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Bram Moolenaar62e1bb42019-04-08 16:25:07 +02001*message.txt* For Vim version 8.1. Last change: 2019 Apr 04
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7This file contains an alphabetical list of messages and error messages that
8Vim produces. You can use this if you don't understand what the message
9means. It is not complete though.
10
111. Old messages |:messages|
122. Error messages |error-messages|
133. Messages |messages|
14
15==============================================================================
161. Old messages *:messages* *:mes* *message-history*
17
18The ":messages" command can be used to view previously given messages. This
19is especially useful when messages have been overwritten or truncated. This
20depends on the 'shortmess' option.
21
Bram Moolenaar451f8492016-04-14 17:16:22 +020022 :messages Show all messages.
23
24 :{count}messages Show the {count} most recent messages.
25
26 :messages clear Clear all messages.
27
28 :{count}messages clear Clear messages, keeping only the {count} most
29 recent ones.
30
Bram Moolenaar6773b2b2010-05-30 16:01:37 +020031The number of remembered messages is fixed at 20 for the tiny version and 200
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +000032for other versions.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000033
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +000034 *g<*
35The "g<" command can be used to see the last page of previous command output.
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +000036This is especially useful if you accidentally typed <Space> at the hit-enter
Bram Moolenaardd2a3cd2007-05-05 17:10:09 +000037prompt. You are then back at the hit-enter prompt and can then scroll further
38back.
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +020039Note: If the output has been stopped with "q" at the more prompt, it will only
40be displayed up to this point.
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +000041The previous command output is cleared when another command produces output.
Bram Moolenaar64d8e252016-09-06 22:12:34 +020042The "g<" output is not redirected.
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +000043
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000044If you are using translated messages, the first printed line tells who
45maintains the messages or the translations. You can use this to contact the
46maintainer when you spot a mistake.
47
48If you want to find help on a specific (error) message, use the ID at the
49start of the message. For example, to get help on the message: >
50
51 E72: Close error on swap file
52
53or (translated): >
54
55 E72: Errore durante chiusura swap file
56
57Use: >
58
59 :help E72
60
61If you are lazy, it also works without the shift key: >
62
63 :help e72
64
65==============================================================================
Bram Moolenaarf2330482008-06-24 20:19:36 +0000662. Error messages *error-messages* *errors*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000067
68When an error message is displayed, but it is removed before you could read
69it, you can see it again with: >
70 :echo errmsg
Bram Moolenaar451f8492016-04-14 17:16:22 +020071Or view a list of recent messages with: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000072 :messages
Bram Moolenaar451f8492016-04-14 17:16:22 +020073See `:messages` above.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000074
75
76LIST OF MESSAGES
77 *E222* *E228* *E232* *E256* *E293* *E298* *E304* *E317*
78 *E318* *E356* *E438* *E439* *E440* *E316* *E320* *E322*
Bram Moolenaar72540672018-02-09 22:00:53 +010079 *E323* *E341* *E473* *E570* *E685* *E950* >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000080 Add to read buffer
81 makemap: Illegal mode
82 Cannot create BalloonEval with both message and callback
83 Hangul automata ERROR
84 block was not locked
85 Didn't get block nr {N}?
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +010086 ml_upd_block0(): Didn't get block 0??
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000087 pointer block id wrong {N}
88 Updated too many blocks?
89 get_varp ERROR
90 u_undo: line numbers wrong
91 undo list corrupt
92 undo line missing
93 ml_get: cannot find line {N}
94 cannot find line {N}
95 line number out of range: {N} past the end
96 line count wrong in block {N}
97 Internal error
Bram Moolenaarcf3630f2005-01-08 16:04:29 +000098 Internal error: {function}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000099 fatal error in cs_manage_matches
Bram Moolenaar72540672018-02-09 22:00:53 +0100100 Invalid count for del_bytes(): {N}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000101
102This is an internal error. If you can reproduce it, please send in a bug
103report. |bugs|
104
105>
106 ATTENTION
107 Found a swap file by the name ...
108
109See |ATTENTION|.
