1*repeat.txt* For Vim version 8.1. Last change: 2018 Dec 18 2 3 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar 5 6 7Repeating commands, Vim scripts and debugging *repeating* 8 9Chapter 26 of the user manual introduces repeating |usr_26.txt|. 10 111. Single repeats |single-repeat| 122. Multiple repeats |multi-repeat| 133. Complex repeats |complex-repeat| 144. Using Vim scripts |using-scripts| 155. Using Vim packages |packages| 166. Creating Vim packages |package-create| 177. Debugging scripts |debug-scripts| 188. Profiling |profiling| 19 20============================================================================== 211. Single repeats *single-repeat* 22 23 *.* 24. Repeat last change, with count replaced with [count]. 25 Also repeat a yank command, when the 'y' flag is 26 included in 'cpoptions'. Does not repeat a 27 command-line command. 28 29Simple changes can be repeated with the "." command. Without a count, the 30count of the last change is used. If you enter a count, it will replace the 31last one. |v:count| and |v:count1| will be set. 32 33If the last change included a specification of a numbered register, the 34register number will be incremented. See |redo-register| for an example how 35to use this. 36 37Note that when repeating a command that used a Visual selection, the same SIZE 38of area is used, see |visual-repeat|. 39 40 *@:* 41@: Repeat last command-line [count] times. 42 {not available when compiled without the 43 |+cmdline_hist| feature} 44 45 46============================================================================== 472. Multiple repeats *multi-repeat* 48 49 *:g* *:global* *E148* 50:[range]g[lobal]/{pattern}/[cmd] 51 Execute the Ex command [cmd] (default ":p") on the 52 lines within [range] where {pattern} matches. 53 54:[range]g[lobal]!/{pattern}/[cmd] 55 Execute the Ex command [cmd] (default ":p") on the 56 lines within [range] where {pattern} does NOT match. 57 58 *:v* *:vglobal* 59:[range]v[global]/{pattern}/[cmd] 60 Same as :g!. 61 62Instead of the '/' which surrounds the {pattern}, you can use any other 63single byte character, but not an alphabetic character, '\', '"' or '|'. 64This is useful if you want to include a '/' in the search pattern or 65replacement string. 66 67For the definition of a pattern, see |pattern|. 68 69NOTE [cmd] may contain a range; see |collapse| and |edit-paragraph-join| for 70examples. 71 72The global commands work by first scanning through the [range] lines and 73marking each line where a match occurs (for a multi-line pattern, only the 74start of the match matters). 75In a second scan the [cmd] is executed for each marked line, as if the cursor 76was in that line. For ":v" and ":g!" the command is executed for each not 77marked line. If a line is deleted its mark disappears. 78The default for [range] is the whole buffer (1,$). Use "CTRL-C" to interrupt 79the command. If an error message is given for a line, the command for that 80line is aborted and the global command continues with the next marked or 81unmarked line. 82 *E147* 83When the command is used recursively, it only works on one line. Giving a 84range is then not allowed. This is useful to find all lines that match a 85pattern and do not match another pattern: > 86 :g/found/v/notfound/{cmd} 87This first finds all lines containing "found", but only executes {cmd} when 88there is no match for "notfound". 89 90To execute a non-Ex command, you can use the `:normal` command: > 91 :g/pat/normal {commands} 92Make sure that {commands} ends with a whole command, otherwise Vim will wait 93for you to type the rest of the command for each match. The screen will not 94have been updated, so you don't know what you are doing. See |:normal|. 95 96The undo/redo command will undo/redo the whole global command at once. 97The previous context mark will only be set once (with "''" you go back to 98where the cursor was before the global command). 99 100The global command sets both the last used search pattern and the last used 101substitute pattern (this is vi compatible). This makes it easy to globally 102replace a string: 103 :g/pat/s//PAT/g 104This replaces all occurrences of "pat" with "PAT". The same can be done with: 105 :%s/pat/PAT/g 106Which is two characters shorter! 107 108When using "global" in Ex mode, a special case is using ":visual" as a 109command. This will move to a matching line, go to Normal mode to let you 110execute commands there until you use |Q| to return to Ex mode. This will be 111repeated for each matching line. While doing this you cannot use ":global". 112To abort this type CTRL-C twice. 113 114============================================================================== 1153. Complex repeats *complex-repeat* 116 117 *q* *recording* 118q{0-9a-zA-Z"} Record typed characters into register {0-9a-zA-Z"} 119 (uppercase to append). The 'q' command is disabled 120 while executing a register, and it doesn't work inside 121 a mapping and |:normal|. 122 123 Note: If the register being used for recording is also 124 used for |y| and |p| the result is most likely not 125 what is expected, because the put will paste the 126 recorded macro and the yank will overwrite the 127 recorded macro. {Vi: no recording} 128 129q Stops recording. (Implementation note: The 'q' that 130 stops recording is not stored in the register, unless 131 it was the result of a mapping) {Vi: no recording} 132 133 *@* 134@{0-9a-z".=*+} Execute the contents of register {0-9a-z".=*+} [count] 135 times. Note that register '%' (name of the current 136 file) and '#' (name of the alternate file) cannot be 137 used. 138 The register is executed like a mapping, that means 139 that the difference between 'wildchar' and 'wildcharm' 140 applies. 141 For "@=" you are prompted to enter an expression. The 142 result of the expression is then executed. 143 See also |@:|. {Vi: only named registers} 144 145 *@@* *E748* 146@@ Repeat the previous @{0-9a-z":*} [count] times. 147 148:[addr]*{0-9a-z".=+} *:@* *:star* 149:[addr]@{0-9a-z".=*+} Execute the contents of register {0-9a-z".=*+} as an Ex 150 command. First set cursor at line [addr] (default is 151 current line). When the last line in the register does 152 not have a <CR> it will be added automatically when 153 the 'e' flag is present in 'cpoptions'. 154 Note that the ":*" command is only recognized when the 155 '*' flag is present in 'cpoptions'. This is NOT the 156 default when 'nocompatible' is used. 157 For ":@=" the last used expression is used. The 158 result of evaluating the expression is executed as an 159 Ex command. 160 Mappings are not recognized in these commands. 161 {Vi: only in some versions} Future: Will execute the 162 register for each line in the address range. 163 164 *:@:* 165:[addr]@: Repeat last command-line. First set cursor at line 166 [addr] (default is current line). {not in Vi} 167 168:[addr]@ *:@@* 169:[addr]@@ Repeat the previous :@{0-9a-z"}. First set cursor at 170 line [addr] (default is current line). {Vi: only in 171 some versions} 172 173============================================================================== 1744. Using Vim scripts *using-scripts* 175 176For writing a Vim script, see chapter 41 of the user manual |usr_41.txt|. 177 178 *:so* *:source* *load-vim-script* 179:so[urce] {file} Read Ex commands from {file}. These are commands that 180 start with a ":". 181 Triggers the |SourcePre| autocommand. 182 183:so[urce]! {file} Read Vim commands from {file}. These are commands 184 that are executed from Normal mode, like you type 185 them. 186 When used after |:global|, |:argdo|, |:windo|, 187 |:bufdo|, in a loop or when another command follows 188 the display won't be updated while executing the 189 commands. 190 {not in Vi} 191 192 *:ru* *:runtime* 193:ru[ntime][!] [where] {file} .. 194 Read Ex commands from {file} in each directory given 195 by 'runtimepath' and/or 'packpath'. There is no error 196 for non-existing files. 197 198 Example: > 199 :runtime syntax/c.vim 200 201< There can be multiple {file} arguments, separated by 202 spaces. Each {file} is searched for in the first 203 directory from 'runtimepath', then in the second 204 directory, etc. Use a backslash to include a space 205 inside {file} (although it's better not to use spaces 206 in file names, it causes trouble). 207 208 When [!] is included, all found files are sourced. 209 When it is not included only the first found file is 210 sourced. 211 212 When [where] is omitted only 'runtimepath' is used. 213 Other values: 214 START search under "start" in 'packpath' 215 OPT search under "opt" in 'packpath' 216 PACK search under "start" and "opt" in 217 'packpath' 218 ALL first use 'runtimepath', then search 219 under "start" and "opt" in 'packpath' 220 221 When {file} contains wildcards it is expanded to all 222 matching files. Example: > 223 :runtime! plugin/*.vim 224< This is what Vim uses to load the plugin files when 225 starting up. This similar command: > 226 :runtime plugin/*.vim 227< would source the first file only. 228 229 When 'verbose' is one or higher, there is a message 230 when no file could be found. 231 When 'verbose' is two or higher, there is a message 232 about each searched file. 233 {not in Vi} 234 235 *:pa* *:packadd* *E919* 236:pa[ckadd][!] {name} Search for an optional plugin directory in 'packpath' 237 and source any plugin files found. The directory must 238 match: 239 pack/*/opt/{name} ~ 240 The directory is added to 'runtimepath' if it wasn't 241 there yet. 242 If the directory pack/*/opt/{name}/after exists it is 243 added at the end of 'runtimepath'. 244 245 If loading packages from "pack/*/start" was skipped, 246 then this directory is searched first: 247 pack/*/start/{name} ~ 248 249 Note that {name} is the directory name, not the name 250 of the .vim file. All the files matching the pattern 251 pack/*/opt/{name}/plugin/**/*.vim ~ 252 will be sourced. This allows for using subdirectories 253 below "plugin", just like with plugins in 254 'runtimepath'. 255 256 If the filetype detection was not enabled yet (this 257 is usually done with a "syntax enable" or "filetype 258 on" command in your .vimrc file), this will also look 259 for "{name}/ftdetect/*.vim" files. 260 261 When the optional ! is added no plugin files or 262 ftdetect scripts are loaded, only the matching 263 directories are added to 'runtimepath'. This is 264 useful in your .vimrc. The plugins will then be 265 loaded during initialization, see |load-plugins|. 266 267 Also see |pack-add|. 268 {only available when compiled with |+eval|} 269 270 *:packl* *:packloadall* 271:packl[oadall][!] Load all packages in the "start" directory under each 272 entry in 'packpath'. 273 274 First all the directories found are added to 275 'runtimepath', then the plugins found in the 276 directories are sourced. This allows for a plugin to 277 depend on something of another plugin, e.g. an 278 "autoload" directory. See |packload-two-steps| for 279 how this can be useful. 280 281 This is normally done automatically during startup, 282 after loading your .vimrc file. With this command it 283 can be done earlier. 284 285 Packages will be loaded only once. After this command 286 it won't happen again. When the optional ! is added 287 this command will load packages even when done before. 288 289 An error only causes sourcing the script where it 290 happens to be aborted, further plugins will be loaded. 291 See |packages|. 292 {only available when compiled with |+eval|} 293 294:scripte[ncoding] [encoding] *:scripte* *:scriptencoding* *E167* 295 Specify the character encoding used in the script. 296 The following lines will be converted from [encoding] 297 to the value of the 'encoding' option, if they are 298 different. Examples: > 299 scriptencoding iso-8859-5 300 scriptencoding cp932 301< 302 When [encoding] is empty, no conversion is done. This 303 can be used to restrict conversion to a sequence of 304 lines: > 305 scriptencoding euc-jp 306 ... lines to be converted ... 307 scriptencoding 308 ... not converted ... 309 310< When conversion isn't supported by the system, there 311 is no error message and no conversion is done. When a 312 line can't be converted there is no error and the 313 original line is kept. 314 315 Don't use "ucs-2" or "ucs-4", scripts cannot be in 316 these encodings (they would contain NUL bytes). 317 When a sourced script starts with a BOM (Byte Order 318 Mark) in utf-8 format Vim will recognize it, no need 319 to use ":scriptencoding utf-8" then. 320 321 If you set the 'encoding' option in your |.vimrc|, 322 `:scriptencoding` must be placed after that. E.g.: > 323 set encoding=utf-8 324 scriptencoding utf-8 325< 326 When compiled without the |+multi_byte| feature this 327 command is ignored. 328 {not in Vi} 329 330 *:scr* *:scriptnames* 331:scr[iptnames] List all sourced script names, in the order they were 332 first sourced. The number is used for the script ID 333 |<SID>|. 334 {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the 335 |+eval| feature} 336 337:scr[iptnames][!] {scriptId} *:script* 338 Edit script {scriptId}. Although ":scriptnames name" 339 works, using ":script name" is recommended. 340 When the current buffer can't be |abandon|ed and the ! 341 is not present, the command fails. 342 343 *:fini* *:finish* *E168* 344:fini[sh] Stop sourcing a script. Can only be used in a Vim 345 script file. This is a quick way to skip the rest of 346 the file. If it is used after a |:try| but before the 347 matching |:finally| (if present), the commands 348 following the ":finally" up to the matching |:endtry| 349 are executed first. This process applies to all 350 nested ":try"s in the script. The outermost ":endtry" 351 then stops sourcing the script. {not in Vi} 352 353All commands and command sequences can be repeated by putting them in a named 354register and then executing it. There are two ways to get the commands in the 355register: 356- Use the record command "q". You type the commands once, and while they are 357 being executed they are stored in a register. Easy, because you can see 358 what you are doing. If you make a mistake, "p"ut the register into the 359 file, edit the command sequence, and then delete it into the register 360 again. You can continue recording by appending to the register (use an 361 uppercase letter). 362- Delete or yank the command sequence into the register. 363 364Often used command sequences can be put under a function key with the ':map' 365command. 366 367An alternative is to put the commands in a file, and execute them with the 368':source!' command. Useful for long command sequences. Can be combined with 369the ':map' command to put complicated commands under a function key. 370 371The ':source' command reads Ex commands from a file line by line. You will 372have to type any needed keyboard input. The ':source!' command reads from a 373script file character by character, interpreting each character as if you 374typed it. 375 376Example: When you give the ":!ls" command you get the |hit-enter| prompt. If 377you ':source' a file with the line "!ls" in it, you will have to type the 378<Enter> yourself. But if you ':source!' a file with the line ":!ls" in it, 379the next characters from that file are read until a <CR> is found. You will 380not have to type <CR> yourself, unless ":!ls" was the last line in the file. 381 382It is possible to put ':source[!]' commands in the script file, so you can 383make a top-down hierarchy of script files. The ':source' command can be 384nested as deep as the number of files that can be opened at one time (about 38515). The ':source!' command can be nested up to 15 levels deep. 386 387You can use the "<sfile>" string (literally, this is not a special key) inside 388of the sourced file, in places where a file name is expected. It will be 389replaced by the file name of the sourced file. For example, if you have a 390"other.vimrc" file in the same directory as your ".vimrc" file, you can source 391it from your ".vimrc" file with this command: > 392 :source <sfile>:h/other.vimrc 393 394In script files terminal-dependent key codes are represented by 395terminal-independent two character codes. This means that they can be used 396in the same way on different kinds of terminals. The first character of a 397key code is 0x80 or 128, shown on the screen as "~@". The second one can be 398found in the list |key-notation|. Any of these codes can also be entered 399with CTRL-V followed by the three digit decimal code. This does NOT work for 400the <t_xx> termcap codes, these can only be used in mappings. 401 402 *:source_crnl* *W15* 403MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2: Files that are read with ":source" normally have 404<CR><NL> <EOL>s. These always work. If you are using a file with <NL> <EOL>s 405(for example, a file made on Unix), this will be recognized if 'fileformats' 406is not empty and the first line does not end in a <CR>. This fails if the 407first line has something like ":map <F1> :help^M", where "^M" is a <CR>. If 408the first line ends in a <CR>, but following ones don't, you will get an error 409message, because the <CR> from the first lines will be lost. 410 411Mac Classic: Files that are read with ":source" normally have <CR> <EOL>s. 412These always work. If you are using a file with <NL> <EOL>s (for example, a 413file made on Unix), this will be recognized if 'fileformats' is not empty and 414the first line does not end in a <CR>. Be careful not to use a file with <NL> 415linebreaks which has a <CR> in first line. 416 417On other systems, Vim expects ":source"ed files to end in a <NL>. These 418always work. If you are using a file with <CR><NL> <EOL>s (for example, a 419file made on MS-DOS), all lines will have a trailing <CR>. This may cause 420problems for some commands (e.g., mappings). There is no automatic <EOL> 421detection, because it's common to start with a line that defines a mapping 422that ends in a <CR>, which will confuse the automaton. 423 424 *line-continuation* 425Long lines in a ":source"d Ex command script file can be split by inserting 426a line continuation symbol "\" (backslash) at the start of the next line. 427There can be white space before the backslash, which is ignored. 428 429Example: the lines > 430 :set comments=sr:/*,mb:*,el:*/, 431 \://, 432 \b:#, 433 \:%, 434 \n:>, 435 \fb:- 436are interpreted as if they were given in one line: 437 :set comments=sr:/*,mb:*,el:*/,://,b:#,:%,n:>,fb:- 438 439All leading whitespace characters in the line before a backslash are ignored. 440Note however that trailing whitespace in the line before it cannot be 441inserted freely; it depends on the position where a command is split up 442whether additional whitespace is allowed or not. 443 444When a space is required it's best to put it right after the backslash. A 445space at the end of a line is hard to see and may be accidentally deleted. > 446 :syn match Comment 447 \ "very long regexp" 448 \ keepend 449 450There is a problem with the ":append" and ":insert" commands: > 451 :1append 452 \asdf 453 . 454The backslash is seen as a line-continuation symbol, thus this results in the 455command: > 456 :1appendasdf 457 . 458To avoid this, add the 'C' flag to the 'cpoptions' option: > 459 :set cpo+=C 460 :1append 461 \asdf 462 . 463 :set cpo-=C 464 465Note that when the commands are inside a function, you need to add the 'C' 466flag when defining the function, it is not relevant when executing it. > 467 :set cpo+=C 468 :function Foo() 469 :1append 470 \asdf 471 . 472 :endfunction 473 :set cpo-=C 474< 475 *line-continuation-comment* 476To add a comment in between the lines start with '"\ '. Notice the space 477after the backslash. Example: > 478 let array = [ 479 "\ first entry comment 480 \ 'first', 481 "\ second entry comment 482 \ 'second', 483 \ ] 484 485Rationale: 486 Most programs work with a trailing backslash to indicate line 487 continuation. Using this in Vim would cause incompatibility with Vi. 488 For example for this Vi mapping: > 489 :map xx asdf\ 490< Therefore the unusual leading backslash is used. 491 492 Starting a comment in a continuation line results in all following 493 continuation lines to be part of the comment. Since it was like this 494 for a long time, when making it possible to add a comment halfway a 495 sequence of continuation lines, it was not possible to use \", since 496 that was a valid continuation line. Using '"\ ' comes closest, even 497 though it may look a bit weird. Requiring the space after the 498 backslash is to make it very unlikely this is a normal comment line. 499 500============================================================================== 5015. Using Vim packages *packages* 502 503A Vim package is a directory that contains one or more plugins. The 504advantages over normal plugins: 505- A package can be downloaded as an archive and unpacked in its own directory. 506 Thus the files are not mixed with files of other plugins. That makes it 507 easy to update and remove. 508- A package can be a git, mercurial, etc. repository. That makes it really 509 easy to update. 510- A package can contain multiple plugins that depend on each other. 511- A package can contain plugins that are automatically loaded on startup and 512 ones that are only loaded when needed with `:packadd`. 513 514 515Using a package and loading automatically ~ 516 517Let's assume your Vim files are in the "~/.vim" directory and you want to add a 518package from a zip archive "/tmp/foopack.zip": 519 % mkdir -p ~/.vim/pack/foo 520 % cd ~/.vim/pack/foo 521 % unzip /tmp/foopack.zip 522 523The directory name "foo" is arbitrary, you can pick anything you like. 524 525You would now have these files under ~/.vim: 526 pack/foo/README.txt 527 pack/foo/start/foobar/plugin/foo.vim 528 pack/foo/start/foobar/syntax/some.vim 529 pack/foo/opt/foodebug/plugin/debugger.vim 530 531When Vim starts up, after processing your .vimrc, it scans all directories in 532'packpath' for plugins under the "pack/*/start" directory. First all those 533directories are added to 'runtimepath'. Then all the plugins are loaded. 534See |packload-two-steps| for how these two steps can be useful. 535 536In the example Vim will find "pack/foo/start/foobar/plugin/foo.vim" and adds 537"~/.vim/pack/foo/start/foobar" to 'runtimepath'. 538 539If the "foobar" plugin kicks in and sets the 'filetype' to "some", Vim will 540find the syntax/some.vim file, because its directory is in 'runtimepath'. 541 542Vim will also load ftdetect files, if there are any. 543 544Note that the files under "pack/foo/opt" are not loaded automatically, only the 545ones under "pack/foo/start". See |pack-add| below for how the "opt" directory 546is used. 547 548Loading packages automatically will not happen if loading plugins is disabled, 549see |load-plugins|. 550 551To load packages earlier, so that 'runtimepath' gets updated: > 552 :packloadall 553This also works when loading plugins is disabled. The automatic loading will 554only happen once. 555 556If the package has an "after" directory, that directory is added to the end of 557'runtimepath', so that anything there will be loaded later. 558 559 560Using a single plugin and loading it automatically ~ 561 562If you don't have a package but a single plugin, you need to create the extra 563directory level: 564 % mkdir -p ~/.vim/pack/foo/start/foobar 565 % cd ~/.vim/pack/foo/start/foobar 566 % unzip /tmp/someplugin.zip 567 568You would now have these files: 569 pack/foo/start/foobar/plugin/foo.vim 570 pack/foo/start/foobar/syntax/some.vim 571 572From here it works like above. 573 574 575Optional plugins ~ 576 *pack-add* 577To load an optional plugin from a pack use the `:packadd` command: > 578 :packadd foodebug 579This searches for "pack/*/opt/foodebug" in 'packpath' and will find 580~/.vim/pack/foo/opt/foodebug/plugin/debugger.vim and source it. 581 582This could be done if some conditions are met. For example, depending on 583whether Vim supports a feature or a dependency is missing. 584 585You can also load an optional plugin at startup, by putting this command in 586your |.vimrc|: > 587 :packadd! foodebug 588The extra "!" is so that the plugin isn't loaded if Vim was started with 589|--noplugin|. 590 591It is perfectly normal for a package to only have files in the "opt" 592directory. You then need to load each plugin when you want to use it. 593 594 595Where to put what ~ 596 597Since color schemes, loaded with `:colorscheme`, are found below 598"pack/*/start" and "pack/*/opt", you could put them anywhere. We recommend 599you put them below "pack/*/opt", for example 600".vim/pack/mycolors/opt/dark/colors/very_dark.vim". 601 602Filetype plugins should go under "pack/*/start", so that they are always 603found. Unless you have more than one plugin for a file type and want to 604select which one to load with `:packadd`. E.g. depending on the compiler 605version: > 606 if foo_compiler_version > 34 607 packadd foo_new 608 else 609 packadd foo_old 610 endif 611 612The "after" directory is most likely not useful in a package. It's not 613disallowed though. 614 615============================================================================== 6166. Creating Vim packages *package-create* 617 618This assumes you write one or more plugins that you distribute as a package. 619 620If you have two unrelated plugins you would use two packages, so that Vim 621users can chose what they include or not. Or you can decide to use one 622package with optional plugins, and tell the user to add the ones he wants with 623`:packadd`. 624 625Decide how you want to distribute the package. You can create an archive or 626you could use a repository. An archive can be used by more users, but is a 627bit harder to update to a new version. A repository can usually be kept 628up-to-date easily, but it requires a program like "git" to be available. 629You can do both, github can automatically create an archive for a release. 630 631Your directory layout would be like this: 632 start/foobar/plugin/foo.vim " always loaded, defines commands 633 start/foobar/plugin/bar.vim " always loaded, defines commands 634 start/foobar/autoload/foo.vim " loaded when foo command used 635 start/foobar/doc/foo.txt " help for foo.vim 636 start/foobar/doc/tags " help tags 637 opt/fooextra/plugin/extra.vim " optional plugin, defines commands 638 opt/fooextra/autoload/extra.vim " loaded when extra command used 639 opt/fooextra/doc/extra.txt " help for extra.vim 640 opt/fooextra/doc/tags " help tags 641 642This allows for the user to do: > 643 mkdir ~/.vim/pack/myfoobar 644 cd ~/.vim/pack/myfoobar 645 git clone https://github.com/you/foobar.git 646 647Here "myfoobar" is a name that the user can choose, the only condition is that 648it differs from other packages. 649 650In your documentation you explain what the plugins do, and tell the user how 651to load the optional plugin: > 652 :packadd! fooextra 653 654You could add this packadd command in one of your plugins, to be executed when 655the optional plugin is needed. 656 657Run the `:helptags` command to generate the doc/tags file. Including this 658generated file in the package means that the user can drop the package in his 659pack directory and the help command works right away. Don't forget to re-run 660the command after changing the plugin help: > 661 :helptags path/start/foobar/doc 662 :helptags path/opt/fooextra/doc 663 664 665Dependencies between plugins ~ 666 *packload-two-steps* 667Suppose you have two plugins that depend on the same functionality. You can 668put the common functionality in an autoload directory, so that it will be 669found automatically. Your package would have these files: 670 671 pack/foo/start/one/plugin/one.vim > 672 call foolib#getit() 673< pack/foo/start/two/plugin/two.vim > 674 call foolib#getit() 675< pack/foo/start/lib/autoload/foolib.vim > 676 func foolib#getit() 677 678This works, because loading packages will first add all found directories to 679'runtimepath' before sourcing the plugins. 680 681============================================================================== 6827. Debugging scripts *debug-scripts* 683 684Besides the obvious messages that you can add to your scripts to find out what 685they are doing, Vim offers a debug mode. This allows you to step through a 686sourced file or user function and set breakpoints. 687 688NOTE: The debugging mode is far from perfect. Debugging will have side 689effects on how Vim works. You cannot use it to debug everything. For 690example, the display is messed up by the debugging messages. 691{Vi does not have a debug mode} 692 693An alternative to debug mode is setting the 'verbose' option. With a bigger 694number it will give more verbose messages about what Vim is doing. 695 696 697STARTING DEBUG MODE *debug-mode* 698 699To enter debugging mode use one of these methods: 7001. Start Vim with the |-D| argument: > 701 vim -D file.txt 702< Debugging will start as soon as the first vimrc file is sourced. This is 703 useful to find out what is happening when Vim is starting up. A side 704 effect is that Vim will switch the terminal mode before initialisations 705 have finished, with unpredictable results. 706 For a GUI-only version (Windows, Macintosh) the debugging will start as 707 soon as the GUI window has been opened. To make this happen early, add a 708 ":gui" command in the vimrc file. 709 *:debug* 7102. Run a command with ":debug" prepended. Debugging will only be done while 711 this command executes. Useful for debugging a specific script or user 712 function. And for scripts and functions used by autocommands. Example: > 713 :debug edit test.txt.gz 714 7153. Set a breakpoint in a sourced file or user function. You could do this in 716 the command line: > 717 vim -c "breakadd file */explorer.vim" . 718< This will run Vim and stop in the first line of the "explorer.vim" script. 719 Breakpoints can also be set while in debugging mode. 720 721In debugging mode every executed command is displayed before it is executed. 722Comment lines, empty lines and lines that are not executed are skipped. When 723a line contains two commands, separated by "|", each command will be displayed 724separately. 725 726 727DEBUG MODE 728 729Once in debugging mode, the usual Ex commands can be used. For example, to 730inspect the value of a variable: > 731 echo idx 732When inside a user function, this will print the value of the local variable 733"idx". Prepend "g:" to get the value of a global variable: > 734 echo g:idx 735All commands are executed in the context of the current function or script. 736You can also set options, for example setting or resetting 'verbose' will show 737what happens, but you might want to set it just before executing the lines you 738are interested in: > 739 :set verbose=20 740 741Commands that require updating the screen should be avoided, because their 742effect won't be noticed until after leaving debug mode. For example: > 743 :help 744won't be very helpful. 745 746There is a separate command-line history for debug mode. 747 748The line number for a function line is relative to the start of the function. 749If you have trouble figuring out where you are, edit the file that defines 750the function in another Vim, search for the start of the function and do 751"99j". Replace "99" with the line number. 752 753Additionally, these commands can be used: 754 *>cont* 755 cont Continue execution until the next breakpoint is hit. 756 *>quit* 757 quit Abort execution. This is like using CTRL-C, some 758 things might still be executed, doesn't abort 759 everything. Still stops at the next breakpoint. 760 *>next* 761 next Execute the command and come back to debug mode when 762 it's finished. This steps over user function calls 763 and sourced files. 764 *>step* 765 step Execute the command and come back to debug mode for 766 the next command. This steps into called user 767 functions and sourced files. 768 *>interrupt* 769 interrupt This is like using CTRL-C, but unlike ">quit" comes 770 back to debug mode for the next command that is 771 executed. Useful for testing |:finally| and |:catch| 772 on interrupt exceptions. 773 *>finish* 774 finish Finish the current script or user function and come 775 back to debug mode for the command after the one that 776 sourced or called it. 777 *>bt* 778 *>backtrace* 779 *>where* 780 backtrace Show the call stacktrace for current debugging session. 781 bt 782 where 783 *>frame* 784 frame N Goes to N backtrace level. + and - signs make movement 785 relative. E.g., ":frame +3" goes three frames up. 786 *>up* 787 up Goes one level up from call stacktrace. 788 *>down* 789 down Goes one level down from call stacktrace. 790 791About the additional commands in debug mode: 792- There is no command-line completion for them, you get the completion for the 793 normal Ex commands only. 794- You can shorten them, up to a single character, unless more than one command 795 starts with the same letter. "f" stands for "finish", use "fr" for "frame". 796- Hitting <CR> will repeat the previous one. When doing another command, this 797 is reset (because it's not clear what you want to repeat). 798- When you want to use the Ex command with the same name, prepend a colon: 799 ":cont", ":next", ":finish" (or shorter). 800 801The backtrace shows the hierarchy of function calls, e.g.: 802 >bt ~ 803 3 function One[3] ~ 804 2 Two[3] ~ 805 ->1 Three[3] ~ 806 0 Four ~ 807 line 1: let four = 4 ~ 808 809The "->" points to the current frame. Use "up", "down" and "frame N" to 810select another frame. 811 812In the current frame you can evaluate the local function variables. There is 813no way to see the command at the current line yet. 814 815 816DEFINING BREAKPOINTS 817 *:breaka* *:breakadd* 818:breaka[dd] func [lnum] {name} 819 Set a breakpoint in a function. Example: > 820 :breakadd func Explore 821< Doesn't check for a valid function name, thus the breakpoint 822 can be set before the function is defined. 823 824:breaka[dd] file [lnum] {name} 825 Set a breakpoint in a sourced file. Example: > 826 :breakadd file 43 .vimrc 827 828:breaka[dd] here 829 Set a breakpoint in the current line of the current file. 830 Like doing: > 831 :breakadd file <cursor-line> <current-file> 832< Note that this only works for commands that are executed when 833 sourcing the file, not for a function defined in that file. 834 835:breaka[dd] expr {expression} 836 Sets a breakpoint, that will break whenever the {expression} 837 evaluates to a different value. Example: > 838 :breakadd expr g:lnum 839 840< Will break, whenever the global variable lnum changes. 841 Note if you watch a |script-variable| this will break 842 when switching scripts, since the script variable is only 843 valid in the script where it has been defined and if that 844 script is called from several other scripts, this will stop 845 whenever that particular variable will become visible or 846 unaccessible again. 847 848The [lnum] is the line number of the breakpoint. Vim will stop at or after 849this line. When omitted line 1 is used. 850 851 *:debug-name* 852{name} is a pattern that is matched with the file or function name. The 853pattern is like what is used for autocommands. There must be a full match (as 854if the pattern starts with "^" and ends in "$"). A "*" matches any sequence 855of characters. 'ignorecase' is not used, but "\c" can be used in the pattern 856to ignore case |/\c|. Don't include the () for the function name! 857 858The match for sourced scripts is done against the full file name. If no path 859is specified the current directory is used. Examples: > 860 breakadd file explorer.vim 861matches "explorer.vim" in the current directory. > 862 breakadd file *explorer.vim 863matches ".../plugin/explorer.vim", ".../plugin/iexplorer.vim", etc. > 864 breakadd file */explorer.vim 865matches ".../plugin/explorer.vim" and "explorer.vim" in any other directory. 866 867The match for functions is done against the name as it's shown in the output 868of ":function". For local functions this means that something like "<SNR>99_" 869is prepended. 870 871Note that functions are first loaded and later executed. When they are loaded 872the "file" breakpoints are checked, when they are executed the "func" 873breakpoints. 874 875 876DELETING BREAKPOINTS 877 *:breakd* *:breakdel* *E161* 878:breakd[el] {nr} 879 Delete breakpoint {nr}. Use |:breaklist| to see the number of 880 each breakpoint. 881 882:breakd[el] * 883 Delete all breakpoints. 884 885:breakd[el] func [lnum] {name} 886 Delete a breakpoint in a function. 887 888:breakd[el] file [lnum] {name} 889 Delete a breakpoint in a sourced file. 890 891:breakd[el] here 892 Delete a breakpoint at the current line of the current file. 893 894When [lnum] is omitted, the first breakpoint in the function or file is 895deleted. 896The {name} must be exactly the same as what was typed for the ":breakadd" 897command. "explorer", "*explorer.vim" and "*explorer*" are different. 898 899 900LISTING BREAKPOINTS 901 *:breakl* *:breaklist* 902:breakl[ist] 903 List all breakpoints. 904 905 906OBSCURE 907 908 *:debugg* *:debuggreedy* 909:debugg[reedy] 910 Read debug mode commands from the normal input stream, instead 911 of getting them directly from the user. Only useful for test 912 scripts. Example: > 913 echo 'q^Mq' | vim -e -s -c debuggreedy -c 'breakadd file script.vim' -S script.vim 914 915:0debugg[reedy] 916 Undo ":debuggreedy": get debug mode commands directly from the 917 user, don't use typeahead for debug commands. 918 919============================================================================== 9208. Profiling *profile* *profiling* 921 922Profiling means that Vim measures the time that is spent on executing 923functions and/or scripts. The |+profile| feature is required for this. 924It is only included when Vim was compiled with "huge" features. 925{Vi does not have profiling} 926 927You can also use the |reltime()| function to measure time. This only requires 928the |+reltime| feature, which is present more often. 929 930For profiling syntax highlighting see |:syntime|. 931 932For example, to profile the one_script.vim script file: > 933 :profile start /tmp/one_script_profile 934 :profile file one_script.vim 935 :source one_script.vim 936 :exit 937 938 939:prof[ile] start {fname} *:prof* *:profile* *E750* 940 Start profiling, write the output in {fname} upon exit. 941 "~/" and environment variables in {fname} will be expanded. 942 If {fname} already exists it will be silently overwritten. 943 The variable |v:profiling| is set to one. 944 945:prof[ile] pause 946 Don't profile until the following ":profile continue". Can be 947 used when doing something that should not be counted (e.g., an 948 external command). Does not nest. 949 950:prof[ile] continue 951 Continue profiling after ":profile pause". 952 953:prof[ile] func {pattern} 954 Profile function that matches the pattern {pattern}. 955 See |:debug-name| for how {pattern} is used. 956 957:prof[ile][!] file {pattern} 958 Profile script file that matches the pattern {pattern}. 959 See |:debug-name| for how {pattern} is used. 960 This only profiles the script itself, not the functions 961 defined in it. 962 When the [!] is added then all functions defined in the script 963 will also be profiled. 964 Note that profiling only starts when the script is loaded 965 after this command. A :profile command in the script itself 966 won't work. 967 968 969:profd[el] ... *:profd* *:profdel* 970 Stop profiling for the arguments specified. See |:breakdel| 971 for the arguments. 972 973 974You must always start with a ":profile start fname" command. The resulting 975file is written when Vim exits. Here is an example of the output, with line 976numbers prepended for the explanation: 977 978 1 FUNCTION Test2() ~ 979 2 Called 1 time ~ 980 3 Total time: 0.155251 ~ 981 4 Self time: 0.002006 ~ 982 5 ~ 983 6 count total (s) self (s) ~ 984 7 9 0.000096 for i in range(8) ~ 985 8 8 0.153655 0.000410 call Test3() ~ 986 9 8 0.000070 endfor ~ 987 10 " Ask a question ~ 988 11 1 0.001341 echo input("give me an answer: ") ~ 989 990The header (lines 1-4) gives the time for the whole function. The "Total" 991time is the time passed while the function was executing. The "Self" time is 992the "Total" time reduced by time spent in: 993- other user defined functions 994- sourced scripts 995- executed autocommands 996- external (shell) commands 997 998Lines 7-11 show the time spent in each executed line. Lines that are not 999executed do not count. Thus a comment line is never counted. 1000 1001The Count column shows how many times a line was executed. Note that the 1002"for" command in line 7 is executed one more time as the following lines. 1003That is because the line is also executed to detect the end of the loop. 1004 1005The time Vim spends waiting for user input isn't counted at all. Thus how 1006long you take to respond to the input() prompt is irrelevant. 1007 1008Profiling should give a good indication of where time is spent, but keep in 1009mind there are various things that may clobber the results: 1010 1011- The accuracy of the time measured depends on the gettimeofday() system 1012 function. It may only be as accurate as 1/100 second, even though the times 1013 are displayed in micro seconds. 1014 1015- Real elapsed time is measured, if other processes are busy they may cause 1016 delays at unpredictable moments. You may want to run the profiling several 1017 times and use the lowest results. 1018 1019- If you have several commands in one line you only get one time. Split the 1020 line to see the time for the individual commands. 1021 1022- The time of the lines added up is mostly less than the time of the whole 1023 function. There is some overhead in between. 1024 1025- Functions that are deleted before Vim exits will not produce profiling 1026 information. You can check the |v:profiling| variable if needed: > 1027 :if !v:profiling 1028 : delfunc MyFunc 1029 :endif 1030< 1031- Profiling may give weird results on multi-processor systems, when sleep 1032 mode kicks in or the processor frequency is reduced to save power. 1033 1034- The "self" time is wrong when a function is used recursively. 1035 1036 1037 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: 1038