1*os_os2.txt*    For Vim version 7.3.  Last change: 2007 Apr 22
2
3
4		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Paul Slootman
5
6
7							*os2* *OS2* *OS/2*
8This file contains the particularities for the OS/2 version of Vim.
9
10At present there is no native PM version of the GUI version of Vim: The OS/2
11version is a console application.  However, there is now a Win32s-compatible
12GUI version, which should be usable by owners of Warp 4 (which supports
13Win32s) in a Win-OS/2 session.  The notes in this file refer to the native
14console version.
15
16
17NOTE
18
19This OS/2 port works well for me and a couple of other OS/2 users; however,
20since I haven't had much feedback, that either means no (OS/2-specific) bugs
21exist (besides the ones mentioned below), or no one has yet created a
22situation in which any bugs are apparent.  File I/O in Dos and Unix mode,
23binary mode, and FAT handling all seem to work well, which would seem to be
24the most likely places for trouble.
25
26A known problem is that files opened by Vim are inherited by other programs
27that are started via a shell escape from within Vim.  This specifically means
28that Vim won't be able to remove the swap file(s) associated with buffers open
29at the time the other program was started, until the other program is stopped.
30At that time, the swap file may be removed, but if Vim could not do that the
31first time, it won't be removed at all.  You'll get warnings that some other
32Vim session may be editing the file when you start Vim up again on that file.
33This can be reproduced with ":!start epm".  Now quit Vim, and start Vim again
34with the file that was in the buffer at the time epm was started.  I'm working
35on this!
36
37A second problem is that Vim doesn't understand the situation when using it
38when accessing the OS/2 system via the network, e.g. using telnet from a Unix
39system, and then starting Vim.  The problem seems to be that OS/2 =sometimes=
40recognizes function / cursor keys, and tries to convert those to the
41corresponding OS/2 codes generated by the "normal" PC keyboard.  I've been
42testing a workaround (mapping the OS/2 codes to the correct functions), but so
43far I can't say anything conclusive (this is on Warp 3, by the way).  In the
44meantime any help will be appreciated.
45
46
47PREREQUISITES
48
49To run Vim, you need the emx runtime environment (at least rev. 0.9b).  This
50is generally available as (ask Archie about it):
51
52    emxrt.zip     emx runtime package
53
54I've included a copy of emx.dll, which should be copied to one of the
55directories listed in your LIBPATH.  Emx is GPL'ed, but the emx.dll library is
56not (read COPYING.EMX to find out what that means to you).
57
58This emx.dll is from the emxfix04.zip package, which unfortunately has a bug,
59eh, I mean a POSIX feature, in select().  Versions of Vim before 3.27 will
60appear to hang when starting (actually, while processing vimrc).  Hit <Enter> a
61couple of times until Vim starts working if this happens.  Next, get an up to
62date version of Vim!
63
64
65HELP AND VIMRC FILE
66
67If you unpack the archive that Vim came in and run Vim directly from where it
68was unpacked, Vim should be able to find the runtime files and your .vimrc
69without any settings.
70
71If you put the runtime files separately from the binary, the VIM environment
72variable is used to find the location of the help files and the system .vimrc.
73Place an entry such as this in CONFIG.SYS: >
74
75  SET VIM=c:/local/lib/vim
76
77Put your .vimrc and your other Vim files in this directory.  Copy the runtime
78directory to this directory.  Each version of Vim has its own runtime
79directory.  It will be called something like "c:/local/lib/vim/vim54".  Thus
80you get a tree of Vim files like this:
81	c:/local/lib/vim/.vimrc
82	c:/local/lib/vim/vim54/filetype.vim
83	c:/local/lib/vim/vim54/doc/help.txt
84	etc.
85
86Note: .vimrc may also be called _vimrc to accommodate those who have chosen to
87install OS/2 on a FAT file system.  Vim first tries to find .vimrc and if that
88fails, looks for _vimrc in the same place.  The existence of a .vimrc or
89_vimrc file influences the 'compatible' options, which can have unexpected side
90effects.  See |'compatible'|.
91
92If you're using network drives with OS/2, then you can install Vim on a
93network drive (including .vimrc; this is then called the "system" vimrc file),
94and then use a personal copy of .vimrc (the "user" vimrc file).  This should be
95located in a directory indicated by the HOME environment variable.
96
97
98ENVIRONMENT VARIABLES IN FILE NAMES
99
100This HOME environment variable is also used when using ~ in file names, so
101":e ~/textfile" will edit the file "textfile" in the directory referred to by
102HOME.  Additionally you can use other environment variables in file names, as
103in ":n $SRC/*.c".
104
105The HOME environment variable is also used to locate the .viminfo file
106(see |viminfo-file|).  There is no support yet for .viminfo on FAT file
107systems yet, sorry.  You could try the -i startup flag (as in "vim -i
108$HOME/_viminfo") however.
109
110If the HOME environment variable is not set, the value "C:/" is used as a
111default.
112
113
114BACKSLASHES
115
116Using slashes ('/') and backslashes ('\') can be a bit of a problem (see
117|dos-backslash| for more explanation), but in almost all cases Vim does "The
118Right Thing".  Vim itself uses backslashes in file names, but will happily
119accept forward slashes if they are entered (in fact, sometimes that works
120better!).
121
122
123TEMP FILES
124
125Temporary files (for filtering) are put in the first directory in the next
126list that exists and where a file can be created:
127	$TMP
128	$TEMP
129	C:\TMP
130	C:\TEMP
131	current directory
132
133
134TERMINAL SETTING
135
136							*os2ansi*
137Use "os2ansi" as the TERM environment variable (or don't set it at all, as the
138default is the correct value).  You can set term to os2ansi in the .vimrc, in
139case you need TERM to be a different value for other applications.  The
140problem is that OS/2 ANSI emulation is quite limited (it doesn't have insert /
141delete line, for example).
142
143If you want to use a different value for TERM (because of other programs, for
144example), make sure that the termcap entry for that TERM value has the
145appropriate key mappings.  The termcap.dat distributed with emx does not always
146have them.  Here are some suitable values to add to the termcap entry of your
147choice; these allow the cursor keys and the named function keys (such as
148pagedown) to work.
149
150	:ku=\316H:kd=\316P:kl=\316K:kr=\316M:%i=\316t:#4=\316s:\
151	:kD=\316S:kI=\316R:kN=\316Q:kP=\316I:kh=\316G:@7=\316O:\
152	:k1=\316;:k2=\316<:k3=\316=:k4=\316>:k5=\316?:k6=\316@:\
153	:k7=\316A:k8=\316B:k9=\316C:k;=\316D:
154
155
156Paul Slootman
157
158
15943 LINE WINDOW
160
161A suggestion from Steven Tryon, on how to run Vim in a bigger window:
162
163When I call Vim from an OS/2 WPS application such as PMMail it comes up
164in the default 25-line mode.  To get a more useful window size I make
165my external editor "vimbig.cmd" which in turn calls "vimbig2.cmd".
166Brute force and awkwardness, perhaps, but it works.
167
168vimbig.cmd: >
169   @echo off
170   start "Vi Improved" /f vimbig2.cmd %1 %2 %3 %4
171
172vimbig2.cmd: >
173   @echo off
174   mode 80,43
175   vim.exe %1 %2 %3 %4
176   exit
177<
178
179CLIPBOARD ACCESS (provided by Alexander Wagner)
180
181Vim for OS/2 has no direct access to the system clipboard.  To enable access
182anyway you need an additional tool which gives you access to the clipboard
183from within a vio application.  The freeware package clipbrd.zip by Stefan
184Gruendel can be used for this purpose.  You might download the package
185including precompiled binaries and all sources from:
186	http://www.os2site.com/sw/util/clipboard/index.html
187	http://download.uni-hd.de/ftp/pub/os2/pmtools/
188
189Installation of this package is straight forward: just put the two executables
190that come with this package into a directory within your PATH for Vim should
191be able to call them from whatever directory you are working.
192
193To copy text from the clipboard to your Vim session you can use the :r
194command.  Simply call clipbrd.exe from within Vim in the following way: >
195
196	:r !clipbrd -r
197
198To copy text from Vim to the system clipboard just mark the text in the usual
199vim-manner and call: >
200
201	:!clipbrd -w
202
203which will write your selection right into OS/2's clipboard.
204
205For ease of use you might want to add some maps for these commands.  E.g. to
206use F11 to paste the clipboard into Vim and F12 to copy selected text to the
207clipboard you would use: >
208
209	if has("os2")
210	  imap <F11>     <ESC>:r !clipbrd -r<CR>i
211	  vmap <F12>     :!clipbrd -w<cr>
212	else
213	  imap <F11>     <ESC>"*p<CR>i
214	  vmap <F12>     "*y
215	endif
216
217This will ensure that only on OS/2 clipbrd is called whereas on other
218platforms vims build in mechanism is used.  (To enable this functions on every
219load of Vim place the above lines in your .vimrc.)
220
221 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
222