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Bram Moolenaardca7abe2019-10-20 18:17:57 +02001*insert.txt* For Vim version 8.1. Last change: 2019 Oct 20
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00002
3
4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7 *Insert* *Insert-mode*
8Inserting and replacing text *mode-ins-repl*
9
10Most of this file is about Insert and Replace mode. At the end are a few
11commands for inserting text in other ways.
12
13An overview of the most often used commands can be found in chapter 24 of the
14user manual |usr_24.txt|.
15
161. Special keys |ins-special-keys|
172. Special special keys |ins-special-special|
183. 'textwidth' and 'wrapmargin' options |ins-textwidth|
194. 'expandtab', 'smarttab' and 'softtabstop' options |ins-expandtab|
205. Replace mode |Replace-mode|
216. Virtual Replace mode |Virtual-Replace-mode|
227. Insert mode completion |ins-completion|
238. Insert mode commands |inserting|
249. Ex insert commands |inserting-ex|
2510. Inserting a file |inserting-file|
26
27Also see 'virtualedit', for moving the cursor to positions where there is no
28character. Useful for editing a table.
29
30==============================================================================
311. Special keys *ins-special-keys*
32
33In Insert and Replace mode, the following characters have a special meaning;
34other characters are inserted directly. To insert one of these special
35characters into the buffer, precede it with CTRL-V. To insert a <Nul>
36character use "CTRL-V CTRL-@" or "CTRL-V 000". On some systems, you have to
37use "CTRL-V 003" to insert a CTRL-C. Note: When CTRL-V is mapped you can
38often use CTRL-Q instead |i_CTRL-Q|.
39
40If you are working in a special language mode when inserting text, see the
41'langmap' option, |'langmap'|, on how to avoid switching this mode on and off
42all the time.
43
44If you have 'insertmode' set, <Esc> and a few other keys get another meaning.
45See |'insertmode'|.
46
47char action ~
48-----------------------------------------------------------------------
49 *i_CTRL-[* *i_<Esc>*
50<Esc> or CTRL-[ End insert or Replace mode, go back to Normal mode. Finish
51 abbreviation.
52 Note: If your <Esc> key is hard to hit on your keyboard, train
53 yourself to use CTRL-[.
Bram Moolenaarfb539272014-08-22 19:21:47 +020054 If Esc doesn't work and you are using a Mac, try CTRL-Esc.
55 Or disable Listening under Accessibility preferences.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000056 *i_CTRL-C*
57CTRL-C Quit insert mode, go back to Normal mode. Do not check for
Bram Moolenaar677ee682005-01-27 14:41:15 +000058 abbreviations. Does not trigger the |InsertLeave| autocommand
59 event.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000060
61 *i_CTRL-@*
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +020062CTRL-@ Insert previously inserted text and stop insert.
63
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000064 *i_CTRL-A*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +020065CTRL-A Insert previously inserted text.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000066
67 *i_CTRL-H* *i_<BS>* *i_BS*
68<BS> or CTRL-H Delete the character before the cursor (see |i_backspacing|
69 about joining lines).
70 See |:fixdel| if your <BS> key does not do what you want.
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +020071
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000072 *i_<Del>* *i_DEL*
73<Del> Delete the character under the cursor. If the cursor is at
74 the end of the line, and the 'backspace' option includes
75 "eol", delete the <EOL>; the next line is appended after the
76 current one.
77 See |:fixdel| if your <Del> key does not do what you want.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000078 *i_CTRL-W*
79CTRL-W Delete the word before the cursor (see |i_backspacing| about
80 joining lines). See the section "word motions",
81 |word-motions|, for the definition of a word.
82 *i_CTRL-U*
Bram Moolenaarf2571c62015-06-09 19:44:55 +020083CTRL-U Delete all entered characters before the cursor in the current
Bram Moolenaar979243b2015-06-26 19:35:49 +020084 line. If there are no newly entered characters and
85 'backspace' is not empty, delete all characters before the
Bram Moolenaarf2571c62015-06-09 19:44:55 +020086 cursor in the current line.
87 See |i_backspacing| about joining lines.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +000088 *i_CTRL-I* *i_<Tab>* *i_Tab*
89<Tab> or CTRL-I Insert a tab. If the 'expandtab' option is on, the
90 equivalent number of spaces is inserted (use CTRL-V <Tab> to
91 avoid the expansion; use CTRL-Q <Tab> if CTRL-V is mapped
92 |i_CTRL-Q|). See also the 'smarttab' option and
93 |ins-expandtab|.
94 *i_CTRL-J* *i_<NL>*
95<NL> or CTRL-J Begin new line.
96 *i_CTRL-M* *i_<CR>*
97<CR> or CTRL-M Begin new line.
98 *i_CTRL-K*
99CTRL-K {char1} [char2]
100 Enter digraph (see |digraphs|). When {char1} is a special
101 key, the code for that key is inserted in <> form. For
102 example, the string "<S-Space>" can be entered by typing
103 <C-K><S-Space> (two keys). Neither char is considered for
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200104 mapping.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000105
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200106CTRL-N Find next keyword (see |i_CTRL-N|).
107CTRL-P Find previous keyword (see |i_CTRL-P|).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000108
Bram Moolenaar5be4cee2019-09-27 19:34:08 +0200109CTRL-R {register} *i_CTRL-R*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000110 Insert the contents of a register. Between typing CTRL-R and
111 the second character, '"' will be displayed to indicate that
112 you are expected to enter the name of a register.
113 The text is inserted as if you typed it, but mappings and
114 abbreviations are not used. If you have options like
115 'textwidth', 'formatoptions', or 'autoindent' set, this will
116 influence what will be inserted. This is different from what
117 happens with the "p" command and pasting with the mouse.
118 Special registers:
119 '"' the unnamed register, containing the text of
120 the last delete or yank
121 '%' the current file name
122 '#' the alternate file name
123 '*' the clipboard contents (X11: primary selection)
124 '+' the clipboard contents
125 '/' the last search pattern
126 ':' the last command-line
127 '.' the last inserted text
128 '-' the last small (less than a line) delete
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100129 *i_CTRL-R_=*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000130 '=' the expression register: you are prompted to
131 enter an expression (see |expression|)
Bram Moolenaar293ee4d2004-12-09 21:34:53 +0000132 Note that 0x80 (128 decimal) is used for
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +0000133 special keys. E.g., you can use this to move
134 the cursor up:
135 CTRL-R ="\<Up>"
136 Use CTRL-R CTRL-R to insert text literally.
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +0000137 When the result is a |List| the items are used
138 as lines. They can have line breaks inside
139 too.
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100140 When the result is a Float it's automatically
141 converted to a String.
Bram Moolenaar94f76b72013-07-04 22:50:40 +0200142 When append() or setline() is invoked the undo
143 sequence will be broken.
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200144 See |registers| about registers.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000145
Bram Moolenaar5be4cee2019-09-27 19:34:08 +0200146CTRL-R CTRL-R {register} *i_CTRL-R_CTRL-R*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000147 Insert the contents of a register. Works like using a single
148 CTRL-R, but the text is inserted literally, not as if typed.
149 This differs when the register contains characters like <BS>.
150 Example, where register a contains "ab^Hc": >
151 CTRL-R a results in "ac".
152 CTRL-R CTRL-R a results in "ab^Hc".
153< Options 'textwidth', 'formatoptions', etc. still apply. If
Bram Moolenaarca635012015-09-25 20:34:21 +0200154 you also want to avoid these, use CTRL-R CTRL-O, see below.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000155 The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200156 typed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000157
Bram Moolenaar5be4cee2019-09-27 19:34:08 +0200158CTRL-R CTRL-O {register} *i_CTRL-R_CTRL-O*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000159 Insert the contents of a register literally and don't
160 auto-indent. Does the same as pasting with the mouse
Bram Moolenaarcd5c8f82017-04-09 20:11:58 +0200161 |<MiddleMouse>|. When the register is linewise this will
162 insert the text above the current line, like with `P`.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000163 Does not replace characters!
164 The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200165 typed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000166
Bram Moolenaar5be4cee2019-09-27 19:34:08 +0200167CTRL-R CTRL-P {register} *i_CTRL-R_CTRL-P*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000168 Insert the contents of a register literally and fix the
169 indent, like |[<MiddleMouse>|.
170 Does not replace characters!
171 The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200172 typed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000173
174 *i_CTRL-T*
175CTRL-T Insert one shiftwidth of indent at the start of the current
176 line. The indent is always rounded to a 'shiftwidth' (this is
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +0200177 vi compatible).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000178 *i_CTRL-D*
179CTRL-D Delete one shiftwidth of indent at the start of the current
180 line. The indent is always rounded to a 'shiftwidth' (this is
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +0200181 vi compatible).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000182 *i_0_CTRL-D*
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +02001830 CTRL-D Delete all indent in the current line.
184
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000185 *i_^_CTRL-D*
186^ CTRL-D Delete all indent in the current line. The indent is
187 restored in the next line. This is useful when inserting a
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +0200188 label.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000189
190 *i_CTRL-V*
191CTRL-V Insert next non-digit literally. For special keys, the
192 terminal code is inserted. It's also possible to enter the
193 decimal, octal or hexadecimal value of a character
194 |i_CTRL-V_digit|.
195 The characters typed right after CTRL-V are not considered for
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +0200196 mapping.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000197 Note: When CTRL-V is mapped (e.g., to paste text) you can
198 often use CTRL-Q instead |i_CTRL-Q|.
199
200 *i_CTRL-Q*
201CTRL-Q Same as CTRL-V.
202 Note: Some terminal connections may eat CTRL-Q, it doesn't
203 work then. It does work in the GUI.
204
205CTRL-X Enter CTRL-X mode. This is a sub-mode where commands can
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000206 be given to complete words or scroll the window. See
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200207 |i_CTRL-X| and |ins-completion|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000208
209 *i_CTRL-E*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200210CTRL-E Insert the character which is below the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000211 *i_CTRL-Y*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200212CTRL-Y Insert the character which is above the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000213 Note that for CTRL-E and CTRL-Y 'textwidth' is not used, to be
214 able to copy characters from a long line.
215
216 *i_CTRL-_*
217CTRL-_ Switch between languages, as follows:
218 - When in a rightleft window, revins and nohkmap are toggled,
219 since English will likely be inserted in this case.
220 - When in a norightleft window, revins and hkmap are toggled,
221 since Hebrew will likely be inserted in this case.
222
223 CTRL-_ moves the cursor to the end of the typed text.
224
225 This command is only available when the 'allowrevins' option
226 is set.
227 Please refer to |rileft.txt| for more information about
228 right-to-left mode.
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +0000229 Only if compiled with the |+rightleft| feature.
230
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000231 *i_CTRL-^*
232CTRL-^ Toggle the use of typing language characters.
233 When language |:lmap| mappings are defined:
234 - If 'iminsert' is 1 (langmap mappings used) it becomes 0 (no
235 langmap mappings used).
236 - If 'iminsert' has another value it becomes 1, thus langmap
237 mappings are enabled.
238 When no language mappings are defined:
239 - If 'iminsert' is 2 (Input Method used) it becomes 0 (no
240 Input Method used).
241 - If 'iminsert' has another value it becomes 2, thus the Input
242 Method is enabled.
243 When set to 1, the value of the "b:keymap_name" variable, the
244 'keymap' option or "<lang>" appears in the status line.
245 The language mappings are normally used to type characters
246 that are different from what the keyboard produces. The
247 'keymap' option can be used to install a whole number of them.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000248
249 *i_CTRL-]*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200250CTRL-] Trigger abbreviation, without inserting a character.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000251
252 *i_<Insert>*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200253<Insert> Toggle between Insert and Replace mode.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000254-----------------------------------------------------------------------
255
256 *i_backspacing*
257The effect of the <BS>, CTRL-W, and CTRL-U depend on the 'backspace' option
258(unless 'revins' is set). This is a comma separated list of items:
259
260item action ~
261indent allow backspacing over autoindent
262eol allow backspacing over end-of-line (join lines)
263start allow backspacing over the start position of insert; CTRL-W and
264 CTRL-U stop once at the start position
265
266When 'backspace' is empty, Vi compatible backspacing is used. You cannot
267backspace over autoindent, before column 1 or before where insert started.
