1*repeat.txt* For Vim version 7.4. Last change: 2016 Mar 26 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* *E147* *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 with its line 76number prepended. 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 83To repeat a non-Ex command, you can use the ":normal" command: > 84 :g/pat/normal {commands} 85Make sure that {commands} ends with a whole command, otherwise Vim will wait 86for you to type the rest of the command for each match. The screen will not 87have been updated, so you don't know what you are doing. See |:normal|. 88 89The undo/redo command will undo/redo the whole global command at once. 90The previous context mark will only be set once (with "''" you go back to 91where the cursor was before the global command). 92 93The global command sets both the last used search pattern and the last used 94substitute pattern (this is vi compatible). This makes it easy to globally 95replace a string: 96 :g/pat/s//PAT/g 97This replaces all occurrences of "pat" with "PAT". The same can be done with: 98 :%s/pat/PAT/g 99Which is two characters shorter! 100 101When using "global" in Ex mode, a special case is using ":visual" as a 102command. This will move to a matching line, go to Normal mode to let you 103execute commands there until you use |Q| to return to Ex mode. This will be 104repeated for each matching line. While doing this you cannot use ":global". 105To abort this type CTRL-C twice. 106 107============================================================================== 1083. Complex repeats *complex-repeat* 109 110 *q* *recording* 111q{0-9a-zA-Z"} Record typed characters into register {0-9a-zA-Z"} 112 (uppercase to append). The 'q' command is disabled 113 while executing a register, and it doesn't work inside 114 a mapping and |:normal|. 115 116 Note: If the register being used for recording is also 117 used for |y| and |p| the result is most likely not 118 what is expected, because the put will paste the 119 recorded macro and the yank will overwrite the 120 recorded macro. {Vi: no recording} 121 122q Stops recording. (Implementation note: The 'q' that 123 stops recording is not stored in the register, unless 124 it was the result of a mapping) {Vi: no recording} 125 126 *@* 127@{0-9a-z".=*+} Execute the contents of register {0-9a-z".=*+} [count] 128 times. Note that register '%' (name of the current 129 file) and '#' (name of the alternate file) cannot be 130 used. 131 The register is executed like a mapping, that means 132 that the difference between 'wildchar' and 'wildcharm' 133 applies. 134 For "@=" you are prompted to enter an expression. The 135 result of the expression is then executed. 136 See also |@:|. {Vi: only named registers} 137 138 *@@* *E748* 139@@ Repeat the previous @{0-9a-z":*} [count] times. 140 141:[addr]*{0-9a-z".=+} *:@* *:star* 142:[addr]@{0-9a-z".=*+} Execute the contents of register {0-9a-z".=*+} as an Ex 143 command. First set cursor at line [addr] (default is 144 current line). When the last line in the register does 145 not have a <CR> it will be added automatically when 146 the 'e' flag is present in 'cpoptions'. 147 Note that the ":*" command is only recognized when the 148 '*' flag is present in 'cpoptions'. This is NOT the 149 default when 'nocompatible' is used. 150 For ":@=" the last used expression is used. The 151 result of evaluating the expression is executed as an 152 Ex command. 153 Mappings are not recognized in these commands. 154 {Vi: only in some versions} Future: Will execute the 155 register for each line in the address range. 156 157 *:@:* 158:[addr]@: Repeat last command-line. First set cursor at line 159 [addr] (default is current line). {not in Vi} 160 161 *:@@* 162:[addr]@@ Repeat the previous :@{0-9a-z"}. First set cursor at 163 line [addr] (default is current line). {Vi: only in 164 some versions} 165 166============================================================================== 1674. Using Vim scripts *using-scripts* 168 169For writing a Vim script, see chapter 41 of the user manual |usr_41.txt|. 170 171 *:so* *:source* *load-vim-script* 172:so[urce] {file} Read Ex commands from {file}. These are commands that 173 start with a ":". 174 Triggers the |SourcePre| autocommand. 175 176:so[urce]! {file} Read Vim commands from {file}. These are commands 177 that are executed from Normal mode, like you type 178 them. 179 When used after |:global|, |:argdo|, |:windo|, 180 |:bufdo|, in a loop or when another command follows 181 the display won't be updated while executing the 182 commands. 183 {not in Vi} 184 185 *:ru* *:runtime* 186:ru[ntime][!] [where] {file} .. 187 Read Ex commands from {file} in each directory given 188 by 'runtimepath' and/or 'packpath'. There is no error 189 for non-existing files. 190 191 Example: > 192 :runtime syntax/c.vim 193 194< There can be multiple {file} arguments, separated by 195 spaces. Each {file} is searched for in the first 196 directory from 'runtimepath', then in the second 197 directory, etc. Use a backslash to include a space 198 inside {file} (although it's better not to use spaces 199 in file names, it causes trouble). 200 201 When [!] is included, all found files are sourced. 202 When it is not included only the first found file is 203 sourced. 204 205 When [where] is omitted only 'runtimepath' is used. 206 Other values: 207 START search under "start" in 'packpath' 208 OPT search under "opt" in 'packpath' 209 PACK search under "start" and "opt" in 210 'packpath' 211 ALL first use 'runtimepath', then search 212 under "start" and "opt" in 'packpath' 213 214 When {file} contains wildcards it is expanded to all 215 matching files. Example: > 216 :runtime! plugin/*.vim 217< This is what Vim uses to load the plugin files when 218 starting up. This similar command: > 219 :runtime plugin/*.vim 220< would source the first file only. 221 222 When 'verbose' is one or higher, there is a message 223 when no file could be found. 224 When 'verbose' is two or higher, there is a message 225 about each searched file. 226 {not in Vi} 227 228 *:pa* *:packadd* *E919* 229:pa[ckadd][!] {name} Search for an optional plugin directory in 'packpath' 230 and source any plugin files found. The directory must 231 match: 232 pack/*/opt/{name} ~ 233 The directory is added to 'runtimepath' if it wasn't 234 there yet. 235 236 Note that {name} is the directory name, not the name 237 of the .vim file. If the "{name}/plugin" directory 238 contains more than one file they are all sourced. 239 240 If the filetype detection was not enabled yet (this 241 is usually done with a "syntax enable" or "filetype 242 on" command in your .vimrc file), this will also look 243 for "{name}/ftdetect/*.vim" files. 244 245 When the optional ! is added no plugin files or 246 ftdetect scripts are loaded, only the matching 247 directories are added to 'runtimepath'. This is 248 useful in your .vimrc. The plugins will then be 249 loaded during initialization, see |load-plugins|. 250 251 Also see |pack-add|. 252 253 *:packl* *:packloadall* 254:packloadall[!] Load all packages in the "start" directories under 255 'packpath'. The directories found are added to 256 'runtimepath'. 257 This is normally done automatically during startup, 258 after loading your .vimrc file. With this command it 259 can be done earlier. 260 Packages will be loaded only once. After this command 261 it won't happen again. When the optional ! is added 262 this command will load packages even when done before. 263 An Error only causes sourcing the script where it 264 happens to be aborted, further plugins will be loaded. 265 See |packages|. 266 267:scripte[ncoding] [encoding] *:scripte* *:scriptencoding* *E167* 268 Specify the character encoding used in the script. 269 The following lines will be converted from [encoding] 270 to the value of the 'encoding' option, if they are 271 different. Examples: > 272 scriptencoding iso-8859-5 273 scriptencoding cp932 274< 275 When [encoding] is empty, no conversion is done. This 276 can be used to restrict conversion to a sequence of 277 lines: > 278 scriptencoding euc-jp 279 ... lines to be converted ... 280 scriptencoding 281 ... not converted ... 282 283< When conversion isn't supported by the system, there 284 is no error message and no conversion is done. 285 286 Don't use "ucs-2" or "ucs-4", scripts cannot be in 287 these encodings (they would contain NUL bytes). 288 When a sourced script starts with a BOM (Byte Order 289 Mark) in utf-8 format Vim will recognize it, no need 290 to use ":scriptencoding utf-8" then. 291 292 When compiled without the |+multi_byte| feature this 293 command is ignored. 294 {not in Vi} 295 296 *:scr* *:scriptnames* 297:scr[iptnames] List all sourced script names, in the order they were 298 first sourced. The number is used for the script ID 299 |<SID>|. 300 {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the 301 |+eval| feature} 302 303 *:fini* *:finish* *E168* 304:fini[sh] Stop sourcing a script. Can only be used in a Vim 305 script file. This is a quick way to skip the rest of 306 the file. If it is used after a |:try| but before the 307 matching |:finally| (if present), the commands 308 following the ":finally" up to the matching |:endtry| 309 are executed first. This process applies to all 310 nested ":try"s in the script. The outermost ":endtry" 311 then stops sourcing the script. {not in Vi} 312 313All commands and command sequences can be repeated by putting them in a named 314register and then executing it. There are two ways to get the commands in the 315register: 316- Use the record command "q". You type the commands once, and while they are 317 being executed they are stored in a register. Easy, because you can see 318 what you are doing. If you make a mistake, "p"ut the register into the 319 file, edit the command sequence, and then delete it into the register 320 again. You can continue recording by appending to the register (use an 321 uppercase letter). 322- Delete or yank the command sequence into the register. 323 324Often used command sequences can be put under a function key with the ':map' 325command. 326 327An alternative is to put the commands in a file, and execute them with the 328':source!' command. Useful for long command sequences. Can be combined with 329the ':map' command to put complicated commands under a function key. 330 331The ':source' command reads Ex commands from a file line by line. You will 332have to type any needed keyboard input. The ':source!' command reads from a 333script file character by character, interpreting each character as if you 334typed it. 335 336Example: When you give the ":!ls" command you get the |hit-enter| prompt. If 337you ':source' a file with the line "!ls" in it, you will have to type the 338<Enter> yourself. But if you ':source!' a file with the line ":!ls" in it, 339the next characters from that file are read until a <CR> is found. You will 340not have to type <CR> yourself, unless ":!ls" was the last line in the file. 341 342It is possible to put ':source[!]' commands in the script file, so you can 343make a top-down hierarchy of script files. The ':source' command can be 344nested as deep as the number of files that can be opened at one time (about 34515). The ':source!' command can be nested up to 15 levels deep. 346 347You can use the "<sfile>" string (literally, this is not a special key) inside 348of the sourced file, in places where a file name is expected. It will be 349replaced by the file name of the sourced file. For example, if you have a 350"other.vimrc" file in the same directory as your ".vimrc" file, you can source 351it from your ".vimrc" file with this command: > 352 :source <sfile>:h/other.vimrc 353 354In script files terminal-dependent key codes are represented by 355terminal-independent two character codes. This means that they can be used 356in the same way on different kinds of terminals. The first character of a 357key code is 0x80 or 128, shown on the screen as "~@". The second one can be 358found in the list |key-notation|. Any of these codes can also be entered 359with CTRL-V followed by the three digit decimal code. This does NOT work for 360the <t_xx> termcap codes, these can only be used in mappings. 361 362 *:source_crnl* *W15* 363MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2: Files that are read with ":source" normally have 364<CR><NL> <EOL>s. These always work. If you are using a file with <NL> <EOL>s 365(for example, a file made on Unix), this will be recognized if 'fileformats' 366is not empty and the first line does not end in a <CR>. This fails if the 367first line has something like ":map <F1> :help^M", where "^M" is a <CR>. If 368the first line ends in a <CR>, but following ones don't, you will get an error 369message, because the <CR> from the first lines will be lost. 370 371Mac Classic: Files that are read with ":source" normally have <CR> <EOL>s. 372These always work. If you are using a file with <NL> <EOL>s (for example, a 373file made on Unix), this will be recognized if 'fileformats' is not empty and 374the first line does not end in a <CR>. Be careful not to use a file with <NL> 375linebreaks which has a <CR> in first line. 376 377On other systems, Vim expects ":source"ed files to end in a <NL>. These 378always work. If you are using a file with <CR><NL> <EOL>s (for example, a 379file made on MS-DOS), all lines will have a trailing <CR>. This may cause 380problems for some commands (e.g., mappings). There is no automatic <EOL> 381detection, because it's common to start with a line that defines a mapping 382that ends in a <CR>, which will confuse the automaton. 383 384 *line-continuation* 385Long lines in a ":source"d Ex command script file can be split by inserting 386a line continuation symbol "\" (backslash) at the start of the next line. 387There can be white space before the backslash, which is ignored. 388 389Example: the lines > 390 :set comments=sr:/*,mb:*,el:*/, 391 \://, 392 \b:#, 393 \:%, 394 \n:>, 395 \fb:- 396are interpreted as if they were given in one line: 397 :set comments=sr:/*,mb:*,el:*/,://,b:#,:%,n:>,fb:- 398 399All leading whitespace characters in the line before a backslash are ignored. 400Note however that trailing whitespace in the line before it cannot be 401inserted freely; it depends on the position where a command is split up 402whether additional whitespace is allowed or not. 403 404When a space is required it's best to put it right after the backslash. A 405space at the end of a line is hard to see and may be accidentally deleted. > 406 :syn match Comment 407 \ "very long regexp" 408 \ keepend 409 410There is a problem with the ":append" and ":insert" commands: > 411 :1append 412 \asdf 413 . 414The backslash is seen as a line-continuation symbol, thus this results in the 415command: > 416 :1appendasdf 417 . 418To avoid this, add the 'C' flag to the 'cpoptions' option: > 419 :set cpo+=C 420 :1append 421 \asdf 422 . 423 :set cpo-=C 424 425Note that when the commands are inside a function, you need to add the 'C' 426flag when defining the function, it is not relevant when executing it. > 427 :set cpo+=C 428 :function Foo() 429 :1append 430 \asdf 431 . 432 :endfunction 433 :set cpo-=C 434 435Rationale: 436 Most programs work with a trailing backslash to indicate line 437 continuation. Using this in Vim would cause incompatibility with Vi. 438 For example for this Vi mapping: > 439 :map xx asdf\ 440< Therefore the unusual leading backslash is used. 441 442============================================================================== 4435. Using Vim packages *packages* 444 445A Vim package is a directory that contains one or more plugins. The 446advantages over normal plugins: 447- A package can be downloaded as an archive and unpacked in its own directory. 448 Thus the files are not mixed with files of other plugins. That makes it 449 easy to update and remove. 450- A package can be a git, mercurial, etc. repository. That makes it really 451 easy to update. 452- A package can contain multiple plugins that depend on each other. 453- A package can contain plugins that are automatically loaded on startup and 454 ones that are only loaded when needed with `:packadd`. 455 456 457Using a package and loading automatically ~ 458 459Let's assume your Vim files are in the "~/.vim" directory and you want to add a 460package from a zip archive "/tmp/foopack.zip": 461 % mkdir -p ~/.vim/pack/foo 462 % cd ~/.vim/pack/foo 463 % unzip /tmp/foopack.zip 464 465The directory name "foo" is arbitrary, you can pick anything you like. 466 467You would now have these files under ~/.vim: 468 pack/foo/README.txt 469 pack/foo/start/foobar/plugin/foo.vim 470 pack/foo/start/foobar/syntax/some.vim 471 pack/foo/opt/foodebug/plugin/debugger.vim 472 473When Vim starts up, after processing your .vimrc, it scans all directories in 474'packpath' for plugins under the "pack/*/start" directory and loads them. The 475directory is added to 'runtimepath'. 476 477In the example Vim will find "pack/foo/start/foobar/plugin/foo.vim" and adds 478"~/.vim/pack/foo/start/foobar" to 'runtimepath'. 479 480If the "foobar" plugin kicks in and sets the 'filetype' to "some", Vim will 481find the syntax/some.vim file, because its directory is in 'runtimepath'. 482 483Vim will also load ftdetect files, if there are any. 484 485Note that the files under "pack/foo/opt" are not loaded automatically, only the 486ones under "pack/foo/start". See |pack-add| below for how the "opt" directory 487is used. 488 489Loading packages automatically will not happen if loading plugins is disabled, 490see |load-plugins|. 491 492To load packages earlier, so that 'runtimepath' gets updated: > 493 :packloadall 494This also works when loading plugins is disabled. The automatic loading will 495only happen once. 496 497 498Using a single plugin and loading it automatically ~ 499 500If you don't have a package but a single plugin, you need to create the extra 501directory level: 502 % mkdir -p ~/.vim/pack/foo/start/foobar 503 % cd ~/.vim/pack/foo/start/foobar 504 % unzip /tmp/someplugin.zip 505 506You would now have these files: 507 pack/foo/start/foobar/plugin/foo.vim 508 pack/foo/start/foobar/syntax/some.vim 509 510From here it works like above. 511 512 513Optional plugins ~ 514 *pack-add* 515To load an optional plugin from a pack use the `:packadd` command: > 516 :packadd foodebug 517This searches for "pack/*/opt/foodebug" in 'packpath' and will find 518~/.vim/pack/foo/opt/foodebug/plugin/debugger.vim and source it. 519 520This could be done if some conditions are met. For example, depending on 521whether Vim supports a feature or a dependency is missing. 522 523You can also load an optional plugin at startup, by putting this command in 524your |.vimrc|: > 525 :packadd! foodebug 526The extra "!" is so that the plugin isn't loaded with Vim was started with 527|--noplugin|. 528 529It is perfectly normal for a package to only have files in the "opt" 530directory. You then need to load each plugin when you want to use it. 531 532 533Where to put what ~ 534 535Since color schemes, loaded with `:colorscheme`, are found below 536"pack/*/start" and "pack/*/opt", you could put them anywhere. We recommend 537you put them below "pack/*/opt", for example 538".vim/pack/mycolors/opt/dark/colors/very_dark.vim". 539 540Filetype plugins should go under "pack/*/start", so that they are always 541found. Unless you have more than one plugin for a file type and want to 542select which one to load with `:packadd`. E.g. depending on the compiler 543version: > 544 if foo_compiler_version > 34 545 packadd foo_new 546 else 547 packadd foo_old 548 endif 549 550The "after" directory is most likely not useful in a package. It's not 551disallowed though. 552 553============================================================================== 5546. Creating Vim packages *package-create* 555 556This assumes you write one or more plugins that you distribute as a package. 557 558If you have two unrelated plugins you would use two packages, so that Vim 559users can chose what they include or not. Or you can decide to use one 560package with optional plugins, and tell the user to add the ones he wants with 561`:packadd`. 562 563Decide how you want to distribute the package. You can create an archive or 564you could use a repository. An archive can be used by more users, but is a 565bit harder to update to a new version. A repository can usually be kept 566up-to-date easily, but it requires a program like "git" to be available. 567You can do both, github can automatically create an archive for a release. 568 569Your directory layout would be like this: 570 start/foobar/plugin/foo.vim " always loaded, defines commands 571 start/foobar/plugin/bar.vim " always loaded, defines commands 572 start/foobar/autoload/foo.vim " loaded when foo command used 573 start/foobar/doc/foo.txt " help for foo.vim 574 start/foobar/doc/tags " help tags 575 opt/fooextra/plugin/extra.vim " optional plugin, defines commands 576 opt/fooextra/autoload/extra.vim " loaded when extra command used 577 opt/fooextra/doc/extra.txt " help for extra.vim 578 opt/fooextra/doc/tags " help tags 579 580This allows for the user to do: > 581 mkdir ~/.vim/pack/myfoobar 582 cd ~/.vim/pack/myfoobar 583 git clone https://github.com/you/foobar.git 584 585Here "myfoobar" is a name that the user can choose, the only condition is that 586it differs from other packages. 587 588In your documentation you explain what the plugins do, and tell the user how 589to load the optional plugin: > 590 :packadd! fooextra 591 592You could add this packadd command in one of your plugins, to be executed when 593the optional plugin is needed. 594 595Run the `:helptags` command to generate the doc/tags file. Including this 596generated file in the package means that the user can drop the package in his 597pack directory and the help command works right away. Don't forget to re-run 598the command after changing the plugin help: > 599 :helptags path/start/foobar/doc 600 :helptags path/opt/fooextra/doc 601 602============================================================================== 6037. Debugging scripts *debug-scripts* 604 605Besides the obvious messages that you can add to your scripts to find out what 606they are doing, Vim offers a debug mode. This allows you to step through a 607sourced file or user function and set breakpoints. 608 609NOTE: The debugging mode is far from perfect. Debugging will have side 610effects on how Vim works. You cannot use it to debug everything. For 611example, the display is messed up by the debugging messages. 612{Vi does not have a debug mode} 613 614An alternative to debug mode is setting the 'verbose' option. With a bigger 615number it will give more verbose messages about what Vim is doing. 616 617 618STARTING DEBUG MODE *debug-mode* 619 620To enter debugging mode use one of these methods: 6211. Start Vim with the |-D| argument: > 622 vim -D file.txt 623< Debugging will start as soon as the first vimrc file is sourced. This is 624 useful to find out what is happening when Vim is starting up. A side 625 effect is that Vim will switch the terminal mode before initialisations 626 have finished, with unpredictable results. 627 For a GUI-only version (Windows, Macintosh) the debugging will start as 628 soon as the GUI window has been opened. To make this happen early, add a 629 ":gui" command in the vimrc file. 630 *:debug* 6312. Run a command with ":debug" prepended. Debugging will only be done while 632 this command executes. Useful for debugging a specific script or user 633 function. And for scripts and functions used by autocommands. Example: > 634 :debug edit test.txt.gz 635 6363. Set a breakpoint in a sourced file or user function. You could do this in 637 the command line: > 638 vim -c "breakadd file */explorer.vim" . 639< This will run Vim and stop in the first line of the "explorer.vim" script. 640 Breakpoints can also be set while in debugging mode. 641 642In debugging mode every executed command is displayed before it is executed. 643Comment lines, empty lines and lines that are not executed are skipped. When 644a line contains two commands, separated by "|", each command will be displayed 645separately. 646 647 648DEBUG MODE 649 650Once in debugging mode, the usual Ex commands can be used. For example, to 651inspect the value of a variable: > 652 echo idx 653When inside a user function, this will print the value of the local variable 654"idx". Prepend "g:" to get the value of a global variable: > 655 echo g:idx 656All commands are executed in the context of the current function or script. 657You can also set options, for example setting or resetting 'verbose' will show 658what happens, but you might want to set it just before executing the lines you 659are interested in: > 660 :set verbose=20 661 662Commands that require updating the screen should be avoided, because their 663effect won't be noticed until after leaving debug mode. For example: > 664 :help 665won't be very helpful. 666 667There is a separate command-line history for debug mode. 668 669The line number for a function line is relative to the start of the function. 670If you have trouble figuring out where you are, edit the file that defines 671the function in another Vim, search for the start of the function and do 672"99j". Replace "99" with the line number. 673 674Additionally, these commands can be used: 675 *>cont* 676 cont Continue execution until the next breakpoint is hit. 677 *>quit* 678 quit Abort execution. This is like using CTRL-C, some 679 things might still be executed, doesn't abort 680 everything. Still stops at the next breakpoint. 681 *>next* 682 next Execute the command and come back to debug mode when 683 it's finished. This steps over user function calls 684 and sourced files. 685 *>step* 686 step Execute the command and come back to debug mode for 687 the next command. This steps into called user 688 functions and sourced files. 689 *>interrupt* 690 interrupt This is like using CTRL-C, but unlike ">quit" comes 691 back to debug mode for the next command that is 692 executed. Useful for testing |:finally| and |:catch| 693 on interrupt exceptions. 694 *>finish* 695 finish Finish the current script or user function and come 696 back to debug mode for the command after the one that 697 sourced or called it. 698 *>bt* 699 *>backtrace* 700 *>where* 701 backtrace Show the call stacktrace for current debugging session. 702 bt 703 where 704 *>frame* 705 frame N Goes to N backtrace level. + and - signs make movement 706 relative. E.g., ":frame +3" goes three frames up. 707 *>up* 708 up Goes one level up from call stacktrace. 709 *>down* 710 down Goes one level down from call stacktrace. 711 712About the additional commands in debug mode: 713- There is no command-line completion for them, you get the completion for the 714 normal Ex commands only. 715- You can shorten them, up to a single character, unless more than one command 716 starts with the same letter. "f" stands for "finish", use "fr" for "frame". 717- Hitting <CR> will repeat the previous one. When doing another command, this 718 is reset (because it's not clear what you want to repeat). 719- When you want to use the Ex command with the same name, prepend a colon: 720 ":cont", ":next", ":finish" (or shorter). 721 722The backtrace shows the hierarchy of function calls, e.g.: 723 >bt ~ 724 3 function One[3] ~ 725 2 Two[3] ~ 726 ->1 Three[3] ~ 727 0 Four ~ 728 line 1: let four = 4 ~ 729 730The "->" points to the current frame. Use "up", "down" and "frame N" to 731select another frame. 732 733In the current frame you can evaluate the local function variables. There is 734no way to see the command at the current line yet. 735 736 737DEFINING BREAKPOINTS 738 *:breaka* *:breakadd* 739:breaka[dd] func [lnum] {name} 740 Set a breakpoint in a function. Example: > 741 :breakadd func Explore 742< Doesn't check for a valid function name, thus the breakpoint 743 can be set before the function is defined. 744 745:breaka[dd] file [lnum] {name} 746 Set a breakpoint in a sourced file. Example: > 747 :breakadd file 43 .vimrc 748 749:breaka[dd] here 750 Set a breakpoint in the current line of the current file. 751 Like doing: > 752 :breakadd file <cursor-line> <current-file> 753< Note that this only works for commands that are executed when 754 sourcing the file, not for a function defined in that file. 755 756The [lnum] is the line number of the breakpoint. Vim will stop at or after 757this line. When omitted line 1 is used. 758 759 *:debug-name* 760{name} is a pattern that is matched with the file or function name. The 761pattern is like what is used for autocommands. There must be a full match (as 762if the pattern starts with "^" and ends in "$"). A "*" matches any sequence 763of characters. 'ignorecase' is not used, but "\c" can be used in the pattern 764to ignore case |/\c|. Don't include the () for the function name! 765 766The match for sourced scripts is done against the full file name. If no path 767is specified the current directory is used. Examples: > 768 breakadd file explorer.vim 769matches "explorer.vim" in the current directory. > 770 breakadd file *explorer.vim 771matches ".../plugin/explorer.vim", ".../plugin/iexplorer.vim", etc. > 772 breakadd file */explorer.vim 773matches ".../plugin/explorer.vim" and "explorer.vim" in any other directory. 774 775The match for functions is done against the name as it's shown in the output 776of ":function". For local functions this means that something like "<SNR>99_" 777is prepended. 778 779Note that functions are first loaded and later executed. When they are loaded 780the "file" breakpoints are checked, when they are executed the "func" 781breakpoints. 782 783 784DELETING BREAKPOINTS 785 *:breakd* *:breakdel* *E161* 786:breakd[el] {nr} 787 Delete breakpoint {nr}. Use |:breaklist| to see the number of 788 each breakpoint. 789 790:breakd[el] * 791 Delete all breakpoints. 792 793:breakd[el] func [lnum] {name} 794 Delete a breakpoint in a function. 795 796:breakd[el] file [lnum] {name} 797 Delete a breakpoint in a sourced file. 798 799:breakd[el] here 800 Delete a breakpoint at the current line of the current file. 801 802When [lnum] is omitted, the first breakpoint in the function or file is 803deleted. 804The {name} must be exactly the same as what was typed for the ":breakadd" 805command. "explorer", "*explorer.vim" and "*explorer*" are different. 806 807 808LISTING BREAKPOINTS 809 *:breakl* *:breaklist* 810:breakl[ist] 811 List all breakpoints. 812 813 814OBSCURE 815 816 *:debugg* *:debuggreedy* 817:debugg[reedy] 818 Read debug mode commands from the normal input stream, instead 819 of getting them directly from the user. Only useful for test 820 scripts. Example: > 821 echo 'q^Mq' | vim -e -s -c debuggreedy -c 'breakadd file script.vim' -S script.vim 822 823:0debugg[reedy] 824 Undo ":debuggreedy": get debug mode commands directly from the 825 user, don't use typeahead for debug commands. 826 827============================================================================== 8288. Profiling *profile* *profiling* 829 830Profiling means that Vim measures the time that is spent on executing 831functions and/or scripts. The |+profile| feature is required for this. 832It is only included when Vim was compiled with "huge" features. 833{Vi does not have profiling} 834 835You can also use the |reltime()| function to measure time. This only requires 836the |+reltime| feature, which is present more often. 837 838For profiling syntax highlighting see |:syntime|. 839 840For example, to profile the one_script.vim script file: > 841 :profile start /tmp/one_script_profile 842 :profile file one_script.vim 843 :source one_script.vim 844 :exit 845 846 847:prof[ile] start {fname} *:prof* *:profile* *E750* 848 Start profiling, write the output in {fname} upon exit. 849 "~/" and environment variables in {fname} will be expanded. 850 If {fname} already exists it will be silently overwritten. 851 The variable |v:profiling| is set to one. 852 853:prof[ile] pause 854 Don't profile until the following ":profile continue". Can be 855 used when doing something that should not be counted (e.g., an 856 external command). Does not nest. 857 858:prof[ile] continue 859 Continue profiling after ":profile pause". 860 861:prof[ile] func {pattern} 862 Profile function that matches the pattern {pattern}. 863 See |:debug-name| for how {pattern} is used. 864 865:prof[ile][!] file {pattern} 866 Profile script file that matches the pattern {pattern}. 867 See |:debug-name| for how {pattern} is used. 868 This only profiles the script itself, not the functions 869 defined in it. 870 When the [!] is added then all functions defined in the script 871 will also be profiled. 872 Note that profiling only starts when the script is loaded 873 after this command. A :profile command in the script itself 874 won't work. 875 876 877:profd[el] ... *:profd* *:profdel* 878 Stop profiling for the arguments specified. See |:breakdel| 879 for the arguments. 880 881 882You must always start with a ":profile start fname" command. The resulting 883file is written when Vim exits. Here is an example of the output, with line 884numbers prepended for the explanation: 885 886 1 FUNCTION Test2() ~ 887 2 Called 1 time ~ 888 3 Total time: 0.155251 ~ 889 4 Self time: 0.002006 ~ 890 5 ~ 891 6 count total (s) self (s) ~ 892 7 9 0.000096 for i in range(8) ~ 893 8 8 0.153655 0.000410 call Test3() ~ 894 9 8 0.000070 endfor ~ 895 10 " Ask a question ~ 896 11 1 0.001341 echo input("give me an answer: ") ~ 897 898The header (lines 1-4) gives the time for the whole function. The "Total" 899time is the time passed while the function was executing. The "Self" time is 900the "Total" time reduced by time spent in: 901- other user defined functions 902- sourced scripts 903- executed autocommands 904- external (shell) commands 905 906Lines 7-11 show the time spent in each executed line. Lines that are not 907executed do not count. Thus a comment line is never counted. 908 909The Count column shows how many times a line was executed. Note that the 910"for" command in line 7 is executed one more time as the following lines. 911That is because the line is also executed to detect the end of the loop. 912 913The time Vim spends waiting for user input isn't counted at all. Thus how 914long you take to respond to the input() prompt is irrelevant. 915 916Profiling should give a good indication of where time is spent, but keep in 917mind there are various things that may clobber the results: 918 919- The accuracy of the time measured depends on the gettimeofday() system 920 function. It may only be as accurate as 1/100 second, even though the times 921 are displayed in micro seconds. 922 923- Real elapsed time is measured, if other processes are busy they may cause 924 delays at unpredictable moments. You may want to run the profiling several 925 times and use the lowest results. 926 927- If you have several commands in one line you only get one time. Split the 928 line to see the time for the individual commands. 929 930- The time of the lines added up is mostly less than the time of the whole 931 function. There is some overhead in between. 932 933- Functions that are deleted before Vim exits will not produce profiling 934 information. You can check the |v:profiling| variable if needed: > 935 :if !v:profiling 936 : delfunc MyFunc 937 :endif 938< 939- Profiling may give weird results on multi-processor systems, when sleep 940 mode kicks in or the processor frequency is reduced to save power. 941 942- The "self" time is wrong when a function is used recursively. 943 944 945 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: 946