s*include")
3825 global or local to buffer |global-local|
3826 {not in Vi}
3827 {not available when compiled without the
3828 |+find_in_path| feature}
3829 Pattern to be used to find an include command. It is a search
3830 pattern, just like for the "/" command (See |pattern|). The default
3831 value is for C programs. This option is used for the commands "[i",
3832 "]I", "[d", etc.
3833 Normally the 'isfname' option is used to recognize the file name that
3834 comes after the matched pattern. But if "\zs" appears in the pattern
3835 then the text matched from "\zs" to the end, or until "\ze" if it
3836 appears, is used as the file name. Use this to include characters
3837 that are not in 'isfname', such as a space. You can then use
3838 'includeexpr' to process the matched text.
3839 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
3841 *'includeexpr'* *'inex'*
3842 'includeexpr' 'inex' string (default "")
3843 local to buffer
3844 {not in Vi}
3845 {not available when compiled without the
3846 |+find_in_path| or |+eval| feature}
3847 Expression to be used to transform the string found with the 'include'
3848 option to a file name. Mostly useful to change "." to "/" for Java: >
3849 :set includeexpr=substitute(v:fname,'\\.','/','g')
3850 < The "v:fname" variable will be set to the file name that was detected.
3852 Also used for the |gf| command if an unmodified file name can't be
3853 found. Allows doing "gf" on the name after an 'include' statement.
3854 Also used for |<cfile>|.
3856 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3857 |sandbox-option|.
3859 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
3860 evaluating 'includeexpr' |textlock|.
3862 *'incsearch'* *'is'* *'noincsearch'* *'nois'*
3863 'incsearch' 'is' boolean (default off)
3864 global
3865 {not in Vi}
3866 {not available when compiled without the
3867 |+extra_search| feature}
3868 While typing a search command, show where the pattern, as it was typed
3869 so far, matches. The matched string is highlighted. If the pattern
3870 is invalid or not found, nothing is shown. The screen will be updated
3871 often, this is only useful on fast terminals.
3872 Note that the match will be shown, but the cursor will return to its
3873 original position when no match is found and when pressing <Esc>. You
3874 still need to finish the search command with <Enter> to move the
3875 cursor to the match.
3876 When compiled with the |+reltime| feature Vim only searches for about
3877 half a second. With a complicated pattern and/or a lot of text the
3878 match may not be found. This is to avoid that Vim hangs while you
3879 are typing the pattern.
3880 The highlighting can be set with the 'i' flag in 'highlight'.
3881 See also: 'hlsearch'.
3882 CTRL-L can be used to add one character from after the current match
3883 to the command line.
3884 CTRL-R CTRL-W can be used to add the word at the end of the current
3885 match, excluding the characters that were already typed.
3886 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3888 *'indentexpr'* *'inde'*
3889 'indentexpr' 'inde' string (default "")
3890 local to buffer
3891 {not in Vi}
3892 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
3893 or |+eval| features}
3894 Expression which is evaluated to obtain the proper indent for a line.
3895 It is used when a new line is created, for the |=| operator and
3896 in Insert mode as specified with the 'indentkeys' option.
3897 When this option is not empty, it overrules the 'cindent' and
3898 'smartindent' indenting.
3899 When 'paste' is set this option is not used for indenting.
3900 The expression is evaluated with |v:lnum| set to the line number for
3901 which the indent is to be computed. The cursor is also in this line
3902 when the expression is evaluated (but it may be moved around).
3903 The expression must return the number of spaces worth of indent. It
3904 can return "-1" to keep the current indent (this means 'autoindent' is
3905 used for the indent).
3906 Functions useful for computing the indent are |indent()|, |cindent()|
3907 and |lispindent()|.
3908 The evaluation of the expression must not have side effects! It must
3909 not change the text, jump to another window, etc. Afterwards the
3910 cursor position is always restored, thus the cursor may be moved.
3911 Normally this option would be set to call a function: >
3912 :set indentexpr=GetMyIndent()
3913 < Error messages will be suppressed, unless the 'debug' option contains
3914 "msg".
3915 See |indent-expression|.
3916 NOTE: This option is made empty when 'compatible' is set.
3918 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3919 |sandbox-option|.
3921 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
3922 evaluating 'indentexpr' |textlock|.
3925 *'indentkeys'* *'indk'*
3926 'indentkeys' 'indk' string (default "0{,0},:,0#,!^F,o,O,e")
3927 local to buffer
3928 {not in Vi}
3929 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
3930 feature}
3931 A list of keys that, when typed in Insert mode, cause reindenting of
3932 the current line. Only happens if 'indentexpr' isn't empty.
3933 The format is identical to 'cinkeys', see |indentkeys-format|.
3934 See |C-indenting| and |indent-expression|.
3936 *'infercase'* *'inf'* *'noinfercase'* *'noinf'*
3937 'infercase' 'inf' boolean (default off)
3938 local to buffer
3939 {not in Vi}
3940 When doing keyword completion in insert mode |ins-completion|, and
3941 'ignorecase' is also on, the case of the match is adjusted depending
3942 on the typed text. If the typed text contains a lowercase letter
3943 where the match has an upper case letter, the completed part is made
3944 lowercase. If the typed text has no lowercase letters and the match
3945 has a lowercase letter where the typed text has an uppercase letter,
3946 and there is a letter before it, the completed part is made uppercase.
3947 With 'noinfercase' the match is used as-is.
3949 *'insertmode'* *'im'* *'noinsertmode'* *'noim'*
3950 'insertmode' 'im' boolean (default off)
3951 global
3952 {not in Vi}
3953 Makes Vim work in a way that Insert mode is the default mode. Useful
3954 if you want to use Vim as a modeless editor. Used for |evim|.
3955 These Insert mode commands will be useful:
3956 - Use the cursor keys to move around.
3957 - Use CTRL-O to execute one Normal mode command |i_CTRL-O|). When
3958 this is a mapping, it is executed as if 'insertmode' was off.
3959 Normal mode remains active until the mapping is finished.
3960 - Use CTRL-L to execute a number of Normal mode commands, then use
3961 <Esc> to get back to Insert mode. Note that CTRL-L moves the cursor
3962 left, like <Esc> does when 'insertmode' isn't set. |i_CTRL-L|
3964 These items change when 'insertmode' is set:
3965 - when starting to edit of a file, Vim goes to Insert mode.
3966 - <Esc> in Insert mode is a no-op and beeps.
3967 - <Esc> in Normal mode makes Vim go to Insert mode.
3968 - CTRL-L in Insert mode is a command, it is not inserted.
3969 - CTRL-Z in Insert mode suspends Vim, see |CTRL-Z|. *i_CTRL-Z*
3970 However, when <Esc> is used inside a mapping, it behaves like
3971 'insertmode' was not set. This was done to be able to use the same
3972 mappings with 'insertmode' set or not set.
3973 When executing commands with |:normal| 'insertmode' is not used.
3975 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3977 *'isfname'* *'isf'*
3978 'isfname' 'isf' string (default for MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2:
3979 "@,48-57,/,\,.,-,_,+,,,#,$,%,{,},[,],:,@-@,!,~,="
3980 for AMIGA: "@,48-57,/,.,-,_,+,,,$,:"
3981 for VMS: "@,48-57,/,.,-,_,+,,,#,$,%,<,>,[,],:,;,~"
3982 for OS/390: "@,240-249,/,.,-,_,+,,,#,$,%,~,="
3983 otherwise: "@,48-57,/,.,-,_,+,,,#,$,%,~,=")
3984 global
3985 {not in Vi}
3986 The characters specified by this option are included in file names and
3987 path names. Filenames are used for commands like "gf", "[i" and in
3988 the tags file. It is also used for "\f" in a |pattern|.
3989 Multi-byte characters 256 and above are always included, only the
3990 characters up to 255 are specified with this option.
3991 For UTF-8 the characters 0xa0 to 0xff are included as well.
3992 Think twice before adding white space to this option. Although a
3993 space may appear inside a file name, the effect will be that Vim
3994 doesn't know where a file name starts or ends when doing completion.
3995 It most likely works better without a space in 'isfname'.
3997 Note that on systems using a backslash as path separator, Vim tries to
3998 do its best to make it work as you would expect. That is a bit
3999 tricky, since Vi originally used the backslash to escape special
4000 characters. Vim will not remove a backslash in front of a normal file
4001 name character on these systems, but it will on Unix and alikes. The
4002 '&' and '^' are not included by default, because these are special for
4003 cmd.exe.
4005 The format of this option is a list of parts, separated with commas.
4006 Each part can be a single character number or a range. A range is two
4007 character numbers with '-' in between. A character number can be a
4008 decimal number between 0 and 255 or the ASCII character itself (does
4009 not work for digits). Example:
4010 "_,-,128-140,#-43" (include '_' and '-' and the range
4011 128 to 140 and '#' to 43)
4012 If a part starts with '^', the following character number or range
4013 will be excluded from the option. The option is interpreted from left
4014 to right. Put the excluded character after the range where it is
4015 included. To include '^' itself use it as the last character of the
4016 option or the end of a range. Example:
4017 "^a-z,#,^" (exclude 'a' to 'z', include '#' and '^')
4018 If the character is '@', all characters where isalpha() returns TRUE
4019 are included. Normally these are the characters a to z and A to Z,
4020 plus accented characters. To include '@' itself use "@-@". Examples:
4021 "@,^a-z" All alphabetic characters, excluding lower
4022 case ASCII letters.
4023 "a-z,A-Z,@-@" All letters plus the '@' character.
4024 A comma can be included by using it where a character number is
4025 expected. Example:
4026 "48-57,,,_" Digits, comma and underscore.
4027 A comma can be excluded by prepending a '^'. Example:
4028 " -~,^,,9" All characters from space to '~', excluding
4029 comma, plus <Tab>.
4030 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
4032 *'isident'* *'isi'*
4033 'isident' 'isi' string (default for MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2:
4034 "@,48-57,_,128-167,224-235"
4035 otherwise: "@,48-57,_,192-255")
4036 global
4037 {not in Vi}
4038 The characters given by this option are included in identifiers.
4039 Identifiers are used in recognizing environment variables and after a
4040 match of the 'define' option. It is also used for "\i" in a
4041 |pattern|. See 'isfname' for a description of the format of this
4042 option.
4043 Careful: If you change this option, it might break expanding
4044 environment variables. E.g., when '/' is included and Vim tries to
4045 expand "$HOME/.viminfo". Maybe you should change 'iskeyword' instead.
4047 *'iskeyword'* *'isk'*
4048 'iskeyword' 'isk' string (Vim default for MS-DOS and Win32:
4049 "@,48-57,_,128-167,224-235"
4050 otherwise: "@,48-57,_,192-255"
4051 Vi default: "@,48-57,_")
4052 local to buffer
4053 {not in Vi}
4054 Keywords are used in searching and recognizing with many commands:
4055 "w", "*", "[i", etc. It is also used for "\k" in a |pattern|. See
4056 'isfname' for a description of the format of this option. For C
4057 programs you could use "a-z,A-Z,48-57,_,.,-,>".
4058 For a help file it is set to all non-blank printable characters except
4059 '*', '"' and '|' (so that CTRL-] on a command finds the help for that
4060 command).
4061 When the 'lisp' option is on the '-' character is always included.
4062 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
4063 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
4065 *'isprint'* *'isp'*
4066 'isprint' 'isp' string (default for MS-DOS, Win32, OS/2 and Macintosh:
4067 "@,~-255"; otherwise: "@,161-255")
4068 global
4069 {not in Vi}
4070 The characters given by this option are displayed directly on the
4071 screen. It is also used for "\p" in a |pattern|. The characters from
4072 space (ASCII 32) to '~' (ASCII 126) are always displayed directly,
4073 even when they are not included in 'isprint' or excluded. See
4074 'isfname' for a description of the format of this option.
4076 Non-printable characters are displayed with two characters:
4077 0 - 31 "^@" - "^_"
4078 32 - 126 always single characters
4079 127 "^?"
4080 128 - 159 "~@" - "~_"
4081 160 - 254 "| " - "|~"
4082 255 "~?"
4083 When 'encoding' is a Unicode one, illegal bytes from 128 to 255 are
4084 displayed as <xx>, with the hexadecimal value of the byte.
4085 When 'display' contains "uhex" all unprintable characters are
4086 displayed as <xx>.
4087 The NonText highlighting will be used for unprintable characters.
4088 |hl-NonText|
4090 Multi-byte characters 256 and above are always included, only the
4091 characters up to 255 are specified with this option. When a character
4092 is printable but it is not available in the current font, a
4093 replacement character will be shown.
4094 Unprintable and zero-width Unicode characters are displayed as <xxxx>.
4095 There is no option to specify these characters.
4097 *'joinspaces'* *'js'* *'nojoinspaces'* *'nojs'*
4098 'joinspaces' 'js' boolean (default on)
4099 global
4100 {not in Vi}
4101 Insert two spaces after a '.', '?' and '!' with a join command.
4102 When 'cpoptions' includes the 'j' flag, only do this after a '.'.
4103 Otherwise only one space is inserted.
4104 NOTE: This option is set when 'compatible' is set.
4106 *'key'*
4107 'key' string (default "")
4108 local to buffer
4109 {not in Vi}
4110 The key that is used for encrypting and decrypting the current buffer.
4111 See |encryption|.
4112 Careful: Do not set the key value by hand, someone might see the typed
4113 key. Use the |:X| command. But you can make 'key' empty: >
4114 :set key=
4115 < It is not possible to get the value of this option with ":set key" or
4116 "echo &key". This is to avoid showing it to someone who shouldn't
4117 know. It also means you cannot see it yourself once you have set it,
4118 be careful not to make a typing error!
4120 *'keymap'* *'kmp'* *E544*
4121 'keymap' 'kmp' string (default "")
4122 local to buffer
4123 {not in Vi}
4124 {only available when compiled with the |+keymap|
4125 feature}
4126 Name of a keyboard mapping. See |mbyte-keymap|.
4127 Setting this option to a valid keymap name has the side effect of
4128 setting 'iminsert' to one, so that the keymap becomes effective.
4129 'imsearch' is also set to one, unless it was -1
4130 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
4132 *'keymodel'* *'km'*
4133 'keymodel' 'km' string (default "")
4134 global
4135 {not in Vi}
4136 List of comma separated words, which enable special things that keys
4137 can do. These values can be used:
4138 startsel Using a shifted special key starts selection (either
4139 Select mode or Visual mode, depending on "key" being
4140 present in 'selectmode').
4141 stopsel Using a not-shifted special key stops selection.
4142 Special keys in this context are the cursor keys, <End>, <Home>,
4143 <PageUp> and <PageDown>.
4144 The 'keymodel' option is set by the |:behave| command.
4146 *'keywordprg'* *'kp'*
4147 'keywordprg' 'kp' string (default "man" or "man -s", DOS: ":help",
4148 OS/2: "view /", VMS: "help")
4149 global or local to buffer |global-local|
4150 {not in Vi}
4151 Program to use for the |K| command. Environment variables are
4152 expanded |:set_env|. ":help" may be used to access the Vim internal
4153 help. (Note that previously setting the global option to the empty
4154 value did this, which is now deprecated.)
4155 When "man" is used, Vim will automatically translate a count for the
4156 "K" command to a section number. Also for "man -s", in which case the
4157 "-s" is removed when there is no count.
4158 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
4159 Example: >
4160 :set keywordprg=man\ -s
4161 < This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
4162 security reasons.
4164 *'langmap'* *'lmap'* *E357* *E358*
4165 'langmap' 'lmap' string (default "")
4166 global
4167 {not in Vi}
4168 {only available when compiled with the |+langmap|
4169 feature}
4170 This option allows switching your keyboard into a special language
4171 mode. When you are typing text in Insert mode the characters are
4172 inserted directly. When in command mode the 'langmap' option takes
4173 care of translating these special characters to the original meaning
4174 of the key. This means you don't have to change the keyboard mode to
4175 be able to execute Normal mode commands.
4176 This is the opposite of the 'keymap' option, where characters are
4177 mapped in Insert mode.
4179 Example (for Greek, in UTF-8): *greek* >
4180 :set langmap=ΑA,ΒB,ΨC,ΔD,ΕE,ΦF,ΓG,ΗH,ΙI,ΞJ,ΚK,ΛL,ΜM,ΝN,ΟO,ΠP,QQ,ΡR,ΣS,ΤT,ΘU,ΩV,WW,ΧX,ΥY,ΖZ,αa,βb,ψc,δd,εe,φf,γg,ηh,ιi,ξj,κk,λl,μm,νn,οo,πp,qq,ρr,σs,τt,θu,ωv,ςw,χx,υy,ζz
4181 < Example (exchanges meaning of z and y for commands): >
4182 :set langmap=zy,yz,ZY,YZ
4183 <
4184 The 'langmap' option is a list of parts, separated with commas. Each
4185 part can be in one of two forms:
4186 1. A list of pairs. Each pair is a "from" character immediately
4187 followed by the "to" character. Examples: "aA", "aAbBcC".
4188 2. A list of "from" characters, a semi-colon and a list of "to"
4189 characters. Example: "abc;ABC"
4190 Example: "aA,fgh;FGH,cCdDeE"
4191 Special characters need to be preceded with a backslash. These are
4192 ";", ',' and backslash itself.
4194 This will allow you to activate vim actions without having to switch
4195 back and forth between the languages. Your language characters will
4196 be understood as normal vim English characters (according to the
4197 langmap mappings) in the following cases:
4198 o Normal/Visual mode (commands, buffer/register names, user mappings)
4199 o Insert/Replace Mode: Register names after CTRL-R
4200 o Insert/Replace Mode: Mappings
4201 Characters entered in Command-line mode will NOT be affected by
4202 this option. Note that this option can be changed at any time
4203 allowing to switch between mappings for different languages/encodings.
4204 Use a mapping to avoid having to type it each time!
4206 *'langmenu'* *'lm'*
4207 'langmenu' 'lm' string (default "")
4208 global
4209 {not in Vi}
4210 {only available when compiled with the |+menu| and
4211 |+multi_lang| features}
4212 Language to use for menu translation. Tells which file is loaded
4213 from the "lang" directory in 'runtimepath': >
4214 "lang/menu_" . &langmenu . ".vim"
4215 < (without the spaces). For example, to always use the Dutch menus, no
4216 matter what $LANG is set to: >
4217 :set langmenu=nl_NL.ISO_8859-1
4218 < When 'langmenu' is empty, |v:lang| is used.
4219 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
4220 If your $LANG is set to a non-English language but you do want to use
4221 the English menus: >
4222 :set langmenu=none
4223 < This option must be set before loading menus, switching on filetype
4224 detection or syntax highlighting. Once the menus are defined setting
4225 this option has no effect. But you could do this: >
4226 :source $VIMRUNTIME/delmenu.vim
4227 :set langmenu=de_DE.ISO_8859-1
4228 :source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim
4229 < Warning: This deletes all menus that you defined yourself!
4231 *'laststatus'* *'ls'*
4232 'laststatus' 'ls' number (default 1)
4233 global
4234 {not in Vi}
4235 The value of this option influences when the last window will have a
4236 status line:
4237 0: never
4238 1: only if there are at least two windows
4239 2: always
4240 The screen looks nicer with a status line if you have several
4241 windows, but it takes another screen line. |status-line|
4243 *'lazyredraw'* *'lz'* *'nolazyredraw'* *'nolz'*
4244 'lazyredraw' 'lz' boolean (default off)
4245 global
4246 {not in Vi}
4247 When this option is set, the screen will not be redrawn while
4248 executing macros, registers and other commands that have not been
4249 typed. Also, updating the window title is postponed. To force an
4250 update use |:redraw|.
4252 *'linebreak'* *'lbr'* *'nolinebreak'* *'nolbr'*
4253 'linebreak' 'lbr' boolean (default off)
4254 local to window
4255 {not in Vi}
4256 {not available when compiled without the |+linebreak|
4257 feature}
4258 If on Vim will wrap long lines at a character in 'breakat' rather
4259 than at the last character that fits on the screen. Unlike
4260 'wrapmargin' and 'textwidth', this does not insert <EOL>s in the file,
4261 it only affects the way the file is displayed, not its contents. The
4262 value of 'showbreak' is used to put in front of wrapped lines.
4263 This option is not used when the 'wrap' option is off or 'list' is on.
4264 Note that <Tab> characters after an <EOL> are mostly not displayed
4265 with the right amount of white space.
4267 *'lines'* *E593*
4268 'lines' number (default 24 or terminal height)
4269 global
4270 Number of lines of the Vim window.
4271 Normally you don't need to set this. It is done automatically by the
4272 terminal initialization code. Also see |posix-screen-size|.
4273 When Vim is running in the GUI or in a resizable window, setting this
4274 option will cause the window size to be changed. When you only want
4275 to use the size for the GUI, put the command in your |gvimrc| file.
4276 Vim limits the number of lines to what fits on the screen. You can
4277 use this command to get the tallest window possible: >
4278 :set lines=999
4279 < Minimum value is 2, maximum value is 1000.
4280 If you get less lines than expected, check the 'guiheadroom' option.
4281 When you set this option and Vim is unable to change the physical
4282 number of lines of the display, the display may be messed up.
4284 *'linespace'* *'lsp'*
4285 'linespace' 'lsp' number (default 0, 1 for Win32 GUI)
4286 global
4287 {not in Vi}
4288 {only in the GUI}
4289 Number of pixel lines inserted between characters. Useful if the font
4290 uses the full character cell height, making lines touch each other.
4291 When non-zero there is room for underlining.
4292 With some fonts there can be too much room between lines (to have
4293 space for ascents and descents). Then it makes sense to set
4294 'linespace' to a negative value. This may cause display problems
4295 though!
4297 *'lisp'* *'nolisp'*
4298 'lisp' boolean (default off)
4299 local to buffer
4300 {not available when compiled without the |+lispindent|
4301 feature}
4302 Lisp mode: When <Enter> is typed in insert mode set the indent for
4303 the next line to Lisp standards (well, sort of). Also happens with
4304 "cc" or "S". 'autoindent' must also be on for this to work. The 'p'
4305 flag in 'cpoptions' changes the method of indenting: Vi compatible or
4306 better. Also see 'lispwords'.
4307 The '-' character is included in keyword characters. Redefines the
4308 "=" operator to use this same indentation algorithm rather than
4309 calling an external program if 'equalprg' is empty.
4310 This option is not used when 'paste' is set.
4311 {Vi: Does it a little bit differently}
4313 *'lispwords'* *'lw'*
4314 'lispwords' 'lw' string (default is very long)
4315 global
4316 {not in Vi}
4317 {not available when compiled without the |+lispindent|
4318 feature}
4319 Comma separated list of words that influence the Lisp indenting.
4320 |'lisp'|
4322 *'list'* *'nolist'*
4323 'list' boolean (default off)
4324 local to window
4325 List mode: Show tabs as CTRL-I, show end of line with $. Useful to
4326 see the difference between tabs and spaces and for trailing blanks.
4327 Note that this will also affect formatting (set with 'textwidth' or
4328 'wrapmargin') when 'cpoptions' includes 'L'. See 'listchars' for
4329 changing the way tabs are displayed.
4331 *'listchars'* *'lcs'*
4332 'listchars' 'lcs' string (default "eol:$")
4333 global
4334 {not in Vi}
4335 Strings to use in 'list' mode. It is a comma separated list of string
4336 settings.
4337 eol:c Character to show at the end of each line. When
4338 omitted, there is no extra character at the end of the
4339 line.
4340 tab:xy Two characters to be used to show a tab. The first
4341 char is used once. The second char is repeated to
4342 fill the space that the tab normally occupies.
4343 "tab:>-" will show a tab that takes four spaces as
4344 ">---". When omitted, a tab is show as ^I.
4345 trail:c Character to show for trailing spaces. When omitted,
4346 trailing spaces are blank.
4347 extends:c Character to show in the last column, when 'wrap' is
4348 off and the line continues beyond the right of the
4349 screen.
4350 precedes:c Character to show in the first column, when 'wrap'
4351 is off and there is text preceding the character
4352 visible in the first column.
4353 nbsp:c Character to show for a non-breakable space (character
4354 0xA0, 160). Left blank when omitted.
4356 The characters ':' and ',' should not be used. UTF-8 characters can
4357 be used when 'encoding' is "utf-8", otherwise only printable
4358 characters are allowed. All characters must be single width.
4360 Examples: >
4361 :set lcs=tab:>-,trail:-
4362 :set lcs=tab:>-,eol:<,nbsp:%
4363 :set lcs=extends:>,precedes:<
4364 < The "NonText" highlighting will be used for "eol", "extends" and
4365 "precedes". "SpecialKey" for "nbsp", "tab" and "trail".
4366 |hl-NonText| |hl-SpecialKey|
4368 *'lpl'* *'nolpl'* *'loadplugins'* *'noloadplugins'*
4369 'loadplugins' 'lpl' boolean (default on)
4370 global
4371 {not in Vi}
4372 When on the plugin scripts are loaded when starting up |load-plugins|.
4373 This option can be reset in your |vimrc| file to disable the loading
4374 of plugins.
4375 Note that using the "-u NONE" and "--noplugin" command line arguments
4376 reset this option. |-u| |--noplugin|
4378 *'macatsui'* *'nomacatsui'*
4379 'macatsui' boolean (default on)
4380 global
4381 {only available in Mac GUI version}
4382 This is a workaround for when drawing doesn't work properly. When set
4383 and compiled with multi-byte support ATSUI text drawing is used. When
4384 not set ATSUI text drawing is not used. Switch this option off when
4385 you experience drawing problems. In a future version the problems may
4386 be solved and this option becomes obsolete. Therefore use this method
4387 to unset it: >
4388 if exists('&macatsui')
4389 set nomacatsui
4390 endif
4391 < Another option to check if you have drawing problems is
4392 'termencoding'.
4394 *'magic'* *'nomagic'*
4395 'magic' boolean (default on)
4396 global
4397 Changes the special characters that can be used in search patterns.
4398 See |pattern|.
4399 NOTE: To avoid portability problems with using patterns, always keep
4400 this option at the default "on". Only switch it off when working with
4401 old Vi scripts. In any other situation write patterns that work when
4402 'magic' is on. Include "\M" when you want to |/\M|.
4404 *'makeef'* *'mef'*
4405 'makeef' 'mef' string (default: "")
4406 global
4407 {not in Vi}
4408 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
4409 feature}
4410 Name of the errorfile for the |:make| command (see |:make_makeprg|)
4411 and the |:grep| command.
4412 When it is empty, an internally generated temp file will be used.
4413 When "##" is included, it is replaced by a number to make the name
4414 unique. This makes sure that the ":make" command doesn't overwrite an
4415 existing file.
4416 NOT used for the ":cf" command. See 'errorfile' for that.
4417 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
4418 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
4419 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
4420 security reasons.
4422 *'makeprg'* *'mp'*
4423 'makeprg' 'mp' string (default "make", VMS: "MMS")
4424 global or local to buffer |global-local|
4425 {not in Vi}
4426 Program to use for the ":make" command. See |:make_makeprg|.
4427 This option may contain '%' and '#' characters, which are expanded to
4428 the current and alternate file name. |:_%| |:_#|
4429 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash|
4430 about including spaces and backslashes.
4431 Note that a '|' must be escaped twice: once for ":set" and once for
4432 the interpretation of a command. When you use a filter called
4433 "myfilter" do it like this: >
4434 :set makeprg=gmake\ \\\|\ myfilter
4435 < The placeholder "$*" can be given (even multiple times) to specify
4436 where the arguments will be included, for example: >
4437 :set makeprg=latex\ \\\\nonstopmode\ \\\\input\\{$*}
4438 < This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
4439 security reasons.
4441 *'matchpairs'* *'mps'*
4442 'matchpairs' 'mps' string (default "(:),{:},[:]")
4443 local to buffer
4444 {not in Vi}
4445 Characters that form pairs. The |%| command jumps from one to the
4446 other. Currently only single byte character pairs are allowed, and
4447 they must be different. The characters must be separated by a colon.
4448 The pairs must be separated by a comma. Example for including '<' and
4449 '>' (HTML): >
4450 :set mps+=<:>
4452 < A more exotic example, to jump between the '=' and ';' in an
4453 assignment, useful for languages like C and Java: >
4454 :au FileType c,cpp,java set mps+==:;
4456 < For a more advanced way of using "%", see the matchit.vim plugin in
4457 the $VIMRUNTIME/macros directory. |add-local-help|
4459 *'matchtime'* *'mat'*
4460 'matchtime' 'mat' number (default 5)
4461 global
4462 {not in Vi}{in Nvi}
4463 Tenths of a second to show the matching paren, when 'showmatch' is
4464 set. Note that this is not in milliseconds, like other options that
4465 set a time. This is to be compatible with Nvi.
4467 *'maxcombine'* *'mco'*
4468 'maxcombine' 'mco' number (default 2)
4469 global
4470 {not in Vi}
4471 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
4472 feature}
4473 The maximum number of combining characters supported for displaying.
4474 Only used when 'encoding' is "utf-8".
4475 The default is OK for most languages. Hebrew may require 4.
4476 Maximum value is 6.
4477 Even when this option is set to 2 you can still edit text with more
4478 combining characters, you just can't see them. Use |g8| or |ga|.
4479 See |mbyte-combining|.
4481 *'maxfuncdepth'* *'mfd'*
4482 'maxfuncdepth' 'mfd' number (default 100)
4483 global
4484 {not in Vi}
4485 {not available when compiled without the +eval
4486 feature}
4487 Maximum depth of function calls for user functions. This normally
4488 catches endless recursion. When using a recursive function with
4489 more depth, set 'maxfuncdepth' to a bigger number. But this will use
4490 more memory, there is the danger of failing when memory is exhausted.
4491 See also |:function|.
4493 *'maxmapdepth'* *'mmd'* *E223*
4494 'maxmapdepth' 'mmd' number (default 1000)
4495 global
4496 {not in Vi}
4497 Maximum number of times a mapping is done without resulting in a
4498 character to be used. This normally catches endless mappings, like
4499 ":map x y" with ":map y x". It still does not catch ":map g wg",
4500 because the 'w' is used before the next mapping is done. See also
4501 |key-mapping|.
4503 *'maxmem'* *'mm'*
4504 'maxmem' 'mm' number (default between 256 to 5120 (system
4505 dependent) or half the amount of memory
4506 available)
4507 global
4508 {not in Vi}
4509 Maximum amount of memory (in Kbyte) to use for one buffer. When this
4510 limit is reached allocating extra memory for a buffer will cause
4511 other memory to be freed. Maximum value 2000000. Use this to work
4512 without a limit. Also see 'maxmemtot'.
4514 *'maxmempattern'* *'mmp'*
4515 'maxmempattern' 'mmp' number (default 1000)
4516 global
4517 {not in Vi}
4518 Maximum amount of memory (in Kbyte) to use for pattern matching.
4519 Maximum value 2000000. Use this to work without a limit.
4520 *E363*
4521 When Vim runs into the limit it gives an error message and mostly
4522 behaves like CTRL-C was typed.
4523 Running into the limit often means that the pattern is very
4524 inefficient or too complex. This may already happen with the pattern
4525 "\(.\)*" on a very long line. ".*" works much better.
4526 Vim may run out of memory before hitting the 'maxmempattern' limit.
4528 *'maxmemtot'* *'mmt'*
4529 'maxmemtot' 'mmt' number (default between 2048 and 10240 (system
4530 dependent) or half the amount of memory
4531 available)
4532 global
4533 {not in Vi}
4534 Maximum amount of memory (in Kbyte) to use for all buffers together.
4535 Maximum value 2000000. Use this to work without a limit. Also see
4536 'maxmem'.
4538 *'menuitems'* *'mis'*
4539 'menuitems' 'mis' number (default 25)
4540 global
4541 {not in Vi}
4542 {not available when compiled without the |+menu|
4543 feature}
4544 Maximum number of items to use in a menu. Used for menus that are
4545 generated from a list of items, e.g., the Buffers menu. Changing this
4546 option has no direct effect, the menu must be refreshed first.
4548 *'mkspellmem'* *'msm'*
4549 'mkspellmem' 'msm' string (default "460000,2000,500")
4550 global
4551 {not in Vi}
4552 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
4553 feature}
4554 Parameters for |:mkspell|. This tunes when to start compressing the
4555 word tree. Compression can be slow when there are many words, but
4556 it's needed to avoid running out of memory. The amount of memory used
4557 per word depends very much on how similar the words are, that's why
4558 this tuning is complicated.
4560 There are three numbers, separated by commas:
4561 {start},{inc},{added}
4563 For most languages the uncompressed word tree fits in memory. {start}
4564 gives the amount of memory in Kbyte that can be used before any
4565 compression is done. It should be a bit smaller than the amount of
4566 memory that is available to Vim.
4568 When going over the {start} limit the {inc} number specifies the
4569 amount of memory in Kbyte that can be allocated before another
4570 compression is done. A low number means compression is done after
4571 less words are added, which is slow. A high number means more memory
4572 will be allocated.
4574 After doing compression, {added} times 1024 words can be added before
4575 the {inc} limit is ignored and compression is done when any extra
4576 amount of memory is needed. A low number means there is a smaller
4577 chance of hitting the {inc} limit, less memory is used but it's
4578 slower.
4580 The languages for which these numbers are important are Italian and
4581 Hungarian. The default works for when you have about 512 Mbyte. If
4582 you have 1 Gbyte you could use: >
4583 :set mkspellmem=900000,3000,800
4584 < If you have less than 512 Mbyte |:mkspell| may fail for some
4585 languages, no matter what you set 'mkspellmem' to.
4587 *'modeline'* *'ml'* *'nomodeline'* *'noml'*
4588 'modeline' 'ml' boolean (Vim default: on (off for root),
4589 Vi default: off)
4590 local to buffer
4591 *'modelines'* *'mls'*
4592 'modelines' 'mls' number (default 5)
4593 global
4594 {not in Vi}
4595 If 'modeline' is on 'modelines' gives the number of lines that is
4596 checked for set commands. If 'modeline' is off or 'modelines' is zero
4597 no lines are checked. See |modeline|.
4598 NOTE: 'modeline' is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
4599 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
4601 *'modifiable'* *'ma'* *'nomodifiable'* *'noma'*
4602 'modifiable' 'ma' boolean (default on)
4603 local to buffer
4604 {not in Vi} *E21*
4605 When off the buffer contents cannot be changed. The 'fileformat' and
4606 'fileencoding' options also can't be changed.
4607 Can be reset with the |-M| command line argument.
4609 *'modified'* *'mod'* *'nomodified'* *'nomod'*
4610 'modified' 'mod' boolean (default off)
4611 local to buffer
4612 {not in Vi}
4613 When on, the buffer is considered to be modified. This option is set
4614 when:
4615 1. A change was made to the text since it was last written. Using the
4616 |undo| command to go back to the original text will reset the
4617 option. But undoing changes that were made before writing the
4618 buffer will set the option again, since the text is different from
4619 when it was written.
4620 2. 'fileformat' or 'fileencoding' is different from its original
4621 value. The original value is set when the buffer is read or
4622 written. A ":set nomodified" command also resets the original
4623 values to the current values and the 'modified' option will be
4624 reset.
4625 When 'buftype' is "nowrite" or "nofile" this option may be set, but
4626 will be ignored.
4628 *'more'* *'nomore'*
4629 'more' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
4630 global
4631 {not in Vi}
4632 When on, listings pause when the whole screen is filled. You will get
4633 the |more-prompt|. When this option is off there are no pauses, the
4634 listing continues until finished.
4635 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
4636 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
4638 *'mouse'* *E538*
4639 'mouse' string (default "", "a" for GUI, MS-DOS and Win32)
4640 global
4641 {not in Vi}
4642 Enable the use of the mouse. Only works for certain terminals
4643 (xterm, MS-DOS, Win32 |win32-mouse|, QNX pterm, *BSD console with
4644 sysmouse and Linux console with gpm). For using the mouse in the
4645 GUI, see |gui-mouse|.
4646 The mouse can be enabled for different modes:
4647 n Normal mode
4648 v Visual mode
4649 i Insert mode
4650 c Command-line mode
4651 h all previous modes when editing a help file
4652 a all previous modes
4653 r for |hit-enter| and |more-prompt| prompt
4654 Normally you would enable the mouse in all four modes with: >
4655 :set mouse=a
4656 < When the mouse is not enabled, the GUI will still use the mouse for
4657 modeless selection. This doesn't move the text cursor.
4659 See |mouse-using|. Also see |'clipboard'|.
4661 Note: When enabling the mouse in a terminal, copy/paste will use the
4662 "* register if there is access to an X-server. The xterm handling of
4663 the mouse buttons can still be used by keeping the shift key pressed.
4664 Also see the 'clipboard' option.
4666 *'mousefocus'* *'mousef'* *'nomousefocus'* *'nomousef'*
4667 'mousefocus' 'mousef' boolean (default off)
4668 global
4669 {not in Vi}
4670 {only works in the GUI}
4671 The window that the mouse pointer is on is automatically activated.
4672 When changing the window layout or window focus in another way, the
4673 mouse pointer is moved to the window with keyboard focus. Off is the
4674 default because it makes using the pull down menus a little goofy, as
4675 a pointer transit may activate a window unintentionally.
4677 *'mousehide'* *'mh'* *'nomousehide'* *'nomh'*
4678 'mousehide' 'mh' boolean (default on)
4679 global
4680 {not in Vi}
4681 {only works in the GUI}
4682 When on, the mouse pointer is hidden when characters are typed.
4683 The mouse pointer is restored when the mouse is moved.
4685 *'mousemodel'* *'mousem'*
4686 'mousemodel' 'mousem' string (default "extend", "popup" for MS-DOS and Win32)
4687 global
4688 {not in Vi}
4689 Sets the model to use for the mouse. The name mostly specifies what
4690 the right mouse button is used for:
4691 extend Right mouse button extends a selection. This works
4692 like in an xterm.
4693 popup Right mouse button pops up a menu. The shifted left
4694 mouse button extends a selection. This works like
4695 with Microsoft Windows.
4696 popup_setpos Like "popup", but the cursor will be moved to the
4697 position where the mouse was clicked, and thus the
4698 selected operation will act upon the clicked object.
4699 If clicking inside a selection, that selection will
4700 be acted upon, i.e. no cursor move. This implies of
4701 course, that right clicking outside a selection will
4702 end Visual mode.
4703 Overview of what button does what for each model:
4704 mouse extend popup(_setpos) ~
4705 left click place cursor place cursor
4706 left drag start selection start selection
4707 shift-left search word extend selection
4708 right click extend selection popup menu (place cursor)
4709 right drag extend selection -
4710 middle click paste paste
4712 In the "popup" model the right mouse button produces a pop-up menu.
4713 You need to define this first, see |popup-menu|.
4715 Note that you can further refine the meaning of buttons with mappings.
4716 See |gui-mouse-mapping|. But mappings are NOT used for modeless
4717 selection (because that's handled in the GUI code directly).
4719 The 'mousemodel' option is set by the |:behave| command.
4721 *'mouseshape'* *'mouses'* *E547*
4722 'mouseshape' 'mouses' string (default "i:beam,r:beam,s:updown,sd:cross,
4723 m:no,ml:up-arrow,v:rightup-arrow")
4724 global
4725 {not in Vi}
4726 {only available when compiled with the |+mouseshape|
4727 feature}
4728 This option tells Vim what the mouse pointer should look like in
4729 different modes. The option is a comma separated list of parts, much
4730 like used for 'guicursor'. Each part consist of a mode/location-list
4731 and an argument-list:
4732 mode-list:shape,mode-list:shape,..
4733 The mode-list is a dash separated list of these modes/locations:
4734 In a normal window: ~
4735 n Normal mode
4736 v Visual mode
4737 ve Visual mode with 'selection' "exclusive" (same as 'v',
4738 if not specified)
4739 o Operator-pending mode
4740 i Insert mode
4741 r Replace mode
4743 Others: ~
4744 c appending to the command-line
4745 ci inserting in the command-line
4746 cr replacing in the command-line
4747 m at the 'Hit ENTER' or 'More' prompts
4748 ml idem, but cursor in the last line
4749 e any mode, pointer below last window
4750 s any mode, pointer on a status line
4751 sd any mode, while dragging a status line
4752 vs any mode, pointer on a vertical separator line
4753 vd any mode, while dragging a vertical separator line
4754 a everywhere
4756 The shape is one of the following:
4757 avail name looks like ~
4758 w x arrow Normal mouse pointer
4759 w x blank no pointer at all (use with care!)
4760 w x beam I-beam
4761 w x updown up-down sizing arrows
4762 w x leftright left-right sizing arrows
4763 w x busy The system's usual busy pointer
4764 w x no The system's usual 'no input' pointer
4765 x udsizing indicates up-down resizing
4766 x lrsizing indicates left-right resizing
4767 x crosshair like a big thin +
4768 x hand1 black hand
4769 x hand2 white hand
4770 x pencil what you write with
4771 x question big ?
4772 x rightup-arrow arrow pointing right-up
4773 w x up-arrow arrow pointing up
4774 x <number> any X11 pointer number (see X11/cursorfont.h)
4776 The "avail" column contains a 'w' if the shape is available for Win32,
4777 x for X11.
4778 Any modes not specified or shapes not available use the normal mouse
4779 pointer.
4781 Example: >
4782 :set mouseshape=s:udsizing,m:no
4783 < will make the mouse turn to a sizing arrow over the status lines and
4784 indicate no input when the hit-enter prompt is displayed (since
4785 clicking the mouse has no effect in this state.)
4787 *'mousetime'* *'mouset'*
4788 'mousetime' 'mouset' number (default 500)
4789 global
4790 {not in Vi}
4791 Only for GUI, MS-DOS, Win32 and Unix with xterm. Defines the maximum
4792 time in msec between two mouse clicks for the second click to be
4793 recognized as a multi click.
4795 *'mzquantum'* *'mzq'*
4796 'mzquantum' 'mzq' number (default 100)
4797 global
4798 {not in Vi}
4799 {not available when compiled without the |+mzscheme|
4800 feature}
4801 The number of milliseconds between polls for MzScheme threads.
4802 Negative or zero value means no thread scheduling.
4804 *'nrformats'* *'nf'*
4805 'nrformats' 'nf' string (default "octal,hex")
4806 local to buffer
4807 {not in Vi}
4808 This defines what bases Vim will consider for numbers when using the
4809 CTRL-A and CTRL-X commands for adding to and subtracting from a number
4810 respectively; see |CTRL-A| for more info on these commands.
4811 alpha If included, single alphabetical characters will be
4812 incremented or decremented. This is useful for a list with a
4813 letter index a), b), etc.
4814 octal If included, numbers that start with a zero will be considered
4815 to be octal. Example: Using CTRL-A on "007" results in "010".
4816 hex If included, numbers starting with "0x" or "0X" will be
4817 considered to be hexadecimal. Example: Using CTRL-X on
4818 "0x100" results in "0x0ff".
4819 Numbers which simply begin with a digit in the range 1-9 are always
4820 considered decimal. This also happens for numbers that are not
4821 recognized as octal or hex.
4823 *'number'* *'nu'* *'nonumber'* *'nonu'*
4824 'number' 'nu' boolean (default off)
4825 local to window
4826 Print the line number in front of each line. When the 'n' option is
4827 excluded from 'cpoptions' a wrapped line will not use the column of
4828 line numbers (this is the default when 'compatible' isn't set).
4829 The 'numberwidth' option can be used to set the room used for the line
4830 number.
4831 When a long, wrapped line doesn't start with the first character, '-'
4832 characters are put before the number.
4833 See |hl-LineNr| for the highlighting used for the number.
4835 *'numberwidth'* *'nuw'*
4836 'numberwidth' 'nuw' number (Vim default: 4 Vi default: 8)
4837 local to window
4838 {not in Vi}
4839 {only available when compiled with the |+linebreak|
4840 feature}
4841 Minimal number of columns to use for the line number. Only relevant
4842 when the 'number' option is set or printing lines with a line number.
4843 Since one space is always between the number and the text, there is
4844 one less character for the number itself.
4845 The value is the minimum width. A bigger width is used when needed to
4846 fit the highest line number in the buffer. Thus with the Vim default
4847 of 4 there is room for a line number up to 999. When the buffer has
4848 1000 lines five columns will be used.
4849 The minimum value is 1, the maximum value is 10.
4850 NOTE: 'numberwidth' is reset to 8 when 'compatible' is set.
4852 *'omnifunc'* *'ofu'*
4853 'omnifunc' 'ofu' string (default: empty)
4854 local to buffer
4855 {not in Vi}
4856 {not available when compiled without the +eval
4857 or +insert_expand feature}
4858 This option specifies a function to be used for Insert mode omni
4859 completion with CTRL-X CTRL-O. |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O|
4860 See |complete-functions| for an explanation of how the function is
4861 invoked and what it should return.
4862 This option is usually set by a filetype plugin:
4863 |:filetype-plugin-on|
4866 *'opendevice'* *'odev'* *'noopendevice'* *'noodev'*
4867 'opendevice' 'odev' boolean (default off)
4868 global
4869 {not in Vi}
4870 {only for MS-DOS, MS-Windows and OS/2}
4871 Enable reading and writing from devices. This may get Vim stuck on a
4872 device that can be opened but doesn't actually do the I/O. Therefore
4873 it is off by default.
4874 Note that on MS-Windows editing "aux.h", "lpt1.txt" and the like also
4875 result in editing a device.
4878 *'operatorfunc'* *'opfunc'*
4879 'operatorfunc' 'opfunc' string (default: empty)
4880 global
4881 {not in Vi}
4882 This option specifies a function to be called by the |g@| operator.
4883 See |:map-operator| for more info and an example.
4885 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
4886 security reasons.
4889 *'osfiletype'* *'oft'* *E366*
4890 'osfiletype' 'oft' string (RISC-OS default: "Text",
4891 others default: "")
4892 local to buffer
4893 {not in Vi}
4894 {only available when compiled with the |+osfiletype|
4895 feature}
4896 Some operating systems store extra information about files besides
4897 name, datestamp and permissions. This option contains the extra
4898 information, the nature of which will vary between systems.
4899 The value of this option is usually set when the file is loaded, and
4900 is used to set the operating system file type when file is written.
4901 It can affect the pattern matching of the automatic commands.
4902 |autocmd-osfiletypes|
4904 *'paragraphs'* *'para'*
4905 'paragraphs' 'para' string (default "IPLPPPQPP TPHPLIPpLpItpplpipbp")
4906 global
4907 Specifies the nroff macros that separate paragraphs. These are pairs
4908 of two letters (see |object-motions|).
4910 *'paste'* *'nopaste'*
4911 'paste' boolean (default off)
4912 global
4913 {not in Vi}
4914 Put Vim in Paste mode. This is useful if you want to cut or copy
4915 some text from one window and paste it in Vim. This will avoid
4916 unexpected effects.
4917 Setting this option is useful when using Vim in a terminal, where Vim
4918 cannot distinguish between typed text and pasted text. In the GUI, Vim
4919 knows about pasting and will mostly do the right thing without 'paste'
4920 being set. The same is true for a terminal where Vim handles the
4921 mouse clicks itself.
4922 This option is reset when starting the GUI. Thus if you set it in
4923 your .vimrc it will work in a terminal, but not in the GUI. Setting
4924 'paste' in the GUI has side effects: e.g., the Paste toolbar button
4925 will no longer work in Insert mode, because it uses a mapping.
4926 When the 'paste' option is switched on (also when it was already on):
4927 - mapping in Insert mode and Command-line mode is disabled
4928 - abbreviations are disabled
4929 - 'textwidth' is set to 0
4930 - 'wrapmargin' is set to 0
4931 - 'autoindent' is reset
4932 - 'smartindent' is reset
4933 - 'softtabstop' is set to 0
4934 - 'revins' is reset
4935 - 'ruler' is reset
4936 - 'showmatch' is reset
4937 - 'formatoptions' is used like it is empty
4938 These options keep their value, but their effect is disabled:
4939 - 'lisp'
4940 - 'indentexpr'
4941 - 'cindent'
4942 NOTE: When you start editing another file while the 'paste' option is
4943 on, settings from the modelines or autocommands may change the
4944 settings again, causing trouble when pasting text. You might want to
4945 set the 'paste' option again.
4946 When the 'paste' option is reset the mentioned options are restored to
4947 the value before the moment 'paste' was switched from off to on.
4948 Resetting 'paste' before ever setting it does not have any effect.
4949 Since mapping doesn't work while 'paste' is active, you need to use
4950 the 'pastetoggle' option to toggle the 'paste' option with some key.
4952 *'pastetoggle'* *'pt'*
4953 'pastetoggle' 'pt' string (default "")
4954 global
4955 {not in Vi}
4956 When non-empty, specifies the key sequence that toggles the 'paste'
4957 option. This is like specifying a mapping: >
4958 :map {keys} :set invpaste<CR>
4959 < Where {keys} is the value of 'pastetoggle'.
4960 The difference is that it will work even when 'paste' is set.
4961 'pastetoggle' works in Insert mode and Normal mode, but not in
4962 Command-line mode.
4963 Mappings are checked first, thus overrule 'pastetoggle'. However,
4964 when 'paste' is on mappings are ignored in Insert mode, thus you can do
4965 this: >
4966 :map <F10> :set paste<CR>
4967 :map <F11> :set nopaste<CR>
4968 :imap <F10> <C-O>:set paste<CR>
4969 :imap <F11> <nop>
4970 :set pastetoggle=<F11>
4971 < This will make <F10> start paste mode and <F11> stop paste mode.
4972 Note that typing <F10> in paste mode inserts "<F10>", since in paste
4973 mode everything is inserted literally, except the 'pastetoggle' key
4974 sequence.
4975 When the value has several bytes 'ttimeoutlen' applies.
4977 *'pex'* *'patchexpr'*
4978 'patchexpr' 'pex' string (default "")
4979 global
4980 {not in Vi}
4981 {not available when compiled without the |+diff|
4982 feature}
4983 Expression which is evaluated to apply a patch to a file and generate
4984 the resulting new version of the file. See |diff-patchexpr|.
4986 *'patchmode'* *'pm'* *E206*
4987 'patchmode' 'pm' string (default "")
4988 global
4989 {not in Vi}
4990 When non-empty the oldest version of a file is kept. This can be used
4991 to keep the original version of a file if you are changing files in a
4992 source distribution. Only the first time that a file is written a
4993 copy of the original file will be kept. The name of the copy is the
4994 name of the original file with the string in the 'patchmode' option
4995 appended. This option should start with a dot. Use a string like
4996 ".org". 'backupdir' must not be empty for this to work (Detail: The
4997 backup file is renamed to the patchmode file after the new file has
4998 been successfully written, that's why it must be possible to write a
4999 backup file). If there was no file to be backed up, an empty file is
5000 created.
5001 When the 'backupskip' pattern matches, a patchmode file is not made.
5002 Using 'patchmode' for compressed files appends the extension at the
5003 end (e.g., "file.gz.orig"), thus the resulting name isn't always
5004 recognized as a compressed file.
5005 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
5007 *'path'* *'pa'* *E343* *E345* *E347*
5008 'path' 'pa' string (default on Unix: ".,/usr/include,,"
5009 on OS/2: ".,/emx/include,,"
5010 other systems: ".,,")
5011 global or local to buffer |global-local|
5012 {not in Vi}
5013 This is a list of directories which will be searched when using the
5014 |gf|, [f, ]f, ^Wf, |:find|, |:sfind|, |:tabfind| and other commands,
5015 provided that the file being searched for has a relative path (not
5016 starting with "/", "./" or "../"). The directories in the 'path'
5017 option may be relative or absolute.
5018 - Use commas to separate directory names: >
5019 :set path=.,/usr/local/include,/usr/include
5020 < - Spaces can also be used to separate directory names (for backwards
5021 compatibility with version 3.0). To have a space in a directory
5022 name, precede it with an extra backslash, and escape the space: >
5023 :set path=.,/dir/with\\\ space
5024 < - To include a comma in a directory name precede it with an extra
5025 backslash: >
5026 :set path=.,/dir/with\\,comma
5027 < - To search relative to the directory of the current file, use: >
5028 :set path=.
5029 < - To search in the current directory use an empty string between two
5030 commas: >
5031 :set path=,,
5032 < - A directory name may end in a ':' or '/'.
5033 - Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
5034 - When using |netrw.vim| URLs can be used. For example, adding
5035 "http://www.vim.org" will make ":find index.html" work.
5036 - Search upwards and downwards in a directory tree using "*", "**" and
5037 ";". See |file-searching| for info and syntax.
5038 {not available when compiled without the |+path_extra| feature}
5039 - Careful with '\' characters, type two to get one in the option: >
5040 :set path=.,c:\\include
5041 < Or just use '/' instead: >
5042 :set path=.,c:/include
5043 < Don't forget "." or files won't even be found in the same directory as
5044 the file!
5045 The maximum length is limited. How much depends on the system, mostly
5046 it is something like 256 or 1024 characters.
5047 You can check if all the include files are found, using the value of
5048 'path', see |:checkpath|.
5049 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
5050 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
5051 uses another default. To remove the current directory use: >
5052 :set path-=
5053 < To add the current directory use: >
5054 :set path+=
5055 < To use an environment variable, you probably need to replace the
5056 separator. Here is an example to append $INCL, in which directory
5057 names are separated with a semi-colon: >
5058 :let &path = &path . "," . substitute($INCL, ';', ',', 'g')
5059 < Replace the ';' with a ':' or whatever separator is used. Note that
5060 this doesn't work when $INCL contains a comma or white space.
5062 *'preserveindent'* *'pi'* *'nopreserveindent'* *'nopi'*
5063 'preserveindent' 'pi' boolean (default off)
5064 local to buffer
5065 {not in Vi}
5066 When changing the indent of the current line, preserve as much of the
5067 indent structure as possible. Normally the indent is replaced by a
5068 series of tabs followed by spaces as required (unless |'expandtab'| is
5069 enabled, in which case only spaces are used). Enabling this option
5070 means the indent will preserve as many existing characters as possible
5071 for indenting, and only add additional tabs or spaces as required.
5072 'expandtab' does not apply to the preserved white space, a Tab remains
5073 a Tab.
5074 NOTE: When using ">>" multiple times the resulting indent is a mix of
5075 tabs and spaces. You might not like this.
5076 NOTE: 'preserveindent' is reset when 'compatible' is set.
5077 Also see 'copyindent'.
5078 Use |:retab| to clean up white space.
5080 *'previewheight'* *'pvh'*
5081 'previewheight' 'pvh' number (default 12)
5082 global
5083 {not in Vi}
5084 {not available when compiled without the |+windows| or
5085 |+quickfix| feature}
5086 Default height for a preview window. Used for |:ptag| and associated
5087 commands. Used for |CTRL-W_}| when no count is given.
5089 *'previewwindow'* *'nopreviewwindow'*
5090 *'pvw'* *'nopvw'* *E590*
5091 'previewwindow' 'pvw' boolean (default off)
5092 local to window
5093 {not in Vi}
5094 {not available when compiled without the |+windows| or
5095 |+quickfix| feature}
5096 Identifies the preview window. Only one window can have this option
5097 set. It's normally not set directly, but by using one of the commands
5098 |:ptag|, |:pedit|, etc.
5100 *'printdevice'* *'pdev'*
5101 'printdevice' 'pdev' string (default empty)
5102 global
5103 {not in Vi}
5104 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5105 feature}
5106 The name of the printer to be used for |:hardcopy|.
5107 See |pdev-option|.
5108 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5109 security reasons.
5111 *'printencoding'* *'penc'*
5112 'printencoding' 'penc' String (default empty, except for some systems)
5113 global
5114 {not in Vi}
5115 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5116 and |+postscript| features}
5117 Sets the character encoding used when printing.
5118 See |penc-option|.
5120 *'printexpr'* *'pexpr'*
5121 'printexpr' 'pexpr' String (default: see below)
5122 global
5123 {not in Vi}
5124 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5125 and |+postscript| features}
5126 Expression used to print the PostScript produced with |:hardcopy|.
5127 See |pexpr-option|.
5129 *'printfont'* *'pfn'*
5130 'printfont' 'pfn' string (default "courier")
5131 global
5132 {not in Vi}
5133 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5134 feature}
5135 The name of the font that will be used for |:hardcopy|.
5136 See |pfn-option|.
5138 *'printheader'* *'pheader'*
5139 'printheader' 'pheader' string (default "%<%f%h%m%=Page %N")
5140 global
5141 {not in Vi}
5142 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5143 feature}
5144 The format of the header produced in |:hardcopy| output.
5145 See |pheader-option|.
5147 *'printmbcharset'* *'pmbcs'*
5148 'printmbcharset' 'pmbcs' string (default "")
5149 global
5150 {not in Vi}
5151 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|,
5152 |+postscript| and |+multi_byte| features}
5153 The CJK character set to be used for CJK output from |:hardcopy|.
5154 See |pmbcs-option|.
5156 *'printmbfont'* *'pmbfn'*
5157 'printmbfont' 'pmbfn' string (default "")
5158 global
5159 {not in Vi}
5160 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|,
5161 |+postscript| and |+multi_byte| features}
5162 List of font names to be used for CJK output from |:hardcopy|.
5163 See |pmbfn-option|.
5165 *'printoptions'* *'popt'*
5166 'printoptions' 'popt' string (default "")
5167 global
5168 {not in Vi}
5169 {only available when compiled with |+printer| feature}
5170 List of items that control the format of the output of |:hardcopy|.
5171 See |popt-option|.
5173 *'prompt'* *'noprompt'*
5174 'prompt' boolean (default on)
5175 global
5176 When on a ":" prompt is used in Ex mode.
5178 *'pumheight'* *'ph'*
5179 'pumheight' 'ph' number (default 0)
5180 global
5181 {not available when compiled without the
5182 |+insert_expand| feature}
5183 {not in Vi}
5184 Determines the maximum number of items to show in the popup menu for
5185 Insert mode completion. When zero as much space as available is used.
5186 |ins-completion-menu|.
5189 *'quoteescape'* *'qe'*
5190 'quoteescape' 'qe' string (default "\")
5191 local to buffer
5192 {not in Vi}
5193 The characters that are used to escape quotes in a string. Used for
5194 objects like a', a" and a` |a'|.
5195 When one of the characters in this option is found inside a string,
5196 the following character will be skipped. The default value makes the
5197 text "foo\"bar\\" considered to be one string.
5199 *'readonly'* *'ro'* *'noreadonly'* *'noro'*
5200 'readonly' 'ro' boolean (default off)
5201 local to buffer
5202 If on, writes fail unless you use a '!'. Protects you from
5203 accidentally overwriting a file. Default on when Vim is started
5204 in read-only mode ("vim -R") or when the executable is called "view".
5205 When using ":w!" the 'readonly' option is reset for the current
5206 buffer, unless the 'Z' flag is in 'cpoptions'.
5207 {not in Vi:} When using the ":view" command the 'readonly' option is
5208 set for the newly edited buffer.
5210 *'redrawtime'* *'rdt'*
5211 'redrawtime' 'rdt' number (default 2000)
5212 global
5213 {not in Vi}
5214 {only available when compiled with the |+reltime|
5215 feature}
5216 The time in milliseconds for redrawing the display. This applies to
5217 searching for patterns for 'hlsearch' and |:match| highlighting.
5218 When redrawing takes more than this many milliseconds no further
5219 matches will be highlighted. This is used to avoid that Vim hangs
5220 when using a very complicated pattern.
5222 *'remap'* *'noremap'*
5223 'remap' boolean (default on)
5224 global
5225 Allows for mappings to work recursively. If you do not want this for
5226 a single entry, use the :noremap[!] command.
5227 NOTE: To avoid portability problems with Vim scripts, always keep
5228 this option at the default "on". Only switch it off when working with
5229 old Vi scripts.
5231 *'report'*
5232 'report' number (default 2)
5233 global
5234 Threshold for reporting number of lines changed. When the number of
5235 changed lines is more than 'report' a message will be given for most
5236 ":" commands. If you want it always, set 'report' to 0.
5237 For the ":substitute" command the number of substitutions is used
5238 instead of the number of lines.
5240 *'restorescreen'* *'rs'* *'norestorescreen'* *'nors'*
5241 'restorescreen' 'rs' boolean (default on)
5242 global
5243 {not in Vi} {only in Windows 95/NT console version}
5244 When set, the screen contents is restored when exiting Vim. This also
5245 happens when executing external commands.
5247 For non-Windows Vim: You can set or reset the 't_ti' and 't_te'
5248 options in your .vimrc. To disable restoring:
5249 set t_ti= t_te=
5250 To enable restoring (for an xterm):
5251 set t_ti=^[7^[[r^[[?47h t_te=^[[?47l^[8
5252 (Where ^[ is an <Esc>, type CTRL-V <Esc> to insert it)
5254 *'revins'* *'ri'* *'norevins'* *'nori'*
5255 'revins' 'ri' boolean (default off)
5256 global
5257 {not in Vi}
5258 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
5259 feature}
5260 Inserting characters in Insert mode will work backwards. See "typing
5261 backwards" |ins-reverse|. This option can be toggled with the CTRL-_
5262 command in Insert mode, when 'allowrevins' is set.
5263 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' or 'paste' is set.
5265 *'rightleft'* *'rl'* *'norightleft'* *'norl'*
5266 'rightleft' 'rl' boolean (default off)
5267 local to window
5268 {not in Vi}
5269 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
5270 feature}
5271 When on, display orientation becomes right-to-left, i.e., characters
5272 that are stored in the file appear from the right to the left.
5273 Using this option, it is possible to edit files for languages that
5274 are written from the right to the left such as Hebrew and Arabic.
5275 This option is per window, so it is possible to edit mixed files
5276 simultaneously, or to view the same file in both ways (this is
5277 useful whenever you have a mixed text file with both right-to-left
5278 and left-to-right strings so that both sets are displayed properly
5279 in different windows). Also see |rileft.txt|.
5281 *'rightleftcmd'* *'rlc'* *'norightleftcmd'* *'norlc'*
5282 'rightleftcmd' 'rlc' string (default "search")
5283 local to window
5284 {not in Vi}
5285 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
5286 feature}
5287 Each word in this option enables the command line editing to work in
5288 right-to-left mode for a group of commands:
5290 search "/" and "?" commands
5292 This is useful for languages such as Hebrew, Arabic and Farsi.
5293 The 'rightleft' option must be set for 'rightleftcmd' to take effect.
5295 *'ruler'* *'ru'* *'noruler'* *'noru'*
5296 'ruler' 'ru' boolean (default off)
5297 global
5298 {not in Vi}
5299 {not available when compiled without the
5300 |+cmdline_info| feature}
5301 Show the line and column number of the cursor position, separated by a
5302 comma. When there is room, the relative position of the displayed
5303 text in the file is shown on the far right:
5304 Top first line is visible
5305 Bot last line is visible
5306 All first and last line are visible
5307 45% relative position in the file
5308 If 'rulerformat' is set, it will determine the contents of the ruler.
5309 Each window has its own ruler. If a window has a status line, the
5310 ruler is shown there. Otherwise it is shown in the last line of the
5311 screen. If the statusline is given by 'statusline' (i.e. not empty),
5312 this option takes precedence over 'ruler' and 'rulerformat'
5313 If the number of characters displayed is different from the number of
5314 bytes in the text (e.g., for a TAB or a multi-byte character), both
5315 the text column (byte number) and the screen column are shown,
5316 separated with a dash.
5317 For an empty line "0-1" is shown.
5318 For an empty buffer the line number will also be zero: "0,0-1".
5319 This option is reset when the 'paste' option is set.
5320 If you don't want to see the ruler all the time but want to know where
5321 you are, use "g CTRL-G" |g_CTRL-G|.
5322 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
5324 *'rulerformat'* *'ruf'*
5325 'rulerformat' 'ruf' string (default empty)
5326 global
5327 {not in Vi}
5328 {not available when compiled without the |+statusline|
5329 feature}
5330 When this option is not empty, it determines the content of the ruler
5331 string, as displayed for the 'ruler' option.
5332 The format of this option is like that of 'statusline'.
5333 The default ruler width is 17 characters. To make the ruler 15
5334 characters wide, put "%15(" at the start and "%)" at the end.
5335 Example: >
5336 :set rulerformat=%15(%c%V\ %p%%%)
5337 <
5338 *'runtimepath'* *'rtp'* *vimfiles*
5339 'runtimepath' 'rtp' string (default:
5340 Unix: "$HOME/.vim,
5341 $VIM/vimfiles,
5342 $VIMRUNTIME,
5343 $VIM/vimfiles/after,
5344 $HOME/.vim/after"
5345 Amiga: "home:vimfiles,
5346 $VIM/vimfiles,
5347 $VIMRUNTIME,
5348 $VIM/vimfiles/after,
5349 home:vimfiles/after"
5350 PC, OS/2: "$HOME/vimfiles,
5351 $VIM/vimfiles,
5352 $VIMRUNTIME,
5353 $VIM/vimfiles/after,
5354 $HOME/vimfiles/after"
5355 Macintosh: "$VIM:vimfiles,
5356 $VIMRUNTIME,
5357 $VIM:vimfiles:after"
5358 RISC-OS: "Choices:vimfiles,
5359 $VIMRUNTIME,
5360 Choices:vimfiles/after"
5361 VMS: "sys$login:vimfiles,
5362 $VIM/vimfiles,
5363 $VIMRUNTIME,
5364 $VIM/vimfiles/after,
5365 sys$login:vimfiles/after")
5366 global
5367 {not in Vi}
5368 This is a list of directories which will be searched for runtime
5369 files:
5370 filetype.vim filetypes by file name |new-filetype|
5371 scripts.vim filetypes by file contents |new-filetype-scripts|
5372 autoload/ automatically loaded scripts |autoload-functions|
5373 colors/ color scheme files |:colorscheme|
5374 compiler/ compiler files |:compiler|
5375 doc/ documentation |write-local-help|
5376 ftplugin/ filetype plugins |write-filetype-plugin|
5377 indent/ indent scripts |indent-expression|
5378 keymap/ key mapping files |mbyte-keymap|
5379 lang/ menu translations |:menutrans|
5380 menu.vim GUI menus |menu.vim|
5381 plugin/ plugin scripts |write-plugin|
5382 print/ files for printing |postscript-print-encoding|
5383 spell/ spell checking files |spell|
5384 syntax/ syntax files |mysyntaxfile|
5385 tutor/ files for vimtutor |tutor|
5387 And any other file searched for with the |:runtime| command.
5389 The defaults for most systems are setup to search five locations:
5390 1. In your home directory, for your personal preferences.
5391 2. In a system-wide Vim directory, for preferences from the system
5392 administrator.
5393 3. In $VIMRUNTIME, for files distributed with Vim.
5394 *after-directory*
5395 4. In the "after" directory in the system-wide Vim directory. This is
5396 for the system administrator to overrule or add to the distributed
5397 defaults (rarely needed)
5398 5. In the "after" directory in your home directory. This is for
5399 personal preferences to overrule or add to the distributed defaults
5400 or system-wide settings (rarely needed).
5402 Note that, unlike 'path', no wildcards like "**" are allowed. Normal
5403 wildcards are allowed, but can significantly slow down searching for
5404 runtime files. For speed, use as few items as possible and avoid
5405 wildcards.
5406 See |:runtime|.
5407 Example: >
5408 :set runtimepath=~/vimruntime,/mygroup/vim,$VIMRUNTIME
5409 < This will use the directory "~/vimruntime" first (containing your
5410 personal Vim runtime files), then "/mygroup/vim" (shared between a
5411 group of people) and finally "$VIMRUNTIME" (the distributed runtime
5412 files).
5413 You probably should always include $VIMRUNTIME somewhere, to use the
5414 distributed runtime files. You can put a directory before $VIMRUNTIME
5415 to find files which replace a distributed runtime files. You can put
5416 a directory after $VIMRUNTIME to find files which add to distributed
5417 runtime files.
5418 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5419 security reasons.
5421 *'scroll'* *'scr'*
5422 'scroll' 'scr' number (default: half the window height)
5423 local to window
5424 Number of lines to scroll with CTRL-U and CTRL-D commands. Will be
5425 set to half the number of lines in the window when the window size
5426 changes. If you give a count to the CTRL-U or CTRL-D command it will
5427 be used as the new value for 'scroll'. Reset to half the window
5428 height with ":set scroll=0". {Vi is a bit different: 'scroll' gives
5429 the number of screen lines instead of file lines, makes a difference
5430 when lines wrap}
5432 *'scrollbind'* *'scb'* *'noscrollbind'* *'noscb'*
5433 'scrollbind' 'scb' boolean (default off)
5434 local to window
5435 {not in Vi}
5436 {not available when compiled without the |+scrollbind|
5437 feature}
5438 See also |scroll-binding|. When this option is set, the current
5439 window scrolls as other scrollbind windows (windows that also have
5440 this option set) scroll. This option is useful for viewing the
5441 differences between two versions of a file, see 'diff'.
5442 See |'scrollopt'| for options that determine how this option should be
5443 interpreted.
5444 This option is mostly reset when splitting a window to edit another
5445 file. This means that ":split | edit file" results in two windows
5446 with scroll-binding, but ":split file" does not.
5448 *'scrolljump'* *'sj'*
5449 'scrolljump' 'sj' number (default 1)
5450 global
5451 {not in Vi}
5452 Minimal number of lines to scroll when the cursor gets off the
5453 screen (e.g., with "j"). Not used for scroll commands (e.g., CTRL-E,
5454 CTRL-D). Useful if your terminal scrolls very slowly.
5455 When set to a negative number from -1 to -100 this is used as the
5456 percentage of the window height. Thus -50 scrolls half the window
5457 height.
5458 NOTE: This option is set to 1 when 'compatible' is set.
5460 *'scrolloff'* *'so'*
5461 'scrolloff' 'so' number (default 0)
5462 global
5463 {not in Vi}
5464 Minimal number of screen lines to keep above and below the cursor.
5465 This will make some context visible around where you are working. If
5466 you set it to a very large value (999) the cursor line will always be
5467 in the middle of the window (except at the start or end of the file or
5468 when long lines wrap).
5469 For scrolling horizontally see 'sidescrolloff'.
5470 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
5472 *'scrollopt'* *'sbo'*
5473 'scrollopt' 'sbo' string (default "ver,jump")
5474 global
5475 {not available when compiled without the |+scrollbind|
5476 feature}
5477 {not in Vi}
5478 This is a comma-separated list of words that specifies how
5479 'scrollbind' windows should behave. 'sbo' stands for ScrollBind
5480 Options.
5481 The following words are available:
5482 ver Bind vertical scrolling for 'scrollbind' windows
5483 hor Bind horizontal scrolling for 'scrollbind' windows
5484 jump Applies to the offset between two windows for vertical
5485 scrolling. This offset is the difference in the first
5486 displayed line of the bound windows. When moving
5487 around in a window, another 'scrollbind' window may
5488 reach a position before the start or after the end of
5489 the buffer. The offset is not changed though, when
5490 moving back the 'scrollbind' window will try to scroll
5491 to the desired position when possible.
5492 When now making that window the current one, two
5493 things can be done with the relative offset:
5494 1. When "jump" is not included, the relative offset is
5495 adjusted for the scroll position in the new current
5496 window. When going back to the other window, the
5497 new relative offset will be used.
5498 2. When "jump" is included, the other windows are
5499 scrolled to keep the same relative offset. When
5500 going back to the other window, it still uses the
5501 same relative offset.
5502 Also see |scroll-binding|.
5503 When 'diff' mode is active there always is vertical scroll binding,
5504 even when "ver" isn't there.
5506 *'sections'* *'sect'*
5507 'sections' 'sect' string (default "SHNHH HUnhsh")
5508 global
5509 Specifies the nroff macros that separate sections. These are pairs of
5510 two letters (See |object-motions|). The default makes a section start
5511 at the nroff macros ".SH", ".NH", ".H", ".HU", ".nh" and ".sh".
5513 *'secure'* *'nosecure'* *E523*
5514 'secure' boolean (default off)
5515 global
5516 {not in Vi}
5517 When on, ":autocmd", shell and write commands are not allowed in
5518 ".vimrc" and ".exrc" in the current directory and map commands are
5519 displayed. Switch it off only if you know that you will not run into
5520 problems, or when the 'exrc' option is off. On Unix this option is
5521 only used if the ".vimrc" or ".exrc" is not owned by you. This can be
5522 dangerous if the systems allows users to do a "chown". You better set
5523 'secure' at the end of your ~/.vimrc then.
5524 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5525 security reasons.
5527 *'selection'* *'sel'*
5528 'selection' 'sel' string (default "inclusive")
5529 global
5530 {not in Vi}
5531 This option defines the behavior of the selection. It is only used
5532 in Visual and Select mode.
5533 Possible values:
5534 value past line inclusive ~
5535 old no yes
5536 inclusive yes yes
5537 exclusive yes no
5538 "past line" means that the cursor is allowed to be positioned one
5539 character past the line.
5540 "inclusive" means that the last character of the selection is included
5541 in an operation. For example, when "x" is used to delete the
5542 selection.
5543 Note that when "exclusive" is used and selecting from the end
5544 backwards, you cannot include the last character of a line, when
5545 starting in Normal mode and 'virtualedit' empty.
5547 The 'selection' option is set by the |:behave| command.
5549 *'selectmode'* *'slm'*
5550 'selectmode' 'slm' string (default "")
5551 global
5552 {not in Vi}
5553 This is a comma separated list of words, which specifies when to start
5554 Select mode instead of Visual mode, when a selection is started.
5555 Possible values:
5556 mouse when using the mouse
5557 key when using shifted special keys
5558 cmd when using "v", "V" or CTRL-V
5559 See |Select-mode|.
5560 The 'selectmode' option is set by the |:behave| command.
5562 *'sessionoptions'* *'ssop'*
5563 'sessionoptions' 'ssop' string (default: "blank,buffers,curdir,folds,
5564 help,options,tabpages,winsize")
5565 global
5566 {not in Vi}
5567 {not available when compiled without the +mksession
5568 feature}
5569 Changes the effect of the |:mksession| command. It is a comma
5570 separated list of words. Each word enables saving and restoring
5571 something:
5572 word save and restore ~
5573 blank empty windows
5574 buffers hidden and unloaded buffers, not just those in windows
5575 curdir the current directory
5576 folds manually created folds, opened/closed folds and local
5577 fold options
5578 globals global variables that start with an uppercase letter
5579 and contain at least one lowercase letter. Only
5580 String and Number types are stored.
5581 help the help window
5582 localoptions options and mappings local to a window or buffer (not
5583 global values for local options)
5584 options all options and mappings (also global values for local
5585 options)
5586 resize size of the Vim window: 'lines' and 'columns'
5587 sesdir the directory in which the session file is located
5588 will become the current directory (useful with
5589 projects accessed over a network from different
5590 systems)
5591 slash backslashes in file names replaced with forward
5592 slashes
5593 tabpages all tab pages; without this only the current tab page
5594 is restored, so that you can make a session for each
5595 tab page separately
5596 unix with Unix end-of-line format (single <NL>), even when
5597 on Windows or DOS
5598 winpos position of the whole Vim window
5599 winsize window sizes
5601 Don't include both "curdir" and "sesdir".
5602 When "curdir" nor "sesdir" is included, file names are stored with
5603 absolute paths.
5604 "slash" and "unix" are useful on Windows when sharing session files
5605 with Unix. The Unix version of Vim cannot source dos format scripts,
5606 but the Windows version of Vim can source unix format scripts.
5608 *'shell'* *'sh'* *E91*
5609 'shell' 'sh' string (default $SHELL or "sh",
5610 MS-DOS and Win32: "command.com" or
5611 "cmd.exe", OS/2: "cmd")
5612 global
5613 Name of the shell to use for ! and :! commands. When changing the
5614 value also check these options: 'shelltype', 'shellpipe', 'shellslash'
5615 'shellredir', 'shellquote', 'shellxquote' and 'shellcmdflag'.
5616 It is allowed to give an argument to the command, e.g. "csh -f".
5617 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
5618 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
5619 If the name of the shell contains a space, you might need to enclose
5620 it in quotes. Example: >
5621 :set shell=\"c:\program\ files\unix\sh.exe\"\ -f
5622 < Note the backslash before each quote (to avoid starting a comment) and
5623 each space (to avoid ending the option value). Also note that the
5624 "-f" is not inside the quotes, because it is not part of the command
5625 name. And Vim automagically recognizes the backslashes that are path
5626 separators.
5627 For Dos 32 bits (DJGPP), you can set the $DJSYSFLAGS environment
5628 variable to change the way external commands are executed. See the
5629 libc.inf file of DJGPP.
5630 Under MS-Windows, when the executable ends in ".com" it must be
5631 included. Thus setting the shell to "command.com" or "4dos.com"
5632 works, but "command" and "4dos" do not work for all commands (e.g.,
5633 filtering).
5634 For unknown reasons, when using "4dos.com" the current directory is
5635 changed to "C:\". To avoid this set 'shell' like this: >
5636 :set shell=command.com\ /c\ 4dos
5637 < This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5638 security reasons.
5640 *'shellcmdflag'* *'shcf'*
5641 'shellcmdflag' 'shcf' string (default: "-c", MS-DOS and Win32, when 'shell'
5642 does not contain "sh" somewhere: "/c")
5643 global
5644 {not in Vi}
5645 Flag passed to the shell to execute "!" and ":!" commands; e.g.,
5646 "bash.exe -c ls" or "command.com /c dir". For the MS-DOS-like
5647 systems, the default is set according to the value of 'shell', to
5648 reduce the need to set this option by the user. It's not used for
5649 OS/2 (EMX figures this out itself). See |option-backslash| about
5650 including spaces and backslashes. See |dos-shell|.
5651 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5652 security reasons.
5654 *'shellpipe'* *'sp'*
5655 'shellpipe' 'sp' string (default ">", "| tee", "|& tee" or "2>&1| tee")
5656 global
5657 {not in Vi}
5658 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
5659 feature}
5660 String to be used to put the output of the ":make" command in the
5661 error file. See also |:make_makeprg|. See |option-backslash| about
5662 including spaces and backslashes.
5663 The name of the temporary file can be represented by "%s" if necessary
5664 (the file name is appended automatically if no %s appears in the value
5665 of this option).
5666 For the Amiga and MS-DOS the default is ">". The output is directly
5667 saved in a file and not echoed to the screen.
5668 For Unix the default it "| tee". The stdout of the compiler is saved
5669 in a file and echoed to the screen. If the 'shell' option is "csh" or
5670 "tcsh" after initializations, the default becomes "|& tee". If the
5671 'shell' option is "sh", "ksh", "zsh" or "bash" the default becomes
5672 "2>&1| tee". This means that stderr is also included.
5673 The initialization of this option is done after reading the ".vimrc"
5674 and the other initializations, so that when the 'shell' option is set
5675 there, the 'shellpipe' option changes automatically, unless it was
5676 explicitly set before.
5677 When 'shellpipe' is set to an empty string, no redirection of the
5678 ":make" output will be done. This is useful if you use a 'makeprg'
5679 that writes to 'makeef' by itself. If you want no piping, but do
5680 want to include the 'makeef', set 'shellpipe' to a single space.
5681 Don't forget to precede the space with a backslash: ":set sp=\ ".
5682 In the future pipes may be used for filtering and this option will
5683 become obsolete (at least for Unix).
5684 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5685 security reasons.
5687 *'shellquote'* *'shq'*
5688 'shellquote' 'shq' string (default: ""; MS-DOS and Win32, when 'shell'
5689 contains "sh" somewhere: "\"")
5690 global
5691 {not in Vi}
5692 Quoting character(s), put around the command passed to the shell, for
5693 the "!" and ":!" commands. The redirection is kept outside of the
5694 quoting. See 'shellxquote' to include the redirection. It's
5695 probably not useful to set both options.
5696 This is an empty string by default. Only known to be useful for
5697 third-party shells on MS-DOS-like systems, such as the MKS Korn Shell
5698 or bash, where it should be "\"". The default is adjusted according
5699 the value of 'shell', to reduce the need to set this option by the
5700 user. See |dos-shell|.
5701 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5702 security reasons.
5704 *'shellredir'* *'srr'*
5705 'shellredir' 'srr' string (default ">", ">&" or ">%s 2>&1")
5706 global
5707 {not in Vi}
5708 String to be used to put the output of a filter command in a temporary
5709 file. See also |:!|. See |option-backslash| about including spaces
5710 and backslashes.
5711 The name of the temporary file can be represented by "%s" if necessary
5712 (the file name is appended automatically if no %s appears in the value
5713 of this option).
5714 The default is ">". For Unix, if the 'shell' option is "csh", "tcsh"
5715 or "zsh" during initializations, the default becomes ">&". If the
5716 'shell' option is "sh", "ksh" or "bash" the default becomes
5717 ">%s 2>&1". This means that stderr is also included.
5718 For Win32, the Unix checks are done and additionally "cmd" is checked
5719 for, which makes the default ">%s 2>&1". Also, the same names with
5720 ".exe" appended are checked for.
5721 The initialization of this option is done after reading the ".vimrc"
5722 and the other initializations, so that when the 'shell' option is set
5723 there, the 'shellredir' option changes automatically unless it was
5724 explicitly set before.
5725 In the future pipes may be used for filtering and this option will
5726 become obsolete (at least for Unix).
5727 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5728 security reasons.
5730 *'shellslash'* *'ssl'* *'noshellslash'* *'nossl'*
5731 'shellslash' 'ssl' boolean (default off)
5732 global
5733 {not in Vi} {only for MSDOS, MS-Windows and OS/2}
5734 When set, a forward slash is used when expanding file names. This is
5735 useful when a Unix-like shell is used instead of command.com or
5736 cmd.exe. Backward slashes can still be typed, but they are changed to
5737 forward slashes by Vim.
5738 Note that setting or resetting this option has no effect for some
5739 existing file names, thus this option needs to be set before opening
5740 any file for best results. This might change in the future.
5741 'shellslash' only works when a backslash can be used as a path
5742 separator. To test if this is so use: >
5743 if exists('+shellslash')
5744 <
5745 *'shelltemp'* *'stmp'* *'noshelltemp'* *'nostmp'*
5746 'shelltemp' 'stmp' boolean (Vi default off, Vim default on)
5747 global
5748 {not in Vi}
5749 When on, use temp files for shell commands. When off use a pipe.
5750 When using a pipe is not possible temp files are used anyway.
5751 Currently a pipe is only supported on Unix. You can check it with: >
5752 :if has("filterpipe")
5753 < The advantage of using a pipe is that nobody can read the temp file
5754 and the 'shell' command does not need to support redirection.
5755 The advantage of using a temp file is that the file type and encoding
5756 can be detected.
5757 The |FilterReadPre|, |FilterReadPost| and |FilterWritePre|,
5758 |FilterWritePost| autocommands event are not triggered when
5759 'shelltemp' is off.
5761 *'shelltype'* *'st'*
5762 'shelltype' 'st' number (default 0)
5763 global
5764 {not in Vi} {only for the Amiga}
5765 On the Amiga this option influences the way how the commands work
5766 which use a shell.
5767 0 and 1: always use the shell
5768 2 and 3: use the shell only to filter lines
5769 4 and 5: use shell only for ':sh' command
5770 When not using the shell, the command is executed directly.
5772 0 and 2: use "shell 'shellcmdflag' cmd" to start external commands
5773 1 and 3: use "shell cmd" to start external commands
5775 *'shellxquote'* *'sxq'*
5776 'shellxquote' 'sxq' string (default: "";
5777 for Win32, when 'shell' contains "sh"
5778 somewhere: "\""
5779 for Unix, when using system(): "\"")
5780 global
5781 {not in Vi}
5782 Quoting character(s), put around the command passed to the shell, for
5783 the "!" and ":!" commands. Includes the redirection. See
5784 'shellquote' to exclude the redirection. It's probably not useful
5785 to set both options.
5786 This is an empty string by default. Known to be useful for
5787 third-party shells when using the Win32 version, such as the MKS Korn
5788 Shell or bash, where it should be "\"". The default is adjusted
5789 according the value of 'shell', to reduce the need to set this option
5790 by the user. See |dos-shell|.
5791 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5792 security reasons.
5794 *'shiftround'* *'sr'* *'noshiftround'* *'nosr'*
5795 'shiftround' 'sr' boolean (default off)
5796 global
5797 {not in Vi}
5798 Round indent to multiple of 'shiftwidth'. Applies to > and <
5799 commands. CTRL-T and CTRL-D in Insert mode always round the indent to
5800 a multiple of 'shiftwidth' (this is Vi compatible).
5801 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
5803 *'shiftwidth'* *'sw'*
5804 'shiftwidth' 'sw' number (default 8)
5805 local to buffer
5806 Number of spaces to use for each step of (auto)indent. Used for
5807 |'cindent'|, |>>|, |<<|, etc.
5809 *'shortmess'* *'shm'*
5810 'shortmess' 'shm' string (Vim default "filnxtToO", Vi default: "",
5811 POSIX default: "A")
5812 global
5813 {not in Vi}
5814 This option helps to avoid all the |hit-enter| prompts caused by file
5815 messages, for example with CTRL-G, and to avoid some other messages.
5816 It is a list of flags:
5817 flag meaning when present ~
5818 f use "(3 of 5)" instead of "(file 3 of 5)"
5819 i use "[noeol]" instead of "[Incomplete last line]"
5820 l use "999L, 888C" instead of "999 lines, 888 characters"
5821 m use "[+]" instead of "[Modified]"
5822 n use "[New]" instead of "[New File]"
5823 r use "[RO]" instead of "[readonly]"
5824 w use "[w]" instead of "written" for file write message
5825 and "[a]" instead of "appended" for ':w >> file' command
5826 x use "[dos]" instead of "[dos format]", "[unix]" instead of
5827 "[unix format]" and "[mac]" instead of "[mac format]".
5828 a all of the above abbreviations
5830 o overwrite message for writing a file with subsequent message
5831 for reading a file (useful for ":wn" or when 'autowrite' on)
5832 O message for reading a file overwrites any previous message.
5833 Also for quickfix message (e.g., ":cn").
5834 s don't give "search hit BOTTOM, continuing at TOP" or "search
5835 hit TOP, continuing at BOTTOM" messages
5836 t truncate file message at the start if it is too long to fit
5837 on the command-line, "<" will appear in the left most column.
5838 Ignored in Ex mode.
5839 T truncate other messages in the middle if they are too long to
5840 fit on the command line. "..." will appear in the middle.
5841 Ignored in Ex mode.
5842 W don't give "written" or "[w]" when writing a file
5843 A don't give the "ATTENTION" message when an existing swap file
5844 is found.
5845 I don't give the intro message when starting Vim |:intro|.
5847 This gives you the opportunity to avoid that a change between buffers
5848 requires you to hit <Enter>, but still gives as useful a message as
5849 possible for the space available. To get the whole message that you
5850 would have got with 'shm' empty, use ":file!"
5851 Useful values:
5852 shm= No abbreviation of message.
5853 shm=a Abbreviation, but no loss of information.
5854 shm=at Abbreviation, and truncate message when necessary.
5856 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
5857 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
5859 *'shortname'* *'sn'* *'noshortname'* *'nosn'*
5860 'shortname' 'sn' boolean (default off)
5861 local to buffer
5862 {not in Vi, not in MS-DOS versions}
5863 Filenames are assumed to be 8 characters plus one extension of 3
5864 characters. Multiple dots in file names are not allowed. When this
5865 option is on, dots in file names are replaced with underscores when
5866 adding an extension (".~" or ".swp"). This option is not available
5867 for MS-DOS, because then it would always be on. This option is useful
5868 when editing files on an MS-DOS compatible filesystem, e.g., messydos
5869 or crossdos. When running the Win32 GUI version under Win32s, this
5870 option is always on by default.
5872 *'showbreak'* *'sbr'* *E595*
5873 'showbreak' 'sbr' string (default "")
5874 global
5875 {not in Vi}
5876 {not available when compiled without the |+linebreak|
5877 feature}
5878 String to put at the start of lines that have been wrapped. Useful
5879 values are "> " or "+++ ".
5880 Only printable single-cell characters are allowed, excluding <Tab> and
5881 comma (in a future version the comma might be used to separate the
5882 part that is shown at the end and at the start of a line).
5883 The characters are highlighted according to the '@' flag in
5884 'highlight'.
5885 Note that tabs after the showbreak will be displayed differently.
5886 If you want the 'showbreak' to appear in between line numbers, add the
5887 "n" flag to 'cpoptions'.
5889 *'showcmd'* *'sc'* *'noshowcmd'* *'nosc'*
5890 'showcmd' 'sc' boolean (Vim default: on, off for Unix, Vi default:
5891 off)
5892 global
5893 {not in Vi}
5894 {not available when compiled without the
5895 |+cmdline_info| feature}
5896 Show (partial) command in the last line of the screen. Set this
5897 option off if your terminal is slow.
5898 In Visual mode the size of the selected area is shown:
5899 - When selecting characters within a line, the number of characters.
5900 - When selecting more than one line, the number of lines.
5901 - When selecting a block, the size in screen characters: linesxcolumns.
5902 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
5903 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
5905 *'showfulltag'* *'sft'* *'noshowfulltag'* *'nosft'*
5906 'showfulltag' 'sft' boolean (default off)
5907 global
5908 {not in Vi}
5909 When completing a word in insert mode (see |ins-completion|) from the
5910 tags file, show both the tag name and a tidied-up form of the search
5911 pattern (if there is one) as possible matches. Thus, if you have
5912 matched a C function, you can see a template for what arguments are
5913 required (coding style permitting).
5914 Note that this doesn't work well together with having "longest" in
5915 'completeopt', because the completion from the search pattern may not
5916 match the typed text.
5918 *'showmatch'* *'sm'* *'noshowmatch'* *'nosm'*
5919 'showmatch' 'sm' boolean (default off)
5920 global
5921 When a bracket is inserted, briefly jump to the matching one. The
5922 jump is only done if the match can be seen on the screen. The time to
5923 show the match can be set with 'matchtime'.
5924 A Beep is given if there is no match (no matter if the match can be
5925 seen or not). This option is reset when the 'paste' option is set.
5926 When the 'm' flag is not included in 'cpoptions', typing a character
5927 will immediately move the cursor back to where it belongs.
5928 See the "sm" field in 'guicursor' for setting the cursor shape and
5929 blinking when showing the match.
5930 The 'matchpairs' option can be used to specify the characters to show
5931 matches for. 'rightleft' and 'revins' are used to look for opposite
5932 matches.
5933 Also see the matchparen plugin for highlighting the match when moving
5934 around |pi_paren.txt|.
5935 Note: Use of the short form is rated PG.
5937 *'showmode'* *'smd'* *'noshowmode'* *'nosmd'*
5938 'showmode' 'smd' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
5939 global
5940 If in Insert, Replace or Visual mode put a message on the last line.
5941 Use the 'M' flag in 'highlight' to set the type of highlighting for
5942 this message.
5943 When |XIM| may be used the message will include "XIM". But this
5944 doesn't mean XIM is really active, especially when 'imactivatekey' is
5945 not set.
5946 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
5947 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
5949 *'showtabline'* *'stal'*
5950 'showtabline' 'stal' number (default 1)
5951 global
5952 {not in Vi}
5953 {not available when compiled without the +windows
5954 feature}
5955 The value of this option specifies when the line with tab page labels
5956 will be displayed:
5957 0: never
5958 1: only if there are at least two tab pages
5959 2: always
5960 This is both for the GUI and non-GUI implementation of the tab pages
5961 line.
5962 See |tab-page| for more information about tab pages.
5964 *'sidescroll'* *'ss'*
5965 'sidescroll' 'ss' number (default 0)
5966 global
5967 {not in Vi}
5968 The minimal number of columns to scroll horizontally. Used only when
5969 the 'wrap' option is off and the cursor is moved off of the screen.
5970 When it is zero the cursor will be put in the middle of the screen.
5971 When using a slow terminal set it to a large number or 0. When using
5972 a fast terminal use a small number or 1. Not used for "zh" and "zl"
5973 commands.
5975 *'sidescrolloff'* *'siso'*
5976 'sidescrolloff' 'siso' number (default 0)
5977 global
5978 {not in Vi}
5979 The minimal number of screen columns to keep to the left and to the
5980 right of the cursor if 'nowrap' is set. Setting this option to a
5981 value greater than 0 while having |'sidescroll'| also at a non-zero
5982 value makes some context visible in the line you are scrolling in
5983 horizontally (except at beginning of the line). Setting this option
5984 to a large value (like 999) has the effect of keeping the cursor
5985 horizontally centered in the window, as long as one does not come too
5986 close to the beginning of the line.
5987 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
5989 Example: Try this together with 'sidescroll' and 'listchars' as
5990 in the following example to never allow the cursor to move
5991 onto the "extends" character:
5993 :set nowrap sidescroll=1 listchars=extends:>,precedes:<
5994 :set sidescrolloff=1
5997 *'smartcase'* *'scs'* *'nosmartcase'* *'noscs'*
5998 'smartcase' 'scs' boolean (default off)
5999 global
6000 {not in Vi}
6001 Override the 'ignorecase' option if the search pattern contains upper
6002 case characters. Only used when the search pattern is typed and
6003 'ignorecase' option is on. Used for the commands "/", "?", "n", "N",
6004 ":g" and ":s". Not used for "*", "#", "gd", tag search, etc.. After
6005 "*" and "#" you can make 'smartcase' used by doing a "/" command,
6006 recalling the search pattern from history and hitting <Enter>.
6007 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
6009 *'smartindent'* *'si'* *'nosmartindent'* *'nosi'*
6010 'smartindent' 'si' boolean (default off)
6011 local to buffer
6012 {not in Vi}
6013 {not available when compiled without the
6014 |+smartindent| feature}
6015 Do smart autoindenting when starting a new line. Works for C-like
6016 programs, but can also be used for other languages. 'cindent' does
6017 something like this, works better in most cases, but is more strict,
6018 see |C-indenting|. When 'cindent' is on, setting 'si' has no effect.
6019 'indentexpr' is a more advanced alternative.
6020 Normally 'autoindent' should also be on when using 'smartindent'.
6021 An indent is automatically inserted:
6022 - After a line ending in '{'.
6023 - After a line starting with a keyword from 'cinwords'.
6024 - Before a line starting with '}' (only with the "O" command).
6025 When typing '}' as the first character in a new line, that line is
6026 given the same indent as the matching '{'.
6027 When typing '#' as the first character in a new line, the indent for
6028 that line is removed, the '#' is put in the first column. The indent
6029 is restored for the next line. If you don't want this, use this
6030 mapping: ":inoremap # X^H#", where ^H is entered with CTRL-V CTRL-H.
6031 When using the ">>" command, lines starting with '#' are not shifted
6032 right.
6033 NOTE: 'smartindent' is reset when 'compatible' is set. When 'paste'
6034 is set smart indenting is disabled.
6036 *'smarttab'* *'sta'* *'nosmarttab'* *'nosta'*
6037 'smarttab' 'sta' boolean (default off)
6038 global
6039 {not in Vi}
6040 When on, a <Tab> in front of a line inserts blanks according to
6041 'shiftwidth'. 'tabstop' or 'softtabstop' is used in other places. A
6042 <BS> will delete a 'shiftwidth' worth of space at the start of the
6043 line.
6044 When off, a <Tab> always inserts blanks according to 'tabstop' or
6045 'softtabstop'. 'shiftwidth' is only used for shifting text left or
6046 right |shift-left-right|.
6047 What gets inserted (a <Tab> or spaces) depends on the 'expandtab'
6048 option. Also see |ins-expandtab|. When 'expandtab' is not set, the
6049 number of spaces is minimized by using <Tab>s.
6050 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
6052 *'softtabstop'* *'sts'*
6053 'softtabstop' 'sts' number (default 0)
6054 local to buffer
6055 {not in Vi}
6056 Number of spaces that a <Tab> counts for while performing editing
6057 operations, like inserting a <Tab> or using <BS>. It "feels" like
6058 <Tab>s are being inserted, while in fact a mix of spaces and <Tab>s is
6059 used. This is useful to keep the 'ts' setting at its standard value
6060 of 8, while being able to edit like it is set to 'sts'. However,
6061 commands like "x" still work on the actual characters.
6062 When 'sts' is zero, this feature is off.
6063 'softtabstop' is set to 0 when the 'paste' option is set.
6064 See also |ins-expandtab|. When 'expandtab' is not set, the number of
6065 spaces is minimized by using <Tab>s.
6066 The 'L' flag in 'cpoptions' changes how tabs are used when 'list' is
6067 set.
6068 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
6070 *'spell'* *'nospell'*
6071 'spell' boolean (default off)
6072 local to window
6073 {not in Vi}
6074 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6075 feature}
6076 When on spell checking will be done. See |spell|.
6077 The languages are specified with 'spelllang'.
6079 *'spellcapcheck'* *'spc'*
6080 'spellcapcheck' 'spc' string (default "[.?!]\_[\])'" \t]\+")
6081 local to buffer
6082 {not in Vi}
6083 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6084 feature}
6085 Pattern to locate the end of a sentence. The following word will be
6086 checked to start with a capital letter. If not then it is highlighted
6087 with SpellCap |hl-SpellCap| (unless the word is also badly spelled).
6088 When this check is not wanted make this option empty.
6089 Only used when 'spell' is set.
6090 Be careful with special characters, see |option-backslash| about
6091 including spaces and backslashes.
6092 To set this option automatically depending on the language, see
6093 |set-spc-auto|.
6095 *'spellfile'* *'spf'*
6096 'spellfile' 'spf' string (default empty)
6097 local to buffer
6098 {not in Vi}
6099 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6100 feature}
6101 Name of the word list file where words are added for the |zg| and |zw|
6102 commands. It must end in ".{encoding}.add". You need to include the
6103 path, otherwise the file is placed in the current directory.
6104 *E765*
6105 It may also be a comma separated list of names. A count before the
6106 |zg| and |zw| commands can be used to access each. This allows using
6107 a personal word list file and a project word list file.
6108 When a word is added while this option is empty Vim will set it for
6109 you: Using the first directory in 'runtimepath' that is writable. If
6110 there is no "spell" directory yet it will be created. For the file
6111 name the first language name that appears in 'spelllang' is used,
6112 ignoring the region.
6113 The resulting ".spl" file will be used for spell checking, it does not
6114 have to appear in 'spelllang'.
6115 Normally one file is used for all regions, but you can add the region
6116 name if you want to. However, it will then only be used when
6117 'spellfile' is set to it, for entries in 'spelllang' only files
6118 without region name will be found.
6119 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
6120 security reasons.
6122 *'spelllang'* *'spl'*
6123 'spelllang' 'spl' string (default "en")
6124 local to buffer
6125 {not in Vi}
6126 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6127 feature}
6128 A comma separated list of word list names. When the 'spell' option is
6129 on spellchecking will be done for these languages. Example: >
6130 set spelllang=en_us,nl,medical
6131 < This means US English, Dutch and medical words are recognized. Words
6132 that are not recognized will be highlighted.
6133 The word list name must not include a comma or dot. Using a dash is
6134 recommended to separate the two letter language name from a
6135 specification. Thus "en-rare" is used for rare English words.
6136 A region name must come last and have the form "_xx", where "xx" is
6137 the two-letter, lower case region name. You can use more than one
6138 region by listing them: "en_us,en_ca" supports both US and Canadian
6139 English, but not words specific for Australia, New Zealand or Great
6140 Britain.
6141 *E757*
6142 As a special case the name of a .spl file can be given as-is. The
6143 first "_xx" in the name is removed and used as the region name
6144 (_xx is an underscore, two letters and followed by a non-letter).
6145 This is mainly for testing purposes. You must make sure the correct
6146 encoding is used, Vim doesn't check it.
6147 When 'encoding' is set the word lists are reloaded. Thus it's a good
6148 idea to set 'spelllang' after setting 'encoding' to avoid loading the
6149 files twice.
6150 How the related spell files are found is explained here: |spell-load|.
6152 If the |spellfile.vim| plugin is active and you use a language name
6153 for which Vim cannot find the .spl file in 'runtimepath' the plugin
6154 will ask you if you want to download the file.
6156 After this option has been set successfully, Vim will source the files
6157 "spell/LANG.vim" in 'runtimepath'. "LANG" is the value of 'spelllang'
6158 up to the first comma, dot or underscore.
6159 Also see |set-spc-auto|.
6162 *'spellsuggest'* *'sps'*
6163 'spellsuggest' 'sps' string (default "best")
6164 global
6165 {not in Vi}
6166 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6167 feature}
6168 Methods used for spelling suggestions. Both for the |z=| command and
6169 the |spellsuggest()| function. This is a comma-separated list of
6170 items:
6172 best Internal method that works best for English. Finds
6173 changes like "fast" and uses a bit of sound-a-like
6174 scoring to improve the ordering.
6176 double Internal method that uses two methods and mixes the
6177 results. The first method is "fast", the other method
6178 computes how much the suggestion sounds like the bad
6179 word. That only works when the language specifies
6180 sound folding. Can be slow and doesn't always give
6181 better results.
6183 fast Internal method that only checks for simple changes:
6184 character inserts/deletes/swaps. Works well for
6185 simple typing mistakes.
6187 {number} The maximum number of suggestions listed for |z=|.
6188 Not used for |spellsuggest()|. The number of
6189 suggestions is never more than the value of 'lines'
6190 minus two.
6192 file:{filename} Read file {filename}, which must have two columns,
6193 separated by a slash. The first column contains the
6194 bad word, the second column the suggested good word.
6195 Example:
6196 theribal/terrible ~
6197 Use this for common mistakes that do not appear at the
6198 top of the suggestion list with the internal methods.
6199 Lines without a slash are ignored, use this for
6200 comments.
6201 The file is used for all languages.
6203 expr:{expr} Evaluate expression {expr}. Use a function to avoid
6204 trouble with spaces. |v:val| holds the badly spelled
6205 word. The expression must evaluate to a List of
6206 Lists, each with a suggestion and a score.
6207 Example:
6208 [['the', 33], ['that', 44]]
6209 Set 'verbose' and use |z=| to see the scores that the
6210 internal methods use. A lower score is better.
6211 This may invoke |spellsuggest()| if you temporarily
6212 set 'spellsuggest' to exclude the "expr:" part.
6213 Errors are silently ignored, unless you set the
6214 'verbose' option to a non-zero value.
6216 Only one of "best", "double" or "fast" may be used. The others may
6217 appear several times in any order. Example: >
6218 :set sps=file:~/.vim/sugg,best,expr:MySuggest()
6219 <
6220 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
6221 security reasons.
6224 *'splitbelow'* *'sb'* *'nosplitbelow'* *'nosb'*
6225 'splitbelow' 'sb' boolean (default off)
6226 global
6227 {not in Vi}
6228 {not available when compiled without the +windows
6229 feature}
6230 When on, splitting a window will put the new window below the current
6231 one. |:split|
6233 *'splitright'* *'spr'* *'nosplitright'* *'nospr'*
6234 'splitright' 'spr' boolean (default off)
6235 global
6236 {not in Vi}
6237 {not available when compiled without the +vertsplit
6238 feature}
6239 When on, splitting a window will put the new window right of the
6240 current one. |:vsplit|
6242 *'startofline'* *'sol'* *'nostartofline'* *'nosol'*
6243 'startofline' 'sol' boolean (default on)
6244 global
6245 {not in Vi}
6246 When "on" the commands listed below move the cursor to the first
6247 non-blank of the line. When off the cursor is kept in the same column
6248 (if possible). This applies to the commands: CTRL-D, CTRL-U, CTRL-B,
6249 CTRL-F, "G", "H", "M", "L", gg, and to the commands "d", "<<" and ">>"
6250 with a linewise operator, with "%" with a count and to buffer changing
6251 commands (CTRL-^, :bnext, :bNext, etc.). Also for an Ex command that
6252 only has a line number, e.g., ":25" or ":+".
6253 In case of buffer changing commands the cursor is placed at the column
6254 where it was the last time the buffer was edited.
6255 NOTE: This option is set when 'compatible' is set.
6257 *'statusline'* *'stl'* *E540* *E541* *E542*
6258 'statusline' 'stl' string (default empty)
6259 global or local to window |global-local|
6260 {not in Vi}
6261 {not available when compiled without the |+statusline|
6262 feature}
6263 When nonempty, this option determines the content of the status line.
6264 Also see |status-line|.
6266 The option consists of printf style '%' items interspersed with
6267 normal text. Each status line item is of the form:
6268 %-0{minwid}.{maxwid}{item}
6269 All fields except the {item} is optional. A single percent sign can
6270 be given as "%%". Up to 80 items can be specified.
6272 When the option starts with "%!" then it is used as an expression,
6273 evaluated and the result is used as the option value. Example: >
6274 :set statusline=%!MyStatusLine()
6275 < The result can contain %{} items that will be evaluated too.
6277 When there is error while evaluating the option then it will be made
6278 empty to avoid further errors. Otherwise screen updating would loop.
6280 Note that the only effect of 'ruler' when this option is set (and
6281 'laststatus' is 2) is controlling the output of |CTRL-G|.
6283 field meaning ~
6284 - Left justify the item. The default is right justified
6285 when minwid is larger than the length of the item.
6286 0 Leading zeroes in numeric items. Overridden by '-'.
6287 minwid Minimum width of the item, padding as set by '-' & '0'.
6288 Value must be 50 or less.
6289 maxwid Maximum width of the item. Truncation occurs with a '<'
6290 on the left for text items. Numeric items will be
6291 shifted down to maxwid-2 digits followed by '>'number
6292 where number is the amount of missing digits, much like
6293 an exponential notation.
6294 item A one letter code as described below.
6296 Following is a description of the possible statusline items. The
6297 second character in "item" is the type:
6298 N for number
6299 S for string
6300 F for flags as described below
6301 - not applicable
6303 item meaning ~
6304 f S Path to the file in the buffer, as typed or relative to current
6305 directory.
6306 F S Full path to the file in the buffer.
6307 t S File name (tail) of file in the buffer.
6308 m F Modified flag, text is "[+]"; "[-]" if 'modifiable' is off.
6309 M F Modified flag, text is ",+" or ",-".
6310 r F Readonly flag, text is "[RO]".
6311 R F Readonly flag, text is ",RO".
6312 h F Help buffer flag, text is "[help]".
6313 H F Help buffer flag, text is ",HLP".
6314 w F Preview window flag, text is "[Preview]".
6315 W F Preview window flag, text is ",PRV".
6316 y F Type of file in the buffer, e.g., "[vim]". See 'filetype'.
6317 Y F Type of file in the buffer, e.g., ",VIM". See 'filetype'.
6318 {not available when compiled without |+autocmd| feature}
6319 k S Value of "b:keymap_name" or 'keymap' when |:lmap| mappings are
6320 being used: "<keymap>"
6321 n N Buffer number.
6322 b N Value of byte under cursor.
6323 B N As above, in hexadecimal.
6324 o N Byte number in file of byte under cursor, first byte is 1.
6325 Mnemonic: Offset from start of file (with one added)
6326 {not available when compiled without |+byte_offset| feature}
6327 O N As above, in hexadecimal.
6328 N N Printer page number. (Only works in the 'printheader' option.)
6329 l N Line number.
6330 L N Number of lines in buffer.
6331 c N Column number.
6332 v N Virtual column number.
6333 V N Virtual column number as -{num}. Not displayed if equal to 'c'.
6334 p N Percentage through file in lines as in |CTRL-G|.
6335 P S Percentage through file of displayed window. This is like the
6336 percentage described for 'ruler'. Always 3 in length.
6337 a S Argument list status as in default title. ({current} of {max})
6338 Empty if the argument file count is zero or one.
6339 { NF Evaluate expression between '%{' and '}' and substitute result.
6340 Note that there is no '%' before the closing '}'.
6341 ( - Start of item group. Can be used for setting the width and
6342 alignment of a section. Must be followed by %) somewhere.
6343 ) - End of item group. No width fields allowed.
6344 T N For 'tabline': start of tab page N label. Use %T after the last
6345 label. This information is used for mouse clicks.
6346 X N For 'tabline': start of close tab N label. Use %X after the
6347 label, e.g.: %3Xclose%X. Use %999X for a "close current tab"
6348 mark. This information is used for mouse clicks.
6349 < - Where to truncate line if too long. Default is at the start.
6350 No width fields allowed.
6351 = - Separation point between left and right aligned items.
6352 No width fields allowed.
6353 # - Set highlight group. The name must follow and then a # again.
6354 Thus use %#HLname# for highlight group HLname. The same
6355 highlighting is used, also for the statusline of non-current
6356 windows.
6357 * - Set highlight group to User{N}, where {N} is taken from the
6358 minwid field, e.g. %1*. Restore normal highlight with %* or %0*.
6359 The difference between User{N} and StatusLine will be applied
6360 to StatusLineNC for the statusline of non-current windows.
6361 The number N must be between 1 and 9. See |hl-User1..9|
6363 When displaying a flag, Vim removes the leading comma, if any, when
6364 that flag comes right after plaintext. This will make a nice display
6365 when flags are used like in the examples below.
6367 When all items in a group becomes an empty string (i.e. flags that are
6368 not set) and a minwid is not set for the group, the whole group will
6369 become empty. This will make a group like the following disappear
6370 completely from the statusline when none of the flags are set. >
6371 :set statusline=...%(\ [%M%R%H]%)...
6372 <
6373 Beware that an expression is evaluated each and every time the status
6374 line is displayed. The current buffer and current window will be set
6375 temporarily to that of the window (and buffer) whose statusline is
6376 currently being drawn. The expression will evaluate in this context.
6377 The variable "actual_curbuf" is set to the 'bufnr()' number of the
6378 real current buffer.
6380 The 'statusline' option may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
6381 |sandbox-option|.
6383 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
6384 evaluating 'statusline' |textlock|.
6386 If the statusline is not updated when you want it (e.g., after setting
6387 a variable that's used in an expression), you can force an update by
6388 setting an option without changing its value. Example: >
6389 :let &ro = &ro
6391 < A result of all digits is regarded a number for display purposes.
6392 Otherwise the result is taken as flag text and applied to the rules
6393 described above.
6395 Watch out for errors in expressions. They may render Vim unusable!
6396 If you are stuck, hold down ':' or 'Q' to get a prompt, then quit and
6397 edit your .vimrc or whatever with "vim -u NONE" to get it right.
6399 Examples:
6400 Emulate standard status line with 'ruler' set >
6401 :set statusline=%<%f\ %h%m%r%=%-14.(%l,%c%V%)\ %P
6402 < Similar, but add ASCII value of char under the cursor (like "ga") >
6403 :set statusline=%<%f%h%m%r%=%b\ 0x%B\ \ %l,%c%V\ %P
6404 < Display byte count and byte value, modified flag in red. >
6405 :set statusline=%<%f%=\ [%1*%M%*%n%R%H]\ %-19(%3l,%02c%03V%)%O'%02b'
6406 :hi User1 term=inverse,bold cterm=inverse,bold ctermfg=red
6407 < Display a ,GZ flag if a compressed file is loaded >
6408 :set statusline=...%r%{VarExists('b:gzflag','\ [GZ]')}%h...
6409 < In the |:autocmd|'s: >
6410 :let b:gzflag = 1
6411 < And: >
6412 :unlet b:gzflag
6413 < And define this function: >
6414 :function VarExists(var, val)
6415 : if exists(a:var) | return a:val | else | return '' | endif
6416 :endfunction
6417 <
6418 *'suffixes'* *'su'*
6419 'suffixes' 'su' string (default ".bak,~,.o,.h,.info,.swp,.obj")
6420 global
6421 {not in Vi}
6422 Files with these suffixes get a lower priority when multiple files
6423 match a wildcard. See |suffixes|. Commas can be used to separate the
6424 suffixes. Spaces after the comma are ignored. A dot is also seen as
6425 the start of a suffix. To avoid a dot or comma being recognized as a
6426 separator, precede it with a backslash (see |option-backslash| about
6427 including spaces and backslashes).
6428 See 'wildignore' for completely ignoring files.
6429 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
6430 suffixes from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
6431 uses another default.
6433 *'suffixesadd'* *'sua'*
6434 'suffixesadd' 'sua' string (default "")
6435 local to buffer
6436 {not in Vi}
6437 {not available when compiled without the
6438 |+file_in_path| feature}
6439 Comma separated list of suffixes, which are used when searching for a
6440 file for the "gf", "[I", etc. commands. Example: >
6441 :set suffixesadd=.java
6442 <
6443 *'swapfile'* *'swf'* *'noswapfile'* *'noswf'*
6444 'swapfile' 'swf' boolean (default on)
6445 local to buffer
6446 {not in Vi}
6447 Use a swapfile for the buffer. This option can be reset when a
6448 swapfile is not wanted for a specific buffer. For example, with
6449 confidential information that even root must not be able to access.
6450 Careful: All text will be in memory:
6451 - Don't use this for big files.
6452 - Recovery will be impossible!
6453 A swapfile will only be present when |'updatecount'| is non-zero and
6454 'swapfile' is set.
6455 When 'swapfile' is reset, the swap file for the current buffer is
6456 immediately deleted. When 'swapfile' is set, and 'updatecount' is
6457 non-zero, a swap file is immediately created.
6458 Also see |swap-file| and |'swapsync'|.
6460 This option is used together with 'bufhidden' and 'buftype' to
6461 specify special kinds of buffers. See |special-buffers|.
6463 *'swapsync'* *'sws'*
6464 'swapsync' 'sws' string (default "fsync")
6465 global
6466 {not in Vi}
6467 When this option is not empty a swap file is synced to disk after
6468 writing to it. This takes some time, especially on busy unix systems.
6469 When this option is empty parts of the swap file may be in memory and
6470 not written to disk. When the system crashes you may lose more work.
6471 On Unix the system does a sync now and then without Vim asking for it,
6472 so the disadvantage of setting this option off is small. On some
6473 systems the swap file will not be written at all. For a unix system
6474 setting it to "sync" will use the sync() call instead of the default
6475 fsync(), which may work better on some systems.
6476 The 'fsync' option is used for the actual file.
6478 *'switchbuf'* *'swb'*
6479 'switchbuf' 'swb' string (default "")
6480 global
6481 {not in Vi}
6482 This option controls the behavior when switching between buffers.
6483 Possible values (comma separated list):
6484 useopen If included, jump to the first open window that
6485 contains the specified buffer (if there is one).
6486 Otherwise: Do not examine other windows.
6487 This setting is checked with |quickfix| commands, when
6488 jumping to errors (":cc", ":cn", "cp", etc.). It is
6489 also used in all buffer related split commands, for
6490 example ":sbuffer", ":sbnext", or ":sbrewind".
6491 usetab Like "useopen", but also consider windows in other tab
6492 pages.
6493 split If included, split the current window before loading
6494 a buffer. Otherwise: do not split, use current window.
6495 Supported in |quickfix| commands that display errors.
6496 newtab Like "split", but open a new tab page. Overrules
6497 "split" when both are present.
6499 *'synmaxcol'* *'smc'*
6500 'synmaxcol' 'smc' number (default 3000)
6501 local to buffer
6502 {not in Vi}
6503 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6504 feature}
6505 Maximum column in which to search for syntax items. In long lines the
6506 text after this column is not highlighted and following lines may not
6507 be highlighted correctly, because the syntax state is cleared.
6508 This helps to avoid very slow redrawing for an XML file that is one
6509 long line.
6510 Set to zero to remove the limit.
6512 *'syntax'* *'syn'*
6513 'syntax' 'syn' string (default empty)
6514 local to buffer
6515 {not in Vi}
6516 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6517 feature}
6518 When this option is set, the syntax with this name is loaded, unless
6519 syntax highlighting has been switched off with ":syntax off".
6520 Otherwise this option does not always reflect the current syntax (the
6521 b:current_syntax variable does).
6522 This option is most useful in a modeline, for a file which syntax is
6523 not automatically recognized. Example, in an IDL file:
6524 /* vim: set syntax=idl : */ ~
6525 When a dot appears in the value then this separates two filetype
6526 names. Example:
6527 /* vim: set syntax=c.doxygen : */ ~
6528 This will use the "c" syntax first, then the "doxygen" syntax.
6529 Note that the second one must be prepared to be loaded as an addition,
6530 otherwise it will be skipped. More than one dot may appear.
6531 To switch off syntax highlighting for the current file, use: >
6532 :set syntax=OFF
6533 < To switch syntax highlighting on according to the current value of the
6534 'filetype' option: >
6535 :set syntax=ON
6536 < What actually happens when setting the 'syntax' option is that the
6537 Syntax autocommand event is triggered with the value as argument.
6538 This option is not copied to another buffer, independent of the 's' or
6539 'S' flag in 'cpoptions'.
6540 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
6542 *'tabline'* *'tal'*
6543 'tabline' 'tal' string (default empty)
6544 global
6545 {not in Vi}
6546 {not available when compiled without the +windows
6547 feature}
6548 When nonempty, this option determines the content of the tab pages
6549 line at the top of the Vim window. When empty Vim will use a default
6550 tab pages line. See |setting-tabline| for more info.
6552 The tab pages line only appears as specified with the 'showtabline'
6553 option and only when there is no GUI tab line. When 'e' is in
6554 'guioptions' and the GUI supports a tab line 'guitablabel' is used
6555 instead.
6557 The value is evaluated like with 'statusline'. You can use
6558 |tabpagenr()|, |tabpagewinnr()| and |tabpagebuflist()| to figure out
6559 the text to be displayed. Use "%1T" for the first label, "%2T" for
6560 the second one, etc. Use "%X" items for closing labels.
6562 Keep in mind that only one of the tab pages is the current one, others
6563 are invisible and you can't jump to their windows.
6566 *'tabpagemax'* *'tpm'*
6567 'tabpagemax' 'tpm' number (default 10)
6568 global
6569 {not in Vi}
6570 {not available when compiled without the +windows
6571 feature}
6572 Maximum number of tab pages to be opened by the |-p| command line
6573 argument or the ":tab all" command. |tabpage|
6576 *'tabstop'* *'ts'*
6577 'tabstop' 'ts' number (default 8)
6578 local to buffer
6579 Number of spaces that a <Tab> in the file counts for. Also see
6580 |:retab| command, and 'softtabstop' option.
6582 Note: Setting 'tabstop' to any other value than 8 can make your file
6583 appear wrong in many places (e.g., when printing it).
6585 There are four main ways to use tabs in Vim:
6586 1. Always keep 'tabstop' at 8, set 'softtabstop' and 'shiftwidth' to 4
6587 (or 3 or whatever you prefer) and use 'noexpandtab'. Then Vim
6588 will use a mix of tabs and spaces, but typing <Tab> and <BS> will
6589 behave like a tab appears every 4 (or 3) characters.
6590 2. Set 'tabstop' and 'shiftwidth' to whatever you prefer and use
6591 'expandtab'. This way you will always insert spaces. The
6592 formatting will never be messed up when 'tabstop' is changed.
6593 3. Set 'tabstop' and 'shiftwidth' to whatever you prefer and use a
6594 |modeline| to set these values when editing the file again. Only
6595 works when using Vim to edit the file.
6596 4. Always set 'tabstop' and 'shiftwidth' to the same value, and
6597 'noexpandtab'. This should then work (for initial indents only)
6598 for any tabstop setting that people use. It might be nice to have
6599 tabs after the first non-blank inserted as spaces if you do this
6600 though. Otherwise aligned comments will be wrong when 'tabstop' is
6601 changed.
6603 *'tagbsearch'* *'tbs'* *'notagbsearch'* *'notbs'*
6604 'tagbsearch' 'tbs' boolean (default on)
6605 global
6606 {not in Vi}
6607 When searching for a tag (e.g., for the |:ta| command), Vim can either
6608 use a binary search or a linear search in a tags file. Binary
6609 searching makes searching for a tag a LOT faster, but a linear search
6610 will find more tags if the tags file wasn't properly sorted.
6611 Vim normally assumes that your tags files are sorted, or indicate that
6612 they are not sorted. Only when this is not the case does the
6613 'tagbsearch' option need to be switched off.
6615 When 'tagbsearch' is on, binary searching is first used in the tags
6616 files. In certain situations, Vim will do a linear search instead for
6617 certain files, or retry all files with a linear search. When
6618 'tagbsearch' is off, only a linear search is done.
6620 Linear searching is done anyway, for one file, when Vim finds a line
6621 at the start of the file indicating that it's not sorted: >
6622 !_TAG_FILE_SORTED 0 /some comment/
6623 < [The whitespace before and after the '0' must be a single <Tab>]
6625 When a binary search was done and no match was found in any of the
6626 files listed in 'tags', and 'ignorecase' is set or a pattern is used
6627 instead of a normal tag name, a retry is done with a linear search.
6628 Tags in unsorted tags files, and matches with different case will only
6629 be found in the retry.
6631 If a tag file indicates that it is case-fold sorted, the second,
6632 linear search can be avoided for the 'ignorecase' case. Use a value
6633 of '2' in the "!_TAG_FILE_SORTED" line for this. A tag file can be
6634 case-fold sorted with the -f switch to "sort" in most unices, as in
6635 the command: "sort -f -o tags tags". For "Exuberant ctags" version
6636 5.3 or higher the -f or --fold-case-sort switch can be used for this
6637 as well. Note that case must be folded to uppercase for this to work.
6639 When 'tagbsearch' is off, tags searching is slower when a full match
6640 exists, but faster when no full match exists. Tags in unsorted tags
6641 files may only be found with 'tagbsearch' off.
6642 When the tags file is not sorted, or sorted in a wrong way (not on
6643 ASCII byte value), 'tagbsearch' should be off, or the line given above
6644 must be included in the tags file.
6645 This option doesn't affect commands that find all matching tags (e.g.,
6646 command-line completion and ":help").
6647 {Vi: always uses binary search in some versions}
6649 *'taglength'* *'tl'*
6650 'taglength' 'tl' number (default 0)
6651 global
6652 If non-zero, tags are significant up to this number of characters.
6654 *'tagrelative'* *'tr'* *'notagrelative'* *'notr'*
6655 'tagrelative' 'tr' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
6656 global
6657 {not in Vi}
6658 If on and using a tags file in another directory, file names in that
6659 tags file are relative to the directory where the tags file is.
6660 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
6661 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
6663 *'tags'* *'tag'* *E433*
6664 'tags' 'tag' string (default "./tags,tags", when compiled with
6665 |+emacs_tags|: "./tags,./TAGS,tags,TAGS")
6666 global or local to buffer |global-local|
6667 Filenames for the tag command, separated by spaces or commas. To
6668 include a space or comma in a file name, precede it with a backslash
6669 (see |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes).
6670 When a file name starts with "./", the '.' is replaced with the path
6671 of the current file. But only when the 'd' flag is not included in
6672 'cpoptions'. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. Also see
6673 |tags-option|.
6674 "*", "**" and other wildcards can be used to search for tags files in
6675 a directory tree. See |file-searching|. {not available when compiled
6676 without the |+path_extra| feature}
6677 The |tagfiles()| function can be used to get a list of the file names
6678 actually used.
6679 If Vim was compiled with the |+emacs_tags| feature, Emacs-style tag
6680 files are also supported. They are automatically recognized. The
6681 default value becomes "./tags,./TAGS,tags,TAGS", unless case
6682 differences are ignored (MS-Windows). |emacs-tags|
6683 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
6684 file names from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
6685 uses another default.
6686 {Vi: default is "tags /usr/lib/tags"}
6688 *'tagstack'* *'tgst'* *'notagstack'* *'notgst'*
6689 'tagstack' 'tgst' boolean (default on)
6690 global
6691 {not in all versions of Vi}
6692 When on, the |tagstack| is used normally. When off, a ":tag" or
6693 ":tselect" command with an argument will not push the tag onto the
6694 tagstack. A following ":tag" without an argument, a ":pop" command or
6695 any other command that uses the tagstack will use the unmodified
6696 tagstack, but does change the pointer to the active entry.
6697 Resetting this option is useful when using a ":tag" command in a
6698 mapping which should not change the tagstack.
6700 *'term'* *E529* *E530* *E531*
6701 'term' string (default is $TERM, if that fails:
6702 in the GUI: "builtin_gui"
6703 on Amiga: "amiga"
6704 on BeOS: "beos-ansi"
6705 on Mac: "mac-ansi"
6706 on MiNT: "vt52"
6707 on MS-DOS: "pcterm"
6708 on OS/2: "os2ansi"
6709 on Unix: "ansi"
6710 on VMS: "ansi"
6711 on Win 32: "win32")
6712 global
6713 Name of the terminal. Used for choosing the terminal control
6714 characters. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
6715 For example: >
6716 :set term=$TERM
6717 < See |termcap|.
6719 *'termbidi'* *'tbidi'*
6720 *'notermbidi'* *'notbidi'*
6721 'termbidi' 'tbidi' boolean (default off, on for "mlterm")
6722 global
6723 {not in Vi}
6724 {only available when compiled with the |+arabic|
6725 feature}
6726 The terminal is in charge of Bi-directionality of text (as specified
6727 by Unicode). The terminal is also expected to do the required shaping
6728 that some languages (such as Arabic) require.
6729 Setting this option implies that 'rightleft' will not be set when
6730 'arabic' is set and the value of 'arabicshape' will be ignored.
6731 Note that setting 'termbidi' has the immediate effect that
6732 'arabicshape' is ignored, but 'rightleft' isn't changed automatically.
6733 This option is reset when the GUI is started.
6734 For further details see |arabic.txt|.
6736 *'termencoding'* *'tenc'*
6737 'termencoding' 'tenc' string (default ""; with GTK+ 2 GUI: "utf-8"; with
6738 Macintosh GUI: "macroman")
6739 global
6740 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
6741 feature}
6742 {not in Vi}
6743 Encoding used for the terminal. This specifies what character
6744 encoding the keyboard produces and the display will understand. For
6745 the GUI it only applies to the keyboard ('encoding' is used for the
6746 display). Except for the Mac when 'macatsui' is off, then
6747 'termencoding' should be "macroman".
6748 In the Win32 console version the default value is the console codepage
6749 when it differs from the ANSI codepage.
6750 *E617*
6751 Note: This does not apply to the GTK+ 2 GUI. After the GUI has been
6752 successfully initialized, 'termencoding' is forcibly set to "utf-8".
6753 Any attempts to set a different value will be rejected, and an error
6754 message is shown.
6755 For the Win32 GUI 'termencoding' is not used for typed characters,
6756 because the Win32 system always passes Unicode characters.
6757 When empty, the same encoding is used as for the 'encoding' option.
6758 This is the normal value.
6759 Not all combinations for 'termencoding' and 'encoding' are valid. See
6760 |encoding-table|.
6761 The value for this option must be supported by internal conversions or
6762 iconv(). When this is not possible no conversion will be done and you
6763 will probably experience problems with non-ASCII characters.
6764 Example: You are working with the locale set to euc-jp (Japanese) and
6765 want to edit a UTF-8 file: >
6766 :let &termencoding = &encoding
6767 :set encoding=utf-8
6768 < You need to do this when your system has no locale support for UTF-8.
6770 *'terse'* *'noterse'*
6771 'terse' boolean (default off)
6772 global
6773 When set: Add 's' flag to 'shortmess' option (this makes the message
6774 for a search that hits the start or end of the file not being
6775 displayed). When reset: Remove 's' flag from 'shortmess' option. {Vi
6776 shortens a lot of messages}
6778 *'textauto'* *'ta'* *'notextauto'* *'nota'*
6779 'textauto' 'ta' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
6780 global
6781 {not in Vi}
6782 This option is obsolete. Use 'fileformats'.
6783 For backwards compatibility, when 'textauto' is set, 'fileformats' is
6784 set to the default value for the current system. When 'textauto' is
6785 reset, 'fileformats' is made empty.
6786 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
6787 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
6789 *'textmode'* *'tx'* *'notextmode'* *'notx'*
6790 'textmode' 'tx' boolean (MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2: default on,
6791 others: default off)
6792 local to buffer
6793 {not in Vi}
6794 This option is obsolete. Use 'fileformat'.
6795 For backwards compatibility, when 'textmode' is set, 'fileformat' is
6796 set to "dos". When 'textmode' is reset, 'fileformat' is set to
6797 "unix".
6799 *'textwidth'* *'tw'*
6800 'textwidth' 'tw' number (default 0)
6801 local to buffer
6802 {not in Vi}
6803 Maximum width of text that is being inserted. A longer line will be
6804 broken after white space to get this width. A zero value disables
6805 this. 'textwidth' is set to 0 when the 'paste' option is set. When
6806 'textwidth' is zero, 'wrapmargin' may be used. See also
6807 'formatoptions' and |ins-textwidth|.
6808 When 'formatexpr' is set it will be used to break the line.
6809 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
6811 *'thesaurus'* *'tsr'*
6812 'thesaurus' 'tsr' string (default "")
6813 global or local to buffer |global-local|
6814 {not in Vi}
6815 List of file names, separated by commas, that are used to lookup words
6816 for thesaurus completion commands |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T|. Each line in
6817 the file should contain words with similar meaning, separated by
6818 non-keyword characters (white space is preferred). Maximum line
6819 length is 510 bytes.
6820 To obtain a file to be used here, check out the wordlist FAQ at
6821 http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk .
6822 To include a comma in a file name precede it with a backslash. Spaces
6823 after a comma are ignored, otherwise spaces are included in the file
6824 name. See |option-backslash| about using backslashes.
6825 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
6826 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
6827 uses another default.
6828 Backticks cannot be used in this option for security reasons.
6830 *'tildeop'* *'top'* *'notildeop'* *'notop'*
6831 'tildeop' 'top' boolean (default off)
6832 global
6833 {not in Vi}
6834 When on: The tilde command "~" behaves like an operator.
6835 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
6837 *'timeout'* *'to'* *'notimeout'* *'noto'*
6838 'timeout' 'to' boolean (default on)
6839 global
6840 *'ttimeout'* *'nottimeout'*
6841 'ttimeout' boolean (default off)
6842 global
6843 {not in Vi}
6844 These two options together determine the behavior when part of a
6845 mapped key sequence or keyboard code has been received:
6847 'timeout' 'ttimeout' action ~
6848 off off do not time out
6849 on on or off time out on :mappings and key codes
6850 off on time out on key codes
6852 If both options are off, Vim will wait until either the complete
6853 mapping or key sequence has been received, or it is clear that there
6854 is no mapping or key sequence for the received characters. For
6855 example: if you have mapped "vl" and Vim has received 'v', the next
6856 character is needed to see if the 'v' is followed by an 'l'.
6857 When one of the options is on, Vim will wait for about 1 second for
6858 the next character to arrive. After that the already received
6859 characters are interpreted as single characters. The waiting time can
6860 be changed with the 'timeoutlen' option.
6861 On slow terminals or very busy systems timing out may cause
6862 malfunctioning cursor keys. If both options are off, Vim waits
6863 forever after an entered <Esc> if there are key codes that start
6864 with <Esc>. You will have to type <Esc> twice. If you do not have
6865 problems with key codes, but would like to have :mapped key
6866 sequences not timing out in 1 second, set the 'ttimeout' option and
6867 reset the 'timeout' option.
6869 NOTE: 'ttimeout' is reset when 'compatible' is set.
6871 *'timeoutlen'* *'tm'*
6872 'timeoutlen' 'tm' number (default 1000)
6873 global
6874 {not in all versions of Vi}
6875 *'ttimeoutlen'* *'ttm'*
6876 'ttimeoutlen' 'ttm' number (default -1)
6877 global
6878 {not in Vi}
6879 The time in milliseconds that is waited for a key code or mapped key
6880 sequence to complete. Also used for CTRL-\ CTRL-N and CTRL-\ CTRL-G
6881 when part of a command has been typed.
6882 Normally only 'timeoutlen' is used and 'ttimeoutlen' is -1. When a
6883 different timeout value for key codes is desired set 'ttimeoutlen' to
6884 a non-negative number.
6886 ttimeoutlen mapping delay key code delay ~
6887 < 0 'timeoutlen' 'timeoutlen'
6888 >= 0 'timeoutlen' 'ttimeoutlen'
6890 The timeout only happens when the 'timeout' and 'ttimeout' options
6891 tell so. A useful setting would be >
6892 :set timeout timeoutlen=3000 ttimeoutlen=100
6893 < (time out on mapping after three seconds, time out on key codes after
6894 a tenth of a second).
6896 *'title'* *'notitle'*
6897 'title' boolean (default off, on when title can be restored)
6898 global
6899 {not in Vi}
6900 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
6901 feature}
6902 When on, the title of the window will be set to the value of
6903 'titlestring' (if it is not empty), or to:
6904 filename [+=-] (path) - VIM
6905 Where:
6906 filename the name of the file being edited
6907 - indicates the file cannot be modified, 'ma' off
6908 + indicates the file was modified
6909 = indicates the file is read-only
6910 =+ indicates the file is read-only and modified
6911 (path) is the path of the file being edited
6912 - VIM the server name |v:servername| or "VIM"
6913 Only works if the terminal supports setting window titles
6914 (currently Amiga console, Win32 console, all GUI versions and
6915 terminals with a non- empty 't_ts' option - these are Unix xterm and
6916 iris-ansi by default, where 't_ts' is taken from the builtin termcap).
6917 *X11*
6918 When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original title will
6919 be restored if possible. The output of ":version" will include "+X11"
6920 when HAVE_X11 was defined, otherwise it will be "-X11". This also
6921 works for the icon name |'icon'|.
6922 But: When Vim was started with the |-X| argument, restoring the title
6923 will not work (except in the GUI).
6924 If the title cannot be restored, it is set to the value of 'titleold'.
6925 You might want to restore the title outside of Vim then.
6926 When using an xterm from a remote machine you can use this command:
6927 rsh machine_name xterm -display $DISPLAY &
6928 then the WINDOWID environment variable should be inherited and the
6929 title of the window should change back to what it should be after
6930 exiting Vim.
6932 *'titlelen'*
6933 'titlelen' number (default 85)
6934 global
6935 {not in Vi}
6936 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
6937 feature}
6938 Gives the percentage of 'columns' to use for the length of the window
6939 title. When the title is longer, only the end of the path name is
6940 shown. A '<' character before the path name is used to indicate this.
6941 Using a percentage makes this adapt to the width of the window. But
6942 it won't work perfectly, because the actual number of characters
6943 available also depends on the font used and other things in the title
6944 bar. When 'titlelen' is zero the full path is used. Otherwise,
6945 values from 1 to 30000 percent can be used.
6946 'titlelen' is also used for the 'titlestring' option.
6948 *'titleold'*
6949 'titleold' string (default "Thanks for flying Vim")
6950 global
6951 {not in Vi}
6952 {only available when compiled with the |+title|
6953 feature}
6954 This option will be used for the window title when exiting Vim if the
6955 original title cannot be restored. Only happens if 'title' is on or
6956 'titlestring' is not empty.
6957 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
6958 security reasons.
6959 *'titlestring'*
6960 'titlestring' string (default "")
6961 global
6962 {not in Vi}
6963 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
6964 feature}
6965 When this option is not empty, it will be used for the title of the
6966 window. This happens only when the 'title' option is on.
6967 Only works if the terminal supports setting window titles (currently
6968 Amiga console, Win32 console, all GUI versions and terminals with a
6969 non-empty 't_ts' option).
6970 When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original title will
6971 be restored if possible |X11|.
6972 When this option contains printf-style '%' items, they will be
6973 expanded according to the rules used for 'statusline'.
6974 Example: >
6975 :auto BufEnter * let &titlestring = hostname() . "/" . expand("%:p")
6976 :set title titlestring=%<%F%=%l/%L-%P titlelen=70
6977 < The value of 'titlelen' is used to align items in the middle or right
6978 of the available space.
6979 Some people prefer to have the file name first: >
6980 :set titlestring=%t%(\ %M%)%(\ (%{expand(\"%:~:.:h\")})%)%(\ %a%)
6981 < Note the use of "%{ }" and an expression to get the path of the file,
6982 without the file name. The "%( %)" constructs are used to add a
6983 separating space only when needed.
6984 NOTE: Use of special characters in 'titlestring' may cause the display
6985 to be garbled (e.g., when it contains a CR or NL character).
6986 {not available when compiled without the |+statusline| feature}
6988 *'toolbar'* *'tb'*
6989 'toolbar' 'tb' string (default "icons,tooltips")
6990 global
6991 {only for |+GUI_GTK|, |+GUI_Athena|, |+GUI_Motif| and
6992 |+GUI_Photon|}
6993 The contents of this option controls various toolbar settings. The
6994 possible values are:
6995 icons Toolbar buttons are shown with icons.
6996 text Toolbar buttons shown with text.
6997 horiz Icon and text of a toolbar button are
6998 horizontally arranged. {only in GTK+ 2 GUI}
6999 tooltips Tooltips are active for toolbar buttons.
7000 Tooltips refer to the popup help text which appears after the mouse
7001 cursor is placed over a toolbar button for a brief moment.
7003 If you want the toolbar to be shown with icons as well as text, do the
7004 following: >
7005 :set tb=icons,text
7006 < Motif and Athena cannot display icons and text at the same time. They
7007 will show icons if both are requested.
7009 If none of the strings specified in 'toolbar' are valid or if
7010 'toolbar' is empty, this option is ignored. If you want to disable
7011 the toolbar, you need to set the 'guioptions' option. For example: >
7012 :set guioptions-=T
7013 < Also see |gui-toolbar|.
7015 *'toolbariconsize'* *'tbis'*
7016 'toolbariconsize' 'tbis' string (default "small")
7017 global
7018 {not in Vi}
7019 {only in the GTK+ 2 GUI}
7020 Controls the size of toolbar icons. The possible values are:
7021 tiny Use tiny toolbar icons.
7022 small Use small toolbar icons (default).
7023 medium Use medium-sized toolbar icons.
7024 large Use large toolbar icons.
7025 The exact dimensions in pixels of the various icon sizes depend on
7026 the current theme. Common dimensions are large=32x32, medium=24x24,
7027 small=20x20 and tiny=16x16.
7029 If 'toolbariconsize' is empty, the global default size as determined
7030 by user preferences or the current theme is used.
7032 *'ttybuiltin'* *'tbi'* *'nottybuiltin'* *'notbi'*
7033 'ttybuiltin' 'tbi' boolean (default on)
7034 global
7035 {not in Vi}
7036 When on, the builtin termcaps are searched before the external ones.
7037 When off the builtin termcaps are searched after the external ones.
7038 When this option is changed, you should set the 'term' option next for
7039 the change to take effect, for example: >
7040 :set notbi term=$TERM
7041 < See also |termcap|.
7042 Rationale: The default for this option is "on", because the builtin
7043 termcap entries are generally better (many systems contain faulty
7044 xterm entries...).
7046 *'ttyfast'* *'tf'* *'nottyfast'* *'notf'*
7047 'ttyfast' 'tf' boolean (default off, on when 'term' is xterm, hpterm,
7048 sun-cmd, screen, rxvt, dtterm or
7049 iris-ansi; also on when running Vim in
7050 a DOS console)
7051 global
7052 {not in Vi}
7053 Indicates a fast terminal connection. More characters will be sent to
7054 the screen for redrawing, instead of using insert/delete line
7055 commands. Improves smoothness of redrawing when there are multiple
7056 windows and the terminal does not support a scrolling region.
7057 Also enables the extra writing of characters at the end of each screen
7058 line for lines that wrap. This helps when using copy/paste with the
7059 mouse in an xterm and other terminals.
7061 *'ttymouse'* *'ttym'*
7062 'ttymouse' 'ttym' string (default depends on 'term')
7063 global
7064 {not in Vi}
7065 {only in Unix and VMS, doesn't work in the GUI; not
7066 available when compiled without |+mouse|}
7067 Name of the terminal type for which mouse codes are to be recognized.
7068 Currently these strings are valid:
7069 *xterm-mouse*
7070 xterm xterm-like mouse handling. The mouse generates
7071 "<Esc>[Mscr", where "scr" is three bytes:
7072 "s" = button state
7073 "c" = column plus 33
7074 "r" = row plus 33
7075 This only works up to 223 columns! See "dec" for a
7076 solution.
7077 xterm2 Works like "xterm", but with the xterm reporting the
7078 mouse position while the mouse is dragged. This works
7079 much faster and more precise. Your xterm must at
7080 least at patchlevel 88 / XFree 3.3.3 for this to
7081 work. See below for how Vim detects this
7082 automatically.
7083 *netterm-mouse*
7084 netterm NetTerm mouse handling. The mouse generates
7085 "<Esc>}r,c<CR>", where "r,c" are two decimal numbers
7086 for the row and column.
7087 *dec-mouse*
7088 dec DEC terminal mouse handling. The mouse generates a
7089 rather complex sequence, starting with "<Esc>[".
7090 This is also available for an Xterm, if it was
7091 configured with "--enable-dec-locator".
7092 *jsbterm-mouse*
7093 jsbterm JSB term mouse handling.
7094 *pterm-mouse*
7095 pterm QNX pterm mouse handling.
7097 The mouse handling must be enabled at compile time |+mouse_xterm|
7098 |+mouse_dec| |+mouse_netterm|.
7099 Only "xterm"(2) is really recognized. NetTerm mouse codes are always
7100 recognized, if enabled at compile time. DEC terminal mouse codes
7101 are recognized if enabled at compile time, and 'ttymouse' is not
7102 "xterm" (because the xterm and dec mouse codes conflict).
7103 This option is automatically set to "xterm", when the 'term' option is
7104 set to a name that starts with "xterm", and 'ttymouse' is not "xterm"
7105 or "xterm2" already. The main use of this option is to set it to
7106 "xterm", when the terminal name doesn't start with "xterm", but it can
7107 handle xterm mouse codes.
7108 The "xterm2" value will be set if the xterm version is reported to be
7109 95 or higher. This only works when compiled with the |+termresponse|
7110 feature and if |t_RV| is set to the escape sequence to request the
7111 xterm version number. Otherwise "xterm2" must be set explicitly.
7112 If you do not want 'ttymouse' to be set to "xterm2" automatically, set
7113 t_RV to an empty string: >
7114 :set t_RV=
7115 <
7116 *'ttyscroll'* *'tsl'*
7117 'ttyscroll' 'tsl' number (default 999)
7118 global
7119 Maximum number of lines to scroll the screen. If there are more lines
7120 to scroll the window is redrawn. For terminals where scrolling is
7121 very slow and redrawing is not slow this can be set to a small number,
7122 e.g., 3, to speed up displaying.
7124 *'ttytype'* *'tty'*
7125 'ttytype' 'tty' string (default from $TERM)
7126 global
7127 Alias for 'term', see above.
7129 *'undolevels'* *'ul'*
7130 'undolevels' 'ul' number (default 100, 1000 for Unix, VMS,
7131 Win32 and OS/2)
7132 global
7133 {not in Vi}
7134 Maximum number of changes that can be undone. Since undo information
7135 is kept in memory, higher numbers will cause more memory to be used
7136 (nevertheless, a single change can use an unlimited amount of memory).
7137 Set to 0 for Vi compatibility: One level of undo and "u" undoes
7138 itself: >
7139 set ul=0
7140 < But you can also get Vi compatibility by including the 'u' flag in
7141 'cpoptions', and still be able to use CTRL-R to repeat undo.
7142 Set to a negative number for no undo at all: >
7143 set ul=-1
7144 < This helps when you run out of memory for a single change.
7145 Also see |undo-two-ways|.
7147 *'updatecount'* *'uc'*
7148 'updatecount' 'uc' number (default: 200)
7149 global
7150 {not in Vi}
7151 After typing this many characters the swap file will be written to
7152 disk. When zero, no swap file will be created at all (see chapter on
7153 recovery |crash-recovery|). 'updatecount' is set to zero by starting
7154 Vim with the "-n" option, see |startup|. When editing in readonly
7155 mode this option will be initialized to 10000.
7156 The swapfile can be disabled per buffer with |'swapfile'|.
7157 When 'updatecount' is set from zero to non-zero, swap files are
7158 created for all buffers that have 'swapfile' set. When 'updatecount'
7159 is set to zero, existing swap files are not deleted.
7160 Also see |'swapsync'|.
7161 This option has no meaning in buffers where |'buftype'| is "nofile"
7162 or "nowrite".
7164 *'updatetime'* *'ut'*
7165 'updatetime' 'ut' number (default 4000)
7166 global
7167 {not in Vi}
7168 If this many milliseconds nothing is typed the swap file will be
7169 written to disk (see |crash-recovery|). Also used for the
7170 |CursorHold| autocommand event.
7172 *'verbose'* *'vbs'*
7173 'verbose' 'vbs' number (default 0)
7174 global
7175 {not in Vi, although some versions have a boolean
7176 verbose option}
7177 When bigger than zero, Vim will give messages about what it is doing.
7178 Currently, these messages are given:
7179 >= 1 When the viminfo file is read or written.
7180 >= 2 When a file is ":source"'ed.
7181 >= 5 Every searched tags file and include file.
7182 >= 8 Files for which a group of autocommands is executed.
7183 >= 9 Every executed autocommand.
7184 >= 12 Every executed function.
7185 >= 13 When an exception is thrown, caught, finished, or discarded.
7186 >= 14 Anything pending in a ":finally" clause.
7187 >= 15 Every executed Ex command (truncated at 200 characters).
7189 This option can also be set with the "-V" argument. See |-V|.
7190 This option is also set by the |:verbose| command.
7192 When the 'verbosefile' option is set then the verbose messages are not
7193 displayed.
7195 *'verbosefile'* *'vfile'*
7196 'verbosefile' 'vfile' string (default empty)
7197 global
7198 {not in Vi}
7199 When not empty all messages are written in a file with this name.
7200 When the file exists messages are appended.
7201 Writing to the file ends when Vim exits or when 'verbosefile' is made
7202 empty.
7203 Setting 'verbosefile' to a new value is like making it empty first.
7204 The difference with |:redir| is that verbose messages are not
7205 displayed when 'verbosefile' is set.
7207 *'viewdir'* *'vdir'*
7208 'viewdir' 'vdir' string (default for Amiga, MS-DOS, OS/2 and Win32:
7209 "$VIM/vimfiles/view",
7210 for Unix: "~/.vim/view",
7211 for Macintosh: "$VIM:vimfiles:view"
7212 for VMS: "sys$login:vimfiles/view"
7213 for RiscOS: "Choices:vimfiles/view")
7214 global
7215 {not in Vi}
7216 {not available when compiled without the +mksession
7217 feature}
7218 Name of the directory where to store files for |:mkview|.
7219 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
7220 security reasons.
7222 *'viewoptions'* *'vop'*
7223 'viewoptions' 'vop' string (default: "folds,options,cursor")
7224 global
7225 {not in Vi}
7226 {not available when compiled without the +mksession
7227 feature}
7228 Changes the effect of the |:mkview| command. It is a comma separated
7229 list of words. Each word enables saving and restoring something:
7230 word save and restore ~
7231 cursor cursor position in file and in window
7232 folds manually created folds, opened/closed folds and local
7233 fold options
7234 options options and mappings local to a window or buffer (not
7235 global values for local options)
7236 slash backslashes in file names replaced with forward
7237 slashes
7238 unix with Unix end-of-line format (single <NL>), even when
7239 on Windows or DOS
7241 "slash" and "unix" are useful on Windows when sharing view files
7242 with Unix. The Unix version of Vim cannot source dos format scripts,
7243 but the Windows version of Vim can source unix format scripts.
7245 *'viminfo'* *'vi'* *E526* *E527* *E528*
7246 'viminfo' 'vi' string (Vi default: "", Vim default for MS-DOS,
7247 Windows and OS/2: '20,<50,s10,h,rA:,rB:,
7248 for Amiga: '20,<50,s10,h,rdf0:,rdf1:,rdf2:
7249 for others: '20,<50,s10,h)
7250 global
7251 {not in Vi}
7252 {not available when compiled without the |+viminfo|
7253 feature}
7254 When non-empty, the viminfo file is read upon startup and written
7255 when exiting Vim (see |viminfo-file|). The string should be a comma
7256 separated list of parameters, each consisting of a single character
7257 identifying the particular parameter, followed by a number or string
7258 which specifies the value of that parameter. If a particular
7259 character is left out, then the default value is used for that
7260 parameter. The following is a list of the identifying characters and
7261 the effect of their value.
7262 CHAR VALUE ~
7263 ! When included, save and restore global variables that start
7264 with an uppercase letter, and don't contain a lowercase
7265 letter. Thus "KEEPTHIS and "K_L_M" are stored, but "KeepThis"
7266 and "_K_L_M" are not. Only String and Number types are
7267 stored.
7268 " Maximum number of lines saved for each register. Old name of
7269 the '<' item, with the disadvantage that you need to put a
7270 backslash before the ", otherwise it will be recognized as the
7271 start of a comment!
7272 % When included, save and restore the buffer list. If Vim is
7273 started with a file name argument, the buffer list is not
7274 restored. If Vim is started without a file name argument, the
7275 buffer list is restored from the viminfo file. Buffers
7276 without a file name and buffers for help files are not written
7277 to the viminfo file.
7278 When followed by a number, the number specifies the maximum
7279 number of buffers that are stored. Without a number all
7280 buffers are stored.
7281 ' Maximum number of previously edited files for which the marks
7282 are remembered. This parameter must always be included when
7283 'viminfo' is non-empty.
7284 Including this item also means that the |jumplist| and the
7285 |changelist| are stored in the viminfo file.
7286 / Maximum number of items in the search pattern history to be
7287 saved. If non-zero, then the previous search and substitute
7288 patterns are also saved. When not included, the value of
7289 'history' is used.
7290 : Maximum number of items in the command-line history to be
7291 saved. When not included, the value of 'history' is used.
7292 < Maximum number of lines saved for each register. If zero then
7293 registers are not saved. When not included, all lines are
7294 saved. '"' is the old name for this item.
7295 Also see the 's' item below: limit specified in Kbyte.
7296 @ Maximum number of items in the input-line history to be
7297 saved. When not included, the value of 'history' is used.
7298 c When included, convert the text in the viminfo file from the
7299 'encoding' used when writing the file to the current
7300 'encoding'. See |viminfo-encoding|.
7301 f Whether file marks need to be stored. If zero, file marks ('0
7302 to '9, 'A to 'Z) are not stored. When not present or when
7303 non-zero, they are all stored. '0 is used for the current
7304 cursor position (when exiting or when doing ":wviminfo").
7305 h Disable the effect of 'hlsearch' when loading the viminfo
7306 file. When not included, it depends on whether ":nohlsearch"
7307 has been used since the last search command.
7308 n Name of the viminfo file. The name must immediately follow
7309 the 'n'. Must be the last one! If the "-i" argument was
7310 given when starting Vim, that file name overrides the one
7311 given here with 'viminfo'. Environment variables are expanded
7312 when opening the file, not when setting the option.
7313 r Removable media. The argument is a string (up to the next
7314 ','). This parameter can be given several times. Each
7315 specifies the start of a path for which no marks will be
7316 stored. This is to avoid removable media. For MS-DOS you
7317 could use "ra:,rb:", for Amiga "rdf0:,rdf1:,rdf2:". You can
7318 also use it for temp files, e.g., for Unix: "r/tmp". Case is
7319 ignored. Maximum length of each 'r' argument is 50
7320 characters.
7321 s Maximum size of an item in Kbyte. If zero then registers are
7322 not saved. Currently only applies to registers. The default
7323 "s10" will exclude registers with more than 10 Kbyte of text.
7324 Also see the '<' item above: line count limit.
7326 Example: >
7327 :set viminfo='50,<1000,s100,:0,n~/vim/viminfo
7328 <
7329 '50 Marks will be remembered for the last 50 files you
7330 edited.
7331 <1000 Contents of registers (up to 1000 lines each) will be
7332 remembered.
7333 s100 Registers with more than 100 Kbyte text are skipped.
7334 :0 Command-line history will not be saved.
7335 n~/vim/viminfo The name of the file to use is "~/vim/viminfo".
7336 no / Since '/' is not specified, the default will be used,
7337 that is, save all of the search history, and also the
7338 previous search and substitute patterns.
7339 no % The buffer list will not be saved nor read back.
7340 no h 'hlsearch' highlighting will be restored.
7342 When setting 'viminfo' from an empty value you can use |:rviminfo| to
7343 load the contents of the file, this is not done automatically.
7345 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
7346 security reasons.
7348 *'virtualedit'* *'ve'*
7349 'virtualedit' 've' string (default "")
7350 global
7351 {not in Vi}
7352 {not available when compiled without the
7353 |+virtualedit| feature}
7354 A comma separated list of these words:
7355 block Allow virtual editing in Visual block mode.
7356 insert Allow virtual editing in Insert mode.
7357 all Allow virtual editing in all modes.
7358 onemore Allow the cursor to move just past the end of the line
7360 Virtual editing means that the cursor can be positioned where there is
7361 no actual character. This can be halfway into a tab or beyond the end
7362 of the line. Useful for selecting a rectangle in Visual mode and
7363 editing a table.
7364 "onemore" is not the same, it will only allow moving the cursor just
7365 after the last character of the line. This makes some commands more
7366 consistent. Previously the cursor was always past the end of the line
7367 if the line was empty. But it is far from Vi compatible. It may also
7368 break some plugins or Vim scripts. For example because |l| can move
7369 the cursor after the last character. Use with care!
7370 Using the |$| command will move to the last character in the line, not
7371 past it. This may actually move the cursor to the left!
7372 It doesn't make sense to combine "all" with "onemore", but you will
7373 not get a warning for it.
7375 *'visualbell'* *'vb'* *'novisualbell'* *'novb'* *beep*
7376 'visualbell' 'vb' boolean (default off)
7377 global
7378 {not in Vi}
7379 Use visual bell instead of beeping. The terminal code to display the
7380 visual bell is given with 't_vb'. When no beep or flash is wanted,
7381 use ":set vb t_vb=".
7382 Note: When the GUI starts, 't_vb' is reset to its default value. You
7383 might want to set it again in your |gvimrc|.
7384 In the GUI, 't_vb' defaults to "<Esc>|f", which inverts the display
7385 for 20 msec. If you want to use a different time, use "<Esc>|40f",
7386 where 40 is the time in msec.
7387 Does not work on the Amiga, you always get a screen flash.
7388 Also see 'errorbells'.
7390 *'warn'* *'nowarn'*
7391 'warn' boolean (default on)
7392 global
7393 Give a warning message when a shell command is used while the buffer
7394 has been changed.
7396 *'weirdinvert'* *'wiv'* *'noweirdinvert'* *'nowiv'*
7397 'weirdinvert' 'wiv' boolean (default off)
7398 global
7399 {not in Vi}
7400 This option has the same effect as the 't_xs' terminal option.
7401 It is provided for backwards compatibility with version 4.x.
7402 Setting 'weirdinvert' has the effect of making 't_xs' non-empty, and
7403 vice versa. Has no effect when the GUI is running.
7405 *'whichwrap'* *'ww'*
7406 'whichwrap' 'ww' string (Vim default: "b,s", Vi default: "")
7407 global
7408 {not in Vi}
7409 Allow specified keys that move the cursor left/right to move to the
7410 previous/next line when the cursor is on the first/last character in
7411 the line. Concatenate characters to allow this for these keys:
7412 char key mode ~
7413 b <BS> Normal and Visual
7414 s <Space> Normal and Visual
7415 h "h" Normal and Visual (not recommended)
7416 l "l" Normal and Visual (not recommended)
7417 < <Left> Normal and Visual
7418 > <Right> Normal and Visual
7419 ~ "~" Normal
7420 [ <Left> Insert and Replace
7421 ] <Right> Insert and Replace
7422 For example: >
7423 :set ww=<,>,[,]
7424 < allows wrap only when cursor keys are used.
7425 When the movement keys are used in combination with a delete or change
7426 operator, the <EOL> also counts for a character. This makes "3h"
7427 different from "3dh" when the cursor crosses the end of a line. This
7428 is also true for "x" and "X", because they do the same as "dl" and
7429 "dh". If you use this, you may also want to use the mapping
7430 ":map <BS> X" to make backspace delete the character in front of the
7431 cursor.
7432 When 'l' is included and it is used after an operator at the end of a
7433 line then it will not move to the next line. This makes "dl", "cl",
7434 "yl" etc. work normally.
7435 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
7436 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
7438 *'wildchar'* *'wc'*
7439 'wildchar' 'wc' number (Vim default: <Tab>, Vi default: CTRL-E)
7440 global
7441 {not in Vi}
7442 Character you have to type to start wildcard expansion in the
7443 command-line, as specified with 'wildmode'.
7444 More info here: |cmdline-completion|.
7445 The character is not recognized when used inside a macro. See
7446 'wildcharm' for that.
7447 Although 'wc' is a number option, you can set it to a special key: >
7448 :set wc=<Esc>
7449 < NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
7450 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
7452 *'wildcharm'* *'wcm'*
7453 'wildcharm' 'wcm' number (default: none (0))
7454 global
7455 {not in Vi}
7456 'wildcharm' works exactly like 'wildchar', except that it is
7457 recognized when used inside a macro. You can find "spare" command-line
7458 keys suitable for this option by looking at |ex-edit-index|. Normally
7459 you'll never actually type 'wildcharm', just use it in mappings that
7460 automatically invoke completion mode, e.g.: >
7461 :set wcm=<C-Z>
7462 :cnoremap ss so $vim/sessions/*.vim<C-Z>
7463 < Then after typing :ss you can use CTRL-P & CTRL-N.
7465 *'wildignore'* *'wig'*
7466 'wildignore' 'wig' string (default "")
7467 global
7468 {not in Vi}
7469 {not available when compiled without the |+wildignore|
7470 feature}
7471 A list of file patterns. A file that matches with one of these
7472 patterns is ignored when completing file or directory names, and
7473 influences the result of |expand()|, |glob()| and |globpath()| unless
7474 a flag is passed to disable this.
7475 The pattern is used like with |:autocmd|, see |autocmd-patterns|.
7476 Also see 'suffixes'.
7477 Example: >
7478 :set wildignore=*.o,*.obj
7479 < The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
7480 a pattern from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
7481 uses another default.
7483 *'wildmenu'* *'wmnu'* *'nowildmenu'* *'nowmnu'*
7484 'wildmenu' 'wmnu' boolean (default off)
7485 global
7486 {not in Vi}
7487 {not available if compiled without the |+wildmenu|
7488 feature}
7489 When 'wildmenu' is on, command-line completion operates in an enhanced
7490 mode. On pressing 'wildchar' (usually <Tab>) to invoke completion,
7491 the possible matches are shown just above the command line, with the
7492 first match highlighted (overwriting the status line, if there is
7493 one). Keys that show the previous/next match, such as <Tab> or
7494 CTRL-P/CTRL-N, cause the highlight to move to the appropriate match.
7495 When 'wildmode' is used, "wildmenu" mode is used where "full" is
7496 specified. "longest" and "list" do not start "wildmenu" mode.
7497 If there are more matches than can fit in the line, a ">" is shown on
7498 the right and/or a "<" is shown on the left. The status line scrolls
7499 as needed.
7500 The "wildmenu" mode is abandoned when a key is hit that is not used
7501 for selecting a completion.
7502 While the "wildmenu" is active the following keys have special
7503 meanings:
7505 <Left> <Right> - select previous/next match (like CTRL-P/CTRL-N)
7506 <Down> - in filename/menu name completion: move into a
7507 subdirectory or submenu.
7508 <CR> - in menu completion, when the cursor is just after a
7509 dot: move into a submenu.
7510 <Up> - in filename/menu name completion: move up into
7511 parent directory or parent menu.
7513 This makes the menus accessible from the console |console-menus|.
7515 If you prefer the <Left> and <Right> keys to move the cursor instead
7516 of selecting a different match, use this: >
7517 :cnoremap <Left> <Space><BS><Left>
7518 :cnoremap <Right> <Space><BS><Right>
7519 <
7520 The "WildMenu" highlighting is used for displaying the current match
7521 |hl-WildMenu|.
7523 *'wildmode'* *'wim'*
7524 'wildmode' 'wim' string (Vim default: "full")
7525 global
7526 {not in Vi}
7527 Completion mode that is used for the character specified with
7528 'wildchar'. It is a comma separated list of up to four parts. Each
7529 part specifies what to do for each consecutive use of 'wildchar'. The
7530 first part specifies the behavior for the first use of 'wildchar',
7531 The second part for the second use, etc.
7532 These are the possible values for each part:
7533 "" Complete only the first match.
7534 "full" Complete the next full match. After the last match,
7535 the original string is used and then the first match
7536 again.
7537 "longest" Complete till longest common string. If this doesn't
7538 result in a longer string, use the next part.
7539 "longest:full" Like "longest", but also start 'wildmenu' if it is
7540 enabled.
7541 "list" When more than one match, list all matches.
7542 "list:full" When more than one match, list all matches and
7543 complete first match.
7544 "list:longest" When more than one match, list all matches and
7545 complete till longest common string.
7546 When there is only a single match, it is fully completed in all cases.
7548 Examples: >
7549 :set wildmode=full
7550 < Complete first full match, next match, etc. (the default) >
7551 :set wildmode=longest,full
7552 < Complete longest common string, then each full match >
7553 :set wildmode=list:full
7554 < List all matches and complete each full match >
7555 :set wildmode=list,full
7556 < List all matches without completing, then each full match >
7557 :set wildmode=longest,list
7558 < Complete longest common string, then list alternatives.
7559 More info here: |cmdline-completion|.
7561 *'wildoptions'* *'wop'*
7562 'wildoptions' 'wop' string (default "")
7563 global
7564 {not in Vi}
7565 {not available when compiled without the |+wildignore|
7566 feature}
7567 A list of words that change how command line completion is done.
7568 Currently only one word is allowed:
7569 tagfile When using CTRL-D to list matching tags, the kind of
7570 tag and the file of the tag is listed. Only one match
7571 is displayed per line. Often used tag kinds are:
7572 d #define
7573 f function
7574 Also see |cmdline-completion|.
7576 *'winaltkeys'* *'wak'*
7577 'winaltkeys' 'wak' string (default "menu")
7578 global
7579 {not in Vi}
7580 {only used in Win32, Motif, GTK and Photon GUI}
7581 Some GUI versions allow the access to menu entries by using the ALT
7582 key in combination with a character that appears underlined in the
7583 menu. This conflicts with the use of the ALT key for mappings and
7584 entering special characters. This option tells what to do:
7585 no Don't use ALT keys for menus. ALT key combinations can be
7586 mapped, but there is no automatic handling. This can then be
7587 done with the |:simalt| command.
7588 yes ALT key handling is done by the windowing system. ALT key
7589 combinations cannot be mapped.
7590 menu Using ALT in combination with a character that is a menu
7591 shortcut key, will be handled by the windowing system. Other
7592 keys can be mapped.
7593 If the menu is disabled by excluding 'm' from 'guioptions', the ALT
7594 key is never used for the menu.
7595 This option is not used for <F10>; on Win32 and with GTK <F10> will
7596 select the menu, unless it has been mapped.
7598 *'window'* *'wi'*
7599 'window' 'wi' number (default screen height - 1)
7600 global
7601 Window height. Do not confuse this with the height of the Vim window,
7602 use 'lines' for that.
7603 Used for |CTRL-F| and |CTRL-B| when there is only one window and the
7604 value is smaller than 'lines' minus one. The screen will scroll
7605 'window' minus two lines, with a minimum of one.
7606 When 'window' is equal to 'lines' minus one CTRL-F and CTRL-B scroll
7607 in a much smarter way, taking care of wrapping lines.
7608 When resizing the Vim window, the value is smaller than 1 or more than
7609 or equal to 'lines' it will be set to 'lines' minus 1.
7610 {Vi also uses the option to specify the number of displayed lines}
7612 *'winheight'* *'wh'* *E591*
7613 'winheight' 'wh' number (default 1)
7614 global
7615 {not in Vi}
7616 {not available when compiled without the +windows
7617 feature}
7618 Minimal number of lines for the current window. This is not a hard
7619 minimum, Vim will use fewer lines if there is not enough room. If the
7620 focus goes to a window that is smaller, its size is increased, at the
7621 cost of the height of other windows.
7622 Set 'winheight' to a small number for normal editing.
7623 Set it to 999 to make the current window fill most of the screen.
7624 Other windows will be only 'winminheight' high. This has the drawback
7625 that ":all" will create only two windows. To avoid "vim -o 1 2 3 4"
7626 to create only two windows, set the option after startup is done,
7627 using the |VimEnter| event: >
7628 au VimEnter * set winheight=999
7629 < Minimum value is 1.
7630 The height is not adjusted after one of the commands that change the
7631 height of the current window.
7632 'winheight' applies to the current window. Use 'winminheight' to set
7633 the minimal height for other windows.
7635 *'winfixheight'* *'wfh'* *'nowinfixheight'* *'nowfh'*
7636 'winfixheight' 'wfh' boolean (default off)
7637 local to window
7638 {not in Vi}
7639 {not available when compiled without the +windows
7640 feature}
7641 Keep the window height when windows are opened or closed and
7642 'equalalways' is set. Also for |CTRL-W_=|. Set by default for the
7643 |preview-window| and |quickfix-window|.
7644 The height may be changed anyway when running out of room.
7646 *'winfixwidth'* *'wfw'* *'nowinfixwidth'* *'nowfw'*
7647 'winfixwidth' 'wfw' boolean (default off)
7648 local to window
7649 {not in Vi}
7650 {not available when compiled without the +windows
7651 feature}
7652 Keep the window width when windows are opened or closed and
7653 'equalalways' is set. Also for |CTRL-W_=|.
7654 The width may be changed anyway when running out of room.
7656 *'winminheight'* *'wmh'*
7657 'winminheight' 'wmh' number (default 1)
7658 global
7659 {not in Vi}
7660 {not available when compiled without the +windows
7661 feature}
7662 The minimal height of a window, when it's not the current window.
7663 This is a hard minimum, windows will never become smaller.
7664 When set to zero, windows may be "squashed" to zero lines (i.e. just a
7665 status bar) if necessary. They will return to at least one line when
7666 they become active (since the cursor has to have somewhere to go.)
7667 Use 'winheight' to set the minimal height of the current window.
7668 This option is only checked when making a window smaller. Don't use a
7669 large number, it will cause errors when opening more than a few
7670 windows. A value of 0 to 3 is reasonable.
7672 *'winminwidth'* *'wmw'*
7673 'winminwidth' 'wmw' number (default 1)
7674 global
7675 {not in Vi}
7676 {not available when compiled without the +vertsplit
7677 feature}
7678 The minimal width of a window, when it's not the current window.
7679 This is a hard minimum, windows will never become smaller.
7680 When set to zero, windows may be "squashed" to zero columns (i.e. just
7681 a vertical separator) if necessary. They will return to at least one
7682 line when they become active (since the cursor has to have somewhere
7683 to go.)
7684 Use 'winwidth' to set the minimal width of the current window.
7685 This option is only checked when making a window smaller. Don't use a
7686 large number, it will cause errors when opening more than a few
7687 windows. A value of 0 to 12 is reasonable.
7689 *'winwidth'* *'wiw'* *E592*
7690 'winwidth' 'wiw' number (default 20)
7691 global
7692 {not in Vi}
7693 {not available when compiled without the +vertsplit
7694 feature}
7695 Minimal number of columns for the current window. This is not a hard
7696 minimum, Vim will use fewer columns if there is not enough room. If
7697 the current window is smaller, its size is increased, at the cost of
7698 the width of other windows. Set it to 999 to make the current window
7699 always fill the screen. Set it to a small number for normal editing.
7700 The width is not adjusted after one of the commands to change the
7701 width of the current window.
7702 'winwidth' applies to the current window. Use 'winminwidth' to set
7703 the minimal width for other windows.
7705 *'wrap'* *'nowrap'*
7706 'wrap' boolean (default on)
7707 local to window
7708 {not in Vi}
7709 This option changes how text is displayed. It doesn't change the text
7710 in the buffer, see 'textwidth' for that.
7711 When on, lines longer than the width of the window will wrap and
7712 displaying continues on the next line. When off lines will not wrap
7713 and only part of long lines will be displayed. When the cursor is
7714 moved to a part that is not shown, the screen will scroll
7715 horizontally.
7716 The line will be broken in the middle of a word if necessary. See
7717 'linebreak' to get the break at a word boundary.
7718 To make scrolling horizontally a bit more useful, try this: >
7719 :set sidescroll=5
7720 :set listchars+=precedes:<,extends:>
7721 < See 'sidescroll', 'listchars' and |wrap-off|.
7723 *'wrapmargin'* *'wm'*
7724 'wrapmargin' 'wm' number (default 0)
7725 local to buffer
7726 Number of characters from the right window border where wrapping
7727 starts. When typing text beyond this limit, an <EOL> will be inserted
7728 and inserting continues on the next line.
7729 Options that add a margin, such as 'number' and 'foldcolumn', cause
7730 the text width to be further reduced. This is Vi compatible.
7731 When 'textwidth' is non-zero, this option is not used.
7732 See also 'formatoptions' and |ins-textwidth|. {Vi: works differently
7733 and less usefully}
7735 *'wrapscan'* *'ws'* *'nowrapscan'* *'nows'*
7736 'wrapscan' 'ws' boolean (default on) *E384* *E385*
7737 global
7738 Searches wrap around the end of the file. Also applies to |]s| and
7739 |[s|, searching for spelling mistakes.
7741 *'write'* *'nowrite'*
7742 'write' boolean (default on)
7743 global
7744 {not in Vi}
7745 Allows writing files. When not set, writing a file is not allowed.
7746 Can be used for a view-only mode, where modifications to the text are
7747 still allowed. Can be reset with the |-m| or |-M| command line
7748 argument. Filtering text is still possible, even though this requires
7749 writing a temporary file.
7751 *'writeany'* *'wa'* *'nowriteany'* *'nowa'*
7752 'writeany' 'wa' boolean (default off)
7753 global
7754 Allows writing to any file with no need for "!" override.
7756 *'writebackup'* *'wb'* *'nowritebackup'* *'nowb'*
7757 'writebackup' 'wb' boolean (default on with |+writebackup| feature, off
7758 otherwise)
7759 global
7760 {not in Vi}
7761 Make a backup before overwriting a file. The backup is removed after
7762 the file was successfully written, unless the 'backup' option is
7763 also on. Reset this option if your file system is almost full. See
7764 |backup-table| for another explanation.
7765 When the 'backupskip' pattern matches, a backup is not made anyway.
7766 NOTE: This option is set to the default value when 'compatible' is
7767 set.
7769 *'writedelay'* *'wd'*
7770 'writedelay' 'wd' number (default 0)
7771 global
7772 {not in Vi}
7773 The number of microseconds to wait for each character sent to the
7774 screen. When non-zero, characters are sent to the terminal one by
7775 one. For MS-DOS pcterm this does not work. For debugging purposes.
7777 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: