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diff --git a/runtime/doc/tips.txt b/runtime/doc/tips.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000..70747797e --- /dev/null +++ b/runtime/doc/tips.txt @@ -0,0 +1,445 @@ +*tips.txt* For Vim version 7.0aa. Last change: 2004 Feb 17 + + + VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar + + +Tips and ideas for using Vim *tips* + +Don't forget to browse the user manual, it also contains lots of useful tips +|usr_toc.txt|. + +Editing C programs |C-editing| +Finding where identifiers are used |ident-search| +Switching screens in an xterm |xterm-screens| +Scrolling in Insert mode |scroll-insert| +Smooth scrolling |scroll-smooth| +Correcting common typing mistakes |type-mistakes| +Counting words, lines, etc. |count-items| +Restoring the cursor position |restore-position| +Renaming files |rename-files| +Speeding up external commands |speed-up| +Useful mappings |useful-mappings| +Compressing the help files |gzip-helpfile| +Hex editing |hex-editing| +Executing shell commands in a window |shell-window| +Using <> notation in autocommands |autocmd-<>| + +============================================================================== +Editing C programs *C-editing* + +There are quite a few features in Vim to help you edit C program files. Here +is an overview with tags to jump to: + +|usr_29.txt| Moving through programs chapter in the user manual. +|usr_30.txt| Editing programs chapter in the user manual. +|C-indenting| Automatically set the indent of a line while typing + text. +|=| Re-indent a few lines. +|format-comments| Format comments. + +|:checkpath| Show all recursively included files. +|[i| Search for identifier under cursor in current and + included files. +|[_CTRL-I| Jump to match for "[i" +|[I| List all lines in current and included files where + identifier under the cursor matches. +|[d| Search for define under cursor in current and included + files. + +|CTRL-]| Jump to tag under cursor (e.g., definition of a + function). +|CTRL-T| Jump back to before a CTRL-] command. +|:tselect| Select one tag out of a list of matching tags. + +|gd| Go to Declaration of local variable under cursor. +|gD| Go to Declaration of global variable under cursor. + +|gf| Go to file name under the cursor. + +|%| Go to matching (), {}, [], /* */, #if, #else, #endif. +|[/| Go to previous start of comment. +|]/| Go to next end of comment. +|[#| Go back to unclosed #if, #ifdef, or #else. +|]#| Go forward to unclosed #else or #endif. +|[(| Go back to unclosed '(' +|])| Go forward to unclosed ')' +|[{| Go back to unclosed '{' +|]}| Go forward to unclosed '}' + +|v_ab| Select "a block" from "[(" to "])", including braces +|v_ib| Select "inner block" from "[(" to "])" +|v_aB| Select "a block" from "[{" to "]}", including brackets +|v_iB| Select "inner block" from "[{" to "]}" + +============================================================================== +Finding where identifiers are used *ident-search* + +You probably already know that |tags| can be used to jump to the place where a +function or variable is defined. But sometimes you wish you could jump to all +the places where a function or variable is being used. This is possible in +two ways: +1. Using the |:grep| command. This should work on most Unix systems, + but can be slow (it reads all files) and only searches in one directory. +2. Using ID utils. This is fast and works in multiple directories. It uses a + database to store locations. You will need some additional programs for + this to work. And you need to keep the database up to date. + +Using the GNU id-tools: + +What you need: +- The GNU id-tools installed (mkid is needed to create ID and lid is needed to + use the macros). +- An identifier database file called "ID" in the current directory. You can + create it with the shell command "mkid file1 file2 ..". + +Put this in your .vimrc: > + map _u :call ID_search()<Bar>execute "/\\<" . g:word . "\\>"<CR> + map _n :n<Bar>execute "/\\<" . g:word . "\\>"<CR> + + function! ID_search() + let g:word = expand("<cword>") + let x = system("lid --key=none ". g:word) + let x = substitute(x, "\n", " ", "g") + execute "next " . x + endfun + +To use it, place the cursor on a word, type "_u" and vim will load the file +that contains the word. Search for the next occurrence of the word in the +same file with "n". Go to the next file with "_n". + +This has been tested with id-utils-3.2 (which is the name of the id-tools +archive file on your closest gnu-ftp-mirror). + +[the idea for this comes from Andreas Kutschera] + +============================================================================== +Switching screens in an xterm *xterm-screens* *xterm-save-screen* + +(From comp.editors, by Juergen Weigert, in reply to a question) + +:> Another question is that after exiting vim, the screen is left as it +:> was, i.e. the contents of the file I was viewing (editing) was left on +:> the screen. The output from my previous like "ls" were lost, +:> ie. no longer in the scrolling buffer. I know that there is a way to +:> restore the screen after exiting vim or other vi like editors, +:> I just don't know how. Helps are appreciated. Thanks. +: +:I imagine someone else can answer this. I assume though that vim and vi do +:the same thing as each other for a given xterm setup. + +They not necessarily do the same thing, as this may be a termcap vs. +terminfo problem. You should be aware that there are two databases for +describing attributes of a particular type of terminal: termcap and +terminfo. This can cause differences when the entries differ AND when of +the programs in question one uses terminfo and the other uses termcap +(also see |+terminfo|). + +In your particular problem, you are looking for the control sequences +^[[?47h and ^[[?47l. These switch between xterms alternate and main screen +buffer. As a quick workaround a command sequence like > + echo -n "^[[?47h"; vim ... ; echo -n "^[[?47l" +may do what you want. (My notation ^[ means the ESC character, further down +you'll see that the databases use \E instead). + +On startup, vim echoes the value of the termcap variable ti (terminfo: +smcup) to the terminal. When exiting, it echoes te (terminfo: rmcup). Thus +these two variables are the correct place where the above mentioned control +sequences should go. + +Compare your xterm termcap entry (found in /etc/termcap) with your xterm +terminfo entry (retrieved with /usr/5bin/infocmp -C xterm). Both should +contain entries similar to: > + :te=\E[2J\E[?47l\E8:ti=\E7\E[?47h: + +PS: If you find any difference, someone (your sysadmin?) should better check + the complete termcap and terminfo database for consistency. + +NOTE 1: If you recompile Vim with FEAT_XTERM_SAVE defined in feature.h, the +builtin xterm will include the mentioned "te" and "ti" entries. + +NOTE 2: If you want to disable the screen switching, and you don't want to +change your termcap, you can add these lines to your .vimrc: > + :set t_ti= t_te= + +============================================================================== +Scrolling in Insert mode *scroll-insert* + +If you are in insert mode and you want to see something that is just off the +screen, you can use CTRL-X CTRL-E and CTRL-X CTRL-Y to scroll the screen. + |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-E| + +To make this easier, you could use these mappings: > + :inoremap <C-E> <C-X><C-E> + :inoremap <C-Y> <C-X><C-Y> +(Type this literally, make sure the '<' flag is not in 'cpoptions'). +You then lose the ability to copy text from the line above/below the cursor +|i_CTRL-E|. + +Also consider setting 'scrolloff' to a larger value, so that you can always see +some context around the cursor. If 'scrolloff' is bigger than half the window +height, the cursor will always be in the middle and the text is scrolled when +the cursor is moved up/down. + +============================================================================== +Smooth scrolling *scroll-smooth* + +If you like the scrolling to go a bit smoother, you can use these mappings: > + :map <C-U> <C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y><C-Y> + :map <C-D> <C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E><C-E> + +(Type this literally, make sure the '<' flag is not in 'cpoptions'). + +============================================================================== +Correcting common typing mistakes *type-mistakes* + +When there are a few words that you keep on typing in the wrong way, make +abbreviations that correct them. For example: > + :ab teh the + :ab fro for + +============================================================================== +Counting words, lines, etc. *count-items* + +To count how often any pattern occurs in a buffer, set 'report' to 0, and use +the substitute command to replace the pattern with itself. The reported +number of substitutions is the number of items. Examples: > + + :set report=0 + :%s/./&/g characters + :%s/\i\+/&/g words + :%s/^ lines + :%s/the/&/g "the" anywhere + :%s/\<the\>/&/g "the" as a word + +You might want to reset 'hlsearch' or do ":nohlsearch". + +This does not work if the 'modifiable' option is off. An alternative is using +|v_g_CTRL-G| in Visual mode. + + *count-bytes* +If you want to count bytes, you can use this: + + Visually select the characters (block is also possible) + Use "y" to yank the characters + Use the strlen() function: > + :echo strlen(@") +A line break is counted for one byte. + +============================================================================== +Restoring the cursor position *restore-position* + +Sometimes you want to write a mapping that makes a change somewhere in the +file and restores the cursor position, without scrolling the text. For +example, to change the date mark in a file: > + :map <F2> msHmtgg/Last [cC]hange:\s*/e+1<CR>"_D"=strftime("%Y %b %d")<CR>p'tzt`s + +Breaking up saving the position: + ms store cursor position in the 's' mark + H go to the first line in the window + mt store this position in the 't' mark + +Breaking up restoring the position: + 't go to the line previously at the top of the window + zt scroll to move this line to the top of the window + `s jump to the original position of the cursor + +============================================================================== +Renaming files *rename-files* + +Say I have a directory with the following files in them (directory picked at +random :-): + +buffer.c +charset.c +digraph.c +... + +and I want to rename *.c *.bla. I'd do it like this: > + + $ vim + :r! ls *.c + :%s/\(.*\).c/mv & \1.bla + :w !sh + :q! + +============================================================================== +Speeding up external commands *speed-up* + +In some situations, execution of an external command can be very slow. This +can also slow down wildcard expansion on Unix. Here are a few suggestions to +increase the speed. + +If your .cshrc (or other file, depending on the shell used) is very long, you +should separate it into a section for interactive use and a section for +non-interactive use (often called secondary shells). When you execute a +command from Vim like ":!ls", you do not need the interactive things (for +example, setting the prompt). Put the stuff that is not needed after these +lines: > + + if ($?prompt == 0) then + exit 0 + endif + +Another way is to include the "-f" flag in the 'shell' option, e.g.: > + + :set shell=csh\ -f + +(the backslash is needed to include the space in the option). +This will make csh completely skip the use of the .cshrc file. This may cause +some things to stop working though. + +============================================================================== +Useful mappings *useful-mappings* + +Here are a few mappings that some people like to use. + + *map-backtick* > + :map ' ` +Make the single quote work like a backtick. Puts the cursor on the column of +a mark, instead of going to the first non-blank character in the line. + + *emacs-keys* +For Emacs-style editing on the command-line: > + " start of line + :cnoremap <C-A> <Home> + " back one character + :cnoremap <C-B> <Left> + " delete character under cursor + :cnoremap <C-D> <Del> + " end of line + :cnoremap <C-E> <End> + " forward one character + :cnoremap <C-F> <Right> + " recall newer command-line + :cnoremap <C-N> <Down> + " recall previous (older) command-line + :cnoremap <C-P> <Up> + " back one word + :cnoremap <Esc><C-B> <S-Left> + " forward one word + :cnoremap <Esc><C-F> <S-Right> + +NOTE: This requires that the '<' flag is excluded from 'cpoptions'. |<>| + + *format-bullet-list* +This mapping will format any bullet list. It requires that there is an empty +line above and below each list entry. The expression commands are used to +be able to give comments to the parts of the mapping. > + + :let m = ":map _f :set ai<CR>" " need 'autoindent' set + :let m = m . "{O<Esc>" " add empty line above item + :let m = m . "}{)^W" " move to text after bullet + :let m = m . "i <CR> <Esc>" " add space for indent + :let m = m . "gq}" " format text after the bullet + :let m = m . "{dd" " remove the empty line + :let m = m . "5lDJ" " put text after bullet + :execute m |" define the mapping + +(<> notation |<>|. Note that this is all typed literally. ^W is "^" "W", not +CTRL-W. You can copy/paste this into Vim if '<' is not included in +'cpoptions') + +Note that the last comment starts with |", because the ":execute" command +doesn't accept a comment directly. + +You also need to set 'textwidth' to a non-zero value, e.g., > + :set tw=70 + +A mapping that does about the same, but takes the indent for the list from the +first line (Note: this mapping is a single long line with a lot of spaces): > + :map _f :set ai<CR>}{a <Esc>WWmmkD`mi<CR><Esc>kkddpJgq}'mJO<Esc>j +< + *collapse* +These two mappings reduce a sequence of empty (;b) or blank (;n) lines into a +single line > + :map ;b GoZ<Esc>:g/^$/.,/./-j<CR>Gdd + :map ;n GoZ<Esc>:g/^[ <Tab>]*$/.,/[^ <Tab>]/-j<CR>Gdd + +============================================================================== +Compressing the help files *gzip-helpfile* + +For those of you who are really short on disk space, you can compress the help +files and still be able to view them with Vim. This makes accessing the help +files a bit slower and requires the "gzip" program. + +(1) Compress all the help files: "gzip doc/*.txt". + +(2) Edit "doc/tags" and change the ".txt" to ".txt.gz": > + :%s=\(\t.*\.txt\)\t=\1.gz\t= + +(3) Add this line to your vimrc: > + set helpfile={dirname}/help.txt.gz + +Where {dirname} is the directory where the help files are. The |gzip| plugin +will take care of decompressing the files. +You must make sure that $VIMRUNTIME is set to where the other Vim files are, +when they are not in the same location as the compressed "doc" directory. See +|$VIMRUNTIME|. + +============================================================================== +Executing shell commands in a window *shell-window* + +There have been questions for the possibility to execute a shell in a window +inside Vim. The answer: you can't! Including this would add a lot of code to +Vim, which is a good reason not to do this. After all, Vim is an editor, it +is not supposed to do non-editing tasks. However, to get something like this, +you might try splitting your terminal screen or display window with the +"splitvt" program. You can probably find it on some ftp server. The person +that knows more about this is Sam Lantinga <slouken@cs.ucdavis.edu>. +An alternative is the "window" command, found on BSD Unix systems, which +supports multiple overlapped windows. Or the "screen" program, found at +www.uni-erlangen.de, which supports a stack of windows. + +============================================================================== +Hex editing *hex-editing* *using-xxd* + +See section |23.4| of the user manual. + +If one has a particular extension that one uses for binary files (such as exe, +bin, etc), you may find it helpful to automate the process with the following +bit of autocmds for your <.vimrc>. Change that "*.bin" to whatever +comma-separated list of extension(s) you find yourself wanting to edit: > + + " vim -b : edit binary using xxd-format! + augroup Binary + au! + au BufReadPre *.bin let &bin=1 + au BufReadPost *.bin if &bin | %!xxd + au BufReadPost *.bin set ft=xxd | endif + au BufWritePre *.bin if &bin | %!xxd -r + au BufWritePre *.bin endif + au BufWritePost *.bin if &bin | %!xxd + au BufWritePost *.bin set nomod | endif + augroup END + +============================================================================== +Using <> notation in autocommands *autocmd-<>* + +The <> notation is not recognized in the argument of an :autocmd. To avoid +having to use special characters, you could use a self-destroying mapping to +get the <> notation and then call the mapping from the autocmd. Example: + + *map-self-destroy* > + " This is for automatically adding the name of the file to the menu list. + " It uses a self-destroying mapping! + " 1. use a line in the buffer to convert the 'dots' in the file name to \. + " 2. store that in register '"' + " 3. add that name to the Buffers menu list + " WARNING: this does have some side effects, like overwriting the + " current register contents and removing any mapping for the "i" command. + " + autocmd BufNewFile,BufReadPre * nmap i :nunmap i<CR>O<C-R>%<Esc>:.g/\./s/\./\\./g<CR>0"9y$u:menu Buffers.<C-R>9 :buffer <C-R>%<C-V><CR><CR> + autocmd BufNewFile,BufReadPre * normal i + +Another method, perhaps better, is to use the ":execute" command. In the +string you can use the <> notation by preceding it with a backslash. Don't +forget to double the number of existing backslashes and put a backslash before +'"'. +> + autocmd BufNewFile,BufReadPre * exe "normal O\<C-R>%\<Esc>:.g/\\./s/\\./\\\\./g\<CR>0\"9y$u:menu Buffers.\<C-R>9 :buffer \<C-R>%\<C-V>\<CR>\<CR>" + +For a real buffer menu, user functions should be used (see |:function|), but +then the <> notation isn't used, which defeats using it as an example here. + + vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: |