192 lines
6.9 KiB
Text
192 lines
6.9 KiB
Text
*usr_01.txt* For Vim version 7.4. Last change: 2010 Nov 03
|
|
|
|
VIM USER MANUAL - by Bram Moolenaar
|
|
|
|
About the manuals
|
|
|
|
|
|
This chapter introduces the manuals available with Vim. Read this to know the
|
|
conditions under which the commands are explained.
|
|
|
|
|01.1| Two manuals
|
|
|01.2| Vim installed
|
|
|01.3| Using the Vim tutor
|
|
|01.4| Copyright
|
|
|
|
Next chapter: |usr_02.txt| The first steps in Vim
|
|
Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt|
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
*01.1* Two manuals
|
|
|
|
The Vim documentation consists of two parts:
|
|
|
|
1. The User manual
|
|
Task oriented explanations, from simple to complex. Reads from start to
|
|
end like a book.
|
|
|
|
2. The Reference manual
|
|
Precise description of how everything in Vim works.
|
|
|
|
The notation used in these manuals is explained here: |notation|
|
|
|
|
|
|
JUMPING AROUND
|
|
|
|
The text contains hyperlinks between the two parts, allowing you to quickly
|
|
jump between the description of an editing task and a precise explanation of
|
|
the commands and options used for it. Use these two commands:
|
|
|
|
Press CTRL-] to jump to a subject under the cursor.
|
|
Press CTRL-O to jump back (repeat to go further back).
|
|
|
|
Many links are in vertical bars, like this: |bars|. The bars themselves may
|
|
be hidden or invisible, see below. An option name, like 'number', a command
|
|
in double quotes like ":write" and any other word can also be used as a link.
|
|
Try it out: Move the cursor to CTRL-] and press CTRL-] on it.
|
|
|
|
Other subjects can be found with the ":help" command, see |help.txt|.
|
|
|
|
The bars and stars are usually hidden with the |conceal| feature. They also
|
|
use |hl-Ignore|, using the same color for the text as the background. You can
|
|
make them visible with: >
|
|
:set conceallevel=0
|
|
:hi link HelpBar Normal
|
|
:hi link HelpStar Normal
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
*01.2* Vim installed
|
|
|
|
Most of the manuals assume that Vim has been properly installed. If you
|
|
didn't do that yet, or if Vim doesn't run properly (e.g., files can't be found
|
|
or in the GUI the menus do not show up) first read the chapter on
|
|
installation: |usr_90.txt|.
|
|
*not-compatible*
|
|
The manuals often assume you are using Vim with Vi-compatibility switched
|
|
off. For most commands this doesn't matter, but sometimes it is important,
|
|
e.g., for multi-level undo. An easy way to make sure you are using a nice
|
|
setup is to copy the example vimrc file. By doing this inside Vim you don't
|
|
have to check out where it is located. How to do this depends on the system
|
|
you are using:
|
|
|
|
Unix: >
|
|
:!cp -i $VIMRUNTIME/vimrc_example.vim ~/.vimrc
|
|
MS-DOS, MS-Windows, OS/2: >
|
|
:!copy $VIMRUNTIME/vimrc_example.vim $VIM/_vimrc
|
|
Amiga: >
|
|
:!copy $VIMRUNTIME/vimrc_example.vim $VIM/.vimrc
|
|
|
|
If the file already exists you probably want to keep it.
|
|
|
|
If you start Vim now, the 'compatible' option should be off. You can check it
|
|
with this command: >
|
|
|
|
:set compatible?
|
|
|
|
If it responds with "nocompatible" you are doing well. If the response is
|
|
"compatible" you are in trouble. You will have to find out why the option is
|
|
still set. Perhaps the file you wrote above is not found. Use this command
|
|
to find out: >
|
|
|
|
:scriptnames
|
|
|
|
If your file is not in the list, check its location and name. If it is in the
|
|
list, there must be some other place where the 'compatible' option is switched
|
|
back on.
|
|
|
|
For more info see |vimrc| and |compatible-default|.
|
|
|
|
Note:
|
|
This manual is about using Vim in the normal way. There is an
|
|
alternative called "evim" (easy Vim). This is still Vim, but used in
|
|
a way that resembles a click-and-type editor like Notepad. It always
|
|
stays in Insert mode, thus it feels very different. It is not
|
|
explained in the user manual, since it should be mostly self
|
|
explanatory. See |evim-keys| for details.
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
*01.3* Using the Vim tutor *tutor* *vimtutor*
|
|
|
|
Instead of reading the text (boring!) you can use the vimtutor to learn your
|
|
first Vim commands. This is a 30 minute tutorial that teaches the most basic
|
|
Vim functionality hands-on.
|
|
|
|
On Unix, if Vim has been properly installed, you can start it from the shell:
|
|
>
|
|
vimtutor
|
|
|
|
On MS-Windows you can find it in the Program/Vim menu. Or execute
|
|
vimtutor.bat in the $VIMRUNTIME directory.
|
|
|
|
This will make a copy of the tutor file, so that you can edit it without
|
|
the risk of damaging the original.
|
|
There are a few translated versions of the tutor. To find out if yours is
|
|
available, use the two-letter language code. For French: >
|
|
|
|
vimtutor fr
|
|
|
|
On Unix, if you prefer using the GUI version of Vim, use "gvimtutor" or
|
|
"vimtutor -g" instead of "vimtutor".
|
|
|
|
For OpenVMS, if Vim has been properly installed, you can start vimtutor from a
|
|
VMS prompt with: >
|
|
|
|
@VIM:vimtutor
|
|
|
|
Optionally add the two-letter language code as above.
|
|
|
|
|
|
On other systems, you have to do a little work:
|
|
|
|
1. Copy the tutor file. You can do this with Vim (it knows where to find it):
|
|
>
|
|
vim -u NONE -c 'e $VIMRUNTIME/tutor/tutor' -c 'w! TUTORCOPY' -c 'q'
|
|
<
|
|
This will write the file "TUTORCOPY" in the current directory. To use a
|
|
translated version of the tutor, append the two-letter language code to the
|
|
filename. For French:
|
|
>
|
|
vim -u NONE -c 'e $VIMRUNTIME/tutor/tutor.fr' -c 'w! TUTORCOPY' -c 'q'
|
|
<
|
|
2. Edit the copied file with Vim:
|
|
>
|
|
vim -u NONE -c "set nocp" TUTORCOPY
|
|
<
|
|
The extra arguments make sure Vim is started in a good mood.
|
|
|
|
3. Delete the copied file when you are finished with it:
|
|
>
|
|
del TUTORCOPY
|
|
<
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
*01.4* Copyright *manual-copyright*
|
|
|
|
The Vim user manual and reference manual are Copyright (c) 1988-2003 by Bram
|
|
Moolenaar. This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and
|
|
conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, v1.0 or later. The
|
|
latest version is presently available at:
|
|
http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/
|
|
|
|
People who contribute to the manuals must agree with the above copyright
|
|
notice.
|
|
*frombook*
|
|
Parts of the user manual come from the book "Vi IMproved - Vim" by Steve
|
|
Oualline (published by New Riders Publishing, ISBN: 0735710015). The Open
|
|
Publication License applies to this book. Only selected parts are included
|
|
and these have been modified (e.g., by removing the pictures, updating the
|
|
text for Vim 6.0 and later, fixing mistakes). The omission of the |frombook|
|
|
tag does not mean that the text does not come from the book.
|
|
|
|
Many thanks to Steve Oualline and New Riders for creating this book and
|
|
publishing it under the OPL! It has been a great help while writing the user
|
|
manual. Not only by providing literal text, but also by setting the tone and
|
|
style.
|
|
|
|
If you make money through selling the manuals, you are strongly encouraged to
|
|
donate part of the profit to help AIDS victims in Uganda. See |iccf|.
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
|
|
Next chapter: |usr_02.txt| The first steps in Vim
|
|
|
|
Copyright: see |manual-copyright| vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
|