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1 *helphelp.txt* For Vim version 7.4. Last change: 2012 Nov 28
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
7 Help on help files *helphelp*
9 1. Help commands |online-help|
10 2. Translated help files |help-translated|
11 3. Writing help files |help-writing|
13 ==============================================================================
14 1. Help commands *online-help*
16 *help* *<Help>* *:h* *:help* *<F1>* *i_<F1>* *i_<Help>*
17 <Help> or
18 :h[elp] Open a window and display the help file in read-only
19 mode. If there is a help window open already, use
20 that one. Otherwise, if the current window uses the
21 full width of the screen or is at least 80 characters
22 wide, the help window will appear just above the
23 current window. Otherwise the new window is put at
24 the very top.
25 The 'helplang' option is used to select a language, if
26 the main help file is available in several languages.
27 {not in Vi}
29 *{subject}* *E149* *E661*
30 :h[elp] {subject} Like ":help", additionally jump to the tag {subject}.
31 {subject} can include wildcards like "*", "?" and
32 "[a-z]":
33 :help z? jump to help for any "z" command
34 :help z. jump to the help for "z."
35 If there is no full match for the pattern, or there
36 are several matches, the "best" match will be used.
37 A sophisticated algorithm is used to decide which
38 match is better than another one. These items are
39 considered in the computation:
40 - A match with same case is much better than a match
41 with different case.
42 - A match that starts after a non-alphanumeric
43 character is better than a match in the middle of a
44 word.
45 - A match at or near the beginning of the tag is
46 better than a match further on.
47 - The more alphanumeric characters match, the better.
48 - The shorter the length of the match, the better.
50 The 'helplang' option is used to select a language, if
51 the {subject} is available in several languages.
52 To find a tag in a specific language, append "@ab",
53 where "ab" is the two-letter language code. See
54 |help-translated|.
56 Note that the longer the {subject} you give, the less
57 matches will be found. You can get an idea how this
58 all works by using commandline completion (type CTRL-D
59 after ":help subject" |c_CTRL-D|).
60 If there are several matches, you can have them listed
61 by hitting CTRL-D. Example: >
62 :help cont<Ctrl-D>
64 < Instead of typing ":help CTRL-V" to search for help
65 for CTRL-V you can type: >
66 :help ^V
67 < This also works together with other characters, for
68 example to find help for CTRL-V in Insert mode: >
69 :help i^V
70 <
71 To use a regexp |pattern|, first do ":help" and then
72 use ":tag {pattern}" in the help window. The
73 ":tnext" command can then be used to jump to other
74 matches, "tselect" to list matches and choose one. >
75 :help index| :tse z.
77 < When there is no argument you will see matches for
78 "help", to avoid listing all possible matches (that
79 would be very slow).
80 The number of matches displayed is limited to 300.
82 This command can be followed by '|' and another
83 command, but you don't need to escape the '|' inside a
84 help command. So these both work: >
85 :help |
86 :help k| only
87 < Note that a space before the '|' is seen as part of
88 the ":help" argument.
89 You can also use <LF> or <CR> to separate the help
90 command from a following command. You need to type
91 CTRL-V first to insert the <LF> or <CR>. Example: >
92 :help so<C-V><CR>only
93 < {not in Vi}
95 :h[elp]! [subject] Like ":help", but in non-English help files prefer to
96 find a tag in a file with the same language as the
97 current file. See |help-translated|.
99 *:helpg* *:helpgrep*
100 :helpg[rep] {pattern}[@xx]
101 Search all help text files and make a list of lines
102 in which {pattern} matches. Jumps to the first match.
103 The optional [@xx] specifies that only matches in the
104 "xx" language are to be found.
105 You can navigate through the matches with the
106 |quickfix| commands, e.g., |:cnext| to jump to the
107 next one. Or use |:cwindow| to get the list of
108 matches in the quickfix window.
109 {pattern} is used as a Vim regexp |pattern|.
110 'ignorecase' is not used, add "\c" to ignore case.
111 Example for case sensitive search: >
112 :helpgrep Uganda
113 < Example for case ignoring search: >
114 :helpgrep uganda\c
115 < Example for searching in French help: >
116 :helpgrep backspace@fr
117 < The pattern does not support line breaks, it must
118 match within one line. You can use |:grep| instead,
119 but then you need to get the list of help files in a
120 complicated way.
121 Cannot be followed by another command, everything is
122 used as part of the pattern. But you can use
123 |:execute| when needed.
124 Compressed help files will not be searched (Fedora
125 compresses the help files).
126 {not in Vi}
128 *:lh* *:lhelpgrep*
129 :lh[elpgrep] {pattern}[@xx]
130 Same as ":helpgrep", except the location list is used
131 instead of the quickfix list. If the help window is
132 already opened, then the location list for that window
133 is used. Otherwise, a new help window is opened and
134 the location list for that window is set. The
135 location list for the current window is not changed.
137 *:exu* *:exusage*
138 :exu[sage] Show help on Ex commands. Added to simulate the Nvi
139 command. {not in Vi}
141 *:viu* *:viusage*
142 :viu[sage] Show help on Normal mode commands. Added to simulate
143 the Nvi command. {not in Vi}
145 When no argument is given to |:help| the file given with the 'helpfile' option
146 will be opened. Otherwise the specified tag is searched for in all "doc/tags"
147 files in the directories specified in the 'runtimepath' option.
149 The initial height of the help window can be set with the 'helpheight' option
150 (default 20).
152 Jump to specific subjects by using tags. This can be done in two ways:
153 - Use the "CTRL-]" command while standing on the name of a command or option.
154 This only works when the tag is a keyword. "<C-Leftmouse>" and
155 "g<LeftMouse>" work just like "CTRL-]".
156 - use the ":ta {subject}" command. This also works with non-keyword
157 characters.
159 Use CTRL-T or CTRL-O to jump back.
160 Use ":q" to close the help window.
162 If there are several matches for an item you are looking for, this is how you
163 can jump to each one of them:
164 1. Open a help window
165 2. Use the ":tag" command with a slash prepended to the tag. E.g.: >
166 :tag /min
167 3. Use ":tnext" to jump to the next matching tag.
169 It is possible to add help files for plugins and other items. You don't need
170 to change the distributed help files for that. See |add-local-help|.
172 To write a local help file, see |write-local-help|.
174 Note that the title lines from the local help files are automagically added to
175 the "LOCAL ADDITIONS" section in the "help.txt" help file |local-additions|.
176 This is done when viewing the file in Vim, the file itself is not changed. It
177 is done by going through all help files and obtaining the first line of each
178 file. The files in $VIMRUNTIME/doc are skipped.
180 *help-xterm-window*
181 If you want to have the help in another xterm window, you could use this
182 command: >
183 :!xterm -e vim +help &
184 <
186 *:helpfind* *:helpf*
187 :helpf[ind] Like |:help|, but use a dialog to enter the argument.
188 Only for backwards compatibility. It now executes the
189 ToolBar.FindHelp menu entry instead of using a builtin
190 dialog. {only when compiled with |+GUI_GTK|}
191 {not in Vi}
193 *:helpt* *:helptags*
194 *E154* *E150* *E151* *E152* *E153* *E670*
195 :helpt[ags] [++t] {dir}
196 Generate the help tags file(s) for directory {dir}.
197 All "*.txt" and "*.??x" files in the directory and
198 sub-directories are scanned for a help tag definition
199 in between stars. The "*.??x" files are for
200 translated docs, they generate the "tags-??" file, see
201 |help-translated|. The generated tags files are
202 sorted.
203 When there are duplicates an error message is given.
204 An existing tags file is silently overwritten.
205 The optional "++t" argument forces adding the
206 "help-tags" tag. This is also done when the {dir} is
207 equal to $VIMRUNTIME/doc.
208 To rebuild the help tags in the runtime directory
209 (requires write permission there): >
210 :helptags $VIMRUNTIME/doc
211 < {not in Vi}
214 ==============================================================================
215 2. Translated help files *help-translated*
217 It is possible to add translated help files, next to the original English help
218 files. Vim will search for all help in "doc" directories in 'runtimepath'.
219 This is only available when compiled with the |+multi_lang| feature.
221 At this moment translations are available for:
222 Chinese - multiple authors
223 French - translated by David Blanchet
224 Italian - translated by Antonio Colombo
225 Japanese - multiple authors
226 Polish - translated by Mikolaj Machowski
227 Russian - translated by Vassily Ragosin
228 See the Vim website to find them: http://www.vim.org/translations.php
230 A set of translated help files consists of these files:
232 help.abx
233 howto.abx
234 ...
235 tags-ab
237 "ab" is the two-letter language code. Thus for Italian the names are:
239 help.itx
240 howto.itx
241 ...
242 tags-it
244 The 'helplang' option can be set to the preferred language(s). The default is
245 set according to the environment. Vim will first try to find a matching tag
246 in the preferred language(s). English is used when it cannot be found.
248 To find a tag in a specific language, append "@ab" to a tag, where "ab" is the
249 two-letter language code. Example: >
250 :he user-manual@it
251 :he user-manual@en
252 The first one finds the Italian user manual, even when 'helplang' is empty.
253 The second one finds the English user manual, even when 'helplang' is set to
254 "it".
256 When using command-line completion for the ":help" command, the "@en"
257 extension is only shown when a tag exists for multiple languages. When the
258 tag only exists for English "@en" is omitted.
260 When using |CTRL-]| or ":help!" in a non-English help file Vim will try to
261 find the tag in the same language. If not found then 'helplang' will be used
262 to select a language.
264 Help files must use latin1 or utf-8 encoding. Vim assumes the encoding is
265 utf-8 when finding non-ASCII characters in the first line. Thus you must
266 translate the header with "For Vim version".
268 The same encoding must be used for the help files of one language in one
269 directory. You can use a different encoding for different languages and use
270 a different encoding for help files of the same language but in a different
271 directory.
273 Hints for translators:
274 - Do not translate the tags. This makes it possible to use 'helplang' to
275 specify the preferred language. You may add new tags in your language.
276 - When you do not translate a part of a file, add tags to the English version,
277 using the "tag@en" notation.
278 - Make a package with all the files and the tags file available for download.
279 Users can drop it in one of the "doc" directories and start use it.
280 Report this to Bram, so that he can add a link on www.vim.org.
281 - Use the |:helptags| command to generate the tags files. It will find all
282 languages in the specified directory.
284 ==============================================================================
285 3. Writing help files *help-writing*
287 For ease of use, a Vim help file for a plugin should follow the format of the
288 standard Vim help files. If you are writing a new help file it's best to copy
289 one of the existing files and use it as a template.
291 The first line in a help file should have the following format:
293 *helpfile_name.txt* For Vim version 7.3 Last change: 2010 June 4
295 The first field is a link to the help file name. The second field describes
296 the applicable Vim version. The last field specifies the last modification
297 date of the file. Each field is separated by a tab.
299 At the bottom of the help file, place a Vim modeline to set the 'textwidth'
300 and 'tabstop' options and the 'filetype' to 'help'. Never set a global option
301 in such a modeline, that can have consequences undesired by whoever reads that
302 help.
305 TAGS
307 To define a help tag, place the name between asterisks (*tag-name*). The
308 tag-name should be different from all the Vim help tag names and ideally
309 should begin with the name of the Vim plugin. The tag name is usually right
310 aligned on a line.
312 When referring to an existing help tag and to create a hot-link, place the
313 name between two bars (|) eg. |help-writing|.
315 When referring to a Vim option in the help file, place the option name between
316 two single quotes, eg. 'statusline'
319 HIGHLIGHTING
321 To define a column heading, use a tilde character at the end of the line.
322 This will highlight the column heading in a different color. E.g.
324 Column heading~
326 To separate sections in a help file, place a series of '=' characters in a
327 line starting from the first column. The section separator line is highlighted
328 differently.
330 To quote a block of ex-commands verbatim, place a greater than (>) character
331 at the end of the line before the block and a less than (<) character as the
332 first non-blank on a line following the block. Any line starting in column 1
333 also implicitly stops the block of ex-commands before it. E.g. >
334 function Example_Func()
335 echo "Example"
336 endfunction
337 <
339 The following are highlighted differently in a Vim help file:
340 - a special key name expressed either in <> notation as in <PageDown>, or
341 as a Ctrl character as in CTRL-X
342 - anything between {braces}, e.g. {lhs} and {rhs}
344 The word "Note", "Notes" and similar automagically receive distinctive
345 highlighting. So do these:
346 *Todo something to do
347 *Error something wrong
349 You can find the details in $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/help.vim
351 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: