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Bram Moolenaar54ee7752005-05-31 22:22:17 +00001*various.txt* For Vim version 7.0aa. Last change: 2005 May 31
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7Various commands *various*
8
91. Various commands |various-cmds|
102. Online help |online-help|
Bram Moolenaar8299df92004-07-10 09:47:34 +0000113. Using Vim like less or more |less|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000012
13==============================================================================
141. Various commands *various-cmds*
15
16 *CTRL-L*
17CTRL-L Clear and redraw the screen (later).
18
19 *:redr* *:redraw*
20:redr[aw][!] Redraw the screen right now. When ! is included it is
21 cleared first.
22 Useful to update the screen halfway executing a script
23 or function. Also when halfway a mapping and
24 'lazyredraw' is set.
25
26 *:redraws* *:redrawstatus*
27:redraws[tatus][!] Redraw the status line of the current window. When !
28 is included all status lines are redrawn.
29 Useful to update the status line(s) when 'statusline'
30 includes an item that doesn't cause automatic
31 updating.
32
33 *N<Del>*
34<Del> When entering a number: Remove the last digit.
35 Note: if you like to use <BS> for this, add this
36 mapping to your .vimrc: >
37 :map CTRL-V <BS> CTRL-V <Del>
38< See |:fixdel| if your <Del> key does not do what you
39 want.
40
41:as[cii] or *ga* *:as* *:ascii*
42ga Print the ascii value of the character under the
43 cursor in decimal, hexadecimal and octal. For
44 example, when the cursor is on a 'R':
45 <R> 82, Hex 52, Octal 122 ~
46 When the character is a non-standard ASCII character,
47 but printable according to the 'isprint' option, the
48 non-printable version is also given. When the
49 character is larger than 127, the <M-x> form is also
50 printed. For example:
51 <~A> <M-^A> 129, Hex 81, Octal 201 ~
52 <p> <|~> <M-~> 254, Hex fe, Octal 376 ~
53 (where <p> is a special character)
54 The <Nul> character in a file is stored internally as
55 <NL>, but it will be shown as:
56 <^@> 0, Hex 00, Octal 000 ~
57 Mnemonic: Get Ascii value. {not in Vi}
58
59 *g8*
60g8 Print the hex values of the bytes used in the
61 character under the cursor, assuming it is in |UTF-8|
62 encoding. This also shows composing characters.
63 Example of a character with three composing
64 characters:
65 e0 b8 81 + e0 b8 b9 + e0 b9 89 ~
66 {not in Vi}
67
68 *:p* *:pr* *:print*
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +000069:[range]p[rint] [flags]
70 Print [range] lines (default current line).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000071 Note: If you are looking for a way to print your text
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +000072 on paper see |:hardcopy|. In the GUI you can use the
73 File.Print menu entry.
74 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000075
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +000076:[range]p[rint] {count} [flags]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000077 Print {count} lines, starting with [range] (default
78 current line |cmdline-ranges|).
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +000079 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000080
81 *:P* *:Print*
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +000082:[range]P[rint] [count] [flags]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000083 Just as ":print". Was apparently added to Vi for
84 people that keep the shift key pressed too long...
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +000085 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000086
87 *:l* *:list*
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +000088:[range]l[ist] [count] [flags]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000089 Same as :print, but display unprintable characters
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +000090 with '^' and put $ after the line.
91 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000092
93 *:nu* *:number*
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +000094:[range]nu[mber] [count] [flags]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000095 Same as :print, but precede each line with its line
96 number. (See also 'highlight' option).
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +000097 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000098
99 *:#*
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +0000100:[range]# [count] [flags]
101 synonym for :number.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000102
103 *:z* *E144*
104:{range}z[+-^.=]{count} Display several lines of text surrounding the line
105 specified with {range}, or around the current line
106 if there is no {range}. If there is a {count}, that's
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +0000107 how many lines you'll see; if there is only one window
108 then the 'window' option is used, otherwise the
109 current window size is used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000110
111 :z can be used either alone or followed by any of
112 several punctuation marks. These have the following
113 effect:
114
115 mark first line last line new location ~
116 ---- ---------- --------- ------------
117 + current line 1 scr forward 1 scr forward
118 - 1 scr back current line current line
119 ^ 2 scr back 1 scr back 1 scr back
Bram Moolenaar2a8d1f82005-02-05 21:43:56 +0000120 . 1/2 scr back 1/2 scr fwd 1/2 scr fwd
121 = 1/2 scr back 1/2 scr fwd current line
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000122
123 Specifying no mark at all is the same as "+".
124 If the mark is "=", a line of dashes is printed
125 around the current line.
126
127:{range}z#[+-^.=]{count} *:z#*
128 Like ":z", but number the lines.
129 {not in all versions of Vi, not with these arguments}
130
131 *:=*
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +0000132:= [flags] Print the last line number.
133 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000134
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +0000135:{range}= [flags] Prints the last line number in {range}. For example,
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000136 this prints the current line number: >
137 :.=
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +0000138< See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000139
140:norm[al][!] {commands} *:norm* *:normal*
141 Execute Normal mode commands {commands}. This makes
142 it possible to execute Normal mode commands typed on
143 the command-line. {commands} is executed like it is
144 typed. For undo all commands are undone together.
145 If the [!] is given, mappings will not be used.
146 {commands} should be a complete command. If
147 {commands} does not finish a command, the last one
148 will be aborted as if <Esc> or <C-C> was typed.
149 The display isn't updated while ":normal" is busy.
150 This implies that an insert command must be completed
151 (to start Insert mode, see |:startinsert|). A ":"
Bram Moolenaar7c626922005-02-07 22:01:03 +0000152 command must be completed as well. And you can't use
153 "Q" or "gQ" to start Ex mode.
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000154 {commands} cannot start with a space. Put a 1 (one)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000155 before it, 1 space is one space.
156 The 'insertmode' option is ignored for {commands}.
157 This command cannot be followed by another command,
158 since any '|' is considered part of the command.
159 This command can be used recursively, but the depth is
160 limited by 'maxmapdepth'.
161 When this command is called from a non-remappable
162 mapping |:noremap|, the argument can be mapped anyway.
163 An alternative is to use |:execute|, which uses an
164 expression as argument. This allows the use of
165 printable characters. Example: >
166 :exe "normal \<c-w>\<c-w>"
167< {not in Vi, of course}
168 {not available when the |+ex_extra| feature was
169 disabled at compile time}
170
171:{range}norm[al][!] {commands} *:normal-range*
172 Execute Normal mode commands {commands} for each line
173 in the {range}. Before executing the {commands}, the
174 cursor is positioned in the first column of the range,
175 for each line. Otherwise it's the same as the
176 ":normal" command without a range.
177 {not in Vi}
178 Not available when |+ex_extra| feature was disabled at
179 compile time.
180
181 *:sh* *:shell* *E371*
182:sh[ell] This command starts a shell. When the shell exits
183 (after the "exit" command) you return to Vim. The
184 name for the shell command comes from 'shell' option.
185 *E360*
186 Note: This doesn't work when Vim on the Amiga was
187 started in QuickFix mode from a compiler, because the
188 compiler will have set stdin to a non-interactive
189 mode.
190
191 *:!cmd* *:!* *E34*
192:!{cmd} Execute {cmd} with the shell. See also the 'shell'
193 and 'shelltype' option.
194 Any '!' in {cmd} is replaced with the previous
195 external command (see also 'cpoptions'). But not when
196 there is a backslash before the '!', then that
197 backslash is removed. Example: ":!ls" followed by
198 ":!echo ! \! \\!" executes "echo ls ! \!".
199 After the command has been executed, the timestamp of
200 the current file is checked |timestamp|.
201 There cannot be a '|' in {cmd}, see |:bar|.
202 A newline character ends {cmd}, what follows is
203 interpreted as a following ":" command. However, if
204 there is a backslash before the newline it is removed
205 and {cmd} continues. It doesn't matter how many
206 backslashes are before the newline, only one is
207 removed.
208 On Unix the command normally runs in a non-interactive
209 shell. If you want an interactive shell to be used
210 (to use aliases) set 'shellcmdflag' to "-ic".
211 For Win32 also see |:!start|.
212 Vim redraws the screen after the command is finished,
213 because it may have printed any text. This requires a
214 hit-enter prompt, so that you can read any messages.
215 To avoid this use: >
216 :silent !{cmd}
217< The screen is not redrawn then, thus you have to use
218 CTRL-L or ":redraw!" if the command did display
219 something.
220 Also see |shell-window|.
221
222 *:!!*
223:!! Repeat last ":!{cmd}".
224
225 *:ve* *:version*
226:ve[rsion] Print the version number of the editor. If the
227 compiler used understands "__DATE__" the compilation
228 date is mentioned. Otherwise a fixed release-date is
229 shown.
230 The following lines contain information about which
231 features were enabled when Vim was compiled. When
232 there is a preceding '+', the feature is included,
233 when there is a '-' it is excluded. To change this,
234 you have to edit feature.h and recompile Vim.
235 To check for this in an expression, see |has()|.
236 Here is an overview of the features.
237 The first column shows the smallest version in which
238 they are included:
239 T tiny
240 S small
241 N normal
242 B big
243 H huge
244 m manually enabled or depends on other features
245 (none) system dependent
246 Thus if a feature is marked with "N", it is included
247 in the normal, big and huge versions of Vim.
248
249 *+feature-list*
250 *+ARP* Amiga only: ARP support included
251B *+arabic* |Arabic| language support
252N *+autocmd* |:autocmd|, automatic commands
Bram Moolenaar4d34b432005-03-07 23:22:00 +0000253m *+balloon_eval* |balloon-eval| support. Included when compiling with
254 supported GUI (Motif, GTK, GUI) and either
255 Netbeans/Sun Workshop integration or |+eval| feature.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000256N *+browse* |:browse| command
257N *+builtin_terms* some terminals builtin |builtin-terms|
258B *++builtin_terms* maximal terminals builtin |builtin-terms|
259N *+byte_offset* support for 'o' flag in 'statusline' option, "go"
260 and ":goto" commands.
261N *+cindent* |'cindent'|, C indenting
262N *+clientserver* Unix and Win32: Remote invocation |clientserver|
263 *+clipboard* |clipboard| support
264N *+cmdline_compl* command line completion |cmdline-completion|
265N *+cmdline_hist* command line history |cmdline-history|
266N *+cmdline_info* |'showcmd'| and |'ruler'|
267N *+comments* |'comments'| support
268N *+cryptv* encryption support |encryption|
269B *+cscope* |cscope| support
270N *+dialog_gui* Support for |:confirm| with GUI dialog.
271N *+dialog_con* Support for |:confirm| with console dialog.
272N *+dialog_con_gui* Support for |:confirm| with GUI and console dialog.
273N *+diff* |vimdiff| and 'diff'
274N *+digraphs* |digraphs| *E196*
275 *+dnd* Support for DnD into the "~ register |quote_~|.
276B *+emacs_tags* |emacs-tags| files
277N *+eval* expression evaluation |eval.txt|
278N *+ex_extra* Vim's extra Ex commands: |:center|, |:left|,
279 |:normal|, |:retab| and |:right|
280N *+extra_search* |'hlsearch'| and |'incsearch'| options.
281B *+farsi* |farsi| language
282N *+file_in_path* |gf|, |CTRL-W_f| and |<cfile>|
283N *+find_in_path* include file searches: |[I|, |:isearch|,
284 |CTRL-W_CTRL-I|, |:checkpath|, etc.
285N *+folding* |folding|
286 *+footer* |gui-footer|
287 *+fork* Unix only: |fork| shell commands
288N *+gettext* message translations |multi-lang|
289 *+GUI_Athena* Unix only: Athena |GUI|
290 *+GUI_neXtaw* Unix only: neXtaw |GUI|
291 *+GUI_BeOS* BeOS only: BeOS |GUI|
292 *+GUI_GTK* Unix only: GTK+ |GUI|
293 *+GUI_Motif* Unix only: Motif |GUI|
294 *+GUI_Photon* QNX only: Photon |GUI|
295m *+hangul_input* Hangul input support |hangul|
296 *+iconv* Compiled with the |iconv()| function, may have |/dyn|
297N *+insert_expand* |insert_expand| Insert mode completion
298N *+jumplist* |jumplist|
299B *+keymap* |'keymap'|
300B *+langmap* |'langmap'|
301N *+libcall* |libcall()|
302N *+linebreak* |'linebreak'|, |'breakat'| and |'showbreak'|
303N *+lispindent* |'lisp'|
304N *+listcmds* Vim commands for the list of buffers |buffer-hidden|
305 and argument list |:argdelete|
306N *+localmap* Support for mappings local to a buffer |:map-local|
307N *+menu* |:menu|
308N *+mksession* |:mksession|
309N *+modify_fname* |filename-modifiers|
310N *+mouse* Mouse handling |mouse-using|
311N *+mouseshape* |'mouseshape'|
312B *+mouse_dec* Unix only: Dec terminal mouse handling |dec-mouse|
313N *+mouse_gpm* Unix only: Linux console mouse handling |gpm-mouse|
314B *+mouse_netterm* Unix only: netterm mouse handling |netterm-mouse|
315N *+mouse_pterm* QNX only: pterm mouse handling |qnx-terminal|
316N *+mouse_xterm* Unix only: xterm mouse handling |xterm-mouse|
317B *+multi_byte* Korean and other languages |multibyte|
318 *+multi_byte_ime* Win32 input method for multibyte chars |multibyte-ime|
319N *+multi_lang* non-English language support |multi-lang|
Bram Moolenaar325b7a22004-07-05 15:58:32 +0000320m *+mzscheme* Mzscheme interface |mzscheme|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000321m *+netbeans_intg* |netbeans|
322m *+ole* Win32 GUI only: |ole-interface|
323 *+osfiletype* Support for the 'osfiletype' option and filetype
324 checking in automatic commands. |autocmd-osfiletypes|
325N *+path_extra* Up/downwards search in 'path' and 'tags'
326m *+perl* Perl interface |perl|, may have |/dyn|
327 *+postscript* |:hardcopy| writes a PostScript file
328N *+printer* |:hardcopy| command
Bram Moolenaar19a09a12005-03-04 23:39:37 +0000329H *+profile* |:profile| command
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000330m *+python* Python interface |python|, may have |/dyn|
331N *+quickfix* |:make| and |quickfix| commands
332B *+rightleft* Right to left typing |'rightleft'|
333m *+ruby* Ruby interface |ruby|, may have |/dyn|
334N *+scrollbind* |'scrollbind'|
335B *+signs* |:sign|
336N *+smartindent* |'smartindent'|
337m *+sniff* SniFF interface |sniff|
338N *+statusline* Options 'statusline', 'rulerformat' and special
339 formats of 'titlestring' and 'iconstring'
340m *+sun_workshop* |workshop|
341N *+syntax* Syntax highlighting |syntax|
342 *+system()* Unix only: opposite of |+fork|
343N *+tag_binary* binary searching in tags file |tag-binary-search|
344N *+tag_old_static* old method for static tags |tag-old-static|
345m *+tag_any_white* any white space allowed in tags file |tag-any-white|
346m *+tcl* Tcl interface |tcl|, may have |/dyn|
347 *+terminfo* uses |terminfo| instead of termcap
348N *+termresponse* support for |t_RV| and |v:termresponse|
349N *+textobjects* |text-objects| selection
350 *+tgetent* non-Unix only: able to use external termcap
351N *+title* Setting the window title |'title'|
352N *+toolbar* |gui-toolbar|
353N *+user_commands* User-defined commands. |user-commands|
354N *+viminfo* |'viminfo'|
355N *+vertsplit* Vertically split windows |:vsplit|
356N *+virtualedit* |'virtualedit'|
357S *+visual* Visual mode |Visual-mode|
358N *+visualextra* extra Visual mode commands |blockwise-operators|
359N *+vreplace* |gR| and |gr|
360N *+wildignore* |'wildignore'|
361N *+wildmenu* |'wildmenu'|
362S *+windows* more than one window
363m *+writebackup* |'writebackup'| is default on
364m *+xim* X input method |xim|
365 *+xfontset* X fontset support |xfontset|
366 *+xsmp* XSMP (X session management) support
367 *+xsmp_interact* interactive XSMP (X session management) support
368N *+xterm_clipboard* Unix only: xterm clipboard handling
369m *+xterm_save* save and restore xterm screen |xterm-screens|
370N *+X11* Unix only: can restore window title |X11|
371
372 */dyn* *E370* *E448*
373 To some of the features "/dyn" is added when the
374 feature is only available when the related library can
375 be dynamically loaded.
376
377:ve[rsion] {nr} Is now ignored. This was previously used to check the
378 version number of a .vimrc file. It was removed,
379 because you can now use the ":if" command for
380 version-dependent behavior. {not in Vi}
381
382 *:redi* *:redir*
383:redi[r][!] > {file} Redirect messages to file {file}. The messages which
384 are the output of commands are written to that file,
385 until redirection ends. The messages are also still
386 shown on the screen. When [!] is included, an
387 existing file is overwritten. When [!] is omitted,
388 and {file} exists, this command fails.
389 Only one ":redir" can be active at a time. Calls to
390 ":redir" will close any active redirection before
391 starting redirection to the new target.
392 To stop the messages and commands from being echoed to
393 the screen, put the commands in a function and call it
394 with ":silent call Function()".
Bram Moolenaar54ee7752005-05-31 22:22:17 +0000395 An alternative is to use the 'verbosefile' option,
396 this can be used in combination with ":redir".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000397 {not in Vi}
398
399:redi[r] >> {file} Redirect messages to file {file}. Append if {file}
400 already exists. {not in Vi}
401
402:redi[r] @{a-zA-Z} Redirect messages to register {a-z}. Append to the
403 contents of the register if its name is given
404 uppercase {A-Z}. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar34cdc3e2005-05-18 22:24:46 +0000405:redi[r] @{a-z}>> Append messages to register {a-z}. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000406
407:redi[r] @* Redirect messages to the clipboard. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar34cdc3e2005-05-18 22:24:46 +0000408:redi[r] @*>> Append messages to the clipboard. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000409
410:redi[r] @" Redirect messages to the unnamed register. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar34cdc3e2005-05-18 22:24:46 +0000411:redi[r] @">> Append messages to the unnamed register. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000412
Bram Moolenaar5313dcb2005-02-22 08:56:13 +0000413:redi[r] => {var} Redirect messages to a variable. If the variable
414 doesn't exist, then it is created. If the variable
415 exists, then it is initialized to an empty string.
416 Only string variables can be used. After the
417 redirection starts, if the variable is removed or
418 locked or the variable type is changed, then further
419 command output messages will cause errors. {not in Vi}
420
421:redi[r] =>> {var} Append messages to an existing variable. Only string
422 variables can be used. {not in Vi}
423
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000424:redi[r] END End redirecting messages. {not in Vi}
425
426 *:sil* *:silent*
427:sil[ent][!] {command} Execute {command} silently. Normal messages will not
428 be given or added to the message history.
429 When [!] is added, error messages will also be
430 skipped, and commands and mappings will not be aborted
431 when an error is detected. |v:errmsg| is still set.
432 When [!] is not used, an error message will cause
433 further messages to be displayed normally.
434 Redirection, started with |:redir|, will continue as
435 usual, although there might be small differences.
436 This will allow redirecting the output of a command
437 without seeing it on the screen. Example: >
438 :redir >/tmp/foobar
439 :silent g/Aap/p
440 :redir END
441< To execute a Normal mode command silently, use the
442 |:normal| command. For example, to search for a
443 string without messages: >
444 :silent exe "normal /path\<CR>"
445< ":silent!" is useful to execute a command that may
446 fail, but the failure is to be ignored. Example: >
447 :let v:errmsg = ""
448 :silent! /^begin
449 :if v:errmsg != ""
450 : ... pattern was not found
451< ":silent" will also avoid the hit-enter prompt. When
452 using this for an external command, this may cause the
453 screen to be messed up. Use |CTRL-L| to clean it up
454 then.
455 ":silent menu ..." defines a menu that will not echo a
456 Command-line command. The command will still produce
457 messages though. Use ":silent" in the command itself
458 to avoid that: ":silent menu .... :silent command".
459
460 *:verb* *:verbose*
461:[count]verb[ose] {command}
462 Execute {command} with 'verbose' set to [count]. If
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +0000463 [count] is omitted one is used. ":0verbose" can be
464 used to set 'verbose' to zero.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000465 The additional use of ":silent" makes messages
466 generated but not displayed.
467 The combination of ":silent" and ":verbose" can be
468 used to generate messages and check them with
469 |v:statusmsg| and friends. For example: >
470 :let v:statusmsg = ""
471 :silent verbose runtime foobar.vim
472 :if v:statusmsg != ""
473 : " foobar.vim could not be found
474 :endif
475< When concatenating another command, the ":verbose"
476 only applies to the first one: >
477 :4verbose set verbose | set verbose
478< verbose=4 ~
479 verbose=0 ~
Bram Moolenaar54ee7752005-05-31 22:22:17 +0000480 For logging verbose messages in a file use the
481 'verbosefile' option.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000482
483 *K*
484K Run a program to lookup the keyword under the
485 cursor. The name of the program is given with the
486 'keywordprg' (kp) option (default is "man"). The
487 keyword is formed of letters, numbers and the
488 characters in 'iskeyword'. The keyword under or
489 right of the cursor is used. The same can be done
490 with the command >
491 :!{program} {keyword}
492< There is an example of a program to use in the tools
493 directory of Vim. It is called 'ref' and does a
494 simple spelling check.
495 Special cases:
496 - If 'keywordprg' is empty, the ":help" command is
497 used. It's a good idea to include more characters
498 in 'iskeyword' then, to be able to find more help.
499 - When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man", a count before
500 "K" is inserted after the "man" command and before
501 the keyword. For example, using "2K" while the
502 cursor is on "mkdir", results in: >
503 !man 2 mkdir
504< - When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man -s", a count
505 before "K" is inserted after the "-s". If there is
506 no count, the "-s" is removed.
507 {not in Vi}
508
509 *v_K*
510{Visual}K Like "K", but use the visually highlighted text for
511 the keyword. Only works when the highlighted text is
512 not more than one line. {not in Vi}
513
514[N]gs *gs* *:sl* *:sleep*
515:[N]sl[eep] [N] [m] Do nothing for [N] seconds. When [m] is included,
Bram Moolenaar13fcaaf2005-04-15 21:13:42 +0000516 sleep for [N] milliseconds. The count for "gs" always
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000517 uses seconds. The default is one second. >
518 :sleep "sleep for one second
519 :5sleep "sleep for five seconds
520 :sleep 100m "sleep for a hundred milliseconds
521 10gs "sleep for ten seconds
522< Can be interrupted with CTRL-C (CTRL-Break on MS-DOS).
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +0000523 "gs" stands for "goto sleep".
524 While sleeping the cursor is positioned in the text,
525 if at a visible position. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000526
527 *g_CTRL-A*
528g CTRL-A Only when Vim was compiled with MEM_PROFILING defined
529 (which is very rare): print memory usage statistics.
530 Only useful for debugging Vim.
531
532==============================================================================
5332. Online help *online-help*
534
535 *help* *<Help>* *:h* *:help* *<F1>* *i_<F1>* *i_<Help>*
536<Help> or
537:h[elp] Open a window and display the help file in read-only
538 mode. If there is a help window open already, use
539 that one. Otherwise, if the current window uses the
540 full width of the screen or is at least 80 characters
541 wide, the help window will appear just above the
542 current window. Otherwise the new window is put at
543 the very top.
544 The 'helplang' option is used to select a language, if
545 the main help file is available in several languages.
546 {not in Vi}
547
548 *{subject}* *E149* *E661*
549:h[elp] {subject} Like ":help", additionally jump to the tag {subject}.
550 {subject} can include wildcards like "*", "?" and
551 "[a-z]":
552 :help z? jump to help for any "z" command
553 :help z. jump to the help for "z."
554 If there is no full match for the pattern, or there
555 are several matches, the "best" match will be used.
556 A sophisticated algorithm is used to decide which
557 match is better than another one. These items are
558 considered in the computation:
559 - A match with same case is much better than a match
560 with different case.
561 - A match that starts after a non-alphanumeric
562 character is better than a match in the middle of a
563 word.
564 - A match at or near the beginning of the tag is
565 better than a match further on.
566 - The more alphanumeric characters match, the better.
567 - The shorter the length of the match, the better.
568
569 The 'helplang' option is used to select a language, if
570 the {subject} is available in several languages.
571 To find a tag in a specific language, append "@ab",
572 where "ab" is the two-letter language code. See
573 |help-translated|.
574
575 Note that the longer the {subject} you give, the less
576 matches will be found. You can get an idea how this
577 all works by using commandline completion (type CTRL-D
578 after ":help subject").
579 If there are several matches, you can have them listed
580 by hitting CTRL-D. Example: >
581 :help cont<Ctrl-D>
582< To use a regexp |pattern|, first do ":help" and then
583 use ":tag {pattern}" in the help window. The
584 ":tnext" command can then be used to jump to other
585 matches, "tselect" to list matches and choose one. >
586 :help index| :tse z.
587< This command can be followed by '|' and another
588 command, but you don't need to escape the '|' inside a
589 help command. So these both work: >
590 :help |
591 :help k| only
592< Note that a space before the '|' is seen as part of
593 the ":help" argument.
594 You can also use <LF> or <CR> to separate the help
595 command from a following command. You need to type
596 CTRL-V first to insert the <LF> or <CR>. Example: >
597 :help so<C-V><CR>only
598< {not in Vi}
599
600:h[elp]! [subject] Like ":help", but in non-English help files prefer to
601 find a tag in a file with the same language as the
602 current file. See |help-translated|.
603
604 *:helpg* *:helpgrep*
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +0000605:helpg[rep] {pattern}[@xx]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000606 Search all help text files and make a list of lines
607 in which {pattern} matches. Jumps to the first match.
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +0000608 The optional [@xx] specifies that only matches in the
609 "xx" language are to be found.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000610 You can navigate through the matches with the
611 |quickfix| commands, e.g., |:cnext| to jump to the
612 next one. Or use |:cwindow| to get the list of
613 matches in the quickfix window.
614 {pattern} is used as a Vim regexp |pattern|.
615 'ignorecase' is not used, add "\c" to ignore case.
616 Example for case sensitive search: >
617 :helpgrep Uganda
618< Example for case ignoring search: >
619 :helpgrep uganda\c
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +0000620< Example for searching in French help: >
621 :helpgrep backspace@fr
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000622< Cannot be followed by another command, everything is
623 used as part of the pattern. But you can use
624 |:execute| when needed.
625 Compressed help files will not be searched (Debian
626 compresses the help files).
627 {not in Vi}
628
Bram Moolenaarb5bf5b82004-12-24 14:35:23 +0000629 *:exu* *:exusage*
630:exu[sage] Show help on Ex commands. Added to simulate the Nvi
631 command. {not in Vi}
632
633 *:viu* *:viusage*
634:viu[sage] Show help on Normal mode commands. Added to simulate
635 the Nvi command. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000636
637When no argument is given to |:help| the file given with the 'helpfile' option
638will be opened. Otherwise the specified tag is searched for in all "doc/tags"
639files in the directories specified in the 'runtimepath' option.
640
641The initial height of the help window can be set with the 'helpheight' option
642(default 20).
643
644Jump to specific subjects by using tags. This can be done in two ways:
645- Use the "CTRL-]" command while standing on the name of a command or option.
646 This only works when the tag is a keyword. "<C-Leftmouse>" and
647 "g<LeftMouse>" work just like "CTRL-]".
648- use the ":ta {subject}" command. This also works with non-keyword
649 characters.
650
651Use CTRL-T or CTRL-O to jump back.
652Use ":q" to close the help window.
653
654If there are several matches for an item you are looking for, this is how you
655can jump to each one of them:
6561. Open a help window
6572. Use the ":tag" command with a slash prepended to the tag. E.g.: >
658 :tag /min
6593. Use ":tnext" to jump to the next matching tag.
660
661It is possible to add help files for plugins and other items. You don't need
662to change the distributed help files for that. See |add-local-help|.
663
664To write a local help file, see |write-local-help|.
665
666Note that the title lines from the local help files are automagically added to
667the "LOCAL ADDITIONS" section in the "help.txt" help file |local-additions|.
668This is done when viewing the file in Vim, the file itself is not changed. It
669is done by going through all help files and obtaining the first line of each
670file. The files in $VIMRUNTIME/doc are skipped.
671
672 *help-xterm-window*
673If you want to have the help in another xterm window, you could use this
674command: >
675 :!xterm -e vim +help &
676<
677
678 *:helpfind* *:helpf*
679:helpf[ind] Like |:help|, but use a dialog to enter the argument.
680 Only for backwards compatibility. It now executes the
681 ToolBar.FindHelp menu entry instead of using a builtin
682 dialog. {only when compiled with |+GUI_GTK|}
683< {not in Vi}
684
685 *:helpt* *:helptags*
686 *E154* *E150* *E151* *E152* *E153* *E670*
687:helpt[ags] {dir} Generate the help tags file(s) for directory {dir}.
688 All "*.txt" and "*.??x" files in the directory are
689 scanned for a help tag definition in between stars.
690 The "*.??x" files are for translated docs, they
691 generate the "tags-??" file, see |help-translated|.
692 The generated tags files are sorted.
693 When there are duplicates an error message is given.
694 An existing tags file is silently overwritten.
695 To rebuild the help tags in the runtime directory
696 (requires write permission there): >
697 :helptags $VIMRUNTIME/doc
698< {not in Vi}
699
700
701TRANSLATED HELP *help-translated*
702
703It is possible to add translated help files, next to the original English help
704files. Vim will search for all help in "doc" directories in 'runtimepath'.
705This is only available when compiled with the |+multi_lang| feature.
706
707A set of translated help files consists of these files:
708
709 help.abx
710 howto.abx
711 ...
712 tags-ab
713
714"ab" is the two-letter language code. Thus for Italian the names are:
715
716 help.itx
717 howto.itx
718 ...
719 tags-it
720
721The 'helplang' option can be set to the preferred language(s). The default is
722set according to the environment. Vim will first try to find a matching tag
723in the preferred language(s). English is used when it cannot be found.
724
725To find a tag in a specific language, append "@ab" to a tag, where "ab" is the
726two-letter language code. Example: >
727 :he user-manual@it
728 :he user-manual@en
729The first one finds the Italian user manual, even when 'helplang' is empty.
730The second one finds the English user manual, even when 'helplang' is set to
731"it".
732
733When using command-line completion for the ":help" command, the "@en"
734extention is only shown when a tag exists for multiple languages. When the
735tag only exists for English "@en" is omitted.
736
737When using |CTRL-]| or ":help!" in a non-English help file Vim will try to
738find the tag in the same language. If not found then 'helplang' will be used
739to select a language.
740
741Help files must use latin1 or utf-8 encoding. Vim assumes the encoding is
742utf-8 when finding non-ASCII characters in the first line. Thus you must
743translate the header with "For Vim version".
744
745The same encoding must be used for the help files of one language in one
746directory. You can use a different encoding for different languages and use
747a different encoding for help files of the same language but in a different
748directory.
749
750Hints for translators:
751- Do not translate the tags. This makes it possible to use 'helplang' to
752 specify the preferred language. You may add new tags in your language.
753- When you do not translate a part of a file, add tags to the English version,
754 using the "tag@en" notation.
755- Make a package with all the files and the tags file available for download.
756 Users can drop it in one of the "doc" directories and start use it.
757 Report this to Bram, so that he can add a link on www.vim.org.
758- Use the |:helptags| command to generate the tags files. It will find all
759 languages in the specified directory.
760
761==============================================================================
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00007624. Using Vim like less or more *less*
763
764If you use the less or more program to view a file, you don't get syntax
765highlighting. Thus you would like to use Vim instead. You can do this by
766using the shell script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.sh".
767
768This shell script uses the Vim script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.vim". It sets
769up mappings to simulate the commands that less supports. Otherwise, you can
770still use the Vim commands.
771
772This isn't perfect. For example, when viewing a short file Vim will still use
773the whole screen. But it works good enough for most uses, and you get syntax
774highlighting.
775
776The "h" key will give you a short overview of the available commands.
777
778 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: