usr_01 About the manuals
usr_02 The first steps in Vim
usr_03 Moving around

usr_01 About the manuals

This chapter introduces the manials available with Vim. Read this to know the conditions under which the commands are explained.

Next chapter: usr_02 The first steps in Vim
Table of contents: usr_toc

01.1 Two manuals

The Vim docymentation consists of two parts:

  • The User manual
    • Task oriented explanations, from simple to complex. Reads from start to end like a book.
  • The Reference manual
    • Precise description of how everything in Vim works.

The notation used in these manuals is explained here: notation

JUMPING AROUND

The text contains hyperlinks between the two parts, allowing you to quickly jump between the descripting of an editing task and a precise explanation of the commands and options used for it. Use these two commands:

  • Press CTRL-] to jump to a subject under the cursor.
  • Press CTRL-o to jump back (repeat to go further back).

Many links are in vertical bars,like this: bars. The bar themselves may be hidden or invisible; see below. An option name, like ’number’, a command in double quotes like :write and any other word can also be used as a link. Try it out: Move the cursor to CTRL-] and press CTRL-o on it.

Other subjects can be found with the :help command; see help.txt

The bars and stars are usually hidden with the conceal feature. They also use hl-Ignore, using the same color for the text as the background. You can make them visible with:

1
2
3

:set conceallevel=0
:hi link HelpBar Normal
:hi link HelpStar Normal

01.2 Vim installed

Most of the manuals assume that Vim has bean properly installed. If you didn’t do that yet, or if Vim doesn’t run properly (e.g., files can’t be found or in the GUI the menus do not show up) first read the chapter on installation: usr_90.txt

not-compatible

The manuals often assume you are using Vim with Vi-compatibility switched off. For most commands this doesn’t matter, but sometimes it is important, e.g., for multi-level undo. An easy way to make sure you are using a nice setup is to copy the example vimrc file. By doing this inside Vim you don’t have to check out where it is located. How to do this depends on the system you are using:

Unix:

1

:!cp -i $VIMRUNTIME/vimrc_example.vim ~/.vimrc

MS-Windows:

1

:!copy $VIMRUNTIME/vimrc_example.vim $VIM/_vimrc

Amiga:

1

:!copy $VIMRUNTIME/vimrc_example.vim $VIM/.vimrc

If the file already exists you probably want to keep it.

If you start Vim now, The compatible option should be off. You can check it with this command:

1

:set compatible?

If it responds with “nocompatible” you are doing well. If the response is “compatible” you are in trouble. You will have to find out why the option is still set. Perhaps the file you wrote above is not found. Use this command to find out:

1

:scriptnames

If your file is not in the list, check its location and name. If it is in the list, there must be some other place where the ‘compatible’ option is switched back on.

For more info see vimrc and compatible-default.

Note

This manual is about using Vim in the normal way. There is an alternaive called “evim” (easy Vim). This is still Vim, but used in a way that resembles a click-and-type editor like Notepad. It always stays in Insert mode, thus it feels very different. It is not explained in the user manual, since it should be mostly self-explanatory. See evim-keys for details.

01.3 Using the Vim tutor

tutor vimtutor

Instead of reading the text (boring!) you can use the vimtutor to learn your first Vim commands. This is a 30-minute tytorial that teaches the most basic Vim functionality hands-on.

On Unix, if Vim has bean properly installed, you can start it from the shell:

1

vimtutor

On MS-Windows you can find it in the Program/Vim menu. Or execute vimtutor.bat in the $VIMRUNTIME directory.

This will make a copyof the tutor file, so that you can edit it without the risk of damaging the original.

There are a few translated versions of the tutor. To find out if yours is avaiable, use the two-letter language code. For French:

1

vimtutor fr

On Unix, if you prefer using the GUI version of Vim, use gvimtutor or vimtutor -g instead of vimtutor.

For OpenVMS, if Vim has bean properly installed, you can start vimtutor from a VMS prompt with:

1

@VIM:vimtutor

Optionally add the two-letter language code as above.

On other systems, you have to do a little work:

  • Copy the tutor file. You can do this with Vim (it knows where to find it):
    • vim --clean -c 'e $VIMRUNTIME/tutor/tutor' -c 'w! TUTORCOPY' -c 'q'. This will write the file TUTORCOPY in the current directory.
    • For French: vim --clean -c 'e $VIMRUNTIME/tutor/tutor.fr' -c 'w! TUTORCOPY' -c 'q'. To use a translated version of the tutor, append the two-letter language code to the filename.
  • Edit the copied file with Vim: vim --clean TUTORCOPY. The –clean argument makes sure Vim is started with noce defaults.
  • Delete the copied file when you are finished with it: del TUTORCOPY.

The Vim user manual and reference manual are Copyright (c) 1988-2003 by Bram Moolenaar. This material may be distributed only subject to the terms and conditions set forth in the Open Publication License, v1.0 or later. The latest version is presently available at:http://www.opencontent.org/openpub/.

People who contribute to the manuals must agree with the above copyright notice.

frombook

Parts of the user manual come from the book 《Vi IMproved - Vim》 by Steve Oualline (published by New Riders Publishing, ISBN: 0735710015). The Open Publication License applies to this book. Only selected parts are included and these have been modified (e.g., by removing the pictures, updating the text for Vim 6.0 and later, fixing mistakes). The omission of the frombook tag does not mean that the text does not come from the book.

Many thanks to Steve Oualline and New Riders for creating this book and publishing it under the OPL! It has been a great help while writing the user manual. Not only by providing literal text, but also by setting the tone and style.

If you make money through selling the manuals, you are strongly encouraged to donate part of the profit to help AIDS victims in Uganda. See iccf.

Next chapter: usr_02 The first steps in Vim

Tags: