1*editing.txt* For Vim version 8.2. Last change: 2021 May 27 2 3 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar 5 6 7Editing files *edit-files* 8 91. Introduction |edit-intro| 102. Editing a file |edit-a-file| 113. The argument list |argument-list| 124. Writing |writing| 135. Writing and quitting |write-quit| 146. Dialogs |edit-dialogs| 157. The current directory |current-directory| 168. Editing binary files |edit-binary| 179. Encryption |encryption| 1810. Timestamps |timestamps| 1911. File Searching |file-searching| 20 21============================================================================== 221. Introduction *edit-intro* 23 24Editing a file with Vim means: 25 261. reading the file into a buffer 272. changing the buffer with editor commands 283. writing the buffer into a file 29 30 *current-file* 31As long as you don't write the buffer, the original file remains unchanged. 32If you start editing a file (read a file into the buffer), the file name is 33remembered as the "current file name". This is also known as the name of the 34current buffer. It can be used with "%" on the command line |:_%|. 35 36 *alternate-file* 37If there already was a current file name, then that one becomes the alternate 38file name. It can be used with "#" on the command line |:_#| and you can use 39the |CTRL-^| command to toggle between the current and the alternate file. 40However, the alternate file name is not changed when |:keepalt| is used. 41An alternate file name is remembered for each window. 42 43 *:keepalt* *:keepa* 44:keepalt {cmd} Execute {cmd} while keeping the current alternate file 45 name. Note that commands invoked indirectly (e.g., 46 with a function) may still set the alternate file 47 name. 48 49All file names are remembered in the buffer list. When you enter a file name, 50for editing (e.g., with ":e filename") or writing (e.g., with ":w filename"), 51the file name is added to the list. You can use the buffer list to remember 52which files you edited and to quickly switch from one file to another (e.g., 53to copy text) with the |CTRL-^| command. First type the number of the file 54and then hit CTRL-^. 55 56 57CTRL-G or *CTRL-G* *:f* *:fi* *:file* 58:f[ile] Prints the current file name (as typed, unless ":cd" 59 was used), the cursor position (unless the 'ruler' 60 option is set), and the file status (readonly, 61 modified, read errors, new file). See the 'shortmess' 62 option about how to make this message shorter. 63 64:f[ile]! like |:file|, but don't truncate the name even when 65 'shortmess' indicates this. 66 67{count}CTRL-G Like CTRL-G, but prints the current file name with 68 full path. If the count is higher than 1 the current 69 buffer number is also given. 70 71 *g_CTRL-G* *word-count* *byte-count* 72g CTRL-G Prints the current position of the cursor in five 73 ways: Column, Line, Word, Character and Byte. If the 74 number of Characters and Bytes is the same then the 75 Character position is omitted. 76 77 If there are characters in the line that take more 78 than one position on the screen (<Tab> or special 79 character), or characters using more than one byte per 80 column (characters above 0x7F when 'encoding' is 81 utf-8), both the byte column and the screen column are 82 shown, separated by a dash. 83 84 Also see the 'ruler' option and the |wordcount()| 85 function. 86 87 *v_g_CTRL-G* 88{Visual}g CTRL-G Similar to "g CTRL-G", but Word, Character, Line, and 89 Byte counts for the visually selected region are 90 displayed. 91 In Blockwise mode, Column count is also shown. (For 92 {Visual} see |Visual-mode|.) 93 94 *:file_f* 95:f[ile][!] {name} Sets the current file name to {name}. The optional ! 96 avoids truncating the message, as with |:file|. 97 If the buffer did have a name, that name becomes the 98 |alternate-file| name. An unlisted buffer is created 99 to hold the old name. 100 *:0file* 101:0f[ile][!] Remove the name of the current buffer. The optional ! 102 avoids truncating the message, as with |:file|. 103 104:buffers 105:files 106:ls List all the currently known file names. See 107 |windows.txt| |:files| |:buffers| |:ls|. 108 109Vim will remember the full path name of a file name that you enter. In most 110cases when the file name is displayed only the name you typed is shown, but 111the full path name is being used if you used the ":cd" command |:cd|. 112 113 *home-replace* 114If the environment variable $HOME is set, and the file name starts with that 115string, it is often displayed with HOME replaced with "~". This was done to 116keep file names short. When reading or writing files the full name is still 117used, the "~" is only used when displaying file names. When replacing the 118file name would result in just "~", "~/" is used instead (to avoid confusion 119between options set to $HOME with 'backupext' set to "~"). 120 121When writing the buffer, the default is to use the current file name. Thus 122when you give the "ZZ" or ":wq" command, the original file will be 123overwritten. If you do not want this, the buffer can be written into another 124file by giving a file name argument to the ":write" command. For example: > 125 126 vim testfile 127 [change the buffer with editor commands] 128 :w newfile 129 :q 130 131This will create a file "newfile", that is a modified copy of "testfile". 132The file "testfile" will remain unchanged. Anyway, if the 'backup' option is 133set, Vim renames or copies the original file before it will be overwritten. 134You can use this file if you discover that you need the original file. See 135also the 'patchmode' option. The name of the backup file is normally the same 136as the original file with 'backupext' appended. The default "~" is a bit 137strange to avoid accidentally overwriting existing files. If you prefer ".bak" 138change the 'backupext' option. Extra dots are replaced with '_' on MS-Windows 139machines, when Vim has detected that an MS-DOS-like filesystem is being used 140(e.g., messydos or crossdos) or when the 'shortname' option is on. The 141backup file can be placed in another directory by setting 'backupdir'. 142 143 *auto-shortname* 144Technical: On the Amiga you can use 30 characters for a file name. But on an 145 MS-DOS-compatible filesystem only 8 plus 3 characters are 146 available. Vim tries to detect the type of filesystem when it is 147 creating the .swp file. If an MS-DOS-like filesystem is suspected, 148 a flag is set that has the same effect as setting the 'shortname' 149 option. This flag will be reset as soon as you start editing a 150 new file. The flag will be used when making the file name for the 151 ".swp" and ".~" files for the current file. But when you are 152 editing a file in a normal filesystem and write to an MS-DOS-like 153 filesystem the flag will not have been set. In that case the 154 creation of the ".~" file may fail and you will get an error 155 message. Use the 'shortname' option in this case. 156 157When you started editing without giving a file name, "No File" is displayed in 158messages. If the ":write" command is used with a file name argument, the file 159name for the current file is set to that file name. This only happens when 160the 'F' flag is included in 'cpoptions' (by default it is included) |cpo-F|. 161This is useful when entering text in an empty buffer and then writing it to a 162file. If 'cpoptions' contains the 'f' flag (by default it is NOT included) 163|cpo-f| the file name is set for the ":read file" command. This is useful 164when starting Vim without an argument and then doing ":read file" to start 165editing a file. 166When the file name was set and 'filetype' is empty the filetype detection 167autocommands will be triggered. 168 *not-edited* 169Because the file name was set without really starting to edit that file, you 170are protected from overwriting that file. This is done by setting the 171"notedited" flag. You can see if this flag is set with the CTRL-G or ":file" 172command. It will include "[Not edited]" when the "notedited" flag is set. 173When writing the buffer to the current file name (with ":w!"), the "notedited" 174flag is reset. 175 176 *abandon* 177Vim remembers whether you have changed the buffer. You are protected from 178losing the changes you made. If you try to quit without writing, or want to 179start editing another file, Vim will refuse this. In order to overrule this 180protection, add a '!' to the command. The changes will then be lost. For 181example: ":q" will not work if the buffer was changed, but ":q!" will. To see 182whether the buffer was changed use the "CTRL-G" command. The message includes 183the string "[Modified]" if the buffer has been changed, or "+" if the 'm' flag 184is in 'shortmess'. 185 186If you want to automatically save the changes without asking, switch on the 187'autowriteall' option. 'autowrite' is the associated Vi-compatible option 188that does not work for all commands. 189 190If you want to keep the changed buffer without saving it, switch on the 191'hidden' option. See |hidden-buffer|. Some commands work like this even when 192'hidden' is not set, check the help for the command. 193 194============================================================================== 1952. Editing a file *edit-a-file* 196 197 *:e* *:edit* *reload* 198:e[dit] [++opt] [+cmd] Edit the current file. This is useful to re-edit the 199 current file, when it has been changed outside of Vim. 200 This fails when changes have been made to the current 201 buffer and 'autowriteall' isn't set or the file can't 202 be written. 203 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 204 205 *:edit!* *discard* 206:e[dit]! [++opt] [+cmd] 207 Edit the current file always. Discard any changes to 208 the current buffer. This is useful if you want to 209 start all over again. 210 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 211 212 *:edit_f* 213:e[dit] [++opt] [+cmd] {file} 214 Edit {file}. 215 This fails when changes have been made to the current 216 buffer, unless 'hidden' is set or 'autowriteall' is 217 set and the file can be written. 218 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 219 220 *:edit!_f* 221:e[dit]! [++opt] [+cmd] {file} 222 Edit {file} always. Discard any changes to the 223 current buffer. 224 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 225 226:e[dit] [++opt] [+cmd] #[count] 227 Edit the [count]th buffer (as shown by |:files|). 228 This command does the same as [count] CTRL-^. But ":e 229 #" doesn't work if the alternate buffer doesn't have a 230 file name, while CTRL-^ still works then. 231 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 232 233 *:ene* *:enew* 234:ene[w] Edit a new, unnamed buffer. This fails when changes 235 have been made to the current buffer, unless 'hidden' 236 is set or 'autowriteall' is set and the file can be 237 written. 238 If 'fileformats' is not empty, the first format given 239 will be used for the new buffer. If 'fileformats' is 240 empty, the 'fileformat' of the current buffer is used. 241 242 *:ene!* *:enew!* 243:ene[w]! Edit a new, unnamed buffer. Discard any changes to 244 the current buffer. 245 Set 'fileformat' like |:enew|. 246 247 *:fin* *:find* 248:fin[d][!] [++opt] [+cmd] {file} 249 Find {file} in 'path' and then |:edit| it. 250 {not available when the |+file_in_path| feature was 251 disabled at compile time} 252 253:{count}fin[d][!] [++opt] [+cmd] {file} 254 Just like ":find", but use the {count} match in 255 'path'. Thus ":2find file" will find the second 256 "file" found in 'path'. When there are fewer matches 257 for the file in 'path' than asked for, you get an 258 error message. 259 260 *:ex* 261:ex [++opt] [+cmd] [file] 262 Same as |:edit|. 263 264 *:vi* *:visual* 265:vi[sual][!] [++opt] [+cmd] [file] 266 When used in Ex mode: Leave |Ex-mode|, go back to 267 Normal mode. Otherwise same as |:edit|. 268 269 *:vie* *:view* 270:vie[w][!] [++opt] [+cmd] file 271 When used in Ex mode: Leave |Ex-mode|, go back to 272 Normal mode. Otherwise same as |:edit|, but set 273 'readonly' option for this buffer. 274 275 *CTRL-^* *CTRL-6* 276CTRL-^ Edit the alternate file. Mostly the alternate file is 277 the previously edited file. This is a quick way to 278 toggle between two files. It is equivalent to ":e #", 279 except that it also works when there is no file name. 280 281 If the 'autowrite' or 'autowriteall' option is on and 282 the buffer was changed, write it. 283 Mostly the ^ character is positioned on the 6 key, 284 pressing CTRL and 6 then gets you what we call CTRL-^. 285 But on some non-US keyboards CTRL-^ is produced in 286 another way. 287 288{count}CTRL-^ Edit [count]th file in the buffer list (equivalent to 289 ":e #[count]"). This is a quick way to switch between 290 files. 291 See |CTRL-^| above for further details. 292 293[count]]f *]f* *[f* 294[count][f Same as "gf". Deprecated. 295 296 *gf* *E446* *E447* 297[count]gf Edit the file whose name is under or after the cursor. 298 Mnemonic: "goto file". 299 Uses the 'isfname' option to find out which characters 300 are supposed to be in a file name. Trailing 301 punctuation characters ".,:;!" are ignored. Escaped 302 spaces "\ " are reduced to a single space. 303 Uses the 'path' option as a list of directory names to 304 look for the file. See the 'path' option for details 305 about relative directories and wildcards. 306 Uses the 'suffixesadd' option to check for file names 307 with a suffix added. 308 If the file can't be found, 'includeexpr' is used to 309 modify the name and another attempt is done. 310 If a [count] is given, the count'th file that is found 311 in the 'path' is edited. 312 This command fails if Vim refuses to |abandon| the 313 current file. 314 If you want to edit the file in a new window use 315 |CTRL-W_CTRL-F|. 316 If you do want to edit a new file, use: > 317 :e <cfile> 318< To make gf always work like that: > 319 :map gf :e <cfile><CR> 320< If the name is a hypertext link, that looks like 321 "type://machine/path", you need the |netrw| plugin. 322 For Unix the '~' character is expanded, like in 323 "~user/file". Environment variables are expanded too 324 |expand-env|. 325 {not available when the |+file_in_path| feature was 326 disabled at compile time} 327 328 *v_gf* 329{Visual}[count]gf Same as "gf", but the highlighted text is used as the 330 name of the file to edit. 'isfname' is ignored. 331 Leading blanks are skipped, otherwise all blanks and 332 special characters are included in the file name. 333 (For {Visual} see |Visual-mode|.) 334 335 *gF* 336[count]gF Same as "gf", except if a number follows the file 337 name, then the cursor is positioned on that line in 338 the file. 339 The file name and the number must be separated by a 340 non-filename (see 'isfname') and non-numeric 341 character. " line " is also recognized, like it is 342 used in the output of `:verbose command UserCmd` 343 White space between the filename, the separator and 344 the number are ignored. 345 Examples: 346 eval.c:10 ~ 347 eval.c @ 20 ~ 348 eval.c (30) ~ 349 eval.c 40 ~ 350 351 *v_gF* 352{Visual}[count]gF Same as "v_gf". 353 354These commands are used to start editing a single file. This means that the 355file is read into the buffer and the current file name is set. The file that 356is opened depends on the current directory, see |:cd|. 357 358See |read-messages| for an explanation of the message that is given after the 359file has been read. 360 361You can use the ":e!" command if you messed up the buffer and want to start 362all over again. The ":e" command is only useful if you have changed the 363current file name. 364 365 *:filename* *{file}* 366Besides the things mentioned here, more special items for where a filename is 367expected are mentioned at |cmdline-special|. 368 369Note for systems other than Unix: When using a command that accepts a single 370file name (like ":edit file") spaces in the file name are allowed, but 371trailing spaces are ignored. This is useful on systems that regularly embed 372spaces in file names (like MS-Windows and the Amiga). Example: The command 373":e Long File Name " will edit the file "Long File Name". When using a 374command that accepts more than one file name (like ":next file1 file2") 375embedded spaces must be escaped with a backslash. 376 377 *wildcard* *wildcards* 378Wildcards in {file} are expanded, but as with file completion, 'wildignore' 379and 'suffixes' apply. Which wildcards are supported depends on the system. 380These are the common ones: 381 ? matches one character 382 * matches anything, including nothing 383 ** matches anything, including nothing, recurses into directories 384 [abc] match 'a', 'b' or 'c' 385 386To avoid the special meaning of the wildcards prepend a backslash. However, 387on MS-Windows the backslash is a path separator and "path\[abc]" is still seen 388as a wildcard when "[" is in the 'isfname' option. A simple way to avoid this 389is to use "path\[[]abc]", this matches the file "path\[abc]". 390 391 *starstar-wildcard* 392Expanding "**" is possible on Unix, Win32, Mac OS/X and a few other systems. 393This allows searching a directory tree. This goes up to 100 directories deep. 394Note there are some commands where this works slightly differently, see 395|file-searching|. 396Example: > 397 :n **/*.txt 398Finds files: 399 aaa.txt ~ 400 subdir/bbb.txt ~ 401 a/b/c/d/ccc.txt ~ 402When non-wildcard characters are used right before or after "**" these are 403only matched in the top directory. They are not used for directories further 404down in the tree. For example: > 405 :n /usr/inc**/types.h 406Finds files: 407 /usr/include/types.h ~ 408 /usr/include/sys/types.h ~ 409 /usr/inc/old/types.h ~ 410Note that the path with "/sys" is included because it does not need to match 411"/inc". Thus it's like matching "/usr/inc*/*/*...", not 412"/usr/inc*/inc*/inc*". 413 414 *backtick-expansion* *`-expansion* 415On Unix and a few other systems you can also use backticks for the file name 416argument, for example: > 417 :next `find . -name ver\\*.c -print` 418 :view `ls -t *.patch \| head -n1` 419Vim will run the command in backticks using the 'shell' and use the standard 420output as argument for the given Vim command (error messages from the shell 421command will be discarded). 422To see what shell command Vim is running, set the 'verbose' option to 4. When 423the shell command returns a non-zero exit code, an error message will be 424displayed and the Vim command will be aborted. To avoid this make the shell 425always return zero like so: > 426 :next `find . -name ver\\*.c -print \|\| true` 427 428The backslashes before the star are required to prevent the shell from 429expanding "ver*.c" prior to execution of the find program. The backslash 430before the shell pipe symbol "|" prevents Vim from parsing it as command 431termination. 432This also works for most other systems, with the restriction that the 433backticks must be around the whole item. It is not possible to have text 434directly before the first or just after the last backtick. 435 436 *`=* 437You can have the backticks expanded as a Vim expression, instead of as an 438external command, by putting an equal sign right after the first backtick, 439e.g.: > 440 :e `=tempname()` 441The expression can contain just about anything, thus this can also be used to 442avoid the special meaning of '"', '|', '%' and '#'. However, 'wildignore' 443does apply like to other wildcards. 444 445Environment variables in the expression are expanded when evaluating the 446expression, thus this works: > 447 :e `=$HOME . '/.vimrc'` 448This does not work, $HOME is inside a string and used literally: > 449 :e `='$HOME' . '/.vimrc'` 450 451If the expression returns a string then names are to be separated with line 452breaks. When the result is a |List| then each item is used as a name. Line 453breaks also separate names. 454Note that such expressions are only supported in places where a filename is 455expected as an argument to an Ex-command. 456 457 *++opt* *[++opt]* 458The [++opt] argument can be used to force the value of 'fileformat', 459'fileencoding' or 'binary' to a value for one command, and to specify the 460behavior for bad characters. The form is: > 461 ++{optname} 462Or: > 463 ++{optname}={value} 464 465Where {optname} is one of: *++ff* *++enc* *++bin* *++nobin* *++edit* 466 ff or fileformat overrides 'fileformat' 467 enc or encoding overrides 'fileencoding' 468 bin or binary sets 'binary' 469 nobin or nobinary resets 'binary' 470 bad specifies behavior for bad characters 471 edit for |:read| only: keep option values as if editing 472 a file 473 474{value} cannot contain white space. It can be any valid value for these 475options. Examples: > 476 :e ++ff=unix 477This edits the same file again with 'fileformat' set to "unix". > 478 479 :w ++enc=latin1 newfile 480This writes the current buffer to "newfile" in latin1 format. 481 482The message given when writing a file will show "[converted]" when 483'fileencoding' or the value specified with ++enc differs from 'encoding'. 484 485There may be several ++opt arguments, separated by white space. They must all 486appear before any |+cmd| argument. 487 488 *++bad* 489The argument of "++bad=" specifies what happens with characters that can't be 490converted and illegal bytes. It can be one of three things: 491 ++bad=X A single-byte character that replaces each bad character. 492 ++bad=keep Keep bad characters without conversion. Note that this may 493 result in illegal bytes in your text! 494 ++bad=drop Remove the bad characters. 495 496The default is like "++bad=?": Replace each bad character with a question 497mark. In some places an inverted question mark is used (0xBF). 498 499Note that not all commands use the ++bad argument, even though they do not 500give an error when you add it. E.g. |:write|. 501 502Note that when reading, the 'fileformat' and 'fileencoding' options will be 503set to the used format. When writing this doesn't happen, thus a next write 504will use the old value of the option. Same for the 'binary' option. 505 506 507 *+cmd* *[+cmd]* 508The [+cmd] argument can be used to position the cursor in the newly opened 509file, or execute any other command: 510 + Start at the last line. 511 +{num} Start at line {num}. 512 +/{pat} Start at first line containing {pat}. 513 +{command} Execute {command} after opening the new file. 514 {command} is any Ex command. 515To include a white space in the {pat} or {command}, precede it with a 516backslash. Double the number of backslashes. > 517 :edit +/The\ book file 518 :edit +/dir\ dirname\\ file 519 :edit +set\ dir=c:\\\\temp file 520Note that in the last example the number of backslashes is halved twice: Once 521for the "+cmd" argument and once for the ":set" command. 522 523 *file-formats* 524The 'fileformat' option sets the <EOL> style for a file: 525'fileformat' characters name ~ 526 "dos" <CR><NL> or <NL> DOS format *DOS-format* 527 "unix" <NL> Unix format *Unix-format* 528 "mac" <CR> Mac format *Mac-format* 529Previously 'textmode' was used. It is obsolete now. 530 531When reading a file, the mentioned characters are interpreted as the <EOL>. 532In DOS format (default for Win32), <CR><NL> and <NL> are both interpreted as 533the <EOL>. Note that when writing the file in DOS format, <CR> characters 534will be added for each single <NL>. Also see |file-read|. 535 536When writing a file, the mentioned characters are used for <EOL>. For DOS 537format <CR><NL> is used. Also see |DOS-format-write|. 538 539You can read a file in DOS format and write it in Unix format. This will 540replace all <CR><NL> pairs by <NL> (assuming 'fileformats' includes "dos"): > 541 :e file 542 :set fileformat=unix 543 :w 544If you read a file in Unix format and write with DOS format, all <NL> 545characters will be replaced with <CR><NL> (assuming 'fileformats' includes 546"unix"): > 547 :e file 548 :set fileformat=dos 549 :w 550 551If you start editing a new file and the 'fileformats' option is not empty 552(which is the default), Vim will try to detect whether the lines in the file 553are separated by the specified formats. When set to "unix,dos", Vim will 554check for lines with a single <NL> (as used on Unix and Amiga) or by a <CR> 555<NL> pair (MS-Windows). Only when ALL lines end in <CR><NL>, 'fileformat' is 556set to "dos", otherwise it is set to "unix". When 'fileformats' includes 557"mac", and no <NL> characters are found in the file, 'fileformat' is set to 558"mac". 559 560If the 'fileformat' option is set to "dos" on non-MS-Windows systems the 561message "[dos format]" is shown to remind you that something unusual is 562happening. On MS-Windows systems you get the message "[unix format]" if 563'fileformat' is set to "unix". On all systems but the Macintosh you get the 564message "[mac format]" if 'fileformat' is set to "mac". 565 566If the 'fileformats' option is empty and DOS format is used, but while reading 567a file some lines did not end in <CR><NL>, "[CR missing]" will be included in 568the file message. 569If the 'fileformats' option is empty and Mac format is used, but while reading 570a file a <NL> was found, "[NL missing]" will be included in the file message. 571 572If the new file does not exist, the 'fileformat' of the current buffer is used 573when 'fileformats' is empty. Otherwise the first format from 'fileformats' is 574used for the new file. 575 576Before editing binary, executable or Vim script files you should set the 577'binary' option. A simple way to do this is by starting Vim with the "-b" 578option. This will avoid the use of 'fileformat'. Without this you risk that 579single <NL> characters are unexpectedly replaced with <CR><NL>. 580 581You can encrypt files that are written by setting the 'key' option. This 582provides some security against others reading your files. |encryption| 583 584 585============================================================================== 5863. The argument list *argument-list* *arglist* 587 588If you give more than one file name when starting Vim, this list is remembered 589as the argument list. You can jump to each file in this list. 590 591Do not confuse this with the buffer list, which you can see with the 592|:buffers| command. The argument list was already present in Vi, the buffer 593list is new in Vim. Every file name in the argument list will also be present 594in the buffer list (unless it was deleted with |:bdel| or |:bwipe|). But it's 595common that names in the buffer list are not in the argument list. 596 597This subject is introduced in section |07.2| of the user manual. 598 599There is one global argument list, which is used for all windows by default. 600It is possible to create a new argument list local to a window, see 601|:arglocal|. 602 603You can use the argument list with the following commands, and with the 604expression functions |argc()| and |argv()|. These all work on the argument 605list of the current window. 606 607 *:ar* *:arg* *:args* 608:ar[gs] Print the argument list, with the current file in 609 square brackets. 610 611:ar[gs] [++opt] [+cmd] {arglist} *:args_f* 612 Define {arglist} as the new argument list and edit 613 the first one. This fails when changes have been made 614 and Vim does not want to |abandon| the current buffer. 615 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 616 617:ar[gs]! [++opt] [+cmd] {arglist} *:args_f!* 618 Define {arglist} as the new argument list and edit 619 the first one. Discard any changes to the current 620 buffer. 621 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 622 623:[count]arge[dit][!] [++opt] [+cmd] {name} .. *:arge* *:argedit* 624 Add {name}s to the argument list and edit it. 625 When {name} already exists in the argument list, this 626 entry is edited. 627 This is like using |:argadd| and then |:edit|. 628 Spaces in filenames have to be escaped with "\". 629 [count] is used like with |:argadd|. 630 If the current file cannot be |abandon|ed {name}s will 631 still be added to the argument list, but won't be 632 edited. No check for duplicates is done. 633 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 634 635:[count]arga[dd] {name} .. *:arga* *:argadd* *E479* 636:[count]arga[dd] 637 Add the {name}s to the argument list. When {name} is 638 omitted add the current buffer name to the argument 639 list. 640 If [count] is omitted, the {name}s are added just 641 after the current entry in the argument list. 642 Otherwise they are added after the [count]'th file. 643 If the argument list is "a b c", and "b" is the 644 current argument, then these commands result in: 645 command new argument list ~ 646 :argadd x a b x c 647 :0argadd x x a b c 648 :1argadd x a x b c 649 :$argadd x a b c x 650 And after the last one: 651 :+2argadd y a b c x y 652 There is no check for duplicates, it is possible to 653 add a file to the argument list twice. 654 The currently edited file is not changed. 655 Note: you can also use this method: > 656 :args ## x 657< This will add the "x" item and sort the new list. 658 659:argd[elete] {pattern} .. *:argd* *:argdelete* *E480* *E610* 660 Delete files from the argument list that match the 661 {pattern}s. {pattern} is used like a file pattern, 662 see |file-pattern|. "%" can be used to delete the 663 current entry. 664 This command keeps the currently edited file, also 665 when it's deleted from the argument list. 666 Example: > 667 :argdel *.obj 668 669:[range]argd[elete] Delete the [range] files from the argument list. 670 Example: > 671 :10,$argdel 672< Deletes arguments 10 and further, keeping 1-9. > 673 :$argd 674< Deletes just the last one. > 675 :argd 676 :.argd 677< Deletes the current argument. > 678 :%argd 679< Removes all the files from the arglist. 680 When the last number in the range is too high, up to 681 the last argument is deleted. 682 683 *:argu* *:argument* 684:[count]argu[ment] [count] [++opt] [+cmd] 685 Edit file [count] in the argument list. When [count] 686 is omitted the current entry is used. This fails 687 when changes have been made and Vim does not want to 688 |abandon| the current buffer. 689 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 690 691:[count]argu[ment]! [count] [++opt] [+cmd] 692 Edit file [count] in the argument list, discard any 693 changes to the current buffer. When [count] is 694 omitted the current entry is used. 695 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 696 697:[count]n[ext] [++opt] [+cmd] *:n* *:ne* *:next* *E165* *E163* 698 Edit [count] next file. This fails when changes have 699 been made and Vim does not want to |abandon| the 700 current buffer. Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 701 702:[count]n[ext]! [++opt] [+cmd] 703 Edit [count] next file, discard any changes to the 704 buffer. Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 705 706:n[ext] [++opt] [+cmd] {arglist} *:next_f* 707 Same as |:args_f|. 708 709:n[ext]! [++opt] [+cmd] {arglist} 710 Same as |:args_f!|. 711 712:[count]N[ext] [count] [++opt] [+cmd] *:Next* *:N* *E164* 713 Edit [count] previous file in argument list. This 714 fails when changes have been made and Vim does not 715 want to |abandon| the current buffer. 716 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 717 718:[count]N[ext]! [count] [++opt] [+cmd] 719 Edit [count] previous file in argument list. Discard 720 any changes to the buffer. Also see |++opt| and 721 |+cmd|. 722 723:[count]prev[ious] [count] [++opt] [+cmd] *:prev* *:previous* 724 Same as :Next. Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 725 726 *:rew* *:rewind* 727:rew[ind] [++opt] [+cmd] 728 Start editing the first file in the argument list. 729 This fails when changes have been made and Vim does 730 not want to |abandon| the current buffer. 731 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 732 733:rew[ind]! [++opt] [+cmd] 734 Start editing the first file in the argument list. 735 Discard any changes to the buffer. Also see |++opt| 736 and |+cmd|. 737 738 *:fir* *:first* 739:fir[st][!] [++opt] [+cmd] 740 Other name for ":rewind". 741 742 *:la* *:last* 743:la[st] [++opt] [+cmd] 744 Start editing the last file in the argument list. 745 This fails when changes have been made and Vim does 746 not want to |abandon| the current buffer. 747 Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 748 749:la[st]! [++opt] [+cmd] 750 Start editing the last file in the argument list. 751 Discard any changes to the buffer. Also see |++opt| 752 and |+cmd|. 753 754 *:wn* *:wnext* 755:[count]wn[ext] [++opt] 756 Write current file and start editing the [count] 757 next file. Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 758 759:[count]wn[ext] [++opt] {file} 760 Write current file to {file} and start editing the 761 [count] next file, unless {file} already exists and 762 the 'writeany' option is off. Also see |++opt| and 763 |+cmd|. 764 765:[count]wn[ext]! [++opt] {file} 766 Write current file to {file} and start editing the 767 [count] next file. Also see |++opt| and |+cmd|. 768 769:[count]wN[ext][!] [++opt] [file] *:wN* *:wNext* 770:[count]wp[revious][!] [++opt] [file] *:wp* *:wprevious* 771 Same as :wnext, but go to previous file instead of 772 next. 773 774The [count] in the commands above defaults to one. For some commands it is 775possible to use two counts. The last one (rightmost one) is used. 776 777If no [+cmd] argument is present, the cursor is positioned at the last known 778cursor position for the file. If 'startofline' is set, the cursor will be 779positioned at the first non-blank in the line, otherwise the last know column 780is used. If there is no last known cursor position the cursor will be in the 781first line (the last line in Ex mode). 782 783 *{arglist}* 784The wildcards in the argument list are expanded and the file names are sorted. 785Thus you can use the command "vim *.c" to edit all the C files. From within 786Vim the command ":n *.c" does the same. 787 788White space is used to separate file names. Put a backslash before a space or 789tab to include it in a file name. E.g., to edit the single file "foo bar": > 790 :next foo\ bar 791 792On Unix and a few other systems you can also use backticks, for example: > 793 :next `find . -name \\*.c -print` 794The backslashes before the star are required to prevent "*.c" to be expanded 795by the shell before executing the find program. 796 797 *arglist-position* 798When there is an argument list you can see which file you are editing in the 799title of the window (if there is one and 'title' is on) and with the file 800message you get with the "CTRL-G" command. You will see something like 801 (file 4 of 11) 802If 'shortmess' contains 'f' it will be 803 (4 of 11) 804If you are not really editing the file at the current position in the argument 805list it will be 806 (file (4) of 11) 807This means that you are position 4 in the argument list, but not editing the 808fourth file in the argument list. This happens when you do ":e file". 809 810 811LOCAL ARGUMENT LIST 812 813 *:arglocal* 814:argl[ocal] Make a local copy of the global argument list. 815 Doesn't start editing another file. 816 817:argl[ocal][!] [++opt] [+cmd] {arglist} 818 Define a new argument list, which is local to the 819 current window. Works like |:args_f| otherwise. 820 821 *:argglobal* 822:argg[lobal] Use the global argument list for the current window. 823 Doesn't start editing another file. 824 825:argg[lobal][!] [++opt] [+cmd] {arglist} 826 Use the global argument list for the current window. 827 Define a new global argument list like |:args_f|. 828 All windows using the global argument list will see 829 this new list. 830 831There can be several argument lists. They can be shared between windows. 832When they are shared, changing the argument list in one window will also 833change it in the other window. 834 835When a window is split the new window inherits the argument list from the 836current window. The two windows then share this list, until one of them uses 837|:arglocal| or |:argglobal| to use another argument list. 838 839 840USING THE ARGUMENT LIST 841 842 *:argdo* 843:[range]argdo[!] {cmd} Execute {cmd} for each file in the argument list or 844 if [range] is specified only for arguments in that 845 range. It works like doing this: > 846 :rewind 847 :{cmd} 848 :next 849 :{cmd} 850 etc. 851< When the current file can't be |abandon|ed and the [!] 852 is not present, the command fails. 853 When an error is detected on one file, further files 854 in the argument list will not be visited. 855 The last file in the argument list (or where an error 856 occurred) becomes the current file. 857 {cmd} can contain '|' to concatenate several commands. 858 {cmd} must not change the argument list. 859 Note: While this command is executing, the Syntax 860 autocommand event is disabled by adding it to 861 'eventignore'. This considerably speeds up editing 862 each file. 863 Also see |:windo|, |:tabdo|, |:bufdo|, |:cdo|, |:ldo|, 864 |:cfdo| and |:lfdo| 865 866Example: > 867 :args *.c 868 :argdo set ff=unix | update 869This sets the 'fileformat' option to "unix" and writes the file if it is now 870changed. This is done for all *.c files. 871 872Example: > 873 :args *.[ch] 874 :argdo %s/\<my_foo\>/My_Foo/ge | update 875This changes the word "my_foo" to "My_Foo" in all *.c and *.h files. The "e" 876flag is used for the ":substitute" command to avoid an error for files where 877"my_foo" isn't used. ":update" writes the file only if changes were made. 878 879============================================================================== 8804. Writing *writing* *save-file* 881 882Note: When the 'write' option is off, you are not able to write any file. 883 884 *:w* *:write* 885 *E502* *E503* *E504* *E505* 886 *E512* *E514* *E667* *E796* *E949* 887:w[rite] [++opt] Write the whole buffer to the current file. This is 888 the normal way to save changes to a file. It fails 889 when the 'readonly' option is set or when there is 890 another reason why the file can't be written. 891 For ++opt see |++opt|, but only ++bin, ++nobin, ++ff 892 and ++enc are effective. 893 894:w[rite]! [++opt] Like ":write", but forcefully write when 'readonly' is 895 set or there is another reason why writing was 896 refused. 897 Note: This may change the permission and ownership of 898 the file and break (symbolic) links. Add the 'W' flag 899 to 'cpoptions' to avoid this. 900 901:[range]w[rite][!] [++opt] 902 Write the specified lines to the current file. This 903 is unusual, because the file will not contain all 904 lines in the buffer. 905 906 *:w_f* *:write_f* 907:[range]w[rite] [++opt] {file} 908 Write the specified lines to {file}, unless it 909 already exists and the 'writeany' option is off. 910 911 *:w!* 912:[range]w[rite]! [++opt] {file} 913 Write the specified lines to {file}. Overwrite an 914 existing file. 915 916 *:w_a* *:write_a* *E494* 917:[range]w[rite][!] [++opt] >> 918 Append the specified lines to the current file. 919 920:[range]w[rite][!] [++opt] >> {file} 921 Append the specified lines to {file}. '!' forces the 922 write even if file does not exist. 923 924 *:w_c* *:write_c* 925:[range]w[rite] [++opt] !{cmd} 926 Execute {cmd} with [range] lines as standard input 927 (note the space in front of the '!'). {cmd} is 928 executed like with ":!{cmd}", any '!' is replaced with 929 the previous command |:!|. 930 931The default [range] for the ":w" command is the whole buffer (1,$). If you 932write the whole buffer, it is no longer considered changed. When you 933write it to a different file with ":w somefile" it depends on the "+" flag in 934'cpoptions'. When included, the write command will reset the 'modified' flag, 935even though the buffer itself may still be different from its file. 936 937If a file name is given with ":w" it becomes the alternate file. This can be 938used, for example, when the write fails and you want to try again later with 939":w #". This can be switched off by removing the 'A' flag from the 940'cpoptions' option. 941 942Note that the 'fsync' option matters here. If it's set it may make writes 943slower (but safer). 944 945 *:sav* *:saveas* 946:sav[eas][!] [++opt] {file} 947 Save the current buffer under the name {file} and set 948 the filename of the current buffer to {file}. The 949 previous name is used for the alternate file name. 950 The [!] is needed to overwrite an existing file. 951 When 'filetype' is empty filetype detection is done 952 with the new name, before the file is written. 953 When the write was successful 'readonly' is reset. 954 955 *:up* *:update* 956:[range]up[date][!] [++opt] [>>] [file] 957 Like ":write", but only write when the buffer has been 958 modified. 959 960 961WRITING WITH MULTIPLE BUFFERS *buffer-write* 962 963 *:wa* *:wall* 964:wa[ll] Write all changed buffers. Buffers without a file 965 name cause an error message. Buffers which are 966 readonly are not written. 967 968:wa[ll]! Write all changed buffers, even the ones that are 969 readonly. Buffers without a file name are not 970 written and cause an error message. 971 972 973Vim will warn you if you try to overwrite a file that has been changed 974elsewhere. See |timestamp|. 975 976 *backup* *E207* *E506* *E507* *E508* *E509* *E510* 977If you write to an existing file (but do not append) while the 'backup', 978'writebackup' or 'patchmode' option is on, a backup of the original file is 979made. The file is either copied or renamed (see 'backupcopy'). After the 980file has been successfully written and when the 'writebackup' option is on and 981the 'backup' option is off, the backup file is deleted. When the 'patchmode' 982option is on the backup file may be renamed. 983 984 *backup-table* 985'backup' 'writebackup' action ~ 986 off off no backup made 987 off on backup current file, deleted afterwards (default) 988 on off delete old backup, backup current file 989 on on delete old backup, backup current file 990 991When the 'backupskip' pattern matches with the name of the file which is 992written, no backup file is made. The values of 'backup' and 'writebackup' are 993ignored then. 994 995When the 'backup' option is on, an old backup file (with the same name as the 996new backup file) will be deleted. If 'backup' is not set, but 'writebackup' 997is set, an existing backup file will not be deleted. The backup file that is 998made while the file is being written will have a different name. 999 1000On some filesystems it's possible that in a crash you lose both the backup and 1001the newly written file (it might be there but contain bogus data). In that 1002case try recovery, because the swap file is synced to disk and might still be 1003there. |:recover| 1004 1005The directories given with the 'backupdir' option are used to put the backup 1006file in. (default: same directory as the written file). 1007 1008Whether the backup is a new file, which is a copy of the original file, or the 1009original file renamed depends on the 'backupcopy' option. See there for an 1010explanation of when the copy is made and when the file is renamed. 1011 1012If the creation of a backup file fails, the write is not done. If you want 1013to write anyway add a '!' to the command. 1014 1015 *write-permissions* 1016When writing a new file the permissions are read-write. For unix the mask is 10170o666 with additionally umask applied. When writing a file that was read Vim 1018will preserve the permissions, but clear the s-bit. 1019 1020 *write-readonly* 1021When the 'cpoptions' option contains 'W', Vim will refuse to overwrite a 1022readonly file. When 'W' is not present, ":w!" will overwrite a readonly file, 1023if the system allows it (the directory must be writable). 1024 1025 *write-fail* 1026If the writing of the new file fails, you have to be careful not to lose 1027your changes AND the original file. If there is no backup file and writing 1028the new file failed, you have already lost the original file! DON'T EXIT VIM 1029UNTIL YOU WRITE OUT THE FILE! If a backup was made, it is put back in place 1030of the original file (if possible). If you exit Vim, and lose the changes 1031you made, the original file will mostly still be there. If putting back the 1032original file fails, there will be an error message telling you that you 1033lost the original file. 1034 1035 *DOS-format-write* 1036If the 'fileformat' is "dos", <CR><NL> is used for <EOL>. This is default 1037for Win32. On other systems the message "[dos format]" is shown to remind you 1038that an unusual <EOL> was used. 1039 *Unix-format-write* 1040If the 'fileformat' is "unix", <NL> is used for <EOL>. On Win32 the message 1041"[unix format]" is shown. 1042 *Mac-format-write* 1043If the 'fileformat' is "mac", <CR> is used for <EOL>. On non-Mac systems the 1044message "[mac format]" is shown. 1045 1046See also |file-formats| and the 'fileformat' and 'fileformats' options. 1047 1048 *ACL* 1049ACL stands for Access Control List. It is an advanced way to control access 1050rights for a file. It is used on new MS-Windows and Unix systems, but only 1051when the filesystem supports it. 1052 Vim attempts to preserve the ACL info when writing a file. The backup file 1053will get the ACL info of the original file. 1054 The ACL info is also used to check if a file is read-only (when opening the 1055file). 1056 1057 *read-only-share* 1058When MS-Windows shares a drive on the network it can be marked as read-only. 1059This means that even if the file read-only attribute is absent, and the ACL 1060settings on NT network shared drives allow writing to the file, you can still 1061not write to the file. Vim on Win32 platforms will detect read-only network 1062drives and will mark the file as read-only. You will not be able to override 1063it with |:write|. 1064 1065 *write-device* 1066When the file name is actually a device name, Vim will not make a backup (that 1067would be impossible). You need to use "!", since the device already exists. 1068Example for Unix: > 1069 :w! /dev/lpt0 1070and for MS-Windows: > 1071 :w! lpt0 1072For Unix a device is detected when the name doesn't refer to a normal file or 1073a directory. A fifo or named pipe also looks like a device to Vim. 1074For MS-Windows the device is detected by its name: 1075 AUX 1076 CON 1077 CLOCK$ 1078 NUL 1079 PRN 1080 COMn n=1,2,3... etc 1081 LPTn n=1,2,3... etc 1082The names can be in upper- or lowercase. 1083 1084============================================================================== 10855. Writing and quitting *write-quit* 1086 1087 *:q* *:quit* 1088:q[uit] Quit the current window. Quit Vim if this is the last 1089 |edit-window|. This fails when changes have been made 1090 and Vim refuses to |abandon| the current buffer, and 1091 when the last file in the argument list has not been 1092 edited. 1093 If there are other tab pages and quitting the last 1094 window in the current tab page the current tab page is 1095 closed |tab-page|. 1096 Triggers the |QuitPre| autocommand event. 1097 See |CTRL-W_q| for quitting another window. 1098 1099:conf[irm] q[uit] Quit, but give prompt when changes have been made, or 1100 the last file in the argument list has not been 1101 edited. See |:confirm| and 'confirm'. 1102 1103:q[uit]! Quit without writing, also when the current buffer has 1104 changes. The buffer is unloaded, also when it has 1105 'hidden' set. 1106 If this is the last window and there is a modified 1107 hidden buffer, the current buffer is abandoned and the 1108 first changed hidden buffer becomes the current 1109 buffer. 1110 Use ":qall!" to exit always. 1111 1112:cq[uit] Quit always, without writing, and return an error 1113 code. See |:cq|. Used for Manx's QuickFix mode (see 1114 |quickfix|). 1115 1116 *:wq* 1117:wq [++opt] Write the current file and close the window. If this 1118 was the last |edit-window| Vim quits. 1119 Writing fails when the file is read-only or the buffer 1120 does not have a name. Quitting fails when the last 1121 file in the argument list has not been edited. 1122 1123:wq! [++opt] Write the current file and close the window. If this 1124 was the last |edit-window| Vim quits. Writing fails 1125 when the current buffer does not have a name. 1126 1127:wq [++opt] {file} Write to {file} and close the window. If this was the 1128 last |edit-window| Vim quits. Quitting fails when the 1129 last file in the argument list has not been edited. 1130 1131:wq! [++opt] {file} Write to {file} and close the current window. Quit 1132 Vim if this was the last |edit-window|. 1133 1134:[range]wq[!] [++opt] [file] 1135 Same as above, but only write the lines in [range]. 1136 1137 *:x* *:xit* 1138:[range]x[it][!] [++opt] [file] 1139 Like ":wq", but write only when changes have been 1140 made. 1141 When 'hidden' is set and there are more windows, the 1142 current buffer becomes hidden, after writing the file. 1143 1144 *:exi* *:exit* 1145:[range]exi[t][!] [++opt] [file] 1146 Same as :xit. 1147 1148 *ZZ* 1149ZZ Write current file, if modified, and close the current 1150 window (same as ":x"). 1151 If there are several windows for the current file, 1152 only the current window is closed. 1153 1154 *ZQ* 1155ZQ Quit without checking for changes (same as ":q!"). 1156 1157 1158MULTIPLE WINDOWS AND BUFFERS *window-exit* 1159 1160 *:qa* *:qall* 1161:qa[ll] Exit Vim, unless there are some buffers which have been 1162 changed. (Use ":bmod" to go to the next modified buffer). 1163 When 'autowriteall' is set all changed buffers will be 1164 written, like |:wqall|. 1165 1166:conf[irm] qa[ll] 1167 Exit Vim. Bring up a prompt when some buffers have been 1168 changed. See |:confirm|. 1169 1170:qa[ll]! Exit Vim. Any changes to buffers are lost. 1171 Also see |:cquit|, it does the same but exits with a non-zero 1172 value. 1173 1174 *:quita* *:quitall* 1175:quita[ll][!] Same as ":qall". 1176 1177:wqa[ll] [++opt] *:wqa* *:wqall* *:xa* *:xall* 1178:xa[ll] Write all changed buffers and exit Vim. If there are buffers 1179 without a file name, which are readonly or which cannot be 1180 written for another reason, Vim will not quit. 1181 1182:conf[irm] wqa[ll] [++opt] 1183:conf[irm] xa[ll] 1184 Write all changed buffers and exit Vim. Bring up a prompt 1185 when some buffers are readonly or cannot be written for 1186 another reason. See |:confirm|. 1187 1188:wqa[ll]! [++opt] 1189:xa[ll]! Write all changed buffers, even the ones that are readonly, 1190 and exit Vim. If there are buffers without a file name or 1191 which cannot be written for another reason, or there is a 1192 terminal with a running job, Vim will not quit. 1193 1194============================================================================== 11956. Dialogs *edit-dialogs* 1196 1197 *:confirm* *:conf* 1198:conf[irm] {command} Execute {command}, and use a dialog when an 1199 operation has to be confirmed. Can be used on the 1200 |:q|, |:qa| and |:w| commands (the latter to override 1201 a read-only setting), and any other command that can 1202 fail in such a way, such as |:only|, |:buffer|, 1203 |:bdelete|, etc. 1204 1205Examples: > 1206 :confirm w foo 1207< Will ask for confirmation when "foo" already exists. > 1208 :confirm q 1209< Will ask for confirmation when there are changes. > 1210 :confirm qa 1211< If any modified, unsaved buffers exist, you will be prompted to save 1212 or abandon each one. There are also choices to "save all" or "abandon 1213 all". 1214 1215If you want to always use ":confirm", set the 'confirm' option. 1216 1217 *:browse* *:bro* *E338* *E614* *E615* *E616* 1218:bro[wse] {command} Open a file selection dialog for an argument to 1219 {command}. At present this works for |:e|, |:w|, 1220 |:wall|, |:wq|, |:wqall|, |:x|, |:xall|, |:exit|, 1221 |:view|, |:sview|, |:r|, |:saveas|, |:sp|, |:mkexrc|, 1222 |:mkvimrc|, |:mksession|, |:mkview|, |:split|, 1223 |:vsplit|, |:tabe|, |:tabnew|, |:cfile|, |:cgetfile|, 1224 |:caddfile|, |:lfile|, |:lgetfile|, |:laddfile|, 1225 |:diffsplit|, |:diffpatch|, |:open|, |:pedit|, 1226 |:redir|, |:source|, |:update|, |:visual|, |:vsplit|, 1227 and |:qall| if 'confirm' is set. 1228 {only in Win32, Athena, Motif, GTK and Mac GUI} 1229 When ":browse" is not possible you get an error 1230 message. If the |+browse| feature is missing or the 1231 {command} doesn't support browsing, the {command} is 1232 executed without a dialog. 1233 ":browse set" works like |:options|. 1234 See also |:oldfiles| for ":browse oldfiles". 1235 1236The syntax is best shown via some examples: > 1237 :browse e $vim/foo 1238< Open the browser in the $vim/foo directory, and edit the 1239 file chosen. > 1240 :browse e 1241< Open the browser in the directory specified with 'browsedir', 1242 and edit the file chosen. > 1243 :browse w 1244< Open the browser in the directory of the current buffer, 1245 with the current buffer filename as default, and save the 1246 buffer under the filename chosen. > 1247 :browse w C:/bar 1248< Open the browser in the C:/bar directory, with the current 1249 buffer filename as default, and save the buffer under the 1250 filename chosen. 1251Also see the 'browsedir' option. 1252For versions of Vim where browsing is not supported, the command is executed 1253unmodified. 1254 1255 *browsefilter* 1256For MS-Windows and GTK, you can modify the filters that are used in the browse 1257dialog. By setting the g:browsefilter or b:browsefilter variables, you can 1258change the filters globally or locally to the buffer. The variable is set to 1259a string in the format "{filter label}\t{pattern};{pattern}\n" where {filter 1260label} is the text that appears in the "Files of Type" comboBox, and {pattern} 1261is the pattern which filters the filenames. Several patterns can be given, 1262separated by ';'. 1263 1264For Motif the same format is used, but only the very first pattern is actually 1265used (Motif only offers one pattern, but you can edit it). 1266 1267For example, to have only Vim files in the dialog, you could use the following 1268command: > 1269 1270 let g:browsefilter = "Vim Scripts\t*.vim\nVim Startup Files\t*vimrc\n" 1271 1272You can override the filter setting on a per-buffer basis by setting the 1273b:browsefilter variable. You would most likely set b:browsefilter in a 1274filetype plugin, so that the browse dialog would contain entries related to 1275the type of file you are currently editing. Disadvantage: This makes it 1276difficult to start editing a file of a different type. To overcome this, you 1277may want to add "All Files\t*.*\n" as the final filter, so that the user can 1278still access any desired file. 1279 1280To avoid setting browsefilter when Vim does not actually support it, you can 1281use has("browsefilter"): > 1282 1283 if has("browsefilter") 1284 let g:browsefilter = "whatever" 1285 endif 1286 1287============================================================================== 12887. The current directory *current-directory* 1289 1290You can use the |:cd|, |:tcd| and |:lcd| commands to change to another 1291directory, so you will not have to type that directory name in front of the 1292file names. It also makes a difference for executing external commands, e.g. 1293":!ls". 1294 1295Changing directory fails when the current buffer is modified, the '.' flag is 1296present in 'cpoptions' and "!" is not used in the command. 1297 1298 *:cd* *E747* *E472* 1299:cd[!] On non-Unix systems: Print the current directory 1300 name. On Unix systems: Change the current directory 1301 to the home directory. Use |:pwd| to print the 1302 current directory on all systems. 1303 On Unix systems: clear any window-local directory. 1304 1305:cd[!] {path} Change the current directory to {path}. 1306 If {path} is relative, it is searched for in the 1307 directories listed in |'cdpath'|. 1308 Clear any window-local directory. 1309 Does not change the meaning of an already opened file, 1310 because its full path name is remembered. Files from 1311 the |arglist| may change though! 1312 On MS-Windows this also changes the active drive. 1313 To change to the directory of the current file: > 1314 :cd %:h 1315< 1316 *:cd-* *E186* 1317:cd[!] - Change to the previous current directory (before the 1318 previous ":cd {path}" command). 1319 1320 *:chd* *:chdir* 1321:chd[ir][!] [path] Same as |:cd|. 1322 1323 *:tc* *:tcd* 1324:tc[d][!] {path} Like |:cd|, but only set the directory for the current 1325 tab. The current window will also use this directory. 1326 The current directory is not changed for windows in 1327 other tabs and for windows in the current tab that 1328 have their own window-local directory. 1329 1330 *:tch* *:tchdir* 1331:tch[dir][!] Same as |:tcd|. 1332 1333 *:tcd-* 1334:tc[d][!] - Change to the previous current directory, before the 1335 last ":tcd {path}" command. 1336 1337 *:lc* *:lcd* 1338:lc[d][!] {path} Like |:cd|, but only set the current directory when 1339 the cursor is in the current window. The current 1340 directory for other windows is not changed, switching 1341 to another window will stop using {path}. 1342 1343 *:lch* *:lchdir* 1344:lch[dir][!] Same as |:lcd|. 1345 1346 *:lcd-* 1347:lcd[!] - Change to the previous current directory, before the 1348 last ":lcd {path}" command. 1349 1350 *:pw* *:pwd* *E187* 1351:pw[d] Print the current directory name. 1352 Also see |getcwd()|. 1353 *:pwd-verbose* 1354 When 'verbose' is non-zero, |:pwd| will also display 1355 what scope the current directory was set. Example: > 1356 1357 " Set by :cd 1358 :verbose pwd 1359 [global] /path/to/current 1360 1361 " Set by :lcd 1362 :verbose pwd 1363 [window] /path/to/current 1364 1365 " Set by :tcd 1366 :verbose pwd 1367 [tabpage] /path/to/current 1368 1369So long as no |:lcd| or |:tcd| command has been used, all windows share the 1370same current directory. Using a command to jump to another window doesn't 1371change anything for the current directory. 1372 1373When a |:lcd| command has been used for a window, the specified directory 1374becomes the current directory for that window. Windows where the |:lcd| 1375command has not been used stick to the global or tab-local current directory. 1376When jumping to another window the current directory will become the last 1377specified local current directory. If none was specified, the global or 1378tab-local current directory is used. 1379 1380When a |:tcd| command has been used for a tab page, the specified directory 1381becomes the current directory for the current tab page and the current window. 1382The current directory of other tab pages is not affected. When jumping to 1383another tab page, the current directory will become the last specified local 1384directory for that tab page. If the current tab has no local current directory 1385the global current directory is used. 1386 1387When a |:cd| command is used, the current window and tab page will lose the 1388local current directory and will use the global current directory from now on. 1389 1390After using |:cd| the full path name will be used for reading and writing 1391files. On some networked file systems this may cause problems. The result of 1392using the full path name is that the file names currently in use will remain 1393referring to the same file. Example: If you have a file a:test and a 1394directory a:vim the commands ":e test" ":cd vim" ":w" will overwrite the file 1395a:test and not write a:vim/test. But if you do ":w test" the file a:vim/test 1396will be written, because you gave a new file name and did not refer to a 1397filename before the ":cd". 1398 1399============================================================================== 14008. Editing binary files *edit-binary* 1401 1402Although Vim was made to edit text files, it is possible to edit binary 1403files. The |-b| Vim argument (b for binary) makes Vim do file I/O in binary 1404mode, and sets some options for editing binary files ('binary' on, 'textwidth' 1405to 0, 'modeline' off, 'expandtab' off). Setting the 'binary' option has the 1406same effect. Don't forget to do this before reading the file. 1407 1408There are a few things to remember when editing binary files: 1409- When editing executable files the number of bytes must not change. 1410 Use only the "R" or "r" command to change text. Do not delete characters 1411 with "x" or by backspacing. 1412- Set the 'textwidth' option to 0. Otherwise lines will unexpectedly be 1413 split in two. 1414- When there are not many <EOL>s, the lines will become very long. If you 1415 want to edit a line that does not fit on the screen reset the 'wrap' option. 1416 Horizontal scrolling is used then. If a line becomes too long (more than 1417 about 32767 bytes on the Amiga, much more on 32-bit and 64-bit systems, see 1418 |limits|) you cannot edit that line. The line will be split when reading 1419 the file. It is also possible that you get an "out of memory" error when 1420 reading the file. 1421- Make sure the 'binary' option is set BEFORE loading the 1422 file. Otherwise both <CR><NL> and <NL> are considered to end a line 1423 and when the file is written the <NL> will be replaced with <CR><NL>. 1424- <Nul> characters are shown on the screen as ^@. You can enter them with 1425 "CTRL-V CTRL-@" or "CTRL-V 000" 1426- To insert a <NL> character in the file split a line. When writing the 1427 buffer to a file a <NL> will be written for the <EOL>. 1428- Vim normally appends an <EOL> at the end of the file if there is none. 1429 Setting the 'binary' option prevents this. If you want to add the final 1430 <EOL>, set the 'endofline' option. You can also read the value of this 1431 option to see if there was an <EOL> for the last line (you cannot see this 1432 in the text). 1433 1434============================================================================== 14359. Encryption *encryption* 1436 1437Vim is able to write files encrypted, and read them back. The encrypted text 1438cannot be read without the right key. 1439{only available when compiled with the |+cryptv| feature} *E833* 1440 1441The text in the swap file and the undo file is also encrypted. *E843* 1442However, this is done block-by-block and may reduce the time needed to crack a 1443password. You can disable the swap file, but then a crash will cause you to 1444lose your work. The undo file can be disabled without too much disadvantage. > 1445 :set noundofile 1446 :noswapfile edit secrets 1447 1448Note: The text in memory is not encrypted. A system administrator may be able 1449to see your text while you are editing it. When filtering text with 1450":!filter" or using ":w !command" the text is also not encrypted, this may 1451reveal it to others. The 'viminfo' file is not encrypted. 1452 1453You could do this to edit very secret text: > 1454 :set noundofile viminfo= 1455 :noswapfile edit secrets.txt 1456Keep in mind that without a swap file you risk losing your work in the event 1457of a crash or a power failure. 1458 1459WARNING: If you make a typo when entering the key and then write the file and 1460exit, the text will be lost! 1461 1462The normal way to work with encryption, is to use the ":X" command, which will 1463ask you to enter a key. A following write command will use that key to 1464encrypt the file. If you later edit the same file, Vim will ask you to enter 1465a key. If you type the same key as that was used for writing, the text will 1466be readable again. If you use a wrong key, it will be a mess. 1467 1468 *:X* 1469:X Prompt for an encryption key. The typing is done without showing the 1470 actual text, so that someone looking at the display won't see it. 1471 The typed key is stored in the 'key' option, which is used to encrypt 1472 the file when it is written. The file will remain unchanged until you 1473 write it. See also |-x|. 1474 1475The value of the 'key' options is used when text is written. When the option 1476is not empty, the written file will be encrypted, using the value as the 1477encryption key. A magic number is prepended, so that Vim can recognize that 1478the file is encrypted. 1479 1480To disable the encryption, reset the 'key' option to an empty value: > 1481 :set key= 1482 1483You can use the 'cryptmethod' option to select the type of encryption, use one 1484of these: > 1485 :setlocal cm=zip " weak method, backwards compatible 1486 :setlocal cm=blowfish " method with flaws 1487 :setlocal cm=blowfish2 " medium strong method 1488 1489Do this before writing the file. When reading an encrypted file it will be 1490set automatically to the method used when that file was written. You can 1491change 'cryptmethod' before writing that file to change the method. 1492 1493To set the default method, used for new files, use this in your |vimrc| 1494file: > 1495 set cm=blowfish2 1496Using "blowfish2" is highly recommended. Only use another method if you 1497must use an older Vim version that does not support it. 1498 1499The message given for reading and writing a file will show "[crypted]" when 1500using zip, "[blowfish]" when using blowfish, etc. 1501 1502When writing an undo file, the same key and method will be used for the text 1503in the undo file. |persistent-undo|. 1504 1505To test for blowfish support you can use these conditions: > 1506 has('crypt-blowfish') 1507 has('crypt-blowfish2') 1508This works since Vim 7.4.1099 while blowfish support was added earlier. 1509Thus the condition failing doesn't mean blowfish is not supported. You can 1510test for blowfish with: > 1511 v:version >= 703 1512And for blowfish2 with: > 1513 v:version > 704 || (v:version == 704 && has('patch401')) 1514If you are sure Vim includes patch 7.4.237 a simpler check is: > 1515 has('patch-7.4.401') 1516< 1517 *E817* *E818* *E819* *E820* 1518When encryption does not work properly, you would be able to write your text 1519to a file and never be able to read it back. Therefore a test is performed to 1520check if the encryption works as expected. If you get one of these errors 1521don't write the file encrypted! You need to rebuild the Vim binary to fix 1522this. 1523 1524*E831* This is an internal error, "cannot happen". If you can reproduce it, 1525please report to the developers. 1526 1527When reading a file that has been encrypted and the 'key' option is not empty, 1528it will be used for decryption. If the value is empty, you will be prompted 1529to enter the key. If you don't enter a key, or you enter the wrong key, the 1530file is edited without being decrypted. There is no warning about using the 1531wrong key (this makes brute force methods to find the key more difficult). 1532 1533If want to start reading a file that uses a different key, set the 'key' 1534option to an empty string, so that Vim will prompt for a new one. Don't use 1535the ":set" command to enter the value, other people can read the command over 1536your shoulder. 1537 1538Since the value of the 'key' option is supposed to be a secret, its value can 1539never be viewed. You should not set this option in a vimrc file. 1540 1541An encrypted file can be recognized by the "file" command, if you add these 1542lines to "/etc/magic", "/usr/share/misc/magic" or wherever your system has the 1543"magic" file: > 1544 0 string VimCrypt~ Vim encrypted file 1545 >9 string 01 - "zip" cryptmethod 1546 >9 string 02 - "blowfish" cryptmethod 1547 >9 string 03 - "blowfish2" cryptmethod 1548 1549Notes: 1550- Encryption is not possible when doing conversion with 'charconvert'. 1551- Text you copy or delete goes to the numbered registers. The registers can 1552 be saved in the .viminfo file, where they could be read. Change your 1553 'viminfo' option to be safe. 1554- Someone can type commands in Vim when you walk away for a moment, he should 1555 not be able to get the key. 1556- If you make a typing mistake when entering the key, you might not be able to 1557 get your text back! 1558- If you type the key with a ":set key=value" command, it can be kept in the 1559 history, showing the 'key' value in a viminfo file. 1560- There is never 100% safety. The encryption in Vim has not been tested for 1561 robustness. 1562- The algorithm used for 'cryptmethod' "zip" is breakable. A 4 character key 1563 in about one hour, a 6 character key in one day (on a Pentium 133 PC). This 1564 requires that you know some text that must appear in the file. An expert 1565 can break it for any key. When the text has been decrypted, this also means 1566 that the key can be revealed, and other files encrypted with the same key 1567 can be decrypted. 1568- Pkzip uses the same encryption as 'cryptmethod' "zip", and US Govt has no 1569 objection to its export. Pkzip's public file APPNOTE.TXT describes this 1570 algorithm in detail. 1571- The implementation of 'cryptmethod' "blowfish" has a flaw. It is possible 1572 to crack the first 64 bytes of a file and in some circumstances more of the 1573 file. Use of it is not recommended, but it's still the strongest method 1574 supported by Vim 7.3 and 7.4. The "zip" method is even weaker. 1575- Vim originates from the Netherlands. That is where the sources come from. 1576 Thus the encryption code is not exported from the USA. 1577 1578============================================================================== 157910. Timestamps *timestamp* *timestamps* 1580 1581Vim remembers the modification timestamp, mode and size of a file when you 1582begin editing it. This is used to avoid that you have two different versions 1583of the same file (without you knowing this). 1584 1585After a shell command is run (|:!cmd| |suspend| |:read!| |K|) timestamps, 1586file modes and file sizes are compared for all buffers in a window. Vim will 1587run any associated |FileChangedShell| autocommands or display a warning for 1588any files that have changed. In the GUI this happens when Vim regains input 1589focus. 1590 1591 *E321* *E462* 1592If you want to automatically reload a file when it has been changed outside of 1593Vim, set the 'autoread' option. This doesn't work at the moment you write the 1594file though, only when the file wasn't changed inside of Vim. 1595 *ignore-timestamp* 1596If you do not want to be asked or automatically reload the file, you can use 1597this: > 1598 set buftype=nofile 1599 1600Or, when starting gvim from a shell: > 1601 gvim file.log -c "set buftype=nofile" 1602 1603Note that if a FileChangedShell autocommand is defined you will not get a 1604warning message or prompt. The autocommand is expected to handle this. 1605 1606There is no warning for a directory (e.g., with |netrw-browse|). But you do 1607get warned if you started editing a new file and it was created as a directory 1608later. 1609 1610When Vim notices the timestamp of a file has changed, and the file is being 1611edited in a buffer but has not changed, Vim checks if the contents of the file 1612is equal. This is done by reading the file again (into a hidden buffer, which 1613is immediately deleted again) and comparing the text. If the text is equal, 1614you will get no warning. 1615 1616If you don't get warned often enough you can use the following command. 1617 1618 *:checkt* *:checktime* 1619:checkt[ime] Check if any buffers were changed outside of Vim. 1620 This checks and warns you if you would end up with two 1621 versions of a file. 1622 If this is called from an autocommand, a ":global" 1623 command or is not typed the actual check is postponed 1624 until a moment the side effects (reloading the file) 1625 would be harmless. 1626 Each loaded buffer is checked for its associated file 1627 being changed. If the file was changed Vim will take 1628 action. If there are no changes in the buffer and 1629 'autoread' is set, the buffer is reloaded. Otherwise, 1630 you are offered the choice of reloading the file. If 1631 the file was deleted you get an error message. 1632 If the file previously didn't exist you get a warning 1633 if it exists now. 1634 Once a file has been checked the timestamp is reset, 1635 you will not be warned again. 1636 1637:[N]checkt[ime] {filename} 1638:[N]checkt[ime] [N] 1639 Check the timestamp of a specific buffer. The buffer 1640 may be specified by name, number or with a pattern. 1641 1642 1643 *E813* *E814* 1644Vim will reload the buffer if you chose to. If a window is visible that 1645contains this buffer, the reloading will happen in the context of this window. 1646Otherwise a special window is used, so that most autocommands will work. You 1647can't close this window. A few other restrictions apply. Best is to make 1648sure nothing happens outside of the current buffer. E.g., setting 1649window-local options may end up in the wrong window. Splitting the window, 1650doing something there and closing it should be OK (if there are no side 1651effects from other autocommands). Closing unrelated windows and buffers will 1652get you into trouble. 1653 1654Before writing a file the timestamp is checked. If it has changed, Vim will 1655ask if you really want to overwrite the file: 1656 1657 WARNING: The file has been changed since reading it!!! 1658 Do you really want to write to it (y/n)? 1659 1660If you hit 'y' Vim will continue writing the file. If you hit 'n' the write is 1661aborted. If you used ":wq" or "ZZ" Vim will not exit, you will get another 1662chance to write the file. 1663 1664The message would normally mean that somebody has written to the file after 1665the edit session started. This could be another person, in which case you 1666probably want to check if your changes to the file and the changes from the 1667other person should be merged. Write the file under another name and check for 1668differences (the "diff" program can be used for this). 1669 1670It is also possible that you modified the file yourself, from another edit 1671session or with another command (e.g., a filter command). Then you will know 1672which version of the file you want to keep. 1673 1674There is one situation where you get the message while there is nothing wrong: 1675On a Win32 system on the day daylight saving time starts. There is something 1676in the Win32 libraries that confuses Vim about the hour time difference. The 1677problem goes away the next day. 1678 1679============================================================================== 168011. File Searching *file-searching* 1681 1682{not available when compiled without the |+path_extra| feature} 1683 1684The file searching is currently used for the 'path', 'cdpath' and 'tags' 1685options, for |finddir()| and |findfile()|. Other commands use |wildcards| 1686which is slightly different. 1687 1688There are three different types of searching: 1689 16901) Downward search: *starstar* 1691 Downward search uses the wildcards '*', '**' and possibly others 1692 supported by your operating system. '*' and '**' are handled inside Vim, 1693 so they work on all operating systems. Note that "**" only acts as a 1694 special wildcard when it is at the start of a name. 1695 1696 The usage of '*' is quite simple: It matches 0 or more characters. In a 1697 search pattern this would be ".*". Note that the "." is not used for file 1698 searching. 1699 1700 '**' is more sophisticated: 1701 - It ONLY matches directories. 1702 - It matches up to 30 directories deep by default, so you can use it to 1703 search an entire directory tree 1704 - The maximum number of levels matched can be given by appending a number 1705 to '**'. 1706 Thus '/usr/**2' can match: > 1707 /usr 1708 /usr/include 1709 /usr/include/sys 1710 /usr/include/g++ 1711 /usr/lib 1712 /usr/lib/X11 1713 .... 1714< It does NOT match '/usr/include/g++/std' as this would be three 1715 levels. 1716 The allowed number range is 0 ('**0' is removed) to 100 1717 If the given number is smaller than 0 it defaults to 30, if it's 1718 bigger than 100 then 100 is used. The system also has a limit on the 1719 path length, usually 256 or 1024 bytes. 1720 - '**' can only be at the end of the path or be followed by a path 1721 separator or by a number and a path separator. 1722 1723 You can combine '*' and '**' in any order: > 1724 /usr/**/sys/* 1725 /usr/*tory/sys/** 1726 /usr/**2/sys/* 1727 17282) Upward search: 1729 Here you can give a directory and then search the directory tree upward for 1730 a file. You could give stop-directories to limit the upward search. The 1731 stop-directories are appended to the path (for the 'path' option) or to 1732 the filename (for the 'tags' option) with a ';'. If you want several 1733 stop-directories separate them with ';'. If you want no stop-directory 1734 ("search upward till the root directory) just use ';'. > 1735 /usr/include/sys;/usr 1736< will search in: > 1737 /usr/include/sys 1738 /usr/include 1739 /usr 1740< 1741 If you use a relative path the upward search is started in Vim's current 1742 directory or in the directory of the current file (if the relative path 1743 starts with './' and 'd' is not included in 'cpoptions'). 1744 1745 If Vim's current path is /u/user_x/work/release and you do > 1746 :set path=include;/u/user_x 1747< and then search for a file with |gf| the file is searched in: > 1748 /u/user_x/work/release/include 1749 /u/user_x/work/include 1750 /u/user_x/include 1751 1752< Note: If your 'path' setting includes an non-existing directory, Vim will 1753 skip the non-existing directory, but continues searching in the parent of 1754 the non-existing directory if upwards searching is used. E.g. when 1755 searching "../include" and that doesn't exist, and upward searching is 1756 used, also searches in "..". 1757 17583) Combined up/downward search: 1759 If Vim's current path is /u/user_x/work/release and you do > 1760 set path=**;/u/user_x 1761< and then search for a file with |gf| the file is searched in: > 1762 /u/user_x/work/release/** 1763 /u/user_x/work/** 1764 /u/user_x/** 1765< 1766 BE CAREFUL! This might consume a lot of time, as the search of 1767 '/u/user_x/**' includes '/u/user_x/work/**' and 1768 '/u/user_x/work/release/**'. So '/u/user_x/work/release/**' is searched 1769 three times and '/u/user_x/work/**' is searched twice. 1770 1771 In the above example you might want to set path to: > 1772 :set path=**,/u/user_x/** 1773< This searches: 1774 /u/user_x/work/release/** ~ 1775 /u/user_x/** ~ 1776 This searches the same directories, but in a different order. 1777 1778 Note that completion for ":find", ":sfind", and ":tabfind" commands do not 1779 currently work with 'path' items that contain a URL or use the double star 1780 with depth limiter (/usr/**2) or upward search (;) notations. 1781 1782 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: 1783