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Bram Moolenaar560979e2020-02-04 22:53:05 +01001*insert.txt* For Vim version 8.2. Last change: 2020 Jan 26
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7 *Insert* *Insert-mode*
8Inserting and replacing text *mode-ins-repl*
9
10Most of this file is about Insert and Replace mode. At the end are a few
11commands for inserting text in other ways.
12
13An overview of the most often used commands can be found in chapter 24 of the
14user manual |usr_24.txt|.
15
161. Special keys |ins-special-keys|
172. Special special keys |ins-special-special|
183. 'textwidth' and 'wrapmargin' options |ins-textwidth|
194. 'expandtab', 'smarttab' and 'softtabstop' options |ins-expandtab|
205. Replace mode |Replace-mode|
216. Virtual Replace mode |Virtual-Replace-mode|
227. Insert mode completion |ins-completion|
238. Insert mode commands |inserting|
249. Ex insert commands |inserting-ex|
2510. Inserting a file |inserting-file|
26
27Also see 'virtualedit', for moving the cursor to positions where there is no
28character. Useful for editing a table.
29
30==============================================================================
311. Special keys *ins-special-keys*
32
33In Insert and Replace mode, the following characters have a special meaning;
34other characters are inserted directly. To insert one of these special
35characters into the buffer, precede it with CTRL-V. To insert a <Nul>
36character use "CTRL-V CTRL-@" or "CTRL-V 000". On some systems, you have to
37use "CTRL-V 003" to insert a CTRL-C. Note: When CTRL-V is mapped you can
38often use CTRL-Q instead |i_CTRL-Q|.
39
40If you are working in a special language mode when inserting text, see the
41'langmap' option, |'langmap'|, on how to avoid switching this mode on and off
42all the time.
43
44If you have 'insertmode' set, <Esc> and a few other keys get another meaning.
45See |'insertmode'|.
46
47char action ~
48-----------------------------------------------------------------------
49 *i_CTRL-[* *i_<Esc>*
50<Esc> or CTRL-[ End insert or Replace mode, go back to Normal mode. Finish
51 abbreviation.
52 Note: If your <Esc> key is hard to hit on your keyboard, train
53 yourself to use CTRL-[.
Bram Moolenaarfb539272014-08-22 19:21:47 +020054 If Esc doesn't work and you are using a Mac, try CTRL-Esc.
55 Or disable Listening under Accessibility preferences.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000056 *i_CTRL-C*
57CTRL-C Quit insert mode, go back to Normal mode. Do not check for
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +000058 abbreviations. Does not trigger the |InsertLeave| autocommand
59 event.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000060
61 *i_CTRL-@*
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +020062CTRL-@ Insert previously inserted text and stop insert.
63
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000064 *i_CTRL-A*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +020065CTRL-A Insert previously inserted text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000066
67 *i_CTRL-H* *i_<BS>* *i_BS*
68<BS> or CTRL-H Delete the character before the cursor (see |i_backspacing|
69 about joining lines).
70 See |:fixdel| if your <BS> key does not do what you want.
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +020071
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000072 *i_<Del>* *i_DEL*
73<Del> Delete the character under the cursor. If the cursor is at
74 the end of the line, and the 'backspace' option includes
75 "eol", delete the <EOL>; the next line is appended after the
76 current one.
77 See |:fixdel| if your <Del> key does not do what you want.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000078 *i_CTRL-W*
79CTRL-W Delete the word before the cursor (see |i_backspacing| about
80 joining lines). See the section "word motions",
81 |word-motions|, for the definition of a word.
82 *i_CTRL-U*
Bram Moolenaarf2571c62015-06-09 19:44:55 +020083CTRL-U Delete all entered characters before the cursor in the current
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +020084 line. If there are no newly entered characters and
85 'backspace' is not empty, delete all characters before the
Bram Moolenaarf2571c62015-06-09 19:44:55 +020086 cursor in the current line.
87 See |i_backspacing| about joining lines.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000088 *i_CTRL-I* *i_<Tab>* *i_Tab*
89<Tab> or CTRL-I Insert a tab. If the 'expandtab' option is on, the
90 equivalent number of spaces is inserted (use CTRL-V <Tab> to
91 avoid the expansion; use CTRL-Q <Tab> if CTRL-V is mapped
92 |i_CTRL-Q|). See also the 'smarttab' option and
93 |ins-expandtab|.
94 *i_CTRL-J* *i_<NL>*
95<NL> or CTRL-J Begin new line.
96 *i_CTRL-M* *i_<CR>*
97<CR> or CTRL-M Begin new line.
98 *i_CTRL-K*
99CTRL-K {char1} [char2]
100 Enter digraph (see |digraphs|). When {char1} is a special
101 key, the code for that key is inserted in <> form. For
102 example, the string "<S-Space>" can be entered by typing
103 <C-K><S-Space> (two keys). Neither char is considered for
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200104 mapping.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000105
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200106CTRL-N Find next keyword (see |i_CTRL-N|).
107CTRL-P Find previous keyword (see |i_CTRL-P|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000108
Bram Moolenaar5be4cee2019-09-27 19:34:08 +0200109CTRL-R {register} *i_CTRL-R*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000110 Insert the contents of a register. Between typing CTRL-R and
111 the second character, '"' will be displayed to indicate that
112 you are expected to enter the name of a register.
113 The text is inserted as if you typed it, but mappings and
114 abbreviations are not used. If you have options like
115 'textwidth', 'formatoptions', or 'autoindent' set, this will
116 influence what will be inserted. This is different from what
117 happens with the "p" command and pasting with the mouse.
118 Special registers:
119 '"' the unnamed register, containing the text of
120 the last delete or yank
121 '%' the current file name
122 '#' the alternate file name
123 '*' the clipboard contents (X11: primary selection)
124 '+' the clipboard contents
125 '/' the last search pattern
126 ':' the last command-line
127 '.' the last inserted text
128 '-' the last small (less than a line) delete
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100129 *i_CTRL-R_=*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000130 '=' the expression register: you are prompted to
131 enter an expression (see |expression|)
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000132 Note that 0x80 (128 decimal) is used for
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +0000133 special keys. E.g., you can use this to move
134 the cursor up:
135 CTRL-R ="\<Up>"
136 Use CTRL-R CTRL-R to insert text literally.
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +0000137 When the result is a |List| the items are used
138 as lines. They can have line breaks inside
139 too.
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100140 When the result is a Float it's automatically
141 converted to a String.
Bram Moolenaar94f76b72013-07-04 22:50:40 +0200142 When append() or setline() is invoked the undo
143 sequence will be broken.
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200144 See |registers| about registers.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000145
Bram Moolenaar5be4cee2019-09-27 19:34:08 +0200146CTRL-R CTRL-R {register} *i_CTRL-R_CTRL-R*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000147 Insert the contents of a register. Works like using a single
148 CTRL-R, but the text is inserted literally, not as if typed.
149 This differs when the register contains characters like <BS>.
150 Example, where register a contains "ab^Hc": >
151 CTRL-R a results in "ac".
152 CTRL-R CTRL-R a results in "ab^Hc".
153< Options 'textwidth', 'formatoptions', etc. still apply. If
Bram Moolenaarca635012015-09-25 20:34:21 +0200154 you also want to avoid these, use CTRL-R CTRL-O, see below.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000155 The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200156 typed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000157
Bram Moolenaar5be4cee2019-09-27 19:34:08 +0200158CTRL-R CTRL-O {register} *i_CTRL-R_CTRL-O*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000159 Insert the contents of a register literally and don't
160 auto-indent. Does the same as pasting with the mouse
Bram Moolenaarcd5c8f82017-04-09 20:11:58 +0200161 |<MiddleMouse>|. When the register is linewise this will
162 insert the text above the current line, like with `P`.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000163 Does not replace characters!
164 The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200165 typed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000166
Bram Moolenaar5be4cee2019-09-27 19:34:08 +0200167CTRL-R CTRL-P {register} *i_CTRL-R_CTRL-P*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000168 Insert the contents of a register literally and fix the
169 indent, like |[<MiddleMouse>|.
170 Does not replace characters!
171 The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200172 typed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000173
174 *i_CTRL-T*
175CTRL-T Insert one shiftwidth of indent at the start of the current
176 line. The indent is always rounded to a 'shiftwidth' (this is
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +0200177 vi compatible).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000178 *i_CTRL-D*
179CTRL-D Delete one shiftwidth of indent at the start of the current
180 line. The indent is always rounded to a 'shiftwidth' (this is
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +0200181 vi compatible).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000182 *i_0_CTRL-D*
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +02001830 CTRL-D Delete all indent in the current line.
184
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000185 *i_^_CTRL-D*
186^ CTRL-D Delete all indent in the current line. The indent is
187 restored in the next line. This is useful when inserting a
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +0200188 label.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000189
190 *i_CTRL-V*
191CTRL-V Insert next non-digit literally. For special keys, the
192 terminal code is inserted. It's also possible to enter the
193 decimal, octal or hexadecimal value of a character
194 |i_CTRL-V_digit|.
195 The characters typed right after CTRL-V are not considered for
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +0200196 mapping.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000197 Note: When CTRL-V is mapped (e.g., to paste text) you can
198 often use CTRL-Q instead |i_CTRL-Q|.
Bram Moolenaarfc4ea2a2019-11-26 19:33:22 +0100199 When |modifyOtherKeys| is enabled then special Escape sequence
200 is converted back to what it was without |modifyOtherKeys|,
201 unless the Shift key is also pressed.
202
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000203 *i_CTRL-Q*
204CTRL-Q Same as CTRL-V.
205 Note: Some terminal connections may eat CTRL-Q, it doesn't
206 work then. It does work in the GUI.
207
Bram Moolenaar8024f932020-01-14 19:29:13 +0100208CTRL-SHIFT-V *i_CTRL-SHIFT-V* *i_CTRL-SHIFT-Q*
209CTRL-SHIFT-Q Works just like CTRL-V, unless |modifyOtherKeys| is active,
210 then it inserts the Escape sequence for a key with modifiers.
211
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000212CTRL-X Enter CTRL-X mode. This is a sub-mode where commands can
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000213 be given to complete words or scroll the window. See
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200214 |i_CTRL-X| and |ins-completion|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000215
216 *i_CTRL-E*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200217CTRL-E Insert the character which is below the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000218 *i_CTRL-Y*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200219CTRL-Y Insert the character which is above the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000220 Note that for CTRL-E and CTRL-Y 'textwidth' is not used, to be
221 able to copy characters from a long line.
222
223 *i_CTRL-_*
224CTRL-_ Switch between languages, as follows:
225 - When in a rightleft window, revins and nohkmap are toggled,
226 since English will likely be inserted in this case.
227 - When in a norightleft window, revins and hkmap are toggled,
228 since Hebrew will likely be inserted in this case.
229
230 CTRL-_ moves the cursor to the end of the typed text.
231
232 This command is only available when the 'allowrevins' option
233 is set.
234 Please refer to |rileft.txt| for more information about
235 right-to-left mode.
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +0000236 Only if compiled with the |+rightleft| feature.
237
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000238 *i_CTRL-^*
239CTRL-^ Toggle the use of typing language characters.
240 When language |:lmap| mappings are defined:
241 - If 'iminsert' is 1 (langmap mappings used) it becomes 0 (no
242 langmap mappings used).
243 - If 'iminsert' has another value it becomes 1, thus langmap
244 mappings are enabled.
245 When no language mappings are defined:
246 - If 'iminsert' is 2 (Input Method used) it becomes 0 (no
247 Input Method used).
248 - If 'iminsert' has another value it becomes 2, thus the Input
249 Method is enabled.
250 When set to 1, the value of the "b:keymap_name" variable, the
251 'keymap' option or "<lang>" appears in the status line.
