1*cmdline.txt* For Vim version 7.3. Last change: 2010 May 07 2 3 4 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar 5 6 7 *Cmdline-mode* *Command-line-mode* 8Command-line mode *Cmdline* *Command-line* *mode-cmdline* *:* 9 10Command-line mode is used to enter Ex commands (":"), search patterns 11("/" and "?"), and filter commands ("!"). 12 13Basic command line editing is explained in chapter 20 of the user manual 14|usr_20.txt|. 15 161. Command-line editing |cmdline-editing| 172. Command-line completion |cmdline-completion| 183. Ex command-lines |cmdline-lines| 194. Ex command-line ranges |cmdline-ranges| 205. Ex command-line flags |ex-flags| 216. Ex special characters |cmdline-special| 227. Command-line window |cmdline-window| 23 24============================================================================== 251. Command-line editing *cmdline-editing* 26 27Normally characters are inserted in front of the cursor position. You can 28move around in the command-line with the left and right cursor keys. With the 29<Insert> key, you can toggle between inserting and overstriking characters. 30{Vi: can only alter the last character in the line} 31 32Note that if your keyboard does not have working cursor keys or any of the 33other special keys, you can use ":cnoremap" to define another key for them. 34For example, to define tcsh style editing keys: *tcsh-style* > 35 :cnoremap <C-A> <Home> 36 :cnoremap <C-F> <Right> 37 :cnoremap <C-B> <Left> 38 :cnoremap <Esc>b <S-Left> 39 :cnoremap <Esc>f <S-Right> 40(<> notation |<>|; type all this literally) 41 42 *cmdline-too-long* 43When the command line is getting longer than what fits on the screen, only the 44part that fits will be shown. The cursor can only move in this visible part, 45thus you cannot edit beyond that. 46 47 *cmdline-history* *history* 48The command-lines that you enter are remembered in a history table. You can 49recall them with the up and down cursor keys. There are actually five 50history tables: 51- one for ':' commands 52- one for search strings 53- one for expressions 54- one for input lines, typed for the |input()| function. 55- one for debug mode commands 56These are completely separate. Each history can only be accessed when 57entering the same type of line. 58Use the 'history' option to set the number of lines that are remembered 59(default: 20). 60Notes: 61- When you enter a command-line that is exactly the same as an older one, the 62 old one is removed (to avoid repeated commands moving older commands out of 63 the history). 64- Only commands that are typed are remembered. Ones that completely come from 65 mappings are not put in the history. 66- All searches are put in the search history, including the ones that come 67 from commands like "*" and "#". But for a mapping, only the last search is 68 remembered (to avoid that long mappings trash the history). 69{Vi: no history} 70{not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| feature} 71 72There is an automatic completion of names on the command-line; see 73|cmdline-completion|. 74 75 *c_CTRL-V* 76CTRL-V Insert next non-digit literally. Up to three digits form the 77 decimal value of a single byte. The non-digit and the three 78 digits are not considered for mapping. This works the same 79 way as in Insert mode (see above, |i_CTRL-V|). 80 Note: Under Windows CTRL-V is often mapped to paste text. 81 Use CTRL-Q instead then. 82 *c_CTRL-Q* 83CTRL-Q Same as CTRL-V. But with some terminals it is used for 84 control flow, it doesn't work then. 85 86 *c_<Left>* 87<Left> cursor left 88 *c_<Right>* 89<Right> cursor right 90 *c_<S-Left>* 91<S-Left> or <C-Left> *c_<C-Left>* 92 cursor one WORD left 93 *c_<S-Right>* 94<S-Right> or <C-Right> *c_<C-Right>* 95 cursor one WORD right 96CTRL-B or <Home> *c_CTRL-B* *c_<Home>* 97 cursor to beginning of command-line 98CTRL-E or <End> *c_CTRL-E* *c_<End>* 99 cursor to end of command-line 100 101 *c_<LeftMouse>* 102<LeftMouse> Move the cursor to the position of the mouse click. 103 104CTRL-H *c_<BS>* *c_CTRL-H* 105<BS> Delete the character in front of the cursor (see |:fixdel| if 106 your <BS> key does not do what you want). 107 *c_<Del>* 108<Del> Delete the character under the cursor (at end of line: 109 character before the cursor) (see |:fixdel| if your <Del> 110 key does not do what you want). 111 *c_CTRL-W* 112CTRL-W Delete the |word| before the cursor. This depends on the 113 'iskeyword' option. 114 *c_CTRL-U* 115CTRL-U Remove all characters between the cursor position and 116 the beginning of the line. Previous versions of vim 117 deleted all characters on the line. If that is the 118 preferred behavior, add the following to your .vimrc: > 119 :cnoremap <C-U> <C-E><C-U> 120< 121 *c_<Insert>* 122<Insert> Toggle between insert and overstrike. {not in Vi} 123 124{char1} <BS> {char2} or *c_digraph* 125CTRL-K {char1} {char2} *c_CTRL-K* 126 enter digraph (see |digraphs|). When {char1} is a special 127 key, the code for that key is inserted in <> form. {not in Vi} 128 129CTRL-R {0-9a-z"%#:-=.} *c_CTRL-R* *c_<C-R>* 130 Insert the contents of a numbered or named register. Between 131 typing CTRL-R and the second character '"' will be displayed 132 to indicate that you are expected to enter the name of a 133 register. 134 The text is inserted as if you typed it, but mappings and 135 abbreviations are not used. Command-line completion through 136 'wildchar' is not triggered though. And characters that end 137 the command line are inserted literally (<Esc>, <CR>, <NL>, 138 <C-C>). A <BS> or CTRL-W could still end the command line 139 though, and remaining characters will then be interpreted in 140 another mode, which might not be what you intended. 141 Special registers: 142 '"' the unnamed register, containing the text of 143 the last delete or yank 144 '%' the current file name 145 '#' the alternate file name 146 '*' the clipboard contents (X11: primary selection) 147 '+' the clipboard contents 148 '/' the last search pattern 149 ':' the last command-line 150 '-' the last small (less than a line) delete 151 '.' the last inserted text 152 *c_CTRL-R_=* 153 '=' the expression register: you are prompted to 154 enter an expression (see |expression|) 155 (doesn't work at the expression prompt; some 156 things such as changing the buffer or current 157 window are not allowed to avoid side effects) 158 When the result is a |List| the items are used 159 as lines. They can have line breaks inside 160 too. 161 When the result is a Float it's automatically 162 converted to a String. 163 See |registers| about registers. {not in Vi} 164 Implementation detail: When using the |expression| register 165 and invoking setcmdpos(), this sets the position before 166 inserting the resulting string. Use CTRL-R CTRL-R to set the 167 position afterwards. 168 169CTRL-R CTRL-F *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-F* *c_<C-R>_<C-F>* 170CTRL-R CTRL-P *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-P* *c_<C-R>_<C-P>* 171CTRL-R CTRL-W *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-W* *c_<C-R>_<C-W>* 172CTRL-R CTRL-A *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-A* *c_<C-R>_<C-A>* 173 Insert the object under the cursor: 174 CTRL-F the Filename under the cursor 175 CTRL-P the Filename under the cursor, expanded with 176 'path' as in |gf| 177 CTRL-W the Word under the cursor 178 CTRL-A the WORD under the cursor; see |WORD| 179 180 When 'incsearch' is set the cursor position at the end of the 181 currently displayed match is used. With CTRL-W the part of 182 the word that was already typed is not inserted again. 183 184 {not in Vi} 185 CTRL-F and CTRL-P: {only when |+file_in_path| feature is 186 included} 187 188 *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-R* *c_<C-R>_<C-R>* 189 *c_CTRL-R_CTRL-O* *c_<C-R>_<C-O>* 190CTRL-R CTRL-R {0-9a-z"%#:-=. CTRL-F CTRL-P CTRL-W CTRL-A} 191CTRL-R CTRL-O {0-9a-z"%#:-=. CTRL-F CTRL-P CTRL-W CTRL-A} 192 Insert register or object under the cursor. Works like 193 |c_CTRL-R| but inserts the text literally. For example, if 194 register a contains "xy^Hz" (where ^H is a backspace), 195 "CTRL-R a" will insert "xz" while "CTRL-R CTRL-R a" will 196 insert "xy^Hz". 197 198CTRL-\ e {expr} *c_CTRL-\_e* 199 Evaluate {expr} and replace the whole command line with the 200 result. You will be prompted for the expression, type <Enter> 201 to finish it. It's most useful in mappings though. See 202 |expression|. 203 See |c_CTRL-R_=| for inserting the result of an expression. 204 Useful functions are |getcmdtype()|, |getcmdline()| and 205 |getcmdpos()|. 206 The cursor position is unchanged, except when the cursor was 207 at the end of the line, then it stays at the end. 208 |setcmdpos()| can be used to set the cursor position. 209 The |sandbox| is used for evaluating the expression to avoid 210 nasty side effects. 211 Example: > 212 :cmap <F7> <C-\>eAppendSome()<CR> 213 :func AppendSome() 214 :let cmd = getcmdline() . " Some()" 215 :" place the cursor on the ) 216 :call setcmdpos(strlen(cmd)) 217 :return cmd 218 :endfunc 219< This doesn't work recursively, thus not when already editing 220 an expression. 221 222 *c_CTRL-Y* 223CTRL-Y When there is a modeless selection, copy the selection into 224 the clipboard. |modeless-selection| 225 If there is no selection CTRL-Y is inserted as a character. 226 227CTRL-J *c_CTRL-J* *c_<NL>* *c_<CR>* 228<CR> or <NL> start entered command 229 *c_<Esc>* 230<Esc> When typed and 'x' not present in 'cpoptions', quit 231 Command-line mode without executing. In macros or when 'x' 232 present in 'cpoptions', start entered command. 233 Note: If your <Esc> key is hard to hit on your keyboard, train 234 yourself to use CTRL-[. 235 *c_CTRL-C* 236CTRL-C quit command-line without executing 237 238 *c_<Up>* 239<Up> recall older command-line from history, whose beginning 240 matches the current command-line (see below). 241 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| 242 feature} 243 *c_<Down>* 244<Down> recall more recent command-line from history, whose beginning 245 matches the current command-line (see below). 246 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| 247 feature} 248 249 *c_<S-Up>* *c_<PageUp>* 250<S-Up> or <PageUp> 251 recall older command-line from history 252 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| 253 feature} 254 *c_<S-Down>* *c_<PageDown>* 255<S-Down> or <PageDown> 256 recall more recent command-line from history 257 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| 258 feature} 259 260CTRL-D command-line completion (see |cmdline-completion|) 261'wildchar' option 262 command-line completion (see |cmdline-completion|) 263CTRL-N command-line completion (see |cmdline-completion|) 264CTRL-P command-line completion (see |cmdline-completion|) 265CTRL-A command-line completion (see |cmdline-completion|) 266CTRL-L command-line completion (see |cmdline-completion|) 267 268 *c_CTRL-_* 269CTRL-_ a - switch between Hebrew and English keyboard mode, which is 270 private to the command-line and not related to hkmap. 271 This is useful when Hebrew text entry is required in the 272 command-line, searches, abbreviations, etc. Applies only if 273 Vim is compiled with the |+rightleft| feature and the 274 'allowrevins' option is set. 275 See |rileft.txt|. 276 277 b - switch between Farsi and English keyboard mode, which is 278 private to the command-line and not related to fkmap. In 279 Farsi keyboard mode the characters are inserted in reverse 280 insert manner. This is useful when Farsi text entry is 281 required in the command-line, searches, abbreviations, etc. 282 Applies only if Vim is compiled with the |+farsi| feature. 283 See |farsi.txt|. 284 285 *c_CTRL-^* 286CTRL-^ Toggle the use of language |:lmap| mappings and/or Input 287 Method. 288 When typing a pattern for a search command and 'imsearch' is 289 not -1, VAL is the value of 'imsearch', otherwise VAL is the 290 value of 'iminsert'. 291 When language mappings are defined: 292 - If VAL is 1 (langmap mappings used) it becomes 0 (no langmap 293 mappings used). 294 - If VAL was not 1 it becomes 1, thus langmap mappings are 295 enabled. 296 When no language mappings are defined: 297 - If VAL is 2 (Input Method is used) it becomes 0 (no input 298 method used) 299 - If VAL has another value it becomes 2, thus the Input Method 300 is enabled. 301 These language mappings are normally used to type characters 302 that are different from what the keyboard produces. The 303 'keymap' option can be used to install a whole number of them. 304 When entering a command line, langmap mappings are switched 305 off, since you are expected to type a command. After 306 switching it on with CTRL-^, the new state is not used again 307 for the next command or Search pattern. 308 {not in Vi} 309 310 *c_CTRL-]* 311CTRL-] Trigger abbreviation, without inserting a character. {not in 312 Vi} 313 314For Emacs-style editing on the command-line see |emacs-keys|. 315 316The <Up> and <Down> keys take the current command-line as a search string. 317The beginning of the next/previous command-lines are compared with this 318string. The first line that matches is the new command-line. When typing 319these two keys repeatedly, the same string is used again. For example, this 320can be used to find the previous substitute command: Type ":s" and then <Up>. 321The same could be done by typing <S-Up> a number of times until the desired 322command-line is shown. (Note: the shifted arrow keys do not work on all 323terminals) 324 325 *:his* *:history* 326:his[tory] Print the history of last entered commands. 327 {not in Vi} 328 {not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| 329 feature} 330 331:his[tory] [{name}] [{first}][, [{last}]] 332 List the contents of history {name} which can be: 333 c[md] or : command-line history 334 s[earch] or / search string history 335 e[xpr] or = expression register history 336 i[nput] or @ input line history 337 d[ebug] or > debug command history 338 a[ll] all of the above 339 {not in Vi} 340 341 If the numbers {first} and/or {last} are given, the respective 342 range of entries from a history is listed. These numbers can 343 be specified in the following form: 344 *:history-indexing* 345 A positive number represents the absolute index of an entry 346 as it is given in the first column of a :history listing. 347 This number remains fixed even if other entries are deleted. 348 349 A negative number means the relative position of an entry, 350 counted from the newest entry (which has index -1) backwards. 351 352 Examples: 353 List entries 6 to 12 from the search history: > 354 :history / 6,12 355< 356 List the recent five entries from all histories: > 357 :history all -5, 358 359============================================================================== 3602. Command-line completion *cmdline-completion* 361 362When editing the command-line, a few commands can be used to complete the 363word before the cursor. This is available for: 364 365- Command names: At the start of the command-line. 366- Tags: Only after the ":tag" command. 367- File names: Only after a command that accepts a file name or a setting for 368 an option that can be set to a file name. This is called file name 369 completion. 370- Shell command names: After ":!cmd", ":r !cmd" and ":w !cmd". $PATH is used. 371- Options: Only after the ":set" command. 372- Mappings: Only after a ":map" or similar command. 373- Variable and function names: Only after a ":if", ":call" or similar command. 374 375When Vim was compiled with the |+cmdline_compl| feature disabled, only file 376names, directories and help items can be completed. The number of help item 377matches is limited (currently to 300) to avoid a long delay when there are 378very many matches. 379 380These are the commands that can be used: 381 382 *c_CTRL-D* 383CTRL-D List names that match the pattern in front of the cursor. 384 When showing file names, directories are highlighted (see 385 'highlight' option). Names where 'suffixes' matches are moved 386 to the end. 387 The 'wildoptions' option can be set to "tagfile" to list the 388 file of matching tags. 389 *c_CTRL-I* *c_wildchar* *c_<Tab>* 390'wildchar' option 391 A match is done on the pattern in front of the cursor. The 392 match (if there are several, the first match) is inserted 393 in place of the pattern. (Note: does not work inside a 394 macro, because <Tab> or <Esc> are mostly used as 'wildchar', 395 and these have a special meaning in some macros.) When typed 396 again and there were multiple matches, the next 397 match is inserted. After the last match, the first is used 398 again (wrap around). 399 The behavior can be changed with the 'wildmode' option. 400 *c_CTRL-N* 401CTRL-N After using 'wildchar' which got multiple matches, go to next 402 match. Otherwise recall more recent command-line from history. 403<S-Tab> *c_CTRL-P* *c_<S-Tab>* 404CTRL-P After using 'wildchar' which got multiple matches, go to 405 previous match. Otherwise recall older command-line from 406 history. <S-Tab> only works with the GUI, on the Amiga and 407 with MS-DOS. 408 *c_CTRL-A* 409CTRL-A All names that match the pattern in front of the cursor are 410 inserted. 411 *c_CTRL-L* 412CTRL-L A match is done on the pattern in front of the cursor. If 413 there is one match, it is inserted in place of the pattern. 414 If there are multiple matches the longest common part is 415 inserted in place of the pattern. If the result is shorter 416 than the pattern, no completion is done. 417 When 'incsearch' is set, entering a search pattern for "/" or 418 "?" and the current match is displayed then CTRL-L will add 419 one character from the end of the current match. If 420 'ignorecase' and 'smartcase' are set and the command line has 421 no uppercase characters, the added character is converted to 422 lowercase. 423 424The 'wildchar' option defaults to <Tab> (CTRL-E when in Vi compatible mode; in 425a previous version <Esc> was used). In the pattern standard wildcards '*' and 426'?' are accepted. '*' matches any string, '?' matches exactly one character. 427 428If you like tcsh's autolist completion, you can use this mapping: 429 :cnoremap X <C-L><C-D> 430(Where X is the command key to use, <C-L> is CTRL-L and <C-D> is CTRL-D) 431This will find the longest match and then list all matching files. 432 433If you like tcsh's autolist completion, you can use the 'wildmode' option to 434emulate it. For example, this mimics autolist=ambiguous: 435 :set wildmode=longest,list 436This will find the longest match with the first 'wildchar', then list all 437matching files with the next. 438 439 *suffixes* 440For file name completion you can use the 'suffixes' option to set a priority 441between files with almost the same name. If there are multiple matches, 442those files with an extension that is in the 'suffixes' option are ignored. 443The default is ".bak,~,.o,.h,.info,.swp,.obj", which means that files ending 444in ".bak", "~", ".o", ".h", ".info", ".swp" and ".obj" are sometimes ignored. 445 446An empty entry, two consecutive commas, match a file name that does not 447contain a ".", thus has no suffix. This is useful to ignore "prog" and prefer 448"prog.c". 449 450Examples: 451 452 pattern: files: match: ~ 453 test* test.c test.h test.o test.c 454 test* test.h test.o test.h and test.o 455 test* test.i test.h test.c test.i and test.c 456 457It is impossible to ignore suffixes with two dots. 458 459If there is more than one matching file (after ignoring the ones matching 460the 'suffixes' option) the first file name is inserted. You can see that 461there is only one match when you type 'wildchar' twice and the completed 462match stays the same. You can get to the other matches by entering 463'wildchar', CTRL-N or CTRL-P. All files are included, also the ones with 464extensions matching the 'suffixes' option. 465 466To completely ignore files with some extension use 'wildignore'. 467 468To match only files that end at the end of the typed text append a "$". For 469example, to match only files that end in ".c": > 470 :e *.c$ 471This will not match a file ending in ".cpp". Without the "$" it does match. 472 473The old value of an option can be obtained by hitting 'wildchar' just after 474the '='. For example, typing 'wildchar' after ":set dir=" will insert the 475current value of 'dir'. This overrules file name completion for the options 476that take a file name. 477 478If you would like using <S-Tab> for CTRL-P in an xterm, put this command in 479your .cshrc: > 480 xmodmap -e "keysym Tab = Tab Find" 481And this in your .vimrc: > 482 :cmap <Esc>[1~ <C-P> 483 484============================================================================== 4853. Ex command-lines *cmdline-lines* 486 487The Ex commands have a few specialties: 488 489 *:quote* *:comment* 490'"' at the start of a line causes the whole line to be ignored. '"' 491after a command causes the rest of the line to be ignored. This can be used 492to add comments. Example: > 493 :set ai "set 'autoindent' option 494It is not possible to add a comment to a shell command ":!cmd" or to the 495":map" command and a few others, because they see the '"' as part of their 496argument. This is mentioned where the command is explained. 497 498 *:bar* *:\bar* 499'|' can be used to separate commands, so you can give multiple commands in one 500line. If you want to use '|' in an argument, precede it with '\'. 501 502These commands see the '|' as their argument, and can therefore not be 503followed by another Vim command: 504 :argdo 505 :autocmd 506 :bufdo 507 :command 508 :cscope 509 :debug 510 :folddoopen 511 :folddoclosed 512 :function 513 :global 514 :help 515 :helpfind 516 :lcscope 517 :make 518 :normal 519 :perl 520 :perldo 521 :promptfind 522 :promptrepl 523 :pyfile 524 :python 525 :registers 526 :read ! 527 :scscope 528 :sign 529 :tcl 530 :tcldo 531 :tclfile 532 :vglobal 533 :windo 534 :write ! 535 :[range]! 536 a user defined command without the "-bar" argument |:command| 537 538Note that this is confusing (inherited from Vi): With ":g" the '|' is included 539in the command, with ":s" it is not. 540 541To be able to use another command anyway, use the ":execute" command. 542Example (append the output of "ls" and jump to the first line): > 543 :execute 'r !ls' | '[ 544 545There is one exception: When the 'b' flag is present in 'cpoptions', with the 546":map" and ":abbr" commands and friends CTRL-V needs to be used instead of 547'\'. You can also use "<Bar>" instead. See also |map_bar|. 548 549Examples: > 550 :!ls | wc view the output of two commands 551 :r !ls | wc insert the same output in the text 552 :%g/foo/p|> moves all matching lines one shiftwidth 553 :%s/foo/bar/|> moves one line one shiftwidth 554 :map q 10^V| map "q" to "10|" 555 :map q 10\| map \ l map "q" to "10\" and map "\" to "l" 556 (when 'b' is present in 'cpoptions') 557 558You can also use <NL> to separate commands in the same way as with '|'. To 559insert a <NL> use CTRL-V CTRL-J. "^@" will be shown. Using '|' is the 560preferred method. But for external commands a <NL> must be used, because a 561'|' is included in the external command. To avoid the special meaning of <NL> 562it must be preceded with a backslash. Example: > 563 :r !date<NL>-join 564This reads the current date into the file and joins it with the previous line. 565 566Note that when the command before the '|' generates an error, the following 567commands will not be executed. 568 569 570Because of Vi compatibility the following strange commands are supported: > 571 :| print current line (like ":p") 572 :3| print line 3 (like ":3p") 573 :3 goto line 3 574 575A colon is allowed between the range and the command name. It is ignored 576(this is Vi compatible). For example: > 577 :1,$:s/pat/string 578 579When the character '%' or '#' is used where a file name is expected, they are 580expanded to the current and alternate file name (see the chapter "editing 581files" |:_%| |:_#|). 582 583Embedded spaces in file names are allowed on the Amiga if one file name is 584expected as argument. Trailing spaces will be ignored, unless escaped with a 585backslash or CTRL-V. Note that the ":next" command uses spaces to separate 586file names. Escape the spaces to include them in a file name. Example: > 587 :next foo\ bar goes\ to school\ 588starts editing the three files "foo bar", "goes to" and "school ". 589 590When you want to use the special characters '"' or '|' in a command, or want 591to use '%' or '#' in a file name, precede them with a backslash. The 592backslash is not required in a range and in the ":substitute" command. 593 594 *:_!* 595The '!' (bang) character after an Ex command makes the command behave in a 596different way. The '!' should be placed immediately after the command, without 597any blanks in between. If you insert blanks the '!' will be seen as an 598argument for the command, which has a different meaning. For example: 599 :w! name write the current buffer to file "name", overwriting 600 any existing file 601 :w !name send the current buffer as standard input to command 602 "name" 603 604============================================================================== 6054. Ex command-line ranges *cmdline-ranges* *[range]* *E16* 606 607Some Ex commands accept a line range in front of them. This is noted as 608[range]. It consists of one or more line specifiers, separated with ',' or 609';'. 610 611The basics are explained in section |10.3| of the user manual. 612 613 *:,* *:;* 614When separated with ';' the cursor position will be set to that line 615before interpreting the next line specifier. This doesn't happen for ','. 616Examples: > 617 4,/this line/ 618< from line 4 till match with "this line" after the cursor line. > 619 5;/that line/ 620< from line 5 till match with "that line" after line 5. 621 622The default line specifier for most commands is the cursor position, but the 623commands ":write" and ":global" have the whole file (1,$) as default. 624 625If more line specifiers are given than required for the command, the first 626one(s) will be ignored. 627 628Line numbers may be specified with: *:range* *E14* *{address}* 629 {number} an absolute line number 630 . the current line *:.* 631 $ the last line in the file *:$* 632 % equal to 1,$ (the entire file) *:%* 633 't position of mark t (lowercase) *:'* 634 'T position of mark T (uppercase); when the mark is in 635 another file it cannot be used in a range 636 /{pattern}[/] the next line where {pattern} matches *:/* 637 ?{pattern}[?] the previous line where {pattern} matches *:?* 638 \/ the next line where the previously used search 639 pattern matches 640 \? the previous line where the previously used search 641 pattern matches 642 \& the next line where the previously used substitute 643 pattern matches 644 645Each may be followed (several times) by '+' or '-' and an optional number. 646This number is added or subtracted from the preceding line number. If the 647number is omitted, 1 is used. 648 649The "/" and "?" after {pattern} are required to separate the pattern from 650anything that follows. 651 652The "/" and "?" may be preceded with another address. The search starts from 653there. The difference from using ';' is that the cursor isn't moved. 654Examples: > 655 /pat1//pat2/ Find line containing "pat2" after line containing 656 "pat1", without moving the cursor. 657 7;/pat2/ Find line containing "pat2", after line 7, leaving 658 the cursor in line 7. 659 660The {number} must be between 0 and the number of lines in the file. When 661using a 0 (zero) this is interpreted as a 1 by most commands. Commands that 662use it as a count do use it as a zero (|:tag|, |:pop|, etc). Some commands 663interpret the zero as "before the first line" (|:read|, search pattern, etc). 664 665Examples: > 666 .+3 three lines below the cursor 667 /that/+1 the line below the next line containing "that" 668 .,$ from current line until end of file 669 0;/that the first line containing "that", also matches in the 670 first line. 671 1;/that the first line after line 1 containing "that" 672 673Some commands allow for a count after the command. This count is used as the 674number of lines to be used, starting with the line given in the last line 675specifier (the default is the cursor line). The commands that accept a count 676are the ones that use a range but do not have a file name argument (because 677a file name can also be a number). 678 679Examples: > 680 :s/x/X/g 5 substitute 'x' by 'X' in the current line and four 681 following lines 682 :23d 4 delete lines 23, 24, 25 and 26 683 684 685Folds and Range 686 687When folds are active the line numbers are rounded off to include the whole 688closed fold. See |fold-behavior|. 689 690 691Reverse Range *E493* 692 693A range should have the lower line number first. If this is not the case, Vim 694will ask you if it should swap the line numbers. 695 Backwards range given, OK to swap ~ 696This is not done within the global command ":g". 697 698You can use ":silent" before a command to avoid the question, the range will 699always be swapped then. 700 701 702Count and Range *N:* 703 704When giving a count before entering ":", this is translated into: 705 :.,.+(count - 1) 706In words: The 'count' lines at and after the cursor. Example: To delete 707three lines: > 708 3:d<CR> is translated into: .,.+2d<CR> 709< 710 711Visual Mode and Range *v_:* 712 713{Visual}: Starts a command-line with the Visual selected lines as a 714 range. The code ":'<,'>" is used for this range, which makes 715 it possible to select a similar line from the command-line 716 history for repeating a command on different Visually selected 717 lines. 718 719============================================================================== 7205. Ex command-line flags *ex-flags* 721 722These flags are supported by a selection of Ex commands. They print the line 723that the cursor ends up after executing the command: 724 725 l output like for |:list| 726 # add line number 727 p output like for |:print| 728 729The flags can be combined, thus "l#" uses both a line number and |:list| style 730output. 731 732============================================================================== 7336. Ex special characters *cmdline-special* 734 735Note: These are special characters in the executed command line. If you want 736to insert special things while typing you can use the CTRL-R command. For 737example, "%" stands for the current file name, while CTRL-R % inserts the 738current file name right away. See |c_CTRL-R|. 739 740Note: If you want to avoid the special characters in a Vim script you may want 741to use |fnameescape()|. 742 743 744In Ex commands, at places where a file name can be used, the following 745characters have a special meaning. These can also be used in the expression 746function expand() |expand()|. 747 % Is replaced with the current file name. *:_%* *c_%* 748 # Is replaced with the alternate file name. *:_#* *c_#* 749 #n (where n is a number) is replaced with *:_#0* *:_#n* 750 the file name of buffer n. "#0" is the same as "#". *c_#n* 751 ## Is replaced with all names in the argument list *:_##* *c_##* 752 concatenated, separated by spaces. Each space in a name 753 is preceded with a backslash. 754 #<n (where n is a number > 0) is replaced with old *:_#<* *c_#<* 755 file name n. See |:oldfiles| or |v:oldfiles| to get the 756 number. *E809* 757 {only when compiled with the |+eval| and |+viminfo| features} 758 759Note that these, except "#<n", give the file name as it was typed. If an 760absolute path is needed (when using the file name from a different directory), 761you need to add ":p". See |filename-modifiers|. 762 763The "#<n" item returns an absolute path, but it will start with "~/" for files 764below your home directory. 765 766Note that backslashes are inserted before spaces, so that the command will 767correctly interpret the file name. But this doesn't happen for shell 768commands. For those you probably have to use quotes (this fails for files 769that contain a quote and wildcards): > 770 :!ls "%" 771 :r !spell "%" 772 773To avoid the special meaning of '%' and '#' insert a backslash before it. 774Detail: The special meaning is always escaped when there is a backslash before 775it, no matter how many backslashes. 776 you type: result ~ 777 # alternate.file 778 \# # 779 \\# \# 780 781 *:<cword>* *:<cWORD>* *:<cfile>* *<cfile>* 782 *:<sfile>* *<sfile>* *:<afile>* *<afile>* 783 *:<abuf>* *<abuf>* *:<amatch>* *<amatch>* 784 *E495* *E496* *E497* *E498* *E499* *E500* 785Note: these are typed literally, they are not special keys! 786 <cword> is replaced with the word under the cursor (like |star|) 787 <cWORD> is replaced with the WORD under the cursor (see |WORD|) 788 <cfile> is replaced with the path name under the cursor (like what 789 |gf| uses) 790 <afile> when executing autocommands, is replaced with the file name 791 for a file read or write 792 <abuf> when executing autocommands, is replaced with the currently 793 effective buffer number (for ":r file" and ":so file" it is 794 the current buffer, the file being read/sourced is not in a 795 buffer). 796 <amatch> when executing autocommands, is replaced with the match for 797 which this autocommand was executed. It differs from 798 <afile> only when the file name isn't used to match with 799 (for FileType, Syntax and SpellFileMissing events). 800 <sfile> when executing a ":source" command, is replaced with the 801 file name of the sourced file; 802 when executing a function, is replaced with 803 "function {function-name}"; function call nesting is 804 indicated like this: 805 "function {function-name1}..{function-name2}". Note that 806 filename-modifiers are useless when <sfile> is used inside 807 a function. 808 809 *filename-modifiers* 810 *:_%:* *::8* *::p* *::.* *::~* *::h* *::t* *::r* *::e* *::s* *::gs* 811 *%:8* *%:p* *%:.* *%:~* *%:h* *%:t* *%:r* *%:e* *%:s* *%:gs* 812The file name modifiers can be used after "%", "#", "#n", "<cfile>", "<sfile>", 813"<afile>" or "<abuf>". They are also used with the |fnamemodify()| function. 814These are not available when Vim has been compiled without the |+modify_fname| 815feature. 816These modifiers can be given, in this order: 817 :p Make file name a full path. Must be the first modifier. Also 818 changes "~/" (and "~user/" for Unix and VMS) to the path for 819 the home directory. If the name is a directory a path 820 separator is added at the end. For a file name that does not 821 exist and does not have an absolute path the result is 822 unpredictable. 823 :8 Converts the path to 8.3 short format (currently only on 824 win32). Will act on as much of a path that is an existing 825 path. 826 :~ Reduce file name to be relative to the home directory, if 827 possible. File name is unmodified if it is not below the home 828 directory. 829 :. Reduce file name to be relative to current directory, if 830 possible. File name is unmodified if it is not below the 831 current directory. 832 For maximum shortness, use ":~:.". 833 :h Head of the file name (the last component and any separators 834 removed). Cannot be used with :e, :r or :t. 835 Can be repeated to remove several components at the end. 836 When the file name ends in a path separator, only the path 837 separator is removed. Thus ":p:h" on a directory name results 838 on the directory name itself (without trailing slash). 839 When the file name is an absolute path (starts with "/" for 840 Unix; "x:\" for MS-DOS, WIN32, OS/2; "drive:" for Amiga), that 841 part is not removed. When there is no head (path is relative 842 to current directory) the result is empty. 843 :t Tail of the file name (last component of the name). Must 844 precede any :r or :e. 845 :r Root of the file name (the last extension removed). When 846 there is only an extension (file name that starts with '.', 847 e.g., ".vimrc"), it is not removed. Can be repeated to remove 848 several extensions (last one first). 849 :e Extension of the file name. Only makes sense when used alone. 850 When there is no extension the result is empty. 851 When there is only an extension (file name that starts with 852 '.'), the result is empty. Can be repeated to include more 853 extensions. If there are not enough extensions (but at least 854 one) as much as possible are included. 855 :s?pat?sub? 856 Substitute the first occurrence of "pat" with "sub". This 857 works like the |:s| command. "pat" is a regular expression. 858 Any character can be used for '?', but it must not occur in 859 "pat" or "sub". 860 After this, the previous modifiers can be used again. For 861 example ":p", to make a full path after the substitution. 862 :gs?pat?sub? 863 Substitute all occurrences of "path" with "sub". Otherwise 864 this works like ":s". 865 866Examples, when the file name is "src/version.c", current dir 867"/home/mool/vim": > 868 :p /home/mool/vim/src/version.c 869 :p:. src/version.c 870 :p:~ ~/vim/src/version.c 871 :h src 872 :p:h /home/mool/vim/src 873 :p:h:h /home/mool/vim 874 :t version.c 875 :p:t version.c 876 :r src/version 877 :p:r /home/mool/vim/src/version 878 :t:r version 879 :e c 880 :s?version?main? src/main.c 881 :s?version?main?:p /home/mool/vim/src/main.c 882 :p:gs?/?\\? \home\mool\vim\src\version.c 883 884Examples, when the file name is "src/version.c.gz": > 885 :p /home/mool/vim/src/version.c.gz 886 :e gz 887 :e:e c.gz 888 :e:e:e c.gz 889 :e:e:r c 890 :r src/version.c 891 :r:e c 892 :r:r src/version 893 :r:r:r src/version 894< 895 *extension-removal* *:_%<* 896If a "<" is appended to "%", "#", "#n" or "CTRL-V p" the extension of the file 897name is removed (everything after and including the last '.' in the file 898name). This is included for backwards compatibility with version 3.0, the 899":r" form is preferred. Examples: > 900 901 % current file name 902 %< current file name without extension 903 # alternate file name for current window 904 #< idem, without extension 905 #31 alternate file number 31 906 #31< idem, without extension 907 <cword> word under the cursor 908 <cWORD> WORD under the cursor (see |WORD|) 909 <cfile> path name under the cursor 910 <cfile>< idem, without extension 911 912Note: Where a file name is expected wildcards expansion is done. On Unix the 913shell is used for this, unless it can be done internally (for speed). 914Backticks also work, like in > 915 :n `echo *.c` 916(backtick expansion is not possible in |restricted-mode|) 917But expansion is only done if there are any wildcards before expanding the 918'%', '#', etc.. This avoids expanding wildcards inside a file name. If you 919want to expand the result of <cfile>, add a wildcard character to it. 920Examples: (alternate file name is "?readme?") 921 command expands to ~ 922 :e # :e ?readme? 923 :e `ls #` :e {files matching "?readme?"} 924 :e #.* :e {files matching "?readme?.*"} 925 :cd <cfile> :cd {file name under cursor} 926 :cd <cfile>* :cd {file name under cursor plus "*" and then expanded} 927 928When the expanded argument contains a "!" and it is used for a shell command 929(":!cmd", ":r !cmd" or ":w !cmd"), the "!" is escaped with a backslash to 930avoid it being expanded into a previously used command. When the 'shell' 931option contains "sh", this is done twice, to avoid the shell trying to expand 932the "!". 933 934 *filename-backslash* 935For filesystems that use a backslash as directory separator (MS-DOS, Windows, 936OS/2), it's a bit difficult to recognize a backslash that is used to escape 937the special meaning of the next character. The general rule is: If the 938backslash is followed by a normal file name character, it does not have a 939special meaning. Therefore "\file\foo" is a valid file name, you don't have 940to type the backslash twice. 941 942An exception is the '$' sign. It is a valid character in a file name. But 943to avoid a file name like "$home" to be interpreted as an environment variable, 944it needs to be preceded by a backslash. Therefore you need to use "/\$home" 945for the file "$home" in the root directory. A few examples: 946 947 FILE NAME INTERPRETED AS ~ 948 $home expanded to value of environment var $home 949 \$home file "$home" in current directory 950 /\$home file "$home" in root directory 951 \\$home file "\\", followed by expanded $home 952 953============================================================================== 9546. Command-line window *cmdline-window* *cmdwin* 955 *command-line-window* 956In the command-line window the command line can be edited just like editing 957text in any window. It is a special kind of window, because you cannot leave 958it in a normal way. 959{not available when compiled without the |+cmdline_hist| or |+vertsplit| 960feature} 961 962 963OPEN *c_CTRL-F* *q:* *q/* *q?* 964 965There are two ways to open the command-line window: 9661. From Command-line mode, use the key specified with the 'cedit' option. 967 The default is CTRL-F when 'compatible' is not set. 9682. From Normal mode, use the "q:", "q/" or "q?" command. 969 This starts editing an Ex command-line ("q:") or search string ("q/" or 970 "q?"). Note that this is not possible while recording is in progress (the 971 "q" stops recording then). 972 973When the window opens it is filled with the command-line history. The last 974line contains the command as typed so far. The left column will show a 975character that indicates the type of command-line being edited, see 976|cmdwin-char|. 977 978Vim will be in Normal mode when the editor is opened, except when 'insertmode' 979is set. 980 981The height of the window is specified with 'cmdwinheight' (or smaller if there 982is no room). The window is always full width and is positioned just above the 983command-line. 984 985 986EDIT 987 988You can now use commands to move around and edit the text in the window. Both 989in Normal mode and Insert mode. 990 991It is possible to use ":", "/" and other commands that use the command-line, 992but it's not possible to open another command-line window then. There is no 993nesting. 994 *E11* 995The command-line window is not a normal window. It is not possible to move to 996another window or edit another buffer. All commands that would do this are 997disabled in the command-line window. Of course it _is_ possible to execute 998any command that you entered in the command-line window. Other text edits are 999discarded when closing the window. 1000 1001 1002CLOSE *E199* 1003 1004There are several ways to leave the command-line window: 1005 1006<CR> Execute the command-line under the cursor. Works both in 1007 Insert and in Normal mode. 1008CTRL-C Continue in Command-line mode. The command-line under the 1009 cursor is used as the command-line. Works both in Insert and 1010 in Normal mode. ":close" also works. There is no redraw, 1011 thus the window will remain visible. 1012:quit Discard the command line and go back to Normal mode. 1013 ":exit", ":xit" and CTRL-\ CTRL-N also work. 1014:qall Quit Vim, unless there are changes in some buffer. 1015:qall! Quit Vim, discarding changes to any buffer. 1016 1017Once the command-line window is closed the old window sizes are restored. The 1018executed command applies to the window and buffer where the command-line was 1019started from. This works as if the command-line window was not there, except 1020that there will be an extra screen redraw. 1021The buffer used for the command-line window is deleted. Any changes to lines 1022other than the one that is executed with <CR> are lost. 1023 1024If you would like to execute the command under the cursor and then have the 1025command-line window open again, you may find this mapping useful: > 1026 1027 :autocmd CmdwinEnter * map <buffer> <F5> <CR>q: 1028 1029 1030VARIOUS 1031 1032The command-line window cannot be used: 1033- when there already is a command-line window (no nesting) 1034- for entering an encryption key or when using inputsecret() 1035- when Vim was not compiled with the |+vertsplit| feature 1036 1037Some options are set when the command-line window is opened: 1038'filetype' "vim", when editing an Ex command-line; this starts Vim syntax 1039 highlighting if it was enabled 1040'rightleft' off 1041'modifiable' on 1042'buftype' "nofile" 1043'swapfile' off 1044 1045It is allowed to write the buffer contents to a file. This is an easy way to 1046save the command-line history and read it back later. 1047 1048If the 'wildchar' option is set to <Tab>, and the command-line window is used 1049for an Ex command, then two mappings will be added to use <Tab> for completion 1050in the command-line window, like this: > 1051 :imap <buffer> <Tab> <C-X><C-V> 1052 :nmap <buffer> <Tab> a<C-X><C-V> 1053Note that hitting <Tab> in Normal mode will do completion on the next 1054character. That way it works at the end of the line. 1055If you don't want these mappings, disable them with: > 1056 au CmdwinEnter [:>] iunmap <Tab> 1057 au CmdwinEnter [:>] nunmap <Tab> 1058You could put these lines in your vimrc file. 1059 1060While in the command-line window you cannot use the mouse to put the cursor in 1061another window, or drag statuslines of other windows. You can drag the 1062statusline of the command-line window itself and the statusline above it. 1063Thus you can resize the command-line window, but not others. 1064 1065 1066AUTOCOMMANDS 1067 1068Two autocommand events are used: |CmdwinEnter| and |CmdwinLeave|. Since this 1069window is of a special type, the WinEnter, WinLeave, BufEnter and BufLeave 1070events are not triggered. You can use the Cmdwin events to do settings 1071specifically for the command-line window. Be careful not to cause side 1072effects! 1073Example: > 1074 :au CmdwinEnter : let b:cpt_save = &cpt | set cpt=. 1075 :au CmdwinLeave : let &cpt = b:cpt_save 1076This sets 'complete' to use completion in the current window for |i_CTRL-N|. 1077Another example: > 1078 :au CmdwinEnter [/?] startinsert 1079This will make Vim start in Insert mode in the command-line window. 1080 1081 *cmdwin-char* 1082The character used for the pattern indicates the type of command-line: 1083 : normal Ex command 1084 > debug mode command |debug-mode| 1085 / forward search string 1086 ? backward search string 1087 = expression for "= |expr-register| 1088 @ string for |input()| 1089 - text for |:insert| or |:append| 1090 1091 vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: 1092