564 lines
18 KiB
Text
564 lines
18 KiB
Text
*usr_02.txt* For Vim version 7.4. Last change: 2010 Jul 20
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VIM USER MANUAL - by Bram Moolenaar
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The first steps in Vim
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This chapter provides just enough information to edit a file with Vim. Not
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well or fast, but you can edit. Take some time to practice with these
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commands, they form the base for what follows.
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|02.1| Running Vim for the First Time
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|02.2| Inserting text
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|02.3| Moving around
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|02.4| Deleting characters
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|02.5| Undo and Redo
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|02.6| Other editing commands
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|02.7| Getting out
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|02.8| Finding help
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Next chapter: |usr_03.txt| Moving around
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Previous chapter: |usr_01.txt| About the manuals
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Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt|
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==============================================================================
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*02.1* Running Vim for the First Time
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To start Vim, enter this command: >
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gvim file.txt
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In UNIX you can type this at any command prompt. If you are running Microsoft
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Windows, open an MS-DOS prompt window and enter the command.
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In either case, Vim starts editing a file called file.txt. Because this
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is a new file, you get a blank window. This is what your screen will look
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like:
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+---------------------------------------+
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|# |
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|~ |
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|~ |
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|~ |
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|~ |
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|"file.txt" [New file] |
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+---------------------------------------+
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('#" is the cursor position.)
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The tilde (~) lines indicate lines not in the file. In other words, when Vim
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runs out of file to display, it displays tilde lines. At the bottom of the
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screen, a message line indicates the file is named file.txt and shows that you
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are creating a new file. The message information is temporary and other
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information overwrites it.
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THE VIM COMMAND
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The gvim command causes the editor to create a new window for editing. If you
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use this command: >
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vim file.txt
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the editing occurs inside your command window. In other words, if you are
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running inside an xterm, the editor uses your xterm window. If you are using
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an MS-DOS command prompt window under Microsoft Windows, the editing occurs
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inside this window. The text in the window will look the same for both
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versions, but with gvim you have extra features, like a menu bar. More about
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that later.
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==============================================================================
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*02.2* Inserting text
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The Vim editor is a modal editor. That means that the editor behaves
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differently, depending on which mode you are in. The two basic modes are
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called Normal mode and Insert mode. In Normal mode the characters you type
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are commands. In Insert mode the characters are inserted as text.
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Since you have just started Vim it will be in Normal mode. To start Insert
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mode you type the "i" command (i for Insert). Then you can enter
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the text. It will be inserted into the file. Do not worry if you make
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mistakes; you can correct them later. To enter the following programmer's
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limerick, this is what you type: >
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iA very intelligent turtle
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Found programming UNIX a hurdle
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After typing "turtle" you press the <Enter> key to start a new line. Finally
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you press the <Esc> key to stop Insert mode and go back to Normal mode. You
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now have two lines of text in your Vim window:
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+---------------------------------------+
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|A very intelligent turtle |
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|Found programming UNIX a hurdle |
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|~ |
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|~ |
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+---------------------------------------+
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WHAT IS THE MODE?
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To be able to see what mode you are in, type this command: >
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:set showmode
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You will notice that when typing the colon Vim moves the cursor to the last
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line of the window. That's where you type colon commands (commands that start
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with a colon). Finish this command by pressing the <Enter> key (all commands
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that start with a colon are finished this way).
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Now, if you type the "i" command Vim will display --INSERT-- at the bottom
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of the window. This indicates you are in Insert mode.
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+---------------------------------------+
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|A very intelligent turtle |
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|Found programming UNIX a hurdle |
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|~ |
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|~ |
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|-- INSERT -- |
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+---------------------------------------+
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If you press <Esc> to go back to Normal mode the last line will be made blank.
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GETTING OUT OF TROUBLE
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One of the problems for Vim novices is mode confusion, which is caused by
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forgetting which mode you are in or by accidentally typing a command that
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switches modes. To get back to Normal mode, no matter what mode you are in,
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press the <Esc> key. Sometimes you have to press it twice. If Vim beeps back
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at you, you already are in Normal mode.
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==============================================================================
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*02.3* Moving around
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After you return to Normal mode, you can move around by using these keys:
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h left *hjkl*
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j down
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k up
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l right
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At first, it may appear that these commands were chosen at random. After all,
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who ever heard of using l for right? But actually, there is a very good
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reason for these choices: Moving the cursor is the most common thing you do in
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an editor, and these keys are on the home row of your right hand. In other
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words, these commands are placed where you can type them the fastest
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(especially when you type with ten fingers).
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Note:
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You can also move the cursor by using the arrow keys. If you do,
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however, you greatly slow down your editing because to press the arrow
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keys, you must move your hand from the text keys to the arrow keys.
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Considering that you might be doing it hundreds of times an hour, this
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can take a significant amount of time.
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Also, there are keyboards which do not have arrow keys, or which
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locate them in unusual places; therefore, knowing the use of the hjkl
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keys helps in those situations.
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One way to remember these commands is that h is on the left, l is on the
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right and j points down. In a picture: >
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k
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h l
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j
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The best way to learn these commands is by using them. Use the "i" command to
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insert some more lines of text. Then use the hjkl keys to move around and
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insert a word somewhere. Don't forget to press <Esc> to go back to Normal
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mode. The |vimtutor| is also a nice way to learn by doing.
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For Japanese users, Hiroshi Iwatani suggested using this:
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Komsomolsk
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^
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Huan Ho <--- ---> Los Angeles
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(Yellow river) |
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v
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Java (the island, not the programming language)
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==============================================================================
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*02.4* Deleting characters
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To delete a character, move the cursor over it and type "x". (This is a
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throwback to the old days of the typewriter, when you deleted things by typing
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xxxx over them.) Move the cursor to the beginning of the first line, for
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example, and type xxxxxxx (seven x's) to delete "A very ". The result should
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look like this:
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+---------------------------------------+
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|intelligent turtle |
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|Found programming UNIX a hurdle |
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|~ |
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|~ |
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+---------------------------------------+
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Now you can insert new text, for example by typing: >
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iA young <Esc>
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This begins an insert (the i), inserts the words "A young", and then exits
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insert mode (the final <Esc>). The result:
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+---------------------------------------+
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|A young intelligent turtle |
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|Found programming UNIX a hurdle |
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|~ |
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|~ |
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+---------------------------------------+
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DELETING A LINE
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To delete a whole line use the "dd" command. The following line will
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then move up to fill the gap:
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+---------------------------------------+
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|Found programming UNIX a hurdle |
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|~ |
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|~ |
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|~ |
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+---------------------------------------+
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DELETING A LINE BREAK
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In Vim you can join two lines together, which means that the line break
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between them is deleted. The "J" command does this.
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Take these two lines:
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A young intelligent ~
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turtle ~
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Move the cursor to the first line and press "J":
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A young intelligent turtle ~
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==============================================================================
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*02.5* Undo and Redo
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Suppose you delete too much. Well, you can type it in again, but an easier
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way exists. The "u" command undoes the last edit. Take a look at this in
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action: After using "dd" to delete the first line, "u" brings it back.
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Another one: Move the cursor to the A in the first line:
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A young intelligent turtle ~
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Now type xxxxxxx to delete "A young". The result is as follows:
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intelligent turtle ~
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Type "u" to undo the last delete. That delete removed the g, so the undo
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restores the character.
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g intelligent turtle ~
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The next u command restores the next-to-last character deleted:
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ng intelligent turtle ~
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The next u command gives you the u, and so on:
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ung intelligent turtle ~
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oung intelligent turtle ~
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young intelligent turtle ~
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young intelligent turtle ~
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A young intelligent turtle ~
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Note:
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If you type "u" twice, and the result is that you get the same text
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back, you have Vim configured to work Vi compatible. Look here to fix
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this: |not-compatible|.
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This text assumes you work "The Vim Way". You might prefer to use
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the good old Vi way, but you will have to watch out for small
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differences in the text then.
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REDO
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If you undo too many times, you can press CTRL-R (redo) to reverse the
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preceding command. In other words, it undoes the undo. To see this in
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action, press CTRL-R twice. The character A and the space after it disappear:
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young intelligent turtle ~
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There's a special version of the undo command, the "U" (undo line) command.
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The undo line command undoes all the changes made on the last line that was
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edited. Typing this command twice cancels the preceding "U".
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A very intelligent turtle ~
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xxxx Delete very
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A intelligent turtle ~
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xxxxxx Delete turtle
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A intelligent ~
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Restore line with "U"
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A very intelligent turtle ~
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Undo "U" with "u"
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A intelligent ~
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The "U" command is a change by itself, which the "u" command undoes and CTRL-R
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redoes. This might be a bit confusing. Don't worry, with "u" and CTRL-R you
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can go to any of the situations you had. More about that in section |32.2|.
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==============================================================================
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*02.6* Other editing commands
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Vim has a large number of commands to change the text. See |Q_in| and below.
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Here are a few often used ones.
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APPENDING
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The "i" command inserts a character before the character under the cursor.
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That works fine; but what happens if you want to add stuff to the end of the
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line? For that you need to insert text after the cursor. This is done with
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the "a" (append) command.
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For example, to change the line
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and that's not saying much for the turtle. ~
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to
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and that's not saying much for the turtle!!! ~
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move the cursor over to the dot at the end of the line. Then type "x" to
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delete the period. The cursor is now positioned at the end of the line on the
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e in turtle. Now type >
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a!!!<Esc>
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to append three exclamation points after the e in turtle:
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and that's not saying much for the turtle!!! ~
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OPENING UP A NEW LINE
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The "o" command creates a new, empty line below the cursor and puts Vim in
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Insert mode. Then you can type the text for the new line.
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Suppose the cursor is somewhere in the first of these two lines:
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A very intelligent turtle ~
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Found programming UNIX a hurdle ~
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If you now use the "o" command and type new text: >
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oThat liked using Vim<Esc>
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The result is:
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A very intelligent turtle ~
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That liked using Vim ~
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Found programming UNIX a hurdle ~
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The "O" command (uppercase) opens a line above the cursor.
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USING A COUNT
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Suppose you want to move up nine lines. You can type "kkkkkkkkk" or you can
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enter the command "9k". In fact, you can precede many commands with a number.
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Earlier in this chapter, for instance, you added three exclamation points to
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the end of a line by typing "a!!!<Esc>". Another way to do this is to use the
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command "3a!<Esc>". The count of 3 tells the command that follows to triple
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its effect. Similarly, to delete three characters, use the command "3x". The
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count always comes before the command it applies to.
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==============================================================================
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*02.7* Getting out
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To exit, use the "ZZ" command. This command writes the file and exits.
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Note:
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Unlike many other editors, Vim does not automatically make a backup
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file. If you type "ZZ", your changes are committed and there's no
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turning back. You can configure the Vim editor to produce backup
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files, see |07.4|.
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DISCARDING CHANGES
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Sometimes you will make a sequence of changes and suddenly realize you were
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better off before you started. Not to worry; Vim has a
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quit-and-throw-things-away command. It is: >
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:q!
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Don't forget to press <Enter> to finish the command.
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For those of you interested in the details, the three parts of this command
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are the colon (:), which enters Command-line mode; the q command, which tells
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the editor to quit; and the override command modifier (!).
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The override command modifier is needed because Vim is reluctant to throw
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away changes. If you were to just type ":q", Vim would display an error
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message and refuse to exit:
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E37: No write since last change (use ! to override) ~
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By specifying the override, you are in effect telling Vim, "I know that what
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I'm doing looks stupid, but I'm a big boy and really want to do this."
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If you want to continue editing with Vim: The ":e!" command reloads the
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original version of the file.
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==============================================================================
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*02.8* Finding help
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Everything you always wanted to know can be found in the Vim help files.
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Don't be afraid to ask!
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To get generic help use this command: >
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:help
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You could also use the first function key <F1>. If your keyboard has a <Help>
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key it might work as well.
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If you don't supply a subject, ":help" displays the general help window.
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The creators of Vim did something very clever (or very lazy) with the help
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system: They made the help window a normal editing window. You can use all
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the normal Vim commands to move through the help information. Therefore h, j,
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k, and l move left, down, up and right.
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To get out of the help window, use the same command you use to get out of
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the editor: "ZZ". This will only close the help window, not exit Vim.
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As you read the help text, you will notice some text enclosed in vertical bars
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(for example, |help|). This indicates a hyperlink. If you position the
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cursor anywhere between the bars and press CTRL-] (jump to tag), the help
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system takes you to the indicated subject. (For reasons not discussed here,
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the Vim terminology for a hyperlink is tag. So CTRL-] jumps to the location
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of the tag given by the word under the cursor.)
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After a few jumps, you might want to go back. CTRL-T (pop tag) takes you
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back to the preceding position. CTRL-O (jump to older position) also works
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nicely here.
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At the top of the help screen, there is the notation *help.txt*. This name
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between "*" characters is used by the help system to define a tag (hyperlink
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destination).
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See |29.1| for details about using tags.
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To get help on a given subject, use the following command: >
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:help {subject}
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To get help on the "x" command, for example, enter the following: >
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:help x
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To find out how to delete text, use this command: >
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:help deleting
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To get a complete index of all Vim commands, use the following command: >
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:help index
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When you need to get help for a control character command (for example,
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CTRL-A), you need to spell it with the prefix "CTRL-". >
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:help CTRL-A
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The Vim editor has many different modes. By default, the help system displays
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the normal-mode commands. For example, the following command displays help
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for the normal-mode CTRL-H command: >
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:help CTRL-H
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To identify other modes, use a mode prefix. If you want the help for the
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insert-mode version of a command, use "i_". For CTRL-H this gives you the
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following command: >
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:help i_CTRL-H
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When you start the Vim editor, you can use several command-line arguments.
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These all begin with a dash (-). To find what the -t argument does, for
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example, use the command: >
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:help -t
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The Vim editor has a number of options that enable you to configure and
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customize the editor. If you want help for an option, you need to enclose it
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in single quotation marks. To find out what the 'number' option does, for
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example, use the following command: >
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:help 'number'
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The table with all mode prefixes can be found here: |help-context|.
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Special keys are enclosed in angle brackets. To find help on the up-arrow key
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in Insert mode, for instance, use this command: >
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:help i_<Up>
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If you see an error message that you don't understand, for example:
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E37: No write since last change (use ! to override) ~
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You can use the error ID at the start to find help about it: >
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:help E37
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Summary: *help-summary* >
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:help
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< Gives you very general help. Scroll down to see a list of all
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helpfiles, including those added locally (i.e. not distributed
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with Vim). >
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:help user-toc.txt
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< Table of contents of the User Manual. >
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:help :subject
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< Ex-command "subject", for instance the following: >
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:help :help
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< Help on getting help. >
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:help abc
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< normal-mode command "abc". >
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:help CTRL-B
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< Control key <C-B> in Normal mode. >
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:help i_abc
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:help i_CTRL-B
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< The same in Insert mode. >
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:help v_abc
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:help v_CTRL-B
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< The same in Visual mode. >
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:help c_abc
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:help c_CTRL-B
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< The same in Command-line mode. >
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:help 'subject'
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< Option 'subject'. >
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:help subject()
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< Function "subject". >
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:help -subject
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< Command-line option "-subject". >
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:help +subject
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< Compile-time feature "+subject". >
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:help EventName
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< Autocommand event "EventName". >
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:help digraphs.txt
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< The top of the helpfile "digraph.txt".
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Similarly for any other helpfile. >
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:help pattern<Tab>
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< Find a help tag starting with "pattern". Repeat <Tab> for
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others. >
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:help pattern<Ctrl-D>
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< See all possible help tag matches "pattern" at once. >
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:helpgrep pattern
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< Search the whole text of all help files for pattern "pattern".
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Jumps to the first match. Jump to other matches with: >
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:cn
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< next match >
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:cprev
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:cN
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< previous match >
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:cfirst
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:clast
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< first or last match >
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:copen
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:cclose
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< open/close the quickfix window; press <Enter> to jump
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to the item under the cursor
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==============================================================================
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Next chapter: |usr_03.txt| Moving around
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Copyright: see |manual-copyright| vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
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