xref: /vim-8.2.3635/runtime/doc/gui.txt (revision 94688b8a)
1*gui.txt*       For Vim version 8.1.  Last change: 2019 Jan 06
2
3
4		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Bram Moolenaar
5
6
7Vim's Graphical User Interface				*gui* *GUI*
8
91. Starting the GUI		|gui-start|
102. Scrollbars			|gui-scrollbars|
113. Mouse Control		|gui-mouse|
124. Making GUI Selections	|gui-selections|
135. Menus			|menus|
146. Extras			|gui-extras|
157. Shell Commands		|gui-shell|
16
17Other GUI documentation:
18|gui_x11.txt|	For specific items of the X11 GUI.
19|gui_w32.txt|	For specific items of the Win32 GUI.
20
21{Vi does not have any of these commands}
22
23==============================================================================
241. Starting the GUI				*gui-start* *E229* *E233*
25
26First you must make sure you actually have a version of Vim with the GUI code
27included.  You can check this with the ":version" command, it says "with xxx
28GUI", where "xxx" is X11-Motif, X11-Athena, Photon, GTK2, GTK3, etc., or
29"MS-Windows 32 bit GUI version".
30
31How to start the GUI depends on the system used.  Mostly you can run the
32GUI version of Vim with:
33    gvim [options] [files...]
34
35The X11 version of Vim can run both in GUI and in non-GUI mode.  See
36|gui-x11-start|.
37
38			*gui-init* *gvimrc* *.gvimrc* *_gvimrc* *$MYGVIMRC*
39The gvimrc file is where GUI-specific startup commands should be placed.  It
40is always sourced after the |vimrc| file.  If you have one then the $MYGVIMRC
41environment variable has its name.
42
43When the GUI starts up initializations are carried out, in this order:
44- The 'term' option is set to "builtin_gui" and terminal options are reset to
45  their default value for the GUI |terminal-options|.
46- If the system menu file exists, it is sourced.  The name of this file is
47  normally "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim".  You can check this with ":version".  Also
48  see |$VIMRUNTIME|.  To skip loading the system menu include 'M' in
49  'guioptions'.				*buffers-menu* *no_buffers_menu*
50  The system menu file includes a "Buffers" menu.  If you don't want this, set
51  the "no_buffers_menu" variable in your .vimrc (not .gvimrc!): >
52	:let no_buffers_menu = 1
53< NOTE: Switching on syntax highlighting also loads the menu file, thus
54  disabling the Buffers menu must be done before ":syntax on".
55  The path names are truncated to 35 characters.  You can truncate them at a
56  different length, for example 50, like this: >
57	:let bmenu_max_pathlen = 50
58- If the "-U {gvimrc}" command-line option has been used when starting Vim,
59  the {gvimrc} file will be read for initializations.  The following
60  initializations are skipped.  When {gvimrc} is "NONE" no file will be read
61  for initializations.
62- For Unix and MS-Windows, if the system gvimrc exists, it is sourced.  The
63  name of this file is normally "$VIM/gvimrc".  You can check this with
64  ":version".  Also see |$VIM|.
65- The following are tried, and only the first one that exists is used:
66  - If the GVIMINIT environment variable exists and is not empty, it is
67    executed as an Ex command.
68  - If the user gvimrc file exists, it is sourced.  The name of this file is
69    normally "$HOME/.gvimrc".  You can check this with ":version".
70  - For Win32, $HOME is set by Vim if needed, see |$HOME-windows|.
71  - When a "_gvimrc" file is not found, ".gvimrc" is tried too.  And vice
72    versa.
73  The name of the first file found is stored in $MYGVIMRC, unless it was
74  already set.
75- If the 'exrc' option is set (which is NOT the default) the file ./.gvimrc
76  is sourced, if it exists and isn't the same file as the system or user
77  gvimrc file.  If this file is not owned by you, some security restrictions
78  apply.  When ".gvimrc" is not found, "_gvimrc" is tried too.  For Macintosh
79  and DOS/Win32 "_gvimrc" is tried first.
80
81NOTE: All but the first one are not carried out if Vim was started with
82"-u NONE" or "-u DEFAULTS" and no "-U" argument was given, or when started
83with "-U NONE".
84
85All this happens AFTER the normal Vim initializations, like reading your
86.vimrc file.  See |initialization|.
87But the GUI window is only opened after all the initializations have been
88carried out.  If you want some commands to be executed just after opening the
89GUI window, use the |GUIEnter| autocommand event.  Example: >
90	:autocmd GUIEnter * winpos 100 50
91
92You can use the gvimrc files to set up your own customized menus (see |:menu|)
93and initialize other things that you may want to set up differently from the
94terminal version.
95
96Recommended place for your personal GUI initializations:
97	Unix		    $HOME/.gvimrc or $HOME/.vim/gvimrc
98	OS/2		    $HOME/.gvimrc, $HOME/vimfiles/gvimrc
99			    or $VIM/.gvimrc
100	MS-DOS and Win32    $HOME/_gvimrc, $HOME/vimfiles/gvimrc
101			    or $VIM/_gvimrc
102	Amiga		    s:.gvimrc, home:.gvimrc, home:vimfiles:gvimrc
103			    or $VIM/.gvimrc
104
105The personal initialization files are searched in the order specified above
106and only the first one that is found is read.
107
108There are a number of options which only have meaning in the GUI version of
109Vim.  These are 'guicursor', 'guifont', 'guipty' and 'guioptions'.  They are
110documented in |options.txt| with all the other options.
111
112If using the Motif or Athena version of the GUI (but not for the GTK+ or
113Win32 version), a number of X resources are available.  See |gui-resources|.
114
115Another way to set the colors for different occasions is with highlight
116groups.  The "Normal" group is used to set the background and foreground
117colors.  Example (which looks nice): >
118
119	:highlight Normal guibg=grey90
120
121The "guibg" and "guifg" settings override the normal background and
122foreground settings.  The other settings for the Normal highlight group are
123not used.  Use the 'guifont' option to set the font.
124
125Also check out the 'guicursor' option, to set the colors for the cursor in
126various modes.
127
128Vim tries to make the window fit on the screen when it starts up.  This avoids
129that you can't see part of it.  On the X Window System this requires a bit of
130guesswork.  You can change the height that is used for the window title and a
131task bar with the 'guiheadroom' option.
132
133						*:winp* *:winpos* *E188*
134:winp[os]
135		Display current position of the top left corner of the GUI vim
136		window in pixels.  Does not work in all versions.
137		Also see |getwinpos()|, |getwinposx()| and |getwinposy()|.
138
139:winp[os] {X} {Y}							*E466*
140		Put the GUI vim window at the given {X} and {Y} coordinates.
141		The coordinates should specify the position in pixels of the
142		top left corner of the window.  Does not work in all versions.
143		Does work in an (new) xterm |xterm-color|.
144		When the GUI window has not been opened yet, the values are
145		remembered until the window is opened.  The position is
146		adjusted to make the window fit on the screen (if possible).
147
148						    *:win* *:winsize* *E465*
149:win[size] {width} {height}
150		Set the window height to {width} by {height} characters.
151		Obsolete, use ":set lines=11 columns=22".
152		If you get less lines than expected, check the 'guiheadroom'
153		option.
154
155If you are running the X Window System, you can get information about the
156window Vim is running in with these commands: >
157	:!xwininfo -id $WINDOWID
158	:!xprop -id $WINDOWID
159	:execute '!xwininfo -id ' . v:windowid
160	:execute '!xprop -id ' . v:windowid
161<
162							*gui-IME* *iBus*
163Input methods for international characters in X that rely on the XIM
164framework, most notably iBus, have been known to produce undesirable results
165in gvim. These may include an inability to enter spaces, or long delays
166between typing a character and it being recognized by the application.
167
168One workaround that has been successful, for unknown reasons, is to prevent
169gvim from forking into the background by starting it with the |-f| argument.
170
171==============================================================================
1722. Scrollbars						*gui-scrollbars*
173
174There are vertical scrollbars and a horizontal scrollbar.  You may
175configure which ones appear with the 'guioptions' option.
176
177The interface looks like this (with ":set guioptions=mlrb"):
178
179		       +------------------------------+ `
180		       | File  Edit		 Help | <- Menu bar (m) `
181		       +-+--------------------------+-+ `
182		       |^|			    |^| `
183		       |#| Text area.		    |#| `
184		       | |			    | | `
185		       |v|__________________________|v| `
186 Normal status line -> |-+ File.c	       5,2  +-| `
187 between Vim windows   |^|""""""""""""""""""""""""""|^| `
188		       | |			    | | `
189		       | | Another file buffer.     | | `
190		       | |			    | | `
191		       |#|			    |#| `
192 Left scrollbar (l) -> |#|			    |#| <- Right `
193		       |#|			    |#|    scrollbar (r) `
194		       | |			    | | `
195		       |v|			    |v| `
196		       +-+--------------------------+-+ `
197		       | |< ####		   >| | <- Bottom `
198		       +-+--------------------------+-+    scrollbar (b) `
199
200Any of the scrollbar or menu components may be turned off by not putting the
201appropriate letter in the 'guioptions' string.  The bottom scrollbar is
202only useful when 'nowrap' is set.
203
204
205VERTICAL SCROLLBARS					*gui-vert-scroll*
206
207Each Vim window has a scrollbar next to it which may be scrolled up and down
208to move through the text in that buffer.  The size of the scrollbar-thumb
209indicates the fraction of the buffer which can be seen in the window.
210When the scrollbar is dragged all the way down, the last line of the file
211will appear in the top of the window.
212
213If a window is shrunk to zero height (by the growth of another window) its
214scrollbar disappears.  It reappears when the window is restored.
215
216If a window is vertically split, it will get a scrollbar when it is the
217current window and when, taking the middle of the current window and drawing a
218vertical line, this line goes through the window.
219When there are scrollbars on both sides, and the middle of the current window
220is on the left half, the right scrollbar column will contain scrollbars for
221the rightmost windows.  The same happens on the other side.
222
223
224HORIZONTAL SCROLLBARS					*gui-horiz-scroll*
225
226The horizontal scrollbar (at the bottom of the Vim GUI) may be used to
227scroll text sideways when the 'wrap' option is turned off.  The
228scrollbar-thumb size is such that the text of the longest visible line may be
229scrolled as far as possible left and right.  The cursor is moved when
230necessary, it must remain on a visible character (unless 'virtualedit' is
231set).
232
233Computing the length of the longest visible line takes quite a bit of
234computation, and it has to be done every time something changes.  If this
235takes too much time or you don't like the cursor jumping to another line,
236include the 'h' flag in 'guioptions'.  Then the scrolling is limited by the
237text of the current cursor line.
238
239							*athena-intellimouse*
240If you have an Intellimouse and an X server that supports using the wheel,
241then you can use the wheel to scroll the text up and down in gvim.  This works
242with XFree86 4.0 and later, and with some older versions when you add patches.
243See |scroll-mouse-wheel|.
244
245For older versions of XFree86 you must patch your X server.  The following
246page has a bit of information about using the Intellimouse on Linux as well as
247links to the patches and X server binaries (may not have the one you need
248though):
249    http://www.inria.fr/koala/colas/mouse-wheel-scroll/
250
251==============================================================================
2523. Mouse Control					*gui-mouse*
253
254The mouse only works if the appropriate flag in the 'mouse' option is set.
255When the GUI is switched on, and 'mouse' wasn't set yet, the 'mouse' option is
256automatically set to "a", enabling it for all modes except for the
257|hit-enter| prompt.  If you don't want this, a good place to change the
258'mouse' option is the "gvimrc" file.
259
260Other options that are relevant:
261'mousefocus'	window focus follows mouse pointer |gui-mouse-focus|
262'mousemodel'	what mouse button does which action
263'mousehide'	hide mouse pointer while typing text
264'selectmode'	whether to start Select mode or Visual mode
265
266A quick way to set these is with the ":behave" command.
267							*:behave* *:be*
268:be[have] {model}	Set behavior for mouse and selection.  Valid
269			arguments are:
270			   mswin	MS-Windows behavior
271			   xterm	Xterm behavior
272
273			Using ":behave" changes these options:
274			option		mswin			xterm	~
275			'selectmode'	"mouse,key"		""
276			'mousemodel'	"popup"			"extend"
277			'keymodel'	"startsel,stopsel"	""
278			'selection'	"exclusive"		"inclusive"
279
280In the $VIMRUNTIME directory, there is a script called |mswin.vim|, which will
281also map a few keys to the MS-Windows cut/copy/paste commands.  This is NOT
282compatible, since it uses the CTRL-V, CTRL-X and CTRL-C keys.  If you don't
283mind, use this command: >
284	:so $VIMRUNTIME/mswin.vim
285
286For scrolling with a wheel on a mouse, see |scroll-mouse-wheel|.
287
288
2893.1 Moving Cursor with Mouse				*gui-mouse-move*
290
291Click the left mouse button somewhere in a text buffer where you want the
292cursor to go, and it does!
293This works in	    when 'mouse' contains ~
294Normal mode	    'n' or 'a'
295Visual mode	    'v' or 'a'
296Insert mode	    'i' or 'a'
297
298Select mode is handled like Visual mode.
299
300You may use this with an operator such as 'd' to delete text from the current
301cursor position to the position you point to with the mouse.  That is, you hit
302'd' and then click the mouse somewhere.
303
304							*gui-mouse-focus*
305The 'mousefocus' option can be set to make the keyboard focus follow the
306mouse pointer.  This means that the window where the mouse pointer is, is the
307active window.  Warning: this doesn't work very well when using a menu,
308because the menu command will always be applied to the top window.
309
310If you are on the ':' line (or '/' or '?'), then clicking the left or right
311mouse button will position the cursor on the ':' line (if 'mouse' contains
312'c', 'a' or 'A').
313
314In any situation the middle mouse button may be clicked to paste the current
315selection.
316
317
3183.2 Selection with Mouse				*gui-mouse-select*
319
320The mouse can be used to start a selection.  How depends on the 'mousemodel'
321option:
322'mousemodel' is "extend": use the right mouse button
323'mousemodel' is "popup":  use the left mouse button, while keeping the Shift
324key pressed.
325
326If there was no selection yet, this starts a selection from the old cursor
327position to the position pointed to with the mouse.  If there already is a
328selection then the closest end will be extended.
329
330If 'selectmode' contains "mouse", then the selection will be in Select mode.
331This means that typing normal text will replace the selection.  See
332|Select-mode|.  Otherwise, the selection will be in Visual mode.
333
334Double clicking may be done to make the selection word-wise, triple clicking
335makes it line-wise, and quadruple clicking makes it rectangular block-wise.
336
337See |gui-selections| on how the selection is used.
338
339
3403.3 Other Text Selection with Mouse		*gui-mouse-modeless*
341						*modeless-selection*
342A different kind of selection is used when:
343- in Command-line mode
344- in the Command-line window and pointing in another window
345- at the |hit-enter| prompt
346- whenever the current mode is not in the 'mouse' option
347- when holding the CTRL and SHIFT keys in the GUI
348
349Since Vim continues like the selection isn't there, and there is no mode
350associated with the selection, this is called modeless selection.  Any text in
351the Vim window can be selected.  Select the text by pressing the left mouse
352button at the start, drag to the end and release.  To extend the selection,
353use the right mouse button when 'mousemodel' is "extend", or the left mouse
354button with the shift key pressed when 'mousemodel' is "popup".
355The selection is removed when the selected text is scrolled or changed.
356
357On the command line CTRL-Y can be used to copy the selection into the
358clipboard.  To do this from Insert mode, use CTRL-O : CTRL-Y <CR>.  When
359'guioptions' contains a or A (default on X11), the selection is automatically
360copied to the "* register.
361
362The middle mouse button can then paste the text.  On non-X11 systems, you can
363use CTRL-R +.
364
365
3663.4 Using Mouse on Status Lines				*gui-mouse-status*
367
368Clicking the left or right mouse button on the status line below a Vim
369window makes that window the current window.  This actually happens on button
370release (to be able to distinguish a click from a drag action).
371
372With the left mouse button a status line can be dragged up and down, thus
373resizing the windows above and below it.  This does not change window focus.
374
375The same can be used on the vertical separator: click to give the window left
376of it focus, drag left and right to make windows wider and narrower.
377
378
3793.5 Various Mouse Clicks				*gui-mouse-various*
380
381    <S-LeftMouse>	Search forward for the word under the mouse click.
382			When 'mousemodel' is "popup" this starts or extends a
383			selection.
384    <S-RightMouse>	Search backward for the word under the mouse click.
385    <C-LeftMouse>	Jump to the tag name under the mouse click.
386    <C-RightMouse>	Jump back to position before the previous tag jump
387			(same as "CTRL-T")
388
389
3903.6 Mouse Mappings					*gui-mouse-mapping*
391
392The mouse events, complete with modifiers, may be mapped.  Eg: >
393   :map <S-LeftMouse>     <RightMouse>
394   :map <S-LeftDrag>      <RightDrag>
395   :map <S-LeftRelease>   <RightRelease>
396   :map <2-S-LeftMouse>   <2-RightMouse>
397   :map <2-S-LeftDrag>    <2-RightDrag>
398   :map <2-S-LeftRelease> <2-RightRelease>
399   :map <3-S-LeftMouse>   <3-RightMouse>
400   :map <3-S-LeftDrag>    <3-RightDrag>
401   :map <3-S-LeftRelease> <3-RightRelease>
402   :map <4-S-LeftMouse>   <4-RightMouse>
403   :map <4-S-LeftDrag>    <4-RightDrag>
404   :map <4-S-LeftRelease> <4-RightRelease>
405These mappings make selection work the way it probably should in a Motif
406application, with shift-left mouse allowing for extending the visual area
407rather than the right mouse button.
408
409Mouse mapping with modifiers does not work for modeless selection.
410
411
4123.7 Drag and drop						*drag-n-drop*
413
414You can drag and drop one or more files into the Vim window, where they will
415be opened as if a |:drop| command was used.
416
417If you hold down Shift while doing this, Vim changes to the first dropped
418file's directory.  If you hold Ctrl Vim will always split a new window for the
419file.  Otherwise it's only done if the current buffer has been changed.
420
421You can also drop a directory on Vim.  This starts the explorer plugin for
422that directory (assuming it was enabled, otherwise you'll get an error
423message).  Keep Shift pressed to change to the directory instead.
424
425If Vim happens to be editing a command line, the names of the dropped files
426and directories will be inserted at the cursor.  This allows you to use these
427names with any Ex command.  Special characters (space, tab, double quote and
428'|'; backslash on non-MS-Windows systems) will be escaped.
429
430==============================================================================
4314. Making GUI Selections				*gui-selections*
432
433							*quotestar*
434You may make selections with the mouse (see |gui-mouse-select|), or by using
435Vim's Visual mode (see |v|).  If 'a' is present in 'guioptions', then
436whenever a selection is started (Visual or Select mode), or when the selection
437is changed, Vim becomes the owner of the windowing system's primary selection
438(on MS-Windows the |gui-clipboard| is used; under X11, the |x11-selection| is
439used - you should read whichever of these is appropriate now).
440
441							*clipboard*
442There is a special register for storing this selection, it is the "*
443register.  Nothing is put in here unless the information about what text is
444selected is about to change (e.g. with a left mouse click somewhere), or when
445another application wants to paste the selected text.  Then the text is put
446in the "* register.  For example, to cut a line and make it the current
447selection/put it on the clipboard: >
448
449	"*dd
450
451Similarly, when you want to paste a selection from another application, e.g.,
452by clicking the middle mouse button, the selection is put in the "* register
453first, and then 'put' like any other register.  For example, to put the
454selection (contents of the clipboard): >
455
456	"*p
457
458When using this register under X11, also see |x11-selection|.  This also
459explains the related "+ register.
460
461Note that when pasting text from one Vim into another separate Vim, the type
462of selection (character, line, or block) will also be copied.  For other
463applications the type is always character.  However, if the text gets
464transferred via the |x11-cut-buffer|, the selection type is ALWAYS lost.
465
466When the "unnamed" string is included in the 'clipboard' option, the unnamed
467register is the same as the "* register.  Thus you can yank to and paste the
468selection without prepending "* to commands.
469
470==============================================================================
4715. Menus						*menus*
472
473For an introduction see |usr_42.txt| in the user manual.
474
475
4765.1 Using Menus						*using-menus*
477
478Basically, menus can be used just like mappings.  You can define your own
479menus, as many as you like.
480Long-time Vim users won't use menus much.  But the power is in adding your own
481menus and menu items.  They are most useful for things that you can't remember
482what the key sequence was.
483
484For creating menus in a different language, see |:menutrans|.
485If you don't want to use menus at all, see |'go-M'|.
486
487							*menu.vim*
488The default menus are read from the file "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim".  See
489|$VIMRUNTIME| for where the path comes from.  You can set up your own menus.
490Starting off with the default set is a good idea.  You can add more items, or,
491if you don't like the defaults at all, start with removing all menus
492|:unmenu-all|.  You can also avoid the default menus being loaded by adding
493this line to your .vimrc file (NOT your .gvimrc file!): >
494	:let did_install_default_menus = 1
495If you also want to avoid the Syntax menu: >
496	:let did_install_syntax_menu = 1
497The first item in the Syntax menu can be used to show all available filetypes
498in the menu (which can take a bit of time to load).  If you want to have all
499filetypes already present at startup, add: >
500	:let do_syntax_sel_menu = 1
501
502The following menuitems show all available color schemes, keymaps and compiler
503settings:
504	Edit > Color Scheme ~
505	Edit > Keymap ~
506	Tools > Set Compiler ~
507However, they can also take a bit of time to load, because they search all
508related files from the directories in 'runtimepath'.  Therefore they are
509loaded lazily (by the |CursorHold| event), or you can also load them manually.
510If you want to have all these items already present at startup, add: >
511	:let do_no_lazyload_menus = 1
512
513Note that the menu.vim is sourced when `:syntax on` or `:filetype on` is
514executed or after your .vimrc file is sourced.  This means that the 'encoding'
515option and the language of messages (`:language messages`) must be set before
516that (if you want to change them).
517
518							*console-menus*
519Although this documentation is in the GUI section, you can actually use menus
520in console mode too.  You will have to load |menu.vim| explicitly then, it is
521not done by default.  You can use the |:emenu| command and command-line
522completion with 'wildmenu' to access the menu entries almost like a real menu
523system.  To do this, put these commands in your .vimrc file: >
524	:source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim
525	:set wildmenu
526	:set cpo-=<
527	:set wcm=<C-Z>
528	:map <F4> :emenu <C-Z>
529Pressing <F4> will start the menu.  You can now use the cursor keys to select
530a menu entry.  Hit <Enter> to execute it.  Hit <Esc> if you want to cancel.
531This does require the |+menu| feature enabled at compile time.
532
533							*tear-off-menus*
534GTK+ 2 and Motif support Tear-off menus.  These are sort of sticky menus or
535pop-up menus that are present all the time.  If the resizing does not work
536correctly, this may be caused by using something like "Vim*geometry" in the
537defaults.  Use "Vim.geometry" instead.
538
539As to GTK+ 3, tear-off menus have been deprecated since GTK+ 3.4.
540Accordingly, they are disabled if gvim is linked against GTK+ 3.4 or later.
541
542The Win32 GUI version emulates Motif's tear-off menus.  Actually, a Motif user
543will spot the differences easily, but hopefully they're just as useful.  You
544can also use the |:tearoff| command together with |hidden-menus| to create
545floating menus that do not appear on the main menu bar.
546
547
5485.2 Creating New Menus					*creating-menus*
549
550				*:me*  *:menu*   *:noreme*  *:noremenu*
551				*:am*  *:amenu*  *:an*      *:anoremenu*
552				*:nme* *:nmenu*  *:nnoreme* *:nnoremenu*
553				*:ome* *:omenu*  *:onoreme* *:onoremenu*
554				*:vme* *:vmenu*  *:vnoreme* *:vnoremenu*
555				*:xme* *:xmenu*  *:xnoreme* *:xnoremenu*
556				*:sme* *:smenu*  *:snoreme* *:snoremenu*
557				*:ime* *:imenu*  *:inoreme* *:inoremenu*
558				*:cme* *:cmenu*  *:cnoreme* *:cnoremenu*
559				*:tlm* *:tlmenu* *:tln*     *:tlnoremenu*
560				*E330* *E327* *E331* *E336* *E333*
561				*E328* *E329* *E337* *E792*
562To create a new menu item, use the ":menu" commands.  They are mostly like
563the ":map" set of commands but the first argument is a menu item name, given
564as a path of menus and submenus with a '.' between them, e.g.: >
565
566   :menu File.Save  :w<CR>
567   :inoremenu File.Save  <C-O>:w<CR>
568   :menu Edit.Big\ Changes.Delete\ All\ Spaces  :%s/[ ^I]//g<CR>
569
570This last one will create a new item in the menu bar called "Edit", holding
571the mouse button down on this will pop up a menu containing the item
572"Big Changes", which is a sub-menu containing the item "Delete All Spaces",
573which when selected, performs the operation.
574
575To create a menu for terminal mode, use |:tlmenu| instead of |:tmenu| unlike
576key mapping (|:tmap|). This is because |:tmenu| is already used for defining
577tooltips for menus. See |terminal-typing|.
578
579Special characters in a menu name:
580
581	&	The next character is the shortcut key.  Make sure each
582		shortcut key is only used once in a (sub)menu.  If you want to
583		insert a literal "&" in the menu name use "&&".
584	<Tab>	Separates the menu name from right-aligned text.  This can be
585		used to show the equivalent typed command.  The text "<Tab>"
586		can be used here for convenience.  If you are using a real
587		tab, don't forget to put a backslash before it!
588Example: >
589
590   :amenu &File.&Open<Tab>:e  :browse e<CR>
591
592[typed literally]
593With the shortcut "F" (while keeping the <Alt> key pressed), and then "O",
594this menu can be used.  The second part is shown as "Open     :e".  The ":e"
595is right aligned, and the "O" is underlined, to indicate it is the shortcut.
596
597The ":amenu" command can be used to define menu entries for all modes at once,
598except for Terminal mode.  To make the command work correctly, a character is
599automatically inserted for some modes:
600	mode		inserted	appended	~
601	Normal		nothing		nothing
602	Visual		<C-C>		<C-\><C-G>
603	Insert		<C-\><C-O>
604	Cmdline		<C-C>		<C-\><C-G>
605	Op-pending	<C-C>		<C-\><C-G>
606
607Appending CTRL-\ CTRL-G is for going back to insert mode when 'insertmode' is
608set. |CTRL-\_CTRL-G|
609
610Example: >
611
612   :amenu File.Next	:next^M
613
614is equal to: >
615
616   :nmenu File.Next	:next^M
617   :vmenu File.Next	^C:next^M^\^G
618   :imenu File.Next	^\^O:next^M
619   :cmenu File.Next	^C:next^M^\^G
620   :omenu File.Next	^C:next^M^\^G
621
622Careful: In Insert mode this only works for a SINGLE Normal mode command,
623because of the CTRL-O.  If you have two or more commands, you will need to use
624the ":imenu" command.  For inserting text in any mode, you can use the
625expression register: >
626
627   :amenu Insert.foobar   "='foobar'<CR>P
628
629Note that the '<' and 'k' flags in 'cpoptions' also apply here (when
630included they make the <> form and raw key codes not being recognized).
631
632Note that <Esc> in Cmdline mode executes the command, like in a mapping.  This
633is Vi compatible.  Use CTRL-C to quit Cmdline mode.
634
635						*:menu-<silent>* *:menu-silent*
636To define a menu which will not be echoed on the command line, add
637"<silent>" as the first argument.  Example: >
638	:menu <silent> Settings.Ignore\ case  :set ic<CR>
639The ":set ic" will not be echoed when using this menu.  Messages from the
640executed command are still given though.  To shut them up too, add a ":silent"
641in the executed command: >
642	:menu <silent> Search.Header :exe ":silent normal /Header\r"<CR>
643"<silent>" may also appear just after "<special>" or "<script>".
644
645					*:menu-<special>* *:menu-special*
646Define a menu with <> notation for special keys, even though the "<" flag
647may appear in 'cpoptions'.  This is useful if the side effect of setting
648'cpoptions' is not desired.  Example: >
649	:menu <special> Search.Header /Header<CR>
650"<special>" must appear as the very first argument to the ":menu" command or
651just after "<silent>" or "<script>".
652
653						*:menu-<script>* *:menu-script*
654The "to" part of the menu will be inspected for mappings.  If you don't want
655this, use the ":noremenu" command (or the similar one for a specific mode).
656If you do want to use script-local mappings, add "<script>" as the very first
657argument to the ":menu" command or just after "<silent>" or "<special>".
658
659							*menu-priority*
660You can give a priority to a menu.  Menus with a higher priority go more to
661the right.  The priority is given as a number before the ":menu" command.
662Example: >
663	:80menu Buffer.next :bn<CR>
664
665The default menus have these priorities:
666	File		10
667	Edit		20
668	Tools		40
669	Syntax		50
670	Buffers		60
671	Window		70
672	Help		9999
673
674When no or zero priority is given, 500 is used.
675The priority for the PopUp menu is not used.
676
677The Help menu will be placed on the far right side of the menu bar on systems
678which support this (Motif and GTK+).  For GTK+ 2 and 3, this is not done
679anymore because right-aligning the Help menu is now discouraged UI design.
680
681You can use a priority higher than 9999, to make it go after the Help menu,
682but that is non-standard and is discouraged.  The highest possible priority is
683about 32000.  The lowest is 1.
684
685							*sub-menu-priority*
686The same mechanism can be used to position a sub-menu.  The priority is then
687given as a dot-separated list of priorities, before the menu name: >
688	:menu 80.500 Buffer.next :bn<CR>
689Giving the sub-menu priority is only needed when the item is not to be put
690in a normal position.  For example, to put a sub-menu before the other items: >
691	:menu 80.100 Buffer.first :brew<CR>
692Or to put a sub-menu after the other items, and further items with default
693priority will be put before it: >
694	:menu 80.900 Buffer.last :blast<CR>
695When a number is missing, the default value 500 will be used: >
696	:menu .900 myMenu.test :echo "text"<CR>
697The menu priority is only used when creating a new menu.  When it already
698existed, e.g., in another mode, the priority will not change.  Thus, the
699priority only needs to be given the first time a menu is used.
700An exception is the PopUp menu.  There is a separate menu for each mode
701(Normal, Op-pending, Visual, Insert, Cmdline).  The order in each of these
702menus can be different.  This is different from menu-bar menus, which have
703the same order for all modes.
704NOTE: sub-menu priorities currently don't work for all versions of the GUI.
705
706							*menu-separator* *E332*
707Menu items can be separated by a special item that inserts some space between
708items.  Depending on the system this is displayed as a line or a dotted line.
709These items must start with a '-' and end in a '-'.  The part in between is
710used to give it a unique name.  Priorities can be used as with normal items.
711Example: >
712	:menu Example.item1	:do something
713	:menu Example.-Sep-	:
714	:menu Example.item2	:do something different
715Note that the separator also requires a rhs.  It doesn't matter what it is,
716because the item will never be selected.  Use a single colon to keep it
717simple.
718
719							*gui-toolbar*
720The toolbar is currently available in the Win32, Athena, Motif, GTK+ (X11),
721and Photon GUI.  It should turn up in other GUIs in due course.  The
722default toolbar is setup in menu.vim.
723The display of the toolbar is controlled by the 'guioptions' letter 'T'.  You
724can thus have menu & toolbar together, or either on its own, or neither.
725The appearance is controlled by the 'toolbar' option.  You can choose between
726an image, text or both.
727
728							*toolbar-icon*
729The toolbar is defined as a special menu called ToolBar, which only has one
730level.  Vim interprets the items in this menu as follows:
7311)  If an "icon=" argument was specified, the file with this name is used.
732    The file can either be specified with the full path or with the base name.
733    In the last case it is searched for in the "bitmaps" directory in
734    'runtimepath', like in point 3.  Examples: >
735	:amenu icon=/usr/local/pixmaps/foo_icon.xpm ToolBar.Foo :echo "Foo"<CR>
736	:amenu icon=FooIcon ToolBar.Foo :echo "Foo"<CR>
737<   Note that in the first case the extension is included, while in the second
738    case it is omitted.
739    If the file cannot be opened the next points are tried.
740    A space in the file name must be escaped with a backslash.
741    A menu priority must come _after_ the icon argument: >
742	:amenu icon=foo 1.42 ToolBar.Foo :echo "42!"<CR>
7432)  An item called 'BuiltIn##', where ## is a number, is taken as number ## of
744    the built-in bitmaps available in Vim.  Currently there are 31 numbered
745    from 0 to 30 which cover most common editing operations |builtin-tools|. >
746	:amenu ToolBar.BuiltIn22 :call SearchNext("back")<CR>
7473)  An item with another name is first searched for in the directory
748    "bitmaps" in 'runtimepath'.  If found, the bitmap file is used as the
749    toolbar button image.  Note that the exact filename is OS-specific: For
750    example, under Win32 the command >
751	:amenu ToolBar.Hello :echo "hello"<CR>
752<   would find the file 'hello.bmp'.  Under GTK+/X11 it is 'Hello.xpm'.  With
753    GTK+ 2 the files 'Hello.png', 'Hello.xpm' and 'Hello.bmp' are checked for
754    existence, and the first one found would be used.
755    For MS-Windows and GTK+ 2 the bitmap is scaled to fit the button.  For
756    MS-Windows a size of 18 by 18 pixels works best.
757    For MS-Windows the bitmap should have 16 colors with the standard palette.
758    The light grey pixels will be changed to the Window frame color and the
759    dark grey pixels to the window shadow color.  More colors might also work,
760    depending on your system.
7614)  If the bitmap is still not found, Vim checks for a match against its list
762    of built-in names.  Each built-in button image has a name.
763    So the command >
764	:amenu ToolBar.Open :e
765<   will show the built-in "open a file" button image if no open.bmp exists.
766    All the built-in names can be seen used in menu.vim.
7675)  If all else fails, a blank, but functioning, button is displayed.
768
769							*builtin-tools*
770nr  Name		Normal action  ~
77100  New			open new window
77201  Open		browse for file to open in current window
77302  Save		write buffer to file
77403  Undo		undo last change
77504  Redo		redo last undone change
77605  Cut			delete selected text to clipboard
77706  Copy		copy selected text to clipboard
77807  Paste		paste text from clipboard
77908  Print		print current buffer
78009  Help		open a buffer on Vim's builtin help
78110  Find		start a search command
78211  SaveAll		write all modified buffers to file
78312  SaveSesn		write session file for current situation
78413  NewSesn		write new session file
78514  LoadSesn		load session file
78615  RunScript		browse for file to run as a Vim script
78716  Replace		prompt for substitute command
78817  WinClose		close current window
78918  WinMax		make current window use many lines
79019  WinMin		make current window use few lines
79120  WinSplit		split current window
79221  Shell		start a shell
79322  FindPrev		search again, backward
79423  FindNext		search again, forward
79524  FindHelp		prompt for word to search help for
79625  Make		run make and jump to first error
79726  TagJump		jump to tag under the cursor
79827  RunCtags		build tags for files in current directory
79928  WinVSplit		split current window vertically
80029  WinMaxWidth		make current window use many columns
80130  WinMinWidth		make current window use few columns
802
803					*hidden-menus* *win32-hidden-menus*
804In the Win32 and GTK+ GUI, starting a menu name with ']' excludes that menu
805from the main menu bar.  You must then use the |:popup| or |:tearoff| command
806to display it.
807
808					*window-toolbar* *WinBar*
809Each window can have a local toolbar.  This uses the first line of the window,
810thus reduces the space for the text by one line.  The items in the toolbar
811must start with "WinBar".
812
813Only text can be used.  When using Unicode, special characters can be used to
814make the items look like icons.
815
816If the items do not fit then the last ones cannot be used.  The toolbar does
817not wrap.
818
819Note that Vim may be in any mode when executing these commands.  The menu
820should be defined for Normal mode and will be executed without changing the
821current mode. Thus if the current window is in Visual mode and the menu
822command does not intentionally change the mode, Vim will remain in Visual
823mode.  Best is to use `:nnoremenu` to avoid side effects.
824
825Example for debugger tools: >
826	nnoremenu 1.10 WinBar.Step :Step<CR>
827	nnoremenu 1.20 WinBar.Next :Next<CR>
828	nnoremenu 1.30 WinBar.Finish :Finish<CR>
829	nnoremenu 1.40 WinBar.Cont :Continue<CR>
830<
831The window toolbar uses the ToolbarLine and ToolbarButton highlight groups.
832
833When splitting the window the window toolbar is not copied to the new window.
834
835							*popup-menu*
836In the Win32, GTK+, Motif, Athena and Photon GUI, you can define the
837special menu "PopUp".  This is the menu that is displayed when the right mouse
838button is pressed, if 'mousemodel' is set to popup or popup_setpos.
839Example: >
840    nnoremenu 1.40 PopUp.&Paste	"+gP
841    menu PopUp
842
843
8445.3 Showing What Menus Are Mapped To			*showing-menus*
845
846To see what an existing menu is mapped to, use just one argument after the
847menu commands (just like you would with the ":map" commands).  If the menu
848specified is a submenu, then all menus under that hierarchy will be shown.
849If no argument is given after :menu at all, then ALL menu items are shown
850for the appropriate mode (e.g., Command-line mode for :cmenu).
851
852Special characters in the list, just before the rhs:
853*	The menu was defined with "nore" to disallow remapping.
854&	The menu was defined with "<script>" to allow remapping script-local
855	mappings only.
856-	The menu was disabled.
857
858Note that hitting <Tab> while entering a menu name after a menu command may
859be used to complete the name of the menu item.
860
861
8625.4 Executing Menus					*execute-menus*
863
864						*:em*  *:emenu* *E334* *E335*
865:[range]em[enu] {menu}		Execute {menu} from the command line.
866				The default is to execute the Normal mode
867				menu.  If a range is specified, it executes
868				the Visual mode menu.
869				If used from <c-o>, it executes the
870				insert-mode menu Eg: >
871	:emenu File.Exit
872
873:[range]em[enu] {mode} {menu}	Like above, but execute the menu for {mode}:
874				    'n': |:nmenu|  Normal mode
875				    'v': |:vmenu|  Visual mode
876				    's': |:smenu|  Select mode
877				    'o': |:omenu|  Operator-pending mode
878				    't': |:tlmenu| Terminal mode
879				    'i': |:imenu|  Insert mode
880				    'c': |:cmenu|  Cmdline mode
881
882
883If the console-mode vim has been compiled with WANT_MENU defined, you can
884use :emenu to access useful menu items you may have got used to from GUI
885mode.  See 'wildmenu' for an option that works well with this.  See
886|console-menus| for an example.
887
888When using a range, if the lines match with '<,'>, then the menu is executed
889using the last visual selection.
890
891
8925.5 Deleting Menus					*delete-menus*
893
894						*:unme*  *:unmenu*
895						*:aun*   *:aunmenu*
896						*:nunme* *:nunmenu*
897						*:ounme* *:ounmenu*
898						*:vunme* *:vunmenu*
899						*:xunme* *:xunmenu*
900						*:sunme* *:sunmenu*
901						*:iunme* *:iunmenu*
902						*:cunme* *:cunmenu*
903						*:tlu*   *:tlunmenu*
904To delete a menu item or a whole submenu, use the unmenu commands, which are
905analogous to the unmap commands.  Eg: >
906    :unmenu! Edit.Paste
907
908This will remove the Paste item from the Edit menu for Insert and
909Command-line modes.
910
911Note that hitting <Tab> while entering a menu name after an umenu command
912may be used to complete the name of the menu item for the appropriate mode.
913
914To remove all menus use:			*:unmenu-all*  >
915	:unmenu *	" remove all menus in Normal and visual mode
916	:unmenu! *	" remove all menus in Insert and Command-line mode
917	:aunmenu *	" remove all menus in all modes, except for Terminal
918			" mode
919	:tlunmenu *	" remove all menus in Terminal mode
920
921If you want to get rid of the menu bar: >
922	:set guioptions-=m
923
924
9255.6 Disabling Menus					*disable-menus*
926
927						*:menu-disable* *:menu-enable*
928If you do not want to remove a menu, but disable it for a moment, this can be
929done by adding the "enable" or "disable" keyword to a ":menu" command.
930Examples: >
931	:menu disable &File.&Open\.\.\.
932	:amenu enable *
933	:amenu disable &Tools.*
934
935The command applies to the modes as used with all menu commands.  Note that
936characters like "&" need to be included for translated names to be found.
937When the argument is "*", all menus are affected.  Otherwise the given menu
938name and all existing submenus below it are affected.
939
940
9415.7 Examples for Menus					*menu-examples*
942
943Here is an example on how to add menu items with menu's!  You can add a menu
944item for the keyword under the cursor.  The register "z" is used. >
945
946  :nmenu Words.Add\ Var		wb"zye:menu! Words.<C-R>z <C-R>z<CR>
947  :nmenu Words.Remove\ Var	wb"zye:unmenu! Words.<C-R>z<CR>
948  :vmenu Words.Add\ Var		"zy:menu! Words.<C-R>z <C-R>z <CR>
949  :vmenu Words.Remove\ Var	"zy:unmenu! Words.<C-R>z<CR>
950  :imenu Words.Add\ Var		<Esc>wb"zye:menu! Words.<C-R>z <C-R>z<CR>a
951  :imenu Words.Remove\ Var	<Esc>wb"zye:unmenu! Words.<C-R>z<CR>a
952
953(the rhs is in <> notation, you can copy/paste this text to try out the
954mappings, or put these lines in your gvimrc; "<C-R>" is CTRL-R, "<CR>" is
955the <CR> key.  |<>|)
956
957
9585.8 Tooltips & Menu tips
959
960See section |42.4| in the user manual.
961
962							*:tmenu* *:tm*
963:tm[enu] {menupath} {rhs}	Define a tip for a menu or tool.  {only in
964				X11 and Win32 GUI}
965
966:tm[enu] [menupath]		List menu tips. {only in X11 and Win32 GUI}
967
968							*:tunmenu* *:tu*
969:tu[nmenu] {menupath}		Remove a tip for a menu or tool.
970				{only in X11 and Win32 GUI}
971
972Note: To create menus for terminal mode, use |:tlmenu| instead.
973
974When a tip is defined for a menu item, it appears in the command-line area
975when the mouse is over that item, much like a standard Windows menu hint in
976the status bar.  (Except when Vim is in Command-line mode, when of course
977nothing is displayed.)
978When a tip is defined for a ToolBar item, it appears as a tooltip when the
979mouse pauses over that button, in the usual fashion.  Use the |hl-Tooltip|
980highlight group to change its colors.
981
982A "tip" can be defined for each menu item.  For example, when defining a menu
983item like this: >
984	:amenu MyMenu.Hello :echo "Hello"<CR>
985The tip is defined like this: >
986	:tmenu MyMenu.Hello Displays a greeting.
987And delete it with: >
988	:tunmenu MyMenu.Hello
989
990Tooltips are currently only supported for the X11 and Win32 GUI.  However, they
991should appear for the other gui platforms in the not too distant future.
992
993The ":tmenu" command works just like other menu commands, it uses the same
994arguments.  ":tunmenu" deletes an existing menu tip, in the same way as the
995other unmenu commands.
996
997If a menu item becomes invalid (i.e. its actions in all modes are deleted) Vim
998deletes the menu tip (and the item) for you.  This means that :aunmenu deletes
999a menu item - you don't need to do a :tunmenu as well.
1000
1001
10025.9 Popup Menus
1003
1004In the Win32 and GTK+ GUI, you can cause a menu to popup at the cursor.
1005This behaves similarly to the PopUp menus except that any menu tree can
1006be popped up.
1007
1008This command is for backwards compatibility, using it is discouraged, because
1009it behaves in a strange way.
1010
1011							*:popup* *:popu*
1012:popu[p] {name}			Popup the menu {name}.  The menu named must
1013				have at least one subentry, but need not
1014				appear on the menu-bar (see |hidden-menus|).
1015				{only available for Win32 and GTK GUI or in
1016				the terminal when compiled with +insert_expand}
1017
1018:popu[p]! {name}		Like above, but use the position of the mouse
1019				pointer instead of the cursor.
1020				In the terminal this is the last known
1021				position, which is usually at the last click
1022				or release (mouse movement is irrelevant).
1023
1024Example: >
1025	:popup File
1026will make the "File" menu (if there is one) appear at the text cursor (mouse
1027pointer if ! was used). >
1028
1029	:amenu ]Toolbar.Make	:make<CR>
1030	:popup ]Toolbar
1031This creates a popup menu that doesn't exist on the main menu-bar.
1032
1033Note that in the GUI the :popup command will return immediately, before a
1034selection has been made.  In the terminal the commands waits for the user to
1035make a selection.
1036
1037Note that a menu that starts with ']' will not be displayed.
1038
1039==============================================================================
10406. Extras						*gui-extras*
1041
1042This section describes other features which are related to the GUI.
1043
1044- With the GUI, there is no wait for one second after hitting escape, because
1045  the key codes don't start with <Esc>.
1046
1047- Typing ^V followed by a special key in the GUI will insert "<Key>", since
1048  the internal string used is meaningless.  Modifiers may also be held down to
1049  get "<Modifiers-Key>".
1050
1051- In the GUI, the modifiers SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT (or META) may be used within
1052  mappings of special keys and mouse events.  E.g.: :map <M-LeftDrag> <LeftDrag>
1053
1054- In the GUI, several normal keys may have modifiers in mappings etc, these
1055  are <Space>, <Tab>, <NL>, <CR>, <Esc>.
1056
1057- To check in a Vim script if the GUI is being used, you can use something
1058  like this: >
1059
1060	if has("gui_running")
1061	   echo "yes, we have a GUI"
1062	else
1063	   echo "Boring old console"
1064	endif
1065<							*setting-guifont*
1066- When you use the same vimrc file on various systems, you can use something
1067  like this to set options specifically for each type of GUI: >
1068
1069	if has("gui_running")
1070	    if has("gui_gtk2")
1071		:set guifont=Luxi\ Mono\ 12
1072	    elseif has("x11")
1073		" Also for GTK 1
1074		:set guifont=*-lucidatypewriter-medium-r-normal-*-*-180-*-*-m-*-*
1075	    elseif has("gui_win32")
1076		:set guifont=Luxi_Mono:h12:cANSI
1077	    endif
1078	endif
1079
1080A recommended Japanese font is MS Mincho.  You can find info here:
1081http://www.lexikan.com/mincho.htm
1082
1083==============================================================================
10847. Shell Commands					*gui-shell*
1085
1086For the X11 GUI the external commands are executed inside the gvim window.
1087See |gui-pty|.
1088
1089WARNING: Executing an external command from the X11 GUI will not always
1090work.  "normal" commands like "ls", "grep" and "make" mostly work fine.
1091Commands that require an intelligent terminal like "less" and "ispell" won't
1092work.  Some may even hang and need to be killed from another terminal.  So be
1093careful!
1094
1095For the Win32 GUI the external commands are executed in a separate window.
1096See |gui-shell-win32|.
1097
1098 vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl:
1099