1*insert.txt* For Vim version 8.2. Last change: 2020 Jan 26 2 3 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar 5 6 7 *Insert* *Insert-mode* 8Inserting and replacing text *mode-ins-repl* 9 10Most of this file is about Insert and Replace mode. At the end are a few 11commands for inserting text in other ways. 12 13An overview of the most often used commands can be found in chapter 24 of the 14user manual |usr_24.txt|. 15 161. Special keys |ins-special-keys| 172. Special special keys |ins-special-special| 183. 'textwidth' and 'wrapmargin' options |ins-textwidth| 194. 'expandtab', 'smarttab' and 'softtabstop' options |ins-expandtab| 205. Replace mode |Replace-mode| 216. Virtual Replace mode |Virtual-Replace-mode| 227. Insert mode completion |ins-completion| 238. Insert mode commands |inserting| 249. Ex insert commands |inserting-ex| 2510. Inserting a file |inserting-file| 26 27Also see 'virtualedit', for moving the cursor to positions where there is no 28character. Useful for editing a table. 29 30============================================================================== 311. Special keys *ins-special-keys* 32 33In Insert and Replace mode, the following characters have a special meaning; 34other characters are inserted directly. To insert one of these special 35characters into the buffer, precede it with CTRL-V. To insert a <Nul> 36character use "CTRL-V CTRL-@" or "CTRL-V 000". On some systems, you have to 37use "CTRL-V 003" to insert a CTRL-C. Note: When CTRL-V is mapped you can 38often use CTRL-Q instead |i_CTRL-Q|. 39 40If you are working in a special language mode when inserting text, see the 41'langmap' option, |'langmap'|, on how to avoid switching this mode on and off 42all the time. 43 44If you have 'insertmode' set, <Esc> and a few other keys get another meaning. 45See |'insertmode'|. 46 47char action ~ 48----------------------------------------------------------------------- 49 *i_CTRL-[* *i_<Esc>* 50<Esc> or CTRL-[ End insert or Replace mode, go back to Normal mode. Finish 51 abbreviation. 52 Note: If your <Esc> key is hard to hit on your keyboard, train 53 yourself to use CTRL-[. 54 If Esc doesn't work and you are using a Mac, try CTRL-Esc. 55 Or disable Listening under Accessibility preferences. 56 *i_CTRL-C* 57CTRL-C Quit insert mode, go back to Normal mode. Do not check for 58 abbreviations. Does not trigger the |InsertLeave| autocommand 59 event. 60 61 *i_CTRL-@* 62CTRL-@ Insert previously inserted text and stop insert. 63 64 *i_CTRL-A* 65CTRL-A Insert previously inserted text. 66 67 *i_CTRL-H* *i_<BS>* *i_BS* 68<BS> or CTRL-H Delete the character before the cursor (see |i_backspacing| 69 about joining lines). 70 See |:fixdel| if your <BS> key does not do what you want. 71 72 *i_<Del>* *i_DEL* 73<Del> Delete the character under the cursor. If the cursor is at 74 the end of the line, and the 'backspace' option includes 75 "eol", delete the <EOL>; the next line is appended after the 76 current one. 77 See |:fixdel| if your <Del> key does not do what you want. 78 *i_CTRL-W* 79CTRL-W Delete the word before the cursor (see |i_backspacing| about 80 joining lines). See the section "word motions", 81 |word-motions|, for the definition of a word. 82 *i_CTRL-U* 83CTRL-U Delete all entered characters before the cursor in the current 84 line. If there are no newly entered characters and 85 'backspace' is not empty, delete all characters before the 86 cursor in the current line. 87 See |i_backspacing| about joining lines. 88 *i_CTRL-I* *i_<Tab>* *i_Tab* 89<Tab> or CTRL-I Insert a tab. If the 'expandtab' option is on, the 90 equivalent number of spaces is inserted (use CTRL-V <Tab> to 91 avoid the expansion; use CTRL-Q <Tab> if CTRL-V is mapped 92 |i_CTRL-Q|). See also the 'smarttab' option and 93 |ins-expandtab|. 94 *i_CTRL-J* *i_<NL>* 95<NL> or CTRL-J Begin new line. 96 *i_CTRL-M* *i_<CR>* 97<CR> or CTRL-M Begin new line. 98 *i_CTRL-K* 99CTRL-K {char1} [char2] 100 Enter digraph (see |digraphs|). When {char1} is a special 101 key, the code for that key is inserted in <> form. For 102 example, the string "<S-Space>" can be entered by typing 103 <C-K><S-Space> (two keys). Neither char is considered for 104 mapping. 105 106CTRL-N Find next keyword (see |i_CTRL-N|). 107CTRL-P Find previous keyword (see |i_CTRL-P|). 108 109CTRL-R {register} *i_CTRL-R* 110 Insert the contents of a register. Between typing CTRL-R and 111 the second character, '"' will be displayed to indicate that 112 you are expected to enter the name of a register. 113 The text is inserted as if you typed it, but mappings and 114 abbreviations are not used. If you have options like 115 'textwidth', 'formatoptions', or 'autoindent' set, this will 116 influence what will be inserted. This is different from what 117 happens with the "p" command and pasting with the mouse. 118 Special registers: 119 '"' the unnamed register, containing the text of 120 the last delete or yank 121 '%' the current file name 122 '#' the alternate file name 123 '*' the clipboard contents (X11: primary selection) 124 '+' the clipboard contents 125 '/' the last search pattern 126 ':' the last command-line 127 '.' the last inserted text 128 '-' the last small (less than a line) delete 129 *i_CTRL-R_=* 130 '=' the expression register: you are prompted to 131 enter an expression (see |expression|) 132 Note that 0x80 (128 decimal) is used for 133 special keys. E.g., you can use this to move 134 the cursor up: 135 CTRL-R ="\<Up>" 136 Use CTRL-R CTRL-R to insert text literally. 137 When the result is a |List| the items are used 138 as lines. They can have line breaks inside 139 too. 140 When the result is a Float it's automatically 141 converted to a String. 142 When append() or setline() is invoked the undo 143 sequence will be broken. 144 See |registers| about registers. 145 146CTRL-R CTRL-R {register} *i_CTRL-R_CTRL-R* 147 Insert the contents of a register. Works like using a single 148 CTRL-R, but the text is inserted literally, not as if typed. 149 This differs when the register contains characters like <BS>. 150 Example, where register a contains "ab^Hc": > 151 CTRL-R a results in "ac". 152 CTRL-R CTRL-R a results in "ab^Hc". 153< Options 'textwidth', 'formatoptions', etc. still apply. If 154 you also want to avoid these, use CTRL-R CTRL-O, see below. 155 The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as 156 typed. 157 158CTRL-R CTRL-O {register} *i_CTRL-R_CTRL-O* 159 Insert the contents of a register literally and don't 160 auto-indent. Does the same as pasting with the mouse 161 |<MiddleMouse>|. When the register is linewise this will 162 insert the text above the current line, like with `P`. 163 Does not replace characters! 164 The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as 165 typed. 166 167CTRL-R CTRL-P {register} *i_CTRL-R_CTRL-P* 168 Insert the contents of a register literally and fix the 169 indent, like |[<MiddleMouse>|. 170 Does not replace characters! 171 The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as 172 typed. 173 174 *i_CTRL-T* 175CTRL-T Insert one shiftwidth of indent at the start of the current 176 line. The indent is always rounded to a 'shiftwidth' (this is 177 vi compatible). 178 *i_CTRL-D* 179CTRL-D Delete one shiftwidth of indent at the start of the current 180 line. The indent is always rounded to a 'shiftwidth' (this is 181 vi compatible). 182 *i_0_CTRL-D* 1830 CTRL-D Delete all indent in the current line. 184 185 *i_^_CTRL-D* 186^ CTRL-D Delete all indent in the current line. The indent is 187 restored in the next line. This is useful when inserting a 188 label. 189 190 *i_CTRL-V* 191CTRL-V Insert next non-digit literally. For special keys, the 192 terminal code is inserted. It's also possible to enter the 193 decimal, octal or hexadecimal value of a character 194 |i_CTRL-V_digit|. 195 The characters typed right after CTRL-V are not considered for 196 mapping. 197 Note: When CTRL-V is mapped (e.g., to paste text) you can 198 often use CTRL-Q instead |i_CTRL-Q|. 199 When |modifyOtherKeys| is enabled then special Escape sequence 200 is converted back to what it was without |modifyOtherKeys|, 201 unless the Shift key is also pressed. 202 203 *i_CTRL-Q* 204CTRL-Q Same as CTRL-V. 205 Note: Some terminal connections may eat CTRL-Q, it doesn't 206 work then. It does work in the GUI. 207 208CTRL-SHIFT-V *i_CTRL-SHIFT-V* *i_CTRL-SHIFT-Q* 209CTRL-SHIFT-Q Works just like CTRL-V, unless |modifyOtherKeys| is active, 210 then it inserts the Escape sequence for a key with modifiers. 211 212CTRL-X Enter CTRL-X mode. This is a sub-mode where commands can 213 be given to complete words or scroll the window. See 214 |i_CTRL-X| and |ins-completion|. 215 216 *i_CTRL-E* 217CTRL-E Insert the character which is below the cursor. 218 *i_CTRL-Y* 219CTRL-Y Insert the character which is above the cursor. 220 Note that for CTRL-E and CTRL-Y 'textwidth' is not used, to be 221 able to copy characters from a long line. 222 223 *i_CTRL-_* 224CTRL-_ Switch between languages, as follows: 225 - When in a rightleft window, revins and nohkmap are toggled, 226 since English will likely be inserted in this case. 227 - When in a norightleft window, revins and hkmap are toggled, 228 since Hebrew will likely be inserted in this case. 229 230 CTRL-_ moves the cursor to the end of the typed text. 231 232 This command is only available when the 'allowrevins' option 233 is set. 234 Please refer to |rileft.txt| for more information about 235 right-to-left mode. 236 Only if compiled with the |+rightleft| feature. 237 238 *i_CTRL-^* 239CTRL-^ Toggle the use of typing language characters. 240 When language |:lmap| mappings are defined: 241 - If 'iminsert' is 1 (langmap mappings used) it becomes 0 (no 242 langmap mappings used). 243 - If 'iminsert' has another value it becomes 1, thus langmap 244 mappings are enabled. 245 When no language mappings are defined: 246 - If 'iminsert' is 2 (Input Method used) it becomes 0 (no 247 Input Method used). 248 - If 'iminsert' has another value it becomes 2, thus the Input 249 Method is enabled. 250 When set to 1, the value of the "b:keymap_name" variable, the 251 'keymap' option or "<lang>" appears in the status line. 252 The language mappings are normally used to type characters 253 that are different from what the keyboard produces. The 254 'keymap' option can be used to install a whole number of them. 255 256 *i_CTRL-]* 257CTRL-] Trigger abbreviation, without inserting a character. 258 259 *i_<Insert>* 260<Insert> Toggle between Insert and Replace mode. 261----------------------------------------------------------------------- 262 263 *i_backspacing* 264The effect of the <BS>, CTRL-W, and CTRL-U depend on the 'backspace' option 265(unless 'revins' is set). This is a comma separated list of items: 266 267item action ~ 268indent allow backspacing over autoindent 269eol allow backspacing over end-of-line (join lines) 270start allow backspacing over the start position of insert; CTRL-W and 271 CTRL-U stop once at the start position 272 273When 'backspace' is empty, Vi compatible backspacing is used. You cannot 274backspace over autoindent, before column 1 or before where insert started. 275 276For backwards compatibility the values "0", "1" and "2" are also allowed, see 277|'backspace'|. 278 279If the 'backspace' option does contain "eol" and the cursor is in column 1 280when one of the three keys is used, the current line is joined with the 281previous line. This effectively deletes the <EOL> in front of the cursor. 282 283 *i_CTRL-V_digit* 284With CTRL-V the decimal, octal or hexadecimal value of a character can be 285entered directly. This way you can enter any character, except a line break 286(<NL>, value 10). There are five ways to enter the character value: 287 288first char mode max nr of chars max value ~ 289(none) decimal 3 255 290o or O octal 3 377 (255) 291x or X hexadecimal 2 ff (255) 292u hexadecimal 4 ffff (65535) 293U hexadecimal 8 7fffffff (2147483647) 294 295Normally you would type the maximum number of characters. Thus to enter a 296space (value 32) you would type <C-V>032. You can omit the leading zero, in 297which case the character typed after the number must be a non-digit. This 298happens for the other modes as well: As soon as you type a character that is 299invalid for the mode, the value before it will be used and the "invalid" 300character is dealt with in the normal way. 301 302If you enter a value of 10, it will end up in the file as a 0. The 10 is a 303<NL>, which is used internally to represent the <Nul> character. When writing 304the buffer to a file, the <NL> character is translated into <Nul>. The <NL> 305character is written at the end of each line. Thus if you want to insert a 306<NL> character in a file you will have to make a line break. 307 308 *i_CTRL-X* *insert_expand* 309CTRL-X enters a sub-mode where several commands can be used. Most of these 310commands do keyword completion; see |ins-completion|. 311 312Two commands can be used to scroll the window up or down, without exiting 313insert mode: 314 315 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-E* 316CTRL-X CTRL-E scroll window one line up. 317 When doing completion look here: |complete_CTRL-E| 318 319 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-Y* 320CTRL-X CTRL-Y scroll window one line down. 321 When doing completion look here: |complete_CTRL-Y| 322 323After CTRL-X is pressed, each CTRL-E (CTRL-Y) scrolls the window up (down) by 324one line unless that would cause the cursor to move from its current position 325in the file. As soon as another key is pressed, CTRL-X mode is exited and 326that key is interpreted as in Insert mode. 327 328 329============================================================================== 3302. Special special keys *ins-special-special* 331 332The following keys are special. They stop the current insert, do something, 333and then restart insertion. This means you can do something without getting 334out of Insert mode. This is very handy if you prefer to use the Insert mode 335all the time, just like editors that don't have a separate Normal mode. You 336may also want to set the 'backspace' option to "indent,eol,start" and set the 337'insertmode' option. You can use CTRL-O if you want to map a function key to 338a command. 339 340The changes (inserted or deleted characters) before and after these keys can 341be undone separately. Only the last change can be redone and always behaves 342like an "i" command. 343 344char action ~ 345----------------------------------------------------------------------- 346<Up> cursor one line up *i_<Up>* 347<Down> cursor one line down *i_<Down>* 348CTRL-G <Up> cursor one line up, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_<Up>* 349CTRL-G k cursor one line up, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_k* 350CTRL-G CTRL-K cursor one line up, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_CTRL-K* 351CTRL-G <Down> cursor one line down, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_<Down>* 352CTRL-G j cursor one line down, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_j* 353CTRL-G CTRL-J cursor one line down, insert start column *i_CTRL-G_CTRL-J* 354<Left> cursor one character left *i_<Left>* 355<Right> cursor one character right *i_<Right>* 356<S-Left> cursor one word back (like "b" command) *i_<S-Left>* 357<C-Left> cursor one word back (like "b" command) *i_<C-Left>* 358<S-Right> cursor one word forward (like "w" command) *i_<S-Right>* 359<C-Right> cursor one word forward (like "w" command) *i_<C-Right>* 360<Home> cursor to first char in the line *i_<Home>* 361<End> cursor to after last char in the line *i_<End>* 362<C-Home> cursor to first char in the file *i_<C-Home>* 363<C-End> cursor to after last char in the file *i_<C-End>* 364<LeftMouse> cursor to position of mouse click *i_<LeftMouse>* 365<S-Up> move window one page up *i_<S-Up>* 366<PageUp> move window one page up *i_<PageUp>* 367<S-Down> move window one page down *i_<S-Down>* 368<PageDown> move window one page down *i_<PageDown>* 369<ScrollWheelDown> move window three lines down *i_<ScrollWheelDown>* 370<S-ScrollWheelDown> move window one page down *i_<S-ScrollWheelDown>* 371<ScrollWheelUp> move window three lines up *i_<ScrollWheelUp>* 372<S-ScrollWheelUp> move window one page up *i_<S-ScrollWheelUp>* 373<ScrollWheelLeft> move window six columns left *i_<ScrollWheelLeft>* 374<S-ScrollWheelLeft> move window one page left *i_<S-ScrollWheelLeft>* 375<ScrollWheelRight> move window six columns right *i_<ScrollWheelRight>* 376<S-ScrollWheelRight> move window one page right *i_<S-ScrollWheelRight>* 377CTRL-O execute one command, return to Insert mode *i_CTRL-O* 378CTRL-\ CTRL-O like CTRL-O but don't move the cursor *i_CTRL-\_CTRL-O* 379CTRL-L when 'insertmode' is set: go to Normal mode *i_CTRL-L* 380CTRL-G u break undo sequence, start new change *i_CTRL-G_u* 381CTRL-G U don't break undo with next left/right cursor *i_CTRL-G_U* 382 movement, if the cursor stays within 383 same the line 384----------------------------------------------------------------------- 385 386Note: If the cursor keys take you out of Insert mode, check the 'noesckeys' 387option. 388 389The CTRL-O command sometimes has a side effect: If the cursor was beyond the 390end of the line, it will be put on the last character in the line. In 391mappings it's often better to use <Esc> (first put an "x" in the text, <Esc> 392will then always put the cursor on it). Or use CTRL-\ CTRL-O, but then 393beware of the cursor possibly being beyond the end of the line. Note that the 394command following CTRL-\ CTRL-O can still move the cursor, it is not restored 395to its original position. 396 397The CTRL-O command takes you to Normal mode. If you then use a command enter 398Insert mode again it normally doesn't nest. Thus when typing "a<C-O>a" and 399then <Esc> takes you back to Normal mode, you do not need to type <Esc> twice. 400An exception is when not typing the command, e.g. when executing a mapping or 401sourcing a script. This makes mappings work that briefly switch to Insert 402mode. 403 404The shifted cursor keys are not available on all terminals. 405 406Another side effect is that a count specified before the "i" or "a" command is 407ignored. That is because repeating the effect of the command after CTRL-O is 408too complicated. 409 410An example for using CTRL-G u: > 411 412 :inoremap <C-H> <C-G>u<C-H> 413 414This redefines the backspace key to start a new undo sequence. You can now 415undo the effect of the backspace key, without changing what you typed before 416that, with CTRL-O u. Another example: > 417 418 :inoremap <CR> <C-]><C-G>u<CR> 419 420This breaks undo at each line break. It also expands abbreviations before 421this. 422 423An example for using CTRL-G U: > 424 425 inoremap <Left> <C-G>U<Left> 426 inoremap <Right> <C-G>U<Right> 427 inoremap <expr> <Home> col('.') == match(getline('.'), '\S') + 1 ? 428 \ repeat('<C-G>U<Left>', col('.') - 1) : 429 \ (col('.') < match(getline('.'), '\S') ? 430 \ repeat('<C-G>U<Right>', match(getline('.'), '\S') + 0) : 431 \ repeat('<C-G>U<Left>', col('.') - 1 - match(getline('.'), '\S'))) 432 inoremap <expr> <End> repeat('<C-G>U<Right>', col('$') - col('.')) 433 inoremap ( ()<C-G>U<Left> 434 435This makes it possible to use the cursor keys in Insert mode, without breaking 436the undo sequence and therefore using |.| (redo) will work as expected. 437Also entering a text like (with the "(" mapping from above): 438 439 Lorem ipsum (dolor 440 441will be repeatable by using |.| to the expected 442 443 Lorem ipsum (dolor) 444 445Using CTRL-O splits undo: the text typed before and after it is undone 446separately. If you want to avoid this (e.g., in a mapping) you might be able 447to use CTRL-R = |i_CTRL-R|. E.g., to call a function: > 448 :imap <F2> <C-R>=MyFunc()<CR> 449 450When the 'whichwrap' option is set appropriately, the <Left> and <Right> 451keys on the first/last character in the line make the cursor wrap to the 452previous/next line. 453 454The CTRL-G j and CTRL-G k commands can be used to insert text in front of a 455column. Example: > 456 int i; 457 int j; 458Position the cursor on the first "int", type "istatic <C-G>j ". The 459result is: > 460 static int i; 461 int j; 462When inserting the same text in front of the column in every line, use the 463Visual blockwise command "I" |v_b_I|. 464 465============================================================================== 4663. 'textwidth' and 'wrapmargin' options *ins-textwidth* 467 468The 'textwidth' option can be used to automatically break a line before it 469gets too long. Set the 'textwidth' option to the desired maximum line 470length. If you then type more characters (not spaces or tabs), the 471last word will be put on a new line (unless it is the only word on the 472line). If you set 'textwidth' to 0, this feature is disabled. 473 474The 'wrapmargin' option does almost the same. The difference is that 475'textwidth' has a fixed width while 'wrapmargin' depends on the width of the 476screen. When using 'wrapmargin' this is equal to using 'textwidth' with a 477value equal to (columns - 'wrapmargin'), where columns is the width of the 478screen. 479 480When 'textwidth' and 'wrapmargin' are both set, 'textwidth' is used. 481 482If you don't really want to break the line, but view the line wrapped at a 483convenient place, see the 'linebreak' option. 484 485The line is only broken automatically when using Insert mode, or when 486appending to a line. When in replace mode and the line length is not 487changed, the line will not be broken. 488 489Long lines are broken if you enter a non-white character after the margin. 490The situations where a line will be broken can be restricted by adding 491characters to the 'formatoptions' option: 492"l" Only break a line if it was not longer than 'textwidth' when the insert 493 started. 494"v" Only break at a white character that has been entered during the 495 current insert command. This is mostly Vi-compatible. 496"lv" Only break if the line was not longer than 'textwidth' when the insert 497 started and only at a white character that has been entered during the 498 current insert command. Only differs from "l" when entering non-white 499 characters while crossing the 'textwidth' boundary. 500 501Normally an internal function will be used to decide where to break the line. 502If you want to do it in a different way set the 'formatexpr' option to an 503expression that will take care of the line break. 504 505If you want to format a block of text, you can use the "gq" operator. Type 506"gq" and a movement command to move the cursor to the end of the block. In 507many cases, the command "gq}" will do what you want (format until the end of 508paragraph). Alternatively, you can use "gqap", which will format the whole 509paragraph, no matter where the cursor currently is. Or you can use Visual 510mode: hit "v", move to the end of the block, and type "gq". See also |gq|. 511 512============================================================================== 5134. 'expandtab', 'smarttab' and 'softtabstop' options *ins-expandtab* 514 515If the 'expandtab' option is on, spaces will be used to fill the amount of 516whitespace of the tab. If you want to enter a real <Tab>, type CTRL-V first 517(use CTRL-Q when CTRL-V is mapped |i_CTRL-Q|). 518The 'expandtab' option is off by default. Note that in Replace mode, a single 519character is replaced with several spaces. The result of this is that the 520number of characters in the line increases. Backspacing will delete one 521space at a time. The original character will be put back for only one space 522that you backspace over (the last one). 523 524 *ins-smarttab* 525When the 'smarttab' option is on, a <Tab> inserts 'shiftwidth' positions at 526the beginning of a line and 'tabstop' positions in other places. This means 527that often spaces instead of a <Tab> character are inserted. When 'smarttab' 528is off, a <Tab> always inserts 'tabstop' positions, and 'shiftwidth' is only 529used for ">>" and the like. 530 531 *ins-softtabstop* 532When the 'softtabstop' option is non-zero, a <Tab> inserts 'softtabstop' 533positions, and a <BS> used to delete white space, will delete 'softtabstop' 534positions. This feels like 'tabstop' was set to 'softtabstop', but a real 535<Tab> character still takes 'tabstop' positions, so your file will still look 536correct when used by other applications. 537 538If 'softtabstop' is non-zero, a <BS> will try to delete as much white space to 539move to the previous 'softtabstop' position, except when the previously 540inserted character is a space, then it will only delete the character before 541the cursor. Otherwise you cannot always delete a single character before the 542cursor. You will have to delete 'softtabstop' characters first, and then type 543extra spaces to get where you want to be. 544 545============================================================================== 5465. Replace mode *Replace* *Replace-mode* *mode-replace* 547 548Enter Replace mode with the "R" command in normal mode. 549 550In Replace mode, one character in the line is deleted for every character you 551type. If there is no character to delete (at the end of the line), the 552typed character is appended (as in Insert mode). Thus the number of 553characters in a line stays the same until you get to the end of the line. 554If a <NL> is typed, a line break is inserted and no character is deleted. 555 556Be careful with <Tab> characters. If you type a normal printing character in 557its place, the number of characters is still the same, but the number of 558columns will become smaller. 559 560If you delete characters in Replace mode (with <BS>, CTRL-W, or CTRL-U), what 561happens is that you delete the changes. The characters that were replaced 562are restored. If you had typed past the existing text, the characters you 563added are deleted. This is effectively a character-at-a-time undo. 564 565If the 'expandtab' option is on, a <Tab> will replace one character with 566several spaces. The result of this is that the number of characters in the 567line increases. Backspacing will delete one space at a time. The original 568character will be put back for only one space that you backspace over (the 569last one). 570 571============================================================================== 5726. Virtual Replace mode *vreplace-mode* *Virtual-Replace-mode* 573 574Enter Virtual Replace mode with the "gR" command in normal mode. 575{not available when compiled without the |+vreplace| feature} 576 577Virtual Replace mode is similar to Replace mode, but instead of replacing 578actual characters in the file, you are replacing screen real estate, so that 579characters further on in the file never appear to move. 580 581So if you type a <Tab> it may replace several normal characters, and if you 582type a letter on top of a <Tab> it may not replace anything at all, since the 583<Tab> will still line up to the same place as before. 584 585Typing a <NL> still doesn't cause characters later in the file to appear to 586move. The rest of the current line will be replaced by the <NL> (that is, 587they are deleted), and replacing continues on the next line. A new line is 588NOT inserted unless you go past the end of the file. 589 590Interesting effects are seen when using CTRL-T and CTRL-D. The characters 591before the cursor are shifted sideways as normal, but characters later in the 592line still remain still. CTRL-T will hide some of the old line under the 593shifted characters, but CTRL-D will reveal them again. 594 595As with Replace mode, using <BS> etc will bring back the characters that were 596replaced. This still works in conjunction with 'smartindent', CTRL-T and 597CTRL-D, 'expandtab', 'smarttab', 'softtabstop', etc. 598 599In 'list' mode, Virtual Replace mode acts as if it was not in 'list' mode, 600unless "L" is in 'cpoptions'. 601 602Note that the only situations for which characters beyond the cursor should 603appear to move are in List mode |'list'|, and occasionally when 'wrap' is set 604(and the line changes length to become shorter or wider than the width of the 605screen). In other cases spaces may be inserted to avoid following characters 606to move. 607 608This mode is very useful for editing <Tab> separated columns in tables, for 609entering new data while keeping all the columns aligned. 610 611============================================================================== 6127. Insert mode completion *ins-completion* 613 614In Insert and Replace mode, there are several commands to complete part of a 615keyword or line that has been typed. This is useful if you are using 616complicated keywords (e.g., function names with capitals and underscores). 617 618Completion can be done for: 619 6201. Whole lines |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L| 6212. keywords in the current file |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-N| 6223. keywords in 'dictionary' |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K| 6234. keywords in 'thesaurus', thesaurus-style |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T| 6245. keywords in the current and included files |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I| 6256. tags |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]| 6267. file names |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-F| 6278. definitions or macros |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D| 6289. Vim command-line |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-V| 62910. User defined completion |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U| 63011. omni completion |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O| 63112. Spelling suggestions |i_CTRL-X_s| 63213. keywords in 'complete' |i_CTRL-N| |i_CTRL-P| 633 634All these, except CTRL-N and CTRL-P, are done in CTRL-X mode. This is a 635sub-mode of Insert and Replace modes. You enter CTRL-X mode by typing CTRL-X 636and one of the CTRL-X commands. You exit CTRL-X mode by typing a key that is 637not a valid CTRL-X mode command. Valid keys are the CTRL-X command itself, 638CTRL-N (next), and CTRL-P (previous). 639 640To get the current completion information, |complete_info()| can be used. 641Also see the 'infercase' option if you want to adjust the case of the match. 642 643 *complete_CTRL-E* 644When completion is active you can use CTRL-E to stop it and go back to the 645originally typed text. The CTRL-E will not be inserted. 646 647 *complete_CTRL-Y* 648When the popup menu is displayed you can use CTRL-Y to stop completion and 649accept the currently selected entry. The CTRL-Y is not inserted. Typing a 650space, Enter, or some other unprintable character will leave completion mode 651and insert that typed character. 652 653When the popup menu is displayed there are a few more special keys, see 654|popupmenu-keys|. 655 656Note: The keys that are valid in CTRL-X mode are not mapped. This allows for 657":map ^F ^X^F" to work (where ^F is CTRL-F and ^X is CTRL-X). The key that 658ends CTRL-X mode (any key that is not a valid CTRL-X mode command) is mapped. 659Also, when doing completion with 'complete' mappings apply as usual. 660 661Note: While completion is active Insert mode can't be used recursively. 662Mappings that somehow invoke ":normal i.." will generate an E523 error. 663 664The following mappings are suggested to make typing the completion commands 665a bit easier (although they will hide other commands): > 666 :inoremap ^] ^X^] 667 :inoremap ^F ^X^F 668 :inoremap ^D ^X^D 669 :inoremap ^L ^X^L 670 671As a special case, typing CTRL-R to perform register insertion (see 672|i_CTRL-R|) will not exit CTRL-X mode. This is primarily to allow the use of 673the '=' register to call some function to determine the next operation. If 674the contents of the register (or result of the '=' register evaluation) are 675not valid CTRL-X mode keys, then CTRL-X mode will be exited as if those keys 676had been typed. 677 678For example, the following will map <Tab> to either actually insert a <Tab> if 679the current line is currently only whitespace, or start/continue a CTRL-N 680completion operation: > 681 682 function! CleverTab() 683 if strpart( getline('.'), 0, col('.')-1 ) =~ '^\s*$' 684 return "\<Tab>" 685 else 686 return "\<C-N>" 687 endif 688 endfunction 689 inoremap <Tab> <C-R>=CleverTab()<CR> 690 691 692 693Completing whole lines *compl-whole-line* 694 695 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L* 696CTRL-X CTRL-L Search backwards for a line that starts with the 697 same characters as those in the current line before 698 the cursor. Indent is ignored. The matching line is 699 inserted in front of the cursor. 700 The 'complete' option is used to decide which buffers 701 are searched for a match. Both loaded and unloaded 702 buffers are used. 703 CTRL-L or 704 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching line. This line 705 replaces the previous matching line. 706 707 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching line. This line 708 replaces the previous matching line. 709 710 CTRL-X CTRL-L After expanding a line you can additionally get the 711 line next to it by typing CTRL-X CTRL-L again, unless 712 a double CTRL-X is used. Only works for loaded 713 buffers. 714 715Completing keywords in current file *compl-current* 716 717 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-P* 718 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-N* 719CTRL-X CTRL-N Search forwards for words that start with the keyword 720 in front of the cursor. The found keyword is inserted 721 in front of the cursor. 722 723CTRL-X CTRL-P Search backwards for words that start with the keyword 724 in front of the cursor. The found keyword is inserted 725 in front of the cursor. 726 727 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This 728 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 729 730 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This 731 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 732 733 CTRL-X CTRL-N or 734 CTRL-X CTRL-P Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-N or CTRL-X CTRL-P will 735 copy the words following the previous expansion in 736 other contexts unless a double CTRL-X is used. 737 738If there is a keyword in front of the cursor (a name made out of alphabetic 739characters and characters in 'iskeyword'), it is used as the search pattern, 740with "\<" prepended (meaning: start of a word). Otherwise "\<\k\k" is used 741as search pattern (start of any keyword of at least two characters). 742 743In Replace mode, the number of characters that are replaced depends on the 744length of the matched string. This works like typing the characters of the 745matched string in Replace mode. 746 747If there is not a valid keyword character before the cursor, any keyword of 748at least two characters is matched. 749 e.g., to get: 750 printf("(%g, %g, %g)", vector[0], vector[1], vector[2]); 751 just type: 752 printf("(%g, %g, %g)", vector[0], ^P[1], ^P[2]); 753 754The search wraps around the end of the file, the value of 'wrapscan' is not 755used here. 756 757Multiple repeats of the same completion are skipped; thus a different match 758will be inserted at each CTRL-N and CTRL-P (unless there is only one 759matching keyword). 760 761Single character matches are never included, as they usually just get in 762the way of what you were really after. 763 e.g., to get: 764 printf("name = %s\n", name); 765 just type: 766 printf("name = %s\n", n^P); 767 or even: 768 printf("name = %s\n", ^P); 769The 'n' in '\n' is skipped. 770 771After expanding a word, you can use CTRL-X CTRL-P or CTRL-X CTRL-N to get the 772word following the expansion in other contexts. These sequences search for 773the text just expanded and further expand by getting an extra word. This is 774useful if you need to repeat a sequence of complicated words. Although CTRL-P 775and CTRL-N look just for strings of at least two characters, CTRL-X CTRL-P and 776CTRL-X CTRL-N can be used to expand words of just one character. 777 e.g., to get: 778 México 779 you can type: 780 M^N^P^X^P^X^P 781CTRL-N starts the expansion and then CTRL-P takes back the single character 782"M", the next two CTRL-X CTRL-P's get the words "é" and ";xico". 783 784If the previous expansion was split, because it got longer than 'textwidth', 785then just the text in the current line will be used. 786 787If the match found is at the end of a line, then the first word in the next 788line will be inserted and the message "word from next line" displayed, if 789this word is accepted the next CTRL-X CTRL-P or CTRL-X CTRL-N will search 790for those lines starting with this word. 791 792 793Completing keywords in 'dictionary' *compl-dictionary* 794 795 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K* 796CTRL-X CTRL-K Search the files given with the 'dictionary' option 797 for words that start with the keyword in front of the 798 cursor. This is like CTRL-N, but only the dictionary 799 files are searched, not the current file. The found 800 keyword is inserted in front of the cursor. This 801 could potentially be pretty slow, since all matches 802 are found before the first match is used. By default, 803 the 'dictionary' option is empty. 804 For suggestions where to find a list of words, see the 805 'dictionary' option. 806 807 CTRL-K or 808 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This 809 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 810 811 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This 812 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 813 814 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T* 815CTRL-X CTRL-T Works as CTRL-X CTRL-K, but in a special way. It uses 816 the 'thesaurus' option instead of 'dictionary'. If a 817 match is found in the thesaurus file, all the 818 remaining words on the same line are included as 819 matches, even though they don't complete the word. 820 Thus a word can be completely replaced. 821 822 For an example, imagine the 'thesaurus' file has a 823 line like this: > 824 angry furious mad enraged 825< Placing the cursor after the letters "ang" and typing 826 CTRL-X CTRL-T would complete the word "angry"; 827 subsequent presses would change the word to "furious", 828 "mad" etc. 829 Other uses include translation between two languages, 830 or grouping API functions by keyword. 831 832 CTRL-T or 833 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This 834 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 835 836 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This 837 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 838 839 840Completing keywords in the current and included files *compl-keyword* 841 842The 'include' option is used to specify a line that contains an include file 843name. The 'path' option is used to search for include files. 844 845 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I* 846CTRL-X CTRL-I Search for the first keyword in the current and 847 included files that starts with the same characters 848 as those before the cursor. The matched keyword is 849 inserted in front of the cursor. 850 851 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching keyword. This 852 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 853 Note: CTRL-I is the same as <Tab>, which is likely to 854 be typed after a successful completion, therefore 855 CTRL-I is not used for searching for the next match. 856 857 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching keyword. This 858 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 859 860 CTRL-X CTRL-I Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-I will copy the words 861 following the previous expansion in other contexts 862 unless a double CTRL-X is used. 863 864Completing tags *compl-tag* 865 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]* 866CTRL-X CTRL-] Search for the first tag that starts with the same 867 characters as before the cursor. The matching tag is 868 inserted in front of the cursor. Alphabetic 869 characters and characters in 'iskeyword' are used 870 to decide which characters are included in the tag 871 name (same as for a keyword). See also |CTRL-]|. 872 The 'showfulltag' option can be used to add context 873 from around the tag definition. 874 CTRL-] or 875 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching tag. This tag 876 replaces the previous matching tag. 877 878 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching tag. This tag 879 replaces the previous matching tag. 880 881 882Completing file names *compl-filename* 883 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-F* 884CTRL-X CTRL-F Search for the first file name that starts with the 885 same characters as before the cursor. The matching 886 file name is inserted in front of the cursor. 887 Alphabetic characters and characters in 'isfname' 888 are used to decide which characters are included in 889 the file name. Note: the 'path' option is not used 890 here (yet). 891 CTRL-F or 892 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching file name. This 893 file name replaces the previous matching file name. 894 895 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching file name. 896 This file name replaces the previous matching file 897 name. 898 899 900Completing definitions or macros *compl-define* 901 902The 'define' option is used to specify a line that contains a definition. 903The 'include' option is used to specify a line that contains an include file 904name. The 'path' option is used to search for include files. 905 906 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D* 907CTRL-X CTRL-D Search in the current and included files for the 908 first definition (or macro) name that starts with 909 the same characters as before the cursor. The found 910 definition name is inserted in front of the cursor. 911 CTRL-D or 912 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching macro name. This 913 macro name replaces the previous matching macro 914 name. 915 916 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching macro name. 917 This macro name replaces the previous matching macro 918 name. 919 920 CTRL-X CTRL-D Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-D will copy the words 921 following the previous expansion in other contexts 922 unless a double CTRL-X is used. 923 924 925Completing Vim commands *compl-vim* 926 927Completion is context-sensitive. It works like on the Command-line. It 928completes an Ex command as well as its arguments. This is useful when writing 929a Vim script. 930 931 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-V* 932CTRL-X CTRL-V Guess what kind of item is in front of the cursor and 933 find the first match for it. 934 Note: When CTRL-V is mapped you can often use CTRL-Q 935 instead of |i_CTRL-Q|. 936 CTRL-V or 937 CTRL-N Search forwards for next match. This match replaces 938 the previous one. 939 940 CTRL-P Search backwards for previous match. This match 941 replaces the previous one. 942 943 CTRL-X CTRL-V Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-V will do the same as 944 CTRL-V. This allows mapping a key to do Vim command 945 completion, for example: > 946 :imap <Tab> <C-X><C-V> 947 948User defined completion *compl-function* 949 950Completion is done by a function that can be defined by the user with the 951'completefunc' option. See below for how the function is called and an 952example |complete-functions|. 953 954 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U* 955CTRL-X CTRL-U Guess what kind of item is in front of the cursor and 956 find the first match for it. 957 CTRL-U or 958 CTRL-N Use the next match. This match replaces the previous 959 one. 960 961 CTRL-P Use the previous match. This match replaces the 962 previous one. 963 964 965Omni completion *compl-omni* 966 967Completion is done by a function that can be defined by the user with the 968'omnifunc' option. This is to be used for filetype-specific completion. 969 970See below for how the function is called and an example |complete-functions|. 971For remarks about specific filetypes see |compl-omni-filetypes|. 972More completion scripts will appear, check www.vim.org. Currently there is a 973first version for C++. 974 975 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O* 976CTRL-X CTRL-O Guess what kind of item is in front of the cursor and 977 find the first match for it. 978 CTRL-O or 979 CTRL-N Use the next match. This match replaces the previous 980 one. 981 982 CTRL-P Use the previous match. This match replaces the 983 previous one. 984 985 986Spelling suggestions *compl-spelling* 987 988A word before or at the cursor is located and correctly spelled words are 989suggested to replace it. If there is a badly spelled word in the line, before 990or under the cursor, the cursor is moved to after it. Otherwise the word just 991before the cursor is used for suggestions, even though it isn't badly spelled. 992 993NOTE: CTRL-S suspends display in many Unix terminals. Use 's' instead. Type 994CTRL-Q to resume displaying. 995 996 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-S* *i_CTRL-X_s* 997CTRL-X CTRL-S or 998CTRL-X s Locate the word in front of the cursor and find the 999 first spell suggestion for it. 1000 CTRL-S or 1001 CTRL-N Use the next suggestion. This replaces the previous 1002 one. Note that you can't use 's' here. 1003 1004 CTRL-P Use the previous suggestion. This replaces the 1005 previous one. 1006 1007 1008Completing keywords from different sources *compl-generic* 1009 1010 *i_CTRL-N* 1011CTRL-N Find next match for words that start with the 1012 keyword in front of the cursor, looking in places 1013 specified with the 'complete' option. The found 1014 keyword is inserted in front of the cursor. 1015 1016 *i_CTRL-P* 1017CTRL-P Find previous match for words that start with the 1018 keyword in front of the cursor, looking in places 1019 specified with the 'complete' option. The found 1020 keyword is inserted in front of the cursor. 1021 1022 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This 1023 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 1024 1025 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This 1026 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 1027 1028 CTRL-X CTRL-N or 1029 CTRL-X CTRL-P Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-N or CTRL-X CTRL-P will 1030 copy the words following the previous expansion in 1031 other contexts unless a double CTRL-X is used. 1032 1033 1034FUNCTIONS FOR FINDING COMPLETIONS *complete-functions* 1035 1036This applies to 'completefunc' and 'omnifunc'. 1037 1038The function is called in two different ways: 1039- First the function is called to find the start of the text to be completed. 1040- Later the function is called to actually find the matches. 1041 1042On the first invocation the arguments are: 1043 a:findstart 1 1044 a:base empty 1045 1046The function must return the column where the completion starts. It must be a 1047number between zero and the cursor column "col('.')". This involves looking 1048at the characters just before the cursor and including those characters that 1049could be part of the completed item. The text between this column and the 1050cursor column will be replaced with the matches. If the returned value is 1051larger than the cursor column, the cursor column is used. 1052 1053Negative return values: 1054 -2 To cancel silently and stay in completion mode. 1055 -3 To cancel silently and leave completion mode. 1056 Another negative value: completion starts at the cursor column 1057 1058On the second invocation the arguments are: 1059 a:findstart 0 1060 a:base the text with which matches should match; the text that was 1061 located in the first call (can be empty) 1062 1063The function must return a List with the matching words. These matches 1064usually include the "a:base" text. When there are no matches return an empty 1065List. 1066 1067In order to return more information than the matching words, return a Dict 1068that contains the List. The Dict can have these items: 1069 words The List of matching words (mandatory). 1070 refresh A string to control re-invocation of the function 1071 (optional). 1072 The only value currently recognized is "always", the 1073 effect is that the function is called whenever the 1074 leading text is changed. 1075 1076If you want to suppress the warning message for an empty result, return 1077|v:none|. This is useful to implement asynchronous completion with 1078|complete()|. 1079 1080Other items are ignored. 1081 1082For acting upon end of completion, see the |CompleteDonePre| and 1083|CompleteDone| autocommand event. 1084 1085For example, the function can contain this: > 1086 let matches = ... list of words ... 1087 return {'words': matches, 'refresh': 'always'} 1088< 1089 *complete-items* 1090Each list item can either be a string or a Dictionary. When it is a string it 1091is used as the completion. When it is a Dictionary it can contain these 1092items: 1093 word the text that will be inserted, mandatory 1094 abbr abbreviation of "word"; when not empty it is used in 1095 the menu instead of "word" 1096 menu extra text for the popup menu, displayed after "word" 1097 or "abbr" 1098 info more information about the item, can be displayed in a 1099 preview or popup window 1100 kind single letter indicating the type of completion 1101 icase when non-zero case is to be ignored when comparing 1102 items to be equal; when omitted zero is used, thus 1103 items that only differ in case are added 1104 equal when non-zero, always treat this item to be equal when 1105 comparing. Which means, "equal=1" disables filtering 1106 of this item. 1107 dup when non-zero this match will be added even when an 1108 item with the same word is already present. 1109 empty when non-zero this match will be added even when it is 1110 an empty string 1111 user_data custom data which is associated with the item and 1112 available in |v:completed_item|; it can be any type; 1113 defaults to an empty string 1114 1115All of these except "icase", "equal", "dup" and "empty" must be a string. If 1116an item does not meet these requirements then an error message is given and 1117further items in the list are not used. You can mix string and Dictionary 1118items in the returned list. 1119 1120The "menu" item is used in the popup menu and may be truncated, thus it should 1121be relatively short. The "info" item can be longer, it will be displayed in 1122the preview window when "preview" appears in 'completeopt' or in a popup 1123window when "popup" appears in 'completeopt'. In the preview window the 1124"info" item will also remain displayed after the popup menu has been removed. 1125This is useful for function arguments. Use a single space for "info" to 1126remove existing text in the preview window. The size of the preview window is 1127three lines, but 'previewheight' is used when it has a value of 1 or 2. 1128 1129 *complete-popup* 1130When "popup" is in 'completeopt' a popup window is used to display the "info". 1131Then the 'completepopup' option specifies the properties of the popup. This 1132is used when the info popup is created. The option is a comma separated list 1133of values: 1134 height maximum height of the popup 1135 width maximum width of the popup 1136 highlight highlight group of the popup (default is PmenuSel) 1137 align "item" (default) or "menu" 1138 border "on" (default) or "off" 1139Example: > 1140 :set completepopup=height:10,width:60,highlight:InfoPopup 1141 1142When the "align" value is "item" then the popup is positioned close to the 1143selected item. Changing the selection will also move the popup. When "align" 1144is "menu" then the popup is aligned with the top of the menu if the menu is 1145below the text, and the bottom of the menu otherwise. 1146 1147After the info popup is created it can be found with |popup_findinfo()| and 1148properties can be changed with |popup_setoptions()|. 1149 1150 *complete-popuphidden* 1151If the information for the popup is obtained asynchronously, use "popuphidden" 1152in 'completeopt'. The info popup will then be initially hidden and 1153|popup_show()| must be called once it has been filled with the info. This can 1154be done with a |CompleteChanged| autocommand, something like this: > 1155 set completeopt+=popuphidden 1156 au CompleteChanged * call UpdateCompleteInfo() 1157 func UpdateCompleteInfo() 1158 " Cancel any pending info fetch 1159 let item = v:event.completed_item 1160 " Start fetching info for the item then call ShowCompleteInfo(info) 1161 endfunc 1162 func ShowCompleteInfo(info) 1163 let id = popup_findinfo() 1164 if id 1165 call popup_settext(id, 'async info: ' .. a:info) 1166 call popup_show(id) 1167 endif 1168 endfunc 1169 1170< *complete-item-kind* 1171The "kind" item uses a single letter to indicate the kind of completion. This 1172may be used to show the completion differently (different color or icon). 1173Currently these types can be used: 1174 v variable 1175 f function or method 1176 m member of a struct or class 1177 t typedef 1178 d #define or macro 1179 1180When searching for matches takes some time call |complete_add()| to add each 1181match to the total list. These matches should then not appear in the returned 1182list! Call |complete_check()| now and then to allow the user to press a key 1183while still searching for matches. Stop searching when it returns non-zero. 1184 1185 *E839* *E840* 1186The function is allowed to move the cursor, it is restored afterwards. 1187The function is not allowed to move to another window or delete text. 1188 1189An example that completes the names of the months: > 1190 fun! CompleteMonths(findstart, base) 1191 if a:findstart 1192 " locate the start of the word 1193 let line = getline('.') 1194 let start = col('.') - 1 1195 while start > 0 && line[start - 1] =~ '\a' 1196 let start -= 1 1197 endwhile 1198 return start 1199 else 1200 " find months matching with "a:base" 1201 let res = [] 1202 for m in split("Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec") 1203 if m =~ '^' . a:base 1204 call add(res, m) 1205 endif 1206 endfor 1207 return res 1208 endif 1209 endfun 1210 set completefunc=CompleteMonths 1211< 1212The same, but now pretending searching for matches is slow: > 1213 fun! CompleteMonths(findstart, base) 1214 if a:findstart 1215 " locate the start of the word 1216 let line = getline('.') 1217 let start = col('.') - 1 1218 while start > 0 && line[start - 1] =~ '\a' 1219 let start -= 1 1220 endwhile 1221 return start 1222 else 1223 " find months matching with "a:base" 1224 for m in split("Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec") 1225 if m =~ '^' . a:base 1226 call complete_add(m) 1227 endif 1228 sleep 300m " simulate searching for next match 1229 if complete_check() 1230 break 1231 endif 1232 endfor 1233 return [] 1234 endif 1235 endfun 1236 set completefunc=CompleteMonths 1237< 1238 1239INSERT COMPLETION POPUP MENU *ins-completion-menu* 1240 *popupmenu-completion* 1241Vim can display the matches in a simplistic popup menu. 1242 1243The menu is used when: 1244- The 'completeopt' option contains "menu" or "menuone". 1245- The terminal supports at least 8 colors. 1246- There are at least two matches. One if "menuone" is used. 1247 1248The 'pumheight' option can be used to set a maximum height. The default is to 1249use all space available. 1250The 'pumwidth' option can be used to set a minimum width. The default is 15 1251characters. 1252 1253There are three states: 12541. A complete match has been inserted, e.g., after using CTRL-N or CTRL-P. 12552. A cursor key has been used to select another match. The match was not 1256 inserted then, only the entry in the popup menu is highlighted. 12573. Only part of a match has been inserted and characters were typed or the 1258 backspace key was used. The list of matches was then adjusted for what is 1259 in front of the cursor. 1260 1261You normally start in the first state, with the first match being inserted. 1262When "longest" is in 'completeopt' and there is more than one match you start 1263in the third state. 1264 1265If you select another match, e.g., with CTRL-N or CTRL-P, you go to the first 1266state. This doesn't change the list of matches. 1267 1268When you are back at the original text then you are in the third state. To 1269get there right away you can use a mapping that uses CTRL-P right after 1270starting the completion: > 1271 :imap <F7> <C-N><C-P> 1272< 1273 *popupmenu-keys* 1274In the first state these keys have a special meaning: 1275<BS> and CTRL-H Delete one character, find the matches for the word before 1276 the cursor. This reduces the list of matches, often to one 1277 entry, and switches to the second state. 1278Any non-special character: 1279 Stop completion without changing the match and insert the 1280 typed character. 1281 1282In the second and third state these keys have a special meaning: 1283<BS> and CTRL-H Delete one character, find the matches for the shorter word 1284 before the cursor. This may find more matches. 1285CTRL-L Add one character from the current match, may reduce the 1286 number of matches. 1287any printable, non-white character: 1288 Add this character and reduce the number of matches. 1289 1290In all three states these can be used: 1291CTRL-Y Yes: Accept the currently selected match and stop completion. 1292CTRL-E End completion, go back to what was there before selecting a 1293 match (what was typed or longest common string). 1294<PageUp> Select a match several entries back, but don't insert it. 1295<PageDown> Select a match several entries further, but don't insert it. 1296<Up> Select the previous match, as if CTRL-P was used, but don't 1297 insert it. 1298<Down> Select the next match, as if CTRL-N was used, but don't 1299 insert it. 1300<Space> or <Tab> Stop completion without changing the match and insert the 1301 typed character. 1302 1303The behavior of the <Enter> key depends on the state you are in: 1304first state: Use the text as it is and insert a line break. 1305second state: Insert the currently selected match. 1306third state: Use the text as it is and insert a line break. 1307 1308In other words: If you used the cursor keys to select another entry in the 1309list of matches then the <Enter> key inserts that match. If you typed 1310something else then <Enter> inserts a line break. 1311 1312 1313The colors of the menu can be changed with these highlight groups: 1314Pmenu normal item |hl-Pmenu| 1315PmenuSel selected item |hl-PmenuSel| 1316PmenuSbar scrollbar |hl-PmenuSbar| 1317PmenuThumb thumb of the scrollbar |hl-PmenuThumb| 1318 1319There are no special mappings for when the popup menu is visible. However, 1320you can use an Insert mode mapping that checks the |pumvisible()| function to 1321do something different. Example: > 1322 :inoremap <Down> <C-R>=pumvisible() ? "\<lt>C-N>" : "\<lt>Down>"<CR> 1323 1324You can use of <expr> in mapping to have the popup menu used when typing a 1325character and some condition is met. For example, for typing a dot: > 1326 inoremap <expr> . MayComplete() 1327 func MayComplete() 1328 if (can complete) 1329 return ".\<C-X>\<C-O>" 1330 endif 1331 return '.' 1332 endfunc 1333 1334See |:map-<expr>| for more info. 1335 1336 1337FILETYPE-SPECIFIC REMARKS FOR OMNI COMPLETION *compl-omni-filetypes* 1338 1339The file used for {filetype} should be autoload/{filetype}complete.vim 1340in 'runtimepath'. Thus for "java" it is autoload/javacomplete.vim. 1341 1342 1343C *ft-c-omni* 1344 1345Completion of C code requires a tags file. You should use Exuberant ctags, 1346because it adds extra information that is needed for completion. You can find 1347it here: http://ctags.sourceforge.net/ Version 5.6 or later is recommended. 1348 1349For version 5.5.4 you should add a patch that adds the "typename:" field: 1350 ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/unstable/patches/ctags-5.5.4.patch 1351A compiled .exe for MS-Windows can be found at: 1352 http://ctags.sourceforge.net/ 1353 https://github.com/universal-ctags/ctags-win32 1354 1355If you want to complete system functions you can do something like this. Use 1356ctags to generate a tags file for all the system header files: > 1357 % ctags -R -f ~/.vim/systags /usr/include /usr/local/include 1358In your vimrc file add this tags file to the 'tags' option: > 1359 set tags+=~/.vim/systags 1360 1361When using CTRL-X CTRL-O after a name without any "." or "->" it is completed 1362from the tags file directly. This works for any identifier, also function 1363names. If you want to complete a local variable name, which does not appear 1364in the tags file, use CTRL-P instead. 1365 1366When using CTRL-X CTRL-O after something that has "." or "->" Vim will attempt 1367to recognize the type of the variable and figure out what members it has. 1368This means only members valid for the variable will be listed. 1369 1370When a member name already was complete, CTRL-X CTRL-O will add a "." or 1371"->" for composite types. 1372 1373Vim doesn't include a C compiler, only the most obviously formatted 1374declarations are recognized. Preprocessor stuff may cause confusion. 1375When the same structure name appears in multiple places all possible members 1376are included. 1377 1378 1379CSS *ft-css-omni* 1380 1381Complete properties and their appropriate values according to CSS 2.1 1382specification. 1383 1384 1385HTML *ft-html-omni* 1386XHTML *ft-xhtml-omni* 1387 1388CTRL-X CTRL-O provides completion of various elements of (X)HTML files. It is 1389designed to support writing of XHTML 1.0 Strict files but will also work for 1390other versions of HTML. Features: 1391 1392- after "<" complete tag name depending on context (no div suggestion inside 1393 of an a tag); '/>' indicates empty tags 1394- inside of tag complete proper attributes (no width attribute for an a tag); 1395 show also type of attribute; '*' indicates required attributes 1396- when attribute has limited number of possible values help to complete them 1397- complete names of entities 1398- complete values of "class" and "id" attributes with data obtained from 1399 <style> tag and included CSS files 1400- when completing value of "style" attribute or working inside of "style" tag 1401 switch to |ft-css-omni| completion 1402- when completing values of events attributes or working inside of "script" 1403 tag switch to |ft-javascript-omni| completion 1404- when used after "</" CTRL-X CTRL-O will close the last opened tag 1405 1406Note: When used first time completion menu will be shown with little delay 1407- this is time needed for loading of data file. 1408Note: Completion may fail in badly formatted documents. In such case try to 1409run |:make| command to detect formatting problems. 1410 1411 1412HTML flavor *html-flavor* 1413 1414The default HTML completion depends on the filetype. For HTML files it is 1415HTML 4.01 Transitional ('filetype' is "html"), for XHTML it is XHTML 1.0 1416Strict ('filetype' is "xhtml"). 1417 1418When doing completion outside of any other tag you will have possibility to 1419choose DOCTYPE and the appropriate data file will be loaded and used for all 1420next completions. 1421 1422More about format of data file in |xml-omni-datafile|. Some of the data files 1423may be found on the Vim website (|www|). 1424 1425Note that b:html_omni_flavor may point to a file with any XML data. This 1426makes possible to mix PHP (|ft-php-omni|) completion with any XML dialect 1427(assuming you have data file for it). Without setting that variable XHTML 1.0 1428Strict will be used. 1429 1430 1431JAVASCRIPT *ft-javascript-omni* 1432 1433Completion of most elements of JavaScript language and DOM elements. 1434 1435Complete: 1436 1437- variables 1438- function name; show function arguments 1439- function arguments 1440- properties of variables trying to detect type of variable 1441- complete DOM objects and properties depending on context 1442- keywords of language 1443 1444Completion works in separate JavaScript files (&ft==javascript), inside of 1445<script> tag of (X)HTML and in values of event attributes (including scanning 1446of external files). 1447 1448DOM compatibility 1449 1450At the moment (beginning of 2006) there are two main browsers - MS Internet 1451Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. These two applications are covering over 90% of 1452market. Theoretically standards are created by W3C organisation 1453(http://www.w3c.org) but they are not always followed/implemented. 1454 1455 IE FF W3C Omni completion ~ 1456 +/- +/- + + ~ 1457 + + - + ~ 1458 + - - - ~ 1459 - + - - ~ 1460 1461Regardless from state of implementation in browsers but if element is defined 1462in standards, completion plugin will place element in suggestion list. When 1463both major engines implemented element, even if this is not in standards it 1464will be suggested. All other elements are not placed in suggestion list. 1465 1466 1467PHP *ft-php-omni* 1468 1469Completion of PHP code requires a tags file for completion of data from 1470external files and for class aware completion. You should use Exuberant ctags 1471version 5.5.4 or newer. You can find it here: http://ctags.sourceforge.net/ 1472 1473Script completes: 1474 1475- after $ variables name 1476 - if variable was declared as object add "->", if tags file is available show 1477 name of class 1478 - after "->" complete only function and variable names specific for given 1479 class. To find class location and contents tags file is required. Because 1480 PHP isn't strongly typed language user can use @var tag to declare class: > 1481 1482 /* @var $myVar myClass */ 1483 $myVar-> 1484< 1485 Still, to find myClass contents tags file is required. 1486 1487- function names with additional info: 1488 - in case of built-in functions list of possible arguments and after | type 1489 data returned by function 1490 - in case of user function arguments and name of file where function was 1491 defined (if it is not current file) 1492 1493- constants names 1494- class names after "new" declaration 1495 1496 1497Note: when doing completion first time Vim will load all necessary data into 1498memory. It may take several seconds. After next use of completion delay 1499should not be noticeable. 1500 1501Script detects if cursor is inside <?php ?> tags. If it is outside it will 1502automatically switch to HTML/CSS/JavaScript completion. Note: contrary to 1503original HTML files completion of tags (and only tags) isn't context aware. 1504 1505 1506RUBY *ft-ruby-omni* 1507 1508Completion of Ruby code requires that vim be built with |+ruby|. 1509 1510Ruby completion will parse your buffer on demand in order to provide a list of 1511completions. These completions will be drawn from modules loaded by 'require' 1512and modules defined in the current buffer. 1513 1514The completions provided by CTRL-X CTRL-O are sensitive to the context: 1515 1516 CONTEXT COMPLETIONS PROVIDED ~ 1517 1518 1. Not inside a class definition Classes, constants and globals 1519 1520 2. Inside a class definition Methods or constants defined in the class 1521 1522 3. After '.', '::' or ':' Methods applicable to the object being 1523 dereferenced 1524 1525 4. After ':' or ':foo' Symbol name (beginning with 'foo') 1526 1527Notes: 1528 - Vim will load/evaluate code in order to provide completions. This may 1529 cause some code execution, which may be a concern. This is no longer 1530 enabled by default, to enable this feature add > 1531 let g:rubycomplete_buffer_loading = 1 1532<- In context 1 above, Vim can parse the entire buffer to add a list of 1533 classes to the completion results. This feature is turned off by default, 1534 to enable it add > 1535 let g:rubycomplete_classes_in_global = 1 1536< to your vimrc 1537 - In context 2 above, anonymous classes are not supported. 1538 - In context 3 above, Vim will attempt to determine the methods supported by 1539 the object. 1540 - Vim can detect and load the Rails environment for files within a rails 1541 project. The feature is disabled by default, to enable it add > 1542 let g:rubycomplete_rails = 1 1543< to your vimrc 1544 1545 1546SYNTAX *ft-syntax-omni* 1547 1548Vim has the ability to color syntax highlight nearly 500 languages. Part of 1549this highlighting includes knowing what keywords are part of a language. Many 1550filetypes already have custom completion scripts written for them, the 1551syntaxcomplete plugin provides basic completion for all other filetypes. It 1552does this by populating the omni completion list with the text Vim already 1553knows how to color highlight. It can be used for any filetype and provides a 1554minimal language-sensitive completion. 1555 1556To enable syntax code completion you can run: > 1557 setlocal omnifunc=syntaxcomplete#Complete 1558 1559You can automate this by placing the following in your |.vimrc| (after any 1560":filetype" command): > 1561 if has("autocmd") && exists("+omnifunc") 1562 autocmd Filetype * 1563 \ if &omnifunc == "" | 1564 \ setlocal omnifunc=syntaxcomplete#Complete | 1565 \ endif 1566 endif 1567 1568The above will set completion to this script only if a specific plugin does 1569not already exist for that filetype. 1570 1571Each filetype can have a wide range of syntax items. The plugin allows you to 1572customize which syntax groups to include or exclude from the list. Let's have 1573a look at the PHP filetype to see how this works. 1574 1575If you edit a file called, index.php, run the following command: > 1576 syntax list 1577 1578The first thing you will notice is that there are many different syntax groups. 1579The PHP language can include elements from different languages like HTML, 1580JavaScript and many more. The syntax plugin will only include syntax groups 1581that begin with the filetype, "php", in this case. For example these syntax 1582groups are included by default with the PHP: phpEnvVar, phpIntVar, 1583phpFunctions. 1584 1585If you wish non-filetype syntax items to also be included, you can use a 1586regular expression syntax (added in version 13.0 of 1587autoload/syntaxcomplete.vim) to add items. Looking at the output from 1588":syntax list" while editing a PHP file I can see some of these entries: > 1589 htmlArg,htmlTag,htmlTagName,javaScriptStatement,javaScriptGlobalObjects 1590 1591To pick up any JavaScript and HTML keyword syntax groups while editing a PHP 1592file, you can use 3 different regexs, one for each language. Or you can 1593simply restrict the include groups to a particular value, without using 1594a regex string: > 1595 let g:omni_syntax_group_include_php = 'php\w\+,javaScript\w\+,html\w\+' 1596 let g:omni_syntax_group_include_php = 'phpFunctions,phpMethods' 1597< 1598The basic form of this variable is: > 1599 let g:omni_syntax_group_include_{filetype} = 'regex,comma,separated' 1600 1601The PHP language has an enormous number of items which it knows how to syntax 1602highlight. These items will be available within the omni completion list. 1603 1604Some people may find this list unwieldy or are only interested in certain 1605items. There are two ways to prune this list (if necessary). If you find 1606certain syntax groups you do not wish displayed you can use two different 1607methods to identify these groups. The first specifically lists the syntax 1608groups by name. The second uses a regular expression to identify both 1609syntax groups. Simply add one the following to your vimrc: > 1610 let g:omni_syntax_group_exclude_php = 'phpCoreConstant,phpConstant' 1611 let g:omni_syntax_group_exclude_php = 'php\w*Constant' 1612 1613Add as many syntax groups to this list by comma separating them. The basic 1614form of this variable is: > 1615 let g:omni_syntax_group_exclude_{filetype} = 'regex,comma,separated' 1616 1617You can create as many of these variables as you need, varying only the 1618filetype at the end of the variable name. 1619 1620The plugin uses the isKeyword option to determine where word boundaries are 1621for the syntax items. For example, in the Scheme language completion should 1622include the "-", call-with-output-file. Depending on your filetype, this may 1623not provide the words you are expecting. Setting the 1624g:omni_syntax_use_iskeyword option to 0 will force the syntax plugin to break 1625on word characters. This can be controlled adding the following to your 1626vimrc: > 1627 let g:omni_syntax_use_iskeyword = 0 1628 1629For plugin developers, the plugin exposes a public function OmniSyntaxList. 1630This function can be used to request a List of syntax items. When editing a 1631SQL file (:e syntax.sql) you can use the ":syntax list" command to see the 1632various groups and syntax items. For example: > 1633 syntax list 1634 1635Yields data similar to this: 1636 sqlOperator xxx some prior all like and any escape exists in is not ~ 1637 or intersect minus between distinct ~ 1638 links to Operator ~ 1639 sqlType xxx varbit varchar nvarchar bigint int uniqueidentifier ~ 1640 date money long tinyint unsigned xml text smalldate ~ 1641 double datetime nchar smallint numeric time bit char ~ 1642 varbinary binary smallmoney ~ 1643 image float integer timestamp real decimal ~ 1644 1645There are two syntax groups listed here: sqlOperator and sqlType. To retrieve 1646a List of syntax items you can call OmniSyntaxList a number of different 1647ways. To retrieve all syntax items regardless of syntax group: > 1648 echo OmniSyntaxList( [] ) 1649 1650To retrieve only the syntax items for the sqlOperator syntax group: > 1651 echo OmniSyntaxList( ['sqlOperator'] ) 1652 1653To retrieve all syntax items for both the sqlOperator and sqlType groups: > 1654 echo OmniSyntaxList( ['sqlOperator', 'sqlType'] ) 1655 1656A regular expression can also be used: > 1657 echo OmniSyntaxList( ['sql\w\+'] ) 1658 1659From within a plugin, you would typically assign the output to a List: > 1660 let myKeywords = [] 1661 let myKeywords = OmniSyntaxList( ['sqlKeyword'] ) 1662 1663 1664SQL *ft-sql-omni* 1665 1666Completion for the SQL language includes statements, functions, keywords. 1667It will also dynamically complete tables, procedures, views and column lists 1668with data pulled directly from within a database. For detailed instructions 1669and a tutorial see |omni-sql-completion|. 1670 1671The SQL completion plugin can be used in conjunction with other completion 1672plugins. For example, the PHP filetype has its own completion plugin. 1673Since PHP is often used to generate dynamic website by accessing a database, 1674the SQL completion plugin can also be enabled. This allows you to complete 1675PHP code and SQL code at the same time. 1676 1677 1678XML *ft-xml-omni* 1679 1680Vim 7 provides a mechanism for context aware completion of XML files. It 1681depends on a special |xml-omni-datafile| and two commands: |:XMLns| and 1682|:XMLent|. Features are: 1683 1684- after "<" complete the tag name, depending on context 1685- inside of a tag complete proper attributes 1686- when an attribute has a limited number of possible values help to complete 1687 them 1688- complete names of entities (defined in |xml-omni-datafile| and in the 1689 current file with "<!ENTITY" declarations) 1690- when used after "</" CTRL-X CTRL-O will close the last opened tag 1691 1692Format of XML data file *xml-omni-datafile* 1693 1694XML data files are stored in the "autoload/xml" directory in 'runtimepath'. 1695Vim distribution provides examples of data files in the 1696"$VIMRUNTIME/autoload/xml" directory. They have a meaningful name which will 1697be used in commands. It should be a unique name which will not create 1698conflicts. For example, the name xhtml10s.vim means it is the data file for 1699XHTML 1.0 Strict. 1700 1701Each file contains a variable with a name like g:xmldata_xhtml10s . It is 1702a compound from two parts: 1703 17041. "g:xmldata_" general prefix, constant for all data files 17052. "xhtml10s" the name of the file and the name of the described XML 1706 dialect; it will be used as an argument for the |:XMLns| 1707 command 1708 1709Part two must be exactly the same as name of file. 1710 1711The variable is a |Dictionary|. Keys are tag names and each value is a two 1712element |List|. The first element of the List is also a List with the names 1713of possible children. The second element is a |Dictionary| with the names of 1714attributes as keys and the possible values of attributes as values. Example: > 1715 1716 let g:xmldata_crippled = { 1717 \ "vimxmlentities": ["amp", "lt", "gt", "apos", "quot"], 1718 \ 'vimxmlroot': ['tag1'], 1719 \ 'tag1': 1720 \ [ ['childoftag1a', 'childoftag1b'], {'attroftag1a': [], 1721 \ 'attroftag1b': ['valueofattr1', 'valueofattr2']}], 1722 \ 'childoftag1a': 1723 \ [ [], {'attrofchild': ['attrofchild']}], 1724 \ 'childoftag1b': 1725 \ [ ['childoftag1a'], {'attrofchild': []}], 1726 \ "vimxmltaginfo": { 1727 \ 'tag1': ['Menu info', 'Long information visible in preview window']}, 1728 \ 'vimxmlattrinfo': { 1729 \ 'attrofchild': ['Menu info', 'Long information visible in preview window']}} 1730 1731This example would be put in the "autoload/xml/crippled.vim" file and could 1732help to write this file: > 1733 1734 <tag1 attroftag1b="valueofattr1"> 1735 <childoftag1a attrofchild> 1736 & < 1737 </childoftag1a> 1738 <childoftag1b attrofchild="5"> 1739 <childoftag1a> 1740 > ' " 1741 </childoftag1a> 1742 </childoftag1b> 1743 </tag1> 1744 1745In the example four special elements are visible: 1746 17471. "vimxmlentities" - a special key with List containing entities of this XML 1748 dialect. 17492. If the list containing possible values of attributes has one element and 1750 this element is equal to the name of the attribute this attribute will be 1751 treated as boolean and inserted as 'attrname' and not as 'attrname="' 17523. "vimxmltaginfo" - a special key with a Dictionary containing tag 1753 names as keys and two element List as values, for additional menu info and 1754 the long description. 17554. "vimxmlattrinfo" - special key with Dictionary containing attribute names 1756 as keys and two element List as values, for additional menu info and long 1757 description. 1758 1759Note: Tag names in the data file MUST not contain a namespace description. 1760Check xsl.vim for an example. 1761Note: All data and functions are publicly available as global 1762variables/functions and can be used for personal editing functions. 1763 1764 1765DTD -> Vim *dtd2vim* 1766 1767On |www| is the script |dtd2vim| which parses DTD and creates an XML data file 1768for Vim XML omni completion. 1769 1770 dtd2vim: http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1462 1771 1772Check the beginning of that file for usage details. 1773The script requires perl and: 1774 1775 perlSGML: http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/perlsgml 1776 1777 1778Commands 1779 1780:XMLns {name} [{namespace}] *:XMLns* 1781 1782Vim has to know which data file should be used and with which namespace. For 1783loading of the data file and connecting data with the proper namespace use 1784|:XMLns| command. The first (obligatory) argument is the name of the data 1785(xhtml10s, xsl). The second argument is the code of namespace (h, xsl). When 1786used without a second argument the dialect will be used as default - without 1787namespace declaration. For example to use XML completion in .xsl files: > 1788 1789 :XMLns xhtml10s 1790 :XMLns xsl xsl 1791 1792 1793:XMLent {name} *:XMLent* 1794 1795By default entities will be completed from the data file of the default 1796namespace. The XMLent command should be used in case when there is no default 1797namespace: > 1798 1799 :XMLent xhtml10s 1800 1801Usage 1802 1803While used in this situation (after declarations from previous part, | is 1804cursor position): > 1805 1806 <| 1807 1808Will complete to an appropriate XHTML tag, and in this situation: > 1809 1810 <xsl:| 1811 1812Will complete to an appropriate XSL tag. 1813 1814 1815The script xmlcomplete.vim, provided through the |autoload| mechanism, 1816has the xmlcomplete#GetLastOpenTag() function which can be used in XML files 1817to get the name of the last open tag (b:unaryTagsStack has to be defined): > 1818 1819 :echo xmlcomplete#GetLastOpenTag("b:unaryTagsStack") 1820 1821 1822 1823============================================================================== 18248. Insert mode commands *inserting* 1825 1826The following commands can be used to insert new text into the buffer. They 1827can all be undone and repeated with the "." command. 1828 1829 *a* 1830a Append text after the cursor [count] times. If the 1831 cursor is in the first column of an empty line Insert 1832 starts there. But not when 'virtualedit' is set! 1833 1834 *A* 1835A Append text at the end of the line [count] times. 1836 1837<insert> or *i* *insert* *<Insert>* 1838i Insert text before the cursor [count] times. 1839 When using CTRL-O in Insert mode |i_CTRL-O| the count 1840 is not supported. 1841 1842 *I* 1843I Insert text before the first non-blank in the line 1844 [count] times. 1845 When the 'H' flag is present in 'cpoptions' and the 1846 line only contains blanks, insert start just before 1847 the last blank. 1848 1849 *gI* 1850gI Insert text in column 1 [count] times. 1851 1852 *gi* 1853gi Insert text in the same position as where Insert mode 1854 was stopped last time in the current buffer. 1855 This uses the |'^| mark. It's different from "`^i" 1856 when the mark is past the end of the line. 1857 The position is corrected for inserted/deleted lines, 1858 but NOT for inserted/deleted characters. 1859 When the |:keepjumps| command modifier is used the |'^| 1860 mark won't be changed. 1861 1862 *o* 1863o Begin a new line below the cursor and insert text, 1864 repeat [count] times. 1865 When the '#' flag is in 'cpoptions' the count is 1866 ignored. 1867 1868 *O* 1869O Begin a new line above the cursor and insert text, 1870 repeat [count] times. 1871 When the '#' flag is in 'cpoptions' the count is 1872 ignored. 1873 1874These commands are used to start inserting text. You can end insert mode with 1875<Esc>. See |mode-ins-repl| for the other special characters in Insert mode. 1876The effect of [count] takes place after Insert mode is exited. 1877 1878When 'autoindent' is on, the indent for a new line is obtained from the 1879previous line. When 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is on, the indent for a line 1880is automatically adjusted for C programs. 1881 1882'textwidth' can be set to the maximum width for a line. When a line becomes 1883too long when appending characters a line break is automatically inserted. 1884 1885 1886============================================================================== 18879. Ex insert commands *inserting-ex* 1888 1889 *:a* *:append* 1890:{range}a[ppend][!] Insert several lines of text below the specified 1891 line. If the {range} is missing, the text will be 1892 inserted after the current line. 1893 Adding [!] toggles 'autoindent' for the time this 1894 command is executed. 1895 1896 *:i* *:in* *:insert* 1897:{range}i[nsert][!] Insert several lines of text above the specified 1898 line. If the {range} is missing, the text will be 1899 inserted before the current line. 1900 Adding [!] toggles 'autoindent' for the time this 1901 command is executed. 1902 1903These two commands will keep on asking for lines, until you type a line 1904containing only a ".". Watch out for lines starting with a backslash, see 1905|line-continuation|. 1906 1907When in Ex mode (see |-e|) a backslash at the end of the line can be used to 1908insert a NUL character. To be able to have a line ending in a backslash use 1909two backslashes. This means that the number of backslashes is halved, but 1910only at the end of the line. 1911 1912NOTE: These commands cannot be used with |:global| or |:vglobal|. 1913":append" and ":insert" don't work properly in between ":if" and 1914":endif", ":for" and ":endfor", ":while" and ":endwhile". 1915 1916 *:start* *:startinsert* 1917:star[tinsert][!] Start Insert mode just after executing this command. 1918 Works like typing "i" in Normal mode. When the ! is 1919 included it works like "A", append to the line. 1920 Otherwise insertion starts at the cursor position. 1921 Note that when using this command in a function or 1922 script, the insertion only starts after the function 1923 or script is finished. 1924 This command does not work from |:normal|. 1925 1926 *:stopi* *:stopinsert* 1927:stopi[nsert] Stop Insert mode as soon as possible. Works like 1928 typing <Esc> in Insert mode. 1929 Can be used in an autocommand, example: > 1930 :au BufEnter scratch stopinsert 1931< 1932 *replacing-ex* *:startreplace* 1933:startr[eplace][!] Start Replace mode just after executing this command. 1934 Works just like typing "R" in Normal mode. When the 1935 ! is included it acts just like "$R" had been typed 1936 (ie. begin replace mode at the end-of-line). Other- 1937 wise replacement begins at the cursor position. 1938 Note that when using this command in a function or 1939 script that the replacement will only start after 1940 the function or script is finished. 1941 1942 *:startgreplace* 1943:startg[replace][!] Just like |:startreplace|, but use Virtual Replace 1944 mode, like with |gR|. 1945 1946============================================================================== 194710. Inserting a file *inserting-file* 1948 1949 *:r* *:re* *:read* 1950:r[ead] [++opt] [name] 1951 Insert the file [name] (default: current file) below 1952 the cursor. 1953 See |++opt| for the possible values of [++opt]. 1954 1955:{range}r[ead] [++opt] [name] 1956 Insert the file [name] (default: current file) below 1957 the specified line. 1958 See |++opt| for the possible values of [++opt]. 1959 1960 *:r!* *:read!* 1961:[range]r[ead] [++opt] !{cmd} 1962 Execute {cmd} and insert its standard output below 1963 the cursor or the specified line. A temporary file is 1964 used to store the output of the command which is then 1965 read into the buffer. 'shellredir' is used to save 1966 the output of the command, which can be set to include 1967 stderr or not. {cmd} is executed like with ":!{cmd}", 1968 any '!' is replaced with the previous command |:!|. 1969 See |++opt| for the possible values of [++opt]. 1970 1971These commands insert the contents of a file, or the output of a command, 1972into the buffer. They can be undone. They cannot be repeated with the "." 1973command. They work on a line basis, insertion starts below the line in which 1974the cursor is, or below the specified line. To insert text above the first 1975line use the command ":0r {name}". 1976 1977After the ":read" command, the cursor is left on the first non-blank in the 1978first new line. Unless in Ex mode, then the cursor is left on the last new 1979line (sorry, this is Vi compatible). 1980 1981If a file name is given with ":r", it becomes the alternate file. This can be 1982used, for example, when you want to edit that file instead: ":e! #". This can 1983be switched off by removing the 'a' flag from the 'cpoptions' option. 1984 1985Of the [++opt] arguments one is specifically for ":read", the ++edit argument. 1986This is useful when the ":read" command is actually used to read a file into 1987the buffer as if editing that file. Use this command in an empty buffer: > 1988 :read ++edit filename 1989The effect is that the 'fileformat', 'fileencoding', 'bomb', etc. options are 1990set to what has been detected for "filename". Note that a single empty line 1991remains, you may want to delete it. 1992 1993 *file-read* 1994The 'fileformat' option sets the <EOL> style for a file: 1995'fileformat' characters name ~ 1996 "dos" <CR><NL> or <NL> DOS format 1997 "unix" <NL> Unix format 1998 "mac" <CR> Mac format 1999Previously 'textmode' was used. It is obsolete now. 2000 2001If 'fileformat' is "dos", a <CR> in front of an <NL> is ignored and a CTRL-Z 2002at the end of the file is ignored. 2003 2004If 'fileformat' is "mac", a <NL> in the file is internally represented by a 2005<CR>. This is to avoid confusion with a <NL> which is used to represent a 2006<NUL>. See |CR-used-for-NL|. 2007 2008If the 'fileformats' option is not empty Vim tries to recognize the type of 2009<EOL> (see |file-formats|). However, the 'fileformat' option will not be 2010changed, the detected format is only used while reading the file. 2011A similar thing happens with 'fileencodings'. 2012 2013On non-Win32 systems the message "[dos format]" is shown if a file is read in 2014DOS format, to remind you that something unusual is done. 2015On Macintosh and Win32 the message "[unix format]" is shown if a file is read 2016in Unix format. 2017On non-Macintosh systems, the message "[mac format]" is shown if a file is 2018read in Mac format. 2019 2020An example on how to use ":r !": > 2021 :r !uuencode binfile binfile 2022This command reads "binfile", uuencodes it and reads it into the current 2023buffer. Useful when you are editing e-mail and want to include a binary 2024file. 2025 2026 *read-messages* 2027When reading a file Vim will display a message with information about the read 2028file. In the table is an explanation for some of the items. The others are 2029self explanatory. Using the long or the short version depends on the 2030'shortmess' option. 2031 2032 long short meaning ~ 2033 [readonly] {RO} the file is write protected 2034 [fifo/socket] using a stream 2035 [fifo] using a fifo stream 2036 [socket] using a socket stream 2037 [CR missing] reading with "dos" 'fileformat' and a 2038 NL without a preceding CR was found. 2039 [NL found] reading with "mac" 'fileformat' and a 2040 NL was found (could be "unix" format) 2041 [long lines split] at least one line was split in two 2042 [NOT converted] conversion from 'fileencoding' to 2043 'encoding' was desired but not 2044 possible 2045 [converted] conversion from 'fileencoding' to 2046 'encoding' done 2047 [crypted] file was decrypted 2048 [READ ERRORS] not all of the file could be read 2049 2050 2051 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: 2052