vim vi improved

VIM – Vi Improved!VIM – Vi Improved!

Configuring and using VIM editorBy

Tusharadri SarkarJuly 13, 2009

IBM

July 13, 2009 1Tusharadri Sarkar

A Brief History of VimA Brief History of VimVim is an improvement over the popular Vi editorThe Vi editor was developed by Bill Joy in 1976 “ed” was the original UNIX text editorBill Joy modified “ed” and named it “ex”He developed Vi as a “Visual interface” to “ex”Bram Moolenaar developed Vim in November,1991

for the Amiga Computer, added many additional features

In 1992 it was ported to UNIX platformGUI feature was added in 1996, gVim appeared


Features of VimFeatures of Vim

Vim has almost full compatibility with vi + extra features and enhancements like:

Completion, comparison and merging of files: vimdiff

An integrated help systemSupport for extended regular expressionsSupport for scripting languages (native: vimscript +

others: Perl, Ruby, Python, TCL etc.)Support for plug-ins and a GUI (gVim) versionLimited IDE features and mouse interaction (for

both GUI and CLI versions)


Features of VimFeatures of VimEditing capability of compressed or archived files

(.gzip, .bzip2, .zip and .tar files) Editing capability of files over network protocols like

SSH, FTP and HTTPSession state preventionSpell checkingSplitting of windows (both horizontal & vertical)Support for Unicode + other languagesTrans-session commandSyntax highlightingVisual mode


Why use Vim?Why use Vim?

You never need not use the mouse or arrow keys!!Powerful navigation capability with minimal use of

Ctrl/Meta keysAutomatic Keyword CompletionCharacter, line and block wise editing: The Visual

modeUse multiple clipboards/buffers: No right clicks!!Use macros: Record and replay multiple macrosPowerful command line editingCustomize Vim as you like it: Too many vim

optionsJuly 13, 2009 5Tusharadri Sarkar

Configuring VimConfiguring Vim

How to configure Vim

&

Set Vim as the default editor


Configuring VimConfiguring VimMake aliases of the vim path in the .bashrc file of

your login directory as follows: ◦alias vi=‘/usr/local/bin/vim –X’◦alias vim=‘/usr/local/bin/vim –X’* Note: The actual path may vary from system to system. This is

the most common path.

Create the .vimrc file in the login directory with your preferred Vim options

Invoke the bash shell once and you will set vim as your default editor



Options for the .vimrc file: Most frequently used are

:set nocompatible " use vim defaults:set ls=2 " always show status line (last 2):set tabstop=4 " numbers of spaces of tab char:set shiftwidth=4 " numbers of spaces to auto indent:set scrolloff=3 " keep 3 lines when scrolling:set showcmd " display incomplete commands:set hlsearch " highlight searches:set incsearch " do incremental searching:set ruler " show the cursor position


:set visualbell t_vb= " turn off error beep/flash:set number " show line numbers:set ignorecase " ignore case when searching:set viminfo='20,<50,s10,h:set autoindent " always set auto indenting on:set smartindent " smart indent:set expandtab " tabs are converted to spaces:set sm " show matching braces:syntax on " syntax highlighting



Each option has a short formUsing short form is convenient while

enabling/disabling any option for current session :set number == se nu enables line numberTo disable any option, just prefix ‘no’ before it :se nonu disables line number If you have GUI support (gVim), you can also set

the color scheme, font style, window height/width and background and foreground colors



Using VimUsing Vim

Navigation

Smart Editing

Command Execution

And more…


Modes of VimModes of Vim

There are 3 modes with distinct sets of functionalities:

1. Command Mode (For Navigation)2. Input Mode (Everything shows up on screen)

Entering TextReplacing Text

3. Execution Mode (Last Line Mode)SavingExitingPattern matching and substitutions

Visual Mode (Only in Vim, mainly covers 2 & 3)


Switching between modes of VimSwitching between modes of Vim

Input Mode ex Mode

Command Mode

SHELL

I, i, A, a, O, o, R, r, S, s

[Esc]

[Enter]

:

vi/vim: x, : q,

ZZ


Vim: NavigationVim: NavigationKeystroke Function

h Move cursor left *

l/spacebar Move cursor right *

k/Ctrl+p Move cursor up *

J/Ctrl+n Move cursor down *

Crtl+f Scroll forward one page

Ctrl+b Scroll back one page

Ctrl+d Scroll down one half of a page

Ctrl+u Scroll up one half of a page

M (Shift+h) Move cursor to middle of page

H Move cursor to top of page

L Move cursor to bottom of page

W/w Move cursor forward a word at a time*July 13, 2009 14Tusharadri Sarkar


B/b Move cursor to bottom of page *

E/e Move cursor to end of word *

0 (Zero) / | Move cursor to beginning of line *

$ Move cursor to end of line

) Move cursor to beginning of next sentence

( Move cursor to beginning of current sentence

G Move cursor to end of file *

%Move cursor to the matching bracket; Place cursor on {}[]()

‘. (Apostrophe dot) Move cursor to previously modified line

‘a (Apostrophe a)Move cursor to line mark "a" generated by marking "ma"



‘A (Apostrophe A)Move cursor to line mark "a" (global between buffers) generated by marking with keystroke "mA"

gg Move to the beginning of the file

]’ Move cursor to next lower case mark

[‘ Move cursor to previous lower case mark

+/- Move cursor down/up in first column

^ Move to the first character of first word

Functions marked with * also support motions; e.g. # 10w will take the cursor 10 words forward. 40G will take you to the 40th line from

beginning


Vim: Inserting/Editing TextVim: Inserting/Editing TextKeystroke Action

i Insert at cursor *

a Append after cursor

A Append at end of line

u Undo last change

U Undo all changes to entire line

o Open a new line below cursor

O Open a new line above cursor

~ (Tilde) Change case of individual character

D Delete contents of line after cursor

C Delete contents of line after cursor and insert new text

Ctrl+a Increment number under the cursor

Ctrl+x Decrement number under the cursor



x Delete character at cursor *

r Replace character *

R Overwrite characters from cursor onward

sSubstitute one character under cursor continue to insert *

SSubstitute entire line and begin to insert at beginning of the line

dw Delete word *

cw Change word

d0 (d+Zero) Delete to beginning of the line

dd Delete line *

d$ Delete to the end of a line *

xp Transpose two characters



P Put deleted/cut text above cursor

p Put deleted/cut text below cursor

/string{CR} /string{CR}

?string{CR} Search backwards (up in file) for string

n Find next occurrence of search string downward

N Find previous occurrences of search string upwards

/\<string\>{CR}

Search for word string; e.g. # /\<s\>Search for variable "s" but ignore declaration "string" or words containing "s". This will find "string s;", "s = fn(x);", "x = fn(s);"

fc / FcSearch forward and backward for character c in current line

; / , (semi/coma)Repeat forward and backward search for char in same line



xp Transpose two characters

Amazing . (dot) Repeat the last action in command mode

d Delete a region (Vim only; Supported in V mode)

yy Copy current line *

yw Copy word *

y Copy region (Vim only, V mode)

c Change text of region (Vim only, V mode)

!tr ‘[a-z]’ ‘[A-Z]’ Convert region to uppercase (Vim only, V mode)

!tr ‘[A-Z]’ ‘[a-z]’ Convert region to lowercase (Vim only, V mode)

Ctrl+r Redo last undo (Vim only)

The same rule of motion applies here also with actions marked *


Advance editingAdvance editing: : Buffers, Marks & Buffers, Marks & MacrosMacros

Command Function

“Bdd Delete current line to buffer B *

“Bp Restore content from buffer B *

“Byy Copy current line to buffer B *

ma Set mark ‘a’ to a line

‘’ (2 apostrophes)

Toggle between current and previous marked positions

Ctrl+o / Ctrl+I Same as above but not marked places

q register Start recording a macro

q Stop recording current macro

@register Play the macro i.e. write down the register content

Remember: macro only records the keystrokes entered


Advanced editing: Multiple FilesAdvanced editing: Multiple Files

Command Function

:e abc Stop editing current file and edit file abc

:e! abcSame as above but discarding all the changes in current file

:e! Load latest saved version of the current file

Crtl+^ Return to the most recently edited file

:nEdit the next file (When vim is opened with multiple files)

:set autowrite(: se aw)

Automatically save the current file before switching to the next file

:rewRewind files list to start editing first file(When vim is opened with multiple files)

:r abc Insert contents of file abc below current line


Advanced editing: Multiple WindowsAdvanced editing: Multiple WindowsThis is a Vim only featureThis is a Vim only feature

Command Function

:sp Split current window horizontally in two

:vsp Split current window vertically into two

vim –O [n | files…]

Opens n windows, files split vertically

:new Open a new blank window

:on Make current window the only window

:q Quit current window

:qa Quit all windows

:xa Save and quit all windows

[Ctrl+w]+/- Increase/decrease window size

[Ctrl+w] [Ctrl+w] Toggle between windows


Advance editing: Abbreviation & Advance editing: Abbreviation & Interface to SHELLInterface to SHELL

Command Action

:ab blr Bangalore Abbreviate Bangalore to blr

:unab blr Kill the above abbreviation

:ab List of all abbreviations

:!cmd Run any UNIX command cmd

:!% Execute the current file as a Shell/Perl Script

:r!cmdInsert output of UNIX command cmd below current line

:sh Escape to the UNIX shell

Ctrl+z Suspend editor (use fg to return to vim)

:!cc% Compile currently edited C file

:!javac% Compile currently edited Java file


Pattern SubstitutionsPattern SubstitutionsGeneral format of substitution:[.|$|%]s/s1/s1[switches] or :n1,n2s/s1/s2/[switches]

[switches] are: g|c|i|I meaning global/confirmation/ignore-case/no-ignore-case

Some interesting examples of pattern substitutions

Command Function

:1,$s/#//g Globally remove #

:3,10s/^/#/ Insert # at the beginning of line 3 to 10

:$s/$/;/ Insert a ; at the end of last line

:%s/abc/xyz/gc Globally replace abc by xyz interactively

:1,$s/include/<&>/g Globally replace include by <include>


Starting, Saving & QuittingStarting, Saving & Quitting

Command Function

vim +100 abc Open file abc at line no. 100

vim +/pat abc Open file abc at the first occurrence of pattern pat

vim + abc Open file abc at end

vim f1 f2 f3 …First open file f1, then switch to f2 using :n, then switch to f3 using :n and so on…

vim –r abc Recover buffer from swap file

vim –R abc Open file in read-only mode


Starting, Saving & QuittingStarting, Saving & Quitting

Command Function

:w Save file remaining in editing mode

:w abc Save current file content by file name abc

:w! abc Same as above but overwriting existing file abc

:n1,n2w abc Write line n1 to n2 to file abc

:n1,n2w >> abc Append lines n1 to n2 to file abc

:.w abc Write the current line to file abc

:$w abc Write the last line to file abc

:x / :wq/ZZ Save file and quit editing mode

:q! / :qa Quit editing mode discarding all the changes

:q Quit as above when no changes are made


Vim: Graphical Cheat Sheet!Vim: Graphical Cheat Sheet!


Some useful features of VimSome useful features of Vim

VimdiffCtags

Cscope


Vimdiff: Find the differencesVimdiff: Find the differencesTo start vim in diff mode: vimdiff f1 f2 [f3 [f4]] orAlternatively you can use: vim –d f1 f2 [f3 [f4]]Vim enables the following options while using diff:◦ diff on◦ scrollbind on◦ scrollopt includes “hor”◦ wrap off◦ foldmethod “diff”◦ foldcolumn 2

Vim sets them as local to the window when using diff mode. Otherwise they are set to global values while editing other files.


Vimdiff: Find the differencesVimdiff: Find the differencesWhen already in editing mode, diff mode can be

invoked in 3 ways◦ :diffsplit <filename>◦ :diffthis ◦ :diffpatch <patchfile>

To ensure these commands use a vertical split, use option :vert◦ :vert diffpatch /tmp/diff◦ :vert diffsplit main.c


Vimdiff: Find the differencesVimdiff: Find the differencesForce the difference to be updated :diffupdate

To jump between the differences◦ [c :Jump backward to the previous start of a

change◦ ]c : Jump forward to the previous start of a

change


Vimdiff: Find the differencesVimdiff: Find the differencesHighlight the differences with the following groups:◦hl-DiffAdd Added/inserted lines◦hl-DiffChange Changed text◦hl-DiffText Changed text inside a changed

line◦hl-DiffDelete Deleted lines


Vimdiff: Find the differencesVimdiff: Find the differencesDiff Copying: Two commands to copy test from

one buffer to another:◦ [range] diffg[et] [buffspace]: Modify current buffer

to undo differences with another buffer within range

◦ [range] diffpu[t] [buffspace]: Modify another buffer to undo differences with the current buffer within range

◦do: Same as ‘diffg[et]’ without argument or range◦dp: Same as ‘diffpu[t]’ without argument or range


Ctags with VimCtags with Vim

Ctags helps to jump to the references under cursor

Add tags to a particular sets of file or entire directory: ctags –R <path>; It will create a tags file

Alternatively you can use: ctags *.h *.c to create tags

Most frequently used commands for ctags:Ctrl+] The vim editor will jump into the tag to

follow it to a new position in the file or to a new file Ctrl+t/pop The vim editor will allow the user to

jump back a level


Ctags with VimCtags with VimOther ctags options to be used with Vim:

Command Action

:tag start-of-tag-name_TAB

Vim supports tag name completion; completes the tag name for you

:tag /search-string Jump to a tag name found by a search

:tselect <function-name>

If multiple entries exist in the tags file, the operator can choose by issuing this command.

:tnext Jump to the next matching tag

:tags Show tag stack (history)

:n pop/n tagJump to a particular position in the tag stack (history)

:tprevious Jump to the previous matching tag

:tfirst / :tlast Jump to first/last matching tag

:set tags=./tags1,./tag2 Add multiple tags files


Cscope with VimCscope with VimCscope: Developed to cross-reference C codeIt can also be used to with C++ and JavaUsing cscope to cross reference source code

will create a databaseTraverse the source to find calls to a function,

occurrences of a function, variable, macros, class or object and their respective declarations

cscope offers more complete navigation than ctags

To use cscope, vim must be compiled with cscope support


Cscope with VimCscope with VimTo generate the cscope database use the command:

cscope –b *.cpp/(or .cc/.c) *.h or cscope –b –R Invoke cscope from vim:cscope find search_type serach_string

search_type Description

symbol (s) Find all references to a symbol

global (g) Find global definition

calls (c) Find calls of this function

called (d) Find functions that the specified function calls

text (t) Find specified text string

file (f) Open file

include (i) Find files that "#include" the specified file


Cscope with VimCscope with Vim List of cscope environment variables

You can manually generate a cscope file with a shell script

#!/bin/bash find ./ -name "*.[ch]pp" -print > cscope.files

cscope -b -q -k

Variables Description

CSCOPE_EDOTOR Editor to use: /usr/bin/vim

EDITOR Default: /usr/bin/vim

INCLUDEDIRS List of directories separated by :

SOURCEDIRS List of search directories separated by :

VPATH Same as above. If not set cscope will search in the current directory only


Some more additional featuresSome more additional features

Sorting: Mark a block of text at the top line and bottom line of the

block of text. i.e. "mt" and "mb" on two separate lines.

This text block is then referenced as "'t,'b. Now :'t,'b !sort

Moving columns, manipulating fields with awk:

't,. !awk '{print $3 " " $2 " " $1}' - This will reverse the

order of the columns in the block of text


Some more additional featuresSome more additional features

Source code formatting in C++/Java: Use visual mode. Goto first line (Shift+v) then goto last line

(Shift+g) and then select ‘=‘

Text formatting: Use bookmark as above i.e. “mt” and “mb”. Now apply

the command # “:’t,’b !nroff

Spell checking: Same as above. Command # :’t,’b !spell You can undo the

changes by pressing u


Configuring gVim of CygwinConfiguring gVim of Cygwin

Use the Xtreminal of Cygwin

Run Vim in GUI mode (gVim)

Customize Cygwin XTerminal


gVim on CygwingVim on CygwinLocation of gVim in cygwin: /usr/bin/gvim.exeAlso you can find vim here: /usr/bin/vim.exeIn the login directory, create suitable aliases in

.bashrc ◦ alias gv=‘/usr/bin/gvim.exe’

Create a .gvimrc file in the same directory with your preferred options set

Launch the Xserver by command: startx from cygwin window. This will open the XTreminal

Launch the gVim from Xterm using your alias


Configure your XTerminal: tipsConfigure your XTerminal: tipsYou can launch multiple XTerminal from one

XTerminal using command: xtermChange the default display setting of your

XTerminal:$ xterm -ls -bg <background> -fg <foreground> -title <Title> -fn '*<fontsize>*‘

$ xterm –ls –bg blue –fg azure –title <TITLE> –fn ‘*16*’

You can directly open the XTerminal using a set of options:$ rxvt -fn '*-courier-*-r-*-16-*' -sl 9999 -bg Black -fg Cyan -e /bin/bash –login

Best way would be to create one or more aliases of this in .bashrc file


References:References:

• http://www.yolinux.com/TUTORIALS/LinuxTutorialAdvanced_vi.html

• http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/intro.html• http://www.vim.org/• http://www.viemu.com/vi-vim-cheat-sheet.gif


THANK YOU !!THANK YOU !!

And Happy Vimming…


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