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Bram Moolenaar3df01732017-02-17 22:47:16 +01001*change.txt* For Vim version 8.0. Last change: 2017 Feb 12
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7This file describes commands that delete or change text. In this context,
8changing text means deleting the text and replacing it with other text using
9one command. You can undo all of these commands. You can repeat the non-Ex
10commands with the "." command.
11
121. Deleting text |deleting|
132. Delete and insert |delete-insert|
143. Simple changes |simple-change| *changing*
154. Complex changes |complex-change|
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +000016 4.1 Filter commands |filter|
17 4.2 Substitute |:substitute|
18 4.3 Search and replace |search-replace|
19 4.4 Changing tabs |change-tabs|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000205. Copying and moving text |copy-move|
216. Formatting text |formatting|
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +0000227. Sorting text |sorting|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000023
24For inserting text see |insert.txt|.
25
26==============================================================================
271. Deleting text *deleting* *E470*
28
29["x]<Del> or *<Del>* *x* *dl*
30["x]x Delete [count] characters under and after the cursor
31 [into register x] (not |linewise|). Does the same as
32 "dl".
33 The <Del> key does not take a [count]. Instead, it
34 deletes the last character of the count.
35 See |:fixdel| if the <Del> key does not do what you
36 want. See |'whichwrap'| for deleting a line break
37 (join lines). {Vi does not support <Del>}
38
39 *X* *dh*
40["x]X Delete [count] characters before the cursor [into
41 register x] (not |linewise|). Does the same as "dh".
42 Also see |'whichwrap'|.
43
44 *d*
45["x]d{motion} Delete text that {motion} moves over [into register
46 x]. See below for exceptions.
47
48 *dd*
49["x]dd Delete [count] lines [into register x] |linewise|.
50
51 *D*
52["x]D Delete the characters under the cursor until the end
53 of the line and [count]-1 more lines [into register
54 x]; synonym for "d$".
55 (not |linewise|)
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +000056 When the '#' flag is in 'cpoptions' the count is
57 ignored.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000058
59{Visual}["x]x or *v_x* *v_d* *v_<Del>*
60{Visual}["x]d or
61{Visual}["x]<Del> Delete the highlighted text [into register x] (for
62 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi}
63
64{Visual}["x]CTRL-H or *v_CTRL-H* *v_<BS>*
65{Visual}["x]<BS> When in Select mode: Delete the highlighted text [into
66 register x].
67
68{Visual}["x]X or *v_X* *v_D* *v_b_D*
69{Visual}["x]D Delete the highlighted lines [into register x] (for
70 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). In Visual block mode,
71 "D" deletes the highlighted text plus all text until
72 the end of the line. {not in Vi}
73
Bram Moolenaar9ba7e172013-07-17 22:37:26 +020074 *:d* *:de* *:del* *:delete* *:dl* *:dp*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000075:[range]d[elete] [x] Delete [range] lines (default: current line) [into
76 register x].
Bram Moolenaar9ba7e172013-07-17 22:37:26 +020077 Note these weird abbreviations:
78 :dl delete and list
79 :dell idem
80 :delel idem
81 :deletl idem
82 :deletel idem
83 :dp delete and print
84 :dep idem
85 :delp idem
86 :delep idem
87 :deletp idem
88 :deletep idem
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000089
90:[range]d[elete] [x] {count}
91 Delete {count} lines, starting with [range]
92 (default: current line |cmdline-ranges|) [into
93 register x].
94
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +020095These commands delete text. You can repeat them with the `.` command
96(except `:d`) and undo them. Use Visual mode to delete blocks of text. See
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000097|registers| for an explanation of registers.
98
99An exception for the d{motion} command: If the motion is not linewise, the
100start and end of the motion are not in the same line, and there are only
Bram Moolenaar38a55632016-02-15 22:07:32 +0100101blanks before the start and there are no non-blanks after the end of the
102motion, the delete becomes linewise. This means that the delete also removes
103the line of blanks that you might expect to remain. Use the |o_v| operator to
104force the motion to be characterwise.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000105
106Trying to delete an empty region of text (e.g., "d0" in the first column)
107is an error when 'cpoptions' includes the 'E' flag.
108
109 *J*
110J Join [count] lines, with a minimum of two lines.
111 Remove the indent and insert up to two spaces (see
Bram Moolenaar77cdfd12016-03-12 12:57:59 +0100112 below). Fails when on the last line of the buffer.
113 If [count] is too big it is reduce to the number of
114 lines available.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000115
116 *v_J*
117{Visual}J Join the highlighted lines, with a minimum of two
118 lines. Remove the indent and insert up to two spaces
119 (see below). {not in Vi}
120
121 *gJ*
122gJ Join [count] lines, with a minimum of two lines.
123 Don't insert or remove any spaces. {not in Vi}
124
125 *v_gJ*
126{Visual}gJ Join the highlighted lines, with a minimum of two
127 lines. Don't insert or remove any spaces. {not in
128 Vi}
129
130 *:j* *:join*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000131:[range]j[oin][!] [flags]
132 Join [range] lines. Same as "J", except with [!]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000133 the join does not insert or delete any spaces.
134 If a [range] has equal start and end values, this
135 command does nothing. The default behavior is to
136 join the current line with the line below it.
137 {not in Vi: !}
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000138 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000139
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000140:[range]j[oin][!] {count} [flags]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000141 Join {count} lines, starting with [range] (default:
142 current line |cmdline-ranges|). Same as "J", except
143 with [!] the join does not insert or delete any
144 spaces.
145 {not in Vi: !}
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000146 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000147
148These commands delete the <EOL> between lines. This has the effect of joining
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200149multiple lines into one line. You can repeat these commands (except `:j`) and
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000150undo them.
151
152These commands, except "gJ", insert one space in place of the <EOL> unless
153there is trailing white space or the next line starts with a ')'. These
154commands, except "gJ", delete any leading white space on the next line. If
155the 'joinspaces' option is on, these commands insert two spaces after a '.',
156'!' or '?' (but if 'cpoptions' includes the 'j' flag, they insert two spaces
157only after a '.').
158The 'B' and 'M' flags in 'formatoptions' change the behavior for inserting
159spaces before and after a multi-byte character |fo-table|.
160
Bram Moolenaar251835e2014-02-24 02:51:51 +0100161The '[ mark is set at the end of the first line that was joined, '] at the end
162of the resulting line.
163
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000164
165==============================================================================
1662. Delete and insert *delete-insert* *replacing*
167
168 *R*
169R Enter Replace mode: Each character you type replaces
170 an existing character, starting with the character
171 under the cursor. Repeat the entered text [count]-1
172 times. See |Replace-mode| for more details.
173
174 *gR*
175gR Enter Virtual Replace mode: Each character you type
176 replaces existing characters in screen space. So a
177 <Tab> may replace several characters at once.
178 Repeat the entered text [count]-1 times. See
179 |Virtual-Replace-mode| for more details.
Bram Moolenaardb84e452010-08-15 13:50:43 +0200180 {not available when compiled without the |+vreplace|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000181 feature}
182
183 *c*
184["x]c{motion} Delete {motion} text [into register x] and start
185 insert. When 'cpoptions' includes the 'E' flag and
186 there is no text to delete (e.g., with "cTx" when the
187 cursor is just after an 'x'), an error occurs and
188 insert mode does not start (this is Vi compatible).
189 When 'cpoptions' does not include the 'E' flag, the
190 "c" command always starts insert mode, even if there
191 is no text to delete.
192
193 *cc*
194["x]cc Delete [count] lines [into register x] and start
195 insert |linewise|. If 'autoindent' is on, preserve
196 the indent of the first line.
197
198 *C*
199["x]C Delete from the cursor position to the end of the
200 line and [count]-1 more lines [into register x], and
201 start insert. Synonym for c$ (not |linewise|).
202
203 *s*
204["x]s Delete [count] characters [into register x] and start
205 insert (s stands for Substitute). Synonym for "cl"
206 (not |linewise|).
207
208 *S*
209["x]S Delete [count] lines [into register x] and start
210 insert. Synonym for "cc" |linewise|.
211
212{Visual}["x]c or *v_c* *v_s*
213{Visual}["x]s Delete the highlighted text [into register x] and
214 start insert (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not
215 in Vi}
216
217 *v_r*
218{Visual}["x]r{char} Replace all selected characters by {char}.
219
220 *v_C*
221{Visual}["x]C Delete the highlighted lines [into register x] and
222 start insert. In Visual block mode it works
223 differently |v_b_C|. {not in Vi}
224 *v_S*
225{Visual}["x]S Delete the highlighted lines [into register x] and
226 start insert (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not
227 in Vi}
228 *v_R*
229{Visual}["x]R Currently just like {Visual}["x]S. In a next version
230 it might work differently. {not in Vi}
231
232Notes:
233- You can end Insert and Replace mode with <Esc>.
234- See the section "Insert and Replace mode" |mode-ins-repl| for the other
235 special characters in these modes.
236- The effect of [count] takes place after Vim exits Insert or Replace mode.
237- When the 'cpoptions' option contains '$' and the change is within one line,
238 Vim continues to show the text to be deleted and puts a '$' at the last
239 deleted character.
240
241See |registers| for an explanation of registers.
242
243Replace mode is just like Insert mode, except that every character you enter
244deletes one character. If you reach the end of a line, Vim appends any
245further characters (just like Insert mode). In Replace mode, the backspace
246key restores the original text (if there was any). (See section "Insert and
247Replace mode" |mode-ins-repl|).
248
249 *cw* *cW*
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000250Special case: When the cursor is in a word, "cw" and "cW" do not include the
251white space after a word, they only change up to the end of the word. This is
252because Vim interprets "cw" as change-word, and a word does not include the
253following white space.
254{Vi: "cw" when on a blank followed by other blanks changes only the first
255blank; this is probably a bug, because "dw" deletes all the blanks; use the
256'w' flag in 'cpoptions' to make it work like Vi anyway}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000257
258If you prefer "cw" to include the space after a word, use this mapping: >
259 :map cw dwi
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000260Or use "caw" (see |aw|).
261
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000262 *:c* *:ch* *:change*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000263:{range}c[hange][!] Replace lines of text with some different text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000264 Type a line containing only "." to stop replacing.
265 Without {range}, this command changes only the current
266 line.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000267 Adding [!] toggles 'autoindent' for the time this
268 command is executed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000269
270==============================================================================
2713. Simple changes *simple-change*
272
273 *r*
274r{char} Replace the character under the cursor with {char}.
275 If {char} is a <CR> or <NL>, a line break replaces the
276 character. To replace with a real <CR>, use CTRL-V
277 <CR>. CTRL-V <NL> replaces with a <Nul>.
278 {Vi: CTRL-V <CR> still replaces with a line break,
279 cannot replace something with a <CR>}
Bram Moolenaar80716072012-05-01 21:14:34 +0200280
281 If {char} is CTRL-E or CTRL-Y the character from the
282 line below or above is used, just like with |i_CTRL-E|
283 and |i_CTRL-Y|. This also works with a count, thus
284 `10r<C-E>` copies 10 characters from the line below.
285
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000286 If you give a [count], Vim replaces [count] characters
287 with [count] {char}s. When {char} is a <CR> or <NL>,
288 however, Vim inserts only one <CR>: "5r<CR>" replaces
289 five characters with a single line break.
290 When {char} is a <CR> or <NL>, Vim performs
291 autoindenting. This works just like deleting the
292 characters that are replaced and then doing
293 "i<CR><Esc>".
294 {char} can be entered as a digraph |digraph-arg|.
295 |:lmap| mappings apply to {char}. The CTRL-^ command
296 in Insert mode can be used to switch this on/off
297 |i_CTRL-^|. See |utf-8-char-arg| about using
298 composing characters when 'encoding' is Unicode.
299
300 *gr*
301gr{char} Replace the virtual characters under the cursor with
302 {char}. This replaces in screen space, not file
303 space. See |gR| and |Virtual-Replace-mode| for more
304 details. As with |r| a count may be given.
305 {char} can be entered like with |r|.
Bram Moolenaardb84e452010-08-15 13:50:43 +0200306 {not available when compiled without the |+vreplace|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000307 feature}
308
309 *digraph-arg*
310The argument for Normal mode commands like |r| and |t| is a single character.
311When 'cpo' doesn't contain the 'D' flag, this character can also be entered
312like |digraphs|. First type CTRL-K and then the two digraph characters.
313{not available when compiled without the |+digraphs| feature}
314
315 *case*
316The following commands change the case of letters. The currently active
317|locale| is used. See |:language|. The LC_CTYPE value matters here.
318
319 *~*
320~ 'notildeop' option: Switch case of the character
321 under the cursor and move the cursor to the right.
322 If a [count] is given, do that many characters. {Vi:
323 no count}
324
325~{motion} 'tildeop' option: switch case of {motion} text. {Vi:
326 tilde cannot be used as an operator}
327
328 *g~*
329g~{motion} Switch case of {motion} text. {not in Vi}
330
331g~g~ *g~g~* *g~~*
332g~~ Switch case of current line. {not in Vi}.
333
334 *v_~*
335{Visual}~ Switch case of highlighted text (for {Visual} see
336 |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi}
337
338 *v_U*
339{Visual}U Make highlighted text uppercase (for {Visual} see
340 |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi}
341
342 *gU* *uppercase*
343gU{motion} Make {motion} text uppercase. {not in Vi}
344 Example: >
345 :map! <C-F> <Esc>gUiw`]a
346< This works in Insert mode: press CTRL-F to make the
347 word before the cursor uppercase. Handy to type
348 words in lowercase and then make them uppercase.
349
350
351gUgU *gUgU* *gUU*
352gUU Make current line uppercase. {not in Vi}.
353
354 *v_u*
355{Visual}u Make highlighted text lowercase (for {Visual} see
356 |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi}
357
358 *gu* *lowercase*
359gu{motion} Make {motion} text lowercase. {not in Vi}
360
361gugu *gugu* *guu*
362guu Make current line lowercase. {not in Vi}.
363
364 *g?* *rot13*
365g?{motion} Rot13 encode {motion} text. {not in Vi}
366
367 *v_g?*
368{Visual}g? Rot13 encode the highlighted text (for {Visual} see
369 |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi}
370
371g?g? *g?g?* *g??*
372g?? Rot13 encode current line. {not in Vi}.
373
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000374To turn one line into title caps, make every first letter of a word
375uppercase: >
376 :s/\v<(.)(\w*)/\u\1\L\2/g
377
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000378
379Adding and subtracting ~
380 *CTRL-A*
381CTRL-A Add [count] to the number or alphabetic character at
382 or after the cursor. {not in Vi}
383
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200384 *v_CTRL-A*
385{Visual}CTRL-A Add [count] to the number or alphabetic character in
386 the highlighted text. {not in Vi}
387
388 *v_g_CTRL-A*
389{Visual}g CTRL-A Add [count] to the number or alphabetic character in
390 the highlighted text. If several lines are
391 highlighted, each one will be incremented by an
392 additional [count] (so effectively creating a
393 [count] incrementing sequence). {not in Vi}
394 For Example, if you have this list of numbers:
395 1. ~
396 1. ~
397 1. ~
398 1. ~
399 Move to the second "1." and Visually select three
400 lines, pressing g CTRL-A results in:
401 1. ~
402 2. ~
403 3. ~
404 4. ~
405
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000406 *CTRL-X*
407CTRL-X Subtract [count] from the number or alphabetic
408 character at or after the cursor. {not in Vi}
409
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200410 *v_CTRL-X*
411{Visual}CTRL-X Subtract [count] from the number or alphabetic
412 character in the highlighted text. {not in Vi}
413
Bram Moolenaare0fa3742016-02-20 15:47:01 +0100414 On MS-Windows, this is mapped to cut Visual text
415 |dos-standard-mappings|. If you want to disable the
416 mapping, use this: >
417 silent! vunmap <C-X>
418<
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200419 *v_g_CTRL-X*
420{Visual}g CTRL-X Subtract [count] from the number or alphabetic
421 character in the highlighted text. If several lines
422 are highlighted, each value will be decremented by an
423 additional [count] (so effectively creating a [count]
424 decrementing sequence). {not in Vi}
425
Bram Moolenaar887c1fe2016-01-02 17:56:35 +0100426The CTRL-A and CTRL-X commands can work for:
427- signed and unsigned decimal numbers
428- unsigned binary, octal and hexadecimal numbers
429- alphabetic characters
430
431This depends on the 'nrformats' option:
432- When 'nrformats' includes "bin", Vim assumes numbers starting with '0b' or
433 '0B' are binary.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000434- When 'nrformats' includes "octal", Vim considers numbers starting with a '0'
Bram Moolenaar1cd871b2004-12-19 22:46:22 +0000435 to be octal, unless the number includes a '8' or '9'. Other numbers are
436 decimal and may have a preceding minus sign.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000437 If the cursor is on a number, the commands apply to that number; otherwise
438 Vim uses the number to the right of the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000439- When 'nrformats' includes "hex", Vim assumes numbers starting with '0x' or
440 '0X' are hexadecimal. The case of the rightmost letter in the number
441 determines the case of the resulting hexadecimal number. If there is no
442 letter in the current number, Vim uses the previously detected case.
443- When 'nrformats' includes "alpha", Vim will change the alphabetic character
444 under or after the cursor. This is useful to make lists with an alphabetic
445 index.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000446
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200447For decimals a leading negative sign is considered for incrementing/
Bram Moolenaarfa735342016-01-03 22:14:44 +0100448decrementing, for binary, octal and hex values, it won't be considered. To
449ignore the sign Visually select the number before using CTRL-A or CTRL-X.
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200450
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000451For numbers with leading zeros (including all octal and hexadecimal numbers),
452Vim preserves the number of characters in the number when possible. CTRL-A on
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000453"0077" results in "0100", CTRL-X on "0x100" results in "0x0ff".
Bram Moolenaar1cd871b2004-12-19 22:46:22 +0000454There is one exception: When a number that starts with a zero is found not to
455be octal (it contains a '8' or '9'), but 'nrformats' does include "octal",
456leading zeros are removed to avoid that the result may be recognized as an
457octal number.
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000458
459Note that when 'nrformats' includes "octal", decimal numbers with leading
Bram Moolenaar1cd871b2004-12-19 22:46:22 +0000460zeros cause mistakes, because they can be confused with octal numbers.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000461
Bram Moolenaar887c1fe2016-01-02 17:56:35 +0100462Note similarly, when 'nrformats' includes "bin", binary numbers with a leading
463'0x' or '0X' can be interpreted as hexadecimal rather than binary since '0b'
464are valid hexadecimal digits.
465
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000466The CTRL-A command is very useful in a macro. Example: Use the following
467steps to make a numbered list.
468
4691. Create the first list entry, make sure it starts with a number.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00004702. qa - start recording into register 'a'
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004713. Y - yank the entry
4724. p - put a copy of the entry below the first one
4735. CTRL-A - increment the number
4746. q - stop recording
4757. <count>@a - repeat the yank, put and increment <count> times
476
477
478SHIFTING LINES LEFT OR RIGHT *shift-left-right*
479
480 *<*
481<{motion} Shift {motion} lines one 'shiftwidth' leftwards.
482
483 *<<*
484<< Shift [count] lines one 'shiftwidth' leftwards.
485
486 *v_<*
487{Visual}[count]< Shift the highlighted lines [count] 'shiftwidth'
488 leftwards (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not in
489 Vi}
490
491 *>*
492 >{motion} Shift {motion} lines one 'shiftwidth' rightwards.
493
494 *>>*
495 >> Shift [count] lines one 'shiftwidth' rightwards.
496
497 *v_>*
498{Visual}[count]> Shift the highlighted lines [count] 'shiftwidth'
499 rightwards (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not in
500 Vi}
501
502 *:<*
503:[range]< Shift [range] lines one 'shiftwidth' left. Repeat '<'
504 for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's.
505
506:[range]< {count} Shift {count} lines one 'shiftwidth' left, starting
507 with [range] (default current line |cmdline-ranges|).
508 Repeat '<' for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's.
509
510:[range]le[ft] [indent] left align lines in [range]. Sets the indent in the
511 lines to [indent] (default 0). {not in Vi}
512
513 *:>*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000514:[range]> [flags] Shift {count} [range] lines one 'shiftwidth' right.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000515 Repeat '>' for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000516 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000517
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000518:[range]> {count} [flags]
519 Shift {count} lines one 'shiftwidth' right, starting
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000520 with [range] (default current line |cmdline-ranges|).
521 Repeat '>' for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000522 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000523
524The ">" and "<" commands are handy for changing the indentation within
525programs. Use the 'shiftwidth' option to set the size of the white space
526which these commands insert or delete. Normally the 'shiftwidth' option is 8,
527but you can set it to, say, 3 to make smaller indents. The shift leftwards
528stops when there is no indent. The shift right does not affect empty lines.
529
530If the 'shiftround' option is on, the indent is rounded to a multiple of
531'shiftwidth'.
532
533If the 'smartindent' option is on, or 'cindent' is on and 'cinkeys' contains
Bram Moolenaar8e69b4a2013-11-09 03:41:58 +0100534'#' with a zero value, shift right does not affect lines starting with '#'
535(these are supposed to be C preprocessor lines that must stay in column 1).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000536
537When the 'expandtab' option is off (this is the default) Vim uses <Tab>s as
538much as possible to make the indent. You can use ">><<" to replace an indent
539made out of spaces with the same indent made out of <Tab>s (and a few spaces
540if necessary). If the 'expandtab' option is on, Vim uses only spaces. Then
541you can use ">><<" to replace <Tab>s in the indent by spaces (or use
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200542`:retab!`).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000543
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200544To move a line several 'shiftwidth's, use Visual mode or the `:` commands.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000545For example: >
546 Vjj4> move three lines 4 indents to the right
547 :<<< move current line 3 indents to the left
548 :>> 5 move 5 lines 2 indents to the right
549 :5>> move line 5 2 indents to the right
550
551==============================================================================
5524. Complex changes *complex-change*
553
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00005544.1 Filter commands *filter*
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000555
556A filter is a program that accepts text at standard input, changes it in some
557way, and sends it to standard output. You can use the commands below to send
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000558some text through a filter, so that it is replaced by the filter output.
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000559Examples of filters are "sort", which sorts lines alphabetically, and
560"indent", which formats C program files (you need a version of indent that
561works like a filter; not all versions do). The 'shell' option specifies the
562shell Vim uses to execute the filter command (See also the 'shelltype'
563option). You can repeat filter commands with ".". Vim does not recognize a
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200564comment (starting with '"') after the `:!` command.
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000565
566 *!*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000567!{motion}{filter} Filter {motion} text lines through the external
568 program {filter}.
569
570 *!!*
571!!{filter} Filter [count] lines through the external program
572 {filter}.
573
574 *v_!*
575{Visual}!{filter} Filter the highlighted lines through the external
576 program {filter} (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
577 {not in Vi}
578
579:{range}![!]{filter} [!][arg] *:range!*
580 Filter {range} lines through the external program
581 {filter}. Vim replaces the optional bangs with the
582 latest given command and appends the optional [arg].
583 Vim saves the output of the filter command in a
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100584 temporary file and then reads the file into the buffer
585 |tempfile|. Vim uses the 'shellredir' option to
586 redirect the filter output to the temporary file.
Bram Moolenaar83c465c2005-12-16 21:53:56 +0000587 However, if the 'shelltemp' option is off then pipes
588 are used when possible (on Unix).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000589 When the 'R' flag is included in 'cpoptions' marks in
590 the filtered lines are deleted, unless the
591 |:keepmarks| command is used. Example: >
592 :keepmarks '<,'>!sort
593< When the number of lines after filtering is less than
594 before, marks in the missing lines are deleted anyway.
595
596 *=*
597={motion} Filter {motion} lines through the external program
598 given with the 'equalprg' option. When the 'equalprg'
599 option is empty (this is the default), use the
Bram Moolenaar20f90cf2011-05-19 12:22:51 +0200600 internal formatting function |C-indenting| and
601 |'lisp'|. But when 'indentexpr' is not empty, it will
602 be used instead |indent-expression|. When Vim was
603 compiled without internal formatting then the "indent"
604 program is used as a last resort.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000605
606 *==*
607== Filter [count] lines like with ={motion}.
608
609 *v_=*
610{Visual}= Filter the highlighted lines like with ={motion}.
611 {not in Vi}
612
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000613
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100614 *tempfile* *setuid*
615Vim uses temporary files for filtering, generating diffs and also for
616tempname(). For Unix, the file will be in a private directory (only
617accessible by the current user) to avoid security problems (e.g., a symlink
618attack or other people reading your file). When Vim exits the directory and
619all files in it are deleted. When Vim has the setuid bit set this may cause
620problems, the temp file is owned by the setuid user but the filter command
621probably runs as the original user.
622On MS-DOS and OS/2 the first of these directories that works is used: $TMP,
623$TEMP, c:\TMP, c:\TEMP.
624For Unix the list of directories is: $TMPDIR, /tmp, current-dir, $HOME.
625For MS-Windows the GetTempFileName() system function is used.
626For other systems the tmpnam() library function is used.
627
628
629
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +00006304.2 Substitute *:substitute*
631 *:s* *:su*
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000632:[range]s[ubstitute]/{pattern}/{string}/[flags] [count]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000633 For each line in [range] replace a match of {pattern}
634 with {string}.
635 For the {pattern} see |pattern|.
636 {string} can be a literal string, or something
637 special; see |sub-replace-special|.
Bram Moolenaar3df01732017-02-17 22:47:16 +0100638 *E939*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000639 When [range] and [count] are omitted, replace in the
Bram Moolenaar3df01732017-02-17 22:47:16 +0100640 current line only. When [count] is given, replace in
641 [count] lines, starting with the last line in [range].
642 When [range] is omitted start in the current line.
643 [count] must be a positive number. Also see
644 |cmdline-ranges|.
645
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000646 See |:s_flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000647
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000648:[range]s[ubstitute] [flags] [count]
649:[range]&[&][flags] [count] *:&*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000650 Repeat last :substitute with same search pattern and
651 substitute string, but without the same flags. You
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000652 may add [flags], see |:s_flags|.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200653 Note that after `:substitute` the '&' flag can't be
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000654 used, it's recognized as a pattern separator.
Bram Moolenaarfc39ecf2015-08-11 20:34:49 +0200655 The space between `:substitute` and the 'c', 'g',
656 'i', 'I' and 'r' flags isn't required, but in scripts
657 it's a good idea to keep it to avoid confusion.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000658
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000659:[range]~[&][flags] [count] *:~*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000660 Repeat last substitute with same substitute string
661 but with last used search pattern. This is like
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200662 `:&r`. See |:s_flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000663
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000664 *&*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200665& Synonym for `:s` (repeat last substitute). Note
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000666 that the flags are not remembered, thus it might
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200667 actually work differently. You can use `:&&` to keep
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000668 the flags.
669
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000670 *g&*
Bram Moolenaar97d62492012-11-15 21:28:22 +0100671g& Synonym for `:%s//~/&` (repeat last substitute with
672 last search pattern on all lines with the same flags).
Bram Moolenaar34700a62013-03-07 13:20:54 +0100673 For example, when you first do a substitution with
Bram Moolenaar97d62492012-11-15 21:28:22 +0100674 `:s/pattern/repl/flags` and then `/search` for
675 something else, `g&` will do `:%s/search/repl/flags`.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000676 Mnemonic: global substitute. {not in Vi}
677
678 *:snomagic* *:sno*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200679:[range]sno[magic] ... Same as `:substitute`, but always use 'nomagic'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000680 {not in Vi}
681
682 *:smagic* *:sm*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200683:[range]sm[agic] ... Same as `:substitute`, but always use 'magic'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000684 {not in Vi}
685
686 *:s_flags*
687The flags that you can use for the substitute commands:
688
Bram Moolenaar51628222016-12-01 23:03:28 +0100689 *:&&*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000690[&] Must be the first one: Keep the flags from the previous substitute
691 command. Examples: >
692 :&&
693 :s/this/that/&
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200694< Note that `:s` and `:&` don't keep the flags.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000695 {not in Vi}
696
697[c] Confirm each substitution. Vim highlights the matching string (with
698 |hl-IncSearch|). You can type: *:s_c*
699 'y' to substitute this match
700 'l' to substitute this match and then quit ("last")
701 'n' to skip this match
702 <Esc> to quit substituting
703 'a' to substitute this and all remaining matches {not in Vi}
704 'q' to quit substituting {not in Vi}
705 CTRL-E to scroll the screen up {not in Vi, not available when
Bram Moolenaardb84e452010-08-15 13:50:43 +0200706 compiled without the |+insert_expand| feature}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000707 CTRL-Y to scroll the screen down {not in Vi, not available when
Bram Moolenaardb84e452010-08-15 13:50:43 +0200708 compiled without the |+insert_expand| feature}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000709 If the 'edcompatible' option is on, Vim remembers the [c] flag and
710 toggles it each time you use it, but resets it when you give a new
711 search pattern.
712 {not in Vi: highlighting of the match, other responses than 'y' or 'n'}
713
714[e] When the search pattern fails, do not issue an error message and, in
715 particular, continue in maps as if no error occurred. This is most
716 useful to prevent the "No match" error from breaking a mapping. Vim
717 does not suppress the following error messages, however:
718 Regular expressions can't be delimited by letters
719 \ should be followed by /, ? or &
720 No previous substitute regular expression
721 Trailing characters
722 Interrupted
723 {not in Vi}
724
725[g] Replace all occurrences in the line. Without this argument,
726 replacement occurs only for the first occurrence in each line. If
727 the 'edcompatible' option is on, Vim remembers this flag and toggles
728 it each time you use it, but resets it when you give a new search
729 pattern. If the 'gdefault' option is on, this flag is on by default
730 and the [g] argument switches it off.
731
732[i] Ignore case for the pattern. The 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' options
733 are not used.
734 {not in Vi}
735
736[I] Don't ignore case for the pattern. The 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase'
737 options are not used.
738 {not in Vi}
739
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000740[n] Report the number of matches, do not actually substitute. The [c]
741 flag is ignored. The matches are reported as if 'report' is zero.
742 Useful to |count-items|.
Bram Moolenaar9b451252012-08-15 17:43:31 +0200743 If \= |sub-replace-expression| is used, the expression will be
744 evaluated in the |sandbox| at every match.
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000745
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000746[p] Print the line containing the last substitute.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000747
748[#] Like [p] and prepend the line number.
749
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +0000750[l] Like [p] but print the text like |:list|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000751
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200752[r] Only useful in combination with `:&` or `:s` without arguments. `:&r`
753 works the same way as `:~`: When the search pattern is empty, use the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000754 previously used search pattern instead of the search pattern from the
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200755 last substitute or `:global`. If the last command that did a search
756 was a substitute or `:global`, there is no effect. If the last
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000757 command was a search command such as "/", use the pattern from that
758 command.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200759 For `:s` with an argument this already happens: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000760 :s/blue/red/
761 /green
762 :s//red/ or :~ or :&r
763< The last commands will replace "green" with "red". >
764 :s/blue/red/
765 /green
766 :&
767< The last command will replace "blue" with "red".
768 {not in Vi}
769
770Note that there is no flag to change the "magicness" of the pattern. A
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000771different command is used instead, or you can use |/\v| and friends. The
772reason is that the flags can only be found by skipping the pattern, and in
773order to skip the pattern the "magicness" must be known. Catch 22!
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000774
775If the {pattern} for the substitute command is empty, the command uses the
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200776pattern from the last substitute or `:global` command. If there is none, but
Bram Moolenaar662db672011-03-22 14:05:35 +0100777there is a previous search pattern, that one is used. With the [r] flag, the
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200778command uses the pattern from the last substitute, `:global`, or search
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000779command.
780
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +0000781If the {string} is omitted the substitute is done as if it's empty. Thus the
782matched pattern is deleted. The separator after {pattern} can also be left
783out then. Example: >
784 :%s/TESTING
785This deletes "TESTING" from all lines, but only one per line.
786
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000787For compatibility with Vi these two exceptions are allowed:
788"\/{string}/" and "\?{string}?" do the same as "//{string}/r".
789"\&{string}&" does the same as "//{string}/".
790 *E146*
791Instead of the '/' which surrounds the pattern and replacement string, you
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +0000792can use any other single-byte character, but not an alphanumeric character,
793'\', '"' or '|'. This is useful if you want to include a '/' in the search
794pattern or replacement string. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000795 :s+/+//+
796
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000797For the definition of a pattern, see |pattern|. In Visual block mode, use
798|/\%V| in the pattern to have the substitute work in the block only.
799Otherwise it works on whole lines anyway.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000800
801 *sub-replace-special* *:s\=*
802When the {string} starts with "\=" it is evaluated as an expression, see
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200803|sub-replace-expression|. You can use that for complex replacement or special
804characters.
805
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +0000806Otherwise these characters in {string} have a special meaning:
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000807 *:s%*
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +0000808When {string} is equal to "%" and '/' is included with the 'cpoptions' option,
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200809then the {string} of the previous substitute command is used, see |cpo-/|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000810
811magic nomagic action ~
812 & \& replaced with the whole matched pattern *s/\&*
813 \& & replaced with &
814 \0 replaced with the whole matched pattern *\0* *s/\0*
815 \1 replaced with the matched pattern in the first
816 pair of () *s/\1*
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +0000817 \2 replaced with the matched pattern in the second
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000818 pair of () *s/\2*
819 .. .. *s/\3*
820 \9 replaced with the matched pattern in the ninth
821 pair of () *s/\9*
822 ~ \~ replaced with the {string} of the previous
823 substitute *s~*
824 \~ ~ replaced with ~ *s/\~*
825 \u next character made uppercase *s/\u*
826 \U following characters made uppercase, until \E *s/\U*
827 \l next character made lowercase *s/\l*
828 \L following characters made lowercase, until \E *s/\L*
829 \e end of \u, \U, \l and \L (NOTE: not <Esc>!) *s/\e*
830 \E end of \u, \U, \l and \L *s/\E*
831 <CR> split line in two at this point
832 (Type the <CR> as CTRL-V <Enter>) *s<CR>*
833 \r idem *s/\r*
834 \<CR> insert a carriage-return (CTRL-M)
835 (Type the <CR> as CTRL-V <Enter>) *s/\<CR>*
836 \n insert a <NL> (<NUL> in the file)
837 (does NOT break the line) *s/\n*
838 \b insert a <BS> *s/\b*
839 \t insert a <Tab> *s/\t*
840 \\ insert a single backslash *s/\\*
841 \x where x is any character not mentioned above:
842 Reserved for future expansion
843
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200844The special meaning is also used inside the third argument {sub} of
845the |substitute()| function with the following exceptions:
846 - A % inserts a percent literally without regard to 'cpoptions'.
847 - magic is always set without regard to 'magic'.
848 - A ~ inserts a tilde literally.
849 - <CR> and \r inserts a carriage-return (CTRL-M).
850 - \<CR> does not have a special meaning. it's just one of \x.
851
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000852Examples: >
853 :s/a\|b/xxx\0xxx/g modifies "a b" to "xxxaxxx xxxbxxx"
854 :s/\([abc]\)\([efg]\)/\2\1/g modifies "af fa bg" to "fa fa gb"
855 :s/abcde/abc^Mde/ modifies "abcde" to "abc", "de" (two lines)
856 :s/$/\^M/ modifies "abcde" to "abcde^M"
Bram Moolenaarefd2bf12006-03-16 21:41:35 +0000857 :s/\w\+/\u\0/g modifies "bla bla" to "Bla Bla"
Bram Moolenaaraa3b15d2016-04-21 08:53:19 +0200858 :s/\w\+/\L\u\0/g modifies "BLA bla" to "Bla Bla"
Bram Moolenaarbf884932013-04-05 22:26:15 +0200859
860Note: "\L\u" can be used to capitalize the first letter of a word. This is
861not compatible with Vi and older versions of Vim, where the "\u" would cancel
862out the "\L". Same for "\U\l".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000863
864Note: In previous versions CTRL-V was handled in a special way. Since this is
865not Vi compatible, this was removed. Use a backslash instead.
866
867command text result ~
868:s/aa/a^Ma/ aa a<line-break>a
869:s/aa/a\^Ma/ aa a^Ma
870:s/aa/a\\^Ma/ aa a\<line-break>a
871
872(you need to type CTRL-V <CR> to get a ^M here)
873
874The numbering of "\1", "\2" etc. is done based on which "\(" comes first in
875the pattern (going left to right). When a parentheses group matches several
876times, the last one will be used for "\1", "\2", etc. Example: >
877 :s/\(\(a[a-d] \)*\)/\2/ modifies "aa ab x" to "ab x"
Bram Moolenaar7e1479b2016-09-11 15:07:27 +0200878The "\2" is for "\(a[a-d] \)". At first it matches "aa ", secondly "ab ".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000879
880When using parentheses in combination with '|', like in \([ab]\)\|\([cd]\),
881either the first or second pattern in parentheses did not match, so either
882\1 or \2 is empty. Example: >
883 :s/\([ab]\)\|\([cd]\)/\1x/g modifies "a b c d" to "ax bx x x"
884<
885
Bram Moolenaara0f849e2015-10-30 14:37:44 +0100886 *:sc* *:sce* *:scg* *:sci* *:scI* *:scl* *:scp* *:sg* *:sgc*
887 *:sge* *:sgi* *:sgI* *:sgl* *:sgn* *:sgp* *:sgr* *:sI* *:si*
888 *:sic* *:sIc* *:sie* *:sIe* *:sIg* *:sIl* *:sin* *:sIn* *:sIp*
889 *:sip* *:sIr* *:sir* *:sr* *:src* *:srg* *:sri* *:srI* *:srl*
890 *:srn* *:srp*
8912-letter and 3-letter :substitute commands ~
892
893 List of :substitute commands
894 | c e g i I n p l r
895 | c :sc :sce :scg :sci :scI :scn :scp :scl ---
896 | e
897 | g :sgc :sge :sg :sgi :sgI :sgn :sgp :sgl :sgr
898 | i :sic :sie --- :si :siI :sin :sip --- :sir
899 | I :sIc :sIe :sIg :sIi :sI :sIn :sIp :sIl :sIr
900 | n
901 | p
902 | l
903 | r :src --- :srg :sri :srI :srn :srp :srl :sr
904
905Exceptions:
906 :scr is `:scriptnames`
907 :se is `:set`
908 :sig is `:sign`
909 :sil is `:silent`
910 :sn is `:snext`
911 :sp is `:split`
912 :sl is `:sleep`
913 :sre is `:srewind`
914
915
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000916Substitute with an expression *sub-replace-expression*
Bram Moolenaar92dff182014-02-11 19:15:50 +0100917 *sub-replace-\=* *s/\=*
Bram Moolenaara7fc0102005-05-18 22:17:12 +0000918When the substitute string starts with "\=" the remainder is interpreted as an
Bram Moolenaar6100d022016-10-02 16:51:57 +0200919expression.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000920
921The special meaning for characters as mentioned at |sub-replace-special| does
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200922not apply except for "<CR>". A <NL> character is used as a line break, you
923can get one with a double-quote string: "\n". Prepend a backslash to get a
924real <NL> character (which will be a NUL in the file).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000925
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200926The "\=" notation can also be used inside the third argument {sub} of
927|substitute()| function. In this case, the special meaning for characters as
928mentioned at |sub-replace-special| does not apply at all. Especially, <CR> and
929<NL> are interpreted not as a line break but as a carriage-return and a
930new-line respectively.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000931
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +0000932When the result is a |List| then the items are joined with separating line
933breaks. Thus each item becomes a line, except that they can contain line
934breaks themselves.
935
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000936The whole matched text can be accessed with "submatch(0)". The text matched
937with the first pair of () with "submatch(1)". Likewise for further
938sub-matches in ().
939
940Be careful: The separation character must not appear in the expression!
941Consider using a character like "@" or ":". There is no problem if the result
942of the expression contains the separation character.
943
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +0000944Examples: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000945 :s@\n@\="\r" . expand("$HOME") . "\r"@
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +0000946This replaces an end-of-line with a new line containing the value of $HOME. >
947
948 s/E/\="\<Char-0x20ac>"/g
Bram Moolenaarc236c162008-07-13 17:41:49 +0000949This replaces each 'E' character with a euro sign. Read more in |<Char->|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000950
951
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +00009524.3 Search and replace *search-replace*
953
954 *:pro* *:promptfind*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000955:promptf[ind] [string]
956 Put up a Search dialog. When [string] is given, it is
957 used as the initial search string.
958 {only for Win32, Motif and GTK GUI}
959
960 *:promptr* *:promptrepl*
961:promptr[epl] [string]
962 Put up a Search/Replace dialog. When [string] is
963 given, it is used as the initial search string.
964 {only for Win32, Motif and GTK GUI}
965
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000966
9674.4 Changing tabs *change-tabs*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200968 *:ret* *:retab* *:retab!*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000969:[range]ret[ab][!] [new_tabstop]
970 Replace all sequences of white-space containing a
971 <Tab> with new strings of white-space using the new
972 tabstop value given. If you do not specify a new
973 tabstop size or it is zero, Vim uses the current value
974 of 'tabstop'.
975 The current value of 'tabstop' is always used to
976 compute the width of existing tabs.
977 With !, Vim also replaces strings of only normal
978 spaces with tabs where appropriate.
979 With 'expandtab' on, Vim replaces all tabs with the
980 appropriate number of spaces.
981 This command sets 'tabstop' to the new value given,
982 and if performed on the whole file, which is default,
983 should not make any visible change.
984 Careful: This command modifies any <Tab> characters
985 inside of strings in a C program. Use "\t" to avoid
986 this (that's a good habit anyway).
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200987 `:retab!` may also change a sequence of spaces by
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000988 <Tab> characters, which can mess up a printf().
989 {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000990
991 *retab-example*
992Example for using autocommands and ":retab" to edit a file which is stored
993with tabstops at 8 but edited with tabstops set at 4. Warning: white space
994inside of strings can change! Also see 'softtabstop' option. >
995
996 :auto BufReadPost *.xx retab! 4
997 :auto BufWritePre *.xx retab! 8
998 :auto BufWritePost *.xx retab! 4
999 :auto BufNewFile *.xx set ts=4
1000
1001==============================================================================
10025. Copying and moving text *copy-move*
1003
1004 *quote*
1005"{a-zA-Z0-9.%#:-"} Use register {a-zA-Z0-9.%#:-"} for next delete, yank
1006 or put (use uppercase character to append with
1007 delete and yank) ({.%#:} only work with put).
1008
1009 *:reg* *:registers*
1010:reg[isters] Display the contents of all numbered and named
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001011 registers. If a register is written to for |:redir|
1012 it will not be listed.
1013 {not in Vi}
1014
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001015
1016:reg[isters] {arg} Display the contents of the numbered and named
1017 registers that are mentioned in {arg}. For example: >
Bram Moolenaarfa735342016-01-03 22:14:44 +01001018 :reg 1a
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001019< to display registers '1' and 'a'. Spaces are allowed
1020 in {arg}. {not in Vi}
1021
1022 *:di* *:display*
1023:di[splay] [arg] Same as :registers. {not in Vi}
1024
1025 *y* *yank*
1026["x]y{motion} Yank {motion} text [into register x]. When no
1027 characters are to be yanked (e.g., "y0" in column 1),
1028 this is an error when 'cpoptions' includes the 'E'
1029 flag.
1030
1031 *yy*
1032["x]yy Yank [count] lines [into register x] |linewise|.
1033
1034 *Y*
1035["x]Y yank [count] lines [into register x] (synonym for
1036 yy, |linewise|). If you like "Y" to work from the
1037 cursor to the end of line (which is more logical,
1038 but not Vi-compatible) use ":map Y y$".
1039
1040 *v_y*
1041{Visual}["x]y Yank the highlighted text [into register x] (for
1042 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi}
1043
1044 *v_Y*
1045{Visual}["x]Y Yank the highlighted lines [into register x] (for
1046 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi}
1047
Bram Moolenaar85de2062011-05-05 14:26:41 +02001048 *:y* *:yank* *E850*
1049:[range]y[ank] [x] Yank [range] lines [into register x]. Yanking to the
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +02001050 "* or "+ registers is possible only when the
1051 |+clipboard| feature is included.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001052
1053:[range]y[ank] [x] {count}
1054 Yank {count} lines, starting with last line number
1055 in [range] (default: current line |cmdline-ranges|),
1056 [into register x].
1057
1058 *p* *put* *E353*
1059["x]p Put the text [from register x] after the cursor
1060 [count] times. {Vi: no count}
1061
1062 *P*
1063["x]P Put the text [from register x] before the cursor
1064 [count] times. {Vi: no count}
1065
1066 *<MiddleMouse>*
1067["x]<MiddleMouse> Put the text from a register before the cursor [count]
1068 times. Uses the "* register, unless another is
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001069 specified.
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +00001070 Leaves the cursor at the end of the new text.
1071 Using the mouse only works when 'mouse' contains 'n'
1072 or 'a'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001073 {not in Vi}
1074 If you have a scrollwheel and often accidentally paste
1075 text, you can use these mappings to disable the
1076 pasting with the middle mouse button: >
1077 :map <MiddleMouse> <Nop>
1078 :imap <MiddleMouse> <Nop>
1079< You might want to disable the multi-click versions
1080 too, see |double-click|.
1081
1082 *gp*
1083["x]gp Just like "p", but leave the cursor just after the new
1084 text. {not in Vi}
1085
1086 *gP*
1087["x]gP Just like "P", but leave the cursor just after the new
1088 text. {not in Vi}
1089
1090 *:pu* *:put*
1091:[line]pu[t] [x] Put the text [from register x] after [line] (default
1092 current line). This always works |linewise|, thus
1093 this command can be used to put a yanked block as new
1094 lines.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001095 If no register is specified, it depends on the 'cb'
1096 option: If 'cb' contains "unnamedplus", paste from the
1097 + register |quoteplus|. Otherwise, if 'cb' contains
Bram Moolenaarddbb5552012-04-26 20:17:03 +02001098 "unnamed", paste from the * register |quotestar|.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001099 Otherwise, paste from the unnamed register
1100 |quote_quote|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001101 The register can also be '=' followed by an optional
1102 expression. The expression continues until the end of
1103 the command. You need to escape the '|' and '"'
1104 characters to prevent them from terminating the
1105 command. Example: >
1106 :put ='path' . \",/test\"
1107< If there is no expression after '=', Vim uses the
1108 previous expression. You can see it with ":dis =".
1109
1110:[line]pu[t]! [x] Put the text [from register x] before [line] (default
1111 current line).
1112
1113["x]]p or *]p* *]<MiddleMouse>*
1114["x]]<MiddleMouse> Like "p", but adjust the indent to the current line.
1115 Using the mouse only works when 'mouse' contains 'n'
1116 or 'a'. {not in Vi}
1117
1118["x][P or *[P*
1119["x]]P or *]P*
1120["x][p or *[p* *[<MiddleMouse>*
1121["x][<MiddleMouse> Like "P", but adjust the indent to the current line.
1122 Using the mouse only works when 'mouse' contains 'n'
1123 or 'a'. {not in Vi}
1124
1125You can use these commands to copy text from one place to another. Do this
1126by first getting the text into a register with a yank, delete or change
1127command, then inserting the register contents with a put command. You can
1128also use these commands to move text from one file to another, because Vim
1129preserves all registers when changing buffers (the CTRL-^ command is a quick
1130way to toggle between two files).
1131
1132 *linewise-register* *characterwise-register*
1133You can repeat the put commands with "." (except for :put) and undo them. If
1134the command that was used to get the text into the register was |linewise|,
1135Vim inserts the text below ("p") or above ("P") the line where the cursor is.
1136Otherwise Vim inserts the text after ("p") or before ("P") the cursor. With
1137the ":put" command, Vim always inserts the text in the next line. You can
1138exchange two characters with the command sequence "xp". You can exchange two
1139lines with the command sequence "ddp". You can exchange two words with the
1140command sequence "deep" (start with the cursor in the blank space before the
1141first word). You can use the "']" or "`]" command after the put command to
1142move the cursor to the end of the inserted text, or use "'[" or "`[" to move
1143the cursor to the start.
1144
1145 *put-Visual-mode* *v_p* *v_P*
1146When using a put command like |p| or |P| in Visual mode, Vim will try to
1147replace the selected text with the contents of the register. Whether this
1148works well depends on the type of selection and the type of the text in the
1149register. With blockwise selection it also depends on the size of the block
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001150and whether the corners are on an existing character. (Implementation detail:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001151it actually works by first putting the register after the selection and then
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001152deleting the selection.)
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001153The previously selected text is put in the unnamed register. If you want to
1154put the same text into a Visual selection several times you need to use
1155another register. E.g., yank the text to copy, Visually select the text to
1156replace and use "0p . You can repeat this as many times as you like, the
1157unnamed register will be changed each time.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001158
Bram Moolenaarec11aef2013-09-22 15:23:44 +02001159When you use a blockwise Visual mode command and yank only a single line into
1160a register, a paste on a visual selected area will paste that single line on
1161each of the selected lines (thus replacing the blockwise selected region by a
1162block of the pasted line).
1163
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001164 *blockwise-register*
1165If you use a blockwise Visual mode command to get the text into the register,
1166the block of text will be inserted before ("P") or after ("p") the cursor
1167column in the current and next lines. Vim makes the whole block of text start
1168in the same column. Thus the inserted text looks the same as when it was
1169yanked or deleted. Vim may replace some <Tab> characters with spaces to make
1170this happen. However, if the width of the block is not a multiple of a <Tab>
1171width and the text after the inserted block contains <Tab>s, that text may be
1172misaligned.
1173
1174Note that after a characterwise yank command, Vim leaves the cursor on the
1175first yanked character that is closest to the start of the buffer. This means
1176that "yl" doesn't move the cursor, but "yh" moves the cursor one character
1177left.
1178Rationale: In Vi the "y" command followed by a backwards motion would
1179 sometimes not move the cursor to the first yanked character,
1180 because redisplaying was skipped. In Vim it always moves to
1181 the first character, as specified by Posix.
1182With a linewise yank command the cursor is put in the first line, but the
1183column is unmodified, thus it may not be on the first yanked character.
1184
Bram Moolenaar12969c02015-09-08 23:36:10 +02001185There are ten types of registers: *registers* *E354*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000011861. The unnamed register ""
11872. 10 numbered registers "0 to "9
11883. The small delete register "-
11894. 26 named registers "a to "z or "A to "Z
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010011905. three read-only registers ":, "., "%
Bram Moolenaar0122c402015-02-03 19:13:34 +010011916. alternate buffer register "#
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010011927. the expression register "=
11938. The selection and drop registers "*, "+ and "~
11949. The black hole register "_
119510. Last search pattern register "/
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001196
11971. Unnamed register "" *quote_quote* *quotequote*
1198Vim fills this register with text deleted with the "d", "c", "s", "x" commands
1199or copied with the yank "y" command, regardless of whether or not a specific
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001200register was used (e.g. "xdd). This is like the unnamed register is pointing
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001201to the last used register. Thus when appending using an uppercase register
1202name, the unnamed register contains the same text as the named register.
1203An exception is the '_' register: "_dd does not store the deleted text in any
1204register.
Bram Moolenaar81695252004-12-29 20:58:21 +00001205Vim uses the contents of the unnamed register for any put command (p or P)
1206which does not specify a register. Additionally you can access it with the
1207name '"'. This means you have to type two double quotes. Writing to the ""
1208register writes to register "0.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001209{Vi: register contents are lost when changing files, no '"'}
1210
Bram Moolenaaraa3b15d2016-04-21 08:53:19 +020012112. Numbered registers "0 to "9 *quote_number* *quote0* *quote1*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001212 *quote2* *quote3* *quote4* *quote9*
1213Vim fills these registers with text from yank and delete commands.
1214 Numbered register 0 contains the text from the most recent yank command,
1215unless the command specified another register with ["x].
1216 Numbered register 1 contains the text deleted by the most recent delete or
1217change command, unless the command specified another register or the text is
1218less than one line (the small delete register is used then). An exception is
Bram Moolenaar81695252004-12-29 20:58:21 +00001219made for the delete operator with these movement commands: |%|, |(|, |)|, |`|,
1220|/|, |?|, |n|, |N|, |{| and |}|. Register "1 is always used then (this is Vi
1221compatible). The "- register is used as well if the delete is within a line.
Bram Moolenaarbaca7f72013-09-22 14:42:24 +02001222Note that these characters may be mapped. E.g. |%| is mapped by the matchit
Bram Moolenaar7cba6c02013-09-05 22:13:31 +02001223plugin.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001224 With each successive deletion or change, Vim shifts the previous contents
1225of register 1 into register 2, 2 into 3, and so forth, losing the previous
1226contents of register 9.
1227{Vi: numbered register contents are lost when changing files; register 0 does
1228not exist}
1229
12303. Small delete register "- *quote_-* *quote-*
1231This register contains text from commands that delete less than one line,
1232except when the command specifies a register with ["x].
1233{not in Vi}
1234
12354. Named registers "a to "z or "A to "Z *quote_alpha* *quotea*
1236Vim fills these registers only when you say so. Specify them as lowercase
1237letters to replace their previous contents or as uppercase letters to append
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00001238to their previous contents. When the '>' flag is present in 'cpoptions' then
1239a line break is inserted before the appended text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001240
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010012415. Read-only registers ":, ". and "%
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001242These are '%', '#', ':' and '.'. You can use them only with the "p", "P",
1243and ":put" commands and with CTRL-R. {not in Vi}
1244 *quote_.* *quote.* *E29*
1245 ". Contains the last inserted text (the same as what is inserted
1246 with the insert mode commands CTRL-A and CTRL-@). Note: this
1247 doesn't work with CTRL-R on the command-line. It works a bit
1248 differently, like inserting the text instead of putting it
1249 ('textwidth' and other options affect what is inserted).
1250 *quote_%* *quote%*
1251 "% Contains the name of the current file.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001252 *quote_:* *quote:* *E30*
1253 ": Contains the most recent executed command-line. Example: Use
1254 "@:" to repeat the previous command-line command.
1255 The command-line is only stored in this register when at least
1256 one character of it was typed. Thus it remains unchanged if
1257 the command was completely from a mapping.
1258 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist|
1259 feature}
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +01001260 *quote_#* *quote#*
12616. Alternate file register "#
1262Contains the name of the alternate file for the current window. It will
1263change how the |CTRL-^| command works.
1264This register is writable, mainly to allow for restoring it after a plugin has
1265changed it. It accepts buffer number: >
1266 let altbuf = bufnr(@#)
1267 ...
1268 let @# = altbuf
1269It will give error |E86| if you pass buffer number and this buffer does not
1270exist.
1271It can also accept a match with an existing buffer name: >
1272 let @# = 'buffer_name'
1273Error |E93| if there is more than one buffer matching the given name or |E94|
1274if none of buffers matches the given name.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001275
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010012767. Expression register "= *quote_=* *quote=* *@=*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001277This is not really a register that stores text, but is a way to use an
1278expression in commands which use a register. The expression register is
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01001279read-write.
1280
1281When typing the '=' after " or CTRL-R the cursor moves to the command-line,
1282where you can enter any expression (see |expression|). All normal
1283command-line editing commands are available, including a special history for
1284expressions. When you end the command-line by typing <CR>, Vim computes the
1285result of the expression. If you end it with <Esc>, Vim abandons the
1286expression. If you do not enter an expression, Vim uses the previous
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001287expression (like with the "/" command).
1288
1289The expression must evaluate to a String. A Number is always automatically
1290converted to a String. For the "p" and ":put" command, if the result is a
1291Float it's converted into a String. If the result is a List each element is
1292turned into a String and used as a line. A Dictionary or FuncRef results in
1293an error message (use string() to convert).
1294
1295If the "= register is used for the "p" command, the String is split up at <NL>
1296characters. If the String ends in a <NL>, it is regarded as a linewise
Bram Moolenaar6bab4d12005-06-16 21:53:56 +00001297register. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001298
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010012998. Selection and drop registers "*, "+ and "~
Bram Moolenaar06b5d512010-05-22 15:37:44 +02001300Use these registers for storing and retrieving the selected text for the GUI.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001301See |quotestar| and |quoteplus|. When the clipboard is not available or not
Bram Moolenaarf4d11452005-12-02 00:46:37 +00001302working, the unnamed register is used instead. For Unix systems the clipboard
1303is only available when the |+xterm_clipboard| feature is present. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001304
1305Note that there is only a distinction between "* and "+ for X11 systems. For
1306an explanation of the difference, see |x11-selection|. Under MS-Windows, use
1307of "* and "+ is actually synonymous and refers to the |gui-clipboard|.
1308
1309 *quote_~* *quote~* *<Drop>*
1310The read-only "~ register stores the dropped text from the last drag'n'drop
1311operation. When something has been dropped onto Vim, the "~ register is
1312filled in and the <Drop> pseudo key is sent for notification. You can remap
1313this key if you want; the default action (for all modes) is to insert the
1314contents of the "~ register at the cursor position. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001315{only available when compiled with the |+dnd| feature, currently only with the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001316GTK GUI}
1317
1318Note: The "~ register is only used when dropping plain text onto Vim.
1319Drag'n'drop of URI lists is handled internally.
1320
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010013219. Black hole register "_ *quote_*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001322When writing to this register, nothing happens. This can be used to delete
1323text without affecting the normal registers. When reading from this register,
1324nothing is returned. {not in Vi}
1325
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +0100132610. Last search pattern register "/ *quote_/* *quote/*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001327Contains the most recent search-pattern. This is used for "n" and 'hlsearch'.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001328It is writable with `:let`, you can change it to have 'hlsearch' highlight
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001329other matches without actually searching. You can't yank or delete into this
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001330register. The search direction is available in |v:searchforward|.
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01001331Note that the value is restored when returning from a function
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001332|function-search-undo|.
1333{not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001334
1335 *@/*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001336You can write to a register with a `:let` command |:let-@|. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001337 :let @/ = "the"
1338
1339If you use a put command without specifying a register, Vim uses the register
1340that was last filled (this is also the contents of the unnamed register). If
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001341you are confused, use the `:dis` command to find out what Vim will put (this
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001342command displays all named and numbered registers; the unnamed register is
1343labelled '"').
1344
1345The next three commands always work on whole lines.
1346
1347:[range]co[py] {address} *:co* *:copy*
1348 Copy the lines given by [range] to below the line
1349 given by {address}.
1350
1351 *:t*
1352:t Synonym for copy.
1353
1354:[range]m[ove] {address} *:m* *:mo* *:move* *E134*
1355 Move the lines given by [range] to below the line
1356 given by {address}.
1357
1358==============================================================================
13596. Formatting text *formatting*
1360
1361:[range]ce[nter] [width] *:ce* *:center*
1362 Center lines in [range] between [width] columns
1363 (default 'textwidth' or 80 when 'textwidth' is 0).
1364 {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001365
1366:[range]ri[ght] [width] *:ri* *:right*
1367 Right-align lines in [range] at [width] columns
1368 (default 'textwidth' or 80 when 'textwidth' is 0).
1369 {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001370
1371 *:le* *:left*
1372:[range]le[ft] [indent]
1373 Left-align lines in [range]. Sets the indent in the
1374 lines to [indent] (default 0). {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001375
1376 *gq*
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00001377gq{motion} Format the lines that {motion} moves over.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001378 Formatting is done with one of three methods:
1379 1. If 'formatexpr' is not empty the expression is
1380 evaluated. This can differ for each buffer.
Bram Moolenaar4c7ed462006-02-15 22:18:42 +00001381 2. If 'formatprg' is not empty an external program
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001382 is used.
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +00001383 3. Otherwise formatting is done internally.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001384
1385 In the third case the 'textwidth' option controls the
1386 length of each formatted line (see below).
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00001387 If the 'textwidth' option is 0, the formatted line
1388 length is the screen width (with a maximum width of
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001389 79).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001390 The 'formatoptions' option controls the type of
1391 formatting |fo-table|.
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00001392 The cursor is left on the first non-blank of the last
1393 formatted line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001394 NOTE: The "Q" command formerly performed this
1395 function. If you still want to use "Q" for
1396 formatting, use this mapping: >
1397 :nnoremap Q gq
1398
1399gqgq *gqgq* *gqq*
Bram Moolenaar40af4e32010-07-29 22:33:18 +02001400gqq Format the current line. With a count format that
1401 many lines. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001402
1403 *v_gq*
1404{Visual}gq Format the highlighted text. (for {Visual} see
1405 |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi}
1406
1407 *gw*
1408gw{motion} Format the lines that {motion} moves over. Similar to
1409 |gq| but puts the cursor back at the same position in
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001410 the text. However, 'formatprg' and 'formatexpr' are
1411 not used. {not in Vi}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001412
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001413gwgw *gwgw* *gww*
1414gww Format the current line as with "gw". {not in Vi}
1415
1416 *v_gw*
1417{Visual}gw Format the highlighted text as with "gw". (for
1418 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi}
1419
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001420Example: To format the current paragraph use: *gqap* >
1421 gqap
1422
1423The "gq" command leaves the cursor in the line where the motion command takes
1424the cursor. This allows you to repeat formatting repeated with ".". This
1425works well with "gqj" (format current and next line) and "gq}" (format until
1426end of paragraph). Note: When 'formatprg' is set, "gq" leaves the cursor on
1427the first formatted line (as with using a filter command).
1428
1429If you want to format the current paragraph and continue where you were, use: >
1430 gwap
1431If you always want to keep paragraphs formatted you may want to add the 'a'
1432flag to 'formatoptions'. See |auto-format|.
1433
1434If the 'autoindent' option is on, Vim uses the indent of the first line for
1435the following lines.
1436
1437Formatting does not change empty lines (but it does change lines with only
1438white space!).
1439
1440The 'joinspaces' option is used when lines are joined together.
1441
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001442You can set the 'formatexpr' option to an expression or the 'formatprg' option
1443to the name of an external program for Vim to use for text formatting. The
1444'textwidth' and other options have no effect on formatting by an external
1445program.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001446
1447 *right-justify*
1448There is no command in Vim to right justify text. You can do it with
1449an external command, like "par" (e.g.: "!}par" to format until the end of the
1450paragraph) or set 'formatprg' to "par".
1451
1452 *format-comments*
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001453An overview of comment formatting is in section |30.6| of the user manual.
1454
1455Vim can automatically insert and format comments in a special way. Vim
1456recognizes a comment by a specific string at the start of the line (ignoring
1457white space). Three types of comments can be used:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001458
1459- A comment string that repeats at the start of each line. An example is the
1460 type of comment used in shell scripts, starting with "#".
1461- A comment string that occurs only in the first line, not in the following
1462 lines. An example is this list with dashes.
1463- Three-piece comments that have a start string, an end string, and optional
1464 lines in between. The strings for the start, middle and end are different.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001465 An example is the C style comment:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001466 /*
1467 * this is a C comment
1468 */
1469
1470The 'comments' option is a comma-separated list of parts. Each part defines a
1471type of comment string. A part consists of:
1472 {flags}:{string}
1473
1474{string} is the literal text that must appear.
1475
1476{flags}:
1477 n Nested comment. Nesting with mixed parts is allowed. If 'comments'
1478 is "n:),n:>" a line starting with "> ) >" is a comment.
1479
1480 b Blank (<Space>, <Tab> or <EOL>) required after {string}.
1481
1482 f Only the first line has the comment string. Do not repeat comment on
1483 the next line, but preserve indentation (e.g., a bullet-list).
1484
1485 s Start of three-piece comment
1486
1487 m Middle of a three-piece comment
1488
1489 e End of a three-piece comment
1490
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001491 l Left align. Used together with 's' or 'e', the leftmost character of
1492 start or end will line up with the leftmost character from the middle.
1493 This is the default and can be omitted. See below for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001494
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001495 r Right align. Same as above but rightmost instead of leftmost. See
1496 below for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001497
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001498 O Don't consider this comment for the "O" command.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001499
1500 x Allows three-piece comments to be ended by just typing the last
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001501 character of the end-comment string as the first action on a new
1502 line when the middle-comment string has been inserted automatically.
1503 See below for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001504
1505 {digits}
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001506 When together with 's' or 'e': add {digit} amount of offset to an
1507 automatically inserted middle or end comment leader. The offset begins
1508 from a left alignment. See below for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001509
1510 -{digits}
1511 Like {digits} but reduce the indent. This only works when there is
1512 some indent for the start or end part that can be removed.
1513
1514When a string has none of the 'f', 's', 'm' or 'e' flags, Vim assumes the
1515comment string repeats at the start of each line. The flags field may be
1516empty.
1517
1518Any blank space in the text before and after the {string} is part of the
1519{string}, so do not include leading or trailing blanks unless the blanks are a
1520required part of the comment string.
1521
1522When one comment leader is part of another, specify the part after the whole.
1523For example, to include both "-" and "->", use >
1524 :set comments=f:->,f:-
1525
1526A three-piece comment must always be given as start,middle,end, with no other
1527parts in between. An example of a three-piece comment is >
1528 sr:/*,mb:*,ex:*/
1529for C-comments. To avoid recognizing "*ptr" as a comment, the middle string
1530includes the 'b' flag. For three-piece comments, Vim checks the text after
1531the start and middle strings for the end string. If Vim finds the end string,
1532the comment does not continue on the next line. Three-piece comments must
1533have a middle string because otherwise Vim can't recognize the middle lines.
1534
1535Notice the use of the "x" flag in the above three-piece comment definition.
1536When you hit Return in a C-comment, Vim will insert the middle comment leader
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001537for the new line: " * ". To close this comment you just have to type "/"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001538before typing anything else on the new line. This will replace the
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001539middle-comment leader with the end-comment leader and apply any specified
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01001540alignment, leaving just " */". There is no need to hit Backspace first.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001541
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01001542When there is a match with a middle part, but there also is a matching end
1543part which is longer, the end part is used. This makes a C style comment work
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +02001544without requiring the middle part to end with a space.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001545
1546Here is an example of alignment flags at work to make a comment stand out
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +02001547(kind of looks like a 1 too). Consider comment string: >
1548 :set comments=sr:/***,m:**,ex-2:******/
1549<
1550 /*** ~
1551 **<--right aligned from "r" flag ~
1552 ** ~
1553offset 2 spaces for the "-2" flag--->** ~
1554 ******/ ~
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001555In this case, the first comment was typed, then return was pressed 4 times,
1556then "/" was pressed to end the comment.
1557
1558Here are some finer points of three part comments. There are three times when
1559alignment and offset flags are taken into consideration: opening a new line
1560after a start-comment, opening a new line before an end-comment, and
1561automatically ending a three-piece comment. The end alignment flag has a
1562backwards perspective; the result is that the same alignment flag used with
1563"s" and "e" will result in the same indent for the starting and ending pieces.
1564Only one alignment per comment part is meant to be used, but an offset number
1565will override the "r" and "l" flag.
1566
1567Enabling 'cindent' will override the alignment flags in many cases.
1568Reindenting using a different method like |gq| or |=| will not consult
1569alignment flags either. The same behaviour can be defined in those other
1570formatting options. One consideration is that 'cindent' has additional options
1571for context based indenting of comments but cannot replicate many three piece
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +02001572indent alignments. However, 'indentexpr' has the ability to work better with
1573three piece comments.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001574
1575Other examples: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001576 "b:*" Includes lines starting with "*", but not if the "*" is
1577 followed by a non-blank. This avoids a pointer dereference
1578 like "*str" to be recognized as a comment.
1579 "n:>" Includes a line starting with ">", ">>", ">>>", etc.
1580 "fb:-" Format a list that starts with "- ".
1581
1582By default, "b:#" is included. This means that a line that starts with
1583"#include" is not recognized as a comment line. But a line that starts with
1584"# define" is recognized. This is a compromise.
1585
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001586{not available when compiled without the |+comments| feature}
1587
1588 *fo-table*
1589You can use the 'formatoptions' option to influence how Vim formats text.
1590'formatoptions' is a string that can contain any of the letters below. The
1591default setting is "tcq". You can separate the option letters with commas for
1592readability.
1593
1594letter meaning when present in 'formatoptions' ~
1595
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001596t Auto-wrap text using textwidth
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001597c Auto-wrap comments using textwidth, inserting the current comment
1598 leader automatically.
1599r Automatically insert the current comment leader after hitting
1600 <Enter> in Insert mode.
1601o Automatically insert the current comment leader after hitting 'o' or
1602 'O' in Normal mode.
1603q Allow formatting of comments with "gq".
1604 Note that formatting will not change blank lines or lines containing
1605 only the comment leader. A new paragraph starts after such a line,
1606 or when the comment leader changes.
1607w Trailing white space indicates a paragraph continues in the next line.
1608 A line that ends in a non-white character ends a paragraph.
1609a Automatic formatting of paragraphs. Every time text is inserted or
1610 deleted the paragraph will be reformatted. See |auto-format|.
1611 When the 'c' flag is present this only happens for recognized
1612 comments.
