| blob | c37394559af321f5edd4ebe409bde262c6e8ee2d |
1 *various.txt* For Vim version 7.1. Last change: 2008 Jun 08
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
7 Various commands *various*
9 1. Various commands |various-cmds|
10 2. Online help |online-help|
11 3. Using Vim like less or more |less|
13 ==============================================================================
14 1. Various commands *various-cmds*
16 *CTRL-L*
17 CTRL-L Clear and redraw the screen. The redraw may happen
18 later, after processing typeahead.
20 *:redr* *:redraw*
21 :redr[aw][!] Redraw the screen right now. When ! is included it is
22 cleared first.
23 Useful to update the screen halfway executing a script
24 or function. Also when halfway a mapping and
25 'lazyredraw' is set.
27 *:redraws* *:redrawstatus*
28 :redraws[tatus][!] Redraw the status line of the current window. When !
29 is included all status lines are redrawn.
30 Useful to update the status line(s) when 'statusline'
31 includes an item that doesn't cause automatic
32 updating.
34 *N<Del>*
35 <Del> When entering a number: Remove the last digit.
36 Note: if you like to use <BS> for this, add this
37 mapping to your .vimrc: >
38 :map CTRL-V <BS> CTRL-V <Del>
39 < See |:fixdel| if your <Del> key does not do what you
40 want.
42 :as[cii] or *ga* *:as* *:ascii*
43 ga Print the ascii value of the character under the
44 cursor in decimal, hexadecimal and octal. For
45 example, when the cursor is on a 'R':
46 <R> 82, Hex 52, Octal 122 ~
47 When the character is a non-standard ASCII character,
48 but printable according to the 'isprint' option, the
49 non-printable version is also given. When the
50 character is larger than 127, the <M-x> form is also
51 printed. For example:
52 <~A> <M-^A> 129, Hex 81, Octal 201 ~
53 <p> <|~> <M-~> 254, Hex fe, Octal 376 ~
54 (where <p> is a special character)
55 The <Nul> character in a file is stored internally as
56 <NL>, but it will be shown as:
57 <^@> 0, Hex 00, Octal 000 ~
58 If the character has composing characters these are
59 also shown. The value of 'maxcombine' doesn't matter.
60 Mnemonic: Get Ascii value. {not in Vi}
62 *g8*
63 g8 Print the hex values of the bytes used in the
64 character under the cursor, assuming it is in |UTF-8|
65 encoding. This also shows composing characters. The
66 value of 'maxcombine' doesn't matter.
67 Example of a character with two composing characters:
68 e0 b8 81 + e0 b8 b9 + e0 b9 89 ~
69 {not in Vi} {only when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
70 feature}
72 *8g8*
73 8g8 Find an illegal UTF-8 byte sequence at or after the
74 cursor. This works in two situations:
75 1. when 'encoding' is any 8-bit encoding
76 2. when 'encoding' is "utf-8" and 'fileencoding' is
77 any 8-bit encoding
78 Thus it can be used when editing a file that was
79 supposed to be UTF-8 but was read as if it is an 8-bit
80 encoding because it contains illegal bytes.
81 Does not wrap around the end of the file.
82 Note that when the cursor is on an illegal byte or the
83 cursor is halfway a multi-byte character the command
84 won't move the cursor.
85 {not in Vi} {only when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
86 feature}
88 *:p* *:pr* *:print* *E749*
89 :[range]p[rint] [flags]
90 Print [range] lines (default current line).
91 Note: If you are looking for a way to print your text
92 on paper see |:hardcopy|. In the GUI you can use the
93 File.Print menu entry.
94 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
96 :[range]p[rint] {count} [flags]
97 Print {count} lines, starting with [range] (default
98 current line |cmdline-ranges|).
99 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
101 *:P* *:Print*
102 :[range]P[rint] [count] [flags]
103 Just as ":print". Was apparently added to Vi for
104 people that keep the shift key pressed too long...
105 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
107 *:l* *:list*
108 :[range]l[ist] [count] [flags]
109 Same as :print, but display unprintable characters
110 with '^' and put $ after the line.
111 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
113 *:nu* *:number*
114 :[range]nu[mber] [count] [flags]
115 Same as :print, but precede each line with its line
116 number. (See also 'highlight' and 'numberwidth'
117 option).
118 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
120 *:#*
121 :[range]# [count] [flags]
122 synonym for :number.
124 *:#!*
125 :#!{anything} Ignored, so that you can start a Vim script with: >
126 #!vim -S
127 echo "this is a Vim script"
128 quit
129 <
130 *:z* *E144*
131 :{range}z[+-^.=]{count} Display several lines of text surrounding the line
132 specified with {range}, or around the current line
133 if there is no {range}. If there is a {count}, that's
134 how many lines you'll see; if there is only one window
135 then the 'window' option is used, otherwise the
136 current window size is used.
138 :z can be used either alone or followed by any of
139 several punctuation marks. These have the following
140 effect:
142 mark first line last line new location ~
143 ---- ---------- --------- ------------
144 + current line 1 scr forward 1 scr forward
145 - 1 scr back current line current line
146 ^ 2 scr back 1 scr back 1 scr back
147 . 1/2 scr back 1/2 scr fwd 1/2 scr fwd
148 = 1/2 scr back 1/2 scr fwd current line
150 Specifying no mark at all is the same as "+".
151 If the mark is "=", a line of dashes is printed
152 around the current line.
154 :{range}z#[+-^.=]{count} *:z#*
155 Like ":z", but number the lines.
156 {not in all versions of Vi, not with these arguments}
158 *:=*
159 := [flags] Print the last line number.
160 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
162 :{range}= [flags] Prints the last line number in {range}. For example,
163 this prints the current line number: >
164 :.=
165 < See |ex-flags| for [flags].
167 :norm[al][!] {commands} *:norm* *:normal*
168 Execute Normal mode commands {commands}. This makes
169 it possible to execute Normal mode commands typed on
170 the command-line. {commands} is executed like it is
171 typed. For undo all commands are undone together.
172 Execution stops when an error is encountered.
173 If the [!] is given, mappings will not be used.
174 {commands} should be a complete command. If
175 {commands} does not finish a command, the last one
176 will be aborted as if <Esc> or <C-C> was typed.
177 The display isn't updated while ":normal" is busy.
178 This implies that an insert command must be completed
179 (to start Insert mode, see |:startinsert|). A ":"
180 command must be completed as well. And you can't use
181 "Q" or "gQ" to start Ex mode.
182 {commands} cannot start with a space. Put a 1 (one)
183 before it, 1 space is one space.
184 The 'insertmode' option is ignored for {commands}.
185 This command cannot be followed by another command,
186 since any '|' is considered part of the command.
187 This command can be used recursively, but the depth is
188 limited by 'maxmapdepth'.
189 When this command is called from a non-remappable
190 mapping |:noremap|, the argument can be mapped anyway.
191 An alternative is to use |:execute|, which uses an
192 expression as argument. This allows the use of
193 printable characters. Example: >
194 :exe "normal \<c-w>\<c-w>"
195 < {not in Vi, of course}
196 {not available when the |+ex_extra| feature was
197 disabled at compile time}
199 :{range}norm[al][!] {commands} *:normal-range*
200 Execute Normal mode commands {commands} for each line
201 in the {range}. Before executing the {commands}, the
202 cursor is positioned in the first column of the range,
203 for each line. Otherwise it's the same as the
204 ":normal" command without a range.
205 {not in Vi}
206 Not available when |+ex_extra| feature was disabled at
207 compile time.
209 *:sh* *:shell* *E371*
210 :sh[ell] This command starts a shell. When the shell exits
211 (after the "exit" command) you return to Vim. The
212 name for the shell command comes from 'shell' option.
213 *E360*
214 Note: This doesn't work when Vim on the Amiga was
215 started in QuickFix mode from a compiler, because the
216 compiler will have set stdin to a non-interactive
217 mode.
219 *:!cmd* *:!* *E34*
220 :!{cmd} Execute {cmd} with the shell. See also the 'shell'
221 and 'shelltype' option.
222 Any '!' in {cmd} is replaced with the previous
223 external command (see also 'cpoptions'). But not when
224 there is a backslash before the '!', then that
225 backslash is removed. Example: ":!ls" followed by
226 ":!echo ! \! \\!" executes "echo ls ! \!".
227 After the command has been executed, the timestamp of
228 the current file is checked |timestamp|.
229 A '|' in {cmd} is passed to the shell, you cannot use
230 it to append a Vim command. See |:bar|.
231 A newline character ends {cmd}, what follows is
232 interpreted as a following ":" command. However, if
233 there is a backslash before the newline it is removed
234 and {cmd} continues. It doesn't matter how many
235 backslashes are before the newline, only one is
236 removed.
237 On Unix the command normally runs in a non-interactive
238 shell. If you want an interactive shell to be used
239 (to use aliases) set 'shellcmdflag' to "-ic".
240 For Win32 also see |:!start|.
241 Vim redraws the screen after the command is finished,
242 because it may have printed any text. This requires a
243 hit-enter prompt, so that you can read any messages.
244 To avoid this use: >
245 :silent !{cmd}
246 < The screen is not redrawn then, thus you have to use
247 CTRL-L or ":redraw!" if the command did display
248 something.
249 Also see |shell-window|.
251 *:!!*
252 :!! Repeat last ":!{cmd}".
254 *:ve* *:version*
255 :ve[rsion] Print the version number of the editor. If the
256 compiler used understands "__DATE__" the compilation
257 date is mentioned. Otherwise a fixed release-date is
258 shown.
259 The following lines contain information about which
260 features were enabled when Vim was compiled. When
261 there is a preceding '+', the feature is included,
262 when there is a '-' it is excluded. To change this,
263 you have to edit feature.h and recompile Vim.
264 To check for this in an expression, see |has()|.
265 Here is an overview of the features.
266 The first column shows the smallest version in which
267 they are included:
268 T tiny
269 S small
270 N normal
271 B big
272 H huge
273 m manually enabled or depends on other features
274 (none) system dependent
275 Thus if a feature is marked with "N", it is included
276 in the normal, big and huge versions of Vim.
278 *+feature-list*
279 *+ARP* Amiga only: ARP support included
280 B *+arabic* |Arabic| language support
281 N *+autocmd* |:autocmd|, automatic commands
282 m *+balloon_eval* |balloon-eval| support. Included when compiling with
283 supported GUI (Motif, GTK, GUI) and either
284 Netbeans/Sun Workshop integration or |+eval| feature.
285 N *+browse* |:browse| command
286 N *+builtin_terms* some terminals builtin |builtin-terms|
287 B *++builtin_terms* maximal terminals builtin |builtin-terms|
288 N *+byte_offset* support for 'o' flag in 'statusline' option, "go"
289 and ":goto" commands.
290 N *+cindent* |'cindent'|, C indenting
291 N *+clientserver* Unix and Win32: Remote invocation |clientserver|
292 *+clipboard* |clipboard| support
293 N *+cmdline_compl* command line completion |cmdline-completion|
294 N *+cmdline_hist* command line history |cmdline-history|
295 N *+cmdline_info* |'showcmd'| and |'ruler'|
296 N *+comments* |'comments'| support
297 N *+cryptv* encryption support |encryption|
298 B *+cscope* |cscope| support
299 m *+cursorshape* |termcap-cursor-shape| support
300 m *+debug* Compiled for debugging.
301 N *+dialog_gui* Support for |:confirm| with GUI dialog.
302 N *+dialog_con* Support for |:confirm| with console dialog.
303 N *+dialog_con_gui* Support for |:confirm| with GUI and console dialog.
304 N *+diff* |vimdiff| and 'diff'
305 N *+digraphs* |digraphs| *E196*
306 *+dnd* Support for DnD into the "~ register |quote_~|.
307 B *+emacs_tags* |emacs-tags| files
308 N *+eval* expression evaluation |eval.txt|
309 N *+ex_extra* Vim's extra Ex commands: |:center|, |:left|,
310 |:normal|, |:retab| and |:right|
311 N *+extra_search* |'hlsearch'| and |'incsearch'| options.
312 B *+farsi* |farsi| language
313 N *+file_in_path* |gf|, |CTRL-W_f| and |<cfile>|
314 N *+find_in_path* include file searches: |[I|, |:isearch|,
315 |CTRL-W_CTRL-I|, |:checkpath|, etc.
316 N *+folding* |folding|
317 *+footer* |gui-footer|
318 *+fork* Unix only: |fork| shell commands
319 *+float* Floating point support
320 N *+gettext* message translations |multi-lang|
321 *+GUI_Athena* Unix only: Athena |GUI|
322 *+GUI_neXtaw* Unix only: neXtaw |GUI|
323 *+GUI_GTK* Unix only: GTK+ |GUI|
324 *+GUI_Motif* Unix only: Motif |GUI|
325 *+GUI_Photon* QNX only: Photon |GUI|
326 m *+hangul_input* Hangul input support |hangul|
327 *+iconv* Compiled with the |iconv()| function
328 *+iconv/dyn* Likewise |iconv-dynamic| |/dyn|
329 N *+insert_expand* |insert_expand| Insert mode completion
330 N *+jumplist* |jumplist|
331 B *+keymap* |'keymap'|
332 B *+langmap* |'langmap'|
333 N *+libcall* |libcall()|
334 N *+linebreak* |'linebreak'|, |'breakat'| and |'showbreak'|
335 N *+lispindent* |'lisp'|
336 N *+listcmds* Vim commands for the list of buffers |buffer-hidden|
337 and argument list |:argdelete|
338 N *+localmap* Support for mappings local to a buffer |:map-local|
339 N *+menu* |:menu|
340 N *+mksession* |:mksession|
341 N *+modify_fname* |filename-modifiers|
342 N *+mouse* Mouse handling |mouse-using|
343 N *+mouseshape* |'mouseshape'|
344 B *+mouse_dec* Unix only: Dec terminal mouse handling |dec-mouse|
345 N *+mouse_gpm* Unix only: Linux console mouse handling |gpm-mouse|
346 B *+mouse_netterm* Unix only: netterm mouse handling |netterm-mouse|
347 N *+mouse_pterm* QNX only: pterm mouse handling |qnx-terminal|
348 N *+mouse_xterm* Unix only: xterm mouse handling |xterm-mouse|
349 B *+multi_byte* Korean and other languages |multibyte|
350 *+multi_byte_ime* Win32 input method for multibyte chars |multibyte-ime|
351 N *+multi_lang* non-English language support |multi-lang|
352 m *+mzscheme* Mzscheme interface |mzscheme|
353 m *+mzscheme/dyn* Mzscheme interface |mzscheme-dynamic| |/dyn|
354 m *+netbeans_intg* |netbeans|
355 m *+ole* Win32 GUI only: |ole-interface|
356 *+osfiletype* Support for the 'osfiletype' option and filetype
357 checking in automatic commands. |autocmd-osfiletypes|
358 N *+path_extra* Up/downwards search in 'path' and 'tags'
359 m *+perl* Perl interface |perl|
360 m *+perl/dyn* Perl interface |perl-dynamic| |/dyn|
361 *+postscript* |:hardcopy| writes a PostScript file
362 N *+printer* |:hardcopy| command
363 H *+profile* |:profile| command
364 m *+python* Python interface |python|
365 m *+python/dyn* Python interface |python-dynamic| |/dyn|
366 N *+quickfix* |:make| and |quickfix| commands
367 N *+reltime* |reltime()| function, 'hlsearch'/'incsearch' timeout,
368 'redrawtime' option
369 B *+rightleft* Right to left typing |'rightleft'|
370 m *+ruby* Ruby interface |ruby|
371 m *+ruby/dyn* Ruby interface |ruby-dynamic| |/dyn|
372 N *+scrollbind* |'scrollbind'|
373 B *+signs* |:sign|
374 N *+smartindent* |'smartindent'|
375 m *+sniff* SniFF interface |sniff|
376 N *+statusline* Options 'statusline', 'rulerformat' and special
377 formats of 'titlestring' and 'iconstring'
378 m *+sun_workshop* |workshop|
379 N *+syntax* Syntax highlighting |syntax|
380 *+system()* Unix only: opposite of |+fork|
381 N *+tag_binary* binary searching in tags file |tag-binary-search|
382 N *+tag_old_static* old method for static tags |tag-old-static|
383 m *+tag_any_white* any white space allowed in tags file |tag-any-white|
384 m *+tcl* Tcl interface |tcl|
385 m *+tcl/dyn* Tcl interface |tcl-dynamic| |/dyn|
386 *+terminfo* uses |terminfo| instead of termcap
387 N *+termresponse* support for |t_RV| and |v:termresponse|
388 N *+textobjects* |text-objects| selection
389 *+tgetent* non-Unix only: able to use external termcap
390 N *+title* Setting the window 'title' and 'icon'
391 N *+toolbar* |gui-toolbar|
392 N *+user_commands* User-defined commands. |user-commands|
393 N *+viminfo* |'viminfo'|
394 N *+vertsplit* Vertically split windows |:vsplit|
395 N *+virtualedit* |'virtualedit'|
396 S *+visual* Visual mode |Visual-mode|
397 N *+visualextra* extra Visual mode commands |blockwise-operators|
398 N *+vreplace* |gR| and |gr|
399 N *+wildignore* |'wildignore'|
400 N *+wildmenu* |'wildmenu'|
401 S *+windows* more than one window
402 m *+writebackup* |'writebackup'| is default on
403 m *+xim* X input method |xim|
404 *+xfontset* X fontset support |xfontset|
405 *+xsmp* XSMP (X session management) support
406 *+xsmp_interact* interactive XSMP (X session management) support
407 N *+xterm_clipboard* Unix only: xterm clipboard handling
408 m *+xterm_save* save and restore xterm screen |xterm-screens|
409 N *+X11* Unix only: can restore window title |X11|
411 */dyn* *E370* *E448*
412 To some of the features "/dyn" is added when the
413 feature is only available when the related library can
414 be dynamically loaded.
416 :ve[rsion] {nr} Is now ignored. This was previously used to check the
417 version number of a .vimrc file. It was removed,
418 because you can now use the ":if" command for
419 version-dependent behavior. {not in Vi}
421 *:redi* *:redir*
422 :redi[r][!] > {file} Redirect messages to file {file}. The messages which
423 are the output of commands are written to that file,
424 until redirection ends. The messages are also still
425 shown on the screen. When [!] is included, an
426 existing file is overwritten. When [!] is omitted,
427 and {file} exists, this command fails.
428 Only one ":redir" can be active at a time. Calls to
429 ":redir" will close any active redirection before
430 starting redirection to the new target.
431 To stop the messages and commands from being echoed to
432 the screen, put the commands in a function and call it
433 with ":silent call Function()".
434 An alternative is to use the 'verbosefile' option,
435 this can be used in combination with ":redir".
436 {not in Vi}
438 :redi[r] >> {file} Redirect messages to file {file}. Append if {file}
439 already exists. {not in Vi}
441 :redi[r] @{a-zA-Z}
442 :redi[r] @{a-zA-Z}> Redirect messages to register {a-z}. Append to the
443 contents of the register if its name is given
444 uppercase {A-Z}. The ">" after the register name is
445 optional. {not in Vi}
446 :redi[r] @{a-z}>> Append messages to register {a-z}. {not in Vi}
448 :redi[r] @*>
449 :redi[r] @+> Redirect messages to the selection or clipboard. For
450 backward compatibility, the ">" after the register
451 name can be omitted. See |quotestar| and |quoteplus|.
452 {not in Vi}
453 :redi[r] @*>>
454 :redi[r] @+>> Append messages to the selection or clipboard.
455 {not in Vi}
457 :redi[r] @"> Redirect messages to the unnamed register. For
458 backward compatibility, the ">" after the register
459 name can be omitted. {not in Vi}
460 :redi[r] @">> Append messages to the unnamed register. {not in Vi}
462 :redi[r] => {var} Redirect messages to a variable. If the variable
463 doesn't exist, then it is created. If the variable
464 exists, then it is initialized to an empty string.
465 The variable will remain empty until redirection ends.
466 Only string variables can be used. After the
467 redirection starts, if the variable is removed or
468 locked or the variable type is changed, then further
469 command output messages will cause errors. {not in Vi}
471 :redi[r] =>> {var} Append messages to an existing variable. Only string
472 variables can be used. {not in Vi}
474 :redi[r] END End redirecting messages. {not in Vi}
476 *:sil* *:silent*
477 :sil[ent][!] {command} Execute {command} silently. Normal messages will not
478 be given or added to the message history.
479 When [!] is added, error messages will also be
480 skipped, and commands and mappings will not be aborted
481 when an error is detected. |v:errmsg| is still set.
482 When [!] is not used, an error message will cause
483 further messages to be displayed normally.
484 Redirection, started with |:redir|, will continue as
485 usual, although there might be small differences.
486 This will allow redirecting the output of a command
487 without seeing it on the screen. Example: >
488 :redir >/tmp/foobar
489 :silent g/Aap/p
490 :redir END
491 < To execute a Normal mode command silently, use the
492 |:normal| command. For example, to search for a
493 string without messages: >
494 :silent exe "normal /path\<CR>"
495 < ":silent!" is useful to execute a command that may
496 fail, but the failure is to be ignored. Example: >
497 :let v:errmsg = ""
498 :silent! /^begin
499 :if v:errmsg != ""
500 : ... pattern was not found
501 < ":silent" will also avoid the hit-enter prompt. When
502 using this for an external command, this may cause the
503 screen to be messed up. Use |CTRL-L| to clean it up
504 then.
505 ":silent menu ..." defines a menu that will not echo a
506 Command-line command. The command will still produce
507 messages though. Use ":silent" in the command itself
508 to avoid that: ":silent menu .... :silent command".
510 *:verb* *:verbose*
511 :[count]verb[ose] {command}
512 Execute {command} with 'verbose' set to [count]. If
513 [count] is omitted one is used. ":0verbose" can be
514 used to set 'verbose' to zero.
515 The additional use of ":silent" makes messages
516 generated but not displayed.
517 The combination of ":silent" and ":verbose" can be
518 used to generate messages and check them with
519 |v:statusmsg| and friends. For example: >
520 :let v:statusmsg = ""
521 :silent verbose runtime foobar.vim
522 :if v:statusmsg != ""
523 : " foobar.vim could not be found
524 :endif
525 < When concatenating another command, the ":verbose"
526 only applies to the first one: >
527 :4verbose set verbose | set verbose
528 < verbose=4 ~
529 verbose=0 ~
530 For logging verbose messages in a file use the
531 'verbosefile' option.
533 *:verbose-cmd*
534 When 'verbose' is non-zero, listing the value of a Vim option or a key map or
535 an abbreviation or a user-defined function or a command or a highlight group
536 or an autocommand will also display where it was last defined. If it was
537 defined manually then there will be no "Last set" message. When it was
538 defined while executing a function, user command or autocommand, the script in
539 which it was defined is reported.
540 {not available when compiled without the +eval feature}
542 *K*
543 K Run a program to lookup the keyword under the
544 cursor. The name of the program is given with the
545 'keywordprg' (kp) option (default is "man"). The
546 keyword is formed of letters, numbers and the
547 characters in 'iskeyword'. The keyword under or
548 right of the cursor is used. The same can be done
549 with the command >
550 :!{program} {keyword}
551 < There is an example of a program to use in the tools
552 directory of Vim. It is called 'ref' and does a
553 simple spelling check.
554 Special cases:
555 - If 'keywordprg' is empty, the ":help" command is
556 used. It's a good idea to include more characters
557 in 'iskeyword' then, to be able to find more help.
558 - When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man", a count before
559 "K" is inserted after the "man" command and before
560 the keyword. For example, using "2K" while the
561 cursor is on "mkdir", results in: >
562 !man 2 mkdir
563 < - When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man -s", a count
564 before "K" is inserted after the "-s". If there is
565 no count, the "-s" is removed.
566 {not in Vi}
568 *v_K*
569 {Visual}K Like "K", but use the visually highlighted text for
570 the keyword. Only works when the highlighted text is
571 not more than one line. {not in Vi}
573 [N]gs *gs* *:sl* *:sleep*
574 :[N]sl[eep] [N] [m] Do nothing for [N] seconds. When [m] is included,
575 sleep for [N] milliseconds. The count for "gs" always
576 uses seconds. The default is one second. >
577 :sleep "sleep for one second
578 :5sleep "sleep for five seconds
579 :sleep 100m "sleep for a hundred milliseconds
580 10gs "sleep for ten seconds
581 < Can be interrupted with CTRL-C (CTRL-Break on MS-DOS).
582 "gs" stands for "goto sleep".
583 While sleeping the cursor is positioned in the text,
584 if at a visible position. {not in Vi}
586 *g_CTRL-A*
587 g CTRL-A Only when Vim was compiled with MEM_PROFILING defined
588 (which is very rare): print memory usage statistics.
589 Only useful for debugging Vim.
591 ==============================================================================
592 2. Online help *online-help*
594 *help* *<Help>* *:h* *:help* *<F1>* *i_<F1>* *i_<Help>*
595 <Help> or
596 :h[elp] Open a window and display the help file in read-only
597 mode. If there is a help window open already, use
598 that one. Otherwise, if the current window uses the
599 full width of the screen or is at least 80 characters
600 wide, the help window will appear just above the
601 current window. Otherwise the new window is put at
602 the very top.
603 The 'helplang' option is used to select a language, if
604 the main help file is available in several languages.
605 {not in Vi}
607 *{subject}* *E149* *E661*
608 :h[elp] {subject} Like ":help", additionally jump to the tag {subject}.
609 {subject} can include wildcards like "*", "?" and
610 "[a-z]":
611 :help z? jump to help for any "z" command
612 :help z. jump to the help for "z."
613 If there is no full match for the pattern, or there
614 are several matches, the "best" match will be used.
615 A sophisticated algorithm is used to decide which
616 match is better than another one. These items are
617 considered in the computation:
618 - A match with same case is much better than a match
619 with different case.
620 - A match that starts after a non-alphanumeric
621 character is better than a match in the middle of a
622 word.
623 - A match at or near the beginning of the tag is
624 better than a match further on.
625 - The more alphanumeric characters match, the better.
626 - The shorter the length of the match, the better.
628 The 'helplang' option is used to select a language, if
629 the {subject} is available in several languages.
630 To find a tag in a specific language, append "@ab",
631 where "ab" is the two-letter language code. See
632 |help-translated|.
634 Note that the longer the {subject} you give, the less
635 matches will be found. You can get an idea how this
636 all works by using commandline completion (type CTRL-D
637 after ":help subject").
638 If there are several matches, you can have them listed
639 by hitting CTRL-D. Example: >
640 :help cont<Ctrl-D>
641 < To use a regexp |pattern|, first do ":help" and then
642 use ":tag {pattern}" in the help window. The
643 ":tnext" command can then be used to jump to other
644 matches, "tselect" to list matches and choose one. >
645 :help index| :tse z.
646 < This command can be followed by '|' and another
647 command, but you don't need to escape the '|' inside a
648 help command. So these both work: >
649 :help |
650 :help k| only
651 < Note that a space before the '|' is seen as part of
652 the ":help" argument.
653 You can also use <LF> or <CR> to separate the help
654 command from a following command. You need to type
655 CTRL-V first to insert the <LF> or <CR>. Example: >
656 :help so<C-V><CR>only
657 < {not in Vi}
659 :h[elp]! [subject] Like ":help", but in non-English help files prefer to
660 find a tag in a file with the same language as the
661 current file. See |help-translated|.
663 *:helpg* *:helpgrep*
664 :helpg[rep] {pattern}[@xx]
665 Search all help text files and make a list of lines
666 in which {pattern} matches. Jumps to the first match.
667 The optional [@xx] specifies that only matches in the
668 "xx" language are to be found.
669 You can navigate through the matches with the
670 |quickfix| commands, e.g., |:cnext| to jump to the
671 next one. Or use |:cwindow| to get the list of
672 matches in the quickfix window.
673 {pattern} is used as a Vim regexp |pattern|.
674 'ignorecase' is not used, add "\c" to ignore case.
675 Example for case sensitive search: >
676 :helpgrep Uganda
677 < Example for case ignoring search: >
678 :helpgrep uganda\c
679 < Example for searching in French help: >
680 :helpgrep backspace@fr
681 < The pattern does not support line breaks, it must
682 match within one line. You can use |:grep| instead,
683 but then you need to get the list of help files in a
684 complicated way.
685 Cannot be followed by another command, everything is
686 used as part of the pattern. But you can use
687 |:execute| when needed.
688 Compressed help files will not be searched (Fedora
689 compresses the help files).
690 {not in Vi}
692 *:lh* *:lhelpgrep*
693 :lh[elpgrep] {pattern}[@xx]
694 Same as ":helpgrep", except the location list is used
695 instead of the quickfix list. If the help window is
696 already opened, then the location list for that window
697 is used. Otherwise, a new help window is opened and
698 the location list for that window is set. The
699 location list for the current window is not changed.
701 *:exu* *:exusage*
702 :exu[sage] Show help on Ex commands. Added to simulate the Nvi
703 command. {not in Vi}
705 *:viu* *:viusage*
706 :viu[sage] Show help on Normal mode commands. Added to simulate
707 the Nvi command. {not in Vi}
709 When no argument is given to |:help| the file given with the 'helpfile' option
710 will be opened. Otherwise the specified tag is searched for in all "doc/tags"
711 files in the directories specified in the 'runtimepath' option.
713 The initial height of the help window can be set with the 'helpheight' option
714 (default 20).
716 Jump to specific subjects by using tags. This can be done in two ways:
717 - Use the "CTRL-]" command while standing on the name of a command or option.
718 This only works when the tag is a keyword. "<C-Leftmouse>" and
719 "g<LeftMouse>" work just like "CTRL-]".
720 - use the ":ta {subject}" command. This also works with non-keyword
721 characters.
723 Use CTRL-T or CTRL-O to jump back.
724 Use ":q" to close the help window.
726 If there are several matches for an item you are looking for, this is how you
727 can jump to each one of them:
728 1. Open a help window
729 2. Use the ":tag" command with a slash prepended to the tag. E.g.: >
730 :tag /min
731 3. Use ":tnext" to jump to the next matching tag.
733 It is possible to add help files for plugins and other items. You don't need
734 to change the distributed help files for that. See |add-local-help|.
736 To write a local help file, see |write-local-help|.
738 Note that the title lines from the local help files are automagically added to
739 the "LOCAL ADDITIONS" section in the "help.txt" help file |local-additions|.
740 This is done when viewing the file in Vim, the file itself is not changed. It
741 is done by going through all help files and obtaining the first line of each
742 file. The files in $VIMRUNTIME/doc are skipped.
744 *help-xterm-window*
745 If you want to have the help in another xterm window, you could use this
746 command: >
747 :!xterm -e vim +help &
748 <
750 *:helpfind* *:helpf*
751 :helpf[ind] Like |:help|, but use a dialog to enter the argument.
752 Only for backwards compatibility. It now executes the
753 ToolBar.FindHelp menu entry instead of using a builtin
754 dialog. {only when compiled with |+GUI_GTK|}
755 < {not in Vi}
757 *:helpt* *:helptags*
758 *E154* *E150* *E151* *E152* *E153* *E670*
759 :helpt[ags] [++t] {dir}
760 Generate the help tags file(s) for directory {dir}.
761 All "*.txt" and "*.??x" files in the directory are
762 scanned for a help tag definition in between stars.
763 The "*.??x" files are for translated docs, they
764 generate the "tags-??" file, see |help-translated|.
765 The generated tags files are sorted.
766 When there are duplicates an error message is given.
767 An existing tags file is silently overwritten.
768 The optional "++t" argument forces adding the
769 "help-tags" tag. This is also done when the {dir} is
770 equal to $VIMRUNTIME/doc.
771 To rebuild the help tags in the runtime directory
772 (requires write permission there): >
773 :helptags $VIMRUNTIME/doc
774 < {not in Vi}
777 TRANSLATED HELP *help-translated*
779 It is possible to add translated help files, next to the original English help
780 files. Vim will search for all help in "doc" directories in 'runtimepath'.
781 This is only available when compiled with the |+multi_lang| feature.
783 At this moment translations are available for:
784 Chinese - multiple authors
785 French - translated by David Blanchet
786 Italian - translated by Antonio Colombo
787 Polish - translated by Mikolaj Machowski
788 Russian - translated by Vassily Ragosin
789 See the Vim website to find them: http://www.vim.org/translations.php
791 A set of translated help files consists of these files:
793 help.abx
794 howto.abx
795 ...
796 tags-ab
798 "ab" is the two-letter language code. Thus for Italian the names are:
800 help.itx
801 howto.itx
802 ...
803 tags-it
805 The 'helplang' option can be set to the preferred language(s). The default is
806 set according to the environment. Vim will first try to find a matching tag
807 in the preferred language(s). English is used when it cannot be found.
809 To find a tag in a specific language, append "@ab" to a tag, where "ab" is the
810 two-letter language code. Example: >
811 :he user-manual@it
812 :he user-manual@en
813 The first one finds the Italian user manual, even when 'helplang' is empty.
814 The second one finds the English user manual, even when 'helplang' is set to
815 "it".
817 When using command-line completion for the ":help" command, the "@en"
818 extention is only shown when a tag exists for multiple languages. When the
819 tag only exists for English "@en" is omitted.
821 When using |CTRL-]| or ":help!" in a non-English help file Vim will try to
822 find the tag in the same language. If not found then 'helplang' will be used
823 to select a language.
825 Help files must use latin1 or utf-8 encoding. Vim assumes the encoding is
826 utf-8 when finding non-ASCII characters in the first line. Thus you must
827 translate the header with "For Vim version".
829 The same encoding must be used for the help files of one language in one
830 directory. You can use a different encoding for different languages and use
831 a different encoding for help files of the same language but in a different
832 directory.
834 Hints for translators:
835 - Do not translate the tags. This makes it possible to use 'helplang' to
836 specify the preferred language. You may add new tags in your language.
837 - When you do not translate a part of a file, add tags to the English version,
838 using the "tag@en" notation.
839 - Make a package with all the files and the tags file available for download.
840 Users can drop it in one of the "doc" directories and start use it.
841 Report this to Bram, so that he can add a link on www.vim.org.
842 - Use the |:helptags| command to generate the tags files. It will find all
843 languages in the specified directory.
845 ==============================================================================
846 3. Using Vim like less or more *less*
848 If you use the less or more program to view a file, you don't get syntax
849 highlighting. Thus you would like to use Vim instead. You can do this by
850 using the shell script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.sh".
852 This shell script uses the Vim script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.vim". It sets
853 up mappings to simulate the commands that less supports. Otherwise, you can
854 still use the Vim commands.
856 This isn't perfect. For example, when viewing a short file Vim will still use
857 the whole screen. But it works good enough for most uses, and you get syntax
858 highlighting.
860 The "h" key will give you a short overview of the available commands.
862 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: