usr_24.txt ForVim version 9.1. Last change: 2018 Mar 18 VIM USER MANUAL- byBramMoolenaar Inserting quicklyWhen entering text, Vim offersvarious ways to reduce the number of keystrokesand avoid typing mistakes. UseInsert mode completion to repeat previouslytyped words. Abbreviate long words to short ones. Type characters thataren't on your keyboard.24.1 Making corrections24.2 Showing matches24.3 Completion24.4 Repeating aninsert24.5 Copying from another line24.6 Insertingaregister24.7Abbreviations24.8 Entering special characters24.9Digraphs24.10Normal mode commands Next chapter:usr_25.txt Editing formatted text Previous chapter:usr_23.txt Editing other filesTable of contents:usr_toc.txt==============================================================================24.1 Making correctionsThe<BS> key was already mentioned. It deletes the character just before thecursor. The<Del> key does the same for the character under (after) thecursor. When you typeda wholeword wrong, useCTRL-W:The horse had fallen to the skyCTRL-WThe horse had fallen to theIf you really messed upa line and want to start over, useCTRL-U to deleteit. This keeps the text after the cursor and the indent. Only the text fromthe first non-blank to the cursoris deleted. With the cursor on the "f" of"fallen" in the next line pressingCTRL-U does this:The horse had fallen to theCTRL-Ufallen to theWhen you spota mistakea few words back, you need to move the cursor there tocorrect it. For example, you typed this:The horse had follen to the groundYou need to change "follen" to "fallen". With the cursorat the end, youwould type this to correct it:<Esc>4blraAget out ofInsert mode<Esc>four words back 4bmove on top of the "o"lreplace with "a"rarestartInsert modeAAnother way todo this:<C-Left><C-Left><C-Left><C-Left><Right><Del>a<End>four words back<C-Left><C-Left><C-Left><C-Left>move on top of the "o"<Right>delete the "o"<Del>insert an "a"ago toend of the line<End>This uses special keys to move around, while remaining inInsert mode. Thisresembles what you woulddo ina modeless editor. It's easier to remember,but takes more time (you have to move your hand from the letters to the cursorkeys, and the<End> keyis hard to press without lookingat the keyboard). These special keys are most useful whenwritingamapping that doesn'tleaveInsert mode. The extra typing doesn't matter then. An overview of the keys you can use inInsert mode:<C-Home>to start of the file<PageUp>a whole screenful up<Home>to start of line<S-Left>oneword left<C-Left>oneword left<S-Right>oneword right<C-Right>oneword right<End>toend of the line<PageDown>a whole screenful down<C-End>toend of the fileThere area few more, seeins-special-special.==============================================================================24.2 Showing matchesWhen you typea)it would be nice to see with which(it matches. To makeVimdo that use this command::set showmatchWhen you now typea text like "(example)",as soonas you type the) Vim willbriefly move the cursor to the matching (, keepit there for halfa second,and move back to where you were typing. Incase thereis no matching (, Vim will beep. Then you know that youmight have forgotten the( somewhere, or typeda) too many. The match will also be shown for[] and{} pairs. You don't have to waitwith typing the next character,as soonas Vim seesit the cursor will moveback andinserting continuesas before. You can change the time Vim waits with the'matchtime' option. Forexample, to make Vim wait one anda half second::set matchtime=15The timeis specified in tenths ofa second.==============================================================================24.3 CompletionVim can automatically complete words on insertion. You type the first part ofa word, pressCTRL-P, and Vim guesses the rest. Suppose, for example, that you are creatingaC program and want to type inthe following:total = ch_array[0] + ch_array[1] + ch_array[2];You start by entering the following:total = ch_array[0] + ch_At this point, you tell Vim to complete theword using the commandCTRL-P.Vim searches foraword that starts with what's in front of the cursor. Inthis case,itis "ch_", which matches with theword ch_array. So typingCTRL-P gives you the following:total = ch_array[0] + ch_arrayAftera little more typing, you get this (ending ina space):total = ch_array[0] + ch_array[1] +If you now typeCTRL-P Vim will search again foraword that completes theword before the cursor. Since thereis nothing in front of the cursor,itfinds the firstword backwards, whichis "ch_array". TypingCTRL-P againgives you the nextword that matches, in thiscase "total".A thirdCTRL-Psearches further back. If thereis nothing else,it causes the editor to runout of words, soit returns to the original text, whichis nothing.A fourthCTRL-P causes the editor to start over again with "ch_array".To search forward, useCTRL-N. Since the search wraps around theend of thefile,CTRL-N andCTRL-P will find the same matches, but ina differentsequence. Hint:CTRL-Nis Next-match andCTRL-Pis Previous-match.The Vim editor goes througha lot of effort to find words to complete. Bydefault,it searches the following places:1. Current file2. Files in otherwindows3. Other loaded files (hidden buffers)4. Files which are not loaded (inactive buffers)5. Tag files6. All files #included by the current fileOPTIONSYou can customize the search order with the'complete' option.The'ignorecase' optionis used. Whenitis set,case differences are ignoredwhen searching for matches.A special option for completionis'infercase'. Thisis useful to findmatches while ignoringcase ('ignorecase'must be set) but still using thecase of theword typed so far. Thus if you type "For" and Vim findsa match"fortunately",it will result in "Fortunately".COMPLETING SPECIFIC ITEMSIf you know what you are looking for, you can use these commands to completewitha certain type of item:CTRL-XCTRL-Ffile namesCTRL-XCTRL-Lwhole linesCTRL-XCTRL-Dmacrodefinitions (also in included files)CTRL-XCTRL-Icurrent and included filesCTRL-XCTRL-Kwords froma dictionaryCTRL-XCTRL-Twords froma thesaurusCTRL-XCTRL-]tagsCTRL-XCTRL-VVim command lineAfter each of themCTRL-N can be used to find the next match,CTRL-P to findthe previous match. More information for each of these commands here:ins-completion.COMPLETING FILE NAMESLet's takeCTRL-XCTRL-Fas an example. This will find file names. It scansthe current directory for files and displays each one that matches theword infront of the cursor. Suppose, for example, that you have the following files in the currentdirectory:main.c sub_count.c sub_done.c sub_exit.cNow enterInsert mode and start typing:The exit code is in the file subAt this point, you enter the commandCTRL-XCTRL-F. Vim now completes thecurrentword "sub" by lookingat the files in the current directory. Thefirst matchis sub_count.c. Thisis not the one you want, so you match thenext file by typingCTRL-N. This matchis sub_done.c. TypingCTRL-N againtakes you to sub_exit.c. The results:The exit code is in the file sub_exit.cIf the file name starts with/ (Unix) or C:\ (MS-Windows) you can find allfiles in the file system. For example, type "/u" andCTRL-XCTRL-F. Thiswill match "/usr" (thisis on Unix):the file is found in /usr/If you now pressCTRL-N yougo back to "/u". Instead, to accept the "/usr/"andgo one directory level deeper, useCTRL-XCTRL-F again:the file is found in /usr/X11R6/The results depend on whatis found in your file system, of course. Thematches are sorted alphabetically.COMPLETING IN SOURCE CODESource code files are well structured. That makesit possible todocompletion in an intelligent way. In Vim thisis called Omni completion. Insome other editors it's called intellisense, but thatisa trademark.The key to Omni completionisCTRL-XCTRL-O. Obviously theO stands for Omnihere, so that you can rememberit easier. Let's use an example for editingCsource:{ struct foo *p; p->The cursoris after "p->". Now typeCTRL-XCTRL-O. Vim will offer youalistof alternatives, which are the items that "struct foo" contains. Thatisquite different from usingCTRL-P, which would complete any word, while onlymembers of "struct foo" are valid here.For Omni completion to work you may need todo some setup. At least make surefiletype plugins are enabled. Yourvimrc file should containa line likethis:filetype plugin onOr:filetype plugin indent onForC code you need to createatags file and set the'tags' option. Thatisexplainedft-c-omni. For otherfiletypes you may need todo somethingsimilar, look belowcompl-omni-filetypes. It only works for specificfiletypes. Check the value of the'omnifunc' option to find out ifit wouldwork.==============================================================================24.4 Repeating aninsertIf you pressCTRL-A, the editor inserts the text you typed the last time youwere inInsert mode. Assume, for example, that you havea file that begins with the following:"file.h"/* Main program begins */You edit this file byinserting "#include "at the beginning of the firstline:#include "file.h"/* Main program begins */Yougo down to the beginning of the next line using the commands "j^". Younow start toinserta new "#include" line. So you type:i CTRL-AThe resultisas follows:#include "file.h"#include /* Main program begins */The "#include " was inserted becauseCTRL-A inserts the text of the previousinsert. Now you type "main.h"<Enter> to finish the line:#include "file.h"#include "main.h"/* Main program begins */TheCTRL-@ command doesaCTRL-A and then exitsInsert mode. That'sa quickway of doing exactly the same insertion again.==============================================================================24.5 Copying from another lineTheCTRL-Y command inserts the character above the cursor. Thisis usefulwhen you are duplicatinga previous line. For example, you have this line ofC code:b_array[i]->s_next = a_array[i]->s_next;Now you need to type the same line, but with "s_prev" instead of "s_next".Start the new line, and pressCTRL-Y 14 times, until you areat the "n" of"next":b_array[i]->s_next = a_array[i]->s_next;b_array[i]->s_Now you type "prev":b_array[i]->s_next = a_array[i]->s_next;b_array[i]->s_prevContinue pressingCTRL-Y until the following "next":b_array[i]->s_next = a_array[i]->s_next;b_array[i]->s_prev = a_array[i]->s_Now type "prev;" to finishit off.TheCTRL-E command acts likeCTRL-Y exceptit inserts the character below thecursor.==============================================================================24.6 InsertingaregisterThe commandCTRL-R{register} inserts the contents of the register. Thisisuseful to avoid having to typea long word. For example, you need to typethis:r = VeryLongFunction(a) + VeryLongFunction(b) + VeryLongFunction(c)The function nameis defined ina different file. Edit that file and move thecursor on top of the function name there, andyankit intoregisterv:"vyiw"vis theregister specification, "yiw"is yank-inner-word. Now edit the filewhere the new lineis to be inserted, and type the first letters:r =Now useCTRL-Rv toinsert the function name:r = VeryLongFunctionYou continue to type the characters in between the function name, and useCTRL-Rv two times more. You could have done the same with completion. Usingaregisteris usefulwhen there are many words that start with the same characters.If theregister contains characters suchas<BS> or other special characters,they are interpretedas if they had been typed from the keyboard. If youdonot want this to happen (you really want the<BS> to be inserted in the text),use the commandCTRL-RCTRL-R{register}.==============================================================================24.7AbbreviationsAn abbreviationisa shortword that takes the place ofa long one. Forexample, "ad" stands for "advertisement". Vim enables you to type anabbreviation and then will automatically expandit for you. To tell Vim to expand "ad" into "advertisement" every time youinsert it,use the following command::iabbrev ad advertisementNow, when you type "ad", the wholeword "advertisement" will be inserted intothe text. Thisis triggered by typinga character that can't be part ofaword, for examplea space:What Is EnteredWhat You SeeI saw the aI saw the aI saw the adI saw the adI saw the ad<Space>I saw the advertisement<Space>The expansion doesn't happen when typing just "ad". That allows you to typeaword like "add", which will not get expanded. Only whole words are checkedfor abbreviations.ABBREVIATING SEVERAL WORDSItis possible to define an abbreviation that results in multiple words. Forexample, to define "JB"as "Jack Benny", use the following command::iabbrev JB Jack BennyAsa programmer,I use two rather unusual abbreviations::iabbrev #b /****************************************:iabbrev #e <Space>****************************************/These are used for creating boxed comments. The comment starts with #b, whichdraws the top line.I then type the comment text and use #e to draw thebottom line. Notice that the #e abbreviation begins witha space. In other words, thefirst two characters are space-star. Usually Vim ignores spaces between theabbreviation and the expansion. To avoid that problem,Ispellspaceas sevencharacters: <, S, p, a, c, e, >.Note:":iabbrev"isa longword to type. ":iab" works justas well.That's abbreviating the abbreviate command!FIXING TYPING MISTAKESIt's very common to make the same typing mistake every time. For example,typing "teh" instead of "the". You can fix this with an abbreviation::abbreviate teh theYou can adda wholelist of these. Add one each time you discovera commonmistake.LISTING ABBREVIATIONSThe ":abbreviate" command lists the abbreviations::abbreviatei #e ****************************************/i #b/****************************************i JB Jack Bennyi ad advertisement! teh theThe "i" in the first column indicatesInsert mode. Theseabbreviations areonly active inInsert mode. Other possible characters are:cCommand-line mode:cabbrev!bothInsert andCommand-line mode:abbreviateSinceabbreviations are not often useful inCommand-line mode, you will mostlyuse the ":iabbrev" command. That avoids, for example, that "ad" gets expandedwhen typinga command like::edit adDELETING ABBREVIATIONSTo get rid of an abbreviation, use the ":unabbreviate" command. Suppose youhave the following abbreviation::abbreviate @f freshYou can removeit with this command::unabbreviate @fWhile you type this, you will notice that @fis expanded to "fresh". Don'tworry about this, Vim understandsit anyway (except when you have anabbreviation for "fresh", but that's very unlikely). To remove all the abbreviations::abclear":unabbreviate" and ":abclear" also come in the variants forInsert mode(":iunabbreviate and ":iabclear") andCommand-line mode(":cunabbreviate" and":cabclear").REMAPPING ABBREVIATIONSThereis one thing to watch out for when defining an abbreviation: Theresultingstring should not be mapped. For example::abbreviate @a adder:imap dd disk-doorWhen you now type @a, you will get "adisk-doorer". That's not what you want.To avoid this, use the ":noreabbrev" command. It does the sameas":abbreviate", but avoids that the resultingstringis used for mappings::noreabbrev @a adderFortunately, it's unlikely that the result of an abbreviationis mapped.==============================================================================24.8 Entering special charactersTheCTRL-V commandis used toinsert the next character literally. In otherwords, any special meaning the character has,it will be ignored. Forexample:CTRL-V <Esc>Inserts anescape character. Thus you don't leaveInsert mode. (Don't typethespace afterCTRL-V, it's only to make this easier to read).Note:OnMS-WindowsCTRL-Vis used to paste text. UseCTRL-Q instead ofCTRL-V. On Unix, on the other hand,CTRL-Q does not work on someterminals, becauseit hasa special meaning.You can also use the commandCTRL-V{digits} toinserta character with thedecimal number{digits}. For example, the character number 127is the<Del>character (but not necessarily the<Del> key!). Toinsert<Del> type:CTRL-V 127You can enter characters up to 255 this way. When you type fewer than twodigits,a non-digit will terminate the command. To avoid the need of typinganon-digit, prepend one or two zeros to make three digits. All the next commandsinserta<Tab> and thena dot:CTRL-V 9.CTRL-V 09.CTRL-V 009.To entera character in hexadecimal, use an "x" after theCTRL-V:CTRL-V x7fThis also goes up to character 255 (CTRL-V xff). You can use "o" to typeacharacteras anoctal number and two more methods allow you to type up toa 16 bit anda 32 bit number (e.g., foraUnicode character):CTRL-V o123CTRL-V u1234CTRL-V U12345678==============================================================================24.9DigraphsSome characters are not on the keyboard. For example, thecopyright character(©). To type these characters in Vim, you use digraphs, where two charactersrepresent one. To entera ©, for example, you press three keys:CTRL-K CoTo find out whatdigraphs are available, use the following command::digraphsVim will display thedigraph table. Here are three lines of it: AC ~_ 159 NS | 160 !I ¡ 161 Ct ¢ 162 Pd £ 163 Cu ¤ 164 Ye ¥ 165 BB ¦ 166 SE § 167 ': ¨ 168 Co © 169 -a ª 170 << « 171 NO ¬ 172 -- 173 Rg ® 174 'm ¯ 175 DG ° 176 +- ± 177 2S ² 178 3S ³ 179This shows, for example, that thedigraph you get by typingCTRL-K Pdis thecharacter(£). Thisis character number 163 (decimal). Pdis short for Pound. Mostdigraphs are selected to give youa hint aboutthe character they will produce. If you look through thelist you willunderstand the logic. You can exchange the first and second character, if thereis nodigraph forthat combination. ThusCTRL-K dP also works. Since thereis nodigraph for"dP" Vim will also search fora "Pd" digraph.Note:Thedigraphs depend on the character set that Vim assumes you areusing. Always use ":digraphs" to find out whichdigraphs are currentlyavailable.You can define your own digraphs. Example::digraph a" äThis defines thatCTRL-Ka" inserts an ä character. You can also specify thecharacter witha decimal number. This defines the same digraph::digraph a" 228More information aboutdigraphs here:digraphs Another way toinsert special charactersis witha keymap. More about thathere:45.5==============================================================================24.10Normal mode commandsInsert mode offersa limited number of commands. InNormal mode you have manymore. When you want to use one, you usually leaveInsert mode with<Esc>,execute theNormal mode command, and re-enterInsert mode with "i" or "a". Thereisa quicker way. WithCTRL-O{command} you can execute anyNormalmode command fromInsert mode. For example, to delete from the cursor to theend of the line:CTRL-O DYou can execute only oneNormal mode command this way. But you can specifyaregister ora count.A more complicated example:CTRL-O "g3dwThis deletes up to the thirdword intoregister g.==============================================================================Next chapter:usr_25.txt Editing formatted textCopyright: seemanual-copyright vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: