Improved Editing Facilities (Learning the vi Editor, Sixth Edition)

Command

Function

^D

Lists the names that match the pattern. For filenames, directories will be highlighted.

Value of wildchar

(Default: tab) Performs a match, inserting the generated text. For multiple matches, the first match is inserted. Hitting TAB successively cycles among all the matches.

^N

Go to next of multiple wildchar matches, if any; otherwise, recall more recent history line.

^P

Go to previous of multiple wildchar matches, if any; otherwise, recall older history line.

^A

Insert all names that match the pattern.

^L

If there is exactly one match, insert it; otherwise, expand to the longest common prefix of the multiple matches.

Command

Function

^N

Complete a word from the current buffer, searching forward (mnemonic: next).

^P

Complete a word from the current buffer, searching backward (mnemonic: previous).

^X ^K

Complete words from a dictionary.

^X ^I

Complete words from included files.

^X ^D

Complete a macro (defined word) from included files.

^X ^]

Complete words from a tags file.

^X ^F

Complete a filename.

^X ^L

Complete a whole line from the current buffer.

Command

Function

ta[g][!] [tagstring]

Edit the file containing tagstring as defined in the tags file. The ! forces vim to switch to the new file if the current buffer has been modified but not saved. The file may or may not be written out depending upon the setting of the autowrite option.

[count]ta[g][!]

Jump to the countth newer entry in the tag stack.

[count]po[p][!]

Pops a cursor position off the stack, restoring the cursor to its previous position. If supplied, go to the countth older entry.

tags

Display the contents of the tag stack.

ts[elect][!] [tagstring]

List the tags that match tagstring, using the information in the tags file(s). If no tagstring is given, the last tag name from the tag stack is used.

sts[elect][!] [tagstring]

Like :tselect, but splits the window for the selected tag.

[count]tn[ext][!]

Jump to the countth next matching tag (default 1).

[count]tp[revious][!]

Jump to the countth previous matching tag (default 1).

[count]tN[ext][!]

[count]tr[ewind][!]

Jump to the first matching tag. With count, jump to the countth matching tag.

tl[ast][!]

Jump to the last matching tag.

nr pri kind tag file ~ 1 F f mch_delay os_amiga.c mch_delay(msec, ignoreinput) > 2 F f mch_delay os_msdos.c mch_delay(msec, ignoreinput) 3 F f mch_delay os_unix.c mch_delay(msec, ignoreinput) Enter nr of choice (<CR> to abort):

Command

Function

^]

Look up the location of the identifier under the cursor in the tags file, and move to that location. The current location is automatically pushed onto the tag stack.

g <LeftMouse>

CTRL-<LeftMouse>

^T

Return to the previous location in the tag stack, i.e., pop off one element. A preceding count specifies how many elements to pop off the stack.

Option

Function

taglength, tl

Controls the number of significant characters in a tag that is to be looked up. The default value of zero indicates that all characters are significant.

tags

The value is a list of filenames in which to look for tags. As a special case, if a filename starts with ./, the dot is replaced with the directory part of the current file's pathname, making it possible to use tags files in a different directory. The default value is "./tags,tags".

tagrelative

When set to true (the default), and using a tags file in another directory, filenames in that tags file are considered to be relative to the directory where the tags file is.

11.8.5. Incremental Searching

As mentioned in Section 8.6.4, you enable incremental searching in vim using :set incsearch.

The cursor moves through the file as you type. vim highlights the text that matches what you've typed so far.

You may wish to use this with the hlsearch option, which highlights all matches of the most recent search pattern. This option is particularly useful when looking for all uses of a particular variable or function in program source code.

Command

Function

zl

Scroll the window left.

zh

Scroll the window right.

zs

Scroll the window to put the cursor at the left (start) of the screen.

ze

Scroll the window to put the cursor at the right (end) of the screen.

11.8.7. Visual Mode

vim allows you to select regions one character at a time, one line at a time, or rectangularly, using the commands shown in Table 11.9.

Table 11.9. vim Block Mode Command Characters

Command	Function
`v`	Start region selection, character at a time mode.
`V`	Start region selection, line at a time mode.
`^V`	Start region selection, rectangular mode.

vim highlights (using reverse video) the text as you are selecting. To make your selection, simply use the normal motion keys. If showmode is set, vim will indicate the mode as one of visual, visual line, or visual block. If vim is running inside an xterm, you can also use the mouse to select text (see :help mouse-using for the details). This also works in the GUI versions. The screen below shows a rectangular region:

The 6th edition of <citetitle>Learning the vi Editor</citetitle>
brings the book into the late 1990&rsquo;s.
In particular, besides the &ldquo;original&rdquo; version of
<command>vi</command> that comes as a standard part of every UNIX
system, there are now a number of freely available &ldquo;clones&rdquo;
or work-alike editors.

After applying the ~ operator, the screen looks like this:

The 6th edition of <citetitle>Learning the vi Editor</citetitle>
brings the BOOK INTO THE LATE 1990&rsquo;s.
In particulAR, BESIDES THE &LDQUo;original&rdquo; version of
<command>vi</COMMAND> THAT COMES as a standard part of every UNIX system,
there are nOW A NUMBER OF FREELY available &ldquo;clones&rdquo;
or work-alike editors.

vim permits many operations on the selected text. Some operations work only on whole lines, even if you've selected a region that does not contain whole lines.

vim has special commands for increasing the "swept out" area, and it allows you to apply almost any vi mode command to the highlighted text, as well as some commands that are unique to visual mode.

When defining the area to be operated on, a number of commands make it easy to treat words, sentences, or blocks of C/C++ code as single objects. These are described in Table 11.10. These commands can be used by themselves to extend the region, or they can be used in conjunction with an operator. For example, daB deletes a brace-enclosed block of text, including the braces.

Table 11.10. vim Block Mode Object Selectors

Command	Selects
`aw`	A word (with whitespace)
`iw`	An inner word (without whitespace)
`aW`	A WORD (with whitespace)
`iW`	An inner WORD (without whitespace)
`as`	A sentence (with whitespace)
`is`	An inner sentence (without whitespace)
`ap`	A paragraph (with whitespace)
`ip`	An inner paragraph (without whitespace)
`ab`	A `(...)` block (includes parentheses)
`ib`	An inner `(...)` block (not including the parentheses)
`aB`	A `{...}` block (includes braces)
`iB`	An inner `{...}` block (not including the braces)

The terms "word" and "WORD" have the same meaning as for the w and W motion commands.

vim allows you to use many operators on highlighted text. The available operators are summarized in Table 11.11.

Table 11.11. vim Block Mode Operations

Command	Operation
`~`	Flip the case of the selected text.
`o`, `O`	Move to the other end of the highlighted text. `o` moves from the start of the highlighted area to end, and vice versa. `O` in block mode moves to the other end of the text on the current line. You can continue sweeping out the area from the new position.
`<`, `>`, `!`	Shift text left or right, filter text. These operate on the whole lines containing the marked region. In the future, for a block, only the block will be shifted.
`=`	Filters text through the program named by the `equalprg` option. (Typically a simple text formatter such as fmt.) This operates on the whole lines containing the marked region.
`gq`	Formats the lines containing the marked region to be no longer that what's set in `textwidth`. This operates on the whole lines containing the marked region.
`:`	Start an ex command for the highlighted lines. This operates on the whole lines containing the marked region.
`c`, `d`, `y`	Change, delete, or yank text. These work even on rectangular text, although the `c` command only enters text on the first line in the block.
`c`, `r`, `s`	Change the highlighted text.
`C`, `S`, `R`	If using CTRL-V, the rectangle is deleted and insert mode is entered in the first line. Otherwise, whole lines are replaced.
`x`	Delete the highlighted text.
`X`, `Y`	Delete or yank the whole lines containing the highlighted area.
`D`	Delete to the end of the line. When using CTRL-V, the highlighted block and the rest of the text to end of each line is deleted. If not using CTRL-V, the whole line is deleted.
`J`	Join the highlighted lines. This operates on the whole lines containing the marked region.
`U`	Make uppercase. This command is unique to visual mode.
`u`	Make lowercase. This command is unique to visual mode.
`^]`	Use the highlighted text as the tag to find in a tag search.