1*os_dos.txt* For Vim version 8.2. Last change: 2006 Mar 30 2 3 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar 5 6 7 *dos* *DOS* 8This file documents the common particularities of the MS-DOS and Win32 9versions of Vim. Also see |os_win32.txt| and |os_msdos.txt|. 10 111. File locations |dos-locations| 122. Using backslashes |dos-backslash| 133. Standard mappings |dos-standard-mappings| 144. Screen output and colors |dos-colors| 155. File formats |dos-file-formats| 166. :cd command |dos-:cd| 177. Interrupting |dos-CTRL-Break| 188. Temp files |dos-temp-files| 199. Shell option default |dos-shell| 2010. PowerShell |dos-powershell| 21 22============================================================================== 231. File locations *dos-locations* 24 25If you keep the Vim executable in the directory that contains the help and 26syntax subdirectories, there is no need to do anything special for Vim to 27work. No registry entries or environment variables need to be set. Just make 28sure that the directory is in your search path, or use a shortcut on the 29desktop. 30 31Your vimrc files ("_vimrc" and "_gvimrc") are normally located one directory 32up from the runtime files. If you want to put them somewhere else, set the 33environment variable $VIM to the directory where you keep them. Example: > 34 set VIM=C:\user\piet 35Will find "c:\user\piet\_vimrc". 36Note: This would only be needed when the computer is used by several people. 37Otherwise it's simpler to keep your _vimrc file in the default place. 38 39If you move the executable to another location, you also need to set the $VIM 40environment variable. The runtime files will be found in "$VIM/vim{version}". 41Example: > 42 set VIM=E:\vim 43Will find the version 8.2 runtime files in "e:\vim\vim82". 44Note: This is _not_ recommended. The preferred way is to keep the executable 45in the runtime directory. 46 47If you move your executable AND want to put your "_vimrc" and "_gvimrc" files 48somewhere else, you must set $VIM to where you vimrc files are, and set 49$VIMRUNTIME to the runtime files. Example: > 50 set VIM=C:\usr\piet 51 set VIMRUNTIME=E:\vim\vim82 52Will find "c:\user\piet\_vimrc" and the runtime files in "e:\vim\vim82". 53 54See |$VIM| and |$VIMRUNTIME| for more information. 55 56You can set environment variables for each user separately through the 57System Properties dialog box. The steps to do that: 581. Type Windows Key + R to open the "Run" dialog box. 592. Enter "sysdm.cpl" and press the "OK" button. The "System Properties" 60 dialog box will open. 613. Select the "Advanced" tab and press the "Environment Variables..." button. 62 The "Environment Variables" dialog box will open. 634. Select an existing variable in the "User variables" list and press the 64 "Edit..." button to edit it. Or press the "New..." button to add a new 65 variable. 665. After you finished editing variables, press the "OK" button to save the 67 changes. 68 69============================================================================== 702. Using backslashes *dos-backslash* 71 72Using backslashes in file names can be a problem. Vi halves the number of 73backslashes for some commands. Vim is a bit more tolerant and does not remove 74backslashes from a file name, so ":e c:\foo\bar" works as expected. But when 75a backslash occurs before a special character (space, comma, backslash, etc.), 76Vim removes the backslash. Use slashes to avoid problems: ":e c:/foo/bar" 77works fine. Vim replaces the slashes with backslashes internally to avoid 78problems with some MS-DOS programs and Win32 programs. 79 80When you prefer to use forward slashes, set the 'shellslash' option. Vim will 81then replace backslashes with forward slashes when expanding file names. This 82is especially useful when using a Unix-like 'shell'. 83 84============================================================================== 853. Standard mappings *dos-standard-mappings* 86 87The mappings for CTRL-PageUp and CTRL-PageDown have been removed, they now 88jump to the next or previous tab page |<C-PageUp>| |<C-PageDown>| 89 90If you want them to move to the first and last screen line you can use these 91mappings: 92 93key key code Normal/Visual mode Insert mode ~ 94CTRL-PageUp <M-N><M-C-D> H <C-O>H 95CTRL-PageDown <M-N>v L$ <C-O>L<C-O>$ 96 97Additionally, these keys are available for copy/cut/paste. In the Win32 98and DJGPP versions, they also use the clipboard. 99 100Shift-Insert paste text (from clipboard) *<S-Insert>* 101CTRL-Insert copy Visual text (to clipboard) *<C-Insert>* 102CTRL-Del cut Visual text (to clipboard) *<C-Del>* 103Shift-Del cut Visual text (to clipboard) *<S-Del>* 104CTRL-X cut Visual text (to clipboard) 105 106These mappings accomplish this (Win32 and DJGPP versions of Vim): 107 108key key code Normal Visual Insert ~ 109Shift-Insert <M-N><M-T> "*P "-d"*P <C-R><C-O>* 110CTRL-Insert <M-N><M-U> "*y 111Shift-Del <M-N><M-W> "*d 112CTRL-Del <M-N><M-X> "*d 113CTRL-X <C-X> "*d 114 115Or these mappings (non-Win32 version of Vim): 116 117key key code Normal Visual Insert ~ 118Shift-Insert <M-N><M-T> P "-dP <C-R><C-O>" 119CTRL-Insert <M-N><M-U> y 120Shift-Del <M-N><M-W> d 121CTRL-Del <M-N><M-X> d 122 123When the clipboard is supported, the "* register is used. 124 125============================================================================== 1264. Screen output and colors *dos-colors* 127 128The default output method for the screen is to use bios calls. This works 129right away on most systems. You do not need ansi.sys. You can use ":mode" to 130set the current screen mode. See |:mode|. 131 132To change the screen colors that Vim uses, you can use the |:highlight| 133command. The Normal highlight group specifies the colors Vim uses for normal 134text. For example, to get grey text on a blue background: > 135 :hi Normal ctermbg=Blue ctermfg=grey 136See |highlight-groups| for other groups that are available. 137 138A DOS console does not support attributes like bold and underlining. You can 139set the color used in five modes with nine terminal options. Note that this 140is not necessary since you can set the color directly with the ":highlight" 141command; these options are for backward compatibility with older Vim versions. 142The |'highlight'| option specifies which of the five modes is used for which 143action. > 144 145 :set t_mr=^V^[\|xxm start of invert mode 146 :set t_md=^V^[\|xxm start of bold mode 147 :set t_me=^V^[\|xxm back to normal text 148 149 :set t_so=^V^[\|xxm start of standout mode 150 :set t_se=^V^[\|xxm back to normal text 151 152 :set t_us=^V^[\|xxm start of underline mode 153 :set t_ue=^V^[\|xxm back to normal text 154 155 :set t_ZH=^V^[\|xxm start of italics mode 156 :set t_ZR=^V^[\|xxm back to normal text 157 158^V is CTRL-V 159^[ is <Esc> 160You must replace xx with a decimal code, which is the foreground color number 161and background color number added together: 162 163COLOR FOREGROUND BACKGROUND ~ 164Black 0 0 165DarkBlue 1 16 166DarkGreen 2 32 167DarkCyan 3 48 168DarkRed 4 64 169DarkMagenta 5 80 170Brown, DarkYellow 6 96 171LightGray 7 112 172DarkGray 8 128 * 173Blue, LightBlue 9 144 * 174Green, LightGreen 10 160 * 175Cyan, LightCyan 11 176 * 176Red, LightRed 12 192 * 177Magenta, LightMagenta 13 208 * 178Yellow, LightYellow 14 224 * 179White 15 240 * 180 181* Depending on the display mode, the color codes above 128 may not be 182 available, and code 128 will make the text blink. 183 184When you use 0, the color is reset to the one used when you started Vim 185(usually 7, lightgray on black, but you can override this. If you have 186overridden the default colors in a command prompt, you may need to adjust 187some of the highlight colors in your vimrc---see below). 188This is the default for t_me. 189 190The defaults for the various highlight modes are: 191 t_mr 112 reverse mode: Black text (0) on LightGray (112) 192 t_md 15 bold mode: White text (15) on Black (0) 193 t_me 0 normal mode (revert to default) 194 195 t_so 31 standout mode: White (15) text on DarkBlue (16) 196 t_se 0 standout mode end (revert to default) 197 198 t_czh 225 italic mode: DarkBlue text (1) on Yellow (224) 199 t_czr 0 italic mode end (revert to default) 200 201 t_us 67 underline mode: DarkCyan text (3) on DarkRed (64) 202 t_ue 0 underline mode end (revert to default) 203 204These colors were chosen because they also look good when using an inverted 205display, but you can change them to your liking. 206 207Example: > 208 :set t_mr=^V^[\|97m " start of invert mode: DarkBlue (1) on Brown (96) 209 :set t_md=^V^[\|67m " start of bold mode: DarkCyan (3) on DarkRed (64) 210 :set t_me=^V^[\|112m " back to normal mode: Black (0) on LightGray (112) 211 212 :set t_so=^V^[\|37m " start of standout mode: DarkMagenta (5) on DarkGreen 213 (32) 214 :set t_se=^V^[\|112m " back to normal mode: Black (0) on LightGray (112) 215 216============================================================================== 2175. File formats *dos-file-formats* 218 219If the 'fileformat' option is set to "dos" (which is the default), Vim accepts 220a single <NL> or a <CR><NL> pair for end-of-line (<EOL>). When writing a 221file, Vim uses <CR><NL>. Thus, if you edit a file and write it, Vim replaces 222<NL> with <CR><NL>. 223 224If the 'fileformat' option is set to "unix", Vim uses a single <NL> for <EOL> 225and shows <CR> as ^M. 226 227You can use Vim to replace <NL> with <CR><NL> by reading in any mode and 228writing in Dos mode (":se ff=dos"). 229You can use Vim to replace <CR><NL> with <NL> by reading in Dos mode and 230writing in Unix mode (":se ff=unix"). 231 232Vim sets 'fileformat' automatically when 'fileformats' is not empty (which is 233the default), so you don't really have to worry about what you are doing. 234 |'fileformat'| |'fileformats'| 235 236If you want to edit a script file or a binary file, you should set the 237'binary' option before loading the file. Script files and binary files may 238contain single <NL> characters which Vim would replace with <CR><NL>. You can 239set 'binary' automatically by starting Vim with the "-b" (binary) option. 240 241============================================================================== 2426. :cd command *dos-:cd* 243 244The ":cd" command recognizes the drive specifier and changes the current 245drive. Use ":cd c:" to make drive C the active drive. Use ":cd d:\foo" to go 246to the directory "foo" in the root of drive D. Vim also recognizes UNC names 247if the system supports them; e.g., ":cd \\server\share\dir". |:cd| 248 249============================================================================== 2507. Interrupting *dos-CTRL-Break* 251 252Use CTRL-Break instead of CTRL-C to interrupt searches. Vim does not detect 253the CTRL-C until it tries to read a key. 254 255============================================================================== 2568. Temp files *dos-temp-files* 257 258Only for the 16 bit and 32 bit DOS version: 259Vim puts temporary files (for filtering) in the first of these directories 260that exists and in which Vim can create a file: 261 $TMP 262 $TEMP 263 C:\TMP 264 C:\TEMP 265 current directory 266 267For the Win32 version (both console and GUI): 268Vim uses standard Windows functions to obtain a temporary file name (for 269filtering). The first of these directories that exists and in which Vim can 270create a file is used: 271 $TMP 272 $TEMP 273 current directory 274 275============================================================================== 2769. Shell option default *dos-shell* 277 278The default for the 'sh' ('shell') option is "command.com" on Windows 95 and 279"cmd.exe" on Windows NT. If SHELL is defined, Vim uses SHELL instead, and if 280SHELL is not defined but COMSPEC is, Vim uses COMSPEC. Vim starts external 281commands with "<shell> /c <command_name>". Typing CTRL-Z starts a new command 282subshell. Return to Vim with "exit". |'shell'| |CTRL-Z| 283 284If you are running a third-party shell, you may need to set the 285|'shellcmdflag'| ('shcf') and |'shellquote'| ('shq') or |'shellxquote'| 286('sxq') options. Unfortunately, this also depends on the version of Vim used. 287For example, with the MKS Korn shell or with bash, the values of the options 288should be: 289 290 DOS 16 bit DOS 32 bit Win32 ~ 291'shellcmdflag' -c -c -c 292'shellquote' " 293'shellxquote' " 294 295For Dos 16 bit this starts the shell as: 296 <shell> -c "command name" >file 297For Win32 as: 298 <shell> -c "command name >file" 299For DOS 32 bit, DJGPP does this internally somehow. 300 301When starting up, if Vim does not recognise a standard Windows shell it checks 302for the presence of "sh" anywhere in the 'shell' option. If it is present, 303Vim sets the 'shellcmdflag' and 'shellquote' or 'shellxquote' options will be 304set as described above. 305 306============================================================================== 30710. PowerShell *dos-powershell* *dos-pwsh* 308 309Vim supports PowerShell Desktop and PowerShell Core. PowerShell Desktop is 310the version of PowerShell that is installed with Windows, while PowerShell 311Core is a separate downloadable version that works cross-platform. To see 312which version you are using then enter the following in a PowerShell prompt - 313$PSVersionTable.PSEdition 314 315If 'shell' includes "powershell" in the filename at startup then VIM sets 316'shellcmdflag', 'shellxquote', 'shellpipe', and 'shellredir' options to the 317following values: 318 319'shellcmdflag' -Command 320'shellxquote' " 321'shellpipe' 2>&1 | Out-File -Encoding default 322'shellredir' 2>&1 | Out-File -Encoding default 323 324If 'shell' includes "pwsh" in the filename at startup then VIM sets 325'shellcmdflag', 'shellxquote', 'shellpipe', and 'shellredir' options to the 326following values: 327 328'shellcmdflag' -c 329'shellxquote' " 330'shellpipe' >%s 2>&1 331'shellredir' >%s 2>&1 332 333If you find that PowerShell commands are taking a long time to run then try 334with "-NoProfile" at the beginning of the 'shellcmdflag'. Note this will 335prevent any PowerShell environment setup by the profile from taking place. 336 337If you have problems running PowerShell scripts through the 'shell' then try 338with "-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Command" at the beginning of 339'shellcmdflag'. See online Windows documentation for more information on 340PowerShell Execution Policy settings. 341 342See |option-backslash| about including spaces in 'shellcmdflag' when using 343multiple flags. 344 345The 'shellpipe' and 'shellredir' option values re-encode the UTF-16le output 346from PowerShell Desktop to your currently configured console codepage. The 347output can be forced into a different encoding by changing "default" to one of 348the following: 349 350 unicode - UTF-16le (default output from PowerShell 5.1) 351 bigendianunicode - UTF-16 352 utf8 - UTF-8 353 utf7 - UTF-7 (no BOM) 354 utf32 - UTF-32 355 ascii - 7-bit ASCII character set 356 default - System's active code page (typically ANSI) 357 oem - System's current OEM code page 358 359Note The abovce multi-byte Unicode encodings include a leading BOM unless 360otherwise indicated. 361 362By default PowerShell Core's output is UTF-8 encoded without a BOM. If you 363want to force the output of PowerShell Core into a different encoding then set 364'shellredir' and 'shellpipe' to "2>&1 | Out-File -Encoding encoding" where 365encoding is one of the following: 366 367 ascii - 7-bit ASCII character set 368 bigendianunicode - UTF-16be 369 bigendianutf32 - UTF-32be 370 oem - System's current OEM code page 371 unicode - UTF-16le 372 utf7 - UTF-7 373 utf8 - UTF-8 374 utf8BOM - UTF-8, with BOM 375 utf8NoBOM - UTF-8, no BOM (default output from PowerShell Core) 376 utf32 - UTF-32 377 378Since PowerShell Core 6.2, the Encoding parameter also supports specifying a 379numeric ID of a registered code page (-Encoding 1251) or string names of 380registered code pages (-Encoding "windows-1251"). The .NET documentation for 381Encoding.CodePage has more information 382 383 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: 384