diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'runtime/doc/usr_45.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | runtime/doc/usr_45.txt | 419 |
1 files changed, 419 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/runtime/doc/usr_45.txt b/runtime/doc/usr_45.txt new file mode 100644 index 000000000..034b040dc --- /dev/null +++ b/runtime/doc/usr_45.txt @@ -0,0 +1,419 @@ +*usr_45.txt* For Vim version 7.0aa. Last change: 2004 Jun 08 + + VIM USER MANUAL - by Bram Moolenaar + + Select your language + + +The messages in Vim can be given in several languages. This chapter explains +how to change which one is used. Also, the different ways to work with files +in various languages is explained. + +|45.1| Language for Messages +|45.2| Language for Menus +|45.3| Using another encoding +|45.4| Editing files with a different encoding +|45.5| Entering language text + + Next chapter: |usr_90.txt| Installing Vim + Previous chapter: |usr_44.txt| Your own syntax highlighted +Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt| + +============================================================================== +*45.1* Language for Messages + +When you start Vim, it checks the environment to find out what language you +are using. Mostly this should work fine, and you get the messages in your +language (if they are available). To see what the current language is, use +this command: > + + :language + +If it replies with "C", this means the default is being used, which is +English. + + Note: + Using different languages only works when Vim was compiled to handle + it. To find out if it works, use the ":version" command and check the + output for "+gettext" and "+multi_lang". If they are there, you are + OK. If you see "-gettext" or "-multi_lang" you will have to find + another Vim. + +What if you would like your messages in a different language? There are +several ways. Which one you should use depends on the capabilities of your +system. + The first way is to set the environment to the desired language before +starting Vim. Example for Unix: > + + env LANG=de_DE.ISO_8859-1 vim + +This only works if the language is available on your system. The advantage is +that all the GUI messages and things in libraries will use the right language +as well. A disadvantage is that you must do this before starting Vim. If you +want to change language while Vim is running, you can use the second method: > + + :language fr_FR.ISO_8859-1 + +This way you can try out several names for your language. You will get an +error message when it's not supported on your system. You don't get an error +when translated messages are not available. Vim will silently fall back to +using English. + To find out which languages are supported on your system, find the +directory where they are listed. On my system it is "/usr/share/locale". On +some systems it's in "/usr/lib/locale". The manual page for "setlocale" +should give you a hint where it is found on your system. + Be careful to type the name exactly as it should be. Upper and lowercase +matter, and the '-' and '_' characters are easily confused. + +You can also set the language separately for messages, edited text and the +time format. See |:language|. + + +DO-IT-YOURSELF MESSAGE TRANSLATION + +If translated messages are not available for your language, you could write +them yourself. To do this, get the source code for Vim and the GNU gettext +package. After unpacking the sources, instructions can be found in the +directory src/po/README.txt. + It's not too difficult to do the translation. You don't need to be a +programmer. You must know both English and the language you are translating +to, of course. + When you are satisfied with the translation, consider making it available +to others. Upload it at vim-online (http://vim.sf.net) or e-mail it to +the Vim maintainer <maintainer@vim.org>. Or both. + +============================================================================== +*45.2* Language for Menus + +The default menus are in English. To be able to use your local language, they +must be translated. Normally this is automatically done for you if the +environment is set for your language, just like with messages. You don't need +to do anything extra for this. But it only works if translations for the +language are available. + Suppose you are in Germany, with the language set to German, but prefer to +use "File" instead of "Datei". You can switch back to using the English menus +this way: > + + :set langmenu=none + +It is also possible to specify a language: > + + :set langmenu=nl_NL.ISO_8859-1 + +Like above, differences between "-" and "_" matter. However, upper/lowercase +differences are ignored here. + The 'langmenu' option must be set before the menus are loaded. Once the +menus have been defined changing 'langmenu' has no direct effect. Therefore, +put the command to set 'langmenu' in your vimrc file. + If you really want to switch menu language while running Vim, you can do it +this way: > + + :source $VIMRUNTIME/delmenu.vim + :set langmenu=de_DE.ISO_8859-1 + :source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim + +There is one drawback: All menus that you defined yourself will be gone. You +will need to redefine them as well. + + +DO-IT-YOURSELF MENU TRANSLATION + +To see which menu translations are available, look in this directory: + + $VIMRUNTIME/lang ~ + +The files are called menu_{language}.vim. If you don't see the language you +want to use, you can do your own translations. The simplest way to do this is +by copying one of the existing language files, and change it. + First find out the name of your language with the ":language" command. Use +this name, but with all letters made lowercase. Then copy the file to your +own runtime directory, as found early in 'runtimepath'. For example, for Unix +you would do: > + + :!cp $VIMRUNTIME/lang/menu_ko_kr.euckr.vim ~/.vim/lang/menu_nl_be.iso_8859-1.vim + +You will find hints for the translation in "$VIMRUNTIME/lang/README.txt". + +============================================================================== +*45.3* Using another encoding + +Vim guesses that the files you are going to edit are encoded for your +language. For many European languages this is "latin1". Then each byte is +one character. That means there are 256 different characters possible. For +Asian languages this is not sufficient. These mostly use a double-byte +encoding, providing for over ten thousand possible characters. This still +isn't enough when a text is to contain several different languages. This is +where Unicode comes in. It was designed to include all characters used in +commonly used languages. This is the "Super encoding that replaces all +others". But it isn't used that much yet. + Fortunately, Vim supports these three kinds of encodings. And, with some +restrictions, you can use them even when your environment uses another +language than the text. + Nevertheless, when you only edit files that are in the encoding of your +language, the default should work fine and you don't need to do anything. The +following is only relevant when you want to edit different languages. + + Note: + Using different encodings only works when Vim was compiled to handle + it. To find out if it works, use the ":version" command and check the + output for "+multi_byte". If it's there, you are OK. If you see + "-multi_byte" you will have to find another Vim. + + +USING UNICODE IN THE GUI + +The nice thing about Unicode is that other encodings can be converted to it +and back without losing information. When you make Vim use Unicode +internally, you will be able to edit files in any encoding. + Unfortunately, the number of systems supporting Unicode is still limited. +Thus it's unlikely that your language uses it. You need to tell Vim you want +to use Unicode, and how to handle interfacing with the rest of the system. + Let's start with the GUI version of Vim, which is able to display Unicode +characters. This should work: > + + :set encoding=utf-8 + :set guifont=-misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--18-120-100-100-c-90-iso10646-1 + +The 'encoding' option tells Vim the encoding of the characters that you use. +This applies to the text in buffers (files you are editing), registers, Vim +script files, etc. You can regard 'encoding' as the setting for the internals +of Vim. + This example assumes you have this font on your system. The name in the +example is for the X Window System. This font is in a package that is used to +enhance xterm with Unicode support. If you don't have this font, you might +find it here: + + http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~mgk25/download/ucs-fonts.tar.gz ~ + +For MS-Windows, some fonts have a limited number of Unicode characters. Try +using the "Courier New" font. You can use the Edit/Select Font... menu to +select and try out the fonts available. Only fixed-width fonts can be used +though. Example: > + + :set guifont=courier_new:h12 + +If it doesn't work well, try getting a fontpack. If Microsoft didn't move it, +you can find it here: + + http://www.microsoft.com/typography/fontpack/default.htm ~ + +Now you have told Vim to use Unicode internally and display text with a +Unicode font. Typed characters still arrive in the encoding of your original +language. This requires converting them to Unicode. Tell Vim the language +from which to convert with the 'termencoding' option. You can do it like +this: > + + :let &termencoding = &encoding + :set encoding=utf-8 + +This assigns the old value of 'encoding' to 'termencoding' before setting +'encoding' to utf-8. You will have to try out if this really works for your +setup. It should work especially well when using an input method for an Asian +language, and you want to edit Unicode text. + + +USING UNICODE IN A UNICODE TERMINAL + +There are terminals that support Unicode directly. The standard xterm that +comes with XFree86 is one of them. Let's use that as an example. + First of all, the xterm must have been compiled with Unicode support. See +|UTF8-xterm| how to check that and how to compile it when needed. + Start the xterm with the "-u8" argument. You might also need so specify a +font. Example: > + + xterm -u8 -fn -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--18-120-100-100-c-90-iso10646-1 + +Now you can run Vim inside this terminal. Set 'encoding' to "utf-8" as +before. That's all. + + +USING UNICODE IN AN ORDINARY TERMINAL + +Suppose you want to work with Unicode files, but don't have a terminal with +Unicode support. You can do this with Vim, although characters that are not +supported by the terminal will not be displayed. The layout of the text +will be preserved. > + + :let &termencoding = &encoding + :set encoding=utf-8 + +This is the same as what was used for the GUI. But it works differently: Vim +will convert the displayed text before sending it to the terminal. That +avoids that the display is messed up with strange characters. + For this to work the conversion between 'termencoding' and 'encoding' must +be possible. Vim will convert from latin1 to Unicode, thus that always works. +For other conversions the |+iconv| feature is required. + Try editing a file with Unicode characters in it. You will notice that Vim +will put a question mark (or underscore or some other character) in places +where a character should be that the terminal can't display. Move the cursor +to a question mark and use this command: > + + ga + +Vim will display a line with the code of the character. This gives you a hint +about what character it is. You can look it up in a Unicode table. You could +actually view a file that way, if you have lots of time at hand. + + Note: + Since 'encoding' is used for all text inside Vim, changing it makes + all non-ASCII text invalid. You will notice this when using registers + and the 'viminfo' file (e.g., a remembered search pattern). It's + recommended to set 'encoding' in your vimrc file, and leave it alone. + +============================================================================== +*45.4* Editing files with a different encoding + +Suppose you have setup Vim to use Unicode, and you want to edit a file that is +in 16-bit Unicode. Sounds simple, right? Well, Vim actually uses utf-8 +encoding internally, thus the 16-bit encoding must be converted. Thus there +is a difference between the character set (Unicode) and the encoding (utf-8 or +16-bit). + Vim will try to detect what kind of file you are editing. It uses the +encoding names in the 'fileencodings' option. When using Unicode, the default +value is: "ucs-bom,utf-8,latin1". This means that Vim checks the file to see +if it's one of these encodings: + + ucs-bom File must start with a Byte Order Mark (BOM). This + allows detection of 16-bit, 32-bit and utf-8 Unicode + encodings. + utf-8 utf-8 Unicode. This is rejected when a sequence of + bytes is illegal in utf-8. + latin1 The good old 8-bit encoding. Always works. + +When you start editing that 16-bit Unicode file, and it has a BOM, Vim will +detect this and convert the file to utf-8 when reading it. The 'fileencoding' +option (without s at the end) is set to the detected value. In this case it +is "ucs-2le". That means it's Unicode, two bytes and little-endian. This +file format is common on MS-Windows (e.g., for registry files). + When writing the file, Vim will compare 'fileencoding' with 'encoding'. If +they are different, the text will be converted. + An empty value for 'fileencoding' means that no conversion is to be done. +Thus the text is assumed to be encoded with 'encoding'. + +If the default 'fileencodings' value is not good for you, set it to the +encodings you want Vim to try. Only when a value is found to be invalid will +the next one be used. Putting "latin1" first doesn't work, because it is +never illegal. An example, to fall back to Japanese when the file doesn't +have a BOM and isn't utf-8: > + + :set fileencodings=ucs-bom,utf-8,sjis + +See |encoding-values| for suggested values. Other values may work as well. +This depends on the conversion available. + + +FORCING AN ENCODING + +If the automatic detection doesn't work you must tell Vim what encoding the +file is. Example: > + + :edit ++enc=koi8-r russian.txt + +The "++enc" part specifies the name of the encoding to be used for this file +only. Vim will convert the file from the specified encoding, Russian in this +example, to 'encoding'. 'fileencoding' will also be set to the specified +encoding, so that the reverse conversion can be done when writing the file. + The same argument can be used when writing the file. This way you can +actually use Vim to convert a file. Example: > + + :write ++enc=utf-8 russian.txt +< + Note: + Conversion may result in lost characters. Conversion from an encoding + to Unicode and back is mostly free of this problem, unless there are + illegal characters. Conversion from Unicode to other encodings often + loses information when there was more than one language in the file. + +============================================================================== +*45.5* Entering language text + +Computer keyboards don't have much more than a hundred keys. Some languages +have thousands of characters, Unicode has ten thousands. So how do you type +these characters? + First of all, when you don't use too many of the special characters, you +can use digraphs. This was already explained in |24.9|. + When you use a language that uses many more characters than keys on your +keyboard, you will want to use an Input Method (IM). This requires learning +the translation from typed keys to resulting character. When you need an IM +you probably already have one on your system. It should work with Vim like +with other programs. For details see |mbyte-XIM| for the X Window system and +|mbyte-IME| for MS-Windows. + + +KEYMAPS + +For some languages the character set is different from latin, but uses a +similar number of characters. It's possible to map keys to characters. Vim +uses keymaps for this. + Suppose you want to type Hebrew. You can load the keymap like this: > + + :set keymap=hebrew + +Vim will try to find a keymap file for you. This depends on the value of +'encoding'. If no matching file was found, you will get an error message. + +Now you can type Hebrew in Insert mode. In Normal mode, and when typing a ":" +command, Vim automatically switches to English. You can use this command to +switch between Hebrew and English: > + + CTRL-^ + +This only works in Insert mode and Command-line mode. In Normal mode it does +something completely different (jumps to alternate file). + The usage of the keymap is indicated in the mode message, if you have the +'showmode' option set. In the GUI Vim will indicate the usage of keymaps with +a different cursor color. + You can also change the usage of the keymap with the 'iminsert' and +'imsearch' options. + +To see the list of mappings, use this command: > + + :lmap + +To find out which keymap files are available, in the GUI you can use the +Edit/Keymap menu. Otherwise you can use this command: > + + :echo globpath(&rtp, "keymap/*.vim") + + +DO-IT-YOURSELF KEYMAPS + +You can create your own keymap file. It's not very difficult. Start with +a keymap file that is similar to the language you want to use. Copy it to the +"keymap" directory in your runtime directory. For example, for Unix, you +would use the directory "~/.vim/keymap". + The name of the keymap file must look like this: + + keymap/{name}.vim ~ +or + keymap/{name}_{encoding}.vim ~ + +{name} is the name of the keymap. Chose a name that is obvious, but different +from existing keymaps (unless you want to replace an existing keymap file). +{name} cannot contain an underscore. Optionally, add the encoding used after +an underscore. Examples: + + keymap/hebrew.vim ~ + keymap/hebrew_utf-8.vim ~ + +The contents of the file should be self-explanatory. Look at a few of the +keymaps that are distributed with Vim. For the details, see |mbyte-keymap|. + + +LAST RESORT + +If all other methods fail, you can enter any character with CTRL-V: + + encoding type range ~ + 8-bit CTRL-V 123 decimal 0-255 + 8-bit CTRL-V x a1 hexadecimal 00-ff + 16-bit CTRL-V u 013b hexadecimal 0000-ffff + 31-bit CTRL-V U 001303a4 hexadecimal 00000000-7fffffff + +Don't type the spaces. See |i_CTRL-V_digit| for the details. + +============================================================================== + +Next chapter: |usr_90.txt| Installing Vim + +Copyright: see |manual-copyright| vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: |