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Bram Moolenaar1423b9d2006-05-07 15:16:06 +00001*gui.txt* For Vim version 7.0. Last change: 2006 May 04
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|
146. Extras |gui-extras|
157. Shell Commands |gui-shell|
16
17Other GUI documentation:
18|gui_x11.txt| For specific items of the X11 GUI.
19|gui_w32.txt| For specific items of the Win32 GUI.
20
21{Vi does not have any of these commands}
22
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
28GUI", where "xxx" is X11-Motif, X11-Athena, Photon, GTK, GTK2, etc., or
29"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
38 *gui-init* *gvimrc* *.gvimrc* *_gvimrc*
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 $MYGVIMRC
41environment variable has its name.
42
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000043When the GUI starts up initializations are carried out, in this order:
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +000044- The 'term' option is set to "builgin_gui" and terminal options are reset to
45 their default value for the GUI |terminal-options|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000046- If the system menu file exists, it is sourced. The name of this file is
47 normally "$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".
70 - For Win32, when $HOME is not set, "$VIM\_gvimrc" is used.
71 - 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
82"-u NONE" and no "-U" argument was given, or when started with "-U NONE".
83
84All this happens AFTER the normal Vim initializations, like reading your
85.vimrc file. See |initialization|.
86But the GUI window is only opened after all the initializations have been
87carried out. If you want some commands to be executed just after opening the
88GUI window, use the |GUIEnter| autocommand event. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar648120b2005-08-08 21:57:35 +000089 :autocmd GUIEnter * winpos 100 50
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000090
91You can use the gvimrc files to set up your own customized menus (see |:menu|)
92and initialize other things that you may want to set up differently from the
93terminal version.
94
95Recommended place for your personal GUI initializations:
96 Unix $HOME/.gvimrc
97 OS/2 $HOME/.gvimrc or $VIM/.gvimrc
98 MS-DOS and Win32 $HOME/_gvimrc or $VIM/_gvimrc
99 Amiga s:.gvimrc or $VIM/.gvimrc
100
101There are a number of options which only have meaning in the GUI version of
102Vim. These are 'guicursor', 'guifont', 'guipty' and 'guioptions'. They are
103documented in |options.txt| with all the other options.
104
Bram Moolenaara9587612006-05-04 21:47:50 +0000105If using the Motif or Athena version of the GUI (but not for the GTK+ or
Bram Moolenaar843ee412004-06-30 16:16:41 +0000106Win32 version), a number of X resources are available. See |gui-resources|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000107
108Another way to set the colors for different occasions is with highlight
109groups. The "Normal" group is used to set the background and foreground
110colors. Example (which looks nice): >
111
112 :highlight Normal guibg=grey90
113
114The "guibg" and "guifg" settings override the normal background and
115foreground settings. The other settings for the Normal highlight group are
116not used. Use the 'guifont' option to set the font.
117
118Also check out the 'guicursor' option, to set the colors for the cursor in
119various modes.
120
121Vim tries to make the window fit on the screen when it starts up. This avoids
122that you can't see part of it. On the X Window System this requires a bit of
123guesswork. You can change the height that is used for the window title and a
124task bar with the 'guiheadroom' option.
125
126 *:winp* *:winpos* *E188*
127:winp[os]
128 Display current position of the top left corner of the GUI vim
129 window in pixels. Does not work in all versions.
130
131:winp[os] {X} {Y} *E466*
132 Put the GUI vim window at the given {X} and {Y} coordinates.
133 The coordinates should specify the position in pixels of the
134 top left corner of the window. Does not work in all versions.
135 Does work in an (new) xterm |xterm-color|.
136 When the GUI window has not been opened yet, the values are
137 remembered until the window is opened. The position is
138 adjusted to make the window fit on the screen (if possible).
139
140 *:win* *:winsize* *E465*
141:win[size] {width} {height}
142 Set the window height to {width} by {height} characters.
143 Obsolete, use ":set lines=11 columns=22".
144 If you get less lines than expected, check the 'guiheadroom'
145 option.
146
147If you are running the X Window System, you can get information about the
148window Vim is running in with this command: >
149 :!xwininfo -id $WINDOWID
150
151==============================================================================
1522. Scrollbars *gui-scrollbars*
153
Bram Moolenaarfd371682005-01-14 21:42:54 +0000154There are vertical scrollbars and a horizontal scrollbar. You may
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000155configure which ones appear with the 'guioptions' option.
156
157The interface looks like this (with ":set guioptions=mlrb"):
158
159 +------------------------------+
160 | File Edit Help | <- Menu bar (m)
161 +-+--------------------------+-+
162 |^| |^|
163 |#| Text area. |#|
164 | | | |
165 |v|__________________________|v|
166 Normal status line -> |-+ File.c 5,2 +-|
167 between Vim windows |^|""""""""""""""""""""""""""|^|
168 | | | |
169 | | Another file buffer. | |
170 | | | |
171 |#| |#|
172 Left scrollbar (l) -> |#| |#| <- Right
173 |#| |#| scrollbar (r)
174 | | | |
175 |v| |v|
176 +-+--------------------------+-+
177 | |< #### >| | <- Bottom
178 +-+--------------------------+-+ scrollbar (b)
179
180Any of the scrollbar or menu components may be turned off by not putting the
181appropriate letter in the 'guioptions' string. The bottom scrollbar is
182only useful when 'nowrap' is set.
183
184
185VERTICAL SCROLLBARS *gui-vert-scroll*
186
187Each Vim window has a scrollbar next to it which may be scrolled up and down
188to move through the text in that buffer. The size of the scrollbar-thumb
189indicates the fraction of the buffer which can be seen in the window.
190When the scrollbar is dragged all the way down, the last line of the file
191will appear in the top of the window.
192
193If a window is shrunk to zero height (by the growth of another window) its
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000194scrollbar disappears. It reappears when the window is restored.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000195
196If a window is vertically split, it will get a scrollbar when it is the
197current window and when, taking the middle of the current window and drawing a
198vertical line, this line goes through the window.
199When there are scrollbars on both sides, and the middle of the current window
200is on the left half, the right scrollbar column will contain scrollbars for
201the rightmost windows. The same happens on the other side.
202
203
204HORIZONTAL SCROLLBARS *gui-horiz-scroll*
205
206The horizontal scrollbar (at the bottom of the Vim GUI) may be used to
207scroll text sideways when the 'wrap' option is turned off. The
208scrollbar-thumb size is such that the text of the longest visible line may be
209scrolled as far as possible left and right. The cursor is moved when
210necessary, it must remain on a visible character (unless 'virtualedit' is
211set).
212
Bram Moolenaarfd371682005-01-14 21:42:54 +0000213Computing the length of the longest visible line takes quite a bit of
214computation, and it has to be done every time something changes. If this
215takes too much time or you don't like the cursor jumping to another line,
216include the 'h' flag in 'guioptions'. Then the scrolling is limited by the
217text of the current cursor line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000218
219 *athena-intellimouse*
220If you have an Intellimouse and an X server that supports using the wheel,
221then you can use the wheel to scroll the text up and down in gvim. This works
222with XFree86 4.0 and later, and with some older versions when you add patches.
223See |scroll-mouse-wheel|.
224
225For older versions of XFree86 you must patch your X server. The following
226page has a bit of information about using the Intellimouse on Linux as well as
227links to the patches and X server binaries (may not have the one you need
228though):
229 http://www.inria.fr/koala/colas/mouse-wheel-scroll/
230
231==============================================================================
2323. Mouse Control *gui-mouse*
233
234The mouse only works if the appropriate flag in the 'mouse' option is set.
235When the GUI is switched on, and 'mouse' wasn't set yet, the 'mouse' option is
236automatically set to "a", enabling it for all modes except for the
237|hit-enter| prompt. If you don't want this, a good place to change the
238'mouse' option is the "gvimrc" file.
239
240Other options that are relevant:
241'mousefocus' window focus follows mouse pointer |gui-mouse-focus|
242'mousemodel' what mouse button does which action
243'mousehide' hide mouse pointer while typing text
244'selectmode' whether to start Select mode or Visual mode
245
246A quick way to set these is with the ":behave" command.
247 *:behave* *:be*
248:be[have] {model} Set behavior for mouse and selection. Valid
249 arguments are:
250 mswin MS-Windows behavior
251 xterm Xterm behavior
252
253 Using ":behave" changes these options:
254 option mswin xterm ~
255 'selectmode' "mouse,key" ""
256 'mousemodel' "popup" "extend"
257 'keymodel' "startsel,stopsel" ""
258 'selection' "exclusive" "inclusive"
259
260In the $VIMRUNTIME directory, there is a script called |mswin.vim|, which will
261also map a few keys to the MS-Windows cut/copy/paste commands. This is NOT
262compatible, since it uses the CTRL-V, CTRL-X and CTRL-C keys. If you don't
263mind, use this command: >
264 :so $VIMRUNTIME/mswin.vim
265
266For scrolling with a wheel on a mouse, see |scroll-mouse-wheel|.
267
268
2693.1 Moving Cursor with Mouse *gui-mouse-move*
270
271Click the left mouse button somewhere in a text buffer where you want the
272cursor to go, and it does!
273This works in when 'mouse' contains ~
274Normal mode 'n' or 'a'
275Visual mode 'v' or 'a'
276Insert mode 'i' or 'a'
277
278Select mode is handled like Visual mode.
279
280You may use this with an operator such as 'd' to delete text from the current
281cursor position to the position you point to with the mouse. That is, you hit
282'd' and then click the mouse somewhere.
283
284 *gui-mouse-focus*
285The 'mousefocus' option can be set to make the keyboard focus follow the
286mouse pointer. This means that the window where the mouse pointer is, is the
287active window. Warning: this doesn't work very well when using a menu,
288because the menu command will always be applied to the top window.
289
290If you are on the ':' line (or '/' or '?'), then clicking the left or right
291mouse button will position the cursor on the ':' line (if 'mouse' contains
292'c', 'a' or 'A').
293
294In any situation the middle mouse button may be clicked to paste the current
295selection.
296
297
2983.2 Selection with Mouse *gui-mouse-select*
299
300The mouse can be used to start a selection. How depends on the 'mousemodel'
301option:
302'mousemodel' is "extend": use the right mouse button
303'mousemodel' is "popup": use the left mouse button, while keeping the Shift
304key pressed.
305
306If there was no selection yet, this starts a selection from the old cursor
307position to the position pointed to with the mouse. If there already is a
308selection then the closest end will be extended.
309
310If 'selectmode' contains "mouse", then the selection will be in Select mode.
311This means that typing normal text will replace the selection. See
312|Select-mode|. Otherwise, the selection will be in Visual mode.
313
314Double clicking may be done to make the selection word-wise, triple clicking
315makes it line-wise, and quadruple clicking makes it rectangular block-wise.
316
317See |gui-selections| on how the selection is used.
318
319
3203.3 Other Text Selection with Mouse *gui-mouse-modeless*
321 *modeless-selection*
322A different kind of selection is used when:
323- in Command-line mode
324- in the Command-line window and pointing in another window
325- at the |hit-enter| prompt
326- whenever the current mode is not in the 'mouse' option
327- when holding the CTRL and SHIFT keys in the GUI
328Since Vim continues like the selection isn't there, and there is no mode
329associated with the selection, this is called modeless selection. Any text in
330the Vim window can be selected. Select the text by pressing the left mouse
331button at the start, drag to the end and release. To extend the selection,
332use the right mouse button when 'mousemodel' is "extend", or the left mouse
333button with the shift key pressed when 'mousemodel' is "popup".
334The middle mouse button pastes the text.
335The selection is removed when the selected text is scrolled or changed.
336On the command line CTRL-Y can be used to copy the selection into the
337clipboard. To do this from Insert mode, use CTRL-O : CTRL-Y <CR>.
338
339
3403.4 Using Mouse on Status Lines *gui-mouse-status*
341
342Clicking the left or right mouse button on the status line below a Vim
343window makes that window the current window. This actually happens on button
344release (to be able to distinguish a click from a drag action).
345
346With the left mouse button a status line can be dragged up and down, thus
347resizing the windows above and below it. This does not change window focus.
348
349The same can be used on the vertical separator: click to give the window left
350of it focus, drag left and right to make windows wider and narrower.
351
352
3533.5 Various Mouse Clicks *gui-mouse-various*
354
355 <S-LeftMouse> Search forward for the word under the mouse click.
356 When 'mousemodel' is "popup" this starts or extends a
357 selection.
358 <S-RightMouse> Search backward for the word under the mouse click.
359 <C-LeftMouse> Jump to the tag name under the mouse click.
360 <C-RightMouse> Jump back to position before the previous tag jump
361 (same as "CTRL-T")
362
363
3643.6 Mouse Mappings *gui-mouse-mapping*
365
366The mouse events, complete with modifiers, may be mapped. Eg: >
367 :map <S-LeftMouse> <RightMouse>
368 :map <S-LeftDrag> <RightDrag>
369 :map <S-LeftRelease> <RightRelease>
370 :map <2-S-LeftMouse> <2-RightMouse>
371 :map <2-S-LeftDrag> <2-RightDrag>
372 :map <2-S-LeftRelease> <2-RightRelease>
373 :map <3-S-LeftMouse> <3-RightMouse>
374 :map <3-S-LeftDrag> <3-RightDrag>
375 :map <3-S-LeftRelease> <3-RightRelease>
376 :map <4-S-LeftMouse> <4-RightMouse>
377 :map <4-S-LeftDrag> <4-RightDrag>
378 :map <4-S-LeftRelease> <4-RightRelease>
379These mappings make selection work the way it probably should in a Motif
380application, with shift-left mouse allowing for extending the visual area
381rather than the right mouse button.
382
383Mouse mapping with modifiers does not work for modeless selection.
384
385
3863.7 Drag and drop *drag-n-drop*
387
388You can drag and drop one or more files into the Vim window, where they will
389be opened as if a |:drop| command was used.
390
391If you hold down Shift while doing this, Vim changes to the first dropped
392file's directory. If you hold Ctrl Vim will always split a new window for the
393file. Otherwise it's only done if the current buffer has been changed.
394
395You can also drop a directory on Vim. This starts the explorer plugin for
396that directory (assuming it was enabled, otherwise you'll get an error
397message). Keep Shift pressed to change to the directory instead.
398
399If Vim happens to be editing a command line, the names of the dropped files
400and directories will be inserted at the cursor. This allows you to use these
401names with any Ex command. Special characters (space, tab, double quote and
402'|'; backslash on non-MS-Windows systems) will be escaped.
403
404==============================================================================
4054. Making GUI Selections *gui-selections*
406
407 *quotestar*
408You may make selections with the mouse (see |gui-mouse-select|), or by using
409Vim's Visual mode (see |v|). If 'a' is present in 'guioptions', then
410whenever a selection is started (Visual or Select mode), or when the selection
411is changed, Vim becomes the owner of the windowing system's primary selection
412(on MS-Windows the |gui-clipboard| is used; under X11, the |x11-selection| is
413used - you should read whichever of these is appropriate now).
414
415 *clipboard*
416There is a special register for storing this selection, it is the "*
417register. Nothing is put in here unless the information about what text is
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000418selected is about to change (e.g. with a left mouse click somewhere), or when
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000419another application wants to paste the selected text. Then the text is put
420in the "* register. For example, to cut a line and make it the current
421selection/put it on the clipboard: >
422
423 "*dd
424
425Similarly, when you want to paste a selection from another application, e.g.,
426by clicking the middle mouse button, the selection is put in the "* register
427first, and then 'put' like any other register. For example, to put the
428selection (contents of the clipboard): >
429
430 "*p
431
432When using this register under X11, also see |x11-selection|. This also
433explains the related "+ register.
434
435Note that when pasting text from one Vim into another separate Vim, the type
436of selection (character, line, or block) will also be copied. For other
437applications the type is always character. However, if the text gets
438transferred via the |x11-cut-buffer|, the selection type is ALWAYS lost.
439
440When the "unnamed" string is included in the 'clipboard' option, the unnamed
441register is the same as the "* register. Thus you can yank to and paste the
442selection without prepending "* to commands.
443
444==============================================================================
4455. Menus *menus*
446
447For an introduction see |usr_42.txt| in the user manual.
448
449
4505.1 Using Menus *using-menus*
451
452Basically, menus can be used just like mappings. You can define your own
453menus, as many as you like.
454Long-time Vim users won't use menus much. But the power is in adding your own
455menus and menu items. They are most useful for things that you can't remember
456what the key sequence was.
457
458For creating menus in a different language, see |:menutrans|.
459
460 *menu.vim*
461The default menus are read from the file "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim". See
462|$VIMRUNTIME| for where the path comes from. You can set up your own menus.
463Starting off with the default set is a good idea. You can add more items, or,
464if you don't like the defaults at all, start with removing all menus
465|:unmenu-all|. You can also avoid the default menus being loaded by adding
466this line to your .vimrc file (NOT your .gvimrc file!): >
467 :let did_install_default_menus = 1
468If you also want to avoid the Syntax menu: >
469 :let did_install_syntax_menu = 1
470If you do want the Syntax menu but not all the entries for each available
471syntax file (which take quite a bit of time to load): >
472 :let skip_syntax_sel_menu = 1
473<
474 *console-menus*
475Although this documentation is in the GUI section, you can actually use menus
476in console mode too. You will have to load |menu.vim| explicitly then, it is
477not done by default. You can use the |:emenu| command and command-line
478completion with 'wildmenu' to access the menu entries almost like a real menu
479system. To do this, put these commands in your .vimrc file: >
480 :source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim
481 :set wildmenu
482 :set cpo-=<
483 :set wcm=<C-Z>
484 :map <F4> :emenu <C-Z>
485Pressing <F4> will start the menu. You can now use the cursor keys to select
486a menu entry. Hit <Enter> to execute it. Hit <Esc> if you want to cancel.
487This does require the |+menu| feature enabled at compile time.
488
489 *tear-off-menus*
Bram Moolenaara9587612006-05-04 21:47:50 +0000490GTK+ and Motif support Tear-off menus. These are sort of sticky menus or
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000491pop-up menus that are present all the time. If the resizing does not work
492correctly, this may be caused by using something like "Vim*geometry" in the
493defaults. Use "Vim.geometry" instead.
494
495The Win32 GUI version emulates Motif's tear-off menus. Actually, a Motif user
496will spot the differences easily, but hopefully they're just as useful. You
497can also use the |:tearoff| command together with |hidden-menus| to create
498floating menus that do not appear on the main menu bar.
499
500
5015.2 Creating New Menus *creating-menus*
502
503 *:me* *:menu* *:noreme* *:noremenu*
504 *:am* *:amenu* *:an* *:anoremenu*
505 *:nme* *:nmenu* *:nnoreme* *:nnoremenu*
506 *:ome* *:omenu* *:onoreme* *:onoremenu*
507 *:vme* *:vmenu* *:vnoreme* *:vnoremenu*
Bram Moolenaar371d5402006-03-20 21:47:49 +0000508 *:xme* *:xmenu* *:xnoreme* *:xnoremenu*
509 *:sme* *:smenu* *:snoreme* *:snoremenu*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000510 *:ime* *:imenu* *:inoreme* *:inoremenu*
511 *:cme* *:cmenu* *:cnoreme* *:cnoremenu*
512 *E330* *E327* *E331* *E336* *E333*
513 *E328* *E329* *E337*
514To create a new menu item, use the ":menu" commands. They are mostly like
515the ":map" set of commands but the first argument is a menu item name, given
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000516as a path of menus and submenus with a '.' between them, e.g.: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000517
518 :menu File.Save :w<CR>
519 :inoremenu File.Save <C-O>:w<CR>
520 :menu Edit.Big\ Changes.Delete\ All\ Spaces :%s/[ ^I]//g<CR>
521
522This last one will create a new item in the menu bar called "Edit", holding
523the mouse button down on this will pop up a menu containing the item
524"Big Changes", which is a sub-menu containing the item "Delete All Spaces",
525which when selected, performs the operation.
526
527Special characters in a menu name:
528
529 & The next character is the shortcut key. Make sure each
530 shortcut key is only used once in a (sub)menu. If you want to
531 insert a literal "&" in the menu name use "&&".
532 <Tab> Separates the menu name from right-aligned text. This can be
533 used to show the equivalent typed command. The text "<Tab>"
534 can be used here for convenience. If you are using a real
535 Tab, don't forget to put a backslash before it!
536Example: >
537
538 :amenu &File.&Open<Tab>:e :browse e<CR>
539
540[typed literally]
541With the shortcut "F" (while keeping the <Alt> key pressed), and then "O",
542this menu can be used. The second part is shown as "Open :e". The ":e"
543is right aligned, and the "O" is underlined, to indicate it is the shortcut.
544
545The ":amenu" command can be used to define menu entries for all modes at once.
546To make the command work correctly, a character is automatically inserted for
547some modes:
548 mode inserted appended ~
549 Normal nothing nothing
550 Visual <C-C> <C-\><C-G>
551 Insert <C-O>
552 Cmdline <C-C> <C-\><C-G>
553 Op-pending <C-C> <C-\><C-G>
554
555Appending CTRL-\ CTRL-G is for going back to insert mode when 'insertmode' is
556set. |CTRL-\_CTRL-G|
557
558Example: >
559
560 :amenu File.Next :next^M
561
562is equal to: >
563
564 :nmenu File.Next :next^M
565 :vmenu File.Next ^C:next^M^\^G
566 :imenu File.Next ^O:next^M
567 :cmenu File.Next ^C:next^M^\^G
568 :omenu File.Next ^C:next^M^\^G
569
570Careful: In Insert mode this only works for a SINGLE Normal mode command,
571because of the CTRL-O. If you have two or more commands, you will need to use
572the ":imenu" command. For inserting text in any mode, you can use the
573expression register: >
574
575 :amenu Insert.foobar "='foobar'<CR>P
576
577Note that the '<' and 'k' flags in 'cpoptions' also apply here (when
578included they make the <> form and raw key codes not being recognized).
579
580Note that <Esc> in Cmdline mode executes the command, like in a mapping. This
581is Vi compatible. Use CTRL-C to quit Cmdline mode.
582
583 *:menu-<silent>* *:menu-silent*
584To define a menu which will not be echoed on the command line, add
585"<silent>" as the first argument. Example: >
586 :menu <silent> Settings.Ignore\ case :set ic<CR>
587The ":set ic" will not be echoed when using this menu. Messages from the
588executed command are still given though. To shut them up too, add a ":silent"
589in the executed command: >
590 :menu <silent> Search.Header :exe ":silent normal /Header\r"<CR>
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +0000591"<silent>" may also appear just after "<special>" or "<script>".
592
593 *:menu-<special>* *:menu-special*
594Define a menu with <> notation for special keys, even though the "<" flag
595may appear in 'cpoptions'. This is useful if the side effect of setting
596'cpoptions' is not desired. Example: >
597 :menu <special> Search.Header /Header<CR>
598"<special>" must appear as the very first argument to the ":menu" command or
599just after "<silent>" or "<script>".
600
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000601 *:menu-<script>* *:menu-script*
602The "to" part of the menu will be inspected for mappings. If you don't want
603this, use the ":noremenu" command (or the similar one for a specific mode).
604If you do want to use script-local mappings, add "<script>" as the very first
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +0000605argument to the ":menu" command or just after "<silent>" or "<special>".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000606
607 *menu-priority*
608You can give a priority to a menu. Menus with a higher priority go more to
609the right. The priority is given as a number before the ":menu" command.
610Example: >
611 :80menu Buffer.next :bn<CR>
612
613The default menus have these priorities:
614 File 10
615 Edit 20
616 Tools 40
617 Syntax 50
618 Buffers 60
619 Window 70
620 Help 9999
621
622When no or zero priority is given, 500 is used.
623The priority for the PopUp menu is not used.
624
625The Help menu will be placed on the far right side of the menu bar on systems
626which support this (Motif and GTK+). For GTK+ 2, this is not done anymore
627because right-aligning the Help menu is now discouraged UI design.
628
629You can use a priority higher than 9999, to make it go after the Help menu,
630but that is non-standard and is discouraged. The highest possible priority is
631about 32000. The lowest is 1.
632
633 *sub-menu-priority*
634The same mechanism can be used to position a sub-menu. The priority is then
635given as a dot-separated list of priorities, before the menu name: >
636 :menu 80.500 Buffer.next :bn<CR>
637Giving the sub-menu priority is only needed when the item is not to be put
638in a normal position. For example, to put a sub-menu before the other items: >
639 :menu 80.100 Buffer.first :brew<CR>
640Or to put a sub-menu after the other items, and further items with default
641priority will be put before it: >
642 :menu 80.900 Buffer.last :blast<CR>
643When a number is missing, the default value 500 will be used: >
644 :menu .900 myMenu.test :echo "text"<CR>
645The menu priority is only used when creating a new menu. When it already
646existed, e.g., in another mode, the priority will not change. Thus, the
647priority only needs to be given the first time a menu is used.
648An exception is the PopUp menu. There is a separate menu for each mode
649(Normal, Op-pending, Visual, Insert, Cmdline). The order in each of these
650menus can be different. This is different from menu-bar menus, which have
651the same order for all modes.
652NOTE: sub-menu priorities currently don't work for all versions of the GUI.
653
654 *menu-separator* *E332*
655Menu items can be separated by a special item that inserts some space between
656items. Depending on the system this is displayed as a line or a dotted line.
657These items must start with a '-' and end in a '-'. The part in between is
658used to give it a unique name. Priorities can be used as with normal items.
659Example: >
660 :menu Example.item1 :do something
661 :menu Example.-Sep- :
662 :menu Example.item2 :do something different
663Note that the separator also requires a rhs. It doesn't matter what it is,
664because the item will never be selected. Use a single colon to keep it
665simple.
666
667 *gui-toolbar*
Bram Moolenaar843ee412004-06-30 16:16:41 +0000668The toolbar is currently available in the Win32, Athena, Motif, GTK+ (X11),
Bram Moolenaara9587612006-05-04 21:47:50 +0000669and Photon GUI. It should turn up in other GUIs in due course. The
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000670default toolbar is setup in menu.vim.
671The display of the toolbar is controlled by the 'guioptions' letter 'T'. You
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000672can thus have menu & toolbar together, or either on its own, or neither.
673The appearance is controlled by the 'toolbar' option. You can chose between
674an image, text or both.
675
676 *toolbar-icon*
677The toolbar is defined as a special menu called ToolBar, which only has one
678level. Vim interprets the items in this menu as follows:
6791) If an "icon=" argument was specified, the file with this name is used.
680 The file can either be specified with the full path or with the base name.
681 In the last case it is searched for in the "bitmaps" directory in
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000682 'runtimepath', like in point 3. Examples: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000683 :amenu icon=/usr/local/pixmaps/foo_icon.xpm ToolBar.Foo :echo "Foo"<CR>
684 :amenu icon=FooIcon ToolBar.Foo :echo "Foo"<CR>
685< Note that in the first case the extension is included, while in the second
686 case it is omitted.
687 If the file cannot be opened the next points are tried.
688 A space in the file name must be escaped with a backslash.
689 A menu priority must come _after_ the icon argument: >
690 :amenu icon=foo 1.42 ToolBar.Foo :echo "42!"<CR>
6912) An item called 'BuiltIn##', where ## is a number, is taken as number ## of
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000692 the built-in bitmaps available in Vim. Currently there are 31 numbered
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000693 from 0 to 30 which cover most common editing operations |builtin-tools|. >
694 :amenu ToolBar.BuiltIn22 :call SearchNext("back")<CR>
6953) An item with another name is first searched for in the directory
696 "bitmaps" in 'runtimepath'. If found, the bitmap file is used as the
697 toolbar button image. Note that the exact filename is OS-specific: For
698 example, under Win32 the command >
699 :amenu ToolBar.Hello :echo "hello"<CR>
700< would find the file 'hello.bmp'. Under GTK+/X11 it is 'Hello.xpm'. With
701 GTK+ 2 the files 'Hello.png', 'Hello.xpm' and 'Hello.bmp' are checked for
702 existence, and the first one found would be used.
703 For MS-Windows and GTK+ 2 the bitmap is scaled to fit the button. For
704 MS-Windows a size of 18 by 18 pixels works best.
705 For MS-Windows the bitmap should have 16 colors with the standard palette.
706 The light grey pixels will be changed to the Window frame color and the
707 dark grey pixels to the window shadow color. More colors might also work,
708 depending on your system.
7094) If the bitmap is still not found, Vim checks for a match against its list
710 of built-in names. Each built-in button image has a name.
711 So the command >
712 :amenu ToolBar.Open :e
713< will show the built-in "open a file" button image if no open.bmp exists.
714 All the built-in names can be seen used in menu.vim.
7155) If all else fails, a blank, but functioning, button is displayed.
716
717 *builtin-tools*
718nr Name Normal action ~
71900 New open new window
72001 Open browse for file to open in current window
72102 Save write buffer to file
72203 Undo undo last change
72304 Redo redo last undone change
72405 Cut delete selected text to clipboard
72506 Copy copy selected text to clipboard
72607 Paste paste text from clipboard
72708 Print print current buffer
72809 Help open a buffer on Vim's builtin help
72910 Find start a search command
73011 SaveAll write all modified buffers to file
73112 SaveSesn write session file for current situation
73213 NewSesn write new session file
73314 LoadSesn load session file
73415 RunScript browse for file to run as a Vim script
73516 Replace prompt for substitute command
73617 WinClose close current window
73718 WinMax make current window use many lines
73819 WinMin make current window use few lines
73920 WinSplit split current window
74021 Shell start a shell
74122 FindPrev search again, backward
74223 FindNext search again, forward
74324 FindHelp prompt for word to search help for
74425 Make run make and jump to first error
74526 TagJump jump to tag under the cursor
74627 RunCtags build tags for files in current directory
74728 WinVSplit split current window vertically
74829 WinMaxWidth make current window use many columns
74930 WinMinWidth make current window use few columns
750
751 *hidden-menus* *win32-hidden-menus*
752In the Win32 and GTK+ GUI, starting a menu name with ']' excludes that menu
753from the main menu bar. You must then use the |:popup| or |:tearoff| command
754to display it.
755
756 *popup-menu*
Bram Moolenaara9587612006-05-04 21:47:50 +0000757In the Win32, GTK+, Motif, Athena and Photon GUI, you can define the
Bram Moolenaara3ffd9c2005-07-21 21:03:15 +0000758special menu "PopUp". This is the menu that is displayed when the right mouse
759button is pressed, if 'mousemodel' is set to popup or popup_setpos.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000760
761
7625.3 Showing What Menus Are Mapped To *showing-menus*
763
764To see what an existing menu is mapped to, use just one argument after the
765menu commands (just like you would with the ":map" commands). If the menu
766specified is a submenu, then all menus under that hierarchy will be shown.
767If no argument is given after :menu at all, then ALL menu items are shown
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000768for the appropriate mode (e.g., Command-line mode for :cmenu).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000769
770Special characters in the list, just before the rhs:
771* The menu was defined with "nore" to disallow remapping.
772& The menu was defined with "<script>" to allow remapping script-local
773 mappings only.
774- The menu was disabled.
775
776Note that hitting <Tab> while entering a menu name after a menu command may
777be used to complete the name of the menu item.
778
779
7805.4 Executing Menus *execute-menus*
781
782 *:em* *:emenu* *E334* *E335*
783:[range]em[enu] {menu} Execute {menu} from the command line.
784 The default is to execute the Normal mode
785 menu. If a range is specified, it executes
786 the Visual mode menu.
787 If used from <c-o>, it executes the
788 insert-mode menu Eg: >
789 :emenu File.Exit
790
791If the console-mode vim has been compiled with WANT_MENU defined, you can
792use :emenu to access useful menu items you may have got used to from GUI
793mode. See 'wildmenu' for an option that works well with this. See
794|console-menus| for an example.
795
796When using a range, if the lines match with '<,'>, then the menu is executed
797using the last visual selection.
798
799
8005.5 Deleting Menus *delete-menus*
801
802 *:unme* *:unmenu*
803 *:aun* *:aunmenu*
804 *:nunme* *:nunmenu*
805 *:ounme* *:ounmenu*
806 *:vunme* *:vunmenu*
Bram Moolenaar371d5402006-03-20 21:47:49 +0000807 *:xunme* *:xunmenu*
808 *:sunme* *:sunmenu*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000809 *:iunme* *:iunmenu*
810 *:cunme* *:cunmenu*
811To delete a menu item or a whole submenu, use the unmenu commands, which are
812analogous to the unmap commands. Eg: >
813 :unmenu! Edit.Paste
814
815This will remove the Paste item from the Edit menu for Insert and
816Command-line modes.
817
818Note that hitting <Tab> while entering a menu name after an umenu command
819may be used to complete the name of the menu item for the appropriate mode.
820
821To remove all menus use: *:unmenu-all* >
822 :unmenu * " remove all menus in Normal and visual mode
823 :unmenu! * " remove all menus in Insert and Command-line mode
824 :aunmenu * " remove all menus in all modes
825
826If you want to get rid of the menu bar: >
827 :set guioptions-=m
828
829
8305.6 Disabling Menus *disable-menus*
831
832 *:menu-disable* *:menu-enable*
833If you do not want to remove a menu, but disable it for a moment, this can be
834done by adding the "enable" or "disable" keyword to a ":menu" command.
835Examples: >
836 :menu disable &File.&Open\.\.\.
837 :amenu enable *
838 :amenu disable &Tools.*
839
840The command applies to the modes as used with all menu commands. Note that
841characters like "&" need to be included for translated names to be found.
842When the argument is "*", all menus are affected. Otherwise the given menu
843name and all existing submenus below it are affected.
844
845
8465.7 Examples for Menus *menu-examples*
847
848Here is an example on how to add menu items with menu's! You can add a menu
849item for the keyword under the cursor. The register "z" is used. >
850
851 :nmenu Words.Add\ Var wb"zye:menu! Words.<C-R>z <C-R>z<CR>
852 :nmenu Words.Remove\ Var wb"zye:unmenu! Words.<C-R>z<CR>
853 :vmenu Words.Add\ Var "zy:menu! Words.<C-R>z <C-R>z <CR>
854 :vmenu Words.Remove\ Var "zy:unmenu! Words.<C-R>z<CR>
855 :imenu Words.Add\ Var <Esc>wb"zye:menu! Words.<C-R>z <C-R>z<CR>a
856 :imenu Words.Remove\ Var <Esc>wb"zye:unmenu! Words.<C-R>z<CR>a
857
858(the rhs is in <> notation, you can copy/paste this text to try out the
859mappings, or put these lines in your gvimrc; "<C-R>" is CTRL-R, "<CR>" is
860the <CR> key. |<>|)
861
862
8635.8 Tooltips & Menu tips
864
865See section |42.4| in the user manual.
866
867 *:tmenu* *:tm*
868:tm[enu] {menupath} {rhs} Define a tip for a menu or tool. {only in
869 X11 and Win32 GUI}
870
871:tm[enu] [menupath] List menu tips. {only in X11 and Win32 GUI}
872
873 *:tunmenu* *:tu*
874:tu[nmenu] {menupath} Remove a tip for a menu or tool.
875 {only in X11 and Win32 GUI}
876
877When a tip is defined for a menu item, it appears in the command-line area
878when the mouse is over that item, much like a standard Windows menu hint in
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000879the status bar. (Except when Vim is in Command-line mode, when of course
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000880nothing is displayed.)
881When a tip is defined for a ToolBar item, it appears as a tooltip when the
882mouse pauses over that button, in the usual fashion. Use the |hl-Tooltip|
883highlight group to change its colors.
884
885A "tip" can be defined for each menu item. For example, when defining a menu
886item like this: >
887 :amenu MyMenu.Hello :echo "Hello"<CR>
888The tip is defined like this: >
889 :tmenu MyMenu.Hello Displays a greeting.
890And delete it with: >
891 :tunmenu MyMenu.Hello
892
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000893Tooltips are currently only supported for the X11 and Win32 GUI. However, they
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000894should appear for the other gui platforms in the not too distant future.
895
896The ":tmenu" command works just like other menu commands, it uses the same
897arguments. ":tunmenu" deletes an existing menu tip, in the same way as the
898other unmenu commands.
899
900If a menu item becomes invalid (i.e. its actions in all modes are deleted) Vim
901deletes the menu tip (and the item) for you. This means that :aunmenu deletes
902a menu item - you don't need to do a :tunmenu as well.
903
904
9055.9 Popup Menus
906
907In the Win32 and GTK+ GUI, you can cause a menu to popup at the cursor.
908This behaves similarly to the PopUp menus except that any menu tree can
909be popped up.
910
911This command is for backwards compatibility, using it is discouraged, because
912it behaves in a strange way.
913
914 *:popup* *:popu*
915:popu[p] {name} Popup the menu {name}. The menu named must
916 have at least one subentry, but need not
917 appear on the menu-bar (see |hidden-menus|).
918 {only available for Win32 and GTK GUI}
919
Bram Moolenaar97409f12005-07-08 22:17:29 +0000920:popu[p]! {name} Like above, but use the position of the mouse
921 pointer instead of the cursor.
922
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000923Example: >
924 :popup File
Bram Moolenaar97409f12005-07-08 22:17:29 +0000925will make the "File" menu (if there is one) appear at the text cursor (mouse
926pointer if ! was used). >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000927
928 :amenu ]Toolbar.Make :make<CR>
929 :popup ]Toolbar
930This creates a popup menu that doesn't exist on the main menu-bar.
931
932Note that a menu that starts with ']' will not be displayed.
933
934==============================================================================
9356. Extras *gui-extras*
936
937This section describes other features which are related to the GUI.
938
939- With the GUI, there is no wait for one second after hitting escape, because
940 the key codes don't start with <Esc>.
941
942- Typing ^V followed by a special key in the GUI will insert "<Key>", since
943 the internal string used is meaningless. Modifiers may also be held down to
944 get "<Modifiers-Key>".
945
946- In the GUI, the modifiers SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT (or META) may be used within
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000947 mappings of special keys and mouse events. E.g.: :map <M-LeftDrag> <LeftDrag>
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000948
949- In the GUI, several normal keys may have modifiers in mappings etc, these
950 are <Space>, <Tab>, <NL>, <CR>, <Esc>.
951
952- To check in a Vim script if the GUI is being used, you can use something
953 like this: >
954
955 if has("gui_running")
956 echo "yes, we have a GUI"
957 else
958 echo "Boring old console"
959 endif
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +0000960< *setting-guifont*
961- When you use the same vimrc file on various systems, you can use something
962 like this to set options specifically for each type of GUI: >
963
964 if has("gui_running")
965 if has("gui_gtk2")
966 :set guifont=Luxi\ Mono\ 12
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +0000967 elseif has("x11")
968 " Also for GTK 1
969 :set guifont=*-lucidatypewriter-medium-r-normal-*-*-180-*-*-m-*-*
970 elseif has("gui_win32")
971 :set guifont=Luxi_Mono:h12:cANSI
972 endif
973 endif
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000974
Bram Moolenaar030f0df2006-02-21 22:02:53 +0000975A recommended Japanese font is MS Mincho. You can find info here:
976http://www.lexikan.com/mincho.htm
977
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000978==============================================================================
9797. Shell Commands *gui-shell*
980
981For the X11 GUI the external commands are executed inside the gvim window.
982See |gui-pty|.
983
984WARNING: Executing an external command from the X11 GUI will not always
985work. "normal" commands like "ls", "grep" and "make" mostly work fine.
986Commands that require an intelligent terminal like "less" and "ispell" won't
987work. Some may even hang and need to be killed from another terminal. So be
988careful!
989
990For the Win32 GUI the external commands are executed in a separate window.
991See |gui-shell-win32|.
992
993 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:ft=help:norl: