VIM(1)

NAME
vim - Vi IMproved, a programmers text editor

SYNOPSIS
vim [options] [file ..]
vim [options] -
vim [options] -t tag
vim [options] -q [errorfile]

ex
view
gvim gview
rvim rview rgvim rgview

DESCRIPTION
Vim is a text editor that is upwards compatible to Vi. It can be used to edit any ASCII text. It is especially useful for editing programs.

There are a lot of enhancements above Vi: multi level undo, multi windows and buffers, syntax highlighting, command line editing, filename completion, on-line help, visual selection, etc.. See ":help vi_diff" 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, with the ":help" command. See the ON-LINE HELP section 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 four may be used to choose one or more files to be edited.

file ..
    A list of filenames. 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 "--".

-   The file to edit is read from stdin. Commands are read from stderr, which should be a tty.

-t {tag}
    The file to edit and the initial cursor position depends on a "tag", a sort of goto label. {tag} is looked up in the tags file, the associated file becomes the current file and the associated command is executed. Mostly this is used for C programs, in which case {tag} could 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".

-q [errorfile]
    Start in quickFix mode. The file [errorfile] is read and the first error is displayed. If [errorfile] is omitted, the filename 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 quickfix".

Vim behaves differently, depending on the name of the command (the executable may still be the same file).

vim The "normal" way, everything is default.

ex  Start in Ex mode. Go to Normal mode with the ":vi" command. Can also be done with the "-e" argument.

view
    Start in read-only mode. You will be protected from writing the files. Can also be done with the "-R" argument.

gvim gview
    The GUI version. Starts a new window. Can also be done with the "-g" argument.

rvim rview rgvim rgview
    Like the above, but with restrictions. It will not be possible to start shell commands, or suspend Vim. Can also be done with the "-Z" argument.

OPTIONS
The options may be given in any order, before or after filenames. Options without an argument can be combined after a single dash.

+[num]
    For the first file the cursor will be positioned 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 positioned 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 up to 10 "+" or "-c" commands.

-b  Binary mode. A few options will be set that makes it possible to edit a binary or executable file.

-C  Compatible. Set the 'compatible' option. This will make Vim behave mostly like Vi, even though a .vimrc file exists.

-d {device}
    Open {device} for use as a terminal. Only on the Amiga. Example: "-d con:20/30/600/150".

-e  Start Vim in Ex mode, just like the executable was called "ex".

-f  Foreground. For the GUI version, Vim will not fork and detach from the shell it was started in. On the Amiga, 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). On the Amiga the ":sh" and ":!" commands will not work.

-F  If Vim has been compiled with FKMAP support for editing right-to-left oriented files and Farsi keyboard mapping, this option starts Vim in Farsi mode, i.e. 'fkmap' and 'rightleft' are set. Otherwise an error message is given and Vim aborts.

-g  If Vim has been compiled with GUI support, this option enables the GUI. If no GUI support was compiled in, an error message is given and Vim aborts.

-h  Give a bit of help about the command line arguments and options. After this Vim exits.

-H  If Vim has been compiled with RIGHTLEFT support 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.

-i {viminfo}
    When using the viminfo file is enabled, this option sets the filename 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".

-L  Same as -r.

-l  Lisp mode. Sets the 'lisp' and 'showmatch' options on.

-N  No-compatible mode. Reset the 'compatible' option. This will make Vim behave a bit better, but less Vi compatible, even though a .vimrc file does not exist.

-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  Read-only 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 ":w!". The -R option also implies the -n option (see below). The 'readonly' option can be reset with ":set noro". See ":help 'readonly'".

-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 filename as the text file with ".swp" appended. See ":help recovery".

-s  Silent mode. Only when started as "Ex" or when the "-e" option was given before the "-s" option.

-s {scriptin}
    The script file {scriptin} is read. The characters 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. Only required when the automatic way doesn't work. Should be a terminal known to Vim (builtin) or defined in the termcap or terminfo file.

-u {vimrc}
    Use the commands in the file {vimrc} for initializations. 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.

-U {gvimrc}
    Use the commands in the file {gvimrc} for GUI initializations. All the other GUI initializations are skipped. It can also be used to skip all GUI initializations by giving the name "NONE". See ":help gui_init" within vim for more details.

-V  Verbose. Give messages about which files are sourced and for reading and writing a viminfo file.

-v  Start Vim in Vi mode, just like the executable was called "vi". This only has effect when the executable is called "ex".

-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  Filter read and written files through crypt. Not implemented yet.

-Z  Restricted mode. Works like the executable starts with "r".

--  Denotes the end of the options. Arguments after this will be handled as a file name. This can be used to edit a filename 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 documentation files can be viewed in this way, for example ":help syntax.txt".

FILES

/usr/local/lib/vim/doc/*.txt
    The Vim documentation files. Use ":help doc-file-list" to get the complete list.

/usr/local/lib/vim/doc/tags
    The tags file used for finding information in the documentation files.

/usr/local/lib/vim/syntax/syntax.vim
    System wide syntax initializations.

/usr/local/lib/vim/syntax/*.vim
    Syntax files for various languages.

/usr/local/lib/vim/vimrc
    System wide Vim initializations.

/usr/local/lib/vim/gvimrc
    System wide gvim initializations.

/usr/local/lib/vim/menu.vim
    System wide menu initializations for gvim.

/usr/local/lib/vim/bugreport.vim
    Script to generate a bug report. See ":help bugs".

For recent info read the VIM home page:
<URL:http://www.vim.org/>

AUTHOR
Most of Vim was made by Bram Moolenaar, with a lot of help from others. See ":help credits".
Vim is based on Stevie, worked on by: Tim Thompson, Tony Andrews and G.R. (Fred) Walter. Although hardly any of the original code remains.

BUGS
Probably. See the "todo" file that comes with the distribution.

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. And if you think other things are bugs "because Vi does it differently", you should take a closer look at the vi_diff.txt file (or type :help vi_diff.txt when in Vim). Also have a look at the 'compatible' and 'cpoptions' options.