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Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001*message.txt* For Vim version 8.1. Last change: 2019 May 18
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7This file contains an alphabetical list of messages and error messages that
8Vim produces. You can use this if you don't understand what the message
9means. It is not complete though.
10
111. Old messages |:messages|
122. Error messages |error-messages|
133. Messages |messages|
14
15==============================================================================
161. Old messages *:messages* *:mes* *message-history*
17
18The ":messages" command can be used to view previously given messages. This
19is especially useful when messages have been overwritten or truncated. This
20depends on the 'shortmess' option.
21
Bram Moolenaar451f8492016-04-14 17:16:22 +020022 :messages Show all messages.
23
24 :{count}messages Show the {count} most recent messages.
25
26 :messages clear Clear all messages.
27
28 :{count}messages clear Clear messages, keeping only the {count} most
29 recent ones.
30
Bram Moolenaar6773b2b2010-05-30 16:01:37 +020031The number of remembered messages is fixed at 20 for the tiny version and 200
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +000032for other versions.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000033
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +000034 *g<*
35The "g<" command can be used to see the last page of previous command output.
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +000036This is especially useful if you accidentally typed <Space> at the hit-enter
Bram Moolenaardd2a3cd2007-05-05 17:10:09 +000037prompt. You are then back at the hit-enter prompt and can then scroll further
38back.
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +020039Note: If the output has been stopped with "q" at the more prompt, it will only
40be displayed up to this point.
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +000041The previous command output is cleared when another command produces output.
Bram Moolenaar64d8e252016-09-06 22:12:34 +020042The "g<" output is not redirected.
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +000043
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000044If you are using translated messages, the first printed line tells who
45maintains the messages or the translations. You can use this to contact the
46maintainer when you spot a mistake.
47
48If you want to find help on a specific (error) message, use the ID at the
49start of the message. For example, to get help on the message: >
50
51 E72: Close error on swap file
52
53or (translated): >
54
55 E72: Errore durante chiusura swap file
56
57Use: >
58
59 :help E72
60
61If you are lazy, it also works without the shift key: >
62
63 :help e72
64
65==============================================================================
Bram Moolenaarf2330482008-06-24 20:19:36 +0000662. Error messages *error-messages* *errors*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000067
68When an error message is displayed, but it is removed before you could read
69it, you can see it again with: >
70 :echo errmsg
Bram Moolenaar451f8492016-04-14 17:16:22 +020071Or view a list of recent messages with: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000072 :messages
Bram Moolenaar451f8492016-04-14 17:16:22 +020073See `:messages` above.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000074
75
76LIST OF MESSAGES
77 *E222* *E228* *E232* *E256* *E293* *E298* *E304* *E317*
78 *E318* *E356* *E438* *E439* *E440* *E316* *E320* *E322*
Bram Moolenaar72540672018-02-09 22:00:53 +010079 *E323* *E341* *E473* *E570* *E685* *E950* >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000080 Add to read buffer
81 makemap: Illegal mode
82 Cannot create BalloonEval with both message and callback
83 Hangul automata ERROR
84 block was not locked
85 Didn't get block nr {N}?
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +010086 ml_upd_block0(): Didn't get block 0??
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000087 pointer block id wrong {N}
88 Updated too many blocks?
89 get_varp ERROR
90 u_undo: line numbers wrong
91 undo list corrupt
92 undo line missing
93 ml_get: cannot find line {N}
94 cannot find line {N}
95 line number out of range: {N} past the end
96 line count wrong in block {N}
97 Internal error
Bram Moolenaarcf3630f2005-01-08 16:04:29 +000098 Internal error: {function}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000099 fatal error in cs_manage_matches
Bram Moolenaar72540672018-02-09 22:00:53 +0100100 Invalid count for del_bytes(): {N}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000101
102This is an internal error. If you can reproduce it, please send in a bug
103report. |bugs|
104
105>
106 ATTENTION
107 Found a swap file by the name ...
108
109See |ATTENTION|.
110
111 *E92* >
112 Buffer {N} not found
113
114The buffer you requested does not exist. This can also happen when you have
115wiped out a buffer which contains a mark or is referenced in another way.
116|:bwipeout|
117
118 *E95* >
119 Buffer with this name already exists
120
121You cannot have two buffers with the same name.
122
123 *E72* >
124 Close error on swap file
125
126The |swap-file|, that is used to keep a copy of the edited text, could not be
127closed properly. Mostly harmless.
128
129 *E169* >
130 Command too recursive
131
132This happens when an Ex command executes an Ex command that executes an Ex
Bram Moolenaarbc2eada2017-01-02 21:27:47 +0100133command, etc. The limit is 200 or the value of 'maxfuncdepth', whatever is
134larger. When it's more there probably is an endless loop. Probably a
135|:execute| or |:source| command is involved.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000136
137 *E254* >
138 Cannot allocate color {name}
139
140The color name {name} is unknown. See |gui-colors| for a list of colors that
141are available on most systems.
142
143 *E458* >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000144 Cannot allocate colormap entry, some colors may be incorrect
145
146This means that there are not enough colors available for Vim. It will still
147run, but some of the colors will not appear in the specified color. Try
148stopping other applications that use many colors, or start them after starting
149gvim.
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100150Browsers are known to consume a lot of colors. You can avoid this with
151netscape by telling it to use its own colormap: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000152 netscape -install
153Or tell it to limit to a certain number of colors (64 should work well): >
154 netscape -ncols 64
155This can also be done with a line in your Xdefaults file: >
156 Netscape*installColormap: Yes
157or >
158 Netscape*maxImageColors: 64
159<
160 *E79* >
161 Cannot expand wildcards
162
163A filename contains a strange combination of characters, which causes Vim to
164attempt expanding wildcards but this fails. This does NOT mean that no
165matching file names could be found, but that the pattern was illegal.
166
167 *E459* >
168 Cannot go back to previous directory
169
170While expanding a file name, Vim failed to go back to the previously used
171directory. All file names being used may be invalid now! You need to have
172execute permission on the current directory.
173
174 *E190* *E212* >
175 Cannot open "{filename}" for writing
176 Can't open file for writing
177
178For some reason the file you are writing to cannot be created or overwritten.
179The reason could be that you do not have permission to write in the directory
180or the file name is not valid.
181
182 *E166* >
183 Can't open linked file for writing
184
185You are trying to write to a file which can't be overwritten, and the file is
186a link (either a hard link or a symbolic link). Writing might still be
187possible if the directory that contains the link or the file is writable, but
188Vim now doesn't know if you want to delete the link and write the file in its
189place, or if you want to delete the file itself and write the new file in its
190place. If you really want to write the file under this name, you have to
191manually delete the link or the file, or change the permissions so that Vim
192can overwrite.
193
194 *E46* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100195 Cannot change read-only variable "{name}"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000196
197You are trying to assign a value to an argument of a function |a:var| or a Vim
198internal variable |v:var| which is read-only.
199
200 *E90* >
201 Cannot unload last buffer
202
203Vim always requires one buffer to be loaded, otherwise there would be nothing
204to display in the window.
205
206 *E40* >
207 Can't open errorfile <filename>
208
209When using the ":make" or ":grep" commands: The file used to save the error
210messages or grep output cannot be opened. This can have several causes:
211- 'shellredir' has a wrong value.
212- The shell changes directory, causing the error file to be written in another
213 directory. This could be fixed by changing 'makeef', but then the make
214 command is still executed in the wrong directory.
215- 'makeef' has a wrong value.
216- The 'grepprg' or 'makeprg' could not be executed. This cannot always be
217 detected (especially on MS-Windows). Check your $PATH.
218
219 >
220 Can't open file C:\TEMP\VIoD243.TMP
221
222On MS-Windows, this message appears when the output of an external command was
223to be read, but the command didn't run successfully. This can be caused by
224many things. Check the 'shell', 'shellquote', 'shellxquote', 'shellslash' and
225related options. It might also be that the external command was not found,
226there is no different error message for that.
227
228 *E12* >
229 Command not allowed from exrc/vimrc in current dir or tag search
230
231Some commands are not allowed for security reasons. These commands mostly
232come from a .exrc or .vimrc file in the current directory, or from a tags
233file. Also see 'secure'.
234
235 *E74* >
236 Command too complex
237
238A mapping resulted in a very long command string. Could be caused by a
239mapping that indirectly calls itself.
240
241>
242 CONVERSION ERROR
243
244When writing a file and the text "CONVERSION ERROR" appears, this means that
245some bits were lost when converting text from the internally used UTF-8 to the
246format of the file. The file will not be marked unmodified. If you care
247about the loss of information, set the 'fileencoding' option to another value
248that can handle the characters in the buffer and write again. If you don't
249care, you can abandon the buffer or reset the 'modified' option.
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +0200250If there is a backup file, when 'writebackup' or 'backup' is set, it will not
251be deleted, so you can move it back into place if you want to discard the
252changes.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000253
254 *E302* >
255 Could not rename swap file
256
257When the file name changes, Vim tries to rename the |swap-file| as well.
258This failed and the old swap file is now still used. Mostly harmless.
259
260 *E43* *E44* >
261 Damaged match string
262 Corrupted regexp program
263
264Something inside Vim went wrong and resulted in a corrupted regexp. If you
265know how to reproduce this problem, please report it. |bugs|
266
267 *E208* *E209* *E210* >
268 Error writing to "{filename}"
269 Error closing "{filename}"
270 Error reading "{filename}"
271
272This occurs when Vim is trying to rename a file, but a simple change of file
273name doesn't work. Then the file will be copied, but somehow this failed.
274The result may be that both the original file and the destination file exist
275and the destination file may be incomplete.
276
277>
278 Vim: Error reading input, exiting...
279
280This occurs when Vim cannot read typed characters while input is required.
281Vim got stuck, the only thing it can do is exit. This can happen when both
282stdin and stderr are redirected and executing a script that doesn't exit Vim.
283
284 *E47* >
285 Error while reading errorfile
286
287Reading the error file was not possible. This is NOT caused by an error
288message that was not recognized.
289
290 *E80* >
291 Error while writing
292
293Writing a file was not completed successfully. The file is probably
294incomplete.
295
296 *E13* *E189* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100297 File exists (add ! to override)
298 "{filename}" exists (add ! to override)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000299
300You are protected from accidentally overwriting a file. When you want to
301write anyway, use the same command, but add a "!" just after the command.
302Example: >
303 :w /tmp/test
304changes to: >
305 :w! /tmp/test
306<
Bram Moolenaarecf07c82005-08-01 21:52:12 +0000307 *E768* >
308 Swap file exists: {filename} (:silent! overrides)
309
310You are protected from overwriting a file that is being edited by Vim. This
311happens when you use ":w! filename" and a swapfile is found.
312- If the swapfile was left over from an old crashed edit session you may want
313 to delete the swapfile. Edit {filename} to find out information about the
314 swapfile.
315- If you want to write anyway prepend ":silent!" to the command. For example: >
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +0000316 :silent! w! /tmp/test
Bram Moolenaarecf07c82005-08-01 21:52:12 +0000317< The special command is needed, since you already added the ! for overwriting
318 an existing file.
319
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000320 *E139* >
321 File is loaded in another buffer
322
323You are trying to write a file under a name which is also used in another
324buffer. This would result in two versions of the same file.
325
326 *E142* >
327 File not written: Writing is disabled by 'write' option
328
329The 'write' option is off. This makes all commands that try to write a file
330generate this message. This could be caused by a |-m| commandline argument.
331You can switch the 'write' option on with ":set write".
332
333 *E25* >
334 GUI cannot be used: Not enabled at compile time
335
336You are running a version of Vim that doesn't include the GUI code. Therefore
337"gvim" and ":gui" don't work.
338
339 *E49* >
340 Invalid scroll size
341
342This is caused by setting an invalid value for the 'scroll', 'scrolljump' or
343'scrolloff' options.
344
345 *E17* >
346 "{filename}" is a directory
347
348You tried to write a file with the name of a directory. This is not possible.
349You probably need to append a file name.
350
351 *E19* >
352 Mark has invalid line number
353
354You are using a mark that has a line number that doesn't exist. This can
355happen when you have a mark in another file, and some other program has
356deleted lines from it.
357
358 *E219* *E220* >
359 Missing {.
360 Missing }.
361
362Using a {} construct in a file name, but there is a { without a matching } or
363the other way around. It should be used like this: {foo,bar}. This matches
364"foo" and "bar".
365
366 *E315* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100367 ml_get: invalid lnum: {number}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000368
369This is an internal Vim error. Please try to find out how it can be
370reproduced, and submit a bug report |bugreport.vim|.
371
372 *E173* >
373 {number} more files to edit
374
375You are trying to exit, while the last item in the argument list has not been
376edited. This protects you from accidentally exiting when you still have more
377files to work on. See |argument-list|. If you do want to exit, just do it
378again and it will work.
379
380 *E23* *E194* >
381 No alternate file
382 No alternate file name to substitute for '#'
383
384The alternate file is not defined yet. See |alternate-file|.
385
386 *E32* >
387 No file name
388
389The current buffer has no name. To write it, use ":w fname". Or give the
390buffer a name with ":file fname".
391
392 *E141* >
393 No file name for buffer {number}
394
395One of the buffers that was changed does not have a file name. Therefore it
396cannot be written. You need to give the buffer a file name: >
397 :buffer {number}
398 :file {filename}
399<
400 *E33* >
401 No previous substitute regular expression
402
403When using the '~' character in a pattern, it is replaced with the previously
404used pattern in a ":substitute" command. This fails when no such command has
Bram Moolenaardf177f62005-02-22 08:39:57 +0000405been used yet. See |/~|. This also happens when using ":s/pat/%/", where the
406"%" stands for the previous substitute string.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000407
408 *E35* >
409 No previous regular expression
410
411When using an empty search pattern, the previous search pattern is used. But
412that is not possible if there was no previous search.
413
414 *E24* >
415 No such abbreviation
416
417You have used an ":unabbreviate" command with an argument which is not an
418existing abbreviation. All variations of this command give the same message:
419":cunabbrev", ":iunabbrev", etc. Check for trailing white space.
420
421>
422 /dev/dsp: No such file or directory
423
424Only given for GTK GUI with Gnome support. Gnome tries to use the audio
425device and it isn't present. You can ignore this error.
426
427 *E31* >
428 No such mapping
429
430You have used an ":unmap" command with an argument which is not an existing
431mapping. All variations of this command give the same message: ":cunmap",
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +0000432":unmap!", etc. A few hints:
433- Check for trailing white space.
434- If the mapping is buffer-local you need to use ":unmap <buffer>".
435 |:map-<buffer>|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000436
437 *E37* *E89* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100438 No write since last change (add ! to override)
439 No write since last change for buffer {N} (add ! to override)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000440
441You are trying to |abandon| a file that has changes. Vim protects you from
442losing your work. You can either write the changed file with ":w", or, if you
443are sure, |abandon| it anyway, and lose all the changes. This can be done by
444adding a '!' character just after the command you used. Example: >
445 :e other_file
446changes to: >
447 :e! other_file
448<
449 *E162* >
450 No write since last change for buffer "{name}"
451
452This appears when you try to exit Vim while some buffers are changed. You
453will either have to write the changed buffer (with |:w|), or use a command to
454abandon the buffer forcefully, e.g., with ":qa!". Careful, make sure you
455don't throw away changes you really want to keep. You might have forgotten
456about a buffer, especially when 'hidden' is set.
457
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +0000458>
459 [No write since last change]
460
461This appears when executing a shell command while at least one buffer was
462changed. To avoid the message reset the 'warn' option.
463
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000464 *E38* >
465 Null argument
466
467Something inside Vim went wrong and resulted in a NULL pointer. If you know
468how to reproduce this problem, please report it. |bugs|
469
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000470 *E41* *E82* *E83* *E342* >
471 Out of memory!
472 Out of memory! (allocating {number} bytes)
473 Cannot allocate any buffer, exiting...
474 Cannot allocate buffer, using other one...
475
476Oh, oh. You must have been doing something complicated, or some other program
477is consuming your memory. Be careful! Vim is not completely prepared for an
478out-of-memory situation. First make sure that any changes are saved. Then
479try to solve the memory shortage. To stay on the safe side, exit Vim and
Bram Moolenaar0ed0eea2010-07-26 22:21:27 +0200480start again.
481
482Buffers are only partly kept in memory, thus editing a very large file is
483unlikely to cause an out-of-memory situation. Undo information is completely
484in memory, you can reduce that with these options:
485- 'undolevels' Set to a low value, or to -1 to disable undo completely. This
486 helps for a change that affects all lines.
487- 'undoreload' Set to zero to disable.
488
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000489 *E339* >
490 Pattern too long
491
Bram Moolenaard58e9292011-02-09 17:07:58 +0100492This happens on systems with 16 bit ints: The compiled regexp pattern is
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000493longer than about 65000 characters. Try using a shorter pattern.
Bram Moolenaard58e9292011-02-09 17:07:58 +0100494It also happens when the offset of a rule doesn't fit in the space available.
495Try simplifying the pattern.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000496
497 *E45* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100498 'readonly' option is set (add ! to override)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000499
500You are trying to write a file that was marked as read-only. To write the
501file anyway, either reset the 'readonly' option, or add a '!' character just
502after the command you used. Example: >
503 :w
504changes to: >
505 :w!
506<
507 *E294* *E295* *E301* >
508 Read error in swap file
509 Seek error in swap file read
510 Oops, lost the swap file!!!
511
512Vim tried to read text from the |swap-file|, but something went wrong. The
513text in the related buffer may now be corrupted! Check carefully before you
514write a buffer. You may want to write it in another file and check for
515differences.
516
517 *E192* >
518 Recursive use of :normal too deep
519
520You are using a ":normal" command, whose argument again uses a ":normal"
521command in a recursive way. This is restricted to 'maxmapdepth' levels. This
522example illustrates how to get this message: >
523 :map gq :normal gq<CR>
524If you type "gq", it will execute this mapping, which will call "gq" again.
525
526 *E22* >
527 Scripts nested too deep
528
529Scripts can be read with the "-s" command-line argument and with the ":source"
530command. The script can then again read another script. This can continue
531for about 14 levels. When more nesting is done, Vim assumes that there is a
532recursive loop somewhere and stops with this error message.
533
534 *E319* >
535 Sorry, the command is not available in this version
536
537You have used a command that is not present in the version of Vim you are
538using. When compiling Vim, many different features can be enabled or
539disabled. This depends on how big Vim has chosen to be and the operating
540system. See |+feature-list| for when which feature is available. The
541|:version| command shows which feature Vim was compiled with.
542
543 *E300* >
544 Swap file already exists (symlink attack?)
545
546This message appears when Vim is trying to open a swap file and finds it
547already exists or finds a symbolic link in its place. This shouldn't happen,
548because Vim already checked that the file doesn't exist. Either someone else
549opened the same file at exactly the same moment (very unlikely) or someone is
550attempting a symlink attack (could happen when editing a file in /tmp or when
551'directory' starts with "/tmp", which is a bad choice).
552
553 *E432* >
554 Tags file not sorted: {file name}
555
556Vim (and Vi) expect tags files to be sorted in ASCII order. Binary searching
557can then be used, which is a lot faster than a linear search. If your tags
558files are not properly sorted, reset the |'tagbsearch'| option.
559This message is only given when Vim detects a problem when searching for a
Bram Moolenaar7fc0c062010-08-10 21:43:35 +0200560tag. Sometimes this message is not given, even though the tags file is not
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000561properly sorted.
562
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000563 *E424* >
564 Too many different highlighting attributes in use
565
566Vim can only handle about 223 different kinds of highlighting. If you run
567into this limit, you have used too many |:highlight| commands with different
568arguments. A ":highlight link" is not counted.
569
570 *E77* >
571 Too many file names
572
573When expanding file names, more than one match was found. Only one match is
574allowed for the command that was used.
575
576 *E303* >
577 Unable to open swap file for "{filename}", recovery impossible
578
579Vim was not able to create a swap file. You can still edit the file, but if
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100580Vim unexpectedly exits the changes will be lost. And Vim may consume a lot of
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000581memory when editing a big file. You may want to change the 'directory' option
582to avoid this error. See |swap-file|.
583
584 *E140* >
585 Use ! to write partial buffer
586
587When using a range to write part of a buffer, it is unusual to overwrite the
588original file. It is probably a mistake (e.g., when Visual mode was active
589when using ":w"), therefore Vim requires using a ! after the command, e.g.:
590":3,10w!".
591>
592
593 Warning: Cannot convert string "<Key>Escape,_Key_Cancel" to type
594 VirtualBinding
595
596Messages like this appear when starting up. This is not a Vim problem, your
597X11 configuration is wrong. You can find a hint on how to solve this here:
598http://groups.yahoo.com/group/solarisonintel/message/12179.
Bram Moolenaara17d4c12010-05-30 18:30:36 +0200599[this URL is no longer valid]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000600
601 *W10* >
602 Warning: Changing a readonly file
603
604The file is read-only and you are making a change to it anyway. You can use
605the |FileChangedRO| autocommand event to avoid this message (the autocommand
606must reset the 'readonly' option). See 'modifiable' to completely disallow
607making changes to a file.
Bram Moolenaard5cdbeb2005-10-10 20:59:28 +0000608This message is only given for the first change after 'readonly' has been set.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000609
610 *W13* >
611 Warning: File "{filename}" has been created after editing started
612
613You are editing a file in Vim when it didn't exist, but it does exist now.
614You will have to decide if you want to keep the version in Vim or the newly
615created file. This message is not given when 'buftype' is not empty.
616
617 *W11* >
618 Warning: File "{filename}" has changed since editing started
619
620The file which you have started editing has got another timestamp and the
621contents changed (more precisely: When reading the file again with the current
622option settings and autocommands you would end up with different text). This
623probably means that some other program changed the file. You will have to
624find out what happened, and decide which version of the file you want to keep.
625Set the 'autoread' option if you want to do this automatically.
626This message is not given when 'buftype' is not empty.
627
628There is one situation where you get this message even though there is nothing
629wrong: If you save a file in Windows on the day the daylight saving time
630starts. It can be fixed in one of these ways:
631- Add this line in your autoexec.bat: >
632 SET TZ=-1
633< Adjust the "-1" for your time zone.
634- Disable "automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes".
635- Just write the file again the next day. Or set your clock to the next day,
636 write the file twice and set the clock back.
637
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100638If you get W11 all the time, you may need to disable "Acronis Active
Bram Moolenaarb0d45e72017-11-05 18:19:24 +0100639Protection" or register Vim as a trusted service/application.
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100640
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000641 *W12* >
642 Warning: File "{filename}" has changed and the buffer was changed in Vim as well
643
644Like the above, and the buffer for the file was changed in this Vim as well.
645You will have to decide if you want to keep the version in this Vim or the one
646on disk. This message is not given when 'buftype' is not empty.
647
648 *W16* >
649 Warning: Mode of file "{filename}" has changed since editing started
650
651When the timestamp for a buffer was changed and the contents are still the
652same but the mode (permissions) have changed. This usually occurs when
653checking out a file from a version control system, which causes the read-only
654bit to be reset. It should be safe to reload the file. Set 'autoread' to
655automatically reload the file.
656
657 *E211* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100658 File "{filename}" no longer available
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000659
660The file which you have started editing has disappeared, or is no longer
661accessible. Make sure you write the buffer somewhere to avoid losing
662changes. This message is not given when 'buftype' is not empty.
663
664 *W14* >
665 Warning: List of file names overflow
666
667You must be using an awful lot of buffers. It's now possible that two buffers
668have the same number, which causes various problems. You might want to exit
669Vim and restart it.
670
Bram Moolenaar269f5952016-07-15 22:54:41 +0200671 *E931* >
672 Buffer cannot be registered
673
Bram Moolenaar42ebd062016-07-17 13:35:14 +0200674Out of memory or a duplicate buffer number. May happen after W14. Looking up
Bram Moolenaar269f5952016-07-15 22:54:41 +0200675a buffer will not always work, better restart Vim.
676
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000677 *E296* *E297* >
678 Seek error in swap file write
679 Write error in swap file
680
681This mostly happens when the disk is full. Vim could not write text into the
682|swap-file|. It's not directly harmful, but when Vim unexpectedly exits some
683text may be lost without recovery being possible. Vim might run out of memory
684when this problem persists.
685
686 *connection-refused* >
687 Xlib: connection to "<machine-name:0.0" refused by server
688
689This happens when Vim tries to connect to the X server, but the X server does
690not allow a connection. The connection to the X server is needed to be able
691to restore the title and for the xterm clipboard support. Unfortunately this
692error message cannot be avoided, except by disabling the |+xterm_clipboard|
693and |+X11| features.
694
695 *E10* >
696 \\ should be followed by /, ? or &
697
698A command line started with a backslash or the range of a command contained a
699backslash in a wrong place. This is often caused by command-line continuation
700being disabled. Remove the 'C' flag from the 'cpoptions' option to enable it.
Bram Moolenaar5eb86f92004-07-26 12:53:41 +0000701Or use ":set nocp".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000702
703 *E471* >
704 Argument required
705
706This happens when an Ex command with mandatory argument(s) was executed, but
707no argument has been specified.
708
Bram Moolenaar62e1bb42019-04-08 16:25:07 +0200709 *E474* *E475* *E983* >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000710 Invalid argument
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100711 Invalid argument: {arg}
Bram Moolenaar62e1bb42019-04-08 16:25:07 +0200712 Duplicate argument: {arg}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000713
Bram Moolenaar62e1bb42019-04-08 16:25:07 +0200714An Ex command or function has been executed, but an invalid argument has been
715specified.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000716
717 *E488* >
718 Trailing characters
719
720An argument has been added to an Ex command that does not permit one.
721
722 *E477* *E478* >
723 No ! allowed
724 Don't panic!
725
726You have added a "!" after an Ex command that doesn't permit one.
727
728 *E481* >
729 No range allowed
730
731A range was specified for an Ex command that doesn't permit one. See
732|cmdline-ranges|.
733
734 *E482* *E483* >
735 Can't create file {filename}
736 Can't get temp file name
737
738Vim cannot create a temporary file.
739
740 *E484* *E485* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100741 Can't open file {filename}
742 Can't read file {filename}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000743
Bram Moolenaar34700a62013-03-07 13:20:54 +0100744Vim cannot read a temporary file. Especially on Windows, this can be caused
745by wrong escaping of special characters for cmd.exe; the approach was
746changed with patch 7.3.443. Try using |shellescape()| for all shell arguments
747given to |system()|, or explicitly add escaping with ^. Also see
748'shellxquote' and 'shellxescape'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000749
750 *E464* >
751 Ambiguous use of user-defined command
752
753There are two user-defined commands with a common name prefix, and you used
754Command-line completion to execute one of them. |user-cmd-ambiguous|
755Example: >
756 :command MyCommand1 echo "one"
757 :command MyCommand2 echo "two"
758 :MyCommand
759<
760 *E492* >
761 Not an editor command
762
763You tried to execute a command that is neither an Ex command nor
764a user-defined command.
765
Bram Moolenaare0720cb2017-03-29 13:48:40 +0200766 *E943* >
767 Command table needs to be updated, run 'make cmdidxs'
768
769This can only happen when changing the source code, when adding a command in
770src/ex_cmds.h. The lookup table then needs to be updated, by running: >
771 make cmdidxs
772
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000773==============================================================================
7743. Messages *messages*
775
776This is an (incomplete) overview of various messages that Vim gives:
777
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000778 *hit-enter* *press-enter* *hit-return*
779 *press-return* *hit-enter-prompt*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000780
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000781 Press ENTER or type command to continue
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000782
783This message is given when there is something on the screen for you to read,
784and the screen is about to be redrawn:
785- After executing an external command (e.g., ":!ls" and "=").
786- Something is displayed on the status line that is longer than the width of
787 the window, or runs into the 'showcmd' or 'ruler' output.
788
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000789-> Press <Enter> or <Space> to redraw the screen and continue, without that
790 key being used otherwise.
791-> Press ':' or any other Normal mode command character to start that command.
Bram Moolenaare1438bb2006-03-01 22:01:55 +0000792-> Press 'k', <Up>, 'u', 'b' or 'g' to scroll back in the messages. This
793 works the same way as at the |more-prompt|. Only works when 'compatible'
794 is off and 'more' is on.
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100795-> Pressing 'j', 'f', 'd' or <Down> is ignored when messages scrolled off the
796 top of the screen, 'compatible' is off and 'more' is on, to avoid that
797 typing one 'j' or 'f' too many causes the messages to disappear.
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000798-> Press <C-Y> to copy (yank) a modeless selection to the clipboard register.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000799-> Use a menu. The characters defined for Cmdline-mode are used.
800-> When 'mouse' contains the 'r' flag, clicking the left mouse button works
801 like pressing <Space>. This makes it impossible to select text though.
802-> For the GUI clicking the left mouse button in the last line works like
803 pressing <Space>.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000804
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +0000805If you accidentally hit <Enter> or <Space> and you want to see the displayed
806text then use |g<|. This only works when 'more' is set.
807
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000808To reduce the number of hit-enter prompts:
809- Set 'cmdheight' to 2 or higher.
810- Add flags to 'shortmess'.
811- Reset 'showcmd' and/or 'ruler'.
812
Bram Moolenaarbb15b652005-10-03 21:52:09 +0000813If your script causes the hit-enter prompt and you don't know why, you may
814find the |v:scrollstart| variable useful.
815
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000816Also see 'mouse'. The hit-enter message is highlighted with the |hl-Question|
817group.
818
819
820 *more-prompt* *pager* >
821 -- More --
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000822 -- More -- SPACE/d/j: screen/page/line down, b/u/k: up, q: quit
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000823
824This message is given when the screen is filled with messages. It is only
825given when the 'more' option is on. It is highlighted with the |hl-MoreMsg|
826group.
827
828Type effect ~
829 <CR> or <NL> or j or <Down> one more line
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000830 d down a page (half a screen)
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100831 <Space> or f or <PageDown> down a screen
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +0000832 G down all the way, until the hit-enter
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +0000833 prompt
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000834
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200835 <BS> or k or <Up> one line back
836 u up a page (half a screen)
837 b or <PageUp> back a screen
838 g back to the start
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000839
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000840 q, <Esc> or CTRL-C stop the listing
841 : stop the listing and enter a
842 command-line
843 <C-Y> yank (copy) a modeless selection to
844 the clipboard ("* and "+ registers)
845 {menu-entry} what the menu is defined to in
846 Cmdline-mode.
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200847 <LeftMouse> next page (*)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000848
849Any other key causes the meaning of the keys to be displayed.
850
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200851(*) Clicking the left mouse button only works:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000852 - For the GUI: in the last line of the screen.
853 - When 'r' is included in 'mouse' (but then selecting text won't work).
854
855
856Note: The typed key is directly obtained from the terminal, it is not mapped
857and typeahead is ignored.
858
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +0000859The |g<| command can be used to see the last page of previous command output.
860This is especially useful if you accidentally typed <Space> at the hit-enter
861prompt.
862
Bram Moolenaar91f84f62018-07-29 15:07:52 +0200863 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: