504 lines
21 KiB
Text
504 lines
21 KiB
Text
*gui_w32.txt* For Vim version 7.4. Last change: 2012 Aug 04
|
|
|
|
|
|
VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vim's Win32 Graphical User Interface *gui-w32* *win32-gui*
|
|
|
|
1. Starting the GUI |gui-w32-start|
|
|
2. Vim as default editor |vim-default-editor|
|
|
3. Using the clipboard |gui-clipboard|
|
|
4. Shell Commands |gui-shell-win32|
|
|
5. Special colors |win32-colors|
|
|
6. Windows dialogs & browsers |gui-w32-dialogs|
|
|
7. Command line arguments |gui-w32-cmdargs|
|
|
8. Various |gui-w32-various|
|
|
|
|
Other relevant documentation:
|
|
|gui.txt| For generic items of the GUI.
|
|
|os_win32.txt| For Win32 specific items.
|
|
|
|
{Vi does not have a Windows GUI}
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
1. Starting the GUI *gui-w32-start*
|
|
|
|
The Win32 GUI version of Vim will always start the GUI, no matter how you
|
|
start it or what it's called.
|
|
|
|
The GUI will always run in the Windows subsystem. Mostly shells automatically
|
|
return with a command prompt after starting gvim. If not, you should use the
|
|
"start" command: >
|
|
start gvim [options] file ..
|
|
|
|
Note: All fonts (bold, italic) must be of the same size!!! If you don't do
|
|
this, text will disappear or mess up the display. Vim does not check the font
|
|
sizes. It's the size in screen pixels that must be the same. Note that some
|
|
fonts that have the same point size don't have the same pixel size!
|
|
Additionally, the positioning of the fonts must be the same (ascent and
|
|
descent).
|
|
|
|
The Win32 GUI has an extra menu item: "Edit/Select Font". It brings up the
|
|
standard Windows font selector.
|
|
|
|
Setting the menu height doesn't work for the Win32 GUI.
|
|
|
|
*gui-win32-maximized*
|
|
If you want Vim to start with a maximized window, add this command to your
|
|
vimrc or gvimrc file: >
|
|
au GUIEnter * simalt ~x
|
|
<
|
|
*gui-w32s*
|
|
There is a specific version of gvim.exe that runs under the Win32s subsystem
|
|
of Windows 3.1 or 3.11. See |win32s|.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Using Vim as a plugin *gui-w32-windowid*
|
|
|
|
When gvim starts up normally, it creates its own top level window. If you
|
|
pass Vim the command-line option |--windowid| with a decimal or hexadecimal
|
|
value, Vim will create a window that is a child of the window with the given
|
|
ID. This enables Vim to act as a plugin in another application. This really
|
|
is a programmer's interface, and is of no use without a supporting application
|
|
to spawn Vim correctly.
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
2. Vim as default editor *vim-default-editor*
|
|
|
|
To set Vim as the default editor for a file type:
|
|
1. Start a Windows Explorer
|
|
2. Choose View/Options -> File Types
|
|
3. Select the path to gvim for every file type that you want to use it for.
|
|
(you can also use three spaces in the file type field, for files without an
|
|
extension).
|
|
In the "open" action, use: >
|
|
gvim "%1"
|
|
< The quotes are required for using file names with embedded spaces.
|
|
You can also use this: >
|
|
gvim "%L"
|
|
< This should avoid short (8.3 character) file names in some situations. But
|
|
I'm not sure if this works everywhere.
|
|
|
|
When you open a file in Vim by double clicking it, Vim changes to that
|
|
file's directory.
|
|
|
|
If you want Vim to start full-screen, use this for the Open action: >
|
|
gvim -c "simalt ~x" "%1"
|
|
|
|
Another method, which also works when you put Vim in another directory (e.g.,
|
|
when you have got a new version):
|
|
1. select a file you want to use Vim with
|
|
2. <Shift-F10>
|
|
3. select "Open With..." menu entry
|
|
4. click "Other..."
|
|
5. browse to the (new) location of Vim and click "Open"
|
|
6. make "Always Use this program..." checked
|
|
7. <OK>
|
|
|
|
*send-to-menu* *sendto*
|
|
You can also install Vim in the "Send To" menu:
|
|
1. Start a Windows Explorer
|
|
2. Navigate to your sendto directory:
|
|
Windows 95: %windir%\sendto (e.g. "c:\windows\sendto")
|
|
Windows NT: %windir%\profiles\%user%\sendto (e.g.
|
|
"c:\winnt\profiles\mattha\sendto").
|
|
3. Right-click in the file pane and select New->Shortcut
|
|
4. Follow the shortcut wizard, using the full path to VIM/GVIM.
|
|
|
|
When you 'send a file to Vim', Vim changes to that file's directory. Note,
|
|
however, that any long directory names will appear in their short (MS-DOS)
|
|
form. This is a limitation of the Windows "Send To" mechanism.
|
|
|
|
*notepad*
|
|
You could replace notepad.exe with gvim.exe, but that has a few side effects.
|
|
Some programs rely on notepad arguments, which are not recognized by Vim. For
|
|
example "notepad -p" is used by some applications to print a file. It's
|
|
better to leave notepad where it is and use another way to start Vim.
|
|
|
|
*win32-popup-menu*
|
|
A more drastic approach is to install an "Edit with Vim" entry in the popup
|
|
menu for the right mouse button. With this you can edit any file with Vim.
|
|
|
|
This can co-exist with the file associations mentioned above. The difference
|
|
is that the file associations will make starting Vim the default action. With
|
|
the "Edit with Vim" menu entry you can keep the existing file association for
|
|
double clicking on the file, and edit the file with Vim when you want. For
|
|
example, you can associate "*.mak" with your make program. You can execute
|
|
the makefile by double clicking it and use the "Edit with Vim" entry to edit
|
|
the makefile.
|
|
|
|
You can select any files and right-click to see a menu option called "Edit
|
|
with gvim". Choosing this menu option will invoke gvim with the file you have
|
|
selected. If you select multiple files, you will find two gvim-related menu
|
|
options:
|
|
"Edit with multiple gvims" -- one gvim for each file in the selection
|
|
"Edit with single gvim" -- one gvim for all the files in the selection
|
|
And if there already is a gvim running:
|
|
"Edit with existing gvim" -- edit the file with the running gvim
|
|
|
|
The "edit with existing Vim" entries can be disabled by adding an entry in the
|
|
registry under HKLM\Software\Vim\Gvim, named DisableEditWithExisting, and with
|
|
any value.
|
|
*install-registry*
|
|
You can add the "Edit with Vim" menu entry in an easy way by using the
|
|
"install.exe" program. It will add several registry entries for you.
|
|
|
|
You can also do this by hand. This is complicated! Use the install.exe if
|
|
you can.
|
|
|
|
1. Start the registry editor with "regedit".
|
|
2. Add these keys:
|
|
key value name value ~
|
|
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{51EEE242-AD87-11d3-9C1E-0090278BBD99}
|
|
{default} Vim Shell Extension
|
|
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{51EEE242-AD87-11d3-9C1E-0090278BBD99}\InProcServer32
|
|
{default} {path}\gvimext.dll
|
|
ThreadingModel Apartment
|
|
HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\gvim
|
|
{default} {51EEE242-AD87-11d3-9C1E-0090278BBD99}
|
|
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Shell Extensions\Approved
|
|
{51EEE242-AD87-11d3-9C1E-0090278BBD99}
|
|
Vim Shell Extension
|
|
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Vim\Gvim
|
|
path {path}\gvim.exe
|
|
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\vim 5.6
|
|
DisplayName Vim 5.6: Edit with Vim popup menu entry
|
|
UninstallString {path}\uninstal.exe
|
|
|
|
Replace {path} with the path that leads to the executable.
|
|
Don't type {default}, this is the value for the key itself.
|
|
|
|
To remove "Edit with Vim" from the popup menu, just remove the registry
|
|
entries mentioned above. The "uninstal.exe" program can do this for you. You
|
|
can also use the entry in the Windows standard "Add/Remove Programs" list.
|
|
|
|
If you notice that this entry overrules other file type associations, set
|
|
those associations again by hand (using Windows Explorer, see above). This
|
|
only seems to happen on some Windows NT versions (Windows bug?). Procedure:
|
|
1. Find the name of the file type. This can be done by starting the registry
|
|
editor, and searching for the extension in \\HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT
|
|
2. In a Windows Explorer, use View/Options/File Types. Search for the file
|
|
type in the list and click "Edit". In the actions list, you can select on
|
|
to be used as the default (normally the "open" action) and click on the
|
|
"Set Default" button.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Vim in the "Open With..." context menu *win32-open-with-menu*
|
|
|
|
If you use the Vim install program you have the choice to add Vim to the "Open
|
|
With..." menu. This means you can use Vim to edit many files. Not every file
|
|
(for unclear reasons...), thus the "Edit with Vim" menu entry is still useful.
|
|
|
|
One reason to add this is to be able to edit HTML files directly from Internet
|
|
Explorer. To enable this use the "Tools" menu, "Internet Options..." entry.
|
|
In the dialog select the "Programs" tab and select Vim in the "HTML editor"
|
|
choice. If it's not there than installing didn't work properly.
|
|
|
|
Doing this manually can be done with this script:
|
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------
|
|
REGEDIT4
|
|
|
|
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\gvim.exe]
|
|
|
|
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\gvim.exe\shell]
|
|
|
|
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\gvim.exe\shell\edit]
|
|
|
|
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Applications\gvim.exe\shell\edit\command]
|
|
@="c:\\vim\\vim62\\gvim.exe \"%1\""
|
|
|
|
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.htm\OpenWithList\gvim.exe]
|
|
|
|
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\OpenWithList\gvim.exe]
|
|
|
|
----------------------------------------------------------
|
|
|
|
Change the "c:\\vim\\vim62" bit to where gvim.exe is actually located.
|
|
|
|
To uninstall this run the Vim uninstall program or manually delete the
|
|
registry entries with "regedit".
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
3. Using the clipboard *gui-clipboard*
|
|
|
|
Windows has a clipboard, where you can copy text to, and paste text from. Vim
|
|
supports this in several ways. For other systems see |gui-selections|.
|
|
|
|
The "* register reflects the contents of the clipboard. |quotestar|
|
|
|
|
When the "unnamed" string is included in the 'clipboard' option, the unnamed
|
|
register is the same. Thus you can yank to and paste from the clipboard
|
|
without prepending "* to commands.
|
|
|
|
The 'a' flag in 'guioptions' is not included by default. This means that text
|
|
is only put on the clipboard when an operation is performed on it. Just
|
|
Visually selecting text doesn't put it on the clipboard. When the 'a' flag is
|
|
included, the text is copied to the clipboard even when it is not operated
|
|
upon.
|
|
|
|
*mswin.vim*
|
|
To use the standard MS-Windows way of CTRL-X, CTRL-C and CTRL-V, use the
|
|
$VIMRUNTIME/mswin.vim script. You could add this line to your _vimrc file: >
|
|
source $VIMRUNTIME/mswin.vim
|
|
|
|
Since CTRL-C is used to copy the text to the clipboard, it can't be used to
|
|
cancel an operation. Use CTRL-Break for that.
|
|
|
|
CTRL-Z is used for undo. This means you can't suspend Vim with this key, use
|
|
|:suspend| instead (if it's supported at all).
|
|
|
|
*CTRL-V-alternative* *CTRL-Q*
|
|
Since CTRL-V is used to paste, you can't use it to start a blockwise Visual
|
|
selection. You can use CTRL-Q instead. You can also use CTRL-Q in Insert
|
|
mode and Command-line mode to get the old meaning of CTRL-V. But CTRL-Q
|
|
doesn't work for terminals when it's used for control flow.
|
|
|
|
NOTE: The clipboard support still has a number of bugs. See |todo|.
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
4. Shell Commands *gui-shell-win32*
|
|
|
|
Vim uses another window for external commands, to make it possible to run any
|
|
command. The external command gets its own environment for running, just like
|
|
it was started from a DOS prompt.
|
|
|
|
*win32-vimrun*
|
|
Executing an external command is done indirectly by the "vimrun" command. The
|
|
"vimrun.exe" must be in the path for this to work. Or it must be in the same
|
|
directory as the Vim executable. If "vimrun" cannot be found, the command is
|
|
executed directly, but then the DOS window closes immediately after the
|
|
external command has finished.
|
|
WARNING: If you close this window with the "X" button, and confirm the
|
|
question if you really want to kill the application, Vim may be killed too!
|
|
(This does not apply to commands run asynchronously with ":!start".)
|
|
|
|
In Windows 95, the window in which the commands are executed is always 25x80
|
|
characters, to be as DOS compatible as possible (this matters!). The default
|
|
system font is used. On NT, the window will be the default you have set up for
|
|
"Console" in Control Panel. On Win32s, the properties of the DOS box are
|
|
determined by _default.pif in the windows directory.
|
|
|
|
*msdos-mode*
|
|
If you get a dialog that says "This program is set to run in MS-DOS mode..."
|
|
when you run an external program, you can solve this by changing the
|
|
properties of the associated shortcut:
|
|
- Use a Windows Explorer to find the command.com that is used. It can be
|
|
c:\command.com, c:\dos\command.com, c:\windows\command.com, etc.
|
|
- With the right mouse button, select properties of this command.com.
|
|
- In the Program tab select "Advanced".
|
|
- Unselect "MS-DOS mode".
|
|
- Click "OK" twice.
|
|
|
|
*win32-!start*
|
|
Normally, Vim waits for a command to complete before continuing (this makes
|
|
sense for most shell commands which produce output for Vim to use). If you
|
|
want Vim to start a program and return immediately, you can use the following
|
|
syntax on W95 & NT: >
|
|
:!start [/min] {command}
|
|
The optional "/min" causes the window to be minimized.
|
|
|
|
On Win32s, you will have to go to another window instead. Don't forget that
|
|
you must tell Windows 3.1x to keep executing a DOS command in the background
|
|
while you switch back to Vim.
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
5. Special colors *win32-colors*
|
|
|
|
On Win32, the normal DOS colors can be used. See |dos-colors|.
|
|
|
|
Additionally the system configured colors can also be used. These are known
|
|
by the names Sys_XXX, where XXX is the appropriate system color name, from the
|
|
following list (see the Win32 documentation for full descriptions). Case is
|
|
ignored. Note: On Win32s not all of these colors are supported.
|
|
|
|
Sys_3DDKShadow Sys_3DFace Sys_BTNFace
|
|
Sys_3DHilight Sys_3DHighlight Sys_BTNHilight
|
|
Sys_BTNHighlight Sys_3DLight Sys_3DShadow
|
|
Sys_BTNShadow Sys_ActiveBorder Sys_ActiveCaption
|
|
Sys_AppWorkspace Sys_Background Sys_Desktop
|
|
Sys_BTNText Sys_CaptionText Sys_GrayText
|
|
Sys_Highlight Sys_HighlightText Sys_InactiveBorder
|
|
Sys_InactiveCaption Sys_InactiveCaptionText Sys_InfoBK
|
|
Sys_InfoText Sys_Menu Sys_MenuText
|
|
Sys_ScrollBar Sys_Window Sys_WindowFrame
|
|
Sys_WindowText
|
|
|
|
Probably the most useful values are
|
|
Sys_Window Normal window background
|
|
Sys_WindowText Normal window text
|
|
Sys_Highlight Highlighted background
|
|
Sys_HighlightText Highlighted text
|
|
|
|
These extra colors are also available:
|
|
Gray, Grey, LightYellow, SeaGreen, Orange, Purple, SlateBlue, Violet,
|
|
|
|
*rgb.txt*
|
|
Additionally, colors defined by a "rgb.txt" file can be used. This file is
|
|
well known from X11. A few lines from it: >
|
|
|
|
255 218 185 peach puff
|
|
205 133 63 peru
|
|
255 181 197 pink
|
|
|
|
This shows the layout of the file: First the R, G and B value as a decimal
|
|
number, followed by the name of the color. The four fields are separated by
|
|
spaces.
|
|
|
|
You can get an rgb.txt file from any X11 distribution. It is located in a
|
|
directory like "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/". For Vim it must be located in the
|
|
$VIMRUNTIME directory. Thus the file can be found with "$VIMRUNTIME/rgb.txt".
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
*gui-w32-dialogs* *dialog*
|
|
6. Windows dialogs & browsers
|
|
|
|
The Win32 GUI can use familiar Windows components for some operations, as well
|
|
as the traditional interface shared with the console version.
|
|
|
|
|
|
6.1 Dialogs
|
|
|
|
The dialogs displayed by the "confirm" family (i.e. the 'confirm' option,
|
|
|:confirm| command and |confirm()| function) are GUI-based rather than the
|
|
console-based ones used by other versions. The 'c' flag in 'guioptions'
|
|
changes this.
|
|
|
|
|
|
6.2 File Browsers
|
|
|
|
When prepending ":browse" before file editing commands, a file requester is
|
|
used to allow you to select an existing file. See |:browse|.
|
|
|
|
|
|
6.3 Tearoff Menus
|
|
|
|
The Win32 GUI emulates Motif's tear-off menus. At the top of each menu you
|
|
will see a small graphic "rip here" sign. Selecting it will cause a floating
|
|
window to be created with the same menu entries on it. The floating menu can
|
|
then be accessed just as if it was the original (including sub-menus), but
|
|
without having to go to the menu bar each time.
|
|
This is most useful if you find yourself using a command buried in a sub-menu
|
|
over and over again.
|
|
The tearoff menus can be positioned where you like, and always stay just above
|
|
the Main Vim window. You can get rid of them by closing them as usual; they
|
|
also of course close when you exit Vim.
|
|
|
|
*:tearoff* *:te*
|
|
:te[aroff] {name} Tear-off the menu {name}. The menu named must have at
|
|
least one subentry, but need not appear on the
|
|
menu-bar (see |win32-hidden-menus|).
|
|
|
|
Example: >
|
|
:tearoff File
|
|
will make the "File" menu (if there is one) appear as a tearoff menu. >
|
|
|
|
:amenu ]Toolbar.Make :make<CR>
|
|
:tearoff ]Toolbar
|
|
This creates a floating menu that doesn't exist on the main menu-bar.
|
|
|
|
Note that a menu that starts with ']' will not be displayed.
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
7. Command line arguments *gui-w32-cmdargs*
|
|
|
|
Analysis of a command line into parameters is not standardised in MS Windows.
|
|
Gvim has to provide logic to analyse a command line. This logic is likely to
|
|
be different from the default logic provided by a compilation system used to
|
|
build vim. The differences relate to unusual double quote (") usage.
|
|
The arguments "C:\My Music\freude.txt" and "+/Sch\"iller" are handled in the
|
|
same way. The argument "+/Sch""iller" may be handled different by gvim and
|
|
vim, depending what it was compiled with.
|
|
|
|
The rules are:
|
|
a) A parameter is a sequence of graphic characters.
|
|
b) Parameters are separated by white space.
|
|
c) A parameter can be enclosed in double quotes to include white space.
|
|
d) A sequence of zero or more backslashes (\) and a double quote (")
|
|
is special. The effective number of backslashes is halved, rounded
|
|
down. An even number of backslashes reverses the acceptability of
|
|
spaces and tabs, an odd number of backslashes produces a literal
|
|
double quote.
|
|
|
|
So:
|
|
" is a special double quote
|
|
\" is a literal double quote
|
|
\\" is a literal backslash and a special double quote
|
|
\\\" is a literal backslash and a literal double quote
|
|
\\\\" is 2 literal backslashes and a special double quote
|
|
\\\\\" is 2 literal backslashes and a literal double quote
|
|
etc.
|
|
|
|
Example: >
|
|
gvim "C:\My Music\freude" +"set ignorecase" +/"\"foo\\" +\"bar\\\"
|
|
|
|
opens "C:\My Music\freude" and executes the line mode commands: >
|
|
set ignorecase; /"foo\ and /bar\"
|
|
|
|
==============================================================================
|
|
8. Various *gui-w32-various*
|
|
|
|
*gui-w32-printing*
|
|
The "File/Print" menu prints the text with syntax highlighting, see
|
|
|:hardcopy|. If you just want to print the raw text and have a default
|
|
printer installed this should also work: >
|
|
:w >>prn
|
|
|
|
Vim supports a number of standard MS Windows features. Some of these are
|
|
detailed elsewhere: see |'mouse'|, |win32-hidden-menus|.
|
|
|
|
*drag-n-drop-win32*
|
|
You can drag and drop one or more files into the Vim window, where they will
|
|
be opened as normal. See |drag-n-drop|.
|
|
|
|
*:simalt* *:si*
|
|
:sim[alt] {key} simulate pressing {key} while holding Alt pressed.
|
|
{not in Vi} {only for Win32 versions}
|
|
|
|
Normally, Vim takes control of all Alt-<Key> combinations, to increase the
|
|
number of possible mappings. This clashes with the standard use of Alt as the
|
|
key for accessing menus.
|
|
The quick way of getting standard behavior is to set the 'winaltkeys' option
|
|
to "yes". This however prevents you from mapping Alt keys at all.
|
|
Another way is to set 'winaltkeys' to "menu". Menu shortcut keys are then
|
|
handled by windows, other ALT keys can be mapped. This doesn't allow a
|
|
dependency on the current state though.
|
|
To get round this, the :simalt command allows Vim (when 'winaltkeys' is not
|
|
"yes") to fake a Windows-style Alt keypress. You can use this to map Alt key
|
|
combinations (or anything else for that matter) to produce standard Windows
|
|
actions. Here are some examples: >
|
|
|
|
:map <M-f> :simalt f<CR>
|
|
This makes Alt-F pop down the 'File' menu (with the stock Menu.vim) by
|
|
simulating the keystrokes Alt, F. >
|
|
:map <M-Space> :simalt ~<CR>
|
|
This maps Alt-Space to pop down the system menu for the Vim window. Note that
|
|
~ is used by simalt to represent the <Space> character. >
|
|
:map <C-n> :simalt ~n<CR>
|
|
Maps Control-N to produce the keys Alt-Space followed by N. This minimizes the
|
|
Vim window via the system menu.
|
|
|
|
Note that the key changes depending on the language you are using.
|
|
|
|
*intellimouse-wheel-problems*
|
|
When using the Intellimouse mouse wheel causes Vim to stop accepting input, go
|
|
to:
|
|
ControlPanel - Mouse - Wheel - UniversalScrolling - Exceptions
|
|
|
|
And add gvim to the list of applications. This problem only appears to happen
|
|
with the Intellimouse driver 2.2 and when "Universal Scrolling" is turned on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
XPM support *w32-xpm-support*
|
|
|
|
Gvim can be build on MS-Windows with support for XPM files. |+xpm_w32|
|
|
See the Make_mvc.mak file for instructions, search for XPM.
|
|
|
|
To try out if XPM support works do this: >
|
|
:help
|
|
:exe 'sign define vimxpm icon=' . $VIMRUNTIME . '\\vim16x16.xpm'
|
|
:exe 'sign place 1 line=1 name=vimxpm file=' . expand('%:p')
|
|
<
|
|
|
|
vim:tw=78:sw=4:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
|