Bram Moolenaar86b68352004-12-27 21:59:20 +00001613n When formatting text, recognize numbered lists. This actually uses
1614 the 'formatlistpat' option, thus any kind of list can be used. The
1615 indent of the text after the number is used for the next line. The
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001616 default is to find a number, optionally followed by '.', ':', ')',
Bram Moolenaar86b68352004-12-27 21:59:20 +00001617 ']' or '}'. Note that 'autoindent' must be set too. Doesn't work
1618 well together with "2".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001619 Example: >
1620 1. the first item
1621 wraps
1622 2. the second item
16232 When formatting text, use the indent of the second line of a paragraph
1624 for the rest of the paragraph, instead of the indent of the first
1625 line. This supports paragraphs in which the first line has a
1626 different indent than the rest. Note that 'autoindent' must be set
1627 too. Example: >
1628 first line of a paragraph
1629 second line of the same paragraph
1630 third line.
Bram Moolenaar30b65812012-07-12 22:01:11 +02001631< This also works inside comments, ignoring the comment leader.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001632v Vi-compatible auto-wrapping in insert mode: Only break a line at a
1633 blank that you have entered during the current insert command. (Note:
1634 this is not 100% Vi compatible. Vi has some "unexpected features" or
1635 bugs in this area. It uses the screen column instead of the line
1636 column.)
1637b Like 'v', but only auto-wrap if you enter a blank at or before
1638 the wrap margin. If the line was longer than 'textwidth' when you
1639 started the insert, or you do not enter a blank in the insert before
1640 reaching 'textwidth', Vim does not perform auto-wrapping.
1641l Long lines are not broken in insert mode: When a line was longer than
1642 'textwidth' when the insert command started, Vim does not
1643 automatically format it.
1644m Also break at a multi-byte character above 255. This is useful for
1645 Asian text where every character is a word on its own.
1646M When joining lines, don't insert a space before or after a multi-byte
1647 character. Overrules the 'B' flag.
1648B When joining lines, don't insert a space between two multi-byte
1649 characters. Overruled by the 'M' flag.
16501 Don't break a line after a one-letter word. It's broken before it
1651 instead (if possible).
Bram Moolenaar81340392012-06-06 16:12:59 +02001652j Where it makes sense, remove a comment leader when joining lines. For
1653 example, joining:
1654 int i; // the index ~
1655 // in the list ~
1656 Becomes:
1657 int i; // the index in the list ~
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001658
1659
1660With 't' and 'c' you can specify when Vim performs auto-wrapping:
1661value action ~
1662"" no automatic formatting (you can use "gq" for manual formatting)
1663"t" automatic formatting of text, but not comments
1664"c" automatic formatting for comments, but not text (good for C code)
1665"tc" automatic formatting for text and comments
1666
Bram Moolenaar91170f82006-05-05 21:15:17 +00001667Note that when 'textwidth' is 0, Vim does no automatic formatting anyway (but
1668does insert comment leaders according to the 'comments' option). An exception
1669is when the 'a' flag is present. |auto-format|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001670
1671Note that when 'paste' is on, Vim does no formatting at all.
1672
1673Note that 'textwidth' can be non-zero even if Vim never performs auto-wrapping;
1674'textwidth' is still useful for formatting with "gq".
1675
1676If the 'comments' option includes "/*", "*" and/or "*/", then Vim has some
1677built in stuff to treat these types of comments a bit more cleverly.
1678Opening a new line before or after "/*" or "*/" (with 'r' or 'o' present in
1679'formatoptions') gives the correct start of the line automatically. The same
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001680happens with formatting and auto-wrapping. Opening a line after a line
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001681starting with "/*" or "*" and containing "*/", will cause no comment leader to
1682be inserted, and the indent of the new line is taken from the line containing
1683the start of the comment.
1684E.g.:
1685 /* ~
1686 * Your typical comment. ~
1687 */ ~
1688 The indent on this line is the same as the start of the above
1689 comment.
1690
1691All of this should be really cool, especially in conjunction with the new
1692:autocmd command to prepare different settings for different types of file.
1693
1694Some examples:
1695 for C code (only format comments): >
1696 :set fo=croq
1697< for Mail/news (format all, don't start comment with "o" command): >
1698 :set fo=tcrq
1699<
1700
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001701Automatic formatting *auto-format* *autoformat*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001702
1703When the 'a' flag is present in 'formatoptions' text is formatted
1704automatically when inserting text or deleting text. This works nice for
1705editing text paragraphs. A few hints on how to use this:
1706
1707- You need to properly define paragraphs. The simplest is paragraphs that are
1708 separated by a blank line. When there is no separating blank line, consider
1709 using the 'w' flag and adding a space at the end of each line in the
1710 paragraphs except the last one.
1711
1712- You can set the 'formatoptions' based on the type of file |filetype| or
1713 specifically for one file with a |modeline|.
1714
1715- Set 'formatoptions' to "aw2tq" to make text with indents like this:
1716
1717 bla bla foobar bla
1718 bla foobar bla foobar bla
1719 bla bla foobar bla
1720 bla foobar bla bla foobar
1721
1722- Add the 'c' flag to only auto-format comments. Useful in source code.
1723
Bram Moolenaar91170f82006-05-05 21:15:17 +00001724- Set 'textwidth' to the desired width. If it is zero then 79 is used, or the
1725 width of the screen if this is smaller.
1726
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001727And a few warnings:
1728
1729- When part of the text is not properly separated in paragraphs, making
1730 changes in this text will cause it to be formatted anyway. Consider doing >
1731
1732 :set fo-=a
1733
1734- When using the 'w' flag (trailing space means paragraph continues) and
1735 deleting the last line of a paragraph with |dd|, the paragraph will be
1736 joined with the next one.
1737
1738- Changed text is saved for undo. Formatting is also a change. Thus each
1739 format action saves text for undo. This may consume quite a lot of memory.
1740
1741- Formatting a long paragraph and/or with complicated indenting may be slow.
1742
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001743==============================================================================
17447. Sorting text *sorting*
1745
1746Vim has a sorting function and a sorting command. The sorting function can be
Bram Moolenaar327aa022014-03-25 18:24:23 +01001747found here: |sort()|, |uniq()|.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001748
1749 *:sor* *:sort*
Bram Moolenaarf7edf402016-01-19 23:36:15 +01001750:[range]sor[t][!] [b][f][i][n][o][r][u][x] [/{pattern}/]
Bram Moolenaare5180522005-12-10 20:19:46 +00001751 Sort lines in [range]. When no range is given all
1752 lines are sorted.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001753
1754 With [!] the order is reversed.
1755
1756 With [i] case is ignored.
1757
Bram Moolenaarf7edf402016-01-19 23:36:15 +01001758 Options [n][f][x][o][b] are mutually exclusive.
1759
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001760 With [n] sorting is done on the first decimal number
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001761 in the line (after or inside a {pattern} match).
Bram Moolenaare37d50a2008-08-06 17:06:04 +00001762 One leading '-' is included in the number.
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001763
Bram Moolenaarf7edf402016-01-19 23:36:15 +01001764 With [f] sorting is done on the Float in the line.
1765 The value of Float is determined similar to passing
1766 the text (after or inside a {pattern} match) to
1767 str2float() function. This option is available only
1768 if Vim was compiled with Floating point support.
1769
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001770 With [x] sorting is done on the first hexadecimal
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001771 number in the line (after or inside a {pattern}
1772 match). A leading "0x" or "0X" is ignored.
Bram Moolenaare37d50a2008-08-06 17:06:04 +00001773 One leading '-' is included in the number.
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001774
1775 With [o] sorting is done on the first octal number in
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001776 the line (after or inside a {pattern} match).
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001777
Bram Moolenaar887c1fe2016-01-02 17:56:35 +01001778 With [b] sorting is done on the first binary number in
1779 the line (after or inside a {pattern} match).
1780
Bram Moolenaarf7edf402016-01-19 23:36:15 +01001781 With [u] (u stands for unique) only keep the first of
1782 a sequence of identical lines (ignoring case when [i]
1783 is used). Without this flag, a sequence of identical
1784 lines will be kept in their original order.
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001785 Note that leading and trailing white space may cause
1786 lines to be different.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001787
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001788 When /{pattern}/ is specified and there is no [r] flag
1789 the text matched with {pattern} is skipped, so that
1790 you sort on what comes after the match.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001791 Instead of the slash any non-letter can be used.
1792 For example, to sort on the second comma-separated
1793 field: >
1794 :sort /[^,]*,/
1795< To sort on the text at virtual column 10 (thus
1796 ignoring the difference between tabs and spaces): >
1797 :sort /.*\%10v/
Bram Moolenaarc6fe9192006-04-09 21:54:49 +00001798< To sort on the first number in the line, no matter
1799 what is in front of it: >
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001800 :sort /.\{-}\ze\d/
1801< (Explanation: ".\{-}" matches any text, "\ze" sets the
1802 end of the match and \d matches a digit.)
1803 With [r] sorting is done on the matching {pattern}
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001804 instead of skipping past it as described above.
1805 For example, to sort on only the first three letters
1806 of each line: >
1807 :sort /\a\a\a/ r
1808
1809< If a {pattern} is used, any lines which don't have a
1810 match for {pattern} are kept in their current order,
1811 but separate from the lines which do match {pattern}.
1812 If you sorted in reverse, they will be in reverse
1813 order after the sorted lines, otherwise they will be
1814 in their original order, right before the sorted
1815 lines.
1816
Bram Moolenaar1256e722007-07-10 15:26:20 +00001817 If {pattern} is empty (e.g. // is specified), the
1818 last search pattern is used. This allows trying out
1819 a pattern first.
1820
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001821Note that using `:sort` with `:global` doesn't sort the matching lines, it's
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001822quite useless.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001823
Bram Moolenaarf461c8e2005-06-25 23:04:51 +00001824The details about sorting depend on the library function used. There is no
Bram Moolenaar8bb1c3e2014-07-04 16:43:17 +02001825guarantee that sorting obeys the current locale. You will have to try it out.
1826Vim does do a "stable" sort.
Bram Moolenaarf461c8e2005-06-25 23:04:51 +00001827
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001828The sorting can be interrupted, but if you interrupt it too late in the
1829process you may end up with duplicated lines. This also depends on the system
1830library function used.
Bram Moolenaarae5bce12005-08-15 21:41:48 +00001831
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001832 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: