*options.txt* For Vim version 5.6. Last change: 2000 Jan 05 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar Options *options* 1. Setting options |set-option| 2. Automatically setting options |auto-setting| 3. Saving settings |save-settings| 4. Options summary |option-summary| For an overview of options see help.txt |option-list|. Vim has a number of internal variables and switches which can be set to achieve special effects. These options come in three forms: boolean can only be on or off *boolean* *toggle* number has a numeric value string has a string value ============================================================================== 1. Setting options *set-option* *:se* *:set* :se[t] Show all options that differ from their default value. :se[t] all Show all but terminal options. :se[t] termcap Show all terminal options. Note that in the GUI the key codes are not shown, because they are generated interally and can't be changed. Changing the terminal codes in the GUI is not useful either... :se[t] {option}? Show value of {option}. :se[t] {option} Toggle option: set, switch it on. Number option: show value. String option: show value. :se[t] no{option} Toggle option: Reset, switch it off. :se[t] {option}! or :se[t] inv{option} Toggle option: Invert value. {not in Vi} :se[t] {option}& Reset option to its default value. {not in Vi} :se[t] all& Set all options, except terminal options, to their default value. The values of 'term', 'lines' and 'columns' are not changed. {not in Vi} :se[t] {option}={value} or :se[t] {option}:{value} Set string or number option to {value}. *:set-args* For numeric options the value can be given in decimal, hex (preceded with 0x) or octal (preceded with '0') (hex and octal are only available for machines which have the strtol() function). The old value can be inserted by typing 'wildchar' (by default this is a or CTRL-E if 'compatible' is set). See |cmdline-completion|. White space between {option} and '=' is allowed and will be ignored. White space between '=' and {value} is not allowed. See |option-backslash| for using white space and backslashes in {value}. :se[t] {option}+={value} *:set+=* Add the {value} to a number option, or append the {value} to a string option. When the option is a comma separated list, a comma is added, unless the value was empty. There is no check for doubled values. You can avoid this by removing a value first. Example: > set guioptions-=T guioptions+=T Also see |:set-args| above. :se[t] {option}^={value} *:set^=* Multiply the {value} to a number option, or prepend the {value} to a string option. When the option is a comma separated list, a comma is added, unless the value was empty. Also see |:set-args| above. :se[t] {option}-={value} *:set-=* Subtract the {value} from a number option, or remove the {value} from a string option, if it is there. If the {value} is not found in a string option, there is no error or warning. When the option is a comma separated list, a comma is deleted, unless the option becomes empty. Also see |:set-args| above. :bro[wse] se[t] *:set-browse* *:browse-set* *:opt* *:options* :opt[ions] Open a window for viewing and setting all options. Options are grouped by function. Offers short help for each option. Hit on the short help to open a help window with more help for the option. Modify the value of the option and hit on the "set" line to set the new value. For window and buffer specific options, the last accessed window is used to set the option value in, unless this is a help window, in which case the window below help window is used (skipping the option-window). {not available when compiled without the |+eval| or |+autocmd| features} The {option} arguments to ":set" may be repeated. For example: > :set ai nosi sw=3 ts=3 If you make an error in one of the arguments, an error message will be given and the following arguments will be ignored. For {option} the form "t_xx" may be used to set a termcap option. This will override the value from the termcap. You can then use it in a mapping. If the "xx" part contains special characters, use the form: :set =^[Ot The listing from ":set" looks different from Vi. Long string options are put at the end of the list. The number of options is quite large. The output of "set all" probably does not fit on the screen, causing Vim to give the |more-prompt|. *option-backslash* To include white space in a string option value it has to be preceded with a backslash. To include a backslash you have to use two. Effectively this means that the number of backslashes in an option value is halved (rounded down). A few examples: > :set tags=tags\ /usr/tags results in "tags /usr/tags" > :set tags=tags\\,file results in "tags\,file" > :set tags=tags\\\ file results in "tags\ file" For MS-DOS and WIN32 backslashes in file names are mostly not removed. More precise: For options that expect a file name (those where environment variables are expanded) a backslash before a normal file name character is not removed. But a backslash before a special character (space, backslash, comma, etc.) is used like explained above. There is one special situation, when the value starts with "\\": > :set dir=\\machine\path results in "\\machine\path" > :set dir=\\\\machine\\path results in "\\machine\path" > :set dir=\\path\\file results in "\\path\file" (wrong!) For the first one the start is kept, but for the second one the backslashes are halved. This makes sure it works both when you expect backslashes to be halved and when you expect the backslashes to be kept. The third gives a result which is probably not what you want. Avoid it. *add-option-flags* *remove-option-flags* Some options are a list of flags. When you want to add a flag to such an option, without changing the existing ones, you can do it like this: > :set guioptions+=a Remove a flag from an option like this: > :set guioptions-=a This removes the 'a' flag from 'guioptions'. *:set_env* *expand-env* *expand-environment-var* Environment variables in most string options will be expanded. If the environment variable exists the '$' and the following environment variable name is replaced with its value. If it does not exist the '$' and the name are not modified. Any non-id character (not a letter, digit or '_') may follow the environment variable name. That character and what follows is appended to the value of the environment variable. Examples: > :set term=$TERM.new > :set path=/usr/$INCLUDE,$HOME/include,. *$HOME* Using "~" is like using "$HOME", but it is only recognized at the start of an option and after a space or comma. On Unix systems "~user" can be used too. It is replaced by the home directory of user "user". Example: > :set path=~mool/include,/usr/include,. On Unix systems the form "${HOME}" can be used too. The name between {} can contain non-id characters then. Note that if you want to use this for the "gf" command, you need to add the '{' and '}' characters to 'isfname'. *$VIM* The environment variable "$VIM" is used to locate various user files for Vim, such as the user startup script ".vimrc". This depends on the system, see |startup|. To avoid the need for every user to set the $VIM environment variable, Vim will try to get the value for $VIM in this order: 1. The value defined by the $VIM environment variable. You can use this to make Vim look in a specific directory for its support files. Example: > setenv VIM /home/paul/vim 2. The path from 'helpfile' is used, unless it contains some environment variable too (the default is "$VIMRUNTIME/doc/help.txt": chicken-egg problem). The file name ("help.txt" or any other) is removed. Then trailing directory names are removed, in this order: "doc", "runtime" and "vim{version}" (e.g., "vim54"). 3. For MSDOS, Win32 and OS/2 Vim tries to use the directory name of the executable. If it ends in "/src", this is removed. This is useful if you unpacked the .zip file in some directory, and adjusted the search path to find the vim executable. Trailing directory names are removed, in this order: "runtime" and "vim{version}" (e.g., "vim54"). 4. For Unix the compile-time defined installation directory is used (see the output of ":version"). Once Vim has done this once, it will set the $VIM environment variable. To change it later, use a ":let" command like this: > let $VIM = "/home/paul/vim/" *$VIMRUNTIME* The environment variable "$VIMRUNTIME" is used to locate various support files, such as the on-line documentation and files used for syntax highlighting. For example, the main help file is normally "$VIMRUNTIME/doc/help.txt". You don't normally set $VIMRUNTIME youself, but let Vim figure it out. This is the order used to find the value of $VIMRUNTIME: 1. If the environment variable $VIMRUNTIME is set, it is used. You can use this when the runtime files are in an unusual location. 2. If "$VIM/vim{version}" exists, it is used. {version} is the version number of Vim, without any '-' or '.'. For example: "$VIM/vim54". This is the normal value for $VIMRUNTIME. 3. If "$VIM/runtime" exists, it is used. 4. The value of $VIM is used. This is for backwards compatibility with older versions. 5. When the 'helpfile' option is set and doesn't contain a '$', its value is used, with "doc/help.txt" removed from the end. For Unix, when there is a compiled-in default for $VIMRUNTIME (check the output of ":version"), steps 2, 3 and 4 are skipped, and the compiled-in default is used after step 5. This means that the compiled-in default overrules the value of $VIM. This is useful if $VIM is "/etc" and the runtime files are in "/user/share/vim/vim54". Once Vim has done this once, it will set the $VIMRUNTIME environment variable. To change it later, use a ":let" command like this: > let $VIMRUNTIME = "/home/piet/vim/vim54" Note the maximum length of an expanded option is limited. How much depends on the system, mostly it is something like 256 or 1024 characters. *:fix* *:fixdel* :fix[del] Set the value of 't_kD': 't_kb' is 't_kD' becomes ~ CTRL-? CTRL-H not CTRL-? CTRL-? (CTRL-? is 0177 octal, 0x7f hex) {not in Vi} If your delete key terminal code is wrong, but the code for backspace is alright, you can put this in your .vimrc: > :fixdel This works no matter what the actual code for backspace is. If the backspace key terminal code is wrong you can use this: > :if &term == "termname" > : set t_kb=^V > : fixdel > :endif Where "^V" is CTRL-V and "" is the backspace key (don't type four characters!). Replace "termname" with your terminal name. If your key sends a strange key sequence (not CTRL-? or CTRL-H) you cannot use ":fixdel". Then use: > :if &term == "termname" > : set t_kD=^V > :endif Where "^V" is CTRL-V and "" is the delete key (don't type eight characters!). Replace "termname" with your terminal name. *Linux-backspace* Note about Linux: By default the backspace key produces CTRL-?, which is wrong. You can fix it by putting this line in your rc.local: > echo "keycode 14 = BackSpace" | loadkeys *NetBSD-backspace* Note about NetBSD: If your backspace doesn't produce the right code, try this this: > xmodmap -e "keycode 22 = BackSpace" If this works, add this in your .Xmodmap file: > keysym 22 = BackSpace You need to restart for this to take effect. ============================================================================== 2. Automatically setting options *auto-setting* Besides changing options with the ":set" command, there are three alternatives to set options automatically for one or more files: 1. When starting Vim initializations are read from various places. See |initialization|. Most of them are performed for all editing sessions, and some of them depend on the directory where Vim is started. 2. If you start editing a new file, the automatic commands are executed. This can be used to set options for files matching a particular pattern and many other things. See |autocommand|. 3. If you start editing a new file, and the 'modeline' option is on, a number of lines at the beginning and end of the file are checked for modelines. This is explained here. *modeline* *vim:* *vi:* *ex:* There are two forms of modelines. The first form: [text]{white}{vi:|vim:|ex:}[white]{options} [text] any text or empty {white} at least one white space ( or ) {vi:|vim:|ex:} the string "vi:", "vim:" or "ex:" [white] optional white space {options} a list of option settings, separated with white space or ':', where each part between ':' is the argument for a ":set" command Example: > vi:noai:sw=3 ts=6 The second form (this is compatible with some versions of Vi): [text]{white}{vi:|vim:|ex:}[white]set {options}:[text] [text] any text or empty {white} at least one white space ( or ) {vi:|vim:|ex:} the string "vi:", "vim:" or "ex:" [white] optional white space set the string "set " (note the space) {options} a list of options, separated with white space, which is the argument for a ":set" command : a colon [text] any text or empty Example: > /* vim: set ai tw=75: */ The white space before {vi:|vim:|ex:} is required. This minimizes the chance that a normal word like "lex:" is caught. There is one exception: "vi:" and "vim:" can also be at the start of the line (for compatibility with version 3.0). Using "ex:" at the start of the line will be ignored (this could be short for "example:"). The number of lines that are checked can be set with the 'modelines' option. If 'modeline' is off or 'modelines' is 0 no lines are checked. Note that for the first form all of the rest of the line is used, thus a line like: > /* vi:ts=4: */ will give an error message for the trailing "*/". This line is OK: > /* vi:set ts=4: */ If an error is detected the rest of the line is skipped. If you want to include a ':' in a set command precede it with a '\'. The backslash in front of the ':' will be removed. Example: > /* vi:set dir=c\:\tmp: */ This sets the 'dir' option to "c:\tmp". Only a single backslash before the ':' is removed. Thus to include "\:" you have to specify "\\:". No other commands than "set" are supported, for security reasons (somebody might create a Trojan horse text file with modelines). ============================================================================== 3. Saving settings *save-settings* *:mk* *:mkexrc* :mk[exrc] [file] Write current key mappings and changed options to [file] (default ".exrc" in the current directory), unless it already exists. {not in Vi} :mk[exrc]! [file] Always write current key mappings and changed options to [file] (default ".exrc" in the current directory). {not in Vi} *:mkv* *:mkvimrc* :mkv[imrc][!] [file] Like ":mkexrc", but the default is ".vimrc" in the current directory. The ":version" command is also written to the file. {not in Vi} *:mks* *:mksession* :mks[ession][!] [file] Like ":mkvimrc", but write commands to the end of the file that reload the files being edited at the time of the command. |session-file| The default file name is "Session.vim". The created file can be loaded with a |:source| command to recreate the current edit session. {not in Vi} {only when compiled with the |+mksession| feature enabled} These commands will write ":map" and ":set" commands to a file, in such a way that when these commands are executed, the current key mappings and options will be set to the same values. The options 'columns', 'endofline', 'fileformat', 'key', 'lines', 'modified', 'scroll', 'term', 'textmode', 'ttyfast' and 'ttymouse' are not included, because these are terminal or file dependent. Note that the options 'binary', 'paste' and 'readonly' are included, this might not always be what you want. When special keys are used in mappings, The 'cpoptions' option will be temporarily made empty, to avoid the mappings to be misinterpreted. This makes the file incompatible with Vi, but makes sure it can be used with different terminals. A common method is to use a default ".vimrc" file, make some modifications with ":map" and ":set" commands and write the modified file. First read the default ".vimrc" in with a command like ":source ~piet/.vimrc.Cprogs", change the settings and then save them in the current directory with ":mkvimrc!". If you want to make this file your default .vimrc, move it to your home directory (on Unix), s: (Amiga) or $VIM directory (MS-DOS). You could also use autocommands |autocommand| and/or modelines |modeline|. If you only want to add a single option setting to your vimrc, you can use these steps: 1. Edit your vimrc file with Vim. 2. Play with the option until it's right. E.g., try out different values for 'guifont'. 3. Append a line to set the value of the option, using the expression register '=' to enter the value. E.g., for the 'guifont' option: > o:set guifont==&guifont [ is a CTRL-R, is a return, is the escape key] Note that when you create a .vimrc file, this can influence the 'compatible' option, which has several side effects. See |'compatible'|. ":mkvimrc", ":mkexrc" and ":mksession" write the command to set or reset the 'compatible' option to the output file first, because of these side effects. *session-file* You can use session files to quickly switch between different projects, automatically loading the files you were last working on in that project. Session files are a nice addition to viminfo-files, which are used to remember information for all sessions together |viminfo-file|. The output of ":mksession" is like ":mkvimrc", but additional commands are added to the file. Which ones depends on the 'sessionoptions' option. The resulting file, when executed with a ":source" command: 1. Restores mappings and options, if 'sessionoptions' contains "options". 2. Restores global variables that start with an uppercase letter and contain at least one lowercase letter, if 'sessionoptions' contains "globals". 3. Unloads all currently loaded buffers. 4. Restores the working directory. 5. Restores GUI vim window position, if 'sessionoptions' contains "winpos". 6. Restores screen height, if 'sessionoptions' contains "resize". 7. Reloads the files you were editing, at the lines where you left them. If 'sessionoptions' contains "buffers" then all buffers are restored, including hidden and unloaded buffers. Otherwise only buffers in windows are restored. 8. Restores windows, if 'sessionoptions' contains "winsize". If the Vim window size has been restored or is already the same as in the loaded session, the window sizes are restored exactly. Otherwise, the windows are just given sensible sizes 9. If a file exists with the same name as the session file, but ending in "x.vim" (for eXtra), executes that as well. You can use *x.vim files to specify additional settings and actions associated with a given session, such as creating menu items in the GUI version. The full filename of your current session is available in the internal variable "v:this_session". See |this_session-variable|. So an example mapping might be (all one line): > :nmap :waexe "mksession! " . v:this_session:so $VIM/sessions/ which saves the files and session, and starts off the command to load another. ============================================================================== 4. Options summary *option-summary* In the list below all the options are mentioned with their full name and with an abbreviation if there is one. Both forms may be used. In this document when a boolean option is "set" that means that ":set option" is entered. When an option is "reset", ":set nooption" is used. For some options there are two default values: The "Vim default", which is used when 'compatible' is not set, and the "Vi default", which is used when 'compatible' is set. Most options are the same in all windows and buffers. There are a few that are specific to how the text is presented in a window. These can be set to a different value in each window. For example the 'list' option can be set in one window and reset in another for the same text, giving both types of view at the same time. There are a few options that are specific to a certain file. These can have a different value for each file or buffer. For example the 'textwidth' option can be 78 for a normal text file and 0 for a C program. global one option for all buffers and windows local to window each window has its own copy of this option local to buffer each buffer has its own copy of this option When creating a new window the option values from the currently active window are used as a default value for the window-specific options. For the buffer-specific options this depends on the 's' and 'S' flags in the 'cpoptions' option. If 's' in included (which is the default) the values for buffer options are copied from the currently active buffer when a buffer is first entered. If 'S' is present the options are copied each time the buffer is entered, this is almost like having global options. If 's' and 'S' are not present, the options are copied from the currently active buffer when the buffer is created. A jump table for the options with a short description can be found at |X_op|. *'aleph'* *'al'* *aleph* *Aleph* 'aleph' 'al' number (default 128 for MS-DOS, 224 otherwise) global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft| feature} The ASCII code for the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The routine that maps the keyboard in Hebrew mode, both in Insert mode (when hkmap is set) and on the command-line (when hitting CTRL-_) outputs the Hebrew characters in the range [aleph..aleph+26]. aleph=128 applies to PC code, and aleph=224 applies to ISO 8859-8. See |rightleft.txt|. *'allowrevins'* *'ari'* *'noallowrevins'* *'noari'* 'allowrevins' 'ari' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft| feature} Allow CTRL-_ in Insert and Command-line mode. This is default off, to avoid that users that accidentally type CTRL-_ instead of SHIFT-_ get into reverse Insert mode, and don't know how to get out. See 'revins'. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'altkeymap'* *'akm'* *'noaltkeymap'* *'noakm'* 'altkeymap' 'akm' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with the |+farsi| feature} When on, the second language is Farsi. In editing mode CTRL-_ toggles the keyboard map between Farsi and English, when 'allowrevins' set. When off, the keyboard map toggles between Hebrew and English. This is useful to start the vim in native mode i.e. English (left-to-right mode) and have default second language Farsi or Hebrew (right-to-left mode). See |farsi.txt|. *'autoindent'* *'ai'* *'noautoindent'* *'noai'* 'autoindent' 'ai' boolean (default off) local to buffer Copy indent from current line when starting a new line (typing in Insert mode or when using the "o" or "O" command). If you do not type anything on the new line except and then type or , the indent is deleted again. When autoindent is on, formatting (with the "gq" command or when you reach 'textwidth' in Insert mode) uses the indentation of the first line. When 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is on the indent is changed in specific cases. The 'autoindent' option is reset when the 'paste' option is set. {small difference from Vi: After the indent is deleted when typing or , the cursor position when moving up or down is after the deleted indent; Vi puts the cursor somewhere in the deleted indent}. *'autowrite'* *'aw'* *'noautowrite'* *'noaw'* 'autowrite' 'aw' boolean (default off) global Write the contents of the file, if it has been modified, on each :next, :rewind, :previous, :stop, :suspend, :tag, :!, :make, CTRL-] and CTRL-^ command; and when a CTRL-O, CTRL-I, '{A-Z0-9}, or `{A-Z0-9} command takes one to another file. *'background'* *'bg'* 'background' 'bg' string (default "dark" or "light") global {not in Vi} When set to "dark", Vim will try to use colors that look good on a dark background. When set to "light", Vim will try to use colors that look good on a light background. Any other value is illegal. Vim tries to set the default value according to the terminal used. This will not always be correct. When starting the GUI, the default value for 'background' will be "light". When the value is not set in the .gvimrc, and Vim detects that the background is actually quite dark, 'background' is set to "dark". But this happens only AFTER the .gvimrc file has been read (because the window needs to be opened to find the actual background color). To get around this, force the GUI window to be opened by putting a ":gui" command in the .gvimrc file, before where the value of 'background' is used (e.g., before ":syntax on"). For the Win32 GUI, setting 'background' before starting the GUI, will change the background and foreground colors to lightgrey on black or black on white. On other systems setting 'background' does not change the foreground or background colors. Normally this option would be set in the .vimrc file. Possibly depending on the terminal name. Example: > if &term == "pcterm" > set background=dark > endif When this option is set, the default settings for the highlight groups will change. To use other settings, place ":highlight" commands AFTER the setting of the 'background' option. This option is also used in the "$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim" file to select the colors for syntax highlighting. After changing this option, you must load syntax.vim again to see the result. This can be done with ":syntax on". *'backspace'* *'bs'* 'backspace' 'bs' string (default "") global {not in Vi} Influences the working of , , CTRL-W and CTRL-U in Insert mode. This is a list of items, separated by commas. Each item allows a way to backspace over something: value effect ~ indent allow backspacing over autoindent eol allow backspacing over line breaks (join lines) start allow backspacing over the start of insert; CTRL-W and CTRL-U stop once at the start of insert. When the value is empty, Vi compatible backspacing is used. For backwards compatibility with version 5.4 and earlier: value effect ~ 0 same as "" (Vi compatible) 1 same as "indent,eol" 2 same as "indent,eol,start" See |:fixdel| if your or key does not do what you want. NOTE: This option is set to "" when 'compatible' is set. *'backup'* *'bk'* *'nobackup'* *'nobk'* 'backup' 'bk' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} Make a backup before overwriting a file. Leave it around after the file has been successfully written. If you do not want to keep the backup file, but you do want a backup while the file is being written, reset this option and set the 'writebackup' option (this is the default). If you do not want a backup file at all reset both options (use this if your file system is almost full). See the |backup-table| for more explanations. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'backupdir'* *'bdir'* 'backupdir' 'bdir' string (default for Amiga: ".,t:", for MS-DOS and Win32: ".,c:/tmp,c:/temp" for Unix: ".,~/tmp,~/") global {not in Vi} List of directories for the backup file, separated with commas. - The backup file will be created in the first directory in the list where this is possible. - Empty means that no backup file will be created ('patchmode' is impossible!). - A directory "." means to put the backup file in the same directory as the edited file. - A directory starting with "./" (or ".\" for MS-DOS et.al.) means to put the backup file relative to where the edited file is. The leading "." is replaced with the path name of the edited file. ("." inside a directory name has no special meaning). - Spaces after the comma are ignored, other spaces are considered part of the directory name. To have a space at the start of a directory name, precede it with a backslash. - To include a comma in a directory name precede it with a backslash. - A directory name may end in an '/'. - Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. - Careful with '\' characters, type one before a space, type two to get one in the option (see |option-backslash|), for example: > :set bdir=c:\\tmp,\ dir\\,with\\,commas,\\\ dir\ with\ spaces - For backwards compatibility with Vim version 3.0 a '>' at the start of the option is removed. See also 'backup' and 'writebackup' options. If you want to hide your backup files on Unix, consider this value: > :set backupdir=./.backup,~/.backup,.,/tmp You must create a ".backup" directory in each directory and in your home directory for this to work properly. The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version uses another default. *'backupext'* *'bex'* 'backupext' 'bex' string (default "~", for VMS: "_") global {not in Vi} String which is appended to a file name to make the name of the backup file. The default is quite unusual, because this avoids accidentally overwriting existing files with a backup file. You might prefer using ".bak", but make sure that you don't have files with ".bak" that you want to keep. *'binary'* *'bin'* *'nobinary'* *'nobin'* 'binary' 'bin' boolean (default off) local to buffer {not in Vi} This option should be set before editing a binary file. You can also use the "-b" Vim argument. When this option is switched on a few options will be changed (also when it already was on): 'textwidth' will be set to 0 'wrapmargin' will be set to 0 'modeline' will be off 'expandtab' will be off Also, 'fileformat' and 'fileformats' options will not be used, the file is read and written like 'fileformat' was "unix" (a single separates lines). NOTE: When you start editing a(nother) file while the 'bin' option is on, settings from autocommands may change the settings again (e.g., 'textwidth'), causing trouble when editing. You might want to set 'bin' again when the file has been loaded. The previous values of these options are remembered and restored when 'bin' is switched from on to off. Each buffer has its own set of saved option values. When writing a file the for the last line is only written if there was one in the original file (normally Vim appends an to the last line if there is none; this would make the file longer). See the 'endofline' option. *'bioskey'* *'biosk'* *'nobioskey'* *'nobiosk'* 'bioskey' 'biosk' boolean (default on) global {not in Vi} {only for MS-DOS} When on the bios is called to obtain a keyboard character. This works better to detect CTRL-C, but only works for the console. When using a terminal over a serial port reset this option. Also see |'conskey'|. *'breakat'* *'brk'* 'breakat' 'brk' string (default " ^I!@*-+_;:,./?") global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+linebreak| feature} This option lets you choose which characters might cause a line break if 'linebreak' is on. *'browsedir'* *'bsdir'* 'browsedir' 'bsdir' string (default for "last") global {not in Vi} {only for Motif and Win32 GUI} Which directory to use for the file browser: last Use same directory as with last file browser. buffer Use the directory of the related buffer. current Use the current directory. *'cindent'* *'cin'* *'nocindent'* *'nocin'* 'cindent' 'cin' boolean (default off) local to buffer {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+cindent| feature} Enables automatic C program indenting See 'cinkeys' to set the keys that trigger reindenting in insert mode and 'cinoptions' to set your preferred indent style. If 'lisp' is not on and 'equalprg' is empty, the "=" operator indents using this algorithm rather than calling an external program. See |C-indenting|. This option is switched off when 'paste' is set. When you don't like the way 'cindent' works, try the 'smartindent' option. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. 'cinkeys' 'cink' string (default "0{,0},:,0#,!^F,o,O,e") local to buffer {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+cindent| feature} A list of keys that, when typed in Insert mode, cause reindenting of the current line. Only happens if 'cindent' is on. See |C-indenting|. *'cinoptions'* *'cino'* 'cinoptions' 'cino' string (default "") local to buffer {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+cindent| feature} The 'cinoptions' affect the way 'cindent' reindents lines in a C program. See |cinoptions-values| for the values of this option, and |C-indenting| for info on C indenting in general. *'cinwords'* *'cinw'* 'cinwords' 'cinw' string (default "if,else,while,do,for,switch") local to buffer {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without both the |+cindent| and the |+smartindent| features} These keywords start an extra indent in the next line when 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is set. For 'cindent' this is only done at an appropriate place (inside {}). *'clipboard'* *'cb'* 'clipboard' 'cb' string (default "") global {not in Vi} {only in GUI versions or when the |+xterm_clipboard| feature is included} This option is a list of comma separated names. These names are recognized: unnamed When included, Vim will use the clipboard register '*' for all yank, delete and put operations which would normally go to the unnamed register. When a register is explictly specified, it will always be used regardless of whether "unnamed" is in 'clipboard' or not. The clipboard register can always be explicitly accessed using the "* notation. Also see |gui-clipboard|. autoselect Works like the 'a' flag in 'guioptions': If present, then whenever Visual mode is started, or the Visual area extended, Vim tries to become the owner of the windowing system's global selection or put the selected text on the clipboard. See |guioptions_a| for details. When the GUI is active, the 'a' flag in 'guioptions' is used, when the GUI is not active, this "autoselect" flag is used. *'cmdheight'* *'ch'* 'cmdheight' 'ch' number (default 1) global {not in Vi} Number of screen lines to use for the command-line. Helps avoiding |hit-return| prompts. *'columns'* *'co'* 'columns' 'co' number (default 80 or terminal width) global {not in Vi} Number of columns of the screen. Normally this is set by the terminal initialization and does not have to be set by hand. When Vim is running in the GUI or in a resizable window, setting this option may cause the window size to be changed. When you set this option and Vim is unable to change the physical number of columns of the display, the display may be messed up. *'comments'* *'com'* 'comments' 'com' string (default "s1:/*,mb:*,ex:*/,://,b:#,:%,:XCOMM,n:>,fb:-") local to buffer {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+comments| feature} A comma separated list of strings that can start a comment line. See |format-comments|. See |option-backslash| about using backslashes to insert a space. *'compatible'* *'cp'* *'nocompatible'* *'nocp'* 'compatible' 'cp' boolean (default on, off when a .vimrc file is found) global {not in Vi} This option has the function of making Vim either more Vi-compatible, or behave in a more useful way. This is a special kind of option, because when it's set or reset, other options are also changed as a side effect. CAREFUL: Setting or resetting this option can have a lot of unexpected effects: Mappings are interpreted in another way, undo behaves differently, etc. By default this option is on and the Vi defaults are used for the options. This default was chosen for those people who want to use Vim just like Vi, and don't even (want to) know about the 'compatible' option. When a ".vimrc" file is found while Vim is starting up, this option is switched off, and all options that have not been modified will be set to the Vim defaults. Effectively, this means that when a ".vimrc" file exists, Vim will use the Vim defaults, otherwise it will use the Vi defaults. (Note: This doesn't happen for the system-wide vimrc file). Also see |compatible-default|. You can also set this option with the "-C" argument, and reset it with "-N". See |-C| and |-N|. Switching this option off makes the Vim defaults be used for options that have a different Vi and Vim default value. See the options marked with a '+' below. Other options are not modified. At the moment this option is set, several other options will be set or reset to make Vim as Vi-compatible as possible. See the table below. This can be used if you want to revert to Vi compatible editing. See also 'cpoptions'. option + set value effect ~ 'allowrevins' off no CTRL-_ command 'backspace' "" normal backspace 'backup' off no backup file 'cindent' off no C code indentation 'cpoptions' + (all flags) Vi-compatible flags 'cscopetag' off don't use cscope for ":tag" 'cscopetagorder' 0 see |cscopetagorder| 'cscopeverbose' off see |cscopeverbose| 'digraph' off no digraphs 'esckeys' + off no -keys in Insert mode 'expandtab' off tabs not expanded to spaces 'fileformats' + "" no automatic file format detection, "dos,unix" except for DOS, Windows and OS/2 'formatoptions' + "vt" Vi compatible formatting 'gdefault' off no default 'g' flag for ":s" 'history' + 0 no commandline history 'hkmap' off no Hebrew keyboard mapping 'hkmapp' off no phonetic Hebrew keyboard mapping 'hlsearch' off no highlighting of search matches 'incsearch' off no incremental searching 'insertmode' off do not start in Insert mode 'iskeyword' + "@,48-57,_" keywords contain alphanumeric characters and '_' 'joinspaces' on insert 2 spaces after period 'modeline' + off no modelines 'more' + off no pauses in listings 'revins' off no reverse insert 'ruler' off no ruler 'scrolljump' 1 no jump scroll 'scrolloff' 0 no scroll offset 'shiftround' off indent not rounded to shiftwidth 'shortmess' + "" no shortening of messages 'showcmd' + off command characters not shown 'showmode' + off current mode not shown 'smartcase' off no automatic ignore case switch 'smartindent' off no smart indentation 'smarttab' off no smart tab size 'softtabstop' 0 tabs are always 'tabstop' positions 'startofline' on goto startofline with some commands 'tagrelative' + off tag file names are not relative 'textauto' + off no automatic textmode detection 'textwidth' 0 no automatic line wrap 'tildeop' off tilde is not an operator 'ttimeout' off no terminal timeout 'whichwrap' + "" left-right movements don't wrap 'wildchar' + CTRL-E only when the current value is use CTRL-E for cmdline completion 'writebackup' on or off depends on +writebackup feature *'complete'* *'cpt'* 'complete' 'cpt' string (default: ".,w,b,u,t,i") global {not in Vi} This option specifies how keyword completion |ins-completion| works when CTRL-P or CTRL-N are used. It indicates the type of completion and the places to scan. It is a comma separated list of flags: . scan the current buffer ('wrapscan' is ignored) w scan buffers from other windows b scan other loaded buffers u scan the unloaded buffers k scan the files given with the 'dictionary' option k[dict] scan the file [dict]. Several "k" flags can be given, patterns are valid too. For example: > :set cpt=k/usr/dict/*,k~/spanish i scan current and included files d scan current and included files for defined name or macro |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D| ] tag completion t same as "]" Unloaded buffers are not loaded, thus their autocmds |:autocmd| are not executed, this may lead to unexpected completions from some files (gzipped files for example) The default is ".,w,b,u,t,i", which means to scan: 1. the current buffer 2. buffers in other windows 3. other loaded buffers 4. unloaded buffers 5. tags 6. included files As you can see, CTRL-N and CTRL-P can be used to do any 'iskeyword'- based expansion (eg dictionary |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K|, included patterns |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I|, tags |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]| and normal expansions) *'confirm'* *'cf'* *'noconfirm'* *'nocf'* 'confirm' 'cf' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} When 'confirm' is on, certain operations that would normally fail because of unsaved changes to a buffer, e.g. ":q" and ":e", instead raise a |dialog| asking if you wish to save the current file(s). You can still use a ! to unconditionally |abandon| a buffer. If 'confirm' is off you can still activate confirmation for one command only (this is most useful in mappings) with the |:confirm| command. Also see the |confirm()| function and the 'v' flag in 'guioptions'. *'conskey'* *'consk'* *'noconskey'* *'noconsk'* 'conskey' 'consk' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {only for MS-DOS} When on direct console I/O is used to obtain a keyboard character. This should work in most cases. Also see |'bioskey'|. Together, three methods of console input are available: 'conskey' 'bioskey' action on on or off direct console input off on BIOS off off STDIN *'cpoptions'* *'cpo'* 'cpoptions' 'cpo' string (Vim default: "aABceFs", Vi default: all flags) global {not in Vi} A sequence of single character flags. When a character is present this indicates vi-compatible behavior. This is used for things where not being vi-compatible is mostly or sometimes preferred. 'cpoptions' stands for "compatible-options". Commas can be added for readability. To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the "+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|. NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. contains behaviour ~ a When included, a ":read" command with a file name argument will set the alternate file name for the current window. A When included, a ":write" command with a file name argument will set the alternate file name for the current window. b "\|" in a ":map" command is recognized as the end of the map command. The '\' is included in the mapping, the text after the '|' is interpreted as the next command. Use a CTRL-V instead of a backslash to include the '|' in the mapping. Applies to all mapping, abbreviation, menu and autocmd commands. See also |map_bar|. B A backslash has no special meaning in mappings, abbreviations and the "to" part of the menu commands. Remove this flag to be able to use a backslash like a CTRL-V. For example, the command ":map X \" results in X being mapped to: 'B' included: "\^[" (^[ is a real ) 'B' excluded: "" (5 characters) ('<' excluded in both cases) C Do not concatenate sourced lines that start with a backslash. See |line-continuation|. < Disable the recognition of special key codes in |<>| form in mappings, abbreviations, and the "to" part of menu commands. For example, the command ":map X " results in X being mapped to: '<' included: "" (5 characters) '<' excluded: "^I" (^I is a real ) Also see the 'k' flag below. c Searching continues at the end of any match at the cursor position. When not present searching continues one character from the cursor position. With 'c' "abababababab" only gets three matches when repeating "/abab", without 'c' there are five matches. d Using "./" in the 'tags' option doesn't mean to use the tags file relative to the current file, but the tags file in the current directory. e When executing a register with ":@r", always add a to the last line, also when the register is not linewise. If this flag is not present, the register is not linewise and the last line does not end in a , then the last line is put on the command-line and can be edited before hitting . E It is an error when using "y", "d", "c", "g~", "gu" or "gU" on an Empty region. The operators only work when at least one character is to be operate on. Example: This makes "y0" fail in the first column. f When included, a ":read" command with a file name argument will set the file name for the current buffer, if the current buffer doesn't have a file name yet. F When included, a ":write" command with a file name argument will set the file name for the current buffer, if the current buffer doesn't have a file name yet. j When joining lines, only add two spaces after a '.', not after '!' or '?'. Also see 'joinspaces'. J A |sentence| has to be followed by two spaces after the '.', '!' or '?'. A is not recognized as white space. k Disable the recognition of raw key codes in mappings, abbreviations, and the "to" part of menu commands. For example, if sends ^[OA (where ^[ is ), the command ":map X ^[OA" results in X being mapped to: 'k' included: "^[OA" (3 characters) 'k' excluded: "" (one key code) Also see the '<' flag above. K Don't wait for a key code to complete when it is halfway a mapping. This breaks mapping when only part of the second has been read. It enables cancelling the mapping by typing . l Backslash in a [] range in a search pattern is taken literally, only "\]" is special See |/[]| 'l' included: "/[ \t]" finds , '\' and 't' 'l' excluded: "/[ \t]" finds and L When the 'list' option is set, 'wrapmargin', 'textwidth' and Virtual replace mode (see |gR|) count a as two characters, instead of the normal behavior of a . m When included, a showmatch will always wait half a second. When not included, a showmatch will wait half a second or until a character is typed. |'showmatch'| o Line offset to search command is not remembered for next search. O Don't complain if a file is being overwritten, even when it didn't exist when editing it. This is a protection agains a file unexpectedly created by someone else. Vi didn't complain about this. p Vi compatible Lisp indenting. When not present, a slightly better algorithm is used. r Redo ("." command) uses "/" to repeat a search command, instead of the actually used search string. s Set buffer options when entering the buffer for the first time. This is like it is in Vim version 3.0. And it is the default. If not present the options are set when the buffer is created. S Set buffer options always when entering a buffer (except 'readonly', 'fileformat', 'filetype' and 'syntax'). This is the (most) Vi compatible setting. The options are set to the values in the current buffer. When you change an option and go to another buffer, the value is copied. Effectively makes the buffer options global to all buffers. 's' 'S' copy buffer options no no when buffer created yes no when buffer first entered (default) X yes each time when buffer entered (vi comp.) t Search pattern for the tag command is remembered for "n" command. Otherwise Vim only puts the pattern in the history for search pattern, but doesn't change the last used search pattern. u Undo is Vi compatible. See |undo-two-ways|. w When using "cw" on a blank character, only change one character and not all blanks until the start of the next word. W Don't overwrite a readonly file. When omitted, ":w!" overwrites a readonly file, if possible. x on the command-line executes the command-line. The default in Vim is to abandon the command-line, because normally aborts a command. |c_| y A yank command can be redone with ".". $ When making a change to one line, don't redisplay the line, but put a '$' at the end of the changed text. The changed text will be overwritten when you type the new text. The line is redisplayed if you type any command that moves the cursor from the insertion point. ! When redoing a filter command, use the last used external command, whatever it was. Otherwise the last used -filter- command is used. * Use ":*" in the same way as ":@". When not included, ":*" is an alias for ":'<,'>", select the Visual area. % Vi-compatible matching is done for the "%" command. Does not recognize "#if", "#endif", etc. Does not recognize "/*" and "*/". Parens inside single and double quotes are also counted, causing a string that contains a paren to disturb the matching. For example, in a line like "if (strcmp("foo(", s))" the first paren does not match the last one. When this flag is not included, parens inside single and double quotes are treated specially. When matching a paren outside of quotes, everything inside quotes is ignored. When matching a paren inside quotes, it will find the matching one (if there is one). This works very well for C programs. *'cscopeprg'* *'csprg'* 'cscopeprg' 'csprg' string (default "cscope") global {not available when compiled without the |+cscope| feature} {not in Vi} Specifies the command to execute cscope. See |cscopeprg|. When this option is set from a |modeline|, while the 'secure' option is set, you will get a warning message. *'cscopetag'* *'cst'* *'nocscopetag'* *'nocst'* 'cscopetag' 'cst' boolean (default off) global {not available when compiled without the |+cscope| feature} {not in Vi} Use cscope for tag commands. See |cscope-options|. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'cscopetagorder'* *'csto'* 'cscopetagorder' 'csto' number (default 0) global {not available when compiled without the |+cscope| feature} {not in Vi} Determines the order in which ":cstag" performs a search. See |cscopetagorder|. NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set. *'cscopeverbose'* *'csverb'* *'nocscopeverbose'* *'nocsverb'* 'cscopeverbose' 'csverb' boolean (default off) global {not available when compiled without the |+cscope| feature} {not in Vi} Give messages when adding a cscope database. See |cscopeverbose|. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'define'* *'def'* 'define' 'def' string (default "^#\s*define") global {not in Vi} Pattern to be used to find a macro definition. It is a search pattern, just like for the "/" command. This option is used for the commands like "[i" and "[d" |include-search|. The 'isident' option is used to recognize the identifier name after the match. See |option-backslash| about inserting backslashes to include a space or backslash. The default value is for C programs. For C++ this value would be useful, to include const type declarations: > ^\(#\s*define\|[a-z]*\s*const\s*[a-z]*\) When using the ":set" command, you need to double the backslashes! *'dictionary'* *'dict'* 'dictionary' 'dict' string (default "") global {not in Vi} List of file names, separated by commas, that are used to lookup words for keyword completion commands |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K|. Each file should contain a list of words. This can be one word per line, or several words per line, separated by non-keyword characters (white space is preferred). To include a comma in a file name precede it with a backslash. Spaces after a comma are ignored, otherwise spaces are included in the file name. See |option-backslash| about using backslashes. Where to find a list of words? - On FreeBSD, there is the file "/usr/share/dict/words". - In the Simtel archive, look in the "msdos/linguist" directory. - In "miscfiles" of the GNU collection. The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version uses another default. *'digraph'* *'dg'* *'nodigraph'* *'nodg'* 'digraph' 'dg' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+digraphs| feature} Enable the entering of digraphs in Insert mode with {char1} {char2}. See |digraphs|. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'directory'* *'dir'* 'directory' 'dir' string (default for Amiga: ".,t:", for MS-DOS and Win32: ".,c:\tmp,c:\temp" for Unix: ".,~/tmp,/var/tmp,/tmp") global List of directory names for the swap file, separated with commas. - The swap file will be created in the first directory where this is possible. - Empty means that no swap file will be used (recovery is impossible!). - A directory "." means to put the swap file in the same directory as the edited file. On Unix, a dot is prepended to the file name, so it doesn't show in a directory listing. - A directory starting with "./" (or ".\" for MS-DOS et.al.) means to put the swap file relative to where the edited file is. The leading "." is replaced with the path name of the edited file. - For Unix and Win32, if a directory ends in two path separators, the swap file name will be built from the complete path to the file with all path separators substituted to percent '%' signs. This will ensure file name uniqueness in the preserve directory. - Spaces after the comma are ignored, other spaces are considered part of the directory name. To have a space at the start of a directory name, precede it with a backslash. - To include a comma in a directory name precede it with a backslash. - A directory name may end in an ':' or '/'. - Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. - Careful with '\' characters, type one before a space, type two to get one in the option (see |option-backslash|), for example: > :set dir=c:\\tmp,\ dir\\,with\\,commas,\\\ dir\ with\ spaces - For backwards compatibility with Vim version 3.0 a '>' at the start of the option is removed. Using "." first in the list is recommended. This means that editing the same file twice will result in a warning. Using "/tmp" on Unix is discouraged: When the system crashes you lose the swap file. "/var/tmp" is often not cleared when rebooting, thus is a better choice than "/tmp". But it can contain a lot of files, your swap files get lost in the crowd. That is why a "tmp" directory in your home directory is tried first. The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version uses another default. {Vi: directory to put temp file in, defaults to "/tmp"} *'display'* *'dy'* 'display' 'dy' string (default "") global {not in Vi} Change the way text is displayed. This is comma separated list of flags. Currently only one is supported: lastline When included, as much as possible of the last line in a window will be displayed. When not included, a last line that doesn't fit is replaced with "@" lines. *'ed'* *'edcompatible'* *'noed'* *'noedcompatible'* 'edcompatible' 'ed' boolean (default off) global Makes the 'g' and 'c' flags of the ":substitute" command to be toggled each time the flag is given. See |complex-change|. See also 'gdefault' option. *'endofline'* *'eol'* *'noendofline'* *'noeol'* 'endofline' 'eol' boolean (default on) local to buffer {not in Vi} When writing a file and this option is off and the 'binary' option is on, no will be written for the last line in the file. This option is automatically set when starting to edit a new file, unless the file does not have an for the last line in the file, in which case it is reset. Normally you don't have to set or reset this option. When 'binary' is off the value is not used when writing the file. When 'binary' is on it is used to remember the presence of a for the last line in the file, so that when you write the file the situation from the original file can be kept. But you can change it if you want to. *'equalalways'* *'ea'* *'noequalalways'* *'noea'* 'equalalways' 'ea' boolean (default on) global {not in Vi} When on, all the windows are automatically made the same size after splitting or closing a window. When off, splitting a window will reduce the size of the current window and leave the other windows the same. When closing a window the extra lines are given to the window above it. *'equalprg'* *'ep'* 'equalprg' 'ep' string (default "") global {not in Vi} External program to use for "=" command. When this option is empty the internal formatting functions are used ('lisp' or 'cindent'). Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. When this option is set from a |modeline|, while the 'secure' option is set, you will get a warning message. *'errorbells'* *'eb'* *'noerrorbells'* *'noeb'* 'errorbells' 'eb' boolean (default off) global Ring the bell (beep or screen flash) for error messages. This only makes a difference for error messages, the bell will be used always for a lot of errors without a message (e.g., hitting in Normal mode). See 'visualbell' on how to make the bell behave like a beep, screen flash or do nothing. *'errorfile'* *'ef'* 'errorfile' 'ef' string (Amiga default: "AztecC.Err", others: "errors.err") global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix| feature} Name of the errorfile for the QuickFix mode (see |:cf|). When the "-q" command-line argument is used, 'errorfile' is set to the following argument. See |-q|. NOT used for the ":make" command. See 'makeef' for that. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. *'errorformat'* *'efm'* 'errorformat' 'efm' string (default is very long) global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix| feature} Scanf-like description of the format for the lines in the error file (see |errorformat|). *'esckeys'* *'ek'* *'noesckeys'* *'noek'* 'esckeys' 'ek' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off) global {not in Vi} Function keys that start with an are recognized in Insert mode. When this option is off, the cursor and function keys cannot be used in Insert mode if they start with an . The advantage of this is that the single is recognized immediately, instead of after one second. Instead of resetting this option, you might want to try changing the values for 'timeoutlen' and 'ttimeoutlen'. Note that when 'esckeys' is off, you can still map anything, but the cursor keys won't work by default. NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'eventignore'* *'ei'* 'eventignore' 'ei' string (default "") global {not in Vi} A list of autocommand event names, which are to be ignored. When set to "all", all autocommand events are ignored, autocommands will not be executed. Otherwise this is a comma separated list of event names. Example: > :set ei=WinEnter,WinLeave *'expandtab'* *'et'* *'noexpandtab'* *'noet'* 'expandtab' 'et' boolean (default off) local to buffer {not in Vi} In Insert mode: Use the appropriate number of spaces to insert a . Spaces are used in indents with the '>' and '<' commands and when 'autoindent' is on. To insert a real tab when 'expandtab' is on, use CTRL-V. See also |:retab| and |ins-expandtab|. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'exrc'* *'ex'* *'noexrc'* *'noex'* 'exrc' 'ex' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} Enables the reading of .vimrc, .exrc and .gvimrc in the current directory. If you switch this option on you should also consider setting the 'secure' option (see |initialization|). Using a local .exrc, .vimrc or .gvimrc is a potential security leak, use with care! also see |.vimrc| and |gui-init|. This option cannot be set from a |modeline|. *'fileencoding'* *'fe'* 'fileencoding' 'fe' string (default: "ansi") local to buffer {only available when compiled with the |+multi_byte| feature} {not in Vi} Enables editing of alternative encoded files, for example shift-JIS or Unicode. When you set this option, it fires of a 'FileEncoding' autocommand so you can set up fonts if necessary. See |multibyte|. Possible values are: ansi default setting, good for most Western languages unicode (to be implemented> japan set to use shift-JIS (Windows CP 932) encoding korea set to use Korean DBCS prc use simplified Chinese encoding taiwan use traditional Chinese encoding hebrew (to be implemented) farsi (to be implemented) This lets you view, for example, a Japanese S-JIS encoded file (provided you have a suitable font). The DBCS characters are treated as a unit, i.e. you cursor past them or delete them, etc as a unit, rather than deleting half a character. *'fileformat'* *'ff'* 'fileformat' 'ff' string (DOS, Win32, OS/2 default: "dos", Unix default: "unix", Macintosh default: "mac") local to buffer {not in Vi} This gives the of the current buffer, which is used for reading/writing the buffer from/to a file: dos unix mac When "dos" is used, CTRL-Z at the end of a file is ignored. See |file-formats| and |file-read|. When 'binary' is set, the value of 'fileformat' is ignored, file I/O works like it was set to "unix'. This option is set automatically when starting to edit a file and 'fileformats' is not empty and 'binary' is off. When this option is set, after starting to edit a file, the 'modified' option is set, because the file would be different when written. For backwards compatibility: When this option is set to "dos", 'textmode' is set, otherwise 'textmode' is reset. *'fileformats'* *'ffs'* 'fileformats' 'ffs' string (Vim+Vi DOS, Win32, OS/2 default: "dos,unix", Vim Unix default: "unix,dos", Vim Mac default: "mac,unix,dos", Vi others default: "") global {not in Vi} This gives the end-of-line () formats that will be tried. It is used when starting to edit a new buffer and when reading a file into an existing buffer: - When empty, the format defined with 'fileformat' will be used always. It is not set automatically. - When set to one name, that format will be used whenever a new buffer is opened. 'fileformat' is set accordingly for that buffer. The 'fileformats' name will be used when a file is read into an existing buffer, no matter what 'fileformat' for that buffer is set to. - When more than one name is present, separated by commas, automatic detection will be done when reading a file. When starting to edit a file, a check is done for the : 1. If all lines end in , and 'fileformats' includes "dos", 'fileformat' is set to "dos". 2. If a is found and 'fileformats' includes "unix, 'fileformat' is set to "unix". Note that when a is found without a preceding , "unix" is preferred over "dos". 3. If 'fileformats' includes "mac", 'fileformat' is set to "mac". This means that "mac" is only chosen when "unix" is not present, or when no is found in the file, and when "dos" is not present, or no is present in the file. Also if "unix" was first chosen, but the first is before the first and there appears to be more 's than 's in the file, then 'fileformat' is set to "mac". 4. If 'fileformat' is still not set, the first name from 'fileformats' is used. When reading a file into an existing buffer, the same is done, but this happens like 'fileformat' has been set appropriately for that file only, the option is not changed. When 'binary' is set, the value of 'fileformats' is not used. For systems with a Dos-like (), when reading files that are ":source"ed and for vimrc files, automatic detection may be done: - When 'fileformats' is empty, there is no automatic detection. Dos format will be used. - When 'fileformats' is set to one or more names, automatic detection is done. This is based on the first in the file: If there is a in front of it, Dos format is used, otherwise Unix format is used. Also see |file-formats|. For backwards compatibility: When this option is set to an empty string or one format (no comma is included), 'textauto' is reset, otherwise 'textauto' is set. NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'filetype'* *'ft'* 'filetype' 'ft' string (default: "") local to buffer {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+autocmd| feature} When this option is set, the FileType autocommand event with this name is triggered. Otherwise this option does not always reflect the current file type. This option is most useful in a modeline, for a file for which the file type is not automatically recognized. Example, for in an IDL file: > /* vim: set filetype=idl : */ |FileType| |autocmd-filetypes| Do not confuse this option with 'osfiletype', which is for the file type that is actually stored with the file. This option is not copied to another buffer, independent of the 's' or 'S' flag in 'cpoptions'. *'fkmap'* *'fk'* *'nofkmap'* *'nofk'* 'fkmap' 'fk' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft| feature} When on, the keyboard is mapped for the Farsi character set. Normally you would set 'allowrevins' and use CTRL-_ in insert mode to toggle this option |i_CTRL-_|. See |farsi.txt|. *'formatoptions'* *'fo'* 'formatoptions' 'fo' string (Vim default: "tcq", Vi default: "vt") local to buffer {not in Vi} This is a sequence of letters which describes how automatic formatting is to be done. See |fo-table|. When the 'paste' option is on, no formatting is done (like 'formatoptions' is empty). Commas can be inserted for readability. To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the "+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|. NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'formatprg'* *'fp'* 'formatprg' 'fp' string (default "") global {not in Vi} The name of an external program that will be used to format the lines selected with the "gq" command. The program must take the input on stdin and produce the output on stdout. The Unix program "fmt" is such a program. If this option is an empty string, the internal format function will be used |C-indenting|. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. When this option is set from a |modeline|, while the 'secure' option is set, you will get a warning message. *'gdefault'* *'gd'* *'nogdefault'* *'nogd'* 'gdefault' 'gd' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} When on, the ":substitute" flag 'g' is default on. This means that all matches in a line are substituted instead of one. When a 'g' flag is given to a ":substitute" command, this will toggle the substitution of all or one match. See |complex-change|. command 'gdefault' on 'gdefault' off ~ :s/// subst. all subst. one :s///g subst. one subst. all :s///gg subst. all subst. one NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'grepformat'* *'gfm'* 'grepformat' 'gfm' string (default "%f:%l%m,%f %l%m") global {not in Vi} Format to recognize for the ":grep" command output. This is a scanf-like string that uses the same format as the 'errorformat' option: see |errorformat|. *'grepprg'* *'gp'* 'grepprg' 'gp' string (default "grep -n", Win32: "findstr /n") global {not in Vi} Program to use for the ":grep" command. This option may contain '%' and '#' characters, which are expanded like when used in a command- line. The placeholder "$*" is allowed to specify where the arguments will be included. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. See also the section |:make_makeprg|, since most of the comments there apply equally to 'grepprg'. When this option is set from a |modeline|, while the 'secure' option is set, you will get a warning message. *'guicursor'* *'gcr'* 'guicursor' 'gcr' string (default "n-v-c:block-Cursor,ve:ver35-Cursor, o:hor50-Cursor,i-ci:ver25-Cursor, r-cr:hor20-Cursor,sm:block-Cursor -blinkwait175-blinkoff150-blinkon175") global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with GUI enabled, and for MSDOS and Win32 console} This option tells Vim what the cursor should look like in different modes. The option is a comma separated list of parts. Each part consist of a mode-list and an argument-list: mode-list:argument-list,mode-list:argument-list,.. The mode-list is a dash separated list of these modes: n Normal mode v Visual mode ve Visual mode with 'selection' "exclusive" (same as 'v', if not specified) o Operator-pending mode i Insert mode r Replace mode c Command-line Normal (append) mode ci Command-line Insert mode cr Command-line Replace mode sm showmatch in Insert mode a all modes The argument-list is a dash separated list of these arguments: hor{N} horizontal bar, {N} percent of the character height ver{N} vertical bar, {N} percent of the character width block block cursor, fills the whole character [only one of the above three should be present] blinkwait{N} *cursor-blinking* blinkon{N} blinkoff{N} blink times for cursor: blinkwait is the delay before the cursor starts blinking, blinkon is the time that the cursor is shown and blinkoff is the time that the cursor is not shown. The times are in msec. When one of the numbers is zero, there is no blinking. The default is: "blinkwait700-blinkon400-blinkoff250". These numbers are used for a missing entry. This means that blinking is enabled by default. To switch blinking off you can use "blinkon0". The cursor only blinks when Vim is waiting for input, not while executing a command. To make the cursor blink in an xterm, see |xterm-blink|. {group-name} a highlight group name, that sets the color and font for the cursor Examples of parts: n-c-v:block-nCursor in Normal, Command-line and Visual mode, use a block cursor with colors from the "nCursor" highlight group i-ci:ver30-iCursor-blinkwait300-blinkon200-blinkoff150 In Insert and Command-line Insert mode, use a 30% vertical bar cursor with colors from the "iCursor" highlight group. Blink a bit faster. The 'a' mode is different. It will set the given argument-list for all modes. It does not reset anything to defaults. This can be used to do a common setting for all modes. For example, to switch off blinking: "a:blinkon0" Examples of cursor highlighting: > :highlight Cursor gui=reverse guifg=NONE guibg=NONE > :highlight Cursor gui=NONE guifg=bg guibg=fg In an MSDOS or Win32 console, only the height of the cursor can be changed. This can be done by specifying a block cursor, or a percentage for a vertical or horizontal cursor. *'guifont'* *'gfn'* 'guifont' 'gfn' string (default "") global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with GUI enabled} This is a list of fonts which will be used for the GUI version of Vim. In its simplest form the value is just one font name. When the font cannot be found you will get an error message. To try other font names a list can be specified, font names separated with commas. The first valid font is used. Spaces after a comma are ignored. To include a comma in a font name precede it with a backslash. Setting an option requires an extra backslash before a space and a backslash. See also |option-backslash|. For example: > :set guifont=Screen15,\ 7x13,font\\,with\\,commas will make vim try to use the font "Screen15" first, and if it fails it will try to use "7x13" and then "font,with,commas" instead. Note that the fonts must be mono-spaced (all characters have the same width). To preview a font on X11, you might be able to use the "xfontsel" program. The "xlsfonts" program gives a list of all available fonts. For Win32 and GTK only: > :set guifont=* will bring up a font requester, where you can pick the font you want. If none of the fonts can be loaded, vim will keep the current setting. If an empty font list is given, vim will try using other resource settings (for X, it will use the Vim.font resource), and finally it will try some builtin default which should always be there ("7x13" in the case of X). The font names given should be "normal" fonts. Vim will try to find the related bold and italic fonts. For the Win32 GUI - takes these options in the font name: hXX - height is XX (points) wXX - width is XX (points) b - bold i - italic u - underline s - strikeout Use a ':' to separate the options. - A '_' can be used in the place of a space, so you don't need to use backslashes to escape the spaces. - Example: > :set guifont=courier_new:h12:w5:b Have a look at for mono-spaced fonts and comments on them. See also |font-sizes|. *'guiheadroom'* *'ghr'* 'guiheadroom' 'ghr' number (default 50) global {not in Vi} {only for GTK and X11 GUI} The number of pixels subtracted from the screen height when fitting the GUI window on the screen. Set this before the GUI is started, e.g., in your |gvimrc| file. When zero, the whole screen height will be used by the window. When positive, the specified number of pixel lines will be left for window decorations and other items on the screen. Set it to a negative value to allow windows taller than the screen. *'guifontset'* *'gfs'* 'guifontset' 'gfs' string (default "") global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with GUI enabled and with the |+xfontset| feature} When not empty, specifies two fonts to be used. The first one for normal english, the second one for your special language. See |xfontset|. *'guioptions'* *'go'* 'guioptions' 'go' string (default "agimrtT" (GTK), "agimrt" (Unix) or "gmrt") global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with GUI enabled} This option only has an effect in the GUI version of vim. It is a sequence of letters which describes what components and options of the GUI should be used. To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the "+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|. Valid letters are as follows: *guioptions_a* 'a' Autoselect: If present, then whenever VISUAL mode is started, or the Visual area extended, Vim tries to become the owner of the windowing system's global selection. This means that the Visually highlighted text is available for pasting into other applications as well as into Vim itself. When the Visual mode ends, possibly due to an operation on the text, or when an application wants to paste the selection, the highlighted text is automatically yanked into the "* selection register. Thus the selection is still available for pasting into other applications after the VISUAL mode has ended. If not present, then Vim won't become the owner of the windowing system's global selection unless explicitly told to by a yank or delete operation. 'f' Foreground: Don't use fork() to detach the GUI from the shell where it was started. Use this for programs that wait for the editor to finish (e.g., an e-mail program). Alternatively you can use "gvim -f" or ":gui -f" to start the GUI in the foreground. |gui-fork| 'i' Use a Vim icon. For GTK with KDE it is used in the left-upper corner of the window. It's black&white on non-GTK, because of limitations of X11. For a color icon, see |X11-icon|. 'm' Menu bar is present. 'M' The system menu "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim" is not sourced. Note that this flag must be added in the .vimrc file. When the .gvimrc file is sourced the system menu has already been loaded. 'g' Grey menu items: Make menu items that are not active grey. If 'g' is not included inactive menu items are not shown at all. Exception: Athena will always use grey menu items. 't' Include tearoff menu items. Currently only works for Win32, GTK+, and Motif 1.2 GUI. 'T' Include Toolbar. Currently only in Win32 and GTK+ GUI. 'r' Right-hand scrollbar is present when 'r' is included. 'l' Left-hand scrollbar is present when 'l' is included. 'b' Bottom (horizontal) scrollbar is present when 'b' is included. And yes, you may even have scrollbars on the left AND the right if you really want to :-). See |gui-scrollbars| for more information. 'v' Use a vertical button layout for dialogs. When not included, a horizontal layout is preferred, but when it doesn't fit a vertical layout is used anyway. 'p' Use Pointer callbacks for X11 GUI. This is required for some window managers. If the cursor is not blinking or hollow at the right moment, try adding this flag. This must be done before starting the GUI. Set it in your gvimrc. Adding or removing it after the GUI has started has no effect. *'guipty'* *'noguipty'* 'guipty' boolean (default on) global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with GUI enabled} Only in the GUI: If on, an attempt is made to open a pseudo-tty for I/O to/from shell commands. See |gui-pty|. *'helpfile'* *'hf'* 'helpfile' 'hf' string (default (MSDOS) "$VIMRUNTIME\doc\help.txt" (others) "$VIMRUNTIME/doc/help.txt") global {not in Vi} Name of the help file. All help files should be placed together in one directory. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. For example: "$VIMRUNTIME/doc/help.txt". If $VIMRUNTIME is not set, $VIM is also tried. Also see |$VIMRUNTIME| and |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. *'helpheight'* *'hh'* 'helpheight' 'hh' number (default 20) global {not in Vi} Minimal initial height of the help window when it is opened with the ":help" command. The initial height of the help window is half of the current window, or (when the 'ea' option is on) the same as other windows. When the height is less than 'helpheight', the height is set to 'helpheight'. Set to zero to disable. *'hidden'* *'hid'* *'nohidden'* *'nohid'* 'hidden' 'hid' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} When off a buffer is unloaded when it is |abandon|ed. When on a buffer becomes hidden when it is |abandon|ed. If the buffer is still displayed in another window, it does not become hidden, of course. The commands that move through the buffer list sometimes make a buffer hidden although the 'hidden' option is off: When the buffer is modified, 'autowrite' is off or writing is not possible, and the '!' flag was used. See also |windows.txt|. WARNING: It's easy to forget that you have changes in hidden buffers. Think twice when using ":q!" or ":qa!". *'highlight'* *'hl'* 'highlight' 'hl' string (default (as a single string): "8:SpecialKey,@:NonText,d:Directory, e:ErrorMsg,i:IncSearch,l:Search,m:MoreMsg, M:ModeMsg,n:LineNr,r:Question, s:StatusLine,S:StatusLineNC,t:Title, v:Visual,w:WarningMsg") global {not in Vi} This option can be used to set highlighting mode for various occasions. It is a comma separated list of character pairs. The first character in a pair gives the occasion, the second the mode to use for that occasion. The occasions are: |hl-SpecialKey| 8 Meta and special keys listed with ":map" |hl-NonText| @ '~' and '@' at the end of the window and characters from 'showbreak' |hl-Directory| d directories in CTRL-D listing and other special things in listings |hl-ErrorMsg| e error messages h (obsolete, ignored) |hl-IncSearch| i 'incsearch' highlighting |hl-Search| l last search pattern highlighting (see 'hlsearch') |hl-MoreMsg| m |more-prompt| |hl-ModeMsg| M Mode (e.g., "-- INSERT --") |hl-LineNr| n line number for ":number" and ":#" commands |hl-Question| r |hit-return| prompt and yes/no questions |hl-StatusLine| s status line of current window |status-line| |hl-StatusLineNC| S status lines of not-current windows |hl-Title| t Titles for output from ":set all", ":autocmd" etc. |hl-Visual| v Visual mode |hl-VisualNOS| V Visual mode when Vim does is "Not Owning the Selection" Only X11 Gui's |gui-x11| and |xterm-clipboard|. |hl-WarningMsg| w warning messages The display modes are: r reverse (termcap entry "mr" and "me") i italic (termcap entry "ZH" and "ZR") b bold (termcap entry "md" and "me") s standout (termcap entry "so" and "se") u underline (termcap entry "us" and "ue") n no highlighting - no highlighting : use a highlight group The default is used for occasions that are not included. If you want to change what the display modes do, see |dos-colors| for an example. When using the ':' display mode, this must be followed by the name of a highlight group. A highlight group can be used to define any type of highlighting, including using color. See |:highlight| on how to define one. The default uses a different group for each occasion. See |highlight-default| for the default highlight groups. *'hlsearch'* *'hls'* *'nohlsearch'* *'nohls'* 'hlsearch' 'hls' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+extra_search| feature} When there is a previous search pattern, highlight all its matches. The type of highlighting used can be set with the 'l' occasion in the 'highlight' option. This uses the "Search" highlight group by default. Note that only the matching text is highlighted, any offsets are not applied. See also: 'incsearch'. When you get bored looking at the highlighted matches, you can turn it off with |:nohlsearch|. As soon as you use a search command, the highlighting comes back. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'history'* *'hi'* 'history' 'hi' number (Vim default: 20, Vi default: 0) global {not in Vi} A history of ":" commands, and a history of previous search patterns are remembered. This option decides how many entries may be stored in each of these histories (see |cmdline-editing|). NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'hkmap'* *'hk'* *'nohkmap'* *'nohk'* 'hkmap' 'hk' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft| feature} When on, the keyboard is mapped for the Hebrew character set. Normally you would set 'allowrevins' and use CTRL-_ in insert mode to toggle this option. See |rightleft.txt|. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'hkmapp'* *'hkp'* *'nohkmapp'* *'nohkp'* 'hkmapp' 'hkp' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft| feature} When on, phonetic keyboard mapping is used. 'hkmap' must also be on. This is useful if you have a non-Hebrew keyboard. See |rightleft.txt|. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'icon'* *'noicon'* 'icon' boolean (default off, on when title can be restored) global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+title| feature} When on, the icon text of the window will be set to the value of 'iconstring' (if it is not empty), or to the name of the file currently being edited. Only the last part of the name is used. Overridden by the 'iconstring' option. Only works if the terminal supports setting window icons (currently only X11 GUI and terminals with a non-empty 't_IS' option - these are Unix xterm and iris-ansi by default, where 't_IS' is taken from the builtin termcap). When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original icon will be restored if possible |X11|. See |X11-icon| for changing the icon on X11. *'iconstring'* 'iconstring' string (default "") global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+title| feature} When this option is not empty, it will be used for the icon text of the window. This happens only when the 'icon' option is on. Only works if the terminal supports setting window icon text (currently only X11 GUI and terminals with a non-empty 't_IS' option). Does not work for MS Windows. When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original icon will be restored if possible |X11|. When this option contains printf-style '%' items, they will be expanded according to the rules used for 'statusline'. See 'titlestring' for example settings. {not available when compiled without the |+statusline| feature} *'ignorecase'* *'ic'* *'noignorecase'* *'noic'* 'ignorecase' 'ic' boolean (default off) global Ignore case in search patterns. Also used when searching in the tags file. Also see 'smartcase'. *'include'* *'inc'* 'include' 'inc' string (default "^#\s*include") global {not in Vi} Pattern to be used to find an include command. It is a search pattern, just like for the "/" command (See |pattern|). The default value is for C programs. This option is used for the commands "[i", "]I", "[d", etc.. The 'isfname' option is used to recognize the file name that comes after the matched pattern. See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. *'incsearch'* *'is'* *'noincsearch'* *'nois'* 'incsearch' 'is' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+extra_search| feature} While typing a search pattern, show immediately where the so far typed pattern matches. The matched string is highlighted. If the pattern is invalid or not found, nothing is shown. The screen will be updated often, this is only useful on fast terminals. Note that the match will be shown, but the cursor is not actually positioned there. You still need to finish the search command with to move the cursor. The highlighting can be set with the 'i' flag in 'highlight'. See also: 'hlsearch'. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'infercase'* *'inf'* *'noinfercase'* *'noinf'* 'infercase' 'inf' boolean (default off) local to buffer {not in Vi} When doing keyword completion in insert mode |ins-completion|, and 'ignorecase' is also on, the case of the match is adjusted. If the typed text contains a lowercase letter where the match has an upper case letter, the completed part is made lower case. If the typed text has no lower case letters and the match has a lower case letter where the typed text has an upper case letter, and there is a letter before it, the completed part is made uppercase. *'insertmode'* *'im'* *'noinsertmode'* *'noim'* 'insertmode' 'im' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} Makes Vim work in a way that Insert mode is the default mode. Useful if you want to use Vim as a modeless editor. These Insert mode commands will be useful: - Use the cursor keys to move around. - Use CTRL-O to execute one Normal mode command |i_CTRL-O|). When this is a mapping, it is executed as if 'insertmode' was off. Normal mode remains active until the mapping is finished. *i_CTRL-L* - Use CTRL-L to execute a number of Normal mode commands, then use to get back to Insert mode. These items change when 'insertmode' is set: - when starting to edit of a file, Vim goes to Insert mode. - in Insert mode is a no-op and beeps. - in Normal mode makes Vim go to Insert mode. - CTRL-L in Insert mode is a command, it is not inserted. - CTRL-Z in Insert mode suspends Vim, see |CTRL-Z|. *i_CTRL-Z* However, when is used inside a mapping, it behaves like 'insertmode' was not set. This was done to be able to use the same mappings with 'insertmode' set or not set. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'isfname'* *'isf'* 'isfname' 'isf' string (default for MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2: "@,48-57,/,.,-,_,+,,,$,:,!,\" for AMIGA: "@,48-57,/,.,-,_,+,,,$,:" otherwise: "@,48-57,/,.,-,_,+,,,$,~") global {not in Vi} The characters given by this option are included in file names and path names. Filenames are used for commands like "gf", "[i" and in the tags file. It is also used for "\f" in a |pattern|. Besides the characters in this option characters that are defined by the C function isalpha() are also always included (this depends on the character set and "locale"). Note that on systems using a backslash as path separator, Vim tries to do its best to make it work as you would expect. That is a bit tricky, since Vi originally used the backslash to escape special characters. Vim on will not remove a backslash in front of a normal file name character on these systems, but it will on Unix and alikes. The format of this option is a list of parts, separated with commas. Each part can be a single character number or a range. A range is two character numbers with '-' in between. A character number can be a decimal number between 0 and 255 or the ASCII character itself (does not work for digits). Example: "_,-,128-140,#-43" (include '_' and '-' and the range 128 to 140 and '#' to 43) If a part starts with '^', the following character number or range will be excluded from the option. The option is interpreted from left to right. Put the excluded character after the range where it is included. To include '^' itself use it as the last character of the option or the end of a range. Example: "^a-z,#,^" (exclude 'a' to 'z', include '#' and '^') If the character is '@', all characters where isalpha() returns TRUE are included. Normally these are the characters a to z and A to Z, plus accented characters. To include '@' itself use "@-@". Examples: "@,^a-z" All alphabetic characters, excluding lower case letters. "a-z,A-Z,@-@" All letters plus the '@' character. A comma can be included by using it where a character number is expected. Example: "48-57,,,_" Digits, command and underscore. A comma can be excluded by prepending a '^'. Example: " -~,^,,9" All characters from space to '~', excluding comma, plus . See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. *'isident'* *'isi'* 'isident' 'isi' string (default for MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2: "@,48-57,_,128-167,224-235" otherwise: "@,48-57,_,192-255") global {not in Vi} The characters given by this option are included in identifiers. Identifiers are used in recognizing environment variables and after a match of the 'define' option. It is also used for "\i" in a |pattern|. See 'isfname' for a description of the format of this option. Careful: If you change this option, it might break expanding environment variables. E.g., when '/' is included and Vim tries to expand "$HOME/.viminfo". Maybe you should change 'iskeyword' instead. *'iskeyword'* *'isk'* 'iskeyword' 'isk' string (Vim default for MS-DOS and Win32: "@,48-57,_,128-167,224-235" otherwise: "@,48-57,_,192-255" Vi default: "@,48-57,_") local to buffer {not in Vi} Keywords are used in searching and recognizing with many commands: "w", "*", "[i", etc. It is also used for "\k" in a |pattern|. See 'isfname' for a description of the format of this option. For C programs you could use "a-z,A-Z,48-57,_,.,-,>". For a help file it is set to all non-blank printable characters except '*', '"' and '|' (so that CTRL-] on a command finds the help for that command). When the 'lisp' option is on the '-' character is always included. NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'isprint'* *'isp'* 'isprint' 'isp' string (default for MS-DOS and Win32: "@,~-255" otherwise: "@,161-255") global {not in Vi} The characters given by this option are displayed directly on the screen. It is also used for "\p" in a |pattern|. The characters from space (ascii 32) to '~' (ascii 126) are always displayed directly, even when they are not included in 'isprint' or excluded. See 'isfname' for a description of the format of this option. Non-printable characters are displayed with two characters: 0 - 31 "^@" - "^_" 32 - 126 always single characters 127 "^?" 128 - 159 "~@" - "~_" 160 - 254 "| " - "|~" 255 "~?" *'joinspaces'* *'js'* *'nojoinspaces'* *'nojs'* 'joinspaces' 'js' boolean (default on) global {not in Vi} Insert two spaces after a '.', '?' and '!' with a join command. When 'cpoptions' includes the 'j' flag, only do this after a '.'. Otherwise only one space is inserted. NOTE: This option is set when 'compatible' is set. *'key'* 'key' string (default "") local to buffer {not in Vi} The key that is used for encrypting and decrypting the current buffer. See |encryption|. Careful: Do not set the key value by hand, someone might see the typed key. Use the |:X| command. But you can make 'key' empty: > set key= It is not possible to get the value of this option with ":set key" or "echo &key". This is to avoid showing it to someone who shouldn't know. It also means you cannot see it yourself once you have set it, be careful not to make a typing error! *'keymodel'* *'km'* 'keymodel' 'km' string (default "") global {not in Vi} List of comma separated words, which enable special things that keys can do. These values can be used: startsel Using a shifted special key starts selection (either Select mode or Visual mode, depending on "key" being present in 'selectmode'). stopsel Using a not-shifted special key stops selection. Special keys in this context are the cursor keys, , , and . The 'keymodel' option is set by the |:behave| command. *'keywordprg'* *'kp'* 'keywordprg' 'kp' string (default "man" or "man -s", DOS: "", OS/2: "view /", VMS: "help") global {not in Vi} Program to use for the |K| command. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. When empty ":help" is used. When "man" is used, Vim will automatically translate a count for the "K" command to a section number. Also for "man -s", in which case the "-s" is removed when there is no count. See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. Example: > :set keywordprg=man\ -s When this option is set from a |modeline|, while the 'secure' option is set, you will get a warning message. *'langmap'* *'lmap'* 'langmap' 'lmap' string (default "") global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with the |+langmap| feature} This option allows support for keyboards that have a mode for a special language. The idea is that when you are typing text in Insert mode your keyboard is switched in the special language mode, you get different key codes for the special characters. When in command mode the 'langmap' option takes care of translating these special characters to the original meaning of the key. This means you don't have to change the keyboard mode to be able to execute normal mode commands. Example (for greek): *greek* > :set langmap=ÁA,ÂB,ØC,ÄD,ÅE,ÖF,ÃG,ÇH,ÉI,ÎJ,ÊK,ËL,ÌM,ÍN,ÏO,ÐP,QQ,ÑR,ÓS,ÔT,ÈU,ÙV,WW,×X,ÕY,ÆZ,áa,âb,øc,äd,åe,öf,ãg,çh,éi,îj,êk,ël,ìm,ín,ïo,ðp,qq,ñr,ós,ôt,èu,ùv,òw,÷x,õy,æz Example (exchanges meaning of z and y for commands): > :set langmap=zy,yz,ZY,YZ The 'langmap' option is a list of parts, separated with commas. Each part can be in one of two forms: 1. A list of pairs. Each pair is a "from" character immediately followed by the "to" character. Examples: "aA", "aAbBcC". 2. A list of "from" characters, a semi-colon and a list of "to" characters. Example: "abc;ABC" Example: "aA,fgh;FGH,cCdDeE" Special characters need to be preceded with a backslash. These are ";", ',' and backslash itself. This will allow you to activate vim actions without having to switch back and forth between the languages. Your language characters will be understood as normal vim English characters (according to the langmap mappings) in the following cases: o Normal/Visual mode (commands, buffer/register names, user mappings) o Insert/Replace Mode: Register names after CTRL-R o Insert/Replace Mode: Mappings Characters entered in Command-line mode will NOT be affected by this option. Note that this option can be changed at any time allowing to switch between mappings for different languages/encodings. Use a mapping to avoid having to type it each time! *'laststatus'* *'ls'* 'laststatus' 'ls' number (default 1) global {not in Vi} The value of this option influences when the last window will have a status line: 0: never 1: only if there are at least two windows 2: always The screen looks nicer with a status line if you have several windows, but it takes another screen line. |status-line| *'lazyredraw'* *'lz'* *'nolazyredraw'* *'nolz'* 'lazyredraw' 'lz' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} When this option is set, the screen will not be redrawn while executing macros, registers and other commands that have not been typed. *'linebreak'* *'lbr'* *'nolinebreak'* *'nolbr'* 'linebreak' 'lbr' boolean (default off) local to window {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+linebreak| feature} If on Vim will wrap long lines at a character in 'breakat' rather than at the last character that fits on the screen. Unlike 'wrapmargin' and 'textwidth', this does not insert s in the file, it only affects the way the file is displayed, not its contents. The value of 'showbreak' is used to put in front of wrapped lines. This option is not used when the 'wrap' option is off. Note that characters after an are mostly not displayed correctly. *'lines'* 'lines' number (default 24 or terminal height) global Number of lines in the display. Normally you don't need to set this. That is done automatically by the terminal initialization code. When Vim is running in the GUI or in a resizable window, setting this option may cause the window size to be changed. When you set this option and Vim is unable to change the physical number of lines of the display, the display may be messed up. *'lisp'* *'nolisp'* 'lisp' boolean (default off) local to buffer {not available when compiled without the |+lispindent| feature} Lisp mode: When a return is typed in insert mode set the indent for the next line to Lisp standards (well, sort of). Also happens with "cc" or "S". 'autoindent' must also be on for this to work. The 'p' flag in 'cpoptions' changes the method of indenting: Vi compatible or better. The '-' character is included in keyword characters. Redefines the "=" operator to use this same indentation algorithm rather than calling an external program if 'equalprg' is empty. This option is reset when 'paste' is set. {Vi: Does it a little bit differently} *'list'* *'nolist'* 'list' boolean (default off) local to window List mode: Show tabs as CTRL-I, show end of line with $. Useful to see the difference between tabs and spaces and for trailing blanks. Note that this will also affect formatting (set with 'textwidth' or 'wrapmargin') when 'cpoptions' includes 'L'. See 'listchars' for changing the way tabs are displayed. *'listchars'* *'lcs'* 'listchars' 'lcs' string (default "eol:$") global {not in Vi} Strings to use in 'list' mode. It is a comma separated list of string settings. eol:c Character to show at the end of each line. When omitted, there is no extra character at the end of the line. tab:xy Two characters to be used to show a Tab. The first char is used once. The second char is repeated to fill the space that the Tab normally occupies. "tab:>-" will show a Tab that takes four spaces as ">---". When omitted, a Tab is show as ^I. trail:c Character to show for trailing spaces. When omitted, trailing spaces are blank. extends:c Character to show in the last column, when 'wrap' is off and the line continues beyond the right of the screen. The characters ':' and ',' cannot be used. Examples: > :set lcs=tab:>-,trail:- > :set lcs=tab:>-,eol:< The "NonText" highlighting will be used for these characters. *'magic'* *'nomagic'* 'magic' boolean (default on) global Changes the special characters that can be used in search patterns. See |pattern|. NOTE: To avoid portability problems with using patterns, always keep this option at the default "on". *'makeef'* *'mef'* 'makeef' 'mef' string (Amiga default: "t:vim##.Err", Unix: "/tmp/vim##.err", others: "vim##.err") global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix| feature} Name of the errorfile for the ":make" command (see |:make_makeprg|). When "##" is included, it is replaced by a number to make the name unique. This makes sure that the ":make" command doesn't overwrite an existing file. NOT used for the ":cf" command. See 'errorfile' for that. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. *'makeprg'* *'mp'* 'makeprg' 'mp' string (default "make") global {not in Vi} Program to use for the ":make" command. See |:make_makeprg|. This option may contain '%' and '#' characters, which are expanded like when used in a command-line. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. Note that a '|' must be escaped twice: once for ":set" and once for the interpretation of a command. When you use a filter called "myfilter" do it like this: > :set makeprg=gmake\ \\\|\ myfilter The placeholder "$*" can be given (even multiple times) to specify where the arguments will be included, for example: > :set makeprg=latex\ \\\\nonstopmode\ \\\\input\\{$*} When this option is set from a |modeline|, while the 'secure' option is set, you will get a warning message. *'matchpairs'* *'mps'* 'matchpairs' 'mps' string (default "(:),{:},[:]") local to buffer {not in Vi} Characters that form pairs. The |%| command jumps from one to the other. Currently only single character pairs are allowed, and they must be different. The characters must be separated by a colon. The pairs must be separated by a comma. Example for including '<' and '>' (HTML): > set mps+=<:> *'matchtime'* *'mat'* 'matchtime' 'mat' number (default 5) global {not in Vi}{in Nvi} Tenths of a second to show the matching paren, when 'showmatch' is set. Note that this is not in milliseconds, like other options that set a time. This is to be compatible with Nvi. *'maxfuncdepth'* *'mfd'* 'maxfuncdepth' 'mfd' number (default 100) global {not in Vi} Maximum depth of function calls for user functions. This normally catches endless recursion. When using a recursive function with more depth, set 'maxfuncdepth' to a bigger number. But this will use more memory, there is the danger of failing when memory is exhausted. See also |:function|. *'maxmapdepth'* *'mmd'* 'maxmapdepth' 'mmd' number (default 1000) global {not in Vi} Maximum number of times a mapping is done without resulting in a character to be used. This normally catches endless mappings, like ":map x y" with ":map y x". It still does not catch ":map g wg", because the 'w' is used before the next mapping is done. See also |key-mapping|. *'maxmem'* *'mm'* 'maxmem' 'mm' number (default 512) global {not in Vi} Maximum amount of memory (in Kbyte) to use for one buffer. When this limit is reached allocating extra memory for a buffer will cause other memory to be freed. Maximum value 2000000. Use this to work without a limit. Also see 'maxmemtot'. *'maxmemtot'* *'mmt'* 'maxmemtot' 'mmt' number (default 2048, or half the amount of memory available) global {not in Vi} Maximum amount of memory (in Kbyte) to use for all buffers together. Maximum value 2000000. Use this to work without a limit. Also see 'maxmem'. *'modeline'* *'ml'* *'nomodeline'* *'noml'* 'modeline' 'ml' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off) local to buffer *'modelines'* *'mls'* 'modelines' 'mls' number (default 5) global {not in Vi} If 'modeline' is on 'modelines' gives the number of lines that is checked for set commands. If 'modeline' is off or 'modelines' is zero no lines are checked. See |modeline|. NOTE: 'modeline' is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'modified'* *'mod'* *'nomodified'* *'nomod'* 'modified' 'mod' boolean (default off) local to buffer {not in Vi} When on the buffer is considered to be modified. This option is set by every command that makes a change to the buffer. Only the undo command may reset it, when all changes have been undone. *'more'* *'nomore'* 'more' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off) global {not in Vi} When on, listings pause when the whole screen is filled. You will get the |more-prompt|. When this option is off there are no pauses, the listing continues until finished. NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'mouse'* 'mouse' string (default "", "a" for GUI, MS-DOS and Win32) global {not in Vi} Enable the use of the mouse. Only works for certain terminals (xterm, MS-DOS, Win32 |win32-mouse| and Linux console with gpm). For using the mouse in the GUI, see |gui-mouse|. The mouse can be enabled for different modes: n Normal mode v Visual mode i Insert mode c Command-line mode h all previous modes when editing a help file a all previous modes r for |hit-return| and |more-prompt| prompt Normally you would enable the mouse in all four modes with: > :set mouse=a When the mouse is not enabled, the GUI will still use the mouse for modeless selection. This doesn't move the text cursor. See |mouse-using|. Also see |'clipboard'|. Note: When enabling the mouse in an xterm, GUI copy/paste will be used if there is access to an X-server. The xterm copy/paste can still be used by keeping the shift key pressed. The GUI copy/paste only works in Normal, Visual and Insert mode. This setting is suggested to allow normal xterm selection in Command-line mode: > :set mouse=nvi Also see the 'clipboard' option. *'mousefocus'* *'mousef'* *'nomousefocus'* *'nomousef'* 'mousefocus' 'mousef' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {only works in the GUI} The window that the mouse pointer is on is automatically activated. When changing the window layout or window focus in another way, the mouse pointer is moved to the window with keyboard focus. Off is the default because it makes using the pull down menus a little goofy, as a pointer transit may activate a window unintentionally. *'mousehide'* *'mh'* *'nomousehide'* *'nomh'* 'mousehide' 'mh' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {only works in the GUI} When on, the mouse pointer is hidden when characters are typed. The mouse pointer is restored when the mouse is moved. *'mousemodel'* *'mousem'* 'mousemodel' 'mousem' string (default "extend", "popup" for MS-DOS and Win32) global {not in Vi} Sets the model to use for the mouse. The name mostly specifies what the right mouse button is used for: extend Right mouse button extends a selection. This works like in an xterm. popup Right mouse button pops up a menu. The shifted left mouse button extends a selection. This works like with Microsoft Windows popup_setpos Like "popup", but the cursor will be moved to the position where the mouse was clicked, and thus the selected operation will act upon the clicked object. If clicking inside a selection, that selection will be acted upon, ie. no cursor move. This implies of course, that right clicking outside a selection will end Visual mode. Overview of what button does what for each model: mouse extend popup(_setpos) ~ left click place cursor place cursor left drag start selection start selection shift-left search word extend selection right click extend selection popup menu (place cursor) right drag extend selection - middle click paste paste In the "popup" model the right mouse button produces a pop-up menu. You need to define this first, see |popup-menu|. Note that you can further refine the meaning of buttons with mappings. See |gui-mouse-mapping|. But mappings are NOT used for modeless selection (because that's handled in the GUI code directly). The 'mousemodel' option is set by the |:behave| command. *'mousetime'* *'mouset'* 'mousetime' 'mouset' number (default 500) global {not in Vi} Only for GUI, MS-DOS, Win32 and Unix with xterm. Defines the maximum time in msec between two mouse clicks for the second click to be recognized as a multi click. *'nrformats'* *'nf'* 'nrformats' 'nf' string (default "octal,hex") local to buffer {not in Vi} This defines what bases Vim will consider for numbers when using the CTRL-A and CTRL-X commands for adding to and subtracting from a number respectively; see |CTRL-A| for more info on these commands. If "octal" is included, numbers that start with a zero will be considered to be octal. Example: Using CTRL-A on "007" results in "010". If "hex" is included, numbers starting with "0x" or "0X" will be considered to be hexadecimal. Example: Using CTRL-X on "0x100" results in "0x0ff". Numbers which simply begin with a digit in the range 1-9 are always considered decimal. This also happens for numbers that are not recognized as octal or hex. *'number'* *'nu'* *'nonumber'* *'nonu'* 'number' 'nu' boolean (default off) local to window Print the line number in front of each line. Tip: If you don't like wrapping lines to mix with the line numbers, set the 'showbreak' option to eight spaces: :set showbreak=\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \ *'osfiletype'* *'oft'* 'osfiletype' 'oft' string (RISC OS default: "Text", others default: "") local to buffer {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with the |+osfiletype| feature} Some operating systems store extra information about files besides name, datastamp and permissions. This option contains the extra information, the nature of which will vary between systems. The value of this option is usually set when the file is loaded, and use to set the file type when file is written. It can affect the pattern matching of the automatic commands. |autocmd-osfiletypes| *'paragraphs'* *'para'* 'paragraphs' 'para' string (default "IPLPPPQPP LIpplpipbp") global Specifies the nroff macros that separate paragraphs. These are pairs of two letters (see |object-motions|). *'paste'* *'nopaste'* 'paste' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} Put Vim in Paste mode. This is useful if you want to cut or copy some text from one window and paste it in Vim. This will avoid unexpected effects. Setting this option is useful when using Vim in a terminal, where Vim cannot distinguish between typed text and pasted text. In the GUI, Vim knows about pasting and will mostly do the right thing without 'paste' being set. When the 'paste' option is switched on (also when it was already on): - mapping in Insert mode and Command-line mode is disabled - abbreviations are disabled - 'textwidth' is set to 0 - 'wrapmargin' is set to 0 - 'autoindent' is reset - 'smartindent' is reset - 'cindent' is reset - 'softtabstop' is set to 0 - 'lisp' is reset - 'revins' is reset - 'ruler' is reset - 'showmatch' is reset - 'formatoptions' is used like it is empty NOTE: When you start editing another file while the 'paste' option is on, settings from the modelines or autocommands may change the settings again, causing trouble when pasting text. You might want to set the 'paste' option again. When the 'paste' option is reset the mentioned options are restored to the value before the moment 'paste' was switched from off to on. Resetting 'paste' before ever setting it does not have any effect. Since mapping doesn't work while 'paste' is active, you need to use the 'pastetoggle' option to toggle the 'paste' option with some key. *'pastetoggle'* *'pt'* 'pastetoggle' 'pt' string (default "") global {not in Vi} When non-empty, specifies the key sequence that toggles the 'paste' option. This is like specifying a mapping: > map {keys} :set invpaste Where {keys} is the value of 'pastetoggle'. The difference is that it will work even when 'paste' is set. 'pastetoggle' works in Insert mode and Normal mode, but not in Command-line mode. Mappings are checked first, thus overrule 'pastetoggle'. However, when 'paste' is on mappings are ignored in Insert mode, thus you can do this: > map :set paste > map :set nopaste > imap :set paste > imap > set pastetoggle= This will make start paste mode and stop paste mode. Note that typing in paste mode inserts "", since in paste mode everything is inserted literally, except the 'pasttoggle' key sequence. *'patchmode'* *'pm'* 'patchmode' 'pm' string (default "") global {not in Vi} When non-empty the oldest version of a file is kept. This can be used to keep the original version of a file if you are changing files in a source distribution. Only the first time that a file is edited a copy of the original file will be kept. The name of the copy is the name of the original file with the string in the 'patchmode' option appended. This option should start with a dot. Use a string like ".org". 'backupdir' must not be empty for this to work (Detail: The backup file is renamed to the patchmode file after the new file has been successfully written, that's why it must be possible to write a backup file). If there was no file to be backed up, an empty file is created. *'path'* *'pa'* 'path' 'pa' string (default on Unix: ".,/usr/include,," on OS/2: ".,/emx/include,," other systems: ".,,") global {not in Vi} This is a list of directories which will be searched when using the gf, [f, ]f, ^Wf and other commands, provided that the file being searched for has a relative path (not starting with '/'). The directories in the 'path' option may be relative or absolute. - Use commas to separate directory names: :set path=.,/usr/local/include,/usr/include - Spaces can also be used to separate directory names (for backwards compatibility with version 3.0). To have a space in a directory name, precede it with an extra backslash, and escape the space: :set path=.,/dir/with\\\ space - To include a comma in a directory name precede it with an extra backslash: :set path=.,/dir/with\\,comma - To search relative to the directory where the current file is use :set path=. - To search in the current directory use an empty string between two commas: :set path=,, - A directory name may end in a ':' or '/'. - Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. - Use wildcards to specify directories more freely, e.g., :set path=/usr/include/* means all subdirectories in /usr/include (but not /usr/include itself). - Use '**' if you want the whole subtree to be searched: :set path=/home/user_x/src/** means search in the whole subtree under "/home/usr_x/src". (to avoid endless recursion, the depth is restricted to 100 levels) - Give wildcards and recursions in any order: :set path=/**/include/** specifies a path with at least one directory /include/ in it. - The set of allowed wildcards and the possible usage depend on the operating system, but /etc/*/etc and /etc/**/etc work on any system. |:_%<| - Careful with '\' characters, type two to get one in the option: :set path=.,c:\\include Or just use '/' instead: :set path=.,c:/include Don't forget "." or files won't even be found in the same directory as the file! The maximum length is limited. How much depends on the system, mostly it is something like 256 or 1024 characters. You can check if all the include files are found, using the value of 'path', see |:checkpath|. The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version uses another default. To remove the current directory use: :set path-= To add the current directory use: :set path+= To use an environment variable, you probably need to replace the separator. Here is an example to append $INCL, in which directory names are separated with a semi-colon: > let &path = &path . "," . substitute($INCL, ';', ',', 'g') Replace the ';' with a ':' or whatever separator is used. Note that this doesn't work when $INCL contains a comma or white space. *'previewheight'* *'pvh'* 'previewheight' 'pvh' number (default 12) global {not in Vi} Default height for a preview window. Used for |:ptag| and associated commands. Used for |CTRL-W_}| when no count is given. *'readonly'* *'ro'* *'noreadonly'* *'noro'* 'readonly' 'ro' boolean (default off) local to buffer {not in Vi} If on, writes fail unless you use a '!'. Protects you from accidentally overwriting a file. Default on when Vim is started in read-only mode ("vim -R") or when the executable is called "view". {not in Vi:} When using the ":view" command the 'readonly' option is set for the newly edited buffer. When using ":w!" the 'readonly' option is reset for the current buffer. *'remap'* *'noremap'* 'remap' boolean (default on) global Allows for mappings to work recursively. If you do not want this for a single entry, use the :noremap[!] command. *'report'* 'report' number (default 2) global Threshold for reporting number of lines changed. When the number of changed lines is more than 'report' a message will be given for most ":" commands. For the ":substitute" command the number of substitutions is used instead of the number of lines. *'restorescreen'* *'rs'* *'norestorescreen'* *'nors'* 'restorescreen' 'rs' boolean (default on) global {not in Vi} {Windows 95/NT version only} When set, the screen contents is restored when exiting Vim. This also happens when executing external commands. For non-Windows Vim: You can set or reset the 't_ti' and 't_te' options in your .vimrc. To disable restoring: set t_ti= t_te= To enable restoring (for an xterm): set t_ti=^[7^[[r^[[?47h t_te=^[[?47l^[8 (Where ^[ is an , type CTRL-V to insert it) *'revins'* *'ri'* *'norevins'* *'nori'* 'revins' 'ri' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft| feature} Inserting characters in Insert mode will work backwards. See "typing backwards" |ins-reverse|. This option can be toggled with the CTRL-_ command in Insert mode, when 'allowrevins' is set. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' or 'paste' is set. *'rightleft'* *'rl'* *'norightleft'* *'norl'* 'rightleft' 'rl' boolean (default off) local to window {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with the |+rightleft| feature} When on, display orientation becomes right-to-left, i.e., character that are stored in the file appear from the right to the left. Using this option, it is possible to edit files for languages that are written from the right to the left such as Hebrew and Arabic. This option is per window, so it is possible to edit mixed files simultaneously, or to view the same file in both ways (this is sometimes useful when editing Hebrew TeX--XeT files). See |rightleft.txt|. *'ruler'* *'ru'* *'noruler'* *'noru'* 'ruler' 'ru' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_info| feature} Show the line and column number of the cursor position, separated by a comma. When there is room, the relative position of the displayed text in the file is shown on the far right: Top first line is visible Bot last line is visible All first and last line are visible 45% relative position in the file If 'rulerformat' is set, it will determine the contents of the ruler. Each window has its own ruler. If a window has a status line, the ruler is shown there. Otherwise it is shown in the last line of the screen. If the statusline is given by 'statusline' (ie. not empty), this option takes precedence over 'ruler' and 'rulerformat' If there are characters in the line that take two positions on the screen, both the "real" column and the screen column are shown, separated with a dash. For an empty line "0-1" is shown. For an empty buffer the line number will also be zero: "0,0-1". This option is reset when the 'paste' option is set. If you don't want to see the ruler all the time but want to know where you are, use "g CTRL-G" |g_CTRL-G|. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'rulerformat'* *'ruf'* 'rulerformat' 'ruf' string (default empty) global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+statusline| feature} The format of this option, is like that of 'statusline'. When it is not empty it determines the content of the ruler string. If the option has a leading "%{wid}(", then {wid} determines the width of the ruler. The default ruler width is 17 characters. *'scroll'* *'scr'* 'scroll' 'scr' number (default 'lines' / 2) local to window Number of lines to scroll with CTRL-U and CTRL-D commands. Will be set to half the number of lines in the window when the window size changes. If you give a count to the CTRL-U or CTRL-D command it will be used as the new value for 'scroll'. Reset to 'lines' / 2 with ":set scroll=0". {Vi is a bit different: 'scroll' gives the number of screen lines instead of file lines, makes a difference when lines wrap} *'scrollbind'* *'scb'* *'noscrollbind'* *'noscb'* 'scrollbind' 'scb' boolean (default off) local to window {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+scrollbind| feature} See also |scroll-binding|. When this option is set, the current window scrolls as other scrollbind windows (windows that also have this option set) scroll. This option is useful for viewing the differences between two versions of a file. See |'scrollopt'| for options that determine how this option should be interpreted. *'scrolljump'* *'sj'* 'scrolljump' 'sj' number (default 1) global {not in Vi} Minimal number of lines to scroll when the cursor gets off the screen (e.g., with "j"). Not used for scroll commands (e.g., CTRL-E, CTRL-D). Useful if your terminal scrolls very slowly. NOTE: This option is set to 1 when 'compatible' is set. *'scrolloff'* *'so'* 'scrolloff' 'so' number (default 0) global {not in Vi} Minimal number of screen lines to keep above and below the cursor. This will make some context visible around where you are working. If you set it to a very large value (999) the cursor line will always be in the middle of the window (except at the start or end of the file or when long lines wrap). NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set. *'scrollopt'* *'sbo'* 'scrollopt' 'sbo' string (default "ver,jump") global {not available when compiled without the |+scrollbind| feature} {not in Vi} This is a comma-separated list of words that specifies how 'scrollbind' windows should behave. The following words are available: ver Bind vertical scrolling for 'scrollbind' windows hor Bind horizontal scrolling for 'scrollbind' windows jump When switching between 'scrollbind' windows, make sure that the relative vertical offset is valid for the new window. The relative offset is invalid whenever another 'scrollbind' window has scrolled to a point that would force the current window to scroll past the beginning or end of its buffer. When the resync is performed, some of the other 'scrollbind' windows may need to jump so that the current window's relative position is visible on-screen. If this jump is undesirable, omit this word from 'scrollopt' *'sections'* *'sect'* 'sections' 'sect' string (default "SHNHH HUnhsh") global Specifies the nroff macros that separate sections. These are pairs of two letters (See |object-motions|). The default makes a section start at the nroff macros ".SH", ".NH", ".H", ".HU", ".nh" and ".sh". *'secure'* *'nosecure'* 'secure' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} When on, ":autocmd", shell and write commands are not allowed in ".vimrc" and ".exrc" in the current directory and map commands are displayed. Switch it off only if you know that you will not run into problems, or when the 'exrc' option is off. On Unix this option is only used if the ".vimrc" or ".exrc" is not owned by you. This can be dangerous if the systems allows users to do a "chown". You better set 'secure' at the end of your ~/.vimrc then. This option cannot be set from a |modeline|. *'selection'* *'sel'* 'selection' 'sel' string (default "inclusive") global {not in Vi} This option defines the behavior of the selection. It is only used in Visual and Select mode. Possible values: value past line inclusive ~ old no yes inclusive yes yes exclusive yes no "past line" means that the cursor is allowed to be positioned one character past the line. "inclusive" means that the last character of the selection is included in an operation. For example, when "x" is used to delete the selection. The 'selection' option is set by the |:behave| command. *'selectmode'* *'slm'* 'selectmode' 'slm' string (default "") global {not in Vi} This is a comma separated list of words, which specifies when to start Select mode instead of Visual mode, when a selection is started. Possible values: mouse when using the mouse key when using shifted special keys cmd when using "v", "V" or CTRL-V See |Select-mode|. The 'selectmode' option is set by the |:behave| command. *'sessionoptions'* *'ssop'* 'sessionoptions' 'ssop' string (default "buffers,winsize,options,help,blank") global {not in Vi} Changes the effect of the |:mksession| command. It is a comma separated list of words. Each word enables saving and restoring something: word save and restore ~ buffers hidden and unloaded buffers, not just those in windows globals global variables that start with an uppercase letter and contain at least one lowercase letter. help the help window blank empty windows options options and mappings winpos position of the GUI vim window resize size of the screen: 'lines' and 'columns' winsize window sizes (where possible) slash backslashes in file names replaced with forward slashes unix with Unix end-of-line format (single ), even when on Windows or DOS "slash" and "unix" are useful on Windows when sharing session files with Unix. The Unix version of Vim cannot source dos format scripts, but the Windows version of Vim can source unix format scripts. *'shell'* *'sh'* 'shell' 'sh' string (default $SHELL or "sh", MS-DOS and Win32: "command", OS/2: "cmd") global Name of the shell to use for ! and :! commands. When changing the value also check the 'shelltype', 'shellpipe', 'shellslash' and 'shellredir' options. It is allowed to give an argument to the command, e.g. "csh -f". See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. For Dos 32 bits (DJGPP), you can set the $DJSYSFLAGS environment variable to change the way external commands are executed. See the libc.inf file of DJGPP. If the name of the shell contains a space, you might need to enclose it in quotes. Example: > :set shell=\"c:\program\ files\unix\sh.exe\"\ -f Note the backslash before each quote (to avoid starting a comment) and each space (to avoid ending the option value). Also note that the "-f" is not inside the quotes, because it is not part of the command name. And Vim automagically recognizes the backslashes that are path separators. Under MS-Windows, when the executable ends in ".com" it must be included. Thus setting the shell to "command.com" or "4dos.com" works, but "command" and "4dos" do not work for all commands (e.g., filtering). For unknown reasons, when using "4dos.com" the current directory is changed to "C:\". To avoid this set 'shell' like this: > :set shell=command.com\ /c\ 4dos The 'shell' option cannot be set from a |modeline|. *'shellcmdflag'* *'shcf'* 'shellcmdflag' 'shcf' string (default: "-c", MS-DOS and Win32, when 'shell' does not contain "sh" somewhere: "/c") global {not in Vi} Flag passed to the shell to execute "!" and ":!" commands; e.g., "bash.exe -c ls" or "command.com /c dir". For the MS-DOS-like systems, the default is set according to the value of 'shell', to reduce the need to set this option by the user. It's not used for OS/2 (EMX figures this out itself). See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. See |dos-shell|. This option cannot be set from a |modeline|. *'shellpipe'* *'sp'* 'shellpipe' 'sp' string (default ">", "| tee", "|& tee" or "2>&1| tee") global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+quickfix| feature} String to be used to put the output of the ":make" command in the error file. See also |:make_makeprg|. See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. For the Amiga and MS-DOS the default is ">". The output is directly saved in a file and not echoed to the screen. For Unix the default it "| tee". The stdout of the compiler is saved in a file and echoed to the screen. If the 'shell' option is "csh" or "tcsh" after initializations, the default becomes "|& tee". If the 'shell' option is "sh", "ksh", "zsh" or "bash" the default becomes "2>&1| tee". This means that stderr is also included. The initialization of this option is done after reading the ".vimrc" and the other initializations, so that when the 'shell' option is set there, the 'shellpipe' option changes automatically, unless it was explicitly set before. When 'shellpipe' is set to an empty string, no redirection of the ":make" output will be done. This is useful if you use a 'makeprg' that writes to 'makeef' by itself. If you want no piping, but do want to include the 'makeef', set 'shellpipe' to a single space. Don't forget to precede the space with a backslash: ":set sp=\ ". In the future pipes may be used for filtering and this option will become obsolete (at least for Unix). This option cannot be set from a |modeline|. *'shellquote'* *'shq'* 'shellquote' 'shq' string (default: ""; MS-DOS and Win32, when 'shell' contains "sh" somewhere: "\"") global {not in Vi} Quoting character(s), put around the command passed to the shell, for the "!" and ":!" commands. The redirection is kept outside of the quoting. See 'shellxquote' to include the redirection. It's probably not useful to set both options. This is an empty string by default. Only known to be useful for third-party shells on MS-DOS-like systems, such as the MKS Korn Shell or bash, where it should be "\"". The default is adjusted according the value of 'shell', to reduce the need to set this option by the user. See |dos-shell|. This option cannot be set from a |modeline|. *'shellredir'* *'srr'* 'shellredir' 'srr' string (default ">", ">&" or ">%s 2>&1") global {not in Vi} String to be used to put the output of a filter command in a temporary file. See also |:!|. See |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes. The name of the temporary file can be represented by "%s" if necessary (the file name is appended automatically if no %s appears in the value of this option). The default is ">". For Unix, if the 'shell' option is "csh", "tcsh" or "zsh" during initializations, the default becomes ">&". If the 'shell' option is "sh", "ksh" or "bash" the default becomes ">%s 2>&1". This means that stderr is also included. The initialization of this option is done after reading the ".vimrc" and the other initializations, so that when the 'shell' option is set there, the 'shellredir' option changes automatically unless it was explicitly set before. In the future pipes may be used for filtering and this option will become obsolete (at least for Unix). This option cannot be set from a |modeline|. *'shellslash'* *'ssl'* *'noshellslash'* *'nossl'* 'shellslash' 'ssl' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {only for MSDOS, MS-Windows and OS/2} When set, a forward slash is used when expanding file names. This is useful when a Unix-like shell is used instead of command.com or cmd.exe. Backward slashes can still be typed, but they are changed to forward slashes by Vim. Note that setting or resetting this option has no effect for existing file names, thus this option needs to be set before opening any file for best results. This might change in the future. *'shelltype'* *'st'* 'shelltype' 'st' number (default 0) global {not in Vi} {only for the Amiga} On the Amiga this option influences the way how the commands work which use a shell. 0 and 1: always use the shell 2 and 3: use the shell only to filter lines 4 and 5: use shell only for ':sh' command When not using the shell, the command is executed directly. 0 and 2: use "shell 'shellcmdflag' cmd" to start external commands 1 and 3: use "shell cmd" to start external commands *'shellxquote'* *'sxq'* 'shellxquote' 'sxq' string (default: ""; for Win32, when 'shell' contains "sh" somewhere: "\"" for Unix, when using system(): "\"") global {not in Vi} Quoting character(s), put around the command passed to the shell, for the "!" and ":!" commands. Includes the redirection. See 'shellquote' to exclude the redirection. It's probably not useful to set both options. This is an empty string by default. Known to be useful for third-party shells when using the Win32 version, such as the MKS Korn Shell or bash, where it should be "\"". The default is adjusted according the value of 'shell', to reduce the need to set this option by the user. See |dos-shell|. This option cannot be set from a |modeline|. *'shiftround'* *'sr'* *'noshiftround'* *'nosr'* 'shiftround' 'sr' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} Round indent to multiple of 'shiftwidth'. Applies to > and < commands. CTRL-T and CTRL-D in Insert mode always round the indent to a multiple of 'shiftwidth' (this is Vi compatible). NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'shiftwidth'* *'sw'* 'shiftwidth' 'sw' number (default 8) local to buffer Number of spaces to use for each step of (auto)indent. *'shortmess'* *'shm'* 'shortmess' 'shm' string (Vim default "filnxtToO", Vi default: "") global {not in Vi} This option helps to avoid all the |hit-return| prompts caused by file messages, for example with CTRL-G, and to avoid some other messages. It is a list of flags: flag meaning when present ~ f use "(3 of 5)" instead of "(file 3 of 5)" i use "[noeol]" instead of "[Incomplete last line]" l use "999L, 888C" instead of "999 lines, 888 characters" m use "[+]" instead of "[Modified]" n use "[New]" instead of "[New File]" r use "[RO]" instead of "[readonly]" w use "[w]" instead of "written" for file write message. x use "[dos]" instead of "[dos format]", "[unix]" instead of "[unix format]" and "[mac]" instead of "[mac format]". a all of the above abbreviations o overwrite message for writing a file with subsequent message for reading a file (useful for ":wn" or when 'autowrite' on) O message for reading a file overwrites any previous message. Also for quickfix message (e.g., ":cn"). s don't give "search hit BOTTOM, continuing at TOP" or "search hit TOP, continuing at BOTTOM" messages t truncate file message at the start if it is too long to fit on the command-line, "<" will appear in the left most column. Ignored in Ex mode. T truncate other messages in the middle if they are too long to fit on the command line. "..." will appear in the middle. Ignored in Ex mode. W don't give "written" or "[w]" when writing a file A don't give the "ATTENTION" message when an existing swap file is found. I don't give the intro message when starting Vim |:intro|. This gives you the opportunity to avoid that a change between buffers requires you to hit return, but still gives as useful a message as possible for the space available. To get the whole message that you would have got with 'shm' empty, use ":file!" Useful values: shm= No abbreviation of message. shm=a Abbreviation, but no loss of information. shm=at Abbreviation, and truncate message when necessary. NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'shortname'* *'sn'* *'noshortname'* *'nosn'* 'shortname' 'sn' boolean (default off) local to buffer {not in Vi, not in MS-DOS versions} Filenames are assumed to be 8 characters plus one extension of 3 characters. Multiple dots in file names are not allowed. When this option is on, dots in file names are replaced with underscores when adding an extension (".~" or ".swp"). This option is not available for MS-DOS, because then it would always be on. This option is useful when editing files on an MS-DOS compatible filesystem, e.g., messydos or crossdos. When running the Win32 GUI version under Win32s, this option is always on by default. *'showbreak'* *'sbr'* 'showbreak' 'sbr' string (default "") global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+linebreak| feature} String to put at the start of lines that have been wrapped. Useful values are "> " or "+++ ". Only printable characters are allowed, excluding and comma (in a future version the comma might be used to separate the part that is shown at the end and at the start of a line). The characters are highlighted according to the '@' flag in 'highlight'. *'showcmd'* *'sc'* *'noshowcmd'* *'nosc'* 'showcmd' 'sc' boolean (Vim default: on, off for Unix, Vi default: off) global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_info| feature} Show (partial) command in status line. Set this option off if your terminal is slow. NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'showfulltag'* *'sft'* *'noshowfulltag'* *'nosft'* 'showfulltag' 'sft' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} When completing a word in insert mode (see |ins-completion|) from the tags file, show both the tag name and a tidied-up form of the search pattern (if there is one) as possible matches. Thus, if you have matched a C function, you can see a template for what arguments are required (coding style permitting). *'showmatch'* *'sm'* *'noshowmatch'* *'nosm'* 'showmatch' 'sm' boolean (default off) global When a bracket is inserted, briefly jump to the matching one. The jump is only done if the match can be seen on the screen. The time to show the match can be set with 'matchtime'. A Beep is given if there is no match (no matter if the match can be seen or not). This option is reset when the 'paste' option is set. When the 'm' flag is not included in 'cpoptions', typing a character will immediately move the cursor back to where it belongs. See the "sm" field in 'guicursor' for setting the cursor shape and blinking when showing the match. Note: For the use of the short form parental guidance is advised. *'showmode'* *'smd'* *'noshowmode'* *'nosmd'* 'showmode' 'smd' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off) global If in Insert, Replace or Visual mode put a message on the last line. Use the 'M' flag in 'highlight' to set the type of highlighting for this message. NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'sidescroll'* *'ss'* 'sidescroll' 'ss' number (default 0) global {not in Vi} The minimal number of columns to scroll horizontally. Used only when the 'wrap' option is off and the cursor is moved off of the screen. When it is zero the cursor will be put in the middle of the screen. When using a slow terminal set it to a large number or 0. When using a fast terminal use a small number or 1. Not used for "zh" and "zl" commands. *'smartcase'* *'scs'* *'nosmartcase'* *'noscs'* 'smartcase' 'scs' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} Override the 'ignorecase' option if the search pattern contains upper case characters. Only used when the search pattern is typed and 'ignorecase' option is on. Used for the commands "/", "?", "n", "N", ":g" and ":s". Not used for "*", "#", "gd", tag search, etc.. After "*" and "#" you can make 'smartcase' used by doing a "/" command, recalling the search pattern from history and hitting return. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'smartindent'* *'si'* *'nosmartindent'* *'nosi'* 'smartindent' 'si' boolean (default off) local to buffer {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+smartindent| feature} Do smart autoindenting when starting a new line. Works for C-like programs, but can also be used for other languages. 'cindent' does something like this, works better in most cases, but is more strict, see |C-indenting|. When 'cindent' is on, setting 'si' has no effect. Normally 'autoindent' should also be on when using 'smartindent'. An indent is automatically inserted: - After a line ending in '{'. - After a line starting with a keyword from 'cinwords'. - Before a line starting with '}' (only with the "O" command). When typing '}' as the first character in a new line, that line is given the same indent as the matching '{'. When typing '#' as the first character in a new line, the indent for that line is removed, the '#' is put in the first column. The indent is restored for the next line. If you don't want this, use this mapping: ":inoremap # X^H#", where ^H is entered with CTRL-V CTRL-H. When using the ">>" command, lines starting with '#' are not shifted right. NOTE: 'smartindent' is reset when 'compatible' or 'paste' option is set. *'smarttab'* *'sta'* *'nosmarttab'* *'nosta'* 'smarttab' 'sta' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} When on, a in front of a line inserts blanks according to 'shiftwidth'. 'tabstop' is used in other places. When off a always inserts blanks according to 'tabstop'. 'shiftwidth' is only used for shifting text left or right |shift-left-right|. What gets inserted (a Tab or spaces) depends on the 'expandtab' option. Also see |ins-expandtab|. When 'expandtab' is not set, the number of spaces minimized by using s. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'softtabstop'* *'sts'* 'softtabstop' 'sts' number (default 0) local to buffer {not in Vi} Number of spaces that a counts for while performing editing operations, like inserting a or using . It "feels" like s are being inserted, while in fact a mix of spaces and s is used. This is useful to keep the 'ts' setting at its standard value of 8, while being able to edit like it is set to 'sts'. However, commands like "x" still work on the actual characters. When 'sts' is zero, this feature is off. 'softtabstop' is set to 0 when the 'paste' option is set. See also |ins-expandtab|. When 'expandtab' is not set, the number of spaces minimized by using s. NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set. *'splitbelow'* *'sb'* *'nosplitbelow'* *'nosb'* 'splitbelow' 'sb' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} When on, splitting a window will put the new window below the current one. *'startofline'* *'sol'* *'nostartofline'* *'nosol'* 'startofline' 'sol' boolean (default on) global {not in Vi} When on the commands listed below move the cursor to the first blank of the line. When off the cursor is kept in the same column (if possible). This applies to the commands: CTRL-D, CTRL-U, CTRL-B, CTRL-F, "G", "H", "M", "L", , and to the commands "d", "<<" and ">>" with a linewise operator, with "%" with a count and to buffer changing commands (CTRL-^, :bnext, :bNext, etc.). Also for an Ex command that only has a line number, e.g., ":25" or ":+". In case of buffer changing commands the cursor is placed at the column where it was the last time the buffer was edited. NOTE: This option is set when 'compatible' is set. *'statusline'* *'stl'* 'statusline' 'stl' string (default empty) global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+statusline| feature} When nonempty, this option determines the content of the status line. Also see |status-line|. The option consists of printf style '%' items interspersed with normal text. Each status line item is of the form: %-0{minwid}.{maxwid}{item} All fields except the {item} is optional. A single percent sign can be given as "%%". Note that the only effect of 'ruler' when this option is set (and 'laststatus' is 2) is controlling the output of |CTRL-G|. field meaning ~ - Left justify the item. The default is right justified when minwid is larger than the length of the item. 0 Leading zeroes in numeric items. Overridden by '-'. minwid Minimum width of the item, padding as set by '-' & '0'. maxwid Maximum width of the item. Truncation occurs with a '<' on the left for text items. Numeric items will be shifted down to maxwid-2 digits followed by '>'number where number is the amount of missing digits, much like an exponential notation. item A one letter code as described below. Following is a description of the possible statusline items. The second character in "item" is the type: N for number, S for string and F for flags as described below. A - is used if not applicable. item meaning ~ f S Path to the file in the buffer, relative to current directory. F S Full path to the file in the buffer. t S File name (tail) of file in the buffer. m F Modified flag, text is " [+]. M F Modified flag, text is ",+". r F Readonly flag, text is " [RO]". R F Readonly flag, text is ",RO". h F Help buffer flag, text is " [help]". H F Help buffer flag, text is ",HLP". w F Preview window flag, text is " [Preview]". W F Preview window flag, text is ",PRV". y F Type of file in the buffer, e.g., " [vim]". See 'filetype'. Y F Type of file in the buffer, e.g., ",VIM". See 'filetype'. n N Buffer number. b N Value of byte under cursor. B N As above, in hexadecimal. o N Byte number in file of byte under cursor, first byte is 1. Mnemonic: Offset from start of file (with one added) O N As above, in hexadecimal. l N Line number. L N Number of lines in buffer. c N Column number. v N Virtual column number. V N Virtual column number as -{num}. Not displayed if equal to 'c'. p N Percentage through file in lines as in |CTRL-G|. P S Percentage through file of displayed window. This is like the percentage described for 'ruler'. Always 3 in length. a S Argument list status as in default title. ({current} of {max}) Empty if the argument file count is zero or one. { NF Evaluate expression between '{' and '}' and substitute result. ( - Start of item group. Can be used for setting the width and alignment of a section. Must be followed by %) somewhere. ) - End of item group. No width fields allowed. < - Where to truncate line if too long. Default is at the start. No width fields allowed. = - Separation point between left and right aligned items. No width fields allowed. * - Set highlight group to User{N}, where {N} is taken from the minwid field. eg. %1*. Restore normal highlight with %* or %0*. The difference between User{N} and StatusLine will be applied to StatusLineNC for the statusline of non-current windows. The number N must be between 1 and 9. See |hl-User1..9| Display of flags are controlled by the following heuristic: If a flag text starts with comma it is assumed that it wants to separate itself from anything but preceding plaintext. If it starts with a space it is assumed that it wants to separate itself from anything but other flags. That is: A leading comma is removed if the preceding character stems from plaintext. A leading space is removed if the preceding character stems from another active flag. This will make a nice display when flags are used like in the examples below. When all items in a group becomes an empty string (ie. flags that are not set) and a minwid is not set for the group, the whole group will become empty. This will make a group like the following disappear completely from the statusline when none of the flags are set. > set statusline=...%(\ [%M%R%H]%)... Beware that an expression is evaluated each and every time the status line is displayed. The current buffer and current window will be set temporarily to that of the window (and buffer) whose statusline is currently being drawn. The expression will evaluate in this context. The variable "actual_curbuf" is set to the 'bufnr()' number of the real current buffer. A result of all digits is regarded a number for display purposes. Otherwise the result is taken as flag text and applied to the rules described above. Watch out for errors in expressions. They may render Vim unusable ! If you are stuck, hold down ':' or 'Q' to get a prompt, then quit and edit your .vimrc or whatever with "vim -u NONE" to get it right. Examples: Display byte count and byte value, modified flag in red. > set statusline=%<%f%=\ [%1*%M%*%n%R%H]\ %-19(%3l,%02c%03V%)%O'%02b' > hi User1 term=inverse,bold cterm=inverse,bold ctermfg=red Emulate standard status line with 'ruler' set > set statusline=%<%f%h%m%r%=%l,%c%V\ %P Idem, but add ascii value of char under the cursor (like "ga") > set statusline=%<%f%h%m%r%=%b\ 0x%B\ \ %l,%c%V\ %P Display a ,GZ flag if a compressed file is loaded > set statusline=...%r%{VarExists('b:gzflag','\ [GZ]')}%h... In the |:autocmd|'s: |let b:gzflag = 1 And: |unlet b:gzflag > function VarExists(var, val) > if exists(a:var) | return a:val | else | return '' | endif > endfunction *'suffixes'* *'su'* 'suffixes' 'su' string (default ".bak,~,.o,.h,.info,.swp,.obj") global {not in Vi} Files with these suffixes get a lower priority when multiple files match a wildcard. See |suffixes|. Commas can be used to separate the suffixes. Spaces after the comma are ignored. A dot is also seen as the start of a suffix. To include a dot or comma in a suffix, precede it with a backslash (see |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes). See 'wildignore' for completely ignoring files. The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing suffixes from the list. This avoids problems when a future version uses another default. *'swapfile'* *'swf'* *'noswapfile'* *'noswf'* 'swapfile' 'swf' boolean (default on) local to buffer {not in Vi} Use a swapfile for the buffer. This option can be reset when a swapfile is not wanted for a specific buffer. For example, with confidential information that even root must not be able to access. Careful: All text will be in memory. Don't use this for big files. Recovery will be impossible! A swapfile will only be present when |'updatecount'| is non-zero and 'swapfile' is set. When 'swapfile' is reset, the swap file for the current buffer is immediately deleted. When 'swapfile' is set, and 'updatecount' is non-zero, a swap file is immediately created. *'swapsync'* *'sws'* 'swapsync' 'sws' string (default "fsync") global {not in Vi} When this option is not empty a swap file is synced to disk after writing to it. This takes some time, especially on busy unix systems. When this option is empty parts of the swap file may be in memory and not written to disk. When the system crashes you may lose more work. On Unix the system does a sync now and then without Vim asking for it, so the disadvantage of setting this option off is small. On some systems the swap file will not be written at all. For a unix system setting it to "sync" will use the sync() call instead of the default fsync(), which may work better on some systems. *'switchbuf'* *'swb'* 'switchbuf' 'swb' string (default "") global {not in Vi} This option controls the behavior when switching between buffers. Possible values (comma separated list): useopen If included, jump to the first open window that contains the specified buffer (if there is one). Otherwise: Do not examine other windows. This setting is checked in |quickfix| mode when jumping to errors (":cc", ":cn", "cp", etc.). It is also used in all buffer related split commands, for example ":sbuffer", ":sbnext", or ":sbrewind". split If included, split the current window before loading a buffer. Otherwise: do not split, use current window. Supported in |quickfix| commands that display errors. *'syntax'* *'syn'* 'syntax' 'syn' string (default emtpy) local to buffer {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+syntax| feature} When this option is set, the syntax with this name is loaded, unless syntax highlighting has been switched off with ":syntax off". Otherwise this option does not always reflect the current syntax (the b:current_syntax variable does). This option is most useful in a modeline, for a file which syntax is not automatically recognized. Example, for in an IDL file: > /* vim: set syntax=idl : */ To switch off syntax highlighting for the current file, use: > :set syntax=OFF To switch syntax highlighting on according to the current value of the 'filetype' option: > :set syntax=ON What actually happens when setting the 'syntax' option is that the Syntax autocommand event is triggered with the value as argument. This option is not copied to another buffer, independent of the 's' or 'S' flag in 'cpoptions'. *'tabstop'* *'ts'* 'tabstop' 'ts' number (default 8) local to buffer Number of spaces that a in the file counts for. Also see |:retab| command, and 'softtabstop' option. *'tagbsearch'* *'tbs'* *'notagbsearch'* *'notbs'* 'tagbsearch' 'tbs' boolean (default on) global {not in Vi} When searching for a tag (e.g., for the |:ta| command), Vim can either use a binary search or a linear search in a tags file. Binary searching makes searching for a tag a LOT faster, but a linear search will find more tags if the tags file wasn't properly sorted. Vim normally assumes that your tags files are sorted, or indicate that they are not sorted. Only when this is not the case does the 'tagbsearch' option need to be switched off. When 'tagbsearch' is on, binary searching is first used in the tags files. In certain situations, Vim will do a linear search instead for certain files, or retry all files with a linear search. When 'tagbsearch' is off, only a linear search is done. Linear searching is done anyway, for one file, when Vim finds a line at the start of the file indicating that it's not sorted: > !_TAG_FILE_SORTED 0 /some command/ [The whitespace before and after the '0' must be a single ] When a binary search was done and no match was found in any of the files listed in 'tags', and 'ignorecase' is set or a pattern is used instead of a normal tag name, a retry is done with a linear search. Tags in unsorted tags files, and matches with different case will only be found in the retry. When 'tagbsearch' is off, tags searching is slower when a full match exists, but faster when no full match exists. Tags in unsorted tags files may only be found with 'tagbsearch' off. When the tags file is not sorted, or sorted in a wrong way (not on ASCII byte value), 'tagbsearch' should be off, or the line given above must be included in the tags file. This option doesn't affect commands that find all matching tags (e.g., command-line completion and ":help"). {Vi: always uses binary search in some versions} *'taglength'* *'tl'* 'taglength' 'tl' number (default 0) global If non-zero, tags are significant up to this number of characters. *'tagrelative'* *'tr'* *'notagrelative'* *'notr'* 'tagrelative' 'tr' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off) global {not in Vi} If on and using a tag file in another directory, file names in that tag file are relative to the directory where the tag file is. NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'tags'* *'tag'* 'tags' 'tag' string (default "./tags,tags", when compiled with |+emacs_tags|: "./tags,./TAGS,tags,TAGS") global Filenames for the tag command, separated by spaces or commas. To include a space or comma in a file name, precede it with a backslash (see |option-backslash| about including spaces and backslashes). When a file name starts with "./", the '.' is replaced with the path of the current file. But only when the 'd' flag is not included in 'cpoptions'. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. Also see |tags-option|. If Vim was compiled with the |+emacs_tags| feature, Emacs-style tag files are also supported. They are automatically recognized. The default value becomes "./tags,./TAGS,tags,TAGS". |emacs-tags| The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing file names from the list. This avoids problems when a future version uses another default. {Vi: default is "tags /usr/lib/tags"} *'tagstack'* *'tgst'* *'notagstack'* *'notgst'* 'tagstack' 'tgst' boolean (default on) global {not in all versions of Vi} When on, the |tagstack| is used normally. When off, a ":tag" or ":tselect" command with an argument will not push the tag onto the tagstack. A following ":tag" without an argument, a ":pop" command or any other command that uses the tagstack will use the unmodified tagstack, but does change the pointer to the active entry. Resetting this option is useful when using a ":tag" command in a mapping which should not change the tagstack. *'term'* 'term' string (default is $TERM, if that fails: in the GUI: "builtin_gui" on Amiga: "amiga" on BeOS: "beos-ansi" on Mac: "mac-ansi" on MiNT: "vt52" on MS-DOS: "pcterm" on OS/2: "os2ansi" on Unix: "ansi" on VMS: "ansi" on Win 32: "win32") global Name of the terminal. Used for choosing the terminal control characters. Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|. For example: > :set term=$TERM See |termcap|. *'terse'* *'noterse'* 'terse' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} When set: Add 's' flag to 'shortmess' option (this makes the message for a search that hits the start or end of the file not being displayed). When reset: Remove 's' flag from 'shortmess' option. {Vi shortens a lot of messages} *'textauto'* *'ta'* *'notextauto'* *'nota'* 'textauto' 'ta' boolean (Vim default: on, Vi default: off) global {not in Vi} This option is obsolete. Use 'fileformats'. For backwards compatibility, when 'textauto' is set, 'fileformats' is set to the default value for the current system. When 'textauto' is reset, 'fileformats' is made empty. NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'textmode'* *'tx'* *'notextmode'* *'notx'* 'textmode' 'tx' boolean (MS-DOS, Win32 and OS/2: default on, others: default off) local to buffer {not in Vi} This option is obsolete. Use 'fileformat'. For backwards compatibility, when 'textmode' is set, 'fileformat' is set to "dos". When 'textmode' is reset, 'fileformat' is set to "unix". *'textwidth'* *'tw'* 'textwidth' 'tw' number (default 0) local to buffer {not in Vi} Maximum width of text that is being inserted. A longer line will be broken after white space to get this width. A zero value disables this. 'textwidth' is set to 0 when the 'paste' option is set. When 'textwidth' is zero, 'wrapmargin' may be used. See also 'formatoptions' and |ins-textwidth|. NOTE: This option is set to 0 when 'compatible' is set. *'tildeop'* *'top'* *'notildeop'* *'notop'* 'tildeop' 'top' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} When on: The tilde command "~" behaves like an operator. NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'timeout'* *'to'* *'notimeout'* *'noto'* 'timeout' 'to' boolean (default on) global *'ttimeout'* *'nottimeout'* 'ttimeout' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} These two options together determine the behavior when part of a mapped key sequence or keyboard code has been received: timeout ttimeout action ~ off off no time out on on or off time out on :mappings and key codes off on time out on key codes If there is no time out, Vim will wait until either the complete mapping or key sequence has been received, or it is clear that there is no mapping or key sequence for the received characters. For example: if you have mapped "vl" and Vim has received 'v', the next character is needed to see if the 'v' is followed by an 'l'. With a time out Vim will wait for about 1 second for the next character to arrive. After that the already received characters are interpreted as single characters. The waiting time can be changed with the 'timeoutlen' option. On slow terminals or very busy systems time out may cause malfunctioning cursor keys. If both options are off, Vim waits forever after an entered if there are key codes that start with . You will have to type twice. If you do not have problems with key codes, but would like to have :mapped key sequences not time out in 1 second, set the ttimeout option and reset the timeout option. NOTE: 'ttimeout' is reset when 'compatible' is set. *'timeoutlen'* *'tm'* 'timeoutlen' 'tm' number (default 1000) global {not in all versions of Vi} *'ttimeoutlen'* *'ttm'* 'ttimeoutlen' 'ttm' number (default -1) global {not in Vi} The time in milliseconds that is waited for a key code or mapped key sequence to complete. Normally only 'timeoutlen' is used and 'ttimeoutlen' is -1. When a different timeout value for key codes is desired set 'ttimeoutlen' to a non-negative number. ttimeoutlen mapping delay key code delay ~ < 0 'timeoutlen' 'timeoutlen' >= 0 'timeoutlen' 'ttimeoutlen' The timeout only happens when the 'timeout' and 'ttimeout' options tell so. A useful setting would be :set timeout timeoutlen=3000 ttimeoutlen=100 (time out on mapping after three seconds, time out on key codes after a tenth of a second). *'title'* *'notitle'* 'title' boolean (default off, on when title can be restored) global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+title| feature} When on, the title of the window will be set to the value of 'titlestring' (if it is not empty), or to "VIM - filename", where filename is the name of the file currently being edited. Only works if the terminal supports setting window titles (currently Amiga console, Win32 console, all GUI versions and terminals with a non- empty 't_ts' option - these are Unix xterm and iris-ansi by default, where 't_ts' is taken from the builtin termcap). *X11* When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original title will be restored if possible. The output of ":version" will include "+X11" when HAVE_X11 was defined, otherwise it will be "-X11". This also works for the icon name |'icon'|. If the title cannot be restored, it is set to the value of 'titleold'. You might want to restore the title outside of Vim then. When using an xterm from a remote machine you can use this command: rsh machine_name xterm -display $DISPLAY & then the WINDOWID environment variable should be inherited and the title of the window should change back to what it should be after exiting Vim. *'titlelen'* 'titlelen' number (default 85) global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+title| feature} Gives the percentage of 'columns' to use for the length of the window title. When the title is longer, only the end of the path name is shown. A '<' character before the path name is used to indicate this. Using a percentage makes this adapt to the width of the window. But it won't work perfectly, because the actual number of characters available also depends on the font used and other things in the title bar. When 'titlelen' is zero the full path is used. Otherwise, values from 1 to 30000 percent can be used. 'titlelen' is also used for the 'titlestring' option. *'titleold'* 'titleold' string (default "Thanks for flying Vim") global {not in Vi} {only available when compiled with the |+title| feature} This option will be used for the window title when exiting Vim if the original title cannot be restored. Only happens if 'title' is on or 'titlestring' is not empty. *'titlestring'* 'titlestring' string (default "") global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+title| feature} When this option is not empty, it will be used for the title of the window. This happens only when the 'title' option is on. Only works if the terminal supports setting window titles (currently Amiga console, Win32 console, all GUI versions and terminals with a non-empty 't_ts' option). When Vim was compiled with HAVE_X11 defined, the original title will be restored if possible |X11|. When this option contains printf-style '%' items, they will be expanded according to the rules used for 'statusline'. Example: > auto BufEnter * let &titlestring = hostname() . "/" . expand("%:p") > set title titlestring=%<%F%=%l/%L-%P titlelen=70 The value of 'titlelen' is used to align items in the middle or right of the available space. Some people prefer to have the file name first: > set titlestring=%t%(\ %M%)%(\ (%{expand(\"%:~:.:h\")})%)%(\ %a%) Note the use of "%{ }" and an expression to get the path of the file, without the file name. The "%( %)" constructs are used to add a separating space only when needed. NOTE: Use of special characters in 'titlestring' may cause the display to be garbled (e.g., when it contains a CR or NL character). {not available when compiled without the |+statusline| feature} *'toolbar'* *'tb'* 'toolbar' 'tb' string (default "icons,tooltips") global {only for |+GUI_GTK|} The contents of this option controls various toolbar settings. The possible values are: icons Toolbar buttons are shown with icons. text Toolbar buttons shown with text. tooltips Tooltips are active for toolbar buttons. Tooltips refer to the popup help text which appears after the mouse cursor is placed over a toolbar button for a brief moment. If you want the toolbar to be shown with icons as well as text, do the following: > :set tb=icons,text If none of the strings specified in 'toolbar' are valid of if 'toolbar' is empty, this option is ignored. If you want to disable the toolbar, you need to set the 'guioptions' option. For example: > :set guioptions-=T *'ttybuiltin'* *'tbi'* *'nottybuiltin'* *'notbi'* 'ttybuiltin' 'tbi' boolean (default on) global {not in Vi} When on, the builtin termcaps are searched before the external ones. When off the builtin termcaps are searched after the external ones. When this option is changed, you should set the 'term' option next for the change to take effect, for example: > :set notbi term=$TERM See also |termcap|. Rationale: The default for this option is "on", because the builtin termcap entries are generally better (many systems contain faulty xterm entries...). *'ttyfast'* *'tf'* *'nottyfast'* *'notf'* 'ttyfast' 'tf' boolean (default off, on when 'term' is xterm, hpterm, sun-cmd, screen, rxvt, dtterm or iris-ansi; also on when running Vim in a DOS console) global {not in Vi} Indicates a fast terminal connection. More characters will be sent to the screen for redrawing, instead of using insert/delete line commands. Improves smoothness of redrawing when there are multiple windows and the terminal does not support a scrolling region. Also enables the extra writing of characters at the end of each screen line for lines that wrap. This helps when using copy/paste with the mouse in an xterm and other terminals. *'ttymouse'* *'ttym'* 'ttymouse' 'ttym' string (default depends on 'term') global {not in Vi} {only in Unix, and not in the GUI} Name of the terminal type for which mouse codes are to be recognized. Currently these three strings are valid: *xterm-mouse* xterm xterm-like mouse handling. The mouse generates "[Mscr", where "scr" is three bytes: "s" = button state "c" = column plus 33 "r" = row plus 33 xterm2 Works like "xterm", but with the xterm reporting the mouse position while the mouse is dragged. This works much faster and more precise. Your xterm must at least at patchlevel 88 / XFree 3.3.3 for this to work. Determine your version with "xterm -version". *netterm-mouse* netterm NetTerm mouse handling. The mouse generates "}r,c", where "r,c" are two decimal numbers for the row and column. *dec-mouse* dec DEC terminal mouse handling. The mouse generates a rather complex sequence, starting with "[". The mouse handling must be enabled at compile time |+mouse_xterm| |+mouse_dec| |+mouse_netterm|. Only "xterm"(2) is really recognized. NetTerm mouse codes are always recognized, if enabled at compile time. DEC terminal mouse codes are recognized if enabled at compile time, and 'ttymouse' is not "xterm". This option is automatically set to "xterm", when the 'term' option is set to a name that starts with "xterm", and 'ttymouse' is not "xterm" or "xterm2" already. The main use of this option is to set it to "xterm", when the terminal name doesn't start with "xterm", but it can handle xterm mouse codes. The "xterm2" value will be set if the xterm version is reported to be 95 of higher. This only works if the t_RV is set to the escape sequence to request the xterm version number. Otherwise "xterm2" must be set explicitly. *'ttyscroll'* *'tsl'* 'ttyscroll' 'tsl' number (default 999) global Maximum number of lines to scroll the screen. If there are more lines to scroll the window is redrawn. For terminals where scrolling is very slow and redrawing is not slow this can be set to a small number, e.g., 3, to speed up displaying. *'ttytype'* *'tty'* 'ttytype' 'tty' string (default from $TERM) global Alias for 'term', see above. *'undolevels'* *'ul'* 'undolevels' 'ul' number (default 100, 1000 for Unix and OS/2) global {not in Vi} Maximum number of changes that can be undone. Since undo information is kept in memory, higher numbers will cause more more memory to be used (nevertheless, a single change can use an unlimited amount of memory). Set to 0 for Vi compatibility: One level of undo and "u" undoes itself: > set ul=0 But you can also get Vi compatibility by including the 'u' flag in 'cpoptions', and still be able to use CTRL-R to repeat undo. Set to a negative number for no undo at all: > set ul=-1 This helps when you run out of memory for a single change. Also see |undo-two-ways|. *'updatecount'* *'uc'* 'updatecount' 'uc' number (default: 200) global {not in Vi} After typing this many characters the swap file will be written to disk. When zero, no swap file will be created at all (see chapter on recovery |crash-recovery|). 'updatecount' is set to zero by starting Vim with the "-n" option, see |startup|. When editing in readonly mode this option will be initialized to 10000. The swapfile can be disabled per buffer with |'swapfile'|. When 'updatecount' is set from non-zero to zero, swap files are created for all buffers that have 'swapfile' set. When 'updatecount' is set to zero, existing swap files are not deleted. Also see |'swapsync'|. *'updatetime'* *'ut'* 'updatetime' 'ut' number (default 4000) global {not in Vi} If this many milliseconds nothing is typed the swap file will be written to disk (see |crash-recovery|). Also used for the |CursorHold| autocommand event. *'verbose'* *'vbs'* 'verbose' 'vbs' number (default 0) global {not in Vi} When bigger than zero, Vim will give messages about what it is doing. Currently, these messages are given: >= 1 When a file is ":source"'ed. >= 1 When the viminfo file is read or written. >= 8 Files for which a group of autocommands is executed. >= 9 Every executed autocommand. >=15 Every executed function line. This option can also be set with the "-V" argument. See |-V|. *'viminfo'* *'vi'* 'viminfo' 'vi' string (default "") global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+viminfo| feature} When non-empty, the viminfo file is read upon startup and written when exiting Vim (see |viminfo-file|). The string should be a comma separated list of parameters, each consisting of a single character identifying the particular parameter, followed by a number or string which specifies the value of that parameter. If a particular character is left out, then the default value is used for that parameter. The following is a list of the identifying characters and the effect of their value. CHAR VALUE ~ ' Maximum number of previously edited files for which the marks are remembered. This parameter must always be included when 'viminfo' is non-empty. f Whether file marks need to be stored. If zero, file marks ('0 to '9, 'A to 'Z) are not stored. When not present or when non-zero, they are all stored. '0 is used for the current cursor position (when exiting or when doing ":wviminfo"). r Removable media. The argument is a string (up to the next ','). This parameter can be given several times. Each specifies the start of a path for which no marks will be stored. This is to avoid removable media. For MS-DOS you could use "ra:,rb:", for Amiga "rdf0:,rdf1:,rdf2:". Case is ignored. Maximum length of each 'r' argument is 50 characters. " Maximum number of lines saved for each register. If zero then registers are not saved. When not included, all lines are saved. Dont forget to put a backslash before the ", otherwise it will be recognized as the start of a comment! : Maximum number of items in the command-line history to be saved. When not included, the value of 'history' is used. / Maximum number of items in the search pattern history to be saved. If non-zero, then the previous search and substitute patterns are also saved. When not included, the value of 'history' is used. h Disable the effect of 'hlsearch' when loading the viminfo file. When not included, it depends on whether ":nohlsearch" has been used since the last search command. @ Maximum number of items in the input-line history to be saved. When not included, the value of 'history' is used. n Name of the viminfo file. The name must immediately follow the 'n'. Must be the last one! If the "-i" argument was given when starting Vim, that file name overrides the one given here with 'viminfo'. Environment variables are expanded when opening the file, not when setting the option. % When included, save and restore the buffer list. If Vim is started with a file name argument, the buffer list is not restored. If Vim is started without a file name argument, the buffer list is restored from the viminfo file. Buffers without a file name and buffers for help files are not written to the viminfo file. ! When included, save and restore global variables that start with an uppercase letter, and don't contain a lowercase letter. Example: > :set viminfo='50,\"1000,:0,n~/vim/viminfo '50 Marks will be remembered for the last 50 files you edited. "1000 Contents of registers (up to 1000 lines each) will be remembered. :0 Command-line history will not be saved. n~/vim/viminfo The name of the file to use is "~/vim/viminfo". no / Since '/' is not specified, the default will be used, that is, save all of the search history, and also the previous search and substitute patterns. no % The buffer list will not be saved nor read back. no h 'hlsearch' highlighting will be restored. *'visualbell'* *'vb'* *'novisualbell'* *'novb'* *beep* 'visualbell' 'vb' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} Use visual bell instead of beeping. The terminal code to display the visual bell is given with 't_vb'. When no beep or flash is wanted, use ":set vb t_vb=". Note: When the GUI starts, 't_vb' is reset to its default value. You might want to set it again in your |gvimrc|. Does not work on the Amiga, you always get a screen flash. Also see 'errorbells'. *'warn'* *'nowarn'* 'warn' boolean (default on) global Give a warning message when a shell command is used while the buffer has been changed. *'weirdinvert'* *'wiv'* *'noweirdinvert'* *'nowiv'* 'weirdinvert' 'wiv' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} This option has the same effect as the 't_xs' termcap option. It is provided for backwards compatibility with version 4.x. Setting 'weirdinvert' has the effect of making 't_xs' non-empty, and vice versa. Has no effect when the GUI is running. *'whichwrap'* *'ww'* 'whichwrap' 'ww' string (Vim default: "b,s", Vi default: "") global {not in Vi} Allow specified keys that move the cursor left/right to wrap to the previous/next line when the cursor is on the first/last character in the line. Concatenate characters to allow this for these keys: char key mode ~ b Normal and Visual s Normal and Visual h "h" Normal and Visual l "l" Normal and Visual < Normal and Visual > Normal and Visual ~ "~" Normal [ Insert and Replace ] Insert and Replace For example: > :set ww=<,>,[,] allows wrap only when cursor keys are used. When the movement keys are used in combination with a delete or change operator, the also counts for a character. This makes "3h" different from "3dh" when the cursor crosses the end of a line. This is also true for "x" and "X", because they do the same as "dl" and "dh". If you use this, you may also want to use the mapping ":map X" to make backspace delete the character in front of the cursor. When 'l' is included, you get a side effect: "yl" on an empty line will include the , so that "p" will insert a new line. NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'wildchar'* *'wc'* 'wildchar' 'wc' number (Vim default: , Vi default: CTRL-E) global {not in Vi} Character you have to type to start wildcard expansion in the command-line. The character is not recognized when used inside a macro. Although 'wc' is a number option, you can set it to a special key: > :set wc= NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset. *'wildcharm'* *'wcm'* 'wildcharm' 'wcm' number (default: none (0)) global {not in Vi} 'wildcharm' works exactly like 'wildchar', except that it is recognized when used inside a macro. You can find "spare" command-line keys suitable for this option by looking at |ex-edit-index|. Normally you'll never actually type 'wildcharm', just use it in mappings that automatically invoke completion mode, e.g.: > :set wcm= > :cmap ss so $vim/sessions/*.vim Then after typing :ss you can use CTRL-P & CTRL-N. *'wildignore'* *'wig'* 'wildignore' 'wig' string (default "") global {not in Vi} {not available when compiled without the |+wildignore| feature} A list of file patterns. A file that matches with one of these patterns is ignored when completing file or directory names. The pattern is used like with |:autocmd|, see |autocmd-patterns|. Also see 'suffixes'. Example: > :set wildignore=*.o,*.obj The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing a pattern from the list. This avoids problems when a future version uses another default. *'wildmenu'* *'wmnu'* *'nowildmenu'* *'nowmnu'* 'wildmenu' 'wmnu' boolean (default off) global {not in Vi} {not available if compiled without the |+wildmenu| feature} When 'wildmenu' is on, command-line completion operates in an enhanced mode. On pressing 'wildchar' (usually ) to invoke completion, the possible matches are shown just above the command line, with the first match highlighted (overwriting the status line, if there is one). Keys that show the previous/next match, such as or CTRL-P/CTRL-N, cause the highlight to move to the appropriate match. When 'wildmode' is used, "wildmenu" mode is used where "full" is specified. "longest" and "list" do not start "wildmenu" mode. If there are more matches than can fit in the line, a ">" is shown on the right and/or a "<" is shown on the left. The status line scrolls as needed. The "wildmenu" mode is abandoned when a key is hit that is not used for selecting a completion. While the "wildmenu" is active the following keys have special meanings: - select previous/next match (like CTRL-P/N) - in filename/menu name completion: move into a subdirectory or submenu. - in menu completion, when the cursor is just after a dot: move into a submenu. - in filename/menu name completion: move up into parent directory or parent menu. This makes the menus accessible from the console |console-menus|. The "WildMenu" highlighting is used for displaying the current match |hl-WildMenu|. *'wildmode'* *'wim'* 'wildmode' 'wim' string (Vim default: "full") global {not in Vi} Completion mode that is used for the character specified with 'wildchar'. It is a comma separated list of up to four parts. Each part specifies what to do for each consecutive use of 'wildchar. The first part specifies the behavior for the first use of 'wildchar', The second part for the second use, etc. These are the possible values for each part: "" Complete only the first match. "full" Complete the next full match. After the last match, the original string is used and then the first match again. "longest" Complete till longest common string. If this doesn't result in a longer string, use the next part. "longest:full" Like "longest", but also start 'wildmenu' if it is enabled. "list" When more than one match, list all matches. "list:full" When more than one match, list all matches and complete first match. "list:longest" When more than one match, list all matches and complete till longest common string. When there is only a single match, it is fully completed in all cases. Examples: > set wildmode=full Complete first full match, next match, etc. (the default) > set wildmode=longest,full Complete longest common string, then each full match. > set wildmode=list:full List all matches and complete each full match. > set wildmode=list,full List all matches without completing, then each full match. > set wildmode=longest,list Complete longest common string, then list alternatives. *'winaltkeys'* *'wak'* 'winaltkeys' 'wak' string (default "menu") global {not in Vi} {only used in Win32 and Motif GUI; GTK only supports "yes" and "menu"} Some GUI versions allow the access to menu entries by using the ALT key in combination with a character that appears underlined in the menu. This conflicts with the use of the ALT key for mappings and entering special characters. This option tells what to do: no Don't use ALT keys for menus. ALT key combinations can be mapped, but there is no automatic handling. This can then be done with the |:simalt| command. yes ALT key handling is done by the windowing system. ALT key combinations cannot be mapped. menu Using ALT in combination with a character that is a menu shortcut key, will be handled by the windowing system. Other keys can be mapped. If the menu is disabled by excluding 'm' from 'guioptions', the ALT key is never used for the menu. In the Win32 version, the key is handled like this too, since Windows uses it to select a menu. *'winheight'* *'wh'* 'winheight' 'wh' number (default 1) global {not in Vi} Minimal number of lines for the current window. This is not a hard minimum, Vim will use less lines if there is not enough room. If the current window is smaller, its size is increased, at the cost of the height of other windows. Set it to 999 to make the current window always fill the screen. Set it to a small number for normal editing. The height is not adjusted after one of the commands to change the height of the current window. 'winheight' applies to the current window. Use 'winminheight' to set the minimal height for other windows. *'winminheight'* *'wmh'* 'winminheight' 'wmh' number (default 1) global {not in Vi} The minimal height of a window, when it's not the current window. This is a hard minimum, windows will never become smaller. When set to zero, windows may be "squashed" to zero lines (i.e. just a status bar) if necessary. They will return to at least one line when they become active (since the cursor has to have somewhere to go.) Use 'winheight' to set the minimal height of the current window. This option is only checked when making a window smaller. Don't use a large number, it will cause errors when opening more than a few windows. A value of 0 to 3 is reasonable. *'wrap'* *'nowrap'* 'wrap' boolean (default on) local to window {not in Vi} When on, lines longer than the width of the window will wrap and displaying continues on the next line. When off lines will not wrap and only part of long lines will be displayed. When the cursor is moved to a part that is not shown, the screen will scroll horizontally (also see 'sidescroll' and 'listchars' options and |wrap-off|). If you want to break long lines, see 'textwidth'. *'wrapmargin'* *'wm'* 'wrapmargin' 'wm' number (default 0) local to buffer Number of characters from the right window border where wrapping starts. When typing text beyond this limit, an will be inserted and inserting continues on the next line. When 'textwidth' is non-zero, this option is not used. See also 'formatoptions' and |ins-textwidth|. {Vi: works differently and less useful} *'wrapscan'* *'ws'* *'nowrapscan'* *'nows'* 'wrapscan' 'ws' boolean (default on) global Searches wrap around the end of the file. *'write'* *'nowrite'* 'write' boolean (default on) global {not in Vi} Allows writing files. When not set, writing a file is not allowed. Can be used for a view-only mode, where modifications to the text are still allowed. Can be reset with the |-m| command line argument. Filtering text is still possible, even though this requires writing a temporary file. *'writeany'* *'wa'* *'nowriteany'* *'nowa'* 'writeany' 'wa' boolean (default off) global Allows writing to any file with no need for "!" override. *'writebackup'* *'wb'* *'nowritebackup'* *'nowb'* 'writebackup' 'wb' boolean (default on with |+writebackup| feature, off otherwise) global {not in Vi} Make a backup before overwriting a file. The backup is removed after the file was successfully written, unless the 'backup' option is also on. Reset this option if your file system is almost full. See |backup-table| for another explanation. NOTE: This option is set to the default value when 'compatible' is set. *'writedelay'* *'wd'* 'writedelay' 'wd' number (default 0) global {not in Vi} The number of microseconds to wait for each character sent to the screen. When non-zero, characters are sent to the terminal one by one. For MS-DOS pcterm this does not work. For debugging purposes. vim:tw=78:ts=8:sw=8: