Vim tips

November 21, 2009

Contents
1 Text manipulation 4
1.1 Searching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.1 Search for declaration of subroutine/function under cursor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1.2 Search for visually highlighted text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Substitution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.1 Filter all form elements into paste register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.2 Substitue within substituion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2.3 Substituting a visual area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.3 Global command display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.4 Global combined with substitute (power editing) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.5 Changing case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.6 Reformatting text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.7 Deletion without destroying buffer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.8 Essential . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

2 File Manipulation 8
2.1 Exploring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 Opening files & other tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3 Multiple files management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.4 File-name manipulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.5 Command over multiple files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.6 Sessions (set of files) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.7 Modelines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.7.1 Creating your own GUI Toolbar entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.8 Markers & moving about . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.9 Editing/moving within insert mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.10 Abbreviations & maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.10.1 Display RGB colour under the cursor eg #445588 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

1
CONTENTS CONTENTS
3 Registers 11
3.1 List your registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2 Appending to registers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3 Using a register as a map (preload registers in .vimrc) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4 Redirection & paste register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.4.1 Copy full path name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.5 Useful tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

4 Advanced 13
4.1 Command line tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.2 External programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.3 Recording . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.3.1 Operating a Recording on a Visual BLOCK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.4 Quick jumping between splits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.5 Visual mode basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.6 vimrc essentials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.6.1 Launching IE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.6.2 Ftping from vim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.6.3 Autocmd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.7 Conventional shifting and indenting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.8 Pulling objects onto command/search line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.9 Capturing output of current script . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.10 Inserting DOS carriage returns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.11 Perform an action on a particular file or file type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.12 Inserting line number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.13 Numbering lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.14 Advanced incrementing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.14.1 Create list starting from 223 incrementing by 5 between markers a,b . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.14.2 Create a map for INC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.15 Digraphs (non alpha-numerics) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.16 Complex vim . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.17 Syntax highlighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.18 Preventions and security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.19 Taglist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.20 Folding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.21 Renaming files . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.22 Reproducing lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.23 Reading MS-Word documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

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CONTENTS CONTENTS
4.24 Random functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.24.1 Save word under cursor to a file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.24.2 Delete duplicate lines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.24.3 Columnise a CSV file for display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.25 Miscallaenous commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.26 Vim traps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.27 Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

5 Fun 20
5.1 Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.1.1 Author (David Rayner) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.1.2 Maintainer (Gavin Gilmour) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.1.3 Source . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.2 Links . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

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1.2 Substitution 1 TEXT MANIPULATION
1 Text manipulation
1.1 Searching

Command Description
/joe/e cursor set to end of match
/joe/e+1 cursor set to end of match plus 1
/joe/s-2 cursor set to start of match minus 2
/ˆjoe.*fred.*bill/ normal
/ˆ[A-J]\+/ search for lines beginning with one or more A-J
/begin\ .*end search over possible multiple lines
/fred\ s*joe/i any whitespace including newline
/fred\|joe search for fred or joe
/.*fred\&.*joe search for fred and joe in any order
/\<fred\>/i search for fred but not alfred or frederick
/\<\d\d\d\d\> search for exactly 4 digit numbers
/\D\d\d\d\d\D search for exactly 4 digit numbers
/\<\d\{4}\> same thing
/\([ˆ0-9]\|ˆ\)%.*% search for absence of a digit or beginning of line
/ˆ\n\{3} find 3 empty lines
/\(fred\).*\(joe\).*\2.*\1 using rexexp memory in a search
/ˆ\([ˆ,]*,\)\{8} using rexexp memory in a search
/<\zs[ˆ>]*\ze> search for tag contents, ignoring chevrons (:h /\zs)
/<\@<=[ˆ>]*>\@= search for tag contents, ignoring chevrons
/<\@<=\ [ˆ>]*>\@= search for tags across possible multiple lines
/¡!– p{-}–¿ search for multiple line comments
/fred\ s*joe/i any whitespace including newline (\ )
/bugs\(\ .\)*bunny bugs followed by bunny anywhere in file
:h \ help
:bufdo /searchstr/ multiple file search (use :rewind to recommence search)
:bufdo %s/searchstr/&/gic multiple file search better but cheating (n, then a to stop)
?http://www.vim.org/ search backwards for a URL without backslashing
/\c\v([ˆaeiou]&\a){4} search for 4 consecutive consonants

1.1.1 Search for declaration of subroutine/function under cursor

:nmap gx yiw/\(sub\<bar>function\)\s\+<C-R>”<CR>

1.1.2 Search for visually highlighted text

:vmap <silent>// y/<C-R>”<CR>

:vmap <silent> // y/<C-R>=escape(@”, ’\\/.*ˆ∼[]’)<CR><CR> (with spec chars)

1.2 Substitution

:%s/fred/joe/igc general substitute command

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1.2 Substitution 1 TEXT MANIPULATION
:%s/\r//g delete dos returns ˆM
:%s/\r/\r/g turn dos returns ˆM into real returns (fixes joined lines)
:%s= *$== delete end of line blanks
:%s= \+$== same as above
:%s#\s*\r\?$## clean both trailing spaces AND dos returns
:%s#\s*\r*$## same thing deleting empty lines
:%s/ˆ\n\{3}// delete blocks of 3 empty lines
:%s/ˆ\n\+/\r/ compressing empty lines
:%s#<[ˆ>]\+>##g delete html tags, leave text
:’a,’bg/fred/s/dick/joe/igc VERY USEFUL
:%s= [ˆ ]\+$=&&= duplicate end column
:%s= \f\+$=&&= same as above
:%s= \S\+$=&& usually the same
:s/\(.*\):\(.*\)/\2 : \1/ reverse fields separated by :
:%s/ˆ\(.*\)\n\1$/\1/ delete duplicate lines
:%s/ˆ.\{-}pdf/new.pdf/ delete to 1st pdf only
:%s#\<[zy]\?tbl [a-z ]\+\>#\L&#gc lowercase with optional leading characters
:%s/// delete possibly multi-line comments
:help /\{-} help non-greedy
:s/fred/a/g sub “fred” with contents of register “a”
:s/fred/\=@a/g better alternative as register not displayed
:%s/\f\+\.gif\>/\r&\r/g | v/\.gif$/d | %s/gif/jpg/ multiple commands on one line
:%s/a/but/gie|:update|:next then use @: to repeat
:%s/suck\|buck/loopy/gc ORing (must break pipe)
:s/ date /\=strftime(“%c”)/ insert datestring
:%s:\(\(\w\+\s\+\)\{2}\)str1:\1str2: working with columns sub any str1 in col3
:%s:\(\w\+\)\(.*\s\+\)\(\w\+\)$:\3\2\1: swapping first and last column (4 columns)
:%s/\d\+/\=(submatch(0)-3)/ decrement numbers by 3
:g/loc\|function/s/\d/\=submatch(0)+6/ increment numbers by 6 on certain lines only
:%s#txtdev\zs\d#\=submatch(0)+1#g better version of above
:%s/\(gg\)\@<=\d\+/\=submatch(0)+6/ increment only numbers gg\d\d by 6 (another way)
:let i=10 | ’a,’bg/Abc/s/yy/\=i/ |let i=i+1 convert yy to 10,11,12 etc
:let i=10 | ’a,’bg/Abc/s/xx\zsyy\ze/\=i/ |let i=i+1 convert xxyy to xx11,xx12,xx13 (more presise)
:%s/”\([ˆ.]\+\).*\zsxx/\1/ find replacement text, use \zs to simplify substitute
:nmap z :%s#\<=expand(“”)\># pull word under cursor into LHS of a substitute
:vmap z :%s/\<*\>/ pull visually highlighted text into LHS of a substitute

1.2.1 Filter all form elements into paste register

:redir @*|sil exec ’g#<\(input\|select\|textarea\|/\=form\)\>#p’|redir END

:nmap ,z :redir @*sil exec ’g@<\(input\select\textarea\/\=form\)\>@p’redir END

1.2.2 Substitue within substituion

:%s,\(all/.*\)\@<=/, ,g replace all / with AFTER “all/”

:s#all/\zs.*#\=substitute(submatch(0), ’/’, ’ ’, ’g’)# same thing
:s#all/#&ˆM#|s#/# #g|-j! sub by splitting line, re-joining
:%s/.*/\=’cp ’.submatch(0).’ all/’.substitute(submatch(0),’/’,’ ’,’g’)/ sub inside sub

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1.3 Global command display 1 TEXT MANIPULATION

1.2.3 Substituting a visual area

:’<,’>s/Emacs/Vim/g remember you DONT type the ’<.’>

gv re-select the previous visual area (ULTRA)

1.3 Global command display

:g/gladiolli/# display with line numbers (YOU WANT THIS!)

:g/fred.*joe.*dick/ display all lines fred,joe & dick
:g/\<fred\>/ display all lines fred but not freddy
:g/ˆ\s*$/d delete all blank lines
:g!/ˆdd/d delete lines not containing string
:v/ˆdd/d delete lines not containing string
:g/fred/,/joe/d not line based (very powerfull)
:g/——-/.-10,.d delete string & 10 previous lines
:g/{/ ,/}/- s/\n\+/\r/g delete empty lines but only between {...}
:v/\S/d delete empty lines (both types)
:v/./,/./-j compress empty lines
:g/ˆ$/,/./-j compress empty lines
:g/<input\|<form/p ORing
:g/ˆ/put double space file (pu = put)
:g/ˆ/m0 reverse file (m = move)
:’a,’b/ˆ/m’b reverse a section a to b
:g/ˆ/t. duplicate every line
:g/fred/t$ copy lines matching fred to EOF
:g/stage/t’a copy lines matching stage to marker a
:g/\(ˆI[ˆˆI]*\)\{80}/d delete all lines containing at least 80 tabs
:’a,’bg/somestr/co/otherstr/ match all lines containing “somestr” between markers a & b
:’a,’bg/str1/s/str1/&&&/|mo/str2/ as above but also do a substitution
:%norm jdd delete every other line
:.,$g/ˆ\d/exe “norm! \” increment numbers
:’a,’bg/\d\+/norm! ˆA increment numbers
:g/fred/y A append all lines fred to register a (empty reg a first with qaq.)
:g/fred/y A | :let @*=@a put into paste buffer
:let @a=”|g/Barratt/y A |:let @*=@a
:’a,’b g/ˆError/ . w >> errors.txt write out to errors.txt
:g/./yank|put|-1s/’/”/g|s/.*/Print ’&’/ duplicate every line in a file wrap a print ” around each duplicate
:g/ˆMARK$/r tmp.ex | -d replace string with contents of a file, -d deletes the “mark”
:g//z#.5 display with context
:g//z#.5|echo “==========” display beautifully
:g/|/norm 2f|r* replace 2nd | with a star
:nmap :redir @a:g//:redir END:new:put! a send output of previous global command to a new window

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1.8 Essential 1 TEXT MANIPULATION
1.4 Global combined with substitute (power editing)

:’a,’bg/fred/s/joe/susan/gic can use memory to extend matching

:g/fred/,/joe/s/fred/joe/gic non-line based (ultra)
:/fred/;/joe/-2,/sid/+3s/sally/alley/gIC find fred before beginning search for joe

1.5 Changing case

guu lowercase line

gUU uppercase line
Vu lowercase line
VU uppercase line
g∼∼ flip case line
vEU upper case word
vE∼ flip case word
ggguG lowercase entire file
vmap ,c :s/\<\(.\)\(\k*\)\>/\u\1\L\2/g titlise visually selected text (map for .vimrc)
:%s/[.!?]\ s\+\a/\U&\E/g uppercase first letter of sentences
g<C-G> count words in text file

1.6 Reformatting text

gq} format a paragraph

gqap format a paragraph
ggVGgq reformat entire file
Vgq current line
:s/.\{,69\};\s*\|.\{,69\}\s\+/&\r/g break lines at 70 chars, if possible after a ’;’

1.7 Deletion without destroying buffer

“d what you’ve ALWAYS wanted

“ dw delete word (use blackhole)

1.8 Essential

* # g* g# find word under cursor () (forwards/backwards)

% match brackets and tags {}, [], (), etc.

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2.2 Opening files & other tricks 2 FILE MANIPULATION
. repeat last modification
@: repeat last : command (then @@)
<C-N><C-P> word completion in insert mode
<C-X><C-L> line complete SUPER USEFUL
/<C-R><C-W> pull onto search/command line
/<C-R><C-A> pull onto search/command line
:set ignorecase you nearly always want this
:syntax on colour syntax in perl, HTML, PHP etc.
:h regexp list all help topics containing regexp (TAB to step through list)
:nmap ,s :source $VIM/ vimrc read from vimrc
:nmap ,v :e $VIM/ vimrc open and edit local vimrc
:vmap sb ”zdi<b><C-R>z</b><ESC> wrap <b></b> around VISUALLY selected text
:vmap st ”zdi<?= <C-R>z ?><ESC> wrap <?= ?> around VISUALLY selected text

2 File Manipulation
2.1 Exploring

:Exp(lore) file explorer (note: capital E)

:Sex(plore) file explorer in split window
:ls list of buffers
:cd .. move to parent directory
:args list of files
:lcd %:p:h change to directory of current file
1
:autocmd BufEnter * lcd %:p:h change to directory of current file automatically (put in vimrc)
\be buffer explorer list of buffers
\bs buffer explorer (split window)

2.2 Opening files & other tricks

gf open file name under cursor (SUPER)

:nnoremap gF :view open file under cursor, create if necessary
ga display hex,ascii value of char under cursor
ggVGg? rot13 whole file
ggg?G rot13 whole file (quicker for large file)
:8 | normal VGg? rot13 from line 8
:normal 10GVGg? rot13 from line 8
, increment, decrement number under cursor
=5*5 insert 25 into text (mini-calculator)
:e main tab completes
main include NAME of file in text (insert mode)

1 Script required: bufexplorer.vim http://www.vim.org/script.php?script id=42

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2.5 Command over multiple files 2 FILE MANIPULATION

2.3 Multiple files management

:bn goto next buffer

:bp goto previous buffer
:wn save file and move to next (super)
:wp save file and move to previous
:bd remove file from buffer list (super)
:bun buffer unload (remove window but not from list)
:badd file.c file from buffer list
:b 3 go to buffer 3
:b main go to buffer with main in name eg main.c (ultra)
:sav php.html save current file as php.html and “move” to php.html
:sav! %<.bak save current file to alternative extension (old way)
:sav! %:r.cfm save current file to alternative extension
:sav %:s/fred/joe/ do a substitute on file name
:sav %:s/fred/joe/:r.bak2 do a substitute on file name & ext.
:!mv % %:r.bak rename current file (DOS use rename or del)
:e! return to unmodified file
:w c:/aaa/% save file elsewhere
:e # edit alternative file (also cntrl-ˆ)
:rew return to beginning of edited files list (:args)
:brew buffer rewind
:sp fred.txt open fred.txt into a split
:sball,:sb split all buffers (super)
:scrollbind in each split window
:map <F5> :ls<CR>:e # pressing F5 lists all buffers, just type number
:set hidden allows to change buffer w/o saving current buffer

2.4 File-name manipulation

:h filename-modifiers help
:w % write to current file name
:w %:r.cfm change file extention to .cfm
:!echo %:p full path & file name
:!echo %:p:h full path only
<C-R>% insert filename (insert mode)
“%p insert filename (normal mode)
/<C-R>% search for file name in text

2.5 Command over multiple files

:argdo %s/foo/bar/e operate on all files in :args

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2.8 Markers & moving about 2 FILE MANIPULATION
:bufdo %s/foo/bar/e
:windo %s/foo/bar/e
:argdo exe ’%!sort’|w! include an external command

2.6 Sessions (set of files)

gvim file1.c file2.c lib/lib.h lib/lib2.h load files for “session”

:mksession create a session file (default session.vim)
gvim -S Session.vim reload all files

2.7 Modelines

vim:noai:ts=2:sw=4:readonly: makes readonly

vim:ft=html: says use HTML syntax highlighting
:h modeline help with modelines

2.7.1 Creating your own GUI Toolbar entry

amenu Modeline.Insert\ at\ VIMt\ modeline <Esc><Esc>ggOvim:ff=unix ts=4 ss=4

<CR>vim60:fdm=marker<Esc>gg

(All on one line!)

2.8 Markers & moving about

’. jump to last modification line (SUPER)

‘. jump to exact spot in last modification line
g; cycle through recent changes (oldest first) 2
g, reverse direction 3
:changes show entire list of changes
:h changelist help for above
<C-O> retrace your movements in file (starting from most recent)
<C-I> retrace your movements in file (reverse direction)
:ju(mps) list of your movements
:help jump-motions explains jump motions
:history list of all your commands
:his c commandline history
:his s search history
2 (new in vim 6.3)
3 (new in vim 6.3)

10
 3 REGISTERS
q/ search history window (puts you in full edit mode)
q: commandline history window (puts you in full edit mode)
: history Window

2.9 Editing/moving within insert mode

<C-U> delete all entered

<C-W> delete last word
<HOME><END> beginning/end of line
<C-LEFTARROW><C-RIGHTARROW> jump one word backwards/forwards
<C-X><C-E>,<C-X><C-Y> scroll while staying put in insert

2.10 Abbreviations & maps

:map <f7> :’a,’bw! c:/aaa/x

:map <f8> :r c:/aaa/x
:map <f11> :.w! c:/aaa/xr<CR>
:map <f12> :r c:/aaa/xr<CR>
:ab php list of abbreviations beginning php
:map , list of maps beginning ,
set wak=no allow use of F10 for win32 mapping (:h winaltkeys)
<CR> enter
<ESC> escape
<BACKSPACE> backspace
<LEADER> backslash
<BAR> |
<SILENT> execute quietly
iab phpdb exit(”<hr>Debug <C-R>a ”); yank all variables into register a

2.10.1 Display RGB colour under the cursor eg #445588

:nmap <leader>c :hi Normal guibg=#<c-r>=expand(”<cword>”)<cr><cr>

3 Registers
3.1 List your registers

:reg display contents of all registers

:reg a display content of individual registers
“1p.... retrieve numeric registers one by one

11
3.5 Useful tricks 3 REGISTERS
:let @y=’yy@”’ pre-loading registers (put in .vimrc)
qqq empty register “q”
:let @a=@ clear register a
:let @a=”“ clear register a
:let @*=@a copy register a to paste buffer
map <F11> “qyy:let @q=@q.”zzz”

3.2 Appending to registers

Yank 5 lines into “a” then add a further 5

1. “a5yy

2. 10j

3. “A5yy

3.3 Using a register as a map (preload registers in .vimrc)

:let @m=”:’a,’bs/”
:let @s=”:%!sort -u”

3.4 Redirection & paste register

:redir @* redirect commands to paste buffer

:redir END end redirect
:redir >> out.txt redirect to a file
“*yy yank to paste
“*p insert from paste buffer
:’a,’by* yank range into paste
:%y* yank whole buffer into paste
:.y* yank current line to paster
:nmap p :let @* = substitute(@*,’[ˆ[:print:]]’,”,’g’)”*p filter non-printable characters

3.4.1 Copy full path name

unix: nnoremap <F2> :let @*=expand(“%:p”)

win32: nnoremap <F2> :let @*=substitute(expand(“%:p”), “/”, “\\”, “g”)

3.5 Useful tricks

12
4.3 Recording 4 ADVANCED
“ayy@a execute “vim command” in a text file
yy@” same thing using unnamed register
u@. execute command JUST typed in
:norm qqy$jq paste “normal commands” without entering insert mode

4 Advanced
4.1 Command line tricks

cat xx | gvim - -c “v/ˆ\d\d\|ˆ[3-9]/d “ filter a stream

ls | gvim - edit a stream!
gvim ftp://www.somedomain.com/index.html uses netrw.vim
gvim -h help
gvim -o file1 file2 open into a split
gvim -c “/main” joe.c open joe.c & jump to “main”
gvim -c “%s/ABC/DEF/ge | update” file1.c execute multiple command on a single file
gvim -c “argdo %s/ABC/DEF/ge | update” *.c execute multiple command on a group of files
gvim -c “argdo /begin/+1,/end/-1g/ˆ/d | update” *.c remove blocks of text from a series of files
gvim -s “convert.vim” file.c automate editing of a file (ex commands in convert.vim)
gvim -u NONE -U NONE -N load vim without .vimrc and plugins (clean vim)
gvim -c ’normal ggdG”*p’ c:/aaa/xp access paste buffer contents (put in a script/batch file)
gvim -c ’s/ˆ/\=@*/|hardcopy!|q!’ print paste contents to default printer
gvim -d file1 file2 vimdiff (compare differences)
dp “put” difference under cursor to other file
do “get” difference under cursor from other file
:grep somestring *.php internal grep creates a list of all matching files
:h grep use :cn(ext) :cp(rev) to navigate list

4.2 External programs

:r!ls.exe reads in output of ls

!!date same thing (but replaces/filters current line)
:%!sort -u sort unique content
:’a,’b!sort -u as above
!1} sort -u sorts paragraph (note normal mode!!)
map <F9> :w:!c:/php/php.exe % run file through php
map <F2> :w:!perl -c % run file through perl
:runtime! syntax/2html.vim convert txt to html

4.3 Recording

13
4.5 Visual mode basics 4 ADVANCED
qq record to q
q end recording
@q to execute
@@ to repeat
5@@ to repeat 5 times
“qp display contents of register q (normal mode)
<ctrl-R>q display contents of register q (insert mode)
”qdd put changed contacts back into q
@q execute recording/register q
nnoremap ] @l:wbd combining a recording with a map (to end up in command mode)

4.3.1 Operating a Recording on a Visual BLOCK

1. define recording/register
qq:s/ to/ from/gˆMq

2. Define Visual BLOCK

V}

3. hit : and the following appears

:’<,’>

4. Complete as follows
:’<,’>norm @q

4.4 Quick jumping between splits

map <C-J> <C-W>j<C-W>
map <C-K> <C-W>k<C-W>

4.5 Visual mode basics

v enter visual mode

V visual mode whole line
<C-V> enter VISUAL BLOCK mode
gv reselect last visual area (ultra)
o navigate visual area
“*y yank visual area into paste buffer
V% visualise what you match
V}J join visual block (great)
V}gJ join visual block w/o adding spaces
0<C-V>10j2ld delete first 2 characters of 10 successive lines

14
4.8 Pulling objects onto command/search line 4 ADVANCED
4.6 vimrc essentials

set incsearch jumps to search word as you type

set wildignore=*.o,*.obj,*.bak,*.exe tab complete now ignores these
set shiftwidth=3 for shift/tabbing
set vb t vb=”. set silent (no beep!)
set browsedir=buffer make ’open directory’ use current directory

4.6.1 Launching IE

nmap ,f :update:silent !start c:\progra∼1\intern∼1\iexplore.exe file://%:p

nmap ,i :update: !start c:\progra∼1\intern∼1\iexplore.exe

4.6.2 Ftping from vim

cmap ,r :Nread ftp://209.51.134.122/public html/index.html

cmap ,w :Nwrite ftp://209.51.134.122/public html/index.html

4.6.3 Autocmd

autocmd bufenter *.tex map <F1> :!latex % programming keys depending on file type
autocmd bufenter *.tex map <F2> :!xdvi -hush %<.dvi& launch xdvi with current file dvi
autocmd BufRead * silent! %s/[\r \t]\+$// automatically delete whitespace, trailing dos returns
autocmd BufEnter *.php :%s/[ \t\r]\+$//e same but only for php files

4.7 Conventional shifting and indenting

:’a,’b>> conventional Shifting/Indenting

:vnoremap < <gv visual shifting (builtin-repeat)
:vnoremap > >gv visual shifting (builtin-repeat)
>i{ block shifting (magic)
>a{
>%
<%

4.8 Pulling objects onto command/search line

<C-R><C-W> pull word under the cursor into a command line or search
<C-R><C-A> pull WORD under the cursor into a command line or search
<C-R>- pull small register (also insert mode)

15
4.11 Perform an action on a particular file or file type 4 ADVANCED
<C-R>[0-9a-z] pull named registers (also insert mode)
<C-R>% pull file name (also #) (also insert mode)
<C-R>=somevar pull contents of a variable (eg :let sray=”ray[0-9]”)

4.9 Capturing output of current script

:new | r!perl # opens new buffer,read other buffer

:new! x.out | r!perl # same with named file
:new+read!ls
:new +put q|%!sort create a new buffer, paste a register “q” into it, then sort new buffer

4.10 Inserting DOS carriage returns

:%s/$/\&/g that’s what you type

:%s/$/\&/g for Win32
:%s/$/\ˆM&/g what you’ll see where ˆM is ONE character
:set list display “invisible characters”

4.11 Perform an action on a particular file or file type

autocmd VimEnter c:/intranet/note011.txt normal! ggVGg?
autocmd FileType *.pl exec(’set fileformats=unix’)

“ Retrieving last command line command for copy & pasting into text
i:
“ Retrieving last Search Command for copy & pasting into text
i/

4.12 Inserting line number

:g/ˆ/exec “s/ˆ/”.strpart(line(“.”).” “, 0, 4)
:%s/ˆ/\=strpart(line(“.”).” “, 0, 5)
:%s/ˆ/\=line(’.’). ’ ’

4.13 Numbering lines

:set number show line numbers

:map <F12> :set number!<CR> map to toggle line numbers
:%s/ˆ/\=strpart(line(’.’).” “,0,&ts)

16
4.17 Syntax highlighting 4 ADVANCED
:’a,’b!perl -pne ’BEGIN{$a=223} substr($ ,2,0)=$a++’ number lines starting from arbitrary number
qqmnYP‘nˆAq in recording q repeat with @q
:.,$g/ˆ\d/exe “normal! \” increment existing numbers to end of file
o23qqYpq40@q generate a list of numbers 23-64

4.14 Advanced incrementing

let g:I=0
function! INC(increment)
let g:I =g:I + a:increment
return g:I
end function

4.14.1 Create list starting from 223 incrementing by 5 between markers a,b

:let I=223
:’a,’bs/ˆ/\=INC(5)/

4.14.2 Create a map for INC

cab viminc :let I=223 \| ’a,’bs/$/\=INC(5)/

4.15 Digraphs (non alpha-numerics)

:digraphs display table

:h dig help
i<C-K>e’ enters
i<C-V>233 enters (Unix)
i<C-Q>233 enters (Win32)
ga View hex value of any character
:::yl/<C-R>” Pull a non-ascii character onto search bar

4.16 Complex vim

:%s/\<\(on\|off\)\>/\=strpart(“offon”, 3 * (“off” == submatch(0)), 3)/g swap two words

:vnoremap <C-X> <Esc>‘.“gvP“P swap two words

4.17 Syntax highlighting

:set syntax=perl force Syntax coloring for a file that has no extension .pl
:set syntax off remove syntax coloring (useful for all sorts of reasons)

17
4.21 Renaming files 4 ADVANCED
:colorscheme blue change coloring scheme (any file in ∼vim/vim??/colors)
vim:ft=html: force HTML Syntax highlighting by using a modeline
:syn match DoubleSpace “ “ example of setting your own highlighting
:hi def DoubleSpace guibg=#e0e0e0 sets the editor background

4.18 Preventions and security

:set noma (non modifiable) prevents modifications

:set ro (Read Only) protect a file from unintentional writes
:X encryption (do not forget your key!)

4.19 Taglist
4

:Tlist display tags (list of functions)

<C-]> jump to function under cursor

4.20 Folding

zf} fold paragraph using motion

v}zf fold paragraph using visual
zf’a fold to mark
zo open fold
zc re-close fold

4.21 Renaming files

Rename files without leaving vim
:r! ls *.c
:%s/\(.*\).c/mv & \1.bla
:w !sh
:q!

4.22 Reproducing lines

4 Script required: taglist.vim (http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script id=273)

18
4.25 Miscallaenous commands 4 ADVANCED
imap ] @@@hhkyWjl?@@@P/@@@3s reproduce previous line word by word
nmap ] i@@@hhkyWjl?@@@P/@@@3s reproduce previous line word by word

4.23 Reading MS-Word documents

5
:autocmd BufReadPre *.doc set ro
:autocmd BufReadPre *.doc set hlsearch!
:autocmd BufReadPost *.doc %!antiword “%”

4.24 Random functions

4.24.1 Save word under cursor to a file
function! SaveWord()
normal yiw
exe ’:!echo ’.@0.’ $>$$>$ word.txt’
endfunction

4.24.2 Delete duplicate lines

function! Del()
if getline(‘‘.’’) == getline(line(‘‘.’’) - 1)
norm dd
endif
endfunction

4.24.3 Columnise a CSV file for display

:let width = 20
:let fill=’ ’ | while strlen(fill) < width | let fill=fill.fill | endwhile
:%s/\([ˆ;]*\);\=/\=strpart(submatch(1).fill, 0, width)/ge
:%s/\s\+$//ge

function! CSVH(x)
execute ’match Keyword /\^{}$\backslash$([\^{},]*,$\backslash$)$\backslash$\{’.a:x.’\}$\backslash$zs[\^{},]*/’
execute ’normal \^{}’.a:x.’f,’
endfunction

command! -nargs=1 Csv :call CSVH()

:Csv 5 : highlight fifth column

4.25 Miscallaenous commands

:scriptnames list all plugins, vimrcs loaded (super)

:verbose set history? reveals value of history and where set
:function list functions
:func SearchCompl List particular function

5 Program required: Antiword (http://www.winfield.demon.nl/)

19
 5 FUN

4.26 Vim traps

In regular expressions you must backslash + (match 1 or more)
In regular expressions you must backslash | (or)

In regular expressions you must backslash ( (group)

In regular expressions you must backslash { (count)

/fred\+/ matches fred/freddy but not free

/\(fred\)\{2,3}/ note what you have to break
/codes\(\n\—\s\)*where normal regexp
/\vcodes(\n|\s)*where very magic

4.27 Help

:h quickref vim quick reference sheet (ultra)

:h tips vim’s own tips help
:h visual<C-D><TAB> obtain list of all visual help topics
:h ctrl<C-D> list help of all control keys
:helpg uganda grep help files use :cn, :cp to find next
:h :r help for :ex command
:h CTRL-R normal mode
:h /\r what’s \r in a regexp (matches a <CR>)
:h \\zs double up backslash to find \zs in help
:h i CTRL-R help for say <C-R> in insert mode
:h c CTRL-R help for say <C-R> in command mode
:h v CTRL-V visual mode
:h tutor vim tutor
<C-[>, <C-T> Move back & forth in help history
gvim -h vim command line help
:helptags /vim/vim64/doc rebuild all *.txt help files in /doc
:help add-local-help

5 Fun
:h 42
:h holy-grail
:h!
vim -c “:%s%s*%Cyrnfr)fcbafbe[Oenz(Zbbyranne%|:%s)[[()])-)Ig|norm Vg?”

20
5.2 Links 5 FUN
5.1 Contact
5.1.1 Author (David Rayner)

Please email any errors or further tips etc to david(at)rayninfo.co.uk

Updated version at http://www.rayninfo.co.uk/vimtips.html

5.1.2 Maintainer (Gavin Gilmour)

Please email any comments, suggestions including spelling, grammatical and/or formatting issues with this
document to gavin(at)brokentrain.net
Updated version available at: http://gavin.brokentrain.net/projects/vimtips/vimtips.pdf

5.1.3 Source

The source of this document is available at: http://github.com/gaving/vimtips/.

5.2 Links

http://www.vim.org/ Official site

http://chronos.cs.msu.su/vim/newsgroup.html Newsgroup and Usenet
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vim Specific newsgroup
http://u.webring.com/hub?ring=vim VIM Webring
http://www.truth.sk/vim/vimbook-OPL.pdf Vim Book
http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/ Searchable VIM Doc
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/editor-faq/vim/ VIM FAQ

21