252 The language mappings are normally used to type characters
253 that are different from what the keyboard produces. The
254 'keymap' option can be used to install a whole number of them.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000255
256 *i_CTRL-]*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200257CTRL-] Trigger abbreviation, without inserting a character.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000258
259 *i_<Insert>*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200260<Insert> Toggle between Insert and Replace mode.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000261-----------------------------------------------------------------------
262
263 *i_backspacing*
264The effect of the <BS>, CTRL-W, and CTRL-U depend on the 'backspace' option
265(unless 'revins' is set). This is a comma separated list of items:
266
267item action ~
268indent allow backspacing over autoindent
269eol allow backspacing over end-of-line (join lines)
270start allow backspacing over the start position of insert; CTRL-W and
271 CTRL-U stop once at the start position
272
273When 'backspace' is empty, Vi compatible backspacing is used. You cannot
274backspace over autoindent, before column 1 or before where insert started.
275
276For backwards compatibility the values "0", "1" and "2" are also allowed, see
277|'backspace'|.
278
279If the 'backspace' option does contain "eol" and the cursor is in column 1
280when one of the three keys is used, the current line is joined with the
281previous line. This effectively deletes the <EOL> in front of the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000282
283 *i_CTRL-V_digit*
284With CTRL-V the decimal, octal or hexadecimal value of a character can be
285entered directly. This way you can enter any character, except a line break
286(<NL>, value 10). There are five ways to enter the character value:
287
288first char mode max nr of chars max value ~
289(none) decimal 3 255
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000290o or O octal 3 377 (255)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000291x or X hexadecimal 2 ff (255)
292u hexadecimal 4 ffff (65535)
293U hexadecimal 8 7fffffff (2147483647)
294
295Normally you would type the maximum number of characters. Thus to enter a
296space (value 32) you would type <C-V>032. You can omit the leading zero, in
297which case the character typed after the number must be a non-digit. This
298happens for the other modes as well: As soon as you type a character that is
299invalid for the mode, the value before it will be used and the "invalid"
300character is dealt with in the normal way.
301
302If you enter a value of 10, it will end up in the file as a 0. The 10 is a
303<NL>, which is used internally to represent the <Nul> character. When writing
304the buffer to a file, the <NL> character is translated into <Nul>. The <NL>
305character is written at the end of each line. Thus if you want to insert a
306<NL> character in a file you will have to make a line break.
307
308 *i_CTRL-X* *insert_expand*
309CTRL-X enters a sub-mode where several commands can be used. Most of these
Bram Moolenaare2c453d2019-08-21 14:37:09 +0200310commands do keyword completion; see |ins-completion|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000311
312Two commands can be used to scroll the window up or down, without exiting
313insert mode:
314
315 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-E*
316CTRL-X CTRL-E scroll window one line up.
Bram Moolenaard2cec5b2006-03-28 21:08:56 +0000317 When doing completion look here: |complete_CTRL-E|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000318
319 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-Y*
320CTRL-X CTRL-Y scroll window one line down.
Bram Moolenaard2cec5b2006-03-28 21:08:56 +0000321 When doing completion look here: |complete_CTRL-Y|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000322
323After CTRL-X is pressed, each CTRL-E (CTRL-Y) scrolls the window up (down) by
324one line unless that would cause the cursor to move from its current position
325in the file. As soon as another key is pressed, CTRL-X mode is exited and
326that key is interpreted as in Insert mode.
327
328
329==============================================================================
3302. Special special keys *ins-special-special*
331
332The following keys are special. They stop the current insert, do something,
333and then restart insertion. This means you can do something without getting
334out of Insert mode. This is very handy if you prefer to use the Insert mode
335all the time, just like editors that don't have a separate Normal mode. You
336may also want to set the 'backspace' option to "indent,eol,start" and set the
337'insertmode' option. You can use CTRL-O if you want to map a function key to
338a command.
339
340The changes (inserted or deleted characters) before and after these keys can
341be undone separately. Only the last change can be redone and always behaves
342like an "i" command.
343
344char action ~
345-----------------------------------------------------------------------
346<Up> cursor one line up *i_<Up>*
347<Down> cursor one line down *i_<Down>*
348CTRL-G <Up> cursor one line up, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_<Up>*
349CTRL-G k cursor one line up, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_k*
350CTRL-G CTRL-K cursor one line up, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_CTRL-K*
351CTRL-G <Down> cursor one line down, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_<Down>*
352CTRL-G j cursor one line down, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_j*
353CTRL-G CTRL-J cursor one line down, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_CTRL-J*
354<Left> cursor one character left *i_<Left>*
355<Right> cursor one character right *i_<Right>*
356<S-Left> cursor one word back (like "b" command) *i_<S-Left>*
357<C-Left> cursor one word back (like "b" command) *i_<C-Left>*
358<S-Right> cursor one word forward (like "w" command) *i_<S-Right>*
359<C-Right> cursor one word forward (like "w" command) *i_<C-Right>*
360<Home> cursor to first char in the line *i_<Home>*
361<End> cursor to after last char in the line *i_<End>*
362<C-Home> cursor to first char in the file *i_<C-Home>*
363<C-End> cursor to after last char in the file *i_<C-End>*
364<LeftMouse> cursor to position of mouse click *i_<LeftMouse>*
365<S-Up> move window one page up *i_<S-Up>*
366<PageUp> move window one page up *i_<PageUp>*
367<S-Down> move window one page down *i_<S-Down>*
368<PageDown> move window one page down *i_<PageDown>*
Bram Moolenaar8d9b40e2010-07-25 15:49:07 +0200369<ScrollWheelDown> move window three lines down *i_<ScrollWheelDown>*
370<S-ScrollWheelDown> move window one page down *i_<S-ScrollWheelDown>*
371<ScrollWheelUp> move window three lines up *i_<ScrollWheelUp>*
372<S-ScrollWheelUp> move window one page up *i_<S-ScrollWheelUp>*
373<ScrollWheelLeft> move window six columns left *i_<ScrollWheelLeft>*
374<S-ScrollWheelLeft> move window one page left *i_<S-ScrollWheelLeft>*
375<ScrollWheelRight> move window six columns right *i_<ScrollWheelRight>*
376<S-ScrollWheelRight> move window one page right *i_<S-ScrollWheelRight>*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000377CTRL-O execute one command, return to Insert mode *i_CTRL-O*
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +0000378CTRL-\ CTRL-O like CTRL-O but don't move the cursor *i_CTRL-\_CTRL-O*
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +0000379CTRL-L when 'insertmode' is set: go to Normal mode *i_CTRL-L*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000380CTRL-G u break undo sequence, start new change *i_CTRL-G_u*
Bram Moolenaar8b5f65a2015-09-01 19:26:12 +0200381CTRL-G U don't break undo with next left/right cursor *i_CTRL-G_U*
Bram Moolenaarfd133322019-03-29 12:20:27 +0100382 movement, if the cursor stays within
383 same the line
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000384-----------------------------------------------------------------------
385
386Note: If the cursor keys take you out of Insert mode, check the 'noesckeys'
387option.
388
389The CTRL-O command sometimes has a side effect: If the cursor was beyond the
390end of the line, it will be put on the last character in the line. In
391mappings it's often better to use <Esc> (first put an "x" in the text, <Esc>
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +0000392will then always put the cursor on it). Or use CTRL-\ CTRL-O, but then
Bram Moolenaara3e6bc92013-01-30 14:18:00 +0100393beware of the cursor possibly being beyond the end of the line. Note that the
394command following CTRL-\ CTRL-O can still move the cursor, it is not restored
395to its original position.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000396
Bram Moolenaar05365702010-10-27 18:34:44 +0200397The CTRL-O command takes you to Normal mode. If you then use a command enter
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200398Insert mode again it normally doesn't nest. Thus when typing "a<C-O>a" and
399then <Esc> takes you back to Normal mode, you do not need to type <Esc> twice.
400An exception is when not typing the command, e.g. when executing a mapping or
401sourcing a script. This makes mappings work that briefly switch to Insert
402mode.
Bram Moolenaar05365702010-10-27 18:34:44 +0200403
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000404The shifted cursor keys are not available on all terminals.
405
406Another side effect is that a count specified before the "i" or "a" command is
407ignored. That is because repeating the effect of the command after CTRL-O is
408too complicated.
409
410An example for using CTRL-G u: >
411
412 :inoremap <C-H> <C-G>u<C-H>
413
414This redefines the backspace key to start a new undo sequence. You can now
415undo the effect of the backspace key, without changing what you typed before
Bram Moolenaar5b435d62012-04-05 17:33:26 +0200416that, with CTRL-O u. Another example: >
417
418 :inoremap <CR> <C-]><C-G>u<CR>
419
420This breaks undo at each line break. It also expands abbreviations before
421this.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000422
Bram Moolenaar8b5f65a2015-09-01 19:26:12 +0200423An example for using CTRL-G U: >
424
425 inoremap <Left> <C-G>U<Left>
426 inoremap <Right> <C-G>U<Right>
427 inoremap <expr> <Home> col('.') == match(getline('.'), '\S') + 1 ?
428 \ repeat('<C-G>U<Left>', col('.') - 1) :
429 \ (col('.') < match(getline('.'), '\S') ?
430 \ repeat('<C-G>U<Right>', match(getline('.'), '\S') + 0) :
431 \ repeat('<C-G>U<Left>', col('.') - 1 - match(getline('.'), '\S')))
432 inoremap <expr> <End> repeat('<C-G>U<Right>', col('$') - col('.'))
433 inoremap ( ()<C-G>U<Left>
434
435This makes it possible to use the cursor keys in Insert mode, without breaking
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +0100436the undo sequence and therefore using |.| (redo) will work as expected.
Bram Moolenaard2f3a8b2018-06-19 14:35:59 +0200437Also entering a text like (with the "(" mapping from above):
Bram Moolenaar8b5f65a2015-09-01 19:26:12 +0200438
439 Lorem ipsum (dolor
440
Bram Moolenaard2f3a8b2018-06-19 14:35:59 +0200441will be repeatable by using |.| to the expected
Bram Moolenaar8b5f65a2015-09-01 19:26:12 +0200442
443 Lorem ipsum (dolor)
444
Bram Moolenaarf4b8e572004-06-24 15:53:16 +0000445Using CTRL-O splits undo: the text typed before and after it is undone
446separately. If you want to avoid this (e.g., in a mapping) you might be able
447to use CTRL-R = |i_CTRL-R|. E.g., to call a function: >
448 :imap <F2> <C-R>=MyFunc()<CR>
449
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000450When the 'whichwrap' option is set appropriately, the <Left> and <Right>
451keys on the first/last character in the line make the cursor wrap to the
452previous/next line.
453
454The CTRL-G j and CTRL-G k commands can be used to insert text in front of a
455column. Example: >
456 int i;
457 int j;
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000458Position the cursor on the first "int", type "istatic <C-G>j ". The
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000459result is: >
460 static int i;
461 int j;
462When inserting the same text in front of the column in every line, use the
463Visual blockwise command "I" |v_b_I|.
464
465==============================================================================
4663. 'textwidth' and 'wrapmargin' options *ins-textwidth*
467
468The 'textwidth' option can be used to automatically break a line before it
469gets too long. Set the 'textwidth' option to the desired maximum line
470length. If you then type more characters (not spaces or tabs), the
471last word will be put on a new line (unless it is the only word on the
472line). If you set 'textwidth' to 0, this feature is disabled.
473
474The 'wrapmargin' option does almost the same. The difference is that
475'textwidth' has a fixed width while 'wrapmargin' depends on the width of the
476screen. When using 'wrapmargin' this is equal to using 'textwidth' with a
477value equal to (columns - 'wrapmargin'), where columns is the width of the
478screen.
479
480When 'textwidth' and 'wrapmargin' are both set, 'textwidth' is used.
481
482If you don't really want to break the line, but view the line wrapped at a
483convenient place, see the 'linebreak' option.
484
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +0000485The line is only broken automatically when using Insert mode, or when
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000486appending to a line. When in replace mode and the line length is not
487changed, the line will not be broken.
488
489Long lines are broken if you enter a non-white character after the margin.
490The situations where a line will be broken can be restricted by adding
491characters to the 'formatoptions' option:
492"l" Only break a line if it was not longer than 'textwidth' when the insert
493 started.
494"v" Only break at a white character that has been entered during the
495 current insert command. This is mostly Vi-compatible.
496"lv" Only break if the line was not longer than 'textwidth' when the insert
497 started and only at a white character that has been entered during the
498 current insert command. Only differs from "l" when entering non-white
499 characters while crossing the 'textwidth' boundary.
500
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +0000501Normally an internal function will be used to decide where to break the line.
502If you want to do it in a different way set the 'formatexpr' option to an
503expression that will take care of the line break.
504
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000505If you want to format a block of text, you can use the "gq" operator. Type
506"gq" and a movement command to move the cursor to the end of the block. In
507many cases, the command "gq}" will do what you want (format until the end of
508paragraph). Alternatively, you can use "gqap", which will format the whole
509paragraph, no matter where the cursor currently is. Or you can use Visual
510mode: hit "v", move to the end of the block, and type "gq". See also |gq|.
511
512==============================================================================
5134. 'expandtab', 'smarttab' and 'softtabstop' options *ins-expandtab*
514
515If the 'expandtab' option is on, spaces will be used to fill the amount of
516whitespace of the tab. If you want to enter a real <Tab>, type CTRL-V first
517(use CTRL-Q when CTRL-V is mapped |i_CTRL-Q|).
518The 'expandtab' option is off by default. Note that in Replace mode, a single
519character is replaced with several spaces. The result of this is that the
520number of characters in the line increases. Backspacing will delete one
521space at a time. The original character will be put back for only one space
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200522that you backspace over (the last one).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000523
524 *ins-smarttab*
525When the 'smarttab' option is on, a <Tab> inserts 'shiftwidth' positions at
526the beginning of a line and 'tabstop' positions in other places. This means
Bram Moolenaar30b65812012-07-12 22:01:11 +0200527that often spaces instead of a <Tab> character are inserted. When 'smarttab'
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000528is off, a <Tab> always inserts 'tabstop' positions, and 'shiftwidth' is only
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200529used for ">>" and the like.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000530
531 *ins-softtabstop*
532When the 'softtabstop' option is non-zero, a <Tab> inserts 'softtabstop'
533positions, and a <BS> used to delete white space, will delete 'softtabstop'
534positions. This feels like 'tabstop' was set to 'softtabstop', but a real
535<Tab> character still takes 'tabstop' positions, so your file will still look
536correct when used by other applications.
537
538If 'softtabstop' is non-zero, a <BS> will try to delete as much white space to
539move to the previous 'softtabstop' position, except when the previously
540inserted character is a space, then it will only delete the character before
541the cursor. Otherwise you cannot always delete a single character before the
542cursor. You will have to delete 'softtabstop' characters first, and then type
543extra spaces to get where you want to be.
544
545==============================================================================
5465. Replace mode *Replace* *Replace-mode* *mode-replace*
547
548Enter Replace mode with the "R" command in normal mode.
549
550In Replace mode, one character in the line is deleted for every character you
551type. If there is no character to delete (at the end of the line), the
552typed character is appended (as in Insert mode). Thus the number of
553characters in a line stays the same until you get to the end of the line.
554If a <NL> is typed, a line break is inserted and no character is deleted.
555
556Be careful with <Tab> characters. If you type a normal printing character in
557its place, the number of characters is still the same, but the number of
558columns will become smaller.
559
560If you delete characters in Replace mode (with <BS>, CTRL-W, or CTRL-U), what
561happens is that you delete the changes. The characters that were replaced
562are restored. If you had typed past the existing text, the characters you
563added are deleted. This is effectively a character-at-a-time undo.
564
565If the 'expandtab' option is on, a <Tab> will replace one character with
566several spaces. The result of this is that the number of characters in the
567line increases. Backspacing will delete one space at a time. The original
568character will be put back for only one space that you backspace over (the
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200569last one).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000570
571==============================================================================
5726. Virtual Replace mode *vreplace-mode* *Virtual-Replace-mode*
573
574Enter Virtual Replace mode with the "gR" command in normal mode.
Bram Moolenaardb84e452010-08-15 13:50:43 +0200575{not available when compiled without the |+vreplace| feature}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000576
577Virtual Replace mode is similar to Replace mode, but instead of replacing
578actual characters in the file, you are replacing screen real estate, so that
579characters further on in the file never appear to move.
580
581So if you type a <Tab> it may replace several normal characters, and if you
582type a letter on top of a <Tab> it may not replace anything at all, since the
583<Tab> will still line up to the same place as before.
584
585Typing a <NL> still doesn't cause characters later in the file to appear to
586move. The rest of the current line will be replaced by the <NL> (that is,
587they are deleted), and replacing continues on the next line. A new line is
588NOT inserted unless you go past the end of the file.
589
590Interesting effects are seen when using CTRL-T and CTRL-D. The characters
591before the cursor are shifted sideways as normal, but characters later in the
592line still remain still. CTRL-T will hide some of the old line under the
593shifted characters, but CTRL-D will reveal them again.
594
595As with Replace mode, using <BS> etc will bring back the characters that were
596replaced. This still works in conjunction with 'smartindent', CTRL-T and
597CTRL-D, 'expandtab', 'smarttab', 'softtabstop', etc.
598
599In 'list' mode, Virtual Replace mode acts as if it was not in 'list' mode,
600unless "L" is in 'cpoptions'.
601
Bram Moolenaar24ea3ba2010-09-19 19:01:21 +0200602Note that the only situations for which characters beyond the cursor should
603appear to move are in List mode |'list'|, and occasionally when 'wrap' is set
604(and the line changes length to become shorter or wider than the width of the
605screen). In other cases spaces may be inserted to avoid following characters
606to move.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000607
608This mode is very useful for editing <Tab> separated columns in tables, for
609entering new data while keeping all the columns aligned.
610
611==============================================================================
6127. Insert mode completion *ins-completion*
613
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +0000614In Insert and Replace mode, there are several commands to complete part of a
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000615keyword or line that has been typed. This is useful if you are using
616complicated keywords (e.g., function names with capitals and underscores).
617
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000618Completion can be done for:
619
6201. Whole lines |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L|
6212. keywords in the current file |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-N|
6223. keywords in 'dictionary' |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K|
6234. keywords in 'thesaurus', thesaurus-style |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T|
6245. keywords in the current and included files |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I|
6256. tags |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]|
6267. file names |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-F|
6278. definitions or macros |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D|
6289. Vim command-line |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-V|
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +000062910. User defined completion |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U|
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +000063011. omni completion |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O|
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +000063112. Spelling suggestions |i_CTRL-X_s|
Bram Moolenaar6aa8cea2017-06-05 14:44:35 +020063213. keywords in 'complete' |i_CTRL-N| |i_CTRL-P|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000633
Bram Moolenaar6aa8cea2017-06-05 14:44:35 +0200634All these, except CTRL-N and CTRL-P, are done in CTRL-X mode. This is a
635sub-mode of Insert and Replace modes. You enter CTRL-X mode by typing CTRL-X
636and one of the CTRL-X commands. You exit CTRL-X mode by typing a key that is
637not a valid CTRL-X mode command. Valid keys are the CTRL-X command itself,
638CTRL-N (next), and CTRL-P (previous).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000639
Bram Moolenaarfd133322019-03-29 12:20:27 +0100640To get the current completion information, |complete_info()| can be used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000641Also see the 'infercase' option if you want to adjust the case of the match.
642
Bram Moolenaard2cec5b2006-03-28 21:08:56 +0000643 *complete_CTRL-E*
644When completion is active you can use CTRL-E to stop it and go back to the
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +0000645originally typed text. The CTRL-E will not be inserted.
Bram Moolenaard2cec5b2006-03-28 21:08:56 +0000646
647 *complete_CTRL-Y*
648When the popup menu is displayed you can use CTRL-Y to stop completion and
649accept the currently selected entry. The CTRL-Y is not inserted. Typing a
650space, Enter, or some other unprintable character will leave completion mode
651and insert that typed character.
652
Bram Moolenaar9e54a0e2006-04-14 20:42:25 +0000653When the popup menu is displayed there are a few more special keys, see
654|popupmenu-keys|.
655
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000656Note: The keys that are valid in CTRL-X mode are not mapped. This allows for
657":map ^F ^X^F" to work (where ^F is CTRL-F and ^X is CTRL-X). The key that
658ends CTRL-X mode (any key that is not a valid CTRL-X mode command) is mapped.
659Also, when doing completion with 'complete' mappings apply as usual.
660
Bram Moolenaarf193fff2006-04-27 00:02:13 +0000661Note: While completion is active Insert mode can't be used recursively.
662Mappings that somehow invoke ":normal i.." will generate an E523 error.
663
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000664The following mappings are suggested to make typing the completion commands
665a bit easier (although they will hide other commands): >
666 :inoremap ^] ^X^]
667 :inoremap ^F ^X^F
668 :inoremap ^D ^X^D
669 :inoremap ^L ^X^L
670
671As a special case, typing CTRL-R to perform register insertion (see
672|i_CTRL-R|) will not exit CTRL-X mode. This is primarily to allow the use of
673the '=' register to call some function to determine the next operation. If
674the contents of the register (or result of the '=' register evaluation) are
675not valid CTRL-X mode keys, then CTRL-X mode will be exited as if those keys
676had been typed.
677
678For example, the following will map <Tab> to either actually insert a <Tab> if
679the current line is currently only whitespace, or start/continue a CTRL-N
680completion operation: >
681
682 function! CleverTab()
683 if strpart( getline('.'), 0, col('.')-1 ) =~ '^\s*$'
684 return "\<Tab>"
685 else
686 return "\<C-N>"
Bram Moolenaarb52073a2010-03-17 20:02:06 +0100687 endif
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000688 endfunction
689 inoremap <Tab> <C-R>=CleverTab()<CR>
690
691
692
693Completing whole lines *compl-whole-line*
694
695 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L*
696CTRL-X CTRL-L Search backwards for a line that starts with the
Bram Moolenaar83bab712005-08-01 21:58:57 +0000697 same characters as those in the current line before
698 the cursor. Indent is ignored. The matching line is
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000699 inserted in front of the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar83bab712005-08-01 21:58:57 +0000700 The 'complete' option is used to decide which buffers
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +0000701 are searched for a match. Both loaded and unloaded
702 buffers are used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000703 CTRL-L or
704 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching line. This line
705 replaces the previous matching line.
706
707 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching line. This line
708 replaces the previous matching line.
709
710 CTRL-X CTRL-L After expanding a line you can additionally get the
711 line next to it by typing CTRL-X CTRL-L again, unless
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100712 a double CTRL-X is used. Only works for loaded
713 buffers.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000714
715Completing keywords in current file *compl-current*
716
717 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-P*
718 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-N*
719CTRL-X CTRL-N Search forwards for words that start with the keyword
720 in front of the cursor. The found keyword is inserted
721 in front of the cursor.
722
723CTRL-X CTRL-P Search backwards for words that start with the keyword
724 in front of the cursor. The found keyword is inserted
725 in front of the cursor.
726
727 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This
728 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
729
730 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This
731 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
732
733 CTRL-X CTRL-N or
734 CTRL-X CTRL-P Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-N or CTRL-X CTRL-P will
735 copy the words following the previous expansion in
736 other contexts unless a double CTRL-X is used.
737
738If there is a keyword in front of the cursor (a name made out of alphabetic
739characters and characters in 'iskeyword'), it is used as the search pattern,
740with "\<" prepended (meaning: start of a word). Otherwise "\<\k\k" is used
741as search pattern (start of any keyword of at least two characters).
742
743In Replace mode, the number of characters that are replaced depends on the
744length of the matched string. This works like typing the characters of the
745matched string in Replace mode.
746
747If there is not a valid keyword character before the cursor, any keyword of
748at least two characters is matched.
749 e.g., to get:
750 printf("(%g, %g, %g)", vector[0], vector[1], vector[2]);
751 just type:
752 printf("(%g, %g, %g)", vector[0], ^P[1], ^P[2]);
753
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +0000754The search wraps around the end of the file, the value of 'wrapscan' is not
755used here.
756
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000757Multiple repeats of the same completion are skipped; thus a different match
758will be inserted at each CTRL-N and CTRL-P (unless there is only one
759matching keyword).
760
761Single character matches are never included, as they usually just get in
762the way of what you were really after.
763 e.g., to get:
764 printf("name = %s\n", name);
765 just type:
766 printf("name = %s\n", n^P);
767 or even:
768 printf("name = %s\n", ^P);
769The 'n' in '\n' is skipped.
770
771After expanding a word, you can use CTRL-X CTRL-P or CTRL-X CTRL-N to get the
772word following the expansion in other contexts. These sequences search for
773the text just expanded and further expand by getting an extra word. This is
774useful if you need to repeat a sequence of complicated words. Although CTRL-P
775and CTRL-N look just for strings of at least two characters, CTRL-X CTRL-P and
776CTRL-X CTRL-N can be used to expand words of just one character.
777 e.g., to get:
778 M&eacute;xico
779 you can type:
780 M^N^P^X^P^X^P
781CTRL-N starts the expansion and then CTRL-P takes back the single character
782"M", the next two CTRL-X CTRL-P's get the words "&eacute" and ";xico".
783
784If the previous expansion was split, because it got longer than 'textwidth',
785then just the text in the current line will be used.
786
787If the match found is at the end of a line, then the first word in the next
788line will be inserted and the message "word from next line" displayed, if
789this word is accepted the next CTRL-X CTRL-P or CTRL-X CTRL-N will search
790for those lines starting with this word.
791
792
793Completing keywords in 'dictionary' *compl-dictionary*
794
795 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K*
796CTRL-X CTRL-K Search the files given with the 'dictionary' option
797 for words that start with the keyword in front of the
798 cursor. This is like CTRL-N, but only the dictionary
799 files are searched, not the current file. The found
800 keyword is inserted in front of the cursor. This
801 could potentially be pretty slow, since all matches
802 are found before the first match is used. By default,
803 the 'dictionary' option is empty.
804 For suggestions where to find a list of words, see the
805 'dictionary' option.
806
807 CTRL-K or
808 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This
809 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
810
811 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This
812 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
813
814 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T*
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000815CTRL-X CTRL-T Works as CTRL-X CTRL-K, but in a special way. It uses
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000816 the 'thesaurus' option instead of 'dictionary'. If a
817 match is found in the thesaurus file, all the
818 remaining words on the same line are included as
819 matches, even though they don't complete the word.
820 Thus a word can be completely replaced.
821
822 For an example, imagine the 'thesaurus' file has a
823 line like this: >
824 angry furious mad enraged
825< Placing the cursor after the letters "ang" and typing
826 CTRL-X CTRL-T would complete the word "angry";
827 subsequent presses would change the word to "furious",
828 "mad" etc.
829 Other uses include translation between two languages,
830 or grouping API functions by keyword.
831
832 CTRL-T or
833 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This
834 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
835
836 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This
837 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
838
839
840Completing keywords in the current and included files *compl-keyword*
841
842The 'include' option is used to specify a line that contains an include file
843name. The 'path' option is used to search for include files.
844
845 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I*
846CTRL-X CTRL-I Search for the first keyword in the current and
847 included files that starts with the same characters
848 as those before the cursor. The matched keyword is
849 inserted in front of the cursor.
850
851 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching keyword. This
852 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
853 Note: CTRL-I is the same as <Tab>, which is likely to
854 be typed after a successful completion, therefore
855 CTRL-I is not used for searching for the next match.
856
857 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching keyword. This
858 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
859
860 CTRL-X CTRL-I Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-I will copy the words
861 following the previous expansion in other contexts
862 unless a double CTRL-X is used.
863
864Completing tags *compl-tag*
865 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]*
866CTRL-X CTRL-] Search for the first tag that starts with the same
867 characters as before the cursor. The matching tag is
868 inserted in front of the cursor. Alphabetic
869 characters and characters in 'iskeyword' are used
870 to decide which characters are included in the tag
871 name (same as for a keyword). See also |CTRL-]|.
872 The 'showfulltag' option can be used to add context
873 from around the tag definition.
874 CTRL-] or
875 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching tag. This tag
876 replaces the previous matching tag.
877
878 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching tag. This tag
879 replaces the previous matching tag.
880
881
882Completing file names *compl-filename*
883 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-F*
884CTRL-X CTRL-F Search for the first file name that starts with the
885 same characters as before the cursor. The matching
886 file name is inserted in front of the cursor.
887 Alphabetic characters and characters in 'isfname'
888 are used to decide which characters are included in
889 the file name. Note: the 'path' option is not used
890 here (yet).
891 CTRL-F or
892 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching file name. This
893 file name replaces the previous matching file name.
894
895 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching file name.
896 This file name replaces the previous matching file
897 name.
898
899
900Completing definitions or macros *compl-define*
901
902The 'define' option is used to specify a line that contains a definition.
903The 'include' option is used to specify a line that contains an include file
904name. The 'path' option is used to search for include files.
905
906 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D*
907CTRL-X CTRL-D Search in the current and included files for the
908 first definition (or macro) name that starts with
909 the same characters as before the cursor. The found
910 definition name is inserted in front of the cursor.
911 CTRL-D or
912 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching macro name. This
913 macro name replaces the previous matching macro
914 name.
915
916 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching macro name.
917 This macro name replaces the previous matching macro
918 name.
919
920 CTRL-X CTRL-D Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-D will copy the words
921 following the previous expansion in other contexts
922 unless a double CTRL-X is used.
923
924
925Completing Vim commands *compl-vim*
926
927Completion is context-sensitive. It works like on the Command-line. It
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +0000928completes an Ex command as well as its arguments. This is useful when writing
929a Vim script.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000930
931 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-V*
932CTRL-X CTRL-V Guess what kind of item is in front of the cursor and
933 find the first match for it.
934 Note: When CTRL-V is mapped you can often use CTRL-Q
Bram Moolenaar3577c6f2008-06-24 21:16:56 +0000935 instead of |i_CTRL-Q|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000936 CTRL-V or
937 CTRL-N Search forwards for next match. This match replaces
938 the previous one.
939
Bram Moolenaar3577c6f2008-06-24 21:16:56 +0000940 CTRL-P Search backwards for previous match. This match
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000941 replaces the previous one.
942
943 CTRL-X CTRL-V Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-V will do the same as
944 CTRL-V. This allows mapping a key to do Vim command
945 completion, for example: >
946 :imap <Tab> <C-X><C-V>
947
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +0000948User defined completion *compl-function*
Bram Moolenaarcfbc5ee2004-07-02 15:38:35 +0000949
950Completion is done by a function that can be defined by the user with the
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +0000951'completefunc' option. See below for how the function is called and an
952example |complete-functions|.
Bram Moolenaarcfbc5ee2004-07-02 15:38:35 +0000953
954 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U*
955CTRL-X CTRL-U Guess what kind of item is in front of the cursor and
956 find the first match for it.
957 CTRL-U or
958 CTRL-N Use the next match. This match replaces the previous
959 one.
960
961 CTRL-P Use the previous match. This match replaces the
962 previous one.
963
964
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +0000965Omni completion *compl-omni*
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +0000966
Bram Moolenaare344bea2005-09-01 20:46:49 +0000967Completion is done by a function that can be defined by the user with the
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +0000968'omnifunc' option. This is to be used for filetype-specific completion.
Bram Moolenaare344bea2005-09-01 20:46:49 +0000969
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +0000970See below for how the function is called and an example |complete-functions|.
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +0000971For remarks about specific filetypes see |compl-omni-filetypes|.
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +0000972More completion scripts will appear, check www.vim.org. Currently there is a
973first version for C++.
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +0000974
975 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O*
976CTRL-X CTRL-O Guess what kind of item is in front of the cursor and
977 find the first match for it.
978 CTRL-O or
979 CTRL-N Use the next match. This match replaces the previous
980 one.
981
982 CTRL-P Use the previous match. This match replaces the
983 previous one.
984
985
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +0000986Spelling suggestions *compl-spelling*
987
Bram Moolenaar5195e452005-08-19 20:32:47 +0000988A word before or at the cursor is located and correctly spelled words are
989suggested to replace it. If there is a badly spelled word in the line, before
990or under the cursor, the cursor is moved to after it. Otherwise the word just
991before the cursor is used for suggestions, even though it isn't badly spelled.
992
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +0000993NOTE: CTRL-S suspends display in many Unix terminals. Use 's' instead. Type
994CTRL-Q to resume displaying.
995
996 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-S* *i_CTRL-X_s*
997CTRL-X CTRL-S or
998CTRL-X s Locate the word in front of the cursor and find the
999 first spell suggestion for it.
1000 CTRL-S or
1001 CTRL-N Use the next suggestion. This replaces the previous
1002 one. Note that you can't use 's' here.
1003
1004 CTRL-P Use the previous suggestion. This replaces the
1005 previous one.
1006
1007
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001008Completing keywords from different sources *compl-generic*
1009
1010 *i_CTRL-N*
1011CTRL-N Find next match for words that start with the
1012 keyword in front of the cursor, looking in places
1013 specified with the 'complete' option. The found
1014 keyword is inserted in front of the cursor.
1015
1016 *i_CTRL-P*
1017CTRL-P Find previous match for words that start with the
1018 keyword in front of the cursor, looking in places
1019 specified with the 'complete' option. The found
1020 keyword is inserted in front of the cursor.
1021
1022 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This
1023 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
1024
1025 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This
1026 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
1027
1028 CTRL-X CTRL-N or
1029 CTRL-X CTRL-P Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-N or CTRL-X CTRL-P will
1030 copy the words following the previous expansion in
1031 other contexts unless a double CTRL-X is used.
1032
Bram Moolenaar578b49e2005-09-10 19:22:57 +00001033
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +00001034FUNCTIONS FOR FINDING COMPLETIONS *complete-functions*
1035
1036This applies to 'completefunc' and 'omnifunc'.
1037
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001038The function is called in two different ways:
1039- First the function is called to find the start of the text to be completed.
1040- Later the function is called to actually find the matches.
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +00001041
1042On the first invocation the arguments are:
1043 a:findstart 1
1044 a:base empty
1045
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001046The function must return the column where the completion starts. It must be a
1047number between zero and the cursor column "col('.')". This involves looking
1048at the characters just before the cursor and including those characters that
1049could be part of the completed item. The text between this column and the
Bram Moolenaarfc65cab2018-08-28 22:58:02 +02001050cursor column will be replaced with the matches. If the returned value is
1051larger than the cursor column, the cursor column is used.
Bram Moolenaar8e52a592012-05-18 21:49:28 +02001052
Bram Moolenaarfc65cab2018-08-28 22:58:02 +02001053Negative return values:
1054 -2 To cancel silently and stay in completion mode.
1055 -3 To cancel silently and leave completion mode.
1056 Another negative value: completion starts at the cursor column
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +00001057
1058On the second invocation the arguments are:
1059 a:findstart 0
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001060 a:base the text with which matches should match; the text that was
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +00001061 located in the first call (can be empty)
1062
1063The function must return a List with the matching words. These matches
1064usually include the "a:base" text. When there are no matches return an empty
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001065List.
Bram Moolenaar5302d9e2011-09-14 17:55:08 +02001066
1067In order to return more information than the matching words, return a Dict
1068that contains the List. The Dict can have these items:
1069 words The List of matching words (mandatory).
1070 refresh A string to control re-invocation of the function
1071 (optional).
1072 The only value currently recognized is "always", the
1073 effect is that the function is called whenever the
1074 leading text is changed.
Bram Moolenaarcee9bc22019-01-11 13:02:23 +01001075
1076If you want to suppress the warning message for an empty result, return
Bram Moolenaar314dd792019-02-03 15:27:20 +01001077|v:none|. This is useful to implement asynchronous completion with
1078|complete()|.
Bram Moolenaarcee9bc22019-01-11 13:02:23 +01001079
Bram Moolenaar5302d9e2011-09-14 17:55:08 +02001080Other items are ignored.
1081
Bram Moolenaar560979e2020-02-04 22:53:05 +01001082For acting upon end of completion, see the |CompleteDonePre| and
1083|CompleteDone| autocommand event.
Bram Moolenaar30b65812012-07-12 22:01:11 +02001084
Bram Moolenaar5302d9e2011-09-14 17:55:08 +02001085For example, the function can contain this: >
1086 let matches = ... list of words ...
1087 return {'words': matches, 'refresh': 'always'}
1088<
Bram Moolenaar5c4bab02006-03-10 21:37:46 +00001089 *complete-items*
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001090Each list item can either be a string or a Dictionary. When it is a string it
1091is used as the completion. When it is a Dictionary it can contain these
1092items:
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001093 word the text that will be inserted, mandatory
1094 abbr abbreviation of "word"; when not empty it is used in
1095 the menu instead of "word"
Bram Moolenaar8dff8182006-04-06 20:18:50 +00001096 menu extra text for the popup menu, displayed after "word"
1097 or "abbr"
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001098 info more information about the item, can be displayed in a
Bram Moolenaar62a0cb42019-08-18 16:35:23 +02001099 preview or popup window
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001100 kind single letter indicating the type of completion
Bram Moolenaar91170f82006-05-05 21:15:17 +00001101 icase when non-zero case is to be ignored when comparing
1102 items to be equal; when omitted zero is used, thus
1103 items that only differ in case are added
Bram Moolenaar73655cf2019-04-06 13:45:55 +02001104 equal when non-zero, always treat this item to be equal when
1105 comparing. Which means, "equal=1" disables filtering
1106 of this item.
Bram Moolenaar4a85b412006-04-23 22:40:29 +00001107 dup when non-zero this match will be added even when an
1108 item with the same word is already present.
Bram Moolenaar166af9b2010-11-16 20:34:40 +01001109 empty when non-zero this match will be added even when it is
1110 an empty string
Bram Moolenaar9b56a572018-02-10 16:19:32 +01001111 user_data custom data which is associated with the item and
Bram Moolenaar08928322020-01-04 14:32:48 +01001112 available in |v:completed_item|; it can be any type;
1113 defaults to an empty string
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001114
Bram Moolenaar73655cf2019-04-06 13:45:55 +02001115All of these except "icase", "equal", "dup" and "empty" must be a string. If
1116an item does not meet these requirements then an error message is given and
1117further items in the list are not used. You can mix string and Dictionary
1118items in the returned list.
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001119
1120The "menu" item is used in the popup menu and may be truncated, thus it should
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001121be relatively short. The "info" item can be longer, it will be displayed in
Bram Moolenaar62a0cb42019-08-18 16:35:23 +02001122the preview window when "preview" appears in 'completeopt' or in a popup
1123window when "popup" appears in 'completeopt'. In the preview window the
1124"info" item will also remain displayed after the popup menu has been removed.
1125This is useful for function arguments. Use a single space for "info" to
1126remove existing text in the preview window. The size of the preview window is
1127three lines, but 'previewheight' is used when it has a value of 1 or 2.
1128
1129 *complete-popup*
1130When "popup" is in 'completeopt' a popup window is used to display the "info".
Bram Moolenaar06fe74a2019-08-31 16:20:32 +02001131Then the 'completepopup' option specifies the properties of the popup. This
1132is used when the info popup is created. The option is a comma separated list
1133of values:
Bram Moolenaar62a0cb42019-08-18 16:35:23 +02001134 height maximum height of the popup
1135 width maximum width of the popup
Bram Moolenaar8fe10002019-09-11 22:56:44 +02001136 highlight highlight group of the popup (default is PmenuSel)
Bram Moolenaar258cef52019-08-21 17:29:29 +02001137 align "item" (default) or "menu"
1138 border "on" (default) or "off"
Bram Moolenaar62a0cb42019-08-18 16:35:23 +02001139Example: >
1140 :set completepopup=height:10,width:60,highlight:InfoPopup
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001141
Bram Moolenaar06fe74a2019-08-31 16:20:32 +02001142When the "align" value is "item" then the popup is positioned close to the
Bram Moolenaar258cef52019-08-21 17:29:29 +02001143selected item. Changing the selection will also move the popup. When "align"
1144is "menu" then the popup is aligned with the top of the menu if the menu is
1145below the text, and the bottom of the menu otherwise.
1146
Bram Moolenaar06fe74a2019-08-31 16:20:32 +02001147After the info popup is created it can be found with |popup_findinfo()| and
1148properties can be changed with |popup_setoptions()|.
1149
Bram Moolenaardca7abe2019-10-20 18:17:57 +02001150 *complete-popuphidden*
1151If the information for the popup is obtained asynchronously, use "popuphidden"
Bram Moolenaar91359012019-11-30 17:57:03 +01001152in 'completeopt'. The info popup will then be initially hidden and
Bram Moolenaardca7abe2019-10-20 18:17:57 +02001153|popup_show()| must be called once it has been filled with the info. This can
1154be done with a |CompleteChanged| autocommand, something like this: >
1155 set completeopt+=popuphidden
1156 au CompleteChanged * call UpdateCompleteInfo()
1157 func UpdateCompleteInfo()
1158 " Cancel any pending info fetch
1159 let item = v:event.completed_item
1160 " Start fetching info for the item then call ShowCompleteInfo(info)
1161 endfunc
1162 func ShowCompleteInfo(info)
1163 let id = popup_findinfo()
1164 if id
1165 call popup_settext(id, 'async info: ' .. a:info)
1166 call popup_show(id)
1167 endif
1168 endfunc
1169
1170< *complete-item-kind*
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001171The "kind" item uses a single letter to indicate the kind of completion. This
1172may be used to show the completion differently (different color or icon).
1173Currently these types can be used:
1174 v variable
1175 f function or method
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001176 m member of a struct or class
1177 t typedef
1178 d #define or macro
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +00001179
1180When searching for matches takes some time call |complete_add()| to add each
1181match to the total list. These matches should then not appear in the returned
1182list! Call |complete_check()| now and then to allow the user to press a key
1183while still searching for matches. Stop searching when it returns non-zero.
1184
Bram Moolenaar166af9b2010-11-16 20:34:40 +01001185 *E839* *E840*
1186The function is allowed to move the cursor, it is restored afterwards.
1187The function is not allowed to move to another window or delete text.
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +00001188
1189An example that completes the names of the months: >
1190 fun! CompleteMonths(findstart, base)
1191 if a:findstart
1192 " locate the start of the word
1193 let line = getline('.')
1194 let start = col('.') - 1
1195 while start > 0 && line[start - 1] =~ '\a'
1196 let start -= 1
1197 endwhile
1198 return start
1199 else
1200 " find months matching with "a:base"
1201 let res = []
1202 for m in split("Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec")
1203 if m =~ '^' . a:base
1204 call add(res, m)
1205 endif
1206 endfor
1207 return res
1208 endif
1209 endfun
1210 set completefunc=CompleteMonths
1211<
1212The same, but now pretending searching for matches is slow: >
1213 fun! CompleteMonths(findstart, base)
1214 if a:findstart
1215 " locate the start of the word
1216 let line = getline('.')
1217 let start = col('.') - 1
1218 while start > 0 && line[start - 1] =~ '\a'
1219 let start -= 1
1220 endwhile
1221 return start
1222 else
1223 " find months matching with "a:base"
1224 for m in split("Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec")
1225 if m =~ '^' . a:base
1226 call complete_add(m)
1227 endif
1228 sleep 300m " simulate searching for next match
1229 if complete_check()
1230 break
1231 endif
1232 endfor
1233 return []
1234 endif
1235 endfun
1236 set completefunc=CompleteMonths
1237<
1238
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001239INSERT COMPLETION POPUP MENU *ins-completion-menu*
Bram Moolenaarebefac62005-12-28 22:39:57 +00001240 *popupmenu-completion*
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001241Vim can display the matches in a simplistic popup menu.
1242
1243The menu is used when:
Bram Moolenaara2031822006-03-07 22:29:51 +00001244- The 'completeopt' option contains "menu" or "menuone".
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001245- The terminal supports at least 8 colors.
Bram Moolenaard68071d2006-05-02 22:08:30 +00001246- There are at least two matches. One if "menuone" is used.
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001247
Bram Moolenaar56718732006-03-15 22:53:57 +00001248The 'pumheight' option can be used to set a maximum height. The default is to
1249use all space available.
Bram Moolenaar9b56a572018-02-10 16:19:32 +01001250The 'pumwidth' option can be used to set a minimum width. The default is 15
1251characters.
Bram Moolenaar56718732006-03-15 22:53:57 +00001252
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001253There are three states:
12541. A complete match has been inserted, e.g., after using CTRL-N or CTRL-P.
12552. A cursor key has been used to select another match. The match was not
1256 inserted then, only the entry in the popup menu is highlighted.
12573. Only part of a match has been inserted and characters were typed or the
1258 backspace key was used. The list of matches was then adjusted for what is
1259 in front of the cursor.
Bram Moolenaarc7453f52006-02-10 23:20:28 +00001260
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001261You normally start in the first state, with the first match being inserted.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001262When "longest" is in 'completeopt' and there is more than one match you start
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001263in the third state.
Bram Moolenaarc7453f52006-02-10 23:20:28 +00001264
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001265If you select another match, e.g., with CTRL-N or CTRL-P, you go to the first
1266state. This doesn't change the list of matches.
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001267
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001268When you are back at the original text then you are in the third state. To
Bram Moolenaara2031822006-03-07 22:29:51 +00001269get there right away you can use a mapping that uses CTRL-P right after
1270starting the completion: >
1271 :imap <F7> <C-N><C-P>
Bram Moolenaar76916e62006-03-21 21:23:25 +00001272<
1273 *popupmenu-keys*
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001274In the first state these keys have a special meaning:
1275<BS> and CTRL-H Delete one character, find the matches for the word before
1276 the cursor. This reduces the list of matches, often to one
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001277 entry, and switches to the second state.
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001278Any non-special character:
1279 Stop completion without changing the match and insert the
1280 typed character.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001281
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001282In the second and third state these keys have a special meaning:
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001283<BS> and CTRL-H Delete one character, find the matches for the shorter word
1284 before the cursor. This may find more matches.
1285CTRL-L Add one character from the current match, may reduce the
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001286 number of matches.
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001287any printable, non-white character:
1288 Add this character and reduce the number of matches.
Bram Moolenaarc7453f52006-02-10 23:20:28 +00001289
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001290In all three states these can be used:
Bram Moolenaard2cec5b2006-03-28 21:08:56 +00001291CTRL-Y Yes: Accept the currently selected match and stop completion.
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001292CTRL-E End completion, go back to what was there before selecting a
1293 match (what was typed or longest common string).
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001294<PageUp> Select a match several entries back, but don't insert it.
1295<PageDown> Select a match several entries further, but don't insert it.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001296<Up> Select the previous match, as if CTRL-P was used, but don't
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001297 insert it.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001298<Down> Select the next match, as if CTRL-N was used, but don't
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001299 insert it.
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001300<Space> or <Tab> Stop completion without changing the match and insert the
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001301 typed character.
1302
Bram Moolenaar044b68f2007-05-10 17:39:52 +00001303The behavior of the <Enter> key depends on the state you are in:
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001304first state: Use the text as it is and insert a line break.
1305second state: Insert the currently selected match.
1306third state: Use the text as it is and insert a line break.
1307
1308In other words: If you used the cursor keys to select another entry in the
Bram Moolenaar044b68f2007-05-10 17:39:52 +00001309list of matches then the <Enter> key inserts that match. If you typed
1310something else then <Enter> inserts a line break.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001311
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001312
1313The colors of the menu can be changed with these highlight groups:
1314Pmenu normal item |hl-Pmenu|
1315PmenuSel selected item |hl-PmenuSel|
1316PmenuSbar scrollbar |hl-PmenuSbar|
1317PmenuThumb thumb of the scrollbar |hl-PmenuThumb|
1318
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001319There are no special mappings for when the popup menu is visible. However,
1320you can use an Insert mode mapping that checks the |pumvisible()| function to
1321do something different. Example: >
1322 :inoremap <Down> <C-R>=pumvisible() ? "\<lt>C-N>" : "\<lt>Down>"<CR>
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001323
Bram Moolenaar5c4bab02006-03-10 21:37:46 +00001324You can use of <expr> in mapping to have the popup menu used when typing a
1325character and some condition is met. For example, for typing a dot: >
1326 inoremap <expr> . MayComplete()
1327 func MayComplete()
1328 if (can complete)
1329 return ".\<C-X>\<C-O>"
1330 endif
1331 return '.'
1332 endfunc
1333
1334See |:map-<expr>| for more info.
1335
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001336
1337FILETYPE-SPECIFIC REMARKS FOR OMNI COMPLETION *compl-omni-filetypes*
1338
1339The file used for {filetype} should be autoload/{filetype}complete.vim
1340in 'runtimepath'. Thus for "java" it is autoload/javacomplete.vim.
Bram Moolenaar578b49e2005-09-10 19:22:57 +00001341
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001342
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +00001343C *ft-c-omni*
Bram Moolenaar578b49e2005-09-10 19:22:57 +00001344
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +00001345Completion of C code requires a tags file. You should use Exuberant ctags,
1346because it adds extra information that is needed for completion. You can find
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001347it here: http://ctags.sourceforge.net/ Version 5.6 or later is recommended.
1348
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +00001349For version 5.5.4 you should add a patch that adds the "typename:" field:
Bram Moolenaar36fc5352006-03-04 21:49:37 +00001350 ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/unstable/patches/ctags-5.5.4.patch
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001351A compiled .exe for MS-Windows can be found at:
Bram Moolenaar2f058492017-11-30 20:27:52 +01001352 http://ctags.sourceforge.net/
1353 https://github.com/universal-ctags/ctags-win32
Bram Moolenaar578b49e2005-09-10 19:22:57 +00001354
1355If you want to complete system functions you can do something like this. Use
1356ctags to generate a tags file for all the system header files: >
1357 % ctags -R -f ~/.vim/systags /usr/include /usr/local/include
1358In your vimrc file add this tags file to the 'tags' option: >
1359 set tags+=~/.vim/systags
1360
1361When using CTRL-X CTRL-O after a name without any "." or "->" it is completed
1362from the tags file directly. This works for any identifier, also function
1363names. If you want to complete a local variable name, which does not appear
1364in the tags file, use CTRL-P instead.
1365
1366When using CTRL-X CTRL-O after something that has "." or "->" Vim will attempt
1367to recognize the type of the variable and figure out what members it has.
1368This means only members valid for the variable will be listed.
1369
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +00001370When a member name already was complete, CTRL-X CTRL-O will add a "." or
1371"->" for composite types.
1372
Bram Moolenaar578b49e2005-09-10 19:22:57 +00001373Vim doesn't include a C compiler, only the most obviously formatted
1374declarations are recognized. Preprocessor stuff may cause confusion.
1375When the same structure name appears in multiple places all possible members
1376are included.
1377
Bram Moolenaar6b730e12005-09-16 21:47:57 +00001378
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001379CSS *ft-css-omni*
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001380
1381Complete properties and their appropriate values according to CSS 2.1
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001382specification.
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001383
1384
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001385HTML *ft-html-omni*
1386XHTML *ft-xhtml-omni*
Bram Moolenaar6b730e12005-09-16 21:47:57 +00001387
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001388CTRL-X CTRL-O provides completion of various elements of (X)HTML files. It is
Bram Moolenaardb6ea062014-07-10 22:01:47 +02001389designed to support writing of XHTML 1.0 Strict files but will also work for
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001390other versions of HTML. Features:
Bram Moolenaar6b730e12005-09-16 21:47:57 +00001391
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001392- after "<" complete tag name depending on context (no div suggestion inside
1393 of an a tag); '/>' indicates empty tags
1394- inside of tag complete proper attributes (no width attribute for an a tag);
1395 show also type of attribute; '*' indicates required attributes
1396- when attribute has limited number of possible values help to complete them
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001397- complete names of entities
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +00001398- complete values of "class" and "id" attributes with data obtained from
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001399 <style> tag and included CSS files
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001400- when completing value of "style" attribute or working inside of "style" tag
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +00001401 switch to |ft-css-omni| completion
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001402- when completing values of events attributes or working inside of "script"
1403 tag switch to |ft-javascript-omni| completion
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +00001404- when used after "</" CTRL-X CTRL-O will close the last opened tag
Bram Moolenaar6b730e12005-09-16 21:47:57 +00001405
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001406Note: When used first time completion menu will be shown with little delay
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001407- this is time needed for loading of data file.
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001408Note: Completion may fail in badly formatted documents. In such case try to
1409run |:make| command to detect formatting problems.
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001410
1411
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001412HTML flavor *html-flavor*
1413
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001414The default HTML completion depends on the filetype. For HTML files it is
1415HTML 4.01 Transitional ('filetype' is "html"), for XHTML it is XHTML 1.0
1416Strict ('filetype' is "xhtml").
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001417
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001418When doing completion outside of any other tag you will have possibility to
1419choose DOCTYPE and the appropriate data file will be loaded and used for all
1420next completions.
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001421
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001422More about format of data file in |xml-omni-datafile|. Some of the data files
1423may be found on the Vim website (|www|).
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001424
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001425Note that b:html_omni_flavor may point to a file with any XML data. This
1426makes possible to mix PHP (|ft-php-omni|) completion with any XML dialect
1427(assuming you have data file for it). Without setting that variable XHTML 1.0
1428Strict will be used.
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001429
1430
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001431JAVASCRIPT *ft-javascript-omni*
Bram Moolenaarb8a7b562006-02-01 21:47:16 +00001432
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001433Completion of most elements of JavaScript language and DOM elements.
Bram Moolenaarb8a7b562006-02-01 21:47:16 +00001434
1435Complete:
1436
1437- variables
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001438- function name; show function arguments
Bram Moolenaarb8a7b562006-02-01 21:47:16 +00001439- function arguments
1440- properties of variables trying to detect type of variable
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001441- complete DOM objects and properties depending on context
Bram Moolenaarb8a7b562006-02-01 21:47:16 +00001442- keywords of language
1443
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001444Completion works in separate JavaScript files (&ft==javascript), inside of
1445<script> tag of (X)HTML and in values of event attributes (including scanning
Bram Moolenaar9ba7e172013-07-17 22:37:26 +02001446of external files).
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001447
Bram Moolenaarb8a7b562006-02-01 21:47:16 +00001448DOM compatibility
1449
1450At the moment (beginning of 2006) there are two main browsers - MS Internet
1451Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. These two applications are covering over 90% of
1452market. Theoretically standards are created by W3C organisation
1453(http://www.w3c.org) but they are not always followed/implemented.
1454
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001455 IE FF W3C Omni completion ~
1456 +/- +/- + + ~
1457 + + - + ~
1458 + - - - ~
1459 - + - - ~
Bram Moolenaarb8a7b562006-02-01 21:47:16 +00001460
1461Regardless from state of implementation in browsers but if element is defined
1462in standards, completion plugin will place element in suggestion list. When
1463both major engines implemented element, even if this is not in standards it
1464will be suggested. All other elements are not placed in suggestion list.
1465
1466
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001467PHP *ft-php-omni*
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +00001468
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001469Completion of PHP code requires a tags file for completion of data from
1470external files and for class aware completion. You should use Exuberant ctags
1471version 5.5.4 or newer. You can find it here: http://ctags.sourceforge.net/
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +00001472
1473Script completes:
1474
1475- after $ variables name
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001476 - if variable was declared as object add "->", if tags file is available show
1477 name of class
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001478 - after "->" complete only function and variable names specific for given
1479 class. To find class location and contents tags file is required. Because
1480 PHP isn't strongly typed language user can use @var tag to declare class: >
1481
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001482 /* @var $myVar myClass */
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001483 $myVar->
1484<
1485 Still, to find myClass contents tags file is required.
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001486
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +00001487- function names with additional info:
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001488 - in case of built-in functions list of possible arguments and after | type
1489 data returned by function
Bram Moolenaar06b5d512010-05-22 15:37:44 +02001490 - in case of user function arguments and name of file where function was
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001491 defined (if it is not current file)
1492
1493- constants names
1494- class names after "new" declaration
1495
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +00001496
1497Note: when doing completion first time Vim will load all necessary data into
1498memory. It may take several seconds. After next use of completion delay
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001499should not be noticeable.
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +00001500
1501Script detects if cursor is inside <?php ?> tags. If it is outside it will
1502automatically switch to HTML/CSS/JavaScript completion. Note: contrary to
1503original HTML files completion of tags (and only tags) isn't context aware.
1504
1505
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001506RUBY *ft-ruby-omni*
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001507
1508Completion of Ruby code requires that vim be built with |+ruby|.
1509
1510Ruby completion will parse your buffer on demand in order to provide a list of
1511completions. These completions will be drawn from modules loaded by 'require'
1512and modules defined in the current buffer.
1513
1514The completions provided by CTRL-X CTRL-O are sensitive to the context:
1515
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001516 CONTEXT COMPLETIONS PROVIDED ~
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001517
1518 1. Not inside a class definition Classes, constants and globals
1519
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001520 2. Inside a class definition Methods or constants defined in the class
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001521
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001522 3. After '.', '::' or ':' Methods applicable to the object being
1523 dereferenced
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001524
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001525 4. After ':' or ':foo' Symbol name (beginning with 'foo')
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001526
1527Notes:
1528 - Vim will load/evaluate code in order to provide completions. This may
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001529 cause some code execution, which may be a concern. This is no longer
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001530 enabled by default, to enable this feature add >
1531 let g:rubycomplete_buffer_loading = 1
1532<- In context 1 above, Vim can parse the entire buffer to add a list of
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +00001533 classes to the completion results. This feature is turned off by default,
1534 to enable it add >
1535 let g:rubycomplete_classes_in_global = 1
1536< to your vimrc
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001537 - In context 2 above, anonymous classes are not supported.
1538 - In context 3 above, Vim will attempt to determine the methods supported by
1539 the object.
1540 - Vim can detect and load the Rails environment for files within a rails
1541 project. The feature is disabled by default, to enable it add >
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +00001542 let g:rubycomplete_rails = 1
1543< to your vimrc
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001544
1545
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001546SYNTAX *ft-syntax-omni*
1547
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001548Vim has the ability to color syntax highlight nearly 500 languages. Part of
1549this highlighting includes knowing what keywords are part of a language. Many
1550filetypes already have custom completion scripts written for them, the
1551syntaxcomplete plugin provides basic completion for all other filetypes. It
1552does this by populating the omni completion list with the text Vim already
1553knows how to color highlight. It can be used for any filetype and provides a
1554minimal language-sensitive completion.
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001555
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001556To enable syntax code completion you can run: >
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001557 setlocal omnifunc=syntaxcomplete#Complete
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001558
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001559You can automate this by placing the following in your |.vimrc| (after any
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001560":filetype" command): >
1561 if has("autocmd") && exists("+omnifunc")
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001562 autocmd Filetype *
1563 \ if &omnifunc == "" |
1564 \ setlocal omnifunc=syntaxcomplete#Complete |
1565 \ endif
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001566 endif
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001567
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001568The above will set completion to this script only if a specific plugin does
1569not already exist for that filetype.
1570
1571Each filetype can have a wide range of syntax items. The plugin allows you to
1572customize which syntax groups to include or exclude from the list. Let's have
1573a look at the PHP filetype to see how this works.
1574
1575If you edit a file called, index.php, run the following command: >
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001576 syntax list
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001577
Bram Moolenaar06b5d512010-05-22 15:37:44 +02001578The first thing you will notice is that there are many different syntax groups.
1579The PHP language can include elements from different languages like HTML,
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001580JavaScript and many more. The syntax plugin will only include syntax groups
1581that begin with the filetype, "php", in this case. For example these syntax
1582groups are included by default with the PHP: phpEnvVar, phpIntVar,
1583phpFunctions.
1584
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001585If you wish non-filetype syntax items to also be included, you can use a
1586regular expression syntax (added in version 13.0 of
Bram Moolenaar6dc819b2018-07-03 16:42:19 +02001587autoload/syntaxcomplete.vim) to add items. Looking at the output from
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001588":syntax list" while editing a PHP file I can see some of these entries: >
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001589 htmlArg,htmlTag,htmlTagName,javaScriptStatement,javaScriptGlobalObjects
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001590
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001591To pick up any JavaScript and HTML keyword syntax groups while editing a PHP
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001592file, you can use 3 different regexs, one for each language. Or you can
1593simply restrict the include groups to a particular value, without using
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001594a regex string: >
1595 let g:omni_syntax_group_include_php = 'php\w\+,javaScript\w\+,html\w\+'
1596 let g:omni_syntax_group_include_php = 'phpFunctions,phpMethods'
1597<
1598The basic form of this variable is: >
1599 let g:omni_syntax_group_include_{filetype} = 'regex,comma,separated'
1600
1601The PHP language has an enormous number of items which it knows how to syntax
Bram Moolenaar9ba7e172013-07-17 22:37:26 +02001602highlight. These items will be available within the omni completion list.
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001603
1604Some people may find this list unwieldy or are only interested in certain
1605items. There are two ways to prune this list (if necessary). If you find
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001606certain syntax groups you do not wish displayed you can use two different
1607methods to identify these groups. The first specifically lists the syntax
1608groups by name. The second uses a regular expression to identify both
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001609syntax groups. Simply add one the following to your vimrc: >
1610 let g:omni_syntax_group_exclude_php = 'phpCoreConstant,phpConstant'
1611 let g:omni_syntax_group_exclude_php = 'php\w*Constant'
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001612
1613Add as many syntax groups to this list by comma separating them. The basic
1614form of this variable is: >
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001615 let g:omni_syntax_group_exclude_{filetype} = 'regex,comma,separated'
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001616
1617You can create as many of these variables as you need, varying only the
1618filetype at the end of the variable name.
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001619
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001620The plugin uses the isKeyword option to determine where word boundaries are
1621for the syntax items. For example, in the Scheme language completion should
1622include the "-", call-with-output-file. Depending on your filetype, this may
1623not provide the words you are expecting. Setting the
1624g:omni_syntax_use_iskeyword option to 0 will force the syntax plugin to break
1625on word characters. This can be controlled adding the following to your
1626vimrc: >
1627 let g:omni_syntax_use_iskeyword = 0
1628
Bram Moolenaar8b682772010-07-30 21:49:40 +02001629For plugin developers, the plugin exposes a public function OmniSyntaxList.
1630This function can be used to request a List of syntax items. When editing a
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001631SQL file (:e syntax.sql) you can use the ":syntax list" command to see the
Bram Moolenaar8b682772010-07-30 21:49:40 +02001632various groups and syntax items. For example: >
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001633 syntax list
Bram Moolenaar8b682772010-07-30 21:49:40 +02001634
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001635Yields data similar to this:
1636 sqlOperator xxx some prior all like and any escape exists in is not ~
1637 or intersect minus between distinct ~
1638 links to Operator ~
1639 sqlType xxx varbit varchar nvarchar bigint int uniqueidentifier ~
1640 date money long tinyint unsigned xml text smalldate ~
1641 double datetime nchar smallint numeric time bit char ~
1642 varbinary binary smallmoney ~
1643 image float integer timestamp real decimal ~
Bram Moolenaar8b682772010-07-30 21:49:40 +02001644
1645There are two syntax groups listed here: sqlOperator and sqlType. To retrieve
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001646a List of syntax items you can call OmniSyntaxList a number of different
Bram Moolenaar8b682772010-07-30 21:49:40 +02001647ways. To retrieve all syntax items regardless of syntax group: >
1648 echo OmniSyntaxList( [] )
1649
1650To retrieve only the syntax items for the sqlOperator syntax group: >
1651 echo OmniSyntaxList( ['sqlOperator'] )
1652
1653To retrieve all syntax items for both the sqlOperator and sqlType groups: >
1654 echo OmniSyntaxList( ['sqlOperator', 'sqlType'] )
1655
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001656A regular expression can also be used: >
1657 echo OmniSyntaxList( ['sql\w\+'] )
1658
Bram Moolenaar8b682772010-07-30 21:49:40 +02001659From within a plugin, you would typically assign the output to a List: >
1660 let myKeywords = []
1661 let myKeywords = OmniSyntaxList( ['sqlKeyword'] )
1662
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001663
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001664SQL *ft-sql-omni*
1665
1666Completion for the SQL language includes statements, functions, keywords.
1667It will also dynamically complete tables, procedures, views and column lists
1668with data pulled directly from within a database. For detailed instructions
1669and a tutorial see |omni-sql-completion|.
1670
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001671The SQL completion plugin can be used in conjunction with other completion
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001672plugins. For example, the PHP filetype has its own completion plugin.
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001673Since PHP is often used to generate dynamic website by accessing a database,
1674the SQL completion plugin can also be enabled. This allows you to complete
1675PHP code and SQL code at the same time.
1676
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001677
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001678XML *ft-xml-omni*
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001679
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001680Vim 7 provides a mechanism for context aware completion of XML files. It
1681depends on a special |xml-omni-datafile| and two commands: |:XMLns| and
1682|:XMLent|. Features are:
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001683
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001684- after "<" complete the tag name, depending on context
1685- inside of a tag complete proper attributes
1686- when an attribute has a limited number of possible values help to complete
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001687 them
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001688- complete names of entities (defined in |xml-omni-datafile| and in the
1689 current file with "<!ENTITY" declarations)
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001690- when used after "</" CTRL-X CTRL-O will close the last opened tag
1691
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001692Format of XML data file *xml-omni-datafile*
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001693
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001694XML data files are stored in the "autoload/xml" directory in 'runtimepath'.
1695Vim distribution provides examples of data files in the
1696"$VIMRUNTIME/autoload/xml" directory. They have a meaningful name which will
1697be used in commands. It should be a unique name which will not create
1698conflicts. For example, the name xhtml10s.vim means it is the data file for
1699XHTML 1.0 Strict.
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001700
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001701Each file contains a variable with a name like g:xmldata_xhtml10s . It is
1702a compound from two parts:
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001703
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +000017041. "g:xmldata_" general prefix, constant for all data files
17052. "xhtml10s" the name of the file and the name of the described XML
1706 dialect; it will be used as an argument for the |:XMLns|
1707 command
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001708
1709Part two must be exactly the same as name of file.
1710
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001711The variable is a |Dictionary|. Keys are tag names and each value is a two
1712element |List|. The first element of the List is also a List with the names
1713of possible children. The second element is a |Dictionary| with the names of
1714attributes as keys and the possible values of attributes as values. Example: >
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001715
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001716 let g:xmldata_crippled = {
1717 \ "vimxmlentities": ["amp", "lt", "gt", "apos", "quot"],
1718 \ 'vimxmlroot': ['tag1'],
1719 \ 'tag1':
1720 \ [ ['childoftag1a', 'childoftag1b'], {'attroftag1a': [],
1721 \ 'attroftag1b': ['valueofattr1', 'valueofattr2']}],
1722 \ 'childoftag1a':
1723 \ [ [], {'attrofchild': ['attrofchild']}],
1724 \ 'childoftag1b':
1725 \ [ ['childoftag1a'], {'attrofchild': []}],
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001726 \ "vimxmltaginfo": {
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001727 \ 'tag1': ['Menu info', 'Long information visible in preview window']},
1728 \ 'vimxmlattrinfo': {
1729 \ 'attrofchild': ['Menu info', 'Long information visible in preview window']}}
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001730
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001731This example would be put in the "autoload/xml/crippled.vim" file and could
1732help to write this file: >
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001733
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001734 <tag1 attroftag1b="valueofattr1">
1735 <childoftag1a attrofchild>
1736 &amp; &lt;
1737 </childoftag1a>
1738 <childoftag1b attrofchild="5">
1739 <childoftag1a>
1740 &gt; &apos; &quot;
1741 </childoftag1a>
1742 </childoftag1b>
1743 </tag1>
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001744
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001745In the example four special elements are visible:
1746
17471. "vimxmlentities" - a special key with List containing entities of this XML
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001748 dialect.
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +000017492. If the list containing possible values of attributes has one element and
1750 this element is equal to the name of the attribute this attribute will be
1751 treated as boolean and inserted as 'attrname' and not as 'attrname="'
17523. "vimxmltaginfo" - a special key with a Dictionary containing tag
1753 names as keys and two element List as values, for additional menu info and
1754 the long description.
17554. "vimxmlattrinfo" - special key with Dictionary containing attribute names
1756 as keys and two element List as values, for additional menu info and long
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001757 description.
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001758
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001759Note: Tag names in the data file MUST not contain a namespace description.
1760Check xsl.vim for an example.
1761Note: All data and functions are publicly available as global
1762variables/functions and can be used for personal editing functions.
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001763
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001764
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001765DTD -> Vim *dtd2vim*
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001766
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001767On |www| is the script |dtd2vim| which parses DTD and creates an XML data file
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001768for Vim XML omni completion.
1769
1770 dtd2vim: http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1462
1771
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001772Check the beginning of that file for usage details.
1773The script requires perl and:
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001774
1775 perlSGML: http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/perlsgml
1776
1777
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001778Commands
1779
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001780:XMLns {name} [{namespace}] *:XMLns*
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001781
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001782Vim has to know which data file should be used and with which namespace. For
1783loading of the data file and connecting data with the proper namespace use
1784|:XMLns| command. The first (obligatory) argument is the name of the data
1785(xhtml10s, xsl). The second argument is the code of namespace (h, xsl). When
1786used without a second argument the dialect will be used as default - without
1787namespace declaration. For example to use XML completion in .xsl files: >
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001788
1789 :XMLns xhtml10s
1790 :XMLns xsl xsl
1791
1792
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001793:XMLent {name} *:XMLent*
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001794
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001795By default entities will be completed from the data file of the default
1796namespace. The XMLent command should be used in case when there is no default
1797namespace: >
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001798
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001799 :XMLent xhtml10s
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001800
1801Usage
1802
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001803While used in this situation (after declarations from previous part, | is
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001804cursor position): >
1805
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001806 <|
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001807
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001808Will complete to an appropriate XHTML tag, and in this situation: >
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001809
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001810 <xsl:|
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001811
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001812Will complete to an appropriate XSL tag.
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001813
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001814
1815The script xmlcomplete.vim, provided through the |autoload| mechanism,
1816has the xmlcomplete#GetLastOpenTag() function which can be used in XML files
1817to get the name of the last open tag (b:unaryTagsStack has to be defined): >
Bram Moolenaar6b730e12005-09-16 21:47:57 +00001818
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001819 :echo xmlcomplete#GetLastOpenTag("b:unaryTagsStack")
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00001820
Bram Moolenaar6b730e12005-09-16 21:47:57 +00001821
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +00001822
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001823==============================================================================
18248. Insert mode commands *inserting*
1825
1826The following commands can be used to insert new text into the buffer. They
1827can all be undone and repeated with the "." command.
1828
1829 *a*
1830a Append text after the cursor [count] times. If the
1831 cursor is in the first column of an empty line Insert
1832 starts there. But not when 'virtualedit' is set!
1833
1834 *A*
1835A Append text at the end of the line [count] times.
1836
1837<insert> or *i* *insert* *<Insert>*
1838i Insert text before the cursor [count] times.
1839 When using CTRL-O in Insert mode |i_CTRL-O| the count
1840 is not supported.
1841
1842 *I*
1843I Insert text before the first non-blank in the line
1844 [count] times.
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00001845 When the 'H' flag is present in 'cpoptions' and the
1846 line only contains blanks, insert start just before
1847 the last blank.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001848
1849 *gI*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001850gI Insert text in column 1 [count] times.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001851
1852 *gi*
1853gi Insert text in the same position as where Insert mode
1854 was stopped last time in the current buffer.
1855 This uses the |'^| mark. It's different from "`^i"
1856 when the mark is past the end of the line.
1857 The position is corrected for inserted/deleted lines,
1858 but NOT for inserted/deleted characters.
1859 When the |:keepjumps| command modifier is used the |'^|
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001860 mark won't be changed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001861
1862 *o*
1863o Begin a new line below the cursor and insert text,
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +02001864 repeat [count] times.
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00001865 When the '#' flag is in 'cpoptions' the count is
1866 ignored.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001867
1868 *O*
1869O Begin a new line above the cursor and insert text,
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +02001870 repeat [count] times.
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00001871 When the '#' flag is in 'cpoptions' the count is
1872 ignored.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001873
1874These commands are used to start inserting text. You can end insert mode with
1875<Esc>. See |mode-ins-repl| for the other special characters in Insert mode.
1876The effect of [count] takes place after Insert mode is exited.
1877
1878When 'autoindent' is on, the indent for a new line is obtained from the
1879previous line. When 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is on, the indent for a line
1880is automatically adjusted for C programs.
1881
1882'textwidth' can be set to the maximum width for a line. When a line becomes
1883too long when appending characters a line break is automatically inserted.
1884
1885
1886==============================================================================
18879. Ex insert commands *inserting-ex*
1888
1889 *:a* *:append*
Bram Moolenaardf177f62005-02-22 08:39:57 +00001890:{range}a[ppend][!] Insert several lines of text below the specified
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001891 line. If the {range} is missing, the text will be
1892 inserted after the current line.
Bram Moolenaardf177f62005-02-22 08:39:57 +00001893 Adding [!] toggles 'autoindent' for the time this
1894 command is executed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001895
1896 *:i* *:in* *:insert*
Bram Moolenaardf177f62005-02-22 08:39:57 +00001897:{range}i[nsert][!] Insert several lines of text above the specified
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001898 line. If the {range} is missing, the text will be
1899 inserted before the current line.
Bram Moolenaardf177f62005-02-22 08:39:57 +00001900 Adding [!] toggles 'autoindent' for the time this
1901 command is executed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001902
1903These two commands will keep on asking for lines, until you type a line
1904containing only a ".". Watch out for lines starting with a backslash, see
1905|line-continuation|.
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001906
Bram Moolenaar4a748032010-09-30 21:47:56 +02001907When in Ex mode (see |-e|) a backslash at the end of the line can be used to
1908insert a NUL character. To be able to have a line ending in a backslash use
1909two backslashes. This means that the number of backslashes is halved, but
1910only at the end of the line.
1911
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001912NOTE: These commands cannot be used with |:global| or |:vglobal|.
1913":append" and ":insert" don't work properly in between ":if" and
Bram Moolenaar06fb4352005-01-05 22:10:30 +00001914":endif", ":for" and ":endfor", ":while" and ":endwhile".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001915
1916 *:start* *:startinsert*
1917:star[tinsert][!] Start Insert mode just after executing this command.
1918 Works like typing "i" in Normal mode. When the ! is
1919 included it works like "A", append to the line.
1920 Otherwise insertion starts at the cursor position.
1921 Note that when using this command in a function or
1922 script, the insertion only starts after the function
1923 or script is finished.
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +00001924 This command does not work from |:normal|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001925
1926 *:stopi* *:stopinsert*
1927:stopi[nsert] Stop Insert mode as soon as possible. Works like
1928 typing <Esc> in Insert mode.
1929 Can be used in an autocommand, example: >
1930 :au BufEnter scratch stopinsert
Bram Moolenaar325b7a22004-07-05 15:58:32 +00001931<
1932 *replacing-ex* *:startreplace*
1933:startr[eplace][!] Start Replace mode just after executing this command.
1934 Works just like typing "R" in Normal mode. When the
1935 ! is included it acts just like "$R" had been typed
1936 (ie. begin replace mode at the end-of-line). Other-
1937 wise replacement begins at the cursor position.
1938 Note that when using this command in a function or
1939 script that the replacement will only start after
1940 the function or script is finished.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001941
Bram Moolenaar61da4982005-12-14 22:02:18 +00001942 *:startgreplace*
1943:startg[replace][!] Just like |:startreplace|, but use Virtual Replace
1944 mode, like with |gR|.
Bram Moolenaar61da4982005-12-14 22:02:18 +00001945
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001946==============================================================================
194710. Inserting a file *inserting-file*
1948
1949 *:r* *:re* *:read*
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001950:r[ead] [++opt] [name]
1951 Insert the file [name] (default: current file) below
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001952 the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001953 See |++opt| for the possible values of [++opt].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001954
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001955:{range}r[ead] [++opt] [name]
1956 Insert the file [name] (default: current file) below
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001957 the specified line.
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001958 See |++opt| for the possible values of [++opt].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001959
1960 *:r!* *:read!*
Bram Moolenaar0187ca02013-04-12 15:09:51 +02001961:[range]r[ead] [++opt] !{cmd}
1962 Execute {cmd} and insert its standard output below
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001963 the cursor or the specified line. A temporary file is
1964 used to store the output of the command which is then
1965 read into the buffer. 'shellredir' is used to save
1966 the output of the command, which can be set to include
1967 stderr or not. {cmd} is executed like with ":!{cmd}",
1968 any '!' is replaced with the previous command |:!|.
Bram Moolenaar0187ca02013-04-12 15:09:51 +02001969 See |++opt| for the possible values of [++opt].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001970
1971These commands insert the contents of a file, or the output of a command,
1972into the buffer. They can be undone. They cannot be repeated with the "."
1973command. They work on a line basis, insertion starts below the line in which
1974the cursor is, or below the specified line. To insert text above the first
1975line use the command ":0r {name}".
1976
1977After the ":read" command, the cursor is left on the first non-blank in the
1978first new line. Unless in Ex mode, then the cursor is left on the last new
1979line (sorry, this is Vi compatible).
1980
1981If a file name is given with ":r", it becomes the alternate file. This can be
1982used, for example, when you want to edit that file instead: ":e! #". This can
1983be switched off by removing the 'a' flag from the 'cpoptions' option.
1984
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001985Of the [++opt] arguments one is specifically for ":read", the ++edit argument.
1986This is useful when the ":read" command is actually used to read a file into
1987the buffer as if editing that file. Use this command in an empty buffer: >
1988 :read ++edit filename
1989The effect is that the 'fileformat', 'fileencoding', 'bomb', etc. options are
1990set to what has been detected for "filename". Note that a single empty line
1991remains, you may want to delete it.
1992
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001993 *file-read*
1994The 'fileformat' option sets the <EOL> style for a file:
1995'fileformat' characters name ~
1996 "dos" <CR><NL> or <NL> DOS format
1997 "unix" <NL> Unix format
1998 "mac" <CR> Mac format
1999Previously 'textmode' was used. It is obsolete now.
2000
2001If 'fileformat' is "dos", a <CR> in front of an <NL> is ignored and a CTRL-Z
2002at the end of the file is ignored.
2003
2004If 'fileformat' is "mac", a <NL> in the file is internally represented by a
2005<CR>. This is to avoid confusion with a <NL> which is used to represent a
2006<NUL>. See |CR-used-for-NL|.
2007
2008If the 'fileformats' option is not empty Vim tries to recognize the type of
2009<EOL> (see |file-formats|). However, the 'fileformat' option will not be
2010changed, the detected format is only used while reading the file.
2011A similar thing happens with 'fileencodings'.
2012
Bram Moolenaar8024f932020-01-14 19:29:13 +01002013On non-Win32 systems the message "[dos format]" is shown if a file is read in
2014DOS format, to remind you that something unusual is done.
Bram Moolenaar5666fcd2019-12-26 14:35:26 +01002015On Macintosh and Win32 the message "[unix format]" is shown if a file is read
2016in Unix format.
Bram Moolenaar8024f932020-01-14 19:29:13 +01002017On non-Macintosh systems, the message "[mac format]" is shown if a file is
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002018read in Mac format.
2019
2020An example on how to use ":r !": >
2021 :r !uuencode binfile binfile
2022This command reads "binfile", uuencodes it and reads it into the current
2023buffer. Useful when you are editing e-mail and want to include a binary
2024file.
2025
2026 *read-messages*
2027When reading a file Vim will display a message with information about the read
2028file. In the table is an explanation for some of the items. The others are
2029self explanatory. Using the long or the short version depends on the
2030'shortmess' option.
2031
2032 long short meaning ~
2033 [readonly] {RO} the file is write protected
2034 [fifo/socket] using a stream
2035 [fifo] using a fifo stream
2036 [socket] using a socket stream
2037 [CR missing] reading with "dos" 'fileformat' and a
2038 NL without a preceding CR was found.
2039 [NL found] reading with "mac" 'fileformat' and a
2040 NL was found (could be "unix" format)
2041 [long lines split] at least one line was split in two
2042 [NOT converted] conversion from 'fileencoding' to
2043 'encoding' was desired but not
2044 possible
2045 [converted] conversion from 'fileencoding' to
2046 'encoding' done
2047 [crypted] file was decrypted
2048 [READ ERRORS] not all of the file could be read
2049
2050
Bram Moolenaar91f84f62018-07-29 15:07:52 +02002051 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: