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

• Official vim homepage
• Vim Tips Wiki
• Vim documentation: help
• Vim documentation: map
• My links on vim on del.icio.us
• 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

• New To Vim
• Quick Tips
• 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
• Seven habits of effective text editing (from author of Vim)

Tips

• Use Ctrl-O instead of Esc in insert mode mappings
• How do I indent multiple lines quickly in vi?
• Replace a word with yanked text
  Here we learn that Deleting, Changing and Yanking text copies the affected text to unnamed buffer ("").
  But Yanking text also copies the text to buffer 0 ("0)
• Search and replace the word under the cursor
• Find in files within Vim
  About commands :grep, :lgrep, :vimgrep, :lvimgrep
• Power of g
  Examples on how to use the command :rg/pattern/cmd
• Keystroke Saving Substituting and Searching
• Quickly adding and deleting empty lines

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>)

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

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

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• Smart Tabs : Use tabs for indent, spaces for alignment
• See also Indent with tabs & align with spaces
• cpp.vim: General C++ Settings (no indentation for namespace...)
(disabled highlight of leading tabs, line length overruns, unit test header test + nice AlterColour function that computes new colour...)
• diffchanges.vim : Show changes made to current buffer since the last save
• CScope
• See the tutorial here
• Cscope on Vim Wiki
• One can also use cscope and ctags together

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.
• 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)
• AutoClose : Inserts matching bracket, paren, brace or quote
  • Or similar, ClosePairs : Auto closes pairs of characters
  • See also dedicated tip entry: Automatically append closing characters

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

Managing Options

See :help options for more details

"Show all options that differ from default
:set
"Show value of {option}
:set {option}?
"Set {option} to value
:set {option}={value}
"Add value to {option}
:set {option}+={value}

Simple C/C++ 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. For C/C++ projects, we add our common settings/mapping defined in our cpp.vim.

Here an example session file project.vim:

set tags=./tags
TlistAddFiles src/*.cpp
TlistAddFiles src/*.h
" Source our custom cpp script
source ~/.vim/cpp.vim

Create the tag and cscope files:

ctags -R .
cscope -Rb

Then start the IDE session with:

gvim -S project.vim

Alternatively, one can use the filename Session.vim, and use the shorter command 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 put the cursor to its last position.

To build the project (assuming you have a valid Makefile in the project directory), just issue the command

:make

To easily navigate between the compilation errors, open the quickfix window:

" Open the window when there are compilation errors:
:cw
" Or open it always:
:cope

Finally you can run the program directly from Vim with:

:!./bin/myprogram
"To repeat the last :!{cmd}, do:
:!!

Persistent session

Using :mksession one can save the current session state for later:

" Save session in Session.vim
:mksession
" Save session in lastsession.vim
:mksession lastsession.vim

For ease add the following lines at the end of our project.vim:

set sessionoptions+=blank,buffers,curdir,folds,help,options,resize,tabpages,winpos,winsize
source ./Session.vim

Now start editing with:

gvim -S project.vim

And before quiting Vim, do:

" Overwrite! Session.vim and quit
:mksession!
:wqa

Keyboard & Mouse Shortcuts

• ! If keys HJKLM have been remapped to MHJKL, shortcut below must be changed accordingly !
• Mouse shortcuts requires :set mouse=a.
• Customer shortcuts are underlined

Custom Cheatsheets

• Custom graphical keyboard cheatsheet (AZERTY)
• Vim quick reference card (PDF)
  • Custom version (PDF)

Plugin Cheatsheet

Plugin - a

:A :AS :AV :AT :AN :IH Leaderih :IHS :IHV :IHT :IHN Leaderihn Leaderis

Switch between header / source file Split and Switch Vertical split and Switch New Tab and Switch Cycles through matches switches to file under cursor splits and switches vertical splits and switches new tab and switches cycles through matches switches to the alternate file of file under cursor

Plugin - cscope_vim

^\s ^Spaces ^\g ^Spaceg ^\c ^Spacec ^\t ^Spacet ^\e ^Spacee ^\f ^Spacef ^\i ^Spacei ^\d ^Spaced ^Space^Space s :cs f s foo

symbol: Find all references to token, split global: Find all global definitions, split call: Find all calls to function, split text: Find all instance of text, split egrep: egrep search, split file: open filename, split includes: Find all files that include fname, split called: Find functions that function calls, hsplit Same but vsplit Same but as command (use :scs for split)

Plugin - diffchanges

Leaderdcd Leaderdcp

DiffChangesDiffToggle DiffChangesPatchToggle

Plugin - MRU

:MRU :MRU p CR o t v

Open MRU file list Open MRU file list, only files containing p Open file in previous window if possible Open file in a new window Open file in a new tab Open file read-only (view)

Plugin - Surround

cs"' cs'<q> cst" ds" ysiw] yssb or yss) VmS<p id="a"> ysibspace

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 Add surrounding blank inside current () block

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

Cheatsheet

Window management

^W_ ^W| ^W= ^Wh ^Wl ^Wj ^Wk ^Wp ^Wo ^Wt

Max. h/w current window or tile Move to left, right window Move to down, up window Move to previous window Show current window only Promote window to tab

Mouse

MouseL gMouseR ^MouseR

Jump to tag Return from tag

Command-line Mode (:)

^U ^R ^W

Remove auto-range (:help omap-info) Insert register / object (:help c_CTRL-R) Delete previous word

Insert Mode

^Space ^O

Same as Esc, but easier (see [1]) Execute one command, back to insert mode

Normal Mode

n^O n^I :ju[mps] ^R

Go to n older pos. in jump list Go to n newer pos. in jump list Print jump list Redo

Operator & motion

Operators in Vim acts

• on the current selection (visual mode like v, V or ^v) when there is such a selection,
• or must be followed by a motion indicating which part of the text must be modified.

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

The motion is either one of the motion key (like >% for shift right until match) or an operator motion (like diB for delete inner {} block). See :help operator.

Frequently-used operator motion

iw iW is ip

inner word inner WORD inner sentence inner paragraph

aw aW as ap

a word a WORD a sentence a paragraph

i[ ib i( i< it iB i{

inner [] block inner () block inner <> block inner tag block inner {} block

a[ ab a( a< at aB a{

a [] block a () block a <> block a tag block a {} block

i" i' i`

inner "" string inner '' string inner `` string

a" a' a`

a "" string a '' string a `` string

Commands

" Search & replace - current line
:s/search/replace/g                               
" Search & replace - global scope
:%s/search/replace/g                              
" Set Vim option (here textwidth)
:set {option}=70                                  
" Show value of {option}
:echo &{option}                                   
:set {option}?                                    
" Search / replace in all opened buffers
:bufdo %s/pattern/substitution/ge | update
" Replace current line with register content
VP

Tips for Efficient Editing

• Substitute current line — Use S ( or cc) to replace the current line, while keeping current indentation (instead of ddO to delete current line and open new one)
• Quick variable renaming — Use the following mapping to search for last deleted word

" F3 (an improved UltraEdit F3 ;-) ) search for next occurrence of replaced word (actually register -) - handy for refactorizing code
" Also mapped to ù (AZERTY power!)
nnoremap <F3> /\<<C-R>-\><CR>
nnoremap ù /\<<C-R>-\><CR>

Using this mapping, one can:

1. Rename a variable with ciw for instance, and type the new variable name (use ^R- to start from old name)
2. Look for next occurent of the replaced variable with F3 (or ù)
3. Repeat replacement with . (dot key)
4. Repeat from step 2 (or use n), or N for previous occurrence.

This tip works better than using range:s/pattern, because you don't have to type the name of replaced variable, nor use the word delimiter \<...\>, and you don't have to specify a range in advance.

Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks

• Inserting only a single character (http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Insert_a_single_character):

:nnoremap <space> :exec "normal i".nr2char(getchar())."\e"<CR>

• 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 [2]. 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 paste            " Enable paste mode, i.e. disable autoindent, mapping... "
:set nopaste          " Disable paste mode (back to normal...) "

• 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 ([3])
• Use :make and :grep instead of :!make or :!grep. Then use :cwin or :copen to view the results of either make or grep in a coloured list (from [4]).
• (from [5]), The :g command is useful to apply a command to all lines matching a search.

" delete all lines matching pattern
:g/pattern/d
" delete all lines *NOT* matching pattern (:v same as :g!)
:g!/pattern/d
:v/pattern/d

• Write the following in files ~/.vim/after/syntax/c.vim and ~/.vim/after/syntax/cpp.vim (or symlink) to highlight C/++ delimiters (see [6]):

syn match cDelimiter "[&\.!^,;:<>=|+%*-]"
syn match cParenDelimiter "[][(){}]"
hi def link cDelimiter Delimiter
hi def link cParenDelimiter Delimiter

• Replace a word with yanked text (see tip [7])

yiw         " Yank word under cursor "
...         " Move to next word "
viwp        " Replace current word with yanked text. "
...
viwp
...

• Quickly switch between opened buffers. The commands :b and :sb accepts partial buffer name when specifying which buffer to edit:

:ls                    " List buffer list, say you have a file verylongfilename_spec.c and anotherverylong_code.c"
:b spec                " Will switch to buffer verylongfilename_spec.c"
:sb code               " Will split the window and switch to buffer anotherverylong_code.c"

• Various command to interact with the shell:

:!{cmd}	Execute {cmd} with the shell.
:!!	Repeat last ":!{cmd}".
:[range]r[ead] !{cmd}	Execute {cmd} and insert its standard output below the cursor or the specified line.
:[range]w[rite] [++opt] !{cmd}	Execute {cmd} with [range] lines as standard input.

• Save a file you edited without the needed permissions (source [8])

:w !sudo tee %

• Delete all trailing spaces ([9]):

:%s/\s\+$//                     " Remove all trailing spaces
:%s/\s\+$                       " We can omit substitution text if blank

Add this to .vimrc to have vim remove automatically trailing spaces before saving

autocmd BufWritePre * :%s/\s\+$//e

• Promote window to tab (see [10])

:noremap <C-W>t :tabedit <C-R>%<CR>gT<C-W>qgt

Command-line mode Tips

• Ex special characters — These are special character that can be used in executed command line (:! ...) or when ex is expecting a filename (see also :help <cword>):

<cword>         replaced with word under cursor
<CWORD>         replaced with WORD under cursor
<cfile>         replaced with pathname under cursor
...

• Insert register / object <C-R> — these can be used to insert some register content or text from context (see also :help c_CTRL-R):

<C-R>*          insert X11 clipboard content
<C-R>+          insert clipboard content
<C-R>=          expression register. You are prompted to enter an expression
<C-R><C-W>      insert word under cursor
<C-R><C-A>      insert WORD under cursor

Example of expressions:

nmap <C-@><C-@> :cs find s <C-R>=expand("<cword>")<CR><CR>

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

Bugs

• [2010-07-22] - (to bugs@vim.org) 'winfixheight' not honored when botright split is closed.
./wfh-bug.vim (<file name="wfh-bug.vim" tag="source">download</file>)

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