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Bram Moolenaareb490412022-06-28 13:44:46 +01001*gui.txt* For Vim version 9.0. Last change: 2022 Apr 03
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7Vim's Graphical User Interface *gui* *GUI*
8
91. Starting the GUI |gui-start|
102. Scrollbars |gui-scrollbars|
113. Mouse Control |gui-mouse|
124. Making GUI Selections |gui-selections|
135. Menus |menus|
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +0200146. Font |gui-font|
157. Extras |gui-extras|
168. Shell Commands |gui-shell|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000017
18Other GUI documentation:
19|gui_x11.txt| For specific items of the X11 GUI.
20|gui_w32.txt| For specific items of the Win32 GUI.
21
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000022
23==============================================================================
241. Starting the GUI *gui-start* *E229* *E233*
25
26First you must make sure you actually have a version of Vim with the GUI code
Bram Moolenaar5e3cb7e2006-02-27 23:58:35 +000027included. You can check this with the ":version" command, it says "with xxx
Bram Moolenaar0b962e52022-04-03 18:02:37 +010028GUI", where "xxx" is X11-Motif, Photon, GTK2, GTK3, etc., or
Bram Moolenaar5e3cb7e2006-02-27 23:58:35 +000029"MS-Windows 32 bit GUI version".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000030
31How to start the GUI depends on the system used. Mostly you can run the
32GUI version of Vim with:
33 gvim [options] [files...]
34
35The X11 version of Vim can run both in GUI and in non-GUI mode. See
36|gui-x11-start|.
37
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +010038 *gui-init* *gvimrc* *.gvimrc* *_gvimrc* *$MYGVIMRC*
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +000039The gvimrc file is where GUI-specific startup commands should be placed. It
40is always sourced after the |vimrc| file. If you have one then the $MYGVIMRC
41environment variable has its name.
42
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000043When the GUI starts up initializations are carried out, in this order:
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +010044- The 'term' option is set to "builtin_gui" and terminal options are reset to
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +000045 their default value for the GUI |terminal-options|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000046- If the system menu file exists, it is sourced. The name of this file is
47 normally "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim". You can check this with ":version". Also
48 see |$VIMRUNTIME|. To skip loading the system menu include 'M' in
49 'guioptions'. *buffers-menu* *no_buffers_menu*
50 The system menu file includes a "Buffers" menu. If you don't want this, set
51 the "no_buffers_menu" variable in your .vimrc (not .gvimrc!): >
52 :let no_buffers_menu = 1
53< NOTE: Switching on syntax highlighting also loads the menu file, thus
54 disabling the Buffers menu must be done before ":syntax on".
55 The path names are truncated to 35 characters. You can truncate them at a
56 different length, for example 50, like this: >
57 :let bmenu_max_pathlen = 50
58- If the "-U {gvimrc}" command-line option has been used when starting Vim,
59 the {gvimrc} file will be read for initializations. The following
Bram Moolenaar81695252004-12-29 20:58:21 +000060 initializations are skipped. When {gvimrc} is "NONE" no file will be read
61 for initializations.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000062- For Unix and MS-Windows, if the system gvimrc exists, it is sourced. The
63 name of this file is normally "$VIM/gvimrc". You can check this with
64 ":version". Also see |$VIM|.
65- The following are tried, and only the first one that exists is used:
66 - If the GVIMINIT environment variable exists and is not empty, it is
67 executed as an Ex command.
68 - If the user gvimrc file exists, it is sourced. The name of this file is
69 normally "$HOME/.gvimrc". You can check this with ":version".
Bram Moolenaarc572da52017-08-27 16:52:01 +020070 - For Win32, $HOME is set by Vim if needed, see |$HOME-windows|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000071 - When a "_gvimrc" file is not found, ".gvimrc" is tried too. And vice
72 versa.
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +000073 The name of the first file found is stored in $MYGVIMRC, unless it was
74 already set.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000075- If the 'exrc' option is set (which is NOT the default) the file ./.gvimrc
76 is sourced, if it exists and isn't the same file as the system or user
77 gvimrc file. If this file is not owned by you, some security restrictions
78 apply. When ".gvimrc" is not found, "_gvimrc" is tried too. For Macintosh
79 and DOS/Win32 "_gvimrc" is tried first.
80
81NOTE: All but the first one are not carried out if Vim was started with
Bram Moolenaarb6e0ec62017-07-23 22:12:20 +020082"-u NONE" or "-u DEFAULTS" and no "-U" argument was given, or when started
83with "-U NONE".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000084
85All this happens AFTER the normal Vim initializations, like reading your
86.vimrc file. See |initialization|.
87But the GUI window is only opened after all the initializations have been
88carried out. If you want some commands to be executed just after opening the
89GUI window, use the |GUIEnter| autocommand event. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar648120b2005-08-08 21:57:35 +000090 :autocmd GUIEnter * winpos 100 50
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000091
92You can use the gvimrc files to set up your own customized menus (see |:menu|)
93and initialize other things that you may want to set up differently from the
94terminal version.
95
96Recommended place for your personal GUI initializations:
Bram Moolenaar22971aa2013-06-12 20:35:58 +020097 Unix $HOME/.gvimrc or $HOME/.vim/gvimrc
Bram Moolenaar6f345a12019-12-17 21:27:18 +010098 Win32 $HOME/_gvimrc, $HOME/vimfiles/gvimrc
Bram Moolenaar22971aa2013-06-12 20:35:58 +020099 or $VIM/_gvimrc
100 Amiga s:.gvimrc, home:.gvimrc, home:vimfiles:gvimrc
101 or $VIM/.gvimrc
Bram Moolenaarb3f74062020-02-26 16:16:53 +0100102 Haiku $HOME/config/settings/vim/gvimrc
Bram Moolenaar22971aa2013-06-12 20:35:58 +0200103
104The personal initialization files are searched in the order specified above
105and only the first one that is found is read.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000106
107There are a number of options which only have meaning in the GUI version of
108Vim. These are 'guicursor', 'guifont', 'guipty' and 'guioptions'. They are
109documented in |options.txt| with all the other options.
110
Bram Moolenaar0b962e52022-04-03 18:02:37 +0100111If using the Motif version of the GUI (but not for the GTK+ or
Bram Moolenaar843ee412004-06-30 16:16:41 +0000112Win32 version), a number of X resources are available. See |gui-resources|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000113
114Another way to set the colors for different occasions is with highlight
115groups. The "Normal" group is used to set the background and foreground
116colors. Example (which looks nice): >
117
118 :highlight Normal guibg=grey90
119
120The "guibg" and "guifg" settings override the normal background and
121foreground settings. The other settings for the Normal highlight group are
122not used. Use the 'guifont' option to set the font.
123
124Also check out the 'guicursor' option, to set the colors for the cursor in
125various modes.
126
127Vim tries to make the window fit on the screen when it starts up. This avoids
128that you can't see part of it. On the X Window System this requires a bit of
129guesswork. You can change the height that is used for the window title and a
130task bar with the 'guiheadroom' option.
131
132 *:winp* *:winpos* *E188*
133:winp[os]
134 Display current position of the top left corner of the GUI vim
135 window in pixels. Does not work in all versions.
Bram Moolenaarb5b75622018-03-09 22:22:21 +0100136 Also see |getwinpos()|, |getwinposx()| and |getwinposy()|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000137
138:winp[os] {X} {Y} *E466*
139 Put the GUI vim window at the given {X} and {Y} coordinates.
140 The coordinates should specify the position in pixels of the
141 top left corner of the window. Does not work in all versions.
142 Does work in an (new) xterm |xterm-color|.
143 When the GUI window has not been opened yet, the values are
144 remembered until the window is opened. The position is
145 adjusted to make the window fit on the screen (if possible).
