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Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001*change.txt* For Vim version 8.1. Last change: 2019 May 05
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
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +020037 (join lines).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000038
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
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +020062 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000063
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
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +020072 the end of the line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000073
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.
Bram Moolenaar85eee132018-05-06 17:57:30 +0200113 If [count] is too big it is reduced to the number of
Bram Moolenaar77cdfd12016-03-12 12:57:59 +0100114 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
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200119 (see below).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000120
121 *gJ*
122gJ Join [count] lines, with a minimum of two lines.
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200123 Don't insert or remove any spaces.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000124
125 *v_gJ*
126{Visual}gJ Join the highlighted lines, with a minimum of two
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200127 lines. Don't insert or remove any spaces.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000128
129 *:j* *:join*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000130:[range]j[oin][!] [flags]
131 Join [range] lines. Same as "J", except with [!]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000132 the join does not insert or delete any spaces.
133 If a [range] has equal start and end values, this
134 command does nothing. The default behavior is to
135 join the current line with the line below it.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000136 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000137
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000138:[range]j[oin][!] {count} [flags]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000139 Join {count} lines, starting with [range] (default:
140 current line |cmdline-ranges|). Same as "J", except
141 with [!] the join does not insert or delete any
142 spaces.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000143 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000144
145These commands delete the <EOL> between lines. This has the effect of joining
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200146multiple lines into one line. You can repeat these commands (except `:j`) and
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000147undo them.
148
149These commands, except "gJ", insert one space in place of the <EOL> unless
150there is trailing white space or the next line starts with a ')'. These
151commands, except "gJ", delete any leading white space on the next line. If
152the 'joinspaces' option is on, these commands insert two spaces after a '.',
153'!' or '?' (but if 'cpoptions' includes the 'j' flag, they insert two spaces
154only after a '.').
155The 'B' and 'M' flags in 'formatoptions' change the behavior for inserting
156spaces before and after a multi-byte character |fo-table|.
157
Bram Moolenaar251835e2014-02-24 02:51:51 +0100158The '[ mark is set at the end of the first line that was joined, '] at the end
159of the resulting line.
160
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000161
162==============================================================================
1632. Delete and insert *delete-insert* *replacing*
164
165 *R*
166R Enter Replace mode: Each character you type replaces
167 an existing character, starting with the character
168 under the cursor. Repeat the entered text [count]-1
169 times. See |Replace-mode| for more details.
170
171 *gR*
172gR Enter Virtual Replace mode: Each character you type
173 replaces existing characters in screen space. So a
174 <Tab> may replace several characters at once.
175 Repeat the entered text [count]-1 times. See
176 |Virtual-Replace-mode| for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000177
178 *c*
179["x]c{motion} Delete {motion} text [into register x] and start
180 insert. When 'cpoptions' includes the 'E' flag and
181 there is no text to delete (e.g., with "cTx" when the
182 cursor is just after an 'x'), an error occurs and
183 insert mode does not start (this is Vi compatible).
184 When 'cpoptions' does not include the 'E' flag, the
185 "c" command always starts insert mode, even if there
186 is no text to delete.
187
188 *cc*
189["x]cc Delete [count] lines [into register x] and start
190 insert |linewise|. If 'autoindent' is on, preserve
191 the indent of the first line.
192
193 *C*
194["x]C Delete from the cursor position to the end of the
195 line and [count]-1 more lines [into register x], and
196 start insert. Synonym for c$ (not |linewise|).
197
198 *s*
199["x]s Delete [count] characters [into register x] and start
200 insert (s stands for Substitute). Synonym for "cl"
201 (not |linewise|).
202
203 *S*
204["x]S Delete [count] lines [into register x] and start
205 insert. Synonym for "cc" |linewise|.
206
207{Visual}["x]c or *v_c* *v_s*
208{Visual}["x]s Delete the highlighted text [into register x] and
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200209 start insert (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000210
211 *v_r*
212{Visual}["x]r{char} Replace all selected characters by {char}.
213
214 *v_C*
215{Visual}["x]C Delete the highlighted lines [into register x] and
216 start insert. In Visual block mode it works
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200217 differently |v_b_C|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000218 *v_S*
219{Visual}["x]S Delete the highlighted lines [into register x] and
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200220 start insert (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000221 *v_R*
222{Visual}["x]R Currently just like {Visual}["x]S. In a next version
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200223 it might work differently.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000224
225Notes:
226- You can end Insert and Replace mode with <Esc>.
227- See the section "Insert and Replace mode" |mode-ins-repl| for the other
228 special characters in these modes.
229- The effect of [count] takes place after Vim exits Insert or Replace mode.
230- When the 'cpoptions' option contains '$' and the change is within one line,
231 Vim continues to show the text to be deleted and puts a '$' at the last
232 deleted character.
233
234See |registers| for an explanation of registers.
235
236Replace mode is just like Insert mode, except that every character you enter
237deletes one character. If you reach the end of a line, Vim appends any
238further characters (just like Insert mode). In Replace mode, the backspace
239key restores the original text (if there was any). (See section "Insert and
240Replace mode" |mode-ins-repl|).
241
242 *cw* *cW*
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000243Special case: When the cursor is in a word, "cw" and "cW" do not include the
244white space after a word, they only change up to the end of the word. This is
245because Vim interprets "cw" as change-word, and a word does not include the
246following white space.
247{Vi: "cw" when on a blank followed by other blanks changes only the first
248blank; this is probably a bug, because "dw" deletes all the blanks; use the
249'w' flag in 'cpoptions' to make it work like Vi anyway}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000250
251If you prefer "cw" to include the space after a word, use this mapping: >
252 :map cw dwi
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000253Or use "caw" (see |aw|).
254
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000255 *:c* *:ch* *:change*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000256:{range}c[hange][!] Replace lines of text with some different text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000257 Type a line containing only "." to stop replacing.
258 Without {range}, this command changes only the current
259 line.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000260 Adding [!] toggles 'autoindent' for the time this
261 command is executed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000262
263==============================================================================
2643. Simple changes *simple-change*
265
266 *r*
267r{char} Replace the character under the cursor with {char}.
268 If {char} is a <CR> or <NL>, a line break replaces the
269 character. To replace with a real <CR>, use CTRL-V
270 <CR>. CTRL-V <NL> replaces with a <Nul>.
271 {Vi: CTRL-V <CR> still replaces with a line break,
272 cannot replace something with a <CR>}
Bram Moolenaar80716072012-05-01 21:14:34 +0200273
274 If {char} is CTRL-E or CTRL-Y the character from the
275 line below or above is used, just like with |i_CTRL-E|
276 and |i_CTRL-Y|. This also works with a count, thus
277 `10r<C-E>` copies 10 characters from the line below.
278
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000279 If you give a [count], Vim replaces [count] characters
280 with [count] {char}s. When {char} is a <CR> or <NL>,
281 however, Vim inserts only one <CR>: "5r<CR>" replaces
282 five characters with a single line break.
283 When {char} is a <CR> or <NL>, Vim performs
284 autoindenting. This works just like deleting the
285 characters that are replaced and then doing
286 "i<CR><Esc>".
287 {char} can be entered as a digraph |digraph-arg|.
288 |:lmap| mappings apply to {char}. The CTRL-^ command
289 in Insert mode can be used to switch this on/off
290 |i_CTRL-^|. See |utf-8-char-arg| about using
291 composing characters when 'encoding' is Unicode.
292
293 *gr*
294gr{char} Replace the virtual characters under the cursor with
295 {char}. This replaces in screen space, not file
296 space. See |gR| and |Virtual-Replace-mode| for more
297 details. As with |r| a count may be given.
298 {char} can be entered like with |r|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000299
300 *digraph-arg*
301The argument for Normal mode commands like |r| and |t| is a single character.
302When 'cpo' doesn't contain the 'D' flag, this character can also be entered
303like |digraphs|. First type CTRL-K and then the two digraph characters.
304{not available when compiled without the |+digraphs| feature}
305
306 *case*
307The following commands change the case of letters. The currently active
308|locale| is used. See |:language|. The LC_CTYPE value matters here.
309
310 *~*
311~ 'notildeop' option: Switch case of the character
312 under the cursor and move the cursor to the right.
313 If a [count] is given, do that many characters. {Vi:
314 no count}
315
316~{motion} 'tildeop' option: switch case of {motion} text. {Vi:
317 tilde cannot be used as an operator}
318
319 *g~*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200320g~{motion} Switch case of {motion} text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000321
322g~g~ *g~g~* *g~~*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200323g~~ Switch case of current line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000324
325 *v_~*
326{Visual}~ Switch case of highlighted text (for {Visual} see
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200327 |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000328
329 *v_U*
330{Visual}U Make highlighted text uppercase (for {Visual} see
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200331 |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000332
333 *gU* *uppercase*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200334gU{motion} Make {motion} text uppercase.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000335 Example: >
336 :map! <C-F> <Esc>gUiw`]a
337< This works in Insert mode: press CTRL-F to make the
338 word before the cursor uppercase. Handy to type
339 words in lowercase and then make them uppercase.
340
341
342gUgU *gUgU* *gUU*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200343gUU Make current line uppercase.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000344
345 *v_u*
346{Visual}u Make highlighted text lowercase (for {Visual} see
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200347 |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000348
349 *gu* *lowercase*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200350gu{motion} Make {motion} text lowercase.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000351
352gugu *gugu* *guu*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200353guu Make current line lowercase.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000354
355 *g?* *rot13*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200356g?{motion} Rot13 encode {motion} text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000357
358 *v_g?*
359{Visual}g? Rot13 encode the highlighted text (for {Visual} see
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200360 |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000361
362g?g? *g?g?* *g??*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200363g?? Rot13 encode current line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000364
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000365To turn one line into title caps, make every first letter of a word
366uppercase: >
367 :s/\v<(.)(\w*)/\u\1\L\2/g
368
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000369
370Adding and subtracting ~
371 *CTRL-A*
372CTRL-A Add [count] to the number or alphabetic character at
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200373 or after the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000374
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200375 *v_CTRL-A*
376{Visual}CTRL-A Add [count] to the number or alphabetic character in
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200377 the highlighted text.
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200378
379 *v_g_CTRL-A*
380{Visual}g CTRL-A Add [count] to the number or alphabetic character in
381 the highlighted text. If several lines are
382 highlighted, each one will be incremented by an
383 additional [count] (so effectively creating a
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200384 [count] incrementing sequence).
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200385 For Example, if you have this list of numbers:
386 1. ~
387 1. ~
388 1. ~
389 1. ~
390 Move to the second "1." and Visually select three
391 lines, pressing g CTRL-A results in:
392 1. ~
393 2. ~
394 3. ~
395 4. ~
396
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000397 *CTRL-X*
398CTRL-X Subtract [count] from the number or alphabetic
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200399 character at or after the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000400
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200401 *v_CTRL-X*
402{Visual}CTRL-X Subtract [count] from the number or alphabetic
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200403 character in the highlighted text.
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200404
Bram Moolenaare0fa3742016-02-20 15:47:01 +0100405 On MS-Windows, this is mapped to cut Visual text
406 |dos-standard-mappings|. If you want to disable the
407 mapping, use this: >
408 silent! vunmap <C-X>
409<
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200410 *v_g_CTRL-X*
411{Visual}g CTRL-X Subtract [count] from the number or alphabetic
412 character in the highlighted text. If several lines
413 are highlighted, each value will be decremented by an
414 additional [count] (so effectively creating a [count]
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200415 decrementing sequence).
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200416
Bram Moolenaar887c1fe2016-01-02 17:56:35 +0100417The CTRL-A and CTRL-X commands can work for:
418- signed and unsigned decimal numbers
419- unsigned binary, octal and hexadecimal numbers
420- alphabetic characters
421
422This depends on the 'nrformats' option:
423- When 'nrformats' includes "bin", Vim assumes numbers starting with '0b' or
424 '0B' are binary.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000425- When 'nrformats' includes "octal", Vim considers numbers starting with a '0'
Bram Moolenaar1cd871b2004-12-19 22:46:22 +0000426 to be octal, unless the number includes a '8' or '9'. Other numbers are
427 decimal and may have a preceding minus sign.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000428 If the cursor is on a number, the commands apply to that number; otherwise
429 Vim uses the number to the right of the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000430- When 'nrformats' includes "hex", Vim assumes numbers starting with '0x' or
431 '0X' are hexadecimal. The case of the rightmost letter in the number
432 determines the case of the resulting hexadecimal number. If there is no
433 letter in the current number, Vim uses the previously detected case.
434- When 'nrformats' includes "alpha", Vim will change the alphabetic character
435 under or after the cursor. This is useful to make lists with an alphabetic
436 index.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000437
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200438For decimals a leading negative sign is considered for incrementing/
Bram Moolenaarfa735342016-01-03 22:14:44 +0100439decrementing, for binary, octal and hex values, it won't be considered. To
Bram Moolenaar85eee132018-05-06 17:57:30 +0200440ignore the sign Visually select the number before using CTRL-A or CTRL-X.
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200441
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000442For numbers with leading zeros (including all octal and hexadecimal numbers),
443Vim preserves the number of characters in the number when possible. CTRL-A on
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000444"0077" results in "0100", CTRL-X on "0x100" results in "0x0ff".
Bram Moolenaar1cd871b2004-12-19 22:46:22 +0000445There is one exception: When a number that starts with a zero is found not to
446be octal (it contains a '8' or '9'), but 'nrformats' does include "octal",
447leading zeros are removed to avoid that the result may be recognized as an
448octal number.
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000449
450Note that when 'nrformats' includes "octal", decimal numbers with leading
Bram Moolenaar1cd871b2004-12-19 22:46:22 +0000451zeros cause mistakes, because they can be confused with octal numbers.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000452
Bram Moolenaar887c1fe2016-01-02 17:56:35 +0100453Note similarly, when 'nrformats' includes "bin", binary numbers with a leading
454'0x' or '0X' can be interpreted as hexadecimal rather than binary since '0b'
455are valid hexadecimal digits.
456
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000457The CTRL-A command is very useful in a macro. Example: Use the following
458steps to make a numbered list.
459
4601. Create the first list entry, make sure it starts with a number.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00004612. qa - start recording into register 'a'
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004623. Y - yank the entry
4634. p - put a copy of the entry below the first one
4645. CTRL-A - increment the number
4656. q - stop recording
4667. <count>@a - repeat the yank, put and increment <count> times
467
468
469SHIFTING LINES LEFT OR RIGHT *shift-left-right*
470
471 *<*
472<{motion} Shift {motion} lines one 'shiftwidth' leftwards.
473
Bram Moolenaarf9514162018-11-22 03:08:29 +0100474 If the 'vartabstop' feature is enabled, and the
475 'shiftwidth' option is set to zero, the amount of
476 indent is calculated at the first non-blank character
477 in the line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000478 *<<*
479<< Shift [count] lines one 'shiftwidth' leftwards.
480
481 *v_<*
482{Visual}[count]< Shift the highlighted lines [count] 'shiftwidth'
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200483 leftwards (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000484
485 *>*
486 >{motion} Shift {motion} lines one 'shiftwidth' rightwards.
487
Bram Moolenaarf9514162018-11-22 03:08:29 +0100488 If the 'vartabstop' feature is enabled, and the
489 'shiftwidth' option is set to zero, the amount of
490 indent is calculated at the first non-blank character
491 in the line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000492 *>>*
493 >> Shift [count] lines one 'shiftwidth' rightwards.
494
495 *v_>*
496{Visual}[count]> Shift the highlighted lines [count] 'shiftwidth'
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200497 rightwards (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000498
499 *:<*
500:[range]< Shift [range] lines one 'shiftwidth' left. Repeat '<'
501 for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's.
502
503:[range]< {count} Shift {count} lines one 'shiftwidth' left, starting
504 with [range] (default current line |cmdline-ranges|).
505 Repeat '<' for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's.
506
507:[range]le[ft] [indent] left align lines in [range]. Sets the indent in the
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200508 lines to [indent] (default 0).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000509
510 *:>*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000511:[range]> [flags] Shift {count} [range] lines one 'shiftwidth' right.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000512 Repeat '>' for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000513 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000514
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000515:[range]> {count} [flags]
516 Shift {count} lines one 'shiftwidth' right, starting
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000517 with [range] (default current line |cmdline-ranges|).
518 Repeat '>' for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000519 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000520
521The ">" and "<" commands are handy for changing the indentation within
522programs. Use the 'shiftwidth' option to set the size of the white space
523which these commands insert or delete. Normally the 'shiftwidth' option is 8,
524but you can set it to, say, 3 to make smaller indents. The shift leftwards
525stops when there is no indent. The shift right does not affect empty lines.
526
527If the 'shiftround' option is on, the indent is rounded to a multiple of
528'shiftwidth'.
529
530If the 'smartindent' option is on, or 'cindent' is on and 'cinkeys' contains
Bram Moolenaar8e69b4a2013-11-09 03:41:58 +0100531'#' with a zero value, shift right does not affect lines starting with '#'
532(these are supposed to be C preprocessor lines that must stay in column 1).
Bram Moolenaar7dda86f2018-04-20 22:36:41 +0200533This can be changed with the 'cino' option, see |cino-#|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000534
535When the 'expandtab' option is off (this is the default) Vim uses <Tab>s as
536much as possible to make the indent. You can use ">><<" to replace an indent
537made out of spaces with the same indent made out of <Tab>s (and a few spaces
538if necessary). If the 'expandtab' option is on, Vim uses only spaces. Then
539you can use ">><<" to replace <Tab>s in the indent by spaces (or use
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200540`:retab!`).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000541
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200542To move a line several 'shiftwidth's, use Visual mode or the `:` commands.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000543For example: >
544 Vjj4> move three lines 4 indents to the right
545 :<<< move current line 3 indents to the left
546 :>> 5 move 5 lines 2 indents to the right
547 :5>> move line 5 2 indents to the right
548
549==============================================================================
5504. Complex changes *complex-change*
551
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00005524.1 Filter commands *filter*
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000553
554A filter is a program that accepts text at standard input, changes it in some
555way, and sends it to standard output. You can use the commands below to send
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000556some text through a filter, so that it is replaced by the filter output.
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000557Examples of filters are "sort", which sorts lines alphabetically, and
558"indent", which formats C program files (you need a version of indent that
559works like a filter; not all versions do). The 'shell' option specifies the
560shell Vim uses to execute the filter command (See also the 'shelltype'
561option). You can repeat filter commands with ".". Vim does not recognize a
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200562comment (starting with '"') after the `:!` command.
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000563
564 *!*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000565!{motion}{filter} Filter {motion} text lines through the external
566 program {filter}.
567
568 *!!*
569!!{filter} Filter [count] lines through the external program
570 {filter}.
571
572 *v_!*
573{Visual}!{filter} Filter the highlighted lines through the external
574 program {filter} (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000575
576:{range}![!]{filter} [!][arg] *:range!*
577 Filter {range} lines through the external program
578 {filter}. Vim replaces the optional bangs with the
579 latest given command and appends the optional [arg].
580 Vim saves the output of the filter command in a
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100581 temporary file and then reads the file into the buffer
582 |tempfile|. Vim uses the 'shellredir' option to
583 redirect the filter output to the temporary file.
Bram Moolenaar83c465c2005-12-16 21:53:56 +0000584 However, if the 'shelltemp' option is off then pipes
585 are used when possible (on Unix).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000586 When the 'R' flag is included in 'cpoptions' marks in
587 the filtered lines are deleted, unless the
588 |:keepmarks| command is used. Example: >
589 :keepmarks '<,'>!sort
590< When the number of lines after filtering is less than
591 before, marks in the missing lines are deleted anyway.
592
593 *=*
594={motion} Filter {motion} lines through the external program
595 given with the 'equalprg' option. When the 'equalprg'
596 option is empty (this is the default), use the
Bram Moolenaar20f90cf2011-05-19 12:22:51 +0200597 internal formatting function |C-indenting| and
598 |'lisp'|. But when 'indentexpr' is not empty, it will
599 be used instead |indent-expression|. When Vim was
600 compiled without internal formatting then the "indent"
601 program is used as a last resort.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000602
603 *==*
604== Filter [count] lines like with ={motion}.
605
606 *v_=*
607{Visual}= Filter the highlighted lines like with ={motion}.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000608
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000609
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100610 *tempfile* *setuid*
611Vim uses temporary files for filtering, generating diffs and also for
612tempname(). For Unix, the file will be in a private directory (only
613accessible by the current user) to avoid security problems (e.g., a symlink
614attack or other people reading your file). When Vim exits the directory and
615all files in it are deleted. When Vim has the setuid bit set this may cause
616problems, the temp file is owned by the setuid user but the filter command
617probably runs as the original user.
618On MS-DOS and OS/2 the first of these directories that works is used: $TMP,
619$TEMP, c:\TMP, c:\TEMP.
620For Unix the list of directories is: $TMPDIR, /tmp, current-dir, $HOME.
621For MS-Windows the GetTempFileName() system function is used.
622For other systems the tmpnam() library function is used.
623
624
625
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +00006264.2 Substitute *:substitute*
627 *:s* *:su*
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000628:[range]s[ubstitute]/{pattern}/{string}/[flags] [count]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000629 For each line in [range] replace a match of {pattern}
630 with {string}.
631 For the {pattern} see |pattern|.
632 {string} can be a literal string, or something
633 special; see |sub-replace-special|.
634 When [range] and [count] are omitted, replace in the
Bram Moolenaar3df01732017-02-17 22:47:16 +0100635 current line only. When [count] is given, replace in
636 [count] lines, starting with the last line in [range].
637 When [range] is omitted start in the current line.
Bram Moolenaar4c92e752019-02-17 21:18:32 +0100638 *E939*
Bram Moolenaar3df01732017-02-17 22:47:16 +0100639 [count] must be a positive number. Also see
640 |cmdline-ranges|.
641
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000642 See |:s_flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000643
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000644:[range]s[ubstitute] [flags] [count]
645:[range]&[&][flags] [count] *:&*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000646 Repeat last :substitute with same search pattern and
647 substitute string, but without the same flags. You
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000648 may add [flags], see |:s_flags|.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200649 Note that after `:substitute` the '&' flag can't be
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000650 used, it's recognized as a pattern separator.
Bram Moolenaarfc39ecf2015-08-11 20:34:49 +0200651 The space between `:substitute` and the 'c', 'g',
652 'i', 'I' and 'r' flags isn't required, but in scripts
653 it's a good idea to keep it to avoid confusion.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000654
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000655:[range]~[&][flags] [count] *:~*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000656 Repeat last substitute with same substitute string
657 but with last used search pattern. This is like
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200658 `:&r`. See |:s_flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000659
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000660 *&*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200661& Synonym for `:s` (repeat last substitute). Note
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000662 that the flags are not remembered, thus it might
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200663 actually work differently. You can use `:&&` to keep
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000664 the flags.
665
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000666 *g&*
Bram Moolenaar97d62492012-11-15 21:28:22 +0100667g& Synonym for `:%s//~/&` (repeat last substitute with
668 last search pattern on all lines with the same flags).
Bram Moolenaar34700a62013-03-07 13:20:54 +0100669 For example, when you first do a substitution with
Bram Moolenaar97d62492012-11-15 21:28:22 +0100670 `:s/pattern/repl/flags` and then `/search` for
671 something else, `g&` will do `:%s/search/repl/flags`.
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200672 Mnemonic: global substitute.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000673
674 *:snomagic* *:sno*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200675:[range]sno[magic] ... Same as `:substitute`, but always use 'nomagic'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000676
677 *:smagic* *:sm*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200678:[range]sm[agic] ... Same as `:substitute`, but always use 'magic'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000679
680 *:s_flags*
681The flags that you can use for the substitute commands:
682
Bram Moolenaar51628222016-12-01 23:03:28 +0100683 *:&&*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000684[&] Must be the first one: Keep the flags from the previous substitute
685 command. Examples: >
686 :&&
687 :s/this/that/&
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200688< Note that `:s` and `:&` don't keep the flags.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000689
690[c] Confirm each substitution. Vim highlights the matching string (with
691 |hl-IncSearch|). You can type: *:s_c*
692 'y' to substitute this match
693 'l' to substitute this match and then quit ("last")
694 'n' to skip this match
695 <Esc> to quit substituting
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200696 'a' to substitute this and all remaining matches
697 'q' to quit substituting
698 CTRL-E to scroll the screen up {not available when compiled
699 without the |+insert_expand| feature}
700 CTRL-Y to scroll the screen down {not available when compiled
701 without the |+insert_expand| feature}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000702 If the 'edcompatible' option is on, Vim remembers the [c] flag and
703 toggles it each time you use it, but resets it when you give a new
704 search pattern.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000705
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200706 *:s_e*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000707[e] When the search pattern fails, do not issue an error message and, in
708 particular, continue in maps as if no error occurred. This is most
709 useful to prevent the "No match" error from breaking a mapping. Vim
710 does not suppress the following error messages, however:
711 Regular expressions can't be delimited by letters
712 \ should be followed by /, ? or &
713 No previous substitute regular expression
714 Trailing characters
715 Interrupted
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000716
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200717 *:s_g*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000718[g] Replace all occurrences in the line. Without this argument,
719 replacement occurs only for the first occurrence in each line. If
720 the 'edcompatible' option is on, Vim remembers this flag and toggles
721 it each time you use it, but resets it when you give a new search
722 pattern. If the 'gdefault' option is on, this flag is on by default
723 and the [g] argument switches it off.
724
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200725 *:s_i*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000726[i] Ignore case for the pattern. The 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' options
727 are not used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000728
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200729 *:s_I*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000730[I] Don't ignore case for the pattern. The 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase'
731 options are not used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000732
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200733 *:s_n*
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000734[n] Report the number of matches, do not actually substitute. The [c]
735 flag is ignored. The matches are reported as if 'report' is zero.
736 Useful to |count-items|.
Bram Moolenaar9b451252012-08-15 17:43:31 +0200737 If \= |sub-replace-expression| is used, the expression will be
738 evaluated in the |sandbox| at every match.
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000739
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200740[p] Print the line containing the last substitute. *:s_p*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000741
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200742[#] Like [p] and prepend the line number. *:s_#*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000743
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200744[l] Like [p] but print the text like |:list|. *:s_l*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000745
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200746 *:s_r*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200747[r] Only useful in combination with `:&` or `:s` without arguments. `:&r`
748 works the same way as `:~`: When the search pattern is empty, use the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000749 previously used search pattern instead of the search pattern from the
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200750 last substitute or `:global`. If the last command that did a search
751 was a substitute or `:global`, there is no effect. If the last
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000752 command was a search command such as "/", use the pattern from that
753 command.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200754 For `:s` with an argument this already happens: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000755 :s/blue/red/
756 /green
757 :s//red/ or :~ or :&r
758< The last commands will replace "green" with "red". >
759 :s/blue/red/
760 /green
761 :&
762< The last command will replace "blue" with "red".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000763
764Note that there is no flag to change the "magicness" of the pattern. A
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000765different command is used instead, or you can use |/\v| and friends. The
766reason is that the flags can only be found by skipping the pattern, and in
767order to skip the pattern the "magicness" must be known. Catch 22!
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000768
769If the {pattern} for the substitute command is empty, the command uses the
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200770pattern from the last substitute or `:global` command. If there is none, but
Bram Moolenaar662db672011-03-22 14:05:35 +0100771there is a previous search pattern, that one is used. With the [r] flag, the
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200772command uses the pattern from the last substitute, `:global`, or search
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000773command.
774
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +0000775If the {string} is omitted the substitute is done as if it's empty. Thus the
776matched pattern is deleted. The separator after {pattern} can also be left
777out then. Example: >
778 :%s/TESTING
779This deletes "TESTING" from all lines, but only one per line.
780
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000781For compatibility with Vi these two exceptions are allowed:
782"\/{string}/" and "\?{string}?" do the same as "//{string}/r".
783"\&{string}&" does the same as "//{string}/".
784 *E146*
785Instead of the '/' which surrounds the pattern and replacement string, you
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +0000786can use any other single-byte character, but not an alphanumeric character,
787'\', '"' or '|'. This is useful if you want to include a '/' in the search
788pattern or replacement string. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000789 :s+/+//+
790
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000791For the definition of a pattern, see |pattern|. In Visual block mode, use
792|/\%V| in the pattern to have the substitute work in the block only.
793Otherwise it works on whole lines anyway.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000794
795 *sub-replace-special* *:s\=*
796When the {string} starts with "\=" it is evaluated as an expression, see
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200797|sub-replace-expression|. You can use that for complex replacement or special
798characters.
799
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +0000800Otherwise these characters in {string} have a special meaning:
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000801 *:s%*
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +0000802When {string} is equal to "%" and '/' is included with the 'cpoptions' option,
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200803then the {string} of the previous substitute command is used, see |cpo-/|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000804
805magic nomagic action ~
806 & \& replaced with the whole matched pattern *s/\&*
807 \& & replaced with &
808 \0 replaced with the whole matched pattern *\0* *s/\0*
809 \1 replaced with the matched pattern in the first
810 pair of () *s/\1*
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +0000811 \2 replaced with the matched pattern in the second
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000812 pair of () *s/\2*
813 .. .. *s/\3*
814 \9 replaced with the matched pattern in the ninth
815 pair of () *s/\9*
816 ~ \~ replaced with the {string} of the previous
817 substitute *s~*
818 \~ ~ replaced with ~ *s/\~*
819 \u next character made uppercase *s/\u*
820 \U following characters made uppercase, until \E *s/\U*
821 \l next character made lowercase *s/\l*
822 \L following characters made lowercase, until \E *s/\L*
823 \e end of \u, \U, \l and \L (NOTE: not <Esc>!) *s/\e*
824 \E end of \u, \U, \l and \L *s/\E*
825 <CR> split line in two at this point
826 (Type the <CR> as CTRL-V <Enter>) *s<CR>*
827 \r idem *s/\r*
828 \<CR> insert a carriage-return (CTRL-M)
829 (Type the <CR> as CTRL-V <Enter>) *s/\<CR>*
830 \n insert a <NL> (<NUL> in the file)
831 (does NOT break the line) *s/\n*
832 \b insert a <BS> *s/\b*
833 \t insert a <Tab> *s/\t*
834 \\ insert a single backslash *s/\\*
835 \x where x is any character not mentioned above:
836 Reserved for future expansion
837
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200838The special meaning is also used inside the third argument {sub} of
839the |substitute()| function with the following exceptions:
840 - A % inserts a percent literally without regard to 'cpoptions'.
841 - magic is always set without regard to 'magic'.
842 - A ~ inserts a tilde literally.
843 - <CR> and \r inserts a carriage-return (CTRL-M).
Bram Moolenaarba3ff532018-11-04 14:45:49 +0100844 - \<CR> does not have a special meaning. It's just one of \x.
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200845
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000846Examples: >
847 :s/a\|b/xxx\0xxx/g modifies "a b" to "xxxaxxx xxxbxxx"
848 :s/\([abc]\)\([efg]\)/\2\1/g modifies "af fa bg" to "fa fa gb"
849 :s/abcde/abc^Mde/ modifies "abcde" to "abc", "de" (two lines)
850 :s/$/\^M/ modifies "abcde" to "abcde^M"
Bram Moolenaarefd2bf12006-03-16 21:41:35 +0000851 :s/\w\+/\u\0/g modifies "bla bla" to "Bla Bla"
Bram Moolenaaraa3b15d2016-04-21 08:53:19 +0200852 :s/\w\+/\L\u\0/g modifies "BLA bla" to "Bla Bla"
Bram Moolenaarbf884932013-04-05 22:26:15 +0200853
854Note: "\L\u" can be used to capitalize the first letter of a word. This is
855not compatible with Vi and older versions of Vim, where the "\u" would cancel
856out the "\L". Same for "\U\l".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000857
858Note: In previous versions CTRL-V was handled in a special way. Since this is
859not Vi compatible, this was removed. Use a backslash instead.
860
861command text result ~
862:s/aa/a^Ma/ aa a<line-break>a
863:s/aa/a\^Ma/ aa a^Ma
864:s/aa/a\\^Ma/ aa a\<line-break>a
865
866(you need to type CTRL-V <CR> to get a ^M here)
867
868The numbering of "\1", "\2" etc. is done based on which "\(" comes first in
869the pattern (going left to right). When a parentheses group matches several
870times, the last one will be used for "\1", "\2", etc. Example: >
871 :s/\(\(a[a-d] \)*\)/\2/ modifies "aa ab x" to "ab x"
Bram Moolenaar7e1479b2016-09-11 15:07:27 +0200872The "\2" is for "\(a[a-d] \)". At first it matches "aa ", secondly "ab ".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000873
874When using parentheses in combination with '|', like in \([ab]\)\|\([cd]\),
875either the first or second pattern in parentheses did not match, so either
876\1 or \2 is empty. Example: >
877 :s/\([ab]\)\|\([cd]\)/\1x/g modifies "a b c d" to "ax bx x x"
878<
879
Bram Moolenaara0f849e2015-10-30 14:37:44 +0100880 *:sc* *:sce* *:scg* *:sci* *:scI* *:scl* *:scp* *:sg* *:sgc*
881 *:sge* *:sgi* *:sgI* *:sgl* *:sgn* *:sgp* *:sgr* *:sI* *:si*
882 *:sic* *:sIc* *:sie* *:sIe* *:sIg* *:sIl* *:sin* *:sIn* *:sIp*
883 *:sip* *:sIr* *:sir* *:sr* *:src* *:srg* *:sri* *:srI* *:srl*
884 *:srn* *:srp*
8852-letter and 3-letter :substitute commands ~
886
887 List of :substitute commands
888 | c e g i I n p l r
889 | c :sc :sce :scg :sci :scI :scn :scp :scl ---
890 | e
891 | g :sgc :sge :sg :sgi :sgI :sgn :sgp :sgl :sgr
892 | i :sic :sie --- :si :siI :sin :sip --- :sir
893 | I :sIc :sIe :sIg :sIi :sI :sIn :sIp :sIl :sIr
894 | n
895 | p
896 | l
897 | r :src --- :srg :sri :srI :srn :srp :srl :sr
898
899Exceptions:
900 :scr is `:scriptnames`
901 :se is `:set`
902 :sig is `:sign`
903 :sil is `:silent`
904 :sn is `:snext`
905 :sp is `:split`
906 :sl is `:sleep`
907 :sre is `:srewind`
908
909
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000910Substitute with an expression *sub-replace-expression*
Bram Moolenaar92dff182014-02-11 19:15:50 +0100911 *sub-replace-\=* *s/\=*
Bram Moolenaara7fc0102005-05-18 22:17:12 +0000912When the substitute string starts with "\=" the remainder is interpreted as an
Bram Moolenaar6100d022016-10-02 16:51:57 +0200913expression.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000914
915The special meaning for characters as mentioned at |sub-replace-special| does
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200916not apply except for "<CR>". A <NL> character is used as a line break, you
917can get one with a double-quote string: "\n". Prepend a backslash to get a
918real <NL> character (which will be a NUL in the file).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000919
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200920The "\=" notation can also be used inside the third argument {sub} of
921|substitute()| function. In this case, the special meaning for characters as
922mentioned at |sub-replace-special| does not apply at all. Especially, <CR> and
923<NL> are interpreted not as a line break but as a carriage-return and a
924new-line respectively.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000925
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +0000926When the result is a |List| then the items are joined with separating line
927breaks. Thus each item becomes a line, except that they can contain line
928breaks themselves.
929
Bram Moolenaar9d87a372018-12-18 21:41:50 +0100930The |submatch()| function can be used to obtain matched text. The whole
931matched text can be accessed with "submatch(0)". The text matched with the
932first pair of () with "submatch(1)". Likewise for further sub-matches in ().
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000933
934Be careful: The separation character must not appear in the expression!
935Consider using a character like "@" or ":". There is no problem if the result
936of the expression contains the separation character.
937
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +0000938Examples: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000939 :s@\n@\="\r" . expand("$HOME") . "\r"@
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +0000940This replaces an end-of-line with a new line containing the value of $HOME. >
941
942 s/E/\="\<Char-0x20ac>"/g
Bram Moolenaarc236c162008-07-13 17:41:49 +0000943This replaces each 'E' character with a euro sign. Read more in |<Char->|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000944
945
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +00009464.3 Search and replace *search-replace*
947
948 *:pro* *:promptfind*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000949:promptf[ind] [string]
950 Put up a Search dialog. When [string] is given, it is
951 used as the initial search string.
952 {only for Win32, Motif and GTK GUI}
953
954 *:promptr* *:promptrepl*
955:promptr[epl] [string]
956 Put up a Search/Replace dialog. When [string] is
957 given, it is used as the initial search string.
958 {only for Win32, Motif and GTK GUI}
959
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000960
9614.4 Changing tabs *change-tabs*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200962 *:ret* *:retab* *:retab!*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000963:[range]ret[ab][!] [new_tabstop]
964 Replace all sequences of white-space containing a
965 <Tab> with new strings of white-space using the new
966 tabstop value given. If you do not specify a new
967 tabstop size or it is zero, Vim uses the current value
968 of 'tabstop'.
969 The current value of 'tabstop' is always used to
970 compute the width of existing tabs.
971 With !, Vim also replaces strings of only normal
972 spaces with tabs where appropriate.
973 With 'expandtab' on, Vim replaces all tabs with the
974 appropriate number of spaces.
975 This command sets 'tabstop' to the new value given,
976 and if performed on the whole file, which is default,
977 should not make any visible change.
978 Careful: This command modifies any <Tab> characters
979 inside of strings in a C program. Use "\t" to avoid
980 this (that's a good habit anyway).
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200981 `:retab!` may also change a sequence of spaces by
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000982 <Tab> characters, which can mess up a printf().
Bram Moolenaar04958cb2018-06-23 19:23:02 +0200983 If the |+vartabs| feature is enabled then a list of
984 tab widths separated by commas may be used in place of
985 a single tabstop. Each value in the list represents
986 the width of one tabstop, except the final value which
987 applies to all following tabstops.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000988
989 *retab-example*
990Example for using autocommands and ":retab" to edit a file which is stored
991with tabstops at 8 but edited with tabstops set at 4. Warning: white space
992inside of strings can change! Also see 'softtabstop' option. >
993
994 :auto BufReadPost *.xx retab! 4
995 :auto BufWritePre *.xx retab! 8
996 :auto BufWritePost *.xx retab! 4
997 :auto BufNewFile *.xx set ts=4
998
999==============================================================================
10005. Copying and moving text *copy-move*
1001
1002 *quote*
1003"{a-zA-Z0-9.%#:-"} Use register {a-zA-Z0-9.%#:-"} for next delete, yank
1004 or put (use uppercase character to append with
1005 delete and yank) ({.%#:} only work with put).
1006
1007 *:reg* *:registers*
1008:reg[isters] Display the contents of all numbered and named
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001009 registers. If a register is written to for |:redir|
1010 it will not be listed.
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001011
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001012
1013:reg[isters] {arg} Display the contents of the numbered and named
1014 registers that are mentioned in {arg}. For example: >
Bram Moolenaarfa735342016-01-03 22:14:44 +01001015 :reg 1a
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001016< to display registers '1' and 'a'. Spaces are allowed
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001017 in {arg}.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001018
1019 *:di* *:display*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001020:di[splay] [arg] Same as :registers.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001021
1022 *y* *yank*
1023["x]y{motion} Yank {motion} text [into register x]. When no
1024 characters are to be yanked (e.g., "y0" in column 1),
1025 this is an error when 'cpoptions' includes the 'E'
1026 flag.
1027
1028 *yy*
1029["x]yy Yank [count] lines [into register x] |linewise|.
1030
1031 *Y*
1032["x]Y yank [count] lines [into register x] (synonym for
1033 yy, |linewise|). If you like "Y" to work from the
1034 cursor to the end of line (which is more logical,
1035 but not Vi-compatible) use ":map Y y$".
1036
1037 *v_y*
1038{Visual}["x]y Yank the highlighted text [into register x] (for
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001039 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001040
1041 *v_Y*
1042{Visual}["x]Y Yank the highlighted lines [into register x] (for
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001043 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001044
Bram Moolenaar85de2062011-05-05 14:26:41 +02001045 *:y* *:yank* *E850*
1046:[range]y[ank] [x] Yank [range] lines [into register x]. Yanking to the
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +02001047 "* or "+ registers is possible only when the
1048 |+clipboard| feature is included.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001049
1050:[range]y[ank] [x] {count}
1051 Yank {count} lines, starting with last line number
1052 in [range] (default: current line |cmdline-ranges|),
1053 [into register x].
1054
1055 *p* *put* *E353*
1056["x]p Put the text [from register x] after the cursor
1057 [count] times. {Vi: no count}
1058
1059 *P*
1060["x]P Put the text [from register x] before the cursor
1061 [count] times. {Vi: no count}
1062
1063 *<MiddleMouse>*
1064["x]<MiddleMouse> Put the text from a register before the cursor [count]
1065 times. Uses the "* register, unless another is
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001066 specified.
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +00001067 Leaves the cursor at the end of the new text.
1068 Using the mouse only works when 'mouse' contains 'n'
1069 or 'a'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001070 If you have a scrollwheel and often accidentally paste
1071 text, you can use these mappings to disable the
1072 pasting with the middle mouse button: >
1073 :map <MiddleMouse> <Nop>
1074 :imap <MiddleMouse> <Nop>
1075< You might want to disable the multi-click versions
1076 too, see |double-click|.
1077
1078 *gp*
1079["x]gp Just like "p", but leave the cursor just after the new
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001080 text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001081
1082 *gP*
1083["x]gP Just like "P", but leave the cursor just after the new
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001084 text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001085
1086 *:pu* *:put*
1087:[line]pu[t] [x] Put the text [from register x] after [line] (default
1088 current line). This always works |linewise|, thus
1089 this command can be used to put a yanked block as new
1090 lines.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001091 If no register is specified, it depends on the 'cb'
1092 option: If 'cb' contains "unnamedplus", paste from the
1093 + register |quoteplus|. Otherwise, if 'cb' contains
Bram Moolenaarddbb5552012-04-26 20:17:03 +02001094 "unnamed", paste from the * register |quotestar|.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001095 Otherwise, paste from the unnamed register
1096 |quote_quote|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001097 The register can also be '=' followed by an optional
1098 expression. The expression continues until the end of
1099 the command. You need to escape the '|' and '"'
1100 characters to prevent them from terminating the
1101 command. Example: >
1102 :put ='path' . \",/test\"
1103< If there is no expression after '=', Vim uses the
1104 previous expression. You can see it with ":dis =".
1105
1106:[line]pu[t]! [x] Put the text [from register x] before [line] (default
1107 current line).
1108
1109["x]]p or *]p* *]<MiddleMouse>*
1110["x]]<MiddleMouse> Like "p", but adjust the indent to the current line.
1111 Using the mouse only works when 'mouse' contains 'n'
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001112 or 'a'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001113
1114["x][P or *[P*
1115["x]]P or *]P*
1116["x][p or *[p* *[<MiddleMouse>*
1117["x][<MiddleMouse> Like "P", but adjust the indent to the current line.
1118 Using the mouse only works when 'mouse' contains 'n'
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001119 or 'a'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001120
1121You can use these commands to copy text from one place to another. Do this
1122by first getting the text into a register with a yank, delete or change
1123command, then inserting the register contents with a put command. You can
1124also use these commands to move text from one file to another, because Vim
1125preserves all registers when changing buffers (the CTRL-^ command is a quick
1126way to toggle between two files).
1127
1128 *linewise-register* *characterwise-register*
1129You can repeat the put commands with "." (except for :put) and undo them. If
1130the command that was used to get the text into the register was |linewise|,
1131Vim inserts the text below ("p") or above ("P") the line where the cursor is.
1132Otherwise Vim inserts the text after ("p") or before ("P") the cursor. With
1133the ":put" command, Vim always inserts the text in the next line. You can
1134exchange two characters with the command sequence "xp". You can exchange two
1135lines with the command sequence "ddp". You can exchange two words with the
1136command sequence "deep" (start with the cursor in the blank space before the
1137first word). You can use the "']" or "`]" command after the put command to
1138move the cursor to the end of the inserted text, or use "'[" or "`[" to move
1139the cursor to the start.
1140
1141 *put-Visual-mode* *v_p* *v_P*
1142When using a put command like |p| or |P| in Visual mode, Vim will try to
1143replace the selected text with the contents of the register. Whether this
1144works well depends on the type of selection and the type of the text in the
1145register. With blockwise selection it also depends on the size of the block
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001146and whether the corners are on an existing character. (Implementation detail:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001147it actually works by first putting the register after the selection and then
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001148deleting the selection.)
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001149The previously selected text is put in the unnamed register. If you want to
1150put the same text into a Visual selection several times you need to use
1151another register. E.g., yank the text to copy, Visually select the text to
1152replace and use "0p . You can repeat this as many times as you like, the
1153unnamed register will be changed each time.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001154
Bram Moolenaarec11aef2013-09-22 15:23:44 +02001155When you use a blockwise Visual mode command and yank only a single line into
1156a register, a paste on a visual selected area will paste that single line on
1157each of the selected lines (thus replacing the blockwise selected region by a
1158block of the pasted line).
1159
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001160 *blockwise-register*
1161If you use a blockwise Visual mode command to get the text into the register,
1162the block of text will be inserted before ("P") or after ("p") the cursor
1163column in the current and next lines. Vim makes the whole block of text start
1164in the same column. Thus the inserted text looks the same as when it was
1165yanked or deleted. Vim may replace some <Tab> characters with spaces to make
1166this happen. However, if the width of the block is not a multiple of a <Tab>
1167width and the text after the inserted block contains <Tab>s, that text may be
1168misaligned.
1169
1170Note that after a characterwise yank command, Vim leaves the cursor on the
1171first yanked character that is closest to the start of the buffer. This means
1172that "yl" doesn't move the cursor, but "yh" moves the cursor one character
1173left.
1174Rationale: In Vi the "y" command followed by a backwards motion would
1175 sometimes not move the cursor to the first yanked character,
1176 because redisplaying was skipped. In Vim it always moves to
1177 the first character, as specified by Posix.
1178With a linewise yank command the cursor is put in the first line, but the
1179column is unmodified, thus it may not be on the first yanked character.
1180
Bram Moolenaar12969c02015-09-08 23:36:10 +02001181There are ten types of registers: *registers* *E354*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000011821. The unnamed register ""
11832. 10 numbered registers "0 to "9
11843. The small delete register "-
11854. 26 named registers "a to "z or "A to "Z
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010011865. three read-only registers ":, "., "%
Bram Moolenaar0122c402015-02-03 19:13:34 +010011876. alternate buffer register "#
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010011887. the expression register "=
11898. The selection and drop registers "*, "+ and "~
11909. The black hole register "_
119110. Last search pattern register "/
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001192
11931. Unnamed register "" *quote_quote* *quotequote*
1194Vim fills this register with text deleted with the "d", "c", "s", "x" commands
1195or copied with the yank "y" command, regardless of whether or not a specific
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001196register was used (e.g. "xdd). This is like the unnamed register is pointing
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001197to the last used register. Thus when appending using an uppercase register
1198name, the unnamed register contains the same text as the named register.
1199An exception is the '_' register: "_dd does not store the deleted text in any
1200register.
Bram Moolenaar81695252004-12-29 20:58:21 +00001201Vim uses the contents of the unnamed register for any put command (p or P)
1202which does not specify a register. Additionally you can access it with the
1203name '"'. This means you have to type two double quotes. Writing to the ""
1204register writes to register "0.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001205{Vi: register contents are lost when changing files, no '"'}
1206
Bram Moolenaaraa3b15d2016-04-21 08:53:19 +020012072. Numbered registers "0 to "9 *quote_number* *quote0* *quote1*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001208 *quote2* *quote3* *quote4* *quote9*
1209Vim fills these registers with text from yank and delete commands.
1210 Numbered register 0 contains the text from the most recent yank command,
1211unless the command specified another register with ["x].
1212 Numbered register 1 contains the text deleted by the most recent delete or
1213change command, unless the command specified another register or the text is
1214less than one line (the small delete register is used then). An exception is
Bram Moolenaar81695252004-12-29 20:58:21 +00001215made for the delete operator with these movement commands: |%|, |(|, |)|, |`|,
1216|/|, |?|, |n|, |N|, |{| and |}|. Register "1 is always used then (this is Vi
1217compatible). The "- register is used as well if the delete is within a line.
Bram Moolenaarbaca7f72013-09-22 14:42:24 +02001218Note that these characters may be mapped. E.g. |%| is mapped by the matchit
Bram Moolenaar7cba6c02013-09-05 22:13:31 +02001219plugin.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001220 With each successive deletion or change, Vim shifts the previous contents
1221of register 1 into register 2, 2 into 3, and so forth, losing the previous
1222contents of register 9.
1223{Vi: numbered register contents are lost when changing files; register 0 does
1224not exist}
1225
12263. Small delete register "- *quote_-* *quote-*
1227This register contains text from commands that delete less than one line,
1228except when the command specifies a register with ["x].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001229
12304. Named registers "a to "z or "A to "Z *quote_alpha* *quotea*
1231Vim fills these registers only when you say so. Specify them as lowercase
1232letters to replace their previous contents or as uppercase letters to append
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00001233to their previous contents. When the '>' flag is present in 'cpoptions' then
1234a line break is inserted before the appended text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001235
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010012365. Read-only registers ":, ". and "%
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001237These are '%', '#', ':' and '.'. You can use them only with the "p", "P",
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001238and ":put" commands and with CTRL-R.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001239 *quote_.* *quote.* *E29*
1240 ". Contains the last inserted text (the same as what is inserted
1241 with the insert mode commands CTRL-A and CTRL-@). Note: this
1242 doesn't work with CTRL-R on the command-line. It works a bit
1243 differently, like inserting the text instead of putting it
1244 ('textwidth' and other options affect what is inserted).
1245 *quote_%* *quote%*
1246 "% Contains the name of the current file.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001247 *quote_:* *quote:* *E30*
1248 ": Contains the most recent executed command-line. Example: Use
1249 "@:" to repeat the previous command-line command.
1250 The command-line is only stored in this register when at least
1251 one character of it was typed. Thus it remains unchanged if
1252 the command was completely from a mapping.
1253 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist|
1254 feature}
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +01001255 *quote_#* *quote#*
12566. Alternate file register "#
1257Contains the name of the alternate file for the current window. It will
1258change how the |CTRL-^| command works.
1259This register is writable, mainly to allow for restoring it after a plugin has
1260changed it. It accepts buffer number: >
1261 let altbuf = bufnr(@#)
1262 ...
1263 let @# = altbuf
1264It will give error |E86| if you pass buffer number and this buffer does not
1265exist.
1266It can also accept a match with an existing buffer name: >
1267 let @# = 'buffer_name'
1268Error |E93| if there is more than one buffer matching the given name or |E94|
1269if none of buffers matches the given name.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001270
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010012717. Expression register "= *quote_=* *quote=* *@=*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001272This is not really a register that stores text, but is a way to use an
1273expression in commands which use a register. The expression register is
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01001274read-write.
1275
1276When typing the '=' after " or CTRL-R the cursor moves to the command-line,
1277where you can enter any expression (see |expression|). All normal
1278command-line editing commands are available, including a special history for
1279expressions. When you end the command-line by typing <CR>, Vim computes the
1280result of the expression. If you end it with <Esc>, Vim abandons the
1281expression. If you do not enter an expression, Vim uses the previous
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001282expression (like with the "/" command).
1283
1284The expression must evaluate to a String. A Number is always automatically
1285converted to a String. For the "p" and ":put" command, if the result is a
1286Float it's converted into a String. If the result is a List each element is
1287turned into a String and used as a line. A Dictionary or FuncRef results in
1288an error message (use string() to convert).
1289
1290If the "= register is used for the "p" command, the String is split up at <NL>
1291characters. If the String ends in a <NL>, it is regarded as a linewise
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001292register.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001293
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010012948. Selection and drop registers "*, "+ and "~
Bram Moolenaar06b5d512010-05-22 15:37:44 +02001295Use these registers for storing and retrieving the selected text for the GUI.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001296See |quotestar| and |quoteplus|. When the clipboard is not available or not
Bram Moolenaarf4d11452005-12-02 00:46:37 +00001297working, the unnamed register is used instead. For Unix systems the clipboard
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001298is only available when the |+xterm_clipboard| feature is present.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001299
1300Note that there is only a distinction between "* and "+ for X11 systems. For
1301an explanation of the difference, see |x11-selection|. Under MS-Windows, use
1302of "* and "+ is actually synonymous and refers to the |gui-clipboard|.
1303
1304 *quote_~* *quote~* *<Drop>*
1305The read-only "~ register stores the dropped text from the last drag'n'drop
1306operation. When something has been dropped onto Vim, the "~ register is
1307filled in and the <Drop> pseudo key is sent for notification. You can remap
1308this key if you want; the default action (for all modes) is to insert the
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001309contents of the "~ register at the cursor position.
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001310{only available when compiled with the |+dnd| feature, currently only with the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001311GTK GUI}
1312
1313Note: The "~ register is only used when dropping plain text onto Vim.
1314Drag'n'drop of URI lists is handled internally.
1315
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010013169. Black hole register "_ *quote_*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001317When writing to this register, nothing happens. This can be used to delete
1318text without affecting the normal registers. When reading from this register,
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001319nothing is returned.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001320
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +0100132110. Last search pattern register "/ *quote_/* *quote/*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001322Contains the most recent search-pattern. This is used for "n" and 'hlsearch'.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001323It is writable with `:let`, you can change it to have 'hlsearch' highlight
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001324other matches without actually searching. You can't yank or delete into this
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001325register. The search direction is available in |v:searchforward|.
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01001326Note that the value is restored when returning from a function
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001327|function-search-undo|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001328
1329 *@/*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001330You can write to a register with a `:let` command |:let-@|. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001331 :let @/ = "the"
1332
1333If you use a put command without specifying a register, Vim uses the register
1334that was last filled (this is also the contents of the unnamed register). If
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001335you are confused, use the `:dis` command to find out what Vim will put (this
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001336command displays all named and numbered registers; the unnamed register is
1337labelled '"').
1338
1339The next three commands always work on whole lines.
1340
1341:[range]co[py] {address} *:co* *:copy*
1342 Copy the lines given by [range] to below the line
1343 given by {address}.
1344
1345 *:t*
1346:t Synonym for copy.
1347
1348:[range]m[ove] {address} *:m* *:mo* *:move* *E134*
1349 Move the lines given by [range] to below the line
1350 given by {address}.
1351
1352==============================================================================
13536. Formatting text *formatting*
1354
1355:[range]ce[nter] [width] *:ce* *:center*
1356 Center lines in [range] between [width] columns
1357 (default 'textwidth' or 80 when 'textwidth' is 0).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001358
1359:[range]ri[ght] [width] *:ri* *:right*
1360 Right-align lines in [range] at [width] columns
1361 (default 'textwidth' or 80 when 'textwidth' is 0).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001362
1363 *:le* *:left*
1364:[range]le[ft] [indent]
1365 Left-align lines in [range]. Sets the indent in the
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001366 lines to [indent] (default 0).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001367
1368 *gq*
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00001369gq{motion} Format the lines that {motion} moves over.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001370 Formatting is done with one of three methods:
1371 1. If 'formatexpr' is not empty the expression is
1372 evaluated. This can differ for each buffer.
Bram Moolenaar4c7ed462006-02-15 22:18:42 +00001373 2. If 'formatprg' is not empty an external program
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001374 is used.
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +00001375 3. Otherwise formatting is done internally.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001376
1377 In the third case the 'textwidth' option controls the
1378 length of each formatted line (see below).
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00001379 If the 'textwidth' option is 0, the formatted line
1380 length is the screen width (with a maximum width of
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001381 79).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001382 The 'formatoptions' option controls the type of
1383 formatting |fo-table|.
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00001384 The cursor is left on the first non-blank of the last
1385 formatted line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001386 NOTE: The "Q" command formerly performed this
1387 function. If you still want to use "Q" for
1388 formatting, use this mapping: >
1389 :nnoremap Q gq
1390
1391gqgq *gqgq* *gqq*
Bram Moolenaar40af4e32010-07-29 22:33:18 +02001392gqq Format the current line. With a count format that
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001393 many lines.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001394
1395 *v_gq*
1396{Visual}gq Format the highlighted text. (for {Visual} see
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001397 |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001398
1399 *gw*
1400gw{motion} Format the lines that {motion} moves over. Similar to
1401 |gq| but puts the cursor back at the same position in
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001402 the text. However, 'formatprg' and 'formatexpr' are
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001403 not used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001404
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001405gwgw *gwgw* *gww*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001406gww Format the current line as with "gw".
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001407
1408 *v_gw*
1409{Visual}gw Format the highlighted text as with "gw". (for
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001410 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001411
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001412Example: To format the current paragraph use: *gqap* >
1413 gqap
1414
1415The "gq" command leaves the cursor in the line where the motion command takes
1416the cursor. This allows you to repeat formatting repeated with ".". This
1417works well with "gqj" (format current and next line) and "gq}" (format until
1418end of paragraph). Note: When 'formatprg' is set, "gq" leaves the cursor on
1419the first formatted line (as with using a filter command).
1420
1421If you want to format the current paragraph and continue where you were, use: >
1422 gwap
1423If you always want to keep paragraphs formatted you may want to add the 'a'
1424flag to 'formatoptions'. See |auto-format|.
1425
1426If the 'autoindent' option is on, Vim uses the indent of the first line for
1427the following lines.
1428
1429Formatting does not change empty lines (but it does change lines with only
1430white space!).
1431
1432The 'joinspaces' option is used when lines are joined together.
1433
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001434You can set the 'formatexpr' option to an expression or the 'formatprg' option
1435to the name of an external program for Vim to use for text formatting. The
1436'textwidth' and other options have no effect on formatting by an external
1437program.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001438
Bram Moolenaar7db25fe2018-05-13 00:02:36 +02001439 *format-formatexpr*
Bram Moolenaard473c8c2018-08-11 18:00:22 +02001440The 'formatexpr' option can be set to a Vim script function that performs
Bram Moolenaar7db25fe2018-05-13 00:02:36 +02001441reformatting of the buffer. This should usually happen in an |ftplugin|,
1442since formatting is highly dependent on the type of file. It makes
1443sense to use an |autoload| script, so the corresponding script is only loaded
1444when actually needed and the script should be called <filetype>format.vim.
1445
1446For example, the XML filetype plugin distributed with Vim in the $VIMRUNTIME
1447directory, sets the 'formatexpr' option to: >
1448
1449 setlocal formatexpr=xmlformat#Format()
1450
1451That means, you will find the corresponding script, defining the
1452xmlformat#Format() function, in the directory:
1453`$VIMRUNTIME/autoload/xmlformat.vim`
1454
1455Here is an example script that removes trailing whitespace from the selected
1456text. Put it in your autoload directory, e.g. ~/.vim/autoload/format.vim: >
1457
1458 func! format#Format()
1459 " only reformat on explicit gq command
1460 if mode() != 'n'
1461 " fall back to Vims internal reformatting
1462 return 1
1463 endif
1464 let lines = getline(v:lnum, v:lnum + v:count - 1)
1465 call map(lines, {key, val -> substitute(val, '\s\+$', '', 'g')})
1466 call setline('.', lines)
1467
1468 " do not run internal formatter!
1469 return 0
1470 endfunc
1471
1472You can then enable the formatting by executing: >
1473 setlocal formatexpr=format#Format()
Bram Moolenaard473c8c2018-08-11 18:00:22 +02001474
Bram Moolenaar7db25fe2018-05-13 00:02:36 +02001475Note: this function explicitly returns non-zero when called from insert mode
1476(which basically means, text is inserted beyond the 'textwidth' limit). This
1477causes Vim to fall back to reformat the text by using the internal formatter.
1478
1479However, if the |gq| command is used to reformat the text, the function
1480will receive the selected lines, trim trailing whitespace from those lines and
1481put them back in place. If you are going to split single lines into multiple
1482lines, be careful not to overwrite anything.
1483
1484If you want to allow reformatting of text from insert or replace mode, one has
1485to be very careful, because the function might be called recursively. For
1486debugging it helps to set the 'debug' option.
1487
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001488 *right-justify*
1489There is no command in Vim to right justify text. You can do it with
1490an external command, like "par" (e.g.: "!}par" to format until the end of the
1491paragraph) or set 'formatprg' to "par".
1492
1493 *format-comments*
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001494An overview of comment formatting is in section |30.6| of the user manual.
1495
1496Vim can automatically insert and format comments in a special way. Vim
1497recognizes a comment by a specific string at the start of the line (ignoring
1498white space). Three types of comments can be used:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001499
1500- A comment string that repeats at the start of each line. An example is the
1501 type of comment used in shell scripts, starting with "#".
1502- A comment string that occurs only in the first line, not in the following
1503 lines. An example is this list with dashes.
1504- Three-piece comments that have a start string, an end string, and optional
1505 lines in between. The strings for the start, middle and end are different.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001506 An example is the C style comment:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001507 /*
1508 * this is a C comment
1509 */
1510
1511The 'comments' option is a comma-separated list of parts. Each part defines a
1512type of comment string. A part consists of:
1513 {flags}:{string}
1514
1515{string} is the literal text that must appear.
1516
1517{flags}:
1518 n Nested comment. Nesting with mixed parts is allowed. If 'comments'
1519 is "n:),n:>" a line starting with "> ) >" is a comment.
1520
1521 b Blank (<Space>, <Tab> or <EOL>) required after {string}.
1522
1523 f Only the first line has the comment string. Do not repeat comment on
1524 the next line, but preserve indentation (e.g., a bullet-list).
1525
1526 s Start of three-piece comment
1527
1528 m Middle of a three-piece comment
1529
1530 e End of a three-piece comment
1531
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001532 l Left align. Used together with 's' or 'e', the leftmost character of
1533 start or end will line up with the leftmost character from the middle.
1534 This is the default and can be omitted. See below for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001535
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001536 r Right align. Same as above but rightmost instead of leftmost. See
1537 below for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001538
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001539 O Don't consider this comment for the "O" command.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001540
1541 x Allows three-piece comments to be ended by just typing the last
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001542 character of the end-comment string as the first action on a new
1543 line when the middle-comment string has been inserted automatically.
1544 See below for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001545
1546 {digits}
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001547 When together with 's' or 'e': add {digit} amount of offset to an
1548 automatically inserted middle or end comment leader. The offset begins
1549 from a left alignment. See below for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001550
1551 -{digits}
1552 Like {digits} but reduce the indent. This only works when there is
1553 some indent for the start or end part that can be removed.
1554
1555When a string has none of the 'f', 's', 'm' or 'e' flags, Vim assumes the
1556comment string repeats at the start of each line. The flags field may be
1557empty.
1558
1559Any blank space in the text before and after the {string} is part of the
1560{string}, so do not include leading or trailing blanks unless the blanks are a
1561required part of the comment string.
1562
1563When one comment leader is part of another, specify the part after the whole.
1564For example, to include both "-" and "->", use >
1565 :set comments=f:->,f:-
1566
1567A three-piece comment must always be given as start,middle,end, with no other
1568parts in between. An example of a three-piece comment is >
1569 sr:/*,mb:*,ex:*/
1570for C-comments. To avoid recognizing "*ptr" as a comment, the middle string
1571includes the 'b' flag. For three-piece comments, Vim checks the text after
1572the start and middle strings for the end string. If Vim finds the end string,
1573the comment does not continue on the next line. Three-piece comments must
1574have a middle string because otherwise Vim can't recognize the middle lines.
1575
1576Notice the use of the "x" flag in the above three-piece comment definition.
1577When you hit Return in a C-comment, Vim will insert the middle comment leader
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001578for the new line: " * ". To close this comment you just have to type "/"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001579before typing anything else on the new line. This will replace the
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001580middle-comment leader with the end-comment leader and apply any specified
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01001581alignment, leaving just " */". There is no need to hit Backspace first.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001582
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01001583When there is a match with a middle part, but there also is a matching end
1584part which is longer, the end part is used. This makes a C style comment work
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +02001585without requiring the middle part to end with a space.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001586
1587Here is an example of alignment flags at work to make a comment stand out
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +02001588(kind of looks like a 1 too). Consider comment string: >
1589 :set comments=sr:/***,m:**,ex-2:******/
1590<
1591 /*** ~
1592 **<--right aligned from "r" flag ~
1593 ** ~
1594offset 2 spaces for the "-2" flag--->** ~
1595 ******/ ~
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001596In this case, the first comment was typed, then return was pressed 4 times,
1597then "/" was pressed to end the comment.
1598
1599Here are some finer points of three part comments. There are three times when
1600alignment and offset flags are taken into consideration: opening a new line
1601after a start-comment, opening a new line before an end-comment, and
1602automatically ending a three-piece comment. The end alignment flag has a
1603backwards perspective; the result is that the same alignment flag used with
1604"s" and "e" will result in the same indent for the starting and ending pieces.
1605Only one alignment per comment part is meant to be used, but an offset number
1606will override the "r" and "l" flag.
1607
1608Enabling 'cindent' will override the alignment flags in many cases.
1609Reindenting using a different method like |gq| or |=| will not consult
1610alignment flags either. The same behaviour can be defined in those other
1611formatting options. One consideration is that 'cindent' has additional options
1612for context based indenting of comments but cannot replicate many three piece
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +02001613indent alignments. However, 'indentexpr' has the ability to work better with
1614three piece comments.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001615
1616Other examples: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001617 "b:*" Includes lines starting with "*", but not if the "*" is
1618 followed by a non-blank. This avoids a pointer dereference
1619 like "*str" to be recognized as a comment.
1620 "n:>" Includes a line starting with ">", ">>", ">>>", etc.
1621 "fb:-" Format a list that starts with "- ".
1622
1623By default, "b:#" is included. This means that a line that starts with
1624"#include" is not recognized as a comment line. But a line that starts with
1625"# define" is recognized. This is a compromise.
1626
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001627{not available when compiled without the |+comments| feature}
1628
1629 *fo-table*
1630You can use the 'formatoptions' option to influence how Vim formats text.
1631'formatoptions' is a string that can contain any of the letters below. The
1632default setting is "tcq". You can separate the option letters with commas for
1633readability.
1634
1635letter meaning when present in 'formatoptions' ~
1636
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001637t Auto-wrap text using textwidth
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001638c Auto-wrap comments using textwidth, inserting the current comment
1639 leader automatically.
1640r Automatically insert the current comment leader after hitting
1641 <Enter> in Insert mode.
1642o Automatically insert the current comment leader after hitting 'o' or
1643 'O' in Normal mode.
1644q Allow formatting of comments with "gq".
1645 Note that formatting will not change blank lines or lines containing
1646 only the comment leader. A new paragraph starts after such a line,
1647 or when the comment leader changes.
1648w Trailing white space indicates a paragraph continues in the next line.
1649 A line that ends in a non-white character ends a paragraph.
1650a Automatic formatting of paragraphs. Every time text is inserted or
1651 deleted the paragraph will be reformatted. See |auto-format|.
1652 When the 'c' flag is present this only happens for recognized
1653 comments.
Bram Moolenaar86b68352004-12-27 21:59:20 +00001654n When formatting text, recognize numbered lists. This actually uses
1655 the 'formatlistpat' option, thus any kind of list can be used. The
1656 indent of the text after the number is used for the next line. The
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001657 default is to find a number, optionally followed by '.', ':', ')',
Bram Moolenaar86b68352004-12-27 21:59:20 +00001658 ']' or '}'. Note that 'autoindent' must be set too. Doesn't work
1659 well together with "2".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001660 Example: >
1661 1. the first item
1662 wraps
1663 2. the second item
16642 When formatting text, use the indent of the second line of a paragraph
1665 for the rest of the paragraph, instead of the indent of the first
1666 line. This supports paragraphs in which the first line has a
1667 different indent than the rest. Note that 'autoindent' must be set
1668 too. Example: >
1669 first line of a paragraph
1670 second line of the same paragraph
1671 third line.
Bram Moolenaar30b65812012-07-12 22:01:11 +02001672< This also works inside comments, ignoring the comment leader.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001673v Vi-compatible auto-wrapping in insert mode: Only break a line at a
1674 blank that you have entered during the current insert command. (Note:
1675 this is not 100% Vi compatible. Vi has some "unexpected features" or
1676 bugs in this area. It uses the screen column instead of the line
1677 column.)
1678b Like 'v', but only auto-wrap if you enter a blank at or before
1679 the wrap margin. If the line was longer than 'textwidth' when you
1680 started the insert, or you do not enter a blank in the insert before
1681 reaching 'textwidth', Vim does not perform auto-wrapping.
1682l Long lines are not broken in insert mode: When a line was longer than
1683 'textwidth' when the insert command started, Vim does not
1684 automatically format it.
1685m Also break at a multi-byte character above 255. This is useful for
1686 Asian text where every character is a word on its own.
1687M When joining lines, don't insert a space before or after a multi-byte
1688 character. Overrules the 'B' flag.
1689B When joining lines, don't insert a space between two multi-byte
1690 characters. Overruled by the 'M' flag.
16911 Don't break a line after a one-letter word. It's broken before it
1692 instead (if possible).
Bram Moolenaar81340392012-06-06 16:12:59 +02001693j Where it makes sense, remove a comment leader when joining lines. For
1694 example, joining:
1695 int i; // the index ~
1696 // in the list ~
1697 Becomes:
1698 int i; // the index in the list ~
Bram Moolenaarc3c31582019-01-11 22:15:05 +01001699p Don't break lines at single spaces that follow periods. This is
1700 intended to complement 'joinspaces' and |cpo-J|, for prose with
1701 sentences separated by two spaces. For example, with 'textwidth' set
1702 to 28: >
1703 Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!
1704< Becomes: >
1705 Surely you're joking,
1706 Mr. Feynman!
1707< Instead of: >
1708 Surely you're joking, Mr.
1709 Feynman!
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001710
1711
1712With 't' and 'c' you can specify when Vim performs auto-wrapping:
1713value action ~
1714"" no automatic formatting (you can use "gq" for manual formatting)
1715"t" automatic formatting of text, but not comments
1716"c" automatic formatting for comments, but not text (good for C code)
1717"tc" automatic formatting for text and comments
1718
Bram Moolenaar91170f82006-05-05 21:15:17 +00001719Note that when 'textwidth' is 0, Vim does no automatic formatting anyway (but
1720does insert comment leaders according to the 'comments' option). An exception
1721is when the 'a' flag is present. |auto-format|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001722
1723Note that when 'paste' is on, Vim does no formatting at all.
1724
1725Note that 'textwidth' can be non-zero even if Vim never performs auto-wrapping;
1726'textwidth' is still useful for formatting with "gq".
1727
1728If the 'comments' option includes "/*", "*" and/or "*/", then Vim has some
1729built in stuff to treat these types of comments a bit more cleverly.
1730Opening a new line before or after "/*" or "*/" (with 'r' or 'o' present in
1731'formatoptions') gives the correct start of the line automatically. The same
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001732happens with formatting and auto-wrapping. Opening a line after a line
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001733starting with "/*" or "*" and containing "*/", will cause no comment leader to
1734be inserted, and the indent of the new line is taken from the line containing
1735the start of the comment.
1736E.g.:
1737 /* ~
1738 * Your typical comment. ~
1739 */ ~
1740 The indent on this line is the same as the start of the above
1741 comment.
1742
1743All of this should be really cool, especially in conjunction with the new
1744:autocmd command to prepare different settings for different types of file.
1745
1746Some examples:
1747 for C code (only format comments): >
1748 :set fo=croq
1749< for Mail/news (format all, don't start comment with "o" command): >
1750 :set fo=tcrq
1751<
1752
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001753Automatic formatting *auto-format* *autoformat*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001754
1755When the 'a' flag is present in 'formatoptions' text is formatted
1756automatically when inserting text or deleting text. This works nice for
1757editing text paragraphs. A few hints on how to use this:
1758
1759- You need to properly define paragraphs. The simplest is paragraphs that are
1760 separated by a blank line. When there is no separating blank line, consider
1761 using the 'w' flag and adding a space at the end of each line in the
1762 paragraphs except the last one.
1763
1764- You can set the 'formatoptions' based on the type of file |filetype| or
1765 specifically for one file with a |modeline|.
1766
1767- Set 'formatoptions' to "aw2tq" to make text with indents like this:
1768
1769 bla bla foobar bla
1770 bla foobar bla foobar bla
1771 bla bla foobar bla
1772 bla foobar bla bla foobar
1773
1774- Add the 'c' flag to only auto-format comments. Useful in source code.
1775
Bram Moolenaar91170f82006-05-05 21:15:17 +00001776- Set 'textwidth' to the desired width. If it is zero then 79 is used, or the
1777 width of the screen if this is smaller.
1778
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001779And a few warnings:
1780
1781- When part of the text is not properly separated in paragraphs, making
1782 changes in this text will cause it to be formatted anyway. Consider doing >
1783
1784 :set fo-=a
1785
1786- When using the 'w' flag (trailing space means paragraph continues) and
1787 deleting the last line of a paragraph with |dd|, the paragraph will be
1788 joined with the next one.
1789
1790- Changed text is saved for undo. Formatting is also a change. Thus each
1791 format action saves text for undo. This may consume quite a lot of memory.
1792
1793- Formatting a long paragraph and/or with complicated indenting may be slow.
1794
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001795==============================================================================
17967. Sorting text *sorting*
1797
1798Vim has a sorting function and a sorting command. The sorting function can be
Bram Moolenaar327aa022014-03-25 18:24:23 +01001799found here: |sort()|, |uniq()|.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001800
1801 *:sor* *:sort*
Bram Moolenaarf7edf402016-01-19 23:36:15 +01001802:[range]sor[t][!] [b][f][i][n][o][r][u][x] [/{pattern}/]
Bram Moolenaare5180522005-12-10 20:19:46 +00001803 Sort lines in [range]. When no range is given all
1804 lines are sorted.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001805
1806 With [!] the order is reversed.
1807
1808 With [i] case is ignored.
1809
Bram Moolenaarf7edf402016-01-19 23:36:15 +01001810 Options [n][f][x][o][b] are mutually exclusive.
1811
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001812 With [n] sorting is done on the first decimal number
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001813 in the line (after or inside a {pattern} match).
Bram Moolenaare37d50a2008-08-06 17:06:04 +00001814 One leading '-' is included in the number.
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001815
Bram Moolenaarf7edf402016-01-19 23:36:15 +01001816 With [f] sorting is done on the Float in the line.
1817 The value of Float is determined similar to passing
1818 the text (after or inside a {pattern} match) to
1819 str2float() function. This option is available only
1820 if Vim was compiled with Floating point support.
1821
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001822 With [x] sorting is done on the first hexadecimal
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001823 number in the line (after or inside a {pattern}
1824 match). A leading "0x" or "0X" is ignored.
Bram Moolenaare37d50a2008-08-06 17:06:04 +00001825 One leading '-' is included in the number.
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001826
1827 With [o] sorting is done on the first octal number in
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001828 the line (after or inside a {pattern} match).
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001829
Bram Moolenaar887c1fe2016-01-02 17:56:35 +01001830 With [b] sorting is done on the first binary number in
1831 the line (after or inside a {pattern} match).
1832
Bram Moolenaarf7edf402016-01-19 23:36:15 +01001833 With [u] (u stands for unique) only keep the first of
1834 a sequence of identical lines (ignoring case when [i]
1835 is used). Without this flag, a sequence of identical
1836 lines will be kept in their original order.
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001837 Note that leading and trailing white space may cause
1838 lines to be different.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001839
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001840 When /{pattern}/ is specified and there is no [r] flag
1841 the text matched with {pattern} is skipped, so that
1842 you sort on what comes after the match.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001843 Instead of the slash any non-letter can be used.
1844 For example, to sort on the second comma-separated
1845 field: >
1846 :sort /[^,]*,/
1847< To sort on the text at virtual column 10 (thus
1848 ignoring the difference between tabs and spaces): >
1849 :sort /.*\%10v/
Bram Moolenaarc6fe9192006-04-09 21:54:49 +00001850< To sort on the first number in the line, no matter
1851 what is in front of it: >
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001852 :sort /.\{-}\ze\d/
1853< (Explanation: ".\{-}" matches any text, "\ze" sets the
1854 end of the match and \d matches a digit.)
1855 With [r] sorting is done on the matching {pattern}
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001856 instead of skipping past it as described above.
1857 For example, to sort on only the first three letters
1858 of each line: >
1859 :sort /\a\a\a/ r
1860
1861< If a {pattern} is used, any lines which don't have a
1862 match for {pattern} are kept in their current order,
1863 but separate from the lines which do match {pattern}.
1864 If you sorted in reverse, they will be in reverse
1865 order after the sorted lines, otherwise they will be
1866 in their original order, right before the sorted
1867 lines.
1868
Bram Moolenaar1256e722007-07-10 15:26:20 +00001869 If {pattern} is empty (e.g. // is specified), the
1870 last search pattern is used. This allows trying out
1871 a pattern first.
1872
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001873Note that using `:sort` with `:global` doesn't sort the matching lines, it's
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001874quite useless.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001875
Bram Moolenaarf461c8e2005-06-25 23:04:51 +00001876The details about sorting depend on the library function used. There is no
Bram Moolenaar8bb1c3e2014-07-04 16:43:17 +02001877guarantee that sorting obeys the current locale. You will have to try it out.
1878Vim does do a "stable" sort.
Bram Moolenaarf461c8e2005-06-25 23:04:51 +00001879
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001880The sorting can be interrupted, but if you interrupt it too late in the
1881process you may end up with duplicated lines. This also depends on the system
1882library function used.
Bram Moolenaarae5bce12005-08-15 21:41:48 +00001883
Bram Moolenaar91f84f62018-07-29 15:07:52 +02001884 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: