1 *options.txt* For Vim version 7.2. Last change: 2010 May 13
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
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*
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...
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.
45 :se[t] inv{option} Toggle option: Invert value. {not in Vi}
47 *:set-default* *:set-&* *:set-&vi* *:set-&vim*
48 :se[t] {option}& Reset option to its default value. May depend on the
49 current value of 'compatible'. {not in Vi}
50 :se[t] {option}&vi Reset option to its Vi default value. {not in Vi}
51 :se[t] {option}&vim Reset option to its Vim default value. {not in Vi}
53 :se[t] all& Set all options, except terminal options, to their
54 default value. The values of 'term', 'lines' and
55 'columns' are not changed. {not in Vi}
57 *:set-args* *E487* *E521*
58 :se[t] {option}={value} or
59 :se[t] {option}:{value}
60 Set string or number option to {value}.
61 For numeric options the value can be given in decimal,
62 hex (preceded with 0x) or octal (preceded with '0')
63 (hex and octal are only available for machines which
64 have the strtol() function).
65 The old value can be inserted by typing 'wildchar' (by
66 default this is a <Tab> or CTRL-E if 'compatible' is
67 set). See |cmdline-completion|.
68 White space between {option} and '=' is allowed and
69 will be ignored. White space between '=' and {value}
71 See |option-backslash| for using white space and
72 backslashes in {value}.
74 :se[t] {option}+={value} *:set+=*
75 Add the {value} to a number option, or append the
76 {value} to a string option. When the option is a
77 comma separated list, a comma is added, unless the
79 If the option is a list of flags, superfluous flags
80 are removed. When adding a flag that was already
81 present the option value doesn't change.
82 Also see |:set-args| above.
85 :se[t] {option}^={value} *:set^=*
86 Multiply the {value} to a number option, or prepend
87 the {value} to a string option. When the option is a
88 comma separated list, a comma is added, unless the
90 Also see |:set-args| above.
93 :se[t] {option}-={value} *:set-=*
94 Subtract the {value} from a number option, or remove
95 the {value} from a string option, if it is there.
96 If the {value} is not found in a string option, there
97 is no error or warning. When the option is a comma
98 separated list, a comma is deleted, unless the option
100 When the option is a list of flags, {value} must be
101 exactly as they appear in the option. Remove flags
102 one by one to avoid problems.
103 Also see |:set-args| above.
106 The {option} arguments to ":set" may be repeated. For example: >
107 :set ai nosi sw=3 ts=3
108 If you make an error in one of the arguments, an error message will be given
109 and the following arguments will be ignored.
112 When 'verbose' is non-zero, displaying an option value will also tell where it
113 was last set. Example: >
114 :verbose set shiftwidth cindent?
116 Last set from modeline ~
118 Last set from /usr/local/share/vim/vim60/ftplugin/c.vim ~
119 This is only done when specific option values are requested, not for ":verbose
120 set all" or ":verbose set" without an argument.
121 When the option was set by hand there is no "Last set" message.
122 When the option was set while executing a function, user command or
123 autocommand, the script in which it was defined is reported.
124 Note that an option may also have been set as a side effect of setting
127 Last set from modeline ~
128 Option was set in a |modeline|.
129 Last set from --cmd argument ~
130 Option was set with command line argument |--cmd| or +.
131 Last set from -c argument ~
132 Option was set with command line argument |-c|, +, |-S| or
134 Last set from environment variable ~
135 Option was set from an environment variable, $VIMINIT,
136 $GVIMINIT or $EXINIT.
137 Last set from error handler ~
138 Option was cleared when evaluating it resulted in an error.
140 {not available when compiled without the +eval feature}
142 *:set-termcap* *E522*
143 For {option} the form "t_xx" may be used to set a terminal option. This will
144 override the value from the termcap. You can then use it in a mapping. If
145 the "xx" part contains special characters, use the <t_xx> form: >
147 This can also be used to translate a special code for a normal key. For
148 example, if Alt-b produces <Esc>b, use this: >
150 (the ^[ is a real <Esc> here, use CTRL-V <Esc> to enter it)
151 The advantage over a mapping is that it works in all situations.
153 The t_xx options cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
156 The listing from ":set" looks different from Vi. Long string options are put
157 at the end of the list. The number of options is quite large. The output of
158 "set all" probably does not fit on the screen, causing Vim to give the
162 To include white space in a string option value it has to be preceded with a
163 backslash. To include a backslash you have to use two. Effectively this
164 means that the number of backslashes in an option value is halved (rounded
167 :set tags=tags\ /usr/tags results in "tags /usr/tags"
168 :set tags=tags\\,file results in "tags\,file"
169 :set tags=tags\\\ file results in "tags\ file"
171 The "|" character separates a ":set" command from a following command. To
172 include the "|" in the option value, use "\|" instead. This example sets the
173 'titlestring' option to "hi|there": >
174 :set titlestring=hi\|there
175 This sets the 'titlestring' option to "hi" and 'iconstring' to "there": >
176 :set titlestring=hi|set iconstring=there
178 Similarly, the double quote character starts a comment. To include the '"' in
179 the option value, use '\"' instead. This example sets the 'titlestring'
180 option to 'hi "there"': >
181 :set titlestring=hi\ \"there\"
183 For MS-DOS and WIN32 backslashes in file names are mostly not removed. More
184 precise: For options that expect a file name (those where environment
185 variables are expanded) a backslash before a normal file name character is not
186 removed. But a backslash before a special character (space, backslash, comma,
187 etc.) is used like explained above.
188 There is one special situation, when the value starts with "\\": >
189 :set dir=\\machine\path results in "\\machine\path"
190 :set dir=\\\\machine\\path results in "\\machine\path"
191 :set dir=\\path\\file results in "\\path\file" (wrong!)
192 For the first one the start is kept, but for the second one the backslashes
193 are halved. This makes sure it works both when you expect backslashes to be
194 halved and when you expect the backslashes to be kept. The third gives a
195 result which is probably not what you want. Avoid it.
197 *add-option-flags* *remove-option-flags*
198 *E539* *E550* *E551* *E552*
199 Some options are a list of flags. When you want to add a flag to such an
200 option, without changing the existing ones, you can do it like this: >
202 Remove a flag from an option like this: >
204 This removes the 'a' flag from 'guioptions'.
205 Note that you should add or remove one flag at a time. If 'guioptions' has
206 the value "ab", using "set guioptions-=ba" won't work, because the string "ba"
209 *:set_env* *expand-env* *expand-environment-var*
210 Environment variables in specific string options will be expanded. If the
211 environment variable exists the '$' and the following environment variable
212 name is replaced with its value. If it does not exist the '$' and the name
213 are not modified. Any non-id character (not a letter, digit or '_') may
214 follow the environment variable name. That character and what follows is
215 appended to the value of the environment variable. Examples: >
217 :set path=/usr/$INCLUDE,$HOME/include,.
218 When adding or removing a string from an option with ":set opt-=val" or ":set
219 opt+=val" the expansion is done before the adding or removing.
222 Handling of local options *local-options*
224 Some of the options only apply to a window or buffer. Each window or buffer
225 has its own copy of this option, thus can each have their own value. This
226 allows you to set 'list' in one window but not in another. And set
227 'shiftwidth' to 3 in one buffer and 4 in another.
229 The following explains what happens to these local options in specific
230 situations. You don't really need to know all of this, since Vim mostly uses
231 the option values you would expect. Unfortunately, doing what the user
232 expects is a bit complicated...
234 When splitting a window, the local options are copied to the new window. Thus
235 right after the split the contents of the two windows look the same.
237 When editing a new buffer, its local option values must be initialized. Since
238 the local options of the current buffer might be specifically for that buffer,
239 these are not used. Instead, for each buffer-local option there also is a
240 global value, which is used for new buffers. With ":set" both the local and
241 global value is changed. With "setlocal" only the local value is changed,
242 thus this value is not used when editing a new buffer.
244 When editing a buffer that has been edited before, the last used window
245 options are used again. If this buffer has been edited in this window, the
246 values from back then are used. Otherwise the values from the window where
247 the buffer was edited last are used.
249 It's possible to set a local window option specifically for a type of buffer.
250 When you edit another buffer in the same window, you don't want to keep
251 using these local window options. Therefore Vim keeps a global value of the
252 local window options, which is used when editing another buffer. Each window
253 has its own copy of these values. Thus these are local to the window, but
254 global to all buffers in the window. With this you can do: >
258 Now the 'list' option will also be set in "two", since with the ":set list"
259 command you have also set the global value. >
264 Now the 'list' option is not set, because ":set nolist" resets the global
265 value, ":setlocal list" only changes the local value and ":e two" gets the
266 global value. Note that if you do this next: >
268 You will not get back the 'list' value as it was the last time you edited
269 "one". The options local to a window are not remembered for each buffer.
272 :setl[ocal] ... Like ":set" but set only the value local to the
273 current buffer or window. Not all options have a
274 local value. If the option does not have a local
275 value the global value is set.
276 With the "all" argument: display all local option's
278 Without argument: Display all local option's local
279 values which are different from the default.
280 When displaying a specific local option, show the
281 local value. For a global/local boolean option, when
282 the global value is being used, "--" is displayed
283 before the option name.
284 For a global option the global value is
285 shown (but that might change in the future).
288 :setl[ocal] {option}< Set the local value of {option} to its global value by
292 :se[t] {option}< Set the local value of {option} to its global value by
293 making it empty. Only makes sense for |global-local|
298 :setg[lobal] ... Like ":set" but set only the global value for a local
299 option without changing the local value.
300 When displaying an option, the global value is shown.
301 With the "all" argument: display all local option's
303 Without argument: display all local option's global
304 values which are different from the default.
307 For buffer-local and window-local options:
308 Command global value local value ~
309 :set option=value set set
310 :setlocal option=value - set
311 :setglobal option=value set -
312 :set option? - display
313 :setlocal option? - display
314 :setglobal option? display -
317 Global options with a local value *global-local*
319 Options are global when you mostly use one value for all buffers and windows.
320 For some global options it's useful to sometimes have a different local value.
321 You can set the local value with ":setlocal". That buffer or window will then
322 use the local value, while other buffers and windows continue using the global
325 For example, you have two windows, both on C source code. They use the global
326 'makeprg' option. If you do this in one of the two windows: >
328 then the other window will switch to the same value. There is no need to set
329 the 'makeprg' option in the other C source window too.
330 However, if you start editing a Perl file in a new window, you want to use
331 another 'makeprg' for it, without changing the value used for the C source
332 files. You use this command: >
333 :setlocal makeprg=perlmake
334 You can switch back to using the global value by making the local value empty: >
336 This only works for a string option. For a boolean option you need to use the
337 "<" flag, like this: >
339 Note that for non-boolean options using "<" copies the global value to the
340 local value, it doesn't switch back to using the global value (that matters
341 when the global value changes later). You can also use: >
343 This will make the local value of 'path' empty, so that the global value is
344 used. Thus it does the same as: >
346 Note: In the future more global options can be made global-local. Using
347 ":setlocal" on a global option might work differently then.
352 :setf[iletype] {filetype} *:setf* *:setfiletype*
353 Set the 'filetype' option to {filetype}, but only if
354 not done yet in a sequence of (nested) autocommands.
357 : setlocal filetype={filetype}
359 < This command is used in a filetype.vim file to avoid
360 setting the 'filetype' option twice, causing different
361 settings and syntax files to be loaded.
364 :bro[wse] se[t] *:set-browse* *:browse-set* *:opt* *:options*
365 :opt[ions] Open a window for viewing and setting all options.
366 Options are grouped by function.
367 Offers short help for each option. Hit <CR> on the
368 short help to open a help window with more help for
370 Modify the value of the option and hit <CR> on the
371 "set" line to set the new value. For window and
372 buffer specific options, the last accessed window is
373 used to set the option value in, unless this is a help
374 window, in which case the window below help window is
375 used (skipping the option-window).
376 {not available when compiled without the |+eval| or
380 Using "~" is like using "$HOME", but it is only recognized at the start of an
381 option and after a space or comma.
383 On Unix systems "~user" can be used too. It is replaced by the home directory
384 of user "user". Example: >
385 :set path=~mool/include,/usr/include,.
387 On Unix systems the form "${HOME}" can be used too. The name between {} can
388 contain non-id characters then. Note that if you want to use this for the
389 "gf" command, you need to add the '{' and '}' characters to 'isfname'.
391 NOTE: expanding environment variables and "~/" is only done with the ":set"
392 command, not when assigning a value to an option with ":let".
395 Note the maximum length of an expanded option is limited. How much depends on
396 the system, mostly it is something like 256 or 1024 characters.
399 :fix[del] Set the value of 't_kD':
400 't_kb' is 't_kD' becomes ~
404 (CTRL-? is 0177 octal, 0x7f hex) {not in Vi}
406 If your delete key terminal code is wrong, but the
407 code for backspace is alright, you can put this in
410 < This works no matter what the actual code for
413 If the backspace key terminal code is wrong you can
415 :if &term == "termname"
419 < Where "^V" is CTRL-V and "<BS>" is the backspace key
420 (don't type four characters!). Replace "termname"
421 with your terminal name.
423 If your <Delete> key sends a strange key sequence (not
424 CTRL-? or CTRL-H) you cannot use ":fixdel". Then use: >
425 :if &term == "termname"
426 : set t_kD=^V<Delete>
428 < Where "^V" is CTRL-V and "<Delete>" is the delete key
429 (don't type eight characters!). Replace "termname"
430 with your terminal name.
433 Note about Linux: By default the backspace key
434 produces CTRL-?, which is wrong. You can fix it by
435 putting this line in your rc.local: >
436 echo "keycode 14 = BackSpace" | loadkeys
439 Note about NetBSD: If your backspace doesn't produce
440 the right code, try this: >
441 xmodmap -e "keycode 22 = BackSpace"
442 < If this works, add this in your .Xmodmap file: >
443 keysym 22 = BackSpace
444 < You need to restart for this to take effect.
446 ==============================================================================
447 2. Automatically setting options *auto-setting*
449 Besides changing options with the ":set" command, there are three alternatives
450 to set options automatically for one or more files:
452 1. When starting Vim initializations are read from various places. See
453 |initialization|. Most of them are performed for all editing sessions,
454 and some of them depend on the directory where Vim is started.
455 You can create an initialization file with |:mkvimrc|, |:mkview| and
457 2. If you start editing a new file, the automatic commands are executed.
458 This can be used to set options for files matching a particular pattern and
459 many other things. See |autocommand|.
460 3. If you start editing a new file, and the 'modeline' option is on, a
461 number of lines at the beginning and end of the file are checked for
462 modelines. This is explained here.
464 *modeline* *vim:* *vi:* *ex:* *E520*
465 There are two forms of modelines. The first form:
466 [text]{white}{vi:|vim:|ex:}[white]{options}
468 [text] any text or empty
469 {white} at least one blank character (<Space> or <Tab>)
470 {vi:|vim:|ex:} the string "vi:", "vim:" or "ex:"
471 [white] optional white space
472 {options} a list of option settings, separated with white space or ':',
473 where each part between ':' is the argument for a ":set"
474 command (can be empty)
479 The second form (this is compatible with some versions of Vi):
481 [text]{white}{vi:|vim:|ex:}[white]se[t] {options}:[text]
483 [text] any text or empty
484 {white} at least one blank character (<Space> or <Tab>)
485 {vi:|vim:|ex:} the string "vi:", "vim:" or "ex:"
486 [white] optional white space
487 se[t] the string "set " or "se " (note the space)
488 {options} a list of options, separated with white space, which is the
489 argument for a ":set" command
491 [text] any text or empty
494 /* vim: set ai tw=75: */ ~
496 The white space before {vi:|vim:|ex:} is required. This minimizes the chance
497 that a normal word like "lex:" is caught. There is one exception: "vi:" and
498 "vim:" can also be at the start of the line (for compatibility with version
499 3.0). Using "ex:" at the start of the line will be ignored (this could be
500 short for "example:").
503 The options are set like with ":setlocal": The new value only applies to the
504 buffer and window that contain the file. Although it's possible to set global
505 options from a modeline, this is unusual. If you have two windows open and
506 the files in it set the same global option to a different value, the result
507 depends on which one was opened last.
509 When editing a file that was already loaded, only the window-local options
510 from the modeline are used. Thus if you manually changed a buffer-local
511 option after opening the file, it won't be changed if you edit the same buffer
512 in another window. But window-local options will be set.
515 If the modeline is only to be used for some versions of Vim, the version
516 number can be specified where "vim:" is used:
517 vim{vers}: version {vers} or later
518 vim<{vers}: version before {vers}
519 vim={vers}: version {vers}
520 vim>{vers}: version after {vers}
521 {vers} is 600 for Vim 6.0 (hundred times the major version plus minor).
522 For example, to use a modeline only for Vim 6.0 and later:
523 /* vim600: set foldmethod=marker: */ ~
524 To use a modeline for Vim before version 5.7:
525 /* vim<570: set sw=4: */ ~
526 There can be no blanks between "vim" and the ":".
529 The number of lines that are checked can be set with the 'modelines' option.
530 If 'modeline' is off or 'modelines' is 0 no lines are checked.
532 Note that for the first form all of the rest of the line is used, thus a line
535 will give an error message for the trailing "*/". This line is OK:
538 If an error is detected the rest of the line is skipped.
540 If you want to include a ':' in a set command precede it with a '\'. The
541 backslash in front of the ':' will be removed. Example:
542 /* vi:set dir=c\:\tmp: */ ~
543 This sets the 'dir' option to "c:\tmp". Only a single backslash before the
544 ':' is removed. Thus to include "\:" you have to specify "\\:".
546 No other commands than "set" are supported, for security reasons (somebody
547 might create a Trojan horse text file with modelines). And not all options
548 can be set. For some options a flag is set, so that when it's used the
549 |sandbox| is effective. Still, there is always a small risk that a modeline
550 causes trouble. E.g., when some joker sets 'textwidth' to 5 all your lines
551 are wrapped unexpectedly. So disable modelines before editing untrusted text.
552 The mail ftplugin does this, for example.
554 Hint: If you would like to do something else than setting an option, you could
555 define an autocommand that checks the file for a specific string. For
557 au BufReadPost * if getline(1) =~ "VAR" | call SetVar() | endif
558 And define a function SetVar() that does something with the line containing
561 ==============================================================================
562 3. Options summary *option-summary*
564 In the list below all the options are mentioned with their full name and with
565 an abbreviation if there is one. Both forms may be used.
567 In this document when a boolean option is "set" that means that ":set option"
568 is entered. When an option is "reset", ":set nooption" is used.
570 For some options there are two default values: The "Vim default", which is
571 used when 'compatible' is not set, and the "Vi default", which is used when
574 Most options are the same in all windows and buffers. There are a few that
575 are specific to how the text is presented in a window. These can be set to a
576 different value in each window. For example the 'list' option can be set in
577 one window and reset in another for the same text, giving both types of view
578 at the same time. There are a few options that are specific to a certain
579 file. These can have a different value for each file or buffer. For example
580 the 'textwidth' option can be 78 for a normal text file and 0 for a C
583 global one option for all buffers and windows
584 local to window each window has its own copy of this option
585 local to buffer each buffer has its own copy of this option
587 When creating a new window the option values from the currently active window
588 are used as a default value for the window-specific options. For the
589 buffer-specific options this depends on the 's' and 'S' flags in the
590 'cpoptions' option. If 's' is included (which is the default) the values for
591 buffer options are copied from the currently active buffer when a buffer is
592 first entered. If 'S' is present the options are copied each time the buffer
593 is entered, this is almost like having global options. If 's' and 'S' are not
594 present, the options are copied from the currently active buffer when the
597 Hidden options *hidden-options*
599 Not all options are supported in all versions. This depends on the supported
600 features and sometimes on the system. A remark about this is in curly braces
601 below. When an option is not supported it may still be set without getting an
602 error, this is called a hidden option. You can't get the value of a hidden
603 option though, it is not stored.
605 To test if option "foo" can be used with ":set" use something like this: >
607 This also returns true for a hidden option. To test if option "foo" is really
608 supported use something like this: >
612 A jump table for the options with a short description can be found at |Q_op|.
614 *'aleph'* *'al'* *aleph* *Aleph*
615 'aleph' 'al' number (default 128 for MS-DOS, 224 otherwise)
618 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
620 The ASCII code for the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The
621 routine that maps the keyboard in Hebrew mode, both in Insert mode
622 (when hkmap is set) and on the command-line (when hitting CTRL-_)
623 outputs the Hebrew characters in the range [aleph..aleph+26].
624 aleph=128 applies to PC code, and aleph=224 applies to ISO 8859-8.
627 *'allowrevins'* *'ari'* *'noallowrevins'* *'noari'*
628 'allowrevins' 'ari' boolean (default off)
631 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
633 Allow CTRL-_ in Insert and Command-line mode. This is default off, to
634 avoid that users that accidentally type CTRL-_ instead of SHIFT-_ get
635 into reverse Insert mode, and don't know how to get out. See
637 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
639 *'altkeymap'* *'akm'* *'noaltkeymap'* *'noakm'*
640 'altkeymap' 'akm' boolean (default off)
643 {only available when compiled with the |+farsi|
645 When on, the second language is Farsi. In editing mode CTRL-_ toggles
646 the keyboard map between Farsi and English, when 'allowrevins' set.
648 When off, the keyboard map toggles between Hebrew and English. This
649 is useful to start the Vim in native mode i.e. English (left-to-right
650 mode) and have default second language Farsi or Hebrew (right-to-left
651 mode). See |farsi.txt|.
653 *'ambiwidth'* *'ambw'*
654 'ambiwidth' 'ambw' string (default: "single")
657 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
659 Only effective when 'encoding' is "utf-8" or another Unicode encoding.
660 Tells Vim what to do with characters with East Asian Width Class
661 Ambiguous (such as Euro, Registered Sign, Copyright Sign, Greek
662 letters, Cyrillic letters).
664 There are currently two possible values:
665 "single": Use the same width as characters in US-ASCII. This is
666 expected by most users.
667 "double": Use twice the width of ASCII characters.
669 There are a number of CJK fonts for which the width of glyphs for
670 those characters are solely based on how many octets they take in
671 legacy/traditional CJK encodings. In those encodings, Euro,
672 Registered sign, Greek/Cyrillic letters are represented by two octets,
673 therefore those fonts have "wide" glyphs for them. This is also
674 true of some line drawing characters used to make tables in text
675 file. Therefore, when a CJK font is used for GUI Vim or
676 Vim is running inside a terminal (emulators) that uses a CJK font
677 (or Vim is run inside an xterm invoked with "-cjkwidth" option.),
678 this option should be set to "double" to match the width perceived
679 by Vim with the width of glyphs in the font. Perhaps it also has
680 to be set to "double" under CJK Windows 9x/ME or Windows 2k/XP
681 when the system locale is set to one of CJK locales. See Unicode
682 Standard Annex #11 (http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr11).
684 *'antialias'* *'anti'* *'noantialias'* *'noanti'*
685 'antialias' 'anti' boolean (default: off)
688 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled
690 This option only has an effect in the GUI version of Vim on Mac OS X
691 v10.2 or later. When on, Vim will use smooth ("antialiased") fonts,
692 which can be easier to read at certain sizes on certain displays.
693 Setting this option can sometimes cause problems if 'guifont' is set
694 to its default (empty string).
696 *'autochdir'* *'acd'* *'noautochdir'* *'noacd'*
697 'autochdir' 'acd' boolean (default off)
700 {only available when compiled with it, use
701 exists("+autochdir") to check}
702 When on, Vim will change the current working directory whenever you
703 open a file, switch buffers, delete a buffer or open/close a window.
704 It will change to the directory containing the file which was opened
706 This option is provided for backward compatibility with the Vim
707 released with Sun ONE Studio 4 Enterprise Edition.
708 Note: When this option is on some plugins may not work.
710 *'arabic'* *'arab'* *'noarabic'* *'noarab'*
711 'arabic' 'arab' boolean (default off)
714 {only available when compiled with the |+arabic|
716 This option can be set to start editing Arabic text.
717 Setting this option will:
718 - Set the 'rightleft' option, unless 'termbidi' is set.
719 - Set the 'arabicshape' option, unless 'termbidi' is set.
720 - Set the 'keymap' option to "arabic"; in Insert mode CTRL-^ toggles
721 between typing English and Arabic key mapping.
722 - Set the 'delcombine' option
723 Note that 'encoding' must be "utf-8" for working with Arabic text.
725 Resetting this option will:
726 - Reset the 'rightleft' option.
727 - Disable the use of 'keymap' (without changing its value).
728 Note that 'arabicshape' and 'delcombine' are not reset (it is a global
730 Also see |arabic.txt|.
732 *'arabicshape'* *'arshape'*
733 *'noarabicshape'* *'noarshape'*
734 'arabicshape' 'arshape' boolean (default on)
737 {only available when compiled with the |+arabic|
739 When on and 'termbidi' is off, the required visual character
740 corrections that need to take place for displaying the Arabic language
741 take affect. Shaping, in essence, gets enabled; the term is a broad
742 one which encompasses:
743 a) the changing/morphing of characters based on their location
744 within a word (initial, medial, final and stand-alone).
745 b) the enabling of the ability to compose characters
746 c) the enabling of the required combining of some characters
747 When disabled the display shows each character's true stand-alone
749 Arabic is a complex language which requires other settings, for
750 further details see |arabic.txt|.
752 *'autoindent'* *'ai'* *'noautoindent'* *'noai'*
753 'autoindent' 'ai' boolean (default off)
755 Copy indent from current line when starting a new line (typing <CR>
756 in Insert mode or when using the "o" or "O" command). If you do not
757 type anything on the new line except <BS> or CTRL-D and then type
758 <Esc>, CTRL-O or <CR>, the indent is deleted again. Moving the cursor
759 to another line has the same effect, unless the 'I' flag is included
761 When autoindent is on, formatting (with the "gq" command or when you
762 reach 'textwidth' in Insert mode) uses the indentation of the first
764 When 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is on the indent is changed in
766 The 'autoindent' option is reset when the 'paste' option is set.
767 {small difference from Vi: After the indent is deleted when typing
768 <Esc> or <CR>, the cursor position when moving up or down is after the
769 deleted indent; Vi puts the cursor somewhere in the deleted indent}.
771 *'autoread'* *'ar'* *'noautoread'* *'noar'*
772 'autoread' 'ar' boolean (default off)
773 global or local to buffer |global-local|
775 When a file has been detected to have been changed outside of Vim and
776 it has not been changed inside of Vim, automatically read it again.
777 When the file has been deleted this is not done. |timestamp|
778 If this option has a local value, use this command to switch back to
779 using the global value: >
782 *'autowrite'* *'aw'* *'noautowrite'* *'noaw'*
783 'autowrite' 'aw' boolean (default off)
785 Write the contents of the file, if it has been modified, on each
786 :next, :rewind, :last, :first, :previous, :stop, :suspend, :tag, :!,
787 :make, CTRL-] and CTRL-^ command; and when a :buffer, CTRL-O, CTRL-I,
788 '{A-Z0-9}, or `{A-Z0-9} command takes one to another file.
789 Note that for some commands the 'autowrite' option is not used, see
790 'autowriteall' for that.
792 *'autowriteall'* *'awa'* *'noautowriteall'* *'noawa'*
793 'autowriteall' 'awa' boolean (default off)
796 Like 'autowrite', but also used for commands ":edit", ":enew", ":quit",
797 ":qall", ":exit", ":xit", ":recover" and closing the Vim window.
798 Setting this option also implies that Vim behaves like 'autowrite' has
801 *'background'* *'bg'*
802 'background' 'bg' string (default "dark" or "light")
805 When set to "dark", Vim will try to use colors that look good on a
806 dark background. When set to "light", Vim will try to use colors that
807 look good on a light background. Any other value is illegal.
808 Vim tries to set the default value according to the terminal used.
809 This will not always be correct.
810 Setting this option does not change the background color, it tells Vim
811 what the background color looks like. For changing the background
812 color, see |:hi-normal|.
814 When 'background' is set Vim will adjust the default color groups for
815 the new value. But the colors used for syntax highlighting will not
816 change. *g:colors_name*
817 When a color scheme is loaded (the "g:colors_name" variable is set)
818 setting 'background' will cause the color scheme to be reloaded. If
819 the color scheme adjusts to the value of 'background' this will work.
820 However, if the color scheme sets 'background' itself the effect may
821 be undone. First delete the "g:colors_name" variable when needed.
823 When setting 'background' to the default value with: >
825 < Vim will guess the value. In the GUI this should work correctly,
826 in other cases Vim might not be able to guess the right value.
828 When starting the GUI, the default value for 'background' will be
829 "light". When the value is not set in the .gvimrc, and Vim detects
830 that the background is actually quite dark, 'background' is set to
831 "dark". But this happens only AFTER the .gvimrc file has been read
832 (because the window needs to be opened to find the actual background
833 color). To get around this, force the GUI window to be opened by
834 putting a ":gui" command in the .gvimrc file, before where the value
835 of 'background' is used (e.g., before ":syntax on").
836 Normally this option would be set in the .vimrc file. Possibly
837 depending on the terminal name. Example: >
838 :if &term == "pcterm"
839 : set background=dark
841 < When this option is set, the default settings for the highlight groups
842 will change. To use other settings, place ":highlight" commands AFTER
843 the setting of the 'background' option.
844 This option is also used in the "$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim" file
845 to select the colors for syntax highlighting. After changing this
846 option, you must load syntax.vim again to see the result. This can be
847 done with ":syntax on".
850 'backspace' 'bs' string (default "")
853 Influences the working of <BS>, <Del>, CTRL-W and CTRL-U in Insert
854 mode. This is a list of items, separated by commas. Each item allows
855 a way to backspace over something:
857 indent allow backspacing over autoindent
858 eol allow backspacing over line breaks (join lines)
859 start allow backspacing over the start of insert; CTRL-W and CTRL-U
860 stop once at the start of insert.
862 When the value is empty, Vi compatible backspacing is used.
864 For backwards compatibility with version 5.4 and earlier:
866 0 same as ":set backspace=" (Vi compatible)
867 1 same as ":set backspace=indent,eol"
868 2 same as ":set backspace=indent,eol,start"
870 See |:fixdel| if your <BS> or <Del> key does not do what you want.
871 NOTE: This option is set to "" when 'compatible' is set.
873 *'backup'* *'bk'* *'nobackup'* *'nobk'*
874 'backup' 'bk' boolean (default off)
877 Make a backup before overwriting a file. Leave it around after the
878 file has been successfully written. If you do not want to keep the
879 backup file, but you do want a backup while the file is being
880 written, reset this option and set the 'writebackup' option (this is
881 the default). If you do not want a backup file at all reset both
882 options (use this if your file system is almost full). See the
883 |backup-table| for more explanations.
884 When the 'backupskip' pattern matches, a backup is not made anyway.
885 When 'patchmode' is set, the backup may be renamed to become the
886 oldest version of a file.
887 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
889 *'backupcopy'* *'bkc'*
890 'backupcopy' 'bkc' string (Vi default for Unix: "yes", otherwise: "auto")
893 When writing a file and a backup is made, this option tells how it's
894 done. This is a comma separated list of words.
897 "yes" make a copy of the file and overwrite the original one
898 "no" rename the file and write a new one
899 "auto" one of the previous, what works best
901 Extra values that can be combined with the ones above are:
902 "breaksymlink" always break symlinks when writing
903 "breakhardlink" always break hardlinks when writing
905 Making a copy and overwriting the original file:
906 - Takes extra time to copy the file.
907 + When the file has special attributes, is a (hard/symbolic) link or
908 has a resource fork, all this is preserved.
909 - When the file is a link the backup will have the name of the link,
910 not of the real file.
912 Renaming the file and writing a new one:
914 - Sometimes not all attributes of the file can be copied to the new
916 - When the file is a link the new file will not be a link.
918 The "auto" value is the middle way: When Vim sees that renaming file
919 is possible without side effects (the attributes can be passed on and
920 the file is not a link) that is used. When problems are expected, a
923 The "breaksymlink" and "breakhardlink" values can be used in
924 combination with any of "yes", "no" and "auto". When included, they
925 force Vim to always break either symbolic or hard links by doing
926 exactly what the "no" option does, renaming the original file to
927 become the backup and writing a new file in its place. This can be
928 useful for example in source trees where all the files are symbolic or
929 hard links and any changes should stay in the local source tree, not
930 be propagated back to the original source.
932 One situation where "no" and "auto" will cause problems: A program
933 that opens a file, invokes Vim to edit that file, and then tests if
934 the open file was changed (through the file descriptor) will check the
935 backup file instead of the newly created file. "crontab -e" is an
938 When a copy is made, the original file is truncated and then filled
939 with the new text. This means that protection bits, owner and
940 symbolic links of the original file are unmodified. The backup file
941 however, is a new file, owned by the user who edited the file. The
942 group of the backup is set to the group of the original file. If this
943 fails, the protection bits for the group are made the same as for
946 When the file is renamed this is the other way around: The backup has
947 the same attributes of the original file, and the newly written file
948 is owned by the current user. When the file was a (hard/symbolic)
949 link, the new file will not! That's why the "auto" value doesn't
950 rename when the file is a link. The owner and group of the newly
951 written file will be set to the same ones as the original file, but
952 the system may refuse to do this. In that case the "auto" value will
953 again not rename the file.
955 *'backupdir'* *'bdir'*
956 'backupdir' 'bdir' string (default for Amiga: ".,t:",
957 for MS-DOS and Win32: ".,c:/tmp,c:/temp"
958 for Unix: ".,~/tmp,~/")
961 List of directories for the backup file, separated with commas.
962 - The backup file will be created in the first directory in the list
963 where this is possible. The directory must exist, Vim will not
965 - Empty means that no backup file will be created ('patchmode' is
966 impossible!). Writing may fail because of this.
967 - A directory "." means to put the backup file in the same directory
969 - A directory starting with "./" (or ".\" for MS-DOS et al.) means to
970 put the backup file relative to where the edited file is. The
971 leading "." is replaced with the path name of the edited file.
972 ("." inside a directory name has no special meaning).
973 - Spaces after the comma are ignored, other spaces are considered part
974 of the directory name. To have a space at the start of a directory
975 name, precede it with a backslash.
976 - To include a comma in a directory name precede it with a backslash.
977 - A directory name may end in an '/'.
978 - Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
979 - Careful with '\' characters, type one before a space, type two to
980 get one in the option (see |option-backslash|), for example: >
981 :set bdir=c:\\tmp,\ dir\\,with\\,commas,\\\ dir\ with\ spaces
982 < - For backwards compatibility with Vim version 3.0 a '>' at the start
983 of the option is removed.
984 See also 'backup' and 'writebackup' options.
985 If you want to hide your backup files on Unix, consider this value: >
986 :set backupdir=./.backup,~/.backup,.,/tmp
987 < You must create a ".backup" directory in each directory and in your
988 home directory for this to work properly.
989 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
990 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
991 uses another default.
992 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
995 *'backupext'* *'bex'* *E589*
996 'backupext' 'bex' string (default "~", for VMS: "_")
999 String which is appended to a file name to make the name of the
1000 backup file. The default is quite unusual, because this avoids
1001 accidentally overwriting existing files with a backup file. You might
1002 prefer using ".bak", but make sure that you don't have files with
1003 ".bak" that you want to keep.
1004 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
1006 If you like to keep a lot of backups, you could use a BufWritePre
1007 autocommand to change 'backupext' just before writing the file to
1008 include a timestamp. >
1009 :au BufWritePre * let &bex = '-' . strftime("%Y%b%d%X") . '~'
1010 < Use 'backupdir' to put the backup in a different directory.
1012 *'backupskip'* *'bsk'*
1013 'backupskip' 'bsk' string (default: "/tmp/*,$TMPDIR/*,$TMP/*,$TEMP/*")
1016 {not available when compiled without the |+wildignore|
1018 A list of file patterns. When one of the patterns matches with the
1019 name of the file which is written, no backup file is created. Both
1020 the specified file name and the full path name of the file are used.
1021 The pattern is used like with |:autocmd|, see |autocmd-patterns|.
1022 Watch out for special characters, see |option-backslash|.
1023 When $TMPDIR, $TMP or $TEMP is not defined, it is not used for the
1024 default value. "/tmp/*" is only used for Unix.
1026 Note that environment variables are not expanded. If you want to use
1027 $HOME you must expand it explicitly, e.g.: >
1028 :let backupskip = escape(expand('$HOME'), '\') . '/tmp/*'
1030 < Note that the default also makes sure that "crontab -e" works (when a
1031 backup would be made by renaming the original file crontab won't see
1032 the newly created file). Also see 'backupcopy' and |crontab|.
1034 *'balloondelay'* *'bdlay'*
1035 'balloondelay' 'bdlay' number (default: 600)
1038 {only available when compiled with the |+balloon_eval|
1040 Delay in milliseconds before a balloon may pop up. See |balloon-eval|.
1042 *'ballooneval'* *'beval'* *'noballooneval'* *'nobeval'*
1043 'ballooneval' 'beval' boolean (default off)
1046 {only available when compiled with the |+balloon_eval|
1048 Switch on the |balloon-eval| functionality.
1050 *'balloonexpr'* *'bexpr'*
1051 'balloonexpr' 'bexpr' string (default "")
1052 global or local to buffer |global-local|
1054 {only available when compiled with the |+balloon_eval|
1056 Expression for text to show in evaluation balloon. It is only used
1057 when 'ballooneval' is on. These variables can be used:
1059 v:beval_bufnr number of the buffer in which balloon is going to show
1060 v:beval_winnr number of the window
1061 v:beval_lnum line number
1062 v:beval_col column number (byte index)
1063 v:beval_text word under or after the mouse pointer
1065 The evaluation of the expression must not have side effects!
1067 function! MyBalloonExpr()
1068 return 'Cursor is at line ' . v:beval_lnum .
1069 \', column ' . v:beval_col .
1070 \ ' of file ' . bufname(v:beval_bufnr) .
1071 \ ' on word "' . v:beval_text . '"'
1073 set bexpr=MyBalloonExpr()
1076 NOTE: The balloon is displayed only if the cursor is on a text
1077 character. If the result of evaluating 'balloonexpr' is not empty,
1078 Vim does not try to send a message to an external debugger (Netbeans
1081 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
1084 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
1085 evaluating 'balloonexpr' |textlock|.
1087 To check whether line breaks in the balloon text work use this check: >
1088 if has("balloon_multiline")
1089 < When they are supported "\n" characters will start a new line. If the
1090 expression evaluates to a |List| this is equal to using each List item
1091 as a string and putting "\n" in between them.
1093 *'binary'* *'bin'* *'nobinary'* *'nobin'*
1094 'binary' 'bin' boolean (default off)
1097 This option should be set before editing a binary file. You can also
1098 use the |-b| Vim argument. When this option is switched on a few
1099 options will be changed (also when it already was on):
1100 'textwidth' will be set to 0
1101 'wrapmargin' will be set to 0
1102 'modeline' will be off
1103 'expandtab' will be off
1104 Also, 'fileformat' and 'fileformats' options will not be used, the
1105 file is read and written like 'fileformat' was "unix" (a single <NL>
1107 The 'fileencoding' and 'fileencodings' options will not be used, the
1108 file is read without conversion.
1109 NOTE: When you start editing a(nother) file while the 'bin' option is
1110 on, settings from autocommands may change the settings again (e.g.,
1111 'textwidth'), causing trouble when editing. You might want to set
1112 'bin' again when the file has been loaded.
1113 The previous values of these options are remembered and restored when
1114 'bin' is switched from on to off. Each buffer has its own set of
1115 saved option values.
1116 To edit a file with 'binary' set you can use the |++bin| argument.
1117 This avoids you have to do ":set bin", which would have effect for all
1119 When writing a file the <EOL> for the last line is only written if
1120 there was one in the original file (normally Vim appends an <EOL> to
1121 the last line if there is none; this would make the file longer). See
1122 the 'endofline' option.
1124 *'bioskey'* *'biosk'* *'nobioskey'* *'nobiosk'*
1125 'bioskey' 'biosk' boolean (default on)
1127 {not in Vi} {only for MS-DOS}
1128 When on the BIOS is called to obtain a keyboard character. This works
1129 better to detect CTRL-C, but only works for the console. When using a
1130 terminal over a serial port reset this option.
1131 Also see |'conskey'|.
1134 'bomb' boolean (default off)
1137 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
1139 When writing a file and the following conditions are met, a BOM (Byte
1140 Order Mark) is prepended to the file:
1142 - the 'binary' option is off
1143 - 'fileencoding' is "utf-8", "ucs-2", "ucs-4" or one of the little/big
1145 Some applications use the BOM to recognize the encoding of the file.
1146 Often used for UCS-2 files on MS-Windows. For other applications it
1147 causes trouble, for example: "cat file1 file2" makes the BOM of file2
1148 appear halfway the resulting file. Gcc doesn't accept a BOM.
1149 When Vim reads a file and 'fileencodings' starts with "ucs-bom", a
1150 check for the presence of the BOM is done and 'bomb' set accordingly.
1151 Unless 'binary' is set, it is removed from the first line, so that you
1152 don't see it when editing. When you don't change the options, the BOM
1153 will be restored when writing the file.
1156 'breakat' 'brk' string (default " ^I!@*-+;:,./?")
1159 {not available when compiled without the |+linebreak|
1161 This option lets you choose which characters might cause a line
1162 break if 'linebreak' is on. Only works for ASCII and also for 8-bit
1163 characters when 'encoding' is an 8-bit encoding.
1165 *'browsedir'* *'bsdir'*
1166 'browsedir' 'bsdir' string (default: "last")
1168 {not in Vi} {only for Motif, Athena, GTK, Mac and
1170 Which directory to use for the file browser:
1171 last Use same directory as with last file browser, where a
1172 file was opened or saved.
1173 buffer Use the directory of the related buffer.
1174 current Use the current directory.
1175 {path} Use the specified directory
1177 *'bufhidden'* *'bh'*
1178 'bufhidden' 'bh' string (default: "")
1181 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
1183 This option specifies what happens when a buffer is no longer
1184 displayed in a window:
1185 <empty> follow the global 'hidden' option
1186 hide hide the buffer (don't unload it), also when 'hidden'
1188 unload unload the buffer, also when 'hidden' is set or using
1190 delete delete the buffer from the buffer list, also when
1191 'hidden' is set or using |:hide|, like using
1193 wipe wipe out the buffer from the buffer list, also when
1194 'hidden' is set or using |:hide|, like using
1197 CAREFUL: when "unload", "delete" or "wipe" is used changes in a buffer
1198 are lost without a warning.
1199 This option is used together with 'buftype' and 'swapfile' to specify
1200 special kinds of buffers. See |special-buffers|.
1202 *'buflisted'* *'bl'* *'nobuflisted'* *'nobl'* *E85*
1203 'buflisted' 'bl' boolean (default: on)
1206 When this option is set, the buffer shows up in the buffer list. If
1207 it is reset it is not used for ":bnext", "ls", the Buffers menu, etc.
1208 This option is reset by Vim for buffers that are only used to remember
1209 a file name or marks. Vim sets it when starting to edit a buffer.
1210 But not when moving to a buffer with ":buffer".
1212 *'buftype'* *'bt'* *E382*
1213 'buftype' 'bt' string (default: "")
1216 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
1218 The value of this option specifies the type of a buffer:
1219 <empty> normal buffer
1220 nofile buffer which is not related to a file and will not be
1222 nowrite buffer which will not be written
1223 acwrite buffer which will always be written with BufWriteCmd
1224 autocommands. {not available when compiled without the
1226 quickfix quickfix buffer, contains list of errors |:cwindow|
1227 or list of locations |:lwindow|
1228 help help buffer (you are not supposed to set this
1231 This option is used together with 'bufhidden' and 'swapfile' to
1232 specify special kinds of buffers. See |special-buffers|.
1234 Be careful with changing this option, it can have many side effects!
1236 A "quickfix" buffer is only used for the error list and the location
1237 list. This value is set by the |:cwindow| and |:lwindow| commands and
1238 you are not supposed to change it.
1240 "nofile" and "nowrite" buffers are similar:
1241 both: The buffer is not to be written to disk, ":w" doesn't
1242 work (":w filename" does work though).
1243 both: The buffer is never considered to be |'modified'|.
1244 There is no warning when the changes will be lost, for
1245 example when you quit Vim.
1246 both: A swap file is only created when using too much memory
1247 (when 'swapfile' has been reset there is never a swap
1249 nofile only: The buffer name is fixed, it is not handled like a
1250 file name. It is not modified in response to a |:cd|
1253 "acwrite" implies that the buffer name is not related to a file, like
1254 "nofile", but it will be written. Thus, in contrast to "nofile" and
1255 "nowrite", ":w" does work and a modified buffer can't be abandoned
1256 without saving. For writing there must be matching |BufWriteCmd|,
1257 |FileWriteCmd| or |FileAppendCmd| autocommands.
1260 'casemap' 'cmp' string (default: "internal,keepascii")
1263 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
1265 Specifies details about changing the case of letters. It may contain
1266 these words, separated by a comma:
1267 internal Use internal case mapping functions, the current
1268 locale does not change the case mapping. This only
1269 matters when 'encoding' is a Unicode encoding,
1270 "latin1" or "iso-8859-15". When "internal" is
1271 omitted, the towupper() and towlower() system library
1272 functions are used when available.
1273 keepascii For the ASCII characters (0x00 to 0x7f) use the US
1274 case mapping, the current locale is not effective.
1275 This probably only matters for Turkish.
1277 *'cdpath'* *'cd'* *E344* *E346*
1278 'cdpath' 'cd' string (default: equivalent to $CDPATH or ",,")
1281 {not available when compiled without the
1282 |+file_in_path| feature}
1283 This is a list of directories which will be searched when using the
1284 |:cd| and |:lcd| commands, provided that the directory being searched
1285 for has a relative path, not an absolute part starting with "/", "./"
1286 or "../", the 'cdpath' option is not used then.
1287 The 'cdpath' option's value has the same form and semantics as
1288 |'path'|. Also see |file-searching|.
1289 The default value is taken from $CDPATH, with a "," prepended to look
1290 in the current directory first.
1291 If the default value taken from $CDPATH is not what you want, include
1292 a modified version of the following command in your vimrc file to
1294 :let &cdpath = ',' . substitute(substitute($CDPATH, '[, ]', '\\\0', 'g'), ':', ',', 'g')
1295 < This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
1297 (parts of 'cdpath' can be passed to the shell to expand file names).
1300 'cedit' string (Vi default: "", Vim default: CTRL-F)
1303 {not available when compiled without the |+vertsplit|
1305 The key used in Command-line Mode to open the command-line window.
1306 The default is CTRL-F when 'compatible' is off.
1307 Only non-printable keys are allowed.
1308 The key can be specified as a single character, but it is difficult to
1309 type. The preferred way is to use the <> notation. Examples: >
1312 < |Nvi| also has this option, but it only uses the first character.
1315 *'charconvert'* *'ccv'* *E202* *E214* *E513*
1316 'charconvert' 'ccv' string (default "")
1318 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
1319 feature and the |+eval| feature}
1321 An expression that is used for character encoding conversion. It is
1322 evaluated when a file that is to be read or has been written has a
1323 different encoding from what is desired.
1324 'charconvert' is not used when the internal iconv() function is
1325 supported and is able to do the conversion. Using iconv() is
1326 preferred, because it is much faster.
1327 'charconvert' is not used when reading stdin |--|, because there is no
1328 file to convert from. You will have to save the text in a file first.
1329 The expression must return zero or an empty string for success,
1330 non-zero for failure.
1331 The possible encoding names encountered are in 'encoding'.
1332 Additionally, names given in 'fileencodings' and 'fileencoding' are
1334 Conversion between "latin1", "unicode", "ucs-2", "ucs-4" and "utf-8"
1335 is done internally by Vim, 'charconvert' is not used for this.
1336 'charconvert' is also used to convert the viminfo file, if the 'c'
1337 flag is present in 'viminfo'. Also used for Unicode conversion.
1339 set charconvert=CharConvert()
1342 \ . v:charconvert_from . ".." . v:charconvert_to
1343 \ . " <" . v:fname_in . " >" v:fname_out)
1344 return v:shell_error
1346 < The related Vim variables are:
1347 v:charconvert_from name of the current encoding
1348 v:charconvert_to name of the desired encoding
1349 v:fname_in name of the input file
1350 v:fname_out name of the output file
1351 Note that v:fname_in and v:fname_out will never be the same.
1352 Note that v:charconvert_from and v:charconvert_to may be different
1353 from 'encoding'. Vim internally uses UTF-8 instead of UCS-2 or UCS-4.
1354 Encryption is not done by Vim when using 'charconvert'. If you want
1355 to encrypt the file after conversion, 'charconvert' should take care
1357 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
1360 *'cindent'* *'cin'* *'nocindent'* *'nocin'*
1361 'cindent' 'cin' boolean (default off)
1364 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
1366 Enables automatic C program indenting. See 'cinkeys' to set the keys
1367 that trigger reindenting in insert mode and 'cinoptions' to set your
1368 preferred indent style.
1369 If 'indentexpr' is not empty, it overrules 'cindent'.
1370 If 'lisp' is not on and both 'indentexpr' and 'equalprg' are empty,
1371 the "=" operator indents using this algorithm rather than calling an
1374 When you don't like the way 'cindent' works, try the 'smartindent'
1375 option or 'indentexpr'.
1376 This option is not used when 'paste' is set.
1377 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
1379 *'cinkeys'* *'cink'*
1380 'cinkeys' 'cink' string (default "0{,0},0),:,0#,!^F,o,O,e")
1383 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
1385 A list of keys that, when typed in Insert mode, cause reindenting of
1386 the current line. Only used if 'cindent' is on and 'indentexpr' is
1388 For the format of this option see |cinkeys-format|.
1391 *'cinoptions'* *'cino'*
1392 'cinoptions' 'cino' string (default "")
1395 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
1397 The 'cinoptions' affect the way 'cindent' reindents lines in a C
1398 program. See |cinoptions-values| for the values of this option, and
1399 |C-indenting| for info on C indenting in general.
1402 *'cinwords'* *'cinw'*
1403 'cinwords' 'cinw' string (default "if,else,while,do,for,switch")
1406 {not available when compiled without both the
1407 |+cindent| and the |+smartindent| features}
1408 These keywords start an extra indent in the next line when
1409 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is set. For 'cindent' this is only done at
1410 an appropriate place (inside {}).
1411 Note that 'ignorecase' isn't used for 'cinwords'. If case doesn't
1412 matter, include the keyword both the uppercase and lowercase:
1415 *'clipboard'* *'cb'*
1416 'clipboard' 'cb' string (default "autoselect,exclude:cons\|linux"
1417 for X-windows, "" otherwise)
1420 {only in GUI versions or when the |+xterm_clipboard|
1421 feature is included}
1422 This option is a list of comma separated names.
1423 These names are recognized:
1425 unnamed When included, Vim will use the clipboard register '*'
1426 for all yank, delete, change and put operations which
1427 would normally go to the unnamed register. When a
1428 register is explicitly specified, it will always be
1429 used regardless of whether "unnamed" is in 'clipboard'
1430 or not. The clipboard register can always be
1431 explicitly accessed using the "* notation. Also see
1434 autoselect Works like the 'a' flag in 'guioptions': If present,
1435 then whenever Visual mode is started, or the Visual
1436 area extended, Vim tries to become the owner of the
1437 windowing system's global selection or put the
1438 selected text on the clipboard used by the selection
1439 register "*. See |guioptions_a| and |quotestar| for
1440 details. When the GUI is active, the 'a' flag in
1441 'guioptions' is used, when the GUI is not active, this
1442 "autoselect" flag is used.
1443 Also applies to the modeless selection.
1445 autoselectml Like "autoselect", but for the modeless selection
1446 only. Compare to the 'A' flag in 'guioptions'.
1448 html When the clipboard contains HTML, use this when
1449 pasting. When putting text on the clipboard, mark it
1450 as HTML. This works to copy rendered HTML from
1451 Firefox, paste it as raw HTML in Vim, select the HTML
1452 in Vim and paste it in a rich edit box in Firefox.
1453 Only supported for GTK version 2 and later.
1454 Only available with the |+multi_byte| feature.
1457 Defines a pattern that is matched against the name of
1458 the terminal 'term'. If there is a match, no
1459 connection will be made to the X server. This is
1460 useful in this situation:
1461 - Running Vim in a console.
1462 - $DISPLAY is set to start applications on another
1464 - You do not want to connect to the X server in the
1465 console, but do want this in a terminal emulator.
1466 To never connect to the X server use: >
1468 < This has the same effect as using the |-X| argument.
1469 Note that when there is no connection to the X server
1470 the window title won't be restored and the clipboard
1472 The value of 'magic' is ignored, {pattern} is
1473 interpreted as if 'magic' was on.
1474 The rest of the option value will be used for
1475 {pattern}, this must be the last entry.
1477 *'cmdheight'* *'ch'*
1478 'cmdheight' 'ch' number (default 1)
1481 Number of screen lines to use for the command-line. Helps avoiding
1482 |hit-enter| prompts.
1483 The value of this option is stored with the tab page, so that each tab
1484 page can have a different value.
1486 *'cmdwinheight'* *'cwh'*
1487 'cmdwinheight' 'cwh' number (default 7)
1490 {not available when compiled without the |+vertsplit|
1492 Number of screen lines to use for the command-line window. |cmdwin|
1494 *'columns'* *'co'* *E594*
1495 'columns' 'co' number (default 80 or terminal width)
1498 Number of columns of the screen. Normally this is set by the terminal
1499 initialization and does not have to be set by hand. Also see
1500 |posix-screen-size|.
1501 When Vim is running in the GUI or in a resizable window, setting this
1502 option will cause the window size to be changed. When you only want
1503 to use the size for the GUI, put the command in your |gvimrc| file.
1504 When you set this option and Vim is unable to change the physical
1505 number of columns of the display, the display may be messed up. For
1506 the GUI it is always possible and Vim limits the number of columns to
1507 what fits on the screen. You can use this command to get the widest
1510 < Minimum value is 12, maximum value is 10000.
1512 *'comments'* *'com'* *E524* *E525*
1513 'comments' 'com' string (default
1514 "s1:/*,mb:*,ex:*/,://,b:#,:%,:XCOMM,n:>,fb:-")
1517 {not available when compiled without the |+comments|
1519 A comma separated list of strings that can start a comment line. See
1520 |format-comments|. See |option-backslash| about using backslashes to
1523 *'commentstring'* *'cms'* *E537*
1524 'commentstring' 'cms' string (default "/*%s*/")
1527 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
1529 A template for a comment. The "%s" in the value is replaced with the
1530 comment text. Currently only used to add markers for folding, see
1533 *'compatible'* *'cp'* *'nocompatible'* *'nocp'*
1534 'compatible' 'cp' boolean (default on, off when a |vimrc| or |gvimrc|
1538 This option has the effect of making Vim either more Vi-compatible, or
1539 make Vim behave in a more useful way.
1540 This is a special kind of option, because when it's set or reset,
1541 other options are also changed as a side effect. CAREFUL: Setting or
1542 resetting this option can have a lot of unexpected effects: Mappings
1543 are interpreted in another way, undo behaves differently, etc. If you
1544 set this option in your vimrc file, you should probably put it at the
1546 By default this option is on and the Vi defaults are used for the
1547 options. This default was chosen for those people who want to use Vim
1548 just like Vi, and don't even (want to) know about the 'compatible'
1550 When a |vimrc| or |gvimrc| file is found while Vim is starting up,
1551 this option is switched off, and all options that have not been
1552 modified will be set to the Vim defaults. Effectively, this means
1553 that when a |vimrc| or |gvimrc| file exists, Vim will use the Vim
1554 defaults, otherwise it will use the Vi defaults. (Note: This doesn't
1555 happen for the system-wide vimrc or gvimrc file, nor for a file given
1556 with the |-u| argument). Also see |compatible-default| and
1558 You can also set this option with the "-C" argument, and reset it with
1559 "-N". See |-C| and |-N|.
1560 Switching this option off makes the Vim defaults be used for options
1561 that have a different Vi and Vim default value. See the options
1562 marked with a '+' below. Other options are not modified.
1563 At the moment this option is set, several other options will be set
1564 or reset to make Vim as Vi-compatible as possible. See the table
1565 below. This can be used if you want to revert to Vi compatible
1567 See also 'cpoptions'.
1569 option + set value effect ~
1571 'allowrevins' off no CTRL-_ command
1572 'backupcopy' Unix: "yes" backup file is a copy
1573 others: "auto" copy or rename backup file
1574 'backspace' "" normal backspace
1575 'backup' off no backup file
1576 'cindent' off no C code indentation
1577 'cedit' + "" no key to open the |cmdwin|
1578 'cpoptions' + (all flags) Vi-compatible flags
1579 'cscopetag' off don't use cscope for ":tag"
1580 'cscopetagorder' 0 see |cscopetagorder|
1581 'cscopeverbose' off see |cscopeverbose|
1582 'digraph' off no digraphs
1583 'esckeys' + off no <Esc>-keys in Insert mode
1584 'expandtab' off tabs not expanded to spaces
1585 'fileformats' + "" no automatic file format detection,
1586 "dos,unix" except for DOS, Windows and OS/2
1587 'formatoptions' + "vt" Vi compatible formatting
1588 'gdefault' off no default 'g' flag for ":s"
1589 'history' + 0 no commandline history
1590 'hkmap' off no Hebrew keyboard mapping
1591 'hkmapp' off no phonetic Hebrew keyboard mapping
1592 'hlsearch' off no highlighting of search matches
1593 'incsearch' off no incremental searching
1594 'indentexpr' "" no indenting by expression
1595 'insertmode' off do not start in Insert mode
1596 'iskeyword' + "@,48-57,_" keywords contain alphanumeric
1598 'joinspaces' on insert 2 spaces after period
1599 'modeline' + off no modelines
1600 'more' + off no pauses in listings
1601 'revins' off no reverse insert
1602 'ruler' off no ruler
1603 'scrolljump' 1 no jump scroll
1604 'scrolloff' 0 no scroll offset
1605 'shiftround' off indent not rounded to shiftwidth
1606 'shortmess' + "" no shortening of messages
1607 'showcmd' + off command characters not shown
1608 'showmode' + off current mode not shown
1609 'smartcase' off no automatic ignore case switch
1610 'smartindent' off no smart indentation
1611 'smarttab' off no smart tab size
1612 'softtabstop' 0 tabs are always 'tabstop' positions
1613 'startofline' on goto startofline with some commands
1614 'tagrelative' + off tag file names are not relative
1615 'textauto' + off no automatic textmode detection
1616 'textwidth' 0 no automatic line wrap
1617 'tildeop' off tilde is not an operator
1618 'ttimeout' off no terminal timeout
1619 'whichwrap' + "" left-right movements don't wrap
1620 'wildchar' + CTRL-E only when the current value is <Tab>
1621 use CTRL-E for cmdline completion
1622 'writebackup' on or off depends on +writebackup feature
1624 *'complete'* *'cpt'* *E535*
1625 'complete' 'cpt' string (default: ".,w,b,u,t,i")
1628 This option specifies how keyword completion |ins-completion| works
1629 when CTRL-P or CTRL-N are used. It is also used for whole-line
1630 completion |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L|. It indicates the type of completion
1631 and the places to scan. It is a comma separated list of flags:
1632 . scan the current buffer ('wrapscan' is ignored)
1633 w scan buffers from other windows
1634 b scan other loaded buffers that are in the buffer list
1635 u scan the unloaded buffers that are in the buffer list
1636 U scan the buffers that are not in the buffer list
1637 k scan the files given with the 'dictionary' option
1638 kspell use the currently active spell checking |spell|
1639 k{dict} scan the file {dict}. Several "k" flags can be given,
1640 patterns are valid too. For example: >
1641 :set cpt=k/usr/dict/*,k~/spanish
1642 < s scan the files given with the 'thesaurus' option
1643 s{tsr} scan the file {tsr}. Several "s" flags can be given, patterns
1645 i scan current and included files
1646 d scan current and included files for defined name or macro
1651 Unloaded buffers are not loaded, thus their autocmds |:autocmd| are
1652 not executed, this may lead to unexpected completions from some files
1653 (gzipped files for example). Unloaded buffers are not scanned for
1654 whole-line completion.
1656 The default is ".,w,b,u,t,i", which means to scan:
1657 1. the current buffer
1658 2. buffers in other windows
1659 3. other loaded buffers
1664 As you can see, CTRL-N and CTRL-P can be used to do any 'iskeyword'-
1665 based expansion (e.g., dictionary |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K|, included patterns
1666 |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I|, tags |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]| and normal expansions).
1668 *'completefunc'* *'cfu'*
1669 'completefunc' 'cfu' string (default: empty)
1672 {not available when compiled without the +eval
1673 or +insert_expand feature}
1674 This option specifies a function to be used for Insert mode completion
1675 with CTRL-X CTRL-U. |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U|
1676 See |complete-functions| for an explanation of how the function is
1677 invoked and what it should return.
1680 *'completeopt'* *'cot'*
1681 'completeopt' 'cot' string (default: "menu,preview")
1683 {not available when compiled without the
1684 |+insert_expand| feature}
1686 A comma separated list of options for Insert mode completion
1687 |ins-completion|. The supported values are:
1689 menu Use a popup menu to show the possible completions. The
1690 menu is only shown when there is more than one match and
1691 sufficient colors are available. |ins-completion-menu|
1693 menuone Use the popup menu also when there is only one match.
1694 Useful when there is additional information about the
1695 match, e.g., what file it comes from.
1697 longest Only insert the longest common text of the matches. If
1698 the menu is displayed you can use CTRL-L to add more
1699 characters. Whether case is ignored depends on the kind
1700 of completion. For buffer text the 'ignorecase' option is
1703 preview Show extra information about the currently selected
1704 completion in the preview window. Only works in
1705 combination with "menu" or "menuone".
1708 *'confirm'* *'cf'* *'noconfirm'* *'nocf'*
1709 'confirm' 'cf' boolean (default off)
1712 When 'confirm' is on, certain operations that would normally
1713 fail because of unsaved changes to a buffer, e.g. ":q" and ":e",
1714 instead raise a |dialog| asking if you wish to save the current
1715 file(s). You can still use a ! to unconditionally |abandon| a buffer.
1716 If 'confirm' is off you can still activate confirmation for one
1717 command only (this is most useful in mappings) with the |:confirm|
1719 Also see the |confirm()| function and the 'v' flag in 'guioptions'.
1721 *'conskey'* *'consk'* *'noconskey'* *'noconsk'*
1722 'conskey' 'consk' boolean (default off)
1724 {not in Vi} {only for MS-DOS}
1725 When on direct console I/O is used to obtain a keyboard character.
1726 This should work in most cases. Also see |'bioskey'|. Together,
1727 three methods of console input are available:
1728 'conskey' 'bioskey' action ~
1729 on on or off direct console input
1733 *'copyindent'* *'ci'* *'nocopyindent'* *'noci'*
1734 'copyindent' 'ci' boolean (default off)
1737 Copy the structure of the existing lines indent when autoindenting a
1738 new line. Normally the new indent is reconstructed by a series of
1739 tabs followed by spaces as required (unless |'expandtab'| is enabled,
1740 in which case only spaces are used). Enabling this option makes the
1741 new line copy whatever characters were used for indenting on the
1742 existing line. 'expandtab' has no effect on these characters, a Tab
1743 remains a Tab. If the new indent is greater than on the existing
1744 line, the remaining space is filled in the normal manner.
1745 NOTE: 'copyindent' is reset when 'compatible' is set.
1746 Also see 'preserveindent'.
1748 *'cpoptions'* *'cpo'*
1749 'cpoptions' 'cpo' string (Vim default: "aABceFs",
1750 Vi default: all flags)
1753 A sequence of single character flags. When a character is present
1754 this indicates vi-compatible behavior. This is used for things where
1755 not being vi-compatible is mostly or sometimes preferred.
1756 'cpoptions' stands for "compatible-options".
1757 Commas can be added for readability.
1758 To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the
1759 "+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|.
1760 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
1761 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
1762 NOTE: This option is set to the POSIX default value at startup when
1763 the Vi default value would be used and the $VIM_POSIX environment
1764 variable exists |posix|. This means Vim tries to behave like the
1765 POSIX specification.
1769 a When included, a ":read" command with a file name
1770 argument will set the alternate file name for the
1773 A When included, a ":write" command with a file name
1774 argument will set the alternate file name for the
1777 b "\|" in a ":map" command is recognized as the end of
1778 the map command. The '\' is included in the mapping,
1779 the text after the '|' is interpreted as the next
1780 command. Use a CTRL-V instead of a backslash to
1781 include the '|' in the mapping. Applies to all
1782 mapping, abbreviation, menu and autocmd commands.
1785 B A backslash has no special meaning in mappings,
1786 abbreviations and the "to" part of the menu commands.
1787 Remove this flag to be able to use a backslash like a
1788 CTRL-V. For example, the command ":map X \<Esc>"
1789 results in X being mapped to:
1790 'B' included: "\^[" (^[ is a real <Esc>)
1791 'B' excluded: "<Esc>" (5 characters)
1792 ('<' excluded in both cases)
1794 c Searching continues at the end of any match at the
1795 cursor position, but not further than the start of the
1796 next line. When not present searching continues
1797 one character from the cursor position. With 'c'
1798 "abababababab" only gets three matches when repeating
1799 "/abab", without 'c' there are five matches.
1801 C Do not concatenate sourced lines that start with a
1802 backslash. See |line-continuation|.
1804 d Using "./" in the 'tags' option doesn't mean to use
1805 the tags file relative to the current file, but the
1806 tags file in the current directory.
1808 D Can't use CTRL-K to enter a digraph after Normal mode
1809 commands with a character argument, like |r|, |f| and
1812 e When executing a register with ":@r", always add a
1813 <CR> to the last line, also when the register is not
1814 linewise. If this flag is not present, the register
1815 is not linewise and the last line does not end in a
1816 <CR>, then the last line is put on the command-line
1817 and can be edited before hitting <CR>.
1819 E It is an error when using "y", "d", "c", "g~", "gu" or
1820 "gU" on an Empty region. The operators only work when
1821 at least one character is to be operate on. Example:
1822 This makes "y0" fail in the first column.
1824 f When included, a ":read" command with a file name
1825 argument will set the file name for the current buffer,
1826 if the current buffer doesn't have a file name yet.
1828 F When included, a ":write" command with a file name
1829 argument will set the file name for the current
1830 buffer, if the current buffer doesn't have a file name
1831 yet. Also see |cpo-P|.
1833 g Goto line 1 when using ":edit" without argument.
1835 H When using "I" on a line with only blanks, insert
1836 before the last blank. Without this flag insert after
1839 i When included, interrupting the reading of a file will
1842 I When moving the cursor up or down just after inserting
1843 indent for 'autoindent', do not delete the indent.
1845 j When joining lines, only add two spaces after a '.',
1846 not after '!' or '?'. Also see 'joinspaces'.
1848 J A |sentence| has to be followed by two spaces after
1849 the '.', '!' or '?'. A <Tab> is not recognized as
1852 k Disable the recognition of raw key codes in
1853 mappings, abbreviations, and the "to" part of menu
1854 commands. For example, if <Key> sends ^[OA (where ^[
1855 is <Esc>), the command ":map X ^[OA" results in X
1857 'k' included: "^[OA" (3 characters)
1858 'k' excluded: "<Key>" (one key code)
1859 Also see the '<' flag below.
1861 K Don't wait for a key code to complete when it is
1862 halfway a mapping. This breaks mapping <F1><F1> when
1863 only part of the second <F1> has been read. It
1864 enables cancelling the mapping by typing <F1><Esc>.
1866 l Backslash in a [] range in a search pattern is taken
1867 literally, only "\]", "\^", "\-" and "\\" are special.
1869 'l' included: "/[ \t]" finds <Space>, '\' and 't'
1870 'l' excluded: "/[ \t]" finds <Space> and <Tab>
1873 L When the 'list' option is set, 'wrapmargin',
1874 'textwidth', 'softtabstop' and Virtual Replace mode
1875 (see |gR|) count a <Tab> as two characters, instead of
1876 the normal behavior of a <Tab>.
1878 m When included, a showmatch will always wait half a
1879 second. When not included, a showmatch will wait half
1880 a second or until a character is typed. |'showmatch'|
1882 M When excluded, "%" matching will take backslashes into
1883 account. Thus in "( \( )" and "\( ( \)" the outer
1884 parenthesis match. When included "%" ignores
1885 backslashes, which is Vi compatible.
1887 n When included, the column used for 'number' will also
1888 be used for text of wrapped lines.
1890 o Line offset to search command is not remembered for
1893 O Don't complain if a file is being overwritten, even
1894 when it didn't exist when editing it. This is a
1895 protection against a file unexpectedly created by
1896 someone else. Vi didn't complain about this.
1898 p Vi compatible Lisp indenting. When not present, a
1899 slightly better algorithm is used.
1901 P When included, a ":write" command that appends to a
1902 file will set the file name for the current buffer, if
1903 the current buffer doesn't have a file name yet and
1904 the 'F' flag is also included |cpo-F|.
1906 q When joining multiple lines leave the cursor at the
1907 position where it would be when joining two lines.
1909 r Redo ("." command) uses "/" to repeat a search
1910 command, instead of the actually used search string.
1912 R Remove marks from filtered lines. Without this flag
1913 marks are kept like |:keepmarks| was used.
1915 s Set buffer options when entering the buffer for the
1916 first time. This is like it is in Vim version 3.0.
1917 And it is the default. If not present the options are
1918 set when the buffer is created.
1920 S Set buffer options always when entering a buffer
1921 (except 'readonly', 'fileformat', 'filetype' and
1922 'syntax'). This is the (most) Vi compatible setting.
1923 The options are set to the values in the current
1924 buffer. When you change an option and go to another
1925 buffer, the value is copied. Effectively makes the
1926 buffer options global to all buffers.
1928 's' 'S' copy buffer options
1929 no no when buffer created
1930 yes no when buffer first entered (default)
1931 X yes each time when buffer entered (vi comp.)
1933 t Search pattern for the tag command is remembered for
1934 "n" command. Otherwise Vim only puts the pattern in
1935 the history for search pattern, but doesn't change the
1936 last used search pattern.
1938 u Undo is Vi compatible. See |undo-two-ways|.
1940 v Backspaced characters remain visible on the screen in
1941 Insert mode. Without this flag the characters are
1942 erased from the screen right away. With this flag the
1943 screen newly typed text overwrites backspaced
1946 w When using "cw" on a blank character, only change one
1947 character and not all blanks until the start of the
1950 W Don't overwrite a readonly file. When omitted, ":w!"
1951 overwrites a readonly file, if possible.
1953 x <Esc> on the command-line executes the command-line.
1954 The default in Vim is to abandon the command-line,
1955 because <Esc> normally aborts a command. |c_<Esc>|
1957 X When using a count with "R" the replaced text is
1958 deleted only once. Also when repeating "R" with "."
1961 y A yank command can be redone with ".".
1963 Z When using "w!" while the 'readonly' option is set,
1964 don't reset 'readonly'.
1966 ! When redoing a filter command, use the last used
1967 external command, whatever it was. Otherwise the last
1968 used -filter- command is used.
1970 $ When making a change to one line, don't redisplay the
1971 line, but put a '$' at the end of the changed text.
1972 The changed text will be overwritten when you type the
1973 new text. The line is redisplayed if you type any
1974 command that moves the cursor from the insertion
1977 % Vi-compatible matching is done for the "%" command.
1978 Does not recognize "#if", "#endif", etc.
1979 Does not recognize "/*" and "*/".
1980 Parens inside single and double quotes are also
1981 counted, causing a string that contains a paren to
1982 disturb the matching. For example, in a line like
1983 "if (strcmp("foo(", s))" the first paren does not
1984 match the last one. When this flag is not included,
1985 parens inside single and double quotes are treated
1986 specially. When matching a paren outside of quotes,
1987 everything inside quotes is ignored. When matching a
1988 paren inside quotes, it will find the matching one (if
1989 there is one). This works very well for C programs.
1990 This flag is also used for other features, such as
1993 - When included, a vertical movement command fails when
1994 it would go above the first line or below the last
1995 line. Without it the cursor moves to the first or
1996 last line, unless it already was in that line.
1997 Applies to the commands "-", "k", CTRL-P, "+", "j",
1998 CTRL-N, CTRL-J and ":1234".
2000 + When included, a ":write file" command will reset the
2001 'modified' flag of the buffer, even though the buffer
2002 itself may still be different from its file.
2004 * Use ":*" in the same way as ":@". When not included,
2005 ":*" is an alias for ":'<,'>", select the Visual area.
2007 < Disable the recognition of special key codes in |<>|
2008 form in mappings, abbreviations, and the "to" part of
2009 menu commands. For example, the command
2010 ":map X <Tab>" results in X being mapped to:
2011 '<' included: "<Tab>" (5 characters)
2012 '<' excluded: "^I" (^I is a real <Tab>)
2013 Also see the 'k' flag above.
2015 > When appending to a register, put a line break before
2018 POSIX flags. These are not included in the Vi default value, except
2019 when $VIM_POSIX was set on startup. |posix|
2023 # A count before "D", "o" and "O" has no effect.
2025 & When ":preserve" was used keep the swap file when
2026 exiting normally while this buffer is still loaded.
2027 This flag is tested when exiting.
2029 \ Backslash in a [] range in a search pattern is taken
2030 literally, only "\]" is special See |/[]|
2031 '\' included: "/[ \-]" finds <Space>, '\' and '-'
2032 '\' excluded: "/[ \-]" finds <Space> and '-'
2035 / When "%" is used as the replacement string in a |:s|
2036 command, use the previous replacement string. |:s%|
2038 { The |{| and |}| commands also stop at a "{" character
2039 at the start of a line.
2041 . The ":chdir" and ":cd" commands fail if the current
2042 buffer is modified, unless ! is used. Vim doesn't
2043 need this, since it remembers the full path of an
2046 | The value of the $LINES and $COLUMNS environment
2047 variables overrule the terminal size values obtained
2048 with system specific functions.
2051 *'cscopepathcomp'* *'cspc'*
2052 'cscopepathcomp' 'cspc' number (default 0)
2054 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2057 Determines how many components of the path to show in a list of tags.
2058 See |cscopepathcomp|.
2060 *'cscopeprg'* *'csprg'*
2061 'cscopeprg' 'csprg' string (default "cscope")
2063 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2066 Specifies the command to execute cscope. See |cscopeprg|.
2067 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2070 *'cscopequickfix'* *'csqf'*
2071 'cscopequickfix' 'csqf' string (default "")
2073 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2074 or |+quickfix| features}
2076 Specifies whether to use quickfix window to show cscope results.
2077 See |cscopequickfix|.
2079 *'cscopetag'* *'cst'* *'nocscopetag'* *'nocst'*
2080 'cscopetag' 'cst' boolean (default off)
2082 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2085 Use cscope for tag commands. See |cscope-options|.
2086 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
2088 *'cscopetagorder'* *'csto'*
2089 'cscopetagorder' 'csto' number (default 0)
2091 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2094 Determines the order in which ":cstag" performs a search. See
2096 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
2098 *'cscopeverbose'* *'csverb'*
2099 *'nocscopeverbose'* *'nocsverb'*
2100 'cscopeverbose' 'csverb' boolean (default off)
2102 {not available when compiled without the |+cscope|
2105 Give messages when adding a cscope database. See |cscopeverbose|.
2106 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
2109 *'cursorcolumn'* *'cuc'* *'nocursorcolumn'* *'nocuc'*
2110 'cursorcolumn' 'cuc' boolean (default off)
2113 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
2115 Highlight the screen column of the cursor with CursorColumn
2116 |hl-CursorColumn|. Useful to align text. Will make screen redrawing
2118 If you only want the highlighting in the current window you can use
2119 these autocommands: >
2120 au WinLeave * set nocursorline nocursorcolumn
2121 au WinEnter * set cursorline cursorcolumn
2124 *'cursorline'* *'cul'* *'nocursorline'* *'nocul'*
2125 'cursorline' 'cul' boolean (default off)
2128 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
2130 Highlight the screen line of the cursor with CursorLine
2131 |hl-CursorLine|. Useful to easily spot the cursor. Will make screen
2133 When Visual mode is active the highlighting isn't used to make it
2134 easier to see the selected text.
2138 'debug' string (default "")
2141 These values can be used:
2142 msg Error messages that would otherwise be omitted will be given
2144 throw Error messages that would otherwise be omitted will be given
2145 anyway and also throw an exception and set |v:errmsg|.
2146 beep A message will be given when otherwise only a beep would be
2148 The values can be combined, separated by a comma.
2149 "msg" and "throw" are useful for debugging 'foldexpr', 'formatexpr' or
2153 'define' 'def' string (default "^\s*#\s*define")
2154 global or local to buffer |global-local|
2156 Pattern to be used to find a macro definition. It is a search
2157 pattern, just like for the "/" command. This option is used for the
2158 commands like "[i" and "[d" |include-search|. The 'isident' option is
2159 used to recognize the defined name after the match:
2160 {match with 'define'}{non-ID chars}{defined name}{non-ID char}
2161 See |option-backslash| about inserting backslashes to include a space
2163 The default value is for C programs. For C++ this value would be
2164 useful, to include const type declarations: >
2165 ^\(#\s*define\|[a-z]*\s*const\s*[a-z]*\)
2166 < When using the ":set" command, you need to double the backslashes!
2168 *'delcombine'* *'deco'* *'nodelcombine'* *'nodeco'*
2169 'delcombine' 'deco' boolean (default off)
2172 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
2174 If editing Unicode and this option is set, backspace and Normal mode
2175 "x" delete each combining character on its own. When it is off (the
2176 default) the character along with its combining characters are
2178 Note: When 'delcombine' is set "xx" may work different from "2x"!
2180 This is useful for Arabic, Hebrew and many other languages where one
2181 may have combining characters overtop of base characters, and want
2182 to remove only the combining ones.
2184 *'dictionary'* *'dict'*
2185 'dictionary' 'dict' string (default "")
2186 global or local to buffer |global-local|
2188 List of file names, separated by commas, that are used to lookup words
2189 for keyword completion commands |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K|. Each file should
2190 contain a list of words. This can be one word per line, or several
2191 words per line, separated by non-keyword characters (white space is
2192 preferred). Maximum line length is 510 bytes.
2193 When this option is empty, or an entry "spell" is present, spell
2194 checking is enabled the currently active spelling is used. |spell|
2195 To include a comma in a file name precede it with a backslash. Spaces
2196 after a comma are ignored, otherwise spaces are included in the file
2197 name. See |option-backslash| about using backslashes.
2198 This has nothing to do with the |Dictionary| variable type.
2199 Where to find a list of words?
2200 - On FreeBSD, there is the file "/usr/share/dict/words".
2201 - In the Simtel archive, look in the "msdos/linguist" directory.
2202 - In "miscfiles" of the GNU collection.
2203 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
2204 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
2205 uses another default.
2206 Backticks cannot be used in this option for security reasons.
2209 'diff' boolean (default off)
2212 {not available when compiled without the |+diff|
2214 Join the current window in the group of windows that shows differences
2215 between files. See |vimdiff|.
2217 *'dex'* *'diffexpr'*
2218 'diffexpr' 'dex' string (default "")
2221 {not available when compiled without the |+diff|
2223 Expression which is evaluated to obtain an ed-style diff file from two
2224 versions of a file. See |diff-diffexpr|.
2225 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2229 'diffopt' 'dip' string (default "filler")
2232 {not available when compiled without the |+diff|
2234 Option settings for diff mode. It can consist of the following items.
2235 All are optional. Items must be separated by a comma.
2237 filler Show filler lines, to keep the text
2238 synchronized with a window that has inserted
2239 lines at the same position. Mostly useful
2240 when windows are side-by-side and 'scrollbind'
2243 context:{n} Use a context of {n} lines between a change
2244 and a fold that contains unchanged lines.
2245 When omitted a context of six lines is used.
2248 icase Ignore changes in case of text. "a" and "A"
2249 are considered the same. Adds the "-i" flag
2250 to the "diff" command if 'diffexpr' is empty.
2252 iwhite Ignore changes in amount of white space. Adds
2253 the "-b" flag to the "diff" command if
2254 'diffexpr' is empty. Check the documentation
2255 of the "diff" command for what this does
2256 exactly. It should ignore adding trailing
2257 white space, but not leading white space.
2259 horizontal Start diff mode with horizontal splits (unless
2260 explicitly specified otherwise).
2262 vertical Start diff mode with vertical splits (unless
2263 explicitly specified otherwise).
2265 foldcolumn:{n} Set the 'foldcolumn' option to {n} when
2266 starting diff mode. Without this 2 is used.
2270 :set diffopt=filler,context:4
2272 :set diffopt=filler,foldcolumn:3
2274 *'digraph'* *'dg'* *'nodigraph'* *'nodg'*
2275 'digraph' 'dg' boolean (default off)
2278 {not available when compiled without the |+digraphs|
2280 Enable the entering of digraphs in Insert mode with {char1} <BS>
2281 {char2}. See |digraphs|.
2282 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
2284 *'directory'* *'dir'*
2285 'directory' 'dir' string (default for Amiga: ".,t:",
2286 for MS-DOS and Win32: ".,c:\tmp,c:\temp"
2287 for Unix: ".,~/tmp,/var/tmp,/tmp")
2289 List of directory names for the swap file, separated with commas.
2290 - The swap file will be created in the first directory where this is
2292 - Empty means that no swap file will be used (recovery is
2294 - A directory "." means to put the swap file in the same directory as
2295 the edited file. On Unix, a dot is prepended to the file name, so
2296 it doesn't show in a directory listing. On MS-Windows the "hidden"
2297 attribute is set and a dot prepended if possible.
2298 - A directory starting with "./" (or ".\" for MS-DOS et al.) means to
2299 put the swap file relative to where the edited file is. The leading
2300 "." is replaced with the path name of the edited file.
2301 - For Unix and Win32, if a directory ends in two path separators "//"
2302 or "\\", the swap file name will be built from the complete path to
2303 the file with all path separators substituted to percent '%' signs.
2304 This will ensure file name uniqueness in the preserve directory.
2305 On Win32, when a separating comma is following, you must use "//",
2306 since "\\" will include the comma in the file name.
2307 - Spaces after the comma are ignored, other spaces are considered part
2308 of the directory name. To have a space at the start of a directory
2309 name, precede it with a backslash.
2310 - To include a comma in a directory name precede it with a backslash.
2311 - A directory name may end in an ':' or '/'.
2312 - Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
2313 - Careful with '\' characters, type one before a space, type two to
2314 get one in the option (see |option-backslash|), for example: >
2315 :set dir=c:\\tmp,\ dir\\,with\\,commas,\\\ dir\ with\ spaces
2316 < - For backwards compatibility with Vim version 3.0 a '>' at the start
2317 of the option is removed.
2318 Using "." first in the list is recommended. This means that editing
2319 the same file twice will result in a warning. Using "/tmp" on Unix is
2320 discouraged: When the system crashes you lose the swap file.
2321 "/var/tmp" is often not cleared when rebooting, thus is a better
2322 choice than "/tmp". But it can contain a lot of files, your swap
2323 files get lost in the crowd. That is why a "tmp" directory in your
2324 home directory is tried first.
2325 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
2326 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
2327 uses another default.
2328 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2330 {Vi: directory to put temp file in, defaults to "/tmp"}
2333 'display' 'dy' string (default "")
2336 Change the way text is displayed. This is comma separated list of
2338 lastline When included, as much as possible of the last line
2339 in a window will be displayed. When not included, a
2340 last line that doesn't fit is replaced with "@" lines.
2341 uhex Show unprintable characters hexadecimal as <xx>
2342 instead of using ^C and ~C.
2344 *'eadirection'* *'ead'*
2345 'eadirection' 'ead' string (default "both")
2348 {not available when compiled without the +vertsplit
2350 Tells when the 'equalalways' option applies:
2351 ver vertically, width of windows is not affected
2352 hor horizontally, height of windows is not affected
2353 both width and height of windows is affected
2355 *'ed'* *'edcompatible'* *'noed'* *'noedcompatible'*
2356 'edcompatible' 'ed' boolean (default off)
2358 Makes the 'g' and 'c' flags of the ":substitute" command to be
2359 toggled each time the flag is given. See |complex-change|. See
2360 also 'gdefault' option.
2361 Switching this option on is discouraged!
2363 *'encoding'* *'enc'* *E543*
2364 'encoding' 'enc' string (default: "latin1" or value from $LANG)
2366 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
2369 Sets the character encoding used inside Vim. It applies to text in
2370 the buffers, registers, Strings in expressions, text stored in the
2371 viminfo file, etc. It sets the kind of characters which Vim can work
2372 with. See |encoding-names| for the possible values.
2374 NOTE: Changing this option will not change the encoding of the
2375 existing text in Vim. It may cause non-ASCII text to become invalid.
2376 It should normally be kept at its default value, or set when Vim
2377 starts up. See |multibyte|. To reload the menus see |:menutrans|.
2379 NOTE: For GTK+ 2 it is highly recommended to set 'encoding' to
2380 "utf-8". Although care has been taken to allow different values of
2381 'encoding', "utf-8" is the natural choice for the environment and
2382 avoids unnecessary conversion overhead. "utf-8" has not been made
2383 the default to prevent different behavior of the GUI and terminal
2384 versions, and to avoid changing the encoding of newly created files
2385 without your knowledge (in case 'fileencodings' is empty).
2387 The character encoding of files can be different from 'encoding'.
2388 This is specified with 'fileencoding'. The conversion is done with
2389 iconv() or as specified with 'charconvert'.
2391 If you need to know whether 'encoding' is a multi-byte encoding, you
2393 if has("multi_byte_encoding")
2395 Normally 'encoding' will be equal to your current locale. This will
2396 be the default if Vim recognizes your environment settings. If
2397 'encoding' is not set to the current locale, 'termencoding' must be
2398 set to convert typed and displayed text. See |encoding-table|.
2400 When you set this option, it fires the |EncodingChanged| autocommand
2401 event so that you can set up fonts if necessary.
2403 When the option is set, the value is converted to lowercase. Thus
2404 you can set it with uppercase values too. Underscores are translated
2406 When the encoding is recognized, it is changed to the standard name.
2407 For example "Latin-1" becomes "latin1", "ISO_88592" becomes
2408 "iso-8859-2" and "utf8" becomes "utf-8".
2410 Note: "latin1" is also used when the encoding could not be detected.
2411 This only works when editing files in the same encoding! When the
2412 actual character set is not latin1, make sure 'fileencoding' and
2413 'fileencodings' are empty. When conversion is needed, switch to using
2416 When "unicode", "ucs-2" or "ucs-4" is used, Vim internally uses utf-8.
2417 You don't notice this while editing, but it does matter for the
2418 |viminfo-file|. And Vim expects the terminal to use utf-8 too. Thus
2419 setting 'encoding' to one of these values instead of utf-8 only has
2420 effect for encoding used for files when 'fileencoding' is empty.
2422 When 'encoding' is set to a Unicode encoding, and 'fileencodings' was
2423 not set yet, the default for 'fileencodings' is changed.
2425 *'endofline'* *'eol'* *'noendofline'* *'noeol'*
2426 'endofline' 'eol' boolean (default on)
2429 When writing a file and this option is off and the 'binary' option
2430 is on, no <EOL> will be written for the last line in the file. This
2431 option is automatically set when starting to edit a new file, unless
2432 the file does not have an <EOL> for the last line in the file, in
2433 which case it is reset. Normally you don't have to set or reset this
2434 option. When 'binary' is off the value is not used when writing the
2435 file. When 'binary' is on it is used to remember the presence of a
2436 <EOL> for the last line in the file, so that when you write the file
2437 the situation from the original file can be kept. But you can change
2440 *'equalalways'* *'ea'* *'noequalalways'* *'noea'*
2441 'equalalways' 'ea' boolean (default on)
2444 When on, all the windows are automatically made the same size after
2445 splitting or closing a window. This also happens the moment the
2446 option is switched on. When off, splitting a window will reduce the
2447 size of the current window and leave the other windows the same. When
2448 closing a window the extra lines are given to the window next to it
2449 (depending on 'splitbelow' and 'splitright').
2450 When mixing vertically and horizontally split windows, a minimal size
2451 is computed and some windows may be larger if there is room. The
2452 'eadirection' option tells in which direction the size is affected.
2453 Changing the height and width of a window can be avoided by setting
2454 'winfixheight' and 'winfixwidth', respectively.
2455 If a window size is specified when creating a new window sizes are
2456 currently not equalized (it's complicated, but may be implemented in
2460 'equalprg' 'ep' string (default "")
2461 global or local to buffer |global-local|
2463 External program to use for "=" command. When this option is empty
2464 the internal formatting functions are used; either 'lisp', 'cindent'
2465 or 'indentexpr'. When Vim was compiled without internal formatting,
2466 the "indent" program is used.
2467 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash|
2468 about including spaces and backslashes.
2469 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2472 *'errorbells'* *'eb'* *'noerrorbells'* *'noeb'*
2473 'errorbells' 'eb' boolean (default off)
2475 Ring the bell (beep or screen flash) for error messages. This only
2476 makes a difference for error messages, the bell will be used always
2477 for a lot of errors without a message (e.g., hitting <Esc> in Normal
2478 mode). See 'visualbell' on how to make the bell behave like a beep,
2479 screen flash or do nothing.
2481 *'errorfile'* *'ef'*
2482 'errorfile' 'ef' string (Amiga default: "AztecC.Err",
2483 others: "errors.err")
2486 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
2488 Name of the errorfile for the QuickFix mode (see |:cf|).
2489 When the "-q" command-line argument is used, 'errorfile' is set to the
2490 following argument. See |-q|.
2491 NOT used for the ":make" command. See 'makeef' for that.
2492 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
2493 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
2494 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2497 *'errorformat'* *'efm'*
2498 'errorformat' 'efm' string (default is very long)
2499 global or local to buffer |global-local|
2501 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
2503 Scanf-like description of the format for the lines in the error file
2504 (see |errorformat|).
2506 *'esckeys'* *'ek'* *'noesckeys'* *'noek'*
2507 'esckeys' 'ek' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
2510 Function keys that start with an <Esc> are recognized in Insert
2511 mode. When this option is off, the cursor and function keys cannot be
2512 used in Insert mode if they start with an <Esc>. The advantage of
2513 this is that the single <Esc> is recognized immediately, instead of
2514 after one second. Instead of resetting this option, you might want to
2515 try changing the values for 'timeoutlen' and 'ttimeoutlen'. Note that
2516 when 'esckeys' is off, you can still map anything, but the cursor keys
2517 won't work by default.
2518 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
2519 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
2521 *'eventignore'* *'ei'*
2522 'eventignore' 'ei' string (default "")
2525 {not available when compiled without the |+autocmd|
2527 A list of autocommand event names, which are to be ignored.
2528 When set to "all" or when "all" is one of the items, all autocommand
2529 events are ignored, autocommands will not be executed.
2530 Otherwise this is a comma separated list of event names. Example: >
2531 :set ei=WinEnter,WinLeave
2533 *'expandtab'* *'et'* *'noexpandtab'* *'noet'*
2534 'expandtab' 'et' boolean (default off)
2537 In Insert mode: Use the appropriate number of spaces to insert a
2538 <Tab>. Spaces are used in indents with the '>' and '<' commands and
2539 when 'autoindent' is on. To insert a real tab when 'expandtab' is
2540 on, use CTRL-V<Tab>. See also |:retab| and |ins-expandtab|.
2541 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
2543 *'exrc'* *'ex'* *'noexrc'* *'noex'*
2544 'exrc' 'ex' boolean (default off)
2547 Enables the reading of .vimrc, .exrc and .gvimrc in the current
2548 directory. If you switch this option on you should also consider
2549 setting the 'secure' option (see |initialization|). Using a local
2550 .exrc, .vimrc or .gvimrc is a potential security leak, use with care!
2551 also see |.vimrc| and |gui-init|.
2552 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
2555 *'fileencoding'* *'fenc'* *E213*
2556 'fileencoding' 'fenc' string (default: "")
2558 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
2561 Sets the character encoding for the file of this buffer.
2562 When 'fileencoding' is different from 'encoding', conversion will be
2563 done when writing the file. For reading see below.
2564 When 'fileencoding' is empty, the same value as 'encoding' will be
2565 used (no conversion when reading or writing a file).
2566 Conversion will also be done when 'encoding' and 'fileencoding' are
2567 both a Unicode encoding and 'fileencoding' is not utf-8. That's
2568 because internally Unicode is always stored as utf-8.
2569 WARNING: Conversion can cause loss of information! When
2570 'encoding' is "utf-8" or another Unicode encoding, conversion
2571 is most likely done in a way that the reverse conversion
2572 results in the same text. When 'encoding' is not "utf-8" some
2573 characters may be lost!
2574 See 'encoding' for the possible values. Additionally, values may be
2575 specified that can be handled by the converter, see
2577 When reading a file 'fileencoding' will be set from 'fileencodings'.
2578 To read a file in a certain encoding it won't work by setting
2579 'fileencoding', use the |++enc| argument. One exception: when
2580 'fileencodings' is empty the value of 'fileencoding' is used.
2581 For a new file the global value of 'fileencoding' is used.
2582 Prepending "8bit-" and "2byte-" has no meaning here, they are ignored.
2583 When the option is set, the value is converted to lowercase. Thus
2584 you can set it with uppercase values too. '_' characters are
2585 replaced with '-'. If a name is recognized from the list for
2586 'encoding', it is replaced by the standard name. For example
2587 "ISO8859-2" becomes "iso-8859-2".
2588 When this option is set, after starting to edit a file, the 'modified'
2589 option is set, because the file would be different when written.
2590 If you do this in a modeline, you might want to set 'nomodified' to
2592 This option can not be changed when 'modifiable' is off.
2595 NOTE: Before version 6.0 this option specified the encoding for the
2596 whole of Vim, this was a mistake. Now use 'encoding' instead. The
2597 old short name was 'fe', which is no longer used.
2599 *'fileencodings'* *'fencs'*
2600 'fileencodings' 'fencs' string (default: "ucs-bom",
2601 "ucs-bom,utf-8,default,latin1" when
2602 'encoding' is set to a Unicode value)
2604 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
2607 This is a list of character encodings considered when starting to edit
2608 an existing file. When a file is read, Vim tries to use the first
2609 mentioned character encoding. If an error is detected, the next one
2610 in the list is tried. When an encoding is found that works,
2611 'fileencoding' is set to it. If all fail, 'fileencoding' is set to
2612 an empty string, which means the value of 'encoding' is used.
2613 WARNING: Conversion can cause loss of information! When
2614 'encoding' is "utf-8" (or one of the other Unicode variants)
2615 conversion is most likely done in a way that the reverse
2616 conversion results in the same text. When 'encoding' is not
2617 "utf-8" some non-ASCII characters may be lost! You can use
2618 the |++bad| argument to specify what is done with characters
2619 that can't be converted.
2620 For an empty file or a file with only ASCII characters most encodings
2621 will work and the first entry of 'fileencodings' will be used (except
2622 "ucs-bom", which requires the BOM to be present). If you prefer
2623 another encoding use an BufReadPost autocommand event to test if your
2624 preferred encoding is to be used. Example: >
2625 au BufReadPost * if search('\S', 'w') == 0 |
2626 \ set fenc=iso-2022-jp | endif
2627 < This sets 'fileencoding' to "iso-2022-jp" if the file does not contain
2628 non-blank characters.
2629 When the |++enc| argument is used then the value of 'fileencodings' is
2631 Note that 'fileencodings' is not used for a new file, the global value
2632 of 'fileencoding' is used instead. You can set it with: >
2633 :setglobal fenc=iso-8859-2
2634 < This means that a non-existing file may get a different encoding than
2636 The special value "ucs-bom" can be used to check for a Unicode BOM
2637 (Byte Order Mark) at the start of the file. It must not be preceded
2638 by "utf-8" or another Unicode encoding for this to work properly.
2639 An entry for an 8-bit encoding (e.g., "latin1") should be the last,
2640 because Vim cannot detect an error, thus the encoding is always
2642 The special value "default" can be used for the encoding from the
2643 environment. This is the default value for 'encoding'. It is useful
2644 when 'encoding' is set to "utf-8" and your environment uses a
2645 non-latin1 encoding, such as Russian.
2646 When 'encoding' is "utf-8" and a file contains an illegal byte
2647 sequence it won't be recognized as UTF-8. You can use the |8g8|
2648 command to find the illegal byte sequence.
2649 WRONG VALUES: WHAT'S WRONG:
2650 latin1,utf-8 "latin1" will always be used
2651 utf-8,ucs-bom,latin1 BOM won't be recognized in an utf-8
2653 cp1250,latin1 "cp1250" will always be used
2654 If 'fileencodings' is empty, 'fileencoding' is not modified.
2655 See 'fileencoding' for the possible values.
2656 Setting this option does not have an effect until the next time a file
2659 *'fileformat'* *'ff'*
2660 'fileformat' 'ff' string (MS-DOS, MS-Windows, OS/2 default: "dos",
2661 Unix default: "unix",
2662 Macintosh default: "mac")
2665 This gives the <EOL> of the current buffer, which is used for
2666 reading/writing the buffer from/to a file:
2670 When "dos" is used, CTRL-Z at the end of a file is ignored.
2671 See |file-formats| and |file-read|.
2672 For the character encoding of the file see 'fileencoding'.
2673 When 'binary' is set, the value of 'fileformat' is ignored, file I/O
2674 works like it was set to "unix'.
2675 This option is set automatically when starting to edit a file and
2676 'fileformats' is not empty and 'binary' is off.
2677 When this option is set, after starting to edit a file, the 'modified'
2678 option is set, because the file would be different when written.
2679 This option can not be changed when 'modifiable' is off.
2680 For backwards compatibility: When this option is set to "dos",
2681 'textmode' is set, otherwise 'textmode' is reset.
2683 *'fileformats'* *'ffs'*
2684 'fileformats' 'ffs' string (default:
2685 Vim+Vi MS-DOS, MS-Windows OS/2: "dos,unix",
2686 Vim Unix: "unix,dos",
2687 Vim Mac: "mac,unix,dos",
2688 Vi Cygwin: "unix,dos",
2692 This gives the end-of-line (<EOL>) formats that will be tried when
2693 starting to edit a new buffer and when reading a file into an existing
2695 - When empty, the format defined with 'fileformat' will be used
2696 always. It is not set automatically.
2697 - When set to one name, that format will be used whenever a new buffer
2698 is opened. 'fileformat' is set accordingly for that buffer. The
2699 'fileformats' name will be used when a file is read into an existing
2700 buffer, no matter what 'fileformat' for that buffer is set to.
2701 - When more than one name is present, separated by commas, automatic
2702 <EOL> detection will be done when reading a file. When starting to
2703 edit a file, a check is done for the <EOL>:
2704 1. If all lines end in <CR><NL>, and 'fileformats' includes "dos",
2705 'fileformat' is set to "dos".
2706 2. If a <NL> is found and 'fileformats' includes "unix", 'fileformat'
2707 is set to "unix". Note that when a <NL> is found without a
2708 preceding <CR>, "unix" is preferred over "dos".
2709 3. If 'fileformats' includes "mac", 'fileformat' is set to "mac".
2710 This means that "mac" is only chosen when "unix" is not present,
2711 or when no <NL> is found in the file, and when "dos" is not
2712 present, or no <CR><NL> is present in the file.
2713 Also if "unix" was first chosen, but the first <CR> is before
2714 the first <NL> and there appears to be more <CR>'s than <NL>'s in
2715 the file, then 'fileformat' is set to "mac".
2716 4. If 'fileformat' is still not set, the first name from
2717 'fileformats' is used.
2718 When reading a file into an existing buffer, the same is done, but
2719 this happens like 'fileformat' has been set appropriately for that
2720 file only, the option is not changed.
2721 When 'binary' is set, the value of 'fileformats' is not used.
2723 For systems with a Dos-like <EOL> (<CR><NL>), when reading files that
2724 are ":source"ed and for vimrc files, automatic <EOL> detection may be
2726 - When 'fileformats' is empty, there is no automatic detection. Dos
2727 format will be used.
2728 - When 'fileformats' is set to one or more names, automatic detection
2729 is done. This is based on the first <NL> in the file: If there is a
2730 <CR> in front of it, Dos format is used, otherwise Unix format is
2732 Also see |file-formats|.
2733 For backwards compatibility: When this option is set to an empty
2734 string or one format (no comma is included), 'textauto' is reset,
2735 otherwise 'textauto' is set.
2736 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
2737 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
2740 'filetype' 'ft' string (default: "")
2743 {not available when compiled without the |+autocmd|
2745 When this option is set, the FileType autocommand event is triggered.
2746 All autocommands that match with the value of this option will be
2747 executed. Thus the value of 'filetype' is used in place of the file
2749 Otherwise this option does not always reflect the current file type.
2750 This option is normally set when the file type is detected. To enable
2751 this use the ":filetype on" command. |:filetype|
2752 Setting this option to a different value is most useful in a modeline,
2753 for a file for which the file type is not automatically recognized.
2754 Example, for in an IDL file:
2755 /* vim: set filetype=idl : */ ~
2756 |FileType| |filetypes|
2757 When a dot appears in the value then this separates two filetype
2759 /* vim: set filetype=c.doxygen : */ ~
2760 This will use the "c" filetype first, then the "doxygen" filetype.
2761 This works both for filetype plugins and for syntax files. More than
2763 Do not confuse this option with 'osfiletype', which is for the file
2764 type that is actually stored with the file.
2765 This option is not copied to another buffer, independent of the 's' or
2766 'S' flag in 'cpoptions'.
2767 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
2769 *'fillchars'* *'fcs'*
2770 'fillchars' 'fcs' string (default "vert:|,fold:-")
2773 {not available when compiled without the |+windows|
2774 and |+folding| features}
2775 Characters to fill the statuslines and vertical separators.
2776 It is a comma separated list of items:
2778 item default Used for ~
2779 stl:c ' ' or '^' statusline of the current window
2780 stlnc:c ' ' or '-' statusline of the non-current windows
2781 vert:c '|' vertical separators |:vsplit|
2782 fold:c '-' filling 'foldtext'
2783 diff:c '-' deleted lines of the 'diff' option
2785 Any one that is omitted will fall back to the default. For "stl" and
2786 "stlnc" the space will be used when there is highlighting, '^' or '-'
2790 :set fillchars=stl:^,stlnc:-,vert:\|,fold:-,diff:-
2791 < This is similar to the default, except that these characters will also
2792 be used when there is highlighting.
2794 for "stl" and "stlnc" only single-byte values are supported.
2796 The highlighting used for these items:
2797 item highlight group ~
2798 stl:c StatusLine |hl-StatusLine|
2799 stlnc:c StatusLineNC |hl-StatusLineNC|
2800 vert:c VertSplit |hl-VertSplit|
2801 fold:c Folded |hl-Folded|
2802 diff:c DiffDelete |hl-DiffDelete|
2804 *'fkmap'* *'fk'* *'nofkmap'* *'nofk'*
2805 'fkmap' 'fk' boolean (default off) *E198*
2808 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
2810 When on, the keyboard is mapped for the Farsi character set.
2811 Normally you would set 'allowrevins' and use CTRL-_ in insert mode to
2812 toggle this option |i_CTRL-_|. See |farsi.txt|.
2814 *'foldclose'* *'fcl'*
2815 'foldclose' 'fcl' string (default "")
2818 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2820 When set to "all", a fold is closed when the cursor isn't in it and
2821 its level is higher than 'foldlevel'. Useful if you want folds to
2822 automatically close when moving out of them.
2824 *'foldcolumn'* *'fdc'*
2825 'foldcolumn' 'fdc' number (default 0)
2828 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2830 When non-zero, a column with the specified width is shown at the side
2831 of the window which indicates open and closed folds. The maximum
2835 *'foldenable'* *'fen'* *'nofoldenable'* *'nofen'*
2836 'foldenable' 'fen' boolean (default on)
2839 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2841 When off, all folds are open. This option can be used to quickly
2842 switch between showing all text unfolded and viewing the text with
2843 folds (including manually opened or closed folds). It can be toggled
2844 with the |zi| command. The 'foldcolumn' will remain blank when
2845 'foldenable' is off.
2846 This option is set by commands that create a new fold or close a fold.
2849 *'foldexpr'* *'fde'*
2850 'foldexpr' 'fde' string (default: "0")
2853 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2855 The expression used for when 'foldmethod' is "expr". It is evaluated
2856 for each line to obtain its fold level. See |fold-expr|.
2858 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
2860 This option can't be set from a |modeline| when the 'diff' option is
2863 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
2864 evaluating 'foldexpr' |textlock|.
2866 *'foldignore'* *'fdi'*
2867 'foldignore' 'fdi' string (default: "#")
2870 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2872 Used only when 'foldmethod' is "indent". Lines starting with
2873 characters in 'foldignore' will get their fold level from surrounding
2874 lines. White space is skipped before checking for this character.
2875 The default "#" works well for C programs. See |fold-indent|.
2877 *'foldlevel'* *'fdl'*
2878 'foldlevel' 'fdl' number (default: 0)
2881 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2883 Sets the fold level: Folds with a higher level will be closed.
2884 Setting this option to zero will close all folds. Higher numbers will
2886 This option is set by commands like |zm|, |zM| and |zR|.
2887 See |fold-foldlevel|.
2889 *'foldlevelstart'* *'fdls'*
2890 'foldlevelstart' 'fdls' number (default: -1)
2893 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2895 Sets 'foldlevel' when starting to edit another buffer in a window.
2896 Useful to always start editing with all folds closed (value zero),
2897 some folds closed (one) or no folds closed (99).
2898 This is done before reading any modeline, thus a setting in a modeline
2899 overrules this option. Starting to edit a file for |diff-mode| also
2900 ignores this option and closes all folds.
2901 It is also done before BufReadPre autocommands, to allow an autocmd to
2902 overrule the 'foldlevel' value for specific files.
2903 When the value is negative, it is not used.
2905 *'foldmarker'* *'fmr'* *E536*
2906 'foldmarker' 'fmr' string (default: "{{{,}}}")
2909 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2911 The start and end marker used when 'foldmethod' is "marker". There
2912 must be one comma, which separates the start and end marker. The
2913 marker is a literal string (a regular expression would be too slow).
2916 *'foldmethod'* *'fdm'*
2917 'foldmethod' 'fdm' string (default: "manual")
2920 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2922 The kind of folding used for the current window. Possible values:
2923 |fold-manual| manual Folds are created manually.
2924 |fold-indent| indent Lines with equal indent form a fold.
2925 |fold-expr| expr 'foldexpr' gives the fold level of a line.
2926 |fold-marker| marker Markers are used to specify folds.
2927 |fold-syntax| syntax Syntax highlighting items specify folds.
2928 |fold-diff| diff Fold text that is not changed.
2930 *'foldminlines'* *'fml'*
2931 'foldminlines' 'fml' number (default: 1)
2934 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2936 Sets the minimum number of screen lines for a fold to be displayed
2937 closed. Also for manually closed folds.
2938 Note that this only has an effect of what is displayed. After using
2939 "zc" to close a fold, which is displayed open because it's smaller
2940 than 'foldminlines', a following "zc" may close a containing fold.
2942 *'foldnestmax'* *'fdn'*
2943 'foldnestmax' 'fdn' number (default: 20)
2946 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2948 Sets the maximum nesting of folds for the "indent" and "syntax"
2949 methods. This avoids that too many folds will be created. Using more
2950 than 20 doesn't work, because the internal limit is 20.
2952 *'foldopen'* *'fdo'*
2953 'foldopen' 'fdo' string (default: "block,hor,mark,percent,quickfix,
2957 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2959 Specifies for which type of commands folds will be opened, if the
2960 command moves the cursor into a closed fold. It is a comma separated
2964 block "(", "{", "[[", "[{", etc.
2965 hor horizontal movements: "l", "w", "fx", etc.
2966 insert any command in Insert mode
2967 jump far jumps: "G", "gg", etc.
2968 mark jumping to a mark: "'m", CTRL-O, etc.
2970 quickfix ":cn", ":crew", ":make", etc.
2971 search search for a pattern: "/", "n", "*", "gd", etc.
2972 (not for a search pattern in a ":" command)
2973 Also for |[s| and |]s|.
2974 tag jumping to a tag: ":ta", CTRL-T, etc.
2975 undo undo or redo: "u" and CTRL-R
2976 When the command is part of a mapping this option is not used. Add
2977 the |zv| command to the mapping to get the same effect.
2978 When a movement command is used for an operator (e.g., "dl" or "y%")
2979 this option is not used. This means the operator will include the
2981 Note that vertical movements are not here, because it would make it
2982 very difficult to move onto a closed fold.
2983 In insert mode the folds containing the cursor will always be open
2984 when text is inserted.
2985 To close folds you can re-apply 'foldlevel' with the |zx| command or
2986 set the 'foldclose' option to "all".
2988 *'foldtext'* *'fdt'*
2989 'foldtext' 'fdt' string (default: "foldtext()")
2992 {not available when compiled without the |+folding|
2994 An expression which is used to specify the text displayed for a closed
2995 fold. See |fold-foldtext|.
2997 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3000 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
3001 evaluating 'foldtext' |textlock|.
3003 *'formatoptions'* *'fo'*
3004 'formatoptions' 'fo' string (Vim default: "tcq", Vi default: "vt")
3007 This is a sequence of letters which describes how automatic
3008 formatting is to be done. See |fo-table|. When the 'paste' option is
3009 on, no formatting is done (like 'formatoptions' is empty). Commas can
3010 be inserted for readability.
3011 To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the
3012 "+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|.
3013 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
3014 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
3016 *'formatlistpat'* *'flp'*
3017 'formatlistpat' 'flp' string (default: "^\s*\d\+[\]:.)}\t ]\s*")
3020 A pattern that is used to recognize a list header. This is used for
3021 the "n" flag in 'formatoptions'.
3022 The pattern must match exactly the text that will be the indent for
3023 the line below it. You can use |/\ze| to mark the end of the match
3024 while still checking more characters. There must be a character
3025 following the pattern, when it matches the whole line it is handled
3026 like there is no match.
3027 The default recognizes a number, followed by an optional punctuation
3028 character and white space.
3030 *'formatprg'* *'fp'*
3031 'formatprg' 'fp' string (default "")
3034 The name of an external program that will be used to format the lines
3035 selected with the |gq| operator. The program must take the input on
3036 stdin and produce the output on stdout. The Unix program "fmt" is
3038 If the 'formatexpr' option is not empty it will be used instead.
3039 Otherwise, if 'formatprg' option is an empty string, the internal
3040 format function will be used |C-indenting|.
3041 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash|
3042 about including spaces and backslashes.
3043 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3046 *'formatexpr'* *'fex'*
3047 'formatexpr' 'fex' string (default "")
3050 {not available when compiled without the |+eval|
3052 Expression which is evaluated to format a range of lines for the |gq|
3053 operator. When this option is empty 'formatprg' is used.
3055 The |v:lnum| variable holds the first line to be formatted.
3056 The |v:count| variable holds the number of lines to be formatted.
3057 The |v:char| variable holds the character that is going to be
3058 inserted. This can be empty. Don't insert it yet!
3061 :set formatexpr=mylang#Format()
3062 < This will invoke the mylang#Format() function in the
3063 autoload/mylang.vim file in 'runtimepath'. |autoload|
3065 The expression is also evaluated when 'textwidth' is set and adding
3066 text beyond that limit. This happens under the same conditions as
3067 when internal formatting is used. Make sure the cursor is kept in the
3068 same spot relative to the text then! The |mode()| function will
3069 return "i" or "R" in this situation. When the function returns
3070 non-zero Vim will fall back to using the internal format mechanism.
3072 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3076 'fsync' 'fs' boolean (default on)
3079 When on, the library function fsync() will be called after writing a
3080 file. This will flush a file to disk, ensuring that it is safely
3081 written even on filesystems which do metadata-only journaling. This
3082 will force the harddrive to spin up on Linux systems running in laptop
3083 mode, so it may be undesirable in some situations. Be warned that
3084 turning this off increases the chances of data loss after a crash. On
3085 systems without an fsync() implementation, this variable is always
3087 Also see 'swapsync' for controlling fsync() on swap files.
3089 *'gdefault'* *'gd'* *'nogdefault'* *'nogd'*
3090 'gdefault' 'gd' boolean (default off)
3093 When on, the ":substitute" flag 'g' is default on. This means that
3094 all matches in a line are substituted instead of one. When a 'g' flag
3095 is given to a ":substitute" command, this will toggle the substitution
3096 of all or one match. See |complex-change|.
3098 command 'gdefault' on 'gdefault' off ~
3099 :s/// subst. all subst. one
3100 :s///g subst. one subst. all
3101 :s///gg subst. all subst. one
3103 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3105 *'grepformat'* *'gfm'*
3106 'grepformat' 'gfm' string (default "%f:%l%m,%f %l%m")
3109 Format to recognize for the ":grep" command output.
3110 This is a scanf-like string that uses the same format as the
3111 'errorformat' option: see |errorformat|.
3114 'grepprg' 'gp' string (default "grep -n ",
3115 Unix: "grep -n $* /dev/null",
3116 Win32: "findstr /n" or "grep -n",
3117 VMS: "SEARCH/NUMBERS ")
3118 global or local to buffer |global-local|
3120 Program to use for the |:grep| command. This option may contain '%'
3121 and '#' characters, which are expanded like when used in a command-
3122 line. The placeholder "$*" is allowed to specify where the arguments
3123 will be included. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See
3124 |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
3125 When your "grep" accepts the "-H" argument, use this to make ":grep"
3126 also work well with a single file: >
3127 :set grepprg=grep\ -nH
3128 < Special value: When 'grepprg' is set to "internal" the |:grep| command
3129 works like |:vimgrep|, |:lgrep| like |:lvimgrep|, |:grepadd| like
3130 |:vimgrepadd| and |:lgrepadd| like |:lvimgrepadd|.
3131 See also the section |:make_makeprg|, since most of the comments there
3132 apply equally to 'grepprg'.
3133 For Win32, the default is "findstr /n" if "findstr.exe" can be found,
3134 otherwise it's "grep -n".
3135 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
3138 *'guicursor'* *'gcr'* *E545* *E546* *E548* *E549*
3139 'guicursor' 'gcr' string (default "n-v-c:block-Cursor/lCursor,
3142 i-ci:ver25-Cursor/lCursor,
3143 r-cr:hor20-Cursor/lCursor,
3145 -blinkwait175-blinkoff150-blinkon175",
3146 for MS-DOS and Win32 console:
3147 "n-v-c:block,o:hor50,i-ci:hor15,
3148 r-cr:hor30,sm:block")
3151 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled, and
3152 for MS-DOS and Win32 console}
3153 This option tells Vim what the cursor should look like in different
3154 modes. It fully works in the GUI. In an MSDOS or Win32 console, only
3155 the height of the cursor can be changed. This can be done by
3156 specifying a block cursor, or a percentage for a vertical or
3158 For a console the 't_SI' and 't_EI' escape sequences are used.
3160 The option is a comma separated list of parts. Each part consist of a
3161 mode-list and an argument-list:
3162 mode-list:argument-list,mode-list:argument-list,..
3163 The mode-list is a dash separated list of these modes:
3166 ve Visual mode with 'selection' "exclusive" (same as 'v',
3168 o Operator-pending mode
3171 c Command-line Normal (append) mode
3172 ci Command-line Insert mode
3173 cr Command-line Replace mode
3174 sm showmatch in Insert mode
3176 The argument-list is a dash separated list of these arguments:
3177 hor{N} horizontal bar, {N} percent of the character height
3178 ver{N} vertical bar, {N} percent of the character width
3179 block block cursor, fills the whole character
3180 [only one of the above three should be present]
3181 blinkwait{N} *cursor-blinking*
3184 blink times for cursor: blinkwait is the delay before
3185 the cursor starts blinking, blinkon is the time that
3186 the cursor is shown and blinkoff is the time that the
3187 cursor is not shown. The times are in msec. When one
3188 of the numbers is zero, there is no blinking. The
3189 default is: "blinkwait700-blinkon400-blinkoff250".
3190 These numbers are used for a missing entry. This
3191 means that blinking is enabled by default. To switch
3192 blinking off you can use "blinkon0". The cursor only
3193 blinks when Vim is waiting for input, not while
3194 executing a command.
3195 To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see
3198 a highlight group name, that sets the color and font
3200 {group-name}/{group-name}
3201 Two highlight group names, the first is used when
3202 no language mappings are used, the other when they
3203 are. |language-mapping|
3206 n-c-v:block-nCursor in Normal, Command-line and Visual mode, use a
3207 block cursor with colors from the "nCursor"
3209 i-ci:ver30-iCursor-blinkwait300-blinkon200-blinkoff150
3210 In Insert and Command-line Insert mode, use a
3211 30% vertical bar cursor with colors from the
3212 "iCursor" highlight group. Blink a bit
3215 The 'a' mode is different. It will set the given argument-list for
3216 all modes. It does not reset anything to defaults. This can be used
3217 to do a common setting for all modes. For example, to switch off
3218 blinking: "a:blinkon0"
3220 Examples of cursor highlighting: >
3221 :highlight Cursor gui=reverse guifg=NONE guibg=NONE
3222 :highlight Cursor gui=NONE guifg=bg guibg=fg
3225 *E235* *E596* *E610* *E611*
3226 'guifont' 'gfn' string (default "")
3229 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled}
3230 This is a list of fonts which will be used for the GUI version of Vim.
3231 In its simplest form the value is just one font name. When
3232 the font cannot be found you will get an error message. To try other
3233 font names a list can be specified, font names separated with commas.
3234 The first valid font is used.
3236 On systems where 'guifontset' is supported (X11) and 'guifontset' is
3237 not empty, then 'guifont' is not used.
3239 Spaces after a comma are ignored. To include a comma in a font name
3240 precede it with a backslash. Setting an option requires an extra
3241 backslash before a space and a backslash. See also
3242 |option-backslash|. For example: >
3243 :set guifont=Screen15,\ 7x13,font\\,with\\,commas
3244 < will make Vim try to use the font "Screen15" first, and if it fails it
3245 will try to use "7x13" and then "font,with,commas" instead.
3247 If none of the fonts can be loaded, Vim will keep the current setting.
3248 If an empty font list is given, Vim will try using other resource
3249 settings (for X, it will use the Vim.font resource), and finally it
3250 will try some builtin default which should always be there ("7x13" in
3251 the case of X). The font names given should be "normal" fonts. Vim
3252 will try to find the related bold and italic fonts.
3254 For Win32, GTK, Motif, Mac OS and Photon: >
3256 < will bring up a font requester, where you can pick the font you want.
3258 The font name depends on the GUI used. See |setting-guifont| for a
3259 way to set 'guifont' for various systems.
3261 For the GTK+ 2 GUI the font name looks like this: >
3262 :set guifont=Andale\ Mono\ 11
3263 < That's all. XLFDs are not used. For Chinese this is reported to work
3266 set guifont=Bitstream\ Vera\ Sans\ Mono\ 12,Fixed\ 12
3267 set guifontwide=Microsoft\ Yahei\ 12,WenQuanYi\ Zen\ Hei\ 12
3270 For Mac OSX you can use something like this: >
3271 :set guifont=Monaco:h10
3272 < Also see 'macatsui', it can help fix display problems.
3274 Note that the fonts must be mono-spaced (all characters have the same
3275 width). An exception is GTK 2: all fonts are accepted, but
3276 mono-spaced fonts look best.
3278 To preview a font on X11, you might be able to use the "xfontsel"
3279 program. The "xlsfonts" program gives a list of all available fonts.
3281 For the Win32 GUI *E244* *E245*
3282 - takes these options in the font name:
3283 hXX - height is XX (points, can be floating-point)
3284 wXX - width is XX (points, can be floating-point)
3289 cXX - character set XX. Valid charsets are: ANSI, ARABIC,
3290 BALTIC, CHINESEBIG5, DEFAULT, EASTEUROPE, GB2312, GREEK,
3291 HANGEUL, HEBREW, JOHAB, MAC, OEM, RUSSIAN, SHIFTJIS,
3292 SYMBOL, THAI, TURKISH, VIETNAMESE ANSI and BALTIC.
3293 Normally you would use "cDEFAULT".
3295 Use a ':' to separate the options.
3296 - A '_' can be used in the place of a space, so you don't need to use
3297 backslashes to escape the spaces.
3299 :set guifont=courier_new:h12:w5:b:cRUSSIAN
3300 :set guifont=Andale_Mono:h7.5:w4.5
3301 < See also |font-sizes|.
3303 *'guifontset'* *'gfs'*
3304 *E250* *E252* *E234* *E597* *E598*
3305 'guifontset' 'gfs' string (default "")
3308 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled and
3309 with the |+xfontset| feature}
3310 {not available in the GTK+ 2 GUI}
3311 When not empty, specifies two (or more) fonts to be used. The first
3312 one for normal English, the second one for your special language. See
3314 Setting this option also means that all font names will be handled as
3315 a fontset name. Also the ones used for the "font" argument of the
3316 |:highlight| command.
3317 The fonts must match with the current locale. If fonts for the
3318 character sets that the current locale uses are not included, setting
3319 'guifontset' will fail.
3320 Note the difference between 'guifont' and 'guifontset': In 'guifont'
3321 the comma-separated names are alternative names, one of which will be
3322 used. In 'guifontset' the whole string is one fontset name,
3323 including the commas. It is not possible to specify alternative
3325 This example works on many X11 systems: >
3326 :set guifontset=-*-*-medium-r-normal--16-*-*-*-c-*-*-*
3328 *'guifontwide'* *'gfw'* *E231* *E533* *E534*
3329 'guifontwide' 'gfw' string (default "")
3332 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled}
3333 When not empty, specifies a comma-separated list of fonts to be used
3334 for double-width characters. The first font that can be loaded is
3336 Note: The size of these fonts must be exactly twice as wide as the one
3337 specified with 'guifont' and the same height.
3339 All GUI versions but GTK+ 2:
3341 'guifontwide' is only used when 'encoding' is set to "utf-8" and
3342 'guifontset' is empty or invalid.
3343 When 'guifont' is set and a valid font is found in it and
3344 'guifontwide' is empty Vim will attempt to find a matching
3345 double-width font and set 'guifontwide' to it.
3347 GTK+ 2 GUI only: *guifontwide_gtk2*
3349 If set and valid, 'guifontwide' is always used for double width
3350 characters, even if 'encoding' is not set to "utf-8".
3351 Vim does not attempt to find an appropriate value for 'guifontwide'
3352 automatically. If 'guifontwide' is empty Pango/Xft will choose the
3353 font for characters not available in 'guifont'. Thus you do not need
3354 to set 'guifontwide' at all unless you want to override the choice
3357 *'guiheadroom'* *'ghr'*
3358 'guiheadroom' 'ghr' number (default 50)
3360 {not in Vi} {only for GTK and X11 GUI}
3361 The number of pixels subtracted from the screen height when fitting
3362 the GUI window on the screen. Set this before the GUI is started,
3363 e.g., in your |gvimrc| file. When zero, the whole screen height will
3364 be used by the window. When positive, the specified number of pixel
3365 lines will be left for window decorations and other items on the
3366 screen. Set it to a negative value to allow windows taller than the
3369 *'guioptions'* *'go'*
3370 'guioptions' 'go' string (default "gmrLtT" (MS-Windows),
3371 "agimrLtT" (GTK, Motif and Athena))
3374 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled}
3375 This option only has an effect in the GUI version of Vim. It is a
3376 sequence of letters which describes what components and options of the
3378 To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the
3379 "+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|.
3381 Valid letters are as follows:
3382 *guioptions_a* *'go-a'*
3383 'a' Autoselect: If present, then whenever VISUAL mode is started,
3384 or the Visual area extended, Vim tries to become the owner of
3385 the windowing system's global selection. This means that the
3386 Visually highlighted text is available for pasting into other
3387 applications as well as into Vim itself. When the Visual mode
3388 ends, possibly due to an operation on the text, or when an
3389 application wants to paste the selection, the highlighted text
3390 is automatically yanked into the "* selection register.
3391 Thus the selection is still available for pasting into other
3392 applications after the VISUAL mode has ended.
3393 If not present, then Vim won't become the owner of the
3394 windowing system's global selection unless explicitly told to
3395 by a yank or delete operation for the "* register.
3396 The same applies to the modeless selection.
3398 'A' Autoselect for the modeless selection. Like 'a', but only
3399 applies to the modeless selection.
3401 'guioptions' autoselect Visual autoselect modeless ~
3408 'c' Use console dialogs instead of popup dialogs for simple
3411 'e' Add tab pages when indicated with 'showtabline'.
3412 'guitablabel' can be used to change the text in the labels.
3413 When 'e' is missing a non-GUI tab pages line may be used.
3414 The GUI tabs are only supported on some systems, currently
3415 GTK, Motif, Mac OS/X and MS-Windows.
3417 'f' Foreground: Don't use fork() to detach the GUI from the shell
3418 where it was started. Use this for programs that wait for the
3419 editor to finish (e.g., an e-mail program). Alternatively you
3420 can use "gvim -f" or ":gui -f" to start the GUI in the
3421 foreground. |gui-fork|
3422 Note: Set this option in the vimrc file. The forking may have
3423 happened already when the |gvimrc| file is read.
3425 'i' Use a Vim icon. For GTK with KDE it is used in the left-upper
3426 corner of the window. It's black&white on non-GTK, because of
3427 limitations of X11. For a color icon, see |X11-icon|.
3429 'm' Menu bar is present.
3431 'M' The system menu "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim" is not sourced. Note
3432 that this flag must be added in the .vimrc file, before
3433 switching on syntax or filetype recognition (when the |gvimrc|
3434 file is sourced the system menu has already been loaded; the
3435 ":syntax on" and ":filetype on" commands load the menu too).
3437 'g' Grey menu items: Make menu items that are not active grey. If
3438 'g' is not included inactive menu items are not shown at all.
3439 Exception: Athena will always use grey menu items.
3441 't' Include tearoff menu items. Currently only works for Win32,
3442 GTK+, and Motif 1.2 GUI.
3444 'T' Include Toolbar. Currently only in Win32, GTK+, Motif, Photon
3447 'r' Right-hand scrollbar is always present.
3449 'R' Right-hand scrollbar is present when there is a vertically
3452 'l' Left-hand scrollbar is always present.
3454 'L' Left-hand scrollbar is present when there is a vertically
3457 'b' Bottom (horizontal) scrollbar is present. Its size depends on
3458 the longest visible line, or on the cursor line if the 'h'
3459 flag is included. |gui-horiz-scroll|
3461 'h' Limit horizontal scrollbar size to the length of the cursor
3462 line. Reduces computations. |gui-horiz-scroll|
3464 And yes, you may even have scrollbars on the left AND the right if
3465 you really want to :-). See |gui-scrollbars| for more information.
3468 'v' Use a vertical button layout for dialogs. When not included,
3469 a horizontal layout is preferred, but when it doesn't fit a
3470 vertical layout is used anyway.
3472 'p' Use Pointer callbacks for X11 GUI. This is required for some
3473 window managers. If the cursor is not blinking or hollow at
3474 the right moment, try adding this flag. This must be done
3475 before starting the GUI. Set it in your |gvimrc|. Adding or
3476 removing it after the GUI has started has no effect.
3478 'F' Add a footer. Only for Motif. See |gui-footer|.
3481 *'guipty'* *'noguipty'*
3482 'guipty' boolean (default on)
3485 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled}
3486 Only in the GUI: If on, an attempt is made to open a pseudo-tty for
3487 I/O to/from shell commands. See |gui-pty|.
3489 *'guitablabel'* *'gtl'*
3490 'guitablabel' 'gtl' string (default empty)
3493 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled and
3494 with the +windows feature}
3495 When nonempty describes the text to use in a label of the GUI tab
3496 pages line. When empty and when the result is empty Vim will use a
3497 default label. See |setting-guitablabel| for more info.
3499 The format of this option is like that of 'statusline'.
3500 'guitabtooltip' is used for the tooltip, see below.
3502 Only used when the GUI tab pages line is displayed. 'e' must be
3503 present in 'guioptions'. For the non-GUI tab pages line 'tabline' is
3506 *'guitabtooltip'* *'gtt'*
3507 'guitabtooltip' 'gtt' string (default empty)
3510 {only available when compiled with GUI enabled and
3511 with the +windows feature}
3512 When nonempty describes the text to use in a tooltip for the GUI tab
3513 pages line. When empty Vim will use a default tooltip.
3514 This option is otherwise just like 'guitablabel' above.
3515 You can include a line break. Simplest method is to use |:let|: >
3516 :let &guitabtooltip = "line one\nline two"
3520 'helpfile' 'hf' string (default (MSDOS) "$VIMRUNTIME\doc\help.txt"
3521 (others) "$VIMRUNTIME/doc/help.txt")
3524 Name of the main help file. All distributed help files should be
3525 placed together in one directory. Additionally, all "doc" directories
3526 in 'runtimepath' will be used.
3527 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. For example:
3528 "$VIMRUNTIME/doc/help.txt". If $VIMRUNTIME is not set, $VIM is also
3529 tried. Also see |$VIMRUNTIME| and |option-backslash| about including
3530 spaces and backslashes.
3531 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
3534 *'helpheight'* *'hh'*
3535 'helpheight' 'hh' number (default 20)
3538 {not available when compiled without the +windows
3540 Minimal initial height of the help window when it is opened with the
3541 ":help" command. The initial height of the help window is half of the
3542 current window, or (when the 'ea' option is on) the same as other
3543 windows. When the height is less than 'helpheight', the height is
3544 set to 'helpheight'. Set to zero to disable.
3546 *'helplang'* *'hlg'*
3547 'helplang' 'hlg' string (default: messages language or empty)
3549 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_lang|
3552 Comma separated list of languages. Vim will use the first language
3553 for which the desired help can be found. The English help will always
3554 be used as a last resort. You can add "en" to prefer English over
3555 another language, but that will only find tags that exist in that
3556 language and not in the English help.
3559 < This will first search German, then Italian and finally English help
3561 When using |CTRL-]| and ":help!" in a non-English help file Vim will
3562 try to find the tag in the current language before using this option.
3563 See |help-translated|.
3565 *'hidden'* *'hid'* *'nohidden'* *'nohid'*
3566 'hidden' 'hid' boolean (default off)
3569 When off a buffer is unloaded when it is |abandon|ed. When on a
3570 buffer becomes hidden when it is |abandon|ed. If the buffer is still
3571 displayed in another window, it does not become hidden, of course.
3572 The commands that move through the buffer list sometimes make a buffer
3573 hidden although the 'hidden' option is off: When the buffer is
3574 modified, 'autowrite' is off or writing is not possible, and the '!'
3575 flag was used. See also |windows.txt|.
3576 To only make one buffer hidden use the 'bufhidden' option.
3577 This option is set for one command with ":hide {command}" |:hide|.
3578 WARNING: It's easy to forget that you have changes in hidden buffers.
3579 Think twice when using ":q!" or ":qa!".
3581 *'highlight'* *'hl'*
3582 'highlight' 'hl' string (default (as a single string):
3583 "8:SpecialKey,@:NonText,d:Directory,
3584 e:ErrorMsg,i:IncSearch,l:Search,m:MoreMsg,
3585 M:ModeMsg,n:LineNr,r:Question,
3586 s:StatusLine,S:StatusLineNC,c:VertSplit,
3587 t:Title,v:Visual,w:WarningMsg,W:WildMenu,
3588 f:Folded,F:FoldColumn,A:DiffAdd,
3589 C:DiffChange,D:DiffDelete,T:DiffText,
3590 >:SignColumn,B:SpellBad,P:SpellCap,
3591 R:SpellRare,L:SpellLocal,
3593 x:PmenuSbar,X:PmenuThumb")
3596 This option can be used to set highlighting mode for various
3597 occasions. It is a comma separated list of character pairs. The
3598 first character in a pair gives the occasion, the second the mode to
3599 use for that occasion. The occasions are:
3600 |hl-SpecialKey| 8 Meta and special keys listed with ":map"
3601 |hl-NonText| @ '~' and '@' at the end of the window and
3602 characters from 'showbreak'
3603 |hl-Directory| d directories in CTRL-D listing and other special
3605 |hl-ErrorMsg| e error messages
3606 h (obsolete, ignored)
3607 |hl-IncSearch| i 'incsearch' highlighting
3608 |hl-Search| l last search pattern highlighting (see 'hlsearch')
3609 |hl-MoreMsg| m |more-prompt|
3610 |hl-ModeMsg| M Mode (e.g., "-- INSERT --")
3611 |hl-LineNr| n line number for ":number" and ":#" commands
3612 |hl-Question| r |hit-enter| prompt and yes/no questions
3613 |hl-StatusLine| s status line of current window |status-line|
3614 |hl-StatusLineNC| S status lines of not-current windows
3615 |hl-Title| t Titles for output from ":set all", ":autocmd" etc.
3616 |hl-VertSplit| c column used to separate vertically split windows
3617 |hl-Visual| v Visual mode
3618 |hl-VisualNOS| V Visual mode when Vim does is "Not Owning the
3619 Selection" Only X11 Gui's |gui-x11| and
3621 |hl-WarningMsg| w warning messages
3622 |hl-WildMenu| W wildcard matches displayed for 'wildmenu'
3623 |hl-Folded| f line used for closed folds
3624 |hl-FoldColumn| F 'foldcolumn'
3625 |hl-DiffAdd| A added line in diff mode
3626 |hl-DiffChange| C changed line in diff mode
3627 |hl-DiffDelete| D deleted line in diff mode
3628 |hl-DiffText| T inserted text in diff mode
3629 |hl-SignColumn| > column used for |signs|
3630 |hl-SpellBad| B misspelled word |spell|
3631 |hl-SpellCap| P word that should start with capital|spell|
3632 |hl-SpellRare| R rare word |spell|
3633 |hl-SpellLocal| L word from other region |spell|
3634 |hl-Pmenu| + popup menu normal line
3635 |hl-PmenuSel| = popup menu normal line
3636 |hl-PmenuSbar| x popup menu scrollbar
3637 |hl-PmenuThumb| X popup menu scrollbar thumb
3639 The display modes are:
3640 r reverse (termcap entry "mr" and "me")
3641 i italic (termcap entry "ZH" and "ZR")
3642 b bold (termcap entry "md" and "me")
3643 s standout (termcap entry "so" and "se")
3644 u underline (termcap entry "us" and "ue")
3645 c undercurl (termcap entry "Cs" and "Ce")
3648 : use a highlight group
3649 The default is used for occasions that are not included.
3650 If you want to change what the display modes do, see |dos-colors|
3652 When using the ':' display mode, this must be followed by the name of
3653 a highlight group. A highlight group can be used to define any type
3654 of highlighting, including using color. See |:highlight| on how to
3655 define one. The default uses a different group for each occasion.
3656 See |highlight-default| for the default highlight groups.
3658 *'hlsearch'* *'hls'* *'nohlsearch'* *'nohls'*
3659 'hlsearch' 'hls' boolean (default off)
3662 {not available when compiled without the
3663 |+extra_search| feature}
3664 When there is a previous search pattern, highlight all its matches.
3665 The type of highlighting used can be set with the 'l' occasion in the
3666 'highlight' option. This uses the "Search" highlight group by
3667 default. Note that only the matching text is highlighted, any offsets
3669 See also: 'incsearch' and |:match|.
3670 When you get bored looking at the highlighted matches, you can turn it
3671 off with |:nohlsearch|. As soon as you use a search command, the
3672 highlighting comes back.
3673 'redrawtime' specifies the maximum time spent on finding matches.
3674 When the search pattern can match an end-of-line, Vim will try to
3675 highlight all of the matched text. However, this depends on where the
3676 search starts. This will be the first line in the window or the first
3677 line below a closed fold. A match in a previous line which is not
3678 drawn may not continue in a newly drawn line.
3679 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3682 'history' 'hi' number (Vim default: 20, Vi default: 0)
3685 A history of ":" commands, and a history of previous search patterns
3686 are remembered. This option decides how many entries may be stored in
3687 each of these histories (see |cmdline-editing|).
3688 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
3689 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
3691 *'hkmap'* *'hk'* *'nohkmap'* *'nohk'*
3692 'hkmap' 'hk' boolean (default off)
3695 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
3697 When on, the keyboard is mapped for the Hebrew character set.
3698 Normally you would set 'allowrevins' and use CTRL-_ in insert mode to
3699 toggle this option. See |rileft.txt|.
3700 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3702 *'hkmapp'* *'hkp'* *'nohkmapp'* *'nohkp'*
3703 'hkmapp' 'hkp' boolean (default off)
3706 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
3708 When on, phonetic keyboard mapping is used. 'hkmap' must also be on.
3709 This is useful if you have a non-Hebrew keyboard.
3711 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3714 'icon' boolean (default off, on when title can be restored)
3717 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
3719 When on, the icon text of the window will be set to the value of
3720 'iconstring' (if it is not empty), or to the name of the file
3721 currently being edited. Only the last part of the name is used.
3722 Overridden by the 'iconstring' option.
3723 Only works if the terminal supports setting window icons (currently
3724 only X11 GUI and terminals with a non-empty 't_IS' option - these are
3725 Unix xterm and iris-ansi by default, where 't_IS' is taken from the
3727 When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original icon will be
3728 restored if possible |X11|. See |X11-icon| for changing the icon on
3732 'iconstring' string (default "")
3735 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
3737 When this option is not empty, it will be used for the icon text of
3738 the window. This happens only when the 'icon' option is on.
3739 Only works if the terminal supports setting window icon text
3740 (currently only X11 GUI and terminals with a non-empty 't_IS' option).
3741 Does not work for MS Windows.
3742 When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original icon will be
3743 restored if possible |X11|.
3744 When this option contains printf-style '%' items, they will be
3745 expanded according to the rules used for 'statusline'. See
3746 'titlestring' for example settings.
3747 {not available when compiled without the |+statusline| feature}
3749 *'ignorecase'* *'ic'* *'noignorecase'* *'noic'*
3750 'ignorecase' 'ic' boolean (default off)
3752 Ignore case in search patterns. Also used when searching in the tags
3754 Also see 'smartcase'.
3755 Can be overruled by using "\c" or "\C" in the pattern, see
3758 *'imactivatekey'* *'imak'*
3759 'imactivatekey' 'imak' string (default "")
3762 {only available when compiled with |+xim| and
3764 Specifies the key that your Input Method in X-Windows uses for
3765 activation. When this is specified correctly, vim can fully control
3766 IM with 'imcmdline', 'iminsert' and 'imsearch'.
3767 You can't use this option to change the activation key, the option
3768 tells Vim what the key is.
3770 [MODIFIER_FLAG-]KEY_STRING
3772 These characters can be used for MODIFIER_FLAG (case is ignored):
3781 Combinations are allowed, for example "S-C-space" or "SC-space" are
3782 both shift+ctrl+space.
3783 See <X11/keysymdef.h> and XStringToKeysym for KEY_STRING.
3786 :set imactivatekey=S-space
3787 < "S-space" means shift+space. This is the activation key for kinput2 +
3788 canna (Japanese), and ami (Korean).
3790 *'imcmdline'* *'imc'* *'noimcmdline'* *'noimc'*
3791 'imcmdline' 'imc' boolean (default off)
3794 {only available when compiled with the |+xim|
3795 |+multi_byte_ime| or |global-ime| feature}
3796 When set the Input Method is always on when starting to edit a command
3797 line, unless entering a search pattern (see 'imsearch' for that).
3798 Setting this option is useful when your input method allows entering
3799 English characters directly, e.g., when it's used to type accented
3800 characters with dead keys.
3802 *'imdisable'* *'imd'* *'noimdisable'* *'noimd'*
3803 'imdisable' 'imd' boolean (default off, on for some systems (SGI))
3806 {only available when compiled with the |+xim|
3807 |+multi_byte_ime| or |global-ime| feature}
3808 When set the Input Method is never used. This is useful to disable
3809 the IM when it doesn't work properly.
3810 Currently this option is on by default for SGI/IRIX machines. This
3811 may change in later releases.
3813 *'iminsert'* *'imi'*
3814 'iminsert' 'imi' number (default 0, 2 when an input method is supported)
3817 Specifies whether :lmap or an Input Method (IM) is to be used in
3818 Insert mode. Valid values:
3819 0 :lmap is off and IM is off
3820 1 :lmap is ON and IM is off
3821 2 :lmap is off and IM is ON
3822 2 is available only when compiled with the |+multi_byte_ime|, |+xim|
3824 To always reset the option to zero when leaving Insert mode with <Esc>
3826 :inoremap <ESC> <ESC>:set iminsert=0<CR>
3827 < This makes :lmap and IM turn off automatically when leaving Insert
3829 Note that this option changes when using CTRL-^ in Insert mode
3831 The value is set to 1 when setting 'keymap' to a valid keymap name.
3832 It is also used for the argument of commands like "r" and "f".
3833 The value 0 may not work correctly with Athena and Motif with some XIM
3834 methods. Use 'imdisable' to disable XIM then.
3836 *'imsearch'* *'ims'*
3837 'imsearch' 'ims' number (default 0, 2 when an input method is supported)
3840 Specifies whether :lmap or an Input Method (IM) is to be used when
3841 entering a search pattern. Valid values:
3842 -1 the value of 'iminsert' is used, makes it look like
3843 'iminsert' is also used when typing a search pattern
3844 0 :lmap is off and IM is off
3845 1 :lmap is ON and IM is off
3846 2 :lmap is off and IM is ON
3847 Note that this option changes when using CTRL-^ in Command-line mode
3849 The value is set to 1 when it is not -1 and setting the 'keymap'
3850 option to a valid keymap name.
3851 The value 0 may not work correctly with Athena and Motif with some XIM
3852 methods. Use 'imdisable' to disable XIM then.
3855 'include' 'inc' string (default "^\s*#\s*include")
3856 global or local to buffer |global-local|
3858 {not available when compiled without the
3859 |+find_in_path| feature}
3860 Pattern to be used to find an include command. It is a search
3861 pattern, just like for the "/" command (See |pattern|). The default
3862 value is for C programs. This option is used for the commands "[i",
3864 Normally the 'isfname' option is used to recognize the file name that
3865 comes after the matched pattern. But if "\zs" appears in the pattern
3866 then the text matched from "\zs" to the end, or until "\ze" if it
3867 appears, is used as the file name. Use this to include characters
3868 that are not in 'isfname', such as a space. You can then use
3869 'includeexpr' to process the matched text.
3870 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
3872 *'includeexpr'* *'inex'*
3873 'includeexpr' 'inex' string (default "")
3876 {not available when compiled without the
3877 |+find_in_path| or |+eval| feature}
3878 Expression to be used to transform the string found with the 'include'
3879 option to a file name. Mostly useful to change "." to "/" for Java: >
3880 :set includeexpr=substitute(v:fname,'\\.','/','g')
3881 < The "v:fname" variable will be set to the file name that was detected.
3883 Also used for the |gf| command if an unmodified file name can't be
3884 found. Allows doing "gf" on the name after an 'include' statement.
3885 Also used for |<cfile>|.
3887 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3890 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
3891 evaluating 'includeexpr' |textlock|.
3893 *'incsearch'* *'is'* *'noincsearch'* *'nois'*
3894 'incsearch' 'is' boolean (default off)
3897 {not available when compiled without the
3898 |+extra_search| feature}
3899 While typing a search command, show where the pattern, as it was typed
3900 so far, matches. The matched string is highlighted. If the pattern
3901 is invalid or not found, nothing is shown. The screen will be updated
3902 often, this is only useful on fast terminals.
3903 Note that the match will be shown, but the cursor will return to its
3904 original position when no match is found and when pressing <Esc>. You
3905 still need to finish the search command with <Enter> to move the
3906 cursor to the match.
3907 When compiled with the |+reltime| feature Vim only searches for about
3908 half a second. With a complicated pattern and/or a lot of text the
3909 match may not be found. This is to avoid that Vim hangs while you
3910 are typing the pattern.
3911 The highlighting can be set with the 'i' flag in 'highlight'.
3912 See also: 'hlsearch'.
3913 CTRL-L can be used to add one character from after the current match
3914 to the command line.
3915 CTRL-R CTRL-W can be used to add the word at the end of the current
3916 match, excluding the characters that were already typed.
3917 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
3919 *'indentexpr'* *'inde'*
3920 'indentexpr' 'inde' string (default "")
3923 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
3924 or |+eval| features}
3925 Expression which is evaluated to obtain the proper indent for a line.
3926 It is used when a new line is created, for the |=| operator and
3927 in Insert mode as specified with the 'indentkeys' option.
3928 When this option is not empty, it overrules the 'cindent' and
3929 'smartindent' indenting.
3930 When 'paste' is set this option is not used for indenting.
3931 The expression is evaluated with |v:lnum| set to the line number for
3932 which the indent is to be computed. The cursor is also in this line
3933 when the expression is evaluated (but it may be moved around).
3934 The expression must return the number of spaces worth of indent. It
3935 can return "-1" to keep the current indent (this means 'autoindent' is
3936 used for the indent).
3937 Functions useful for computing the indent are |indent()|, |cindent()|
3939 The evaluation of the expression must not have side effects! It must
3940 not change the text, jump to another window, etc. Afterwards the
3941 cursor position is always restored, thus the cursor may be moved.
3942 Normally this option would be set to call a function: >
3943 :set indentexpr=GetMyIndent()
3944 < Error messages will be suppressed, unless the 'debug' option contains
3946 See |indent-expression|.
3947 NOTE: This option is made empty when 'compatible' is set.
3949 The expression may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
3952 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
3953 evaluating 'indentexpr' |textlock|.
3956 *'indentkeys'* *'indk'*
3957 'indentkeys' 'indk' string (default "0{,0},:,0#,!^F,o,O,e")
3960 {not available when compiled without the |+cindent|
3962 A list of keys that, when typed in Insert mode, cause reindenting of
3963 the current line. Only happens if 'indentexpr' isn't empty.
3964 The format is identical to 'cinkeys', see |indentkeys-format|.
3965 See |C-indenting| and |indent-expression|.
3967 *'infercase'* *'inf'* *'noinfercase'* *'noinf'*
3968 'infercase' 'inf' boolean (default off)
3971 When doing keyword completion in insert mode |ins-completion|, and
3972 'ignorecase' is also on, the case of the match is adjusted depending
3973 on the typed text. If the typed text contains a lowercase letter
3974 where the match has an upper case letter, the completed part is made
3975 lowercase. If the typed text has no lowercase letters and the match
3976 has a lowercase letter where the typed text has an uppercase letter,
3977 and there is a letter before it, the completed part is made uppercase.
3978 With 'noinfercase' the match is used as-is.
3980 *'insertmode'* *'im'* *'noinsertmode'* *'noim'*
3981 'insertmode' 'im' boolean (default off)
3984 Makes Vim work in a way that Insert mode is the default mode. Useful
3985 if you want to use Vim as a modeless editor. Used for |evim|.
3986 These Insert mode commands will be useful:
3987 - Use the cursor keys to move around.
3988 - Use CTRL-O to execute one Normal mode command |i_CTRL-O|). When
3989 this is a mapping, it is executed as if 'insertmode' was off.
3990 Normal mode remains active until the mapping is finished.
3991 - Use CTRL-L to execute a number of Normal mode commands, then use
3992 <Esc> to get back to Insert mode. Note that CTRL-L moves the cursor
3993 left, like <Esc> does when 'insertmode' isn't set. |i_CTRL-L|
3995 These items change when 'insertmode' is set:
3996 - when starting to edit of a file, Vim goes to Insert mode.
3997 - <Esc> in Insert mode is a no-op and beeps.
3998 - <Esc> in Normal mode makes Vim go to Insert mode.
3999 - CTRL-L in Insert mode is a command, it is not inserted.
4000 - CTRL-Z in Insert mode suspends Vim, see |CTRL-Z|. *i_CTRL-Z*
4001 However, when <Esc> is used inside a mapping, it behaves like
4002 'insertmode' was not set. This was done to be able to use the same
4003 mappings with 'insertmode' set or not set.
4004 When executing commands with |:normal| 'insertmode' is not used.
4006 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
4009 'isfname' 'isf' string (default for MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2:
4010 "@,48-57,/,\,.,-,_,+,,,#,$,%,{,},[,],:,@-@,!,~,="
4011 for AMIGA: "@,48-57,/,.,-,_,+,,,$,:"
4012 for VMS: "@,48-57,/,.,-,_,+,,,#,$,%,<,>,[,],:,;,~"
4013 for OS/390: "@,240-249,/,.,-,_,+,,,#,$,%,~,="
4014 otherwise: "@,48-57,/,.,-,_,+,,,#,$,%,~,=")
4017 The characters specified by this option are included in file names and
4018 path names. Filenames are used for commands like "gf", "[i" and in
4019 the tags file. It is also used for "\f" in a |pattern|.
4020 Multi-byte characters 256 and above are always included, only the
4021 characters up to 255 are specified with this option.
4022 For UTF-8 the characters 0xa0 to 0xff are included as well.
4023 Think twice before adding white space to this option. Although a
4024 space may appear inside a file name, the effect will be that Vim
4025 doesn't know where a file name starts or ends when doing completion.
4026 It most likely works better without a space in 'isfname'.
4028 Note that on systems using a backslash as path separator, Vim tries to
4029 do its best to make it work as you would expect. That is a bit
4030 tricky, since Vi originally used the backslash to escape special
4031 characters. Vim will not remove a backslash in front of a normal file
4032 name character on these systems, but it will on Unix and alikes. The
4033 '&' and '^' are not included by default, because these are special for
4036 The format of this option is a list of parts, separated with commas.
4037 Each part can be a single character number or a range. A range is two
4038 character numbers with '-' in between. A character number can be a
4039 decimal number between 0 and 255 or the ASCII character itself (does
4040 not work for digits). Example:
4041 "_,-,128-140,#-43" (include '_' and '-' and the range
4042 128 to 140 and '#' to 43)
4043 If a part starts with '^', the following character number or range
4044 will be excluded from the option. The option is interpreted from left
4045 to right. Put the excluded character after the range where it is
4046 included. To include '^' itself use it as the last character of the
4047 option or the end of a range. Example:
4048 "^a-z,#,^" (exclude 'a' to 'z', include '#' and '^')
4049 If the character is '@', all characters where isalpha() returns TRUE
4050 are included. Normally these are the characters a to z and A to Z,
4051 plus accented characters. To include '@' itself use "@-@". Examples:
4052 "@,^a-z" All alphabetic characters, excluding lower
4054 "a-z,A-Z,@-@" All letters plus the '@' character.
4055 A comma can be included by using it where a character number is
4057 "48-57,,,_" Digits, comma and underscore.
4058 A comma can be excluded by prepending a '^'. Example:
4059 " -~,^,,9" All characters from space to '~', excluding
4061 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
4064 'isident' 'isi' string (default for MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2:
4065 "@,48-57,_,128-167,224-235"
4066 otherwise: "@,48-57,_,192-255")
4069 The characters given by this option are included in identifiers.
4070 Identifiers are used in recognizing environment variables and after a
4071 match of the 'define' option. It is also used for "\i" in a
4072 |pattern|. See 'isfname' for a description of the format of this
4074 Careful: If you change this option, it might break expanding
4075 environment variables. E.g., when '/' is included and Vim tries to
4076 expand "$HOME/.viminfo". Maybe you should change 'iskeyword' instead.
4078 *'iskeyword'* *'isk'*
4079 'iskeyword' 'isk' string (Vim default for MS-DOS and Win32:
4080 "@,48-57,_,128-167,224-235"
4081 otherwise: "@,48-57,_,192-255"
4082 Vi default: "@,48-57,_")
4085 Keywords are used in searching and recognizing with many commands:
4086 "w", "*", "[i", etc. It is also used for "\k" in a |pattern|. See
4087 'isfname' for a description of the format of this option. For C
4088 programs you could use "a-z,A-Z,48-57,_,.,-,>".
4089 For a help file it is set to all non-blank printable characters except
4090 '*', '"' and '|' (so that CTRL-] on a command finds the help for that
4092 When the 'lisp' option is on the '-' character is always included.
4093 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
4094 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
4097 'isprint' 'isp' string (default for MS-DOS, Win32, OS/2 and Macintosh:
4098 "@,~-255"; otherwise: "@,161-255")
4101 The characters given by this option are displayed directly on the
4102 screen. It is also used for "\p" in a |pattern|. The characters from
4103 space (ASCII 32) to '~' (ASCII 126) are always displayed directly,
4104 even when they are not included in 'isprint' or excluded. See
4105 'isfname' for a description of the format of this option.
4107 Non-printable characters are displayed with two characters:
4109 32 - 126 always single characters
4111 128 - 159 "~@" - "~_"
4112 160 - 254 "| " - "|~"
4114 When 'encoding' is a Unicode one, illegal bytes from 128 to 255 are
4115 displayed as <xx>, with the hexadecimal value of the byte.
4116 When 'display' contains "uhex" all unprintable characters are
4118 The SpecialKey highlighting will be used for unprintable characters.
4121 Multi-byte characters 256 and above are always included, only the
4122 characters up to 255 are specified with this option. When a character
4123 is printable but it is not available in the current font, a
4124 replacement character will be shown.
4125 Unprintable and zero-width Unicode characters are displayed as <xxxx>.
4126 There is no option to specify these characters.
4128 *'joinspaces'* *'js'* *'nojoinspaces'* *'nojs'*
4129 'joinspaces' 'js' boolean (default on)
4132 Insert two spaces after a '.', '?' and '!' with a join command.
4133 When 'cpoptions' includes the 'j' flag, only do this after a '.'.
4134 Otherwise only one space is inserted.
4135 NOTE: This option is set when 'compatible' is set.
4138 'key' string (default "")
4141 The key that is used for encrypting and decrypting the current buffer.
4143 Careful: Do not set the key value by hand, someone might see the typed
4144 key. Use the |:X| command. But you can make 'key' empty: >
4146 < It is not possible to get the value of this option with ":set key" or
4147 "echo &key". This is to avoid showing it to someone who shouldn't
4148 know. It also means you cannot see it yourself once you have set it,
4149 be careful not to make a typing error!
4151 *'keymap'* *'kmp'* *E544*
4152 'keymap' 'kmp' string (default "")
4155 {only available when compiled with the |+keymap|
4157 Name of a keyboard mapping. See |mbyte-keymap|.
4158 Setting this option to a valid keymap name has the side effect of
4159 setting 'iminsert' to one, so that the keymap becomes effective.
4160 'imsearch' is also set to one, unless it was -1
4161 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
4164 'keymodel' 'km' string (default "")
4167 List of comma separated words, which enable special things that keys
4168 can do. These values can be used:
4169 startsel Using a shifted special key starts selection (either
4170 Select mode or Visual mode, depending on "key" being
4171 present in 'selectmode').
4172 stopsel Using a not-shifted special key stops selection.
4173 Special keys in this context are the cursor keys, <End>, <Home>,
4174 <PageUp> and <PageDown>.
4175 The 'keymodel' option is set by the |:behave| command.
4177 *'keywordprg'* *'kp'*
4178 'keywordprg' 'kp' string (default "man" or "man -s", DOS: ":help",
4179 OS/2: "view /", VMS: "help")
4180 global or local to buffer |global-local|
4182 Program to use for the |K| command. Environment variables are
4183 expanded |:set_env|. ":help" may be used to access the Vim internal
4184 help. (Note that previously setting the global option to the empty
4185 value did this, which is now deprecated.)
4186 When "man" is used, Vim will automatically translate a count for the
4187 "K" command to a section number. Also for "man -s", in which case the
4188 "-s" is removed when there is no count.
4189 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
4191 :set keywordprg=man\ -s
4192 < This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
4195 *'langmap'* *'lmap'* *E357* *E358*
4196 'langmap' 'lmap' string (default "")
4199 {only available when compiled with the |+langmap|
4201 This option allows switching your keyboard into a special language
4202 mode. When you are typing text in Insert mode the characters are
4203 inserted directly. When in command mode the 'langmap' option takes
4204 care of translating these special characters to the original meaning
4205 of the key. This means you don't have to change the keyboard mode to
4206 be able to execute Normal mode commands.
4207 This is the opposite of the 'keymap' option, where characters are
4208 mapped in Insert mode.
4210 Example (for Greek, in UTF-8): *greek* >
4211 :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
4212 < Example (exchanges meaning of z and y for commands): >
4213 :set langmap=zy,yz,ZY,YZ
4215 The 'langmap' option is a list of parts, separated with commas. Each
4216 part can be in one of two forms:
4217 1. A list of pairs. Each pair is a "from" character immediately
4218 followed by the "to" character. Examples: "aA", "aAbBcC".
4219 2. A list of "from" characters, a semi-colon and a list of "to"
4220 characters. Example: "abc;ABC"
4221 Example: "aA,fgh;FGH,cCdDeE"
4222 Special characters need to be preceded with a backslash. These are
4223 ";", ',' and backslash itself.
4225 This will allow you to activate vim actions without having to switch
4226 back and forth between the languages. Your language characters will
4227 be understood as normal vim English characters (according to the
4228 langmap mappings) in the following cases:
4229 o Normal/Visual mode (commands, buffer/register names, user mappings)
4230 o Insert/Replace Mode: Register names after CTRL-R
4231 o Insert/Replace Mode: Mappings
4232 Characters entered in Command-line mode will NOT be affected by
4233 this option. Note that this option can be changed at any time
4234 allowing to switch between mappings for different languages/encodings.
4235 Use a mapping to avoid having to type it each time!
4238 'langmenu' 'lm' string (default "")
4241 {only available when compiled with the |+menu| and
4242 |+multi_lang| features}
4243 Language to use for menu translation. Tells which file is loaded
4244 from the "lang" directory in 'runtimepath': >
4245 "lang/menu_" . &langmenu . ".vim"
4246 < (without the spaces). For example, to always use the Dutch menus, no
4247 matter what $LANG is set to: >
4248 :set langmenu=nl_NL.ISO_8859-1
4249 < When 'langmenu' is empty, |v:lang| is used.
4250 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
4251 If your $LANG is set to a non-English language but you do want to use
4252 the English menus: >
4254 < This option must be set before loading menus, switching on filetype
4255 detection or syntax highlighting. Once the menus are defined setting
4256 this option has no effect. But you could do this: >
4257 :source $VIMRUNTIME/delmenu.vim
4258 :set langmenu=de_DE.ISO_8859-1
4259 :source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim
4260 < Warning: This deletes all menus that you defined yourself!
4262 *'laststatus'* *'ls'*
4263 'laststatus' 'ls' number (default 1)
4266 The value of this option influences when the last window will have a
4269 1: only if there are at least two windows
4271 The screen looks nicer with a status line if you have several
4272 windows, but it takes another screen line. |status-line|
4274 *'lazyredraw'* *'lz'* *'nolazyredraw'* *'nolz'*
4275 'lazyredraw' 'lz' boolean (default off)
4278 When this option is set, the screen will not be redrawn while
4279 executing macros, registers and other commands that have not been
4280 typed. Also, updating the window title is postponed. To force an
4281 update use |:redraw|.
4283 *'linebreak'* *'lbr'* *'nolinebreak'* *'nolbr'*
4284 'linebreak' 'lbr' boolean (default off)
4287 {not available when compiled without the |+linebreak|
4289 If on Vim will wrap long lines at a character in 'breakat' rather
4290 than at the last character that fits on the screen. Unlike
4291 'wrapmargin' and 'textwidth', this does not insert <EOL>s in the file,
4292 it only affects the way the file is displayed, not its contents. The
4293 value of 'showbreak' is used to put in front of wrapped lines.
4294 This option is not used when the 'wrap' option is off or 'list' is on.
4295 Note that <Tab> characters after an <EOL> are mostly not displayed
4296 with the right amount of white space.
4299 'lines' number (default 24 or terminal height)
4301 Number of lines of the Vim window.
4302 Normally you don't need to set this. It is done automatically by the
4303 terminal initialization code. Also see |posix-screen-size|.
4304 When Vim is running in the GUI or in a resizable window, setting this
4305 option will cause the window size to be changed. When you only want
4306 to use the size for the GUI, put the command in your |gvimrc| file.
4307 Vim limits the number of lines to what fits on the screen. You can
4308 use this command to get the tallest window possible: >
4310 < Minimum value is 2, maximum value is 1000.
4311 If you get less lines than expected, check the 'guiheadroom' option.
4312 When you set this option and Vim is unable to change the physical
4313 number of lines of the display, the display may be messed up.
4315 *'linespace'* *'lsp'*
4316 'linespace' 'lsp' number (default 0, 1 for Win32 GUI)
4320 Number of pixel lines inserted between characters. Useful if the font
4321 uses the full character cell height, making lines touch each other.
4322 When non-zero there is room for underlining.
4323 With some fonts there can be too much room between lines (to have
4324 space for ascents and descents). Then it makes sense to set
4325 'linespace' to a negative value. This may cause display problems
4329 'lisp' boolean (default off)
4331 {not available when compiled without the |+lispindent|
4333 Lisp mode: When <Enter> is typed in insert mode set the indent for
4334 the next line to Lisp standards (well, sort of). Also happens with
4335 "cc" or "S". 'autoindent' must also be on for this to work. The 'p'
4336 flag in 'cpoptions' changes the method of indenting: Vi compatible or
4337 better. Also see 'lispwords'.
4338 The '-' character is included in keyword characters. Redefines the
4339 "=" operator to use this same indentation algorithm rather than
4340 calling an external program if 'equalprg' is empty.
4341 This option is not used when 'paste' is set.
4342 {Vi: Does it a little bit differently}
4344 *'lispwords'* *'lw'*
4345 'lispwords' 'lw' string (default is very long)
4348 {not available when compiled without the |+lispindent|
4350 Comma separated list of words that influence the Lisp indenting.
4354 'list' boolean (default off)
4356 List mode: Show tabs as CTRL-I is displayed, display $ after end of
4357 line. Useful to see the difference between tabs and spaces and for
4358 trailing blanks. Further changed by the 'listchars' option.
4360 The cursor is displayed at the start of the space a Tab character
4361 occupies, not at the end as usual in Normal mode. To get this cursor
4362 position while displaying Tabs with spaces, use: >
4363 :set list lcs=tab\ \
4365 Note that list mode will also affect formatting (set with 'textwidth'
4366 or 'wrapmargin') when 'cpoptions' includes 'L'. See 'listchars' for
4367 changing the way tabs are displayed.
4369 *'listchars'* *'lcs'*
4370 'listchars' 'lcs' string (default "eol:$")
4373 Strings to use in 'list' mode. It is a comma separated list of string
4375 eol:c Character to show at the end of each line. When
4376 omitted, there is no extra character at the end of the
4378 tab:xy Two characters to be used to show a tab. The first
4379 char is used once. The second char is repeated to
4380 fill the space that the tab normally occupies.
4381 "tab:>-" will show a tab that takes four spaces as
4382 ">---". When omitted, a tab is show as ^I.
4383 trail:c Character to show for trailing spaces. When omitted,
4384 trailing spaces are blank.
4385 extends:c Character to show in the last column, when 'wrap' is
4386 off and the line continues beyond the right of the
4388 precedes:c Character to show in the first column, when 'wrap'
4389 is off and there is text preceding the character
4390 visible in the first column.
4391 nbsp:c Character to show for a non-breakable space (character
4392 0xA0, 160). Left blank when omitted.
4394 The characters ':' and ',' should not be used. UTF-8 characters can
4395 be used when 'encoding' is "utf-8", otherwise only printable
4396 characters are allowed. All characters must be single width.
4399 :set lcs=tab:>-,trail:-
4400 :set lcs=tab:>-,eol:<,nbsp:%
4401 :set lcs=extends:>,precedes:<
4402 < The "NonText" highlighting will be used for "eol", "extends" and
4403 "precedes". "SpecialKey" for "nbsp", "tab" and "trail".
4404 |hl-NonText| |hl-SpecialKey|
4406 *'lpl'* *'nolpl'* *'loadplugins'* *'noloadplugins'*
4407 'loadplugins' 'lpl' boolean (default on)
4410 When on the plugin scripts are loaded when starting up |load-plugins|.
4411 This option can be reset in your |vimrc| file to disable the loading
4413 Note that using the "-u NONE" and "--noplugin" command line arguments
4414 reset this option. |-u| |--noplugin|
4416 *'macatsui'* *'nomacatsui'*
4417 'macatsui' boolean (default on)
4419 {only available in Mac GUI version}
4420 This is a workaround for when drawing doesn't work properly. When set
4421 and compiled with multi-byte support ATSUI text drawing is used. When
4422 not set ATSUI text drawing is not used. Switch this option off when
4423 you experience drawing problems. In a future version the problems may
4424 be solved and this option becomes obsolete. Therefore use this method
4426 if exists('&macatsui')
4429 < Another option to check if you have drawing problems is
4432 *'magic'* *'nomagic'*
4433 'magic' boolean (default on)
4435 Changes the special characters that can be used in search patterns.
4437 NOTE: To avoid portability problems with using patterns, always keep
4438 this option at the default "on". Only switch it off when working with
4439 old Vi scripts. In any other situation write patterns that work when
4440 'magic' is on. Include "\M" when you want to |/\M|.
4443 'makeef' 'mef' string (default: "")
4446 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
4448 Name of the errorfile for the |:make| command (see |:make_makeprg|)
4449 and the |:grep| command.
4450 When it is empty, an internally generated temp file will be used.
4451 When "##" is included, it is replaced by a number to make the name
4452 unique. This makes sure that the ":make" command doesn't overwrite an
4454 NOT used for the ":cf" command. See 'errorfile' for that.
4455 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
4456 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
4457 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
4461 'makeprg' 'mp' string (default "make", VMS: "MMS")
4462 global or local to buffer |global-local|
4464 Program to use for the ":make" command. See |:make_makeprg|.
4465 This option may contain '%' and '#' characters, which are expanded to
4466 the current and alternate file name. |:_%| |:_#|
4467 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash|
4468 about including spaces and backslashes.
4469 Note that a '|' must be escaped twice: once for ":set" and once for
4470 the interpretation of a command. When you use a filter called
4471 "myfilter" do it like this: >
4472 :set makeprg=gmake\ \\\|\ myfilter
4473 < The placeholder "$*" can be given (even multiple times) to specify
4474 where the arguments will be included, for example: >
4475 :set makeprg=latex\ \\\\nonstopmode\ \\\\input\\{$*}
4476 < This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
4479 *'matchpairs'* *'mps'*
4480 'matchpairs' 'mps' string (default "(:),{:},[:]")
4483 Characters that form pairs. The |%| command jumps from one to the
4484 other. Currently only single byte character pairs are allowed, and
4485 they must be different. The characters must be separated by a colon.
4486 The pairs must be separated by a comma. Example for including '<' and
4490 < A more exotic example, to jump between the '=' and ';' in an
4491 assignment, useful for languages like C and Java: >
4492 :au FileType c,cpp,java set mps+==:;
4494 < For a more advanced way of using "%", see the matchit.vim plugin in
4495 the $VIMRUNTIME/macros directory. |add-local-help|
4497 *'matchtime'* *'mat'*
4498 'matchtime' 'mat' number (default 5)
4501 Tenths of a second to show the matching paren, when 'showmatch' is
4502 set. Note that this is not in milliseconds, like other options that
4503 set a time. This is to be compatible with Nvi.
4505 *'maxcombine'* *'mco'*
4506 'maxcombine' 'mco' number (default 2)
4509 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
4511 The maximum number of combining characters supported for displaying.
4512 Only used when 'encoding' is "utf-8".
4513 The default is OK for most languages. Hebrew may require 4.
4515 Even when this option is set to 2 you can still edit text with more
4516 combining characters, you just can't see them. Use |g8| or |ga|.
4517 See |mbyte-combining|.
4519 *'maxfuncdepth'* *'mfd'*
4520 'maxfuncdepth' 'mfd' number (default 100)
4523 {not available when compiled without the +eval
4525 Maximum depth of function calls for user functions. This normally
4526 catches endless recursion. When using a recursive function with
4527 more depth, set 'maxfuncdepth' to a bigger number. But this will use
4528 more memory, there is the danger of failing when memory is exhausted.
4529 See also |:function|.
4531 *'maxmapdepth'* *'mmd'* *E223*
4532 'maxmapdepth' 'mmd' number (default 1000)
4535 Maximum number of times a mapping is done without resulting in a
4536 character to be used. This normally catches endless mappings, like
4537 ":map x y" with ":map y x". It still does not catch ":map g wg",
4538 because the 'w' is used before the next mapping is done. See also
4542 'maxmem' 'mm' number (default between 256 to 5120 (system
4543 dependent) or half the amount of memory
4547 Maximum amount of memory (in Kbyte) to use for one buffer. When this
4548 limit is reached allocating extra memory for a buffer will cause
4549 other memory to be freed. The maximum usable value is about 2000000.
4550 Use this to work without a limit. Also see 'maxmemtot'.
4552 *'maxmempattern'* *'mmp'*
4553 'maxmempattern' 'mmp' number (default 1000)
4556 Maximum amount of memory (in Kbyte) to use for pattern matching.
4557 The maximum value is about 2000000. Use this to work without a limit.
4559 When Vim runs into the limit it gives an error message and mostly
4560 behaves like CTRL-C was typed.
4561 Running into the limit often means that the pattern is very
4562 inefficient or too complex. This may already happen with the pattern
4563 "\(.\)*" on a very long line. ".*" works much better.
4564 Vim may run out of memory before hitting the 'maxmempattern' limit.
4566 *'maxmemtot'* *'mmt'*
4567 'maxmemtot' 'mmt' number (default between 2048 and 10240 (system
4568 dependent) or half the amount of memory
4572 Maximum amount of memory in Kbyte to use for all buffers together.
4573 The maximum usable value is about 2000000 (2 Gbyte). Use this to work
4574 without a limit. On 64 bit machines higher values might work. But
4575 hey, do you really need more than 2 Gbyte for text editing?
4578 *'menuitems'* *'mis'*
4579 'menuitems' 'mis' number (default 25)
4582 {not available when compiled without the |+menu|
4584 Maximum number of items to use in a menu. Used for menus that are
4585 generated from a list of items, e.g., the Buffers menu. Changing this
4586 option has no direct effect, the menu must be refreshed first.
4588 *'mkspellmem'* *'msm'*
4589 'mkspellmem' 'msm' string (default "460000,2000,500")
4592 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
4594 Parameters for |:mkspell|. This tunes when to start compressing the
4595 word tree. Compression can be slow when there are many words, but
4596 it's needed to avoid running out of memory. The amount of memory used
4597 per word depends very much on how similar the words are, that's why
4598 this tuning is complicated.
4600 There are three numbers, separated by commas:
4601 {start},{inc},{added}
4603 For most languages the uncompressed word tree fits in memory. {start}
4604 gives the amount of memory in Kbyte that can be used before any
4605 compression is done. It should be a bit smaller than the amount of
4606 memory that is available to Vim.
4608 When going over the {start} limit the {inc} number specifies the
4609 amount of memory in Kbyte that can be allocated before another
4610 compression is done. A low number means compression is done after
4611 less words are added, which is slow. A high number means more memory
4614 After doing compression, {added} times 1024 words can be added before
4615 the {inc} limit is ignored and compression is done when any extra
4616 amount of memory is needed. A low number means there is a smaller
4617 chance of hitting the {inc} limit, less memory is used but it's
4620 The languages for which these numbers are important are Italian and
4621 Hungarian. The default works for when you have about 512 Mbyte. If
4622 you have 1 Gbyte you could use: >
4623 :set mkspellmem=900000,3000,800
4624 < If you have less than 512 Mbyte |:mkspell| may fail for some
4625 languages, no matter what you set 'mkspellmem' to.
4627 *'modeline'* *'ml'* *'nomodeline'* *'noml'*
4628 'modeline' 'ml' boolean (Vim default: on (off for root),
4631 *'modelines'* *'mls'*
4632 'modelines' 'mls' number (default 5)
4635 If 'modeline' is on 'modelines' gives the number of lines that is
4636 checked for set commands. If 'modeline' is off or 'modelines' is zero
4637 no lines are checked. See |modeline|.
4638 NOTE: 'modeline' is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
4639 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
4641 *'modifiable'* *'ma'* *'nomodifiable'* *'noma'*
4642 'modifiable' 'ma' boolean (default on)
4645 When off the buffer contents cannot be changed. The 'fileformat' and
4646 'fileencoding' options also can't be changed.
4647 Can be reset with the |-M| command line argument.
4649 *'modified'* *'mod'* *'nomodified'* *'nomod'*
4650 'modified' 'mod' boolean (default off)
4653 When on, the buffer is considered to be modified. This option is set
4655 1. A change was made to the text since it was last written. Using the
4656 |undo| command to go back to the original text will reset the
4657 option. But undoing changes that were made before writing the
4658 buffer will set the option again, since the text is different from
4659 when it was written.
4660 2. 'fileformat' or 'fileencoding' is different from its original
4661 value. The original value is set when the buffer is read or
4662 written. A ":set nomodified" command also resets the original
4663 values to the current values and the 'modified' option will be
4665 When 'buftype' is "nowrite" or "nofile" this option may be set, but
4669 'more' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
4672 When on, listings pause when the whole screen is filled. You will get
4673 the |more-prompt|. When this option is off there are no pauses, the
4674 listing continues until finished.
4675 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
4676 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
4679 'mouse' string (default "", "a" for GUI, MS-DOS and Win32)
4682 Enable the use of the mouse. Only works for certain terminals
4683 (xterm, MS-DOS, Win32 |win32-mouse|, QNX pterm, *BSD console with
4684 sysmouse and Linux console with gpm). For using the mouse in the
4685 GUI, see |gui-mouse|.
4686 The mouse can be enabled for different modes:
4691 h all previous modes when editing a help file
4692 a all previous modes
4693 r for |hit-enter| and |more-prompt| prompt
4694 Normally you would enable the mouse in all four modes with: >
4696 < When the mouse is not enabled, the GUI will still use the mouse for
4697 modeless selection. This doesn't move the text cursor.
4699 See |mouse-using|. Also see |'clipboard'|.
4701 Note: When enabling the mouse in a terminal, copy/paste will use the
4702 "* register if there is access to an X-server. The xterm handling of
4703 the mouse buttons can still be used by keeping the shift key pressed.
4704 Also see the 'clipboard' option.
4706 *'mousefocus'* *'mousef'* *'nomousefocus'* *'nomousef'*
4707 'mousefocus' 'mousef' boolean (default off)
4710 {only works in the GUI}
4711 The window that the mouse pointer is on is automatically activated.
4712 When changing the window layout or window focus in another way, the
4713 mouse pointer is moved to the window with keyboard focus. Off is the
4714 default because it makes using the pull down menus a little goofy, as
4715 a pointer transit may activate a window unintentionally.
4717 *'mousehide'* *'mh'* *'nomousehide'* *'nomh'*
4718 'mousehide' 'mh' boolean (default on)
4721 {only works in the GUI}
4722 When on, the mouse pointer is hidden when characters are typed.
4723 The mouse pointer is restored when the mouse is moved.
4725 *'mousemodel'* *'mousem'*
4726 'mousemodel' 'mousem' string (default "extend", "popup" for MS-DOS and Win32)
4729 Sets the model to use for the mouse. The name mostly specifies what
4730 the right mouse button is used for:
4731 extend Right mouse button extends a selection. This works
4733 popup Right mouse button pops up a menu. The shifted left
4734 mouse button extends a selection. This works like
4735 with Microsoft Windows.
4736 popup_setpos Like "popup", but the cursor will be moved to the
4737 position where the mouse was clicked, and thus the
4738 selected operation will act upon the clicked object.
4739 If clicking inside a selection, that selection will
4740 be acted upon, i.e. no cursor move. This implies of
4741 course, that right clicking outside a selection will
4743 Overview of what button does what for each model:
4744 mouse extend popup(_setpos) ~
4745 left click place cursor place cursor
4746 left drag start selection start selection
4747 shift-left search word extend selection
4748 right click extend selection popup menu (place cursor)
4749 right drag extend selection -
4750 middle click paste paste
4752 In the "popup" model the right mouse button produces a pop-up menu.
4753 You need to define this first, see |popup-menu|.
4755 Note that you can further refine the meaning of buttons with mappings.
4756 See |gui-mouse-mapping|. But mappings are NOT used for modeless
4757 selection (because that's handled in the GUI code directly).
4759 The 'mousemodel' option is set by the |:behave| command.
4761 *'mouseshape'* *'mouses'* *E547*
4762 'mouseshape' 'mouses' string (default "i:beam,r:beam,s:updown,sd:cross,
4763 m:no,ml:up-arrow,v:rightup-arrow")
4766 {only available when compiled with the |+mouseshape|
4768 This option tells Vim what the mouse pointer should look like in
4769 different modes. The option is a comma separated list of parts, much
4770 like used for 'guicursor'. Each part consist of a mode/location-list
4771 and an argument-list:
4772 mode-list:shape,mode-list:shape,..
4773 The mode-list is a dash separated list of these modes/locations:
4774 In a normal window: ~
4777 ve Visual mode with 'selection' "exclusive" (same as 'v',
4779 o Operator-pending mode
4784 c appending to the command-line
4785 ci inserting in the command-line
4786 cr replacing in the command-line
4787 m at the 'Hit ENTER' or 'More' prompts
4788 ml idem, but cursor in the last line
4789 e any mode, pointer below last window
4790 s any mode, pointer on a status line
4791 sd any mode, while dragging a status line
4792 vs any mode, pointer on a vertical separator line
4793 vd any mode, while dragging a vertical separator line
4796 The shape is one of the following:
4797 avail name looks like ~
4798 w x arrow Normal mouse pointer
4799 w x blank no pointer at all (use with care!)
4801 w x updown up-down sizing arrows
4802 w x leftright left-right sizing arrows
4803 w x busy The system's usual busy pointer
4804 w x no The system's usual 'no input' pointer
4805 x udsizing indicates up-down resizing
4806 x lrsizing indicates left-right resizing
4807 x crosshair like a big thin +
4810 x pencil what you write with
4812 x rightup-arrow arrow pointing right-up
4813 w x up-arrow arrow pointing up
4814 x <number> any X11 pointer number (see X11/cursorfont.h)
4816 The "avail" column contains a 'w' if the shape is available for Win32,
4818 Any modes not specified or shapes not available use the normal mouse
4822 :set mouseshape=s:udsizing,m:no
4823 < will make the mouse turn to a sizing arrow over the status lines and
4824 indicate no input when the hit-enter prompt is displayed (since
4825 clicking the mouse has no effect in this state.)
4827 *'mousetime'* *'mouset'*
4828 'mousetime' 'mouset' number (default 500)
4831 Only for GUI, MS-DOS, Win32 and Unix with xterm. Defines the maximum
4832 time in msec between two mouse clicks for the second click to be
4833 recognized as a multi click.
4835 *'mzquantum'* *'mzq'*
4836 'mzquantum' 'mzq' number (default 100)
4839 {not available when compiled without the |+mzscheme|
4841 The number of milliseconds between polls for MzScheme threads.
4842 Negative or zero value means no thread scheduling.
4844 *'nrformats'* *'nf'*
4845 'nrformats' 'nf' string (default "octal,hex")
4848 This defines what bases Vim will consider for numbers when using the
4849 CTRL-A and CTRL-X commands for adding to and subtracting from a number
4850 respectively; see |CTRL-A| for more info on these commands.
4851 alpha If included, single alphabetical characters will be
4852 incremented or decremented. This is useful for a list with a
4853 letter index a), b), etc.
4854 octal If included, numbers that start with a zero will be considered
4855 to be octal. Example: Using CTRL-A on "007" results in "010".
4856 hex If included, numbers starting with "0x" or "0X" will be
4857 considered to be hexadecimal. Example: Using CTRL-X on
4858 "0x100" results in "0x0ff".
4859 Numbers which simply begin with a digit in the range 1-9 are always
4860 considered decimal. This also happens for numbers that are not
4861 recognized as octal or hex.
4863 *'number'* *'nu'* *'nonumber'* *'nonu'*
4864 'number' 'nu' boolean (default off)
4866 Print the line number in front of each line. When the 'n' option is
4867 excluded from 'cpoptions' a wrapped line will not use the column of
4868 line numbers (this is the default when 'compatible' isn't set).
4869 The 'numberwidth' option can be used to set the room used for the line
4871 When a long, wrapped line doesn't start with the first character, '-'
4872 characters are put before the number.
4873 See |hl-LineNr| for the highlighting used for the number.
4875 *'numberwidth'* *'nuw'*
4876 'numberwidth' 'nuw' number (Vim default: 4 Vi default: 8)
4879 {only available when compiled with the |+linebreak|
4881 Minimal number of columns to use for the line number. Only relevant
4882 when the 'number' option is set or printing lines with a line number.
4883 Since one space is always between the number and the text, there is
4884 one less character for the number itself.
4885 The value is the minimum width. A bigger width is used when needed to
4886 fit the highest line number in the buffer. Thus with the Vim default
4887 of 4 there is room for a line number up to 999. When the buffer has
4888 1000 lines five columns will be used.
4889 The minimum value is 1, the maximum value is 10.
4890 NOTE: 'numberwidth' is reset to 8 when 'compatible' is set.
4892 *'omnifunc'* *'ofu'*
4893 'omnifunc' 'ofu' string (default: empty)
4896 {not available when compiled without the +eval
4897 or +insert_expand feature}
4898 This option specifies a function to be used for Insert mode omni
4899 completion with CTRL-X CTRL-O. |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O|
4900 See |complete-functions| for an explanation of how the function is
4901 invoked and what it should return.
4902 This option is usually set by a filetype plugin:
4903 |:filetype-plugin-on|
4906 *'opendevice'* *'odev'* *'noopendevice'* *'noodev'*
4907 'opendevice' 'odev' boolean (default off)
4910 {only for MS-DOS, MS-Windows and OS/2}
4911 Enable reading and writing from devices. This may get Vim stuck on a
4912 device that can be opened but doesn't actually do the I/O. Therefore
4913 it is off by default.
4914 Note that on MS-Windows editing "aux.h", "lpt1.txt" and the like also
4915 result in editing a device.
4918 *'operatorfunc'* *'opfunc'*
4919 'operatorfunc' 'opfunc' string (default: empty)
4922 This option specifies a function to be called by the |g@| operator.
4923 See |:map-operator| for more info and an example.
4925 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
4929 *'osfiletype'* *'oft'* *E366*
4930 'osfiletype' 'oft' string (RISC-OS default: "Text",
4934 {only available when compiled with the |+osfiletype|
4936 Some operating systems store extra information about files besides
4937 name, datestamp and permissions. This option contains the extra
4938 information, the nature of which will vary between systems.
4939 The value of this option is usually set when the file is loaded, and
4940 is used to set the operating system file type when file is written.
4941 It can affect the pattern matching of the automatic commands.
4942 |autocmd-osfiletypes|
4944 *'paragraphs'* *'para'*
4945 'paragraphs' 'para' string (default "IPLPPPQPP TPHPLIPpLpItpplpipbp")
4947 Specifies the nroff macros that separate paragraphs. These are pairs
4948 of two letters (see |object-motions|).
4950 *'paste'* *'nopaste'*
4951 'paste' boolean (default off)
4954 Put Vim in Paste mode. This is useful if you want to cut or copy
4955 some text from one window and paste it in Vim. This will avoid
4957 Setting this option is useful when using Vim in a terminal, where Vim
4958 cannot distinguish between typed text and pasted text. In the GUI, Vim
4959 knows about pasting and will mostly do the right thing without 'paste'
4960 being set. The same is true for a terminal where Vim handles the
4961 mouse clicks itself.
4962 This option is reset when starting the GUI. Thus if you set it in
4963 your .vimrc it will work in a terminal, but not in the GUI. Setting
4964 'paste' in the GUI has side effects: e.g., the Paste toolbar button
4965 will no longer work in Insert mode, because it uses a mapping.
4966 When the 'paste' option is switched on (also when it was already on):
4967 - mapping in Insert mode and Command-line mode is disabled
4968 - abbreviations are disabled
4969 - 'textwidth' is set to 0
4970 - 'wrapmargin' is set to 0
4971 - 'autoindent' is reset
4972 - 'smartindent' is reset
4973 - 'softtabstop' is set to 0
4976 - 'showmatch' is reset
4977 - 'formatoptions' is used like it is empty
4978 These options keep their value, but their effect is disabled:
4982 NOTE: When you start editing another file while the 'paste' option is
4983 on, settings from the modelines or autocommands may change the
4984 settings again, causing trouble when pasting text. You might want to
4985 set the 'paste' option again.
4986 When the 'paste' option is reset the mentioned options are restored to
4987 the value before the moment 'paste' was switched from off to on.
4988 Resetting 'paste' before ever setting it does not have any effect.
4989 Since mapping doesn't work while 'paste' is active, you need to use
4990 the 'pastetoggle' option to toggle the 'paste' option with some key.
4992 *'pastetoggle'* *'pt'*
4993 'pastetoggle' 'pt' string (default "")
4996 When non-empty, specifies the key sequence that toggles the 'paste'
4997 option. This is like specifying a mapping: >
4998 :map {keys} :set invpaste<CR>
4999 < Where {keys} is the value of 'pastetoggle'.
5000 The difference is that it will work even when 'paste' is set.
5001 'pastetoggle' works in Insert mode and Normal mode, but not in
5003 Mappings are checked first, thus overrule 'pastetoggle'. However,
5004 when 'paste' is on mappings are ignored in Insert mode, thus you can do
5006 :map <F10> :set paste<CR>
5007 :map <F11> :set nopaste<CR>
5008 :imap <F10> <C-O>:set paste<CR>
5010 :set pastetoggle=<F11>
5011 < This will make <F10> start paste mode and <F11> stop paste mode.
5012 Note that typing <F10> in paste mode inserts "<F10>", since in paste
5013 mode everything is inserted literally, except the 'pastetoggle' key
5015 When the value has several bytes 'ttimeoutlen' applies.
5017 *'pex'* *'patchexpr'*
5018 'patchexpr' 'pex' string (default "")
5021 {not available when compiled without the |+diff|
5023 Expression which is evaluated to apply a patch to a file and generate
5024 the resulting new version of the file. See |diff-patchexpr|.
5026 *'patchmode'* *'pm'* *E206*
5027 'patchmode' 'pm' string (default "")
5030 When non-empty the oldest version of a file is kept. This can be used
5031 to keep the original version of a file if you are changing files in a
5032 source distribution. Only the first time that a file is written a
5033 copy of the original file will be kept. The name of the copy is the
5034 name of the original file with the string in the 'patchmode' option
5035 appended. This option should start with a dot. Use a string like
5036 ".org". 'backupdir' must not be empty for this to work (Detail: The
5037 backup file is renamed to the patchmode file after the new file has
5038 been successfully written, that's why it must be possible to write a
5039 backup file). If there was no file to be backed up, an empty file is
5041 When the 'backupskip' pattern matches, a patchmode file is not made.
5042 Using 'patchmode' for compressed files appends the extension at the
5043 end (e.g., "file.gz.orig"), thus the resulting name isn't always
5044 recognized as a compressed file.
5045 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
5047 *'path'* *'pa'* *E343* *E345* *E347*
5048 'path' 'pa' string (default on Unix: ".,/usr/include,,"
5049 on OS/2: ".,/emx/include,,"
5050 other systems: ".,,")
5051 global or local to buffer |global-local|
5053 This is a list of directories which will be searched when using the
5054 |gf|, [f, ]f, ^Wf, |:find|, |:sfind|, |:tabfind| and other commands,
5055 provided that the file being searched for has a relative path (not
5056 starting with "/", "./" or "../"). The directories in the 'path'
5057 option may be relative or absolute.
5058 - Use commas to separate directory names: >
5059 :set path=.,/usr/local/include,/usr/include
5060 < - Spaces can also be used to separate directory names (for backwards
5061 compatibility with version 3.0). To have a space in a directory
5062 name, precede it with an extra backslash, and escape the space: >
5063 :set path=.,/dir/with\\\ space
5064 < - To include a comma in a directory name precede it with an extra
5066 :set path=.,/dir/with\\,comma
5067 < - To search relative to the directory of the current file, use: >
5069 < - To search in the current directory use an empty string between two
5072 < - A directory name may end in a ':' or '/'.
5073 - Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
5074 - When using |netrw.vim| URLs can be used. For example, adding
5075 "http://www.vim.org" will make ":find index.html" work.
5076 - Search upwards and downwards in a directory tree using "*", "**" and
5077 ";". See |file-searching| for info and syntax.
5078 {not available when compiled without the |+path_extra| feature}
5079 - Careful with '\' characters, type two to get one in the option: >
5080 :set path=.,c:\\include
5081 < Or just use '/' instead: >
5082 :set path=.,c:/include
5083 < Don't forget "." or files won't even be found in the same directory as
5085 The maximum length is limited. How much depends on the system, mostly
5086 it is something like 256 or 1024 characters.
5087 You can check if all the include files are found, using the value of
5088 'path', see |:checkpath|.
5089 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
5090 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
5091 uses another default. To remove the current directory use: >
5093 < To add the current directory use: >
5095 < To use an environment variable, you probably need to replace the
5096 separator. Here is an example to append $INCL, in which directory
5097 names are separated with a semi-colon: >
5098 :let &path = &path . "," . substitute($INCL, ';', ',', 'g')
5099 < Replace the ';' with a ':' or whatever separator is used. Note that
5100 this doesn't work when $INCL contains a comma or white space.
5102 *'preserveindent'* *'pi'* *'nopreserveindent'* *'nopi'*
5103 'preserveindent' 'pi' boolean (default off)
5106 When changing the indent of the current line, preserve as much of the
5107 indent structure as possible. Normally the indent is replaced by a
5108 series of tabs followed by spaces as required (unless |'expandtab'| is
5109 enabled, in which case only spaces are used). Enabling this option
5110 means the indent will preserve as many existing characters as possible
5111 for indenting, and only add additional tabs or spaces as required.
5112 'expandtab' does not apply to the preserved white space, a Tab remains
5114 NOTE: When using ">>" multiple times the resulting indent is a mix of
5115 tabs and spaces. You might not like this.
5116 NOTE: 'preserveindent' is reset when 'compatible' is set.
5117 Also see 'copyindent'.
5118 Use |:retab| to clean up white space.
5120 *'previewheight'* *'pvh'*
5121 'previewheight' 'pvh' number (default 12)
5124 {not available when compiled without the |+windows| or
5125 |+quickfix| feature}
5126 Default height for a preview window. Used for |:ptag| and associated
5127 commands. Used for |CTRL-W_}| when no count is given.
5129 *'previewwindow'* *'nopreviewwindow'*
5130 *'pvw'* *'nopvw'* *E590*
5131 'previewwindow' 'pvw' boolean (default off)
5134 {not available when compiled without the |+windows| or
5135 |+quickfix| feature}
5136 Identifies the preview window. Only one window can have this option
5137 set. It's normally not set directly, but by using one of the commands
5138 |:ptag|, |:pedit|, etc.
5140 *'printdevice'* *'pdev'*
5141 'printdevice' 'pdev' string (default empty)
5144 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5146 The name of the printer to be used for |:hardcopy|.
5148 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5151 *'printencoding'* *'penc'*
5152 'printencoding' 'penc' String (default empty, except for some systems)
5155 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5156 and |+postscript| features}
5157 Sets the character encoding used when printing.
5160 *'printexpr'* *'pexpr'*
5161 'printexpr' 'pexpr' String (default: see below)
5164 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5165 and |+postscript| features}
5166 Expression used to print the PostScript produced with |:hardcopy|.
5169 *'printfont'* *'pfn'*
5170 'printfont' 'pfn' string (default "courier")
5173 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5175 The name of the font that will be used for |:hardcopy|.
5178 *'printheader'* *'pheader'*
5179 'printheader' 'pheader' string (default "%<%f%h%m%=Page %N")
5182 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|
5184 The format of the header produced in |:hardcopy| output.
5185 See |pheader-option|.
5187 *'printmbcharset'* *'pmbcs'*
5188 'printmbcharset' 'pmbcs' string (default "")
5191 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|,
5192 |+postscript| and |+multi_byte| features}
5193 The CJK character set to be used for CJK output from |:hardcopy|.
5196 *'printmbfont'* *'pmbfn'*
5197 'printmbfont' 'pmbfn' string (default "")
5200 {only available when compiled with the |+printer|,
5201 |+postscript| and |+multi_byte| features}
5202 List of font names to be used for CJK output from |:hardcopy|.
5205 *'printoptions'* *'popt'*
5206 'printoptions' 'popt' string (default "")
5209 {only available when compiled with |+printer| feature}
5210 List of items that control the format of the output of |:hardcopy|.
5213 *'prompt'* *'noprompt'*
5214 'prompt' boolean (default on)
5216 When on a ":" prompt is used in Ex mode.
5218 *'pumheight'* *'ph'*
5219 'pumheight' 'ph' number (default 0)
5221 {not available when compiled without the
5222 |+insert_expand| feature}
5224 Determines the maximum number of items to show in the popup menu for
5225 Insert mode completion. When zero as much space as available is used.
5226 |ins-completion-menu|.
5229 *'quoteescape'* *'qe'*
5230 'quoteescape' 'qe' string (default "\")
5233 The characters that are used to escape quotes in a string. Used for
5234 objects like a', a" and a` |a'|.
5235 When one of the characters in this option is found inside a string,
5236 the following character will be skipped. The default value makes the
5237 text "foo\"bar\\" considered to be one string.
5239 *'readonly'* *'ro'* *'noreadonly'* *'noro'*
5240 'readonly' 'ro' boolean (default off)
5242 If on, writes fail unless you use a '!'. Protects you from
5243 accidentally overwriting a file. Default on when Vim is started
5244 in read-only mode ("vim -R") or when the executable is called "view".
5245 When using ":w!" the 'readonly' option is reset for the current
5246 buffer, unless the 'Z' flag is in 'cpoptions'.
5247 {not in Vi:} When using the ":view" command the 'readonly' option is
5248 set for the newly edited buffer.
5250 *'redrawtime'* *'rdt'*
5251 'redrawtime' 'rdt' number (default 2000)
5254 {only available when compiled with the |+reltime|
5256 The time in milliseconds for redrawing the display. This applies to
5257 searching for patterns for 'hlsearch' and |:match| highlighting.
5258 When redrawing takes more than this many milliseconds no further
5259 matches will be highlighted. This is used to avoid that Vim hangs
5260 when using a very complicated pattern.
5262 *'remap'* *'noremap'*
5263 'remap' boolean (default on)
5265 Allows for mappings to work recursively. If you do not want this for
5266 a single entry, use the :noremap[!] command.
5267 NOTE: To avoid portability problems with Vim scripts, always keep
5268 this option at the default "on". Only switch it off when working with
5272 'report' number (default 2)
5274 Threshold for reporting number of lines changed. When the number of
5275 changed lines is more than 'report' a message will be given for most
5276 ":" commands. If you want it always, set 'report' to 0.
5277 For the ":substitute" command the number of substitutions is used
5278 instead of the number of lines.
5280 *'restorescreen'* *'rs'* *'norestorescreen'* *'nors'*
5281 'restorescreen' 'rs' boolean (default on)
5283 {not in Vi} {only in Windows 95/NT console version}
5284 When set, the screen contents is restored when exiting Vim. This also
5285 happens when executing external commands.
5287 For non-Windows Vim: You can set or reset the 't_ti' and 't_te'
5288 options in your .vimrc. To disable restoring:
5290 To enable restoring (for an xterm):
5291 set t_ti=^[7^[[r^[[?47h t_te=^[[?47l^[8
5292 (Where ^[ is an <Esc>, type CTRL-V <Esc> to insert it)
5294 *'revins'* *'ri'* *'norevins'* *'nori'*
5295 'revins' 'ri' boolean (default off)
5298 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
5300 Inserting characters in Insert mode will work backwards. See "typing
5301 backwards" |ins-reverse|. This option can be toggled with the CTRL-_
5302 command in Insert mode, when 'allowrevins' is set.
5303 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' or 'paste' is set.
5305 *'rightleft'* *'rl'* *'norightleft'* *'norl'*
5306 'rightleft' 'rl' boolean (default off)
5309 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
5311 When on, display orientation becomes right-to-left, i.e., characters
5312 that are stored in the file appear from the right to the left.
5313 Using this option, it is possible to edit files for languages that
5314 are written from the right to the left such as Hebrew and Arabic.
5315 This option is per window, so it is possible to edit mixed files
5316 simultaneously, or to view the same file in both ways (this is
5317 useful whenever you have a mixed text file with both right-to-left
5318 and left-to-right strings so that both sets are displayed properly
5319 in different windows). Also see |rileft.txt|.
5321 *'rightleftcmd'* *'rlc'* *'norightleftcmd'* *'norlc'*
5322 'rightleftcmd' 'rlc' string (default "search")
5325 {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
5327 Each word in this option enables the command line editing to work in
5328 right-to-left mode for a group of commands:
5330 search "/" and "?" commands
5332 This is useful for languages such as Hebrew, Arabic and Farsi.
5333 The 'rightleft' option must be set for 'rightleftcmd' to take effect.
5335 *'ruler'* *'ru'* *'noruler'* *'noru'*
5336 'ruler' 'ru' boolean (default off)
5339 {not available when compiled without the
5340 |+cmdline_info| feature}
5341 Show the line and column number of the cursor position, separated by a
5342 comma. When there is room, the relative position of the displayed
5343 text in the file is shown on the far right:
5344 Top first line is visible
5345 Bot last line is visible
5346 All first and last line are visible
5347 45% relative position in the file
5348 If 'rulerformat' is set, it will determine the contents of the ruler.
5349 Each window has its own ruler. If a window has a status line, the
5350 ruler is shown there. Otherwise it is shown in the last line of the
5351 screen. If the statusline is given by 'statusline' (i.e. not empty),
5352 this option takes precedence over 'ruler' and 'rulerformat'
5353 If the number of characters displayed is different from the number of
5354 bytes in the text (e.g., for a TAB or a multi-byte character), both
5355 the text column (byte number) and the screen column are shown,
5356 separated with a dash.
5357 For an empty line "0-1" is shown.
5358 For an empty buffer the line number will also be zero: "0,0-1".
5359 This option is reset when the 'paste' option is set.
5360 If you don't want to see the ruler all the time but want to know where
5361 you are, use "g CTRL-G" |g_CTRL-G|.
5362 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
5364 *'rulerformat'* *'ruf'*
5365 'rulerformat' 'ruf' string (default empty)
5368 {not available when compiled without the |+statusline|
5370 When this option is not empty, it determines the content of the ruler
5371 string, as displayed for the 'ruler' option.
5372 The format of this option is like that of 'statusline'.
5373 The default ruler width is 17 characters. To make the ruler 15
5374 characters wide, put "%15(" at the start and "%)" at the end.
5376 :set rulerformat=%15(%c%V\ %p%%%)
5378 *'runtimepath'* *'rtp'* *vimfiles*
5379 'runtimepath' 'rtp' string (default:
5383 $VIM/vimfiles/after,
5385 Amiga: "home:vimfiles,
5388 $VIM/vimfiles/after,
5389 home:vimfiles/after"
5390 PC, OS/2: "$HOME/vimfiles,
5393 $VIM/vimfiles/after,
5394 $HOME/vimfiles/after"
5395 Macintosh: "$VIM:vimfiles,
5397 $VIM:vimfiles:after"
5398 RISC-OS: "Choices:vimfiles,
5400 Choices:vimfiles/after"
5401 VMS: "sys$login:vimfiles,
5404 $VIM/vimfiles/after,
5405 sys$login:vimfiles/after")
5408 This is a list of directories which will be searched for runtime
5410 filetype.vim filetypes by file name |new-filetype|
5411 scripts.vim filetypes by file contents |new-filetype-scripts|
5412 autoload/ automatically loaded scripts |autoload-functions|
5413 colors/ color scheme files |:colorscheme|
5414 compiler/ compiler files |:compiler|
5415 doc/ documentation |write-local-help|
5416 ftplugin/ filetype plugins |write-filetype-plugin|
5417 indent/ indent scripts |indent-expression|
5418 keymap/ key mapping files |mbyte-keymap|
5419 lang/ menu translations |:menutrans|
5420 menu.vim GUI menus |menu.vim|
5421 plugin/ plugin scripts |write-plugin|
5422 print/ files for printing |postscript-print-encoding|
5423 spell/ spell checking files |spell|
5424 syntax/ syntax files |mysyntaxfile|
5425 tutor/ files for vimtutor |tutor|
5427 And any other file searched for with the |:runtime| command.
5429 The defaults for most systems are setup to search five locations:
5430 1. In your home directory, for your personal preferences.
5431 2. In a system-wide Vim directory, for preferences from the system
5433 3. In $VIMRUNTIME, for files distributed with Vim.
5435 4. In the "after" directory in the system-wide Vim directory. This is
5436 for the system administrator to overrule or add to the distributed
5437 defaults (rarely needed)
5438 5. In the "after" directory in your home directory. This is for
5439 personal preferences to overrule or add to the distributed defaults
5440 or system-wide settings (rarely needed).
5442 Note that, unlike 'path', no wildcards like "**" are allowed. Normal
5443 wildcards are allowed, but can significantly slow down searching for
5444 runtime files. For speed, use as few items as possible and avoid
5448 :set runtimepath=~/vimruntime,/mygroup/vim,$VIMRUNTIME
5449 < This will use the directory "~/vimruntime" first (containing your
5450 personal Vim runtime files), then "/mygroup/vim" (shared between a
5451 group of people) and finally "$VIMRUNTIME" (the distributed runtime
5453 You probably should always include $VIMRUNTIME somewhere, to use the
5454 distributed runtime files. You can put a directory before $VIMRUNTIME
5455 to find files which replace a distributed runtime files. You can put
5456 a directory after $VIMRUNTIME to find files which add to distributed
5458 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5462 'scroll' 'scr' number (default: half the window height)
5464 Number of lines to scroll with CTRL-U and CTRL-D commands. Will be
5465 set to half the number of lines in the window when the window size
5466 changes. If you give a count to the CTRL-U or CTRL-D command it will
5467 be used as the new value for 'scroll'. Reset to half the window
5468 height with ":set scroll=0". {Vi is a bit different: 'scroll' gives
5469 the number of screen lines instead of file lines, makes a difference
5472 *'scrollbind'* *'scb'* *'noscrollbind'* *'noscb'*
5473 'scrollbind' 'scb' boolean (default off)
5476 {not available when compiled without the |+scrollbind|
5478 See also |scroll-binding|. When this option is set, the current
5479 window scrolls as other scrollbind windows (windows that also have
5480 this option set) scroll. This option is useful for viewing the
5481 differences between two versions of a file, see 'diff'.
5482 See |'scrollopt'| for options that determine how this option should be
5484 This option is mostly reset when splitting a window to edit another
5485 file. This means that ":split | edit file" results in two windows
5486 with scroll-binding, but ":split file" does not.
5488 *'scrolljump'* *'sj'*
5489 'scrolljump' 'sj' number (default 1)
5492 Minimal number of lines to scroll when the cursor gets off the
5493 screen (e.g., with "j"). Not used for scroll commands (e.g., CTRL-E,
5494 CTRL-D). Useful if your terminal scrolls very slowly.
5495 When set to a negative number from -1 to -100 this is used as the
5496 percentage of the window height. Thus -50 scrolls half the window
5498 NOTE: This option is set to 1 when 'compatible' is set.
5500 *'scrolloff'* *'so'*
5501 'scrolloff' 'so' number (default 0)
5504 Minimal number of screen lines to keep above and below the cursor.
5505 This will make some context visible around where you are working. If
5506 you set it to a very large value (999) the cursor line will always be
5507 in the middle of the window (except at the start or end of the file or
5508 when long lines wrap).
5509 For scrolling horizontally see 'sidescrolloff'.
5510 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
5512 *'scrollopt'* *'sbo'*
5513 'scrollopt' 'sbo' string (default "ver,jump")
5515 {not available when compiled without the |+scrollbind|
5518 This is a comma-separated list of words that specifies how
5519 'scrollbind' windows should behave. 'sbo' stands for ScrollBind
5521 The following words are available:
5522 ver Bind vertical scrolling for 'scrollbind' windows
5523 hor Bind horizontal scrolling for 'scrollbind' windows
5524 jump Applies to the offset between two windows for vertical
5525 scrolling. This offset is the difference in the first
5526 displayed line of the bound windows. When moving
5527 around in a window, another 'scrollbind' window may
5528 reach a position before the start or after the end of
5529 the buffer. The offset is not changed though, when
5530 moving back the 'scrollbind' window will try to scroll
5531 to the desired position when possible.
5532 When now making that window the current one, two
5533 things can be done with the relative offset:
5534 1. When "jump" is not included, the relative offset is
5535 adjusted for the scroll position in the new current
5536 window. When going back to the other window, the
5537 new relative offset will be used.
5538 2. When "jump" is included, the other windows are
5539 scrolled to keep the same relative offset. When
5540 going back to the other window, it still uses the
5541 same relative offset.
5542 Also see |scroll-binding|.
5543 When 'diff' mode is active there always is vertical scroll binding,
5544 even when "ver" isn't there.
5546 *'sections'* *'sect'*
5547 'sections' 'sect' string (default "SHNHH HUnhsh")
5549 Specifies the nroff macros that separate sections. These are pairs of
5550 two letters (See |object-motions|). The default makes a section start
5551 at the nroff macros ".SH", ".NH", ".H", ".HU", ".nh" and ".sh".
5553 *'secure'* *'nosecure'* *E523*
5554 'secure' boolean (default off)
5557 When on, ":autocmd", shell and write commands are not allowed in
5558 ".vimrc" and ".exrc" in the current directory and map commands are
5559 displayed. Switch it off only if you know that you will not run into
5560 problems, or when the 'exrc' option is off. On Unix this option is
5561 only used if the ".vimrc" or ".exrc" is not owned by you. This can be
5562 dangerous if the systems allows users to do a "chown". You better set
5563 'secure' at the end of your ~/.vimrc then.
5564 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5567 *'selection'* *'sel'*
5568 'selection' 'sel' string (default "inclusive")
5571 This option defines the behavior of the selection. It is only used
5572 in Visual and Select mode.
5574 value past line inclusive ~
5578 "past line" means that the cursor is allowed to be positioned one
5579 character past the line.
5580 "inclusive" means that the last character of the selection is included
5581 in an operation. For example, when "x" is used to delete the
5583 Note that when "exclusive" is used and selecting from the end
5584 backwards, you cannot include the last character of a line, when
5585 starting in Normal mode and 'virtualedit' empty.
5587 The 'selection' option is set by the |:behave| command.
5589 *'selectmode'* *'slm'*
5590 'selectmode' 'slm' string (default "")
5593 This is a comma separated list of words, which specifies when to start
5594 Select mode instead of Visual mode, when a selection is started.
5596 mouse when using the mouse
5597 key when using shifted special keys
5598 cmd when using "v", "V" or CTRL-V
5600 The 'selectmode' option is set by the |:behave| command.
5602 *'sessionoptions'* *'ssop'*
5603 'sessionoptions' 'ssop' string (default: "blank,buffers,curdir,folds,
5604 help,options,tabpages,winsize")
5607 {not available when compiled without the +mksession
5609 Changes the effect of the |:mksession| command. It is a comma
5610 separated list of words. Each word enables saving and restoring
5612 word save and restore ~
5614 buffers hidden and unloaded buffers, not just those in windows
5615 curdir the current directory
5616 folds manually created folds, opened/closed folds and local
5618 globals global variables that start with an uppercase letter
5619 and contain at least one lowercase letter. Only
5620 String and Number types are stored.
5621 help the help window
5622 localoptions options and mappings local to a window or buffer (not
5623 global values for local options)
5624 options all options and mappings (also global values for local
5626 resize size of the Vim window: 'lines' and 'columns'
5627 sesdir the directory in which the session file is located
5628 will become the current directory (useful with
5629 projects accessed over a network from different
5631 slash backslashes in file names replaced with forward
5633 tabpages all tab pages; without this only the current tab page
5634 is restored, so that you can make a session for each
5636 unix with Unix end-of-line format (single <NL>), even when
5638 winpos position of the whole Vim window
5639 winsize window sizes
5641 Don't include both "curdir" and "sesdir".
5642 When neither "curdir" nor "sesdir" is included, file names are stored
5643 with absolute paths.
5644 "slash" and "unix" are useful on Windows when sharing session files
5645 with Unix. The Unix version of Vim cannot source dos format scripts,
5646 but the Windows version of Vim can source unix format scripts.
5648 *'shell'* *'sh'* *E91*
5649 'shell' 'sh' string (default $SHELL or "sh",
5650 MS-DOS and Win32: "command.com" or
5651 "cmd.exe", OS/2: "cmd")
5653 Name of the shell to use for ! and :! commands. When changing the
5654 value also check these options: 'shelltype', 'shellpipe', 'shellslash'
5655 'shellredir', 'shellquote', 'shellxquote' and 'shellcmdflag'.
5656 It is allowed to give an argument to the command, e.g. "csh -f".
5657 See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes.
5658 Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
5659 If the name of the shell contains a space, you might need to enclose
5660 it in quotes. Example: >
5661 :set shell=\"c:\program\ files\unix\sh.exe\"\ -f
5662 < Note the backslash before each quote (to avoid starting a comment) and
5663 each space (to avoid ending the option value). Also note that the
5664 "-f" is not inside the quotes, because it is not part of the command
5665 name. And Vim automagically recognizes the backslashes that are path
5667 For Dos 32 bits (DJGPP), you can set the $DJSYSFLAGS environment
5668 variable to change the way external commands are executed. See the
5669 libc.inf file of DJGPP.
5670 Under MS-Windows, when the executable ends in ".com" it must be
5671 included. Thus setting the shell to "command.com" or "4dos.com"
5672 works, but "command" and "4dos" do not work for all commands (e.g.,
5674 For unknown reasons, when using "4dos.com" the current directory is
5675 changed to "C:\". To avoid this set 'shell' like this: >
5676 :set shell=command.com\ /c\ 4dos
5677 < This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5680 *'shellcmdflag'* *'shcf'*
5681 'shellcmdflag' 'shcf' string (default: "-c", MS-DOS and Win32, when 'shell'
5682 does not contain "sh" somewhere: "/c")
5685 Flag passed to the shell to execute "!" and ":!" commands; e.g.,
5686 "bash.exe -c ls" or "command.com /c dir". For the MS-DOS-like
5687 systems, the default is set according to the value of 'shell', to
5688 reduce the need to set this option by the user. It's not used for
5689 OS/2 (EMX figures this out itself). See |option-backslash| about
5690 including spaces and backslashes. See |dos-shell|.
5691 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5694 *'shellpipe'* *'sp'*
5695 'shellpipe' 'sp' string (default ">", "| tee", "|& tee" or "2>&1| tee")
5698 {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix|
5700 String to be used to put the output of the ":make" command in the
5701 error file. See also |:make_makeprg|. See |option-backslash| about
5702 including spaces and backslashes.
5703 The name of the temporary file can be represented by "%s" if necessary
5704 (the file name is appended automatically if no %s appears in the value
5706 For the Amiga and MS-DOS the default is ">". The output is directly
5707 saved in a file and not echoed to the screen.
5708 For Unix the default it "| tee". The stdout of the compiler is saved
5709 in a file and echoed to the screen. If the 'shell' option is "csh" or
5710 "tcsh" after initializations, the default becomes "|& tee". If the
5711 'shell' option is "sh", "ksh", "zsh" or "bash" the default becomes
5712 "2>&1| tee". This means that stderr is also included. Before using
5713 the 'shell' option a path is removed, thus "/bin/sh" uses "sh".
5714 The initialization of this option is done after reading the ".vimrc"
5715 and the other initializations, so that when the 'shell' option is set
5716 there, the 'shellpipe' option changes automatically, unless it was
5717 explicitly set before.
5718 When 'shellpipe' is set to an empty string, no redirection of the
5719 ":make" output will be done. This is useful if you use a 'makeprg'
5720 that writes to 'makeef' by itself. If you want no piping, but do
5721 want to include the 'makeef', set 'shellpipe' to a single space.
5722 Don't forget to precede the space with a backslash: ":set sp=\ ".
5723 In the future pipes may be used for filtering and this option will
5724 become obsolete (at least for Unix).
5725 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5728 *'shellquote'* *'shq'*
5729 'shellquote' 'shq' string (default: ""; MS-DOS and Win32, when 'shell'
5730 contains "sh" somewhere: "\"")
5733 Quoting character(s), put around the command passed to the shell, for
5734 the "!" and ":!" commands. The redirection is kept outside of the
5735 quoting. See 'shellxquote' to include the redirection. It's
5736 probably not useful to set both options.
5737 This is an empty string by default. Only known to be useful for
5738 third-party shells on MS-DOS-like systems, such as the MKS Korn Shell
5739 or bash, where it should be "\"". The default is adjusted according
5740 the value of 'shell', to reduce the need to set this option by the
5741 user. See |dos-shell|.
5742 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5745 *'shellredir'* *'srr'*
5746 'shellredir' 'srr' string (default ">", ">&" or ">%s 2>&1")
5749 String to be used to put the output of a filter command in a temporary
5750 file. See also |:!|. See |option-backslash| about including spaces
5752 The name of the temporary file can be represented by "%s" if necessary
5753 (the file name is appended automatically if no %s appears in the value
5755 The default is ">". For Unix, if the 'shell' option is "csh", "tcsh"
5756 or "zsh" during initializations, the default becomes ">&". If the
5757 'shell' option is "sh", "ksh" or "bash" the default becomes
5758 ">%s 2>&1". This means that stderr is also included.
5759 For Win32, the Unix checks are done and additionally "cmd" is checked
5760 for, which makes the default ">%s 2>&1". Also, the same names with
5761 ".exe" appended are checked for.
5762 The initialization of this option is done after reading the ".vimrc"
5763 and the other initializations, so that when the 'shell' option is set
5764 there, the 'shellredir' option changes automatically unless it was
5765 explicitly set before.
5766 In the future pipes may be used for filtering and this option will
5767 become obsolete (at least for Unix).
5768 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5771 *'shellslash'* *'ssl'* *'noshellslash'* *'nossl'*
5772 'shellslash' 'ssl' boolean (default off)
5774 {not in Vi} {only for MSDOS, MS-Windows and OS/2}
5775 When set, a forward slash is used when expanding file names. This is
5776 useful when a Unix-like shell is used instead of command.com or
5777 cmd.exe. Backward slashes can still be typed, but they are changed to
5778 forward slashes by Vim.
5779 Note that setting or resetting this option has no effect for some
5780 existing file names, thus this option needs to be set before opening
5781 any file for best results. This might change in the future.
5782 'shellslash' only works when a backslash can be used as a path
5783 separator. To test if this is so use: >
5784 if exists('+shellslash')
5786 *'shelltemp'* *'stmp'* *'noshelltemp'* *'nostmp'*
5787 'shelltemp' 'stmp' boolean (Vi default off, Vim default on)
5790 When on, use temp files for shell commands. When off use a pipe.
5791 When using a pipe is not possible temp files are used anyway.
5792 Currently a pipe is only supported on Unix. You can check it with: >
5793 :if has("filterpipe")
5794 < The advantage of using a pipe is that nobody can read the temp file
5795 and the 'shell' command does not need to support redirection.
5796 The advantage of using a temp file is that the file type and encoding
5798 The |FilterReadPre|, |FilterReadPost| and |FilterWritePre|,
5799 |FilterWritePost| autocommands event are not triggered when
5802 *'shelltype'* *'st'*
5803 'shelltype' 'st' number (default 0)
5805 {not in Vi} {only for the Amiga}
5806 On the Amiga this option influences the way how the commands work
5808 0 and 1: always use the shell
5809 2 and 3: use the shell only to filter lines
5810 4 and 5: use shell only for ':sh' command
5811 When not using the shell, the command is executed directly.
5813 0 and 2: use "shell 'shellcmdflag' cmd" to start external commands
5814 1 and 3: use "shell cmd" to start external commands
5816 *'shellxquote'* *'sxq'*
5817 'shellxquote' 'sxq' string (default: "";
5818 for Win32, when 'shell' contains "sh"
5820 for Unix, when using system(): "\"")
5823 Quoting character(s), put around the command passed to the shell, for
5824 the "!" and ":!" commands. Includes the redirection. See
5825 'shellquote' to exclude the redirection. It's probably not useful
5826 to set both options.
5827 This is an empty string by default. Known to be useful for
5828 third-party shells when using the Win32 version, such as the MKS Korn
5829 Shell or bash, where it should be "\"". The default is adjusted
5830 according the value of 'shell', to reduce the need to set this option
5831 by the user. See |dos-shell|.
5832 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
5835 *'shiftround'* *'sr'* *'noshiftround'* *'nosr'*
5836 'shiftround' 'sr' boolean (default off)
5839 Round indent to multiple of 'shiftwidth'. Applies to > and <
5840 commands. CTRL-T and CTRL-D in Insert mode always round the indent to
5841 a multiple of 'shiftwidth' (this is Vi compatible).
5842 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
5844 *'shiftwidth'* *'sw'*
5845 'shiftwidth' 'sw' number (default 8)
5847 Number of spaces to use for each step of (auto)indent. Used for
5848 |'cindent'|, |>>|, |<<|, etc.
5850 *'shortmess'* *'shm'*
5851 'shortmess' 'shm' string (Vim default "filnxtToO", Vi default: "",
5855 This option helps to avoid all the |hit-enter| prompts caused by file
5856 messages, for example with CTRL-G, and to avoid some other messages.
5857 It is a list of flags:
5858 flag meaning when present ~
5859 f use "(3 of 5)" instead of "(file 3 of 5)"
5860 i use "[noeol]" instead of "[Incomplete last line]"
5861 l use "999L, 888C" instead of "999 lines, 888 characters"
5862 m use "[+]" instead of "[Modified]"
5863 n use "[New]" instead of "[New File]"
5864 r use "[RO]" instead of "[readonly]"
5865 w use "[w]" instead of "written" for file write message
5866 and "[a]" instead of "appended" for ':w >> file' command
5867 x use "[dos]" instead of "[dos format]", "[unix]" instead of
5868 "[unix format]" and "[mac]" instead of "[mac format]".
5869 a all of the above abbreviations
5871 o overwrite message for writing a file with subsequent message
5872 for reading a file (useful for ":wn" or when 'autowrite' on)
5873 O message for reading a file overwrites any previous message.
5874 Also for quickfix message (e.g., ":cn").
5875 s don't give "search hit BOTTOM, continuing at TOP" or "search
5876 hit TOP, continuing at BOTTOM" messages
5877 t truncate file message at the start if it is too long to fit
5878 on the command-line, "<" will appear in the left most column.
5880 T truncate other messages in the middle if they are too long to
5881 fit on the command line. "..." will appear in the middle.
5883 W don't give "written" or "[w]" when writing a file
5884 A don't give the "ATTENTION" message when an existing swap file
5886 I don't give the intro message when starting Vim |:intro|.
5888 This gives you the opportunity to avoid that a change between buffers
5889 requires you to hit <Enter>, but still gives as useful a message as
5890 possible for the space available. To get the whole message that you
5891 would have got with 'shm' empty, use ":file!"
5893 shm= No abbreviation of message.
5894 shm=a Abbreviation, but no loss of information.
5895 shm=at Abbreviation, and truncate message when necessary.
5897 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
5898 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
5900 *'shortname'* *'sn'* *'noshortname'* *'nosn'*
5901 'shortname' 'sn' boolean (default off)
5903 {not in Vi, not in MS-DOS versions}
5904 Filenames are assumed to be 8 characters plus one extension of 3
5905 characters. Multiple dots in file names are not allowed. When this
5906 option is on, dots in file names are replaced with underscores when
5907 adding an extension (".~" or ".swp"). This option is not available
5908 for MS-DOS, because then it would always be on. This option is useful
5909 when editing files on an MS-DOS compatible filesystem, e.g., messydos
5910 or crossdos. When running the Win32 GUI version under Win32s, this
5911 option is always on by default.
5913 *'showbreak'* *'sbr'* *E595*
5914 'showbreak' 'sbr' string (default "")
5917 {not available when compiled without the |+linebreak|
5919 String to put at the start of lines that have been wrapped. Useful
5920 values are "> " or "+++ ": >
5922 < Note the backslash to escape the trailing space. It's easier like
5924 :let &showbreak = '+++ '
5925 < Only printable single-cell characters are allowed, excluding <Tab> and
5926 comma (in a future version the comma might be used to separate the
5927 part that is shown at the end and at the start of a line).
5928 The characters are highlighted according to the '@' flag in
5930 Note that tabs after the showbreak will be displayed differently.
5931 If you want the 'showbreak' to appear in between line numbers, add the
5932 "n" flag to 'cpoptions'.
5934 *'showcmd'* *'sc'* *'noshowcmd'* *'nosc'*
5935 'showcmd' 'sc' boolean (Vim default: on, off for Unix, Vi default:
5939 {not available when compiled without the
5940 |+cmdline_info| feature}
5941 Show (partial) command in the last line of the screen. Set this
5942 option off if your terminal is slow.
5943 In Visual mode the size of the selected area is shown:
5944 - When selecting characters within a line, the number of characters.
5945 - When selecting more than one line, the number of lines.
5946 - When selecting a block, the size in screen characters:
5948 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
5949 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
5951 *'showfulltag'* *'sft'* *'noshowfulltag'* *'nosft'*
5952 'showfulltag' 'sft' boolean (default off)
5955 When completing a word in insert mode (see |ins-completion|) from the
5956 tags file, show both the tag name and a tidied-up form of the search
5957 pattern (if there is one) as possible matches. Thus, if you have
5958 matched a C function, you can see a template for what arguments are
5959 required (coding style permitting).
5960 Note that this doesn't work well together with having "longest" in
5961 'completeopt', because the completion from the search pattern may not
5962 match the typed text.
5964 *'showmatch'* *'sm'* *'noshowmatch'* *'nosm'*
5965 'showmatch' 'sm' boolean (default off)
5967 When a bracket is inserted, briefly jump to the matching one. The
5968 jump is only done if the match can be seen on the screen. The time to
5969 show the match can be set with 'matchtime'.
5970 A Beep is given if there is no match (no matter if the match can be
5971 seen or not). This option is reset when the 'paste' option is set.
5972 When the 'm' flag is not included in 'cpoptions', typing a character
5973 will immediately move the cursor back to where it belongs.
5974 See the "sm" field in 'guicursor' for setting the cursor shape and
5975 blinking when showing the match.
5976 The 'matchpairs' option can be used to specify the characters to show
5977 matches for. 'rightleft' and 'revins' are used to look for opposite
5979 Also see the matchparen plugin for highlighting the match when moving
5980 around |pi_paren.txt|.
5981 Note: Use of the short form is rated PG.
5983 *'showmode'* *'smd'* *'noshowmode'* *'nosmd'*
5984 'showmode' 'smd' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
5986 If in Insert, Replace or Visual mode put a message on the last line.
5987 Use the 'M' flag in 'highlight' to set the type of highlighting for
5989 When |XIM| may be used the message will include "XIM". But this
5990 doesn't mean XIM is really active, especially when 'imactivatekey' is
5992 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
5993 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
5995 *'showtabline'* *'stal'*
5996 'showtabline' 'stal' number (default 1)
5999 {not available when compiled without the +windows
6001 The value of this option specifies when the line with tab page labels
6004 1: only if there are at least two tab pages
6006 This is both for the GUI and non-GUI implementation of the tab pages
6008 See |tab-page| for more information about tab pages.
6010 *'sidescroll'* *'ss'*
6011 'sidescroll' 'ss' number (default 0)
6014 The minimal number of columns to scroll horizontally. Used only when
6015 the 'wrap' option is off and the cursor is moved off of the screen.
6016 When it is zero the cursor will be put in the middle of the screen.
6017 When using a slow terminal set it to a large number or 0. When using
6018 a fast terminal use a small number or 1. Not used for "zh" and "zl"
6021 *'sidescrolloff'* *'siso'*
6022 'sidescrolloff' 'siso' number (default 0)
6025 The minimal number of screen columns to keep to the left and to the
6026 right of the cursor if 'nowrap' is set. Setting this option to a
6027 value greater than 0 while having |'sidescroll'| also at a non-zero
6028 value makes some context visible in the line you are scrolling in
6029 horizontally (except at beginning of the line). Setting this option
6030 to a large value (like 999) has the effect of keeping the cursor
6031 horizontally centered in the window, as long as one does not come too
6032 close to the beginning of the line.
6033 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
6035 Example: Try this together with 'sidescroll' and 'listchars' as
6036 in the following example to never allow the cursor to move
6037 onto the "extends" character:
6039 :set nowrap sidescroll=1 listchars=extends:>,precedes:<
6040 :set sidescrolloff=1
6043 *'smartcase'* *'scs'* *'nosmartcase'* *'noscs'*
6044 'smartcase' 'scs' boolean (default off)
6047 Override the 'ignorecase' option if the search pattern contains upper
6048 case characters. Only used when the search pattern is typed and
6049 'ignorecase' option is on. Used for the commands "/", "?", "n", "N",
6050 ":g" and ":s". Not used for "*", "#", "gd", tag search, etc.. After
6051 "*" and "#" you can make 'smartcase' used by doing a "/" command,
6052 recalling the search pattern from history and hitting <Enter>.
6053 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
6055 *'smartindent'* *'si'* *'nosmartindent'* *'nosi'*
6056 'smartindent' 'si' boolean (default off)
6059 {not available when compiled without the
6060 |+smartindent| feature}
6061 Do smart autoindenting when starting a new line. Works for C-like
6062 programs, but can also be used for other languages. 'cindent' does
6063 something like this, works better in most cases, but is more strict,
6064 see |C-indenting|. When 'cindent' is on, setting 'si' has no effect.
6065 'indentexpr' is a more advanced alternative.
6066 Normally 'autoindent' should also be on when using 'smartindent'.
6067 An indent is automatically inserted:
6068 - After a line ending in '{'.
6069 - After a line starting with a keyword from 'cinwords'.
6070 - Before a line starting with '}' (only with the "O" command).
6071 When typing '}' as the first character in a new line, that line is
6072 given the same indent as the matching '{'.
6073 When typing '#' as the first character in a new line, the indent for
6074 that line is removed, the '#' is put in the first column. The indent
6075 is restored for the next line. If you don't want this, use this
6076 mapping: ":inoremap # X^H#", where ^H is entered with CTRL-V CTRL-H.
6077 When using the ">>" command, lines starting with '#' are not shifted
6079 NOTE: 'smartindent' is reset when 'compatible' is set. When 'paste'
6080 is set smart indenting is disabled.
6082 *'smarttab'* *'sta'* *'nosmarttab'* *'nosta'*
6083 'smarttab' 'sta' boolean (default off)
6086 When on, a <Tab> in front of a line inserts blanks according to
6087 'shiftwidth'. 'tabstop' or 'softtabstop' is used in other places. A
6088 <BS> will delete a 'shiftwidth' worth of space at the start of the
6090 When off, a <Tab> always inserts blanks according to 'tabstop' or
6091 'softtabstop'. 'shiftwidth' is only used for shifting text left or
6092 right |shift-left-right|.
6093 What gets inserted (a <Tab> or spaces) depends on the 'expandtab'
6094 option. Also see |ins-expandtab|. When 'expandtab' is not set, the
6095 number of spaces is minimized by using <Tab>s.
6096 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
6098 *'softtabstop'* *'sts'*
6099 'softtabstop' 'sts' number (default 0)
6102 Number of spaces that a <Tab> counts for while performing editing
6103 operations, like inserting a <Tab> or using <BS>. It "feels" like
6104 <Tab>s are being inserted, while in fact a mix of spaces and <Tab>s is
6105 used. This is useful to keep the 'ts' setting at its standard value
6106 of 8, while being able to edit like it is set to 'sts'. However,
6107 commands like "x" still work on the actual characters.
6108 When 'sts' is zero, this feature is off.
6109 'softtabstop' is set to 0 when the 'paste' option is set.
6110 See also |ins-expandtab|. When 'expandtab' is not set, the number of
6111 spaces is minimized by using <Tab>s.
6112 The 'L' flag in 'cpoptions' changes how tabs are used when 'list' is
6114 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
6116 *'spell'* *'nospell'*
6117 'spell' boolean (default off)
6120 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6122 When on spell checking will be done. See |spell|.
6123 The languages are specified with 'spelllang'.
6125 *'spellcapcheck'* *'spc'*
6126 'spellcapcheck' 'spc' string (default "[.?!]\_[\])'" \t]\+")
6129 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6131 Pattern to locate the end of a sentence. The following word will be
6132 checked to start with a capital letter. If not then it is highlighted
6133 with SpellCap |hl-SpellCap| (unless the word is also badly spelled).
6134 When this check is not wanted make this option empty.
6135 Only used when 'spell' is set.
6136 Be careful with special characters, see |option-backslash| about
6137 including spaces and backslashes.
6138 To set this option automatically depending on the language, see
6141 *'spellfile'* *'spf'*
6142 'spellfile' 'spf' string (default empty)
6145 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6147 Name of the word list file where words are added for the |zg| and |zw|
6148 commands. It must end in ".{encoding}.add". You need to include the
6149 path, otherwise the file is placed in the current directory.
6151 It may also be a comma separated list of names. A count before the
6152 |zg| and |zw| commands can be used to access each. This allows using
6153 a personal word list file and a project word list file.
6154 When a word is added while this option is empty Vim will set it for
6155 you: Using the first directory in 'runtimepath' that is writable. If
6156 there is no "spell" directory yet it will be created. For the file
6157 name the first language name that appears in 'spelllang' is used,
6158 ignoring the region.
6159 The resulting ".spl" file will be used for spell checking, it does not
6160 have to appear in 'spelllang'.
6161 Normally one file is used for all regions, but you can add the region
6162 name if you want to. However, it will then only be used when
6163 'spellfile' is set to it, for entries in 'spelllang' only files
6164 without region name will be found.
6165 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
6168 *'spelllang'* *'spl'*
6169 'spelllang' 'spl' string (default "en")
6172 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6174 A comma separated list of word list names. When the 'spell' option is
6175 on spellchecking will be done for these languages. Example: >
6176 set spelllang=en_us,nl,medical
6177 < This means US English, Dutch and medical words are recognized. Words
6178 that are not recognized will be highlighted.
6179 The word list name must not include a comma or dot. Using a dash is
6180 recommended to separate the two letter language name from a
6181 specification. Thus "en-rare" is used for rare English words.
6182 A region name must come last and have the form "_xx", where "xx" is
6183 the two-letter, lower case region name. You can use more than one
6184 region by listing them: "en_us,en_ca" supports both US and Canadian
6185 English, but not words specific for Australia, New Zealand or Great
6188 As a special case the name of a .spl file can be given as-is. The
6189 first "_xx" in the name is removed and used as the region name
6190 (_xx is an underscore, two letters and followed by a non-letter).
6191 This is mainly for testing purposes. You must make sure the correct
6192 encoding is used, Vim doesn't check it.
6193 When 'encoding' is set the word lists are reloaded. Thus it's a good
6194 idea to set 'spelllang' after setting 'encoding' to avoid loading the
6196 How the related spell files are found is explained here: |spell-load|.
6198 If the |spellfile.vim| plugin is active and you use a language name
6199 for which Vim cannot find the .spl file in 'runtimepath' the plugin
6200 will ask you if you want to download the file.
6202 After this option has been set successfully, Vim will source the files
6203 "spell/LANG.vim" in 'runtimepath'. "LANG" is the value of 'spelllang'
6204 up to the first comma, dot or underscore.
6205 Also see |set-spc-auto|.
6208 *'spellsuggest'* *'sps'*
6209 'spellsuggest' 'sps' string (default "best")
6212 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6214 Methods used for spelling suggestions. Both for the |z=| command and
6215 the |spellsuggest()| function. This is a comma-separated list of
6218 best Internal method that works best for English. Finds
6219 changes like "fast" and uses a bit of sound-a-like
6220 scoring to improve the ordering.
6222 double Internal method that uses two methods and mixes the
6223 results. The first method is "fast", the other method
6224 computes how much the suggestion sounds like the bad
6225 word. That only works when the language specifies
6226 sound folding. Can be slow and doesn't always give
6229 fast Internal method that only checks for simple changes:
6230 character inserts/deletes/swaps. Works well for
6231 simple typing mistakes.
6233 {number} The maximum number of suggestions listed for |z=|.
6234 Not used for |spellsuggest()|. The number of
6235 suggestions is never more than the value of 'lines'
6238 file:{filename} Read file {filename}, which must have two columns,
6239 separated by a slash. The first column contains the
6240 bad word, the second column the suggested good word.
6243 Use this for common mistakes that do not appear at the
6244 top of the suggestion list with the internal methods.
6245 Lines without a slash are ignored, use this for
6247 The file is used for all languages.
6249 expr:{expr} Evaluate expression {expr}. Use a function to avoid
6250 trouble with spaces. |v:val| holds the badly spelled
6251 word. The expression must evaluate to a List of
6252 Lists, each with a suggestion and a score.
6254 [['the', 33], ['that', 44]]
6255 Set 'verbose' and use |z=| to see the scores that the
6256 internal methods use. A lower score is better.
6257 This may invoke |spellsuggest()| if you temporarily
6258 set 'spellsuggest' to exclude the "expr:" part.
6259 Errors are silently ignored, unless you set the
6260 'verbose' option to a non-zero value.
6262 Only one of "best", "double" or "fast" may be used. The others may
6263 appear several times in any order. Example: >
6264 :set sps=file:~/.vim/sugg,best,expr:MySuggest()
6266 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
6270 *'splitbelow'* *'sb'* *'nosplitbelow'* *'nosb'*
6271 'splitbelow' 'sb' boolean (default off)
6274 {not available when compiled without the +windows
6276 When on, splitting a window will put the new window below the current
6279 *'splitright'* *'spr'* *'nosplitright'* *'nospr'*
6280 'splitright' 'spr' boolean (default off)
6283 {not available when compiled without the +vertsplit
6285 When on, splitting a window will put the new window right of the
6286 current one. |:vsplit|
6288 *'startofline'* *'sol'* *'nostartofline'* *'nosol'*
6289 'startofline' 'sol' boolean (default on)
6292 When "on" the commands listed below move the cursor to the first
6293 non-blank of the line. When off the cursor is kept in the same column
6294 (if possible). This applies to the commands: CTRL-D, CTRL-U, CTRL-B,
6295 CTRL-F, "G", "H", "M", "L", gg, and to the commands "d", "<<" and ">>"
6296 with a linewise operator, with "%" with a count and to buffer changing
6297 commands (CTRL-^, :bnext, :bNext, etc.). Also for an Ex command that
6298 only has a line number, e.g., ":25" or ":+".
6299 In case of buffer changing commands the cursor is placed at the column
6300 where it was the last time the buffer was edited.
6301 NOTE: This option is set when 'compatible' is set.
6303 *'statusline'* *'stl'* *E540* *E541* *E542*
6304 'statusline' 'stl' string (default empty)
6305 global or local to window |global-local|
6307 {not available when compiled without the |+statusline|
6309 When nonempty, this option determines the content of the status line.
6310 Also see |status-line|.
6312 The option consists of printf style '%' items interspersed with
6313 normal text. Each status line item is of the form:
6314 %-0{minwid}.{maxwid}{item}
6315 All fields except the {item} is optional. A single percent sign can
6316 be given as "%%". Up to 80 items can be specified.
6318 When the option starts with "%!" then it is used as an expression,
6319 evaluated and the result is used as the option value. Example: >
6320 :set statusline=%!MyStatusLine()
6321 < The result can contain %{} items that will be evaluated too.
6323 When there is error while evaluating the option then it will be made
6324 empty to avoid further errors. Otherwise screen updating would loop.
6326 Note that the only effect of 'ruler' when this option is set (and
6327 'laststatus' is 2) is controlling the output of |CTRL-G|.
6330 - Left justify the item. The default is right justified
6331 when minwid is larger than the length of the item.
6332 0 Leading zeroes in numeric items. Overridden by '-'.
6333 minwid Minimum width of the item, padding as set by '-' & '0'.
6334 Value must be 50 or less.
6335 maxwid Maximum width of the item. Truncation occurs with a '<'
6336 on the left for text items. Numeric items will be
6337 shifted down to maxwid-2 digits followed by '>'number
6338 where number is the amount of missing digits, much like
6339 an exponential notation.
6340 item A one letter code as described below.
6342 Following is a description of the possible statusline items. The
6343 second character in "item" is the type:
6346 F for flags as described below
6350 f S Path to the file in the buffer, as typed or relative to current
6352 F S Full path to the file in the buffer.
6353 t S File name (tail) of file in the buffer.
6354 m F Modified flag, text is "[+]"; "[-]" if 'modifiable' is off.
6355 M F Modified flag, text is ",+" or ",-".
6356 r F Readonly flag, text is "[RO]".
6357 R F Readonly flag, text is ",RO".
6358 h F Help buffer flag, text is "[help]".
6359 H F Help buffer flag, text is ",HLP".
6360 w F Preview window flag, text is "[Preview]".
6361 W F Preview window flag, text is ",PRV".
6362 y F Type of file in the buffer, e.g., "[vim]". See 'filetype'.
6363 Y F Type of file in the buffer, e.g., ",VIM". See 'filetype'.
6364 {not available when compiled without |+autocmd| feature}
6365 k S Value of "b:keymap_name" or 'keymap' when |:lmap| mappings are
6366 being used: "<keymap>"
6368 b N Value of byte under cursor.
6369 B N As above, in hexadecimal.
6370 o N Byte number in file of byte under cursor, first byte is 1.
6371 Mnemonic: Offset from start of file (with one added)
6372 {not available when compiled without |+byte_offset| feature}
6373 O N As above, in hexadecimal.
6374 N N Printer page number. (Only works in the 'printheader' option.)
6376 L N Number of lines in buffer.
6378 v N Virtual column number.
6379 V N Virtual column number as -{num}. Not displayed if equal to 'c'.
6380 p N Percentage through file in lines as in |CTRL-G|.
6381 P S Percentage through file of displayed window. This is like the
6382 percentage described for 'ruler'. Always 3 in length.
6383 a S Argument list status as in default title. ({current} of {max})
6384 Empty if the argument file count is zero or one.
6385 { NF Evaluate expression between '%{' and '}' and substitute result.
6386 Note that there is no '%' before the closing '}'.
6387 ( - Start of item group. Can be used for setting the width and
6388 alignment of a section. Must be followed by %) somewhere.
6389 ) - End of item group. No width fields allowed.
6390 T N For 'tabline': start of tab page N label. Use %T after the last
6391 label. This information is used for mouse clicks.
6392 X N For 'tabline': start of close tab N label. Use %X after the
6393 label, e.g.: %3Xclose%X. Use %999X for a "close current tab"
6394 mark. This information is used for mouse clicks.
6395 < - Where to truncate line if too long. Default is at the start.
6396 No width fields allowed.
6397 = - Separation point between left and right aligned items.
6398 No width fields allowed.
6399 # - Set highlight group. The name must follow and then a # again.
6400 Thus use %#HLname# for highlight group HLname. The same
6401 highlighting is used, also for the statusline of non-current
6403 * - Set highlight group to User{N}, where {N} is taken from the
6404 minwid field, e.g. %1*. Restore normal highlight with %* or %0*.
6405 The difference between User{N} and StatusLine will be applied
6406 to StatusLineNC for the statusline of non-current windows.
6407 The number N must be between 1 and 9. See |hl-User1..9|
6409 When displaying a flag, Vim removes the leading comma, if any, when
6410 that flag comes right after plaintext. This will make a nice display
6411 when flags are used like in the examples below.
6413 When all items in a group becomes an empty string (i.e. flags that are
6414 not set) and a minwid is not set for the group, the whole group will
6415 become empty. This will make a group like the following disappear
6416 completely from the statusline when none of the flags are set. >
6417 :set statusline=...%(\ [%M%R%H]%)...
6419 Beware that an expression is evaluated each and every time the status
6420 line is displayed. The current buffer and current window will be set
6421 temporarily to that of the window (and buffer) whose statusline is
6422 currently being drawn. The expression will evaluate in this context.
6423 The variable "actual_curbuf" is set to the 'bufnr()' number of the
6424 real current buffer.
6426 The 'statusline' option may be evaluated in the |sandbox|, see
6429 It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
6430 evaluating 'statusline' |textlock|.
6432 If the statusline is not updated when you want it (e.g., after setting
6433 a variable that's used in an expression), you can force an update by
6434 setting an option without changing its value. Example: >
6437 < A result of all digits is regarded a number for display purposes.
6438 Otherwise the result is taken as flag text and applied to the rules
6441 Watch out for errors in expressions. They may render Vim unusable!
6442 If you are stuck, hold down ':' or 'Q' to get a prompt, then quit and
6443 edit your .vimrc or whatever with "vim -u NONE" to get it right.
6446 Emulate standard status line with 'ruler' set >
6447 :set statusline=%<%f\ %h%m%r%=%-14.(%l,%c%V%)\ %P
6448 < Similar, but add ASCII value of char under the cursor (like "ga") >
6449 :set statusline=%<%f%h%m%r%=%b\ 0x%B\ \ %l,%c%V\ %P
6450 < Display byte count and byte value, modified flag in red. >
6451 :set statusline=%<%f%=\ [%1*%M%*%n%R%H]\ %-19(%3l,%02c%03V%)%O'%02b'
6452 :hi User1 term=inverse,bold cterm=inverse,bold ctermfg=red
6453 < Display a ,GZ flag if a compressed file is loaded >
6454 :set statusline=...%r%{VarExists('b:gzflag','\ [GZ]')}%h...
6455 < In the |:autocmd|'s: >
6459 < And define this function: >
6460 :function VarExists(var, val)
6461 : if exists(a:var) | return a:val | else | return '' | endif
6465 'suffixes' 'su' string (default ".bak,~,.o,.h,.info,.swp,.obj")
6468 Files with these suffixes get a lower priority when multiple files
6469 match a wildcard. See |suffixes|. Commas can be used to separate the
6470 suffixes. Spaces after the comma are ignored. A dot is also seen as
6471 the start of a suffix. To avoid a dot or comma being recognized as a
6472 separator, precede it with a backslash (see |option-backslash| about
6473 including spaces and backslashes).
6474 See 'wildignore' for completely ignoring files.
6475 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
6476 suffixes from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
6477 uses another default.
6479 *'suffixesadd'* *'sua'*
6480 'suffixesadd' 'sua' string (default "")
6483 {not available when compiled without the
6484 |+file_in_path| feature}
6485 Comma separated list of suffixes, which are used when searching for a
6486 file for the "gf", "[I", etc. commands. Example: >
6487 :set suffixesadd=.java
6489 *'swapfile'* *'swf'* *'noswapfile'* *'noswf'*
6490 'swapfile' 'swf' boolean (default on)
6493 Use a swapfile for the buffer. This option can be reset when a
6494 swapfile is not wanted for a specific buffer. For example, with
6495 confidential information that even root must not be able to access.
6496 Careful: All text will be in memory:
6497 - Don't use this for big files.
6498 - Recovery will be impossible!
6499 A swapfile will only be present when |'updatecount'| is non-zero and
6501 When 'swapfile' is reset, the swap file for the current buffer is
6502 immediately deleted. When 'swapfile' is set, and 'updatecount' is
6503 non-zero, a swap file is immediately created.
6504 Also see |swap-file| and |'swapsync'|.
6506 This option is used together with 'bufhidden' and 'buftype' to
6507 specify special kinds of buffers. See |special-buffers|.
6509 *'swapsync'* *'sws'*
6510 'swapsync' 'sws' string (default "fsync")
6513 When this option is not empty a swap file is synced to disk after
6514 writing to it. This takes some time, especially on busy unix systems.
6515 When this option is empty parts of the swap file may be in memory and
6516 not written to disk. When the system crashes you may lose more work.
6517 On Unix the system does a sync now and then without Vim asking for it,
6518 so the disadvantage of setting this option off is small. On some
6519 systems the swap file will not be written at all. For a unix system
6520 setting it to "sync" will use the sync() call instead of the default
6521 fsync(), which may work better on some systems.
6522 The 'fsync' option is used for the actual file.
6524 *'switchbuf'* *'swb'*
6525 'switchbuf' 'swb' string (default "")
6528 This option controls the behavior when switching between buffers.
6529 Possible values (comma separated list):
6530 useopen If included, jump to the first open window that
6531 contains the specified buffer (if there is one).
6532 Otherwise: Do not examine other windows.
6533 This setting is checked with |quickfix| commands, when
6534 jumping to errors (":cc", ":cn", "cp", etc.). It is
6535 also used in all buffer related split commands, for
6536 example ":sbuffer", ":sbnext", or ":sbrewind".
6537 usetab Like "useopen", but also consider windows in other tab
6539 split If included, split the current window before loading
6540 a buffer. Otherwise: do not split, use current window.
6541 Supported in |quickfix| commands that display errors.
6542 newtab Like "split", but open a new tab page. Overrules
6543 "split" when both are present.
6545 *'synmaxcol'* *'smc'*
6546 'synmaxcol' 'smc' number (default 3000)
6549 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6551 Maximum column in which to search for syntax items. In long lines the
6552 text after this column is not highlighted and following lines may not
6553 be highlighted correctly, because the syntax state is cleared.
6554 This helps to avoid very slow redrawing for an XML file that is one
6556 Set to zero to remove the limit.
6559 'syntax' 'syn' string (default empty)
6562 {not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
6564 When this option is set, the syntax with this name is loaded, unless
6565 syntax highlighting has been switched off with ":syntax off".
6566 Otherwise this option does not always reflect the current syntax (the
6567 b:current_syntax variable does).
6568 This option is most useful in a modeline, for a file which syntax is
6569 not automatically recognized. Example, in an IDL file:
6570 /* vim: set syntax=idl : */ ~
6571 When a dot appears in the value then this separates two filetype
6573 /* vim: set syntax=c.doxygen : */ ~
6574 This will use the "c" syntax first, then the "doxygen" syntax.
6575 Note that the second one must be prepared to be loaded as an addition,
6576 otherwise it will be skipped. More than one dot may appear.
6577 To switch off syntax highlighting for the current file, use: >
6579 < To switch syntax highlighting on according to the current value of the
6580 'filetype' option: >
6582 < What actually happens when setting the 'syntax' option is that the
6583 Syntax autocommand event is triggered with the value as argument.
6584 This option is not copied to another buffer, independent of the 's' or
6585 'S' flag in 'cpoptions'.
6586 Only normal file name characters can be used, "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
6589 'tabline' 'tal' string (default empty)
6592 {not available when compiled without the +windows
6594 When nonempty, this option determines the content of the tab pages
6595 line at the top of the Vim window. When empty Vim will use a default
6596 tab pages line. See |setting-tabline| for more info.
6598 The tab pages line only appears as specified with the 'showtabline'
6599 option and only when there is no GUI tab line. When 'e' is in
6600 'guioptions' and the GUI supports a tab line 'guitablabel' is used
6603 The value is evaluated like with 'statusline'. You can use
6604 |tabpagenr()|, |tabpagewinnr()| and |tabpagebuflist()| to figure out
6605 the text to be displayed. Use "%1T" for the first label, "%2T" for
6606 the second one, etc. Use "%X" items for closing labels.
6608 Keep in mind that only one of the tab pages is the current one, others
6609 are invisible and you can't jump to their windows.
6612 *'tabpagemax'* *'tpm'*
6613 'tabpagemax' 'tpm' number (default 10)
6616 {not available when compiled without the +windows
6618 Maximum number of tab pages to be opened by the |-p| command line
6619 argument or the ":tab all" command. |tabpage|
6623 'tabstop' 'ts' number (default 8)
6625 Number of spaces that a <Tab> in the file counts for. Also see
6626 |:retab| command, and 'softtabstop' option.
6628 Note: Setting 'tabstop' to any other value than 8 can make your file
6629 appear wrong in many places (e.g., when printing it).
6631 There are four main ways to use tabs in Vim:
6632 1. Always keep 'tabstop' at 8, set 'softtabstop' and 'shiftwidth' to 4
6633 (or 3 or whatever you prefer) and use 'noexpandtab'. Then Vim
6634 will use a mix of tabs and spaces, but typing <Tab> and <BS> will
6635 behave like a tab appears every 4 (or 3) characters.
6636 2. Set 'tabstop' and 'shiftwidth' to whatever you prefer and use
6637 'expandtab'. This way you will always insert spaces. The
6638 formatting will never be messed up when 'tabstop' is changed.
6639 3. Set 'tabstop' and 'shiftwidth' to whatever you prefer and use a
6640 |modeline| to set these values when editing the file again. Only
6641 works when using Vim to edit the file.
6642 4. Always set 'tabstop' and 'shiftwidth' to the same value, and
6643 'noexpandtab'. This should then work (for initial indents only)
6644 for any tabstop setting that people use. It might be nice to have
6645 tabs after the first non-blank inserted as spaces if you do this
6646 though. Otherwise aligned comments will be wrong when 'tabstop' is
6649 *'tagbsearch'* *'tbs'* *'notagbsearch'* *'notbs'*
6650 'tagbsearch' 'tbs' boolean (default on)
6653 When searching for a tag (e.g., for the |:ta| command), Vim can either
6654 use a binary search or a linear search in a tags file. Binary
6655 searching makes searching for a tag a LOT faster, but a linear search
6656 will find more tags if the tags file wasn't properly sorted.
6657 Vim normally assumes that your tags files are sorted, or indicate that
6658 they are not sorted. Only when this is not the case does the
6659 'tagbsearch' option need to be switched off.
6661 When 'tagbsearch' is on, binary searching is first used in the tags
6662 files. In certain situations, Vim will do a linear search instead for
6663 certain files, or retry all files with a linear search. When
6664 'tagbsearch' is off, only a linear search is done.
6666 Linear searching is done anyway, for one file, when Vim finds a line
6667 at the start of the file indicating that it's not sorted: >
6668 !_TAG_FILE_SORTED 0 /some comment/
6669 < [The whitespace before and after the '0' must be a single <Tab>]
6671 When a binary search was done and no match was found in any of the
6672 files listed in 'tags', and 'ignorecase' is set or a pattern is used
6673 instead of a normal tag name, a retry is done with a linear search.
6674 Tags in unsorted tags files, and matches with different case will only
6675 be found in the retry.
6677 If a tag file indicates that it is case-fold sorted, the second,
6678 linear search can be avoided for the 'ignorecase' case. Use a value
6679 of '2' in the "!_TAG_FILE_SORTED" line for this. A tag file can be
6680 case-fold sorted with the -f switch to "sort" in most unices, as in
6681 the command: "sort -f -o tags tags". For "Exuberant ctags" version
6682 5.x or higher (at least 5.5) the --sort=foldcase switch can be used
6683 for this as well. Note that case must be folded to uppercase for this
6686 When 'tagbsearch' is off, tags searching is slower when a full match
6687 exists, but faster when no full match exists. Tags in unsorted tags
6688 files may only be found with 'tagbsearch' off.
6689 When the tags file is not sorted, or sorted in a wrong way (not on
6690 ASCII byte value), 'tagbsearch' should be off, or the line given above
6691 must be included in the tags file.
6692 This option doesn't affect commands that find all matching tags (e.g.,
6693 command-line completion and ":help").
6694 {Vi: always uses binary search in some versions}
6696 *'taglength'* *'tl'*
6697 'taglength' 'tl' number (default 0)
6699 If non-zero, tags are significant up to this number of characters.
6701 *'tagrelative'* *'tr'* *'notagrelative'* *'notr'*
6702 'tagrelative' 'tr' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
6705 If on and using a tags file in another directory, file names in that
6706 tags file are relative to the directory where the tags file is.
6707 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
6708 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
6710 *'tags'* *'tag'* *E433*
6711 'tags' 'tag' string (default "./tags,tags", when compiled with
6712 |+emacs_tags|: "./tags,./TAGS,tags,TAGS")
6713 global or local to buffer |global-local|
6714 Filenames for the tag command, separated by spaces or commas. To
6715 include a space or comma in a file name, precede it with a backslash
6716 (see |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes).
6717 When a file name starts with "./", the '.' is replaced with the path
6718 of the current file. But only when the 'd' flag is not included in
6719 'cpoptions'. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. Also see
6721 "*", "**" and other wildcards can be used to search for tags files in
6722 a directory tree. See |file-searching|. {not available when compiled
6723 without the |+path_extra| feature}
6724 The |tagfiles()| function can be used to get a list of the file names
6726 If Vim was compiled with the |+emacs_tags| feature, Emacs-style tag
6727 files are also supported. They are automatically recognized. The
6728 default value becomes "./tags,./TAGS,tags,TAGS", unless case
6729 differences are ignored (MS-Windows). |emacs-tags|
6730 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
6731 file names from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
6732 uses another default.
6733 {Vi: default is "tags /usr/lib/tags"}
6735 *'tagstack'* *'tgst'* *'notagstack'* *'notgst'*
6736 'tagstack' 'tgst' boolean (default on)
6738 {not in all versions of Vi}
6739 When on, the |tagstack| is used normally. When off, a ":tag" or
6740 ":tselect" command with an argument will not push the tag onto the
6741 tagstack. A following ":tag" without an argument, a ":pop" command or
6742 any other command that uses the tagstack will use the unmodified
6743 tagstack, but does change the pointer to the active entry.
6744 Resetting this option is useful when using a ":tag" command in a
6745 mapping which should not change the tagstack.
6747 *'term'* *E529* *E530* *E531*
6748 'term' string (default is $TERM, if that fails:
6749 in the GUI: "builtin_gui"
6751 on BeOS: "beos-ansi"
6760 Name of the terminal. Used for choosing the terminal control
6761 characters. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
6766 *'termbidi'* *'tbidi'*
6767 *'notermbidi'* *'notbidi'*
6768 'termbidi' 'tbidi' boolean (default off, on for "mlterm")
6771 {only available when compiled with the |+arabic|
6773 The terminal is in charge of Bi-directionality of text (as specified
6774 by Unicode). The terminal is also expected to do the required shaping
6775 that some languages (such as Arabic) require.
6776 Setting this option implies that 'rightleft' will not be set when
6777 'arabic' is set and the value of 'arabicshape' will be ignored.
6778 Note that setting 'termbidi' has the immediate effect that
6779 'arabicshape' is ignored, but 'rightleft' isn't changed automatically.
6780 This option is reset when the GUI is started.
6781 For further details see |arabic.txt|.
6783 *'termencoding'* *'tenc'*
6784 'termencoding' 'tenc' string (default ""; with GTK+ 2 GUI: "utf-8"; with
6785 Macintosh GUI: "macroman")
6787 {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte|
6790 Encoding used for the terminal. This specifies what character
6791 encoding the keyboard produces and the display will understand. For
6792 the GUI it only applies to the keyboard ('encoding' is used for the
6793 display). Except for the Mac when 'macatsui' is off, then
6794 'termencoding' should be "macroman".
6795 In the Win32 console version the default value is the console codepage
6796 when it differs from the ANSI codepage.
6798 Note: This does not apply to the GTK+ 2 GUI. After the GUI has been
6799 successfully initialized, 'termencoding' is forcibly set to "utf-8".
6800 Any attempts to set a different value will be rejected, and an error
6802 For the Win32 GUI 'termencoding' is not used for typed characters,
6803 because the Win32 system always passes Unicode characters.
6804 When empty, the same encoding is used as for the 'encoding' option.
6805 This is the normal value.
6806 Not all combinations for 'termencoding' and 'encoding' are valid. See
6808 The value for this option must be supported by internal conversions or
6809 iconv(). When this is not possible no conversion will be done and you
6810 will probably experience problems with non-ASCII characters.
6811 Example: You are working with the locale set to euc-jp (Japanese) and
6812 want to edit a UTF-8 file: >
6813 :let &termencoding = &encoding
6815 < You need to do this when your system has no locale support for UTF-8.
6817 *'terse'* *'noterse'*
6818 'terse' boolean (default off)
6820 When set: Add 's' flag to 'shortmess' option (this makes the message
6821 for a search that hits the start or end of the file not being
6822 displayed). When reset: Remove 's' flag from 'shortmess' option. {Vi
6823 shortens a lot of messages}
6825 *'textauto'* *'ta'* *'notextauto'* *'nota'*
6826 'textauto' 'ta' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off)
6829 This option is obsolete. Use 'fileformats'.
6830 For backwards compatibility, when 'textauto' is set, 'fileformats' is
6831 set to the default value for the current system. When 'textauto' is
6832 reset, 'fileformats' is made empty.
6833 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
6834 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
6836 *'textmode'* *'tx'* *'notextmode'* *'notx'*
6837 'textmode' 'tx' boolean (MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2: default on,
6838 others: default off)
6841 This option is obsolete. Use 'fileformat'.
6842 For backwards compatibility, when 'textmode' is set, 'fileformat' is
6843 set to "dos". When 'textmode' is reset, 'fileformat' is set to
6846 *'textwidth'* *'tw'*
6847 'textwidth' 'tw' number (default 0)
6850 Maximum width of text that is being inserted. A longer line will be
6851 broken after white space to get this width. A zero value disables
6852 this. 'textwidth' is set to 0 when the 'paste' option is set. When
6853 'textwidth' is zero, 'wrapmargin' may be used. See also
6854 'formatoptions' and |ins-textwidth|.
6855 When 'formatexpr' is set it will be used to break the line.
6856 NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set.
6858 *'thesaurus'* *'tsr'*
6859 'thesaurus' 'tsr' string (default "")
6860 global or local to buffer |global-local|
6862 List of file names, separated by commas, that are used to lookup words
6863 for thesaurus completion commands |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T|. Each line in
6864 the file should contain words with similar meaning, separated by
6865 non-keyword characters (white space is preferred). Maximum line
6866 length is 510 bytes.
6867 To obtain a file to be used here, check out the wordlist FAQ at
6868 http://www.hyphenologist.co.uk .
6869 To include a comma in a file name precede it with a backslash. Spaces
6870 after a comma are ignored, otherwise spaces are included in the file
6871 name. See |option-backslash| about using backslashes.
6872 The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
6873 directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
6874 uses another default.
6875 Backticks cannot be used in this option for security reasons.
6877 *'tildeop'* *'top'* *'notildeop'* *'notop'*
6878 'tildeop' 'top' boolean (default off)
6881 When on: The tilde command "~" behaves like an operator.
6882 NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
6884 *'timeout'* *'to'* *'notimeout'* *'noto'*
6885 'timeout' 'to' boolean (default on)
6887 *'ttimeout'* *'nottimeout'*
6888 'ttimeout' boolean (default off)
6891 These two options together determine the behavior when part of a
6892 mapped key sequence or keyboard code has been received:
6894 'timeout' 'ttimeout' action ~
6895 off off do not time out
6896 on on or off time out on :mappings and key codes
6897 off on time out on key codes
6899 If both options are off, Vim will wait until either the complete
6900 mapping or key sequence has been received, or it is clear that there
6901 is no mapping or key sequence for the received characters. For
6902 example: if you have mapped "vl" and Vim has received 'v', the next
6903 character is needed to see if the 'v' is followed by an 'l'.
6904 When one of the options is on, Vim will wait for about 1 second for
6905 the next character to arrive. After that the already received
6906 characters are interpreted as single characters. The waiting time can
6907 be changed with the 'timeoutlen' option.
6908 On slow terminals or very busy systems timing out may cause
6909 malfunctioning cursor keys. If both options are off, Vim waits
6910 forever after an entered <Esc> if there are key codes that start
6911 with <Esc>. You will have to type <Esc> twice. If you do not have
6912 problems with key codes, but would like to have :mapped key
6913 sequences not timing out in 1 second, set the 'ttimeout' option and
6914 reset the 'timeout' option.
6916 NOTE: 'ttimeout' is reset when 'compatible' is set.
6918 *'timeoutlen'* *'tm'*
6919 'timeoutlen' 'tm' number (default 1000)
6921 {not in all versions of Vi}
6922 *'ttimeoutlen'* *'ttm'*
6923 'ttimeoutlen' 'ttm' number (default -1)
6926 The time in milliseconds that is waited for a key code or mapped key
6927 sequence to complete. Also used for CTRL-\ CTRL-N and CTRL-\ CTRL-G
6928 when part of a command has been typed.
6929 Normally only 'timeoutlen' is used and 'ttimeoutlen' is -1. When a
6930 different timeout value for key codes is desired set 'ttimeoutlen' to
6931 a non-negative number.
6933 ttimeoutlen mapping delay key code delay ~
6934 < 0 'timeoutlen' 'timeoutlen'
6935 >= 0 'timeoutlen' 'ttimeoutlen'
6937 The timeout only happens when the 'timeout' and 'ttimeout' options
6938 tell so. A useful setting would be >
6939 :set timeout timeoutlen=3000 ttimeoutlen=100
6940 < (time out on mapping after three seconds, time out on key codes after
6941 a tenth of a second).
6943 *'title'* *'notitle'*
6944 'title' boolean (default off, on when title can be restored)
6947 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
6949 When on, the title of the window will be set to the value of
6950 'titlestring' (if it is not empty), or to:
6951 filename [+=-] (path) - VIM
6953 filename the name of the file being edited
6954 - indicates the file cannot be modified, 'ma' off
6955 + indicates the file was modified
6956 = indicates the file is read-only
6957 =+ indicates the file is read-only and modified
6958 (path) is the path of the file being edited
6959 - VIM the server name |v:servername| or "VIM"
6960 Only works if the terminal supports setting window titles
6961 (currently Amiga console, Win32 console, all GUI versions and
6962 terminals with a non- empty 't_ts' option - these are Unix xterm and
6963 iris-ansi by default, where 't_ts' is taken from the builtin termcap).
6965 When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original title will
6966 be restored if possible. The output of ":version" will include "+X11"
6967 when HAVE_X11 was defined, otherwise it will be "-X11". This also
6968 works for the icon name |'icon'|.
6969 But: When Vim was started with the |-X| argument, restoring the title
6970 will not work (except in the GUI).
6971 If the title cannot be restored, it is set to the value of 'titleold'.
6972 You might want to restore the title outside of Vim then.
6973 When using an xterm from a remote machine you can use this command:
6974 rsh machine_name xterm -display $DISPLAY &
6975 then the WINDOWID environment variable should be inherited and the
6976 title of the window should change back to what it should be after
6980 'titlelen' number (default 85)
6983 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
6985 Gives the percentage of 'columns' to use for the length of the window
6986 title. When the title is longer, only the end of the path name is
6987 shown. A '<' character before the path name is used to indicate this.
6988 Using a percentage makes this adapt to the width of the window. But
6989 it won't work perfectly, because the actual number of characters
6990 available also depends on the font used and other things in the title
6991 bar. When 'titlelen' is zero the full path is used. Otherwise,
6992 values from 1 to 30000 percent can be used.
6993 'titlelen' is also used for the 'titlestring' option.
6996 'titleold' string (default "Thanks for flying Vim")
6999 {only available when compiled with the |+title|
7001 This option will be used for the window title when exiting Vim if the
7002 original title cannot be restored. Only happens if 'title' is on or
7003 'titlestring' is not empty.
7004 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
7007 'titlestring' string (default "")
7010 {not available when compiled without the |+title|
7012 When this option is not empty, it will be used for the title of the
7013 window. This happens only when the 'title' option is on.
7014 Only works if the terminal supports setting window titles (currently
7015 Amiga console, Win32 console, all GUI versions and terminals with a
7016 non-empty 't_ts' option).
7017 When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original title will
7018 be restored if possible |X11|.
7019 When this option contains printf-style '%' items, they will be
7020 expanded according to the rules used for 'statusline'.
7022 :auto BufEnter * let &titlestring = hostname() . "/" . expand("%:p")
7023 :set title titlestring=%<%F%=%l/%L-%P titlelen=70
7024 < The value of 'titlelen' is used to align items in the middle or right
7025 of the available space.
7026 Some people prefer to have the file name first: >
7027 :set titlestring=%t%(\ %M%)%(\ (%{expand(\"%:~:.:h\")})%)%(\ %a%)
7028 < Note the use of "%{ }" and an expression to get the path of the file,
7029 without the file name. The "%( %)" constructs are used to add a
7030 separating space only when needed.
7031 NOTE: Use of special characters in 'titlestring' may cause the display
7032 to be garbled (e.g., when it contains a CR or NL character).
7033 {not available when compiled without the |+statusline| feature}
7036 'toolbar' 'tb' string (default "icons,tooltips")
7038 {only for |+GUI_GTK|, |+GUI_Athena|, |+GUI_Motif| and
7040 The contents of this option controls various toolbar settings. The
7041 possible values are:
7042 icons Toolbar buttons are shown with icons.
7043 text Toolbar buttons shown with text.
7044 horiz Icon and text of a toolbar button are
7045 horizontally arranged. {only in GTK+ 2 GUI}
7046 tooltips Tooltips are active for toolbar buttons.
7047 Tooltips refer to the popup help text which appears after the mouse
7048 cursor is placed over a toolbar button for a brief moment.
7050 If you want the toolbar to be shown with icons as well as text, do the
7053 < Motif and Athena cannot display icons and text at the same time. They
7054 will show icons if both are requested.
7056 If none of the strings specified in 'toolbar' are valid or if
7057 'toolbar' is empty, this option is ignored. If you want to disable
7058 the toolbar, you need to set the 'guioptions' option. For example: >
7060 < Also see |gui-toolbar|.
7062 *'toolbariconsize'* *'tbis'*
7063 'toolbariconsize' 'tbis' string (default "small")
7066 {only in the GTK+ 2 GUI}
7067 Controls the size of toolbar icons. The possible values are:
7068 tiny Use tiny toolbar icons.
7069 small Use small toolbar icons (default).
7070 medium Use medium-sized toolbar icons.
7071 large Use large toolbar icons.
7072 The exact dimensions in pixels of the various icon sizes depend on
7073 the current theme. Common dimensions are large=32x32, medium=24x24,
7074 small=20x20 and tiny=16x16.
7076 If 'toolbariconsize' is empty, the global default size as determined
7077 by user preferences or the current theme is used.
7079 *'ttybuiltin'* *'tbi'* *'nottybuiltin'* *'notbi'*
7080 'ttybuiltin' 'tbi' boolean (default on)
7083 When on, the builtin termcaps are searched before the external ones.
7084 When off the builtin termcaps are searched after the external ones.
7085 When this option is changed, you should set the 'term' option next for
7086 the change to take effect, for example: >
7087 :set notbi term=$TERM
7088 < See also |termcap|.
7089 Rationale: The default for this option is "on", because the builtin
7090 termcap entries are generally better (many systems contain faulty
7093 *'ttyfast'* *'tf'* *'nottyfast'* *'notf'*
7094 'ttyfast' 'tf' boolean (default off, on when 'term' is xterm, hpterm,
7095 sun-cmd, screen, rxvt, dtterm or
7096 iris-ansi; also on when running Vim in
7100 Indicates a fast terminal connection. More characters will be sent to
7101 the screen for redrawing, instead of using insert/delete line
7102 commands. Improves smoothness of redrawing when there are multiple
7103 windows and the terminal does not support a scrolling region.
7104 Also enables the extra writing of characters at the end of each screen
7105 line for lines that wrap. This helps when using copy/paste with the
7106 mouse in an xterm and other terminals.
7108 *'ttymouse'* *'ttym'*
7109 'ttymouse' 'ttym' string (default depends on 'term')
7112 {only in Unix and VMS, doesn't work in the GUI; not
7113 available when compiled without |+mouse|}
7114 Name of the terminal type for which mouse codes are to be recognized.
7115 Currently these strings are valid:
7117 xterm xterm-like mouse handling. The mouse generates
7118 "<Esc>[Mscr", where "scr" is three bytes:
7120 "c" = column plus 33
7122 This only works up to 223 columns! See "dec" for a
7124 xterm2 Works like "xterm", but with the xterm reporting the
7125 mouse position while the mouse is dragged. This works
7126 much faster and more precise. Your xterm must at
7127 least at patchlevel 88 / XFree 3.3.3 for this to
7128 work. See below for how Vim detects this
7131 netterm NetTerm mouse handling. The mouse generates
7132 "<Esc>}r,c<CR>", where "r,c" are two decimal numbers
7133 for the row and column.
7135 dec DEC terminal mouse handling. The mouse generates a
7136 rather complex sequence, starting with "<Esc>[".
7137 This is also available for an Xterm, if it was
7138 configured with "--enable-dec-locator".
7140 jsbterm JSB term mouse handling.
7142 pterm QNX pterm mouse handling.
7144 The mouse handling must be enabled at compile time |+mouse_xterm|
7145 |+mouse_dec| |+mouse_netterm|.
7146 Only "xterm"(2) is really recognized. NetTerm mouse codes are always
7147 recognized, if enabled at compile time. DEC terminal mouse codes
7148 are recognized if enabled at compile time, and 'ttymouse' is not
7149 "xterm" (because the xterm and dec mouse codes conflict).
7150 This option is automatically set to "xterm", when the 'term' option is
7151 set to a name that starts with "xterm", and 'ttymouse' is not "xterm"
7152 or "xterm2" already. The main use of this option is to set it to
7153 "xterm", when the terminal name doesn't start with "xterm", but it can
7154 handle xterm mouse codes.
7155 The "xterm2" value will be set if the xterm version is reported to be
7156 95 or higher. This only works when compiled with the |+termresponse|
7157 feature and if |t_RV| is set to the escape sequence to request the
7158 xterm version number. Otherwise "xterm2" must be set explicitly.
7159 If you do not want 'ttymouse' to be set to "xterm2" automatically, set
7160 t_RV to an empty string: >
7163 *'ttyscroll'* *'tsl'*
7164 'ttyscroll' 'tsl' number (default 999)
7166 Maximum number of lines to scroll the screen. If there are more lines
7167 to scroll the window is redrawn. For terminals where scrolling is
7168 very slow and redrawing is not slow this can be set to a small number,
7169 e.g., 3, to speed up displaying.
7172 'ttytype' 'tty' string (default from $TERM)
7174 Alias for 'term', see above.
7176 *'undolevels'* *'ul'*
7177 'undolevels' 'ul' number (default 100, 1000 for Unix, VMS,
7181 Maximum number of changes that can be undone. Since undo information
7182 is kept in memory, higher numbers will cause more memory to be used
7183 (nevertheless, a single change can use an unlimited amount of memory).
7184 Set to 0 for Vi compatibility: One level of undo and "u" undoes
7187 < But you can also get Vi compatibility by including the 'u' flag in
7188 'cpoptions', and still be able to use CTRL-R to repeat undo.
7189 Set to a negative number for no undo at all: >
7191 < This helps when you run out of memory for a single change.
7192 Also see |undo-two-ways|.
7194 *'updatecount'* *'uc'*
7195 'updatecount' 'uc' number (default: 200)
7198 After typing this many characters the swap file will be written to
7199 disk. When zero, no swap file will be created at all (see chapter on
7200 recovery |crash-recovery|). 'updatecount' is set to zero by starting
7201 Vim with the "-n" option, see |startup|. When editing in readonly
7202 mode this option will be initialized to 10000.
7203 The swapfile can be disabled per buffer with |'swapfile'|.
7204 When 'updatecount' is set from zero to non-zero, swap files are
7205 created for all buffers that have 'swapfile' set. When 'updatecount'
7206 is set to zero, existing swap files are not deleted.
7207 Also see |'swapsync'|.
7208 This option has no meaning in buffers where |'buftype'| is "nofile"
7211 *'updatetime'* *'ut'*
7212 'updatetime' 'ut' number (default 4000)
7215 If this many milliseconds nothing is typed the swap file will be
7216 written to disk (see |crash-recovery|). Also used for the
7217 |CursorHold| autocommand event.
7220 'verbose' 'vbs' number (default 0)
7222 {not in Vi, although some versions have a boolean
7224 When bigger than zero, Vim will give messages about what it is doing.
7225 Currently, these messages are given:
7226 >= 1 When the viminfo file is read or written.
7227 >= 2 When a file is ":source"'ed.
7228 >= 5 Every searched tags file and include file.
7229 >= 8 Files for which a group of autocommands is executed.
7230 >= 9 Every executed autocommand.
7231 >= 12 Every executed function.
7232 >= 13 When an exception is thrown, caught, finished, or discarded.
7233 >= 14 Anything pending in a ":finally" clause.
7234 >= 15 Every executed Ex command (truncated at 200 characters).
7236 This option can also be set with the "-V" argument. See |-V|.
7237 This option is also set by the |:verbose| command.
7239 When the 'verbosefile' option is set then the verbose messages are not
7242 *'verbosefile'* *'vfile'*
7243 'verbosefile' 'vfile' string (default empty)
7246 When not empty all messages are written in a file with this name.
7247 When the file exists messages are appended.
7248 Writing to the file ends when Vim exits or when 'verbosefile' is made
7250 Setting 'verbosefile' to a new value is like making it empty first.
7251 The difference with |:redir| is that verbose messages are not
7252 displayed when 'verbosefile' is set.
7254 *'viewdir'* *'vdir'*
7255 'viewdir' 'vdir' string (default for Amiga, MS-DOS, OS/2 and Win32:
7256 "$VIM/vimfiles/view",
7257 for Unix: "~/.vim/view",
7258 for Macintosh: "$VIM:vimfiles:view"
7259 for VMS: "sys$login:vimfiles/view"
7260 for RiscOS: "Choices:vimfiles/view")
7263 {not available when compiled without the +mksession
7265 Name of the directory where to store files for |:mkview|.
7266 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
7269 *'viewoptions'* *'vop'*
7270 'viewoptions' 'vop' string (default: "folds,options,cursor")
7273 {not available when compiled without the +mksession
7275 Changes the effect of the |:mkview| command. It is a comma separated
7276 list of words. Each word enables saving and restoring something:
7277 word save and restore ~
7278 cursor cursor position in file and in window
7279 folds manually created folds, opened/closed folds and local
7281 options options and mappings local to a window or buffer (not
7282 global values for local options)
7283 slash backslashes in file names replaced with forward
7285 unix with Unix end-of-line format (single <NL>), even when
7288 "slash" and "unix" are useful on Windows when sharing view files
7289 with Unix. The Unix version of Vim cannot source dos format scripts,
7290 but the Windows version of Vim can source unix format scripts.
7292 *'viminfo'* *'vi'* *E526* *E527* *E528*
7293 'viminfo' 'vi' string (Vi default: "", Vim default for MS-DOS,
7294 Windows and OS/2: '100,<50,s10,h,rA:,rB:,
7295 for Amiga: '100,<50,s10,h,rdf0:,rdf1:,rdf2:
7296 for others: '100,<50,s10,h)
7299 {not available when compiled without the |+viminfo|
7301 When non-empty, the viminfo file is read upon startup and written
7302 when exiting Vim (see |viminfo-file|). The string should be a comma
7303 separated list of parameters, each consisting of a single character
7304 identifying the particular parameter, followed by a number or string
7305 which specifies the value of that parameter. If a particular
7306 character is left out, then the default value is used for that
7307 parameter. The following is a list of the identifying characters and
7308 the effect of their value.
7310 ! When included, save and restore global variables that start
7311 with an uppercase letter, and don't contain a lowercase
7312 letter. Thus "KEEPTHIS and "K_L_M" are stored, but "KeepThis"
7313 and "_K_L_M" are not. Only String and Number types are
7315 " Maximum number of lines saved for each register. Old name of
7316 the '<' item, with the disadvantage that you need to put a
7317 backslash before the ", otherwise it will be recognized as the
7319 % When included, save and restore the buffer list. If Vim is
7320 started with a file name argument, the buffer list is not
7321 restored. If Vim is started without a file name argument, the
7322 buffer list is restored from the viminfo file. Buffers
7323 without a file name and buffers for help files are not written
7324 to the viminfo file.
7325 When followed by a number, the number specifies the maximum
7326 number of buffers that are stored. Without a number all
7328 ' Maximum number of previously edited files for which the marks
7329 are remembered. This parameter must always be included when
7330 'viminfo' is non-empty.
7331 Including this item also means that the |jumplist| and the
7332 |changelist| are stored in the viminfo file.
7333 / Maximum number of items in the search pattern history to be
7334 saved. If non-zero, then the previous search and substitute
7335 patterns are also saved. When not included, the value of
7337 : Maximum number of items in the command-line history to be
7338 saved. When not included, the value of 'history' is used.
7339 < Maximum number of lines saved for each register. If zero then
7340 registers are not saved. When not included, all lines are
7341 saved. '"' is the old name for this item.
7342 Also see the 's' item below: limit specified in Kbyte.
7343 @ Maximum number of items in the input-line history to be
7344 saved. When not included, the value of 'history' is used.
7345 c When included, convert the text in the viminfo file from the
7346 'encoding' used when writing the file to the current
7347 'encoding'. See |viminfo-encoding|.
7348 f Whether file marks need to be stored. If zero, file marks ('0
7349 to '9, 'A to 'Z) are not stored. When not present or when
7350 non-zero, they are all stored. '0 is used for the current
7351 cursor position (when exiting or when doing ":wviminfo").
7352 h Disable the effect of 'hlsearch' when loading the viminfo
7353 file. When not included, it depends on whether ":nohlsearch"
7354 has been used since the last search command.
7355 n Name of the viminfo file. The name must immediately follow
7356 the 'n'. Must be the last one! If the "-i" argument was
7357 given when starting Vim, that file name overrides the one
7358 given here with 'viminfo'. Environment variables are expanded
7359 when opening the file, not when setting the option.
7360 r Removable media. The argument is a string (up to the next
7361 ','). This parameter can be given several times. Each
7362 specifies the start of a path for which no marks will be
7363 stored. This is to avoid removable media. For MS-DOS you
7364 could use "ra:,rb:", for Amiga "rdf0:,rdf1:,rdf2:". You can
7365 also use it for temp files, e.g., for Unix: "r/tmp". Case is
7366 ignored. Maximum length of each 'r' argument is 50
7368 s Maximum size of an item in Kbyte. If zero then registers are
7369 not saved. Currently only applies to registers. The default
7370 "s10" will exclude registers with more than 10 Kbyte of text.
7371 Also see the '<' item above: line count limit.
7374 :set viminfo='50,<1000,s100,:0,n~/vim/viminfo
7376 '50 Marks will be remembered for the last 50 files you
7378 <1000 Contents of registers (up to 1000 lines each) will be
7380 s100 Registers with more than 100 Kbyte text are skipped.
7381 :0 Command-line history will not be saved.
7382 n~/vim/viminfo The name of the file to use is "~/vim/viminfo".
7383 no / Since '/' is not specified, the default will be used,
7384 that is, save all of the search history, and also the
7385 previous search and substitute patterns.
7386 no % The buffer list will not be saved nor read back.
7387 no h 'hlsearch' highlighting will be restored.
7389 When setting 'viminfo' from an empty value you can use |:rviminfo| to
7390 load the contents of the file, this is not done automatically.
7392 This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
7395 *'virtualedit'* *'ve'*
7396 'virtualedit' 've' string (default "")
7399 {not available when compiled without the
7400 |+virtualedit| feature}
7401 A comma separated list of these words:
7402 block Allow virtual editing in Visual block mode.
7403 insert Allow virtual editing in Insert mode.
7404 all Allow virtual editing in all modes.
7405 onemore Allow the cursor to move just past the end of the line
7407 Virtual editing means that the cursor can be positioned where there is
7408 no actual character. This can be halfway into a tab or beyond the end
7409 of the line. Useful for selecting a rectangle in Visual mode and
7411 "onemore" is not the same, it will only allow moving the cursor just
7412 after the last character of the line. This makes some commands more
7413 consistent. Previously the cursor was always past the end of the line
7414 if the line was empty. But it is far from Vi compatible. It may also
7415 break some plugins or Vim scripts. For example because |l| can move
7416 the cursor after the last character. Use with care!
7417 Using the |$| command will move to the last character in the line, not
7418 past it. This may actually move the cursor to the left!
7419 It doesn't make sense to combine "all" with "onemore", but you will
7420 not get a warning for it.
7422 *'visualbell'* *'vb'* *'novisualbell'* *'novb'* *beep*
7423 'visualbell' 'vb' boolean (default off)
7426 Use visual bell instead of beeping. The terminal code to display the
7427 visual bell is given with 't_vb'. When no beep or flash is wanted,
7428 use ":set vb t_vb=".
7429 Note: When the GUI starts, 't_vb' is reset to its default value. You
7430 might want to set it again in your |gvimrc|.
7431 In the GUI, 't_vb' defaults to "<Esc>|f", which inverts the display
7432 for 20 msec. If you want to use a different time, use "<Esc>|40f",
7433 where 40 is the time in msec.
7434 Does not work on the Amiga, you always get a screen flash.
7435 Also see 'errorbells'.
7438 'warn' boolean (default on)
7440 Give a warning message when a shell command is used while the buffer
7443 *'weirdinvert'* *'wiv'* *'noweirdinvert'* *'nowiv'*
7444 'weirdinvert' 'wiv' boolean (default off)
7447 This option has the same effect as the 't_xs' terminal option.
7448 It is provided for backwards compatibility with version 4.x.
7449 Setting 'weirdinvert' has the effect of making 't_xs' non-empty, and
7450 vice versa. Has no effect when the GUI is running.
7452 *'whichwrap'* *'ww'*
7453 'whichwrap' 'ww' string (Vim default: "b,s", Vi default: "")
7456 Allow specified keys that move the cursor left/right to move to the
7457 previous/next line when the cursor is on the first/last character in
7458 the line. Concatenate characters to allow this for these keys:
7460 b <BS> Normal and Visual
7461 s <Space> Normal and Visual
7462 h "h" Normal and Visual (not recommended)
7463 l "l" Normal and Visual (not recommended)
7464 < <Left> Normal and Visual
7465 > <Right> Normal and Visual
7467 [ <Left> Insert and Replace
7468 ] <Right> Insert and Replace
7471 < allows wrap only when cursor keys are used.
7472 When the movement keys are used in combination with a delete or change
7473 operator, the <EOL> also counts for a character. This makes "3h"
7474 different from "3dh" when the cursor crosses the end of a line. This
7475 is also true for "x" and "X", because they do the same as "dl" and
7476 "dh". If you use this, you may also want to use the mapping
7477 ":map <BS> X" to make backspace delete the character in front of the
7479 When 'l' is included and it is used after an operator at the end of a
7480 line then it will not move to the next line. This makes "dl", "cl",
7481 "yl" etc. work normally.
7482 NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
7483 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
7486 'wildchar' 'wc' number (Vim default: <Tab>, Vi default: CTRL-E)
7489 Character you have to type to start wildcard expansion in the
7490 command-line, as specified with 'wildmode'.
7491 More info here: |cmdline-completion|.
7492 The character is not recognized when used inside a macro. See
7493 'wildcharm' for that.
7494 Although 'wc' is a number option, you can set it to a special key: >
7496 < NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
7497 set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
7499 *'wildcharm'* *'wcm'*
7500 'wildcharm' 'wcm' number (default: none (0))
7503 'wildcharm' works exactly like 'wildchar', except that it is
7504 recognized when used inside a macro. You can find "spare" command-line
7505 keys suitable for this option by looking at |ex-edit-index|. Normally
7506 you'll never actually type 'wildcharm', just use it in mappings that
7507 automatically invoke completion mode, e.g.: >
7509 :cnoremap ss so $vim/sessions/*.vim<C-Z>
7510 < Then after typing :ss you can use CTRL-P & CTRL-N.
7512 *'wildignore'* *'wig'*
7513 'wildignore' 'wig' string (default "")
7516 {not available when compiled without the |+wildignore|
7518 A list of file patterns. A file that matches with one of these
7519 patterns is ignored when completing file or directory names, and
7520 influences the result of |expand()|, |glob()| and |globpath()| unless
7521 a flag is passed to disable this.
7522 The pattern is used like with |:autocmd|, see |autocmd-patterns|.
7523 Also see 'suffixes'.
7525 :set wildignore=*.o,*.obj
7526 < The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
7527 a pattern from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
7528 uses another default.
7530 *'wildmenu'* *'wmnu'* *'nowildmenu'* *'nowmnu'*
7531 'wildmenu' 'wmnu' boolean (default off)
7534 {not available if compiled without the |+wildmenu|
7536 When 'wildmenu' is on, command-line completion operates in an enhanced
7537 mode. On pressing 'wildchar' (usually <Tab>) to invoke completion,
7538 the possible matches are shown just above the command line, with the
7539 first match highlighted (overwriting the status line, if there is
7540 one). Keys that show the previous/next match, such as <Tab> or
7541 CTRL-P/CTRL-N, cause the highlight to move to the appropriate match.
7542 When 'wildmode' is used, "wildmenu" mode is used where "full" is
7543 specified. "longest" and "list" do not start "wildmenu" mode.
7544 If there are more matches than can fit in the line, a ">" is shown on
7545 the right and/or a "<" is shown on the left. The status line scrolls
7547 The "wildmenu" mode is abandoned when a key is hit that is not used
7548 for selecting a completion.
7549 While the "wildmenu" is active the following keys have special
7552 <Left> <Right> - select previous/next match (like CTRL-P/CTRL-N)
7553 <Down> - in filename/menu name completion: move into a
7554 subdirectory or submenu.
7555 <CR> - in menu completion, when the cursor is just after a
7556 dot: move into a submenu.
7557 <Up> - in filename/menu name completion: move up into
7558 parent directory or parent menu.
7560 This makes the menus accessible from the console |console-menus|.
7562 If you prefer the <Left> and <Right> keys to move the cursor instead
7563 of selecting a different match, use this: >
7564 :cnoremap <Left> <Space><BS><Left>
7565 :cnoremap <Right> <Space><BS><Right>
7567 The "WildMenu" highlighting is used for displaying the current match
7570 *'wildmode'* *'wim'*
7571 'wildmode' 'wim' string (Vim default: "full")
7574 Completion mode that is used for the character specified with
7575 'wildchar'. It is a comma separated list of up to four parts. Each
7576 part specifies what to do for each consecutive use of 'wildchar'. The
7577 first part specifies the behavior for the first use of 'wildchar',
7578 The second part for the second use, etc.
7579 These are the possible values for each part:
7580 "" Complete only the first match.
7581 "full" Complete the next full match. After the last match,
7582 the original string is used and then the first match
7584 "longest" Complete till longest common string. If this doesn't
7585 result in a longer string, use the next part.
7586 "longest:full" Like "longest", but also start 'wildmenu' if it is
7588 "list" When more than one match, list all matches.
7589 "list:full" When more than one match, list all matches and
7590 complete first match.
7591 "list:longest" When more than one match, list all matches and
7592 complete till longest common string.
7593 When there is only a single match, it is fully completed in all cases.
7597 < Complete first full match, next match, etc. (the default) >
7598 :set wildmode=longest,full
7599 < Complete longest common string, then each full match >
7600 :set wildmode=list:full
7601 < List all matches and complete each full match >
7602 :set wildmode=list,full
7603 < List all matches without completing, then each full match >
7604 :set wildmode=longest,list
7605 < Complete longest common string, then list alternatives.
7606 More info here: |cmdline-completion|.
7608 *'wildoptions'* *'wop'*
7609 'wildoptions' 'wop' string (default "")
7612 {not available when compiled without the |+wildignore|
7614 A list of words that change how command line completion is done.
7615 Currently only one word is allowed:
7616 tagfile When using CTRL-D to list matching tags, the kind of
7617 tag and the file of the tag is listed. Only one match
7618 is displayed per line. Often used tag kinds are:
7621 Also see |cmdline-completion|.
7623 *'winaltkeys'* *'wak'*
7624 'winaltkeys' 'wak' string (default "menu")
7627 {only used in Win32, Motif, GTK and Photon GUI}
7628 Some GUI versions allow the access to menu entries by using the ALT
7629 key in combination with a character that appears underlined in the
7630 menu. This conflicts with the use of the ALT key for mappings and
7631 entering special characters. This option tells what to do:
7632 no Don't use ALT keys for menus. ALT key combinations can be
7633 mapped, but there is no automatic handling. This can then be
7634 done with the |:simalt| command.
7635 yes ALT key handling is done by the windowing system. ALT key
7636 combinations cannot be mapped.
7637 menu Using ALT in combination with a character that is a menu
7638 shortcut key, will be handled by the windowing system. Other
7640 If the menu is disabled by excluding 'm' from 'guioptions', the ALT
7641 key is never used for the menu.
7642 This option is not used for <F10>; on Win32 and with GTK <F10> will
7643 select the menu, unless it has been mapped.
7646 'window' 'wi' number (default screen height - 1)
7648 Window height. Do not confuse this with the height of the Vim window,
7649 use 'lines' for that.
7650 Used for |CTRL-F| and |CTRL-B| when there is only one window and the
7651 value is smaller than 'lines' minus one. The screen will scroll
7652 'window' minus two lines, with a minimum of one.
7653 When 'window' is equal to 'lines' minus one CTRL-F and CTRL-B scroll
7654 in a much smarter way, taking care of wrapping lines.
7655 When resizing the Vim window, the value is smaller than 1 or more than
7656 or equal to 'lines' it will be set to 'lines' minus 1.
7657 {Vi also uses the option to specify the number of displayed lines}
7659 *'winheight'* *'wh'* *E591*
7660 'winheight' 'wh' number (default 1)
7663 {not available when compiled without the +windows
7665 Minimal number of lines for the current window. This is not a hard
7666 minimum, Vim will use fewer lines if there is not enough room. If the
7667 focus goes to a window that is smaller, its size is increased, at the
7668 cost of the height of other windows.
7669 Set 'winheight' to a small number for normal editing.
7670 Set it to 999 to make the current window fill most of the screen.
7671 Other windows will be only 'winminheight' high. This has the drawback
7672 that ":all" will create only two windows. To avoid "vim -o 1 2 3 4"
7673 to create only two windows, set the option after startup is done,
7674 using the |VimEnter| event: >
7675 au VimEnter * set winheight=999
7676 < Minimum value is 1.
7677 The height is not adjusted after one of the commands that change the
7678 height of the current window.
7679 'winheight' applies to the current window. Use 'winminheight' to set
7680 the minimal height for other windows.
7682 *'winfixheight'* *'wfh'* *'nowinfixheight'* *'nowfh'*
7683 'winfixheight' 'wfh' boolean (default off)
7686 {not available when compiled without the +windows
7688 Keep the window height when windows are opened or closed and
7689 'equalalways' is set. Also for |CTRL-W_=|. Set by default for the
7690 |preview-window| and |quickfix-window|.
7691 The height may be changed anyway when running out of room.
7693 *'winfixwidth'* *'wfw'* *'nowinfixwidth'* *'nowfw'*
7694 'winfixwidth' 'wfw' boolean (default off)
7697 {not available when compiled without the +windows
7699 Keep the window width when windows are opened or closed and
7700 'equalalways' is set. Also for |CTRL-W_=|.
7701 The width may be changed anyway when running out of room.
7703 *'winminheight'* *'wmh'*
7704 'winminheight' 'wmh' number (default 1)
7707 {not available when compiled without the +windows
7709 The minimal height of a window, when it's not the current window.
7710 This is a hard minimum, windows will never become smaller.
7711 When set to zero, windows may be "squashed" to zero lines (i.e. just a
7712 status bar) if necessary. They will return to at least one line when
7713 they become active (since the cursor has to have somewhere to go.)
7714 Use 'winheight' to set the minimal height of the current window.
7715 This option is only checked when making a window smaller. Don't use a
7716 large number, it will cause errors when opening more than a few
7717 windows. A value of 0 to 3 is reasonable.
7719 *'winminwidth'* *'wmw'*
7720 'winminwidth' 'wmw' number (default 1)
7723 {not available when compiled without the +vertsplit
7725 The minimal width of a window, when it's not the current window.
7726 This is a hard minimum, windows will never become smaller.
7727 When set to zero, windows may be "squashed" to zero columns (i.e. just
7728 a vertical separator) if necessary. They will return to at least one
7729 line when they become active (since the cursor has to have somewhere
7731 Use 'winwidth' to set the minimal width of the current window.
7732 This option is only checked when making a window smaller. Don't use a
7733 large number, it will cause errors when opening more than a few
7734 windows. A value of 0 to 12 is reasonable.
7736 *'winwidth'* *'wiw'* *E592*
7737 'winwidth' 'wiw' number (default 20)
7740 {not available when compiled without the +vertsplit
7742 Minimal number of columns for the current window. This is not a hard
7743 minimum, Vim will use fewer columns if there is not enough room. If
7744 the current window is smaller, its size is increased, at the cost of
7745 the width of other windows. Set it to 999 to make the current window
7746 always fill the screen. Set it to a small number for normal editing.
7747 The width is not adjusted after one of the commands to change the
7748 width of the current window.
7749 'winwidth' applies to the current window. Use 'winminwidth' to set
7750 the minimal width for other windows.
7753 'wrap' boolean (default on)
7756 This option changes how text is displayed. It doesn't change the text
7757 in the buffer, see 'textwidth' for that.
7758 When on, lines longer than the width of the window will wrap and
7759 displaying continues on the next line. When off lines will not wrap
7760 and only part of long lines will be displayed. When the cursor is
7761 moved to a part that is not shown, the screen will scroll
7763 The line will be broken in the middle of a word if necessary. See
7764 'linebreak' to get the break at a word boundary.
7765 To make scrolling horizontally a bit more useful, try this: >
7767 :set listchars+=precedes:<,extends:>
7768 < See 'sidescroll', 'listchars' and |wrap-off|.
7769 This option can't be set from a |modeline| when the 'diff' option is
7772 *'wrapmargin'* *'wm'*
7773 'wrapmargin' 'wm' number (default 0)
7775 Number of characters from the right window border where wrapping
7776 starts. When typing text beyond this limit, an <EOL> will be inserted
7777 and inserting continues on the next line.
7778 Options that add a margin, such as 'number' and 'foldcolumn', cause
7779 the text width to be further reduced. This is Vi compatible.
7780 When 'textwidth' is non-zero, this option is not used.
7781 See also 'formatoptions' and |ins-textwidth|. {Vi: works differently
7784 *'wrapscan'* *'ws'* *'nowrapscan'* *'nows'*
7785 'wrapscan' 'ws' boolean (default on) *E384* *E385*
7787 Searches wrap around the end of the file. Also applies to |]s| and
7788 |[s|, searching for spelling mistakes.
7790 *'write'* *'nowrite'*
7791 'write' boolean (default on)
7794 Allows writing files. When not set, writing a file is not allowed.
7795 Can be used for a view-only mode, where modifications to the text are
7796 still allowed. Can be reset with the |-m| or |-M| command line
7797 argument. Filtering text is still possible, even though this requires
7798 writing a temporary file.
7800 *'writeany'* *'wa'* *'nowriteany'* *'nowa'*
7801 'writeany' 'wa' boolean (default off)
7803 Allows writing to any file with no need for "!" override.
7805 *'writebackup'* *'wb'* *'nowritebackup'* *'nowb'*
7806 'writebackup' 'wb' boolean (default on with |+writebackup| feature, off
7810 Make a backup before overwriting a file. The backup is removed after
7811 the file was successfully written, unless the 'backup' option is
7812 also on. Reset this option if your file system is almost full. See
7813 |backup-table| for another explanation.
7814 When the 'backupskip' pattern matches, a backup is not made anyway.
7815 NOTE: This option is set to the default value when 'compatible' is
7818 *'writedelay'* *'wd'*
7819 'writedelay' 'wd' number (default 0)
7822 The number of microseconds to wait for each character sent to the
7823 screen. When non-zero, characters are sent to the terminal one by
7824 one. For MS-DOS pcterm this does not work. For debugging purposes.
7826 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: