VIM(1) User Commands VIM(1)

NAME

vim - Vi IMproved, a programmer's text editor

SYNOPSIS

vim [options] [file ..]
vim [options] -
vim [options] -t tag
vim [options] -q [errorfile]

ex
view
gvim gview evim eview
rvim rview rgvim rgview

DESCRIPTION

Vim is a text editor that is upwards compatible to Vi. It can be
used to edit all kinds of plain text. It is especially useful for
editing programs.

There are a lot of enhancements above Vi: multi level undo, multi
windows and buffers, syntax highlighting, command line editing,
filename completion, on-line help, visual selection, etc.. See
":help vi_diff.txt" for a summary of the differences between Vim and
Vi.

While running Vim a lot of help can be obtained from the on-line help
system, with the ":help" command. See the ON-LINE HELP section
below.

Most often Vim is started to edit a single file with the command

vim file

More generally Vim is started with:

vim [options] [filelist]

If the filelist is missing, the editor will start with an empty
buffer. Otherwise exactly one out of the following four may be used
to choose one or more files to be edited.

file .. A list of filenames. The first one will be the current
file and read into the buffer. The cursor will be
positioned on the first line of the buffer. You can get
to the other files with the ":next" command. To edit a
file that starts with a dash, precede the filelist with
"--".

- The file to edit is read from stdin. Commands are read
from stderr, which should be a tty.

-t {tag} The file to edit and the initial cursor position depends
on a "tag", a sort of goto label. {tag} is looked up in
the tags file, the associated file becomes the current
file and the associated command is executed. Mostly this
is used for C programs, in which case {tag} could be a
function name. The effect is that the file containing
that function becomes the current file and the cursor is
positioned on the start of the function. See ":help
tag-commands".

-q [errorfile]
Start in quickFix mode. The file [errorfile] is read and
the first error is displayed. If [errorfile] is omitted,
the filename is obtained from the 'errorfile' option
(defaults to "AztecC.Err" for the Amiga, "errors.err" on
other systems). Further errors can be jumped to with the
":cn" command. See ":help quickfix".

Vim behaves differently, depending on the name of the command (the
executable may still be the same file).

vim The "normal" way, everything is default.

ex Start in Ex mode. Go to Normal mode with the ":vi"
command. Can also be done with the "-e" argument.

view Start in read-only mode. You will be protected from
writing the files. Can also be done with the "-R"
argument.

gvim gview
The GUI version. Starts a new window. Can also be done
with the "-g" argument.

evim eview
The GUI version in easy mode. Starts a new window. Can
also be done with the "-y" argument.

rvim rview rgvim rgview
Like the above, but with restrictions. It will not be
possible to start shell commands, or suspend Vim. Can also
be done with the "-Z" argument.

OPTIONS

The options may be given in any order, before or after filenames.
Options without an argument can be combined after a single dash.

+[num] For the first file the cursor will be positioned on line
"num". If "num" is missing, the cursor will be
positioned on the last line.

+/{pat} For the first file the cursor will be positioned in the
line with the first occurrence of {pat}. See ":help
search-pattern" for the available search patterns.

+{command}

-c {command}
{command} will be executed after the first file has been
read. {command} is interpreted as an Ex command. If the
{command} contains spaces it must be enclosed in double
quotes (this depends on the shell that is used).
Example: vim "+set si" main.c
Note: You can use up to 10 "+" or "-c" commands.

-A If Vim has been compiled with ARABIC support for editing
right-to-left oriented files and Arabic keyboard mapping,
this option starts Vim in Arabic mode, i.e. 'arabic' is
set. Otherwise an error message is given and Vim aborts.

-b Binary mode. A few options will be set that makes it
possible to edit a binary or executable file.

-C Compatible. Set the 'compatible' option. This will make
Vim behave mostly like Vi, even though a .vimrc file
exists.

-d Start in diff mode. There should between two to eight
file name arguments. Vim will open all the files and
show differences between them. Works like vimdiff(1).

-d {device}, -dev {device}
Open {device} for use as a terminal. Only on the Amiga.
Example: "-d con:20/30/600/150".

-D Debugging. Go to debugging mode when executing the first
command from a script.

-e Start Vim in Ex mode, just like the executable was called
"ex".

-E Start Vim in improved Ex mode, just like the executable
was called "exim".

-f Foreground. For the GUI version, Vim will not fork and
detach from the shell it was started in. On the Amiga,
Vim is not restarted to open a new window. This option
should be used when Vim is executed by a program that
will wait for the edit session to finish (e.g. mail). On
the Amiga the ":sh" and ":!" commands will not work.

-F If Vim has been compiled with FKMAP support for editing
right-to-left oriented files and Farsi keyboard mapping,
this option starts Vim in Farsi mode, i.e. 'fkmap' and
'rightleft' are set. Otherwise an error message is given
and Vim aborts.
Note: Farsi support has been removed in patch 8.1.0932.

-g If Vim has been compiled with GUI support, this option
enables the GUI. If no GUI support was compiled in, an
error message is given and Vim aborts.

-H If Vim has been compiled with RIGHTLEFT support for
editing right-to-left oriented files and Hebrew keyboard
mapping, this option starts Vim in Hebrew mode, i.e.
'hkmap' and 'rightleft' are set. Otherwise an error
message is given and Vim aborts.

-i {viminfo}
Specifies the filename to use when reading or writing the
viminfo file, instead of the default "~/.viminfo". This
can also be used to skip the use of the .viminfo file, by
giving the name "NONE".

-l Lisp mode. Sets the 'lisp' and 'showmatch' options on.

-L Same as -r.

-m Modifying files is disabled. Resets the 'write' option.
You can still modify the buffer, but writing a file is
not possible.

-M Modifications not allowed. The 'modifiable' and 'write'
options will be unset, so that changes are not allowed
and files can not be written. Note that these options
can be set to enable making modifications.

-n No swap file will be used. Recovery after a crash will
be impossible. Handy if you want to edit a file on a
very slow medium (e.g. floppy). Can also be done with
":set uc=0". Can be undone with ":set uc=200".

-N No-compatible mode. Resets the 'compatible' option.
This will make Vim behave a bit better, but less Vi
compatible, even though a .vimrc file does not exist.

-nb Become an editor server for NetBeans. See the docs for
details.

-o[N] Open N windows stacked. When N is omitted, open one
window for each file.

-O[N] Open N windows side by side. When N is omitted, open one
window for each file.

-p[N] Open N tab pages. When N is omitted, open one tab page
for each file.

-P {parent-title}
Win32 GUI only: Specify the title of the parent
application. When possible, Vim will run in an MDI
window inside the application. {parent-title} must appear
in the window title of the parent application. Make sure
that it is specific enough. Note that the implementation
is still primitive. It won't work with all applications
and the menu doesn't work.

-r List swap files, with information about using them for
recovery.

-r {file} Recovery mode. The swap file is used to recover a
crashed editing session. The swap file is a file with
the same filename as the text file with ".swp" appended.
See ":help recovery".

-R Read-only mode. The 'readonly' option will be set. You
can still edit the buffer, but will be prevented from
accidentally overwriting a file. If you do want to
overwrite a file, add an exclamation mark to the Ex
command, as in ":w!". The -R option also implies the -n
option (see above). The 'readonly' option can be reset
with ":set noro". See ":help 'readonly'".

-s Silent mode. Only when started as "Ex" or when the "-e"
option was given before the "-s" option.

-s {scriptin}
The script file {scriptin} is read. The characters in
the file are interpreted as if you had typed them. The
same can be done with the command ":source! {scriptin}".
If the end of the file is reached before the editor
exits, further characters are read from the keyboard.

-S {file} {file} will be sourced after the first file has been
read. This is equivalent to -c "source {file}". {file}
cannot start with '-'. If {file} is omitted
"Session.vim" is used (only works when -S is the last
argument).

-T {terminal}
Tells Vim the name of the terminal you are using. Only
required when the automatic way doesn't work. Should be
a terminal known to Vim (builtin) or defined in the
termcap or terminfo file.

-u {vimrc} Use the commands in the file {vimrc} for initializations.
All the other initializations are skipped. Use this to
edit a special kind of files. It can also be used to
skip all initializations by giving the name "NONE". See
":help initialization" within vim for more details.

-U {gvimrc} Use the commands in the file {gvimrc} for GUI
initializations. All the other GUI initializations are
skipped. It can also be used to skip all GUI
initializations by giving the name "NONE". See ":help
gui-init" within vim for more details.

-v Start Vim in Vi mode, just like the executable was called
"vi". This only has effect when the executable is called
"ex".

-V[N] Verbose. Give messages about which files are sourced and
for reading and writing a viminfo file. The optional
number N is the value for 'verbose'. Default is 10.

-V[N]{filename}
Like -V and set 'verbosefile' to {filename}. The result
is that messages are not displayed but written to the
file {filename}. {filename} must not start with a digit.

-w{number} Set the 'window' option to {number}.

-w {scriptout}
All the characters that you type are recorded in the file
{scriptout}, until you exit Vim. This is useful if you
want to create a script file to be used with "vim -s" or
":source!". If the {scriptout} file exists, characters
are appended.

-W {scriptout}
Like -w, but an existing file is overwritten.

-x If Vim has been compiled with encryption support, use
encryption when writing files. Will prompt for a crypt
key.

-X Don't connect to the X server. Shortens startup time in
a terminal, but the window title and clipboard will not
be used.

-y Start Vim in easy mode, just like the executable was
called "evim" or "eview". Makes Vim behave like a click-
and-type editor.

-Z Restricted mode. Works like the executable starts with
"r".

-- Denotes the end of the options. Arguments after this
will be handled as a file name. This can be used to edit
a filename that starts with a '-'.

--clean Do not use any personal configuration (vimrc, plugins,
etc.). Useful to see if a problem reproduces with a
clean Vim setup.

--cmd {command}
Like using "-c", but the command is executed just before
processing any vimrc file. You can use up to 10 of these
commands, independently from "-c" commands.

--echo-wid GTK GUI only: Echo the Window ID on stdout.

--gui-dialog-file {name}
When using the GUI, instead of showing a dialog, write
the title and message of the dialog to file {name}. The
file is created or appended to. Only useful for testing,
to avoid that the test gets stuck on a dialog that can't
be seen. Without the GUI the argument is ignored.

--help, -h, -?
Give a bit of help about the command line arguments and
options. After this Vim exits.

--literal Take file name arguments literally, do not expand
wildcards. This has no effect on Unix where the shell
expands wildcards.

--log {filename}
If Vim has been compiled with eval and channel feature,
start logging and write entries to {filename}. This works
like calling ch_logfile({filename}, 'ao') very early
during startup.

--nofork Foreground. For the GUI version, Vim will not fork and
detach from the shell it was started in.

--noplugin Skip loading plugins. Implied by -u NONE.

--not-a-term
Tells Vim that the user knows that the input and/or
output is not connected to a terminal. This will avoid
the warning and the two second delay that would happen.

--remote Connect to a Vim server and make it edit the files given
in the rest of the arguments. If no server is found a
warning is given and the files are edited in the current
Vim.

--remote-expr {expr}
Connect to a Vim server, evaluate {expr} in it and print
the result on stdout.

--remote-send {keys}
Connect to a Vim server and send {keys} to it.

--remote-silent
As --remote, but without the warning when no server is
found.

--remote-wait
As --remote, but Vim does not exit until the files have
been edited.

--remote-wait-silent
As --remote-wait, but without the warning when no server
is found.

--serverlist
List the names of all Vim servers that can be found.

--servername {name}
Use {name} as the server name. Used for the current Vim,
unless used with a --remote argument, then it's the name
of the server to connect to.

--socketid {id}
GTK GUI only: Use the GtkPlug mechanism to run gVim in
another window.

--startuptime {file}
During startup write timing messages to the file {fname}.

--ttyfail When stdin or stdout is not a a terminal (tty) then exit
right away.

--version Print version information and exit.

--windowid {id}
Win32 GUI only: Make gVim try to use the window {id} as a
parent, so that it runs inside that window.

ON-LINE HELP
Type ":help" in Vim to get started. Type ":help subject" to get help
on a specific subject. For example: ":help ZZ" to get help for the
"ZZ" command. Use <Tab> and CTRL-D to complete subjects (":help
cmdline-completion"). Tags are present to jump from one place to
another (sort of hypertext links, see ":help"). All documentation
files can be viewed in this way, for example ":help syntax.txt".

FILES

/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/doc/*.txt
The Vim documentation files. Use ":help
doc-file-list" to get the complete list.
vim?? is short version number, like vim91 for Vim 9.1

/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/doc/tags
The tags file used for finding information in the
documentation files.

/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/syntax/syntax.vim
System wide syntax initializations.

/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/syntax/*.vim
Syntax files for various languages.

/usr/local/share/vim/vimrc
System wide Vim initializations.

~/.vimrc, ~/.vim/vimrc, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim/vimrc
Your personal Vim initializations (first one found is
used).

/usr/local/share/vim/gvimrc
System wide gvim initializations.

~/.gvimrc, ~/.vim/gvimrc, $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vim/gvimrc
Your personal gVim initializations (first one found is
used).

/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/optwin.vim
Script used for the ":options" command, a nice way to
view and set options.

/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/menu.vim
System wide menu initializations for gVim.

/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/bugreport.vim
Script to generate a bug report. See ":help bugs".

/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/filetype.vim
Script to detect the type of a file by its name. See
":help 'filetype'".

/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/scripts.vim
Script to detect the type of a file by its contents.
See ":help 'filetype'".

/usr/local/share/vim/vim??/print/*.ps
Files used for PostScript printing.

For recent info read the VIM home page:
<URL:http://www.vim.org/>

SEE ALSO

vimtutor(1)

AUTHOR

Most of Vim was made by Bram Moolenaar, with a lot of help from
others. See ":help credits" in Vim.
Vim is based on Stevie, worked on by: Tim Thompson, Tony Andrews and
G.R. (Fred) Walter. Although hardly any of the original code
remains.

BUGS

Probably. See ":help todo" for a list of known problems.

Note that a number of things that may be regarded as bugs by some,
are in fact caused by a too-faithful reproduction of Vi's behaviour.
And if you think other things are bugs "because Vi does it
differently", you should take a closer look at the vi_diff.txt file
(or type :help vi_diff.txt when in Vim). Also have a look at the
'compatible' and 'cpoptions' options.

2024 Aug 12 VIM(1)