146
147 *:win* *:winsize* *E465*
148:win[size] {width} {height}
149 Set the window height to {width} by {height} characters.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +0000150 It is recommended to use `:set lines=11 columns=22` instead,
151 since it's easy to see what the numbers mean.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000152 If you get less lines than expected, check the 'guiheadroom'
153 option.
154
155If you are running the X Window System, you can get information about the
Bram Moolenaar08589172014-03-08 18:38:28 +0100156window Vim is running in with these commands: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000157 :!xwininfo -id $WINDOWID
Bram Moolenaar08589172014-03-08 18:38:28 +0100158 :!xprop -id $WINDOWID
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +0000159 :execute '!xwininfo -id ' .. v:windowid
160 :execute '!xprop -id ' .. v:windowid
Bram Moolenaar5302d9e2011-09-14 17:55:08 +0200161<
162 *gui-IME* *iBus*
163Input methods for international characters in X that rely on the XIM
164framework, most notably iBus, have been known to produce undesirable results
Bram Moolenaarb0d45e72017-11-05 18:19:24 +0100165in gvim. These may include an inability to enter spaces, or long delays
Bram Moolenaar5302d9e2011-09-14 17:55:08 +0200166between typing a character and it being recognized by the application.
167
168One workaround that has been successful, for unknown reasons, is to prevent
169gvim from forking into the background by starting it with the |-f| argument.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000170
171==============================================================================
1722. Scrollbars *gui-scrollbars*
173
Bram Moolenaarfd371682005-01-14 21:42:54 +0000174There are vertical scrollbars and a horizontal scrollbar. You may
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000175configure which ones appear with the 'guioptions' option.
176
177The interface looks like this (with ":set guioptions=mlrb"):
178
Bram Moolenaar166af9b2010-11-16 20:34:40 +0100179 +------------------------------+ `
180 | File Edit Help | <- Menu bar (m) `
181 +-+--------------------------+-+ `
182 |^| |^| `
183 |#| Text area. |#| `
184 | | | | `
185 |v|__________________________|v| `
186 Normal status line -> |-+ File.c 5,2 +-| `
187 between Vim windows |^|""""""""""""""""""""""""""|^| `
188 | | | | `
189 | | Another file buffer. | | `
190 | | | | `
191 |#| |#| `
192 Left scrollbar (l) -> |#| |#| <- Right `
193 |#| |#| scrollbar (r) `
194 | | | | `
195 |v| |v| `
196 +-+--------------------------+-+ `
197 | |< #### >| | <- Bottom `
198 +-+--------------------------+-+ scrollbar (b) `
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000199
200Any of the scrollbar or menu components may be turned off by not putting the
201appropriate letter in the 'guioptions' string. The bottom scrollbar is
202only useful when 'nowrap' is set.
203
204
205VERTICAL SCROLLBARS *gui-vert-scroll*
206
207Each Vim window has a scrollbar next to it which may be scrolled up and down
208to move through the text in that buffer. The size of the scrollbar-thumb
209indicates the fraction of the buffer which can be seen in the window.
210When the scrollbar is dragged all the way down, the last line of the file
211will appear in the top of the window.
212
213If a window is shrunk to zero height (by the growth of another window) its
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000214scrollbar disappears. It reappears when the window is restored.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000215
216If a window is vertically split, it will get a scrollbar when it is the
217current window and when, taking the middle of the current window and drawing a
218vertical line, this line goes through the window.
219When there are scrollbars on both sides, and the middle of the current window
220is on the left half, the right scrollbar column will contain scrollbars for
221the rightmost windows. The same happens on the other side.
222
223
224HORIZONTAL SCROLLBARS *gui-horiz-scroll*
225
226The horizontal scrollbar (at the bottom of the Vim GUI) may be used to
227scroll text sideways when the 'wrap' option is turned off. The
228scrollbar-thumb size is such that the text of the longest visible line may be
229scrolled as far as possible left and right. The cursor is moved when
230necessary, it must remain on a visible character (unless 'virtualedit' is
231set).
232
Bram Moolenaarfd371682005-01-14 21:42:54 +0000233Computing the length of the longest visible line takes quite a bit of
234computation, and it has to be done every time something changes. If this
235takes too much time or you don't like the cursor jumping to another line,
236include the 'h' flag in 'guioptions'. Then the scrolling is limited by the
237text of the current cursor line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000238
Bram Moolenaar0b962e52022-04-03 18:02:37 +0100239 *motif-intellimouse*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000240If you have an Intellimouse and an X server that supports using the wheel,
241then you can use the wheel to scroll the text up and down in gvim. This works
242with XFree86 4.0 and later, and with some older versions when you add patches.
243See |scroll-mouse-wheel|.
244
245For older versions of XFree86 you must patch your X server. The following
246page has a bit of information about using the Intellimouse on Linux as well as
247links to the patches and X server binaries (may not have the one you need
248though):
249 http://www.inria.fr/koala/colas/mouse-wheel-scroll/
250
251==============================================================================
2523. Mouse Control *gui-mouse*
253
254The mouse only works if the appropriate flag in the 'mouse' option is set.
255When the GUI is switched on, and 'mouse' wasn't set yet, the 'mouse' option is
256automatically set to "a", enabling it for all modes except for the
257|hit-enter| prompt. If you don't want this, a good place to change the
258'mouse' option is the "gvimrc" file.
259
260Other options that are relevant:
261'mousefocus' window focus follows mouse pointer |gui-mouse-focus|
262'mousemodel' what mouse button does which action
263'mousehide' hide mouse pointer while typing text
Ernie Raelc4cb5442022-04-03 15:47:28 +0100264'mousemoveevent' enable mouse move events so that <MouseMove> can be mapped
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000265'selectmode' whether to start Select mode or Visual mode
266
267A quick way to set these is with the ":behave" command.
268 *:behave* *:be*
269:be[have] {model} Set behavior for mouse and selection. Valid
270 arguments are:
271 mswin MS-Windows behavior
272 xterm Xterm behavior
273
274 Using ":behave" changes these options:
275 option mswin xterm ~
276 'selectmode' "mouse,key" ""
277 'mousemodel' "popup" "extend"
278 'keymodel' "startsel,stopsel" ""
279 'selection' "exclusive" "inclusive"
280
281In the $VIMRUNTIME directory, there is a script called |mswin.vim|, which will
282also map a few keys to the MS-Windows cut/copy/paste commands. This is NOT
283compatible, since it uses the CTRL-V, CTRL-X and CTRL-C keys. If you don't
284mind, use this command: >
285 :so $VIMRUNTIME/mswin.vim
286
287For scrolling with a wheel on a mouse, see |scroll-mouse-wheel|.
288
289
2903.1 Moving Cursor with Mouse *gui-mouse-move*
291
292Click the left mouse button somewhere in a text buffer where you want the
293cursor to go, and it does!
294This works in when 'mouse' contains ~
295Normal mode 'n' or 'a'
296Visual mode 'v' or 'a'
297Insert mode 'i' or 'a'
298
299Select mode is handled like Visual mode.
300
301You may use this with an operator such as 'd' to delete text from the current
302cursor position to the position you point to with the mouse. That is, you hit
303'd' and then click the mouse somewhere.
304
305 *gui-mouse-focus*
306The 'mousefocus' option can be set to make the keyboard focus follow the
307mouse pointer. This means that the window where the mouse pointer is, is the
308active window. Warning: this doesn't work very well when using a menu,
309because the menu command will always be applied to the top window.
310
311If you are on the ':' line (or '/' or '?'), then clicking the left or right
312mouse button will position the cursor on the ':' line (if 'mouse' contains
Bram Moolenaar09c6f262019-11-17 15:55:14 +0100313'c' or 'a').
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000314
315In any situation the middle mouse button may be clicked to paste the current
316selection.
317
318
3193.2 Selection with Mouse *gui-mouse-select*
320
321The mouse can be used to start a selection. How depends on the 'mousemodel'
322option:
323'mousemodel' is "extend": use the right mouse button
324'mousemodel' is "popup": use the left mouse button, while keeping the Shift
325key pressed.
326
327If there was no selection yet, this starts a selection from the old cursor
328position to the position pointed to with the mouse. If there already is a
329selection then the closest end will be extended.
330
331If 'selectmode' contains "mouse", then the selection will be in Select mode.
332This means that typing normal text will replace the selection. See
333|Select-mode|. Otherwise, the selection will be in Visual mode.
334
335Double clicking may be done to make the selection word-wise, triple clicking
336makes it line-wise, and quadruple clicking makes it rectangular block-wise.
337
338See |gui-selections| on how the selection is used.
339
340
3413.3 Other Text Selection with Mouse *gui-mouse-modeless*
342 *modeless-selection*
343A different kind of selection is used when:
344- in Command-line mode
345- in the Command-line window and pointing in another window
346- at the |hit-enter| prompt
347- whenever the current mode is not in the 'mouse' option
348- when holding the CTRL and SHIFT keys in the GUI
Bram Moolenaara7241f52008-06-24 20:39:31 +0000349
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000350Since Vim continues like the selection isn't there, and there is no mode
351associated with the selection, this is called modeless selection. Any text in
352the Vim window can be selected. Select the text by pressing the left mouse
353button at the start, drag to the end and release. To extend the selection,
354use the right mouse button when 'mousemodel' is "extend", or the left mouse
355button with the shift key pressed when 'mousemodel' is "popup".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000356The selection is removed when the selected text is scrolled or changed.
Bram Moolenaara7241f52008-06-24 20:39:31 +0000357
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000358On the command line CTRL-Y can be used to copy the selection into the
Bram Moolenaara7241f52008-06-24 20:39:31 +0000359clipboard. To do this from Insert mode, use CTRL-O : CTRL-Y <CR>. When
360'guioptions' contains a or A (default on X11), the selection is automatically
361copied to the "* register.
362
363The middle mouse button can then paste the text. On non-X11 systems, you can
364use CTRL-R +.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000365
366
3673.4 Using Mouse on Status Lines *gui-mouse-status*
368
369Clicking the left or right mouse button on the status line below a Vim
370window makes that window the current window. This actually happens on button
371release (to be able to distinguish a click from a drag action).
372
373With the left mouse button a status line can be dragged up and down, thus
374resizing the windows above and below it. This does not change window focus.
375
376The same can be used on the vertical separator: click to give the window left
377of it focus, drag left and right to make windows wider and narrower.
378
379
3803.5 Various Mouse Clicks *gui-mouse-various*
381
382 <S-LeftMouse> Search forward for the word under the mouse click.
383 When 'mousemodel' is "popup" this starts or extends a
384 selection.
385 <S-RightMouse> Search backward for the word under the mouse click.
386 <C-LeftMouse> Jump to the tag name under the mouse click.
387 <C-RightMouse> Jump back to position before the previous tag jump
388 (same as "CTRL-T")
389
390
3913.6 Mouse Mappings *gui-mouse-mapping*
392
393The mouse events, complete with modifiers, may be mapped. Eg: >
394 :map <S-LeftMouse> <RightMouse>
395 :map <S-LeftDrag> <RightDrag>
396 :map <S-LeftRelease> <RightRelease>
397 :map <2-S-LeftMouse> <2-RightMouse>
398 :map <2-S-LeftDrag> <2-RightDrag>
399 :map <2-S-LeftRelease> <2-RightRelease>
400 :map <3-S-LeftMouse> <3-RightMouse>
401 :map <3-S-LeftDrag> <3-RightDrag>
402 :map <3-S-LeftRelease> <3-RightRelease>
403 :map <4-S-LeftMouse> <4-RightMouse>
404 :map <4-S-LeftDrag> <4-RightDrag>
405 :map <4-S-LeftRelease> <4-RightRelease>
406These mappings make selection work the way it probably should in a Motif
407application, with shift-left mouse allowing for extending the visual area
408rather than the right mouse button.
409
Ernie Raelc4cb5442022-04-03 15:47:28 +0100410<MouseMove> may be mapped, but 'mousemoveevent' must be enabled to use the
411mapping.
412
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000413Mouse mapping with modifiers does not work for modeless selection.
414
415
4163.7 Drag and drop *drag-n-drop*
417
418You can drag and drop one or more files into the Vim window, where they will
Bram Moolenaar90df4b92021-07-07 20:26:08 +0200419be opened as if a |:drop| command was used. You can check if this is
420supported with the *drop_file* feature: `has('drop_file')`.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000421
422If you hold down Shift while doing this, Vim changes to the first dropped
423file's directory. If you hold Ctrl Vim will always split a new window for the
424file. Otherwise it's only done if the current buffer has been changed.
425
426You can also drop a directory on Vim. This starts the explorer plugin for
427that directory (assuming it was enabled, otherwise you'll get an error
428message). Keep Shift pressed to change to the directory instead.
429
430If Vim happens to be editing a command line, the names of the dropped files
431and directories will be inserted at the cursor. This allows you to use these
432names with any Ex command. Special characters (space, tab, double quote and
433'|'; backslash on non-MS-Windows systems) will be escaped.
434
435==============================================================================
4364. Making GUI Selections *gui-selections*
437
438 *quotestar*
439You may make selections with the mouse (see |gui-mouse-select|), or by using
440Vim's Visual mode (see |v|). If 'a' is present in 'guioptions', then
441whenever a selection is started (Visual or Select mode), or when the selection
442is changed, Vim becomes the owner of the windowing system's primary selection
443(on MS-Windows the |gui-clipboard| is used; under X11, the |x11-selection| is
444used - you should read whichever of these is appropriate now).
445
446 *clipboard*
447There is a special register for storing this selection, it is the "*
448register. Nothing is put in here unless the information about what text is
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000449selected is about to change (e.g. with a left mouse click somewhere), or when
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000450another application wants to paste the selected text. Then the text is put
451in the "* register. For example, to cut a line and make it the current
452selection/put it on the clipboard: >
453
454 "*dd
455
456Similarly, when you want to paste a selection from another application, e.g.,
457by clicking the middle mouse button, the selection is put in the "* register
458first, and then 'put' like any other register. For example, to put the
459selection (contents of the clipboard): >
460
461 "*p
462
463When using this register under X11, also see |x11-selection|. This also
464explains the related "+ register.
465
466Note that when pasting text from one Vim into another separate Vim, the type
467of selection (character, line, or block) will also be copied. For other
468applications the type is always character. However, if the text gets
469transferred via the |x11-cut-buffer|, the selection type is ALWAYS lost.
470
471When the "unnamed" string is included in the 'clipboard' option, the unnamed
472register is the same as the "* register. Thus you can yank to and paste the
473selection without prepending "* to commands.
474
475==============================================================================
4765. Menus *menus*
477
478For an introduction see |usr_42.txt| in the user manual.
479
480
4815.1 Using Menus *using-menus*
482
483Basically, menus can be used just like mappings. You can define your own
484menus, as many as you like.
485Long-time Vim users won't use menus much. But the power is in adding your own
486menus and menu items. They are most useful for things that you can't remember
487what the key sequence was.
488
489For creating menus in a different language, see |:menutrans|.
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100490If you don't want to use menus at all, see |'go-M'|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000491
492 *menu.vim*
493The default menus are read from the file "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim". See
494|$VIMRUNTIME| for where the path comes from. You can set up your own menus.
495Starting off with the default set is a good idea. You can add more items, or,
496if you don't like the defaults at all, start with removing all menus
497|:unmenu-all|. You can also avoid the default menus being loaded by adding
498this line to your .vimrc file (NOT your .gvimrc file!): >
499 :let did_install_default_menus = 1
500If you also want to avoid the Syntax menu: >
501 :let did_install_syntax_menu = 1
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100502The first item in the Syntax menu can be used to show all available filetypes
503in the menu (which can take a bit of time to load). If you want to have all
504filetypes already present at startup, add: >
505 :let do_syntax_sel_menu = 1
506
Bram Moolenaar040c1fe2017-11-09 19:45:48 +0100507The following menuitems show all available color schemes, keymaps and compiler
508settings:
509 Edit > Color Scheme ~
510 Edit > Keymap ~
511 Tools > Set Compiler ~
512However, they can also take a bit of time to load, because they search all
513related files from the directories in 'runtimepath'. Therefore they are
514loaded lazily (by the |CursorHold| event), or you can also load them manually.
515If you want to have all these items already present at startup, add: >
516 :let do_no_lazyload_menus = 1
517
Bram Moolenaar01164a62017-11-02 22:58:42 +0100518Note that the menu.vim is sourced when `:syntax on` or `:filetype on` is
519executed or after your .vimrc file is sourced. This means that the 'encoding'
520option and the language of messages (`:language messages`) must be set before
521that (if you want to change them).
522
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000523 *console-menus*
524Although this documentation is in the GUI section, you can actually use menus
525in console mode too. You will have to load |menu.vim| explicitly then, it is
526not done by default. You can use the |:emenu| command and command-line
527completion with 'wildmenu' to access the menu entries almost like a real menu
528system. To do this, put these commands in your .vimrc file: >
529 :source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim
530 :set wildmenu
531 :set cpo-=<
532 :set wcm=<C-Z>
533 :map <F4> :emenu <C-Z>
534Pressing <F4> will start the menu. You can now use the cursor keys to select
535a menu entry. Hit <Enter> to execute it. Hit <Esc> if you want to cancel.
536This does require the |+menu| feature enabled at compile time.
537
538 *tear-off-menus*
Bram Moolenaar98921892016-02-23 17:14:37 +0100539GTK+ 2 and Motif support Tear-off menus. These are sort of sticky menus or
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000540pop-up menus that are present all the time. If the resizing does not work
541correctly, this may be caused by using something like "Vim*geometry" in the
542defaults. Use "Vim.geometry" instead.
543
Bram Moolenaar98921892016-02-23 17:14:37 +0100544As to GTK+ 3, tear-off menus have been deprecated since GTK+ 3.4.
545Accordingly, they are disabled if gvim is linked against GTK+ 3.4 or later.
546
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000547The Win32 GUI version emulates Motif's tear-off menus. Actually, a Motif user
548will spot the differences easily, but hopefully they're just as useful. You
549can also use the |:tearoff| command together with |hidden-menus| to create
550floating menus that do not appear on the main menu bar.
551
552
5535.2 Creating New Menus *creating-menus*
554
Bram Moolenaar4c5d8152018-10-19 22:36:53 +0200555 *:me* *:menu* *:noreme* *:noremenu*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000556 *E330* *E327* *E331* *E336* *E333*
Bram Moolenaard5ab34b2007-05-05 17:15:44 +0000557 *E328* *E329* *E337* *E792*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000558To create a new menu item, use the ":menu" commands. They are mostly like
Bram Moolenaar5ef1c6a2019-11-10 22:09:11 +0100559the ":map" set of commands (see |map-modes|), but the first argument is a menu
560item name, given as a path of menus and submenus with a '.' between them,
561e.g.: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000562
563 :menu File.Save :w<CR>
564 :inoremenu File.Save <C-O>:w<CR>
565 :menu Edit.Big\ Changes.Delete\ All\ Spaces :%s/[ ^I]//g<CR>
566
567This last one will create a new item in the menu bar called "Edit", holding
568the mouse button down on this will pop up a menu containing the item
569"Big Changes", which is a sub-menu containing the item "Delete All Spaces",
570which when selected, performs the operation.
571
Bram Moolenaar4c5d8152018-10-19 22:36:53 +0200572To create a menu for terminal mode, use |:tlmenu| instead of |:tmenu| unlike
573key mapping (|:tmap|). This is because |:tmenu| is already used for defining
574tooltips for menus. See |terminal-typing|.
575
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000576Special characters in a menu name:
577
Bram Moolenaar0eabd4d2020-03-15 16:13:53 +0100578 *menu-shortcut*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000579 & The next character is the shortcut key. Make sure each
580 shortcut key is only used once in a (sub)menu. If you want to
581 insert a literal "&" in the menu name use "&&".
Bram Moolenaar0eabd4d2020-03-15 16:13:53 +0100582 *menu-text*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000583 <Tab> Separates the menu name from right-aligned text. This can be
584 used to show the equivalent typed command. The text "<Tab>"
585 can be used here for convenience. If you are using a real
Bram Moolenaarb5ba0022007-05-12 13:06:29 +0000586 tab, don't forget to put a backslash before it!
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000587Example: >
588
589 :amenu &File.&Open<Tab>:e :browse e<CR>
590
591[typed literally]
592With the shortcut "F" (while keeping the <Alt> key pressed), and then "O",
593this menu can be used. The second part is shown as "Open :e". The ":e"
594is right aligned, and the "O" is underlined, to indicate it is the shortcut.
595
Bram Moolenaard58a3bf2020-09-28 21:48:16 +0200596 *:am* *:amenu* *:an* *:anoremenu*
Bram Moolenaar4c5d8152018-10-19 22:36:53 +0200597The ":amenu" command can be used to define menu entries for all modes at once,
598except for Terminal mode. To make the command work correctly, a character is
599automatically inserted for some modes:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000600 mode inserted appended ~
601 Normal nothing nothing
602 Visual <C-C> <C-\><C-G>
Bram Moolenaar00a927d2010-05-14 23:24:24 +0200603 Insert <C-\><C-O>
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000604 Cmdline <C-C> <C-\><C-G>
605 Op-pending <C-C> <C-\><C-G>
606
607Appending CTRL-\ CTRL-G is for going back to insert mode when 'insertmode' is
608set. |CTRL-\_CTRL-G|
609
610Example: >
611
612 :amenu File.Next :next^M
613
614is equal to: >
615
616 :nmenu File.Next :next^M
617 :vmenu File.Next ^C:next^M^\^G
Bram Moolenaar00a927d2010-05-14 23:24:24 +0200618 :imenu File.Next ^\^O:next^M
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000619 :cmenu File.Next ^C:next^M^\^G
620 :omenu File.Next ^C:next^M^\^G
621
622Careful: In Insert mode this only works for a SINGLE Normal mode command,
623because of the CTRL-O. If you have two or more commands, you will need to use
624the ":imenu" command. For inserting text in any mode, you can use the
625expression register: >
626
627 :amenu Insert.foobar "='foobar'<CR>P
628
Bram Moolenaar4c295022021-05-02 17:19:11 +0200629The special text <Cmd> begins a "command menu", it executes the command
630directly without changing modes. Where you might use ":...<CR>" you can
631instead use "<Cmd>...<CR>". See |<Cmd>| for more info. Example: >
632 anoremenu File.Next <Cmd>next<CR>
633
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000634Note that the '<' and 'k' flags in 'cpoptions' also apply here (when
635included they make the <> form and raw key codes not being recognized).
636
637Note that <Esc> in Cmdline mode executes the command, like in a mapping. This
638is Vi compatible. Use CTRL-C to quit Cmdline mode.
639
Bram Moolenaard58a3bf2020-09-28 21:48:16 +0200640 *:nme* *:nmenu* *:nnoreme* *:nnoremenu* *:nunme* *:nunmenu*
641Menu commands starting with "n" work in Normal mode. |mapmode-n|
642
643 *:ome* *:omenu* *:onoreme* *:onoremenu* *:ounme* *:ounmenu*
644Menu commands starting with "o" work in Operator-pending mode. |mapmode-o|
645
646 *:vme* *:vmenu* *:vnoreme* *:vnoremenu* *:vunme* *:vunmenu*
647Menu commands starting with "v" work in Visual mode. |mapmode-v|
648
649 *:xme* *:xmenu* *:xnoreme* *:xnoremenu* *:xunme* *:xunmenu*
650Menu commands starting with "x" work in Visual and Select mode. |mapmode-x|
651
652 *:sme* *:smenu* *:snoreme* *:snoremenu* *:sunme* *:sunmenu*
653Menu commands starting with "s" work in Select mode. |mapmode-s|
654
655 *:ime* *:imenu* *:inoreme* *:inoremenu* *:iunme* *:iunmenu*
656Menu commands starting with "i" work in Insert mode. |mapmode-i|
657
658 *:cme* *:cmenu* *:cnoreme* *:cnoremenu* *:cunme* *:cunmenu*
659Menu commands starting with "c" work in Cmdline mode. |mapmode-c|
660
661 *:tlm* *:tlmenu* *:tln* *:tlnoremenu* *:tlu* *:tlunmenu*
662Menu commands starting with "tl" work in Terminal mode. |mapmode-t|
663
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000664 *:menu-<silent>* *:menu-silent*
665To define a menu which will not be echoed on the command line, add
666"<silent>" as the first argument. Example: >
667 :menu <silent> Settings.Ignore\ case :set ic<CR>
668The ":set ic" will not be echoed when using this menu. Messages from the
669executed command are still given though. To shut them up too, add a ":silent"
670in the executed command: >
671 :menu <silent> Search.Header :exe ":silent normal /Header\r"<CR>
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +0000672"<silent>" may also appear just after "<special>" or "<script>".
673
674 *:menu-<special>* *:menu-special*
675Define a menu with <> notation for special keys, even though the "<" flag
676may appear in 'cpoptions'. This is useful if the side effect of setting
677'cpoptions' is not desired. Example: >
678 :menu <special> Search.Header /Header<CR>
679"<special>" must appear as the very first argument to the ":menu" command or
680just after "<silent>" or "<script>".
681
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000682 *:menu-<script>* *:menu-script*
683The "to" part of the menu will be inspected for mappings. If you don't want
684this, use the ":noremenu" command (or the similar one for a specific mode).
685If you do want to use script-local mappings, add "<script>" as the very first
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +0000686argument to the ":menu" command or just after "<silent>" or "<special>".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000687
688 *menu-priority*
689You can give a priority to a menu. Menus with a higher priority go more to
690the right. The priority is given as a number before the ":menu" command.
691Example: >
692 :80menu Buffer.next :bn<CR>
693
694The default menus have these priorities:
695 File 10
696 Edit 20
697 Tools 40
698 Syntax 50
699 Buffers 60
700 Window 70
701 Help 9999
702
703When no or zero priority is given, 500 is used.
704The priority for the PopUp menu is not used.
705
706The Help menu will be placed on the far right side of the menu bar on systems
Bram Moolenaar98921892016-02-23 17:14:37 +0100707which support this (Motif and GTK+). For GTK+ 2 and 3, this is not done
708anymore because right-aligning the Help menu is now discouraged UI design.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000709
710You can use a priority higher than 9999, to make it go after the Help menu,
711but that is non-standard and is discouraged. The highest possible priority is
712about 32000. The lowest is 1.
713
714 *sub-menu-priority*
715The same mechanism can be used to position a sub-menu. The priority is then
716given as a dot-separated list of priorities, before the menu name: >
717 :menu 80.500 Buffer.next :bn<CR>
718Giving the sub-menu priority is only needed when the item is not to be put
719in a normal position. For example, to put a sub-menu before the other items: >
720 :menu 80.100 Buffer.first :brew<CR>
721Or to put a sub-menu after the other items, and further items with default
722priority will be put before it: >
723 :menu 80.900 Buffer.last :blast<CR>
724When a number is missing, the default value 500 will be used: >
725 :menu .900 myMenu.test :echo "text"<CR>
726The menu priority is only used when creating a new menu. When it already
727existed, e.g., in another mode, the priority will not change. Thus, the
728priority only needs to be given the first time a menu is used.
729An exception is the PopUp menu. There is a separate menu for each mode
730(Normal, Op-pending, Visual, Insert, Cmdline). The order in each of these
731menus can be different. This is different from menu-bar menus, which have
732the same order for all modes.
733NOTE: sub-menu priorities currently don't work for all versions of the GUI.
734
735 *menu-separator* *E332*
736Menu items can be separated by a special item that inserts some space between
737items. Depending on the system this is displayed as a line or a dotted line.
738These items must start with a '-' and end in a '-'. The part in between is
739used to give it a unique name. Priorities can be used as with normal items.
740Example: >
741 :menu Example.item1 :do something
742 :menu Example.-Sep- :
743 :menu Example.item2 :do something different
744Note that the separator also requires a rhs. It doesn't matter what it is,
745because the item will never be selected. Use a single colon to keep it
746simple.
747
748 *gui-toolbar*
Bram Moolenaar0b962e52022-04-03 18:02:37 +0100749The toolbar is currently available in the Win32, Motif, GTK+ (X11),
Bram Moolenaara9587612006-05-04 21:47:50 +0000750and Photon GUI. It should turn up in other GUIs in due course. The
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000751default toolbar is setup in menu.vim.
752The display of the toolbar is controlled by the 'guioptions' letter 'T'. You
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000753can thus have menu & toolbar together, or either on its own, or neither.
Bram Moolenaar06b5d512010-05-22 15:37:44 +0200754The appearance is controlled by the 'toolbar' option. You can choose between
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000755an image, text or both.
756
757 *toolbar-icon*
758The toolbar is defined as a special menu called ToolBar, which only has one
759level. Vim interprets the items in this menu as follows:
7601) If an "icon=" argument was specified, the file with this name is used.
761 The file can either be specified with the full path or with the base name.
762 In the last case it is searched for in the "bitmaps" directory in
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000763 'runtimepath', like in point 3. Examples: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000764 :amenu icon=/usr/local/pixmaps/foo_icon.xpm ToolBar.Foo :echo "Foo"<CR>
765 :amenu icon=FooIcon ToolBar.Foo :echo "Foo"<CR>
766< Note that in the first case the extension is included, while in the second
767 case it is omitted.
768 If the file cannot be opened the next points are tried.
769 A space in the file name must be escaped with a backslash.
770 A menu priority must come _after_ the icon argument: >
771 :amenu icon=foo 1.42 ToolBar.Foo :echo "42!"<CR>
7722) An item called 'BuiltIn##', where ## is a number, is taken as number ## of
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000773 the built-in bitmaps available in Vim. Currently there are 31 numbered
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000774 from 0 to 30 which cover most common editing operations |builtin-tools|. >
775 :amenu ToolBar.BuiltIn22 :call SearchNext("back")<CR>
7763) An item with another name is first searched for in the directory
777 "bitmaps" in 'runtimepath'. If found, the bitmap file is used as the
778 toolbar button image. Note that the exact filename is OS-specific: For
779 example, under Win32 the command >
780 :amenu ToolBar.Hello :echo "hello"<CR>
781< would find the file 'hello.bmp'. Under GTK+/X11 it is 'Hello.xpm'. With
782 GTK+ 2 the files 'Hello.png', 'Hello.xpm' and 'Hello.bmp' are checked for
783 existence, and the first one found would be used.
784 For MS-Windows and GTK+ 2 the bitmap is scaled to fit the button. For
785 MS-Windows a size of 18 by 18 pixels works best.
786 For MS-Windows the bitmap should have 16 colors with the standard palette.
787 The light grey pixels will be changed to the Window frame color and the
788 dark grey pixels to the window shadow color. More colors might also work,
789 depending on your system.
7904) If the bitmap is still not found, Vim checks for a match against its list
791 of built-in names. Each built-in button image has a name.
792 So the command >
793 :amenu ToolBar.Open :e
794< will show the built-in "open a file" button image if no open.bmp exists.
795 All the built-in names can be seen used in menu.vim.
7965) If all else fails, a blank, but functioning, button is displayed.
797
798 *builtin-tools*
799nr Name Normal action ~
80000 New open new window
80101 Open browse for file to open in current window
80202 Save write buffer to file
80303 Undo undo last change
80404 Redo redo last undone change
80505 Cut delete selected text to clipboard
80606 Copy copy selected text to clipboard
80707 Paste paste text from clipboard
80808 Print print current buffer
80909 Help open a buffer on Vim's builtin help
81010 Find start a search command
81111 SaveAll write all modified buffers to file
81212 SaveSesn write session file for current situation
81313 NewSesn write new session file
81414 LoadSesn load session file
81515 RunScript browse for file to run as a Vim script
81616 Replace prompt for substitute command
81717 WinClose close current window
81818 WinMax make current window use many lines
81919 WinMin make current window use few lines
82020 WinSplit split current window
82121 Shell start a shell
82222 FindPrev search again, backward
82323 FindNext search again, forward
82424 FindHelp prompt for word to search help for
82525 Make run make and jump to first error
82626 TagJump jump to tag under the cursor
82727 RunCtags build tags for files in current directory
82828 WinVSplit split current window vertically
82929 WinMaxWidth make current window use many columns
83030 WinMinWidth make current window use few columns
831
832 *hidden-menus* *win32-hidden-menus*
833In the Win32 and GTK+ GUI, starting a menu name with ']' excludes that menu
834from the main menu bar. You must then use the |:popup| or |:tearoff| command
835to display it.
836
Bram Moolenaar37c64c72017-09-19 22:06:03 +0200837 *window-toolbar* *WinBar*
Bram Moolenaar1b9645d2017-09-17 23:03:31 +0200838Each window can have a local toolbar. This uses the first line of the window,
Bram Moolenaar37c64c72017-09-19 22:06:03 +0200839thus reduces the space for the text by one line. The items in the toolbar
840must start with "WinBar".
Bram Moolenaar1b9645d2017-09-17 23:03:31 +0200841
Bram Moolenaar37c64c72017-09-19 22:06:03 +0200842Only text can be used. When using Unicode, special characters can be used to
Bram Moolenaar1b9645d2017-09-17 23:03:31 +0200843make the items look like icons.
844
845If the items do not fit then the last ones cannot be used. The toolbar does
846not wrap.
847
Bram Moolenaar24a98a02017-09-27 22:23:55 +0200848Note that Vim may be in any mode when executing these commands. The menu
849should be defined for Normal mode and will be executed without changing the
850current mode. Thus if the current window is in Visual mode and the menu
851command does not intentionally change the mode, Vim will remain in Visual
852mode. Best is to use `:nnoremenu` to avoid side effects.
853
Bram Moolenaar1b9645d2017-09-17 23:03:31 +0200854Example for debugger tools: >
Bram Moolenaar24a98a02017-09-27 22:23:55 +0200855 nnoremenu 1.10 WinBar.Step :Step<CR>
856 nnoremenu 1.20 WinBar.Next :Next<CR>
857 nnoremenu 1.30 WinBar.Finish :Finish<CR>
858 nnoremenu 1.40 WinBar.Cont :Continue<CR>
Bram Moolenaar1b9645d2017-09-17 23:03:31 +0200859<
860The window toolbar uses the ToolbarLine and ToolbarButton highlight groups.
861
Bram Moolenaar37c64c72017-09-19 22:06:03 +0200862When splitting the window the window toolbar is not copied to the new window.
863
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000864 *popup-menu*
Bram Moolenaar0b962e52022-04-03 18:02:37 +0100865In the Win32, GTK+, Motif and Photon GUI, you can define the
Bram Moolenaara3ffd9c2005-07-21 21:03:15 +0000866special menu "PopUp". This is the menu that is displayed when the right mouse
867button is pressed, if 'mousemodel' is set to popup or popup_setpos.
Bram Moolenaar1b9645d2017-09-17 23:03:31 +0200868Example: >
869 nnoremenu 1.40 PopUp.&Paste "+gP
870 menu PopUp
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000871
872
8735.3 Showing What Menus Are Mapped To *showing-menus*
874
875To see what an existing menu is mapped to, use just one argument after the
876menu commands (just like you would with the ":map" commands). If the menu
877specified is a submenu, then all menus under that hierarchy will be shown.
878If no argument is given after :menu at all, then ALL menu items are shown
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000879for the appropriate mode (e.g., Command-line mode for :cmenu).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000880
881Special characters in the list, just before the rhs:
882* The menu was defined with "nore" to disallow remapping.
883& The menu was defined with "<script>" to allow remapping script-local
884 mappings only.
Bram Moolenaarff781552020-03-19 20:37:11 +0100885s The menu was defined with "<silent>" to avoid showing what it is
886 mapped to when triggered.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000887- The menu was disabled.
888
889Note that hitting <Tab> while entering a menu name after a menu command may
890be used to complete the name of the menu item.
891
892
8935.4 Executing Menus *execute-menus*
894
895 *:em* *:emenu* *E334* *E335*
896:[range]em[enu] {menu} Execute {menu} from the command line.
897 The default is to execute the Normal mode
898 menu. If a range is specified, it executes
899 the Visual mode menu.
900 If used from <c-o>, it executes the
901 insert-mode menu Eg: >
902 :emenu File.Exit
903
Bram Moolenaar4c5d8152018-10-19 22:36:53 +0200904:[range]em[enu] {mode} {menu} Like above, but execute the menu for {mode}:
905 'n': |:nmenu| Normal mode
906 'v': |:vmenu| Visual mode
907 's': |:smenu| Select mode
908 'o': |:omenu| Operator-pending mode
909 't': |:tlmenu| Terminal mode
910 'i': |:imenu| Insert mode
911 'c': |:cmenu| Cmdline mode
Bram Moolenaarf0d58ef2018-11-16 16:13:44 +0100912
Bram Moolenaar4c5d8152018-10-19 22:36:53 +0200913
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000914If the console-mode vim has been compiled with WANT_MENU defined, you can
915use :emenu to access useful menu items you may have got used to from GUI
916mode. See 'wildmenu' for an option that works well with this. See
917|console-menus| for an example.
918
919When using a range, if the lines match with '<,'>, then the menu is executed
920using the last visual selection.
921
922
9235.5 Deleting Menus *delete-menus*
924
925 *:unme* *:unmenu*
926 *:aun* *:aunmenu*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000927To delete a menu item or a whole submenu, use the unmenu commands, which are
928analogous to the unmap commands. Eg: >
929 :unmenu! Edit.Paste
930
931This will remove the Paste item from the Edit menu for Insert and
932Command-line modes.
933
934Note that hitting <Tab> while entering a menu name after an umenu command
935may be used to complete the name of the menu item for the appropriate mode.
936
937To remove all menus use: *:unmenu-all* >
938 :unmenu * " remove all menus in Normal and visual mode
939 :unmenu! * " remove all menus in Insert and Command-line mode
Bram Moolenaarf42b45d2019-01-06 13:11:05 +0100940 :aunmenu * " remove all menus in all modes, except for Terminal
941 " mode
942 :tlunmenu * " remove all menus in Terminal mode
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000943
944If you want to get rid of the menu bar: >
945 :set guioptions-=m
946
947
9485.6 Disabling Menus *disable-menus*
949
950 *:menu-disable* *:menu-enable*
951If you do not want to remove a menu, but disable it for a moment, this can be
952done by adding the "enable" or "disable" keyword to a ":menu" command.
953Examples: >
954 :menu disable &File.&Open\.\.\.
955 :amenu enable *
956 :amenu disable &Tools.*
957
958The command applies to the modes as used with all menu commands. Note that
959characters like "&" need to be included for translated names to be found.
960When the argument is "*", all menus are affected. Otherwise the given menu
961name and all existing submenus below it are affected.
962
963
9645.7 Examples for Menus *menu-examples*
965
966Here is an example on how to add menu items with menu's! You can add a menu
967item for the keyword under the cursor. The register "z" is used. >
968
969 :nmenu Words.Add\ Var wb"zye:menu! Words.<C-R>z <C-R>z<CR>
970 :nmenu Words.Remove\ Var wb"zye:unmenu! Words.<C-R>z<CR>
971 :vmenu Words.Add\ Var "zy:menu! Words.<C-R>z <C-R>z <CR>
972 :vmenu Words.Remove\ Var "zy:unmenu! Words.<C-R>z<CR>
973 :imenu Words.Add\ Var <Esc>wb"zye:menu! Words.<C-R>z <C-R>z<CR>a
974 :imenu Words.Remove\ Var <Esc>wb"zye:unmenu! Words.<C-R>z<CR>a
975
976(the rhs is in <> notation, you can copy/paste this text to try out the
977mappings, or put these lines in your gvimrc; "<C-R>" is CTRL-R, "<CR>" is
978the <CR> key. |<>|)
979
Bram Moolenaar0eabd4d2020-03-15 16:13:53 +0100980 *tooltips* *menu-tips*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00009815.8 Tooltips & Menu tips
982
983See section |42.4| in the user manual.
984
985 *:tmenu* *:tm*
986:tm[enu] {menupath} {rhs} Define a tip for a menu or tool. {only in
987 X11 and Win32 GUI}
988
989:tm[enu] [menupath] List menu tips. {only in X11 and Win32 GUI}
990
991 *:tunmenu* *:tu*
992:tu[nmenu] {menupath} Remove a tip for a menu or tool.
993 {only in X11 and Win32 GUI}
994
Bram Moolenaar4c5d8152018-10-19 22:36:53 +0200995Note: To create menus for terminal mode, use |:tlmenu| instead.
996
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000997When a tip is defined for a menu item, it appears in the command-line area
998when the mouse is over that item, much like a standard Windows menu hint in
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000999the status bar. (Except when Vim is in Command-line mode, when of course
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001000nothing is displayed.)
1001When a tip is defined for a ToolBar item, it appears as a tooltip when the
1002mouse pauses over that button, in the usual fashion. Use the |hl-Tooltip|
1003highlight group to change its colors.
1004
1005A "tip" can be defined for each menu item. For example, when defining a menu
1006item like this: >
1007 :amenu MyMenu.Hello :echo "Hello"<CR>
1008The tip is defined like this: >
1009 :tmenu MyMenu.Hello Displays a greeting.
1010And delete it with: >
1011 :tunmenu MyMenu.Hello
1012
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001013Tooltips are currently only supported for the X11 and Win32 GUI. However, they
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001014should appear for the other gui platforms in the not too distant future.
1015
1016The ":tmenu" command works just like other menu commands, it uses the same
1017arguments. ":tunmenu" deletes an existing menu tip, in the same way as the
1018other unmenu commands.
1019
1020If a menu item becomes invalid (i.e. its actions in all modes are deleted) Vim
1021deletes the menu tip (and the item) for you. This means that :aunmenu deletes
1022a menu item - you don't need to do a :tunmenu as well.
1023
1024
10255.9 Popup Menus
1026
1027In the Win32 and GTK+ GUI, you can cause a menu to popup at the cursor.
1028This behaves similarly to the PopUp menus except that any menu tree can
1029be popped up.
1030
1031This command is for backwards compatibility, using it is discouraged, because
1032it behaves in a strange way.
1033
1034 *:popup* *:popu*
1035:popu[p] {name} Popup the menu {name}. The menu named must
1036 have at least one subentry, but need not
1037 appear on the menu-bar (see |hidden-menus|).
Bram Moolenaarb5b75622018-03-09 22:22:21 +01001038 {only available for Win32 and GTK GUI or in
Bram Moolenaar06fe74a2019-08-31 16:20:32 +02001039 the terminal}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001040
Bram Moolenaar97409f12005-07-08 22:17:29 +00001041:popu[p]! {name} Like above, but use the position of the mouse
1042 pointer instead of the cursor.
Bram Moolenaarb5b75622018-03-09 22:22:21 +01001043 In the terminal this is the last known
1044 position, which is usually at the last click
Bram Moolenaar0b0f0992018-05-22 21:41:30 +02001045 or release (mouse movement is irrelevant).
Bram Moolenaar97409f12005-07-08 22:17:29 +00001046
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001047Example: >
1048 :popup File
Bram Moolenaar97409f12005-07-08 22:17:29 +00001049will make the "File" menu (if there is one) appear at the text cursor (mouse
1050pointer if ! was used). >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001051
1052 :amenu ]Toolbar.Make :make<CR>
1053 :popup ]Toolbar
1054This creates a popup menu that doesn't exist on the main menu-bar.
1055
Bram Moolenaarb5b75622018-03-09 22:22:21 +01001056Note that in the GUI the :popup command will return immediately, before a
1057selection has been made. In the terminal the commands waits for the user to
1058make a selection.
1059
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001060Note that a menu that starts with ']' will not be displayed.
1061
1062==============================================================================
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +020010636. Font
1064
1065This section describes font related options.
1066
1067GUIFONT *gui-font*
1068
1069'guifont' is the option that tells Vim what font to use. In its simplest form
1070the value is just one font name. It can also be a list of font names
1071separated with commas. The first valid font is used. When no valid font can
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001072be found you will get an error message.
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001073
1074On systems where 'guifontset' is supported (X11) and 'guifontset' is not
1075empty, then 'guifont' is not used. See |xfontset|.
1076
1077Note: As to the GTK GUIs, no error is given against any invalid names, and the
1078first element of the list is always picked up and made use of. This is
1079because, instead of identifying a given name with a font, the GTK GUIs use it
1080to construct a pattern and try to look up a font which best matches the
1081pattern among available fonts, and this way, the matching never fails. An
1082invalid name doesn't matter because a number of font properties other than
1083name will do to get the matching done.
1084
1085Spaces after a comma are ignored. To include a comma in a font name precede
1086it with a backslash. Setting an option requires an extra backslash before a
1087space and a backslash. See also |option-backslash|. For example: >
1088 :set guifont=Screen15,\ 7x13,font\\,with\\,commas
1089will make Vim try to use the font "Screen15" first, and if it fails it will
1090try to use "7x13" and then "font,with,commas" instead.
1091
1092If none of the fonts can be loaded, Vim will keep the current setting. If an
1093empty font list is given, Vim will try using other resource settings (for X,
1094it will use the Vim.font resource), and finally it will try some builtin
1095default which should always be there ("7x13" in the case of X). The font
1096names given should be "normal" fonts. Vim will try to find the related bold
1097and italic fonts.
1098
1099For Win32, GTK, Motif, Mac OS and Photon: >
1100 :set guifont=*
1101will bring up a font requester, where you can pick the font you want.
1102
1103The font name depends on the GUI used. See |setting-guifont| for a way to set
1104'guifont' for various systems.
1105
1106For the GTK+ 2 and 3 GUIs, the font name looks like this: >
1107 :set guifont=Andale\ Mono\ 11
1108That's all. XLFDs are not used. For Chinese this is reported to work well: >
1109 if has("gui_gtk2")
1110 set guifont=Bitstream\ Vera\ Sans\ Mono\ 12,Fixed\ 12
1111 set guifontwide=Microsoft\ Yahei\ 12,WenQuanYi\ Zen\ Hei\ 12
1112 endif
1113<
1114(Replace gui_gtk2 with gui_gtk3 for the GTK+ 3 GUI)
1115
1116For Mac OSX you can use something like this: >
1117 :set guifont=Monaco:h10
Bram Moolenaar3d1cde82020-08-15 18:55:18 +02001118
1119Mono-spaced fonts *E236*
1120
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001121Note that the fonts must be mono-spaced (all characters have the same width).
1122An exception is GTK: all fonts are accepted, but mono-spaced fonts look best.
1123
1124To preview a font on X11, you might be able to use the "xfontsel" program.
1125The "xlsfonts" program gives a list of all available fonts.
1126
1127For the Win32 GUI *E244* *E245*
1128- Takes these options in the font name (use a ':' to separate the options):
1129 hXX - height is XX (points, can be floating-point)
1130 wXX - width is XX (points, can be floating-point)
1131 WXX - weight is XX (see Note on Weights below)
1132 b - bold. This is equivalent to setting the weight to 700.
1133 i - italic
1134 u - underline
1135 s - strikeout
1136 cXX - character set XX. Valid charsets are: ANSI, ARABIC, BALTIC,
1137 CHINESEBIG5, DEFAULT, EASTEUROPE, GB2312, GREEK, HANGEUL,
1138 HEBREW, JOHAB, MAC, OEM, RUSSIAN, SHIFTJIS, SYMBOL, THAI,
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001139 TURKISH and VIETNAMESE. Normally you would use "cDEFAULT".
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001140 qXX - quality XX. Valid quality names are: PROOF, DRAFT, ANTIALIASED,
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001141 NONANTIALIASED, CLEARTYPE and DEFAULT. Normally you would use
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001142 "qDEFAULT".
1143 Some quality values are not supported in legacy OSs.
1144- A '_' can be used in the place of a space, so you don't need to use
1145 backslashes to escape the spaces.
1146Examples: >
1147 :set guifont=courier_new:h12:w5:b:cRUSSIAN
1148 :set guifont=Andale_Mono:h7.5:w4.5
1149
1150See also |font-sizes|.
1151
1152Note on Weights: Fonts often come with a variety of weights. "Normal" weights
1153in Windows have a value of 400 and, left unspecified, this is the value that
1154will be used when attempting to find fonts. Windows will often match fonts
1155based on their weight with higher priority than the font name which means a
1156Book or Medium variant of a font might be used despite specifying a Light or
1157ExtraLight variant. If you are experiencing heavier weight substitution, then
1158explicitly setting a lower weight value may mitigate against this unwanted
1159substitution.
1160
1161
1162GUIFONTWIDE *gui-fontwide*
1163
1164When not empty, 'guifontwide' specifies a comma-separated list of fonts to be
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001165used for double-width characters. The first font that can be loaded is used.
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001166
1167Note: The size of these fonts must be exactly twice as wide as the one
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001168specified with 'guifont' and the same height. If there is a mismatch then the
1169text will not be drawn correctly.
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001170
1171All GUI versions but GTK+:
1172
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001173'guifontwide' is only used when 'encoding' is set to "utf-8" and 'guifontset'
1174is empty or invalid.
1175When 'guifont' is set and a valid font is found in it and 'guifontwide' is
1176empty Vim will attempt to find a matching double-width font and set
1177'guifontwide' to it.
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001178
1179GTK+ GUI only: *guifontwide_gtk*
1180
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001181If set and valid, 'guifontwide' is always used for double width characters,
1182even if 'encoding' is not set to "utf-8".
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001183Vim does not attempt to find an appropriate value for 'guifontwide'
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001184automatically. If 'guifontwide' is empty Pango/Xft will choose the font for
1185characters not available in 'guifont'. Thus you do not need to set
1186'guifontwide' at all unless you want to override the choice made by Pango/Xft.
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +02001187
1188Windows +multibyte only: *guifontwide_win_mbyte*
1189
1190If set and valid, 'guifontwide' is used for IME instead of 'guifont'.
1191
1192==============================================================================
11937. Extras *gui-extras*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001194
1195This section describes other features which are related to the GUI.
1196
1197- With the GUI, there is no wait for one second after hitting escape, because
1198 the key codes don't start with <Esc>.
1199
1200- Typing ^V followed by a special key in the GUI will insert "<Key>", since
1201 the internal string used is meaningless. Modifiers may also be held down to
1202 get "<Modifiers-Key>".
1203
1204- In the GUI, the modifiers SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT (or META) may be used within
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001205 mappings of special keys and mouse events.
1206 E.g.: :map <M-LeftDrag> <LeftDrag>
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001207
1208- In the GUI, several normal keys may have modifiers in mappings etc, these
1209 are <Space>, <Tab>, <NL>, <CR>, <Esc>.
1210
1211- To check in a Vim script if the GUI is being used, you can use something
1212 like this: >
1213
1214 if has("gui_running")
1215 echo "yes, we have a GUI"
1216 else
1217 echo "Boring old console"
1218 endif
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001219< *setting-guifont*
1220- When you use the same vimrc file on various systems, you can use something
1221 like this to set options specifically for each type of GUI: >
1222
1223 if has("gui_running")
1224 if has("gui_gtk2")
1225 :set guifont=Luxi\ Mono\ 12
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001226 elseif has("x11")
1227 " Also for GTK 1
1228 :set guifont=*-lucidatypewriter-medium-r-normal-*-*-180-*-*-m-*-*
1229 elseif has("gui_win32")
1230 :set guifont=Luxi_Mono:h12:cANSI
1231 endif
1232 endif
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001233
Bram Moolenaar030f0df2006-02-21 22:02:53 +00001234A recommended Japanese font is MS Mincho. You can find info here:
1235http://www.lexikan.com/mincho.htm
1236
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001237==============================================================================
Bram Moolenaarf720d0a2019-04-28 14:02:47 +020012388. Shell Commands *gui-shell*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001239
1240For the X11 GUI the external commands are executed inside the gvim window.
1241See |gui-pty|.
1242
Bram Moolenaar68e65602019-05-26 21:33:31 +02001243WARNING: Executing an external command from the X11 GUI will not always work.
1244"normal" commands like "ls", "grep" and "make" mostly work fine.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001245Commands that require an intelligent terminal like "less" and "ispell" won't
1246work. Some may even hang and need to be killed from another terminal. So be
1247careful!
1248
1249For the Win32 GUI the external commands are executed in a separate window.
1250See |gui-shell-win32|.
1251
Bram Moolenaar91f84f62018-07-29 15:07:52 +02001252 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: