VIM(1)
NAME
vim - Vi IMproved, a programmers text editor
SYNOPSIS
vim [options] [file ..]
vim [options] -
vim [options] -t tag
vim [options] -q [errorfile]
ex
view
gvim gview
rvim rview rgvim rgview
DESCRIPTION
Vim is a text editor that is upwards compatible to Vi. It
can be used to edit any ASCII text. It is especially use-
ful for editing programs.
There are a lot of enhancements above Vi: multi level
undo, multi windows and buffers, syntax highlighting, com-
mand line editing, filename completion, on-line help,
visual selection, etc.. See ":help vi_diff" for a summary
of the differences between Vim and Vi.
While running Vim a lot of help can be obtained from the
on-line help system, with the ":help" command. See the
ON-LINE HELP section below.
Most often Vim is started to edit a single file with the
command
vim file
More generally Vim is started with:
vim [options] [filelist]
If the filelist is missing, the editor will start with an
empty buffer. Otherwise exactly one out of the following
four may be used to choose one or more files to be edited.
file .. A list of filenames. The first one will be
the current file and read into the buffer.
The cursor will be positioned on the first
line of the buffer. You can get to the other
files with the ":next" command. To edit a
file that starts with a dash, precede the
filelist with "--".
- The file to edit is read from stdin. Commands
are read from stderr, which should be a tty.
-t {tag} The file to edit and the initial cursor
position depends on a "tag", a sort of goto
label. {tag} is looked up in the tags file,
the associated file becomes the current file
and the associated command is executed.
Mostly this is used for C programs, in which
case {tag} could be a function name. The
effect is that the file containing that func-
tion becomes the current file and the cursor
is positioned on the start of the function.
See ":help tag_commands".
-q [errorfile]
Start in quickFix mode. The file [errorfile]
is read and the first error is displayed. If
[errorfile] is omitted, the filename is
obtained from the 'errorfile' option (defaults
to "AztecC.Err" for the Amiga, "errors.vim" on
other systems). Further errors can be jumped
to with the ":cn" command. See ":help quick-
fix".
Vim behaves differently, depending on the name of the com-
mand (the executable may still be the same file).
vim The "normal" way, everything is default.
ex Start in Ex mode. Go to Normal mode with the
":vi" command. Can also be done with the "-e"
argument.
view Start in read-only mode. You will be protected
from writing the files. Can also be done with
the "-R" argument.
gvim gview
The GUI version. Starts a new window. Can also
be done with the "-g" argument.
rvim rview rgvim rgview
Like the above, but with restrictions. It will
not be possible to start shell commands, or sus-
pend Vim. Can also be done with the "-Z" argu-
ment.
OPTIONS
The options may be given in any order, before or after
filenames. Options without an argument can be combined
after a single dash.
+[num] For the first file the cursor will be posi-
tioned on line "num". If "num" is missing,
the cursor will be positioned on the last
line.
+/{pat} For the first file the cursor will be posi-
tioned on the first occurrence of {pat}. See
":help search_pattern" for the available
search patterns.
+{command}
-c {command}
{command} will be executed after the first
file has been read. {command} is interpreted
as an Ex command. If the {command} contains
spaces it must be enclosed in double quotes
(this depends on the shell that is used).
Example: Vim "+set si" main.c
Note: You can use up to 10 "+" or "-c" com-
mands.
-b Binary mode. A few options will be set that
makes it possible to edit a binary or exe-
cutable file.
-C Compatible. Set the 'compatible' option.
This will make Vim behave mostly like Vi, even
though a .vimrc file exists.
-d {device} Open {device} for use as a terminal. Only on
the Amiga. Example: "-d con:20/30/600/150".
-e Start Vim in Ex mode, just like the executable
was called "ex".
-f Foreground. For the GUI version, Vim will not
fork and detach from the shell it was started
in. On the Amiga, Vim is not restarted to
open a new window. This option should be used
when Vim is executed by a program that will
wait for the edit session to finish (e.g.
mail). On the Amiga the ":sh" and ":!" com-
mands will not work.
-F If Vim has been compiled with FKMAP support
for editing right-to-left oriented files and
Farsi keyboard mapping, this option starts Vim
in Farsi mode, i.e. 'fkmap' and 'rightleft'
are set. Otherwise an error message is given
and Vim aborts.
-g If Vim has been compiled with GUI support,
this option enables the GUI. If no GUI sup-
port was compiled in, an error message is
given and Vim aborts.
-h Give a bit of help about the command line
arguments and options. After this Vim exits.
-H If Vim has been compiled with RIGHTLEFT sup-
port for editing right-to-left oriented files
and Hebrew keyboard mapping, this option
starts Vim in Hebrew mode, i.e. 'hkmap' and
'rightleft' are set. Otherwise an error mes-
sage is given and Vim aborts.
-i {viminfo}
When using the viminfo file is enabled, this
option sets the filename to use, instead of
the default "~/.viminfo". This can also be
used to skip the use of the .viminfo file, by
giving the name "NONE".
-L Same as -r.
-l Lisp mode. Sets the 'lisp' and 'showmatch'
options on.
-N No-compatible mode. Reset the 'compatible'
option. This will make Vim behave a bit bet-
ter, but less Vi compatible, even though a
.vimrc file does not exist.
-n No swap file will be used. Recovery after a
crash will be impossible. Handy if you want
to edit a file on a very slow medium (e.g.
floppy). Can also be done with ":set uc=0".
Can be undone with ":set uc=200".
-o[N] Open N windows. When N is omitted, open one
window for each file.
-R Read-only mode. The 'readonly' option will be
set. You can still edit the buffer, but will
be prevented from accidently overwriting a
file. If you do want to overwrite a file, add
an exclamation mark to the Ex command, as in
":w!". The -R option also implies the -n
option (see below). The 'readonly' option can
be reset with ":set noro". See ":help 'read-
only'".
-r List swap files, with information about using
them for recovery.
-r {file} Recovery mode. The swap file is used to
recover a crashed editing session. The swap
file is a file with the same filename as the
text file with ".swp" appended. See ":help
recovery".
-s Silent mode. Only when started as "Ex" or
when the "-e" option was given before the "-s"
option.
-s {scriptin}
The script file {scriptin} is read. The char-
acters in the file are interpreted as if you
had typed them. The same can be done with the
command ":source! {scriptin}". If the end of
the file is reached before the editor exits,
further characters are read from the keyboard.
-T {terminal}
Tells Vim the name of the terminal you are
using. Only required when the automatic way
doesn't work. Should be a terminal known to
Vim (builtin) or defined in the termcap or
terminfo file.
-u {vimrc} Use the commands in the file {vimrc} for ini-
tializations. All the other initializations
are skipped. Use this to edit a special kind
of files. It can also be used to skip all
initializations by giving the name "NONE".
See ":help initialization" within vim for more
details.
-U {gvimrc} Use the commands in the file {gvimrc} for GUI
initializations. All the other GUI initial-
izations are skipped. It can also be used to
skip all GUI initializations by giving the
name "NONE". See ":help gui_init" within vim
for more details.
-V Verbose. Give messages about which files are
sourced and for reading and writing a viminfo
file.
-v Start Vim in Vi mode, just like the executable
was called "vi". This only has effect when
the executable is called "ex".
-w {scriptout}
All the characters that you type are recorded
in the file {scriptout}, until you exit Vim.
This is useful if you want to create a script
file to be used with "vim -s" or ":source!".
If the {scriptout} file exists, characters are
appended.
-W {scriptout}
Like -w, but an existing file is overwritten.
-x Filter read and written files through crypt.
Not implemented yet.
-Z Restricted mode. Works like the executable
starts with "r".
-- Denotes the end of the options. Arguments
after this will be handled as a file name.
This can be used to edit a filename that
starts with a '-'.
ON-LINE HELP
Type ":help" in Vim to get started. Type ":help subject"
to get help on a specific subject. For example: ":help
ZZ" to get help for the "ZZ" command. Use <Tab> and CTRL-
D to complete subjects (":help cmdline_completion"). Tags
are present to jump from one place to another (sort of
hypertext links, see ":help"). All documentation files
can be viewed in this way, for example ":help syntax.txt".
FILES
/var/tmp/vim-root/usr/share/vim/doc/*.txt
The Vim documentation files. Use ":help
doc-file-list" to get the complete list.
/var/tmp/vim-root/usr/share/vim/doc/tags
The tags file used for finding information
in the documentation files.
/var/tmp/vim-root/usr/share/vim/syntax/syntax.vim
System wide syntax initializations.
/var/tmp/vim-root/usr/share/vim/syntax/*.vim
Syntax files for various languages.
/var/tmp/vim-root/usr/share/vim/vimrc
System wide Vim initializations.
/var/tmp/vim-root/usr/share/vim/gvimrc
System wide gvim initializations.
/var/tmp/vim-root/usr/share/vim/menu.vim
System wide menu initializations for gvim.
/var/tmp/vim-root/usr/share/vim/bugreport.vim
Script to generate a bug report. See
":help bugs".
For recent info read the VIM home page:
<URL:http://www.vim.org/>
AUTHOR
Most of Vim was made by Bram Moolenaar, with a lot of help
from others. See ":help credits".
Vim is based on Stevie, worked on by: Tim Thompson, Tony
Andrews and G.R. (Fred) Walter. Although hardly any of
the original code remains.
BUGS
Probably. See the "todo" file that comes with the distri-
bution.
Note that a number of things that may be regarded as bugs
by some, are in fact caused by a too-faithful reproduction
of Vi's behaviour. And if you think other things are bugs
"because Vi does it differently", you should take a closer
look at the vi_diff.txt file (or type :help vi_diff.txt
when in Vim). Also have a look at the 'compatible' and
'cpoptions' options.