110
111 *E92* >
112 Buffer {N} not found
113
114The buffer you requested does not exist. This can also happen when you have
115wiped out a buffer which contains a mark or is referenced in another way.
116|:bwipeout|
117
118 *E95* >
119 Buffer with this name already exists
120
121You cannot have two buffers with the same name.
122
123 *E72* >
124 Close error on swap file
125
126The |swap-file|, that is used to keep a copy of the edited text, could not be
127closed properly. Mostly harmless.
128
129 *E169* >
130 Command too recursive
131
132This happens when an Ex command executes an Ex command that executes an Ex
Bram Moolenaarbc2eada2017-01-02 21:27:47 +0100133command, etc. The limit is 200 or the value of 'maxfuncdepth', whatever is
134larger. When it's more there probably is an endless loop. Probably a
135|:execute| or |:source| command is involved.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000136
137 *E254* >
138 Cannot allocate color {name}
139
140The color name {name} is unknown. See |gui-colors| for a list of colors that
141are available on most systems.
142
143 *E458* >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000144 Cannot allocate colormap entry, some colors may be incorrect
145
146This means that there are not enough colors available for Vim. It will still
147run, but some of the colors will not appear in the specified color. Try
148stopping other applications that use many colors, or start them after starting
149gvim.
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100150Browsers are known to consume a lot of colors. You can avoid this with
151netscape by telling it to use its own colormap: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000152 netscape -install
153Or tell it to limit to a certain number of colors (64 should work well): >
154 netscape -ncols 64
155This can also be done with a line in your Xdefaults file: >
156 Netscape*installColormap: Yes
157or >
158 Netscape*maxImageColors: 64
159<
160 *E79* >
161 Cannot expand wildcards
162
163A filename contains a strange combination of characters, which causes Vim to
164attempt expanding wildcards but this fails. This does NOT mean that no
165matching file names could be found, but that the pattern was illegal.
166
167 *E459* >
168 Cannot go back to previous directory
169
170While expanding a file name, Vim failed to go back to the previously used
171directory. All file names being used may be invalid now! You need to have
172execute permission on the current directory.
173
174 *E190* *E212* >
175 Cannot open "{filename}" for writing
176 Can't open file for writing
177
178For some reason the file you are writing to cannot be created or overwritten.
179The reason could be that you do not have permission to write in the directory
180or the file name is not valid.
181
182 *E166* >
183 Can't open linked file for writing
184
185You are trying to write to a file which can't be overwritten, and the file is
186a link (either a hard link or a symbolic link). Writing might still be
187possible if the directory that contains the link or the file is writable, but
188Vim now doesn't know if you want to delete the link and write the file in its
189place, or if you want to delete the file itself and write the new file in its
190place. If you really want to write the file under this name, you have to
191manually delete the link or the file, or change the permissions so that Vim
192can overwrite.
193
194 *E46* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100195 Cannot change read-only variable "{name}"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000196
197You are trying to assign a value to an argument of a function |a:var| or a Vim
198internal variable |v:var| which is read-only.
199
200 *E90* >
201 Cannot unload last buffer
202
203Vim always requires one buffer to be loaded, otherwise there would be nothing
204to display in the window.
205
206 *E40* >
207 Can't open errorfile <filename>
208
209When using the ":make" or ":grep" commands: The file used to save the error
210messages or grep output cannot be opened. This can have several causes:
211- 'shellredir' has a wrong value.
212- The shell changes directory, causing the error file to be written in another
213 directory. This could be fixed by changing 'makeef', but then the make
214 command is still executed in the wrong directory.
215- 'makeef' has a wrong value.
216- The 'grepprg' or 'makeprg' could not be executed. This cannot always be
217 detected (especially on MS-Windows). Check your $PATH.
218
219 >
220 Can't open file C:\TEMP\VIoD243.TMP
221
222On MS-Windows, this message appears when the output of an external command was
223to be read, but the command didn't run successfully. This can be caused by
224many things. Check the 'shell', 'shellquote', 'shellxquote', 'shellslash' and
225related options. It might also be that the external command was not found,
226there is no different error message for that.
227
228 *E12* >
229 Command not allowed from exrc/vimrc in current dir or tag search
230
231Some commands are not allowed for security reasons. These commands mostly
232come from a .exrc or .vimrc file in the current directory, or from a tags
233file. Also see 'secure'.
234
235 *E74* >
236 Command too complex
237
238A mapping resulted in a very long command string. Could be caused by a
239mapping that indirectly calls itself.
240
241>
242 CONVERSION ERROR
243
244When writing a file and the text "CONVERSION ERROR" appears, this means that
245some bits were lost when converting text from the internally used UTF-8 to the
246format of the file. The file will not be marked unmodified. If you care
247about the loss of information, set the 'fileencoding' option to another value
248that can handle the characters in the buffer and write again. If you don't
249care, you can abandon the buffer or reset the 'modified' option.
250
251 *E302* >
252 Could not rename swap file
253
254When the file name changes, Vim tries to rename the |swap-file| as well.
255This failed and the old swap file is now still used. Mostly harmless.
256
257 *E43* *E44* >
258 Damaged match string
259 Corrupted regexp program
260
261Something inside Vim went wrong and resulted in a corrupted regexp. If you
262know how to reproduce this problem, please report it. |bugs|
263
264 *E208* *E209* *E210* >
265 Error writing to "{filename}"
266 Error closing "{filename}"
267 Error reading "{filename}"
268
269This occurs when Vim is trying to rename a file, but a simple change of file
270name doesn't work. Then the file will be copied, but somehow this failed.
271The result may be that both the original file and the destination file exist
272and the destination file may be incomplete.
273
274>
275 Vim: Error reading input, exiting...
276
277This occurs when Vim cannot read typed characters while input is required.
278Vim got stuck, the only thing it can do is exit. This can happen when both
279stdin and stderr are redirected and executing a script that doesn't exit Vim.
280
281 *E47* >
282 Error while reading errorfile
283
284Reading the error file was not possible. This is NOT caused by an error
285message that was not recognized.
286
287 *E80* >
288 Error while writing
289
290Writing a file was not completed successfully. The file is probably
291incomplete.
292
293 *E13* *E189* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100294 File exists (add ! to override)
295 "{filename}" exists (add ! to override)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000296
297You are protected from accidentally overwriting a file. When you want to
298write anyway, use the same command, but add a "!" just after the command.
299Example: >
300 :w /tmp/test
301changes to: >
302 :w! /tmp/test
303<
Bram Moolenaarecf07c82005-08-01 21:52:12 +0000304 *E768* >
305 Swap file exists: {filename} (:silent! overrides)
306
307You are protected from overwriting a file that is being edited by Vim. This
308happens when you use ":w! filename" and a swapfile is found.
309- If the swapfile was left over from an old crashed edit session you may want
310 to delete the swapfile. Edit {filename} to find out information about the
311 swapfile.
312- If you want to write anyway prepend ":silent!" to the command. For example: >
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +0000313 :silent! w! /tmp/test
Bram Moolenaarecf07c82005-08-01 21:52:12 +0000314< The special command is needed, since you already added the ! for overwriting
315 an existing file.
316
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000317 *E139* >
318 File is loaded in another buffer
319
320You are trying to write a file under a name which is also used in another
321buffer. This would result in two versions of the same file.
322
323 *E142* >
324 File not written: Writing is disabled by 'write' option
325
326The 'write' option is off. This makes all commands that try to write a file
327generate this message. This could be caused by a |-m| commandline argument.
328You can switch the 'write' option on with ":set write".
329
330 *E25* >
331 GUI cannot be used: Not enabled at compile time
332
333You are running a version of Vim that doesn't include the GUI code. Therefore
334"gvim" and ":gui" don't work.
335
336 *E49* >
337 Invalid scroll size
338
339This is caused by setting an invalid value for the 'scroll', 'scrolljump' or
340'scrolloff' options.
341
342 *E17* >
343 "{filename}" is a directory
344
345You tried to write a file with the name of a directory. This is not possible.
346You probably need to append a file name.
347
348 *E19* >
349 Mark has invalid line number
350
351You are using a mark that has a line number that doesn't exist. This can
352happen when you have a mark in another file, and some other program has
353deleted lines from it.
354
355 *E219* *E220* >
356 Missing {.
357 Missing }.
358
359Using a {} construct in a file name, but there is a { without a matching } or
360the other way around. It should be used like this: {foo,bar}. This matches
361"foo" and "bar".
362
363 *E315* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100364 ml_get: invalid lnum: {number}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000365
366This is an internal Vim error. Please try to find out how it can be
367reproduced, and submit a bug report |bugreport.vim|.
368
369 *E173* >
370 {number} more files to edit
371
372You are trying to exit, while the last item in the argument list has not been
373edited. This protects you from accidentally exiting when you still have more
374files to work on. See |argument-list|. If you do want to exit, just do it
375again and it will work.
376
377 *E23* *E194* >
378 No alternate file
379 No alternate file name to substitute for '#'
380
381The alternate file is not defined yet. See |alternate-file|.
382
383 *E32* >
384 No file name
385
386The current buffer has no name. To write it, use ":w fname". Or give the
387buffer a name with ":file fname".
388
389 *E141* >
390 No file name for buffer {number}
391
392One of the buffers that was changed does not have a file name. Therefore it
393cannot be written. You need to give the buffer a file name: >
394 :buffer {number}
395 :file {filename}
396<
397 *E33* >
398 No previous substitute regular expression
399
400When using the '~' character in a pattern, it is replaced with the previously
401used pattern in a ":substitute" command. This fails when no such command has
Bram Moolenaardf177f62005-02-22 08:39:57 +0000402been used yet. See |/~|. This also happens when using ":s/pat/%/", where the
403"%" stands for the previous substitute string.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000404
405 *E35* >
406 No previous regular expression
407
408When using an empty search pattern, the previous search pattern is used. But
409that is not possible if there was no previous search.
410
411 *E24* >
412 No such abbreviation
413
414You have used an ":unabbreviate" command with an argument which is not an
415existing abbreviation. All variations of this command give the same message:
416":cunabbrev", ":iunabbrev", etc. Check for trailing white space.
417
418>
419 /dev/dsp: No such file or directory
420
421Only given for GTK GUI with Gnome support. Gnome tries to use the audio
422device and it isn't present. You can ignore this error.
423
424 *E31* >
425 No such mapping
426
427You have used an ":unmap" command with an argument which is not an existing
428mapping. All variations of this command give the same message: ":cunmap",
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +0000429":unmap!", etc. A few hints:
430- Check for trailing white space.
431- If the mapping is buffer-local you need to use ":unmap <buffer>".
432 |:map-<buffer>|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000433
434 *E37* *E89* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100435 No write since last change (add ! to override)
436 No write since last change for buffer {N} (add ! to override)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000437
438You are trying to |abandon| a file that has changes. Vim protects you from
439losing your work. You can either write the changed file with ":w", or, if you
440are sure, |abandon| it anyway, and lose all the changes. This can be done by
441adding a '!' character just after the command you used. Example: >
442 :e other_file
443changes to: >
444 :e! other_file
445<
446 *E162* >
447 No write since last change for buffer "{name}"
448
449This appears when you try to exit Vim while some buffers are changed. You
450will either have to write the changed buffer (with |:w|), or use a command to
451abandon the buffer forcefully, e.g., with ":qa!". Careful, make sure you
452don't throw away changes you really want to keep. You might have forgotten
453about a buffer, especially when 'hidden' is set.
454
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +0000455>
456 [No write since last change]
457
458This appears when executing a shell command while at least one buffer was
459changed. To avoid the message reset the 'warn' option.
460
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000461 *E38* >
462 Null argument
463
464Something inside Vim went wrong and resulted in a NULL pointer. If you know
465how to reproduce this problem, please report it. |bugs|
466
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000467 *E41* *E82* *E83* *E342* >
468 Out of memory!
469 Out of memory! (allocating {number} bytes)
470 Cannot allocate any buffer, exiting...
471 Cannot allocate buffer, using other one...
472
473Oh, oh. You must have been doing something complicated, or some other program
474is consuming your memory. Be careful! Vim is not completely prepared for an
475out-of-memory situation. First make sure that any changes are saved. Then
476try to solve the memory shortage. To stay on the safe side, exit Vim and
Bram Moolenaar0ed0eea2010-07-26 22:21:27 +0200477start again.
478
479Buffers are only partly kept in memory, thus editing a very large file is
480unlikely to cause an out-of-memory situation. Undo information is completely
481in memory, you can reduce that with these options:
482- 'undolevels' Set to a low value, or to -1 to disable undo completely. This
483 helps for a change that affects all lines.
484- 'undoreload' Set to zero to disable.
485
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000486 *E339* >
487 Pattern too long
488
Bram Moolenaard58e9292011-02-09 17:07:58 +0100489This happens on systems with 16 bit ints: The compiled regexp pattern is
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000490longer than about 65000 characters. Try using a shorter pattern.
Bram Moolenaard58e9292011-02-09 17:07:58 +0100491It also happens when the offset of a rule doesn't fit in the space available.
492Try simplifying the pattern.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000493
494 *E45* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100495 'readonly' option is set (add ! to override)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000496
497You are trying to write a file that was marked as read-only. To write the
498file anyway, either reset the 'readonly' option, or add a '!' character just
499after the command you used. Example: >
500 :w
501changes to: >
502 :w!
503<
504 *E294* *E295* *E301* >
505 Read error in swap file
506 Seek error in swap file read
507 Oops, lost the swap file!!!
508
509Vim tried to read text from the |swap-file|, but something went wrong. The
510text in the related buffer may now be corrupted! Check carefully before you
511write a buffer. You may want to write it in another file and check for
512differences.
513
514 *E192* >
515 Recursive use of :normal too deep
516
517You are using a ":normal" command, whose argument again uses a ":normal"
518command in a recursive way. This is restricted to 'maxmapdepth' levels. This
519example illustrates how to get this message: >
520 :map gq :normal gq<CR>
521If you type "gq", it will execute this mapping, which will call "gq" again.
522
523 *E22* >
524 Scripts nested too deep
525
526Scripts can be read with the "-s" command-line argument and with the ":source"
527command. The script can then again read another script. This can continue
528for about 14 levels. When more nesting is done, Vim assumes that there is a
529recursive loop somewhere and stops with this error message.
530
531 *E319* >
532 Sorry, the command is not available in this version
533
534You have used a command that is not present in the version of Vim you are
535using. When compiling Vim, many different features can be enabled or
536disabled. This depends on how big Vim has chosen to be and the operating
537system. See |+feature-list| for when which feature is available. The
538|:version| command shows which feature Vim was compiled with.
539
540 *E300* >
541 Swap file already exists (symlink attack?)
542
543This message appears when Vim is trying to open a swap file and finds it
544already exists or finds a symbolic link in its place. This shouldn't happen,
545because Vim already checked that the file doesn't exist. Either someone else
546opened the same file at exactly the same moment (very unlikely) or someone is
547attempting a symlink attack (could happen when editing a file in /tmp or when
548'directory' starts with "/tmp", which is a bad choice).
549
550 *E432* >
551 Tags file not sorted: {file name}
552
553Vim (and Vi) expect tags files to be sorted in ASCII order. Binary searching
554can then be used, which is a lot faster than a linear search. If your tags
555files are not properly sorted, reset the |'tagbsearch'| option.
556This message is only given when Vim detects a problem when searching for a
Bram Moolenaar7fc0c062010-08-10 21:43:35 +0200557tag. Sometimes this message is not given, even though the tags file is not
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000558properly sorted.
559
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000560 *E424* >
561 Too many different highlighting attributes in use
562
563Vim can only handle about 223 different kinds of highlighting. If you run
564into this limit, you have used too many |:highlight| commands with different
565arguments. A ":highlight link" is not counted.
566
567 *E77* >
568 Too many file names
569
570When expanding file names, more than one match was found. Only one match is
571allowed for the command that was used.
572
573 *E303* >
574 Unable to open swap file for "{filename}", recovery impossible
575
576Vim was not able to create a swap file. You can still edit the file, but if
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100577Vim unexpectedly exits the changes will be lost. And Vim may consume a lot of
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000578memory when editing a big file. You may want to change the 'directory' option
579to avoid this error. See |swap-file|.
580
581 *E140* >
582 Use ! to write partial buffer
583
584When using a range to write part of a buffer, it is unusual to overwrite the
585original file. It is probably a mistake (e.g., when Visual mode was active
586when using ":w"), therefore Vim requires using a ! after the command, e.g.:
587":3,10w!".
588>
589
590 Warning: Cannot convert string "<Key>Escape,_Key_Cancel" to type
591 VirtualBinding
592
593Messages like this appear when starting up. This is not a Vim problem, your
594X11 configuration is wrong. You can find a hint on how to solve this here:
595http://groups.yahoo.com/group/solarisonintel/message/12179.
Bram Moolenaara17d4c12010-05-30 18:30:36 +0200596[this URL is no longer valid]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000597
598 *W10* >
599 Warning: Changing a readonly file
600
601The file is read-only and you are making a change to it anyway. You can use
602the |FileChangedRO| autocommand event to avoid this message (the autocommand
603must reset the 'readonly' option). See 'modifiable' to completely disallow
604making changes to a file.
Bram Moolenaard5cdbeb2005-10-10 20:59:28 +0000605This message is only given for the first change after 'readonly' has been set.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000606
607 *W13* >
608 Warning: File "{filename}" has been created after editing started
609
610You are editing a file in Vim when it didn't exist, but it does exist now.
611You will have to decide if you want to keep the version in Vim or the newly
612created file. This message is not given when 'buftype' is not empty.
613
614 *W11* >
615 Warning: File "{filename}" has changed since editing started
616
617The file which you have started editing has got another timestamp and the
618contents changed (more precisely: When reading the file again with the current
619option settings and autocommands you would end up with different text). This
620probably means that some other program changed the file. You will have to
621find out what happened, and decide which version of the file you want to keep.
622Set the 'autoread' option if you want to do this automatically.
623This message is not given when 'buftype' is not empty.
624
625There is one situation where you get this message even though there is nothing
626wrong: If you save a file in Windows on the day the daylight saving time
627starts. It can be fixed in one of these ways:
628- Add this line in your autoexec.bat: >
629 SET TZ=-1
630< Adjust the "-1" for your time zone.
631- Disable "automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes".
632- Just write the file again the next day. Or set your clock to the next day,
633 write the file twice and set the clock back.
634
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100635If you get W11 all the time, you may need to disable "Acronis Active
Bram Moolenaarb0d45e72017-11-05 18:19:24 +0100636Protection" or register Vim as a trusted service/application.
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100637
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000638 *W12* >
639 Warning: File "{filename}" has changed and the buffer was changed in Vim as well
640
641Like the above, and the buffer for the file was changed in this Vim as well.
642You will have to decide if you want to keep the version in this Vim or the one
643on disk. This message is not given when 'buftype' is not empty.
644
645 *W16* >
646 Warning: Mode of file "{filename}" has changed since editing started
647
648When the timestamp for a buffer was changed and the contents are still the
649same but the mode (permissions) have changed. This usually occurs when
650checking out a file from a version control system, which causes the read-only
651bit to be reset. It should be safe to reload the file. Set 'autoread' to
652automatically reload the file.
653
654 *E211* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100655 File "{filename}" no longer available
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000656
657The file which you have started editing has disappeared, or is no longer
658accessible. Make sure you write the buffer somewhere to avoid losing
659changes. This message is not given when 'buftype' is not empty.
660
661 *W14* >
662 Warning: List of file names overflow
663
664You must be using an awful lot of buffers. It's now possible that two buffers
665have the same number, which causes various problems. You might want to exit
666Vim and restart it.
667
Bram Moolenaar269f5952016-07-15 22:54:41 +0200668 *E931* >
669 Buffer cannot be registered
670
Bram Moolenaar42ebd062016-07-17 13:35:14 +0200671Out of memory or a duplicate buffer number. May happen after W14. Looking up
Bram Moolenaar269f5952016-07-15 22:54:41 +0200672a buffer will not always work, better restart Vim.
673
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000674 *E296* *E297* >
675 Seek error in swap file write
676 Write error in swap file
677
678This mostly happens when the disk is full. Vim could not write text into the
679|swap-file|. It's not directly harmful, but when Vim unexpectedly exits some
680text may be lost without recovery being possible. Vim might run out of memory
681when this problem persists.
682
683 *connection-refused* >
684 Xlib: connection to "<machine-name:0.0" refused by server
685
686This happens when Vim tries to connect to the X server, but the X server does
687not allow a connection. The connection to the X server is needed to be able
688to restore the title and for the xterm clipboard support. Unfortunately this
689error message cannot be avoided, except by disabling the |+xterm_clipboard|
690and |+X11| features.
691
692 *E10* >
693 \\ should be followed by /, ? or &
694
695A command line started with a backslash or the range of a command contained a
696backslash in a wrong place. This is often caused by command-line continuation
697being disabled. Remove the 'C' flag from the 'cpoptions' option to enable it.
Bram Moolenaar5eb86f92004-07-26 12:53:41 +0000698Or use ":set nocp".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000699
700 *E471* >
701 Argument required
702
703This happens when an Ex command with mandatory argument(s) was executed, but
704no argument has been specified.
705
Bram Moolenaar62e1bb42019-04-08 16:25:07 +0200706 *E474* *E475* *E983* >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000707 Invalid argument
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100708 Invalid argument: {arg}
Bram Moolenaar62e1bb42019-04-08 16:25:07 +0200709 Duplicate argument: {arg}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000710
Bram Moolenaar62e1bb42019-04-08 16:25:07 +0200711An Ex command or function has been executed, but an invalid argument has been
712specified.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000713
714 *E488* >
715 Trailing characters
716
717An argument has been added to an Ex command that does not permit one.
718
719 *E477* *E478* >
720 No ! allowed
721 Don't panic!
722
723You have added a "!" after an Ex command that doesn't permit one.
724
725 *E481* >
726 No range allowed
727
728A range was specified for an Ex command that doesn't permit one. See
729|cmdline-ranges|.
730
731 *E482* *E483* >
732 Can't create file {filename}
733 Can't get temp file name
734
735Vim cannot create a temporary file.
736
737 *E484* *E485* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100738 Can't open file {filename}
739 Can't read file {filename}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000740
Bram Moolenaar34700a62013-03-07 13:20:54 +0100741Vim cannot read a temporary file. Especially on Windows, this can be caused
742by wrong escaping of special characters for cmd.exe; the approach was
743changed with patch 7.3.443. Try using |shellescape()| for all shell arguments
744given to |system()|, or explicitly add escaping with ^. Also see
745'shellxquote' and 'shellxescape'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000746
747 *E464* >
748 Ambiguous use of user-defined command
749
750There are two user-defined commands with a common name prefix, and you used
751Command-line completion to execute one of them. |user-cmd-ambiguous|
752Example: >
753 :command MyCommand1 echo "one"
754 :command MyCommand2 echo "two"
755 :MyCommand
756<
757 *E492* >
758 Not an editor command
759
760You tried to execute a command that is neither an Ex command nor
761a user-defined command.
762
Bram Moolenaare0720cb2017-03-29 13:48:40 +0200763 *E943* >
764 Command table needs to be updated, run 'make cmdidxs'
765
766This can only happen when changing the source code, when adding a command in
767src/ex_cmds.h. The lookup table then needs to be updated, by running: >
768 make cmdidxs
769
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000770==============================================================================
7713. Messages *messages*
772
773This is an (incomplete) overview of various messages that Vim gives:
774
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000775 *hit-enter* *press-enter* *hit-return*
776 *press-return* *hit-enter-prompt*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000777
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000778 Press ENTER or type command to continue
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000779
780This message is given when there is something on the screen for you to read,
781and the screen is about to be redrawn:
782- After executing an external command (e.g., ":!ls" and "=").
783- Something is displayed on the status line that is longer than the width of
784 the window, or runs into the 'showcmd' or 'ruler' output.
785
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000786-> Press <Enter> or <Space> to redraw the screen and continue, without that
787 key being used otherwise.
788-> Press ':' or any other Normal mode command character to start that command.
Bram Moolenaare1438bb2006-03-01 22:01:55 +0000789-> Press 'k', <Up>, 'u', 'b' or 'g' to scroll back in the messages. This
790 works the same way as at the |more-prompt|. Only works when 'compatible'
791 is off and 'more' is on.
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100792-> Pressing 'j', 'f', 'd' or <Down> is ignored when messages scrolled off the
793 top of the screen, 'compatible' is off and 'more' is on, to avoid that
794 typing one 'j' or 'f' too many causes the messages to disappear.
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000795-> Press <C-Y> to copy (yank) a modeless selection to the clipboard register.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000796-> Use a menu. The characters defined for Cmdline-mode are used.
797-> When 'mouse' contains the 'r' flag, clicking the left mouse button works
798 like pressing <Space>. This makes it impossible to select text though.
799-> For the GUI clicking the left mouse button in the last line works like
800 pressing <Space>.
801{Vi: only ":" commands are interpreted}
802
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +0000803If you accidentally hit <Enter> or <Space> and you want to see the displayed
804text then use |g<|. This only works when 'more' is set.
805
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000806To reduce the number of hit-enter prompts:
807- Set 'cmdheight' to 2 or higher.
808- Add flags to 'shortmess'.
809- Reset 'showcmd' and/or 'ruler'.
810
Bram Moolenaarbb15b652005-10-03 21:52:09 +0000811If your script causes the hit-enter prompt and you don't know why, you may
812find the |v:scrollstart| variable useful.
813
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000814Also see 'mouse'. The hit-enter message is highlighted with the |hl-Question|
815group.
816
817
818 *more-prompt* *pager* >
819 -- More --
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000820 -- More -- SPACE/d/j: screen/page/line down, b/u/k: up, q: quit
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000821
822This message is given when the screen is filled with messages. It is only
823given when the 'more' option is on. It is highlighted with the |hl-MoreMsg|
824group.
825
826Type effect ~
827 <CR> or <NL> or j or <Down> one more line
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000828 d down a page (half a screen)
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100829 <Space> or f or <PageDown> down a screen
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +0000830 G down all the way, until the hit-enter
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +0000831 prompt
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000832
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000833 <BS> or k or <Up> one line back (*)
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000834 u up a page (half a screen) (*)
835 b or <PageUp> back a screen (*)
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +0000836 g back to the start (*)
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000837
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000838 q, <Esc> or CTRL-C stop the listing
839 : stop the listing and enter a
840 command-line
841 <C-Y> yank (copy) a modeless selection to
842 the clipboard ("* and "+ registers)
843 {menu-entry} what the menu is defined to in
844 Cmdline-mode.
845 <LeftMouse> (**) next page
846
847Any other key causes the meaning of the keys to be displayed.
848
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000849(*) backwards scrolling is {not in Vi}. Only scrolls back to where messages
850 started to scroll.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000851(**) Clicking the left mouse button only works:
852 - For the GUI: in the last line of the screen.
853 - When 'r' is included in 'mouse' (but then selecting text won't work).
854
855
856Note: The typed key is directly obtained from the terminal, it is not mapped
857and typeahead is ignored.
858
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +0000859The |g<| command can be used to see the last page of previous command output.
860This is especially useful if you accidentally typed <Space> at the hit-enter
861prompt.
862
Bram Moolenaar91f84f62018-07-29 15:07:52 +0200863 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: