1*cmdline.txt* For Vim version 8.1. Last change: 2019 Aug 18 2 3 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar 5 6 7 *Cmdline-mode* *Command-line-mode* 8Command-line mode *Cmdline* *Command-line* *mode-cmdline* *:* 9 10Command-line mode is used to enter Ex commands (":"), search patterns 11("/" and "?"), and filter commands ("!"). 12 13Basic command line editing is explained in chapter 20 of the user manual 14|usr_20.txt|. 15 161. Command-line editing |cmdline-editing| 172. Command-line completion |cmdline-completion| 183. Ex command-lines |cmdline-lines| 194. Ex command-line ranges |cmdline-ranges| 205. Ex command-line flags |ex-flags| 216. Ex special characters |cmdline-special| 227. Command-line window |cmdline-window| 23 24============================================================================== 251. Command-line editing *cmdline-editing* 26 27Normally characters are inserted in front of the cursor position. You can 28move around in the command-line with the left and right cursor keys. With the 29<Insert> key, you can toggle between inserting and overstriking characters. 30 31Note that if your keyboard does not have working cursor keys or any of the 32other special keys, you can use ":cnoremap" to define another key for them. 33For example, to define tcsh style editing keys: *tcsh-style* > 34 :cnoremap <C-A> <Home> 35 :cnoremap <C-F> <Right> 36 :cnoremap <C-B> <Left> 37 :cnoremap <Esc>b <S-Left> 38 :cnoremap <Esc>f <S-Right> 39(<> notation |<>|; type all this literally) 40 41 *cmdline-too-long* 42When the command line is getting longer than what fits on the screen, only the 43part that fits will be shown. The cursor can only move in this visible part, 44thus you cannot edit beyond that. 45 46 *cmdline-history* *history* 47The command-lines that you enter are remembered in a history table. You can 48recall them with the up and down cursor keys. There are actually five 49history tables: 50- one for ':' commands 51- one for search strings 52- one for expressions 53- one for input lines, typed for the |input()| function. 54- one for debug mode commands 55These are completely separate. Each history can only be accessed when 56entering the same type of line. 57Use the 'history' option to set the number of lines that are remembered 58(default: 50). 59Notes: 60- When you enter a command-line that is exactly the same as an older one, the 61 old one is removed (to avoid repeated commands moving older commands out of 62 the history). 63- Only commands that are typed are remembered. Ones that completely come from 64 mappings are not put in the history. 65- All searches are put in the search history, including the ones that come 66 from commands like "*" and "#". But for a mapping, only the last search is 67 remembered (to avoid that long mappings trash the history). 68{not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| feature} 69 70There is an automatic completion of names on the command-line; see 71|cmdline-completion|. 72 73 *c_CTRL-V* 74CTRL-V Insert next non-digit literally. Up to three digits form the 75 decimal value of a single byte. The non-digit and the three 76 digits are not considered for mapping. This works the same 77 way as in Insert mode (see above, |i_CTRL-V|). 78 Note: Under Windows CTRL-V is often mapped to paste text. 79 Use CTRL-Q instead then. 80 *c_CTRL-Q* 81CTRL-Q Same as CTRL-V. But with some terminals it is used for 82 control flow, it doesn't work then. 83 84 *c_<Left>* *c_Left* 85<Left> cursor left 86 *c_<Right>* *c_Right* 87<Right> cursor right 88 *c_<S-Left>* 89<S-Left> or <C-Left> *c_<C-Left>* 90 cursor one WORD left 91 *c_<S-Right>* 92<S-Right> or <C-Right> *c_<C-Right>* 93 cursor one WORD right 94CTRL-B or <Home> *c_CTRL-B* *c_<Home>* *c_Home* 95 cursor to beginning of command-line 96CTRL-E or <End> *c_CTRL-E* *c_<End>* *c_End* 97 cursor to end of command-line 98 99 *c_<LeftMouse>* 100<LeftMouse> Move the cursor to the position of the mouse click. 101 102 *c_<MiddleMouse>* 103<MiddleMouse> Paste the contents of the clipboard (for X11 the primary 104 selection). This is similar to using CTRL-R *, but no CR 105 characters are inserted between lines. 106 107CTRL-H *c_<BS>* *c_CTRL-H* *c_BS* 108<BS> Delete the character in front of the cursor (see |:fixdel| if 109 your <BS> key does not do what you want). 110 *c_<Del>* *c_Del* 111<Del> Delete the character under the cursor (at end of line: 112 character before the cursor) (see |:fixdel| if your <Del> 113 key does not do what you want). 114 *c_CTRL-W* 115CTRL-W Delete the |word| before the cursor. This depends on the 116 'iskeyword' option. 117 *c_CTRL-U* 118CTRL-U Remove all characters between the cursor position and 119 the beginning of the line. Previous versions of vim 120 deleted all characters on the line. If that is the 121 preferred behavior, add the following to your .vimrc: > 122 :cnoremap <C-U> <C-E><C-U> 123< 124 *c_<Insert>* *c_Insert* 125<Insert> Toggle between insert and overstrike. 126 127{char1} <BS> {char2} or *c_digraph* 128CTRL-K {char1} {char2} *c_CTRL-K* 129 enter digraph (see |digraphs|). When {char1} is a special 130 key, the code for that key is inserted in <> form. 131 132CTRL-R {0-9a-z"%#:-=.} *c_CTRL-R* *c_<C-R>* 133 Insert the contents of a numbered or named register. Between 134 typing CTRL-R and the second character '"' will be displayed 135 to indicate that you are expected to enter the name of a 136 register. 137 The text is inserted as if you typed it, but mappings and 138 abbreviations are not used. Command-line completion through 139 'wildchar' is not triggered though. And characters that end 140 the command line are inserted literally (<Esc>, <CR>, <NL>, 141 <C-C>). A <BS> or CTRL-W could still end the command line 142 though, and remaining characters will then be interpreted in 143 another mode, which might not be what you intended. 144 Special registers: 145 '"' the unnamed register, containing the text of 146 the last delete or yank 147 '%' the current file name 148 '#' the alternate file name 149 '*' the clipboard contents (X11: primary selection) 150 '+' the clipboard contents 151 '/' the last search pattern 152 ':' the last command-line 153 '-' the last small (less than a line) delete 154 '.' the last inserted text 155 *c_CTRL-R_=* 156 '=' the expression register: you are prompted to 157 enter an expression (see |expression|) 158 (doesn't work at the expression prompt; some 159 things such as changing the buffer or current 160 window are not allowed to avoid side effects) 161 When the result is a |List| the items are used 162 as lines. They can have line breaks inside 163 too. 164 When the result is a Float it's automatically 165 converted to a String. 166 See |registers| about registers. 167 Implementation detail: When using the |expression| register 168 and invoking setcmdpos(), this sets the position before 169 inserting the resulting string. Use CTRL-R CTRL-R to set the 170 position afterwards. 171 172CTRL-R CTRL-F *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-F* *c_<C-R>_<C-F>* 173CTRL-R CTRL-P *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-P* *c_<C-R>_<C-P>* 174CTRL-R CTRL-W *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-W* *c_<C-R>_<C-W>* 175CTRL-R CTRL-A *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-A* *c_<C-R>_<C-A>* 176CTRL-R CTRL-L *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-L* *c_<C-R>_<C-L>* 177 Insert the object under the cursor: 178 CTRL-F the Filename under the cursor 179 CTRL-P the Filename under the cursor, expanded with 180 'path' as in |gf| 181 CTRL-W the Word under the cursor 182 CTRL-A the WORD under the cursor; see |WORD| 183 CTRL-L the line under the cursor 184 185 When 'incsearch' is set the cursor position at the end of the 186 currently displayed match is used. With CTRL-W the part of 187 the word that was already typed is not inserted again. 188 189 CTRL-F and CTRL-P: {only when |+file_in_path| feature is 190 included} 191 192 *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-R* *c_<C-R>_<C-R>* 193 *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-O* *c_<C-R>_<C-O>* 194CTRL-R CTRL-R {0-9a-z"%#:-=. CTRL-F CTRL-P CTRL-W CTRL-A CTRL-L} 195CTRL-R CTRL-O {0-9a-z"%#:-=. CTRL-F CTRL-P CTRL-W CTRL-A CTRL-L} 196 Insert register or object under the cursor. Works like 197 |c_CTRL-R| but inserts the text literally. For example, if 198 register a contains "xy^Hz" (where ^H is a backspace), 199 "CTRL-R a" will insert "xz" while "CTRL-R CTRL-R a" will 200 insert "xy^Hz". 201 202CTRL-\ e {expr} *c_CTRL-\_e* 203 Evaluate {expr} and replace the whole command line with the 204 result. You will be prompted for the expression, type <Enter> 205 to finish it. It's most useful in mappings though. See 206 |expression|. 207 See |c_CTRL-R_=| for inserting the result of an expression. 208 Useful functions are |getcmdtype()|, |getcmdline()| and 209 |getcmdpos()|. 210 The cursor position is unchanged, except when the cursor was 211 at the end of the line, then it stays at the end. 212 |setcmdpos()| can be used to set the cursor position. 213 The |sandbox| is used for evaluating the expression to avoid 214 nasty side effects. 215 Example: > 216 :cmap <F7> <C-\>eAppendSome()<CR> 217 :func AppendSome() 218 :let cmd = getcmdline() . " Some()" 219 :" place the cursor on the ) 220 :call setcmdpos(strlen(cmd)) 221 :return cmd 222 :endfunc 223< This doesn't work recursively, thus not when already editing 224 an expression. But it is possible to use in a mapping. 225 226 *c_CTRL-Y* 227CTRL-Y When there is a modeless selection, copy the selection into 228 the clipboard. |modeless-selection| 229 If there is no selection CTRL-Y is inserted as a character. 230 231CTRL-M or CTRL-J *c_CTRL-M* *c_CTRL-J* *c_<NL>* *c_<CR>* *c_CR* 232<CR> or <NL> start entered command 233 234CTRL-[ *c_CTRL-[* *c_<Esc>* *c_Esc* 235<Esc> When typed and 'x' not present in 'cpoptions', quit 236 Command-line mode without executing. In macros or when 'x' 237 present in 'cpoptions', start entered command. 238 Note: If your <Esc> key is hard to hit on your keyboard, train 239 yourself to use CTRL-[. 240 *c_CTRL-C* 241CTRL-C quit command-line without executing 242 243 *c_<Up>* *c_Up* 244<Up> recall older command-line from history, whose beginning 245 matches the current command-line (see below). 246 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| 247 feature} 248 *c_<Down>* *c_Down* 249<Down> recall more recent command-line from history, whose beginning 250 matches the current command-line (see below). 251 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| 252 feature} 253 254 *c_<S-Up>* *c_<PageUp>* 255<S-Up> or <PageUp> 256 recall older command-line from history 257 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| 258 feature} 259 *c_<S-Down>* *c_<PageDown>* 260<S-Down> or <PageDown> 261 recall more recent command-line from history 262 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| 263 feature} 264 265CTRL-D command-line completion (see |cmdline-completion|) 266'wildchar' option 267 command-line completion (see |cmdline-completion|) 268CTRL-N command-line completion (see |cmdline-completion|) 269CTRL-P command-line completion (see |cmdline-completion|) 270CTRL-A command-line completion (see |cmdline-completion|) 271CTRL-L command-line completion (see |cmdline-completion|) 272 273 *c_CTRL-_* 274CTRL-_ a - switch between Hebrew and English keyboard mode, which is 275 private to the command-line and not related to hkmap. 276 This is useful when Hebrew text entry is required in the 277 command-line, searches, abbreviations, etc. Applies only if 278 Vim is compiled with the |+rightleft| feature and the 279 'allowrevins' option is set. 280 See |rileft.txt|. 281 282 b - switch between Farsi and English keyboard mode, which is 283 private to the command-line and not related to fkmap. In 284 Farsi keyboard mode the characters are inserted in reverse 285 insert manner. This is useful when Farsi text entry is 286 required in the command-line, searches, abbreviations, etc. 287 Applies only if Vim is compiled with the |+farsi| feature. 288 See |farsi.txt|. 289 290 *c_CTRL-^* 291CTRL-^ Toggle the use of language |:lmap| mappings and/or Input 292 Method. 293 When typing a pattern for a search command and 'imsearch' is 294 not -1, VAL is the value of 'imsearch', otherwise VAL is the 295 value of 'iminsert'. 296 When language mappings are defined: 297 - If VAL is 1 (langmap mappings used) it becomes 0 (no langmap 298 mappings used). 299 - If VAL was not 1 it becomes 1, thus langmap mappings are 300 enabled. 301 When no language mappings are defined: 302 - If VAL is 2 (Input Method is used) it becomes 0 (no input 303 method used) 304 - If VAL has another value it becomes 2, thus the Input Method 305 is enabled. 306 These language mappings are normally used to type characters 307 that are different from what the keyboard produces. The 308 'keymap' option can be used to install a whole number of them. 309 When entering a command line, langmap mappings are switched 310 off, since you are expected to type a command. After 311 switching it on with CTRL-^, the new state is not used again 312 for the next command or Search pattern. 313 314 *c_CTRL-]* 315CTRL-] Trigger abbreviation, without inserting a character. 316 317For Emacs-style editing on the command-line see |emacs-keys|. 318 319The <Up> and <Down> keys take the current command-line as a search string. 320The beginning of the next/previous command-lines are compared with this 321string. The first line that matches is the new command-line. When typing 322these two keys repeatedly, the same string is used again. For example, this 323can be used to find the previous substitute command: Type ":s" and then <Up>. 324The same could be done by typing <S-Up> a number of times until the desired 325command-line is shown. (Note: the shifted arrow keys do not work on all 326terminals) 327 328 *:his* *:history* 329:his[tory] Print the history of last entered commands. 330 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| 331 feature} 332 333:his[tory] [{name}] [{first}][, [{last}]] 334 List the contents of history {name} which can be: 335 c[md] or : command-line history 336 s[earch] or / or ? search string history 337 e[xpr] or = expression register history 338 i[nput] or @ input line history 339 d[ebug] or > debug command history 340 a[ll] all of the above 341 342 If the numbers {first} and/or {last} are given, the respective 343 range of entries from a history is listed. These numbers can 344 be specified in the following form: 345 *:history-indexing* 346 A positive number represents the absolute index of an entry 347 as it is given in the first column of a :history listing. 348 This number remains fixed even if other entries are deleted. 349 350 A negative number means the relative position of an entry, 351 counted from the newest entry (which has index -1) backwards. 352 353 Examples: 354 List entries 6 to 12 from the search history: > 355 :history / 6,12 356< 357 List the penultimate entry from all histories: > 358 :history all -2 359< 360 List the most recent two entries from all histories: > 361 :history all -2, 362 363:keepp[atterns] {command} *:keepp* *:keeppatterns* 364 Execute {command}, without adding anything to the search 365 history 366 367============================================================================== 3682. Command-line completion *cmdline-completion* 369 370When editing the command-line, a few commands can be used to complete the 371word before the cursor. This is available for: 372 373- Command names: At the start of the command-line. 374- Tags: Only after the ":tag" command. 375- File names: Only after a command that accepts a file name or a setting for 376 an option that can be set to a file name. This is called file name 377 completion. 378- Shell command names: After ":!cmd", ":r !cmd" and ":w !cmd". $PATH is used. 379- Options: Only after the ":set" command. 380- Mappings: Only after a ":map" or similar command. 381- Variable and function names: Only after a ":if", ":call" or similar command. 382 383The number of help item matches is limited (currently to 300) to avoid a long 384delay when there are very many matches. 385 386These are the commands that can be used: 387 388 *c_CTRL-D* 389CTRL-D List names that match the pattern in front of the cursor. 390 When showing file names, directories are highlighted (see 391 'highlight' option). Names where 'suffixes' matches are moved 392 to the end. 393 The 'wildoptions' option can be set to "tagfile" to list the 394 file of matching tags. 395 *c_CTRL-I* *c_wildchar* *c_<Tab>* 396'wildchar' option 397 A match is done on the pattern in front of the cursor. The 398 match (if there are several, the first match) is inserted 399 in place of the pattern. (Note: does not work inside a 400 macro, because <Tab> or <Esc> are mostly used as 'wildchar', 401 and these have a special meaning in some macros.) When typed 402 again and there were multiple matches, the next 403 match is inserted. After the last match, the first is used 404 again (wrap around). 405 The behavior can be changed with the 'wildmode' option. 406 *c_<S-Tab>* 407<S-Tab> Like 'wildchar' or <Tab>, but begin with the last match and 408 then go to the previous match. 409 <S-Tab> does not work everywhere. 410 *c_CTRL-N* 411CTRL-N After using 'wildchar' which got multiple matches, go to next 412 match. Otherwise recall more recent command-line from history. 413 *c_CTRL-P* 414CTRL-P After using 'wildchar' which got multiple matches, go to 415 previous match. Otherwise recall older command-line from 416 history. 417 *c_CTRL-A* 418CTRL-A All names that match the pattern in front of the cursor are 419 inserted. 420 *c_CTRL-L* 421CTRL-L A match is done on the pattern in front of the cursor. If 422 there is one match, it is inserted in place of the pattern. 423 If there are multiple matches the longest common part is 424 inserted in place of the pattern. If the result is shorter 425 than the pattern, no completion is done. 426 */_CTRL-L* 427 When 'incsearch' is set, entering a search pattern for "/" or 428 "?" and the current match is displayed then CTRL-L will add 429 one character from the end of the current match. If 430 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' are set and the command line has 431 no uppercase characters, the added character is converted to 432 lowercase. 433 *c_CTRL-G* */_CTRL-G* 434CTRL-G When 'incsearch' is set, entering a search pattern for "/" or 435 "?" and the current match is displayed then CTRL-G will move 436 to the next match (does not take |search-offset| into account) 437 Use CTRL-T to move to the previous match. Hint: on a regular 438 keyboard T is above G. 439 *c_CTRL-T* */_CTRL-T* 440CTRL-T When 'incsearch' is set, entering a search pattern for "/" or 441 "?" and the current match is displayed then CTRL-T will move 442 to the previous match (does not take |search-offset| into 443 account). 444 Use CTRL-G to move to the next match. Hint: on a regular 445 keyboard T is above G. 446 447The 'wildchar' option defaults to <Tab> (CTRL-E when in Vi compatible mode; in 448a previous version <Esc> was used). In the pattern standard wildcards '*' and 449'?' are accepted when matching file names. '*' matches any string, '?' 450matches exactly one character. 451 452When repeating 'wildchar' or CTRL-N you cycle through the matches, eventually 453ending up back to what was typed. If the first match is not what you wanted, 454you can use <S-Tab> or CTRL-P to go straight back to what you typed. 455 456The 'wildignorecase' option can be set to ignore case in filenames. 457 458The 'wildmenu' option can be set to show the matches just above the command 459line. 460 461If you like tcsh's autolist completion, you can use this mapping: 462 :cnoremap X <C-L><C-D> 463(Where X is the command key to use, <C-L> is CTRL-L and <C-D> is CTRL-D) 464This will find the longest match and then list all matching files. 465 466If you like tcsh's autolist completion, you can use the 'wildmode' option to 467emulate it. For example, this mimics autolist=ambiguous: 468 :set wildmode=longest,list 469This will find the longest match with the first 'wildchar', then list all 470matching files with the next. 471 472 *suffixes* 473For file name completion you can use the 'suffixes' option to set a priority 474between files with almost the same name. If there are multiple matches, 475those files with an extension that is in the 'suffixes' option are ignored. 476The default is ".bak,~,.o,.h,.info,.swp,.obj", which means that files ending 477in ".bak", "~", ".o", ".h", ".info", ".swp" and ".obj" are sometimes ignored. 478 479An empty entry, two consecutive commas, match a file name that does not 480contain a ".", thus has no suffix. This is useful to ignore "prog" and prefer 481"prog.c". 482 483Examples: 484 485 pattern: files: match: ~ 486 test* test.c test.h test.o test.c 487 test* test.h test.o test.h and test.o 488 test* test.i test.h test.c test.i and test.c 489 490It is impossible to ignore suffixes with two dots. 491 492If there is more than one matching file (after ignoring the ones matching 493the 'suffixes' option) the first file name is inserted. You can see that 494there is only one match when you type 'wildchar' twice and the completed 495match stays the same. You can get to the other matches by entering 496'wildchar', CTRL-N or CTRL-P. All files are included, also the ones with 497extensions matching the 'suffixes' option. 498 499To completely ignore files with some extension use 'wildignore'. 500 501To match only files that end at the end of the typed text append a "$". For 502example, to match only files that end in ".c": > 503 :e *.c$ 504This will not match a file ending in ".cpp". Without the "$" it does match. 505 506The old value of an option can be obtained by hitting 'wildchar' just after 507the '='. For example, typing 'wildchar' after ":set dir=" will insert the 508current value of 'dir'. This overrules file name completion for the options 509that take a file name. 510 511If you would like using <S-Tab> for CTRL-P in an xterm, put this command in 512your .cshrc: > 513 xmodmap -e "keysym Tab = Tab Find" 514And this in your .vimrc: > 515 :cmap <Esc>[1~ <C-P> 516 517============================================================================== 5183. Ex command-lines *cmdline-lines* 519 520The Ex commands have a few specialties: 521 522 *:quote* *:comment* 523'"' at the start of a line causes the whole line to be ignored. '"' 524after a command causes the rest of the line to be ignored. This can be used 525to add comments. Example: > 526 :set ai "set 'autoindent' option 527It is not possible to add a comment to a shell command ":!cmd" or to the 528":map" command and a few others (mainly commands that expect expressions) 529that see the '"' as part of their argument: 530 531 :argdo 532 :autocmd 533 :bufdo 534 :cexpr (and the like) 535 :cdo (and the like) 536 :command 537 :cscope (and the like) 538 :debug 539 :display 540 :echo (and the like) 541 :elseif 542 :execute 543 :folddoopen 544 :folddoclosed 545 :for 546 :grep (and the like) 547 :help (and the like) 548 :if 549 :let 550 :make 551 :map (and the like including :abbrev commands) 552 :menu (and the like) 553 :mkspell 554 :normal 555 :ownsyntax 556 :popup 557 :promptfind (and the like) 558 :registers 559 :return 560 :sort 561 :syntax 562 :tabdo 563 :tearoff 564 :vimgrep (and the like) 565 :while 566 :windo 567 568 *:bar* *:\bar* 569'|' can be used to separate commands, so you can give multiple commands in one 570line. If you want to use '|' in an argument, precede it with '\'. 571 572These commands see the '|' as their argument, and can therefore not be 573followed by another Vim command: 574 :argdo 575 :autocmd 576 :bufdo 577 :cdo 578 :cfdo 579 :command 580 :cscope 581 :debug 582 :folddoopen 583 :folddoclosed 584 :function 585 :global 586 :help 587 :helpfind 588 :lcscope 589 :ldo 590 :lfdo 591 :make 592 :normal 593 :perl 594 :perldo 595 :promptfind 596 :promptrepl 597 :pyfile 598 :python 599 :registers 600 :read ! 601 :scscope 602 :sign 603 :tcl 604 :tcldo 605 :tclfile 606 :vglobal 607 :windo 608 :write ! 609 :[range]! 610 a user defined command without the "-bar" argument |:command| 611 612Note that this is confusing (inherited from Vi): With ":g" the '|' is included 613in the command, with ":s" it is not. 614 615To be able to use another command anyway, use the ":execute" command. 616Example (append the output of "ls" and jump to the first line): > 617 :execute 'r !ls' | '[ 618 619There is one exception: When the 'b' flag is present in 'cpoptions', with the 620":map" and ":abbr" commands and friends CTRL-V needs to be used instead of 621'\'. You can also use "<Bar>" instead. See also |map_bar|. 622 623Examples: > 624 :!ls | wc view the output of two commands 625 :r !ls | wc insert the same output in the text 626 :%g/foo/p|> moves all matching lines one shiftwidth 627 :%s/foo/bar/|> moves one line one shiftwidth 628 :map q 10^V| map "q" to "10|" 629 :map q 10\| map \ l map "q" to "10\" and map "\" to "l" 630 (when 'b' is present in 'cpoptions') 631 632You can also use <NL> to separate commands in the same way as with '|'. To 633insert a <NL> use CTRL-V CTRL-J. "^@" will be shown. Using '|' is the 634preferred method. But for external commands a <NL> must be used, because a 635'|' is included in the external command. To avoid the special meaning of <NL> 636it must be preceded with a backslash. Example: > 637 :r !date<NL>-join 638This reads the current date into the file and joins it with the previous line. 639 640Note that when the command before the '|' generates an error, the following 641commands will not be executed. 642 643 644Because of Vi compatibility the following strange commands are supported: > 645 :| print current line (like ":p") 646 :3| print line 3 (like ":3p") 647 :3 goto line 3 648 649A colon is allowed between the range and the command name. It is ignored 650(this is Vi compatible). For example: > 651 :1,$:s/pat/string 652 653When the character '%' or '#' is used where a file name is expected, they are 654expanded to the current and alternate file name (see the chapter "editing 655files" |:_%| |:_#|). 656 657Embedded spaces in file names are allowed on the Amiga if one file name is 658expected as argument. Trailing spaces will be ignored, unless escaped with a 659backslash or CTRL-V. Note that the ":next" command uses spaces to separate 660file names. Escape the spaces to include them in a file name. Example: > 661 :next foo\ bar goes\ to school\ 662starts editing the three files "foo bar", "goes to" and "school ". 663 664When you want to use the special characters '"' or '|' in a command, or want 665to use '%' or '#' in a file name, precede them with a backslash. The 666backslash is not required in a range and in the ":substitute" command. 667See also |`=|. 668 669 *:_!* 670The '!' (bang) character after an Ex command makes the command behave in a 671different way. The '!' should be placed immediately after the command, without 672any blanks in between. If you insert blanks the '!' will be seen as an 673argument for the command, which has a different meaning. For example: 674 :w! name write the current buffer to file "name", overwriting 675 any existing file 676 :w !name send the current buffer as standard input to command 677 "name" 678 679============================================================================== 6804. Ex command-line ranges *cmdline-ranges* *[range]* *E16* 681 682Some Ex commands accept a line range in front of them. This is noted as 683[range]. It consists of one or more line specifiers, separated with ',' or 684';'. 685 686The basics are explained in section |10.3| of the user manual. 687 688 *:,* *:;* 689When separated with ';' the cursor position will be set to that line 690before interpreting the next line specifier. This doesn't happen for ','. 691Examples: > 692 4,/this line/ 693< from line 4 till match with "this line" after the cursor line. > 694 5;/that line/ 695< from line 5 till match with "that line" after line 5. 696 697The default line specifier for most commands is the cursor position, but the 698commands ":write" and ":global" have the whole file (1,$) as default. 699 700If more line specifiers are given than required for the command, the first 701one(s) will be ignored. 702 703Line numbers may be specified with: *:range* *{address}* 704 {number} an absolute line number 705 . the current line *:.* 706 $ the last line in the file *:$* 707 % equal to 1,$ (the entire file) *:%* 708 't position of mark t (lowercase) *:'* 709 'T position of mark T (uppercase); when the mark is in 710 another file it cannot be used in a range 711 /{pattern}[/] the next line where {pattern} matches *:/* 712 ?{pattern}[?] the previous line where {pattern} matches *:?* 713 \/ the next line where the previously used search 714 pattern matches 715 \? the previous line where the previously used search 716 pattern matches 717 \& the next line where the previously used substitute 718 pattern matches 719 720Each may be followed (several times) by '+' or '-' and an optional number. 721This number is added or subtracted from the preceding line number. If the 722number is omitted, 1 is used. 723 724The "/" and "?" after {pattern} are required to separate the pattern from 725anything that follows. 726 727The "/" and "?" may be preceded with another address. The search starts from 728there. The difference from using ';' is that the cursor isn't moved. 729Examples: > 730 /pat1//pat2/ Find line containing "pat2" after line containing 731 "pat1", without moving the cursor. 732 7;/pat2/ Find line containing "pat2", after line 7, leaving 733 the cursor in line 7. 734 735The {number} must be between 0 and the number of lines in the file. When 736using a 0 (zero) this is interpreted as a 1 by most commands. Commands that 737use it as a count do use it as a zero (|:tag|, |:pop|, etc). Some commands 738interpret the zero as "before the first line" (|:read|, search pattern, etc). 739 740Examples: > 741 .+3 three lines below the cursor 742 /that/+1 the line below the next line containing "that" 743 .,$ from current line until end of file 744 0;/that the first line containing "that", also matches in the 745 first line. 746 1;/that the first line after line 1 containing "that" 747 748Some commands allow for a count after the command. This count is used as the 749number of lines to be used, starting with the line given in the last line 750specifier (the default is the cursor line). The commands that accept a count 751are the ones that use a range but do not have a file name argument (because 752a file name can also be a number). 753 754Examples: > 755 :s/x/X/g 5 substitute 'x' by 'X' in the current line and four 756 following lines 757 :23d 4 delete lines 23, 24, 25 and 26 758 759 760Folds and Range 761 762When folds are active the line numbers are rounded off to include the whole 763closed fold. See |fold-behavior|. 764 765 766Reverse Range *E493* 767 768A range should have the lower line number first. If this is not the case, Vim 769will ask you if it should swap the line numbers. 770 Backwards range given, OK to swap ~ 771This is not done within the global command ":g". 772 773You can use ":silent" before a command to avoid the question, the range will 774always be swapped then. 775 776 777Count and Range *N:* 778 779When giving a count before entering ":", this is translated into: 780 :.,.+(count - 1) 781In words: The 'count' lines at and after the cursor. Example: To delete 782three lines: > 783 3:d<CR> is translated into: .,.+2d<CR> 784< 785 786Visual Mode and Range *v_:* 787 788{Visual}: Starts a command-line with the Visual selected lines as a 789 range. The code `:'<,'>` is used for this range, which makes 790 it possible to select a similar line from the command-line 791 history for repeating a command on different Visually selected 792 lines. 793 When Visual mode was already ended, a short way to use the 794 Visual area for a range is `:*`. This requires that "*" does 795 not appear in 'cpo', see |cpo-star|. Otherwise you will have 796 to type `:'<,'>` 797 798 799============================================================================== 8005. Ex command-line flags *ex-flags* 801 802These flags are supported by a selection of Ex commands. They print the line 803that the cursor ends up after executing the command: 804 805 l output like for |:list| 806 # add line number 807 p output like for |:print| 808 809The flags can be combined, thus "l#" uses both a line number and |:list| style 810output. 811 812============================================================================== 8136. Ex special characters *cmdline-special* 814 815Note: These are special characters in the executed command line. If you want 816to insert special things while typing you can use the CTRL-R command. For 817example, "%" stands for the current file name, while CTRL-R % inserts the 818current file name right away. See |c_CTRL-R|. 819 820Note: If you want to avoid the effects of special characters in a Vim script 821you may want to use |fnameescape()|. Also see |`=|. 822 823 824In Ex commands, at places where a file name can be used, the following 825characters have a special meaning. These can also be used in the expression 826function |expand()|. 827 % Is replaced with the current file name. *:_%* *c_%* 828 # Is replaced with the alternate file name. *:_#* *c_#* 829 This is remembered for every window. 830 #n (where n is a number) is replaced with *:_#0* *:_#n* 831 the file name of buffer n. "#0" is the same as "#". *c_#n* 832 ## Is replaced with all names in the argument list *:_##* *c_##* 833 concatenated, separated by spaces. Each space in a name 834 is preceded with a backslash. 835 #<n (where n is a number > 0) is replaced with old *:_#<* *c_#<* 836 file name n. See |:oldfiles| or |v:oldfiles| to get the 837 number. *E809* 838 {only when compiled with the |+eval| and |+viminfo| features} 839 840Note that these, except "#<n", give the file name as it was typed. If an 841absolute path is needed (when using the file name from a different directory), 842you need to add ":p". See |filename-modifiers|. 843 844The "#<n" item returns an absolute path, but it will start with "~/" for files 845below your home directory. 846 847Note that backslashes are inserted before spaces, so that the command will 848correctly interpret the file name. But this doesn't happen for shell 849commands. For those you probably have to use quotes (this fails for files 850that contain a quote and wildcards): > 851 :!ls "%" 852 :r !spell "%" 853 854To avoid the special meaning of '%' and '#' insert a backslash before it. 855Detail: The special meaning is always escaped when there is a backslash before 856it, no matter how many backslashes. 857 you type: result ~ 858 # alternate.file 859 \# # 860 \\# \# 861Also see |`=|. 862 863 *:<cword>* *<cword>* *:<cWORD>* *<cWORD>* 864 *:<cexpr>* *<cexpr>* *:<cfile>* *<cfile>* 865 *:<afile>* *<afile>* *:<abuf>* *<abuf>* 866 *:<amatch>* *<amatch>* 867 *:<sfile>* *<sfile>* *:<slnum>* *<slnum>* 868 *:<sflnum>* *<sflnum>* *E499* *E500* 869Note: these are typed literally, they are not special keys! 870 <cword> is replaced with the word under the cursor (like |star|) 871 <cWORD> is replaced with the WORD under the cursor (see |WORD|) 872 <cexpr> is replaced with the word under the cursor, including more 873 to form a C expression. E.g., when the cursor is on "arg" 874 of "ptr->arg" then the result is "ptr->arg"; when the 875 cursor is on "]" of "list[idx]" then the result is 876 "list[idx]". This is used for |v:beval_text|. 877 <cfile> is replaced with the path name under the cursor (like what 878 |gf| uses) 879 <afile> When executing autocommands, is replaced with the file name 880 of the buffer being manipulated, or the file for a read or 881 write. *E495* 882 <abuf> When executing autocommands, is replaced with the currently 883 effective buffer number (for ":r file" and ":so file" it is 884 the current buffer, the file being read/sourced is not in a 885 buffer). *E496* 886 <amatch> When executing autocommands, is replaced with the match for 887 which this autocommand was executed. *E497* 888 It differs from <afile> only when the file name isn't used 889 to match with (for FileType, Syntax and SpellFileMissing 890 events). 891 <sfile> When executing a ":source" command, is replaced with the 892 file name of the sourced file. *E498* 893 When executing a function, is replaced with: 894 "function {function-name}[{lnum}]" 895 function call nesting is indicated like this: 896 "function {function-name1}[{lnum}]..{function-name2}[{lnum}]" 897 Note that filename-modifiers are useless when <sfile> is 898 used inside a function. 899 <slnum> When executing a ":source" command, is replaced with the 900 line number. *E842* 901 When executing a function it's the line number relative to 902 the start of the function. 903 <sflnum> When executing a script, is replaced with the line number. 904 It differs from <slnum> in that <sflnum> is replaced with 905 the script line number in any situation. *E961* 906 907 *filename-modifiers* 908*:_%:* *::8* *::p* *::.* *::~* *::h* *::t* *::r* *::e* *::s* *::gs* *::S* 909 *%:8* *%:p* *%:.* *%:~* *%:h* *%:t* *%:r* *%:e* *%:s* *%:gs* *%:S* 910The file name modifiers can be used after "%", "#", "#n", "<cfile>", "<sfile>", 911"<afile>" or "<abuf>". They are also used with the |fnamemodify()| function. 912These are not available when Vim has been compiled without the |+modify_fname| 913feature. 914These modifiers can be given, in this order: 915 :p Make file name a full path. Must be the first modifier. Also 916 changes "~/" (and "~user/" for Unix and VMS) to the path for 917 the home directory. If the name is a directory a path 918 separator is added at the end. For a file name that does not 919 exist and does not have an absolute path the result is 920 unpredictable. On MS-Windows an 8.3 filename is expanded to 921 the long name. 922 :8 Converts the path to 8.3 short format (currently only on 923 MS-Windows). Will act on as much of a path that is an 924 existing path. 925 :~ Reduce file name to be relative to the home directory, if 926 possible. File name is unmodified if it is not below the home 927 directory. 928 :. Reduce file name to be relative to current directory, if 929 possible. File name is unmodified if it is not below the 930 current directory, but on MS-Windows the drive is removed if 931 it is the current drive. 932 For maximum shortness, use ":~:.". 933 :h Head of the file name (the last component and any separators 934 removed). Cannot be used with :e, :r or :t. 935 Can be repeated to remove several components at the end. 936 When the file name ends in a path separator, only the path 937 separator is removed. Thus ":p:h" on a directory name results 938 on the directory name itself (without trailing slash). 939 When the file name is an absolute path (starts with "/" for 940 Unix; "x:\" for MS-DOS, WIN32, OS/2; "drive:" for Amiga), that 941 part is not removed. When there is no head (path is relative 942 to current directory) the result is empty. 943 :t Tail of the file name (last component of the name). Must 944 precede any :r or :e. 945 :r Root of the file name (the last extension removed). When 946 there is only an extension (file name that starts with '.', 947 e.g., ".vimrc"), it is not removed. Can be repeated to remove 948 several extensions (last one first). 949 :e Extension of the file name. Only makes sense when used alone. 950 When there is no extension the result is empty. 951 When there is only an extension (file name that starts with 952 '.'), the result is empty. Can be repeated to include more 953 extensions. If there are not enough extensions (but at least 954 one) as much as possible are included. 955 :s?pat?sub? 956 Substitute the first occurrence of "pat" with "sub". This 957 works like the |:s| command. "pat" is a regular expression. 958 Any character can be used for '?', but it must not occur in 959 "pat" or "sub". 960 After this, the previous modifiers can be used again. For 961 example ":p", to make a full path after the substitution. 962 :gs?pat?sub? 963 Substitute all occurrences of "pat" with "sub". Otherwise 964 this works like ":s". 965 :S Escape special characters for use with a shell command (see 966 |shellescape()|). Must be the last one. Examples: > 967 :!dir <cfile>:S 968 :call system('chmod +w -- ' . expand('%:S')) 969 970Examples, when the file name is "src/version.c", current dir 971"/home/mool/vim": > 972 :p /home/mool/vim/src/version.c 973 :p:. src/version.c 974 :p:~ ~/vim/src/version.c 975 :h src 976 :p:h /home/mool/vim/src 977 :p:h:h /home/mool/vim 978 :t version.c 979 :p:t version.c 980 :r src/version 981 :p:r /home/mool/vim/src/version 982 :t:r version 983 :e c 984 :s?version?main? src/main.c 985 :s?version?main?:p /home/mool/vim/src/main.c 986 :p:gs?/?\\? \home\mool\vim\src\version.c 987 988Examples, when the file name is "src/version.c.gz": > 989 :p /home/mool/vim/src/version.c.gz 990 :e gz 991 :e:e c.gz 992 :e:e:e c.gz 993 :e:e:r c 994 :r src/version.c 995 :r:e c 996 :r:r src/version 997 :r:r:r src/version 998< 999 *extension-removal* *:_%<* 1000If a "<" is appended to "%", "#", "#n" or "CTRL-V p" the extension of the file 1001name is removed (everything after and including the last '.' in the file 1002name). This is included for backwards compatibility with version 3.0, the 1003":r" form is preferred. Examples: > 1004 1005 % current file name 1006 %< current file name without extension 1007 # alternate file name for current window 1008 #< idem, without extension 1009 #31 alternate file number 31 1010 #31< idem, without extension 1011 <cword> word under the cursor 1012 <cWORD> WORD under the cursor (see |WORD|) 1013 <cfile> path name under the cursor 1014 <cfile>< idem, without extension 1015 1016Note: Where a file name is expected wildcards expansion is done. On Unix the 1017shell is used for this, unless it can be done internally (for speed). 1018Unless in |restricted-mode|, backticks work also, like in > 1019 :n `echo *.c` 1020But expansion is only done if there are any wildcards before expanding the 1021'%', '#', etc.. This avoids expanding wildcards inside a file name. If you 1022want to expand the result of <cfile>, add a wildcard character to it. 1023Examples: (alternate file name is "?readme?") 1024 command expands to ~ 1025 :e # :e ?readme? 1026 :e `ls #` :e {files matching "?readme?"} 1027 :e #.* :e {files matching "?readme?.*"} 1028 :cd <cfile> :cd {file name under cursor} 1029 :cd <cfile>* :cd {file name under cursor plus "*" and then expanded} 1030Also see |`=|. 1031 1032When the expanded argument contains a "!" and it is used for a shell command 1033(":!cmd", ":r !cmd" or ":w !cmd"), the "!" is escaped with a backslash to 1034avoid it being expanded into a previously used command. When the 'shell' 1035option contains "sh", this is done twice, to avoid the shell trying to expand 1036the "!". 1037 1038 *filename-backslash* 1039For filesystems that use a backslash as directory separator (MS-DOS, Windows, 1040OS/2), it's a bit difficult to recognize a backslash that is used to escape 1041the special meaning of the next character. The general rule is: If the 1042backslash is followed by a normal file name character, it does not have a 1043special meaning. Therefore "\file\foo" is a valid file name, you don't have 1044to type the backslash twice. 1045 1046An exception is the '$' sign. It is a valid character in a file name. But 1047to avoid a file name like "$home" to be interpreted as an environment variable, 1048it needs to be preceded by a backslash. Therefore you need to use "/\$home" 1049for the file "$home" in the root directory. A few examples: 1050 1051 FILE NAME INTERPRETED AS ~ 1052 $home expanded to value of environment var $home 1053 \$home file "$home" in current directory 1054 /\$home file "$home" in root directory 1055 \\$home file "\\", followed by expanded $home 1056 1057Also see |`=|. 1058 1059============================================================================== 10607. Command-line window *cmdline-window* *cmdwin* 1061 *command-line-window* 1062In the command-line window the command line can be edited just like editing 1063text in any window. It is a special kind of window, because you cannot leave 1064it in a normal way. 1065{not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| feature} 1066 1067 1068OPEN *c_CTRL-F* *q:* *q/* *q?* 1069 1070There are two ways to open the command-line window: 10711. From Command-line mode, use the key specified with the 'cedit' option. 1072 The default is CTRL-F when 'compatible' is not set. 10732. From Normal mode, use the "q:", "q/" or "q?" command. 1074 This starts editing an Ex command-line ("q:") or search string ("q/" or 1075 "q?"). Note that this is not possible while recording is in progress (the 1076 "q" stops recording then). 1077 1078When the window opens it is filled with the command-line history. The last 1079line contains the command as typed so far. The left column will show a 1080character that indicates the type of command-line being edited, see 1081|cmdwin-char|. 1082 1083Vim will be in Normal mode when the editor is opened, except when 'insertmode' 1084is set. 1085 1086The height of the window is specified with 'cmdwinheight' (or smaller if there 1087is no room). The window is always full width and is positioned just above the 1088command-line. 1089 1090 1091EDIT 1092 1093You can now use commands to move around and edit the text in the window. Both 1094in Normal mode and Insert mode. 1095 1096It is possible to use ":", "/" and other commands that use the command-line, 1097but it's not possible to open another command-line window then. There is no 1098nesting. 1099 *E11* 1100The command-line window is not a normal window. It is not possible to move to 1101another window or edit another buffer. All commands that would do this are 1102disabled in the command-line window. Of course it _is_ possible to execute 1103any command that you entered in the command-line window. Other text edits are 1104discarded when closing the window. 1105 1106 1107CLOSE *E199* 1108 1109There are several ways to leave the command-line window: 1110 1111<CR> Execute the command-line under the cursor. Works both in 1112 Insert and in Normal mode. 1113CTRL-C Continue in Command-line mode. The command-line under the 1114 cursor is used as the command-line. Works both in Insert and 1115 in Normal mode. There is no redraw, thus the window will 1116 remain visible. 1117:quit Discard the command line and go back to Normal mode. 1118 ":close", ":exit", ":xit" and CTRL-\ CTRL-N also work. 1119:qall Quit Vim, unless there are changes in some buffer. 1120:qall! Quit Vim, discarding changes to any buffer. 1121 1122Once the command-line window is closed the old window sizes are restored. The 1123executed command applies to the window and buffer where the command-line was 1124started from. This works as if the command-line window was not there, except 1125that there will be an extra screen redraw. 1126The buffer used for the command-line window is deleted. Any changes to lines 1127other than the one that is executed with <CR> are lost. 1128 1129If you would like to execute the command under the cursor and then have the 1130command-line window open again, you may find this mapping useful: > 1131 1132 :autocmd CmdwinEnter * map <buffer> <F5> <CR>q: 1133 1134 1135VARIOUS 1136 1137The command-line window cannot be used: 1138- when there already is a command-line window (no nesting) 1139- for entering an encryption key or when using inputsecret() 1140 1141Some options are set when the command-line window is opened: 1142'filetype' "vim", when editing an Ex command-line; this starts Vim syntax 1143 highlighting if it was enabled 1144'rightleft' off 1145'modifiable' on 1146'buftype' "nofile" 1147'swapfile' off 1148 1149It is allowed to write the buffer contents to a file. This is an easy way to 1150save the command-line history and read it back later. 1151 1152If the 'wildchar' option is set to <Tab>, and the command-line window is used 1153for an Ex command, then two mappings will be added to use <Tab> for completion 1154in the command-line window, like this: > 1155 :imap <buffer> <Tab> <C-X><C-V> 1156 :nmap <buffer> <Tab> a<C-X><C-V> 1157Note that hitting <Tab> in Normal mode will do completion on the next 1158character. That way it works at the end of the line. 1159If you don't want these mappings, disable them with: > 1160 au CmdwinEnter [:>] iunmap <Tab> 1161 au CmdwinEnter [:>] nunmap <Tab> 1162You could put these lines in your vimrc file. 1163 1164While in the command-line window you cannot use the mouse to put the cursor in 1165another window, or drag statuslines of other windows. You can drag the 1166statusline of the command-line window itself and the statusline above it. 1167Thus you can resize the command-line window, but not others. 1168 1169The |getcmdwintype()| function returns the type of the command-line being 1170edited as described in |cmdwin-char|. 1171 1172 1173AUTOCOMMANDS 1174 1175Two autocommand events are used: |CmdwinEnter| and |CmdwinLeave|. Since this 1176window is of a special type, the WinEnter, WinLeave, BufEnter and BufLeave 1177events are not triggered. You can use the Cmdwin events to do settings 1178specifically for the command-line window. Be careful not to cause side 1179effects! 1180Example: > 1181 :au CmdwinEnter : let b:cpt_save = &cpt | set cpt=. 1182 :au CmdwinLeave : let &cpt = b:cpt_save 1183This sets 'complete' to use completion in the current window for |i_CTRL-N|. 1184Another example: > 1185 :au CmdwinEnter [/?] startinsert 1186This will make Vim start in Insert mode in the command-line window. 1187 1188 *cmdwin-char* 1189The character used for the pattern indicates the type of command-line: 1190 : normal Ex command 1191 > debug mode command |debug-mode| 1192 / forward search string 1193 ? backward search string 1194 = expression for "= |expr-register| 1195 @ string for |input()| 1196 - text for |:insert| or |:append| 1197 1198 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: 1199