1*autocmd.txt* For Vim version 7.0aa. Last change: 2004 Sep 17 2 3 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar 5 6 7Automatic commands *autocommand* 8 9For a basic explanation, see section |40.3| in the user manual. 10 111. Introduction |autocmd-intro| 122. Defining autocommands |autocmd-define| 133. Removing autocommands |autocmd-remove| 144. Listing autocommands |autocmd-list| 155. Events |autocmd-events| 166. Patterns |autocmd-patterns| 177. Groups |autocmd-groups| 188. Executing autocommands |autocmd-execute| 199. Using autocommands |autocmd-use| 20 21{Vi does not have any of these commands} 22{only when the |+autocmd| feature has not been disabled at compile time} 23 24============================================================================== 251. Introduction *autocmd-intro* 26 27You can specify commands to be executed automatically when reading or writing 28a file, when entering or leaving a buffer or window, and when exiting Vim. 29For example, you can create an autocommand to set the 'cindent' option for 30files matching *.c. You can also use autocommands to implement advanced 31features, such as editing compressed files (see |gzip-example|). The usual 32place to put autocommands is in your .vimrc or .exrc file. 33 34 *E203* *E204* *E143* 35WARNING: Using autocommands is very powerful, and may lead to unexpected side 36effects. Be careful not to destroy your text. 37- It's a good idea to do some testing on an expendable copy of a file first. 38 For example: If you use autocommands to decompress a file when starting to 39 edit it, make sure that the autocommands for compressing when writing work 40 correctly. 41- Be prepared for an error halfway through (e.g., disk full). Vim will mostly 42 be able to undo the changes to the buffer, but you may have to clean up the 43 changes to other files by hand (e.g., compress a file that has been 44 decompressed). 45- If the BufRead* events allow you to edit a compressed file, the FileRead* 46 events should do the same (this makes recovery possible in some rare cases). 47 It's a good idea to use the same autocommands for the File* and Buf* events 48 when possible. 49 50============================================================================== 512. Defining autocommands *autocmd-define* 52 53Note: The ":autocmd" command cannot be followed by another command, since any 54'|' is considered part of the command. 55 56 *:au* *:autocmd* 57:au[tocmd] [group] {event} {pat} [nested] {cmd} 58 Add {cmd} to the list of commands that Vim will 59 execute automatically on {event} for a file matching 60 {pat}. Vim always adds the {cmd} after existing 61 autocommands, so that the autocommands execute in the 62 order in which they were given. See |autocmd-nested| 63 for [nested]. 64 65Note that special characters (e.g., "%", "<cword>") in the ":autocmd" 66arguments are not expanded when the autocommand is defined. These will be 67expanded when the Event is recognized, and the {cmd} is executed. The only 68exception is that "<sfile>" is expanded when the autocmd is defined. Example: 69> 70 :au BufNewFile,BufRead *.html so <sfile>:h/html.vim 71 72Here Vim expands <sfile> to the name of the file containing this line. 73 74When your .vimrc file is sourced twice, the autocommands will appear twice. 75To avoid this, put this command in your .vimrc file, before defining 76autocommands: > 77 78 :autocmd! " Remove ALL autocommands for the current group. 79 80If you don't want to remove all autocommands, you can instead use a variable 81to ensure that Vim includes the autocommands only once: > 82 83 :if !exists("autocommands_loaded") 84 : let autocommands_loaded = 1 85 : au ... 86 :endif 87 88When the [group] argument is not given, Vim uses the current group (as defined 89with ":augroup"); otherwise, Vim uses the group defined with [group]. Note 90that [group] must have been defined before. You cannot define a new group 91with ":au group ..."; use ":augroup" for that. 92 93While testing autocommands, you might find the 'verbose' option to be useful: > 94 :set verbose=9 95This setting makes Vim echo the autocommands as it executes them. 96 97When defining an autocommand in a script, it will be able to call functions 98local to the script and use mappings local to the script. When the event is 99triggered and the command executed, it will run in the context of the script 100it was defined in. This matters if |<SID>| is used in a command. 101 102When executing the commands, the messages from one command overwrites a 103previous message. This is different from when executing the commands 104manually. Mostly the screen will not scroll up, thus there is no hit-enter 105prompt. When one command outputs two messages this can happen anyway. 106 107============================================================================== 1083. Removing autocommands *autocmd-remove* 109 110:au[tocmd]! [group] {event} {pat} [nested] {cmd} 111 Remove all autocommands associated with {event} and 112 {pat}, and add the command {cmd}. See 113 |autocmd-nested| for [nested]. 114 115:au[tocmd]! [group] {event} {pat} 116 Remove all autocommands associated with {event} and 117 {pat}. 118 119:au[tocmd]! [group] * {pat} 120 Remove all autocommands associated with {pat} for all 121 events. 122 123:au[tocmd]! [group] {event} 124 Remove ALL autocommands for {event}. 125 126:au[tocmd]! [group] Remove ALL autocommands. 127 128When the [group] argument is not given, Vim uses the current group (as defined 129with ":augroup"); otherwise, Vim uses the group defined with [group]. 130 131============================================================================== 1324. Listing autocommands *autocmd-list* 133 134:au[tocmd] [group] {event} {pat} 135 Show the autocommands associated with {event} and 136 {pat}. 137 138:au[tocmd] [group] * {pat} 139 Show the autocommands associated with {pat} for all 140 events. 141 142:au[tocmd] [group] {event} 143 Show all autocommands for {event}. 144 145:au[tocmd] [group] Show all autocommands. 146 147If you provide the [group] argument, Vim lists only the autocommands for 148[group]; otherwise, Vim lists the autocommands for ALL groups. Note that this 149argument behavior differs from that for defining and removing autocommands. 150 151============================================================================== 1525. Events *autocmd-events* *E215* *E216* 153 154 *autocommand-events* *{event}* 155Vim recognizes the following events. Vim ignores the case of event names 156(e.g., you can use "BUFread" or "bufread" instead of "BufRead"). 157 158 *BufNewFile* 159BufNewFile When starting to edit a file that doesn't 160 exist. Can be used to read in a skeleton 161 file. 162 *BufReadPre* *E200* *E201* 163BufReadPre When starting to edit a new buffer, before 164 reading the file into the buffer. Not used 165 if the file doesn't exist. 166 *BufRead* *BufReadPost* 167BufRead or BufReadPost When starting to edit a new buffer, after 168 reading the file into the buffer, before 169 executing the modelines. See |BufWinEnter| 170 for when you need to do something after 171 processing the modelines. 172 This does NOT work for ":r file". Not used 173 when the file doesn't exist. Also used after 174 successfully recovering a file. 175 *BufReadCmd* 176BufReadCmd Before starting to edit a new buffer. Should 177 read the file into the buffer. |Cmd-event| 178 *BufFilePre* 179BufFilePre Before changing the name of the current buffer 180 with the ":file" or ":saveas" command. 181 *BufFilePost* 182BufFilePost After changing the name of the current buffer 183 with the ":file" or ":saveas" command. 184 *FileReadPre* 185FileReadPre Before reading a file with a ":read" command. 186 *FileReadPost* 187FileReadPost After reading a file with a ":read" command. 188 Note that Vim sets the '[ and '] marks to the 189 first and last line of the read. This can be 190 used to operate on the lines just read. 191 *FileReadCmd* 192FileReadCmd Before reading a file with a ":read" command. 193 Should do the reading of the file. |Cmd-event| 194 *FilterReadPre* *E135* 195FilterReadPre Before reading a file from a filter command. 196 Vim checks the pattern against the name of 197 the current buffer, not the name of the 198 temporary file that is the output of the 199 filter command. 200 *FilterReadPost* 201FilterReadPost After reading a file from a filter command. 202 Vim checks the pattern against the name of 203 the current buffer as with FilterReadPre. 204 *FileType* 205FileType When the 'filetype' option has been set. 206 <afile> can be used for the name of the file 207 where this option was set, and <amatch> for 208 the new value of 'filetype'. 209 See |filetypes|. 210 *Syntax* 211Syntax When the 'syntax' option has been set. 212 <afile> can be used for the name of the file 213 where this option was set, and <amatch> for 214 the new value of 'syntax'. 215 See |:syn-on|. 216 *StdinReadPre* 217StdinReadPre Before reading from stdin into the buffer. 218 Only used when the "-" argument was used when 219 Vim was started |--|. 220 *StdinReadPost* 221StdinReadPost After reading from the stdin into the buffer, 222 before executing the modelines. Only used 223 when the "-" argument was used when Vim was 224 started |--|. 225 *BufWrite* *BufWritePre* 226BufWrite or BufWritePre Before writing the whole buffer to a file. 227 *BufWritePost* 228BufWritePost After writing the whole buffer to a file 229 (should undo the commands for BufWritePre). 230 *BufWriteCmd* 231BufWriteCmd Before writing the whole buffer to a file. 232 Should do the writing of the file and reset 233 'modified' if successful. The buffer contents 234 should not be changed. |Cmd-event| 235 *FileWritePre* 236FileWritePre Before writing to a file, when not writing the 237 whole buffer. Use the '[ and '] marks for the 238 range of lines. 239 *FileWritePost* 240FileWritePost After writing to a file, when not writing the 241 whole buffer. 242 *FileWriteCmd* 243FileWriteCmd Before writing to a file, when not writing the 244 whole buffer. Should do the writing to the 245 file. Should not change the buffer. Use the 246 '[ and '] marks for the range of lines. 247 |Cmd-event| 248 *FileAppendPre* 249FileAppendPre Before appending to a file. Use the '[ and '] 250 marks for the range of lines. 251 *FileAppendPost* 252FileAppendPost After appending to a file. 253 *FileAppendCmd* 254FileAppendCmd Before appending to a file. Should do the 255 appending to the file. Use the '[ and '] 256 marks for the range of lines.|Cmd-event| 257 *FilterWritePre* 258FilterWritePre Before writing a file for a filter command or 259 making a diff. 260 Vim checks the pattern against the name of 261 the current buffer, not the name of the 262 temporary file that is the output of the 263 filter command. 264 *FilterWritePost* 265FilterWritePost After writing a file for a filter command or 266 making a diff. 267 Vim checks the pattern against the name of 268 the current buffer as with FilterWritePre. 269 *FileChangedShell* 270FileChangedShell When Vim notices that the modification time of 271 a file has changed since editing started. 272 Also when the file attributes of the file 273 change. |timestamp| 274 Mostly triggered after executing a shell 275 command, but also with a |:checktime| command 276 or when Vim regains input focus. 277 This autocommand is triggered for each changed 278 file. It is not used when 'autoread' is set 279 and the buffer was not changed. If a 280 FileChangedShell autocommand is present the 281 warning message and prompt is not given. 282 This is useful for reloading related buffers 283 which are affected by a single command. 284 NOTE: When this autocommand is executed, the 285 current buffer "%" may be different from the 286 buffer that was changed "<afile>". 287 NOTE: The commands must not change the current 288 buffer, jump to another buffer or delete a 289 buffer. *E246* 290 NOTE: This event never nests, to avoid an 291 endless loop. This means that while executing 292 commands for the FileChangedShell event no 293 other FileChangedShell event will be 294 triggered. 295 *FileChangedRO* 296FileChangedRO Before making the first change to a read-only 297 file. Can be used to check-out the file from 298 a source control system. Not triggered when 299 the change was caused by an autocommand. 300 WARNING: This event is triggered when making a 301 change, just before the change is applied to 302 the text. If the autocommand moves the cursor 303 the effect of the change is undefined. 304 *FocusGained* 305FocusGained When Vim got input focus. Only for the GUI 306 version and a few console versions where this 307 can be detected. 308 *FocusLost* 309FocusLost When Vim lost input focus. Only for the GUI 310 version and a few console versions where this 311 can be detected. May also happen when a 312 dialog pops up. 313 *FuncUndefined* 314FuncUndefined When a user function is used but it isn't 315 defined. Useful for defining a function only 316 when it's used. Both <amatch> and <afile> are 317 set to the name of the function. 318 *CursorHold* 319CursorHold When the user doesn't press a key for the time 320 specified with 'updatetime'. Not re-triggered 321 until the user has pressed a key (i.e. doesn't 322 fire every 'updatetime' ms if you leave Vim to 323 make some coffee. :) See |CursorHold-example| 324 for previewing tags. 325 This event is only triggered in Normal mode. 326 Note: Interactive commands cannot be used for 327 this event. There is no hit-enter prompt, 328 the screen is updated directly (when needed). 329 Note: In the future there will probably be 330 another option to set the time. 331 Hint: to force an update of the status lines 332 use: > 333 :let &ro = &ro 334< {only on Amiga, Unix, Win32, MSDOS and all GUI 335 versions} 336 *BufEnter* 337BufEnter After entering a buffer. Useful for setting 338 options for a file type. Also executed when 339 starting to edit a buffer, after the 340 BufReadPost autocommands. 341 *BufLeave* 342BufLeave Before leaving to another buffer. Also when 343 leaving or closing the current window and the 344 new current window is not for the same buffer. 345 Not used for ":qa" or ":q" when exiting Vim. 346 *BufWinEnter* 347BufWinEnter After a buffer is displayed in a window. This 348 can be when the buffer is loaded (after 349 processing the modelines), when a hidden 350 buffer is displayed in a window (and is no 351 longer hidden) or a buffer already visible in 352 a window is also displayed in another window. 353 *BufWinLeave* 354BufWinLeave Before a buffer is removed from a window. 355 Not when it's still visible in another window. 356 Also triggered when exiting. It's triggered 357 before BufUnload or BufHidden. 358 NOTE: When this autocommand is executed, the 359 current buffer "%" may be different from the 360 buffer being unloaded "<afile>". 361 *BufUnload* 362BufUnload Before unloading a buffer. This is when the 363 text in the buffer is going to be freed. This 364 may be after a BufWritePost and before a 365 BufDelete. Also used for all buffers that are 366 loaded when Vim is going to exit. 367 NOTE: When this autocommand is executed, the 368 current buffer "%" may be different from the 369 buffer being unloaded "<afile>". 370 *BufHidden* 371BufHidden Just after a buffer has become hidden. That 372 is, when there are no longer windows that show 373 the buffer, but the buffer is not unloaded or 374 deleted. Not used for ":qa" or ":q" when 375 exiting Vim. 376 NOTE: When this autocommand is executed, the 377 current buffer "%" may be different from the 378 buffer being unloaded "<afile>". 379 *BufNew* 380BufNew Just after creating a new buffer. Also used 381 just after a buffer has been renamed. When 382 the buffer is added to the buffer list BufAdd 383 will be triggered too. 384 NOTE: When this autocommand is executed, the 385 current buffer "%" may be different from the 386 buffer being created "<afile>". 387 *BufCreate* *BufAdd* 388BufAdd or BufCreate Just after creating a new buffer which is 389 added to the buffer list, or adding a buffer 390 to the buffer list. 391 Also used just after a buffer in the buffer 392 list has been renamed. 393 The BufCreate event is for historic reasons. 394 NOTE: When this autocommand is executed, the 395 current buffer "%" may be different from the 396 buffer being created "<afile>". 397 *BufDelete* 398BufDelete Before deleting a buffer from the buffer list. 399 The BufUnload may be called first (if the 400 buffer was loaded). 401 Also used just before a buffer in the buffer 402 list is renamed. 403 NOTE: When this autocommand is executed, the 404 current buffer "%" may be different from the 405 buffer being deleted "<afile>". 406 *BufWipeout* 407BufWipeout Before completely deleting a buffer. The 408 BufUnload and BufDelete events may be called 409 first (if the buffer was loaded and was in the 410 buffer list). Also used just before a buffer 411 is renamed (also when it's not in the buffer 412 list). 413 NOTE: When this autocommand is executed, the 414 current buffer "%" may be different from the 415 buffer being deleted "<afile>". 416 *WinEnter* 417WinEnter After entering another window. Not done for 418 the first window, when Vim has just started. 419 Useful for setting the window height. 420 If the window is for another buffer, Vim 421 executes the BufEnter autocommands after the 422 WinEnter autocommands. 423 Note: When using ":split fname" the WinEnter 424 event is triggered after the split but before 425 the file "fname" is loaded. 426 *WinLeave* 427WinLeave Before leaving a window. If the window to be 428 entered next is for a different buffer, Vim 429 executes the BufLeave autocommands before the 430 WinLeave autocommands (but not for ":new"). 431 Not used for ":qa" or ":q" when exiting Vim. 432 *CmdwinEnter* 433CmdwinEnter After entering the command-line window. 434 Useful for setting options specifically for 435 this special type of window. This is 436 triggered _instead_ of BufEnter and WinEnter. 437 <afile> is set to a single character, 438 indicating the type of command-line. 439 |cmdwin-char| 440 *CmdwinLeave* 441CmdwinLeave Before leaving the command-line window. 442 Useful to clean up any global setting done 443 with CmdwinEnter. This is triggered _instead_ 444 of BufLeave and WinLeave. 445 <afile> is set to a single character, 446 indicating the type of command-line. 447 |cmdwin-char| 448 *GUIEnter* 449GUIEnter After starting the GUI successfully, and after 450 opening the window. It is triggered before 451 VimEnter when using gvim. Can be used to 452 position the window from a .gvimrc file: > 453 :autocmd GUIEnter * winpos 100 50 454< *VimEnter* 455VimEnter After doing all the startup stuff, including 456 loading .vimrc files, executing the "-c cmd" 457 arguments, creating all windows and loading 458 the buffers in them. 459 *VimLeavePre* 460VimLeavePre Before exiting Vim, just before writing the 461 .viminfo file. This is executed only once, 462 if there is a match with the name of what 463 happens to be the current buffer when exiting. 464 Mostly useful with a "*" pattern. > 465 :autocmd VimLeavePre * call CleanupStuff() 466< To detect an abnormal exit use |v:dying|. 467 *VimLeave* 468VimLeave Before exiting Vim, just after writing the 469 .viminfo file. Executed only once, like 470 VimLeavePre. 471 To detect an abnormal exit use |v:dying|. 472 *EncodingChanged* 473EncodingChanged Fires off when the 'encoding' option is 474 changed. Useful to set up fonts, for example. 475 *InsertEnter* 476InsertEnter When starting Insert mode. Also for Replace 477 mode and Virtual Replace mode. The 478 |v:insertmode| variable indicates the mode. 479 Be careful not to move the cursor or do 480 anything else that the user does not expect. 481 *InsertChange* 482InsertChange When typing <Insert> while in Insert or 483 Replace mode. The |v:insertmode| variable 484 indicates the new mode. 485 Be careful not to move the cursor or do 486 anything else that the user does not expect. 487 *InsertLeave* 488InsertLeave When leaving Insert mode. Also when using 489 CTRL-O |i_CTRL-O|. 490 *FileEncoding* 491FileEncoding Obsolete. It still works and is equivalent 492 to |EncodingChanged|. 493 *ColorScheme* 494ColorScheme After loading a color scheme. |:colorscheme| 495 *RemoteReply* 496RemoteReply When a reply from a Vim that functions as 497 server was received |server2client()|. 498 <amatch> is equal to the {serverid} from which 499 the reply was sent, and <afile> is the actual 500 reply string. 501 Note that even if an autocommand is defined, 502 the reply should be read with |remote_read()| 503 to consume it. 504 *TermChanged* 505TermChanged After the value of 'term' has changed. Useful 506 for re-loading the syntax file to update the 507 colors, fonts and other terminal-dependent 508 settings. Executed for all loaded buffers. 509 *TermResponse* 510TermResponse After the response to |t_RV| is received from 511 the terminal. The value of |v:termresponse| 512 can be used to do things depending on the 513 terminal version. 514 *UserGettingBored* 515UserGettingBored When the user hits CTRL-C. Just kidding! :-) 516 *User* 517User Never executed automatically. To be used for 518 autocommands that are only executed with 519 ":doautocmd". 520 521You can specify a comma-separated list of event names. No white space can be 522used in this list. The command applies to all the events in the list. 523 524For READING FILES there are four kinds of events possible: 525 BufNewFile starting to edit a non-existent file 526 BufReadPre BufReadPost starting to edit an existing file 527 FilterReadPre FilterReadPost read the temp file with filter output 528 FileReadPre FileReadPost any other file read 529Vim uses only one of these four kinds when reading a file. The "Pre" and 530"Post" events are both triggered, before and after reading the file. 531 532Note that the autocommands for the *ReadPre events and all the Filter events 533are not allowed to change the current buffer (you will get an error message if 534this happens). This is to prevent the file to be read into the wrong buffer. 535 536Note that the 'modified' flag is reset AFTER executing the BufReadPost 537and BufNewFile autocommands. But when the 'modified' option was set by the 538autocommands, this doesn't happen. 539 540You can use the 'eventignore' option to ignore a number of events or all 541events. 542 543============================================================================== 5446. Patterns *autocmd-patterns* *{pat}* 545 546The file pattern {pat} is tested for a match against the file name in one of 547two ways: 5481. When there is no '/' in the pattern, Vim checks for a match against only 549 the tail part of the file name (without its leading directory path). 5502. When there is a '/' in the pattern, Vim checks for a match against the 551 both short file name (as you typed it) and the full file name (after 552 expanding it to a full path and resolving symbolic links). 553 554Examples: > 555 :autocmd BufRead *.txt set et 556Set the 'et' option for all text files. > 557 558 :autocmd BufRead /vim/src/*.c set cindent 559Set the 'cindent' option for C files in the /vim/src directory. > 560 561 :autocmd BufRead /tmp/*.c set ts=5 562If you have a link from "/tmp/test.c" to "/home/nobody/vim/src/test.c", and 563you start editing "/tmp/test.c", this autocommand will match. 564 565Note: To match part of a path, but not from the root directory, use a '*' as 566the first character. Example: > 567 :autocmd BufRead */doc/*.txt set tw=78 568This autocommand will for example be executed for "/tmp/doc/xx.txt" and 569"/usr/home/piet/doc/yy.txt". The number of directories does not matter here. 570 571 572The file name that the pattern is matched against is after expanding 573wildcards. Thus is you issue this command: > 574 :e $ROOTDIR/main.$EXT 575The argument is first expanded to: > 576 /usr/root/main.py 577Before it's matched with the pattern of the autocommand. Careful with this 578when using events like FileReadCmd, the value of <amatch> may not be what you 579expect. 580 581 582Environment variables can be used in a pattern: > 583 :autocmd BufRead $VIMRUNTIME/doc/*.txt set expandtab 584And ~ can be used for the home directory (if $HOME is defined): > 585 :autocmd BufWritePost ~/.vimrc so ~/.vimrc 586 :autocmd BufRead ~archive/* set readonly 587The environment variable is expanded when the autocommand is defined, not when 588the autocommand is executed. This is different from the command! 589 590 *file-pattern* 591The pattern is interpreted like mostly used in file names: 592 * matches any sequence of characters 593 ? matches any single character 594 \? matches a '?' 595 . matches a '.' 596 ~ matches a '~' 597 , separates patterns 598 \, matches a ',' 599 { } like \( \) in a |pattern| 600 , inside { }: like \| in a |pattern| 601 \ special meaning like in a |pattern| 602 [ch] matches 'c' or 'h' 603 [^ch] match any character but 'c' and 'h' 604 605Note that for all systems the '/' character is used for path separator (even 606MS-DOS and OS/2). This was done because the backslash is difficult to use 607in a pattern and to make the autocommands portable across different systems. 608 609 610Matching with the pattern is done when an event is triggered. Changing the 611buffer name in one of the autocommands, or even deleting the buffer, does not 612change which autocommands will be executed. Example: > 613 614 au BufEnter *.foo bdel 615 au BufEnter *.foo set modified 616 617This will delete the current buffer and then set 'modified' in what has become 618the current buffer instead. Vim doesn't take into account that "*.foo" 619doesn't match with that buffer name. It matches "*.foo" with the name of the 620buffer at the moment the event was triggered. 621 622============================================================================== 6237. Groups *autocmd-groups* 624 625Autocommands can be put together in a group. This is useful for removing or 626executing a group of autocommands. For example, all the autocommands for 627syntax highlighting are put in the "highlight" group, to be able to execute 628":doautoall highlight BufRead" when the GUI starts. 629 630When no specific group is selected, Vim uses the default group. The default 631group does not have a name. You cannot execute the autocommands from the 632default group separately; you can execute them only by executing autocommands 633for all groups. 634 635Normally, when executing autocommands automatically, Vim uses the autocommands 636for all groups. The group only matters when executing autocommands with 637":doautocmd" or ":doautoall", or when defining or deleting autocommands. 638 639The group name can contain any characters except white space. The group name 640"end" is reserved (also in uppercase). 641 642The group name is case sensitive. Note that this is different from the event 643name! 644 645 *:aug* *:augroup* 646:aug[roup] {name} Define the autocmd group name for the 647 following ":autocmd" commands. The name "end" 648 or "END" selects the default group. 649 650 *:augroup-delete* *E367* 651:aug[roup]! {name} Delete the autocmd group {name}. Don't use 652 this if there is still an autocommand using 653 this group! This is not checked. 654 655To enter autocommands for a specific group, use this method: 6561. Select the group with ":augroup {name}". 6572. Delete any old autocommands with ":au!". 6583. Define the autocommands. 6594. Go back to the default group with "augroup END". 660 661Example: > 662 :augroup uncompress 663 : au! 664 : au BufEnter *.gz %!gunzip 665 :augroup END 666 667This prevents having the autocommands defined twice (e.g., after sourcing the 668.vimrc file again). 669 670============================================================================== 6718. Executing autocommands *autocmd-execute* 672 673Vim can also execute Autocommands non-automatically. This is useful if you 674have changed autocommands, or when Vim has executed the wrong autocommands 675(e.g., the file pattern match was wrong). 676 677Note that the 'eventignore' option applies here too. Events listed in this 678option will not cause any commands to be executed. 679 680 *:do* *:doau* *:doautocmd* *E217* 681:do[autocmd] [group] {event} [fname] 682 Apply the autocommands matching [fname] (default: 683 current file name) for {event} to the current buffer. 684 You can use this when the current file name does not 685 match the right pattern, after changing settings, or 686 to execute autocommands for a certain event. 687 It's possible to use this inside an autocommand too, 688 so you can base the autocommands for one extension on 689 another extension. Example: > 690 :au Bufenter *.cpp so ~/.vimrc_cpp 691 :au Bufenter *.cpp doau BufEnter x.c 692< Be careful to avoid endless loops. See 693 |autocmd-nested|. 694 695 When the [group] argument is not given, Vim executes 696 the autocommands for all groups. When the [group] 697 argument is included, Vim executes only the matching 698 autocommands for that group. Note: if you use an 699 undefined group name, Vim gives you an error message. 700 701 *:doautoa* *:doautoall* 702:doautoa[ll] [group] {event} [fname] 703 Like ":doautocmd", but apply the autocommands to each 704 loaded buffer. Note that {fname} is used to select 705 the autocommands, not the buffers to which they are 706 applied. 707 Careful: Don't use this for autocommands that delete a 708 buffer, change to another buffer or change the 709 contents of a buffer; the result is unpredictable. 710 This command is intended for autocommands that set 711 options, change highlighting, and things like that. 712 713============================================================================== 7149. Using autocommands *autocmd-use* 715 716For WRITING FILES there are four possible sets of events. Vim uses only one 717of these sets for a write command: 718 719BufWriteCmd BufWritePre BufWritePost writing the whole buffer 720 FilterWritePre FilterWritePost writing to filter temp file 721FileAppendCmd FileAppendPre FileAppendPost appending to a file 722FileWriteCmd FileWritePre FileWritePost any other file write 723 724When there is a matching "*Cmd" autocommand, it is assumed it will do the 725writing. No further writing is done and the other events are not triggered. 726|Cmd-event| 727 728Note that the *WritePost commands should undo any changes to the buffer that 729were caused by the *WritePre commands; otherwise, writing the file will have 730the side effect of changing the buffer. 731 732Before executing the autocommands, the buffer from which the lines are to be 733written temporarily becomes the current buffer. Unless the autocommands 734change the current buffer or delete the previously current buffer, the 735previously current buffer is made the current buffer again. 736 737The *WritePre and *AppendPre autocommands must not delete the buffer from 738which the lines are to be written. 739 740The '[ and '] marks have a special position: 741- Before the *ReadPre event the '[ mark is set to the line just above where 742 the new lines will be inserted. 743- Before the *ReadPost event the '[ mark is set to the first line that was 744 just read, the '] mark to the last line. 745- Before executing the *WriteCmd, *WritePre and *AppendPre autocommands the '[ 746 mark is set to the first line that will be written, the '] mark to the last 747 line. 748Careful: '[ and '] change when using commands that change the buffer. 749 750In commands which expect a file name, you can use "<afile>" for the file name 751that is being read |:<afile>| (you can also use "%" for the current file 752name). "<abuf>" can be used for the buffer number of the currently effective 753buffer. This also works for buffers that doesn't have a name. But it doesn't 754work for files without a buffer (e.g., with ":r file"). 755 756 *gzip-example* 757Examples for reading and writing compressed files: > 758 :augroup gzip 759 : autocmd! 760 : autocmd BufReadPre,FileReadPre *.gz set bin 761 : autocmd BufReadPost,FileReadPost *.gz '[,']!gunzip 762 : autocmd BufReadPost,FileReadPost *.gz set nobin 763 : autocmd BufReadPost,FileReadPost *.gz execute ":doautocmd BufReadPost " . expand("%:r") 764 : autocmd BufWritePost,FileWritePost *.gz !mv <afile> <afile>:r 765 : autocmd BufWritePost,FileWritePost *.gz !gzip <afile>:r 766 767 : autocmd FileAppendPre *.gz !gunzip <afile> 768 : autocmd FileAppendPre *.gz !mv <afile>:r <afile> 769 : autocmd FileAppendPost *.gz !mv <afile> <afile>:r 770 : autocmd FileAppendPost *.gz !gzip <afile>:r 771 :augroup END 772 773The "gzip" group is used to be able to delete any existing autocommands with 774":autocmd!", for when the file is sourced twice. 775 776("<afile>:r" is the file name without the extension, see |:_%:|) 777 778The commands executed for the BufNewFile, BufRead/BufReadPost, BufWritePost, 779FileAppendPost and VimLeave events do not set or reset the changed flag of the 780buffer. When you decompress the buffer with the BufReadPost autocommands, you 781can still exit with ":q". When you use ":undo" in BufWritePost to undo the 782changes made by BufWritePre commands, you can still do ":q" (this also makes 783"ZZ" work). If you do want the buffer to be marked as modified, set the 784'modified' option. 785 786To execute Normal mode commands from an autocommand, use the ":normal" 787command. Use with care! If the Normal mode command is not finished, the user 788needs to type characters (e.g., after ":normal m" you need to type a mark 789name). 790 791If you want the buffer to be unmodified after changing it, reset the 792'modified' option. This makes it possible to exit the buffer with ":q" 793instead of ":q!". 794 795 *autocmd-nested* *E218* 796By default, autocommands do not nest. If you use ":e" or ":w" in an 797autocommand, Vim does not execute the BufRead and BufWrite autocommands for 798those commands. If you do want this, use the "nested" flag for those commands 799in which you want nesting. For example: > 800 :autocmd FileChangedShell *.c nested e! 801The nesting is limited to 10 levels to get out of recursive loops. 802 803It's possible to use the ":au" command in an autocommand. This can be a 804self-modifying command! This can be useful for an autocommand that should 805execute only once. 806 807There is currently no way to disable the autocommands. If you want to write a 808file without executing the autocommands for that type of file, write it under 809another name and rename it with a shell command. In some situations you can 810use the 'eventignore' option. 811 812Note: When reading a file (with ":read file" or with a filter command) and the 813last line in the file does not have an <EOL>, Vim remembers this. At the next 814write (with ":write file" or with a filter command), if the same line is 815written again as the last line in a file AND 'binary' is set, Vim does not 816supply an <EOL>. This makes a filter command on the just read lines write the 817same file as was read, and makes a write command on just filtered lines write 818the same file as was read from the filter. For example, another way to write 819a compressed file: > 820 821 :autocmd FileWritePre *.gz set bin|'[,']!gzip 822 :autocmd FileWritePost *.gz undo|set nobin 823< 824 *autocommand-pattern* 825You can specify multiple patterns, separated by commas. Here are some 826examples: > 827 828 :autocmd BufRead * set tw=79 nocin ic infercase fo=2croq 829 :autocmd BufRead .letter set tw=72 fo=2tcrq 830 :autocmd BufEnter .letter set dict=/usr/lib/dict/words 831 :autocmd BufLeave .letter set dict= 832 :autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile *.c,*.h set tw=0 cin noic 833 :autocmd BufEnter *.c,*.h abbr FOR for (i = 0; i < 3; ++i)<CR>{<CR>}<Esc>O 834 :autocmd BufLeave *.c,*.h unabbr FOR 835 836For makefiles (makefile, Makefile, imakefile, makefile.unix, etc.): > 837 838 :autocmd BufEnter ?akefile* set include=^s\=include 839 :autocmd BufLeave ?akefile* set include& 840 841To always start editing C files at the first function: > 842 843 :autocmd BufRead *.c,*.h 1;/^{ 844 845Without the "1;" above, the search would start from wherever the file was 846entered, rather than from the start of the file. 847 848 *skeleton* *template* 849To read a skeleton (template) file when opening a new file: > 850 851 :autocmd BufNewFile *.c 0r ~/vim/skeleton.c 852 :autocmd BufNewFile *.h 0r ~/vim/skeleton.h 853 :autocmd BufNewFile *.java 0r ~/vim/skeleton.java 854 855To insert the current date and time in a *.html file when writing it: > 856 857 :autocmd BufWritePre,FileWritePre *.html ks|call LastMod()|'s 858 :fun LastMod() 859 : if line("$") > 20 860 : let l = 20 861 : else 862 : let l = line("$") 863 : endif 864 : exe "1," . l . "g/Last modified: /s/Last modified: .*/Last modified: " . 865 : \ strftime("%Y %b %d") 866 :endfun 867 868You need to have a line "Last modified: <date time>" in the first 20 lines 869of the file for this to work. Vim replaces <date time> (and anything in the 870same line after it) with the current date and time. Explanation: 871 ks mark current position with mark 's' 872 call LastMod() call the LastMod() function to do the work 873 's return the cursor to the old position 874The LastMod() function checks if the file is shorter than 20 lines, and then 875uses the ":g" command to find lines that contain "Last modified: ". For those 876lines the ":s" command is executed to replace the existing date with the 877current one. The ":execute" command is used to be able to use an expression 878for the ":g" and ":s" commands. The date is obtained with the strftime() 879function. You can change its argument to get another date string. 880 881When entering :autocmd on the command-line, completion of events and command 882names may be done (with <Tab>, CTRL-D, etc.) where appropriate. 883 884Vim executes all matching autocommands in the order that you specify them. 885It is recommended that your first autocommand be used for all files by using 886"*" as the file pattern. This means that you can define defaults you like 887here for any settings, and if there is another matching autocommand it will 888override these. But if there is no other matching autocommand, then at least 889your default settings are recovered (if entering this file from another for 890which autocommands did match). Note that "*" will also match files starting 891with ".", unlike Unix shells. 892 893 *autocmd-searchpat* 894Autocommands do not change the current search patterns. Vim saves the current 895search patterns before executing autocommands then restores them after the 896autocommands finish. This means that autocommands do not affect the strings 897highlighted with the 'hlsearch' option. Within autocommands, you can still 898use search patterns normally, e.g., with the "n" command. 899If you want an autocommand to set the search pattern, such that it is used 900after the autocommand finishes, use the ":let @/ =" command. 901The search-highlighting cannot be switched off with ":nohlsearch" in an 902autocommand. Use the 'h' flag in the 'viminfo' option to disable search- 903highlighting when starting Vim. 904 905 *Cmd-event* 906When using one of the "*Cmd" events, the matching autocommands are expected to 907do the file reading or writing. This can be used when working with a special 908kind of file, for example on a remote system. 909CAREFUL: If you use these events in a wrong way, it may have the effect of 910making it impossible to read or write the matching files! Make sure you test 911your autocommands properly. Best is to use a pattern that will never match a 912normal file name, for example "ftp://*". 913 914When defining a BufReadCmd it will be difficult for Vim to recover a crashed 915editing session. When recovering from the original file, Vim reads only those 916parts of a file that are not found in the swap file. Since that is not 917possible with a BufReadCmd, use the |:preserve| command to make sure the 918original file isn't needed for recovery. You might want to do this only when 919you expect the file to be modified. 920 921The |v:cmdarg| variable holds the "++enc=" and "++ff=" argument that are 922effective. These should be used for the command that reads/writes the file. 923The |v:cmdbang| variable is one when "!" was used, zero otherwise. 924 925See the $VIMRUNTIME/plugin/netrw.vim for examples. 926 927 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: 928