Vim documentation: options
main help file
*options.txt* For Vim version 9.0. Last change: 2023 Feb 17
VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
Options *options*
1. Setting options |set-option|
2. Automatically setting options |auto-setting|
3. Options summary |option-summary|
For an overview of options see quickref.txt |option-list|.
Vim has a number of internal variables and switches which can be set to
achieve special effects. These options come in three forms:
boolean can only be on or off *boolean* *toggle*
number has a numeric value
string has a string value
==============================================================================
1. Setting options *set-option* *E764*
*:se* *:set*
:se[t][!] Show all options that differ from their default value.
When [!] is present every option is on a separate
line.
:se[t][!] all Show all but terminal options.
When [!] is present every option is on a separate
line.
:se[t] termcap Show all terminal options. Note that in the GUI the
key codes are not shown, because they are generated
internally and can't be changed. Changing the terminal
codes in the GUI is not useful either...
The options have the form t_AB, see
|terminal-options|.
:se[t]! termcap Idem, but don't use multiple columns.
*E518* *E519*
:se[t] {option}? Show value of {option}.
:se[t] {option} Toggle option: set, switch it on.
Number option: show value.
String option: show value.
:se[t] no{option} Toggle option: Reset, switch it off.
*:set-!* *:set-inv*
:se[t] {option}! or
:se[t] inv{option} Toggle option: Invert value.
*:set-default* *:set-&* *:set-&vi* *:set-&vim*
:se[t] {option}& Reset option to its default value. May depend on the
current value of 'compatible'.
:se[t] {option}&vi Reset option to its Vi default value.
:se[t] {option}&vim Reset option to its Vim default value.
:se[t] all& Set all options to their default value. The values of
these options are not changed:
all terminal options, starting with t_
'columns'
'cryptmethod'
'encoding'
'key'
'lines'
'term'
'ttymouse'
'ttytype'
Warning: This may have a lot of side effects.
*:set-args* *E487* *E521*
:se[t] {option}={value} or
:se[t] {option}:{value}
Set string or number option to {value}.
For numeric options the value can be given in decimal,
hex (preceded with 0x) or octal (preceded with '0').
The old value can be inserted by typing 'wildchar' (by
default this is a <Tab> or CTRL-E if 'compatible' is
set). See |cmdline-completion|.
White space between {option} and '=' is allowed and
will be ignored. White space between '=' and {value}
is not allowed.
See |option-backslash| for using white space and
backslashes in {value}.
:se[t] {option}+={value} *:set+=*
Add the {value} to a number option, or append the
{value} to a string option. When the option is a
comma-separated list, a comma is added, unless the
value was empty.
If the option is a list of flags, superfluous flags
are removed. When adding a flag that was already
present the option value doesn't change.
Also see |:set-args| above.
:se[t] {option}^={value} *:set^=*
Multiply the {value} to a number option, or prepend
the {value} to a string option. When the option is a
comma-separated list, a comma is added, unless the
value was empty.
Also see |:set-args| above.
:se[t] {option}-={value} *:set-=*
Subtract the {value} from a number option, or remove
the {value} from a string option, if it is there.
If the {value} is not found in a string option, there
is no error or warning. When the option is a comma
separated list, a comma is deleted, unless the option
becomes empty.
When the option is a list of flags, {value} must be
exactly as they appear in the option. Remove flags
one by one to avoid problems.
Also see |:set-args| above.
The {option} arguments to ":set" may be repeated. For example:
:set ai nosi sw=3 ts=3
If you make an error in one of the arguments, an error message will be given
and the following arguments will be ignored.
*:set-verbose*
When 'verbose' is non-zero, displaying an option value will also tell where it
was last set. Example:
:verbose set shiftwidth cindent?
shiftwidth=4
Last set from modeline line 1
cindent
Last set from /usr/local/share/vim/vim60/ftplugin/c.vim line 30
This is only done when specific option values are requested, not for ":verbose
set all" or ":verbose set" without an argument.
When the option was set by hand there is no "Last set" message.
When the option was set while executing a function, user command or
autocommand, the script in which it was defined is reported.
Note that an option may also have been set as a side effect of setting
'compatible'.
A few special texts:
Last set from modeline line 1
Option was set in a |modeline|.
Last set from --cmd argument
Option was set with command line argument |--cmd| or +.
Last set from -c argument
Option was set with command line argument |-c|, +, |-S| or
|-q|.
Last set from environment variable
Option was set from an environment variable, $VIMINIT,
$GVIMINIT or $EXINIT.
Last set from error handler
Option was cleared when evaluating it resulted in an error.
{not available when compiled without the |+eval| feature}
*:set-termcap* *E522*
For {option} the form "t_xx" may be used to set a terminal option. This will
override the value from the termcap. You can then use it in a mapping. If
the "xx" part contains special characters, use the <t_xx> form:
:set <t_#4>=^[Ot
This can also be used to translate a special code for a normal key. For
example, if Alt-b produces <Esc>b, use this:
:set <M-b>=^[b
(the ^[ is a real <Esc> here, use CTRL-V <Esc> to enter it)
The advantage over a mapping is that it works in all situations.
You can define any key codes, e.g.:
:set t_xy=^[foo;
There is no warning for using a name that isn't recognized. You can map these
codes as you like:
:map <t_xy> something
*E846*
When a key code is not set, it's like it does not exist. Trying to get its
value will result in an error:
:set t_kb=
:set t_kb
E846: Key code not set: t_kb
The t_xx options cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
security reasons.
The listing from ":set" looks different from Vi. Long string options are put
at the end of the list. The number of options is quite large. The output of
"set all" probably does not fit on the screen, causing Vim to give the
|more-prompt|.
*option-backslash*
To include white space in a string option value it has to be preceded with a
backslash. To include a backslash you have to use two. Effectively this
means that the number of backslashes in an option value is halved (rounded
down).
A few examples:
:set tags=tags\ /usr/tags results in "tags /usr/tags"
:set tags=tags\\,file results in "tags\,file"
:set tags=tags\\\ file results in "tags\ file"
The "|" character separates a ":set" command from a following command. To
include the "|" in the option value, use "\|" instead. This example sets the
'titlestring' option to "hi|there":
:set titlestring=hi\|there
This sets the 'titlestring' option to "hi" and 'iconstring' to "there":
:set titlestring=hi|set iconstring=there
Similarly, in legacy script the double quote character starts a comment. To
include the '"'' in the option value, use '\"' instead. This example sets the
'titlestring' option to 'hi "there"':
:set titlestring=hi\ \"there\"
In |Vim9| script it's simpler, comments start with a '#' character, and only
when preceded by white space. A backslash is needed less often:
vim9script
set titlestring=hi\ "there"
set titlestring=hi#there#
set titlestring=hi\ \#there#
For Win32 backslashes in file names are mostly not removed. More precise: For
options that expect a file name (those where environment variables are
expanded) a backslash before a normal file name character is not removed. But
a backslash before a special character (space, backslash, comma, etc.) is used
like explained above.
There is one special situation, when the value starts with "\\":
:set dir=\\machine\path results in "\\machine\path"
:set dir=\\\\machine\\path results in "\\machine\path"
:set dir=\\path\\file results in "\\path\file" (wrong!)
For the first one the start is kept, but for the second one the backslashes
are halved. This makes sure it works both when you expect backslashes to be
halved and when you expect the backslashes to be kept. The third gives a
result which is probably not what you want. Avoid it.
*add-option-flags* *remove-option-flags*
*E539* *E550* *E551* *E552*
Some options are a list of flags. When you want to add a flag to such an
option, without changing the existing ones, you can do it like this:
:set guioptions+=a
Remove a flag from an option like this:
:set guioptions-=a
This removes the 'a' flag from 'guioptions'.
Note that you should add or remove one flag at a time. If 'guioptions' has
the value "ab", using "set guioptions-=ba" won't work, because the string "ba"
doesn't appear.
*:set_env* *expand-env* *expand-environment-var*
Environment variables in specific string options will be expanded. If the
environment variable exists the '$' and the following environment variable
name is replaced with its value. If it does not exist the '$' and the name
are not modified. Any non-id character (not a letter, digit or '_') may
follow the environment variable name. That character and what follows is
appended to the value of the environment variable. Examples:
:set term=$TERM.new
:set path=/usr/$INCLUDE,$HOME/include,.
When adding or removing a string from an option with ":set opt-=val" or ":set
opt+=val" the expansion is done before the adding or removing.
Handling of local options *local-options*
Some of the options only apply to a window or buffer. Each window or buffer
has its own copy of this option, thus each can have its own value. This
allows you to set 'list' in one window but not in another. And set
'shiftwidth' to 3 in one buffer and 4 in another.
The following explains what happens to these local options in specific
situations. You don't really need to know all of this, since Vim mostly uses
the option values you would expect. Unfortunately, doing what the user
expects is a bit complicated...
When splitting a window, the local options are copied to the new window. Thus
right after the split the contents of the two windows look the same.
When editing a new buffer, its local option values must be initialized. Since
the local options of the current buffer might be specifically for that buffer,
these are not used. Instead, for each buffer-local option there also is a
global value, which is used for new buffers. With ":set" both the local and
global value is changed. With "setlocal" only the local value is changed,
thus this value is not used when editing a new buffer.
When editing a buffer that has been edited before, the options from the window
that was last closed are used again. If this buffer has been edited in this
window, the values from back then are used. Otherwise the values from the
last closed window where the buffer was edited last are used.
It's possible to set a local window option specifically for a type of buffer.
When you edit another buffer in the same window, you don't want to keep
using these local window options. Therefore Vim keeps a global value of the
local window options, which is used when editing another buffer. Each window
has its own copy of these values. Thus these are local to the window, but
global to all buffers in the window. With this you can do:
:e one
:set list
:e two
Now the 'list' option will also be set in "two", since with the ":set list"
command you have also set the global value.
:set nolist
:e one
:setlocal list
:e two
Now the 'list' option is not set, because ":set nolist" resets the global
value, ":setlocal list" only changes the local value and ":e two" gets the
global value. Note that if you do this next:
:e one
You will get back the 'list' value as it was the last time you edited "one".
The options local to a window are remembered for each buffer. This also
happens when the buffer is not loaded, but they are lost when the buffer is
wiped out |:bwipe|.
*:setl* *:setlocal*
:setl[ocal][!] ... Like ":set" but set only the value local to the
current buffer or window. Not all options have a
local value. If the option does not have a local
value the global value is set.
With the "all" argument: display local values for all
local options.
Without argument: Display local values for all local
options which are different from the default.
When displaying a specific local option, show the
local value. For a global/local boolean option, when
the global value is being used, "--" is displayed
before the option name.
For a global option the global value is
shown (but that might change in the future).
:setl[ocal] {option}< Set the local value of {option} to its global value by
copying the value.
:se[t] {option}< For |global-local| options: Remove the local value of
{option}, so that the global value will be used.
*:setg* *:setglobal*
:setg[lobal][!] ... Like ":set" but set only the global value for a local
option without changing the local value.
When displaying an option, the global value is shown.
With the "all" argument: display global values for all
local options.
Without argument: display global values for all local
options which are different from the default.
For buffer-local and window-local options:
Command global value local value
:set option=value set set
:setlocal option=value - set
:setglobal option=value set -
:set option? - display
:setlocal option? - display
:setglobal option? display -
Global options with a local value *global-local*
Options are global when you mostly use one value for all buffers and windows.
For some global options it's useful to sometimes have a different local value.
You can set the local value with ":setlocal". That buffer or window will then
use the local value, while other buffers and windows continue using the global
value.
For example, you have two windows, both on C source code. They use the global
'makeprg' option. If you do this in one of the two windows:
:set makeprg=gmake
then the other window will switch to the same value. There is no need to set
the 'makeprg' option in the other C source window too.
However, if you start editing a Perl file in a new window, you want to use
another 'makeprg' for it, without changing the value used for the C source
files. You use this command:
:setlocal makeprg=perlmake
You can switch back to using the global value by making the local value empty:
:setlocal makeprg=
This only works for a string option. For a number or boolean option you need
to use the "<" flag, like this:
:setlocal autoread<
Note that for non-boolean and non-number options using "<" copies the global
value to the local value, it doesn't switch back to using the global value
(that matters when the global value changes later). You can also use:
:set path<
This will make the local value of 'path' empty, so that the global value is
used. Thus it does the same as:
:setlocal path=
Note: In the future more global options can be made |global-local|. Using
":setlocal" on a global option might work differently then.
*option-value-function*
Some options ('completefunc', 'imactivatefunc', 'imstatusfunc', 'omnifunc',
'operatorfunc', 'quickfixtextfunc', 'tagfunc' and 'thesaurusfunc') are set to
a function name or a function reference or a lambda function. When using a
lambda it will be converted to the name, e.g. "<lambda>123". Examples:
set opfunc=MyOpFunc
set opfunc=function('MyOpFunc')
set opfunc=funcref('MyOpFunc')
set opfunc={a\ ->\ MyOpFunc(a)}
Set to a script-local function:
set opfunc=s:MyLocalFunc
set opfunc=<SID>MyLocalFunc
In |Vim9| script the "s:" and "<SID>" can be omitted if the function exists in
the script:
set opfunc=MyLocalFunc
Set using a funcref variable:
let Fn = function('MyTagFunc')
let &tagfunc = Fn
Set using a lambda expression:
let &tagfunc = {t -> MyTagFunc(t)}
Set using a variable with lambda expression:
let L = {a, b, c -> MyTagFunc(a, b , c)}
let &tagfunc = L
In Vim9 script, in a compiled function, you can use a lambda, but a
closured does not work, because the function will be called without the
context of where it was defined.
Setting the filetype
:setf[iletype] [FALLBACK] {filetype} *:setf* *:setfiletype*
Set the 'filetype' option to {filetype}, but only if
not done yet in a sequence of (nested) autocommands.
This is short for:
:if !did_filetype()
: setlocal filetype={filetype}
:endif
This command is used in a filetype.vim file to avoid
setting the 'filetype' option twice, causing different
settings and syntax files to be loaded.
When the optional FALLBACK argument is present, a
later :setfiletype command will override the
'filetype'. This is to be used for filetype
detections that are just a guess. |did_filetype()|
will return false after this command.
*option-window* *optwin*
:bro[wse] se[t] *:set-browse* *:browse-set* *:opt* *:options*
:opt[ions] Open a window for viewing and setting all options.
Options are grouped by function.
Offers short help for each option. Hit <CR> on the
short help to open a help window with more help for
the option.
Modify the value of the option and hit <CR> on the
"set" line to set the new value. For window and
buffer specific options, the last accessed window is
used to set the option value in, unless this is a help
window, in which case the window below help window is
used (skipping the option-window).
{not available when compiled without the |+eval|
feature}
*$HOME*
Using "~" is like using "$HOME", but it is only recognized at the start of an
option and after a space or comma.
On Unix systems "~user" can be used too. It is replaced by the home directory
of user "user". Example:
:set path=~mool/include,/usr/include,.
On Unix systems the form "${HOME}" can be used too. The name between {} can
contain non-id characters then. Note that if you want to use this for the
"gf" command, you need to add the '{' and '}' characters to 'isfname'.
NOTE: expanding environment variables and "~/" is only done with the ":set"
command, not when assigning a value to an option with ":let".
*$HOME-windows*
On MS-Windows, if $HOME is not defined as an environment variable, then
at runtime Vim will set it to the expansion of $HOMEDRIVE$HOMEPATH.
If $HOMEDRIVE is not set then $USERPROFILE is used.
This expanded value is not exported to the environment, this matters when
running an external command:
:echo system('set | findstr ^HOME=')
and
:echo luaeval('os.getenv("HOME")')
should echo nothing (an empty string) despite exists('$HOME') being true.
When setting $HOME to a non-empty string it will be exported to the
subprocesses.
Note the maximum length of an expanded option is limited. How much depends on
the system, mostly it is something like 256 or 1024 characters.
*:fix* *:fixdel*
:fix[del] Set the value of 't_kD':
't_kb' is 't_kD' becomes
CTRL-? CTRL-H
not CTRL-? CTRL-?
(CTRL-? is 0o177 octal, 0x7f hex)
If your delete key terminal code is wrong, but the
code for backspace is alright, you can put this in
your .vimrc:
:fixdel
This works no matter what the actual code for
backspace is.
If the backspace key terminal code is wrong you can
use this:
:if &term == "termname"
: set t_kb=^V<BS>
: fixdel
:endif
Where "^V" is CTRL-V and "<BS>" is the backspace key
(don't type four characters!). Replace "termname"
with your terminal name.
If your <Delete> key sends a strange key sequence (not
CTRL-? or CTRL-H) you cannot use ":fixdel". Then use:
:if &term == "termname"
: set t_kD=^V<Delete>
:endif
Where "^V" is CTRL-V and "<Delete>" is the delete key
(don't type eight characters!). Replace "termname"
with your terminal name.
*Linux-backspace*
Note about Linux: By default the backspace key
produces CTRL-?, which is wrong. You can fix it by
putting this line in your rc.local:
echo "keycode 14 = BackSpace" | loadkeys
*NetBSD-backspace*
Note about NetBSD: If your backspace doesn't produce
the right code, try this:
xmodmap -e "keycode 22 = BackSpace"
If this works, add this in your .Xmodmap file:
keysym 22 = BackSpace
You need to restart for this to take effect.
==============================================================================
2. Automatically setting options *auto-setting*
Besides changing options with the ":set" command, there are three alternatives
to set options automatically for one or more files:
1. When starting Vim initializations are read from various places. See
|initialization|. Most of them are performed for all editing sessions,
and some of them depend on the directory where Vim is started.
You can create an initialization file with |:mkvimrc|, |:mkview| and
|:mksession|.
2. If you start editing a new file, the automatic commands are executed.
This can be used to set options for files matching a particular pattern and
many other things. See |autocommand|.
3. If you start editing a new file, and the 'modeline' option is on, a
number of lines at the beginning and end of the file are checked for
modelines. This is explained here.
*modeline* *vim:* *vi:* *ex:* *E520*
There are two forms of modelines. The first form:
[text{white}]{vi:|vim:|ex:}[white]{options}
[text{white}] empty or any text followed by at least one blank
character (<Space> or <Tab>); "ex:" always requires at
least one blank character
{vi:|vim:|ex:} the string "vi:", "vim:" or "ex:"
[white] optional white space
{options} a list of option settings, separated with white space
or ':', where each part between ':' is the argument
for a ":set" command (can be empty)
Examples:
vi:noai:sw=3 ts=6
vim: tw=77
The second form (this is compatible with some versions of Vi):
[text{white}]{vi:|vim:|Vim:|ex:}[white]se[t] {options}:[text]
[text{white}] empty or any text followed by at least one blank
character (<Space> or <Tab>); "ex:" always requires at
least one blank character
{vi:|vim:|Vim:|ex:} the string "vi:", "vim:", "Vim:" or "ex:"
[white] optional white space
se[t] the string "set " or "se " (note the space); When
"Vim" is used it must be "set".
{options} a list of options, separated with white space, which
is the argument for a ":set" command
: a colon
[text] any text or empty
Examples:
/* vim: set ai tw=75: */
/* Vim: set ai tw=75: */
The white space before {vi:|vim:|Vim:|ex:} is required. This minimizes the
chance that a normal word like "lex:" is caught. There is one exception:
"vi:" and "vim:" can also be at the start of the line (for compatibility with
version 3.0). Using "ex:" at the start of the line will be ignored (this
could be short for "example:").
If the modeline is disabled within a modeline, subsequent modelines will be
ignored. This is to allow turning off modeline on a per-file basis. This is
useful when a line looks like a modeline but isn't. For example, it would be
good to start a YAML file containing strings like "vim:" with
# vim: nomodeline
so as to avoid modeline misdetection. Following options on the same line
after modeline deactivation, if any, are still evaluated (but you would
normally not have any).
*modeline-local*
The options are set like with ":setlocal": The new value only applies to the
buffer and window that contain the file. Although it's possible to set global
options from a modeline, this is unusual. If you have two windows open and
the files in it set the same global option to a different value, the result
depends on which one was opened last.
When editing a file that was already loaded, only the window-local options
from the modeline are used. Thus if you manually changed a buffer-local
option after opening the file, it won't be changed if you edit the same buffer
in another window. But window-local options will be set.
*modeline-version*
If the modeline is only to be used for some versions of Vim, the version
number can be specified where "vim:" or "Vim:" is used:
vim{vers}: version {vers} or later
vim<{vers}: version before {vers}
vim={vers}: version {vers}
vim>{vers}: version after {vers}
{vers} is 700 for Vim 7.0 (hundred times the major version plus minor).
For example, to use a modeline only for Vim 7.0:
/* vim700: set foldmethod=marker */
To use a modeline for Vim after version 7.2:
/* vim>702: set cole=2: */
There can be no blanks between "vim" and the ":".
The number of lines that are checked can be set with the 'modelines' option.
If 'modeline' is off or 'modelines' is 0 no lines are checked.
Note that for the first form all of the rest of the line is used, thus a line
like:
/* vi:ts=4: */
will give an error message for the trailing "*/". This line is OK:
/* vi:set ts=4: */
If an error is detected the rest of the line is skipped.
If you want to include a ':' in a set command precede it with a '\'. The
backslash in front of the ':' will be removed. Example:
/* vi:set fillchars=stl\:^,vert\:\|: */
This sets the 'fillchars' option to "stl:^,vert:\|". Only a single backslash
before the ':' is removed. Thus to include "\:" you have to specify "\\:".
*E992*
No other commands than "set" are supported, for security reasons (somebody
might create a Trojan horse text file with modelines). And not all options
can be set. For some options a flag is set, so that when the value is used
the |sandbox| is effective. Some options can only be set from the modeline
when 'modelineexpr' is set (the default is off).
Still, there is always a small risk that a modeline causes trouble. E.g.,
when some joker sets 'textwidth' to 5 all your lines are wrapped unexpectedly.
So disable modelines before editing untrusted text. The mail ftplugin does
this, for example.
Hint: If you would like to do something else than setting an option, you could
define an autocommand that checks the file for a specific string. For
example:
au BufReadPost * if getline(1) =~ "VAR" | call SetVar() | endif
And define a function SetVar() that does something with the line containing
"VAR".
==============================================================================
3. Options summary *option-summary*
In the list below all the options are mentioned with their full name and with
an abbreviation if there is one. Both forms may be used.
In this document when a boolean option is "set" that means that ":set option"
is entered. When an option is "reset", ":set nooption" is used.
For some options there are two default values: The "Vim default", which is
used when 'compatible' is not set, and the "Vi default", which is used when
'compatible' is set.
Most options are the same in all windows and buffers. There are a few that
are specific to how the text is presented in a window. These can be set to a
different value in each window. For example the 'list' option can be set in
one window and reset in another for the same text, giving both types of view
at the same time. There are a few options that are specific to a certain
file. These can have a different value for each file or buffer. For example
the 'textwidth' option can be 78 for a normal text file and 0 for a C
program.
global one option for all buffers and windows
local to window each window has its own copy of this option
local to buffer each buffer has its own copy of this option
When creating a new window the option values from the currently active window
are used as a default value for the window-specific options. For the
buffer-specific options this depends on the 's' and 'S' flags in the
'cpoptions' option. If 's' is included (which is the default) the values for
buffer options are copied from the currently active buffer when a buffer is
first entered. If 'S' is present the options are copied each time the buffer
is entered, this is almost like having global options. If 's' and 'S' are not
present, the options are copied from the currently active buffer when the
buffer is created.
Hidden options *hidden-options*
Not all options are supported in all versions. This depends on the supported
features and sometimes on the system. A remark about this is in curly braces
below. When an option is not supported it may still be set without getting an
error, this is called a hidden option. You can't get the value of a hidden
option though, it is not stored.
To test if option "foo" can be used with ":set" use something like this:
if exists('&foo')
This also returns true for a hidden option. To test if option "foo" is really
supported use something like this:
if exists('+foo')
*E355*
A jump table for the options with a short description can be found at |Q_op|.
*'aleph'* *'al'* *aleph* *Aleph*
'aleph' 'al' number (default 128 for MS-Windows, 224 otherwise)
global
{only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
feature}
The ASCII code for the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The
routine that maps the keyboard in Hebrew mode, both in Insert mode
(when hkmap is set) and on the command-line (when hitting CTRL-_)
outputs the Hebrew characters in the range [aleph..aleph+26].
aleph=128 applies to PC code, and aleph=224 applies to ISO 8859-8.
See |rileft.txt|.
*'allowrevins'* *'ari'* *'noallowrevins'* *'noari'*
'allowrevins' 'ari' boolean (default off)
global
{only available when compiled with the |+rightleft|
feature}
Allow CTRL-_ in Insert and Command-line mode. This is default off, to
avoid that users that accidentally type CTRL-_ instead of SHIFT-_ get
into reverse Insert mode, and don't know how to get out. See
'revins'.
NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
*'altkeymap'* *'akm'* *'noaltkeymap'* *'noakm'*
'altkeymap' 'akm' boolean (default off)
global
{only available when compiled with the |+farsi|
feature}
This option was for using Farsi, which has been removed. See
|farsi.txt|.
*'ambiwidth'* *'ambw'*
'ambiwidth' 'ambw' string (default: "single")
global
Only effective when 'encoding' is "utf-8" or another Unicode encoding.
Tells Vim what to do with characters with East Asian Width Class
Ambiguous (such as Euro, Registered Sign, Copyright Sign, Greek
letters, Cyrillic letters).
There are currently two possible values:
"single": Use the same width as characters in US-ASCII. This is
expected by most users.
"double": Use twice the width of ASCII characters.
*E834* *E835*
The value "double" cannot be used if 'listchars' or 'fillchars'
contains a character that would be double width. These errors may
also be given when calling setcellwidths().
The values are overruled for characters specified with
|setcellwidths()|.
There are a number of CJK fonts for which the width of glyphs for
those characters are solely based on how many octets they take in
legacy/traditional CJK encodings. In those encodings, Euro,
Registered sign, Greek/Cyrillic letters are represented by two octets,
therefore those fonts have "wide" glyphs for them. This is also
true of some line drawing characters used to make tables in text
file. Therefore, when a CJK font is used for GUI Vim or
Vim is running inside a terminal (emulators) that uses a CJK font
(or Vim is run inside an xterm invoked with "-cjkwidth" option.),
this option should be set to "double" to match the width perceived
by Vim with the width of glyphs in the font. Perhaps it also has
to be set to "double" under CJK MS-Windows when the system locale is
set to one of CJK locales. See Unicode Standard Annex #11
http://www.unicode.org/reports/tr11.
Vim may set this option automatically at startup time when Vim is
compiled with the |+termresponse| feature and if |t_u7| is set to the
escape sequence to request cursor position report. The response can
be found in |v:termu7resp|.
*'antialias'* *'anti'* *'noantialias'* *'noanti'*
'antialias' 'anti' boolean (default: off)
global
{only available when compiled with GUI enabled
on macOS}
This option only has an effect in the GUI version of Vim on macOS
v10.2 or later. When on, Vim will use smooth ("antialiased") fonts,
which can be easier to read at certain sizes on certain displays.
Setting this option can sometimes cause problems if 'guifont' is set
to its default (empty string).
NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
*'autochdir'* *'acd'* *'noautochdir'* *'noacd'*
'autochdir' 'acd' boolean (default off)
global
{only available when compiled with it, use
exists("+autochdir") to check}
When on, Vim will change the current working directory whenever you
open a file, switch buffers, delete a buffer or open/close a window.
It will change to the directory containing the file which was opened
or selected. When a buffer has no name it also has no directory, thus
the current directory won't change when navigating to it.
Note: When this option is on some plugins may not work.
*'autoshelldir'* *'asd'* *'noautoshelldir'* *'noasd'*
'autoshelldir' 'asd' boolean (default off)
global
When on, Vim will change the current working directory whenever you
change the directory of the shell running in a terminal window. You
need proper setting-up, so whenever the shell's pwd changes an OSC 7
escape sequence will be emitted. For example, on Linux, you can
source /etc/profile.d/vte.sh in your shell profile if you use bash or
zsh. For bash this should work (put it in a bash init file):
if [[ -n "$VIM_TERMINAL" ]]; then
PROMPT_COMMAND='_vim_sync_PWD'
function _vim_sync_PWD() {
printf '\033]7;file://%s\033\\' "$PWD"
}
fi
Or, in a zsh init file:
if [[ -n "$VIM_TERMINAL" ]]; then
autoload -Uz add-zsh-hook
add-zsh-hook -Uz chpwd _vim_sync_PWD
function _vim_sync_PWD() {
printf '\033]7;file://%s\033\\' "$PWD"
}
fi
In a fish init file:
if test -n "$VIM_TERMINAL"
function _vim_sync_PWD --on-variable=PWD
printf '\033]7;file://%s\033\\' "$PWD"
end
end
You can find an alternative method at |terminal-autoshelldir|.
When the parsing of the OSC sequence fails you get *E1179* .
*'arabic'* *'arab'* *'noarabic'* *'noarab'*
'arabic' 'arab' boolean (default off)
local to window
{only available when compiled with the |+arabic|
feature}
This option can be set to start editing Arabic text.
Setting this option will:
- Set the 'rightleft' option, unless 'termbidi' is set.
- Set the 'arabicshape' option, unless 'termbidi' is set.
- Set the 'keymap' option to "arabic"; in Insert mode CTRL-^ toggles
between typing English and Arabic key mapping.
- Set the 'delcombine' option
Note that 'encoding' must be "utf-8" for working with Arabic text.
Resetting this option will:
- Reset the 'rightleft' option.
- Disable the use of 'keymap' (without changing its value).
Note that 'arabicshape' and 'delcombine' are not reset (it is a global
option).
NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
Also see |arabic.txt|.
*'arabicshape'* *'arshape'*
*'noarabicshape'* *'noarshape'*
'arabicshape' 'arshape' boolean (default on)
global
{only available when compiled with the |+arabic|
feature}
When on and 'termbidi' is off, the required visual character
corrections that need to take place for displaying the Arabic language
take effect. Shaping, in essence, gets enabled; the term is a broad
one which encompasses:
a) the changing/morphing of characters based on their location
within a word (initial, medial, final and stand-alone).
b) the enabling of the ability to compose characters
c) the enabling of the required combining of some characters
When disabled the display shows each character's true stand-alone
form.
Arabic is a complex language which requires other settings, for
further details see |arabic.txt|.
NOTE: This option is set when 'compatible' is set.
*'autoindent'* *'ai'* *'noautoindent'* *'noai'*
'autoindent' 'ai' boolean (default off)
local to buffer
Copy indent from current line when starting a new line (typing <CR>
in Insert mode or when using the "o" or "O" command). If you do not
type anything on the new line except <BS> or CTRL-D and then type
<Esc>, CTRL-O or <CR>, the indent is deleted again. Moving the cursor
to another line has the same effect, unless the 'I' flag is included
in 'cpoptions'.
When autoindent is on, formatting (with the "gq" command or when you
reach 'textwidth' in Insert mode) uses the indentation of the first
line.
When 'smartindent' or 'cindent' is on the indent is changed in
a different way.
The 'autoindent' option is reset when the 'paste' option is set and
restored when 'paste' is reset.
*'autoread'* *'ar'* *'noautoread'* *'noar'*
'autoread' 'ar' boolean (default off)
global or local to buffer |global-local|
When a file has been detected to have been changed outside of Vim and
it has not been changed inside of Vim, automatically read it again.
When the file has been deleted this is not done, so you have the text
from before it was deleted. When it appears again then it is read.
|timestamp|
If this option has a local value, use this command to switch back to
using the global value:
:set autoread<
*'autowrite'* *'aw'* *'noautowrite'* *'noaw'*
'autowrite' 'aw' boolean (default off)
global
Write the contents of the file, if it has been modified, on each
`:next`, `:rewind`, `:last`, `:first`, `:previous`, `:stop`,
`:suspend`, `:tag`, `:!`, `:make`, CTRL-] and CTRL-^ command; and when
a `:buffer`, CTRL-O, CTRL-I, '{A-Z0-9}, or `{A-Z0-9} command takes one
to another file.
A buffer is not written if it becomes hidden, e.g. when 'bufhidden' is
set to "hide" and `:next` is used.
Note that for some commands the 'autowrite' option is not used, see
'autowriteall' for that.
Some buffers will not be written, specifically when 'buftype' is
"nowrite", "nofile", "terminal" or "prompt".
*'autowriteall'* *'awa'* *'noautowriteall'* *'noawa'*
'autowriteall' 'awa' boolean (default off)
global
Like 'autowrite', but also used for commands ":edit", ":enew", ":quit",
":qall", ":exit", ":xit", ":recover" and closing the Vim window.
Setting this option also implies that Vim behaves like 'autowrite' has
been set.
*'background'* *'bg'*
'background' 'bg' string (default "dark" or "light", see below)
global
When set to "dark", Vim will try to use colors that look good on a
dark background. When set to "light", Vim will try to use colors that
look good on a light background. Any other value is illegal.
Vim tries to set the default value according to the terminal used.
This will not always be correct.
Setting this option does not change the background color, it tells Vim
what the background color looks like. For changing the background
color, see |:hi-normal|.
When 'background' is set Vim will adjust the default color groups for
the new value. But the colors used for syntax highlighting will not
change. *g:colors_name*
When a color scheme is loaded (the "g:colors_name" variable is set)
setting 'background' will cause the color scheme to be reloaded. If
the color scheme adjusts to the value of 'background' this will work.
However, if the color scheme sets 'background' itself the effect may
be undone. First delete the "g:colors_name" variable when needed.
When setting 'background' to the default value with:
:set background&
Vim will guess the value. In the GUI this should work correctly,
in other cases Vim might not be able to guess the right value.
If the GUI supports a dark theme, you can use the "d" flag in
'guioptions', see 'go-d'.
When the |t_RB| option is set, Vim will use it to request the background
color from the terminal. If the returned RGB value is dark/light and
'background' is not dark/light, 'background' will be set and the
screen is redrawn. This may have side effects, make t_BG empty in
your .vimrc if you suspect this problem. The response to |t_RB| can
be found in |v:termrbgresp|.
When starting the GUI, the default value for 'background' will be
"light". When the value is not set in the .gvimrc, and Vim detects
that the background is actually quite dark, 'background' is set to
"dark". But this happens only AFTER the .gvimrc file has been read
(because the window needs to be opened to find the actual background
color). To get around this, force the GUI window to be opened by
putting a ":gui" command in the .gvimrc file, before where the value
of 'background' is used (e.g., before ":syntax on").
For MS-Windows the default is "dark".
For other systems "dark" is used when 'term' is "linux",
"screen.linux", "cygwin" or "putty", or $COLORFGBG suggests a dark
background. Otherwise the default is "light".
The |:terminal| command and the |term_start()| function use the
'background' value to decide whether the terminal window will start
with a white or black background.
Normally this option would be set in the .vimrc file. Possibly
depending on the terminal name. Example:
:if &term == "pcterm"
: set background=dark
:endif
When this option is set, the default settings for the highlight groups
will change. To use other settings, place ":highlight" commands AFTER
the setting of the 'background' option.
This option is also used in the "$VIMRUNTIME/syntax/syntax.vim" file
to select the colors for syntax highlighting. After changing this
option, you must load syntax.vim again to see the result. This can be
done with ":syntax on".
*'backspace'* *'bs'*
'backspace' 'bs' string (default "", set to "indent,eol,start"
in |defaults.vim|)
global
Influences the working of <BS>, <Del>, CTRL-W and CTRL-U in Insert
mode. This is a list of items, separated by commas. Each item allows
a way to backspace over something:
value effect
indent allow backspacing over autoindent
eol allow backspacing over line breaks (join lines)
start allow backspacing over the start of insert; CTRL-W and CTRL-U
stop once at the start of insert.
nostop like start, except CTRL-W and CTRL-U do not stop at the start of
insert.
When the value is empty, Vi compatible backspacing is used, none of
the ways mentioned for the items above are possible.
For backwards compatibility with version 5.4 and earlier:
value effect
0 same as ":set backspace=" (Vi compatible)
1 same as ":set backspace=indent,eol"
2 same as ":set backspace=indent,eol,start"
3 same as ":set backspace=indent,eol,nostop"
See |:fixdel| if your <BS> or <Del> key does not do what you want.
NOTE: This option is set to "" when 'compatible' is set.
*'backup'* *'bk'* *'nobackup'* *'nobk'*
'backup' 'bk' boolean (default off)
global
Make a backup before overwriting a file. Leave it around after the
file has been successfully written. If you do not want to keep the
backup file, but you do want a backup while the file is being
written, reset this option and set the 'writebackup' option (this is
the default). If you do not want a backup file at all reset both
options (use this if your file system is almost full). See the
|backup-table| for more explanations.
When the 'backupskip' pattern matches, a backup is not made anyway.
When 'patchmode' is set, the backup may be renamed to become the
oldest version of a file.
NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
*'backupcopy'* *'bkc'*
'backupcopy' 'bkc' string (Vi default for Unix: "yes", otherwise: "auto")
global or local to buffer |global-local|
When writing a file and a backup is made, this option tells how it's
done. This is a comma-separated list of words.
The main values are:
"yes" make a copy of the file and overwrite the original one
"no" rename the file and write a new one
"auto" one of the previous, what works best
Extra values that can be combined with the ones above are:
"breaksymlink" always break symlinks when writing
"breakhardlink" always break hardlinks when writing
Making a copy and overwriting the original file:
- Takes extra time to copy the file.
+ When the file has special attributes, is a (hard/symbolic) link or
has a resource fork, all this is preserved.
- When the file is a link the backup will have the name of the link,
not of the real file.
Renaming the file and writing a new one:
+ It's fast.
- Sometimes not all attributes of the file can be copied to the new
file.
- When the file is a link the new file will not be a link.
The "auto" value is the middle way: When Vim sees that renaming the
file is possible without side effects (the attributes can be passed on
and the file is not a link) that is used. When problems are expected,
a copy will be made.
The "breaksymlink" and "breakhardlink" values can be used in
combination with any of "yes", "no" and "auto". When included, they
force Vim to always break either symbolic or hard links by doing
exactly what the "no" option does, renaming the original file to
become the backup and writing a new file in its place. This can be
useful for example in source trees where all the files are symbolic or
hard links and any changes should stay in the local source tree, not
be propagated back to the original source.
*crontab*
One situation where "no" and "auto" will cause problems: A program
that opens a file, invokes Vim to edit that file, and then tests if
the open file was changed (through the file descriptor) will check the
backup file instead of the newly created file. "crontab -e" is an
example.
When a copy is made, the original file is truncated and then filled
with the new text. This means that protection bits, owner and
symbolic links of the original file are unmodified. The backup file,
however, is a new file, owned by the user who edited the file. The
group of the backup is set to the group of the original file. If this
fails, the protection bits for the group are made the same as for
others.
When the file is renamed, this is the other way around: The backup has
the same attributes of the original file, and the newly written file
is owned by the current user. When the file was a (hard/symbolic)
link, the new file will not! That's why the "auto" value doesn't
rename when the file is a link. The owner and group of the newly
written file will be set to the same ones as the original file, but
the system may refuse to do this. In that case the "auto" value will
again not rename the file.
NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
*'backupdir'* *'bdir'*
'backupdir' 'bdir' string (default for Amiga: ".,t:",
for Win32: ".,$TEMP,c:/tmp,c:/temp"
for Unix: ".,~/tmp,~/")
global
List of directories for the backup file, separated with commas.
- The backup file will be created in the first directory in the list
where this is possible. The directory must exist, Vim will not
create it for you.
- Empty means that no backup file will be created ('patchmode' is
impossible!). Writing may fail because of this.
- A directory "." means to put the backup file in the same directory
as the edited file.
- A directory starting with "./" (or ".\" for MS-Windows) means to put
the backup file relative to where the edited file is. The leading
"." is replaced with the path name of the edited file.
("." inside a directory name has no special meaning).
- Spaces after the comma are ignored, other spaces are considered part
of the directory name. To have a space at the start of a directory
name, precede it with a backslash.
- To include a comma in a directory name precede it with a backslash.
- A directory name may end in an '/'.
- For Unix and Win32, if a directory ends in two path separators "//",
the backup file name will be built from the complete path to the
file with all path separators changed to percent '%' signs. This
will ensure file name uniqueness in the backup directory.
On Win32, it is also possible to end with "\\". However, When a
separating comma is following, you must use "//", since "\\" will
include the comma in the file name. Therefore it is recommended to
use '//', instead of '\\'.
- Environment variables are expanded |:set_env|.
- Careful with '\' characters, type one before a space, type two to
get one in the option (see |option-backslash|), for example:
:set bdir=c:\\tmp,\ dir\\,with\\,commas,\\\ dir\ with\ spaces
- For backwards compatibility with Vim version 3.0 a '>' at the start
of the option is removed.
See also 'backup' and 'writebackup' options.
If you want to hide your backup files on Unix, consider this value:
:set backupdir=./.backup,~/.backup,.,/tmp
You must create a ".backup" directory in each directory and in your
home directory for this to work properly.
The use of |:set+=| and |:set-=| is preferred when adding or removing
directories from the list. This avoids problems when a future version
uses another default.
This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
security reasons.
*'backupext'* *'bex'* *E589*
'backupext' 'bex' string (default "~", for VMS: "_")
global
String which is appended to a file name to make the name of the
backup file. The default is quite unusual, because this avoids
accidentally overwriting existing files with a backup file. You might
prefer using ".bak", but make sure that you don't have files with
".bak" that you want to keep.
Only normal file name characters can be used; "/\*?[|<>" are illegal.
If you like to keep a lot of backups, you could use a BufWritePre
autocommand to change 'backupext' just before writing the file to
include a timestamp.
:au BufWritePre * let &bex = '-' .. strftime("%Y%b%d%X") .. '~'
Use 'backupdir' to put the backup in a different directory.
*'backupskip'* *'bsk'*
'backupskip' 'bsk' string (default: "$TMPDIR/*,$TMP/*,$TEMP/*"
Unix: "/tmp/*,$TMPDIR/*,$TMP/*,$TEMP/*"
Mac: "/private/tmp/*,$TMPDIR/*,$TMP/*,$TEMP/*")
global
A list of file patterns. When one of the patterns matches with the
name of the file which is written, no backup file is created. Both
the specified file name and the full path name of the file are used.
The pattern is used like with |:autocmd|, see |autocmd-patterns|.
Watch out for special characters, see |option-backslash|.
When $TMPDIR, $TMP or $TEMP is not defined, it is not used for the
default value. "/tmp/*" is only used for Unix.
WARNING: Not having a backup file means that when Vim fails to write
your buffer correctly and then, for whatever reason, Vim exits, you
lose both the original file and what you were writing. Only disable
backups if you don't care about losing the file.
Note that environment variables are not expanded. If you want to use
$HOME you must expand it explicitly, e.g.:
:let &backupskip = escape(expand('$HOME'), '\') .. '/tmp/*'
Note that the default also makes sure that "crontab -e" works (when a
backup would be made by renaming the original file crontab won't see
the newly created file). Also see 'backupcopy' and |crontab|.
*'balloondelay'* *'bdlay'*
'balloondelay' 'bdlay' number (default: 600)
global
{only available when compiled with the |+balloon_eval|
feature}
Delay in milliseconds before a balloon may pop up. See |balloon-eval|.
*'ballooneval'* *'beval'* *'noballooneval'* *'nobeval'*
'ballooneval' 'beval' boolean (default off)
global
{only available when compiled with the |+balloon_eval|
feature}
Switch on the |balloon-eval| functionality for the GUI.
*'balloonevalterm'* *'bevalterm'* *'noballoonevalterm'*
*'nobevalterm'*
'balloonevalterm' 'bevalterm' boolean (default off)
global
{only available when compiled with the
|+balloon_eval_term| feature}
Switch on the |balloon-eval| functionality for the terminal.
*'balloonexpr'* *'bexpr'*
'balloonexpr' 'bexpr' string (default "")
global or local to buffer |global-local|
{only available when compiled with the |+balloon_eval|
feature}
Expression for text to show in evaluation balloon. It is only used
when 'ballooneval' or 'balloonevalterm' is on. These variables can be
used:
v:beval_bufnr number of the buffer in which balloon is going to show
v:beval_winnr number of the window
v:beval_winid ID of the window
v:beval_lnum line number
v:beval_col column number (byte index)
v:beval_text word under or after the mouse pointer
Instead of showing a balloon, which is limited to plain text, consider
using a popup window, see |popup_beval_example|. A popup window can
use highlighting and show a border.
The evaluation of the expression must not have side effects!
Example:
function MyBalloonExpr()
return 'Cursor is at line ' .. v:beval_lnum ..
\ ', column ' .. v:beval_col ..
\ ' of file ' .. bufname(v:beval_bufnr) ..
\ ' on word "' .. v:beval_text .. '"'
endfunction
set bexpr=MyBalloonExpr()
set ballooneval balloonevalterm
Also see |balloon_show()|, it can be used if the content of the balloon
is to be fetched asynchronously. In that case evaluating
'balloonexpr' should result in an empty string. If you get a balloon
with only "0" you probably didn't return anything from your function.
NOTE: The balloon is displayed only if the cursor is on a text
character. If the result of evaluating 'balloonexpr' is not empty,
Vim does not try to send a message to an external debugger (Netbeans
or Sun Workshop).
If the expression starts with s: or |<SID>|, then it is replaced with
the script ID (|local-function|). Example:
set bexpr=s:MyBalloonExpr()
set bexpr=<SID>SomeBalloonExpr()
Otherwise, the expression is evaluated in the context of the script
where the option was set, thus script-local items are available.
The expression will be evaluated in the |sandbox| when set from a
modeline, see |sandbox-option|.
This option cannot be set in a modeline when 'modelineexpr' is off.
It is not allowed to change text or jump to another window while
evaluating 'balloonexpr', see |textlock|.
To check whether line breaks in the balloon text work use this check:
if has("balloon_multiline")
When they are supported "\n" characters will start a new line. If the
expression evaluates to a |List| this is equal to using each List item
as a string and putting "\n" in between them.
NOTE: This option is set to "" when 'compatible' is set.
*'belloff'* *'bo'*
'belloff' 'bo' string (default "")
global
Specifies for which events the bell will not be rung. It is a comma
separated list of items. For each item that is present, the bell
will be silenced. This is most useful to specify specific events in
insert mode to be silenced.
You can also make it flash by using 'visualbell'.
item meaning when present
all All events.
backspace When hitting <BS> or <Del> and deleting results in an
error.
cursor Fail to move around using the cursor keys or
<PageUp>/<PageDown> in |Insert-mode|.
complete Error occurred when using |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K| or
|i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T|.
copy Cannot copy char from insert mode using |i_CTRL-Y| or
|i_CTRL-E|.
ctrlg Unknown Char after <C-G> in Insert mode.
error Other Error occurred (e.g. try to join last line)
(mostly used in |Normal-mode| or |Cmdline-mode|).
esc hitting <Esc> in |Normal-mode|.
ex In |Visual-mode|, hitting |Q| results in an error.
hangul Ignored.
insertmode Pressing <Esc> in 'insertmode'.
lang Calling the beep module for Lua/Mzscheme/TCL.
mess No output available for |g<|.
showmatch Error occurred for 'showmatch' function.
operator Empty region error |cpo-E|.
register Unknown register after <C-R> in |Insert-mode|.
shell Bell from shell output |:!|.
spell Error happened on spell suggest.
term Bell from |:terminal| output.
wildmode More matches in |cmdline-completion| available
(depends on the 'wildmode' setting).
This is most useful to fine tune when in Insert mode the bell should
be rung. For Normal mode and Ex commands, the bell is often rung to
indicate that an error occurred. It can be silenced by adding the
"error" keyword.
*'binary'* *'bin'* *'nobinary'* *'nobin'*
'binary' 'bin' boolean (default off)
local to buffer
This option should be set before editing a binary file. You can also
use the |-b| Vim argument. When this option is switched on a few
options will be changed (also when it already was on):
'textwidth' will be set to 0
'wrapmargin' will be set to 0
'modeline' will be off
'expandtab' will be off
Also, 'fileformat' and 'fileformats' options will not be used, the
file is read and written like 'fileformat' was "unix" (a single <NL>
separates lines).
The 'fileencoding' and 'fileencodings' options will not be used, the
file is read without conversion.
NOTE: When you start editing a(nother) file while the 'bin' option is
on, settings from autocommands may change the settings again (e.g.,
'textwidth'), causing trouble when editing. You might want to set
'bin' again when the file has been loaded.
The previous values of these options are remembered and restored when
'bin' is switched from on to off. Each buffer has its own set of
saved option values.
To edit a file with 'binary' set you can use the |++bin| argument.
This avoids you have to do ":set bin" which would have effect for all
files you edit.
When writing a file the <EOL> for the last line is only written if
there was one in the original file (normally Vim appends an <EOL> to
the last line if there is none; this would make the file longer). See
the 'endofline' option.
*'bioskey'* *'biosk'* *'nobioskey'* *'nobiosk'*
'bioskey' 'biosk' boolean (default on)
global
{only for MS-DOS}
This was for MS-DOS and is no longer supported.
*'bomb'* *'nobomb'*
'bomb' boolean (default off)
local to buffer
When writing a file and the following conditions are met, a BOM (Byte
Order Mark) is prepended to the file:
- this option is on
- the 'binary' option is off
- 'fileencoding' is "utf-8", "ucs-2", "ucs-4" or one of the little/big
endian variants.
Some applications use the BOM to recognize the encoding of the file.
Often used for UCS-2 files on MS-Windows. For other applications it
causes trouble, for example: "cat file1 file2" makes the BOM of file2
appear halfway the resulting file. Gcc doesn't accept a BOM.
When Vim reads a file and 'fileencodings' starts with "ucs-bom", a
check for the presence of the BOM is done and 'bomb' set accordingly.
Unless 'binary' is set, it is removed from the first line, so that you
don't see it when editing. When you don't change the options, the BOM
will be restored when writing the file.
*'breakat'* *'brk'*
'breakat' 'brk' string (default " ^I!@*-+;:,./?")
global
{not available when compiled without the |+linebreak|
feature}
This option lets you choose which characters might cause a line
break if 'linebreak' is on. Only works for ASCII and also for 8-bit
characters when 'encoding' is an 8-bit encoding.
*'breakindent'* *'bri'* *'nobreakindent'* *'nobri'*
'breakindent' 'bri' boolean (default off)
local to window
{not available when compiled without the |+linebreak|
feature}
Every wrapped line will continue visually indented (same amount of
space as the beginning of that line), thus preserving horizontal blocks
of text.
NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
*'breakindentopt'* *'briopt'*
'breakindentopt' 'briopt' string (default empty)
local to window
{not available when compiled without the |+linebreak|
feature}
Settings for 'breakindent'. It can consist of the following optional
items and must be separated by a comma:
min:{n} Minimum text width that will be kept after
applying 'breakindent', even if the resulting
text should normally be narrower. This prevents
text indented almost to the right window border
occupying lot of vertical space when broken.
(default: 20)
shift:{n} After applying 'breakindent', the wrapped line's
beginning will be shifted by the given number of
characters. It permits dynamic French paragraph
indentation (negative) or emphasizing the line
continuation (positive).
(default: 0)
sbr Display the 'showbreak' value before applying the
additional indent.
(default: off)
list:{n} Adds an additional indent for lines that match a
numbered or bulleted list (using the
'formatlistpat' setting).
list:-1 Uses the length of a match with 'formatlistpat'
for indentation.
(default: 0)
column:{n} Indent at column {n}. Will overrule the other
sub-options. Note: an additional indent may be
added for the 'showbreak' setting.
(default: off)
*'browsedir'* *'bsdir'*
'browsedir' 'bsdir' string (default: "last")
global
{only for Motif, GTK, Mac and Win32 GUI}
Which directory to use for the file browser:
last Use same directory as with last file browser, where a
file was opened or saved.
buffer Use the directory of the related buffer.
current Use the current directory.
{path} Use the specified directory
*'bufhidden'* *'bh'*
'bufhidden' 'bh' string (default: "")
local to buffer
This option specifies what happens when a buffer is no longer
displayed in a window:
<empty> follow the global 'hidden' option
hide hide the buffer (don't unload it), even if 'hidden' is
not set
unload unload the buffer, even if 'hidden' is set; the
|:hide| command will also unload the buffer
delete delete the buffer from the buffer list, even if
'hidden' is set; the |:hide| command will also delete
the buffer, making it behave like |:bdelete|
wipe wipe the buffer from the buffer list, even if
'hidden' is set; the |:hide| command will also wipe
out the buffer, making it behave like |:bwipeout|
CAREFUL: when "unload", "delete" or "wipe" is used changes in a buffer
are lost without a warning. Also, these values may break autocommands
that switch between buffers temporarily.
This option is used together with 'buftype' and 'swapfile' to specify
special kinds of buffers. See |special-buffers|.
*'buflisted'* *'bl'* *'nobuflisted'* *'nobl'* *E85*
'buflisted' 'bl' boolean (default: on)
local to buffer
When this option is set, the buffer shows up in the buffer list. If
it is reset it is not used for ":bnext", "ls", the Buffers menu, etc.
This option is reset by Vim for buffers that are only used to remember
a file name or marks. Vim sets it when starting to edit a buffer.
But not when moving to a buffer with ":buffer".
*'buftype'* *'bt'* *E382*
'buftype' 'bt' string (default: "")
local to buffer
The value of this option specifies the type of a buffer:
<empty> normal buffer
nofile buffer which is not related to a file and will not be
written
nowrite buffer which will not be written
acwrite buffer which will always be written with BufWriteCmd
autocommands.
quickfix quickfix buffer, contains list of errors |:cwindow|
or list of locations |:lwindow|
help help buffer (you are not supposed to set this
manually)
terminal buffer for a |terminal| (you are not supposed to set
this manually)
prompt buffer where only the last line can be edited, meant
to be used by a plugin, see |prompt-buffer|
{only when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
popup buffer used in a popup window, see |popup|.
{only when compiled with the |+textprop| feature}
This option is used together with 'bufhidden' and 'swapfile' to
specify special kinds of buffers. See |special-buffers|.
Also see |win_gettype()|, which returns the type of the window.
Be careful with changing this option, it can have many side effects!
One such effect is that Vim will not check the timestamp of the file,
if the file is changed by another program this will not be noticed.
A "quickfix" buffer is only used for the error list and the location
list. This value is set by the |:cwindow| and |:lwindow| commands and
you are not supposed to change it.
"nofile" and "nowrite" buffers are similar:
both: The buffer is not to be written to disk, ":w" doesn't
work (":w filename" does work though).
both: The buffer is never considered to be |'modified'|.
There is no warning when the changes will be lost, for
example when you quit Vim.
both: A swap file is only created when using too much memory
(when 'swapfile' has been reset there is never a swap
file).
nofile only: The buffer name is fixed, it is not handled like a
file name. It is not modified in response to a |:cd|
command.
both: When using ":e bufname" and already editing "bufname"
the buffer is made empty and autocommands are
triggered as usual for |:edit|.
*E676*
"acwrite" implies that the buffer name is not related to a file, like
"nofile", but it will be written. Thus, in contrast to "nofile" and
"nowrite", ":w" does work and a modified buffer can't be abandoned
without saving. For writing there must be matching |BufWriteCmd|,
|FileWriteCmd| or |FileAppendCmd| autocommands.
*'casemap'* *'cmp'*
'casemap' 'cmp' string (default: "internal,keepascii")
global
Specifies details about changing the case of letters. It may contain
these words, separated by a comma:
internal Use internal case mapping functions, the current
locale does not change the case mapping. This only
matters when 'encoding' is a Unicode encoding,
"latin1" or "iso-8859-15". When "internal" is
omitted, the towupper() and towlower() system library
functions are used when available.
keepascii For the ASCII characters (0x00 to 0x7f) use the US
case mapping, the current locale is not effective.
This probably only matters for Turkish.
*'cdhome'* *'cdh'* *'nocdhome'* *'nocdh'*
'cdhome' 'cdh' boolean (default: off)
global
When on, |:cd|, |:tcd| and |:lcd| without an argument changes the
current working directory to the |$HOME| directory like in Unix.
When off, those commands just print the current directory name.
On Unix this option has no effect.
NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
*'cdpath'* *'cd'* *E344* *E346*
'cdpath' 'cd' string (default: equivalent to $CDPATH or ",,")
global
This is a list of directories which will be searched when using the
|:cd|, |:tcd| and |:lcd| commands, provided that the directory being
searched for has a relative path, not an absolute part starting with
"/", "./" or "../", the 'cdpath' option is not used then.
The 'cdpath' option's value has the same form and semantics as
|'path'|. Also see |file-searching|.
The default value is taken from $CDPATH, with a "," prepended to look
in the current directory first.
If the default value taken from $CDPATH is not what you want, include
a modified version of the following command in your vimrc file to
override it:
:let &cdpath = ',' .. substitute(substitute($CDPATH, '[, ]', '\\\0', 'g'), ':', ',', 'g')
This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
security reasons.
(parts of 'cdpath' can be passed to the shell to expand file names).
*'cedit'*
'cedit' string (Vi default: "", Vim default: CTRL-F)
global
The key used in Command-line Mode to open the command-line window.
The default is CTRL-F when 'compatible' is off.
Only non-printable keys are allowed.
The key can be specified as a single character, but it is difficult to
type. The preferred way is to use the <> notation. Examples:
:exe "set cedit=\<C-Y>"
:exe "set cedit=\<Esc>"
|Nvi| also has this option, but it only uses the first character.
See |cmdwin|.
NOTE: This option is set to the Vim default value when 'compatible'
is reset.
*'charconvert'* *'ccv'* *E202* *E214* *E513*
'charconvert' 'ccv' string (default "")
global
{only available when compiled with the |+eval| feature}
An expression that is used for character encoding conversion. It is
evaluated when a file that is to be read or has been written has a
different encoding from what is desired.
'charconvert' is not used when the internal iconv() function is
supported and is able to do the conversion. Using iconv() is
preferred, because it is much faster.
'charconvert' is not used when reading stdin |--|, because there is no
file to convert from. You will have to save the text in a file first.
The expression must return zero, false or an empty string for success,
non-zero or true for failure.
The possible encoding names encountered are in 'encoding'.
Additionally, names given in 'fileencodings' and 'fileencoding' are
used.
Conversion between "latin1", "unicode", "ucs-2", "ucs-4" and "utf-8"
is done internally by Vim, 'charconvert' is not used for this.
'charconvert' is also used to convert the viminfo file, if the 'c'
flag is present in 'viminfo'. Also used for Unicode conversion.
Example:
set charconvert=CharConvert()
fun CharConvert()
system("recode "
\ .. v:charconvert_from .. ".." .. v:charconvert_to
\ .. " <" .. v:fname_in .. " >" .. v:fname_out)
return v:shell_error
endfun
The related Vim variables are:
v:charconvert_from name of the current encoding
v:charconvert_to name of the desired encoding
v:fname_in name of the input file
v:fname_out name of the output file
Note that v:fname_in and v:fname_out will never be the same.
Note that v:charconvert_from and v:charconvert_to may be different
from 'encoding'. Vim internally uses UTF-8 instead of UCS-2 or UCS-4.
The advantage of using a function call without arguments is that it is
faster, see |expr-option-function|.
Encryption is not done by Vim when using 'charconvert'. If you want
to encrypt the file after conversion, 'charconvert' should take care
of this.
If the 'charconvert' expression starts with s: or |<SID>|, then it is
replaced with the script ID (|local-function|). Example:
set charconvert=s:MyConvert()
set charconvert=<SID>SomeConvert()
Otherwise the expression is evaluated in the context of the script
where the option was set, thus script-local items are available.
This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
security reasons.
*'cindent'* *'cin'* *'nocindent'* *'nocin'*
'cindent' 'cin' boolean (default off)
local to buffer
Enables automatic C program indenting. See 'cinkeys' to set the keys
that trigger reindenting in insert mode and 'cinoptions' to set your
preferred indent style.
If 'indentexpr' is not empty, it overrules 'cindent'.
If 'lisp' is not on and both 'indentexpr' and 'equalprg' are empty,
the "=" operator indents using this algorithm rather than calling an
external program.
See |C-indenting|.
When you don't like the way 'cindent' works, try the 'smartindent'
option or 'indentexpr'.
This option is not used when 'paste' is set.
NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
*'cinkeys'* *'cink'*
'cinkeys' 'cink' string (default "0{,0},0),0],:,0#,!^F,o,O,e")
local to buffer
A list of keys that, when typed in Insert mode, cause reindenting of
the current line. Only used if 'cindent' is on and 'indentexpr' is
empty.
For the format of this option see |cinkeys-format|.
See |C-indenting|.
*'cinoptions'* *'cino'*
'cinoptions' 'cino' string (default "")
local to buffer
The 'cinoptions' affect the way 'cindent' reindents lines in a C
program. See |cinoptions-values| for the values of this option, and
|C-indenting| for info on C indenting in general.
*'cinwords'* *'cinw'*
'cinwords' 'cinw' string (default "if,else,while,do,for,switch")
local to buffer
These keywords start an extra indent in the next line when
'smartindent' or 'cindent' is set. For 'cindent' this is only done at
an appropriate place (inside {}).
Note that 'ignorecase' isn't used for 'cinwords'. If case doesn't
matter, include the keyword both the uppercase and lowercase:
"if,If,IF".
*'cinscopedecls'* *'cinsd'*
'cinscopedecls' 'cinsd' string (default "public,protected,private")
local to buffer
Keywords that are interpreted as a C++ scope declaration by |cino-g|.
Useful e.g. for working with the Qt framework that defines additional
scope declarations "signals", "public slots" and "private slots":
set cinscopedecls+=signals,public\ slots,private\ slots
*'clipboard'* *'cb'*
'clipboard' 'cb' string (default "autoselect,exclude:cons\|linux"
for X-windows, "" otherwise)
global
{only in GUI versions or when the |+xterm_clipboard|
feature is included}
This option is a list of comma-separated names.
Note: if one of the items is "exclude:", then you can't add an item
after that. Therefore do not append an item with += but use ^= to
prepend, e.g.:
set clipboard^=unnamed
When using the GUI see |'go-A'|.
These names are recognized:
*clipboard-unnamed*
unnamed When included, Vim will use the clipboard register '*'
for all yank, delete, change and put operations which
would normally go to the unnamed register. When a
register is explicitly specified, it will always be
used regardless of whether "unnamed" is in 'clipboard'
or not. The clipboard register can always be
explicitly accessed using the "* notation. Also see
|gui-clipboard|.
*clipboard-unnamedplus*
unnamedplus A variant of the "unnamed" flag which uses the
clipboard register '+' (|quoteplus|) instead of
register '*' for all yank, delete, change and put
operations which would normally go to the unnamed
register. When "unnamed" is also included to the
option, yank operations (but not delete, change or
put) will additionally copy the text into register
'*'.
Only available with the |+X11| feature.
Availability can be checked with:
if has('unnamedplus')
*clipboard-autoselect*
autoselect Works like the 'a' flag in 'guioptions': If present,
then whenever Visual mode is started, or the Visual
area extended, Vim tries to become the owner of the
windowing system's global selection or put the
selected text on the clipboard used by the selection
register "*. See |'go-a'| and |quotestar| for details.
When the GUI is active, the 'a' flag in 'guioptions'
is used, when the GUI is not active, this "autoselect"
flag is used.
Also applies to the modeless selection.
*clipboard-autoselectplus*
autoselectplus Like "autoselect" but using the + register instead of
the * register. Compare to the 'P' flag in
'guioptions'.
*clipboard-autoselectml*
autoselectml Like "autoselect", but for the modeless selection
only. Compare to the 'A' flag in 'guioptions'.
*clipboard-html*
html When the clipboard contains HTML, use this when
pasting. When putting text on the clipboard, mark it
as HTML. This works to copy rendered HTML from
Firefox, paste it as raw HTML in Vim, select the HTML
in Vim and paste it in a rich edit box in Firefox.
You probably want to add this only temporarily,
possibly use BufEnter autocommands.
Only supported for GTK version 2 and later.
*clipboard-exclude*
exclude:{pattern}
Defines a pattern that is matched against the name of
the terminal 'term'. If there is a match, no
connection will be made to the X server. This is
useful in this situation:
- Running Vim in a console.
- $DISPLAY is set to start applications on another
display.
- You do not want to connect to the X server in the
console, but do want this in a terminal emulator.
To never connect to the X server use:
exclude:.*
This has the same effect as using the |-X| argument.
Note that when there is no connection to the X server
the window title won't be restored and the clipboard
cannot be accessed.
The value of 'magic' is ignored, {pattern} is
interpreted as if 'magic' was on.
The rest of the option value will be used for
{pattern}, this must be the last entry.
*'cmdheight'* *'ch'*
'cmdheight' 'ch' number (default 1)
global or local to tab page
Number of screen lines to use for the command-line. A larger value
helps avoiding |hit-enter| prompts.
The value of this option is stored with the tab page, so that each tab
page can have a different value.
*'cmdwinheight'* *'cwh'*
'cmdwinheight' 'cwh' number (default 7)
global
Number of screen lines to use for the command-line window. |cmdwin|
*'colorcolumn'* *'cc'*
'colorcolumn' 'cc' string (default "")
local to window
{not available when compiled without the |+syntax|
feature}
'colorcolumn' is a comma-separated list of screen columns that are
highlighted with ColorColumn |hl-ColorColumn|. Useful to align
text. Will make screen redrawing slower.
The screen column can be an absolute number, or a number preceded with
'+' or '-', which is added to or subtracted from 'textwidth'.
:set cc=+1 " highlight column after 'textwidth'
:set cc=+1,+2,+3 " highlight three columns after 'textwidth'
:hi ColorColumn ctermbg=lightgrey guibg=lightgrey
When 'textwidth' is zero then the items with '-' and '+' are not used.
A maximum of 256 columns are highlighted.
*'columns'* *'co'* *E594*
'columns' 'co' number (default 80 or terminal width)
global
Number of columns of the screen. Normally this is set by the terminal
initialization and does not have to be set by hand. Also see
|posix-screen-size|.
When Vim is running in the GUI or in a resizable window, setting this
option will cause the window size to be changed. When you only want
to use the size for the GUI, put the command in your |gvimrc| file.
When you set this option and Vim is unable to change the physical
number of columns of the display, the display may be messed up. For
the GUI it is always possible and Vim limits the number of columns to
what fits on the screen. You can use this command to get the widest
window possible:
:set columns=9999
Minimum value is 12, maximum value is 10000.
*'comments'* *'com'* *E524* *E525*
'comments' 'com' string (default
"s1:/*,mb:*,ex:*/,://,b:#,:%,:XCOMM,n:>,fb:-")
local to buffer
A comma-separated list of strings that can start a comment line. See
|format-comments|. See |option-backslash| about using backslashes to
insert a space.
*'commentstring'* *'cms'* *E537*
'commentstring' 'cms' string (default "/*%s*/")
local to buffer
{not available when compiled without the |+folding|
feature}
A template for a comment. The "%s" in the value is replaced with the
comment text. Currently only used to add markers for folding, see
|fold-marker|.
*'compatible'* *'cp'* *'nocompatible'* *'nocp'*
'compatible' 'cp' boolean (default on, off when a |vimrc| or |gvimrc|
file is found, reset in |defaults.vim|)
global
This option has the effect of making Vim either more Vi-compatible, or
make Vim behave in a more useful way.
This is a special kind of option, because when it's set or reset,
other options are also changed as a side effect.
NOTE: Setting or resetting this option can have a lot of unexpected
effects: Mappings are interpreted in another way, undo behaves
differently, etc. If you set this option in your vimrc file, you
should probably put it at the very start.
By default this option is on and the Vi defaults are used for the
options. This default was chosen for those people who want to use Vim
just like Vi, and don't even (want to) know about the 'compatible'
option.
When a |vimrc| or |gvimrc| file is found while Vim is starting up,
this option is switched off, and all options that have not been
modified will be set to the Vim defaults. Effectively, this means
that when a |vimrc| or |gvimrc| file exists, Vim will use the Vim
defaults, otherwise it will use the Vi defaults. (Note: This doesn't
happen for the system-wide vimrc or gvimrc file, nor for a file given
with the |-u| argument). Also see |compatible-default| and
|posix-compliance|.
You can also set this option with the "-C" argument, and reset it with
"-N". See |-C| and |-N|.
See 'cpoptions' for more fine tuning of Vi compatibility.
When this option is set, numerous other options are set to make Vim as
Vi-compatible as possible. When this option is unset, various options
are set to make Vim more useful. The table below lists all the
options affected.
The {?} column indicates when the options are affected:
+ Means that the option is set to the value given in {set value} when
'compatible' is set.
& Means that the option is set to the value given in {set value} when
'compatible' is set AND is set to its Vim default value when
'compatible' is unset.
- Means the option is NOT changed when setting 'compatible' but IS
set to its Vim default when 'compatible' is unset.
The {effect} column summarises the change when 'compatible' is set.
option ? set value effect
'allowrevins' + off no CTRL-_ command
'antialias' + off don't use antialiased fonts
'arabic' + off reset arabic-related options
'arabicshape' + on correct character shapes
'backspace' + "" normal backspace
'backup' + off no backup file
'backupcopy' & Unix: "yes" backup file is a copy
else: "auto" copy or rename backup file
'balloonexpr' + "" text to show in evaluation balloon
'breakindent' + off don't indent when wrapping lines
'cedit' - {unchanged} {set vim default only on resetting 'cp'}
'cdhome' + off ":cd" don't chdir to home on non-Unix
'cindent' + off no C code indentation
'compatible' - {unchanged} {set vim default only on resetting 'cp'}
'copyindent' + off don't copy indent structure
'cpoptions' & (all flags) Vi-compatible flags
'cscopepathcomp'+ 0 don't show directories in tags list
'cscoperelative'+ off don't use basename of path as prefix
'cscopetag' + off don't use cscope for ":tag"
'cscopetagorder'+ 0 see |cscopetagorder|
'cscopeverbose' + off see |cscopeverbose|
'delcombine' + off unicode: delete whole char combination
'digraph' + off no digraphs
'esckeys' & off no <Esc>-keys in Insert mode
'expandtab' + off tabs not expanded to spaces
'fileformats' & "" no automatic file format detection,
"dos,unix" except for MS-Windows
'formatexpr' + "" use 'formatprg' for auto-formatting
'formatoptions' & "vt" Vi compatible formatting
'gdefault' + off no default 'g' flag for ":s"
'history' & 0 no commandline history
'hkmap' + off no Hebrew keyboard mapping
'hkmapp' + off no phonetic Hebrew keyboard mapping
'hlsearch' + off no highlighting of search matches
'incsearch' + off no incremental searching
'indentexpr' + "" no indenting by expression
'insertmode' + off do not start in Insert mode
'iskeyword' & "@,48-57,_" keywords contain alphanumeric
characters and '_'
'joinspaces' + on insert 2 spaces after period
'modeline' & off no modelines
'more' & off no pauses in listings
'mzquantum' - {unchanged} {set vim default only on resetting 'cp'}
'numberwidth' & 8 min number of columns for line number
'preserveindent'+ off don't preserve current indent structure
when changing it
'revins' + off no reverse insert
'ruler' + off no ruler
'scrolljump' + 1 no jump scroll
'scrolloff' + 0 no scroll offset
'shelltemp' - {unchanged} {set vim default only on resetting 'cp'}
'shiftround' + off indent not rounded to shiftwidth
'shortmess' & "S" no shortening of messages
'showcmd' & off command characters not shown
'showmode' & off current mode not shown
'sidescrolloff' + 0 cursor moves to edge of screen in scroll
'smartcase' + off no automatic ignore case switch
'smartindent' + off no smart indentation
'smarttab' + off no smart tab size
'softtabstop' + 0 tabs are always 'tabstop' positions
'startofline' + on goto startofline with some commands
'tagcase' & "followic" 'ignorecase' when searching tags file
'tagrelative' & off tag file names are not relative
'termguicolors' + off don't use highlight-(guifg|guibg)
'textauto' & off no automatic textmode detection
'textwidth' + 0 no automatic line wrap
'tildeop' + off tilde is not an operator
'ttimeout' + off no terminal timeout
'undofile' + off don't use an undo file
'viminfo' - {unchanged} {set Vim default only on resetting 'cp'}
'virtualedit' + "" cursor can only be placed on characters
'whichwrap' & "" left-right movements don't wrap
'wildchar' & CTRL-E only when the current value is <Tab>
use CTRL-E for cmdline completion
'writebackup' + on or off depends on the |+writebackup| feature
*'complete'* *'cpt'* *E535*
'complete' 'cpt' string (default: ".,w,b,u,t,i")
local to buffer
This option specifies how keyword completion |ins-completion| works
when CTRL-P or CTRL-N are used. It is also used for whole-line
completion |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L|. It indicates the type of completion
and the places to scan. It is a comma-separated list of flags:
. scan the current buffer ('wrapscan' is ignored)
w scan buffers from other windows
b scan other loaded buffers that are in the buffer list
u scan the unloaded buffers that are in the buffer list
U scan the buffers that are not in the buffer list
k scan the files given with the 'dictionary' option
kspell use the currently active spell checking |spell|
k{dict} scan the file {dict}. Several "k" flags can be given,
patterns are valid too. For example:
:set cpt=k/usr/dict/*,k~/spanish
s scan the files given with the 'thesaurus' option
s{tsr} scan the file {tsr}. Several "s" flags can be given, patterns
are valid too.
i scan current and included files
d scan current and included files for defined name or macro
|i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D|
] tag completion
t same as "]"
Unloaded buffers are not loaded, thus their autocmds |:autocmd| are
not executed, this may lead to unexpected completions from some files
(gzipped files for example). Unloaded buffers are not scanned for
whole-line completion.
The default is ".,w,b,u,t,i", which means to scan:
1. the current buffer
2. buffers in other windows
3. other loaded buffers
4. unloaded buffers
5. tags
6. included files
As you can see, CTRL-N and CTRL-P can be used to do any 'iskeyword'-
based expansion (e.g., dictionary |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K|, included patterns
|i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I|, tags |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]| and normal expansions).
*'completefunc'* *'cfu'*
'completefunc' 'cfu' string (default: empty)
local to buffer
{not available when compiled without the |+eval|
feature}
This option specifies a function to be used for Insert mode completion
with CTRL-X CTRL-U. |i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U|
See |complete-functions| for an explanation of how the function is
invoked and what it should return. The value can be the name of a
function, a |lambda| or a |Funcref|. See |option-value-function| for
more information.
This option cannot be set from a |modeline| or in the |sandbox|, for
security reasons.
*'completeslash'* *'csl'*
'completeslash' 'csl' string (default: "")
local to buffer
{only for MS-Windows}
When this option is set it overrules 'shellslash' for completion:
- When this option is set to "slash", a forward slash is used for path
completion in insert mode. This is useful when editing HTML tag, or
Makefile with 'noshellslash' on MS-Windows.
- When this option is set to "backslash", backslash is used. This is
useful when editing a batch file with 'shellslash' set on MS-Windows.
- When this option is empty, same character is used as for
'shellslash'.
For Insert mode completion the buffer-local value is used. For
command line completion the global value is used.
*'completeopt'* *'cot'*
'completeopt' 'cot' string (default: "menu,preview")
global
A comma-separated list of options for Insert mode completion
|ins-completion|. The supported values are:
menu Use a popup menu to show the possible completions. The
menu is only shown when there is more than one match and
sufficient colors are available. |ins-completion-menu|
menuone Use the popup menu also when there is only one match.
Useful when there is additional information about the
match, e.g., what file it comes from.
longest Only insert the longest common text of the matches. If
the menu is displayed you can use CTRL-L to add more
characters. Whether case is ignored depends on the kind
of completion. For buffer text the 'ignorecase' option is
used.
preview Show extra information about the currently selected
completion in the preview window. Only works in
combination with "menu" or "menuone".
popup Show extra information about the currently selected
completion in a popup window. Only works in combination
with "menu" or "menuone". Overrides "preview".
See |'completepopup'| for specifying properties.
{only works when compiled with the |+textprop| feature}
popuphidden
Just like "popup" but initially hide the popup. Use a
|CompleteChanged| autocommand to fetch the info and call
|popup_show()| once the popup has been filled.
See the example at |complete-popuphidden|.
{only works when compiled with the |+textprop| feature}
noinsert Do not insert any text for a match until the user selects
a match from the menu. Only works in combination with
"menu" or "menuone". No effect if "longest" is present.
noselect Do not select a match in the menu, force the user to
select one from the menu. Only works in combination with
"menu" or "menuone".
*'completepopup'* *'cpp'*
'completepopup' 'cpp' string (default empty)
global
{not available when compiled without the |+textprop|
or |+quickfix| feature}
When 'completeopt' contains "popup" then this option is used for the
properties of the info popup when it is created. If an info popup
window already exists it is closed, so that the option value is
applied when it is created again.
You can also use |popup_findinfo()| and then set properties for an
existing info popup with |popup_setoptions()|. See |complete-popup|.
*'concealcursor'* *'cocu'*
'concealcursor' 'cocu' string (default: "")
local to window
{not available when compiled without the |+conceal|
feature}
Sets the modes in which text in the cursor line can also be concealed.
When the current mode is listed then concealing happens just like in
other lines.
n Normal mode
v Visual mode
i Insert mode
c Command line editing, for 'incsearch'
'v' applies to all lines in the Visual area, not only the cursor.
A useful value is "nc". This is used in help files. So long as you
are moving around text is concealed, but when starting to insert text
or selecting a Visual area the concealed text is displayed, so that
you can see what you are doing.
Keep in mind that the cursor position is not always where it's
displayed. E.g., when moving vertically it may change column.
*'conceallevel'* *'cole'*
'conceallevel' 'cole' number (default 0)
local to window
{not available when compiled without the |+conceal|
feature}
Determine how text with the "conceal" syntax attribute |:syn-conceal|
is shown:
Value Effect
0 Text is shown normally
1 Each block of concealed text is replaced with one
character. If the syntax item does not have a custom
replacement character defined (see |:syn-cchar|) the
character defined in 'listchars' is used (default is a
space).
It is highlighted with the "Conceal" highlight group.
2 Concealed text is completely hidden unless it has a
custom replacement character defined (see
|:syn-cchar|).
3 Concealed text is completely hidden.
Note: in the cursor line concealed text is not hidden, so that you can
edit and copy the text. This can be changed with the 'concealcursor'
option.
*'confirm'* *'cf'* *'noconfirm'* *'nocf'*
'confirm' 'cf' boolean (default off)
global
When 'confirm' is on, certain operations that would normally
fail because of unsaved changes to a buffer, e.g. ":q" and ":e",
instead raise a |dialog| asking if you wish to save the current
file(s). You can still use a ! to unconditionally |abandon| a buffer.
If 'confirm' is off you can still activate confirmation for one
command only (this is most useful in mappings) with the |:confirm|
command.
Also see the |confirm()| function and the 'v' flag in 'guioptions'.
*'conskey'* *'consk'* *'noconskey'* *'noconsk'*
'conskey' 'consk' boolean (default off)
global
This was for MS-DOS and is no longer supported.
*'copyindent'* *'ci'* *'nocopyindent'* *'noci'*
'copyindent' 'ci' boolean (default off)
local to buffer
Copy the structure of the existing lines indent when autoindenting a
new line. Normally the new indent is reconstructed by a series of
tabs followed by spaces as required (unless |'expandtab'| is enabled,
in which case only spaces are used). Enabling this option makes the
new line copy whatever characters were used for indenting on the
existing line. 'expandtab' has no effect on these characters, a Tab
remains a Tab. If the new indent is greater than on the existing
line, the remaining space is filled in the normal manner.
NOTE: This option is reset when 'compatible' is set.
Also see 'preserveindent'.
*'cpoptions'* *'cpo'* *cpo*
'cpoptions' 'cpo' string (Vim default: "aABceFs",
Vi default: all flags)
global
A sequence of single character flags. When a character is present
this indicates Vi-compatible behavior. This is used for things where
not being Vi-compatible is mostly or sometimes preferred.
'cpoptions' stands for "compatible-options".
Commas can be added for readability.
To avoid problems with flags that are added in the future, use the
"+=" and "-=" feature of ":set" |add-option-flags|.
NOTE: This option is set to the Vi default value when 'compatible' is
set and to the Vim default value when 'compatible' is reset.
NOTE: In a |Vim9| script, when `vim9script` is encountered, the value
is saved, 'cpoptions' is set to the Vim default, and the saved value
is restored at the end of the script. Changes to the value of
'cpoptions' will be applied to the saved value, but keep in mind that
removing a flag that is not present when 'cpoptions' is changed has no
effect. In the |.vimrc| file the value is not restored, thus using
`vim9script` in the |.vimrc| file results in using the Vim default.
NOTE: This option is set to the POSIX default value at startup when
the Vi default value would be used and the $VIM_POSIX environment
variable exists |posix|. This means Vim tries to behave like the
POSIX specification.
contains behavior
*cpo-a*
a When included, a ":read" command with a file name
argument will set the alternate file name for the
current window.
*cpo-A*
A When included, a ":write" command with a file name
argument will set the alternate file name for the
current window.
*cpo-b*
b "\|" in a ":map" command is recognized as the end of
the map command. The '\' is included in the mapping,
the text after the '|' is interpreted as the next
command. Use a CTRL-V instead of a backslash to
include the '|' in the mapping. Applies to all
mapping, abbreviation, menu and autocmd commands.
See also |map_bar|.
*cpo-B*
B A backslash has no special meaning in mappings,
abbreviations, user commands and the "to" part of the
menu commands. Remove this flag to be able to use a
backslash like a CTRL-V. For example, the command
":map X \<Esc>" results in X being mapped to:
'B' included: "\^[" (^[ is a real <Esc>)
'B' excluded: "<Esc>" (5 characters)
('<' excluded in both cases)
*cpo-c*
c Searching continues at the end of any match at the
cursor position, but not further than the start of the
next line. When not present searching continues
one character from the cursor position. With 'c'
"abababababab" only gets three matches when repeating
"/abab", without 'c' there are five matches.
*cpo-C*
C Do not concatenate sourced lines that start with a
backslash. See |line-continuation|.
*cpo-d*
d Using "./" in the 'tags' option doesn't mean to use
the tags file relative to the current file, but the
tags file in the current directory.
*cpo-D*
D Can't use CTRL-K to enter a digraph after Normal mode
commands with a character argument, like |r|, |f| and
|t|.
*cpo-e*
e When executing a register with ":@r", always add a
<CR> to the last line, also when the register is not
linewise. If this flag is not present, the register
is not linewise and the last line does not end in a
<CR>, then the last line is put on the command-line
and can be edited before hitting <CR>.
*cpo-E*
E It is an error when using "y", "d", "c", "g~", "gu" or
"gU" on an Empty region. The operators only work when
at least one character is to be operated on. Example:
This makes "y0" fail in the first column.
*cpo-f*
f When included, a ":read" command with a file name
argument will set the file name for the current buffer,
if the current buffer doesn't have a file name yet.
*cpo-F*
F When included, a ":write" command with a file name
argument will set the file name for the current
buffer, if the current buffer doesn't have a file name
yet. Also see |cpo-P|.
*cpo-g*
g Goto line 1 when using ":edit" without argument.
*cpo-H*
H When using "I" on a line with only blanks, insert
before the last blank. Without this flag insert after
the last blank.
*cpo-i*
i When included, interrupting the reading of a file will
leave it modified.
*cpo-I*
I When moving the cursor up or down just after inserting
indent for 'autoindent', do not delete the indent.
*cpo-j*
j When joining lines, only add two spaces after a '.',
not after '!' or '?'. Also see 'joinspaces'.
*cpo-J*
J A |sentence| has to be followed by two spaces after
the '.', '!' or '?'. A <Tab> is not recognized as
white space.
*cpo-k*
k Disable the recognition of raw key codes in
mappings, abbreviations, and the "to" part of menu
commands. For example, if <Key> sends ^[OA (where ^[
is <Esc>), the command ":map X ^[OA" results in X
being mapped to:
'k' included: "^[OA" (3 characters)
'k' excluded: "<Key>" (one key code)
Also see the '<' flag below.
*cpo-K*
K Don't wait for a key code to complete when it is
halfway a mapping. This breaks mapping <F1><F1> when
only part of the second <F1> has been read. It
enables cancelling the mapping by typing <F1><Esc>.
*cpo-l*
l Backslash in a [] range in a search pattern is taken
literally, only "\]", "\^", "\-" and "\\" are special.
See |/[]|
'l' included: "/[ \t]" finds <Space>, '\' and 't'
'l' excluded: "/[ \t]" finds <Space> and <Tab>
Also see |cpo-\|.
*cpo-L*
L When the 'list' option is set, 'wrapmargin',
'textwidth', 'softtabstop' and Virtual Replace mode
(see |gR|) count a <Tab> as two characters, instead of
the normal behavior of a <Tab>.
*cpo-m*
m When included, a showmatch will always wait half a
second. When not included, a showmatch will wait half
a second or until a character is typed. |