Vi

Related Pages

This page is about the editor vim itself. The other related pages are

• Vimrc, which is dedicated to vim configuration settings and to the file ~/.vimrc.

External Links

General

• My links on vim on del.icio.us.
• Official vim homepage.
• Vim Tips Wiki
• Vim documentation: help
• Vim documentation: map
• List of all commands for each mode: :help index

Other General

• Vi Lovers home page
• Good post explaining why vi is superior and defeating common misconception (with examples).
• Vi would not be vi without a bit of fun...

Cheat sheets

• Very good graphical keyboard cheatsheet
  • My custom cheatsheet (AZERTY)
• Another compact & complete cheatsheet (as folded reference card).
• Real Short Vim Normal-Mode List of Commands (from Dr Chip's)

Guides & Cheat sheets

• Avoiding the ESC key
• Vim map tutorial
• Dr Chip's Vim Page — A tremendous amount of Vim treasures from an expert user
• Efficient editing with vim
• C editing with VIM HOWTO
• Using vim as an IDE all in one
• Browsing programs with tags
• Using Bash completion with ctags and Vim
• Alternative tab navigation

Plugins (installed)

• snipMate : TextMate-style snippets for Vim
• a.vim : Alternate Files quickly (.c --> .h etc)
• trinity.vim : Build the trinity of srcexpl, taglist, NERD_tree to be a good IDE
• Source Explorer (srcexpl.vim) : A Source code Explorer based on tags works like context window in Source Insight
• taglist.vim : Source code browser (supports C/C++, java, perl, python, tcl, sql, php, etc)
• The NERD tree : A tree explorer plugin for navigating the filesystem
~/.vim/plugin/trinity.vim.diff (<file name="trinity.vim.diff" tag="source">download</file>)

{{{content}}}

~/.vim/plugin/taglist.vim.diff (<file name="taglist.vim.diff" tag="source">download</file>)

{{{content}}}

• AutoTag : Updates entries in a tags file automatically when saving
• surround.vim : Delete/change/add parentheses/quotes/XML-tags/much more with ease
• Install repeat.vim : Use the repeat command (.) with supported plugins
• tComment : An extensible & universal comment plugin that also handles embedded filetypes
• mru.vim : Plugin to manage Most Recently Used (MRU) files

Plugins (not yet installed)

• OmniCppComplete : C/C++ omni-completion with ctags database
• c.vim : C/C++ IDE -- Write and run programs. Insert statements, idioms, comments etc.
• CScope with the tutorial here
• winmanager : A windows style IDE for Vim 6.0 (Referenced in TagList plugin help)
• bufexplorer.zip : Buffer Explorer / Browser
• neocomplcache : Ultimate auto completion system for Vim
• FuzzyFinder : buffer/file/command/tag/etc explorer with fuzzy matching
• matchit.zip : extended % matching for HTML, LaTeX, and many other languages
• LustyExplorer : Dynamic filesystem and buffer explore
• project.tar.gz : Organize/Navigate projects of files (like IDE/buffer explorer)

Some videos that illustrates those plugins:

• Top Vim Plugins (YouTube), showing Surround, SnipMate, TComment, MRU, FuzzyFinder, NerdTree, MatchIt

Plugins (uninstalled)

• easytags.vim : Automated tag file generation and syntax highlighting of tags in Vim
  • Replaced by AutoTag — syntax highlighting of tags is limited to c files; moreover AutoTag has a clever way to look for the tags file in project hierarchy.
• minibufexpl.vim : Elegant buffer explorer - takes very little screen space
  • No real tab support. Seems to interfere with trinity plugin. Interesting key bindings inside though. To reassess...

Invocation

vi -p file1.txt file2.txt                  # Open each file in a different tab
vi -t tagname                              # Open file and move cursor at specified tag (requires ctags)
view file.txt                              # View file in vim, with syntax highlighting... (read-only)
vimdiff file1.txt file2.txt                # View differences in vim

Simple IDE using plugin TagList

Thanks to plugin TagList, it is possible to turn Vim into a simple yet efficient development IDE. The basic idea is to use the TagList window as a simple file explorer. We use a session file to add all files in the project to the TagList window. Also we define 2 mappings to ease navigation between files.

Here an example session file Session.vim:

set tags=/win/d/projects/noekeon64/nk_fasttrails/src/tags
TlistAddFiles *.cpp
TlistAddFiles *.h
TrinityToggleTagList
nmap <A-Up> <C-W><Left>[[zz<CR>`"
nmap <A-Down> <C-W><Left>]]zz<CR>`"

Start the IDE session with:

gvim -S

Use the mappings A-Up / A-Down to switch the current window to the next/previous file. These mappings simply move and center the cursor in the TagList window to the previous/next file, open the file and restore the cursor position to the last edit session.

Keyboard Shortcuts

Graphical summary

See My custom cheatsheet (AZERTY) for a graphical summary.

Missing shortcuts in cheatsheet

Custom shortcuts are underlined.

Insert Mode C-xC-f C-xC-k :set dictionary=f Filename completion Dictionary completion Set dictionary Copying "* "+ "_ :r yx :%y+ Use system clipboard Use black hole register yank range r to register x yank whole file to clipboard Marks and motion `` ²² `" ²" `. `^ Go to position before jump Go to position at last edit Go to last modification Go to last position after insert mode was stopped

Scrolling and multi-windowing C-w_ C-wgf C-wgF :ls[!] :n b Maximize current window New tab + go to file, file & line list buffer [incl. unlisted] edit buffer n Ex commands (←) :wqa :qa :e# C-^ Write all changed buffers and quit Quit and confirm all buffers Edit alternate buffer, even if has no filename Miscellaneous C-d C-l List all possible completions Paste char under cursor

Help

Shortcut	Description	Custom
C-] MouseL	Jump to a subject. On azerty keyboard, do Ctrl-AltGr-] (but doesn't work with Synergy). The mouse shortcut requires :set mouse=a
C-O C-T gMouseR C-MouseR	Back.

Splitting windows

Shortcut	Description	Custom
:{height}split [filename]	Split the screen into two windows, optionally opening another file (with the optional specified height)
:new	Open a new window on a new empty file
:close	Close the current windows
:only	Close all other windows
Ctrl-W w	Switch between windows
Ctrl-W + Ctrl-W -	Increase / decrease window height
{height}Ctrl-W _	Set window height, or maximize it if no height specified
:qa[ll] :wa[ll]	Quit all windows / Write change for all windows

Tabs

Shortcut	Description	Custom
:tab {command}	Execute the command in a new tab
:tabonly	Close all tabs but the current one
:tabn[ext] C-PageDown gt	Go to the next tab page
:tabp[ext] C-PageUp gT	Go to the previous tab page

Miscellaneous

! If keys HJKLM have been remapped to MHJKL, shortcut below must be changed accordingly !

Shortcut	Description	Custom
C-[	Same effect as Esc, but a bit faster/easier to type. Works on AZERTY keyboard in Windows, but not on Linux.
C-C	Same effect as Esc, but a bit faster/easier to type. Also works on AZERTY keyboard
C-Space	Same effect as Esc, but a bit faster/easier to type (see [1]).	Yes
C-N	Omni and keyword completion.	Yes
*	Search next occurence of word under cursor (Here more like this...)
#	Search previous occurence of word under cursor
gd	Search first occurence of current search
^dBS	Concatenate current line at the end of previous lines (assuming <BS> does wrap-around. See option whichwrap)
J	Concatenate current line with next line
/Up	Recall previous search string
:Up	Recall previous command
.	Redo last command
C-O	Switch to normal mode for one command. Use | to execute more commands (see [2])
:C-U	Remove the range that Vi may insert when entering normal mode (handy for defining maps - see :help omap-info

Block Indenting

(ref: [3])

Shortcut	Description	Custom
>>	Indent current line
5>>	Indent 5 lines
Vjjjj>>	Indent 5 lines - same as above but using visual mode
>%	(while cursor is on a curly brace) Indent a curly-braces block
]p	paste & indent block based on surrounding text
={	(C-indenting) Auto-indent the current block (:help = for more info)
==	(C-indenting) Auto-indent the current line
gg=G	Intends everything!

Operator & motion

List of available operators:

c       change
d       delete
y       yank into register (does not change the text)
~       swap case (only if 'tildeop' is set)
g~      swap case
gu      make lowercase
gU      make uppercase
!       filter through an external program
=       filter through 'equalprg' or C-indenting if empty
gq      text formatting
g?      ROT13 encoding
>       shift right
<       shift left
zf      define a fold
g@      call function set with the 'operatorfunc' option

List of frequently used operator motion (see :help operator). They are used like diB (delete inner {} block)

iw	inner word	aw	a word	i[	inner [] block	a[	a [] block	i"	inner "" string	a"	a "" string
iW	inner WORD	aW	a WORD	ib i(	inner () block	ab a(	a () block	i'	inner '' string	a'	a '' string
is	inner sentence	as	a sentence	i<	inner <> block	a<	a <> block	i`	inner `` string	a`	a `` string
ip	inner paragraph	ap	a paragraph	it	inner tag block	at	a tag block
				iB i{	inner {} block	aB a{	a {} block

Other

Window management C-W_ C-Wh C-Wj C-Wk C-Wl C-Wp C-Wo Maximize current window Move to left window Move to down window Move to up window Move to right window Move to previous window Show current window only Plugin - taglist window (:help taglist-keys) [[ or BS ]] or Tab Space - or zc + or zo * or zR = x CR or LMouse*2 o P p t u s Previous file Next file Show tag prototype Close a fold Open a fold Open all folds Close all folds Maximimze/Restore window Jump to tag location Jump to tag location (new window) Jump to tag location (in previous window) tag preview (cursor remains in taglist window) Jump to tag (new tab) Update tags Change the sort order

Plugin - tComment gcm gcc gCm gCc Toggle comments motion Toggle comment for the current line Comment region motion Comment the current line Plugin - Surround cs"' cs'<q> cst" ds" ysiw] yssb or yss) VmS<p class="a"> Change surrounding " to ' Change surrounding ' to <q>...</q> Change surrounding tag back to " Remove the surrounding " Add [ ] around word (motion iw) Add ( ) around current line (ignoring leading ws) Add surrounding tag to selected lines Plugin - MRU :MRU :MRU vim CR o t v Open MRU file list Open MRU file list, only files that contains "vim" Open file in previous window if possible Open file in a new window Open file in a new tab Open file read-only (view)

Commands

Shortcut	Description	Custom
:s/search/replace/	Search & replace - current line
:%s/search/replace/	Search & replace - global scope

Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks

• Inserting only a single character (http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Insert_a_single_character).
• Macro
  • qq to start recording a macro q. End macro with q again.
  • @q to replay macro, followed by . to replay it again.
• Visual Block
  • Ctrl-v to start VISUAL BLOCK mode.
  • Shift-I to insert some text at the start of each line of selected block.
• wrap-around
  • Set option whichwrap or ww that allows specified keys that move the cursor left/right to move to the previous/next line when the cursor is on the first/last character in the line.
  • In Vim, <space> and <backspace> are set to wrap-around by default.
• Read-only viewer (with syntax highlighting):

$ vi -R sensitive_file
$ view sensitive_file

• Retab

To convert tabs in current file to current tab settings, use command :retab [4]. For instance to convert tabs into space

:set expandtab
:retab

• View differences in vim

vimdiff file1.txt file2.txt

• Interaction with X Clipboard

vim can use the X clipboard if it has been compiled with the clipboard feature (run vim --version and see if you have +clipboard in the output). In that case, yanking to the + register, or simply selecting with the mouse, will actually copy in the X clipboard, hence allowing other applications, or even other instances of vim to exchange text snippets. Also, it will ease the copy-paste of indented text, since in that case, vim will first disable autoindentation before pasting the text (see option paste).

On system like Ubuntu, you need to install an instance of gvim (like package vim-gnome or vim-gtk) to have feature +clipboard turned on (i.e. installing package vim is not enough).

When set mouse=a, use shift-mouse to still use the xterm copy/paste (see mouse-using).

• set incsearch, moves cursor as search pattern is typed. Ctrl-L to type letter under cursor, Ctrl-R Ctrl-W to type current word.
• References:

http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Best_Vim_Tips

• type :help ctrl<C-D>, to get a list of all ctrl sequence. Type <C-D> in command line for auto-completion.
• Support 256 colors in gnome-terminal: add set t_Co=256 in ~/.vimrc ([5])

Plugins

SnipMate

C

main  main()
inc   #include <...>
Inc   #include "..."
Def   #ifndef ... #define ... #endif
def   #define
ifdef #ifdef ... #endif
#if   #if ... #endif
once  #ifndef HEADER_H .... # define HEADER_H ... #endif (Header Include-Guard)
if    If (...) { ... } 
el    else { ... } 
t     ... ? ... : ... (tertiary conditional)
do    do ... while ( ... )
wh    while (...) { ... }
for   for (... = 0; ...; ...) { ... }
forr  for (... = ...; ...; ...) { ... }
fun   ... function(...) { ... }
fund  ... function(...;)
td    typedef
st    struct
tds   typedef struct
tde   typedef enum
pr    printf
fpr   fprintf
.     [ ... ]
un    unsigned

CPP

readfile  snippet for reading file
map       std::map<... , ...> map...
vector    std::vector<...> v...
ns        namespace ... { ... }
cl        class { public: ... private: };

To Do

• Done Find a way to prevent vim to mess up with my register when deleting text.
• Auto-complete, use cursor keys instead of up/down to search in the drop down list.
• Look at Virtual-edit (see http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Add_trailing_blanks_to_lines_for_easy_visual_blocks)
• Other links:

http://www.faqs.org/docs/Linux-HOWTO/C-editing-with-VIM-HOWTO.html

http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=213

http://www.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/docs/howto/translations/nl/onehtml/Vim-HOWTO-NL.html