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- VIM(1) VIM(1)
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- NAME
- vim - Vi IMproved, a programmers text editor
-
- SYNOPSIS
- vim [options] [file ..]
- vim [options] -t tag
- vim [options] -e [errorfile]
-
- DESCRIPTION
- Vim is a text editor that is upwards compatible to vi. It
- can be used to edit any ASCII text. It is especially use-
- ful for editing programs.
-
- There are a lot of enhancements above vi: multi level
- undo, multi windows and buffers, command line editing,
- filename completion, on-line help, visual selection, etc..
- Read vim_diff.txt for a summary of the differences between
- Vim and vi.
-
- While running Vim a lot of help can be obtained from the
- on-line help system. See ON-LINE HELP below.
-
- Most often Vim is started to edit a single file with the
- command
-
- vim file
-
- More generally Vim is started with:
-
- vim [options] [filelist]
-
- If the filelist is missing, the editor will start with an
- empty buffer. Otherwise exactly one out of the following
- three may be used to choose one or more files to be
- edited.
-
- file .. A list of file names. The first one will be
- the current file and read into the buffer.
- The cursor will be positioned on the first
- line of the buffer. You can get to the other
- files with the ":next" command. To edit a
- file that starts with a dash, precede the
- filelist with "--".
-
- -t {tag} The file to edit and the initial cursor posi-
- tion depends on a "tag", a sort of goto label.
- {tag} is looked up in the tags file, the asso-
- ciated file becomes the current file and the
- associated command is executed. Mostly this
- is used for C programs. {tag} then should be
- a function name. The effect is that the file
- containing that function becomes the current
- file and the cursor is positioned on the start
- of the function. See ":help tag_commands".
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- -e [errorfile]
- Start in quickFix mode. The file [errorfile]
- is read and the first error is displayed. If
- [errorfile] is omitted the file name is
- obtained from the 'errorfile' option (defaults
- to "AztecC.Err" for the Amiga, "errors.vim" on
- other systems). Further errors can be jumped
- to with the ":cn" command. See ":help quick-
- fix".
-
- OPTIONS
- The options, if present, must precede the filelist. The
- options may be given in any order. Options can mostly be
- combined after a single dash.
-
- +[num] For the first file the cursor will be posi-
- tioned on line "num". If "num" is missing,
- the cursor will be positioned on the last
- line.
-
- +/{pat} For the first file the cursor will be posi-
- tioned on the first occurrence of {pat}. See
- ":help search_pattern" for the available
- search patterns.
-
- +{command}
-
- -c {command}
- {command} will be executed after the first
- file has been read. {command} is interpreted
- as an Ex command. If the {command} contains
- spaces it must be enclosed in double quotes
- (this depends on the shell that is used).
- Example: Vim "+set si" main.c
- Note: You can use only one "+" or "-c" argu-
- ment.
-
- -b Binary mode. A few options will be set that
- makes it possible to edit a binary or exe-
- cutable file.
-
- -d {device} Open {device} for use as a terminal. Only on
- the Amiga. Example: "-d con:20/30/600/150".
-
- -i {viminfo}
- When using the viminfo file is enabled, this
- option sets the file name to use, instead of
- the default "~/.viminfo". This can also be
- used to skip the use of the .viminfo file, by
- giving the name "NONE".
-
- -g If Vim has been compiled with GUI support,
- this option turns the GUI on. If no GUI sup-
- port was compiled in, an error message is
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- given and Vim aborts.
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- -H If Vim has been compiled with RIGHTLEFT sup-
- port for editing right-to-left oriented files
- and Hebrew keyboard mapping, this option
- starts Vim in Hebrew mode, i.e. hkmap and
- rightleft are set. Otherwise an error message
- is given and Vim aborts.
-
- -n No swap file will be used. Recovery after a
- crash will be impossible. Handy if you want
- to edit a file on a very slow medium (e.g.
- floppy). Can also be done with ":set uc=0".
- Can be undone with ":set uc=200".
-
- -o[N] Open N windows. When N is omitted, open one
- window for each file.
-
- -r List swap files, with information about using
- them for recovery.
-
- -r {file} Recovery mode. The swap file is used to
- recover a crashed editing session. The swap
- file is a file with the same file name as the
- text file with ".swp" appended. See ":help
- recovery".
-
- -s {scriptin}
- The script file {scriptin} is read. The char-
- acters in the file are interpreted as if you
- had typed them. The same can be done with the
- command ":source! {scriptin}". If the end of
- the file is reached before the editor exits,
- further characters are read from the keyboard.
-
- -T {terminal}
- Tells Vim the name of the terminal you are
- using. Should be a terminal known to Vim
- (builtin) or defined in the termcap or ter-
- minfo file.
-
- -u {vimrc} Use the commands in the file "vimrc" for ini-
- tializations. All the other initializations
- are skipped. Use this to edit a special kind
- of files. It can also be used to skip all
- initializations by giving the name "NONE".
- See ":help initialization" within vim for more
- details.
-
- -v View mode. The 'readonly' option will be set.
- You can still edit the buffer, but will be
- prevented from accidently overwriting a file.
- If you do want to overwrite a file, add an
- exclamation mark to the Ex command, as in
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- ":w!". The -v option also implies the -n
- option (see below). The 'readonly' option can
- be reset with ":set noro". See ":help 'read-
- only'".
-
- -w {scriptout}
- All the characters that you type are recorded
- in the file {scriptout}, until you exit Vim.
- This is useful if you want to create a script
- file to be used with "vim -s" or ":source!".
- If the {scriptout} file exists, characters are
- appended.
-
- -W {scriptout}
- Like -w, but an existing file is overwritten.
-
- -x (Amiga only) Vim is not restarted to open a
- new window. This option should be used when
- Vim is executed by a program that will wait
- for the edit session to finish (e.g. mail).
- The ":sh" and ":!" commands will not work.
-
- -- Denotes the end of the options, arguments
- after this will be handled as a file name.
- This can be used to edit a file name that
- starts with a '-'.
-
- ON-LINE HELP
- Type ":help" in Vim to get started. Type ":help subject"
- to get help on a specific subject. For example: ":help
- ZZ" to get help for the "ZZ" command. Use <Tab> and CTRL-
- D to complete subjects (":help cmdline_completion"). Tags
- are present to jump from one place to another (sort of
- hypertext links, see ":help"). All files mentioned below
- can be viewed in this way, for example ":help
- vim_ref.txt".
-
- FILES
- Vim documentation (in /usr/local/lib/vim).
-
- vim_ref.txt A complete reference of Vim (long).
-
- vim_help.txt File used by the on-line help (short), con-
- tains links to all other files.
-
- vim_win.txt Explanation of the multi windows and
- buffers commands and options.
-
- vim_idx.txt Overview of all command characters (useful
- when adding new mappings).
-
- vim_tips.txt Some useful tips about using Vim for spe-
- cific file types.
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- vim_digr.txt Overview of the available digraphs.
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- vim_kcc.txt About copying Vim and Uganda.
-
- vim_diff.txt Overview of the differences between Vim and
- vi.
-
- vim_<machine>.txt
- Machine specific comments. <machine> can
- be ami (Amiga), arch (Archimedes), unix,
- w32 (Windows 95/NT), dos (MS-DOS), mint
- (Atari MiNT) and mac (Macintosh).
-
- vim_gui.txt Specific comments about the GUI version.
-
- vim_rlh.txt Information about using Vim for editing
- right-to-left oriented files.
-
- /usr/local/lib/vim/vimrc
- System wide Vim initializations
-
- /usr/local/lib/vim/gvimrc
- System wide gvim initializations
-
- For recent info read the VIM home page:
- <URL:http://www.math.fu-berlin.de/~guckes/vim/>
-
- AUTHOR
- Most of Vim was made by Bram Moolenaar.
- Vim is based on Stevie, worked on by: Tim Thompson, Tony
- Andrews and G.R. (Fred) Walter
-
- BUGS
- Probably. See the "todo" file that comes with the distri-
- bution.
-
- Note that a number of things that may be regarded as bugs
- by some, are in fact caused by a too-faithful reproduction
- of vi's behaviour. Other people may think other things
- are bugs "because vi does it differently". Those people
- should take a closer look at the vim_diff.txt file (or
- type :help vim_diff.txt when in Vim). Also have a look at
- the 'compatible' option.
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