1*change.txt* For Vim version 7.4. Last change: 2015 Oct 17 2 3 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar 5 6 7This file describes commands that delete or change text. In this context, 8changing text means deleting the text and replacing it with other text using 9one command. You can undo all of these commands. You can repeat the non-Ex 10commands with the "." command. 11 121. Deleting text |deleting| 132. Delete and insert |delete-insert| 143. Simple changes |simple-change| *changing* 154. Complex changes |complex-change| 16 4.1 Filter commands |filter| 17 4.2 Substitute |:substitute| 18 4.3 Search and replace |search-replace| 19 4.4 Changing tabs |change-tabs| 205. Copying and moving text |copy-move| 216. Formatting text |formatting| 227. Sorting text |sorting| 23 24For inserting text see |insert.txt|. 25 26============================================================================== 271. Deleting text *deleting* *E470* 28 29["x]<Del> or *<Del>* *x* *dl* 30["x]x Delete [count] characters under and after the cursor 31 [into register x] (not |linewise|). Does the same as 32 "dl". 33 The <Del> key does not take a [count]. Instead, it 34 deletes the last character of the count. 35 See |:fixdel| if the <Del> key does not do what you 36 want. See |'whichwrap'| for deleting a line break 37 (join lines). {Vi does not support <Del>} 38 39 *X* *dh* 40["x]X Delete [count] characters before the cursor [into 41 register x] (not |linewise|). Does the same as "dh". 42 Also see |'whichwrap'|. 43 44 *d* 45["x]d{motion} Delete text that {motion} moves over [into register 46 x]. See below for exceptions. 47 48 *dd* 49["x]dd Delete [count] lines [into register x] |linewise|. 50 51 *D* 52["x]D Delete the characters under the cursor until the end 53 of the line and [count]-1 more lines [into register 54 x]; synonym for "d$". 55 (not |linewise|) 56 When the '#' flag is in 'cpoptions' the count is 57 ignored. 58 59{Visual}["x]x or *v_x* *v_d* *v_<Del>* 60{Visual}["x]d or 61{Visual}["x]<Del> Delete the highlighted text [into register x] (for 62 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi} 63 64{Visual}["x]CTRL-H or *v_CTRL-H* *v_<BS>* 65{Visual}["x]<BS> When in Select mode: Delete the highlighted text [into 66 register x]. 67 68{Visual}["x]X or *v_X* *v_D* *v_b_D* 69{Visual}["x]D Delete the highlighted lines [into register x] (for 70 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). In Visual block mode, 71 "D" deletes the highlighted text plus all text until 72 the end of the line. {not in Vi} 73 74 *:d* *:de* *:del* *:delete* *:dl* *:dp* 75:[range]d[elete] [x] Delete [range] lines (default: current line) [into 76 register x]. 77 Note these weird abbreviations: 78 :dl delete and list 79 :dell idem 80 :delel idem 81 :deletl idem 82 :deletel idem 83 :dp delete and print 84 :dep idem 85 :delp idem 86 :delep idem 87 :deletp idem 88 :deletep idem 89 90:[range]d[elete] [x] {count} 91 Delete {count} lines, starting with [range] 92 (default: current line |cmdline-ranges|) [into 93 register x]. 94 95These commands delete text. You can repeat them with the `.` command 96(except `:d`) and undo them. Use Visual mode to delete blocks of text. See 97|registers| for an explanation of registers. 98 99An exception for the d{motion} command: If the motion is not linewise, the 100start and end of the motion are not in the same line, and there are only 101blanks before the start and after the end of the motion, the delete becomes 102linewise. This means that the delete also removes the line of blanks that you 103might expect to remain. Use the |o_v| operator to force the motion to be 104characterwise. 105 106Trying to delete an empty region of text (e.g., "d0" in the first column) 107is an error when 'cpoptions' includes the 'E' flag. 108 109 *J* 110J Join [count] lines, with a minimum of two lines. 111 Remove the indent and insert up to two spaces (see 112 below). 113 114 *v_J* 115{Visual}J Join the highlighted lines, with a minimum of two 116 lines. Remove the indent and insert up to two spaces 117 (see below). {not in Vi} 118 119 *gJ* 120gJ Join [count] lines, with a minimum of two lines. 121 Don't insert or remove any spaces. {not in Vi} 122 123 *v_gJ* 124{Visual}gJ Join the highlighted lines, with a minimum of two 125 lines. Don't insert or remove any spaces. {not in 126 Vi} 127 128 *:j* *:join* 129:[range]j[oin][!] [flags] 130 Join [range] lines. Same as "J", except with [!] 131 the join does not insert or delete any spaces. 132 If a [range] has equal start and end values, this 133 command does nothing. The default behavior is to 134 join the current line with the line below it. 135 {not in Vi: !} 136 See |ex-flags| for [flags]. 137 138:[range]j[oin][!] {count} [flags] 139 Join {count} lines, starting with [range] (default: 140 current line |cmdline-ranges|). Same as "J", except 141 with [!] the join does not insert or delete any 142 spaces. 143 {not in Vi: !} 144 See |ex-flags| for [flags]. 145 146These commands delete the <EOL> between lines. This has the effect of joining 147multiple lines into one line. You can repeat these commands (except `:j`) and 148undo them. 149 150These commands, except "gJ", insert one space in place of the <EOL> unless 151there is trailing white space or the next line starts with a ')'. These 152commands, except "gJ", delete any leading white space on the next line. If 153the 'joinspaces' option is on, these commands insert two spaces after a '.', 154'!' or '?' (but if 'cpoptions' includes the 'j' flag, they insert two spaces 155only after a '.'). 156The 'B' and 'M' flags in 'formatoptions' change the behavior for inserting 157spaces before and after a multi-byte character |fo-table|. 158 159The '[ mark is set at the end of the first line that was joined, '] at the end 160of the resulting line. 161 162 163============================================================================== 1642. Delete and insert *delete-insert* *replacing* 165 166 *R* 167R Enter Replace mode: Each character you type replaces 168 an existing character, starting with the character 169 under the cursor. Repeat the entered text [count]-1 170 times. See |Replace-mode| for more details. 171 172 *gR* 173gR Enter Virtual Replace mode: Each character you type 174 replaces existing characters in screen space. So a 175 <Tab> may replace several characters at once. 176 Repeat the entered text [count]-1 times. See 177 |Virtual-Replace-mode| for more details. 178 {not available when compiled without the |+vreplace| 179 feature} 180 181 *c* 182["x]c{motion} Delete {motion} text [into register x] and start 183 insert. When 'cpoptions' includes the 'E' flag and 184 there is no text to delete (e.g., with "cTx" when the 185 cursor is just after an 'x'), an error occurs and 186 insert mode does not start (this is Vi compatible). 187 When 'cpoptions' does not include the 'E' flag, the 188 "c" command always starts insert mode, even if there 189 is no text to delete. 190 191 *cc* 192["x]cc Delete [count] lines [into register x] and start 193 insert |linewise|. If 'autoindent' is on, preserve 194 the indent of the first line. 195 196 *C* 197["x]C Delete from the cursor position to the end of the 198 line and [count]-1 more lines [into register x], and 199 start insert. Synonym for c$ (not |linewise|). 200 201 *s* 202["x]s Delete [count] characters [into register x] and start 203 insert (s stands for Substitute). Synonym for "cl" 204 (not |linewise|). 205 206 *S* 207["x]S Delete [count] lines [into register x] and start 208 insert. Synonym for "cc" |linewise|. 209 210{Visual}["x]c or *v_c* *v_s* 211{Visual}["x]s Delete the highlighted text [into register x] and 212 start insert (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not 213 in Vi} 214 215 *v_r* 216{Visual}["x]r{char} Replace all selected characters by {char}. 217 218 *v_C* 219{Visual}["x]C Delete the highlighted lines [into register x] and 220 start insert. In Visual block mode it works 221 differently |v_b_C|. {not in Vi} 222 *v_S* 223{Visual}["x]S Delete the highlighted lines [into register x] and 224 start insert (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not 225 in Vi} 226 *v_R* 227{Visual}["x]R Currently just like {Visual}["x]S. In a next version 228 it might work differently. {not in Vi} 229 230Notes: 231- You can end Insert and Replace mode with <Esc>. 232- See the section "Insert and Replace mode" |mode-ins-repl| for the other 233 special characters in these modes. 234- The effect of [count] takes place after Vim exits Insert or Replace mode. 235- When the 'cpoptions' option contains '$' and the change is within one line, 236 Vim continues to show the text to be deleted and puts a '$' at the last 237 deleted character. 238 239See |registers| for an explanation of registers. 240 241Replace mode is just like Insert mode, except that every character you enter 242deletes one character. If you reach the end of a line, Vim appends any 243further characters (just like Insert mode). In Replace mode, the backspace 244key restores the original text (if there was any). (See section "Insert and 245Replace mode" |mode-ins-repl|). 246 247 *cw* *cW* 248Special case: When the cursor is in a word, "cw" and "cW" do not include the 249white space after a word, they only change up to the end of the word. This is 250because Vim interprets "cw" as change-word, and a word does not include the 251following white space. 252{Vi: "cw" when on a blank followed by other blanks changes only the first 253blank; this is probably a bug, because "dw" deletes all the blanks; use the 254'w' flag in 'cpoptions' to make it work like Vi anyway} 255 256If you prefer "cw" to include the space after a word, use this mapping: > 257 :map cw dwi 258Or use "caw" (see |aw|). 259 260 *:c* *:ch* *:change* 261:{range}c[hange][!] Replace lines of text with some different text. 262 Type a line containing only "." to stop replacing. 263 Without {range}, this command changes only the current 264 line. 265 Adding [!] toggles 'autoindent' for the time this 266 command is executed. 267 268============================================================================== 2693. Simple changes *simple-change* 270 271 *r* 272r{char} Replace the character under the cursor with {char}. 273 If {char} is a <CR> or <NL>, a line break replaces the 274 character. To replace with a real <CR>, use CTRL-V 275 <CR>. CTRL-V <NL> replaces with a <Nul>. 276 {Vi: CTRL-V <CR> still replaces with a line break, 277 cannot replace something with a <CR>} 278 279 If {char} is CTRL-E or CTRL-Y the character from the 280 line below or above is used, just like with |i_CTRL-E| 281 and |i_CTRL-Y|. This also works with a count, thus 282 `10r<C-E>` copies 10 characters from the line below. 283 284 If you give a [count], Vim replaces [count] characters 285 with [count] {char}s. When {char} is a <CR> or <NL>, 286 however, Vim inserts only one <CR>: "5r<CR>" replaces 287 five characters with a single line break. 288 When {char} is a <CR> or <NL>, Vim performs 289 autoindenting. This works just like deleting the 290 characters that are replaced and then doing 291 "i<CR><Esc>". 292 {char} can be entered as a digraph |digraph-arg|. 293 |:lmap| mappings apply to {char}. The CTRL-^ command 294 in Insert mode can be used to switch this on/off 295 |i_CTRL-^|. See |utf-8-char-arg| about using 296 composing characters when 'encoding' is Unicode. 297 298 *gr* 299gr{char} Replace the virtual characters under the cursor with 300 {char}. This replaces in screen space, not file 301 space. See |gR| and |Virtual-Replace-mode| for more 302 details. As with |r| a count may be given. 303 {char} can be entered like with |r|. 304 {not available when compiled without the |+vreplace| 305 feature} 306 307 *digraph-arg* 308The argument for Normal mode commands like |r| and |t| is a single character. 309When 'cpo' doesn't contain the 'D' flag, this character can also be entered 310like |digraphs|. First type CTRL-K and then the two digraph characters. 311{not available when compiled without the |+digraphs| feature} 312 313 *case* 314The following commands change the case of letters. The currently active 315|locale| is used. See |:language|. The LC_CTYPE value matters here. 316 317 *~* 318~ 'notildeop' option: Switch case of the character 319 under the cursor and move the cursor to the right. 320 If a [count] is given, do that many characters. {Vi: 321 no count} 322 323~{motion} 'tildeop' option: switch case of {motion} text. {Vi: 324 tilde cannot be used as an operator} 325 326 *g~* 327g~{motion} Switch case of {motion} text. {not in Vi} 328 329g~g~ *g~g~* *g~~* 330g~~ Switch case of current line. {not in Vi}. 331 332 *v_~* 333{Visual}~ Switch case of highlighted text (for {Visual} see 334 |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi} 335 336 *v_U* 337{Visual}U Make highlighted text uppercase (for {Visual} see 338 |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi} 339 340 *gU* *uppercase* 341gU{motion} Make {motion} text uppercase. {not in Vi} 342 Example: > 343 :map! <C-F> <Esc>gUiw`]a 344< This works in Insert mode: press CTRL-F to make the 345 word before the cursor uppercase. Handy to type 346 words in lowercase and then make them uppercase. 347 348 349gUgU *gUgU* *gUU* 350gUU Make current line uppercase. {not in Vi}. 351 352 *v_u* 353{Visual}u Make highlighted text lowercase (for {Visual} see 354 |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi} 355 356 *gu* *lowercase* 357gu{motion} Make {motion} text lowercase. {not in Vi} 358 359gugu *gugu* *guu* 360guu Make current line lowercase. {not in Vi}. 361 362 *g?* *rot13* 363g?{motion} Rot13 encode {motion} text. {not in Vi} 364 365 *v_g?* 366{Visual}g? Rot13 encode the highlighted text (for {Visual} see 367 |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi} 368 369g?g? *g?g?* *g??* 370g?? Rot13 encode current line. {not in Vi}. 371 372To turn one line into title caps, make every first letter of a word 373uppercase: > 374 :s/\v<(.)(\w*)/\u\1\L\2/g 375 376 377Adding and subtracting ~ 378 *CTRL-A* 379CTRL-A Add [count] to the number or alphabetic character at 380 or after the cursor. {not in Vi} 381 382 *v_CTRL-A* 383{Visual}CTRL-A Add [count] to the number or alphabetic character in 384 the highlighted text. {not in Vi} 385 386 *v_g_CTRL-A* 387{Visual}g CTRL-A Add [count] to the number or alphabetic character in 388 the highlighted text. If several lines are 389 highlighted, each one will be incremented by an 390 additional [count] (so effectively creating a 391 [count] incrementing sequence). {not in Vi} 392 For Example, if you have this list of numbers: 393 1. ~ 394 1. ~ 395 1. ~ 396 1. ~ 397 Move to the second "1." and Visually select three 398 lines, pressing g CTRL-A results in: 399 1. ~ 400 2. ~ 401 3. ~ 402 4. ~ 403 404 *CTRL-X* 405CTRL-X Subtract [count] from the number or alphabetic 406 character at or after the cursor. {not in Vi} 407 408 *v_CTRL-X* 409{Visual}CTRL-X Subtract [count] from the number or alphabetic 410 character in the highlighted text. {not in Vi} 411 412 *v_g_CTRL-X* 413{Visual}g CTRL-X Subtract [count] from the number or alphabetic 414 character in the highlighted text. If several lines 415 are highlighted, each value will be decremented by an 416 additional [count] (so effectively creating a [count] 417 decrementing sequence). {not in Vi} 418 419The CTRL-A and CTRL-X commands work for (signed) decimal numbers, unsigned 420octal and hexadecimal numbers and alphabetic characters. This depends on the 421'nrformats' option. 422- When 'nrformats' includes "octal", Vim considers numbers starting with a '0' 423 to be octal, unless the number includes a '8' or '9'. Other numbers are 424 decimal and may have a preceding minus sign. 425 If the cursor is on a number, the commands apply to that number; otherwise 426 Vim uses the number to the right of the cursor. 427- When 'nrformats' includes "hex", Vim assumes numbers starting with '0x' or 428 '0X' are hexadecimal. The case of the rightmost letter in the number 429 determines the case of the resulting hexadecimal number. If there is no 430 letter in the current number, Vim uses the previously detected case. 431- When 'nrformats' includes "alpha", Vim will change the alphabetic character 432 under or after the cursor. This is useful to make lists with an alphabetic 433 index. 434 435For decimals a leading negative sign is considered for incrementing/ 436decrementing, for octal and hex values, it won't be considered. 437To ignore the sign Visually select the number before using CTRL-A or CTRL-X. 438 439For numbers with leading zeros (including all octal and hexadecimal numbers), 440Vim preserves the number of characters in the number when possible. CTRL-A on 441"0077" results in "0100", CTRL-X on "0x100" results in "0x0ff". 442There is one exception: When a number that starts with a zero is found not to 443be octal (it contains a '8' or '9'), but 'nrformats' does include "octal", 444leading zeros are removed to avoid that the result may be recognized as an 445octal number. 446 447Note that when 'nrformats' includes "octal", decimal numbers with leading 448zeros cause mistakes, because they can be confused with octal numbers. 449 450The CTRL-A command is very useful in a macro. Example: Use the following 451steps to make a numbered list. 452 4531. Create the first list entry, make sure it starts with a number. 4542. qa - start recording into register 'a' 4553. Y - yank the entry 4564. p - put a copy of the entry below the first one 4575. CTRL-A - increment the number 4586. q - stop recording 4597. <count>@a - repeat the yank, put and increment <count> times 460 461 462SHIFTING LINES LEFT OR RIGHT *shift-left-right* 463 464 *<* 465<{motion} Shift {motion} lines one 'shiftwidth' leftwards. 466 467 *<<* 468<< Shift [count] lines one 'shiftwidth' leftwards. 469 470 *v_<* 471{Visual}[count]< Shift the highlighted lines [count] 'shiftwidth' 472 leftwards (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not in 473 Vi} 474 475 *>* 476 >{motion} Shift {motion} lines one 'shiftwidth' rightwards. 477 478 *>>* 479 >> Shift [count] lines one 'shiftwidth' rightwards. 480 481 *v_>* 482{Visual}[count]> Shift the highlighted lines [count] 'shiftwidth' 483 rightwards (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not in 484 Vi} 485 486 *:<* 487:[range]< Shift [range] lines one 'shiftwidth' left. Repeat '<' 488 for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's. 489 490:[range]< {count} Shift {count} lines one 'shiftwidth' left, starting 491 with [range] (default current line |cmdline-ranges|). 492 Repeat '<' for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's. 493 494:[range]le[ft] [indent] left align lines in [range]. Sets the indent in the 495 lines to [indent] (default 0). {not in Vi} 496 497 *:>* 498:[range]> [flags] Shift {count} [range] lines one 'shiftwidth' right. 499 Repeat '>' for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's. 500 See |ex-flags| for [flags]. 501 502:[range]> {count} [flags] 503 Shift {count} lines one 'shiftwidth' right, starting 504 with [range] (default current line |cmdline-ranges|). 505 Repeat '>' for shifting multiple 'shiftwidth's. 506 See |ex-flags| for [flags]. 507 508The ">" and "<" commands are handy for changing the indentation within 509programs. Use the 'shiftwidth' option to set the size of the white space 510which these commands insert or delete. Normally the 'shiftwidth' option is 8, 511but you can set it to, say, 3 to make smaller indents. The shift leftwards 512stops when there is no indent. The shift right does not affect empty lines. 513 514If the 'shiftround' option is on, the indent is rounded to a multiple of 515'shiftwidth'. 516 517If the 'smartindent' option is on, or 'cindent' is on and 'cinkeys' contains 518'#' with a zero value, shift right does not affect lines starting with '#' 519(these are supposed to be C preprocessor lines that must stay in column 1). 520 521When the 'expandtab' option is off (this is the default) Vim uses <Tab>s as 522much as possible to make the indent. You can use ">><<" to replace an indent 523made out of spaces with the same indent made out of <Tab>s (and a few spaces 524if necessary). If the 'expandtab' option is on, Vim uses only spaces. Then 525you can use ">><<" to replace <Tab>s in the indent by spaces (or use 526`:retab!`). 527 528To move a line several 'shiftwidth's, use Visual mode or the `:` commands. 529For example: > 530 Vjj4> move three lines 4 indents to the right 531 :<<< move current line 3 indents to the left 532 :>> 5 move 5 lines 2 indents to the right 533 :5>> move line 5 2 indents to the right 534 535============================================================================== 5364. Complex changes *complex-change* 537 5384.1 Filter commands *filter* 539 540A filter is a program that accepts text at standard input, changes it in some 541way, and sends it to standard output. You can use the commands below to send 542some text through a filter, so that it is replaced by the filter output. 543Examples of filters are "sort", which sorts lines alphabetically, and 544"indent", which formats C program files (you need a version of indent that 545works like a filter; not all versions do). The 'shell' option specifies the 546shell Vim uses to execute the filter command (See also the 'shelltype' 547option). You can repeat filter commands with ".". Vim does not recognize a 548comment (starting with '"') after the `:!` command. 549 550 *!* 551!{motion}{filter} Filter {motion} text lines through the external 552 program {filter}. 553 554 *!!* 555!!{filter} Filter [count] lines through the external program 556 {filter}. 557 558 *v_!* 559{Visual}!{filter} Filter the highlighted lines through the external 560 program {filter} (for {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). 561 {not in Vi} 562 563:{range}![!]{filter} [!][arg] *:range!* 564 Filter {range} lines through the external program 565 {filter}. Vim replaces the optional bangs with the 566 latest given command and appends the optional [arg]. 567 Vim saves the output of the filter command in a 568 temporary file and then reads the file into the buffer 569 |tempfile|. Vim uses the 'shellredir' option to 570 redirect the filter output to the temporary file. 571 However, if the 'shelltemp' option is off then pipes 572 are used when possible (on Unix). 573 When the 'R' flag is included in 'cpoptions' marks in 574 the filtered lines are deleted, unless the 575 |:keepmarks| command is used. Example: > 576 :keepmarks '<,'>!sort 577< When the number of lines after filtering is less than 578 before, marks in the missing lines are deleted anyway. 579 580 *=* 581={motion} Filter {motion} lines through the external program 582 given with the 'equalprg' option. When the 'equalprg' 583 option is empty (this is the default), use the 584 internal formatting function |C-indenting| and 585 |'lisp'|. But when 'indentexpr' is not empty, it will 586 be used instead |indent-expression|. When Vim was 587 compiled without internal formatting then the "indent" 588 program is used as a last resort. 589 590 *==* 591== Filter [count] lines like with ={motion}. 592 593 *v_=* 594{Visual}= Filter the highlighted lines like with ={motion}. 595 {not in Vi} 596 597 598 *tempfile* *setuid* 599Vim uses temporary files for filtering, generating diffs and also for 600tempname(). For Unix, the file will be in a private directory (only 601accessible by the current user) to avoid security problems (e.g., a symlink 602attack or other people reading your file). When Vim exits the directory and 603all files in it are deleted. When Vim has the setuid bit set this may cause 604problems, the temp file is owned by the setuid user but the filter command 605probably runs as the original user. 606On MS-DOS and OS/2 the first of these directories that works is used: $TMP, 607$TEMP, c:\TMP, c:\TEMP. 608For Unix the list of directories is: $TMPDIR, /tmp, current-dir, $HOME. 609For MS-Windows the GetTempFileName() system function is used. 610For other systems the tmpnam() library function is used. 611 612 613 6144.2 Substitute *:substitute* 615 *:s* *:su* 616:[range]s[ubstitute]/{pattern}/{string}/[flags] [count] 617 For each line in [range] replace a match of {pattern} 618 with {string}. 619 For the {pattern} see |pattern|. 620 {string} can be a literal string, or something 621 special; see |sub-replace-special|. 622 When [range] and [count] are omitted, replace in the 623 current line only. 624 When [count] is given, replace in [count] lines, 625 starting with the last line in [range]. When [range] 626 is omitted start in the current line. 627 Also see |cmdline-ranges|. 628 See |:s_flags| for [flags]. 629 630:[range]s[ubstitute] [flags] [count] 631:[range]&[&][flags] [count] *:&* 632 Repeat last :substitute with same search pattern and 633 substitute string, but without the same flags. You 634 may add [flags], see |:s_flags|. 635 Note that after `:substitute` the '&' flag can't be 636 used, it's recognized as a pattern separator. 637 The space between `:substitute` and the 'c', 'g', 638 'i', 'I' and 'r' flags isn't required, but in scripts 639 it's a good idea to keep it to avoid confusion. 640 641:[range]~[&][flags] [count] *:~* 642 Repeat last substitute with same substitute string 643 but with last used search pattern. This is like 644 `:&r`. See |:s_flags| for [flags]. 645 646 *&* 647& Synonym for `:s` (repeat last substitute). Note 648 that the flags are not remembered, thus it might 649 actually work differently. You can use `:&&` to keep 650 the flags. 651 652 *g&* 653g& Synonym for `:%s//~/&` (repeat last substitute with 654 last search pattern on all lines with the same flags). 655 For example, when you first do a substitution with 656 `:s/pattern/repl/flags` and then `/search` for 657 something else, `g&` will do `:%s/search/repl/flags`. 658 Mnemonic: global substitute. {not in Vi} 659 660 *:snomagic* *:sno* 661:[range]sno[magic] ... Same as `:substitute`, but always use 'nomagic'. 662 {not in Vi} 663 664 *:smagic* *:sm* 665:[range]sm[agic] ... Same as `:substitute`, but always use 'magic'. 666 {not in Vi} 667 668 *:s_flags* 669The flags that you can use for the substitute commands: 670 671[&] Must be the first one: Keep the flags from the previous substitute 672 command. Examples: > 673 :&& 674 :s/this/that/& 675< Note that `:s` and `:&` don't keep the flags. 676 {not in Vi} 677 678[c] Confirm each substitution. Vim highlights the matching string (with 679 |hl-IncSearch|). You can type: *:s_c* 680 'y' to substitute this match 681 'l' to substitute this match and then quit ("last") 682 'n' to skip this match 683 <Esc> to quit substituting 684 'a' to substitute this and all remaining matches {not in Vi} 685 'q' to quit substituting {not in Vi} 686 CTRL-E to scroll the screen up {not in Vi, not available when 687 compiled without the |+insert_expand| feature} 688 CTRL-Y to scroll the screen down {not in Vi, not available when 689 compiled without the |+insert_expand| feature} 690 If the 'edcompatible' option is on, Vim remembers the [c] flag and 691 toggles it each time you use it, but resets it when you give a new 692 search pattern. 693 {not in Vi: highlighting of the match, other responses than 'y' or 'n'} 694 695[e] When the search pattern fails, do not issue an error message and, in 696 particular, continue in maps as if no error occurred. This is most 697 useful to prevent the "No match" error from breaking a mapping. Vim 698 does not suppress the following error messages, however: 699 Regular expressions can't be delimited by letters 700 \ should be followed by /, ? or & 701 No previous substitute regular expression 702 Trailing characters 703 Interrupted 704 {not in Vi} 705 706[g] Replace all occurrences in the line. Without this argument, 707 replacement occurs only for the first occurrence in each line. If 708 the 'edcompatible' option is on, Vim remembers this flag and toggles 709 it each time you use it, but resets it when you give a new search 710 pattern. If the 'gdefault' option is on, this flag is on by default 711 and the [g] argument switches it off. 712 713[i] Ignore case for the pattern. The 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' options 714 are not used. 715 {not in Vi} 716 717[I] Don't ignore case for the pattern. The 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' 718 options are not used. 719 {not in Vi} 720 721[n] Report the number of matches, do not actually substitute. The [c] 722 flag is ignored. The matches are reported as if 'report' is zero. 723 Useful to |count-items|. 724 If \= |sub-replace-expression| is used, the expression will be 725 evaluated in the |sandbox| at every match. 726 727[p] Print the line containing the last substitute. 728 729[#] Like [p] and prepend the line number. 730 731[l] Like [p] but print the text like |:list|. 732 733[r] Only useful in combination with `:&` or `:s` without arguments. `:&r` 734 works the same way as `:~`: When the search pattern is empty, use the 735 previously used search pattern instead of the search pattern from the 736 last substitute or `:global`. If the last command that did a search 737 was a substitute or `:global`, there is no effect. If the last 738 command was a search command such as "/", use the pattern from that 739 command. 740 For `:s` with an argument this already happens: > 741 :s/blue/red/ 742 /green 743 :s//red/ or :~ or :&r 744< The last commands will replace "green" with "red". > 745 :s/blue/red/ 746 /green 747 :& 748< The last command will replace "blue" with "red". 749 {not in Vi} 750 751Note that there is no flag to change the "magicness" of the pattern. A 752different command is used instead, or you can use |/\v| and friends. The 753reason is that the flags can only be found by skipping the pattern, and in 754order to skip the pattern the "magicness" must be known. Catch 22! 755 756If the {pattern} for the substitute command is empty, the command uses the 757pattern from the last substitute or `:global` command. If there is none, but 758there is a previous search pattern, that one is used. With the [r] flag, the 759command uses the pattern from the last substitute, `:global`, or search 760command. 761 762If the {string} is omitted the substitute is done as if it's empty. Thus the 763matched pattern is deleted. The separator after {pattern} can also be left 764out then. Example: > 765 :%s/TESTING 766This deletes "TESTING" from all lines, but only one per line. 767 768For compatibility with Vi these two exceptions are allowed: 769"\/{string}/" and "\?{string}?" do the same as "//{string}/r". 770"\&{string}&" does the same as "//{string}/". 771 *E146* 772Instead of the '/' which surrounds the pattern and replacement string, you 773can use any other single-byte character, but not an alphanumeric character, 774'\', '"' or '|'. This is useful if you want to include a '/' in the search 775pattern or replacement string. Example: > 776 :s+/+//+ 777 778For the definition of a pattern, see |pattern|. In Visual block mode, use 779|/\%V| in the pattern to have the substitute work in the block only. 780Otherwise it works on whole lines anyway. 781 782 *sub-replace-special* *:s\=* 783When the {string} starts with "\=" it is evaluated as an expression, see 784|sub-replace-expression|. You can use that for complex replacement or special 785characters. 786 787Otherwise these characters in {string} have a special meaning: 788 *:s%* 789When {string} is equal to "%" and '/' is included with the 'cpoptions' option, 790then the {string} of the previous substitute command is used, see |cpo-/| 791 792magic nomagic action ~ 793 & \& replaced with the whole matched pattern *s/\&* 794 \& & replaced with & 795 \0 replaced with the whole matched pattern *\0* *s/\0* 796 \1 replaced with the matched pattern in the first 797 pair of () *s/\1* 798 \2 replaced with the matched pattern in the second 799 pair of () *s/\2* 800 .. .. *s/\3* 801 \9 replaced with the matched pattern in the ninth 802 pair of () *s/\9* 803 ~ \~ replaced with the {string} of the previous 804 substitute *s~* 805 \~ ~ replaced with ~ *s/\~* 806 \u next character made uppercase *s/\u* 807 \U following characters made uppercase, until \E *s/\U* 808 \l next character made lowercase *s/\l* 809 \L following characters made lowercase, until \E *s/\L* 810 \e end of \u, \U, \l and \L (NOTE: not <Esc>!) *s/\e* 811 \E end of \u, \U, \l and \L *s/\E* 812 <CR> split line in two at this point 813 (Type the <CR> as CTRL-V <Enter>) *s<CR>* 814 \r idem *s/\r* 815 \<CR> insert a carriage-return (CTRL-M) 816 (Type the <CR> as CTRL-V <Enter>) *s/\<CR>* 817 \n insert a <NL> (<NUL> in the file) 818 (does NOT break the line) *s/\n* 819 \b insert a <BS> *s/\b* 820 \t insert a <Tab> *s/\t* 821 \\ insert a single backslash *s/\\* 822 \x where x is any character not mentioned above: 823 Reserved for future expansion 824 825The special meaning is also used inside the third argument {sub} of 826the |substitute()| function with the following exceptions: 827 - A % inserts a percent literally without regard to 'cpoptions'. 828 - magic is always set without regard to 'magic'. 829 - A ~ inserts a tilde literally. 830 - <CR> and \r inserts a carriage-return (CTRL-M). 831 - \<CR> does not have a special meaning. it's just one of \x. 832 833Examples: > 834 :s/a\|b/xxx\0xxx/g modifies "a b" to "xxxaxxx xxxbxxx" 835 :s/\([abc]\)\([efg]\)/\2\1/g modifies "af fa bg" to "fa fa gb" 836 :s/abcde/abc^Mde/ modifies "abcde" to "abc", "de" (two lines) 837 :s/$/\^M/ modifies "abcde" to "abcde^M" 838 :s/\w\+/\u\0/g modifies "bla bla" to "Bla Bla" 839 :s/\w\+/\L\u/g modifies "BLA bla" to "Bla Bla" 840 841Note: "\L\u" can be used to capitalize the first letter of a word. This is 842not compatible with Vi and older versions of Vim, where the "\u" would cancel 843out the "\L". Same for "\U\l". 844 845Note: In previous versions CTRL-V was handled in a special way. Since this is 846not Vi compatible, this was removed. Use a backslash instead. 847 848command text result ~ 849:s/aa/a^Ma/ aa a<line-break>a 850:s/aa/a\^Ma/ aa a^Ma 851:s/aa/a\\^Ma/ aa a\<line-break>a 852 853(you need to type CTRL-V <CR> to get a ^M here) 854 855The numbering of "\1", "\2" etc. is done based on which "\(" comes first in 856the pattern (going left to right). When a parentheses group matches several 857times, the last one will be used for "\1", "\2", etc. Example: > 858 :s/\(\(a[a-d] \)*\)/\2/ modifies "aa ab x" to "ab x" 859 860When using parentheses in combination with '|', like in \([ab]\)\|\([cd]\), 861either the first or second pattern in parentheses did not match, so either 862\1 or \2 is empty. Example: > 863 :s/\([ab]\)\|\([cd]\)/\1x/g modifies "a b c d" to "ax bx x x" 864< 865 866 *:sc* *:sce* *:scg* *:sci* *:scI* *:scl* *:scp* *:sg* *:sgc* 867 *:sge* *:sgi* *:sgI* *:sgl* *:sgn* *:sgp* *:sgr* *:sI* *:si* 868 *:sic* *:sIc* *:sie* *:sIe* *:sIg* *:sIl* *:sin* *:sIn* *:sIp* 869 *:sip* *:sIr* *:sir* *:sr* *:src* *:srg* *:sri* *:srI* *:srl* 870 *:srn* *:srp* 8712-letter and 3-letter :substitute commands ~ 872 873 List of :substitute commands 874 | c e g i I n p l r 875 | c :sc :sce :scg :sci :scI :scn :scp :scl --- 876 | e 877 | g :sgc :sge :sg :sgi :sgI :sgn :sgp :sgl :sgr 878 | i :sic :sie --- :si :siI :sin :sip --- :sir 879 | I :sIc :sIe :sIg :sIi :sI :sIn :sIp :sIl :sIr 880 | n 881 | p 882 | l 883 | r :src --- :srg :sri :srI :srn :srp :srl :sr 884 885Exceptions: 886 :scr is `:scriptnames` 887 :se is `:set` 888 :sig is `:sign` 889 :sil is `:silent` 890 :sn is `:snext` 891 :sp is `:split` 892 :sl is `:sleep` 893 :sre is `:srewind` 894 895 896Substitute with an expression *sub-replace-expression* 897 *sub-replace-\=* *s/\=* 898When the substitute string starts with "\=" the remainder is interpreted as an 899expression. This does not work recursively: a |substitute()| function inside 900the expression cannot use "\=" for the substitute string. 901 902The special meaning for characters as mentioned at |sub-replace-special| does 903not apply except for "<CR>". A <NL> character is used as a line break, you 904can get one with a double-quote string: "\n". Prepend a backslash to get a 905real <NL> character (which will be a NUL in the file). 906 907The "\=" notation can also be used inside the third argument {sub} of 908|substitute()| function. In this case, the special meaning for characters as 909mentioned at |sub-replace-special| does not apply at all. Especially, <CR> and 910<NL> are interpreted not as a line break but as a carriage-return and a 911new-line respectively. 912 913When the result is a |List| then the items are joined with separating line 914breaks. Thus each item becomes a line, except that they can contain line 915breaks themselves. 916 917The whole matched text can be accessed with "submatch(0)". The text matched 918with the first pair of () with "submatch(1)". Likewise for further 919sub-matches in (). 920 921Be careful: The separation character must not appear in the expression! 922Consider using a character like "@" or ":". There is no problem if the result 923of the expression contains the separation character. 924 925Examples: > 926 :s@\n@\="\r" . expand("$HOME") . "\r"@ 927This replaces an end-of-line with a new line containing the value of $HOME. > 928 929 s/E/\="\<Char-0x20ac>"/g 930This replaces each 'E' character with a euro sign. Read more in |<Char->|. 931 932 9334.3 Search and replace *search-replace* 934 935 *:pro* *:promptfind* 936:promptf[ind] [string] 937 Put up a Search dialog. When [string] is given, it is 938 used as the initial search string. 939 {only for Win32, Motif and GTK GUI} 940 941 *:promptr* *:promptrepl* 942:promptr[epl] [string] 943 Put up a Search/Replace dialog. When [string] is 944 given, it is used as the initial search string. 945 {only for Win32, Motif and GTK GUI} 946 947 9484.4 Changing tabs *change-tabs* 949 *:ret* *:retab* *:retab!* 950:[range]ret[ab][!] [new_tabstop] 951 Replace all sequences of white-space containing a 952 <Tab> with new strings of white-space using the new 953 tabstop value given. If you do not specify a new 954 tabstop size or it is zero, Vim uses the current value 955 of 'tabstop'. 956 The current value of 'tabstop' is always used to 957 compute the width of existing tabs. 958 With !, Vim also replaces strings of only normal 959 spaces with tabs where appropriate. 960 With 'expandtab' on, Vim replaces all tabs with the 961 appropriate number of spaces. 962 This command sets 'tabstop' to the new value given, 963 and if performed on the whole file, which is default, 964 should not make any visible change. 965 Careful: This command modifies any <Tab> characters 966 inside of strings in a C program. Use "\t" to avoid 967 this (that's a good habit anyway). 968 `:retab!` may also change a sequence of spaces by 969 <Tab> characters, which can mess up a printf(). 970 {not in Vi} 971 Not available when |+ex_extra| feature was disabled at 972 compile time. 973 974 *retab-example* 975Example for using autocommands and ":retab" to edit a file which is stored 976with tabstops at 8 but edited with tabstops set at 4. Warning: white space 977inside of strings can change! Also see 'softtabstop' option. > 978 979 :auto BufReadPost *.xx retab! 4 980 :auto BufWritePre *.xx retab! 8 981 :auto BufWritePost *.xx retab! 4 982 :auto BufNewFile *.xx set ts=4 983 984============================================================================== 9855. Copying and moving text *copy-move* 986 987 *quote* 988"{a-zA-Z0-9.%#:-"} Use register {a-zA-Z0-9.%#:-"} for next delete, yank 989 or put (use uppercase character to append with 990 delete and yank) ({.%#:} only work with put). 991 992 *:reg* *:registers* 993:reg[isters] Display the contents of all numbered and named 994 registers. If a register is written to for |:redir| 995 it will not be listed. 996 {not in Vi} 997 998 999:reg[isters] {arg} Display the contents of the numbered and named 1000 registers that are mentioned in {arg}. For example: > 1001 :dis 1a 1002< to display registers '1' and 'a'. Spaces are allowed 1003 in {arg}. {not in Vi} 1004 1005 *:di* *:display* 1006:di[splay] [arg] Same as :registers. {not in Vi} 1007 1008 *y* *yank* 1009["x]y{motion} Yank {motion} text [into register x]. When no 1010 characters are to be yanked (e.g., "y0" in column 1), 1011 this is an error when 'cpoptions' includes the 'E' 1012 flag. 1013 1014 *yy* 1015["x]yy Yank [count] lines [into register x] |linewise|. 1016 1017 *Y* 1018["x]Y yank [count] lines [into register x] (synonym for 1019 yy, |linewise|). If you like "Y" to work from the 1020 cursor to the end of line (which is more logical, 1021 but not Vi-compatible) use ":map Y y$". 1022 1023 *v_y* 1024{Visual}["x]y Yank the highlighted text [into register x] (for 1025 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi} 1026 1027 *v_Y* 1028{Visual}["x]Y Yank the highlighted lines [into register x] (for 1029 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi} 1030 1031 *:y* *:yank* *E850* 1032:[range]y[ank] [x] Yank [range] lines [into register x]. Yanking to the 1033 "* or "+ registers is possible only when the 1034 |+clipboard| feature is included. 1035 1036:[range]y[ank] [x] {count} 1037 Yank {count} lines, starting with last line number 1038 in [range] (default: current line |cmdline-ranges|), 1039 [into register x]. 1040 1041 *p* *put* *E353* 1042["x]p Put the text [from register x] after the cursor 1043 [count] times. {Vi: no count} 1044 1045 *P* 1046["x]P Put the text [from register x] before the cursor 1047 [count] times. {Vi: no count} 1048 1049 *<MiddleMouse>* 1050["x]<MiddleMouse> Put the text from a register before the cursor [count] 1051 times. Uses the "* register, unless another is 1052 specified. 1053 Leaves the cursor at the end of the new text. 1054 Using the mouse only works when 'mouse' contains 'n' 1055 or 'a'. 1056 {not in Vi} 1057 If you have a scrollwheel and often accidentally paste 1058 text, you can use these mappings to disable the 1059 pasting with the middle mouse button: > 1060 :map <MiddleMouse> <Nop> 1061 :imap <MiddleMouse> <Nop> 1062< You might want to disable the multi-click versions 1063 too, see |double-click|. 1064 1065 *gp* 1066["x]gp Just like "p", but leave the cursor just after the new 1067 text. {not in Vi} 1068 1069 *gP* 1070["x]gP Just like "P", but leave the cursor just after the new 1071 text. {not in Vi} 1072 1073 *:pu* *:put* 1074:[line]pu[t] [x] Put the text [from register x] after [line] (default 1075 current line). This always works |linewise|, thus 1076 this command can be used to put a yanked block as new 1077 lines. 1078 If no register is specified, it depends on the 'cb' 1079 option: If 'cb' contains "unnamedplus", paste from the 1080 + register |quoteplus|. Otherwise, if 'cb' contains 1081 "unnamed", paste from the * register |quotestar|. 1082 Otherwise, paste from the unnamed register 1083 |quote_quote|. 1084 The register can also be '=' followed by an optional 1085 expression. The expression continues until the end of 1086 the command. You need to escape the '|' and '"' 1087 characters to prevent them from terminating the 1088 command. Example: > 1089 :put ='path' . \",/test\" 1090< If there is no expression after '=', Vim uses the 1091 previous expression. You can see it with ":dis =". 1092 1093:[line]pu[t]! [x] Put the text [from register x] before [line] (default 1094 current line). 1095 1096["x]]p or *]p* *]<MiddleMouse>* 1097["x]]<MiddleMouse> Like "p", but adjust the indent to the current line. 1098 Using the mouse only works when 'mouse' contains 'n' 1099 or 'a'. {not in Vi} 1100 1101["x][P or *[P* 1102["x]]P or *]P* 1103["x][p or *[p* *[<MiddleMouse>* 1104["x][<MiddleMouse> Like "P", but adjust the indent to the current line. 1105 Using the mouse only works when 'mouse' contains 'n' 1106 or 'a'. {not in Vi} 1107 1108You can use these commands to copy text from one place to another. Do this 1109by first getting the text into a register with a yank, delete or change 1110command, then inserting the register contents with a put command. You can 1111also use these commands to move text from one file to another, because Vim 1112preserves all registers when changing buffers (the CTRL-^ command is a quick 1113way to toggle between two files). 1114 1115 *linewise-register* *characterwise-register* 1116You can repeat the put commands with "." (except for :put) and undo them. If 1117the command that was used to get the text into the register was |linewise|, 1118Vim inserts the text below ("p") or above ("P") the line where the cursor is. 1119Otherwise Vim inserts the text after ("p") or before ("P") the cursor. With 1120the ":put" command, Vim always inserts the text in the next line. You can 1121exchange two characters with the command sequence "xp". You can exchange two 1122lines with the command sequence "ddp". You can exchange two words with the 1123command sequence "deep" (start with the cursor in the blank space before the 1124first word). You can use the "']" or "`]" command after the put command to 1125move the cursor to the end of the inserted text, or use "'[" or "`[" to move 1126the cursor to the start. 1127 1128 *put-Visual-mode* *v_p* *v_P* 1129When using a put command like |p| or |P| in Visual mode, Vim will try to 1130replace the selected text with the contents of the register. Whether this 1131works well depends on the type of selection and the type of the text in the 1132register. With blockwise selection it also depends on the size of the block 1133and whether the corners are on an existing character. (Implementation detail: 1134it actually works by first putting the register after the selection and then 1135deleting the selection.) 1136The previously selected text is put in the unnamed register. If you want to 1137put the same text into a Visual selection several times you need to use 1138another register. E.g., yank the text to copy, Visually select the text to 1139replace and use "0p . You can repeat this as many times as you like, the 1140unnamed register will be changed each time. 1141 1142When you use a blockwise Visual mode command and yank only a single line into 1143a register, a paste on a visual selected area will paste that single line on 1144each of the selected lines (thus replacing the blockwise selected region by a 1145block of the pasted line). 1146 1147 *blockwise-register* 1148If you use a blockwise Visual mode command to get the text into the register, 1149the block of text will be inserted before ("P") or after ("p") the cursor 1150column in the current and next lines. Vim makes the whole block of text start 1151in the same column. Thus the inserted text looks the same as when it was 1152yanked or deleted. Vim may replace some <Tab> characters with spaces to make 1153this happen. However, if the width of the block is not a multiple of a <Tab> 1154width and the text after the inserted block contains <Tab>s, that text may be 1155misaligned. 1156 1157Note that after a characterwise yank command, Vim leaves the cursor on the 1158first yanked character that is closest to the start of the buffer. This means 1159that "yl" doesn't move the cursor, but "yh" moves the cursor one character 1160left. 1161Rationale: In Vi the "y" command followed by a backwards motion would 1162 sometimes not move the cursor to the first yanked character, 1163 because redisplaying was skipped. In Vim it always moves to 1164 the first character, as specified by Posix. 1165With a linewise yank command the cursor is put in the first line, but the 1166column is unmodified, thus it may not be on the first yanked character. 1167 1168There are ten types of registers: *registers* *E354* 11691. The unnamed register "" 11702. 10 numbered registers "0 to "9 11713. The small delete register "- 11724. 26 named registers "a to "z or "A to "Z 11735. three read-only registers ":, "., "% 11746. alternate buffer register "# 11757. the expression register "= 11768. The selection and drop registers "*, "+ and "~ 11779. The black hole register "_ 117810. Last search pattern register "/ 1179 11801. Unnamed register "" *quote_quote* *quotequote* 1181Vim fills this register with text deleted with the "d", "c", "s", "x" commands 1182or copied with the yank "y" command, regardless of whether or not a specific 1183register was used (e.g. "xdd). This is like the unnamed register is pointing 1184to the last used register. Thus when appending using an uppercase register 1185name, the unnamed register contains the same text as the named register. 1186An exception is the '_' register: "_dd does not store the deleted text in any 1187register. 1188Vim uses the contents of the unnamed register for any put command (p or P) 1189which does not specify a register. Additionally you can access it with the 1190name '"'. This means you have to type two double quotes. Writing to the "" 1191register writes to register "0. 1192{Vi: register contents are lost when changing files, no '"'} 1193 11942. Numbered registers "0 to "9 *quote_number* *quote0* *quote1* 1195 *quote2* *quote3* *quote4* *quote9* 1196Vim fills these registers with text from yank and delete commands. 1197 Numbered register 0 contains the text from the most recent yank command, 1198unless the command specified another register with ["x]. 1199 Numbered register 1 contains the text deleted by the most recent delete or 1200change command, unless the command specified another register or the text is 1201less than one line (the small delete register is used then). An exception is 1202made for the delete operator with these movement commands: |%|, |(|, |)|, |`|, 1203|/|, |?|, |n|, |N|, |{| and |}|. Register "1 is always used then (this is Vi 1204compatible). The "- register is used as well if the delete is within a line. 1205Note that these characters may be mapped. E.g. |%| is mapped by the matchit 1206plugin. 1207 With each successive deletion or change, Vim shifts the previous contents 1208of register 1 into register 2, 2 into 3, and so forth, losing the previous 1209contents of register 9. 1210{Vi: numbered register contents are lost when changing files; register 0 does 1211not exist} 1212 12133. Small delete register "- *quote_-* *quote-* 1214This register contains text from commands that delete less than one line, 1215except when the command specifies a register with ["x]. 1216{not in Vi} 1217 12184. Named registers "a to "z or "A to "Z *quote_alpha* *quotea* 1219Vim fills these registers only when you say so. Specify them as lowercase 1220letters to replace their previous contents or as uppercase letters to append 1221to their previous contents. When the '>' flag is present in 'cpoptions' then 1222a line break is inserted before the appended text. 1223 12245. Read-only registers ":, ". and "% 1225These are '%', '#', ':' and '.'. You can use them only with the "p", "P", 1226and ":put" commands and with CTRL-R. {not in Vi} 1227 *quote_.* *quote.* *E29* 1228 ". Contains the last inserted text (the same as what is inserted 1229 with the insert mode commands CTRL-A and CTRL-@). Note: this 1230 doesn't work with CTRL-R on the command-line. It works a bit 1231 differently, like inserting the text instead of putting it 1232 ('textwidth' and other options affect what is inserted). 1233 *quote_%* *quote%* 1234 "% Contains the name of the current file. 1235 *quote_:* *quote:* *E30* 1236 ": Contains the most recent executed command-line. Example: Use 1237 "@:" to repeat the previous command-line command. 1238 The command-line is only stored in this register when at least 1239 one character of it was typed. Thus it remains unchanged if 1240 the command was completely from a mapping. 1241 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| 1242 feature} 1243 *quote_#* *quote#* 12446. Alternate file register "# 1245Contains the name of the alternate file for the current window. It will 1246change how the |CTRL-^| command works. 1247This register is writable, mainly to allow for restoring it after a plugin has 1248changed it. It accepts buffer number: > 1249 let altbuf = bufnr(@#) 1250 ... 1251 let @# = altbuf 1252It will give error |E86| if you pass buffer number and this buffer does not 1253exist. 1254It can also accept a match with an existing buffer name: > 1255 let @# = 'buffer_name' 1256Error |E93| if there is more than one buffer matching the given name or |E94| 1257if none of buffers matches the given name. 1258 12597. Expression register "= *quote_=* *quote=* *@=* 1260This is not really a register that stores text, but is a way to use an 1261expression in commands which use a register. The expression register is 1262read-write. 1263 1264When typing the '=' after " or CTRL-R the cursor moves to the command-line, 1265where you can enter any expression (see |expression|). All normal 1266command-line editing commands are available, including a special history for 1267expressions. When you end the command-line by typing <CR>, Vim computes the 1268result of the expression. If you end it with <Esc>, Vim abandons the 1269expression. If you do not enter an expression, Vim uses the previous 1270expression (like with the "/" command). 1271 1272The expression must evaluate to a String. A Number is always automatically 1273converted to a String. For the "p" and ":put" command, if the result is a 1274Float it's converted into a String. If the result is a List each element is 1275turned into a String and used as a line. A Dictionary or FuncRef results in 1276an error message (use string() to convert). 1277 1278If the "= register is used for the "p" command, the String is split up at <NL> 1279characters. If the String ends in a <NL>, it is regarded as a linewise 1280register. {not in Vi} 1281 12828. Selection and drop registers "*, "+ and "~ 1283Use these registers for storing and retrieving the selected text for the GUI. 1284See |quotestar| and |quoteplus|. When the clipboard is not available or not 1285working, the unnamed register is used instead. For Unix systems the clipboard 1286is only available when the |+xterm_clipboard| feature is present. {not in Vi} 1287 1288Note that there is only a distinction between "* and "+ for X11 systems. For 1289an explanation of the difference, see |x11-selection|. Under MS-Windows, use 1290of "* and "+ is actually synonymous and refers to the |gui-clipboard|. 1291 1292 *quote_~* *quote~* *<Drop>* 1293The read-only "~ register stores the dropped text from the last drag'n'drop 1294operation. When something has been dropped onto Vim, the "~ register is 1295filled in and the <Drop> pseudo key is sent for notification. You can remap 1296this key if you want; the default action (for all modes) is to insert the 1297contents of the "~ register at the cursor position. {not in Vi} 1298{only available when compiled with the |+dnd| feature, currently only with the 1299GTK GUI} 1300 1301Note: The "~ register is only used when dropping plain text onto Vim. 1302Drag'n'drop of URI lists is handled internally. 1303 13049. Black hole register "_ *quote_* 1305When writing to this register, nothing happens. This can be used to delete 1306text without affecting the normal registers. When reading from this register, 1307nothing is returned. {not in Vi} 1308 130910. Last search pattern register "/ *quote_/* *quote/* 1310Contains the most recent search-pattern. This is used for "n" and 'hlsearch'. 1311It is writable with `:let`, you can change it to have 'hlsearch' highlight 1312other matches without actually searching. You can't yank or delete into this 1313register. The search direction is available in |v:searchforward|. 1314Note that the value is restored when returning from a function 1315|function-search-undo|. 1316{not in Vi} 1317 1318 *@/* 1319You can write to a register with a `:let` command |:let-@|. Example: > 1320 :let @/ = "the" 1321 1322If you use a put command without specifying a register, Vim uses the register 1323that was last filled (this is also the contents of the unnamed register). If 1324you are confused, use the `:dis` command to find out what Vim will put (this 1325command displays all named and numbered registers; the unnamed register is 1326labelled '"'). 1327 1328The next three commands always work on whole lines. 1329 1330:[range]co[py] {address} *:co* *:copy* 1331 Copy the lines given by [range] to below the line 1332 given by {address}. 1333 1334 *:t* 1335:t Synonym for copy. 1336 1337:[range]m[ove] {address} *:m* *:mo* *:move* *E134* 1338 Move the lines given by [range] to below the line 1339 given by {address}. 1340 1341============================================================================== 13426. Formatting text *formatting* 1343 1344:[range]ce[nter] [width] *:ce* *:center* 1345 Center lines in [range] between [width] columns 1346 (default 'textwidth' or 80 when 'textwidth' is 0). 1347 {not in Vi} 1348 Not available when |+ex_extra| feature was disabled at 1349 compile time. 1350 1351:[range]ri[ght] [width] *:ri* *:right* 1352 Right-align lines in [range] at [width] columns 1353 (default 'textwidth' or 80 when 'textwidth' is 0). 1354 {not in Vi} 1355 Not available when |+ex_extra| feature was disabled at 1356 compile time. 1357 1358 *:le* *:left* 1359:[range]le[ft] [indent] 1360 Left-align lines in [range]. Sets the indent in the 1361 lines to [indent] (default 0). {not in Vi} 1362 Not available when |+ex_extra| feature was disabled at 1363 compile time. 1364 1365 *gq* 1366gq{motion} Format the lines that {motion} moves over. 1367 Formatting is done with one of three methods: 1368 1. If 'formatexpr' is not empty the expression is 1369 evaluated. This can differ for each buffer. 1370 2. If 'formatprg' is not empty an external program 1371 is used. 1372 3. Otherwise formatting is done internally. 1373 1374 In the third case the 'textwidth' option controls the 1375 length of each formatted line (see below). 1376 If the 'textwidth' option is 0, the formatted line 1377 length is the screen width (with a maximum width of 1378 79). 1379 The 'formatoptions' option controls the type of 1380 formatting |fo-table|. 1381 The cursor is left on the first non-blank of the last 1382 formatted line. 1383 NOTE: The "Q" command formerly performed this 1384 function. If you still want to use "Q" for 1385 formatting, use this mapping: > 1386 :nnoremap Q gq 1387 1388gqgq *gqgq* *gqq* 1389gqq Format the current line. With a count format that 1390 many lines. {not in Vi} 1391 1392 *v_gq* 1393{Visual}gq Format the highlighted text. (for {Visual} see 1394 |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi} 1395 1396 *gw* 1397gw{motion} Format the lines that {motion} moves over. Similar to 1398 |gq| but puts the cursor back at the same position in 1399 the text. However, 'formatprg' and 'formatexpr' are 1400 not used. {not in Vi} 1401 1402gwgw *gwgw* *gww* 1403gww Format the current line as with "gw". {not in Vi} 1404 1405 *v_gw* 1406{Visual}gw Format the highlighted text as with "gw". (for 1407 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|). {not in Vi} 1408 1409Example: To format the current paragraph use: *gqap* > 1410 gqap 1411 1412The "gq" command leaves the cursor in the line where the motion command takes 1413the cursor. This allows you to repeat formatting repeated with ".". This 1414works well with "gqj" (format current and next line) and "gq}" (format until 1415end of paragraph). Note: When 'formatprg' is set, "gq" leaves the cursor on 1416the first formatted line (as with using a filter command). 1417 1418If you want to format the current paragraph and continue where you were, use: > 1419 gwap 1420If you always want to keep paragraphs formatted you may want to add the 'a' 1421flag to 'formatoptions'. See |auto-format|. 1422 1423If the 'autoindent' option is on, Vim uses the indent of the first line for 1424the following lines. 1425 1426Formatting does not change empty lines (but it does change lines with only 1427white space!). 1428 1429The 'joinspaces' option is used when lines are joined together. 1430 1431You can set the 'formatexpr' option to an expression or the 'formatprg' option 1432to the name of an external program for Vim to use for text formatting. The 1433'textwidth' and other options have no effect on formatting by an external 1434program. 1435 1436 *right-justify* 1437There is no command in Vim to right justify text. You can do it with 1438an external command, like "par" (e.g.: "!}par" to format until the end of the 1439paragraph) or set 'formatprg' to "par". 1440 1441 *format-comments* 1442An overview of comment formatting is in section |30.6| of the user manual. 1443 1444Vim can automatically insert and format comments in a special way. Vim 1445recognizes a comment by a specific string at the start of the line (ignoring 1446white space). Three types of comments can be used: 1447 1448- A comment string that repeats at the start of each line. An example is the 1449 type of comment used in shell scripts, starting with "#". 1450- A comment string that occurs only in the first line, not in the following 1451 lines. An example is this list with dashes. 1452- Three-piece comments that have a start string, an end string, and optional 1453 lines in between. The strings for the start, middle and end are different. 1454 An example is the C style comment: 1455 /* 1456 * this is a C comment 1457 */ 1458 1459The 'comments' option is a comma-separated list of parts. Each part defines a 1460type of comment string. A part consists of: 1461 {flags}:{string} 1462 1463{string} is the literal text that must appear. 1464 1465{flags}: 1466 n Nested comment. Nesting with mixed parts is allowed. If 'comments' 1467 is "n:),n:>" a line starting with "> ) >" is a comment. 1468 1469 b Blank (<Space>, <Tab> or <EOL>) required after {string}. 1470 1471 f Only the first line has the comment string. Do not repeat comment on 1472 the next line, but preserve indentation (e.g., a bullet-list). 1473 1474 s Start of three-piece comment 1475 1476 m Middle of a three-piece comment 1477 1478 e End of a three-piece comment 1479 1480 l Left align. Used together with 's' or 'e', the leftmost character of 1481 start or end will line up with the leftmost character from the middle. 1482 This is the default and can be omitted. See below for more details. 1483 1484 r Right align. Same as above but rightmost instead of leftmost. See 1485 below for more details. 1486 1487 O Don't consider this comment for the "O" command. 1488 1489 x Allows three-piece comments to be ended by just typing the last 1490 character of the end-comment string as the first action on a new 1491 line when the middle-comment string has been inserted automatically. 1492 See below for more details. 1493 1494 {digits} 1495 When together with 's' or 'e': add {digit} amount of offset to an 1496 automatically inserted middle or end comment leader. The offset begins 1497 from a left alignment. See below for more details. 1498 1499 -{digits} 1500 Like {digits} but reduce the indent. This only works when there is 1501 some indent for the start or end part that can be removed. 1502 1503When a string has none of the 'f', 's', 'm' or 'e' flags, Vim assumes the 1504comment string repeats at the start of each line. The flags field may be 1505empty. 1506 1507Any blank space in the text before and after the {string} is part of the 1508{string}, so do not include leading or trailing blanks unless the blanks are a 1509required part of the comment string. 1510 1511When one comment leader is part of another, specify the part after the whole. 1512For example, to include both "-" and "->", use > 1513 :set comments=f:->,f:- 1514 1515A three-piece comment must always be given as start,middle,end, with no other 1516parts in between. An example of a three-piece comment is > 1517 sr:/*,mb:*,ex:*/ 1518for C-comments. To avoid recognizing "*ptr" as a comment, the middle string 1519includes the 'b' flag. For three-piece comments, Vim checks the text after 1520the start and middle strings for the end string. If Vim finds the end string, 1521the comment does not continue on the next line. Three-piece comments must 1522have a middle string because otherwise Vim can't recognize the middle lines. 1523 1524Notice the use of the "x" flag in the above three-piece comment definition. 1525When you hit Return in a C-comment, Vim will insert the middle comment leader 1526for the new line: " * ". To close this comment you just have to type "/" 1527before typing anything else on the new line. This will replace the 1528middle-comment leader with the end-comment leader and apply any specified 1529alignment, leaving just " */". There is no need to hit Backspace first. 1530 1531When there is a match with a middle part, but there also is a matching end 1532part which is longer, the end part is used. This makes a C style comment work 1533without requiring the middle part to end with a space. 1534 1535Here is an example of alignment flags at work to make a comment stand out 1536(kind of looks like a 1 too). Consider comment string: > 1537 :set comments=sr:/***,m:**,ex-2:******/ 1538< 1539 /*** ~ 1540 **<--right aligned from "r" flag ~ 1541 ** ~ 1542offset 2 spaces for the "-2" flag--->** ~ 1543 ******/ ~ 1544In this case, the first comment was typed, then return was pressed 4 times, 1545then "/" was pressed to end the comment. 1546 1547Here are some finer points of three part comments. There are three times when 1548alignment and offset flags are taken into consideration: opening a new line 1549after a start-comment, opening a new line before an end-comment, and 1550automatically ending a three-piece comment. The end alignment flag has a 1551backwards perspective; the result is that the same alignment flag used with 1552"s" and "e" will result in the same indent for the starting and ending pieces. 1553Only one alignment per comment part is meant to be used, but an offset number 1554will override the "r" and "l" flag. 1555 1556Enabling 'cindent' will override the alignment flags in many cases. 1557Reindenting using a different method like |gq| or |=| will not consult 1558alignment flags either. The same behaviour can be defined in those other 1559formatting options. One consideration is that 'cindent' has additional options 1560for context based indenting of comments but cannot replicate many three piece 1561indent alignments. However, 'indentexpr' has the ability to work better with 1562three piece comments. 1563 1564Other examples: > 1565 "b:*" Includes lines starting with "*", but not if the "*" is 1566 followed by a non-blank. This avoids a pointer dereference 1567 like "*str" to be recognized as a comment. 1568 "n:>" Includes a line starting with ">", ">>", ">>>", etc. 1569 "fb:-" Format a list that starts with "- ". 1570 1571By default, "b:#" is included. This means that a line that starts with 1572"#include" is not recognized as a comment line. But a line that starts with 1573"# define" is recognized. This is a compromise. 1574 1575{not available when compiled without the |+comments| feature} 1576 1577 *fo-table* 1578You can use the 'formatoptions' option to influence how Vim formats text. 1579'formatoptions' is a string that can contain any of the letters below. The 1580default setting is "tcq". You can separate the option letters with commas for 1581readability. 1582 1583letter meaning when present in 'formatoptions' ~ 1584 1585t Auto-wrap text using textwidth 1586c Auto-wrap comments using textwidth, inserting the current comment 1587 leader automatically. 1588r Automatically insert the current comment leader after hitting 1589 <Enter> in Insert mode. 1590o Automatically insert the current comment leader after hitting 'o' or 1591 'O' in Normal mode. 1592q Allow formatting of comments with "gq". 1593 Note that formatting will not change blank lines or lines containing 1594 only the comment leader. A new paragraph starts after such a line, 1595 or when the comment leader changes. 1596w Trailing white space indicates a paragraph continues in the next line. 1597 A line that ends in a non-white character ends a paragraph. 1598a Automatic formatting of paragraphs. Every time text is inserted or 1599 deleted the paragraph will be reformatted. See |auto-format|. 1600 When the 'c' flag is present this only happens for recognized 1601 comments. 1602n When formatting text, recognize numbered lists. This actually uses 1603 the 'formatlistpat' option, thus any kind of list can be used. The 1604 indent of the text after the number is used for the next line. The 1605 default is to find a number, optionally followed by '.', ':', ')', 1606 ']' or '}'. Note that 'autoindent' must be set too. Doesn't work 1607 well together with "2". 1608 Example: > 1609 1. the first item 1610 wraps 1611 2. the second item 16122 When formatting text, use the indent of the second line of a paragraph 1613 for the rest of the paragraph, instead of the indent of the first 1614 line. This supports paragraphs in which the first line has a 1615 different indent than the rest. Note that 'autoindent' must be set 1616 too. Example: > 1617 first line of a paragraph 1618 second line of the same paragraph 1619 third line. 1620< This also works inside comments, ignoring the comment leader. 1621v Vi-compatible auto-wrapping in insert mode: Only break a line at a 1622 blank that you have entered during the current insert command. (Note: 1623 this is not 100% Vi compatible. Vi has some "unexpected features" or 1624 bugs in this area. It uses the screen column instead of the line 1625 column.) 1626b Like 'v', but only auto-wrap if you enter a blank at or before 1627 the wrap margin. If the line was longer than 'textwidth' when you 1628 started the insert, or you do not enter a blank in the insert before 1629 reaching 'textwidth', Vim does not perform auto-wrapping. 1630l Long lines are not broken in insert mode: When a line was longer than 1631 'textwidth' when the insert command started, Vim does not 1632 automatically format it. 1633m Also break at a multi-byte character above 255. This is useful for 1634 Asian text where every character is a word on its own. 1635M When joining lines, don't insert a space before or after a multi-byte 1636 character. Overrules the 'B' flag. 1637B When joining lines, don't insert a space between two multi-byte 1638 characters. Overruled by the 'M' flag. 16391 Don't break a line after a one-letter word. It's broken before it 1640 instead (if possible). 1641j Where it makes sense, remove a comment leader when joining lines. For 1642 example, joining: 1643 int i; // the index ~ 1644 // in the list ~ 1645 Becomes: 1646 int i; // the index in the list ~ 1647 1648 1649With 't' and 'c' you can specify when Vim performs auto-wrapping: 1650value action ~ 1651"" no automatic formatting (you can use "gq" for manual formatting) 1652"t" automatic formatting of text, but not comments 1653"c" automatic formatting for comments, but not text (good for C code) 1654"tc" automatic formatting for text and comments 1655 1656Note that when 'textwidth' is 0, Vim does no automatic formatting anyway (but 1657does insert comment leaders according to the 'comments' option). An exception 1658is when the 'a' flag is present. |auto-format| 1659 1660Note that when 'paste' is on, Vim does no formatting at all. 1661 1662Note that 'textwidth' can be non-zero even if Vim never performs auto-wrapping; 1663'textwidth' is still useful for formatting with "gq". 1664 1665If the 'comments' option includes "/*", "*" and/or "*/", then Vim has some 1666built in stuff to treat these types of comments a bit more cleverly. 1667Opening a new line before or after "/*" or "*/" (with 'r' or 'o' present in 1668'formatoptions') gives the correct start of the line automatically. The same 1669happens with formatting and auto-wrapping. Opening a line after a line 1670starting with "/*" or "*" and containing "*/", will cause no comment leader to 1671be inserted, and the indent of the new line is taken from the line containing 1672the start of the comment. 1673E.g.: 1674 /* ~ 1675 * Your typical comment. ~ 1676 */ ~ 1677 The indent on this line is the same as the start of the above 1678 comment. 1679 1680All of this should be really cool, especially in conjunction with the new 1681:autocmd command to prepare different settings for different types of file. 1682 1683Some examples: 1684 for C code (only format comments): > 1685 :set fo=croq 1686< for Mail/news (format all, don't start comment with "o" command): > 1687 :set fo=tcrq 1688< 1689 1690Automatic formatting *auto-format* *autoformat* 1691 1692When the 'a' flag is present in 'formatoptions' text is formatted 1693automatically when inserting text or deleting text. This works nice for 1694editing text paragraphs. A few hints on how to use this: 1695 1696- You need to properly define paragraphs. The simplest is paragraphs that are 1697 separated by a blank line. When there is no separating blank line, consider 1698 using the 'w' flag and adding a space at the end of each line in the 1699 paragraphs except the last one. 1700 1701- You can set the 'formatoptions' based on the type of file |filetype| or 1702 specifically for one file with a |modeline|. 1703 1704- Set 'formatoptions' to "aw2tq" to make text with indents like this: 1705 1706 bla bla foobar bla 1707 bla foobar bla foobar bla 1708 bla bla foobar bla 1709 bla foobar bla bla foobar 1710 1711- Add the 'c' flag to only auto-format comments. Useful in source code. 1712 1713- Set 'textwidth' to the desired width. If it is zero then 79 is used, or the 1714 width of the screen if this is smaller. 1715 1716And a few warnings: 1717 1718- When part of the text is not properly separated in paragraphs, making 1719 changes in this text will cause it to be formatted anyway. Consider doing > 1720 1721 :set fo-=a 1722 1723- When using the 'w' flag (trailing space means paragraph continues) and 1724 deleting the last line of a paragraph with |dd|, the paragraph will be 1725 joined with the next one. 1726 1727- Changed text is saved for undo. Formatting is also a change. Thus each 1728 format action saves text for undo. This may consume quite a lot of memory. 1729 1730- Formatting a long paragraph and/or with complicated indenting may be slow. 1731 1732============================================================================== 17337. Sorting text *sorting* 1734 1735Vim has a sorting function and a sorting command. The sorting function can be 1736found here: |sort()|, |uniq()|. 1737 1738 *:sor* *:sort* 1739:[range]sor[t][!] [i][u][r][n][x][o] [/{pattern}/] 1740 Sort lines in [range]. When no range is given all 1741 lines are sorted. 1742 1743 With [!] the order is reversed. 1744 1745 With [i] case is ignored. 1746 1747 With [n] sorting is done on the first decimal number 1748 in the line (after or inside a {pattern} match). 1749 One leading '-' is included in the number. 1750 1751 With [x] sorting is done on the first hexadecimal 1752 number in the line (after or inside a {pattern} 1753 match). A leading "0x" or "0X" is ignored. 1754 One leading '-' is included in the number. 1755 1756 With [o] sorting is done on the first octal number in 1757 the line (after or inside a {pattern} match). 1758 1759 With [u] only keep the first of a sequence of 1760 identical lines (ignoring case when [i] is used). 1761 Without this flag, a sequence of identical lines 1762 will be kept in their original order. 1763 Note that leading and trailing white space may cause 1764 lines to be different. 1765 1766 When /{pattern}/ is specified and there is no [r] flag 1767 the text matched with {pattern} is skipped, so that 1768 you sort on what comes after the match. 1769 Instead of the slash any non-letter can be used. 1770 For example, to sort on the second comma-separated 1771 field: > 1772 :sort /[^,]*,/ 1773< To sort on the text at virtual column 10 (thus 1774 ignoring the difference between tabs and spaces): > 1775 :sort /.*\%10v/ 1776< To sort on the first number in the line, no matter 1777 what is in front of it: > 1778 :sort /.\{-}\ze\d/ 1779< (Explanation: ".\{-}" matches any text, "\ze" sets the 1780 end of the match and \d matches a digit.) 1781 With [r] sorting is done on the matching {pattern} 1782 instead of skipping past it as described above. 1783 For example, to sort on only the first three letters 1784 of each line: > 1785 :sort /\a\a\a/ r 1786 1787< If a {pattern} is used, any lines which don't have a 1788 match for {pattern} are kept in their current order, 1789 but separate from the lines which do match {pattern}. 1790 If you sorted in reverse, they will be in reverse 1791 order after the sorted lines, otherwise they will be 1792 in their original order, right before the sorted 1793 lines. 1794 1795 If {pattern} is empty (e.g. // is specified), the 1796 last search pattern is used. This allows trying out 1797 a pattern first. 1798 1799Note that using `:sort` with `:global` doesn't sort the matching lines, it's 1800quite useless. 1801 1802The details about sorting depend on the library function used. There is no 1803guarantee that sorting obeys the current locale. You will have to try it out. 1804Vim does do a "stable" sort. 1805 1806The sorting can be interrupted, but if you interrupt it too late in the 1807process you may end up with duplicated lines. This also depends on the system 1808library function used. 1809 1810 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: 1811