[ { "path": ".gitignore", "content": "vim_passfile\n# ignore undo-files\n.*.un~\n# ignore swap files\n.*.sw*\n# pod html temp files\n*.tmp\n\n#others/*\n*.vba\n*.vmb\ntags\n" }, { "path": "Makefile", "content": "SCRIPT=$(wildcard plugin/*.vim)\nNAME=\"vim_faq\"\nFAQ=$(NAME).txt\nPOD=others/$(NAME).pod\nDOC=$(wildcard doc/*.txt)\nPLUGIN=$(shell basename \"$$PWD\")\nVERSION=$(shell sed -n '/Version:/{s/^[^0-9]*\\([0-9]\\+\\)$$/\\1/;p}' $(SCRIPT))\n# generate pdf file\nDOPDF=1\n\n\n.PHONY: $(PLUGIN).vmb README\n.PHONY: all release vimball clean dist-clean install uninstall help updateheader docs\n\nall: updateheader help vimball uninstall install \n\nrelease: updateheader help docs README vimball uninstall install\n\nvimball: $(PLUGIN).vmb\n\nclean:\n\tfind . -type f \\( -name \"*.vba\" -o -name \"*.orig\" -o -name \"*.~*\" \\\n\t-o -name \".VimballRecord\" -o -name \".*.un~\" -o -name \"*.sw*\" -o \\\n\t-name tags -o -name \"*.tmp\" -o -name \"*.vmb\" \\) -delete\n\ndist-clean: clean\n\ninstall:\n\tvim -N -c':so %' -c':q!' $(PLUGIN)-$(VERSION).vmb\n\nuninstall:\n\tvim -N -c':RmVimball' -c':q!' $(PLUGIN)-$(VERSION).vmb\n\nREADME:\n\tcp -f $(DOC) README\n\n$(PLUGIN).vmb:\n\trm -f $(PLUGIN)-$(VERSION).vmb\n\tvim -N -c 'ru! vimballPlugin.vim' -c ':call append(\"0\", [ \"$(SCRIPT)\", \"$(DOC)\"])' -c '$$d' -c \":%MkVimball $(PLUGIN)-$(VERSION) .\" -c':q!'\n\tif [ -f $(PLUGIN)-$(VERSION).vmb ]; then ln -f $(PLUGIN)-$(VERSION).vmb $(PLUGIN).vmb; fi\n \n\nhelp:\n\tvim -u NONE -U NONE -N -c ':so vim_faq.vim|:CreateVimFAQHelp|wq' ${FAQ}\n\nupdateheader:\n\tvim -u NONE -U NONE -N -c '/^Last updated on: /s/: \\zs.*$$/\\=strftime(\"%d %B %Y\")/|wq' ${FAQ}\n\tvim -u NONE -U NONE -N -c '/^\" Last Change: /s/: \\zs.*$$/\\=strftime(\"%d %B %Y\")/|wq' ${SCRIPT}\n\tvim -u NONE -U NONE -N -c '/^\" Version:/s/\\d\\+/\\=submatch(0)+1/|wq' ${SCRIPT}\n\ndocs:\n\tvim -u NONE -U NONE -N -c ':$$s/Last updated on: \\zs.*$$/\\=strftime(\"%d %B %Y\")/|wq' ${FAQ}\n\tvim -u NONE -U NONE -N -c '/^\\\" GetLatestVimScripts: /s/\\d\\+\\s\\ze:AutoInstall:/\\=(submatch(0)+1).\" \"/|wq' ${SCRIPT}\n\tVERSION=$(shell sed -n '/Version:/{s/^.*\\(\\S\\?\\.\\?\\S\\+\\)$$/\\1/;p}' $(SCRIPT))\n\t# Generate additional formats\n\tvim -u NONE -U NONE -N -c ':so vim_faq.vim|:CreateVimPODFile|q' ${FAQ}\n\tpod2man --name=vimfaq --release=${VERSION} --center='https://vimhelp.org/vim_faq.txt.html' ${POD} > others/${NAME}.1\n\tpod2html --verbose --title=\"Vim FAQ\" ${POD} > others/${NAME}.html\n\tpod2text -c ${POD} > others/${NAME}.ansi\n\t@/bin/sh -c \"if test -x \\\"$$(which pod2pdf)\\\" && test ${DOPDF} -eq 1 ;\\\n\t then echo 'Generating pdf version, this may take a while'; \\\n\t pod2pdf --footer-text 'Vim FAQ' --icon vim.png \\\n\t --icon-scale 0.3 --page-orientation portrait ${POD}\\\n\t > others/${NAME}.pdf ; \\\n\telse \\\n\t echo 'Skipping pdf generation' ; \\\n\tfi\"\n\trm -f *.tmp\n" }, { "path": "README", "content": "*vim_faq.txt*\tFrequently Asked Questions\n\nLast updated on: 11 October 2025\n\n\t VIM FAQ by: Christian Brabandt \n\nFrequently Asked Questions *vim-faq* *Vim-FAQ*\n\nThis Vim FAQ is created from the questions and answers posted to the\nvim@vim.org user mailing list and the comp.editors newsgroup. There are\nseveral ways to solve a problem in Vim. This FAQ gives one of those several\npossibilities. You can explore the other ways using the information and\nlinks given in this FAQ. The credit for the answers in this FAQ goes to\nPeppe, Benji, Charles Campbell and numerous others. An online version of\nthis FAQ is available at https://vimhelp.org/vim_faq.txt.html\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-index*\nINDEX ~\n *faq-general-information*\nSECTION 1 - GENERAL INFORMATION ~\n|faq-1.1| What is Vim?\n|faq-1.2| Who wrote Vim?\n|faq-1.3| Is Vim compatible with Vi?\n|faq-1.4| What are some of the improvements of Vim over Vi?\n|faq-1.5| Is Vim free?\n *faq-resources*\nSECTION 2 - RESOURCES ~\n|faq-2.1| Where can I learn more about Vim?\n|faq-2.2| Is there a mailing list available?\n|faq-2.3| Is there an archive available for the Vim mailing lists?\n|faq-2.4| Where can I get the Vim user manual in HTML/PDF/PS format?\n|faq-2.5| I have a \"xyz\" (some) problem with Vim. How do I determine if it is\n\t a problem with my setup or with Vim?\n|faq-2.6| Where can I report bugs?\n|faq-2.7| Where can the FAQ be found?\n|faq-2.8| What if I don't find an answer in this FAQ?\n|faq-2.9| I have a patch for implementing a Vim feature. Where do I send the\n\t patch?\n|faq-2.10| I have a Vim tip or developed a new Vim\n\t syntax/indent/filetype/compiler plugin or developed a new script\n\t or a colorscheme. Is there a public website where I can upload\n\t this?\n *faq-availability*\nSECTION 3 - AVAILABILITY ~\n|faq-3.1| What is the latest version of Vim?\n|faq-3.2| Where can I find the latest version of Vim?\n|faq-3.3| What platforms does it run on?\n|faq-3.4| Where can I download the latest version of the Vim runtime files?\n *faq-help*\nSECTION 4 - HELP ~\n|faq-4.1| How do I use the help files?\n|faq-4.2| How do I search for a keyword in the Vim help files?\n|faq-4.3| I am getting an error message E123, what did I do wrong?\n|faq-4.4| Where can I read about the various modes in Vim?\n|faq-4.5| How do I generate the Vim help tags file after adding a new Vim\n\t help file?\n|faq-4.6| Can I use compressed versions of the help files?\n *faq-editing-a-file*\nSECTION 5 - EDITING A FILE ~\n|faq-5.1| How do I load a file in Vim for editing?\n|faq-5.2| How do I save the current file in another name (save as) and edit\n\t a new file?\n|faq-5.3| How do I change the current directory to the directory of the\n\t current file?\n|faq-5.4| How do I write a file without the line feed (EOL) at the end of\n\t the file?\n|faq-5.5| How do I configure Vim to open a file at the last edited location?\n|faq-5.6| When editing a file in Vim, which is being changed by an external\n\t application, Vim opens a warning window (like the confirm dialog)\n\t each time a change is detected. How do I disable this warning?\n|faq-5.7| How do I edit a file whose name is under the cursor?\n|faq-5.8| How do I reload/re-edit the current file?\n|faq-5.9| How do I autosave a file periodically?\n|faq-5.10| How do I open a file in read-only mode?\n|faq-5.11| How do I open a file for editing without saving the modifications\n\t to the current file?\n|faq-5.12| How do I reduce the loading time for very large files in Vim?\n *faq-editing-multiple-files*\nSECTION 6 - EDITING MULTIPLE FILES ~\n|faq-6.1| How do I open multiple files at once from within Vim?\n|faq-6.2| How do I switch between multiple files/buffers in Vim?\n|faq-6.3| How do I open several files in Vim, with each file in a separate\n\t window/tabpage?\n|faq-6.4| How do I configure Vim to autoload several files at once similar\n\t to \"work-sets\" or \"projects\"?\n|faq-6.5| Is it possible to open multiple top level windows in a single\n\t instance of Vim similar to Nedit or emacs?\n|faq-6.6| How do I browse/explore directories from within Vim?\n|faq-6.7| How do I edit files over a network using ftp/scp/rcp/http?\n *faq-backup*\nSECTION 7 - BACKUP ~\n|faq-7.1| When I edit and save files, Vim creates a file with the same name\n\t as the original file and a \"~\" character at the end. How do I stop\n\t Vim from creating this file (or) How do I disable the Vim backup\n\t file feature?\n|faq-7.2| When I edit and save files, Vim creates a file with the same name\n\t as the original file and a \".un~\" extension at the end. How do I\n\t stop Vim from creating this file (or) How do I disable the Vim\n\t undofile feature.\n|faq-7.3| How do I configure Vim to store all the backup files in a\n\t particular directory?\n|faq-7.4| When I save a file with Vim, the file permissions are changed.\n\t How do I configure Vim to save a file without changing the file\n\t permissions?\n *faq-buffers*\nSECTION 8 - BUFFERS ~\n|faq-8.1| I have made some modifications to a buffer. How do I edit another\n\t buffer without saving the modified buffer and also without losing\n\t the modifications?\n|faq-8.2| How do I configure Vim to auto-save a modified buffer when\n\t switching to another buffer?\n|faq-8.3| How do I replace the buffer in the current window with a blank\n\t buffer?\n|faq-8.4| Is there a keyboard shortcut to load a buffer by the buffer\n\t number?\n|faq-8.5| How do I open all the current buffers in separate windows?\n|faq-8.6| How do I close (delete) a buffer without exiting Vim?\n|faq-8.7| When I use the command `:%bd` to delete all the buffers, not all\n\t the buffers are deleted. Why?\n|faq-8.8| How do I display the buffer number of the current buffer/file?\n|faq-8.9| How do I delete a buffer without closing the window in which the\n\t buffer is displayed?\n|faq-8.10| How do I map the key to cycle through and open all the\n\t buffers?\n *faq-windows*\nSECTION 9 - WINDOWS ~\n|faq-9.1| What is the difference between a Vim window and a buffer?\n|faq-9.2| How do I increase the width of a Vim window?\n|faq-9.3| How do I zoom into or out of a window?\n|faq-9.4| How do I execute an ex command on all the open buffers or open\n\t windows or all the files in the argument list?\n *faq-motion*\nSECTION 10 - MOTION ~\n|faq-10.1| How do I jump to the beginning (first line) or end (last line) of\n\t a file?\n|faq-10.2| In insert mode, when I press the key to go to command mode,\n\t the cursor moves one character to the left (except when the\n\t cursor is on the first character of the line). Is it possible to\n\t change this behavior to keep the cursor at the same column?\n|faq-10.3| How do I configure Vim to maintain the horizontal cursor position\n\t when scrolling with the , , etc keys?\n|faq-10.4| Some lines in a file are more than the screen width and they are\n\t all wrapped. When I use the j, k keys to move from one line to\n\t the next, the cursor is moved to the next line in the file\n\t instead of the next line on the screen. How do I move from one\n\t screen line to the next?\n|faq-10.5| What is the definition of a sentence, paragraph and section in\n\t Vim?\n|faq-10.6| How do I jump to beginning or end of a sentence, paragraph or a\n\t section?\n|faq-10.7| I have lines in a file that extends beyond the right extent of the\n\t screen. How do I move the Vim view to the right to see the text\n\t off the screen?\n|faq-10.8| How do I scroll two or more buffers simultaneously?\n|faq-10.9| When I use my arrow keys, Vim changes modes, inserts weird\n\t characters in my document but doesn't move the cursor properly.\n\t What's going on?\n|faq-10.10| How do I configure Vim to move the cursor to the end of the\n\t previous line, when the left arrow key is pressed and the cursor\n\t is currently at the beginning of a line?\n|faq-10.11| How do I configure Vim to stay only in insert mode (modeless\n\t editing)?\n|faq-10.12| How do I display some context lines when scrolling text?\n|faq-10.13| How do I go back to previous cursor locations?\n *faq-searching-text*\nSECTION 11 - SEARCHING TEXT ~\n|faq-11.1| After I searched for a text with a pattern, all the matched text\n\t stays highlighted. How do I turn off the highlighting\n\t temporarily/permanently?\n|faq-11.2| How do I enter a carriage return character in a search pattern?\n|faq-11.3| How do I search for the character \"^M\"?\n|faq-11.4| How can I search/replace characters that display as \"~R\", \"~S\",\n\t etc.?\n|faq-11.5| How do I highlight all the non-printable characters in a file?\n|faq-11.6| How do I search for whole words in a file?\n|faq-11.7| How do I search for the current word under the cursor?\n|faq-11.8| How do I search for a word without regard to the case (uppercase\n\t or lowercase)?\n|faq-11.9| How do I search for words that occur twice consecutively?\n|faq-11.10| How do I count the number of times a particular word occurs in a\n\t buffer?\n|faq-11.11| How do I place the cursor at the end of the matched word when\n\t searching for a pattern?\n|faq-11.12| How do I search for an empty line?\n|faq-11.13| How do I search for a line containing only a single character?\n|faq-11.14| How do I search and replace a string in multiple files?\n|faq-11.15| I am using the `:s` substitute command in a mapping. When a\n\t search for a pattern fails, the map terminates. I would like the\n\t map to continue processing the next command, even if the\n\t substitute command fails. How do I do this?\n|faq-11.16| How do I search for the n-th occurrence of a character in a\n\t line?\n|faq-11.17| How do I replace a tab (or any other character) with a hard\n\t return (newline) character?\n|faq-11.18| How do I search for a character by its ASCII value?\n|faq-11.19| How do I search for long lines?\n|faq-11.20| How do I display all the lines in the current buffer that\n\t contain a specified pattern?\n|faq-11.21| How do I search for a text string that spans multiple lines?\n|faq-11.22| How do I search for a pattern only within a range of lines\n\t in a buffer?\n|faq-11.23| How do I clear the last searched pattern?\n|faq-11.24| Why does this pattern \"a.\\{-}p\\@!\" not match?\n|faq-11.25| How can I use \"/\" within a pattern, without escaping it?\n|faq-11.26| How can I operate on a search match?\n *faq-changing-text*\nSECTION 12 - CHANGING TEXT ~\n|faq-12.1| How do I delete all the trailing white space characters (SPACE\n\t and TAB) at the end of all the lines in a file?\n|faq-12.2| How do I replace all the occurrences of multiple consecutive\n\t space characters to a single space?\n|faq-12.3| How do I reduce a range of empty lines into one line only?\n|faq-12.4| How do I delete all blank lines in a file? How do I remove all\n\t the lines containing only space characters?\n|faq-12.5| How do I copy/yank the current word?\n|faq-12.6| How do I yank text from one position to another position within a\n\t line, without yanking the entire line?\n|faq-12.7| When I yank some text into a register, how do I append the text\n\t to the current contents of the register?\n|faq-12.8| How do I yank a complete sentence that spans over more than one\n\t line?\n|faq-12.9| How do I yank all the lines containing a pattern into a buffer?\n|faq-12.10| How do I delete all the lines in a file that do not contain a\n\t pattern?\n|faq-12.11| How do I add a line before each line with \"pattern\" in it?\n|faq-12.12| Is there a way to operate on a line if the previous line\n\t contains a particular pattern?\n|faq-12.13| How do I execute a command on all the lines containing a\n\t pattern?\n|faq-12.14| Can I copy the character above the cursor to the current cursor\n\t position?\n|faq-12.15| How do I insert a blank line above/below the current line\n\t without entering insert mode?\n|faq-12.16| How do I insert the name of the current file into the current\n\t buffer?\n|faq-12.17| How do I insert the contents of a Vim register into the current\n\t buffer?\n|faq-12.18| How do I move the cursor past the end of line and insert some\n\t characters at some columns after the end of the line?\n|faq-12.19| How to replace the word under the cursor (say: junk) with\n\t \"foojunkbar\" in Vim?\n|faq-12.20| How do I replace a particular text in all the files in a\n\t directory?\n|faq-12.21| I have some numbers in a file. How do I increment or decrement\n\t the numbers in the file?\n|faq-12.22| How do I reuse the last used search pattern in a `:substitute`\n\t command?\n|faq-12.23| How do I change the case of a string using the `:substitute`\n\t command?\n|faq-12.24| How do I enter characters that are not present in the keyboard?\n|faq-12.25| Is there a command to remove any or all digraphs?\n|faq-12.26| In insert mode, when I press the backspace key, it erases only\n\t the characters entered in this instance of insert mode. How do I\n\t erase previously entered characters in insert mode using the\n\t backspace key?\n|faq-12.27| I have a file which has lines longer than 72 characters\n\t terminated with \"+\" and wrapped to the next line. How can I\n\t quickly join the lines?\n|faq-12.28| How do I paste characterwise yanked text into separate lines?\n|faq-12.29| How do I change the case (uppercase, lowercase) of a word or\n\t a character or a block of text?\n|faq-12.30| How do I enter ASCII characters that are not present in the\n\t keyboard?\n|faq-12.31| How do I replace non-printable characters in a file?\n|faq-12.32| How do I remove duplicate lines from a buffer?\n|faq-12.33| How do I prefix all the lines in a file with the corresponding\n\t line numbers?\n|faq-12.34| How do I exchange (swap) two characters or words or lines?\n|faq-12.35| How do I change the characters used as word delimiters?\n *faq-completion-in-insert-mode*\nSECTION 13 - COMPLETION IN INSERT MODE ~\n|faq-13.1| How do I complete words or lines in insert mode?\n|faq-13.2| How do I complete file names in insert mode?\n|faq-13.3| I am using CTRL-P/CTRL-N to complete words in insert mode. How do\n\t I complete words that occur after the just completed word?\n *faq-text-formatting*\nSECTION 14 - TEXT FORMATTING ~\n|faq-14.1| How do I format a text paragraph so that a new line is inserted\n\t at the end of each wrapped line?\n|faq-14.2| How do I format long lines in a file so that each line contains\n\t less than \"n\" characters?\n|faq-14.3| How do I join short lines to the form a paragraph?\n|faq-14.4| How do I format bulleted and numbered lists?\n|faq-14.5| How do I indent lines in insert mode?\n|faq-14.6| How do I format/indent an entire file?\n|faq-14.7| How do I increase or decrease the indentation of the current\n\t line?\n|faq-14.8| How do I indent a block/group of lines?\n|faq-14.9| When I indent lines using the > or < key, the standard 8-tabstops\n\t are used instead of the current 'tabstop' setting. Why?\n|faq-14.10| How do I turn off the automatic indentation of text?\n|faq-14.11| How do I configure Vim to automatically set the 'textwidth'\n\t option to a particular value when I edit mails?\n|faq-14.12| Is there a way to make Vim auto-magically break lines?\n|faq-14.13| I am seeing a lot of ^M symbols in my file. I tried setting the\n\t 'fileformat' option to 'dos' and then 'unix' and then 'mac'.\n\t None of these helped. How can I hide these symbols?\n|faq-14.14| When I paste some text into a Vim buffer from another\n\t application, the alignment (indentation) of the new text is\n\t messed up. How do I fix this?\n|faq-14.15| When there is a very long wrapped line (wrap is \"on\") and a line\n\t doesn't fit entirely on the screen it is not displayed at all.\n\t There are blank lines beginning with \"@\" symbol instead of\n\t wrapped line. If I scroll the screen to fit the line the \"@\"\n\t symbols disappear and the line is displayed again. What Vim\n\t setting control this behavior?\n|faq-14.16| How do I convert all the tab characters in a file to space\n\t characters?\n|faq-14.17| What Vim options can I use to edit text that will later go to a\n\t word processor?\n|faq-14.18| How do I join lines without adding or removing any space\n\t characters?\n *faq-visual-mode*\nSECTION 15 - VISUAL MODE ~\n|faq-15.1| How do I do rectangular block copying?\n|faq-15.2| How do I delete or change a column of text in a file?\n|faq-15.3| How do I apply an ex-command on a set of visually selected lines?\n|faq-15.4| How do I execute an ex command on a column of text selected in\n\t Visual block mode?\n|faq-15.5| How do I select the entire file in visual mode?\n|faq-15.6| When I visually select a set of lines and press the > key to\n\t indent the selected lines, the visual mode ends. How can I\n\t reselect the region for further operation? (or) How do I\n\t re-select the last selected visual area again?\n|faq-15.7| How do I jump to the beginning/end of a visually selected region?\n|faq-15.8| When I select text with mouse and then press : to enter an ex\n\t command, the selected text is replaced with the : character. How\n\t do I execute an ex command on a text selected using the mouse\n\t similar to the text selected using the visual mode?\n|faq-15.9| When I select a block of text using the mouse, Vim goes into\n\t selection mode instead of Visual mode. Why?\n *faq-command-line-mode*\nSECTION 16 - COMMAND-LINE MODE ~\n|faq-16.1| How do I use the name of the current file in the command mode or\n\t an ex command line?\n|faq-16.2| How do I edit the text in the Vim command-line effectively?\n|faq-16.3| How do I switch from Vi mode to Ex mode?\n|faq-16.4| How do I copy the output from an ex-command into a buffer?\n|faq-16.5| When I press the key to complete the name of a file in the\n\t command mode, if there are more than one matching file names,\n\t then Vim completes the first matching file name and displays a\n\t list of all matching filenames. How do I configure Vim to only\n\t display the list of all the matching filenames and not complete\n\t the first one?\n|faq-16.6| How do I copy text from a buffer to the command line and from the\n\t command line to a buffer?\n|faq-16.7| How do I put a command onto the command history without executing\n\t it?\n|faq-16.8| How do I increase the height of the command-line?\n *faq-viminfo*\nSECTION 17 - VIMINFO ~\n|faq-17.1| When I invoke Vim, I get error messages about illegal characters\n\t in the viminfo file. What should I do to get rid of these\n\t messages?\n|faq-17.2| How do I disable the viminfo feature?\n|faq-17.3| How do I save and use Vim marks/commands across Vim sessions?\n *faq-remote-editing*\nSECTION 18 - REMOTE EDITING ~\n|faq-18.1| How do I open a file with existing instance of gvim? What\n\t happened to the Vim 5.x OpenWithVim.exe and SendToVim.exe files?\n|faq-18.2| How do I send a command to a Vim server to write all buffers to\n\t disk?\n|faq-18.3| Where can I get the documentation about the Vim remote server\n\t functionality?\n *faq-options*\nSECTION 19 - OPTIONS ~\n|faq-19.1| How do I configure Vim in a simple way?\n|faq-19.2| How do I toggle the value of an option?\n|faq-19.3| How do I set an option that affects only the current\n\t buffer/window?\n|faq-19.4| How do I use space characters for a Vim option value?\n|faq-19.5| Can I add (embed) Vim option settings to the contents of a file?\n|faq-19.6| How do I display the line numbers of all the lines in a file?\n|faq-19.7| How do I change the width of the line numbers displayed using the\n\t 'number' option?\n|faq-19.8| How do I display (view) all the invisible characters like space,\n\t tabs and newlines in a file?\n|faq-19.9| How do I configure Vim to always display the current line and\n\t column number?\n|faq-19.10| How do I display the current Vim mode?\n|faq-19.11| How do I configure Vim to show pending/partial commands on the\n\t status line?\n|faq-19.12| How do I configure the Vim status line to display different\n\t settings/values?\n|faq-19.13| How do I configure Vim to display status line always?\n|faq-19.14| How do I make a Vim setting persistent across different Vim\n\t invocations/instances/sessions?\n|faq-19.15| Why do I hear a beep (why does my window flash) about 1 second\n\t after I hit the Escape key?\n|faq-19.16| How do I make the \"c\" and \"s\" commands display a \"$\" instead of\n\t deleting the characters I'm changing?\n|faq-19.17| How do I remove more than one flag using a single `:set` command\n\t from a Vim option?\n *faq-mapping-keys*\nSECTION 20 - MAPPING KEYS ~\n|faq-20.1| How do I know what a key is mapped to?\n|faq-20.2| How do I list all the user-defined key mappings?\n|faq-20.3| How do I unmap a key?\n|faq-20.4| I am not able to create a mapping for the key. What is\n\t wrong?\n|faq-20.5| Why does mapping the key not work?\n|faq-20.6| How do I map the numeric keypad keys?\n|faq-20.7| How do I create a mapping that works only in visual mode?\n|faq-20.8| How do I create a mapping that works only in normal and operator\n\t pending mode (but not in visual mode)?\n|faq-20.9| In a Vim script, how do I know which keys to use for my mappings,\n\t so that the mapped key will not collide with an already used key?\n|faq-20.10| How do I map the escape key?\n|faq-20.11| How do I map a key to perform nothing?\n|faq-20.12| I want to use the key to indent a block of text and\n\t key to unindent a block of text. How do I map the keys\n\t to do this? This behavior is similar to textpad, visual studio,\n\t etc.\n|faq-20.13| In my mappings the special characters like are not\n\t recognized. How can I configure Vim to recognize special\n\t characters?\n|faq-20.14| How do I use the \"|\" to separate multiple commands in a map?\n|faq-20.15| If I have a mapping/abbreviation whose ending is the beginning of\n\t another mapping/abbreviation, how do I keep the first from\n\t expanding into the second one?\n|faq-20.16| Why does it take a second or more for Vim to process a key,\n\t sometimes when I press a key?\n|faq-20.17| How do I map a key to run an external command using a visually\n\t selected text?\n|faq-20.18| How do I map the CTRL-I key while still retaining the\n\t functionality of the key?\n|faq-20.19| How do I define a map to accept a count?\n|faq-20.20| How can I make my normal mode mapping work from within Insert\n\t Mode?\n *faq-abbreviations*\nSECTION 21 - ABBREVIATIONS ~\n|faq-21.1| How do I auto correct misspelled words?\n|faq-21.2| How do I create multi-line abbreviations?\n|faq-21.3| When my abbreviations are expanded, an additional space character\n\t is added at the end of the expanded text. How do I avoid this\n\t character?\n|faq-21.4| How do I insert the current date/time stamp into the file?\n|faq-21.5| How do I prevent an abbreviation from expanding in insert mode?\n *faq-record-and-playback*\nSECTION 22 - RECORD AND PLAYBACK ~\n|faq-22.1| How do I repeat an editing operation (insertion, deletion, paste,\n\t etc)?\n|faq-22.2| How I record and repeat a set of key sequences?\n|faq-22.3| How do I edit/modify a recorded set of key sequences?\n|faq-22.4| How do I write recorded key sequences to a file?\n|faq-22.5| I am using register 0 to record my key sequences (i.e. q0 ....\n\t q). In the recorded key sequences, I am yanking some text. After\n\t the first replay of the recorded key sequence, I am no longer\n\t able to play it back.\n *faq-autocommands*\nSECTION 23 - AUTOCOMMANDS ~\n|faq-23.1| How do I execute a command when I try to modify a read-only file?\n|faq-23.2| How do I execute a command every time when entering a buffer?\n|faq-23.3| How do I execute a command every time when entering a window?\n|faq-23.4| From an autocmd, how can I determine the name of the file or the\n\t buffer number for which the autocommand is executed?\n|faq-23.5| How do I automatically save all the changed buffers whenever Vim\n\t loses focus?\n|faq-23.6| How do I execute/run a function when Vim exits to do some\n\t cleanup?\n *faq-syntax-highlight*\nSECTION 24 - SYNTAX HIGHLIGHT ~\n|faq-24.1| How do I turn off/on syntax highlighting?\n|faq-24.2| How do I change the background and foreground colors used by Vim?\n|faq-24.3| How do I change the highlight colors to suit a dark/light\n\t background?\n|faq-24.4| How do I change the color of the line numbers displayed when the\n\t `:set number` command is used?\n|faq-24.5| How do I change the background color used for a Visually selected\n\t block?\n|faq-24.6| How do I highlight the special characters (tabs, trailing spaces,\n\t end of line, etc) displayed by the 'list' option?\n|faq-24.7| How do I specify a colorscheme in my .vimrc/.gvimrc file, so that\n\t Vim uses the specified colorscheme every time?\n|faq-24.8| Vim syntax highlighting is broken. When I am editing a file, some\n\t parts of the file is not syntax highlighted or syntax highlighted\n\t incorrectly.\n|faq-24.9| Is there a built-in function to syntax-highlight the\n\t corresponding matching bracket?\n|faq-24.10| How do I turn off the C comment syntax highlighting?\n|faq-24.11| How do I add my own syntax extensions to the standard syntax\n\t files supplied with Vim?\n|faq-24.12| How do I replace a standard syntax file that comes with the Vim\n\t distribution with my own syntax file?\n|faq-24.13| How do I highlight all the characters after a particular column?\n|faq-24.14| How do I convert a source file (.c, .h, etc) with the Vim syntax\n\t highlighting into a HTML file?\n|faq-24.15| How do I list the definition of all the current highlight\n\t groups?\n|faq-24.16| How can I embed one syntax highlighting language into another\n\t one?\n *faq-vim-script-writing*\nSECTION 25 - VIM SCRIPT WRITING ~\n|faq-25.1| How do I list the names of all the scripts sourced by Vim?\n|faq-25.2| How do I debug Vim scripts?\n|faq-25.3| How do I locate the script/plugin which sets a Vim option?\n|faq-25.4| I am getting some error/informational messages from Vim (possibly\n\t when running a script), the messages are cleared immediately. How\n\t do I display the messages again?\n|faq-25.5| How do I save and restore a plugin specific information across\n\t Vim invocations?\n|faq-25.6| How do I start insert mode from a Vim function?\n|faq-25.7| How do I change the cursor position from within a Vim function?\n|faq-25.8| How do I check the value of an environment variable in the .vimrc\n\t file?\n|faq-25.9| How do I check whether an environment variable is set or not from\n\t a Vim function?\n|faq-25.10| How do I call/use the Vim built-in functions?\n|faq-25.11| I am using some normal mode commands in my Vim script. How do I\n\t avoid using the user-defined mappings for these normal mode\n\t commands and use the standard Vim functionality for these normal\n\t mode commands?\n|faq-25.12| How do I get a visually selected text into a Vim variable or\n\t register?\n|faq-25.13| I have some text in a Vim variable \"myvar\". I would like to use\n\t this variable in a `:s` substitute command to replace a text\n\t \"mytext\". How do I do this?\n|faq-25.14| A Vim variable (bno) contains a buffer number. How do I use this\n\t variable to open the corresponding buffer?\n|faq-25.15| How do I store the value of a Vim option into a Vim variable?\n|faq-25.16| I have copied and inserted some text into a buffer from a Vim\n\t function. How do I indent the inserted text from the Vim\n\t function?\n|faq-25.17| How do I get the character under the cursor from a Vim script?\n|faq-25.18| How do I get the name of the current file without the extension?\n|faq-25.19| How do I get the basename of the current file?\n|faq-25.20| How do I get the output from a Vim function into the current\n\t buffer?\n|faq-25.21| How do I call external programs from a Vim function?\n|faq-25.22| How do I get the return status of a program executed using the\n\t `:!` command?\n|faq-25.23| How do I determine whether the current buffer is modified or\n\t not?\n|faq-25.24| I would like to use the carriage return character in a normal\n\t command from a Vim script. How do I specify the carriage return\n\t character?\n|faq-25.25| How do I split long lines in a Vim script?\n|faq-25.26| When I try to \"execute\" my function using the `:execute Myfunc()`\n\t command, the cursor is moved to the top of the current buffer.\n\t Why?\n|faq-25.27| How do I source/execute the contents of a register?\n|faq-25.28| After calling a Vim function or a mapping, when I press the \"u\"\n\t key to undo the last change, Vim undoes all the changes made by\n\t the mapping/function. Why?\n|faq-25.29| How can I call a function defined with s: (script local\n\t function) from another script/plugin?\n|faq-25.30| Is it possible to un-source a sourced script? In other words,\n\t reverse all the commands executed by sourcing a script.\n *faq-plugins*\nSECTION 26 - PLUGINS ~\n|faq-26.1| How do I set different options for different types of files?\n|faq-26.2| I have downloaded a Vim plugin or a syntax file or a indent file,\n\t or a color scheme or a filetype plugin from the web. Where should\n\t I copy these files so that Vim will find them?\n|faq-26.3| How do I extend an existing filetype plugin?\n|faq-26.4| How do I turn off loading the Vim plugins?\n|faq-26.5| How do I turn on/off loading the filetype plugins?\n|faq-26.6| How do I override settings made in a file type plugin in the\n\t global ftplugin directory for all the file types?\n|faq-26.7| How do I disable the Vim directory browser plugin?\n|faq-26.8| How do I set the filetype option for files with names matching a\n\t particular pattern or depending on the file extension?\n *faq-editing-program-files*\nSECTION 27 - EDITING PROGRAM FILES ~\n|faq-27.1| How do I enable automatic indentation for C/C++ files?\n|faq-27.2| How do I configure the indentation used for C/C++ files?\n|faq-27.3| How do I turn off the automatic indentation feature?\n|faq-27.4| How do I change the number of space characters used for the\n\t automatic indentation?\n|faq-27.5| I am editing a C program using Vim. How do I display the\n\t definition of a macro or a variable?\n|faq-27.6| I am editing a C program using Vim. How do I jump to the\n\t beginning or end of a code block from within the block?\n|faq-27.7| When editing C++ files and when inserting new lines above or\n\t below a comment (//) line, Vim automatically inserts the C++\n\t comment character (//) at the beginning of the line. How do I\n\t disable this? \n|faq-27.8| How do I add the comment character \"#\" to a set of lines at the\n\t beginning of each line?\n|faq-27.9| How do I edit a header file with the same name as the\n\t corresponding C source file?\n|faq-27.10| How do I automatically insert comment leaders while typing\n\t comments?\n *faq-quickfix*\nSECTION 28 - QUICKFIX ~\n|faq-28.1| How do I build programs from Vim?\n|faq-28.2| When I run the make command in Vim I get the errors listed as the\n\t compiler compiles the program. When it finishes this list\n\t disappears and I have to use the `:clist` command to see the error\n\t message again. Is there any other way to see these error\n\t messages?\n|faq-28.3| How can I perform a command for each item in the\n\t quickfix/location list?\n *faq-folding*\nSECTION 29 - FOLDING ~\n|faq-29.1| How do I extend the Vim folding support?\n|faq-29.2| When I enable folding by setting the 'foldmethod' option, all the\n\t folds are closed. How do I prevent this?\n|faq-29.3| How do I control how many folds will be opened when I start\n\t editing a file?\n|faq-29.4| How do I open and close folds using the mouse?\n|faq-29.5| How do I change the text displayed for a closed fold?\n|faq-29.6| How do I store and restore manually created folds across\n\t different Vim invocations?\n|faq-29.7| I have enabled syntax based folding. Why is Vim so slow?\n\n *faq-vim-with-external-applications*\nSECTION 30 - VIM WITH EXTERNAL APPLICATIONS ~\n|faq-30.1| Can I run a shell inside a Vim window?\n|faq-30.2| How do I pass the word under the cursor to an external command?\n|faq-30.3| How do I get the output of a shell command into a Vim buffer?\n|faq-30.4| How do I pipe the contents of the current buffer to an external\n\t command and replace the contents of the buffer with the output\n\t from the command?\n|faq-30.5| How do I sort a section of my file?\n|faq-30.6| How do I use Vim as a pager?\n|faq-30.7| How do I view Unix man pages from inside Vim?\n|faq-30.8| How do I change the diff command used by the Vim diff support?\n|faq-30.9| How do I use the Vim diff mode without folding?\n *faq-gui-vim*\nSECTION 31 - GUI VIM ~\n|faq-31.1| How do I create buffer specific menus?\n|faq-31.2| How do I change the font used by GUI Vim?\n|faq-31.3| When starting GUI Vim, how do I specify the location of the GVIM\n\t window?\n|faq-31.4| How do I add a horizontal scrollbar in GVim?\n|faq-31.5| How do I make the scrollbar appear in the left side by default?\n|faq-31.6| How do I remove the Vim menubar?\n|faq-31.7| I am using GUI Vim. When I press the key and a letter, the\n\t menu starting with that letter is selected. I don't want this\n\t behavior as I want to map the - combination. How do I do\n\t this?\n|faq-31.8| Is it possible to scroll the text by dragging the scrollbar so\n\t that the cursor stays in the original location?\n|faq-31.9| How do I get gvim to start browsing files in a particular\n\t directory when using the `:browse` command?\n|faq-31.10| For some questions, like when a file is changed outside of Vim,\n\t Vim displays a GUI dialog box. How do I replace this GUI dialog\n\t box with a console dialog box?\n|faq-31.11| I am trying to use GUI Vim as the editor for my xxx application.\n\t When the xxx application launches GUI Vim to edit a file, the\n\t control immediately returns to the xxx application. How do I\n\t start GUI Vim, so that the control returns to the xxx\n\t application only after I quit Vim?\n|faq-31.12| Why does the \"Select Font\" dialog doesn't show all the fonts\n\t installed in my system?\n|faq-31.13| How do I use the mouse in Vim command-line mode?\n|faq-31.14| When I use the middle mouse button to scroll text, it pastes the\n\t last copied text. How do I disable this behavior?\n|faq-31.15| How do I change the location and size of a GUI Vim window?\n|faq-31.16| When splitting the Vim window vertically, Vim changes\n\t the position.\n *faq-vim-on-unix*\nSECTION 32 - VIM ON UNIX ~\n|faq-32.1| I am running Vim in a xterm. When I press the CTRL-S key, Vim\n\t freezes. What should I do now?\n|faq-32.2| I am seeing weird screen update problems in Vim. What can I do to\n\t solve this screen/display update problems?\n|faq-32.3| I am using the terminal/console version of Vim. In insertmode,\n\t When I press the backspace key, the character before the cursor\n\t is not erased. How do I configure Vim to do this?\n|faq-32.4| I am using Vim in a xterm. When I quit Vim, the screen contents\n\t are restored back to the original contents. How do I disable\n\t this?\n|faq-32.5| When I start Vim, it takes quite a few seconds to start. How do I\n\t minimize the startup time?\n|faq-32.6| How can I make the cursor in gvim in unix stop blinking?\n|faq-32.7| How do I change the menu font on GTK Vim?\n|faq-32.8| How do I prevent CTRL-Z from suspending Vim?\n|faq-32.9| When I kill the xterm running Vim, the Vim process continues to\n\t run and takes up a lot of CPU (99%) time. Why is this happening?\n|faq-32.10| How do I get the Vim syntax highlighting to work in a Unix\n\t terminal?\n *faq-vim-on-ms-windows*\nSECTION 33 - VIM ON MS-WINDOWS ~\n|faq-33.1| In MS-Windows, CTRL-V doesn't start the blockwise visual mode.\n\t What happened?\n|faq-33.2| When I press the CTRL-Y key, it acts like the CTRL-R key. How do\n\t I configure Vim to treat CTRL-Y as CTRL-Y?\n|faq-33.3| How do I start GUI Vim in a maximized window always?\n|faq-33.4| After doing some editing operations, Vim freezes. The cursor\n\t becomes an empty rectangle. I am not able enter any characters.\n\t What is happening?\n|faq-33.5| I am using Windows XP, the display speed of maximized GVim is\n\t very slow. What can I do to speed the display updates?\n|faq-33.6| What are the recommended settings for using Vim with cygwin?\n|faq-33.7| I am trying to use GNU diff with Vim diff mode. When I run the\n\t diff from command line, it works. When I try to use the diff with\n\t Vim it doesn't work. What should I do now?\n|faq-33.8| Is it possible to use Vim as an external editor for MS-Windows\n\t Outlook email client?\n|faq-33.9| I am using Vim to edit HTML files. How do I start internet\n\t explorer with the current file to preview the HTML file?\n|faq-33.10| I would like to use Vim with Microsoft Visual Studio. How do I\n\t do this?\n|faq-33.11| Where do I place the _vimrc and _gvimrc files?\n|faq-33.12| Every time I save a file, Vim warns about the file being changed\n\t outside of Vim. Why?\n *faq-printing*\nSECTION 34 - PRINTING ~\n|faq-34.1| How do I print a file along with line numbers for all the lines?\n|faq-34.2| How do I print a file with the Vim syntax highlighting colors?\n *faq-building-vim-from-source*\nSECTION 35 - BUILDING VIM FROM SOURCE ~\n|faq-35.1| How do I build Vim from the sources on a Unix system?\n|faq-35.2| How do I install Vim in my home directory or a directory other\n\t than the default installation directory in Unix?\n|faq-35.3| How do I build Vim from the sources on a MS-Windows system?\n|faq-35.4| The Vim help, syntax, indent files are missing from my Vim\n\t installation. How do I install these files?\n|faq-35.5| I have built Vim from the source and installed the Vim package\n\t using \"make install\". Do I need to keep the Vim source directory?\n|faq-35.6| How do I determine the Vim features which are enabled at compile\n\t time?\n|faq-35.7| Can I build Vim without the GUI support?\n|faq-35.8| When building Vim on a Unix system, I am getting \"undefined\n\t reference to term_set_winsize\" error. How do I resolve this\n\t error?\n|faq-35.9| Vim configure keeps complaining about the lack of gtk-config\n\t while trying to use GTK 2.03. This is correct, since in GTK 2\n\t they moved to using the generic pkg-config. I can get pkg-config\n\t to list the various includes and libs for gtk, but for some\n\t reason the configure script still isn't picking this up.\n|faq-35.10| I did successfully download the sources and compiled Vim on\n\t Unix. But feature ... still does not work. What is wrong and\n\t how can I fix it?\n *faq-various*\nSECTION 36 - VARIOUS ~\n|faq-36.1| How do I edit binary files with Vim?\n|faq-36.2| How do I disable the visual error flash and the error beep?\n|faq-36.3| How do I display the ascii value of a character displayed in a\n\t buffer?\n|faq-36.4| Can I use zero as a count for a Vim command?\n|faq-36.5| How do I disable the Vim welcome screen?\n|faq-36.6| How do I avoid the \"hit enter to continue\" prompt?\n|faq-36.7| How do I invoke Vim from command line to run a group of commands\n\t on a group of files?\n|faq-36.8| How do I use a normal mode command from insert mode without\n\t leaving the insert mode?\n|faq-36.9| How do I start Vim in insert mode?\n|faq-36.10| How do I use Copy and Paste with Vim?\n|faq-36.11| Why shouldn't I modify the files in the system runtime\n\t directory?\n *faq-unicode*\nSECTION 37 - UNICODE ~\n|faq-37.1| Is it possible to create Unicode files using Vim?\n|faq-37.2| Which Vim settings are particularly important for editing Unicode\n\t files?\n|faq-37.3| What is the 'encoding' option?\n|faq-37.4| How does Vim name the various Unicode encodings?\n|faq-37.5| How does Vim specify the presence or absence of a byte-order\n\t mark?\n|faq-37.6| What is the 'fileencoding' option?\n|faq-37.7| What is the 'fileencodings' option?\n|faq-37.8| What is the 'termencoding' option?\n|faq-37.9| What is the 'bomb' option?\n|faq-37.10| Where can I find an example of a typical use of all these\n\t options?\n|faq-37.11| How can I insert Unicode characters into a file using Vim?\n|faq-37.12| How can I know which digraphs are defined and for which\n\t characters?\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-1*\nSECTION 1 - GENERAL INFORMATION ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-1.1*\n1.1. What is Vim?\n\nVim stands for Vi IMproved. It used to be Vi IMitation, but there are so\nmany improvements that a name change was appropriate. Vim is a text editor\nwhich includes almost all the commands from the Unix program \"Vi\" and a lot\nof new ones. All commands can be given with the keyboard. This has the\nadvantage that you can keep your fingers on the keyboard and your eyes on\nthe screen. For those who want it, there is mouse support and a GUI version\nwith scrollbars and menus.\n\nVim is an editor, not a word processor. A word processor is used mainly\nto do layout of text. This means positioning it, changing the way it\nappears on output. More often than not, the final document is meant to\nbe printed or typeset or what have you, in order to present it in a\npleasing manner to others. Examples of word processors are Microsoft\nWord, FrameMaker, and OpenOffice Writer.\n\nAn editor is simply for entering text. Any typesetting or laying out of the\ndocument is secondary. With an editor, one's main concern is entering text,\nnot making the text look good. Examples of editors other than Vim and Vi\nare Emacs, TextMate, Ultraedit and gedit. And Notepad.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |intro|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-1.2*\n1.2. Who wrote Vim?\n\nMost of Vim is based on Stevie and was written by Bram Moolenaar, with\ncontributions from too many people to mention here.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |author|\n |credits|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-1.3*\n1.3. Is Vim compatible with Vi?\n\nYes. Vim is very much compatible with Vi. You can use the \"-C\"\ncommand-line flag to start Vim in Vi compatible mode: >\n\n $ vim -C\n<\nYou can also use: >\n\n $ vim -u NONE\n<\nYou can also set the 'compatible' option to enable Vi compatibility: >\n\n :set compatible\n<\nIf you want to make sure, to start Vim in a 'nocompatible' mode to\noriginal Vi, supply the -N command line argument: >\n\n $ vim -N\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |-C|\n |-N|\n |'compatible'|\n |compatible-default|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-1.4*\n1.4. What are some of the improvements of Vim over Vi?\n\nA short summary of the improvements of Vim over vi is listed below. The\nlist shows that Vim is a thoroughly modern and feature-packed editor.\nStandard features of modern editors are implemented, and there is an equal\nemphasis on general power-user features and features for programmers.\n\nFeatures to modernise Vi: ~\n\n Multi-level undo ~\n\n Allows you to set the number of times you can undo your changes in a\n file buffer. You can also redo an undone change.\n Also starting with version 7.3 Vim can permanently store your undo\n information, so that you can undo your changes which you have done\n in a previous editing session.\n\n Tabs, Multiple windows and buffers ~\n\n Each file can be displayed in its own window. You can move easily from\n one window to another. Each file opened during a Vim session also has\n an associated buffer and you can easily jump from one to the other.\n Also like any modern GUI, Vim supports opening several files in tabs.\n You can do batch processing for tabs, buffers, windows and the\n argumentlist.\n\n Flexible insert mode ~\n\n Vim allows you to use the arrow keys while in insert mode to move\n around in the file. No more hitting , moving around, then hitting\n `i' or `a'.\n\n Macros ~\n\n Vim has a facility which allows you to record a sequence of typed\n characters and repeat them any number of times.\n\n Visual mode ~\n\n You can highlight sections of text and execute operations on this\n section of text only.\n\n Block operators ~\n\n Allow selection and highlighting of rectangular blocks of text in\n order do execute specific operations on them.\n\n Online help system ~\n\n You can easily find help on any aspect of using Vim. Help is displayed\n in its own window.\n\n Command-line editing and history ~\n\n History allows you to use the arrow keys to repeat or search for a\n command that has already been typed. Allows you to match the beginning\n of a command with the beginning of another similar command in the\n history buffer. You can also edit a command to correct typos or change\n a few values.\n\n Command line completion. ~\n\n Using the key, you can complete commands, options, filenames,\n etc. as needed.\n\n Horizontal scrolling. ~\n\n Long lines can be scrolled horizontally (with or without the GUI).\n\n Unicode and internationalization improvements. ~\n\n Vim is able to edit files in unicode encoding and uses internally an\n utf-8 encoding. Additionally Vim can display text right to left\n oriented.\n\nAdvanced user features: ~\n\n Text formatting ~\n\n With two keystrokes, you can format large sections of text, without\n the use of external programs.\n\n Completion in Insert mode ~\n\n Vim provides several different possibilities to complete your text.\n For example Vim can complete words while you are typing, by matching\n the current word with other similar words in the file.\n\n Jump tags ~\n\n Just like in an internet browser, you can jump back to previous parts\n of the text you were editing, and then forward again. Your brain is\n thus free to edit instead of navigate.\n\n Automatic commands ~\n\n Commands automatically executed when reading or writing a file,\n jumping to another buffer, etc.\n\n Viminfo ~\n\n Allows storing of the command line history, marks and registers in a\n file to be read on startup. Therefore, you can recall old search\n patterns, macros, etc., in a new Vim session.\n\n Mouse support ~\n\n The mouse is supported in an xterm and for MS-DOS. It can be used to\n position the cursor, select the visual area, paste a register, etc.\n\n Graphical User Interface (GUI) ~\n\n There are several different graphical user interfaces available.\n Also, it's very easy to add your own menus. Of course, console vim is\n still supported, and very widely used.\n\n Scripting language ~\n\n Vim has a powerful scripting language so new commands can be created.\n You can also use Perl, Python, TCL, Lua and Ruby to achieve the same\n thing!\n\n Plugins ~\n\n Extra functionality implemented via vim commands (regular commands or\n the scripting language) that is automatically loaded on startup.\n Examples: file explorer, network editing, enhanced autocompletion,\n syntax checks.\n More are being developed and shared on VimOnline all the time.\n\n Syntax highlighting for many programming languages ~\n\n Syntax highlighting (including concealing items) for hundreds of\n programming languages is supported. Support for others can be\n added.\n\n Extended regular expressions ~\n\n Vim supports extended regular expressions which are similar in\n functionality to that of Perl regular expressions.\n\n Integrated Spell checking ~\n\n Spell checking has been integrated into Vim.\n\n Diff mode ~\n\n Vim can highlight the differences between two, three or four files.\n Identical lines will be folded away and hidden.\n\n Encryption using the blowfish algorithm ~\n\n Vim allows to encrypt your files using the symmetric block cipher\n blowfish as well as the swap file.\n\n Extensive customizable ~\n\n Vim can be tuned and customized to work like you want by setting\n options. You can define your own commands, macros and even plugins\n to extend its capabilities\n\n Packages ~\n\n Packages have been added to keep the installation of the growing\n number of plugins manageable. This is a convenient way to get one\n or more plugins, drop them in a directory and keep them updated.\n Vim will load them automatically, or only when desired.\n\nProgramming performance features: ~\n\n Edit-compile-edit speedup ~\n\n You can compile within Vim and automatically jump to the location of\n errors in the source code.\n\n Indenting for many programming languages ~\n\n C, C++, Java, Perl, XML and many other languages can be automatically\n indented by vim while you type. Support for others can be added.\n\n Searching for words in include files ~\n\n Vim allows you to search for a match of the word under the cursor in\n the current and included files.\n\n Advanced text objects ~\n\n Instantly select, delete, copy, indent, format, change case, or ...\n to all the text between ( and ), or { and }, or < and >, or [ and\n ]. Or a word, sentence, or paragraph. Very powerful.\n\n Folding ~\n\n Certain parts of the text can be \"folded\" away. The best example is\n the body of a function. You can get an overview of the code, and then\n open the fold of the function whose detail you need to see.\n\n ctags and cscope integration ~\n\n Using these two powerful programs, you can jump to a definition of a\n function from a calling instance of it, and use other tricks to\n navigate source code.\n\n Integration of several programming languages ~\n\n If you find the internal scripting language not powerful enough, you\n can extend Vim using Lua, Ruby, Tcl, Perl and Python 2 and 3.\n\n Asynchronous I/O support ~\n\n Vim uses jobs and channels to talk to other programs\n asynchronously. This allows to have e.g. a compiler run in the\n background and open the quickfix list as soon as it is finished to\n fix warnings and errors.\n\n Timers ~\n\n Timers are asynchronous and can fire once or repeatedly to invoke a\n function to do any work.\n\nFor more information, read: ~\n\n |vi-differences|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-1.5*\n1.5. Is Vim free?\n\nVim is Charityware. There are no restrictions on using or copying Vim, but\nthe author encourages you to make a donation to charity. A document\nexplaining how to do so is included in the distribution.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |copyright|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-2*\nSECTION 2 - RESOURCES ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-2.1*\n2.1. Where can I learn more about Vim?\n\nYou can post your Vim questions to the vim@vim.org mailing list. You can\npost your Vim development related questions to the vim-dev@vim.org mailing\nlist. Vim does not have a newsgroup of its own. But the appropriate\nnewsgroup to post to is comp.editors.\n\n\"VimOnline\" is a web page that serves as a de facto homepage for vim,\nalthough the main purpose of it is to gather tips and scripts from\neverywhere. Get involved! The URL is https://www.vim.org\n\nFinally, read the Vi FAQ:\n\n http://www.faqs.org/faqs/editor-faq/vi/part1/index.html\n\nFinally, there are also some communities, where you can discuss features\nor ask questions:\n\n https://vi.stackexchange.com\n https://vim.reddit.com\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |mail-list|\n |internet|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-2.2*\n2.2. Is there a mailing list available?\n\nThere are several:\n\n NAME DESCRIPTION ~\n ---------------- --------------------------------------------- ~\n vim-announce Announcements of new releases\n vim General discussion\n vim-dev Patches, bug reports, development discussions\n vim-mac Macintosh discussion\n vim-fr General discussion in French\n\nOf these, only vim and vim-dev are of general interest. vim-announce is\nread-only to most people, and its messages are sent to the other lists as\nwell. The remaining four are very low volume.\n\n ACTION EMAIL SEND TO ~\n ---------------- -------------------------- ~\n To subscribe: -subscribe@vim.org\n To unsubscribe: -unsubscribe@vim.org\n To get help: -help@vim.org\n\nThe available mailing lists are also mentioned here:\n\n https://www.vim.org/maillist.php\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-2.3*\n2.3. Is there an archive available for the Vim mailing lists?\n\nYes. Visit https://groups.yahoo.com/, where name is one of:\nvimannounce, vim, vimdev, vim-fr, vim-mac, vim-vms.\n\nAlternatively, visit www.gmane.org to find out about GMANE, which allows\nyou to access the mailing lists as though they were newsgroups. This\noffers some convenience to those who wish to browse the history or casually\nobserve the current threads.\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-2.4*\n2.4. Where can I get the Vim user manual in HTML/PDF/PS format?\n\nYou can download the HTML/PDF/PS format of the Vim user manual from:\n\n https://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/\n\nNote, the user manual from that page is currently pretty outdated. It's\nbest to either use the documentation that comes with vim or use the\nonline version at https://vimhelp.org\n\nYou can find a pdf version of the full English help, including this faq\n(in letter, A4 and Ipad format) at:\n\n https://nathangrigg.com/vimhelp/\n\nThis document is cross-referenced, so you can use the hyperlink\nfunctionality.\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-2.5*\n2.5. I have a \"xyz\" (some) problem with Vim. How do I determine if it is a\n problem with my setup or with Vim? / Have I found a bug in Vim?\n\nFirst, you need to find out, whether the error is in the actual runtime\nfiles or any plugin that is distributed with Vim or whether it is a\nsimple side effect of any configuration option from your .vimrc or\n.gvimrc. So first, start vim like this: >\n\n vim -u NONE -U NONE -N -i NONE\n<\nThis starts Vim in nocompatible mode (-N), without reading your viminfo\nfile (-i NONE), without reading any configuration file (-u NONE for not\nreading .vimrc file and -U NONE for not reading a .gvimrc file) or even\nplugin.\n\nIn this invocation, try to reproduce your problem. If the error\npersists, the chance is good you've found a bug in Vim (see also\nQuestion 2.6. |faq-2.6|)\n\nIf the error does not occur when starting Vim this way, then the problem\nis either related to some plugin of yours or some setting in one of your\nlocal setup files. You need to find out, what triggers the error, you\ntry starting Vim this way: >\n\n vim -u NONE -U NONE -N\n<\nIf the error occurs, the problem is your .viminfo file. Simply delete\nthe viminfo file then. If the error does not occur, try: >\n\n vim -u ~/.vimrc --noplugin -N -i NONE\n<\nThis will simply use your .vimrc as configuration file, but not load any\nplugins. If the error occurs this time, the error is possibly caused by\nsome configuration option inside your .vimrc file. Depending on the\nlength of your vimrc file, it can be quite hard to trace the origin\nwithin that file.\n\nThe best way is to add `:finish` command in the middle of your .vimrc.\nThen restart again using the same command line. If the error still\noccurs, the bug must be caused because of a setting in the first half of\nyour .vimrc. If it doesn't happen, the problematic setting must be in\nthe second half of your .vimrc. So move the `:finish` command to the\nmiddle of that half, of which you know that triggers the error and move\nyour way along, until you find the problematic option. If your .vimrc is\n350 lines long, you need at a maximum 9 tries to find the offending line\n(in practise, this can often be further reduced, since often lines\ndepend on each other).\n\nIf the problem does not occur, when only loading your .vimrc file, the\nerror must be caused by a plugin or another runtime file (indent\nautoload or syntax script). Check the output of the `:scriptnames` command\nto see what files have been loaded and for each one try to disable each\none by one and see which one triggers the bug. Often files that are\nloaded by vim, have a simple configuration variable to disable them, but\nyou need to check inside each file separately.\n\nYou can also use the -V command line argument to get more debug\ninformation to analyze the problem: >\n\n $ vim -V2logfile\n<\nYou can increase the value passed to the -V argument to get more debug\ninformation. By also specifying a logfile name, this makes sure, the\ndebug messages don't appear on the screen and won't disturb you when\ntrying to reproduce the problem.\n\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |-u|\n |-U|\n |-N|\n |-V|\n |'verbose'|\n |:verbose|\n |:set-verbose|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-2.6*\n2.6. Where can I report bugs?\n\nFirst collect the required information using the following command: >\n\n :source $VIMRUNTIME/bugreport.vim\n<\nNow send the resulting text from the above command to the bugs@vim.org\ne-mail address. There is also a public bug tracker available at\nhttps://github.com/vim/vim/issues. A copy of each message there\nwill be forwarded to the Vim Development list.\n\nThe Vim Development mailing list (see Question 2.2 |faq-2.2|) is a good place to\ndiscuss general bugs. If the bug you find is with syntax highlighting,\na runtime file, or some other \"added feature\" (i.e. not directly\nprogrammed into vim), attempt to inform the maintainer of that feature.\nHis e-mail address will be mentioned at the top of the corresponding\nruntime file.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |bug-reports|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-2.7*\n2.7. Where can the FAQ be found?\n\nThe FAQ can be found at https://vimhelp.org/vim_faq.txt.html.\nIt will be auto-generated from the source that is managed in the github\nrepository https://www.github.com/chrisbra/vim_faq (Patches are welcome).\n\nThe repository also includes the faq in different formats, e.g. manpage,\npdf file, html file, plain text version and a version in vim help format.\n\nA slightly older version (which doesn't seem to get updated anymore) can\nstill be found at VimOnline (https://www.vim.org/).\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-2.8*\n2.8. What if I don't find an answer in this FAQ?\n\nThis FAQ covers mainly Vim-specific questions. You may find more\ninformation suitable for most Vi clones by reading the Vi FAQ. It is posted\nregularly on comp.editors. You can also find a copy at\n\n http://www.faqs.org/faqs/editor-faq/vi/part1/index.html\n\nAlso, since Vim has gathered so many features in the last few years,\nsuccessfully documenting the frequently asked questions here is a\nnear-impossible task. To make it possible, please email the maintainer if\nyou have a good question. A good question is one that you've tried to\nanswer yourself (remember, Vim has great documentation) but struggled.\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-2.9*\n2.9. I have a patch for implementing a Vim feature. Where can I send this\n patch?\n\nYou can send your patches to the Vim developer mailing list\nvim-dev@vim.org.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |vim-dev|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-2.10*\n2.10. I have a Vim tip or developed a new Vim syntax/indent/filetype/\n compiler plugin or developed a new script or a colorscheme.\n Is there a public website where I can upload this?\n\nYes. You can use the Vim Online website to upload your plugins/scripts,\ncolorschemes, etc. The site is at https://www.vim.org\nNowadays people also seem to share their plugins/runtime files at\ngithub.\n\nTips can also be shared in the Wiki which you can find at\n\n http://vim.wikia.com\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-3*\nSECTION 3 - AVAILABILITY ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-3.1*\n3.1. What is the latest version of Vim?\n\nThe latest version of Vim is 8.2 released on 12th December 2019.\n\nThe release history of different versions of Vim is below:\n\n VERSION RELEASE DATE ~\n -------------- -------------------- ~\n Version 9.1 2nd January, 2024\n Version 9.0 28th June, 2022\n Version 8.2 12th December, 2019\n Version 8.1 17th May, 2018\n Version 8.0 12th September, 2016\n Version 7.4 10th August, 2013\n Version 7.3 15th August, 2010\n Version 7.2 9th August, 2008\n Version 7.1 12th May, 2007\n Version 7.0 8th May, 2006\n Version 6.4 15th October, 2005\n Version 6.3 8th June, 2004\n Version 6.2 1st June, 2003\n Version 6.1 24th March, 2002\n Version 6.0 27th September, 2001\n Version 5.8 31st May, 2001\n Version 5.7 24th June, 2000\n Version 5.6 16th January, 2000\n Version 5.5 21st September, 1999\n Version 5.4 26th July, 1999\n Version 5.3 31st August, 1998\n Version 5.2 24th August, 1998\n Version 5.1 7th April, 1998\n Version 5.0 19th February, 1998\n Version 4.6 13th March, 1997\n Version 4.5 17th October, 1996\n Version 4.2 5th July, 1996\n Version 4.0 29th May, 1996\n Version 3.0 12th August, 1994\n Version 2.0 21st December, 1993\n Version 1.27 23rd April, 1993\n Version 1.17 21st April, 1992\n Version 1.14 2nd November, 1991\n\nIf you are interested in the old release history, check out the\nvim-history git repository:\nhttps://github.com/vim/vim-history\nand especially for the release history:\nhttps://github.com/vim/vim-history#release-history\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |new-9|\n |new-8|\n |changed-9.1|\n |changed-8.2|\n |changed-8.1|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-3.2*\n3.2. Where can I find the latest version of Vim?\n\nYou can download the sources for the latest version of Vim from the\nGithub repository. The URL for this site is\n\n https://github.com/vim/vim\n\nA mercurial mirror is also available:\n\n https://www.vim.org/hgweb/vim/\n\nSome users keep updated repositories for distributing latest binary\nversions of Vim. You can find those repositories here:\n\n http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Where_to_download_Vim\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-3.3*\n3.3. What platforms does it run on?\n\nAll Unix platforms.\nAll Windows platforms (10 and later).\nAmiga, Macintosh, MachTen, VMS, IBM z/OS.\n\nFor MS-DOS support has been removed with the latest releases of Vim.\n16-bit DOS: latest supported version 7.1\n32-bit DOS: latest supported version 7.3\nWindows XP and Visat: latest supported version 9.0\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-3.4*\n3.4. Where can I download the latest version of the Vim runtime files?\n\nYou can download the latest version of the Vim runtime files (syntax files,\nfiletype plugins, compiler files, color schemes, documentation, indentation\nfiles and keymaps) from the Vim github repository\n\n https://github.com/vim/vim/tree/master/runtime\n\nAnother way of downloading the runtime files is this: >\n\n wget https://github.com/vim/vim/archive/master.tar.gz -O- |\n tar zfx - vim-master/runtime/ --strip-components=1\n<\nSee also:\n\n https://www.vim.org/runtime.php\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-4*\nSECTION 4 - HELP ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-4.1*\n4.1. How do I use the help files?\n\nHelp can be found for all functions of Vim. In order to use it, use the\n`:help` command. This will bring you to the main help page. On that first\npage, you will find explanations on how to move around. Basically, you move\naround in the help pages the same way you would in a read-only document.\nYou can jump to specific subjects by using tags. This can be done in two\nways:\n\n * Use the CTRL-] command while standing on the name of a command\n or option. This only works when the tag is a keyword.\n and g work just like CTRL-].\n\n * use the `:tag ` command. This works with all characters.\n\nUse CTRL-T to jump back to previous positions in the help files. Use\n`:q` to close the help window.\n\nIf you want to jump to a specific subject on the help pages, use\n`:help {subject}` . If you don't know what to look for, try `:help index`\nto get a list of all available subjects. Use the standard search keys to\nlocate the information you want.\nYou can abbreviate the `:help` command as `:h`.\n\nFor searching the help, see the next Question 4.2. |faq-4.2|\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |online-help|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-4.2*\n4.2. How do I search for a keyword in the Vim help files?\n\na) You can press the CTRL-D key after typing the help keyword to get a\n list of all the help keywords containing the supplied pattern. You can\n also use the meta characters like *, \\+, etc to specify the help\n search pattern: >\n\n :help init\n :help str*()\n :help '*indent\n<\nb) You can press the key after typing a partial help keyword to expand\n to the matching keyword. You can continue to press the key to see\n other keyword matches.\n\nc) From the help window, you can use the `:tag` command to search for\n keywords. For example, >\n\n :tselect /window\n<\n This command will list all the help keywords containing the text\n \"window\". You can select one from the list and jump to it.\n\nd) You can use the `:helpgrep` command to search for the given text in\n all the help files. The quickfix window will be opened with all the\n matching lines.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |help-summary|\n |c_CTRL-D|\n |c_|\n |:tselect|\n |:help|\n |:helpgrep|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-4.3*\n4.3. I am getting an error message E123, what did I do wrong?\n\nYou can get more information about the error and the error message using:\n\n |E123|\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |error-messages|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-4.4*\n4.4. Where can I read about the various modes in Vim?\n\nYou can get information about the different modes in Vim by reading\n\n |vim-modes|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-4.5*\n4.5. How do I generate the Vim help tags file after adding a new Vim help\n file?\n\nYou can use the `:helptags` command to regenerate the Vim help tag file\nfrom within Vim. For example: >\n\n :cd $VIMRUNTIME/doc\n :helptags .\n<\nTo update all \"doc\" directories in your 'runtimepath', you can use\n\n :helptags ALL\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:helptags|\n |add-local-help|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-4.6*\n4.6. Can I use compressed versions of the help files?\n\nYes. You can compress the help files and still be able to view them with\nVim. This makes accessing the help files a bit slower and requires the\n\"gzip\" utility. Follow these steps to compress and use the Vim help files:\n\n- Compress all the help files using \"gzip doc/*.txt\".\n\n- Edit the \"doc/tags\" file and change the \".txt\" to \".txt.gz\" using\n :%s=\\(\\t.*\\.txt\\)\\t=\\1.gz\\t=\n\n- Add the following line to your vimrc:\n set helpfile={dirname}/help.txt.gz\n\nWhere {dirname} is the directory where the help files are. The gzip.vim\nplugin supplied with the standard Vim distribution will take care of\ndecompressing the files. You must make sure that $VIMRUNTIME is set to\nwhere the other Vim files are, when they are not in the same location as\nthe compressed \"doc\" directory.\n\nNote, that the `:helpgrep` command does not work with compressed help pages.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |gzip-helpfile|\n |'helpfile'|\n |gzip|\n |$VIMRUNTIME|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5*\nSECTION 5 - EDITING A FILE ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5.1*\n5.1. How do I load a file in Vim for editing?\n\nThere are several ways to load a file for editing. The simplest is to\nuse the `:e` (:edit) command: >\n\n :e \n<\nYou can also use the `:n` (:next) command to load files into Vim: >\n\n :n \n<\nYou can also use the `:args` command to load files into Vim: >\n\n :args \n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |usr_07.txt|\n |edit-files|\n |:edit|\n |:next_f|\n |:args_f|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5.2*\n5.2. How do I save the current file in another name (save as) and edit a\n new file?\n\nYou can use the `:saveas` command to save the current file in another name: >\n\n :saveas \n<\nAlternatively, you can also use the following commands: >\n\n :w \n :edit #\n<\nYou can also use the `:file` command, followed by `:w` command: >\n\n :file \n :w\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |07.7|\n |:saveas|\n |:file_f|\n |:w|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5.3*\n5.3. How do I change the current directory to the directory of the current\n file?\n\nYou can use the following command to change the current directory to the\ndirectory of the current file: >\n\n :cd %:p:h\n<\nTo automatically change the current directory to the directory of the\ncurrent file, simply set the option 'autochdir'. >\n\n :set autochdir\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:cd|\n |:lcd|\n |filename-modifiers|\n |autocommand|\n |'acd'|\n |getcwd()|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5.4*\n5.4. How do I write a file without the line feed (EOL) at the end of the\n file?\n\nYou can turn off the 'eol' option and turn on the 'binary' option to write\na file without the EOL at the end of the file: >\n\n :set binary\n :set noeol\n :w\n<\nAlternatively, you can use: >\n\n :set noeol\n :w ++bin\n<\nIf you rather only like Vim not to write missing EOLs, you can reset the\n'fixeol' option. This needs a Vim newer 7.4.785, so you should wrap this\nin an if condition in your .vimrc like this: >\n\n if exists('+fixeol')\n set nofixeol\n endif\n<\nThis has the advantage of avoiding the many side effects that the\n'binary' option has.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'endofline'|\n |'fixeol'|\n |'binary'|\n |23.4|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5.5*\n5.5. How do I configure Vim to open a file at the last edited location?\n\nVim stores the cursor position of the last edited location for each buffer\nin the '\"' register. You can use the following autocmd in your .vimrc or\n.gvimrc file to open a file at the last edited location: >\n\n au BufReadPost * if line(\"'\\\"\") > 0 && line(\"'\\\"\") <= line(\"$\") |\n \\ exe \"normal! g`\\\"\" | endif\n<\nAlternatively, you can simply source the vimrc_example.vim file, which is\ndistributed with Vim.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'quote|\n |last-position-jump|\n |vimrc_example.vim|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5.6*\n5.6. When editing a file in Vim, which is being changed by an external\n application, Vim opens a warning window (like the confirm dialog) each\n time a change is detected. How do I disable this warning?\n\nYou can set the Vim 'autoread' option to automatically read the file again\nwhen it is changed outside of Vim: >\n\n :set autoread\n<\nYou can also use the following autocommand: >\n\n autocmd FileChangedShell *\n \\ echohl WarningMsg |\n \\ echo \"File has been changed outside of vim.\" |\n \\ echohl None\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'autoread'|\n |FileChangedShell|\n |timestamp|\n |:checktime|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5.7*\n5.7. How do I edit a file whose name is under the cursor?\n\nYou can use the gf command to edit a file whose name is under the cursor.\nYou can use the CTRL-W f command to edit the file in a new window and\nfinally you can use CTRL-W gf top open a new tab page that contains the\nfile name under the cursor.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |gf|\n |CTRL-W_f|\n |CTRL-W_gf|\n |'isfname'|\n |'path'|\n |'suffixesadd'|\n |'includeexpr'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5.8*\n5.8. How do I reload/re-edit the current file?\n\nYou can use the `:edit` command, without specifying a file name, to reload\nthe current file. If you have made modifications to the file, you can use\n`:edit!` to force the reload of the current file (you will lose your\nmodifications, but depending on your 'undoreload' settings, those\nchanges might be saved into the undo history).\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:edit|\n |:edit!|\n |'confirm'|\n |'undoreload'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5.9*\n5.9. How do I autosave a file periodically?\n\nVim doesn't support auto-saving a file periodically.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'updatetime'|\n |CursorHold|\n |swap-file|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5.10*\n5.10. How do I open a file in read-only mode?\n\nYou can open a file in read-only mode using the `:view` command: >\n\n :view \n<\nThis command sets the 'readonly' option for the opened buffer. You can also\nuse the \"-R\" command-line option to open a file in read-only mode: >\n\n $ vim -R \n<\nYou can also use the symbolic link executable \"view\" to open a file in\nread-only mode from the command-line: >\n\n $ view \n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |07.6|\n |'readonly'|\n |'modifiable'|\n |:view|\n |:sview|\n |view|\n |-R|\n |-M|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5.11*\n5.11. How do I open a file for editing without saving the modifications to\n the current file?\n\nYou can open a file for editing without saving the modifications to the\ncurrent file and without losing the changes using one of the following\nmethods: >\n\n :split \n :new \n<\nYou can also set the 'hidden' option and edit a new file: >\n\n :set hidden\n :e \n<\nIf you want to discard the changes made to the current file and load\nanother file for editing, then you can use the following command: >\n\n :e! \n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:edit!_f|\n |'hidden'|\n |:split|\n |:new|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-5.12*\n5.12. How do I reduce the loading time for very large files in Vim?\n\nYou can use the following settings to reduce the loading time for\nvery large files in Vim: >\n\n :set lazyredraw\n :set noswapfile\n :set undolevels=-1\n :set eventignore=all\n :set nohidden\n :set syntax=off\n<\nNote that the above settings will disable many Vim features including the\nfollowing: Swap files support for crash recovery, undo support, syntax\nhighlighting, filetype detection and other autocommand based features.\n\nThere is also the LargeFile plugin available at\n\n https://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1506\n\nwhich automatically sets these options, when working with large files\n(it is configurable, what is considered to be a large file, by default,\nit is 100MB).\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-6*\nSECTION 6 - EDITING MULTIPLE FILES ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-6.1*\n6.1. How do I open multiple files at once from within Vim?\n\nMake a difference between args, buffers, tabs and windows. They are all\ndifferent things in VIM.\n\nargs is a list of arguments. Buffers are place to edit text, almost\nalways attached to a file but not necessarily. Window is a place for a\nbuffer and tab is set of windows, better name would be \"layout\".\n\nThere are several ways to open multiple files at once from within Vim. You\ncan use the `:next` command to specify a group of files: >\n\n :next f1.txt f2.txt\n :next *.c\n<\nYou can use the `:args` command to specify a group of files as arguments: >\n\n :args f1.txt f2.txt\n :args *.c\n<\nAfter loading the files, you can use the `:next` and `:prev` command to\nswitch between the files.\n\nTo execute command for all files in argument-list use `:argdo`\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |07.2|\n |:next|\n |:args_f|\n |argument-list|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-6.2*\n6.2. How do I switch between multiple files/buffers in Vim?\n\nTo list all buffers use `:ls`, to list buffers without file attached to\n(also known as unlisted buffers, ex. scratch buffer and help-window) use\n`:ls!`\n\nThere are several ways to switch between multiple files. You can use the\n`:buffer` command to switch between multiple files. You can also shorten\ncommand as `:b` and use only part of the filename. For example, >\n\n :buffer file1\n :buffer file2\n :b e2\n<\nYou can also use after `:b` for autocompletion. Try also `:b`\nfollowed by CTRL-D to see all available buffers. This works also for\n`:e`.\n\nYou can also use the CTRL-^ key to switch between buffers. By specifying a\ncount before pressing the key, you can edit the buffer with that number.\nWithout the count, you can edit the alternate buffer by pressing CTRL-^\n\nYou can also use the `:e #` command to edit a particular buffer: >\n\n :e #5\n<\nTo close a buffer use `:bd` -command.\n\nTo execute command for all files in buffer-list use `:bufdo`\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |edit-files|\n |:buffer|\n |CTRL-^|\n |alternate-file|\n |22.4|\n |07.3|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-6.3*\n6.3. How do I open several files in Vim, with each file in a separate\n window/tab?\n\nYou can use the -o and -O Vim command line arguments to open multiple files\nin separate horizontally or vertically split Vim windows. For example: >\n\n $ vim -o3 f1.txt f2.txt f3.txt\n<\nThe above command will open the files f1.txt, f2.txt and f3.txt in three\nseparate horizontally split Vim windows. >\n\n $ vim -O3 f1.txt f2.txt f3.txt\n<\nThe above command will open the files f1.txt, f2.txt and f3.txt in three\nseparate vertically split Vim windows. >\n\n $ vim -p f1.txt f2.txt f3.txt\n<\nThe above command will open the files f1.txt, f2.txt and f3.txt in three\nseparate tab windows. The option 'tabpagemax' defines, how many tabpages\ncan be opened at the same time, by default it is set to 10.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |-o|\n |-O|\n |-p|\n |startup-options|\n |'tabpagemax'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-6.4*\n6.4. How do I configure Vim to autoload several files at once similar to\n \"work-sets\" or \"projects\"?\n\nYou can use the `:mksession` and the `:mkview` commands to autoload several\nfiles in Vim.\n\nThe `:mksession` command creates a Vim script that restores the current\nediting session. You can use the `:source` command to source the file\nproduced by the mksession command.\n\nThe `:mkview` command creates a Vim script that restores the contents of\nthe current window. You can use the `:loadview` command to load the view\nfor the current file.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |21.4|\n |21.5|\n |views-sessions|\n |'sessionoptions'|\n |:mksession|\n |:source|\n |v:this_session|\n |:mkview|\n |:loadview|\n |'viewdir'|\n |buffers|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-6.5*\n6.5. Is it possible to open multiple top level windows in a single instance\n of Vim similar to Nedit or Emacs?\n\nNo. It is currently not possible to open multiple top-level windows in a\nsingle instance of Vim. This feature is in the todo list.\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-6.6*\n6.6. How do I browse/explore directories from within Vim?\n\nYou can use the netrw.vim plugin, supplied with the standard Vim\ninstallation, to browse/explore directories from within Vim. You can start\nthe file explorer using one of the following commands: >\n\n :e \n :Explore\n :Sexplore\n :Vexplore\n :Texplore\n<\nFrom the file explorer, you can browse through directories, rename, delete\nand edit files.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |netrw.vim|\n |22.1|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-6.7*\n6.7. How do I edit files over a network using ftp/scp/rcp/http?\n\nYou can use the netrw.vim plugin, supplied with the standard Vim package,\nto edit files over a network using ftp/scp/rcp/http. Using this plugin, Vim\nwill transparently load and save the files over ftp/scp/rcp/http. For\nexample, to edit a file over ftp, you can use the following command: >\n\n $ vim ftp://machine/path\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |netrw.vim|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-7*\nSECTION 7 - BACKUP ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-7.1*\n7.1. When I edit and save files, Vim creates a file with the same name as\n the original file and a \"~\" character at the end. How do I stop Vim\n from creating this file? (or) How do I disable the Vim backup file\n feature?\n\nYou have set the 'backup' option, so Vim creates a backup file when saving\nthe original file. You can stop Vim from creating the backup file, by\nclearing the option: >\n\n :set nobackup\n<\nNote that, by default this option is turned off. You have explicitly\nenabled the 'backup' option in one of the initialization files. You may\nalso have to turn off the 'writebackup' option: >\n\n :set nowritebackup\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |07.4|\n |backup-table|\n |'backup'|\n |'writebackup'|\n |'backupskip'|\n |'backupdir'|\n |'backupext'|\n |'backupcopy'|\n |backup|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-7.2*\n7.2. When I edit and save files, Vim creates a file with the same name as\n the original file and a \"un~\" extension at the end. How do I stop Vim\n from creating this file (or) How do I disable the Vim undofile feature?\n\nVim 7.3 contains as new feature persistent undo, that is, undo information\nwon't be lost when quitting Vim and be stored in a file that ends with\n\".un~\" You have set the 'undofile' option, so Vim creates an undo file when\nsaving the original file. You can stop Vim from creating the backup file,\nby clearing the option: >\n\n :set noundofile\n<\nNote that, by default this option is turned off. You have explicitly\nenabled the 'undofile' option in one of the initialization files. If you\nwant your undofiles to be stored only in a particular directory, you can\npoint the 'undodir' option to a directory that will contain all your\naggregated undofiles.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'undodir'|\n |'undofile'|\n |undo-persistence|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-7.3*\n7.3. How do I configure Vim to store all the backup files in a particular\n directory?\n\nYou can configure Vim to store all the backup files in a particular\ndirectory using the 'backupdir' option. For example, to store all the\nbackup files in the ~/backup directory, you can use the following command: >\n\n :set backupdir=~/backup\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |07.4|\n |'backupdir'|\n |backup|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-7.4*\n7.4. When I save a file with Vim, the file permissions are changed.\n How do I configure Vim to save a file without changing the file\n permissions?\n\nThis may happen, if the 'backupcopy' option is set to \"no\" or \"auto\". Note\nthat the default value for this option is set in such a way that this will\ncorrectly work in most of the cases. If the default doesn't work for you,\ntry setting the 'backupcopy' option to \"yes\" to keep the file permission\nwhen saving a file: >\n\n :set backupcopy=yes\n<\nThis applies, only if you have configured Vim to make a backup whenever\noverwriting a file. By default, Vim will not backup files.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'backupcopy'|\n |backup|\n |'backup'|\n |'writebackup'|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-8*\nSECTION 8 - BUFFERS ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-8.1*\n8.1. I have made some modifications to a buffer. How do I edit another\n buffer without saving the modified buffer and also without losing the\n modifications?\n\nYou can set the 'hidden' option to edit a file without losing modifications\nto the current file: >\n\n :set hidden\n<\nBy setting the 'hidden' option, you can also save the modification history\n(undo-history) for the buffer. Otherwise, as you switch between files, the\nundo-history will be lost (unless you use persistent undofiles).\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'hidden'|\n |hidden-quit|\n |:hide|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-8.2*\n8.2. How do I configure Vim to auto-save a modified buffer when switching\n to another buffer?\n\nYou can set the 'autowrite' option to auto-save a modified buffer when\nswitching to another buffer: >\n\n :set autowrite\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'autowrite'|\n |'autowriteall'|\n |'hidden'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-8.3*\n8.3. How do I replace the buffer in the current window with a blank buffer?\n\nYou can use the `:enew` command to load an empty buffer in place of the\nbuffer in the current window.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:enew|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-8.4*\n8.4. Is there a keyboard shortcut to load a buffer by the buffer number?\n\nYou can use the CTRL-^ command to load a buffer by specifying the buffer\nnumber. For example, to load buffer number 5, you have to use the 5 CTRL-^\ncommand.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |CTRL-^|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-8.5*\n8.5. How do I open all the current buffers in separate windows?\n\nYou can use the `:ball` or `:sball` commands to open all the buffers\nin the buffer list: >\n\n :ball\n<\nIf you want all buffers to be opened in new tabs, simply prefix the `:tab`\ncommand: >\n\n :tab :sball\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:ball|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-8.6*\n8.6. How do I close (delete) a buffer without exiting Vim?\n\nYou can use any of `:bdelete`, `:bwipeout` or `:bunload` commands to\ndelete a buffer without exiting Vim. For example: >\n\n :bdelete file1\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:bdelete|\n |:bwipeout|\n |:bunload|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-8.7*\n8.7. When I use the command `:%bd` to delete all the buffers, not all the\n buffers are deleted. Why?\n\nIn the `:%bd` command, the \"%\" range will be replaced with the starting and\nending line numbers in the current buffer. Instead of using \"%\" as the\nrange, you should specify numbers for the range. For example, to delete all\nthe buffers, you can use the command `:1,9999bd`.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:bd|\n\n(This behaviour has been fixed with patch 7.4.530)\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-8.8*\n8.8. How do I display the buffer number of the current buffer/file?\n\nYou can use 2 command to display the buffer number for the current\nfile/buffer. Note the use of count before the CTRL-G command. If the count\nis greater than 1, then Vim will display the buffer number.\n\nYou can also use the following command to display the current buffer\nnumber: >\n\n :echo bufnr(\"%\")\n<\nYou can also include the \"%n\" field to the 'statusline' option to display\nthe current buffer number on the statusline.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |CTRL-G|\n |bufnr()|\n |:echo|\n |'statusline'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-8.9*\n8.9. How do I delete a buffer without closing the window in which the\n buffer is displayed?\n\nYou can use the following command to open the next buffer and delete\nthe current buffer. >\n\n :bnext | bdelete #\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:bnext|\n |:bdelete|\n |:buffers|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-8.10*\n8.10. How do I map the key to cycle through and open all the buffers?\n\nYou can use the following two map commands, to map the key to open\nthe next buffer and the key to open the previous buffer: >\n\n :nnoremap :bnext\n :nnoremap :bprevious\n<\nNote, this might not work in the terminal version of Vim.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:bnext|\n |:bprevious|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-9*\nSECTION 9 - WINDOWS ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-9.1*\n9.1. What is the difference between a Vim window and a buffer?\n\nA Vim buffer is a file loaded into memory for editing. The original file\nremains unchanged until you write the buffer to the file. A Vim window is a\nviewport onto a buffer. You can use multiple windows on one buffer or\nseveral windows on different buffers.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |usr_08.txt|\n |22.4|\n |windows-intro|\n |Q_wi|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-9.2*\n9.2. How do I increase the width of a Vim window?\n\nYou can increase the width of a Vim window using one of the following\ncommands: >\n\n :vert resize +N\n :vert resize -N\n :vert resize N\n<\nYou can also use CTRL-W < or CTRL-W > or CTRL-W | commands.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:vertical-resize|\n |CTRL-W_>|\n |CTRL-W_<|\n |window-resize|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-9.3*\n9.3. How do I zoom into or out of a window?\n\nYou can zoom into a window (close all the windows except the current\nwindow) using the \"o\" command or the `:only` ex command.\n\nYou can use the \"_\" command or the `:resize` ex command to increase\nthe current window height to the highest possible without closing other\nwindows.\n\nYou can use the \"|\" command or the `:vertical resize` ex command to\nincrease the current window width to the highest possible without closing\nother windows.\n\nYou can use the \"=\" command to make the height and width of all the\nwindows equal.\n\nYou can also set the following options to get better results with the above\ncommands:\n\nMethod 1:\nSet the 'winminheight' option to 0: >\n\n :set winminheight=0\n<\nBy default, this option is set to 1.\nThis option controls the minimum height of an inactive window (when it is\nnot the current window). When the 'winminheight' option is set to 0, only\nthe status line will be displayed for inactive windows.\n\nMethod 2:\nSet the 'noequalalways' option and set the 'winheight' option to a large\nvalue (like 99999): >\n\n :set noequalalways\n :set winheight=99999\n<\nNow, the active window will always open to its maximum size, while the\nother windows will stay present, but shrunken to just a status line.\n\nWith any of the above mentioned methods, you cannot restore the window\nlayout after zooming into a window. If you want to restore the Vim window\nlayout after zooming into a window, you can use the ZoomWin plugin. You can\ndownload this plugin from the Vim online website at:\n\n https://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=508\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |CTRL-W_o|\n |window-resize|\n |'winminheight'|\n |'equalalways'|\n |'winheight'|\n |08.3|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-9.4*\n9.4. How do I execute an ex command on all the open buffers or open windows\n or all the files in the argument list?\n\nYou can use the `:bufdo` command to execute an ex command on all the open\nbuffers. You can use the `:windo` command to execute an ex command on all\nthe open windows. You can use the `:argdo` command to execute an ex\ncommand on all the files specified in the argument list. And finally you\ncan use the `:tabdo` command to execute an ex command in all open tab pages.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:windo|\n |:bufdo|\n |:argdo|\n |:tabdo|\n |26.3|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10*\nSECTION 10 - MOTION ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.1*\n10.1. How do I jump to the beginning (first line) or end (last line) of a\n file?\n\nYou can use \"G\" command to jump to the last line in the file and the \"gg\"\ncommand to jump to the first line in the file.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |G|\n |gg|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.2*\n10.2. In insert mode, when I press the key to go to command mode, the\n cursor moves one character to the left (except when the cursor is on\n the first character of the line). Is it possible to change this\n behavior to keep the cursor at the same column?\n\nNo. It is not possible to change this behavior. The cursor is always\npositioned on a valid character (unless you have virtual-edit mode\nenabled). So, if you are appending text to the end of a line, when you\nreturn to command mode the cursor *must* drop back onto the last character\nyou typed. For consistency sake, the cursor drops back everywhere, even if\nyou are in the middle of a line.\n\nYou can use the CTRL-O or CTRL-\\ CTRL-O command in insert mode to execute a\nsingle ex command and return back to insert mode without moving the cursor\ncolumn.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'virtualedit'|\n |i_CTRL-O|\n |i_CTRL-\\_CTRL-O|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.3*\n10.3. How do I configure Vim to maintain the horizontal cursor position when\n scrolling with the , , etc keys?\n\nYou can reset the 'startofline' option to keep the cursor at the same\nhorizontal location when scrolling text: >\n\n :set nostartofline\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'startofline'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.4*\n10.4. Some lines in a file are more than the screen width and they are all\n wrapped. When I use the j, k keys to move from one line to the next,\n the cursor is moved to the next line in the file instead of the next\n line on the screen. How do I move from one screen line to the next?\n\nYou can use the gj and gk commands to move from one screen line to the\nnext/previous screen line. The j and k commands move the cursor from one\nfile line to the next file line. You can also avoid the line wrapping by\nresetting the 'wrap' option: >\n\n :set nowrap\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |gj|\n |gk|\n |'wrap'|\n\nYou can use the following mappings: >\n\n :map gk\n :imap gk\n :map gj\n :imap gj\n :noremap j gj\n :noremap k gk\n<\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.5*\n10.5. What is the definition of a sentence, paragraph and section in Vim?\n\nA sentence is defined as ending at a \".\", \"!\" or \"?\" followed by either the\nend of a line, or by a space (or two) or tab. Which characters and the\nnumber of spaces needed to constitute a sentence ending is determined by\nthe 'joinspaces' and 'cpoptions' options.\n\nA paragraph begins after each empty line, and also at each of a set of\nparagraph macros, specified by the pairs of characters in the 'paragraphs'\noption.\n\nA section begins after a form-feed () in the first column and at each\nof a set of section macros, specified by the pairs of characters in the\n'sections' option.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |sentence|\n |'joinspaces'|\n |'cpoptions'|\n |paragraph|\n |section|\n |word|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.6*\n10.6. How do I jump to beginning or end of a sentence, paragraph or a\n section?\n\nYou can use the following motion commands to jump to the beginning or end\nof a sentence or a paragraph or a section:\n\n motion position where ~\n ------ --------- ----------------- ~\n ( beginning current sentence\n ) end current sentence\n { beginning current paragraph\n } end current paragraph\n [] end previous section\n [[ beginning current section\n ][ end current section\n ]] beginning next section\n\nEach of these motions can be preceded by a number which will extend the\njump forward (or backward).\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |object-motions|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.7*\n10.7. I have lines in a file that extends beyond the right extent of the\n screen. How do I move the Vim view to the right to see the text off\n the screen?\n\nYou can use one of the following commands to horizontally scroll the screen\nto the left or right:\n\n cmd scroll to ~\n --- -------------------------- ~\n zl scroll to the left\n zh scroll to the right\n zL scroll half a screenwidth to the left\n zH scroll half a screenwidth to the right\n zs scroll to position the cursor at the start of the screen\n ze scroll to position the cursor at the end of the screen\n\nYou can use the g0 command to move the cursor to the first character of the\nscreen line and the g$ command to move the cursor to the last character of\nthe screen line without scrolling the screen.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |scroll-horizontal|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.8*\n10.8. How do I scroll two or more buffers simultaneously?\n\nYou can set the 'scrollbind' option for each of the buffers to scroll them\nsimultaneously.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'scrollbind'|\n |scroll-binding|\n |'scrollopt'|\n |'cursorbind'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.9*\n10.9. When I use my arrow keys, Vim changes modes, inserts weird characters\n in my document but doesn't move the cursor properly. What's going on?\n\nThere are a couple of things that could be going on: either you are using\nVim over a slow connection or Vim doesn't understand the key sequence that\nyour keyboard is generating.\n\nIf you are working over a slow connection (such as a 2400 bps modem), you\ncan try to set the 'timeout' or 'ttimeout' option. These options, combined\nwith the 'timeoutlen' and 'ttimeoutlen' options, may fix the problem.\n\nThe preceding procedure will not work correctly if your terminal sends key\ncodes that Vim does not understand. In this situation, your best option is\nto map your key sequence to a matching cursor movement command and save\nthese mappings in a file. You can then `:source` the file whenever you work\nfrom that terminal.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'timeout'|\n |'ttimeout'|\n |'timeoutlen'|\n |'ttimeoutlen'|\n |:map|\n |vt100-cursor-keys|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.10*\n10.10. How do I configure Vim to move the cursor to the end of the previous\n line, when the left arrow key is pressed and the cursor is currently\n at the beginning of a line?\n\nYou can add the \"<\" flag to the 'whichwrap' option to configure Vim to move\nthe cursor to the end of the previous line, when the left arrow key is\npressed and the cursor is currently at the beginning of a line: >\n\n :set whichwrap+=<\n<\nSimilarly, to move the cursor the beginning of the next line, when the\nright arrow key is pressed and the cursor is currently at the end of a\nline, add the \">\" flag to the 'whichwrap' option: >\n\n :set whichwrap+=>\n<\nThe above will work only in normal and visual modes. To use this in insert\nand replace modes, add the \"[\" and \"]\" flags respectively.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'whichwrap'|\n |05.7|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.11*\n10.11. How do I configure Vim to stay only in insert mode (modeless\n editing)?\n\nYou can set the 'insertmode' option to configure Vim to stay only in insert\nmode: >\n\n :set insertmode\n<\nBy setting this option, you can use Vim as a modeless editor. If you press\nthe key, Vim will not go to the normal mode. To execute a single\nnormal mode command, you can press CTRL-O followed by the normal mode\ncommand. To execute more than one normal command, you can use CTRL-L\nfollowed by the commands. To return to insert mode, press the key. To\ndisable this option, reset the 'insertmode' option: >\n\n :set noinsertmode\n<\nYou can also start vim using the \"evim\" command or you can use \"vim -y\" to\nuse Vim as a modeless editor.\n\nYou can also start Vim in insert mode using the `:startinsert` ex command.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'insertmode'|\n |:startinsert|\n |:stopinsert|\n |i_CTRL-O|\n |i_CTRL-L|\n |evim|\n |evim-keys|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.12*\n10.12. How do I display some context lines when scrolling text?\n\nYou can set the 'scrolloff' option to display a minimal number of screen\nlines (context) above and below the cursor. >\n\n :set scrolloff=10\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'scrolloff'|\n |'sidescrolloff'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-10.13*\n10.13. How do I go back to previous cursor locations?\n\nYou can go back to the cursor location before the latest jump using the ''\nor `` command. You can use the CTRL-O command to go back to older cursor\npositions and the CTRL-I command to go to the newer cursor positions in the\njump list.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |03.10|\n |mark-motions|\n |jump-motions|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11*\nSECTION 11 - SEARCHING TEXT ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.1*\n11.1. After I searched for a text with a pattern, all the matched text\n stays highlighted. How do I turn off the highlighting\n temporarily/permanently?\n\nThe 'hlsearch' option controls whether all the matches for the last\nsearched pattern are highlighted or not. By default, this option is not\nenabled. If this option is set in a system-wide vimrc file, then you can\nturn off the search highlighting by using the following command: >\n\n :set nohlsearch\n<\nTo temporarily turn off the search highlighting, use >\n\n :nohlsearch\n<\nYou can also clear the search highlighting, by searching for a pattern that\nis not in the current file (for example, search for the pattern \"asdf\").\n\nYou can use this mapping, to clear the search highlighting when\nredrawing the window pressing CTRL-L >\n\n :nnoremap :nohls\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'hlsearch'|\n |:nohlsearch|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.2*\n11.2. How do I enter a carriage return character in a search pattern?\n\nYou can either use \"\\r\" or to enter a carriage return\ncharacter in a pattern. In Vim scripts, it is better to use \"\\r\" for the\ncarriage return character.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |sub-replace-special|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.3*\n11.3. How do I search for the character ^M?\n\nYou can enter the ^M character in a search command by first pressing the\nCTRL-V key and then pressing the CTRL-M key. >\n\n /^V^M\n<\nYou can also use the \"\\r\" character. In Vim scripts, \"\\r\" is preferred.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |c_CTRL-V|\n |using_CTRL-V|\n |/\\r|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.4*\n11.4. How can I search/replace characters that display as \"~R\", \"~S\", etc.?\n\nYou can use the \"ga\" command to display the ASCII value/code for the\nspecial character. For example, let us say the ASCII value is 142. Then you\ncan use the following command to search for the special character: >\n\n /^V142\n<\nwhere, ^V is entered by pressing CTRL-V.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |ga|\n |using_CTRL-V|\n |24.8|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.5*\n11.5. How do I highlight all the non-printable characters in a file?\n\nYou can use the following commands and search pattern to highlight all the\nnon-printable characters in a file: >\n\n :set hlsearch\n /\\(\\p\\|$\\)\\@!.\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |/\\p|\n |/bar|\n |/$|\n |/\\(|\n |/\\@!|\n |'hlsearch'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.6*\n11.6. How do I search for whole words in a file?\n\nYou can search for whole words in a file using the \\< and \\> atoms. For\nexample: >\n\n /\\\n<\nThe \\< atom matches the beginning of the word and the \\> atom matches the\nend of the word.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |/\\<|\n |/\\>|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.7*\n11.7. How do I search for the current word under the cursor?\n\nYou can press the * key to search forward for the current word under the\ncursor. To search backward, you can press the # key. Note that only whole\nkeywords will be searched using these commands.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |star|\n |#|\n |gstar|\n |g#|\n |03.8|\n |search-commands|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.8*\n11.8. How do I search for a word without regard to the case (uppercase or\n lowercase)?\n\nTo always ignore case while searching for a pattern, set the 'ignorecase'\noption: >\n\n :set ignorecase\n<\nTo ignore case only when searching a particular pattern, use the special \\c\ndirective: >\n\n /\\c\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'ignorecase'|\n |/ignorecase|\n |/\\c|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.9*\n11.9. How do I search for words that occur twice consecutively?\n\nYou can use one of the following search commands to locate words that occur\ntwice consecutively: >\n\n /\\(\\<\\w\\+\\)\\_s\\+\\1\\>\n /\\(\\<\\k\\+\\)\\_s\\+\\1\\>\n<\nThe main difference is the use of \"\\w\" and \"\\k\", where the latter is based\non the 'iskeyword' option which may include accented and other language\nspecific characters.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |/\\1|\n |/\\(|\n |/\\)|\n |/\\<|\n |/\\>|\n |/\\w|\n |/\\k|\n |/\\+|\n |/\\_x|\n |'iskeyword'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.10*\n11.10. How do I count the number of times a particular word occurs in a\n buffer?\n\nYou can use the following set of commands to count the number of times a\nparticular word occurs in a buffer: >\n\n :let cnt=0\n :g/\\/let cnt=cnt+1\n :echo cnt\n<\nThis only counts the number of lines where the word occurs. You can also\nuse the following command: >\n\n :%s/\\/&/gn\n<\nTo count the number of alphabetic words in a file, you can use >\n\n :%s/\\a\\+/&/gn\n<\nTo count the number of words made up of non-space characters, you can use >\n\n :%s/\\S\\+/&/gn\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |count-items|\n |word-count|\n |v_g_CTRL-G|\n |12.5|\n |:s_flags|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.11*\n11.11. How do I place the cursor at the end of the matched word when\n searching for a pattern?\n\nYou can use the \"e\" offset to the search command to place the cursor at the\nend of the matched word. For example >\n\n /mypattern/e\n<\nFor more information about search offsets, read:\n\n |search-offset|\n |/|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.12*\n11.12. How do I search for an empty line?\n\nYou can search for an empty line using: >\n\n /^$\n<\n or >\n\n /^\\s*$\n<\nThe latter also matches lines, that consist only of white space, while the\nformer only matches true empty lines. For more information, read:\n\n |/^|\n |/$|\n |/\\s|\n |/star|\n |search-commands|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.13*\n11.13. How do I search for a line containing only a single character?\n\nYou can search for a line containing only a single character using: >\n\n /^\\s*\\a\\s*$\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |/^|\n |/\\a|\n |/\\s|\n |/star|\n |/$|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.14*\n11.14. How do I search and replace a string in multiple files?\n\nYou can use the `:argdo`, `:bufdo`, `:windo` or `:tabdo` commands to execute\nan ex command on multiple files. For example: >\n\n :argdo %s/foo/bar/g|upd\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:argdo|\n |:bufdo|\n |:windo|\n |:tabdo|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.15*\n11.15. I am using the `:s` substitute command in a mapping. When a search\n for a pattern fails, the map terminates. I would like the map to\n continue processing the next command, even if the substitute command\n fails. How do I do this?\n\nYou can use the \"e\" flag to the substitute command to continue processing\nother commands in a map, when a pattern is not found.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:s_flags|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.16*\n11.16. How do I search for the n-th occurrence of a character in a line?\n\nTo search for the n-th occurrence of a character in a line, you can prefix\nthe \"f\" command with a number. For example, to search for the 5th\noccurrence of the character @ in a line, you can use the command 5f@. This\nassumes the cursor is at the beginning of the line - and that this first\ncharacter is not the one your are looking for.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |f|\n |F|\n |t|\n |T|\n |;|\n |,|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.17*\n11.17. How do I replace a tab (or any other character) with a hard return\n (newline) character?\n\nYou can replace a tab (or any other character) with a hard return (newline)\ncharacter using the following command: >\n\n :s/\\t/\\r/\n<\nNote that in the above command, if you use \\n instead of \\r, then the tab\ncharacters will not be replaced by a new-line character.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |sub-replace-special|\n |NL-used-for-Nul|\n |CR-used-for-NL|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.18*\n11.18. How do I search for a character by its ASCII value?\n\nYou can search for a character by its ASCII value by pressing CTRL-V\nfollowed by the decimal or hexadecimal or octal value of that character in\nthe search \"/\" command. To determine the ASCII value of a character you\ncan use the `:ascii` or the \"ga\" command.\n\nFor example, to search for the ASCII character with value 188, you can\nuse one of the following search commands: >\n\n /188\n /o274\n /xBC\n /u00bc\n<\nYou can also search for the character with the decimal/octal/hex number\nusing a collation [] like this: >\n\n /[\\d188]\n /[\\o274]\n /[\\xbc]\n /[\\u00bc]\n<\nAlternatively, you can use the special atom \\%d \\%o \\%x \\%u: >\n\n /\\%d188\n /\\%o274\n /\\%xbc\n /\\%u00bc\n<\nOr you use digraphs to enter the character. For example enter: >\n\n /CTRL-K14\n<\nto search for the above character.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |i_CTRL-V_digit|\n |:ascii|\n |ga|\n |/\\]|\n |/\\%d|\n |digraphs|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.19*\n11.19. How do I search for long lines?\n\nYou can search for long lines or lines containing more than a specific\nnumber of characters using the Vim regular-expressions in the search\ncommand. For example, to search for all the lines containing more than 80\ncharacters, you can use one of the following commands: >\n\n /^.\\{80}.\\+$\n /^.*\\%>80c.*$\n /^.*\\%>80v.*$\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |/\\{|\n |/\\%c|\n |/\\%v|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.20*\n11.20. How do I display all the lines in the current buffer that contain a\n specified pattern?\n\nYou can use the following command to display all the lines in the current\nbuffer that contain a specified pattern: >\n\n :g//p\n<\nFor example, the following command will display all the lines in the\ncurrent buffer that contain \"vim\": >\n\n :g/vim/p\n<\nSince `:p` is the default command to be executed for the ex command `:g`, you\ncan also use: >\n\n :g/vim\n<\nIf you also want the corresponding line numbers, then you can use the\nfollowing command: >\n\n :g//#\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:global|\n |:print|\n |:number|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.21*\n11.21. How do I search for a text string that spans multiple lines?\n\nYou can search for a text string that spans multiple lines using the \\_x\nregular expression atom. For example, to search for the text string \"Hello\nWorld\", you can use the following search command: >\n\n /Hello\\_sWorld\n<\nThis will match the word \"Hello\" followed by a newline character and then\nthe word \"World\" at the beginning of the next line. This will also match\nthe word \"Hello\" immediately followed by a space character and then the\nword \"World\". When searching for the \"Hello World\" string, to include the\nspace characters at the end and beginning of the line, you can use the\nfollowing search command: >\n\n /Hello\\_s\\+World\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |27.8|\n |pattern-atoms|\n |/\\_|\n |pattern-searches|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.22*\n11.22. How do I search for a pattern within the specified range of lines\n in a buffer?\n\nYou can search for a pattern within a range of lines using the \\%>l\nand \\%\n\n /white\\%>9l\\%<31l\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |/\\%l|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.23*\n11.23. How do I clear the last searched pattern?\n\nThe last searched pattern is stored in the \"/\" register. You can clear\nthis register using the following command: >\n\n :let @/=\"\"\n<\nTo clear the last search pattern whenever a buffer is unloaded, you can use\nthe following command: >\n\n :autocmd BufUnload * let @/ = \"\"\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |@/|\n |:let-@|\n |autocmd-searchpat|\n |last-pattern|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.24*\n11.24. Why does this pattern \"a.\\{-}p\\@!\" not match?\n\n\"\\{-}\" doesn't just mean \"as few as possible\", it means \"as few as\npossible to make the whole pattern succeed\". If it didn't match the \"p\",\nthe whole pattern would fail (because of the \"p\\@!\") so it does match\nthe \"p\". It is a longer match, but it is the shortest match that makes\nthe whole pattern succeed.\n\nIf you wanted \"as few as possible regardless\" you would use \"\\@>\", which\nbasically divides a pattern up so that the pieces either side behave\nindependently. If the pattern were \"a.\\{-}\\@>p\\@!\" then \".\\{-}\" would\nalways match nothing because that's the smallest match that can succeed\nwhen there are not other restrictions. The whole pattern then would\nbehave the same as \"ap\\@!\", i.e. it would match any \"a\" not followed by\na \"p\").\n\nThis means, it matches as few as possible \"a\"s without trying to keep\ngoing until Vim finds the longest match. This means, it will still match\n\"ap\".\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.25*\n11.25. How can I use \"/\" within a pattern, without escaping it?\n\nWhen using / to search for a pattern, you need to escape all \"/\" within\nthe pattern, because they would otherwise terminate the pattern. So you\ncan't directly search for /usr/share/doc/ but need to search for\n\\/usr\\/share\\/doc\\/\n\nThe easiest solution around that, would be to use \"?\" to start a\nbackward search and afterwards use / to use the last search-pattern\nin forward direction.\n\nIf you have a Vim, that has the eval-feature built in (which needs at\nleast a normal built or higher), you can also directly paste the pattern\ninto the search register:\n\n:let @/ = '/usr/share/doc/'\n\nThen use \"n\" to jump to the next occurrence.\n\nSee also the help at\n\n |@/|\n |/|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-11.26*\n11.26. How can I operate on a search match?\n\nThe \"gn\" command makes it easy to operate on regions of text that match\nthe current search pattern. By default, it will search forward for the\nlast used search pattern and visually select the match. If the cursor is\nalready on the match, it will be visually selected. If you used the \"gn\"\ncommand after an operator (e.g. \"c\" to change text), it will be applied\non the match.\n\nIf Visual mode is active before using gn, the visual selection will be\nextended until the end of the next match.\n\nThe \"gN\" commands works similar but searches backwards.\n\nThis allows to repeat simple operations on each match. For example, you\nmight want to change each occurence of apples by peaches. So you search\nusing \"/apple\" then you can use \"cgnpeach\" to replace the current\nmatch by peach. Now you can use the dot \".\" command to redo the\nreplacement for the rest of the buffer.\n\nSee also the help at\n\n |gn|\n |gN|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12*\nSECTION 12 - CHANGING TEXT ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.1*\n12.1. How do I delete all the trailing white space characters (SPACE and\n TAB) at the end of all the lines in a file?\n\nYou can use the `:substitute` command on the entire file to search and\nremove all the trailing white space characters: >\n\n :%s/\\s\\+$//\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:%|\n |:s|\n |/\\s|\n |/\\+|\n |/$|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.2*\n12.2. How do I replace all the occurrences of multiple consecutive space\n characters to a single space?\n\nYou can use the following command to replace all the occurrences of\nmultiple consecutive space characters to a single space: >\n\n :%s/ \\{2,}/ /g\n<\nAlternatively use: >\n\n :%s/ \\+/ /g\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:%|\n |:s|\n |/\\{|\n |:s_flags|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.3*\n12.3. How do I reduce a range of empty lines into one line only?\n\nYou can use the following command to reduce a range of empty lines into one\nline only: >\n\n :v/./.,/./-1join\n<\nThe explanation for this command is below:\n\n part description ~\n ----- -------------------------- ~\n :v/./ Execute the following command for all lines not\n containing a character (empty lines).\n ., Use the current line as the start of the range of\n lines.\n /./ Use the line containing a character as the last line.\n -1 Adjust the range of lines to end with the line before\n the last line.\n j Join the lines in the range.\n\nNote that this will give an error message if the empty lines are at the end\nof the file. To correct this, you have to add a temporary line at the end\nof the file, execute the command and then remove the temporary line.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:v|\n |:join|\n |cmdline-ranges|\n |collapse|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.4*\n12.4. How do I delete all blank lines in a file? How do I remove all the\n lines containing only space characters?\n\nTo remove all blank lines, use the following command: >\n\n :g/^$/d\n<\nTo remove all lines with only whitespace (spaces or tabs) in them, use the\nfollowing command: >\n\n :g/^\\s\\+$/d\n<\nTo remove all the lines with only whitespace, if anything, use the\nfollowing command: >\n\n :g/^\\s*$/d\n<\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.5*\n12.5. How do I copy/yank the current word?\n\nYou can use the \"yiw\" (yank inner word without whitespace) command or the\n\"yaw\" (yank a word with whitespace) command to copy/yank the current\nword.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |04.6|\n |04.8|\n |iw|\n |yank|\n |text-objects|\n |objects|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.6*\n12.6. How do I yank text from one position to another position within a\n line, without yanking the entire line?\n\nYou can specify a motion command with the yank operator (y) to yank text\nfrom one position to another position within a line. For example, to yank\nfrom the current cursor position till the next letter x, use yfx or Fx or\ntx or Tx. To yank till the nth column, use n|. To yank till the next\noccurrence of a \"word\", use /word. To do a yank till the nth column on\nanother line, first mark the position using the \"ma\" command, go to the\nstart of the yank position, and then yank till the mark using y`a (note the\ndirection of the quote)\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |yank|\n |motion.txt|\n |04.6|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.7*\n12.7. When I yank some text into a register, how do I append the text to\n the current contents of the register?\n\nWhen you specify the register for some operation, if you use the upper-case\nfor the register name, then the new text will be appended to the existing\ncontents. For example, if you have some text in the register \"a\". If you\nwant to append some new text to this, you have to use the \"A\" register\nname. If you use the lowercase register name, then the contents of the\nregister will be overwritten with the new text.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |quote|\n |quote_alpha|\n |10.1|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.8*\n12.8. How do I yank a complete sentence that spans over more than one line?\n\nTo yank a complete sentence that spans over more than one line you have to\nuse the yank operator followed by a motion command. For example: >\n\n y)\n<\nFrom inside the sentence you can use \"yi)\" to yank the sentence.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |yank|\n |{motion}|\n |object-motions|\n |04.6|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.9*\n12.9. How do I yank all the lines containing a pattern into a buffer?\n\nYou can use the `:global` command to yank all the lines containing the\npattern into a register and then paste the contents of the register into\nthe buffer: >\n\n :let @a=''\n :g/mypattern/y A\n<\nThe first command, clears the contents of the register \"a\". The second\ncommand copies all the lines containing \"mypattern\" into the register \"a\".\nNote that the capital letter \"A\" is used to append the matched lines. Now\nyou can paste the contents of register \"a\" to a buffer using \"ap command.\n\nIf you only want to collect all matches, you can use a different\napproach. For that run the `:s` command with the flags \"gn\" so that it\nwon't actually change the buffer (\"n\" flag) but select each match (\"g\"\nflag). Combining this with the \"\\=\" part in the replacement part, you\ncan copy each match to e.g. a list. Altogether this looks like this: >\n\n :let list=[]\n :%s/pattern/\\=add(list, submatch(0))/gn\n<\nNow all matches will be in the list and you can post process them as\nwanted.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:g|\n |:y|\n |:let-register|\n |quote_alpha|\n |put|\n |registers|\n |:registers|\n |sub-replace-\\=|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.10*\n12.10. How do I delete all the lines in a file that do not contain a\n pattern?\n\nYou can use `:v` command to delete all the lines that do not contain a\npattern: >\n\n :v/pattern/d\n<\nor >\n\n :g!/pattern/d\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:v|\n |:g|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.11*\n12.11. How do I add a line before each line with \"pattern\" in it?\n\nYou can use the following command to add a line before each line with\n\"pattern\" in it: >\n\n :g/pattern/normal! Oi\n<\nAlternatively you can yank the line using the Y command and then insert the\nline using the following command: >\n\n :g/pattern/put!\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:g|\n |:put|\n |insert|\n |0|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.12*\n12.12. Is there a way to operate on a line if the previous line contains a\n particular pattern?\n\nYou can use the `:global` command to operate on a line, if the previous\nline contains a particular pattern: >\n\n :g//+{cmd}\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:g|\n |:range|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.13*\n12.13. How do I execute a command on all the lines containing a pattern?\n\nYou can use the `:global` (:g) command to execute a command on all the\nlines containing a pattern. >\n\n :g/my pattern/d\n<\nIf you want to use a non-Ex command, then you can use the `:normal`\ncommand: >\n\n :g/my pattern/normal {command}\n<\nUnless you want the normal mode commands to be remapped, consider using a\n`:normal!` command instead (note the \"!\").\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:global|\n |:v|\n |:normal|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.14*\n12.14. Can I copy the character above the cursor to the current cursor\n position?\n\nIn Insert mode, you can copy the character above the cursor to the current\ncursor position by typing CTRL-Y. The same can be done with the\ncharacters below the cursor by typing CTRL-E.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |i_CTRL-Y|\n |i_CTRL-E|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.15*\n12.15. How do I insert a blank line above/below the current line without\n entering insert mode?\n\nYou can use the `:put` ex command to insert blank lines. For example, try >\n\n :put =''\n :put! =''\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:put|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.16*\n12.16. How do I insert the name of the current file into the current buffer?\n\nThere are several ways to insert the name of the current file into the\ncurrent buffer. In insert mode, you can use the % or the\n=expand(\"%\") command. In normal mode, you can use the `:put =@%`\ncommand.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |i_CTRL-R|\n |expand()|\n |!!|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.17*\n12.17. How do I insert the contents of a Vim register into the current\n buffer?\n\nIn insert mode, you can use the command to insert the\ncontents of . For example, use a to insert the contents\nof register \"a\" into the current buffer.\n\nIn normal mode, you can use the `:put ` command to insert the\ncontents of . For example, use the `:put d` command to insert\nthe contents of register \"d\" into the current buffer.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |i_CTRL-R|\n |i_CTRL-R_CTRL-R|\n |i_CTRL-R_CTRL-O|\n |i_CTRL-R_CTRL-P|\n |:put|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.18*\n12.18. How do I move the cursor past the end of line and insert some\n characters at some columns after the end of the line?\n\nYou can set the 'virtualedit' option to move the cursor past the\nend-of-line and insert characters in a column after the end-of-line. To\nstart the virtual mode, use >\n\n :set virtualedit=all\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'virtualedit'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.19*\n12.19. How to replace the word under the cursor (say: junk) with\n \"foojunkbar\" in Vim?\n\nThere are several ways to do this. If the word is the first such word on\nthe line, use the following command: >\n\n :exe \"s/\".expand(\"\").\"/foo&bar/\"\n<\nTo match specifically you could use a more complex substitution like this: >\n\n :exe 's/\\<'.expand(\"\").'\\%>'.(col(\".\")-1).'c\\>/foo&bar/'\n<\nYou can also use the command: ciwfoo\"bar\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:substitute|\n |expand()|\n |col()|\n |/\\%c|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.20*\n12.20. How do I replace a particular text in all the files in a directory?\n\nYou can use the `:argdo` command to execute the substitute command on all\nthe files specified as arguments: >\n\n :args *\n :argdo %s///ge | update\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:args_f|\n |:argdo|\n |:s_flags|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.21*\n12.21. I have some numbers in a file. How do I increment or decrement the\n numbers in the file?\n\nYou can use the CTRL-A key to increment the number and the CTRL-X key to\ndecrement the number. You can also specify the number to\nincrement/decrement from the number by specifying a count to the key. This\nworks for decimal, octal and hexadecimal numbers. You can change the base\nused by Vim for this operation by modifying the 'nrformats' option.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |26.2|\n |CTRL-A|\n |CTRL-X|\n |'nrformats'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.22*\n12.22. How do I reuse the last used search pattern in a `:substitute`\n command?\n\nTo reuse the last used search pattern in a `:substitute` command, don't\nspecify a new search pattern: >\n\n :s/pattern/newtext/\n :s//sometext/\n<\nIn the second `:s` command, as a search pattern is not specified, the\npattern specified in the first `:s` command \"pattern\" will be used.\n\nIf you want to change the search pattern but repeat the substitution\npattern you can use the special right hand side, you can use the tilde\ncharacter: >\n\n :s/newpattern/~/\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:s|\n |:&|\n |:~|\n |&|\n |sub-replace-special|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.23*\n12.23. How do I change the case of a string using the `:substitute`\n command?\n\nYou can use special characters in the replacement string for a\n`:substitute` command to change the case of the matched string. For\nexample, to change the case of the string \"MyString\" to all uppercase, you\ncan use the following command: >\n\n :%s/MyString/\\U&/g\n<\nTo change the case to lowercase, you can use the following command: >\n\n :%s/MyString/\\L&/g\n<\nTo change the case of the first character in all the words in the current\nline to uppercase, you can use the following command: >\n\n :s/\\<\\(.\\)\\(\\k*\\)\\>/\\u\\1\\L\\2/g\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |sub-replace-special|\n |:substitute|\n |/\\U|\n |/\\L|\n |/\\u|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.24*\n12.24. How do I enter characters that are not present in the keyboard?\n\nYou can use digraphs to enter characters that are not present in the\nkeyboard. You can use the `:digraphs` command to display all the currently\ndefined digraphs. You can add a new digraph to the list using the\n`:digraphs` command.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |digraphs|\n |'digraph'|\n |24.9|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.25*\n12.25. Is there a command to remove any or all digraphs?\n\nNo. The digraphs table is defined at compile time. You can only add new\nones. Adding a command to remove digraphs is on the todo list.\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.26*\n12.26. In insert mode, when I press the backspace key, it erases only the\n characters entered in this instance of insert mode. How do I erase\n previously entered characters in insert mode using the backspace\n key?\n\nThis is traditional vi behaviour. You can set the 'backspace' option to\nerase previously entered characters in insert mode: >\n\n :set backspace=indent,eol,start\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'backspace'|\n |i_backspacing|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.27*\n12.27. I have a file which has lines longer than 72 characters terminated\n with \"+\" and wrapped to the next line. How can I quickly join the\n lines?\n\nYou can use the `:global` command to search and join the lines: >\n\n :g/+$/j\n<\nThis will, however, only join every second line. A couple of more complex\nexamples which will join all consecutive lines with a \"+\" at the end are: >\n\n :g/+$/,/\\(^\\|[^+]\\)$/j\n :g/+$/mark a | .,/\\(^\\|[^+]\\)$/s/+$// | 'a,.j\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:g|\n |:j|\n |:mark|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.28*\n12.28. How do I paste characterwise yanked text into separate lines?\n\nYou can use the `:put` command to paste characterwise yanked text into new\nlines: >\n\n :put =@\"\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:put|\n |quote_=|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.29*\n12.29. How do I change the case (uppercase, lowercase) of a word or a\n character or a block of text?\n\nYou can use the \"~\" command to switch the case of a character.\n\nYou can change the case of the word under the cursor to uppercase using the\n\"gUiw\" or \"viwU\" command and to lowercase using the \"guiw\" or \"viwu\"\ncommand.\n\nYou can switch the case (upper case to lower case and vice versa) of the\nword under the cursor using the \"viw~\" or \"g~iw\" command.\n\nYou can use the \"gUgU\" command to change the current line to uppercase and\nthe \"gugu\" command to change the current line to lowercase.\n\nYou can use the \"g~g~\" command to switch the case of the current line. You\ncan use the \"g~{motion}\" or \"{Visual}~\" commands to switch the case of a\nblock of text.\n\nIf you set 'tildeop' the \"~\" command behaves like an operator and expects\na motion command to act on. If you have >\n\n :set tildeop\n<\nand you want to change the case from the current cursor position to the end\nof line, simply use \"~$\".\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |case|\n |'tildeop'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.30*\n12.30. How do I enter ASCII characters that are not present in the\n keyboard?\n\nYou can enter ASCII characters that are not present in the keyboard by\npressing CTRL-V and then the ASCII character number. You can also use\ndigraphs to enter special ASCII characters.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |i_CTRL-V_digit|\n |digraphs|\n |45.5|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.31*\n12.31. How do I replace non-printable characters in a file?\n\nTo replace a non-printable character, you have to first determine the ASCII\nvalue for the character. You can use the `:ascii` ex command or the \"ga\"\nnormal-mode command to display the ASCII value of the character under the\ncursor.\n\nYou can enter the non-printable character by entering CTRL-V followed by\nthe decimal number 1-255 (with no leading zero), or by x and a hex number\n00-FF, or by an octal number 0-0377 (with leading zero), or by u and a hex\nnumber 0-FFFF, or by U and a hex number 0-7FFFFFFF\n\nAnother alternative is to use the `:digraphs` ex command to display the\ndigraphs for all characters, together with their value in decimal and\nalpha. You can enter a non-printable character by entering CTRL-K followed\nby two alphanumeric characters (a digraph).\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:ascii|\n |i_CTRL-V|\n |i_CTRL-V_digit|\n |:digraphs|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.32*\n12.32. How do I remove duplicate lines from a buffer?\n\nYou can use the following user-defined command to remove all the duplicate\nlines from a buffer:\n\n:command -range=% Uniq ,g/^\\%<l\\(.*\\)\\n\\1$/d\n\nAdd the above command to your .vimrc file and invoke `:Uniq` to remove all\nthe duplicate lines.\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.33*\n12.33. How do I prefix all the lines in a file with the corresponding line\n numbers?\n\nYou can prefix the lines in a file with the corresponding line number in\nseveral ways. Some of them are listed below: >\n\n :%s/^/\\=line('.'). ' '\n :%s/^/\\=printf('%5d ', line('.'))/\n :%s/^/\\=strpart(line('.').'. ', 0, 5)\n :%s/^/\\=strpart(' ', strlen(line('.'))).line('.').'. '\n<\nThe last two commands will pad the line numbers with space characters. The\nlast command will right align the numbers and the command before that will\nleft align the numbers.\n\nIf you don't want to number consecutive lines but rather non-consecutive\nregions, you can also use this idiom: >\n\n :let i = 1\n :g/TODO/s/^/\\=printf('%2d.',i)|let i+=1\n<\nThis first initializes the variable i with 1. In the next line, a `:g`\ncommand is used to perform a substitute command only on lines, that\nmatch \"TODO\". After the substitute command has taken place, the variable\ni will be incremented by 1.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |sub-replace-special|\n |line()|\n |expr6|\n |strpart()|\n |printf()|\n |:execute|\n |:global|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.34*\n12.34. How do I exchange (swap) two characters or words or lines?\n\nYou can exchange two characters with the \"xp\" command sequence. The \"x\"\nwill delete the character under the cursor and \"p\" will paste the just\ndeleted character after the character under the cursor. This will result\nin exchanging the two characters.\n\nYou can exchange two words with the \"deep\" command sequence (start with the\ncursor in the blank space before the first word).\n\nYou can exchange two lines with the \"ddp\" command sequence. The \"dd\" will\ndelete the current line and \"p\" will paste the just deleted line after the\ncurrent line. This will result in exchanging the two lines.\n\nAll of the above operations will change the \" unnamed register.\n\nYou can use the `:m +` ex command to exchange two lines without changing the\nunnamed register.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |x|\n |p|\n |dd|\n |d|\n |e|\n |linewise-register|\n |quotequote|\n |:move|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-12.35*\n12.35. How do I change the characters used as word delimiters?\n\nVim uses the characters specified by the 'iskeyword' option as word\ndelimiters. The default setting for this option is \"@,48-57,_,192-255\".\n\nFor example, to add \":\" as a word delimiter, you can use >\n\n :set iskeyword+=:\n<\nTo remove \"_\" as a word delimiter, you can use >\n\n :set iskeyword-=_\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'iskeyword'|\n |word|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-13*\nSECTION 13 - COMPLETION IN INSERT MODE ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-13.1*\n13.1. How do I complete words or lines in insert mode?\n\nIn insert mode, you can complete words using the CTRL-P and CTRL-N keys.\nThe CTRL-N command searches forward for the next matching keyword.\nThe CTRL-P command searches backwards for the next matching keyword.\n\nIn insert mode, you can use the CTRL-X CTRL-L command sequence to complete\nlines that starts with the same characters as in the current line before\nthe cursor. To get the next matching line, press the CTRL-P or CTRL-N keys.\nThere are a lot of other keys/ways available to complete words in insert\nmode.\n\nVim supports completion of the following items: >\n\n CTRL-X CTRL-L whole lines\n CTRL-X CTRL-N keywords in the current file\n CTRL-X CTRL-K words from a dictionary\n CTRL-X CTRL-T words from a thesaurus\n CTRL-X CTRL-I current and included files\n CTRL-X CTRL-] tags\n CTRL-X CTRL-F file names\n CTRL-X CTRL-D macro definitions (also in included files)\n CTRL-X CTRL-V Vim command line\n CTRL-X CTRL-U User defined completion\n CTRL-X CTRL-O Omni completion\n<\nUser defined completions and omni completions are often set by filetype\nplugins.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |24.3|\n |ins-completion|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-13.2*\n13.2. How do I complete file names in insert mode?\n\nIn insert mode, you can use the CTRL-X CTRL-F command sequence to complete\nfilenames that start with the same characters as in the current line before\nthe cursor.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |compl-filename|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-13.3*\n13.3. I am using CTRL-P/CTRL-N to complete words in insert mode. How do I\n complete words that occur after the just completed word?\n\nYou can use CTRL-X CTRL-N and CTRL-X CTRL-P keys to complete words that are\npresent after the just completed word.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-P|\n |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-N|\n |ins-completion|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14*\nSECTION 14 - TEXT FORMATTING ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.1*\n14.1. How do I format a text paragraph so that a new line is inserted at\n the end of each wrapped line?\n\nYou can use the \"gq\" command to format a paragraph. This will format the\ntext according to the current 'textwidth' setting. An alternative would be\nto use the \"gw\" command that formats like \"gq\" but does not move the\ncursor.\n\nNote that the gq operator can be used with a motion command to operate on a\nrange of text. For example: >\n\n gqgq - Format the current line\n gqap - Format current paragraph\n gwap - Format current paragraph (and don't move cursor)\n gq3j - Format the current and the next 3 lines\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |gq|\n |gw|\n |formatting|\n |usr_25.txt|\n |motion.txt|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.2*\n14.2. How do I format long lines in a file so that each line contains less\n than \"n\" characters?\n\nYou can set the 'textwidth' option to control the number of characters that\ncan be present in a line. For example, to set the maximum width of a line\nto 70 characters, you can use the following command: >\n\n set textwidth=70\n<\nNow to break the long lines in a file to the length defined by the\n'textwidth' option, you can use >\n\n :g/./normal gqq\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'textwidth'|\n |gq|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.3*\n14.3. How do I join short lines to form a paragraph?\n\nFirst, make sure the 'textwidth' option is set to a high value: >\n\n :set textwidth=99999\n<\nNext, join the short lines to form a paragraph using the command: >\n\n 1GgqG\n<\nThe above command will operate on the entire file. To do the formatting on\nall paragraphs in a specific range, use: >\n\n :'a,'bg/\\S/normal gq}\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |gq|\n |G|\n |gqq|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.4*\n14.4. How do I format bulleted and numbered lists?\n\nYou can configure Vim to format bulleted and numbered lists using the\n'formatoptions' option. For example, you can format the list of the\nfollowing format:\n\n - this is a test. this is a test. this is a test. this is a test.\n this is a test.\n\ninto this format:\n\n - this is a test. this is a test. this is a test. this is a test.\n this is a test.\n\nYou can use the \"n\" flag in the 'formatoptions' to align the text. >\n\n :set fo+=n\n<\nWith this option, when formatting text, Vim will recognize numbered lists.\nFor this option to work, the 'autoindent' option also must be set.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'formatoptions'|\n |fo-table|\n |format-comments|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.5*\n14.5. How do I indent lines in insert mode?\n\nIn insert mode, you can press the CTRL-T key to insert one shiftwidth of\nindent at the start of the current line. In insert mode, you can use the\nCTRL-D key to delete on shiftwidth of indent at the start of the current\nline. You can also use the CTRL-O >> and CTRL-O << commands to indent the\ncurrent line in insert mode.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |i_CTRL-T|\n |i_CTRL-D|\n |i_0_CTRL-D|\n |i_CTRL-O|\n |>>|\n |<<|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.6*\n14.6. How do I format/indent an entire file?\n\nYou can format/indent an entire file using the gg=G command, where >\n\n gg - Goto the beginning of the file\n = - apply indentation\n G - till end of file\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |gg|\n |=|\n |G|\n |'formatprg'|\n |C-indenting|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.7*\n14.7. How do I increase or decrease the indentation of the current line?\n\nYou can use the \">>\" and \"<<\" commands to increase or decrease the\nindentation of the current line.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |shift-left-right|\n |>>|\n |<<|\n |'shiftwidth'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.8*\n14.8. How do I indent a block/group of lines?\n\nYou can visually select the group of lines and press the > or < key to\nindent/unindent the lines. You can also use the following ex-command to\nindent the lines >\n\n :10,20>\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |shift-left-right|\n |v_>|\n |v_<|\n |:<|\n |:>|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.9*\n14.9. When I indent lines using the > or < key, the standard 8-tabstops are\n used instead of the current 'tabstop' setting. Why?\n\nThe number of spaces used when lines are indented using the \">\" operator is\ncontrolled by the 'shiftwidth' option. The 'tabstop' setting is only\nused, when the 'shiftwidth' option is zero. >\n\n :set shiftwidth=4\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'shiftwidth'|\n |>>|\n |'softtabstop'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.10*\n14.10. How do I turn off the automatic indentation of text?\n\nBy default, the automatic indentation of text is not turned on. Check the\nconfiguration files (.vimrc, .gvimrc) for settings related to indentation.\nMake sure the `:filetype indent on` command is not present. If it is\npresent, remove it. Also, depending on your preference, you may also want\nto check the value of the 'autoindent', 'smartindent', 'cindent' and\n'indentexpr' options and turn them off as needed.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:filetype-indent-off|\n |'autoindent'|\n |'smartindent'|\n |'cindent'|\n |'indentexpr'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.11*\n14.11. How do I configure Vim to automatically set the 'textwidth' option\n to a particular value when I edit mails?\n\nYou can use the \"FileType\" autocommand to set the 'textwidth' option: >\n\n autocmd FileType mail set tw=\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:autocmd|\n |FileType|\n |usr_43.txt|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.12*\n14.12. Is there a way to make Vim auto-magically break lines?\n\nYes. Set the 'textwidth' option to the preferred length for a line. Then\nVim will auto-magically break the newly entered lines. For example: >\n\n :set textwidth=75\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'textwidth'|\n |ins-textwidth|\n |'formatoptions'|\n |fo-table|\n |formatting|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.13*\n14.13. I am seeing a lot of ^M symbols in my file. I tried setting the\n 'fileformat' option to \"dos\" and then \"unix\" and then \"mac\". None of\n these helped. How can I hide these symbols?\n\nWhen a file is loaded in Vim, the format of the file is determined as\nbelow:\n\n- If all the lines end with a new line (), then the fileformat is\n \"unix\".\n- If all the lines end with a carriage return () followed by a new line\n (), then the fileformat is \"dos\".\n- If all the lines end with carriage return (), then the fileformat is\n \"mac\".\n\nIf the file has some lines ending with and some lines ending with \nfollowed by a , then the fileformat is set to \"unix\".\n\nYou can change the format of the current file, by saving it explicitly in\ndos format: >\n\n :w ++ff=dos\n<\nTo display the format of the current file, use >\n\n :set fileformat?\n<\nThe above behavior is also controlled by the 'fileformats' option. You can\ntry the following commands: >\n\n :set fileformats+=unix\n :e \n :set fileformat=unix\n :w\n<\nTo remove the carriage return () character at the end of all the lines\nin the current file, you can use the following command: >\n\n :%s/\\r$//\n<\nTo force Vim to use a particular file format, when editing a file, you can\nuse the following command: >\n\n :e ++ff=dos filename\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'fileformats'|\n |'fileformat'|\n |file-formats|\n |DOS-format-write|\n |Unix-format-write|\n |Mac-format-write|\n |dos-file-formats|\n |23.1|\n |++ff|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.14*\n14.14. When I paste some text into a Vim buffer from another application,\n the alignment (indentation) of the new text is messed up. How do I\n fix this?\n\nWhen you paste text into a GUI Vim using the mouse, Vim is able to\ndetect that you are pasting text. So all the indentation related\nsettings (like autoindent, smartindent, cindent, etc.) are ignored and\nthe text is pasted literally.\n\nWhen pasting text into a Vim running in a terminal (like xterm) using\nthe mouse, Vim may not be able to detect that you are pasting text. This\ndepends on several things: the capability of the terminal to pass the\nmouse events to Vim, Vim is compiled to handle mouse events and access\nthe clipboard, the DISPLAY variable is set properly, the Vim 'mouse'\noption is set correctly.\n\nIf Vim is able to detect that you are pasting text using the mouse, then\nthe pasted text will be inserted literally.\n\nIf Vim is not able to detect that you are pasting using the mouse, then\nit will see the pasted text as though you literally typed the text.\nAfter the first line from the pasted text is inserted, when Vim\nencounters the newline character, because of the indentation settings,\nthe next line will start indented. The spaces at the beginning of the\nsecond line in the pasted text will be inserted leading to additional\nindentation. This will be repeated for subsequent lines. So the pasted\ntext will be inserted with stair case indentation.\n\nYou can fix this problem in a terminal Vim in several ways:\n\n1. Build Vim with the +mouse and +xterm_clipboard compile-time options.\n The normal or big or huge build of Vim includes these options. Set\n the 'mouse' option to either \"a\" or include \"i\". When pasting text\n using the mouse, don't press the Shift key. This will work only if\n Vim can access the X display. For more information, read the\n following Vim help topics:\n\n |+feature-list|\n |'mouse'|\n ||\n |x11-selection|\n |xterm-clipboard|\n\n1.1 Some Linux distributions build their terminal vim packages\n without X support. This makes no sense and leaves many users\n with the impression that Vim in terminal mode doesn't support\n some operations such as properly pasting text with a mouse. >\n\n If your distribution includes gvim, which it almost certainly\n does these days, the solutions to this include the following.\n<\n a) Start Vim as >\n\n gvim -v\n<\n b) Put this alias in your shell's configuration file, e.g.\n ~/.bashrc: >\n\n alias vim='gvim -v'\n<\n c) Put the following command in a file named \"vim\" and put that\n file in your ~/bin directory: >\n\n gvim -v \"$@\"\n<\n d) Link the distribution's gvim to ~/bin/vim with the following\n command, which needs to be executed only once. >\n\n ln -s $(which gvim) ~/bin/vim\n<\n For c) and d), make sure that ~/bin precedes /usr/bin in your\n PATH.\n\n2. Paste the text using the CTRL-R CTRL-O * command. This will paste\n the text literally without any automatic indentation. If you want to\n paste the text and then fix the indentation, then you can use CTRL-R\n CTRL-P *. These commands will work only if Vim can access the X\n display. For more information, read the following Vim help topics:\n\n |i_CTRL-R_CTRL-O|\n |i_CTRL-R_CTRL-P|\n |quotestar|\n\n3. Set the 'paste' option before pasting the text. This option will\n disable the effect of all the indentation related settings. Make\n sure to turn off this option using `:set nopaste` after pasting the\n text. Otherwise the Vim indentation feature will not work. Do not\n permanently set the 'paste' option in your .vimrc file. If you are\n going to repeat these steps often, then you can set the\n 'pastetoggle' option to a key. When you press the specified key,\n the 'paste' option will be toggled. You can press the key once\n before pasting the text and the press the key once after pasting\n the text. Note that when the 'paste' option is set, all the\n mappings and abbreviations are disabled. For more information,\n read the following Vim help topics:\n\n |'paste'|\n |'pastetoggle'|\n\nYou can also refer to the following topics in the user manual:\n\n |04.7|\n |09.3|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.15*\n14.15. When there is a very long wrapped line (wrap is \"on\") and a line\n doesn't fit entirely on the screen it is not displayed at all. There\n are blank lines beginning with \"@\" symbol instead of wrapped line. If\n I scroll the screen to fit the line the \"@\" symbols disappear and the\n line is displayed again. What Vim setting control this behavior?\n\nYou can set the 'display' option to \"lastline\" to display as much as\npossible of the last line in a window instead of displaying the \"@\"\nsymbols. >\n\n :set display=lastline\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'display'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.16*\n14.16. How do I convert all the tab characters in a file to space\n characters?\n\nYou can use the `:retab` command to update all the tab characters in the\ncurrent file with the current setting of 'expandtab' and 'tabstop'. For\nexample, to convert all the tabs to white spaces, use >\n\n :set expandtab\n :retab\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:retab|\n |'expandtab'|\n |'tabstop'|\n |25.3|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.17*\n14.17. What Vim options can I use to edit text that will later go to a word\n processor?\n\nYou can set the following options to edit text that will later go into a\nword processor: >\n\n :set wrap\n :set linebreak\n :set textwidth=0\n :set showbreak=>>>\n<\nYou can use the \"gk\" and \"gj\" commands to move one screen line up and down.\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'wrap'|\n |'linebreak'|\n |'textwidth'|\n |'showbreak'|\n |gk|\n |gj|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-14.18*\n14.18. How do I join lines without adding or removing any space characters?\n\nBy default, when you join lines using the \"J\" or `:join` command, Vim will\nreplace the line break, leading white space and trailing white space with a\nsingle space character. If there are space characters at the end of a line\nor a line starts with the \")\" character, then Vim will not add a space\ncharacter.\n\nTo join lines without adding or removing any space characters, you can use\nthe gJ or `:join!` commands.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |gJ|\n |:join|\n |J|\n |10.5|\n |'joinspaces'|\n |'cpoptions'|\n |'formatoptions'|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-15*\nSECTION 15 - VISUAL MODE ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-15.1*\n15.1. How do I do rectangular block copying?\n\nYou can do rectangular block copying in Vim using the blockwise visual\nmode. To start blockwise visual mode use the CTRL-V key. Move the cursor\nusing any of the motion commands and then use the y operator to yank to\nvisually selected text.\n\nIf CTRL-V does not work as expected, it may have been remapped to CTRL-Q by\nthe mswin.vim script which is often sourced by a vimrc on Windows machines\nto mimic some common short cuts from other programs.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |04.4|\n |blockwise-visual|\n |visual-mode|\n |Q_vi|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-15.2*\n15.2. How do I delete or change a column of text in a file?\n\nYou can use the Vim block-wise visual mode to select the column of text and\napply an operator (delete, change, copy, etc) on it.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |visual-block|\n |visual-operators|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-15.3*\n15.3. How do I apply an ex-command on a set of visually selected lines?\n\nWhen you select a range of lines in visual mode, the < register is set to\nthe start of the visual region and the > register is set to the end of the\nvisual region. You can use these registers to specify the range for an ex\ncommand. After visually selecting the lines, press \":\" to go to the command\nmode. Vim will automatically insert the visual range '<,'>. You can run\nany ex-command on the visual range.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |v_:|\n |'<|\n |'>|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-15.4*\n15.4. How do I execute an ex command on a column of text selected in Visual\n block mode?\n\nAll the ex commands operate on whole lines only. If you try to execute\nan ex command on a column of text selected in visual block mode, Vim\nwill operate on all the selected lines (instead of the selected\ncolumns). You can use the vis.vim or NrrwRgn plugin script from\nhttps://www.vim.org scripts archive to do this.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |cmdline-ranges|\n |10.3|\n |cmdline-lines|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-15.5*\n15.5. How do I select the entire file in visual mode?\n\nYou can select the entire file in visual mode using ggVG. >\n\n gg - go to the beginning of the file.\n V - Start linewise visual mode\n G - goto the end of the file.\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |gg|\n |linewise-visual|\n |G|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-15.6*\n15.6. When I visually select a set of lines and press the > key to indent\n the selected lines, the visual mode ends. How can I reselect the\n region for further operation? (or) How do I re-select the last\n selected visual area again?\n\nYou can use the \"gv\" command to reselect the last selected visual area. You\ncan also use the marks '< and '> to jump to the beginning or the end of the\nlast selected visual area.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |gv|\n |'<|\n |'>|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-15.7*\n15.7. How do I jump to the beginning/end of a visually selected region?\n\nYou can use the \"o\" command to jump to the beginning/end of a visually\nselected region.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |v_o|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-15.8*\n15.8. When I select text with mouse and then press : to enter an ex\n command, the selected text is replaced with the : character. How do I\n execute an ex command on a text selected using the mouse similar to\n the text selected using the visual mode?\n\nThis will happen if you have configured Vim to use select mode instead of\nVisual mode by setting the 'selectmode' option. Check the value of this\noption: >\n\n :set selectmode?\n<\nThis mode is known as selectmode and is similar to the visual mode. This\noption is also automatically set when you use the \"behave mswin\" command.\nSelect mode looks like visual mode, but it is similar to the selection mode\nin MS-Windows.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |Select-mode|\n |'selectmode'|\n |09.4|\n |:behave|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-15.9*\n15.9. When I select a block of text using the mouse, Vim goes into\n selection mode instead of Visual mode. Why?\n\nThe 'selectmode' option controls whether Select mode will be started when\nselecting a block of text using the mouse. To start Visual mode when\nselecting text using mouse, remove the \"mouse\" value from the 'selectmode'\noption: >\n\n :set selectmode-=mouse\n<\nNote that by default, the 'selectmode' option will be set to empty, so that\nalways visual mode is used.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'selectmode'|\n |Select-mode|\n |:behave|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-15.10*\n15.10. How do I visually select the last copy/pasted text?\n\nYou can use the '[ and '] marks to visually select the last copy/pasted\ntext. The '[ mark is set to the beginning of the last changed/yanked text\nand the '] mark is set to the end of the last changed/yanked text. To\nvisually select this block of text use the command '[v']\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'[|\n |']|\n |`a|\n |v|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-16*\nSECTION 16 - COMMAND-LINE MODE ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-16.1*\n16.1. How do I use the name of the current file in the command mode or an\n ex command line?\n\nIn the command line, the \"%\" character represents the name of the current\nfile. In some commands, you have to use `expand(\"%\")` to get the filename: >\n\n :!perl %\n<\nAnother example is to load the latex generated pdf file from the file you\nare currently editing: >\n\n :!xpdf %<.pdf\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:_%|\n |cmdline-special|\n |expand()|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-16.2*\n16.2. How do I edit the text in the Vim command-line effectively?\n\nYou can use the command-line window for editing Vim command-line text. To\nopen the Vim command-line window use the \"q:\" command in normal mode. In\ncommand-line mode, use the CTRL-F key. In this window, the command line\nhistory will be displayed. You can use normal Vim keys/commands to edit any\nprevious/new command line. To execute a command line, press the\nenter/return key.\n\nIn a similar vain, the search history can be edited with \"q/\" and \"q?\"\ncommands.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |cmdline-window|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-16.3*\n16.3. How do I switch from Vi mode to Ex mode?\n\nYou can use the Q command to switch from Vi mode to Ex mode. To switch from\nEx mode back to the Vi mode, use the `:vi` command.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |Q|\n |gQ|\n |Ex-mode|\n |:vi|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-16.4*\n16.4. How do I copy the output from an ex-command into a buffer?\n\nTo copy the output from an ex-command into a buffer, you have to first get\nthe command output into a register. You can use the `:redir` command to get\nthe output into a register. For example, >\n\n :redir @a\n :g/HelloWord/p\n :redir END\n<\nNow the register \"a\" will contain the output from the ex command\n`:g/HelloWord/p`. Now you can paste the contents of the register \"a\" into a\nbuffer. You can also send or append the output of an ex-command into a file\nusing the `:redir` command.\n\nYou can prefix the `:global` command with `:silent`, to avoid having the\nlines printed to the screen.\n\nTo redirect the output from an ex-command to a file, you can use the\nfollowing set of commands: >\n\n :redir > myfile\n :g/HelloWord/p\n :redir END\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:redir|\n |:silent|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-16.5*\n16.5. When I press the key to complete the name of a file in the\n command mode, if there are more than one matching file names, then\n Vim completes the first matching file name and displays a list of all\n matching filenames. How do I configure Vim to only display the list\n of all the matching filenames and not complete the first one?\n\nYou can modify the 'wildmode' option to configure the way Vim completes\nfilenames in the command mode. In this case, you can set the 'wildmode'\noption to \"list\": >\n\n :set wildmode=list\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'wildmode'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-16.6*\n16.6. How do I copy text from a buffer to the command line and from the\n command line to a buffer?\n\nTo copy text from a buffer to the command line, after yanking the text from\nthe buffer, use \"0\" in the command line to paste the text. You can\nalso yank the text to a specific register and use CTRL-R to\npaste the text to the command line. You can use CTRL-R CTRL-W to paste the\nword under the cursor in the command line.\n\nTo copy text from the command line into a buffer, you can paste the\ncontents of the : register using the \":p command. The most recently\nexecuted command line is stored in the : register.\n\nAnother approach for copying and pasting text to and from the command line\nis to open the command line window using q: from normal mode or CTRL-F from\nthe command-line mode. In the command line window you can use all the Vim\ncommands to edit the command line.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |c_CTRL-R|\n |quote_:|\n |cmdline-window|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-16.7*\n16.7. How do I put a command onto the command history without executing it?\n\nTo put a command onto the command history without executing it, press the\n key to cancel the command.\n\nAn alternative solution, is to use the histadd() function like this: >\n\n :call histadd(':', 'echo strftime(\"%c\")')\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |c_|\n |histadd()|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-16.8*\n16.8. How do I increase the height of the command-line?\n\nYou can increase the height of the command-line by changing the 'cmdheight'\noption: >\n\n :set cmdheight=2\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'cmdheight'|\n |hit-enter|\n |05.7|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-17*\nSECTION 17 - VIMINFO ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-17.1*\n17.1. When I invoke Vim, I get error messages about illegal characters in\n the viminfo file. What should I do to get rid of these messages?\n\nYou can remove the $HOME/.viminfo or the $HOME/_viminfo file to get rid of\nthese error messages.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |viminfo-errors|\n |viminfo-file-name|\n |viminfo|\n |21.3|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-17.2*\n17.2. How do I disable the viminfo feature?\n\nBy default, the viminfo feature is disabled. If the viminfo feature is\nenabled by a system-wide vimrc file, then you can disable the viminfo\nfeature by setting the 'viminfo' option to an empty string in your local\n.vimrc file: >\n\n :set viminfo=\"\"\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'viminfo'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-17.3*\n17.3. How do I save and use Vim marks/commands across Vim sessions?\n\nYou can save and restore Vim marks across Vim sessions using the viminfo\nfile. To use the viminfo file, make sure the 'viminfo' option is not empty.\nTo save and restore Vim marks, the 'viminfo' option should not contain the\n\"f\" flag or should have a value greater than zero for the \"f\" option.\n\nYou can also use the viminfo file to synchronize the commandline history\nacross different sessions using `:wvimfo` and `:rviminfo` commands together\nwith the FocusGained and FocusLost autocommands: >\n\n augroup viminfo\n au!\n au FocusLost * wviminfo\n au FocusGained * rviminfo\n augroup end\n<\nNote, this will only work reliably, when Vim can detect the FocusLost\nand FocusGained autocommands correctly. This means it should work with\nGVim but might depend on your terminal for konsole vim.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |21.3|\n |viminfo|\n |'viminfo'|\n |:wviminfo|\n |:rviminfo|\n |FocusLost|\n |FocusGained|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-18*\nSECTION 18 - REMOTE EDITING ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-18.1*\n18.1. How do I open a file with existing instance of gvim? What happened to\n the Vim 5.x OpenWithVim.exe and SendToVim.exe files?\n\nStarting with Vim6, the OLE version of OpenWithVim.exe and SendToVim.exe\nVim utilities are replaced by the new client-server feature. To open the\nfile j.txt with an existing instance of Gvim (MyVim), use: >\n\n $ gvim --servername MyVim --remote-silent j.txt\n<\nTo list the server names of all the currently running Vim instances, use >\n\n $ vim --serverlist\n<\nTo get more information about client-server feature, read\n\n |client-server|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-18.2*\n18.2. How do I send a command to a Vim server to write all buffers to disk?\n\nYou can use the Vim remote server functionality to do this: >\n\n $ gvim --servername myVIM --remote-send \":wall\"\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |client-server|\n |CTRL-\\_CTRL-N|\n |:wall|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-18.3*\n18.3. Where can I get the documentation about the Vim remote server\n functionality?\n\nYou can get more information about the Vim remote server functionality by\nreading\n\n |client-server|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19*\nSECTION 19 - OPTIONS ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.1*\n19.1. How do I configure Vim in a simple way?\n\nYou can use the `:options` command to open the Vim option window: >\n\n :options\n<\nThis window can be used for viewing and setting all the options.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:options|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.2*\n19.2. How do I toggle the value of an option?\n\nYou can prefix the option with \"inv\" to toggle the value of the option: >\n\n :set invignorecase\n :set invhlsearch\n<\nYou can also suffix the option with \"!\" to toggle the value: >\n\n :set ignorecase!\n :set hlsearch!\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |set-option|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.3*\n19.3. How do I set an option that affects only the current buffer/window?\n\nSome of the Vim options can have a local or global value. A local value\napplies only to a specific buffer or window. A global value applies to all\nthe buffers or windows.\n\nWhen a Vim option is modified using the `:set` command, both the global and\nlocal values for the option are changed. You can use the `:setlocal`\ncommand to modify only the local value for the option and the `:setglobal`\ncommand to modify only the global value.\n\nYou can use the `:setlocal` command to set an option that will affect only\nthe current file/buffer: >\n\n :setlocal textwidth=70\n<\nNote that not all options can have a local value. You can use `:setlocal`\ncommand to set an option locally to a buffer/window only if the option is\nallowed to have a local value.\n\nYou can also use the following command to set an option locally: >\n\n :let &l:{option-name} = \n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:setlocal|\n |local-options|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.4*\n19.4. How do I use space characters for a Vim option value?\n\nTo use space characters in a Vim option value, you have to escape the space\ncharacter. For example: >\n\n :set tags=tags\\ /usr/tags\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |option-backslash|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.5*\n19.5. Can I add (embed) Vim option settings to the contents of a file?\n\nYou can use modelines to add Vim option settings to the contents of a file.\nFor example, in a C file, you can add the following line to the top or the\nbottom of the file: >\n\n /* vim:sw=4: */\n<\nThis will set the 'shiftwidth' option to 4, when editing that C file.\nFor this to work, the 'modeline' option should be set. By default, the\n'modeline' option is set. An alternative example is given in this document\nin the first line.\n\nThe 'modelines' settings specifies the number of\nlines that will be checked for the Vim set commands.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |21.6|\n |modeline|\n |auto-setting|\n |'modeline'|\n |'modelines'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.6*\n19.6. How do I display the line numbers of all the lines in a file?\n\nYou can set the 'number' option to display the line numbers for all the\nlines. >\n\n :set number\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'number'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.7*\n19.7. How do I change the width of the line numbers displayed using the\n 'number' option?\n\nYou can set the minimum number of columns to be used for line numbering by\nsetting the 'numberwidth' option: >\n\n :set numberwidth=3\n<\nThis set's the width for the line number to 3 digits, which is enough, if\nyour buffer contains less than 999 lines. However, if your current buffer\ncontains more lines than 999, the 'numberwidth' will be adjusted accordingly,\nso that the maximum line number will fit on the screen.\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.8*\n19.8. How do I display (view) all the invisible characters like space, tabs\n and newlines in a file?\n\nYou can set the 'list' option to see all the invisible characters in your\nfile. >\n\n :set list\n<\nWith this option set, you can view space characters, tabs, newlines,\ntrailing space characters and wrapped lines.\n\nTo not display the invisible characters (which is the default), you have to\nreset the 'list' option: >\n\n :set nolist\n (or)\n :set list!\n<\nThe `:set list!` command will toggle the current setting of the boolean\n'list' option.\n\nYou can modify the 'listchars' option to configure how and which invisible\ncharacters are displayed. For example, with the following command all the\ntrailing space characters will be displayed with a \".\" character. >\n\n :set listchars=trail:.\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'listchars'|\n |'list'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.9*\n19.9. How do I configure Vim to always display the current line and column\n number?\n\nYou can set the 'ruler' option to display current column and line number in\nthe status line: >\n\n :set ruler\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'ruler'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.10*\n19.10. How do I display the current Vim mode?\n\nYou can set the 'showmode' option to display the current Vim mode. In\nInsert, Replace and Visual modes, Vim will display the current mode on the\nlast line. >\n\n :set showmode\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'showmode'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.11*\n19.11. How do I configure Vim to show pending/partial commands on the\n status line?\n\nYou can set the 'showcmd' option to display pending/partial commands in the\nstatus line: >\n\n :set showcmd\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'showcmd'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.12*\n19.12. How do I configure the Vim status line to display different\n settings/values?\n\nYou can set the 'statusline' option to display different values/settings in\nthe Vim status line.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'statusline'|\n |'laststatus'|\n |'rulerformat'|\n |'ruler'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.13*\n19.13. How do I configure Vim to display status line always?\n\nYou can set the 'laststatus' option to 2 to display the status line always. >\n\n :set laststatus=2\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'laststatus'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.14*\n19.14. How do I make a Vim setting persistent across different Vim\n invocations/instances/sessions?\n\nTo make a Vim option setting persistent across different Vim instances, add\nyour setting to the .vimrc or .gvimrc file. You can also use the `:mkvimrc`\ncommand to generate a vimrc file for the current settings.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |save-settings|\n |vimrc|\n |gvimrc|\n |vimrc-intro|\n |:mkvimrc|\n |initialization|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.15*\n19.15. Why do I hear a beep (why does my window flash) about 1 second after\n I hit the Escape key?\n\nThis is normal behavior. If your window flashes, then you've got the visual\nbell on. Otherwise, you should hear a beep.\n\nVim needs a timeout to tell the difference between a simple escape and,\nsay, a cursor key sequence. When you press a key in normal mode (and even\nin insert mode) and that key is the beginning of a mapping, Vim waits a\ncertain amount of time to see if the rest of the mapping sequence follows.\nIf the mapping sequence is completed before a given timeout period, the\nmapping for that sequence of keys is applied. If you interrupt the mapping,\nthe normal actions associated with the keys are executed.\n\nFor example, if you have a mapping defined as `:imap vvv Vim is great!!`\nand you type \"vvv\" quickly, the \"Vim is great!!\" will be inserted into your\ntext. But if you type \"vv v\" then that is what will put into your text.\nThis is also true if you type \"vvv\" too slowly where \"too slowly\" is longer\nthan the value for the timeout option. Setting the timeout option to a\nlarger value can help alleviate problems that appear when using function\nkeys over a slow line.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'ttimeout'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.16*\n19.16. How do I make the \"c\" and \"s\" commands display a \"$\" instead of\n deleting the characters I'm changing?\n\nTo make the \"c\" and \"s\" commands display a \"$\" instead of deleting the\ncharacters, add the $ flag to the 'cpoptions' option: >\n\n :set cpoptions+=$\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'cpoptions'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-19.17*\n19.17. How do I remove more than one flag using a single `:set` command\n from a Vim option?\n\nYou can remove more than one flag from a Vim option using a single `:set`\ncommand, by specifying the flags in exactly the same order as they appear\nin the option. For example, if you use the following command to remove the\n\"t\" and \"n\" flags from the 'formatoptions' option: >\n\n :set formatoptions-=tn\n<\nThe \"t\" and \"n\" flags will be removed from the 'formatoptions' option, only\nif the 'formatoptions' option contains these flags in this order: \"tn\".\nOtherwise, it will not remove the flags. To avoid this problem, you can\nremove the flags one by one: >\n\n :set formatoptions-=t formatoptions-=n\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:set-=|\n\n=============================================================================\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20*\nSECTION 20 - MAPPING KEYS ~\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.1*\n20.1. How do I know what a key is mapped to?\n\nTo see what a key is mapped to, use the following commands: >\n\n :map \n :map! \n<\nYou can also check the mappings in a particular mode using one of the\n`:cmap`, `:nmap`, `:vmap`, `:imap`, `:omap`, etc commands.\n\nTo find out, where the key has been mapped, prefix the `:verbose` command: >\n\n :verbose :map \n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |map-listing|\n |map-overview|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.2*\n20.2. How do I list all the user-defined key mappings?\n\nYou can list all the user-defined key mappings using: >\n\n :map\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |map-listing|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.3*\n20.3. How do I unmap a previously mapped key?\n\nYou can unmap a previously mapped key using the `:unmap` command: >\n\n :unmap \n :unmap! \n<\nFor mode specific mappings, you can use one of the these commands: >\n\n :nunmap\n :vunmap\n :ounmap\n :iunmap\n :lunmap\n :cunmap\n<\nThe following command will fail to unmap a buffer-local mapped key: >\n\n :unmap \n<\nTo unmap a buffer-local mapped key, you have to use the keyword in\nthe unmap command: >\n\n :unmap \n :unmap! \n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:unmap|\n |map-modes|\n |:map-local|\n |mapleader|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.4*\n20.4. I am not able to create a mapping for the key. What is wrong?\n\n1) First make sure, the key is passed correctly to Vim. To determine if\n this is the case, put Vim in Insert mode and then hit CTRL-V (or\n CTRL-Q if your CTRL-V is remapped to the paste operation (e.g. on\n Windows if you are using the mswin.vim script file) followed by your\n key.\n\n If nothing appears in the buffer (and assuming that you have\n 'showcmd' on, ^V remains displayed near the bottom right of the Vim\n screen), then Vim doesn't get your key correctly and there is nothing\n to be done, other than selecting a different key for your mapping or\n using GVim, which should recognise the key correctly.\n\n2) Possibly, Vim gets your key, but sees it as no different than\n something else. Say you want to map , then in Insert mode\n hit CTRL-K followed by . If Vim displays it has\n correctly seen the keystroke and you should be able to map it (by\n using as your {lhs}). If it displays it has seen\n the keystroke but as if you hadn't held down: this means your\n temrinal passes as if it were just . Anything else\n means the key has been misidentified.\n\n3) If the key is seen, but not as itself and not as some recognizable\n key, then there is probably an error in the terminal library for the\n current terminal (termcap or terminfo database). In that case >\n\n :set term?\n<\n will tell you which termcap or terminfo Vim is using. You can try to\n tell vim, what termcode to use in that terminal, by adding the\n following to your vimrc: >\n\n if &term == \n set =\n endif\n<\n where above should be replaced by the value of 'term'\n (with quotes around it) and by what you get when hitting\n CTRL-V followed by in Insert mode (with nothing around\n it). should be left as-is (9 characters). Don't forget that\n in a `:set` command, white space is not allowed between the equal sign\n and the value, and any space, double quote, vertical bar or backslash\n present as part of the value must be backslash-escaped.\n\n Now you should be able to see the keycode corresponding to the key\n and you can create a mapping for the key using the following command: >\n\n :map \n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |map-keys-fails|\n |:map-special-keys|\n |key-codes|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.5*\n20.5. Why does mapping the key not work?\n\nThe only - chords which Vim can reliably detect\n(because they are defined in the ASCII standard) are the following: >\n\n CTRL-@ 0x00 NUL\n CTRL-A to CTRL-Z 0x01 to 0x1A\n CTRL-a to CTRL-z 0x01 to 0x1A\n CTRL-[ 0x1B ESC\n CTRL-\\ 0x1C\n CTRL-] 0x1D\n CTRL-^ 0x1E\n CTRL-_ 0x1F\n CTRL-? 0x7F DEL\n<\nMost of these, however, already have a function in Vim (and some are\naliases of other keys: CTRL-H and , CTRL-I and , CTRL-M and ,\nCTRL-[ and , CTRL-? and ).\n\nThe \"safest\" keys to use in Vim for the {lhs} of a mapping are the F\nkeys, with or without Shift: to and to . (Some\nOSes, including mine, intercept and , which never reach an\napplication program such as vim or gvim).\n\nYou can try other combinations of + any key, but they may either\nnot work everywhere (e.g. the terminal might not pass that key to Vim,\nor they might have unintended side effects (e.g. mapping means\nalso to map ).\n\nThis is a known issue, that has been discussed and might be implemented\nin the future to enable Vim to distinguish between various keys even in\nconsole mode. (e.g.\nhttps://groups.google.com/d/msg/vim_dev/2bp9UdfZ63M/sajb9KM0pNYJ)\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.6*\n20.6. How do I map the numeric keypad keys?\n\nFirst make sure that the numeric keypad keys are passed to Vim. Next, you\ncan use the following command to map the numeric keypad keys: >\n\n :map \n<\nwhere, can be kHome, kEnd, kPageUp, kPageDown, kPlus, kMinus,\nkDivide, kMultiply, kEnter, etc.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |key-codes|\n |terminal-options|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.7*\n20.7. How do I create a mapping that works only in visual mode?\n\nYou can create mappings that work only in specific modes (normal, command,\ninsert, visual, etc). To create a mapping that works only in the visual\nmode, use the `:vmap` command: >\n\n :vmap \n<\nThis mapping will work in visual and select mode. If you want the map to\nwork only in visual mode (excluding select mode), use:\n >\n\n :xmap \n<\nand to have the mapping only work in select mode (but not visual mode),\nuse: >\n\n :smap \n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:vmap|\n |:xmap|\n |:smap|\n |map-modes|\n |40.1|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.8*\n20.8. How do I create a mapping that works only in normal and operator\n pending mode (but not in visual mode)?\n\nUsing `:map` creates a mapping that works in normal, visual+select mode and\noperator pending mode. You can use `:nmap` to have the mapping only work in\nnormal mode and `:vmap` to have the mapping only be defined for visual and\nselect mode or use `:omap` to have the mapping only defined in operator\npending mode.\n\nBut if you want to have a mapping defined, that works in both operator\npending mode and normal mode, but not in visual and select mode, you need\nto first define the mapping using `:map` and afterwards delete the mapping\nfor visual and select mode:\n\n\t:map \n\t:vunmap \n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.9*\n20.9. In a Vim script, how do I know which keys to use for my mappings, so\n that the mapped key will not collide with an already used key?\n\nVim uses most of the keys in the keyboard. You can use the prefix\nin maps to define keys which will not overlap with Vim keys. For example: >\n\n :map S s\n :map j j\n :map k k\n<\nwhere by default gets substituted with a backslash (\\), so the\nuser would enter >\n\n \\s\n \\j\n \\k\n<\nto invoke the above map commands. The user can change the mapleader\nvariable to be whatever they wanted: >\n\n :let mapleader = \",\"\n<\nWhen writing a plugin or other script, more often than not, it is advisable\nto use `:noremap` instead of `:map` to avoid side effects from user defined\nmappings.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n ||\n ||\n |write-plugin|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.10*\n20.10. How do I map the escape key?\n\nYou can map the Escape key to some other key using the `:map` command. For\nexample, the following command maps the escape key to CTRL-O. >\n\n :map \n<\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.11*\n20.11. How do I map a key to perform nothing?\n\nYou can map a key to to perform nothing when the key is pressed. For\nexample, with the following mappings, the key will do nothing when\npressed. >\n\n :map \n :map! \n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n ||\n |:map|\n |:map!|\n |map-modes|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.12*\n20.12. I want to use the key to indent a block of text and \n key to unindent a block of text. How do I map the keys to do this?\n This behavior is similar to textpad, visual studio, etc.\n\nUse the following mapping: >\n\n :inoremap \n :nnoremap >>\n :nnoremap \n :vnoremap >\n :vnoremap \n<\nNote, that the mapping will work only if Vim receives the correct\nkey sequence. This is mostly the case with GUI Vim.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:inoremap|\n |:nnoremap|\n |:vnoremap|\n ||\n |i_CTRL-O|\n |>>|\n |<<|\n ||\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.13*\n20.13. In my mappings the special characters like are not recognized.\n How can I configure Vim to recognize special characters?\n\nCheck the value of the 'cpoptions' option: >\n\n :set cpoptions?\n<\nIf this option contains the \"<\" flag, then special characters will not be\nrecognized in mappings. Remove the \"<\" flag from 'cpoptions' option: >\n\n :set cpo-=<\n<\nAlso, check the value of the 'compatible' option: >\n\n :set compatible?\n<\nThe 'compatible' option must be reset: >\n\n :set nocompatible\n<\nFor more information, read:\n\n |'cpoptions'|\n |'compatible'|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.14*\n20.14. How do I use the \"|\" to separate multiple commands in a map?\n\nYou can escape the \"|\" character using backslash (\\) to use \"|\" in a map. >\n\n :map _l :!ls \\| more\n<\nYou can also try the following command: >\n\n :map _l :!ls more\n<\nThere are also other ways to do this.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |map_bar|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.15*\n20.15. If I have a mapping/abbreviation whose ending is the beginning of\n another mapping/abbreviation, how do I keep the first from expanding\n into the second one?\n\nInstead of using the `:map lhs rhs` command, use the `:noremap lhs rhs`\ncommand. For abbreviations, use \"noreabbrev lhs rhs\". The \"nore\" prefix\nprevents the mapping or abbreviation from being expanded again.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:noremap|\n |:noreabbrev|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.16*\n20.16. Why does it take a second or more for Vim to process a key,\n sometimes when I press a key?\n\nMake sure you have not defined a mapping for this key using the following\ncommand: >\n\n :map \n<\nIf a mapping is defined for this key and the mapped key contains more than\none character, then Vim will wait for the next character to be pressed to\ndetermine whether it is the mapped key or not. For example, if you have\nmapped \"ab\", then if you press \"a\", Vim will wait for the next key to be\npressed. If the next key is \"b\", Vim will execute the mapped sequence.\nOtherwise, Vim will proceed with the normal processing of \"a\" followed by\nthe next key. If the 'timeout' option is set (which is the default), then\nVim will timeout after waiting for the period specified with the\n'timeoutlen' option (default is 1 second).\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |map-typing|\n |'timeoutlen'|\n |'ttimeoutlen'|\n |'timeout'|\n |'ttimeout'|\n |vt100-cursor-keys|\n |slow-fast-terminal|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.17*\n20.17. How do I map a key to run an external command using a visually\n selected text?\n\nYou can the `:vmap` command to map a key in the visual mode. In the mapped\ncommand sequence, you have to first yank the text. The yanked text is\navailable in the '\"' register. Now, you can use the contents of this\nregister to run the external command. For example, to run the external\ncommand \"perldoc\" on a visually selected text, you can use the following\nmapping: >\n\n :vmap y:!exec \"!perldoc '\" . @\" . \"'\"\n<\nIf you want the mapping to work in the visual mode, but not with the\nhighlighted text, you can use the following command: >\n\n :vmap :!perldoc \n<\nThe above mapping will use the word under the cursor instead of the\nhighlighted text. Note the use of the before invoking the \"perldoc\"\nexternal command. The is used to erase the range of text selected in\nthe visual mode and displayed on the command line. If the visual range is\nnot removed using , then the output from the external command will\nreplace the visually selected text.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |:vmap|\n |quote_quote|\n |:let-register|\n |c_CTRL-U|\n |:!cmd|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.18*\n20.18. How do I map the CTRL-I key while still retaining the functionality\n of the key?\n\nThe CTRL-I key and the key produce the same keycode, so Vim cannot\ndistinguish between the CTRL-I and the key. When you map the CTRL-I\nkey, the key is also mapped (and vice versa). The same restriction\napplies for the CTRL-[ key and the key.\n\nFor more information, read:\n\n |keycodes|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.19*\n20.19. How do I define a map to accept a count?\n\nUse the @= command to use an expression. For example, >\n\n nnoremap = @='3l'\n<\nNow you can specify a count to the \"=\" command.\n\n |complex-repeat|\n\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t*faq-20.20*\n20.20. How can I make my normal mode mapping work from within Insert\n Mode?\n\nMappings in normal mode can be executed after CTRL-O from insert mode as\nwell but if there are more commands included in the mapping {rhs}, only the\nfirst one will be executed in normal mode and the rest of {rhs} will be\nprinted literally in insert mode. One of ways to workaround this problem is\nto make {rhs} be one command, via wrapping it to the function. For example: >\n\n function GetFontNameOfFirstChar()\n normal! 0\n echo getfontname()\n endfunction\n<\n :nmap :call GetFontNameOfFirstChar()\n\nA more technical and detailed solution to this problem follows and can\nbe found at https://groups.google.com/group/vim_dev/msg/75f1f2dfc00908bb\n\nNot every normal mode-mapping is automatically suitable for execution via\nCTRL-O from within insert mode; you need to explicitly design your mappings\nfor that purpose.\n\nThe CTRL-O command allows execution of one normal mode command from\nwithin insert mode, then returns to insert mode. If a normal mode mapping\nconcatenates multiple normal mode commands, this breaks down in temporary\nnormal mode and literally inserts the second part of the command into the\nbuffer instead. To support execution of normal mode mappings from within\ninsert mode, these strategies can be used:\n\n1) Instead of concatenating multiple normal mode commands, use one `:normal`\n mapping: >\n\n :nnoremap zC :normal! zCVzC\n<\n2) Concatenate multiple Ex commands via on the rhs: >\n\n :nnoremap zC :call MyMap1()call MyMap2()\n<\n3) Shadow normal mode mappings by insert mode mappings that\n re-enter normal mode, then invoke the normal mode mapping: >\n\n :nnoremap MyMap2 :call MyMap2()\n :inoremap