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64-bitmane08f10a2025-03-18 22:14:34 +01001*change.txt* For Vim version 9.1. Last change: 2025 Mar 18
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7This file describes commands that delete or change text. In this context,
8changing text means deleting the text and replacing it with other text using
9one command. You can undo all of these commands. You can repeat the non-Ex
10commands with the "." command.
11
121. Deleting text |deleting|
132. Delete and insert |delete-insert|
143. Simple changes |simple-change| *changing*
154. Complex changes |complex-change|
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +000016 4.1 Filter commands |filter|
17 4.2 Substitute |:substitute|
18 4.3 Search and replace |search-replace|
19 4.4 Changing tabs |change-tabs|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000205. Copying and moving text |copy-move|
216. Formatting text |formatting|
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +0000227. Sorting text |sorting|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000023
24For inserting text see |insert.txt|.
25
26==============================================================================
271. Deleting text *deleting* *E470*
28
29["x]<Del> or *<Del>* *x* *dl*
30["x]x Delete [count] characters under and after the cursor
31 [into register x] (not |linewise|). Does the same as
32 "dl".
33 The <Del> key does not take a [count]. Instead, it
34 deletes the last character of the count.
35 See |:fixdel| if the <Del> key does not do what you
36 want. See |'whichwrap'| for deleting a line break
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +020037 (join lines).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000038
39 *X* *dh*
40["x]X Delete [count] characters before the cursor [into
41 register x] (not |linewise|). Does the same as "dh".
42 Also see |'whichwrap'|.
43
44 *d*
45["x]d{motion} Delete text that {motion} moves over [into register
46 x]. See below for exceptions.
47
48 *dd*
49["x]dd Delete [count] lines [into register x] |linewise|.
50
51 *D*
52["x]D Delete the characters under the cursor until the end
53 of the line and [count]-1 more lines [into register
54 x]; synonym for "d$".
55 (not |linewise|)
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +000056 When the '#' flag is in 'cpoptions' the count is
57 ignored.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000058
59{Visual}["x]x or *v_x* *v_d* *v_<Del>*
60{Visual}["x]d or
61{Visual}["x]<Del> Delete the highlighted text [into register x] (for
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +020062 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000063
64{Visual}["x]CTRL-H or *v_CTRL-H* *v_<BS>*
65{Visual}["x]<BS> When in Select mode: Delete the highlighted text [into
66 register x].
67
68{Visual}["x]X or *v_X* *v_D* *v_b_D*
69{Visual}["x]D Delete the highlighted lines [into register x] (for
70 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). In Visual block mode,
71 "D" deletes the highlighted text plus all text until
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +020072 the end of the line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000073
Bram Moolenaar9ba7e172013-07-17 22:37:26 +020074 *:d* *:de* *:del* *:delete* *:dl* *:dp*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000075:[range]d[elete] [x] Delete [range] lines (default: current line) [into
76 register x].
Bram Moolenaar9ba7e172013-07-17 22:37:26 +020077 Note these weird abbreviations:
78 :dl delete and list
79 :dell idem
80 :delel idem
81 :deletl idem
82 :deletel idem
83 :dp delete and print
84 :dep idem
85 :delp idem
86 :delep idem
87 :deletp idem
88 :deletep idem
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000089
90:[range]d[elete] [x] {count}
91 Delete {count} lines, starting with [range]
92 (default: current line |cmdline-ranges|) [into
93 register x].
94
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +020095These commands delete text. You can repeat them with the `.` command
96(except `:d`) and undo them. Use Visual mode to delete blocks of text. See
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000097|registers| for an explanation of registers.
Christian Brabandt22105fd2024-07-15 20:51:11 +020098 *d-special*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000099An exception for the d{motion} command: If the motion is not linewise, the
100start and end of the motion are not in the same line, and there are only
Bram Moolenaar38a55632016-02-15 22:07:32 +0100101blanks before the start and there are no non-blanks after the end of the
102motion, the delete becomes linewise. This means that the delete also removes
103the line of blanks that you might expect to remain. Use the |o_v| operator to
Christian Brabandt22105fd2024-07-15 20:51:11 +0200104force the motion to be characterwise or remove the "z" flag from 'cpoptions'
105(see |cpo-z|) to disable this peculiarity.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000106
107Trying to delete an empty region of text (e.g., "d0" in the first column)
108is an error when 'cpoptions' includes the 'E' flag.
109
110 *J*
111J Join [count] lines, with a minimum of two lines.
112 Remove the indent and insert up to two spaces (see
Bram Moolenaar77cdfd12016-03-12 12:57:59 +0100113 below). Fails when on the last line of the buffer.
Bram Moolenaar85eee132018-05-06 17:57:30 +0200114 If [count] is too big it is reduced to the number of
Bram Moolenaar77cdfd12016-03-12 12:57:59 +0100115 lines available.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000116
117 *v_J*
118{Visual}J Join the highlighted lines, with a minimum of two
119 lines. Remove the indent and insert up to two spaces
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200120 (see below).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000121
122 *gJ*
123gJ Join [count] lines, with a minimum of two lines.
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200124 Don't insert or remove any spaces.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000125
126 *v_gJ*
127{Visual}gJ Join the highlighted lines, with a minimum of two
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200128 lines. Don't insert or remove any spaces.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000129
130 *:j* *:join*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000131:[range]j[oin][!] [flags]
132 Join [range] lines. Same as "J", except with [!]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000133 the join does not insert or delete any spaces.
134 If a [range] has equal start and end values, this
135 command does nothing. The default behavior is to
136 join the current line with the line below it.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000137 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000138
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000139:[range]j[oin][!] {count} [flags]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000140 Join {count} lines, starting with [range] (default:
141 current line |cmdline-ranges|). Same as "J", except
142 with [!] the join does not insert or delete any
143 spaces.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000144 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000145
146These commands delete the <EOL> between lines. This has the effect of joining
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200147multiple lines into one line. You can repeat these commands (except `:j`) and
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000148undo them.
149
150These commands, except "gJ", insert one space in place of the <EOL> unless
151there is trailing white space or the next line starts with a ')'. These
152commands, except "gJ", delete any leading white space on the next line. If
153the 'joinspaces' option is on, these commands insert two spaces after a '.',
154'!' or '?' (but if 'cpoptions' includes the 'j' flag, they insert two spaces
155only after a '.').
156The 'B' and 'M' flags in 'formatoptions' change the behavior for inserting
Bram Moolenaar207f0092020-08-30 17:20:20 +0200157spaces before and after a multibyte character |fo-table|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000158
Bram Moolenaar251835e2014-02-24 02:51:51 +0100159The '[ mark is set at the end of the first line that was joined, '] at the end
160of the resulting line.
161
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000162
163==============================================================================
1642. Delete and insert *delete-insert* *replacing*
165
166 *R*
167R Enter Replace mode: Each character you type replaces
168 an existing character, starting with the character
169 under the cursor. Repeat the entered text [count]-1
170 times. See |Replace-mode| for more details.
171
172 *gR*
173gR Enter Virtual Replace mode: Each character you type
174 replaces existing characters in screen space. So a
175 <Tab> may replace several characters at once.
176 Repeat the entered text [count]-1 times. See
177 |Virtual-Replace-mode| for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000178
179 *c*
180["x]c{motion} Delete {motion} text [into register x] and start
181 insert. When 'cpoptions' includes the 'E' flag and
182 there is no text to delete (e.g., with "cTx" when the
183 cursor is just after an 'x'), an error occurs and
184 insert mode does not start (this is Vi compatible).
185 When 'cpoptions' does not include the 'E' flag, the
186 "c" command always starts insert mode, even if there
187 is no text to delete.
188
189 *cc*
190["x]cc Delete [count] lines [into register x] and start
191 insert |linewise|. If 'autoindent' is on, preserve
192 the indent of the first line.
193
194 *C*
195["x]C Delete from the cursor position to the end of the
196 line and [count]-1 more lines [into register x], and
197 start insert. Synonym for c$ (not |linewise|).
198
199 *s*
200["x]s Delete [count] characters [into register x] and start
201 insert (s stands for Substitute). Synonym for "cl"
202 (not |linewise|).
203
204 *S*
205["x]S Delete [count] lines [into register x] and start
206 insert. Synonym for "cc" |linewise|.
207
208{Visual}["x]c or *v_c* *v_s*
209{Visual}["x]s Delete the highlighted text [into register x] and
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200210 start insert (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000211
212 *v_r*
Bram Moolenaar2c7f8c52020-04-20 19:52:53 +0200213{Visual}r{char} Replace all selected characters by {char}.
Christian Brabandt476733f2023-09-19 20:41:51 +0200214 CTRL-C will be inserted literally.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000215
216 *v_C*
217{Visual}["x]C Delete the highlighted lines [into register x] and
218 start insert. In Visual block mode it works
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200219 differently |v_b_C|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000220 *v_S*
221{Visual}["x]S Delete the highlighted lines [into register x] and
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200222 start insert (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000223 *v_R*
224{Visual}["x]R Currently just like {Visual}["x]S. In a next version
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200225 it might work differently.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000226
227Notes:
228- You can end Insert and Replace mode with <Esc>.
229- See the section "Insert and Replace mode" |mode-ins-repl| for the other
230 special characters in these modes.
231- The effect of [count] takes place after Vim exits Insert or Replace mode.
232- When the 'cpoptions' option contains '$' and the change is within one line,
233 Vim continues to show the text to be deleted and puts a '$' at the last
234 deleted character.
235
236See |registers| for an explanation of registers.
237
238Replace mode is just like Insert mode, except that every character you enter
239deletes one character. If you reach the end of a line, Vim appends any
240further characters (just like Insert mode). In Replace mode, the backspace
241key restores the original text (if there was any). (See section "Insert and
242Replace mode" |mode-ins-repl|).
243
244 *cw* *cW*
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000245Special case: When the cursor is in a word, "cw" and "cW" do not include the
246white space after a word, they only change up to the end of the word. This is
247because Vim interprets "cw" as change-word, and a word does not include the
248following white space.
249{Vi: "cw" when on a blank followed by other blanks changes only the first
250blank; this is probably a bug, because "dw" deletes all the blanks; use the
251'w' flag in 'cpoptions' to make it work like Vi anyway}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000252
253If you prefer "cw" to include the space after a word, use this mapping: >
254 :map cw dwi
Christian Brabandt22105fd2024-07-15 20:51:11 +0200255Alternatively use "caw" (see also |aw| and |cpo-z|).
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000256
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000257 *:c* *:ch* *:change*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000258:{range}c[hange][!] Replace lines of text with some different text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000259 Type a line containing only "." to stop replacing.
260 Without {range}, this command changes only the current
261 line.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000262 Adding [!] toggles 'autoindent' for the time this
263 command is executed.
Bram Moolenaara4d131d2021-12-27 21:33:07 +0000264 This command is not supported in |Vim9| script,
265 because it is too easily confused with a variable
266 name.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000267
268==============================================================================
2693. Simple changes *simple-change*
270
271 *r*
272r{char} Replace the character under the cursor with {char}.
273 If {char} is a <CR> or <NL>, a line break replaces the
274 character. To replace with a real <CR>, use CTRL-V
275 <CR>. CTRL-V <NL> replaces with a <Nul>.
Bram Moolenaar80716072012-05-01 21:14:34 +0200276
277 If {char} is CTRL-E or CTRL-Y the character from the
278 line below or above is used, just like with |i_CTRL-E|
279 and |i_CTRL-Y|. This also works with a count, thus
280 `10r<C-E>` copies 10 characters from the line below.
281
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000282 If you give a [count], Vim replaces [count] characters
283 with [count] {char}s. When {char} is a <CR> or <NL>,
284 however, Vim inserts only one <CR>: "5r<CR>" replaces
285 five characters with a single line break.
