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Bram Moolenaar0e6adf82021-12-16 14:41:10 +00001*message.txt* For Vim version 8.2. Last change: 2021 Dec 13
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 Moolenaar207f0092020-08-30 17:20:20 +020022 :mes[sages] Show all messages.
Bram Moolenaar451f8492016-04-14 17:16:22 +020023
Bram Moolenaar207f0092020-08-30 17:20:20 +020024 :{count}mes[sages] Show the {count} most recent messages.
Bram Moolenaar451f8492016-04-14 17:16:22 +020025
Bram Moolenaar207f0092020-08-30 17:20:20 +020026 :mes[sages] clear Clear all messages.
Bram Moolenaar451f8492016-04-14 17:16:22 +020027
Bram Moolenaar207f0092020-08-30 17:20:20 +020028 :{count}mes[sages] clear
29 Clear messages, keeping only the {count} most
Bram Moolenaar451f8492016-04-14 17:16:22 +020030 recent ones.
31
Bram Moolenaar1e78deb2021-12-13 14:40:53 +000032The number of remembered messages is fixed at 200.
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
Bram Moolenaar1c6737b2020-09-07 22:18:52 +020077 *E222* *E228* *E232* *E293* *E298* *E304* *E317*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000078 *E318* *E356* *E438* *E439* *E440* *E316* *E320* *E322*
Bram Moolenaar4b7cdca2020-01-01 16:18:38 +010079 *E323* *E341* *E473* *E570* *E685* *E292* >
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
Drew Vogele30d1022021-10-24 20:35:07 +0100143 *E1244* >
144 Bad color string: {str}
145
146The provided color did not conform to the pattern #rrggbb
147
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000148 *E458* >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000149 Cannot allocate colormap entry, some colors may be incorrect
150
151This means that there are not enough colors available for Vim. It will still
152run, but some of the colors will not appear in the specified color. Try
153stopping other applications that use many colors, or start them after starting
154gvim.
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100155Browsers are known to consume a lot of colors. You can avoid this with
156netscape by telling it to use its own colormap: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000157 netscape -install
158Or tell it to limit to a certain number of colors (64 should work well): >
159 netscape -ncols 64
160This can also be done with a line in your Xdefaults file: >
161 Netscape*installColormap: Yes
162or >
163 Netscape*maxImageColors: 64
164<
165 *E79* >
166 Cannot expand wildcards
167
168A filename contains a strange combination of characters, which causes Vim to
169attempt expanding wildcards but this fails. This does NOT mean that no
170matching file names could be found, but that the pattern was illegal.
171
172 *E459* >
173 Cannot go back to previous directory
174
175While expanding a file name, Vim failed to go back to the previously used
176directory. All file names being used may be invalid now! You need to have
177execute permission on the current directory.
178
179 *E190* *E212* >
180 Cannot open "{filename}" for writing
181 Can't open file for writing
182
183For some reason the file you are writing to cannot be created or overwritten.
184The reason could be that you do not have permission to write in the directory
185or the file name is not valid.
186
187 *E166* >
188 Can't open linked file for writing
189
190You are trying to write to a file which can't be overwritten, and the file is
191a link (either a hard link or a symbolic link). Writing might still be
192possible if the directory that contains the link or the file is writable, but
193Vim now doesn't know if you want to delete the link and write the file in its
194place, or if you want to delete the file itself and write the new file in its
195place. If you really want to write the file under this name, you have to
196manually delete the link or the file, or change the permissions so that Vim
197can overwrite.
198
199 *E46* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100200 Cannot change read-only variable "{name}"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000201
202You are trying to assign a value to an argument of a function |a:var| or a Vim
203internal variable |v:var| which is read-only.
204
205 *E90* >
206 Cannot unload last buffer
207
208Vim always requires one buffer to be loaded, otherwise there would be nothing
209to display in the window.
210
211 *E40* >
212 Can't open errorfile <filename>
213
214When using the ":make" or ":grep" commands: The file used to save the error
215messages or grep output cannot be opened. This can have several causes:
216- 'shellredir' has a wrong value.
217- The shell changes directory, causing the error file to be written in another
218 directory. This could be fixed by changing 'makeef', but then the make
219 command is still executed in the wrong directory.
220- 'makeef' has a wrong value.
221- The 'grepprg' or 'makeprg' could not be executed. This cannot always be
222 detected (especially on MS-Windows). Check your $PATH.
223
224 >
225 Can't open file C:\TEMP\VIoD243.TMP
226
227On MS-Windows, this message appears when the output of an external command was
228to be read, but the command didn't run successfully. This can be caused by
229many things. Check the 'shell', 'shellquote', 'shellxquote', 'shellslash' and
230related options. It might also be that the external command was not found,
231there is no different error message for that.
232
233 *E12* >
234 Command not allowed from exrc/vimrc in current dir or tag search
235
236Some commands are not allowed for security reasons. These commands mostly
237come from a .exrc or .vimrc file in the current directory, or from a tags
238file. Also see 'secure'.
239
240 *E74* >
241 Command too complex
242
243A mapping resulted in a very long command string. Could be caused by a
244mapping that indirectly calls itself.
245
246>
247 CONVERSION ERROR
248
249When writing a file and the text "CONVERSION ERROR" appears, this means that
250some bits were lost when converting text from the internally used UTF-8 to the
251format of the file. The file will not be marked unmodified. If you care
252about the loss of information, set the 'fileencoding' option to another value
253that can handle the characters in the buffer and write again. If you don't
254care, you can abandon the buffer or reset the 'modified' option.
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +0200255If there is a backup file, when 'writebackup' or 'backup' is set, it will not
256be deleted, so you can move it back into place if you want to discard the
257changes.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000258
259 *E302* >
260 Could not rename swap file
261
262When the file name changes, Vim tries to rename the |swap-file| as well.
263This failed and the old swap file is now still used. Mostly harmless.
264
265 *E43* *E44* >
266 Damaged match string
267 Corrupted regexp program
268
269Something inside Vim went wrong and resulted in a corrupted regexp. If you
270know how to reproduce this problem, please report it. |bugs|
271
272 *E208* *E209* *E210* >
273 Error writing to "{filename}"
274 Error closing "{filename}"
275 Error reading "{filename}"
276
277This occurs when Vim is trying to rename a file, but a simple change of file
278name doesn't work. Then the file will be copied, but somehow this failed.
279The result may be that both the original file and the destination file exist
280and the destination file may be incomplete.
281
282>
283 Vim: Error reading input, exiting...
284
285This occurs when Vim cannot read typed characters while input is required.
286Vim got stuck, the only thing it can do is exit. This can happen when both
287stdin and stderr are redirected and executing a script that doesn't exit Vim.
288
289 *E47* >
290 Error while reading errorfile
291
292Reading the error file was not possible. This is NOT caused by an error
293message that was not recognized.
294
295 *E80* >
296 Error while writing
297
298Writing a file was not completed successfully. The file is probably
299incomplete.
300
301 *E13* *E189* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100302 File exists (add ! to override)
303 "{filename}" exists (add ! to override)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000304
305You are protected from accidentally overwriting a file. When you want to
306write anyway, use the same command, but add a "!" just after the command.
307Example: >
308 :w /tmp/test
309changes to: >
310 :w! /tmp/test
311<
Bram Moolenaarecf07c82005-08-01 21:52:12 +0000312 *E768* >
313 Swap file exists: {filename} (:silent! overrides)
314
315You are protected from overwriting a file that is being edited by Vim. This
316happens when you use ":w! filename" and a swapfile is found.
317- If the swapfile was left over from an old crashed edit session you may want
318 to delete the swapfile. Edit {filename} to find out information about the
319 swapfile.
320- If you want to write anyway prepend ":silent!" to the command. For example: >
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +0000321 :silent! w! /tmp/test
Bram Moolenaarecf07c82005-08-01 21:52:12 +0000322< The special command is needed, since you already added the ! for overwriting
323 an existing file.
324
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000325 *E139* >
326 File is loaded in another buffer
327
328You are trying to write a file under a name which is also used in another
329buffer. This would result in two versions of the same file.
330
331 *E142* >
332 File not written: Writing is disabled by 'write' option
333
334The 'write' option is off. This makes all commands that try to write a file
335generate this message. This could be caused by a |-m| commandline argument.
336You can switch the 'write' option on with ":set write".
337
338 *E25* >
339 GUI cannot be used: Not enabled at compile time
340
341You are running a version of Vim that doesn't include the GUI code. Therefore
342"gvim" and ":gui" don't work.
343
344 *E49* >
345 Invalid scroll size
346
347This is caused by setting an invalid value for the 'scroll', 'scrolljump' or
348'scrolloff' options.
349
350 *E17* >
351 "{filename}" is a directory
352
353You tried to write a file with the name of a directory. This is not possible.
354You probably need to append a file name.
355
356 *E19* >
357 Mark has invalid line number
358
359You are using a mark that has a line number that doesn't exist. This can
360happen when you have a mark in another file, and some other program has
361deleted lines from it.
362
363 *E219* *E220* >
364 Missing {.
365 Missing }.
366
367Using a {} construct in a file name, but there is a { without a matching } or
368the other way around. It should be used like this: {foo,bar}. This matches
369"foo" and "bar".
370
371 *E315* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100372 ml_get: invalid lnum: {number}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000373
374This is an internal Vim error. Please try to find out how it can be
375reproduced, and submit a bug report |bugreport.vim|.
376
377 *E173* >
378 {number} more files to edit
379
380You are trying to exit, while the last item in the argument list has not been
381edited. This protects you from accidentally exiting when you still have more
382files to work on. See |argument-list|. If you do want to exit, just do it
383again and it will work.
384
385 *E23* *E194* >
386 No alternate file
387 No alternate file name to substitute for '#'
388
389The alternate file is not defined yet. See |alternate-file|.
390
391 *E32* >
392 No file name
393
394The current buffer has no name. To write it, use ":w fname". Or give the
395buffer a name with ":file fname".
396
397 *E141* >
398 No file name for buffer {number}
399
400One of the buffers that was changed does not have a file name. Therefore it
401cannot be written. You need to give the buffer a file name: >
402 :buffer {number}
403 :file {filename}
404<
405 *E33* >
406 No previous substitute regular expression
407
408When using the '~' character in a pattern, it is replaced with the previously
409used pattern in a ":substitute" command. This fails when no such command has
Bram Moolenaardf177f62005-02-22 08:39:57 +0000410been used yet. See |/~|. This also happens when using ":s/pat/%/", where the
411"%" stands for the previous substitute string.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000412
413 *E35* >
414 No previous regular expression
415
416When using an empty search pattern, the previous search pattern is used. But
417that is not possible if there was no previous search.
418
419 *E24* >
420 No such abbreviation
421
422You have used an ":unabbreviate" command with an argument which is not an
423existing abbreviation. All variations of this command give the same message:
424":cunabbrev", ":iunabbrev", etc. Check for trailing white space.
425
426>
427 /dev/dsp: No such file or directory
428
429Only given for GTK GUI with Gnome support. Gnome tries to use the audio
430device and it isn't present. You can ignore this error.
431
432 *E31* >
433 No such mapping
434
435You have used an ":unmap" command with an argument which is not an existing
436mapping. All variations of this command give the same message: ":cunmap",
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +0000437":unmap!", etc. A few hints:
438- Check for trailing white space.
439- If the mapping is buffer-local you need to use ":unmap <buffer>".
440 |:map-<buffer>|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000441
442 *E37* *E89* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100443 No write since last change (add ! to override)
444 No write since last change for buffer {N} (add ! to override)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000445
446You are trying to |abandon| a file that has changes. Vim protects you from
447losing your work. You can either write the changed file with ":w", or, if you
448are sure, |abandon| it anyway, and lose all the changes. This can be done by
449adding a '!' character just after the command you used. Example: >
450 :e other_file
451changes to: >
452 :e! other_file
453<
454 *E162* >
455 No write since last change for buffer "{name}"
456
457This appears when you try to exit Vim while some buffers are changed. You
458will either have to write the changed buffer (with |:w|), or use a command to
459abandon the buffer forcefully, e.g., with ":qa!". Careful, make sure you
460don't throw away changes you really want to keep. You might have forgotten
461about a buffer, especially when 'hidden' is set.
462
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +0000463>
464 [No write since last change]
465
466This appears when executing a shell command while at least one buffer was
467changed. To avoid the message reset the 'warn' option.
468
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000469 *E38* >
470 Null argument
471
472Something inside Vim went wrong and resulted in a NULL pointer. If you know
473how to reproduce this problem, please report it. |bugs|
474
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000475 *E41* *E82* *E83* *E342* >
476 Out of memory!
477 Out of memory! (allocating {number} bytes)
478 Cannot allocate any buffer, exiting...
479 Cannot allocate buffer, using other one...
480
481Oh, oh. You must have been doing something complicated, or some other program
482is consuming your memory. Be careful! Vim is not completely prepared for an
483out-of-memory situation. First make sure that any changes are saved. Then
484try to solve the memory shortage. To stay on the safe side, exit Vim and
Bram Moolenaar0ed0eea2010-07-26 22:21:27 +0200485start again.
486
Bram Moolenaar06fe74a2019-08-31 16:20:32 +0200487If this happens while Vim is still initializing, editing files is very
Bram Moolenaar2e693a82019-10-16 22:35:02 +0200488unlikely to work, therefore Vim will exit with value 123.
Bram Moolenaar06fe74a2019-08-31 16:20:32 +0200489
Bram Moolenaar0ed0eea2010-07-26 22:21:27 +0200490Buffers are only partly kept in memory, thus editing a very large file is
491unlikely to cause an out-of-memory situation. Undo information is completely
492in memory, you can reduce that with these options:
493- 'undolevels' Set to a low value, or to -1 to disable undo completely. This
494 helps for a change that affects all lines.
495- 'undoreload' Set to zero to disable.
496
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000497 *E339* >
498 Pattern too long
499
Bram Moolenaard58e9292011-02-09 17:07:58 +0100500This happens on systems with 16 bit ints: The compiled regexp pattern is
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000501longer than about 65000 characters. Try using a shorter pattern.
Bram Moolenaard58e9292011-02-09 17:07:58 +0100502It also happens when the offset of a rule doesn't fit in the space available.
503Try simplifying the pattern.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000504
505 *E45* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100506 'readonly' option is set (add ! to override)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000507
508You are trying to write a file that was marked as read-only. To write the
509file anyway, either reset the 'readonly' option, or add a '!' character just
510after the command you used. Example: >
511 :w
512changes to: >
513 :w!
514<
515 *E294* *E295* *E301* >
516 Read error in swap file
517 Seek error in swap file read
518 Oops, lost the swap file!!!
519
520Vim tried to read text from the |swap-file|, but something went wrong. The
521text in the related buffer may now be corrupted! Check carefully before you
522write a buffer. You may want to write it in another file and check for
523differences.
524
525 *E192* >
526 Recursive use of :normal too deep
527
528You are using a ":normal" command, whose argument again uses a ":normal"
529command in a recursive way. This is restricted to 'maxmapdepth' levels. This
530example illustrates how to get this message: >
531 :map gq :normal gq<CR>
532If you type "gq", it will execute this mapping, which will call "gq" again.
533
534 *E22* >
535 Scripts nested too deep
536
537Scripts can be read with the "-s" command-line argument and with the ":source"
538command. The script can then again read another script. This can continue
539for about 14 levels. When more nesting is done, Vim assumes that there is a
540recursive loop somewhere and stops with this error message.
541
542 *E319* >
543 Sorry, the command is not available in this version
544
545You have used a command that is not present in the version of Vim you are
546using. When compiling Vim, many different features can be enabled or
547disabled. This depends on how big Vim has chosen to be and the operating
548system. See |+feature-list| for when which feature is available. The
549|:version| command shows which feature Vim was compiled with.
550
551 *E300* >
552 Swap file already exists (symlink attack?)
553
554This message appears when Vim is trying to open a swap file and finds it
555already exists or finds a symbolic link in its place. This shouldn't happen,
556because Vim already checked that the file doesn't exist. Either someone else
557opened the same file at exactly the same moment (very unlikely) or someone is
558attempting a symlink attack (could happen when editing a file in /tmp or when
559'directory' starts with "/tmp", which is a bad choice).
560
561 *E432* >
562 Tags file not sorted: {file name}
563
564Vim (and Vi) expect tags files to be sorted in ASCII order. Binary searching
565can then be used, which is a lot faster than a linear search. If your tags
566files are not properly sorted, reset the |'tagbsearch'| option.
567This message is only given when Vim detects a problem when searching for a
Bram Moolenaar7fc0c062010-08-10 21:43:35 +0200568tag. Sometimes this message is not given, even though the tags file is not
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000569properly sorted.
570
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000571 *E424* >
572 Too many different highlighting attributes in use
573
574Vim can only handle about 223 different kinds of highlighting. If you run
575into this limit, you have used too many |:highlight| commands with different
576arguments. A ":highlight link" is not counted.
577
578 *E77* >
579 Too many file names
580
581When expanding file names, more than one match was found. Only one match is
582allowed for the command that was used.
583
584 *E303* >
585 Unable to open swap file for "{filename}", recovery impossible
586
587Vim was not able to create a swap file. You can still edit the file, but if
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100588Vim unexpectedly exits the changes will be lost. And Vim may consume a lot of
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000589memory when editing a big file. You may want to change the 'directory' option
Bram Moolenaar00e192b2019-10-19 17:01:28 +0200590to avoid this error. This error is not given when 'directory' is empty. See
591|swap-file|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000592
593 *E140* >
594 Use ! to write partial buffer
595
596When using a range to write part of a buffer, it is unusual to overwrite the
597original file. It is probably a mistake (e.g., when Visual mode was active
598when using ":w"), therefore Vim requires using a ! after the command, e.g.:
599":3,10w!".
600>
601
602 Warning: Cannot convert string "<Key>Escape,_Key_Cancel" to type
603 VirtualBinding
604
605Messages like this appear when starting up. This is not a Vim problem, your
606X11 configuration is wrong. You can find a hint on how to solve this here:
607http://groups.yahoo.com/group/solarisonintel/message/12179.
Bram Moolenaara17d4c12010-05-30 18:30:36 +0200608[this URL is no longer valid]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000609
610 *W10* >
611 Warning: Changing a readonly file
612
613The file is read-only and you are making a change to it anyway. You can use
614the |FileChangedRO| autocommand event to avoid this message (the autocommand
615must reset the 'readonly' option). See 'modifiable' to completely disallow
616making changes to a file.
Bram Moolenaard5cdbeb2005-10-10 20:59:28 +0000617This message is only given for the first change after 'readonly' has been set.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000618
619 *W13* >
620 Warning: File "{filename}" has been created after editing started
621
622You are editing a file in Vim when it didn't exist, but it does exist now.
623You will have to decide if you want to keep the version in Vim or the newly
624created file. This message is not given when 'buftype' is not empty.
625
626 *W11* >
627 Warning: File "{filename}" has changed since editing started
628
629The file which you have started editing has got another timestamp and the
630contents changed (more precisely: When reading the file again with the current
631option settings and autocommands you would end up with different text). This
632probably means that some other program changed the file. You will have to
633find out what happened, and decide which version of the file you want to keep.
634Set the 'autoread' option if you want to do this automatically.
635This message is not given when 'buftype' is not empty.
636
637There is one situation where you get this message even though there is nothing
638wrong: If you save a file in Windows on the day the daylight saving time
639starts. It can be fixed in one of these ways:
640- Add this line in your autoexec.bat: >
641 SET TZ=-1
642< Adjust the "-1" for your time zone.
643- Disable "automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes".
644- Just write the file again the next day. Or set your clock to the next day,
645 write the file twice and set the clock back.
646
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100647If you get W11 all the time, you may need to disable "Acronis Active
Bram Moolenaarb0d45e72017-11-05 18:19:24 +0100648Protection" or register Vim as a trusted service/application.
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100649
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000650 *W12* >
651 Warning: File "{filename}" has changed and the buffer was changed in Vim as well
652
653Like the above, and the buffer for the file was changed in this Vim as well.
654You will have to decide if you want to keep the version in this Vim or the one
655on disk. This message is not given when 'buftype' is not empty.
656
657 *W16* >
658 Warning: Mode of file "{filename}" has changed since editing started
659
660When the timestamp for a buffer was changed and the contents are still the
661same but the mode (permissions) have changed. This usually occurs when
662checking out a file from a version control system, which causes the read-only
663bit to be reset. It should be safe to reload the file. Set 'autoread' to
664automatically reload the file.
665
666 *E211* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100667 File "{filename}" no longer available
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000668
669The file which you have started editing has disappeared, or is no longer
670accessible. Make sure you write the buffer somewhere to avoid losing
671changes. This message is not given when 'buftype' is not empty.
672
673 *W14* >
674 Warning: List of file names overflow
675
676You must be using an awful lot of buffers. It's now possible that two buffers
677have the same number, which causes various problems. You might want to exit
678Vim and restart it.
679
Bram Moolenaar269f5952016-07-15 22:54:41 +0200680 *E931* >
681 Buffer cannot be registered
682
Bram Moolenaar42ebd062016-07-17 13:35:14 +0200683Out of memory or a duplicate buffer number. May happen after W14. Looking up
Bram Moolenaar269f5952016-07-15 22:54:41 +0200684a buffer will not always work, better restart Vim.
685
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000686 *E296* *E297* >
687 Seek error in swap file write
688 Write error in swap file
689
690This mostly happens when the disk is full. Vim could not write text into the
691|swap-file|. It's not directly harmful, but when Vim unexpectedly exits some
692text may be lost without recovery being possible. Vim might run out of memory
693when this problem persists.
694
695 *connection-refused* >
696 Xlib: connection to "<machine-name:0.0" refused by server
697
698This happens when Vim tries to connect to the X server, but the X server does
699not allow a connection. The connection to the X server is needed to be able
700to restore the title and for the xterm clipboard support. Unfortunately this
701error message cannot be avoided, except by disabling the |+xterm_clipboard|
702and |+X11| features.
703
704 *E10* >
705 \\ should be followed by /, ? or &
706
707A command line started with a backslash or the range of a command contained a
708backslash in a wrong place. This is often caused by command-line continuation
709being disabled. Remove the 'C' flag from the 'cpoptions' option to enable it.
Bram Moolenaar5eb86f92004-07-26 12:53:41 +0000710Or use ":set nocp".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000711
712 *E471* >
713 Argument required
714
715This happens when an Ex command with mandatory argument(s) was executed, but
716no argument has been specified.
717
Bram Moolenaar62e1bb42019-04-08 16:25:07 +0200718 *E474* *E475* *E983* >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000719 Invalid argument
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100720 Invalid argument: {arg}
Bram Moolenaar62e1bb42019-04-08 16:25:07 +0200721 Duplicate argument: {arg}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000722
Bram Moolenaar62e1bb42019-04-08 16:25:07 +0200723An Ex command or function has been executed, but an invalid argument has been
724specified.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000725
726 *E488* >
727 Trailing characters
728
729An argument has been added to an Ex command that does not permit one.
730
731 *E477* *E478* >
732 No ! allowed
733 Don't panic!
734
735You have added a "!" after an Ex command that doesn't permit one.
736
737 *E481* >
738 No range allowed
739
740A range was specified for an Ex command that doesn't permit one. See
741|cmdline-ranges|.
742
743 *E482* *E483* >
744 Can't create file {filename}
745 Can't get temp file name
746
747Vim cannot create a temporary file.
748
749 *E484* *E485* >
Bram Moolenaar5e3dae82010-03-02 16:19:40 +0100750 Can't open file {filename}
751 Can't read file {filename}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000752
Bram Moolenaar34700a62013-03-07 13:20:54 +0100753Vim cannot read a temporary file. Especially on Windows, this can be caused
754by wrong escaping of special characters for cmd.exe; the approach was
755changed with patch 7.3.443. Try using |shellescape()| for all shell arguments
756given to |system()|, or explicitly add escaping with ^. Also see
757'shellxquote' and 'shellxescape'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000758
759 *E464* >
760 Ambiguous use of user-defined command
761
762There are two user-defined commands with a common name prefix, and you used
763Command-line completion to execute one of them. |user-cmd-ambiguous|
764Example: >
765 :command MyCommand1 echo "one"
766 :command MyCommand2 echo "two"
767 :MyCommand
768<
769 *E492* >
770 Not an editor command
771
772You tried to execute a command that is neither an Ex command nor
773a user-defined command.
774
Bram Moolenaare0720cb2017-03-29 13:48:40 +0200775 *E943* >
776 Command table needs to be updated, run 'make cmdidxs'
777
778This can only happen when changing the source code, when adding a command in
779src/ex_cmds.h. The lookup table then needs to be updated, by running: >
780 make cmdidxs
Bram Moolenaar6aa57292021-08-14 21:25:52 +0200781<
782 *E928* *E889* *E839* >
783 E928: String required
784 E889: Number required
785 E839: Bool required
786
787These happen when a value or expression is used that does not have the
788expected type.
Bram Moolenaare0720cb2017-03-29 13:48:40 +0200789
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000790==============================================================================
7913. Messages *messages*
792
793This is an (incomplete) overview of various messages that Vim gives:
794
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000795 *hit-enter* *press-enter* *hit-return*
796 *press-return* *hit-enter-prompt*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000797
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000798 Press ENTER or type command to continue
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000799
800This message is given when there is something on the screen for you to read,
801and the screen is about to be redrawn:
802- After executing an external command (e.g., ":!ls" and "=").
803- Something is displayed on the status line that is longer than the width of
804 the window, or runs into the 'showcmd' or 'ruler' output.
805
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000806-> Press <Enter> or <Space> to redraw the screen and continue, without that
807 key being used otherwise.
808-> Press ':' or any other Normal mode command character to start that command.
Bram Moolenaar7e6a5152021-01-02 16:39:53 +0100809 Note that after an external command some special keys, such as the cursor
810 keys, may not work normally, because the terminal is still set to a state
811 for executing the external command.
Bram Moolenaare1438bb2006-03-01 22:01:55 +0000812-> Press 'k', <Up>, 'u', 'b' or 'g' to scroll back in the messages. This
813 works the same way as at the |more-prompt|. Only works when 'compatible'
814 is off and 'more' is on.
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100815-> Pressing 'j', 'f', 'd' or <Down> is ignored when messages scrolled off the
816 top of the screen, 'compatible' is off and 'more' is on, to avoid that
817 typing one 'j' or 'f' too many causes the messages to disappear.
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000818-> Press <C-Y> to copy (yank) a modeless selection to the clipboard register.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000819-> Use a menu. The characters defined for Cmdline-mode are used.
820-> When 'mouse' contains the 'r' flag, clicking the left mouse button works
821 like pressing <Space>. This makes it impossible to select text though.
822-> For the GUI clicking the left mouse button in the last line works like
823 pressing <Space>.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000824
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +0000825If you accidentally hit <Enter> or <Space> and you want to see the displayed
826text then use |g<|. This only works when 'more' is set.
827
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000828To reduce the number of hit-enter prompts:
829- Set 'cmdheight' to 2 or higher.
830- Add flags to 'shortmess'.
831- Reset 'showcmd' and/or 'ruler'.
Bram Moolenaar06fe74a2019-08-31 16:20:32 +0200832- Make sure `:echo` text is shorter than or equal to |v:echospace| screen
833 cells.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000834
Bram Moolenaarbb15b652005-10-03 21:52:09 +0000835If your script causes the hit-enter prompt and you don't know why, you may
836find the |v:scrollstart| variable useful.
837
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000838Also see 'mouse'. The hit-enter message is highlighted with the |hl-Question|
839group.
840
841
842 *more-prompt* *pager* >
843 -- More --
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000844 -- More -- SPACE/d/j: screen/page/line down, b/u/k: up, q: quit
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000845
846This message is given when the screen is filled with messages. It is only
847given when the 'more' option is on. It is highlighted with the |hl-MoreMsg|
848group.
849
850Type effect ~
851 <CR> or <NL> or j or <Down> one more line
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000852 d down a page (half a screen)
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100853 <Space> or f or <PageDown> down a screen
Bram Moolenaarcfc7d632005-07-28 22:28:16 +0000854 G down all the way, until the hit-enter
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +0000855 prompt
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000856
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200857 <BS> or k or <Up> one line back
858 u up a page (half a screen)
859 b or <PageUp> back a screen
860 g back to the start
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +0000861
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000862 q, <Esc> or CTRL-C stop the listing
863 : stop the listing and enter a
864 command-line
865 <C-Y> yank (copy) a modeless selection to
866 the clipboard ("* and "+ registers)
867 {menu-entry} what the menu is defined to in
868 Cmdline-mode.
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200869 <LeftMouse> next page (*)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000870
871Any other key causes the meaning of the keys to be displayed.
872
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200873(*) Clicking the left mouse button only works:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000874 - For the GUI: in the last line of the screen.
875 - When 'r' is included in 'mouse' (but then selecting text won't work).
876
877
878Note: The typed key is directly obtained from the terminal, it is not mapped
879and typeahead is ignored.
880
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +0000881The |g<| command can be used to see the last page of previous command output.
882This is especially useful if you accidentally typed <Space> at the hit-enter
883prompt.
884
Bram Moolenaar91f84f62018-07-29 15:07:52 +0200885 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: