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1 *options.txt* For Vim version 7.2. Last change: 2010 Jan 06
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.
667 "auto": Use obtained width from system.
668 {only for Win NT/2K systems, currently}
670 There are a number of CJK fonts for which the width of glyphs for
671 those characters are solely based on how many octets they take in
672 legacy/traditional CJK encodings. In those encodings, Euro,
673 Registered sign, Greek/Cyrillic letters are represented by two octets,
674 therefore those fonts have "wide" glyphs for them. This is also
675 true of some line drawing characters used to make tables in text
676 file. Therefore, when a CJK font is used for GUI Vim or
677 Vim is running inside a terminal (emulators) that uses a CJK font
678 (or Vim is run inside an xterm invoked with "-cjkwidth" option.),
679 this option should be set to "double" to match the width perceived
680 by Vim with the width of glyphs in the font. Perhaps it also has
681 to be set to "double" under CJK Windows 9x/ME or Windows 2k/XP
682 when the system locale is set to one of CJK locales. See Unicode
683 Standard Annex #11 (http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr11).
685 On some systems, we can use width for a character which defined by
686 font design. If you use such a system try "auto" for this option.
687 It will give you more nice result for a font which you select.
689 *'antialias'* *'anti'* *'noantialias'* *'noanti'*
690 'antialias' 'anti' boolean (default: off)
691 global
692 {not in Vi}
693 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled
694 on Mac OS X}
695 This option only has an effect in the GUI version of Vim on Mac OS X
696 v10.2 or later. When on, Vim will use smooth ("antialiased") fonts,
697 which can be easier to read at certain sizes on certain displays.
698 Setting this option can sometimes cause problems if 'guifont' is set
699 to its default (empty string).
701 *'autochdir'* *'acd'* *'noautochdir'* *'noacd'*
702 'autochdir' 'acd' boolean (default off)
703 global
704 {not in Vi}
705 {only available when compiled with the
706 |+netbeans_intg| or |+sun_workshop| feature}
707 When on, Vim will change the current working directory whenever you
708 open a file, switch buffers, delete a buffer or open/close a window.
709 It will change to the directory containing the file which was opened
710 or selected.
711 This option is provided for backward compatibility with the Vim
712 released with Sun ONE Studio 4 Enterprise Edition.
713 Note: When this option is on some plugins may not work.
715 *'arabic'* *'arab'* *'noarabic'* *'noarab'*
716 'arabic' 'arab' boolean (default off)
717 local to window
718 {not in Vi}
719 {only available when compiled with the |+arabic|
720 feature}
721 This option can be set to start editing Arabic text.
722 Setting this option will:
723 - Set the 'rightleft' option, unless 'termbidi' is set.
724 - Set the 'arabicshape' option, unless 'termbidi' is set.
725 - Set the 'keymap' option to "arabic"; in Insert mode CTRL-^ toggles
726 between typing English and Arabic key mapping.
727 - Set the 'delcombine' option
728 Note that 'encoding' must be "utf-8" for working with Arabic text.
730 Resetting this option will:
731 - Reset the 'rightleft' option.
732 - Disable the use of 'keymap' (without changing its value).
733 Note that 'arabicshape' and 'delcombine' are not reset (it is a global
734 option.
735 Also see |arabic.txt|.
737 *'arabicshape'* *'arshape'*
738 *'noarabicshape'* *'noarshape'*
739 'arabicshape' 'arshape' boolean (default on)
740 global
741 {not in Vi}
742 {only available when compiled with the |+arabic|
743 feature}
744 When on and 'termbidi' is off, the required visual character
745 corrections that need to take place for displaying the Arabic language
746 take affect. Shaping, in essence, gets enabled; the term is a broad
747 one which encompasses:
748 a) the changing/morphing of characters based on their location
749 within a word (initial, medial, final and stand-alone).
750 b) the enabling of the ability to compose characters
751 c) the enabling of the required combining of some characters
752 When disabled the display shows each character's true stand-alone
753 form.
754 Arabic is a complex language which requires other settings, for
755 further details see |arabic.txt|.
757 *'autoindent'* *'ai'* *'noautoindent'* *'noai'*
758 'autoindent' 'ai' boolean (default off)
759 local to buffer
760 Copy indent from current line when starting a new line (typing <CR>
761 in Insert mode or when using the "o" or "O" command). If you do not
762 type anything on the new line except <BS> or CTRL-D and then type
763 <Esc>, CTRL-O or <CR>, the indent is deleted again. Moving the cursor
764 to another line has the same effect, unless the 'I' flag is included
765 in 'cpoptions'.
766 When autoindent is on, formatting (with the "gq" command or when you
767 reach 'textwidth' in Insert mode) uses the indentation of the first
768 line.
769 When 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is on the indent is changed in
770 a different way.
771 The 'autoindent' option is reset when the 'paste' option is set.
772 {small difference from Vi: After the indent is deleted when typing
773 <Esc> or <CR>, the cursor position when moving up or down is after the
774 deleted indent; Vi puts the cursor somewhere in the deleted indent}.
776 *'autoread'* *'ar'* *'noautoread'* *'noar'*
777 'autoread' 'ar' boolean (default off)
778 global or local to buffer |global-local|
779 {not in Vi}
780 When a file has been detected to have been changed outside of Vim and
781 it has not been changed inside of Vim, automatically read it again.
782 When the file has been deleted this is not done. |timestamp|
783 If this option has a local value, use this command to switch back to
784 using the global value: >
785 :set autoread<
786 <
787 *'autowrite'* *'aw'* *'noautowrite'* *'noaw'*
788 'autowrite' 'aw' boolean (default off)
789 global
790 Write the contents of the file, if it has been modified, on each
791 :next, :rewind, :last, :first, :previous, :stop, :suspend, :tag, :!,
792 :make, CTRL-] and CTRL-^ command; and when a :buffer, CTRL-O, CTRL-I,
793 '{A-Z0-9}, or `{A-Z0-9} command takes one to another file.
794 Note that for some commands the 'autowrite' option is not used, see
795 'autowriteall' for that.
797 *'autowriteall'* *'awa'* *'noautowriteall'* *'noawa'*
798 'autowriteall' 'awa' boolean (default off)
799 global
800 {not in Vi}
801 Like 'autowrite', but also used for commands ":edit", ":enew", ":quit",
802 ":qall", ":exit", ":xit", ":recover" and closing the Vim window.
803 Setting this option also implies that Vim behaves like 'autowrite' has
804 been set.
806 *'background'* *'bg'*
807 'background' 'bg' string (default "dark" or "light")
808 global
809 {not in Vi}
810 When set to "dark", Vim will try to use colors that look good on a
811 dark background. When set to "light", Vim will try to use colors that
812 look good on a light background. Any other value is illegal.
813 Vim tries to set the default value according to the terminal used.
814 This will not always be correct.
815 Setting this option does not change the background color, it tells Vim
816 what the background color looks like. For changing the background
817 color, see |:hi-normal|.
819 When 'background' is set Vim will adjust the default color groups for
820 the new value. But the colors used for syntax highlighting will not
821 change. *g:colors_name*
822 When a color scheme is loaded (the "g:colors_name" variable is set)
823 setting 'background' will cause the color scheme to be reloaded. If
824 the color scheme adjusts to the value of 'background' this will work.
825 However, if the color scheme sets 'background' itself the effect may
826 be undone. First delete the "g:colors_name" variable when needed.
828 When setting 'background' to the default value with: >
829 :set background&
830 < Vim will guess the value. In the GUI this should work correctly,
831 in other cases Vim might not be able to guess the right value.
833 When starting the GUI, the default value for 'background' will be
834 "light". When the value is not set in the .gvimrc, and Vim detects
835 that the background is actually quite dark, 'background' is set to
836 "dark". But this happens only AFTER the .gvimrc file has been read
837 (because the window needs to be opened to find the actual background
838 color). To get around this, force the GUI window to be opened by
839 putting a ":gui" command in the .gvimrc file, before where the value
840 of 'background' is used (e.g., before ":syntax on").
841 Normally this option would be set in the .vimrc file. Possibly
842 depending on the terminal name. Example: >
843 :if &term == "pcterm"
844 : set background=dark
845 :endif
846 < When this option is set, the default settings for the highlight groups
847 will change. To use other settings, place ":highlight" commands AFTER
848 the setting of the 'background' option.
849 This option is also used in the "$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim" file
850 to select the colors for syntax highlighting. After changing this
851 option, you must load syntax.vim again to see the result. This can be
852 done with ":syntax on".
854 *'backspace'* *'bs'*
855 'backspace' 'bs' string (default "")
856 global
857 {not in Vi}
858 Influences the working of <BS>, <Del>, CTRL-W and CTRL-U in Insert
859 mode. This is a list of items, separated by commas. Each item allows
860 a way to backspace over something:
861 value effect ~
862 indent allow backspacing over autoindent
863 eol allow backspacing over line breaks (join lines)
864 start allow backspacing over the start of insert; CTRL-W and CTRL-U
865 stop once at the start of insert.
867 When the value is empty, Vi compatible backspacing is used.
869 For backwards compatibility with version 5.4 and earlier:
870 value effect ~
871 0 same as ":set backspace=" (Vi compatible)
872 1 same as ":set backspace=indent,eol"
873 2 same as ":set backspace=indent,eol,start"
875 See |:fixdel| if your <BS> or <Del> key does not do what you want.
876 NOTE: This option is set to "" when 'compatible' is set.
878 *'backup'* *'bk'* *'nobackup'* *'nobk'*
879 'backup' 'bk' boolean (default off)
880 global
881 {not in Vi}
882 Make a backup before overwriting a file. Leave it around after the
883 file has been successfully written. If you do not want to keep the
884 backup file, but you do want a backup while the file is being
885 written, reset this option and set the 'writebackup' option (this is
886 the default). If you do not want a backup file at all reset both
887 options (use this if your file system is almost full). See the
888 |backup-table| for more explanations.
889 When the 'backupskip' pattern matches, a backup is not made anyway.
890 When 'patchmode' is set, the backup may be renamed to become the
891 oldest version of a file.
892 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
894 *'backupcopy'* *'bkc'*
895 'backupcopy' 'bkc' string (Vi default for Unix: "yes", otherwise: "auto")
896 global
897 {not in Vi}
898 When writing a file and a backup is made, this option tells how it's
899 done. This is a comma separated list of words.
901 The main values are:
902 "yes" make a copy of the file and overwrite the original one
903 "no" rename the file and write a new one
904 "auto" one of the previous, what works best
906 Extra values that can be combined with the ones above are:
907 "breaksymlink" always break symlinks when writing
908 "breakhardlink" always break hardlinks when writing
910 Making a copy and overwriting the original file:
911 - Takes extra time to copy the file.
912 + When the file has special attributes, is a (hard/symbolic) link or
913 has a resource fork, all this is preserved.
914 - When the file is a link the backup will have the name of the link,
915 not of the real file.
917 Renaming the file and writing a new one:
918 + It's fast.
919 - Sometimes not all attributes of the file can be copied to the new
920 file.
921 - When the file is a link the new file will not be a link.
923 The "auto" value is the middle way: When Vim sees that renaming file
924 is possible without side effects (the attributes can be passed on and
925 the file is not a link) that is used. When problems are expected, a
926 copy will be made.
928 The "breaksymlink" and "breakhardlink" values can be used in
929 combination with any of "yes", "no" and "auto". When included, they
930 force Vim to always break either symbolic or hard links by doing
931 exactly what the "no" option does, renaming the original file to
932 become the backup and writing a new file in its place. This can be
933 useful for example in source trees where all the files are symbolic or
934 hard links and any changes should stay in the local source tree, not
935 be propagated back to the original source.
936 *crontab*
937 One situation where "no" and "auto" will cause problems: A program
938 that opens a file, invokes Vim to edit that file, and then tests if
939 the open file was changed (through the file descriptor) will check the
940 backup file instead of the newly created file. "crontab -e" is an
941 example.
943 When a copy is made, the original file is truncated and then filled
944 with the new text. This means that protection bits, owner and
945 symbolic links of the original file are unmodified. The backup file
946 however, is a new file, owned by the user who edited the file. The
947 group of the backup is set to the group of the original file. If this
948 fails, the protection bits for the group are made the same as for
949 others.
951 When the file is renamed this is the other way around: The backup has
952 the same attributes of the original file, and the newly written file
953 is owned by the current user. When the file was a (hard/symbolic)
954 link, the new file will not! That's why the "auto" value doesn't
955 rename when the file is a link. The owner and group of the newly
956 written file will be set to the same ones as the original file, but
957 the system may refuse to do this. In that case the "auto" value will
958 again not rename the file.
960 *'backupdir'* *'bdir'*
961 'backupdir' 'bdir' string (default for Amiga: ".,t:",
962 for MS-DOS and Win32: ".,c:/tmp,c:/temp"
963 for Unix: ".,~/tmp,~/")
964 global
965 {not in Vi}
966 List of directories for the backup file, separated with commas.
967 - The backup file will be created in the first directory in the list
968 where this is possible. The directory must exist, Vim will not
969 create it for you.
970 - Empty means that no backup file will be created ('patchmode' is
971 impossible!). Writing may fail because of this.
972 - A directory "." means to put the backup file in the same directory
973 as the edited file.
974 - A directory starting with "./" (or ".\" for MS-DOS et al.) means to
975 put the backup file relative to where the edited file is. The
976 leading "." is replaced with the path name of the edited file.
977 ("." inside a directory name has no special meaning).
978 - Spaces after the comma are ignored, other spaces are considered part
979 of the directory name. To have a space at the start of a directory
980 name, precede it with a backslash.
981 - To include a comma in a directory name precede it with a backslash.
982 - A directory name may end in an '/'.
983 - Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
984 - Careful with '\' characters, type one before a space, type two to
985 get one in the option (see |option-backslash|), for example: >
986 :set bdir=c:\\tmp,\ dir\\,with\\,commas,\\\ dir\ with\ spaces
987 < - For backwards compatibility with Vim version 3.0 a '>' at the start
988 of the option is removed.
989 See also 'backup' and 'writebackup' options.
990 If you want to hide your backup files on Unix, consider this value: >
991 :set backupdir=./.backup,~/.backup,.,/tmp
992 < You must create a ".backup" directory in each directory and in your
993 home directory for this to work properly.
994 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
995 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
996 uses another default.
997 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
998 security reasons.
1000 *'backupext'* *'bex'* *E589*
1001 'backupext' 'bex' string (default "~", for VMS: "_")
1002 global
1003 {not in Vi}
1004 String which is appended to a file name to make the name of the
1005 backup file. The default is quite unusual, because this avoids
1006 accidentally overwriting existing files with a backup file. You might
1007 prefer using ".bak", but make sure that you don't have files with
1008 ".bak" that you want to keep.
1009 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
1011 If you like to keep a lot of backups, you could use a BufWritePre
1012 autocommand to change 'backupext' just before writing the file to
1013 include a timestamp. >
1014 :au BufWritePre * let &bex = '-' . strftime("%Y%b%d%X") . '~'
1015 < Use 'backupdir' to put the backup in a different directory.
1017 *'backupskip'* *'bsk'*
1018 'backupskip' 'bsk' string (default: "/tmp/*,$TMPDIR/*,$TMP/*,$TEMP/*")
1019 global
1020 {not in Vi}
1021 {not available when compiled without the |+wildignore|
1022 feature}
1023 A list of file patterns. When one of the patterns matches with the
1024 name of the file which is written, no backup file is created. Both
1025 the specified file name and the full path name of the file are used.
1026 The pattern is used like with |:autocmd|, see |autocmd-patterns|.
1027 Watch out for special characters, see |option-backslash|.
1028 When $TMPDIR, $TMP or $TEMP is not defined, it is not used for the
1029 default value. "/tmp/*" is only used for Unix.
1031 Note that environment variables are not expanded. If you want to use
1032 $HOME you must expand it explicitly, e.g.: >
1033 :let backupskip = escape(expand('$HOME'), '\') . '/tmp/*'
1035 < Note that the default also makes sure that "crontab -e" works (when a
1036 backup would be made by renaming the original file crontab won't see
1037 the newly created file). Also see 'backupcopy' and |crontab|.
1039 *'balloondelay'* *'bdlay'*
1040 'balloondelay' 'bdlay' number (default: 600)
1041 global
1042 {not in Vi}
1043 {only available when compiled with the |+balloon_eval|
1044 feature}
1045 Delay in milliseconds before a balloon may pop up. See |balloon-eval|.
1047 *'ballooneval'* *'beval'* *'noballooneval'* *'nobeval'*
1048 'ballooneval' 'beval' boolean (default off)
1049 global
1050 {not in Vi}
1051 {only available when compiled with the |+balloon_eval|
1052 feature}
1053 Switch on the |balloon-eval| functionality.
1055 *'balloonexpr'* *'bexpr'*
1056 'balloonexpr' 'bexpr' string (default "")
1057 global or local to buffer |global-local|
1058 {not in Vi}
1059 {only available when compiled with the |+balloon_eval|
1060 feature}
1061 Expression for text to show in evaluation balloon. It is only used
1062 when 'ballooneval' is on. These variables can be used:
1064 v:beval_bufnr number of the buffer in which balloon is going to show
1065 v:beval_winnr number of the window
1066 v:beval_lnum line number
1067 v:beval_col column number (byte index)
1068 v:beval_text word under or after the mouse pointer
1070 The evaluation of the expression must not have side effects!
1071 Example: >
1072 function! MyBalloonExpr()
1073 return 'Cursor is at line ' . v:beval_lnum .
1074 \', column ' . v:beval_col .
1075 \ ' of file ' . bufname(v:beval_bufnr) .
1076 \ ' on word "' . v:beval_text . '"'
1077 endfunction
1078 set bexpr=MyBalloonExpr()
1079 set ballooneval
1080 <
1081 NOTE: The balloon is displayed only if the cursor is on a text
1082 character. If the result of evaluating 'balloonexpr' is not empty,
1083 Vim does not try to send a message to an external debugger (Netbeans
1084 or Sun Workshop).
1086 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
1087 |sandbox-option|.
1089 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
1090 evaluating 'balloonexpr' |textlock|.
1092 To check whether line breaks in the balloon text work use this check: >
1093 if has("balloon_multiline")
1094 < When they are supported "\n" characters will start a new line. If the
1095 expression evaluates to a |List| this is equal to using each List item
1096 as a string and putting "\n" in between them.
1098 *'binary'* *'bin'* *'nobinary'* *'nobin'*
1099 'binary' 'bin' boolean (default off)
1100 local to buffer
1101 {not in Vi}
1102 This option should be set before editing a binary file. You can also
1103 use the |-b| Vim argument. When this option is switched on a few
1104 options will be changed (also when it already was on):
1105 'textwidth' will be set to 0
1106 'wrapmargin' will be set to 0
1107 'modeline' will be off
1108 'expandtab' will be off
1109 Also, 'fileformat' and 'fileformats' options will not be used, the
1110 file is read and written like 'fileformat' was "unix" (a single <NL>
1111 separates lines).
1112 The 'fileencoding' and 'fileencodings' options will not be used, the
1113 file is read without conversion.
1114 NOTE: When you start editing a(nother) file while the 'bin' option is
1115 on, settings from autocommands may change the settings again (e.g.,
1116 'textwidth'), causing trouble when editing. You might want to set
1117 'bin' again when the file has been loaded.
1118 The previous values of these options are remembered and restored when
1119 'bin' is switched from on to off. Each buffer has its own set of
1120 saved option values.
1121 To edit a file with 'binary' set you can use the |++bin| argument.
1122 This avoids you have to do ":set bin", which would have effect for all
1123 files you edit.
1124 When writing a file the <EOL> for the last line is only written if
1125 there was one in the original file (normally Vim appends an <EOL> to
1126 the last line if there is none; this would make the file longer). See
1127 the 'endofline' option.
1129 *'bioskey'* *'biosk'* *'nobioskey'* *'nobiosk'*
1130 'bioskey' 'biosk' boolean (default on)
1131 global
1132 {not in Vi} {only for MS-DOS}
1133 When on the BIOS is called to obtain a keyboard character. This works
1134 better to detect CTRL-C, but only works for the console. When using a
1135 terminal over a serial port reset this option.
1136 Also see |'conskey'|.
1138 *'bomb'* *'nobomb'*
1139 'bomb' boolean (default off)
1140 local to buffer
1141 {not in Vi}
1142 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
1143 feature}
1144 When writing a file and the following conditions are met, a BOM (Byte
1145 Order Mark) is prepended to the file:
1146 - this option is on
1147 - the 'binary' option is off
1148 - 'fileencoding' is "utf-8", "ucs-2", "ucs-4" or one of the little/big
1149 endian variants.
1150 Some applications use the BOM to recognize the encoding of the file.
1151 Often used for UCS-2 files on MS-Windows. For other applications it
1152 causes trouble, for example: "cat file1 file2" makes the BOM of file2
1153 appear halfway the resulting file. Gcc doesn't accept a BOM.
1154 When Vim reads a file and 'fileencodings' starts with "ucs-bom", a
1155 check for the presence of the BOM is done and 'bomb' set accordingly.
1156 Unless 'binary' is set, it is removed from the first line, so that you
1157 don't see it when editing. When you don't change the options, the BOM
1158 will be restored when writing the file.
1160 *'breakat'* *'brk'*
1161 'breakat' 'brk' string (default " ^I!@*-+;:,./?")
1162 global
1163 {not in Vi}
1164 {not available when compiled without the |+linebreak|
1165 feature}
1166 This option lets you choose which characters might cause a line
1167 break if 'linebreak' is on. Only works for ASCII and also for 8-bit
1168 characters when 'encoding' is an 8-bit encoding.
1170 *'browsedir'* *'bsdir'*
1171 'browsedir' 'bsdir' string (default: "last")
1172 global
1173 {not in Vi} {only for Motif, Athena, GTK, Mac and
1174 Win32 GUI}
1175 Which directory to use for the file browser:
1176 last Use same directory as with last file browser, where a
1177 file was opened or saved.
1178 buffer Use the directory of the related buffer.
1179 current Use the current directory.
1180 {path} Use the specified directory
1182 *'bufhidden'* *'bh'*
1183 'bufhidden' 'bh' string (default: "")
1184 local to buffer
1185 {not in Vi}
1186 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
1187 feature}
1188 This option specifies what happens when a buffer is no longer
1189 displayed in a window:
1190 <empty> follow the global 'hidden' option
1191 hide hide the buffer (don't unload it), also when 'hidden'
1192 is not set
1193 unload unload the buffer, also when 'hidden' is set or using
1194 |:hide|
1195 delete delete the buffer from the buffer list, also when
1196 'hidden' is set or using |:hide|, like using
1197 |:bdelete|
1198 wipe wipe out the buffer from the buffer list, also when
1199 'hidden' is set or using |:hide|, like using
1200 |:bwipeout|
1202 CAREFUL: when "unload", "delete" or "wipe" is used changes in a buffer
1203 are lost without a warning.
1204 This option is used together with 'buftype' and 'swapfile' to specify
1205 special kinds of buffers. See |special-buffers|.
1207 *'buflisted'* *'bl'* *'nobuflisted'* *'nobl'* *E85*
1208 'buflisted' 'bl' boolean (default: on)
1209 local to buffer
1210 {not in Vi}
1211 When this option is set, the buffer shows up in the buffer list. If
1212 it is reset it is not used for ":bnext", "ls", the Buffers menu, etc.
1213 This option is reset by Vim for buffers that are only used to remember
1214 a file name or marks. Vim sets it when starting to edit a buffer.
1215 But not when moving to a buffer with ":buffer".
1217 *'buftype'* *'bt'* *E382*
1218 'buftype' 'bt' string (default: "")
1219 local to buffer
1220 {not in Vi}
1221 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
1222 feature}
1223 The value of this option specifies the type of a buffer:
1224 <empty> normal buffer
1225 nofile buffer which is not related to a file and will not be
1226 written
1227 nowrite buffer which will not be written
1228 acwrite buffer which will always be written with BufWriteCmd
1229 autocommands. {not available when compiled without the
1230 |+autocmd| feature}
1231 quickfix quickfix buffer, contains list of errors |:cwindow|
1232 or list of locations |:lwindow|
1233 help help buffer (you are not supposed to set this
1234 manually)
1236 This option is used together with 'bufhidden' and 'swapfile' to
1237 specify special kinds of buffers. See |special-buffers|.
1239 Be careful with changing this option, it can have many side effects!
1241 A "quickfix" buffer is only used for the error list and the location
1242 list. This value is set by the |:cwindow| and |:lwindow| commands and
1243 you are not supposed to change it.
1245 "nofile" and "nowrite" buffers are similar:
1246 both: The buffer is not to be written to disk, ":w" doesn't
1247 work (":w filename" does work though).
1248 both: The buffer is never considered to be |'modified'|.
1249 There is no warning when the changes will be lost, for
1250 example when you quit Vim.
1251 both: A swap file is only created when using too much memory
1252 (when 'swapfile' has been reset there is never a swap
1253 file).
1254 nofile only: The buffer name is fixed, it is not handled like a
1255 file name. It is not modified in response to a |:cd|
1256 command.
1257 *E676*
1258 "acwrite" implies that the buffer name is not related to a file, like
1259 "nofile", but it will be written. Thus, in contrast to "nofile" and
1260 "nowrite", ":w" does work and a modified buffer can't be abandoned
1261 without saving. For writing there must be matching |BufWriteCmd|,
1262 |FileWriteCmd| or |FileAppendCmd| autocommands.
1264 *'casemap'* *'cmp'*
1265 'casemap' 'cmp' string (default: "internal,keepascii")
1266 global
1267 {not in Vi}
1268 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
1269 feature}
1270 Specifies details about changing the case of letters. It may contain
1271 these words, separated by a comma:
1272 internal Use internal case mapping functions, the current
1273 locale does not change the case mapping. This only
1274 matters when 'encoding' is a Unicode encoding,
1275 "latin1" or "iso-8859-15". When "internal" is
1276 omitted, the towupper() and towlower() system library
1277 functions are used when available.
1278 keepascii For the ASCII characters (0x00 to 0x7f) use the US
1279 case mapping, the current locale is not effective.
1280 This probably only matters for Turkish.
1282 *'cdpath'* *'cd'* *E344* *E346*
1283 'cdpath' 'cd' string (default: equivalent to $CDPATH or ",,")
1284 global
1285 {not in Vi}
1286 {not available when compiled without the
1287 |+file_in_path| feature}
1288 This is a list of directories which will be searched when using the
1289 |:cd| and |:lcd| commands, provided that the directory being searched
1290 for has a relative path, not an absolute part starting with "/", "./"
1291 or "../", the 'cdpath' option is not used then.
1292 The 'cdpath' option's value has the same form and semantics as
1293 |'path'|. Also see |file-searching|.
1294 The default value is taken from $CDPATH, with a "," prepended to look
1295 in the current directory first.
1296 If the default value taken from $CDPATH is not what you want, include
1297 a modified version of the following command in your vimrc file to
1298 override it: >
1299 :let &cdpath = ',' . substitute(substitute($CDPATH, '[, ]', '\\\0', 'g'), ':', ',', 'g')
1300 < This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
1301 security reasons.
1302 (parts of 'cdpath' can be passed to the shell to expand file names).
1304 *'cedit'*
1305 'cedit' string (Vi default: "", Vim default: CTRL-F)
1306 global
1307 {not in Vi}
1308 {not available when compiled without the |+vertsplit|
1309 feature}
1310 The key used in Command-line Mode to open the command-line window.
1311 The default is CTRL-F when 'compatible' is off.
1312 Only non-printable keys are allowed.
1313 The key can be specified as a single character, but it is difficult to
1314 type. The preferred way is to use the <> notation. Examples: >
1315 :set cedit=<C-Y>
1316 :set cedit=<Esc>
1317 < |Nvi| also has this option, but it only uses the first character.
1318 See |cmdwin|.
1320 *'charconvert'* *'ccv'* *E202* *E214* *E513*
1321 'charconvert' 'ccv' string (default "")
1322 global
1323 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
1324 feature and the |+eval| feature}
1325 {not in Vi}
1326 An expression that is used for character encoding conversion. It is
1327 evaluated when a file that is to be read or has been written has a
1328 different encoding from what is desired.
1329 'charconvert' is not used when the internal iconv() function is
1330 supported and is able to do the conversion. Using iconv() is
1331 preferred, because it is much faster.
1332 'charconvert' is not used when reading stdin |--|, because there is no
1333 file to convert from. You will have to save the text in a file first.
1334 The expression must return zero or an empty string for success,
1335 non-zero for failure.
1336 The possible encoding names encountered are in 'encoding'.
1337 Additionally, names given in 'fileencodings' and 'fileencoding' are
1338 used.
1339 Conversion between "latin1", "unicode", "ucs-2", "ucs-4" and "utf-8"
1340 is done internally by Vim, 'charconvert' is not used for this.
1341 'charconvert' is also used to convert the viminfo file, if the 'c'
1342 flag is present in 'viminfo'. Also used for Unicode conversion.
1343 Example: >
1344 set charconvert=CharConvert()
1345 fun CharConvert()
1346 system("recode "
1347 \ . v:charconvert_from . ".." . v:charconvert_to
1348 \ . " <" . v:fname_in . " >" v:fname_out)
1349 return v:shell_error
1350 endfun
1351 < The related Vim variables are:
1352 v:charconvert_from name of the current encoding
1353 v:charconvert_to name of the desired encoding
1354 v:fname_in name of the input file
1355 v:fname_out name of the output file
1356 Note that v:fname_in and v:fname_out will never be the same.
1357 Note that v:charconvert_from and v:charconvert_to may be different
1358 from 'encoding'. Vim internally uses UTF-8 instead of UCS-2 or UCS-4.
1359 Encryption is not done by Vim when using 'charconvert'. If you want
1360 to encrypt the file after conversion, 'charconvert' should take care
1361 of this.
1362 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
1363 security reasons.
1365 *'cindent'* *'cin'* *'nocindent'* *'nocin'*
1366 'cindent' 'cin' boolean (default off)
1367 local to buffer
1368 {not in Vi}
1369 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
1370 feature}
1371 Enables automatic C program indenting. See 'cinkeys' to set the keys
1372 that trigger reindenting in insert mode and 'cinoptions' to set your
1373 preferred indent style.
1374 If 'indentexpr' is not empty, it overrules 'cindent'.
1375 If 'lisp' is not on and both 'indentexpr' and 'equalprg' are empty,
1376 the "=" operator indents using this algorithm rather than calling an
1377 external program.
1378 See |C-indenting|.
1379 When you don't like the way 'cindent' works, try the 'smartindent'
1380 option or 'indentexpr'.
1381 This option is not used when 'paste' is set.
1382 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
1384 *'cinkeys'* *'cink'*
1385 'cinkeys' 'cink' string (default "0{,0},0),:,0#,!^F,o,O,e")
1386 local to buffer
1387 {not in Vi}
1388 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
1389 feature}
1390 A list of keys that, when typed in Insert mode, cause reindenting of
1391 the current line. Only used if 'cindent' is on and 'indentexpr' is
1392 empty.
1393 For the format of this option see |cinkeys-format|.
1394 See |C-indenting|.
1396 *'cinoptions'* *'cino'*
1397 'cinoptions' 'cino' string (default "")
1398 local to buffer
1399 {not in Vi}
1400 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
1401 feature}
1402 The 'cinoptions' affect the way 'cindent' reindents lines in a C
1403 program. See |cinoptions-values| for the values of this option, and
1404 |C-indenting| for info on C indenting in general.
1407 *'cinwords'* *'cinw'*
1408 'cinwords' 'cinw' string (default "if,else,while,do,for,switch")
1409 local to buffer
1410 {not in Vi}
1411 {not available when compiled without both the
1412 |+cindent| and the |+smartindent| features}
1413 These keywords start an extra indent in the next line when
1414 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is set. For 'cindent' this is only done at
1415 an appropriate place (inside {}).
1416 Note that 'ignorecase' isn't used for 'cinwords'. If case doesn't
1417 matter, include the keyword both the uppercase and lowercase:
1418 "if,If,IF".
1420 *'clipboard'* *'cb'*
1421 'clipboard' 'cb' string (default "autoselect,exclude:cons\|linux"
1422 for X-windows, "" otherwise)
1423 global
1424 {not in Vi}
1425 {only in GUI versions or when the |+xterm_clipboard|
1426 feature is included}
1427 This option is a list of comma separated names.
1428 These names are recognized:
1430 unnamed When included, Vim will use the clipboard register '*'
1431 for all yank, delete, change and put operations which
1432 would normally go to the unnamed register. When a
1433 register is explicitly specified, it will always be
1434 used regardless of whether "unnamed" is in 'clipboard'
1435 or not. The clipboard register can always be
1436 explicitly accessed using the "* notation. Also see
1437 |gui-clipboard|.
1439 autoselect Works like the 'a' flag in 'guioptions': If present,
1440 then whenever Visual mode is started, or the Visual
1441 area extended, Vim tries to become the owner of the
1442 windowing system's global selection or put the
1443 selected text on the clipboard used by the selection
1444 register "*. See |guioptions_a| and |quotestar| for
1445 details. When the GUI is active, the 'a' flag in
1446 'guioptions' is used, when the GUI is not active, this
1447 "autoselect" flag is used.
1448 Also applies to the modeless selection.
1450 autoselectml Like "autoselect", but for the modeless selection
1451 only. Compare to the 'A' flag in 'guioptions'.
1453 html When the clipboard contains HTML, use this when
1454 pasting. When putting text on the clipboard, mark it
1455 as HTML. This works to copy rendered HTML from
1456 Firefox, paste it as raw HTML in Vim, select the HTML
1457 in Vim and paste it in a rich edit box in Firefox.
1458 Only supported for GTK version 2 and later.
1459 Only available with the |+multi_byte| feature.
1461 exclude:{pattern}
1462 Defines a pattern that is matched against the name of
1463 the terminal 'term'. If there is a match, no
1464 connection will be made to the X server. This is
1465 useful in this situation:
1466 - Running Vim in a console.
1467 - $DISPLAY is set to start applications on another
1468 display.
1469 - You do not want to connect to the X server in the
1470 console, but do want this in a terminal emulator.
1471 To never connect to the X server use: >
1472 exclude:.*
1473 < This has the same effect as using the |-X| argument.
1474 Note that when there is no connection to the X server
1475 the window title won't be restored and the clipboard
1476 cannot be accessed.
1477 The value of 'magic' is ignored, {pattern} is
1478 interpreted as if 'magic' was on.
1479 The rest of the option value will be used for
1480 {pattern}, this must be the last entry.
1482 *'cmdheight'* *'ch'*
1483 'cmdheight' 'ch' number (default 1)
1484 global
1485 {not in Vi}
1486 Number of screen lines to use for the command-line. Helps avoiding
1487 |hit-enter| prompts.
1488 The value of this option is stored with the tab page, so that each tab
1489 page can have a different value.
1491 *'cmdwinheight'* *'cwh'*
1492 'cmdwinheight' 'cwh' number (default 7)
1493 global
1494 {not in Vi}
1495 {not available when compiled without the |+vertsplit|
1496 feature}
1497 Number of screen lines to use for the command-line window. |cmdwin|
1499 *'columns'* *'co'* *E594*
1500 'columns' 'co' number (default 80 or terminal width)
1501 global
1502 {not in Vi}
1503 Number of columns of the screen. Normally this is set by the terminal
1504 initialization and does not have to be set by hand. Also see
1505 |posix-screen-size|.
1506 When Vim is running in the GUI or in a resizable window, setting this
1507 option will cause the window size to be changed. When you only want
1508 to use the size for the GUI, put the command in your |gvimrc| file.
1509 When you set this option and Vim is unable to change the physical
1510 number of columns of the display, the display may be messed up. For
1511 the GUI it is always possible and Vim limits the number of columns to
1512 what fits on the screen. You can use this command to get the widest
1513 window possible: >
1514 :set columns=9999
1515 < Minimum value is 12, maximum value is 10000.
1517 *'comments'* *'com'* *E524* *E525*
1518 'comments' 'com' string (default
1519 "s1:/*,mb:*,ex:*/,://,b:#,:%,:XCOMM,n:>,fb:-")
1520 local to buffer
1521 {not in Vi}
1522 {not available when compiled without the |+comments|
1523 feature}
1524 A comma separated list of strings that can start a comment line. See
1525 |format-comments|. See |option-backslash| about using backslashes to
1526 insert a space.
1528 *'commentstring'* *'cms'* *E537*
1529 'commentstring' 'cms' string (default "/*%s*/")
1530 local to buffer
1531 {not in Vi}
1532 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
1533 feature}
1534 A template for a comment. The "%s" in the value is replaced with the
1535 comment text. Currently only used to add markers for folding, see
1536 |fold-marker|.
1538 *'compatible'* *'cp'* *'nocompatible'* *'nocp'*
1539 'compatible' 'cp' boolean (default on, off when a |vimrc| or |gvimrc|
1540 file is found)
1541 global
1542 {not in Vi}
1543 This option has the effect of making Vim either more Vi-compatible, or
1544 make Vim behave in a more useful way.
1545 This is a special kind of option, because when it's set or reset,
1546 other options are also changed as a side effect. CAREFUL: Setting or
1547 resetting this option can have a lot of unexpected effects: Mappings
1548 are interpreted in another way, undo behaves differently, etc. If you
1549 set this option in your vimrc file, you should probably put it at the
1550 very start.
1551 By default this option is on and the Vi defaults are used for the
1552 options. This default was chosen for those people who want to use Vim
1553 just like Vi, and don't even (want to) know about the 'compatible'
1554 option.
1555 When a |vimrc| or |gvimrc| file is found while Vim is starting up,
1556 this option is switched off, and all options that have not been
1557 modified will be set to the Vim defaults. Effectively, this means
1558 that when a |vimrc| or |gvimrc| file exists, Vim will use the Vim
1559 defaults, otherwise it will use the Vi defaults. (Note: This doesn't
1560 happen for the system-wide vimrc or gvimrc file, nor for a file given
1561 with the |-u| argument). Also see |compatible-default| and
1562 |posix-compliance|.
1563 You can also set this option with the "-C" argument, and reset it with
1564 "-N". See |-C| and |-N|.
1565 Switching this option off makes the Vim defaults be used for options
1566 that have a different Vi and Vim default value. See the options
1567 marked with a '+' below. Other options are not modified.
1568 At the moment this option is set, several other options will be set
1569 or reset to make Vim as Vi-compatible as possible. See the table
1570 below. This can be used if you want to revert to Vi compatible
1571 editing.
1572 See also 'cpoptions'.
1574 option + set value effect ~
1576 'allowrevins' off no CTRL-_ command
1577 'backupcopy' Unix: "yes" backup file is a copy
1578 others: "auto" copy or rename backup file
1579 'backspace' "" normal backspace
1580 'backup' off no backup file
1581 'cindent' off no C code indentation
1582 'cedit' + "" no key to open the |cmdwin|
1583 'cpoptions' + (all flags) Vi-compatible flags
1584 'cscopetag' off don't use cscope for ":tag"
1585 'cscopetagorder' 0 see |cscopetagorder|
1586 'cscopeverbose' off see |cscopeverbose|
1587 'digraph' off no digraphs
1588 'esckeys' + off no <Esc>-keys in Insert mode
1589 'expandtab' off tabs not expanded to spaces
1590 'fileformats' + "" no automatic file format detection,
1591 "dos,unix" except for DOS, Windows and OS/2
1592 'formatoptions' + "vt" Vi compatible formatting
1593 'gdefault' off no default 'g' flag for ":s"
1594 'history' + 0 no commandline history
1595 'hkmap' off no Hebrew keyboard mapping
1596 'hkmapp' off no phonetic Hebrew keyboard mapping
1597 'hlsearch' off no highlighting of search matches
1598 'incsearch' off no incremental searching
1599 'indentexpr' "" no indenting by expression
1600 'insertmode' off do not start in Insert mode
1601 'iskeyword' + "@,48-57,_" keywords contain alphanumeric
1602 characters and '_'
1603 'joinspaces' on insert 2 spaces after period
1604 'modeline' + off no modelines
1605 'more' + off no pauses in listings
1606 'revins' off no reverse insert
1607 'ruler' off no ruler
1608 'scrolljump' 1 no jump scroll
1609 'scrolloff' 0 no scroll offset
1610 'shiftround' off indent not rounded to shiftwidth
1611 'shortmess' + "" no shortening of messages
1612 'showcmd' + off command characters not shown
1613 'showmode' + off current mode not shown
1614 'smartcase' off no automatic ignore case switch
1615 'smartindent' off no smart indentation
1616 'smarttab' off no smart tab size
1617 'softtabstop' 0 tabs are always 'tabstop' positions
1618 'startofline' on goto startofline with some commands
1619 'tagrelative' + off tag file names are not relative
1620 'textauto' + off no automatic textmode detection
1621 'textwidth' 0 no automatic line wrap
1622 'tildeop' off tilde is not an operator
1623 'ttimeout' off no terminal timeout
1624 'whichwrap' + "" left-right movements don't wrap
1625 'wildchar' + CTRL-E only when the current value is <Tab>
1626 use CTRL-E for cmdline completion
1627 'writebackup' on or off depends on +writebackup feature
1629 *'complete'* *'cpt'* *E535*
1630 'complete' 'cpt' string (default: ".,w,b,u,t,i")
1631 local to buffer
1632 {not in Vi}
1633 This option specifies how keyword completion |ins-completion| works
1634 when CTRL-P or CTRL-N are used. It is also used for whole-line
1635 completion |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L|. It indicates the type of completion
1636 and the places to scan. It is a comma separated list of flags:
1637 . scan the current buffer ('wrapscan' is ignored)
1638 w scan buffers from other windows
1639 b scan other loaded buffers that are in the buffer list
1640 u scan the unloaded buffers that are in the buffer list
1641 U scan the buffers that are not in the buffer list
1642 k scan the files given with the 'dictionary' option
1643 kspell use the currently active spell checking |spell|
1644 k{dict} scan the file {dict}. Several "k" flags can be given,
1645 patterns are valid too. For example: >
1646 :set cpt=k/usr/dict/*,k~/spanish
1647 < s scan the files given with the 'thesaurus' option
1648 s{tsr} scan the file {tsr}. Several "s" flags can be given, patterns
1649 are valid too.
1650 i scan current and included files
1651 d scan current and included files for defined name or macro
1652 |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D|
1653 ] tag completion
1654 t same as "]"
1656 Unloaded buffers are not loaded, thus their autocmds |:autocmd| are
1657 not executed, this may lead to unexpected completions from some files
1658 (gzipped files for example). Unloaded buffers are not scanned for
1659 whole-line completion.
1661 The default is ".,w,b,u,t,i", which means to scan:
1662 1. the current buffer
1663 2. buffers in other windows
1664 3. other loaded buffers
1665 4. unloaded buffers
1666 5. tags
1667 6. included files
1669 As you can see, CTRL-N and CTRL-P can be used to do any 'iskeyword'-
1670 based expansion (e.g., dictionary |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K|, included patterns
1671 |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I|, tags |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]| and normal expansions).
1673 *'completefunc'* *'cfu'*
1674 'completefunc' 'cfu' string (default: empty)
1675 local to buffer
1676 {not in Vi}
1677 {not available when compiled without the +eval
1678 or +insert_expand feature}
1679 This option specifies a function to be used for Insert mode completion
1680 with CTRL-X CTRL-U. |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U|
1681 See |complete-functions| for an explanation of how the function is
1682 invoked and what it should return.
1685 *'completeopt'* *'cot'*
1686 'completeopt' 'cot' string (default: "menu,preview")
1687 global
1688 {not available when compiled without the
1689 |+insert_expand| feature}
1690 {not in Vi}
1691 A comma separated list of options for Insert mode completion
1692 |ins-completion|. The supported values are:
1694 menu Use a popup menu to show the possible completions. The
1695 menu is only shown when there is more than one match and
1696 sufficient colors are available. |ins-completion-menu|
1698 menuone Use the popup menu also when there is only one match.
1699 Useful when there is additional information about the
1700 match, e.g., what file it comes from.
1702 longest Only insert the longest common text of the matches. If
1703 the menu is displayed you can use CTRL-L to add more
1704 characters. Whether case is ignored depends on the kind
1705 of completion. For buffer text the 'ignorecase' option is
1706 used.
1708 preview Show extra information about the currently selected
1709 completion in the preview window. Only works in
1710 combination with "menu" or "menuone".
1713 *'confirm'* *'cf'* *'noconfirm'* *'nocf'*
1714 'confirm' 'cf' boolean (default off)
1715 global
1716 {not in Vi}
1717 When 'confirm' is on, certain operations that would normally
1718 fail because of unsaved changes to a buffer, e.g. ":q" and ":e",
1719 instead raise a |dialog| asking if you wish to save the current
1720 file(s). You can still use a ! to unconditionally |abandon| a buffer.
1721 If 'confirm' is off you can still activate confirmation for one
1722 command only (this is most useful in mappings) with the |:confirm|
1723 command.
1724 Also see the |confirm()| function and the 'v' flag in 'guioptions'.
1726 *'conskey'* *'consk'* *'noconskey'* *'noconsk'*
1727 'conskey' 'consk' boolean (default off)
1728 global
1729 {not in Vi} {only for MS-DOS}
1730 When on direct console I/O is used to obtain a keyboard character.
1731 This should work in most cases. Also see |'bioskey'|. Together,
1732 three methods of console input are available:
1733 'conskey' 'bioskey' action ~
1734 on on or off direct console input
1735 off on BIOS
1736 off off STDIN
1738 *'copyindent'* *'ci'* *'nocopyindent'* *'noci'*
1739 'copyindent' 'ci' boolean (default off)
1740 local to buffer
1741 {not in Vi}
1742 Copy the structure of the existing lines indent when autoindenting a
1743 new line. Normally the new indent is reconstructed by a series of
1744 tabs followed by spaces as required (unless |'expandtab'| is enabled,
1745 in which case only spaces are used). Enabling this option makes the
1746 new line copy whatever characters were used for indenting on the
1747 existing line. 'expandtab' has no effect on these characters, a Tab
1748 remains a Tab. If the new indent is greater than on the existing
1749 line, the remaining space is filled in the normal manner.
1750 NOTE: 'copyindent' is reset when 'compatible' is set.
1751 Also see 'preserveindent'.
1753 *'cpoptions'* *'cpo'*
1754 'cpoptions' 'cpo' string (Vim default: "aABceFs",
1755 Vi default: all flags)
1756 global
1757 {not in Vi}
1758 A sequence of single character flags. When a character is present
1759 this indicates vi-compatible behavior. This is used for things where
1760 not being vi-compatible is mostly or sometimes preferred.
1761 'cpoptions' stands for "compatible-options".
1762 Commas can be added for readability.
1763 To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the
1764 "+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|.
1765 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
1766 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
1767 NOTE: This option is set to the POSIX default value at startup when
1768 the Vi default value would be used and the $VIM_POSIX environment
1769 variable exists |posix|. This means Vim tries to behave like the
1770 POSIX specification.
1772 contains behavior ~
1773 *cpo-a*
1774 a When included, a ":read" command with a file name
1775 argument will set the alternate file name for the
1776 current window.
1777 *cpo-A*
1778 A When included, a ":write" command with a file name
1779 argument will set the alternate file name for the
1780 current window.
1781 *cpo-b*
1782 b "\|" in a ":map" command is recognized as the end of
1783 the map command. The '\' is included in the mapping,
1784 the text after the '|' is interpreted as the next
1785 command. Use a CTRL-V instead of a backslash to
1786 include the '|' in the mapping. Applies to all
1787 mapping, abbreviation, menu and autocmd commands.
1788 See also |map_bar|.
1789 *cpo-B*
1790 B A backslash has no special meaning in mappings,
1791 abbreviations and the "to" part of the menu commands.
1792 Remove this flag to be able to use a backslash like a
1793 CTRL-V. For example, the command ":map X \<Esc>"
1794 results in X being mapped to:
1795 'B' included: "\^[" (^[ is a real <Esc>)
1796 'B' excluded: "<Esc>" (5 characters)
1797 ('<' excluded in both cases)
1798 *cpo-c*
1799 c Searching continues at the end of any match at the
1800 cursor position, but not further than the start of the
1801 next line. When not present searching continues
1802 one character from the cursor position. With 'c'
1803 "abababababab" only gets three matches when repeating
1804 "/abab", without 'c' there are five matches.
1805 *cpo-C*
1806 C Do not concatenate sourced lines that start with a
1807 backslash. See |line-continuation|.
1808 *cpo-d*
1809 d Using "./" in the 'tags' option doesn't mean to use
1810 the tags file relative to the current file, but the
1811 tags file in the current directory.
1812 *cpo-D*
1813 D Can't use CTRL-K to enter a digraph after Normal mode
1814 commands with a character argument, like |r|, |f| and
1815 |t|.
1816 *cpo-e*
1817 e When executing a register with ":@r", always add a
1818 <CR> to the last line, also when the register is not
1819 linewise. If this flag is not present, the register
1820 is not linewise and the last line does not end in a
1821 <CR>, then the last line is put on the command-line
1822 and can be edited before hitting <CR>.
1823 *cpo-E*
1824 E It is an error when using "y", "d", "c", "g~", "gu" or
1825 "gU" on an Empty region. The operators only work when
1826 at least one character is to be operate on. Example:
1827 This makes "y0" fail in the first column.
1828 *cpo-f*
1829 f When included, a ":read" command with a file name
1830 argument will set the file name for the current buffer,
1831 if the current buffer doesn't have a file name yet.
1832 *cpo-F*
1833 F When included, a ":write" command with a file name
1834 argument will set the file name for the current
1835 buffer, if the current buffer doesn't have a file name
1836 yet. Also see |cpo-P|.
1837 *cpo-g*
1838 g Goto line 1 when using ":edit" without argument.
1839 *cpo-H*
1840 H When using "I" on a line with only blanks, insert
1841 before the last blank. Without this flag insert after
1842 the last blank.
1843 *cpo-i*
1844 i When included, interrupting the reading of a file will
1845 leave it modified.
1846 *cpo-I*
1847 I When moving the cursor up or down just after inserting
1848 indent for 'autoindent', do not delete the indent.
1849 *cpo-j*
1850 j When joining lines, only add two spaces after a '.',
1851 not after '!' or '?'. Also see 'joinspaces'.
1852 *cpo-J*
1853 J A |sentence| has to be followed by two spaces after
1854 the '.', '!' or '?'. A <Tab> is not recognized as
1855 white space.
1856 *cpo-k*
1857 k Disable the recognition of raw key codes in
1858 mappings, abbreviations, and the "to" part of menu
1859 commands. For example, if <Key> sends ^[OA (where ^[
1860 is <Esc>), the command ":map X ^[OA" results in X
1861 being mapped to:
1862 'k' included: "^[OA" (3 characters)
1863 'k' excluded: "<Key>" (one key code)
1864 Also see the '<' flag below.
1865 *cpo-K*
1866 K Don't wait for a key code to complete when it is
1867 halfway a mapping. This breaks mapping <F1><F1> when
1868 only part of the second <F1> has been read. It
1869 enables cancelling the mapping by typing <F1><Esc>.
1870 *cpo-l*
1871 l Backslash in a [] range in a search pattern is taken
1872 literally, only "\]", "\^", "\-" and "\\" are special.
1873 See |/[]|
1874 'l' included: "/[ \t]" finds <Space>, '\' and 't'
1875 'l' excluded: "/[ \t]" finds <Space> and <Tab>
1876 Also see |cpo-\|.
1877 *cpo-L*
1878 L When the 'list' option is set, 'wrapmargin',
1879 'textwidth', 'softtabstop' and Virtual Replace mode
1880 (see |gR|) count a <Tab> as two characters, instead of
1881 the normal behavior of a <Tab>.
1882 *cpo-m*
1883 m When included, a showmatch will always wait half a
1884 second. When not included, a showmatch will wait half
1885 a second or until a character is typed. |'showmatch'|
1886 *cpo-M*
1887 M When excluded, "%" matching will take backslashes into
1888 account. Thus in "( \( )" and "\( ( \)" the outer
1889 parenthesis match. When included "%" ignores
1890 backslashes, which is Vi compatible.
1891 *cpo-n*
1892 n When included, the column used for 'number' will also
1893 be used for text of wrapped lines.
1894 *cpo-o*
1895 o Line offset to search command is not remembered for
1896 next search.
1897 *cpo-O*
1898 O Don't complain if a file is being overwritten, even
1899 when it didn't exist when editing it. This is a
1900 protection against a file unexpectedly created by
1901 someone else. Vi didn't complain about this.
1902 *cpo-p*
1903 p Vi compatible Lisp indenting. When not present, a
1904 slightly better algorithm is used.
1905 *cpo-P*
1906 P When included, a ":write" command that appends to a
1907 file will set the file name for the current buffer, if
1908 the current buffer doesn't have a file name yet and
1909 the 'F' flag is also included |cpo-F|.
1910 *cpo-q*
1911 q When joining multiple lines leave the cursor at the
1912 position where it would be when joining two lines.
1913 *cpo-r*
1914 r Redo ("." command) uses "/" to repeat a search
1915 command, instead of the actually used search string.
1916 *cpo-R*
1917 R Remove marks from filtered lines. Without this flag
1918 marks are kept like |:keepmarks| was used.
1919 *cpo-s*
1920 s Set buffer options when entering the buffer for the
1921 first time. This is like it is in Vim version 3.0.
1922 And it is the default. If not present the options are
1923 set when the buffer is created.
1924 *cpo-S*
1925 S Set buffer options always when entering a buffer
1926 (except 'readonly', 'fileformat', 'filetype' and
1927 'syntax'). This is the (most) Vi compatible setting.
1928 The options are set to the values in the current
1929 buffer. When you change an option and go to another
1930 buffer, the value is copied. Effectively makes the
1931 buffer options global to all buffers.
1933 's' 'S' copy buffer options
1934 no no when buffer created
1935 yes no when buffer first entered (default)
1936 X yes each time when buffer entered (vi comp.)
1937 *cpo-t*
1938 t Search pattern for the tag command is remembered for
1939 "n" command. Otherwise Vim only puts the pattern in
1940 the history for search pattern, but doesn't change the
1941 last used search pattern.
1942 *cpo-u*
1943 u Undo is Vi compatible. See |undo-two-ways|.
1944 *cpo-v*
1945 v Backspaced characters remain visible on the screen in
1946 Insert mode. Without this flag the characters are
1947 erased from the screen right away. With this flag the
1948 screen newly typed text overwrites backspaced
1949 characters.
1950 *cpo-w*
1951 w When using "cw" on a blank character, only change one
1952 character and not all blanks until the start of the
1953 next word.
1954 *cpo-W*
1955 W Don't overwrite a readonly file. When omitted, ":w!"
1956 overwrites a readonly file, if possible.
1957 *cpo-x*
1958 x <Esc> on the command-line executes the command-line.
1959 The default in Vim is to abandon the command-line,
1960 because <Esc> normally aborts a command. |c_<Esc>|
1961 *cpo-X*
1962 X When using a count with "R" the replaced text is
1963 deleted only once. Also when repeating "R" with "."
1964 and a count.
1965 *cpo-y*
1966 y A yank command can be redone with ".".
1967 *cpo-Z*
1968 Z When using "w!" while the 'readonly' option is set,
1969 don't reset 'readonly'.
1970 *cpo-!*
1971 ! When redoing a filter command, use the last used
1972 external command, whatever it was. Otherwise the last
1973 used -filter- command is used.
1974 *cpo-$*
1975 $ When making a change to one line, don't redisplay the
1976 line, but put a '$' at the end of the changed text.
1977 The changed text will be overwritten when you type the
1978 new text. The line is redisplayed if you type any
1979 command that moves the cursor from the insertion
1980 point.
1981 *cpo-%*
1982 % Vi-compatible matching is done for the "%" command.
1983 Does not recognize "#if", "#endif", etc.
1984 Does not recognize "/*" and "*/".
1985 Parens inside single and double quotes are also
1986 counted, causing a string that contains a paren to
1987 disturb the matching. For example, in a line like
1988 "if (strcmp("foo(", s))" the first paren does not
1989 match the last one. When this flag is not included,
1990 parens inside single and double quotes are treated
1991 specially. When matching a paren outside of quotes,
1992 everything inside quotes is ignored. When matching a
1993 paren inside quotes, it will find the matching one (if
1994 there is one). This works very well for C programs.
1995 This flag is also used for other features, such as
1996 C-indenting.
1997 *cpo--*
1998 - When included, a vertical movement command fails when
1999 it would go above the first line or below the last
2000 line. Without it the cursor moves to the first or
2001 last line, unless it already was in that line.
2002 Applies to the commands "-", "k", CTRL-P, "+", "j",
2003 CTRL-N, CTRL-J and ":1234".
2004 *cpo-+*
2005 + When included, a ":write file" command will reset the
2006 'modified' flag of the buffer, even though the buffer
2007 itself may still be different from its file.
2008 *cpo-star*
2009 * Use ":*" in the same way as ":@". When not included,
2010 ":*" is an alias for ":'<,'>", select the Visual area.
2011 *cpo-<*
2012 < Disable the recognition of special key codes in |<>|
2013 form in mappings, abbreviations, and the "to" part of
2014 menu commands. For example, the command
2015 ":map X <Tab>" results in X being mapped to:
2016 '<' included: "<Tab>" (5 characters)
2017 '<' excluded: "^I" (^I is a real <Tab>)
2018 Also see the 'k' flag above.
2019 *cpo->*
2020 > When appending to a register, put a line break before
2021 the appended text.
2023 POSIX flags. These are not included in the Vi default value, except
2024 when $VIM_POSIX was set on startup. |posix|
2026 contains behavior ~
2027 *cpo-#*
2028 # A count before "D", "o" and "O" has no effect.
2029 *cpo-&*
2030 & When ":preserve" was used keep the swap file when
2031 exiting normally while this buffer is still loaded.
2032 This flag is tested when exiting.
2033 *cpo-\*
2034 \ Backslash in a [] range in a search pattern is taken
2035 literally, only "\]" is special See |/[]|
2036 '\' included: "/[ \-]" finds <Space>, '\' and '-'
2037 '\' excluded: "/[ \-]" finds <Space> and '-'
2038 Also see |cpo-l|.
2039 *cpo-/*
2040 / When "%" is used as the replacement string in a |:s|
2041 command, use the previous replacement string. |:s%|
2042 *cpo-{*
2043 { The |{| and |}| commands also stop at a "{" character
2044 at the start of a line.
2045 *cpo-.*
2046 . The ":chdir" and ":cd" commands fail if the current
2047 buffer is modified, unless ! is used. Vim doesn't
2048 need this, since it remembers the full path of an
2049 opened file.
2050 *cpo-bar*
2051 | The value of the $LINES and $COLUMNS environment
2052 variables overrule the terminal size values obtained
2053 with system specific functions.
2056 *'cscopepathcomp'* *'cspc'*
2057 'cscopepathcomp' 'cspc' number (default 0)
2058 global
2059 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2060 feature}
2061 {not in Vi}
2062 Determines how many components of the path to show in a list of tags.
2063 See |cscopepathcomp|.
2065 *'cscopeprg'* *'csprg'*
2066 'cscopeprg' 'csprg' string (default "cscope")
2067 global
2068 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2069 feature}
2070 {not in Vi}
2071 Specifies the command to execute cscope. See |cscopeprg|.
2072 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2073 security reasons.
2075 *'cscopequickfix'* *'csqf'*
2076 'cscopequickfix' 'csqf' string (default "")
2077 global
2078 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2079 or |+quickfix| features}
2080 {not in Vi}
2081 Specifies whether to use quickfix window to show cscope results.
2082 See |cscopequickfix|.
2084 *'cscopetag'* *'cst'* *'nocscopetag'* *'nocst'*
2085 'cscopetag' 'cst' boolean (default off)
2086 global
2087 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2088 feature}
2089 {not in Vi}
2090 Use cscope for tag commands. See |cscope-options|.
2091 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
2093 *'cscopetagorder'* *'csto'*
2094 'cscopetagorder' 'csto' number (default 0)
2095 global
2096 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2097 feature}
2098 {not in Vi}
2099 Determines the order in which ":cstag" performs a search. See
2100 |cscopetagorder|.
2101 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
2103 *'cscopeverbose'* *'csverb'*
2104 *'nocscopeverbose'* *'nocsverb'*
2105 'cscopeverbose' 'csverb' boolean (default off)
2106 global
2107 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2108 feature}
2109 {not in Vi}
2110 Give messages when adding a cscope database. See |cscopeverbose|.
2111 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
2114 *'cursorcolumn'* *'cuc'* *'nocursorcolumn'* *'nocuc'*
2115 'cursorcolumn' 'cuc' 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 column of the cursor with CursorColumn
2121 |hl-CursorColumn|. Useful to align text. Will make screen redrawing
2122 slower.
2123 If you only want the highlighting in the current window you can use
2124 these autocommands: >
2125 au WinLeave * set nocursorline nocursorcolumn
2126 au WinEnter * set cursorline cursorcolumn
2127 <
2129 *'cursorline'* *'cul'* *'nocursorline'* *'nocul'*
2130 'cursorline' 'cul' boolean (default off)
2131 local to window
2132 {not in Vi}
2133 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
2134 feature}
2135 Highlight the screen line of the cursor with CursorLine
2136 |hl-CursorLine|. Useful to easily spot the cursor. Will make screen
2137 redrawing slower.
2138 When Visual mode is active the highlighting isn't used to make it
2139 easier to see the selected text.
2142 *'debug'*
2143 'debug' string (default "")
2144 global
2145 {not in Vi}
2146 These values can be used:
2147 msg Error messages that would otherwise be omitted will be given
2148 anyway.
2149 throw Error messages that would otherwise be omitted will be given
2150 anyway and also throw an exception and set |v:errmsg|.
2151 beep A message will be given when otherwise only a beep would be
2152 produced.
2153 The values can be combined, separated by a comma.
2154 "msg" and "throw" are useful for debugging 'foldexpr', 'formatexpr' or
2155 'indentexpr'.
2157 *'define'* *'def'*
2158 'define' 'def' string (default "^\s*#\s*define")
2159 global or local to buffer |global-local|
2160 {not in Vi}
2161 Pattern to be used to find a macro definition. It is a search
2162 pattern, just like for the "/" command. This option is used for the
2163 commands like "[i" and "[d" |include-search|. The 'isident' option is
2164 used to recognize the defined name after the match:
2165 {match with 'define'}{non-ID chars}{defined name}{non-ID char}
2166 See |option-backslash| about inserting backslashes to include a space
2167 or backslash.
2168 The default value is for C programs. For C++ this value would be
2169 useful, to include const type declarations: >
2170 ^\(#\s*define\|[a-z]*\s*const\s*[a-z]*\)
2171 < When using the ":set" command, you need to double the backslashes!
2173 *'delcombine'* *'deco'* *'nodelcombine'* *'nodeco'*
2174 'delcombine' 'deco' boolean (default off)
2175 global
2176 {not in Vi}
2177 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
2178 feature}
2179 If editing Unicode and this option is set, backspace and Normal mode
2180 "x" delete each combining character on its own. When it is off (the
2181 default) the character along with its combining characters are
2182 deleted.
2183 Note: When 'delcombine' is set "xx" may work different from "2x"!
2185 This is useful for Arabic, Hebrew and many other languages where one
2186 may have combining characters overtop of base characters, and want
2187 to remove only the combining ones.
2189 *'dictionary'* *'dict'*
2190 'dictionary' 'dict' string (default "")
2191 global or local to buffer |global-local|
2192 {not in Vi}
2193 List of file names, separated by commas, that are used to lookup words
2194 for keyword completion commands |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K|. Each file should
2195 contain a list of words. This can be one word per line, or several
2196 words per line, separated by non-keyword characters (white space is
2197 preferred). Maximum line length is 510 bytes.
2198 When this option is empty, or an entry "spell" is present, spell
2199 checking is enabled the currently active spelling is used. |spell|
2200 To include a comma in a file name precede it with a backslash. Spaces
2201 after a comma are ignored, otherwise spaces are included in the file
2202 name. See |option-backslash| about using backslashes.
2203 This has nothing to do with the |Dictionary| variable type.
2204 Where to find a list of words?
2205 - On FreeBSD, there is the file "/usr/share/dict/words".
2206 - In the Simtel archive, look in the "msdos/linguist" directory.
2207 - In "miscfiles" of the GNU collection.
2208 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
2209 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
2210 uses another default.
2211 Backticks cannot be used in this option for security reasons.
2213 *'diff'* *'nodiff'*
2214 'diff' boolean (default off)
2215 local to window
2216 {not in Vi}
2217 {not available when compiled without the |+diff|
2218 feature}
2219 Join the current window in the group of windows that shows differences
2220 between files. See |vimdiff|.
2222 *'dex'* *'diffexpr'*
2223 'diffexpr' 'dex' string (default "")
2224 global
2225 {not in Vi}
2226 {not available when compiled without the |+diff|
2227 feature}
2228 Expression which is evaluated to obtain an ed-style diff file from two
2229 versions of a file. See |diff-diffexpr|.
2230 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2231 security reasons.
2233 *'dip'* *'diffopt'*
2234 'diffopt' 'dip' string (default "filler")
2235 global
2236 {not in Vi}
2237 {not available when compiled without the |+diff|
2238 feature}
2239 Option settings for diff mode. It can consist of the following items.
2240 All are optional. Items must be separated by a comma.
2242 filler Show filler lines, to keep the text
2243 synchronized with a window that has inserted
2244 lines at the same position. Mostly useful
2245 when windows are side-by-side and 'scrollbind'
2246 is set.
2248 context:{n} Use a context of {n} lines between a change
2249 and a fold that contains unchanged lines.
2250 When omitted a context of six lines is used.
2251 See |fold-diff|.
2253 icase Ignore changes in case of text. "a" and "A"
2254 are considered the same. Adds the "-i" flag
2255 to the "diff" command if 'diffexpr' is empty.
2257 iwhite Ignore changes in amount of white space. Adds
2258 the "-b" flag to the "diff" command if
2259 'diffexpr' is empty. Check the documentation
2260 of the "diff" command for what this does
2261 exactly. It should ignore adding trailing
2262 white space, but not leading white space.
2264 horizontal Start diff mode with horizontal splits (unless
2265 explicitly specified otherwise).
2267 vertical Start diff mode with vertical splits (unless
2268 explicitly specified otherwise).
2270 foldcolumn:{n} Set the 'foldcolumn' option to {n} when
2271 starting diff mode. Without this 2 is used.
2273 Examples: >
2275 :set diffopt=filler,context:4
2276 :set diffopt=
2277 :set diffopt=filler,foldcolumn:3
2278 <
2279 *'digraph'* *'dg'* *'nodigraph'* *'nodg'*
2280 'digraph' 'dg' boolean (default off)
2281 global
2282 {not in Vi}
2283 {not available when compiled without the |+digraphs|
2284 feature}
2285 Enable the entering of digraphs in Insert mode with {char1} <BS>
2286 {char2}. See |digraphs|.
2287 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
2289 *'directory'* *'dir'*
2290 'directory' 'dir' string (default for Amiga: ".,t:",
2291 for MS-DOS and Win32: ".,c:\tmp,c:\temp"
2292 for Unix: ".,~/tmp,/var/tmp,/tmp")
2293 global
2294 List of directory names for the swap file, separated with commas.
2295 - The swap file will be created in the first directory where this is
2296 possible.
2297 - Empty means that no swap file will be used (recovery is
2298 impossible!).
2299 - A directory "." means to put the swap file in the same directory as
2300 the edited file. On Unix, a dot is prepended to the file name, so
2301 it doesn't show in a directory listing. On MS-Windows the "hidden"
2302 attribute is set and a dot prepended if possible.
2303 - A directory starting with "./" (or ".\" for MS-DOS et al.) means to
2304 put the swap file relative to where the edited file is. The leading
2305 "." is replaced with the path name of the edited file.
2306 - For Unix and Win32, if a directory ends in two path separators "//"
2307 or "\\", the swap file name will be built from the complete path to
2308 the file with all path separators substituted to percent '%' signs.
2309 This will ensure file name uniqueness in the preserve directory.
2310 On Win32, when a separating comma is following, you must use "//",
2311 since "\\" will include the comma in the file name.
2312 - Spaces after the comma are ignored, other spaces are considered part
2313 of the directory name. To have a space at the start of a directory
2314 name, precede it with a backslash.
2315 - To include a comma in a directory name precede it with a backslash.
2316 - A directory name may end in an ':' or '/'.
2317 - Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
2318 - Careful with '\' characters, type one before a space, type two to
2319 get one in the option (see |option-backslash|), for example: >
2320 :set dir=c:\\tmp,\ dir\\,with\\,commas,\\\ dir\ with\ spaces
2321 < - For backwards compatibility with Vim version 3.0 a '>' at the start
2322 of the option is removed.
2323 Using "." first in the list is recommended. This means that editing
2324 the same file twice will result in a warning. Using "/tmp" on Unix is
2325 discouraged: When the system crashes you lose the swap file.
2326 "/var/tmp" is often not cleared when rebooting, thus is a better
2327 choice than "/tmp". But it can contain a lot of files, your swap
2328 files get lost in the crowd. That is why a "tmp" directory in your
2329 home directory is tried first.
2330 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
2331 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
2332 uses another default.
2333 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2334 security reasons.
2335 {Vi: directory to put temp file in, defaults to "/tmp"}
2337 *'display'* *'dy'*
2338 'display' 'dy' string (default "")
2339 global
2340 {not in Vi}
2341 Change the way text is displayed. This is comma separated list of
2342 flags:
2343 lastline When included, as much as possible of the last line
2344 in a window will be displayed. When not included, a
2345 last line that doesn't fit is replaced with "@" lines.
2346 uhex Show unprintable characters hexadecimal as <xx>
2347 instead of using ^C and ~C.
2349 *'eadirection'* *'ead'*
2350 'eadirection' 'ead' string (default "both")
2351 global
2352 {not in Vi}
2353 {not available when compiled without the +vertsplit
2354 feature}
2355 Tells when the 'equalalways' option applies:
2356 ver vertically, width of windows is not affected
2357 hor horizontally, height of windows is not affected
2358 both width and height of windows is affected
2360 *'ed'* *'edcompatible'* *'noed'* *'noedcompatible'*
2361 'edcompatible' 'ed' boolean (default off)
2362 global
2363 Makes the 'g' and 'c' flags of the ":substitute" command to be
2364 toggled each time the flag is given. See |complex-change|. See
2365 also 'gdefault' option.
2366 Switching this option on is discouraged!
2368 *'encoding'* *'enc'* *E543*
2369 'encoding' 'enc' string (default: "latin1" or value from $LANG)
2370 global
2371 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
2372 feature}
2373 {not in Vi}
2374 Sets the character encoding used inside Vim. It applies to text in
2375 the buffers, registers, Strings in expressions, text stored in the
2376 viminfo file, etc. It sets the kind of characters which Vim can work
2377 with. See |encoding-names| for the possible values.
2379 NOTE: Changing this option will not change the encoding of the
2380 existing text in Vim. It may cause non-ASCII text to become invalid.
2381 It should normally be kept at its default value, or set when Vim
2382 starts up. See |multibyte|. To reload the menus see |:menutrans|.
2384 NOTE: For GTK+ 2 it is highly recommended to set 'encoding' to
2385 "utf-8". Although care has been taken to allow different values of
2386 'encoding', "utf-8" is the natural choice for the environment and
2387 avoids unnecessary conversion overhead. "utf-8" has not been made
2388 the default to prevent different behavior of the GUI and terminal
2389 versions, and to avoid changing the encoding of newly created files
2390 without your knowledge (in case 'fileencodings' is empty).
2392 The character encoding of files can be different from 'encoding'.
2393 This is specified with 'fileencoding'. The conversion is done with
2394 iconv() or as specified with 'charconvert'.
2396 If you need to know whether 'encoding' is a multi-byte encoding, you
2397 can use: >
2398 if has("multi_byte_encoding")
2399 <
2400 Normally 'encoding' will be equal to your current locale. This will
2401 be the default if Vim recognizes your environment settings. If
2402 'encoding' is not set to the current locale, 'termencoding' must be
2403 set to convert typed and displayed text. See |encoding-table|.
2405 When you set this option, it fires the |EncodingChanged| autocommand
2406 event so that you can set up fonts if necessary.
2408 When the option is set, the value is converted to lowercase. Thus
2409 you can set it with uppercase values too. Underscores are translated
2410 to '-' signs.
2411 When the encoding is recognized, it is changed to the standard name.
2412 For example "Latin-1" becomes "latin1", "ISO_88592" becomes
2413 "iso-8859-2" and "utf8" becomes "utf-8".
2415 Note: "latin1" is also used when the encoding could not be detected.
2416 This only works when editing files in the same encoding! When the
2417 actual character set is not latin1, make sure 'fileencoding' and
2418 'fileencodings' are empty. When conversion is needed, switch to using
2419 utf-8.
2421 When "unicode", "ucs-2" or "ucs-4" is used, Vim internally uses utf-8.
2422 You don't notice this while editing, but it does matter for the
2423 |viminfo-file|. And Vim expects the terminal to use utf-8 too. Thus
2424 setting 'encoding' to one of these values instead of utf-8 only has
2425 effect for encoding used for files when 'fileencoding' is empty.
2427 When 'encoding' is set to a Unicode encoding, and 'fileencodings' was
2428 not set yet, the default for 'fileencodings' is changed.
2430 *'endofline'* *'eol'* *'noendofline'* *'noeol'*
2431 'endofline' 'eol' boolean (default on)
2432 local to buffer
2433 {not in Vi}
2434 When writing a file and this option is off and the 'binary' option
2435 is on, no <EOL> will be written for the last line in the file. This
2436 option is automatically set when starting to edit a new file, unless
2437 the file does not have an <EOL> for the last line in the file, in
2438 which case it is reset. Normally you don't have to set or reset this
2439 option. When 'binary' is off the value is not used when writing the
2440 file. When 'binary' is on it is used to remember the presence of a
2441 <EOL> for the last line in the file, so that when you write the file
2442 the situation from the original file can be kept. But you can change
2443 it if you want to.
2445 *'equalalways'* *'ea'* *'noequalalways'* *'noea'*
2446 'equalalways' 'ea' boolean (default on)
2447 global
2448 {not in Vi}
2449 When on, all the windows are automatically made the same size after
2450 splitting or closing a window. This also happens the moment the
2451 option is switched on. When off, splitting a window will reduce the
2452 size of the current window and leave the other windows the same. When
2453 closing a window the extra lines are given to the window next to it
2454 (depending on 'splitbelow' and 'splitright').
2455 When mixing vertically and horizontally split windows, a minimal size
2456 is computed and some windows may be larger if there is room. The
2457 'eadirection' option tells in which direction the size is affected.
2458 Changing the height and width of a window can be avoided by setting
2459 'winfixheight' and 'winfixwidth', respectively.
2460 If a window size is specified when creating a new window sizes are
2461 currently not equalized (it's complicated, but may be implemented in
2462 the future).
2464 *'equalprg'* *'ep'*
2465 'equalprg' 'ep' string (default "")
2466 global or local to buffer |global-local|
2467 {not in Vi}
2468 External program to use for "=" command. When this option is empty
2469 the internal formatting functions are used; either 'lisp', 'cindent'
2470 or 'indentexpr'. When Vim was compiled without internal formatting,
2471 the "indent" program is used.
2472 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash|
2473 about including spaces and backslashes.
2474 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2475 security reasons.
2477 *'errorbells'* *'eb'* *'noerrorbells'* *'noeb'*
2478 'errorbells' 'eb' boolean (default off)
2479 global
2480 Ring the bell (beep or screen flash) for error messages. This only
2481 makes a difference for error messages, the bell will be used always
2482 for a lot of errors without a message (e.g., hitting <Esc> in Normal
2483 mode). See 'visualbell' on how to make the bell behave like a beep,
2484 screen flash or do nothing.
2486 *'errorfile'* *'ef'*
2487 'errorfile' 'ef' string (Amiga default: "AztecC.Err",
2488 others: "errors.err")
2489 global
2490 {not in Vi}
2491 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
2492 feature}
2493 Name of the errorfile for the QuickFix mode (see |:cf|).
2494 When the "-q" command-line argument is used, 'errorfile' is set to the
2495 following argument. See |-q|.
2496 NOT used for the ":make" command. See 'makeef' for that.
2497 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
2498 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
2499 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2500 security reasons.
2502 *'errorformat'* *'efm'*
2503 'errorformat' 'efm' string (default is very long)
2504 global or local to buffer |global-local|
2505 {not in Vi}
2506 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
2507 feature}
2508 Scanf-like description of the format for the lines in the error file
2509 (see |errorformat|).
2511 *'esckeys'* *'ek'* *'noesckeys'* *'noek'*
2512 'esckeys' 'ek' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
2513 global
2514 {not in Vi}
2515 Function keys that start with an <Esc> are recognized in Insert
2516 mode. When this option is off, the cursor and function keys cannot be
2517 used in Insert mode if they start with an <Esc>. The advantage of
2518 this is that the single <Esc> is recognized immediately, instead of
2519 after one second. Instead of resetting this option, you might want to
2520 try changing the values for 'timeoutlen' and 'ttimeoutlen'. Note that
2521 when 'esckeys' is off, you can still map anything, but the cursor keys
2522 won't work by default.
2523 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
2524 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
2526 *'eventignore'* *'ei'*
2527 'eventignore' 'ei' string (default "")
2528 global
2529 {not in Vi}
2530 {not available when compiled without the |+autocmd|
2531 feature}
2532 A list of autocommand event names, which are to be ignored.
2533 When set to "all" or when "all" is one of the items, all autocommand
2534 events are ignored, autocommands will not be executed.
2535 Otherwise this is a comma separated list of event names. Example: >
2536 :set ei=WinEnter,WinLeave
2537 <
2538 *'expandtab'* *'et'* *'noexpandtab'* *'noet'*
2539 'expandtab' 'et' boolean (default off)
2540 local to buffer
2541 {not in Vi}
2542 In Insert mode: Use the appropriate number of spaces to insert a
2543 <Tab>. Spaces are used in indents with the '>' and '<' commands and
2544 when 'autoindent' is on. To insert a real tab when 'expandtab' is
2545 on, use CTRL-V<Tab>. See also |:retab| and |ins-expandtab|.
2546 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
2548 *'exrc'* *'ex'* *'noexrc'* *'noex'*
2549 'exrc' 'ex' boolean (default off)
2550 global
2551 {not in Vi}
2552 Enables the reading of .vimrc, .exrc and .gvimrc in the current
2553 directory. If you switch this option on you should also consider
2554 setting the 'secure' option (see |initialization|). Using a local
2555 .exrc, .vimrc or .gvimrc is a potential security leak, use with care!
2556 also see |.vimrc| and |gui-init|.
2557 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2558 security reasons.
2560 *'fileencoding'* *'fenc'* *E213*
2561 'fileencoding' 'fenc' string (default: "")
2562 local to buffer
2563 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
2564 feature}
2565 {not in Vi}
2566 Sets the character encoding for the file of this buffer.
2567 When 'fileencoding' is different from 'encoding', conversion will be
2568 done when writing the file. For reading see below.
2569 When 'fileencoding' is empty, the same value as 'encoding' will be
2570 used (no conversion when reading or writing a file).
2571 Conversion will also be done when 'encoding' and 'fileencoding' are
2572 both a Unicode encoding and 'fileencoding' is not utf-8. That's
2573 because internally Unicode is always stored as utf-8.
2574 WARNING: Conversion can cause loss of information! When
2575 'encoding' is "utf-8" or another Unicode encoding, conversion
2576 is most likely done in a way that the reverse conversion
2577 results in the same text. When 'encoding' is not "utf-8" some
2578 characters may be lost!
2579 See 'encoding' for the possible values. Additionally, values may be
2580 specified that can be handled by the converter, see
2581 |mbyte-conversion|.
2582 When reading a file 'fileencoding' will be set from 'fileencodings'.
2583 To read a file in a certain encoding it won't work by setting
2584 'fileencoding', use the |++enc| argument. One exception: when
2585 'fileencodings' is empty the value of 'fileencoding' is used.
2586 For a new file the global value of 'fileencoding' is used.
2587 Prepending "8bit-" and "2byte-" has no meaning here, they are ignored.
2588 When the option is set, the value is converted to lowercase. Thus
2589 you can set it with uppercase values too. '_' characters are
2590 replaced with '-'. If a name is recognized from the list for
2591 'encoding', it is replaced by the standard name. For example
2592 "ISO8859-2" becomes "iso-8859-2".
2593 When this option is set, after starting to edit a file, the 'modified'
2594 option is set, because the file would be different when written.
2595 If you do this in a modeline, you might want to set 'nomodified' to
2596 avoid this.
2597 This option can not be changed when 'modifiable' is off.
2599 *'fe'*
2600 NOTE: Before version 6.0 this option specified the encoding for the
2601 whole of Vim, this was a mistake. Now use 'encoding' instead. The
2602 old short name was 'fe', which is no longer used.
2604 *'fileencodings'* *'fencs'*
2605 'fileencodings' 'fencs' string (default: "ucs-bom",
2606 "ucs-bom,utf-8,default,latin1" when
2607 'encoding' is set to a Unicode value)
2608 global
2609 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
2610 feature}
2611 {not in Vi}
2612 This is a list of character encodings considered when starting to edit
2613 an existing file. When a file is read, Vim tries to use the first
2614 mentioned character encoding. If an error is detected, the next one
2615 in the list is tried. When an encoding is found that works,
2616 'fileencoding' is set to it. If all fail, 'fileencoding' is set to
2617 an empty string, which means the value of 'encoding' is used.
2618 WARNING: Conversion can cause loss of information! When
2619 'encoding' is "utf-8" (or one of the other Unicode variants)
2620 conversion is most likely done in a way that the reverse
2621 conversion results in the same text. When 'encoding' is not
2622 "utf-8" some non-ASCII characters may be lost! You can use
2623 the |++bad| argument to specify what is done with characters
2624 that can't be converted.
2625 For an empty file or a file with only ASCII characters most encodings
2626 will work and the first entry of 'fileencodings' will be used (except
2627 "ucs-bom", which requires the BOM to be present). If you prefer
2628 another encoding use an BufReadPost autocommand event to test if your
2629 preferred encoding is to be used. Example: >
2630 au BufReadPost * if search('\S', 'w') == 0 |
2631 \ set fenc=iso-2022-jp | endif
2632 < This sets 'fileencoding' to "iso-2022-jp" if the file does not contain
2633 non-blank characters.
2634 When the |++enc| argument is used then the value of 'fileencodings' is
2635 not used.
2636 Note that 'fileencodings' is not used for a new file, the global value
2637 of 'fileencoding' is used instead. You can set it with: >
2638 :setglobal fenc=iso-8859-2
2639 < This means that a non-existing file may get a different encoding than
2640 an empty file.
2641 The special value "ucs-bom" can be used to check for a Unicode BOM
2642 (Byte Order Mark) at the start of the file. It must not be preceded
2643 by "utf-8" or another Unicode encoding for this to work properly.
2644 An entry for an 8-bit encoding (e.g., "latin1") should be the last,
2645 because Vim cannot detect an error, thus the encoding is always
2646 accepted.
2647 The special value "default" can be used for the encoding from the
2648 environment. This is the default value for 'encoding'. It is useful
2649 when 'encoding' is set to "utf-8" and your environment uses a
2650 non-latin1 encoding, such as Russian.
2651 When 'encoding' is "utf-8" and a file contains an illegal byte
2652 sequence it won't be recognized as UTF-8. You can use the |8g8|
2653 command to find the illegal byte sequence.
2654 WRONG VALUES: WHAT'S WRONG:
2655 latin1,utf-8 "latin1" will always be used
2656 utf-8,ucs-bom,latin1 BOM won't be recognized in an utf-8
2657 file
2658 cp1250,latin1 "cp1250" will always be used
2659 If 'fileencodings' is empty, 'fileencoding' is not modified.
2660 See 'fileencoding' for the possible values.
2661 Setting this option does not have an effect until the next time a file
2662 is read.
2664 *'fileformat'* *'ff'*
2665 'fileformat' 'ff' string (MS-DOS, MS-Windows, OS/2 default: "dos",
2666 Unix default: "unix",
2667 Macintosh default: "mac")
2668 local to buffer
2669 {not in Vi}
2670 This gives the <EOL> of the current buffer, which is used for
2671 reading/writing the buffer from/to a file:
2672 dos <CR> <NL>
2673 unix <NL>
2674 mac <CR>
2675 When "dos" is used, CTRL-Z at the end of a file is ignored.
2676 See |file-formats| and |file-read|.
2677 For the character encoding of the file see 'fileencoding'.
2678 When 'binary' is set, the value of 'fileformat' is ignored, file I/O
2679 works like it was set to "unix'.
2680 This option is set automatically when starting to edit a file and
2681 'fileformats' is not empty and 'binary' is off.
2682 When this option is set, after starting to edit a file, the 'modified'
2683 option is set, because the file would be different when written.
2684 This option can not be changed when 'modifiable' is off.
2685 For backwards compatibility: When this option is set to "dos",
2686 'textmode' is set, otherwise 'textmode' is reset.
2688 *'fileformats'* *'ffs'*
2689 'fileformats' 'ffs' string (default:
2690 Vim+Vi MS-DOS, MS-Windows OS/2: "dos,unix",
2691 Vim Unix: "unix,dos",
2692 Vim Mac: "mac,unix,dos",
2693 Vi Cygwin: "unix,dos",
2694 Vi others: "")
2695 global
2696 {not in Vi}
2697 This gives the end-of-line (<EOL>) formats that will be tried when
2698 starting to edit a new buffer and when reading a file into an existing
2699 buffer:
2700 - When empty, the format defined with 'fileformat' will be used
2701 always. It is not set automatically.
2702 - When set to one name, that format will be used whenever a new buffer
2703 is opened. 'fileformat' is set accordingly for that buffer. The
2704 'fileformats' name will be used when a file is read into an existing
2705 buffer, no matter what 'fileformat' for that buffer is set to.
2706 - When more than one name is present, separated by commas, automatic
2707 <EOL> detection will be done when reading a file. When starting to
2708 edit a file, a check is done for the <EOL>:
2709 1. If all lines end in <CR><NL>, and 'fileformats' includes "dos",
2710 'fileformat' is set to "dos".
2711 2. If a <NL> is found and 'fileformats' includes "unix", 'fileformat'
2712 is set to "unix". Note that when a <NL> is found without a
2713 preceding <CR>, "unix" is preferred over "dos".
2714 3. If 'fileformats' includes "mac", 'fileformat' is set to "mac".
2715 This means that "mac" is only chosen when "unix" is not present,
2716 or when no <NL> is found in the file, and when "dos" is not
2717 present, or no <CR><NL> is present in the file.
2718 Also if "unix" was first chosen, but the first <CR> is before
2719 the first <NL> and there appears to be more <CR>'s than <NL>'s in
2720 the file, then 'fileformat' is set to "mac".
2721 4. If 'fileformat' is still not set, the first name from
2722 'fileformats' is used.
2723 When reading a file into an existing buffer, the same is done, but
2724 this happens like 'fileformat' has been set appropriately for that
2725 file only, the option is not changed.
2726 When 'binary' is set, the value of 'fileformats' is not used.
2728 For systems with a Dos-like <EOL> (<CR><NL>), when reading files that
2729 are ":source"ed and for vimrc files, automatic <EOL> detection may be
2730 done:
2731 - When 'fileformats' is empty, there is no automatic detection. Dos
2732 format will be used.
2733 - When 'fileformats' is set to one or more names, automatic detection
2734 is done. This is based on the first <NL> in the file: If there is a
2735 <CR> in front of it, Dos format is used, otherwise Unix format is
2736 used.
2737 Also see |file-formats|.
2738 For backwards compatibility: When this option is set to an empty
2739 string or one format (no comma is included), 'textauto' is reset,
2740 otherwise 'textauto' is set.
2741 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
2742 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
2744 *'filetype'* *'ft'*
2745 'filetype' 'ft' string (default: "")
2746 local to buffer
2747 {not in Vi}
2748 {not available when compiled without the |+autocmd|
2749 feature}
2750 When this option is set, the FileType autocommand event is triggered.
2751 All autocommands that match with the value of this option will be
2752 executed. Thus the value of 'filetype' is used in place of the file
2753 name.
2754 Otherwise this option does not always reflect the current file type.
2755 This option is normally set when the file type is detected. To enable
2756 this use the ":filetype on" command. |:filetype|
2757 Setting this option to a different value is most useful in a modeline,
2758 for a file for which the file type is not automatically recognized.
2759 Example, for in an IDL file:
2760 /* vim: set filetype=idl : */ ~
2761 |FileType| |filetypes|
2762 When a dot appears in the value then this separates two filetype
2763 names. Example:
2764 /* vim: set filetype=c.doxygen : */ ~
2765 This will use the "c" filetype first, then the "doxygen" filetype.
2766 This works both for filetype plugins and for syntax files. More than
2767 one dot may appear.
2768 Do not confuse this option with 'osfiletype', which is for the file
2769 type that is actually stored with the file.
2770 This option is not copied to another buffer, independent of the 's' or
2771 'S' flag in 'cpoptions'.
2772 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
2774 *'fillchars'* *'fcs'*
2775 'fillchars' 'fcs' string (default "vert:|,fold:-")
2776 global
2777 {not in Vi}
2778 {not available when compiled without the |+windows|
2779 and |+folding| features}
2780 Characters to fill the statuslines and vertical separators.
2781 It is a comma separated list of items:
2783 item default Used for ~
2784 stl:c ' ' or '^' statusline of the current window
2785 stlnc:c ' ' or '-' statusline of the non-current windows
2786 vert:c '|' vertical separators |:vsplit|
2787 fold:c '-' filling 'foldtext'
2788 diff:c '-' deleted lines of the 'diff' option
2790 Any one that is omitted will fall back to the default. For "stl" and
2791 "stlnc" the space will be used when there is highlighting, '^' or '-'
2792 otherwise.
2794 Example: >
2795 :set fillchars=stl:^,stlnc:-,vert:\|,fold:-,diff:-
2796 < This is similar to the default, except that these characters will also
2797 be used when there is highlighting.
2799 for "stl" and "stlnc" only single-byte values are supported.
2801 The highlighting used for these items:
2802 item highlight group ~
2803 stl:c StatusLine |hl-StatusLine|
2804 stlnc:c StatusLineNC |hl-StatusLineNC|
2805 vert:c VertSplit |hl-VertSplit|
2806 fold:c Folded |hl-Folded|
2807 diff:c DiffDelete |hl-DiffDelete|
2809 *'fkmap'* *'fk'* *'nofkmap'* *'nofk'*
2810 'fkmap' 'fk' boolean (default off) *E198*
2811 global
2812 {not in Vi}
2813 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
2814 feature}
2815 When on, the keyboard is mapped for the Farsi character set.
2816 Normally you would set 'allowrevins' and use CTRL-_ in insert mode to
2817 toggle this option |i_CTRL-_|. See |farsi.txt|.
2819 *'foldclose'* *'fcl'*
2820 'foldclose' 'fcl' string (default "")
2821 global
2822 {not in Vi}
2823 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2824 feature}
2825 When set to "all", a fold is closed when the cursor isn't in it and
2826 its level is higher than 'foldlevel'. Useful if you want folds to
2827 automatically close when moving out of them.
2829 *'foldcolumn'* *'fdc'*
2830 'foldcolumn' 'fdc' number (default 0)
2831 local to window
2832 {not in Vi}
2833 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2834 feature}
2835 When non-zero, a column with the specified width is shown at the side
2836 of the window which indicates open and closed folds. The maximum
2837 value is 12.
2838 See |folding|.
2840 *'foldenable'* *'fen'* *'nofoldenable'* *'nofen'*
2841 'foldenable' 'fen' boolean (default on)
2842 local to window
2843 {not in Vi}
2844 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2845 feature}
2846 When off, all folds are open. This option can be used to quickly
2847 switch between showing all text unfolded and viewing the text with
2848 folds (including manually opened or closed folds). It can be toggled
2849 with the |zi| command. The 'foldcolumn' will remain blank when
2850 'foldenable' is off.
2851 This option is set by commands that create a new fold or close a fold.
2852 See |folding|.
2854 *'foldexpr'* *'fde'*
2855 'foldexpr' 'fde' string (default: "0")
2856 local to window
2857 {not in Vi}
2858 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2859 or |+eval| feature}
2860 The expression used for when 'foldmethod' is "expr". It is evaluated
2861 for each line to obtain its fold level. See |fold-expr|.
2863 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
2864 |sandbox-option|.
2865 This option can't be set from a |modeline| when the 'diff' option is
2866 on.
2868 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
2869 evaluating 'foldexpr' |textlock|.
2871 *'foldignore'* *'fdi'*
2872 'foldignore' 'fdi' string (default: "#")
2873 local to window
2874 {not in Vi}
2875 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2876 feature}
2877 Used only when 'foldmethod' is "indent". Lines starting with
2878 characters in 'foldignore' will get their fold level from surrounding
2879 lines. White space is skipped before checking for this character.
2880 The default "#" works well for C programs. See |fold-indent|.
2882 *'foldlevel'* *'fdl'*
2883 'foldlevel' 'fdl' number (default: 0)
2884 local to window
2885 {not in Vi}
2886 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2887 feature}
2888 Sets the fold level: Folds with a higher level will be closed.
2889 Setting this option to zero will close all folds. Higher numbers will
2890 close fewer folds.
2891 This option is set by commands like |zm|, |zM| and |zR|.
2892 See |fold-foldlevel|.
2894 *'foldlevelstart'* *'fdls'*
2895 'foldlevelstart' 'fdls' number (default: -1)
2896 global
2897 {not in Vi}
2898 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2899 feature}
2900 Sets 'foldlevel' when starting to edit another buffer in a window.
2901 Useful to always start editing with all folds closed (value zero),
2902 some folds closed (one) or no folds closed (99).
2903 This is done before reading any modeline, thus a setting in a modeline
2904 overrules this option. Starting to edit a file for |diff-mode| also
2905 ignores this option and closes all folds.
2906 It is also done before BufReadPre autocommands, to allow an autocmd to
2907 overrule the 'foldlevel' value for specific files.
2908 When the value is negative, it is not used.
2910 *'foldmarker'* *'fmr'* *E536*
2911 'foldmarker' 'fmr' string (default: "{{{,}}}")
2912 local to window
2913 {not in Vi}
2914 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2915 feature}
2916 The start and end marker used when 'foldmethod' is "marker". There
2917 must be one comma, which separates the start and end marker. The
2918 marker is a literal string (a regular expression would be too slow).
2919 See |fold-marker|.
2921 *'foldmethod'* *'fdm'*
2922 'foldmethod' 'fdm' string (default: "manual")
2923 local to window
2924 {not in Vi}
2925 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2926 feature}
2927 The kind of folding used for the current window. Possible values:
2928 |fold-manual| manual Folds are created manually.
2929 |fold-indent| indent Lines with equal indent form a fold.
2930 |fold-expr| expr 'foldexpr' gives the fold level of a line.
2931 |fold-marker| marker Markers are used to specify folds.
2932 |fold-syntax| syntax Syntax highlighting items specify folds.
2933 |fold-diff| diff Fold text that is not changed.
2935 *'foldminlines'* *'fml'*
2936 'foldminlines' 'fml' number (default: 1)
2937 local to window
2938 {not in Vi}
2939 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2940 feature}
2941 Sets the minimum number of screen lines for a fold to be displayed
2942 closed. Also for manually closed folds.
2943 Note that this only has an effect of what is displayed. After using
2944 "zc" to close a fold, which is displayed open because it's smaller
2945 than 'foldminlines', a following "zc" may close a containing fold.
2947 *'foldnestmax'* *'fdn'*
2948 'foldnestmax' 'fdn' number (default: 20)
2949 local to window
2950 {not in Vi}
2951 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2952 feature}
2953 Sets the maximum nesting of folds for the "indent" and "syntax"
2954 methods. This avoids that too many folds will be created. Using more
2955 than 20 doesn't work, because the internal limit is 20.
2957 *'foldopen'* *'fdo'*
2958 'foldopen' 'fdo' string (default: "block,hor,mark,percent,quickfix,
2959 search,tag,undo")
2960 global
2961 {not in Vi}
2962 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2963 feature}
2964 Specifies for which type of commands folds will be opened, if the
2965 command moves the cursor into a closed fold. It is a comma separated
2966 list of items.
2967 item commands ~
2968 all any
2969 block "(", "{", "[[", "[{", etc.
2970 hor horizontal movements: "l", "w", "fx", etc.
2971 insert any command in Insert mode
2972 jump far jumps: "G", "gg", etc.
2973 mark jumping to a mark: "'m", CTRL-O, etc.
2974 percent "%"
2975 quickfix ":cn", ":crew", ":make", etc.
2976 search search for a pattern: "/", "n", "*", "gd", etc.
2977 (not for a search pattern in a ":" command)
2978 Also for |[s| and |]s|.
2979 tag jumping to a tag: ":ta", CTRL-T, etc.
2980 undo undo or redo: "u" and CTRL-R
2981 When the command is part of a mapping this option is not used. Add
2982 the |zv| command to the mapping to get the same effect.
2983 When a movement command is used for an operator (e.g., "dl" or "y%")
2984 this option is not used. This means the operator will include the
2985 whole closed fold.
2986 Note that vertical movements are not here, because it would make it
2987 very difficult to move onto a closed fold.
2988 In insert mode the folds containing the cursor will always be open
2989 when text is inserted.
2990 To close folds you can re-apply 'foldlevel' with the |zx| command or
2991 set the 'foldclose' option to "all".
2993 *'foldtext'* *'fdt'*
2994 'foldtext' 'fdt' string (default: "foldtext()")
2995 local to window
2996 {not in Vi}
2997 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2998 feature}
2999 An expression which is used to specify the text displayed for a closed
3000 fold. See |fold-foldtext|.
3002 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3003 |sandbox-option|.
3005 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
3006 evaluating 'foldtext' |textlock|.
3008 *'formatoptions'* *'fo'*
3009 'formatoptions' 'fo' string (Vim default: "tcq", Vi default: "vt")
3010 local to buffer
3011 {not in Vi}
3012 This is a sequence of letters which describes how automatic
3013 formatting is to be done. See |fo-table|. When the 'paste' option is
3014 on, no formatting is done (like 'formatoptions' is empty). Commas can
3015 be inserted for readability.
3016 To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the
3017 "+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|.
3018 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
3019 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
3021 *'formatlistpat'* *'flp'*
3022 'formatlistpat' 'flp' string (default: "^\s*\d\+[\]:.)}\t ]\s*")
3023 local to buffer
3024 {not in Vi}
3025 A pattern that is used to recognize a list header. This is used for
3026 the "n" flag in 'formatoptions'.
3027 The pattern must match exactly the text that will be the indent for
3028 the line below it. You can use |/\ze| to mark the end of the match
3029 while still checking more characters. There must be a character
3030 following the pattern, when it matches the whole line it is handled
3031 like there is no match.
3032 The default recognizes a number, followed by an optional punctuation
3033 character and white space.
3035 *'formatprg'* *'fp'*
3036 'formatprg' 'fp' string (default "")
3037 global
3038 {not in Vi}
3039 The name of an external program that will be used to format the lines
3040 selected with the |gq| operator. The program must take the input on
3041 stdin and produce the output on stdout. The Unix program "fmt" is
3042 such a program.
3043 If the 'formatexpr' option is not empty it will be used instead.
3044 Otherwise, if 'formatprg' option is an empty string, the internal
3045 format function will be used |C-indenting|.
3046 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash|
3047 about including spaces and backslashes.
3048 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3049 |sandbox-option|.
3051 *'formatexpr'* *'fex'*
3052 'formatexpr' 'fex' string (default "")
3053 local to buffer
3054 {not in Vi}
3055 {not available when compiled without the |+eval|
3056 feature}
3057 Expression which is evaluated to format a range of lines for the |gq|
3058 operator. When this option is empty 'formatprg' is used.
3060 The |v:lnum| variable holds the first line to be formatted.
3061 The |v:count| variable holds the number of lines to be formatted.
3062 The |v:char| variable holds the character that is going to be
3063 inserted. This can be empty. Don't insert it yet!
3065 Example: >
3066 :set formatexpr=mylang#Format()
3067 < This will invoke the mylang#Format() function in the
3068 autoload/mylang.vim file in 'runtimepath'. |autoload|
3070 The expression is also evaluated when 'textwidth' is set and adding
3071 text beyond that limit. This happens under the same conditions as
3072 when internal formatting is used. Make sure the cursor is kept in the
3073 same spot relative to the text then! The |mode()| function will
3074 return "i" or "R" in this situation. When the function returns
3075 non-zero Vim will fall back to using the internal format mechanism.
3077 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3078 |sandbox-option|.
3080 *'fsync'* *'fs'*
3081 'fsync' 'fs' boolean (default on)
3082 global
3083 {not in Vi}
3084 When on, the library function fsync() will be called after writing a
3085 file. This will flush a file to disk, ensuring that it is safely
3086 written even on filesystems which do metadata-only journaling. This
3087 will force the harddrive to spin up on Linux systems running in laptop
3088 mode, so it may be undesirable in some situations. Be warned that
3089 turning this off increases the chances of data loss after a crash. On
3090 systems without an fsync() implementation, this variable is always
3091 off.
3092 Also see 'swapsync' for controlling fsync() on swap files.
3094 *'gdefault'* *'gd'* *'nogdefault'* *'nogd'*
3095 'gdefault' 'gd' boolean (default off)
3096 global
3097 {not in Vi}
3098 When on, the ":substitute" flag 'g' is default on. This means that
3099 all matches in a line are substituted instead of one. When a 'g' flag
3100 is given to a ":substitute" command, this will toggle the substitution
3101 of all or one match. See |complex-change|.
3103 command 'gdefault' on 'gdefault' off ~
3104 :s/// subst. all subst. one
3105 :s///g subst. one subst. all
3106 :s///gg subst. all subst. one
3108 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3110 *'grepformat'* *'gfm'*
3111 'grepformat' 'gfm' string (default "%f:%l%m,%f %l%m")
3112 global
3113 {not in Vi}
3114 Format to recognize for the ":grep" command output.
3115 This is a scanf-like string that uses the same format as the
3116 'errorformat' option: see |errorformat|.
3118 *'grepprg'* *'gp'*
3119 'grepprg' 'gp' string (default "grep -n ",
3120 Unix: "grep -n $* /dev/null",
3121 Win32: "findstr /n" or "grep -n",
3122 VMS: "SEARCH/NUMBERS ")
3123 global or local to buffer |global-local|
3124 {not in Vi}
3125 Program to use for the |:grep| command. This option may contain '%'
3126 and '#' characters, which are expanded like when used in a command-
3127 line. The placeholder "$*" is allowed to specify where the arguments
3128 will be included. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See
3129 |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
3130 When your "grep" accepts the "-H" argument, use this to make ":grep"
3131 also work well with a single file: >
3132 :set grepprg=grep\ -nH
3133 < Special value: When 'grepprg' is set to "internal" the |:grep| command
3134 works like |:vimgrep|, |:lgrep| like |:lvimgrep|, |:grepadd| like
3135 |:vimgrepadd| and |:lgrepadd| like |:lvimgrepadd|.
3136 See also the section |:make_makeprg|, since most of the comments there
3137 apply equally to 'grepprg'.
3138 For Win32, the default is "findstr /n" if "findstr.exe" can be found,
3139 otherwise it's "grep -n".
3140 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
3141 security reasons.
3143 *'guicursor'* *'gcr'* *E545* *E546* *E548* *E549*
3144 'guicursor' 'gcr' string (default "n-v-c:block-Cursor/lCursor,
3145 ve:ver35-Cursor,
3146 o:hor50-Cursor,
3147 i-ci:ver25-Cursor/lCursor,
3148 r-cr:hor20-Cursor/lCursor,
3149 sm:block-Cursor
3150 -blinkwait175-blinkoff150-blinkon175",
3151 for MS-DOS and Win32 console:
3152 "n-v-c:block,o:hor50,i-ci:hor15,
3153 r-cr:hor30,sm:block")
3154 global
3155 {not in Vi}
3156 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled, and
3157 for MS-DOS and Win32 console}
3158 This option tells Vim what the cursor should look like in different
3159 modes. It fully works in the GUI. In an MSDOS or Win32 console, only
3160 the height of the cursor can be changed. This can be done by
3161 specifying a block cursor, or a percentage for a vertical or
3162 horizontal cursor.
3163 For a console the 't_SI' and 't_EI' escape sequences are used.
3165 The option is a comma separated list of parts. Each part consist of a
3166 mode-list and an argument-list:
3167 mode-list:argument-list,mode-list:argument-list,..
3168 The mode-list is a dash separated list of these modes:
3169 n Normal mode
3170 v Visual mode
3171 ve Visual mode with 'selection' "exclusive" (same as 'v',
3172 if not specified)
3173 o Operator-pending mode
3174 i Insert mode
3175 r Replace mode
3176 c Command-line Normal (append) mode
3177 ci Command-line Insert mode
3178 cr Command-line Replace mode
3179 sm showmatch in Insert mode
3180 a all modes
3181 The argument-list is a dash separated list of these arguments:
3182 hor{N} horizontal bar, {N} percent of the character height
3183 ver{N} vertical bar, {N} percent of the character width
3184 block block cursor, fills the whole character
3185 [only one of the above three should be present]
3186 blinkwait{N} *cursor-blinking*
3187 blinkon{N}
3188 blinkoff{N}
3189 blink times for cursor: blinkwait is the delay before
3190 the cursor starts blinking, blinkon is the time that
3191 the cursor is shown and blinkoff is the time that the
3192 cursor is not shown. The times are in msec. When one
3193 of the numbers is zero, there is no blinking. The
3194 default is: "blinkwait700-blinkon400-blinkoff250".
3195 These numbers are used for a missing entry. This
3196 means that blinking is enabled by default. To switch
3197 blinking off you can use "blinkon0". The cursor only
3198 blinks when Vim is waiting for input, not while
3199 executing a command.
3200 To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see
3201 |xterm-blink|.
3202 {group-name}
3203 a highlight group name, that sets the color and font
3204 for the cursor
3205 {group-name}/{group-name}
3206 Two highlight group names, the first is used when
3207 no language mappings are used, the other when they
3208 are. |language-mapping|
3210 Examples of parts:
3211 n-c-v:block-nCursor in Normal, Command-line and Visual mode, use a
3212 block cursor with colors from the "nCursor"
3213 highlight group
3214 i-ci:ver30-iCursor-blinkwait300-blinkon200-blinkoff150
3215 In Insert and Command-line Insert mode, use a
3216 30% vertical bar cursor with colors from the
3217 "iCursor" highlight group. Blink a bit
3218 faster.
3220 The 'a' mode is different. It will set the given argument-list for
3221 all modes. It does not reset anything to defaults. This can be used
3222 to do a common setting for all modes. For example, to switch off
3223 blinking: "a:blinkon0"
3225 Examples of cursor highlighting: >
3226 :highlight Cursor gui=reverse guifg=NONE guibg=NONE
3227 :highlight Cursor gui=NONE guifg=bg guibg=fg
3228 <
3229 *'guifont'* *'gfn'*
3230 *E235* *E596* *E610* *E611*
3231 'guifont' 'gfn' string (default "")
3232 global
3233 {not in Vi}
3234 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled}
3235 This is a list of fonts which will be used for the GUI version of Vim.
3236 In its simplest form the value is just one font name. When
3237 the font cannot be found you will get an error message. To try other
3238 font names a list can be specified, font names separated with commas.
3239 The first valid font is used.
3241 On systems where 'guifontset' is supported (X11) and 'guifontset' is
3242 not empty, then 'guifont' is not used.
3244 Spaces after a comma are ignored. To include a comma in a font name
3245 precede it with a backslash. Setting an option requires an extra
3246 backslash before a space and a backslash. See also
3247 |option-backslash|. For example: >
3248 :set guifont=Screen15,\ 7x13,font\\,with\\,commas
3249 < will make Vim try to use the font "Screen15" first, and if it fails it
3250 will try to use "7x13" and then "font,with,commas" instead.
3252 If none of the fonts can be loaded, Vim will keep the current setting.
3253 If an empty font list is given, Vim will try using other resource
3254 settings (for X, it will use the Vim.font resource), and finally it
3255 will try some builtin default which should always be there ("7x13" in
3256 the case of X). The font names given should be "normal" fonts. Vim
3257 will try to find the related bold and italic fonts.
3259 For Win32, GTK, Motif, Mac OS and Photon: >
3260 :set guifont=*
3261 < will bring up a font requester, where you can pick the font you want.
3263 The font name depends on the GUI used. See |setting-guifont| for a
3264 way to set 'guifont' for various systems.
3266 For the GTK+ 2 GUI the font name looks like this: >
3267 :set guifont=Andale\ Mono\ 11
3268 < That's all. XLFDs are not used. For Chinese this is reported to work
3269 well: >
3270 if has("gui_gtk2")
3271 set guifont=Bitstream\ Vera\ Sans\ Mono\ 12,Fixed\ 12
3272 set guifontwide=Microsoft\ Yahei\ 12,WenQuanYi\ Zen\ Hei\ 12
3273 endif
3274 <
3275 For Mac OSX you can use something like this: >
3276 :set guifont=Monaco:h10
3277 < Also see 'macatsui', it can help fix display problems.
3278 *E236*
3279 Note that the fonts must be mono-spaced (all characters have the same
3280 width). An exception is GTK 2: all fonts are accepted, but
3281 mono-spaced fonts look best.
3283 To preview a font on X11, you might be able to use the "xfontsel"
3284 program. The "xlsfonts" program gives a list of all available fonts.
3286 For the Win32 GUI *E244* *E245*
3287 - takes these options in the font name:
3288 hXX - height is XX (points, can be floating-point)
3289 wXX - width is XX (points, can be floating-point)
3290 b - bold
3291 i - italic
3292 u - underline
3293 s - strikeout
3294 cXX - character set XX. Valid charsets are: ANSI, ARABIC,
3295 BALTIC, CHINESEBIG5, DEFAULT, EASTEUROPE, GB2312, GREEK,
3296 HANGEUL, HEBREW, JOHAB, MAC, OEM, RUSSIAN, SHIFTJIS,
3297 SYMBOL, THAI, TURKISH, VIETNAMESE ANSI and BALTIC.
3298 Normally you would use "cDEFAULT".
3300 Use a ':' to separate the options.
3301 - A '_' can be used in the place of a space, so you don't need to use
3302 backslashes to escape the spaces.
3303 - Examples: >
3304 :set guifont=courier_new:h12:w5:b:cRUSSIAN
3305 :set guifont=Andale_Mono:h7.5:w4.5
3306 < See also |font-sizes|.
3308 *'guifontset'* *'gfs'*
3309 *E250* *E252* *E234* *E597* *E598*
3310 'guifontset' 'gfs' string (default "")
3311 global
3312 {not in Vi}
3313 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled and
3314 with the |+xfontset| feature}
3315 {not available in the GTK+ 2 GUI}
3316 When not empty, specifies two (or more) fonts to be used. The first
3317 one for normal English, the second one for your special language. See
3318 |xfontset|.
3319 Setting this option also means that all font names will be handled as
3320 a fontset name. Also the ones used for the "font" argument of the
3321 |:highlight| command.
3322 The fonts must match with the current locale. If fonts for the
3323 character sets that the current locale uses are not included, setting
3324 'guifontset' will fail.
3325 Note the difference between 'guifont' and 'guifontset': In 'guifont'
3326 the comma-separated names are alternative names, one of which will be
3327 used. In 'guifontset' the whole string is one fontset name,
3328 including the commas. It is not possible to specify alternative
3329 fontset names.
3330 This example works on many X11 systems: >
3331 :set guifontset=-*-*-medium-r-normal--16-*-*-*-c-*-*-*
3332 <
3333 *'guifontwide'* *'gfw'* *E231* *E533* *E534*
3334 'guifontwide' 'gfw' string (default "")
3335 global
3336 {not in Vi}
3337 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled}
3338 When not empty, specifies a comma-separated list of fonts to be used
3339 for double-width characters. The first font that can be loaded is
3340 used.
3341 Note: The size of these fonts must be exactly twice as wide as the one
3342 specified with 'guifont' and the same height.
3344 All GUI versions but GTK+ 2:
3346 'guifontwide' is only used when 'encoding' is set to "utf-8" and
3347 'guifontset' is empty or invalid.
3348 When 'guifont' is set and a valid font is found in it and
3349 'guifontwide' is empty Vim will attempt to find a matching
3350 double-width font and set 'guifontwide' to it.
3352 GTK+ 2 GUI only: *guifontwide_gtk2*
3354 If set and valid, 'guifontwide' is always used for double width
3355 characters, even if 'encoding' is not set to "utf-8".
3356 Vim does not attempt to find an appropriate value for 'guifontwide'
3357 automatically. If 'guifontwide' is empty Pango/Xft will choose the
3358 font for characters not available in 'guifont'. Thus you do not need
3359 to set 'guifontwide' at all unless you want to override the choice
3360 made by Pango/Xft.
3362 *'guiheadroom'* *'ghr'*
3363 'guiheadroom' 'ghr' number (default 50)
3364 global
3365 {not in Vi} {only for GTK and X11 GUI}
3366 The number of pixels subtracted from the screen height when fitting
3367 the GUI window on the screen. Set this before the GUI is started,
3368 e.g., in your |gvimrc| file. When zero, the whole screen height will
3369 be used by the window. When positive, the specified number of pixel
3370 lines will be left for window decorations and other items on the
3371 screen. Set it to a negative value to allow windows taller than the
3372 screen.
3374 *'guioptions'* *'go'*
3375 'guioptions' 'go' string (default "gmrLtT" (MS-Windows),
3376 "agimrLtT" (GTK, Motif and Athena))
3377 global
3378 {not in Vi}
3379 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled}
3380 This option only has an effect in the GUI version of Vim. It is a
3381 sequence of letters which describes what components and options of the
3382 GUI should be used.
3383 To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the
3384 "+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|.
3386 Valid letters are as follows:
3387 *guioptions_a* *'go-a'*
3388 'a' Autoselect: If present, then whenever VISUAL mode is started,
3389 or the Visual area extended, Vim tries to become the owner of
3390 the windowing system's global selection. This means that the
3391 Visually highlighted text is available for pasting into other
3392 applications as well as into Vim itself. When the Visual mode
3393 ends, possibly due to an operation on the text, or when an
3394 application wants to paste the selection, the highlighted text
3395 is automatically yanked into the "* selection register.
3396 Thus the selection is still available for pasting into other
3397 applications after the VISUAL mode has ended.
3398 If not present, then Vim won't become the owner of the
3399 windowing system's global selection unless explicitly told to
3400 by a yank or delete operation for the "* register.
3401 The same applies to the modeless selection.
3402 *'go-A'*
3403 'A' Autoselect for the modeless selection. Like 'a', but only
3404 applies to the modeless selection.
3406 'guioptions' autoselect Visual autoselect modeless ~
3407 "" - -
3408 "a" yes yes
3409 "A" - yes
3410 "aA" yes yes
3412 *'go-c'*
3413 'c' Use console dialogs instead of popup dialogs for simple
3414 choices.
3415 *'go-e'*
3416 'e' Add tab pages when indicated with 'showtabline'.
3417 'guitablabel' can be used to change the text in the labels.
3418 When 'e' is missing a non-GUI tab pages line may be used.
3419 The GUI tabs are only supported on some systems, currently
3420 GTK, Motif, Mac OS/X and MS-Windows.
3421 *'go-f'*
3422 'f' Foreground: Don't use fork() to detach the GUI from the shell
3423 where it was started. Use this for programs that wait for the
3424 editor to finish (e.g., an e-mail program). Alternatively you
3425 can use "gvim -f" or ":gui -f" to start the GUI in the
3426 foreground. |gui-fork|
3427 Note: Set this option in the vimrc file. The forking may have
3428 happened already when the |gvimrc| file is read.
3429 *'go-i'*
3430 'i' Use a Vim icon. For GTK with KDE it is used in the left-upper
3431 corner of the window. It's black&white on non-GTK, because of
3432 limitations of X11. For a color icon, see |X11-icon|.
3433 *'go-m'*
3434 'm' Menu bar is present.
3435 *'go-M'*
3436 'M' The system menu "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim" is not sourced. Note
3437 that this flag must be added in the .vimrc file, before
3438 switching on syntax or filetype recognition (when the |gvimrc|
3439 file is sourced the system menu has already been loaded; the
3440 ":syntax on" and ":filetype on" commands load the menu too).
3441 *'go-g'*
3442 'g' Grey menu items: Make menu items that are not active grey. If
3443 'g' is not included inactive menu items are not shown at all.
3444 Exception: Athena will always use grey menu items.
3445 *'go-t'*
3446 't' Include tearoff menu items. Currently only works for Win32,
3447 GTK+, and Motif 1.2 GUI.
3448 *'go-T'*
3449 'T' Include Toolbar. Currently only in Win32, GTK+, Motif, Photon
3450 and Athena GUIs.
3451 *'go-r'*
3452 'r' Right-hand scrollbar is always present.
3453 *'go-R'*
3454 'R' Right-hand scrollbar is present when there is a vertically
3455 split window.
3456 *'go-l'*
3457 'l' Left-hand scrollbar is always present.
3458 *'go-L'*
3459 'L' Left-hand scrollbar is present when there is a vertically
3460 split window.
3461 *'go-b'*
3462 'b' Bottom (horizontal) scrollbar is present. Its size depends on
3463 the longest visible line, or on the cursor line if the 'h'
3464 flag is included. |gui-horiz-scroll|
3465 *'go-h'*
3466 'h' Limit horizontal scrollbar size to the length of the cursor
3467 line. Reduces computations. |gui-horiz-scroll|
3469 And yes, you may even have scrollbars on the left AND the right if
3470 you really want to :-). See |gui-scrollbars| for more information.
3472 *'go-v'*
3473 'v' Use a vertical button layout for dialogs. When not included,
3474 a horizontal layout is preferred, but when it doesn't fit a
3475 vertical layout is used anyway.
3476 *'go-p'*
3477 'p' Use Pointer callbacks for X11 GUI. This is required for some
3478 window managers. If the cursor is not blinking or hollow at
3479 the right moment, try adding this flag. This must be done
3480 before starting the GUI. Set it in your |gvimrc|. Adding or
3481 removing it after the GUI has started has no effect.
3482 *'go-F'*
3483 'F' Add a footer. Only for Motif. See |gui-footer|.
3486 'C' Remove caption (title) bar. Support Win32 only.
3489 *'guipty'* *'noguipty'*
3490 'guipty' boolean (default on)
3491 global
3492 {not in Vi}
3493 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled}
3494 Only in the GUI: If on, an attempt is made to open a pseudo-tty for
3495 I/O to/from shell commands. See |gui-pty|.
3497 *'guitablabel'* *'gtl'*
3498 'guitablabel' 'gtl' string (default empty)
3499 global
3500 {not in Vi}
3501 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled and
3502 with the +windows feature}
3503 When nonempty describes the text to use in a label of the GUI tab
3504 pages line. When empty and when the result is empty Vim will use a
3505 default label. See |setting-guitablabel| for more info.
3507 The format of this option is like that of 'statusline'.
3508 'guitabtooltip' is used for the tooltip, see below.
3510 Only used when the GUI tab pages line is displayed. 'e' must be
3511 present in 'guioptions'. For the non-GUI tab pages line 'tabline' is
3512 used.
3514 *'guitabtooltip'* *'gtt'*
3515 'guitabtooltip' 'gtt' string (default empty)
3516 global
3517 {not in Vi}
3518 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled and
3519 with the +windows feature}
3520 When nonempty describes the text to use in a tooltip for the GUI tab
3521 pages line. When empty Vim will use a default tooltip.
3522 This option is otherwise just like 'guitablabel' above.
3523 You can include a line break. Simplest method is to use |:let|: >
3524 :let &guitabtooltip = "line one\nline two"
3525 <
3527 *'helpfile'* *'hf'*
3528 'helpfile' 'hf' string (default (MSDOS) "$VIMRUNTIME\doc\help.txt"
3529 (others) "$VIMRUNTIME/doc/help.txt")
3530 global
3531 {not in Vi}
3532 Name of the main help file. All distributed help files should be
3533 placed together in one directory. Additionally, all "doc" directories
3534 in 'runtimepath' will be used.
3535 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. For example:
3536 "$VIMRUNTIME/doc/help.txt". If $VIMRUNTIME is not set, $VIM is also
3537 tried. Also see |$VIMRUNTIME| and |option-backslash| about including
3538 spaces and backslashes.
3539 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
3540 security reasons.
3542 *'helpheight'* *'hh'*
3543 'helpheight' 'hh' number (default 20)
3544 global
3545 {not in Vi}
3546 {not available when compiled without the +windows
3547 feature}
3548 Minimal initial height of the help window when it is opened with the
3549 ":help" command. The initial height of the help window is half of the
3550 current window, or (when the 'ea' option is on) the same as other
3551 windows. When the height is less than 'helpheight', the height is
3552 set to 'helpheight'. Set to zero to disable.
3554 *'helplang'* *'hlg'*
3555 'helplang' 'hlg' string (default: messages language or empty)
3556 global
3557 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_lang|
3558 feature}
3559 {not in Vi}
3560 Comma separated list of languages. Vim will use the first language
3561 for which the desired help can be found. The English help will always
3562 be used as a last resort. You can add "en" to prefer English over
3563 another language, but that will only find tags that exist in that
3564 language and not in the English help.
3565 Example: >
3566 :set helplang=de,it
3567 < This will first search German, then Italian and finally English help
3568 files.
3569 When using |CTRL-]| and ":help!" in a non-English help file Vim will
3570 try to find the tag in the current language before using this option.
3571 See |help-translated|.
3573 *'hidden'* *'hid'* *'nohidden'* *'nohid'*
3574 'hidden' 'hid' boolean (default off)
3575 global
3576 {not in Vi}
3577 When off a buffer is unloaded when it is |abandon|ed. When on a
3578 buffer becomes hidden when it is |abandon|ed. If the buffer is still
3579 displayed in another window, it does not become hidden, of course.
3580 The commands that move through the buffer list sometimes make a buffer
3581 hidden although the 'hidden' option is off: When the buffer is
3582 modified, 'autowrite' is off or writing is not possible, and the '!'
3583 flag was used. See also |windows.txt|.
3584 To only make one buffer hidden use the 'bufhidden' option.
3585 This option is set for one command with ":hide {command}" |:hide|.
3586 WARNING: It's easy to forget that you have changes in hidden buffers.
3587 Think twice when using ":q!" or ":qa!".
3589 *'highlight'* *'hl'*
3590 'highlight' 'hl' string (default (as a single string):
3591 "8:SpecialKey,@:NonText,d:Directory,
3592 e:ErrorMsg,i:IncSearch,l:Search,m:MoreMsg,
3593 M:ModeMsg,n:LineNr,r:Question,
3594 s:StatusLine,S:StatusLineNC,c:VertSplit,
3595 t:Title,v:Visual,w:WarningMsg,W:WildMenu,
3596 f:Folded,F:FoldColumn,A:DiffAdd,
3597 C:DiffChange,D:DiffDelete,T:DiffText,
3598 >:SignColumn,B:SpellBad,P:SpellCap,
3599 R:SpellRare,L:SpellLocal,
3600 +:Pmenu,=:PmenuSel,
3601 x:PmenuSbar,X:PmenuThumb")
3602 global
3603 {not in Vi}
3604 This option can be used to set highlighting mode for various
3605 occasions. It is a comma separated list of character pairs. The
3606 first character in a pair gives the occasion, the second the mode to
3607 use for that occasion. The occasions are:
3608 |hl-SpecialKey| 8 Meta and special keys listed with ":map"
3609 |hl-NonText| @ '~' and '@' at the end of the window and
3610 characters from 'showbreak'
3611 |hl-Directory| d directories in CTRL-D listing and other special
3612 things in listings
3613 |hl-ErrorMsg| e error messages
3614 h (obsolete, ignored)
3615 |hl-IncSearch| i 'incsearch' highlighting
3616 |hl-Search| l last search pattern highlighting (see 'hlsearch')
3617 |hl-MoreMsg| m |more-prompt|
3618 |hl-ModeMsg| M Mode (e.g., "-- INSERT --")
3619 |hl-LineNr| n line number for ":number" and ":#" commands
3620 |hl-Question| r |hit-enter| prompt and yes/no questions
3621 |hl-StatusLine| s status line of current window |status-line|
3622 |hl-StatusLineNC| S status lines of not-current windows
3623 |hl-Title| t Titles for output from ":set all", ":autocmd" etc.
3624 |hl-VertSplit| c column used to separate vertically split windows
3625 |hl-Visual| v Visual mode
3626 |hl-VisualNOS| V Visual mode when Vim does is "Not Owning the
3627 Selection" Only X11 Gui's |gui-x11| and
3628 |xterm-clipboard|.
3629 |hl-WarningMsg| w warning messages
3630 |hl-WildMenu| W wildcard matches displayed for 'wildmenu'
3631 |hl-Folded| f line used for closed folds
3632 |hl-FoldColumn| F 'foldcolumn'
3633 |hl-DiffAdd| A added line in diff mode
3634 |hl-DiffChange| C changed line in diff mode
3635 |hl-DiffDelete| D deleted line in diff mode
3636 |hl-DiffText| T inserted text in diff mode
3637 |hl-SignColumn| > column used for |signs|
3638 |hl-SpellBad| B misspelled word |spell|
3639 |hl-SpellCap| P word that should start with capital|spell|
3640 |hl-SpellRare| R rare word |spell|
3641 |hl-SpellLocal| L word from other region |spell|
3642 |hl-Pmenu| + popup menu normal line
3643 |hl-PmenuSel| = popup menu normal line
3644 |hl-PmenuSbar| x popup menu scrollbar
3645 |hl-PmenuThumb| X popup menu scrollbar thumb
3647 The display modes are:
3648 r reverse (termcap entry "mr" and "me")
3649 i italic (termcap entry "ZH" and "ZR")
3650 b bold (termcap entry "md" and "me")
3651 s standout (termcap entry "so" and "se")
3652 u underline (termcap entry "us" and "ue")
3653 c undercurl (termcap entry "Cs" and "Ce")
3654 n no highlighting
3655 - no highlighting
3656 : use a highlight group
3657 The default is used for occasions that are not included.
3658 If you want to change what the display modes do, see |dos-colors|
3659 for an example.
3660 When using the ':' display mode, this must be followed by the name of
3661 a highlight group. A highlight group can be used to define any type
3662 of highlighting, including using color. See |:highlight| on how to
3663 define one. The default uses a different group for each occasion.
3664 See |highlight-default| for the default highlight groups.
3666 *'hlsearch'* *'hls'* *'nohlsearch'* *'nohls'*
3667 'hlsearch' 'hls' boolean (default off)
3668 global
3669 {not in Vi}
3670 {not available when compiled without the
3671 |+extra_search| feature}
3672 When there is a previous search pattern, highlight all its matches.
3673 The type of highlighting used can be set with the 'l' occasion in the
3674 'highlight' option. This uses the "Search" highlight group by
3675 default. Note that only the matching text is highlighted, any offsets
3676 are not applied.
3677 See also: 'incsearch' and |:match|.
3678 When you get bored looking at the highlighted matches, you can turn it
3679 off with |:nohlsearch|. As soon as you use a search command, the
3680 highlighting comes back.
3681 'redrawtime' specifies the maximum time spent on finding matches.
3682 When the search pattern can match an end-of-line, Vim will try to
3683 highlight all of the matched text. However, this depends on where the
3684 search starts. This will be the first line in the window or the first
3685 line below a closed fold. A match in a previous line which is not
3686 drawn may not continue in a newly drawn line.
3687 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3689 *'history'* *'hi'*
3690 'history' 'hi' number (Vim default: 20, Vi default: 0)
3691 global
3692 {not in Vi}
3693 A history of ":" commands, and a history of previous search patterns
3694 are remembered. This option decides how many entries may be stored in
3695 each of these histories (see |cmdline-editing|).
3696 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
3697 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
3699 *'hkmap'* *'hk'* *'nohkmap'* *'nohk'*
3700 'hkmap' 'hk' boolean (default off)
3701 global
3702 {not in Vi}
3703 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
3704 feature}
3705 When on, the keyboard is mapped for the Hebrew character set.
3706 Normally you would set 'allowrevins' and use CTRL-_ in insert mode to
3707 toggle this option. See |rileft.txt|.
3708 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3710 *'hkmapp'* *'hkp'* *'nohkmapp'* *'nohkp'*
3711 'hkmapp' 'hkp' boolean (default off)
3712 global
3713 {not in Vi}
3714 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
3715 feature}
3716 When on, phonetic keyboard mapping is used. 'hkmap' must also be on.
3717 This is useful if you have a non-Hebrew keyboard.
3718 See |rileft.txt|.
3719 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3721 *'icon'* *'noicon'*
3722 'icon' boolean (default off, on when title can be restored)
3723 global
3724 {not in Vi}
3725 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
3726 feature}
3727 When on, the icon text of the window will be set to the value of
3728 'iconstring' (if it is not empty), or to the name of the file
3729 currently being edited. Only the last part of the name is used.
3730 Overridden by the 'iconstring' option.
3731 Only works if the terminal supports setting window icons (currently
3732 only X11 GUI and terminals with a non-empty 't_IS' option - these are
3733 Unix xterm and iris-ansi by default, where 't_IS' is taken from the
3734 builtin termcap).
3735 When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original icon will be
3736 restored if possible |X11|. See |X11-icon| for changing the icon on
3737 X11.
3739 *'iconstring'*
3740 'iconstring' string (default "")
3741 global
3742 {not in Vi}
3743 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
3744 feature}
3745 When this option is not empty, it will be used for the icon text of
3746 the window. This happens only when the 'icon' option is on.
3747 Only works if the terminal supports setting window icon text
3748 (currently only X11 GUI and terminals with a non-empty 't_IS' option).
3749 Does not work for MS Windows.
3750 When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original icon will be
3751 restored if possible |X11|.
3752 When this option contains printf-style '%' items, they will be
3753 expanded according to the rules used for 'statusline'. See
3754 'titlestring' for example settings.
3755 {not available when compiled without the |+statusline| feature}
3757 *'ignorecase'* *'ic'* *'noignorecase'* *'noic'*
3758 'ignorecase' 'ic' boolean (default off)
3759 global
3760 Ignore case in search patterns. Also used when searching in the tags
3761 file.
3762 Also see 'smartcase'.
3763 Can be overruled by using "\c" or "\C" in the pattern, see
3764 |/ignorecase|.
3766 *'imactivatekey'* *'imak'*
3767 'imactivatekey' 'imak' string (default "")
3768 global
3769 {not in Vi}
3770 {only available when compiled with |+xim| and
3771 |+GUI_GTK|}
3772 Specifies the key that your Input Method in X-Windows uses for
3773 activation. When this is specified correctly, vim can fully control
3774 IM with 'imcmdline', 'iminsert' and 'imsearch'.
3775 You can't use this option to change the activation key, the option
3776 tells Vim what the key is.
3777 Format:
3778 [MODIFIER_FLAG-]KEY_STRING
3780 These characters can be used for MODIFIER_FLAG (case is ignored):
3781 S Shift key
3782 L Lock key
3783 C Control key
3784 1 Mod1 key
3785 2 Mod2 key
3786 3 Mod3 key
3787 4 Mod4 key
3788 5 Mod5 key
3789 Combinations are allowed, for example "S-C-space" or "SC-space" are
3790 both shift+ctrl+space.
3791 See <X11/keysymdef.h> and XStringToKeysym for KEY_STRING.
3793 Example: >
3794 :set imactivatekey=S-space
3795 < "S-space" means shift+space. This is the activation key for kinput2 +
3796 canna (Japanese), and ami (Korean).
3798 *'imcmdline'* *'imc'* *'noimcmdline'* *'noimc'*
3799 'imcmdline' 'imc' boolean (default off)
3800 global
3801 {not in Vi}
3802 {only available when compiled with the |+xim|
3803 |+multi_byte_ime| or |global-ime| feature}
3804 When set the Input Method is always on when starting to edit a command
3805 line, unless entering a search pattern (see 'imsearch' for that).
3806 Setting this option is useful when your input method allows entering
3807 English characters directly, e.g., when it's used to type accented
3808 characters with dead keys.
3810 *'imdisable'* *'imd'* *'noimdisable'* *'noimd'*
3811 'imdisable' 'imd' boolean (default off, on for some systems (SGI))
3812 global
3813 {not in Vi}
3814 {only available when compiled with the |+xim|
3815 |+multi_byte_ime| or |global-ime| feature}
3816 When set the Input Method is never used. This is useful to disable
3817 the IM when it doesn't work properly.
3818 Currently this option is on by default for SGI/IRIX machines. This
3819 may change in later releases.
3821 *'iminsert'* *'imi'*
3822 'iminsert' 'imi' number (default 0, 2 when an input method is supported)
3823 local to buffer
3824 {not in Vi}
3825 Specifies whether :lmap or an Input Method (IM) is to be used in
3826 Insert mode. Valid values:
3827 0 :lmap is off and IM is off
3828 1 :lmap is ON and IM is off
3829 2 :lmap is off and IM is ON
3830 2 is available only when compiled with the |+multi_byte_ime|, |+xim|
3831 or |global-ime|.
3832 To always reset the option to zero when leaving Insert mode with <Esc>
3833 this can be used: >
3834 :inoremap <ESC> <ESC>:set iminsert=0<CR>
3835 < This makes :lmap and IM turn off automatically when leaving Insert
3836 mode.
3837 Note that this option changes when using CTRL-^ in Insert mode
3838 |i_CTRL-^|.
3839 The value is set to 1 when setting 'keymap' to a valid keymap name.
3840 It is also used for the argument of commands like "r" and "f".
3841 The value 0 may not work correctly with Athena and Motif with some XIM
3842 methods. Use 'imdisable' to disable XIM then.
3844 *'imsearch'* *'ims'*
3845 'imsearch' 'ims' number (default 0, 2 when an input method is supported)
3846 local to buffer
3847 {not in Vi}
3848 Specifies whether :lmap or an Input Method (IM) is to be used when
3849 entering a search pattern. Valid values:
3850 -1 the value of 'iminsert' is used, makes it look like
3851 'iminsert' is also used when typing a search pattern
3852 0 :lmap is off and IM is off
3853 1 :lmap is ON and IM is off
3854 2 :lmap is off and IM is ON
3855 Note that this option changes when using CTRL-^ in Command-line mode
3856 |c_CTRL-^|.
3857 The value is set to 1 when it is not -1 and setting the 'keymap'
3858 option to a valid keymap name.
3859 The value 0 may not work correctly with Athena and Motif with some XIM
3860 methods. Use 'imdisable' to disable XIM then.
3862 *'include'* *'inc'*
3863 'include' 'inc' string (default "^\s*#\s*include")
3864 global or local to buffer |global-local|
3865 {not in Vi}
3866 {not available when compiled without the
3867 |+find_in_path| feature}
3868 Pattern to be used to find an include command. It is a search
3869 pattern, just like for the "/" command (See |pattern|). The default
3870 value is for C programs. This option is used for the commands "[i",
3871 "]I", "[d", etc.
3872 Normally the 'isfname' option is used to recognize the file name that
3873 comes after the matched pattern. But if "\zs" appears in the pattern
3874 then the text matched from "\zs" to the end, or until "\ze" if it
3875 appears, is used as the file name. Use this to include characters
3876 that are not in 'isfname', such as a space. You can then use
3877 'includeexpr' to process the matched text.
3878 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
3880 *'includeexpr'* *'inex'*
3881 'includeexpr' 'inex' string (default "")
3882 local to buffer
3883 {not in Vi}
3884 {not available when compiled without the
3885 |+find_in_path| or |+eval| feature}
3886 Expression to be used to transform the string found with the 'include'
3887 option to a file name. Mostly useful to change "." to "/" for Java: >
3888 :set includeexpr=substitute(v:fname,'\\.','/','g')
3889 < The "v:fname" variable will be set to the file name that was detected.
3891 Also used for the |gf| command if an unmodified file name can't be
3892 found. Allows doing "gf" on the name after an 'include' statement.
3893 Also used for |<cfile>|.
3895 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3896 |sandbox-option|.
3898 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
3899 evaluating 'includeexpr' |textlock|.
3901 *'incsearch'* *'is'* *'noincsearch'* *'nois'*
3902 'incsearch' 'is' boolean (default off)
3903 global
3904 {not in Vi}
3905 {not available when compiled without the
3906 |+extra_search| feature}
3907 While typing a search command, show where the pattern, as it was typed
3908 so far, matches. The matched string is highlighted. If the pattern
3909 is invalid or not found, nothing is shown. The screen will be updated
3910 often, this is only useful on fast terminals.
3911 Note that the match will be shown, but the cursor will return to its
3912 original position when no match is found and when pressing <Esc>. You
3913 still need to finish the search command with <Enter> to move the
3914 cursor to the match.
3915 When compiled with the |+reltime| feature Vim only searches for about
3916 half a second. With a complicated pattern and/or a lot of text the
3917 match may not be found. This is to avoid that Vim hangs while you
3918 are typing the pattern.
3919 The highlighting can be set with the 'i' flag in 'highlight'.
3920 See also: 'hlsearch'.
3921 CTRL-L can be used to add one character from after the current match
3922 to the command line.
3923 CTRL-R CTRL-W can be used to add the word at the end of the current
3924 match, excluding the characters that were already typed.
3925 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3927 *'indentexpr'* *'inde'*
3928 'indentexpr' 'inde' string (default "")
3929 local to buffer
3930 {not in Vi}
3931 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
3932 or |+eval| features}
3933 Expression which is evaluated to obtain the proper indent for a line.
3934 It is used when a new line is created, for the |=| operator and
3935 in Insert mode as specified with the 'indentkeys' option.
3936 When this option is not empty, it overrules the 'cindent' and
3937 'smartindent' indenting.
3938 When 'paste' is set this option is not used for indenting.
3939 The expression is evaluated with |v:lnum| set to the line number for
3940 which the indent is to be computed. The cursor is also in this line
3941 when the expression is evaluated (but it may be moved around).
3942 The expression must return the number of spaces worth of indent. It
3943 can return "-1" to keep the current indent (this means 'autoindent' is
3944 used for the indent).
3945 Functions useful for computing the indent are |indent()|, |cindent()|
3946 and |lispindent()|.
3947 The evaluation of the expression must not have side effects! It must
3948 not change the text, jump to another window, etc. Afterwards the
3949 cursor position is always restored, thus the cursor may be moved.
3950 Normally this option would be set to call a function: >
3951 :set indentexpr=GetMyIndent()
3952 < Error messages will be suppressed, unless the 'debug' option contains
3953 "msg".
3954 See |indent-expression|.
3955 NOTE: This option is made empty when 'compatible' is set.
3957 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3958 |sandbox-option|.
3960 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
3961 evaluating 'indentexpr' |textlock|.
3964 *'indentkeys'* *'indk'*
3965 'indentkeys' 'indk' string (default "0{,0},:,0#,!^F,o,O,e")
3966 local to buffer
3967 {not in Vi}
3968 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
3969 feature}
3970 A list of keys that, when typed in Insert mode, cause reindenting of
3971 the current line. Only happens if 'indentexpr' isn't empty.
3972 The format is identical to 'cinkeys', see |indentkeys-format|.
3973 See |C-indenting| and |indent-expression|.
3975 *'infercase'* *'inf'* *'noinfercase'* *'noinf'*
3976 'infercase' 'inf' boolean (default off)
3977 local to buffer
3978 {not in Vi}
3979 When doing keyword completion in insert mode |ins-completion|, and
3980 'ignorecase' is also on, the case of the match is adjusted depending
3981 on the typed text. If the typed text contains a lowercase letter
3982 where the match has an upper case letter, the completed part is made
3983 lowercase. If the typed text has no lowercase letters and the match
3984 has a lowercase letter where the typed text has an uppercase letter,
3985 and there is a letter before it, the completed part is made uppercase.
3986 With 'noinfercase' the match is used as-is.
3988 *'insertmode'* *'im'* *'noinsertmode'* *'noim'*
3989 'insertmode' 'im' boolean (default off)
3990 global
3991 {not in Vi}
3992 Makes Vim work in a way that Insert mode is the default mode. Useful
3993 if you want to use Vim as a modeless editor. Used for |evim|.
3994 These Insert mode commands will be useful:
3995 - Use the cursor keys to move around.
3996 - Use CTRL-O to execute one Normal mode command |i_CTRL-O|). When
3997 this is a mapping, it is executed as if 'insertmode' was off.
3998 Normal mode remains active until the mapping is finished.
3999 - Use CTRL-L to execute a number of Normal mode commands, then use
4000 <Esc> to get back to Insert mode. Note that CTRL-L moves the cursor
4001 left, like <Esc> does when 'insertmode' isn't set. |i_CTRL-L|
4003 These items change when 'insertmode' is set:
4004 - when starting to edit of a file, Vim goes to Insert mode.
4005 - <Esc> in Insert mode is a no-op and beeps.
4006 - <Esc> in Normal mode makes Vim go to Insert mode.
4007 - CTRL-L in Insert mode is a command, it is not inserted.
4008 - CTRL-Z in Insert mode suspends Vim, see |CTRL-Z|. *i_CTRL-Z*
4009 However, when <Esc> is used inside a mapping, it behaves like
4010 'insertmode' was not set. This was done to be able to use the same
4011 mappings with 'insertmode' set or not set.
4012 When executing commands with |:normal| 'insertmode' is not used.
4014 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
4016 *'isfname'* *'isf'*
4017 'isfname' 'isf' string (default for MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2:
4018 "@,48-57,/,\,.,-,_,+,,,#,$,%,{,},[,],:,@-@,!,~,="
4019 for AMIGA: "@,48-57,/,.,-,_,+,,,$,:"
4020 for VMS: "@,48-57,/,.,-,_,+,,,#,$,%,<,>,[,],:,;,~"
4021 for OS/390: "@,240-249,/,.,-,_,+,,,#,$,%,~,="
4022 otherwise: "@,48-57,/,.,-,_,+,,,#,$,%,~,=")
4023 global
4024 {not in Vi}
4025 The characters specified by this option are included in file names and
4026 path names. Filenames are used for commands like "gf", "[i" and in
4027 the tags file. It is also used for "\f" in a |pattern|.
4028 Multi-byte characters 256 and above are always included, only the
4029 characters up to 255 are specified with this option.
4030 For UTF-8 the characters 0xa0 to 0xff are included as well.
4031 Think twice before adding white space to this option. Although a
4032 space may appear inside a file name, the effect will be that Vim
4033 doesn't know where a file name starts or ends when doing completion.
4034 It most likely works better without a space in 'isfname'.
4036 Note that on systems using a backslash as path separator, Vim tries to
4037 do its best to make it work as you would expect. That is a bit
4038 tricky, since Vi originally used the backslash to escape special
4039 characters. Vim will not remove a backslash in front of a normal file
4040 name character on these systems, but it will on Unix and alikes. The
4041 '&' and '^' are not included by default, because these are special for
4042 cmd.exe.
4044 The format of this option is a list of parts, separated with commas.
4045 Each part can be a single character number or a range. A range is two
4046 character numbers with '-' in between. A character number can be a
4047 decimal number between 0 and 255 or the ASCII character itself (does
4048 not work for digits). Example:
4049 "_,-,128-140,#-43" (include '_' and '-' and the range
4050 128 to 140 and '#' to 43)
4051 If a part starts with '^', the following character number or range
4052 will be excluded from the option. The option is interpreted from left
4053 to right. Put the excluded character after the range where it is
4054 included. To include '^' itself use it as the last character of the
4055 option or the end of a range. Example:
4056 "^a-z,#,^" (exclude 'a' to 'z', include '#' and '^')
4057 If the character is '@', all characters where isalpha() returns TRUE
4058 are included. Normally these are the characters a to z and A to Z,
4059 plus accented characters. To include '@' itself use "@-@". Examples:
4060 "@,^a-z" All alphabetic characters, excluding lower
4061 case ASCII letters.
4062 "a-z,A-Z,@-@" All letters plus the '@' character.
4063 A comma can be included by using it where a character number is
4064 expected. Example:
4065 "48-57,,,_" Digits, comma and underscore.
4066 A comma can be excluded by prepending a '^'. Example:
4067 " -~,^,,9" All characters from space to '~', excluding
4068 comma, plus <Tab>.
4069 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
4071 *'isident'* *'isi'*
4072 'isident' 'isi' string (default for MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2:
4073 "@,48-57,_,128-167,224-235"
4074 otherwise: "@,48-57,_,192-255")
4075 global
4076 {not in Vi}
4077 The characters given by this option are included in identifiers.
4078 Identifiers are used in recognizing environment variables and after a
4079 match of the 'define' option. It is also used for "\i" in a
4080 |pattern|. See 'isfname' for a description of the format of this
4081 option.
4082 Careful: If you change this option, it might break expanding
4083 environment variables. E.g., when '/' is included and Vim tries to
4084 expand "$HOME/.viminfo". Maybe you should change 'iskeyword' instead.
4086 *'iskeyword'* *'isk'*
4087 'iskeyword' 'isk' string (Vim default for MS-DOS and Win32:
4088 "@,48-57,_,128-167,224-235"
4089 otherwise: "@,48-57,_,192-255"
4090 Vi default: "@,48-57,_")
4091 local to buffer
4092 {not in Vi}
4093 Keywords are used in searching and recognizing with many commands:
4094 "w", "*", "[i", etc. It is also used for "\k" in a |pattern|. See
4095 'isfname' for a description of the format of this option. For C
4096 programs you could use "a-z,A-Z,48-57,_,.,-,>".
4097 For a help file it is set to all non-blank printable characters except
4098 '*', '"' and '|' (so that CTRL-] on a command finds the help for that
4099 command).
4100 When the 'lisp' option is on the '-' character is always included.
4101 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
4102 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
4104 *'isprint'* *'isp'*
4105 'isprint' 'isp' string (default for MS-DOS, Win32, OS/2 and Macintosh:
4106 "@,~-255"; otherwise: "@,161-255")
4107 global
4108 {not in Vi}
4109 The characters given by this option are displayed directly on the
4110 screen. It is also used for "\p" in a |pattern|. The characters from
4111 space (ASCII 32) to '~' (ASCII 126) are always displayed directly,
4112 even when they are not included in 'isprint' or excluded. See
4113 'isfname' for a description of the format of this option.
4115 Non-printable characters are displayed with two characters:
4116 0 - 31 "^@" - "^_"
4117 32 - 126 always single characters
4118 127 "^?"
4119 128 - 159 "~@" - "~_"
4120 160 - 254 "| " - "|~"
4121 255 "~?"
4122 When 'encoding' is a Unicode one, illegal bytes from 128 to 255 are
4123 displayed as <xx>, with the hexadecimal value of the byte.
4124 When 'display' contains "uhex" all unprintable characters are
4125 displayed as <xx>.
4126 The SpecialKey highlighting will be used for unprintable characters.
4127 |hl-SpecialKey|
4129 Multi-byte characters 256 and above are always included, only the
4130 characters up to 255 are specified with this option. When a character
4131 is printable but it is not available in the current font, a
4132 replacement character will be shown.
4133 Unprintable and zero-width Unicode characters are displayed as <xxxx>.
4134 There is no option to specify these characters.
4136 *'joinspaces'* *'js'* *'nojoinspaces'* *'nojs'*
4137 'joinspaces' 'js' boolean (default on)
4138 global
4139 {not in Vi}
4140 Insert two spaces after a '.', '?' and '!' with a join command.
4141 When 'cpoptions' includes the 'j' flag, only do this after a '.'.
4142 Otherwise only one space is inserted.
4143 NOTE: This option is set when 'compatible' is set.
4145 *'key'*
4146 'key' string (default "")
4147 local to buffer
4148 {not in Vi}
4149 The key that is used for encrypting and decrypting the current buffer.
4150 See |encryption|.
4151 Careful: Do not set the key value by hand, someone might see the typed
4152 key. Use the |:X| command. But you can make 'key' empty: >
4153 :set key=
4154 < It is not possible to get the value of this option with ":set key" or
4155 "echo &key". This is to avoid showing it to someone who shouldn't
4156 know. It also means you cannot see it yourself once you have set it,
4157 be careful not to make a typing error!
4159 *'keymap'* *'kmp'* *E544*
4160 'keymap' 'kmp' string (default "")
4161 local to buffer
4162 {not in Vi}
4163 {only available when compiled with the |+keymap|
4164 feature}
4165 Name of a keyboard mapping. See |mbyte-keymap|.
4166 Setting this option to a valid keymap name has the side effect of
4167 setting 'iminsert' to one, so that the keymap becomes effective.
4168 'imsearch' is also set to one, unless it was -1
4169 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
4171 *'keymodel'* *'km'*
4172 'keymodel' 'km' string (default "")
4173 global
4174 {not in Vi}
4175 List of comma separated words, which enable special things that keys
4176 can do. These values can be used:
4177 startsel Using a shifted special key starts selection (either
4178 Select mode or Visual mode, depending on "key" being
4179 present in 'selectmode').
4180 stopsel Using a not-shifted special key stops selection.
4181 Special keys in this context are the cursor keys, <End>, <Home>,
4182 <PageUp> and <PageDown>.
4183 The 'keymodel' option is set by the |:behave| command.
4185 *'keywordprg'* *'kp'*
4186 'keywordprg' 'kp' string (default "man" or "man -s", DOS: ":help",
4187 OS/2: "view /", VMS: "help")
4188 global or local to buffer |global-local|
4189 {not in Vi}
4190 Program to use for the |K| command. Environment variables are
4191 expanded |:set_env|. ":help" may be used to access the Vim internal
4192 help. (Note that previously setting the global option to the empty
4193 value did this, which is now deprecated.)
4194 When "man" is used, Vim will automatically translate a count for the
4195 "K" command to a section number. Also for "man -s", in which case the
4196 "-s" is removed when there is no count.
4197 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
4198 Example: >
4199 :set keywordprg=man\ -s
4200 < This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
4201 security reasons.
4203 *'langmap'* *'lmap'* *E357* *E358*
4204 'langmap' 'lmap' string (default "")
4205 global
4206 {not in Vi}
4207 {only available when compiled with the |+langmap|
4208 feature}
4209 This option allows switching your keyboard into a special language
4210 mode. When you are typing text in Insert mode the characters are
4211 inserted directly. When in command mode the 'langmap' option takes
4212 care of translating these special characters to the original meaning
4213 of the key. This means you don't have to change the keyboard mode to
4214 be able to execute Normal mode commands.
4215 This is the opposite of the 'keymap' option, where characters are
4216 mapped in Insert mode.
4218 Example (for Greek, in UTF-8): *greek* >
4219 :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
4220 < Example (exchanges meaning of z and y for commands): >
4221 :set langmap=zy,yz,ZY,YZ
4222 <
4223 The 'langmap' option is a list of parts, separated with commas. Each
4224 part can be in one of two forms:
4225 1. A list of pairs. Each pair is a "from" character immediately
4226 followed by the "to" character. Examples: "aA", "aAbBcC".
4227 2. A list of "from" characters, a semi-colon and a list of "to"
4228 characters. Example: "abc;ABC"
4229 Example: "aA,fgh;FGH,cCdDeE"
4230 Special characters need to be preceded with a backslash. These are
4231 ";", ',' and backslash itself.
4233 This will allow you to activate vim actions without having to switch
4234 back and forth between the languages. Your language characters will
4235 be understood as normal vim English characters (according to the
4236 langmap mappings) in the following cases:
4237 o Normal/Visual mode (commands, buffer/register names, user mappings)
4238 o Insert/Replace Mode: Register names after CTRL-R
4239 o Insert/Replace Mode: Mappings
4240 Characters entered in Command-line mode will NOT be affected by
4241 this option. Note that this option can be changed at any time
4242 allowing to switch between mappings for different languages/encodings.
4243 Use a mapping to avoid having to type it each time!
4245 *'langmenu'* *'lm'*
4246 'langmenu' 'lm' string (default "")
4247 global
4248 {not in Vi}
4249 {only available when compiled with the |+menu| and
4250 |+multi_lang| features}
4251 Language to use for menu translation. Tells which file is loaded
4252 from the "lang" directory in 'runtimepath': >
4253 "lang/menu_" . &langmenu . ".vim"
4254 < (without the spaces). For example, to always use the Dutch menus, no
4255 matter what $LANG is set to: >
4256 :set langmenu=nl_NL.ISO_8859-1
4257 < When 'langmenu' is empty, |v:lang| is used.
4258 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
4259 If your $LANG is set to a non-English language but you do want to use
4260 the English menus: >
4261 :set langmenu=none
4262 < This option must be set before loading menus, switching on filetype
4263 detection or syntax highlighting. Once the menus are defined setting
4264 this option has no effect. But you could do this: >
4265 :source $VIMRUNTIME/delmenu.vim
4266 :set langmenu=de_DE.ISO_8859-1
4267 :source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim
4268 < Warning: This deletes all menus that you defined yourself!
4270 *'laststatus'* *'ls'*
4271 'laststatus' 'ls' number (default 1)
4272 global
4273 {not in Vi}
4274 The value of this option influences when the last window will have a
4275 status line:
4276 0: never
4277 1: only if there are at least two windows
4278 2: always
4279 The screen looks nicer with a status line if you have several
4280 windows, but it takes another screen line. |status-line|
4282 *'lazyredraw'* *'lz'* *'nolazyredraw'* *'nolz'*
4283 'lazyredraw' 'lz' boolean (default off)
4284 global
4285 {not in Vi}
4286 When this option is set, the screen will not be redrawn while
4287 executing macros, registers and other commands that have not been
4288 typed. Also, updating the window title is postponed. To force an
4289 update use |:redraw|.
4291 *'linebreak'* *'lbr'* *'nolinebreak'* *'nolbr'*
4292 'linebreak' 'lbr' boolean (default off)
4293 local to window
4294 {not in Vi}
4295 {not available when compiled without the |+linebreak|
4296 feature}
4297 If on Vim will wrap long lines at a character in 'breakat' rather
4298 than at the last character that fits on the screen. Unlike
4299 'wrapmargin' and 'textwidth', this does not insert <EOL>s in the file,
4300 it only affects the way the file is displayed, not its contents. The
4301 value of 'showbreak' is used to put in front of wrapped lines.
4302 This option is not used when the 'wrap' option is off or 'list' is on.
4303 Note that <Tab> characters after an <EOL> are mostly not displayed
4304 with the right amount of white space.
4306 *'lines'* *E593*
4307 'lines' number (default 24 or terminal height)
4308 global
4309 Number of lines of the Vim window.
4310 Normally you don't need to set this. It is done automatically by the
4311 terminal initialization code. Also see |posix-screen-size|.
4312 When Vim is running in the GUI or in a resizable window, setting this
4313 option will cause the window size to be changed. When you only want
4314 to use the size for the GUI, put the command in your |gvimrc| file.
4315 Vim limits the number of lines to what fits on the screen. You can
4316 use this command to get the tallest window possible: >
4317 :set lines=999
4318 < Minimum value is 2, maximum value is 1000.
4319 If you get less lines than expected, check the 'guiheadroom' option.
4320 When you set this option and Vim is unable to change the physical
4321 number of lines of the display, the display may be messed up.
4323 *'linespace'* *'lsp'*
4324 'linespace' 'lsp' number (default 0, 1 for Win32 GUI)
4325 global
4326 {not in Vi}
4327 {only in the GUI}
4328 Number of pixel lines inserted between characters. Useful if the font
4329 uses the full character cell height, making lines touch each other.
4330 When non-zero there is room for underlining.
4331 With some fonts there can be too much room between lines (to have
4332 space for ascents and descents). Then it makes sense to set
4333 'linespace' to a negative value. This may cause display problems
4334 though!
4336 *'lisp'* *'nolisp'*
4337 'lisp' boolean (default off)
4338 local to buffer
4339 {not available when compiled without the |+lispindent|
4340 feature}
4341 Lisp mode: When <Enter> is typed in insert mode set the indent for
4342 the next line to Lisp standards (well, sort of). Also happens with
4343 "cc" or "S". 'autoindent' must also be on for this to work. The 'p'
4344 flag in 'cpoptions' changes the method of indenting: Vi compatible or
4345 better. Also see 'lispwords'.
4346 The '-' character is included in keyword characters. Redefines the
4347 "=" operator to use this same indentation algorithm rather than
4348 calling an external program if 'equalprg' is empty.
4349 This option is not used when 'paste' is set.
4350 {Vi: Does it a little bit differently}
4352 *'lispwords'* *'lw'*
4353 'lispwords' 'lw' string (default is very long)
4354 global
4355 {not in Vi}
4356 {not available when compiled without the |+lispindent|
4357 feature}
4358 Comma separated list of words that influence the Lisp indenting.
4359 |'lisp'|
4361 *'list'* *'nolist'*
4362 'list' boolean (default off)
4363 local to window
4364 List mode: Show tabs as CTRL-I is displayed, display $ after end of
4365 line. Useful to see the difference between tabs and spaces and for
4366 trailing blanks. Further changed by the 'listchars' option.
4368 The cursor is displayed at the start of the space a Tab character
4369 occupies, not at the end as usual in Normal mode. To get this cursor
4370 position while displaying Tabs with spaces, use: >
4371 :set list lcs=tab\ \
4372 <
4373 Note that list mode will also affect formatting (set with 'textwidth'
4374 or 'wrapmargin') when 'cpoptions' includes 'L'. See 'listchars' for
4375 changing the way tabs are displayed.
4377 *'listchars'* *'lcs'*
4378 'listchars' 'lcs' string (default "eol:$")
4379 global
4380 {not in Vi}
4381 Strings to use in 'list' mode. It is a comma separated list of string
4382 settings.
4383 eol:c Character to show at the end of each line. When
4384 omitted, there is no extra character at the end of the
4385 line.
4386 tab:xy Two characters to be used to show a tab. The first
4387 char is used once. The second char is repeated to
4388 fill the space that the tab normally occupies.
4389 "tab:>-" will show a tab that takes four spaces as
4390 ">---". When omitted, a tab is show as ^I.
4391 trail:c Character to show for trailing spaces. When omitted,
4392 trailing spaces are blank.
4393 extends:c Character to show in the last column, when 'wrap' is
4394 off and the line continues beyond the right of the
4395 screen.
4396 precedes:c Character to show in the first column, when 'wrap'
4397 is off and there is text preceding the character
4398 visible in the first column.
4399 nbsp:c Character to show for a non-breakable space (character
4400 0xA0, 160). Left blank when omitted.
4402 The characters ':' and ',' should not be used. UTF-8 characters can
4403 be used when 'encoding' is "utf-8", otherwise only printable
4404 characters are allowed. All characters must be single width.
4406 Examples: >
4407 :set lcs=tab:>-,trail:-
4408 :set lcs=tab:>-,eol:<,nbsp:%
4409 :set lcs=extends:>,precedes:<
4410 < The "NonText" highlighting will be used for "eol", "extends" and
4411 "precedes". "SpecialKey" for "nbsp", "tab" and "trail".
4412 |hl-NonText| |hl-SpecialKey|
4414 *'lpl'* *'nolpl'* *'loadplugins'* *'noloadplugins'*
4415 'loadplugins' 'lpl' boolean (default on)
4416 global
4417 {not in Vi}
4418 When on the plugin scripts are loaded when starting up |load-plugins|.
4419 This option can be reset in your |vimrc| file to disable the loading
4420 of plugins.
4421 Note that using the "-u NONE" and "--noplugin" command line arguments
4422 reset this option. |-u| |--noplugin|
4424 *'macatsui'* *'nomacatsui'*
4425 'macatsui' boolean (default on)
4426 global
4427 {only available in Mac GUI version}
4428 This is a workaround for when drawing doesn't work properly. When set
4429 and compiled with multi-byte support ATSUI text drawing is used. When
4430 not set ATSUI text drawing is not used. Switch this option off when
4431 you experience drawing problems. In a future version the problems may
4432 be solved and this option becomes obsolete. Therefore use this method
4433 to unset it: >
4434 if exists('&macatsui')
4435 set nomacatsui
4436 endif
4437 < Another option to check if you have drawing problems is
4438 'termencoding'.
4440 *'magic'* *'nomagic'*
4441 'magic' boolean (default on)
4442 global
4443 Changes the special characters that can be used in search patterns.
4444 See |pattern|.
4445 NOTE: To avoid portability problems with using patterns, always keep
4446 this option at the default "on". Only switch it off when working with
4447 old Vi scripts. In any other situation write patterns that work when
4448 'magic' is on. Include "\M" when you want to |/\M|.
4450 *'makeef'* *'mef'*
4451 'makeef' 'mef' string (default: "")
4452 global
4453 {not in Vi}
4454 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
4455 feature}
4456 Name of the errorfile for the |:make| command (see |:make_makeprg|)
4457 and the |:grep| command.
4458 When it is empty, an internally generated temp file will be used.
4459 When "##" is included, it is replaced by a number to make the name
4460 unique. This makes sure that the ":make" command doesn't overwrite an
4461 existing file.
4462 NOT used for the ":cf" command. See 'errorfile' for that.
4463 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
4464 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
4465 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
4466 security reasons.
4468 *'makeprg'* *'mp'*
4469 'makeprg' 'mp' string (default "make", VMS: "MMS")
4470 global or local to buffer |global-local|
4471 {not in Vi}
4472 Program to use for the ":make" command. See |:make_makeprg|.
4473 This option may contain '%' and '#' characters, which are expanded to
4474 the current and alternate file name. |:_%| |:_#|
4475 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash|
4476 about including spaces and backslashes.
4477 Note that a '|' must be escaped twice: once for ":set" and once for
4478 the interpretation of a command. When you use a filter called
4479 "myfilter" do it like this: >
4480 :set makeprg=gmake\ \\\|\ myfilter
4481 < The placeholder "$*" can be given (even multiple times) to specify
4482 where the arguments will be included, for example: >
4483 :set makeprg=latex\ \\\\nonstopmode\ \\\\input\\{$*}
4484 < This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
4485 security reasons.
4487 *'matchpairs'* *'mps'*
4488 'matchpairs' 'mps' string (default "(:),{:},[:]")
4489 local to buffer
4490 {not in Vi}
4491 Characters that form pairs. The |%| command jumps from one to the
4492 other. Currently only single byte character pairs are allowed, and
4493 they must be different. The characters must be separated by a colon.
4494 The pairs must be separated by a comma. Example for including '<' and
4495 '>' (HTML): >
4496 :set mps+=<:>
4498 < A more exotic example, to jump between the '=' and ';' in an
4499 assignment, useful for languages like C and Java: >
4500 :au FileType c,cpp,java set mps+==:;
4502 < For a more advanced way of using "%", see the matchit.vim plugin in
4503 the $VIMRUNTIME/macros directory. |add-local-help|
4505 *'matchtime'* *'mat'*
4506 'matchtime' 'mat' number (default 5)
4507 global
4508 {not in Vi}{in Nvi}
4509 Tenths of a second to show the matching paren, when 'showmatch' is
4510 set. Note that this is not in milliseconds, like other options that
4511 set a time. This is to be compatible with Nvi.
4513 *'maxcombine'* *'mco'*
4514 'maxcombine' 'mco' number (default 2)
4515 global
4516 {not in Vi}
4517 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
4518 feature}
4519 The maximum number of combining characters supported for displaying.
4520 Only used when 'encoding' is "utf-8".
4521 The default is OK for most languages. Hebrew may require 4.
4522 Maximum value is 6.
4523 Even when this option is set to 2 you can still edit text with more
4524 combining characters, you just can't see them. Use |g8| or |ga|.
4525 See |mbyte-combining|.
4527 *'maxfuncdepth'* *'mfd'*
4528 'maxfuncdepth' 'mfd' number (default 100)
4529 global
4530 {not in Vi}
4531 {not available when compiled without the +eval
4532 feature}
4533 Maximum depth of function calls for user functions. This normally
4534 catches endless recursion. When using a recursive function with
4535 more depth, set 'maxfuncdepth' to a bigger number. But this will use
4536 more memory, there is the danger of failing when memory is exhausted.
4537 See also |:function|.
4539 *'maxmapdepth'* *'mmd'* *E223*
4540 'maxmapdepth' 'mmd' number (default 1000)
4541 global
4542 {not in Vi}
4543 Maximum number of times a mapping is done without resulting in a
4544 character to be used. This normally catches endless mappings, like
4545 ":map x y" with ":map y x". It still does not catch ":map g wg",
4546 because the 'w' is used before the next mapping is done. See also
4547 |key-mapping|.
4549 *'maxmem'* *'mm'*
4550 'maxmem' 'mm' number (default between 256 to 5120 (system
4551 dependent) or half the amount of memory
4552 available)
4553 global
4554 {not in Vi}
4555 Maximum amount of memory (in Kbyte) to use for one buffer. When this
4556 limit is reached allocating extra memory for a buffer will cause
4557 other memory to be freed. The maximum usable value is about 2000000.
4558 Use this to work without a limit. Also see 'maxmemtot'.
4560 *'maxmempattern'* *'mmp'*
4561 'maxmempattern' 'mmp' number (default 1000)
4562 global
4563 {not in Vi}
4564 Maximum amount of memory (in Kbyte) to use for pattern matching.
4565 The maximum value is about 2000000. Use this to work without a limit.
4566 *E363*
4567 When Vim runs into the limit it gives an error message and mostly
4568 behaves like CTRL-C was typed.
4569 Running into the limit often means that the pattern is very
4570 inefficient or too complex. This may already happen with the pattern
4571 "\(.\)*" on a very long line. ".*" works much better.
4572 Vim may run out of memory before hitting the 'maxmempattern' limit.
4574 *'maxmemtot'* *'mmt'*
4575 'maxmemtot' 'mmt' number (default between 2048 and 10240 (system
4576 dependent) or half the amount of memory
4577 available)
4578 global
4579 {not in Vi}
4580 Maximum amount of memory in Kbyte to use for all buffers together.
4581 The maximum usable value is about 2000000 (2 Gbyte). Use this to work
4582 without a limit. On 64 bit machines higher values might work. But
4583 hey, do you really need more than 2 Gbyte for text editing?
4584 Also see 'maxmem'.
4586 *'menuitems'* *'mis'*
4587 'menuitems' 'mis' number (default 25)
4588 global
4589 {not in Vi}
4590 {not available when compiled without the |+menu|
4591 feature}
4592 Maximum number of items to use in a menu. Used for menus that are
4593 generated from a list of items, e.g., the Buffers menu. Changing this
4594 option has no direct effect, the menu must be refreshed first.
4596 *'mkspellmem'* *'msm'*
4597 'mkspellmem' 'msm' string (default "460000,2000,500")
4598 global
4599 {not in Vi}
4600 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
4601 feature}
4602 Parameters for |:mkspell|. This tunes when to start compressing the
4603 word tree. Compression can be slow when there are many words, but
4604 it's needed to avoid running out of memory. The amount of memory used
4605 per word depends very much on how similar the words are, that's why
4606 this tuning is complicated.
4608 There are three numbers, separated by commas:
4609 {start},{inc},{added}
4611 For most languages the uncompressed word tree fits in memory. {start}
4612 gives the amount of memory in Kbyte that can be used before any
4613 compression is done. It should be a bit smaller than the amount of
4614 memory that is available to Vim.
4616 When going over the {start} limit the {inc} number specifies the
4617 amount of memory in Kbyte that can be allocated before another
4618 compression is done. A low number means compression is done after
4619 less words are added, which is slow. A high number means more memory
4620 will be allocated.
4622 After doing compression, {added} times 1024 words can be added before
4623 the {inc} limit is ignored and compression is done when any extra
4624 amount of memory is needed. A low number means there is a smaller
4625 chance of hitting the {inc} limit, less memory is used but it's
4626 slower.
4628 The languages for which these numbers are important are Italian and
4629 Hungarian. The default works for when you have about 512 Mbyte. If
4630 you have 1 Gbyte you could use: >
4631 :set mkspellmem=900000,3000,800
4632 < If you have less than 512 Mbyte |:mkspell| may fail for some
4633 languages, no matter what you set 'mkspellmem' to.
4635 *'modeline'* *'ml'* *'nomodeline'* *'noml'*
4636 'modeline' 'ml' boolean (Vim default: on (off for root),
4637 Vi default: off)
4638 local to buffer
4639 *'modelines'* *'mls'*
4640 'modelines' 'mls' number (default 5)
4641 global
4642 {not in Vi}
4643 If 'modeline' is on 'modelines' gives the number of lines that is
4644 checked for set commands. If 'modeline' is off or 'modelines' is zero
4645 no lines are checked. See |modeline|.
4646 NOTE: 'modeline' is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
4647 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
4649 *'modifiable'* *'ma'* *'nomodifiable'* *'noma'*
4650 'modifiable' 'ma' boolean (default on)
4651 local to buffer
4652 {not in Vi} *E21*
4653 When off the buffer contents cannot be changed. The 'fileformat' and
4654 'fileencoding' options also can't be changed.
4655 Can be reset with the |-M| command line argument.
4657 *'modified'* *'mod'* *'nomodified'* *'nomod'*
4658 'modified' 'mod' boolean (default off)
4659 local to buffer
4660 {not in Vi}
4661 When on, the buffer is considered to be modified. This option is set
4662 when:
4663 1. A change was made to the text since it was last written. Using the
4664 |undo| command to go back to the original text will reset the
4665 option. But undoing changes that were made before writing the
4666 buffer will set the option again, since the text is different from
4667 when it was written.
4668 2. 'fileformat' or 'fileencoding' is different from its original
4669 value. The original value is set when the buffer is read or
4670 written. A ":set nomodified" command also resets the original
4671 values to the current values and the 'modified' option will be
4672 reset.
4673 When 'buftype' is "nowrite" or "nofile" this option may be set, but
4674 will be ignored.
4676 *'more'* *'nomore'*
4677 'more' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
4678 global
4679 {not in Vi}
4680 When on, listings pause when the whole screen is filled. You will get
4681 the |more-prompt|. When this option is off there are no pauses, the
4682 listing continues until finished.
4683 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
4684 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
4686 *'mouse'* *E538*
4687 'mouse' string (default "", "a" for GUI, MS-DOS and Win32)
4688 global
4689 {not in Vi}
4690 Enable the use of the mouse. Only works for certain terminals
4691 (xterm, MS-DOS, Win32 |win32-mouse|, QNX pterm, *BSD console with
4692 sysmouse and Linux console with gpm). For using the mouse in the
4693 GUI, see |gui-mouse|.
4694 The mouse can be enabled for different modes:
4695 n Normal mode
4696 v Visual mode
4697 i Insert mode
4698 c Command-line mode
4699 h all previous modes when editing a help file
4700 a all previous modes
4701 r for |hit-enter| and |more-prompt| prompt
4702 Normally you would enable the mouse in all four modes with: >
4703 :set mouse=a
4704 < When the mouse is not enabled, the GUI will still use the mouse for
4705 modeless selection. This doesn't move the text cursor.
4707 See |mouse-using|. Also see |'clipboard'|.
4709 Note: When enabling the mouse in a terminal, copy/paste will use the
4710 "* register if there is access to an X-server. The xterm handling of
4711 the mouse buttons can still be used by keeping the shift key pressed.
4712 Also see the 'clipboard' option.
4714 *'mousefocus'* *'mousef'* *'nomousefocus'* *'nomousef'*
4715 'mousefocus' 'mousef' boolean (default off)
4716 global
4717 {not in Vi}
4718 {only works in the GUI}
4719 The window that the mouse pointer is on is automatically activated.
4720 When changing the window layout or window focus in another way, the
4721 mouse pointer is moved to the window with keyboard focus. Off is the
4722 default because it makes using the pull down menus a little goofy, as
4723 a pointer transit may activate a window unintentionally.
4725 *'mousehide'* *'mh'* *'nomousehide'* *'nomh'*
4726 'mousehide' 'mh' boolean (default on)
4727 global
4728 {not in Vi}
4729 {only works in the GUI}
4730 When on, the mouse pointer is hidden when characters are typed.
4731 The mouse pointer is restored when the mouse is moved.
4733 *'mousemodel'* *'mousem'*
4734 'mousemodel' 'mousem' string (default "extend", "popup" for MS-DOS and Win32)
4735 global
4736 {not in Vi}
4737 Sets the model to use for the mouse. The name mostly specifies what
4738 the right mouse button is used for:
4739 extend Right mouse button extends a selection. This works
4740 like in an xterm.
4741 popup Right mouse button pops up a menu. The shifted left
4742 mouse button extends a selection. This works like
4743 with Microsoft Windows.
4744 popup_setpos Like "popup", but the cursor will be moved to the
4745 position where the mouse was clicked, and thus the
4746 selected operation will act upon the clicked object.
4747 If clicking inside a selection, that selection will
4748 be acted upon, i.e. no cursor move. This implies of
4749 course, that right clicking outside a selection will
4750 end Visual mode.
4751 Overview of what button does what for each model:
4752 mouse extend popup(_setpos) ~
4753 left click place cursor place cursor
4754 left drag start selection start selection
4755 shift-left search word extend selection
4756 right click extend selection popup menu (place cursor)
4757 right drag extend selection -
4758 middle click paste paste
4760 In the "popup" model the right mouse button produces a pop-up menu.
4761 You need to define this first, see |popup-menu|.
4763 Note that you can further refine the meaning of buttons with mappings.
4764 See |gui-mouse-mapping|. But mappings are NOT used for modeless
4765 selection (because that's handled in the GUI code directly).
4767 The 'mousemodel' option is set by the |:behave| command.
4769 *'mouseshape'* *'mouses'* *E547*
4770 'mouseshape' 'mouses' string (default "i:beam,r:beam,s:updown,sd:cross,
4771 m:no,ml:up-arrow,v:rightup-arrow")
4772 global
4773 {not in Vi}
4774 {only available when compiled with the |+mouseshape|
4775 feature}
4776 This option tells Vim what the mouse pointer should look like in
4777 different modes. The option is a comma separated list of parts, much
4778 like used for 'guicursor'. Each part consist of a mode/location-list
4779 and an argument-list:
4780 mode-list:shape,mode-list:shape,..
4781 The mode-list is a dash separated list of these modes/locations:
4782 In a normal window: ~
4783 n Normal mode
4784 v Visual mode
4785 ve Visual mode with 'selection' "exclusive" (same as 'v',
4786 if not specified)
4787 o Operator-pending mode
4788 i Insert mode
4789 r Replace mode
4791 Others: ~
4792 c appending to the command-line
4793 ci inserting in the command-line
4794 cr replacing in the command-line
4795 m at the 'Hit ENTER' or 'More' prompts
4796 ml idem, but cursor in the last line
4797 e any mode, pointer below last window
4798 s any mode, pointer on a status line
4799 sd any mode, while dragging a status line
4800 vs any mode, pointer on a vertical separator line
4801 vd any mode, while dragging a vertical separator line
4802 a everywhere
4804 The shape is one of the following:
4805 avail name looks like ~
4806 w x arrow Normal mouse pointer
4807 w x blank no pointer at all (use with care!)
4808 w x beam I-beam
4809 w x updown up-down sizing arrows
4810 w x leftright left-right sizing arrows
4811 w x busy The system's usual busy pointer
4812 w x no The system's usual 'no input' pointer
4813 x udsizing indicates up-down resizing
4814 x lrsizing indicates left-right resizing
4815 x crosshair like a big thin +
4816 x hand1 black hand
4817 x hand2 white hand
4818 x pencil what you write with
4819 x question big ?
4820 x rightup-arrow arrow pointing right-up
4821 w x up-arrow arrow pointing up
4822 x <number> any X11 pointer number (see X11/cursorfont.h)
4824 The "avail" column contains a 'w' if the shape is available for Win32,
4825 x for X11.
4826 Any modes not specified or shapes not available use the normal mouse
4827 pointer.
4829 Example: >
4830 :set mouseshape=s:udsizing,m:no
4831 < will make the mouse turn to a sizing arrow over the status lines and
4832 indicate no input when the hit-enter prompt is displayed (since
4833 clicking the mouse has no effect in this state.)
4835 *'mousetime'* *'mouset'*
4836 'mousetime' 'mouset' number (default 500)
4837 global
4838 {not in Vi}
4839 Only for GUI, MS-DOS, Win32 and Unix with xterm. Defines the maximum
4840 time in msec between two mouse clicks for the second click to be
4841 recognized as a multi click.
4843 *'mzquantum'* *'mzq'*
4844 'mzquantum' 'mzq' number (default 100)
4845 global
4846 {not in Vi}
4847 {not available when compiled without the |+mzscheme|
4848 feature}
4849 The number of milliseconds between polls for MzScheme threads.
4850 Negative or zero value means no thread scheduling.
4852 *'nrformats'* *'nf'*
4853 'nrformats' 'nf' string (default "octal,hex")
4854 local to buffer
4855 {not in Vi}
4856 This defines what bases Vim will consider for numbers when using the
4857 CTRL-A and CTRL-X commands for adding to and subtracting from a number
4858 respectively; see |CTRL-A| for more info on these commands.
4859 alpha If included, single alphabetical characters will be
4860 incremented or decremented. This is useful for a list with a
4861 letter index a), b), etc.
4862 octal If included, numbers that start with a zero will be considered
4863 to be octal. Example: Using CTRL-A on "007" results in "010".
4864 hex If included, numbers starting with "0x" or "0X" will be
4865 considered to be hexadecimal. Example: Using CTRL-X on
4866 "0x100" results in "0x0ff".
4867 Numbers which simply begin with a digit in the range 1-9 are always
4868 considered decimal. This also happens for numbers that are not
4869 recognized as octal or hex.
4871 *'number'* *'nu'* *'nonumber'* *'nonu'*
4872 'number' 'nu' boolean (default off)
4873 local to window
4874 Print the line number in front of each line. When the 'n' option is
4875 excluded from 'cpoptions' a wrapped line will not use the column of
4876 line numbers (this is the default when 'compatible' isn't set).
4877 The 'numberwidth' option can be used to set the room used for the line
4878 number.
4879 When a long, wrapped line doesn't start with the first character, '-'
4880 characters are put before the number.
4881 See |hl-LineNr| for the highlighting used for the number.
4883 *'numberwidth'* *'nuw'*
4884 'numberwidth' 'nuw' number (Vim default: 4 Vi default: 8)
4885 local to window
4886 {not in Vi}
4887 {only available when compiled with the |+linebreak|
4888 feature}
4889 Minimal number of columns to use for the line number. Only relevant
4890 when the 'number' option is set or printing lines with a line number.
4891 Since one space is always between the number and the text, there is
4892 one less character for the number itself.
4893 The value is the minimum width. A bigger width is used when needed to
4894 fit the highest line number in the buffer. Thus with the Vim default
4895 of 4 there is room for a line number up to 999. When the buffer has
4896 1000 lines five columns will be used.
4897 The minimum value is 1, the maximum value is 10.
4898 NOTE: 'numberwidth' is reset to 8 when 'compatible' is set.
4900 *'omnifunc'* *'ofu'*
4901 'omnifunc' 'ofu' string (default: empty)
4902 local to buffer
4903 {not in Vi}
4904 {not available when compiled without the +eval
4905 or +insert_expand feature}
4906 This option specifies a function to be used for Insert mode omni
4907 completion with CTRL-X CTRL-O. |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O|
4908 See |complete-functions| for an explanation of how the function is
4909 invoked and what it should return.
4910 This option is usually set by a filetype plugin:
4911 |:filetype-plugin-on|
4914 *'opendevice'* *'odev'* *'noopendevice'* *'noodev'*
4915 'opendevice' 'odev' boolean (default off)
4916 global
4917 {not in Vi}
4918 {only for MS-DOS, MS-Windows and OS/2}
4919 Enable reading and writing from devices. This may get Vim stuck on a
4920 device that can be opened but doesn't actually do the I/O. Therefore
4921 it is off by default.
4922 Note that on MS-Windows editing "aux.h", "lpt1.txt" and the like also
4923 result in editing a device.
4926 *'operatorfunc'* *'opfunc'*
4927 'operatorfunc' 'opfunc' string (default: empty)
4928 global
4929 {not in Vi}
4930 This option specifies a function to be called by the |g@| operator.
4931 See |:map-operator| for more info and an example.
4933 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
4934 security reasons.
4937 *'osfiletype'* *'oft'* *E366*
4938 'osfiletype' 'oft' string (RISC-OS default: "Text",
4939 others default: "")
4940 local to buffer
4941 {not in Vi}
4942 {only available when compiled with the |+osfiletype|
4943 feature}
4944 Some operating systems store extra information about files besides
4945 name, datestamp and permissions. This option contains the extra
4946 information, the nature of which will vary between systems.
4947 The value of this option is usually set when the file is loaded, and
4948 is used to set the operating system file type when file is written.
4949 It can affect the pattern matching of the automatic commands.
4950 |autocmd-osfiletypes|
4952 *'paragraphs'* *'para'*
4953 'paragraphs' 'para' string (default "IPLPPPQPP TPHPLIPpLpItpplpipbp")
4954 global
4955 Specifies the nroff macros that separate paragraphs. These are pairs
4956 of two letters (see |object-motions|).
4958 *'paste'* *'nopaste'*
4959 'paste' boolean (default off)
4960 global
4961 {not in Vi}
4962 Put Vim in Paste mode. This is useful if you want to cut or copy
4963 some text from one window and paste it in Vim. This will avoid
4964 unexpected effects.
4965 Setting this option is useful when using Vim in a terminal, where Vim
4966 cannot distinguish between typed text and pasted text. In the GUI, Vim
4967 knows about pasting and will mostly do the right thing without 'paste'
4968 being set. The same is true for a terminal where Vim handles the
4969 mouse clicks itself.
4970 This option is reset when starting the GUI. Thus if you set it in
4971 your .vimrc it will work in a terminal, but not in the GUI. Setting
4972 'paste' in the GUI has side effects: e.g., the Paste toolbar button
4973 will no longer work in Insert mode, because it uses a mapping.
4974 When the 'paste' option is switched on (also when it was already on):
4975 - mapping in Insert mode and Command-line mode is disabled
4976 - abbreviations are disabled
4977 - 'textwidth' is set to 0
4978 - 'wrapmargin' is set to 0
4979 - 'autoindent' is reset
4980 - 'smartindent' is reset
4981 - 'softtabstop' is set to 0
4982 - 'revins' is reset
4983 - 'ruler' is reset
4984 - 'showmatch' is reset
4985 - 'formatoptions' is used like it is empty
4986 These options keep their value, but their effect is disabled:
4987 - 'lisp'
4988 - 'indentexpr'
4989 - 'cindent'
4990 NOTE: When you start editing another file while the 'paste' option is
4991 on, settings from the modelines or autocommands may change the
4992 settings again, causing trouble when pasting text. You might want to
4993 set the 'paste' option again.
4994 When the 'paste' option is reset the mentioned options are restored to
4995 the value before the moment 'paste' was switched from off to on.
4996 Resetting 'paste' before ever setting it does not have any effect.
4997 Since mapping doesn't work while 'paste' is active, you need to use
4998 the 'pastetoggle' option to toggle the 'paste' option with some key.
5000 *'pastetoggle'* *'pt'*
5001 'pastetoggle' 'pt' string (default "")
5002 global
5003 {not in Vi}
5004 When non-empty, specifies the key sequence that toggles the 'paste'
5005 option. This is like specifying a mapping: >
5006 :map {keys} :set invpaste<CR>
5007 < Where {keys} is the value of 'pastetoggle'.
5008 The difference is that it will work even when 'paste' is set.
5009 'pastetoggle' works in Insert mode and Normal mode, but not in
5010 Command-line mode.
5011 Mappings are checked first, thus overrule 'pastetoggle'. However,
5012 when 'paste' is on mappings are ignored in Insert mode, thus you can do
5013 this: >
5014 :map <F10> :set paste<CR>
5015 :map <F11> :set nopaste<CR>
5016 :imap <F10> <C-O>:set paste<CR>
5017 :imap <F11> <nop>
5018 :set pastetoggle=<F11>
5019 < This will make <F10> start paste mode and <F11> stop paste mode.
5020 Note that typing <F10> in paste mode inserts "<F10>", since in paste
5021 mode everything is inserted literally, except the 'pastetoggle' key
5022 sequence.
5023 When the value has several bytes 'ttimeoutlen' applies.
5025 *'pex'* *'patchexpr'*
5026 'patchexpr' 'pex' string (default "")
5027 global
5028 {not in Vi}
5029 {not available when compiled without the |+diff|
5030 feature}
5031 Expression which is evaluated to apply a patch to a file and generate
5032 the resulting new version of the file. See |diff-patchexpr|.
5034 *'patchmode'* *'pm'* *E206*
5035 'patchmode' 'pm' string (default "")
5036 global
5037 {not in Vi}
5038 When non-empty the oldest version of a file is kept. This can be used
5039 to keep the original version of a file if you are changing files in a
5040 source distribution. Only the first time that a file is written a
5041 copy of the original file will be kept. The name of the copy is the
5042 name of the original file with the string in the 'patchmode' option
5043 appended. This option should start with a dot. Use a string like
5044 ".org". 'backupdir' must not be empty for this to work (Detail: The
5045 backup file is renamed to the patchmode file after the new file has
5046 been successfully written, that's why it must be possible to write a
5047 backup file). If there was no file to be backed up, an empty file is
5048 created.
5049 When the 'backupskip' pattern matches, a patchmode file is not made.
5050 Using 'patchmode' for compressed files appends the extension at the
5051 end (e.g., "file.gz.orig"), thus the resulting name isn't always
5052 recognized as a compressed file.
5053 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
5055 *'path'* *'pa'* *E343* *E345* *E347*
5056 'path' 'pa' string (default on Unix: ".,/usr/include,,"
5057 on OS/2: ".,/emx/include,,"
5058 other systems: ".,,")
5059 global or local to buffer |global-local|
5060 {not in Vi}
5061 This is a list of directories which will be searched when using the
5062 |gf|, [f, ]f, ^Wf, |:find|, |:sfind|, |:tabfind| and other commands,
5063 provided that the file being searched for has a relative path (not
5064 starting with "/", "./" or "../"). The directories in the 'path'
5065 option may be relative or absolute.
5066 - Use commas to separate directory names: >
5067 :set path=.,/usr/local/include,/usr/include
5068 < - Spaces can also be used to separate directory names (for backwards
5069 compatibility with version 3.0). To have a space in a directory
5070 name, precede it with an extra backslash, and escape the space: >
5071 :set path=.,/dir/with\\\ space
5072 < - To include a comma in a directory name precede it with an extra
5073 backslash: >
5074 :set path=.,/dir/with\\,comma
5075 < - To search relative to the directory of the current file, use: >
5076 :set path=.
5077 < - To search in the current directory use an empty string between two
5078 commas: >
5079 :set path=,,
5080 < - A directory name may end in a ':' or '/'.
5081 - Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
5082 - When using |netrw.vim| URLs can be used. For example, adding
5083 "http://www.vim.org" will make ":find index.html" work.
5084 - Search upwards and downwards in a directory tree using "*", "**" and
5085 ";". See |file-searching| for info and syntax.
5086 {not available when compiled without the |+path_extra| feature}
5087 - Careful with '\' characters, type two to get one in the option: >
5088 :set path=.,c:\\include
5089 < Or just use '/' instead: >
5090 :set path=.,c:/include
5091 < Don't forget "." or files won't even be found in the same directory as
5092 the file!
5093 The maximum length is limited. How much depends on the system, mostly
5094 it is something like 256 or 1024 characters.
5095 You can check if all the include files are found, using the value of
5096 'path', see |:checkpath|.
5097 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
5098 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
5099 uses another default. To remove the current directory use: >
5100 :set path-=
5101 < To add the current directory use: >
5102 :set path+=
5103 < To use an environment variable, you probably need to replace the
5104 separator. Here is an example to append $INCL, in which directory
5105 names are separated with a semi-colon: >
5106 :let &path = &path . "," . substitute($INCL, ';', ',', 'g')
5107 < Replace the ';' with a ':' or whatever separator is used. Note that
5108 this doesn't work when $INCL contains a comma or white space.
5110 *'preserveindent'* *'pi'* *'nopreserveindent'* *'nopi'*
5111 'preserveindent' 'pi' boolean (default off)
5112 local to buffer
5113 {not in Vi}
5114 When changing the indent of the current line, preserve as much of the
5115 indent structure as possible. Normally the indent is replaced by a
5116 series of tabs followed by spaces as required (unless |'expandtab'| is
5117 enabled, in which case only spaces are used). Enabling this option
5118 means the indent will preserve as many existing characters as possible
5119 for indenting, and only add additional tabs or spaces as required.
5120 'expandtab' does not apply to the preserved white space, a Tab remains
5121 a Tab.
5122 NOTE: When using ">>" multiple times the resulting indent is a mix of
5123 tabs and spaces. You might not like this.
5124 NOTE: 'preserveindent' is reset when 'compatible' is set.
5125 Also see 'copyindent'.
5126 Use |:retab| to clean up white space.
5128 *'previewheight'* *'pvh'*
5129 'previewheight' 'pvh' number (default 12)
5130 global
5131 {not in Vi}
5132 {not available when compiled without the |+windows| or
5133 |+quickfix| feature}
5134 Default height for a preview window. Used for |:ptag| and associated
5135 commands. Used for |CTRL-W_}| when no count is given.
5137 *'previewwindow'* *'nopreviewwindow'*
5138 *'pvw'* *'nopvw'* *E590*
5139 'previewwindow' 'pvw' boolean (default off)
5140 local to window
5141 {not in Vi}
5142 {not available when compiled without the |+windows| or
5143 |+quickfix| feature}
5144 Identifies the preview window. Only one window can have this option
5145 set. It's normally not set directly, but by using one of the commands
5146 |:ptag|, |:pedit|, etc.
5148 *'printdevice'* *'pdev'*
5149 'printdevice' 'pdev' string (default empty)
5150 global
5151 {not in Vi}
5152 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5153 feature}
5154 The name of the printer to be used for |:hardcopy|.
5155 See |pdev-option|.
5156 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5157 security reasons.
5159 *'printencoding'* *'penc'*
5160 'printencoding' 'penc' String (default empty, except for some systems)
5161 global
5162 {not in Vi}
5163 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5164 and |+postscript| features}
5165 Sets the character encoding used when printing.
5166 See |penc-option|.
5168 *'printexpr'* *'pexpr'*
5169 'printexpr' 'pexpr' String (default: see below)
5170 global
5171 {not in Vi}
5172 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5173 and |+postscript| features}
5174 Expression used to print the PostScript produced with |:hardcopy|.
5175 See |pexpr-option|.
5177 *'printfont'* *'pfn'*
5178 'printfont' 'pfn' string (default "courier")
5179 global
5180 {not in Vi}
5181 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5182 feature}
5183 The name of the font that will be used for |:hardcopy|.
5184 See |pfn-option|.
5186 *'printheader'* *'pheader'*
5187 'printheader' 'pheader' string (default "%<%f%h%m%=Page %N")
5188 global
5189 {not in Vi}
5190 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5191 feature}
5192 The format of the header produced in |:hardcopy| output.
5193 See |pheader-option|.
5195 *'printmbcharset'* *'pmbcs'*
5196 'printmbcharset' 'pmbcs' string (default "")
5197 global
5198 {not in Vi}
5199 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|,
5200 |+postscript| and |+multi_byte| features}
5201 The CJK character set to be used for CJK output from |:hardcopy|.
5202 See |pmbcs-option|.
5204 *'printmbfont'* *'pmbfn'*
5205 'printmbfont' 'pmbfn' string (default "")
5206 global
5207 {not in Vi}
5208 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|,
5209 |+postscript| and |+multi_byte| features}
5210 List of font names to be used for CJK output from |:hardcopy|.
5211 See |pmbfn-option|.
5213 *'printoptions'* *'popt'*
5214 'printoptions' 'popt' string (default "")
5215 global
5216 {not in Vi}
5217 {only available when compiled with |+printer| feature}
5218 List of items that control the format of the output of |:hardcopy|.
5219 See |popt-option|.
5221 *'prompt'* *'noprompt'*
5222 'prompt' boolean (default on)
5223 global
5224 When on a ":" prompt is used in Ex mode.
5226 *'pumheight'* *'ph'*
5227 'pumheight' 'ph' number (default 0)
5228 global
5229 {not available when compiled without the
5230 |+insert_expand| feature}
5231 {not in Vi}
5232 Determines the maximum number of items to show in the popup menu for
5233 Insert mode completion. When zero as much space as available is used.
5234 |ins-completion-menu|.
5237 *'quoteescape'* *'qe'*
5238 'quoteescape' 'qe' string (default "\")
5239 local to buffer
5240 {not in Vi}
5241 The characters that are used to escape quotes in a string. Used for
5242 objects like a', a" and a` |a'|.
5243 When one of the characters in this option is found inside a string,
5244 the following character will be skipped. The default value makes the
5245 text "foo\"bar\\" considered to be one string.
5247 *'readonly'* *'ro'* *'noreadonly'* *'noro'*
5248 'readonly' 'ro' boolean (default off)
5249 local to buffer
5250 If on, writes fail unless you use a '!'. Protects you from
5251 accidentally overwriting a file. Default on when Vim is started
5252 in read-only mode ("vim -R") or when the executable is called "view".
5253 When using ":w!" the 'readonly' option is reset for the current
5254 buffer, unless the 'Z' flag is in 'cpoptions'.
5255 {not in Vi:} When using the ":view" command the 'readonly' option is
5256 set for the newly edited buffer.
5258 *'redrawtime'* *'rdt'*
5259 'redrawtime' 'rdt' number (default 2000)
5260 global
5261 {not in Vi}
5262 {only available when compiled with the |+reltime|
5263 feature}
5264 The time in milliseconds for redrawing the display. This applies to
5265 searching for patterns for 'hlsearch' and |:match| highlighting.
5266 When redrawing takes more than this many milliseconds no further
5267 matches will be highlighted. This is used to avoid that Vim hangs
5268 when using a very complicated pattern.
5270 *'remap'* *'noremap'*
5271 'remap' boolean (default on)
5272 global
5273 Allows for mappings to work recursively. If you do not want this for
5274 a single entry, use the :noremap[!] command.
5275 NOTE: To avoid portability problems with Vim scripts, always keep
5276 this option at the default "on". Only switch it off when working with
5277 old Vi scripts.
5279 *'report'*
5280 'report' number (default 2)
5281 global
5282 Threshold for reporting number of lines changed. When the number of
5283 changed lines is more than 'report' a message will be given for most
5284 ":" commands. If you want it always, set 'report' to 0.
5285 For the ":substitute" command the number of substitutions is used
5286 instead of the number of lines.
5288 *'restorescreen'* *'rs'* *'norestorescreen'* *'nors'*
5289 'restorescreen' 'rs' boolean (default on)
5290 global
5291 {not in Vi} {only in Windows 95/NT console version}
5292 When set, the screen contents is restored when exiting Vim. This also
5293 happens when executing external commands.
5295 For non-Windows Vim: You can set or reset the 't_ti' and 't_te'
5296 options in your .vimrc. To disable restoring:
5297 set t_ti= t_te=
5298 To enable restoring (for an xterm):
5299 set t_ti=^[7^[[r^[[?47h t_te=^[[?47l^[8
5300 (Where ^[ is an <Esc>, type CTRL-V <Esc> to insert it)
5302 *'revins'* *'ri'* *'norevins'* *'nori'*
5303 'revins' 'ri' boolean (default off)
5304 global
5305 {not in Vi}
5306 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
5307 feature}
5308 Inserting characters in Insert mode will work backwards. See "typing
5309 backwards" |ins-reverse|. This option can be toggled with the CTRL-_
5310 command in Insert mode, when 'allowrevins' is set.
5311 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' or 'paste' is set.
5313 *'rightleft'* *'rl'* *'norightleft'* *'norl'*
5314 'rightleft' 'rl' boolean (default off)
5315 local to window
5316 {not in Vi}
5317 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
5318 feature}
5319 When on, display orientation becomes right-to-left, i.e., characters
5320 that are stored in the file appear from the right to the left.
5321 Using this option, it is possible to edit files for languages that
5322 are written from the right to the left such as Hebrew and Arabic.
5323 This option is per window, so it is possible to edit mixed files
5324 simultaneously, or to view the same file in both ways (this is
5325 useful whenever you have a mixed text file with both right-to-left
5326 and left-to-right strings so that both sets are displayed properly
5327 in different windows). Also see |rileft.txt|.
5329 *'rightleftcmd'* *'rlc'* *'norightleftcmd'* *'norlc'*
5330 'rightleftcmd' 'rlc' string (default "search")
5331 local to window
5332 {not in Vi}
5333 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
5334 feature}
5335 Each word in this option enables the command line editing to work in
5336 right-to-left mode for a group of commands:
5338 search "/" and "?" commands
5340 This is useful for languages such as Hebrew, Arabic and Farsi.
5341 The 'rightleft' option must be set for 'rightleftcmd' to take effect.
5343 *'ruler'* *'ru'* *'noruler'* *'noru'*
5344 'ruler' 'ru' boolean (default off)
5345 global
5346 {not in Vi}
5347 {not available when compiled without the
5348 |+cmdline_info| feature}
5349 Show the line and column number of the cursor position, separated by a
5350 comma. When there is room, the relative position of the displayed
5351 text in the file is shown on the far right:
5352 Top first line is visible
5353 Bot last line is visible
5354 All first and last line are visible
5355 45% relative position in the file
5356 If 'rulerformat' is set, it will determine the contents of the ruler.
5357 Each window has its own ruler. If a window has a status line, the
5358 ruler is shown there. Otherwise it is shown in the last line of the
5359 screen. If the statusline is given by 'statusline' (i.e. not empty),
5360 this option takes precedence over 'ruler' and 'rulerformat'
5361 If the number of characters displayed is different from the number of
5362 bytes in the text (e.g., for a TAB or a multi-byte character), both
5363 the text column (byte number) and the screen column are shown,
5364 separated with a dash.
5365 For an empty line "0-1" is shown.
5366 For an empty buffer the line number will also be zero: "0,0-1".
5367 This option is reset when the 'paste' option is set.
5368 If you don't want to see the ruler all the time but want to know where
5369 you are, use "g CTRL-G" |g_CTRL-G|.
5370 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
5372 *'rulerformat'* *'ruf'*
5373 'rulerformat' 'ruf' string (default empty)
5374 global
5375 {not in Vi}
5376 {not available when compiled without the |+statusline|
5377 feature}
5378 When this option is not empty, it determines the content of the ruler
5379 string, as displayed for the 'ruler' option.
5380 The format of this option is like that of 'statusline'.
5381 The default ruler width is 17 characters. To make the ruler 15
5382 characters wide, put "%15(" at the start and "%)" at the end.
5383 Example: >
5384 :set rulerformat=%15(%c%V\ %p%%%)
5385 <
5386 *'runtimepath'* *'rtp'* *vimfiles*
5387 'runtimepath' 'rtp' string (default:
5388 Unix: "$HOME/.vim,
5389 $VIM/vimfiles,
5390 $VIMRUNTIME,
5391 $VIM/vimfiles/after,
5392 $HOME/.vim/after"
5393 Amiga: "home:vimfiles,
5394 $VIM/vimfiles,
5395 $VIMRUNTIME,
5396 $VIM/vimfiles/after,
5397 home:vimfiles/after"
5398 PC, OS/2: "$HOME/vimfiles,
5399 $VIM/vimfiles,
5400 $VIMRUNTIME,
5401 $VIM/vimfiles/after,
5402 $HOME/vimfiles/after"
5403 Macintosh: "$VIM:vimfiles,
5404 $VIMRUNTIME,
5405 $VIM:vimfiles:after"
5406 RISC-OS: "Choices:vimfiles,
5407 $VIMRUNTIME,
5408 Choices:vimfiles/after"
5409 VMS: "sys$login:vimfiles,
5410 $VIM/vimfiles,
5411 $VIMRUNTIME,
5412 $VIM/vimfiles/after,
5413 sys$login:vimfiles/after")
5414 global
5415 {not in Vi}
5416 This is a list of directories which will be searched for runtime
5417 files:
5418 filetype.vim filetypes by file name |new-filetype|
5419 scripts.vim filetypes by file contents |new-filetype-scripts|
5420 autoload/ automatically loaded scripts |autoload-functions|
5421 colors/ color scheme files |:colorscheme|
5422 compiler/ compiler files |:compiler|
5423 doc/ documentation |write-local-help|
5424 ftplugin/ filetype plugins |write-filetype-plugin|
5425 indent/ indent scripts |indent-expression|
5426 keymap/ key mapping files |mbyte-keymap|
5427 lang/ menu translations |:menutrans|
5428 menu.vim GUI menus |menu.vim|
5429 plugin/ plugin scripts |write-plugin|
5430 print/ files for printing |postscript-print-encoding|
5431 spell/ spell checking files |spell|
5432 syntax/ syntax files |mysyntaxfile|
5433 tutor/ files for vimtutor |tutor|
5435 And any other file searched for with the |:runtime| command.
5437 The defaults for most systems are setup to search five locations:
5438 1. In your home directory, for your personal preferences.
5439 2. In a system-wide Vim directory, for preferences from the system
5440 administrator.
5441 3. In $VIMRUNTIME, for files distributed with Vim.
5442 *after-directory*
5443 4. In the "after" directory in the system-wide Vim directory. This is
5444 for the system administrator to overrule or add to the distributed
5445 defaults (rarely needed)
5446 5. In the "after" directory in your home directory. This is for
5447 personal preferences to overrule or add to the distributed defaults
5448 or system-wide settings (rarely needed).
5450 Note that, unlike 'path', no wildcards like "**" are allowed. Normal
5451 wildcards are allowed, but can significantly slow down searching for
5452 runtime files. For speed, use as few items as possible and avoid
5453 wildcards.
5454 See |:runtime|.
5455 Example: >
5456 :set runtimepath=~/vimruntime,/mygroup/vim,$VIMRUNTIME
5457 < This will use the directory "~/vimruntime" first (containing your
5458 personal Vim runtime files), then "/mygroup/vim" (shared between a
5459 group of people) and finally "$VIMRUNTIME" (the distributed runtime
5460 files).
5461 You probably should always include $VIMRUNTIME somewhere, to use the
5462 distributed runtime files. You can put a directory before $VIMRUNTIME
5463 to find files which replace a distributed runtime files. You can put
5464 a directory after $VIMRUNTIME to find files which add to distributed
5465 runtime files.
5466 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5467 security reasons.
5469 *'scroll'* *'scr'*
5470 'scroll' 'scr' number (default: half the window height)
5471 local to window
5472 Number of lines to scroll with CTRL-U and CTRL-D commands. Will be
5473 set to half the number of lines in the window when the window size
5474 changes. If you give a count to the CTRL-U or CTRL-D command it will
5475 be used as the new value for 'scroll'. Reset to half the window
5476 height with ":set scroll=0". {Vi is a bit different: 'scroll' gives
5477 the number of screen lines instead of file lines, makes a difference
5478 when lines wrap}
5480 *'scrollbind'* *'scb'* *'noscrollbind'* *'noscb'*
5481 'scrollbind' 'scb' boolean (default off)
5482 local to window
5483 {not in Vi}
5484 {not available when compiled without the |+scrollbind|
5485 feature}
5486 See also |scroll-binding|. When this option is set, the current
5487 window scrolls as other scrollbind windows (windows that also have
5488 this option set) scroll. This option is useful for viewing the
5489 differences between two versions of a file, see 'diff'.
5490 See |'scrollopt'| for options that determine how this option should be
5491 interpreted.
5492 This option is mostly reset when splitting a window to edit another
5493 file. This means that ":split | edit file" results in two windows
5494 with scroll-binding, but ":split file" does not.
5496 *'scrolljump'* *'sj'*
5497 'scrolljump' 'sj' number (default 1)
5498 global
5499 {not in Vi}
5500 Minimal number of lines to scroll when the cursor gets off the
5501 screen (e.g., with "j"). Not used for scroll commands (e.g., CTRL-E,
5502 CTRL-D). Useful if your terminal scrolls very slowly.
5503 When set to a negative number from -1 to -100 this is used as the
5504 percentage of the window height. Thus -50 scrolls half the window
5505 height.
5506 NOTE: This option is set to 1 when 'compatible' is set.
5508 *'scrolloff'* *'so'*
5509 'scrolloff' 'so' number (default 0)
5510 global
5511 {not in Vi}
5512 Minimal number of screen lines to keep above and below the cursor.
5513 This will make some context visible around where you are working. If
5514 you set it to a very large value (999) the cursor line will always be
5515 in the middle of the window (except at the start or end of the file or
5516 when long lines wrap).
5517 For scrolling horizontally see 'sidescrolloff'.
5518 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
5520 *'scrollopt'* *'sbo'*
5521 'scrollopt' 'sbo' string (default "ver,jump")
5522 global
5523 {not available when compiled without the |+scrollbind|
5524 feature}
5525 {not in Vi}
5526 This is a comma-separated list of words that specifies how
5527 'scrollbind' windows should behave. 'sbo' stands for ScrollBind
5528 Options.
5529 The following words are available:
5530 ver Bind vertical scrolling for 'scrollbind' windows
5531 hor Bind horizontal scrolling for 'scrollbind' windows
5532 jump Applies to the offset between two windows for vertical
5533 scrolling. This offset is the difference in the first
5534 displayed line of the bound windows. When moving
5535 around in a window, another 'scrollbind' window may
5536 reach a position before the start or after the end of
5537 the buffer. The offset is not changed though, when
5538 moving back the 'scrollbind' window will try to scroll
5539 to the desired position when possible.
5540 When now making that window the current one, two
5541 things can be done with the relative offset:
5542 1. When "jump" is not included, the relative offset is
5543 adjusted for the scroll position in the new current
5544 window. When going back to the other window, the
5545 new relative offset will be used.
5546 2. When "jump" is included, the other windows are
5547 scrolled to keep the same relative offset. When
5548 going back to the other window, it still uses the
5549 same relative offset.
5550 Also see |scroll-binding|.
5551 When 'diff' mode is active there always is vertical scroll binding,
5552 even when "ver" isn't there.
5554 *'sections'* *'sect'*
5555 'sections' 'sect' string (default "SHNHH HUnhsh")
5556 global
5557 Specifies the nroff macros that separate sections. These are pairs of
5558 two letters (See |object-motions|). The default makes a section start
5559 at the nroff macros ".SH", ".NH", ".H", ".HU", ".nh" and ".sh".
5561 *'secure'* *'nosecure'* *E523*
5562 'secure' boolean (default off)
5563 global
5564 {not in Vi}
5565 When on, ":autocmd", shell and write commands are not allowed in
5566 ".vimrc" and ".exrc" in the current directory and map commands are
5567 displayed. Switch it off only if you know that you will not run into
5568 problems, or when the 'exrc' option is off. On Unix this option is
5569 only used if the ".vimrc" or ".exrc" is not owned by you. This can be
5570 dangerous if the systems allows users to do a "chown". You better set
5571 'secure' at the end of your ~/.vimrc then.
5572 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5573 security reasons.
5575 *'selection'* *'sel'*
5576 'selection' 'sel' string (default "inclusive")
5577 global
5578 {not in Vi}
5579 This option defines the behavior of the selection. It is only used
5580 in Visual and Select mode.
5581 Possible values:
5582 value past line inclusive ~
5583 old no yes
5584 inclusive yes yes
5585 exclusive yes no
5586 "past line" means that the cursor is allowed to be positioned one
5587 character past the line.
5588 "inclusive" means that the last character of the selection is included
5589 in an operation. For example, when "x" is used to delete the
5590 selection.
5591 Note that when "exclusive" is used and selecting from the end
5592 backwards, you cannot include the last character of a line, when
5593 starting in Normal mode and 'virtualedit' empty.
5595 The 'selection' option is set by the |:behave| command.
5597 *'selectmode'* *'slm'*
5598 'selectmode' 'slm' string (default "")
5599 global
5600 {not in Vi}
5601 This is a comma separated list of words, which specifies when to start
5602 Select mode instead of Visual mode, when a selection is started.
5603 Possible values:
5604 mouse when using the mouse
5605 key when using shifted special keys
5606 cmd when using "v", "V" or CTRL-V
5607 See |Select-mode|.
5608 The 'selectmode' option is set by the |:behave| command.
5610 *'sessionoptions'* *'ssop'*
5611 'sessionoptions' 'ssop' string (default: "blank,buffers,curdir,folds,
5612 help,options,tabpages,winsize")
5613 global
5614 {not in Vi}
5615 {not available when compiled without the +mksession
5616 feature}
5617 Changes the effect of the |:mksession| command. It is a comma
5618 separated list of words. Each word enables saving and restoring
5619 something:
5620 word save and restore ~
5621 blank empty windows
5622 buffers hidden and unloaded buffers, not just those in windows
5623 curdir the current directory
5624 folds manually created folds, opened/closed folds and local
5625 fold options
5626 globals global variables that start with an uppercase letter
5627 and contain at least one lowercase letter. Only
5628 String and Number types are stored.
5629 help the help window
5630 localoptions options and mappings local to a window or buffer (not
5631 global values for local options)
5632 options all options and mappings (also global values for local
5633 options)
5634 resize size of the Vim window: 'lines' and 'columns'
5635 sesdir the directory in which the session file is located
5636 will become the current directory (useful with
5637 projects accessed over a network from different
5638 systems)
5639 slash backslashes in file names replaced with forward
5640 slashes
5641 tabpages all tab pages; without this only the current tab page
5642 is restored, so that you can make a session for each
5643 tab page separately
5644 unix with Unix end-of-line format (single <NL>), even when
5645 on Windows or DOS
5646 winpos position of the whole Vim window
5647 winsize window sizes
5649 Don't include both "curdir" and "sesdir".
5650 When neither "curdir" nor "sesdir" is included, file names are stored
5651 with absolute paths.
5652 "slash" and "unix" are useful on Windows when sharing session files
5653 with Unix. The Unix version of Vim cannot source dos format scripts,
5654 but the Windows version of Vim can source unix format scripts.
5656 *'shell'* *'sh'* *E91*
5657 'shell' 'sh' string (default $SHELL or "sh",
5658 MS-DOS and Win32: "command.com" or
5659 "cmd.exe", OS/2: "cmd")
5660 global
5661 Name of the shell to use for ! and :! commands. When changing the
5662 value also check these options: 'shelltype', 'shellpipe', 'shellslash'
5663 'shellredir', 'shellquote', 'shellxquote' and 'shellcmdflag'.
5664 It is allowed to give an argument to the command, e.g. "csh -f".
5665 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
5666 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
5667 If the name of the shell contains a space, you might need to enclose
5668 it in quotes. Example: >
5669 :set shell=\"c:\program\ files\unix\sh.exe\"\ -f
5670 < Note the backslash before each quote (to avoid starting a comment) and
5671 each space (to avoid ending the option value). Also note that the
5672 "-f" is not inside the quotes, because it is not part of the command
5673 name. And Vim automagically recognizes the backslashes that are path
5674 separators.
5675 For Dos 32 bits (DJGPP), you can set the $DJSYSFLAGS environment
5676 variable to change the way external commands are executed. See the
5677 libc.inf file of DJGPP.
5678 Under MS-Windows, when the executable ends in ".com" it must be
5679 included. Thus setting the shell to "command.com" or "4dos.com"
5680 works, but "command" and "4dos" do not work for all commands (e.g.,
5681 filtering).
5682 For unknown reasons, when using "4dos.com" the current directory is
5683 changed to "C:\". To avoid this set 'shell' like this: >
5684 :set shell=command.com\ /c\ 4dos
5685 < This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5686 security reasons.
5688 *'shellcmdflag'* *'shcf'*
5689 'shellcmdflag' 'shcf' string (default: "-c", MS-DOS and Win32, when 'shell'
5690 does not contain "sh" somewhere: "/c")
5691 global
5692 {not in Vi}
5693 Flag passed to the shell to execute "!" and ":!" commands; e.g.,
5694 "bash.exe -c ls" or "command.com /c dir". For the MS-DOS-like
5695 systems, the default is set according to the value of 'shell', to
5696 reduce the need to set this option by the user. It's not used for
5697 OS/2 (EMX figures this out itself). See |option-backslash| about
5698 including spaces and backslashes. See |dos-shell|.
5699 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5700 security reasons.
5702 *'shellpipe'* *'sp'*
5703 'shellpipe' 'sp' string (default ">", "| tee", "|& tee" or "2>&1| tee")
5704 global
5705 {not in Vi}
5706 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
5707 feature}
5708 String to be used to put the output of the ":make" command in the
5709 error file. See also |:make_makeprg|. See |option-backslash| about
5710 including spaces 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 For the Amiga and MS-DOS the default is ">". The output is directly
5715 saved in a file and not echoed to the screen.
5716 For Unix the default it "| tee". The stdout of the compiler is saved
5717 in a file and echoed to the screen. If the 'shell' option is "csh" or
5718 "tcsh" after initializations, the default becomes "|& tee". If the
5719 'shell' option is "sh", "ksh", "zsh" or "bash" the default becomes
5720 "2>&1| tee". This means that stderr is also included.
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 'shellpipe' option changes automatically, unless it was
5724 explicitly set before.
5725 When 'shellpipe' is set to an empty string, no redirection of the
5726 ":make" output will be done. This is useful if you use a 'makeprg'
5727 that writes to 'makeef' by itself. If you want no piping, but do
5728 want to include the 'makeef', set 'shellpipe' to a single space.
5729 Don't forget to precede the space with a backslash: ":set sp=\ ".
5730 In the future pipes may be used for filtering and this option will
5731 become obsolete (at least for Unix).
5732 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5733 security reasons.
5735 *'shellquote'* *'shq'*
5736 'shellquote' 'shq' string (default: ""; MS-DOS and Win32, when 'shell'
5737 contains "sh" somewhere: "\"")
5738 global
5739 {not in Vi}
5740 Quoting character(s), put around the command passed to the shell, for
5741 the "!" and ":!" commands. The redirection is kept outside of the
5742 quoting. See 'shellxquote' to include the redirection. It's
5743 probably not useful to set both options.
5744 This is an empty string by default. Only known to be useful for
5745 third-party shells on MS-DOS-like systems, such as the MKS Korn Shell
5746 or bash, where it should be "\"". The default is adjusted according
5747 the value of 'shell', to reduce the need to set this option by the
5748 user. See |dos-shell|.
5749 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5750 security reasons.
5752 *'shellredir'* *'srr'*
5753 'shellredir' 'srr' string (default ">", ">&" or ">%s 2>&1")
5754 global
5755 {not in Vi}
5756 String to be used to put the output of a filter command in a temporary
5757 file. See also |:!|. See |option-backslash| about including spaces
5758 and backslashes.
5759 The name of the temporary file can be represented by "%s" if necessary
5760 (the file name is appended automatically if no %s appears in the value
5761 of this option).
5762 The default is ">". For Unix, if the 'shell' option is "csh", "tcsh"
5763 or "zsh" during initializations, the default becomes ">&". If the
5764 'shell' option is "sh", "ksh" or "bash" the default becomes
5765 ">%s 2>&1". This means that stderr is also included.
5766 For Win32, the Unix checks are done and additionally "cmd" is checked
5767 for, which makes the default ">%s 2>&1". Also, the same names with
5768 ".exe" appended are checked for.
5769 The initialization of this option is done after reading the ".vimrc"
5770 and the other initializations, so that when the 'shell' option is set
5771 there, the 'shellredir' option changes automatically unless it was
5772 explicitly set before.
5773 In the future pipes may be used for filtering and this option will
5774 become obsolete (at least for Unix).
5775 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5776 security reasons.
5778 *'shellslash'* *'ssl'* *'noshellslash'* *'nossl'*
5779 'shellslash' 'ssl' boolean (default off)
5780 global
5781 {not in Vi} {only for MSDOS, MS-Windows and OS/2}
5782 When set, a forward slash is used when expanding file names. This is
5783 useful when a Unix-like shell is used instead of command.com or
5784 cmd.exe. Backward slashes can still be typed, but they are changed to
5785 forward slashes by Vim.
5786 Note that setting or resetting this option has no effect for some
5787 existing file names, thus this option needs to be set before opening
5788 any file for best results. This might change in the future.
5789 'shellslash' only works when a backslash can be used as a path
5790 separator. To test if this is so use: >
5791 if exists('+shellslash')
5792 <
5793 *'shelltemp'* *'stmp'* *'noshelltemp'* *'nostmp'*
5794 'shelltemp' 'stmp' boolean (Vi default off, Vim default on)
5795 global
5796 {not in Vi}
5797 When on, use temp files for shell commands. When off use a pipe.
5798 When using a pipe is not possible temp files are used anyway.
5799 Currently a pipe is only supported on Unix. You can check it with: >
5800 :if has("filterpipe")
5801 < The advantage of using a pipe is that nobody can read the temp file
5802 and the 'shell' command does not need to support redirection.
5803 The advantage of using a temp file is that the file type and encoding
5804 can be detected.
5805 The |FilterReadPre|, |FilterReadPost| and |FilterWritePre|,
5806 |FilterWritePost| autocommands event are not triggered when
5807 'shelltemp' is off.
5809 *'shelltype'* *'st'*
5810 'shelltype' 'st' number (default 0)
5811 global
5812 {not in Vi} {only for the Amiga}
5813 On the Amiga this option influences the way how the commands work
5814 which use a shell.
5815 0 and 1: always use the shell
5816 2 and 3: use the shell only to filter lines
5817 4 and 5: use shell only for ':sh' command
5818 When not using the shell, the command is executed directly.
5820 0 and 2: use "shell 'shellcmdflag' cmd" to start external commands
5821 1 and 3: use "shell cmd" to start external commands
5823 *'shellxquote'* *'sxq'*
5824 'shellxquote' 'sxq' string (default: "";
5825 for Win32, when 'shell' contains "sh"
5826 somewhere: "\""
5827 for Unix, when using system(): "\"")
5828 global
5829 {not in Vi}
5830 Quoting character(s), put around the command passed to the shell, for
5831 the "!" and ":!" commands. Includes the redirection. See
5832 'shellquote' to exclude the redirection. It's probably not useful
5833 to set both options.
5834 This is an empty string by default. Known to be useful for
5835 third-party shells when using the Win32 version, such as the MKS Korn
5836 Shell or bash, where it should be "\"". The default is adjusted
5837 according the value of 'shell', to reduce the need to set this option
5838 by the user. See |dos-shell|.
5839 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5840 security reasons.
5842 *'shiftround'* *'sr'* *'noshiftround'* *'nosr'*
5843 'shiftround' 'sr' boolean (default off)
5844 global
5845 {not in Vi}
5846 Round indent to multiple of 'shiftwidth'. Applies to > and <
5847 commands. CTRL-T and CTRL-D in Insert mode always round the indent to
5848 a multiple of 'shiftwidth' (this is Vi compatible).
5849 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
5851 *'shiftwidth'* *'sw'*
5852 'shiftwidth' 'sw' number (default 8)
5853 local to buffer
5854 Number of spaces to use for each step of (auto)indent. Used for
5855 |'cindent'|, |>>|, |<<|, etc.
5857 *'shortmess'* *'shm'*
5858 'shortmess' 'shm' string (Vim default "filnxtToO", Vi default: "",
5859 POSIX default: "A")
5860 global
5861 {not in Vi}
5862 This option helps to avoid all the |hit-enter| prompts caused by file
5863 messages, for example with CTRL-G, and to avoid some other messages.
5864 It is a list of flags:
5865 flag meaning when present ~
5866 f use "(3 of 5)" instead of "(file 3 of 5)"
5867 i use "[noeol]" instead of "[Incomplete last line]"
5868 l use "999L, 888C" instead of "999 lines, 888 characters"
5869 m use "[+]" instead of "[Modified]"
5870 n use "[New]" instead of "[New File]"
5871 r use "[RO]" instead of "[readonly]"
5872 w use "[w]" instead of "written" for file write message
5873 and "[a]" instead of "appended" for ':w >> file' command
5874 x use "[dos]" instead of "[dos format]", "[unix]" instead of
5875 "[unix format]" and "[mac]" instead of "[mac format]".
5876 a all of the above abbreviations
5878 o overwrite message for writing a file with subsequent message
5879 for reading a file (useful for ":wn" or when 'autowrite' on)
5880 O message for reading a file overwrites any previous message.
5881 Also for quickfix message (e.g., ":cn").
5882 s don't give "search hit BOTTOM, continuing at TOP" or "search
5883 hit TOP, continuing at BOTTOM" messages
5884 t truncate file message at the start if it is too long to fit
5885 on the command-line, "<" will appear in the left most column.
5886 Ignored in Ex mode.
5887 T truncate other messages in the middle if they are too long to
5888 fit on the command line. "..." will appear in the middle.
5889 Ignored in Ex mode.
5890 W don't give "written" or "[w]" when writing a file
5891 A don't give the "ATTENTION" message when an existing swap file
5892 is found.
5893 I don't give the intro message when starting Vim |:intro|.
5895 This gives you the opportunity to avoid that a change between buffers
5896 requires you to hit <Enter>, but still gives as useful a message as
5897 possible for the space available. To get the whole message that you
5898 would have got with 'shm' empty, use ":file!"
5899 Useful values:
5900 shm= No abbreviation of message.
5901 shm=a Abbreviation, but no loss of information.
5902 shm=at Abbreviation, and truncate message when necessary.
5904 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
5905 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
5907 *'shortname'* *'sn'* *'noshortname'* *'nosn'*
5908 'shortname' 'sn' boolean (default off)
5909 local to buffer
5910 {not in Vi, not in MS-DOS versions}
5911 Filenames are assumed to be 8 characters plus one extension of 3
5912 characters. Multiple dots in file names are not allowed. When this
5913 option is on, dots in file names are replaced with underscores when
5914 adding an extension (".~" or ".swp"). This option is not available
5915 for MS-DOS, because then it would always be on. This option is useful
5916 when editing files on an MS-DOS compatible filesystem, e.g., messydos
5917 or crossdos. When running the Win32 GUI version under Win32s, this
5918 option is always on by default.
5920 *'showbreak'* *'sbr'* *E595*
5921 'showbreak' 'sbr' string (default "")
5922 global
5923 {not in Vi}
5924 {not available when compiled without the |+linebreak|
5925 feature}
5926 String to put at the start of lines that have been wrapped. Useful
5927 values are "> " or "+++ ": >
5928 :set showbreak=>\
5929 < Note the backslash to escape the trailing space. It's easier like
5930 this: >
5931 :let &showbreak = '+++ '
5932 < Only printable single-cell characters are allowed, excluding <Tab> and
5933 comma (in a future version the comma might be used to separate the
5934 part that is shown at the end and at the start of a line).
5935 The characters are highlighted according to the '@' flag in
5936 'highlight'.
5937 Note that tabs after the showbreak will be displayed differently.
5938 If you want the 'showbreak' to appear in between line numbers, add the
5939 "n" flag to 'cpoptions'.
5941 *'showcmd'* *'sc'* *'noshowcmd'* *'nosc'*
5942 'showcmd' 'sc' boolean (Vim default: on, off for Unix, Vi default:
5943 off)
5944 global
5945 {not in Vi}
5946 {not available when compiled without the
5947 |+cmdline_info| feature}
5948 Show (partial) command in the last line of the screen. Set this
5949 option off if your terminal is slow.
5950 In Visual mode the size of the selected area is shown:
5951 - When selecting characters within a line, the number of characters.
5952 - When selecting more than one line, the number of lines.
5953 - When selecting a block, the size in screen characters:
5954 {lines}x{columns}.
5955 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
5956 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
5958 *'showfulltag'* *'sft'* *'noshowfulltag'* *'nosft'*
5959 'showfulltag' 'sft' boolean (default off)
5960 global
5961 {not in Vi}
5962 When completing a word in insert mode (see |ins-completion|) from the
5963 tags file, show both the tag name and a tidied-up form of the search
5964 pattern (if there is one) as possible matches. Thus, if you have
5965 matched a C function, you can see a template for what arguments are
5966 required (coding style permitting).
5967 Note that this doesn't work well together with having "longest" in
5968 'completeopt', because the completion from the search pattern may not
5969 match the typed text.
5971 *'showmatch'* *'sm'* *'noshowmatch'* *'nosm'*
5972 'showmatch' 'sm' boolean (default off)
5973 global
5974 When a bracket is inserted, briefly jump to the matching one. The
5975 jump is only done if the match can be seen on the screen. The time to
5976 show the match can be set with 'matchtime'.
5977 A Beep is given if there is no match (no matter if the match can be
5978 seen or not). This option is reset when the 'paste' option is set.
5979 When the 'm' flag is not included in 'cpoptions', typing a character
5980 will immediately move the cursor back to where it belongs.
5981 See the "sm" field in 'guicursor' for setting the cursor shape and
5982 blinking when showing the match.
5983 The 'matchpairs' option can be used to specify the characters to show
5984 matches for. 'rightleft' and 'revins' are used to look for opposite
5985 matches.
5986 Also see the matchparen plugin for highlighting the match when moving
5987 around |pi_paren.txt|.
5988 Note: Use of the short form is rated PG.
5990 *'showmode'* *'smd'* *'noshowmode'* *'nosmd'*
5991 'showmode' 'smd' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
5992 global
5993 If in Insert, Replace or Visual mode put a message on the last line.
5994 Use the 'M' flag in 'highlight' to set the type of highlighting for
5995 this message.
5996 When |XIM| may be used the message will include "XIM". But this
5997 doesn't mean XIM is really active, especially when 'imactivatekey' is
5998 not set.
5999 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
6000 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
6002 *'showtabline'* *'stal'*
6003 'showtabline' 'stal' number (default 1)
6004 global
6005 {not in Vi}
6006 {not available when compiled without the +windows
6007 feature}
6008 The value of this option specifies when the line with tab page labels
6009 will be displayed:
6010 0: never
6011 1: only if there are at least two tab pages
6012 2: always
6013 This is both for the GUI and non-GUI implementation of the tab pages
6014 line.
6015 See |tab-page| for more information about tab pages.
6017 *'sidescroll'* *'ss'*
6018 'sidescroll' 'ss' number (default 0)
6019 global
6020 {not in Vi}
6021 The minimal number of columns to scroll horizontally. Used only when
6022 the 'wrap' option is off and the cursor is moved off of the screen.
6023 When it is zero the cursor will be put in the middle of the screen.
6024 When using a slow terminal set it to a large number or 0. When using
6025 a fast terminal use a small number or 1. Not used for "zh" and "zl"
6026 commands.
6028 *'sidescrolloff'* *'siso'*
6029 'sidescrolloff' 'siso' number (default 0)
6030 global
6031 {not in Vi}
6032 The minimal number of screen columns to keep to the left and to the
6033 right of the cursor if 'nowrap' is set. Setting this option to a
6034 value greater than 0 while having |'sidescroll'| also at a non-zero
6035 value makes some context visible in the line you are scrolling in
6036 horizontally (except at beginning of the line). Setting this option
6037 to a large value (like 999) has the effect of keeping the cursor
6038 horizontally centered in the window, as long as one does not come too
6039 close to the beginning of the line.
6040 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
6042 Example: Try this together with 'sidescroll' and 'listchars' as
6043 in the following example to never allow the cursor to move
6044 onto the "extends" character:
6046 :set nowrap sidescroll=1 listchars=extends:>,precedes:<
6047 :set sidescrolloff=1
6050 *'smartcase'* *'scs'* *'nosmartcase'* *'noscs'*
6051 'smartcase' 'scs' boolean (default off)
6052 global
6053 {not in Vi}
6054 Override the 'ignorecase' option if the search pattern contains upper
6055 case characters. Only used when the search pattern is typed and
6056 'ignorecase' option is on. Used for the commands "/", "?", "n", "N",
6057 ":g" and ":s". Not used for "*", "#", "gd", tag search, etc.. After
6058 "*" and "#" you can make 'smartcase' used by doing a "/" command,
6059 recalling the search pattern from history and hitting <Enter>.
6060 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
6062 *'smartindent'* *'si'* *'nosmartindent'* *'nosi'*
6063 'smartindent' 'si' boolean (default off)
6064 local to buffer
6065 {not in Vi}
6066 {not available when compiled without the
6067 |+smartindent| feature}
6068 Do smart autoindenting when starting a new line. Works for C-like
6069 programs, but can also be used for other languages. 'cindent' does
6070 something like this, works better in most cases, but is more strict,
6071 see |C-indenting|. When 'cindent' is on, setting 'si' has no effect.
6072 'indentexpr' is a more advanced alternative.
6073 Normally 'autoindent' should also be on when using 'smartindent'.
6074 An indent is automatically inserted:
6075 - After a line ending in '{'.
6076 - After a line starting with a keyword from 'cinwords'.
6077 - Before a line starting with '}' (only with the "O" command).
6078 When typing '}' as the first character in a new line, that line is
6079 given the same indent as the matching '{'.
6080 When typing '#' as the first character in a new line, the indent for
6081 that line is removed, the '#' is put in the first column. The indent
6082 is restored for the next line. If you don't want this, use this
6083 mapping: ":inoremap # X^H#", where ^H is entered with CTRL-V CTRL-H.
6084 When using the ">>" command, lines starting with '#' are not shifted
6085 right.
6086 NOTE: 'smartindent' is reset when 'compatible' is set. When 'paste'
6087 is set smart indenting is disabled.
6089 *'smarttab'* *'sta'* *'nosmarttab'* *'nosta'*
6090 'smarttab' 'sta' boolean (default off)
6091 global
6092 {not in Vi}
6093 When on, a <Tab> in front of a line inserts blanks according to
6094 'shiftwidth'. 'tabstop' or 'softtabstop' is used in other places. A
6095 <BS> will delete a 'shiftwidth' worth of space at the start of the
6096 line.
6097 When off, a <Tab> always inserts blanks according to 'tabstop' or
6098 'softtabstop'. 'shiftwidth' is only used for shifting text left or
6099 right |shift-left-right|.
6100 What gets inserted (a <Tab> or spaces) depends on the 'expandtab'
6101 option. Also see |ins-expandtab|. When 'expandtab' is not set, the
6102 number of spaces is minimized by using <Tab>s.
6103 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
6105 *'softtabstop'* *'sts'*
6106 'softtabstop' 'sts' number (default 0)
6107 local to buffer
6108 {not in Vi}
6109 Number of spaces that a <Tab> counts for while performing editing
6110 operations, like inserting a <Tab> or using <BS>. It "feels" like
6111 <Tab>s are being inserted, while in fact a mix of spaces and <Tab>s is
6112 used. This is useful to keep the 'ts' setting at its standard value
6113 of 8, while being able to edit like it is set to 'sts'. However,
6114 commands like "x" still work on the actual characters.
6115 When 'sts' is zero, this feature is off.
6116 'softtabstop' is set to 0 when the 'paste' option is set.
6117 See also |ins-expandtab|. When 'expandtab' is not set, the number of
6118 spaces is minimized by using <Tab>s.
6119 The 'L' flag in 'cpoptions' changes how tabs are used when 'list' is
6120 set.
6121 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
6123 *'spell'* *'nospell'*
6124 'spell' boolean (default off)
6125 local to window
6126 {not in Vi}
6127 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6128 feature}
6129 When on spell checking will be done. See |spell|.
6130 The languages are specified with 'spelllang'.
6132 *'spellcapcheck'* *'spc'*
6133 'spellcapcheck' 'spc' string (default "[.?!]\_[\])'" \t]\+")
6134 local to buffer
6135 {not in Vi}
6136 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6137 feature}
6138 Pattern to locate the end of a sentence. The following word will be
6139 checked to start with a capital letter. If not then it is highlighted
6140 with SpellCap |hl-SpellCap| (unless the word is also badly spelled).
6141 When this check is not wanted make this option empty.
6142 Only used when 'spell' is set.
6143 Be careful with special characters, see |option-backslash| about
6144 including spaces and backslashes.
6145 To set this option automatically depending on the language, see
6146 |set-spc-auto|.
6148 *'spellfile'* *'spf'*
6149 'spellfile' 'spf' string (default empty)
6150 local to buffer
6151 {not in Vi}
6152 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6153 feature}
6154 Name of the word list file where words are added for the |zg| and |zw|
6155 commands. It must end in ".{encoding}.add". You need to include the
6156 path, otherwise the file is placed in the current directory.
6157 *E765*
6158 It may also be a comma separated list of names. A count before the
6159 |zg| and |zw| commands can be used to access each. This allows using
6160 a personal word list file and a project word list file.
6161 When a word is added while this option is empty Vim will set it for
6162 you: Using the first directory in 'runtimepath' that is writable. If
6163 there is no "spell" directory yet it will be created. For the file
6164 name the first language name that appears in 'spelllang' is used,
6165 ignoring the region.
6166 The resulting ".spl" file will be used for spell checking, it does not
6167 have to appear in 'spelllang'.
6168 Normally one file is used for all regions, but you can add the region
6169 name if you want to. However, it will then only be used when
6170 'spellfile' is set to it, for entries in 'spelllang' only files
6171 without region name will be found.
6172 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
6173 security reasons.
6175 *'spelllang'* *'spl'*
6176 'spelllang' 'spl' string (default "en")
6177 local to buffer
6178 {not in Vi}
6179 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6180 feature}
6181 A comma separated list of word list names. When the 'spell' option is
6182 on spellchecking will be done for these languages. Example: >
6183 set spelllang=en_us,nl,medical
6184 < This means US English, Dutch and medical words are recognized. Words
6185 that are not recognized will be highlighted.
6186 The word list name must not include a comma or dot. Using a dash is
6187 recommended to separate the two letter language name from a
6188 specification. Thus "en-rare" is used for rare English words.
6189 A region name must come last and have the form "_xx", where "xx" is
6190 the two-letter, lower case region name. You can use more than one
6191 region by listing them: "en_us,en_ca" supports both US and Canadian
6192 English, but not words specific for Australia, New Zealand or Great
6193 Britain.
6194 *E757*
6195 As a special case the name of a .spl file can be given as-is. The
6196 first "_xx" in the name is removed and used as the region name
6197 (_xx is an underscore, two letters and followed by a non-letter).
6198 This is mainly for testing purposes. You must make sure the correct
6199 encoding is used, Vim doesn't check it.
6200 When 'encoding' is set the word lists are reloaded. Thus it's a good
6201 idea to set 'spelllang' after setting 'encoding' to avoid loading the
6202 files twice.
6203 How the related spell files are found is explained here: |spell-load|.
6205 If the |spellfile.vim| plugin is active and you use a language name
6206 for which Vim cannot find the .spl file in 'runtimepath' the plugin
6207 will ask you if you want to download the file.
6209 After this option has been set successfully, Vim will source the files
6210 "spell/LANG.vim" in 'runtimepath'. "LANG" is the value of 'spelllang'
6211 up to the first comma, dot or underscore.
6212 Also see |set-spc-auto|.
6215 *'spellsuggest'* *'sps'*
6216 'spellsuggest' 'sps' string (default "best")
6217 global
6218 {not in Vi}
6219 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6220 feature}
6221 Methods used for spelling suggestions. Both for the |z=| command and
6222 the |spellsuggest()| function. This is a comma-separated list of
6223 items:
6225 best Internal method that works best for English. Finds
6226 changes like "fast" and uses a bit of sound-a-like
6227 scoring to improve the ordering.
6229 double Internal method that uses two methods and mixes the
6230 results. The first method is "fast", the other method
6231 computes how much the suggestion sounds like the bad
6232 word. That only works when the language specifies
6233 sound folding. Can be slow and doesn't always give
6234 better results.
6236 fast Internal method that only checks for simple changes:
6237 character inserts/deletes/swaps. Works well for
6238 simple typing mistakes.
6240 {number} The maximum number of suggestions listed for |z=|.
6241 Not used for |spellsuggest()|. The number of
6242 suggestions is never more than the value of 'lines'
6243 minus two.
6245 file:{filename} Read file {filename}, which must have two columns,
6246 separated by a slash. The first column contains the
6247 bad word, the second column the suggested good word.
6248 Example:
6249 theribal/terrible ~
6250 Use this for common mistakes that do not appear at the
6251 top of the suggestion list with the internal methods.
6252 Lines without a slash are ignored, use this for
6253 comments.
6254 The file is used for all languages.
6256 expr:{expr} Evaluate expression {expr}. Use a function to avoid
6257 trouble with spaces. |v:val| holds the badly spelled
6258 word. The expression must evaluate to a List of
6259 Lists, each with a suggestion and a score.
6260 Example:
6261 [['the', 33], ['that', 44]]
6262 Set 'verbose' and use |z=| to see the scores that the
6263 internal methods use. A lower score is better.
6264 This may invoke |spellsuggest()| if you temporarily
6265 set 'spellsuggest' to exclude the "expr:" part.
6266 Errors are silently ignored, unless you set the
6267 'verbose' option to a non-zero value.
6269 Only one of "best", "double" or "fast" may be used. The others may
6270 appear several times in any order. Example: >
6271 :set sps=file:~/.vim/sugg,best,expr:MySuggest()
6272 <
6273 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
6274 security reasons.
6277 *'splitbelow'* *'sb'* *'nosplitbelow'* *'nosb'*
6278 'splitbelow' 'sb' boolean (default off)
6279 global
6280 {not in Vi}
6281 {not available when compiled without the +windows
6282 feature}
6283 When on, splitting a window will put the new window below the current
6284 one. |:split|
6286 *'splitright'* *'spr'* *'nosplitright'* *'nospr'*
6287 'splitright' 'spr' boolean (default off)
6288 global
6289 {not in Vi}
6290 {not available when compiled without the +vertsplit
6291 feature}
6292 When on, splitting a window will put the new window right of the
6293 current one. |:vsplit|
6295 *'startofline'* *'sol'* *'nostartofline'* *'nosol'*
6296 'startofline' 'sol' boolean (default on)
6297 global
6298 {not in Vi}
6299 When "on" the commands listed below move the cursor to the first
6300 non-blank of the line. When off the cursor is kept in the same column
6301 (if possible). This applies to the commands: CTRL-D, CTRL-U, CTRL-B,
6302 CTRL-F, "G", "H", "M", "L", gg, and to the commands "d", "<<" and ">>"
6303 with a linewise operator, with "%" with a count and to buffer changing
6304 commands (CTRL-^, :bnext, :bNext, etc.). Also for an Ex command that
6305 only has a line number, e.g., ":25" or ":+".
6306 In case of buffer changing commands the cursor is placed at the column
6307 where it was the last time the buffer was edited.
6308 NOTE: This option is set when 'compatible' is set.
6310 *'statusline'* *'stl'* *E540* *E541* *E542*
6311 'statusline' 'stl' string (default empty)
6312 global or local to window |global-local|
6313 {not in Vi}
6314 {not available when compiled without the |+statusline|
6315 feature}
6316 When nonempty, this option determines the content of the status line.
6317 Also see |status-line|.
6319 The option consists of printf style '%' items interspersed with
6320 normal text. Each status line item is of the form:
6321 %-0{minwid}.{maxwid}{item}
6322 All fields except the {item} is optional. A single percent sign can
6323 be given as "%%". Up to 80 items can be specified.
6325 When the option starts with "%!" then it is used as an expression,
6326 evaluated and the result is used as the option value. Example: >
6327 :set statusline=%!MyStatusLine()
6328 < The result can contain %{} items that will be evaluated too.
6330 When there is error while evaluating the option then it will be made
6331 empty to avoid further errors. Otherwise screen updating would loop.
6333 Note that the only effect of 'ruler' when this option is set (and
6334 'laststatus' is 2) is controlling the output of |CTRL-G|.
6336 field meaning ~
6337 - Left justify the item. The default is right justified
6338 when minwid is larger than the length of the item.
6339 0 Leading zeroes in numeric items. Overridden by '-'.
6340 minwid Minimum width of the item, padding as set by '-' & '0'.
6341 Value must be 50 or less.
6342 maxwid Maximum width of the item. Truncation occurs with a '<'
6343 on the left for text items. Numeric items will be
6344 shifted down to maxwid-2 digits followed by '>'number
6345 where number is the amount of missing digits, much like
6346 an exponential notation.
6347 item A one letter code as described below.
6349 Following is a description of the possible statusline items. The
6350 second character in "item" is the type:
6351 N for number
6352 S for string
6353 F for flags as described below
6354 - not applicable
6356 item meaning ~
6357 f S Path to the file in the buffer, as typed or relative to current
6358 directory.
6359 F S Full path to the file in the buffer.
6360 t S File name (tail) of file in the buffer.
6361 m F Modified flag, text is "[+]"; "[-]" if 'modifiable' is off.
6362 M F Modified flag, text is ",+" or ",-".
6363 r F Readonly flag, text is "[RO]".
6364 R F Readonly flag, text is ",RO".
6365 h F Help buffer flag, text is "[help]".
6366 H F Help buffer flag, text is ",HLP".
6367 w F Preview window flag, text is "[Preview]".
6368 W F Preview window flag, text is ",PRV".
6369 y F Type of file in the buffer, e.g., "[vim]". See 'filetype'.
6370 Y F Type of file in the buffer, e.g., ",VIM". See 'filetype'.
6371 {not available when compiled without |+autocmd| feature}
6372 k S Value of "b:keymap_name" or 'keymap' when |:lmap| mappings are
6373 being used: "<keymap>"
6374 n N Buffer number.
6375 b N Value of byte under cursor.
6376 B N As above, in hexadecimal.
6377 o N Byte number in file of byte under cursor, first byte is 1.
6378 Mnemonic: Offset from start of file (with one added)
6379 {not available when compiled without |+byte_offset| feature}
6380 O N As above, in hexadecimal.
6381 N N Printer page number. (Only works in the 'printheader' option.)
6382 l N Line number.
6383 L N Number of lines in buffer.
6384 c N Column number.
6385 v N Virtual column number.
6386 V N Virtual column number as -{num}. Not displayed if equal to 'c'.
6387 p N Percentage through file in lines as in |CTRL-G|.
6388 P S Percentage through file of displayed window. This is like the
6389 percentage described for 'ruler'. Always 3 in length.
6390 a S Argument list status as in default title. ({current} of {max})
6391 Empty if the argument file count is zero or one.
6392 { NF Evaluate expression between '%{' and '}' and substitute result.
6393 Note that there is no '%' before the closing '}'.
6394 ( - Start of item group. Can be used for setting the width and
6395 alignment of a section. Must be followed by %) somewhere.
6396 ) - End of item group. No width fields allowed.
6397 T N For 'tabline': start of tab page N label. Use %T after the last
6398 label. This information is used for mouse clicks.
6399 X N For 'tabline': start of close tab N label. Use %X after the
6400 label, e.g.: %3Xclose%X. Use %999X for a "close current tab"
6401 mark. This information is used for mouse clicks.
6402 < - Where to truncate line if too long. Default is at the start.
6403 No width fields allowed.
6404 = - Separation point between left and right aligned items.
6405 No width fields allowed.
6406 # - Set highlight group. The name must follow and then a # again.
6407 Thus use %#HLname# for highlight group HLname. The same
6408 highlighting is used, also for the statusline of non-current
6409 windows.
6410 * - Set highlight group to User{N}, where {N} is taken from the
6411 minwid field, e.g. %1*. Restore normal highlight with %* or %0*.
6412 The difference between User{N} and StatusLine will be applied
6413 to StatusLineNC for the statusline of non-current windows.
6414 The number N must be between 1 and 9. See |hl-User1..9|
6416 When displaying a flag, Vim removes the leading comma, if any, when
6417 that flag comes right after plaintext. This will make a nice display
6418 when flags are used like in the examples below.
6420 When all items in a group becomes an empty string (i.e. flags that are
6421 not set) and a minwid is not set for the group, the whole group will
6422 become empty. This will make a group like the following disappear
6423 completely from the statusline when none of the flags are set. >
6424 :set statusline=...%(\ [%M%R%H]%)...
6425 <
6426 Beware that an expression is evaluated each and every time the status
6427 line is displayed. The current buffer and current window will be set
6428 temporarily to that of the window (and buffer) whose statusline is
6429 currently being drawn. The expression will evaluate in this context.
6430 The variable "actual_curbuf" is set to the 'bufnr()' number of the
6431 real current buffer.
6433 The 'statusline' option may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
6434 |sandbox-option|.
6436 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
6437 evaluating 'statusline' |textlock|.
6439 If the statusline is not updated when you want it (e.g., after setting
6440 a variable that's used in an expression), you can force an update by
6441 setting an option without changing its value. Example: >
6442 :let &ro = &ro
6444 < A result of all digits is regarded a number for display purposes.
6445 Otherwise the result is taken as flag text and applied to the rules
6446 described above.
6448 Watch out for errors in expressions. They may render Vim unusable!
6449 If you are stuck, hold down ':' or 'Q' to get a prompt, then quit and
6450 edit your .vimrc or whatever with "vim -u NONE" to get it right.
6452 Examples:
6453 Emulate standard status line with 'ruler' set >
6454 :set statusline=%<%f\ %h%m%r%=%-14.(%l,%c%V%)\ %P
6455 < Similar, but add ASCII value of char under the cursor (like "ga") >
6456 :set statusline=%<%f%h%m%r%=%b\ 0x%B\ \ %l,%c%V\ %P
6457 < Display byte count and byte value, modified flag in red. >
6458 :set statusline=%<%f%=\ [%1*%M%*%n%R%H]\ %-19(%3l,%02c%03V%)%O'%02b'
6459 :hi User1 term=inverse,bold cterm=inverse,bold ctermfg=red
6460 < Display a ,GZ flag if a compressed file is loaded >
6461 :set statusline=...%r%{VarExists('b:gzflag','\ [GZ]')}%h...
6462 < In the |:autocmd|'s: >
6463 :let b:gzflag = 1
6464 < And: >
6465 :unlet b:gzflag
6466 < And define this function: >
6467 :function VarExists(var, val)
6468 : if exists(a:var) | return a:val | else | return '' | endif
6469 :endfunction
6470 <
6471 *'suffixes'* *'su'*
6472 'suffixes' 'su' string (default ".bak,~,.o,.h,.info,.swp,.obj")
6473 global
6474 {not in Vi}
6475 Files with these suffixes get a lower priority when multiple files
6476 match a wildcard. See |suffixes|. Commas can be used to separate the
6477 suffixes. Spaces after the comma are ignored. A dot is also seen as
6478 the start of a suffix. To avoid a dot or comma being recognized as a
6479 separator, precede it with a backslash (see |option-backslash| about
6480 including spaces and backslashes).
6481 See 'wildignore' for completely ignoring files.
6482 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
6483 suffixes from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
6484 uses another default.
6486 *'suffixesadd'* *'sua'*
6487 'suffixesadd' 'sua' string (default "")
6488 local to buffer
6489 {not in Vi}
6490 {not available when compiled without the
6491 |+file_in_path| feature}
6492 Comma separated list of suffixes, which are used when searching for a
6493 file for the "gf", "[I", etc. commands. Example: >
6494 :set suffixesadd=.java
6495 <
6496 *'swapfile'* *'swf'* *'noswapfile'* *'noswf'*
6497 'swapfile' 'swf' boolean (default on)
6498 local to buffer
6499 {not in Vi}
6500 Use a swapfile for the buffer. This option can be reset when a
6501 swapfile is not wanted for a specific buffer. For example, with
6502 confidential information that even root must not be able to access.
6503 Careful: All text will be in memory:
6504 - Don't use this for big files.
6505 - Recovery will be impossible!
6506 A swapfile will only be present when |'updatecount'| is non-zero and
6507 'swapfile' is set.
6508 When 'swapfile' is reset, the swap file for the current buffer is
6509 immediately deleted. When 'swapfile' is set, and 'updatecount' is
6510 non-zero, a swap file is immediately created.
6511 Also see |swap-file| and |'swapsync'|.
6513 This option is used together with 'bufhidden' and 'buftype' to
6514 specify special kinds of buffers. See |special-buffers|.
6516 *'swapsync'* *'sws'*
6517 'swapsync' 'sws' string (default "fsync")
6518 global
6519 {not in Vi}
6520 When this option is not empty a swap file is synced to disk after
6521 writing to it. This takes some time, especially on busy unix systems.
6522 When this option is empty parts of the swap file may be in memory and
6523 not written to disk. When the system crashes you may lose more work.
6524 On Unix the system does a sync now and then without Vim asking for it,
6525 so the disadvantage of setting this option off is small. On some
6526 systems the swap file will not be written at all. For a unix system
6527 setting it to "sync" will use the sync() call instead of the default
6528 fsync(), which may work better on some systems.
6529 The 'fsync' option is used for the actual file.
6531 *'switchbuf'* *'swb'*
6532 'switchbuf' 'swb' string (default "")
6533 global
6534 {not in Vi}
6535 This option controls the behavior when switching between buffers.
6536 Possible values (comma separated list):
6537 useopen If included, jump to the first open window that
6538 contains the specified buffer (if there is one).
6539 Otherwise: Do not examine other windows.
6540 This setting is checked with |quickfix| commands, when
6541 jumping to errors (":cc", ":cn", "cp", etc.). It is
6542 also used in all buffer related split commands, for
6543 example ":sbuffer", ":sbnext", or ":sbrewind".
6544 usetab Like "useopen", but also consider windows in other tab
6545 pages.
6546 split If included, split the current window before loading
6547 a buffer. Otherwise: do not split, use current window.
6548 Supported in |quickfix| commands that display errors.
6549 newtab Like "split", but open a new tab page. Overrules
6550 "split" when both are present.
6552 *'synmaxcol'* *'smc'*
6553 'synmaxcol' 'smc' number (default 3000)
6554 local to buffer
6555 {not in Vi}
6556 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6557 feature}
6558 Maximum column in which to search for syntax items. In long lines the
6559 text after this column is not highlighted and following lines may not
6560 be highlighted correctly, because the syntax state is cleared.
6561 This helps to avoid very slow redrawing for an XML file that is one
6562 long line.
6563 Set to zero to remove the limit.
6565 *'syntax'* *'syn'*
6566 'syntax' 'syn' string (default empty)
6567 local to buffer
6568 {not in Vi}
6569 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6570 feature}
6571 When this option is set, the syntax with this name is loaded, unless
6572 syntax highlighting has been switched off with ":syntax off".
6573 Otherwise this option does not always reflect the current syntax (the
6574 b:current_syntax variable does).
6575 This option is most useful in a modeline, for a file which syntax is
6576 not automatically recognized. Example, in an IDL file:
6577 /* vim: set syntax=idl : */ ~
6578 When a dot appears in the value then this separates two filetype
6579 names. Example:
6580 /* vim: set syntax=c.doxygen : */ ~
6581 This will use the "c" syntax first, then the "doxygen" syntax.
6582 Note that the second one must be prepared to be loaded as an addition,
6583 otherwise it will be skipped. More than one dot may appear.
6584 To switch off syntax highlighting for the current file, use: >
6585 :set syntax=OFF
6586 < To switch syntax highlighting on according to the current value of the
6587 'filetype' option: >
6588 :set syntax=ON
6589 < What actually happens when setting the 'syntax' option is that the
6590 Syntax autocommand event is triggered with the value as argument.
6591 This option is not copied to another buffer, independent of the 's' or
6592 'S' flag in 'cpoptions'.
6593 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
6595 *'tabline'* *'tal'*
6596 'tabline' 'tal' string (default empty)
6597 global
6598 {not in Vi}
6599 {not available when compiled without the +windows
6600 feature}
6601 When nonempty, this option determines the content of the tab pages
6602 line at the top of the Vim window. When empty Vim will use a default
6603 tab pages line. See |setting-tabline| for more info.
6605 The tab pages line only appears as specified with the 'showtabline'
6606 option and only when there is no GUI tab line. When 'e' is in
6607 'guioptions' and the GUI supports a tab line 'guitablabel' is used
6608 instead.
6610 The value is evaluated like with 'statusline'. You can use
6611 |tabpagenr()|, |tabpagewinnr()| and |tabpagebuflist()| to figure out
6612 the text to be displayed. Use "%1T" for the first label, "%2T" for
6613 the second one, etc. Use "%X" items for closing labels.
6615 Keep in mind that only one of the tab pages is the current one, others
6616 are invisible and you can't jump to their windows.
6619 *'tabpagemax'* *'tpm'*
6620 'tabpagemax' 'tpm' number (default 10)
6621 global
6622 {not in Vi}
6623 {not available when compiled without the +windows
6624 feature}
6625 Maximum number of tab pages to be opened by the |-p| command line
6626 argument or the ":tab all" command. |tabpage|
6629 *'tabstop'* *'ts'*
6630 'tabstop' 'ts' number (default 8)
6631 local to buffer
6632 Number of spaces that a <Tab> in the file counts for. Also see
6633 |:retab| command, and 'softtabstop' option.
6635 Note: Setting 'tabstop' to any other value than 8 can make your file
6636 appear wrong in many places (e.g., when printing it).
6638 There are four main ways to use tabs in Vim:
6639 1. Always keep 'tabstop' at 8, set 'softtabstop' and 'shiftwidth' to 4
6640 (or 3 or whatever you prefer) and use 'noexpandtab'. Then Vim
6641 will use a mix of tabs and spaces, but typing <Tab> and <BS> will
6642 behave like a tab appears every 4 (or 3) characters.
6643 2. Set 'tabstop' and 'shiftwidth' to whatever you prefer and use
6644 'expandtab'. This way you will always insert spaces. The
6645 formatting will never be messed up when 'tabstop' is changed.
6646 3. Set 'tabstop' and 'shiftwidth' to whatever you prefer and use a
6647 |modeline| to set these values when editing the file again. Only
6648 works when using Vim to edit the file.
6649 4. Always set 'tabstop' and 'shiftwidth' to the same value, and
6650 'noexpandtab'. This should then work (for initial indents only)
6651 for any tabstop setting that people use. It might be nice to have
6652 tabs after the first non-blank inserted as spaces if you do this
6653 though. Otherwise aligned comments will be wrong when 'tabstop' is
6654 changed.
6656 *'tagbsearch'* *'tbs'* *'notagbsearch'* *'notbs'*
6657 'tagbsearch' 'tbs' boolean (default on)
6658 global
6659 {not in Vi}
6660 When searching for a tag (e.g., for the |:ta| command), Vim can either
6661 use a binary search or a linear search in a tags file. Binary
6662 searching makes searching for a tag a LOT faster, but a linear search
6663 will find more tags if the tags file wasn't properly sorted.
6664 Vim normally assumes that your tags files are sorted, or indicate that
6665 they are not sorted. Only when this is not the case does the
6666 'tagbsearch' option need to be switched off.
6668 When 'tagbsearch' is on, binary searching is first used in the tags
6669 files. In certain situations, Vim will do a linear search instead for
6670 certain files, or retry all files with a linear search. When
6671 'tagbsearch' is off, only a linear search is done.
6673 Linear searching is done anyway, for one file, when Vim finds a line
6674 at the start of the file indicating that it's not sorted: >
6675 !_TAG_FILE_SORTED 0 /some comment/
6676 < [The whitespace before and after the '0' must be a single <Tab>]
6678 When a binary search was done and no match was found in any of the
6679 files listed in 'tags', and 'ignorecase' is set or a pattern is used
6680 instead of a normal tag name, a retry is done with a linear search.
6681 Tags in unsorted tags files, and matches with different case will only
6682 be found in the retry.
6684 If a tag file indicates that it is case-fold sorted, the second,
6685 linear search can be avoided for the 'ignorecase' case. Use a value
6686 of '2' in the "!_TAG_FILE_SORTED" line for this. A tag file can be
6687 case-fold sorted with the -f switch to "sort" in most unices, as in
6688 the command: "sort -f -o tags tags". For "Exuberant ctags" version
6689 5.x or higher (at least 5.5) the --sort=foldcase switch can be used
6690 for this as well. Note that case must be folded to uppercase for this
6691 to work.
6693 When 'tagbsearch' is off, tags searching is slower when a full match
6694 exists, but faster when no full match exists. Tags in unsorted tags
6695 files may only be found with 'tagbsearch' off.
6696 When the tags file is not sorted, or sorted in a wrong way (not on
6697 ASCII byte value), 'tagbsearch' should be off, or the line given above
6698 must be included in the tags file.
6699 This option doesn't affect commands that find all matching tags (e.g.,
6700 command-line completion and ":help").
6701 {Vi: always uses binary search in some versions}
6703 *'taglength'* *'tl'*
6704 'taglength' 'tl' number (default 0)
6705 global
6706 If non-zero, tags are significant up to this number of characters.
6708 *'tagrelative'* *'tr'* *'notagrelative'* *'notr'*
6709 'tagrelative' 'tr' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
6710 global
6711 {not in Vi}
6712 If on and using a tags file in another directory, file names in that
6713 tags file are relative to the directory where the tags file is.
6714 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
6715 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
6717 *'tags'* *'tag'* *E433*
6718 'tags' 'tag' string (default "./tags,tags", when compiled with
6719 |+emacs_tags|: "./tags,./TAGS,tags,TAGS")
6720 global or local to buffer |global-local|
6721 Filenames for the tag command, separated by spaces or commas. To
6722 include a space or comma in a file name, precede it with a backslash
6723 (see |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes).
6724 When a file name starts with "./", the '.' is replaced with the path
6725 of the current file. But only when the 'd' flag is not included in
6726 'cpoptions'. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. Also see
6727 |tags-option|.
6728 "*", "**" and other wildcards can be used to search for tags files in
6729 a directory tree. See |file-searching|. {not available when compiled
6730 without the |+path_extra| feature}
6731 The |tagfiles()| function can be used to get a list of the file names
6732 actually used.
6733 If Vim was compiled with the |+emacs_tags| feature, Emacs-style tag
6734 files are also supported. They are automatically recognized. The
6735 default value becomes "./tags,./TAGS,tags,TAGS", unless case
6736 differences are ignored (MS-Windows). |emacs-tags|
6737 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
6738 file names from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
6739 uses another default.
6740 {Vi: default is "tags /usr/lib/tags"}
6742 *'tagstack'* *'tgst'* *'notagstack'* *'notgst'*
6743 'tagstack' 'tgst' boolean (default on)
6744 global
6745 {not in all versions of Vi}
6746 When on, the |tagstack| is used normally. When off, a ":tag" or
6747 ":tselect" command with an argument will not push the tag onto the
6748 tagstack. A following ":tag" without an argument, a ":pop" command or
6749 any other command that uses the tagstack will use the unmodified
6750 tagstack, but does change the pointer to the active entry.
6751 Resetting this option is useful when using a ":tag" command in a
6752 mapping which should not change the tagstack.
6754 *'term'* *E529* *E530* *E531*
6755 'term' string (default is $TERM, if that fails:
6756 in the GUI: "builtin_gui"
6757 on Amiga: "amiga"
6758 on BeOS: "beos-ansi"
6759 on Mac: "mac-ansi"
6760 on MiNT: "vt52"
6761 on MS-DOS: "pcterm"
6762 on OS/2: "os2ansi"
6763 on Unix: "ansi"
6764 on VMS: "ansi"
6765 on Win 32: "win32")
6766 global
6767 Name of the terminal. Used for choosing the terminal control
6768 characters. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
6769 For example: >
6770 :set term=$TERM
6771 < See |termcap|.
6773 *'termbidi'* *'tbidi'*
6774 *'notermbidi'* *'notbidi'*
6775 'termbidi' 'tbidi' boolean (default off, on for "mlterm")
6776 global
6777 {not in Vi}
6778 {only available when compiled with the |+arabic|
6779 feature}
6780 The terminal is in charge of Bi-directionality of text (as specified
6781 by Unicode). The terminal is also expected to do the required shaping
6782 that some languages (such as Arabic) require.
6783 Setting this option implies that 'rightleft' will not be set when
6784 'arabic' is set and the value of 'arabicshape' will be ignored.
6785 Note that setting 'termbidi' has the immediate effect that
6786 'arabicshape' is ignored, but 'rightleft' isn't changed automatically.
6787 This option is reset when the GUI is started.
6788 For further details see |arabic.txt|.
6790 *'termencoding'* *'tenc'*
6791 'termencoding' 'tenc' string (default ""; with GTK+ 2 GUI: "utf-8"; with
6792 Macintosh GUI: "macroman")
6793 global
6794 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
6795 feature}
6796 {not in Vi}
6797 Encoding used for the terminal. This specifies what character
6798 encoding the keyboard produces and the display will understand. For
6799 the GUI it only applies to the keyboard ('encoding' is used for the
6800 display). Except for the Mac when 'macatsui' is off, then
6801 'termencoding' should be "macroman".
6802 In the Win32 console version the default value is the console codepage
6803 when it differs from the ANSI codepage.
6804 *E617*
6805 Note: This does not apply to the GTK+ 2 GUI. After the GUI has been
6806 successfully initialized, 'termencoding' is forcibly set to "utf-8".
6807 Any attempts to set a different value will be rejected, and an error
6808 message is shown.
6809 For the Win32 GUI 'termencoding' is not used for typed characters,
6810 because the Win32 system always passes Unicode characters.
6811 When empty, the same encoding is used as for the 'encoding' option.
6812 This is the normal value.
6813 Not all combinations for 'termencoding' and 'encoding' are valid. See
6814 |encoding-table|.
6815 The value for this option must be supported by internal conversions or
6816 iconv(). When this is not possible no conversion will be done and you
6817 will probably experience problems with non-ASCII characters.
6818 Example: You are working with the locale set to euc-jp (Japanese) and
6819 want to edit a UTF-8 file: >
6820 :let &termencoding = &encoding
6821 :set encoding=utf-8
6822 < You need to do this when your system has no locale support for UTF-8.
6824 *'terse'* *'noterse'*
6825 'terse' boolean (default off)
6826 global
6827 When set: Add 's' flag to 'shortmess' option (this makes the message
6828 for a search that hits the start or end of the file not being
6829 displayed). When reset: Remove 's' flag from 'shortmess' option. {Vi
6830 shortens a lot of messages}
6832 *'textauto'* *'ta'* *'notextauto'* *'nota'*
6833 'textauto' 'ta' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
6834 global
6835 {not in Vi}
6836 This option is obsolete. Use 'fileformats'.
6837 For backwards compatibility, when 'textauto' is set, 'fileformats' is
6838 set to the default value for the current system. When 'textauto' is
6839 reset, 'fileformats' is made empty.
6840 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
6841 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
6843 *'textmode'* *'tx'* *'notextmode'* *'notx'*
6844 'textmode' 'tx' boolean (MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2: default on,
6845 others: default off)
6846 local to buffer
6847 {not in Vi}
6848 This option is obsolete. Use 'fileformat'.
6849 For backwards compatibility, when 'textmode' is set, 'fileformat' is
6850 set to "dos". When 'textmode' is reset, 'fileformat' is set to
6851 "unix".
6853 *'textwidth'* *'tw'*
6854 'textwidth' 'tw' number (default 0)
6855 local to buffer
6856 {not in Vi}
6857 Maximum width of text that is being inserted. A longer line will be
6858 broken after white space to get this width. A zero value disables
6859 this. 'textwidth' is set to 0 when the 'paste' option is set. When
6860 'textwidth' is zero, 'wrapmargin' may be used. See also
6861 'formatoptions' and |ins-textwidth|.
6862 When 'formatexpr' is set it will be used to break the line.
6863 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
6865 *'thesaurus'* *'tsr'*
6866 'thesaurus' 'tsr' string (default "")
6867 global or local to buffer |global-local|
6868 {not in Vi}
6869 List of file names, separated by commas, that are used to lookup words
6870 for thesaurus completion commands |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T|. Each line in
6871 the file should contain words with similar meaning, separated by
6872 non-keyword characters (white space is preferred). Maximum line
6873 length is 510 bytes.
6874 To obtain a file to be used here, check out the wordlist FAQ at
6875 http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk .
6876 To include a comma in a file name precede it with a backslash. Spaces
6877 after a comma are ignored, otherwise spaces are included in the file
6878 name. See |option-backslash| about using backslashes.
6879 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
6880 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
6881 uses another default.
6882 Backticks cannot be used in this option for security reasons.
6884 *'tildeop'* *'top'* *'notildeop'* *'notop'*
6885 'tildeop' 'top' boolean (default off)
6886 global
6887 {not in Vi}
6888 When on: The tilde command "~" behaves like an operator.
6889 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
6891 *'timeout'* *'to'* *'notimeout'* *'noto'*
6892 'timeout' 'to' boolean (default on)
6893 global
6894 *'ttimeout'* *'nottimeout'*
6895 'ttimeout' boolean (default off)
6896 global
6897 {not in Vi}
6898 These two options together determine the behavior when part of a
6899 mapped key sequence or keyboard code has been received:
6901 'timeout' 'ttimeout' action ~
6902 off off do not time out
6903 on on or off time out on :mappings and key codes
6904 off on time out on key codes
6906 If both options are off, Vim will wait until either the complete
6907 mapping or key sequence has been received, or it is clear that there
6908 is no mapping or key sequence for the received characters. For
6909 example: if you have mapped "vl" and Vim has received 'v', the next
6910 character is needed to see if the 'v' is followed by an 'l'.
6911 When one of the options is on, Vim will wait for about 1 second for
6912 the next character to arrive. After that the already received
6913 characters are interpreted as single characters. The waiting time can
6914 be changed with the 'timeoutlen' option.
6915 On slow terminals or very busy systems timing out may cause
6916 malfunctioning cursor keys. If both options are off, Vim waits
6917 forever after an entered <Esc> if there are key codes that start
6918 with <Esc>. You will have to type <Esc> twice. If you do not have
6919 problems with key codes, but would like to have :mapped key
6920 sequences not timing out in 1 second, set the 'ttimeout' option and
6921 reset the 'timeout' option.
6923 NOTE: 'ttimeout' is reset when 'compatible' is set.
6925 *'timeoutlen'* *'tm'*
6926 'timeoutlen' 'tm' number (default 1000)
6927 global
6928 {not in all versions of Vi}
6929 *'ttimeoutlen'* *'ttm'*
6930 'ttimeoutlen' 'ttm' number (default -1)
6931 global
6932 {not in Vi}
6933 The time in milliseconds that is waited for a key code or mapped key
6934 sequence to complete. Also used for CTRL-\ CTRL-N and CTRL-\ CTRL-G
6935 when part of a command has been typed.
6936 Normally only 'timeoutlen' is used and 'ttimeoutlen' is -1. When a
6937 different timeout value for key codes is desired set 'ttimeoutlen' to
6938 a non-negative number.
6940 ttimeoutlen mapping delay key code delay ~
6941 < 0 'timeoutlen' 'timeoutlen'
6942 >= 0 'timeoutlen' 'ttimeoutlen'
6944 The timeout only happens when the 'timeout' and 'ttimeout' options
6945 tell so. A useful setting would be >
6946 :set timeout timeoutlen=3000 ttimeoutlen=100
6947 < (time out on mapping after three seconds, time out on key codes after
6948 a tenth of a second).
6950 *'title'* *'notitle'*
6951 'title' boolean (default off, on when title can be restored)
6952 global
6953 {not in Vi}
6954 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
6955 feature}
6956 When on, the title of the window will be set to the value of
6957 'titlestring' (if it is not empty), or to:
6958 filename [+=-] (path) - VIM
6959 Where:
6960 filename the name of the file being edited
6961 - indicates the file cannot be modified, 'ma' off
6962 + indicates the file was modified
6963 = indicates the file is read-only
6964 =+ indicates the file is read-only and modified
6965 (path) is the path of the file being edited
6966 - VIM the server name |v:servername| or "VIM"
6967 Only works if the terminal supports setting window titles
6968 (currently Amiga console, Win32 console, all GUI versions and
6969 terminals with a non- empty 't_ts' option - these are Unix xterm and
6970 iris-ansi by default, where 't_ts' is taken from the builtin termcap).
6971 *X11*
6972 When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original title will
6973 be restored if possible. The output of ":version" will include "+X11"
6974 when HAVE_X11 was defined, otherwise it will be "-X11". This also
6975 works for the icon name |'icon'|.
6976 But: When Vim was started with the |-X| argument, restoring the title
6977 will not work (except in the GUI).
6978 If the title cannot be restored, it is set to the value of 'titleold'.
6979 You might want to restore the title outside of Vim then.
6980 When using an xterm from a remote machine you can use this command:
6981 rsh machine_name xterm -display $DISPLAY &
6982 then the WINDOWID environment variable should be inherited and the
6983 title of the window should change back to what it should be after
6984 exiting Vim.
6986 *'titlelen'*
6987 'titlelen' number (default 85)
6988 global
6989 {not in Vi}
6990 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
6991 feature}
6992 Gives the percentage of 'columns' to use for the length of the window
6993 title. When the title is longer, only the end of the path name is
6994 shown. A '<' character before the path name is used to indicate this.
6995 Using a percentage makes this adapt to the width of the window. But
6996 it won't work perfectly, because the actual number of characters
6997 available also depends on the font used and other things in the title
6998 bar. When 'titlelen' is zero the full path is used. Otherwise,
6999 values from 1 to 30000 percent can be used.
7000 'titlelen' is also used for the 'titlestring' option.
7002 *'titleold'*
7003 'titleold' string (default "Thanks for flying Vim")
7004 global
7005 {not in Vi}
7006 {only available when compiled with the |+title|
7007 feature}
7008 This option will be used for the window title when exiting Vim if the
7009 original title cannot be restored. Only happens if 'title' is on or
7010 'titlestring' is not empty.
7011 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
7012 security reasons.
7013 *'titlestring'*
7014 'titlestring' string (default "")
7015 global
7016 {not in Vi}
7017 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
7018 feature}
7019 When this option is not empty, it will be used for the title of the
7020 window. This happens only when the 'title' option is on.
7021 Only works if the terminal supports setting window titles (currently
7022 Amiga console, Win32 console, all GUI versions and terminals with a
7023 non-empty 't_ts' option).
7024 When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original title will
7025 be restored if possible |X11|.
7026 When this option contains printf-style '%' items, they will be
7027 expanded according to the rules used for 'statusline'.
7028 Example: >
7029 :auto BufEnter * let &titlestring = hostname() . "/" . expand("%:p")
7030 :set title titlestring=%<%F%=%l/%L-%P titlelen=70
7031 < The value of 'titlelen' is used to align items in the middle or right
7032 of the available space.
7033 Some people prefer to have the file name first: >
7034 :set titlestring=%t%(\ %M%)%(\ (%{expand(\"%:~:.:h\")})%)%(\ %a%)
7035 < Note the use of "%{ }" and an expression to get the path of the file,
7036 without the file name. The "%( %)" constructs are used to add a
7037 separating space only when needed.
7038 NOTE: Use of special characters in 'titlestring' may cause the display
7039 to be garbled (e.g., when it contains a CR or NL character).
7040 {not available when compiled without the |+statusline| feature}
7042 *'toolbar'* *'tb'*
7043 'toolbar' 'tb' string (default "icons,tooltips")
7044 global
7045 {only for |+GUI_GTK|, |+GUI_Athena|, |+GUI_Motif| and
7046 |+GUI_Photon|}
7047 The contents of this option controls various toolbar settings. The
7048 possible values are:
7049 icons Toolbar buttons are shown with icons.
7050 text Toolbar buttons shown with text.
7051 horiz Icon and text of a toolbar button are
7052 horizontally arranged. {only in GTK+ 2 GUI}
7053 tooltips Tooltips are active for toolbar buttons.
7054 Tooltips refer to the popup help text which appears after the mouse
7055 cursor is placed over a toolbar button for a brief moment.
7057 If you want the toolbar to be shown with icons as well as text, do the
7058 following: >
7059 :set tb=icons,text
7060 < Motif and Athena cannot display icons and text at the same time. They
7061 will show icons if both are requested.
7063 If none of the strings specified in 'toolbar' are valid or if
7064 'toolbar' is empty, this option is ignored. If you want to disable
7065 the toolbar, you need to set the 'guioptions' option. For example: >
7066 :set guioptions-=T
7067 < Also see |gui-toolbar|.
7069 *'toolbariconsize'* *'tbis'*
7070 'toolbariconsize' 'tbis' string (default "small")
7071 global
7072 {not in Vi}
7073 {only in the GTK+ 2 GUI}
7074 Controls the size of toolbar icons. The possible values are:
7075 tiny Use tiny toolbar icons.
7076 small Use small toolbar icons (default).
7077 medium Use medium-sized toolbar icons.
7078 large Use large toolbar icons.
7079 The exact dimensions in pixels of the various icon sizes depend on
7080 the current theme. Common dimensions are large=32x32, medium=24x24,
7081 small=20x20 and tiny=16x16.
7083 If 'toolbariconsize' is empty, the global default size as determined
7084 by user preferences or the current theme is used.
7086 *'ttybuiltin'* *'tbi'* *'nottybuiltin'* *'notbi'*
7087 'ttybuiltin' 'tbi' boolean (default on)
7088 global
7089 {not in Vi}
7090 When on, the builtin termcaps are searched before the external ones.
7091 When off the builtin termcaps are searched after the external ones.
7092 When this option is changed, you should set the 'term' option next for
7093 the change to take effect, for example: >
7094 :set notbi term=$TERM
7095 < See also |termcap|.
7096 Rationale: The default for this option is "on", because the builtin
7097 termcap entries are generally better (many systems contain faulty
7098 xterm entries...).
7100 *'ttyfast'* *'tf'* *'nottyfast'* *'notf'*
7101 'ttyfast' 'tf' boolean (default off, on when 'term' is xterm, hpterm,
7102 sun-cmd, screen, rxvt, dtterm or
7103 iris-ansi; also on when running Vim in
7104 a DOS console)
7105 global
7106 {not in Vi}
7107 Indicates a fast terminal connection. More characters will be sent to
7108 the screen for redrawing, instead of using insert/delete line
7109 commands. Improves smoothness of redrawing when there are multiple
7110 windows and the terminal does not support a scrolling region.
7111 Also enables the extra writing of characters at the end of each screen
7112 line for lines that wrap. This helps when using copy/paste with the
7113 mouse in an xterm and other terminals.
7115 *'ttymouse'* *'ttym'*
7116 'ttymouse' 'ttym' string (default depends on 'term')
7117 global
7118 {not in Vi}
7119 {only in Unix and VMS, doesn't work in the GUI; not
7120 available when compiled without |+mouse|}
7121 Name of the terminal type for which mouse codes are to be recognized.
7122 Currently these strings are valid:
7123 *xterm-mouse*
7124 xterm xterm-like mouse handling. The mouse generates
7125 "<Esc>[Mscr", where "scr" is three bytes:
7126 "s" = button state
7127 "c" = column plus 33
7128 "r" = row plus 33
7129 This only works up to 223 columns! See "dec" for a
7130 solution.
7131 xterm2 Works like "xterm", but with the xterm reporting the
7132 mouse position while the mouse is dragged. This works
7133 much faster and more precise. Your xterm must at
7134 least at patchlevel 88 / XFree 3.3.3 for this to
7135 work. See below for how Vim detects this
7136 automatically.
7137 *netterm-mouse*
7138 netterm NetTerm mouse handling. The mouse generates
7139 "<Esc>}r,c<CR>", where "r,c" are two decimal numbers
7140 for the row and column.
7141 *dec-mouse*
7142 dec DEC terminal mouse handling. The mouse generates a
7143 rather complex sequence, starting with "<Esc>[".
7144 This is also available for an Xterm, if it was
7145 configured with "--enable-dec-locator".
7146 *jsbterm-mouse*
7147 jsbterm JSB term mouse handling.
7148 *pterm-mouse*
7149 pterm QNX pterm mouse handling.
7151 The mouse handling must be enabled at compile time |+mouse_xterm|
7152 |+mouse_dec| |+mouse_netterm|.
7153 Only "xterm"(2) is really recognized. NetTerm mouse codes are always
7154 recognized, if enabled at compile time. DEC terminal mouse codes
7155 are recognized if enabled at compile time, and 'ttymouse' is not
7156 "xterm" (because the xterm and dec mouse codes conflict).
7157 This option is automatically set to "xterm", when the 'term' option is
7158 set to a name that starts with "xterm", and 'ttymouse' is not "xterm"
7159 or "xterm2" already. The main use of this option is to set it to
7160 "xterm", when the terminal name doesn't start with "xterm", but it can
7161 handle xterm mouse codes.
7162 The "xterm2" value will be set if the xterm version is reported to be
7163 95 or higher. This only works when compiled with the |+termresponse|
7164 feature and if |t_RV| is set to the escape sequence to request the
7165 xterm version number. Otherwise "xterm2" must be set explicitly.
7166 If you do not want 'ttymouse' to be set to "xterm2" automatically, set
7167 t_RV to an empty string: >
7168 :set t_RV=
7169 <
7170 *'ttyscroll'* *'tsl'*
7171 'ttyscroll' 'tsl' number (default 999)
7172 global
7173 Maximum number of lines to scroll the screen. If there are more lines
7174 to scroll the window is redrawn. For terminals where scrolling is
7175 very slow and redrawing is not slow this can be set to a small number,
7176 e.g., 3, to speed up displaying.
7178 *'ttytype'* *'tty'*
7179 'ttytype' 'tty' string (default from $TERM)
7180 global
7181 Alias for 'term', see above.
7183 *'undolevels'* *'ul'*
7184 'undolevels' 'ul' number (default 100, 1000 for Unix, VMS,
7185 Win32 and OS/2)
7186 global
7187 {not in Vi}
7188 Maximum number of changes that can be undone. Since undo information
7189 is kept in memory, higher numbers will cause more memory to be used
7190 (nevertheless, a single change can use an unlimited amount of memory).
7191 Set to 0 for Vi compatibility: One level of undo and "u" undoes
7192 itself: >
7193 set ul=0
7194 < But you can also get Vi compatibility by including the 'u' flag in
7195 'cpoptions', and still be able to use CTRL-R to repeat undo.
7196 Set to a negative number for no undo at all: >
7197 set ul=-1
7198 < This helps when you run out of memory for a single change.
7199 Also see |undo-two-ways|.
7201 *'updatecount'* *'uc'*
7202 'updatecount' 'uc' number (default: 200)
7203 global
7204 {not in Vi}
7205 After typing this many characters the swap file will be written to
7206 disk. When zero, no swap file will be created at all (see chapter on
7207 recovery |crash-recovery|). 'updatecount' is set to zero by starting
7208 Vim with the "-n" option, see |startup|. When editing in readonly
7209 mode this option will be initialized to 10000.
7210 The swapfile can be disabled per buffer with |'swapfile'|.
7211 When 'updatecount' is set from zero to non-zero, swap files are
7212 created for all buffers that have 'swapfile' set. When 'updatecount'
7213 is set to zero, existing swap files are not deleted.
7214 Also see |'swapsync'|.
7215 This option has no meaning in buffers where |'buftype'| is "nofile"
7216 or "nowrite".
7218 *'updatetime'* *'ut'*
7219 'updatetime' 'ut' number (default 4000)
7220 global
7221 {not in Vi}
7222 If this many milliseconds nothing is typed the swap file will be
7223 written to disk (see |crash-recovery|). Also used for the
7224 |CursorHold| autocommand event.
7226 *'verbose'* *'vbs'*
7227 'verbose' 'vbs' number (default 0)
7228 global
7229 {not in Vi, although some versions have a boolean
7230 verbose option}
7231 When bigger than zero, Vim will give messages about what it is doing.
7232 Currently, these messages are given:
7233 >= 1 When the viminfo file is read or written.
7234 >= 2 When a file is ":source"'ed.
7235 >= 5 Every searched tags file and include file.
7236 >= 8 Files for which a group of autocommands is executed.
7237 >= 9 Every executed autocommand.
7238 >= 12 Every executed function.
7239 >= 13 When an exception is thrown, caught, finished, or discarded.
7240 >= 14 Anything pending in a ":finally" clause.
7241 >= 15 Every executed Ex command (truncated at 200 characters).
7243 This option can also be set with the "-V" argument. See |-V|.
7244 This option is also set by the |:verbose| command.
7246 When the 'verbosefile' option is set then the verbose messages are not
7247 displayed.
7249 *'verbosefile'* *'vfile'*
7250 'verbosefile' 'vfile' string (default empty)
7251 global
7252 {not in Vi}
7253 When not empty all messages are written in a file with this name.
7254 When the file exists messages are appended.
7255 Writing to the file ends when Vim exits or when 'verbosefile' is made
7256 empty.
7257 Setting 'verbosefile' to a new value is like making it empty first.
7258 The difference with |:redir| is that verbose messages are not
7259 displayed when 'verbosefile' is set.
7261 *'viewdir'* *'vdir'*
7262 'viewdir' 'vdir' string (default for Amiga, MS-DOS, OS/2 and Win32:
7263 "$VIM/vimfiles/view",
7264 for Unix: "~/.vim/view",
7265 for Macintosh: "$VIM:vimfiles:view"
7266 for VMS: "sys$login:vimfiles/view"
7267 for RiscOS: "Choices:vimfiles/view")
7268 global
7269 {not in Vi}
7270 {not available when compiled without the +mksession
7271 feature}
7272 Name of the directory where to store files for |:mkview|.
7273 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
7274 security reasons.
7276 *'viewoptions'* *'vop'*
7277 'viewoptions' 'vop' string (default: "folds,options,cursor")
7278 global
7279 {not in Vi}
7280 {not available when compiled without the +mksession
7281 feature}
7282 Changes the effect of the |:mkview| command. It is a comma separated
7283 list of words. Each word enables saving and restoring something:
7284 word save and restore ~
7285 cursor cursor position in file and in window
7286 folds manually created folds, opened/closed folds and local
7287 fold options
7288 options options and mappings local to a window or buffer (not
7289 global values for local options)
7290 slash backslashes in file names replaced with forward
7291 slashes
7292 unix with Unix end-of-line format (single <NL>), even when
7293 on Windows or DOS
7295 "slash" and "unix" are useful on Windows when sharing view files
7296 with Unix. The Unix version of Vim cannot source dos format scripts,
7297 but the Windows version of Vim can source unix format scripts.
7299 *'viminfo'* *'vi'* *E526* *E527* *E528*
7300 'viminfo' 'vi' string (Vi default: "", Vim default for MS-DOS,
7301 Windows and OS/2: '100,<50,s10,h,rA:,rB:,
7302 for Amiga: '100,<50,s10,h,rdf0:,rdf1:,rdf2:
7303 for others: '100,<50,s10,h)
7304 global
7305 {not in Vi}
7306 {not available when compiled without the |+viminfo|
7307 feature}
7308 When non-empty, the viminfo file is read upon startup and written
7309 when exiting Vim (see |viminfo-file|). The string should be a comma
7310 separated list of parameters, each consisting of a single character
7311 identifying the particular parameter, followed by a number or string
7312 which specifies the value of that parameter. If a particular
7313 character is left out, then the default value is used for that
7314 parameter. The following is a list of the identifying characters and
7315 the effect of their value.
7316 CHAR VALUE ~
7317 ! When included, save and restore global variables that start
7318 with an uppercase letter, and don't contain a lowercase
7319 letter. Thus "KEEPTHIS and "K_L_M" are stored, but "KeepThis"
7320 and "_K_L_M" are not. Only String and Number types are
7321 stored.
7322 " Maximum number of lines saved for each register. Old name of
7323 the '<' item, with the disadvantage that you need to put a
7324 backslash before the ", otherwise it will be recognized as the
7325 start of a comment!
7326 % When included, save and restore the buffer list. If Vim is
7327 started with a file name argument, the buffer list is not
7328 restored. If Vim is started without a file name argument, the
7329 buffer list is restored from the viminfo file. Buffers
7330 without a file name and buffers for help files are not written
7331 to the viminfo file.
7332 When followed by a number, the number specifies the maximum
7333 number of buffers that are stored. Without a number all
7334 buffers are stored.
7335 ' Maximum number of previously edited files for which the marks
7336 are remembered. This parameter must always be included when
7337 'viminfo' is non-empty.
7338 Including this item also means that the |jumplist| and the
7339 |changelist| are stored in the viminfo file.
7340 / Maximum number of items in the search pattern history to be
7341 saved. If non-zero, then the previous search and substitute
7342 patterns are also saved. When not included, the value of
7343 'history' is used.
7344 : Maximum number of items in the command-line history to be
7345 saved. When not included, the value of 'history' is used.
7346 < Maximum number of lines saved for each register. If zero then
7347 registers are not saved. When not included, all lines are
7348 saved. '"' is the old name for this item.
7349 Also see the 's' item below: limit specified in Kbyte.
7350 @ Maximum number of items in the input-line history to be
7351 saved. When not included, the value of 'history' is used.
7352 c When included, convert the text in the viminfo file from the
7353 'encoding' used when writing the file to the current
7354 'encoding'. See |viminfo-encoding|.
7355 f Whether file marks need to be stored. If zero, file marks ('0
7356 to '9, 'A to 'Z) are not stored. When not present or when
7357 non-zero, they are all stored. '0 is used for the current
7358 cursor position (when exiting or when doing ":wviminfo").
7359 h Disable the effect of 'hlsearch' when loading the viminfo
7360 file. When not included, it depends on whether ":nohlsearch"
7361 has been used since the last search command.
7362 n Name of the viminfo file. The name must immediately follow
7363 the 'n'. Must be the last one! If the "-i" argument was
7364 given when starting Vim, that file name overrides the one
7365 given here with 'viminfo'. Environment variables are expanded
7366 when opening the file, not when setting the option.
7367 r Removable media. The argument is a string (up to the next
7368 ','). This parameter can be given several times. Each
7369 specifies the start of a path for which no marks will be
7370 stored. This is to avoid removable media. For MS-DOS you
7371 could use "ra:,rb:", for Amiga "rdf0:,rdf1:,rdf2:". You can
7372 also use it for temp files, e.g., for Unix: "r/tmp". Case is
7373 ignored. Maximum length of each 'r' argument is 50
7374 characters.
7375 s Maximum size of an item in Kbyte. If zero then registers are
7376 not saved. Currently only applies to registers. The default
7377 "s10" will exclude registers with more than 10 Kbyte of text.
7378 Also see the '<' item above: line count limit.
7380 Example: >
7381 :set viminfo='50,<1000,s100,:0,n~/vim/viminfo
7382 <
7383 '50 Marks will be remembered for the last 50 files you
7384 edited.
7385 <1000 Contents of registers (up to 1000 lines each) will be
7386 remembered.
7387 s100 Registers with more than 100 Kbyte text are skipped.
7388 :0 Command-line history will not be saved.
7389 n~/vim/viminfo The name of the file to use is "~/vim/viminfo".
7390 no / Since '/' is not specified, the default will be used,
7391 that is, save all of the search history, and also the
7392 previous search and substitute patterns.
7393 no % The buffer list will not be saved nor read back.
7394 no h 'hlsearch' highlighting will be restored.
7396 When setting 'viminfo' from an empty value you can use |:rviminfo| to
7397 load the contents of the file, this is not done automatically.
7399 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
7400 security reasons.
7402 *'virtualedit'* *'ve'*
7403 'virtualedit' 've' string (default "")
7404 global
7405 {not in Vi}
7406 {not available when compiled without the
7407 |+virtualedit| feature}
7408 A comma separated list of these words:
7409 block Allow virtual editing in Visual block mode.
7410 insert Allow virtual editing in Insert mode.
7411 all Allow virtual editing in all modes.
7412 onemore Allow the cursor to move just past the end of the line
7414 Virtual editing means that the cursor can be positioned where there is
7415 no actual character. This can be halfway into a tab or beyond the end
7416 of the line. Useful for selecting a rectangle in Visual mode and
7417 editing a table.
7418 "onemore" is not the same, it will only allow moving the cursor just
7419 after the last character of the line. This makes some commands more
7420 consistent. Previously the cursor was always past the end of the line
7421 if the line was empty. But it is far from Vi compatible. It may also
7422 break some plugins or Vim scripts. For example because |l| can move
7423 the cursor after the last character. Use with care!
7424 Using the |$| command will move to the last character in the line, not
7425 past it. This may actually move the cursor to the left!
7426 It doesn't make sense to combine "all" with "onemore", but you will
7427 not get a warning for it.
7429 *'visualbell'* *'vb'* *'novisualbell'* *'novb'* *beep*
7430 'visualbell' 'vb' boolean (default off)
7431 global
7432 {not in Vi}
7433 Use visual bell instead of beeping. The terminal code to display the
7434 visual bell is given with 't_vb'. When no beep or flash is wanted,
7435 use ":set vb t_vb=".
7436 Note: When the GUI starts, 't_vb' is reset to its default value. You
7437 might want to set it again in your |gvimrc|.
7438 In the GUI, 't_vb' defaults to "<Esc>|f", which inverts the display
7439 for 20 msec. If you want to use a different time, use "<Esc>|40f",
7440 where 40 is the time in msec.
7441 Does not work on the Amiga, you always get a screen flash.
7442 Also see 'errorbells'.
7444 *'warn'* *'nowarn'*
7445 'warn' boolean (default on)
7446 global
7447 Give a warning message when a shell command is used while the buffer
7448 has been changed.
7450 *'weirdinvert'* *'wiv'* *'noweirdinvert'* *'nowiv'*
7451 'weirdinvert' 'wiv' boolean (default off)
7452 global
7453 {not in Vi}
7454 This option has the same effect as the 't_xs' terminal option.
7455 It is provided for backwards compatibility with version 4.x.
7456 Setting 'weirdinvert' has the effect of making 't_xs' non-empty, and
7457 vice versa. Has no effect when the GUI is running.
7459 *'whichwrap'* *'ww'*
7460 'whichwrap' 'ww' string (Vim default: "b,s", Vi default: "")
7461 global
7462 {not in Vi}
7463 Allow specified keys that move the cursor left/right to move to the
7464 previous/next line when the cursor is on the first/last character in
7465 the line. Concatenate characters to allow this for these keys:
7466 char key mode ~
7467 b <BS> Normal and Visual
7468 s <Space> Normal and Visual
7469 h "h" Normal and Visual (not recommended)
7470 l "l" Normal and Visual (not recommended)
7471 < <Left> Normal and Visual
7472 > <Right> Normal and Visual
7473 ~ "~" Normal
7474 [ <Left> Insert and Replace
7475 ] <Right> Insert and Replace
7476 For example: >
7477 :set ww=<,>,[,]
7478 < allows wrap only when cursor keys are used.
7479 When the movement keys are used in combination with a delete or change
7480 operator, the <EOL> also counts for a character. This makes "3h"
7481 different from "3dh" when the cursor crosses the end of a line. This
7482 is also true for "x" and "X", because they do the same as "dl" and
7483 "dh". If you use this, you may also want to use the mapping
7484 ":map <BS> X" to make backspace delete the character in front of the
7485 cursor.
7486 When 'l' is included and it is used after an operator at the end of a
7487 line then it will not move to the next line. This makes "dl", "cl",
7488 "yl" etc. work normally.
7489 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
7490 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
7492 *'wildchar'* *'wc'*
7493 'wildchar' 'wc' number (Vim default: <Tab>, Vi default: CTRL-E)
7494 global
7495 {not in Vi}
7496 Character you have to type to start wildcard expansion in the
7497 command-line, as specified with 'wildmode'.
7498 More info here: |cmdline-completion|.
7499 The character is not recognized when used inside a macro. See
7500 'wildcharm' for that.
7501 Although 'wc' is a number option, you can set it to a special key: >
7502 :set wc=<Esc>
7503 < NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
7504 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
7506 *'wildcharm'* *'wcm'*
7507 'wildcharm' 'wcm' number (default: none (0))
7508 global
7509 {not in Vi}
7510 'wildcharm' works exactly like 'wildchar', except that it is
7511 recognized when used inside a macro. You can find "spare" command-line
7512 keys suitable for this option by looking at |ex-edit-index|. Normally
7513 you'll never actually type 'wildcharm', just use it in mappings that
7514 automatically invoke completion mode, e.g.: >
7515 :set wcm=<C-Z>
7516 :cnoremap ss so $vim/sessions/*.vim<C-Z>
7517 < Then after typing :ss you can use CTRL-P & CTRL-N.
7519 *'wildignore'* *'wig'*
7520 'wildignore' 'wig' string (default "")
7521 global
7522 {not in Vi}
7523 {not available when compiled without the |+wildignore|
7524 feature}
7525 A list of file patterns. A file that matches with one of these
7526 patterns is ignored when completing file or directory names, and
7527 influences the result of |expand()|, |glob()| and |globpath()| unless
7528 a flag is passed to disable this.
7529 The pattern is used like with |:autocmd|, see |autocmd-patterns|.
7530 Also see 'suffixes'.
7531 Example: >
7532 :set wildignore=*.o,*.obj
7533 < The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
7534 a pattern from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
7535 uses another default.
7537 *'wildmenu'* *'wmnu'* *'nowildmenu'* *'nowmnu'*
7538 'wildmenu' 'wmnu' boolean (default off)
7539 global
7540 {not in Vi}
7541 {not available if compiled without the |+wildmenu|
7542 feature}
7543 When 'wildmenu' is on, command-line completion operates in an enhanced
7544 mode. On pressing 'wildchar' (usually <Tab>) to invoke completion,
7545 the possible matches are shown just above the command line, with the
7546 first match highlighted (overwriting the status line, if there is
7547 one). Keys that show the previous/next match, such as <Tab> or
7548 CTRL-P/CTRL-N, cause the highlight to move to the appropriate match.
7549 When 'wildmode' is used, "wildmenu" mode is used where "full" is
7550 specified. "longest" and "list" do not start "wildmenu" mode.
7551 If there are more matches than can fit in the line, a ">" is shown on
7552 the right and/or a "<" is shown on the left. The status line scrolls
7553 as needed.
7554 The "wildmenu" mode is abandoned when a key is hit that is not used
7555 for selecting a completion.
7556 While the "wildmenu" is active the following keys have special
7557 meanings:
7559 <Left> <Right> - select previous/next match (like CTRL-P/CTRL-N)
7560 <Down> - in filename/menu name completion: move into a
7561 subdirectory or submenu.
7562 <CR> - in menu completion, when the cursor is just after a
7563 dot: move into a submenu.
7564 <Up> - in filename/menu name completion: move up into
7565 parent directory or parent menu.
7567 This makes the menus accessible from the console |console-menus|.
7569 If you prefer the <Left> and <Right> keys to move the cursor instead
7570 of selecting a different match, use this: >
7571 :cnoremap <Left> <Space><BS><Left>
7572 :cnoremap <Right> <Space><BS><Right>
7573 <
7574 The "WildMenu" highlighting is used for displaying the current match
7575 |hl-WildMenu|.
7577 *'wildmode'* *'wim'*
7578 'wildmode' 'wim' string (Vim default: "full")
7579 global
7580 {not in Vi}
7581 Completion mode that is used for the character specified with
7582 'wildchar'. It is a comma separated list of up to four parts. Each
7583 part specifies what to do for each consecutive use of 'wildchar'. The
7584 first part specifies the behavior for the first use of 'wildchar',
7585 The second part for the second use, etc.
7586 These are the possible values for each part:
7587 "" Complete only the first match.
7588 "full" Complete the next full match. After the last match,
7589 the original string is used and then the first match
7590 again.
7591 "longest" Complete till longest common string. If this doesn't
7592 result in a longer string, use the next part.
7593 "longest:full" Like "longest", but also start 'wildmenu' if it is
7594 enabled.
7595 "list" When more than one match, list all matches.
7596 "list:full" When more than one match, list all matches and
7597 complete first match.
7598 "list:longest" When more than one match, list all matches and
7599 complete till longest common string.
7600 When there is only a single match, it is fully completed in all cases.
7602 Examples: >
7603 :set wildmode=full
7604 < Complete first full match, next match, etc. (the default) >
7605 :set wildmode=longest,full
7606 < Complete longest common string, then each full match >
7607 :set wildmode=list:full
7608 < List all matches and complete each full match >
7609 :set wildmode=list,full
7610 < List all matches without completing, then each full match >
7611 :set wildmode=longest,list
7612 < Complete longest common string, then list alternatives.
7613 More info here: |cmdline-completion|.
7615 *'wildoptions'* *'wop'*
7616 'wildoptions' 'wop' string (default "")
7617 global
7618 {not in Vi}
7619 {not available when compiled without the |+wildignore|
7620 feature}
7621 A list of words that change how command line completion is done.
7622 Currently only one word is allowed:
7623 tagfile When using CTRL-D to list matching tags, the kind of
7624 tag and the file of the tag is listed. Only one match
7625 is displayed per line. Often used tag kinds are:
7626 d #define
7627 f function
7628 Also see |cmdline-completion|.
7630 *'winaltkeys'* *'wak'*
7631 'winaltkeys' 'wak' string (default "menu")
7632 global
7633 {not in Vi}
7634 {only used in Win32, Motif, GTK and Photon GUI}
7635 Some GUI versions allow the access to menu entries by using the ALT
7636 key in combination with a character that appears underlined in the
7637 menu. This conflicts with the use of the ALT key for mappings and
7638 entering special characters. This option tells what to do:
7639 no Don't use ALT keys for menus. ALT key combinations can be
7640 mapped, but there is no automatic handling. This can then be
7641 done with the |:simalt| command.
7642 yes ALT key handling is done by the windowing system. ALT key
7643 combinations cannot be mapped.
7644 menu Using ALT in combination with a character that is a menu
7645 shortcut key, will be handled by the windowing system. Other
7646 keys can be mapped.
7647 If the menu is disabled by excluding 'm' from 'guioptions', the ALT
7648 key is never used for the menu.
7649 This option is not used for <F10>; on Win32 and with GTK <F10> will
7650 select the menu, unless it has been mapped.
7652 *'window'* *'wi'*
7653 'window' 'wi' number (default screen height - 1)
7654 global
7655 Window height. Do not confuse this with the height of the Vim window,
7656 use 'lines' for that.
7657 Used for |CTRL-F| and |CTRL-B| when there is only one window and the
7658 value is smaller than 'lines' minus one. The screen will scroll
7659 'window' minus two lines, with a minimum of one.
7660 When 'window' is equal to 'lines' minus one CTRL-F and CTRL-B scroll
7661 in a much smarter way, taking care of wrapping lines.
7662 When resizing the Vim window, the value is smaller than 1 or more than
7663 or equal to 'lines' it will be set to 'lines' minus 1.
7664 {Vi also uses the option to specify the number of displayed lines}
7666 *'winheight'* *'wh'* *E591*
7667 'winheight' 'wh' number (default 1)
7668 global
7669 {not in Vi}
7670 {not available when compiled without the +windows
7671 feature}
7672 Minimal number of lines for the current window. This is not a hard
7673 minimum, Vim will use fewer lines if there is not enough room. If the
7674 focus goes to a window that is smaller, its size is increased, at the
7675 cost of the height of other windows.
7676 Set 'winheight' to a small number for normal editing.
7677 Set it to 999 to make the current window fill most of the screen.
7678 Other windows will be only 'winminheight' high. This has the drawback
7679 that ":all" will create only two windows. To avoid "vim -o 1 2 3 4"
7680 to create only two windows, set the option after startup is done,
7681 using the |VimEnter| event: >
7682 au VimEnter * set winheight=999
7683 < Minimum value is 1.
7684 The height is not adjusted after one of the commands that change the
7685 height of the current window.
7686 'winheight' applies to the current window. Use 'winminheight' to set
7687 the minimal height for other windows.
7689 *'winfixheight'* *'wfh'* *'nowinfixheight'* *'nowfh'*
7690 'winfixheight' 'wfh' boolean (default off)
7691 local to window
7692 {not in Vi}
7693 {not available when compiled without the +windows
7694 feature}
7695 Keep the window height when windows are opened or closed and
7696 'equalalways' is set. Also for |CTRL-W_=|. Set by default for the
7697 |preview-window| and |quickfix-window|.
7698 The height may be changed anyway when running out of room.
7700 *'winfixwidth'* *'wfw'* *'nowinfixwidth'* *'nowfw'*
7701 'winfixwidth' 'wfw' boolean (default off)
7702 local to window
7703 {not in Vi}
7704 {not available when compiled without the +windows
7705 feature}
7706 Keep the window width when windows are opened or closed and
7707 'equalalways' is set. Also for |CTRL-W_=|.
7708 The width may be changed anyway when running out of room.
7710 *'winminheight'* *'wmh'*
7711 'winminheight' 'wmh' number (default 1)
7712 global
7713 {not in Vi}
7714 {not available when compiled without the +windows
7715 feature}
7716 The minimal height of a window, when it's not the current window.
7717 This is a hard minimum, windows will never become smaller.
7718 When set to zero, windows may be "squashed" to zero lines (i.e. just a
7719 status bar) if necessary. They will return to at least one line when
7720 they become active (since the cursor has to have somewhere to go.)
7721 Use 'winheight' to set the minimal height of the current window.
7722 This option is only checked when making a window smaller. Don't use a
7723 large number, it will cause errors when opening more than a few
7724 windows. A value of 0 to 3 is reasonable.
7726 *'winminwidth'* *'wmw'*
7727 'winminwidth' 'wmw' number (default 1)
7728 global
7729 {not in Vi}
7730 {not available when compiled without the +vertsplit
7731 feature}
7732 The minimal width of a window, when it's not the current window.
7733 This is a hard minimum, windows will never become smaller.
7734 When set to zero, windows may be "squashed" to zero columns (i.e. just
7735 a vertical separator) if necessary. They will return to at least one
7736 line when they become active (since the cursor has to have somewhere
7737 to go.)
7738 Use 'winwidth' to set the minimal width of the current window.
7739 This option is only checked when making a window smaller. Don't use a
7740 large number, it will cause errors when opening more than a few
7741 windows. A value of 0 to 12 is reasonable.
7743 *'winwidth'* *'wiw'* *E592*
7744 'winwidth' 'wiw' number (default 20)
7745 global
7746 {not in Vi}
7747 {not available when compiled without the +vertsplit
7748 feature}
7749 Minimal number of columns for the current window. This is not a hard
7750 minimum, Vim will use fewer columns if there is not enough room. If
7751 the current window is smaller, its size is increased, at the cost of
7752 the width of other windows. Set it to 999 to make the current window
7753 always fill the screen. Set it to a small number for normal editing.
7754 The width is not adjusted after one of the commands to change the
7755 width of the current window.
7756 'winwidth' applies to the current window. Use 'winminwidth' to set
7757 the minimal width for other windows.
7759 *'wrap'* *'nowrap'*
7760 'wrap' boolean (default on)
7761 local to window
7762 {not in Vi}
7763 This option changes how text is displayed. It doesn't change the text
7764 in the buffer, see 'textwidth' for that.
7765 When on, lines longer than the width of the window will wrap and
7766 displaying continues on the next line. When off lines will not wrap
7767 and only part of long lines will be displayed. When the cursor is
7768 moved to a part that is not shown, the screen will scroll
7769 horizontally.
7770 The line will be broken in the middle of a word if necessary. See
7771 'linebreak' to get the break at a word boundary.
7772 To make scrolling horizontally a bit more useful, try this: >
7773 :set sidescroll=5
7774 :set listchars+=precedes:<,extends:>
7775 < See 'sidescroll', 'listchars' and |wrap-off|.
7776 This option can't be set from a |modeline| when the 'diff' option is
7777 on.
7779 *'wrapmargin'* *'wm'*
7780 'wrapmargin' 'wm' number (default 0)
7781 local to buffer
7782 Number of characters from the right window border where wrapping
7783 starts. When typing text beyond this limit, an <EOL> will be inserted
7784 and inserting continues on the next line.
7785 Options that add a margin, such as 'number' and 'foldcolumn', cause
7786 the text width to be further reduced. This is Vi compatible.
7787 When 'textwidth' is non-zero, this option is not used.
7788 See also 'formatoptions' and |ins-textwidth|. {Vi: works differently
7789 and less usefully}
7791 *'wrapscan'* *'ws'* *'nowrapscan'* *'nows'*
7792 'wrapscan' 'ws' boolean (default on) *E384* *E385*
7793 global
7794 Searches wrap around the end of the file. Also applies to |]s| and
7795 |[s|, searching for spelling mistakes.
7797 *'write'* *'nowrite'*
7798 'write' boolean (default on)
7799 global
7800 {not in Vi}
7801 Allows writing files. When not set, writing a file is not allowed.
7802 Can be used for a view-only mode, where modifications to the text are
7803 still allowed. Can be reset with the |-m| or |-M| command line
7804 argument. Filtering text is still possible, even though this requires
7805 writing a temporary file.
7807 *'writeany'* *'wa'* *'nowriteany'* *'nowa'*
7808 'writeany' 'wa' boolean (default off)
7809 global
7810 Allows writing to any file with no need for "!" override.
7812 *'writebackup'* *'wb'* *'nowritebackup'* *'nowb'*
7813 'writebackup' 'wb' boolean (default on with |+writebackup| feature, off
7814 otherwise)
7815 global
7816 {not in Vi}
7817 Make a backup before overwriting a file. The backup is removed after
7818 the file was successfully written, unless the 'backup' option is
7819 also on. Reset this option if your file system is almost full. See
7820 |backup-table| for another explanation.
7821 When the 'backupskip' pattern matches, a backup is not made anyway.
7822 NOTE: This option is set to the default value when 'compatible' is
7823 set.
7825 *'writedelay'* *'wd'*
7826 'writedelay' 'wd' number (default 0)
7827 global
7828 {not in Vi}
7829 The number of microseconds to wait for each character sent to the
7830 screen. When non-zero, characters are sent to the terminal one by
7831 one. For MS-DOS pcterm this does not work. For debugging purposes.
7833 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: