VIM [0]
________________________________________________________________________________
Vim is an improved version of the good old UNIX editor, vi. Many new features
have been added: multi-level undo, syntax highlighting, command line history,
on-line help, spell checking, filename completion, block operations, script
language, etc. There is also a Graphical User Interface (GUI) available. Still,
vi compatibility is maintained, those who have vi "in the fingers" will feel at
home.
Configuration
________________________________________________________________________________
Vim configuration is stored in a local user's ~/.vimrc file. The contents of
this file are based on the user's preferences.
The following configuration is an example based on Sven Gucke's [1] published
vim setup and modified to satisfy the KISS #/kiss/style-guide.
Note: There are no "fancy" text decorations or highlighting. Just a core set of
features selected to assist in code and article writing.
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Sven Gucke's Modified VIMRC |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| set ai nocp digraph ek hid ru sc vb wmnu noeb noet nosol |
| syntax on |
| set bs=2 fo=cqrt ls=2 shm=at tw=80 sw=4 ts=4 sts=4 ww=<,>,h,l |
| set comments=b:#,:%,n:> |
| set list listchars=tab:»·,trail:· |
| autocmd FileType markdown,text setlocal spell |
| |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
The following is an explanation of each parameter. You can learn more about each
by using the ":help OPTION" command in vim.
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| Command | Description |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
| | |
| nocompatible | This changes the values of many options, |
| set nocp | enabling features which are not vi compatible |
| | (but really really nice). |
| | |
| digraph | Enables input of special characters by a |
| set digraph | combination of two characters. Example: Type |
| | 'a', erase it by typing CTRL-H - and then type |
| | ':' - this results in the umlaut: ä So Vim |
| | remembers the character you have erased and |
| | combines it with the character you have typed |
| | "over" the previous one. |
| | |
| esckeys | Enables recognition of arrow key codes which |
| set ek | start off with an ESC. This would normally end |
| | your current mode (insert/append/open mode) and |
| | return you command mode (aka normal mode), and |
| | the rest of the code would trigger commands. |
| | |
| hidden | Allows hidden buffers even though they contain |
| set hid | modifications which have not yet been written |
| | back to the associated file. |
| | |
| ruler | Shows the "ruler" for the cursor (i.e, its |
| set ru | current position with line+column and the |
| | percentage within the buffer). |
| | |
| showcmd | Show the input of an *incomplete* command. So |
| set sc | while you are typing the command "y23dd" you |
| | will see "y23dd before you type the last 'd' |
| | which completes the command. Makes learning Vi |
| | much simpler as you get some feedback to what |
| | you have already typed. |
| | |
| visualbell | Chose "visual bell" effect rather than |
| set vb | "beeping". |
| | |
| wildmenu | Make use of the "status line" to show possible |
| set wmnu | completions of command line commands, file |
| | names and more. Allows one to cycle forward and |
| | backward through the list. |
| | |
| noerrorbells | Turn off the bell. You do know the "beep" you |
| set noeb | get when you type ESC in normal mode? |
| | Be nice to your co-workers - turn it off! ;-) |
| | |
| noexpandtab | When inserting text, do not expand TABs to |
| set noet | spaces. You can always make vim expand the TABs |
| | later (using the ":retab" command). |
| | |
| nostartofline | Prevent the cursor from changing the current |
| set nosol | column when jumping to other lines within the |
| | window. |
| | |
| syntax on | Enable syntax highlighting. |
| | |
| autoindent | Automatic indentation. This automatically |
| set ai | inserts the indentation from the current line |
| | when you start a new line; in insert mode you |
| | would start a new line by ending the current |
| | one by inserting CTRL-J or CTRL-M - and in |
| | command mode you'd "open" a new line with |
| | either 'o' or 'O' for below or above the |
| | current line, respectively. |
| | |
| backspace | Backspace with this value allows to use the |
| set bs=2 | backspace character (aka CTRL-H or "<-"). |
| | for moving the cursor over automatically |
| | inserted indentation and over the start/end of |
| | a line (see also the whichwrap option). |
| | |
| formatoptions | The format options affect the built-in "text |
| set fo=cqrt | formatting" command. The default value omits |
| | the "flag" 'r', which makes vim insert a |
| | "comment leader" when starting a new line. This |
| | allows to add text to a comment and still be |
| | within the comment after you start a new line. |
| | It also allows to break the line within a |
| | comment without breaking the comment. |
| | |
| laststatus | This makes vim show a status line even when |
| set ls=2 | only one window is visible. |
| | |
| shortmess | This shortens about every message to a minimum |
| set shm=at | and thus avoids scrolling within the output of |
| | messages and the "press a key" prompt that goes |
| | with these. |
| | |
| tabstop | Effectively, how many columns of whitespace a |
| ts=4 | \t is worth. |
| | |
| softtabstop | How many columns of whitespace a tab keypress |
| sts=4 | or a backspace keypress is worth. |
| | |
| shiftwidth | How many columns of whitespace a “level of |
| sw=4 | indentation” is worth or a backspace keypress |
| | is worth. |
| | |
| textwidth | This explicitly sets the width of text to 80 |
| set tw=80 | characters. After each completion of a word in |
| | insert mode, vim checks whether its end is past |
| | this width; if so then it will break the word |
| | onto the next line. Note that vim will remove |
| | trailing spaces when applying the word wrap - |
| | a feature which many editors are missing (and |
| | which will leave trailing spaces, of course). |
| | |
| | NOTE: The word wrap applies only when the |
| | *completed* word goes over the line; when you |
| | insert a word before that which moves other |
| | words over the line then vim will *not* break |
| | the words at the end of the line onto the next |
| | line! Programmers certainly don't want that. |
| | It's a feature!! |
| | |
| | |
| whichwrap | There are several commands which move the |
| set ww=<,>,h,l | cursor within a line. When you get to the |
| | start/end of a line then these commands will |
| | fail as you cannot goon. However, many users |
| | expect the cursor to be moved onto the |
| | previous/next line. Vim allows you to chose |
| | which commands will "wrap" the cursor around |
| | the line borders. In this particular example |
| | left/right, as well as the 'h' and 'l', |
| | keys to do that. |
| | |
| comments | Vim can reformat text and preserve comments |
| set com=b:#,:%,n:> | (i.e. commented lines) even when several kinds |
| | of comment indentations "nest" within. This is |
| | particularly useful for reformatting quoted |
| | text in Email and News. |
| | |
| list listchars | This option is cool! Or let's say that "other |
| set list | editors don't have at all". These characters |
| set lcs=tab:»· | are called "list characters" as they are |
| set lcs+=trail:· | related to the list option of vanilla vi. |
| | This will show the end-of-lines by adding a '$' |
| | sign after the last character of each line, and |
| | by replacing all TABs by '^I'. However, it is |
| | much nicer to have TABs shown in expanded form. |
| | Vim takes it one step further by also making |
| | trailing spaces visible. Being able to see |
| | EOLs, TABs, and trailing space has become an |
| | absolute MUST with every editor. |
| | |
+------------------------+-----------------------------------------------------+
In summary, there are MANY configurations that can be applied to vim in just a
few lines of text! As a best practice, test vim out without any configuration
applied, then slowly add in needed features. A good *starter* configuration file
might look something like this:
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Starter VIMRC |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| set ai nocp hid ru sc |
| filetype plugin indent on |
| syntax on |
| set bs=2 ls=2 shm=at tw=72 sw=4 ts=4 sts=4 ww=<,>,h,l |
| |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
References
________________________________________________________________________________
[0] https://github.com/vim/vim
[1] http://www.guckes.net/vim/setup.html