268
269For backwards compatibility the values "0", "1" and "2" are also allowed, see
270|'backspace'|.
271
272If the 'backspace' option does contain "eol" and the cursor is in column 1
273when one of the three keys is used, the current line is joined with the
274previous line. This effectively deletes the <EOL> in front of the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000275
276 *i_CTRL-V_digit*
277With CTRL-V the decimal, octal or hexadecimal value of a character can be
278entered directly. This way you can enter any character, except a line break
279(<NL>, value 10). There are five ways to enter the character value:
280
281first char mode max nr of chars max value ~
282(none) decimal 3 255
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000283o or O octal 3 377 (255)
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000284x or X hexadecimal 2 ff (255)
285u hexadecimal 4 ffff (65535)
286U hexadecimal 8 7fffffff (2147483647)
287
288Normally you would type the maximum number of characters. Thus to enter a
289space (value 32) you would type <C-V>032. You can omit the leading zero, in
290which case the character typed after the number must be a non-digit. This
291happens for the other modes as well: As soon as you type a character that is
292invalid for the mode, the value before it will be used and the "invalid"
293character is dealt with in the normal way.
294
295If you enter a value of 10, it will end up in the file as a 0. The 10 is a
296<NL>, which is used internally to represent the <Nul> character. When writing
297the buffer to a file, the <NL> character is translated into <Nul>. The <NL>
298character is written at the end of each line. Thus if you want to insert a
299<NL> character in a file you will have to make a line break.
300
301 *i_CTRL-X* *insert_expand*
302CTRL-X enters a sub-mode where several commands can be used. Most of these
Bram Moolenaare2c453d2019-08-21 14:37:09 +0200303commands do keyword completion; see |ins-completion|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000304
305Two commands can be used to scroll the window up or down, without exiting
306insert mode:
307
308 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-E*
309CTRL-X CTRL-E scroll window one line up.
Bram Moolenaard2cec5b2006-03-28 21:08:56 +0000310 When doing completion look here: |complete_CTRL-E|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000311
312 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-Y*
313CTRL-X CTRL-Y scroll window one line down.
Bram Moolenaard2cec5b2006-03-28 21:08:56 +0000314 When doing completion look here: |complete_CTRL-Y|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000315
316After CTRL-X is pressed, each CTRL-E (CTRL-Y) scrolls the window up (down) by
317one line unless that would cause the cursor to move from its current position
318in the file. As soon as another key is pressed, CTRL-X mode is exited and
319that key is interpreted as in Insert mode.
320
321
322==============================================================================
3232. Special special keys *ins-special-special*
324
325The following keys are special. They stop the current insert, do something,
326and then restart insertion. This means you can do something without getting
327out of Insert mode. This is very handy if you prefer to use the Insert mode
328all the time, just like editors that don't have a separate Normal mode. You
329may also want to set the 'backspace' option to "indent,eol,start" and set the
330'insertmode' option. You can use CTRL-O if you want to map a function key to
331a command.
332
333The changes (inserted or deleted characters) before and after these keys can
334be undone separately. Only the last change can be redone and always behaves
335like an "i" command.
336
337char action ~
338-----------------------------------------------------------------------
339<Up> cursor one line up *i_<Up>*
340<Down> cursor one line down *i_<Down>*
341CTRL-G <Up> cursor one line up, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_<Up>*
342CTRL-G k cursor one line up, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_k*
343CTRL-G CTRL-K cursor one line up, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_CTRL-K*
344CTRL-G <Down> cursor one line down, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_<Down>*
345CTRL-G j cursor one line down, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_j*
346CTRL-G CTRL-J cursor one line down, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_CTRL-J*
347<Left> cursor one character left *i_<Left>*
348<Right> cursor one character right *i_<Right>*
349<S-Left> cursor one word back (like "b" command) *i_<S-Left>*
350<C-Left> cursor one word back (like "b" command) *i_<C-Left>*
351<S-Right> cursor one word forward (like "w" command) *i_<S-Right>*
352<C-Right> cursor one word forward (like "w" command) *i_<C-Right>*
353<Home> cursor to first char in the line *i_<Home>*
354<End> cursor to after last char in the line *i_<End>*
355<C-Home> cursor to first char in the file *i_<C-Home>*
356<C-End> cursor to after last char in the file *i_<C-End>*
357<LeftMouse> cursor to position of mouse click *i_<LeftMouse>*
358<S-Up> move window one page up *i_<S-Up>*
359<PageUp> move window one page up *i_<PageUp>*
360<S-Down> move window one page down *i_<S-Down>*
361<PageDown> move window one page down *i_<PageDown>*
Bram Moolenaar8d9b40e2010-07-25 15:49:07 +0200362<ScrollWheelDown> move window three lines down *i_<ScrollWheelDown>*
363<S-ScrollWheelDown> move window one page down *i_<S-ScrollWheelDown>*
364<ScrollWheelUp> move window three lines up *i_<ScrollWheelUp>*
365<S-ScrollWheelUp> move window one page up *i_<S-ScrollWheelUp>*
366<ScrollWheelLeft> move window six columns left *i_<ScrollWheelLeft>*
367<S-ScrollWheelLeft> move window one page left *i_<S-ScrollWheelLeft>*
368<ScrollWheelRight> move window six columns right *i_<ScrollWheelRight>*
369<S-ScrollWheelRight> move window one page right *i_<S-ScrollWheelRight>*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000370CTRL-O execute one command, return to Insert mode *i_CTRL-O*
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +0000371CTRL-\ CTRL-O like CTRL-O but don't move the cursor *i_CTRL-\_CTRL-O*
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +0000372CTRL-L when 'insertmode' is set: go to Normal mode *i_CTRL-L*
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000373CTRL-G u break undo sequence, start new change *i_CTRL-G_u*
Bram Moolenaar8b5f65a2015-09-01 19:26:12 +0200374CTRL-G U don't break undo with next left/right cursor *i_CTRL-G_U*
Bram Moolenaarfd133322019-03-29 12:20:27 +0100375 movement, if the cursor stays within
376 same the line
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000377-----------------------------------------------------------------------
378
379Note: If the cursor keys take you out of Insert mode, check the 'noesckeys'
380option.
381
382The CTRL-O command sometimes has a side effect: If the cursor was beyond the
383end of the line, it will be put on the last character in the line. In
384mappings it's often better to use <Esc> (first put an "x" in the text, <Esc>
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +0000385will then always put the cursor on it). Or use CTRL-\ CTRL-O, but then
Bram Moolenaara3e6bc92013-01-30 14:18:00 +0100386beware of the cursor possibly being beyond the end of the line. Note that the
387command following CTRL-\ CTRL-O can still move the cursor, it is not restored
388to its original position.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000389
Bram Moolenaar05365702010-10-27 18:34:44 +0200390The CTRL-O command takes you to Normal mode. If you then use a command enter
Bram Moolenaard38b0552012-04-25 19:07:41 +0200391Insert mode again it normally doesn't nest. Thus when typing "a<C-O>a" and
392then <Esc> takes you back to Normal mode, you do not need to type <Esc> twice.
393An exception is when not typing the command, e.g. when executing a mapping or
394sourcing a script. This makes mappings work that briefly switch to Insert
395mode.
Bram Moolenaar05365702010-10-27 18:34:44 +0200396
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000397The shifted cursor keys are not available on all terminals.
398
399Another side effect is that a count specified before the "i" or "a" command is
400ignored. That is because repeating the effect of the command after CTRL-O is
401too complicated.
402
403An example for using CTRL-G u: >
404
405 :inoremap <C-H> <C-G>u<C-H>
406
407This redefines the backspace key to start a new undo sequence. You can now
408undo the effect of the backspace key, without changing what you typed before
Bram Moolenaar5b435d62012-04-05 17:33:26 +0200409that, with CTRL-O u. Another example: >
410
411 :inoremap <CR> <C-]><C-G>u<CR>
412
413This breaks undo at each line break. It also expands abbreviations before
414this.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000415
Bram Moolenaar8b5f65a2015-09-01 19:26:12 +0200416An example for using CTRL-G U: >
417
418 inoremap <Left> <C-G>U<Left>
419 inoremap <Right> <C-G>U<Right>
420 inoremap <expr> <Home> col('.') == match(getline('.'), '\S') + 1 ?
421 \ repeat('<C-G>U<Left>', col('.') - 1) :
422 \ (col('.') < match(getline('.'), '\S') ?
423 \ repeat('<C-G>U<Right>', match(getline('.'), '\S') + 0) :
424 \ repeat('<C-G>U<Left>', col('.') - 1 - match(getline('.'), '\S')))
425 inoremap <expr> <End> repeat('<C-G>U<Right>', col('$') - col('.'))
426 inoremap ( ()<C-G>U<Left>
427
428This makes it possible to use the cursor keys in Insert mode, without breaking
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +0100429the undo sequence and therefore using |.| (redo) will work as expected.
Bram Moolenaard2f3a8b2018-06-19 14:35:59 +0200430Also entering a text like (with the "(" mapping from above):
Bram Moolenaar8b5f65a2015-09-01 19:26:12 +0200431
432 Lorem ipsum (dolor
433
Bram Moolenaard2f3a8b2018-06-19 14:35:59 +0200434will be repeatable by using |.| to the expected
Bram Moolenaar8b5f65a2015-09-01 19:26:12 +0200435
436 Lorem ipsum (dolor)
437
Bram Moolenaarf4b8e572004-06-24 15:53:16 +0000438Using CTRL-O splits undo: the text typed before and after it is undone
439separately. If you want to avoid this (e.g., in a mapping) you might be able
440to use CTRL-R = |i_CTRL-R|. E.g., to call a function: >
441 :imap <F2> <C-R>=MyFunc()<CR>
442
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000443When the 'whichwrap' option is set appropriately, the <Left> and <Right>
444keys on the first/last character in the line make the cursor wrap to the
445previous/next line.
446
447The CTRL-G j and CTRL-G k commands can be used to insert text in front of a
448column. Example: >
449 int i;
450 int j;
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000451Position the cursor on the first "int", type "istatic <C-G>j ". The
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000452result is: >
453 static int i;
454 int j;
455When inserting the same text in front of the column in every line, use the
456Visual blockwise command "I" |v_b_I|.
457
458==============================================================================
4593. 'textwidth' and 'wrapmargin' options *ins-textwidth*
460
461The 'textwidth' option can be used to automatically break a line before it
462gets too long. Set the 'textwidth' option to the desired maximum line
463length. If you then type more characters (not spaces or tabs), the
464last word will be put on a new line (unless it is the only word on the
465line). If you set 'textwidth' to 0, this feature is disabled.
466
467The 'wrapmargin' option does almost the same. The difference is that
468'textwidth' has a fixed width while 'wrapmargin' depends on the width of the
469screen. When using 'wrapmargin' this is equal to using 'textwidth' with a
470value equal to (columns - 'wrapmargin'), where columns is the width of the
471screen.
472
473When 'textwidth' and 'wrapmargin' are both set, 'textwidth' is used.
474
475If you don't really want to break the line, but view the line wrapped at a
476convenient place, see the 'linebreak' option.
477
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +0000478The line is only broken automatically when using Insert mode, or when
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000479appending to a line. When in replace mode and the line length is not
480changed, the line will not be broken.
481
482Long lines are broken if you enter a non-white character after the margin.
483The situations where a line will be broken can be restricted by adding
484characters to the 'formatoptions' option:
485"l" Only break a line if it was not longer than 'textwidth' when the insert
486 started.
487"v" Only break at a white character that has been entered during the
488 current insert command. This is mostly Vi-compatible.
489"lv" Only break if the line was not longer than 'textwidth' when the insert
490 started and only at a white character that has been entered during the
491 current insert command. Only differs from "l" when entering non-white
492 characters while crossing the 'textwidth' boundary.
493
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +0000494Normally an internal function will be used to decide where to break the line.
495If you want to do it in a different way set the 'formatexpr' option to an
496expression that will take care of the line break.
497
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000498If you want to format a block of text, you can use the "gq" operator. Type
499"gq" and a movement command to move the cursor to the end of the block. In
500many cases, the command "gq}" will do what you want (format until the end of
501paragraph). Alternatively, you can use "gqap", which will format the whole
502paragraph, no matter where the cursor currently is. Or you can use Visual
503mode: hit "v", move to the end of the block, and type "gq". See also |gq|.
504
505==============================================================================
5064. 'expandtab', 'smarttab' and 'softtabstop' options *ins-expandtab*
507
508If the 'expandtab' option is on, spaces will be used to fill the amount of
509whitespace of the tab. If you want to enter a real <Tab>, type CTRL-V first
510(use CTRL-Q when CTRL-V is mapped |i_CTRL-Q|).
511The 'expandtab' option is off by default. Note that in Replace mode, a single
512character is replaced with several spaces. The result of this is that the
513number of characters in the line increases. Backspacing will delete one
514space at a time. The original character will be put back for only one space
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200515that you backspace over (the last one).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000516
517 *ins-smarttab*
518When the 'smarttab' option is on, a <Tab> inserts 'shiftwidth' positions at
519the beginning of a line and 'tabstop' positions in other places. This means
Bram Moolenaar30b65812012-07-12 22:01:11 +0200520that often spaces instead of a <Tab> character are inserted. When 'smarttab'
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000521is off, a <Tab> always inserts 'tabstop' positions, and 'shiftwidth' is only
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200522used for ">>" and the like.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000523
524 *ins-softtabstop*
525When the 'softtabstop' option is non-zero, a <Tab> inserts 'softtabstop'
526positions, and a <BS> used to delete white space, will delete 'softtabstop'
527positions. This feels like 'tabstop' was set to 'softtabstop', but a real
528<Tab> character still takes 'tabstop' positions, so your file will still look
529correct when used by other applications.
530
531If 'softtabstop' is non-zero, a <BS> will try to delete as much white space to
532move to the previous 'softtabstop' position, except when the previously
533inserted character is a space, then it will only delete the character before
534the cursor. Otherwise you cannot always delete a single character before the
535cursor. You will have to delete 'softtabstop' characters first, and then type
536extra spaces to get where you want to be.
537
538==============================================================================
5395. Replace mode *Replace* *Replace-mode* *mode-replace*
540
541Enter Replace mode with the "R" command in normal mode.
542
543In Replace mode, one character in the line is deleted for every character you
544type. If there is no character to delete (at the end of the line), the
545typed character is appended (as in Insert mode). Thus the number of
546characters in a line stays the same until you get to the end of the line.
547If a <NL> is typed, a line break is inserted and no character is deleted.
548
549Be careful with <Tab> characters. If you type a normal printing character in
550its place, the number of characters is still the same, but the number of
551columns will become smaller.
552
553If you delete characters in Replace mode (with <BS>, CTRL-W, or CTRL-U), what
554happens is that you delete the changes. The characters that were replaced
555are restored. If you had typed past the existing text, the characters you
556added are deleted. This is effectively a character-at-a-time undo.
557
558If the 'expandtab' option is on, a <Tab> will replace one character with
559several spaces. The result of this is that the number of characters in the
560line increases. Backspacing will delete one space at a time. The original
561character will be put back for only one space that you backspace over (the
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +0200562last one).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000563
564==============================================================================
5656. Virtual Replace mode *vreplace-mode* *Virtual-Replace-mode*
566
567Enter Virtual Replace mode with the "gR" command in normal mode.
Bram Moolenaardb84e452010-08-15 13:50:43 +0200568{not available when compiled without the |+vreplace| feature}
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000569
570Virtual Replace mode is similar to Replace mode, but instead of replacing
571actual characters in the file, you are replacing screen real estate, so that
572characters further on in the file never appear to move.
573
574So if you type a <Tab> it may replace several normal characters, and if you
575type a letter on top of a <Tab> it may not replace anything at all, since the
576<Tab> will still line up to the same place as before.
577
578Typing a <NL> still doesn't cause characters later in the file to appear to
579move. The rest of the current line will be replaced by the <NL> (that is,
580they are deleted), and replacing continues on the next line. A new line is
581NOT inserted unless you go past the end of the file.
582
583Interesting effects are seen when using CTRL-T and CTRL-D. The characters
584before the cursor are shifted sideways as normal, but characters later in the
585line still remain still. CTRL-T will hide some of the old line under the
586shifted characters, but CTRL-D will reveal them again.
587
588As with Replace mode, using <BS> etc will bring back the characters that were
589replaced. This still works in conjunction with 'smartindent', CTRL-T and
590CTRL-D, 'expandtab', 'smarttab', 'softtabstop', etc.
591
592In 'list' mode, Virtual Replace mode acts as if it was not in 'list' mode,
593unless "L" is in 'cpoptions'.
594
Bram Moolenaar24ea3ba2010-09-19 19:01:21 +0200595Note that the only situations for which characters beyond the cursor should
596appear to move are in List mode |'list'|, and occasionally when 'wrap' is set
597(and the line changes length to become shorter or wider than the width of the
598screen). In other cases spaces may be inserted to avoid following characters
599to move.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000600
601This mode is very useful for editing <Tab> separated columns in tables, for
602entering new data while keeping all the columns aligned.
603
604==============================================================================
6057. Insert mode completion *ins-completion*
606
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +0000607In Insert and Replace mode, there are several commands to complete part of a
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000608keyword or line that has been typed. This is useful if you are using
609complicated keywords (e.g., function names with capitals and underscores).
610
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000611Completion can be done for:
612
6131. Whole lines |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L|
6142. keywords in the current file |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-N|
6153. keywords in 'dictionary' |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K|
6164. keywords in 'thesaurus', thesaurus-style |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T|
6175. keywords in the current and included files |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I|
6186. tags |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]|
6197. file names |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-F|
6208. definitions or macros |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D|
6219. Vim command-line |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-V|
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +000062210. User defined completion |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U|
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +000062311. omni completion |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O|
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +000062412. Spelling suggestions |i_CTRL-X_s|
Bram Moolenaar6aa8cea2017-06-05 14:44:35 +020062513. keywords in 'complete' |i_CTRL-N| |i_CTRL-P|
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000626
Bram Moolenaar6aa8cea2017-06-05 14:44:35 +0200627All these, except CTRL-N and CTRL-P, are done in CTRL-X mode. This is a
628sub-mode of Insert and Replace modes. You enter CTRL-X mode by typing CTRL-X
629and one of the CTRL-X commands. You exit CTRL-X mode by typing a key that is
630not a valid CTRL-X mode command. Valid keys are the CTRL-X command itself,
631CTRL-N (next), and CTRL-P (previous).
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000632
Bram Moolenaarfd133322019-03-29 12:20:27 +0100633To get the current completion information, |complete_info()| can be used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000634Also see the 'infercase' option if you want to adjust the case of the match.
635
Bram Moolenaard2cec5b2006-03-28 21:08:56 +0000636 *complete_CTRL-E*
637When completion is active you can use CTRL-E to stop it and go back to the
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +0000638originally typed text. The CTRL-E will not be inserted.
Bram Moolenaard2cec5b2006-03-28 21:08:56 +0000639
640 *complete_CTRL-Y*
641When the popup menu is displayed you can use CTRL-Y to stop completion and
642accept the currently selected entry. The CTRL-Y is not inserted. Typing a
643space, Enter, or some other unprintable character will leave completion mode
644and insert that typed character.
645
Bram Moolenaar9e54a0e2006-04-14 20:42:25 +0000646When the popup menu is displayed there are a few more special keys, see
647|popupmenu-keys|.
648
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000649Note: The keys that are valid in CTRL-X mode are not mapped. This allows for
650":map ^F ^X^F" to work (where ^F is CTRL-F and ^X is CTRL-X). The key that
651ends CTRL-X mode (any key that is not a valid CTRL-X mode command) is mapped.
652Also, when doing completion with 'complete' mappings apply as usual.
653
Bram Moolenaarf193fff2006-04-27 00:02:13 +0000654Note: While completion is active Insert mode can't be used recursively.
655Mappings that somehow invoke ":normal i.." will generate an E523 error.
656
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000657The following mappings are suggested to make typing the completion commands
658a bit easier (although they will hide other commands): >
659 :inoremap ^] ^X^]
660 :inoremap ^F ^X^F
661 :inoremap ^D ^X^D
662 :inoremap ^L ^X^L
663
664As a special case, typing CTRL-R to perform register insertion (see
665|i_CTRL-R|) will not exit CTRL-X mode. This is primarily to allow the use of
666the '=' register to call some function to determine the next operation. If
667the contents of the register (or result of the '=' register evaluation) are
668not valid CTRL-X mode keys, then CTRL-X mode will be exited as if those keys
669had been typed.
670
671For example, the following will map <Tab> to either actually insert a <Tab> if
672the current line is currently only whitespace, or start/continue a CTRL-N
673completion operation: >
674
675 function! CleverTab()
676 if strpart( getline('.'), 0, col('.')-1 ) =~ '^\s*$'
677 return "\<Tab>"
678 else
679 return "\<C-N>"
Bram Moolenaarb52073a2010-03-17 20:02:06 +0100680 endif
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000681 endfunction
682 inoremap <Tab> <C-R>=CleverTab()<CR>
683
684
685
686Completing whole lines *compl-whole-line*
687
688 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L*
689CTRL-X CTRL-L Search backwards for a line that starts with the
Bram Moolenaar83bab712005-08-01 21:58:57 +0000690 same characters as those in the current line before
691 the cursor. Indent is ignored. The matching line is
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000692 inserted in front of the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar83bab712005-08-01 21:58:57 +0000693 The 'complete' option is used to decide which buffers
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +0000694 are searched for a match. Both loaded and unloaded
695 buffers are used.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000696 CTRL-L or
697 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching line. This line
698 replaces the previous matching line.
699
700 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching line. This line
701 replaces the previous matching line.
702
703 CTRL-X CTRL-L After expanding a line you can additionally get the
704 line next to it by typing CTRL-X CTRL-L again, unless
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +0100705 a double CTRL-X is used. Only works for loaded
706 buffers.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000707
708Completing keywords in current file *compl-current*
709
710 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-P*
711 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-N*
712CTRL-X CTRL-N Search forwards for words that start with the keyword
713 in front of the cursor. The found keyword is inserted
714 in front of the cursor.
715
716CTRL-X CTRL-P Search backwards for words that start with the keyword
717 in front of the cursor. The found keyword is inserted
718 in front of the cursor.
719
720 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This
721 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
722
723 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This
724 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
725
726 CTRL-X CTRL-N or
727 CTRL-X CTRL-P Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-N or CTRL-X CTRL-P will
728 copy the words following the previous expansion in
729 other contexts unless a double CTRL-X is used.
730
731If there is a keyword in front of the cursor (a name made out of alphabetic
732characters and characters in 'iskeyword'), it is used as the search pattern,
733with "\<" prepended (meaning: start of a word). Otherwise "\<\k\k" is used
734as search pattern (start of any keyword of at least two characters).
735
736In Replace mode, the number of characters that are replaced depends on the
737length of the matched string. This works like typing the characters of the
738matched string in Replace mode.
739
740If there is not a valid keyword character before the cursor, any keyword of
741at least two characters is matched.
742 e.g., to get:
743 printf("(%g, %g, %g)", vector[0], vector[1], vector[2]);
744 just type:
745 printf("(%g, %g, %g)", vector[0], ^P[1], ^P[2]);
746
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +0000747The search wraps around the end of the file, the value of 'wrapscan' is not
748used here.
749
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000750Multiple repeats of the same completion are skipped; thus a different match
751will be inserted at each CTRL-N and CTRL-P (unless there is only one
752matching keyword).
753
754Single character matches are never included, as they usually just get in
755the way of what you were really after.
756 e.g., to get:
757 printf("name = %s\n", name);
758 just type:
759 printf("name = %s\n", n^P);
760 or even:
761 printf("name = %s\n", ^P);
762The 'n' in '\n' is skipped.
763
764After expanding a word, you can use CTRL-X CTRL-P or CTRL-X CTRL-N to get the
765word following the expansion in other contexts. These sequences search for
766the text just expanded and further expand by getting an extra word. This is
767useful if you need to repeat a sequence of complicated words. Although CTRL-P
768and CTRL-N look just for strings of at least two characters, CTRL-X CTRL-P and
769CTRL-X CTRL-N can be used to expand words of just one character.
770 e.g., to get:
771 M&eacute;xico
772 you can type:
773 M^N^P^X^P^X^P
774CTRL-N starts the expansion and then CTRL-P takes back the single character
775"M", the next two CTRL-X CTRL-P's get the words "&eacute" and ";xico".
776
777If the previous expansion was split, because it got longer than 'textwidth',
778then just the text in the current line will be used.
779
780If the match found is at the end of a line, then the first word in the next
781line will be inserted and the message "word from next line" displayed, if
782this word is accepted the next CTRL-X CTRL-P or CTRL-X CTRL-N will search
783for those lines starting with this word.
784
785
786Completing keywords in 'dictionary' *compl-dictionary*
787
788 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K*
789CTRL-X CTRL-K Search the files given with the 'dictionary' option
790 for words that start with the keyword in front of the
791 cursor. This is like CTRL-N, but only the dictionary
792 files are searched, not the current file. The found
793 keyword is inserted in front of the cursor. This
794 could potentially be pretty slow, since all matches
795 are found before the first match is used. By default,
796 the 'dictionary' option is empty.
797 For suggestions where to find a list of words, see the
798 'dictionary' option.
799
800 CTRL-K or
801 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This
802 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
803
804 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This
805 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
806
807 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T*
Bram Moolenaar402d2fe2005-04-15 21:00:38 +0000808CTRL-X CTRL-T Works as CTRL-X CTRL-K, but in a special way. It uses
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000809 the 'thesaurus' option instead of 'dictionary'. If a
810 match is found in the thesaurus file, all the
811 remaining words on the same line are included as
812 matches, even though they don't complete the word.
813 Thus a word can be completely replaced.
814
815 For an example, imagine the 'thesaurus' file has a
816 line like this: >
817 angry furious mad enraged
818< Placing the cursor after the letters "ang" and typing
819 CTRL-X CTRL-T would complete the word "angry";
820 subsequent presses would change the word to "furious",
821 "mad" etc.
822 Other uses include translation between two languages,
823 or grouping API functions by keyword.
824
825 CTRL-T or
826 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This
827 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
828
829 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This
830 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
831
832
833Completing keywords in the current and included files *compl-keyword*
834
835The 'include' option is used to specify a line that contains an include file
836name. The 'path' option is used to search for include files.
837
838 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I*
839CTRL-X CTRL-I Search for the first keyword in the current and
840 included files that starts with the same characters
841 as those before the cursor. The matched keyword is
842 inserted in front of the cursor.
843
844 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching keyword. This
845 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
846 Note: CTRL-I is the same as <Tab>, which is likely to
847 be typed after a successful completion, therefore
848 CTRL-I is not used for searching for the next match.
849
850 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching keyword. This
851 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
852
853 CTRL-X CTRL-I Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-I will copy the words
854 following the previous expansion in other contexts
855 unless a double CTRL-X is used.
856
857Completing tags *compl-tag*
858 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]*
859CTRL-X CTRL-] Search for the first tag that starts with the same
860 characters as before the cursor. The matching tag is
861 inserted in front of the cursor. Alphabetic
862 characters and characters in 'iskeyword' are used
863 to decide which characters are included in the tag
864 name (same as for a keyword). See also |CTRL-]|.
865 The 'showfulltag' option can be used to add context
866 from around the tag definition.
867 CTRL-] or
868 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching tag. This tag
869 replaces the previous matching tag.
870
871 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching tag. This tag
872 replaces the previous matching tag.
873
874
875Completing file names *compl-filename*
876 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-F*
877CTRL-X CTRL-F Search for the first file name that starts with the
878 same characters as before the cursor. The matching
879 file name is inserted in front of the cursor.
880 Alphabetic characters and characters in 'isfname'
881 are used to decide which characters are included in
882 the file name. Note: the 'path' option is not used
883 here (yet).
884 CTRL-F or
885 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching file name. This
886 file name replaces the previous matching file name.
887
888 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching file name.
889 This file name replaces the previous matching file
890 name.
891
892
893Completing definitions or macros *compl-define*
894
895The 'define' option is used to specify a line that contains a definition.
896The 'include' option is used to specify a line that contains an include file
897name. The 'path' option is used to search for include files.
898
899 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D*
900CTRL-X CTRL-D Search in the current and included files for the
901 first definition (or macro) name that starts with
902 the same characters as before the cursor. The found
903 definition name is inserted in front of the cursor.
904 CTRL-D or
905 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching macro name. This
906 macro name replaces the previous matching macro
907 name.
908
909 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching macro name.
910 This macro name replaces the previous matching macro
911 name.
912
913 CTRL-X CTRL-D Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-D will copy the words
914 following the previous expansion in other contexts
915 unless a double CTRL-X is used.
916
917
918Completing Vim commands *compl-vim*
919
920Completion is context-sensitive. It works like on the Command-line. It
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +0000921completes an Ex command as well as its arguments. This is useful when writing
922a Vim script.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000923
924 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-V*
925CTRL-X CTRL-V Guess what kind of item is in front of the cursor and
926 find the first match for it.
927 Note: When CTRL-V is mapped you can often use CTRL-Q
Bram Moolenaar3577c6f2008-06-24 21:16:56 +0000928 instead of |i_CTRL-Q|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000929 CTRL-V or
930 CTRL-N Search forwards for next match. This match replaces
931 the previous one.
932
Bram Moolenaar3577c6f2008-06-24 21:16:56 +0000933 CTRL-P Search backwards for previous match. This match
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +0000934 replaces the previous one.
935
936 CTRL-X CTRL-V Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-V will do the same as
937 CTRL-V. This allows mapping a key to do Vim command
938 completion, for example: >
939 :imap <Tab> <C-X><C-V>
940
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +0000941User defined completion *compl-function*
Bram Moolenaarcfbc5ee2004-07-02 15:38:35 +0000942
943Completion is done by a function that can be defined by the user with the
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +0000944'completefunc' option. See below for how the function is called and an
945example |complete-functions|.
Bram Moolenaarcfbc5ee2004-07-02 15:38:35 +0000946
947 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U*
948CTRL-X CTRL-U Guess what kind of item is in front of the cursor and
949 find the first match for it.
950 CTRL-U or
951 CTRL-N Use the next match. This match replaces the previous
952 one.
953
954 CTRL-P Use the previous match. This match replaces the
955 previous one.
956
957
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +0000958Omni completion *compl-omni*
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +0000959
Bram Moolenaare344bea2005-09-01 20:46:49 +0000960Completion is done by a function that can be defined by the user with the
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +0000961'omnifunc' option. This is to be used for filetype-specific completion.
Bram Moolenaare344bea2005-09-01 20:46:49 +0000962
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +0000963See below for how the function is called and an example |complete-functions|.
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +0000964For remarks about specific filetypes see |compl-omni-filetypes|.
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +0000965More completion scripts will appear, check www.vim.org. Currently there is a
966first version for C++.
Bram Moolenaar4be06f92005-07-29 22:36:03 +0000967
968 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O*
969CTRL-X CTRL-O Guess what kind of item is in front of the cursor and
970 find the first match for it.
971 CTRL-O or
972 CTRL-N Use the next match. This match replaces the previous
973 one.
974
975 CTRL-P Use the previous match. This match replaces the
976 previous one.
977
978
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +0000979Spelling suggestions *compl-spelling*
980
Bram Moolenaar5195e452005-08-19 20:32:47 +0000981A word before or at the cursor is located and correctly spelled words are
982suggested to replace it. If there is a badly spelled word in the line, before
983or under the cursor, the cursor is moved to after it. Otherwise the word just
984before the cursor is used for suggestions, even though it isn't badly spelled.
985
Bram Moolenaar488c6512005-08-11 20:09:58 +0000986NOTE: CTRL-S suspends display in many Unix terminals. Use 's' instead. Type
987CTRL-Q to resume displaying.
988
989 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-S* *i_CTRL-X_s*
990CTRL-X CTRL-S or
991CTRL-X s Locate the word in front of the cursor and find the
992 first spell suggestion for it.
993 CTRL-S or
994 CTRL-N Use the next suggestion. This replaces the previous
995 one. Note that you can't use 's' here.
996
997 CTRL-P Use the previous suggestion. This replaces the
998 previous one.
999
1000
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001001Completing keywords from different sources *compl-generic*
1002
1003 *i_CTRL-N*
1004CTRL-N Find next match for words that start with the
1005 keyword in front of the cursor, looking in places
1006 specified with the 'complete' option. The found
1007 keyword is inserted in front of the cursor.
1008
1009 *i_CTRL-P*
1010CTRL-P Find previous match for words that start with the
1011 keyword in front of the cursor, looking in places
1012 specified with the 'complete' option. The found
1013 keyword is inserted in front of the cursor.
1014
1015 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This
1016 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
1017
1018 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This
1019 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword.
1020
1021 CTRL-X CTRL-N or
1022 CTRL-X CTRL-P Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-N or CTRL-X CTRL-P will
1023 copy the words following the previous expansion in
1024 other contexts unless a double CTRL-X is used.
1025
Bram Moolenaar578b49e2005-09-10 19:22:57 +00001026
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +00001027FUNCTIONS FOR FINDING COMPLETIONS *complete-functions*
1028
1029This applies to 'completefunc' and 'omnifunc'.
1030
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001031The function is called in two different ways:
1032- First the function is called to find the start of the text to be completed.
1033- Later the function is called to actually find the matches.
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +00001034
1035On the first invocation the arguments are:
1036 a:findstart 1
1037 a:base empty
1038
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001039The function must return the column where the completion starts. It must be a
1040number between zero and the cursor column "col('.')". This involves looking
1041at the characters just before the cursor and including those characters that
1042could be part of the completed item. The text between this column and the
Bram Moolenaarfc65cab2018-08-28 22:58:02 +02001043cursor column will be replaced with the matches. If the returned value is
1044larger than the cursor column, the cursor column is used.
Bram Moolenaar8e52a592012-05-18 21:49:28 +02001045
Bram Moolenaarfc65cab2018-08-28 22:58:02 +02001046Negative return values:
1047 -2 To cancel silently and stay in completion mode.
1048 -3 To cancel silently and leave completion mode.
1049 Another negative value: completion starts at the cursor column
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +00001050
1051On the second invocation the arguments are:
1052 a:findstart 0
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001053 a:base the text with which matches should match; the text that was
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +00001054 located in the first call (can be empty)
1055
1056The function must return a List with the matching words. These matches
1057usually include the "a:base" text. When there are no matches return an empty
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001058List.
Bram Moolenaar5302d9e2011-09-14 17:55:08 +02001059
1060In order to return more information than the matching words, return a Dict
1061that contains the List. The Dict can have these items:
1062 words The List of matching words (mandatory).
1063 refresh A string to control re-invocation of the function
1064 (optional).
1065 The only value currently recognized is "always", the
1066 effect is that the function is called whenever the
1067 leading text is changed.
Bram Moolenaarcee9bc22019-01-11 13:02:23 +01001068
1069If you want to suppress the warning message for an empty result, return
Bram Moolenaar314dd792019-02-03 15:27:20 +01001070|v:none|. This is useful to implement asynchronous completion with
1071|complete()|.
Bram Moolenaarcee9bc22019-01-11 13:02:23 +01001072
Bram Moolenaar5302d9e2011-09-14 17:55:08 +02001073Other items are ignored.
1074
Bram Moolenaar30b65812012-07-12 22:01:11 +02001075For acting upon end of completion, see the |CompleteDone| autocommand event.
1076
Bram Moolenaar5302d9e2011-09-14 17:55:08 +02001077For example, the function can contain this: >
1078 let matches = ... list of words ...
1079 return {'words': matches, 'refresh': 'always'}
1080<
Bram Moolenaar5c4bab02006-03-10 21:37:46 +00001081 *complete-items*
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001082Each list item can either be a string or a Dictionary. When it is a string it
1083is used as the completion. When it is a Dictionary it can contain these
1084items:
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001085 word the text that will be inserted, mandatory
1086 abbr abbreviation of "word"; when not empty it is used in
1087 the menu instead of "word"
Bram Moolenaar8dff8182006-04-06 20:18:50 +00001088 menu extra text for the popup menu, displayed after "word"
1089 or "abbr"
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001090 info more information about the item, can be displayed in a
Bram Moolenaar62a0cb42019-08-18 16:35:23 +02001091 preview or popup window
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001092 kind single letter indicating the type of completion
Bram Moolenaar91170f82006-05-05 21:15:17 +00001093 icase when non-zero case is to be ignored when comparing
1094 items to be equal; when omitted zero is used, thus
1095 items that only differ in case are added
Bram Moolenaar73655cf2019-04-06 13:45:55 +02001096 equal when non-zero, always treat this item to be equal when
1097 comparing. Which means, "equal=1" disables filtering
1098 of this item.
Bram Moolenaar4a85b412006-04-23 22:40:29 +00001099 dup when non-zero this match will be added even when an
1100 item with the same word is already present.
Bram Moolenaar166af9b2010-11-16 20:34:40 +01001101 empty when non-zero this match will be added even when it is
1102 an empty string
Bram Moolenaar9b56a572018-02-10 16:19:32 +01001103 user_data custom data which is associated with the item and
1104 available in |v:completed_item|
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001105
Bram Moolenaar73655cf2019-04-06 13:45:55 +02001106All of these except "icase", "equal", "dup" and "empty" must be a string. If
1107an item does not meet these requirements then an error message is given and
1108further items in the list are not used. You can mix string and Dictionary
1109items in the returned list.
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001110
1111The "menu" item is used in the popup menu and may be truncated, thus it should
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001112be relatively short. The "info" item can be longer, it will be displayed in
Bram Moolenaar62a0cb42019-08-18 16:35:23 +02001113the preview window when "preview" appears in 'completeopt' or in a popup
1114window when "popup" appears in 'completeopt'. In the preview window the
1115"info" item will also remain displayed after the popup menu has been removed.
1116This is useful for function arguments. Use a single space for "info" to
1117remove existing text in the preview window. The size of the preview window is
1118three lines, but 'previewheight' is used when it has a value of 1 or 2.
1119
1120 *complete-popup*
1121When "popup" is in 'completeopt' a popup window is used to display the "info".
Bram Moolenaar06fe74a2019-08-31 16:20:32 +02001122Then the 'completepopup' option specifies the properties of the popup. This
1123is used when the info popup is created. The option is a comma separated list
1124of values:
Bram Moolenaar62a0cb42019-08-18 16:35:23 +02001125 height maximum height of the popup
1126 width maximum width of the popup
Bram Moolenaar8fe10002019-09-11 22:56:44 +02001127 highlight highlight group of the popup (default is PmenuSel)
Bram Moolenaar258cef52019-08-21 17:29:29 +02001128 align "item" (default) or "menu"
1129 border "on" (default) or "off"
Bram Moolenaar62a0cb42019-08-18 16:35:23 +02001130Example: >
1131 :set completepopup=height:10,width:60,highlight:InfoPopup
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001132
Bram Moolenaar06fe74a2019-08-31 16:20:32 +02001133When the "align" value is "item" then the popup is positioned close to the
Bram Moolenaar258cef52019-08-21 17:29:29 +02001134selected item. Changing the selection will also move the popup. When "align"
1135is "menu" then the popup is aligned with the top of the menu if the menu is
1136below the text, and the bottom of the menu otherwise.
1137
Bram Moolenaar06fe74a2019-08-31 16:20:32 +02001138After the info popup is created it can be found with |popup_findinfo()| and
1139properties can be changed with |popup_setoptions()|.
1140
Bram Moolenaardca7abe2019-10-20 18:17:57 +02001141 *complete-popuphidden*
1142If the information for the popup is obtained asynchronously, use "popuphidden"
1143in 'completeopt'. The info popup will then be initally hidden and
1144|popup_show()| must be called once it has been filled with the info. This can
1145be done with a |CompleteChanged| autocommand, something like this: >
1146 set completeopt+=popuphidden
1147 au CompleteChanged * call UpdateCompleteInfo()
1148 func UpdateCompleteInfo()
1149 " Cancel any pending info fetch
1150 let item = v:event.completed_item
1151 " Start fetching info for the item then call ShowCompleteInfo(info)
1152 endfunc
1153 func ShowCompleteInfo(info)
1154 let id = popup_findinfo()
1155 if id
1156 call popup_settext(id, 'async info: ' .. a:info)
1157 call popup_show(id)
1158 endif
1159 endfunc
1160
1161< *complete-item-kind*
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001162The "kind" item uses a single letter to indicate the kind of completion. This
1163may be used to show the completion differently (different color or icon).
1164Currently these types can be used:
1165 v variable
1166 f function or method
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001167 m member of a struct or class
1168 t typedef
1169 d #define or macro
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +00001170
1171When searching for matches takes some time call |complete_add()| to add each
1172match to the total list. These matches should then not appear in the returned
1173list! Call |complete_check()| now and then to allow the user to press a key
1174while still searching for matches. Stop searching when it returns non-zero.
1175
Bram Moolenaar166af9b2010-11-16 20:34:40 +01001176 *E839* *E840*
1177The function is allowed to move the cursor, it is restored afterwards.
1178The function is not allowed to move to another window or delete text.
Bram Moolenaar280f1262006-01-30 00:14:18 +00001179
1180An example that completes the names of the months: >
1181 fun! CompleteMonths(findstart, base)
1182 if a:findstart
1183 " locate the start of the word
1184 let line = getline('.')
1185 let start = col('.') - 1
1186 while start > 0 && line[start - 1] =~ '\a'
1187 let start -= 1
1188 endwhile
1189 return start
1190 else
1191 " find months matching with "a:base"
1192 let res = []
1193 for m in split("Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec")
1194 if m =~ '^' . a:base
1195 call add(res, m)
1196 endif
1197 endfor
1198 return res
1199 endif
1200 endfun
1201 set completefunc=CompleteMonths
1202<
1203The same, but now pretending searching for matches is slow: >
1204 fun! CompleteMonths(findstart, base)
1205 if a:findstart
1206 " locate the start of the word
1207 let line = getline('.')
1208 let start = col('.') - 1
1209 while start > 0 && line[start - 1] =~ '\a'
1210 let start -= 1
1211 endwhile
1212 return start
1213 else
1214 " find months matching with "a:base"
1215 for m in split("Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec")
1216 if m =~ '^' . a:base
1217 call complete_add(m)
1218 endif
1219 sleep 300m " simulate searching for next match
1220 if complete_check()
1221 break
1222 endif
1223 endfor
1224 return []
1225 endif
1226 endfun
1227 set completefunc=CompleteMonths
1228<
1229
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001230INSERT COMPLETION POPUP MENU *ins-completion-menu*
Bram Moolenaarebefac62005-12-28 22:39:57 +00001231 *popupmenu-completion*
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001232Vim can display the matches in a simplistic popup menu.
1233
1234The menu is used when:
Bram Moolenaara2031822006-03-07 22:29:51 +00001235- The 'completeopt' option contains "menu" or "menuone".
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001236- The terminal supports at least 8 colors.
Bram Moolenaard68071d2006-05-02 22:08:30 +00001237- There are at least two matches. One if "menuone" is used.
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001238
Bram Moolenaar56718732006-03-15 22:53:57 +00001239The 'pumheight' option can be used to set a maximum height. The default is to
1240use all space available.
Bram Moolenaar9b56a572018-02-10 16:19:32 +01001241The 'pumwidth' option can be used to set a minimum width. The default is 15
1242characters.
Bram Moolenaar56718732006-03-15 22:53:57 +00001243
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001244There are three states:
12451. A complete match has been inserted, e.g., after using CTRL-N or CTRL-P.
12462. A cursor key has been used to select another match. The match was not
1247 inserted then, only the entry in the popup menu is highlighted.
12483. Only part of a match has been inserted and characters were typed or the
1249 backspace key was used. The list of matches was then adjusted for what is
1250 in front of the cursor.
Bram Moolenaarc7453f52006-02-10 23:20:28 +00001251
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001252You normally start in the first state, with the first match being inserted.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001253When "longest" is in 'completeopt' and there is more than one match you start
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001254in the third state.
Bram Moolenaarc7453f52006-02-10 23:20:28 +00001255
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001256If you select another match, e.g., with CTRL-N or CTRL-P, you go to the first
1257state. This doesn't change the list of matches.
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001258
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001259When you are back at the original text then you are in the third state. To
Bram Moolenaara2031822006-03-07 22:29:51 +00001260get there right away you can use a mapping that uses CTRL-P right after
1261starting the completion: >
1262 :imap <F7> <C-N><C-P>
Bram Moolenaar76916e62006-03-21 21:23:25 +00001263<
1264 *popupmenu-keys*
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001265In the first state these keys have a special meaning:
1266<BS> and CTRL-H Delete one character, find the matches for the word before
1267 the cursor. This reduces the list of matches, often to one
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001268 entry, and switches to the second state.
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001269Any non-special character:
1270 Stop completion without changing the match and insert the
1271 typed character.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001272
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001273In the second and third state these keys have a special meaning:
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001274<BS> and CTRL-H Delete one character, find the matches for the shorter word
1275 before the cursor. This may find more matches.
1276CTRL-L Add one character from the current match, may reduce the
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001277 number of matches.
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001278any printable, non-white character:
1279 Add this character and reduce the number of matches.
Bram Moolenaarc7453f52006-02-10 23:20:28 +00001280
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001281In all three states these can be used:
Bram Moolenaard2cec5b2006-03-28 21:08:56 +00001282CTRL-Y Yes: Accept the currently selected match and stop completion.
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001283CTRL-E End completion, go back to what was there before selecting a
1284 match (what was typed or longest common string).
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001285<PageUp> Select a match several entries back, but don't insert it.
1286<PageDown> Select a match several entries further, but don't insert it.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001287<Up> Select the previous match, as if CTRL-P was used, but don't
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001288 insert it.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001289<Down> Select the next match, as if CTRL-N was used, but don't
Bram Moolenaar80a94a52006-02-23 21:26:58 +00001290 insert it.
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001291<Space> or <Tab> Stop completion without changing the match and insert the
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001292 typed character.
1293
Bram Moolenaar044b68f2007-05-10 17:39:52 +00001294The behavior of the <Enter> key depends on the state you are in:
Bram Moolenaar779b74b2006-04-10 14:55:34 +00001295first state: Use the text as it is and insert a line break.
1296second state: Insert the currently selected match.
1297third state: Use the text as it is and insert a line break.
1298
1299In other words: If you used the cursor keys to select another entry in the
Bram Moolenaar044b68f2007-05-10 17:39:52 +00001300list of matches then the <Enter> key inserts that match. If you typed
1301something else then <Enter> inserts a line break.
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001302
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001303
1304The colors of the menu can be changed with these highlight groups:
1305Pmenu normal item |hl-Pmenu|
1306PmenuSel selected item |hl-PmenuSel|
1307PmenuSbar scrollbar |hl-PmenuSbar|
1308PmenuThumb thumb of the scrollbar |hl-PmenuThumb|
1309
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001310There are no special mappings for when the popup menu is visible. However,
1311you can use an Insert mode mapping that checks the |pumvisible()| function to
1312do something different. Example: >
1313 :inoremap <Down> <C-R>=pumvisible() ? "\<lt>C-N>" : "\<lt>Down>"<CR>
Bram Moolenaar1c7715d2005-10-03 22:02:18 +00001314
Bram Moolenaar5c4bab02006-03-10 21:37:46 +00001315You can use of <expr> in mapping to have the popup menu used when typing a
1316character and some condition is met. For example, for typing a dot: >
1317 inoremap <expr> . MayComplete()
1318 func MayComplete()
1319 if (can complete)
1320 return ".\<C-X>\<C-O>"
1321 endif
1322 return '.'
1323 endfunc
1324
1325See |:map-<expr>| for more info.
1326
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001327
1328FILETYPE-SPECIFIC REMARKS FOR OMNI COMPLETION *compl-omni-filetypes*
1329
1330The file used for {filetype} should be autoload/{filetype}complete.vim
1331in 'runtimepath'. Thus for "java" it is autoload/javacomplete.vim.
Bram Moolenaar578b49e2005-09-10 19:22:57 +00001332
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001333
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +00001334C *ft-c-omni*
Bram Moolenaar578b49e2005-09-10 19:22:57 +00001335
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +00001336Completion of C code requires a tags file. You should use Exuberant ctags,
1337because it adds extra information that is needed for completion. You can find
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001338it here: http://ctags.sourceforge.net/ Version 5.6 or later is recommended.
1339
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +00001340For version 5.5.4 you should add a patch that adds the "typename:" field:
Bram Moolenaar36fc5352006-03-04 21:49:37 +00001341 ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/unstable/patches/ctags-5.5.4.patch
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001342A compiled .exe for MS-Windows can be found at:
Bram Moolenaar2f058492017-11-30 20:27:52 +01001343 http://ctags.sourceforge.net/
1344 https://github.com/universal-ctags/ctags-win32
Bram Moolenaar578b49e2005-09-10 19:22:57 +00001345
1346If you want to complete system functions you can do something like this. Use
1347ctags to generate a tags file for all the system header files: >
1348 % ctags -R -f ~/.vim/systags /usr/include /usr/local/include
1349In your vimrc file add this tags file to the 'tags' option: >
1350 set tags+=~/.vim/systags
1351
1352When using CTRL-X CTRL-O after a name without any "." or "->" it is completed
1353from the tags file directly. This works for any identifier, also function
1354names. If you want to complete a local variable name, which does not appear
1355in the tags file, use CTRL-P instead.
1356
1357When using CTRL-X CTRL-O after something that has "." or "->" Vim will attempt
1358to recognize the type of the variable and figure out what members it has.
1359This means only members valid for the variable will be listed.
1360
Bram Moolenaarf75a9632005-09-13 21:20:47 +00001361When a member name already was complete, CTRL-X CTRL-O will add a "." or
1362"->" for composite types.
1363
Bram Moolenaar578b49e2005-09-10 19:22:57 +00001364Vim doesn't include a C compiler, only the most obviously formatted
1365declarations are recognized. Preprocessor stuff may cause confusion.
1366When the same structure name appears in multiple places all possible members
1367are included.
1368
Bram Moolenaar6b730e12005-09-16 21:47:57 +00001369
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001370CSS *ft-css-omni*
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001371
1372Complete properties and their appropriate values according to CSS 2.1
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001373specification.
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001374
1375
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001376HTML *ft-html-omni*
1377XHTML *ft-xhtml-omni*
Bram Moolenaar6b730e12005-09-16 21:47:57 +00001378
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001379CTRL-X CTRL-O provides completion of various elements of (X)HTML files. It is
Bram Moolenaardb6ea062014-07-10 22:01:47 +02001380designed to support writing of XHTML 1.0 Strict files but will also work for
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001381other versions of HTML. Features:
Bram Moolenaar6b730e12005-09-16 21:47:57 +00001382
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001383- after "<" complete tag name depending on context (no div suggestion inside
1384 of an a tag); '/>' indicates empty tags
1385- inside of tag complete proper attributes (no width attribute for an a tag);
1386 show also type of attribute; '*' indicates required attributes
1387- when attribute has limited number of possible values help to complete them
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001388- complete names of entities
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +00001389- complete values of "class" and "id" attributes with data obtained from
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001390 <style> tag and included CSS files
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001391- when completing value of "style" attribute or working inside of "style" tag
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +00001392 switch to |ft-css-omni| completion
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001393- when completing values of events attributes or working inside of "script"
1394 tag switch to |ft-javascript-omni| completion
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +00001395- when used after "</" CTRL-X CTRL-O will close the last opened tag
Bram Moolenaar6b730e12005-09-16 21:47:57 +00001396
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001397Note: When used first time completion menu will be shown with little delay
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001398- this is time needed for loading of data file.
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001399Note: Completion may fail in badly formatted documents. In such case try to
1400run |:make| command to detect formatting problems.
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001401
1402
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001403HTML flavor *html-flavor*
1404
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001405The default HTML completion depends on the filetype. For HTML files it is
1406HTML 4.01 Transitional ('filetype' is "html"), for XHTML it is XHTML 1.0
1407Strict ('filetype' is "xhtml").
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001408
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001409When doing completion outside of any other tag you will have possibility to
1410choose DOCTYPE and the appropriate data file will be loaded and used for all
1411next completions.
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001412
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001413More about format of data file in |xml-omni-datafile|. Some of the data files
1414may be found on the Vim website (|www|).
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001415
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001416Note that b:html_omni_flavor may point to a file with any XML data. This
1417makes possible to mix PHP (|ft-php-omni|) completion with any XML dialect
1418(assuming you have data file for it). Without setting that variable XHTML 1.0
1419Strict will be used.
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001420
1421
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001422JAVASCRIPT *ft-javascript-omni*
Bram Moolenaarb8a7b562006-02-01 21:47:16 +00001423
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001424Completion of most elements of JavaScript language and DOM elements.
Bram Moolenaarb8a7b562006-02-01 21:47:16 +00001425
1426Complete:
1427
1428- variables
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001429- function name; show function arguments
Bram Moolenaarb8a7b562006-02-01 21:47:16 +00001430- function arguments
1431- properties of variables trying to detect type of variable
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001432- complete DOM objects and properties depending on context
Bram Moolenaarb8a7b562006-02-01 21:47:16 +00001433- keywords of language
1434
Bram Moolenaar8b6144b2006-02-08 09:20:24 +00001435Completion works in separate JavaScript files (&ft==javascript), inside of
1436<script> tag of (X)HTML and in values of event attributes (including scanning
Bram Moolenaar9ba7e172013-07-17 22:37:26 +02001437of external files).
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001438
Bram Moolenaarb8a7b562006-02-01 21:47:16 +00001439DOM compatibility
1440
1441At the moment (beginning of 2006) there are two main browsers - MS Internet
1442Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. These two applications are covering over 90% of
1443market. Theoretically standards are created by W3C organisation
1444(http://www.w3c.org) but they are not always followed/implemented.
1445
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001446 IE FF W3C Omni completion ~
1447 +/- +/- + + ~
1448 + + - + ~
1449 + - - - ~
1450 - + - - ~
Bram Moolenaarb8a7b562006-02-01 21:47:16 +00001451
1452Regardless from state of implementation in browsers but if element is defined
1453in standards, completion plugin will place element in suggestion list. When
1454both major engines implemented element, even if this is not in standards it
1455will be suggested. All other elements are not placed in suggestion list.
1456
1457
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001458PHP *ft-php-omni*
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +00001459
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001460Completion of PHP code requires a tags file for completion of data from
1461external files and for class aware completion. You should use Exuberant ctags
1462version 5.5.4 or newer. You can find it here: http://ctags.sourceforge.net/
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +00001463
1464Script completes:
1465
1466- after $ variables name
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001467 - if variable was declared as object add "->", if tags file is available show
1468 name of class
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001469 - after "->" complete only function and variable names specific for given
1470 class. To find class location and contents tags file is required. Because
1471 PHP isn't strongly typed language user can use @var tag to declare class: >
1472
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001473 /* @var $myVar myClass */
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001474 $myVar->
1475<
1476 Still, to find myClass contents tags file is required.
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001477
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +00001478- function names with additional info:
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001479 - in case of built-in functions list of possible arguments and after | type
1480 data returned by function
Bram Moolenaar06b5d512010-05-22 15:37:44 +02001481 - in case of user function arguments and name of file where function was
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001482 defined (if it is not current file)
1483
1484- constants names
1485- class names after "new" declaration
1486
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +00001487
1488Note: when doing completion first time Vim will load all necessary data into
1489memory. It may take several seconds. After next use of completion delay
Bram Moolenaar0b598c22006-03-11 21:22:53 +00001490should not be noticeable.
Bram Moolenaar362e1a32006-03-06 23:29:24 +00001491
1492Script detects if cursor is inside <?php ?> tags. If it is outside it will
1493automatically switch to HTML/CSS/JavaScript completion. Note: contrary to
1494original HTML files completion of tags (and only tags) isn't context aware.
1495
1496
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001497RUBY *ft-ruby-omni*
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001498
1499Completion of Ruby code requires that vim be built with |+ruby|.
1500
1501Ruby completion will parse your buffer on demand in order to provide a list of
1502completions. These completions will be drawn from modules loaded by 'require'
1503and modules defined in the current buffer.
1504
1505The completions provided by CTRL-X CTRL-O are sensitive to the context:
1506
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001507 CONTEXT COMPLETIONS PROVIDED ~
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001508
1509 1. Not inside a class definition Classes, constants and globals
1510
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001511 2. Inside a class definition Methods or constants defined in the class
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001512
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001513 3. After '.', '::' or ':' Methods applicable to the object being
1514 dereferenced
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001515
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001516 4. After ':' or ':foo' Symbol name (beginning with 'foo')
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001517
1518Notes:
1519 - Vim will load/evaluate code in order to provide completions. This may
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001520 cause some code execution, which may be a concern. This is no longer
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001521 enabled by default, to enable this feature add >
1522 let g:rubycomplete_buffer_loading = 1
1523<- In context 1 above, Vim can parse the entire buffer to add a list of
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +00001524 classes to the completion results. This feature is turned off by default,
1525 to enable it add >
1526 let g:rubycomplete_classes_in_global = 1
1527< to your vimrc
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001528 - In context 2 above, anonymous classes are not supported.
1529 - In context 3 above, Vim will attempt to determine the methods supported by
1530 the object.
1531 - Vim can detect and load the Rails environment for files within a rails
1532 project. The feature is disabled by default, to enable it add >
Bram Moolenaar551dbcc2006-04-25 22:13:59 +00001533 let g:rubycomplete_rails = 1
1534< to your vimrc
Bram Moolenaarfc1421e2006-04-20 22:17:20 +00001535
1536
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001537SYNTAX *ft-syntax-omni*
1538
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001539Vim has the ability to color syntax highlight nearly 500 languages. Part of
1540this highlighting includes knowing what keywords are part of a language. Many
1541filetypes already have custom completion scripts written for them, the
1542syntaxcomplete plugin provides basic completion for all other filetypes. It
1543does this by populating the omni completion list with the text Vim already
1544knows how to color highlight. It can be used for any filetype and provides a
1545minimal language-sensitive completion.
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001546
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001547To enable syntax code completion you can run: >
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001548 setlocal omnifunc=syntaxcomplete#Complete
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001549
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001550You can automate this by placing the following in your |.vimrc| (after any
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001551":filetype" command): >
1552 if has("autocmd") && exists("+omnifunc")
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001553 autocmd Filetype *
1554 \ if &omnifunc == "" |
1555 \ setlocal omnifunc=syntaxcomplete#Complete |
1556 \ endif
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001557 endif
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001558
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001559The above will set completion to this script only if a specific plugin does
1560not already exist for that filetype.
1561
1562Each filetype can have a wide range of syntax items. The plugin allows you to
1563customize which syntax groups to include or exclude from the list. Let's have
1564a look at the PHP filetype to see how this works.
1565
1566If you edit a file called, index.php, run the following command: >
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001567 syntax list
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001568
Bram Moolenaar06b5d512010-05-22 15:37:44 +02001569The first thing you will notice is that there are many different syntax groups.
1570The PHP language can include elements from different languages like HTML,
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001571JavaScript and many more. The syntax plugin will only include syntax groups
1572that begin with the filetype, "php", in this case. For example these syntax
1573groups are included by default with the PHP: phpEnvVar, phpIntVar,
1574phpFunctions.
1575
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001576If you wish non-filetype syntax items to also be included, you can use a
1577regular expression syntax (added in version 13.0 of
Bram Moolenaar6dc819b2018-07-03 16:42:19 +02001578autoload/syntaxcomplete.vim) to add items. Looking at the output from
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001579":syntax list" while editing a PHP file I can see some of these entries: >
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001580 htmlArg,htmlTag,htmlTagName,javaScriptStatement,javaScriptGlobalObjects
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001581
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001582To pick up any JavaScript and HTML keyword syntax groups while editing a PHP
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001583file, you can use 3 different regexs, one for each language. Or you can
1584simply restrict the include groups to a particular value, without using
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001585a regex string: >
1586 let g:omni_syntax_group_include_php = 'php\w\+,javaScript\w\+,html\w\+'
1587 let g:omni_syntax_group_include_php = 'phpFunctions,phpMethods'
1588<
1589The basic form of this variable is: >
1590 let g:omni_syntax_group_include_{filetype} = 'regex,comma,separated'
1591
1592The PHP language has an enormous number of items which it knows how to syntax
Bram Moolenaar9ba7e172013-07-17 22:37:26 +02001593highlight. These items will be available within the omni completion list.
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001594
1595Some people may find this list unwieldy or are only interested in certain
1596items. There are two ways to prune this list (if necessary). If you find
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001597certain syntax groups you do not wish displayed you can use two different
1598methods to identify these groups. The first specifically lists the syntax
1599groups by name. The second uses a regular expression to identify both
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001600syntax groups. Simply add one the following to your vimrc: >
1601 let g:omni_syntax_group_exclude_php = 'phpCoreConstant,phpConstant'
1602 let g:omni_syntax_group_exclude_php = 'php\w*Constant'
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001603
1604Add as many syntax groups to this list by comma separating them. The basic
1605form of this variable is: >
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001606 let g:omni_syntax_group_exclude_{filetype} = 'regex,comma,separated'
Bram Moolenaarc06ac342006-03-02 22:43:39 +00001607
1608You can create as many of these variables as you need, varying only the
1609filetype at the end of the variable name.
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001610
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001611The plugin uses the isKeyword option to determine where word boundaries are
1612for the syntax items. For example, in the Scheme language completion should
1613include the "-", call-with-output-file. Depending on your filetype, this may
1614not provide the words you are expecting. Setting the
1615g:omni_syntax_use_iskeyword option to 0 will force the syntax plugin to break
1616on word characters. This can be controlled adding the following to your
1617vimrc: >
1618 let g:omni_syntax_use_iskeyword = 0
1619
Bram Moolenaar8b682772010-07-30 21:49:40 +02001620For plugin developers, the plugin exposes a public function OmniSyntaxList.
1621This function can be used to request a List of syntax items. When editing a
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001622SQL file (:e syntax.sql) you can use the ":syntax list" command to see the
Bram Moolenaar8b682772010-07-30 21:49:40 +02001623various groups and syntax items. For example: >
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001624 syntax list
Bram Moolenaar8b682772010-07-30 21:49:40 +02001625
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001626Yields data similar to this:
1627 sqlOperator xxx some prior all like and any escape exists in is not ~
1628 or intersect minus between distinct ~
1629 links to Operator ~
1630 sqlType xxx varbit varchar nvarchar bigint int uniqueidentifier ~
1631 date money long tinyint unsigned xml text smalldate ~
1632 double datetime nchar smallint numeric time bit char ~
1633 varbinary binary smallmoney ~
1634 image float integer timestamp real decimal ~
Bram Moolenaar8b682772010-07-30 21:49:40 +02001635
1636There are two syntax groups listed here: sqlOperator and sqlType. To retrieve
Bram Moolenaar40962ec2018-01-28 22:47:25 +01001637a List of syntax items you can call OmniSyntaxList a number of different
Bram Moolenaar8b682772010-07-30 21:49:40 +02001638ways. To retrieve all syntax items regardless of syntax group: >
1639 echo OmniSyntaxList( [] )
1640
1641To retrieve only the syntax items for the sqlOperator syntax group: >
1642 echo OmniSyntaxList( ['sqlOperator'] )
1643
1644To retrieve all syntax items for both the sqlOperator and sqlType groups: >
1645 echo OmniSyntaxList( ['sqlOperator', 'sqlType'] )
1646
Bram Moolenaarec7944a2013-06-12 21:29:15 +02001647A regular expression can also be used: >
1648 echo OmniSyntaxList( ['sql\w\+'] )
1649
Bram Moolenaar8b682772010-07-30 21:49:40 +02001650From within a plugin, you would typically assign the output to a List: >
1651 let myKeywords = []
1652 let myKeywords = OmniSyntaxList( ['sqlKeyword'] )
1653
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001654
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001655SQL *ft-sql-omni*
1656
1657Completion for the SQL language includes statements, functions, keywords.
1658It will also dynamically complete tables, procedures, views and column lists
1659with data pulled directly from within a database. For detailed instructions
1660and a tutorial see |omni-sql-completion|.
1661
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001662The SQL completion plugin can be used in conjunction with other completion
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001663plugins. For example, the PHP filetype has its own completion plugin.
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001664Since PHP is often used to generate dynamic website by accessing a database,
1665the SQL completion plugin can also be enabled. This allows you to complete
1666PHP code and SQL code at the same time.
1667
Bram Moolenaare2f98b92006-03-29 21:18:24 +00001668
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001669XML *ft-xml-omni*
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001670
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001671Vim 7 provides a mechanism for context aware completion of XML files. It
1672depends on a special |xml-omni-datafile| and two commands: |:XMLns| and
1673|:XMLent|. Features are:
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001674
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001675- after "<" complete the tag name, depending on context
1676- inside of a tag complete proper attributes
1677- when an attribute has a limited number of possible values help to complete
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001678 them
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001679- complete names of entities (defined in |xml-omni-datafile| and in the
1680 current file with "<!ENTITY" declarations)
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001681- when used after "</" CTRL-X CTRL-O will close the last opened tag
1682
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001683Format of XML data file *xml-omni-datafile*
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001684
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001685XML data files are stored in the "autoload/xml" directory in 'runtimepath'.
1686Vim distribution provides examples of data files in the
1687"$VIMRUNTIME/autoload/xml" directory. They have a meaningful name which will
1688be used in commands. It should be a unique name which will not create
1689conflicts. For example, the name xhtml10s.vim means it is the data file for
1690XHTML 1.0 Strict.
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001691
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001692Each file contains a variable with a name like g:xmldata_xhtml10s . It is
1693a compound from two parts:
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001694
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +000016951. "g:xmldata_" general prefix, constant for all data files
16962. "xhtml10s" the name of the file and the name of the described XML
1697 dialect; it will be used as an argument for the |:XMLns|
1698 command
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001699
1700Part two must be exactly the same as name of file.
1701
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001702The variable is a |Dictionary|. Keys are tag names and each value is a two
1703element |List|. The first element of the List is also a List with the names
1704of possible children. The second element is a |Dictionary| with the names of
1705attributes as keys and the possible values of attributes as values. Example: >
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001706
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001707 let g:xmldata_crippled = {
1708 \ "vimxmlentities": ["amp", "lt", "gt", "apos", "quot"],
1709 \ 'vimxmlroot': ['tag1'],
1710 \ 'tag1':
1711 \ [ ['childoftag1a', 'childoftag1b'], {'attroftag1a': [],
1712 \ 'attroftag1b': ['valueofattr1', 'valueofattr2']}],
1713 \ 'childoftag1a':
1714 \ [ [], {'attrofchild': ['attrofchild']}],
1715 \ 'childoftag1b':
1716 \ [ ['childoftag1a'], {'attrofchild': []}],
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001717 \ "vimxmltaginfo": {
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001718 \ 'tag1': ['Menu info', 'Long information visible in preview window']},
1719 \ 'vimxmlattrinfo': {
1720 \ 'attrofchild': ['Menu info', 'Long information visible in preview window']}}
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001721
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001722This example would be put in the "autoload/xml/crippled.vim" file and could
1723help to write this file: >
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001724
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001725 <tag1 attroftag1b="valueofattr1">
1726 <childoftag1a attrofchild>
1727 &amp; &lt;
1728 </childoftag1a>
1729 <childoftag1b attrofchild="5">
1730 <childoftag1a>
1731 &gt; &apos; &quot;
1732 </childoftag1a>
1733 </childoftag1b>
1734 </tag1>
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001735
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001736In the example four special elements are visible:
1737
17381. "vimxmlentities" - a special key with List containing entities of this XML
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001739 dialect.
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +000017402. If the list containing possible values of attributes has one element and
1741 this element is equal to the name of the attribute this attribute will be
1742 treated as boolean and inserted as 'attrname' and not as 'attrname="'
17433. "vimxmltaginfo" - a special key with a Dictionary containing tag
1744 names as keys and two element List as values, for additional menu info and
1745 the long description.
17464. "vimxmlattrinfo" - special key with Dictionary containing attribute names
1747 as keys and two element List as values, for additional menu info and long
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001748 description.
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001749
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001750Note: Tag names in the data file MUST not contain a namespace description.
1751Check xsl.vim for an example.
1752Note: All data and functions are publicly available as global
1753variables/functions and can be used for personal editing functions.
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001754
Bram Moolenaar1d2ba7f2006-02-14 22:29:30 +00001755
Bram Moolenaarc9b4b052006-04-30 18:54:39 +00001756DTD -> Vim *dtd2vim*
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001757
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001758On |www| is the script |dtd2vim| which parses DTD and creates an XML data file
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001759for Vim XML omni completion.
1760
1761 dtd2vim: http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1462
1762
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001763Check the beginning of that file for usage details.
1764The script requires perl and:
Bram Moolenaarc1e37902006-04-18 21:55:01 +00001765
1766 perlSGML: http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/perlsgml
1767
1768
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001769Commands
1770
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001771:XMLns {name} [{namespace}] *:XMLns*
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001772
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001773Vim has to know which data file should be used and with which namespace. For
1774loading of the data file and connecting data with the proper namespace use
1775|:XMLns| command. The first (obligatory) argument is the name of the data
1776(xhtml10s, xsl). The second argument is the code of namespace (h, xsl). When
1777used without a second argument the dialect will be used as default - without
1778namespace declaration. For example to use XML completion in .xsl files: >
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001779
1780 :XMLns xhtml10s
1781 :XMLns xsl xsl
1782
1783
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001784:XMLent {name} *:XMLent*
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001785
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001786By default entities will be completed from the data file of the default
1787namespace. The XMLent command should be used in case when there is no default
1788namespace: >
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001789
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001790 :XMLent xhtml10s
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001791
1792Usage
1793
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001794While used in this situation (after declarations from previous part, | is
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001795cursor position): >
1796
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001797 <|
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001798
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001799Will complete to an appropriate XHTML tag, and in this situation: >
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001800
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001801 <xsl:|
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001802
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001803Will complete to an appropriate XSL tag.
Bram Moolenaara5792f52005-11-23 21:25:05 +00001804
Bram Moolenaar9c102382006-05-03 21:26:49 +00001805
1806The script xmlcomplete.vim, provided through the |autoload| mechanism,
1807has the xmlcomplete#GetLastOpenTag() function which can be used in XML files
1808to get the name of the last open tag (b:unaryTagsStack has to be defined): >
Bram Moolenaar6b730e12005-09-16 21:47:57 +00001809
Bram Moolenaar4770d092006-01-12 23:22:24 +00001810 :echo xmlcomplete#GetLastOpenTag("b:unaryTagsStack")
Bram Moolenaarbfd8fc02005-09-20 23:22:24 +00001811
Bram Moolenaar6b730e12005-09-16 21:47:57 +00001812
Bram Moolenaar1e015462005-09-25 22:16:38 +00001813
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001814==============================================================================
18158. Insert mode commands *inserting*
1816
1817The following commands can be used to insert new text into the buffer. They
1818can all be undone and repeated with the "." command.
1819
1820 *a*
1821a Append text after the cursor [count] times. If the
1822 cursor is in the first column of an empty line Insert
1823 starts there. But not when 'virtualedit' is set!
1824
1825 *A*
1826A Append text at the end of the line [count] times.
1827
1828<insert> or *i* *insert* *<Insert>*
1829i Insert text before the cursor [count] times.
1830 When using CTRL-O in Insert mode |i_CTRL-O| the count
1831 is not supported.
1832
1833 *I*
1834I Insert text before the first non-blank in the line
1835 [count] times.
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00001836 When the 'H' flag is present in 'cpoptions' and the
1837 line only contains blanks, insert start just before
1838 the last blank.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001839
1840 *gI*
Bram Moolenaar25c9c682019-05-05 18:13:34 +02001841gI Insert text in column 1 [count] times.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001842
1843 *gi*
1844gi Insert text in the same position as where Insert mode
1845 was stopped last time in the current buffer.
1846 This uses the |'^| mark. It's different from "`^i"
1847 when the mark is past the end of the line.
1848 The position is corrected for inserted/deleted lines,
1849 but NOT for inserted/deleted characters.
1850 When the |:keepjumps| command modifier is used the |'^|
Bram Moolenaar69a7cb42004-06-20 12:51:53 +00001851 mark won't be changed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001852
1853 *o*
1854o Begin a new line below the cursor and insert text,
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +02001855 repeat [count] times.
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00001856 When the '#' flag is in 'cpoptions' the count is
1857 ignored.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001858
1859 *O*
1860O Begin a new line above the cursor and insert text,
Bram Moolenaara6c27c42019-05-09 19:16:22 +02001861 repeat [count] times.
Bram Moolenaar4399ef42005-02-12 14:29:27 +00001862 When the '#' flag is in 'cpoptions' the count is
1863 ignored.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001864
1865These commands are used to start inserting text. You can end insert mode with
1866<Esc>. See |mode-ins-repl| for the other special characters in Insert mode.
1867The effect of [count] takes place after Insert mode is exited.
1868
1869When 'autoindent' is on, the indent for a new line is obtained from the
1870previous line. When 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is on, the indent for a line
1871is automatically adjusted for C programs.
1872
1873'textwidth' can be set to the maximum width for a line. When a line becomes
1874too long when appending characters a line break is automatically inserted.
1875
1876
1877==============================================================================
18789. Ex insert commands *inserting-ex*
1879
1880 *:a* *:append*
Bram Moolenaardf177f62005-02-22 08:39:57 +00001881:{range}a[ppend][!] Insert several lines of text below the specified
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001882 line. If the {range} is missing, the text will be
1883 inserted after the current line.
Bram Moolenaardf177f62005-02-22 08:39:57 +00001884 Adding [!] toggles 'autoindent' for the time this
1885 command is executed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001886
1887 *:i* *:in* *:insert*
Bram Moolenaardf177f62005-02-22 08:39:57 +00001888:{range}i[nsert][!] Insert several lines of text above the specified
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001889 line. If the {range} is missing, the text will be
1890 inserted before the current line.
Bram Moolenaardf177f62005-02-22 08:39:57 +00001891 Adding [!] toggles 'autoindent' for the time this
1892 command is executed.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001893
1894These two commands will keep on asking for lines, until you type a line
1895containing only a ".". Watch out for lines starting with a backslash, see
1896|line-continuation|.
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001897
Bram Moolenaar4a748032010-09-30 21:47:56 +02001898When in Ex mode (see |-e|) a backslash at the end of the line can be used to
1899insert a NUL character. To be able to have a line ending in a backslash use
1900two backslashes. This means that the number of backslashes is halved, but
1901only at the end of the line.
1902
Bram Moolenaar8f3f58f2010-01-06 20:52:26 +01001903NOTE: These commands cannot be used with |:global| or |:vglobal|.
1904":append" and ":insert" don't work properly in between ":if" and
Bram Moolenaar06fb4352005-01-05 22:10:30 +00001905":endif", ":for" and ":endfor", ":while" and ":endwhile".
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001906
1907 *:start* *:startinsert*
1908:star[tinsert][!] Start Insert mode just after executing this command.
1909 Works like typing "i" in Normal mode. When the ! is
1910 included it works like "A", append to the line.
1911 Otherwise insertion starts at the cursor position.
1912 Note that when using this command in a function or
1913 script, the insertion only starts after the function
1914 or script is finished.
Bram Moolenaar87e25fd2005-07-27 21:13:01 +00001915 This command does not work from |:normal|.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001916
1917 *:stopi* *:stopinsert*
1918:stopi[nsert] Stop Insert mode as soon as possible. Works like
1919 typing <Esc> in Insert mode.
1920 Can be used in an autocommand, example: >
1921 :au BufEnter scratch stopinsert
Bram Moolenaar325b7a22004-07-05 15:58:32 +00001922<
1923 *replacing-ex* *:startreplace*
1924:startr[eplace][!] Start Replace mode just after executing this command.
1925 Works just like typing "R" in Normal mode. When the
1926 ! is included it acts just like "$R" had been typed
1927 (ie. begin replace mode at the end-of-line). Other-
1928 wise replacement begins at the cursor position.
1929 Note that when using this command in a function or
1930 script that the replacement will only start after
1931 the function or script is finished.
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001932
Bram Moolenaar61da4982005-12-14 22:02:18 +00001933 *:startgreplace*
1934:startg[replace][!] Just like |:startreplace|, but use Virtual Replace
1935 mode, like with |gR|.
Bram Moolenaar61da4982005-12-14 22:02:18 +00001936
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001937==============================================================================
193810. Inserting a file *inserting-file*
1939
1940 *:r* *:re* *:read*
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001941:r[ead] [++opt] [name]
1942 Insert the file [name] (default: current file) below
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001943 the cursor.
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001944 See |++opt| for the possible values of [++opt].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001945
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001946:{range}r[ead] [++opt] [name]
1947 Insert the file [name] (default: current file) below
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001948 the specified line.
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001949 See |++opt| for the possible values of [++opt].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001950
1951 *:r!* *:read!*
Bram Moolenaar0187ca02013-04-12 15:09:51 +02001952:[range]r[ead] [++opt] !{cmd}
1953 Execute {cmd} and insert its standard output below
Bram Moolenaar9964e462007-05-05 17:54:07 +00001954 the cursor or the specified line. A temporary file is
1955 used to store the output of the command which is then
1956 read into the buffer. 'shellredir' is used to save
1957 the output of the command, which can be set to include
1958 stderr or not. {cmd} is executed like with ":!{cmd}",
1959 any '!' is replaced with the previous command |:!|.
Bram Moolenaar0187ca02013-04-12 15:09:51 +02001960 See |++opt| for the possible values of [++opt].
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001961
1962These commands insert the contents of a file, or the output of a command,
1963into the buffer. They can be undone. They cannot be repeated with the "."
1964command. They work on a line basis, insertion starts below the line in which
1965the cursor is, or below the specified line. To insert text above the first
1966line use the command ":0r {name}".
1967
1968After the ":read" command, the cursor is left on the first non-blank in the
1969first new line. Unless in Ex mode, then the cursor is left on the last new
1970line (sorry, this is Vi compatible).
1971
1972If a file name is given with ":r", it becomes the alternate file. This can be
1973used, for example, when you want to edit that file instead: ":e! #". This can
1974be switched off by removing the 'a' flag from the 'cpoptions' option.
1975
Bram Moolenaar910f66f2006-04-05 20:41:53 +00001976Of the [++opt] arguments one is specifically for ":read", the ++edit argument.
1977This is useful when the ":read" command is actually used to read a file into
1978the buffer as if editing that file. Use this command in an empty buffer: >
1979 :read ++edit filename
1980The effect is that the 'fileformat', 'fileencoding', 'bomb', etc. options are
1981set to what has been detected for "filename". Note that a single empty line
1982remains, you may want to delete it.
1983
Bram Moolenaar071d4272004-06-13 20:20:40 +00001984 *file-read*
1985The 'fileformat' option sets the <EOL> style for a file:
1986'fileformat' characters name ~
1987 "dos" <CR><NL> or <NL> DOS format
1988 "unix" <NL> Unix format
1989 "mac" <CR> Mac format
1990Previously 'textmode' was used. It is obsolete now.
1991
1992If 'fileformat' is "dos", a <CR> in front of an <NL> is ignored and a CTRL-Z
1993at the end of the file is ignored.
1994
1995If 'fileformat' is "mac", a <NL> in the file is internally represented by a
1996<CR>. This is to avoid confusion with a <NL> which is used to represent a
1997<NUL>. See |CR-used-for-NL|.
1998
1999If the 'fileformats' option is not empty Vim tries to recognize the type of
2000<EOL> (see |file-formats|). However, the 'fileformat' option will not be
2001changed, the detected format is only used while reading the file.
2002A similar thing happens with 'fileencodings'.
2003
2004On non-MS-DOS, Win32, and OS/2 systems the message "[dos format]" is shown if
2005a file is read in DOS format, to remind you that something unusual is done.
2006On Macintosh, MS-DOS, Win32, and OS/2 the message "[unix format]" is shown if
2007a file is read in Unix format.
2008On non-Macintosh systems, the message "[Mac format]" is shown if a file is
2009read in Mac format.
2010
2011An example on how to use ":r !": >
2012 :r !uuencode binfile binfile
2013This command reads "binfile", uuencodes it and reads it into the current
2014buffer. Useful when you are editing e-mail and want to include a binary
2015file.
2016
2017 *read-messages*
2018When reading a file Vim will display a message with information about the read
2019file. In the table is an explanation for some of the items. The others are
2020self explanatory. Using the long or the short version depends on the
2021'shortmess' option.
2022
2023 long short meaning ~
2024 [readonly] {RO} the file is write protected
2025 [fifo/socket] using a stream
2026 [fifo] using a fifo stream
2027 [socket] using a socket stream
2028 [CR missing] reading with "dos" 'fileformat' and a
2029 NL without a preceding CR was found.
2030 [NL found] reading with "mac" 'fileformat' and a
2031 NL was found (could be "unix" format)
2032 [long lines split] at least one line was split in two
2033 [NOT converted] conversion from 'fileencoding' to
2034 'encoding' was desired but not
2035 possible
2036 [converted] conversion from 'fileencoding' to
2037 'encoding' done
2038 [crypted] file was decrypted
2039 [READ ERRORS] not all of the file could be read
2040
2041
Bram Moolenaar91f84f62018-07-29 15:07:52 +02002042 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: