*various.txt*   For Vim version 6.0ap.  Last change: 2001 Jul 28


		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Bram Moolenaar


Various commands					*various*

1. Various commands		|various-cmds|
2. Online help			|online-help|
3. Using Vim like less or more	|less|

==============================================================================
1. Various commands					*various-cmds*

							*CTRL-L*
CTRL-L			Clear and redraw the screen (later).

							*:redr* *:redraw*
:redr[aw][!]		Redraw the screen right now.  When ! is included it is
			cleared first.
			Useful to update the screen halfway executing a script
			or function.  Also when halfway a mapping and
			'lazyredraw' is set.

							*N<Del>*
<Del>			When entering a number: Remove the last digit.
			Note: if you like to use <BS> for this, add this
			mapping to your .vimrc:
				:map CTRL-V <BS>   CTRL-V <Del>
			See |:fixdel| if your <Del> key does not do what you
			want.

:as[cii]	or					*ga* *:as* *:ascii*
ga			Print the ascii value of the character under the
			cursor in decimal, hexadecimal and octal.  For
			example, when the cursor is on a 'R':
				<R>  82,  Hex 52,  Octal 122
			When the character is a non-standard ASCII character,
			but printable according to the 'isprint' option, the
			non-printable version is also given.  When the
			character is larger than 127, the <M-x> form is also
			printed.  For example:
				<~A>  <M-^A>  129,  Hex 81,  Octal 201
				<p>  <|~>  <M-~>  254,  Hex fe,  Octal 376
			(where <p> is a special character)
			The <Nul> character in a file is stored internally as
			<NL>, but it will be shown as:
				<^@>  0,  Hex 00,  Octal 000
			Mnemonic: Get Ascii value.  {not in Vi}

							*g8*
g8			Print the hex values of the bytes used in the
			character under the cursor, assuming it is in |UTF-8|
			encoding.  This also shows composing characters.
			Example of a character with three composing
			characters: >
				e0 b8 81 + e0 b8 b9 + e0 b9 89
<			{not in Vi}

							*:p* *:pr* *:print*
:[range]p[rint]		Print [range] lines (default current line).
			Note: If you are looking for a way to print your text
			file, you need an external program for that.  In the
			GUI you can use the File.Print menu entry.
			(For printing on paper see |:hardcopy|)

:[range]p[rint] {count}
			Print {count} lines, starting with [range] (default
			current line |cmdline-ranges|).

							*:P* *:Print*
:[range]P[rint] [count]
			Just as ":print".  Was apparently added to Vi for
			people that keep the shift key pressed too long...

							*:l* *:list*
:[range]l[ist] [count]
			Same as :print, but display unprintable characters
			with '^'.

							*:nu* *:number*
:[range]nu[mber] [count]
			Same as :print, but precede each line with its line
			number.  (See also 'highlight' option).

							*:#*
:[range]# [count]	synonym for :number.

							*:z* *E144*
:{range}z[+-^.=]{count}	Display several lines of text surrounding the line
			specified with {range}, or around the current line
			if there is no {range}.  If there is a {count}, that's
			how many lines you'll see; otherwise, the current
			window size is used.

			:z can be used either alone or followed by any of
			several punctuation marks.  These have the following
			effect:

			mark   first line    last line      new location   ~
			----   ----------    ---------      ------------
			+      current line  1 scr forward  1 scr forward
			-      1 scr back    current line   current line
			^      2 scr back    1 scr back     1 scr back
			.      1/2 scr back  1/2 scr fwd    1/2 src fwd
			=      1/2 src back  1/2 scr fwd    current line

			Specifying no mark at all is the same as "+".
			If the mark is "=", a line of dashes is printed
			around the current line.

:{range}z#[+-^.=]{count}				*:z#*
			Like ":z", but number the lines.
			{not in all versions of Vi, not with these arguments}

							*:=*
:=			Print the cursor line number.

:{range}=		Prints the last line number in {range}.

:norm[al][!] {commands}					*:norm* *:normal*
			Execute Normal mode commands {commands}.  This makes
			it possible to execute Normal mode commands typed on
			the command-line.  {commands} is executed like it is
			typed.  For undo all commands are undone together.
			If the [!] is given, mappings will not be used.
			{commands} should be a complete command.  If
			{commands} does not finish a command, the last one
			will be aborted as if <Esc> was typed.  The display
			isn't updated while doing this.  This implies that an
			insert command must be completed (to start Insert
			mode, see |:startinsert|).  A ":" command must be
			completed as well.
			The 'insertmode' option is ignored for {commands}.
			This command cannot be followed by another command,
			since any '|' is considered part of the command.
			This command can be used recursively, but the depth is
			limited by 'maxmapdepth'.
			When this command is called from a non-remappable
			mapping |:noremap|, the argument can be mapped anyway.
			An alternative is to use |:execute|, which uses an
			expression as argument.  This allows the use of
			printable characters.  Example: >
				:exe "normal \<c-w>\<c-w>"
<			{not in Vi, of course}
			Not available when |+ex_extra| feature was disabled at
			compile time.

:{range}norm[al][!] {commands}				*:normal-range*
			Execute Normal mode commands {commands} for each line
			in the {range}.  Before executing the {commands}, the
			cursor is positioned in the first column of the range,
			for each line.  Otherwise it's the same as the
			":normal" command without a range.
			{not in Vi}
			Not available when |+ex_extra| feature was disabled at
			compile time.

							*:sh* *:shell* *E371*
:sh[ell]		This command starts a shell.  When the shell exits
			(after the "exit" command) you return to Vim.  The
			name for the shell command comes from 'shell' option.
							*E360*
			Note: This doesn't work when Vim on the Amiga was
			started in QuickFix mode from a compiler, because the
			compiler will have set stdin to a non-interactive
			mode.

							*:!cmd* *:!* *E34*
:!{cmd}			Execute {cmd} with the shell.  See also the 'shell'
			and 'shelltype' option.
			Any '!' in {cmd} is replaced with the previous
			external command (see also 'cpoptions').  But not when
			there is a backslash before the '!', then that
			backslash is removed.  Example: ":!ls" followed by
			":!echo ! \! \\!" executes "echo ls ! \!".
			After the command has been executed, the timestamp of
			the current file is checked |timestamp|.
			There cannot be a '|' in {cmd}, see |:bar|.
			On Unix the command normally runs in a non-interactive
			shell.  If you want an interactive shell to be used
			(to use aliases) set 'shellcmdflag' to "-ic".
			Also see |shell-window|.

							*:!!*
:!!			Repeat last ":!{cmd}".

							*:ve* *:version*
:ve[rsion]		Print the version number of the editor.  If the
			compiler used understands "__DATE__" the compilation
			date is mentioned.  Otherwise a fixed release-date is
			shown.
			The following lines contain information about which
			features were enabled when Vim was compiled.  When
			there is a preceding '+', the feature is included,
			when there is a '-' it is excluded.  To change this,
			you have to edit feature.h and recompile Vim.
			To check for this in an expression, see |has()|.
			Here is an overview of the features.
			The first column shows the smallest version in which
			they are included:
			   T	tiny
			   S	small
			   N	normal
			   B	big
			   H	huge
			   m	manually enabled
			 (none) system dependent
			Thus if a feature is marked with "N", it is included
			in the normal, big and huge versions of Vim.

							*+feature-list*
   *+ARP*		Amiga only: ARP support included
N  *+autocmd*		|:autocmd|, automatic commands
m  *+balloon_eval*	|balloon-eval| support
N  *+browse*		|:browse| command
N  *+builtin_terms*	some terminals builtin |builtin-terms|
B  *++builtin_terms*	maximal terminals builtin |builtin-terms|
N  *+byte_offset*	support for 'o' flag in 'statusline' option, "go"
			and ":goto" commands.
N  *+cindent*		|'cindent'|, C indenting
N  *+cmdline_compl*	command line completion |cmdline-completion|
N  *+cmdline_hist*	command line history |cmdline-history|
N  *+cmdline_info*	|'showcmd'| and |'ruler'|
N  *+comments*		|'comments'| support
N  *+cryptv*		encryption support |encryption|
B  *+cscope*		|cscope| support
N  *+dialog_gui*	Support for |:confirm| with GUI dialog.
N  *+dialog_con*	Support for |:confirm| with console dialog.
N  *+dialog_con_gui*	Support for |:confirm| with GUI and console dialog.
N  *+diff*		|vimdiff| and 'diff'
N  *+digraphs*		|digraphs| *E196*
B  *+emacs_tags*	|emacs-tags| files
N  *+eval*		expression evaluation |eval.txt|
N  *+ex_extra*		Vim's extra Ex commands: |:center|, |:left|,
			|:normal|, |:retab| and |:right|
N  *+extra_search*	|'hlsearch'| and |'incsearch'| options.
B  *+farsi*		|farsi| language
N  *+file_in_path*	|gf|, |CTRL-W_f| and |<cfile>|
N  *+find_in_path*	include file searches: |[I|, |:isearch|,
			|CTRL-W_CTRL-I|, |:checkpath|, etc.
N  *+folding*		|folding|
   *+footer*		|gui-footer|
   *+fork*		Unix only: |fork| shell commands
N  *+gettext*		message translations |multi-lang|
   *+GUI_Athena*	Unix only: Athena |GUI|
   *+GUI_BeOS*		BeOS only: BeOS |GUI|
   *+GUI_GTK*		Unix only: GTK+ |GUI|
   *+GUI_Motif*		Unix only: Motif |GUI|
   *+GUI_Photon*	QNX only:  Photon |GUI|
m  *+hangul_input*	Hangul input support |hangul|
   *+iconv*		Compiled with the |iconv()| function
N  *+insert_expand*	|insert_expand| Insert mode completion
N  *+jumplist*		|jumplist|
B  *+keymap*		|'keymap'|
B  *+langmap*		|'langmap'|
N  *+libcall*		|libcall()|
N  *+linebreak*		|'linebreak'|, |'breakat'| and |'showbreak'|
N  *+lispindent*	|'lisp'|
N  *+listcmds*		Vim commands for the list of buffers |buffer-hidden|
			and argument list |:argdelete|
N  *+localmap*		Support for mappings local to a buffer |:map-local|
N  *+menu*		|:menu|
N  *+mksession*		|:mksession|
N  *+modify_fname*	|filename-modifiers|
N  *+mouse*		Mouse handling |mouse-using|
N  *+mouseshape*	|'mouseshape'|
B  *+mouse_dec*		Unix only: Dec terminal mouse handling |dec-mouse|
N  *+mouse_gpm*		Unix only: Linux console mouse handling |gpm-mouse|
B  *+mouse_netterm*	Unix only: netterm mouse handling |netterm-mouse|
N  *+mouse_pterm*	QNX only: pterm mouse handling |qnx-terminal|
N  *+mouse_xterm*	Unix only: xterm mouse handling |xterm-mouse|
B  *+multi_byte*	Korean and other languages |multibyte|
   *+multi_byte_ime*	Win32 input method for multibyte chars |multibyte-ime|
N  *+multi_lang*	non-English language support |multi-lang|
m  *+ole*		Win32 GUI only: |ole-interface|
   *+osfiletype*	Support for the 'osfiletype' option and filetype
			checking in automatic commands.  |autocmd-osfiletypes|
N  *+path_extra*	Up/downwards search in 'path' and 'tags'
m  *+perl*		Perl interface |perl|
N  *+printer*		Win32 GUI only for now: |:hardcopy|
m  *+python*		Python interface |python|
N  *+quickfix*		|:make| and |quickfix| commands
B  *+rightleft*		Right to left typing |'rightleft'|
m  *+ruby*		Ruby interface |ruby|
N  *+scrollbind*	|'scrollbind'|
B  *+signs*		|:sign|
N  *+smartindent*	|'smartindent'|
m  *+sniff*		SniFF interface (no docs available...)
N  *+statusline*	Options 'statusline', 'rulerformat' and special
			formats of 'titlestring' and 'iconstring'
   *+sun_workshop*	|workshop|
N  *+syntax*		Syntax highlighting |syntax|
   *+system()*		Unix only: opposite of |+fork|
N  *+tag_binary*	binary searching in tags file |tag-binary-search|
N  *+tag_old_static*	old method for static tags |tag-old-static|
m  *+tag_any_white*	any white space allowed in tags file |tag-any-white|
m  *+tcl*		Tcl interface |tcl|
   *+terminfo*		uses |terminfo| instead of termcap
N  *+termresponse*	support for |t_RV| and |v:termresponse|
N  *+textobjects*	|text-objects| selection
   *+tgetent*		non-Unix only: able to use external termcap
N  *+title*		Setting the window title |'title'|
N  *+toolbar*		|gui-toolbar|
N  *+user_commands*	User-defined commands. |user-commands|
N  *+viminfo*		|'viminfo'|
N  *+vertsplit*		Vertically split windows |:vsplit|
N  *+virtualedit*	|'virtualedit'|
S  *+visual*		Visual mode |Visual-mode|
N  *+visualextra*	extra Visual mode commands |blockwise-operators|
N  *+vreplace*		|gR| and |gr|
N  *+wildignore*	|'wildignore'|
N  *+wildmenu*		|'wildmenu'|
S  *+windows*		more than one window
m  *+writebackup*	|'writebackup'| is default on
m  *+xim*		X input method |xim|
   *+xfontset*		X fontset support |xfontset|
N  *+xcmdsrv*		Unix only: Remote invocation |x11-command-server|
N  *+xterm_clipboard*	Unix only: xterm clipboard handling
m  *+xterm_save*	save and restore xterm screen |xterm-screens|
N  *+X11*		Unix only: can restore window title |X11|

:ve[rsion] {nr}		Is now ignored.  This was previously used to check the
			version number of a .vimrc file.  It was removed,
			because you can now use the ":if" command for
			version-dependent behavior.  {not in Vi}

							*:redi* *:redir*
:redi[r][!] > {file}	Redirect messages to file {file}.  The messages which
			are the output of commands are written to that file,
			until redirection ends.  The messages are also still
			shown on the screen.  When [!] is included, an
			existing file is overwritten.  When [!] is omitted,
			and {file} exists, this command fails.
			To stop the messages and commands from being echoed to
			the screen, put the commands in a function and call it
			with ":silent call Function()".
			{not in Vi}

:redi[r] >> {file}	Redirect messages to file {file}.  Append if {file}
			already exists.  {not in Vi}

:redi[r] @{a-zA-Z}	Redirect messages to register {a-z}.  Append to the
			contents of the register if its name is given
			uppercase {A-Z}.  {not in Vi}

:redi[r] @*		Redirect messages to the clipboard. {not in Vi}

:redi[r] @"		Redirect messages to the unnamed register. {not in Vi}

:redi[r] END		End redirecting messages.  {not in Vi}

						*:sil* *:silent*
:sil[ent][!] {command}	Execute {command} silently.  Normal messages will not
			be given.
			When [!] is added, error messages will also be
			skipped, and commands and mappings will not be aborted
			when an error is detected.  |v:errmsg| is still set.
			When [!] is not used, an error message will cause
			further messages to be displayed normally.
			Redirection, started with |:redir|, will continue as
			usual, although there might be small differences.
			This will allow redirecting the output of a command
			without seeing it on the screen.  Example: >
			    :redir >/tmp/foobar
			    :silent g/Aap/p
			    :redir END
<			To execute a Normal mode command silently, use the
			|:normal| command.  For example, to search for a
			string without messages: >
			    :silent exe "normal /path\<CR>"
<			":silent!" is useful to execute a command that may
			fail, but the failure is to be ignored.  Example: >
			    :let v:errmsg = ""
			    :silent! /^begin
			    :if v:errmsg != ""
			    : ... pattern was not found
<			":silent" will also avoid the hit-enter prompt.  When
			using this for an external command, this may cause the
			screen to be messed up.  Use |CTRL-L| to clean it up
			then.
			":silent menu ..." defines a menu that will not echo a
			Command-line command.  The command will still produce
			messages though.  Use ":silent" in the command itself
			to avoid that: ":silent menu .... :silent command".

						*:verb* *:verbose*
:[count]verb[ose] {command}
			Execute {command} with 'verbose' set to [count].  If
			[count] is omitted one is used.
			The additional use of ":silent" makes messages
			generated but not displayed.
			The combination of ":silent" and ":verbose" can be
			used to generate messages and check them with
			|v:statusmsg| and friends.  For example: >
				:let v:statusmsg = ""
				:silent verbose runtime foobar.vim
				:if v:statusmsg != ""
				:  " foobar.vim could not be found
				:endif
<
							*K*
K			Run a program to lookup the keyword under the
			cursor.  The name of the program is given with the
			'keywordprg' (kp) option (default is "man").  The
			keyword is formed of letters, numbers and the
			characters in 'iskeyword'.  The keyword under or
			right of the cursor is used.  The same can be done
			with the command >
				:!{program} {keyword}
<			There is an example of a program to use in the tools
			directory of Vim.  It is called 'ref' and does a
			simple spelling check.
			Special cases:
			- If 'keywordprg' is empty, the ":help" command is
			  used.  It's a good idea to include more characters
			  in 'iskeyword' then, to be able to find more help.
			- When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man", a count before
			  "K" is inserted after the "man" command and before
			  the keyword.  For example, using "2K" while the
			  cursor is on "mkdir", results in: >
				!man 2 mkdir
<			- When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man -s", a count
			  before "K" is inserted after the "-s".  If there is
			  no count, the "-s" is removed.
			{not in Vi}

							*v_K*
{Visual}K		Like "K", but use the visually highlighted text for
			the keyword.  Only works when the highlighted text is
			not more than one line.  {not in Vi}

[N]gs							*gs* *:sl* *:sleep*
:[N]sl[eep] [N]	[m]	Do nothing for [N] seconds.  When [m] is included,
			sleep for [N] milliseconds. The count for "gs" always
			uses seconds.  The default is one second. >
  :sleep	  "sleep for one second
  :5sleep	  "sleep for five seconds
  :sleep 100m     "sleep for a hundred milliseconds
  500gs		  "slee for half a second
<			Can be interrupted with CTRL-C (CTRL-Break on MS-DOS).
			"gs" stands for "goto sleep".  While sleeping the
			cursor is positioned in the text (if visible).  {not
			in Vi}

							*g_CTRL-A*
g CTRL-A		Only when Vim was compiled with MEM_PROFILING defined
			(which is very rare): print memory usage statistics.
			Only useful for debugging Vim.

					*:ha* *:hardcopy* *E237* *E238* *E324*
:[range]ha[hardcopy][!]
			Send [range] lines (default whole file) to the
			printer.
			On some platforms a dialog is displayed to allow
			selection of printer, paper size etc. To skip the
			dialog, use the [!].  In this case the printer defined
			by 'printername' is used, or (if 'printername' is
			empty) the system default printer.

			Progress is displayed during printing as a page number
			and a percentage.  To abort printing use the interrupt
			key (CTRL-C or, on MS-systems, CTRL-Break.)

			Printer output is controlled by the 'printerfont' and
			'printeroptions' options.

			The printed file is always line wrapped to the
			selected margins irrespective of the current window's
			'wrap' or 'linebreak' settings. The current
			highlighting colours are used in the printout, with
			the following considerations:
			1) The normal background is always rendered as white
			   (i.e. blank paper.)
			2) White text or the default foreground is rendered as
			   black, so that it shows up!
			3) If 'background' is "dark", then the colours are
			   darkened to compensate for the fact that otherwise
			   they would be too bright to show up clearly on
			   white paper.
			{not in Vi}
			{only available when compiled with |+printer| feature}

==============================================================================
2. Online help						*online-help*

			*help* *<Help>* *:h* *:help* *<F1>* *i_<F1>* *i_<Help>*
<Help>		or
:h[elp]			Open a window and display the help file in read-only
			mode.  If there is a help window open already, use
			that one.  Otherwise, if the current window uses the
			full width of the screen or is at least 80 characters
			wide, the help window will appear just above the
			current window.  Otherwise the new window is put at
			the very top.
			{not in Vi}

							*{subject}* *E149*
:h[elp] {subject}	Like ":help", additionally jump to the tag {subject}.
			{subject} can include wildcards like "*", "?" and
			"[a-z]":
			   :help z?	jump to help for any "z" command
			   :help z.	jump to the help for "z."
			If there is no full match for the pattern, or there
			are several matches, the "best" match will be used.
			A sophisticated algorithm is used to decide which
			match is better than another one.  These items are
			considered in the computation:
			- A match with same case is much better than a match
			  with different case.
			- A match that starts after a non-alphanumeric
			  character is better than a match in the middle of a
			  word.
			- A match at or near the beginning of the tag is
			  better than a match further on.
			- The more alphanumeric characters match, the better.
			- The shorter the length of the match, the better.
			Note that the longer the {subject} you give, the less
			matches will be found.  You can get an idea how this
			all works by using commandline completion (type CTRL-D
			after ":help subject").
			If there are several matches, you can have them listed
			by hitting CTRL-D.  Example: >
				:help cont<Ctrl-D>
<			To use a regexp |pattern|, first do ":help" and then
			use ":tag {pattern}" in the help window.  The
			":tnext" command can then be used to jump to other
			matches, "tselect" to list matches and choose one. >
				:help index| :tse z.
<			This command can be followed by '|' and another
			command, but you don't need to escape the '|' inside a
			help command.  So these both work: >
				:help |
				:help k| only
<			Note that a space before the '|' is seen as part of
			the ":help" argument.
			You can also use <LF> or <CR> to separate the help
			command from a following command.  You need to type
			CTRL-V first to insert the <LF> or <CR>.  Example: >
				:help so<C-V><CR>only
<			{not in Vi}

When no argument is given the file given with the 'helpfile' option will be
opened.  Otherwise the specified tag is searched for in all "doc/tags" files
in the directories specified in the 'runtimepath' option.

The initial height of the help window can be set with the 'helpheight' option
(default 20).

Jump to specific subjects by using tags.  This can be done in two ways:
- Use the "CTRL-]" command while standing on the name of a command or option.
  This only works when the tag is a keyword.  "<C-Leftmouse>" and
  "g<LeftMouse>" work just like "CTRL-]".
- use the ":ta {subject}" command.  This also works with non-keyword
  characters.

Use CTRL-T or CTRL-O to jump back.
Use ":q" to close the help window.

If there are several matches for an item you are looking for, this is how you
can jump to each one of them:
1. open a help window
2. Use the ":tag" command with a slash prepended to the tag.  E.g.: >
	:tag /min
3. Use ":tnext" to jump to the next matching tag.

It is possible to add help files for plugins and other items.  You don't need
to change the distributed help files for that.  See |add-local-help|

To write a local help file, see |write-local-help|.

Note that the title lines from the local help files are automagically added to
the "LOCAL ADDITIONS" section in the "help.txt" help file.  This is done when
viewing the file in Vim, the file itself is not changed.  It is done by going
through all help files and obtaining the first line of each file.  The files
in $VIMRUNTIME/doc are skipped.

							*help-xterm-window*
If you want to have the help in another xterm window, you could use this
command:
	:!xterm -e vim +help &


			*:helpfind* *:helpf*
:helpf[ind]		Like |:help|, but use a dialog to enter the argument.
			Only for backwards compatibilty.  It now executes the
			ToolBar.HelpFind menu entry instead of using a builtin
			dialog.  {only when compiled with |+GUI_GTK|}

			*:helpt* *:helptags* *E154* *E150* *E151* *E152* *E153*
:helpt[ags] {dir}	Generate the help tags file for directory {dir}.  All
			"*.txt" files in the directory are scanned for a help
			tag definition in between stars.  The generated tags
			file is sorted.  When there are duplicates an error
			message is given.  An existing tags file is silently
			overwritten.

==============================================================================
3. Using Vim like less or more					*less*

If you use the less or more program to view a file, you don't get syntax
highlighting.  Thus you would like to use Vim instead.  You can do this by
using the shell script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.sh".

This shell script uses the Vim script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.vim".  It sets
up mappings to simulate the commands that less supports.  Otherwise, you can
still use the Vim commands.

This isn't perfect.  For example, when viewing a short file Vim will still use
the whole screen.  But it works good enough for most uses, and you get syntax
highlighting.

The "h" key will give you a short overview of the available comands.

 vim:tw=78:
