1*insert.txt* For Vim version 8.1. Last change: 2019 Mar 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. {Vi: only 63 when typed as first char, only up to 128 chars} 64 *i_CTRL-A* 65CTRL-A Insert previously inserted text. {not in Vi} 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 {Vi: does not delete autoindents} 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 {not in Vi} 79 *i_CTRL-W* 80CTRL-W Delete the word before the cursor (see |i_backspacing| about 81 joining lines). See the section "word motions", 82 |word-motions|, for the definition of a word. 83 *i_CTRL-U* 84CTRL-U Delete all entered characters before the cursor in the current 85 line. If there are no newly entered characters and 86 'backspace' is not empty, delete all characters before the 87 cursor in the current line. 88 See |i_backspacing| about joining lines. 89 *i_CTRL-I* *i_<Tab>* *i_Tab* 90<Tab> or CTRL-I Insert a tab. If the 'expandtab' option is on, the 91 equivalent number of spaces is inserted (use CTRL-V <Tab> to 92 avoid the expansion; use CTRL-Q <Tab> if CTRL-V is mapped 93 |i_CTRL-Q|). See also the 'smarttab' option and 94 |ins-expandtab|. 95 *i_CTRL-J* *i_<NL>* 96<NL> or CTRL-J Begin new line. 97 *i_CTRL-M* *i_<CR>* 98<CR> or CTRL-M Begin new line. 99 *i_CTRL-K* 100CTRL-K {char1} [char2] 101 Enter digraph (see |digraphs|). When {char1} is a special 102 key, the code for that key is inserted in <> form. For 103 example, the string "<S-Space>" can be entered by typing 104 <C-K><S-Space> (two keys). Neither char is considered for 105 mapping. {not in Vi} 106 107CTRL-N Find next keyword (see |i_CTRL-N|). {not in Vi} 108CTRL-P Find previous keyword (see |i_CTRL-P|). {not in Vi} 109 110CTRL-R {0-9a-z"%#*+:.-=} *i_CTRL-R* 111 Insert the contents of a register. Between typing CTRL-R and 112 the second character, '"' will be displayed to indicate that 113 you are expected to enter the name of a register. 114 The text is inserted as if you typed it, but mappings and 115 abbreviations are not used. If you have options like 116 'textwidth', 'formatoptions', or 'autoindent' set, this will 117 influence what will be inserted. This is different from what 118 happens with the "p" command and pasting with the mouse. 119 Special registers: 120 '"' the unnamed register, containing the text of 121 the last delete or yank 122 '%' the current file name 123 '#' the alternate file name 124 '*' the clipboard contents (X11: primary selection) 125 '+' the clipboard contents 126 '/' the last search pattern 127 ':' the last command-line 128 '.' the last inserted text 129 '-' the last small (less than a line) delete 130 *i_CTRL-R_=* 131 '=' the expression register: you are prompted to 132 enter an expression (see |expression|) 133 Note that 0x80 (128 decimal) is used for 134 special keys. E.g., you can use this to move 135 the cursor up: 136 CTRL-R ="\<Up>" 137 Use CTRL-R CTRL-R to insert text literally. 138 When the result is a |List| the items are used 139 as lines. They can have line breaks inside 140 too. 141 When the result is a Float it's automatically 142 converted to a String. 143 When append() or setline() is invoked the undo 144 sequence will be broken. 145 See |registers| about registers. {not in Vi} 146 147CTRL-R CTRL-R {0-9a-z"%#*+/:.-=} *i_CTRL-R_CTRL-R* 148 Insert the contents of a register. Works like using a single 149 CTRL-R, but the text is inserted literally, not as if typed. 150 This differs when the register contains characters like <BS>. 151 Example, where register a contains "ab^Hc": > 152 CTRL-R a results in "ac". 153 CTRL-R CTRL-R a results in "ab^Hc". 154< Options 'textwidth', 'formatoptions', etc. still apply. If 155 you also want to avoid these, use CTRL-R CTRL-O, see below. 156 The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as 157 typed. {not in Vi} 158 159CTRL-R CTRL-O {0-9a-z"%#*+/:.-=} *i_CTRL-R_CTRL-O* 160 Insert the contents of a register literally and don't 161 auto-indent. Does the same as pasting with the mouse 162 |<MiddleMouse>|. When the register is linewise this will 163 insert the text above the current line, like with `P`. 164 Does not replace characters! 165 The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as 166 typed. {not in Vi} 167 168CTRL-R CTRL-P {0-9a-z"%#*+/:.-=} *i_CTRL-R_CTRL-P* 169 Insert the contents of a register literally and fix the 170 indent, like |[<MiddleMouse>|. 171 Does not replace characters! 172 The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as 173 typed. {not in Vi} 174 175 *i_CTRL-T* 176CTRL-T Insert one shiftwidth of indent at the start of the current 177 line. The indent is always rounded to a 'shiftwidth' (this is 178 vi compatible). {Vi: only when in indent} 179 *i_CTRL-D* 180CTRL-D Delete one shiftwidth of indent at the start of the current 181 line. The indent is always rounded to a 'shiftwidth' (this is 182 vi compatible). {Vi: CTRL-D works only when used after 183 autoindent} 184 *i_0_CTRL-D* 1850 CTRL-D Delete all indent in the current line. {Vi: CTRL-D works 186 only when used after autoindent} 187 *i_^_CTRL-D* 188^ CTRL-D Delete all indent in the current line. The indent is 189 restored in the next line. This is useful when inserting a 190 label. {Vi: CTRL-D works only when used after autoindent} 191 192 *i_CTRL-V* 193CTRL-V Insert next non-digit literally. For special keys, the 194 terminal code is inserted. It's also possible to enter the 195 decimal, octal or hexadecimal value of a character 196 |i_CTRL-V_digit|. 197 The characters typed right after CTRL-V are not considered for 198 mapping. {Vi: no decimal byte entry} 199 Note: When CTRL-V is mapped (e.g., to paste text) you can 200 often use CTRL-Q instead |i_CTRL-Q|. 201 202 *i_CTRL-Q* 203CTRL-Q Same as CTRL-V. 204 Note: Some terminal connections may eat CTRL-Q, it doesn't 205 work then. It does work in the GUI. 206 207CTRL-X Enter CTRL-X mode. This is a sub-mode where commands can 208 be given to complete words or scroll the window. See 209 |i_CTRL-X| and |ins-completion|. {not in Vi} 210 211 *i_CTRL-E* 212CTRL-E Insert the character which is below the cursor. {not in Vi} 213 *i_CTRL-Y* 214CTRL-Y Insert the character which is above the cursor. {not in Vi} 215 Note that for CTRL-E and CTRL-Y 'textwidth' is not used, to be 216 able to copy characters from a long line. 217 218 *i_CTRL-_* 219CTRL-_ Switch between languages, as follows: 220 - When in a rightleft window, revins and nohkmap are toggled, 221 since English will likely be inserted in this case. 222 - When in a norightleft window, revins and hkmap are toggled, 223 since Hebrew will likely be inserted in this case. 224 225 CTRL-_ moves the cursor to the end of the typed text. 226 227 This command is only available when the 'allowrevins' option 228 is set. 229 Please refer to |rileft.txt| for more information about 230 right-to-left mode. 231 {not in Vi} 232 Only if compiled with the |+rightleft| feature. 233 234 *i_CTRL-^* 235CTRL-^ Toggle the use of typing language characters. 236 When language |:lmap| mappings are defined: 237 - If 'iminsert' is 1 (langmap mappings used) it becomes 0 (no 238 langmap mappings used). 239 - If 'iminsert' has another value it becomes 1, thus langmap 240 mappings are enabled. 241 When no language mappings are defined: 242 - If 'iminsert' is 2 (Input Method used) it becomes 0 (no 243 Input Method used). 244 - If 'iminsert' has another value it becomes 2, thus the Input 245 Method is enabled. 246 When set to 1, the value of the "b:keymap_name" variable, the 247 'keymap' option or "<lang>" appears in the status line. 248 The language mappings are normally used to type characters 249 that are different from what the keyboard produces. The 250 'keymap' option can be used to install a whole number of them. 251 {not in Vi} 252 253 *i_CTRL-]* 254CTRL-] Trigger abbreviation, without inserting a character. {not in 255 Vi} 256 257 *i_<Insert>* 258<Insert> Toggle between Insert and Replace mode. {not in Vi} 259----------------------------------------------------------------------- 260 261 *i_backspacing* 262The effect of the <BS>, CTRL-W, and CTRL-U depend on the 'backspace' option 263(unless 'revins' is set). This is a comma separated list of items: 264 265item action ~ 266indent allow backspacing over autoindent 267eol allow backspacing over end-of-line (join lines) 268start allow backspacing over the start position of insert; CTRL-W and 269 CTRL-U stop once at the start position 270 271When 'backspace' is empty, Vi compatible backspacing is used. You cannot 272backspace over autoindent, before column 1 or before where insert started. 273 274For backwards compatibility the values "0", "1" and "2" are also allowed, see 275|'backspace'|. 276 277If the 'backspace' option does contain "eol" and the cursor is in column 1 278when one of the three keys is used, the current line is joined with the 279previous line. This effectively deletes the <EOL> in front of the cursor. 280{Vi: does not cross lines, does not delete past start position of insert} 281 282 *i_CTRL-V_digit* 283With CTRL-V the decimal, octal or hexadecimal value of a character can be 284entered directly. This way you can enter any character, except a line break 285(<NL>, value 10). There are five ways to enter the character value: 286 287first char mode max nr of chars max value ~ 288(none) decimal 3 255 289o or O octal 3 377 (255) 290x or X hexadecimal 2 ff (255) 291u hexadecimal 4 ffff (65535) 292U hexadecimal 8 7fffffff (2147483647) 293 294Normally you would type the maximum number of characters. Thus to enter a 295space (value 32) you would type <C-V>032. You can omit the leading zero, in 296which case the character typed after the number must be a non-digit. This 297happens for the other modes as well: As soon as you type a character that is 298invalid for the mode, the value before it will be used and the "invalid" 299character is dealt with in the normal way. 300 301If you enter a value of 10, it will end up in the file as a 0. The 10 is a 302<NL>, which is used internally to represent the <Nul> character. When writing 303the buffer to a file, the <NL> character is translated into <Nul>. The <NL> 304character is written at the end of each line. Thus if you want to insert a 305<NL> character in a file you will have to make a line break. 306 307 *i_CTRL-X* *insert_expand* 308CTRL-X enters a sub-mode where several commands can be used. Most of these 309commands do keyword completion; see |ins-completion|. These are not available 310when Vim was compiled without the |+insert_expand| feature. 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). {Vi does not have the 'expandtab' 523option} 524 525 *ins-smarttab* 526When the 'smarttab' option is on, a <Tab> inserts 'shiftwidth' positions at 527the beginning of a line and 'tabstop' positions in other places. This means 528that often spaces instead of a <Tab> character are inserted. When 'smarttab' 529is off, a <Tab> always inserts 'tabstop' positions, and 'shiftwidth' is only 530used for ">>" and the like. {not in Vi} 531 532 *ins-softtabstop* 533When the 'softtabstop' option is non-zero, a <Tab> inserts 'softtabstop' 534positions, and a <BS> used to delete white space, will delete 'softtabstop' 535positions. This feels like 'tabstop' was set to 'softtabstop', but a real 536<Tab> character still takes 'tabstop' positions, so your file will still look 537correct when used by other applications. 538 539If 'softtabstop' is non-zero, a <BS> will try to delete as much white space to 540move to the previous 'softtabstop' position, except when the previously 541inserted character is a space, then it will only delete the character before 542the cursor. Otherwise you cannot always delete a single character before the 543cursor. You will have to delete 'softtabstop' characters first, and then type 544extra spaces to get where you want to be. 545 546============================================================================== 5475. Replace mode *Replace* *Replace-mode* *mode-replace* 548 549Enter Replace mode with the "R" command in normal mode. 550 551In Replace mode, one character in the line is deleted for every character you 552type. If there is no character to delete (at the end of the line), the 553typed character is appended (as in Insert mode). Thus the number of 554characters in a line stays the same until you get to the end of the line. 555If a <NL> is typed, a line break is inserted and no character is deleted. 556 557Be careful with <Tab> characters. If you type a normal printing character in 558its place, the number of characters is still the same, but the number of 559columns will become smaller. 560 561If you delete characters in Replace mode (with <BS>, CTRL-W, or CTRL-U), what 562happens is that you delete the changes. The characters that were replaced 563are restored. If you had typed past the existing text, the characters you 564added are deleted. This is effectively a character-at-a-time undo. 565 566If the 'expandtab' option is on, a <Tab> will replace one character with 567several spaces. The result of this is that the number of characters in the 568line increases. Backspacing will delete one space at a time. The original 569character will be put back for only one space that you backspace over (the 570last one). {Vi does not have the 'expandtab' option} 571 572============================================================================== 5736. Virtual Replace mode *vreplace-mode* *Virtual-Replace-mode* 574 575Enter Virtual Replace mode with the "gR" command in normal mode. 576{not available when compiled without the |+vreplace| feature} 577{Vi does not have Virtual Replace mode} 578 579Virtual Replace mode is similar to Replace mode, but instead of replacing 580actual characters in the file, you are replacing screen real estate, so that 581characters further on in the file never appear to move. 582 583So if you type a <Tab> it may replace several normal characters, and if you 584type a letter on top of a <Tab> it may not replace anything at all, since the 585<Tab> will still line up to the same place as before. 586 587Typing a <NL> still doesn't cause characters later in the file to appear to 588move. The rest of the current line will be replaced by the <NL> (that is, 589they are deleted), and replacing continues on the next line. A new line is 590NOT inserted unless you go past the end of the file. 591 592Interesting effects are seen when using CTRL-T and CTRL-D. The characters 593before the cursor are shifted sideways as normal, but characters later in the 594line still remain still. CTRL-T will hide some of the old line under the 595shifted characters, but CTRL-D will reveal them again. 596 597As with Replace mode, using <BS> etc will bring back the characters that were 598replaced. This still works in conjunction with 'smartindent', CTRL-T and 599CTRL-D, 'expandtab', 'smarttab', 'softtabstop', etc. 600 601In 'list' mode, Virtual Replace mode acts as if it was not in 'list' mode, 602unless "L" is in 'cpoptions'. 603 604Note that the only situations for which characters beyond the cursor should 605appear to move are in List mode |'list'|, and occasionally when 'wrap' is set 606(and the line changes length to become shorter or wider than the width of the 607screen). In other cases spaces may be inserted to avoid following characters 608to move. 609 610This mode is very useful for editing <Tab> separated columns in tables, for 611entering new data while keeping all the columns aligned. 612 613============================================================================== 6147. Insert mode completion *ins-completion* 615 616In Insert and Replace mode, there are several commands to complete part of a 617keyword or line that has been typed. This is useful if you are using 618complicated keywords (e.g., function names with capitals and underscores). 619 620These commands are not available when the |+insert_expand| feature was 621disabled at compile time. 622 623Completion can be done for: 624 6251. Whole lines |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L| 6262. keywords in the current file |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-N| 6273. keywords in 'dictionary' |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K| 6284. keywords in 'thesaurus', thesaurus-style |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T| 6295. keywords in the current and included files |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I| 6306. tags |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]| 6317. file names |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-F| 6328. definitions or macros |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D| 6339. Vim command-line |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-V| 63410. User defined completion |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U| 63511. omni completion |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O| 63612. Spelling suggestions |i_CTRL-X_s| 63713. keywords in 'complete' |i_CTRL-N| |i_CTRL-P| 638 639All these, except CTRL-N and CTRL-P, are done in CTRL-X mode. This is a 640sub-mode of Insert and Replace modes. You enter CTRL-X mode by typing CTRL-X 641and one of the CTRL-X commands. You exit CTRL-X mode by typing a key that is 642not a valid CTRL-X mode command. Valid keys are the CTRL-X command itself, 643CTRL-N (next), and CTRL-P (previous). 644 645To get the current completion information, |complete_info()| can be used. 646Also see the 'infercase' option if you want to adjust the case of the match. 647 648 *complete_CTRL-E* 649When completion is active you can use CTRL-E to stop it and go back to the 650originally typed text. The CTRL-E will not be inserted. 651 652 *complete_CTRL-Y* 653When the popup menu is displayed you can use CTRL-Y to stop completion and 654accept the currently selected entry. The CTRL-Y is not inserted. Typing a 655space, Enter, or some other unprintable character will leave completion mode 656and insert that typed character. 657 658When the popup menu is displayed there are a few more special keys, see 659|popupmenu-keys|. 660 661Note: The keys that are valid in CTRL-X mode are not mapped. This allows for 662":map ^F ^X^F" to work (where ^F is CTRL-F and ^X is CTRL-X). The key that 663ends CTRL-X mode (any key that is not a valid CTRL-X mode command) is mapped. 664Also, when doing completion with 'complete' mappings apply as usual. 665 666Note: While completion is active Insert mode can't be used recursively. 667Mappings that somehow invoke ":normal i.." will generate an E523 error. 668 669The following mappings are suggested to make typing the completion commands 670a bit easier (although they will hide other commands): > 671 :inoremap ^] ^X^] 672 :inoremap ^F ^X^F 673 :inoremap ^D ^X^D 674 :inoremap ^L ^X^L 675 676As a special case, typing CTRL-R to perform register insertion (see 677|i_CTRL-R|) will not exit CTRL-X mode. This is primarily to allow the use of 678the '=' register to call some function to determine the next operation. If 679the contents of the register (or result of the '=' register evaluation) are 680not valid CTRL-X mode keys, then CTRL-X mode will be exited as if those keys 681had been typed. 682 683For example, the following will map <Tab> to either actually insert a <Tab> if 684the current line is currently only whitespace, or start/continue a CTRL-N 685completion operation: > 686 687 function! CleverTab() 688 if strpart( getline('.'), 0, col('.')-1 ) =~ '^\s*$' 689 return "\<Tab>" 690 else 691 return "\<C-N>" 692 endif 693 endfunction 694 inoremap <Tab> <C-R>=CleverTab()<CR> 695 696 697 698Completing whole lines *compl-whole-line* 699 700 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L* 701CTRL-X CTRL-L Search backwards for a line that starts with the 702 same characters as those in the current line before 703 the cursor. Indent is ignored. The matching line is 704 inserted in front of the cursor. 705 The 'complete' option is used to decide which buffers 706 are searched for a match. Both loaded and unloaded 707 buffers are used. 708 CTRL-L or 709 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching line. This line 710 replaces the previous matching line. 711 712 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching line. This line 713 replaces the previous matching line. 714 715 CTRL-X CTRL-L After expanding a line you can additionally get the 716 line next to it by typing CTRL-X CTRL-L again, unless 717 a double CTRL-X is used. Only works for loaded 718 buffers. 719 720Completing keywords in current file *compl-current* 721 722 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-P* 723 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-N* 724CTRL-X CTRL-N Search forwards for words that start with the keyword 725 in front of the cursor. The found keyword is inserted 726 in front of the cursor. 727 728CTRL-X CTRL-P Search backwards for words that start with the keyword 729 in front of the cursor. The found keyword is inserted 730 in front of the cursor. 731 732 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This 733 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 734 735 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This 736 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 737 738 CTRL-X CTRL-N or 739 CTRL-X CTRL-P Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-N or CTRL-X CTRL-P will 740 copy the words following the previous expansion in 741 other contexts unless a double CTRL-X is used. 742 743If there is a keyword in front of the cursor (a name made out of alphabetic 744characters and characters in 'iskeyword'), it is used as the search pattern, 745with "\<" prepended (meaning: start of a word). Otherwise "\<\k\k" is used 746as search pattern (start of any keyword of at least two characters). 747 748In Replace mode, the number of characters that are replaced depends on the 749length of the matched string. This works like typing the characters of the 750matched string in Replace mode. 751 752If there is not a valid keyword character before the cursor, any keyword of 753at least two characters is matched. 754 e.g., to get: 755 printf("(%g, %g, %g)", vector[0], vector[1], vector[2]); 756 just type: 757 printf("(%g, %g, %g)", vector[0], ^P[1], ^P[2]); 758 759The search wraps around the end of the file, the value of 'wrapscan' is not 760used here. 761 762Multiple repeats of the same completion are skipped; thus a different match 763will be inserted at each CTRL-N and CTRL-P (unless there is only one 764matching keyword). 765 766Single character matches are never included, as they usually just get in 767the way of what you were really after. 768 e.g., to get: 769 printf("name = %s\n", name); 770 just type: 771 printf("name = %s\n", n^P); 772 or even: 773 printf("name = %s\n", ^P); 774The 'n' in '\n' is skipped. 775 776After expanding a word, you can use CTRL-X CTRL-P or CTRL-X CTRL-N to get the 777word following the expansion in other contexts. These sequences search for 778the text just expanded and further expand by getting an extra word. This is 779useful if you need to repeat a sequence of complicated words. Although CTRL-P 780and CTRL-N look just for strings of at least two characters, CTRL-X CTRL-P and 781CTRL-X CTRL-N can be used to expand words of just one character. 782 e.g., to get: 783 México 784 you can type: 785 M^N^P^X^P^X^P 786CTRL-N starts the expansion and then CTRL-P takes back the single character 787"M", the next two CTRL-X CTRL-P's get the words "é" and ";xico". 788 789If the previous expansion was split, because it got longer than 'textwidth', 790then just the text in the current line will be used. 791 792If the match found is at the end of a line, then the first word in the next 793line will be inserted and the message "word from next line" displayed, if 794this word is accepted the next CTRL-X CTRL-P or CTRL-X CTRL-N will search 795for those lines starting with this word. 796 797 798Completing keywords in 'dictionary' *compl-dictionary* 799 800 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K* 801CTRL-X CTRL-K Search the files given with the 'dictionary' option 802 for words that start with the keyword in front of the 803 cursor. This is like CTRL-N, but only the dictionary 804 files are searched, not the current file. The found 805 keyword is inserted in front of the cursor. This 806 could potentially be pretty slow, since all matches 807 are found before the first match is used. By default, 808 the 'dictionary' option is empty. 809 For suggestions where to find a list of words, see the 810 'dictionary' option. 811 812 CTRL-K or 813 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This 814 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 815 816 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This 817 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 818 819 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T* 820CTRL-X CTRL-T Works as CTRL-X CTRL-K, but in a special way. It uses 821 the 'thesaurus' option instead of 'dictionary'. If a 822 match is found in the thesaurus file, all the 823 remaining words on the same line are included as 824 matches, even though they don't complete the word. 825 Thus a word can be completely replaced. 826 827 For an example, imagine the 'thesaurus' file has a 828 line like this: > 829 angry furious mad enraged 830< Placing the cursor after the letters "ang" and typing 831 CTRL-X CTRL-T would complete the word "angry"; 832 subsequent presses would change the word to "furious", 833 "mad" etc. 834 Other uses include translation between two languages, 835 or grouping API functions by keyword. 836 837 CTRL-T or 838 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This 839 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 840 841 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This 842 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 843 844 845Completing keywords in the current and included files *compl-keyword* 846 847The 'include' option is used to specify a line that contains an include file 848name. The 'path' option is used to search for include files. 849 850 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I* 851CTRL-X CTRL-I Search for the first keyword in the current and 852 included files that starts with the same characters 853 as those before the cursor. The matched keyword is 854 inserted in front of the cursor. 855 856 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching keyword. This 857 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 858 Note: CTRL-I is the same as <Tab>, which is likely to 859 be typed after a successful completion, therefore 860 CTRL-I is not used for searching for the next match. 861 862 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching keyword. This 863 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 864 865 CTRL-X CTRL-I Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-I will copy the words 866 following the previous expansion in other contexts 867 unless a double CTRL-X is used. 868 869Completing tags *compl-tag* 870 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]* 871CTRL-X CTRL-] Search for the first tag that starts with the same 872 characters as before the cursor. The matching tag is 873 inserted in front of the cursor. Alphabetic 874 characters and characters in 'iskeyword' are used 875 to decide which characters are included in the tag 876 name (same as for a keyword). See also |CTRL-]|. 877 The 'showfulltag' option can be used to add context 878 from around the tag definition. 879 CTRL-] or 880 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching tag. This tag 881 replaces the previous matching tag. 882 883 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching tag. This tag 884 replaces the previous matching tag. 885 886 887Completing file names *compl-filename* 888 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-F* 889CTRL-X CTRL-F Search for the first file name that starts with the 890 same characters as before the cursor. The matching 891 file name is inserted in front of the cursor. 892 Alphabetic characters and characters in 'isfname' 893 are used to decide which characters are included in 894 the file name. Note: the 'path' option is not used 895 here (yet). 896 CTRL-F or 897 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching file name. This 898 file name replaces the previous matching file name. 899 900 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching file name. 901 This file name replaces the previous matching file 902 name. 903 904 905Completing definitions or macros *compl-define* 906 907The 'define' option is used to specify a line that contains a definition. 908The 'include' option is used to specify a line that contains an include file 909name. The 'path' option is used to search for include files. 910 911 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D* 912CTRL-X CTRL-D Search in the current and included files for the 913 first definition (or macro) name that starts with 914 the same characters as before the cursor. The found 915 definition name is inserted in front of the cursor. 916 CTRL-D or 917 CTRL-N Search forwards for next matching macro name. This 918 macro name replaces the previous matching macro 919 name. 920 921 CTRL-P Search backward for previous matching macro name. 922 This macro name replaces the previous matching macro 923 name. 924 925 CTRL-X CTRL-D Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-D will copy the words 926 following the previous expansion in other contexts 927 unless a double CTRL-X is used. 928 929 930Completing Vim commands *compl-vim* 931 932Completion is context-sensitive. It works like on the Command-line. It 933completes an Ex command as well as its arguments. This is useful when writing 934a Vim script. 935 936 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-V* 937CTRL-X CTRL-V Guess what kind of item is in front of the cursor and 938 find the first match for it. 939 Note: When CTRL-V is mapped you can often use CTRL-Q 940 instead of |i_CTRL-Q|. 941 CTRL-V or 942 CTRL-N Search forwards for next match. This match replaces 943 the previous one. 944 945 CTRL-P Search backwards for previous match. This match 946 replaces the previous one. 947 948 CTRL-X CTRL-V Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-V will do the same as 949 CTRL-V. This allows mapping a key to do Vim command 950 completion, for example: > 951 :imap <Tab> <C-X><C-V> 952 953User defined completion *compl-function* 954 955Completion is done by a function that can be defined by the user with the 956'completefunc' option. See below for how the function is called and an 957example |complete-functions|. 958 959 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U* 960CTRL-X CTRL-U Guess what kind of item is in front of the cursor and 961 find the first match for it. 962 CTRL-U or 963 CTRL-N Use the next match. This match replaces the previous 964 one. 965 966 CTRL-P Use the previous match. This match replaces the 967 previous one. 968 969 970Omni completion *compl-omni* 971 972Completion is done by a function that can be defined by the user with the 973'omnifunc' option. This is to be used for filetype-specific completion. 974 975See below for how the function is called and an example |complete-functions|. 976For remarks about specific filetypes see |compl-omni-filetypes|. 977More completion scripts will appear, check www.vim.org. Currently there is a 978first version for C++. 979 980 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O* 981CTRL-X CTRL-O Guess what kind of item is in front of the cursor and 982 find the first match for it. 983 CTRL-O or 984 CTRL-N Use the next match. This match replaces the previous 985 one. 986 987 CTRL-P Use the previous match. This match replaces the 988 previous one. 989 990 991Spelling suggestions *compl-spelling* 992 993A word before or at the cursor is located and correctly spelled words are 994suggested to replace it. If there is a badly spelled word in the line, before 995or under the cursor, the cursor is moved to after it. Otherwise the word just 996before the cursor is used for suggestions, even though it isn't badly spelled. 997 998NOTE: CTRL-S suspends display in many Unix terminals. Use 's' instead. Type 999CTRL-Q to resume displaying. 1000 1001 *i_CTRL-X_CTRL-S* *i_CTRL-X_s* 1002CTRL-X CTRL-S or 1003CTRL-X s Locate the word in front of the cursor and find the 1004 first spell suggestion for it. 1005 CTRL-S or 1006 CTRL-N Use the next suggestion. This replaces the previous 1007 one. Note that you can't use 's' here. 1008 1009 CTRL-P Use the previous suggestion. This replaces the 1010 previous one. 1011 1012 1013Completing keywords from different sources *compl-generic* 1014 1015 *i_CTRL-N* 1016CTRL-N Find next match for words that start with the 1017 keyword in front of the cursor, looking in places 1018 specified with the 'complete' option. The found 1019 keyword is inserted in front of the cursor. 1020 1021 *i_CTRL-P* 1022CTRL-P Find previous match for words that start with the 1023 keyword in front of the cursor, looking in places 1024 specified with the 'complete' option. The found 1025 keyword is inserted in front of the cursor. 1026 1027 CTRL-N Search forward for next matching keyword. This 1028 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 1029 1030 CTRL-P Search backwards for next matching keyword. This 1031 keyword replaces the previous matching keyword. 1032 1033 CTRL-X CTRL-N or 1034 CTRL-X CTRL-P Further use of CTRL-X CTRL-N or CTRL-X CTRL-P will 1035 copy the words following the previous expansion in 1036 other contexts unless a double CTRL-X is used. 1037 1038 1039FUNCTIONS FOR FINDING COMPLETIONS *complete-functions* 1040 1041This applies to 'completefunc' and 'omnifunc'. 1042 1043The function is called in two different ways: 1044- First the function is called to find the start of the text to be completed. 1045- Later the function is called to actually find the matches. 1046 1047On the first invocation the arguments are: 1048 a:findstart 1 1049 a:base empty 1050 1051The function must return the column where the completion starts. It must be a 1052number between zero and the cursor column "col('.')". This involves looking 1053at the characters just before the cursor and including those characters that 1054could be part of the completed item. The text between this column and the 1055cursor column will be replaced with the matches. If the returned value is 1056larger than the cursor column, the cursor column is used. 1057 1058Negative return values: 1059 -2 To cancel silently and stay in completion mode. 1060 -3 To cancel silently and leave completion mode. 1061 Another negative value: completion starts at the cursor column 1062 1063On the second invocation the arguments are: 1064 a:findstart 0 1065 a:base the text with which matches should match; the text that was 1066 located in the first call (can be empty) 1067 1068The function must return a List with the matching words. These matches 1069usually include the "a:base" text. When there are no matches return an empty 1070List. 1071 1072In order to return more information than the matching words, return a Dict 1073that contains the List. The Dict can have these items: 1074 words The List of matching words (mandatory). 1075 refresh A string to control re-invocation of the function 1076 (optional). 1077 The only value currently recognized is "always", the 1078 effect is that the function is called whenever the 1079 leading text is changed. 1080 1081If you want to suppress the warning message for an empty result, return 1082|v:none|. This is useful to implement asynchronous completion with 1083|complete()|. 1084 1085Other items are ignored. 1086 1087For acting upon end of completion, see the |CompleteDone| autocommand event. 1088 1089For example, the function can contain this: > 1090 let matches = ... list of words ... 1091 return {'words': matches, 'refresh': 'always'} 1092< 1093 *complete-items* 1094Each list item can either be a string or a Dictionary. When it is a string it 1095is used as the completion. When it is a Dictionary it can contain these 1096items: 1097 word the text that will be inserted, mandatory 1098 abbr abbreviation of "word"; when not empty it is used in 1099 the menu instead of "word" 1100 menu extra text for the popup menu, displayed after "word" 1101 or "abbr" 1102 info more information about the item, can be displayed in a 1103 preview window 1104 kind single letter indicating the type of completion 1105 icase when non-zero case is to be ignored when comparing 1106 items to be equal; when omitted zero is used, thus 1107 items that only differ in case are added 1108 dup when non-zero this match will be added even when an 1109 item with the same word is already present. 1110 empty when non-zero this match will be added even when it is 1111 an empty string 1112 user_data custom data which is associated with the item and 1113 available in |v:completed_item| 1114 1115All of these except "icase", "dup" and "empty" must be a string. If an item 1116does not meet these requirements then an error message is given and further 1117items in the list are not used. You can mix string and Dictionary items in 1118the 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'. The "info" item 1123will also remain displayed after the popup menu has been removed. This is 1124useful for function arguments. Use a single space for "info" to remove 1125existing text in the preview window. The size of the preview window is three 1126lines, but 'previewheight' is used when it has a value of 1 or 2. 1127 1128The "kind" item uses a single letter to indicate the kind of completion. This 1129may be used to show the completion differently (different color or icon). 1130Currently these types can be used: 1131 v variable 1132 f function or method 1133 m member of a struct or class 1134 t typedef 1135 d #define or macro 1136 1137When searching for matches takes some time call |complete_add()| to add each 1138match to the total list. These matches should then not appear in the returned 1139list! Call |complete_check()| now and then to allow the user to press a key 1140while still searching for matches. Stop searching when it returns non-zero. 1141 1142 *E839* *E840* 1143The function is allowed to move the cursor, it is restored afterwards. 1144The function is not allowed to move to another window or delete text. 1145 1146An example that completes the names of the months: > 1147 fun! CompleteMonths(findstart, base) 1148 if a:findstart 1149 " locate the start of the word 1150 let line = getline('.') 1151 let start = col('.') - 1 1152 while start > 0 && line[start - 1] =~ '\a' 1153 let start -= 1 1154 endwhile 1155 return start 1156 else 1157 " find months matching with "a:base" 1158 let res = [] 1159 for m in split("Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec") 1160 if m =~ '^' . a:base 1161 call add(res, m) 1162 endif 1163 endfor 1164 return res 1165 endif 1166 endfun 1167 set completefunc=CompleteMonths 1168< 1169The same, but now pretending searching for matches is slow: > 1170 fun! CompleteMonths(findstart, base) 1171 if a:findstart 1172 " locate the start of the word 1173 let line = getline('.') 1174 let start = col('.') - 1 1175 while start > 0 && line[start - 1] =~ '\a' 1176 let start -= 1 1177 endwhile 1178 return start 1179 else 1180 " find months matching with "a:base" 1181 for m in split("Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec") 1182 if m =~ '^' . a:base 1183 call complete_add(m) 1184 endif 1185 sleep 300m " simulate searching for next match 1186 if complete_check() 1187 break 1188 endif 1189 endfor 1190 return [] 1191 endif 1192 endfun 1193 set completefunc=CompleteMonths 1194< 1195 1196INSERT COMPLETION POPUP MENU *ins-completion-menu* 1197 *popupmenu-completion* 1198Vim can display the matches in a simplistic popup menu. 1199 1200The menu is used when: 1201- The 'completeopt' option contains "menu" or "menuone". 1202- The terminal supports at least 8 colors. 1203- There are at least two matches. One if "menuone" is used. 1204 1205The 'pumheight' option can be used to set a maximum height. The default is to 1206use all space available. 1207The 'pumwidth' option can be used to set a minimum width. The default is 15 1208characters. 1209 1210There are three states: 12111. A complete match has been inserted, e.g., after using CTRL-N or CTRL-P. 12122. A cursor key has been used to select another match. The match was not 1213 inserted then, only the entry in the popup menu is highlighted. 12143. Only part of a match has been inserted and characters were typed or the 1215 backspace key was used. The list of matches was then adjusted for what is 1216 in front of the cursor. 1217 1218You normally start in the first state, with the first match being inserted. 1219When "longest" is in 'completeopt' and there is more than one match you start 1220in the third state. 1221 1222If you select another match, e.g., with CTRL-N or CTRL-P, you go to the first 1223state. This doesn't change the list of matches. 1224 1225When you are back at the original text then you are in the third state. To 1226get there right away you can use a mapping that uses CTRL-P right after 1227starting the completion: > 1228 :imap <F7> <C-N><C-P> 1229< 1230 *popupmenu-keys* 1231In the first state these keys have a special meaning: 1232<BS> and CTRL-H Delete one character, find the matches for the word before 1233 the cursor. This reduces the list of matches, often to one 1234 entry, and switches to the second state. 1235Any non-special character: 1236 Stop completion without changing the match and insert the 1237 typed character. 1238 1239In the second and third state these keys have a special meaning: 1240<BS> and CTRL-H Delete one character, find the matches for the shorter word 1241 before the cursor. This may find more matches. 1242CTRL-L Add one character from the current match, may reduce the 1243 number of matches. 1244any printable, non-white character: 1245 Add this character and reduce the number of matches. 1246 1247In all three states these can be used: 1248CTRL-Y Yes: Accept the currently selected match and stop completion. 1249CTRL-E End completion, go back to what was there before selecting a 1250 match (what was typed or longest common string). 1251<PageUp> Select a match several entries back, but don't insert it. 1252<PageDown> Select a match several entries further, but don't insert it. 1253<Up> Select the previous match, as if CTRL-P was used, but don't 1254 insert it. 1255<Down> Select the next match, as if CTRL-N was used, but don't 1256 insert it. 1257<Space> or <Tab> Stop completion without changing the match and insert the 1258 typed character. 1259 1260The behavior of the <Enter> key depends on the state you are in: 1261first state: Use the text as it is and insert a line break. 1262second state: Insert the currently selected match. 1263third state: Use the text as it is and insert a line break. 1264 1265In other words: If you used the cursor keys to select another entry in the 1266list of matches then the <Enter> key inserts that match. If you typed 1267something else then <Enter> inserts a line break. 1268 1269 1270The colors of the menu can be changed with these highlight groups: 1271Pmenu normal item |hl-Pmenu| 1272PmenuSel selected item |hl-PmenuSel| 1273PmenuSbar scrollbar |hl-PmenuSbar| 1274PmenuThumb thumb of the scrollbar |hl-PmenuThumb| 1275 1276There are no special mappings for when the popup menu is visible. However, 1277you can use an Insert mode mapping that checks the |pumvisible()| function to 1278do something different. Example: > 1279 :inoremap <Down> <C-R>=pumvisible() ? "\<lt>C-N>" : "\<lt>Down>"<CR> 1280 1281You can use of <expr> in mapping to have the popup menu used when typing a 1282character and some condition is met. For example, for typing a dot: > 1283 inoremap <expr> . MayComplete() 1284 func MayComplete() 1285 if (can complete) 1286 return ".\<C-X>\<C-O>" 1287 endif 1288 return '.' 1289 endfunc 1290 1291See |:map-<expr>| for more info. 1292 1293 1294FILETYPE-SPECIFIC REMARKS FOR OMNI COMPLETION *compl-omni-filetypes* 1295 1296The file used for {filetype} should be autoload/{filetype}complete.vim 1297in 'runtimepath'. Thus for "java" it is autoload/javacomplete.vim. 1298 1299 1300C *ft-c-omni* 1301 1302Completion of C code requires a tags file. You should use Exuberant ctags, 1303because it adds extra information that is needed for completion. You can find 1304it here: http://ctags.sourceforge.net/ Version 5.6 or later is recommended. 1305 1306For version 5.5.4 you should add a patch that adds the "typename:" field: 1307 ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/unstable/patches/ctags-5.5.4.patch 1308A compiled .exe for MS-Windows can be found at: 1309 http://ctags.sourceforge.net/ 1310 https://github.com/universal-ctags/ctags-win32 1311 1312If you want to complete system functions you can do something like this. Use 1313ctags to generate a tags file for all the system header files: > 1314 % ctags -R -f ~/.vim/systags /usr/include /usr/local/include 1315In your vimrc file add this tags file to the 'tags' option: > 1316 set tags+=~/.vim/systags 1317 1318When using CTRL-X CTRL-O after a name without any "." or "->" it is completed 1319from the tags file directly. This works for any identifier, also function 1320names. If you want to complete a local variable name, which does not appear 1321in the tags file, use CTRL-P instead. 1322 1323When using CTRL-X CTRL-O after something that has "." or "->" Vim will attempt 1324to recognize the type of the variable and figure out what members it has. 1325This means only members valid for the variable will be listed. 1326 1327When a member name already was complete, CTRL-X CTRL-O will add a "." or 1328"->" for composite types. 1329 1330Vim doesn't include a C compiler, only the most obviously formatted 1331declarations are recognized. Preprocessor stuff may cause confusion. 1332When the same structure name appears in multiple places all possible members 1333are included. 1334 1335 1336CSS *ft-css-omni* 1337 1338Complete properties and their appropriate values according to CSS 2.1 1339specification. 1340 1341 1342HTML *ft-html-omni* 1343XHTML *ft-xhtml-omni* 1344 1345CTRL-X CTRL-O provides completion of various elements of (X)HTML files. It is 1346designed to support writing of XHTML 1.0 Strict files but will also work for 1347other versions of HTML. Features: 1348 1349- after "<" complete tag name depending on context (no div suggestion inside 1350 of an a tag); '/>' indicates empty tags 1351- inside of tag complete proper attributes (no width attribute for an a tag); 1352 show also type of attribute; '*' indicates required attributes 1353- when attribute has limited number of possible values help to complete them 1354- complete names of entities 1355- complete values of "class" and "id" attributes with data obtained from 1356 <style> tag and included CSS files 1357- when completing value of "style" attribute or working inside of "style" tag 1358 switch to |ft-css-omni| completion 1359- when completing values of events attributes or working inside of "script" 1360 tag switch to |ft-javascript-omni| completion 1361- when used after "</" CTRL-X CTRL-O will close the last opened tag 1362 1363Note: When used first time completion menu will be shown with little delay 1364- this is time needed for loading of data file. 1365Note: Completion may fail in badly formatted documents. In such case try to 1366run |:make| command to detect formatting problems. 1367 1368 1369HTML flavor *html-flavor* 1370 1371The default HTML completion depends on the filetype. For HTML files it is 1372HTML 4.01 Transitional ('filetype' is "html"), for XHTML it is XHTML 1.0 1373Strict ('filetype' is "xhtml"). 1374 1375When doing completion outside of any other tag you will have possibility to 1376choose DOCTYPE and the appropriate data file will be loaded and used for all 1377next completions. 1378 1379More about format of data file in |xml-omni-datafile|. Some of the data files 1380may be found on the Vim website (|www|). 1381 1382Note that b:html_omni_flavor may point to a file with any XML data. This 1383makes possible to mix PHP (|ft-php-omni|) completion with any XML dialect 1384(assuming you have data file for it). Without setting that variable XHTML 1.0 1385Strict will be used. 1386 1387 1388JAVASCRIPT *ft-javascript-omni* 1389 1390Completion of most elements of JavaScript language and DOM elements. 1391 1392Complete: 1393 1394- variables 1395- function name; show function arguments 1396- function arguments 1397- properties of variables trying to detect type of variable 1398- complete DOM objects and properties depending on context 1399- keywords of language 1400 1401Completion works in separate JavaScript files (&ft==javascript), inside of 1402<script> tag of (X)HTML and in values of event attributes (including scanning 1403of external files). 1404 1405DOM compatibility 1406 1407At the moment (beginning of 2006) there are two main browsers - MS Internet 1408Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. These two applications are covering over 90% of 1409market. Theoretically standards are created by W3C organisation 1410(http://www.w3c.org) but they are not always followed/implemented. 1411 1412 IE FF W3C Omni completion ~ 1413 +/- +/- + + ~ 1414 + + - + ~ 1415 + - - - ~ 1416 - + - - ~ 1417 1418Regardless from state of implementation in browsers but if element is defined 1419in standards, completion plugin will place element in suggestion list. When 1420both major engines implemented element, even if this is not in standards it 1421will be suggested. All other elements are not placed in suggestion list. 1422 1423 1424PHP *ft-php-omni* 1425 1426Completion of PHP code requires a tags file for completion of data from 1427external files and for class aware completion. You should use Exuberant ctags 1428version 5.5.4 or newer. You can find it here: http://ctags.sourceforge.net/ 1429 1430Script completes: 1431 1432- after $ variables name 1433 - if variable was declared as object add "->", if tags file is available show 1434 name of class 1435 - after "->" complete only function and variable names specific for given 1436 class. To find class location and contents tags file is required. Because 1437 PHP isn't strongly typed language user can use @var tag to declare class: > 1438 1439 /* @var $myVar myClass */ 1440 $myVar-> 1441< 1442 Still, to find myClass contents tags file is required. 1443 1444- function names with additional info: 1445 - in case of built-in functions list of possible arguments and after | type 1446 data returned by function 1447 - in case of user function arguments and name of file where function was 1448 defined (if it is not current file) 1449 1450- constants names 1451- class names after "new" declaration 1452 1453 1454Note: when doing completion first time Vim will load all necessary data into 1455memory. It may take several seconds. After next use of completion delay 1456should not be noticeable. 1457 1458Script detects if cursor is inside <?php ?> tags. If it is outside it will 1459automatically switch to HTML/CSS/JavaScript completion. Note: contrary to 1460original HTML files completion of tags (and only tags) isn't context aware. 1461 1462 1463RUBY *ft-ruby-omni* 1464 1465Completion of Ruby code requires that vim be built with |+ruby|. 1466 1467Ruby completion will parse your buffer on demand in order to provide a list of 1468completions. These completions will be drawn from modules loaded by 'require' 1469and modules defined in the current buffer. 1470 1471The completions provided by CTRL-X CTRL-O are sensitive to the context: 1472 1473 CONTEXT COMPLETIONS PROVIDED ~ 1474 1475 1. Not inside a class definition Classes, constants and globals 1476 1477 2. Inside a class definition Methods or constants defined in the class 1478 1479 3. After '.', '::' or ':' Methods applicable to the object being 1480 dereferenced 1481 1482 4. After ':' or ':foo' Symbol name (beginning with 'foo') 1483 1484Notes: 1485 - Vim will load/evaluate code in order to provide completions. This may 1486 cause some code execution, which may be a concern. This is no longer 1487 enabled by default, to enable this feature add > 1488 let g:rubycomplete_buffer_loading = 1 1489<- In context 1 above, Vim can parse the entire buffer to add a list of 1490 classes to the completion results. This feature is turned off by default, 1491 to enable it add > 1492 let g:rubycomplete_classes_in_global = 1 1493< to your vimrc 1494 - In context 2 above, anonymous classes are not supported. 1495 - In context 3 above, Vim will attempt to determine the methods supported by 1496 the object. 1497 - Vim can detect and load the Rails environment for files within a rails 1498 project. The feature is disabled by default, to enable it add > 1499 let g:rubycomplete_rails = 1 1500< to your vimrc 1501 1502 1503SYNTAX *ft-syntax-omni* 1504 1505Vim has the ability to color syntax highlight nearly 500 languages. Part of 1506this highlighting includes knowing what keywords are part of a language. Many 1507filetypes already have custom completion scripts written for them, the 1508syntaxcomplete plugin provides basic completion for all other filetypes. It 1509does this by populating the omni completion list with the text Vim already 1510knows how to color highlight. It can be used for any filetype and provides a 1511minimal language-sensitive completion. 1512 1513To enable syntax code completion you can run: > 1514 setlocal omnifunc=syntaxcomplete#Complete 1515 1516You can automate this by placing the following in your |.vimrc| (after any 1517":filetype" command): > 1518 if has("autocmd") && exists("+omnifunc") 1519 autocmd Filetype * 1520 \ if &omnifunc == "" | 1521 \ setlocal omnifunc=syntaxcomplete#Complete | 1522 \ endif 1523 endif 1524 1525The above will set completion to this script only if a specific plugin does 1526not already exist for that filetype. 1527 1528Each filetype can have a wide range of syntax items. The plugin allows you to 1529customize which syntax groups to include or exclude from the list. Let's have 1530a look at the PHP filetype to see how this works. 1531 1532If you edit a file called, index.php, run the following command: > 1533 syntax list 1534 1535The first thing you will notice is that there are many different syntax groups. 1536The PHP language can include elements from different languages like HTML, 1537JavaScript and many more. The syntax plugin will only include syntax groups 1538that begin with the filetype, "php", in this case. For example these syntax 1539groups are included by default with the PHP: phpEnvVar, phpIntVar, 1540phpFunctions. 1541 1542If you wish non-filetype syntax items to also be included, you can use a 1543regular expression syntax (added in version 13.0 of 1544autoload/syntaxcomplete.vim) to add items. Looking at the output from 1545":syntax list" while editing a PHP file I can see some of these entries: > 1546 htmlArg,htmlTag,htmlTagName,javaScriptStatement,javaScriptGlobalObjects 1547 1548To pick up any JavaScript and HTML keyword syntax groups while editing a PHP 1549file, you can use 3 different regexs, one for each language. Or you can 1550simply restrict the include groups to a particular value, without using 1551a regex string: > 1552 let g:omni_syntax_group_include_php = 'php\w\+,javaScript\w\+,html\w\+' 1553 let g:omni_syntax_group_include_php = 'phpFunctions,phpMethods' 1554< 1555The basic form of this variable is: > 1556 let g:omni_syntax_group_include_{filetype} = 'regex,comma,separated' 1557 1558The PHP language has an enormous number of items which it knows how to syntax 1559highlight. These items will be available within the omni completion list. 1560 1561Some people may find this list unwieldy or are only interested in certain 1562items. There are two ways to prune this list (if necessary). If you find 1563certain syntax groups you do not wish displayed you can use two different 1564methods to identify these groups. The first specifically lists the syntax 1565groups by name. The second uses a regular expression to identify both 1566syntax groups. Simply add one the following to your vimrc: > 1567 let g:omni_syntax_group_exclude_php = 'phpCoreConstant,phpConstant' 1568 let g:omni_syntax_group_exclude_php = 'php\w*Constant' 1569 1570Add as many syntax groups to this list by comma separating them. The basic 1571form of this variable is: > 1572 let g:omni_syntax_group_exclude_{filetype} = 'regex,comma,separated' 1573 1574You can create as many of these variables as you need, varying only the 1575filetype at the end of the variable name. 1576 1577The plugin uses the isKeyword option to determine where word boundaries are 1578for the syntax items. For example, in the Scheme language completion should 1579include the "-", call-with-output-file. Depending on your filetype, this may 1580not provide the words you are expecting. Setting the 1581g:omni_syntax_use_iskeyword option to 0 will force the syntax plugin to break 1582on word characters. This can be controlled adding the following to your 1583vimrc: > 1584 let g:omni_syntax_use_iskeyword = 0 1585 1586For plugin developers, the plugin exposes a public function OmniSyntaxList. 1587This function can be used to request a List of syntax items. When editing a 1588SQL file (:e syntax.sql) you can use the ":syntax list" command to see the 1589various groups and syntax items. For example: > 1590 syntax list 1591 1592Yields data similar to this: 1593 sqlOperator xxx some prior all like and any escape exists in is not ~ 1594 or intersect minus between distinct ~ 1595 links to Operator ~ 1596 sqlType xxx varbit varchar nvarchar bigint int uniqueidentifier ~ 1597 date money long tinyint unsigned xml text smalldate ~ 1598 double datetime nchar smallint numeric time bit char ~ 1599 varbinary binary smallmoney ~ 1600 image float integer timestamp real decimal ~ 1601 1602There are two syntax groups listed here: sqlOperator and sqlType. To retrieve 1603a List of syntax items you can call OmniSyntaxList a number of different 1604ways. To retrieve all syntax items regardless of syntax group: > 1605 echo OmniSyntaxList( [] ) 1606 1607To retrieve only the syntax items for the sqlOperator syntax group: > 1608 echo OmniSyntaxList( ['sqlOperator'] ) 1609 1610To retrieve all syntax items for both the sqlOperator and sqlType groups: > 1611 echo OmniSyntaxList( ['sqlOperator', 'sqlType'] ) 1612 1613A regular expression can also be used: > 1614 echo OmniSyntaxList( ['sql\w\+'] ) 1615 1616From within a plugin, you would typically assign the output to a List: > 1617 let myKeywords = [] 1618 let myKeywords = OmniSyntaxList( ['sqlKeyword'] ) 1619 1620 1621SQL *ft-sql-omni* 1622 1623Completion for the SQL language includes statements, functions, keywords. 1624It will also dynamically complete tables, procedures, views and column lists 1625with data pulled directly from within a database. For detailed instructions 1626and a tutorial see |omni-sql-completion|. 1627 1628The SQL completion plugin can be used in conjunction with other completion 1629plugins. For example, the PHP filetype has its own completion plugin. 1630Since PHP is often used to generate dynamic website by accessing a database, 1631the SQL completion plugin can also be enabled. This allows you to complete 1632PHP code and SQL code at the same time. 1633 1634 1635XML *ft-xml-omni* 1636 1637Vim 7 provides a mechanism for context aware completion of XML files. It 1638depends on a special |xml-omni-datafile| and two commands: |:XMLns| and 1639|:XMLent|. Features are: 1640 1641- after "<" complete the tag name, depending on context 1642- inside of a tag complete proper attributes 1643- when an attribute has a limited number of possible values help to complete 1644 them 1645- complete names of entities (defined in |xml-omni-datafile| and in the 1646 current file with "<!ENTITY" declarations) 1647- when used after "</" CTRL-X CTRL-O will close the last opened tag 1648 1649Format of XML data file *xml-omni-datafile* 1650 1651XML data files are stored in the "autoload/xml" directory in 'runtimepath'. 1652Vim distribution provides examples of data files in the 1653"$VIMRUNTIME/autoload/xml" directory. They have a meaningful name which will 1654be used in commands. It should be a unique name which will not create 1655conflicts. For example, the name xhtml10s.vim means it is the data file for 1656XHTML 1.0 Strict. 1657 1658Each file contains a variable with a name like g:xmldata_xhtml10s . It is 1659a compound from two parts: 1660 16611. "g:xmldata_" general prefix, constant for all data files 16622. "xhtml10s" the name of the file and the name of the described XML 1663 dialect; it will be used as an argument for the |:XMLns| 1664 command 1665 1666Part two must be exactly the same as name of file. 1667 1668The variable is a |Dictionary|. Keys are tag names and each value is a two 1669element |List|. The first element of the List is also a List with the names 1670of possible children. The second element is a |Dictionary| with the names of 1671attributes as keys and the possible values of attributes as values. Example: > 1672 1673 let g:xmldata_crippled = { 1674 \ "vimxmlentities": ["amp", "lt", "gt", "apos", "quot"], 1675 \ 'vimxmlroot': ['tag1'], 1676 \ 'tag1': 1677 \ [ ['childoftag1a', 'childoftag1b'], {'attroftag1a': [], 1678 \ 'attroftag1b': ['valueofattr1', 'valueofattr2']}], 1679 \ 'childoftag1a': 1680 \ [ [], {'attrofchild': ['attrofchild']}], 1681 \ 'childoftag1b': 1682 \ [ ['childoftag1a'], {'attrofchild': []}], 1683 \ "vimxmltaginfo": { 1684 \ 'tag1': ['Menu info', 'Long information visible in preview window']}, 1685 \ 'vimxmlattrinfo': { 1686 \ 'attrofchild': ['Menu info', 'Long information visible in preview window']}} 1687 1688This example would be put in the "autoload/xml/crippled.vim" file and could 1689help to write this file: > 1690 1691 <tag1 attroftag1b="valueofattr1"> 1692 <childoftag1a attrofchild> 1693 & < 1694 </childoftag1a> 1695 <childoftag1b attrofchild="5"> 1696 <childoftag1a> 1697 > ' " 1698 </childoftag1a> 1699 </childoftag1b> 1700 </tag1> 1701 1702In the example four special elements are visible: 1703 17041. "vimxmlentities" - a special key with List containing entities of this XML 1705 dialect. 17062. If the list containing possible values of attributes has one element and 1707 this element is equal to the name of the attribute this attribute will be 1708 treated as boolean and inserted as 'attrname' and not as 'attrname="' 17093. "vimxmltaginfo" - a special key with a Dictionary containing tag 1710 names as keys and two element List as values, for additional menu info and 1711 the long description. 17124. "vimxmlattrinfo" - special key with Dictionary containing attribute names 1713 as keys and two element List as values, for additional menu info and long 1714 description. 1715 1716Note: Tag names in the data file MUST not contain a namespace description. 1717Check xsl.vim for an example. 1718Note: All data and functions are publicly available as global 1719variables/functions and can be used for personal editing functions. 1720 1721 1722DTD -> Vim *dtd2vim* 1723 1724On |www| is the script |dtd2vim| which parses DTD and creates an XML data file 1725for Vim XML omni completion. 1726 1727 dtd2vim: http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1462 1728 1729Check the beginning of that file for usage details. 1730The script requires perl and: 1731 1732 perlSGML: http://savannah.nongnu.org/projects/perlsgml 1733 1734 1735Commands 1736 1737:XMLns {name} [{namespace}] *:XMLns* 1738 1739Vim has to know which data file should be used and with which namespace. For 1740loading of the data file and connecting data with the proper namespace use 1741|:XMLns| command. The first (obligatory) argument is the name of the data 1742(xhtml10s, xsl). The second argument is the code of namespace (h, xsl). When 1743used without a second argument the dialect will be used as default - without 1744namespace declaration. For example to use XML completion in .xsl files: > 1745 1746 :XMLns xhtml10s 1747 :XMLns xsl xsl 1748 1749 1750:XMLent {name} *:XMLent* 1751 1752By default entities will be completed from the data file of the default 1753namespace. The XMLent command should be used in case when there is no default 1754namespace: > 1755 1756 :XMLent xhtml10s 1757 1758Usage 1759 1760While used in this situation (after declarations from previous part, | is 1761cursor position): > 1762 1763 <| 1764 1765Will complete to an appropriate XHTML tag, and in this situation: > 1766 1767 <xsl:| 1768 1769Will complete to an appropriate XSL tag. 1770 1771 1772The script xmlcomplete.vim, provided through the |autoload| mechanism, 1773has the xmlcomplete#GetLastOpenTag() function which can be used in XML files 1774to get the name of the last open tag (b:unaryTagsStack has to be defined): > 1775 1776 :echo xmlcomplete#GetLastOpenTag("b:unaryTagsStack") 1777 1778 1779 1780============================================================================== 17818. Insert mode commands *inserting* 1782 1783The following commands can be used to insert new text into the buffer. They 1784can all be undone and repeated with the "." command. 1785 1786 *a* 1787a Append text after the cursor [count] times. If the 1788 cursor is in the first column of an empty line Insert 1789 starts there. But not when 'virtualedit' is set! 1790 1791 *A* 1792A Append text at the end of the line [count] times. 1793 1794<insert> or *i* *insert* *<Insert>* 1795i Insert text before the cursor [count] times. 1796 When using CTRL-O in Insert mode |i_CTRL-O| the count 1797 is not supported. 1798 1799 *I* 1800I Insert text before the first non-blank in the line 1801 [count] times. 1802 When the 'H' flag is present in 'cpoptions' and the 1803 line only contains blanks, insert start just before 1804 the last blank. 1805 1806 *gI* 1807gI Insert text in column 1 [count] times. {not in Vi} 1808 1809 *gi* 1810gi Insert text in the same position as where Insert mode 1811 was stopped last time in the current buffer. 1812 This uses the |'^| mark. It's different from "`^i" 1813 when the mark is past the end of the line. 1814 The position is corrected for inserted/deleted lines, 1815 but NOT for inserted/deleted characters. 1816 When the |:keepjumps| command modifier is used the |'^| 1817 mark won't be changed. 1818 {not in Vi} 1819 1820 *o* 1821o Begin a new line below the cursor and insert text, 1822 repeat [count] times. {Vi: blank [count] screen 1823 lines} 1824 When the '#' flag is in 'cpoptions' the count is 1825 ignored. 1826 1827 *O* 1828O Begin a new line above the cursor and insert text, 1829 repeat [count] times. {Vi: blank [count] screen 1830 lines} 1831 When the '#' flag is in 'cpoptions' the count is 1832 ignored. 1833 1834These commands are used to start inserting text. You can end insert mode with 1835<Esc>. See |mode-ins-repl| for the other special characters in Insert mode. 1836The effect of [count] takes place after Insert mode is exited. 1837 1838When 'autoindent' is on, the indent for a new line is obtained from the 1839previous line. When 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is on, the indent for a line 1840is automatically adjusted for C programs. 1841 1842'textwidth' can be set to the maximum width for a line. When a line becomes 1843too long when appending characters a line break is automatically inserted. 1844 1845 1846============================================================================== 18479. Ex insert commands *inserting-ex* 1848 1849 *:a* *:append* 1850:{range}a[ppend][!] Insert several lines of text below the specified 1851 line. If the {range} is missing, the text will be 1852 inserted after the current line. 1853 Adding [!] toggles 'autoindent' for the time this 1854 command is executed. 1855 1856 *:i* *:in* *:insert* 1857:{range}i[nsert][!] Insert several lines of text above the specified 1858 line. If the {range} is missing, the text will be 1859 inserted before the current line. 1860 Adding [!] toggles 'autoindent' for the time this 1861 command is executed. 1862 1863These two commands will keep on asking for lines, until you type a line 1864containing only a ".". Watch out for lines starting with a backslash, see 1865|line-continuation|. 1866 1867When in Ex mode (see |-e|) a backslash at the end of the line can be used to 1868insert a NUL character. To be able to have a line ending in a backslash use 1869two backslashes. This means that the number of backslashes is halved, but 1870only at the end of the line. 1871 1872NOTE: These commands cannot be used with |:global| or |:vglobal|. 1873":append" and ":insert" don't work properly in between ":if" and 1874":endif", ":for" and ":endfor", ":while" and ":endwhile". 1875 1876 *:start* *:startinsert* 1877:star[tinsert][!] Start Insert mode just after executing this command. 1878 Works like typing "i" in Normal mode. When the ! is 1879 included it works like "A", append to the line. 1880 Otherwise insertion starts at the cursor position. 1881 Note that when using this command in a function or 1882 script, the insertion only starts after the function 1883 or script is finished. 1884 This command does not work from |:normal|. 1885 {not in Vi} 1886 1887 *:stopi* *:stopinsert* 1888:stopi[nsert] Stop Insert mode as soon as possible. Works like 1889 typing <Esc> in Insert mode. 1890 Can be used in an autocommand, example: > 1891 :au BufEnter scratch stopinsert 1892< 1893 *replacing-ex* *:startreplace* 1894:startr[eplace][!] Start Replace mode just after executing this command. 1895 Works just like typing "R" in Normal mode. When the 1896 ! is included it acts just like "$R" had been typed 1897 (ie. begin replace mode at the end-of-line). Other- 1898 wise replacement begins at the cursor position. 1899 Note that when using this command in a function or 1900 script that the replacement will only start after 1901 the function or script is finished. 1902 {not in Vi} 1903 1904 *:startgreplace* 1905:startg[replace][!] Just like |:startreplace|, but use Virtual Replace 1906 mode, like with |gR|. 1907 {not in Vi} 1908 1909============================================================================== 191010. Inserting a file *inserting-file* 1911 1912 *:r* *:re* *:read* 1913:r[ead] [++opt] [name] 1914 Insert the file [name] (default: current file) below 1915 the cursor. 1916 See |++opt| for the possible values of [++opt]. 1917 1918:{range}r[ead] [++opt] [name] 1919 Insert the file [name] (default: current file) below 1920 the specified line. 1921 See |++opt| for the possible values of [++opt]. 1922 1923 *:r!* *:read!* 1924:[range]r[ead] [++opt] !{cmd} 1925 Execute {cmd} and insert its standard output below 1926 the cursor or the specified line. A temporary file is 1927 used to store the output of the command which is then 1928 read into the buffer. 'shellredir' is used to save 1929 the output of the command, which can be set to include 1930 stderr or not. {cmd} is executed like with ":!{cmd}", 1931 any '!' is replaced with the previous command |:!|. 1932 See |++opt| for the possible values of [++opt]. 1933 1934These commands insert the contents of a file, or the output of a command, 1935into the buffer. They can be undone. They cannot be repeated with the "." 1936command. They work on a line basis, insertion starts below the line in which 1937the cursor is, or below the specified line. To insert text above the first 1938line use the command ":0r {name}". 1939 1940After the ":read" command, the cursor is left on the first non-blank in the 1941first new line. Unless in Ex mode, then the cursor is left on the last new 1942line (sorry, this is Vi compatible). 1943 1944If a file name is given with ":r", it becomes the alternate file. This can be 1945used, for example, when you want to edit that file instead: ":e! #". This can 1946be switched off by removing the 'a' flag from the 'cpoptions' option. 1947 1948Of the [++opt] arguments one is specifically for ":read", the ++edit argument. 1949This is useful when the ":read" command is actually used to read a file into 1950the buffer as if editing that file. Use this command in an empty buffer: > 1951 :read ++edit filename 1952The effect is that the 'fileformat', 'fileencoding', 'bomb', etc. options are 1953set to what has been detected for "filename". Note that a single empty line 1954remains, you may want to delete it. 1955 1956 *file-read* 1957The 'fileformat' option sets the <EOL> style for a file: 1958'fileformat' characters name ~ 1959 "dos" <CR><NL> or <NL> DOS format 1960 "unix" <NL> Unix format 1961 "mac" <CR> Mac format 1962Previously 'textmode' was used. It is obsolete now. 1963 1964If 'fileformat' is "dos", a <CR> in front of an <NL> is ignored and a CTRL-Z 1965at the end of the file is ignored. 1966 1967If 'fileformat' is "mac", a <NL> in the file is internally represented by a 1968<CR>. This is to avoid confusion with a <NL> which is used to represent a 1969<NUL>. See |CR-used-for-NL|. 1970 1971If the 'fileformats' option is not empty Vim tries to recognize the type of 1972<EOL> (see |file-formats|). However, the 'fileformat' option will not be 1973changed, the detected format is only used while reading the file. 1974A similar thing happens with 'fileencodings'. 1975 1976On non-MS-DOS, Win32, and OS/2 systems the message "[dos format]" is shown if 1977a file is read in DOS format, to remind you that something unusual is done. 1978On Macintosh, MS-DOS, Win32, and OS/2 the message "[unix format]" is shown if 1979a file is read in Unix format. 1980On non-Macintosh systems, the message "[Mac format]" is shown if a file is 1981read in Mac format. 1982 1983An example on how to use ":r !": > 1984 :r !uuencode binfile binfile 1985This command reads "binfile", uuencodes it and reads it into the current 1986buffer. Useful when you are editing e-mail and want to include a binary 1987file. 1988 1989 *read-messages* 1990When reading a file Vim will display a message with information about the read 1991file. In the table is an explanation for some of the items. The others are 1992self explanatory. Using the long or the short version depends on the 1993'shortmess' option. 1994 1995 long short meaning ~ 1996 [readonly] {RO} the file is write protected 1997 [fifo/socket] using a stream 1998 [fifo] using a fifo stream 1999 [socket] using a socket stream 2000 [CR missing] reading with "dos" 'fileformat' and a 2001 NL without a preceding CR was found. 2002 [NL found] reading with "mac" 'fileformat' and a 2003 NL was found (could be "unix" format) 2004 [long lines split] at least one line was split in two 2005 [NOT converted] conversion from 'fileencoding' to 2006 'encoding' was desired but not 2007 possible 2008 [converted] conversion from 'fileencoding' to 2009 'encoding' done 2010 [crypted] file was decrypted 2011 [READ ERRORS] not all of the file could be read 2012 2013 2014 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: 2015