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Bram Moolenaarebefac62005-12-28 22:39:57 +00001*eval.txt* For Vim version 7.0aa. Last change: 2005 Dec 27
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7Expression evaluation *expression* *expr* *E15* *eval*
8
9Using 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 Moolenaare2cc9702005-03-15 22:43:58 +000012done, 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 Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000151. Variables |variables|
16 1.1 Variable types
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +000017 1.2 Function references |Funcref|
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +000018 1.3 Lists |Lists|
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +000019 1.4 Dictionaries |Dictionaries|
20 1.5 More about variables |more-variables|
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000212. Expression syntax |expression-syntax|
223. Internal variable |internal-variables|
234. Builtin Functions |functions|
245. Defining functions |user-functions|
256. Curly braces names |curly-braces-names|
267. Commands |expression-commands|
278. Exception handling |exception-handling|
289. Examples |eval-examples|
2910. No +eval feature |no-eval-feature|
3011. The sandbox |eval-sandbox|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000031
32{Vi does not have any of these commands}
33
34==============================================================================
351. Variables *variables*
36
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000371.1 Variable types ~
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +000038 *E712*
Bram Moolenaar39a58ca2005-06-27 22:42:44 +000039There are five types of variables:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000040
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +000041Number A 32 bit signed number.
42 Examples: -123 0x10 0177
43
44String A NUL terminated string of 8-bit unsigned characters (bytes).
45 Examples: "ab\txx\"--" 'x-z''a,c'
46
47Funcref A reference to a function |Funcref|.
48 Example: function("strlen")
49
50List An ordered sequence of items |List|.
51 Example: [1, 2, ['a', 'b']]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000052
Bram Moolenaar39a58ca2005-06-27 22:42:44 +000053Dictionary An associative, unordered array: Each entry has a key and a
54 value. |Dictionary|
55 Example: {'blue': "#0000ff", 'red': "#ff0000"}
56
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +000057The Number and String types are converted automatically, depending on how they
58are used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000059
60Conversion from a Number to a String is by making the ASCII representation of
61the Number. Examples: >
62 Number 123 --> String "123"
63 Number 0 --> String "0"
64 Number -1 --> String "-1"
65
66Conversion from a String to a Number is done by converting the first digits
67to a number. Hexadecimal "0xf9" and Octal "017" numbers are recognized. If
68the String doesn't start with digits, the result is zero. Examples: >
69 String "456" --> Number 456
70 String "6bar" --> Number 6
71 String "foo" --> Number 0
72 String "0xf1" --> Number 241
73 String "0100" --> Number 64
74 String "-8" --> Number -8
75 String "+8" --> Number 0
76
77To force conversion from String to Number, add zero to it: >
78 :echo "0100" + 0
79
80For boolean operators Numbers are used. Zero is FALSE, non-zero is TRUE.
81
82Note that in the command >
83 :if "foo"
84"foo" is converted to 0, which means FALSE. To test for a non-empty string,
85use strlen(): >
86 :if strlen("foo")
Bram Moolenaar748bf032005-02-02 23:04:36 +000087< *E745* *E728* *E703* *E729* *E730* *E731*
88List, Dictionary and Funcref types are not automatically converted.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +000089
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +000090 *E706*
91You will get an error if you try to change the type of a variable. You need
92to |:unlet| it first to avoid this error. String and Number are considered
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +000093equivalent though. Consider this sequence of commands: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +000094 :let l = "string"
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +000095 :let l = 44 " changes type from String to Number
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +000096 :let l = [1, 2, 3] " error!
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +000097
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +000098
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000991.2 Function references ~
Bram Moolenaar748bf032005-02-02 23:04:36 +0000100 *Funcref* *E695* *E718*
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000101A Funcref variable is obtained with the |function()| function. It can be used
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000102in an expression in the place of a function name, before the parenthesis
103around the arguments, to invoke the function it refers to. Example: >
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000104
105 :let Fn = function("MyFunc")
106 :echo Fn()
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000107< *E704* *E705* *E707*
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000108A Funcref variable must start with a capital, "s:", "w:" or "b:". You cannot
109have both a Funcref variable and a function with the same name.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000110
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000111A special case is defining a function and directly assigning its Funcref to a
112Dictionary entry. Example: >
113 :function dict.init() dict
114 : let self.val = 0
115 :endfunction
116
117The key of the Dictionary can start with a lower case letter. The actual
118function name is not used here. Also see |numbered-function|.
119
120A Funcref can also be used with the |:call| command: >
121 :call Fn()
122 :call dict.init()
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000123
124The name of the referenced function can be obtained with |string()|. >
Bram Moolenaar383f9bc2005-01-19 22:18:32 +0000125 :let func = string(Fn)
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000126
127You can use |call()| to invoke a Funcref and use a list variable for the
128arguments: >
Bram Moolenaar383f9bc2005-01-19 22:18:32 +0000129 :let r = call(Fn, mylist)
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000130
131
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00001321.3 Lists ~
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +0000133 *List* *Lists* *E686*
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000134A List is an ordered sequence of items. An item can be of any type. Items
135can be accessed by their index number. Items can be added and removed at any
136position in the sequence.
137
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000138
139List creation ~
140 *E696* *E697*
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000141A List is created with a comma separated list of items in square brackets.
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000142Examples: >
143 :let mylist = [1, two, 3, "four"]
144 :let emptylist = []
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000145
146An item can be any expression. Using a List for an item creates a
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000147nested List: >
148 :let nestlist = [[11, 12], [21, 22], [31, 32]]
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000149
150An extra comma after the last item is ignored.
151
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000152
153List index ~
154 *list-index* *E684*
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000155An item in the List can be accessed by putting the index in square brackets
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000156after the List. Indexes are zero-based, thus the first item has index zero. >
157 :let item = mylist[0] " get the first item: 1
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000158 :let item = mylist[2] " get the third item: 3
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000159
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000160When the resulting item is a list this can be repeated: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000161 :let item = nestlist[0][1] " get the first list, second item: 12
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000162<
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000163A negative index is counted from the end. Index -1 refers to the last item in
164the List, -2 to the last but one item, etc. >
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000165 :let last = mylist[-1] " get the last item: "four"
166
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000167To avoid an error for an invalid index use the |get()| function. When an item
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000168is not available it returns zero or the default value you specify: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000169 :echo get(mylist, idx)
170 :echo get(mylist, idx, "NONE")
171
172
173List concatenation ~
174
175Two lists can be concatenated with the "+" operator: >
176 :let longlist = mylist + [5, 6]
Bram Moolenaar383f9bc2005-01-19 22:18:32 +0000177 :let mylist += [7, 8]
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000178
179To prepend or append an item turn the item into a list by putting [] around
180it. To change a list in-place see |list-modification| below.
181
182
183Sublist ~
184
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000185A part of the List can be obtained by specifying the first and last index,
186separated by a colon in square brackets: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000187 :let shortlist = mylist[2:-1] " get List [3, "four"]
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000188
189Omitting the first index is similar to zero. Omitting the last index is
190similar to -1. The difference is that there is no error if the items are not
191available. >
Bram Moolenaar540d6e32005-01-09 21:20:18 +0000192 :let endlist = mylist[2:] " from item 2 to the end: [3, "four"]
193 :let shortlist = mylist[2:2] " List with one item: [3]
194 :let otherlist = mylist[:] " make a copy of the List
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000195
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000196The second index can be just before the first index. In that case the result
197is an empty list. If the second index is lower, this results in an error. >
198 :echo mylist[2:1] " result: []
199 :echo mylist[2:0] " error!
200
Bram Moolenaara7fc0102005-05-18 22:17:12 +0000201NOTE: mylist[s:e] means using the variable "s:e" as index. Watch out for
202using a single letter variable before the ":". Insert a space when needed:
203mylist[s : e].
204
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000205
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000206List identity ~
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000207 *list-identity*
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000208When variable "aa" is a list and you assign it to another variable "bb", both
209variables refer to the same list. Thus changing the list "aa" will also
210change "bb": >
211 :let aa = [1, 2, 3]
212 :let bb = aa
213 :call add(aa, 4)
214 :echo bb
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000215< [1, 2, 3, 4]
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000216
217Making a copy of a list is done with the |copy()| function. Using [:] also
218works, as explained above. This creates a shallow copy of the list: Changing
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000219a list item in the list will also change the item in the copied list: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000220 :let aa = [[1, 'a'], 2, 3]
221 :let bb = copy(aa)
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000222 :call add(aa, 4)
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000223 :let aa[0][1] = 'aaa'
224 :echo aa
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000225< [[1, aaa], 2, 3, 4] >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000226 :echo bb
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000227< [[1, aaa], 2, 3]
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000228
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000229To make a completely independent list use |deepcopy()|. This also makes a
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000230copy of the values in the list, recursively. Up to a hundred levels deep.
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000231
232The operator "is" can be used to check if two variables refer to the same
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000233List. "isnot" does the opposite. In contrast "==" compares if two lists have
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000234the same value. >
235 :let alist = [1, 2, 3]
236 :let blist = [1, 2, 3]
237 :echo alist is blist
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000238< 0 >
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000239 :echo alist == blist
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000240< 1
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000241
Bram Moolenaar9ba0eb82005-06-13 22:28:56 +0000242Note about comparing lists: Two lists are considered equal if they have the
243same length and all items compare equal, as with using "==". There is one
Bram Moolenaar7d1f5db2005-07-03 21:39:27 +0000244exception: When comparing a number with a string they are considered
245different. There is no automatic type conversion, as with using "==" on
246variables. Example: >
247 echo 4 == "4"
Bram Moolenaar9ba0eb82005-06-13 22:28:56 +0000248< 1 >
Bram Moolenaar7d1f5db2005-07-03 21:39:27 +0000249 echo [4] == ["4"]
Bram Moolenaar9ba0eb82005-06-13 22:28:56 +0000250< 0
251
Bram Moolenaar7d1f5db2005-07-03 21:39:27 +0000252Thus comparing Lists is more strict than comparing numbers and strings. You
253can compare simple values this way too by putting them in a string: >
254
255 :let a = 5
256 :let b = "5"
257 echo a == b
258< 1 >
259 echo [a] == [b]
260< 0
Bram Moolenaar9ba0eb82005-06-13 22:28:56 +0000261
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000262
263List unpack ~
264
265To unpack the items in a list to individual variables, put the variables in
266square brackets, like list items: >
267 :let [var1, var2] = mylist
268
269When the number of variables does not match the number of items in the list
270this produces an error. To handle any extra items from the list append ";"
271and a variable name: >
272 :let [var1, var2; rest] = mylist
273
274This works like: >
275 :let var1 = mylist[0]
276 :let var2 = mylist[1]
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +0000277 :let rest = mylist[2:]
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000278
279Except that there is no error if there are only two items. "rest" will be an
280empty list then.
281
282
283List modification ~
284 *list-modification*
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000285To change a specific item of a list use |:let| this way: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000286 :let list[4] = "four"
287 :let listlist[0][3] = item
288
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000289To change part of a list you can specify the first and last item to be
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000290modified. The value must at least have the number of items in the range: >
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000291 :let list[3:5] = [3, 4, 5]
292
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000293Adding and removing items from a list is done with functions. Here are a few
294examples: >
295 :call insert(list, 'a') " prepend item 'a'
296 :call insert(list, 'a', 3) " insert item 'a' before list[3]
297 :call add(list, "new") " append String item
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000298 :call add(list, [1, 2]) " append a List as one new item
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000299 :call extend(list, [1, 2]) " extend the list with two more items
300 :let i = remove(list, 3) " remove item 3
Bram Moolenaar9cd15162005-01-16 22:02:49 +0000301 :unlet list[3] " idem
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000302 :let l = remove(list, 3, -1) " remove items 3 to last item
Bram Moolenaar9cd15162005-01-16 22:02:49 +0000303 :unlet list[3 : ] " idem
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000304 :call filter(list, 'v:val !~ "x"') " remove items with an 'x'
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000305
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000306Changing the order of items in a list: >
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000307 :call sort(list) " sort a list alphabetically
308 :call reverse(list) " reverse the order of items
309
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000310
311For loop ~
312
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000313The |:for| loop executes commands for each item in a list. A variable is set
314to each item in the list in sequence. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000315 :for item in mylist
316 : call Doit(item)
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000317 :endfor
318
319This works like: >
320 :let index = 0
321 :while index < len(mylist)
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000322 : let item = mylist[index]
323 : :call Doit(item)
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000324 : let index = index + 1
325 :endwhile
326
327Note that all items in the list should be of the same type, otherwise this
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000328results in error |E706|. To avoid this |:unlet| the variable at the end of
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000329the loop.
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000330
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +0000331If all you want to do is modify each item in the list then the |map()|
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000332function will be a simpler method than a for loop.
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +0000333
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000334Just like the |:let| command, |:for| also accepts a list of variables. This
335requires the argument to be a list of lists. >
336 :for [lnum, col] in [[1, 3], [2, 8], [3, 0]]
337 : call Doit(lnum, col)
338 :endfor
339
340This works like a |:let| command is done for each list item. Again, the types
341must remain the same to avoid an error.
342
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000343It is also possible to put remaining items in a List variable: >
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000344 :for [i, j; rest] in listlist
345 : call Doit(i, j)
346 : if !empty(rest)
347 : echo "remainder: " . string(rest)
348 : endif
349 :endfor
350
351
352List functions ~
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000353 *E714*
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000354Functions that are useful with a List: >
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000355 :let r = call(funcname, list) " call a function with an argument list
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000356 :if empty(list) " check if list is empty
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000357 :let l = len(list) " number of items in list
358 :let big = max(list) " maximum value in list
359 :let small = min(list) " minimum value in list
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +0000360 :let xs = count(list, 'x') " count nr of times 'x' appears in list
361 :let i = index(list, 'x') " index of first 'x' in list
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000362 :let lines = getline(1, 10) " get ten text lines from buffer
363 :call append('$', lines) " append text lines in buffer
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +0000364 :let list = split("a b c") " create list from items in a string
365 :let string = join(list, ', ') " create string from list items
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000366 :let s = string(list) " String representation of list
367 :call map(list, '">> " . v:val') " prepend ">> " to each item
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000368
Bram Moolenaar0cb032e2005-04-23 20:52:00 +0000369Don't forget that a combination of features can make things simple. For
370example, to add up all the numbers in a list: >
371 :exe 'let sum = ' . join(nrlist, '+')
372
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000373
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00003741.4 Dictionaries ~
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000375 *Dictionaries* *Dictionary*
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000376A Dictionary is an associative array: Each entry has a key and a value. The
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000377entry can be located with the key. The entries are stored without a specific
378ordering.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000379
380
381Dictionary creation ~
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000382 *E720* *E721* *E722* *E723*
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000383A Dictionary is created with a comma separated list of entries in curly
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000384braces. Each entry has a key and a value, separated by a colon. Each key can
385only appear once. Examples: >
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000386 :let mydict = {1: 'one', 2: 'two', 3: 'three'}
387 :let emptydict = {}
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000388< *E713* *E716* *E717*
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000389A key is always a String. You can use a Number, it will be converted to a
390String automatically. Thus the String '4' and the number 4 will find the same
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000391entry. Note that the String '04' and the Number 04 are different, since the
392Number will be converted to the String '4'.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000393
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000394A value can be any expression. Using a Dictionary for a value creates a
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000395nested Dictionary: >
396 :let nestdict = {1: {11: 'a', 12: 'b'}, 2: {21: 'c'}}
397
398An extra comma after the last entry is ignored.
399
400
401Accessing entries ~
402
403The normal way to access an entry is by putting the key in square brackets: >
404 :let val = mydict["one"]
405 :let mydict["four"] = 4
406
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000407You can add new entries to an existing Dictionary this way, unlike Lists.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000408
409For keys that consist entirely of letters, digits and underscore the following
410form can be used |expr-entry|: >
411 :let val = mydict.one
412 :let mydict.four = 4
413
414Since an entry can be any type, also a List and a Dictionary, the indexing and
415key lookup can be repeated: >
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000416 :echo dict.key[idx].key
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000417
418
419Dictionary to List conversion ~
420
421You may want to loop over the entries in a dictionary. For this you need to
422turn the Dictionary into a List and pass it to |:for|.
423
424Most often you want to loop over the keys, using the |keys()| function: >
425 :for key in keys(mydict)
426 : echo key . ': ' . mydict[key]
427 :endfor
428
429The List of keys is unsorted. You may want to sort them first: >
430 :for key in sort(keys(mydict))
431
432To loop over the values use the |values()| function: >
433 :for v in values(mydict)
434 : echo "value: " . v
435 :endfor
436
437If you want both the key and the value use the |items()| function. It returns
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000438a List in which each item is a List with two items, the key and the value: >
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000439 :for entry in items(mydict)
440 : echo entry[0] . ': ' . entry[1]
441 :endfor
442
443
444Dictionary identity ~
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +0000445 *dict-identity*
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000446Just like Lists you need to use |copy()| and |deepcopy()| to make a copy of a
447Dictionary. Otherwise, assignment results in referring to the same
448Dictionary: >
449 :let onedict = {'a': 1, 'b': 2}
450 :let adict = onedict
451 :let adict['a'] = 11
452 :echo onedict['a']
453 11
454
Bram Moolenaarf3bd51a2005-06-14 22:11:18 +0000455Two Dictionaries compare equal if all the key-value pairs compare equal. For
456more info see |list-identity|.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000457
458
459Dictionary modification ~
460 *dict-modification*
461To change an already existing entry of a Dictionary, or to add a new entry,
462use |:let| this way: >
463 :let dict[4] = "four"
464 :let dict['one'] = item
465
Bram Moolenaar9cd15162005-01-16 22:02:49 +0000466Removing an entry from a Dictionary is done with |remove()| or |:unlet|.
467Three ways to remove the entry with key "aaa" from dict: >
468 :let i = remove(dict, 'aaa')
469 :unlet dict.aaa
470 :unlet dict['aaa']
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000471
472Merging a Dictionary with another is done with |extend()|: >
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000473 :call extend(adict, bdict)
474This extends adict with all entries from bdict. Duplicate keys cause entries
475in adict to be overwritten. An optional third argument can change this.
Bram Moolenaar383f9bc2005-01-19 22:18:32 +0000476Note that the order of entries in a Dictionary is irrelevant, thus don't
477expect ":echo adict" to show the items from bdict after the older entries in
478adict.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000479
480Weeding out entries from a Dictionary can be done with |filter()|: >
Bram Moolenaare2cc9702005-03-15 22:43:58 +0000481 :call filter(dict 'v:val =~ "x"')
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000482This removes all entries from "dict" with a value not matching 'x'.
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000483
484
485Dictionary function ~
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000486 *Dictionary-function* *self* *E725*
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000487When a function is defined with the "dict" attribute it can be used in a
488special way with a dictionary. Example: >
489 :function Mylen() dict
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000490 : return len(self.data)
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000491 :endfunction
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000492 :let mydict = {'data': [0, 1, 2, 3], 'len': function("Mylen")}
493 :echo mydict.len()
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000494
495This is like a method in object oriented programming. The entry in the
496Dictionary is a |Funcref|. The local variable "self" refers to the dictionary
497the function was invoked from.
498
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000499It is also possible to add a function without the "dict" attribute as a
500Funcref to a Dictionary, but the "self" variable is not available then.
501
502 *numbered-function*
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000503To avoid the extra name for the function it can be defined and directly
504assigned to a Dictionary in this way: >
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000505 :let mydict = {'data': [0, 1, 2, 3]}
506 :function mydict.len() dict
507 : return len(self.data)
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000508 :endfunction
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000509 :echo mydict.len()
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000510
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000511The function will then get a number and the value of dict.len is a |Funcref|
512that references this function. The function can only be used through a
513|Funcref|. It will automatically be deleted when there is no |Funcref|
514remaining that refers to it.
515
516It is not necessary to use the "dict" attribute for a numbered function.
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000517
518
519Functions for Dictionaries ~
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000520 *E715*
521Functions that can be used with a Dictionary: >
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000522 :if has_key(dict, 'foo') " TRUE if dict has entry with key "foo"
523 :if empty(dict) " TRUE if dict is empty
524 :let l = len(dict) " number of items in dict
525 :let big = max(dict) " maximum value in dict
526 :let small = min(dict) " minimum value in dict
527 :let xs = count(dict, 'x') " count nr of times 'x' appears in dict
528 :let s = string(dict) " String representation of dict
529 :call map(dict, '">> " . v:val') " prepend ">> " to each item
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000530
531
5321.5 More about variables ~
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000533 *more-variables*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000534If you need to know the type of a variable or expression, use the |type()|
535function.
536
537When the '!' flag is included in the 'viminfo' option, global variables that
538start with an uppercase letter, and don't contain a lowercase letter, are
539stored in the viminfo file |viminfo-file|.
540
541When the 'sessionoptions' option contains "global", global variables that
542start with an uppercase letter and contain at least one lowercase letter are
543stored in the session file |session-file|.
544
545variable name can be stored where ~
546my_var_6 not
547My_Var_6 session file
548MY_VAR_6 viminfo file
549
550
551It's possible to form a variable name with curly braces, see
552|curly-braces-names|.
553
554==============================================================================
5552. Expression syntax *expression-syntax*
556
557Expression syntax summary, from least to most significant:
558
559|expr1| expr2 ? expr1 : expr1 if-then-else
560
561|expr2| expr3 || expr3 .. logical OR
562
563|expr3| expr4 && expr4 .. logical AND
564
565|expr4| expr5 == expr5 equal
566 expr5 != expr5 not equal
567 expr5 > expr5 greater than
568 expr5 >= expr5 greater than or equal
569 expr5 < expr5 smaller than
570 expr5 <= expr5 smaller than or equal
571 expr5 =~ expr5 regexp matches
572 expr5 !~ expr5 regexp doesn't match
573
574 expr5 ==? expr5 equal, ignoring case
575 expr5 ==# expr5 equal, match case
576 etc. As above, append ? for ignoring case, # for
577 matching case
578
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +0000579 expr5 is expr5 same List instance
580 expr5 isnot expr5 different List instance
581
582|expr5| expr6 + expr6 .. number addition or list concatenation
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000583 expr6 - expr6 .. number subtraction
584 expr6 . expr6 .. string concatenation
585
586|expr6| expr7 * expr7 .. number multiplication
587 expr7 / expr7 .. number division
588 expr7 % expr7 .. number modulo
589
590|expr7| ! expr7 logical NOT
591 - expr7 unary minus
592 + expr7 unary plus
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000593
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000594
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000595|expr8| expr8[expr1] byte of a String or item of a List
596 expr8[expr1 : expr1] substring of a String or sublist of a List
597 expr8.name entry in a Dictionary
598 expr8(expr1, ...) function call with Funcref variable
599
600|expr9| number number constant
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +0000601 "string" string constant, backslash is special
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000602 'string' string constant, ' is doubled
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000603 [expr1, ...] List
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000604 {expr1: expr1, ...} Dictionary
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000605 &option option value
606 (expr1) nested expression
607 variable internal variable
608 va{ria}ble internal variable with curly braces
609 $VAR environment variable
610 @r contents of register 'r'
611 function(expr1, ...) function call
612 func{ti}on(expr1, ...) function call with curly braces
613
614
615".." indicates that the operations in this level can be concatenated.
616Example: >
617 &nu || &list && &shell == "csh"
618
619All expressions within one level are parsed from left to right.
620
621
622expr1 *expr1* *E109*
623-----
624
625expr2 ? expr1 : expr1
626
627The expression before the '?' is evaluated to a number. If it evaluates to
628non-zero, the result is the value of the expression between the '?' and ':',
629otherwise the result is the value of the expression after the ':'.
630Example: >
631 :echo lnum == 1 ? "top" : lnum
632
633Since the first expression is an "expr2", it cannot contain another ?:. The
634other two expressions can, thus allow for recursive use of ?:.
635Example: >
636 :echo lnum == 1 ? "top" : lnum == 1000 ? "last" : lnum
637
638To keep this readable, using |line-continuation| is suggested: >
639 :echo lnum == 1
640 :\ ? "top"
641 :\ : lnum == 1000
642 :\ ? "last"
643 :\ : lnum
644
645
646expr2 and expr3 *expr2* *expr3*
647---------------
648
649 *expr-barbar* *expr-&&*
650The "||" and "&&" operators take one argument on each side. The arguments
651are (converted to) Numbers. The result is:
652
653 input output ~
654n1 n2 n1 || n2 n1 && n2 ~
655zero zero zero zero
656zero non-zero non-zero zero
657non-zero zero non-zero zero
658non-zero non-zero non-zero non-zero
659
660The operators can be concatenated, for example: >
661
662 &nu || &list && &shell == "csh"
663
664Note that "&&" takes precedence over "||", so this has the meaning of: >
665
666 &nu || (&list && &shell == "csh")
667
668Once the result is known, the expression "short-circuits", that is, further
669arguments are not evaluated. This is like what happens in C. For example: >
670
671 let a = 1
672 echo a || b
673
674This is valid even if there is no variable called "b" because "a" is non-zero,
675so the result must be non-zero. Similarly below: >
676
677 echo exists("b") && b == "yes"
678
679This is valid whether "b" has been defined or not. The second clause will
680only be evaluated if "b" has been defined.
681
682
683expr4 *expr4*
684-----
685
686expr5 {cmp} expr5
687
688Compare two expr5 expressions, resulting in a 0 if it evaluates to false, or 1
689if it evaluates to true.
690
691 *expr-==* *expr-!=* *expr->* *expr->=*
692 *expr-<* *expr-<=* *expr-=~* *expr-!~*
693 *expr-==#* *expr-!=#* *expr->#* *expr->=#*
694 *expr-<#* *expr-<=#* *expr-=~#* *expr-!~#*
695 *expr-==?* *expr-!=?* *expr->?* *expr->=?*
696 *expr-<?* *expr-<=?* *expr-=~?* *expr-!~?*
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +0000697 *expr-is*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000698 use 'ignorecase' match case ignore case ~
699equal == ==# ==?
700not equal != !=# !=?
701greater than > ># >?
702greater than or equal >= >=# >=?
703smaller than < <# <?
704smaller than or equal <= <=# <=?
705regexp matches =~ =~# =~?
706regexp doesn't match !~ !~# !~?
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +0000707same instance is
708different instance isnot
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000709
710Examples:
711"abc" ==# "Abc" evaluates to 0
712"abc" ==? "Abc" evaluates to 1
713"abc" == "Abc" evaluates to 1 if 'ignorecase' is set, 0 otherwise
714
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000715 *E691* *E692*
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +0000716A List can only be compared with a List and only "equal", "not equal" and "is"
717can be used. This compares the values of the list, recursively. Ignoring
718case means case is ignored when comparing item values.
719
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +0000720 *E735* *E736*
721A Dictionary can only be compared with a Dictionary and only "equal", "not
722equal" and "is" can be used. This compares the key/values of the Dictionary,
723recursively. Ignoring case means case is ignored when comparing item values.
724
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +0000725 *E693* *E694*
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +0000726A Funcref can only be compared with a Funcref and only "equal" and "not equal"
727can be used. Case is never ignored.
728
729When using "is" or "isnot" with a List this checks if the expressions are
730referring to the same List instance. A copy of a List is different from the
731original List. When using "is" without a List it is equivalent to using
732"equal", using "isnot" equivalent to using "not equal". Except that a
733different type means the values are different. "4 == '4'" is true, "4 is '4'"
734is false.
735
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000736When comparing a String with a Number, the String is converted to a Number,
737and the comparison is done on Numbers. This means that "0 == 'x'" is TRUE,
738because 'x' converted to a Number is zero.
739
740When comparing two Strings, this is done with strcmp() or stricmp(). This
741results in the mathematical difference (comparing byte values), not
742necessarily the alphabetical difference in the local language.
743
744When using the operators with a trailing '#", or the short version and
745'ignorecase' is off, the comparing is done with strcmp().
746
747When using the operators with a trailing '?', or the short version and
748'ignorecase' is set, the comparing is done with stricmp().
749
750The "=~" and "!~" operators match the lefthand argument with the righthand
751argument, which is used as a pattern. See |pattern| for what a pattern is.
752This matching is always done like 'magic' was set and 'cpoptions' is empty, no
753matter what the actual value of 'magic' or 'cpoptions' is. This makes scripts
754portable. To avoid backslashes in the regexp pattern to be doubled, use a
755single-quote string, see |literal-string|.
756Since a string is considered to be a single line, a multi-line pattern
757(containing \n, backslash-n) will not match. However, a literal NL character
758can be matched like an ordinary character. Examples:
759 "foo\nbar" =~ "\n" evaluates to 1
760 "foo\nbar" =~ "\\n" evaluates to 0
761
762
763expr5 and expr6 *expr5* *expr6*
764---------------
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +0000765expr6 + expr6 .. Number addition or List concatenation *expr-+*
766expr6 - expr6 .. Number subtraction *expr--*
767expr6 . expr6 .. String concatenation *expr-.*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000768
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +0000769For Lists only "+" is possible and then both expr6 must be a list. The result
770is a new list with the two lists Concatenated.
771
772expr7 * expr7 .. number multiplication *expr-star*
773expr7 / expr7 .. number division *expr-/*
774expr7 % expr7 .. number modulo *expr-%*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000775
776For all, except ".", Strings are converted to Numbers.
777
778Note the difference between "+" and ".":
779 "123" + "456" = 579
780 "123" . "456" = "123456"
781
782When the righthand side of '/' is zero, the result is 0x7fffffff.
783When the righthand side of '%' is zero, the result is 0.
784
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +0000785None of these work for Funcrefs.
786
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000787
788expr7 *expr7*
789-----
790! expr7 logical NOT *expr-!*
791- expr7 unary minus *expr-unary--*
792+ expr7 unary plus *expr-unary-+*
793
794For '!' non-zero becomes zero, zero becomes one.
795For '-' the sign of the number is changed.
796For '+' the number is unchanged.
797
798A String will be converted to a Number first.
799
800These three can be repeated and mixed. Examples:
801 !-1 == 0
802 !!8 == 1
803 --9 == 9
804
805
806expr8 *expr8*
807-----
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000808expr8[expr1] item of String or List *expr-[]* *E111*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000809
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000810If expr8 is a Number or String this results in a String that contains the
811expr1'th single byte from expr8. expr8 is used as a String, expr1 as a
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000812Number. Note that this doesn't recognize multi-byte encodings.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000813
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000814Index zero gives the first character. This is like it works in C. Careful:
815text column numbers start with one! Example, to get the character under the
816cursor: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000817 :let c = getline(line("."))[col(".") - 1]
818
819If the length of the String is less than the index, the result is an empty
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000820String. A negative index always results in an empty string (reason: backwards
821compatibility). Use [-1:] to get the last byte.
822
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000823If expr8 is a List then it results the item at index expr1. See |list-index|
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000824for possible index values. If the index is out of range this results in an
825error. Example: >
826 :let item = mylist[-1] " get last item
827
828Generally, if a List index is equal to or higher than the length of the List,
829or more negative than the length of the List, this results in an error.
830
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000831
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000832expr8[expr1a : expr1b] substring or sublist *expr-[:]*
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000833
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000834If expr8 is a Number or String this results in the substring with the bytes
835from expr1a to and including expr1b. expr8 is used as a String, expr1a and
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000836expr1b are used as a Number. Note that this doesn't recognize multi-byte
837encodings.
838
839If expr1a is omitted zero is used. If expr1b is omitted the length of the
840string minus one is used.
841
842A negative number can be used to measure from the end of the string. -1 is
843the last character, -2 the last but one, etc.
844
845If an index goes out of range for the string characters are omitted. If
846expr1b is smaller than expr1a the result is an empty string.
847
848Examples: >
849 :let c = name[-1:] " last byte of a string
850 :let c = name[-2:-2] " last but one byte of a string
851 :let s = line(".")[4:] " from the fifth byte to the end
852 :let s = s[:-3] " remove last two bytes
853
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000854If expr8 is a List this results in a new List with the items indicated by the
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +0000855indexes expr1a and expr1b. This works like with a String, as explained just
856above, except that indexes out of range cause an error. Examples: >
857 :let l = mylist[:3] " first four items
858 :let l = mylist[4:4] " List with one item
859 :let l = mylist[:] " shallow copy of a List
860
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000861Using expr8[expr1] or expr8[expr1a : expr1b] on a Funcref results in an error.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000862
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000863
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000864expr8.name entry in a Dictionary *expr-entry*
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000865
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000866If expr8 is a Dictionary and it is followed by a dot, then the following name
867will be used as a key in the Dictionary. This is just like: expr8[name].
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000868
869The name must consist of alphanumeric characters, just like a variable name,
870but it may start with a number. Curly braces cannot be used.
871
872There must not be white space before or after the dot.
873
874Examples: >
875 :let dict = {"one": 1, 2: "two"}
876 :echo dict.one
877 :echo dict .2
878
879Note that the dot is also used for String concatenation. To avoid confusion
880always put spaces around the dot for String concatenation.
881
882
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +0000883expr8(expr1, ...) Funcref function call
884
885When expr8 is a |Funcref| type variable, invoke the function it refers to.
886
887
888
889 *expr9*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000890number
891------
892number number constant *expr-number*
893
894Decimal, Hexadecimal (starting with 0x or 0X), or Octal (starting with 0).
895
896
897string *expr-string* *E114*
898------
899"string" string constant *expr-quote*
900
901Note that double quotes are used.
902
903A string constant accepts these special characters:
904\... three-digit octal number (e.g., "\316")
905\.. two-digit octal number (must be followed by non-digit)
906\. one-digit octal number (must be followed by non-digit)
907\x.. byte specified with two hex numbers (e.g., "\x1f")
908\x. byte specified with one hex number (must be followed by non-hex char)
909\X.. same as \x..
910\X. same as \x.
911\u.... character specified with up to 4 hex numbers, stored according to the
912 current value of 'encoding' (e.g., "\u02a4")
913\U.... same as \u....
914\b backspace <BS>
915\e escape <Esc>
916\f formfeed <FF>
917\n newline <NL>
918\r return <CR>
919\t tab <Tab>
920\\ backslash
921\" double quote
922\<xxx> Special key named "xxx". e.g. "\<C-W>" for CTRL-W.
923
924Note that "\000" and "\x00" force the end of the string.
925
926
927literal-string *literal-string* *E115*
928---------------
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +0000929'string' string constant *expr-'*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000930
931Note that single quotes are used.
932
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +0000933This string is taken as it is. No backslashes are removed or have a special
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +0000934meaning. The only exception is that two quotes stand for one quote.
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +0000935
936Single quoted strings are useful for patterns, so that backslashes do not need
937to be doubled. These two commands are equivalent: >
938 if a =~ "\\s*"
939 if a =~ '\s*'
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000940
941
942option *expr-option* *E112* *E113*
943------
944&option option value, local value if possible
945&g:option global option value
946&l:option local option value
947
948Examples: >
949 echo "tabstop is " . &tabstop
950 if &insertmode
951
952Any option name can be used here. See |options|. When using the local value
953and there is no buffer-local or window-local value, the global value is used
954anyway.
955
956
957register *expr-register*
958--------
959@r contents of register 'r'
960
961The result is the contents of the named register, as a single string.
962Newlines are inserted where required. To get the contents of the unnamed
Bram Moolenaare7566042005-06-17 22:00:15 +0000963register use @" or @@. See |registers| for an explanation of the available
964registers.
965
966When using the '=' register you get the expression itself, not what it
967evaluates to. Use |eval()| to evaluate it.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000968
969
970nesting *expr-nesting* *E110*
971-------
972(expr1) nested expression
973
974
975environment variable *expr-env*
976--------------------
977$VAR environment variable
978
979The String value of any environment variable. When it is not defined, the
980result is an empty string.
981 *expr-env-expand*
982Note that there is a difference between using $VAR directly and using
983expand("$VAR"). Using it directly will only expand environment variables that
984are known inside the current Vim session. Using expand() will first try using
985the environment variables known inside the current Vim session. If that
986fails, a shell will be used to expand the variable. This can be slow, but it
987does expand all variables that the shell knows about. Example: >
988 :echo $version
989 :echo expand("$version")
990The first one probably doesn't echo anything, the second echoes the $version
991variable (if your shell supports it).
992
993
994internal variable *expr-variable*
995-----------------
996variable internal variable
997See below |internal-variables|.
998
999
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00001000function call *expr-function* *E116* *E118* *E119* *E120*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001001-------------
1002function(expr1, ...) function call
1003See below |functions|.
1004
1005
1006==============================================================================
10073. Internal variable *internal-variables* *E121*
1008 *E461*
1009An internal variable name can be made up of letters, digits and '_'. But it
1010cannot start with a digit. It's also possible to use curly braces, see
1011|curly-braces-names|.
1012
1013An internal variable is created with the ":let" command |:let|.
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00001014An internal variable is explicitly destroyed with the ":unlet" command
1015|:unlet|.
1016Using a name that is not an internal variable or refers to a variable that has
1017been destroyed results in an error.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001018
1019There are several name spaces for variables. Which one is to be used is
1020specified by what is prepended:
1021
1022 (nothing) In a function: local to a function; otherwise: global
1023|buffer-variable| b: Local to the current buffer.
1024|window-variable| w: Local to the current window.
1025|global-variable| g: Global.
1026|local-variable| l: Local to a function.
1027|script-variable| s: Local to a |:source|'ed Vim script.
1028|function-argument| a: Function argument (only inside a function).
1029|vim-variable| v: Global, predefined by Vim.
1030
Bram Moolenaar8f999f12005-01-25 22:12:55 +00001031The scope name by itself can be used as a Dictionary. For example, to delete
1032all script-local variables: >
1033 :for k in keys(s:)
1034 : unlet s:[k]
1035 :endfor
1036<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001037 *buffer-variable* *b:var*
1038A variable name that is preceded with "b:" is local to the current buffer.
1039Thus you can have several "b:foo" variables, one for each buffer.
1040This kind of variable is deleted when the buffer is wiped out or deleted with
1041|:bdelete|.
1042
1043One local buffer variable is predefined:
1044 *b:changedtick-variable* *changetick*
1045b:changedtick The total number of changes to the current buffer. It is
1046 incremented for each change. An undo command is also a change
1047 in this case. This can be used to perform an action only when
1048 the buffer has changed. Example: >
1049 :if my_changedtick != b:changedtick
1050 : let my_changedtick = b:changedtick
1051 : call My_Update()
1052 :endif
1053<
1054 *window-variable* *w:var*
1055A variable name that is preceded with "w:" is local to the current window. It
1056is deleted when the window is closed.
1057
1058 *global-variable* *g:var*
1059Inside functions global variables are accessed with "g:". Omitting this will
1060access a variable local to a function. But "g:" can also be used in any other
1061place if you like.
1062
1063 *local-variable* *l:var*
1064Inside functions local variables are accessed without prepending anything.
1065But you can also prepend "l:" if you like.
1066
1067 *script-variable* *s:var*
1068In a Vim script variables starting with "s:" can be used. They cannot be
1069accessed from outside of the scripts, thus are local to the script.
1070
1071They can be used in:
1072- commands executed while the script is sourced
1073- functions defined in the script
1074- autocommands defined in the script
1075- functions and autocommands defined in functions and autocommands which were
1076 defined in the script (recursively)
1077- user defined commands defined in the script
1078Thus not in:
1079- other scripts sourced from this one
1080- mappings
1081- etc.
1082
1083script variables can be used to avoid conflicts with global variable names.
1084Take this example:
1085
1086 let s:counter = 0
1087 function MyCounter()
1088 let s:counter = s:counter + 1
1089 echo s:counter
1090 endfunction
1091 command Tick call MyCounter()
1092
1093You can now invoke "Tick" from any script, and the "s:counter" variable in
1094that script will not be changed, only the "s:counter" in the script where
1095"Tick" was defined is used.
1096
1097Another example that does the same: >
1098
1099 let s:counter = 0
1100 command Tick let s:counter = s:counter + 1 | echo s:counter
1101
1102When calling a function and invoking a user-defined command, the context for
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001103script variables is set to the script where the function or command was
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001104defined.
1105
1106The script variables are also available when a function is defined inside a
1107function that is defined in a script. Example: >
1108
1109 let s:counter = 0
1110 function StartCounting(incr)
1111 if a:incr
1112 function MyCounter()
1113 let s:counter = s:counter + 1
1114 endfunction
1115 else
1116 function MyCounter()
1117 let s:counter = s:counter - 1
1118 endfunction
1119 endif
1120 endfunction
1121
1122This defines the MyCounter() function either for counting up or counting down
1123when calling StartCounting(). It doesn't matter from where StartCounting() is
1124called, the s:counter variable will be accessible in MyCounter().
1125
1126When the same script is sourced again it will use the same script variables.
1127They will remain valid as long as Vim is running. This can be used to
1128maintain a counter: >
1129
1130 if !exists("s:counter")
1131 let s:counter = 1
1132 echo "script executed for the first time"
1133 else
1134 let s:counter = s:counter + 1
1135 echo "script executed " . s:counter . " times now"
1136 endif
1137
1138Note that this means that filetype plugins don't get a different set of script
1139variables for each buffer. Use local buffer variables instead |b:var|.
1140
1141
1142Predefined Vim variables: *vim-variable* *v:var*
1143
Bram Moolenaare4efc3b2005-03-07 23:16:51 +00001144 *v:beval_col* *beval_col-variable*
1145v:beval_col The number of the column, over which the mouse pointer is.
1146 This is the byte index in the |v:beval_lnum| line.
1147 Only valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
1148
1149 *v:beval_bufnr* *beval_bufnr-variable*
1150v:beval_bufnr The number of the buffer, over which the mouse pointer is. Only
1151 valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
1152
1153 *v:beval_lnum* *beval_lnum-variable*
1154v:beval_lnum The number of the line, over which the mouse pointer is. Only
1155 valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
1156
1157 *v:beval_text* *beval_text-variable*
Bram Moolenaar24bbcfe2005-06-28 23:32:02 +00001158v:beval_text The text under or after the mouse pointer. Usually a word as
1159 it is useful for debugging a C program. 'iskeyword' applies,
1160 but a dot and "->" before the position is included. When on a
1161 ']' the text before it is used, including the matching '[' and
Bram Moolenaare4efc3b2005-03-07 23:16:51 +00001162 word before it. When on a Visual area within one line the
1163 highlighted text is used.
1164 Only valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
1165
1166 *v:beval_winnr* *beval_winnr-variable*
1167v:beval_winnr The number of the window, over which the mouse pointer is. Only
1168 valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
1169
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001170 *v:charconvert_from* *charconvert_from-variable*
1171v:charconvert_from
1172 The name of the character encoding of a file to be converted.
1173 Only valid while evaluating the 'charconvert' option.
1174
1175 *v:charconvert_to* *charconvert_to-variable*
1176v:charconvert_to
1177 The name of the character encoding of a file after conversion.
1178 Only valid while evaluating the 'charconvert' option.
1179
1180 *v:cmdarg* *cmdarg-variable*
1181v:cmdarg This variable is used for two purposes:
1182 1. The extra arguments given to a file read/write command.
1183 Currently these are "++enc=" and "++ff=". This variable is
1184 set before an autocommand event for a file read/write
1185 command is triggered. There is a leading space to make it
1186 possible to append this variable directly after the
1187 read/write command. Note: The "+cmd" argument isn't
1188 included here, because it will be executed anyway.
1189 2. When printing a PostScript file with ":hardcopy" this is
1190 the argument for the ":hardcopy" command. This can be used
1191 in 'printexpr'.
1192
1193 *v:cmdbang* *cmdbang-variable*
1194v:cmdbang Set like v:cmdarg for a file read/write command. When a "!"
1195 was used the value is 1, otherwise it is 0. Note that this
1196 can only be used in autocommands. For user commands |<bang>|
1197 can be used.
1198
1199 *v:count* *count-variable*
1200v:count The count given for the last Normal mode command. Can be used
1201 to get the count before a mapping. Read-only. Example: >
1202 :map _x :<C-U>echo "the count is " . v:count<CR>
1203< Note: The <C-U> is required to remove the line range that you
1204 get when typing ':' after a count.
1205 "count" also works, for backwards compatibility.
1206
1207 *v:count1* *count1-variable*
1208v:count1 Just like "v:count", but defaults to one when no count is
1209 used.
1210
1211 *v:ctype* *ctype-variable*
1212v:ctype The current locale setting for characters of the runtime
1213 environment. This allows Vim scripts to be aware of the
1214 current locale encoding. Technical: it's the value of
1215 LC_CTYPE. When not using a locale the value is "C".
1216 This variable can not be set directly, use the |:language|
1217 command.
1218 See |multi-lang|.
1219
1220 *v:dying* *dying-variable*
1221v:dying Normally zero. When a deadly signal is caught it's set to
1222 one. When multiple signals are caught the number increases.
1223 Can be used in an autocommand to check if Vim didn't
1224 terminate normally. {only works on Unix}
1225 Example: >
1226 :au VimLeave * if v:dying | echo "\nAAAAaaaarrrggghhhh!!!\n" | endif
1227<
1228 *v:errmsg* *errmsg-variable*
1229v:errmsg Last given error message. It's allowed to set this variable.
1230 Example: >
1231 :let v:errmsg = ""
1232 :silent! next
1233 :if v:errmsg != ""
1234 : ... handle error
1235< "errmsg" also works, for backwards compatibility.
1236
1237 *v:exception* *exception-variable*
1238v:exception The value of the exception most recently caught and not
1239 finished. See also |v:throwpoint| and |throw-variables|.
1240 Example: >
1241 :try
1242 : throw "oops"
1243 :catch /.*/
1244 : echo "caught" v:exception
1245 :endtry
1246< Output: "caught oops".
1247
Bram Moolenaar19a09a12005-03-04 23:39:37 +00001248 *v:fcs_reason* *fcs_reason-variable*
1249v:fcs_reason The reason why the |FileChangedShell| event was triggered.
1250 Can be used in an autocommand to decide what to do and/or what
1251 to set v:fcs_choice to. Possible values:
1252 deleted file no longer exists
1253 conflict file contents, mode or timestamp was
1254 changed and buffer is modified
1255 changed file contents has changed
1256 mode mode of file changed
1257 time only file timestamp changed
1258
1259 *v:fcs_choice* *fcs_choice-variable*
1260v:fcs_choice What should happen after a |FileChangedShell| event was
1261 triggered. Can be used in an autocommand to tell Vim what to
1262 do with the affected buffer:
1263 reload Reload the buffer (does not work if
1264 the file was deleted).
1265 ask Ask the user what to do, as if there
1266 was no autocommand. Except that when
1267 only the timestamp changed nothing
1268 will happen.
1269 <empty> Nothing, the autocommand should do
1270 everything that needs to be done.
1271 The default is empty. If another (invalid) value is used then
1272 Vim behaves like it is empty, there is no warning message.
1273
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001274 *v:fname_in* *fname_in-variable*
Bram Moolenaar4e330bb2005-12-07 21:04:31 +00001275v:fname_in The name of the input file. Valid while evaluating:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001276 option used for ~
1277 'charconvert' file to be converted
1278 'diffexpr' original file
1279 'patchexpr' original file
1280 'printexpr' file to be printed
Bram Moolenaar2c7a29c2005-12-12 22:02:31 +00001281 And set to the swap file name for |SwapExists|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001282
1283 *v:fname_out* *fname_out-variable*
1284v:fname_out The name of the output file. Only valid while
1285 evaluating:
1286 option used for ~
1287 'charconvert' resulting converted file (*)
1288 'diffexpr' output of diff
1289 'patchexpr' resulting patched file
1290 (*) When doing conversion for a write command (e.g., ":w
1291 file") it will be equal to v:fname_in. When doing conversion
1292 for a read command (e.g., ":e file") it will be a temporary
1293 file and different from v:fname_in.
1294
1295 *v:fname_new* *fname_new-variable*
1296v:fname_new The name of the new version of the file. Only valid while
1297 evaluating 'diffexpr'.
1298
1299 *v:fname_diff* *fname_diff-variable*
1300v:fname_diff The name of the diff (patch) file. Only valid while
1301 evaluating 'patchexpr'.
1302
1303 *v:folddashes* *folddashes-variable*
1304v:folddashes Used for 'foldtext': dashes representing foldlevel of a closed
1305 fold.
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00001306 Read-only in the |sandbox|. |fold-foldtext|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001307
1308 *v:foldlevel* *foldlevel-variable*
1309v:foldlevel Used for 'foldtext': foldlevel of closed fold.
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00001310 Read-only in the |sandbox|. |fold-foldtext|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001311
1312 *v:foldend* *foldend-variable*
1313v:foldend Used for 'foldtext': last line of closed fold.
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00001314 Read-only in the |sandbox|. |fold-foldtext|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001315
1316 *v:foldstart* *foldstart-variable*
1317v:foldstart Used for 'foldtext': first line of closed fold.
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00001318 Read-only in the |sandbox|. |fold-foldtext|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001319
Bram Moolenaar843ee412004-06-30 16:16:41 +00001320 *v:insertmode* *insertmode-variable*
1321v:insertmode Used for the |InsertEnter| and |InsertChange| autocommand
1322 events. Values:
1323 i Insert mode
1324 r Replace mode
1325 v Virtual Replace mode
1326
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001327 *v:key* *key-variable*
1328v:key Key of the current item of a Dictionary. Only valid while
1329 evaluating the expression used with |map()| and |filter()|.
1330 Read-only.
1331
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001332 *v:lang* *lang-variable*
1333v:lang The current locale setting for messages of the runtime
1334 environment. This allows Vim scripts to be aware of the
1335 current language. Technical: it's the value of LC_MESSAGES.
1336 The value is system dependent.
1337 This variable can not be set directly, use the |:language|
1338 command.
1339 It can be different from |v:ctype| when messages are desired
1340 in a different language than what is used for character
1341 encoding. See |multi-lang|.
1342
1343 *v:lc_time* *lc_time-variable*
1344v:lc_time The current locale setting for time messages of the runtime
1345 environment. This allows Vim scripts to be aware of the
1346 current language. Technical: it's the value of LC_TIME.
1347 This variable can not be set directly, use the |:language|
1348 command. See |multi-lang|.
1349
1350 *v:lnum* *lnum-variable*
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00001351v:lnum Line number for the 'foldexpr' |fold-expr| and 'indentexpr'
1352 expressions. Only valid while one of these expressions is
1353 being evaluated. Read-only when in the |sandbox|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001354
1355 *v:prevcount* *prevcount-variable*
1356v:prevcount The count given for the last but one Normal mode command.
1357 This is the v:count value of the previous command. Useful if
1358 you want to cancel Visual mode and then use the count. >
1359 :vmap % <Esc>:call MyFilter(v:prevcount)<CR>
1360< Read-only.
1361
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00001362 *v:profiling* *profiling-variable*
1363v:profiling Normally zero. Set to one after using ":profile start".
1364 See |profiling|.
1365
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001366 *v:progname* *progname-variable*
1367v:progname Contains the name (with path removed) with which Vim was
1368 invoked. Allows you to do special initialisations for "view",
1369 "evim" etc., or any other name you might symlink to Vim.
1370 Read-only.
1371
1372 *v:register* *register-variable*
1373v:register The name of the register supplied to the last normal mode
1374 command. Empty if none were supplied. |getreg()| |setreg()|
1375
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001376 *v:scrollstart* *scrollstart-variable*
1377v:scrollstart String describing the script or function that caused the
1378 screen to scroll up. It's only set when it is empty, thus the
1379 first reason is remembered. It is set to "Unknown" for a
1380 typed command.
1381 This can be used to find out why your script causes the
1382 hit-enter prompt.
1383
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001384 *v:servername* *servername-variable*
1385v:servername The resulting registered |x11-clientserver| name if any.
1386 Read-only.
1387
1388 *v:shell_error* *shell_error-variable*
1389v:shell_error Result of the last shell command. When non-zero, the last
1390 shell command had an error. When zero, there was no problem.
1391 This only works when the shell returns the error code to Vim.
1392 The value -1 is often used when the command could not be
1393 executed. Read-only.
1394 Example: >
1395 :!mv foo bar
1396 :if v:shell_error
1397 : echo 'could not rename "foo" to "bar"!'
1398 :endif
1399< "shell_error" also works, for backwards compatibility.
1400
1401 *v:statusmsg* *statusmsg-variable*
1402v:statusmsg Last given status message. It's allowed to set this variable.
1403
Bram Moolenaar4e330bb2005-12-07 21:04:31 +00001404 *v:swapname* *swapname-variable*
1405v:swapname Only valid when executing |SwapExists| autocommands: Name of
1406 the swap file found. Read-only.
1407
1408 *v:swapchoice* *swapchoice-variable*
1409v:swapchoice |SwapExists| autocommands can set this to the selected choice
1410 for handling an existing swap file:
1411 'o' Open read-only
1412 'e' Edit anyway
1413 'r' Recover
1414 'd' Delete swapfile
1415 'q' Quit
1416 'a' Abort
1417 The value should be a single-character string. An empty value
1418 results in the user being asked, as would happen when there is
1419 no SwapExists autocommand. The default is empty.
1420
Bram Moolenaarb3480382005-12-11 21:33:32 +00001421 *v:swapcommand* *swapcommand-variable*
1422v:swapcommand Normal mode ommand to be executed after a file has been
1423 opened. Can be used for a |SwapExists| autocommand to have
1424 another Vim open the file and jump to the right place. For
1425 example, when jumping to a tag the value is ":tag tagname\r".
1426
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001427 *v:termresponse* *termresponse-variable*
1428v:termresponse The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the |t_RV|
1429 termcap entry. It is set when Vim receives an escape sequence
1430 that starts with ESC [ or CSI and ends in a 'c', with only
1431 digits, ';' and '.' in between.
1432 When this option is set, the TermResponse autocommand event is
1433 fired, so that you can react to the response from the
1434 terminal.
1435 The response from a new xterm is: "<Esc>[ Pp ; Pv ; Pc c". Pp
1436 is the terminal type: 0 for vt100 and 1 for vt220. Pv is the
1437 patch level (since this was introduced in patch 95, it's
1438 always 95 or bigger). Pc is always zero.
1439 {only when compiled with |+termresponse| feature}
1440
1441 *v:this_session* *this_session-variable*
1442v:this_session Full filename of the last loaded or saved session file. See
1443 |:mksession|. It is allowed to set this variable. When no
1444 session file has been saved, this variable is empty.
1445 "this_session" also works, for backwards compatibility.
1446
1447 *v:throwpoint* *throwpoint-variable*
1448v:throwpoint The point where the exception most recently caught and not
1449 finished was thrown. Not set when commands are typed. See
1450 also |v:exception| and |throw-variables|.
1451 Example: >
1452 :try
1453 : throw "oops"
1454 :catch /.*/
1455 : echo "Exception from" v:throwpoint
1456 :endtry
1457< Output: "Exception from test.vim, line 2"
1458
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001459 *v:val* *val-variable*
1460v:val Value of the current item of a List or Dictionary. Only valid
1461 while evaluating the expression used with |map()| and
1462 |filter()|. Read-only.
1463
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001464 *v:version* *version-variable*
1465v:version Version number of Vim: Major version number times 100 plus
1466 minor version number. Version 5.0 is 500. Version 5.1 (5.01)
1467 is 501. Read-only. "version" also works, for backwards
1468 compatibility.
1469 Use |has()| to check if a certain patch was included, e.g.: >
1470 if has("patch123")
1471< Note that patch numbers are specific to the version, thus both
1472 version 5.0 and 5.1 may have a patch 123, but these are
1473 completely different.
1474
1475 *v:warningmsg* *warningmsg-variable*
1476v:warningmsg Last given warning message. It's allowed to set this variable.
1477
1478==============================================================================
14794. Builtin Functions *functions*
1480
1481See |function-list| for a list grouped by what the function is used for.
1482
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001483(Use CTRL-] on the function name to jump to the full explanation.)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001484
1485USAGE RESULT DESCRIPTION ~
1486
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00001487add( {list}, {item}) List append {item} to List {list}
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001488append( {lnum}, {string}) Number append {string} below line {lnum}
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00001489append( {lnum}, {list}) Number append lines {list} below line {lnum}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001490argc() Number number of files in the argument list
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001491argidx() Number current index in the argument list
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001492argv( {nr}) String {nr} entry of the argument list
1493browse( {save}, {title}, {initdir}, {default})
1494 String put up a file requester
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00001495browsedir( {title}, {initdir}) String put up a directory requester
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001496bufexists( {expr}) Number TRUE if buffer {expr} exists
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001497buflisted( {expr}) Number TRUE if buffer {expr} is listed
1498bufloaded( {expr}) Number TRUE if buffer {expr} is loaded
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001499bufname( {expr}) String Name of the buffer {expr}
1500bufnr( {expr}) Number Number of the buffer {expr}
1501bufwinnr( {expr}) Number window number of buffer {expr}
1502byte2line( {byte}) Number line number at byte count {byte}
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001503byteidx( {expr}, {nr}) Number byte index of {nr}'th char in {expr}
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001504call( {func}, {arglist} [, {dict}])
1505 any call {func} with arguments {arglist}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001506char2nr( {expr}) Number ASCII value of first char in {expr}
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001507cindent( {lnum}) Number C indent for line {lnum}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001508col( {expr}) Number column nr of cursor or mark
Bram Moolenaar572cb562005-08-05 21:35:02 +00001509complete_add( {expr}) Number add completion match
1510complete_check() Number check for key typed during completion
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001511confirm( {msg} [, {choices} [, {default} [, {type}]]])
1512 Number number of choice picked by user
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001513copy( {expr}) any make a shallow copy of {expr}
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00001514count( {list}, {expr} [, {start} [, {ic}]])
1515 Number count how many {expr} are in {list}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001516cscope_connection( [{num} , {dbpath} [, {prepend}]])
1517 Number checks existence of cscope connection
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001518cursor( {lnum}, {col}) Number position cursor at {lnum}, {col}
1519deepcopy( {expr}) any make a full copy of {expr}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001520delete( {fname}) Number delete file {fname}
1521did_filetype() Number TRUE if FileType autocommand event used
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001522diff_filler( {lnum}) Number diff filler lines about {lnum}
1523diff_hlID( {lnum}, {col}) Number diff highlighting at {lnum}/{col}
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +00001524empty( {expr}) Number TRUE if {expr} is empty
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001525escape( {string}, {chars}) String escape {chars} in {string} with '\'
Bram Moolenaare2cc9702005-03-15 22:43:58 +00001526eval( {string}) any evaluate {string} into its value
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001527eventhandler( ) Number TRUE if inside an event handler
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001528executable( {expr}) Number 1 if executable {expr} exists
1529exists( {expr}) Number TRUE if {expr} exists
1530expand( {expr}) String expand special keywords in {expr}
1531filereadable( {file}) Number TRUE if {file} is a readable file
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001532filter( {expr}, {string}) List/Dict remove items from {expr} where
1533 {string} is 0
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00001534finddir( {name}[, {path}[, {count}]])
1535 String Find directory {name} in {path}
Bram Moolenaar89cb5e02004-07-19 20:55:54 +00001536findfile( {name}[, {path}[, {count}]])
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00001537 String Find file {name} in {path}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001538filewritable( {file}) Number TRUE if {file} is a writable file
1539fnamemodify( {fname}, {mods}) String modify file name
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001540foldclosed( {lnum}) Number first line of fold at {lnum} if closed
1541foldclosedend( {lnum}) Number last line of fold at {lnum} if closed
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001542foldlevel( {lnum}) Number fold level at {lnum}
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001543foldtext( ) String line displayed for closed fold
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001544foreground( ) Number bring the Vim window to the foreground
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001545function( {name}) Funcref reference to function {name}
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00001546get( {list}, {idx} [, {def}]) any get item {idx} from {list} or {def}
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001547get( {dict}, {key} [, {def}]) any get item {key} from {dict} or {def}
Bram Moolenaar45360022005-07-21 21:08:21 +00001548getbufline( {expr}, {lnum} [, {end}])
1549 List lines {lnum} to {end} of buffer {expr}
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001550getchar( [expr]) Number get one character from the user
1551getcharmod( ) Number modifiers for the last typed character
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001552getbufvar( {expr}, {varname}) variable {varname} in buffer {expr}
1553getcmdline() String return the current command-line
1554getcmdpos() Number return cursor position in command-line
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00001555getcmdtype() String return the current command-line type
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001556getcwd() String the current working directory
Bram Moolenaar5eb86f92004-07-26 12:53:41 +00001557getfperm( {fname}) String file permissions of file {fname}
1558getfsize( {fname}) Number size in bytes of file {fname}
Bram Moolenaard8b0cf12004-12-12 11:33:30 +00001559getfontname( [{name}]) String name of font being used
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001560getftime( {fname}) Number last modification time of file
Bram Moolenaar5eb86f92004-07-26 12:53:41 +00001561getftype( {fname}) String description of type of file {fname}
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00001562getline( {lnum}) String line {lnum} of current buffer
1563getline( {lnum}, {end}) List lines {lnum} to {end} of current buffer
Bram Moolenaar68b76a62005-03-25 21:53:48 +00001564getqflist() List list of quickfix items
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001565getreg( [{regname} [, 1]]) String contents of register
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001566getregtype( [{regname}]) String type of register
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001567getwinposx() Number X coord in pixels of GUI Vim window
1568getwinposy() Number Y coord in pixels of GUI Vim window
1569getwinvar( {nr}, {varname}) variable {varname} in window {nr}
1570glob( {expr}) String expand file wildcards in {expr}
1571globpath( {path}, {expr}) String do glob({expr}) for all dirs in {path}
1572has( {feature}) Number TRUE if feature {feature} supported
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001573has_key( {dict}, {key}) Number TRUE if {dict} has entry {key}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001574hasmapto( {what} [, {mode}]) Number TRUE if mapping to {what} exists
1575histadd( {history},{item}) String add an item to a history
1576histdel( {history} [, {item}]) String remove an item from a history
1577histget( {history} [, {index}]) String get the item {index} from a history
1578histnr( {history}) Number highest index of a history
1579hlexists( {name}) Number TRUE if highlight group {name} exists
1580hlID( {name}) Number syntax ID of highlight group {name}
1581hostname() String name of the machine Vim is running on
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001582iconv( {expr}, {from}, {to}) String convert encoding of {expr}
1583indent( {lnum}) Number indent of line {lnum}
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00001584index( {list}, {expr} [, {start} [, {ic}]])
1585 Number index in {list} where {expr} appears
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00001586input( {prompt} [, {text} [, {completion}]])
1587 String get input from the user
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001588inputdialog( {p} [, {t} [, {c}]]) String like input() but in a GUI dialog
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001589inputrestore() Number restore typeahead
1590inputsave() Number save and clear typeahead
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001591inputsecret( {prompt} [, {text}]) String like input() but hiding the text
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001592insert( {list}, {item} [, {idx}]) List insert {item} in {list} [before {idx}]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001593isdirectory( {directory}) Number TRUE if {directory} is a directory
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00001594islocked( {expr}) Number TRUE if {expr} is locked
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +00001595items( {dict}) List List of key-value pairs in {dict}
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00001596join( {list} [, {sep}]) String join {list} items into one String
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00001597keys( {dict}) List List of keys in {dict}
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001598len( {expr}) Number the length of {expr}
1599libcall( {lib}, {func}, {arg}) String call {func} in library {lib} with {arg}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001600libcallnr( {lib}, {func}, {arg}) Number idem, but return a Number
1601line( {expr}) Number line nr of cursor, last line or mark
1602line2byte( {lnum}) Number byte count of line {lnum}
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001603lispindent( {lnum}) Number Lisp indent for line {lnum}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001604localtime() Number current time
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001605map( {expr}, {string}) List/Dict change each item in {expr} to {expr}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001606maparg( {name}[, {mode}]) String rhs of mapping {name} in mode {mode}
1607mapcheck( {name}[, {mode}]) String check for mappings matching {name}
Bram Moolenaar89cb5e02004-07-19 20:55:54 +00001608match( {expr}, {pat}[, {start}[, {count}]])
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001609 Number position where {pat} matches in {expr}
Bram Moolenaar89cb5e02004-07-19 20:55:54 +00001610matchend( {expr}, {pat}[, {start}[, {count}]])
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001611 Number position where {pat} ends in {expr}
Bram Moolenaar3a7c85b2005-02-05 21:39:53 +00001612matchlist( {expr}, {pat}[, {start}[, {count}]])
1613 List match and submatches of {pat} in {expr}
Bram Moolenaar89cb5e02004-07-19 20:55:54 +00001614matchstr( {expr}, {pat}[, {start}[, {count}]])
1615 String {count}'th match of {pat} in {expr}
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00001616max({list}) Number maximum value of items in {list}
1617min({list}) Number minumum value of items in {list}
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00001618mkdir({name} [, {path} [, {prot}]])
1619 Number create directory {name}
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001620mode() String current editing mode
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001621nextnonblank( {lnum}) Number line nr of non-blank line >= {lnum}
1622nr2char( {expr}) String single char with ASCII value {expr}
1623prevnonblank( {lnum}) Number line nr of non-blank line <= {lnum}
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00001624printf( {fmt}, {expr1}...) String format text
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00001625range( {expr} [, {max} [, {stride}]])
1626 List items from {expr} to {max}
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00001627readfile({fname} [, {binary} [, {max}]])
1628 List get list of lines from file {fname}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001629remote_expr( {server}, {string} [, {idvar}])
1630 String send expression
1631remote_foreground( {server}) Number bring Vim server to the foreground
1632remote_peek( {serverid} [, {retvar}])
1633 Number check for reply string
1634remote_read( {serverid}) String read reply string
1635remote_send( {server}, {string} [, {idvar}])
1636 String send key sequence
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00001637remove( {list}, {idx} [, {end}]) any remove items {idx}-{end} from {list}
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00001638remove( {dict}, {key}) any remove entry {key} from {dict}
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001639rename( {from}, {to}) Number rename (move) file from {from} to {to}
1640repeat( {expr}, {count}) String repeat {expr} {count} times
1641resolve( {filename}) String get filename a shortcut points to
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00001642reverse( {list}) List reverse {list} in-place
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001643search( {pattern} [, {flags}]) Number search for {pattern}
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +00001644searchdecl({name} [, {global} [, {thisblock}]])
1645 Number search for variable declaration
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001646searchpair( {start}, {middle}, {end} [, {flags} [, {skip}]])
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001647 Number search for other end of start/end pair
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001648server2client( {clientid}, {string})
1649 Number send reply string
1650serverlist() String get a list of available servers
1651setbufvar( {expr}, {varname}, {val}) set {varname} in buffer {expr} to {val}
1652setcmdpos( {pos}) Number set cursor position in command-line
1653setline( {lnum}, {line}) Number set line {lnum} to {line}
Bram Moolenaar35c54e52005-05-20 21:25:31 +00001654setqflist( {list}[, {action}]) Number set list of quickfix items using {list}
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001655setreg( {n}, {v}[, {opt}]) Number set register to value and type
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001656setwinvar( {nr}, {varname}, {val}) set {varname} in window {nr} to {val}
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001657simplify( {filename}) String simplify filename as much as possible
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00001658sort( {list} [, {func}]) List sort {list}, using {func} to compare
Bram Moolenaar24bbcfe2005-06-28 23:32:02 +00001659soundfold( {word}) String sound-fold {word}
Bram Moolenaard857f0e2005-06-21 22:37:39 +00001660spellbadword() String badly spelled word at cursor
Bram Moolenaarc54b8a72005-09-30 21:20:29 +00001661spellsuggest( {word} [, {max} [, {capital}]])
1662 List spelling suggestions
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001663split( {expr} [, {pat} [, {keepempty}]])
1664 List make List from {pat} separated {expr}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001665strftime( {format}[, {time}]) String time in specified format
Bram Moolenaar8f999f12005-01-25 22:12:55 +00001666stridx( {haystack}, {needle}[, {start}])
1667 Number index of {needle} in {haystack}
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00001668string( {expr}) String String representation of {expr} value
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001669strlen( {expr}) Number length of the String {expr}
1670strpart( {src}, {start}[, {len}])
1671 String {len} characters of {src} at {start}
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +00001672strridx( {haystack}, {needle} [, {start}])
1673 Number last index of {needle} in {haystack}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001674strtrans( {expr}) String translate string to make it printable
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001675submatch( {nr}) String specific match in ":substitute"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001676substitute( {expr}, {pat}, {sub}, {flags})
1677 String all {pat} in {expr} replaced with {sub}
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +00001678synID( {lnum}, {col}, {trans}) Number syntax ID at {lnum} and {col}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001679synIDattr( {synID}, {what} [, {mode}])
1680 String attribute {what} of syntax ID {synID}
1681synIDtrans( {synID}) Number translated syntax ID of {synID}
Bram Moolenaarc0197e22004-09-13 20:26:32 +00001682system( {expr} [, {input}]) String output of shell command/filter {expr}
Bram Moolenaare7eb9df2005-09-09 19:49:30 +00001683taglist( {expr}) List list of tags matching {expr}
1684tagfiles() List tags files used
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001685tempname() String name for a temporary file
1686tolower( {expr}) String the String {expr} switched to lowercase
1687toupper( {expr}) String the String {expr} switched to uppercase
Bram Moolenaar8299df92004-07-10 09:47:34 +00001688tr( {src}, {fromstr}, {tostr}) String translate chars of {src} in {fromstr}
1689 to chars in {tostr}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001690type( {name}) Number type of variable {name}
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +00001691values( {dict}) List List of values in {dict}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001692virtcol( {expr}) Number screen column of cursor or mark
1693visualmode( [expr]) String last visual mode used
1694winbufnr( {nr}) Number buffer number of window {nr}
1695wincol() Number window column of the cursor
1696winheight( {nr}) Number height of window {nr}
1697winline() Number window line of the cursor
1698winnr() Number number of current window
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001699winrestcmd() String returns command to restore window sizes
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001700winwidth( {nr}) Number width of window {nr}
Bram Moolenaar3a7c85b2005-02-05 21:39:53 +00001701writefile({list}, {fname} [, {binary}])
1702 Number write list of lines to file {fname}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001703
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00001704add({list}, {expr}) *add()*
1705 Append the item {expr} to List {list}. Returns the resulting
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001706 List. Examples: >
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00001707 :let alist = add([1, 2, 3], item)
1708 :call add(mylist, "woodstock")
1709< Note that when {expr} is a List it is appended as a single
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001710 item. Use |extend()| to concatenate Lists.
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +00001711 Use |insert()| to add an item at another position.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001712
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00001713
1714append({lnum}, {expr}) *append()*
Bram Moolenaar748bf032005-02-02 23:04:36 +00001715 When {expr} is a List: Append each item of the List as a text
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00001716 line below line {lnum} in the current buffer.
Bram Moolenaar748bf032005-02-02 23:04:36 +00001717 Otherwise append {expr} as one text line below line {lnum} in
1718 the current buffer.
1719 {lnum} can be zero to insert a line before the first one.
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00001720 Returns 1 for failure ({lnum} out of range or out of memory),
1721 0 for success. Example: >
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001722 :let failed = append(line('$'), "# THE END")
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00001723 :let failed = append(0, ["Chapter 1", "the beginning"])
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001724<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001725 *argc()*
1726argc() The result is the number of files in the argument list of the
1727 current window. See |arglist|.
1728
1729 *argidx()*
1730argidx() The result is the current index in the argument list. 0 is
1731 the first file. argc() - 1 is the last one. See |arglist|.
1732
1733 *argv()*
1734argv({nr}) The result is the {nr}th file in the argument list of the
1735 current window. See |arglist|. "argv(0)" is the first one.
1736 Example: >
1737 :let i = 0
1738 :while i < argc()
1739 : let f = escape(argv(i), '. ')
1740 : exe 'amenu Arg.' . f . ' :e ' . f . '<CR>'
1741 : let i = i + 1
1742 :endwhile
1743<
1744 *browse()*
1745browse({save}, {title}, {initdir}, {default})
1746 Put up a file requester. This only works when "has("browse")"
1747 returns non-zero (only in some GUI versions).
1748 The input fields are:
1749 {save} when non-zero, select file to write
1750 {title} title for the requester
1751 {initdir} directory to start browsing in
1752 {default} default file name
1753 When the "Cancel" button is hit, something went wrong, or
1754 browsing is not possible, an empty string is returned.
1755
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00001756 *browsedir()*
1757browsedir({title}, {initdir})
1758 Put up a directory requester. This only works when
1759 "has("browse")" returns non-zero (only in some GUI versions).
1760 On systems where a directory browser is not supported a file
1761 browser is used. In that case: select a file in the directory
1762 to be used.
1763 The input fields are:
1764 {title} title for the requester
1765 {initdir} directory to start browsing in
1766 When the "Cancel" button is hit, something went wrong, or
1767 browsing is not possible, an empty string is returned.
1768
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001769bufexists({expr}) *bufexists()*
1770 The result is a Number, which is non-zero if a buffer called
1771 {expr} exists.
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001772 If the {expr} argument is a number, buffer numbers are used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001773 If the {expr} argument is a string it must match a buffer name
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001774 exactly. The name can be:
1775 - Relative to the current directory.
1776 - A full path.
1777 - The name of a buffer with 'filetype' set to "nofile".
1778 - A URL name.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001779 Unlisted buffers will be found.
1780 Note that help files are listed by their short name in the
1781 output of |:buffers|, but bufexists() requires using their
1782 long name to be able to find them.
1783 Use "bufexists(0)" to test for the existence of an alternate
1784 file name.
1785 *buffer_exists()*
1786 Obsolete name: buffer_exists().
1787
1788buflisted({expr}) *buflisted()*
1789 The result is a Number, which is non-zero if a buffer called
1790 {expr} exists and is listed (has the 'buflisted' option set).
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001791 The {expr} argument is used like with |bufexists()|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001792
1793bufloaded({expr}) *bufloaded()*
1794 The result is a Number, which is non-zero if a buffer called
1795 {expr} exists and is loaded (shown in a window or hidden).
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001796 The {expr} argument is used like with |bufexists()|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001797
1798bufname({expr}) *bufname()*
1799 The result is the name of a buffer, as it is displayed by the
1800 ":ls" command.
1801 If {expr} is a Number, that buffer number's name is given.
1802 Number zero is the alternate buffer for the current window.
1803 If {expr} is a String, it is used as a |file-pattern| to match
1804 with the buffer names. This is always done like 'magic' is
1805 set and 'cpoptions' is empty. When there is more than one
1806 match an empty string is returned.
1807 "" or "%" can be used for the current buffer, "#" for the
1808 alternate buffer.
1809 A full match is preferred, otherwise a match at the start, end
1810 or middle of the buffer name is accepted.
1811 Listed buffers are found first. If there is a single match
1812 with a listed buffer, that one is returned. Next unlisted
1813 buffers are searched for.
1814 If the {expr} is a String, but you want to use it as a buffer
1815 number, force it to be a Number by adding zero to it: >
1816 :echo bufname("3" + 0)
1817< If the buffer doesn't exist, or doesn't have a name, an empty
1818 string is returned. >
1819 bufname("#") alternate buffer name
1820 bufname(3) name of buffer 3
1821 bufname("%") name of current buffer
1822 bufname("file2") name of buffer where "file2" matches.
1823< *buffer_name()*
1824 Obsolete name: buffer_name().
1825
1826 *bufnr()*
1827bufnr({expr}) The result is the number of a buffer, as it is displayed by
1828 the ":ls" command. For the use of {expr}, see |bufname()|
1829 above. If the buffer doesn't exist, -1 is returned.
1830 bufnr("$") is the last buffer: >
1831 :let last_buffer = bufnr("$")
1832< The result is a Number, which is the highest buffer number
1833 of existing buffers. Note that not all buffers with a smaller
1834 number necessarily exist, because ":bwipeout" may have removed
1835 them. Use bufexists() to test for the existence of a buffer.
1836 *buffer_number()*
1837 Obsolete name: buffer_number().
1838 *last_buffer_nr()*
1839 Obsolete name for bufnr("$"): last_buffer_nr().
1840
1841bufwinnr({expr}) *bufwinnr()*
1842 The result is a Number, which is the number of the first
1843 window associated with buffer {expr}. For the use of {expr},
1844 see |bufname()| above. If buffer {expr} doesn't exist or
1845 there is no such window, -1 is returned. Example: >
1846
1847 echo "A window containing buffer 1 is " . (bufwinnr(1))
1848
1849< The number can be used with |CTRL-W_w| and ":wincmd w"
1850 |:wincmd|.
1851
1852
1853byte2line({byte}) *byte2line()*
1854 Return the line number that contains the character at byte
1855 count {byte} in the current buffer. This includes the
1856 end-of-line character, depending on the 'fileformat' option
1857 for the current buffer. The first character has byte count
1858 one.
1859 Also see |line2byte()|, |go| and |:goto|.
1860 {not available when compiled without the |+byte_offset|
1861 feature}
1862
Bram Moolenaarab79bcb2004-07-18 21:34:53 +00001863byteidx({expr}, {nr}) *byteidx()*
1864 Return byte index of the {nr}'th character in the string
1865 {expr}. Use zero for the first character, it returns zero.
1866 This function is only useful when there are multibyte
1867 characters, otherwise the returned value is equal to {nr}.
1868 Composing characters are counted as a separate character.
1869 Example : >
1870 echo matchstr(str, ".", byteidx(str, 3))
1871< will display the fourth character. Another way to do the
1872 same: >
1873 let s = strpart(str, byteidx(str, 3))
1874 echo strpart(s, 0, byteidx(s, 1))
1875< If there are less than {nr} characters -1 is returned.
1876 If there are exactly {nr} characters the length of the string
1877 is returned.
1878
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001879call({func}, {arglist} [, {dict}]) *call()* *E699*
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00001880 Call function {func} with the items in List {arglist} as
1881 arguments.
1882 {func} can either be a Funcref or the name of a function.
1883 a:firstline and a:lastline are set to the cursor line.
1884 Returns the return value of the called function.
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00001885 {dict} is for functions with the "dict" attribute. It will be
1886 used to set the local variable "self". |Dictionary-function|
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00001887
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001888char2nr({expr}) *char2nr()*
1889 Return number value of the first char in {expr}. Examples: >
1890 char2nr(" ") returns 32
1891 char2nr("ABC") returns 65
1892< The current 'encoding' is used. Example for "utf-8": >
1893 char2nr("á") returns 225
1894 char2nr("á"[0]) returns 195
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001895< nr2char() does the opposite.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001896
1897cindent({lnum}) *cindent()*
1898 Get the amount of indent for line {lnum} according the C
1899 indenting rules, as with 'cindent'.
1900 The indent is counted in spaces, the value of 'tabstop' is
1901 relevant. {lnum} is used just like in |getline()|.
1902 When {lnum} is invalid or Vim was not compiled the |+cindent|
1903 feature, -1 is returned.
Bram Moolenaard5cdbeb2005-10-10 20:59:28 +00001904 See |C-indenting|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001905
1906 *col()*
Bram Moolenaarc0197e22004-09-13 20:26:32 +00001907col({expr}) The result is a Number, which is the byte index of the column
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001908 position given with {expr}. The accepted positions are:
1909 . the cursor position
1910 $ the end of the cursor line (the result is the
1911 number of characters in the cursor line plus one)
1912 'x position of mark x (if the mark is not set, 0 is
1913 returned)
1914 For the screen column position use |virtcol()|.
1915 Note that only marks in the current file can be used.
1916 Examples: >
1917 col(".") column of cursor
1918 col("$") length of cursor line plus one
1919 col("'t") column of mark t
1920 col("'" . markname) column of mark markname
1921< The first column is 1. 0 is returned for an error.
1922 For the cursor position, when 'virtualedit' is active, the
1923 column is one higher if the cursor is after the end of the
1924 line. This can be used to obtain the column in Insert mode: >
1925 :imap <F2> <C-O>:let save_ve = &ve<CR>
1926 \<C-O>:set ve=all<CR>
1927 \<C-O>:echo col(".") . "\n" <Bar>
1928 \let &ve = save_ve<CR>
1929<
Bram Moolenaar572cb562005-08-05 21:35:02 +00001930
1931complete_add({expr}) *complete_add()*
1932 Add {expr} to the list of matches. Only to be used by the
1933 function specified with the 'completefunc' option.
1934 Returns 0 for failure (empty string or out of memory),
1935 1 when the match was added, 2 when the match was already in
1936 the list.
1937
1938complete_check() *complete_check()*
1939 Check for a key typed while looking for completion matches.
1940 This is to be used when looking for matches takes some time.
1941 Returns non-zero when searching for matches is to be aborted,
1942 zero otherwise.
1943 Only to be used by the function specified with the
1944 'completefunc' option.
1945
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001946 *confirm()*
1947confirm({msg} [, {choices} [, {default} [, {type}]]])
1948 Confirm() offers the user a dialog, from which a choice can be
1949 made. It returns the number of the choice. For the first
1950 choice this is 1.
1951 Note: confirm() is only supported when compiled with dialog
1952 support, see |+dialog_con| and |+dialog_gui|.
1953 {msg} is displayed in a |dialog| with {choices} as the
1954 alternatives. When {choices} is missing or empty, "&OK" is
1955 used (and translated).
1956 {msg} is a String, use '\n' to include a newline. Only on
1957 some systems the string is wrapped when it doesn't fit.
1958 {choices} is a String, with the individual choices separated
1959 by '\n', e.g. >
1960 confirm("Save changes?", "&Yes\n&No\n&Cancel")
1961< The letter after the '&' is the shortcut key for that choice.
1962 Thus you can type 'c' to select "Cancel". The shortcut does
1963 not need to be the first letter: >
1964 confirm("file has been modified", "&Save\nSave &All")
1965< For the console, the first letter of each choice is used as
1966 the default shortcut key.
1967 The optional {default} argument is the number of the choice
1968 that is made if the user hits <CR>. Use 1 to make the first
1969 choice the default one. Use 0 to not set a default. If
1970 {default} is omitted, 1 is used.
1971 The optional {type} argument gives the type of dialog. This
1972 is only used for the icon of the Win32 GUI. It can be one of
1973 these values: "Error", "Question", "Info", "Warning" or
1974 "Generic". Only the first character is relevant. When {type}
1975 is omitted, "Generic" is used.
1976 If the user aborts the dialog by pressing <Esc>, CTRL-C,
1977 or another valid interrupt key, confirm() returns 0.
1978
1979 An example: >
1980 :let choice = confirm("What do you want?", "&Apples\n&Oranges\n&Bananas", 2)
1981 :if choice == 0
1982 : echo "make up your mind!"
1983 :elseif choice == 3
1984 : echo "tasteful"
1985 :else
1986 : echo "I prefer bananas myself."
1987 :endif
1988< In a GUI dialog, buttons are used. The layout of the buttons
1989 depends on the 'v' flag in 'guioptions'. If it is included,
1990 the buttons are always put vertically. Otherwise, confirm()
1991 tries to put the buttons in one horizontal line. If they
1992 don't fit, a vertical layout is used anyway. For some systems
1993 the horizontal layout is always used.
1994
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00001995 *copy()*
1996copy({expr}) Make a copy of {expr}. For Numbers and Strings this isn't
1997 different from using {expr} directly.
1998 When {expr} is a List a shallow copy is created. This means
1999 that the original List can be changed without changing the
2000 copy, and vise versa. But the items are identical, thus
2001 changing an item changes the contents of both Lists. Also see
2002 |deepcopy()|.
2003
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002004count({comp}, {expr} [, {ic} [, {start}]]) *count()*
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00002005 Return the number of times an item with value {expr} appears
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002006 in List or Dictionary {comp}.
2007 If {start} is given then start with the item with this index.
2008 {start} can only be used with a List.
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00002009 When {ic} is given and it's non-zero then case is ignored.
2010
2011
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002012 *cscope_connection()*
2013cscope_connection([{num} , {dbpath} [, {prepend}]])
2014 Checks for the existence of a |cscope| connection. If no
2015 parameters are specified, then the function returns:
2016 0, if cscope was not available (not compiled in), or
2017 if there are no cscope connections;
2018 1, if there is at least one cscope connection.
2019
2020 If parameters are specified, then the value of {num}
2021 determines how existence of a cscope connection is checked:
2022
2023 {num} Description of existence check
2024 ----- ------------------------------
2025 0 Same as no parameters (e.g., "cscope_connection()").
2026 1 Ignore {prepend}, and use partial string matches for
2027 {dbpath}.
2028 2 Ignore {prepend}, and use exact string matches for
2029 {dbpath}.
2030 3 Use {prepend}, use partial string matches for both
2031 {dbpath} and {prepend}.
2032 4 Use {prepend}, use exact string matches for both
2033 {dbpath} and {prepend}.
2034
2035 Note: All string comparisons are case sensitive!
2036
2037 Examples. Suppose we had the following (from ":cs show"): >
2038
2039 # pid database name prepend path
2040 0 27664 cscope.out /usr/local
2041<
2042 Invocation Return Val ~
2043 ---------- ---------- >
2044 cscope_connection() 1
2045 cscope_connection(1, "out") 1
2046 cscope_connection(2, "out") 0
2047 cscope_connection(3, "out") 0
2048 cscope_connection(3, "out", "local") 1
2049 cscope_connection(4, "out") 0
2050 cscope_connection(4, "out", "local") 0
2051 cscope_connection(4, "cscope.out", "/usr/local") 1
2052<
2053cursor({lnum}, {col}) *cursor()*
2054 Positions the cursor at the column {col} in the line {lnum}.
Bram Moolenaar6f16eb82005-08-23 21:02:42 +00002055 The first column is one.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002056 Does not change the jumplist.
2057 If {lnum} is greater than the number of lines in the buffer,
2058 the cursor will be positioned at the last line in the buffer.
2059 If {lnum} is zero, the cursor will stay in the current line.
Bram Moolenaar6f16eb82005-08-23 21:02:42 +00002060 If {col} is greater than the number of bytes in the line,
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002061 the cursor will be positioned at the last character in the
2062 line.
2063 If {col} is zero, the cursor will stay in the current column.
2064
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00002065
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00002066deepcopy({expr}[, {noref}]) *deepcopy()* *E698*
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00002067 Make a copy of {expr}. For Numbers and Strings this isn't
2068 different from using {expr} directly.
2069 When {expr} is a List a full copy is created. This means
2070 that the original List can be changed without changing the
2071 copy, and vise versa. When an item is a List, a copy for it
2072 is made, recursively. Thus changing an item in the copy does
2073 not change the contents of the original List.
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00002074 When {noref} is omitted or zero a contained List or Dictionary
2075 is only copied once. All references point to this single
2076 copy. With {noref} set to 1 every occurrence of a List or
2077 Dictionary results in a new copy. This also means that a
2078 cyclic reference causes deepcopy() to fail.
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00002079 *E724*
2080 Nesting is possible up to 100 levels. When there is an item
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00002081 that refers back to a higher level making a deep copy with
2082 {noref} set to 1 will fail.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00002083 Also see |copy()|.
2084
2085delete({fname}) *delete()*
2086 Deletes the file by the name {fname}. The result is a Number,
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002087 which is 0 if the file was deleted successfully, and non-zero
2088 when the deletion failed.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00002089 Use |remove()| to delete an item from a List.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002090
2091 *did_filetype()*
2092did_filetype() Returns non-zero when autocommands are being executed and the
2093 FileType event has been triggered at least once. Can be used
2094 to avoid triggering the FileType event again in the scripts
2095 that detect the file type. |FileType|
2096 When editing another file, the counter is reset, thus this
2097 really checks if the FileType event has been triggered for the
2098 current buffer. This allows an autocommand that starts
2099 editing another buffer to set 'filetype' and load a syntax
2100 file.
2101
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +00002102diff_filler({lnum}) *diff_filler()*
2103 Returns the number of filler lines above line {lnum}.
2104 These are the lines that were inserted at this point in
2105 another diff'ed window. These filler lines are shown in the
2106 display but don't exist in the buffer.
2107 {lnum} is used like with |getline()|. Thus "." is the current
2108 line, "'m" mark m, etc.
2109 Returns 0 if the current window is not in diff mode.
2110
2111diff_hlID({lnum}, {col}) *diff_hlID()*
2112 Returns the highlight ID for diff mode at line {lnum} column
2113 {col} (byte index). When the current line does not have a
2114 diff change zero is returned.
2115 {lnum} is used like with |getline()|. Thus "." is the current
2116 line, "'m" mark m, etc.
2117 {col} is 1 for the leftmost column, {lnum} is 1 for the first
2118 line.
2119 The highlight ID can be used with |synIDattr()| to obtain
2120 syntax information about the highlighting.
2121
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +00002122empty({expr}) *empty()*
2123 Return the Number 1 if {expr} is empty, zero otherwise.
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002124 A List or Dictionary is empty when it does not have any items.
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +00002125 A Number is empty when its value is zero.
2126 For a long List this is much faster then comparing the length
2127 with zero.
2128
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002129escape({string}, {chars}) *escape()*
2130 Escape the characters in {chars} that occur in {string} with a
2131 backslash. Example: >
2132 :echo escape('c:\program files\vim', ' \')
2133< results in: >
2134 c:\\program\ files\\vim
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00002135
2136< *eval()*
2137eval({string}) Evaluate {string} and return the result. Especially useful to
2138 turn the result of |string()| back into the original value.
2139 This works for Numbers, Strings and composites of them.
2140 Also works for Funcrefs that refer to existing functions.
2141
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002142eventhandler() *eventhandler()*
2143 Returns 1 when inside an event handler. That is that Vim got
2144 interrupted while waiting for the user to type a character,
2145 e.g., when dropping a file on Vim. This means interactive
2146 commands cannot be used. Otherwise zero is returned.
2147
2148executable({expr}) *executable()*
2149 This function checks if an executable with the name {expr}
2150 exists. {expr} must be the name of the program without any
Bram Moolenaarf4b8e572004-06-24 15:53:16 +00002151 arguments.
2152 executable() uses the value of $PATH and/or the normal
2153 searchpath for programs. *PATHEXT*
2154 On MS-DOS and MS-Windows the ".exe", ".bat", etc. can
2155 optionally be included. Then the extensions in $PATHEXT are
2156 tried. Thus if "foo.exe" does not exist, "foo.exe.bat" can be
2157 found. If $PATHEXT is not set then ".exe;.com;.bat;.cmd" is
2158 used. A dot by itself can be used in $PATHEXT to try using
2159 the name without an extension. When 'shell' looks like a
2160 Unix shell, then the name is also tried without adding an
2161 extension.
2162 On MS-DOS and MS-Windows it only checks if the file exists and
2163 is not a directory, not if it's really executable.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002164 The result is a Number:
2165 1 exists
2166 0 does not exist
2167 -1 not implemented on this system
2168
2169 *exists()*
2170exists({expr}) The result is a Number, which is non-zero if {expr} is
2171 defined, zero otherwise. The {expr} argument is a string,
2172 which contains one of these:
2173 &option-name Vim option (only checks if it exists,
2174 not if it really works)
2175 +option-name Vim option that works.
2176 $ENVNAME environment variable (could also be
2177 done by comparing with an empty
2178 string)
2179 *funcname built-in function (see |functions|)
2180 or user defined function (see
2181 |user-functions|).
2182 varname internal variable (see
Bram Moolenaar3a7c85b2005-02-05 21:39:53 +00002183 |internal-variables|). Also works
2184 for |curly-braces-names|, Dictionary
2185 entries, List items, etc. Beware that
2186 this may cause functions to be
2187 invoked cause an error message for an
2188 invalid expression.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002189 :cmdname Ex command: built-in command, user
2190 command or command modifier |:command|.
2191 Returns:
2192 1 for match with start of a command
2193 2 full match with a command
2194 3 matches several user commands
2195 To check for a supported command
2196 always check the return value to be 2.
2197 #event autocommand defined for this event
2198 #event#pattern autocommand defined for this event and
2199 pattern (the pattern is taken
2200 literally and compared to the
2201 autocommand patterns character by
2202 character)
Bram Moolenaara9b1e742005-12-19 22:14:58 +00002203 #group autocommand group exists
2204 #group#event autocommand defined for this group and
2205 event.
2206 #group#event#pattern
2207 autocommand defined for this group,
2208 event and pattern.
Bram Moolenaarf4cd3e82005-12-22 22:47:02 +00002209 ##event autocommand for this event is
2210 supported.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002211 For checking for a supported feature use |has()|.
2212
2213 Examples: >
2214 exists("&shortname")
2215 exists("$HOSTNAME")
2216 exists("*strftime")
2217 exists("*s:MyFunc")
2218 exists("bufcount")
2219 exists(":Make")
Bram Moolenaara9b1e742005-12-19 22:14:58 +00002220 exists("#CursorHold")
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002221 exists("#BufReadPre#*.gz")
Bram Moolenaara9b1e742005-12-19 22:14:58 +00002222 exists("#filetypeindent")
2223 exists("#filetypeindent#FileType")
2224 exists("#filetypeindent#FileType#*")
Bram Moolenaarf4cd3e82005-12-22 22:47:02 +00002225 exists("##ColorScheme")
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002226< There must be no space between the symbol (&/$/*/#) and the
2227 name.
2228 Note that the argument must be a string, not the name of the
2229 variable itself! For example: >
2230 exists(bufcount)
2231< This doesn't check for existence of the "bufcount" variable,
2232 but gets the contents of "bufcount", and checks if that
2233 exists.
2234
2235expand({expr} [, {flag}]) *expand()*
2236 Expand wildcards and the following special keywords in {expr}.
2237 The result is a String.
2238
2239 When there are several matches, they are separated by <NL>
2240 characters. [Note: in version 5.0 a space was used, which
2241 caused problems when a file name contains a space]
2242
2243 If the expansion fails, the result is an empty string. A name
2244 for a non-existing file is not included.
2245
2246 When {expr} starts with '%', '#' or '<', the expansion is done
2247 like for the |cmdline-special| variables with their associated
2248 modifiers. Here is a short overview:
2249
2250 % current file name
2251 # alternate file name
2252 #n alternate file name n
2253 <cfile> file name under the cursor
2254 <afile> autocmd file name
2255 <abuf> autocmd buffer number (as a String!)
2256 <amatch> autocmd matched name
2257 <sfile> sourced script file name
2258 <cword> word under the cursor
2259 <cWORD> WORD under the cursor
2260 <client> the {clientid} of the last received
2261 message |server2client()|
2262 Modifiers:
2263 :p expand to full path
2264 :h head (last path component removed)
2265 :t tail (last path component only)
2266 :r root (one extension removed)
2267 :e extension only
2268
2269 Example: >
2270 :let &tags = expand("%:p:h") . "/tags"
2271< Note that when expanding a string that starts with '%', '#' or
2272 '<', any following text is ignored. This does NOT work: >
2273 :let doesntwork = expand("%:h.bak")
2274< Use this: >
2275 :let doeswork = expand("%:h") . ".bak"
2276< Also note that expanding "<cfile>" and others only returns the
2277 referenced file name without further expansion. If "<cfile>"
2278 is "~/.cshrc", you need to do another expand() to have the
2279 "~/" expanded into the path of the home directory: >
2280 :echo expand(expand("<cfile>"))
2281<
2282 There cannot be white space between the variables and the
2283 following modifier. The |fnamemodify()| function can be used
2284 to modify normal file names.
2285
2286 When using '%' or '#', and the current or alternate file name
2287 is not defined, an empty string is used. Using "%:p" in a
2288 buffer with no name, results in the current directory, with a
2289 '/' added.
2290
2291 When {expr} does not start with '%', '#' or '<', it is
2292 expanded like a file name is expanded on the command line.
2293 'suffixes' and 'wildignore' are used, unless the optional
2294 {flag} argument is given and it is non-zero. Names for
Bram Moolenaar02743632005-07-25 20:42:36 +00002295 non-existing files are included. The "**" item can be used to
2296 search in a directory tree. For example, to find all "README"
2297 files in the current directory and below: >
2298 :echo expand("**/README")
2299<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002300 Expand() can also be used to expand variables and environment
2301 variables that are only known in a shell. But this can be
2302 slow, because a shell must be started. See |expr-env-expand|.
2303 The expanded variable is still handled like a list of file
2304 names. When an environment variable cannot be expanded, it is
2305 left unchanged. Thus ":echo expand('$FOOBAR')" results in
2306 "$FOOBAR".
2307
2308 See |glob()| for finding existing files. See |system()| for
2309 getting the raw output of an external command.
2310
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002311extend({expr1}, {expr2} [, {expr3}]) *extend()*
2312 {expr1} and {expr2} must be both Lists or both Dictionaries.
2313
2314 If they are Lists: Append {expr2} to {expr1}.
2315 If {expr3} is given insert the items of {expr2} before item
2316 {expr3} in {expr1}. When {expr3} is zero insert before the
2317 first item. When {expr3} is equal to len({expr1}) then
2318 {expr2} is appended.
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00002319 Examples: >
2320 :echo sort(extend(mylist, [7, 5]))
2321 :call extend(mylist, [2, 3], 1)
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00002322< Use |add()| to concatenate one item to a list. To concatenate
2323 two lists into a new list use the + operator: >
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00002324 :let newlist = [1, 2, 3] + [4, 5]
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002325<
2326 If they are Dictionaries:
2327 Add all entries from {expr2} to {expr1}.
2328 If a key exists in both {expr1} and {expr2} then {expr3} is
2329 used to decide what to do:
2330 {expr3} = "keep": keep the value of {expr1}
2331 {expr3} = "force": use the value of {expr2}
Bram Moolenaar383f9bc2005-01-19 22:18:32 +00002332 {expr3} = "error": give an error message *E737*
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002333 When {expr3} is omitted then "force" is assumed.
2334
2335 {expr1} is changed when {expr2} is not empty. If necessary
2336 make a copy of {expr1} first.
2337 {expr2} remains unchanged.
2338 Returns {expr1}.
2339
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00002340
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002341filereadable({file}) *filereadable()*
2342 The result is a Number, which is TRUE when a file with the
2343 name {file} exists, and can be read. If {file} doesn't exist,
2344 or is a directory, the result is FALSE. {file} is any
2345 expression, which is used as a String.
2346 *file_readable()*
2347 Obsolete name: file_readable().
2348
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00002349
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002350filter({expr}, {string}) *filter()*
2351 {expr} must be a List or a Dictionary.
2352 For each item in {expr} evaluate {string} and when the result
2353 is zero remove the item from the List or Dictionary.
2354 Inside {string} |v:val| has the value of the current item.
2355 For a Dictionary |v:key| has the key of the current item.
2356 Examples: >
2357 :call filter(mylist, 'v:val !~ "OLD"')
2358< Removes the items where "OLD" appears. >
2359 :call filter(mydict, 'v:key >= 8')
2360< Removes the items with a key below 8. >
2361 :call filter(var, 0)
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00002362< Removes all the items, thus clears the List or Dictionary.
2363
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002364 Note that {string} is the result of expression and is then
2365 used as an expression again. Often it is good to use a
2366 |literal-string| to avoid having to double backslashes.
2367
2368 The operation is done in-place. If you want a List or
2369 Dictionary to remain unmodified make a copy first: >
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00002370 :let l = filter(copy(mylist), '& =~ "KEEP"')
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002371
2372< Returns {expr}, the List or Dictionary that was filtered.
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00002373
2374
Bram Moolenaar89cb5e02004-07-19 20:55:54 +00002375finddir({name}[, {path}[, {count}]]) *finddir()*
2376 Find directory {name} in {path}.
2377 If {path} is omitted or empty then 'path' is used.
2378 If the optional {count} is given, find {count}'s occurrence of
2379 {name} in {path}.
2380 This is quite similar to the ex-command |:find|.
2381 When the found directory is below the current directory a
2382 relative path is returned. Otherwise a full path is returned.
2383 Example: >
2384 :echo findfile("tags.vim", ".;")
2385< Searches from the current directory upwards until it finds
2386 the file "tags.vim".
2387 {only available when compiled with the +file_in_path feature}
2388
2389findfile({name}[, {path}[, {count}]]) *findfile()*
2390 Just like |finddir()|, but find a file instead of a directory.
2391
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002392filewritable({file}) *filewritable()*
2393 The result is a Number, which is 1 when a file with the
2394 name {file} exists, and can be written. If {file} doesn't
2395 exist, or is not writable, the result is 0. If (file) is a
2396 directory, and we can write to it, the result is 2.
2397
2398fnamemodify({fname}, {mods}) *fnamemodify()*
2399 Modify file name {fname} according to {mods}. {mods} is a
2400 string of characters like it is used for file names on the
2401 command line. See |filename-modifiers|.
2402 Example: >
2403 :echo fnamemodify("main.c", ":p:h")
2404< results in: >
2405 /home/mool/vim/vim/src
2406< Note: Environment variables and "~" don't work in {fname}, use
2407 |expand()| first then.
2408
2409foldclosed({lnum}) *foldclosed()*
2410 The result is a Number. If the line {lnum} is in a closed
2411 fold, the result is the number of the first line in that fold.
2412 If the line {lnum} is not in a closed fold, -1 is returned.
2413
2414foldclosedend({lnum}) *foldclosedend()*
2415 The result is a Number. If the line {lnum} is in a closed
2416 fold, the result is the number of the last line in that fold.
2417 If the line {lnum} is not in a closed fold, -1 is returned.
2418
2419foldlevel({lnum}) *foldlevel()*
2420 The result is a Number, which is the foldlevel of line {lnum}
2421 in the current buffer. For nested folds the deepest level is
2422 returned. If there is no fold at line {lnum}, zero is
2423 returned. It doesn't matter if the folds are open or closed.
2424 When used while updating folds (from 'foldexpr') -1 is
2425 returned for lines where folds are still to be updated and the
2426 foldlevel is unknown. As a special case the level of the
2427 previous line is usually available.
2428
2429 *foldtext()*
2430foldtext() Returns a String, to be displayed for a closed fold. This is
2431 the default function used for the 'foldtext' option and should
2432 only be called from evaluating 'foldtext'. It uses the
2433 |v:foldstart|, |v:foldend| and |v:folddashes| variables.
2434 The returned string looks like this: >
2435 +-- 45 lines: abcdef
2436< The number of dashes depends on the foldlevel. The "45" is
2437 the number of lines in the fold. "abcdef" is the text in the
2438 first non-blank line of the fold. Leading white space, "//"
2439 or "/*" and the text from the 'foldmarker' and 'commentstring'
2440 options is removed.
2441 {not available when compiled without the |+folding| feature}
2442
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00002443foldtextresult({lnum}) *foldtextresult()*
2444 Returns the text that is displayed for the closed fold at line
2445 {lnum}. Evaluates 'foldtext' in the appropriate context.
2446 When there is no closed fold at {lnum} an empty string is
2447 returned.
2448 {lnum} is used like with |getline()|. Thus "." is the current
2449 line, "'m" mark m, etc.
2450 Useful when exporting folded text, e.g., to HTML.
2451 {not available when compiled without the |+folding| feature}
2452
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002453 *foreground()*
2454foreground() Move the Vim window to the foreground. Useful when sent from
2455 a client to a Vim server. |remote_send()|
2456 On Win32 systems this might not work, the OS does not always
2457 allow a window to bring itself to the foreground. Use
2458 |remote_foreground()| instead.
2459 {only in the Win32, Athena, Motif and GTK GUI versions and the
2460 Win32 console version}
2461
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00002462
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +00002463function({name}) *function()* *E700*
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00002464 Return a Funcref variable that refers to function {name}.
2465 {name} can be a user defined function or an internal function.
2466
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00002467
Bram Moolenaar39a58ca2005-06-27 22:42:44 +00002468garbagecollect() *garbagecollect()*
2469 Cleanup unused Lists and Dictionaries that have circular
2470 references. There is hardly ever a need to invoke this
2471 function, as it is automatically done when Vim runs out of
2472 memory or is waiting for the user to press a key after
2473 'updatetime'. Items without circular references are always
2474 freed when they become unused.
2475 This is useful if you have deleted a very big List and/or
2476 Dictionary with circular references in a script that runs for
2477 a long time.
2478
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +00002479get({list}, {idx} [, {default}]) *get()*
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00002480 Get item {idx} from List {list}. When this item is not
2481 available return {default}. Return zero when {default} is
2482 omitted.
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002483get({dict}, {key} [, {default}])
2484 Get item with key {key} from Dictionary {dict}. When this
2485 item is not available return {default}. Return zero when
2486 {default} is omitted.
2487
Bram Moolenaar45360022005-07-21 21:08:21 +00002488 *getbufline()*
2489getbufline({expr}, {lnum} [, {end}])
Bram Moolenaar661b1822005-07-28 22:36:45 +00002490 Return a List with the lines starting from {lnum} to {end}
2491 (inclusive) in the buffer {expr}. If {end} is omitted, a List
2492 with only the line {lnum} is returned.
Bram Moolenaar45360022005-07-21 21:08:21 +00002493
2494 For the use of {expr}, see |bufname()| above.
2495
Bram Moolenaar661b1822005-07-28 22:36:45 +00002496 For {lnum} and {end} "$" can be used for the last line of the
2497 buffer. Otherwise a number must be used.
Bram Moolenaar45360022005-07-21 21:08:21 +00002498
2499 When {lnum} is smaller than 1 or bigger than the number of
2500 lines in the buffer, an empty List is returned.
2501
2502 When {end} is greater than the number of lines in the buffer,
2503 it is treated as {end} is set to the number of lines in the
Bram Moolenaar661b1822005-07-28 22:36:45 +00002504 buffer. When {end} is before {lnum} an empty List is
Bram Moolenaar45360022005-07-21 21:08:21 +00002505 returned.
2506
Bram Moolenaar661b1822005-07-28 22:36:45 +00002507 This function works only for loaded buffers. For unloaded and
Bram Moolenaar45360022005-07-21 21:08:21 +00002508 non-existing buffers, an empty List is returned.
2509
2510 Example: >
2511 :let lines = getbufline(bufnr("myfile"), 1, "$")
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00002512
2513getbufvar({expr}, {varname}) *getbufvar()*
2514 The result is the value of option or local buffer variable
2515 {varname} in buffer {expr}. Note that the name without "b:"
2516 must be used.
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00002517 This also works for a global or buffer-local option, but it
2518 doesn't work for a global variable, window-local variable or
2519 window-local option.
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00002520 For the use of {expr}, see |bufname()| above.
2521 When the buffer or variable doesn't exist an empty string is
2522 returned, there is no error message.
2523 Examples: >
2524 :let bufmodified = getbufvar(1, "&mod")
2525 :echo "todo myvar = " . getbufvar("todo", "myvar")
2526<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002527getchar([expr]) *getchar()*
2528 Get a single character from the user. If it is an 8-bit
2529 character, the result is a number. Otherwise a String is
2530 returned with the encoded character. For a special key it's a
2531 sequence of bytes starting with 0x80 (decimal: 128).
2532 If [expr] is omitted, wait until a character is available.
2533 If [expr] is 0, only get a character when one is available.
2534 If [expr] is 1, only check if a character is available, it is
2535 not consumed. If a normal character is
2536 available, it is returned, otherwise a
2537 non-zero value is returned.
2538 If a normal character available, it is returned as a Number.
2539 Use nr2char() to convert it to a String.
2540 The returned value is zero if no character is available.
2541 The returned value is a string of characters for special keys
2542 and when a modifier (shift, control, alt) was used.
2543 There is no prompt, you will somehow have to make clear to the
2544 user that a character has to be typed.
2545 There is no mapping for the character.
2546 Key codes are replaced, thus when the user presses the <Del>
2547 key you get the code for the <Del> key, not the raw character
2548 sequence. Examples: >
2549 getchar() == "\<Del>"
2550 getchar() == "\<S-Left>"
2551< This example redefines "f" to ignore case: >
2552 :nmap f :call FindChar()<CR>
2553 :function FindChar()
2554 : let c = nr2char(getchar())
2555 : while col('.') < col('$') - 1
2556 : normal l
2557 : if getline('.')[col('.') - 1] ==? c
2558 : break
2559 : endif
2560 : endwhile
2561 :endfunction
2562
2563getcharmod() *getcharmod()*
2564 The result is a Number which is the state of the modifiers for
2565 the last obtained character with getchar() or in another way.
2566 These values are added together:
2567 2 shift
2568 4 control
2569 8 alt (meta)
2570 16 mouse double click
2571 32 mouse triple click
2572 64 mouse quadruple click
2573 128 Macintosh only: command
2574 Only the modifiers that have not been included in the
2575 character itself are obtained. Thus Shift-a results in "A"
2576 with no modifier.
2577
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002578getcmdline() *getcmdline()*
2579 Return the current command-line. Only works when the command
2580 line is being edited, thus requires use of |c_CTRL-\_e| or
2581 |c_CTRL-R_=|.
2582 Example: >
2583 :cmap <F7> <C-\>eescape(getcmdline(), ' \')<CR>
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00002584< Also see |getcmdtype()|, |getcmdpos()| and |setcmdpos()|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002585
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00002586getcmdpos() *getcmdpos()*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002587 Return the position of the cursor in the command line as a
2588 byte count. The first column is 1.
2589 Only works when editing the command line, thus requires use of
2590 |c_CTRL-\_e| or |c_CTRL-R_=|. Returns 0 otherwise.
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00002591 Also see |getcmdtype()|, |setcmdpos()| and |getcmdline()|.
2592
2593getcmdtype() *getcmdtype()*
2594 Return the current command-line type. Possible return values
2595 are:
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +00002596 : normal Ex command
2597 > debug mode command |debug-mode|
2598 / forward search command
2599 ? backward search command
2600 @ |input()| command
2601 - |:insert| or |:append| command
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00002602 Only works when editing the command line, thus requires use of
2603 |c_CTRL-\_e| or |c_CTRL-R_=|. Returns an empty string
2604 otherwise.
2605 Also see |getcmdpos()|, |setcmdpos()| and |getcmdline()|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002606
2607 *getcwd()*
2608getcwd() The result is a String, which is the name of the current
2609 working directory.
2610
2611getfsize({fname}) *getfsize()*
2612 The result is a Number, which is the size in bytes of the
2613 given file {fname}.
2614 If {fname} is a directory, 0 is returned.
2615 If the file {fname} can't be found, -1 is returned.
2616
Bram Moolenaard8b0cf12004-12-12 11:33:30 +00002617getfontname([{name}]) *getfontname()*
2618 Without an argument returns the name of the normal font being
2619 used. Like what is used for the Normal highlight group
2620 |hl-Normal|.
2621 With an argument a check is done whether {name} is a valid
2622 font name. If not then an empty string is returned.
2623 Otherwise the actual font name is returned, or {name} if the
2624 GUI does not support obtaining the real name.
2625 Only works when the GUI is running, thus not you your vimrc or
2626 Note that the GTK 2 GUI accepts any font name, thus checking
2627 for a valid name does not work.
2628 gvimrc file. Use the |GUIEnter| autocommand to use this
2629 function just after the GUI has started.
2630
Bram Moolenaar5eb86f92004-07-26 12:53:41 +00002631getfperm({fname}) *getfperm()*
2632 The result is a String, which is the read, write, and execute
2633 permissions of the given file {fname}.
2634 If {fname} does not exist or its directory cannot be read, an
2635 empty string is returned.
2636 The result is of the form "rwxrwxrwx", where each group of
2637 "rwx" flags represent, in turn, the permissions of the owner
2638 of the file, the group the file belongs to, and other users.
2639 If a user does not have a given permission the flag for this
2640 is replaced with the string "-". Example: >
2641 :echo getfperm("/etc/passwd")
2642< This will hopefully (from a security point of view) display
2643 the string "rw-r--r--" or even "rw-------".
Bram Moolenaare2cc9702005-03-15 22:43:58 +00002644
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002645getftime({fname}) *getftime()*
2646 The result is a Number, which is the last modification time of
2647 the given file {fname}. The value is measured as seconds
2648 since 1st Jan 1970, and may be passed to strftime(). See also
2649 |localtime()| and |strftime()|.
2650 If the file {fname} can't be found -1 is returned.
2651
Bram Moolenaar5eb86f92004-07-26 12:53:41 +00002652getftype({fname}) *getftype()*
2653 The result is a String, which is a description of the kind of
2654 file of the given file {fname}.
2655 If {fname} does not exist an empty string is returned.
2656 Here is a table over different kinds of files and their
2657 results:
2658 Normal file "file"
2659 Directory "dir"
2660 Symbolic link "link"
2661 Block device "bdev"
2662 Character device "cdev"
2663 Socket "socket"
2664 FIFO "fifo"
2665 All other "other"
2666 Example: >
2667 getftype("/home")
2668< Note that a type such as "link" will only be returned on
2669 systems that support it. On some systems only "dir" and
2670 "file" are returned.
2671
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002672 *getline()*
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00002673getline({lnum} [, {end}])
2674 Without {end} the result is a String, which is line {lnum}
2675 from the current buffer. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002676 getline(1)
2677< When {lnum} is a String that doesn't start with a
2678 digit, line() is called to translate the String into a Number.
2679 To get the line under the cursor: >
2680 getline(".")
2681< When {lnum} is smaller than 1 or bigger than the number of
2682 lines in the buffer, an empty string is returned.
2683
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00002684 When {end} is given the result is a List where each item is a
2685 line from the current buffer in the range {lnum} to {end},
2686 including line {end}.
2687 {end} is used in the same way as {lnum}.
2688 Non-existing lines are silently omitted.
Bram Moolenaar45360022005-07-21 21:08:21 +00002689 When {end} is before {lnum} an empty List is returned.
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00002690 Example: >
2691 :let start = line('.')
2692 :let end = search("^$") - 1
2693 :let lines = getline(start, end)
2694
2695
Bram Moolenaar68b76a62005-03-25 21:53:48 +00002696getqflist() *getqflist()*
2697 Returns a list with all the current quickfix errors. Each
2698 list item is a dictionary with these entries:
2699 bufnr number of buffer that has the file name, use
2700 bufname() to get the name
2701 lnum line number in the buffer (first line is 1)
2702 col column number (first column is 1)
Bram Moolenaar582fd852005-03-28 20:58:01 +00002703 vcol non-zero: "col" is visual column
2704 zero: "col" is byte index
Bram Moolenaar68b76a62005-03-25 21:53:48 +00002705 nr error number
2706 text description of the error
2707 type type of the error, 'E', '1', etc.
2708 valid non-zero: recognized error message
2709
Bram Moolenaare7eb9df2005-09-09 19:49:30 +00002710 When there is no error list or it's empty an empty list is
2711 returned.
2712
Bram Moolenaar68b76a62005-03-25 21:53:48 +00002713 Useful application: Find pattern matches in multiple files and
2714 do something with them: >
2715 :vimgrep /theword/jg *.c
2716 :for d in getqflist()
2717 : echo bufname(d.bufnr) ':' d.lnum '=' d.text
2718 :endfor
2719
2720
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00002721getreg([{regname} [, 1]]) *getreg()*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002722 The result is a String, which is the contents of register
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00002723 {regname}. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002724 :let cliptext = getreg('*')
2725< getreg('=') returns the last evaluated value of the expression
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00002726 register. (For use in maps.)
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00002727 getreg('=', 1) returns the expression itself, so that it can
2728 be restored with |setreg()|. For other registers the extra
2729 argument is ignored, thus you can always give it.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002730 If {regname} is not specified, |v:register| is used.
2731
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00002732
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002733getregtype([{regname}]) *getregtype()*
2734 The result is a String, which is type of register {regname}.
2735 The value will be one of:
2736 "v" for |characterwise| text
2737 "V" for |linewise| text
2738 "<CTRL-V>{width}" for |blockwise-visual| text
2739 0 for an empty or unknown register
2740 <CTRL-V> is one character with value 0x16.
2741 If {regname} is not specified, |v:register| is used.
2742
2743 *getwinposx()*
2744getwinposx() The result is a Number, which is the X coordinate in pixels of
2745 the left hand side of the GUI Vim window. The result will be
2746 -1 if the information is not available.
2747
2748 *getwinposy()*
2749getwinposy() The result is a Number, which is the Y coordinate in pixels of
2750 the top of the GUI Vim window. The result will be -1 if the
2751 information is not available.
2752
2753getwinvar({nr}, {varname}) *getwinvar()*
2754 The result is the value of option or local window variable
Bram Moolenaar9ba0eb82005-06-13 22:28:56 +00002755 {varname} in window {nr}. When {nr} is zero the current
2756 window is used.
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00002757 This also works for a global option, buffer-local option and
2758 window-local option, but it doesn't work for a global variable
2759 or buffer-local variable.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002760 Note that the name without "w:" must be used.
2761 Examples: >
2762 :let list_is_on = getwinvar(2, '&list')
2763 :echo "myvar = " . getwinvar(1, 'myvar')
2764<
2765 *glob()*
2766glob({expr}) Expand the file wildcards in {expr}. The result is a String.
2767 When there are several matches, they are separated by <NL>
2768 characters.
2769 If the expansion fails, the result is an empty string.
2770 A name for a non-existing file is not included.
2771
2772 For most systems backticks can be used to get files names from
2773 any external command. Example: >
2774 :let tagfiles = glob("`find . -name tags -print`")
2775 :let &tags = substitute(tagfiles, "\n", ",", "g")
2776< The result of the program inside the backticks should be one
2777 item per line. Spaces inside an item are allowed.
2778
2779 See |expand()| for expanding special Vim variables. See
2780 |system()| for getting the raw output of an external command.
2781
2782globpath({path}, {expr}) *globpath()*
2783 Perform glob() on all directories in {path} and concatenate
2784 the results. Example: >
2785 :echo globpath(&rtp, "syntax/c.vim")
2786< {path} is a comma-separated list of directory names. Each
2787 directory name is prepended to {expr} and expanded like with
2788 glob(). A path separator is inserted when needed.
2789 To add a comma inside a directory name escape it with a
2790 backslash. Note that on MS-Windows a directory may have a
2791 trailing backslash, remove it if you put a comma after it.
2792 If the expansion fails for one of the directories, there is no
2793 error message.
2794 The 'wildignore' option applies: Names matching one of the
2795 patterns in 'wildignore' will be skipped.
2796
Bram Moolenaar02743632005-07-25 20:42:36 +00002797 The "**" item can be used to search in a directory tree.
2798 For example, to find all "README.txt" files in the directories
2799 in 'runtimepath' and below: >
2800 :echo globpath(&rtp, "**/README.txt")
2801<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002802 *has()*
2803has({feature}) The result is a Number, which is 1 if the feature {feature} is
2804 supported, zero otherwise. The {feature} argument is a
2805 string. See |feature-list| below.
2806 Also see |exists()|.
2807
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00002808
2809has_key({dict}, {key}) *has_key()*
2810 The result is a Number, which is 1 if Dictionary {dict} has an
2811 entry with key {key}. Zero otherwise.
2812
2813
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002814hasmapto({what} [, {mode}]) *hasmapto()*
2815 The result is a Number, which is 1 if there is a mapping that
2816 contains {what} in somewhere in the rhs (what it is mapped to)
2817 and this mapping exists in one of the modes indicated by
2818 {mode}.
2819 Both the global mappings and the mappings local to the current
2820 buffer are checked for a match.
2821 If no matching mapping is found 0 is returned.
2822 The following characters are recognized in {mode}:
2823 n Normal mode
2824 v Visual mode
2825 o Operator-pending mode
2826 i Insert mode
2827 l Language-Argument ("r", "f", "t", etc.)
2828 c Command-line mode
2829 When {mode} is omitted, "nvo" is used.
2830
2831 This function is useful to check if a mapping already exists
2832 to a function in a Vim script. Example: >
2833 :if !hasmapto('\ABCdoit')
2834 : map <Leader>d \ABCdoit
2835 :endif
2836< This installs the mapping to "\ABCdoit" only if there isn't
2837 already a mapping to "\ABCdoit".
2838
2839histadd({history}, {item}) *histadd()*
2840 Add the String {item} to the history {history} which can be
2841 one of: *hist-names*
2842 "cmd" or ":" command line history
2843 "search" or "/" search pattern history
2844 "expr" or "=" typed expression history
2845 "input" or "@" input line history
2846 If {item} does already exist in the history, it will be
2847 shifted to become the newest entry.
2848 The result is a Number: 1 if the operation was successful,
2849 otherwise 0 is returned.
2850
2851 Example: >
2852 :call histadd("input", strftime("%Y %b %d"))
2853 :let date=input("Enter date: ")
2854< This function is not available in the |sandbox|.
2855
2856histdel({history} [, {item}]) *histdel()*
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00002857 Clear {history}, i.e. delete all its entries. See |hist-names|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002858 for the possible values of {history}.
2859
2860 If the parameter {item} is given as String, this is seen
2861 as regular expression. All entries matching that expression
2862 will be removed from the history (if there are any).
2863 Upper/lowercase must match, unless "\c" is used |/\c|.
2864 If {item} is a Number, it will be interpreted as index, see
2865 |:history-indexing|. The respective entry will be removed
2866 if it exists.
2867
2868 The result is a Number: 1 for a successful operation,
2869 otherwise 0 is returned.
2870
2871 Examples:
2872 Clear expression register history: >
2873 :call histdel("expr")
2874<
2875 Remove all entries starting with "*" from the search history: >
2876 :call histdel("/", '^\*')
2877<
2878 The following three are equivalent: >
2879 :call histdel("search", histnr("search"))
2880 :call histdel("search", -1)
2881 :call histdel("search", '^'.histget("search", -1).'$')
2882<
2883 To delete the last search pattern and use the last-but-one for
2884 the "n" command and 'hlsearch': >
2885 :call histdel("search", -1)
2886 :let @/ = histget("search", -1)
2887
2888histget({history} [, {index}]) *histget()*
2889 The result is a String, the entry with Number {index} from
2890 {history}. See |hist-names| for the possible values of
2891 {history}, and |:history-indexing| for {index}. If there is
2892 no such entry, an empty String is returned. When {index} is
2893 omitted, the most recent item from the history is used.
2894
2895 Examples:
2896 Redo the second last search from history. >
2897 :execute '/' . histget("search", -2)
2898
2899< Define an Ex command ":H {num}" that supports re-execution of
2900 the {num}th entry from the output of |:history|. >
2901 :command -nargs=1 H execute histget("cmd", 0+<args>)
2902<
2903histnr({history}) *histnr()*
2904 The result is the Number of the current entry in {history}.
2905 See |hist-names| for the possible values of {history}.
2906 If an error occurred, -1 is returned.
2907
2908 Example: >
2909 :let inp_index = histnr("expr")
2910<
2911hlexists({name}) *hlexists()*
2912 The result is a Number, which is non-zero if a highlight group
2913 called {name} exists. This is when the group has been
2914 defined in some way. Not necessarily when highlighting has
2915 been defined for it, it may also have been used for a syntax
2916 item.
2917 *highlight_exists()*
2918 Obsolete name: highlight_exists().
2919
2920 *hlID()*
2921hlID({name}) The result is a Number, which is the ID of the highlight group
2922 with name {name}. When the highlight group doesn't exist,
2923 zero is returned.
2924 This can be used to retrieve information about the highlight
2925 group. For example, to get the background color of the
2926 "Comment" group: >
2927 :echo synIDattr(synIDtrans(hlID("Comment")), "bg")
2928< *highlightID()*
2929 Obsolete name: highlightID().
2930
2931hostname() *hostname()*
2932 The result is a String, which is the name of the machine on
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00002933 which Vim is currently running. Machine names greater than
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002934 256 characters long are truncated.
2935
2936iconv({expr}, {from}, {to}) *iconv()*
2937 The result is a String, which is the text {expr} converted
2938 from encoding {from} to encoding {to}.
2939 When the conversion fails an empty string is returned.
2940 The encoding names are whatever the iconv() library function
2941 can accept, see ":!man 3 iconv".
2942 Most conversions require Vim to be compiled with the |+iconv|
2943 feature. Otherwise only UTF-8 to latin1 conversion and back
2944 can be done.
2945 This can be used to display messages with special characters,
2946 no matter what 'encoding' is set to. Write the message in
2947 UTF-8 and use: >
2948 echo iconv(utf8_str, "utf-8", &enc)
2949< Note that Vim uses UTF-8 for all Unicode encodings, conversion
2950 from/to UCS-2 is automatically changed to use UTF-8. You
2951 cannot use UCS-2 in a string anyway, because of the NUL bytes.
2952 {only available when compiled with the +multi_byte feature}
2953
2954 *indent()*
2955indent({lnum}) The result is a Number, which is indent of line {lnum} in the
2956 current buffer. The indent is counted in spaces, the value
2957 of 'tabstop' is relevant. {lnum} is used just like in
2958 |getline()|.
2959 When {lnum} is invalid -1 is returned.
2960
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00002961
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00002962index({list}, {expr} [, {start} [, {ic}]]) *index()*
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00002963 Return the lowest index in List {list} where the item has a
2964 value equal to {expr}.
Bram Moolenaar748bf032005-02-02 23:04:36 +00002965 If {start} is given then start looking at the item with index
2966 {start} (may be negative for an item relative to the end).
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00002967 When {ic} is given and it is non-zero, ignore case. Otherwise
2968 case must match.
2969 -1 is returned when {expr} is not found in {list}.
2970 Example: >
2971 :let idx = index(words, "the")
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00002972 :if index(numbers, 123) >= 0
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00002973
2974
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00002975input({prompt} [, {text} [, {completion}]]) *input()*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002976 The result is a String, which is whatever the user typed on
2977 the command-line. The parameter is either a prompt string, or
2978 a blank string (for no prompt). A '\n' can be used in the
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00002979 prompt to start a new line.
2980 The highlighting set with |:echohl| is used for the prompt.
2981 The input is entered just like a command-line, with the same
2982 editing commands and mappings. There is a separate history
2983 for lines typed for input().
2984 Example: >
2985 :if input("Coffee or beer? ") == "beer"
2986 : echo "Cheers!"
2987 :endif
2988<
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +00002989 If the optional {text} is present and not empty, this is used
2990 for the default reply, as if the user typed this. Example: >
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00002991 :let color = input("Color? ", "white")
2992
2993< The optional {completion} argument specifies the type of
2994 completion supported for the input. Without it completion is
2995 not performed. The supported completion types are the same as
2996 that can be supplied to a user-defined command using the
2997 "-complete=" argument. Refer to |:command-completion| for
2998 more information. Example: >
2999 let fname = input("File: ", "", "file")
3000<
3001 NOTE: This function must not be used in a startup file, for
3002 the versions that only run in GUI mode (e.g., the Win32 GUI).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003003 Note: When input() is called from within a mapping it will
3004 consume remaining characters from that mapping, because a
3005 mapping is handled like the characters were typed.
3006 Use |inputsave()| before input() and |inputrestore()|
3007 after input() to avoid that. Another solution is to avoid
3008 that further characters follow in the mapping, e.g., by using
3009 |:execute| or |:normal|.
3010
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00003011 Example with a mapping: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003012 :nmap \x :call GetFoo()<CR>:exe "/" . Foo<CR>
3013 :function GetFoo()
3014 : call inputsave()
3015 : let g:Foo = input("enter search pattern: ")
3016 : call inputrestore()
3017 :endfunction
3018
3019inputdialog({prompt} [, {text} [, {cancelreturn}]]) *inputdialog()*
3020 Like input(), but when the GUI is running and text dialogs are
3021 supported, a dialog window pops up to input the text.
3022 Example: >
3023 :let n = inputdialog("value for shiftwidth", &sw)
3024 :if n != ""
3025 : let &sw = n
3026 :endif
3027< When the dialog is cancelled {cancelreturn} is returned. When
3028 omitted an empty string is returned.
3029 Hitting <Enter> works like pressing the OK button. Hitting
3030 <Esc> works like pressing the Cancel button.
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00003031 NOTE: Command-line completion is not supported.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003032
Bram Moolenaar578b49e2005-09-10 19:22:57 +00003033inputlist({textlist}) *inputlist()*
3034 {textlist} must be a list of strings. This list is displayed,
3035 one string per line. The user will be prompted to enter a
3036 number, which is returned.
3037 The user can also select an item by clicking on it with the
3038 mouse. For the first string 0 is returned. When clicking
3039 above the first item a negative number is returned. When
3040 clicking on the prompt one more than the length of {textlist}
3041 is returned.
3042 Make sure {textlist} has less then 'lines' entries, otherwise
3043 it won't work. It's a good idea to put the entry number at
3044 the start of the string. Example: >
3045 let color = inputlist(['Select color:', '1. red',
3046 \ '2. green', '3. blue'])
3047
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003048inputrestore() *inputrestore()*
3049 Restore typeahead that was saved with a previous inputsave().
3050 Should be called the same number of times inputsave() is
3051 called. Calling it more often is harmless though.
3052 Returns 1 when there is nothing to restore, 0 otherwise.
3053
3054inputsave() *inputsave()*
3055 Preserve typeahead (also from mappings) and clear it, so that
3056 a following prompt gets input from the user. Should be
3057 followed by a matching inputrestore() after the prompt. Can
3058 be used several times, in which case there must be just as
3059 many inputrestore() calls.
3060 Returns 1 when out of memory, 0 otherwise.
3061
3062inputsecret({prompt} [, {text}]) *inputsecret()*
3063 This function acts much like the |input()| function with but
3064 two exceptions:
3065 a) the user's response will be displayed as a sequence of
3066 asterisks ("*") thereby keeping the entry secret, and
3067 b) the user's response will not be recorded on the input
3068 |history| stack.
3069 The result is a String, which is whatever the user actually
3070 typed on the command-line in response to the issued prompt.
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00003071 NOTE: Command-line completion is not supported.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003072
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00003073insert({list}, {item} [, {idx}]) *insert()*
3074 Insert {item} at the start of List {list}.
3075 If {idx} is specified insert {item} before the item with index
3076 {idx}. If {idx} is zero it goes before the first item, just
3077 like omitting {idx}. A negative {idx} is also possible, see
3078 |list-index|. -1 inserts just before the last item.
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00003079 Returns the resulting List. Examples: >
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00003080 :let mylist = insert([2, 3, 5], 1)
3081 :call insert(mylist, 4, -1)
3082 :call insert(mylist, 6, len(mylist))
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00003083< The last example can be done simpler with |add()|.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00003084 Note that when {item} is a List it is inserted as a single
3085 item. Use |extend()| to concatenate Lists.
3086
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003087isdirectory({directory}) *isdirectory()*
3088 The result is a Number, which is non-zero when a directory
3089 with the name {directory} exists. If {directory} doesn't
3090 exist, or isn't a directory, the result is FALSE. {directory}
3091 is any expression, which is used as a String.
3092
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00003093islocked({expr}) *islocked()*
3094 The result is a Number, which is non-zero when {expr} is the
3095 name of a locked variable.
3096 {expr} must be the name of a variable, List item or Dictionary
3097 entry, not the variable itself! Example: >
3098 :let alist = [0, ['a', 'b'], 2, 3]
3099 :lockvar 1 alist
3100 :echo islocked('alist') " 1
3101 :echo islocked('alist[1]') " 0
3102
3103< When {expr} is a variable that does not exist you get an error
3104 message. Use |exists()| to check for existance.
3105
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +00003106items({dict}) *items()*
3107 Return a List with all the key-value pairs of {dict}. Each
3108 List item is a list with two items: the key of a {dict} entry
3109 and the value of this entry. The List is in arbitrary order.
3110
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00003111
3112join({list} [, {sep}]) *join()*
3113 Join the items in {list} together into one String.
3114 When {sep} is specified it is put in between the items. If
3115 {sep} is omitted a single space is used.
3116 Note that {sep} is not added at the end. You might want to
3117 add it there too: >
3118 let lines = join(mylist, "\n") . "\n"
3119< String items are used as-is. Lists and Dictionaries are
3120 converted into a string like with |string()|.
3121 The opposite function is |split()|.
3122
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00003123keys({dict}) *keys()*
3124 Return a List with all the keys of {dict}. The List is in
3125 arbitrary order.
3126
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +00003127 *len()* *E701*
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00003128len({expr}) The result is a Number, which is the length of the argument.
3129 When {expr} is a String or a Number the length in bytes is
3130 used, as with |strlen()|.
3131 When {expr} is a List the number of items in the List is
3132 returned.
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00003133 When {expr} is a Dictionary the number of entries in the
3134 Dictionary is returned.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00003135 Otherwise an error is given.
3136
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003137 *libcall()* *E364* *E368*
3138libcall({libname}, {funcname}, {argument})
3139 Call function {funcname} in the run-time library {libname}
3140 with single argument {argument}.
3141 This is useful to call functions in a library that you
3142 especially made to be used with Vim. Since only one argument
3143 is possible, calling standard library functions is rather
3144 limited.
3145 The result is the String returned by the function. If the
3146 function returns NULL, this will appear as an empty string ""
3147 to Vim.
3148 If the function returns a number, use libcallnr()!
3149 If {argument} is a number, it is passed to the function as an
3150 int; if {argument} is a string, it is passed as a
3151 null-terminated string.
3152 This function will fail in |restricted-mode|.
3153
3154 libcall() allows you to write your own 'plug-in' extensions to
3155 Vim without having to recompile the program. It is NOT a
3156 means to call system functions! If you try to do so Vim will
3157 very probably crash.
3158
3159 For Win32, the functions you write must be placed in a DLL
3160 and use the normal C calling convention (NOT Pascal which is
3161 used in Windows System DLLs). The function must take exactly
3162 one parameter, either a character pointer or a long integer,
3163 and must return a character pointer or NULL. The character
3164 pointer returned must point to memory that will remain valid
3165 after the function has returned (e.g. in static data in the
3166 DLL). If it points to allocated memory, that memory will
3167 leak away. Using a static buffer in the function should work,
3168 it's then freed when the DLL is unloaded.
3169
3170 WARNING: If the function returns a non-valid pointer, Vim may
3171 crash! This also happens if the function returns a number,
3172 because Vim thinks it's a pointer.
3173 For Win32 systems, {libname} should be the filename of the DLL
3174 without the ".DLL" suffix. A full path is only required if
3175 the DLL is not in the usual places.
3176 For Unix: When compiling your own plugins, remember that the
3177 object code must be compiled as position-independent ('PIC').
3178 {only in Win32 on some Unix versions, when the |+libcall|
3179 feature is present}
3180 Examples: >
3181 :echo libcall("libc.so", "getenv", "HOME")
3182 :echo libcallnr("/usr/lib/libc.so", "getpid", "")
3183<
3184 *libcallnr()*
3185libcallnr({libname}, {funcname}, {argument})
3186 Just like libcall(), but used for a function that returns an
3187 int instead of a string.
3188 {only in Win32 on some Unix versions, when the |+libcall|
3189 feature is present}
3190 Example (not very useful...): >
3191 :call libcallnr("libc.so", "printf", "Hello World!\n")
3192 :call libcallnr("libc.so", "sleep", 10)
3193<
3194 *line()*
3195line({expr}) The result is a Number, which is the line number of the file
3196 position given with {expr}. The accepted positions are:
3197 . the cursor position
3198 $ the last line in the current buffer
3199 'x position of mark x (if the mark is not set, 0 is
3200 returned)
3201 Note that only marks in the current file can be used.
3202 Examples: >
3203 line(".") line number of the cursor
3204 line("'t") line number of mark t
3205 line("'" . marker) line number of mark marker
3206< *last-position-jump*
3207 This autocommand jumps to the last known position in a file
3208 just after opening it, if the '" mark is set: >
3209 :au BufReadPost * if line("'\"") > 0 && line("'\"") <= line("$") | exe "normal g'\"" | endif
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00003210
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003211line2byte({lnum}) *line2byte()*
3212 Return the byte count from the start of the buffer for line
3213 {lnum}. This includes the end-of-line character, depending on
3214 the 'fileformat' option for the current buffer. The first
3215 line returns 1.
3216 This can also be used to get the byte count for the line just
3217 below the last line: >
3218 line2byte(line("$") + 1)
3219< This is the file size plus one.
3220 When {lnum} is invalid, or the |+byte_offset| feature has been
3221 disabled at compile time, -1 is returned.
3222 Also see |byte2line()|, |go| and |:goto|.
3223
3224lispindent({lnum}) *lispindent()*
3225 Get the amount of indent for line {lnum} according the lisp
3226 indenting rules, as with 'lisp'.
3227 The indent is counted in spaces, the value of 'tabstop' is
3228 relevant. {lnum} is used just like in |getline()|.
3229 When {lnum} is invalid or Vim was not compiled the
3230 |+lispindent| feature, -1 is returned.
3231
3232localtime() *localtime()*
3233 Return the current time, measured as seconds since 1st Jan
3234 1970. See also |strftime()| and |getftime()|.
3235
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00003236
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00003237map({expr}, {string}) *map()*
3238 {expr} must be a List or a Dictionary.
3239 Replace each item in {expr} with the result of evaluating
3240 {string}.
3241 Inside {string} |v:val| has the value of the current item.
3242 For a Dictionary |v:key| has the key of the current item.
3243 Example: >
3244 :call map(mylist, '"> " . v:val . " <"')
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00003245< This puts "> " before and " <" after each item in "mylist".
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00003246
Bram Moolenaar3a7c85b2005-02-05 21:39:53 +00003247 Note that {string} is the result of an expression and is then
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00003248 used as an expression again. Often it is good to use a
Bram Moolenaar3a7c85b2005-02-05 21:39:53 +00003249 |literal-string| to avoid having to double backslashes. You
3250 still have to double ' quotes
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00003251
3252 The operation is done in-place. If you want a List or
3253 Dictionary to remain unmodified make a copy first: >
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00003254 :let tlist = map(copy(mylist), ' & . "\t"')
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00003255
3256< Returns {expr}, the List or Dictionary that was filtered.
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00003257
3258
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003259maparg({name}[, {mode}]) *maparg()*
3260 Return the rhs of mapping {name} in mode {mode}. When there
3261 is no mapping for {name}, an empty String is returned.
3262 These characters can be used for {mode}:
3263 "n" Normal
3264 "v" Visual
3265 "o" Operator-pending
3266 "i" Insert
3267 "c" Cmd-line
3268 "l" langmap |language-mapping|
3269 "" Normal, Visual and Operator-pending
3270 When {mode} is omitted, the modes from "" are used.
3271 The {name} can have special key names, like in the ":map"
3272 command. The returned String has special characters
3273 translated like in the output of the ":map" command listing.
3274 The mappings local to the current buffer are checked first,
3275 then the global mappings.
3276
3277mapcheck({name}[, {mode}]) *mapcheck()*
3278 Check if there is a mapping that matches with {name} in mode
3279 {mode}. See |maparg()| for {mode} and special names in
3280 {name}.
3281 A match happens with a mapping that starts with {name} and
3282 with a mapping which is equal to the start of {name}.
3283
3284 matches mapping "a" "ab" "abc" ~
3285 mapcheck("a") yes yes yes
3286 mapcheck("abc") yes yes yes
3287 mapcheck("ax") yes no no
3288 mapcheck("b") no no no
3289
3290 The difference with maparg() is that mapcheck() finds a
3291 mapping that matches with {name}, while maparg() only finds a
3292 mapping for {name} exactly.
3293 When there is no mapping that starts with {name}, an empty
3294 String is returned. If there is one, the rhs of that mapping
3295 is returned. If there are several mappings that start with
3296 {name}, the rhs of one of them is returned.
3297 The mappings local to the current buffer are checked first,
3298 then the global mappings.
3299 This function can be used to check if a mapping can be added
3300 without being ambiguous. Example: >
3301 :if mapcheck("_vv") == ""
3302 : map _vv :set guifont=7x13<CR>
3303 :endif
3304< This avoids adding the "_vv" mapping when there already is a
3305 mapping for "_v" or for "_vvv".
3306
Bram Moolenaar89cb5e02004-07-19 20:55:54 +00003307match({expr}, {pat}[, {start}[, {count}]]) *match()*
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00003308 When {expr} is a List then this returns the index of the first
3309 item where {pat} matches. Each item is used as a String,
3310 Lists and Dictionaries are used as echoed.
3311 Otherwise, {expr} is used as a String. The result is a
3312 Number, which gives the index (byte offset) in {expr} where
3313 {pat} matches.
3314 A match at the first character or List item returns zero.
Bram Moolenaar89cb5e02004-07-19 20:55:54 +00003315 If there is no match -1 is returned.
3316 Example: >
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00003317 :echo match("testing", "ing") " results in 4
3318 :echo match([1, 'x'], '\a') " results in 2
3319< See |string-match| for how {pat} is used.
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00003320 *strpbrk()*
3321 Vim doesn't have a strpbrk() function. But you can do: >
3322 :let sepidx = match(line, '[.,;: \t]')
3323< *strcasestr()*
3324 Vim doesn't have a strcasestr() function. But you can add
3325 "\c" to the pattern to ignore case: >
3326 :let idx = match(haystack, '\cneedle')
3327<
Bram Moolenaar89cb5e02004-07-19 20:55:54 +00003328 When {count} is given use the {count}'th match. When a match
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00003329 is found in a String the search for the next one starts on
3330 character further. Thus this example results in 1: >
Bram Moolenaar89cb5e02004-07-19 20:55:54 +00003331 echo match("testing", "..", 0, 2)
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00003332< In a List the search continues in the next item.
3333
3334 If {start} is given, the search starts from byte index
3335 {start} in a String or item {start} in a List.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003336 The result, however, is still the index counted from the
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00003337 first character/item. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003338 :echo match("testing", "ing", 2)
3339< result is again "4". >
3340 :echo match("testing", "ing", 4)
3341< result is again "4". >
3342 :echo match("testing", "t", 2)
3343< result is "3".
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00003344 For a String, if {start} < 0, it will be set to 0. For a list
3345 the index is counted from the end.
3346 If {start} is out of range (> strlen({expr} for a String or
3347 > len({expr} for a List) -1 is returned.
3348
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003349 See |pattern| for the patterns that are accepted.
3350 The 'ignorecase' option is used to set the ignore-caseness of
3351 the pattern. 'smartcase' is NOT used. The matching is always
3352 done like 'magic' is set and 'cpoptions' is empty.
3353
Bram Moolenaar89cb5e02004-07-19 20:55:54 +00003354matchend({expr}, {pat}[, {start}[, {count}]]) *matchend()*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003355 Same as match(), but return the index of first character after
3356 the match. Example: >
3357 :echo matchend("testing", "ing")
3358< results in "7".
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00003359 *strspn()* *strcspn()*
3360 Vim doesn't have a strspn() or strcspn() function, but you can
3361 do it with matchend(): >
3362 :let span = matchend(line, '[a-zA-Z]')
3363 :let span = matchend(line, '[^a-zA-Z]')
3364< Except that -1 is returned when there are no matches.
3365
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003366 The {start}, if given, has the same meaning as for match(). >
3367 :echo matchend("testing", "ing", 2)
3368< results in "7". >
3369 :echo matchend("testing", "ing", 5)
3370< result is "-1".
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00003371 When {expr} is a List the result is equal to match().
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003372
Bram Moolenaar3a7c85b2005-02-05 21:39:53 +00003373matchlist({expr}, {pat}[, {start}[, {count}]]) *matchlist()*
3374 Same as match(), but return a List. The first item in the
3375 list is the matched string, same as what matchstr() would
3376 return. Following items are submatches, like "\1", "\2", etc.
3377 in |:substitute|.
3378 When there is no match an empty list is returned.
3379
Bram Moolenaar89cb5e02004-07-19 20:55:54 +00003380matchstr({expr}, {pat}[, {start}[, {count}]]) *matchstr()*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003381 Same as match(), but return the matched string. Example: >
3382 :echo matchstr("testing", "ing")
3383< results in "ing".
3384 When there is no match "" is returned.
3385 The {start}, if given, has the same meaning as for match(). >
3386 :echo matchstr("testing", "ing", 2)
3387< results in "ing". >
3388 :echo matchstr("testing", "ing", 5)
3389< result is "".
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00003390 When {expr} is a List then the matching item is returned.
3391 The type isn't changed, it's not necessarily a String.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003392
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00003393 *max()*
3394max({list}) Return the maximum value of all items in {list}.
3395 If {list} is not a list or one of the items in {list} cannot
3396 be used as a Number this results in an error.
3397 An empty List results in zero.
3398
3399 *min()*
3400min({list}) Return the minumum value of all items in {list}.
3401 If {list} is not a list or one of the items in {list} cannot
3402 be used as a Number this results in an error.
3403 An empty List results in zero.
3404
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00003405 *mkdir()* *E749*
3406mkdir({name} [, {path} [, {prot}]])
3407 Create directory {name}.
3408 If {path} is "p" then intermediate directories are created as
3409 necessary. Otherwise it must be "".
3410 If {prot} is given it is used to set the protection bits of
3411 the new directory. The default is 0755 (rwxr-xr-x: r/w for
3412 the user readable for others). Use 0700 to make it unreadable
3413 for others.
3414 This function is not available in the |sandbox|.
3415 Not available on all systems. To check use: >
3416 :if exists("*mkdir")
3417<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003418 *mode()*
3419mode() Return a string that indicates the current mode:
3420 n Normal
3421 v Visual by character
3422 V Visual by line
3423 CTRL-V Visual blockwise
3424 s Select by character
3425 S Select by line
3426 CTRL-S Select blockwise
3427 i Insert
3428 R Replace
3429 c Command-line
3430 r Hit-enter prompt
3431 This is useful in the 'statusline' option. In most other
3432 places it always returns "c" or "n".
3433
3434nextnonblank({lnum}) *nextnonblank()*
3435 Return the line number of the first line at or below {lnum}
3436 that is not blank. Example: >
3437 if getline(nextnonblank(1)) =~ "Java"
3438< When {lnum} is invalid or there is no non-blank line at or
3439 below it, zero is returned.
3440 See also |prevnonblank()|.
3441
3442nr2char({expr}) *nr2char()*
3443 Return a string with a single character, which has the number
3444 value {expr}. Examples: >
3445 nr2char(64) returns "@"
3446 nr2char(32) returns " "
3447< The current 'encoding' is used. Example for "utf-8": >
3448 nr2char(300) returns I with bow character
3449< Note that a NUL character in the file is specified with
3450 nr2char(10), because NULs are represented with newline
3451 characters. nr2char(0) is a real NUL and terminates the
Bram Moolenaar383f9bc2005-01-19 22:18:32 +00003452 string, thus results in an empty string.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003453
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003454printf({fmt}, {expr1} ...) *printf()*
3455 Return a String with {fmt}, where "%" items are replaced by
3456 the formatted form of their respective arguments. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003457 printf("%4d: E%d %.30s", lnum, errno, msg)
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003458< May result in:
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003459 " 99: E42 asdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdfas" ~
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003460
3461 Often used items are:
3462 %s string
3463 %6s string right-aligned in 6 characters
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003464 %c single byte
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003465 %d decimal number
3466 %5d decimal number padded with spaces to 5 characters
3467 %x hex number
3468 %04x hex number padded with zeros to at least 4 characters
3469 %X hex number using upper case letters
3470 %o octal number
3471 %% the % character
3472
3473 Conversion specifications start with '%' and end with the
3474 conversion type. All other characters are copied unchanged to
3475 the result.
3476
3477 The "%" starts a conversion specification. The following
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003478 arguments appear in sequence:
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003479
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003480 % [flags] [field-width] [.precision] type
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003481
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003482 flags
3483 Zero or more of the following flags:
3484
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003485 # The value should be converted to an "alternate
3486 form". For c, d, and s conversions, this option
3487 has no effect. For o conversions, the precision
3488 of the number is increased to force the first
3489 character of the output string to a zero (except
3490 if a zero value is printed with an explicit
3491 precision of zero).
3492 For x and X conversions, a non-zero result has
3493 the string "0x" (or "0X" for X conversions)
3494 prepended to it.
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003495
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003496 0 (zero) Zero padding. For all conversions the converted
3497 value is padded on the left with zeros rather
3498 than blanks. If a precision is given with a
3499 numeric conversion (d, o, x, and X), the 0 flag
3500 is ignored.
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003501
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003502 - A negative field width flag; the converted value
3503 is to be left adjusted on the field boundary.
3504 The converted value is padded on the right with
3505 blanks, rather than on the left with blanks or
3506 zeros. A - overrides a 0 if both are given.
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003507
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003508 ' ' (space) A blank should be left before a positive
3509 number produced by a signed conversion (d).
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003510
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003511 + A sign must always be placed before a number
3512 produced by a signed conversion. A + overrides
3513 a space if both are used.
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003514
3515 field-width
3516 An optional decimal digit string specifying a minimum
3517 field width. If the converted value has fewer
3518 characters than the field width, it will be padded
3519 with spaces on the left (or right, if the
3520 left-adjustment flag has been given) to fill out the
3521 field width.
3522
3523 .precision
3524 An optional precision, in the form of a period '.'
3525 followed by an optional digit string. If the digit
3526 string is omitted, the precision is taken as zero.
3527 This gives the minimum number of digits to appear for
3528 d, o, x, and X conversions, or the maximum number of
3529 characters to be printed from a string for s
3530 conversions.
3531
3532 type
3533 A character that specifies the type of conversion to
3534 be applied, see below.
3535
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003536 A field width or precision, or both, may be indicated by an
3537 asterisk '*' instead of a digit string. In this case, a
3538 Number argument supplies the field width or precision. A
3539 negative field width is treated as a left adjustment flag
3540 followed by a positive field width; a negative precision is
3541 treated as though it were missing. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003542 :echo printf("%d: %.*s", nr, width, line)
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003543< This limits the length of the text used from "line" to
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003544 "width" bytes.
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003545
3546 The conversion specifiers and their meanings are:
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003547
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003548 doxX The Number argument is converted to signed decimal
3549 (d), unsigned octal (o), or unsigned hexadecimal (x
3550 and X) notation. The letters "abcdef" are used for
3551 x conversions; the letters "ABCDEF" are used for X
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003552 conversions.
3553 The precision, if any, gives the minimum number of
3554 digits that must appear; if the converted value
3555 requires fewer digits, it is padded on the left with
3556 zeros.
3557 In no case does a non-existent or small field width
3558 cause truncation of a numeric field; if the result of
3559 a conversion is wider than the field width, the field
3560 is expanded to contain the conversion result.
3561
3562 c The Number argument is converted to a byte, and the
3563 resulting character is written.
3564
3565 s The text of the String argument is used. If a
3566 precision is specified, no more bytes than the number
3567 specified are used.
3568
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003569 % A '%' is written. No argument is converted. The
3570 complete conversion specification is "%%".
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003571
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003572 Each argument can be Number or String and is converted
3573 automatically to fit the conversion specifier. Any other
3574 argument type results in an error message.
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003575
Bram Moolenaar83bab712005-08-01 21:58:57 +00003576 *E766* *E767*
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003577 The number of {exprN} arguments must exactly match the number
3578 of "%" items. If there are not sufficient or too many
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00003579 arguments an error is given. Up to 18 arguments can be used.
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +00003580
3581
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003582prevnonblank({lnum}) *prevnonblank()*
3583 Return the line number of the first line at or above {lnum}
3584 that is not blank. Example: >
3585 let ind = indent(prevnonblank(v:lnum - 1))
3586< When {lnum} is invalid or there is no non-blank line at or
3587 above it, zero is returned.
3588 Also see |nextnonblank()|.
3589
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00003590 *E726* *E727*
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00003591range({expr} [, {max} [, {stride}]]) *range()*
3592 Returns a List with Numbers:
3593 - If only {expr} is specified: [0, 1, ..., {expr} - 1]
3594 - If {max} is specified: [{expr}, {expr} + 1, ..., {max}]
3595 - If {stride} is specified: [{expr}, {expr} + {stride}, ...,
3596 {max}] (increasing {expr} with {stride} each time, not
3597 producing a value past {max}).
Bram Moolenaare7566042005-06-17 22:00:15 +00003598 When the maximum is one before the start the result is an
3599 empty list. When the maximum is more than one before the
3600 start this is an error.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00003601 Examples: >
3602 range(4) " [0, 1, 2, 3]
3603 range(2, 4) " [2, 3, 4]
3604 range(2, 9, 3) " [2, 5, 8]
3605 range(2, -2, -1) " [2, 1, 0, -1, -2]
Bram Moolenaare7566042005-06-17 22:00:15 +00003606 range(0) " []
3607 range(2, 0) " error!
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00003608<
Bram Moolenaar3a7c85b2005-02-05 21:39:53 +00003609 *readfile()*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00003610readfile({fname} [, {binary} [, {max}]])
Bram Moolenaar3a7c85b2005-02-05 21:39:53 +00003611 Read file {fname} and return a List, each line of the file as
3612 an item. Lines broken at NL characters. Macintosh files
3613 separated with CR will result in a single long line (unless a
3614 NL appears somewhere).
3615 When {binary} is equal to "b" binary mode is used:
3616 - When the last line ends in a NL an extra empty list item is
3617 added.
3618 - No CR characters are removed.
3619 Otherwise:
3620 - CR characters that appear before a NL are removed.
3621 - Whether the last line ends in a NL or not does not matter.
3622 All NUL characters are replaced with a NL character.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00003623 When {max} is given this specifies the maximum number of lines
3624 to be read. Useful if you only want to check the first ten
3625 lines of a file: >
3626 :for line in readfile(fname, '', 10)
3627 : if line =~ 'Date' | echo line | endif
3628 :endfor
Bram Moolenaar582fd852005-03-28 20:58:01 +00003629< When {max} is negative -{max} lines from the end of the file
3630 are returned, or as many as there are.
3631 When {max} is zero the result is an empty list.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00003632 Note that without {max} the whole file is read into memory.
3633 Also note that there is no recognition of encoding. Read a
3634 file into a buffer if you need to.
Bram Moolenaar3a7c85b2005-02-05 21:39:53 +00003635 When the file can't be opened an error message is given and
3636 the result is an empty list.
3637 Also see |writefile()|.
3638
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003639 *remote_expr()* *E449*
3640remote_expr({server}, {string} [, {idvar}])
3641 Send the {string} to {server}. The string is sent as an
3642 expression and the result is returned after evaluation.
3643 If {idvar} is present, it is taken as the name of a
3644 variable and a {serverid} for later use with
3645 remote_read() is stored there.
3646 See also |clientserver| |RemoteReply|.
3647 This function is not available in the |sandbox|.
3648 {only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
3649 Note: Any errors will cause a local error message to be issued
3650 and the result will be the empty string.
3651 Examples: >
3652 :echo remote_expr("gvim", "2+2")
3653 :echo remote_expr("gvim1", "b:current_syntax")
3654<
3655
3656remote_foreground({server}) *remote_foreground()*
3657 Move the Vim server with the name {server} to the foreground.
3658 This works like: >
3659 remote_expr({server}, "foreground()")
3660< Except that on Win32 systems the client does the work, to work
3661 around the problem that the OS doesn't always allow the server
3662 to bring itself to the foreground.
Bram Moolenaar9372a112005-12-06 19:59:18 +00003663 Note: This does not restore the window if it was minimized,
3664 like foreground() does.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003665 This function is not available in the |sandbox|.
3666 {only in the Win32, Athena, Motif and GTK GUI versions and the
3667 Win32 console version}
3668
3669
3670remote_peek({serverid} [, {retvar}]) *remote_peek()*
3671 Returns a positive number if there are available strings
3672 from {serverid}. Copies any reply string into the variable
3673 {retvar} if specified. {retvar} must be a string with the
3674 name of a variable.
3675 Returns zero if none are available.
3676 Returns -1 if something is wrong.
3677 See also |clientserver|.
3678 This function is not available in the |sandbox|.
3679 {only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
3680 Examples: >
3681 :let repl = ""
3682 :echo "PEEK: ".remote_peek(id, "repl").": ".repl
3683
3684remote_read({serverid}) *remote_read()*
3685 Return the oldest available reply from {serverid} and consume
3686 it. It blocks until a reply is available.
3687 See also |clientserver|.
3688 This function is not available in the |sandbox|.
3689 {only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
3690 Example: >
3691 :echo remote_read(id)
3692<
3693 *remote_send()* *E241*
3694remote_send({server}, {string} [, {idvar}])
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00003695 Send the {string} to {server}. The string is sent as input
3696 keys and the function returns immediately. At the Vim server
3697 the keys are not mapped |:map|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003698 If {idvar} is present, it is taken as the name of a
3699 variable and a {serverid} for later use with
3700 remote_read() is stored there.
3701 See also |clientserver| |RemoteReply|.
3702 This function is not available in the |sandbox|.
3703 {only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
3704 Note: Any errors will be reported in the server and may mess
3705 up the display.
3706 Examples: >
3707 :echo remote_send("gvim", ":DropAndReply ".file, "serverid").
3708 \ remote_read(serverid)
3709
3710 :autocmd NONE RemoteReply *
3711 \ echo remote_read(expand("<amatch>"))
3712 :echo remote_send("gvim", ":sleep 10 | echo ".
3713 \ 'server2client(expand("<client>"), "HELLO")<CR>')
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00003714<
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00003715remove({list}, {idx} [, {end}]) *remove()*
3716 Without {end}: Remove the item at {idx} from List {list} and
3717 return it.
3718 With {end}: Remove items from {idx} to {end} (inclusive) and
3719 return a list with these items. When {idx} points to the same
3720 item as {end} a list with one item is returned. When {end}
3721 points to an item before {idx} this is an error.
3722 See |list-index| for possible values of {idx} and {end}.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00003723 Example: >
3724 :echo "last item: " . remove(mylist, -1)
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00003725 :call remove(mylist, 0, 9)
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00003726remove({dict}, {key})
3727 Remove the entry from {dict} with key {key}. Example: >
3728 :echo "removed " . remove(dict, "one")
3729< If there is no {key} in {dict} this is an error.
3730
3731 Use |delete()| to remove a file.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00003732
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003733rename({from}, {to}) *rename()*
3734 Rename the file by the name {from} to the name {to}. This
3735 should also work to move files across file systems. The
3736 result is a Number, which is 0 if the file was renamed
3737 successfully, and non-zero when the renaming failed.
3738 This function is not available in the |sandbox|.
3739
Bram Moolenaarab79bcb2004-07-18 21:34:53 +00003740repeat({expr}, {count}) *repeat()*
3741 Repeat {expr} {count} times and return the concatenated
3742 result. Example: >
3743 :let seperator = repeat('-', 80)
3744< When {count} is zero or negative the result is empty.
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00003745 When {expr} is a List the result is {expr} concatenated
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00003746 {count} times. Example: >
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00003747 :let longlist = repeat(['a', 'b'], 3)
3748< Results in ['a', 'b', 'a', 'b', 'a', 'b'].
Bram Moolenaarab79bcb2004-07-18 21:34:53 +00003749
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00003750
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003751resolve({filename}) *resolve()* *E655*
3752 On MS-Windows, when {filename} is a shortcut (a .lnk file),
3753 returns the path the shortcut points to in a simplified form.
3754 On Unix, repeat resolving symbolic links in all path
3755 components of {filename} and return the simplified result.
3756 To cope with link cycles, resolving of symbolic links is
3757 stopped after 100 iterations.
3758 On other systems, return the simplified {filename}.
3759 The simplification step is done as by |simplify()|.
3760 resolve() keeps a leading path component specifying the
3761 current directory (provided the result is still a relative
3762 path name) and also keeps a trailing path separator.
3763
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00003764 *reverse()*
3765reverse({list}) Reverse the order of items in {list} in-place. Returns
3766 {list}.
3767 If you want a list to remain unmodified make a copy first: >
3768 :let revlist = reverse(copy(mylist))
3769
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003770search({pattern} [, {flags}]) *search()*
3771 Search for regexp pattern {pattern}. The search starts at the
Bram Moolenaar383f9bc2005-01-19 22:18:32 +00003772 cursor position (you can use |cursor()| to set it).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003773 {flags} is a String, which can contain these character flags:
3774 'b' search backward instead of forward
Bram Moolenaar5eb86f92004-07-26 12:53:41 +00003775 'n' do Not move the cursor
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003776 'w' wrap around the end of the file
3777 'W' don't wrap around the end of the file
Bram Moolenaar02743632005-07-25 20:42:36 +00003778 's' set the ' mark at the previous location of the
3779 cursor.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003780 If neither 'w' or 'W' is given, the 'wrapscan' option applies.
3781
Bram Moolenaar02743632005-07-25 20:42:36 +00003782 If the 's' flag is supplied, the ' mark is set, only if the
3783 cursor is moved. The 's' flag cannot be combined with the 'n'
3784 flag.
3785
Bram Moolenaar5eb86f92004-07-26 12:53:41 +00003786 When a match has been found its line number is returned.
3787 The cursor will be positioned at the match, unless the 'n'
3788 flag is used).
3789 If there is no match a 0 is returned and the cursor doesn't
3790 move. No error message is given.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003791
3792 Example (goes over all files in the argument list): >
3793 :let n = 1
3794 :while n <= argc() " loop over all files in arglist
3795 : exe "argument " . n
3796 : " start at the last char in the file and wrap for the
3797 : " first search to find match at start of file
3798 : normal G$
3799 : let flags = "w"
3800 : while search("foo", flags) > 0
3801 : s/foo/bar/g
3802 : let flags = "W"
3803 : endwhile
3804 : update " write the file if modified
3805 : let n = n + 1
3806 :endwhile
3807<
Bram Moolenaar92d640f2005-09-05 22:11:52 +00003808
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +00003809searchdecl({name} [, {global} [, {thisblock}]]) *searchdecl()*
3810 Search for the declaration of {name}.
3811
3812 With a non-zero {global} argument it works like |gD|, find
3813 first match in the file. Otherwise it works like |gd|, find
3814 first match in the function.
3815
3816 With a non-zero {thisblock} argument matches in a {} block
3817 that ends before the cursor position are ignored. Avoids
3818 finding variable declarations only valid in another scope.
3819
Bram Moolenaar92d640f2005-09-05 22:11:52 +00003820 Moves the cursor to the found match.
3821 Returns zero for success, non-zero for failure.
3822 Example: >
3823 if searchdecl('myvar') == 0
3824 echo getline('.')
3825 endif
3826<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003827 *searchpair()*
3828searchpair({start}, {middle}, {end} [, {flags} [, {skip}]])
3829 Search for the match of a nested start-end pair. This can be
3830 used to find the "endif" that matches an "if", while other
3831 if/endif pairs in between are ignored.
3832 The search starts at the cursor. If a match is found, the
3833 cursor is positioned at it and the line number is returned.
3834 If no match is found 0 or -1 is returned and the cursor
3835 doesn't move. No error message is given.
3836
3837 {start}, {middle} and {end} are patterns, see |pattern|. They
3838 must not contain \( \) pairs. Use of \%( \) is allowed. When
3839 {middle} is not empty, it is found when searching from either
3840 direction, but only when not in a nested start-end pair. A
3841 typical use is: >
3842 searchpair('\<if\>', '\<else\>', '\<endif\>')
3843< By leaving {middle} empty the "else" is skipped.
3844
3845 {flags} are used like with |search()|. Additionally:
3846 'n' do Not move the cursor
3847 'r' Repeat until no more matches found; will find the
3848 outer pair
3849 'm' return number of Matches instead of line number with
3850 the match; will only be > 1 when 'r' is used.
3851
3852 When a match for {start}, {middle} or {end} is found, the
3853 {skip} expression is evaluated with the cursor positioned on
3854 the start of the match. It should return non-zero if this
3855 match is to be skipped. E.g., because it is inside a comment
3856 or a string.
3857 When {skip} is omitted or empty, every match is accepted.
3858 When evaluating {skip} causes an error the search is aborted
3859 and -1 returned.
3860
3861 The value of 'ignorecase' is used. 'magic' is ignored, the
3862 patterns are used like it's on.
3863
3864 The search starts exactly at the cursor. A match with
3865 {start}, {middle} or {end} at the next character, in the
3866 direction of searching, is the first one found. Example: >
3867 if 1
3868 if 2
3869 endif 2
3870 endif 1
3871< When starting at the "if 2", with the cursor on the "i", and
3872 searching forwards, the "endif 2" is found. When starting on
3873 the character just before the "if 2", the "endif 1" will be
3874 found. That's because the "if 2" will be found first, and
3875 then this is considered to be a nested if/endif from "if 2" to
3876 "endif 2".
3877 When searching backwards and {end} is more than one character,
3878 it may be useful to put "\zs" at the end of the pattern, so
3879 that when the cursor is inside a match with the end it finds
3880 the matching start.
3881
3882 Example, to find the "endif" command in a Vim script: >
3883
3884 :echo searchpair('\<if\>', '\<el\%[seif]\>', '\<en\%[dif]\>', 'W',
3885 \ 'getline(".") =~ "^\\s*\""')
3886
3887< The cursor must be at or after the "if" for which a match is
3888 to be found. Note that single-quote strings are used to avoid
3889 having to double the backslashes. The skip expression only
3890 catches comments at the start of a line, not after a command.
3891 Also, a word "en" or "if" halfway a line is considered a
3892 match.
3893 Another example, to search for the matching "{" of a "}": >
3894
3895 :echo searchpair('{', '', '}', 'bW')
3896
3897< This works when the cursor is at or before the "}" for which a
3898 match is to be found. To reject matches that syntax
3899 highlighting recognized as strings: >
3900
3901 :echo searchpair('{', '', '}', 'bW',
3902 \ 'synIDattr(synID(line("."), col("."), 0), "name") =~? "string"')
3903<
3904server2client( {clientid}, {string}) *server2client()*
3905 Send a reply string to {clientid}. The most recent {clientid}
3906 that sent a string can be retrieved with expand("<client>").
3907 {only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
3908 Note:
3909 This id has to be stored before the next command can be
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00003910 received. I.e. before returning from the received command and
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003911 before calling any commands that waits for input.
3912 See also |clientserver|.
3913 Example: >
3914 :echo server2client(expand("<client>"), "HELLO")
3915<
3916serverlist() *serverlist()*
3917 Return a list of available server names, one per line.
3918 When there are no servers or the information is not available
3919 an empty string is returned. See also |clientserver|.
3920 {only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
3921 Example: >
3922 :echo serverlist()
3923<
3924setbufvar({expr}, {varname}, {val}) *setbufvar()*
3925 Set option or local variable {varname} in buffer {expr} to
3926 {val}.
3927 This also works for a global or local window option, but it
3928 doesn't work for a global or local window variable.
3929 For a local window option the global value is unchanged.
3930 For the use of {expr}, see |bufname()| above.
3931 Note that the variable name without "b:" must be used.
3932 Examples: >
3933 :call setbufvar(1, "&mod", 1)
3934 :call setbufvar("todo", "myvar", "foobar")
3935< This function is not available in the |sandbox|.
3936
3937setcmdpos({pos}) *setcmdpos()*
3938 Set the cursor position in the command line to byte position
3939 {pos}. The first position is 1.
3940 Use |getcmdpos()| to obtain the current position.
3941 Only works while editing the command line, thus you must use
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00003942 |c_CTRL-\_e|, |c_CTRL-R_=| or |c_CTRL-R_CTRL-R| with '='. For
3943 |c_CTRL-\_e| and |c_CTRL-R_CTRL-R| with '=' the position is
3944 set after the command line is set to the expression. For
3945 |c_CTRL-R_=| it is set after evaluating the expression but
3946 before inserting the resulting text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003947 When the number is too big the cursor is put at the end of the
3948 line. A number smaller than one has undefined results.
3949 Returns 0 when successful, 1 when not editing the command
3950 line.
3951
3952setline({lnum}, {line}) *setline()*
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00003953 Set line {lnum} of the current buffer to {line}.
3954 {lnum} is used like with |getline()|.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00003955 When {lnum} is just below the last line the {line} will be
3956 added as a new line.
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00003957 If this succeeds, 0 is returned. If this fails (most likely
3958 because {lnum} is invalid) 1 is returned. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003959 :call setline(5, strftime("%c"))
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00003960< When {line} is a List then line {lnum} and following lines
3961 will be set to the items in the list. Example: >
3962 :call setline(5, ['aaa', 'bbb', 'ccc'])
3963< This is equivalent to: >
3964 :for [n, l] in [[5, 6, 7], ['aaa', 'bbb', 'ccc']]
3965 : call setline(n, l)
3966 :endfor
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00003967< Note: The '[ and '] marks are not set.
3968
Bram Moolenaar68b76a62005-03-25 21:53:48 +00003969
Bram Moolenaar35c54e52005-05-20 21:25:31 +00003970setqflist({list} [, {action}]) *setqflist()*
Bram Moolenaar68b76a62005-03-25 21:53:48 +00003971 Creates a quickfix list using the items in {list}. Each item
3972 in {list} is a dictionary. Non-dictionary items in {list} are
3973 ignored. Each dictionary item can contain the following
3974 entries:
3975
3976 filename name of a file
3977 lnum line number in the file
Bram Moolenaar68b76a62005-03-25 21:53:48 +00003978 pattern search pattern used to locate the error
Bram Moolenaar582fd852005-03-28 20:58:01 +00003979 col column number
3980 vcol when non-zero: "col" is visual column
3981 when zero: "col" is byte index
3982 nr error number
Bram Moolenaar68b76a62005-03-25 21:53:48 +00003983 text description of the error
Bram Moolenaar582fd852005-03-28 20:58:01 +00003984 type single-character error type, 'E', 'W', etc.
Bram Moolenaar68b76a62005-03-25 21:53:48 +00003985
Bram Moolenaar582fd852005-03-28 20:58:01 +00003986 The "col", "vcol", "nr", "type" and "text" entries are
3987 optional. Either "lnum" or "pattern" entry can be used to
3988 locate a matching error line.
Bram Moolenaar68b76a62005-03-25 21:53:48 +00003989 If the "filename" entry is not present or neither the "lnum"
3990 or "pattern" entries are present, then the item will not be
3991 handled as an error line.
3992 If both "pattern" and "lnum" are present then "pattern" will
3993 be used.
3994
Bram Moolenaar35c54e52005-05-20 21:25:31 +00003995 If {action} is set to 'a', then the items from {list} are
3996 added to the existing quickfix list. If there is no existing
3997 list, then a new list is created. If {action} is set to 'r',
3998 then the items from the current quickfix list are replaced
3999 with the items from {list}. If {action} is not present or is
4000 set to ' ', then a new list is created.
4001
Bram Moolenaar68b76a62005-03-25 21:53:48 +00004002 Returns zero for success, -1 for failure.
4003
4004 This function can be used to create a quickfix list
4005 independent of the 'errorformat' setting. Use a command like
4006 ":cc 1" to jump to the first position.
4007
4008
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004009 *setreg()*
4010setreg({regname}, {value} [,{options}])
4011 Set the register {regname} to {value}.
4012 If {options} contains "a" or {regname} is upper case,
4013 then the value is appended.
4014 {options} can also contains a register type specification:
4015 "c" or "v" |characterwise| mode
4016 "l" or "V" |linewise| mode
4017 "b" or "<CTRL-V>" |blockwise-visual| mode
4018 If a number immediately follows "b" or "<CTRL-V>" then this is
4019 used as the width of the selection - if it is not specified
4020 then the width of the block is set to the number of characters
4021 in the longest line (counting a <TAB> as 1 character).
4022
4023 If {options} contains no register settings, then the default
4024 is to use character mode unless {value} ends in a <NL>.
4025 Setting the '=' register is not possible.
4026 Returns zero for success, non-zero for failure.
4027
4028 Examples: >
4029 :call setreg(v:register, @*)
4030 :call setreg('*', @%, 'ac')
4031 :call setreg('a', "1\n2\n3", 'b5')
4032
4033< This example shows using the functions to save and restore a
4034 register. >
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00004035 :let var_a = getreg('a', 1)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004036 :let var_amode = getregtype('a')
4037 ....
4038 :call setreg('a', var_a, var_amode)
4039
4040< You can also change the type of a register by appending
4041 nothing: >
4042 :call setreg('a', '', 'al')
4043
4044setwinvar({nr}, {varname}, {val}) *setwinvar()*
4045 Set option or local variable {varname} in window {nr} to
Bram Moolenaar9ba0eb82005-06-13 22:28:56 +00004046 {val}. When {nr} is zero the current window is used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004047 This also works for a global or local buffer option, but it
4048 doesn't work for a global or local buffer variable.
4049 For a local buffer option the global value is unchanged.
4050 Note that the variable name without "w:" must be used.
4051 Examples: >
4052 :call setwinvar(1, "&list", 0)
4053 :call setwinvar(2, "myvar", "foobar")
4054< This function is not available in the |sandbox|.
4055
4056simplify({filename}) *simplify()*
4057 Simplify the file name as much as possible without changing
4058 the meaning. Shortcuts (on MS-Windows) or symbolic links (on
4059 Unix) are not resolved. If the first path component in
4060 {filename} designates the current directory, this will be
4061 valid for the result as well. A trailing path separator is
4062 not removed either.
4063 Example: >
4064 simplify("./dir/.././/file/") == "./file/"
4065< Note: The combination "dir/.." is only removed if "dir" is
4066 a searchable directory or does not exist. On Unix, it is also
4067 removed when "dir" is a symbolic link within the same
4068 directory. In order to resolve all the involved symbolic
4069 links before simplifying the path name, use |resolve()|.
4070
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00004071
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +00004072sort({list} [, {func}]) *sort()* *E702*
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00004073 Sort the items in {list} in-place. Returns {list}. If you
4074 want a list to remain unmodified make a copy first: >
4075 :let sortedlist = sort(copy(mylist))
4076< Uses the string representation of each item to sort on.
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00004077 Numbers sort after Strings, Lists after Numbers.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00004078 For sorting text in the current buffer use |:sort|.
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00004079 When {func} is given and it is one then case is ignored.
4080 When {func} is a Funcref or a function name, this function is
4081 called to compare items. The function is invoked with two
4082 items as argument and must return zero if they are equal, 1 if
4083 the first one sorts after the second one, -1 if the first one
4084 sorts before the second one. Example: >
4085 func MyCompare(i1, i2)
4086 return a:i1 == a:i2 ? 0 : a:i1 > a:i2 ? 1 : -1
4087 endfunc
4088 let sortedlist = sort(mylist, "MyCompare")
Bram Moolenaard857f0e2005-06-21 22:37:39 +00004089<
4090
Bram Moolenaar24bbcfe2005-06-28 23:32:02 +00004091 *soundfold()*
4092soundfold({word})
4093 Return the sound-folded equivalent of {word}. Uses the first
4094 language in 'spellang' for the current window that supports
Bram Moolenaar42eeac32005-06-29 22:40:58 +00004095 soundfolding. 'spell' must be set. When no sound folding is
4096 possible the {word} is returned unmodified.
Bram Moolenaar24bbcfe2005-06-28 23:32:02 +00004097 This can be used for making spelling suggestions. Note that
4098 the method can be quite slow.
4099
Bram Moolenaard857f0e2005-06-21 22:37:39 +00004100 *spellbadword()*
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +00004101spellbadword([{sentence}])
4102 Without argument: The result is the badly spelled word under
4103 or after the cursor. The cursor is moved to the start of the
4104 bad word. When no bad word is found in the cursor line the
4105 result is an empty string and the cursor doesn't move.
4106
4107 With argument: The result is the first word in {sentence} that
4108 is badly spelled. If there are no spelling mistakes the
4109 result is an empty string.
4110
4111 The return value is a list with two items:
4112 - The badly spelled word or an empty string.
4113 - The type of the spelling error:
4114 "bad" spelling mistake
4115 "rare" rare word
4116 "local" word only valid in another region
4117 "caps" word should start with Capital
4118 Example: >
4119 echo spellbadword("the quik brown fox")
4120< ['quik', 'bad'] ~
4121
4122 The spelling information for the current window is used. The
4123 'spell' option must be set and the value of 'spelllang' is
4124 used.
Bram Moolenaard857f0e2005-06-21 22:37:39 +00004125
4126 *spellsuggest()*
Bram Moolenaarc54b8a72005-09-30 21:20:29 +00004127spellsuggest({word} [, {max} [, {capital}]])
Bram Moolenaard857f0e2005-06-21 22:37:39 +00004128 Return a List with spelling suggestions to replace {word}.
4129 When {max} is given up to this number of suggestions are
4130 returned. Otherwise up to 25 suggestions are returned.
4131
Bram Moolenaarc54b8a72005-09-30 21:20:29 +00004132 When the {capital} argument is given and it's non-zero only
4133 suggestions with a leading capital will be given. Use this
4134 after a match with 'spellcapcheck'.
4135
Bram Moolenaard857f0e2005-06-21 22:37:39 +00004136 {word} can be a badly spelled word followed by other text.
4137 This allows for joining two words that were split. The
Bram Moolenaarf461c8e2005-06-25 23:04:51 +00004138 suggestions also include the following text, thus you can
4139 replace a line.
4140
4141 {word} may also be a good word. Similar words will then be
Bram Moolenaarc54b8a72005-09-30 21:20:29 +00004142 returned. {word} itself is not included in the suggestions,
4143 although it may appear capitalized.
Bram Moolenaard857f0e2005-06-21 22:37:39 +00004144
4145 The spelling information for the current window is used. The
Bram Moolenaar42eeac32005-06-29 22:40:58 +00004146 'spell' option must be set and the values of 'spelllang' and
4147 'spellsuggest' are used.
Bram Moolenaard857f0e2005-06-21 22:37:39 +00004148
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00004149
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00004150split({expr} [, {pattern} [, {keepempty}]]) *split()*
4151 Make a List out of {expr}. When {pattern} is omitted or empty
4152 each white-separated sequence of characters becomes an item.
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00004153 Otherwise the string is split where {pattern} matches,
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00004154 removing the matched characters.
4155 When the first or last item is empty it is omitted, unless the
4156 {keepempty} argument is given and it's non-zero.
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00004157 Other empty items are kept when {pattern} matches at least one
4158 character or when {keepempty} is non-zero.
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00004159 Example: >
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00004160 :let words = split(getline('.'), '\W\+')
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00004161< To split a string in individual characters: >
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00004162 :for c in split(mystring, '\zs')
Bram Moolenaar0cb032e2005-04-23 20:52:00 +00004163< If you want to keep the separator you can also use '\zs': >
4164 :echo split('abc:def:ghi', ':\zs')
4165< ['abc:', 'def:', 'ghi'] ~
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00004166 Splitting a table where the first element can be empty: >
4167 :let items = split(line, ':', 1)
4168< The opposite function is |join()|.
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00004169
4170
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004171strftime({format} [, {time}]) *strftime()*
4172 The result is a String, which is a formatted date and time, as
4173 specified by the {format} string. The given {time} is used,
4174 or the current time if no time is given. The accepted
4175 {format} depends on your system, thus this is not portable!
4176 See the manual page of the C function strftime() for the
4177 format. The maximum length of the result is 80 characters.
4178 See also |localtime()| and |getftime()|.
4179 The language can be changed with the |:language| command.
4180 Examples: >
4181 :echo strftime("%c") Sun Apr 27 11:49:23 1997
4182 :echo strftime("%Y %b %d %X") 1997 Apr 27 11:53:25
4183 :echo strftime("%y%m%d %T") 970427 11:53:55
4184 :echo strftime("%H:%M") 11:55
4185 :echo strftime("%c", getftime("file.c"))
4186 Show mod time of file.c.
Bram Moolenaara14de3d2005-01-07 21:48:26 +00004187< Not available on all systems. To check use: >
4188 :if exists("*strftime")
4189
Bram Moolenaar8f999f12005-01-25 22:12:55 +00004190stridx({haystack}, {needle} [, {start}]) *stridx()*
4191 The result is a Number, which gives the byte index in
4192 {haystack} of the first occurrence of the String {needle}.
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +00004193 If {start} is specified, the search starts at index {start}.
4194 This can be used to find a second match: >
4195 :let comma1 = stridx(line, ",")
4196 :let comma2 = stridx(line, ",", comma1 + 1)
4197< The search is done case-sensitive.
Bram Moolenaare2cc9702005-03-15 22:43:58 +00004198 For pattern searches use |match()|.
Bram Moolenaar8f999f12005-01-25 22:12:55 +00004199 -1 is returned if the {needle} does not occur in {haystack}.
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +00004200 See also |strridx()|.
4201 Examples: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004202 :echo stridx("An Example", "Example") 3
4203 :echo stridx("Starting point", "Start") 0
4204 :echo stridx("Starting point", "start") -1
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00004205< *strstr()* *strchr()*
4206 stridx() works similar to the C function strstr(). When used
4207 with a single character it works similar to strchr().
4208
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00004209 *string()*
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00004210string({expr}) Return {expr} converted to a String. If {expr} is a Number,
4211 String or a composition of them, then the result can be parsed
4212 back with |eval()|.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00004213 {expr} type result ~
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00004214 String 'string'
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00004215 Number 123
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00004216 Funcref function('name')
Bram Moolenaar5f2bb9f2005-01-11 21:29:04 +00004217 List [item, item]
Bram Moolenaar9ba0eb82005-06-13 22:28:56 +00004218 Dictionary {key: value, key: value}
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00004219 Note that in String values the ' character is doubled.
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00004220
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004221 *strlen()*
4222strlen({expr}) The result is a Number, which is the length of the String
Bram Moolenaare344bea2005-09-01 20:46:49 +00004223 {expr} in bytes.
4224 If you want to count the number of multi-byte characters (not
4225 counting composing characters) use something like this: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004226
4227 :let len = strlen(substitute(str, ".", "x", "g"))
Bram Moolenaare344bea2005-09-01 20:46:49 +00004228<
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00004229 If the argument is a Number it is first converted to a String.
4230 For other types an error is given.
4231 Also see |len()|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004232
4233strpart({src}, {start}[, {len}]) *strpart()*
4234 The result is a String, which is part of {src}, starting from
Bram Moolenaar9372a112005-12-06 19:59:18 +00004235 byte {start}, with the byte length {len}.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004236 When non-existing bytes are included, this doesn't result in
4237 an error, the bytes are simply omitted.
4238 If {len} is missing, the copy continues from {start} till the
4239 end of the {src}. >
4240 strpart("abcdefg", 3, 2) == "de"
4241 strpart("abcdefg", -2, 4) == "ab"
4242 strpart("abcdefg", 5, 4) == "fg"
4243 strpart("abcdefg", 3) == "defg"
4244< Note: To get the first character, {start} must be 0. For
4245 example, to get three bytes under and after the cursor: >
4246 strpart(getline(line(".")), col(".") - 1, 3)
4247<
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +00004248strridx({haystack}, {needle} [, {start}]) *strridx()*
4249 The result is a Number, which gives the byte index in
4250 {haystack} of the last occurrence of the String {needle}.
4251 When {start} is specified, matches beyond this index are
4252 ignored. This can be used to find a match before a previous
4253 match: >
4254 :let lastcomma = strridx(line, ",")
4255 :let comma2 = strridx(line, ",", lastcomma - 1)
4256< The search is done case-sensitive.
Bram Moolenaar8f999f12005-01-25 22:12:55 +00004257 For pattern searches use |match()|.
4258 -1 is returned if the {needle} does not occur in {haystack}.
Bram Moolenaard4755bb2004-09-02 19:12:26 +00004259 If the {needle} is empty the length of {haystack} is returned.
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00004260 See also |stridx()|. Examples: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004261 :echo strridx("an angry armadillo", "an") 3
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00004262< *strrchr()*
4263 When used with a single character it works similar to the C
4264 function strrchr().
4265
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004266strtrans({expr}) *strtrans()*
4267 The result is a String, which is {expr} with all unprintable
4268 characters translated into printable characters |'isprint'|.
4269 Like they are shown in a window. Example: >
4270 echo strtrans(@a)
4271< This displays a newline in register a as "^@" instead of
4272 starting a new line.
4273
4274submatch({nr}) *submatch()*
4275 Only for an expression in a |:substitute| command. Returns
4276 the {nr}'th submatch of the matched text. When {nr} is 0
4277 the whole matched text is returned.
4278 Example: >
4279 :s/\d\+/\=submatch(0) + 1/
4280< This finds the first number in the line and adds one to it.
4281 A line break is included as a newline character.
4282
4283substitute({expr}, {pat}, {sub}, {flags}) *substitute()*
4284 The result is a String, which is a copy of {expr}, in which
4285 the first match of {pat} is replaced with {sub}. This works
4286 like the ":substitute" command (without any flags). But the
4287 matching with {pat} is always done like the 'magic' option is
4288 set and 'cpoptions' is empty (to make scripts portable).
4289 See |string-match| for how {pat} is used.
4290 And a "~" in {sub} is not replaced with the previous {sub}.
4291 Note that some codes in {sub} have a special meaning
4292 |sub-replace-special|. For example, to replace something with
4293 "\n" (two characters), use "\\\\n" or '\\n'.
4294 When {pat} does not match in {expr}, {expr} is returned
4295 unmodified.
4296 When {flags} is "g", all matches of {pat} in {expr} are
4297 replaced. Otherwise {flags} should be "".
4298 Example: >
4299 :let &path = substitute(&path, ",\\=[^,]*$", "", "")
4300< This removes the last component of the 'path' option. >
4301 :echo substitute("testing", ".*", "\\U\\0", "")
4302< results in "TESTING".
4303
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +00004304synID({lnum}, {col}, {trans}) *synID()*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004305 The result is a Number, which is the syntax ID at the position
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +00004306 {lnum} and {col} in the current window.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004307 The syntax ID can be used with |synIDattr()| and
4308 |synIDtrans()| to obtain syntax information about text.
Bram Moolenaarce0842a2005-07-18 21:58:11 +00004309
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +00004310 {col} is 1 for the leftmost column, {lnum} is 1 for the first
Bram Moolenaarce0842a2005-07-18 21:58:11 +00004311 line. 'synmaxcol' applies, in a longer line zero is returned.
4312
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004313 When {trans} is non-zero, transparent items are reduced to the
4314 item that they reveal. This is useful when wanting to know
4315 the effective color. When {trans} is zero, the transparent
4316 item is returned. This is useful when wanting to know which
4317 syntax item is effective (e.g. inside parens).
4318 Warning: This function can be very slow. Best speed is
4319 obtained by going through the file in forward direction.
4320
4321 Example (echoes the name of the syntax item under the cursor): >
4322 :echo synIDattr(synID(line("."), col("."), 1), "name")
4323<
4324synIDattr({synID}, {what} [, {mode}]) *synIDattr()*
4325 The result is a String, which is the {what} attribute of
4326 syntax ID {synID}. This can be used to obtain information
4327 about a syntax item.
4328 {mode} can be "gui", "cterm" or "term", to get the attributes
4329 for that mode. When {mode} is omitted, or an invalid value is
4330 used, the attributes for the currently active highlighting are
4331 used (GUI, cterm or term).
4332 Use synIDtrans() to follow linked highlight groups.
4333 {what} result
4334 "name" the name of the syntax item
4335 "fg" foreground color (GUI: color name used to set
4336 the color, cterm: color number as a string,
4337 term: empty string)
4338 "bg" background color (like "fg")
4339 "fg#" like "fg", but for the GUI and the GUI is
4340 running the name in "#RRGGBB" form
4341 "bg#" like "fg#" for "bg"
4342 "bold" "1" if bold
4343 "italic" "1" if italic
4344 "reverse" "1" if reverse
4345 "inverse" "1" if inverse (= reverse)
4346 "underline" "1" if underlined
Bram Moolenaare2cc9702005-03-15 22:43:58 +00004347 "undercurl" "1" if undercurled
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004348
4349 Example (echoes the color of the syntax item under the
4350 cursor): >
4351 :echo synIDattr(synIDtrans(synID(line("."), col("."), 1)), "fg")
4352<
4353synIDtrans({synID}) *synIDtrans()*
4354 The result is a Number, which is the translated syntax ID of
4355 {synID}. This is the syntax group ID of what is being used to
4356 highlight the character. Highlight links given with
4357 ":highlight link" are followed.
4358
Bram Moolenaarc0197e22004-09-13 20:26:32 +00004359system({expr} [, {input}]) *system()* *E677*
4360 Get the output of the shell command {expr}.
4361 When {input} is given, this string is written to a file and
4362 passed as stdin to the command. The string is written as-is,
4363 you need to take care of using the correct line separators
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00004364 yourself. Pipes are not used.
Bram Moolenaarc0197e22004-09-13 20:26:32 +00004365 Note: newlines in {expr} may cause the command to fail. The
4366 characters in 'shellquote' and 'shellxquote' may also cause
4367 trouble.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004368 This is not to be used for interactive commands.
4369 The result is a String. Example: >
4370
4371 :let files = system("ls")
4372
4373< To make the result more system-independent, the shell output
4374 is filtered to replace <CR> with <NL> for Macintosh, and
4375 <CR><NL> with <NL> for DOS-like systems.
4376 The command executed is constructed using several options:
4377 'shell' 'shellcmdflag' 'shellxquote' {expr} 'shellredir' {tmp} 'shellxquote'
4378 ({tmp} is an automatically generated file name).
4379 For Unix and OS/2 braces are put around {expr} to allow for
4380 concatenated commands.
4381
4382 The resulting error code can be found in |v:shell_error|.
4383 This function will fail in |restricted-mode|.
4384 Unlike ":!cmd" there is no automatic check for changed files.
4385 Use |:checktime| to force a check.
4386
Bram Moolenaare2cc9702005-03-15 22:43:58 +00004387
4388taglist({expr}) *taglist()*
4389 Returns a list of tags matching the regular expression {expr}.
Bram Moolenaard8c00872005-07-22 21:52:15 +00004390 Each list item is a dictionary with at least the following
4391 entries:
Bram Moolenaare2cc9702005-03-15 22:43:58 +00004392 name name of the tag.
4393 filename name of the file where the tag is
4394 defined.
4395 cmd Ex command used to locate the tag in
4396 the file.
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00004397 kind type of the tag. The value for this
Bram Moolenaare2cc9702005-03-15 22:43:58 +00004398 entry depends on the language specific
4399 kind values generated by the ctags
4400 tool.
4401 static a file specific tag. Refer to
4402 |static-tag| for more information.
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00004403 The "kind" entry is only available when using Exuberant ctags
4404 generated tags file. More entries may be present, depending
4405 on the content of the tags file: access, implementation,
4406 inherits and signature. Refer to the ctags documentation for
4407 information about these fields. For C code the fields
4408 "struct", "class" and "enum" may appear, they give the name of
4409 the entity the tag is contained in.
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +00004410
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00004411 The ex-command 'cmd' can be either an ex search pattern, a
4412 line number or a line number followed by a byte number.
Bram Moolenaare2cc9702005-03-15 22:43:58 +00004413
4414 If there are no matching tags, then an empty list is returned.
4415
4416 To get an exact tag match, the anchors '^' and '$' should be
4417 used in {expr}. Refer to |tag-regexp| for more information
4418 about the tag search regular expression pattern.
4419
4420 Refer to |'tags'| for information about how the tags file is
4421 located by Vim. Refer to |tags-file-format| for the format of
4422 the tags file generated by the different ctags tools.
4423
Bram Moolenaar578b49e2005-09-10 19:22:57 +00004424 *tagfiles()*
Bram Moolenaare7eb9df2005-09-09 19:49:30 +00004425tagfiles() Returns a List with the file names used to search for tags for
4426 the current buffer. This is the 'tags' option expanded.
4427
Bram Moolenaare2cc9702005-03-15 22:43:58 +00004428
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004429tempname() *tempname()* *temp-file-name*
4430 The result is a String, which is the name of a file that
4431 doesn't exist. It can be used for a temporary file. The name
4432 is different for at least 26 consecutive calls. Example: >
4433 :let tmpfile = tempname()
4434 :exe "redir > " . tmpfile
4435< For Unix, the file will be in a private directory (only
4436 accessible by the current user) to avoid security problems
4437 (e.g., a symlink attack or other people reading your file).
4438 When Vim exits the directory and all files in it are deleted.
4439 For MS-Windows forward slashes are used when the 'shellslash'
4440 option is set or when 'shellcmdflag' starts with '-'.
4441
4442tolower({expr}) *tolower()*
4443 The result is a copy of the String given, with all uppercase
4444 characters turned into lowercase (just like applying |gu| to
4445 the string).
4446
4447toupper({expr}) *toupper()*
4448 The result is a copy of the String given, with all lowercase
4449 characters turned into uppercase (just like applying |gU| to
4450 the string).
4451
Bram Moolenaar8299df92004-07-10 09:47:34 +00004452tr({src}, {fromstr}, {tostr}) *tr()*
4453 The result is a copy of the {src} string with all characters
4454 which appear in {fromstr} replaced by the character in that
4455 position in the {tostr} string. Thus the first character in
4456 {fromstr} is translated into the first character in {tostr}
4457 and so on. Exactly like the unix "tr" command.
4458 This code also deals with multibyte characters properly.
4459
4460 Examples: >
4461 echo tr("hello there", "ht", "HT")
4462< returns "Hello THere" >
4463 echo tr("<blob>", "<>", "{}")
4464< returns "{blob}"
4465
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00004466 *type()*
4467type({expr}) The result is a Number, depending on the type of {expr}:
Bram Moolenaar748bf032005-02-02 23:04:36 +00004468 Number: 0
4469 String: 1
4470 Funcref: 2
4471 List: 3
4472 Dictionary: 4
4473 To avoid the magic numbers it should be used this way: >
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00004474 :if type(myvar) == type(0)
4475 :if type(myvar) == type("")
4476 :if type(myvar) == type(function("tr"))
4477 :if type(myvar) == type([])
Bram Moolenaar748bf032005-02-02 23:04:36 +00004478 :if type(myvar) == type({})
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004479
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +00004480values({dict}) *values()*
4481 Return a List with all the values of {dict}. The List is in
4482 arbitrary order.
4483
4484
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004485virtcol({expr}) *virtcol()*
4486 The result is a Number, which is the screen column of the file
4487 position given with {expr}. That is, the last screen position
4488 occupied by the character at that position, when the screen
4489 would be of unlimited width. When there is a <Tab> at the
4490 position, the returned Number will be the column at the end of
4491 the <Tab>. For example, for a <Tab> in column 1, with 'ts'
4492 set to 8, it returns 8.
4493 For the byte position use |col()|.
4494 When Virtual editing is active in the current mode, a position
4495 beyond the end of the line can be returned. |'virtualedit'|
4496 The accepted positions are:
4497 . the cursor position
4498 $ the end of the cursor line (the result is the
4499 number of displayed characters in the cursor line
4500 plus one)
4501 'x position of mark x (if the mark is not set, 0 is
4502 returned)
4503 Note that only marks in the current file can be used.
4504 Examples: >
4505 virtcol(".") with text "foo^Lbar", with cursor on the "^L", returns 5
4506 virtcol("$") with text "foo^Lbar", returns 9
4507 virtcol("'t") with text " there", with 't at 'h', returns 6
4508< The first column is 1. 0 is returned for an error.
4509
4510visualmode([expr]) *visualmode()*
4511 The result is a String, which describes the last Visual mode
4512 used. Initially it returns an empty string, but once Visual
4513 mode has been used, it returns "v", "V", or "<CTRL-V>" (a
4514 single CTRL-V character) for character-wise, line-wise, or
4515 block-wise Visual mode respectively.
4516 Example: >
4517 :exe "normal " . visualmode()
4518< This enters the same Visual mode as before. It is also useful
4519 in scripts if you wish to act differently depending on the
4520 Visual mode that was used.
4521
4522 If an expression is supplied that results in a non-zero number
4523 or a non-empty string, then the Visual mode will be cleared
4524 and the old value is returned. Note that " " and "0" are also
4525 non-empty strings, thus cause the mode to be cleared.
4526
4527 *winbufnr()*
4528winbufnr({nr}) The result is a Number, which is the number of the buffer
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00004529 associated with window {nr}. When {nr} is zero, the number of
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004530 the buffer in the current window is returned. When window
4531 {nr} doesn't exist, -1 is returned.
4532 Example: >
4533 :echo "The file in the current window is " . bufname(winbufnr(0))
4534<
4535 *wincol()*
4536wincol() The result is a Number, which is the virtual column of the
4537 cursor in the window. This is counting screen cells from the
4538 left side of the window. The leftmost column is one.
4539
4540winheight({nr}) *winheight()*
4541 The result is a Number, which is the height of window {nr}.
4542 When {nr} is zero, the height of the current window is
4543 returned. When window {nr} doesn't exist, -1 is returned.
4544 An existing window always has a height of zero or more.
4545 Examples: >
4546 :echo "The current window has " . winheight(0) . " lines."
4547<
4548 *winline()*
4549winline() The result is a Number, which is the screen line of the cursor
4550 in the window. This is counting screen lines from the top of
4551 the window. The first line is one.
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00004552 If the cursor was moved the view on the file will be updated
4553 first, this may cause a scroll.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004554
4555 *winnr()*
Bram Moolenaar5eb86f92004-07-26 12:53:41 +00004556winnr([{arg}]) The result is a Number, which is the number of the current
4557 window. The top window has number 1.
4558 When the optional argument is "$", the number of the
4559 last window is returnd (the window count).
4560 When the optional argument is "#", the number of the last
4561 accessed window is returned (where |CTRL-W_p| goes to).
4562 If there is no previous window 0 is returned.
4563 The number can be used with |CTRL-W_w| and ":wincmd w"
4564 |:wincmd|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004565
4566 *winrestcmd()*
4567winrestcmd() Returns a sequence of |:resize| commands that should restore
4568 the current window sizes. Only works properly when no windows
4569 are opened or closed and the current window is unchanged.
4570 Example: >
4571 :let cmd = winrestcmd()
4572 :call MessWithWindowSizes()
4573 :exe cmd
4574
4575winwidth({nr}) *winwidth()*
4576 The result is a Number, which is the width of window {nr}.
4577 When {nr} is zero, the width of the current window is
4578 returned. When window {nr} doesn't exist, -1 is returned.
4579 An existing window always has a width of zero or more.
4580 Examples: >
4581 :echo "The current window has " . winwidth(0) . " columns."
4582 :if winwidth(0) <= 50
4583 : exe "normal 50\<C-W>|"
4584 :endif
4585<
Bram Moolenaar3a7c85b2005-02-05 21:39:53 +00004586 *writefile()*
4587writefile({list}, {fname} [, {binary}])
4588 Write List {list} to file {fname}. Each list item is
4589 separated with a NL. Each list item must be a String or
4590 Number.
4591 When {binary} is equal to "b" binary mode is used: There will
4592 not be a NL after the last list item. An empty item at the
4593 end does cause the last line in the file to end in a NL.
4594 All NL characters are replaced with a NUL character.
4595 Inserting CR characters needs to be done before passing {list}
4596 to writefile().
4597 An existing file is overwritten, if possible.
4598 When the write fails -1 is returned, otherwise 0. There is an
4599 error message if the file can't be created or when writing
4600 fails.
4601 Also see |readfile()|.
4602 To copy a file byte for byte: >
4603 :let fl = readfile("foo", "b")
4604 :call writefile(fl, "foocopy", "b")
4605<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004606
4607 *feature-list*
4608There are three types of features:
46091. Features that are only supported when they have been enabled when Vim
4610 was compiled |+feature-list|. Example: >
4611 :if has("cindent")
46122. Features that are only supported when certain conditions have been met.
4613 Example: >
4614 :if has("gui_running")
4615< *has-patch*
46163. Included patches. First check |v:version| for the version of Vim.
4617 Then the "patch123" feature means that patch 123 has been included for
4618 this version. Example (checking version 6.2.148 or later): >
4619 :if v:version > 602 || v:version == 602 && has("patch148")
4620
4621all_builtin_terms Compiled with all builtin terminals enabled.
4622amiga Amiga version of Vim.
4623arabic Compiled with Arabic support |Arabic|.
4624arp Compiled with ARP support (Amiga).
Bram Moolenaara9b1e742005-12-19 22:14:58 +00004625autocmd Compiled with autocommand support. |autocommand|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004626balloon_eval Compiled with |balloon-eval| support.
Bram Moolenaar45360022005-07-21 21:08:21 +00004627balloon_multiline GUI supports multiline balloons.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004628beos BeOS version of Vim.
4629browse Compiled with |:browse| support, and browse() will
4630 work.
4631builtin_terms Compiled with some builtin terminals.
4632byte_offset Compiled with support for 'o' in 'statusline'
4633cindent Compiled with 'cindent' support.
4634clientserver Compiled with remote invocation support |clientserver|.
4635clipboard Compiled with 'clipboard' support.
4636cmdline_compl Compiled with |cmdline-completion| support.
4637cmdline_hist Compiled with |cmdline-history| support.
4638cmdline_info Compiled with 'showcmd' and 'ruler' support.
4639comments Compiled with |'comments'| support.
4640cryptv Compiled with encryption support |encryption|.
4641cscope Compiled with |cscope| support.
4642compatible Compiled to be very Vi compatible.
4643debug Compiled with "DEBUG" defined.
4644dialog_con Compiled with console dialog support.
4645dialog_gui Compiled with GUI dialog support.
4646diff Compiled with |vimdiff| and 'diff' support.
4647digraphs Compiled with support for digraphs.
4648dnd Compiled with support for the "~ register |quote_~|.
4649dos32 32 bits DOS (DJGPP) version of Vim.
4650dos16 16 bits DOS version of Vim.
4651ebcdic Compiled on a machine with ebcdic character set.
4652emacs_tags Compiled with support for Emacs tags.
4653eval Compiled with expression evaluation support. Always
4654 true, of course!
4655ex_extra Compiled with extra Ex commands |+ex_extra|.
4656extra_search Compiled with support for |'incsearch'| and
4657 |'hlsearch'|
4658farsi Compiled with Farsi support |farsi|.
4659file_in_path Compiled with support for |gf| and |<cfile>|
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00004660filterpipe When 'shelltemp' is off pipes are used for shell
4661 read/write/filter commands
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004662find_in_path Compiled with support for include file searches
4663 |+find_in_path|.
4664fname_case Case in file names matters (for Amiga, MS-DOS, and
4665 Windows this is not present).
4666folding Compiled with |folding| support.
4667footer Compiled with GUI footer support. |gui-footer|
4668fork Compiled to use fork()/exec() instead of system().
4669gettext Compiled with message translation |multi-lang|
4670gui Compiled with GUI enabled.
4671gui_athena Compiled with Athena GUI.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004672gui_gtk Compiled with GTK+ GUI (any version).
4673gui_gtk2 Compiled with GTK+ 2 GUI (gui_gtk is also defined).
Bram Moolenaar843ee412004-06-30 16:16:41 +00004674gui_kde Compiled with KDE GUI |KVim|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004675gui_mac Compiled with Macintosh GUI.
4676gui_motif Compiled with Motif GUI.
4677gui_photon Compiled with Photon GUI.
4678gui_win32 Compiled with MS Windows Win32 GUI.
4679gui_win32s idem, and Win32s system being used (Windows 3.1)
4680gui_running Vim is running in the GUI, or it will start soon.
4681hangul_input Compiled with Hangul input support. |hangul|
4682iconv Can use iconv() for conversion.
4683insert_expand Compiled with support for CTRL-X expansion commands in
4684 Insert mode.
4685jumplist Compiled with |jumplist| support.
4686keymap Compiled with 'keymap' support.
4687langmap Compiled with 'langmap' support.
4688libcall Compiled with |libcall()| support.
4689linebreak Compiled with 'linebreak', 'breakat' and 'showbreak'
4690 support.
4691lispindent Compiled with support for lisp indenting.
4692listcmds Compiled with commands for the buffer list |:files|
4693 and the argument list |arglist|.
4694localmap Compiled with local mappings and abbr. |:map-local|
4695mac Macintosh version of Vim.
4696macunix Macintosh version of Vim, using Unix files (OS-X).
4697menu Compiled with support for |:menu|.
4698mksession Compiled with support for |:mksession|.
4699modify_fname Compiled with file name modifiers. |filename-modifiers|
4700mouse Compiled with support mouse.
4701mouseshape Compiled with support for 'mouseshape'.
4702mouse_dec Compiled with support for Dec terminal mouse.
4703mouse_gpm Compiled with support for gpm (Linux console mouse)
4704mouse_netterm Compiled with support for netterm mouse.
4705mouse_pterm Compiled with support for qnx pterm mouse.
4706mouse_xterm Compiled with support for xterm mouse.
4707multi_byte Compiled with support for editing Korean et al.
4708multi_byte_ime Compiled with support for IME input method.
4709multi_lang Compiled with support for multiple languages.
Bram Moolenaar325b7a22004-07-05 15:58:32 +00004710mzscheme Compiled with MzScheme interface |mzscheme|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004711netbeans_intg Compiled with support for |netbeans|.
Bram Moolenaar009b2592004-10-24 19:18:58 +00004712netbeans_enabled Compiled with support for |netbeans| and it's used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004713ole Compiled with OLE automation support for Win32.
4714os2 OS/2 version of Vim.
4715osfiletype Compiled with support for osfiletypes |+osfiletype|
4716path_extra Compiled with up/downwards search in 'path' and 'tags'
4717perl Compiled with Perl interface.
4718postscript Compiled with PostScript file printing.
4719printer Compiled with |:hardcopy| support.
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00004720profile Compiled with |:profile| support.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004721python Compiled with Python interface.
4722qnx QNX version of Vim.
4723quickfix Compiled with |quickfix| support.
4724rightleft Compiled with 'rightleft' support.
4725ruby Compiled with Ruby interface |ruby|.
4726scrollbind Compiled with 'scrollbind' support.
4727showcmd Compiled with 'showcmd' support.
4728signs Compiled with |:sign| support.
4729smartindent Compiled with 'smartindent' support.
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00004730sniff Compiled with SNiFF interface support.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004731statusline Compiled with support for 'statusline', 'rulerformat'
4732 and special formats of 'titlestring' and 'iconstring'.
4733sun_workshop Compiled with support for Sun |workshop|.
Bram Moolenaar82cf9b62005-06-07 21:09:25 +00004734spell Compiled with spell checking support |spell|.
4735syntax Compiled with syntax highlighting support |syntax|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004736syntax_items There are active syntax highlighting items for the
4737 current buffer.
4738system Compiled to use system() instead of fork()/exec().
4739tag_binary Compiled with binary searching in tags files
4740 |tag-binary-search|.
4741tag_old_static Compiled with support for old static tags
4742 |tag-old-static|.
4743tag_any_white Compiled with support for any white characters in tags
4744 files |tag-any-white|.
4745tcl Compiled with Tcl interface.
4746terminfo Compiled with terminfo instead of termcap.
4747termresponse Compiled with support for |t_RV| and |v:termresponse|.
4748textobjects Compiled with support for |text-objects|.
4749tgetent Compiled with tgetent support, able to use a termcap
4750 or terminfo file.
4751title Compiled with window title support |'title'|.
4752toolbar Compiled with support for |gui-toolbar|.
4753unix Unix version of Vim.
4754user_commands User-defined commands.
4755viminfo Compiled with viminfo support.
4756vim_starting True while initial source'ing takes place.
4757vertsplit Compiled with vertically split windows |:vsplit|.
4758virtualedit Compiled with 'virtualedit' option.
4759visual Compiled with Visual mode.
4760visualextra Compiled with extra Visual mode commands.
4761 |blockwise-operators|.
4762vms VMS version of Vim.
4763vreplace Compiled with |gR| and |gr| commands.
4764wildignore Compiled with 'wildignore' option.
4765wildmenu Compiled with 'wildmenu' option.
4766windows Compiled with support for more than one window.
4767winaltkeys Compiled with 'winaltkeys' option.
4768win16 Win16 version of Vim (MS-Windows 3.1).
4769win32 Win32 version of Vim (MS-Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP).
4770win64 Win64 version of Vim (MS-Windows 64 bit).
4771win32unix Win32 version of Vim, using Unix files (Cygwin)
4772win95 Win32 version for MS-Windows 95/98/ME.
4773writebackup Compiled with 'writebackup' default on.
4774xfontset Compiled with X fontset support |xfontset|.
4775xim Compiled with X input method support |xim|.
4776xsmp Compiled with X session management support.
4777xsmp_interact Compiled with interactive X session management support.
4778xterm_clipboard Compiled with support for xterm clipboard.
4779xterm_save Compiled with support for saving and restoring the
4780 xterm screen.
4781x11 Compiled with X11 support.
4782
4783 *string-match*
4784Matching a pattern in a String
4785
4786A regexp pattern as explained at |pattern| is normally used to find a match in
4787the buffer lines. When a pattern is used to find a match in a String, almost
4788everything works in the same way. The difference is that a String is handled
4789like it is one line. When it contains a "\n" character, this is not seen as a
4790line break for the pattern. It can be matched with a "\n" in the pattern, or
4791with ".". Example: >
4792 :let a = "aaaa\nxxxx"
4793 :echo matchstr(a, "..\n..")
4794 aa
4795 xx
4796 :echo matchstr(a, "a.x")
4797 a
4798 x
4799
4800Don't forget that "^" will only match at the first character of the String and
4801"$" at the last character of the string. They don't match after or before a
4802"\n".
4803
4804==============================================================================
48055. Defining functions *user-functions*
4806
4807New functions can be defined. These can be called just like builtin
4808functions. The function executes a sequence of Ex commands. Normal mode
4809commands can be executed with the |:normal| command.
4810
4811The function name must start with an uppercase letter, to avoid confusion with
4812builtin functions. To prevent from using the same name in different scripts
4813avoid obvious, short names. A good habit is to start the function name with
4814the name of the script, e.g., "HTMLcolor()".
4815
Bram Moolenaar92d640f2005-09-05 22:11:52 +00004816It's also possible to use curly braces, see |curly-braces-names|. And the
4817|autoload| facility is useful to define a function only when it's called.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004818
4819 *local-function*
4820A function local to a script must start with "s:". A local script function
4821can only be called from within the script and from functions, user commands
4822and autocommands defined in the script. It is also possible to call the
4823function from a mappings defined in the script, but then |<SID>| must be used
4824instead of "s:" when the mapping is expanded outside of the script.
4825
4826 *:fu* *:function* *E128* *E129* *E123*
4827:fu[nction] List all functions and their arguments.
4828
4829:fu[nction] {name} List function {name}.
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00004830 {name} can also be a Dictionary entry that is a
4831 Funcref: >
4832 :function dict.init
Bram Moolenaar92d640f2005-09-05 22:11:52 +00004833
4834:fu[nction] /{pattern} List functions with a name matching {pattern}.
4835 Example that lists all functions ending with "File": >
4836 :function /File$
Bram Moolenaar5b8d8fd2005-08-16 23:01:50 +00004837<
4838 *:function-verbose*
4839When 'verbose' is non-zero, listing a function will also display where it was
4840last defined. Example: >
4841
4842 :verbose function SetFileTypeSH
4843 function SetFileTypeSH(name)
4844 Last set from /usr/share/vim/vim-7.0/filetype.vim
4845<
Bram Moolenaar8aff23a2005-08-19 20:40:30 +00004846See |:verbose-cmd| for more information.
Bram Moolenaar5b8d8fd2005-08-16 23:01:50 +00004847
4848 *E124* *E125*
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00004849:fu[nction][!] {name}([arguments]) [range] [abort] [dict]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004850 Define a new function by the name {name}. The name
4851 must be made of alphanumeric characters and '_', and
4852 must start with a capital or "s:" (see above).
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00004853
4854 {name} can also be a Dictionary entry that is a
4855 Funcref: >
4856 :function dict.init(arg)
4857< "dict" must be an existing dictionary. The entry
4858 "init" is added if it didn't exist yet. Otherwise [!]
4859 is required to overwrite an existing function. The
4860 result is a |Funcref| to a numbered function. The
4861 function can only be used with a |Funcref| and will be
4862 deleted if there are no more references to it.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004863 *E127* *E122*
4864 When a function by this name already exists and [!] is
4865 not used an error message is given. When [!] is used,
4866 an existing function is silently replaced. Unless it
4867 is currently being executed, that is an error.
Bram Moolenaar8f999f12005-01-25 22:12:55 +00004868
4869 For the {arguments} see |function-argument|.
4870
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004871 *a:firstline* *a:lastline*
4872 When the [range] argument is added, the function is
4873 expected to take care of a range itself. The range is
4874 passed as "a:firstline" and "a:lastline". If [range]
4875 is excluded, ":{range}call" will call the function for
4876 each line in the range, with the cursor on the start
4877 of each line. See |function-range-example|.
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00004878
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004879 When the [abort] argument is added, the function will
4880 abort as soon as an error is detected.
4881 The last used search pattern and the redo command "."
4882 will not be changed by the function.
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00004883
Bram Moolenaar2fda12f2005-01-15 22:14:15 +00004884 When the [dict] argument is added, the function must
4885 be invoked through an entry in a Dictionary. The
4886 local variable "self" will then be set to the
4887 dictionary. See |Dictionary-function|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004888
4889 *:endf* *:endfunction* *E126* *E193*
4890:endf[unction] The end of a function definition. Must be on a line
4891 by its own, without other commands.
4892
4893 *:delf* *:delfunction* *E130* *E131*
4894:delf[unction] {name} Delete function {name}.
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00004895 {name} can also be a Dictionary entry that is a
4896 Funcref: >
4897 :delfunc dict.init
4898< This will remove the "init" entry from "dict". The
4899 function is deleted if there are no more references to
4900 it.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004901 *:retu* *:return* *E133*
4902:retu[rn] [expr] Return from a function. When "[expr]" is given, it is
4903 evaluated and returned as the result of the function.
4904 If "[expr]" is not given, the number 0 is returned.
4905 When a function ends without an explicit ":return",
4906 the number 0 is returned.
4907 Note that there is no check for unreachable lines,
4908 thus there is no warning if commands follow ":return".
4909
4910 If the ":return" is used after a |:try| but before the
4911 matching |:finally| (if present), the commands
4912 following the ":finally" up to the matching |:endtry|
4913 are executed first. This process applies to all
4914 nested ":try"s inside the function. The function
4915 returns at the outermost ":endtry".
4916
Bram Moolenaar8f999f12005-01-25 22:12:55 +00004917 *function-argument* *a:var*
4918An argument can be defined by giving its name. In the function this can then
4919be used as "a:name" ("a:" for argument).
4920 *a:0* *a:1* *a:000* *E740*
4921Up to 20 arguments can be given, separated by commas. After the named
4922arguments an argument "..." can be specified, which means that more arguments
4923may optionally be following. In the function the extra arguments can be used
4924as "a:1", "a:2", etc. "a:0" is set to the number of extra arguments (which
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00004925can be 0). "a:000" is set to a List that contains these arguments. Note that
4926"a:1" is the same as "a:000[0]".
4927 *E742*
4928The a: scope and the variables in it cannot be changed, they are fixed.
4929However, if a List or Dictionary is used, you can changes their contents.
4930Thus you can pass a List to a function and have the function add an item to
4931it. If you want to make sure the function cannot change a List or Dictionary
4932use |:lockvar|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004933
Bram Moolenaar8f999f12005-01-25 22:12:55 +00004934When not using "...", the number of arguments in a function call must be equal
4935to the number of named arguments. When using "...", the number of arguments
4936may be larger.
4937
4938It is also possible to define a function without any arguments. You must
4939still supply the () then. The body of the function follows in the next lines,
4940until the matching |:endfunction|. It is allowed to define another function
4941inside a function body.
4942
4943 *local-variables*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004944Inside a function variables can be used. These are local variables, which
4945will disappear when the function returns. Global variables need to be
4946accessed with "g:".
4947
4948Example: >
4949 :function Table(title, ...)
4950 : echohl Title
4951 : echo a:title
4952 : echohl None
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +00004953 : echo a:0 . " items:"
4954 : for s in a:000
4955 : echon ' ' . s
4956 : endfor
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004957 :endfunction
4958
4959This function can then be called with: >
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +00004960 call Table("Table", "line1", "line2")
4961 call Table("Empty Table")
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004962
4963To return more than one value, pass the name of a global variable: >
4964 :function Compute(n1, n2, divname)
4965 : if a:n2 == 0
4966 : return "fail"
4967 : endif
4968 : let g:{a:divname} = a:n1 / a:n2
4969 : return "ok"
4970 :endfunction
4971
4972This function can then be called with: >
4973 :let success = Compute(13, 1324, "div")
4974 :if success == "ok"
4975 : echo div
4976 :endif
4977
4978An alternative is to return a command that can be executed. This also works
4979with local variables in a calling function. Example: >
4980 :function Foo()
4981 : execute Bar()
4982 : echo "line " . lnum . " column " . col
4983 :endfunction
4984
4985 :function Bar()
4986 : return "let lnum = " . line(".") . " | let col = " . col(".")
4987 :endfunction
4988
4989The names "lnum" and "col" could also be passed as argument to Bar(), to allow
4990the caller to set the names.
4991
4992 *:cal* *:call* *E107*
4993:[range]cal[l] {name}([arguments])
4994 Call a function. The name of the function and its arguments
4995 are as specified with |:function|. Up to 20 arguments can be
4996 used.
4997 Without a range and for functions that accept a range, the
4998 function is called once. When a range is given the cursor is
4999 positioned at the start of the first line before executing the
5000 function.
5001 When a range is given and the function doesn't handle it
5002 itself, the function is executed for each line in the range,
5003 with the cursor in the first column of that line. The cursor
5004 is left at the last line (possibly moved by the last function
5005 call). The arguments are re-evaluated for each line. Thus
5006 this works:
5007 *function-range-example* >
5008 :function Mynumber(arg)
5009 : echo line(".") . " " . a:arg
5010 :endfunction
5011 :1,5call Mynumber(getline("."))
5012<
5013 The "a:firstline" and "a:lastline" are defined anyway, they
5014 can be used to do something different at the start or end of
5015 the range.
5016
5017 Example of a function that handles the range itself: >
5018
5019 :function Cont() range
5020 : execute (a:firstline + 1) . "," . a:lastline . 's/^/\t\\ '
5021 :endfunction
5022 :4,8call Cont()
5023<
5024 This function inserts the continuation character "\" in front
5025 of all the lines in the range, except the first one.
5026
5027 *E132*
5028The recursiveness of user functions is restricted with the |'maxfuncdepth'|
5029option.
5030
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00005031
5032AUTOMATICALLY LOADING FUNCTIONS ~
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005033 *autoload-functions*
5034When using many or large functions, it's possible to automatically define them
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00005035only when they are used. There are two methods: with an autocommand and with
5036the "autoload" directory in 'runtimepath'.
5037
5038
5039Using an autocommand ~
5040
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00005041This is introduced in the user manual, section |41.14|.
5042
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00005043The autocommand is useful if you have a plugin that is a long Vim script file.
5044You can define the autocommand and quickly quit the script with |:finish|.
5045That makes Vim startup faster. The autocommand should then load the same file
5046again, setting a variable to skip the |:finish| command.
5047
5048Use the FuncUndefined autocommand event with a pattern that matches the
5049function(s) to be defined. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005050
5051 :au FuncUndefined BufNet* source ~/vim/bufnetfuncs.vim
5052
5053The file "~/vim/bufnetfuncs.vim" should then define functions that start with
5054"BufNet". Also see |FuncUndefined|.
5055
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00005056
5057Using an autoload script ~
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00005058 *autoload* *E746*
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +00005059This is introduced in the user manual, section |41.15|.
5060
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00005061Using a script in the "autoload" directory is simpler, but requires using
5062exactly the right file name. A function that can be autoloaded has a name
5063like this: >
5064
Bram Moolenaara7fc0102005-05-18 22:17:12 +00005065 :call filename#funcname()
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00005066
5067When such a function is called, and it is not defined yet, Vim will search the
5068"autoload" directories in 'runtimepath' for a script file called
5069"filename.vim". For example "~/.vim/autoload/filename.vim". That file should
5070then define the function like this: >
5071
Bram Moolenaara7fc0102005-05-18 22:17:12 +00005072 function filename#funcname()
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00005073 echo "Done!"
5074 endfunction
5075
Bram Moolenaar60a795a2005-09-16 21:55:43 +00005076The file name and the name used before the # in the function must match
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00005077exactly, and the defined function must have the name exactly as it will be
5078called.
5079
Bram Moolenaara7fc0102005-05-18 22:17:12 +00005080It is possible to use subdirectories. Every # in the function name works like
5081a path separator. Thus when calling a function: >
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00005082
Bram Moolenaara7fc0102005-05-18 22:17:12 +00005083 :call foo#bar#func()
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00005084
5085Vim will look for the file "autoload/foo/bar.vim" in 'runtimepath'.
5086
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00005087This also works when reading a variable that has not been set yet: >
5088
Bram Moolenaara7fc0102005-05-18 22:17:12 +00005089 :let l = foo#bar#lvar
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00005090
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00005091However, when the autoload script was already loaded it won't be loaded again
5092for an unknown variable.
5093
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00005094When assigning a value to such a variable nothing special happens. This can
5095be used to pass settings to the autoload script before it's loaded: >
5096
Bram Moolenaara7fc0102005-05-18 22:17:12 +00005097 :let foo#bar#toggle = 1
5098 :call foo#bar#func()
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00005099
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00005100Note that when you make a mistake and call a function that is supposed to be
5101defined in an autoload script, but the script doesn't actually define the
5102function, the script will be sourced every time you try to call the function.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +00005103And you will get an error message every time.
5104
5105Also note that if you have two script files, and one calls a function in the
5106other and vise versa, before the used function is defined, it won't work.
5107Avoid using the autoload functionality at the toplevel.
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +00005108
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005109==============================================================================
51106. Curly braces names *curly-braces-names*
5111
5112Wherever you can use a variable, you can use a "curly braces name" variable.
5113This is a regular variable name with one or more expressions wrapped in braces
5114{} like this: >
5115 my_{adjective}_variable
5116
5117When Vim encounters this, it evaluates the expression inside the braces, puts
5118that in place of the expression, and re-interprets the whole as a variable
5119name. So in the above example, if the variable "adjective" was set to
5120"noisy", then the reference would be to "my_noisy_variable", whereas if
5121"adjective" was set to "quiet", then it would be to "my_quiet_variable".
5122
5123One application for this is to create a set of variables governed by an option
5124value. For example, the statement >
5125 echo my_{&background}_message
5126
5127would output the contents of "my_dark_message" or "my_light_message" depending
5128on the current value of 'background'.
5129
5130You can use multiple brace pairs: >
5131 echo my_{adverb}_{adjective}_message
5132..or even nest them: >
5133 echo my_{ad{end_of_word}}_message
5134where "end_of_word" is either "verb" or "jective".
5135
5136However, the expression inside the braces must evaluate to a valid single
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00005137variable name, e.g. this is invalid: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005138 :let foo='a + b'
5139 :echo c{foo}d
5140.. since the result of expansion is "ca + bd", which is not a variable name.
5141
5142 *curly-braces-function-names*
5143You can call and define functions by an evaluated name in a similar way.
5144Example: >
5145 :let func_end='whizz'
5146 :call my_func_{func_end}(parameter)
5147
5148This would call the function "my_func_whizz(parameter)".
5149
5150==============================================================================
51517. Commands *expression-commands*
5152
5153:let {var-name} = {expr1} *:let* *E18*
5154 Set internal variable {var-name} to the result of the
5155 expression {expr1}. The variable will get the type
5156 from the {expr}. If {var-name} didn't exist yet, it
5157 is created.
5158
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +00005159:let {var-name}[{idx}] = {expr1} *E689*
5160 Set a list item to the result of the expression
5161 {expr1}. {var-name} must refer to a list and {idx}
5162 must be a valid index in that list. For nested list
5163 the index can be repeated.
5164 This cannot be used to add an item to a list.
5165
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005166 *E711* *E719*
5167:let {var-name}[{idx1}:{idx2}] = {expr1} *E708* *E709* *E710*
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00005168 Set a sequence of items in a List to the result of the
5169 expression {expr1}, which must be a list with the
5170 correct number of items.
5171 {idx1} can be omitted, zero is used instead.
5172 {idx2} can be omitted, meaning the end of the list.
5173 When the selected range of items is partly past the
5174 end of the list, items will be added.
5175
Bram Moolenaar748bf032005-02-02 23:04:36 +00005176 *:let+=* *:let-=* *:let.=* *E734*
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005177:let {var} += {expr1} Like ":let {var} = {var} + {expr1}".
5178:let {var} -= {expr1} Like ":let {var} = {var} - {expr1}".
5179:let {var} .= {expr1} Like ":let {var} = {var} . {expr1}".
5180 These fail if {var} was not set yet and when the type
5181 of {var} and {expr1} don't fit the operator.
5182
5183
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005184:let ${env-name} = {expr1} *:let-environment* *:let-$*
5185 Set environment variable {env-name} to the result of
5186 the expression {expr1}. The type is always String.
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005187:let ${env-name} .= {expr1}
5188 Append {expr1} to the environment variable {env-name}.
5189 If the environment variable didn't exist yet this
5190 works like "=".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005191
5192:let @{reg-name} = {expr1} *:let-register* *:let-@*
5193 Write the result of the expression {expr1} in register
5194 {reg-name}. {reg-name} must be a single letter, and
5195 must be the name of a writable register (see
5196 |registers|). "@@" can be used for the unnamed
5197 register, "@/" for the search pattern.
5198 If the result of {expr1} ends in a <CR> or <NL>, the
5199 register will be linewise, otherwise it will be set to
5200 characterwise.
5201 This can be used to clear the last search pattern: >
5202 :let @/ = ""
5203< This is different from searching for an empty string,
5204 that would match everywhere.
5205
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005206:let @{reg-name} .= {expr1}
5207 Append {expr1} to register {reg-name}. If the
5208 register was empty it's like setting it to {expr1}.
5209
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005210:let &{option-name} = {expr1} *:let-option* *:let-star*
5211 Set option {option-name} to the result of the
Bram Moolenaarfca34d62005-01-04 21:38:36 +00005212 expression {expr1}. A String or Number value is
5213 always converted to the type of the option.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005214 For an option local to a window or buffer the effect
5215 is just like using the |:set| command: both the local
Bram Moolenaara5fac542005-10-12 20:58:49 +00005216 value and the global value are changed.
Bram Moolenaarfca34d62005-01-04 21:38:36 +00005217 Example: >
5218 :let &path = &path . ',/usr/local/include'
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005219
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005220:let &{option-name} .= {expr1}
5221 For a string option: Append {expr1} to the value.
5222 Does not insert a comma like |:set+=|.
5223
5224:let &{option-name} += {expr1}
5225:let &{option-name} -= {expr1}
5226 For a number or boolean option: Add or subtract
5227 {expr1}.
5228
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005229:let &l:{option-name} = {expr1}
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005230:let &l:{option-name} .= {expr1}
5231:let &l:{option-name} += {expr1}
5232:let &l:{option-name} -= {expr1}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005233 Like above, but only set the local value of an option
5234 (if there is one). Works like |:setlocal|.
5235
5236:let &g:{option-name} = {expr1}
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005237:let &g:{option-name} .= {expr1}
5238:let &g:{option-name} += {expr1}
5239:let &g:{option-name} -= {expr1}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005240 Like above, but only set the global value of an option
5241 (if there is one). Works like |:setglobal|.
5242
Bram Moolenaar13065c42005-01-08 16:08:21 +00005243:let [{name1}, {name2}, ...] = {expr1} *:let-unpack* *E687* *E688*
Bram Moolenaarfca34d62005-01-04 21:38:36 +00005244 {expr1} must evaluate to a List. The first item in
5245 the list is assigned to {name1}, the second item to
5246 {name2}, etc.
5247 The number of names must match the number of items in
5248 the List.
5249 Each name can be one of the items of the ":let"
5250 command as mentioned above.
5251 Example: >
5252 :let [s, item] = GetItem(s)
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005253< Detail: {expr1} is evaluated first, then the
5254 assignments are done in sequence. This matters if
5255 {name2} depends on {name1}. Example: >
5256 :let x = [0, 1]
5257 :let i = 0
5258 :let [i, x[i]] = [1, 2]
5259 :echo x
5260< The result is [0, 2].
5261
5262:let [{name1}, {name2}, ...] .= {expr1}
5263:let [{name1}, {name2}, ...] += {expr1}
5264:let [{name1}, {name2}, ...] -= {expr1}
5265 Like above, but append/add/subtract the value for each
5266 List item.
Bram Moolenaarfca34d62005-01-04 21:38:36 +00005267
5268:let [{name}, ..., ; {lastname}] = {expr1}
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +00005269 Like |:let-unpack| above, but the List may have more
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005270 items than there are names. A list of the remaining
5271 items is assigned to {lastname}. If there are no
5272 remaining items {lastname} is set to an empty list.
Bram Moolenaarfca34d62005-01-04 21:38:36 +00005273 Example: >
5274 :let [a, b; rest] = ["aval", "bval", 3, 4]
5275<
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005276:let [{name}, ..., ; {lastname}] .= {expr1}
5277:let [{name}, ..., ; {lastname}] += {expr1}
5278:let [{name}, ..., ; {lastname}] -= {expr1}
5279 Like above, but append/add/subtract the value for each
5280 List item.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005281 *E106*
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005282:let {var-name} .. List the value of variable {var-name}. Multiple
Bram Moolenaardcaf10e2005-01-21 11:55:25 +00005283 variable names may be given. Special names recognized
5284 here: *E738*
5285 g: global variables.
5286 b: local buffer variables.
5287 w: local window variables.
5288 v: Vim variables.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005289
Bram Moolenaard7ee7ce2005-01-03 21:02:03 +00005290:let List the values of all variables. The type of the
5291 variable is indicated before the value:
5292 <nothing> String
5293 # Number
5294 * Funcref
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005295
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00005296
5297:unl[et][!] {name} ... *:unlet* *:unl* *E108*
5298 Remove the internal variable {name}. Several variable
5299 names can be given, they are all removed. The name
5300 may also be a List or Dictionary item.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005301 With [!] no error message is given for non-existing
5302 variables.
Bram Moolenaar9cd15162005-01-16 22:02:49 +00005303 One or more items from a List can be removed: >
5304 :unlet list[3] " remove fourth item
5305 :unlet list[3:] " remove fourth item to last
5306< One item from a Dictionary can be removed at a time: >
5307 :unlet dict['two']
5308 :unlet dict.two
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005309
Bram Moolenaar2ce06f62005-01-31 19:19:04 +00005310:lockv[ar][!] [depth] {name} ... *:lockvar* *:lockv*
5311 Lock the internal variable {name}. Locking means that
5312 it can no longer be changed (until it is unlocked).
5313 A locked variable can be deleted: >
5314 :lockvar v
5315 :let v = 'asdf' " fails!
5316 :unlet v
5317< *E741*
5318 If you try to change a locked variable you get an
5319 error message: "E741: Value of {name} is locked"
5320
5321 [depth] is relevant when locking a List or Dictionary.
5322 It specifies how deep the locking goes:
5323 1 Lock the List or Dictionary itself,
5324 cannot add or remove items, but can
5325 still change their values.
5326 2 Also lock the values, cannot change
5327 the items. If an item is a List or
5328 Dictionary, cannot add or remove
5329 items, but can still change the
5330 values.
5331 3 Like 2 but for the List/Dictionary in
5332 the List/Dictionary, one level deeper.
5333 The default [depth] is 2, thus when {name} is a List
5334 or Dictionary the values cannot be changed.
5335 *E743*
5336 For unlimited depth use [!] and omit [depth].
5337 However, there is a maximum depth of 100 to catch
5338 loops.
5339
5340 Note that when two variables refer to the same List
5341 and you lock one of them, the List will also be locked
5342 when used through the other variable. Example: >
5343 :let l = [0, 1, 2, 3]
5344 :let cl = l
5345 :lockvar l
5346 :let cl[1] = 99 " won't work!
5347< You may want to make a copy of a list to avoid this.
5348 See |deepcopy()|.
5349
5350
5351:unlo[ckvar][!] [depth] {name} ... *:unlockvar* *:unlo*
5352 Unlock the internal variable {name}. Does the
5353 opposite of |:lockvar|.
5354
5355
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005356:if {expr1} *:if* *:endif* *:en* *E171* *E579* *E580*
5357:en[dif] Execute the commands until the next matching ":else"
5358 or ":endif" if {expr1} evaluates to non-zero.
5359
5360 From Vim version 4.5 until 5.0, every Ex command in
5361 between the ":if" and ":endif" is ignored. These two
5362 commands were just to allow for future expansions in a
5363 backwards compatible way. Nesting was allowed. Note
5364 that any ":else" or ":elseif" was ignored, the "else"
5365 part was not executed either.
5366
5367 You can use this to remain compatible with older
5368 versions: >
5369 :if version >= 500
5370 : version-5-specific-commands
5371 :endif
5372< The commands still need to be parsed to find the
5373 "endif". Sometimes an older Vim has a problem with a
5374 new command. For example, ":silent" is recognized as
5375 a ":substitute" command. In that case ":execute" can
5376 avoid problems: >
5377 :if version >= 600
5378 : execute "silent 1,$delete"
5379 :endif
5380<
5381 NOTE: The ":append" and ":insert" commands don't work
5382 properly in between ":if" and ":endif".
5383
5384 *:else* *:el* *E581* *E583*
5385:el[se] Execute the commands until the next matching ":else"
5386 or ":endif" if they previously were not being
5387 executed.
5388
5389 *:elseif* *:elsei* *E582* *E584*
5390:elsei[f] {expr1} Short for ":else" ":if", with the addition that there
5391 is no extra ":endif".
5392
5393:wh[ile] {expr1} *:while* *:endwhile* *:wh* *:endw*
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005394 *E170* *E585* *E588* *E733*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005395:endw[hile] Repeat the commands between ":while" and ":endwhile",
5396 as long as {expr1} evaluates to non-zero.
5397 When an error is detected from a command inside the
5398 loop, execution continues after the "endwhile".
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00005399 Example: >
5400 :let lnum = 1
5401 :while lnum <= line("$")
5402 :call FixLine(lnum)
5403 :let lnum = lnum + 1
5404 :endwhile
5405<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005406 NOTE: The ":append" and ":insert" commands don't work
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00005407 properly inside a ":while" and ":for" loop.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005408
Bram Moolenaar3a3a7232005-01-17 22:16:15 +00005409:for {var} in {list} *:for* *E690* *E732*
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00005410:endfo[r] *:endfo* *:endfor*
5411 Repeat the commands between ":for" and ":endfor" for
Bram Moolenaar3a7c85b2005-02-05 21:39:53 +00005412 each item in {list}. Variable {var} is set to the
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00005413 value of each item.
5414 When an error is detected for a command inside the
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00005415 loop, execution continues after the "endfor".
Bram Moolenaar572cb562005-08-05 21:35:02 +00005416 Changing {list} inside the loop affects what items are
5417 used. Make a copy if this is unwanted: >
Bram Moolenaarde8866b2005-01-06 23:24:37 +00005418 :for item in copy(mylist)
5419< When not making a copy, Vim stores a reference to the
5420 next item in the list, before executing the commands
5421 with the current item. Thus the current item can be
5422 removed without effect. Removing any later item means
5423 it will not be found. Thus the following example
5424 works (an inefficient way to make a list empty): >
5425 :for item in mylist
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00005426 :call remove(mylist, 0)
5427 :endfor
Bram Moolenaar9588a0f2005-01-08 21:45:39 +00005428< Note that reordering the list (e.g., with sort() or
5429 reverse()) may have unexpected effects.
5430 Note that the type of each list item should be
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00005431 identical to avoid errors for the type of {var}
5432 changing. Unlet the variable at the end of the loop
5433 to allow multiple item types.
5434
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00005435:for [{var1}, {var2}, ...] in {listlist}
5436:endfo[r]
5437 Like ":for" above, but each item in {listlist} must be
5438 a list, of which each item is assigned to {var1},
5439 {var2}, etc. Example: >
5440 :for [lnum, col] in [[1, 3], [2, 5], [3, 8]]
5441 :echo getline(lnum)[col]
5442 :endfor
5443<
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005444 *:continue* *:con* *E586*
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00005445:con[tinue] When used inside a ":while" or ":for" loop, jumps back
5446 to the start of the loop.
5447 If it is used after a |:try| inside the loop but
5448 before the matching |:finally| (if present), the
5449 commands following the ":finally" up to the matching
5450 |:endtry| are executed first. This process applies to
5451 all nested ":try"s inside the loop. The outermost
5452 ":endtry" then jumps back to the start of the loop.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005453
5454 *:break* *:brea* *E587*
Bram Moolenaar12805862005-01-05 22:16:17 +00005455:brea[k] When used inside a ":while" or ":for" loop, skips to
5456 the command after the matching ":endwhile" or
5457 ":endfor".
5458 If it is used after a |:try| inside the loop but
5459 before the matching |:finally| (if present), the
5460 commands following the ":finally" up to the matching
5461 |:endtry| are executed first. This process applies to
5462 all nested ":try"s inside the loop. The outermost
5463 ":endtry" then jumps to the command after the loop.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005464
5465:try *:try* *:endt* *:endtry* *E600* *E601* *E602*
5466:endt[ry] Change the error handling for the commands between
5467 ":try" and ":endtry" including everything being
5468 executed across ":source" commands, function calls,
5469 or autocommand invocations.
5470
5471 When an error or interrupt is detected and there is
5472 a |:finally| command following, execution continues
5473 after the ":finally". Otherwise, or when the
5474 ":endtry" is reached thereafter, the next
5475 (dynamically) surrounding ":try" is checked for
5476 a corresponding ":finally" etc. Then the script
5477 processing is terminated. (Whether a function
5478 definition has an "abort" argument does not matter.)
5479 Example: >
5480 :try | edit too much | finally | echo "cleanup" | endtry
5481 :echo "impossible" " not reached, script terminated above
5482<
5483 Moreover, an error or interrupt (dynamically) inside
5484 ":try" and ":endtry" is converted to an exception. It
5485 can be caught as if it were thrown by a |:throw|
5486 command (see |:catch|). In this case, the script
5487 processing is not terminated.
5488
5489 The value "Vim:Interrupt" is used for an interrupt
5490 exception. An error in a Vim command is converted
5491 to a value of the form "Vim({command}):{errmsg}",
5492 other errors are converted to a value of the form
5493 "Vim:{errmsg}". {command} is the full command name,
5494 and {errmsg} is the message that is displayed if the
5495 error exception is not caught, always beginning with
5496 the error number.
5497 Examples: >
5498 :try | sleep 100 | catch /^Vim:Interrupt$/ | endtry
5499 :try | edit | catch /^Vim(edit):E\d\+/ | echo "error" | endtry
5500<
5501 *:cat* *:catch* *E603* *E604* *E605*
5502:cat[ch] /{pattern}/ The following commands until the next ":catch",
5503 |:finally|, or |:endtry| that belongs to the same
5504 |:try| as the ":catch" are executed when an exception
5505 matching {pattern} is being thrown and has not yet
5506 been caught by a previous ":catch". Otherwise, these
5507 commands are skipped.
5508 When {pattern} is omitted all errors are caught.
5509 Examples: >
5510 :catch /^Vim:Interrupt$/ " catch interrupts (CTRL-C)
5511 :catch /^Vim\%((\a\+)\)\=:E/ " catch all Vim errors
5512 :catch /^Vim\%((\a\+)\)\=:/ " catch errors and interrupts
5513 :catch /^Vim(write):/ " catch all errors in :write
5514 :catch /^Vim\%((\a\+)\)\=:E123/ " catch error E123
5515 :catch /my-exception/ " catch user exception
5516 :catch /.*/ " catch everything
5517 :catch " same as /.*/
5518<
5519 Another character can be used instead of / around the
5520 {pattern}, so long as it does not have a special
5521 meaning (e.g., '|' or '"') and doesn't occur inside
5522 {pattern}.
5523 NOTE: It is not reliable to ":catch" the TEXT of
5524 an error message because it may vary in different
5525 locales.
5526
5527 *:fina* *:finally* *E606* *E607*
5528:fina[lly] The following commands until the matching |:endtry|
5529 are executed whenever the part between the matching
5530 |:try| and the ":finally" is left: either by falling
5531 through to the ":finally" or by a |:continue|,
5532 |:break|, |:finish|, or |:return|, or by an error or
5533 interrupt or exception (see |:throw|).
5534
5535 *:th* *:throw* *E608*
5536:th[row] {expr1} The {expr1} is evaluated and thrown as an exception.
5537 If the ":throw" is used after a |:try| but before the
5538 first corresponding |:catch|, commands are skipped
5539 until the first ":catch" matching {expr1} is reached.
5540 If there is no such ":catch" or if the ":throw" is
5541 used after a ":catch" but before the |:finally|, the
5542 commands following the ":finally" (if present) up to
5543 the matching |:endtry| are executed. If the ":throw"
5544 is after the ":finally", commands up to the ":endtry"
5545 are skipped. At the ":endtry", this process applies
5546 again for the next dynamically surrounding ":try"
5547 (which may be found in a calling function or sourcing
5548 script), until a matching ":catch" has been found.
5549 If the exception is not caught, the command processing
5550 is terminated.
5551 Example: >
5552 :try | throw "oops" | catch /^oo/ | echo "caught" | endtry
5553<
5554
5555 *:ec* *:echo*
5556:ec[ho] {expr1} .. Echoes each {expr1}, with a space in between. The
5557 first {expr1} starts on a new line.
5558 Also see |:comment|.
5559 Use "\n" to start a new line. Use "\r" to move the
5560 cursor to the first column.
5561 Uses the highlighting set by the |:echohl| command.
5562 Cannot be followed by a comment.
5563 Example: >
5564 :echo "the value of 'shell' is" &shell
5565< A later redraw may make the message disappear again.
5566 To avoid that a command from before the ":echo" causes
5567 a redraw afterwards (redraws are often postponed until
5568 you type something), force a redraw with the |:redraw|
5569 command. Example: >
5570 :new | redraw | echo "there is a new window"
5571<
5572 *:echon*
5573:echon {expr1} .. Echoes each {expr1}, without anything added. Also see
5574 |:comment|.
5575 Uses the highlighting set by the |:echohl| command.
5576 Cannot be followed by a comment.
5577 Example: >
5578 :echon "the value of 'shell' is " &shell
5579<
5580 Note the difference between using ":echo", which is a
5581 Vim command, and ":!echo", which is an external shell
5582 command: >
5583 :!echo % --> filename
5584< The arguments of ":!" are expanded, see |:_%|. >
5585 :!echo "%" --> filename or "filename"
5586< Like the previous example. Whether you see the double
5587 quotes or not depends on your 'shell'. >
5588 :echo % --> nothing
5589< The '%' is an illegal character in an expression. >
5590 :echo "%" --> %
5591< This just echoes the '%' character. >
5592 :echo expand("%") --> filename
5593< This calls the expand() function to expand the '%'.
5594
5595 *:echoh* *:echohl*
5596:echoh[l] {name} Use the highlight group {name} for the following
5597 |:echo|, |:echon| and |:echomsg| commands. Also used
5598 for the |input()| prompt. Example: >
5599 :echohl WarningMsg | echo "Don't panic!" | echohl None
5600< Don't forget to set the group back to "None",
5601 otherwise all following echo's will be highlighted.
5602
5603 *:echom* *:echomsg*
5604:echom[sg] {expr1} .. Echo the expression(s) as a true message, saving the
5605 message in the |message-history|.
5606 Spaces are placed between the arguments as with the
5607 |:echo| command. But unprintable characters are
5608 displayed, not interpreted.
5609 Uses the highlighting set by the |:echohl| command.
5610 Example: >
5611 :echomsg "It's a Zizzer Zazzer Zuzz, as you can plainly see."
5612<
5613 *:echoe* *:echoerr*
5614:echoe[rr] {expr1} .. Echo the expression(s) as an error message, saving the
5615 message in the |message-history|. When used in a
5616 script or function the line number will be added.
5617 Spaces are placed between the arguments as with the
5618 :echo command. When used inside a try conditional,
5619 the message is raised as an error exception instead
5620 (see |try-echoerr|).
5621 Example: >
5622 :echoerr "This script just failed!"
5623< If you just want a highlighted message use |:echohl|.
5624 And to get a beep: >
5625 :exe "normal \<Esc>"
5626<
5627 *:exe* *:execute*
5628:exe[cute] {expr1} .. Executes the string that results from the evaluation
5629 of {expr1} as an Ex command. Multiple arguments are
5630 concatenated, with a space in between. {expr1} is
5631 used as the processed command, command line editing
5632 keys are not recognized.
5633 Cannot be followed by a comment.
5634 Examples: >
5635 :execute "buffer " nextbuf
5636 :execute "normal " count . "w"
5637<
5638 ":execute" can be used to append a command to commands
5639 that don't accept a '|'. Example: >
5640 :execute '!ls' | echo "theend"
5641
5642< ":execute" is also a nice way to avoid having to type
5643 control characters in a Vim script for a ":normal"
5644 command: >
5645 :execute "normal ixxx\<Esc>"
5646< This has an <Esc> character, see |expr-string|.
5647
5648 Note: The executed string may be any command-line, but
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00005649 you cannot start or end a "while", "for" or "if"
5650 command. Thus this is illegal: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00005651 :execute 'while i > 5'
5652 :execute 'echo "test" | break'
5653<
5654 It is allowed to have a "while" or "if" command
5655 completely in the executed string: >
5656 :execute 'while i < 5 | echo i | let i = i + 1 | endwhile'
5657<
5658
5659 *:comment*
5660 ":execute", ":echo" and ":echon" cannot be followed by
5661 a comment directly, because they see the '"' as the
5662 start of a string. But, you can use '|' followed by a
5663 comment. Example: >
5664 :echo "foo" | "this is a comment
5665
5666==============================================================================
56678. Exception handling *exception-handling*
5668
5669The Vim script language comprises an exception handling feature. This section
5670explains how it can be used in a Vim script.
5671
5672Exceptions may be raised by Vim on an error or on interrupt, see
5673|catch-errors| and |catch-interrupt|. You can also explicitly throw an
5674exception by using the ":throw" command, see |throw-catch|.
5675
5676
5677TRY CONDITIONALS *try-conditionals*
5678
5679Exceptions can be caught or can cause cleanup code to be executed. You can
5680use a try conditional to specify catch clauses (that catch exceptions) and/or
5681a finally clause (to be executed for cleanup).
5682 A try conditional begins with a |:try| command and ends at the matching
5683|:endtry| command. In between, you can use a |:catch| command to start
5684a catch clause, or a |:finally| command to start a finally clause. There may
5685be none or multiple catch clauses, but there is at most one finally clause,
5686which must not be followed by any catch clauses. The lines before the catch
5687clauses and the finally clause is called a try block. >
5688
5689 :try
5690 : ...
5691 : ... TRY BLOCK
5692 : ...
5693 :catch /{pattern}/
5694 : ...
5695 : ... CATCH CLAUSE
5696 : ...
5697 :catch /{pattern}/
5698 : ...
5699 : ... CATCH CLAUSE
5700 : ...
5701 :finally
5702 : ...
5703 : ... FINALLY CLAUSE
5704 : ...
5705 :endtry
5706
5707The try conditional allows to watch code for exceptions and to take the
5708appropriate actions. Exceptions from the try block may be caught. Exceptions
5709from the try block and also the catch clauses may cause cleanup actions.
5710 When no exception is thrown during execution of the try block, the control
5711is transferred to the finally clause, if present. After its execution, the
5712script continues with the line following the ":endtry".
5713 When an exception occurs during execution of the try block, the remaining
5714lines in the try block are skipped. The exception is matched against the
5715patterns specified as arguments to the ":catch" commands. The catch clause
5716after the first matching ":catch" is taken, other catch clauses are not
5717executed. The catch clause ends when the next ":catch", ":finally", or
5718":endtry" command is reached - whatever is first. Then, the finally clause
5719(if present) is executed. When the ":endtry" is reached, the script execution
5720continues in the following line as usual.
5721 When an exception that does not match any of the patterns specified by the
5722":catch" commands is thrown in the try block, the exception is not caught by
5723that try conditional and none of the catch clauses is executed. Only the
5724finally clause, if present, is taken. The exception pends during execution of
5725the finally clause. It is resumed at the ":endtry", so that commands after
5726the ":endtry" are not executed and the exception might be caught elsewhere,
5727see |try-nesting|.
5728 When during execution of a catch clause another exception is thrown, the
5729remaining lines in that catch clause are not executed. The new exception is
5730not matched against the patterns in any of the ":catch" commands of the same
5731try conditional and none of its catch clauses is taken. If there is, however,
5732a finally clause, it is executed, and the exception pends during its
5733execution. The commands following the ":endtry" are not executed. The new
5734exception might, however, be caught elsewhere, see |try-nesting|.
5735 When during execution of the finally clause (if present) an exception is
5736thrown, the remaining lines in the finally clause are skipped. If the finally
5737clause has been taken because of an exception from the try block or one of the
5738catch clauses, the original (pending) exception is discarded. The commands
5739following the ":endtry" are not executed, and the exception from the finally
5740clause is propagated and can be caught elsewhere, see |try-nesting|.
5741
5742The finally clause is also executed, when a ":break" or ":continue" for
5743a ":while" loop enclosing the complete try conditional is executed from the
5744try block or a catch clause. Or when a ":return" or ":finish" is executed
5745from the try block or a catch clause of a try conditional in a function or
5746sourced script, respectively. The ":break", ":continue", ":return", or
5747":finish" pends during execution of the finally clause and is resumed when the
5748":endtry" is reached. It is, however, discarded when an exception is thrown
5749from the finally clause.
5750 When a ":break" or ":continue" for a ":while" loop enclosing the complete
5751try conditional or when a ":return" or ":finish" is encountered in the finally
5752clause, the rest of the finally clause is skipped, and the ":break",
5753":continue", ":return" or ":finish" is executed as usual. If the finally
5754clause has been taken because of an exception or an earlier ":break",
5755":continue", ":return", or ":finish" from the try block or a catch clause,
5756this pending exception or command is discarded.
5757
5758For examples see |throw-catch| and |try-finally|.
5759
5760
5761NESTING OF TRY CONDITIONALS *try-nesting*
5762
5763Try conditionals can be nested arbitrarily. That is, a complete try
5764conditional can be put into the try block, a catch clause, or the finally
5765clause of another try conditional. If the inner try conditional does not
5766catch an exception thrown in its try block or throws a new exception from one
5767of its catch clauses or its finally clause, the outer try conditional is
5768checked according to the rules above. If the inner try conditional is in the
5769try block of the outer try conditional, its catch clauses are checked, but
5770otherwise only the finally clause is executed. It does not matter for
5771nesting, whether the inner try conditional is directly contained in the outer
5772one, or whether the outer one sources a script or calls a function containing
5773the inner try conditional.
5774
5775When none of the active try conditionals catches an exception, just their
5776finally clauses are executed. Thereafter, the script processing terminates.
5777An error message is displayed in case of an uncaught exception explicitly
5778thrown by a ":throw" command. For uncaught error and interrupt exceptions
5779implicitly raised by Vim, the error message(s) or interrupt message are shown
5780as usual.
5781
5782For examples see |throw-catch|.
5783
5784
5785EXAMINING EXCEPTION HANDLING CODE *except-examine*
5786
5787Exception handling code can get tricky. If you are in doubt what happens, set
5788'verbose' to 13 or use the ":13verbose" command modifier when sourcing your
5789script file. Then you see when an exception is thrown, discarded, caught, or
5790finished. When using a verbosity level of at least 14, things pending in
5791a finally clause are also shown. This information is also given in debug mode
5792(see |debug-scripts|).
5793
5794
5795THROWING AND CATCHING EXCEPTIONS *throw-catch*
5796
5797You can throw any number or string as an exception. Use the |:throw| command
5798and pass the value to be thrown as argument: >
5799 :throw 4711
5800 :throw "string"
5801< *throw-expression*
5802You can also specify an expression argument. The expression is then evaluated
5803first, and the result is thrown: >
5804 :throw 4705 + strlen("string")
5805 :throw strpart("strings", 0, 6)
5806
5807An exception might be thrown during evaluation of the argument of the ":throw"
5808command. Unless it is caught there, the expression evaluation is abandoned.
5809The ":throw" command then does not throw a new exception.
5810 Example: >
5811
5812 :function! Foo(arg)
5813 : try
5814 : throw a:arg
5815 : catch /foo/
5816 : endtry
5817 : return 1
5818 :endfunction
5819 :
5820 :function! Bar()
5821 : echo "in Bar"
5822 : return 4710
5823 :endfunction
5824 :
5825 :throw Foo("arrgh") + Bar()
5826
5827This throws "arrgh", and "in Bar" is not displayed since Bar() is not
5828executed. >
5829 :throw Foo("foo") + Bar()
5830however displays "in Bar" and throws 4711.
5831
5832Any other command that takes an expression as argument might also be
5833abandoned by an (uncaught) exception during the expression evaluation. The
5834exception is then propagated to the caller of the command.
5835 Example: >
5836
5837 :if Foo("arrgh")
5838 : echo "then"
5839 :else
5840 : echo "else"
5841 :endif
5842
5843Here neither of "then" or "else" is displayed.
5844
5845 *catch-order*
5846Exceptions can be caught by a try conditional with one or more |:catch|
5847commands, see |try-conditionals|. The values to be caught by each ":catch"
5848command can be specified as a pattern argument. The subsequent catch clause
5849gets executed when a matching exception is caught.
5850 Example: >
5851
5852 :function! Foo(value)
5853 : try
5854 : throw a:value
5855 : catch /^\d\+$/
5856 : echo "Number thrown"
5857 : catch /.*/
5858 : echo "String thrown"
5859 : endtry
5860 :endfunction
5861 :
5862 :call Foo(0x1267)
5863 :call Foo('string')
5864
5865The first call to Foo() displays "Number thrown", the second "String thrown".
5866An exception is matched against the ":catch" commands in the order they are
5867specified. Only the first match counts. So you should place the more
5868specific ":catch" first. The following order does not make sense: >
5869
5870 : catch /.*/
5871 : echo "String thrown"
5872 : catch /^\d\+$/
5873 : echo "Number thrown"
5874
5875The first ":catch" here matches always, so that the second catch clause is
5876never taken.
5877
5878 *throw-variables*
5879If you catch an exception by a general pattern, you may access the exact value
5880in the variable |v:exception|: >
5881
5882 : catch /^\d\+$/
5883 : echo "Number thrown. Value is" v:exception
5884
5885You may also be interested where an exception was thrown. This is stored in
5886|v:throwpoint|. Note that "v:exception" and "v:throwpoint" are valid for the
5887exception most recently caught as long it is not finished.
5888 Example: >
5889
5890 :function! Caught()
5891 : if v:exception != ""
5892 : echo 'Caught "' . v:exception . '" in ' . v:throwpoint
5893 : else
5894 : echo 'Nothing caught'
5895 : endif
5896 :endfunction
5897 :
5898 :function! Foo()
5899 : try
5900 : try
5901 : try
5902 : throw 4711
5903 : finally
5904 : call Caught()
5905 : endtry
5906 : catch /.*/
5907 : call Caught()
5908 : throw "oops"
5909 : endtry
5910 : catch /.*/
5911 : call Caught()
5912 : finally
5913 : call Caught()
5914 : endtry
5915 :endfunction
5916 :
5917 :call Foo()
5918
5919This displays >
5920
5921 Nothing caught
5922 Caught "4711" in function Foo, line 4
5923 Caught "oops" in function Foo, line 10
5924 Nothing caught
5925
5926A practical example: The following command ":LineNumber" displays the line
5927number in the script or function where it has been used: >
5928
5929 :function! LineNumber()
5930 : return substitute(v:throwpoint, '.*\D\(\d\+\).*', '\1', "")
5931 :endfunction
5932 :command! LineNumber try | throw "" | catch | echo LineNumber() | endtry
5933<
5934 *try-nested*
5935An exception that is not caught by a try conditional can be caught by
5936a surrounding try conditional: >
5937
5938 :try
5939 : try
5940 : throw "foo"
5941 : catch /foobar/
5942 : echo "foobar"
5943 : finally
5944 : echo "inner finally"
5945 : endtry
5946 :catch /foo/
5947 : echo "foo"
5948 :endtry
5949
5950The inner try conditional does not catch the exception, just its finally
5951clause is executed. The exception is then caught by the outer try
5952conditional. The example displays "inner finally" and then "foo".
5953
5954 *throw-from-catch*
5955You can catch an exception and throw a new one to be caught elsewhere from the
5956catch clause: >
5957
5958 :function! Foo()
5959 : throw "foo"
5960 :endfunction
5961 :
5962 :function! Bar()
5963 : try
5964 : call Foo()
5965 : catch /foo/
5966 : echo "Caught foo, throw bar"
5967 : throw "bar"
5968 : endtry
5969 :endfunction
5970 :
5971 :try
5972 : call Bar()
5973 :catch /.*/
5974 : echo "Caught" v:exception
5975 :endtry
5976
5977This displays "Caught foo, throw bar" and then "Caught bar".
5978
5979 *rethrow*
5980There is no real rethrow in the Vim script language, but you may throw
5981"v:exception" instead: >
5982
5983 :function! Bar()
5984 : try
5985 : call Foo()
5986 : catch /.*/
5987 : echo "Rethrow" v:exception
5988 : throw v:exception
5989 : endtry
5990 :endfunction
5991< *try-echoerr*
5992Note that this method cannot be used to "rethrow" Vim error or interrupt
5993exceptions, because it is not possible to fake Vim internal exceptions.
5994Trying so causes an error exception. You should throw your own exception
5995denoting the situation. If you want to cause a Vim error exception containing
5996the original error exception value, you can use the |:echoerr| command: >
5997
5998 :try
5999 : try
6000 : asdf
6001 : catch /.*/
6002 : echoerr v:exception
6003 : endtry
6004 :catch /.*/
6005 : echo v:exception
6006 :endtry
6007
6008This code displays
6009
6010 Vim(echoerr):Vim:E492: Not an editor command: asdf ~
6011
6012
6013CLEANUP CODE *try-finally*
6014
6015Scripts often change global settings and restore them at their end. If the
6016user however interrupts the script by pressing CTRL-C, the settings remain in
6017an inconsistent state. The same may happen to you in the development phase of
6018a script when an error occurs or you explicitly throw an exception without
6019catching it. You can solve these problems by using a try conditional with
6020a finally clause for restoring the settings. Its execution is guaranteed on
6021normal control flow, on error, on an explicit ":throw", and on interrupt.
6022(Note that errors and interrupts from inside the try conditional are converted
6023to exceptions. When not caught, they terminate the script after the finally
6024clause has been executed.)
6025Example: >
6026
6027 :try
6028 : let s:saved_ts = &ts
6029 : set ts=17
6030 :
6031 : " Do the hard work here.
6032 :
6033 :finally
6034 : let &ts = s:saved_ts
6035 : unlet s:saved_ts
6036 :endtry
6037
6038This method should be used locally whenever a function or part of a script
6039changes global settings which need to be restored on failure or normal exit of
6040that function or script part.
6041
6042 *break-finally*
6043Cleanup code works also when the try block or a catch clause is left by
6044a ":continue", ":break", ":return", or ":finish".
6045 Example: >
6046
6047 :let first = 1
6048 :while 1
6049 : try
6050 : if first
6051 : echo "first"
6052 : let first = 0
6053 : continue
6054 : else
6055 : throw "second"
6056 : endif
6057 : catch /.*/
6058 : echo v:exception
6059 : break
6060 : finally
6061 : echo "cleanup"
6062 : endtry
6063 : echo "still in while"
6064 :endwhile
6065 :echo "end"
6066
6067This displays "first", "cleanup", "second", "cleanup", and "end". >
6068
6069 :function! Foo()
6070 : try
6071 : return 4711
6072 : finally
6073 : echo "cleanup\n"
6074 : endtry
6075 : echo "Foo still active"
6076 :endfunction
6077 :
6078 :echo Foo() "returned by Foo"
6079
6080This displays "cleanup" and "4711 returned by Foo". You don't need to add an
6081extra ":return" in the finally clause. (Above all, this would override the
6082return value.)
6083
6084 *except-from-finally*
6085Using either of ":continue", ":break", ":return", ":finish", or ":throw" in
6086a finally clause is possible, but not recommended since it abandons the
6087cleanup actions for the try conditional. But, of course, interrupt and error
6088exceptions might get raised from a finally clause.
6089 Example where an error in the finally clause stops an interrupt from
6090working correctly: >
6091
6092 :try
6093 : try
6094 : echo "Press CTRL-C for interrupt"
6095 : while 1
6096 : endwhile
6097 : finally
6098 : unlet novar
6099 : endtry
6100 :catch /novar/
6101 :endtry
6102 :echo "Script still running"
6103 :sleep 1
6104
6105If you need to put commands that could fail into a finally clause, you should
6106think about catching or ignoring the errors in these commands, see
6107|catch-errors| and |ignore-errors|.
6108
6109
6110CATCHING ERRORS *catch-errors*
6111
6112If you want to catch specific errors, you just have to put the code to be
6113watched in a try block and add a catch clause for the error message. The
6114presence of the try conditional causes all errors to be converted to an
6115exception. No message is displayed and |v:errmsg| is not set then. To find
6116the right pattern for the ":catch" command, you have to know how the format of
6117the error exception is.
6118 Error exceptions have the following format: >
6119
6120 Vim({cmdname}):{errmsg}
6121or >
6122 Vim:{errmsg}
6123
6124{cmdname} is the name of the command that failed; the second form is used when
6125the command name is not known. {errmsg} is the error message usually produced
6126when the error occurs outside try conditionals. It always begins with
6127a capital "E", followed by a two or three-digit error number, a colon, and
6128a space.
6129
6130Examples:
6131
6132The command >
6133 :unlet novar
6134normally produces the error message >
6135 E108: No such variable: "novar"
6136which is converted inside try conditionals to an exception >
6137 Vim(unlet):E108: No such variable: "novar"
6138
6139The command >
6140 :dwim
6141normally produces the error message >
6142 E492: Not an editor command: dwim
6143which is converted inside try conditionals to an exception >
6144 Vim:E492: Not an editor command: dwim
6145
6146You can catch all ":unlet" errors by a >
6147 :catch /^Vim(unlet):/
6148or all errors for misspelled command names by a >
6149 :catch /^Vim:E492:/
6150
6151Some error messages may be produced by different commands: >
6152 :function nofunc
6153and >
6154 :delfunction nofunc
6155both produce the error message >
6156 E128: Function name must start with a capital: nofunc
6157which is converted inside try conditionals to an exception >
6158 Vim(function):E128: Function name must start with a capital: nofunc
6159or >
6160 Vim(delfunction):E128: Function name must start with a capital: nofunc
6161respectively. You can catch the error by its number independently on the
6162command that caused it if you use the following pattern: >
6163 :catch /^Vim(\a\+):E128:/
6164
6165Some commands like >
6166 :let x = novar
6167produce multiple error messages, here: >
6168 E121: Undefined variable: novar
6169 E15: Invalid expression: novar
6170Only the first is used for the exception value, since it is the most specific
6171one (see |except-several-errors|). So you can catch it by >
6172 :catch /^Vim(\a\+):E121:/
6173
6174You can catch all errors related to the name "nofunc" by >
6175 :catch /\<nofunc\>/
6176
6177You can catch all Vim errors in the ":write" and ":read" commands by >
6178 :catch /^Vim(\(write\|read\)):E\d\+:/
6179
6180You can catch all Vim errors by the pattern >
6181 :catch /^Vim\((\a\+)\)\=:E\d\+:/
6182<
6183 *catch-text*
6184NOTE: You should never catch the error message text itself: >
6185 :catch /No such variable/
6186only works in the english locale, but not when the user has selected
6187a different language by the |:language| command. It is however helpful to
6188cite the message text in a comment: >
6189 :catch /^Vim(\a\+):E108:/ " No such variable
6190
6191
6192IGNORING ERRORS *ignore-errors*
6193
6194You can ignore errors in a specific Vim command by catching them locally: >
6195
6196 :try
6197 : write
6198 :catch
6199 :endtry
6200
6201But you are strongly recommended NOT to use this simple form, since it could
6202catch more than you want. With the ":write" command, some autocommands could
6203be executed and cause errors not related to writing, for instance: >
6204
6205 :au BufWritePre * unlet novar
6206
6207There could even be such errors you are not responsible for as a script
6208writer: a user of your script might have defined such autocommands. You would
6209then hide the error from the user.
6210 It is much better to use >
6211
6212 :try
6213 : write
6214 :catch /^Vim(write):/
6215 :endtry
6216
6217which only catches real write errors. So catch only what you'd like to ignore
6218intentionally.
6219
6220For a single command that does not cause execution of autocommands, you could
6221even suppress the conversion of errors to exceptions by the ":silent!"
6222command: >
6223 :silent! nunmap k
6224This works also when a try conditional is active.
6225
6226
6227CATCHING INTERRUPTS *catch-interrupt*
6228
6229When there are active try conditionals, an interrupt (CTRL-C) is converted to
6230the exception "Vim:Interrupt". You can catch it like every exception. The
6231script is not terminated, then.
6232 Example: >
6233
6234 :function! TASK1()
6235 : sleep 10
6236 :endfunction
6237
6238 :function! TASK2()
6239 : sleep 20
6240 :endfunction
6241
6242 :while 1
6243 : let command = input("Type a command: ")
6244 : try
6245 : if command == ""
6246 : continue
6247 : elseif command == "END"
6248 : break
6249 : elseif command == "TASK1"
6250 : call TASK1()
6251 : elseif command == "TASK2"
6252 : call TASK2()
6253 : else
6254 : echo "\nIllegal command:" command
6255 : continue
6256 : endif
6257 : catch /^Vim:Interrupt$/
6258 : echo "\nCommand interrupted"
6259 : " Caught the interrupt. Continue with next prompt.
6260 : endtry
6261 :endwhile
6262
6263You can interrupt a task here by pressing CTRL-C; the script then asks for
6264a new command. If you press CTRL-C at the prompt, the script is terminated.
6265
6266For testing what happens when CTRL-C would be pressed on a specific line in
6267your script, use the debug mode and execute the |>quit| or |>interrupt|
6268command on that line. See |debug-scripts|.
6269
6270
6271CATCHING ALL *catch-all*
6272
6273The commands >
6274
6275 :catch /.*/
6276 :catch //
6277 :catch
6278
6279catch everything, error exceptions, interrupt exceptions and exceptions
6280explicitly thrown by the |:throw| command. This is useful at the top level of
6281a script in order to catch unexpected things.
6282 Example: >
6283
6284 :try
6285 :
6286 : " do the hard work here
6287 :
6288 :catch /MyException/
6289 :
6290 : " handle known problem
6291 :
6292 :catch /^Vim:Interrupt$/
6293 : echo "Script interrupted"
6294 :catch /.*/
6295 : echo "Internal error (" . v:exception . ")"
6296 : echo " - occurred at " . v:throwpoint
6297 :endtry
6298 :" end of script
6299
6300Note: Catching all might catch more things than you want. Thus, you are
6301strongly encouraged to catch only for problems that you can really handle by
6302specifying a pattern argument to the ":catch".
6303 Example: Catching all could make it nearly impossible to interrupt a script
6304by pressing CTRL-C: >
6305
6306 :while 1
6307 : try
6308 : sleep 1
6309 : catch
6310 : endtry
6311 :endwhile
6312
6313
6314EXCEPTIONS AND AUTOCOMMANDS *except-autocmd*
6315
6316Exceptions may be used during execution of autocommands. Example: >
6317
6318 :autocmd User x try
6319 :autocmd User x throw "Oops!"
6320 :autocmd User x catch
6321 :autocmd User x echo v:exception
6322 :autocmd User x endtry
6323 :autocmd User x throw "Arrgh!"
6324 :autocmd User x echo "Should not be displayed"
6325 :
6326 :try
6327 : doautocmd User x
6328 :catch
6329 : echo v:exception
6330 :endtry
6331
6332This displays "Oops!" and "Arrgh!".
6333
6334 *except-autocmd-Pre*
6335For some commands, autocommands get executed before the main action of the
6336command takes place. If an exception is thrown and not caught in the sequence
6337of autocommands, the sequence and the command that caused its execution are
6338abandoned and the exception is propagated to the caller of the command.
6339 Example: >
6340
6341 :autocmd BufWritePre * throw "FAIL"
6342 :autocmd BufWritePre * echo "Should not be displayed"
6343 :
6344 :try
6345 : write
6346 :catch
6347 : echo "Caught:" v:exception "from" v:throwpoint
6348 :endtry
6349
6350Here, the ":write" command does not write the file currently being edited (as
6351you can see by checking 'modified'), since the exception from the BufWritePre
6352autocommand abandons the ":write". The exception is then caught and the
6353script displays: >
6354
6355 Caught: FAIL from BufWrite Auto commands for "*"
6356<
6357 *except-autocmd-Post*
6358For some commands, autocommands get executed after the main action of the
6359command has taken place. If this main action fails and the command is inside
6360an active try conditional, the autocommands are skipped and an error exception
6361is thrown that can be caught by the caller of the command.
6362 Example: >
6363
6364 :autocmd BufWritePost * echo "File successfully written!"
6365 :
6366 :try
6367 : write /i/m/p/o/s/s/i/b/l/e
6368 :catch
6369 : echo v:exception
6370 :endtry
6371
6372This just displays: >
6373
6374 Vim(write):E212: Can't open file for writing (/i/m/p/o/s/s/i/b/l/e)
6375
6376If you really need to execute the autocommands even when the main action
6377fails, trigger the event from the catch clause.
6378 Example: >
6379
6380 :autocmd BufWritePre * set noreadonly
6381 :autocmd BufWritePost * set readonly
6382 :
6383 :try
6384 : write /i/m/p/o/s/s/i/b/l/e
6385 :catch
6386 : doautocmd BufWritePost /i/m/p/o/s/s/i/b/l/e
6387 :endtry
6388<
6389You can also use ":silent!": >
6390
6391 :let x = "ok"
6392 :let v:errmsg = ""
6393 :autocmd BufWritePost * if v:errmsg != ""
6394 :autocmd BufWritePost * let x = "after fail"
6395 :autocmd BufWritePost * endif
6396 :try
6397 : silent! write /i/m/p/o/s/s/i/b/l/e
6398 :catch
6399 :endtry
6400 :echo x
6401
6402This displays "after fail".
6403
6404If the main action of the command does not fail, exceptions from the
6405autocommands will be catchable by the caller of the command: >
6406
6407 :autocmd BufWritePost * throw ":-("
6408 :autocmd BufWritePost * echo "Should not be displayed"
6409 :
6410 :try
6411 : write
6412 :catch
6413 : echo v:exception
6414 :endtry
6415<
6416 *except-autocmd-Cmd*
6417For some commands, the normal action can be replaced by a sequence of
6418autocommands. Exceptions from that sequence will be catchable by the caller
6419of the command.
6420 Example: For the ":write" command, the caller cannot know whether the file
6421had actually been written when the exception occurred. You need to tell it in
6422some way. >
6423
6424 :if !exists("cnt")
6425 : let cnt = 0
6426 :
6427 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * if &modified
6428 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * let cnt = cnt + 1
6429 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * if cnt % 3 == 2
6430 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * throw "BufWriteCmdError"
6431 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * endif
6432 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * write | set nomodified
6433 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * if cnt % 3 == 0
6434 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * throw "BufWriteCmdError"
6435 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * endif
6436 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * echo "File successfully written!"
6437 : autocmd BufWriteCmd * endif
6438 :endif
6439 :
6440 :try
6441 : write
6442 :catch /^BufWriteCmdError$/
6443 : if &modified
6444 : echo "Error on writing (file contents not changed)"
6445 : else
6446 : echo "Error after writing"
6447 : endif
6448 :catch /^Vim(write):/
6449 : echo "Error on writing"
6450 :endtry
6451
6452When this script is sourced several times after making changes, it displays
6453first >
6454 File successfully written!
6455then >
6456 Error on writing (file contents not changed)
6457then >
6458 Error after writing
6459etc.
6460
6461 *except-autocmd-ill*
6462You cannot spread a try conditional over autocommands for different events.
6463The following code is ill-formed: >
6464
6465 :autocmd BufWritePre * try
6466 :
6467 :autocmd BufWritePost * catch
6468 :autocmd BufWritePost * echo v:exception
6469 :autocmd BufWritePost * endtry
6470 :
6471 :write
6472
6473
6474EXCEPTION HIERARCHIES AND PARAMETERIZED EXCEPTIONS *except-hier-param*
6475
6476Some programming languages allow to use hierarchies of exception classes or to
6477pass additional information with the object of an exception class. You can do
6478similar things in Vim.
6479 In order to throw an exception from a hierarchy, just throw the complete
6480class name with the components separated by a colon, for instance throw the
6481string "EXCEPT:MATHERR:OVERFLOW" for an overflow in a mathematical library.
6482 When you want to pass additional information with your exception class, add
6483it in parentheses, for instance throw the string "EXCEPT:IO:WRITEERR(myfile)"
6484for an error when writing "myfile".
6485 With the appropriate patterns in the ":catch" command, you can catch for
6486base classes or derived classes of your hierarchy. Additional information in
6487parentheses can be cut out from |v:exception| with the ":substitute" command.
6488 Example: >
6489
6490 :function! CheckRange(a, func)
6491 : if a:a < 0
6492 : throw "EXCEPT:MATHERR:RANGE(" . a:func . ")"
6493 : endif
6494 :endfunction
6495 :
6496 :function! Add(a, b)
6497 : call CheckRange(a:a, "Add")
6498 : call CheckRange(a:b, "Add")
6499 : let c = a:a + a:b
6500 : if c < 0
6501 : throw "EXCEPT:MATHERR:OVERFLOW"
6502 : endif
6503 : return c
6504 :endfunction
6505 :
6506 :function! Div(a, b)
6507 : call CheckRange(a:a, "Div")
6508 : call CheckRange(a:b, "Div")
6509 : if (a:b == 0)
6510 : throw "EXCEPT:MATHERR:ZERODIV"
6511 : endif
6512 : return a:a / a:b
6513 :endfunction
6514 :
6515 :function! Write(file)
6516 : try
6517 : execute "write" a:file
6518 : catch /^Vim(write):/
6519 : throw "EXCEPT:IO(" . getcwd() . ", " . a:file . "):WRITEERR"
6520 : endtry
6521 :endfunction
6522 :
6523 :try
6524 :
6525 : " something with arithmetics and I/O
6526 :
6527 :catch /^EXCEPT:MATHERR:RANGE/
6528 : let function = substitute(v:exception, '.*(\(\a\+\)).*', '\1', "")
6529 : echo "Range error in" function
6530 :
6531 :catch /^EXCEPT:MATHERR/ " catches OVERFLOW and ZERODIV
6532 : echo "Math error"
6533 :
6534 :catch /^EXCEPT:IO/
6535 : let dir = substitute(v:exception, '.*(\(.\+\),\s*.\+).*', '\1', "")
6536 : let file = substitute(v:exception, '.*(.\+,\s*\(.\+\)).*', '\1', "")
6537 : if file !~ '^/'
6538 : let file = dir . "/" . file
6539 : endif
6540 : echo 'I/O error for "' . file . '"'
6541 :
6542 :catch /^EXCEPT/
6543 : echo "Unspecified error"
6544 :
6545 :endtry
6546
6547The exceptions raised by Vim itself (on error or when pressing CTRL-C) use
6548a flat hierarchy: they are all in the "Vim" class. You cannot throw yourself
6549exceptions with the "Vim" prefix; they are reserved for Vim.
6550 Vim error exceptions are parameterized with the name of the command that
6551failed, if known. See |catch-errors|.
6552
6553
6554PECULIARITIES
6555 *except-compat*
6556The exception handling concept requires that the command sequence causing the
6557exception is aborted immediately and control is transferred to finally clauses
6558and/or a catch clause.
6559
6560In the Vim script language there are cases where scripts and functions
6561continue after an error: in functions without the "abort" flag or in a command
6562after ":silent!", control flow goes to the following line, and outside
6563functions, control flow goes to the line following the outermost ":endwhile"
6564or ":endif". On the other hand, errors should be catchable as exceptions
6565(thus, requiring the immediate abortion).
6566
6567This problem has been solved by converting errors to exceptions and using
6568immediate abortion (if not suppressed by ":silent!") only when a try
6569conditional is active. This is no restriction since an (error) exception can
6570be caught only from an active try conditional. If you want an immediate
6571termination without catching the error, just use a try conditional without
6572catch clause. (You can cause cleanup code being executed before termination
6573by specifying a finally clause.)
6574
6575When no try conditional is active, the usual abortion and continuation
6576behavior is used instead of immediate abortion. This ensures compatibility of
6577scripts written for Vim 6.1 and earlier.
6578
6579However, when sourcing an existing script that does not use exception handling
6580commands (or when calling one of its functions) from inside an active try
6581conditional of a new script, you might change the control flow of the existing
6582script on error. You get the immediate abortion on error and can catch the
6583error in the new script. If however the sourced script suppresses error
6584messages by using the ":silent!" command (checking for errors by testing
6585|v:errmsg| if appropriate), its execution path is not changed. The error is
6586not converted to an exception. (See |:silent|.) So the only remaining cause
6587where this happens is for scripts that don't care about errors and produce
6588error messages. You probably won't want to use such code from your new
6589scripts.
6590
6591 *except-syntax-err*
6592Syntax errors in the exception handling commands are never caught by any of
6593the ":catch" commands of the try conditional they belong to. Its finally
6594clauses, however, is executed.
6595 Example: >
6596
6597 :try
6598 : try
6599 : throw 4711
6600 : catch /\(/
6601 : echo "in catch with syntax error"
6602 : catch
6603 : echo "inner catch-all"
6604 : finally
6605 : echo "inner finally"
6606 : endtry
6607 :catch
6608 : echo 'outer catch-all caught "' . v:exception . '"'
6609 : finally
6610 : echo "outer finally"
6611 :endtry
6612
6613This displays: >
6614 inner finally
6615 outer catch-all caught "Vim(catch):E54: Unmatched \("
6616 outer finally
6617The original exception is discarded and an error exception is raised, instead.
6618
6619 *except-single-line*
6620The ":try", ":catch", ":finally", and ":endtry" commands can be put on
6621a single line, but then syntax errors may make it difficult to recognize the
6622"catch" line, thus you better avoid this.
6623 Example: >
6624 :try | unlet! foo # | catch | endtry
6625raises an error exception for the trailing characters after the ":unlet!"
6626argument, but does not see the ":catch" and ":endtry" commands, so that the
6627error exception is discarded and the "E488: Trailing characters" message gets
6628displayed.
6629
6630 *except-several-errors*
6631When several errors appear in a single command, the first error message is
6632usually the most specific one and therefor converted to the error exception.
6633 Example: >
6634 echo novar
6635causes >
6636 E121: Undefined variable: novar
6637 E15: Invalid expression: novar
6638The value of the error exception inside try conditionals is: >
6639 Vim(echo):E121: Undefined variable: novar
6640< *except-syntax-error*
6641But when a syntax error is detected after a normal error in the same command,
6642the syntax error is used for the exception being thrown.
6643 Example: >
6644 unlet novar #
6645causes >
6646 E108: No such variable: "novar"
6647 E488: Trailing characters
6648The value of the error exception inside try conditionals is: >
6649 Vim(unlet):E488: Trailing characters
6650This is done because the syntax error might change the execution path in a way
6651not intended by the user. Example: >
6652 try
6653 try | unlet novar # | catch | echo v:exception | endtry
6654 catch /.*/
6655 echo "outer catch:" v:exception
6656 endtry
6657This displays "outer catch: Vim(unlet):E488: Trailing characters", and then
6658a "E600: Missing :endtry" error message is given, see |except-single-line|.
6659
6660==============================================================================
66619. Examples *eval-examples*
6662
6663Printing in Hex ~
6664>
6665 :" The function Nr2Hex() returns the Hex string of a number.
6666 :func Nr2Hex(nr)
6667 : let n = a:nr
6668 : let r = ""
6669 : while n
6670 : let r = '0123456789ABCDEF'[n % 16] . r
6671 : let n = n / 16
6672 : endwhile
6673 : return r
6674 :endfunc
6675
6676 :" The function String2Hex() converts each character in a string to a two
6677 :" character Hex string.
6678 :func String2Hex(str)
6679 : let out = ''
6680 : let ix = 0
6681 : while ix < strlen(a:str)
6682 : let out = out . Nr2Hex(char2nr(a:str[ix]))
6683 : let ix = ix + 1
6684 : endwhile
6685 : return out
6686 :endfunc
6687
6688Example of its use: >
6689 :echo Nr2Hex(32)
6690result: "20" >
6691 :echo String2Hex("32")
6692result: "3332"
6693
6694
6695Sorting lines (by Robert Webb) ~
6696
6697Here is a Vim script to sort lines. Highlight the lines in Vim and type
6698":Sort". This doesn't call any external programs so it'll work on any
6699platform. The function Sort() actually takes the name of a comparison
6700function as its argument, like qsort() does in C. So you could supply it
6701with different comparison functions in order to sort according to date etc.
6702>
6703 :" Function for use with Sort(), to compare two strings.
6704 :func! Strcmp(str1, str2)
6705 : if (a:str1 < a:str2)
6706 : return -1
6707 : elseif (a:str1 > a:str2)
6708 : return 1
6709 : else
6710 : return 0
6711 : endif
6712 :endfunction
6713
6714 :" Sort lines. SortR() is called recursively.
6715 :func! SortR(start, end, cmp)
6716 : if (a:start >= a:end)
6717 : return
6718 : endif
6719 : let partition = a:start - 1
6720 : let middle = partition
6721 : let partStr = getline((a:start + a:end) / 2)
6722 : let i = a:start
6723 : while (i <= a:end)
6724 : let str = getline(i)
6725 : exec "let result = " . a:cmp . "(str, partStr)"
6726 : if (result <= 0)
6727 : " Need to put it before the partition. Swap lines i and partition.
6728 : let partition = partition + 1
6729 : if (result == 0)
6730 : let middle = partition
6731 : endif
6732 : if (i != partition)
6733 : let str2 = getline(partition)
6734 : call setline(i, str2)
6735 : call setline(partition, str)
6736 : endif
6737 : endif
6738 : let i = i + 1
6739 : endwhile
6740
6741 : " Now we have a pointer to the "middle" element, as far as partitioning
6742 : " goes, which could be anywhere before the partition. Make sure it is at
6743 : " the end of the partition.
6744 : if (middle != partition)
6745 : let str = getline(middle)
6746 : let str2 = getline(partition)
6747 : call setline(middle, str2)
6748 : call setline(partition, str)
6749 : endif
6750 : call SortR(a:start, partition - 1, a:cmp)
6751 : call SortR(partition + 1, a:end, a:cmp)
6752 :endfunc
6753
6754 :" To Sort a range of lines, pass the range to Sort() along with the name of a
6755 :" function that will compare two lines.
6756 :func! Sort(cmp) range
6757 : call SortR(a:firstline, a:lastline, a:cmp)
6758 :endfunc
6759
6760 :" :Sort takes a range of lines and sorts them.
6761 :command! -nargs=0 -range Sort <line1>,<line2>call Sort("Strcmp")
6762<
6763 *sscanf*
6764There is no sscanf() function in Vim. If you need to extract parts from a
6765line, you can use matchstr() and substitute() to do it. This example shows
6766how to get the file name, line number and column number out of a line like
6767"foobar.txt, 123, 45". >
6768 :" Set up the match bit
6769 :let mx='\(\f\+\),\s*\(\d\+\),\s*\(\d\+\)'
6770 :"get the part matching the whole expression
6771 :let l = matchstr(line, mx)
6772 :"get each item out of the match
6773 :let file = substitute(l, mx, '\1', '')
6774 :let lnum = substitute(l, mx, '\2', '')
6775 :let col = substitute(l, mx, '\3', '')
6776
6777The input is in the variable "line", the results in the variables "file",
6778"lnum" and "col". (idea from Michael Geddes)
6779
6780==============================================================================
678110. No +eval feature *no-eval-feature*
6782
6783When the |+eval| feature was disabled at compile time, none of the expression
6784evaluation commands are available. To prevent this from causing Vim scripts
6785to generate all kinds of errors, the ":if" and ":endif" commands are still
6786recognized, though the argument of the ":if" and everything between the ":if"
6787and the matching ":endif" is ignored. Nesting of ":if" blocks is allowed, but
6788only if the commands are at the start of the line. The ":else" command is not
6789recognized.
6790
6791Example of how to avoid executing commands when the |+eval| feature is
6792missing: >
6793
6794 :if 1
6795 : echo "Expression evaluation is compiled in"
6796 :else
6797 : echo "You will _never_ see this message"
6798 :endif
6799
6800==============================================================================
680111. The sandbox *eval-sandbox* *sandbox* *E48*
6802
6803The 'foldexpr', 'includeexpr', 'indentexpr', 'statusline' and 'foldtext'
6804options are evaluated in a sandbox. This means that you are protected from
6805these expressions having nasty side effects. This gives some safety for when
6806these options are set from a modeline. It is also used when the command from
Bram Moolenaarebefac62005-12-28 22:39:57 +00006807a tags file is executed and for CTRL-R = in the command line.
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00006808The sandbox is also used for the |:sandbox| command.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00006809
6810These items are not allowed in the sandbox:
6811 - changing the buffer text
6812 - defining or changing mapping, autocommands, functions, user commands
6813 - setting certain options (see |option-summary|)
6814 - executing a shell command
6815 - reading or writing a file
6816 - jumping to another buffer or editing a file
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00006817This is not guaranteed 100% secure, but it should block most attacks.
6818
6819 *:san* *:sandbox*
Bram Moolenaar045e82d2005-07-08 22:25:33 +00006820:san[dbox] {cmd} Execute {cmd} in the sandbox. Useful to evaluate an
Bram Moolenaar7b0294c2004-10-11 10:16:09 +00006821 option that may have been set from a modeline, e.g.
6822 'foldexpr'.
6823
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00006824
6825 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: