Table Of ContentHacking Vim
A cookbook to get the most out of the latest
Vim editor
From personalizing Vim to productivity optimizations:
Recipes to make life easier for experienced Vim users
Kim Schulz
BIRMINGHAM - MUMBAI
Hacking Vim
A cookbook to get the most out of the latest Vim editor
Copyright © 2007 Packt Publishing
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However, Packt Publishing cannot guarantee the accuracy of this information.
First published: May 2007
Production Reference: 1140507
Published by Packt Publishing Ltd.
32 Lincoln Road
Olton
Birmingham, B27 6PA, UK.
ISBN 978-1-847190-93-2
www.packtpub.com
Cover Image by www.visionwt.com
Credits
Author Project Manager
Kim Schulz Patricia Weir
Reviewers Project Coordinator
Brian Jørgensen Sagara Naik
James Eaton-Lee
Kenneth Geisshirt Indexer
Sven Guckes Bhushan Pangaonkar
Development Editor Proofreader
Nanda Nag Chris Smith
Nikhil Bangera
Layouts and Illustrations
Technical Editor Shantanu Zagade
Ajay S
Cover Designer
Editorial Manager Shantanu Zagade
Dipali Chittar
About the Author
Kim Schulz has an M.Sc. in Software Engineering from Aalborg University
in Denmark. He has been an active developer in the Linux and Open Source
communities since 1997 and has worked with everything from translation and bug
fixing to producing full-blown software systems.
This entire time, Vim has been Kim's editor of choice and it has been the first thing he
installs whenever he sits at a new computer.
Today Kim works as a full-time software engineer at CSR Plc. developing software
for the next generation wireless technologies.
A lot of Kim's spare time has been spent on developing the open-source CMS
Fundanemt. This has lead to him now owning the web-hosting company Devteam
Denmark that specializes in hosting and development of Fundanemt-based websites.
I would like to thank my girlfriend, Line, for letting me take the time
to write this book. Without her positive attitude and help, I would
never have got this book ready.
I would also like to add a great thank you to Bram Moolenaar, for
developing the Vim editor, and making it what it is today.
About the Reviewers
Brian Jørgensen was born in 1982 in Northern Jutland, Denmark. His early
interest in computers and programming on the Commodore 64 and later the PC
resulted in him studying computer science at Aalborg University, from where he
is about to graduate with a masters degree in software engineering. In the late 90s
he found a great interest in the Linux operating system, which he has been using
since. When he is not studying or working as a freelance developer, his spare time
is spent working on Open Source software projects. He is one of the core developers
on the Fundanemt CMS. His main interests are in programming languages, Internet
technologies, and keeping a tap on a wide range Open Source projects. Brian has
a personal website (http://qte.dk/) where he runs a blog and writes about his
software projects.
James Eaton-Lee works as a Consultant specializing in Infrastructure Security and
has worked with clients ranging from small businesses with a handful of employees
to multinational banks. He has a varied background, including experience working
with IT in ISPs, manufacturing firms, and call centers. James has been involved in
the integration of a range of systems, from analogue and VOIP telephony to NT and
AD domains in mission-critical environments with thousands of hosts, as well as
Unix and Linux servers in a variety of roles. James is a strong advocate of the use of
appropriate technology, and the need to make technology more approachable and
flexible for businesses of all sizes, but especially in the SME marketplace in which
technology is often forgotten and avoided. James has been a strong believer in the
relevancy and merit of Open Source and Free Software for a number of years and
—wherever appropriate—uses it for himself and his clients, integrating it fluidly
with other technologies.
Kenneth Geisshirt is a chemist by education, and is a strong free-software
advocate. He spent his Christmas holidays in 1992 installing SLS Linux, and
GNU/Linux has been his favorite operating system ever since. Currently, he does
consultancy work in areas like scientific computing and Linux clusters. He lives in
Copenhagen, Denmark with his partner and their two children. You can find him at
http://kenneth.geisshirt.dk/.
Table of Contents
Preface 1
Chapter 1: Introduction 7
Vi, Vim, and Friends 8
vi 8
STEVIE 9
Elvis 9
Nvi 10
Vim 11
Vile 12
Compatibility 13
Vim is Charityware 14
Summary 14
Chapter 2: Personalizing Vim 15
Where are the Config Files? 16
vimrc 16
gvimrc 17
exrc 17
Changing the Fonts 18
Changing Color Scheme 19
Personal Highlighting 20
A More Informative Status Line 24
Toggle Menu and Toolbar 25
Adding Your Own Menu and Toolbar Buttons 26
Adding a Menu 27
Adding Toolbar Icons 30
Modifying Tabs 30
Work Area Personalization 34
Adding a More Visual Cursor 35
Table of Contents
Adding Line Numbers 36
Spell Checking Your Language 37
Adding Helpful Tool Tips 40
Using Abbreviations 43
Modifying Key Bindings 45
Summary 47
Chapter 3: Better Navigation 49
Faster Navigation in a File 50
Context-Aware Navigation 50
Navigating Long Lines 55
Faster Navigation in Vim Help 55
Faster Navigation in Multiple Buffers 57
Open Referenced Files Faster 58
Search and You Will Find 59
Search the Current File 59
Search in Multiple Files 61
Search the Help System 62
X Marks the Spot 63
Visible Markers—Using Signs 64
Hidden Markers—Using Marks 66
Summary 68
Chapter 4: Production Boosters 69
Using Templates 70
Using Template Files 70
Abbreviations as Templates 72
Using Tag Lists 74
Easier Taglist Navigation 77
Other Usages of Taglists 77
Using Auto-Completion 78
Auto-Completion with Known Words 79
Auto-Completion using Dictionary Lookup 80
Omni-Completion 81
All-in-One Completion 83
Using Macro Recording 85
Using Sessions 87
Simple Session Usage 87
Satisfy your own Session Needs 90
Sessions as a Project Manager 91
Registers and Undo Branching 92
Using Registers 93
The Unnamed Register 94
[ ii ]
Table of Contents
The Small Delete Register 94
The Numbered Registers 94
The Named Registers 95
The Read-Only Registers 95
The Selection and Drop Registers 95
The Black Hole Register 96
Search Pattern Register 96
The Expression Register 96
Using Undo Branching 97
Folding 100
Simple Text File Outlining 104
Using vimdiff to Track the Changes 105
Navigation in vimdiff 106
Using Diff to Track Changes 108
Open Files Anywhere 108
Faster Remote File Editing 110
Summary 111
Chapter 5: Advanced Formatting 113
Formatting Text 113
Putting Text into Paragraphs 113
Aligning Text 116
Marking Headlines 117
Creating Lists 119
Formatting Code 120
Autoindent 121
Smartindent 122
Cindent 122
Indentexpr 123
Fast Code Block Formatting 123
Auto Format Pasted Code 126
Using External Formatting Tools 127
Indent 127
Berkeley Par 128
Tidy 129
Summary 130
Chapter 6: Vim Scripting 133
Syntax-Color Schemes 133
Your First Syntax-Color File 134
Syntax Regions 135
Color Scheme and Syntax Coloring 139
Using Scripts 140
Script Types 140
Installing Scripts 141
[ iii ]