286 When {char} is a <CR> or <NL>, Vim performs
287 autoindenting. This works just like deleting the
288 characters that are replaced and then doing
289 "i<CR><Esc>".
290 {char} can be entered as a digraph |digraph-arg|.
291 |:lmap| mappings apply to {char}. The CTRL-^ command
292 in Insert mode can be used to switch this on/off
293 |i_CTRL-^|. See |utf-8-char-arg| about using
294 composing characters when 'encoding' is Unicode.
295
296 *gr*
297gr{char} Replace the virtual characters under the cursor with
298 {char}. This replaces in screen space, not file
299 space. See |gR| and |Virtual-Replace-mode| for more
300 details. As with |r| a count may be given.
Bram Moolenaardd60c362023-02-27 15:49:53 +0000301 {char} can be entered like with |r|, but characters
302 that have a special meaning in Insert mode, such as
303 most CTRL-keys, cannot be used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000304
305 *digraph-arg*
306The argument for Normal mode commands like |r| and |t| is a single character.
307When 'cpo' doesn't contain the 'D' flag, this character can also be entered
308like |digraphs|. First type CTRL-K and then the two digraph characters.
309{not available when compiled without the |+digraphs| feature}
310
311 *case*
312The following commands change the case of letters. The currently active
313|locale| is used. See |:language|. The LC_CTYPE value matters here.
314
315 *~*
316~ 'notildeop' option: Switch case of the character
317 under the cursor and move the cursor to the right.
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +0200318 If a [count] is given, do that many characters.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000319
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +0200320~{motion} 'tildeop' option: switch case of {motion} text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000321
322 *g~*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200323g~{motion} Switch case of {motion} text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000324
325g~g~ *g~g~* *g~~*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200326g~~ Switch case of current line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000327
328 *v_~*
329{Visual}~ Switch case of highlighted text (for {Visual} see
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200330 |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000331
332 *v_U*
333{Visual}U Make highlighted text uppercase (for {Visual} see
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200334 |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000335
336 *gU* *uppercase*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200337gU{motion} Make {motion} text uppercase.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000338 Example: >
339 :map! <C-F> <Esc>gUiw`]a
340< This works in Insert mode: press CTRL-F to make the
341 word before the cursor uppercase. Handy to type
342 words in lowercase and then make them uppercase.
343
344
345gUgU *gUgU* *gUU*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200346gUU Make current line uppercase.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000347
348 *v_u*
349{Visual}u Make highlighted text lowercase (for {Visual} see
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200350 |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000351
352 *gu* *lowercase*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200353gu{motion} Make {motion} text lowercase.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000354
355gugu *gugu* *guu*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200356guu Make current line lowercase.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000357
358 *g?* *rot13*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200359g?{motion} Rot13 encode {motion} text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000360
361 *v_g?*
362{Visual}g? Rot13 encode the highlighted text (for {Visual} see
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200363 |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000364
365g?g? *g?g?* *g??*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200366g?? Rot13 encode current line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000367
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000368To turn one line into title caps, make every first letter of a word
369uppercase: >
370 :s/\v<(.)(\w*)/\u\1\L\2/g
371
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000372
373Adding and subtracting ~
374 *CTRL-A*
375CTRL-A Add [count] to the number or alphabetic character at
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200376 or after the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000377
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200378 *v_CTRL-A*
379{Visual}CTRL-A Add [count] to the number or alphabetic character in
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200380 the highlighted text.
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200381
382 *v_g_CTRL-A*
383{Visual}g CTRL-A Add [count] to the number or alphabetic character in
384 the highlighted text. If several lines are
385 highlighted, each one will be incremented by an
386 additional [count] (so effectively creating a
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200387 [count] incrementing sequence).
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200388 For Example, if you have this list of numbers:
389 1. ~
390 1. ~
391 1. ~
392 1. ~
393 Move to the second "1." and Visually select three
394 lines, pressing g CTRL-A results in:
395 1. ~
396 2. ~
397 3. ~
398 4. ~
399
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000400 *CTRL-X*
401CTRL-X Subtract [count] from the number or alphabetic
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200402 character at or after the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000403
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200404 *v_CTRL-X*
405{Visual}CTRL-X Subtract [count] from the number or alphabetic
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200406 character in the highlighted text.
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200407
Bram Moolenaare0fa3742016-02-20 15:47:01 +0100408 On MS-Windows, this is mapped to cut Visual text
409 |dos-standard-mappings|. If you want to disable the
410 mapping, use this: >
411 silent! vunmap <C-X>
412<
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200413 *v_g_CTRL-X*
414{Visual}g CTRL-X Subtract [count] from the number or alphabetic
415 character in the highlighted text. If several lines
416 are highlighted, each value will be decremented by an
417 additional [count] (so effectively creating a [count]
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200418 decrementing sequence).
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200419
Bram Moolenaar887c1fe2016-01-02 17:56:35 +0100420The CTRL-A and CTRL-X commands can work for:
421- signed and unsigned decimal numbers
422- unsigned binary, octal and hexadecimal numbers
423- alphabetic characters
424
425This depends on the 'nrformats' option:
426- When 'nrformats' includes "bin", Vim assumes numbers starting with '0b' or
427 '0B' are binary.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000428- When 'nrformats' includes "octal", Vim considers numbers starting with a '0'
Bram Moolenaar1cd871b2004-12-19 22:46:22 +0000429 to be octal, unless the number includes a '8' or '9'. Other numbers are
430 decimal and may have a preceding minus sign.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000431 If the cursor is on a number, the commands apply to that number; otherwise
432 Vim uses the number to the right of the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000433- When 'nrformats' includes "hex", Vim assumes numbers starting with '0x' or
434 '0X' are hexadecimal. The case of the rightmost letter in the number
435 determines the case of the resulting hexadecimal number. If there is no
436 letter in the current number, Vim uses the previously detected case.
437- When 'nrformats' includes "alpha", Vim will change the alphabetic character
438 under or after the cursor. This is useful to make lists with an alphabetic
439 index.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000440
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200441For decimals a leading negative sign is considered for incrementing/
Bram Moolenaarfa735342016-01-03 22:14:44 +0100442decrementing, for binary, octal and hex values, it won't be considered. To
Bram Moolenaar85eee132018-05-06 17:57:30 +0200443ignore the sign Visually select the number before using CTRL-A or CTRL-X.
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +0200444
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000445For numbers with leading zeros (including all octal and hexadecimal numbers),
446Vim preserves the number of characters in the number when possible. CTRL-A on
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000447"0077" results in "0100", CTRL-X on "0x100" results in "0x0ff".
Bram Moolenaar1cd871b2004-12-19 22:46:22 +0000448There is one exception: When a number that starts with a zero is found not to
449be octal (it contains a '8' or '9'), but 'nrformats' does include "octal",
450leading zeros are removed to avoid that the result may be recognized as an
451octal number.
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000452
453Note that when 'nrformats' includes "octal", decimal numbers with leading
Bram Moolenaar1cd871b2004-12-19 22:46:22 +0000454zeros cause mistakes, because they can be confused with octal numbers.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000455
K.Takata955652f2023-12-20 04:15:47 +0900456Note similarly, when 'nrformats' includes both "bin" and "hex", binary numbers
457with a leading '0x' or '0X' can be interpreted as hexadecimal rather than
458binary since '0b' are valid hexadecimal digits. CTRL-A on "0x0b11" results in
459"0x0b12", not "0x0b100".
460When 'nrformats' includes "bin" and doesn't include "hex", CTRL-A on "0b11" in
461"0x0b11" results in "0x0b100".
Bram Moolenaar887c1fe2016-01-02 17:56:35 +0100462
Bram Moolenaar71badf92023-04-22 22:40:14 +0100463When the number under the cursor is too big to fit into 32 or 64 bit
464(depending on how Vim was build), it will be rounded off to the nearest number
465that can be represented, and the addition/subtraction is skipped. E.g. with
46664 bit support using CTRL-X on 18446744073709551616 results in
46718446744073709551615. Same for larger numbers, such as 18446744073709551618.
468
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000469The CTRL-A command is very useful in a macro. Example: Use the following
470steps to make a numbered list.
471
4721. Create the first list entry, make sure it starts with a number.
Bram Moolenaard8b02732005-01-14 21:48:43 +00004732. qa - start recording into register 'a'
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00004743. Y - yank the entry
4754. p - put a copy of the entry below the first one
4765. CTRL-A - increment the number
4776. q - stop recording
4787. <count>@a - repeat the yank, put and increment <count> times
479
480
481SHIFTING LINES LEFT OR RIGHT *shift-left-right*
482
483 *<*
484<{motion} Shift {motion} lines one 'shiftwidth' leftwards.
485
Bram Moolenaarf9514162018-11-22 03:08:29 +0100486 If the 'vartabstop' feature is enabled, and the
487 'shiftwidth' option is set to zero, the amount of
488 indent is calculated at the first non-blank character
489 in the line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000490 *<<*
491<< Shift [count] lines one 'shiftwidth' leftwards.
492
493 *v_<*
494{Visual}[count]< Shift the highlighted lines [count] 'shiftwidth'
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200495 leftwards (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000496
497 *>*
498 >{motion} Shift {motion} lines one 'shiftwidth' rightwards.
499
Bram Moolenaarf9514162018-11-22 03:08:29 +0100500 If the 'vartabstop' feature is enabled, and the
501 'shiftwidth' option is set to zero, the amount of
502 indent is calculated at the first non-blank character
503 in the line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000504 *>>*
505 >> Shift [count] lines one 'shiftwidth' rightwards.
506
507 *v_>*
508{Visual}[count]> Shift the highlighted lines [count] 'shiftwidth'
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200509 rightwards (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000510
511 *:<*
512:[range]< Shift [range] lines one 'shiftwidth' left. Repeat '<'
513 for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's.
514
515:[range]< {count} Shift {count} lines one 'shiftwidth' left, starting
516 with [range] (default current line |cmdline-ranges|).
517 Repeat '<' for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's.
518
519:[range]le[ft] [indent] left align lines in [range]. Sets the indent in the
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200520 lines to [indent] (default 0).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000521
522 *:>*
Roy Orbitson2103a562023-12-06 01:14:33 +1030523:[range]> [flags] Shift [range] lines one 'shiftwidth' right.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000524 Repeat '>' for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000525 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000526
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000527:[range]> {count} [flags]
528 Shift {count} lines one 'shiftwidth' right, starting
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000529 with [range] (default current line |cmdline-ranges|).
530 Repeat '>' for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's.
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000531 See |ex-flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000532
533The ">" and "<" commands are handy for changing the indentation within
534programs. Use the 'shiftwidth' option to set the size of the white space
535which these commands insert or delete. Normally the 'shiftwidth' option is 8,
536but you can set it to, say, 3 to make smaller indents. The shift leftwards
537stops when there is no indent. The shift right does not affect empty lines.
538
539If the 'shiftround' option is on, the indent is rounded to a multiple of
540'shiftwidth'.
541
542If the 'smartindent' option is on, or 'cindent' is on and 'cinkeys' contains
Bram Moolenaar8e69b4a2013-11-09 03:41:58 +0100543'#' with a zero value, shift right does not affect lines starting with '#'
544(these are supposed to be C preprocessor lines that must stay in column 1).
Bram Moolenaar7dda86f2018-04-20 22:36:41 +0200545This can be changed with the 'cino' option, see |cino-#|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000546
547When the 'expandtab' option is off (this is the default) Vim uses <Tab>s as
548much as possible to make the indent. You can use ">><<" to replace an indent
549made out of spaces with the same indent made out of <Tab>s (and a few spaces
550if necessary). If the 'expandtab' option is on, Vim uses only spaces. Then
551you can use ">><<" to replace <Tab>s in the indent by spaces (or use
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200552`:retab!`).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000553
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200554To move a line several 'shiftwidth's, use Visual mode or the `:` commands.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000555For example: >
556 Vjj4> move three lines 4 indents to the right
557 :<<< move current line 3 indents to the left
558 :>> 5 move 5 lines 2 indents to the right
559 :5>> move line 5 2 indents to the right
560
561==============================================================================
5624. Complex changes *complex-change*
563
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00005644.1 Filter commands *filter*
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000565
566A filter is a program that accepts text at standard input, changes it in some
567way, and sends it to standard output. You can use the commands below to send
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000568some text through a filter, so that it is replaced by the filter output.
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000569Examples of filters are "sort", which sorts lines alphabetically, and
570"indent", which formats C program files (you need a version of indent that
571works like a filter; not all versions do). The 'shell' option specifies the
572shell Vim uses to execute the filter command (See also the 'shelltype'
573option). You can repeat filter commands with ".". Vim does not recognize a
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200574comment (starting with '"') after the `:!` command.
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000575
576 *!*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000577!{motion}{filter} Filter {motion} text lines through the external
578 program {filter}.
579
580 *!!*
581!!{filter} Filter [count] lines through the external program
582 {filter}.
583
584 *v_!*
585{Visual}!{filter} Filter the highlighted lines through the external
586 program {filter} (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000587
588:{range}![!]{filter} [!][arg] *:range!*
Christian Brabandtf18987c2024-11-12 21:38:22 +0100589 For executing external commands see |:!|
590
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000591 Filter {range} lines through the external program
592 {filter}. Vim replaces the optional bangs with the
593 latest given command and appends the optional [arg].
594 Vim saves the output of the filter command in a
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100595 temporary file and then reads the file into the buffer
596 |tempfile|. Vim uses the 'shellredir' option to
597 redirect the filter output to the temporary file.
Bram Moolenaar83c465c2005-12-16 21:53:56 +0000598 However, if the 'shelltemp' option is off then pipes
599 are used when possible (on Unix).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000600 When the 'R' flag is included in 'cpoptions' marks in
601 the filtered lines are deleted, unless the
602 |:keepmarks| command is used. Example: >
603 :keepmarks '<,'>!sort
604< When the number of lines after filtering is less than
605 before, marks in the missing lines are deleted anyway.
606
607 *=*
608={motion} Filter {motion} lines through the external program
609 given with the 'equalprg' option. When the 'equalprg'
610 option is empty (this is the default), use the
Bram Moolenaar20f90cf2011-05-19 12:22:51 +0200611 internal formatting function |C-indenting| and
612 |'lisp'|. But when 'indentexpr' is not empty, it will
613 be used instead |indent-expression|. When Vim was
614 compiled without internal formatting then the "indent"
615 program is used as a last resort.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000616
617 *==*
618== Filter [count] lines like with ={motion}.
619
620 *v_=*
621{Visual}= Filter the highlighted lines like with ={motion}.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000622
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000623
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100624 *tempfile* *setuid*
625Vim uses temporary files for filtering, generating diffs and also for
626tempname(). For Unix, the file will be in a private directory (only
627accessible by the current user) to avoid security problems (e.g., a symlink
628attack or other people reading your file). When Vim exits the directory and
Christian Brabandt5cf53012024-05-18 10:13:11 +0200629all files in it are deleted (only on Unix, on other systems you will have to
630clean up yourself). When Vim has the setuid bit set this may cause
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100631problems, the temp file is owned by the setuid user but the filter command
632probably runs as the original user.
Bram Moolenaar75ab5902022-04-18 15:36:40 +0100633Directory for temporary files is created in the first of these directories
634that works:
635 Unix: $TMPDIR, /tmp, current-dir, $HOME.
636 Windows: $TMP, $TEMP, c:\TMP, c:\TEMP
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100637For MS-Windows the GetTempFileName() system function is used.
638For other systems the tmpnam() library function is used.
639
640
641
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +00006424.2 Substitute *:substitute*
643 *:s* *:su*
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000644:[range]s[ubstitute]/{pattern}/{string}/[flags] [count]
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000645 For each line in [range] replace a match of {pattern}
646 with {string}.
647 For the {pattern} see |pattern|.
648 {string} can be a literal string, or something
649 special; see |sub-replace-special|.
650 When [range] and [count] are omitted, replace in the
Bram Moolenaar3df01732017-02-17 22:47:16 +0100651 current line only. When [count] is given, replace in
652 [count] lines, starting with the last line in [range].
653 When [range] is omitted start in the current line.
Christian Brabandtac637872023-11-14 20:45:48 +0100654 *E939* *E1510*
655 [count] must be a positive number (max 2147483647)
656 Also see |cmdline-ranges|.
Bram Moolenaar3df01732017-02-17 22:47:16 +0100657
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000658 See |:s_flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaarebdf3c92020-02-15 21:41:42 +0100659 The delimiter doesn't need to be /, see
660 |pattern-delimiter|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000661
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000662:[range]s[ubstitute] [flags] [count]
663:[range]&[&][flags] [count] *:&*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000664 Repeat last :substitute with same search pattern and
665 substitute string, but without the same flags. You
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000666 may add [flags], see |:s_flags|.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200667 Note that after `:substitute` the '&' flag can't be
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000668 used, it's recognized as a pattern separator.
Bram Moolenaarfc39ecf2015-08-11 20:34:49 +0200669 The space between `:substitute` and the 'c', 'g',
670 'i', 'I' and 'r' flags isn't required, but in scripts
671 it's a good idea to keep it to avoid confusion.
Bram Moolenaarc8cdf0f2021-03-13 13:28:13 +0100672 Also see the two and three letter commands to repeat
673 :substitute below |:substitute-repeat|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000674
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000675:[range]~[&][flags] [count] *:~*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000676 Repeat last substitute with same substitute string
677 but with last used search pattern. This is like
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200678 `:&r`. See |:s_flags| for [flags].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000679
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000680 *&*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200681& Synonym for `:s` (repeat last substitute). Note
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000682 that the flags are not remembered, thus it might
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200683 actually work differently. You can use `:&&` to keep
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000684 the flags.
685
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000686 *g&*
Bram Moolenaar97d62492012-11-15 21:28:22 +0100687g& Synonym for `:%s//~/&` (repeat last substitute with
688 last search pattern on all lines with the same flags).
Bram Moolenaar34700a62013-03-07 13:20:54 +0100689 For example, when you first do a substitution with
Bram Moolenaar97d62492012-11-15 21:28:22 +0100690 `:s/pattern/repl/flags` and then `/search` for
691 something else, `g&` will do `:%s/search/repl/flags`.
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200692 Mnemonic: global substitute.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000693
694 *:snomagic* *:sno*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200695:[range]sno[magic] ... Same as `:substitute`, but always use 'nomagic'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000696
697 *:smagic* *:sm*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200698:[range]sm[agic] ... Same as `:substitute`, but always use 'magic'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000699
700 *:s_flags*
701The flags that you can use for the substitute commands:
702
Bram Moolenaar51628222016-12-01 23:03:28 +0100703 *:&&*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000704[&] Must be the first one: Keep the flags from the previous substitute
705 command. Examples: >
706 :&&
707 :s/this/that/&
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200708< Note that `:s` and `:&` don't keep the flags.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000709
710[c] Confirm each substitution. Vim highlights the matching string (with
711 |hl-IncSearch|). You can type: *:s_c*
712 'y' to substitute this match
713 'l' to substitute this match and then quit ("last")
714 'n' to skip this match
715 <Esc> to quit substituting
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200716 'a' to substitute this and all remaining matches
717 'q' to quit substituting
Bram Moolenaare2c453d2019-08-21 14:37:09 +0200718 CTRL-E to scroll the screen up
719 CTRL-Y to scroll the screen down
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000720 If the 'edcompatible' option is on, Vim remembers the [c] flag and
721 toggles it each time you use it, but resets it when you give a new
722 search pattern.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000723
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200724 *:s_e*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000725[e] When the search pattern fails, do not issue an error message and, in
726 particular, continue in maps as if no error occurred. This is most
727 useful to prevent the "No match" error from breaking a mapping. Vim
728 does not suppress the following error messages, however:
729 Regular expressions can't be delimited by letters
730 \ should be followed by /, ? or &
731 No previous substitute regular expression
732 Trailing characters
733 Interrupted
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000734
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200735 *:s_g*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000736[g] Replace all occurrences in the line. Without this argument,
737 replacement occurs only for the first occurrence in each line. If
738 the 'edcompatible' option is on, Vim remembers this flag and toggles
739 it each time you use it, but resets it when you give a new search
740 pattern. If the 'gdefault' option is on, this flag is on by default
741 and the [g] argument switches it off.
742
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200743 *:s_i*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000744[i] Ignore case for the pattern. The 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' options
745 are not used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000746
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200747 *:s_I*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000748[I] Don't ignore case for the pattern. The 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase'
749 options are not used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000750
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200751 *:s_n*
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000752[n] Report the number of matches, do not actually substitute. The [c]
753 flag is ignored. The matches are reported as if 'report' is zero.
754 Useful to |count-items|.
Bram Moolenaar9b451252012-08-15 17:43:31 +0200755 If \= |sub-replace-expression| is used, the expression will be
756 evaluated in the |sandbox| at every match.
Bram Moolenaar05159a02005-02-26 23:04:13 +0000757
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200758[p] Print the line containing the last substitute. *:s_p*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000759
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200760[#] Like [p] and prepend the line number. *:s_#*
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000761
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200762[l] Like [p] but print the text like |:list|. *:s_l*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000763
Bram Moolenaar95bafa22018-10-02 13:26:25 +0200764 *:s_r*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200765[r] Only useful in combination with `:&` or `:s` without arguments. `:&r`
766 works the same way as `:~`: When the search pattern is empty, use the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000767 previously used search pattern instead of the search pattern from the
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200768 last substitute or `:global`. If the last command that did a search
769 was a substitute or `:global`, there is no effect. If the last
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000770 command was a search command such as "/", use the pattern from that
771 command.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200772 For `:s` with an argument this already happens: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000773 :s/blue/red/
774 /green
775 :s//red/ or :~ or :&r
776< The last commands will replace "green" with "red". >
777 :s/blue/red/
778 /green
779 :&
780< The last command will replace "blue" with "red".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000781
782Note that there is no flag to change the "magicness" of the pattern. A
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000783different command is used instead, or you can use |/\v| and friends. The
784reason is that the flags can only be found by skipping the pattern, and in
785order to skip the pattern the "magicness" must be known. Catch 22!
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000786
787If the {pattern} for the substitute command is empty, the command uses the
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200788pattern from the last substitute or `:global` command. If there is none, but
Bram Moolenaar662db672011-03-22 14:05:35 +0100789there is a previous search pattern, that one is used. With the [r] flag, the
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200790command uses the pattern from the last substitute, `:global`, or search
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000791command.
792
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +0000793If the {string} is omitted the substitute is done as if it's empty. Thus the
794matched pattern is deleted. The separator after {pattern} can also be left
795out then. Example: >
796 :%s/TESTING
797This deletes "TESTING" from all lines, but only one per line.
Bram Moolenaar1588bc82022-03-08 21:35:07 +0000798 *E1270*
799For compatibility with Vi these two exceptions are allowed in legacy script:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000800"\/{string}/" and "\?{string}?" do the same as "//{string}/r".
801"\&{string}&" does the same as "//{string}/".
Bram Moolenaara2baa732022-02-04 16:09:54 +0000802 *pattern-delimiter* *E146* *E1241* *E1242*
Bram Moolenaar4d8f4762021-06-27 15:18:56 +0200803Instead of the '/' which surrounds the pattern and replacement string, you can
804use another single-byte character. This is useful if you want to include a
805'/' in the search pattern or replacement string. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000806 :s+/+//+
807
Bram Moolenaar4d8f4762021-06-27 15:18:56 +0200808You can use most characters, but not an alphanumeric character, '\', '"' or
809'|'. In Vim9 script you should not use '#' because it may be recognized as
810the start of a comment.
811
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +0000812For the definition of a pattern, see |pattern|. In Visual block mode, use
813|/\%V| in the pattern to have the substitute work in the block only.
814Otherwise it works on whole lines anyway.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000815
816 *sub-replace-special* *:s\=*
817When the {string} starts with "\=" it is evaluated as an expression, see
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200818|sub-replace-expression|. You can use that for complex replacement or special
819characters.
820
Bram Moolenaar2ecbe532022-07-29 21:36:21 +0100821The substitution is limited in recursion to 4 levels. *E1290*
822
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +0000823Otherwise these characters in {string} have a special meaning:
Bram Moolenaar26a60b42005-02-22 08:49:11 +0000824 *:s%*
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +0000825When {string} is equal to "%" and '/' is included with the 'cpoptions' option,
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200826then the {string} of the previous substitute command is used, see |cpo-/|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000827
828magic nomagic action ~
829 & \& replaced with the whole matched pattern *s/\&*
830 \& & replaced with &
831 \0 replaced with the whole matched pattern *\0* *s/\0*
832 \1 replaced with the matched pattern in the first
833 pair of () *s/\1*
Bram Moolenaar3fdfa4a2004-10-07 21:02:47 +0000834 \2 replaced with the matched pattern in the second
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000835 pair of () *s/\2*
836 .. .. *s/\3*
837 \9 replaced with the matched pattern in the ninth
838 pair of () *s/\9*
839 ~ \~ replaced with the {string} of the previous
840 substitute *s~*
841 \~ ~ replaced with ~ *s/\~*
842 \u next character made uppercase *s/\u*
843 \U following characters made uppercase, until \E *s/\U*
844 \l next character made lowercase *s/\l*
845 \L following characters made lowercase, until \E *s/\L*
846 \e end of \u, \U, \l and \L (NOTE: not <Esc>!) *s/\e*
847 \E end of \u, \U, \l and \L *s/\E*
848 <CR> split line in two at this point
849 (Type the <CR> as CTRL-V <Enter>) *s<CR>*
850 \r idem *s/\r*
851 \<CR> insert a carriage-return (CTRL-M)
852 (Type the <CR> as CTRL-V <Enter>) *s/\<CR>*
853 \n insert a <NL> (<NUL> in the file)
854 (does NOT break the line) *s/\n*
855 \b insert a <BS> *s/\b*
856 \t insert a <Tab> *s/\t*
857 \\ insert a single backslash *s/\\*
858 \x where x is any character not mentioned above:
859 Reserved for future expansion
860
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200861The special meaning is also used inside the third argument {sub} of
862the |substitute()| function with the following exceptions:
863 - A % inserts a percent literally without regard to 'cpoptions'.
864 - magic is always set without regard to 'magic'.
865 - A ~ inserts a tilde literally.
866 - <CR> and \r inserts a carriage-return (CTRL-M).
Bram Moolenaarba3ff532018-11-04 14:45:49 +0100867 - \<CR> does not have a special meaning. It's just one of \x.
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200868
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000869Examples: >
870 :s/a\|b/xxx\0xxx/g modifies "a b" to "xxxaxxx xxxbxxx"
871 :s/\([abc]\)\([efg]\)/\2\1/g modifies "af fa bg" to "fa fa gb"
872 :s/abcde/abc^Mde/ modifies "abcde" to "abc", "de" (two lines)
873 :s/$/\^M/ modifies "abcde" to "abcde^M"
Bram Moolenaarefd2bf12006-03-16 21:41:35 +0000874 :s/\w\+/\u\0/g modifies "bla bla" to "Bla Bla"
Bram Moolenaaraa3b15d2016-04-21 08:53:19 +0200875 :s/\w\+/\L\u\0/g modifies "BLA bla" to "Bla Bla"
Bram Moolenaarbf884932013-04-05 22:26:15 +0200876
877Note: "\L\u" can be used to capitalize the first letter of a word. This is
878not compatible with Vi and older versions of Vim, where the "\u" would cancel
879out the "\L". Same for "\U\l".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000880
881Note: In previous versions CTRL-V was handled in a special way. Since this is
882not Vi compatible, this was removed. Use a backslash instead.
883
884command text result ~
885:s/aa/a^Ma/ aa a<line-break>a
886:s/aa/a\^Ma/ aa a^Ma
887:s/aa/a\\^Ma/ aa a\<line-break>a
888
889(you need to type CTRL-V <CR> to get a ^M here)
890
891The numbering of "\1", "\2" etc. is done based on which "\(" comes first in
892the pattern (going left to right). When a parentheses group matches several
893times, the last one will be used for "\1", "\2", etc. Example: >
894 :s/\(\(a[a-d] \)*\)/\2/ modifies "aa ab x" to "ab x"
Bram Moolenaar7e1479b2016-09-11 15:07:27 +0200895The "\2" is for "\(a[a-d] \)". At first it matches "aa ", secondly "ab ".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000896
897When using parentheses in combination with '|', like in \([ab]\)\|\([cd]\),
898either the first or second pattern in parentheses did not match, so either
899\1 or \2 is empty. Example: >
900 :s/\([ab]\)\|\([cd]\)/\1x/g modifies "a b c d" to "ax bx x x"
901<
902
Bram Moolenaara0f849e2015-10-30 14:37:44 +0100903 *:sc* *:sce* *:scg* *:sci* *:scI* *:scl* *:scp* *:sg* *:sgc*
904 *:sge* *:sgi* *:sgI* *:sgl* *:sgn* *:sgp* *:sgr* *:sI* *:si*
905 *:sic* *:sIc* *:sie* *:sIe* *:sIg* *:sIl* *:sin* *:sIn* *:sIp*
906 *:sip* *:sIr* *:sir* *:sr* *:src* *:srg* *:sri* *:srI* *:srl*
Bram Moolenaarc8cdf0f2021-03-13 13:28:13 +0100907 *:srn* *:srp* *:substitute-repeat*
Bram Moolenaara0f849e2015-10-30 14:37:44 +01009082-letter and 3-letter :substitute commands ~
909
Bram Moolenaarc8cdf0f2021-03-13 13:28:13 +0100910These commands repeat the previous `:substitute` command with the given flags.
911The first letter is always "s", followed by one or two of the possible flag
912characters. For example `:sce` works like `:s///ce`. The table lists the
913possible combinations, not all flags are possible, because the command is
914short for another command.
915
Bram Moolenaara0f849e2015-10-30 14:37:44 +0100916 List of :substitute commands
917 | c e g i I n p l r
Bram Moolenaarc8cdf0f2021-03-13 13:28:13 +0100918 | c :sc :sce :scg :sci :scI :scn :scp :scl
Bram Moolenaara0f849e2015-10-30 14:37:44 +0100919 | e
920 | g :sgc :sge :sg :sgi :sgI :sgn :sgp :sgl :sgr
Bram Moolenaarc8cdf0f2021-03-13 13:28:13 +0100921 | i :sic :sie :si :siI :sin :sip :sir
Bram Moolenaara0f849e2015-10-30 14:37:44 +0100922 | I :sIc :sIe :sIg :sIi :sI :sIn :sIp :sIl :sIr
923 | n
924 | p
925 | l
Bram Moolenaarc8cdf0f2021-03-13 13:28:13 +0100926 | r :src :srg :sri :srI :srn :srp :srl :sr
Bram Moolenaara0f849e2015-10-30 14:37:44 +0100927
928Exceptions:
929 :scr is `:scriptnames`
930 :se is `:set`
931 :sig is `:sign`
932 :sil is `:silent`
933 :sn is `:snext`
934 :sp is `:split`
935 :sl is `:sleep`
936 :sre is `:srewind`
937
938
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000939Substitute with an expression *sub-replace-expression*
Bram Moolenaar92dff182014-02-11 19:15:50 +0100940 *sub-replace-\=* *s/\=*
Bram Moolenaara7fc0102005-05-18 22:17:12 +0000941When the substitute string starts with "\=" the remainder is interpreted as an
Bram Moolenaar6100d022016-10-02 16:51:57 +0200942expression.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000943
944The special meaning for characters as mentioned at |sub-replace-special| does
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200945not apply except for "<CR>". A <NL> character is used as a line break, you
946can get one with a double-quote string: "\n". Prepend a backslash to get a
947real <NL> character (which will be a NUL in the file).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000948
Bram Moolenaar251e1912011-06-19 05:09:16 +0200949The "\=" notation can also be used inside the third argument {sub} of
950|substitute()| function. In this case, the special meaning for characters as
951mentioned at |sub-replace-special| does not apply at all. Especially, <CR> and
952<NL> are interpreted not as a line break but as a carriage-return and a
953new-line respectively.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000954
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +0000955When the result is a |List| then the items are joined with separating line
956breaks. Thus each item becomes a line, except that they can contain line
957breaks themselves.
958
Bram Moolenaar9d87a372018-12-18 21:41:50 +0100959The |submatch()| function can be used to obtain matched text. The whole
960matched text can be accessed with "submatch(0)". The text matched with the
961first pair of () with "submatch(1)". Likewise for further sub-matches in ().
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000962
963Be careful: The separation character must not appear in the expression!
964Consider using a character like "@" or ":". There is no problem if the result
965of the expression contains the separation character.
966
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +0000967Examples: >
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +0000968 :s@\n@\="\r" .. expand("$HOME") .. "\r"@
Bram Moolenaar5a8684e2005-07-30 22:43:24 +0000969This replaces an end-of-line with a new line containing the value of $HOME. >
970
971 s/E/\="\<Char-0x20ac>"/g
Bram Moolenaarc236c162008-07-13 17:41:49 +0000972This replaces each 'E' character with a euro sign. Read more in |<Char->|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000973
974
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +00009754.3 Search and replace *search-replace*
976
977 *:pro* *:promptfind*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000978:promptf[ind] [string]
979 Put up a Search dialog. When [string] is given, it is
980 used as the initial search string.
981 {only for Win32, Motif and GTK GUI}
982
983 *:promptr* *:promptrepl*
984:promptr[epl] [string]
985 Put up a Search/Replace dialog. When [string] is
986 given, it is used as the initial search string.
987 {only for Win32, Motif and GTK GUI}
988
Bram Moolenaar47136d72004-10-12 20:02:24 +0000989
9904.4 Changing tabs *change-tabs*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200991 *:ret* *:retab* *:retab!*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000992:[range]ret[ab][!] [new_tabstop]
993 Replace all sequences of white-space containing a
994 <Tab> with new strings of white-space using the new
995 tabstop value given. If you do not specify a new
996 tabstop size or it is zero, Vim uses the current value
997 of 'tabstop'.
998 The current value of 'tabstop' is always used to
999 compute the width of existing tabs.
1000 With !, Vim also replaces strings of only normal
1001 spaces with tabs where appropriate.
1002 With 'expandtab' on, Vim replaces all tabs with the
1003 appropriate number of spaces.
1004 This command sets 'tabstop' to the new value given,
1005 and if performed on the whole file, which is default,
1006 should not make any visible change.
1007 Careful: This command modifies any <Tab> characters
1008 inside of strings in a C program. Use "\t" to avoid
1009 this (that's a good habit anyway).
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001010 `:retab!` may also change a sequence of spaces by
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001011 <Tab> characters, which can mess up a printf().
Bram Moolenaar04958cb2018-06-23 19:23:02 +02001012 If the |+vartabs| feature is enabled then a list of
1013 tab widths separated by commas may be used in place of
1014 a single tabstop. Each value in the list represents
1015 the width of one tabstop, except the final value which
1016 applies to all following tabstops.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001017
1018 *retab-example*
1019Example for using autocommands and ":retab" to edit a file which is stored
1020with tabstops at 8 but edited with tabstops set at 4. Warning: white space
1021inside of strings can change! Also see 'softtabstop' option. >
1022
1023 :auto BufReadPost *.xx retab! 4
1024 :auto BufWritePre *.xx retab! 8
1025 :auto BufWritePost *.xx retab! 4
1026 :auto BufNewFile *.xx set ts=4
1027
1028==============================================================================
10295. Copying and moving text *copy-move*
1030
1031 *quote*
Bram Moolenaar7ceefb32020-05-01 16:07:38 +02001032"{register} Use {register} for next delete, yank or put. Use
1033 an uppercase character to append with delete and yank.
1034 Registers ".", "%", "#" and ":" only work with put.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001035
1036 *:reg* *:registers*
Bram Moolenaar3691f1e2019-10-24 20:17:00 +02001037:reg[isters] Display the type and contents of all numbered and
1038 named registers. If a register is written to for
1039 |:redir| it will not be listed.
1040 Type can be one of:
1041 "c" for |characterwise| text
1042 "l" for |linewise| text
1043 "b" for |blockwise-visual| text
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001044
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001045
1046:reg[isters] {arg} Display the contents of the numbered and named
1047 registers that are mentioned in {arg}. For example: >
Bram Moolenaarfa735342016-01-03 22:14:44 +01001048 :reg 1a
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001049< to display registers '1' and 'a'. Spaces are allowed
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001050 in {arg}.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001051
Bram Moolenaardd60c362023-02-27 15:49:53 +00001052 *:di* *:dis* *:display*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001053:di[splay] [arg] Same as :registers.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001054
1055 *y* *yank*
1056["x]y{motion} Yank {motion} text [into register x]. When no
1057 characters are to be yanked (e.g., "y0" in column 1),
1058 this is an error when 'cpoptions' includes the 'E'
1059 flag.
1060
1061 *yy*
1062["x]yy Yank [count] lines [into register x] |linewise|.
1063
1064 *Y*
1065["x]Y yank [count] lines [into register x] (synonym for
1066 yy, |linewise|). If you like "Y" to work from the
1067 cursor to the end of line (which is more logical,
1068 but not Vi-compatible) use ":map Y y$".
1069
Christian Brabandt544a38e2021-06-10 19:39:11 +02001070 *zy*
1071["x]zy{motion} Yank {motion} text [into register x]. Only differs
1072 from `y` when selecting a block of text, see |v_zy|.
1073
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001074 *v_y*
1075{Visual}["x]y Yank the highlighted text [into register x] (for
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001076 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001077
1078 *v_Y*
1079{Visual}["x]Y Yank the highlighted lines [into register x] (for
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001080 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001081
Christian Brabandt544a38e2021-06-10 19:39:11 +02001082 *v_zy*
1083{Visual}["x]zy Yank the highlighted text [into register x]. Trailing
1084 whitespace at the end of each line of a selected block
1085 won't be yanked. Especially useful in combination
1086 with `zp`. (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|)
1087
Bram Moolenaar85de2062011-05-05 14:26:41 +02001088 *:y* *:yank* *E850*
1089:[range]y[ank] [x] Yank [range] lines [into register x]. Yanking to the
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +02001090 "* or "+ registers is possible only when the
1091 |+clipboard| feature is included.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001092
1093:[range]y[ank] [x] {count}
1094 Yank {count} lines, starting with last line number
1095 in [range] (default: current line |cmdline-ranges|),
1096 [into register x].
1097
Bram Moolenaara2baa732022-02-04 16:09:54 +00001098 *p* *put* *E353* *E1240*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001099["x]p Put the text [from register x] after the cursor
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +02001100 [count] times.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001101
1102 *P*
1103["x]P Put the text [from register x] before the cursor
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +02001104 [count] times.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001105
1106 *<MiddleMouse>*
1107["x]<MiddleMouse> Put the text from a register before the cursor [count]
1108 times. Uses the "* register, unless another is
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001109 specified.
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +00001110 Leaves the cursor at the end of the new text.
1111 Using the mouse only works when 'mouse' contains 'n'
1112 or 'a'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001113 If you have a scrollwheel and often accidentally paste
1114 text, you can use these mappings to disable the
1115 pasting with the middle mouse button: >
1116 :map <MiddleMouse> <Nop>
1117 :imap <MiddleMouse> <Nop>
1118< You might want to disable the multi-click versions
1119 too, see |double-click|.
1120
1121 *gp*
1122["x]gp Just like "p", but leave the cursor just after the new
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001123 text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001124
1125 *gP*
1126["x]gP Just like "P", but leave the cursor just after the new
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001127 text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001128
1129 *:pu* *:put*
1130:[line]pu[t] [x] Put the text [from register x] after [line] (default
1131 current line). This always works |linewise|, thus
1132 this command can be used to put a yanked block as new
1133 lines.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001134 If no register is specified, it depends on the 'cb'
1135 option: If 'cb' contains "unnamedplus", paste from the
1136 + register |quoteplus|. Otherwise, if 'cb' contains
Bram Moolenaarddbb5552012-04-26 20:17:03 +02001137 "unnamed", paste from the * register |quotestar|.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001138 Otherwise, paste from the unnamed register
1139 |quote_quote|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001140 The register can also be '=' followed by an optional
1141 expression. The expression continues until the end of
1142 the command. You need to escape the '|' and '"'
1143 characters to prevent them from terminating the
1144 command. Example: >
Bram Moolenaarc51cf032022-02-26 12:25:45 +00001145 :put ='path' .. \",/test\"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001146< If there is no expression after '=', Vim uses the
1147 previous expression. You can see it with ":dis =".
1148
1149:[line]pu[t]! [x] Put the text [from register x] before [line] (default
1150 current line).
1151
64-bitmane08f10a2025-03-18 22:14:34 +01001152 *:ip* *:iput*
1153:[line]ip[ut] [x] like |:put|, but adjust indent to the current line
1154
1155:[line]ip[ut]! [x] like |:put|!, but adjust indent to the current line
1156
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001157["x]]p or *]p* *]<MiddleMouse>*
1158["x]]<MiddleMouse> Like "p", but adjust the indent to the current line.
1159 Using the mouse only works when 'mouse' contains 'n'
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001160 or 'a'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001161
1162["x][P or *[P*
1163["x]]P or *]P*
1164["x][p or *[p* *[<MiddleMouse>*
1165["x][<MiddleMouse> Like "P", but adjust the indent to the current line.
1166 Using the mouse only works when 'mouse' contains 'n'
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001167 or 'a'.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001168
Christian Brabandt2fa93842021-05-30 22:17:25 +02001169["x]zp or *zp* *zP*
1170["x]zP Like "p" and "P", except without adding trailing spaces
1171 when pasting a block. Thus the inserted text will not
Christian Brabandt544a38e2021-06-10 19:39:11 +02001172 always be a rectangle. Especially useful in
1173 combination with |v_zy|.
Christian Brabandt2fa93842021-05-30 22:17:25 +02001174
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001175You can use these commands to copy text from one place to another. Do this
1176by first getting the text into a register with a yank, delete or change
1177command, then inserting the register contents with a put command. You can
1178also use these commands to move text from one file to another, because Vim
1179preserves all registers when changing buffers (the CTRL-^ command is a quick
1180way to toggle between two files).
1181
1182 *linewise-register* *characterwise-register*
1183You can repeat the put commands with "." (except for :put) and undo them. If
1184the command that was used to get the text into the register was |linewise|,
1185Vim inserts the text below ("p") or above ("P") the line where the cursor is.
1186Otherwise Vim inserts the text after ("p") or before ("P") the cursor. With
1187the ":put" command, Vim always inserts the text in the next line. You can
1188exchange two characters with the command sequence "xp". You can exchange two
1189lines with the command sequence "ddp". You can exchange two words with the
1190command sequence "deep" (start with the cursor in the blank space before the
1191first word). You can use the "']" or "`]" command after the put command to
1192move the cursor to the end of the inserted text, or use "'[" or "`[" to move
1193the cursor to the start.
1194
1195 *put-Visual-mode* *v_p* *v_P*
1196When using a put command like |p| or |P| in Visual mode, Vim will try to
1197replace the selected text with the contents of the register. Whether this
1198works well depends on the type of selection and the type of the text in the
1199register. With blockwise selection it also depends on the size of the block
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001200and whether the corners are on an existing character. (Implementation detail:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001201it actually works by first putting the register after the selection and then
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001202deleting the selection.)
Shougo Matsushita509142a2022-05-06 11:45:09 +01001203With |p| the previously selected text is put in the unnamed register (and
1204possibly the selection and/or clipboard). This is useful if you want to put
1205that text somewhere else. But you cannot repeat the same change.
1206With |P| the unnamed register is not changed (and neither the selection or
1207clipboard), you can repeat the same change. But the deleted text cannot be
1208used. If you do need it you can use |p| with another register. E.g., yank
1209the text to copy, Visually select the text to replace and use "0p . You can
1210repeat this as many times as you like, and the unnamed register will be
1211changed each time.
Bram Moolenaar9712ff12022-09-18 13:04:22 +01001212 *blockwise-put*
1213When a register contains text from one line (characterwise), using a
1214blockwise Visual selection, putting that register will paste that text
1215repeatedly in each of the selected lines, thus replacing the blockwise
1216selected region by multiple copies of the register text. For example:
1217 - yank the word "TEXT" into a register with `yw`
1218 - select a visual block, marked with "v" in this text:
1219 aaavvaaa
1220 bbbvvbbb
1221 cccvvccc
1222 - press `p`, results in:
1223 aaaTEXTaaa
1224 bbbTEXTbbb
1225 cccTEXTccc
Bram Moolenaarec11aef2013-09-22 15:23:44 +02001226
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001227 *blockwise-register*
1228If you use a blockwise Visual mode command to get the text into the register,
1229the block of text will be inserted before ("P") or after ("p") the cursor
1230column in the current and next lines. Vim makes the whole block of text start
1231in the same column. Thus the inserted text looks the same as when it was
1232yanked or deleted. Vim may replace some <Tab> characters with spaces to make
1233this happen. However, if the width of the block is not a multiple of a <Tab>
1234width and the text after the inserted block contains <Tab>s, that text may be
1235misaligned.
1236
Bram Moolenaar22863042021-10-16 15:23:36 +01001237Use |zP|/|zp| to paste a blockwise yanked register without appending trailing
1238spaces.
1239
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001240Note that after a characterwise yank command, Vim leaves the cursor on the
1241first yanked character that is closest to the start of the buffer. This means
1242that "yl" doesn't move the cursor, but "yh" moves the cursor one character
1243left.
1244Rationale: In Vi the "y" command followed by a backwards motion would
1245 sometimes not move the cursor to the first yanked character,
1246 because redisplaying was skipped. In Vim it always moves to
1247 the first character, as specified by Posix.
1248With a linewise yank command the cursor is put in the first line, but the
1249column is unmodified, thus it may not be on the first yanked character.
1250
Bram Moolenaar5be4cee2019-09-27 19:34:08 +02001251There are ten types of registers: *registers* *{register}* *E354*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000012521. The unnamed register ""
12532. 10 numbered registers "0 to "9
12543. The small delete register "-
12554. 26 named registers "a to "z or "A to "Z
Bram Moolenaar396e8292019-07-13 23:04:31 +020012565. Three read-only registers ":, "., "%
12576. Alternate buffer register "#
12587. The expression register "=
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010012598. The selection and drop registers "*, "+ and "~
12609. The black hole register "_
126110. Last search pattern register "/
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001262
12631. Unnamed register "" *quote_quote* *quotequote*
1264Vim fills this register with text deleted with the "d", "c", "s", "x" commands
1265or copied with the yank "y" command, regardless of whether or not a specific
Bram Moolenaared203462004-06-16 11:19:22 +00001266register was used (e.g. "xdd). This is like the unnamed register is pointing
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001267to the last used register. Thus when appending using an uppercase register
1268name, the unnamed register contains the same text as the named register.
1269An exception is the '_' register: "_dd does not store the deleted text in any
1270register.
Bram Moolenaar81695252004-12-29 20:58:21 +00001271Vim uses the contents of the unnamed register for any put command (p or P)
1272which does not specify a register. Additionally you can access it with the
1273name '"'. This means you have to type two double quotes. Writing to the ""
1274register writes to register "0.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001275{Vi: register contents are lost when changing files, no '"'}
1276
Bram Moolenaaraa3b15d2016-04-21 08:53:19 +020012772. Numbered registers "0 to "9 *quote_number* *quote0* *quote1*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001278 *quote2* *quote3* *quote4* *quote9*
1279Vim fills these registers with text from yank and delete commands.
1280 Numbered register 0 contains the text from the most recent yank command,
1281unless the command specified another register with ["x].
1282 Numbered register 1 contains the text deleted by the most recent delete or
Christian Brabandtecd642a2024-06-23 20:24:52 +02001283change command (even when the command specified another register), unless the
1284text is less than one line (the small delete register is used then). An
1285exception is made for the delete operator with these movement commands: |%|,
1286|(|, |)|, |`|, |/|, |?|, |n|, |N|, |{| and |}|.
1287Register "1 is always used then (this is Vi compatible). The "- register is
1288used as well if the delete is within a line. Note that these characters may be
1289mapped. E.g. |%| is mapped by the matchit plugin.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001290 With each successive deletion or change, Vim shifts the previous contents
1291of register 1 into register 2, 2 into 3, and so forth, losing the previous
1292contents of register 9.
Frederick Key Abell III6e564842024-10-07 21:07:12 +02001293{Vi: register 0 does not exist}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001294
12953. Small delete register "- *quote_-* *quote-*
1296This register contains text from commands that delete less than one line,
1297except when the command specifies a register with ["x].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001298
12994. Named registers "a to "z or "A to "Z *quote_alpha* *quotea*
1300Vim fills these registers only when you say so. Specify them as lowercase
1301letters to replace their previous contents or as uppercase letters to append
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00001302to their previous contents. When the '>' flag is present in 'cpoptions' then
1303a line break is inserted before the appended text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001304
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010013055. Read-only registers ":, ". and "%
Bram Moolenaarcfa8f9a2022-06-03 21:59:47 +01001306These are '%', ':' and '.'. You can use them only with the "p", "P",
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001307and ":put" commands and with CTRL-R.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001308 *quote_.* *quote.* *E29*
1309 ". Contains the last inserted text (the same as what is inserted
1310 with the insert mode commands CTRL-A and CTRL-@). Note: this
1311 doesn't work with CTRL-R on the command-line. It works a bit
1312 differently, like inserting the text instead of putting it
1313 ('textwidth' and other options affect what is inserted).
1314 *quote_%* *quote%*
1315 "% Contains the name of the current file.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001316 *quote_:* *quote:* *E30*
1317 ": Contains the most recent executed command-line. Example: Use
1318 "@:" to repeat the previous command-line command.
1319 The command-line is only stored in this register when at least
1320 one character of it was typed. Thus it remains unchanged if
1321 the command was completely from a mapping.
1322 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist|
1323 feature}
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +01001324 *quote_#* *quote#*
13256. Alternate file register "#
1326Contains the name of the alternate file for the current window. It will
1327change how the |CTRL-^| command works.
1328This register is writable, mainly to allow for restoring it after a plugin has
1329changed it. It accepts buffer number: >
1330 let altbuf = bufnr(@#)
1331 ...
1332 let @# = altbuf
1333It will give error |E86| if you pass buffer number and this buffer does not
1334exist.
1335It can also accept a match with an existing buffer name: >
1336 let @# = 'buffer_name'
1337Error |E93| if there is more than one buffer matching the given name or |E94|
1338if none of buffers matches the given name.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001339
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010013407. Expression register "= *quote_=* *quote=* *@=*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001341This is not really a register that stores text, but is a way to use an
1342expression in commands which use a register. The expression register is
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01001343read-write.
1344
1345When typing the '=' after " or CTRL-R the cursor moves to the command-line,
1346where you can enter any expression (see |expression|). All normal
1347command-line editing commands are available, including a special history for
1348expressions. When you end the command-line by typing <CR>, Vim computes the
1349result of the expression. If you end it with <Esc>, Vim abandons the
1350expression. If you do not enter an expression, Vim uses the previous
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001351expression (like with the "/" command).
1352
1353The expression must evaluate to a String. A Number is always automatically
1354converted to a String. For the "p" and ":put" command, if the result is a
1355Float it's converted into a String. If the result is a List each element is
Yegappan Lakshmananf01493c2024-04-14 23:21:02 +02001356turned into a String and used as a line. A Dictionary is converted into a
h-east53753f62024-05-05 18:42:31 +02001357String. A Funcref results in an error message (use string() to convert).
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001358
1359If the "= register is used for the "p" command, the String is split up at <NL>
1360characters. If the String ends in a <NL>, it is regarded as a linewise
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001361register.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001362
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010013638. Selection and drop registers "*, "+ and "~
Bram Moolenaar06b5d512010-05-22 15:37:44 +02001364Use these registers for storing and retrieving the selected text for the GUI.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001365See |quotestar| and |quoteplus|. When the clipboard is not available or not
Bram Moolenaarf4d11452005-12-02 00:46:37 +00001366working, the unnamed register is used instead. For Unix systems the clipboard
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001367is only available when the |+xterm_clipboard| feature is present.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001368
1369Note that there is only a distinction between "* and "+ for X11 systems. For
1370an explanation of the difference, see |x11-selection|. Under MS-Windows, use
1371of "* and "+ is actually synonymous and refers to the |gui-clipboard|.
1372
1373 *quote_~* *quote~* *<Drop>*
1374The read-only "~ register stores the dropped text from the last drag'n'drop
1375operation. When something has been dropped onto Vim, the "~ register is
1376filled in and the <Drop> pseudo key is sent for notification. You can remap
1377this key if you want; the default action (for all modes) is to insert the
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001378contents of the "~ register at the cursor position.
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001379{only available when compiled with the |+dnd| feature, currently only with the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001380GTK GUI}
1381
1382Note: The "~ register is only used when dropping plain text onto Vim.
1383Drag'n'drop of URI lists is handled internally.
1384
Bram Moolenaar3b3a9492015-01-27 18:44:16 +010013859. Black hole register "_ *quote_*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001386When writing to this register, nothing happens. This can be used to delete
1387text without affecting the normal registers. When reading from this register,
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001388nothing is returned.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001389
Bram Moolenaar5be4cee2019-09-27 19:34:08 +0200139010. Last search pattern register "/ *quote_/* *quote/*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001391Contains the most recent search-pattern. This is used for "n" and 'hlsearch'.
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001392It is writable with `:let`, you can change it to have 'hlsearch' highlight
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001393other matches without actually searching. You can't yank or delete into this
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001394register. The search direction is available in |v:searchforward|.
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01001395Note that the value is restored when returning from a function
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001396|function-search-undo|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001397
1398 *@/*
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001399You can write to a register with a `:let` command |:let-@|. Example: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001400 :let @/ = "the"
1401
1402If you use a put command without specifying a register, Vim uses the register
1403that was last filled (this is also the contents of the unnamed register). If
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001404you are confused, use the `:dis` command to find out what Vim will put (this
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001405command displays all named and numbered registers; the unnamed register is
1406labelled '"').
1407
1408The next three commands always work on whole lines.
1409
1410:[range]co[py] {address} *:co* *:copy*
1411 Copy the lines given by [range] to below the line
1412 given by {address}.
1413
1414 *:t*
1415:t Synonym for copy.
Bram Moolenaara4d131d2021-12-27 21:33:07 +00001416 This command is not supported in |Vim9| script,
1417 because it is too easily confused with a variable
1418 name.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001419
1420:[range]m[ove] {address} *:m* *:mo* *:move* *E134*
1421 Move the lines given by [range] to below the line
1422 given by {address}.
h-east52e7cc22024-07-28 17:03:29 +02001423 Any text properties in [range] are cleared. See
Christian Brabandt946f61c2024-06-17 13:17:58 +02001424 |text-prop-cleared|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001425
1426==============================================================================
14276. Formatting text *formatting*
1428
1429:[range]ce[nter] [width] *:ce* *:center*
1430 Center lines in [range] between [width] columns
1431 (default 'textwidth' or 80 when 'textwidth' is 0).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001432
1433:[range]ri[ght] [width] *:ri* *:right*
1434 Right-align lines in [range] at [width] columns
1435 (default 'textwidth' or 80 when 'textwidth' is 0).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001436
1437 *:le* *:left*
1438:[range]le[ft] [indent]
1439 Left-align lines in [range]. Sets the indent in the
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001440 lines to [indent] (default 0).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001441
1442 *gq*
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00001443gq{motion} Format the lines that {motion} moves over.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001444 Formatting is done with one of three methods:
1445 1. If 'formatexpr' is not empty the expression is
1446 evaluated. This can differ for each buffer.
Bram Moolenaar4c7ed462006-02-15 22:18:42 +00001447 2. If 'formatprg' is not empty an external program
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001448 is used.
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +00001449 3. Otherwise formatting is done internally.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001450
1451 In the third case the 'textwidth' option controls the
1452 length of each formatted line (see below).
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00001453 If the 'textwidth' option is 0, the formatted line
1454 length is the screen width (with a maximum width of
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001455 79).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001456 The 'formatoptions' option controls the type of
1457 formatting |fo-table|.
Bram Moolenaar4317d9b2005-03-18 20:25:31 +00001458 The cursor is left on the first non-blank of the last
1459 formatted line.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001460 NOTE: The "Q" command formerly performed this
1461 function. If you still want to use "Q" for
1462 formatting, use this mapping: >
1463 :nnoremap Q gq
1464
1465gqgq *gqgq* *gqq*
Bram Moolenaar40af4e32010-07-29 22:33:18 +02001466gqq Format the current line. With a count format that
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001467 many lines.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001468
1469 *v_gq*
1470{Visual}gq Format the highlighted text. (for {Visual} see
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001471 |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001472
1473 *gw*
1474gw{motion} Format the lines that {motion} moves over. Similar to
1475 |gq| but puts the cursor back at the same position in
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001476 the text. However, 'formatprg' and 'formatexpr' are
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001477 not used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001478
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001479gwgw *gwgw* *gww*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001480gww Format the current line as with "gw".
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001481
1482 *v_gw*
1483{Visual}gw Format the highlighted text as with "gw". (for
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001484 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|).
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001485
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001486Example: To format the current paragraph use: *gqap* >
1487 gqap
1488
1489The "gq" command leaves the cursor in the line where the motion command takes
1490the cursor. This allows you to repeat formatting repeated with ".". This
1491works well with "gqj" (format current and next line) and "gq}" (format until
1492end of paragraph). Note: When 'formatprg' is set, "gq" leaves the cursor on
1493the first formatted line (as with using a filter command).
1494
1495If you want to format the current paragraph and continue where you were, use: >
1496 gwap
1497If you always want to keep paragraphs formatted you may want to add the 'a'
1498flag to 'formatoptions'. See |auto-format|.
1499
1500If the 'autoindent' option is on, Vim uses the indent of the first line for
1501the following lines.
1502
1503Formatting does not change empty lines (but it does change lines with only
1504white space!).
1505
1506The 'joinspaces' option is used when lines are joined together.
1507
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001508You can set the 'formatexpr' option to an expression or the 'formatprg' option
1509to the name of an external program for Vim to use for text formatting. The
1510'textwidth' and other options have no effect on formatting by an external
1511program.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001512
Bram Moolenaar7db25fe2018-05-13 00:02:36 +02001513 *format-formatexpr*
Bram Moolenaard473c8c2018-08-11 18:00:22 +02001514The 'formatexpr' option can be set to a Vim script function that performs
Bram Moolenaar7db25fe2018-05-13 00:02:36 +02001515reformatting of the buffer. This should usually happen in an |ftplugin|,
1516since formatting is highly dependent on the type of file. It makes
1517sense to use an |autoload| script, so the corresponding script is only loaded
1518when actually needed and the script should be called <filetype>format.vim.
1519
Antonio Giovanni Colombo41d6de22024-12-15 21:17:49 +01001520For example, the XML filetype plugin distributed with Vim in the
1521$VIMRUNTIME/ftplugin directory, sets the 'formatexpr' option to: >
Bram Moolenaar7db25fe2018-05-13 00:02:36 +02001522
1523 setlocal formatexpr=xmlformat#Format()
1524
1525That means, you will find the corresponding script, defining the
Antonio Giovanni Colombo41d6de22024-12-15 21:17:49 +01001526xmlformat#Format() function, in the file `$VIMRUNTIME/autoload/xmlformat.vim`
Bram Moolenaar7db25fe2018-05-13 00:02:36 +02001527
1528Here is an example script that removes trailing whitespace from the selected
Antonio Giovanni Colombo41d6de22024-12-15 21:17:49 +01001529text. Put it in your autoload directory, e.g. ~/.vim/autoload/format.vim:
1530>vim
Bram Moolenaar7db25fe2018-05-13 00:02:36 +02001531 func! format#Format()
1532 " only reformat on explicit gq command
1533 if mode() != 'n'
Bram Moolenaard1caa942020-04-10 22:10:56 +02001534 " fall back to Vim's internal reformatting
Bram Moolenaar7db25fe2018-05-13 00:02:36 +02001535 return 1
1536 endif
1537 let lines = getline(v:lnum, v:lnum + v:count - 1)
1538 call map(lines, {key, val -> substitute(val, '\s\+$', '', 'g')})
1539 call setline('.', lines)
1540
1541 " do not run internal formatter!
1542 return 0
1543 endfunc
1544
1545You can then enable the formatting by executing: >
1546 setlocal formatexpr=format#Format()
Bram Moolenaard473c8c2018-08-11 18:00:22 +02001547
Bram Moolenaar7db25fe2018-05-13 00:02:36 +02001548Note: this function explicitly returns non-zero when called from insert mode
1549(which basically means, text is inserted beyond the 'textwidth' limit). This
1550causes Vim to fall back to reformat the text by using the internal formatter.
1551
1552However, if the |gq| command is used to reformat the text, the function
1553will receive the selected lines, trim trailing whitespace from those lines and
1554put them back in place. If you are going to split single lines into multiple
1555lines, be careful not to overwrite anything.
1556
1557If you want to allow reformatting of text from insert or replace mode, one has
1558to be very careful, because the function might be called recursively. For
1559debugging it helps to set the 'debug' option.
1560
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001561 *right-justify*
1562There is no command in Vim to right justify text. You can do it with
Antonio Giovanni Colombo41d6de22024-12-15 21:17:49 +01001563an external command, like "par" (e.g.: `:.,}!par` to format until the end of the
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001564paragraph) or set 'formatprg' to "par".
1565
1566 *format-comments*
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001567An overview of comment formatting is in section |30.6| of the user manual.
1568
1569Vim can automatically insert and format comments in a special way. Vim
1570recognizes a comment by a specific string at the start of the line (ignoring
1571white space). Three types of comments can be used:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001572
1573- A comment string that repeats at the start of each line. An example is the
1574 type of comment used in shell scripts, starting with "#".
1575- A comment string that occurs only in the first line, not in the following
1576 lines. An example is this list with dashes.
1577- Three-piece comments that have a start string, an end string, and optional
1578 lines in between. The strings for the start, middle and end are different.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001579 An example is the C style comment:
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001580 /*
1581 * this is a C comment
1582 */
1583
1584The 'comments' option is a comma-separated list of parts. Each part defines a
1585type of comment string. A part consists of:
1586 {flags}:{string}
1587
1588{string} is the literal text that must appear.
1589
1590{flags}:
1591 n Nested comment. Nesting with mixed parts is allowed. If 'comments'
1592 is "n:),n:>" a line starting with "> ) >" is a comment.
1593
1594 b Blank (<Space>, <Tab> or <EOL>) required after {string}.
1595
1596 f Only the first line has the comment string. Do not repeat comment on
1597 the next line, but preserve indentation (e.g., a bullet-list).
1598
1599 s Start of three-piece comment
1600
1601 m Middle of a three-piece comment
1602
1603 e End of a three-piece comment
1604
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001605 l Left align. Used together with 's' or 'e', the leftmost character of
1606 start or end will line up with the leftmost character from the middle.
1607 This is the default and can be omitted. See below for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001608
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001609 r Right align. Same as above but rightmost instead of leftmost. See
1610 below for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001611
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001612 O Don't consider this comment for the "O" command.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001613
1614 x Allows three-piece comments to be ended by just typing the last
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001615 character of the end-comment string as the first action on a new
1616 line when the middle-comment string has been inserted automatically.
1617 See below for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001618
1619 {digits}
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001620 When together with 's' or 'e': add {digit} amount of offset to an
1621 automatically inserted middle or end comment leader. The offset begins
1622 from a left alignment. See below for more details.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001623
1624 -{digits}
1625 Like {digits} but reduce the indent. This only works when there is
1626 some indent for the start or end part that can be removed.
1627
1628When a string has none of the 'f', 's', 'm' or 'e' flags, Vim assumes the
Antonio Giovanni Colombo41d6de22024-12-15 21:17:49 +01001629comment string repeats at the start of each line. The {flags} field may be
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001630empty.
1631
1632Any blank space in the text before and after the {string} is part of the
1633{string}, so do not include leading or trailing blanks unless the blanks are a
1634required part of the comment string.
1635
1636When one comment leader is part of another, specify the part after the whole.
1637For example, to include both "-" and "->", use >
1638 :set comments=f:->,f:-
1639
1640A three-piece comment must always be given as start,middle,end, with no other
1641parts in between. An example of a three-piece comment is >
1642 sr:/*,mb:*,ex:*/
1643for C-comments. To avoid recognizing "*ptr" as a comment, the middle string
1644includes the 'b' flag. For three-piece comments, Vim checks the text after
1645the start and middle strings for the end string. If Vim finds the end string,
1646the comment does not continue on the next line. Three-piece comments must
1647have a middle string because otherwise Vim can't recognize the middle lines.
1648
1649Notice the use of the "x" flag in the above three-piece comment definition.
1650When you hit Return in a C-comment, Vim will insert the middle comment leader
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001651for the new line: " * ". To close this comment you just have to type "/"
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001652before typing anything else on the new line. This will replace the
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001653middle-comment leader with the end-comment leader and apply any specified
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01001654alignment, leaving just " */". There is no need to hit Backspace first.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001655
Bram Moolenaar2b8388b2015-02-28 13:11:45 +01001656When there is a match with a middle part, but there also is a matching end
1657part which is longer, the end part is used. This makes a C style comment work
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +02001658without requiring the middle part to end with a space.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001659
1660Here is an example of alignment flags at work to make a comment stand out
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +02001661(kind of looks like a 1 too). Consider comment string: >
1662 :set comments=sr:/***,m:**,ex-2:******/
1663<
1664 /*** ~
1665 **<--right aligned from "r" flag ~
1666 ** ~
1667offset 2 spaces for the "-2" flag--->** ~
1668 ******/ ~
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001669In this case, the first comment was typed, then return was pressed 4 times,
1670then "/" was pressed to end the comment.
1671
1672Here are some finer points of three part comments. There are three times when
1673alignment and offset flags are taken into consideration: opening a new line
1674after a start-comment, opening a new line before an end-comment, and
1675automatically ending a three-piece comment. The end alignment flag has a
1676backwards perspective; the result is that the same alignment flag used with
1677"s" and "e" will result in the same indent for the starting and ending pieces.
1678Only one alignment per comment part is meant to be used, but an offset number
1679will override the "r" and "l" flag.
1680
1681Enabling 'cindent' will override the alignment flags in many cases.
1682Reindenting using a different method like |gq| or |=| will not consult
1683alignment flags either. The same behaviour can be defined in those other
1684formatting options. One consideration is that 'cindent' has additional options
1685for context based indenting of comments but cannot replicate many three piece
Bram Moolenaar446beb42011-05-10 17:18:44 +02001686indent alignments. However, 'indentexpr' has the ability to work better with
1687three piece comments.
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001688
1689Other examples: >
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001690 "b:*" Includes lines starting with "*", but not if the "*" is
1691 followed by a non-blank. This avoids a pointer dereference
1692 like "*str" to be recognized as a comment.
1693 "n:>" Includes a line starting with ">", ">>", ">>>", etc.
1694 "fb:-" Format a list that starts with "- ".
1695
1696By default, "b:#" is included. This means that a line that starts with
1697"#include" is not recognized as a comment line. But a line that starts with
1698"# define" is recognized. This is a compromise.
1699
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001700 *fo-table*
1701You can use the 'formatoptions' option to influence how Vim formats text.
1702'formatoptions' is a string that can contain any of the letters below. The
1703default setting is "tcq". You can separate the option letters with commas for
1704readability.
1705
1706letter meaning when present in 'formatoptions' ~
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001707 *fo-t*
Bram Moolenaar2bf875f2022-05-07 14:54:11 +01001708t Auto-wrap text using 'textwidth'
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001709 *fo-c*
Bram Moolenaar2bf875f2022-05-07 14:54:11 +01001710c Auto-wrap comments using 'textwidth', inserting the current comment
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001711 leader automatically.
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001712 *fo-r*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001713r Automatically insert the current comment leader after hitting
1714 <Enter> in Insert mode.
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001715 *fo-o*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001716o Automatically insert the current comment leader after hitting 'o' or
Bram Moolenaar04fb9162021-12-30 20:24:12 +00001717 'O' in Normal mode. In case comment is unwanted in a specific place
1718 use CTRL-U to quickly delete it. |i_CTRL-U|
Bram Moolenaar2bf875f2022-05-07 14:54:11 +01001719 *fo-/*
1720/ When 'o' is included: do not insert the comment leader for a //
1721 comment after a statement, only when // is at the start of the line.
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001722 *fo-q*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001723q Allow formatting of comments with "gq".
1724 Note that formatting will not change blank lines or lines containing
1725 only the comment leader. A new paragraph starts after such a line,
1726 or when the comment leader changes.
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001727 *fo-w*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001728w Trailing white space indicates a paragraph continues in the next line.
1729 A line that ends in a non-white character ends a paragraph.
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001730 *fo-a*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001731a Automatic formatting of paragraphs. Every time text is inserted or
1732 deleted the paragraph will be reformatted. See |auto-format|.
1733 When the 'c' flag is present this only happens for recognized
1734 comments.
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001735 *fo-n*
Bram Moolenaar86b68352004-12-27 21:59:20 +00001736n When formatting text, recognize numbered lists. This actually uses
1737 the 'formatlistpat' option, thus any kind of list can be used. The
1738 indent of the text after the number is used for the next line. The
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001739 default is to find a number, optionally followed by '.', ':', ')',
Bram Moolenaar86b68352004-12-27 21:59:20 +00001740 ']' or '}'. Note that 'autoindent' must be set too. Doesn't work
1741 well together with "2".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001742 Example: >
1743 1. the first item
1744 wraps
1745 2. the second item
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001746< *fo-2*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000017472 When formatting text, use the indent of the second line of a paragraph
1748 for the rest of the paragraph, instead of the indent of the first
1749 line. This supports paragraphs in which the first line has a
1750 different indent than the rest. Note that 'autoindent' must be set
1751 too. Example: >
1752 first line of a paragraph
1753 second line of the same paragraph
1754 third line.
Bram Moolenaar30b65812012-07-12 22:01:11 +02001755< This also works inside comments, ignoring the comment leader.
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001756 *fo-v*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001757v Vi-compatible auto-wrapping in insert mode: Only break a line at a
1758 blank that you have entered during the current insert command. (Note:
1759 this is not 100% Vi compatible. Vi has some "unexpected features" or
1760 bugs in this area. It uses the screen column instead of the line
1761 column.)
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001762 *fo-b*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001763b Like 'v', but only auto-wrap if you enter a blank at or before
1764 the wrap margin. If the line was longer than 'textwidth' when you
1765 started the insert, or you do not enter a blank in the insert before
1766 reaching 'textwidth', Vim does not perform auto-wrapping.
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001767 *fo-l*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001768l Long lines are not broken in insert mode: When a line was longer than
1769 'textwidth' when the insert command started, Vim does not
1770 automatically format it.
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001771 *fo-m*
Bram Moolenaar207f0092020-08-30 17:20:20 +02001772m Also break at a multibyte character above 255. This is useful for
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001773 Asian text where every character is a word on its own.
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001774 *fo-M*
Bram Moolenaar207f0092020-08-30 17:20:20 +02001775M When joining lines, don't insert a space before or after a multibyte
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001776 character. Overrules the 'B' flag.
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001777 *fo-B*
Bram Moolenaar207f0092020-08-30 17:20:20 +02001778B When joining lines, don't insert a space between two multibyte
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001779 characters. Overruled by the 'M' flag.
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001780 *fo-1*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000017811 Don't break a line after a one-letter word. It's broken before it
1782 instead (if possible).
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001783 *fo-]*
Bram Moolenaar2bf875f2022-05-07 14:54:11 +01001784] Respect 'textwidth' rigorously. With this flag set, no line can be
1785 longer than 'textwidth', unless line-break-prohibition rules make this
Bram Moolenaare52702f2020-06-04 18:22:13 +02001786 impossible. Mainly for CJK scripts and works only if 'encoding' is
1787 "utf-8".
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001788 *fo-j*
Bram Moolenaar81340392012-06-06 16:12:59 +02001789j Where it makes sense, remove a comment leader when joining lines. For
1790 example, joining:
1791 int i; // the index ~
1792 // in the list ~
1793 Becomes:
1794 int i; // the index in the list ~
Bram Moolenaare0e39172021-01-25 21:14:57 +01001795 *fo-p*
Bram Moolenaarc3c31582019-01-11 22:15:05 +01001796p Don't break lines at single spaces that follow periods. This is
1797 intended to complement 'joinspaces' and |cpo-J|, for prose with
1798 sentences separated by two spaces. For example, with 'textwidth' set
1799 to 28: >
1800 Surely you're joking, Mr. Feynman!
1801< Becomes: >
1802 Surely you're joking,
1803 Mr. Feynman!
1804< Instead of: >
1805 Surely you're joking, Mr.
1806 Feynman!
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001807
1808
1809With 't' and 'c' you can specify when Vim performs auto-wrapping:
1810value action ~
1811"" no automatic formatting (you can use "gq" for manual formatting)
1812"t" automatic formatting of text, but not comments
1813"c" automatic formatting for comments, but not text (good for C code)
1814"tc" automatic formatting for text and comments
1815
Bram Moolenaar91170f82006-05-05 21:15:17 +00001816Note that when 'textwidth' is 0, Vim does no automatic formatting anyway (but
1817does insert comment leaders according to the 'comments' option). An exception
1818is when the 'a' flag is present. |auto-format|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001819
1820Note that when 'paste' is on, Vim does no formatting at all.
1821
1822Note that 'textwidth' can be non-zero even if Vim never performs auto-wrapping;
1823'textwidth' is still useful for formatting with "gq".
1824
1825If the 'comments' option includes "/*", "*" and/or "*/", then Vim has some
1826built in stuff to treat these types of comments a bit more cleverly.
1827Opening a new line before or after "/*" or "*/" (with 'r' or 'o' present in
1828'formatoptions') gives the correct start of the line automatically. The same
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +00001829happens with formatting and auto-wrapping. Opening a line after a line
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001830starting with "/*" or "*" and containing "*/", will cause no comment leader to
1831be inserted, and the indent of the new line is taken from the line containing
1832the start of the comment.
1833E.g.:
1834 /* ~
1835 * Your typical comment. ~
1836 */ ~
1837 The indent on this line is the same as the start of the above
1838 comment.
1839
1840All of this should be really cool, especially in conjunction with the new
1841:autocmd command to prepare different settings for different types of file.
1842
1843Some examples:
1844 for C code (only format comments): >
1845 :set fo=croq
1846< for Mail/news (format all, don't start comment with "o" command): >
1847 :set fo=tcrq
1848<
1849
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001850Automatic formatting *auto-format* *autoformat*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001851
1852When the 'a' flag is present in 'formatoptions' text is formatted
Bram Moolenaar2547aa92020-07-26 17:00:44 +02001853automatically when inserting text or deleting text. This works nicely for
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001854editing text paragraphs. A few hints on how to use this:
1855
1856- You need to properly define paragraphs. The simplest is paragraphs that are
1857 separated by a blank line. When there is no separating blank line, consider
1858 using the 'w' flag and adding a space at the end of each line in the
1859 paragraphs except the last one.
1860
1861- You can set the 'formatoptions' based on the type of file |filetype| or
1862 specifically for one file with a |modeline|.
1863
1864- Set 'formatoptions' to "aw2tq" to make text with indents like this:
1865
Bram Moolenaardd60c362023-02-27 15:49:53 +00001866 bla bla foobar bla
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001867 bla foobar bla foobar bla
Bram Moolenaardd60c362023-02-27 15:49:53 +00001868 bla bla foobar bla
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001869 bla foobar bla bla foobar
1870
1871- Add the 'c' flag to only auto-format comments. Useful in source code.
1872
Bram Moolenaar91170f82006-05-05 21:15:17 +00001873- Set 'textwidth' to the desired width. If it is zero then 79 is used, or the
1874 width of the screen if this is smaller.
1875
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001876And a few warnings:
1877
1878- When part of the text is not properly separated in paragraphs, making
1879 changes in this text will cause it to be formatted anyway. Consider doing >
1880
1881 :set fo-=a
1882
1883- When using the 'w' flag (trailing space means paragraph continues) and
1884 deleting the last line of a paragraph with |dd|, the paragraph will be
1885 joined with the next one.
1886
1887- Changed text is saved for undo. Formatting is also a change. Thus each
1888 format action saves text for undo. This may consume quite a lot of memory.
1889
1890- Formatting a long paragraph and/or with complicated indenting may be slow.
1891
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001892==============================================================================
18937. Sorting text *sorting*
1894
1895Vim has a sorting function and a sorting command. The sorting function can be
Bram Moolenaar327aa022014-03-25 18:24:23 +01001896found here: |sort()|, |uniq()|.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001897
1898 *:sor* *:sort*
Bram Moolenaar55e29612020-11-01 13:57:44 +01001899:[range]sor[t][!] [b][f][i][l][n][o][r][u][x] [/{pattern}/]
Bram Moolenaare5180522005-12-10 20:19:46 +00001900 Sort lines in [range]. When no range is given all
1901 lines are sorted.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001902
1903 With [!] the order is reversed.
1904
1905 With [i] case is ignored.
1906
Bram Moolenaar3132cdd2020-11-05 20:41:49 +01001907 With [l] sort uses the current collation locale.
1908 Implementation details: strcoll() is used to compare
1909 strings. See |:language| to check or set the collation
1910 locale. Example: >
1911 :language collate en_US.UTF-8
1912 :%sort l
1913< |v:collate| can also used to check the current locale.
1914 Sorting using the locale typically ignores case.
1915 This does not work properly on Mac.
Bram Moolenaar55e29612020-11-01 13:57:44 +01001916
Bram Moolenaarf7edf402016-01-19 23:36:15 +01001917 Options [n][f][x][o][b] are mutually exclusive.
1918
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001919 With [n] sorting is done on the first decimal number
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001920 in the line (after or inside a {pattern} match).
Bram Moolenaare37d50a2008-08-06 17:06:04 +00001921 One leading '-' is included in the number.
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001922
Bram Moolenaarf7edf402016-01-19 23:36:15 +01001923 With [f] sorting is done on the Float in the line.
1924 The value of Float is determined similar to passing
1925 the text (after or inside a {pattern} match) to
1926 str2float() function. This option is available only
1927 if Vim was compiled with Floating point support.
1928
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001929 With [x] sorting is done on the first hexadecimal
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001930 number in the line (after or inside a {pattern}
1931 match). A leading "0x" or "0X" is ignored.
Bram Moolenaare37d50a2008-08-06 17:06:04 +00001932 One leading '-' is included in the number.
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001933
1934 With [o] sorting is done on the first octal number in
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001935 the line (after or inside a {pattern} match).
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001936
Bram Moolenaar887c1fe2016-01-02 17:56:35 +01001937 With [b] sorting is done on the first binary number in
1938 the line (after or inside a {pattern} match).
1939
Bram Moolenaarf7edf402016-01-19 23:36:15 +01001940 With [u] (u stands for unique) only keep the first of
1941 a sequence of identical lines (ignoring case when [i]
1942 is used). Without this flag, a sequence of identical
1943 lines will be kept in their original order.
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001944 Note that leading and trailing white space may cause
1945 lines to be different.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001946
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001947 When /{pattern}/ is specified and there is no [r] flag
1948 the text matched with {pattern} is skipped, so that
1949 you sort on what comes after the match.
Bram Moolenaar4466ad62020-11-21 13:16:30 +01001950 'ignorecase' applies to the pattern, but 'smartcase'
1951 is not used.
Bram Moolenaar2389c3c2005-05-22 22:07:59 +00001952 Instead of the slash any non-letter can be used.
1953 For example, to sort on the second comma-separated
1954 field: >
1955 :sort /[^,]*,/
1956< To sort on the text at virtual column 10 (thus
1957 ignoring the difference between tabs and spaces): >
1958 :sort /.*\%10v/
Bram Moolenaarc6fe9192006-04-09 21:54:49 +00001959< To sort on the first number in the line, no matter
1960 what is in front of it: >
Bram Moolenaar446cb832008-06-24 21:56:24 +00001961 :sort /.\{-}\ze\d/
1962< (Explanation: ".\{-}" matches any text, "\ze" sets the
1963 end of the match and \d matches a digit.)
1964 With [r] sorting is done on the matching {pattern}
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001965 instead of skipping past it as described above.
1966 For example, to sort on only the first three letters
1967 of each line: >
1968 :sort /\a\a\a/ r
1969
1970< If a {pattern} is used, any lines which don't have a
1971 match for {pattern} are kept in their current order,
1972 but separate from the lines which do match {pattern}.
1973 If you sorted in reverse, they will be in reverse
1974 order after the sorted lines, otherwise they will be
1975 in their original order, right before the sorted
1976 lines.
1977
Bram Moolenaar1256e722007-07-10 15:26:20 +00001978 If {pattern} is empty (e.g. // is specified), the
1979 last search pattern is used. This allows trying out
1980 a pattern first.
1981
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +02001982Note that using `:sort` with `:global` doesn't sort the matching lines, it's
Bram Moolenaar5c06f8b2005-05-31 22:14:58 +00001983quite useless.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001984
Bram Moolenaar55e29612020-11-01 13:57:44 +01001985`:sort` does not use the current locale unless the l flag is used.
Bram Moolenaar8bb1c3e2014-07-04 16:43:17 +02001986Vim does do a "stable" sort.
Bram Moolenaarf461c8e2005-06-25 23:04:51 +00001987
Bram Moolenaar4c3f5362006-04-11 21:38:50 +00001988The sorting can be interrupted, but if you interrupt it too late in the
1989process you may end up with duplicated lines. This also depends on the system
1990library function used.
Bram Moolenaarae5bce12005-08-15 21:41:48 +00001991
Bram Moolenaar91f84f62018-07-29 15:07:52 +02001992 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: