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Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001*eval.txt* For Vim version 9.1. Last change: 2025 Mar 23
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00004 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005
6
7Expression evaluation *expression* *expr* *E15* *eval*
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00008 *E1002*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00009Using expressions is introduced in chapter 41 of the user manual |usr_41.txt|.
10
11Note: Expression evaluation can be disabled at compile time. If this has been
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +020012done, the features in this document are not available. See |+eval| and
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +000013|no-eval-feature|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000014
Bram Moolenaar1cae5a02021-12-27 21:28:34 +000015This file is mainly about the backwards compatible (legacy) Vim script. For
Bram Moolenaar2f0936c2022-01-08 21:51:59 +000016specifics of Vim9 script, which can execute much faster, supports type
17checking and much more, see |vim9.txt|. Where the syntax or semantics differ
18a remark is given.
Bram Moolenaar8a7d6542020-01-26 15:56:19 +010019
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000201. Variables |variables|
21 1.1 Variable types
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +000022 1.2 Function references |Funcref|
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +000023 1.3 Lists |Lists|
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +010024 1.4 Tuples |Tuples|
25 1.5 Dictionaries |Dictionaries|
26 1.6 Blobs |Blobs|
27 1.7 More about variables |more-variables|
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000282. Expression syntax |expression-syntax|
293. Internal variable |internal-variables|
304. Builtin Functions |functions|
315. Defining functions |user-functions|
326. Curly braces names |curly-braces-names|
337. Commands |expression-commands|
348. Exception handling |exception-handling|
359. Examples |eval-examples|
Bram Moolenaar558ca4a2019-04-04 18:15:38 +02003610. Vim script version |vimscript-version|
3711. No +eval feature |no-eval-feature|
3812. The sandbox |eval-sandbox|
3913. Textlock |textlock|
Christian Brabandtda4e4332023-11-05 10:45:12 +01004014. Vim script library |vim-script-library|
Bram Moolenaared997ad2019-07-21 16:42:00 +020041
42Testing support is documented in |testing.txt|.
43Profiling is documented at |profiling|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000044
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000045==============================================================================
461. Variables *variables*
47
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000481.1 Variable types ~
Bram Moolenaarf10911e2022-01-29 22:20:48 +000049 *E712* *E896* *E897* *E899* *E1098*
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +010050 *E1107* *E1135* *E1138* *E1523*
51There are eleven types of variables:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000052
Bram Moolenaar664f3cf2019-12-07 16:03:51 +010053 *Number* *Integer*
54Number A 32 or 64 bit signed number. |expr-number|
Bram Moolenaarf9706e92020-02-22 14:27:04 +010055 The number of bits is available in |v:numbersize|.
Bram Moolenaar6f02b002021-01-10 20:22:54 +010056 Examples: -123 0x10 0177 0o177 0b1011
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +000057
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +000058Float A floating point number. |floating-point-format| *Float*
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +000059 Examples: 123.456 1.15e-6 -1.1e3
60
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +000061String A NUL terminated string of 8-bit unsigned characters (bytes).
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +000062 |expr-string| Examples: "ab\txx\"--" 'x-z''a,c'
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +000063
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +010064List An ordered sequence of items, see |List| for details.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +000065 Example: [1, 2, ['a', 'b']]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000066
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +010067Tuple An ordered immutable sequence of items, see |Tuple| for
68 details.
69 Example: (1, 2, ('a', 'b'))
70
Bram Moolenaar39a58ca2005-06-27 22:42:44 +000071Dictionary An associative, unordered array: Each entry has a key and a
72 value. |Dictionary|
Bram Moolenaard5abb4c2019-07-13 22:46:10 +020073 Examples:
74 {'blue': "#0000ff", 'red': "#ff0000"}
Bram Moolenaar4c6d9042019-07-16 22:04:02 +020075 #{blue: "#0000ff", red: "#ff0000"}
Bram Moolenaar39a58ca2005-06-27 22:42:44 +000076
Bram Moolenaar835dc632016-02-07 14:27:38 +010077Funcref A reference to a function |Funcref|.
78 Example: function("strlen")
Bram Moolenaar1d429612016-05-24 15:44:17 +020079 It can be bound to a dictionary and arguments, it then works
80 like a Partial.
81 Example: function("Callback", [arg], myDict)
Bram Moolenaar835dc632016-02-07 14:27:38 +010082
Bram Moolenaar02e83b42016-02-21 20:10:26 +010083Special |v:false|, |v:true|, |v:none| and |v:null|. *Special*
Bram Moolenaar835dc632016-02-07 14:27:38 +010084
Bram Moolenaarebf7dfa2016-04-14 12:46:51 +020085Job Used for a job, see |job_start()|. *Job* *Jobs*
Bram Moolenaar38a55632016-02-15 22:07:32 +010086
Bram Moolenaarebf7dfa2016-04-14 12:46:51 +020087Channel Used for a channel, see |ch_open()|. *Channel* *Channels*
Bram Moolenaar835dc632016-02-07 14:27:38 +010088
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +010089Blob Binary Large Object. Stores any sequence of bytes. See |Blob|
90 for details
Bram Moolenaar6e5ea8d2019-01-12 22:47:31 +010091 Example: 0zFF00ED015DAF
92 0z is an empty Blob.
93
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +000094The Number and String types are converted automatically, depending on how they
95are used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000096
97Conversion from a Number to a String is by making the ASCII representation of
Bram Moolenaar24ea3ba2010-09-19 19:01:21 +020098the Number. Examples:
99 Number 123 --> String "123" ~
100 Number 0 --> String "0" ~
101 Number -1 --> String "-1" ~
Bram Moolenaar00a927d2010-05-14 23:24:24 +0200102 *octal*
Bram Moolenaard43906d2020-07-20 21:31:32 +0200103Conversion from a String to a Number only happens in legacy Vim script, not in
104Vim9 script. It is done by converting the first digits to a number.
105Hexadecimal "0xf9", Octal "017" or "0o17", and Binary "0b10"
Bram Moolenaar6f02b002021-01-10 20:22:54 +0100106numbers are recognized
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +0000107NOTE: when using |Vim9| script or |scriptversion-4| octal with a leading "0"
108is not recognized. The 0o notation requires patch 8.2.0886.
Bram Moolenaar6f02b002021-01-10 20:22:54 +0100109If the String doesn't start with digits, the result is zero.
Bram Moolenaarfa735342016-01-03 22:14:44 +0100110Examples:
Bram Moolenaar24ea3ba2010-09-19 19:01:21 +0200111 String "456" --> Number 456 ~
112 String "6bar" --> Number 6 ~
113 String "foo" --> Number 0 ~
114 String "0xf1" --> Number 241 ~
115 String "0100" --> Number 64 ~
Bram Moolenaarc17e66c2020-06-02 21:38:22 +0200116 String "0o100" --> Number 64 ~
Bram Moolenaarfa735342016-01-03 22:14:44 +0100117 String "0b101" --> Number 5 ~
Bram Moolenaar24ea3ba2010-09-19 19:01:21 +0200118 String "-8" --> Number -8 ~
119 String "+8" --> Number 0 ~
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000120
121To force conversion from String to Number, add zero to it: >
122 :echo "0100" + 0
Bram Moolenaar97b2ad32006-03-18 21:40:56 +0000123< 64 ~
124
125To avoid a leading zero to cause octal conversion, or for using a different
126base, use |str2nr()|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000127
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +0100128 *TRUE* *FALSE* *Boolean*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000129For boolean operators Numbers are used. Zero is FALSE, non-zero is TRUE.
Bram Moolenaar6aa57292021-08-14 21:25:52 +0200130You can also use |v:false| and |v:true|, in Vim9 script |false| and |true|.
Bram Moolenaar1c6737b2020-09-07 22:18:52 +0200131When TRUE is returned from a function it is the Number one, FALSE is the
132number zero.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000133
Bram Moolenaare381d3d2016-07-07 14:50:41 +0200134Note that in the command: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000135 :if "foo"
Bram Moolenaare381d3d2016-07-07 14:50:41 +0200136 :" NOT executed
137"foo" is converted to 0, which means FALSE. If the string starts with a
138non-zero number it means TRUE: >
139 :if "8foo"
140 :" executed
141To test for a non-empty string, use empty(): >
Bram Moolenaar3a0d8092012-10-21 03:02:54 +0200142 :if !empty("foo")
Bram Moolenaar92f26c22020-10-03 20:17:30 +0200143
144< *falsy* *truthy*
145An expression can be used as a condition, ignoring the type and only using
146whether the value is "sort of true" or "sort of false". Falsy is:
147 the number zero
148 empty string, blob, list or dictionary
149Other values are truthy. Examples:
150 0 falsy
151 1 truthy
152 -1 truthy
153 0.0 falsy
154 0.1 truthy
155 '' falsy
156 'x' truthy
157 [] falsy
158 [0] truthy
159 {} falsy
160 #{x: 1} truthy
161 0z falsy
162 0z00 truthy
163
Bram Moolenaare381d3d2016-07-07 14:50:41 +0200164 *non-zero-arg*
165Function arguments often behave slightly different from |TRUE|: If the
166argument is present and it evaluates to a non-zero Number, |v:true| or a
Bram Moolenaar64d8e252016-09-06 22:12:34 +0200167non-empty String, then the value is considered to be TRUE.
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100168Note that " " and "0" are also non-empty strings, thus considered to be TRUE.
169A List, Dictionary or Float is not a Number or String, thus evaluate to FALSE.
Bram Moolenaare381d3d2016-07-07 14:50:41 +0200170
Bram Moolenaar2f0936c2022-01-08 21:51:59 +0000171 *E611* *E745* *E728* *E703* *E729* *E730* *E731* *E908* *E910*
Bram Moolenaar7db29e42022-12-11 15:53:04 +0000172 *E913* *E974* *E975* *E976* *E1319* *E1320* *E1321* *E1322*
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100173 *E1323* *E1324* *E1520* *E1522*
174|List|, |Tuple|, |Dictionary|, |Funcref|, |Job|, |Channel|, |Blob|, |Class|
175and |object| types are not automatically converted.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000176
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000177 *E805* *E806* *E808*
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +0200178When mixing Number and Float the Number is converted to Float. Otherwise
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000179there is no automatic conversion of Float. You can use str2float() for String
180to Float, printf() for Float to String and float2nr() for Float to Number.
181
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100182 *E362* *E891* *E892* *E893* *E894*
183 *E907* *E911* *E914* *E1521*
Bram Moolenaar13d5aee2016-01-21 23:36:05 +0100184When expecting a Float a Number can also be used, but nothing else.
185
Bram Moolenaarf6f32c32016-03-12 19:03:59 +0100186 *no-type-checking*
187You will not get an error if you try to change the type of a variable.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000188
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000189
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00001901.2 Function references ~
Bram Moolenaar8a3b8052022-06-26 12:21:15 +0100191 *Funcref* *E695* *E718* *E1192*
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +0200192A Funcref variable is obtained with the |function()| function, the |funcref()|
Bram Moolenaarcfa8f9a2022-06-03 21:59:47 +0100193function, (in |Vim9| script) the name of a function, or created with the
194lambda expression |expr-lambda|. It can be used in an expression in the place
195of a function name, before the parenthesis around the arguments, to invoke the
196function it refers to. Example in |Vim9| script: >
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000197
Bram Moolenaarcfa8f9a2022-06-03 21:59:47 +0100198 :var Fn = MyFunc
199 :echo Fn()
200
201Legacy script: >
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000202 :let Fn = function("MyFunc")
203 :echo Fn()
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000204< *E704* *E705* *E707*
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +0000205A Funcref variable must start with a capital, "s:", "w:", "t:" or "b:". You
Bram Moolenaar7cba6c02013-09-05 22:13:31 +0200206can use "g:" but the following name must still start with a capital. You
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +0000207cannot have both a Funcref variable and a function with the same name.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000208
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000209A special case is defining a function and directly assigning its Funcref to a
210Dictionary entry. Example: >
211 :function dict.init() dict
212 : let self.val = 0
213 :endfunction
214
215The key of the Dictionary can start with a lower case letter. The actual
216function name is not used here. Also see |numbered-function|.
217
218A Funcref can also be used with the |:call| command: >
219 :call Fn()
220 :call dict.init()
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000221
222The name of the referenced function can be obtained with |string()|. >
Bram Moolenaar383f9bc2005-01-19 22:18:32 +0000223 :let func = string(Fn)
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000224
225You can use |call()| to invoke a Funcref and use a list variable for the
226arguments: >
Bram Moolenaar383f9bc2005-01-19 22:18:32 +0000227 :let r = call(Fn, mylist)
Bram Moolenaar1d429612016-05-24 15:44:17 +0200228<
229 *Partial*
230A Funcref optionally binds a Dictionary and/or arguments. This is also called
231a Partial. This is created by passing the Dictionary and/or arguments to
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +0200232function() or funcref(). When calling the function the Dictionary and/or
233arguments will be passed to the function. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar1d429612016-05-24 15:44:17 +0200234
235 let Cb = function('Callback', ['foo'], myDict)
Bram Moolenaarba3ff532018-11-04 14:45:49 +0100236 call Cb('bar')
Bram Moolenaar1d429612016-05-24 15:44:17 +0200237
238This will invoke the function as if using: >
Bram Moolenaarba3ff532018-11-04 14:45:49 +0100239 call myDict.Callback('foo', 'bar')
Bram Moolenaar1d429612016-05-24 15:44:17 +0200240
241This is very useful when passing a function around, e.g. in the arguments of
242|ch_open()|.
243
244Note that binding a function to a Dictionary also happens when the function is
245a member of the Dictionary: >
246
247 let myDict.myFunction = MyFunction
248 call myDict.myFunction()
249
250Here MyFunction() will get myDict passed as "self". This happens when the
251"myFunction" member is accessed. When making assigning "myFunction" to
252otherDict and calling it, it will be bound to otherDict: >
253
254 let otherDict.myFunction = myDict.myFunction
255 call otherDict.myFunction()
256
257Now "self" will be "otherDict". But when the dictionary was bound explicitly
258this won't happen: >
259
260 let myDict.myFunction = function(MyFunction, myDict)
261 let otherDict.myFunction = myDict.myFunction
262 call otherDict.myFunction()
263
Bram Moolenaard823fa92016-08-12 16:29:27 +0200264Here "self" will be "myDict", because it was bound explicitly.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000265
266
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00002671.3 Lists ~
Bram Moolenaar7e38ea22014-04-05 22:55:53 +0200268 *list* *List* *Lists* *E686*
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000269A List is an ordered sequence of items. An item can be of any type. Items
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +0200270can be accessed by their index number. Items can be added and removed at any
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000271position in the sequence.
272
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000273
274List creation ~
275 *E696* *E697*
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100276A List is created with a comma-separated sequence of items in square brackets.
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000277Examples: >
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100278 :let mylist = [1, "two", 3, "four"]
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000279 :let emptylist = []
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000280
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +0200281An item can be any expression. Using a List for an item creates a
Bram Moolenaarf9393ef2006-04-24 19:47:27 +0000282List of Lists: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000283 :let nestlist = [[11, 12], [21, 22], [31, 32]]
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000284
285An extra comma after the last item is ignored.
286
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000287
288List index ~
289 *list-index* *E684*
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000290An item in the List can be accessed by putting the index in square brackets
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000291after the List. Indexes are zero-based, thus the first item has index zero. >
292 :let item = mylist[0] " get the first item: 1
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000293 :let item = mylist[2] " get the third item: 3
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000294
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000295When the resulting item is a list this can be repeated: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000296 :let item = nestlist[0][1] " get the first list, second item: 12
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000297<
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000298A negative index is counted from the end. Index -1 refers to the last item in
299the List, -2 to the last but one item, etc. >
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000300 :let last = mylist[-1] " get the last item: "four"
301
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000302To avoid an error for an invalid index use the |get()| function. When an item
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000303is not available it returns zero or the default value you specify: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000304 :echo get(mylist, idx)
305 :echo get(mylist, idx, "NONE")
306
307
308List concatenation ~
Bram Moolenaar34453202021-01-31 13:08:38 +0100309 *list-concatenation*
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000310Two lists can be concatenated with the "+" operator: >
311 :let longlist = mylist + [5, 6]
zeertzjqb8170142024-02-08 11:21:44 +0100312 :let longlist = [5, 6] + mylist
313To prepend or append an item, turn it into a list by putting [] around it.
314
315A list can be concatenated with another one in-place using |:let+=| or
316|extend()|: >
Bram Moolenaar383f9bc2005-01-19 22:18:32 +0000317 :let mylist += [7, 8]
qeatzyc9c2e2d2024-02-07 17:52:25 +0100318 :call extend(mylist, [7, 8])
zeertzjqb8170142024-02-08 11:21:44 +0100319<
320See |list-modification| below for more about changing a list in-place.
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000321
322
323Sublist ~
Bram Moolenaarbc8801c2016-08-02 21:04:33 +0200324 *sublist*
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000325A part of the List can be obtained by specifying the first and last index,
326separated by a colon in square brackets: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000327 :let shortlist = mylist[2:-1] " get List [3, "four"]
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000328
329Omitting the first index is similar to zero. Omitting the last index is
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +0000330similar to -1. >
Bram Moolenaar540d6e32005-01-09 21:20:18 +0000331 :let endlist = mylist[2:] " from item 2 to the end: [3, "four"]
332 :let shortlist = mylist[2:2] " List with one item: [3]
333 :let otherlist = mylist[:] " make a copy of the List
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000334
Bram Moolenaar6601b622021-01-13 21:47:15 +0100335Notice that the last index is inclusive. If you prefer using an exclusive
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100336index use the |slice()| function.
Bram Moolenaar6601b622021-01-13 21:47:15 +0100337
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100338If the first index is beyond the last item of the List or the last index is
Bram Moolenaarf9393ef2006-04-24 19:47:27 +0000339before the first item, the result is an empty list. There is no error
340message.
341
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100342If the last index is equal to or greater than the length of the list the
Bram Moolenaarf9393ef2006-04-24 19:47:27 +0000343length minus one is used: >
Bram Moolenaar9e54a0e2006-04-14 20:42:25 +0000344 :let mylist = [0, 1, 2, 3]
345 :echo mylist[2:8] " result: [2, 3]
346
Bram Moolenaara7fc0102005-05-18 22:17:12 +0000347NOTE: mylist[s:e] means using the variable "s:e" as index. Watch out for
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +0200348using a single letter variable before the ":". Insert a space when needed:
Bram Moolenaara7fc0102005-05-18 22:17:12 +0000349mylist[s : e].
350
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000351
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000352List identity ~
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000353 *list-identity*
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000354When variable "aa" is a list and you assign it to another variable "bb", both
355variables refer to the same list. Thus changing the list "aa" will also
356change "bb": >
357 :let aa = [1, 2, 3]
358 :let bb = aa
359 :call add(aa, 4)
360 :echo bb
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000361< [1, 2, 3, 4]
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000362
363Making a copy of a list is done with the |copy()| function. Using [:] also
364works, as explained above. This creates a shallow copy of the list: Changing
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000365a list item in the list will also change the item in the copied list: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000366 :let aa = [[1, 'a'], 2, 3]
367 :let bb = copy(aa)
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000368 :call add(aa, 4)
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000369 :let aa[0][1] = 'aaa'
370 :echo aa
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000371< [[1, aaa], 2, 3, 4] >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000372 :echo bb
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000373< [[1, aaa], 2, 3]
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000374
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000375To make a completely independent list use |deepcopy()|. This also makes a
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000376copy of the values in the list, recursively. Up to a hundred levels deep.
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000377
378The operator "is" can be used to check if two variables refer to the same
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000379List. "isnot" does the opposite. In contrast "==" compares if two lists have
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000380the same value. >
381 :let alist = [1, 2, 3]
382 :let blist = [1, 2, 3]
383 :echo alist is blist
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000384< 0 >
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000385 :echo alist == blist
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000386< 1
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000387
Bram Moolenaar9ba0eb82005-06-13 22:28:56 +0000388Note about comparing lists: Two lists are considered equal if they have the
389same length and all items compare equal, as with using "==". There is one
Bram Moolenaar7d1f5db2005-07-03 21:39:27 +0000390exception: When comparing a number with a string they are considered
391different. There is no automatic type conversion, as with using "==" on
392variables. Example: >
393 echo 4 == "4"
Bram Moolenaar9ba0eb82005-06-13 22:28:56 +0000394< 1 >
Bram Moolenaar7d1f5db2005-07-03 21:39:27 +0000395 echo [4] == ["4"]
Bram Moolenaar9ba0eb82005-06-13 22:28:56 +0000396< 0
397
Bram Moolenaar7d1f5db2005-07-03 21:39:27 +0000398Thus comparing Lists is more strict than comparing numbers and strings. You
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000399can compare simple values this way too by putting them in a list: >
Bram Moolenaar7d1f5db2005-07-03 21:39:27 +0000400
401 :let a = 5
402 :let b = "5"
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000403 :echo a == b
Bram Moolenaar7d1f5db2005-07-03 21:39:27 +0000404< 1 >
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000405 :echo [a] == [b]
Bram Moolenaar7d1f5db2005-07-03 21:39:27 +0000406< 0
Bram Moolenaar9ba0eb82005-06-13 22:28:56 +0000407
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000408
409List unpack ~
410
411To unpack the items in a list to individual variables, put the variables in
412square brackets, like list items: >
413 :let [var1, var2] = mylist
414
415When the number of variables does not match the number of items in the list
416this produces an error. To handle any extra items from the list append ";"
417and a variable name: >
418 :let [var1, var2; rest] = mylist
419
420This works like: >
421 :let var1 = mylist[0]
422 :let var2 = mylist[1]
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +0000423 :let rest = mylist[2:]
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000424
425Except that there is no error if there are only two items. "rest" will be an
426empty list then.
427
428
429List modification ~
430 *list-modification*
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000431To change a specific item of a list use |:let| this way: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000432 :let list[4] = "four"
433 :let listlist[0][3] = item
434
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000435To change part of a list you can specify the first and last item to be
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000436modified. The value must at least have the number of items in the range: >
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000437 :let list[3:5] = [3, 4, 5]
438
zeertzjqb8170142024-02-08 11:21:44 +0100439To add items to a List in-place, you can use |:let+=| (|list-concatenation|): >
Yegappan Lakshmanan1af35632024-02-06 11:03:36 +0100440 :let listA = [1, 2]
441 :let listA += [3, 4]
442<
443When two variables refer to the same List, changing one List in-place will
444cause the referenced List to be changed in-place: >
445 :let listA = [1, 2]
446 :let listB = listA
447 :let listB += [3, 4]
448 :echo listA
449 [1, 2, 3, 4]
450<
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000451Adding and removing items from a list is done with functions. Here are a few
452examples: >
453 :call insert(list, 'a') " prepend item 'a'
454 :call insert(list, 'a', 3) " insert item 'a' before list[3]
455 :call add(list, "new") " append String item
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000456 :call add(list, [1, 2]) " append a List as one new item
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000457 :call extend(list, [1, 2]) " extend the list with two more items
458 :let i = remove(list, 3) " remove item 3
Bram Moolenaar9cd15162005-01-16 22:02:49 +0000459 :unlet list[3] " idem
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000460 :let l = remove(list, 3, -1) " remove items 3 to last item
Bram Moolenaar9cd15162005-01-16 22:02:49 +0000461 :unlet list[3 : ] " idem
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000462 :call filter(list, 'v:val !~ "x"') " remove items with an 'x'
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000463
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000464Changing the order of items in a list: >
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000465 :call sort(list) " sort a list alphabetically
466 :call reverse(list) " reverse the order of items
Bram Moolenaar327aa022014-03-25 18:24:23 +0100467 :call uniq(sort(list)) " sort and remove duplicates
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000468
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000469
470For loop ~
471
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100472The |:for| loop executes commands for each item in a List, Tuple, String or
473Blob. A variable is set to each item in sequence. Example with a List: >
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000474 :for item in mylist
475 : call Doit(item)
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000476 :endfor
477
478This works like: >
479 :let index = 0
480 :while index < len(mylist)
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000481 : let item = mylist[index]
482 : :call Doit(item)
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000483 : let index = index + 1
484 :endwhile
485
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +0000486If all you want to do is modify each item in the list then the |map()|
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000487function will be a simpler method than a for loop.
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +0000488
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +0200489Just like the |:let| command, |:for| also accepts a list of variables. This
Bram Moolenaar74e54fc2021-03-26 20:41:29 +0100490requires the argument to be a List of Lists. >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000491 :for [lnum, col] in [[1, 3], [2, 8], [3, 0]]
492 : call Doit(lnum, col)
493 :endfor
494
495This works like a |:let| command is done for each list item. Again, the types
496must remain the same to avoid an error.
497
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000498It is also possible to put remaining items in a List variable: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000499 :for [i, j; rest] in listlist
500 : call Doit(i, j)
501 : if !empty(rest)
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +0000502 : echo "remainder: " .. string(rest)
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000503 : endif
504 :endfor
505
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100506For a Tuple one tuple item at a time is used.
507
Bram Moolenaar74e54fc2021-03-26 20:41:29 +0100508For a Blob one byte at a time is used.
509
510For a String one character, including any composing characters, is used as a
511String. Example: >
512 for c in text
513 echo 'This character is ' .. c
514 endfor
515
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000516
517List functions ~
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000518 *E714*
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000519Functions that are useful with a List: >
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000520 :let r = call(funcname, list) " call a function with an argument list
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000521 :if empty(list) " check if list is empty
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000522 :let l = len(list) " number of items in list
523 :let big = max(list) " maximum value in list
524 :let small = min(list) " minimum value in list
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000525 :let xs = count(list, 'x') " count nr of times 'x' appears in list
526 :let i = index(list, 'x') " index of first 'x' in list
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000527 :let lines = getline(1, 10) " get ten text lines from buffer
528 :call append('$', lines) " append text lines in buffer
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +0000529 :let list = split("a b c") " create list from items in a string
530 :let string = join(list, ', ') " create string from list items
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000531 :let s = string(list) " String representation of list
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +0000532 :call map(list, '">> " .. v:val') " prepend ">> " to each item
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000533
Bram Moolenaar0cb032e2005-04-23 20:52:00 +0000534Don't forget that a combination of features can make things simple. For
535example, to add up all the numbers in a list: >
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +0000536 :exe 'let sum = ' .. join(nrlist, '+')
Bram Moolenaar0cb032e2005-04-23 20:52:00 +0000537
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01005381.4 Tuples ~
539 *tuple* *Tuple* *Tuples*
540 *E1532* *E1533*
541A Tuple is an ordered sequence of items. An item can be of any type. Items
542can be accessed by their index number. A Tuple is immutable.
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000543
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100544A Tuple uses less memory compared to a List and provides O(1) lookup time.
545
546Tuple creation ~
547 *E1526* *E1527*
548A Tuple is created with a comma-separated sequence of items in parentheses.
549Examples: >
550 :let mytuple = (1, "two", 3, "four")
551 :let tuple = (5,)
552 :let emptytuple = ()
553
554An item can be any expression. If there is only one item in the tuple, then
555the item must be followed by a comma.
556
557Using a Tuple for an item creates a Tuple of Tuples: >
558 :let nesttuple = ((11, 12), (21, 22), (31, 32))
559
560
561Tuple index ~
562 *tuple-index* *E1519*
563An item in the Tuple can be accessed by putting the index in square brackets
564after the Tuple. Indexes are zero-based, thus the first item has index zero.
565>
566 :let item = mytuple[0] " get the first item: 1
567 :let item = mytuple[2] " get the third item: 3
568
569When the resulting item is a tuple this can be repeated: >
570 :let item = nesttuple[0][1] " get the first tuple, second item: 12
571<
572A negative index is counted from the end. Index -1 refers to the last item in
573the Tuple, -2 to the last but one item, etc. >
574 :let last = mytuple[-1] " get the last item: "four"
575
576To avoid an error for an invalid index use the |get()| function. When an item
577is not available it returns zero or the default value you specify: >
578 :echo get(mytuple, idx)
579 :echo get(mytuple, idx, "NONE")
580
581
582Tuple concatenation ~
583 *tuple-concatenation*
584Two tuples can be concatenated with the "+" operator: >
585 :let longtuple = mytuple + (5, 6)
586 :let longtuple = (5, 6) + mytuple
587To prepend or append an item, turn it into a tuple by putting () around it.
588The item must be followed by a comma.
589
590 *E1540*
591Two variadic tuples with same item type can be concatenated but with different
592item types cannot be concatenated. Examples: >
593 var a: tuple<...list<number>> = (1, 2)
594 var b: tuple<...list<string>> = ('a', 'b')
595 echo a + b # not allowed
596
597 var a: tuple<number, number> = (1, 2)
598 var b: tuple<...list<string>> = ('a', 'b')
599 echo a + b # allowed
600
601 var a: tuple<...list<number>> = (1, 2)
602 var b: tuple<number, number> = (3, 4)
603 echo a + b # not allowed
604
605 var a: tuple<...list<number>> = (1, 2)
606 var b: tuple<number, ...list<number>> = (3, 4)
607 echo a + b # not allowed
608<
609Note that a tuple is immutable and items cannot be added or removed from a
610tuple.
611
612
613Subtuple ~
614 *subtuple*
615A part of the Tuple can be obtained by specifying the first and last index,
616separated by a colon in square brackets: >
617 :let shorttuple = mytuple[2:-1] " get Tuple (3, "four")
618
619Omitting the first index is similar to zero. Omitting the last index is
620similar to -1. >
621 :let endtuple = mytuple[2:] " from item 2 to the end: (3, "four")
622 :let shorttuple = mytuple[2:2] " Tuple with one item: (3,)
623 :let othertuple = mytuple[:] " make a copy of the Tuple
624
625Notice that the last index is inclusive. If you prefer using an exclusive
626index, use the |slice()| function.
627
628If the first index is beyond the last item of the Tuple or the last index is
629before the first item, the result is an empty tuple. There is no error
630message.
631
632If the last index is equal to or greater than the length of the tuple, the
633length minus one is used: >
634 :let mytuple = (0, 1, 2, 3)
635 :echo mytuple[2:8] " result: (2, 3)
636
637NOTE: mytuple[s:e] means using the variable "s:e" as index. Watch out for
638using a single letter variable before the ":". Insert a space when needed:
639mytuple[s : e].
640
641
642Tuple identity ~
643 *tuple-identity*
644When variable "aa" is a tuple and you assign it to another variable "bb", both
645variables refer to the same tuple: >
646 :let aa = (1, 2, 3)
647 :let bb = aa
648<
649
650Making a copy of a tuple is done with the |copy()| function. Using [:] also
651works, as explained above. This creates a shallow copy of the tuple: For
652example, changing a list item in the tuple will also change the item in the
653copied tuple: >
654 :let aa = ([1, 'a'], 2, 3)
655 :let bb = copy(aa)
656 :let aa[0][1] = 'aaa'
657 :echo aa
658< ([1, aaa], 2, 3) >
659 :echo bb
660< ([1, aaa], 2, 3)
661
662To make a completely independent tuple, use |deepcopy()|. This also makes a
663copy of the values in the tuple, recursively. Up to a hundred levels deep.
664
665The operator "is" can be used to check if two variables refer to the same
666Tuple. "isnot" does the opposite. In contrast, "==" compares if two tuples
667have the same value. >
668 :let atuple = (1, 2, 3)
669 :let btuple = (1, 2, 3)
670 :echo atuple is btuple
671< 0 >
672 :echo atuple == btuple
673< 1
674
675Note about comparing tuples: Two tuples are considered equal if they have the
676same length and all items compare equal, as with using "==". There is one
677exception: When comparing a number with a string they are considered
678different. There is no automatic type conversion, as with using "==" on
679variables. Example: >
680 echo 4 == "4"
681< 1 >
682 echo (4,) == ("4",)
683< 0
684
685Thus comparing Tuples is more strict than comparing numbers and strings. You
686can compare simple values this way too by putting them in a tuple: >
687
688 :let a = 5
689 :let b = "5"
690 :echo a == b
691< 1 >
692 :echo (a,) == (b,)
693< 0
694
695
696Tuple unpack ~
697
698To unpack the items in a tuple to individual variables, put the variables in
699square brackets, like list items: >
700 :let [var1, var2] = mytuple
701
702When the number of variables does not match the number of items in the tuple
703this produces an error. To handle any extra items from the tuple, append ";"
704and a variable name (which will then be of type tuple): >
705 :let [var1, var2; rest] = mytuple
706
707This works like: >
708 :let var1 = mytuple[0]
709 :let var2 = mytuple[1]
710 :let rest = mytuple[2:]
711
712Except that there is no error if there are only two items. "rest" will be an
713empty tuple then.
714
715
716Tuple functions ~
717 *E1536*
718Functions that are useful with a Tuple: >
719 :let xs = count(tuple, 'x') " count number of 'x's in tuple
720 :if empty(tuple) " check if tuple is empty
721 :let i = index(tuple, 'x') " index of first 'x' in tuple
722 :let l = items(tuple) " list of items in a tuple
723 :let string = join(tuple, ', ') " create string from tuple items
724 :let l = len(tuple) " number of items in tuple
725 :let big = max(tuple) " maximum value in tuple
726 :let small = min(tuple) " minimum value in tuple
727 :let r = repeat(tuple, n) " repeat a tuple n times
728 :let r = reverse(tuple) " reverse a tuple
729 :let s = slice(tuple, n1, n2) " slice a tuple
730 :let s = string(tuple) " String representation of tuple
731 :let l = tuple2list(tuple) " convert a tuple to list
732 :let t = list2tuple(list) " convert a list to tuple
733<
734 *E1524*
735A tuple cannot be used with the |map()|, |mapnew()| and |filter()| functions.
736
7371.5 Dictionaries ~
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +0100738 *dict* *Dict* *Dictionaries* *Dictionary*
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000739A Dictionary is an associative array: Each entry has a key and a value. The
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000740entry can be located with the key. The entries are stored without a specific
741ordering.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000742
743
744Dictionary creation ~
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000745 *E720* *E721* *E722* *E723*
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100746A Dictionary is created with a comma-separated sequence of entries in curly
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000747braces. Each entry has a key and a value, separated by a colon. Each key can
748only appear once. Examples: >
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100749 :let mydict = {'one': 1, 'two': 2, 'three': 3}
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000750 :let emptydict = {}
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000751< *E713* *E716* *E717*
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000752A key is always a String. You can use a Number, it will be converted to a
753String automatically. Thus the String '4' and the number 4 will find the same
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +0200754entry. Note that the String '04' and the Number 04 are different, since the
Bram Moolenaard899e512022-05-07 21:54:03 +0100755Number will be converted to the String '4', leading zeros are dropped. The
756empty string can also be used as a key.
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +0000757
Bram Moolenaard799daa2022-06-20 11:17:32 +0100758In |Vim9| script a literal key can be used if it consists only of alphanumeric
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +0000759characters, underscore and dash, see |vim9-literal-dict|.
Bram Moolenaar56c860c2019-08-17 20:09:31 +0200760 *literal-Dict* *#{}*
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +0000761To avoid having to put quotes around every key the #{} form can be used in
762legacy script. This does require the key to consist only of ASCII letters,
763digits, '-' and '_'. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar10455d42019-11-21 15:36:18 +0100764 :let mydict = #{zero: 0, one_key: 1, two-key: 2, 333: 3}
Bram Moolenaar4c6d9042019-07-16 22:04:02 +0200765Note that 333 here is the string "333". Empty keys are not possible with #{}.
Bram Moolenaard899e512022-05-07 21:54:03 +0100766In |Vim9| script the #{} form cannot be used because it can be confused with
767the start of a comment.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000768
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +0200769A value can be any expression. Using a Dictionary for a value creates a
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000770nested Dictionary: >
771 :let nestdict = {1: {11: 'a', 12: 'b'}, 2: {21: 'c'}}
772
773An extra comma after the last entry is ignored.
774
775
776Accessing entries ~
777
778The normal way to access an entry is by putting the key in square brackets: >
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100779 :let mydict = {'one': 1, 'two': 2, 'three': 3}
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000780 :let val = mydict["one"]
781 :let mydict["four"] = 4
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +0100782 :let val = mydict.one
783 :let mydict.four = 4
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000784
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000785You can add new entries to an existing Dictionary this way, unlike Lists.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000786
787For keys that consist entirely of letters, digits and underscore the following
788form can be used |expr-entry|: >
789 :let val = mydict.one
790 :let mydict.four = 4
791
792Since an entry can be any type, also a List and a Dictionary, the indexing and
793key lookup can be repeated: >
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000794 :echo dict.key[idx].key
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000795
796
797Dictionary to List conversion ~
798
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +0200799You may want to loop over the entries in a dictionary. For this you need to
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000800turn the Dictionary into a List and pass it to |:for|.
801
802Most often you want to loop over the keys, using the |keys()| function: >
803 :for key in keys(mydict)
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +0000804 : echo key .. ': ' .. mydict[key]
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000805 :endfor
806
807The List of keys is unsorted. You may want to sort them first: >
808 :for key in sort(keys(mydict))
809
810To loop over the values use the |values()| function: >
811 :for v in values(mydict)
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +0000812 : echo "value: " .. v
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000813 :endfor
814
815If you want both the key and the value use the |items()| function. It returns
Bram Moolenaard47d5222018-12-09 20:43:55 +0100816a List in which each item is a List with two items, the key and the value: >
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +0000817 :for [key, value] in items(mydict)
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +0000818 : echo key .. ': ' .. value
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000819 :endfor
820
821
822Dictionary identity ~
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +0000823 *dict-identity*
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000824Just like Lists you need to use |copy()| and |deepcopy()| to make a copy of a
825Dictionary. Otherwise, assignment results in referring to the same
826Dictionary: >
827 :let onedict = {'a': 1, 'b': 2}
828 :let adict = onedict
829 :let adict['a'] = 11
830 :echo onedict['a']
831 11
832
Bram Moolenaarf3bd51a2005-06-14 22:11:18 +0000833Two Dictionaries compare equal if all the key-value pairs compare equal. For
834more info see |list-identity|.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000835
836
837Dictionary modification ~
838 *dict-modification*
839To change an already existing entry of a Dictionary, or to add a new entry,
840use |:let| this way: >
841 :let dict[4] = "four"
842 :let dict['one'] = item
843
Bram Moolenaar9cd15162005-01-16 22:02:49 +0000844Removing an entry from a Dictionary is done with |remove()| or |:unlet|.
845Three ways to remove the entry with key "aaa" from dict: >
846 :let i = remove(dict, 'aaa')
847 :unlet dict.aaa
848 :unlet dict['aaa']
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000849
850Merging a Dictionary with another is done with |extend()|: >
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000851 :call extend(adict, bdict)
852This extends adict with all entries from bdict. Duplicate keys cause entries
853in adict to be overwritten. An optional third argument can change this.
Bram Moolenaar383f9bc2005-01-19 22:18:32 +0000854Note that the order of entries in a Dictionary is irrelevant, thus don't
855expect ":echo adict" to show the items from bdict after the older entries in
856adict.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000857
858Weeding out entries from a Dictionary can be done with |filter()|: >
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +0000859 :call filter(dict, 'v:val =~ "x"')
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000860This removes all entries from "dict" with a value not matching 'x'.
Bram Moolenaar388a5d42020-05-26 21:20:45 +0200861This can also be used to remove all entries: >
862 call filter(dict, 0)
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000863
Bram Moolenaar86b48162022-12-06 18:20:10 +0000864In some situations it is not allowed to remove or add entries to a Dictionary.
865Especially when iterating over all the entries. You will get *E1313* or
866another error in that case.
867
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000868
869Dictionary function ~
Bram Moolenaar26402cb2013-02-20 21:26:00 +0100870 *Dictionary-function* *self* *E725* *E862*
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000871When a function is defined with the "dict" attribute it can be used in a
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +0200872special way with a dictionary. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000873 :function Mylen() dict
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000874 : return len(self.data)
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000875 :endfunction
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000876 :let mydict = {'data': [0, 1, 2, 3], 'len': function("Mylen")}
877 :echo mydict.len()
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000878
879This is like a method in object oriented programming. The entry in the
880Dictionary is a |Funcref|. The local variable "self" refers to the dictionary
Bram Moolenaar86b48162022-12-06 18:20:10 +0000881the function was invoked from. When using |Vim9| script you can use classes
882and objects, see `:class`.
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000883
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000884It is also possible to add a function without the "dict" attribute as a
885Funcref to a Dictionary, but the "self" variable is not available then.
886
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +0000887 *numbered-function* *anonymous-function*
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000888To avoid the extra name for the function it can be defined and directly
889assigned to a Dictionary in this way: >
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000890 :let mydict = {'data': [0, 1, 2, 3]}
Bram Moolenaar5a5f4592015-04-13 12:43:06 +0200891 :function mydict.len()
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000892 : return len(self.data)
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000893 :endfunction
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000894 :echo mydict.len()
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000895
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000896The function will then get a number and the value of dict.len is a |Funcref|
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +0200897that references this function. The function can only be used through a
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000898|Funcref|. It will automatically be deleted when there is no |Funcref|
899remaining that refers to it.
900
901It is not necessary to use the "dict" attribute for a numbered function.
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000902
Bram Moolenaar1affd722010-08-04 17:49:30 +0200903If you get an error for a numbered function, you can find out what it is with
904a trick. Assuming the function is 42, the command is: >
Bram Moolenaar34cc7d82021-09-21 20:09:51 +0200905 :function g:42
Bram Moolenaar1affd722010-08-04 17:49:30 +0200906
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000907
908Functions for Dictionaries ~
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000909 *E715*
910Functions that can be used with a Dictionary: >
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000911 :if has_key(dict, 'foo') " TRUE if dict has entry with key "foo"
912 :if empty(dict) " TRUE if dict is empty
913 :let l = len(dict) " number of items in dict
914 :let big = max(dict) " maximum value in dict
915 :let small = min(dict) " minimum value in dict
916 :let xs = count(dict, 'x') " count nr of times 'x' appears in dict
917 :let s = string(dict) " String representation of dict
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +0000918 :call map(dict, '">> " .. v:val') " prepend ">> " to each item
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000919
920
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01009211.6 Blobs ~
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +0100922 *blob* *Blob* *Blobs* *E978*
Bram Moolenaaraff74912019-03-30 18:11:49 +0100923A Blob is a binary object. It can be used to read an image from a file and
924send it over a channel, for example.
925
926A Blob mostly behaves like a |List| of numbers, where each number has the
927value of an 8-bit byte, from 0 to 255.
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +0100928
929
930Blob creation ~
931
932A Blob can be created with a |blob-literal|: >
933 :let b = 0zFF00ED015DAF
Bram Moolenaar0d17f0d2019-01-22 22:20:38 +0100934Dots can be inserted between bytes (pair of hex characters) for readability,
935they don't change the value: >
936 :let b = 0zFF00.ED01.5DAF
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +0100937
938A blob can be read from a file with |readfile()| passing the {type} argument
939set to "B", for example: >
940 :let b = readfile('image.png', 'B')
941
942A blob can be read from a channel with the |ch_readblob()| function.
943
944
945Blob index ~
946 *blob-index* *E979*
947A byte in the Blob can be accessed by putting the index in square brackets
948after the Blob. Indexes are zero-based, thus the first byte has index zero. >
949 :let myblob = 0z00112233
950 :let byte = myblob[0] " get the first byte: 0x00
951 :let byte = myblob[2] " get the third byte: 0x22
952
953A negative index is counted from the end. Index -1 refers to the last byte in
954the Blob, -2 to the last but one byte, etc. >
955 :let last = myblob[-1] " get the last byte: 0x33
956
957To avoid an error for an invalid index use the |get()| function. When an item
958is not available it returns -1 or the default value you specify: >
959 :echo get(myblob, idx)
960 :echo get(myblob, idx, 999)
961
962
Bram Moolenaar5e66b422019-01-24 21:58:10 +0100963Blob iteration ~
964
965The |:for| loop executes commands for each byte of a Blob. The loop variable is
966set to each byte in the Blob. Example: >
967 :for byte in 0z112233
968 : call Doit(byte)
969 :endfor
970This calls Doit() with 0x11, 0x22 and 0x33.
971
972
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +0100973Blob concatenation ~
zeertzjqb8170142024-02-08 11:21:44 +0100974 *blob-concatenation*
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +0100975Two blobs can be concatenated with the "+" operator: >
976 :let longblob = myblob + 0z4455
zeertzjqb8170142024-02-08 11:21:44 +0100977 :let longblob = 0z4455 + myblob
978<
979A blob can be concatenated with another one in-place using |:let+=|: >
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +0100980 :let myblob += 0z6677
zeertzjqb8170142024-02-08 11:21:44 +0100981<
982See |blob-modification| below for more about changing a blob in-place.
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +0100983
984
985Part of a blob ~
986
987A part of the Blob can be obtained by specifying the first and last index,
988separated by a colon in square brackets: >
989 :let myblob = 0z00112233
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +0100990 :let shortblob = myblob[1:2] " get 0z1122
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +0100991 :let shortblob = myblob[2:-1] " get 0z2233
992
993Omitting the first index is similar to zero. Omitting the last index is
994similar to -1. >
995 :let endblob = myblob[2:] " from item 2 to the end: 0z2233
996 :let shortblob = myblob[2:2] " Blob with one byte: 0z22
997 :let otherblob = myblob[:] " make a copy of the Blob
998
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +0100999If the first index is beyond the last byte of the Blob or the second index is
Bram Moolenaaraa5df7e2019-02-03 14:53:10 +01001000before the first index, the result is an empty Blob. There is no error
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +01001001message.
1002
1003If the second index is equal to or greater than the length of the list the
1004length minus one is used: >
1005 :echo myblob[2:8] " result: 0z2233
1006
1007
1008Blob modification ~
h-east08be9dd2024-12-23 10:11:25 +01001009 *blob-modification* *E1184*
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +01001010To change a specific byte of a blob use |:let| this way: >
1011 :let blob[4] = 0x44
1012
1013When the index is just one beyond the end of the Blob, it is appended. Any
1014higher index is an error.
1015
1016To change a sequence of bytes the [:] notation can be used: >
1017 let blob[1:3] = 0z445566
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01001018The length of the replaced bytes must be exactly the same as the value
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +01001019provided. *E972*
1020
1021To change part of a blob you can specify the first and last byte to be
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01001022modified. The value must have the same number of bytes in the range: >
1023 :let blob[3:5] = 0z334455
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +01001024
zeertzjqb8170142024-02-08 11:21:44 +01001025To add items to a Blob in-place, you can use |:let+=| (|blob-concatenation|): >
1026 :let blobA = 0z1122
1027 :let blobA += 0z3344
1028<
1029When two variables refer to the same Blob, changing one Blob in-place will
1030cause the referenced Blob to be changed in-place: >
1031 :let blobA = 0z1122
1032 :let blobB = blobA
1033 :let blobB += 0z3344
1034 :echo blobA
1035 0z11223344
1036<
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +01001037You can also use the functions |add()|, |remove()| and |insert()|.
1038
1039
1040Blob identity ~
1041
1042Blobs can be compared for equality: >
1043 if blob == 0z001122
1044And for equal identity: >
1045 if blob is otherblob
1046< *blob-identity* *E977*
1047When variable "aa" is a Blob and you assign it to another variable "bb", both
1048variables refer to the same Blob. Then the "is" operator returns true.
1049
1050When making a copy using [:] or |copy()| the values are the same, but the
1051identity is different: >
1052 :let blob = 0z112233
1053 :let blob2 = blob
1054 :echo blob == blob2
1055< 1 >
1056 :echo blob is blob2
1057< 1 >
1058 :let blob3 = blob[:]
1059 :echo blob == blob3
1060< 1 >
1061 :echo blob is blob3
1062< 0
1063
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01001064Making a copy of a Blob is done with the |copy()| function. Using [:] also
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +01001065works, as explained above.
1066
1067
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +010010681.7 More about variables ~
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +00001069 *more-variables*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001070If you need to know the type of a variable or expression, use the |type()|
1071function.
1072
1073When the '!' flag is included in the 'viminfo' option, global variables that
1074start with an uppercase letter, and don't contain a lowercase letter, are
1075stored in the viminfo file |viminfo-file|.
1076
1077When the 'sessionoptions' option contains "global", global variables that
1078start with an uppercase letter and contain at least one lowercase letter are
1079stored in the session file |session-file|.
1080
1081variable name can be stored where ~
1082my_var_6 not
1083My_Var_6 session file
1084MY_VAR_6 viminfo file
1085
1086
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001087In legacy script it is possible to form a variable name with curly braces, see
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001088|curly-braces-names|.
1089
1090==============================================================================
10912. Expression syntax *expression-syntax*
Bram Moolenaarf10911e2022-01-29 22:20:48 +00001092 *E1143*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001093Expression syntax summary, from least to most significant:
1094
Bram Moolenaar50ba5262016-09-22 22:33:02 +02001095|expr1| expr2
Bram Moolenaar89bcfda2016-08-30 23:26:57 +02001096 expr2 ? expr1 : expr1 if-then-else
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001097
Bram Moolenaar89bcfda2016-08-30 23:26:57 +02001098|expr2| expr3
Bram Moolenaar0f248b02019-04-04 15:36:05 +02001099 expr3 || expr3 ... logical OR
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001100
Bram Moolenaar89bcfda2016-08-30 23:26:57 +02001101|expr3| expr4
Bram Moolenaar0f248b02019-04-04 15:36:05 +02001102 expr4 && expr4 ... logical AND
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001103
Bram Moolenaar89bcfda2016-08-30 23:26:57 +02001104|expr4| expr5
1105 expr5 == expr5 equal
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001106 expr5 != expr5 not equal
1107 expr5 > expr5 greater than
1108 expr5 >= expr5 greater than or equal
1109 expr5 < expr5 smaller than
1110 expr5 <= expr5 smaller than or equal
1111 expr5 =~ expr5 regexp matches
1112 expr5 !~ expr5 regexp doesn't match
1113
1114 expr5 ==? expr5 equal, ignoring case
1115 expr5 ==# expr5 equal, match case
1116 etc. As above, append ? for ignoring case, # for
1117 matching case
1118
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001119 expr5 is expr5 same |List|, |Tuple|, |Dictionary| or |Blob|
Bram Moolenaar5e66b422019-01-24 21:58:10 +01001120 instance
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001121 expr5 isnot expr5 different |List|, |Tuple|, |Dictionary| or
1122 |Blob| instance
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00001123
K.Takatac23fc362023-12-09 05:51:04 +09001124|expr5| expr6
1125 expr6 << expr6 bitwise left shift
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001126 expr6 >> expr6 bitwise right shift
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001127
Bram Moolenaar89bcfda2016-08-30 23:26:57 +02001128|expr6| expr7
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001129 expr7 + expr7 ... number addition, list or tuple or blob
1130 concatenation
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001131 expr7 - expr7 ... number subtraction
1132 expr7 . expr7 ... string concatenation
1133 expr7 .. expr7 ... string concatenation
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001134
Bram Moolenaar89bcfda2016-08-30 23:26:57 +02001135|expr7| expr8
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001136 expr8 * expr8 ... number multiplication
1137 expr8 / expr8 ... number division
1138 expr8 % expr8 ... number modulo
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001139
Bram Moolenaar89bcfda2016-08-30 23:26:57 +02001140|expr8| expr9
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001141 <type>expr9 type check and conversion (|Vim9| only)
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001142
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001143|expr9| expr10
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001144 ! expr9 logical NOT
1145 - expr9 unary minus
1146 + expr9 unary plus
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001147
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001148|expr10| expr11
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001149 expr10[expr1] byte of a String or item of a |List| or
1150 |Tuple|
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001151 expr10[expr1 : expr1] substring of a String or sublist of a |List|
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001152 or a slice of a |Tuple|
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001153 expr10.name entry in a |Dictionary|
1154 expr10(expr1, ...) function call with |Funcref| variable
1155 expr10->name(expr1, ...) |method| call
1156
1157|expr11| number number constant
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +00001158 "string" string constant, backslash is special
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00001159 'string' string constant, ' is doubled
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00001160 [expr1, ...] |List|
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001161 (expr1, ...) |Tuple|
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00001162 {expr1: expr1, ...} |Dictionary|
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001163 #{key: expr1, ...} legacy |Dictionary|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001164 &option option value
1165 (expr1) nested expression
1166 variable internal variable
1167 va{ria}ble internal variable with curly braces
1168 $VAR environment variable
1169 @r contents of register 'r'
1170 function(expr1, ...) function call
1171 func{ti}on(expr1, ...) function call with curly braces
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001172 {args -> expr1} legacy lambda expression
1173 (args) => expr1 Vim9 lambda expression
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001174
1175
Bram Moolenaar0f248b02019-04-04 15:36:05 +02001176"..." indicates that the operations in this level can be concatenated.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001177Example: >
1178 &nu || &list && &shell == "csh"
1179
1180All expressions within one level are parsed from left to right.
1181
Bram Moolenaarf10911e2022-01-29 22:20:48 +00001182Expression nesting is limited to 1000 levels deep (300 when build with MSVC)
1183to avoid running out of stack and crashing. *E1169*
1184
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001185
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00001186expr1 *expr1* *ternary* *falsy-operator* *??* *E109*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001187-----
1188
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00001189The ternary operator: expr2 ? expr1 : expr1
Bram Moolenaar92f26c22020-10-03 20:17:30 +02001190The falsy operator: expr2 ?? expr1
1191
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00001192Ternary operator ~
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001193
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001194In legacy script the expression before the '?' is evaluated to a number. If
1195it evaluates to |TRUE|, the result is the value of the expression between the
1196'?' and ':', otherwise the result is the value of the expression after the
1197':'.
1198
1199In |Vim9| script the first expression must evaluate to a boolean, see
1200|vim9-boolean|.
1201
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001202Example: >
1203 :echo lnum == 1 ? "top" : lnum
1204
1205Since the first expression is an "expr2", it cannot contain another ?:. The
1206other two expressions can, thus allow for recursive use of ?:.
1207Example: >
1208 :echo lnum == 1 ? "top" : lnum == 1000 ? "last" : lnum
1209
1210To keep this readable, using |line-continuation| is suggested: >
1211 :echo lnum == 1
1212 :\ ? "top"
1213 :\ : lnum == 1000
1214 :\ ? "last"
1215 :\ : lnum
1216
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00001217You should always put a space before the ':', otherwise it can be mistaken for
1218use in a variable such as "a:1".
1219
Bram Moolenaar92f26c22020-10-03 20:17:30 +02001220Falsy operator ~
1221
1222This is also known as the "null coalescing operator", but that's too
1223complicated, thus we just call it the falsy operator.
1224
1225The expression before the '??' is evaluated. If it evaluates to
1226|truthy|, this is used as the result. Otherwise the expression after the '??'
1227is evaluated and used as the result. This is most useful to have a default
1228value for an expression that may result in zero or empty: >
1229 echo theList ?? 'list is empty'
1230 echo GetName() ?? 'unknown'
1231
1232These are similar, but not equal: >
1233 expr2 ?? expr1
1234 expr2 ? expr2 : expr1
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001235In the second line "expr2" is evaluated twice. And in |Vim9| script the type
1236of expr2 before "?" must be a boolean.
Bram Moolenaar92f26c22020-10-03 20:17:30 +02001237
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001238
1239expr2 and expr3 *expr2* *expr3*
1240---------------
1241
Bram Moolenaar04186092016-08-29 21:55:35 +02001242expr3 || expr3 .. logical OR *expr-barbar*
1243expr4 && expr4 .. logical AND *expr-&&*
1244
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001245The "||" and "&&" operators take one argument on each side.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001246
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001247In legacy script the arguments are (converted to) Numbers.
1248
1249In |Vim9| script the values must be boolean, see |vim9-boolean|. Use "!!" to
1250convert any type to a boolean.
1251
1252The result is:
Bram Moolenaare381d3d2016-07-07 14:50:41 +02001253 input output ~
1254n1 n2 n1 || n2 n1 && n2 ~
1255|FALSE| |FALSE| |FALSE| |FALSE|
1256|FALSE| |TRUE| |TRUE| |FALSE|
1257|TRUE| |FALSE| |TRUE| |FALSE|
1258|TRUE| |TRUE| |TRUE| |TRUE|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001259
1260The operators can be concatenated, for example: >
1261
1262 &nu || &list && &shell == "csh"
1263
1264Note that "&&" takes precedence over "||", so this has the meaning of: >
1265
1266 &nu || (&list && &shell == "csh")
1267
1268Once the result is known, the expression "short-circuits", that is, further
1269arguments are not evaluated. This is like what happens in C. For example: >
1270
1271 let a = 1
1272 echo a || b
1273
Bram Moolenaare381d3d2016-07-07 14:50:41 +02001274This is valid even if there is no variable called "b" because "a" is |TRUE|,
1275so the result must be |TRUE|. Similarly below: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001276
1277 echo exists("b") && b == "yes"
1278
1279This is valid whether "b" has been defined or not. The second clause will
1280only be evaluated if "b" has been defined.
1281
1282
Bram Moolenaara2baa732022-02-04 16:09:54 +00001283expr4 *expr4* *E1153*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001284-----
1285
1286expr5 {cmp} expr5
1287
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001288Compare two expr5 expressions. In legacy script the result is a 0 if it
1289evaluates to false, or 1 if it evaluates to true. In |Vim9| script the result
1290is |true| or |false|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001291
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001292 *expr-==* *expr-!=* *expr->* *expr->=*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001293 *expr-<* *expr-<=* *expr-=~* *expr-!~*
1294 *expr-==#* *expr-!=#* *expr->#* *expr->=#*
1295 *expr-<#* *expr-<=#* *expr-=~#* *expr-!~#*
1296 *expr-==?* *expr-!=?* *expr->?* *expr->=?*
1297 *expr-<?* *expr-<=?* *expr-=~?* *expr-!~?*
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +02001298 *expr-is* *expr-isnot* *expr-is#* *expr-isnot#*
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00001299 *expr-is?* *expr-isnot?* *E1072*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001300 use 'ignorecase' match case ignore case ~
1301equal == ==# ==?
1302not equal != !=# !=?
1303greater than > ># >?
1304greater than or equal >= >=# >=?
1305smaller than < <# <?
1306smaller than or equal <= <=# <=?
1307regexp matches =~ =~# =~?
1308regexp doesn't match !~ !~# !~?
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +02001309same instance is is# is?
1310different instance isnot isnot# isnot?
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001311
1312Examples:
1313"abc" ==# "Abc" evaluates to 0
1314"abc" ==? "Abc" evaluates to 1
1315"abc" == "Abc" evaluates to 1 if 'ignorecase' is set, 0 otherwise
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001316NOTE: In |Vim9| script 'ignorecase' is not used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001317
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001318 *E691* *E692* *E1517* *E1518*
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +01001319A |List| can only be compared with a |List| and only "equal", "not equal",
1320"is" and "isnot" can be used. This compares the values of the list,
1321recursively. Ignoring case means case is ignored when comparing item values.
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001322Same applies for a |Tuple|.
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00001323
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00001324 *E735* *E736*
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00001325A |Dictionary| can only be compared with a |Dictionary| and only "equal", "not
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +01001326equal", "is" and "isnot" can be used. This compares the key/values of the
1327|Dictionary| recursively. Ignoring case means case is ignored when comparing
1328item values.
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00001329
Bram Moolenaaraa3b15d2016-04-21 08:53:19 +02001330 *E694*
Bram Moolenaare18dbe82016-07-02 21:42:23 +02001331A |Funcref| can only be compared with a |Funcref| and only "equal", "not
1332equal", "is" and "isnot" can be used. Case is never ignored. Whether
1333arguments or a Dictionary are bound (with a partial) matters. The
1334Dictionaries must also be equal (or the same, in case of "is") and the
1335arguments must be equal (or the same).
1336
1337To compare Funcrefs to see if they refer to the same function, ignoring bound
1338Dictionary and arguments, use |get()| to get the function name: >
1339 if get(Part1, 'name') == get(Part2, 'name')
1340 " Part1 and Part2 refer to the same function
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00001341< *E1037*
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001342Using "is" or "isnot" with a |List|, |Tuple|, |Dictionary| or |Blob| checks
1343whether the expressions are referring to the same |List|, |Tuple|,
1344|Dictionary| or |Blob| instance. A copy of a |List| or |Tuple| is different
1345from the original |List| or |Tuple|. When using "is" without a |List|,
1346|Tuple|, |Dictionary| or |Blob|, it is equivalent to using "equal", using
1347"isnot" is equivalent to using "not equal". Except that a different type
1348means the values are different: >
Bram Moolenaar86edef62016-03-13 18:07:30 +01001349 echo 4 == '4'
1350 1
1351 echo 4 is '4'
1352 0
1353 echo 0 is []
1354 0
1355"is#"/"isnot#" and "is?"/"isnot?" can be used to match and ignore case.
Bram Moolenaare1f3fd12022-08-15 18:51:32 +01001356In |Vim9| script this doesn't work, two strings are never identical.
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00001357
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001358In legacy script, when comparing a String with a Number, the String is
1359converted to a Number, and the comparison is done on Numbers. This means
1360that: >
Bram Moolenaar86edef62016-03-13 18:07:30 +01001361 echo 0 == 'x'
1362 1
1363because 'x' converted to a Number is zero. However: >
1364 echo [0] == ['x']
1365 0
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001366Inside a List or Tuple or Dictionary this conversion is not used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001367
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001368In |Vim9| script the types must match.
1369
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001370When comparing two Strings, this is done with strcmp() or stricmp(). This
1371results in the mathematical difference (comparing byte values), not
1372necessarily the alphabetical difference in the local language.
1373
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001374When using the operators with a trailing '#', or the short version and
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00001375'ignorecase' is off, the comparing is done with strcmp(): case matters.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001376
1377When using the operators with a trailing '?', or the short version and
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00001378'ignorecase' is set, the comparing is done with stricmp(): case is ignored.
1379
1380'smartcase' is not used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001381
1382The "=~" and "!~" operators match the lefthand argument with the righthand
1383argument, which is used as a pattern. See |pattern| for what a pattern is.
1384This matching is always done like 'magic' was set and 'cpoptions' is empty, no
1385matter what the actual value of 'magic' or 'cpoptions' is. This makes scripts
1386portable. To avoid backslashes in the regexp pattern to be doubled, use a
1387single-quote string, see |literal-string|.
1388Since a string is considered to be a single line, a multi-line pattern
1389(containing \n, backslash-n) will not match. However, a literal NL character
1390can be matched like an ordinary character. Examples:
1391 "foo\nbar" =~ "\n" evaluates to 1
1392 "foo\nbar" =~ "\\n" evaluates to 0
1393
1394
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001395expr5 *expr5* *bitwise-shift*
1396-----
1397expr6 << expr6 bitwise left shift *expr-<<*
1398expr6 >> expr6 bitwise right shift *expr->>*
1399 *E1282* *E1283*
1400The "<<" and ">>" operators can be used to perform bitwise left or right shift
1401of the left operand by the number of bits specified by the right operand. The
Bram Moolenaar338bf582022-05-22 20:16:32 +01001402operands are used as positive numbers. When shifting right with ">>" the
Bram Moolenaard592deb2022-06-17 15:42:40 +01001403topmost bit (sometimes called the sign bit) is cleared. If the right operand
Bram Moolenaar338bf582022-05-22 20:16:32 +01001404(shift amount) is more than the maximum number of bits in a number
1405(|v:numbersize|) the result is zero.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001406
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001407
1408expr6 and expr7 *expr6* *expr7* *E1036* *E1051*
1409---------------
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001410 *expr-+*
1411expr7 + expr7 Number addition, |List| or |Tuple| or |Blob| concatenation
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001412expr7 - expr7 Number subtraction *expr--*
1413expr7 . expr7 String concatenation *expr-.*
1414expr7 .. expr7 String concatenation *expr-..*
1415
1416For |Lists| only "+" is possible and then both expr7 must be a list. The
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001417result is a new list with the two lists concatenated. Same for a |Tuple|.
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00001418
Bram Moolenaar0f248b02019-04-04 15:36:05 +02001419For String concatenation ".." is preferred, since "." is ambiguous, it is also
1420used for |Dict| member access and floating point numbers.
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001421In |Vim9| script and when |vimscript-version| is 2 or higher, using "." is not
1422allowed.
1423
1424In |Vim9| script the arguments of ".." are converted to String for simple
1425types: Number, Float, Special and Bool. For other types |string()| should be
1426used.
Bram Moolenaar0f248b02019-04-04 15:36:05 +02001427
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001428expr8 * expr8 Number multiplication *expr-star*
1429expr8 / expr8 Number division *expr-/*
1430expr8 % expr8 Number modulo *expr-%*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001431
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001432In legacy script, for all operators except "." and "..", Strings are converted
1433to Numbers.
1434
Bram Moolenaard6e256c2011-12-14 15:32:50 +01001435For bitwise operators see |and()|, |or()| and |xor()|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001436
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001437Note the difference between "+" and ".." in legacy script:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001438 "123" + "456" = 579
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001439 "123" .. "456" = "123456"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001440
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001441Since '..' has the same precedence as '+' and '-', you need to read: >
1442 1 .. 90 + 90.0
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001443As: >
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001444 (1 .. 90) + 90.0
1445That works in legacy script, since the String "190" is automatically converted
1446to the Number 190, which can be added to the Float 90.0. However: >
1447 1 .. 90 * 90.0
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001448Should be read as: >
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001449 1 .. (90 * 90.0)
1450Since '..' has lower precedence than '*'. This does NOT work, since this
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001451attempts to concatenate a Float and a String.
1452
1453When dividing a Number by zero the result depends on the value:
1454 0 / 0 = -0x80000000 (like NaN for Float)
1455 >0 / 0 = 0x7fffffff (like positive infinity)
1456 <0 / 0 = -0x7fffffff (like negative infinity)
1457 (before Vim 7.2 it was always 0x7fffffff)
Bram Moolenaara2baa732022-02-04 16:09:54 +00001458In |Vim9| script dividing a number by zero is an error. *E1154*
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001459
Bram Moolenaar22fcfad2016-07-01 18:17:26 +02001460When 64-bit Number support is enabled:
1461 0 / 0 = -0x8000000000000000 (like NaN for Float)
1462 >0 / 0 = 0x7fffffffffffffff (like positive infinity)
1463 <0 / 0 = -0x7fffffffffffffff (like negative infinity)
1464
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001465When the righthand side of '%' is zero, the result is 0.
1466
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00001467None of these work for |Funcref|s.
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00001468
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00001469".", ".." and "%" do not work for Float. *E804* *E1035*
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001470
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001471
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001472expr8 *expr8*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001473-----
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001474<type>expr9
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001475
1476This is only available in |Vim9| script, see |type-casting|.
1477
1478
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001479expr9 *expr9*
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001480-----
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001481! expr9 logical NOT *expr-!*
1482- expr9 unary minus *expr-unary--*
1483+ expr9 unary plus *expr-unary-+*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001484
Bram Moolenaare381d3d2016-07-07 14:50:41 +02001485For '!' |TRUE| becomes |FALSE|, |FALSE| becomes |TRUE| (one).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001486For '-' the sign of the number is changed.
Bram Moolenaar6f02b002021-01-10 20:22:54 +01001487For '+' the number is unchanged. Note: "++" has no effect.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001488
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001489In legacy script a String will be converted to a Number first. Note that if
1490the string does not start with a digit you likely don't get what you expect.
1491
1492In |Vim9| script an error is given when "-" or "+" is used and the type is not
1493a number.
1494
1495In |Vim9| script "!" can be used for any type and the result is always a
1496boolean. Use "!!" to convert any type to a boolean, according to whether the
1497value is |falsy|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001498
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02001499These three can be repeated and mixed. Examples:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001500 !-1 == 0
1501 !!8 == 1
1502 --9 == 9
1503
1504
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001505expr10 *expr10*
1506------
1507This expression is either |expr11| or a sequence of the alternatives below,
Bram Moolenaarfc65cab2018-08-28 22:58:02 +02001508in any order. E.g., these are all possible:
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001509 expr10[expr1].name
1510 expr10.name[expr1]
1511 expr10(expr1, ...)[expr1].name
1512 expr10->(expr1, ...)[expr1]
Bram Moolenaarac92e252019-08-03 21:58:38 +02001513Evaluation is always from left to right.
Bram Moolenaarfc65cab2018-08-28 22:58:02 +02001514
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001515 *expr-[]* *E111*
1516expr10[expr1] item of String or |List| or |Tuple|
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00001517 *E909* *subscript* *E1062*
Bram Moolenaare3c37d82020-08-15 18:39:05 +02001518In legacy Vim script:
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001519If expr10 is a Number or String this results in a String that contains the
1520expr1'th single byte from expr10. expr10 is used as a String (a number is
Bram Moolenaare3c37d82020-08-15 18:39:05 +02001521automatically converted to a String), expr1 as a Number. This doesn't
Bram Moolenaar207f0092020-08-30 17:20:20 +02001522recognize multibyte encodings, see `byteidx()` for an alternative, or use
Bram Moolenaare3c37d82020-08-15 18:39:05 +02001523`split()` to turn the string into a list of characters. Example, to get the
1524byte under the cursor: >
Bram Moolenaar61660ea2006-04-07 21:40:07 +00001525 :let c = getline(".")[col(".") - 1]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001526
Bram Moolenaara2baa732022-02-04 16:09:54 +00001527In |Vim9| script: *E1147* *E1148*
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001528If expr10 is a String this results in a String that contains the expr1'th
1529single character (including any composing characters) from expr10. To use byte
Bram Moolenaar02b4d9b2021-03-14 19:46:45 +01001530indexes use |strpart()|.
Bram Moolenaare3c37d82020-08-15 18:39:05 +02001531
1532Index zero gives the first byte or character. Careful: text column numbers
1533start with one!
1534
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001535If the length of the String is less than the index, the result is an empty
Bram Moolenaar85084ef2016-01-17 22:26:33 +01001536String. A negative index always results in an empty string (reason: backward
Bram Moolenaare3c37d82020-08-15 18:39:05 +02001537compatibility). Use [-1:] to get the last byte or character.
Bram Moolenaar6f02b002021-01-10 20:22:54 +01001538In Vim9 script a negative index is used like with a list: count from the end.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001539
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001540If expr10 is a |List| then it results the item at index expr1. See |list-index|
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001541for possible index values. If the index is out of range this results in an
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02001542error. Example: >
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001543 :let item = mylist[-1] " get last item
1544
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00001545Generally, if a |List| index is equal to or higher than the length of the
1546|List|, or more negative than the length of the |List|, this results in an
1547error.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001548
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001549A |Tuple| index is similar to a |List| index as explained above.
1550
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00001551
Bram Moolenaar8a3b8052022-06-26 12:21:15 +01001552expr10[expr1a : expr1b] substring or |sublist| *expr-[:]* *substring*
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001553
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001554If expr10 is a String this results in the substring with the bytes or
1555characters from expr1a to and including expr1b. expr10 is used as a String,
Bram Moolenaar207f0092020-08-30 17:20:20 +02001556expr1a and expr1b are used as a Number.
Bram Moolenaare3c37d82020-08-15 18:39:05 +02001557
1558In legacy Vim script the indexes are byte indexes. This doesn't recognize
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001559multibyte encodings, see |byteidx()| for computing the indexes. If expr10 is
Bram Moolenaare3c37d82020-08-15 18:39:05 +02001560a Number it is first converted to a String.
1561
Bram Moolenaar02b4d9b2021-03-14 19:46:45 +01001562In Vim9 script the indexes are character indexes and include composing
1563characters. To use byte indexes use |strpart()|. To use character indexes
1564without including composing characters use |strcharpart()|.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001565
Bram Moolenaar6601b622021-01-13 21:47:15 +01001566The item at index expr1b is included, it is inclusive. For an exclusive index
1567use the |slice()| function.
1568
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001569If expr1a is omitted zero is used. If expr1b is omitted the length of the
1570string minus one is used.
1571
1572A negative number can be used to measure from the end of the string. -1 is
1573the last character, -2 the last but one, etc.
1574
1575If an index goes out of range for the string characters are omitted. If
1576expr1b is smaller than expr1a the result is an empty string.
1577
1578Examples: >
1579 :let c = name[-1:] " last byte of a string
Bram Moolenaar207f0092020-08-30 17:20:20 +02001580 :let c = name[0:-1] " the whole string
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001581 :let c = name[-2:-2] " last but one byte of a string
1582 :let s = line(".")[4:] " from the fifth byte to the end
1583 :let s = s[:-3] " remove last two bytes
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001584<
Bram Moolenaarbc8801c2016-08-02 21:04:33 +02001585 *slice*
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001586If expr10 is a |List| this results in a new |List| with the items indicated by
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02001587the indexes expr1a and expr1b. This works like with a String, as explained
Bram Moolenaarbc8801c2016-08-02 21:04:33 +02001588just above. Also see |sublist| below. Examples: >
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001589 :let l = mylist[:3] " first four items
1590 :let l = mylist[4:4] " List with one item
1591 :let l = mylist[:] " shallow copy of a List
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01001592A |Tuple| slice is similar to a |List| slice.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001593
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001594If expr10 is a |Blob| this results in a new |Blob| with the bytes in the
Bram Moolenaar6e5ea8d2019-01-12 22:47:31 +01001595indexes expr1a and expr1b, inclusive. Examples: >
1596 :let b = 0zDEADBEEF
1597 :let bs = b[1:2] " 0zADBE
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01001598 :let bs = b[:] " copy of 0zDEADBEEF
Bram Moolenaar6e5ea8d2019-01-12 22:47:31 +01001599
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001600Using expr10[expr1] or expr10[expr1a : expr1b] on a |Funcref| results in an
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00001601error.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001602
Bram Moolenaarda440d22016-01-16 21:27:23 +01001603Watch out for confusion between a namespace and a variable followed by a colon
1604for a sublist: >
1605 mylist[n:] " uses variable n
1606 mylist[s:] " uses namespace s:, error!
1607
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00001608
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001609expr10.name entry in a |Dictionary| *expr-entry*
Bram Moolenaara2baa732022-02-04 16:09:54 +00001610 *E1203* *E1229*
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001611If expr10 is a |Dictionary| and it is followed by a dot, then the following
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00001612name will be used as a key in the |Dictionary|. This is just like:
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001613expr10[name].
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00001614
1615The name must consist of alphanumeric characters, just like a variable name,
1616but it may start with a number. Curly braces cannot be used.
1617
1618There must not be white space before or after the dot.
1619
1620Examples: >
1621 :let dict = {"one": 1, 2: "two"}
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001622 :echo dict.one " shows "1"
1623 :echo dict.2 " shows "two"
1624 :echo dict .2 " error because of space before the dot
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00001625
1626Note that the dot is also used for String concatenation. To avoid confusion
1627always put spaces around the dot for String concatenation.
1628
1629
Bram Moolenaar938ae282023-02-20 20:44:55 +00001630expr10(expr1, ...) |Funcref| function call *E1085*
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001631
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001632When expr10 is a |Funcref| type variable, invoke the function it refers to.
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001633
1634
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001635expr10->name([args]) method call *method* *->*
1636expr10->{lambda}([args])
Bram Moolenaara2baa732022-02-04 16:09:54 +00001637 *E260* *E276* *E1265*
Bram Moolenaar25e42232019-08-04 15:04:10 +02001638For methods that are also available as global functions this is the same as: >
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001639 name(expr10 [, args])
1640There can also be methods specifically for the type of "expr10".
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001641
Bram Moolenaar51841322019-08-08 21:10:01 +02001642This allows for chaining, passing the value that one method returns to the
1643next method: >
Bram Moolenaar25e42232019-08-04 15:04:10 +02001644 mylist->filter(filterexpr)->map(mapexpr)->sort()->join()
1645<
Bram Moolenaar22a0c0c2019-08-09 23:25:08 +02001646Example of using a lambda: >
Bram Moolenaar02b31112019-08-31 22:16:38 +02001647 GetPercentage()->{x -> x * 100}()->printf('%d%%')
Bram Moolenaar56c860c2019-08-17 20:09:31 +02001648<
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001649When using -> the |expr9| operators will be applied first, thus: >
Bram Moolenaar93cf85f2019-08-17 21:36:28 +02001650 -1.234->string()
1651Is equivalent to: >
1652 (-1.234)->string()
1653And NOT: >
1654 -(1.234->string())
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00001655
1656What comes after "->" can be a name, a simple expression (not containing any
Bram Moolenaar944697a2022-02-20 19:48:20 +00001657parenthesis), or any expression in parentheses: >
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00001658 base->name(args)
1659 base->some.name(args)
1660 base->alist[idx](args)
1661 base->(getFuncRef())(args)
1662Note that in the last call the base is passed to the function resulting from
Bram Moolenaar2ecbe532022-07-29 21:36:21 +01001663"(getFuncRef())", inserted before "args". *E1275*
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00001664
Bram Moolenaar51841322019-08-08 21:10:01 +02001665 *E274*
1666"->name(" must not contain white space. There can be white space before the
1667"->" and after the "(", thus you can split the lines like this: >
1668 mylist
1669 \ ->filter(filterexpr)
1670 \ ->map(mapexpr)
1671 \ ->sort()
1672 \ ->join()
Bram Moolenaar56c860c2019-08-17 20:09:31 +02001673
1674When using the lambda form there must be no white space between the } and the
1675(.
1676
Bram Moolenaar25e42232019-08-04 15:04:10 +02001677
Yegappan Lakshmanana061f342022-05-22 19:13:49 +01001678 *expr11*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001679number
1680------
Bram Moolenaarb0d45e72017-11-05 18:19:24 +01001681number number constant *expr-number*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001682
Bram Moolenaar6f02b002021-01-10 20:22:54 +01001683 *0x* *hex-number* *0o* *octal-number* *binary-number*
Bram Moolenaar7571d552016-08-18 22:54:46 +02001684Decimal, Hexadecimal (starting with 0x or 0X), Binary (starting with 0b or 0B)
Bram Moolenaarc17e66c2020-06-02 21:38:22 +02001685and Octal (starting with 0, 0o or 0O).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001686
Bram Moolenaar338bf582022-05-22 20:16:32 +01001687Assuming 64 bit numbers are used (see |v:numbersize|) an unsigned number is
1688truncated to 0x7fffffffffffffff or 9223372036854775807. You can use -1 to get
16890xffffffffffffffff.
1690
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001691 *floating-point-format*
1692Floating point numbers can be written in two forms:
1693
1694 [-+]{N}.{M}
Bram Moolenaar8a94d872015-01-25 13:02:57 +01001695 [-+]{N}.{M}[eE][-+]{exp}
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001696
1697{N} and {M} are numbers. Both {N} and {M} must be present and can only
Bram Moolenaar6aa57292021-08-14 21:25:52 +02001698contain digits, except that in |Vim9| script in {N} single quotes between
1699digits are ignored.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001700[-+] means there is an optional plus or minus sign.
1701{exp} is the exponent, power of 10.
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02001702Only a decimal point is accepted, not a comma. No matter what the current
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001703locale is.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001704
1705Examples:
1706 123.456
1707 +0.0001
1708 55.0
1709 -0.123
1710 1.234e03
1711 1.0E-6
1712 -3.1416e+88
1713
1714These are INVALID:
1715 3. empty {M}
1716 1e40 missing .{M}
1717
1718Rationale:
1719Before floating point was introduced, the text "123.456" was interpreted as
1720the two numbers "123" and "456", both converted to a string and concatenated,
1721resulting in the string "123456". Since this was considered pointless, and we
Bram Moolenaare37d50a2008-08-06 17:06:04 +00001722could not find it intentionally being used in Vim scripts, this backwards
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001723incompatibility was accepted in favor of being able to use the normal notation
1724for floating point numbers.
1725
Bram Moolenaard47d5222018-12-09 20:43:55 +01001726 *float-pi* *float-e*
1727A few useful values to copy&paste: >
1728 :let pi = 3.14159265359
1729 :let e = 2.71828182846
1730Or, if you don't want to write them in as floating-point literals, you can
1731also use functions, like the following: >
1732 :let pi = acos(-1.0)
1733 :let e = exp(1.0)
Bram Moolenaar98aefe72018-12-13 22:20:09 +01001734<
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001735 *floating-point-precision*
1736The precision and range of floating points numbers depends on what "double"
1737means in the library Vim was compiled with. There is no way to change this at
1738runtime.
1739
1740The default for displaying a |Float| is to use 6 decimal places, like using
1741printf("%g", f). You can select something else when using the |printf()|
1742function. Example: >
1743 :echo printf('%.15e', atan(1))
1744< 7.853981633974483e-01
1745
1746
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001747
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +02001748string *string* *String* *expr-string* *E114*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001749------
1750"string" string constant *expr-quote*
1751
1752Note that double quotes are used.
1753
1754A string constant accepts these special characters:
1755\... three-digit octal number (e.g., "\316")
1756\.. two-digit octal number (must be followed by non-digit)
1757\. one-digit octal number (must be followed by non-digit)
1758\x.. byte specified with two hex numbers (e.g., "\x1f")
1759\x. byte specified with one hex number (must be followed by non-hex char)
1760\X.. same as \x..
1761\X. same as \x.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001762\u.... character specified with up to 4 hex numbers, stored according to the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001763 current value of 'encoding' (e.g., "\u02a4")
Bram Moolenaar541f92d2015-06-19 13:27:23 +02001764\U.... same as \u but allows up to 8 hex numbers.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001765\b backspace <BS>
1766\e escape <Esc>
Bram Moolenaar6e649222021-10-04 21:32:54 +01001767\f formfeed 0x0C
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001768\n newline <NL>
1769\r return <CR>
1770\t tab <Tab>
1771\\ backslash
1772\" double quote
Bram Moolenaar00a927d2010-05-14 23:24:24 +02001773\<xxx> Special key named "xxx". e.g. "\<C-W>" for CTRL-W. This is for use
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02001774 in mappings, the 0x80 byte is escaped.
1775 To use the double quote character it must be escaped: "<M-\">".
Bram Moolenaar6e649222021-10-04 21:32:54 +01001776 Don't use <Char-xxxx> to get a UTF-8 character, use \uxxxx as
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02001777 mentioned above.
Bram Moolenaarfccd93f2020-05-31 22:06:51 +02001778\<*xxx> Like \<xxx> but prepends a modifier instead of including it in the
1779 character. E.g. "\<C-w>" is one character 0x17 while "\<*C-w>" is four
Bram Moolenaarebe9d342020-05-30 21:52:54 +02001780 bytes: 3 for the CTRL modifier and then character "W".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001781
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00001782Note that "\xff" is stored as the byte 255, which may be invalid in some
1783encodings. Use "\u00ff" to store character 255 according to the current value
1784of 'encoding'.
1785
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001786Note that "\000" and "\x00" force the end of the string.
1787
1788
Bram Moolenaard8968242019-01-15 22:51:57 +01001789blob-literal *blob-literal* *E973*
Bram Moolenaar6e5ea8d2019-01-12 22:47:31 +01001790------------
1791
1792Hexadecimal starting with 0z or 0Z, with an arbitrary number of bytes.
1793The sequence must be an even number of hex characters. Example: >
1794 :let b = 0zFF00ED015DAF
1795
1796
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001797literal-string *literal-string* *E115*
1798---------------
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +00001799'string' string constant *expr-'*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001800
1801Note that single quotes are used.
1802
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02001803This string is taken as it is. No backslashes are removed or have a special
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00001804meaning. The only exception is that two quotes stand for one quote.
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +00001805
1806Single quoted strings are useful for patterns, so that backslashes do not need
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02001807to be doubled. These two commands are equivalent: >
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +00001808 if a =~ "\\s*"
1809 if a =~ '\s*'
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001810
1811
Bram Moolenaarb59ae592022-11-23 23:46:31 +00001812interpolated-string *$quote* *interpolated-string*
LemonBoy2eaef102022-05-06 13:14:50 +01001813--------------------
1814$"string" interpolated string constant *expr-$quote*
1815$'string' interpolated literal string constant *expr-$'*
1816
1817Interpolated strings are an extension of the |string| and |literal-string|,
1818allowing the inclusion of Vim script expressions (see |expr1|). Any
1819expression returning a value can be enclosed between curly braces. The value
1820is converted to a string. All the text and results of the expressions
1821are concatenated to make a new string.
Bram Moolenaar2ecbe532022-07-29 21:36:21 +01001822 *E1278* *E1279*
LemonBoy2eaef102022-05-06 13:14:50 +01001823To include an opening brace '{' or closing brace '}' in the string content
Bram Moolenaar3f32a5f2022-05-12 20:34:15 +01001824double it. For double quoted strings using a backslash also works. A single
1825closing brace '}' will result in an error.
LemonBoy2eaef102022-05-06 13:14:50 +01001826
1827Examples: >
1828 let your_name = input("What's your name? ")
Bram Moolenaar3f32a5f2022-05-12 20:34:15 +01001829< What's your name? Peter ~
1830>
1831 echo
LemonBoy2eaef102022-05-06 13:14:50 +01001832 echo $"Hello, {your_name}!"
Bram Moolenaar3f32a5f2022-05-12 20:34:15 +01001833< Hello, Peter! ~
1834>
1835 echo $"The square root of {{9}} is {sqrt(9)}"
1836< The square root of {9} is 3.0 ~
1837
Christian Brabandt67672ef2023-04-24 21:09:54 +01001838 *string-offset-encoding*
1839A string consists of multiple characters. How the characters are stored
1840depends on 'encoding'. Most common is UTF-8, which uses one byte for ASCII
1841characters, two bytes for other latin characters and more bytes for other
1842characters.
1843
1844A string offset can count characters or bytes. Other programs may use
1845UTF-16 encoding (16-bit words) and an offset of UTF-16 words. Some functions
1846use byte offsets, usually for UTF-8 encoding. Other functions use character
1847offsets, in which case the encoding doesn't matter.
1848
1849The different offsets for the string "a©😊" are below:
1850
1851 UTF-8 offsets:
1852 [0]: 61, [1]: C2, [2]: A9, [3]: F0, [4]: 9F, [5]: 98, [6]: 8A
1853 UTF-16 offsets:
1854 [0]: 0061, [1]: 00A9, [2]: D83D, [3]: DE0A
1855 UTF-32 (character) offsets:
1856 [0]: 00000061, [1]: 000000A9, [2]: 0001F60A
1857
1858You can use the "g8" and "ga" commands on a character to see the
1859decimal/hex/octal values.
1860
1861The functions |byteidx()|, |utf16idx()| and |charidx()| can be used to convert
1862between these indices. The functions |strlen()|, |strutf16len()| and
1863|strcharlen()| return the number of bytes, UTF-16 code units and characters in
1864a string respectively.
LemonBoy2eaef102022-05-06 13:14:50 +01001865
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001866option *expr-option* *E112* *E113*
1867------
1868&option option value, local value if possible
1869&g:option global option value
1870&l:option local option value
1871
1872Examples: >
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00001873 echo "tabstop is " .. &tabstop
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001874 if &insertmode
1875
1876Any option name can be used here. See |options|. When using the local value
1877and there is no buffer-local or window-local value, the global value is used
1878anyway.
1879
1880
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00001881register *expr-register* *@r*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001882--------
1883@r contents of register 'r'
1884
1885The result is the contents of the named register, as a single string.
1886Newlines are inserted where required. To get the contents of the unnamed
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02001887register use @" or @@. See |registers| for an explanation of the available
Bram Moolenaare7566042005-06-17 22:00:15 +00001888registers.
1889
1890When using the '=' register you get the expression itself, not what it
1891evaluates to. Use |eval()| to evaluate it.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001892
1893
Bram Moolenaara2baa732022-02-04 16:09:54 +00001894nesting *expr-nesting* *E110*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001895-------
1896(expr1) nested expression
1897
1898
1899environment variable *expr-env*
1900--------------------
1901$VAR environment variable
1902
1903The String value of any environment variable. When it is not defined, the
1904result is an empty string.
Bram Moolenaar691ddee2019-05-09 14:52:41 +02001905
1906The functions `getenv()` and `setenv()` can also be used and work for
1907environment variables with non-alphanumeric names.
1908The function `environ()` can be used to get a Dict with all environment
1909variables.
1910
1911
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001912 *expr-env-expand*
1913Note that there is a difference between using $VAR directly and using
1914expand("$VAR"). Using it directly will only expand environment variables that
1915are known inside the current Vim session. Using expand() will first try using
1916the environment variables known inside the current Vim session. If that
1917fails, a shell will be used to expand the variable. This can be slow, but it
1918does expand all variables that the shell knows about. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar34401cc2014-08-29 15:12:19 +02001919 :echo $shell
1920 :echo expand("$shell")
1921The first one probably doesn't echo anything, the second echoes the $shell
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001922variable (if your shell supports it).
1923
1924
Bram Moolenaarf10911e2022-01-29 22:20:48 +00001925internal variable *expr-variable* *E1015* *E1089*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001926-----------------
1927variable internal variable
1928See below |internal-variables|.
1929
1930
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00001931function call *expr-function* *E116* *E118* *E119* *E120*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001932-------------
1933function(expr1, ...) function call
1934See below |functions|.
1935
1936
Bram Moolenaar069c1e72016-07-15 21:25:08 +02001937lambda expression *expr-lambda* *lambda*
1938-----------------
Bram Moolenaar938ae282023-02-20 20:44:55 +00001939{args -> expr1} legacy lambda expression *E451*
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001940(args) => expr1 |Vim9| lambda expression
Bram Moolenaar069c1e72016-07-15 21:25:08 +02001941
1942A lambda expression creates a new unnamed function which returns the result of
Bram Moolenaar42ebd062016-07-17 13:35:14 +02001943evaluating |expr1|. Lambda expressions differ from |user-functions| in
Bram Moolenaar069c1e72016-07-15 21:25:08 +02001944the following ways:
1945
19461. The body of the lambda expression is an |expr1| and not a sequence of |Ex|
1947 commands.
Bram Moolenaar1e96d9b2016-07-29 22:15:09 +020019482. The prefix "a:" should not be used for arguments. E.g.: >
Bram Moolenaar069c1e72016-07-15 21:25:08 +02001949 :let F = {arg1, arg2 -> arg1 - arg2}
1950 :echo F(5, 2)
1951< 3
1952
1953The arguments are optional. Example: >
1954 :let F = {-> 'error function'}
Bram Moolenaar130cbfc2021-04-07 21:07:20 +02001955 :echo F('ignored')
Bram Moolenaar069c1e72016-07-15 21:25:08 +02001956< error function
Bram Moolenaar130cbfc2021-04-07 21:07:20 +02001957
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00001958The |Vim9| lambda does not only use a different syntax, it also adds type
1959checking and can be split over multiple lines, see |vim9-lambda|.
Bram Moolenaar130cbfc2021-04-07 21:07:20 +02001960
Bram Moolenaar1e96d9b2016-07-29 22:15:09 +02001961 *closure*
1962Lambda expressions can access outer scope variables and arguments. This is
Bram Moolenaar50ba5262016-09-22 22:33:02 +02001963often called a closure. Example where "i" and "a:arg" are used in a lambda
Bram Moolenaar6bb2cdf2018-02-24 19:53:53 +01001964while they already exist in the function scope. They remain valid even after
1965the function returns: >
Bram Moolenaar1e96d9b2016-07-29 22:15:09 +02001966 :function Foo(arg)
1967 : let i = 3
1968 : return {x -> x + i - a:arg}
1969 :endfunction
1970 :let Bar = Foo(4)
1971 :echo Bar(6)
1972< 5
Bram Moolenaar437bafe2016-08-01 15:40:54 +02001973
Bram Moolenaar388a5d42020-05-26 21:20:45 +02001974Note that the variables must exist in the outer scope before the lambda is
Bram Moolenaar6bb2cdf2018-02-24 19:53:53 +01001975defined for this to work. See also |:func-closure|.
1976
1977Lambda and closure support can be checked with: >
Bram Moolenaar437bafe2016-08-01 15:40:54 +02001978 if has('lambda')
Bram Moolenaar069c1e72016-07-15 21:25:08 +02001979
1980Examples for using a lambda expression with |sort()|, |map()| and |filter()|: >
1981 :echo map([1, 2, 3], {idx, val -> val + 1})
1982< [2, 3, 4] >
1983 :echo sort([3,7,2,1,4], {a, b -> a - b})
1984< [1, 2, 3, 4, 7]
1985
1986The lambda expression is also useful for Channel, Job and timer: >
1987 :let timer = timer_start(500,
1988 \ {-> execute("echo 'Handler called'", "")},
1989 \ {'repeat': 3})
1990< Handler called
1991 Handler called
1992 Handler called
1993
Bram Moolenaar90df4b92021-07-07 20:26:08 +02001994Note that it is possible to cause memory to be used and not freed if the
1995closure is referenced by the context it depends on: >
1996 function Function()
1997 let x = 0
1998 let F = {-> x}
1999 endfunction
2000The closure uses "x" from the function scope, and "F" in that same scope
2001refers to the closure. This cycle results in the memory not being freed.
2002Recommendation: don't do this.
2003
2004Notice how execute() is used to execute an Ex command. That's ugly though.
Bram Moolenaar130cbfc2021-04-07 21:07:20 +02002005In Vim9 script you can use a command block, see |inline-function|.
Bram Moolenaar1e96d9b2016-07-29 22:15:09 +02002006
Bram Moolenaar71b6d332022-09-10 13:13:14 +01002007Although you can use the loop variable of a `for` command, it must still exist
2008when the closure is called, otherwise you get an error. *E1302*
2009
Bram Moolenaar1e96d9b2016-07-29 22:15:09 +02002010Lambda expressions have internal names like '<lambda>42'. If you get an error
2011for a lambda expression, you can find what it is with the following command: >
Bram Moolenaar6f02b002021-01-10 20:22:54 +01002012 :function <lambda>42
Bram Moolenaar1e96d9b2016-07-29 22:15:09 +02002013See also: |numbered-function|
2014
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002015==============================================================================
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +000020163. Internal variable *internal-variables* *E461* *E1001*
Bram Moolenaar4a748032010-09-30 21:47:56 +02002017
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002018An internal variable name can be made up of letters, digits and '_'. But it
Bram Moolenaar2f0936c2022-01-08 21:51:59 +00002019cannot start with a digit. In legacy script it is also possible to use curly
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00002020braces, see |curly-braces-names|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002021
Bram Moolenaar2f0936c2022-01-08 21:51:59 +00002022In legacy script an internal variable is created with the ":let" command
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00002023|:let|. An internal variable is explicitly destroyed with the ":unlet"
2024command |:unlet|.
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00002025Using a name that is not an internal variable or refers to a variable that has
2026been destroyed results in an error.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002027
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00002028In |Vim9| script `:let` is not used and variables work differently, see |:var|.
2029
Bram Moolenaar65e0d772020-06-14 17:29:55 +02002030 *variable-scope*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002031There are several name spaces for variables. Which one is to be used is
2032specified by what is prepended:
2033
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00002034 (nothing) In a function: local to the function;
2035 in a legacy script: global;
2036 in a |Vim9| script: local to the script
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002037|buffer-variable| b: Local to the current buffer.
2038|window-variable| w: Local to the current window.
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00002039|tabpage-variable| t: Local to the current tab page.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002040|global-variable| g: Global.
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00002041|local-variable| l: Local to a function (only in a legacy function)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002042|script-variable| s: Local to a |:source|'ed Vim script.
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00002043|function-argument| a: Function argument (only in a legacy function).
Bram Moolenaar75b81562014-04-06 14:09:13 +02002044|vim-variable| v: Global, predefined by Vim.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002045
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00002046The scope name by itself can be used as a |Dictionary|. For example, to
2047delete all script-local variables: >
Bram Moolenaar8f999f12005-01-25 22:12:55 +00002048 :for k in keys(s:)
2049 : unlet s:[k]
2050 :endfor
Bram Moolenaar65e0d772020-06-14 17:29:55 +02002051
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00002052Note: in Vim9 script variables can also be local to a block of commands, see
2053|vim9-scopes|.
Bram Moolenaar531da592013-05-06 05:58:55 +02002054 *buffer-variable* *b:var* *b:*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002055A variable name that is preceded with "b:" is local to the current buffer.
2056Thus you can have several "b:foo" variables, one for each buffer.
2057This kind of variable is deleted when the buffer is wiped out or deleted with
2058|:bdelete|.
2059
2060One local buffer variable is predefined:
Bram Moolenaarbf884932013-04-05 22:26:15 +02002061 *b:changedtick* *changetick*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002062b:changedtick The total number of changes to the current buffer. It is
2063 incremented for each change. An undo command is also a change
Bram Moolenaarc024b462019-06-08 18:07:21 +02002064 in this case. Resetting 'modified' when writing the buffer is
2065 also counted.
2066 This can be used to perform an action only when the buffer has
2067 changed. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002068 :if my_changedtick != b:changedtick
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00002069 : let my_changedtick = b:changedtick
2070 : call My_Update()
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002071 :endif
Bram Moolenaar3df01732017-02-17 22:47:16 +01002072< You cannot change or delete the b:changedtick variable.
Bram Moolenaar71badf92023-04-22 22:40:14 +01002073 If you need more information about the change see
2074 |listener_add()|.
Bram Moolenaar3df01732017-02-17 22:47:16 +01002075
Bram Moolenaar531da592013-05-06 05:58:55 +02002076 *window-variable* *w:var* *w:*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002077A variable name that is preceded with "w:" is local to the current window. It
2078is deleted when the window is closed.
2079
Bram Moolenaarad3b3662013-05-17 18:14:19 +02002080 *tabpage-variable* *t:var* *t:*
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00002081A variable name that is preceded with "t:" is local to the current tab page,
2082It is deleted when the tab page is closed. {not available when compiled
Bram Moolenaardb84e452010-08-15 13:50:43 +02002083without the |+windows| feature}
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00002084
Bram Moolenaar531da592013-05-06 05:58:55 +02002085 *global-variable* *g:var* *g:*
Bram Moolenaar04fb9162021-12-30 20:24:12 +00002086Inside functions and in |Vim9| script global variables are accessed with "g:".
2087Omitting this will access a variable local to a function or script. "g:"
2088can also be used in any other place if you like.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002089
Bram Moolenaar531da592013-05-06 05:58:55 +02002090 *local-variable* *l:var* *l:*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002091Inside functions local variables are accessed without prepending anything.
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00002092But you can also prepend "l:" if you like. However, without prepending "l:"
2093you may run into reserved variable names. For example "count". By itself it
2094refers to "v:count". Using "l:count" you can have a local variable with the
2095same name.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002096
2097 *script-variable* *s:var*
Bram Moolenaar04fb9162021-12-30 20:24:12 +00002098In a legacy Vim script variables starting with "s:" can be used. They cannot
2099be accessed from outside of the scripts, thus are local to the script.
2100In |Vim9| script the "s:" prefix can be omitted, variables are script-local by
2101default.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002102
2103They can be used in:
2104- commands executed while the script is sourced
2105- functions defined in the script
2106- autocommands defined in the script
2107- functions and autocommands defined in functions and autocommands which were
2108 defined in the script (recursively)
2109- user defined commands defined in the script
2110Thus not in:
2111- other scripts sourced from this one
2112- mappings
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01002113- menus
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002114- etc.
2115
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00002116Script variables can be used to avoid conflicts with global variable names.
2117Take this example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002118
2119 let s:counter = 0
2120 function MyCounter()
2121 let s:counter = s:counter + 1
2122 echo s:counter
2123 endfunction
2124 command Tick call MyCounter()
2125
2126You can now invoke "Tick" from any script, and the "s:counter" variable in
2127that script will not be changed, only the "s:counter" in the script where
2128"Tick" was defined is used.
2129
2130Another example that does the same: >
2131
2132 let s:counter = 0
2133 command Tick let s:counter = s:counter + 1 | echo s:counter
2134
2135When calling a function and invoking a user-defined command, the context for
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00002136script variables is set to the script where the function or command was
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002137defined.
2138
2139The script variables are also available when a function is defined inside a
2140function that is defined in a script. Example: >
2141
2142 let s:counter = 0
2143 function StartCounting(incr)
2144 if a:incr
2145 function MyCounter()
2146 let s:counter = s:counter + 1
2147 endfunction
2148 else
2149 function MyCounter()
2150 let s:counter = s:counter - 1
2151 endfunction
2152 endif
2153 endfunction
2154
2155This defines the MyCounter() function either for counting up or counting down
2156when calling StartCounting(). It doesn't matter from where StartCounting() is
2157called, the s:counter variable will be accessible in MyCounter().
2158
2159When the same script is sourced again it will use the same script variables.
2160They will remain valid as long as Vim is running. This can be used to
2161maintain a counter: >
2162
2163 if !exists("s:counter")
2164 let s:counter = 1
2165 echo "script executed for the first time"
2166 else
2167 let s:counter = s:counter + 1
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00002168 echo "script executed " .. s:counter .. " times now"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002169 endif
2170
2171Note that this means that filetype plugins don't get a different set of script
2172variables for each buffer. Use local buffer variables instead |b:var|.
2173
2174
Bram Moolenaard47d5222018-12-09 20:43:55 +01002175PREDEFINED VIM VARIABLES *vim-variable* *v:var* *v:*
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00002176 *E963* *E1063*
ichizok663d18d2025-01-02 18:06:00 +01002177Most variables are read-only, when a variable can be set by the user, it will
2178be mentioned at the variable description below. The type cannot be changed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002179
Bram Moolenaar69bf6342019-10-29 04:16:57 +01002180 *v:argv* *argv-variable*
2181v:argv The command line arguments Vim was invoked with. This is a
2182 list of strings. The first item is the Vim command.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00002183 See |v:progpath| for the command with full path.
Bram Moolenaar69bf6342019-10-29 04:16:57 +01002184
Bram Moolenaare4efc3b2005-03-07 23:16:51 +00002185 *v:beval_col* *beval_col-variable*
2186v:beval_col The number of the column, over which the mouse pointer is.
2187 This is the byte index in the |v:beval_lnum| line.
2188 Only valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
2189
2190 *v:beval_bufnr* *beval_bufnr-variable*
2191v:beval_bufnr The number of the buffer, over which the mouse pointer is. Only
2192 valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
2193
2194 *v:beval_lnum* *beval_lnum-variable*
2195v:beval_lnum The number of the line, over which the mouse pointer is. Only
2196 valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
2197
2198 *v:beval_text* *beval_text-variable*
Bram Moolenaar24bbcfe2005-06-28 23:32:02 +00002199v:beval_text The text under or after the mouse pointer. Usually a word as
2200 it is useful for debugging a C program. 'iskeyword' applies,
2201 but a dot and "->" before the position is included. When on a
2202 ']' the text before it is used, including the matching '[' and
Bram Moolenaare4efc3b2005-03-07 23:16:51 +00002203 word before it. When on a Visual area within one line the
Bram Moolenaarb4d5fba2017-09-11 19:31:28 +02002204 highlighted text is used. Also see |<cexpr>|.
Bram Moolenaare4efc3b2005-03-07 23:16:51 +00002205 Only valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
2206
2207 *v:beval_winnr* *beval_winnr-variable*
2208v:beval_winnr The number of the window, over which the mouse pointer is. Only
Bram Moolenaar00654022011-02-25 14:42:19 +01002209 valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option. The first
2210 window has number zero (unlike most other places where a
2211 window gets a number).
Bram Moolenaare4efc3b2005-03-07 23:16:51 +00002212
Bram Moolenaar511972d2016-06-04 18:09:59 +02002213 *v:beval_winid* *beval_winid-variable*
Bram Moolenaar7571d552016-08-18 22:54:46 +02002214v:beval_winid The |window-ID| of the window, over which the mouse pointer
2215 is. Otherwise like v:beval_winnr.
Bram Moolenaar511972d2016-06-04 18:09:59 +02002216
Bram Moolenaarf193fff2006-04-27 00:02:13 +00002217 *v:char* *char-variable*
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01002218v:char Argument for evaluating 'formatexpr' and used for the typed
Bram Moolenaar945e2db2010-06-05 17:43:32 +02002219 character when using <expr> in an abbreviation |:map-<expr>|.
Shougo Matsushita83678842024-07-11 22:05:12 +02002220 It is also used by the |InsertCharPre|, |InsertEnter| and
2221 |KeyInputPre| events.
Bram Moolenaarf193fff2006-04-27 00:02:13 +00002222
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002223 *v:charconvert_from* *charconvert_from-variable*
2224v:charconvert_from
2225 The name of the character encoding of a file to be converted.
2226 Only valid while evaluating the 'charconvert' option.
2227
2228 *v:charconvert_to* *charconvert_to-variable*
2229v:charconvert_to
2230 The name of the character encoding of a file after conversion.
2231 Only valid while evaluating the 'charconvert' option.
2232
2233 *v:cmdarg* *cmdarg-variable*
2234v:cmdarg This variable is used for two purposes:
2235 1. The extra arguments given to a file read/write command.
2236 Currently these are "++enc=" and "++ff=". This variable is
2237 set before an autocommand event for a file read/write
2238 command is triggered. There is a leading space to make it
2239 possible to append this variable directly after the
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02002240 read/write command. Note: The "+cmd" argument isn't
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002241 included here, because it will be executed anyway.
2242 2. When printing a PostScript file with ":hardcopy" this is
2243 the argument for the ":hardcopy" command. This can be used
2244 in 'printexpr'.
2245
2246 *v:cmdbang* *cmdbang-variable*
2247v:cmdbang Set like v:cmdarg for a file read/write command. When a "!"
2248 was used the value is 1, otherwise it is 0. Note that this
2249 can only be used in autocommands. For user commands |<bang>|
2250 can be used.
zeertzjq20e045f2024-10-28 22:05:26 +01002251
Bram Moolenaar84cf6bd2020-06-16 20:03:43 +02002252 *v:collate* *collate-variable*
2253v:collate The current locale setting for collation order of the runtime
2254 environment. This allows Vim scripts to be aware of the
2255 current locale encoding. Technical: it's the value of
2256 LC_COLLATE. When not using a locale the value is "C".
2257 This variable can not be set directly, use the |:language|
2258 command.
2259 See |multi-lang|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002260
Bram Moolenaar76db9e02022-11-09 21:21:04 +00002261 *v:colornames*
Drew Vogele30d1022021-10-24 20:35:07 +01002262v:colornames A dictionary that maps color names to hex color strings. These
2263 color names can be used with the |highlight-guifg|,
Christian Brabandt0f4054f2024-02-05 10:30:01 +01002264 |highlight-guibg|, and |highlight-guisp| parameters.
2265
2266 The key values in the dictionary (the color names) should be
2267 lower cased, because Vim looks up a color by its lower case
2268 name.
2269
2270 Updating an entry in v:colornames has no immediate effect on
2271 the syntax highlighting. The highlight commands (probably in a
Drew Vogele30d1022021-10-24 20:35:07 +01002272 colorscheme script) need to be re-evaluated in order to use
2273 the updated color values. For example: >
2274
2275 :let v:colornames['fuscia'] = '#cf3ab4'
2276 :let v:colornames['mauve'] = '#915f6d'
2277 :highlight Normal guifg=fuscia guibg=mauve
2278<
2279 This cannot be used to override the |cterm-colors| but it can
2280 be used to override other colors. For example, the X11 colors
2281 defined in the `colors/lists/default.vim` (previously defined
2282 in |rgb.txt|). When defining new color names in a plugin, the
2283 recommended practice is to set a color entry only when it does
2284 not already exist. For example: >
2285
2286 :call extend(v:colornames, {
2287 \ 'fuscia': '#cf3ab4',
2288 \ 'mauve': '#915f6d,
2289 \ }, 'keep')
2290<
Bram Moolenaar113cb512021-11-07 20:27:04 +00002291 Using |extend()| with the 'keep' option updates each color only
Drew Vogele30d1022021-10-24 20:35:07 +01002292 if it did not exist in |v:colornames|. Doing so allows the
2293 user to choose the precise color value for a common name
2294 by setting it in their |.vimrc|.
2295
2296 It is possible to remove entries from this dictionary but
Drew Vogela0fca172021-11-13 10:50:01 +00002297 doing so is NOT recommended, because it is disruptive to
Drew Vogele30d1022021-10-24 20:35:07 +01002298 other scripts. It is also unlikely to achieve the desired
Bram Moolenaar113cb512021-11-07 20:27:04 +00002299 result because the |:colorscheme| and |:highlight| commands will
Drew Vogele30d1022021-10-24 20:35:07 +01002300 both automatically load all `colors/lists/default.vim` color
2301 scripts.
2302
Alin Mr6d1d1802024-03-20 20:26:23 +01002303 You can make changes to that file, but make sure to add new
2304 keys instead of updating existing ones, otherwise Vim will skip
Yee Cheng China7b81202025-02-23 09:32:47 +01002305 loading the file (thinking it hasn't been changed).
Alin Mr6d1d1802024-03-20 20:26:23 +01002306
Bram Moolenaar42a45122015-07-10 17:56:23 +02002307 *v:completed_item* *completed_item-variable*
2308v:completed_item
2309 |Dictionary| containing the |complete-items| for the most
2310 recently completed word after |CompleteDone|. The
2311 |Dictionary| is empty if the completion failed.
Shougo Matsushita61021aa2022-07-27 14:40:00 +01002312 Note: Plugins can modify the value to emulate the builtin
2313 |CompleteDone| event behavior.
Bram Moolenaar42a45122015-07-10 17:56:23 +02002314
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002315 *v:count* *count-variable*
2316v:count The count given for the last Normal mode command. Can be used
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02002317 to get the count before a mapping. Read-only. Example: >
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00002318 :map _x :<C-U>echo "the count is " .. v:count<CR>
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002319< Note: The <C-U> is required to remove the line range that you
2320 get when typing ':' after a count.
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01002321 When there are two counts, as in "3d2w", they are multiplied,
2322 just like what happens in the command, "d6w" for the example.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00002323 Also used for evaluating the 'formatexpr' option.
Bram Moolenaard2e716e2019-04-20 14:39:52 +02002324 "count" also works, for backwards compatibility, unless
2325 |scriptversion| is 3 or higher.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002326
2327 *v:count1* *count1-variable*
2328v:count1 Just like "v:count", but defaults to one when no count is
2329 used.
2330
2331 *v:ctype* *ctype-variable*
2332v:ctype The current locale setting for characters of the runtime
2333 environment. This allows Vim scripts to be aware of the
2334 current locale encoding. Technical: it's the value of
2335 LC_CTYPE. When not using a locale the value is "C".
2336 This variable can not be set directly, use the |:language|
2337 command.
2338 See |multi-lang|.
2339
2340 *v:dying* *dying-variable*
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02002341v:dying Normally zero. When a deadly signal is caught it's set to
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002342 one. When multiple signals are caught the number increases.
2343 Can be used in an autocommand to check if Vim didn't
2344 terminate normally. {only works on Unix}
2345 Example: >
2346 :au VimLeave * if v:dying | echo "\nAAAAaaaarrrggghhhh!!!\n" | endif
Bram Moolenaar0e1e25f2010-05-28 21:07:08 +02002347< Note: if another deadly signal is caught when v:dying is one,
2348 VimLeave autocommands will not be executed.
2349
Bram Moolenaarf0068c52020-11-30 17:42:10 +01002350 *v:exiting* *exiting-variable*
2351v:exiting Vim exit code. Normally zero, non-zero when something went
2352 wrong. The value is v:null before invoking the |VimLeavePre|
2353 and |VimLeave| autocmds. See |:q|, |:x| and |:cquit|.
2354 Example: >
2355 :au VimLeave * echo "Exit value is " .. v:exiting
2356<
Bram Moolenaar37f4cbd2019-08-23 20:58:45 +02002357 *v:echospace* *echospace-variable*
2358v:echospace Number of screen cells that can be used for an `:echo` message
2359 in the last screen line before causing the |hit-enter-prompt|.
2360 Depends on 'showcmd', 'ruler' and 'columns'. You need to
2361 check 'cmdheight' for whether there are full-width lines
2362 available above the last line.
2363
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002364 *v:errmsg* *errmsg-variable*
2365v:errmsg Last given error message. It's allowed to set this variable.
2366 Example: >
2367 :let v:errmsg = ""
2368 :silent! next
2369 :if v:errmsg != ""
2370 : ... handle error
Bram Moolenaard2e716e2019-04-20 14:39:52 +02002371< "errmsg" also works, for backwards compatibility, unless
2372 |scriptversion| is 3 or higher.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002373
Bram Moolenaar65a54642018-04-28 16:56:53 +02002374 *v:errors* *errors-variable* *assert-return*
Bram Moolenaar683fa182015-11-30 21:38:24 +01002375v:errors Errors found by assert functions, such as |assert_true()|.
Bram Moolenaar43345542015-11-29 17:35:35 +01002376 This is a list of strings.
2377 The assert functions append an item when an assert fails.
Bram Moolenaar65a54642018-04-28 16:56:53 +02002378 The return value indicates this: a one is returned if an item
2379 was added to v:errors, otherwise zero is returned.
Bram Moolenaar43345542015-11-29 17:35:35 +01002380 To remove old results make it empty: >
2381 :let v:errors = []
2382< If v:errors is set to anything but a list it is made an empty
2383 list by the assert function.
2384
Bram Moolenaar7e1652c2017-12-16 18:27:02 +01002385 *v:event* *event-variable*
2386v:event Dictionary containing information about the current
Bram Moolenaar560979e2020-02-04 22:53:05 +01002387 |autocommand|. See the specific event for what it puts in
2388 this dictionary.
Bram Moolenaar2c7f8c52020-04-20 19:52:53 +02002389 The dictionary is emptied when the |autocommand| finishes,
2390 please refer to |dict-identity| for how to get an independent
2391 copy of it. Use |deepcopy()| if you want to keep the
2392 information after the event triggers. Example: >
2393 au TextYankPost * let g:foo = deepcopy(v:event)
2394<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002395 *v:exception* *exception-variable*
2396v:exception The value of the exception most recently caught and not
ichizok663d18d2025-01-02 18:06:00 +01002397 finished. See also |v:stacktrace|, |v:throwpoint|, and
2398 |throw-variables|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002399 Example: >
2400 :try
2401 : throw "oops"
2402 :catch /.*/
Bram Moolenaar54775062019-07-31 21:07:14 +02002403 : echo "caught " .. v:exception
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002404 :endtry
2405< Output: "caught oops".
2406
Bram Moolenaar520e1e42016-01-23 19:46:28 +01002407 *v:false* *false-variable*
2408v:false A Number with value zero. Used to put "false" in JSON. See
Bram Moolenaar6463ca22016-02-13 17:04:46 +01002409 |json_encode()|.
Bram Moolenaarc95a3022016-06-12 23:01:46 +02002410 When used as a string this evaluates to "v:false". >
Bram Moolenaar705ada12016-01-24 17:56:50 +01002411 echo v:false
Bram Moolenaarc95a3022016-06-12 23:01:46 +02002412< v:false ~
2413 That is so that eval() can parse the string back to the same
Bram Moolenaardf48fb42016-07-22 21:50:18 +02002414 value. Read-only.
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00002415 In |Vim9| script "false" can be used which has a boolean type.
Bram Moolenaar520e1e42016-01-23 19:46:28 +01002416
Bram Moolenaar19a09a12005-03-04 23:39:37 +00002417 *v:fcs_reason* *fcs_reason-variable*
2418v:fcs_reason The reason why the |FileChangedShell| event was triggered.
2419 Can be used in an autocommand to decide what to do and/or what
2420 to set v:fcs_choice to. Possible values:
2421 deleted file no longer exists
2422 conflict file contents, mode or timestamp was
2423 changed and buffer is modified
2424 changed file contents has changed
2425 mode mode of file changed
2426 time only file timestamp changed
2427
2428 *v:fcs_choice* *fcs_choice-variable*
2429v:fcs_choice What should happen after a |FileChangedShell| event was
2430 triggered. Can be used in an autocommand to tell Vim what to
2431 do with the affected buffer:
2432 reload Reload the buffer (does not work if
2433 the file was deleted).
Rob Pilling8196e942022-02-11 15:12:10 +00002434 edit Reload the buffer and detect the
2435 values for options such as
2436 'fileformat', 'fileencoding', 'binary'
2437 (does not work if the file was
2438 deleted).
Bram Moolenaar19a09a12005-03-04 23:39:37 +00002439 ask Ask the user what to do, as if there
2440 was no autocommand. Except that when
2441 only the timestamp changed nothing
2442 will happen.
2443 <empty> Nothing, the autocommand should do
2444 everything that needs to be done.
2445 The default is empty. If another (invalid) value is used then
2446 Vim behaves like it is empty, there is no warning message.
2447
Bram Moolenaar4c295022021-05-02 17:19:11 +02002448 *v:fname* *fname-variable*
Bram Moolenaar90df4b92021-07-07 20:26:08 +02002449v:fname When evaluating 'includeexpr': the file name that was
Yegappan Lakshmanana13f3a42024-11-02 18:40:10 +01002450 detected. Empty otherwise.
Bram Moolenaar4c295022021-05-02 17:19:11 +02002451
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002452 *v:fname_in* *fname_in-variable*
Bram Moolenaar4e330bb2005-12-07 21:04:31 +00002453v:fname_in The name of the input file. Valid while evaluating:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002454 option used for ~
2455 'charconvert' file to be converted
2456 'diffexpr' original file
2457 'patchexpr' original file
2458 'printexpr' file to be printed
Bram Moolenaar2c7a29c2005-12-12 22:02:31 +00002459 And set to the swap file name for |SwapExists|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002460
2461 *v:fname_out* *fname_out-variable*
2462v:fname_out The name of the output file. Only valid while
2463 evaluating:
2464 option used for ~
2465 'charconvert' resulting converted file (*)
2466 'diffexpr' output of diff
2467 'patchexpr' resulting patched file
2468 (*) When doing conversion for a write command (e.g., ":w
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02002469 file") it will be equal to v:fname_in. When doing conversion
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002470 for a read command (e.g., ":e file") it will be a temporary
2471 file and different from v:fname_in.
2472
2473 *v:fname_new* *fname_new-variable*
2474v:fname_new The name of the new version of the file. Only valid while
2475 evaluating 'diffexpr'.
2476
2477 *v:fname_diff* *fname_diff-variable*
2478v:fname_diff The name of the diff (patch) file. Only valid while
2479 evaluating 'patchexpr'.
2480
2481 *v:folddashes* *folddashes-variable*
2482v:folddashes Used for 'foldtext': dashes representing foldlevel of a closed
2483 fold.
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00002484 Read-only in the |sandbox|. |fold-foldtext|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002485
2486 *v:foldlevel* *foldlevel-variable*
2487v:foldlevel Used for 'foldtext': foldlevel of closed fold.
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00002488 Read-only in the |sandbox|. |fold-foldtext|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002489
2490 *v:foldend* *foldend-variable*
2491v:foldend Used for 'foldtext': last line of closed fold.
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00002492 Read-only in the |sandbox|. |fold-foldtext|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002493
2494 *v:foldstart* *foldstart-variable*
2495v:foldstart Used for 'foldtext': first line of closed fold.
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00002496 Read-only in the |sandbox|. |fold-foldtext|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002497
Bram Moolenaar817a8802013-11-09 01:44:43 +01002498 *v:hlsearch* *hlsearch-variable*
Bram Moolenaarb0d45e72017-11-05 18:19:24 +01002499v:hlsearch Variable that indicates whether search highlighting is on.
Bram Moolenaar76440e22014-11-27 19:14:49 +01002500 Setting it makes sense only if 'hlsearch' is enabled which
2501 requires |+extra_search|. Setting this variable to zero acts
Bram Moolenaar705ada12016-01-24 17:56:50 +01002502 like the |:nohlsearch| command, setting it to one acts like >
Bram Moolenaar817a8802013-11-09 01:44:43 +01002503 let &hlsearch = &hlsearch
Bram Moolenaar86ae7202015-07-10 19:31:35 +02002504< Note that the value is restored when returning from a
2505 function. |function-search-undo|.
2506
Bram Moolenaar843ee412004-06-30 16:16:41 +00002507 *v:insertmode* *insertmode-variable*
2508v:insertmode Used for the |InsertEnter| and |InsertChange| autocommand
2509 events. Values:
2510 i Insert mode
2511 r Replace mode
2512 v Virtual Replace mode
2513
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002514 *v:key* *key-variable*
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00002515v:key Key of the current item of a |Dictionary|. Only valid while
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002516 evaluating the expression used with |map()| and |filter()|.
2517 Read-only.
2518
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002519 *v:lang* *lang-variable*
2520v:lang The current locale setting for messages of the runtime
2521 environment. This allows Vim scripts to be aware of the
2522 current language. Technical: it's the value of LC_MESSAGES.
2523 The value is system dependent.
2524 This variable can not be set directly, use the |:language|
2525 command.
2526 It can be different from |v:ctype| when messages are desired
2527 in a different language than what is used for character
2528 encoding. See |multi-lang|.
2529
2530 *v:lc_time* *lc_time-variable*
2531v:lc_time The current locale setting for time messages of the runtime
2532 environment. This allows Vim scripts to be aware of the
2533 current language. Technical: it's the value of LC_TIME.
2534 This variable can not be set directly, use the |:language|
2535 command. See |multi-lang|.
2536
2537 *v:lnum* *lnum-variable*
Bram Moolenaar368373e2010-07-19 20:46:22 +02002538v:lnum Line number for the 'foldexpr' |fold-expr|, 'formatexpr' and
2539 'indentexpr' expressions, tab page number for 'guitablabel'
2540 and 'guitabtooltip'. Only valid while one of these
2541 expressions is being evaluated. Read-only when in the
2542 |sandbox|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002543
naohiro ono56200ee2022-01-01 14:59:44 +00002544 *v:maxcol* *maxcol-variable*
Bram Moolenaar2f0936c2022-01-08 21:51:59 +00002545v:maxcol Maximum line length. Depending on where it is used it can be
Bram Moolenaar944697a2022-02-20 19:48:20 +00002546 screen columns, characters or bytes. The value currently is
2547 2147483647 on all systems.
naohiro ono56200ee2022-01-01 14:59:44 +00002548
Bram Moolenaar219b8702006-11-01 14:32:36 +00002549 *v:mouse_win* *mouse_win-variable*
2550v:mouse_win Window number for a mouse click obtained with |getchar()|.
2551 First window has number 1, like with |winnr()|. The value is
2552 zero when there was no mouse button click.
2553
Bram Moolenaar511972d2016-06-04 18:09:59 +02002554 *v:mouse_winid* *mouse_winid-variable*
2555v:mouse_winid Window ID for a mouse click obtained with |getchar()|.
2556 The value is zero when there was no mouse button click.
2557
Bram Moolenaar219b8702006-11-01 14:32:36 +00002558 *v:mouse_lnum* *mouse_lnum-variable*
2559v:mouse_lnum Line number for a mouse click obtained with |getchar()|.
2560 This is the text line number, not the screen line number. The
2561 value is zero when there was no mouse button click.
2562
2563 *v:mouse_col* *mouse_col-variable*
2564v:mouse_col Column number for a mouse click obtained with |getchar()|.
2565 This is the screen column number, like with |virtcol()|. The
2566 value is zero when there was no mouse button click.
2567
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01002568 *v:none* *none-variable* *None*
Bram Moolenaar520e1e42016-01-23 19:46:28 +01002569v:none An empty String. Used to put an empty item in JSON. See
Bram Moolenaar6463ca22016-02-13 17:04:46 +01002570 |json_encode()|.
Bram Moolenaar2547aa92020-07-26 17:00:44 +02002571 This can also be used as a function argument to use the
2572 default value, see |none-function_argument|.
Bram Moolenaar705ada12016-01-24 17:56:50 +01002573 When used as a number this evaluates to zero.
Bram Moolenaarc95a3022016-06-12 23:01:46 +02002574 When used as a string this evaluates to "v:none". >
Bram Moolenaar705ada12016-01-24 17:56:50 +01002575 echo v:none
Bram Moolenaarc95a3022016-06-12 23:01:46 +02002576< v:none ~
2577 That is so that eval() can parse the string back to the same
Bram Moolenaardf48fb42016-07-22 21:50:18 +02002578 value. Read-only.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00002579 Note that using `== v:none` and `!= v:none` will often give
2580 an error. Instead, use `is v:none` and `isnot v:none` .
Bram Moolenaar520e1e42016-01-23 19:46:28 +01002581
2582 *v:null* *null-variable*
2583v:null An empty String. Used to put "null" in JSON. See
Bram Moolenaar6463ca22016-02-13 17:04:46 +01002584 |json_encode()|.
Bram Moolenaar705ada12016-01-24 17:56:50 +01002585 When used as a number this evaluates to zero.
Bram Moolenaarc95a3022016-06-12 23:01:46 +02002586 When used as a string this evaluates to "v:null". >
Bram Moolenaar705ada12016-01-24 17:56:50 +01002587 echo v:null
Bram Moolenaarc95a3022016-06-12 23:01:46 +02002588< v:null ~
2589 That is so that eval() can parse the string back to the same
Bram Moolenaardf48fb42016-07-22 21:50:18 +02002590 value. Read-only.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00002591 In |Vim9| script `null` can be used without "v:".
2592 In some places `v:null` and `null` can be used for a List,
2593 Dict, Job, etc. that is not set. That is slightly different
2594 than an empty List, Dict, etc.
Bram Moolenaar520e1e42016-01-23 19:46:28 +01002595
Bram Moolenaar57d5a012021-01-21 21:42:31 +01002596 *v:numbermax* *numbermax-variable*
2597v:numbermax Maximum value of a number.
2598
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01002599 *v:numbermin* *numbermin-variable*
Bram Moolenaar2346a632021-06-13 19:02:49 +02002600v:numbermin Minimum value of a number (negative).
Bram Moolenaar57d5a012021-01-21 21:42:31 +01002601
Bram Moolenaarf9706e92020-02-22 14:27:04 +01002602 *v:numbersize* *numbersize-variable*
2603v:numbersize Number of bits in a Number. This is normally 64, but on some
Bram Moolenaarbc93ceb2020-02-26 13:36:21 +01002604 systems it may be 32.
Bram Moolenaarf9706e92020-02-22 14:27:04 +01002605
Bram Moolenaard812df62008-11-09 12:46:09 +00002606 *v:oldfiles* *oldfiles-variable*
2607v:oldfiles List of file names that is loaded from the |viminfo| file on
2608 startup. These are the files that Vim remembers marks for.
2609 The length of the List is limited by the ' argument of the
2610 'viminfo' option (default is 100).
Bram Moolenaar8d043172014-01-23 14:24:41 +01002611 When the |viminfo| file is not used the List is empty.
Bram Moolenaard812df62008-11-09 12:46:09 +00002612 Also see |:oldfiles| and |c_#<|.
2613 The List can be modified, but this has no effect on what is
2614 stored in the |viminfo| file later. If you use values other
2615 than String this will cause trouble.
Bram Moolenaardb84e452010-08-15 13:50:43 +02002616 {only when compiled with the |+viminfo| feature}
Bram Moolenaard812df62008-11-09 12:46:09 +00002617
Bram Moolenaar53744302015-07-17 17:38:22 +02002618 *v:option_new*
2619v:option_new New value of the option. Valid while executing an |OptionSet|
2620 autocommand.
2621 *v:option_old*
2622v:option_old Old value of the option. Valid while executing an |OptionSet|
Bram Moolenaard7c96872019-06-15 17:12:48 +02002623 autocommand. Depending on the command used for setting and the
2624 kind of option this is either the local old value or the
2625 global old value.
2626 *v:option_oldlocal*
2627v:option_oldlocal
2628 Old local value of the option. Valid while executing an
2629 |OptionSet| autocommand.
2630 *v:option_oldglobal*
2631v:option_oldglobal
2632 Old global value of the option. Valid while executing an
2633 |OptionSet| autocommand.
Bram Moolenaar53744302015-07-17 17:38:22 +02002634 *v:option_type*
2635v:option_type Scope of the set command. Valid while executing an
2636 |OptionSet| autocommand. Can be either "global" or "local"
Bram Moolenaard7c96872019-06-15 17:12:48 +02002637 *v:option_command*
2638v:option_command
2639 Command used to set the option. Valid while executing an
2640 |OptionSet| autocommand.
2641 value option was set via ~
2642 "setlocal" |:setlocal| or ":let l:xxx"
2643 "setglobal" |:setglobal| or ":let g:xxx"
2644 "set" |:set| or |:let|
2645 "modeline" |modeline|
Bram Moolenaar8af1fbf2008-01-05 12:35:21 +00002646 *v:operator* *operator-variable*
2647v:operator The last operator given in Normal mode. This is a single
2648 character except for commands starting with <g> or <z>,
2649 in which case it is two characters. Best used alongside
2650 |v:prevcount| and |v:register|. Useful if you want to cancel
2651 Operator-pending mode and then use the operator, e.g.: >
2652 :omap O <Esc>:call MyMotion(v:operator)<CR>
2653< The value remains set until another operator is entered, thus
2654 don't expect it to be empty.
2655 v:operator is not set for |:delete|, |:yank| or other Ex
2656 commands.
2657 Read-only.
2658
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002659 *v:prevcount* *prevcount-variable*
2660v:prevcount The count given for the last but one Normal mode command.
2661 This is the v:count value of the previous command. Useful if
Bram Moolenaar8af1fbf2008-01-05 12:35:21 +00002662 you want to cancel Visual or Operator-pending mode and then
2663 use the count, e.g.: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002664 :vmap % <Esc>:call MyFilter(v:prevcount)<CR>
2665< Read-only.
2666
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00002667 *v:profiling* *profiling-variable*
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02002668v:profiling Normally zero. Set to one after using ":profile start".
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00002669 See |profiling|.
2670
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002671 *v:progname* *progname-variable*
2672v:progname Contains the name (with path removed) with which Vim was
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02002673 invoked. Allows you to do special initialisations for |view|,
2674 |evim| etc., or any other name you might symlink to Vim.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002675 Read-only.
2676
Bram Moolenaara1706c92014-04-01 19:55:49 +02002677 *v:progpath* *progpath-variable*
Bram Moolenaar56c860c2019-08-17 20:09:31 +02002678v:progpath Contains the command with which Vim was invoked, in a form
2679 that when passed to the shell will run the same Vim executable
2680 as the current one (if $PATH remains unchanged).
2681 Useful if you want to message a Vim server using a
Bram Moolenaara1706c92014-04-01 19:55:49 +02002682 |--remote-expr|.
Bram Moolenaarc7f02552014-04-01 21:00:59 +02002683 To get the full path use: >
2684 echo exepath(v:progpath)
Bram Moolenaar56c860c2019-08-17 20:09:31 +02002685< If the command has a relative path it will be expanded to the
2686 full path, so that it still works after `:cd`. Thus starting
2687 "./vim" results in "/home/user/path/to/vim/src/vim".
2688 On Linux and other systems it will always be the full path.
2689 On Mac it may just be "vim" and using exepath() as mentioned
2690 above should be used to get the full path.
Bram Moolenaar08cab962017-03-04 14:37:18 +01002691 On MS-Windows the executable may be called "vim.exe", but the
2692 ".exe" is not added to v:progpath.
Bram Moolenaara1706c92014-04-01 19:55:49 +02002693 Read-only.
2694
h_eastba77bbb2023-10-03 04:47:13 +09002695 *v:python3_version* *python3-version-variable*
Yee Cheng Chinc13b3d12023-08-20 21:18:38 +02002696v:python3_version
2697 Version of Python 3 that Vim was built against. When
2698 Python is loaded dynamically (|python-dynamic|), this version
2699 should exactly match the Python library up to the minor
2700 version (e.g. 3.10.2 and 3.10.3 are compatible as the minor
2701 version is "10", whereas 3.9.4 and 3.10.3 are not compatible).
2702 When |python-stable-abi| is used, this will be the minimum Python
2703 version that you can use instead. (e.g. if v:python3_version
2704 indicates 3.9, you can use 3.9, 3.10, or anything above).
2705
2706 This number is encoded as a hex number following Python ABI
2707 versioning conventions. Do the following to have a
2708 human-readable full version in hex: >
2709 echo printf("%08X", v:python3_version)
2710< You can obtain only the minor version by doing: >
2711 echo and(v:python3_version>>16,0xff)
2712< Read-only.
2713
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002714 *v:register* *register-variable*
Bram Moolenaard58e9292011-02-09 17:07:58 +01002715v:register The name of the register in effect for the current normal mode
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02002716 command (regardless of whether that command actually used a
2717 register). Or for the currently executing normal mode mapping
2718 (use this in custom commands that take a register).
2719 If none is supplied it is the default register '"', unless
2720 'clipboard' contains "unnamed" or "unnamedplus", then it is
2721 '*' or '+'.
Bram Moolenaard58e9292011-02-09 17:07:58 +01002722 Also see |getreg()| and |setreg()|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002723
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00002724 *v:scrollstart* *scrollstart-variable*
2725v:scrollstart String describing the script or function that caused the
2726 screen to scroll up. It's only set when it is empty, thus the
2727 first reason is remembered. It is set to "Unknown" for a
2728 typed command.
2729 This can be used to find out why your script causes the
2730 hit-enter prompt.
2731
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002732 *v:servername* *servername-variable*
Bram Moolenaarc2ce52c2017-08-01 18:35:38 +02002733v:servername The resulting registered |client-server-name| if any.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002734 Read-only.
2735
Bram Moolenaarb0d45e72017-11-05 18:19:24 +01002736
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00002737v:searchforward *v:searchforward* *searchforward-variable*
2738 Search direction: 1 after a forward search, 0 after a
2739 backward search. It is reset to forward when directly setting
2740 the last search pattern, see |quote/|.
2741 Note that the value is restored when returning from a
2742 function. |function-search-undo|.
2743 Read-write.
2744
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002745 *v:shell_error* *shell_error-variable*
2746v:shell_error Result of the last shell command. When non-zero, the last
2747 shell command had an error. When zero, there was no problem.
2748 This only works when the shell returns the error code to Vim.
2749 The value -1 is often used when the command could not be
2750 executed. Read-only.
2751 Example: >
2752 :!mv foo bar
2753 :if v:shell_error
2754 : echo 'could not rename "foo" to "bar"!'
2755 :endif
Bram Moolenaard2e716e2019-04-20 14:39:52 +02002756< "shell_error" also works, for backwards compatibility, unless
2757 |scriptversion| is 3 or higher.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002758
Bram Moolenaar113cb512021-11-07 20:27:04 +00002759 *v:sizeofint* *sizeofint-variable*
2760v:sizeofint Number of bytes in an int. Depends on how Vim was compiled.
2761 This is only useful for deciding whether a test will give the
2762 expected result.
2763
2764 *v:sizeoflong* *sizeoflong-variable*
2765v:sizeoflong Number of bytes in a long. Depends on how Vim was compiled.
2766 This is only useful for deciding whether a test will give the
2767 expected result.
2768
2769 *v:sizeofpointer* *sizeofpointer-variable*
2770v:sizeofpointer Number of bytes in a pointer. Depends on how Vim was compiled.
2771 This is only useful for deciding whether a test will give the
2772 expected result.
2773
ichizok663d18d2025-01-02 18:06:00 +01002774 *v:stacktrace* *stacktrace-variable*
2775v:stacktrace The stack trace of the exception most recently caught and
2776 not finished. Refer to |getstacktrace()| for the structure of
2777 stack trace. See also |v:exception|, |v:throwpoint|, and
2778 |throw-variables|.
2779
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002780 *v:statusmsg* *statusmsg-variable*
2781v:statusmsg Last given status message. It's allowed to set this variable.
2782
Bram Moolenaar4e330bb2005-12-07 21:04:31 +00002783 *v:swapname* *swapname-variable*
2784v:swapname Only valid when executing |SwapExists| autocommands: Name of
2785 the swap file found. Read-only.
2786
2787 *v:swapchoice* *swapchoice-variable*
2788v:swapchoice |SwapExists| autocommands can set this to the selected choice
2789 for handling an existing swap file:
2790 'o' Open read-only
2791 'e' Edit anyway
2792 'r' Recover
2793 'd' Delete swapfile
2794 'q' Quit
2795 'a' Abort
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02002796 The value should be a single-character string. An empty value
Bram Moolenaar4e330bb2005-12-07 21:04:31 +00002797 results in the user being asked, as would happen when there is
2798 no SwapExists autocommand. The default is empty.
2799
Bram Moolenaarb3480382005-12-11 21:33:32 +00002800 *v:swapcommand* *swapcommand-variable*
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00002801v:swapcommand Normal mode command to be executed after a file has been
Bram Moolenaarb3480382005-12-11 21:33:32 +00002802 opened. Can be used for a |SwapExists| autocommand to have
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02002803 another Vim open the file and jump to the right place. For
Bram Moolenaarb3480382005-12-11 21:33:32 +00002804 example, when jumping to a tag the value is ":tag tagname\r".
Bram Moolenaar1f35bf92006-03-07 22:38:47 +00002805 For ":edit +cmd file" the value is ":cmd\r".
Bram Moolenaarb3480382005-12-11 21:33:32 +00002806
Bram Moolenaard823fa92016-08-12 16:29:27 +02002807 *v:t_TYPE* *v:t_bool* *t_bool-variable*
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01002808v:t_bool Value of |Boolean| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Bram Moolenaard823fa92016-08-12 16:29:27 +02002809 *v:t_channel* *t_channel-variable*
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01002810v:t_channel Value of |Channel| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Bram Moolenaard823fa92016-08-12 16:29:27 +02002811 *v:t_dict* *t_dict-variable*
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01002812v:t_dict Value of |Dictionary| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Bram Moolenaard823fa92016-08-12 16:29:27 +02002813 *v:t_float* *t_float-variable*
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01002814v:t_float Value of |Float| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Bram Moolenaard823fa92016-08-12 16:29:27 +02002815 *v:t_func* *t_func-variable*
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01002816v:t_func Value of |Funcref| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Bram Moolenaard823fa92016-08-12 16:29:27 +02002817 *v:t_job* *t_job-variable*
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01002818v:t_job Value of |Job| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Bram Moolenaard823fa92016-08-12 16:29:27 +02002819 *v:t_list* *t_list-variable*
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01002820v:t_list Value of |List| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Bram Moolenaard823fa92016-08-12 16:29:27 +02002821 *v:t_none* *t_none-variable*
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01002822v:t_none Value of |None| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Bram Moolenaard823fa92016-08-12 16:29:27 +02002823 *v:t_number* *t_number-variable*
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01002824v:t_number Value of |Number| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Bram Moolenaard823fa92016-08-12 16:29:27 +02002825 *v:t_string* *t_string-variable*
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01002826v:t_string Value of |String| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Bram Moolenaar6e5ea8d2019-01-12 22:47:31 +01002827 *v:t_blob* *t_blob-variable*
Bram Moolenaard09091d2019-01-17 16:07:22 +01002828v:t_blob Value of |Blob| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Bram Moolenaarc0c2c262023-01-12 21:08:53 +00002829 *v:t_class* *t_class-variable*
2830v:t_class Value of |class| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
2831 *v:t_object* *t_object-variable*
2832v:t_object Value of |object| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Yegappan Lakshmanan2a71b542023-12-14 20:03:03 +01002833 *v:t_typealias* *t_typealias-variable*
2834v:t_typealias Value of |typealias| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Yegappan Lakshmanan3164cf82024-03-28 10:36:42 +01002835 *v:t_enum* *t_enum-variable*
2836v:t_enum Value of |enum| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
2837 *v:t_enumvalue* *t_enumvalue-variable*
2838v:t_enumvalue Value of |enumvalue| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01002839 *v:t_tuple* *t_tuple-variable*
2840v:t_tuple Value of |Tuple| type. Read-only. See: |type()|
Bram Moolenaarf562e722016-07-19 17:25:25 +02002841
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002842 *v:termresponse* *termresponse-variable*
2843v:termresponse The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the |t_RV|
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02002844 termcap entry. It is set when Vim receives an escape sequence
Bram Moolenaarb4230122019-05-30 18:40:53 +02002845 that starts with ESC [ or CSI, then '>' or '?' and ends in a
2846 'c', with only digits and ';' in between.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002847 When this option is set, the TermResponse autocommand event is
2848 fired, so that you can react to the response from the
Danek Duvalld7d56032024-01-14 20:19:59 +01002849 terminal. The TermResponseAll event is also fired, with
2850 <amatch> set to "version". You can use |terminalprops()| to see
2851 what Vim figured out about the terminal.
Bram Moolenaarb4230122019-05-30 18:40:53 +02002852 The response from a new xterm is: "<Esc>[> Pp ; Pv ; Pc c". Pp
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002853 is the terminal type: 0 for vt100 and 1 for vt220. Pv is the
2854 patch level (since this was introduced in patch 95, it's
Bram Moolenaarfa3b7232021-12-24 13:18:38 +00002855 always 95 or higher). Pc is always zero.
2856 If Pv is 141 or higher then Vim will try to request terminal
2857 codes. This only works with xterm |xterm-codes|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002858 {only when compiled with |+termresponse| feature}
2859
Bram Moolenaarf3af54e2017-08-30 14:53:06 +02002860 *v:termblinkresp*
2861v:termblinkresp The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the |t_RC|
2862 termcap entry. This is used to find out whether the terminal
Danek Duvalld7d56032024-01-14 20:19:59 +01002863 cursor is blinking. This is used by |term_getcursor()|. When
2864 this option is set, the TermResponseAll autocommand event is
2865 fired, with <amatch> set to "cursorblink".
Bram Moolenaarf3af54e2017-08-30 14:53:06 +02002866
2867 *v:termstyleresp*
2868v:termstyleresp The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the |t_RS|
2869 termcap entry. This is used to find out what the shape of the
Danek Duvalld7d56032024-01-14 20:19:59 +01002870 cursor is. This is used by |term_getcursor()|. When this
2871 option is set, the TermResponseAll autocommand event is fired,
2872 with <amatch> set to "cursorshape".
Bram Moolenaarf3af54e2017-08-30 14:53:06 +02002873
Bram Moolenaar65e4c4f2017-10-14 23:24:25 +02002874 *v:termrbgresp*
2875v:termrbgresp The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the |t_RB|
Bram Moolenaarf3af54e2017-08-30 14:53:06 +02002876 termcap entry. This is used to find out what the terminal
Danek Duvalld7d56032024-01-14 20:19:59 +01002877 background color is; see 'background'. When this option is
2878 set, the TermResponseAll autocommand event is fired, with
2879 <amatch> set to "background".
Bram Moolenaarf3af54e2017-08-30 14:53:06 +02002880
Bram Moolenaar65e4c4f2017-10-14 23:24:25 +02002881 *v:termrfgresp*
2882v:termrfgresp The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the |t_RF|
2883 termcap entry. This is used to find out what the terminal
Danek Duvalld7d56032024-01-14 20:19:59 +01002884 foreground color is. When this option is set, the
2885 TermResponseAll autocommand event is fired, with <amatch> set
2886 to "foreground".
Bram Moolenaar65e4c4f2017-10-14 23:24:25 +02002887
Bram Moolenaarf3af54e2017-08-30 14:53:06 +02002888 *v:termu7resp*
2889v:termu7resp The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the |t_u7|
2890 termcap entry. This is used to find out what the terminal
Danek Duvalld7d56032024-01-14 20:19:59 +01002891 does with ambiguous width characters, see 'ambiwidth'. When
2892 this option is set, the TermResponseAll autocommand event is
2893 fired, with <amatch> set to "ambiguouswidth".
Bram Moolenaarf3af54e2017-08-30 14:53:06 +02002894
Bram Moolenaarebf7dfa2016-04-14 12:46:51 +02002895 *v:testing* *testing-variable*
Bram Moolenaar8e8df252016-05-25 21:23:21 +02002896v:testing Must be set before using `test_garbagecollect_now()`.
Bram Moolenaar036986f2017-03-16 17:41:02 +01002897 Also, when set certain error messages won't be shown for 2
Bram Moolenaarb0d45e72017-11-05 18:19:24 +01002898 seconds. (e.g. "'dictionary' option is empty")
Bram Moolenaarebf7dfa2016-04-14 12:46:51 +02002899
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002900 *v:this_session* *this_session-variable*
2901v:this_session Full filename of the last loaded or saved session file. See
2902 |:mksession|. It is allowed to set this variable. When no
2903 session file has been saved, this variable is empty.
Bram Moolenaard2e716e2019-04-20 14:39:52 +02002904 "this_session" also works, for backwards compatibility, unless
2905 |scriptversion| is 3 or higher
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002906
2907 *v:throwpoint* *throwpoint-variable*
2908v:throwpoint The point where the exception most recently caught and not
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02002909 finished was thrown. Not set when commands are typed. See
ichizok663d18d2025-01-02 18:06:00 +01002910 also |v:exception|, |v:stacktrace|, and |throw-variables|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002911 Example: >
2912 :try
2913 : throw "oops"
2914 :catch /.*/
2915 : echo "Exception from" v:throwpoint
2916 :endtry
2917< Output: "Exception from test.vim, line 2"
2918
Bram Moolenaar520e1e42016-01-23 19:46:28 +01002919 *v:true* *true-variable*
2920v:true A Number with value one. Used to put "true" in JSON. See
Bram Moolenaar6463ca22016-02-13 17:04:46 +01002921 |json_encode()|.
Bram Moolenaarc95a3022016-06-12 23:01:46 +02002922 When used as a string this evaluates to "v:true". >
Bram Moolenaar705ada12016-01-24 17:56:50 +01002923 echo v:true
Bram Moolenaarc95a3022016-06-12 23:01:46 +02002924< v:true ~
2925 That is so that eval() can parse the string back to the same
Bram Moolenaardf48fb42016-07-22 21:50:18 +02002926 value. Read-only.
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00002927 In |Vim9| script "true" can be used which has a boolean type.
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002928 *v:val* *val-variable*
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02002929v:val Value of the current item of a |List| or |Dictionary|. Only
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00002930 valid while evaluating the expression used with |map()| and
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002931 |filter()|. Read-only.
2932
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002933 *v:version* *version-variable*
2934v:version Version number of Vim: Major version number times 100 plus
Bram Moolenaar9b283522019-06-17 22:19:33 +02002935 minor version number. Version 5.0 is 500. Version 5.1
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002936 is 501. Read-only. "version" also works, for backwards
Bram Moolenaard2e716e2019-04-20 14:39:52 +02002937 compatibility, unless |scriptversion| is 3 or higher.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002938 Use |has()| to check if a certain patch was included, e.g.: >
Bram Moolenaar6716d9a2014-04-02 12:12:08 +02002939 if has("patch-7.4.123")
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002940< Note that patch numbers are specific to the version, thus both
2941 version 5.0 and 5.1 may have a patch 123, but these are
2942 completely different.
2943
Bram Moolenaar37df9a42019-06-14 14:39:51 +02002944 *v:versionlong* *versionlong-variable*
Bram Moolenaar9b283522019-06-17 22:19:33 +02002945v:versionlong Like v:version, but also including the patchlevel in the last
2946 four digits. Version 8.1 with patch 123 has value 8010123.
2947 This can be used like this: >
2948 if v:versionlong >= 8010123
Bram Moolenaar37df9a42019-06-14 14:39:51 +02002949< However, if there are gaps in the list of patches included
2950 this will not work well. This can happen if a recent patch
2951 was included into an older version, e.g. for a security fix.
2952 Use the has() function to make sure the patch is actually
2953 included.
2954
Bram Moolenaar14735512016-03-26 21:00:08 +01002955 *v:vim_did_enter* *vim_did_enter-variable*
2956v:vim_did_enter Zero until most of startup is done. It is set to one just
2957 before |VimEnter| autocommands are triggered.
2958
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002959 *v:warningmsg* *warningmsg-variable*
2960v:warningmsg Last given warning message. It's allowed to set this variable.
2961
Bram Moolenaar727c8762010-10-20 19:17:48 +02002962 *v:windowid* *windowid-variable*
Christian Brabandte5bc2e42024-06-01 20:55:09 +02002963v:windowid When any X11/Wayland based GUI is running or when running in a
Bram Moolenaar727c8762010-10-20 19:17:48 +02002964 terminal and Vim connects to the X server (|-X|) this will be
Bram Moolenaar264e9fd2010-10-27 12:33:17 +02002965 set to the window ID.
2966 When an MS-Windows GUI is running this will be set to the
2967 window handle.
2968 Otherwise the value is zero.
Bram Moolenaar7571d552016-08-18 22:54:46 +02002969 Note: for windows inside Vim use |winnr()| or |win_getid()|,
2970 see |window-ID|.
Bram Moolenaar727c8762010-10-20 19:17:48 +02002971
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002972==============================================================================
29734. Builtin Functions *functions*
2974
2975See |function-list| for a list grouped by what the function is used for.
2976
Bram Moolenaar1cae5a02021-12-27 21:28:34 +00002977The alphabetic list of all builtin functions and details are in a separate
2978help file: |builtin-functions|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002979
2980==============================================================================
29815. Defining functions *user-functions*
2982
2983New functions can be defined. These can be called just like builtin
Bram Moolenaar0daafaa2022-09-04 17:45:43 +01002984functions. The function takes arguments, executes a sequence of Ex commands
2985and can return a value.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002986
Bram Moolenaar0daafaa2022-09-04 17:45:43 +01002987You can find most information about defining functions in |userfunc.txt|.
2988For Vim9 functions, which execute much faster, support type checking and more,
2989see |vim9.txt|.
Bram Moolenaar433f7c82006-03-21 21:29:36 +00002990
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002991==============================================================================
29926. Curly braces names *curly-braces-names*
2993
Bram Moolenaar84f72352012-03-11 15:57:40 +01002994In most places where you can use a variable, you can use a "curly braces name"
2995variable. This is a regular variable name with one or more expressions
2996wrapped in braces {} like this: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002997 my_{adjective}_variable
2998
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00002999This only works in legacy Vim script, not in |Vim9| script.
3000
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003001When Vim encounters this, it evaluates the expression inside the braces, puts
3002that in place of the expression, and re-interprets the whole as a variable
3003name. So in the above example, if the variable "adjective" was set to
3004"noisy", then the reference would be to "my_noisy_variable", whereas if
3005"adjective" was set to "quiet", then it would be to "my_quiet_variable".
3006
3007One application for this is to create a set of variables governed by an option
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02003008value. For example, the statement >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003009 echo my_{&background}_message
3010
3011would output the contents of "my_dark_message" or "my_light_message" depending
3012on the current value of 'background'.
3013
3014You can use multiple brace pairs: >
3015 echo my_{adverb}_{adjective}_message
3016..or even nest them: >
3017 echo my_{ad{end_of_word}}_message
3018where "end_of_word" is either "verb" or "jective".
3019
3020However, the expression inside the braces must evaluate to a valid single
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00003021variable name, e.g. this is invalid: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003022 :let foo='a + b'
3023 :echo c{foo}d
3024.. since the result of expansion is "ca + bd", which is not a variable name.
3025
3026 *curly-braces-function-names*
3027You can call and define functions by an evaluated name in a similar way.
3028Example: >
3029 :let func_end='whizz'
3030 :call my_func_{func_end}(parameter)
3031
3032This would call the function "my_func_whizz(parameter)".
3033
Bram Moolenaar84f72352012-03-11 15:57:40 +01003034This does NOT work: >
3035 :let i = 3
3036 :let @{i} = '' " error
3037 :echo @{i} " error
3038
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003039==============================================================================
30407. Commands *expression-commands*
3041
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00003042Note: in |Vim9| script `:let` is not used. `:var` is used for variable
3043declarations and assignments do not use a command. |vim9-declaration|
Bram Moolenaar65e0d772020-06-14 17:29:55 +02003044
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003045:let {var-name} = {expr1} *:let* *E18*
3046 Set internal variable {var-name} to the result of the
3047 expression {expr1}. The variable will get the type
3048 from the {expr}. If {var-name} didn't exist yet, it
3049 is created.
3050
Bram Moolenaarf10911e2022-01-29 22:20:48 +00003051:let {var-name}[{idx}] = {expr1} *E689* *E1141*
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +00003052 Set a list item to the result of the expression
3053 {expr1}. {var-name} must refer to a list and {idx}
3054 must be a valid index in that list. For nested list
3055 the index can be repeated.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00003056 This cannot be used to add an item to a |List|.
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02003057 This cannot be used to set a byte in a String. You
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00003058 can do that like this: >
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00003059 :let var = var[0:2] .. 'X' .. var[4:]
Bram Moolenaar6e5ea8d2019-01-12 22:47:31 +01003060< When {var-name} is a |Blob| then {idx} can be the
3061 length of the blob, in which case one byte is
3062 appended.
3063
Bram Moolenaara2baa732022-02-04 16:09:54 +00003064 *E711* *E719* *E1165* *E1166* *E1183*
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003065:let {var-name}[{idx1}:{idx2}] = {expr1} *E708* *E709* *E710*
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00003066 Set a sequence of items in a |List| to the result of
3067 the expression {expr1}, which must be a list with the
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00003068 correct number of items.
3069 {idx1} can be omitted, zero is used instead.
3070 {idx2} can be omitted, meaning the end of the list.
3071 When the selected range of items is partly past the
3072 end of the list, items will be added.
3073
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00003074 *:let+=* *:let-=* *:letstar=* *:let/=* *:let%=*
3075 *:let.=* *:let..=* *E734* *E985* *E1019*
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003076:let {var} += {expr1} Like ":let {var} = {var} + {expr1}".
3077:let {var} -= {expr1} Like ":let {var} = {var} - {expr1}".
Bram Moolenaarff697e62019-02-12 22:28:33 +01003078:let {var} *= {expr1} Like ":let {var} = {var} * {expr1}".
3079:let {var} /= {expr1} Like ":let {var} = {var} / {expr1}".
3080:let {var} %= {expr1} Like ":let {var} = {var} % {expr1}".
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003081:let {var} .= {expr1} Like ":let {var} = {var} . {expr1}".
Bram Moolenaar558ca4a2019-04-04 18:15:38 +02003082:let {var} ..= {expr1} Like ":let {var} = {var} .. {expr1}".
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003083 These fail if {var} was not set yet and when the type
3084 of {var} and {expr1} don't fit the operator.
zeertzjqb8170142024-02-08 11:21:44 +01003085 `+=` modifies a |List| or a |Blob| in-place instead of
3086 creating a new one.
Bram Moolenaar558ca4a2019-04-04 18:15:38 +02003087 `.=` is not supported with Vim script version 2 and
3088 later, see |vimscript-version|.
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003089
3090
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003091:let ${env-name} = {expr1} *:let-environment* *:let-$*
3092 Set environment variable {env-name} to the result of
3093 the expression {expr1}. The type is always String.
Bram Moolenaar56c860c2019-08-17 20:09:31 +02003094
3095 On some systems making an environment variable empty
3096 causes it to be deleted. Many systems do not make a
3097 difference between an environment variable that is not
3098 set and an environment variable that is empty.
3099
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003100:let ${env-name} .= {expr1}
3101 Append {expr1} to the environment variable {env-name}.
3102 If the environment variable didn't exist yet this
3103 works like "=".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003104
3105:let @{reg-name} = {expr1} *:let-register* *:let-@*
3106 Write the result of the expression {expr1} in register
3107 {reg-name}. {reg-name} must be a single letter, and
3108 must be the name of a writable register (see
3109 |registers|). "@@" can be used for the unnamed
3110 register, "@/" for the search pattern.
3111 If the result of {expr1} ends in a <CR> or <NL>, the
3112 register will be linewise, otherwise it will be set to
3113 characterwise.
3114 This can be used to clear the last search pattern: >
3115 :let @/ = ""
3116< This is different from searching for an empty string,
3117 that would match everywhere.
3118
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003119:let @{reg-name} .= {expr1}
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02003120 Append {expr1} to register {reg-name}. If the
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003121 register was empty it's like setting it to {expr1}.
3122
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00003123:let &{option-name} = {expr1} *:let-option* *:let-&*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003124 Set option {option-name} to the result of the
Bram Moolenaarfca34d62005-01-04 21:38:36 +00003125 expression {expr1}. A String or Number value is
3126 always converted to the type of the option.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003127 For an option local to a window or buffer the effect
3128 is just like using the |:set| command: both the local
Bram Moolenaara5fac542005-10-12 20:58:49 +00003129 value and the global value are changed.
Bram Moolenaarfca34d62005-01-04 21:38:36 +00003130 Example: >
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00003131 :let &path = &path .. ',/usr/local/include'
Bram Moolenaar3df01732017-02-17 22:47:16 +01003132< This also works for terminal codes in the form t_xx.
3133 But only for alphanumerical names. Example: >
3134 :let &t_k1 = "\<Esc>[234;"
3135< When the code does not exist yet it will be created as
3136 a terminal key code, there is no error.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003137
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003138:let &{option-name} .= {expr1}
3139 For a string option: Append {expr1} to the value.
3140 Does not insert a comma like |:set+=|.
3141
3142:let &{option-name} += {expr1}
3143:let &{option-name} -= {expr1}
3144 For a number or boolean option: Add or subtract
3145 {expr1}.
3146
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003147:let &l:{option-name} = {expr1}
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003148:let &l:{option-name} .= {expr1}
3149:let &l:{option-name} += {expr1}
3150:let &l:{option-name} -= {expr1}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003151 Like above, but only set the local value of an option
3152 (if there is one). Works like |:setlocal|.
3153
3154:let &g:{option-name} = {expr1}
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003155:let &g:{option-name} .= {expr1}
3156:let &g:{option-name} += {expr1}
3157:let &g:{option-name} -= {expr1}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003158 Like above, but only set the global value of an option
3159 (if there is one). Works like |:setglobal|.
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01003160 *E1093* *E1537* *E1538* *E1535*
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +00003161:let [{name1}, {name2}, ...] = {expr1} *:let-unpack* *E687* *E688*
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01003162 {expr1} must evaluate to a |List| or a |Tuple|. The
3163 first item in the list or tuple is assigned to
3164 {name1}, the second item to {name2}, etc.
Bram Moolenaarfca34d62005-01-04 21:38:36 +00003165 The number of names must match the number of items in
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01003166 the |List| or |Tuple|.
Bram Moolenaarfca34d62005-01-04 21:38:36 +00003167 Each name can be one of the items of the ":let"
3168 command as mentioned above.
3169 Example: >
3170 :let [s, item] = GetItem(s)
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003171< Detail: {expr1} is evaluated first, then the
3172 assignments are done in sequence. This matters if
3173 {name2} depends on {name1}. Example: >
3174 :let x = [0, 1]
3175 :let i = 0
3176 :let [i, x[i]] = [1, 2]
3177 :echo x
3178< The result is [0, 2].
3179
3180:let [{name1}, {name2}, ...] .= {expr1}
3181:let [{name1}, {name2}, ...] += {expr1}
3182:let [{name1}, {name2}, ...] -= {expr1}
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01003183:let [{name1}, {name2}, ...] *= {expr1}
3184:let [{name1}, {name2}, ...] /= {expr1}
3185:let [{name1}, {name2}, ...] %= {expr1}
3186 Like above, but append, add, subtract, multiply,
3187 divide, or modulo the value for each |List| or |Tuple|
3188 item.
Bram Moolenaarfca34d62005-01-04 21:38:36 +00003189
Bram Moolenaard1caa942020-04-10 22:10:56 +02003190:let [{name}, ..., ; {lastname}] = {expr1} *E452*
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01003191 Like |:let-unpack| above, but the |List| or |Tuple|
3192 may have more items than there are names. A list or a
3193 tuple of the remaining items is assigned to
3194 {lastname}. If there are no remaining items,
3195 {lastname} is set to an empty list or tuple.
Bram Moolenaarfca34d62005-01-04 21:38:36 +00003196 Example: >
3197 :let [a, b; rest] = ["aval", "bval", 3, 4]
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01003198 :let [a, b; rest] = ("aval", "bval", 3, 4)
Bram Moolenaarfca34d62005-01-04 21:38:36 +00003199<
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003200:let [{name}, ..., ; {lastname}] .= {expr1}
3201:let [{name}, ..., ; {lastname}] += {expr1}
3202:let [{name}, ..., ; {lastname}] -= {expr1}
3203 Like above, but append/add/subtract the value for each
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00003204 |List| item.
Bram Moolenaar4a748032010-09-30 21:47:56 +02003205
Bram Moolenaar24582002019-07-21 14:14:26 +02003206 *:let=<<* *:let-heredoc*
Bram Moolenaarf10911e2022-01-29 22:20:48 +00003207 *E990* *E991* *E172* *E221* *E1145*
Yegappan Lakshmananefbfa862022-04-17 12:47:40 +01003208:let {var-name} =<< [trim] [eval] {endmarker}
Bram Moolenaarf5842c52019-05-19 18:41:26 +02003209text...
3210text...
Bram Moolenaar2e693a82019-10-16 22:35:02 +02003211{endmarker}
Bram Moolenaare46a4402020-06-30 20:38:27 +02003212 Set internal variable {var-name} to a |List|
3213 containing the lines of text bounded by the string
Yegappan Lakshmananefbfa862022-04-17 12:47:40 +01003214 {endmarker}.
3215
3216 If "eval" is not specified, then each line of text is
Bram Moolenaard899e512022-05-07 21:54:03 +01003217 used as a |literal-string|, except that single quotes
Bram Moolenaar8a3b8052022-06-26 12:21:15 +01003218 does not need to be doubled.
Bram Moolenaard899e512022-05-07 21:54:03 +01003219 If "eval" is specified, then any Vim expression in the
3220 form {expr} is evaluated and the result replaces the
Bram Moolenaarb59ae592022-11-23 23:46:31 +00003221 expression, like with |interpolated-string|.
Yegappan Lakshmananefbfa862022-04-17 12:47:40 +01003222 Example where $HOME is expanded: >
3223 let lines =<< trim eval END
3224 some text
Bram Moolenaard899e512022-05-07 21:54:03 +01003225 See the file {$HOME}/.vimrc
Yegappan Lakshmananefbfa862022-04-17 12:47:40 +01003226 more text
3227 END
3228< There can be multiple Vim expressions in a single line
3229 but an expression cannot span multiple lines. If any
3230 expression evaluation fails, then the assignment fails.
Yegappan Lakshmananefbfa862022-04-17 12:47:40 +01003231
Bram Moolenaar2e693a82019-10-16 22:35:02 +02003232 {endmarker} must not contain white space.
3233 {endmarker} cannot start with a lower case character.
3234 The last line should end only with the {endmarker}
3235 string without any other character. Watch out for
3236 white space after {endmarker}!
Bram Moolenaarf5842c52019-05-19 18:41:26 +02003237
Bram Moolenaare7eb9272019-06-24 00:58:07 +02003238 Without "trim" any white space characters in the lines
3239 of text are preserved. If "trim" is specified before
Bram Moolenaar2e693a82019-10-16 22:35:02 +02003240 {endmarker}, then indentation is stripped so you can
3241 do: >
Bram Moolenaare7eb9272019-06-24 00:58:07 +02003242 let text =<< trim END
3243 if ok
3244 echo 'done'
3245 endif
3246 END
3247< Results in: ["if ok", " echo 'done'", "endif"]
3248 The marker must line up with "let" and the indentation
3249 of the first line is removed from all the text lines.
3250 Specifically: all the leading indentation exactly
3251 matching the leading indentation of the first
3252 non-empty text line is stripped from the input lines.
3253 All leading indentation exactly matching the leading
3254 indentation before `let` is stripped from the line
Bram Moolenaar2e693a82019-10-16 22:35:02 +02003255 containing {endmarker}. Note that the difference
3256 between space and tab matters here.
Bram Moolenaarf5842c52019-05-19 18:41:26 +02003257
3258 If {var-name} didn't exist yet, it is created.
3259 Cannot be followed by another command, but can be
3260 followed by a comment.
3261
Bram Moolenaar2e693a82019-10-16 22:35:02 +02003262 To avoid line continuation to be applied, consider
3263 adding 'C' to 'cpoptions': >
3264 set cpo+=C
3265 let var =<< END
3266 \ leading backslash
3267 END
3268 set cpo-=C
3269<
Bram Moolenaarf5842c52019-05-19 18:41:26 +02003270 Examples: >
3271 let var1 =<< END
Bram Moolenaar2e693a82019-10-16 22:35:02 +02003272 Sample text 1
3273 Sample text 2
3274 Sample text 3
3275 END
Bram Moolenaarf5842c52019-05-19 18:41:26 +02003276
3277 let data =<< trim DATA
Bram Moolenaar2e693a82019-10-16 22:35:02 +02003278 1 2 3 4
3279 5 6 7 8
Bram Moolenaarf5842c52019-05-19 18:41:26 +02003280 DATA
Yegappan Lakshmananefbfa862022-04-17 12:47:40 +01003281
3282 let code =<< trim eval CODE
Bram Moolenaard899e512022-05-07 21:54:03 +01003283 let v = {10 + 20}
3284 let h = "{$HOME}"
3285 let s = "{Str1()} abc {Str2()}"
3286 let n = {MyFunc(3, 4)}
Yegappan Lakshmananefbfa862022-04-17 12:47:40 +01003287 CODE
Bram Moolenaarf5842c52019-05-19 18:41:26 +02003288<
Bram Moolenaar4a748032010-09-30 21:47:56 +02003289 *E121*
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02003290:let {var-name} .. List the value of variable {var-name}. Multiple
Bram Moolenaardcaf10e2005-01-21 11:55:25 +00003291 variable names may be given. Special names recognized
3292 here: *E738*
Bram Moolenaarca003e12006-03-17 23:19:38 +00003293 g: global variables
3294 b: local buffer variables
3295 w: local window variables
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00003296 t: local tab page variables
Bram Moolenaarca003e12006-03-17 23:19:38 +00003297 s: script-local variables
3298 l: local function variables
Bram Moolenaardcaf10e2005-01-21 11:55:25 +00003299 v: Vim variables.
Bram Moolenaar65e0d772020-06-14 17:29:55 +02003300 This does not work in Vim9 script. |vim9-declaration|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003301
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00003302:let List the values of all variables. The type of the
3303 variable is indicated before the value:
3304 <nothing> String
3305 # Number
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00003306 * Funcref
Bram Moolenaar65e0d772020-06-14 17:29:55 +02003307 This does not work in Vim9 script. |vim9-declaration|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003308
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00003309:unl[et][!] {name} ... *:unlet* *:unl* *E108* *E795* *E1081*
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00003310 Remove the internal variable {name}. Several variable
3311 names can be given, they are all removed. The name
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00003312 may also be a |List| or |Dictionary| item.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003313 With [!] no error message is given for non-existing
3314 variables.
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00003315 One or more items from a |List| can be removed: >
Bram Moolenaar9cd15162005-01-16 22:02:49 +00003316 :unlet list[3] " remove fourth item
3317 :unlet list[3:] " remove fourth item to last
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00003318< One item from a |Dictionary| can be removed at a time: >
Bram Moolenaar9cd15162005-01-16 22:02:49 +00003319 :unlet dict['two']
3320 :unlet dict.two
Bram Moolenaarc236c162008-07-13 17:41:49 +00003321< This is especially useful to clean up used global
3322 variables and script-local variables (these are not
3323 deleted when the script ends). Function-local
3324 variables are automatically deleted when the function
3325 ends.
Bram Moolenaar1b5f03e2023-01-09 20:12:45 +00003326 In |Vim9| script variables declared in a function or
3327 script cannot be removed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003328
Bram Moolenaar137374f2018-05-13 15:59:50 +02003329:unl[et] ${env-name} ... *:unlet-environment* *:unlet-$*
3330 Remove environment variable {env-name}.
3331 Can mix {name} and ${env-name} in one :unlet command.
3332 No error message is given for a non-existing
3333 variable, also without !.
3334 If the system does not support deleting an environment
Bram Moolenaar9937a052019-06-15 15:45:06 +02003335 variable, it is made empty.
Bram Moolenaar137374f2018-05-13 15:59:50 +02003336
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00003337 *:cons* *:const* *E1018*
Bram Moolenaar9937a052019-06-15 15:45:06 +02003338:cons[t] {var-name} = {expr1}
3339:cons[t] [{name1}, {name2}, ...] = {expr1}
Bram Moolenaar9937a052019-06-15 15:45:06 +02003340:cons[t] [{name}, ..., ; {lastname}] = {expr1}
h-east53753f62024-05-05 18:42:31 +02003341:cons[t] {var-name} =<< [trim] [eval] {marker}
Bram Moolenaar9937a052019-06-15 15:45:06 +02003342text...
3343text...
3344{marker}
3345 Similar to |:let|, but additionally lock the variable
3346 after setting the value. This is the same as locking
3347 the variable with |:lockvar| just after |:let|, thus: >
3348 :const x = 1
3349< is equivalent to: >
3350 :let x = 1
Bram Moolenaar021bda52020-08-17 21:07:22 +02003351 :lockvar! x
Bram Moolenaara187c432020-09-16 21:08:28 +02003352< NOTE: in Vim9 script `:const` works differently, see
3353 |vim9-const|
3354 This is useful if you want to make sure the variable
Bram Moolenaar021bda52020-08-17 21:07:22 +02003355 is not modified. If the value is a List or Dictionary
3356 literal then the items also cannot be changed: >
3357 const ll = [1, 2, 3]
3358 let ll[1] = 5 " Error!
Bram Moolenaar6e649222021-10-04 21:32:54 +01003359< Nested references are not locked: >
Bram Moolenaar021bda52020-08-17 21:07:22 +02003360 let lvar = ['a']
3361 const lconst = [0, lvar]
3362 let lconst[0] = 2 " Error!
3363 let lconst[1][0] = 'b' " OK
3364< *E995*
Shane Harperc1b39842024-07-17 19:40:40 +02003365 It is an error to specify an existing variable with
h-east52e7cc22024-07-28 17:03:29 +02003366 |:const|. >
Bram Moolenaar9937a052019-06-15 15:45:06 +02003367 :let x = 1
Shane Harperc1b39842024-07-17 19:40:40 +02003368 :const x = 1 " Error!
Bram Moolenaar1c196e72019-06-16 15:41:58 +02003369< *E996*
3370 Note that environment variables, option values and
3371 register values cannot be used here, since they cannot
3372 be locked.
3373
Bram Moolenaar85850f32019-07-19 22:05:51 +02003374:cons[t]
3375:cons[t] {var-name}
3376 If no argument is given or only {var-name} is given,
3377 the behavior is the same as |:let|.
3378
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00003379:lockv[ar][!] [depth] {name} ... *:lockvar* *:lockv*
3380 Lock the internal variable {name}. Locking means that
3381 it can no longer be changed (until it is unlocked).
3382 A locked variable can be deleted: >
3383 :lockvar v
Bram Moolenaardad44732021-03-31 20:07:33 +02003384 :let v = 'asdf' " fails!
3385 :unlet v " works
Bram Moolenaarf10911e2022-01-29 22:20:48 +00003386< *E741* *E940* *E1118* *E1119* *E1120* *E1121* *E1122*
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00003387 If you try to change a locked variable you get an
Bram Moolenaare7877fe2017-02-20 22:35:33 +01003388 error message: "E741: Value is locked: {name}".
3389 If you try to lock or unlock a built-in variable you
3390 get an error message: "E940: Cannot lock or unlock
3391 variable {name}".
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00003392
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01003393 [depth] is relevant when locking a |List|, a |Tuple|
3394 or a |Dictionary|. It specifies how deep the locking
3395 goes:
Bram Moolenaara187c432020-09-16 21:08:28 +02003396 0 Lock the variable {name} but not its
3397 value.
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01003398 1 Lock the |List| or |Tuple| or
3399 |Dictionary| itself, cannot add or
3400 remove items, but can still change
3401 their values.
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00003402 2 Also lock the values, cannot change
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00003403 the items. If an item is a |List| or
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01003404 |Tuple| or |Dictionary|, cannot add or
3405 remove items, but can still change the
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00003406 values.
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01003407 3 Like 2 but for the |List| / |Tuple| /
3408 |Dictionary| in the |List| / |Tuple| /
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00003409 |Dictionary|, one level deeper.
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01003410 The default [depth] is 2, thus when {name} is a
3411 |List|, a |Tuple| or a |Dictionary| the values cannot
3412 be changed.
Bram Moolenaara187c432020-09-16 21:08:28 +02003413
3414 Example with [depth] 0: >
3415 let mylist = [1, 2, 3]
3416 lockvar 0 mylist
Bram Moolenaar6e649222021-10-04 21:32:54 +01003417 let mylist[0] = 77 " OK
Bram Moolenaar10e8ff92023-06-10 21:40:39 +01003418 call add(mylist, 4) " OK
Bram Moolenaara187c432020-09-16 21:08:28 +02003419 let mylist = [7, 8, 9] " Error!
3420< *E743*
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00003421 For unlimited depth use [!] and omit [depth].
3422 However, there is a maximum depth of 100 to catch
3423 loops.
3424
Bram Moolenaar32466aa2006-02-24 23:53:04 +00003425 Note that when two variables refer to the same |List|
3426 and you lock one of them, the |List| will also be
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00003427 locked when used through the other variable.
3428 Example: >
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00003429 :let l = [0, 1, 2, 3]
3430 :let cl = l
3431 :lockvar l
3432 :let cl[1] = 99 " won't work!
3433< You may want to make a copy of a list to avoid this.
3434 See |deepcopy()|.
3435
Yegappan Lakshmanancd39b692023-10-02 12:50:45 -07003436 *E1391* *E1392*
3437 Locking and unlocking object and class variables is
3438 currently NOT supported.
3439
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00003440
Bram Moolenaara2baa732022-02-04 16:09:54 +00003441:unlo[ckvar][!] [depth] {name} ... *:unlockvar* *:unlo* *E1246*
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00003442 Unlock the internal variable {name}. Does the
3443 opposite of |:lockvar|.
3444
Bram Moolenaard13166e2022-11-18 21:49:57 +00003445 If {name} does not exist:
3446 - In |Vim9| script an error is given.
3447 - In legacy script this is silently ignored.
3448
Bram Moolenaar61da1bf2019-06-06 12:14:49 +02003449:if {expr1} *:if* *:end* *:endif* *:en* *E171* *E579* *E580*
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003450:en[dif] Execute the commands until the next matching `:else`
3451 or `:endif` if {expr1} evaluates to non-zero.
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00003452 Although the short forms work, it is recommended to
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003453 always use `:endif` to avoid confusion and to make
3454 auto-indenting work properly.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003455
3456 From Vim version 4.5 until 5.0, every Ex command in
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003457 between the `:if` and `:endif` is ignored. These two
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003458 commands were just to allow for future expansions in a
Bram Moolenaar85084ef2016-01-17 22:26:33 +01003459 backward compatible way. Nesting was allowed. Note
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003460 that any `:else` or `:elseif` was ignored, the `else`
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003461 part was not executed either.
3462
3463 You can use this to remain compatible with older
3464 versions: >
3465 :if version >= 500
3466 : version-5-specific-commands
3467 :endif
3468< The commands still need to be parsed to find the
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003469 `endif`. Sometimes an older Vim has a problem with a
3470 new command. For example, `:silent` is recognized as
3471 a `:substitute` command. In that case `:execute` can
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003472 avoid problems: >
3473 :if version >= 600
3474 : execute "silent 1,$delete"
3475 :endif
3476<
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003477 In |Vim9| script `:endif` cannot be shortened, to
3478 improve script readability.
3479 NOTE: The `:append` and `:insert` commands don't work
3480 properly in between `:if` and `:endif`.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003481
3482 *:else* *:el* *E581* *E583*
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003483:el[se] Execute the commands until the next matching `:else`
3484 or `:endif` if they previously were not being
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003485 executed.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003486 In |Vim9| script `:else` cannot be shortened, to
3487 improve script readability.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003488
3489 *:elseif* *:elsei* *E582* *E584*
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003490:elsei[f] {expr1} Short for `:else` `:if`, with the addition that there
3491 is no extra `:endif`.
3492 In |Vim9| script `:elseif` cannot be shortened, to
3493 improve script readability.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003494
3495:wh[ile] {expr1} *:while* *:endwhile* *:wh* *:endw*
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003496 *E170* *E585* *E588* *E733*
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003497:endw[hile] Repeat the commands between `:while` and `:endwhile`,
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003498 as long as {expr1} evaluates to non-zero.
3499 When an error is detected from a command inside the
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003500 loop, execution continues after the `endwhile`.
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00003501 Example: >
3502 :let lnum = 1
3503 :while lnum <= line("$")
3504 :call FixLine(lnum)
3505 :let lnum = lnum + 1
3506 :endwhile
3507<
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003508 In |Vim9| script `:while` and `:endwhile` cannot be
3509 shortened, to improve script readability.
3510 NOTE: The `:append` and `:insert` commands don't work
3511 properly inside a `:while` and `:for` loop.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003512
Bram Moolenaar5e66b422019-01-24 21:58:10 +01003513:for {var} in {object} *:for* *E690* *E732*
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00003514:endfo[r] *:endfo* *:endfor*
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003515 Repeat the commands between `:for` and `:endfor` for
Bram Moolenaar3f32a5f2022-05-12 20:34:15 +01003516 each item in {object}. {object} can be a |List|,
Yegappan Lakshmanan9cb865e2025-03-23 16:42:16 +01003517 a |Tuple|, a |Blob| or a |String|. *E1177*
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00003518
3519 Variable {var} is set to the value of each item.
3520 In |Vim9| script the loop variable must not have been
3521 declared yet, unless when it is a
3522 global/window/tab/buffer variable.
3523
3524 When an error is detected for a command inside the
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003525 loop, execution continues after the `endfor`.
Bram Moolenaar5e66b422019-01-24 21:58:10 +01003526 Changing {object} inside the loop affects what items
3527 are used. Make a copy if this is unwanted: >
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00003528 :for item in copy(mylist)
Bram Moolenaar5e66b422019-01-24 21:58:10 +01003529<
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00003530 When {object} is a |List| and not making a copy, in
3531 legacy script Vim stores a reference to the next item
3532 in the |List| before executing the commands with the
3533 current item. Thus the current item can be removed
3534 without effect. Removing any later item means it will
3535 not be found. Thus the following example works (an
3536 inefficient way to make a |List| empty): >
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01003537 for item in mylist
3538 call remove(mylist, 0)
3539 endfor
Bram Moolenaar5e66b422019-01-24 21:58:10 +01003540< Note that reordering the |List| (e.g., with sort() or
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00003541 reverse()) may have unexpected effects.
Bram Moolenaar5da36052021-12-27 15:39:57 +00003542 In |Vim9| script the index is used. If an item before
3543 the current one is deleted the next item will be
3544 skipped.
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00003545
Bram Moolenaar5e66b422019-01-24 21:58:10 +01003546 When {object} is a |Blob|, Vim always makes a copy to
3547 iterate over. Unlike with |List|, modifying the
3548 |Blob| does not affect the iteration.
3549
Bram Moolenaar9b03d3e2022-08-30 20:26:34 +01003550 When {object} is a |String| each item is a string with
3551 one character, plus any combining characters.
3552
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003553 In |Vim9| script `:endfor` cannot be shortened, to
3554 improve script readability.
3555
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00003556:for [{var1}, {var2}, ...] in {listlist}
Bram Moolenaarf10911e2022-01-29 22:20:48 +00003557:endfo[r] *E1140*
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003558 Like `:for` above, but each item in {listlist} must be
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00003559 a list, of which each item is assigned to {var1},
3560 {var2}, etc. Example: >
3561 :for [lnum, col] in [[1, 3], [2, 5], [3, 8]]
3562 :echo getline(lnum)[col]
3563 :endfor
3564<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003565 *:continue* *:con* *E586*
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003566:con[tinue] When used inside a `:while` or `:for` loop, jumps back
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00003567 to the start of the loop.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003568 If it is used after a `:try` inside the loop but
3569 before the matching `:finally` (if present), the
3570 commands following the `:finally` up to the matching
3571 `:endtry` are executed first. This process applies to
3572 all nested `:try`s inside the loop. The outermost
3573 `:endtry` then jumps back to the start of the loop.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003574
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003575 In |Vim9| script `:cont` is the shortest form, to
3576 improve script readability.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003577 *:break* *:brea* *E587*
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003578:brea[k] When used inside a `:while` or `:for` loop, skips to
3579 the command after the matching `:endwhile` or
3580 `:endfor`.
3581 If it is used after a `:try` inside the loop but
3582 before the matching `:finally` (if present), the
3583 commands following the `:finally` up to the matching
3584 `:endtry` are executed first. This process applies to
3585 all nested `:try`s inside the loop. The outermost
3586 `:endtry` then jumps to the command after the loop.
3587
3588 In |Vim9| script `:break` cannot be shortened, to
3589 improve script readability.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003590
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00003591:try *:try* *:endt* *:endtry*
3592 *E600* *E601* *E602* *E1032*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003593:endt[ry] Change the error handling for the commands between
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003594 `:try` and `:endtry` including everything being
3595 executed across `:source` commands, function calls,
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003596 or autocommand invocations.
3597
3598 When an error or interrupt is detected and there is
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003599 a `:finally` command following, execution continues
3600 after the `:finally`. Otherwise, or when the
3601 `:endtry` is reached thereafter, the next
3602 (dynamically) surrounding `:try` is checked for
3603 a corresponding `:finally` etc. Then the script
Bram Moolenaarbc93ceb2020-02-26 13:36:21 +01003604 processing is terminated. Whether a function
3605 definition has an "abort" argument does not matter.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003606 Example: >
Bram Moolenaarbc93ceb2020-02-26 13:36:21 +01003607 try | call Unknown() | finally | echomsg "cleanup" | endtry
3608 echomsg "not reached"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003609<
3610 Moreover, an error or interrupt (dynamically) inside
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003611 `:try` and `:endtry` is converted to an exception. It
3612 can be caught as if it were thrown by a `:throw`
3613 command (see `:catch`). In this case, the script
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003614 processing is not terminated.
3615
3616 The value "Vim:Interrupt" is used for an interrupt
3617 exception. An error in a Vim command is converted
3618 to a value of the form "Vim({command}):{errmsg}",
3619 other errors are converted to a value of the form
3620 "Vim:{errmsg}". {command} is the full command name,
3621 and {errmsg} is the message that is displayed if the
3622 error exception is not caught, always beginning with
3623 the error number.
3624 Examples: >
Bram Moolenaarbc93ceb2020-02-26 13:36:21 +01003625 try | sleep 100 | catch /^Vim:Interrupt$/ | endtry
3626 try | edit | catch /^Vim(edit):E\d\+/ | echo "error" | endtry
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003627<
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003628 In |Vim9| script `:endtry` cannot be shortened, to
3629 improve script readability.
3630
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00003631 *:cat* *:catch*
3632 *E603* *E604* *E605* *E654* *E1033*
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003633:cat[ch] /{pattern}/ The following commands until the next `:catch`,
3634 `:finally`, or `:endtry` that belongs to the same
3635 `:try` as the `:catch` are executed when an exception
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003636 matching {pattern} is being thrown and has not yet
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003637 been caught by a previous `:catch`. Otherwise, these
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003638 commands are skipped.
3639 When {pattern} is omitted all errors are caught.
3640 Examples: >
Bram Moolenaar647e24b2019-03-17 16:39:46 +01003641 :catch /^Vim:Interrupt$/ " catch interrupts (CTRL-C)
3642 :catch /^Vim\%((\a\+)\)\=:E/ " catch all Vim errors
3643 :catch /^Vim\%((\a\+)\)\=:/ " catch errors and interrupts
3644 :catch /^Vim(write):/ " catch all errors in :write
3645 :catch /^Vim\%((\a\+)\)\=:E123:/ " catch error E123
3646 :catch /my-exception/ " catch user exception
3647 :catch /.*/ " catch everything
3648 :catch " same as /.*/
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003649<
3650 Another character can be used instead of / around the
3651 {pattern}, so long as it does not have a special
3652 meaning (e.g., '|' or '"') and doesn't occur inside
Bram Moolenaar6f4754b2022-01-23 12:07:04 +00003653 {pattern}. *E1067*
Bram Moolenaar7e38ea22014-04-05 22:55:53 +02003654 Information about the exception is available in
3655 |v:exception|. Also see |throw-variables|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003656 NOTE: It is not reliable to ":catch" the TEXT of
3657 an error message because it may vary in different
3658 locales.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003659 In |Vim9| script `:catch` cannot be shortened, to
3660 improve script readability.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003661
3662 *:fina* *:finally* *E606* *E607*
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003663:fina[lly] The following commands until the matching `:endtry`
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003664 are executed whenever the part between the matching
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003665 `:try` and the `:finally` is left: either by falling
3666 through to the `:finally` or by a `:continue`,
3667 `:break`, `:finish`, or `:return`, or by an error or
3668 interrupt or exception (see `:throw`).
3669
3670 In |Vim9| script `:finally` cannot be shortened, to
3671 improve script readability and avoid confusion with
3672 `:final`.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003673
Bram Moolenaarf10911e2022-01-29 22:20:48 +00003674 *:th* *:throw* *E608* *E1129*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003675:th[row] {expr1} The {expr1} is evaluated and thrown as an exception.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003676 If the ":throw" is used after a `:try` but before the
3677 first corresponding `:catch`, commands are skipped
3678 until the first `:catch` matching {expr1} is reached.
3679 If there is no such `:catch` or if the ":throw" is
3680 used after a `:catch` but before the `:finally`, the
3681 commands following the `:finally` (if present) up to
3682 the matching `:endtry` are executed. If the `:throw`
3683 is after the `:finally`, commands up to the `:endtry`
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003684 are skipped. At the ":endtry", this process applies
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003685 again for the next dynamically surrounding `:try`
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003686 (which may be found in a calling function or sourcing
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003687 script), until a matching `:catch` has been found.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003688 If the exception is not caught, the command processing
3689 is terminated.
3690 Example: >
3691 :try | throw "oops" | catch /^oo/ | echo "caught" | endtry
Bram Moolenaar662db672011-03-22 14:05:35 +01003692< Note that "catch" may need to be on a separate line
3693 for when an error causes the parsing to skip the whole
3694 line and not see the "|" that separates the commands.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003695
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003696 In |Vim9| script `:throw` cannot be shortened, to
3697 improve script readability.
3698
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003699 *:ec* *:echo*
3700:ec[ho] {expr1} .. Echoes each {expr1}, with a space in between. The
3701 first {expr1} starts on a new line.
3702 Also see |:comment|.
3703 Use "\n" to start a new line. Use "\r" to move the
3704 cursor to the first column.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003705 Uses the highlighting set by the `:echohl` command.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003706 Cannot be followed by a comment.
3707 Example: >
3708 :echo "the value of 'shell' is" &shell
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00003709< *:echo-redraw*
3710 A later redraw may make the message disappear again.
3711 And since Vim mostly postpones redrawing until it's
3712 finished with a sequence of commands this happens
3713 quite often. To avoid that a command from before the
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003714 `:echo` causes a redraw afterwards (redraws are often
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00003715 postponed until you type something), force a redraw
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003716 with the `:redraw` command. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003717 :new | redraw | echo "there is a new window"
3718<
3719 *:echon*
3720:echon {expr1} .. Echoes each {expr1}, without anything added. Also see
3721 |:comment|.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003722 Uses the highlighting set by the `:echohl` command.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003723 Cannot be followed by a comment.
3724 Example: >
3725 :echon "the value of 'shell' is " &shell
3726<
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003727 Note the difference between using `:echo`, which is a
3728 Vim command, and `:!echo`, which is an external shell
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003729 command: >
3730 :!echo % --> filename
3731< The arguments of ":!" are expanded, see |:_%|. >
3732 :!echo "%" --> filename or "filename"
3733< Like the previous example. Whether you see the double
3734 quotes or not depends on your 'shell'. >
3735 :echo % --> nothing
3736< The '%' is an illegal character in an expression. >
3737 :echo "%" --> %
3738< This just echoes the '%' character. >
3739 :echo expand("%") --> filename
3740< This calls the expand() function to expand the '%'.
3741
3742 *:echoh* *:echohl*
3743:echoh[l] {name} Use the highlight group {name} for the following
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003744 `:echo`, `:echon` and `:echomsg` commands. Also used
3745 for the `input()` prompt. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003746 :echohl WarningMsg | echo "Don't panic!" | echohl None
3747< Don't forget to set the group back to "None",
3748 otherwise all following echo's will be highlighted.
3749
3750 *:echom* *:echomsg*
3751:echom[sg] {expr1} .. Echo the expression(s) as a true message, saving the
3752 message in the |message-history|.
3753 Spaces are placed between the arguments as with the
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003754 `:echo` command. But unprintable characters are
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003755 displayed, not interpreted.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003756 The parsing works slightly different from `:echo`,
3757 more like `:execute`. All the expressions are first
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00003758 evaluated and concatenated before echoing anything.
Bram Moolenaar461a7fc2018-12-22 13:28:07 +01003759 If expressions does not evaluate to a Number or
3760 String, string() is used to turn it into a string.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003761 Uses the highlighting set by the `:echohl` command.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003762 Example: >
3763 :echomsg "It's a Zizzer Zazzer Zuzz, as you can plainly see."
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00003764< See |:echo-redraw| to avoid the message disappearing
3765 when the screen is redrawn.
Bram Moolenaar37fef162022-08-29 18:16:32 +01003766
3767 *:echow* *:echowin* *:echowindow*
Bram Moolenaarbdc09a12022-10-07 14:31:45 +01003768:[N]echow[indow] {expr1} ..
Bram Moolenaar37fef162022-08-29 18:16:32 +01003769 Like |:echomsg| but when the messages popup window is
3770 available the message is displayed there. This means
3771 it will show for three seconds and avoid a
Bram Moolenaar9b03d3e2022-08-30 20:26:34 +01003772 |hit-enter| prompt. If you want to hide it before
3773 that, press Esc in Normal mode (when it would
Bram Moolenaar71b6d332022-09-10 13:13:14 +01003774 otherwise beep). If it disappears too soon you can
3775 use `:messages` to see the text.
Bram Moolenaarbdc09a12022-10-07 14:31:45 +01003776 When [N] is given then the window will show up for
3777 this number of seconds. The last `:echowindow` with a
3778 count matters, it is used once only.
Bram Moolenaar37fef162022-08-29 18:16:32 +01003779 The message window is available when Vim was compiled
3780 with the +timer and the +popupwin features.
3781
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003782 *:echoe* *:echoerr*
3783:echoe[rr] {expr1} .. Echo the expression(s) as an error message, saving the
3784 message in the |message-history|. When used in a
3785 script or function the line number will be added.
3786 Spaces are placed between the arguments as with the
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003787 `:echomsg` command. When used inside a try conditional,
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003788 the message is raised as an error exception instead
3789 (see |try-echoerr|).
3790 Example: >
3791 :echoerr "This script just failed!"
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +00003792< If you just want a highlighted message use `:echohl`.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003793 And to get a beep: >
3794 :exe "normal \<Esc>"
Bram Moolenaar4c868302021-03-22 16:19:45 +01003795
3796:echoc[onsole] {expr1} .. *:echoc* *:echoconsole*
3797 Intended for testing: works like `:echomsg` but when
3798 running in the GUI and started from a terminal write
3799 the text to stdout.
3800
Bram Moolenaar09c6f262019-11-17 15:55:14 +01003801 *:eval*
3802:eval {expr} Evaluate {expr} and discard the result. Example: >
3803 :eval Getlist()->Filter()->append('$')
3804
3805< The expression is supposed to have a side effect,
3806 since the resulting value is not used. In the example
3807 the `append()` call appends the List with text to the
3808 buffer. This is similar to `:call` but works with any
3809 expression.
Bram Moolenaara2baa732022-02-04 16:09:54 +00003810 In |Vim9| script an expression without an effect will
3811 result in error *E1207* . This should help noticing
3812 mistakes.
Bram Moolenaar09c6f262019-11-17 15:55:14 +01003813
3814 The command can be shortened to `:ev` or `:eva`, but
3815 these are hard to recognize and therefore not to be
3816 used.
3817
Bram Moolenaarbc93ceb2020-02-26 13:36:21 +01003818 The command cannot be followed by "|" and another
3819 command, since "|" is seen as part of the expression.
3820
Bram Moolenaar09c6f262019-11-17 15:55:14 +01003821
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003822 *:exe* *:execute*
3823:exe[cute] {expr1} .. Executes the string that results from the evaluation
Bram Moolenaar00a927d2010-05-14 23:24:24 +02003824 of {expr1} as an Ex command.
3825 Multiple arguments are concatenated, with a space in
Bram Moolenaar7e6a5152021-01-02 16:39:53 +01003826 between. To avoid the extra space use the ".."
Bram Moolenaar00a927d2010-05-14 23:24:24 +02003827 operator to concatenate strings into one argument.
3828 {expr1} is used as the processed command, command line
3829 editing keys are not recognized.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003830 Cannot be followed by a comment.
3831 Examples: >
Bram Moolenaar00a927d2010-05-14 23:24:24 +02003832 :execute "buffer" nextbuf
Bram Moolenaarc8cdf0f2021-03-13 13:28:13 +01003833 :execute "normal" count .. "w"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003834<
3835 ":execute" can be used to append a command to commands
3836 that don't accept a '|'. Example: >
3837 :execute '!ls' | echo "theend"
3838
3839< ":execute" is also a nice way to avoid having to type
3840 control characters in a Vim script for a ":normal"
3841 command: >
3842 :execute "normal ixxx\<Esc>"
3843< This has an <Esc> character, see |expr-string|.
3844
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00003845 Be careful to correctly escape special characters in
3846 file names. The |fnameescape()| function can be used
Bram Moolenaar05bb9532008-07-04 09:44:11 +00003847 for Vim commands, |shellescape()| for |:!| commands.
3848 Examples: >
Bram Moolenaarc8cdf0f2021-03-13 13:28:13 +01003849 :execute "e " .. fnameescape(filename)
3850 :execute "!ls " .. shellescape(filename, 1)
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00003851<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003852 Note: The executed string may be any command-line, but
Bram Moolenaar76f3b1a2014-03-27 22:30:07 +01003853 starting or ending "if", "while" and "for" does not
3854 always work, because when commands are skipped the
3855 ":execute" is not evaluated and Vim loses track of
3856 where blocks start and end. Also "break" and
3857 "continue" should not be inside ":execute".
3858 This example does not work, because the ":execute" is
3859 not evaluated and Vim does not see the "while", and
3860 gives an error for finding an ":endwhile": >
3861 :if 0
3862 : execute 'while i > 5'
3863 : echo "test"
3864 : endwhile
3865 :endif
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003866<
3867 It is allowed to have a "while" or "if" command
3868 completely in the executed string: >
3869 :execute 'while i < 5 | echo i | let i = i + 1 | endwhile'
3870<
3871
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01003872 *:exe-comment*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003873 ":execute", ":echo" and ":echon" cannot be followed by
3874 a comment directly, because they see the '"' as the
3875 start of a string. But, you can use '|' followed by a
3876 comment. Example: >
3877 :echo "foo" | "this is a comment
3878
3879==============================================================================
38808. Exception handling *exception-handling*
3881
3882The Vim script language comprises an exception handling feature. This section
3883explains how it can be used in a Vim script.
3884
3885Exceptions may be raised by Vim on an error or on interrupt, see
3886|catch-errors| and |catch-interrupt|. You can also explicitly throw an
3887exception by using the ":throw" command, see |throw-catch|.
3888
3889
3890TRY CONDITIONALS *try-conditionals*
3891
3892Exceptions can be caught or can cause cleanup code to be executed. You can
3893use a try conditional to specify catch clauses (that catch exceptions) and/or
3894a finally clause (to be executed for cleanup).
3895 A try conditional begins with a |:try| command and ends at the matching
3896|:endtry| command. In between, you can use a |:catch| command to start
3897a catch clause, or a |:finally| command to start a finally clause. There may
3898be none or multiple catch clauses, but there is at most one finally clause,
3899which must not be followed by any catch clauses. The lines before the catch
3900clauses and the finally clause is called a try block. >
3901
3902 :try
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00003903 : ...
3904 : ... TRY BLOCK
3905 : ...
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003906 :catch /{pattern}/
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00003907 : ...
3908 : ... CATCH CLAUSE
3909 : ...
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003910 :catch /{pattern}/
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00003911 : ...
3912 : ... CATCH CLAUSE
3913 : ...
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003914 :finally
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00003915 : ...
3916 : ... FINALLY CLAUSE
3917 : ...
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003918 :endtry
3919
3920The try conditional allows to watch code for exceptions and to take the
3921appropriate actions. Exceptions from the try block may be caught. Exceptions
3922from the try block and also the catch clauses may cause cleanup actions.
3923 When no exception is thrown during execution of the try block, the control
3924is transferred to the finally clause, if present. After its execution, the
3925script continues with the line following the ":endtry".
3926 When an exception occurs during execution of the try block, the remaining
3927lines in the try block are skipped. The exception is matched against the
3928patterns specified as arguments to the ":catch" commands. The catch clause
3929after the first matching ":catch" is taken, other catch clauses are not
3930executed. The catch clause ends when the next ":catch", ":finally", or
3931":endtry" command is reached - whatever is first. Then, the finally clause
3932(if present) is executed. When the ":endtry" is reached, the script execution
3933continues in the following line as usual.
3934 When an exception that does not match any of the patterns specified by the
3935":catch" commands is thrown in the try block, the exception is not caught by
3936that try conditional and none of the catch clauses is executed. Only the
3937finally clause, if present, is taken. The exception pends during execution of
3938the finally clause. It is resumed at the ":endtry", so that commands after
3939the ":endtry" are not executed and the exception might be caught elsewhere,
3940see |try-nesting|.
3941 When during execution of a catch clause another exception is thrown, the
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02003942remaining lines in that catch clause are not executed. The new exception is
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003943not matched against the patterns in any of the ":catch" commands of the same
3944try conditional and none of its catch clauses is taken. If there is, however,
3945a finally clause, it is executed, and the exception pends during its
3946execution. The commands following the ":endtry" are not executed. The new
3947exception might, however, be caught elsewhere, see |try-nesting|.
3948 When during execution of the finally clause (if present) an exception is
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02003949thrown, the remaining lines in the finally clause are skipped. If the finally
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003950clause has been taken because of an exception from the try block or one of the
3951catch clauses, the original (pending) exception is discarded. The commands
3952following the ":endtry" are not executed, and the exception from the finally
3953clause is propagated and can be caught elsewhere, see |try-nesting|.
3954
3955The finally clause is also executed, when a ":break" or ":continue" for
3956a ":while" loop enclosing the complete try conditional is executed from the
3957try block or a catch clause. Or when a ":return" or ":finish" is executed
3958from the try block or a catch clause of a try conditional in a function or
3959sourced script, respectively. The ":break", ":continue", ":return", or
3960":finish" pends during execution of the finally clause and is resumed when the
3961":endtry" is reached. It is, however, discarded when an exception is thrown
3962from the finally clause.
3963 When a ":break" or ":continue" for a ":while" loop enclosing the complete
3964try conditional or when a ":return" or ":finish" is encountered in the finally
3965clause, the rest of the finally clause is skipped, and the ":break",
3966":continue", ":return" or ":finish" is executed as usual. If the finally
3967clause has been taken because of an exception or an earlier ":break",
3968":continue", ":return", or ":finish" from the try block or a catch clause,
3969this pending exception or command is discarded.
3970
3971For examples see |throw-catch| and |try-finally|.
3972
3973
Bram Moolenaar76db9e02022-11-09 21:21:04 +00003974NESTING OF TRY CONDITIONALS *try-nesting*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003975
3976Try conditionals can be nested arbitrarily. That is, a complete try
3977conditional can be put into the try block, a catch clause, or the finally
3978clause of another try conditional. If the inner try conditional does not
3979catch an exception thrown in its try block or throws a new exception from one
3980of its catch clauses or its finally clause, the outer try conditional is
3981checked according to the rules above. If the inner try conditional is in the
3982try block of the outer try conditional, its catch clauses are checked, but
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02003983otherwise only the finally clause is executed. It does not matter for
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003984nesting, whether the inner try conditional is directly contained in the outer
3985one, or whether the outer one sources a script or calls a function containing
3986the inner try conditional.
3987
3988When none of the active try conditionals catches an exception, just their
3989finally clauses are executed. Thereafter, the script processing terminates.
3990An error message is displayed in case of an uncaught exception explicitly
3991thrown by a ":throw" command. For uncaught error and interrupt exceptions
3992implicitly raised by Vim, the error message(s) or interrupt message are shown
3993as usual.
3994
3995For examples see |throw-catch|.
3996
3997
3998EXAMINING EXCEPTION HANDLING CODE *except-examine*
3999
4000Exception handling code can get tricky. If you are in doubt what happens, set
4001'verbose' to 13 or use the ":13verbose" command modifier when sourcing your
4002script file. Then you see when an exception is thrown, discarded, caught, or
4003finished. When using a verbosity level of at least 14, things pending in
4004a finally clause are also shown. This information is also given in debug mode
4005(see |debug-scripts|).
4006
4007
4008THROWING AND CATCHING EXCEPTIONS *throw-catch*
4009
4010You can throw any number or string as an exception. Use the |:throw| command
4011and pass the value to be thrown as argument: >
4012 :throw 4711
4013 :throw "string"
4014< *throw-expression*
4015You can also specify an expression argument. The expression is then evaluated
4016first, and the result is thrown: >
4017 :throw 4705 + strlen("string")
4018 :throw strpart("strings", 0, 6)
4019
4020An exception might be thrown during evaluation of the argument of the ":throw"
4021command. Unless it is caught there, the expression evaluation is abandoned.
4022The ":throw" command then does not throw a new exception.
4023 Example: >
4024
4025 :function! Foo(arg)
4026 : try
4027 : throw a:arg
4028 : catch /foo/
4029 : endtry
4030 : return 1
4031 :endfunction
4032 :
4033 :function! Bar()
4034 : echo "in Bar"
4035 : return 4710
4036 :endfunction
4037 :
4038 :throw Foo("arrgh") + Bar()
4039
4040This throws "arrgh", and "in Bar" is not displayed since Bar() is not
4041executed. >
4042 :throw Foo("foo") + Bar()
4043however displays "in Bar" and throws 4711.
4044
4045Any other command that takes an expression as argument might also be
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02004046abandoned by an (uncaught) exception during the expression evaluation. The
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004047exception is then propagated to the caller of the command.
4048 Example: >
4049
4050 :if Foo("arrgh")
4051 : echo "then"
4052 :else
4053 : echo "else"
4054 :endif
4055
4056Here neither of "then" or "else" is displayed.
4057
4058 *catch-order*
4059Exceptions can be caught by a try conditional with one or more |:catch|
4060commands, see |try-conditionals|. The values to be caught by each ":catch"
4061command can be specified as a pattern argument. The subsequent catch clause
4062gets executed when a matching exception is caught.
4063 Example: >
4064
4065 :function! Foo(value)
4066 : try
4067 : throw a:value
4068 : catch /^\d\+$/
4069 : echo "Number thrown"
4070 : catch /.*/
4071 : echo "String thrown"
4072 : endtry
4073 :endfunction
4074 :
4075 :call Foo(0x1267)
4076 :call Foo('string')
4077
4078The first call to Foo() displays "Number thrown", the second "String thrown".
4079An exception is matched against the ":catch" commands in the order they are
4080specified. Only the first match counts. So you should place the more
4081specific ":catch" first. The following order does not make sense: >
4082
4083 : catch /.*/
4084 : echo "String thrown"
4085 : catch /^\d\+$/
4086 : echo "Number thrown"
4087
4088The first ":catch" here matches always, so that the second catch clause is
4089never taken.
4090
4091 *throw-variables*
4092If you catch an exception by a general pattern, you may access the exact value
4093in the variable |v:exception|: >
4094
4095 : catch /^\d\+$/
4096 : echo "Number thrown. Value is" v:exception
4097
4098You may also be interested where an exception was thrown. This is stored in
ichizok663d18d2025-01-02 18:06:00 +01004099|v:throwpoint|. And you can obtain the stack trace from |v:stacktrace|.
4100Note that "v:exception", "v:stacktrace" and "v:throwpoint" are valid for the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004101exception most recently caught as long it is not finished.
4102 Example: >
4103
4104 :function! Caught()
4105 : if v:exception != ""
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00004106 : echo 'Caught "' . v:exception .. '" in ' .. v:throwpoint
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004107 : else
4108 : echo 'Nothing caught'
4109 : endif
4110 :endfunction
4111 :
4112 :function! Foo()
4113 : try
4114 : try
4115 : try
4116 : throw 4711
4117 : finally
4118 : call Caught()
4119 : endtry
4120 : catch /.*/
4121 : call Caught()
4122 : throw "oops"
4123 : endtry
4124 : catch /.*/
4125 : call Caught()
4126 : finally
4127 : call Caught()
4128 : endtry
4129 :endfunction
4130 :
4131 :call Foo()
4132
4133This displays >
4134
4135 Nothing caught
4136 Caught "4711" in function Foo, line 4
4137 Caught "oops" in function Foo, line 10
4138 Nothing caught
4139
4140A practical example: The following command ":LineNumber" displays the line
4141number in the script or function where it has been used: >
4142
4143 :function! LineNumber()
4144 : return substitute(v:throwpoint, '.*\D\(\d\+\).*', '\1', "")
4145 :endfunction
4146 :command! LineNumber try | throw "" | catch | echo LineNumber() | endtry
4147<
4148 *try-nested*
4149An exception that is not caught by a try conditional can be caught by
4150a surrounding try conditional: >
4151
4152 :try
4153 : try
4154 : throw "foo"
4155 : catch /foobar/
4156 : echo "foobar"
4157 : finally
4158 : echo "inner finally"
4159 : endtry
4160 :catch /foo/
4161 : echo "foo"
4162 :endtry
4163
4164The inner try conditional does not catch the exception, just its finally
4165clause is executed. The exception is then caught by the outer try
4166conditional. The example displays "inner finally" and then "foo".
4167
4168 *throw-from-catch*
4169You can catch an exception and throw a new one to be caught elsewhere from the
4170catch clause: >
4171
4172 :function! Foo()
4173 : throw "foo"
4174 :endfunction
4175 :
4176 :function! Bar()
4177 : try
4178 : call Foo()
4179 : catch /foo/
4180 : echo "Caught foo, throw bar"
4181 : throw "bar"
4182 : endtry
4183 :endfunction
4184 :
4185 :try
4186 : call Bar()
4187 :catch /.*/
4188 : echo "Caught" v:exception
4189 :endtry
4190
4191This displays "Caught foo, throw bar" and then "Caught bar".
4192
4193 *rethrow*
4194There is no real rethrow in the Vim script language, but you may throw
4195"v:exception" instead: >
4196
4197 :function! Bar()
4198 : try
4199 : call Foo()
4200 : catch /.*/
4201 : echo "Rethrow" v:exception
4202 : throw v:exception
4203 : endtry
4204 :endfunction
4205< *try-echoerr*
4206Note that this method cannot be used to "rethrow" Vim error or interrupt
4207exceptions, because it is not possible to fake Vim internal exceptions.
4208Trying so causes an error exception. You should throw your own exception
4209denoting the situation. If you want to cause a Vim error exception containing
4210the original error exception value, you can use the |:echoerr| command: >
4211
4212 :try
4213 : try
4214 : asdf
4215 : catch /.*/
4216 : echoerr v:exception
4217 : endtry
4218 :catch /.*/
4219 : echo v:exception
4220 :endtry
4221
4222This code displays
4223
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00004224 Vim(echoerr):Vim:E492: Not an editor command: asdf ~
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004225
4226
4227CLEANUP CODE *try-finally*
4228
4229Scripts often change global settings and restore them at their end. If the
4230user however interrupts the script by pressing CTRL-C, the settings remain in
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02004231an inconsistent state. The same may happen to you in the development phase of
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004232a script when an error occurs or you explicitly throw an exception without
4233catching it. You can solve these problems by using a try conditional with
4234a finally clause for restoring the settings. Its execution is guaranteed on
4235normal control flow, on error, on an explicit ":throw", and on interrupt.
4236(Note that errors and interrupts from inside the try conditional are converted
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02004237to exceptions. When not caught, they terminate the script after the finally
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004238clause has been executed.)
4239Example: >
4240
4241 :try
4242 : let s:saved_ts = &ts
4243 : set ts=17
4244 :
4245 : " Do the hard work here.
4246 :
4247 :finally
4248 : let &ts = s:saved_ts
4249 : unlet s:saved_ts
4250 :endtry
4251
4252This method should be used locally whenever a function or part of a script
4253changes global settings which need to be restored on failure or normal exit of
4254that function or script part.
4255
4256 *break-finally*
4257Cleanup code works also when the try block or a catch clause is left by
4258a ":continue", ":break", ":return", or ":finish".
4259 Example: >
4260
4261 :let first = 1
4262 :while 1
4263 : try
4264 : if first
4265 : echo "first"
4266 : let first = 0
4267 : continue
4268 : else
4269 : throw "second"
4270 : endif
4271 : catch /.*/
4272 : echo v:exception
4273 : break
4274 : finally
4275 : echo "cleanup"
4276 : endtry
4277 : echo "still in while"
4278 :endwhile
4279 :echo "end"
4280
4281This displays "first", "cleanup", "second", "cleanup", and "end". >
4282
4283 :function! Foo()
4284 : try
4285 : return 4711
4286 : finally
4287 : echo "cleanup\n"
4288 : endtry
4289 : echo "Foo still active"
4290 :endfunction
4291 :
4292 :echo Foo() "returned by Foo"
4293
4294This displays "cleanup" and "4711 returned by Foo". You don't need to add an
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02004295extra ":return" in the finally clause. (Above all, this would override the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004296return value.)
4297
4298 *except-from-finally*
4299Using either of ":continue", ":break", ":return", ":finish", or ":throw" in
4300a finally clause is possible, but not recommended since it abandons the
4301cleanup actions for the try conditional. But, of course, interrupt and error
4302exceptions might get raised from a finally clause.
4303 Example where an error in the finally clause stops an interrupt from
4304working correctly: >
4305
4306 :try
4307 : try
4308 : echo "Press CTRL-C for interrupt"
4309 : while 1
4310 : endwhile
4311 : finally
4312 : unlet novar
4313 : endtry
4314 :catch /novar/
4315 :endtry
4316 :echo "Script still running"
4317 :sleep 1
4318
4319If you need to put commands that could fail into a finally clause, you should
4320think about catching or ignoring the errors in these commands, see
4321|catch-errors| and |ignore-errors|.
4322
4323
4324CATCHING ERRORS *catch-errors*
4325
4326If you want to catch specific errors, you just have to put the code to be
4327watched in a try block and add a catch clause for the error message. The
4328presence of the try conditional causes all errors to be converted to an
4329exception. No message is displayed and |v:errmsg| is not set then. To find
4330the right pattern for the ":catch" command, you have to know how the format of
4331the error exception is.
4332 Error exceptions have the following format: >
4333
4334 Vim({cmdname}):{errmsg}
4335or >
4336 Vim:{errmsg}
4337
4338{cmdname} is the name of the command that failed; the second form is used when
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02004339the command name is not known. {errmsg} is the error message usually produced
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004340when the error occurs outside try conditionals. It always begins with
4341a capital "E", followed by a two or three-digit error number, a colon, and
4342a space.
4343
4344Examples:
4345
4346The command >
4347 :unlet novar
4348normally produces the error message >
4349 E108: No such variable: "novar"
4350which is converted inside try conditionals to an exception >
4351 Vim(unlet):E108: No such variable: "novar"
4352
4353The command >
4354 :dwim
4355normally produces the error message >
4356 E492: Not an editor command: dwim
4357which is converted inside try conditionals to an exception >
4358 Vim:E492: Not an editor command: dwim
4359
4360You can catch all ":unlet" errors by a >
4361 :catch /^Vim(unlet):/
4362or all errors for misspelled command names by a >
4363 :catch /^Vim:E492:/
4364
4365Some error messages may be produced by different commands: >
4366 :function nofunc
4367and >
4368 :delfunction nofunc
4369both produce the error message >
4370 E128: Function name must start with a capital: nofunc
4371which is converted inside try conditionals to an exception >
4372 Vim(function):E128: Function name must start with a capital: nofunc
4373or >
4374 Vim(delfunction):E128: Function name must start with a capital: nofunc
4375respectively. You can catch the error by its number independently on the
4376command that caused it if you use the following pattern: >
4377 :catch /^Vim(\a\+):E128:/
4378
4379Some commands like >
4380 :let x = novar
4381produce multiple error messages, here: >
4382 E121: Undefined variable: novar
4383 E15: Invalid expression: novar
4384Only the first is used for the exception value, since it is the most specific
4385one (see |except-several-errors|). So you can catch it by >
4386 :catch /^Vim(\a\+):E121:/
4387
4388You can catch all errors related to the name "nofunc" by >
4389 :catch /\<nofunc\>/
4390
4391You can catch all Vim errors in the ":write" and ":read" commands by >
4392 :catch /^Vim(\(write\|read\)):E\d\+:/
4393
4394You can catch all Vim errors by the pattern >
4395 :catch /^Vim\((\a\+)\)\=:E\d\+:/
4396<
4397 *catch-text*
4398NOTE: You should never catch the error message text itself: >
4399 :catch /No such variable/
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01004400only works in the English locale, but not when the user has selected
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004401a different language by the |:language| command. It is however helpful to
4402cite the message text in a comment: >
4403 :catch /^Vim(\a\+):E108:/ " No such variable
4404
4405
4406IGNORING ERRORS *ignore-errors*
4407
4408You can ignore errors in a specific Vim command by catching them locally: >
4409
4410 :try
4411 : write
4412 :catch
4413 :endtry
4414
4415But you are strongly recommended NOT to use this simple form, since it could
4416catch more than you want. With the ":write" command, some autocommands could
4417be executed and cause errors not related to writing, for instance: >
4418
4419 :au BufWritePre * unlet novar
4420
4421There could even be such errors you are not responsible for as a script
4422writer: a user of your script might have defined such autocommands. You would
4423then hide the error from the user.
4424 It is much better to use >
4425
4426 :try
4427 : write
4428 :catch /^Vim(write):/
4429 :endtry
4430
4431which only catches real write errors. So catch only what you'd like to ignore
4432intentionally.
4433
4434For a single command that does not cause execution of autocommands, you could
4435even suppress the conversion of errors to exceptions by the ":silent!"
4436command: >
4437 :silent! nunmap k
4438This works also when a try conditional is active.
4439
4440
4441CATCHING INTERRUPTS *catch-interrupt*
4442
4443When there are active try conditionals, an interrupt (CTRL-C) is converted to
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02004444the exception "Vim:Interrupt". You can catch it like every exception. The
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004445script is not terminated, then.
4446 Example: >
4447
4448 :function! TASK1()
4449 : sleep 10
4450 :endfunction
4451
4452 :function! TASK2()
4453 : sleep 20
4454 :endfunction
4455
4456 :while 1
4457 : let command = input("Type a command: ")
4458 : try
4459 : if command == ""
4460 : continue
4461 : elseif command == "END"
4462 : break
4463 : elseif command == "TASK1"
4464 : call TASK1()
4465 : elseif command == "TASK2"
4466 : call TASK2()
4467 : else
4468 : echo "\nIllegal command:" command
4469 : continue
4470 : endif
4471 : catch /^Vim:Interrupt$/
4472 : echo "\nCommand interrupted"
4473 : " Caught the interrupt. Continue with next prompt.
4474 : endtry
4475 :endwhile
4476
4477You can interrupt a task here by pressing CTRL-C; the script then asks for
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02004478a new command. If you press CTRL-C at the prompt, the script is terminated.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004479
4480For testing what happens when CTRL-C would be pressed on a specific line in
4481your script, use the debug mode and execute the |>quit| or |>interrupt|
4482command on that line. See |debug-scripts|.
4483
4484
4485CATCHING ALL *catch-all*
4486
4487The commands >
4488
4489 :catch /.*/
4490 :catch //
4491 :catch
4492
4493catch everything, error exceptions, interrupt exceptions and exceptions
4494explicitly thrown by the |:throw| command. This is useful at the top level of
4495a script in order to catch unexpected things.
4496 Example: >
4497
4498 :try
4499 :
4500 : " do the hard work here
4501 :
4502 :catch /MyException/
4503 :
4504 : " handle known problem
4505 :
4506 :catch /^Vim:Interrupt$/
4507 : echo "Script interrupted"
4508 :catch /.*/
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00004509 : echo "Internal error (" .. v:exception .. ")"
4510 : echo " - occurred at " .. v:throwpoint
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004511 :endtry
4512 :" end of script
4513
4514Note: Catching all might catch more things than you want. Thus, you are
4515strongly encouraged to catch only for problems that you can really handle by
4516specifying a pattern argument to the ":catch".
4517 Example: Catching all could make it nearly impossible to interrupt a script
4518by pressing CTRL-C: >
4519
4520 :while 1
4521 : try
4522 : sleep 1
4523 : catch
4524 : endtry
4525 :endwhile
4526
4527
4528EXCEPTIONS AND AUTOCOMMANDS *except-autocmd*
4529
4530Exceptions may be used during execution of autocommands. Example: >
4531
4532 :autocmd User x try
4533 :autocmd User x throw "Oops!"
4534 :autocmd User x catch
4535 :autocmd User x echo v:exception
4536 :autocmd User x endtry
4537 :autocmd User x throw "Arrgh!"
4538 :autocmd User x echo "Should not be displayed"
4539 :
4540 :try
4541 : doautocmd User x
4542 :catch
4543 : echo v:exception
4544 :endtry
4545
4546This displays "Oops!" and "Arrgh!".
4547
4548 *except-autocmd-Pre*
4549For some commands, autocommands get executed before the main action of the
4550command takes place. If an exception is thrown and not caught in the sequence
4551of autocommands, the sequence and the command that caused its execution are
4552abandoned and the exception is propagated to the caller of the command.
4553 Example: >
4554
4555 :autocmd BufWritePre * throw "FAIL"
4556 :autocmd BufWritePre * echo "Should not be displayed"
4557 :
4558 :try
4559 : write
4560 :catch
4561 : echo "Caught:" v:exception "from" v:throwpoint
4562 :endtry
4563
4564Here, the ":write" command does not write the file currently being edited (as
4565you can see by checking 'modified'), since the exception from the BufWritePre
4566autocommand abandons the ":write". The exception is then caught and the
4567script displays: >
4568
4569 Caught: FAIL from BufWrite Auto commands for "*"
4570<
4571 *except-autocmd-Post*
4572For some commands, autocommands get executed after the main action of the
4573command has taken place. If this main action fails and the command is inside
4574an active try conditional, the autocommands are skipped and an error exception
4575is thrown that can be caught by the caller of the command.
4576 Example: >
4577
4578 :autocmd BufWritePost * echo "File successfully written!"
4579 :
4580 :try
4581 : write /i/m/p/o/s/s/i/b/l/e
4582 :catch
4583 : echo v:exception
4584 :endtry
4585
4586This just displays: >
4587
4588 Vim(write):E212: Can't open file for writing (/i/m/p/o/s/s/i/b/l/e)
4589
4590If you really need to execute the autocommands even when the main action
4591fails, trigger the event from the catch clause.
4592 Example: >
4593
4594 :autocmd BufWritePre * set noreadonly
4595 :autocmd BufWritePost * set readonly
4596 :
4597 :try
4598 : write /i/m/p/o/s/s/i/b/l/e
4599 :catch
4600 : doautocmd BufWritePost /i/m/p/o/s/s/i/b/l/e
4601 :endtry
4602<
4603You can also use ":silent!": >
4604
4605 :let x = "ok"
4606 :let v:errmsg = ""
4607 :autocmd BufWritePost * if v:errmsg != ""
4608 :autocmd BufWritePost * let x = "after fail"
4609 :autocmd BufWritePost * endif
4610 :try
4611 : silent! write /i/m/p/o/s/s/i/b/l/e
4612 :catch
4613 :endtry
4614 :echo x
4615
4616This displays "after fail".
4617
4618If the main action of the command does not fail, exceptions from the
4619autocommands will be catchable by the caller of the command: >
4620
4621 :autocmd BufWritePost * throw ":-("
4622 :autocmd BufWritePost * echo "Should not be displayed"
4623 :
4624 :try
4625 : write
4626 :catch
4627 : echo v:exception
4628 :endtry
4629<
4630 *except-autocmd-Cmd*
4631For some commands, the normal action can be replaced by a sequence of
4632autocommands. Exceptions from that sequence will be catchable by the caller
4633of the command.
4634 Example: For the ":write" command, the caller cannot know whether the file
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02004635had actually been written when the exception occurred. You need to tell it in
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004636some way. >
4637
4638 :if !exists("cnt")
4639 : let cnt = 0
4640 :
4641 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * if &modified
4642 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * let cnt = cnt + 1
4643 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * if cnt % 3 == 2
4644 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * throw "BufWriteCmdError"
4645 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * endif
4646 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * write | set nomodified
4647 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * if cnt % 3 == 0
4648 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * throw "BufWriteCmdError"
4649 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * endif
4650 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * echo "File successfully written!"
4651 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * endif
4652 :endif
4653 :
4654 :try
4655 : write
4656 :catch /^BufWriteCmdError$/
4657 : if &modified
4658 : echo "Error on writing (file contents not changed)"
4659 : else
4660 : echo "Error after writing"
4661 : endif
4662 :catch /^Vim(write):/
4663 : echo "Error on writing"
4664 :endtry
4665
4666When this script is sourced several times after making changes, it displays
4667first >
4668 File successfully written!
4669then >
4670 Error on writing (file contents not changed)
4671then >
4672 Error after writing
4673etc.
4674
4675 *except-autocmd-ill*
4676You cannot spread a try conditional over autocommands for different events.
4677The following code is ill-formed: >
4678
4679 :autocmd BufWritePre * try
4680 :
4681 :autocmd BufWritePost * catch
4682 :autocmd BufWritePost * echo v:exception
4683 :autocmd BufWritePost * endtry
4684 :
4685 :write
4686
4687
4688EXCEPTION HIERARCHIES AND PARAMETERIZED EXCEPTIONS *except-hier-param*
4689
4690Some programming languages allow to use hierarchies of exception classes or to
4691pass additional information with the object of an exception class. You can do
4692similar things in Vim.
4693 In order to throw an exception from a hierarchy, just throw the complete
4694class name with the components separated by a colon, for instance throw the
4695string "EXCEPT:MATHERR:OVERFLOW" for an overflow in a mathematical library.
4696 When you want to pass additional information with your exception class, add
4697it in parentheses, for instance throw the string "EXCEPT:IO:WRITEERR(myfile)"
4698for an error when writing "myfile".
4699 With the appropriate patterns in the ":catch" command, you can catch for
4700base classes or derived classes of your hierarchy. Additional information in
4701parentheses can be cut out from |v:exception| with the ":substitute" command.
4702 Example: >
4703
4704 :function! CheckRange(a, func)
4705 : if a:a < 0
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00004706 : throw "EXCEPT:MATHERR:RANGE(" .. a:func .. ")"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004707 : endif
4708 :endfunction
4709 :
4710 :function! Add(a, b)
4711 : call CheckRange(a:a, "Add")
4712 : call CheckRange(a:b, "Add")
4713 : let c = a:a + a:b
4714 : if c < 0
4715 : throw "EXCEPT:MATHERR:OVERFLOW"
4716 : endif
4717 : return c
4718 :endfunction
4719 :
4720 :function! Div(a, b)
4721 : call CheckRange(a:a, "Div")
4722 : call CheckRange(a:b, "Div")
4723 : if (a:b == 0)
4724 : throw "EXCEPT:MATHERR:ZERODIV"
4725 : endif
4726 : return a:a / a:b
4727 :endfunction
4728 :
4729 :function! Write(file)
4730 : try
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00004731 : execute "write" fnameescape(a:file)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004732 : catch /^Vim(write):/
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00004733 : throw "EXCEPT:IO(" .. getcwd() .. ", " .. a:file .. "):WRITEERR"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004734 : endtry
4735 :endfunction
4736 :
4737 :try
4738 :
Bram Moolenaar75ab5902022-04-18 15:36:40 +01004739 : " something with arithmetic and I/O
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004740 :
4741 :catch /^EXCEPT:MATHERR:RANGE/
4742 : let function = substitute(v:exception, '.*(\(\a\+\)).*', '\1', "")
4743 : echo "Range error in" function
4744 :
4745 :catch /^EXCEPT:MATHERR/ " catches OVERFLOW and ZERODIV
4746 : echo "Math error"
4747 :
4748 :catch /^EXCEPT:IO/
4749 : let dir = substitute(v:exception, '.*(\(.\+\),\s*.\+).*', '\1', "")
4750 : let file = substitute(v:exception, '.*(.\+,\s*\(.\+\)).*', '\1', "")
4751 : if file !~ '^/'
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00004752 : let file = dir .. "/" .. file
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004753 : endif
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00004754 : echo 'I/O error for "' .. file .. '"'
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004755 :
4756 :catch /^EXCEPT/
4757 : echo "Unspecified error"
4758 :
4759 :endtry
4760
4761The exceptions raised by Vim itself (on error or when pressing CTRL-C) use
4762a flat hierarchy: they are all in the "Vim" class. You cannot throw yourself
4763exceptions with the "Vim" prefix; they are reserved for Vim.
4764 Vim error exceptions are parameterized with the name of the command that
4765failed, if known. See |catch-errors|.
4766
4767
4768PECULIARITIES
4769 *except-compat*
4770The exception handling concept requires that the command sequence causing the
4771exception is aborted immediately and control is transferred to finally clauses
4772and/or a catch clause.
4773
4774In the Vim script language there are cases where scripts and functions
4775continue after an error: in functions without the "abort" flag or in a command
4776after ":silent!", control flow goes to the following line, and outside
4777functions, control flow goes to the line following the outermost ":endwhile"
4778or ":endif". On the other hand, errors should be catchable as exceptions
4779(thus, requiring the immediate abortion).
4780
4781This problem has been solved by converting errors to exceptions and using
4782immediate abortion (if not suppressed by ":silent!") only when a try
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02004783conditional is active. This is no restriction since an (error) exception can
4784be caught only from an active try conditional. If you want an immediate
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004785termination without catching the error, just use a try conditional without
4786catch clause. (You can cause cleanup code being executed before termination
4787by specifying a finally clause.)
4788
4789When no try conditional is active, the usual abortion and continuation
4790behavior is used instead of immediate abortion. This ensures compatibility of
4791scripts written for Vim 6.1 and earlier.
4792
4793However, when sourcing an existing script that does not use exception handling
4794commands (or when calling one of its functions) from inside an active try
4795conditional of a new script, you might change the control flow of the existing
4796script on error. You get the immediate abortion on error and can catch the
4797error in the new script. If however the sourced script suppresses error
4798messages by using the ":silent!" command (checking for errors by testing
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02004799|v:errmsg| if appropriate), its execution path is not changed. The error is
4800not converted to an exception. (See |:silent|.) So the only remaining cause
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004801where this happens is for scripts that don't care about errors and produce
4802error messages. You probably won't want to use such code from your new
4803scripts.
4804
4805 *except-syntax-err*
4806Syntax errors in the exception handling commands are never caught by any of
4807the ":catch" commands of the try conditional they belong to. Its finally
4808clauses, however, is executed.
4809 Example: >
4810
4811 :try
4812 : try
4813 : throw 4711
4814 : catch /\(/
4815 : echo "in catch with syntax error"
4816 : catch
4817 : echo "inner catch-all"
4818 : finally
4819 : echo "inner finally"
4820 : endtry
4821 :catch
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00004822 : echo 'outer catch-all caught "' .. v:exception .. '"'
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004823 : finally
4824 : echo "outer finally"
4825 :endtry
4826
4827This displays: >
4828 inner finally
4829 outer catch-all caught "Vim(catch):E54: Unmatched \("
4830 outer finally
4831The original exception is discarded and an error exception is raised, instead.
4832
4833 *except-single-line*
4834The ":try", ":catch", ":finally", and ":endtry" commands can be put on
4835a single line, but then syntax errors may make it difficult to recognize the
4836"catch" line, thus you better avoid this.
4837 Example: >
4838 :try | unlet! foo # | catch | endtry
4839raises an error exception for the trailing characters after the ":unlet!"
4840argument, but does not see the ":catch" and ":endtry" commands, so that the
4841error exception is discarded and the "E488: Trailing characters" message gets
4842displayed.
4843
4844 *except-several-errors*
4845When several errors appear in a single command, the first error message is
Bram Moolenaar53f7fcc2021-07-28 20:10:16 +02004846usually the most specific one and therefore converted to the error exception.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004847 Example: >
4848 echo novar
4849causes >
4850 E121: Undefined variable: novar
4851 E15: Invalid expression: novar
4852The value of the error exception inside try conditionals is: >
4853 Vim(echo):E121: Undefined variable: novar
4854< *except-syntax-error*
4855But when a syntax error is detected after a normal error in the same command,
4856the syntax error is used for the exception being thrown.
4857 Example: >
4858 unlet novar #
4859causes >
4860 E108: No such variable: "novar"
4861 E488: Trailing characters
4862The value of the error exception inside try conditionals is: >
4863 Vim(unlet):E488: Trailing characters
4864This is done because the syntax error might change the execution path in a way
4865not intended by the user. Example: >
4866 try
4867 try | unlet novar # | catch | echo v:exception | endtry
4868 catch /.*/
4869 echo "outer catch:" v:exception
4870 endtry
4871This displays "outer catch: Vim(unlet):E488: Trailing characters", and then
4872a "E600: Missing :endtry" error message is given, see |except-single-line|.
4873
4874==============================================================================
48759. Examples *eval-examples*
4876
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004877Printing in Binary ~
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004878>
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01004879 :" The function Nr2Bin() returns the binary string representation of a number.
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004880 :func Nr2Bin(nr)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004881 : let n = a:nr
4882 : let r = ""
4883 : while n
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00004884 : let r = '01'[n % 2] .. r
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004885 : let n = n / 2
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004886 : endwhile
4887 : return r
4888 :endfunc
4889
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004890 :" The function String2Bin() converts each character in a string to a
4891 :" binary string, separated with dashes.
4892 :func String2Bin(str)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004893 : let out = ''
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004894 : for ix in range(strlen(a:str))
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00004895 : let out = out .. '-' .. Nr2Bin(char2nr(a:str[ix]))
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004896 : endfor
4897 : return out[1:]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004898 :endfunc
4899
4900Example of its use: >
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004901 :echo Nr2Bin(32)
4902result: "100000" >
4903 :echo String2Bin("32")
4904result: "110011-110010"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004905
4906
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004907Sorting lines ~
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004908
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004909This example sorts lines with a specific compare function. >
4910
4911 :func SortBuffer()
4912 : let lines = getline(1, '$')
4913 : call sort(lines, function("Strcmp"))
4914 : call setline(1, lines)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004915 :endfunction
4916
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004917As a one-liner: >
4918 :call setline(1, sort(getline(1, '$'), function("Strcmp")))
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004919
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004920
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004921scanf() replacement ~
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004922 *sscanf*
4923There is no sscanf() function in Vim. If you need to extract parts from a
4924line, you can use matchstr() and substitute() to do it. This example shows
4925how to get the file name, line number and column number out of a line like
4926"foobar.txt, 123, 45". >
4927 :" Set up the match bit
4928 :let mx='\(\f\+\),\s*\(\d\+\),\s*\(\d\+\)'
4929 :"get the part matching the whole expression
4930 :let l = matchstr(line, mx)
4931 :"get each item out of the match
4932 :let file = substitute(l, mx, '\1', '')
4933 :let lnum = substitute(l, mx, '\2', '')
4934 :let col = substitute(l, mx, '\3', '')
4935
4936The input is in the variable "line", the results in the variables "file",
4937"lnum" and "col". (idea from Michael Geddes)
4938
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004939
4940getting the scriptnames in a Dictionary ~
4941 *scriptnames-dictionary*
Bram Moolenaardd60c362023-02-27 15:49:53 +00004942The `:scriptnames` command can be used to get a list of all script files that
4943have been sourced. There is also the `getscriptinfo()` function, but the
4944information returned is not exactly the same. In case you need to manipulate
Bram Moolenaar71badf92023-04-22 22:40:14 +01004945the list, this code can be used as a base: >
Bram Moolenaarb0d45e72017-11-05 18:19:24 +01004946
Bram Moolenaar71badf92023-04-22 22:40:14 +01004947 # Create or update scripts dictionary, indexed by SNR, and return it.
4948 def Scripts(scripts: dict<string> = {}): dict<string>
4949 for info in getscriptinfo()
4950 if scripts->has_key(info.sid)
4951 continue
4952 endif
4953 scripts[info.sid] = info.name
4954 endfor
4955 return scripts
4956 enddef
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00004957
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004958==============================================================================
Bram Moolenaar558ca4a2019-04-04 18:15:38 +0200495910. Vim script versions *vimscript-version* *vimscript-versions*
Bram Moolenaar911ead12019-04-21 00:03:35 +02004960 *scriptversion*
Bram Moolenaar558ca4a2019-04-04 18:15:38 +02004961Over time many features have been added to Vim script. This includes Ex
4962commands, functions, variable types, etc. Each individual feature can be
4963checked with the |has()| and |exists()| functions.
4964
4965Sometimes old syntax of functionality gets in the way of making Vim better.
4966When support is taken away this will break older Vim scripts. To make this
4967explicit the |:scriptversion| command can be used. When a Vim script is not
4968compatible with older versions of Vim this will give an explicit error,
Bram Moolenaar3ff5f0f2019-06-10 13:11:22 +02004969instead of failing in mysterious ways.
Bram Moolenaar558ca4a2019-04-04 18:15:38 +02004970
Bram Moolenaara2baa732022-02-04 16:09:54 +00004971When using a legacy function, defined with `:function`, in |Vim9| script then
4972scriptversion 4 is used.
4973
Bram Moolenaar3ff5f0f2019-06-10 13:11:22 +02004974 *scriptversion-1* >
Bram Moolenaar558ca4a2019-04-04 18:15:38 +02004975 :scriptversion 1
4976< This is the original Vim script, same as not using a |:scriptversion|
4977 command. Can be used to go back to old syntax for a range of lines.
4978 Test for support with: >
4979 has('vimscript-1')
4980
Bram Moolenaar3ff5f0f2019-06-10 13:11:22 +02004981< *scriptversion-2* >
Bram Moolenaar558ca4a2019-04-04 18:15:38 +02004982 :scriptversion 2
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02004983< String concatenation with "." is not supported, use ".." instead.
Bram Moolenaar558ca4a2019-04-04 18:15:38 +02004984 This avoids the ambiguity using "." for Dict member access and
4985 floating point numbers. Now ".5" means the number 0.5.
Bram Moolenaar3ff5f0f2019-06-10 13:11:22 +02004986
4987 *scriptversion-3* >
Bram Moolenaar911ead12019-04-21 00:03:35 +02004988 :scriptversion 3
4989< All |vim-variable|s must be prefixed by "v:". E.g. "version" doesn't
4990 work as |v:version| anymore, it can be used as a normal variable.
4991 Same for some obvious names as "count" and others.
Bram Moolenaar558ca4a2019-04-04 18:15:38 +02004992
Bram Moolenaar911ead12019-04-21 00:03:35 +02004993 Test for support with: >
4994 has('vimscript-3')
Bram Moolenaar60a8de22019-09-15 14:33:22 +02004995<
4996 *scriptversion-4* >
4997 :scriptversion 4
Bram Moolenaarc17e66c2020-06-02 21:38:22 +02004998< Numbers with a leading zero are not recognized as octal. "0o" or "0O"
4999 is still recognized as octal. With the
Bram Moolenaar60a8de22019-09-15 14:33:22 +02005000 previous version you get: >
Bram Moolenaarc17e66c2020-06-02 21:38:22 +02005001 echo 017 " displays 15 (octal)
5002 echo 0o17 " displays 15 (octal)
5003 echo 018 " displays 18 (decimal)
Bram Moolenaar60a8de22019-09-15 14:33:22 +02005004< with script version 4: >
Bram Moolenaarc17e66c2020-06-02 21:38:22 +02005005 echo 017 " displays 17 (decimal)
5006 echo 0o17 " displays 15 (octal)
5007 echo 018 " displays 18 (decimal)
Bram Moolenaar60a8de22019-09-15 14:33:22 +02005008< Also, it is possible to use single quotes inside numbers to make them
5009 easier to read: >
5010 echo 1'000'000
5011< The quotes must be surrounded by digits.
5012
5013 Test for support with: >
5014 has('vimscript-4')
Bram Moolenaar558ca4a2019-04-04 18:15:38 +02005015
5016==============================================================================
501711. No +eval feature *no-eval-feature*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005018
5019When the |+eval| feature was disabled at compile time, none of the expression
5020evaluation commands are available. To prevent this from causing Vim scripts
5021to generate all kinds of errors, the ":if" and ":endif" commands are still
5022recognized, though the argument of the ":if" and everything between the ":if"
5023and the matching ":endif" is ignored. Nesting of ":if" blocks is allowed, but
5024only if the commands are at the start of the line. The ":else" command is not
5025recognized.
5026
5027Example of how to avoid executing commands when the |+eval| feature is
5028missing: >
5029
5030 :if 1
5031 : echo "Expression evaluation is compiled in"
5032 :else
5033 : echo "You will _never_ see this message"
5034 :endif
5035
Bram Moolenaar773a97c2019-06-06 20:39:55 +02005036To execute a command only when the |+eval| feature is disabled can be done in
5037two ways. The simplest is to exit the script (or Vim) prematurely: >
5038 if 1
5039 echo "commands executed with +eval"
5040 finish
5041 endif
5042 args " command executed without +eval
5043
5044If you do not want to abort loading the script you can use a trick, as this
5045example shows: >
Bram Moolenaar45d2cca2017-04-30 16:36:05 +02005046
5047 silent! while 0
5048 set history=111
5049 silent! endwhile
5050
5051When the |+eval| feature is available the command is skipped because of the
5052"while 0". Without the |+eval| feature the "while 0" is an error, which is
5053silently ignored, and the command is executed.
Bram Moolenaarcd5c8f82017-04-09 20:11:58 +02005054
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005055==============================================================================
Bram Moolenaar2f0936c2022-01-08 21:51:59 +0000505612. The sandbox *eval-sandbox* *sandbox*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005057
Bram Moolenaar368373e2010-07-19 20:46:22 +02005058The 'foldexpr', 'formatexpr', 'includeexpr', 'indentexpr', 'statusline' and
5059'foldtext' options may be evaluated in a sandbox. This means that you are
5060protected from these expressions having nasty side effects. This gives some
5061safety for when these options are set from a modeline. It is also used when
5062the command from a tags file is executed and for CTRL-R = in the command line.
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00005063The sandbox is also used for the |:sandbox| command.
Bram Moolenaar2f0936c2022-01-08 21:51:59 +00005064 *E48*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005065These items are not allowed in the sandbox:
5066 - changing the buffer text
Bram Moolenaarb477af22018-07-15 20:20:18 +02005067 - defining or changing mapping, autocommands, user commands
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005068 - setting certain options (see |option-summary|)
Bram Moolenaaref2f6562007-05-06 13:32:59 +00005069 - setting certain v: variables (see |v:var|) *E794*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005070 - executing a shell command
5071 - reading or writing a file
5072 - jumping to another buffer or editing a file
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00005073 - executing Python, Perl, etc. commands
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00005074This is not guaranteed 100% secure, but it should block most attacks.
5075
5076 *:san* *:sandbox*
Bram Moolenaar045e82d2005-07-08 22:25:33 +00005077:san[dbox] {cmd} Execute {cmd} in the sandbox. Useful to evaluate an
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00005078 option that may have been set from a modeline, e.g.
5079 'foldexpr'.
5080
Bram Moolenaarb71eaae2006-01-20 23:10:18 +00005081 *sandbox-option*
5082A few options contain an expression. When this expression is evaluated it may
Bram Moolenaar9b2200a2006-03-20 21:55:45 +00005083have to be done in the sandbox to avoid a security risk. But the sandbox is
Bram Moolenaarb71eaae2006-01-20 23:10:18 +00005084restrictive, thus this only happens when the option was set from an insecure
5085location. Insecure in this context are:
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +00005086- sourcing a .vimrc or .exrc in the current directory
Bram Moolenaarb71eaae2006-01-20 23:10:18 +00005087- while executing in the sandbox
5088- value coming from a modeline
Bram Moolenaarb477af22018-07-15 20:20:18 +02005089- executing a function that was defined in the sandbox
Bram Moolenaarb71eaae2006-01-20 23:10:18 +00005090
5091Note that when in the sandbox and saving an option value and restoring it, the
5092option will still be marked as it was set in the sandbox.
5093
5094==============================================================================
Bram Moolenaar558ca4a2019-04-04 18:15:38 +0200509513. Textlock *textlock*
Bram Moolenaarb71eaae2006-01-20 23:10:18 +00005096
5097In a few situations it is not allowed to change the text in the buffer, jump
5098to another window and some other things that might confuse or break what Vim
5099is currently doing. This mostly applies to things that happen when Vim is
Bram Moolenaar58b85342016-08-14 19:54:54 +02005100actually doing something else. For example, evaluating the 'balloonexpr' may
Bram Moolenaarb71eaae2006-01-20 23:10:18 +00005101happen any moment the mouse cursor is resting at some position.
5102
5103This is not allowed when the textlock is active:
5104 - changing the buffer text
5105 - jumping to another buffer or window
5106 - editing another file
5107 - closing a window or quitting Vim
5108 - etc.
5109
Christian Brabandtda4e4332023-11-05 10:45:12 +01005110==============================================================================
511114. Vim script library *vim-script-library*
5112
5113Vim comes bundled with a Vim script library, that can be used by runtime,
5114script authors. Currently, it only includes very few functions, but it may
5115grow over time.
5116
h_east596a9f22023-11-21 21:24:23 +09005117The functions are available as |Vim9-script| as well as using legacy Vim
Christian Brabandtda4e4332023-11-05 10:45:12 +01005118script (to be used for non Vim 9.0 versions and Neovim).
5119
5120 *dist#vim* *dist#vim9*
h_east596a9f22023-11-21 21:24:23 +09005121The functions make use of the autoloaded prefix "dist#vim" (for legacy Vim
5122script and Neovim) and "dist#vim9" for Vim9 script.
Christian Brabandtda4e4332023-11-05 10:45:12 +01005123
5124The following functions are available:
5125
5126dist#vim#IsSafeExecutable(filetype, executable) ~
5127dist#vim9#IsSafeExecutable(filetype:string, executable:string): bool ~
5128
5129This function takes a filetype and an executable and checks whether it is safe
5130to execute the given executable. For security reasons users may not want to
5131have Vim execute random executables or may have forbidden to do so for
5132specific filetypes by setting the "<filetype>_exec" variable (|plugin_exec|).
5133
5134It returns |true| or |false| to indicate whether the plugin should run the given
zeertzjq61e984e2023-12-09 15:18:33 +08005135executable. It takes the following arguments:
Christian Brabandtda4e4332023-11-05 10:45:12 +01005136
5137 argument type ~
5138
5139 filetype string
5140 executable string
5141
Luca Saccarolac729d6d2025-01-25 16:07:12 +01005142 *dist#vim9#Open()* *:Open*
Luca Saccarola76680122025-01-29 18:33:46 +01005143 *g:Openprg* *gx*
Luca Saccarolac729d6d2025-01-25 16:07:12 +01005144dist#vim9#Open(file: string) ~
5145
5146Opens `path` with the system default handler (macOS `open`, Windows
5147`explorer.exe`, Linux `xdg-open`, …). If the variable |g:Openprg| exists the
5148string specified in the variable is used instead.
5149
Luca Saccarola76680122025-01-29 18:33:46 +01005150This function is by default called using the gx mapping. In visual mode
5151tries to open the visually selected text.
5152
5153Associated setting variables:
5154`g:gx_word`: control how gx picks up the text under the cursor. Uses
5155 `g:netrw_gx` as a fallback for backward compatibility.
5156 (default: `<cfile>`)
5157
5158`g:nogx`: disables the gx mapping. Uses `g:netrw_nogx` as a fallback for
5159 backward compatibility. (default: `unset`)
5160
5161
Luca Saccarolac729d6d2025-01-25 16:07:12 +01005162NOTE: Escaping of the path is automatically applied.
5163
5164Usage: >vim
5165 :call dist#vim9#Open(<path>)
5166 :Open <path>
5167<
5168
5169 *dist#vim9#Launch()* *:Launch*
5170dist#vim9#Launch(file: string) ~
5171
5172Launches <args> with the appropriate system programs. Intended for launching
5173GUI programs within Vim.
5174
5175NOTE: escaping of <args> is left to the user
5176
5177Examples: >vim
5178 vim9script
5179
5180 import autoload 'dist/vim9.vim'
5181 # Execute 'makeprg' into another xterm window
5182 vim9.Launch('xterm ' .. expandcmd(&makeprg))
5183<
5184
5185Usage: >vim
5186 :call dist#vim9#Launch(<args>)
5187 :Launch <app> <args>.
5188<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005189
Bram Moolenaar91f84f62018-07-29 15:07:52 +02005190 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: