*SnipMate.txt*  Plugin for using TextMate-style snippets in Vim.

SnipMate                                       *snippet* *snippets* *SnipMate*

1. Description                        |SnipMate-description|
2. Usage                              |SnipMate-usage|
3. Interface and Settings             |SnipMate-interface| |SnipMate-settings|
4. Snippets                           |SnipMate-snippets|
  - Snippet files                     |SnipMate-snippet-files|
  - Snippet syntax                    |SnipMate-syntax|
5. Snippet sources                    |SnipMate-snippet-sources|
6. Disadvantages to TextMate          |SnipMate-disadvantages|
7. Contact                            |SnipMate-contact|
8. License                            |SnipMate-license|

For Vim version 7.0 or later.
This plugin only works if 'compatible' is not set.
{Vi does not have any of these features.}

SnipMate depends on vim-addon-mw-utils and tlib.

==============================================================================
DESCRIPTION                                             *SnipMate-description*

SnipMate implements snippet features in Vim. A snippet is like a template,
reducing repetitive insertion of pieces of text. Snippets can contain
placeholders for modifying the text if necessary or interpolated code for
evaluation. For example, in C, typing "for" then pushing <Tab> could expand
to: >

    for (i = 0; i < count; i++) {
        /* code */
    }

SnipMate is inspired by TextMate's snippet features.

==============================================================================
USAGE                                                         *SnipMate-usage*

Every snippet consists of an expansion and a trigger. Typing a trigger into
your buffer and then hitting your trigger key (<Tab> by default, see
|SnipMate-mappings|) will replace the trigger with the expansion text.

The expansion text can optionally include tab stops. When it does, upon
expansion of the snippet, the cursor is placed at the first one, and the user
can jump between each tab stop. Each of these tab stops can be represented by
default placeholder text. If such a placeholder is provided, then the text of
the placeholder can be repeated in the snippet at specified mirrors. Any edits
to the placeholder are instantly updated at every mirror.

SnipMate allows multiple snippets to use the same trigger. When triggered,
a list of all snippets with that trigger is provided and prompts for which
snippet to use.

                                                             *SnipMate-scopes*
SnipMate searches for snippets inside a directory named "snippets" inside each
entry in 'runtimepath'. Which files are loaded depends on 'filetype' and
'syntax'; see |SnipMate-syntax| for more information. Snippets are loaded and
refreshed automatically on demand.

Note: SnipMate does not ship with any snippets. In order to use it, the user
must either write their own snippets or obtain some from a repository like
https://github.com/honza/vim-snippets

==============================================================================
INTERFACE AND SETTINGS                *SnipMate-interface* *SnipMate-settings*

                                                           *SnipMate-commands*
Commands~

                                                   *:SnipMateOpenSnippetFiles*
:SnipMateOpenSnippetFiles       Opens a list of all valid snippet locations
                                based on the current scope |SnipMate-scopes|.
                                Only existing files and non-existing .snippets
                                files will be shown, with the existing files
                                shown first.

:SnipMateLoadScope[!] scope [scope ...]
                                Load snippets from additional scopes. Without
                                [!] the additional scopes are loaded only in
                                the current buffer. For example >
                                    :SnipMateLoadScopes rails
<                               will load all rails.snippets in the current
                                buffer.

                                                            *SnipMate-options*
Options~

g:snips_author                  A variable used in some snippets in place of
                                the author's (your) name. Similar to
                                $TM_FULLNAME in TextMate. For example, >
                                    snippet name
                                        `g:snips_author`
<                               creates a snippet "name" that expands to your
                                name.

g:snipMate                      This |Dictionary| contains other SnipMate
                                options. In short add >
                                    let g:snipMate = {}
<                               to your .vimrc before setting other SnipMate
                                options.

g:snipMate.scope_aliases        A |Dictionary| associating certain filetypes
                                with other scopes |SnipMate-scopes|. The
                                entries consist of a filetype as the key and
                                a comma-separated list of aliases as the
                                value. For example, >
                                    let g:snipMate.scope_aliases = {}
                                    let g:snipMate.scope_aliases['ruby']
                                                \ = 'ruby,ruby-rails'
<                               tells SnipMate that "ruby-rails" snippets in
                                addition to "ruby" snippets should be loaded
                                when editing files with 'filetype' set to
                                "ruby" or contains "ruby" as an entry in the
                                case of dotted filetypes. A buffer local
                                variant b:snipMate_scope_aliases is merged
                                with the global variant.

g:snipMate_no_default_aliases   Note: This has been renamed to the following.

g:snipMate.no_default_aliases
                                When set to 1, prevents SnipMate from loading
                                default scope aliases. The defaults are:
                                    Filetype    Alias ~
                                    cpp         c
                                    cu          c
                                    eruby       eruby-rails,html
                                    html        javascript
                                    mxml        actionscript
                                    objc        c
                                    php         php,html,javascript
                                    ur          html,javascript
                                    xhtml       html
                                Individual defaults can be disabled by setting
                                them to an empty value: >
                                    let g:snipMate.scope_aliases.php = ''
<                                will disable the default PHP alias.
                                Note: Setting this option does not disable
                                scope aliases entirely, only those made by
                                SnipMate itself. Any scope aliases created by
                                the user or someone else will still be in
                                effect.

g:snipMate.snippet_version
                                The snippet parser version to use. The
                                possible values are:
                                    0   Use the older parser
                                    1   Use the newer parser
                                If unset, SnipMate defaults to version 0. The
                                value of this option is also used for all
                                .snippet files. See |SnipMate-parser-versions|
                                for more information.

g:snipMate.override
                                As detailed below, when two snippets with the
                                same name and description are loaded, both are
                                kept and differentiated by the location of the
                                file they were in. When this option is enabled
                                (set to 1), the snippet originating in the
                                last loaded file is kept, similar to how Vim
                                maps and other settings work. Note: Load order
                                is determined by 'runtimepath'.

g:snipMate.description_in_completion
                                If set to 1 (default is 0), snippet
                                descriptions will be included in the popup
                                menu used for snippet completion, like with
                                <Plug>snipMateShow.

g:snipMate['no_match_completion_feedkeys_chars']
                                A string inserted when no match for a trigger
                                is found. By default a tab is inserted
                                according to 'expandtab', 'tabstop', and
                                'softtabstop'. Set it to the empty string to
                                prevent anything from being inserted.

                                                           *SnipMate-mappings*
Mappings~

The mappings SnipMate uses can be customized with the |:map| commands. For
example, to change the key that triggers snippets and moves to the next
tab stop, >

        :imap <C-J> <Plug>snipMateNextOrTrigger
        :smap <C-J> <Plug>snipMateNextOrTrigger

Note: The noremap variants of the map commands must NOT be used.

The list of possible <Plug> mappings is as follows:

<Plug>snipMateNextOrTrigger     Default: <Tab>          Mode: Insert, Select
                                Jumps to the next tab stop or, if none exists,
                                try to expand a snippet. Use in both insert
                                and select modes.

<Plug>snipMateTrigger           Default: unmapped       Mode: Insert
                                Try to expand a snippet regardless of any
                                existing snippet expansion. If done within an
                                expanded snippet, the outer snippet's tab
                                stops are lost, unless expansion failed.

<Plug>snipMateBack              Default: <S-Tab>        Mode: Insert, Select
                                Jump to the previous tab stop, if it exists.
                                Use in both insert and select modes.

<Plug>snipMateShow              Default: <C-R><Tab>     Mode: Insert
                                Show all available snippets (that start with
                                the previous text, if it exists). Use in
                                insert mode.

<Plug>snipMateVisual            Default: <Tab>          Mode: Visual
                                See |SnipMate-visual|.

Additionally, <CR> is mapped in visual mode in .snippets files for retabbing
snippets.

==============================================================================
SNIPPETS                                                   *SnipMate-snippets*

                                                      *SnipMate-snippet-files*
Snippet Files ~

Note: SnipMate does not ship with any snippets.

SnipMate looks inside of each entry of 'rtp' (or |SnipMate-snippet-sources|)
for a directory named /snippets/. Based on the 'filetype' and 'syntax'
settings (dotted filetypes are parsed), the following files are read for
snippets: >

    .../snippets/<scope>.snippets
    .../snippets/<scope>_<name>.snippets
    .../snippets/<scope>/<name>.snippets
    .../snippets/<scope>/<trigger>.snippet
    .../snippets/<scope>/<trigger>/<description>.snippet

where <scope> is a scope or 'filetype' or 'syntax', <name> is an arbitrary
name, <trigger> is the trigger for a snippet, and <description> is
a description used for |SnipMate-multisnip|.

A .snippet file defines a single snippet with the trigger (and description)
determined by the filename. The entire contents of the file are used as the
snippet expansion text.

Multiple snippets can be defined in *.snippets files. Each snippet definition
looks something like: >

    snippet trigger optional description
        expanded text
        more expanded text

<                                                         *SnipMate-multisnip*
The description is optional. If it is left out, the description "default" is
used. When two snippets in the same scope have the same name and the same
description, SnipMate will try to preserve both. The g:snipMate.override
option disables this, in favor of keeping the last-loaded snippet. This can be
overridden on a per-snippet basis by defining the snippet with a bang (!): >

    snippet! trigger optional description
        expanded text
        more expanded text

Two bangs will remove the trigger entirely from SnipMate's lookup. In this
case any snippet text is unused.

Note: Hard tabs in the expansion text are required. When the snippet is
expanded in the text and 'expandtab' is set, each tab will be replaced with
spaces based on 'softtabstop' if nonzero or 'shiftwidth' otherwise.


SnipMate currently provides two versions for the snippet parser. The
differences between them can be found at |SnipMate-parser-versions|. Which
version parser the snippets in a file should be used with can be specified
with a version line, e.g.: >

    version 1

Specification of a version applies to the snippets following it. Multiple
version specifications can appear in a single file to intermix version 0 and
version 1 snippets. The default is determined by the
g:snipMate.snippet_version option. |SnipMate-options|

Comments can be made in .snippets files by starting a line with a # character.
However these can't be used inside of snippet definitions: >

    # this is a correct comment
    snippet trigger
        expanded text
    snippet another_trigger
        # this isn't a comment!
        expanded text

This should hopefully be clear with the included syntax highlighting.

                                                            *SnipMate-extends*
Borrowing from UltiSnips, .snippets files can also contain an extends
directive, for example: >

 extends html, javascript, css

will tell SnipMate to also read html, javascript, and css snippets.

SNIPPET SYNTAX                             *snippet-syntax* *SnipMate-syntax*

As mentioned above, there are two versions of the snippet parser. They are
selected by the g:snipMate.snippet_version option (|SnipMate-options|) or the
version directive in .snippets files. Differences will be mentioned throughout
with a summary at |SnipMate-parser-versions|.

Anywhere in a snippet, a backslash escapes the character following it,
regardless of whether that character is special or not. That is, '\a' will
always result in an 'a' in the output. A single backslash can be output by
using '\\'.

                                                          *SnipMate-tabstops*
Tab stops~

When triggering a snippet, SnipMate will by default jump to the very end of
the snippet text. This can be changed through the use of tab stops: $1, $2,
and so on. After expansion, SnipMate will jump to the first tab stop. From
then on, the <Plug>snipMateNextOrTrigger map will jump to the next higher
numbered tabs top.

In the case of an ambiguity, for example if a stop occurs just before
a literal number, braces may be placed around the stop number to resolve it:
${3}79 is the third tab stop followed by the string "79".

NOTE: In the version 0 snippet parser, the braces are mandatory.

                                                       *SnipMate-zero-tabstop*
SnipMate will always stop at the special zero tab stop $0. Once it jumps to
the zero tab stop, snippet expansion is finished. If the zero tab stop is not
present in a definition, it will be put at the end.

For example, to place the cursor first on the id of a <div> tag, then on its
class, and finally end editing its contents: >

    snippet div
        <div id="$1" class="$2">
            $0
        </div>

<                                                      *SnipMate-placeholders*
In addition to being simply a location, each tab stop contains a placeholder,
or some default text. The placeholder can be specified for every tab stop
(including the zero tab stop) with a colon after the stop ID, as in
${1:default text}. The braces are required only when specifying a placeholder.
Once a tab stop with a placeholder is reached, the placeholder will be
selected in |Select-mode|. For example, >

    snippet div
        <div id="${1:id}" class="${2:class}">
            $0
        </div>

Finally, placeholders can contain mirrors and evaluations (detailed below) and
even entire other tab stops. If the placeholder is edited, then these nested
tab stops are removed and skipped entirely. For example, >

    snippet div
        <div${1: id="${2:id}"}${3: class="${4:class}"}>
            $0
        </div>

When expanded, this snippet selects the entirety of the id attribute. If this
stop is edited, then the second tab stop is removed and the third tab stop
becomes the next one. If the first tab stop is left unedited, then SnipMate
jumps to the second tab stop. This allows the user to use a single div snippet
that can be used for instances where the id or class attributes are desired
and those where they are not.

                                                            *SnipMate-mirrors*
Mirrors~

A mirror is simply a copy of a tab stop's text, updated as the tab stop is
edited. These look like a tab stop without a placeholder; $1 for example. In
the event that no placeholder is specified for a certain tab stop--say $1--the
first instance becomes the tab stop and the rest become mirrors.

Additionally, in version 1 of the parser, substitutions similar to
|:substitute| can be performed. For instance ${1/foo/bar/g} will replace all
instances of "foo" in the $1 mirror with "bar". This uses |substitute()|
behind the scenes.

Note: Just like with tab stops, braces can be used to avoid ambiguities: ${1}2
is a mirror of the first tab stop followed by a 2. Version 0 of the snippet
parser offers no way to resolve such ambiguities. Version 0 also requires that
a tabstop have a placeholder before its mirrors work.

As an example, >

    snippet for
        for ($1 = ${2:start}; ${1:i} < ${3:end}; $1${4:++}) {
            ${0:/* code */}
        }

<                                                              *SnipMate-eval*
Expression Evaluation~

Snippets can contain Vim script expressions that are evaluated as the snippet
is expanded. Expressions are specified inside backticks: >

 snippet date
        `strftime("%Y-%m-%d")`

If the expression results in any Vim error, the error will be displayed (or
found in :messages) and the result of the expression will be the empty string.

Filename([{expr}] [, {defaultText}])                     *SnipMate-Filename()*

Since the current filename is used often in snippets, a default function
has been defined for it in SnipMate.vim, appropriately called Filename().

With no arguments, the default filename without an extension is returned;
the first argument specifies what to place before or after the filename,
and the second argument supplies the default text to be used if the file
has not been named. "$1" in the first argument is replaced with the filename;
if you only want the filename to be returned, the first argument can be left
blank. Examples: >

 snippet filename
        `Filename()`
 snippet filename_with_default
        `Filename('', 'name')`
 snippet filename_foo
        `Filename('$1_foo')`

The first example returns the filename if it the file has been named, and an
empty string if it hasn't. The second returns the filename if it's been named,
and "name" if it hasn't. The third returns the filename followed by "_foo" if
it has been named, and an empty string if it hasn't.

                                                             *SnipMate-visual*
The VISUAL Stop~

While tab stops have numeric IDs, a special one exists with the ID 'VISUAL'.
When a snippet is expanded, if any text had been grabbed with the
snipMateVisual mapping (see |SnipMate-mappings|), all instances of the VISUAL
stop will be replaced with it. Both transformations as well as a default
placeholder can be used with the VISUAL stop.

Note: Both $VISUAL and ${VISUAL} are valid in version 1 of the snippet parser.
In version 0, only {VISUAL} is valid (without the $), and neither
transformations nor a default placeholder can be used.

Example: >

    snippet div
        <div>
            ${0:${VISUAL:<!-- content -->}}
        </div>
<
                                                    *SnipMate-parser-versions*
Parser Versions~

SnipMate provides two versions for its snippet parser. Version 0 is the legacy
regex based version and is updated sparingly. Version 1 is the revamped
version with new features. Any newly developed features will likely only be
available to version 1 users.

Which version is used is determined by version directives in snippet files
(|SnipMate-snippet-files|) and by the g:snipMate.snippet_version option
(|SnipMate-options|).

A complete list of current differences is as follows:
- Backslash escaping is guaranteed to work in version 1. In certain edge cases
  this may not work in version 0.
- Certain syntactic errors, such as a missing closing brace for a tabstop, are
  more gracefully handled in version 1. In most cases, the parser will either
  discard the error or, as in the previous example, end an item at the end of
  line. Version 0 may not be predictable in this regard.
- Braces are not mandatory in version 1. SnipMate will determine which
  instance of a stop ID to use based on the presence of a placeholder, or
  whichever instance occurs first. Braces can therefore be used to
  disambiguate between stop 12, $12, and stop 1 followed by a 2, ${1}2. In
  other words, version 0 makes a distinction between a mirror and a stop while
  version 1 resolves the differences for you.
- Placeholders are not mandatory to enable mirror support in version 1.
- Version 0 uses the confusing syntax {VISUAL} to refer to visual content.
  Version 1 treats it as just another stop ID, so both $VISUAL and ${VISUAL}
  work. Plus version 1 allows a default value in case no visual selection has
  been made.
- Transformations similar to |:substitute| can be preformed on any mirror,
  including visual content.

==============================================================================
SNIPPET SOURCES                                     *SnipMate-snippet-sources*

SnipMate is configurable.

plugin/SnipMate.vim assigns a couple important keys: >

    " default implementation collecting snippets by handlers
    let g:SnipMate['get_snippets'] = SnipMate#GetSnippets
    " default handler:
    let g:SnipMateSources['default'] = SnipMate#DefaultPool

You can override both of those settings.

You can see that the default set of snippets is determined by Vim's 'rtp'.

Example 1:~
autoload/SnipMate_python_demo.vim shows how you can register additional
sources such as creating snippets on the fly representing python function
definitions found in the current file.

Example 2:~
Add to your ~/.vimrc: For each know snippet add a second version ending in _
adding folding markers >

    let g:commentChar = {
                \   'vim': '"',
                \   'c': '//',
                \   'cpp': '//',
                \   'sh': '#',
                \   'python': '#'
                \ }
    " url https://github.com/garbas/vim-snipmate/issues/49
    fun! AddFolding(text)
        return substitute(a:text,'\n'," ".g:commentChar[&ft]." {{{\n",1)."\n".g:commentChar[&ft]." }}}"
    endf

    fun! SnippetsWithFolding(scopes, trigger, result)
        " hacky: temporarely remove this function to prevent infinite recursion:
        call remove(g:SnipMateSources, 'with_folding')
        " get list of snippets:
        let result = SnipMate#GetSnippets(a:scopes, substitute(a:trigger,'_\(\*\)\?$','\1',''))
        let g:SnipMateSources['with_folding'] = funcref#Function('SnippetsWithFolding')

        " add folding:
        for k in keys(result)
        let a:result[k.'_'] = map(result[k],'AddFolding(v:val)')
        endfor
    endf

    " force setting default:
    runtime plugin/SnipMate.vim
    " add our own source
    let g:SnipMateSources['with_folding'] = funcref#Function('SnippetsWithFolding')

See |SnipMate-syntax| for more details about all possible relative locations
to 'rtp' can be found in.

==============================================================================
KNOWN ISSUES                                         *SnipMate-known-issues*

SnipMate.vim currently has the following disadvantages to TextMate's snippets:
    - Placeholders cannot span multiple lines.
    - Activating snippets in different scopes of the same file is
      not possible.
    - Vim formatting with fo=t or fo=a can mess up SnipMate.

Perhaps some of these features will be added in a later release.

==============================================================================
CHANGELOG                                                 *SnipMate-changelog*

0.89 - 2016-05-29
-----------------

* Various regex updates to legacy parser Addition of double bang syntax to
* completely remove a snippet from lookup Group various SnipMate autocommands
* Support setting 'shiftwidth' to 0 Parser now operates linewise, adding some
* flexibility Mirror substitutions are more literal Mirror length is
* calculated correctly when substitutions occur

0.88 - 2015-04-04
-----------------

* Implement simple caching
* Remove expansion guards
* Add `:SnipMateLoadScope` command and buffer-local scope aliases
* Load `<scope>_*.snippets` files
* Use CursorMoved autocmd events entirely

* The nested branch has been merged
    * A new snippet parser has been added. The g:snipmate.version as well as
      version lines in snippet files determines which is used
    * The new parser supports tab stops placed within placeholders,
      substitutions, non-consecutive stop numbers, and fewer ambiguities
    * The stop jumping code has been updated
    * Tests have been added for the jumping code and the new parser

* The override branch has been merged
    * The g:snipMate.override option is added. When enabled, if two snippets
      share the same name, the later-loaded one is kept and the other discarded
    * Override behavior can be enabled on a per-snippet basis with a bang (!) in
      the snippet file
    * Otherwise, SnipMate tries to preserve all snippets loaded

* Fix bug with mirrors in the first column
* Fix bug with tabs in indents
  <http://github.com/garbas/vim-snipmate/issues/143>
* Fix bug with mirrors in placeholders
* Fix reading single snippet files
* Fix the use of the visual map at the end of a line
* Fix expansion of stops containing only the zero tab stop
* Remove select mode mappings
* Indent visual placeholder expansions and remove extraneous lines
  <http://github.com/garbas/vim-snipmate/issues/177>
  <http://github.com/garbas/vim-snipmate/issues/178>

0.87 - 2014-01-04
-----------------

* Stop indenting empty lines when expanding snippets
* Support extends keyword in .snippets files
* Fix visual placeholder support
* Add zero tabstop support
* Support negative 'softtabstop'
* Add g:snipMate_no_default_aliases option
* Add <Plug>snipMateTrigger for triggering an expansion inside a snippet
* Add snipMate#CanBeTriggered() function

0.86 - 2013-06-15
-----------------
* Use more idiomatic <Plug> maps
* Remove most select mode mappings

* Fix disappearing variables bug (hpesoj)
* Fix cursor position bug when a variable is on the same line as the stop
* Fix undo point creation causing problems with Supertab
* Fix bug where SnipMate would use a typed trigger as a regular expression

0.85 - 2013-04-03
-----------------

* Allow trigger key customization
* Enable undoing of snippet expansion
* Support backslash escaping in snippets
* Add support for {VISUAL}
* Expand filetype extension with scope_aliases
* Add expansion guards
* Enable per-buffer expansion of snippets
* Fix 'cpo' compatibility
* Update supertab compatibility
* Enable customization of various things through g:SnipMate

* Disable spelling in snippet files
* Highlight trigger names in .snippets files

* Update many snippets
* Separate sample snippets into separate repository

0.84
----

* Unreleased version by Michael Sanders, available on his GitHub,
  <https://github.com/msanders/snipmate.vim>

0.83 - 2009-07-13
-----------------

* Last release done by Michael Sanders, available at
  <http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=2540>

==============================================================================
CONTACT                                   *SnipMate-contact* *SnipMate-author*

SnipMate is currently maintained by:
  - Rok Garbas
  - Marc Weber (marco-oweber@gmx.de)
  - Adnan Zafar

For bug reports, issues, or questions, check out the Issues page on GitHub:
https://github.com/garbas/vim-snipmate/issues

The original author, Michael Sanders, can be reached at:
msanders42+snipmate <at> gmail <dot> com


==============================================================================
LICENSE                                                     *SnipMate-license*

SnipMate is released under the MIT license:

Copyright 2009-2010 Michael Sanders. All rights reserved.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

The software is provided "as is", without warranty of any kind, express or
implied, including but not limited to the warranties of merchantability,
fitness for a particular purpose and noninfringement. In no event shall the
authors or copyright holders be liable for any claim, damages or other
liability, whether in an action of contract, tort or otherwise, arising from,
out of or in connection with the software or the use or other dealings in the
software.

==============================================================================
 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: