eval.txt For Vim version 8.1. Last change: 2019 Jun 17
VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
Expression evaluation expression expr E15 eval
Using expressions is introduced in chapter 41 of the user manual usr_41.txt.
Note: Expression evaluation can be disabled at compile time. If this has been
done, the features in this document are not available. See +eval and
no-eval-feature.
1. Variables variables
1.1 Variable types
1.2 Function references Funcref
1.3 Lists Lists
1.4 Dictionaries Dictionaries
1.5 Blobs Blobs
1.6 More about variables more-variables
2. Expression syntax expression-syntax
3. Internal variable internal-variables
4. Builtin Functions functions
5. Defining functions user-functions
6. Curly braces names curly-braces-names
7. Commands expression-commands
8. Exception handling exception-handling
9. Examples eval-examples
10. Vim script version vimscript-version
11. No +eval feature no-eval-feature
12. The sandbox eval-sandbox
13. Textlock textlock
14. Testing testing
==============================================================================
1. Variables variables
1.1 Variable types
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There are nine types of variables:
Number A 32 or 64 bit signed number. expr-number Number
64-bit Numbers are available only when compiled with the
+num64 feature.
Examples: -123 0x10 0177 0b1011
Float A floating point number. floating-point-format Float
{only when compiled with the |+float| feature}
Examples: 123.456 1.15e-6 -1.1e3
E928
String A NUL terminated string of 8-bit unsigned characters (bytes).
expr-string Examples: "ab\txx\"--" 'x-z''a,c'
List An ordered sequence of items, see List for details.
Example: [1, 2, ['a', 'b']]
Dictionary An associative, unordered array: Each entry has a key and a
value. Dictionary
Example: {'blue': "#0000ff", 'red': "#ff0000"}
Funcref A reference to a function Funcref.
Example: function("strlen")
It can be bound to a dictionary and arguments, it then works
like a Partial.
Example: function("Callback", [arg], myDict)
Special v:false, v:true, v:none and v:null. Special
Job Used for a job, see job_start(). Job Jobs
Channel Used for a channel, see ch_open(). Channel Channels
Blob Binary Large Object. Stores any sequence of bytes. See Blob
for details
Example: 0zFF00ED015DAF
0z is an empty Blob.
The Number and String types are converted automatically, depending on how they
are used.
Conversion from a Number to a String is by making the ASCII representation of
the Number. Examples:
Number 123 --> String "123"
Number 0 --> String "0"
Number -1 --> String "-1"
octal
Conversion from a String to a Number is done by converting the first digits to
a number. Hexadecimal "0xf9", Octal "017", and Binary "0b10" numbers are
recognized. If the String doesn't start with digits, the result is zero.
Examples:
String "456" --> Number 456
String "6bar" --> Number 6
String "foo" --> Number 0
String "0xf1" --> Number 241
String "0100" --> Number 64
String "0b101" --> Number 5
String "-8" --> Number -8
String "+8" --> Number 0
To force conversion from String to Number, add zero to it:
:echo "0100" + 0
64
To avoid a leading zero to cause octal conversion, or for using a different
base, use str2nr().
TRUE FALSE Boolean
For boolean operators Numbers are used. Zero is FALSE, non-zero is TRUE.
You can also use v:false and v:true. When TRUE is returned from a
function it is the Number one, FALSE is the number zero.
Note that in the command:
:if "foo"
:" NOT executed
"foo" is converted to 0, which means FALSE. If the string starts with a
non-zero number it means TRUE:
:if "8foo"
:" executed
To test for a non-empty string, use empty():
:if !empty("foo")
non-zero-arg
Function arguments often behave slightly different from TRUE: If the
argument is present and it evaluates to a non-zero Number, v:true or a
non-empty String, then the value is considered to be TRUE.
Note that " " and "0" are also non-empty strings, thus considered to be TRUE.
A List, Dictionary or Float is not a Number or String, thus evaluate to FALSE.
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List, Dictionary, Funcref, Job, Channel and Blob types are not
automatically converted.
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When mixing Number and Float the Number is converted to Float. Otherwise
there is no automatic conversion of Float. You can use str2float() for String
to Float, printf() for Float to String and float2nr() for Float to Number.
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When expecting a Float a Number can also be used, but nothing else.
no-type-checking
You will not get an error if you try to change the type of a variable.
1.2 Function references
Funcref E695 E718
A Funcref variable is obtained with the function() function, the funcref()
function or created with the lambda expression expr-lambda. It can be used
in an expression in the place of a function name, before the parenthesis
around the arguments, to invoke the function it refers to. Example:
:let Fn = function("MyFunc")
:echo Fn()
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A Funcref variable must start with a capital, "s:", "w:", "t:" or "b:". You
can use "g:" but the following name must still start with a capital. You
cannot have both a Funcref variable and a function with the same name.
A special case is defining a function and directly assigning its Funcref to a
Dictionary entry. Example:
:function dict.init() dict
: let self.val = 0
:endfunction
The key of the Dictionary can start with a lower case letter. The actual
function name is not used here. Also see numbered-function.
A Funcref can also be used with the :call command:
:call Fn()
:call dict.init()
The name of the referenced function can be obtained with string().
:let func = string(Fn)
You can use call() to invoke a Funcref and use a list variable for the
arguments:
:let r = call(Fn, mylist)
Partial
A Funcref optionally binds a Dictionary and/or arguments. This is also called
a Partial. This is created by passing the Dictionary and/or arguments to
function() or funcref(). When calling the function the Dictionary and/or
arguments will be passed to the function. Example:
let Cb = function('Callback', ['foo'], myDict)
call Cb('bar')
This will invoke the function as if using:
call myDict.Callback('foo', 'bar')
This is very useful when passing a function around, e.g. in the arguments of
ch_open().
Note that binding a function to a Dictionary also happens when the function is
a member of the Dictionary:
let myDict.myFunction = MyFunction
call myDict.myFunction()
Here MyFunction() will get myDict passed as "self". This happens when the
"myFunction" member is accessed. When making assigning "myFunction" to
otherDict and calling it, it will be bound to otherDict:
let otherDict.myFunction = myDict.myFunction
call otherDict.myFunction()
Now "self" will be "otherDict". But when the dictionary was bound explicitly
this won't happen:
let myDict.myFunction = function(MyFunction, myDict)
let otherDict.myFunction = myDict.myFunction
call otherDict.myFunction()
Here "self" will be "myDict", because it was bound explicitly.
1.3 Lists
list List Lists E686
A List is an ordered sequence of items. An item can be of any type. Items
can be accessed by their index number. Items can be added and removed at any
position in the sequence.
List creation
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A List is created with a comma separated list of items in square brackets.
Examples:
:let mylist = [1, two, 3, "four"]
:let emptylist = []
An item can be any expression. Using a List for an item creates a
List of Lists:
:let nestlist = [[11, 12], [21, 22], [31, 32]]
An extra comma after the last item is ignored.
List index
list-index E684
An item in the List can be accessed by putting the index in square brackets
after the List. Indexes are zero-based, thus the first item has index zero.
:let item = mylist[0] " get the first item: 1
:let item = mylist[2] " get the third item: 3
When the resulting item is a list this can be repeated:
:let item = nestlist[0][1] " get the first list, second item: 12
A negative index is counted from the end. Index -1 refers to the last item in
the List, -2 to the last but one item, etc.
:let last = mylist[-1] " get the last item: "four"
To avoid an error for an invalid index use the get() function. When an item
is not available it returns zero or the default value you specify:
:echo get(mylist, idx)
:echo get(mylist, idx, "NONE")
List concatenation
Two lists can be concatenated with the "+" operator:
:let longlist = mylist + [5, 6]
:let mylist += [7, 8]
To prepend or append an item turn the item into a list by putting [] around
it. To change a list in-place see list-modification below.
Sublist
sublist
A part of the List can be obtained by specifying the first and last index,
separated by a colon in square brackets:
:let shortlist = mylist[2:-1] " get List [3, "four"]
Omitting the first index is similar to zero. Omitting the last index is
similar to -1.
:let endlist = mylist[2:] " from item 2 to the end: [3, "four"]
:let shortlist = mylist[2:2] " List with one item: [3]
:let otherlist = mylist[:] " make a copy of the List
If the first index is beyond the last item of the List or the second item is
before the first item, the result is an empty list. There is no error
message.
If the second index is equal to or greater than the length of the list the
length minus one is used:
:let mylist = [0, 1, 2, 3]
:echo mylist[2:8] " result: [2, 3]
NOTE: mylist[s:e] means using the variable "s:e" as index. Watch out for
using a single letter variable before the ":". Insert a space when needed:
mylist[s : e].
List identity
list-identity
When variable "aa" is a list and you assign it to another variable "bb", both
variables refer to the same list. Thus changing the list "aa" will also
change "bb":
:let aa = [1, 2, 3]
:let bb = aa
:call add(aa, 4)
:echo bb
[1, 2, 3, 4]
Making a copy of a list is done with the copy() function. Using [:] also
works, as explained above. This creates a shallow copy of the list: Changing
a list item in the list will also change the item in the copied list:
:let aa = [[1, 'a'], 2, 3]
:let bb = copy(aa)
:call add(aa, 4)
:let aa[0][1] = 'aaa'
:echo aa
[[1, aaa], 2, 3, 4]
:echo bb
[[1, aaa], 2, 3]
To make a completely independent list use deepcopy(). This also makes a
copy of the values in the list, recursively. Up to a hundred levels deep.
The operator "is" can be used to check if two variables refer to the same
List. "isnot" does the opposite. In contrast "==" compares if two lists have
the same value.
:let alist = [1, 2, 3]
:let blist = [1, 2, 3]
:echo alist is blist
0
:echo alist == blist
1
Note about comparing lists: Two lists are considered equal if they have the
same length and all items compare equal, as with using "==". There is one
exception: When comparing a number with a string they are considered
different. There is no automatic type conversion, as with using "==" on
variables. Example:
echo 4 == "4"
1
echo [4] == ["4"]
0
Thus comparing Lists is more strict than comparing numbers and strings. You
can compare simple values this way too by putting them in a list:
:let a = 5
:let b = "5"
:echo a == b
1
:echo [a] == [b]
0
List unpack
To unpack the items in a list to individual variables, put the variables in
square brackets, like list items:
:let [var1, var2] = mylist
When the number of variables does not match the number of items in the list
this produces an error. To handle any extra items from the list append ";"
and a variable name:
:let [var1, var2; rest] = mylist
This works like:
:let var1 = mylist[0]
:let var2 = mylist[1]
:let rest = mylist[2:]
Except that there is no error if there are only two items. "rest" will be an
empty list then.
List modification
list-modification
To change a specific item of a list use :let this way:
:let list[4] = "four"
:let listlist[0][3] = item
To change part of a list you can specify the first and last item to be
modified. The value must at least have the number of items in the range:
:let list[3:5] = [3, 4, 5]
Adding and removing items from a list is done with functions. Here are a few
examples:
:call insert(list, 'a') " prepend item 'a'
:call insert(list, 'a', 3) " insert item 'a' before list[3]
:call add(list, "new") " append String item
:call add(list, [1, 2]) " append a List as one new item
:call extend(list, [1, 2]) " extend the list with two more items
:let i = remove(list, 3) " remove item 3
:unlet list[3] " idem
:let l = remove(list, 3, -1) " remove items 3 to last item
:unlet list[3 : ] " idem
:call filter(list, 'v:val !~ "x"') " remove items with an 'x'
Changing the order of items in a list:
:call sort(list) " sort a list alphabetically
:call reverse(list) " reverse the order of items
:call uniq(sort(list)) " sort and remove duplicates
For loop
The :for loop executes commands for each item in a list. A variable is set
to each item in the list in sequence. Example:
:for item in mylist
: call Doit(item)
:endfor
This works like:
:let index = 0
:while index < len(mylist)
: let item = mylist[index]
: :call Doit(item)
: let index = index + 1
:endwhile
If all you want to do is modify each item in the list then the map()
function will be a simpler method than a for loop.
Just like the :let command, :for also accepts a list of variables. This
requires the argument to be a list of lists.
:for [lnum, col] in [[1, 3], [2, 8], [3, 0]]
: call Doit(lnum, col)
:endfor
This works like a :let command is done for each list item. Again, the types
must remain the same to avoid an error.
It is also possible to put remaining items in a List variable:
:for [i, j; rest] in listlist
: call Doit(i, j)
: if !empty(rest)
: echo "remainder: " . string(rest)
: endif
:endfor
List functions
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Functions that are useful with a List:
:let r = call(funcname, list) " call a function with an argument list
:if empty(list) " check if list is empty
:let l = len(list) " number of items in list
:let big = max(list) " maximum value in list
:let small = min(list) " minimum value in list
:let xs = count(list, 'x') " count nr of times 'x' appears in list
:let i = index(list, 'x') " index of first 'x' in list
:let lines = getline(1, 10) " get ten text lines from buffer
:call append('$', lines) " append text lines in buffer
:let list = split("a b c") " create list from items in a string
:let string = join(list, ', ') " create string from list items
:let s = string(list) " String representation of list
:call map(list, '">> " . v:val') " prepend ">> " to each item
Don't forget that a combination of features can make things simple. For
example, to add up all the numbers in a list:
:exe 'let sum = ' . join(nrlist, '+')
1.4 Dictionaries
dict Dict Dictionaries Dictionary
A Dictionary is an associative array: Each entry has a key and a value. The
entry can be located with the key. The entries are stored without a specific
ordering.
Dictionary creation
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A Dictionary is created with a comma separated list of entries in curly
braces. Each entry has a key and a value, separated by a colon. Each key can
only appear once. Examples:
:let mydict = {1: 'one', 2: 'two', 3: 'three'}
:let emptydict = {}
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A key is always a String. You can use a Number, it will be converted to a
String automatically. Thus the String '4' and the number 4 will find the same
entry. Note that the String '04' and the Number 04 are different, since the
Number will be converted to the String '4'. The empty string can be used as a
key.
A value can be any expression. Using a Dictionary for a value creates a
nested Dictionary:
:let nestdict = {1: {11: 'a', 12: 'b'}, 2: {21: 'c'}}
An extra comma after the last entry is ignored.
Accessing entries
The normal way to access an entry is by putting the key in square brackets:
:let val = mydict["one"]
:let mydict["four"] = 4
You can add new entries to an existing Dictionary this way, unlike Lists.
For keys that consist entirely of letters, digits and underscore the following
form can be used expr-entry:
:let val = mydict.one
:let mydict.four = 4
Since an entry can be any type, also a List and a Dictionary, the indexing and
key lookup can be repeated:
:echo dict.key[idx].key
Dictionary to List conversion
You may want to loop over the entries in a dictionary. For this you need to
turn the Dictionary into a List and pass it to :for.
Most often you want to loop over the keys, using the keys() function:
:for key in keys(mydict)
: echo key . ': ' . mydict[key]
:endfor
The List of keys is unsorted. You may want to sort them first:
:for key in sort(keys(mydict))
To loop over the values use the values() function:
:for v in values(mydict)
: echo "value: " . v
:endfor
If you want both the key and the value use the items() function. It returns
a List in which each item is a List with two items, the key and the value:
:for [key, value] in items(mydict)
: echo key . ': ' . value
:endfor
Dictionary identity
dict-identity
Just like Lists you need to use copy() and deepcopy() to make a copy of a
Dictionary. Otherwise, assignment results in referring to the same
Dictionary:
:let onedict = {'a': 1, 'b': 2}
:let adict = onedict
:let adict['a'] = 11
:echo onedict['a']
11
Two Dictionaries compare equal if all the key-value pairs compare equal. For
more info see list-identity.
Dictionary modification
dict-modification
To change an already existing entry of a Dictionary, or to add a new entry,
use :let this way:
:let dict[4] = "four"
:let dict['one'] = item
Removing an entry from a Dictionary is done with remove() or :unlet.
Three ways to remove the entry with key "aaa" from dict:
:let i = remove(dict, 'aaa')
:unlet dict.aaa
:unlet dict['aaa']
Merging a Dictionary with another is done with extend():
:call extend(adict, bdict)
This extends adict with all entries from bdict. Duplicate keys cause entries
in adict to be overwritten. An optional third argument can change this.
Note that the order of entries in a Dictionary is irrelevant, thus don't
expect ":echo adict" to show the items from bdict after the older entries in
adict.
Weeding out entries from a Dictionary can be done with filter():
:call filter(dict, 'v:val =~ "x"')
This removes all entries from "dict" with a value not matching 'x'.
Dictionary function
Dictionary-function self E725 E862
When a function is defined with the "dict" attribute it can be used in a
special way with a dictionary. Example:
:function Mylen() dict
: return len(self.data)
:endfunction
:let mydict = {'data': [0, 1, 2, 3], 'len': function("Mylen")}
:echo mydict.len()
This is like a method in object oriented programming. The entry in the
Dictionary is a Funcref. The local variable "self" refers to the dictionary
the function was invoked from.
It is also possible to add a function without the "dict" attribute as a
Funcref to a Dictionary, but the "self" variable is not available then.
numbered-function anonymous-function
To avoid the extra name for the function it can be defined and directly
assigned to a Dictionary in this way:
:let mydict = {'data': [0, 1, 2, 3]}
:function mydict.len()
: return len(self.data)
:endfunction
:echo mydict.len()
The function will then get a number and the value of dict.len is a Funcref
that references this function. The function can only be used through a
Funcref. It will automatically be deleted when there is no Funcref
remaining that refers to it.
It is not necessary to use the "dict" attribute for a numbered function.
If you get an error for a numbered function, you can find out what it is with
a trick. Assuming the function is 42, the command is:
:function {42}
Functions for Dictionaries
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Functions that can be used with a Dictionary:
:if has_key(dict, 'foo') " TRUE if dict has entry with key "foo"
:if empty(dict) " TRUE if dict is empty
:let l = len(dict) " number of items in dict
:let big = max(dict) " maximum value in dict
:let small = min(dict) " minimum value in dict
:let xs = count(dict, 'x') " count nr of times 'x' appears in dict
:let s = string(dict) " String representation of dict
:call map(dict, '">> " . v:val') " prepend ">> " to each item
1.5 Blobs
blob Blob Blobs E978
A Blob is a binary object. It can be used to read an image from a file and
send it over a channel, for example.
A Blob mostly behaves like a List of numbers, where each number has the
value of an 8-bit byte, from 0 to 255.
Blob creation
A Blob can be created with a blob-literal:
:let b = 0zFF00ED015DAF
Dots can be inserted between bytes (pair of hex characters) for readability,
they don't change the value:
:let b = 0zFF00.ED01.5DAF
A blob can be read from a file with readfile() passing the {type} argument
set to "B", for example:
:let b = readfile('image.png', 'B')
A blob can be read from a channel with the ch_readblob() function.
Blob index
blob-index E979
A byte in the Blob can be accessed by putting the index in square brackets
after the Blob. Indexes are zero-based, thus the first byte has index zero.
:let myblob = 0z00112233
:let byte = myblob[0] " get the first byte: 0x00
:let byte = myblob[2] " get the third byte: 0x22
A negative index is counted from the end. Index -1 refers to the last byte in
the Blob, -2 to the last but one byte, etc.
:let last = myblob[-1] " get the last byte: 0x33
To avoid an error for an invalid index use the get() function. When an item
is not available it returns -1 or the default value you specify:
:echo get(myblob, idx)
:echo get(myblob, idx, 999)
Blob iteration
The :for loop executes commands for each byte of a Blob. The loop variable is
set to each byte in the Blob. Example:
:for byte in 0z112233
: call Doit(byte)
:endfor
This calls Doit() with 0x11, 0x22 and 0x33.
Blob concatenation
Two blobs can be concatenated with the "+" operator:
:let longblob = myblob + 0z4455
:let myblob += 0z6677
To change a blob in-place see blob-modification below.
Part of a blob
A part of the Blob can be obtained by specifying the first and last index,
separated by a colon in square brackets:
:let myblob = 0z00112233
:let shortblob = myblob[1:2] " get 0z1122
:let shortblob = myblob[2:-1] " get 0z2233
Omitting the first index is similar to zero. Omitting the last index is
similar to -1.
:let endblob = myblob[2:] " from item 2 to the end: 0z2233
:let shortblob = myblob[2:2] " Blob with one byte: 0z22
:let otherblob = myblob[:] " make a copy of the Blob
If the first index is beyond the last byte of the Blob or the second index is
before the first index, the result is an empty Blob. There is no error
message.
If the second index is equal to or greater than the length of the list the
length minus one is used:
:echo myblob[2:8] " result: 0z2233
Blob modification
blob-modification
To change a specific byte of a blob use :let this way:
:let blob[4] = 0x44
When the index is just one beyond the end of the Blob, it is appended. Any
higher index is an error.
To change a sequence of bytes the [:] notation can be used:
let blob[1:3] = 0z445566
The length of the replaced bytes must be exactly the same as the value
provided. E972
To change part of a blob you can specify the first and last byte to be
modified. The value must have the same number of bytes in the range:
:let blob[3:5] = 0z334455
You can also use the functions add(), remove() and insert().
Blob identity
Blobs can be compared for equality:
if blob == 0z001122
And for equal identity:
if blob is otherblob
blob-identity E977
When variable "aa" is a Blob and you assign it to another variable "bb", both
variables refer to the same Blob. Then the "is" operator returns true.
When making a copy using [:] or copy() the values are the same, but the
identity is different:
:let blob = 0z112233
:let blob2 = blob
:echo blob == blob2
1
:echo blob is blob2
1
:let blob3 = blob[:]
:echo blob == blob3
1
:echo blob is blob3
0
Making a copy of a Blob is done with the copy() function. Using [:] also
works, as explained above.
1.6 More about variables
more-variables
If you need to know the type of a variable or expression, use the type()
function.
When the '!' flag is included in the 'viminfo' option, global variables that
start with an uppercase letter, and don't contain a lowercase letter, are
stored in the viminfo file viminfo-file.
When the 'sessionoptions' option contains "global", global variables that
start with an uppercase letter and contain at least one lowercase letter are
stored in the session file session-file.
variable name can be stored where
my_var_6 not
My_Var_6 session file
MY_VAR_6 viminfo file
It's possible to form a variable name with curly braces, see
curly-braces-names.
==============================================================================
2. Expression syntax expression-syntax
Expression syntax summary, from least to most significant:
expr1 expr2
expr2 ? expr1 : expr1 if-then-else
expr2 expr3
expr3 || expr3 ... logical OR
expr3 expr4
expr4 && expr4 ... logical AND
expr4 expr5
expr5 == expr5 equal
expr5 != expr5 not equal
expr5 > expr5 greater than
expr5 >= expr5 greater than or equal
expr5 < expr5 smaller than
expr5 <= expr5 smaller than or equal
expr5 =~ expr5 regexp matches
expr5 !~ expr5 regexp doesn't match
expr5 ==? expr5 equal, ignoring case
expr5 ==# expr5 equal, match case
etc. As above, append ? for ignoring case, # for
matching case
expr5 is expr5 same List, Dictionary or Blob instance
expr5 isnot expr5 different List, Dictionary or Blob
instance
expr5 expr6
expr6 + expr6 ... number addition, list or blob concatenation
expr6 - expr6 ... number subtraction
expr6 . expr6 ... string concatenation
expr6 .. expr6 ... string concatenation
expr6 expr7
expr7 * expr7 ... number multiplication
expr7 / expr7 ... number division
expr7 % expr7 ... number modulo
expr7 expr8
! expr7 logical NOT
- expr7 unary minus
+ expr7 unary plus
expr8 expr9
expr8[expr1] byte of a String or item of a List
expr8[expr1 : expr1] substring of a String or sublist of a List
expr8.name entry in a Dictionary
expr8(expr1, ...) function call with Funcref variable
expr9 number number constant
"string" string constant, backslash is special
'string' string constant, ' is doubled
[expr1, ...] List
{expr1: expr1, ...} Dictionary
&option option value
(expr1) nested expression
variable internal variable
va{ria}ble internal variable with curly braces
$VAR environment variable
@r contents of register 'r'
function(expr1, ...) function call
func{ti}on(expr1, ...) function call with curly braces
{args -> expr1} lambda expression
"..." indicates that the operations in this level can be concatenated.
Example:
&nu || &list && &shell == "csh"
All expressions within one level are parsed from left to right.
expr1 expr1 E109
-----
expr2 ? expr1 : expr1
The expression before the '?' is evaluated to a number. If it evaluates to
TRUE, the result is the value of the expression between the '?' and ':',
otherwise the result is the value of the expression after the ':'.
Example:
:echo lnum == 1 ? "top" : lnum
Since the first expression is an "expr2", it cannot contain another ?:. The
other two expressions can, thus allow for recursive use of ?:.
Example:
:echo lnum == 1 ? "top" : lnum == 1000 ? "last" : lnum
To keep this readable, using line-continuation is suggested:
:echo lnum == 1
:\ ? "top"
:\ : lnum == 1000
:\ ? "last"
:\ : lnum
You should always put a space before the ':', otherwise it can be mistaken for
use in a variable such as "a:1".
expr2 and expr3 expr2 expr3
---------------
expr3 || expr3 .. logical OR expr-barbar
expr4 && expr4 .. logical AND expr-&&
The "||" and "&&" operators take one argument on each side. The arguments
are (converted to) Numbers. The result is:
input output
n1 n2 n1 || n2 n1 && n2
FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE
FALSE TRUE TRUE FALSE
TRUE FALSE TRUE FALSE
TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE
The operators can be concatenated, for example:
&nu || &list && &shell == "csh"
Note that "&&" takes precedence over "||", so this has the meaning of:
&nu || (&list && &shell == "csh")
Once the result is known, the expression "short-circuits", that is, further
arguments are not evaluated. This is like what happens in C. For example:
let a = 1
echo a || b
This is valid even if there is no variable called "b" because "a" is TRUE,
so the result must be TRUE. Similarly below:
echo exists("b") && b == "yes"
This is valid whether "b" has been defined or not. The second clause will
only be evaluated if "b" has been defined.
expr4 expr4
-----
expr5 {cmp} expr5
Compare two expr5 expressions, resulting in a 0 if it evaluates to false, or 1
if it evaluates to true.
expr-== expr-!= expr-> expr->=
expr-< expr-<= expr-=~ expr-!~
expr-==# expr-!=# expr-># expr->=#
expr-<# expr-<=# expr-=~# expr-!~#
expr-==? expr-!=? expr->? expr->=?
expr-<? expr-<=? expr-=~? expr-!~?
expr-is expr-isnot expr-is# expr-isnot#
expr-is? expr-isnot?
use 'ignorecase' match case ignore case
equal == ==# ==?
not equal != !=# !=?
greater than > ># >?
greater than or equal >= >=# >=?
smaller than < <# <?
smaller than or equal <= <=# <=?
regexp matches =~ =~# =~?
regexp doesn't match !~ !~# !~?
same instance is is# is?
different instance isnot isnot# isnot?
Examples:
"abc" ==# "Abc" evaluates to 0
"abc" ==? "Abc" evaluates to 1
"abc" == "Abc" evaluates to 1 if 'ignorecase' is set, 0 otherwise
E691 E692
A List can only be compared with a List and only "equal", "not equal",
"is" and "isnot" can be used. This compares the values of the list,
recursively. Ignoring case means case is ignored when comparing item values.
E735 E736
A Dictionary can only be compared with a Dictionary and only "equal", "not
equal", "is" and "isnot" can be used. This compares the key/values of the
Dictionary recursively. Ignoring case means case is ignored when comparing
item values.
E694
A Funcref can only be compared with a Funcref and only "equal", "not
equal", "is" and "isnot" can be used. Case is never ignored. Whether
arguments or a Dictionary are bound (with a partial) matters. The
Dictionaries must also be equal (or the same, in case of "is") and the
arguments must be equal (or the same).
To compare Funcrefs to see if they refer to the same function, ignoring bound
Dictionary and arguments, use get() to get the function name:
if get(Part1, 'name') == get(Part2, 'name')
" Part1 and Part2 refer to the same function
Using "is" or "isnot" with a List, Dictionary or Blob checks whether
the expressions are referring to the same List, Dictionary or Blob
instance. A copy of a List is different from the original List. When
using "is" without a List, Dictionary or Blob, it is equivalent to
using "equal", using "isnot" equivalent to using "not equal". Except that
a different type means the values are different:
echo 4 == '4'
1
echo 4 is '4'
0
echo 0 is []
0
"is#"/"isnot#" and "is?"/"isnot?" can be used to match and ignore case.
When comparing a String with a Number, the String is converted to a Number,
and the comparison is done on Numbers. This means that:
echo 0 == 'x'
1
because 'x' converted to a Number is zero. However:
echo [0] == ['x']
0
Inside a List or Dictionary this conversion is not used.
When comparing two Strings, this is done with strcmp() or stricmp(). This
results in the mathematical difference (comparing byte values), not
necessarily the alphabetical difference in the local language.
When using the operators with a trailing '#', or the short version and
'ignorecase' is off, the comparing is done with strcmp(): case matters.
When using the operators with a trailing '?', or the short version and
'ignorecase' is set, the comparing is done with stricmp(): case is ignored.
'smartcase' is not used.
The "=~" and "!~" operators match the lefthand argument with the righthand
argument, which is used as a pattern. See pattern for what a pattern is.
This matching is always done like 'magic' was set and 'cpoptions' is empty, no
matter what the actual value of 'magic' or 'cpoptions' is. This makes scripts
portable. To avoid backslashes in the regexp pattern to be doubled, use a
single-quote string, see literal-string.
Since a string is considered to be a single line, a multi-line pattern
(containing \n, backslash-n) will not match. However, a literal NL character
can be matched like an ordinary character. Examples:
"foo\nbar" =~ "\n" evaluates to 1
"foo\nbar" =~ "\\n" evaluates to 0
expr5 and expr6 expr5 expr6
---------------
expr6 + expr6 Number addition, List or Blob concatenation expr-+
expr6 - expr6 Number subtraction expr--
expr6 . expr6 String concatenation expr-.
expr6 .. expr6 String concatenation expr-..
For Lists only "+" is possible and then both expr6 must be a list. The
result is a new list with the two lists Concatenated.
For String concatenation ".." is preferred, since "." is ambiguous, it is also
used for Dict member access and floating point numbers.
When vimscript-version is 2 or higher, using "." is not allowed.
expr7 * expr7 Number multiplication expr-star
expr7 / expr7 Number division expr-/
expr7 % expr7 Number modulo expr-%
For all, except "." and "..", Strings are converted to Numbers.
For bitwise operators see and(), or() and xor().
Note the difference between "+" and ".":
"123" + "456" = 579
"123" . "456" = "123456"
Since '.' has the same precedence as '+' and '-', you need to read:
1 . 90 + 90.0
As:
(1 . 90) + 90.0
That works, since the String "190" is automatically converted to the Number
190, which can be added to the Float 90.0. However:
1 . 90 * 90.0
Should be read as:
1 . (90 * 90.0)
Since '.' has lower precedence than '*'. This does NOT work, since this
attempts to concatenate a Float and a String.
When dividing a Number by zero the result depends on the value:
0 / 0 = -0x80000000 (like NaN for Float)
>0 / 0 = 0x7fffffff (like positive infinity)
<0 / 0 = -0x7fffffff (like negative infinity)
(before Vim 7.2 it was always 0x7fffffff)
When 64-bit Number support is enabled:
0 / 0 = -0x8000000000000000 (like NaN for Float)
>0 / 0 = 0x7fffffffffffffff (like positive infinity)
<0 / 0 = -0x7fffffffffffffff (like negative infinity)
When the righthand side of '%' is zero, the result is 0.
None of these work for Funcrefs.
. and % do not work for Float. E804
expr7 expr7
-----
! expr7 logical NOT expr-!
- expr7 unary minus expr-unary--
+ expr7 unary plus expr-unary-+
For '!' TRUE becomes FALSE, FALSE becomes TRUE (one).
For '-' the sign of the number is changed.
For '+' the number is unchanged.
A String will be converted to a Number first.
These three can be repeated and mixed. Examples:
!-1 == 0
!!8 == 1
--9 == 9
expr8 expr8
-----
This expression is either expr9 or a sequence of the alternatives below,
in any order. E.g., these are all possible:
expr9[expr1].name
expr9.name[expr1]
expr9(expr1, ...)[expr1].name
expr8[expr1] item of String or List expr-[] E111
E909 subscript
If expr8 is a Number or String this results in a String that contains the
expr1'th single byte from expr8. expr8 is used as a String, expr1 as a
Number. This doesn't recognize multi-byte encodings, see byteidx() for
an alternative, or use split() to turn the string into a list of characters.
Index zero gives the first byte. This is like it works in C. Careful:
text column numbers start with one! Example, to get the byte under the
cursor:
:let c = getline(".")[col(".") - 1]
If the length of the String is less than the index, the result is an empty
String. A negative index always results in an empty string (reason: backward
compatibility). Use [-1:] to get the last byte.
If expr8 is a List then it results the item at index expr1. See list-index
for possible index values. If the index is out of range this results in an
error. Example:
:let item = mylist[-1] " get last item
Generally, if a List index is equal to or higher than the length of the
List, or more negative than the length of the List, this results in an
error.
expr8[expr1a : expr1b] substring or sublist expr-[:]
If expr8 is a Number or String this results in the substring with the bytes
from expr1a to and including expr1b. expr8 is used as a String, expr1a and
expr1b are used as a Number. This doesn't recognize multi-byte encodings, see
byteidx() for computing the indexes.
If expr1a is omitted zero is used. If expr1b is omitted the length of the
string minus one is used.
A negative number can be used to measure from the end of the string. -1 is
the last character, -2 the last but one, etc.
If an index goes out of range for the string characters are omitted. If
expr1b is smaller than expr1a the result is an empty string.
Examples:
:let c = name[-1:] " last byte of a string
:let c = name[-2:-2] " last but one byte of a string
:let s = line(".")[4:] " from the fifth byte to the end
:let s = s[:-3] " remove last two bytes
slice
If expr8 is a List this results in a new List with the items indicated by
the indexes expr1a and expr1b. This works like with a String, as explained
just above. Also see sublist below. Examples:
:let l = mylist[:3] " first four items
:let l = mylist[4:4] " List with one item
:let l = mylist[:] " shallow copy of a List
If expr8 is a Blob this results in a new Blob with the bytes in the
indexes expr1a and expr1b, inclusive. Examples:
:let b = 0zDEADBEEF
:let bs = b[1:2] " 0zADBE
:let bs = b[:] " copy of 0zDEADBEEF
Using expr8[expr1] or expr8[expr1a : expr1b] on a Funcref results in an
error.
Watch out for confusion between a namespace and a variable followed by a colon
for a sublist:
mylist[n:] " uses variable n
mylist[s:] " uses namespace s:, error!
expr8.name entry in a Dictionary expr-entry
If expr8 is a Dictionary and it is followed by a dot, then the following
name will be used as a key in the Dictionary. This is just like:
expr8[name].
The name must consist of alphanumeric characters, just like a variable name,
but it may start with a number. Curly braces cannot be used.
There must not be white space before or after the dot.
Examples:
:let dict = {"one": 1, 2: "two"}
:echo dict.one " shows "1"
:echo dict.2 " shows "two"
:echo dict .2 " error because of space before the dot
Note that the dot is also used for String concatenation. To avoid confusion
always put spaces around the dot for String concatenation.
expr8(expr1, ...) Funcref function call
When expr8 is a Funcref type variable, invoke the function it refers to.
expr9
number
------
number number constant expr-number
hex-number octal-number binary-number
Decimal, Hexadecimal (starting with 0x or 0X), Binary (starting with 0b or 0B)
and Octal (starting with 0).
floating-point-format
Floating point numbers can be written in two forms:
[-+]{N}.{M}
[-+]{N}.{M}[eE][-+]{exp}
{N} and {M} are numbers. Both {N} and {M} must be present and can only
contain digits.
[-+] means there is an optional plus or minus sign.
{exp} is the exponent, power of 10.
Only a decimal point is accepted, not a comma. No matter what the current
locale is.
{only when compiled with the |+float| feature}
Examples:
123.456
+0.0001
55.0
-0.123
1.234e03
1.0E-6
-3.1416e+88
These are INVALID:
3. empty {M}
1e40 missing .{M}
Rationale:
Before floating point was introduced, the text "123.456" was interpreted as
the two numbers "123" and "456", both converted to a string and concatenated,
resulting in the string "123456". Since this was considered pointless, and we
could not find it intentionally being used in Vim scripts, this backwards
incompatibility was accepted in favor of being able to use the normal notation
for floating point numbers.
float-pi float-e
A few useful values to copy&paste:
:let pi = 3.14159265359
:let e = 2.71828182846
Or, if you don't want to write them in as floating-point literals, you can
also use functions, like the following:
:let pi = acos(-1.0)
:let e = exp(1.0)
floating-point-precision
The precision and range of floating points numbers depends on what "double"
means in the library Vim was compiled with. There is no way to change this at
runtime.
The default for displaying a Float is to use 6 decimal places, like using
printf("%g", f). You can select something else when using the printf()
function. Example:
:echo printf('%.15e', atan(1))
7.853981633974483e-01
string string String expr-string E114
------
"string" string constant expr-quote
Note that double quotes are used.
A string constant accepts these special characters:
\... three-digit octal number (e.g., "\316")
\.. two-digit octal number (must be followed by non-digit)
\. one-digit octal number (must be followed by non-digit)
\x.. byte specified with two hex numbers (e.g., "\x1f")
\x. byte specified with one hex number (must be followed by non-hex char)
\X.. same as \x..
\X. same as \x.
\u.... character specified with up to 4 hex numbers, stored according to the
current value of 'encoding' (e.g., "\u02a4")
\U.... same as \u but allows up to 8 hex numbers.
\b backspace <BS>
\e escape <Esc>
\f formfeed <FF>
\n newline <NL>
\r return <CR>
\t tab <Tab>
\\ backslash
\" double quote
\<xxx> Special key named "xxx". e.g. "\<C-W>" for CTRL-W. This is for use
in mappings, the 0x80 byte is escaped.
To use the double quote character it must be escaped: "<M-\">".
Don't use <Char-xxxx> to get a utf-8 character, use \uxxxx as
mentioned above.
Note that "\xff" is stored as the byte 255, which may be invalid in some
encodings. Use "\u00ff" to store character 255 according to the current value
of 'encoding'.
Note that "\000" and "\x00" force the end of the string.
blob-literal blob-literal E973
------------
Hexadecimal starting with 0z or 0Z, with an arbitrary number of bytes.
The sequence must be an even number of hex characters. Example:
:let b = 0zFF00ED015DAF
literal-string literal-string E115
---------------
'string' string constant expr-'
Note that single quotes are used.
This string is taken as it is. No backslashes are removed or have a special
meaning. The only exception is that two quotes stand for one quote.
Single quoted strings are useful for patterns, so that backslashes do not need
to be doubled. These two commands are equivalent:
if a =~ "\\s*"
if a =~ '\s*'
option expr-option E112 E113
------
&option option value, local value if possible
&g:option global option value
&l:option local option value
Examples:
echo "tabstop is " . &tabstop
if &insertmode
Any option name can be used here. See options. When using the local value
and there is no buffer-local or window-local value, the global value is used
anyway.
register expr-register @r
--------
@r contents of register 'r'
The result is the contents of the named register, as a single string.
Newlines are inserted where required. To get the contents of the unnamed
register use @" or @@. See registers for an explanation of the available
registers.
When using the '=' register you get the expression itself, not what it
evaluates to. Use eval() to evaluate it.
nesting expr-nesting E110
-------
(expr1) nested expression
environment variable expr-env
--------------------
$VAR environment variable
The String value of any environment variable. When it is not defined, the
result is an empty string.
The functions getenv() and setenv() can also be used and work for
environment variables with non-alphanumeric names.
The function environ() can be used to get a Dict with all environment
variables.
expr-env-expand
Note that there is a difference between using $VAR directly and using
expand("$VAR"). Using it directly will only expand environment variables that
are known inside the current Vim session. Using expand() will first try using
the environment variables known inside the current Vim session. If that
fails, a shell will be used to expand the variable. This can be slow, but it
does expand all variables that the shell knows about. Example:
:echo $shell
:echo expand("$shell")
The first one probably doesn't echo anything, the second echoes the $shell
variable (if your shell supports it).
internal variable expr-variable
-----------------
variable internal variable
See below internal-variables.
function call expr-function E116 E118 E119 E120
-------------
function(expr1, ...) function call
See below functions.
lambda expression expr-lambda lambda
-----------------
{args -> expr1} lambda expression
A lambda expression creates a new unnamed function which returns the result of
evaluating expr1. Lambda expressions differ from user-functions in
the following ways:
1. The body of the lambda expression is an expr1 and not a sequence of Ex
commands.
2. The prefix "a:" should not be used for arguments. E.g.:
:let F = {arg1, arg2 -> arg1 - arg2}
:echo F(5, 2)
3
The arguments are optional. Example:
:let F = {-> 'error function'}
:echo F()
error function
closure
Lambda expressions can access outer scope variables and arguments. This is
often called a closure. Example where "i" and "a:arg" are used in a lambda
while they already exist in the function scope. They remain valid even after
the function returns:
:function Foo(arg)
: let i = 3
: return {x -> x + i - a:arg}
:endfunction
:let Bar = Foo(4)
:echo Bar(6)
5
Note that the variables must exist in the outer scope before the lamba is
defined for this to work. See also :func-closure.
Lambda and closure support can be checked with:
if has('lambda')
Examples for using a lambda expression with sort(), map() and filter():
:echo map([1, 2, 3], {idx, val -> val + 1})
[2, 3, 4]
:echo sort([3,7,2,1,4], {a, b -> a - b})
[1, 2, 3, 4, 7]
The lambda expression is also useful for Channel, Job and timer:
:let timer = timer_start(500,
\ {-> execute("echo 'Handler called'", "")},
\ {'repeat': 3})
Handler called
Handler called
Handler called
Note how execute() is used to execute an Ex command. That's ugly though.
Lambda expressions have internal names like '<lambda>42'. If you get an error
for a lambda expression, you can find what it is with the following command:
:function {'<lambda>42'}
See also: numbered-function
==============================================================================
3. Internal variable internal-variables E461
An internal variable name can be made up of letters, digits and '_'. But it
cannot start with a digit. It's also possible to use curly braces, see
curly-braces-names.
An internal variable is created with the ":let" command :let.
An internal variable is explicitly destroyed with the ":unlet" command
:unlet.
Using a name that is not an internal variable or refers to a variable that has
been destroyed results in an error.
There are several name spaces for variables. Which one is to be used is
specified by what is prepended:
(nothing) In a function: local to a function; otherwise: global
buffer-variable b: Local to the current buffer.
window-variable w: Local to the current window.
tabpage-variable t: Local to the current tab page.
global-variable g: Global.
local-variable l: Local to a function.
script-variable s: Local to a :source'ed Vim script.
function-argument a: Function argument (only inside a function).
vim-variable v: Global, predefined by Vim.
The scope name by itself can be used as a Dictionary. For example, to
delete all script-local variables:
:for k in keys(s:)
: unlet s:[k]
:endfor
buffer-variable b:var b:
A variable name that is preceded with "b:" is local to the current buffer.
Thus you can have several "b:foo" variables, one for each buffer.
This kind of variable is deleted when the buffer is wiped out or deleted with
:bdelete.
One local buffer variable is predefined:
b:changedtick changetick
b:changedtick The total number of changes to the current buffer. It is
incremented for each change. An undo command is also a change
in this case. Resetting 'modified' when writing the buffer is
also counted.
This can be used to perform an action only when the buffer has
changed. Example:
:if my_changedtick != b:changedtick
: let my_changedtick = b:changedtick
: call My_Update()
:endif
You cannot change or delete the b:changedtick variable.
window-variable w:var w:
A variable name that is preceded with "w:" is local to the current window. It
is deleted when the window is closed.
tabpage-variable t:var t:
A variable name that is preceded with "t:" is local to the current tab page,
It is deleted when the tab page is closed. {not available when compiled
without the +windows feature}
global-variable g:var g:
Inside functions global variables are accessed with "g:". Omitting this will
access a variable local to a function. But "g:" can also be used in any other
place if you like.
local-variable l:var l:
Inside functions local variables are accessed without prepending anything.
But you can also prepend "l:" if you like. However, without prepending "l:"
you may run into reserved variable names. For example "count". By itself it
refers to "v:count". Using "l:count" you can have a local variable with the
same name.
script-variable s:var
In a Vim script variables starting with "s:" can be used. They cannot be
accessed from outside of the scripts, thus are local to the script.
They can be used in:
- commands executed while the script is sourced
- functions defined in the script
- autocommands defined in the script
- functions and autocommands defined in functions and autocommands which were
defined in the script (recursively)
- user defined commands defined in the script
Thus not in:
- other scripts sourced from this one
- mappings
- menus
- etc.
Script variables can be used to avoid conflicts with global variable names.
Take this example:
let s:counter = 0
function MyCounter()
let s:counter = s:counter + 1
echo s:counter
endfunction
command Tick call MyCounter()
You can now invoke "Tick" from any script, and the "s:counter" variable in
that script will not be changed, only the "s:counter" in the script where
"Tick" was defined is used.
Another example that does the same:
let s:counter = 0
command Tick let s:counter = s:counter + 1 | echo s:counter
When calling a function and invoking a user-defined command, the context for
script variables is set to the script where the function or command was
defined.
The script variables are also available when a function is defined inside a
function that is defined in a script. Example:
let s:counter = 0
function StartCounting(incr)
if a:incr
function MyCounter()
let s:counter = s:counter + 1
endfunction
else
function MyCounter()
let s:counter = s:counter - 1
endfunction
endif
endfunction
This defines the MyCounter() function either for counting up or counting down
when calling StartCounting(). It doesn't matter from where StartCounting() is
called, the s:counter variable will be accessible in MyCounter().
When the same script is sourced again it will use the same script variables.
They will remain valid as long as Vim is running. This can be used to
maintain a counter:
if !exists("s:counter")
let s:counter = 1
echo "script executed for the first time"
else
let s:counter = s:counter + 1
echo "script executed " . s:counter . " times now"
endif
Note that this means that filetype plugins don't get a different set of script
variables for each buffer. Use local buffer variables instead b:var.
PREDEFINED VIM VARIABLES vim-variable v:var v:
E963
Some variables can be set by the user, but the type cannot be changed.
v:beval_col beval_col-variable
v:beval_col The number of the column, over which the mouse pointer is.
This is the byte index in the v:beval_lnum line.
Only valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
v:beval_bufnr beval_bufnr-variable
v:beval_bufnr The number of the buffer, over which the mouse pointer is. Only
valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
v:beval_lnum beval_lnum-variable
v:beval_lnum The number of the line, over which the mouse pointer is. Only
valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
v:beval_text beval_text-variable
v:beval_text The text under or after the mouse pointer. Usually a word as
it is useful for debugging a C program. 'iskeyword' applies,
but a dot and "->" before the position is included. When on a
']' the text before it is used, including the matching '[' and
word before it. When on a Visual area within one line the
highlighted text is used. Also see <cexpr>.
Only valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option.
v:beval_winnr beval_winnr-variable
v:beval_winnr The number of the window, over which the mouse pointer is. Only
valid while evaluating the 'balloonexpr' option. The first
window has number zero (unlike most other places where a
window gets a number).
v:beval_winid beval_winid-variable
v:beval_winid The window-ID of the window, over which the mouse pointer
is. Otherwise like v:beval_winnr.
v:char char-variable
v:char Argument for evaluating 'formatexpr' and used for the typed
character when using <expr> in an abbreviation :map-<expr>.
It is also used by the InsertCharPre and InsertEnter events.
v:charconvert_from charconvert_from-variable
v:charconvert_from
The name of the character encoding of a file to be converted.
Only valid while evaluating the 'charconvert' option.
v:charconvert_to charconvert_to-variable
v:charconvert_to
The name of the character encoding of a file after conversion.
Only valid while evaluating the 'charconvert' option.
v:cmdarg cmdarg-variable
v:cmdarg This variable is used for two purposes:
1. The extra arguments given to a file read/write command.
Currently these are "++enc=" and "++ff=". This variable is
set before an autocommand event for a file read/write
command is triggered. There is a leading space to make it
possible to append this variable directly after the
read/write command. Note: The "+cmd" argument isn't
included here, because it will be executed anyway.
2. When printing a PostScript file with ":hardcopy" this is
the argument for the ":hardcopy" command. This can be used
in 'printexpr'.
v:cmdbang cmdbang-variable
v:cmdbang Set like v:cmdarg for a file read/write command. When a "!"
was used the value is 1, otherwise it is 0. Note that this
can only be used in autocommands. For user commands <bang>
can be used.
v:completed_item completed_item-variable
v:completed_item
Dictionary containing the complete-items for the most
recently completed word after CompleteDone. The
Dictionary is empty if the completion failed.
v:count count-variable
v:count The count given for the last Normal mode command. Can be used
to get the count before a mapping. Read-only. Example:
:map _x :<C-U>echo "the count is " . v:count<CR>
Note: The <C-U> is required to remove the line range that you
get when typing ':' after a count.
When there are two counts, as in "3d2w", they are multiplied,
just like what happens in the command, "d6w" for the example.
Also used for evaluating the 'formatexpr' option.
"count" also works, for backwards compatibility, unless
scriptversion is 3 or higher.
v:count1 count1-variable
v:count1 Just like "v:count", but defaults to one when no count is
used.
v:ctype ctype-variable
v:ctype The current locale setting for characters of the runtime
environment. This allows Vim scripts to be aware of the
current locale encoding. Technical: it's the value of
LC_CTYPE. When not using a locale the value is "C".
This variable can not be set directly, use the :language
command.
See multi-lang.
v:dying dying-variable
v:dying Normally zero. When a deadly signal is caught it's set to
one. When multiple signals are caught the number increases.
Can be used in an autocommand to check if Vim didn't
terminate normally. {only works on Unix}
Example:
:au VimLeave * if v:dying | echo "\nAAAAaaaarrrggghhhh!!!\n" | endif
Note: if another deadly signal is caught when v:dying is one,
VimLeave autocommands will not be executed.
v:errmsg errmsg-variable
v:errmsg Last given error message. It's allowed to set this variable.
Example:
:let v:errmsg = ""
:silent! next
:if v:errmsg != ""
: ... handle error
"errmsg" also works, for backwards compatibility, unless
scriptversion is 3 or higher.
v:errors errors-variable assert-return
v:errors Errors found by assert functions, such as assert_true().
This is a list of strings.
The assert functions append an item when an assert fails.
The return value indicates this: a one is returned if an item
was added to v:errors, otherwise zero is returned.
To remove old results make it empty:
:let v:errors = []
If v:errors is set to anything but a list it is made an empty
list by the assert function.
v:event event-variable
v:event Dictionary containing information about the current
autocommand. The dictionary is emptied when the autocommand
finishes, please refer to dict-identity for how to get an
independent copy of it.
v:exception exception-variable
v:exception The value of the exception most recently caught and not
finished. See also v:throwpoint and throw-variables.
Example:
:try
: throw "oops"
:catch /.*/
: echo "caught" v:exception
:endtry
Output: "caught oops".
v:false false-variable
v:false A Number with value zero. Used to put "false" in JSON. See
json_encode().
When used as a string this evaluates to "v:false".
echo v:false
v:false
That is so that eval() can parse the string back to the same
value. Read-only.
v:fcs_reason fcs_reason-variable
v:fcs_reason The reason why the FileChangedShell event was triggered.
Can be used in an autocommand to decide what to do and/or what
to set v:fcs_choice to. Possible values:
deleted file no longer exists
conflict file contents, mode or timestamp was
changed and buffer is modified
changed file contents has changed
mode mode of file changed
time only file timestamp changed
v:fcs_choice fcs_choice-variable
v:fcs_choice What should happen after a FileChangedShell event was
triggered. Can be used in an autocommand to tell Vim what to
do with the affected buffer:
reload Reload the buffer (does not work if
the file was deleted).
ask Ask the user what to do, as if there
was no autocommand. Except that when
only the timestamp changed nothing
will happen.
<empty> Nothing, the autocommand should do
everything that needs to be done.
The default is empty. If another (invalid) value is used then
Vim behaves like it is empty, there is no warning message.
v:fname_in fname_in-variable
v:fname_in The name of the input file. Valid while evaluating:
option used for
'charconvert' file to be converted
'diffexpr' original file
'patchexpr' original file
'printexpr' file to be printed
And set to the swap file name for SwapExists.
v:fname_out fname_out-variable
v:fname_out The name of the output file. Only valid while
evaluating:
option used for
'charconvert' resulting converted file (*)
'diffexpr' output of diff
'patchexpr' resulting patched file
(*) When doing conversion for a write command (e.g., ":w
file") it will be equal to v:fname_in. When doing conversion
for a read command (e.g., ":e file") it will be a temporary
file and different from v:fname_in.
v:fname_new fname_new-variable
v:fname_new The name of the new version of the file. Only valid while
evaluating 'diffexpr'.
v:fname_diff fname_diff-variable
v:fname_diff The name of the diff (patch) file. Only valid while
evaluating 'patchexpr'.
v:folddashes folddashes-variable
v:folddashes Used for 'foldtext': dashes representing foldlevel of a closed
fold.
Read-only in the sandbox. fold-foldtext
v:foldlevel foldlevel-variable
v:foldlevel Used for 'foldtext': foldlevel of closed fold.
Read-only in the sandbox. fold-foldtext
v:foldend foldend-variable
v:foldend Used for 'foldtext': last line of closed fold.
Read-only in the sandbox. fold-foldtext
v:foldstart foldstart-variable
v:foldstart Used for 'foldtext': first line of closed fold.
Read-only in the sandbox. fold-foldtext
v:hlsearch hlsearch-variable
v:hlsearch Variable that indicates whether search highlighting is on.
Setting it makes sense only if 'hlsearch' is enabled which
requires +extra_search. Setting this variable to zero acts
like the :nohlsearch command, setting it to one acts like
let &hlsearch = &hlsearch
Note that the value is restored when returning from a
function. function-search-undo.
v:insertmode insertmode-variable
v:insertmode Used for the InsertEnter and InsertChange autocommand
events. Values:
i Insert mode
r Replace mode
v Virtual Replace mode
v:key key-variable
v:key Key of the current item of a Dictionary. Only valid while
evaluating the expression used with map() and filter().
Read-only.
v:lang lang-variable
v:lang The current locale setting for messages of the runtime
environment. This allows Vim scripts to be aware of the
current language. Technical: it's the value of LC_MESSAGES.
The value is system dependent.
This variable can not be set directly, use the :language
command.
It can be different from v:ctype when messages are desired
in a different language than what is used for character
encoding. See multi-lang.
v:lc_time lc_time-variable
v:lc_time The current locale setting for time messages of the runtime
environment. This allows Vim scripts to be aware of the
current language. Technical: it's the value of LC_TIME.
This variable can not be set directly, use the :language
command. See multi-lang.
v:lnum lnum-variable
v:lnum Line number for the 'foldexpr' fold-expr, 'formatexpr' and
'indentexpr' expressions, tab page number for 'guitablabel'
and 'guitabtooltip'. Only valid while one of these
expressions is being evaluated. Read-only when in the
sandbox.
v:mouse_win mouse_win-variable
v:mouse_win Window number for a mouse click obtained with getchar().
First window has number 1, like with winnr(). The value is
zero when there was no mouse button click.
v:mouse_winid mouse_winid-variable
v:mouse_winid Window ID for a mouse click obtained with getchar().
The value is zero when there was no mouse button click.
v:mouse_lnum mouse_lnum-variable
v:mouse_lnum Line number for a mouse click obtained with getchar().
This is the text line number, not the screen line number. The
value is zero when there was no mouse button click.
v:mouse_col mouse_col-variable
v:mouse_col Column number for a mouse click obtained with getchar().
This is the screen column number, like with virtcol(). The
value is zero when there was no mouse button click.
v:none none-variable None
v:none An empty String. Used to put an empty item in JSON. See
json_encode().
When used as a number this evaluates to zero.
When used as a string this evaluates to "v:none".
echo v:none
v:none
That is so that eval() can parse the string back to the same
value. Read-only.
v:null null-variable
v:null An empty String. Used to put "null" in JSON. See
json_encode().
When used as a number this evaluates to zero.
When used as a string this evaluates to "v:null".
echo v:null
v:null
That is so that eval() can parse the string back to the same
value. Read-only.
v:oldfiles oldfiles-variable
v:oldfiles List of file names that is loaded from the viminfo file on
startup. These are the files that Vim remembers marks for.
The length of the List is limited by the ' argument of the
'viminfo' option (default is 100).
When the viminfo file is not used the List is empty.
Also see :oldfiles and c_#<.
The List can be modified, but this has no effect on what is
stored in the viminfo file later. If you use values other
than String this will cause trouble.
{only when compiled with the |+viminfo| feature}
v:option_new
v:option_new New value of the option. Valid while executing an OptionSet
autocommand.
v:option_old
v:option_old Old value of the option. Valid while executing an OptionSet
autocommand. Depending on the command used for setting and the
kind of option this is either the local old value or the
global old value.
v:option_oldlocal
v:option_oldlocal
Old local value of the option. Valid while executing an
OptionSet autocommand.
v:option_oldglobal
v:option_oldglobal
Old global value of the option. Valid while executing an
OptionSet autocommand.
v:option_type
v:option_type Scope of the set command. Valid while executing an
OptionSet autocommand. Can be either "global" or "local"
v:option_command
v:option_command
Command used to set the option. Valid while executing an
OptionSet autocommand.
value option was set via
"setlocal" :setlocal or ":let l:xxx"
"setglobal" :setglobal or ":let g:xxx"
"set" :set or :let
"modeline" modeline
v:operator operator-variable
v:operator The last operator given in Normal mode. This is a single
character except for commands starting with <g> or <z>,
in which case it is two characters. Best used alongside
v:prevcount and v:register. Useful if you want to cancel
Operator-pending mode and then use the operator, e.g.:
:omap O <Esc>:call MyMotion(v:operator)<CR>
The value remains set until another operator is entered, thus
don't expect it to be empty.
v:operator is not set for :delete, :yank or other Ex
commands.
Read-only.
v:prevcount prevcount-variable
v:prevcount The count given for the last but one Normal mode command.
This is the v:count value of the previous command. Useful if
you want to cancel Visual or Operator-pending mode and then
use the count, e.g.:
:vmap % <Esc>:call MyFilter(v:prevcount)<CR>
Read-only.
v:profiling profiling-variable
v:profiling Normally zero. Set to one after using ":profile start".
See profiling.
v:progname progname-variable
v:progname Contains the name (with path removed) with which Vim was
invoked. Allows you to do special initialisations for view,
evim etc., or any other name you might symlink to Vim.
Read-only.
v:progpath progpath-variable
v:progpath Contains the command with which Vim was invoked, including the
path. Useful if you want to message a Vim server using a
--remote-expr.
To get the full path use:
echo exepath(v:progpath)
If the path is relative it will be expanded to the full path,
so that it still works after :cd. Thus starting "./vim"
results in "/home/user/path/to/vim/src/vim".
On MS-Windows the executable may be called "vim.exe", but the
".exe" is not added to v:progpath.
Read-only.
v:register register-variable
v:register The name of the register in effect for the current normal mode
command (regardless of whether that command actually used a
register). Or for the currently executing normal mode mapping
(use this in custom commands that take a register).
If none is supplied it is the default register '"', unless
'clipboard' contains "unnamed" or "unnamedplus", then it is
'*' or '+'.
Also see getreg() and setreg()
v:scrollstart scrollstart-variable
v:scrollstart String describing the script or function that caused the
screen to scroll up. It's only set when it is empty, thus the
first reason is remembered. It is set to "Unknown" for a
typed command.
This can be used to find out why your script causes the
hit-enter prompt.
v:servername servername-variable
v:servername The resulting registered client-server-name if any.
Read-only.
v:searchforward v:searchforward searchforward-variable
Search direction: 1 after a forward search, 0 after a
backward search. It is reset to forward when directly setting
the last search pattern, see quote/.
Note that the value is restored when returning from a
function. function-search-undo.
Read-write.
v:shell_error shell_error-variable
v:shell_error Result of the last shell command. When non-zero, the last
shell command had an error. When zero, there was no problem.
This only works when the shell returns the error code to Vim.
The value -1 is often used when the command could not be
executed. Read-only.
Example:
:!mv foo bar
:if v:shell_error
: echo 'could not rename "foo" to "bar"!'
:endif
"shell_error" also works, for backwards compatibility, unless
scriptversion is 3 or higher.
v:statusmsg statusmsg-variable
v:statusmsg Last given status message. It's allowed to set this variable.
v:swapname swapname-variable
v:swapname Only valid when executing SwapExists autocommands: Name of
the swap file found. Read-only.
v:swapchoice swapchoice-variable
v:swapchoice SwapExists autocommands can set this to the selected choice
for handling an existing swap file:
'o' Open read-only
'e' Edit anyway
'r' Recover
'd' Delete swapfile
'q' Quit
'a' Abort
The value should be a single-character string. An empty value
results in the user being asked, as would happen when there is
no SwapExists autocommand. The default is empty.
v:swapcommand swapcommand-variable
v:swapcommand Normal mode command to be executed after a file has been
opened. Can be used for a SwapExists autocommand to have
another Vim open the file and jump to the right place. For
example, when jumping to a tag the value is ":tag tagname\r".
For ":edit +cmd file" the value is ":cmd\r".
v:t_TYPE v:t_bool t_bool-variable
v:t_bool Value of Boolean type. Read-only. See: type()
v:t_channel t_channel-variable
v:t_channel Value of Channel type. Read-only. See: type()
v:t_dict t_dict-variable
v:t_dict Value of Dictionary type. Read-only. See: type()
v:t_float t_float-variable
v:t_float Value of Float type. Read-only. See: type()
v:t_func t_func-variable
v:t_func Value of Funcref type. Read-only. See: type()
v:t_job t_job-variable
v:t_job Value of Job type. Read-only. See: type()
v:t_list t_list-variable
v:t_list Value of List type. Read-only. See: type()
v:t_none t_none-variable
v:t_none Value of None type. Read-only. See: type()
v:t_number t_number-variable
v:t_number Value of Number type. Read-only. See: type()
v:t_string t_string-variable
v:t_string Value of String type. Read-only. See: type()
v:t_blob t_blob-variable
v:t_blob Value of Blob type. Read-only. See: type()
v:termresponse termresponse-variable
v:termresponse The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the t_RV
termcap entry. It is set when Vim receives an escape sequence
that starts with ESC [ or CSI, then '>' or '?' and ends in a
'c', with only digits and ';' in between.
When this option is set, the TermResponse autocommand event is
fired, so that you can react to the response from the
terminal.
The response from a new xterm is: "<Esc>[> Pp ; Pv ; Pc c". Pp
is the terminal type: 0 for vt100 and 1 for vt220. Pv is the
patch level (since this was introduced in patch 95, it's
always 95 or bigger). Pc is always zero.
{only when compiled with |+termresponse| feature}
v:termblinkresp
v:termblinkresp The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the t_RC
termcap entry. This is used to find out whether the terminal
cursor is blinking. This is used by term_getcursor().
v:termstyleresp
v:termstyleresp The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the t_RS
termcap entry. This is used to find out what the shape of the
cursor is. This is used by term_getcursor().
v:termrbgresp
v:termrbgresp The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the t_RB
termcap entry. This is used to find out what the terminal
background color is, see 'background'.
v:termrfgresp
v:termrfgresp The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the t_RF
termcap entry. This is used to find out what the terminal
foreground color is.
v:termu7resp
v:termu7resp The escape sequence returned by the terminal for the t_u7
termcap entry. This is used to find out what the terminal
does with ambiguous width characters, see 'ambiwidth'.
v:testing testing-variable
v:testing Must be set before using test_garbagecollect_now().
Also, when set certain error messages won't be shown for 2
seconds. (e.g. "'dictionary' option is empty")
v:this_session this_session-variable
v:this_session Full filename of the last loaded or saved session file. See
:mksession. It is allowed to set this variable. When no
session file has been saved, this variable is empty.
"this_session" also works, for backwards compatibility, unless
scriptversion is 3 or higher
v:throwpoint throwpoint-variable
v:throwpoint The point where the exception most recently caught and not
finished was thrown. Not set when commands are typed. See
also v:exception and throw-variables.
Example:
:try
: throw "oops"
:catch /.*/
: echo "Exception from" v:throwpoint
:endtry
Output: "Exception from test.vim, line 2"
v:true true-variable
v:true A Number with value one. Used to put "true" in JSON. See
json_encode().
When used as a string this evaluates to "v:true".
echo v:true
v:true
That is so that eval() can parse the string back to the same
value. Read-only.
v:val val-variable
v:val Value of the current item of a List or Dictionary. Only
valid while evaluating the expression used with map() and
filter(). Read-only.
v:version version-variable
v:version Version number of Vim: Major version number times 100 plus
minor version number. Version 5.0 is 500. Version 5.1
is 501. Read-only. "version" also works, for backwards
compatibility, unless scriptversion is 3 or higher.
Use has() to check if a certain patch was included, e.g.:
if has("patch-7.4.123")
Note that patch numbers are specific to the version, thus both
version 5.0 and 5.1 may have a patch 123, but these are
completely different.
v:versionlong versionlong-variable
v:versionlong Like v:version, but also including the patchlevel in the last
four digits. Version 8.1 with patch 123 has value 8010123.
This can be used like this:
if v:versionlong >= 8010123
However, if there are gaps in the list of patches included
this will not work well. This can happen if a recent patch
was included into an older version, e.g. for a security fix.
Use the has() function to make sure the patch is actually
included.
v:vim_did_enter vim_did_enter-variable
v:vim_did_enter Zero until most of startup is done. It is set to one just
before VimEnter autocommands are triggered.
v:warningmsg warningmsg-variable
v:warningmsg Last given warning message. It's allowed to set this variable.
v:windowid windowid-variable
v:windowid When any X11 based GUI is running or when running in a
terminal and Vim connects to the X server (-X) this will be
set to the window ID.
When an MS-Windows GUI is running this will be set to the
window handle.
Otherwise the value is zero.
Note: for windows inside Vim use winnr() or win_getid(),
see window-ID.
==============================================================================
4. Builtin Functions functions
See function-list for a list grouped by what the function is used for.
(Use CTRL-] on the function name to jump to the full explanation.)
USAGE RESULT DESCRIPTION
abs({expr}) Float or Number absolute value of {expr}
acos({expr}) Float arc cosine of {expr}
add({object}, {item}) List/Blob append {item} to {object}
and({expr}, {expr}) Number bitwise AND
append({lnum}, {text}) Number append {text} below line {lnum}
appendbufline({expr}, {lnum}, {text})
Number append {text} below line {lnum}
in buffer {expr}
argc([{winid}]) Number number of files in the argument list
argidx() Number current index in the argument list
arglistid([{winnr} [, {tabnr}]]) Number argument list id
argv({nr} [, {winid}]) String {nr} entry of the argument list
argv([-1, {winid}]) List the argument list
assert_beeps({cmd}) Number assert {cmd} causes a beep
assert_equal({exp}, {act} [, {msg}])
Number assert {exp} is equal to {act}
assert_equalfile({fname-one}, {fname-two})
Number assert file contents is equal
assert_exception({error} [, {msg}])
Number assert {error} is in v:exception
assert_fails({cmd} [, {error} [, {msg}]])
Number assert {cmd} fails
assert_false({actual} [, {msg}])
Number assert {actual} is false
assert_inrange({lower}, {upper}, {actual} [, {msg}])
Number assert {actual} is inside the range
assert_match({pat}, {text} [, {msg}])
Number assert {pat} matches {text}
assert_notequal({exp}, {act} [, {msg}])
Number assert {exp} is not equal {act}
assert_notmatch({pat}, {text} [, {msg}])
Number assert {pat} not matches {text}
assert_report({msg}) Number report a test failure
assert_true({actual} [, {msg}]) Number assert {actual} is true
asin({expr}) Float arc sine of {expr}
atan({expr}) Float arc tangent of {expr}
atan2({expr1}, {expr2}) Float arc tangent of {expr1} / {expr2}
balloon_gettext() String current text in the balloon
balloon_show({expr}) none show {expr} inside the balloon
balloon_split({msg}) List split {msg} as used for a balloon
browse({save}, {title}, {initdir}, {default})
String put up a file requester
browsedir({title}, {initdir}) String put up a directory requester
bufexists({expr}) Number TRUE if buffer {expr} exists
buflisted({expr}) Number TRUE if buffer {expr} is listed
bufloaded({expr}) Number TRUE if buffer {expr} is loaded
bufname({expr}) String Name of the buffer {expr}
bufnr({expr} [, {create}]) Number Number of the buffer {expr}
bufwinid({expr}) Number window ID of buffer {expr}
bufwinnr({expr}) Number window number of buffer {expr}
byte2line({byte}) Number line number at byte count {byte}
byteidx({expr}, {nr}) Number byte index of {nr}'th char in {expr}
byteidxcomp({expr}, {nr}) Number byte index of {nr}'th char in {expr}
call({func}, {arglist} [, {dict}])
any call {func} with arguments {arglist}
ceil({expr}) Float round {expr} up
ch_canread({handle}) Number check if there is something to read
ch_close({handle}) none close {handle}
ch_close_in({handle}) none close in part of {handle}
ch_evalexpr({handle}, {expr} [, {options}])
any evaluate {expr} on JSON {handle}
ch_evalraw({handle}, {string} [, {options}])
any evaluate {string} on raw {handle}
ch_getbufnr({handle}, {what}) Number get buffer number for {handle}/{what}
ch_getjob({channel}) Job get the Job of {channel}
ch_info({handle}) String info about channel {handle}
ch_log({msg} [, {handle}]) none write {msg} in the channel log file
ch_logfile({fname} [, {mode}]) none start logging channel activity
ch_open({address} [, {options}])
Channel open a channel to {address}
ch_read({handle} [, {options}]) String read from {handle}
ch_readblob({handle} [, {options}])
Blob read Blob from {handle}
ch_readraw({handle} [, {options}])
String read raw from {handle}
ch_sendexpr({handle}, {expr} [, {options}])
any send {expr} over JSON {handle}
ch_sendraw({handle}, {expr} [, {options}])
any send {expr} over raw {handle}
ch_setoptions({handle}, {options})
none set options for {handle}
ch_status({handle} [, {options}])
String status of channel {handle}
changenr() Number current change number
char2nr({expr} [, {utf8}]) Number ASCII/UTF8 value of first char in {expr}
chdir({dir}) String change current working directory
cindent({lnum}) Number C indent for line {lnum}
clearmatches([{win}]) none clear all matches
col({expr}) Number column nr of cursor or mark
complete({startcol}, {matches}) none set Insert mode completion
complete_add({expr}) Number add completion match
complete_check() Number check for key typed during completion
complete_info([{what}]) Dict get current completion information
confirm({msg} [, {choices} [, {default} [, {type}]]])
Number number of choice picked by user
copy({expr}) any make a shallow copy of {expr}
cos({expr}) Float cosine of {expr}
cosh({expr}) Float hyperbolic cosine of {expr}
count({comp}, {expr} [, {ic} [, {start}]])
Number count how many {expr} are in {comp}
cscope_connection([{num}, {dbpath} [, {prepend}]])
Number checks existence of cscope connection
cursor({lnum}, {col} [, {off}])
Number move cursor to {lnum}, {col}, {off}
cursor({list}) Number move cursor to position in {list}
debugbreak({pid}) Number interrupt process being debugged
deepcopy({expr} [, {noref}]) any make a full copy of {expr}
delete({fname} [, {flags}]) Number delete the file or directory {fname}
deletebufline({expr}, {first} [, {last}])
Number delete lines from buffer {expr}
did_filetype() Number TRUE if FileType autocmd event used
diff_filler({lnum}) Number diff filler lines about {lnum}
diff_hlID({lnum}, {col}) Number diff highlighting at {lnum}/{col}
empty({expr}) Number TRUE if {expr} is empty
environ() Dict return environment variables
escape({string}, {chars}) String escape {chars} in {string} with '\'
eval({string}) any evaluate {string} into its value
eventhandler() Number TRUE if inside an event handler
executable({expr}) Number 1 if executable {expr} exists
execute({command}) String execute {command} and get the output
exepath({expr}) String full path of the command {expr}
exists({expr}) Number TRUE if {expr} exists
extend({expr1}, {expr2} [, {expr3}])
List/Dict insert items of {expr2} into {expr1}
exp({expr}) Float exponential of {expr}
expand({expr} [, {nosuf} [, {list}]])
any expand special keywords in {expr}
expandcmd({expr}) String expand {expr} like with :edit
feedkeys({string} [, {mode}]) Number add key sequence to typeahead buffer
filereadable({file}) Number TRUE if {file} is a readable file
filewritable({file}) Number TRUE if {file} is a writable file
filter({expr1}, {expr2}) List/Dict remove items from {expr1} where
{expr2} is 0
finddir({name} [, {path} [, {count}]])
String find directory {name} in {path}
findfile({name} [, {path} [, {count}]])
String find file {name} in {path}
float2nr({expr}) Number convert Float {expr} to a Number
floor({expr}) Float round {expr} down
fmod({expr1}, {expr2}) Float remainder of {expr1} / {expr2}
fnameescape({fname}) String escape special characters in {fname}
fnamemodify({fname}, {mods}) String modify file name
foldclosed({lnum}) Number first line of fold at {lnum} if closed
foldclosedend({lnum}) Number last line of fold at {lnum} if closed
foldlevel({lnum}) Number fold level at {lnum}
foldtext() String line displayed for closed fold
foldtextresult({lnum}) String text for closed fold at {lnum}
foreground() Number bring the Vim window to the foreground
funcref({name} [, {arglist}] [, {dict}])
Funcref reference to function {name}
function({name} [, {arglist}] [, {dict}])
Funcref named reference to function {name}
garbagecollect([{atexit}]) none free memory, breaking cyclic references
get({list}, {idx} [, {def}]) any get item {idx} from {list} or {def}
get({dict}, {key} [, {def}]) any get item {key} from {dict} or {def}
get({func}, {what}) any get property of funcref/partial {func}
getbufinfo([{expr}]) List information about buffers
getbufline({expr}, {lnum} [, {end}])
List lines {lnum} to {end} of buffer {expr}
getbufvar({expr}, {varname} [, {def}])
any variable {varname} in buffer {expr}
getchangelist({expr}) List list of change list items
getchar([expr]) Number get one character from the user
getcharmod() Number modifiers for the last typed character
getcharsearch() Dict last character search
getcmdline() String return the current command-line
getcmdpos() Number return cursor position in command-line
getcmdtype() String return current command-line type
getcmdwintype() String return current command-line window type
getcompletion({pat}, {type} [, {filtered}])
List list of cmdline completion matches
getcurpos() List position of the cursor
getcwd([{winnr} [, {tabnr}]]) String get the current working directory
getenv({name}) String return environment variable
getfontname([{name}]) String name of font being used
getfperm({fname}) String file permissions of file {fname}
getfsize({fname}) Number size in bytes of file {fname}
getftime({fname}) Number last modification time of file
getftype({fname}) String description of type of file {fname}
getjumplist([{winnr} [, {tabnr}]])
List list of jump list items
getline({lnum}) String line {lnum} of current buffer
getline({lnum}, {end}) List lines {lnum} to {end} of current buffer
getloclist({nr} [, {what}]) List list of location list items
getmatches([{win}]) List list of current matches
getpid() Number process ID of Vim
getpos({expr}) List position of cursor, mark, etc.
getqflist([{what}]) List list of quickfix items
getreg([{regname} [, 1 [, {list}]]])
String or List contents of register
getregtype([{regname}]) String type of register
gettabinfo([{expr}]) List list of tab pages
gettabvar({nr}, {varname} [, {def}])
any variable {varname} in tab {nr} or {def}
gettabwinvar({tabnr}, {winnr}, {name} [, {def}])
any {name} in {winnr} in tab page {tabnr}
gettagstack([{nr}]) Dict get the tag stack of window {nr}
getwininfo([{winid}]) List list of info about each window
getwinpos([{timeout}]) List X and Y coord in pixels of the Vim window
getwinposx() Number X coord in pixels of the Vim window
getwinposy() Number Y coord in pixels of the Vim window
getwinvar({nr}, {varname} [, {def}])
any variable {varname} in window {nr}
glob({expr} [, {nosuf} [, {list} [, {alllinks}]]])
any expand file wildcards in {expr}
glob2regpat({expr}) String convert a glob pat into a search pat
globpath({path}, {expr} [, {nosuf} [, {list} [, {alllinks}]]])
String do glob({expr}) for all dirs in {path}
has({feature}) Number TRUE if feature {feature} supported
has_key({dict}, {key}) Number TRUE if {dict} has entry {key}
haslocaldir([{winnr} [, {tabnr}]])
Number TRUE if the window executed :lcd
or :tcd
hasmapto({what} [, {mode} [, {abbr}]])
Number TRUE if mapping to {what} exists
histadd({history}, {item}) String add an item to a history
histdel({history} [, {item}]) String remove an item from a history
histget({history} [, {index}]) String get the item {index} from a history
histnr({history}) Number highest index of a history
hlexists({name}) Number TRUE if highlight group {name} exists
hlID({name}) Number syntax ID of highlight group {name}
hostname() String name of the machine Vim is running on
iconv({expr}, {from}, {to}) String convert encoding of {expr}
indent({lnum}) Number indent of line {lnum}
index({object}, {expr} [, {start} [, {ic}]])
Number index in {object} where {expr} appears
input({prompt} [, {text} [, {completion}]])
String get input from the user
inputdialog({prompt} [, {text} [, {completion}]])
String like input() but in a GUI dialog
inputlist({textlist}) Number let the user pick from a choice list
inputrestore() Number restore typeahead
inputsave() Number save and clear typeahead
inputsecret({prompt} [, {text}]) String like input() but hiding the text
insert({object}, {item} [, {idx}]) List insert {item} in {object} [before {idx}]
invert({expr}) Number bitwise invert
isdirectory({directory}) Number TRUE if {directory} is a directory
isinf({expr}) Number determine if {expr} is infinity value
(positive or negative)
islocked({expr}) Number TRUE if {expr} is locked
isnan({expr}) Number TRUE if {expr} is NaN
items({dict}) List key-value pairs in {dict}
job_getchannel({job}) Channel get the channel handle for {job}
job_info([{job}]) Dict get information about {job}
job_setoptions({job}, {options}) none set options for {job}
job_start({command} [, {options}])
Job start a job
job_status({job}) String get the status of {job}
job_stop({job} [, {how}]) Number stop {job}
join({list} [, {sep}]) String join {list} items into one String
js_decode({string}) any decode JS style JSON
js_encode({expr}) String encode JS style JSON
json_decode({string}) any decode JSON
json_encode({expr}) String encode JSON
keys({dict}) List keys in {dict}
len({expr}) Number the length of {expr}
libcall({lib}, {func}, {arg}) String call {func} in library {lib} with {arg}
libcallnr({lib}, {func}, {arg}) Number idem, but return a Number
line({expr}) Number line nr of cursor, last line or mark
line2byte({lnum}) Number byte count of line {lnum}
lispindent({lnum}) Number Lisp indent for line {lnum}
list2str({list} [, {utf8}]) String turn numbers in {list} into a String
listener_add({callback} [, {buf}])
Number add a callback to listen to changes
listener_flush([{buf}]) none invoke listener callbacks
listener_remove({id}) none remove a listener callback
localtime() Number current time
log({expr}) Float natural logarithm (base e) of {expr}
log10({expr}) Float logarithm of Float {expr} to base 10
luaeval({expr} [, {expr}]) any evaluate Lua expression
map({expr1}, {expr2}) List/Dict change each item in {expr1} to {expr}
maparg({name} [, {mode} [, {abbr} [, {dict}]]])
String or Dict
rhs of mapping {name} in mode {mode}
mapcheck({name} [, {mode} [, {abbr}]])
String check for mappings matching {name}
match({expr}, {pat} [, {start} [, {count}]])
Number position where {pat} matches in {expr}
matchadd({group}, {pattern} [, {priority} [, {id} [, {dict}]]])
Number highlight {pattern} with {group}
matchaddpos({group}, {pos} [, {priority} [, {id} [, {dict}]]])
Number highlight positions with {group}
matcharg({nr}) List arguments of :match
matchdelete({id} [, {win}]) Number delete match identified by {id}
matchend({expr}, {pat} [, {start} [, {count}]])
Number position where {pat} ends in {expr}
matchlist({expr}, {pat} [, {start} [, {count}]])
List match and submatches of {pat} in {expr}
matchstr({expr}, {pat} [, {start} [, {count}]])
String {count}'th match of {pat} in {expr}
matchstrpos({expr}, {pat} [, {start} [, {count}]])
List {count}'th match of {pat} in {expr}
max({expr}) Number maximum value of items in {expr}
min({expr}) Number minimum value of items in {expr}
mkdir({name} [, {path} [, {prot}]])
Number create directory {name}
mode([expr]) String current editing mode
mzeval({expr}) any evaluate MzScheme expression
nextnonblank({lnum}) Number line nr of non-blank line >= {lnum}
nr2char({expr} [, {utf8}]) String single char with ASCII/UTF8 value {expr}
or({expr}, {expr}) Number bitwise OR
pathshorten({expr}) String shorten directory names in a path
perleval({expr}) any evaluate Perl expression
pow({x}, {y}) Float {x} to the power of {y}
prevnonblank({lnum}) Number line nr of non-blank line <= {lnum}
printf({fmt}, {expr1}...) String format text
prompt_setcallback({buf}, {expr}) none set prompt callback function
prompt_setinterrupt({buf}, {text}) none set prompt interrupt function
prompt_setprompt({buf}, {text}) none set prompt text
prop_add({lnum}, {col}, {props}) none add a text property
prop_clear({lnum} [, {lnum-end} [, {props}]])
none remove all text properties
prop_find({props} [, {direction}])
Dict search for a text property
prop_list({lnum} [, {props}) List text properties in {lnum}
prop_remove({props} [, {lnum} [, {lnum-end}]])
Number remove a text property
prop_type_add({name}, {props}) none define a new property type
prop_type_change({name}, {props})
none change an existing property type
prop_type_delete({name} [, {props}])
none delete a property type
prop_type_get([{name} [, {props}])
Dict get property type values
prop_type_list([{props}]) List get list of property types
pumvisible() Number whether popup menu is visible
pyeval({expr}) any evaluate Python expression
py3eval({expr}) any evaluate python3 expression
pyxeval({expr}) any evaluate python_x expression
range({expr} [, {max} [, {stride}]])
List items from {expr} to {max}
readdir({dir} [, {expr}]) List file names in {dir} selected by {expr}
readfile({fname} [, {type} [, {max}]])
List get list of lines from file {fname}
reg_executing() String get the executing register name
reg_recording() String get the recording register name
reltime([{start} [, {end}]]) List get time value
reltimefloat({time}) Float turn the time value into a Float
reltimestr({time}) String turn time value into a String
remote_expr({server}, {string} [, {idvar} [, {timeout}]])
String send expression
remote_foreground({server}) Number bring Vim server to the foreground
remote_peek({serverid} [, {retvar}])
Number check for reply string
remote_read({serverid} [, {timeout}])
String read reply string
remote_send({server}, {string} [, {idvar}])
String send key sequence
remote_startserver({name}) none become server {name}
remove({list}, {idx} [, {end}]) any/List
remove items {idx}-{end} from {list}
remove({blob}, {idx} [, {end}]) Number/Blob
remove bytes {idx}-{end} from {blob}
remove({dict}, {key}) any remove entry {key} from {dict}
rename({from}, {to}) Number rename (move) file from {from} to {to}
repeat({expr}, {count}) String repeat {expr} {count} times
resolve({filename}) String get filename a shortcut points to
reverse({list}) List reverse {list} in-place
round({expr}) Float round off {expr}
rubyeval({expr}) any evaluate Ruby expression
screenattr({row}, {col}) Number attribute at screen position
screenchar({row}, {col}) Number character at screen position
screenchars({row}, {col}) List List of characters at screen position
screencol() Number current cursor column
screenrow() Number current cursor row
screenstring({row}, {col}) String characters at screen position
search({pattern} [, {flags} [, {stopline} [, {timeout}]]])
Number search for {pattern}
searchdecl({name} [, {global} [, {thisblock}]])
Number search for variable declaration
searchpair({start}, {middle}, {end} [, {flags} [, {skip} [...]]])
Number search for other end of start/end pair
searchpairpos({start}, {middle}, {end} [, {flags} [, {skip} [...]]])
List search for other end of start/end pair
searchpos({pattern} [, {flags} [, {stopline} [, {timeout}]]])
List search for {pattern}
server2client({clientid}, {string})
Number send reply string
serverlist() String get a list of available servers
setbufline({expr}, {lnum}, {text})
Number set line {lnum} to {text} in buffer
{expr}
setbufvar({expr}, {varname}, {val})
none set {varname} in buffer {expr} to {val}
setcharsearch({dict}) Dict set character search from {dict}
setcmdpos({pos}) Number set cursor position in command-line
setenv({name}, {val}) none set environment variable
setfperm({fname}, {mode}) Number set {fname} file permissions to {mode}
setline({lnum}, {line}) Number set line {lnum} to {line}
setloclist({nr}, {list} [, {action} [, {what}]])
Number modify location list using {list}
setmatches({list} [, {win}]) Number restore a list of matches
setpos({expr}, {list}) Number set the {expr} position to {list}
setqflist({list} [, {action} [, {what}]])
Number modify quickfix list using {list}
setreg({n}, {v} [, {opt}]) Number set register to value and type
settabvar({nr}, {varname}, {val}) none set {varname} in tab page {nr} to {val}
settabwinvar({tabnr}, {winnr}, {varname}, {val})
none set {varname} in window {winnr} in tab
page {tabnr} to {val}
settagstack({nr}, {dict} [, {action}])
Number modify tag stack using {dict}
setwinvar({nr}, {varname}, {val}) none set {varname} in window {nr} to {val}
sha256({string}) String SHA256 checksum of {string}
shellescape({string} [, {special}])
String escape {string} for use as shell
command argument
shiftwidth([{col}]) Number effective value of 'shiftwidth'
sign_define({name} [, {dict}]) Number define or update a sign
sign_getdefined([{name}]) List get a list of defined signs
sign_getplaced([{expr} [, {dict}]])
List get a list of placed signs
sign_jump({id}, {group}, {expr})
Number jump to a sign
sign_place({id}, {group}, {name}, {expr} [, {dict}])
Number place a sign
sign_undefine([{name}]) Number undefine a sign
sign_unplace({group} [, {dict}])
Number unplace a sign
simplify({filename}) String simplify filename as much as possible
sin({expr}) Float sine of {expr}
sinh({expr}) Float hyperbolic sine of {expr}
sort({list} [, {func} [, {dict}]])
List sort {list}, using {func} to compare
sound_clear() none stop playing all sounds
sound_playevent({name} [, {callback}])
Number play an event sound
sound_playfile({path} [, {callback}])
Number play sound file {path}
sound_stop({id}) none stop playing sound {id}
soundfold({word}) String sound-fold {word}
spellbadword() String badly spelled word at cursor
spellsuggest({word} [, {max} [, {capital}]])
List spelling suggestions
split({expr} [, {pat} [, {keepempty}]])
List make List from {pat} separated {expr}
sqrt({expr}) Float square root of {expr}
str2float({expr}) Float convert String to Float
str2list({expr} [, {utf8}]) List convert each character of {expr} to
ASCII/UTF8 value
str2nr({expr} [, {base}]) Number convert String to Number
strchars({expr} [, {skipcc}]) Number character length of the String {expr}
strcharpart({str}, {start} [, {len}])
String {len} characters of {str} at {start}
strdisplaywidth({expr} [, {col}]) Number display length of the String {expr}
strftime({format} [, {time}]) String time in specified format
strgetchar({str}, {index}) Number get char {index} from {str}
stridx({haystack}, {needle} [, {start}])
Number index of {needle} in {haystack}
string({expr}) String String representation of {expr} value
strlen({expr}) Number length of the String {expr}
strpart({str}, {start} [, {len}])
String {len} characters of {str} at {start}
strridx({haystack}, {needle} [, {start}])
Number last index of {needle} in {haystack}
strtrans({expr}) String translate string to make it printable
strwidth({expr}) Number display cell length of the String {expr}
submatch({nr} [, {list}]) String or List
specific match in ":s" or substitute()
substitute({expr}, {pat}, {sub}, {flags})
String all {pat} in {expr} replaced with {sub}
swapinfo({fname}) Dict information about swap file {fname}
swapname({expr}) String swap file of buffer {expr}
synID({lnum}, {col}, {trans}) Number syntax ID at {lnum} and {col}
synIDattr({synID}, {what} [, {mode}])
String attribute {what} of syntax ID {synID}
synIDtrans({synID}) Number translated syntax ID of {synID}
synconcealed({lnum}, {col}) List info about concealing
synstack({lnum}, {col}) List stack of syntax IDs at {lnum} and {col}
system({expr} [, {input}]) String output of shell command/filter {expr}
systemlist({expr} [, {input}]) List output of shell command/filter {expr}
tabpagebuflist([{arg}]) List list of buffer numbers in tab page
tabpagenr([{arg}]) Number number of current or last tab page
tabpagewinnr({tabarg} [, {arg}]) Number number of current window in tab page
taglist({expr} [, {filename}]) List list of tags matching {expr}
tagfiles() List tags files used
tan({expr}) Float tangent of {expr}
tanh({expr}) Float hyperbolic tangent of {expr}
tempname() String name for a temporary file
term_dumpdiff({filename}, {filename} [, {options}])
Number display difference between two dumps
term_dumpload({filename} [, {options}])
Number displaying a screen dump
term_dumpwrite({buf}, {filename} [, {options}])
none dump terminal window contents
term_getaltscreen({buf}) Number get the alternate screen flag
term_getansicolors({buf}) List get ANSI palette in GUI color mode
term_getattr({attr}, {what}) Number get the value of attribute {what}
term_getcursor({buf}) List get the cursor position of a terminal
term_getjob({buf}) Job get the job associated with a terminal
term_getline({buf}, {row}) String get a line of text from a terminal
term_getscrolled({buf}) Number get the scroll count of a terminal
term_getsize({buf}) List get the size of a terminal
term_getstatus({buf}) String get the status of a terminal
term_gettitle({buf}) String get the title of a terminal
term_gettty({buf}, [{input}]) String get the tty name of a terminal
term_list() List get the list of terminal buffers
term_scrape({buf}, {row}) List get row of a terminal screen
term_sendkeys({buf}, {keys}) none send keystrokes to a terminal
term_setansicolors({buf}, {colors})
none set ANSI palette in GUI color mode
term_setkill({buf}, {how}) none set signal to stop job in terminal
term_setrestore({buf}, {command}) none set command to restore terminal
term_setsize({buf}, {rows}, {cols})
none set the size of a terminal
term_start({cmd} [, {options}]) Number open a terminal window and run a job
term_wait({buf} [, {time}]) Number wait for screen to be updated
test_alloc_fail({id}, {countdown}, {repeat})
none make memory allocation fail
test_autochdir() none enable 'autochdir' during startup
test_feedinput({string}) none add key sequence to input buffer
test_garbagecollect_now() none free memory right now for testing
test_getvalue({string}) any get value of an internal variable
test_ignore_error({expr}) none ignore a specific error
test_null_blob() Blob null value for testing
test_null_channel() Channel null value for testing
test_null_dict() Dict null value for testing
test_null_job() Job null value for testing
test_null_list() List null value for testing
test_null_partial() Funcref null value for testing
test_null_string() String null value for testing
test_option_not_set({name}) none reset flag indicating option was set
test_override({expr}, {val}) none test with Vim internal overrides
test_refcount({expr}) Number get the reference count of {expr}
test_scrollbar({which}, {value}, {dragging})
none scroll in the GUI for testing
test_setmouse({row}, {col}) none set the mouse position for testing
test_settime({expr}) none set current time for testing
timer_info([{id}]) List information about timers
timer_pause({id}, {pause}) none pause or unpause a timer
timer_start({time}, {callback} [, {options}])
Number create a timer
timer_stop({timer}) none stop a timer
timer_stopall() none stop all timers
tolower({expr}) String the String {expr} switched to lowercase
toupper({expr}) String the String {expr} switched to uppercase
tr({src}, {fromstr}, {tostr}) String translate chars of {src} in {fromstr}
to chars in {tostr}
trim({text} [, {mask}]) String trim characters in {mask} from {text}
trunc({expr}) Float truncate Float {expr}
type({name}) Number type of variable {name}
undofile({name}) String undo file name for {name}
undotree() List undo file tree
uniq({list} [, {func} [, {dict}]])
List remove adjacent duplicates from a list
values({dict}) List values in {dict}
virtcol({expr}) Number screen column of cursor or mark
visualmode([expr]) String last visual mode used
wildmenumode() Number whether 'wildmenu' mode is active
win_execute({id}, {command} [, {silent}])
String execute {command} in window {id}
win_findbuf({bufnr}) List find windows containing {bufnr}
win_getid([{win} [, {tab}]]) Number get window ID for {win} in {tab}
win_gotoid({expr}) Number go to window with ID {expr}
win_id2tabwin({expr}) List get tab and window nr from window ID
win_id2win({expr}) Number get window nr from window ID
win_screenpos({nr}) List get screen position of window {nr}
winbufnr({nr}) Number buffer number of window {nr}
wincol() Number window column of the cursor
winheight({nr}) Number height of window {nr}
winlayout([{tabnr}]) List layout of windows in tab {tabnr}
winline() Number window line of the cursor
winnr([{expr}]) Number number of current window
winrestcmd() String returns command to restore window sizes
winrestview({dict}) none restore view of current window
winsaveview() Dict save view of current window
winwidth({nr}) Number width of window {nr}
wordcount() Dict get byte/char/word statistics
writefile({object}, {fname} [, {flags}])
Number write Blob or List of lines to file
xor({expr}, {expr}) Number bitwise XOR
abs({expr}) abs()
Return the absolute value of {expr}. When {expr} evaluates to
a Float abs() returns a Float. When {expr} can be
converted to a Number abs() returns a Number. Otherwise
abs() gives an error message and returns -1.
Examples:
echo abs(1.456)
1.456
echo abs(-5.456)
5.456
echo abs(-4)
4
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
acos({expr}) acos()
Return the arc cosine of {expr} measured in radians, as a
Float in the range of [0, pi].
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number in the range
[-1, 1].
Examples:
:echo acos(0)
1.570796
:echo acos(-0.5)
2.094395
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
add({object}, {expr}) add()
Append the item {expr} to List or Blob {object}. Returns
the resulting List or Blob. Examples:
:let alist = add([1, 2, 3], item)
:call add(mylist, "woodstock")
Note that when {expr} is a List it is appended as a single
item. Use extend() to concatenate Lists.
When {object} is a Blob then {expr} must be a number.
Use insert() to add an item at another position.
and({expr}, {expr}) and()
Bitwise AND on the two arguments. The arguments are converted
to a number. A List, Dict or Float argument causes an error.
Example:
:let flag = and(bits, 0x80)
append({lnum}, {text}) append()
When {text} is a List: Append each item of the List as a
text line below line {lnum} in the current buffer.
Otherwise append {text} as one text line below line {lnum} in
the current buffer.
{lnum} can be zero to insert a line before the first one.
Returns 1 for failure ({lnum} out of range or out of memory),
0 for success. Example:
:let failed = append(line('$'), "# THE END")
:let failed = append(0, ["Chapter 1", "the beginning"])
appendbufline({expr}, {lnum}, {text}) appendbufline()
Like append() but append the text in buffer {expr}.
For the use of {expr}, see bufname().
{lnum} is used like with append(). Note that using line()
would use the current buffer, not the one appending to.
Use "$" to append at the end of the buffer.
On success 0 is returned, on failure 1 is returned.
If {expr} is not a valid buffer or {lnum} is not valid, an
error message is given. Example:
:let failed = appendbufline(13, 0, "# THE START")
argc()
argc([{winid}])
The result is the number of files in the argument list. See
arglist.
If {winid} is not supplied, the argument list of the current
window is used.
If {winid} is -1, the global argument list is used.
Otherwise {winid} specifies the window of which the argument
list is used: either the window number or the window ID.
Returns -1 if the {winid} argument is invalid.
argidx()
argidx() The result is the current index in the argument list. 0 is
the first file. argc() - 1 is the last one. See arglist.
arglistid()
arglistid([{winnr} [, {tabnr}]])
Return the argument list ID. This is a number which
identifies the argument list being used. Zero is used for the
global argument list. See arglist.
Returns -1 if the arguments are invalid.
Without arguments use the current window.
With {winnr} only use this window in the current tab page.
With {winnr} and {tabnr} use the window in the specified tab
page.
{winnr} can be the window number or the window-ID.
argv()
argv([{nr} [, {winid}])
The result is the {nr}th file in the argument list. See
arglist. "argv(0)" is the first one. Example:
:let i = 0
:while i < argc()
: let f = escape(fnameescape(argv(i)), '.')
: exe 'amenu Arg.' . f . ' :e ' . f . '<CR>'
: let i = i + 1
:endwhile
Without the {nr} argument, or when {nr} is -1, a List with
the whole arglist is returned.
The {winid} argument specifies the window ID, see argc().
assert_beeps({cmd}) assert_beeps()
Run {cmd} and add an error message to v:errors if it does
NOT produce a beep or visual bell.
Also see assert_fails() and assert-return.
assert_equal()
assert_equal({expected}, {actual} [, {msg}])
When {expected} and {actual} are not equal an error message is
added to v:errors and 1 is returned. Otherwise zero is
returned assert-return.
There is no automatic conversion, the String "4" is different
from the Number 4. And the number 4 is different from the
Float 4.0. The value of 'ignorecase' is not used here, case
always matters.
When {msg} is omitted an error in the form "Expected
{expected} but got {actual}" is produced.
Example:
assert_equal('foo', 'bar')
Will result in a string to be added to v:errors:
test.vim line 12: Expected 'foo' but got 'bar'
assert_equalfile()
assert_equalfile({fname-one}, {fname-two})
When the files {fname-one} and {fname-two} do not contain
exactly the same text an error message is added to v:errors.
Also see assert-return.
When {fname-one} or {fname-two} does not exist the error will
mention that.
Mainly useful with terminal-diff.
assert_exception({error} [, {msg}]) assert_exception()
When v:exception does not contain the string {error} an error
message is added to v:errors. Also see assert-return.
This can be used to assert that a command throws an exception.
Using the error number, followed by a colon, avoids problems
with translations:
try
commandthatfails
call assert_false(1, 'command should have failed')
catch
call assert_exception('E492:')
endtry
assert_fails({cmd} [, {error} [, {msg}]]) assert_fails()
Run {cmd} and add an error message to v:errors if it does
NOT produce an error. Also see assert-return.
When {error} is given it must match in v:errmsg.
Note that beeping is not considered an error, and some failing
commands only beep. Use assert_beeps() for those.
assert_false({actual} [, {msg}]) assert_false()
When {actual} is not false an error message is added to
v:errors, like with assert_equal().
Also see assert-return.
A value is false when it is zero. When {actual} is not a
number the assert fails.
When {msg} is omitted an error in the form
"Expected False but got {actual}" is produced.
assert_inrange({lower}, {upper}, {actual} [, {msg}]) assert_inrange()
This asserts number and Float values. When {actual} is lower
than {lower} or higher than {upper} an error message is added
to v:errors. Also see assert-return.
When {msg} is omitted an error in the form
"Expected range {lower} - {upper}, but got {actual}" is
produced.
assert_match()
assert_match({pattern}, {actual} [, {msg}])
When {pattern} does not match {actual} an error message is
added to v:errors. Also see assert-return.
{pattern} is used as with =~: The matching is always done
like 'magic' was set and 'cpoptions' is empty, no matter what
the actual value of 'magic' or 'cpoptions' is.
{actual} is used as a string, automatic conversion applies.
Use "^" and "$" to match with the start and end of the text.
Use both to match the whole text.
When {msg} is omitted an error in the form
"Pattern {pattern} does not match {actual}" is produced.
Example:
assert_match('^f.*o$', 'foobar')
Will result in a string to be added to v:errors:
test.vim line 12: Pattern '^f.*o$' does not match 'foobar'
assert_notequal()
assert_notequal({expected}, {actual} [, {msg}])
The opposite of assert_equal(): add an error message to
v:errors when {expected} and {actual} are equal.
Also see assert-return.
assert_notmatch()
assert_notmatch({pattern}, {actual} [, {msg}])
The opposite of assert_match(): add an error message to
v:errors when {pattern} matches {actual}.
Also see assert-return.
assert_report({msg}) assert_report()
Report a test failure directly, using {msg}.
Always returns one.
assert_true({actual} [, {msg}]) assert_true()
When {actual} is not true an error message is added to
v:errors, like with assert_equal().
Also see assert-return.
A value is TRUE when it is a non-zero number. When {actual}
is not a number the assert fails.
When {msg} is omitted an error in the form "Expected True but
got {actual}" is produced.
asin({expr}) asin()
Return the arc sine of {expr} measured in radians, as a Float
in the range of [-pi/2, pi/2].
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number in the range
[-1, 1].
Examples:
:echo asin(0.8)
0.927295
:echo asin(-0.5)
-0.523599
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
atan({expr}) atan()
Return the principal value of the arc tangent of {expr}, in
the range [-pi/2, +pi/2] radians, as a Float.
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
:echo atan(100)
1.560797
:echo atan(-4.01)
-1.326405
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
atan2({expr1}, {expr2}) atan2()
Return the arc tangent of {expr1} / {expr2}, measured in
radians, as a Float in the range [-pi, pi].
{expr1} and {expr2} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
:echo atan2(-1, 1)
-0.785398
:echo atan2(1, -1)
2.356194
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
balloon_gettext() balloon_gettext()
Return the current text in the balloon. Only for the string,
not used for the List.
balloon_show({expr}) balloon_show()
Show {expr} inside the balloon. For the GUI {expr} is used as
a string. For a terminal {expr} can be a list, which contains
the lines of the balloon. If {expr} is not a list it will be
split with balloon_split().
If {expr} is an empty string any existing balloon is removed.
Example:
func GetBalloonContent()
" ... initiate getting the content
return ''
endfunc
set balloonexpr=GetBalloonContent()
func BalloonCallback(result)
call balloon_show(a:result)
endfunc
The intended use is that fetching the content of the balloon
is initiated from 'balloonexpr'. It will invoke an
asynchronous method, in which a callback invokes
balloon_show(). The 'balloonexpr' itself can return an
empty string or a placeholder.
When showing a balloon is not possible nothing happens, no
error message.
{only available when compiled with the +balloon_eval or
+balloon_eval_term feature}
balloon_split({msg}) balloon_split()
Split {msg} into lines to be displayed in a balloon. The
splits are made for the current window size and optimize to
show debugger output.
Returns a List with the split lines.
{only available when compiled with the +balloon_eval_term
feature}
browse()
browse({save}, {title}, {initdir}, {default})
Put up a file requester. This only works when "has("browse")"
returns TRUE (only in some GUI versions).
The input fields are:
{save} when TRUE, select file to write
{title} title for the requester
{initdir} directory to start browsing in
{default} default file name
When the "Cancel" button is hit, something went wrong, or
browsing is not possible, an empty string is returned.
browsedir()
browsedir({title}, {initdir})
Put up a directory requester. This only works when
"has("browse")" returns TRUE (only in some GUI versions).
On systems where a directory browser is not supported a file
browser is used. In that case: select a file in the directory
to be used.
The input fields are:
{title} title for the requester
{initdir} directory to start browsing in
When the "Cancel" button is hit, something went wrong, or
browsing is not possible, an empty string is returned.
bufexists({expr}) bufexists()
The result is a Number, which is TRUE if a buffer called
{expr} exists.
If the {expr} argument is a number, buffer numbers are used.
Number zero is the alternate buffer for the current window.
If the {expr} argument is a string it must match a buffer name
exactly. The name can be:
- Relative to the current directory.
- A full path.
- The name of a buffer with 'buftype' set to "nofile".
- A URL name.
Unlisted buffers will be found.
Note that help files are listed by their short name in the
output of :buffers, but bufexists() requires using their
long name to be able to find them.
bufexists() may report a buffer exists, but to use the name
with a :buffer command you may need to use expand(). Esp
for MS-Windows 8.3 names in the form "c:\DOCUME~1"
Use "bufexists(0)" to test for the existence of an alternate
file name.
buffer_exists()
Obsolete name: buffer_exists().
buflisted({expr}) buflisted()
The result is a Number, which is TRUE if a buffer called
{expr} exists and is listed (has the 'buflisted' option set).
The {expr} argument is used like with bufexists().
bufloaded({expr}) bufloaded()
The result is a Number, which is TRUE if a buffer called
{expr} exists and is loaded (shown in a window or hidden).
The {expr} argument is used like with bufexists().
bufname({expr}) bufname()
The result is the name of a buffer, as it is displayed by the
":ls" command.
If {expr} is a Number, that buffer number's name is given.
Number zero is the alternate buffer for the current window.
If {expr} is a String, it is used as a file-pattern to match
with the buffer names. This is always done like 'magic' is
set and 'cpoptions' is empty. When there is more than one
match an empty string is returned.
"" or "%" can be used for the current buffer, "#" for the
alternate buffer.
A full match is preferred, otherwise a match at the start, end
or middle of the buffer name is accepted. If you only want a
full match then put "^" at the start and "$" at the end of the
pattern.
Listed buffers are found first. If there is a single match
with a listed buffer, that one is returned. Next unlisted
buffers are searched for.
If the {expr} is a String, but you want to use it as a buffer
number, force it to be a Number by adding zero to it:
:echo bufname("3" + 0)
If the buffer doesn't exist, or doesn't have a name, an empty
string is returned.
bufname("#") alternate buffer name
bufname(3) name of buffer 3
bufname("%") name of current buffer
bufname("file2") name of buffer where "file2" matches.
buffer_name()
Obsolete name: buffer_name().
bufnr()
bufnr({expr} [, {create}])
The result is the number of a buffer, as it is displayed by
the ":ls" command. For the use of {expr}, see bufname()
above.
If the buffer doesn't exist, -1 is returned. Or, if the
{create} argument is present and not zero, a new, unlisted,
buffer is created and its number is returned.
bufnr("$") is the last buffer:
:let last_buffer = bufnr("$")
The result is a Number, which is the highest buffer number
of existing buffers. Note that not all buffers with a smaller
number necessarily exist, because ":bwipeout" may have removed
them. Use bufexists() to test for the existence of a buffer.
buffer_number()
Obsolete name: buffer_number().
last_buffer_nr()
Obsolete name for bufnr("$"): last_buffer_nr().
bufwinid({expr}) bufwinid()
The result is a Number, which is the window-ID of the first
window associated with buffer {expr}. For the use of {expr},
see bufname() above. If buffer {expr} doesn't exist or
there is no such window, -1 is returned. Example:
echo "A window containing buffer 1 is " . (bufwinid(1))
Only deals with the current tab page.
bufwinnr({expr}) bufwinnr()
The result is a Number, which is the number of the first
window associated with buffer {expr}. For the use of {expr},
see bufname() above. If buffer {expr} doesn't exist or
there is no such window, -1 is returned. Example:
echo "A window containing buffer 1 is " . (bufwinnr(1))
The number can be used with CTRL-W_w and ":wincmd w"
:wincmd.
Only deals with the current tab page.
byte2line({byte}) byte2line()
Return the line number that contains the character at byte
count {byte} in the current buffer. This includes the
end-of-line character, depending on the 'fileformat' option
for the current buffer. The first character has byte count
one.
Also see line2byte(), go and :goto.
{not available when compiled without the +byte_offset
feature}
byteidx({expr}, {nr}) byteidx()
Return byte index of the {nr}'th character in the string
{expr}. Use zero for the first character, it returns zero.
This function is only useful when there are multibyte
characters, otherwise the returned value is equal to {nr}.
Composing characters are not counted separately, their byte
length is added to the preceding base character. See
byteidxcomp() below for counting composing characters
separately.
Example :
echo matchstr(str, ".", byteidx(str, 3))
will display the fourth character. Another way to do the
same:
let s = strpart(str, byteidx(str, 3))
echo strpart(s, 0, byteidx(s, 1))
Also see strgetchar() and strcharpart().
If there are less than {nr} characters -1 is returned.
If there are exactly {nr} characters the length of the string
in bytes is returned.
byteidxcomp({expr}, {nr}) byteidxcomp()
Like byteidx(), except that a composing character is counted
as a separate character. Example:
let s = 'e' . nr2char(0x301)
echo byteidx(s, 1)
echo byteidxcomp(s, 1)
echo byteidxcomp(s, 2)
The first and third echo result in 3 ('e' plus composing
character is 3 bytes), the second echo results in 1 ('e' is
one byte).
Only works different from byteidx() when 'encoding' is set to
a Unicode encoding.
call({func}, {arglist} [, {dict}]) call() E699
Call function {func} with the items in List {arglist} as
arguments.
{func} can either be a Funcref or the name of a function.
a:firstline and a:lastline are set to the cursor line.
Returns the return value of the called function.
{dict} is for functions with the "dict" attribute. It will be
used to set the local variable "self". Dictionary-function
ceil({expr}) ceil()
Return the smallest integral value greater than or equal to
{expr} as a Float (round up).
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
echo ceil(1.456)
2.0
echo ceil(-5.456)
-5.0
echo ceil(4.0)
4.0
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
ch_canread({handle}) ch_canread()
Return non-zero when there is something to read from {handle}.
{handle} can be a Channel or a Job that has a Channel.
This is useful to read from a channel at a convenient time,
e.g. from a timer.
Note that messages are dropped when the channel does not have
a callback. Add a close callback to avoid that.
{only available when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
ch_close({handle}) ch_close()
Close {handle}. See channel-close.
{handle} can be a Channel or a Job that has a Channel.
A close callback is not invoked.
{only available when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
ch_close_in({handle}) ch_close_in()
Close the "in" part of {handle}. See channel-close-in.
{handle} can be a Channel or a Job that has a Channel.
A close callback is not invoked.
{only available when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
ch_evalexpr({handle}, {expr} [, {options}]) ch_evalexpr()
Send {expr} over {handle}. The {expr} is encoded
according to the type of channel. The function cannot be used
with a raw channel. See channel-use.
{handle} can be a Channel or a Job that has a Channel.
E917
{options} must be a Dictionary. It must not have a "callback"
entry. It can have a "timeout" entry to specify the timeout
for this specific request.
ch_evalexpr() waits for a response and returns the decoded
expression. When there is an error or timeout it returns an
empty string.
{only available when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
ch_evalraw({handle}, {string} [, {options}]) ch_evalraw()
Send {string} over {handle}.
{handle} can be a Channel or a Job that has a Channel.
Works like ch_evalexpr(), but does not encode the request or
decode the response. The caller is responsible for the
correct contents. Also does not add a newline for a channel
in NL mode, the caller must do that. The NL in the response
is removed.
Note that Vim does not know when the text received on a raw
channel is complete, it may only return the first part and you
need to use ch_readraw() to fetch the rest.
See channel-use.
{only available when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
ch_getbufnr({handle}, {what}) ch_getbufnr()
Get the buffer number that {handle} is using for {what}.
{handle} can be a Channel or a Job that has a Channel.
{what} can be "err" for stderr, "out" for stdout or empty for
socket output.
Returns -1 when there is no buffer.
{only available when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
ch_getjob({channel}) ch_getjob()
Get the Job associated with {channel}.
If there is no job calling job_status() on the returned Job
will result in "fail".
{only available when compiled with the +channel and
+job features}
ch_info({handle}) ch_info()
Returns a Dictionary with information about {handle}. The
items are:
"id" number of the channel
"status" "open", "buffered" or "closed", like
ch_status()
When opened with ch_open():
"hostname" the hostname of the address
"port" the port of the address
"sock_status" "open" or "closed"
"sock_mode" "NL", "RAW", "JSON" or "JS"
"sock_io" "socket"
"sock_timeout" timeout in msec
When opened with job_start():
"out_status" "open", "buffered" or "closed"
"out_mode" "NL", "RAW", "JSON" or "JS"
"out_io" "null", "pipe", "file" or "buffer"
"out_timeout" timeout in msec
"err_status" "open", "buffered" or "closed"
"err_mode" "NL", "RAW", "JSON" or "JS"
"err_io" "out", "null", "pipe", "file" or "buffer"
"err_timeout" timeout in msec
"in_status" "open" or "closed"
"in_mode" "NL", "RAW", "JSON" or "JS"
"in_io" "null", "pipe", "file" or "buffer"
"in_timeout" timeout in msec
ch_log({msg} [, {handle}]) ch_log()
Write {msg} in the channel log file, if it was opened with
ch_logfile().
When {handle} is passed the channel number is used for the
message.
{handle} can be a Channel or a Job that has a Channel. The
Channel must be open for the channel number to be used.
ch_logfile({fname} [, {mode}]) ch_logfile()
Start logging channel activity to {fname}.
When {fname} is an empty string: stop logging.
When {mode} is omitted or "a" append to the file.
When {mode} is "w" start with an empty file.
Use ch_log() to write log messages. The file is flushed
after every message, on Unix you can use "tail -f" to see what
is going on in real time.
This function is not available in the sandbox.
NOTE: the channel communication is stored in the file, be
aware that this may contain confidential and privacy sensitive
information, e.g. a password you type in a terminal window.
ch_open({address} [, {options}]) ch_open()
Open a channel to {address}. See channel.
Returns a Channel. Use ch_status() to check for failure.
{address} has the form "hostname:port", e.g.,
"localhost:8765".
If {options} is given it must be a Dictionary.
See channel-open-options.
{only available when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
ch_read({handle} [, {options}]) ch_read()
Read from {handle} and return the received message.
{handle} can be a Channel or a Job that has a Channel.
For a NL channel this waits for a NL to arrive, except when
there is nothing more to read (channel was closed).
See channel-more.
{only available when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
ch_readblob({handle} [, {options}]) ch_readblob()
Like ch_read() but reads binary data and returns a Blob.
See channel-more.
{only available when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
ch_readraw({handle} [, {options}]) ch_readraw()
Like ch_read() but for a JS and JSON channel does not decode
the message. For a NL channel it does not block waiting for
the NL to arrive, but otherwise works like ch_read().
See channel-more.
{only available when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
ch_sendexpr({handle}, {expr} [, {options}]) ch_sendexpr()
Send {expr} over {handle}. The {expr} is encoded
according to the type of channel. The function cannot be used
with a raw channel.
See channel-use. E912
{handle} can be a Channel or a Job that has a Channel.
{only available when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
ch_sendraw({handle}, {expr} [, {options}]) ch_sendraw()
Send String or Blob {expr} over {handle}.
Works like ch_sendexpr(), but does not encode the request or
decode the response. The caller is responsible for the
correct contents. Also does not add a newline for a channel
in NL mode, the caller must do that. The NL in the response
is removed.
See channel-use.
{only available when compiled with the |+channel| feature}
ch_setoptions({handle}, {options}) ch_setoptions()
Set options on {handle}:
"callback" the channel callback
"timeout" default read timeout in msec
"mode" mode for the whole channel
See ch_open() for more explanation.
{handle} can be a Channel or a Job that has a Channel.
Note that changing the mode may cause queued messages to be
lost.
These options cannot be changed:
"waittime" only applies to ch_open()
ch_status({handle} [, {options}]) ch_status()
Return the status of {handle}:
"fail" failed to open the channel
"open" channel can be used
"buffered" channel can be read, not written to
"closed" channel can not be used
{handle} can be a Channel or a Job that has a Channel.
"buffered" is used when the channel was closed but there is
still data that can be obtained with ch_read().
If {options} is given it can contain a "part" entry to specify
the part of the channel to return the status for: "out" or
"err". For example, to get the error status:
ch_status(job, {"part": "err"})
changenr() changenr()
Return the number of the most recent change. This is the same
number as what is displayed with :undolist and can be used
with the :undo command.
When a change was made it is the number of that change. After
redo it is the number of the redone change. After undo it is
one less than the number of the undone change.
char2nr({expr} [, {utf8}]) char2nr()
Return number value of the first char in {expr}. Examples:
char2nr(" ") returns 32
char2nr("ABC") returns 65
When {utf8} is omitted or zero, the current 'encoding' is used.
Example for "utf-8":
char2nr("á") returns 225
char2nr("á"[0]) returns 195
With {utf8} set to 1, always treat as utf-8 characters.
A combining character is a separate character.
nr2char() does the opposite.
To turn a string into a list of character numbers:
let str = "ABC"
let list = map(split(str, '\zs'), {_, val -> char2nr(val)})
Result: [65, 66, 67]
chdir({dir}) chdir()
Change the current working directory to {dir}. The scope of
the directory change depends on the directory of the current
window:
- If the current window has a window-local directory
(:lcd), then changes the window local directory.
- Otherwise, if the current tabpage has a local
directory (:tcd) then changes the tabpage local
directory.
- Otherwise, changes the global directory.
If successful, returns the previous working directory. Pass
this to another chdir() to restore the directory.
On failure, returns an empty string.
Example:
let save_dir = chdir(newdir)
if save_dir != ""
" ... do some work
call chdir(save_dir)
endif
cindent({lnum}) cindent()
Get the amount of indent for line {lnum} according the C
indenting rules, as with 'cindent'.
The indent is counted in spaces, the value of 'tabstop' is
relevant. {lnum} is used just like in getline().
When {lnum} is invalid or Vim was not compiled the +cindent
feature, -1 is returned.
See C-indenting.
clearmatches([{win}]) clearmatches()
Clears all matches previously defined for the current window
by matchadd() and the :match commands.
If {win} is specified, use the window with this number or
window ID instead of the current window.
col()
col({expr}) The result is a Number, which is the byte index of the column
position given with {expr}. The accepted positions are:
. the cursor position
$ the end of the cursor line (the result is the
number of bytes in the cursor line plus one)
'x position of mark x (if the mark is not set, 0 is
returned)
v In Visual mode: the start of the Visual area (the
cursor is the end). When not in Visual mode
returns the cursor position. Differs from '< in
that it's updated right away.
Additionally {expr} can be [lnum, col]: a List with the line
and column number. Most useful when the column is "$", to get
the last column of a specific line. When "lnum" or "col" is
out of range then col() returns zero.
To get the line number use line(). To get both use
getpos().
For the screen column position use virtcol().
Note that only marks in the current file can be used.
Examples:
col(".") column of cursor
col("$") length of cursor line plus one
col("'t") column of mark t
col("'" . markname) column of mark markname
The first column is 1. 0 is returned for an error.
For an uppercase mark the column may actually be in another
buffer.
For the cursor position, when 'virtualedit' is active, the
column is one higher if the cursor is after the end of the
line. This can be used to obtain the column in Insert mode:
:imap <F2> <C-O>:let save_ve = &ve<CR>
\<C-O>:set ve=all<CR>
\<C-O>:echo col(".") . "\n" <Bar>
\let &ve = save_ve<CR>
complete({startcol}, {matches}) complete() E785
Set the matches for Insert mode completion.
Can only be used in Insert mode. You need to use a mapping
with CTRL-R = (see i_CTRL-R). It does not work after CTRL-O
or with an expression mapping.
{startcol} is the byte offset in the line where the completed
text start. The text up to the cursor is the original text
that will be replaced by the matches. Use col('.') for an
empty string. "col('.') - 1" will replace one character by a
match.
{matches} must be a List. Each List item is one match.
See complete-items for the kind of items that are possible.
Note that the after calling this function you need to avoid
inserting anything that would cause completion to stop.
The match can be selected with CTRL-N and CTRL-P as usual with
Insert mode completion. The popup menu will appear if
specified, see ins-completion-menu.
Example:
inoremap <F5> <C-R>=ListMonths()<CR>
func! ListMonths()
call complete(col('.'), ['January', 'February', 'March',
\ 'April', 'May', 'June', 'July', 'August', 'September',
\ 'October', 'November', 'December'])
return ''
endfunc
This isn't very useful, but it shows how it works. Note that
an empty string is returned to avoid a zero being inserted.
complete_add({expr}) complete_add()
Add {expr} to the list of matches. Only to be used by the
function specified with the 'completefunc' option.
Returns 0 for failure (empty string or out of memory),
1 when the match was added, 2 when the match was already in
the list.
See complete-functions for an explanation of {expr}. It is
the same as one item in the list that 'omnifunc' would return.
complete_check() complete_check()
Check for a key typed while looking for completion matches.
This is to be used when looking for matches takes some time.
Returns TRUE when searching for matches is to be aborted,
zero otherwise.
Only to be used by the function specified with the
'completefunc' option.
complete_info()
complete_info([{what}])
Returns a Dictionary with information about Insert mode
completion. See ins-completion.
The items are:
mode Current completion mode name string.
See complete_info_mode for the values.
pum_visible TRUE if popup menu is visible.
See pumvisible().
items List of completion matches. Each item is a
dictionary containing the entries "word",
"abbr", "menu", "kind", "info" and "user_data".
See complete-items.
selected Selected item index. First index is zero.
Index is -1 if no item is selected (showing
typed text only)
inserted Inserted string. [NOT IMPLEMENT YET]
complete_info_mode
mode values are:
"" Not in completion mode
"keyword" Keyword completion i_CTRL-X_CTRL-N
"ctrl_x" Just pressed CTRL-X i_CTRL-X
"whole_line" Whole lines i_CTRL-X_CTRL-L
"files" File names i_CTRL-X_CTRL-F
"tags" Tags i_CTRL-X_CTRL-]
"path_defines" Definition completion i_CTRL-X_CTRL-D
"path_patterns" Include completion i_CTRL-X_CTRL-I
"dictionary" Dictionary i_CTRL-X_CTRL-K
"thesaurus" Thesaurus i_CTRL-X_CTRL-T
"cmdline" Vim Command line i_CTRL-X_CTRL-V
"function" User defined completion i_CTRL-X_CTRL-U
"omni" Omni completion i_CTRL-X_CTRL-O
"spell" Spelling suggestions i_CTRL-X_s
"eval" complete() completion
"unknown" Other internal modes
If the optional {what} list argument is supplied, then only
the items listed in {what} are returned. Unsupported items in
{what} are silently ignored.
Examples:
" Get all items
call complete_info()
" Get only 'mode'
call complete_info(['mode'])
" Get only 'mode' and 'pum_visible'
call complete_info(['mode', 'pum_visible'])
confirm()
confirm({msg} [, {choices} [, {default} [, {type}]]])
confirm() offers the user a dialog, from which a choice can be
made. It returns the number of the choice. For the first
choice this is 1.
Note: confirm() is only supported when compiled with dialog
support, see +dialog_con and +dialog_gui.
{msg} is displayed in a dialog with {choices} as the
alternatives. When {choices} is missing or empty, "&OK" is
used (and translated).
{msg} is a String, use '\n' to include a newline. Only on
some systems the string is wrapped when it doesn't fit.
{choices} is a String, with the individual choices separated
by '\n', e.g.
confirm("Save changes?", "&Yes\n&No\n&Cancel")
The letter after the '&' is the shortcut key for that choice.
Thus you can type 'c' to select "Cancel". The shortcut does
not need to be the first letter:
confirm("file has been modified", "&Save\nSave &All")
For the console, the first letter of each choice is used as
the default shortcut key.
The optional {default} argument is the number of the choice
that is made if the user hits <CR>. Use 1 to make the first
choice the default one. Use 0 to not set a default. If
{default} is omitted, 1 is used.
The optional {type} argument gives the type of dialog. This
is only used for the icon of the GTK, Mac, Motif and Win32
GUI. It can be one of these values: "Error", "Question",
"Info", "Warning" or "Generic". Only the first character is
relevant. When {type} is omitted, "Generic" is used.
If the user aborts the dialog by pressing <Esc>, CTRL-C,
or another valid interrupt key, confirm() returns 0.
An example:
:let choice = confirm("What do you want?", "&Apples\n&Oranges\n&Bananas", 2)
:if choice == 0
: echo "make up your mind!"
:elseif choice == 3
: echo "tasteful"
:else
: echo "I prefer bananas myself."
:endif
In a GUI dialog, buttons are used. The layout of the buttons
depends on the 'v' flag in 'guioptions'. If it is included,
the buttons are always put vertically. Otherwise, confirm()
tries to put the buttons in one horizontal line. If they
don't fit, a vertical layout is used anyway. For some systems
the horizontal layout is always used.
copy()
copy({expr}) Make a copy of {expr}. For Numbers and Strings this isn't
different from using {expr} directly.
When {expr} is a List a shallow copy is created. This means
that the original List can be changed without changing the
copy, and vice versa. But the items are identical, thus
changing an item changes the contents of both Lists.
A Dictionary is copied in a similar way as a List.
Also see deepcopy().
cos({expr}) cos()
Return the cosine of {expr}, measured in radians, as a Float.
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
:echo cos(100)
0.862319
:echo cos(-4.01)
-0.646043
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
cosh({expr}) cosh()
Return the hyperbolic cosine of {expr} as a Float in the range
[1, inf].
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
:echo cosh(0.5)
1.127626
:echo cosh(-0.5)
-1.127626
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
count({comp}, {expr} [, {ic} [, {start}]]) count()
Return the number of times an item with value {expr} appears
in String, List or Dictionary {comp}.
If {start} is given then start with the item with this index.
{start} can only be used with a List.
When {ic} is given and it's TRUE then case is ignored.
When {comp} is a string then the number of not overlapping
occurrences of {expr} is returned. Zero is returned when
{expr} is an empty string.
cscope_connection()
cscope_connection([{num} , {dbpath} [, {prepend}]])
Checks for the existence of a cscope connection. If no
parameters are specified, then the function returns:
0, if cscope was not available (not compiled in), or
if there are no cscope connections;
1, if there is at least one cscope connection.
If parameters are specified, then the value of {num}
determines how existence of a cscope connection is checked:
{num} Description of existence check
----- ------------------------------
0 Same as no parameters (e.g., "cscope_connection()").
1 Ignore {prepend}, and use partial string matches for
{dbpath}.
2 Ignore {prepend}, and use exact string matches for
{dbpath}.
3 Use {prepend}, use partial string matches for both
{dbpath} and {prepend}.
4 Use {prepend}, use exact string matches for both
{dbpath} and {prepend}.
Note: All string comparisons are case sensitive!
Examples. Suppose we had the following (from ":cs show"):
# pid database name prepend path
0 27664 cscope.out /usr/local
Invocation Return Val
---------- ----------
cscope_connection() 1
cscope_connection(1, "out") 1
cscope_connection(2, "out") 0
cscope_connection(3, "out") 0
cscope_connection(3, "out", "local") 1
cscope_connection(4, "out") 0
cscope_connection(4, "out", "local") 0
cscope_connection(4, "cscope.out", "/usr/local") 1
cursor({lnum}, {col} [, {off}]) cursor()
cursor({list})
Positions the cursor at the column (byte count) {col} in the
line {lnum}. The first column is one.
When there is one argument {list} this is used as a List
with two, three or four item:
[{lnum}, {col}]
[{lnum}, {col}, {off}]
[{lnum}, {col}, {off}, {curswant}]
This is like the return value of getpos() or getcurpos(),
but without the first item.
Does not change the jumplist.
If {lnum} is greater than the number of lines in the buffer,
the cursor will be positioned at the last line in the buffer.
If {lnum} is zero, the cursor will stay in the current line.
If {col} is greater than the number of bytes in the line,
the cursor will be positioned at the last character in the
line.
If {col} is zero, the cursor will stay in the current column.
If {curswant} is given it is used to set the preferred column
for vertical movement. Otherwise {col} is used.
When 'virtualedit' is used {off} specifies the offset in
screen columns from the start of the character. E.g., a
position within a <Tab> or after the last character.
Returns 0 when the position could be set, -1 otherwise.
debugbreak({pid}) debugbreak()
Specifically used to interrupt a program being debugged. It
will cause process {pid} to get a SIGTRAP. Behavior for other
processes is undefined. See terminal-debugger.
{only available on MS-Windows}
deepcopy({expr} [, {noref}]) deepcopy() E698
Make a copy of {expr}. For Numbers and Strings this isn't
different from using {expr} directly.
When {expr} is a List a full copy is created. This means
that the original List can be changed without changing the
copy, and vice versa. When an item is a List or
Dictionary, a copy for it is made, recursively. Thus
changing an item in the copy does not change the contents of
the original List.
A Dictionary is copied in a similar way as a List.
When {noref} is omitted or zero a contained List or
Dictionary is only copied once. All references point to
this single copy. With {noref} set to 1 every occurrence of a
List or Dictionary results in a new copy. This also means
that a cyclic reference causes deepcopy() to fail.
E724
Nesting is possible up to 100 levels. When there is an item
that refers back to a higher level making a deep copy with
{noref} set to 1 will fail.
Also see copy().
delete({fname} [, {flags}]) delete()
Without {flags} or with {flags} empty: Deletes the file by the
name {fname}. This also works when {fname} is a symbolic link.
When {flags} is "d": Deletes the directory by the name
{fname}. This fails when directory {fname} is not empty.
When {flags} is "rf": Deletes the directory by the name
{fname} and everything in it, recursively. BE CAREFUL!
Note: on MS-Windows it is not possible to delete a directory
that is being used.
A symbolic link itself is deleted, not what it points to.
The result is a Number, which is 0 if the delete operation was
successful and -1 when the deletion failed or partly failed.
Use remove() to delete an item from a List.
To delete a line from the buffer use :delete or
deletebufline().
deletebufline({expr}, {first} [, {last}]) deletebufline()
Delete lines {first} to {last} (inclusive) from buffer {expr}.
If {last} is omitted then delete line {first} only.
On success 0 is returned, on failure 1 is returned.
For the use of {expr}, see bufname() above.
{first} and {last} are used like with getline(). Note that
when using line() this refers to the current buffer. Use "$"
to refer to the last line in buffer {expr}.
did_filetype()
did_filetype() Returns TRUE when autocommands are being executed and the
FileType event has been triggered at least once. Can be used
to avoid triggering the FileType event again in the scripts
that detect the file type. FileType
Returns FALSE when `:setf FALLBACK` was used.
When editing another file, the counter is reset, thus this
really checks if the FileType event has been triggered for the
current buffer. This allows an autocommand that starts
editing another buffer to set 'filetype' and load a syntax
file.
diff_filler({lnum}) diff_filler()
Returns the number of filler lines above line {lnum}.
These are the lines that were inserted at this point in
another diff'ed window. These filler lines are shown in the
display but don't exist in the buffer.
{lnum} is used like with getline(). Thus "." is the current
line, "'m" mark m, etc.
Returns 0 if the current window is not in diff mode.
diff_hlID({lnum}, {col}) diff_hlID()
Returns the highlight ID for diff mode at line {lnum} column
{col} (byte index). When the current line does not have a
diff change zero is returned.
{lnum} is used like with getline(). Thus "." is the current
line, "'m" mark m, etc.
{col} is 1 for the leftmost column, {lnum} is 1 for the first
line.
The highlight ID can be used with synIDattr() to obtain
syntax information about the highlighting.
environ() environ()
Return all of environment variables as dictionary. You can
check if an environment variable exists like this:
:echo has_key(environ(), 'HOME')
Note that the variable name may be CamelCase; to ignore case
use this:
:echo index(keys(environ()), 'HOME', 0, 1) != -1
empty({expr}) empty()
Return the Number 1 if {expr} is empty, zero otherwise.
- A List or Dictionary is empty when it does not have any
items.
- A String is empty when its length is zero.
- A Number and Float are empty when their value is zero.
- v:false, v:none and v:null are empty, v:true is not.
- A Job is empty when it failed to start.
- A Channel is empty when it is closed.
- A Blob is empty when its length is zero.
For a long List this is much faster than comparing the
length with zero.
escape({string}, {chars}) escape()
Escape the characters in {chars} that occur in {string} with a
backslash. Example:
:echo escape('c:\program files\vim', ' \')
results in:
c:\\program\ files\\vim
Also see shellescape() and fnameescape().
eval()
eval({string}) Evaluate {string} and return the result. Especially useful to
turn the result of string() back into the original value.
This works for Numbers, Floats, Strings, Blobs and composites
of them. Also works for Funcrefs that refer to existing
functions.
eventhandler() eventhandler()
Returns 1 when inside an event handler. That is that Vim got
interrupted while waiting for the user to type a character,
e.g., when dropping a file on Vim. This means interactive
commands cannot be used. Otherwise zero is returned.
executable({expr}) executable()
This function checks if an executable with the name {expr}
exists. {expr} must be the name of the program without any
arguments.
executable() uses the value of $PATH and/or the normal
searchpath for programs. PATHEXT
On MS-DOS and MS-Windows the ".exe", ".bat", etc. can
optionally be included. Then the extensions in $PATHEXT are
tried. Thus if "foo.exe" does not exist, "foo.exe.bat" can be
found. If $PATHEXT is not set then ".exe;.com;.bat;.cmd" is
used. A dot by itself can be used in $PATHEXT to try using
the name without an extension. When 'shell' looks like a
Unix shell, then the name is also tried without adding an
extension.
On MS-DOS and MS-Windows it only checks if the file exists and
is not a directory, not if it's really executable.
On MS-Windows an executable in the same directory as Vim is
always found. Since this directory is added to $PATH it
should also work to execute it win32-PATH.
The result is a Number:
1 exists
0 does not exist
-1 not implemented on this system
exepath() can be used to get the full path of an executable.
execute({command} [, {silent}]) execute()
Execute an Ex command or commands and return the output as a
string.
{command} can be a string or a List. In case of a List the
lines are executed one by one.
This is equivalent to:
redir => var
{command}
redir END
The optional {silent} argument can have these values:
"" no :silent used
"silent" :silent used
"silent!" :silent! used
The default is "silent". Note that with "silent!", unlike
:redir, error messages are dropped. When using an external
command the screen may be messed up, use system() instead.
E930
It is not possible to use :redir anywhere in {command}.
To get a list of lines use split() on the result:
split(execute('args'), "\n")
To execute a command in another window than the current one
use win_execute().
When used recursively the output of the recursive call is not
included in the output of the higher level call.
exepath({expr}) exepath()
If {expr} is an executable and is either an absolute path, a
relative path or found in $PATH, return the full path.
Note that the current directory is used when {expr} starts
with "./", which may be a problem for Vim:
echo exepath(v:progpath)
If {expr} cannot be found in $PATH or is not executable then
an empty string is returned.
exists()
exists({expr}) The result is a Number, which is TRUE if {expr} is defined,
zero otherwise.
For checking for a supported feature use has().
For checking if a file exists use filereadable().
The {expr} argument is a string, which contains one of these:
&option-name Vim option (only checks if it exists,
not if it really works)
+option-name Vim option that works.
$ENVNAME environment variable (could also be
done by comparing with an empty
string)
*funcname built-in function (see functions)
or user defined function (see
user-functions). Also works for a
variable that is a Funcref.
varname internal variable (see
internal-variables). Also works
for curly-braces-names, Dictionary
entries, List items, etc. Beware
that evaluating an index may cause an
error message for an invalid
expression. E.g.:
:let l = [1, 2, 3]
:echo exists("l[5]")
0
:echo exists("l[xx]")
E121: Undefined variable: xx
0
:cmdname Ex command: built-in command, user
command or command modifier :command.
Returns:
1 for match with start of a command
2 full match with a command
3 matches several user commands
To check for a supported command
always check the return value to be 2.
:2match The :2match command.
:3match The :3match command.
#event autocommand defined for this event
#event#pattern autocommand defined for this event and
pattern (the pattern is taken
literally and compared to the
autocommand patterns character by
character)
#group autocommand group exists
#group#event autocommand defined for this group and
event.
#group#event#pattern
autocommand defined for this group,
event and pattern.
##event autocommand for this event is
supported.
Examples:
exists("&shortname")
exists("$HOSTNAME")
exists("*strftime")
exists("*s:MyFunc")
exists("bufcount")
exists(":Make")
exists("#CursorHold")
exists("#BufReadPre#*.gz")
exists("#filetypeindent")
exists("#filetypeindent#FileType")
exists("#filetypeindent#FileType#*")
exists("##ColorScheme")
There must be no space between the symbol (&/$/*/#) and the
name.
There must be no extra characters after the name, although in
a few cases this is ignored. That may become more strict in
the future, thus don't count on it!
Working example:
exists(":make")
NOT working example:
exists(":make install")
Note that the argument must be a string, not the name of the
variable itself. For example:
exists(bufcount)
This doesn't check for existence of the "bufcount" variable,
but gets the value of "bufcount", and checks if that exists.
exp({expr}) exp()
Return the exponential of {expr} as a Float in the range
[0, inf].
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
:echo exp(2)
7.389056
:echo exp(-1)
0.367879
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
expand({expr} [, {nosuf} [, {list}]]) expand()
Expand wildcards and the following special keywords in {expr}.
'wildignorecase' applies.
If {list} is given and it is TRUE, a List will be returned.
Otherwise the result is a String and when there are several
matches, they are separated by <NL> characters. [Note: in
version 5.0 a space was used, which caused problems when a
file name contains a space]
If the expansion fails, the result is an empty string. A name
for a non-existing file is not included, unless {expr} does
not start with '%', '#' or '<', see below.
When {expr} starts with '%', '#' or '<', the expansion is done
like for the cmdline-special variables with their associated
modifiers. Here is a short overview:
% current file name
# alternate file name
#n alternate file name n
<cfile> file name under the cursor
<afile> autocmd file name
<abuf> autocmd buffer number (as a String!)
<amatch> autocmd matched name
<sfile> sourced script file or function name
<slnum> sourced script line number or function
line number
<sflnum> script file line number, also when in
a function
<cword> word under the cursor
<cWORD> WORD under the cursor
<client> the {clientid} of the last received
message server2client()
Modifiers:
:p expand to full path
:h head (last path component removed)
:t tail (last path component only)
:r root (one extension removed)
:e extension only
Example:
:let &tags = expand("%:p:h") . "/tags"
Note that when expanding a string that starts with '%', '#' or
'<', any following text is ignored. This does NOT work:
:let doesntwork = expand("%:h.bak")
Use this:
:let doeswork = expand("%:h") . ".bak"
Also note that expanding "<cfile>" and others only returns the
referenced file name without further expansion. If "<cfile>"
is "~/.cshrc", you need to do another expand() to have the
"~/" expanded into the path of the home directory:
:echo expand(expand("<cfile>"))
There cannot be white space between the variables and the
following modifier. The fnamemodify() function can be used
to modify normal file names.
When using '%' or '#', and the current or alternate file name
is not defined, an empty string is used. Using "%:p" in a
buffer with no name, results in the current directory, with a
'/' added.
When {expr} does not start with '%', '#' or '<', it is
expanded like a file name is expanded on the command line.
'suffixes' and 'wildignore' are used, unless the optional
{nosuf} argument is given and it is TRUE.
Names for non-existing files are included. The "**" item can
be used to search in a directory tree. For example, to find
all "README" files in the current directory and below:
:echo expand("**/README")
expand() can also be used to expand variables and environment
variables that are only known in a shell. But this can be
slow, because a shell may be used to do the expansion. See
expr-env-expand.
The expanded variable is still handled like a list of file
names. When an environment variable cannot be expanded, it is
left unchanged. Thus ":echo expand('$FOOBAR')" results in
"$FOOBAR".
See glob() for finding existing files. See system() for
getting the raw output of an external command.
expandcmd({expr}) expandcmd()
Expand special items in {expr} like what is done for an Ex
command such as :edit. This expands special keywords, like
with expand(), and environment variables, anywhere in
{expr}. Returns the expanded string.
Example:
:echo expandcmd('make %<.o')
extend({expr1}, {expr2} [, {expr3}]) extend()
{expr1} and {expr2} must be both Lists or both
Dictionaries.
If they are Lists: Append {expr2} to {expr1}.
If {expr3} is given insert the items of {expr2} before item
{expr3} in {expr1}. When {expr3} is zero insert before the
first item. When {expr3} is equal to len({expr1}) then
{expr2} is appended.
Examples:
:echo sort(extend(mylist, [7, 5]))
:call extend(mylist, [2, 3], 1)
When {expr1} is the same List as {expr2} then the number of
items copied is equal to the original length of the List.
E.g., when {expr3} is 1 you get N new copies of the first item
(where N is the original length of the List).
Use add() to concatenate one item to a list. To concatenate
two lists into a new list use the + operator:
:let newlist = [1, 2, 3] + [4, 5]
If they are Dictionaries:
Add all entries from {expr2} to {expr1}.
If a key exists in both {expr1} and {expr2} then {expr3} is
used to decide what to do:
{expr3} = "keep": keep the value of {expr1}
{expr3} = "force": use the value of {expr2}
{expr3} = "error": give an error message E737
When {expr3} is omitted then "force" is assumed.
{expr1} is changed when {expr2} is not empty. If necessary
make a copy of {expr1} first.
{expr2} remains unchanged.
When {expr1} is locked and {expr2} is not empty the operation
fails.
Returns {expr1}.
feedkeys({string} [, {mode}]) feedkeys()
Characters in {string} are queued for processing as if they
come from a mapping or were typed by the user.
By default the string is added to the end of the typeahead
buffer, thus if a mapping is still being executed the
characters come after them. Use the 'i' flag to insert before
other characters, they will be executed next, before any
characters from a mapping.
The function does not wait for processing of keys contained in
{string}.
To include special keys into {string}, use double-quotes
and "\..." notation expr-quote. For example,
feedkeys("\<CR>") simulates pressing of the <Enter> key. But
feedkeys('\<CR>') pushes 5 characters.
A special code that might be useful is <Ignore>, it exits the
wait for a character without doing anything. <Ignore>
{mode} is a String, which can contain these character flags:
'm' Remap keys. This is default. If {mode} is absent,
keys are remapped.
'n' Do not remap keys.
't' Handle keys as if typed; otherwise they are handled as
if coming from a mapping. This matters for undo,
opening folds, etc.
'L' Lowlevel input. Only works for Unix or when using the
GUI. Keys are used as if they were coming from the
terminal. Other flags are not used. E980
'i' Insert the string instead of appending (see above).
'x' Execute commands until typeahead is empty. This is
similar to using ":normal!". You can call feedkeys()
several times without 'x' and then one time with 'x'
(possibly with an empty {string}) to execute all the
typeahead. Note that when Vim ends in Insert mode it
will behave as if <Esc> is typed, to avoid getting
stuck, waiting for a character to be typed before the
script continues.
Note that if you manage to call feedkeys() while
executing commands, thus calling it recursively, then
all typehead will be consumed by the last call.
'!' When used with 'x' will not end Insert mode. Can be
used in a test when a timer is set to exit Insert mode
a little later. Useful for testing CursorHoldI.
Return value is always 0.
filereadable({file}) filereadable()
The result is a Number, which is TRUE when a file with the
name {file} exists, and can be read. If {file} doesn't exist,
or is a directory, the result is FALSE. {file} is any
expression, which is used as a String.
If you don't care about the file being readable you can use
glob().
file_readable()
Obsolete name: file_readable().
filewritable({file}) filewritable()
The result is a Number, which is 1 when a file with the
name {file} exists, and can be written. If {file} doesn't
exist, or is not writable, the result is 0. If {file} is a
directory, and we can write to it, the result is 2.
filter({expr1}, {expr2}) filter()
{expr1} must be a List or a Dictionary.
For each item in {expr1} evaluate {expr2} and when the result
is zero remove the item from the List or Dictionary.
{expr2} must be a string or Funcref.
If {expr2} is a string, inside {expr2} v:val has the value
of the current item. For a Dictionary v:key has the key
of the current item and for a List v:key has the index of
the current item.
Examples:
call filter(mylist, 'v:val !~ "OLD"')
Removes the items where "OLD" appears.
call filter(mydict, 'v:key >= 8')
Removes the items with a key below 8.
call filter(var, 0)
Removes all the items, thus clears the List or Dictionary.
Note that {expr2} is the result of expression and is then
used as an expression again. Often it is good to use a
literal-string to avoid having to double backslashes.
If {expr2} is a Funcref it must take two arguments:
1. the key or the index of the current item.
2. the value of the current item.
The function must return TRUE if the item should be kept.
Example that keeps the odd items of a list:
func Odd(idx, val)
return a:idx % 2 == 1
endfunc
call filter(mylist, function('Odd'))
It is shorter when using a lambda:
call filter(myList, {idx, val -> idx * val <= 42})
If you do not use "val" you can leave it out:
call filter(myList, {idx -> idx % 2 == 1})
The operation is done in-place. If you want a List or
Dictionary to remain unmodified make a copy first:
:let l = filter(copy(mylist), 'v:val =~ "KEEP"')
Returns {expr1}, the List or Dictionary that was filtered.
When an error is encountered while evaluating {expr2} no
further items in {expr1} are processed. When {expr2} is a
Funcref errors inside a function are ignored, unless it was
defined with the "abort" flag.
finddir({name} [, {path} [, {count}]]) finddir()
Find directory {name} in {path}. Supports both downwards and
upwards recursive directory searches. See file-searching
for the syntax of {path}.
Returns the path of the first found match. When the found
directory is below the current directory a relative path is
returned. Otherwise a full path is returned.
If {path} is omitted or empty then 'path' is used.
If the optional {count} is given, find {count}'s occurrence of
{name} in {path} instead of the first one.
When {count} is negative return all the matches in a List.
This is quite similar to the ex-command :find.
{only available when compiled with the +file_in_path
feature}
findfile({name} [, {path} [, {count}]]) findfile()
Just like finddir(), but find a file instead of a directory.
Uses 'suffixesadd'.
Example:
:echo findfile("tags.vim", ".;")
Searches from the directory of the current file upwards until
it finds the file "tags.vim".
float2nr({expr}) float2nr()
Convert {expr} to a Number by omitting the part after the
decimal point.
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
When the value of {expr} is out of range for a Number the
result is truncated to 0x7fffffff or -0x7fffffff (or when
64-bit Number support is enabled, 0x7fffffffffffffff or
-0x7fffffffffffffff). NaN results in -0x80000000 (or when
64-bit Number support is enabled, -0x8000000000000000).
Examples:
echo float2nr(3.95)
3
echo float2nr(-23.45)
-23
echo float2nr(1.0e100)
2147483647 (or 9223372036854775807)
echo float2nr(-1.0e150)
-2147483647 (or -9223372036854775807)
echo float2nr(1.0e-100)
0
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
floor({expr}) floor()
Return the largest integral value less than or equal to
{expr} as a Float (round down).
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
echo floor(1.856)
1.0
echo floor(-5.456)
-6.0
echo floor(4.0)
4.0
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
fmod({expr1}, {expr2}) fmod()
Return the remainder of {expr1} / {expr2}, even if the
division is not representable. Returns {expr1} - i * {expr2}
for some integer i such that if {expr2} is non-zero, the
result has the same sign as {expr1} and magnitude less than
the magnitude of {expr2}. If {expr2} is zero, the value
returned is zero. The value returned is a Float.
{expr1} and {expr2} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
:echo fmod(12.33, 1.22)
0.13
:echo fmod(-12.33, 1.22)
-0.13
{only available when compiled with |+float| feature}
fnameescape({string}) fnameescape()
Escape {string} for use as file name command argument. All
characters that have a special meaning, such as '%' and '|'
are escaped with a backslash.
For most systems the characters escaped are
" \t\n*?[{`$\\%#'\"|!<". For systems where a backslash
appears in a filename, it depends on the value of 'isfname'.
A leading '+' and '>' is also escaped (special after :edit
and :write). And a "-" by itself (special after :cd).
Example:
:let fname = '+some str%nge|name'
:exe "edit " . fnameescape(fname)
results in executing:
edit \+some\ str\%nge\|name
fnamemodify({fname}, {mods}) fnamemodify()
Modify file name {fname} according to {mods}. {mods} is a
string of characters like it is used for file names on the
command line. See filename-modifiers.
Example:
:echo fnamemodify("main.c", ":p:h")
results in:
/home/mool/vim/vim/src
Note: Environment variables don't work in {fname}, use
expand() first then.
foldclosed({lnum}) foldclosed()
The result is a Number. If the line {lnum} is in a closed
fold, the result is the number of the first line in that fold.
If the line {lnum} is not in a closed fold, -1 is returned.
foldclosedend({lnum}) foldclosedend()
The result is a Number. If the line {lnum} is in a closed
fold, the result is the number of the last line in that fold.
If the line {lnum} is not in a closed fold, -1 is returned.
foldlevel({lnum}) foldlevel()
The result is a Number, which is the foldlevel of line {lnum}
in the current buffer. For nested folds the deepest level is
returned. If there is no fold at line {lnum}, zero is
returned. It doesn't matter if the folds are open or closed.
When used while updating folds (from 'foldexpr') -1 is
returned for lines where folds are still to be updated and the
foldlevel is unknown. As a special case the level of the
previous line is usually available.
foldtext()
foldtext() Returns a String, to be displayed for a closed fold. This is
the default function used for the 'foldtext' option and should
only be called from evaluating 'foldtext'. It uses the
v:foldstart, v:foldend and v:folddashes variables.
The returned string looks like this:
+-- 45 lines: abcdef
The number of leading dashes depends on the foldlevel. The
"45" is the number of lines in the fold. "abcdef" is the text
in the first non-blank line of the fold. Leading white space,
"//" or "/*" and the text from the 'foldmarker' and
'commentstring' options is removed.
When used to draw the actual foldtext, the rest of the line
will be filled with the fold char from the 'fillchars'
setting.
{not available when compiled without the |+folding| feature}
foldtextresult({lnum}) foldtextresult()
Returns the text that is displayed for the closed fold at line
{lnum}. Evaluates 'foldtext' in the appropriate context.
When there is no closed fold at {lnum} an empty string is
returned.
{lnum} is used like with getline(). Thus "." is the current
line, "'m" mark m, etc.
Useful when exporting folded text, e.g., to HTML.
{not available when compiled without the |+folding| feature}
foreground()
foreground() Move the Vim window to the foreground. Useful when sent from
a client to a Vim server. remote_send()
On Win32 systems this might not work, the OS does not always
allow a window to bring itself to the foreground. Use
remote_foreground() instead.
{only in the Win32, Athena, Motif and GTK GUI versions and the
Win32 console version}
funcref()
funcref({name} [, {arglist}] [, {dict}])
Just like function(), but the returned Funcref will lookup
the function by reference, not by name. This matters when the
function {name} is redefined later.
Unlike function(), {name} must be an existing user function.
Also for autoloaded functions. {name} cannot be a builtin
function.
function() E700 E922 E923
function({name} [, {arglist}] [, {dict}])
Return a Funcref variable that refers to function {name}.
{name} can be the name of a user defined function or an
internal function.
{name} can also be a Funcref or a partial. When it is a
partial the dict stored in it will be used and the {dict}
argument is not allowed. E.g.:
let FuncWithArg = function(dict.Func, [arg])
let Broken = function(dict.Func, [arg], dict)
When using the Funcref the function will be found by {name},
also when it was redefined later. Use funcref() to keep the
same function.
When {arglist} or {dict} is present this creates a partial.
That means the argument list and/or the dictionary is stored in
the Funcref and will be used when the Funcref is called.
The arguments are passed to the function in front of other
arguments. Example:
func Callback(arg1, arg2, name)
...
let Func = function('Callback', ['one', 'two'])
...
call Func('name')
Invokes the function as with:
call Callback('one', 'two', 'name')
The function() call can be nested to add more arguments to the
Funcref. The extra arguments are appended to the list of
arguments. Example:
func Callback(arg1, arg2, name)
...
let Func = function('Callback', ['one'])
let Func2 = function(Func, ['two'])
...
call Func2('name')
Invokes the function as with:
call Callback('one', 'two', 'name')
The Dictionary is only useful when calling a "dict" function.
In that case the {dict} is passed in as "self". Example:
function Callback() dict
echo "called for " . self.name
endfunction
...
let context = {"name": "example"}
let Func = function('Callback', context)
...
call Func() " will echo: called for example
The use of function() is not needed when there are no extra
arguments, these two are equivalent:
let Func = function('Callback', context)
let Func = context.Callback
The argument list and the Dictionary can be combined:
function Callback(arg1, count) dict
...
let context = {"name": "example"}
let Func = function('Callback', ['one'], context)
...
call Func(500)
Invokes the function as with:
call context.Callback('one', 500)
garbagecollect([{atexit}]) garbagecollect()
Cleanup unused Lists, Dictionaries, Channels and Jobs
that have circular references.
There is hardly ever a need to invoke this function, as it is
automatically done when Vim runs out of memory or is waiting
for the user to press a key after 'updatetime'. Items without
circular references are always freed when they become unused.
This is useful if you have deleted a very big List and/or
Dictionary with circular references in a script that runs
for a long time.
When the optional {atexit} argument is one, garbage
collection will also be done when exiting Vim, if it wasn't
done before. This is useful when checking for memory leaks.
The garbage collection is not done immediately but only when
it's safe to perform. This is when waiting for the user to
type a character. To force garbage collection immediately use
test_garbagecollect_now().
get({list}, {idx} [, {default}]) get()
Get item {idx} from List {list}. When this item is not
available return {default}. Return zero when {default} is
omitted.
get({blob}, {idx} [, {default}])
Get byte {idx} from Blob {blob}. When this byte is not
available return {default}. Return -1 when {default} is
omitted.
get({dict}, {key} [, {default}])
Get item with key {key} from Dictionary {dict}. When this
item is not available return {default}. Return zero when
{default} is omitted.
get({func}, {what})
Get an item with from Funcref {func}. Possible values for
{what} are:
"name" The function name
"func" The function
"dict" The dictionary
"args" The list with arguments
getbufinfo()
getbufinfo([{expr}])
getbufinfo([{dict}])
Get information about buffers as a List of Dictionaries.
Without an argument information about all the buffers is
returned.
When the argument is a Dictionary only the buffers matching
the specified criteria are returned. The following keys can
be specified in {dict}:
buflisted include only listed buffers.
bufloaded include only loaded buffers.
bufmodified include only modified buffers.
Otherwise, {expr} specifies a particular buffer to return
information for. For the use of {expr}, see bufname()
above. If the buffer is found the returned List has one item.
Otherwise the result is an empty list.
Each returned List item is a dictionary with the following
entries:
bufnr buffer number.
changed TRUE if the buffer is modified.
changedtick number of changes made to the buffer.
hidden TRUE if the buffer is hidden.
listed TRUE if the buffer is listed.
lnum current line number in buffer.
loaded TRUE if the buffer is loaded.
name full path to the file in the buffer.
signs list of signs placed in the buffer.
Each list item is a dictionary with
the following fields:
id sign identifier
lnum line number
name sign name
variables a reference to the dictionary with
buffer-local variables.
windows list of window-IDs that display this
buffer
Examples:
for buf in getbufinfo()
echo buf.name
endfor
for buf in getbufinfo({'buflisted':1})
if buf.changed
....
endif
endfor
To get buffer-local options use:
getbufvar({bufnr}, '&option_name')
getbufline()
getbufline({expr}, {lnum} [, {end}])
Return a List with the lines starting from {lnum} to {end}
(inclusive) in the buffer {expr}. If {end} is omitted, a
List with only the line {lnum} is returned.
For the use of {expr}, see bufname() above.
For {lnum} and {end} "$" can be used for the last line of the
buffer. Otherwise a number must be used.
When {lnum} is smaller than 1 or bigger than the number of
lines in the buffer, an empty List is returned.
When {end} is greater than the number of lines in the buffer,
it is treated as {end} is set to the number of lines in the
buffer. When {end} is before {lnum} an empty List is
returned.
This function works only for loaded buffers. For unloaded and
non-existing buffers, an empty List is returned.
Example:
:let lines = getbufline(bufnr("myfile"), 1, "$")
getbufvar({expr}, {varname} [, {def}]) getbufvar()
The result is the value of option or local buffer variable
{varname} in buffer {expr}. Note that the name without "b:"
must be used.
When {varname} is empty returns a dictionary with all the
buffer-local variables.
When {varname} is equal to "&" returns a dictionary with all
the buffer-local options.
Otherwise, when {varname} starts with "&" returns the value of
a buffer-local option.
This also works for a global or buffer-local option, but it
doesn't work for a global variable, window-local variable or
window-local option.
For the use of {expr}, see bufname() above.
When the buffer or variable doesn't exist {def} or an empty
string is returned, there is no error message.
Examples:
:let bufmodified = getbufvar(1, "&mod")
:echo "todo myvar = " . getbufvar("todo", "myvar")
getchangelist({expr}) getchangelist()
Returns the changelist for the buffer {expr}. For the use
of {expr}, see bufname() above. If buffer {expr} doesn't
exist, an empty list is returned.
The returned list contains two entries: a list with the change
locations and the current position in the list. Each
entry in the change list is a dictionary with the following
entries:
col column number
coladd column offset for 'virtualedit'
lnum line number
If buffer {expr} is the current buffer, then the current
position refers to the position in the list. For other
buffers, it is set to the length of the list.
getchar([expr]) getchar()
Get a single character from the user or input stream.
If [expr] is omitted, wait until a character is available.
If [expr] is 0, only get a character when one is available.
Return zero otherwise.
If [expr] is 1, only check if a character is available, it is
not consumed. Return zero if no character available.
Without [expr] and when [expr] is 0 a whole character or
special key is returned. If it is a single character, the
result is a number. Use nr2char() to convert it to a String.
Otherwise a String is returned with the encoded character.
For a special key it's a String with a sequence of bytes
starting with 0x80 (decimal: 128). This is the same value as
the String "\<Key>", e.g., "\<Left>". The returned value is
also a String when a modifier (shift, control, alt) was used
that is not included in the character.
When [expr] is 0 and Esc is typed, there will be a short delay
while Vim waits to see if this is the start of an escape
sequence.
When [expr] is 1 only the first byte is returned. For a
one-byte character it is the character itself as a number.
Use nr2char() to convert it to a String.
Use getcharmod() to obtain any additional modifiers.
When the user clicks a mouse button, the mouse event will be
returned. The position can then be found in v:mouse_col,
v:mouse_lnum, v:mouse_winid and v:mouse_win. This
example positions the mouse as it would normally happen:
let c = getchar()
if c == "\<LeftMouse>" && v:mouse_win > 0
exe v:mouse_win . "wincmd w"
exe v:mouse_lnum
exe "normal " . v:mouse_col . "|"
endif
When using bracketed paste only the first character is
returned, the rest of the pasted text is dropped.
xterm-bracketed-paste.
There is no prompt, you will somehow have to make clear to the
user that a character has to be typed.
There is no mapping for the character.
Key codes are replaced, thus when the user presses the <Del>
key you get the code for the <Del> key, not the raw character
sequence. Examples:
getchar() == "\<Del>"
getchar() == "\<S-Left>"
This example redefines "f" to ignore case:
:nmap f :call FindChar()<CR>
:function FindChar()
: let c = nr2char(getchar())
: while col('.') < col('$') - 1
: normal l
: if getline('.')[col('.') - 1] ==? c
: break
: endif
: endwhile
:endfunction
You may also receive synthetic characters, such as
<CursorHold>. Often you will want to ignore this and get
another character:
:function GetKey()
: let c = getchar()
: while c == "\<CursorHold>"
: let c = getchar()
: endwhile
: return c
:endfunction
getcharmod() getcharmod()
The result is a Number which is the state of the modifiers for
the last obtained character with getchar() or in another way.
These values are added together:
2 shift
4 control
8 alt (meta)
16 meta (when it's different from ALT)
32 mouse double click
64 mouse triple click
96 mouse quadruple click (== 32 + 64)
128 command (Macintosh only)
Only the modifiers that have not been included in the
character itself are obtained. Thus Shift-a results in "A"
without a modifier.
getcharsearch() getcharsearch()
Return the current character search information as a {dict}
with the following entries:
char character previously used for a character
search (t, f, T, or F); empty string
if no character search has been performed
forward direction of character search; 1 for forward,
0 for backward
until type of character search; 1 for a t or T
character search, 0 for an f or F
character search
This can be useful to always have ; and , search
forward/backward regardless of the direction of the previous
character search:
:nnoremap <expr> ; getcharsearch().forward ? ';' : ','
:nnoremap <expr> , getcharsearch().forward ? ',' : ';'
Also see setcharsearch().
getcmdline() getcmdline()
Return the current command-line. Only works when the command
line is being edited, thus requires use of c_CTRL-\_e or
c_CTRL-R_=.
Example:
:cmap <F7> <C-\>eescape(getcmdline(), ' \')<CR>
Also see getcmdtype(), getcmdpos() and setcmdpos().
Returns an empty string when entering a password or using
inputsecret().
getcmdpos() getcmdpos()
Return the position of the cursor in the command line as a
byte count. The first column is 1.
Only works when editing the command line, thus requires use of
c_CTRL-\_e or c_CTRL-R_= or an expression mapping.
Returns 0 otherwise.
Also see getcmdtype(), setcmdpos() and getcmdline().
getcmdtype() getcmdtype()
Return the current command-line type. Possible return values
are:
: normal Ex command
> debug mode command debug-mode
/ forward search command
? backward search command
@ input() command
- :insert or :append command
= i_CTRL-R_=
Only works when editing the command line, thus requires use of
c_CTRL-\_e or c_CTRL-R_= or an expression mapping.
Returns an empty string otherwise.
Also see getcmdpos(), setcmdpos() and getcmdline().
getcmdwintype() getcmdwintype()
Return the current command-line-window type. Possible return
values are the same as getcmdtype(). Returns an empty string
when not in the command-line window.
getcompletion({pat}, {type} [, {filtered}]) getcompletion()
Return a list of command-line completion matches. {type}
specifies what for. The following completion types are
supported:
arglist file names in argument list
augroup autocmd groups
buffer buffer names
behave :behave suboptions
color color schemes
command Ex command (and arguments)
compiler compilers
cscope :cscope suboptions
dir directory names
environment environment variable names
event autocommand events
expression Vim expression
file file and directory names
file_in_path file and directory names in 'path'
filetype filetype names 'filetype'
function function name
help help subjects
highlight highlight groups
history :history suboptions
locale locale names (as output of locale -a)
mapclear buffer argument
mapping mapping name
menu menus
messages :messages suboptions
option options
packadd optional package pack-add names
shellcmd Shell command
sign :sign suboptions
syntax syntax file names 'syntax'
syntime :syntime suboptions
tag tags
tag_listfiles tags, file names
user user names
var user variables
If {pat} is an empty string, then all the matches are returned.
Otherwise only items matching {pat} are returned. See
wildcards for the use of special characters in {pat}.
If the optional {filtered} flag is set to 1, then 'wildignore'
is applied to filter the results. Otherwise all the matches
are returned. The 'wildignorecase' option always applies.
If there are no matches, an empty list is returned. An
invalid value for {type} produces an error.
getcurpos()
getcurpos() Get the position of the cursor. This is like getpos('.'), but
includes an extra item in the list:
[bufnum, lnum, col, off, curswant]
The "curswant" number is the preferred column when moving the
cursor vertically. Also see getpos().
This can be used to save and restore the cursor position:
let save_cursor = getcurpos()
MoveTheCursorAround
call setpos('.', save_cursor)
Note that this only works within the window. See
winrestview() for restoring more state.
getcwd()
getcwd([{winnr} [, {tabnr}]])
The result is a String, which is the name of the current
working directory.
With {winnr} return the local current directory of this window
in the current tab page. {winnr} can be the window number or
the window-ID.
If {winnr} is -1 return the name of the global working
directory. See also haslocaldir().
With {winnr} and {tabnr} return the local current directory of
the window in the specified tab page. If {winnr} is -1 return
the working directory of the tabpage.
If {winnr} is zero use the current window, if {tabnr} is zero
use the current tabpage.
Without any arguments, return the working directory of the
current window.
Return an empty string if the arguments are invalid.
Examples:
" Get the working directory of the current window
:echo getcwd()
:echo getcwd(0)
:echo getcwd(0, 0)
" Get the working directory of window 3 in tabpage 2
:echo getcwd(3, 2)
" Get the global working directory
:echo getcwd(-1)
" Get the working directory of tabpage 3
:echo getcwd(-1, 3)
" Get the working directory of current tabpage
:echo getcwd(-1, 0)
getenv({name}) getenv()
Return the value of environment variable {name}.
When the variable does not exist v:null is returned. That
is different from a variable set to an empty string.
See also expr-env.
getfontname([{name}]) getfontname()
Without an argument returns the name of the normal font being
used. Like what is used for the Normal highlight group
hl-Normal.
With an argument a check is done whether {name} is a valid
font name. If not then an empty string is returned.
Otherwise the actual font name is returned, or {name} if the
GUI does not support obtaining the real name.
Only works when the GUI is running, thus not in your vimrc or
gvimrc file. Use the GUIEnter autocommand to use this
function just after the GUI has started.
Note that the GTK GUI accepts any font name, thus checking for
a valid name does not work.
getfperm({fname}) getfperm()
The result is a String, which is the read, write, and execute
permissions of the given file {fname}.
If {fname} does not exist or its directory cannot be read, an
empty string is returned.
The result is of the form "rwxrwxrwx", where each group of
"rwx" flags represent, in turn, the permissions of the owner
of the file, the group the file belongs to, and other users.
If a user does not have a given permission the flag for this
is replaced with the string "-". Examples:
:echo getfperm("/etc/passwd")
:echo getfperm(expand("~/.vimrc"))
This will hopefully (from a security point of view) display
the string "rw-r--r--" or even "rw-------".
For setting permissions use setfperm().
getfsize({fname}) getfsize()
The result is a Number, which is the size in bytes of the
given file {fname}.
If {fname} is a directory, 0 is returned.
If the file {fname} can't be found, -1 is returned.
If the size of {fname} is too big to fit in a Number then -2
is returned.
getftime({fname}) getftime()
The result is a Number, which is the last modification time of
the given file {fname}. The value is measured as seconds
since 1st Jan 1970, and may be passed to strftime(). See also
localtime() and strftime().
If the file {fname} can't be found -1 is returned.
getftype({fname}) getftype()
The result is a String, which is a description of the kind of
file of the given file {fname}.
If {fname} does not exist an empty string is returned.
Here is a table over different kinds of files and their
results:
Normal file "file"
Directory "dir"
Symbolic link "link"
Block device "bdev"
Character device "cdev"
Socket "socket"
FIFO "fifo"
All other "other"
Example:
getftype("/home")
Note that a type such as "link" will only be returned on
systems that support it. On some systems only "dir" and
"file" are returned. On MS-Windows a symbolic link to a
directory returns "dir" instead of "link".
getjumplist([{winnr} [, {tabnr}]]) getjumplist()
Returns the jumplist for the specified window.
Without arguments use the current window.
With {winnr} only use this window in the current tab page.
{winnr} can also be a window-ID.
With {winnr} and {tabnr} use the window in the specified tab
page.
The returned list contains two entries: a list with the jump
locations and the last used jump position number in the list.
Each entry in the jump location list is a dictionary with
the following entries:
bufnr buffer number
col column number
coladd column offset for 'virtualedit'
filename filename if available
lnum line number
getline()
getline({lnum} [, {end}])
Without {end} the result is a String, which is line {lnum}
from the current buffer. Example:
getline(1)
When {lnum} is a String that doesn't start with a
digit, line() is called to translate the String into a Number.
To get the line under the cursor:
getline(".")
When {lnum} is smaller than 1 or bigger than the number of
lines in the buffer, an empty string is returned.
When {end} is given the result is a List where each item is
a line from the current buffer in the range {lnum} to {end},
including line {end}.
{end} is used in the same way as {lnum}.
Non-existing lines are silently omitted.
When {end} is before {lnum} an empty List is returned.
Example:
:let start = line('.')
:let end = search("^$") - 1
:let lines = getline(start, end)
To get lines from another buffer see getbufline()
getloclist({nr} [, {what}]) getloclist()
Returns a list with all the entries in the location list for
window {nr}. {nr} can be the window number or the window-ID.
When {nr} is zero the current window is used.
For a location list window, the displayed location list is
returned. For an invalid window number {nr}, an empty list is
returned. Otherwise, same as getqflist().
If the optional {what} dictionary argument is supplied, then
returns the items listed in {what} as a dictionary. Refer to
getqflist() for the supported items in {what}.
In addition to the items supported by getqflist() in {what},
the following item is supported by getloclist():
filewinid id of the window used to display files
from the location list. This field is
applicable only when called from a
location list window. See
location-list-file-window for more
details.
getmatches([{win}]) getmatches()
Returns a List with all matches previously defined for the
current window by matchadd() and the :match commands.
getmatches() is useful in combination with setmatches(),
as setmatches() can restore a list of matches saved by
getmatches().
Example:
:echo getmatches()
[{'group': 'MyGroup1', 'pattern': 'TODO',
'priority': 10, 'id': 1}, {'group': 'MyGroup2',
'pattern': 'FIXME', 'priority': 10, 'id': 2}]
:let m = getmatches()
:call clearmatches()
:echo getmatches()
[]
:call setmatches(m)
:echo getmatches()
[{'group': 'MyGroup1', 'pattern': 'TODO',
'priority': 10, 'id': 1}, {'group': 'MyGroup2',
'pattern': 'FIXME', 'priority': 10, 'id': 2}]
:unlet m
getpid()
getpid() Return a Number which is the process ID of the Vim process.
On Unix and MS-Windows this is a unique number, until Vim
exits. On MS-DOS it's always zero.
getpos()
getpos({expr}) Get the position for {expr}. For possible values of {expr}
see line(). For getting the cursor position see
getcurpos().
The result is a List with four numbers:
[bufnum, lnum, col, off]
"bufnum" is zero, unless a mark like '0 or 'A is used, then it
is the buffer number of the mark.
"lnum" and "col" are the position in the buffer. The first
column is 1.
The "off" number is zero, unless 'virtualedit' is used. Then
it is the offset in screen columns from the start of the
character. E.g., a position within a <Tab> or after the last
character.
Note that for '< and '> Visual mode matters: when it is "V"
(visual line mode) the column of '< is zero and the column of
'> is a large number.
This can be used to save and restore the position of a mark:
let save_a_mark = getpos("'a")
...
call setpos("'a", save_a_mark)
Also see getcurpos() and setpos().
getqflist([{what}]) getqflist()
Returns a list with all the current quickfix errors. Each
list item is a dictionary with these entries:
bufnr number of buffer that has the file name, use
bufname() to get the name
module module name
lnum line number in the buffer (first line is 1)
col column number (first column is 1)
vcol TRUE: "col" is visual column
FALSE: "col" is byte index
nr error number
pattern search pattern used to locate the error
text description of the error
type type of the error, 'E', '1', etc.
valid TRUE: recognized error message
When there is no error list or it's empty, an empty list is
returned. Quickfix list entries with non-existing buffer
number are returned with "bufnr" set to zero.
Useful application: Find pattern matches in multiple files and
do something with them:
:vimgrep /theword/jg *.c
:for d in getqflist()
: echo bufname(d.bufnr) ':' d.lnum '=' d.text
:endfor
If the optional {what} dictionary argument is supplied, then
returns only the items listed in {what} as a dictionary. The
following string items are supported in {what}:
changedtick get the total number of changes made
to the list quickfix-changedtick
context get the quickfix-context
efm errorformat to use when parsing "lines". If
not present, then the 'errorformat' option
value is used.
id get information for the quickfix list with
quickfix-ID; zero means the id for the
current list or the list specified by "nr"
idx index of the current entry in the quickfix
list specified by 'id' or 'nr'.
See quickfix-index
items quickfix list entries
lines parse a list of lines using 'efm' and return
the resulting entries. Only a List type is
accepted. The current quickfix list is not
modified. See quickfix-parse.
nr get information for this quickfix list; zero
means the current quickfix list and "$" means
the last quickfix list
qfbufnr number of the buffer displayed in the quickfix
window. Returns 0 if the quickfix buffer is
not present. See quickfix-buffer.
size number of entries in the quickfix list
title get the list title quickfix-title
winid get the quickfix window-ID
all all of the above quickfix properties
Non-string items in {what} are ignored. To get the value of a
particular item, set it to zero.
If "nr" is not present then the current quickfix list is used.
If both "nr" and a non-zero "id" are specified, then the list
specified by "id" is used.
To get the number of lists in the quickfix stack, set "nr" to
"$" in {what}. The "nr" value in the returned dictionary
contains the quickfix stack size.
When "lines" is specified, all the other items except "efm"
are ignored. The returned dictionary contains the entry
"items" with the list of entries.
The returned dictionary contains the following entries:
changedtick total number of changes made to the
list quickfix-changedtick
context quickfix list context. See quickfix-context
If not present, set to "".
id quickfix list ID quickfix-ID. If not
present, set to 0.
idx index of the current entry in the list. If not
present, set to 0.
items quickfix list entries. If not present, set to
an empty list.
nr quickfix list number. If not present, set to 0
qfbufnr number of the buffer displayed in the quickfix
window. If not present, set to 0.
size number of entries in the quickfix list. If not
present, set to 0.
title quickfix list title text. If not present, set
to "".
winid quickfix window-ID. If not present, set to 0
Examples (See also getqflist-examples):
:echo getqflist({'all': 1})
:echo getqflist({'nr': 2, 'title': 1})
:echo getqflist({'lines' : ["F1:10:L10"]})
getreg([{regname} [, 1 [, {list}]]]) getreg()
The result is a String, which is the contents of register
{regname}. Example:
:let cliptext = getreg('*')
When {regname} was not set the result is an empty string.
getreg('=') returns the last evaluated value of the expression
register. (For use in maps.)
getreg('=', 1) returns the expression itself, so that it can
be restored with setreg(). For other registers the extra
argument is ignored, thus you can always give it.
If {list} is present and TRUE, the result type is changed
to List. Each list item is one text line. Use it if you care
about zero bytes possibly present inside register: without
third argument both NLs and zero bytes are represented as NLs
(see NL-used-for-Nul).
When the register was not set an empty list is returned.
If {regname} is not specified, v:register is used.
getregtype([{regname}]) getregtype()
The result is a String, which is type of register {regname}.
The value will be one of:
"v" for characterwise text
"V" for linewise text
"<CTRL-V>{width}" for blockwise-visual text
"" for an empty or unknown register
<CTRL-V> is one character with value 0x16.
If {regname} is not specified, v:register is used.
gettabinfo([{arg}]) gettabinfo()
If {arg} is not specified, then information about all the tab
pages is returned as a List. Each List item is a Dictionary.
Otherwise, {arg} specifies the tab page number and information
about that one is returned. If the tab page does not exist an
empty List is returned.
Each List item is a Dictionary with the following entries:
tabnr tab page number.
variables a reference to the dictionary with
tabpage-local variables
windows List of window-IDs in the tab page.
gettabvar({tabnr}, {varname} [, {def}]) gettabvar()
Get the value of a tab-local variable {varname} in tab page
{tabnr}. t:var
Tabs are numbered starting with one.
When {varname} is empty a dictionary with all tab-local
variables is returned.
Note that the name without "t:" must be used.
When the tab or variable doesn't exist {def} or an empty
string is returned, there is no error message.
gettabwinvar({tabnr}, {winnr}, {varname} [, {def}]) gettabwinvar()
Get the value of window-local variable {varname} in window
{winnr} in tab page {tabnr}.
When {varname} is empty a dictionary with all window-local
variables is returned.
When {varname} is equal to "&" get the values of all
window-local options in a Dictionary.
Otherwise, when {varname} starts with "&" get the value of a
window-local option.
Note that {varname} must be the name without "w:".
Tabs are numbered starting with one. For the current tabpage
use getwinvar().
{winnr} can be the window number or the window-ID.
When {winnr} is zero the current window is used.
This also works for a global option, buffer-local option and
window-local option, but it doesn't work for a global variable
or buffer-local variable.
When the tab, window or variable doesn't exist {def} or an
empty string is returned, there is no error message.
Examples:
:let list_is_on = gettabwinvar(1, 2, '&list')
:echo "myvar = " . gettabwinvar(3, 1, 'myvar')
To obtain all window-local variables use:
gettabwinvar({tabnr}, {winnr}, '&')
gettagstack([{nr}]) gettagstack()
The result is a Dict, which is the tag stack of window {nr}.
{nr} can be the window number or the window-ID.
When {nr} is not specified, the current window is used.
When window {nr} doesn't exist, an empty Dict is returned.
The returned dictionary contains the following entries:
curidx Current index in the stack. When at
top of the stack, set to (length + 1).
Index of bottom of the stack is 1.
items List of items in the stack. Each item
is a dictionary containing the
entries described below.
length Number of entries in the stack.
Each item in the stack is a dictionary with the following
entries:
bufnr buffer number of the current jump
from cursor position before the tag jump.
See getpos() for the format of the
returned list.
matchnr current matching tag number. Used when
multiple matching tags are found for a
name.
tagname name of the tag
See tagstack for more information about the tag stack.
getwininfo([{winid}]) getwininfo()
Returns information about windows as a List with Dictionaries.
If {winid} is given Information about the window with that ID
is returned. If the window does not exist the result is an
empty list.
Without {winid} information about all the windows in all the
tab pages is returned.
Each List item is a Dictionary with the following entries:
botline last displayed buffer line
bufnr number of buffer in the window
height window height (excluding winbar)
loclist 1 if showing a location list
{only with the +quickfix feature}
quickfix 1 if quickfix or location list window
{only with the +quickfix feature}
terminal 1 if a terminal window
{only with the +terminal feature}
tabnr tab page number
topline first displayed buffer line
variables a reference to the dictionary with
window-local variables
width window width
winbar 1 if the window has a toolbar, 0
otherwise
wincol leftmost screen column of the window,
col from win_screenpos()
winid window-ID
winnr window number
winrow topmost screen column of the window,
row from win_screenpos()
getwinpos([{timeout}]) getwinpos()
The result is a list with two numbers, the result of
getwinposx() and getwinposy() combined:
[x-pos, y-pos]
{timeout} can be used to specify how long to wait in msec for
a response from the terminal. When omitted 100 msec is used.
Use a longer time for a remote terminal.
When using a value less than 10 and no response is received
within that time, a previously reported position is returned,
if available. This can be used to poll for the position and
do some work in the meantime:
while 1
let res = getwinpos(1)
if res[0] >= 0
break
endif
" Do some work here
endwhile
getwinposx()
getwinposx() The result is a Number, which is the X coordinate in pixels of
the left hand side of the GUI Vim window. Also works for an
xterm (uses a timeout of 100 msec).
The result will be -1 if the information is not available.
The value can be used with :winpos.
getwinposy()
getwinposy() The result is a Number, which is the Y coordinate in pixels of
the top of the GUI Vim window. Also works for an xterm (uses
a timeout of 100 msec).
The result will be -1 if the information is not available.
The value can be used with :winpos.
getwinvar({winnr}, {varname} [, {def}]) getwinvar()
Like gettabwinvar() for the current tabpage.
Examples:
:let list_is_on = getwinvar(2, '&list')
:echo "myvar = " . getwinvar(1, 'myvar')
glob({expr} [, {nosuf} [, {list} [, {alllinks}]]]) glob()
Expand the file wildcards in {expr}. See wildcards for the
use of special characters.
Unless the optional {nosuf} argument is given and is TRUE,
the 'suffixes' and 'wildignore' options apply: Names matching
one of the patterns in 'wildignore' will be skipped and
'suffixes' affect the ordering of matches.
'wildignorecase' always applies.
When {list} is present and it is TRUE the result is a List
with all matching files. The advantage of using a List is,
you also get filenames containing newlines correctly.
Otherwise the result is a String and when there are several
matches, they are separated by <NL> characters.
If the expansion fails, the result is an empty String or List.
You can also use readdir() if you need to do complicated
things, such as limiting the number of matches.
A name for a non-existing file is not included. A symbolic
link is only included if it points to an existing file.
However, when the {alllinks} argument is present and it is
TRUE then all symbolic links are included.
For most systems backticks can be used to get files names from
any external command. Example:
:let tagfiles = glob("`find . -name tags -print`")
:let &tags = substitute(tagfiles, "\n", ",", "g")
The result of the program inside the backticks should be one
item per line. Spaces inside an item are allowed.
See expand() for expanding special Vim variables. See
system() for getting the raw output of an external command.
glob2regpat({expr}) glob2regpat()
Convert a file pattern, as used by glob(), into a search
pattern. The result can be used to match with a string that
is a file name. E.g.
if filename =~ glob2regpat('Make*.mak')
This is equivalent to:
if filename =~ '^Make.*\.mak$'
When {expr} is an empty string the result is "^$", match an
empty string.
Note that the result depends on the system. On MS-Windows
a backslash usually means a path separator.
globpath()
globpath({path}, {expr} [, {nosuf} [, {list} [, {alllinks}]]])
Perform glob() on all directories in {path} and concatenate
the results. Example:
:echo globpath(&rtp, "syntax/c.vim")
{path} is a comma-separated list of directory names. Each
directory name is prepended to {expr} and expanded like with
glob(). A path separator is inserted when needed.
To add a comma inside a directory name escape it with a
backslash. Note that on MS-Windows a directory may have a
trailing backslash, remove it if you put a comma after it.
If the expansion fails for one of the directories, there is no
error message.
Unless the optional {nosuf} argument is given and is TRUE,
the 'suffixes' and 'wildignore' options apply: Names matching
one of the patterns in 'wildignore' will be skipped and
'suffixes' affect the ordering of matches.
When {list} is present and it is TRUE the result is a List
with all matching files. The advantage of using a List is, you
also get filenames containing newlines correctly. Otherwise
the result is a String and when there are several matches,
they are separated by <NL> characters. Example:
:echo globpath(&rtp, "syntax/c.vim", 0, 1)
{alllinks} is used as with glob().
The "**" item can be used to search in a directory tree.
For example, to find all "README.txt" files in the directories
in 'runtimepath' and below:
:echo globpath(&rtp, "**/README.txt")
Upwards search and limiting the depth of "**" is not
supported, thus using 'path' will not always work properly.
has()
has({feature}) The result is a Number, which is 1 if the feature {feature} is
supported, zero otherwise. The {feature} argument is a
string. See feature-list below.
Also see exists().
has_key({dict}, {key}) has_key()
The result is a Number, which is 1 if Dictionary {dict} has
an entry with key {key}. Zero otherwise.
haslocaldir([{winnr} [, {tabnr}]]) haslocaldir()
The result is a Number:
1 when the window has set a local directory via :lcd
2 when the tab-page has set a local directory via :tcd
0 otherwise.
Without arguments use the current window.
With {winnr} use this window in the current tab page.
With {winnr} and {tabnr} use the window in the specified tab
page.
{winnr} can be the window number or the window-ID.
If {winnr} is -1 it is ignored and only the tabpage is used.
Return 0 if the arguments are invalid.
Examples:
if haslocaldir() == 1
" window local directory case
elseif haslocaldir() == 2
" tab-local directory case
else
" global directory case
endif
" current window
:echo haslocaldir()
:echo haslocaldir(0)
:echo haslocaldir(0, 0)
" window n in current tab page
:echo haslocaldir(n)
:echo haslocaldir(n, 0)
" window n in tab page m
:echo haslocaldir(n, m)
" tab page m
:echo haslocaldir(-1, m)
hasmapto({what} [, {mode} [, {abbr}]]) hasmapto()
The result is a Number, which is 1 if there is a mapping that
contains {what} in somewhere in the rhs (what it is mapped to)
and this mapping exists in one of the modes indicated by
{mode}.
When {abbr} is there and it is TRUE use abbreviations
instead of mappings. Don't forget to specify Insert and/or
Command-line mode.
Both the global mappings and the mappings local to the current
buffer are checked for a match.
If no matching mapping is found 0 is returned.
The following characters are recognized in {mode}:
n Normal mode
v Visual mode
o Operator-pending mode
i Insert mode
l Language-Argument ("r", "f", "t", etc.)
c Command-line mode
When {mode} is omitted, "nvo" is used.
This function is useful to check if a mapping already exists
to a function in a Vim script. Example:
:if !hasmapto('\ABCdoit')
: map <Leader>d \ABCdoit
:endif
This installs the mapping to "\ABCdoit" only if there isn't
already a mapping to "\ABCdoit".
histadd({history}, {item}) histadd()
Add the String {item} to the history {history} which can be
one of: hist-names
"cmd" or ":" command line history
"search" or "/" search pattern history
"expr" or "=" typed expression history
"input" or "@" input line history
"debug" or ">" debug command history
empty the current or last used history
The {history} string does not need to be the whole name, one
character is sufficient.
If {item} does already exist in the history, it will be
shifted to become the newest entry.
The result is a Number: 1 if the operation was successful,
otherwise 0 is returned.
Example:
:call histadd("input", strftime("%Y %b %d"))
:let date=input("Enter date: ")
This function is not available in the sandbox.
histdel({history} [, {item}]) histdel()
Clear {history}, i.e. delete all its entries. See hist-names
for the possible values of {history}.
If the parameter {item} evaluates to a String, it is used as a
regular expression. All entries matching that expression will
be removed from the history (if there are any).
Upper/lowercase must match, unless "\c" is used /\c.
If {item} evaluates to a Number, it will be interpreted as
an index, see :history-indexing. The respective entry will
be removed if it exists.
The result is a Number: 1 for a successful operation,
otherwise 0 is returned.
Examples:
Clear expression register history:
:call histdel("expr")
Remove all entries starting with "*" from the search history:
:call histdel("/", '^\*')
The following three are equivalent:
:call histdel("search", histnr("search"))
:call histdel("search", -1)
:call histdel("search", '^'.histget("search", -1).'$')
To delete the last search pattern and use the last-but-one for
the "n" command and 'hlsearch':
:call histdel("search", -1)
:let @/ = histget("search", -1)
histget({history} [, {index}]) histget()
The result is a String, the entry with Number {index} from
{history}. See hist-names for the possible values of
{history}, and :history-indexing for {index}. If there is
no such entry, an empty String is returned. When {index} is
omitted, the most recent item from the history is used.
Examples:
Redo the second last search from history.
:execute '/' . histget("search", -2)
Define an Ex command ":H {num}" that supports re-execution of
the {num}th entry from the output of :history.
:command -nargs=1 H execute histget("cmd", 0+<args>)
histnr({history}) histnr()
The result is the Number of the current entry in {history}.
See hist-names for the possible values of {history}.
If an error occurred, -1 is returned.
Example:
:let inp_index = histnr("expr")
hlexists({name}) hlexists()
The result is a Number, which is non-zero if a highlight group
called {name} exists. This is when the group has been
defined in some way. Not necessarily when highlighting has
been defined for it, it may also have been used for a syntax
item.
highlight_exists()
Obsolete name: highlight_exists().
hlID()
hlID({name}) The result is a Number, which is the ID of the highlight group
with name {name}. When the highlight group doesn't exist,
zero is returned.
This can be used to retrieve information about the highlight
group. For example, to get the background color of the
"Comment" group:
:echo synIDattr(synIDtrans(hlID("Comment")), "bg")
highlightID()
Obsolete name: highlightID().
hostname() hostname()
The result is a String, which is the name of the machine on
which Vim is currently running. Machine names greater than
256 characters long are truncated.
iconv({expr}, {from}, {to}) iconv()
The result is a String, which is the text {expr} converted
from encoding {from} to encoding {to}.
When the conversion completely fails an empty string is
returned. When some characters could not be converted they
are replaced with "?".
The encoding names are whatever the iconv() library function
can accept, see ":!man 3 iconv".
Most conversions require Vim to be compiled with the +iconv
feature. Otherwise only UTF-8 to latin1 conversion and back
can be done.
This can be used to display messages with special characters,
no matter what 'encoding' is set to. Write the message in
UTF-8 and use:
echo iconv(utf8_str, "utf-8", &enc)
Note that Vim uses UTF-8 for all Unicode encodings, conversion
from/to UCS-2 is automatically changed to use UTF-8. You
cannot use UCS-2 in a string anyway, because of the NUL bytes.
indent()
indent({lnum}) The result is a Number, which is indent of line {lnum} in the
current buffer. The indent is counted in spaces, the value
of 'tabstop' is relevant. {lnum} is used just like in
getline().
When {lnum} is invalid -1 is returned.
index({object}, {expr} [, {start} [, {ic}]]) index()
If {object} is a List return the lowest index where the item
has a value equal to {expr}. There is no automatic
conversion, so the String "4" is different from the Number 4.
And the number 4 is different from the Float 4.0. The value
of 'ignorecase' is not used here, case always matters.
If {object} is Blob return the lowest index where the byte
value is equal to {expr}.
If {start} is given then start looking at the item with index
{start} (may be negative for an item relative to the end).
When {ic} is given and it is TRUE, ignore case. Otherwise
case must match.
-1 is returned when {expr} is not found in {object}.
Example:
:let idx = index(words, "the")
:if index(numbers, 123) >= 0
input({prompt} [, {text} [, {completion}]]) input()
The result is a String, which is whatever the user typed on
the command-line. The {prompt} argument is either a prompt
string, or a blank string (for no prompt). A '\n' can be used
in the prompt to start a new line.
The highlighting set with :echohl is used for the prompt.
The input is entered just like a command-line, with the same
editing commands and mappings. There is a separate history
for lines typed for input().
Example:
:if input("Coffee or beer? ") == "beer"
: echo "Cheers!"
:endif
If the optional {text} argument is present and not empty, this
is used for the default reply, as if the user typed this.
Example:
:let color = input("Color? ", "white")
The optional {completion} argument specifies the type of
completion supported for the input. Without it completion is
not performed. The supported completion types are the same as
that can be supplied to a user-defined command using the
"-complete=" argument. Refer to :command-completion for
more information. Example:
let fname = input("File: ", "", "file")
NOTE: This function must not be used in a startup file, for
the versions that only run in GUI mode (e.g., the Win32 GUI).
Note: When input() is called from within a mapping it will
consume remaining characters from that mapping, because a
mapping is handled like the characters were typed.
Use inputsave() before input() and inputrestore()
after input() to avoid that. Another solution is to avoid
that further characters follow in the mapping, e.g., by using
:execute or :normal.
Example with a mapping:
:nmap \x :call GetFoo()<CR>:exe "/" . Foo<CR>
:function GetFoo()
: call inputsave()
: let g:Foo = input("enter search pattern: ")
: call inputrestore()
:endfunction
inputdialog({prompt} [, {text} [, {cancelreturn}]]) inputdialog()
Like input(), but when the GUI is running and text dialogs
are supported, a dialog window pops up to input the text.
Example:
:let n = inputdialog("value for shiftwidth", shiftwidth())
:if n != ""
: let &sw = n
:endif
When the dialog is cancelled {cancelreturn} is returned. When
omitted an empty string is returned.
Hitting <Enter> works like pressing the OK button. Hitting
<Esc> works like pressing the Cancel button.
NOTE: Command-line completion is not supported.
inputlist({textlist}) inputlist()
{textlist} must be a List of strings. This List is
displayed, one string per line. The user will be prompted to
enter a number, which is returned.
The user can also select an item by clicking on it with the
mouse. For the first string 0 is returned. When clicking
above the first item a negative number is returned. When
clicking on the prompt one more than the length of {textlist}
is returned.
Make sure {textlist} has less than 'lines' entries, otherwise
it won't work. It's a good idea to put the entry number at
the start of the string. And put a prompt in the first item.
Example:
let color = inputlist(['Select color:', '1. red',
\ '2. green', '3. blue'])
inputrestore() inputrestore()
Restore typeahead that was saved with a previous inputsave().
Should be called the same number of times inputsave() is
called. Calling it more often is harmless though.
Returns 1 when there is nothing to restore, 0 otherwise.
inputsave() inputsave()
Preserve typeahead (also from mappings) and clear it, so that
a following prompt gets input from the user. Should be
followed by a matching inputrestore() after the prompt. Can
be used several times, in which case there must be just as
many inputrestore() calls.
Returns 1 when out of memory, 0 otherwise.
inputsecret({prompt} [, {text}]) inputsecret()
This function acts much like the input() function with but
two exceptions:
a) the user's response will be displayed as a sequence of
asterisks ("*") thereby keeping the entry secret, and
b) the user's response will not be recorded on the input
history stack.
The result is a String, which is whatever the user actually
typed on the command-line in response to the issued prompt.
NOTE: Command-line completion is not supported.
insert({object}, {item} [, {idx}]) insert()
When {object} is a List or a Blob insert {item} at the start
of it.
If {idx} is specified insert {item} before the item with index
{idx}. If {idx} is zero it goes before the first item, just
like omitting {idx}. A negative {idx} is also possible, see
list-index. -1 inserts just before the last item.
Returns the resulting List or Blob. Examples:
:let mylist = insert([2, 3, 5], 1)
:call insert(mylist, 4, -1)
:call insert(mylist, 6, len(mylist))
The last example can be done simpler with add().
Note that when {item} is a List it is inserted as a single
item. Use extend() to concatenate Lists.
invert({expr}) invert()
Bitwise invert. The argument is converted to a number. A
List, Dict or Float argument causes an error. Example:
:let bits = invert(bits)
isdirectory({directory}) isdirectory()
The result is a Number, which is TRUE when a directory
with the name {directory} exists. If {directory} doesn't
exist, or isn't a directory, the result is FALSE. {directory}
is any expression, which is used as a String.
isinf({expr}) isinf()
Return 1 if {expr} is a positive infinity, or -1 a negative
infinity, otherwise 0.
:echo isinf(1.0 / 0.0)
1
:echo isinf(-1.0 / 0.0)
-1
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
islocked({expr}) islocked() E786
The result is a Number, which is TRUE when {expr} is the
name of a locked variable.
{expr} must be the name of a variable, List item or
Dictionary entry, not the variable itself! Example:
:let alist = [0, ['a', 'b'], 2, 3]
:lockvar 1 alist
:echo islocked('alist') " 1
:echo islocked('alist[1]') " 0
When {expr} is a variable that does not exist you get an error
message. Use exists() to check for existence.
isnan({expr}) isnan()
Return TRUE if {expr} is a float with value NaN.
echo isnan(0.0 / 0.0)
1
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
items({dict}) items()
Return a List with all the key-value pairs of {dict}. Each
List item is a list with two items: the key of a {dict}
entry and the value of this entry. The List is in arbitrary
order. Also see keys() and values().
Example:
for [key, value] in items(mydict)
echo key . ': ' . value
endfor
job_getchannel({job}) job_getchannel()
Get the channel handle that {job} is using.
To check if the job has no channel:
if string(job_getchannel()) == 'channel fail'
{only available when compiled with the |+job| feature}
job_info([{job}]) job_info()
Returns a Dictionary with information about {job}:
"status" what job_status() returns
"channel" what job_getchannel() returns
"cmd" List of command arguments used to start the job
"process" process ID
"tty_in" terminal input name, empty when none
"tty_out" terminal output name, empty when none
"exitval" only valid when "status" is "dead"
"exit_cb" function to be called on exit
"stoponexit" job-stoponexit
Only in Unix:
"termsig" the signal which terminated the process
(See job_stop() for the values)
only valid when "status" is "dead"
Only in MS-Windows:
"tty_type" Type of virtual console in use.
Values are "winpty" or "conpty".
See 'termwintype'.
Without any arguments, returns a List with all Job objects.
job_setoptions({job}, {options}) job_setoptions()
Change options for {job}. Supported are:
"stoponexit" job-stoponexit
"exit_cb" job-exit_cb
job_start({command} [, {options}]) job_start()
Start a job and return a Job object. Unlike system() and
:!cmd this does not wait for the job to finish.
To start a job in a terminal window see term_start().
If the job fails to start then job_status() on the returned
Job object results in "fail" and none of the callbacks will be
invoked.
{command} can be a String. This works best on MS-Windows. On
Unix it is split up in white-separated parts to be passed to
execvp(). Arguments in double quotes can contain white space.
{command} can be a List, where the first item is the executable
and further items are the arguments. All items are converted
to String. This works best on Unix.
On MS-Windows, job_start() makes a GUI application hidden. If
want to show it, Use :!start instead.
The command is executed directly, not through a shell, the
'shell' option is not used. To use the shell:
let job = job_start(["/bin/sh", "-c", "echo hello"])
Or:
let job = job_start('/bin/sh -c "echo hello"')
Note that this will start two processes, the shell and the
command it executes. If you don't want this use the "exec"
shell command.
On Unix $PATH is used to search for the executable only when
the command does not contain a slash.
The job will use the same terminal as Vim. If it reads from
stdin the job and Vim will be fighting over input, that
doesn't work. Redirect stdin and stdout to avoid problems:
let job = job_start(['sh', '-c', "myserver </dev/null >/dev/null"])
The returned Job object can be used to get the status with
job_status() and stop the job with job_stop().
Note that the job object will be deleted if there are no
references to it. This closes the stdin and stderr, which may
cause the job to fail with an error. To avoid this keep a
reference to the job. Thus instead of:
call job_start('my-command')
use:
let myjob = job_start('my-command')
and unlet "myjob" once the job is not needed or is past the
point where it would fail (e.g. when it prints a message on
startup). Keep in mind that variables local to a function
will cease to exist if the function returns. Use a
script-local variable if needed:
let s:myjob = job_start('my-command')
{options} must be a Dictionary. It can contain many optional
items, see job-options.
{only available when compiled with the |+job| feature}
job_status({job}) job_status() E916
Returns a String with the status of {job}:
"run" job is running
"fail" job failed to start
"dead" job died or was stopped after running
On Unix a non-existing command results in "dead" instead of
"fail", because a fork happens before the failure can be
detected.
If an exit callback was set with the "exit_cb" option and the
job is now detected to be "dead" the callback will be invoked.
For more information see job_info().
{only available when compiled with the |+job| feature}
job_stop({job} [, {how}]) job_stop()
Stop the {job}. This can also be used to signal the job.
When {how} is omitted or is "term" the job will be terminated.
For Unix SIGTERM is sent. On MS-Windows the job will be
terminated forcedly (there is no "gentle" way).
This goes to the process group, thus children may also be
affected.
Effect for Unix:
"term" SIGTERM (default)
"hup" SIGHUP
"quit" SIGQUIT
"int" SIGINT
"kill" SIGKILL (strongest way to stop)
number signal with that number
Effect for MS-Windows:
"term" terminate process forcedly (default)
"hup" CTRL_BREAK
"quit" CTRL_BREAK
"int" CTRL_C
"kill" terminate process forcedly
Others CTRL_BREAK
On Unix the signal is sent to the process group. This means
that when the job is "sh -c command" it affects both the shell
and the command.
The result is a Number: 1 if the operation could be executed,
0 if "how" is not supported on the system.
Note that even when the operation was executed, whether the
job was actually stopped needs to be checked with
job_status().
If the status of the job is "dead", the signal will not be
sent. This is to avoid to stop the wrong job (esp. on Unix,
where process numbers are recycled).
When using "kill" Vim will assume the job will die and close
the channel.
{only available when compiled with the |+job| feature}
join({list} [, {sep}]) join()
Join the items in {list} together into one String.
When {sep} is specified it is put in between the items. If
{sep} is omitted a single space is used.
Note that {sep} is not added at the end. You might want to
add it there too:
let lines = join(mylist, "\n") . "\n"
String items are used as-is. Lists and Dictionaries are
converted into a string like with string().
The opposite function is split().
js_decode({string}) js_decode()
This is similar to json_decode() with these differences:
- Object key names do not have to be in quotes.
- Strings can be in single quotes.
- Empty items in an array (between two commas) are allowed and
result in v:none items.
js_encode({expr}) js_encode()
This is similar to json_encode() with these differences:
- Object key names are not in quotes.
- v:none items in an array result in an empty item between
commas.
For example, the Vim object:
[1,v:none,{"one":1},v:none]
Will be encoded as:
[1,,{one:1},,]
While json_encode() would produce:
[1,null,{"one":1},null]
This encoding is valid for JavaScript. It is more efficient
than JSON, especially when using an array with optional items.
json_decode({string}) json_decode()
This parses a JSON formatted string and returns the equivalent
in Vim values. See json_encode() for the relation between
JSON and Vim values.
The decoding is permissive:
- A trailing comma in an array and object is ignored, e.g.
"[1, 2, ]" is the same as "[1, 2]".
- Integer keys are accepted in objects, e.g. {1:2} is the
same as {"1":2}.
- More floating point numbers are recognized, e.g. "1." for
"1.0", or "001.2" for "1.2". Special floating point values
"Infinity", "-Infinity" and "NaN" (capitalization ignored)
are accepted.
- Leading zeroes in integer numbers are ignored, e.g. "012"
for "12" or "-012" for "-12".
- Capitalization is ignored in literal names null, true or
false, e.g. "NULL" for "null", "True" for "true".
- Control characters U+0000 through U+001F which are not
escaped in strings are accepted, e.g. " " (tab
character in string) for "\t".
- An empty JSON expression or made of only spaces is accepted
and results in v:none.
- Backslash in an invalid 2-character sequence escape is
ignored, e.g. "\a" is decoded as "a".
- A correct surrogate pair in JSON strings should normally be
a 12 character sequence such as "\uD834\uDD1E", but
json_decode() silently accepts truncated surrogate pairs
such as "\uD834" or "\uD834\u"
E938
A duplicate key in an object, valid in rfc7159, is not
accepted by json_decode() as the result must be a valid Vim
type, e.g. this fails: {"a":"b", "a":"c"}
json_encode({expr}) json_encode()
Encode {expr} as JSON and return this as a string.
The encoding is specified in:
https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc7159.html
Vim values are converted as follows:
Number decimal number
Float floating point number
Float nan "NaN"
Float inf "Infinity"
Float -inf "-Infinity"
String in double quotes (possibly null)
Funcref not possible, error
List as an array (possibly null); when
used recursively: []
Dict as an object (possibly null); when
used recursively: {}
Blob as an array of the individual bytes
v:false "false"
v:true "true"
v:none "null"
v:null "null"
Note that NaN and Infinity are passed on as values. This is
missing in the JSON standard, but several implementations do
allow it. If not then you will get an error.
keys({dict}) keys()
Return a List with all the keys of {dict}. The List is in
arbitrary order. Also see items() and values().
len() E701
len({expr}) The result is a Number, which is the length of the argument.
When {expr} is a String or a Number the length in bytes is
used, as with strlen().
When {expr} is a List the number of items in the List is
returned.
When {expr} is a Blob the number of bytes is returned.
When {expr} is a Dictionary the number of entries in the
Dictionary is returned.
Otherwise an error is given.
libcall() E364 E368
libcall({libname}, {funcname}, {argument})
Call function {funcname} in the run-time library {libname}
with single argument {argument}.
This is useful to call functions in a library that you
especially made to be used with Vim. Since only one argument
is possible, calling standard library functions is rather
limited.
The result is the String returned by the function. If the
function returns NULL, this will appear as an empty string ""
to Vim.
If the function returns a number, use libcallnr()!
If {argument} is a number, it is passed to the function as an
int; if {argument} is a string, it is passed as a
null-terminated string.
This function will fail in restricted-mode.
libcall() allows you to write your own 'plug-in' extensions to
Vim without having to recompile the program. It is NOT a
means to call system functions! If you try to do so Vim will
very probably crash.
For Win32, the functions you write must be placed in a DLL
and use the normal C calling convention (NOT Pascal which is
used in Windows System DLLs). The function must take exactly
one parameter, either a character pointer or a long integer,
and must return a character pointer or NULL. The character
pointer returned must point to memory that will remain valid
after the function has returned (e.g. in static data in the
DLL). If it points to allocated memory, that memory will
leak away. Using a static buffer in the function should work,
it's then freed when the DLL is unloaded.
WARNING: If the function returns a non-valid pointer, Vim may
crash! This also happens if the function returns a number,
because Vim thinks it's a pointer.
For Win32 systems, {libname} should be the filename of the DLL
without the ".DLL" suffix. A full path is only required if
the DLL is not in the usual places.
For Unix: When compiling your own plugins, remember that the
object code must be compiled as position-independent ('PIC').
{only in Win32 and some Unix versions, when the +libcall
feature is present}
Examples:
:echo libcall("libc.so", "getenv", "HOME")
libcallnr()
libcallnr({libname}, {funcname}, {argument})
Just like libcall(), but used for a function that returns an
int instead of a string.
{only in Win32 on some Unix versions, when the +libcall
feature is present}
Examples:
:echo libcallnr("/usr/lib/libc.so", "getpid", "")
:call libcallnr("libc.so", "printf", "Hello World!\n")
:call libcallnr("libc.so", "sleep", 10)
line()
line({expr}) The result is a Number, which is the line number of the file
position given with {expr}. The accepted positions are:
. the cursor position
$ the last line in the current buffer
'x position of mark x (if the mark is not set, 0 is
returned)
w0 first line visible in current window (one if the
display isn't updated, e.g. in silent Ex mode)
w$ last line visible in current window (this is one
less than "w0" if no lines are visible)
v In Visual mode: the start of the Visual area (the
cursor is the end). When not in Visual mode
returns the cursor position. Differs from '< in
that it's updated right away.
Note that a mark in another file can be used. The line number
then applies to another buffer.
To get the column number use col(). To get both use
getpos().
Examples:
line(".") line number of the cursor
line("'t") line number of mark t
line("'" . marker) line number of mark marker
To jump to the last known position when opening a file see
last-position-jump.
line2byte({lnum}) line2byte()
Return the byte count from the start of the buffer for line
{lnum}. This includes the end-of-line character, depending on
the 'fileformat' option for the current buffer. The first
line returns 1. 'encoding' matters, 'fileencoding' is ignored.
This can also be used to get the byte count for the line just
below the last line:
line2byte(line("$") + 1)
This is the buffer size plus one. If 'fileencoding' is empty
it is the file size plus one.
When {lnum} is invalid, or the +byte_offset feature has been
disabled at compile time, -1 is returned.
Also see byte2line(), go and :goto.
lispindent({lnum}) lispindent()
Get the amount of indent for line {lnum} according the lisp
indenting rules, as with 'lisp'.
The indent is counted in spaces, the value of 'tabstop' is
relevant. {lnum} is used just like in getline().
When {lnum} is invalid or Vim was not compiled the
+lispindent feature, -1 is returned.
list2str({list} [, {utf8}]) list2str()
Convert each number in {list} to a character string can
concatenate them all. Examples:
list2str([32]) returns " "
list2str([65, 66, 67]) returns "ABC"
The same can be done (slowly) with:
join(map(list, {nr, val -> nr2char(val)}), '')
str2list() does the opposite.
When {utf8} is omitted or zero, the current 'encoding' is used.
With {utf8} is 1, always return utf-8 characters.
With utf-8 composing characters work as expected:
list2str([97, 769]) returns "á"
listener_add({callback} [, {buf}]) listener_add()
Add a callback function that will be invoked when changes have
been made to buffer {buf}.
{buf} refers to a buffer name or number. For the accepted
values, see bufname(). When {buf} is omitted the current
buffer is used.
Returns a unique ID that can be passed to listener_remove().
The {callback} is invoked with four arguments:
a:bufnr the buffer that was changed
a:start first changed line number
a:end first line number below the change
a:added total number of lines added, negative if lines
were deleted
a:changes a List of items with details about the changes
Example:
func Listener(bufnr, start, end, added, changes)
echo 'lines ' .. a:start .. ' until ' .. a:end .. ' changed'
endfunc
call listener_add('Listener', bufnr)
The List cannot be changed. Each item in a:changes is a
dictionary with these entries:
lnum the first line number of the change
end the first line below the change
added number of lines added; negative if lines were
deleted
col first column in "lnum" that was affected by
the change; one if unknown or the whole line
was affected; this is a byte index, first
character has a value of one.
When lines are inserted the values are:
lnum line above which the new line is added
end equal to "lnum"
added number of lines inserted
col 1
When lines are deleted the values are:
lnum the first deleted line
end the line below the first deleted line, before
the deletion was done
added negative, number of lines deleted
col 1
When lines are changed:
lnum the first changed line
end the line below the last changed line
added 0
col first column with a change or 1
The entries are in the order the changes were made, thus the
most recent change is at the end. The line numbers are valid
when the callback is invoked, but later changes may make them
invalid, thus keeping a copy for later might not work.
The {callback} is invoked just before the screen is updated,
when listener_flush() is called or when a change is being
made that changes the line count in a way it causes a line
number in the list of changes to become invalid.
The {callback} is invoked with the text locked, see
textlock. If you do need to make changes to the buffer, use
a timer to do this later timer_start().
The {callback} is not invoked when the buffer is first loaded.
Use the BufReadPost autocmd event to handle the initial text
of a buffer.
The {callback} is also not invoked when the buffer is
unloaded, use the BufUnload autocmd event for that.
listener_flush([{buf}]) listener_flush()
Invoke listener callbacks for buffer {buf}. If there are no
pending changes then no callbacks are invoked.
{buf} refers to a buffer name or number. For the accepted
values, see bufname(). When {buf} is omitted the current
buffer is used.
listener_remove({id}) listener_remove()
Remove a listener previously added with listener_add().
localtime() localtime()
Return the current time, measured as seconds since 1st Jan
1970. See also strftime() and getftime().
log({expr}) log()
Return the natural logarithm (base e) of {expr} as a Float.
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number in the range
(0, inf].
Examples:
:echo log(10)
2.302585
:echo log(exp(5))
5.0
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
log10({expr}) log10()
Return the logarithm of Float {expr} to base 10 as a Float.
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
:echo log10(1000)
3.0
:echo log10(0.01)
-2.0
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
luaeval({expr} [, {expr}]) luaeval()
Evaluate Lua expression {expr} and return its result converted
to Vim data structures. Second {expr} may hold additional
argument accessible as _A inside first {expr}.
Strings are returned as they are.
Boolean objects are converted to numbers.
Numbers are converted to Float values if vim was compiled
with +float and to numbers otherwise.
Dictionaries and lists obtained by vim.eval() are returned
as-is.
Other objects are returned as zero without any errors.
See lua-luaeval for more details.
{only available when compiled with the |+lua| feature}
map({expr1}, {expr2}) map()
{expr1} must be a List or a Dictionary.
Replace each item in {expr1} with the result of evaluating
{expr2}. {expr2} must be a string or Funcref.
If {expr2} is a string, inside {expr2} v:val has the value
of the current item. For a Dictionary v:key has the key
of the current item and for a List v:key has the index of
the current item.
Example:
:call map(mylist, '"> " . v:val . " <"')
This puts "> " before and " <" after each item in "mylist".
Note that {expr2} is the result of an expression and is then
used as an expression again. Often it is good to use a
literal-string to avoid having to double backslashes. You
still have to double ' quotes
If {expr2} is a Funcref it is called with two arguments:
1. The key or the index of the current item.
2. the value of the current item.
The function must return the new value of the item. Example
that changes each value by "key-value":
func KeyValue(key, val)
return a:key . '-' . a:val
endfunc
call map(myDict, function('KeyValue'))
It is shorter when using a lambda:
call map(myDict, {key, val -> key . '-' . val})
If you do not use "val" you can leave it out:
call map(myDict, {key -> 'item: ' . key})
The operation is done in-place. If you want a List or
Dictionary to remain unmodified make a copy first:
:let tlist = map(copy(mylist), ' v:val . "\t"')
Returns {expr1}, the List or Dictionary that was filtered.
When an error is encountered while evaluating {expr2} no
further items in {expr1} are processed. When {expr2} is a
Funcref errors inside a function are ignored, unless it was
defined with the "abort" flag.
maparg({name} [, {mode} [, {abbr} [, {dict}]]]) maparg()
When {dict} is omitted or zero: Return the rhs of mapping
{name} in mode {mode}. The returned String has special
characters translated like in the output of the ":map" command
listing.
When there is no mapping for {name}, an empty String is
returned. When the mapping for {name} is empty, then "<Nop>"
is returned.
The {name} can have special key names, like in the ":map"
command.
{mode} can be one of these strings:
"n" Normal
"v" Visual (including Select)
"o" Operator-pending
"i" Insert
"c" Cmd-line
"s" Select
"x" Visual
"l" langmap language-mapping
"t" Terminal-Job
"" Normal, Visual and Operator-pending
When {mode} is omitted, the modes for "" are used.
When {abbr} is there and it is TRUE use abbreviations
instead of mappings.
When {dict} is there and it is TRUE return a dictionary
containing all the information of the mapping with the
following items:
"lhs" The {lhs} of the mapping.
"rhs" The {rhs} of the mapping as typed.
"silent" 1 for a :map-silent mapping, else 0.
"noremap" 1 if the {rhs} of the mapping is not remappable.
"expr" 1 for an expression mapping (:map-<expr>).
"buffer" 1 for a buffer local mapping (:map-local).
"mode" Modes for which the mapping is defined. In
addition to the modes mentioned above, these
characters will be used:
" " Normal, Visual and Operator-pending
"!" Insert and Commandline mode
(mapmode-ic)
"sid" The script local ID, used for <sid> mappings
(<SID>).
"lnum" The line number in "sid", zero if unknown.
"nowait" Do not wait for other, longer mappings.
(:map-<nowait>).
The mappings local to the current buffer are checked first,
then the global mappings.
This function can be used to map a key even when it's already
mapped, and have it do the original mapping too. Sketch:
exe 'nnoremap <Tab> ==' . maparg('<Tab>', 'n')
mapcheck({name} [, {mode} [, {abbr}]]) mapcheck()
Check if there is a mapping that matches with {name} in mode
{mode}. See maparg() for {mode} and special names in
{name}.
When {abbr} is there and it is TRUE use abbreviations
instead of mappings.
A match happens with a mapping that starts with {name} and
with a mapping which is equal to the start of {name}.
matches mapping "a" "ab" "abc"
mapcheck("a") yes yes yes
mapcheck("abc") yes yes yes
mapcheck("ax") yes no no
mapcheck("b") no no no
The difference with maparg() is that mapcheck() finds a
mapping that matches with {name}, while maparg() only finds a
mapping for {name} exactly.
When there is no mapping that starts with {name}, an empty
String is returned. If there is one, the RHS of that mapping
is returned. If there are several mappings that start with
{name}, the RHS of one of them is returned. This will be
"<Nop>" if the RHS is empty.
The mappings local to the current buffer are checked first,
then the global mappings.
This function can be used to check if a mapping can be added
without being ambiguous. Example:
:if mapcheck("_vv") == ""
: map _vv :set guifont=7x13<CR>
:endif
This avoids adding the "_vv" mapping when there already is a
mapping for "_v" or for "_vvv".
match({expr}, {pat} [, {start} [, {count}]]) match()
When {expr} is a List then this returns the index of the
first item where {pat} matches. Each item is used as a
String, Lists and Dictionaries are used as echoed.
Otherwise, {expr} is used as a String. The result is a
Number, which gives the index (byte offset) in {expr} where
{pat} matches.
A match at the first character or List item returns zero.
If there is no match -1 is returned.
For getting submatches see matchlist().
Example:
:echo match("testing", "ing") " results in 4
:echo match([1, 'x'], '\a') " results in 1
See string-match for how {pat} is used.
strpbrk()
Vim doesn't have a strpbrk() function. But you can do:
:let sepidx = match(line, '[.,;: \t]')
strcasestr()
Vim doesn't have a strcasestr() function. But you can add
"\c" to the pattern to ignore case:
:let idx = match(haystack, '\cneedle')
If {start} is given, the search starts from byte index
{start} in a String or item {start} in a List.
The result, however, is still the index counted from the
first character/item. Example:
:echo match("testing", "ing", 2)
result is again "4".
:echo match("testing", "ing", 4)
result is again "4".
:echo match("testing", "t", 2)
result is "3".
For a String, if {start} > 0 then it is like the string starts
{start} bytes later, thus "^" will match at {start}. Except
when {count} is given, then it's like matches before the
{start} byte are ignored (this is a bit complicated to keep it
backwards compatible).
For a String, if {start} < 0, it will be set to 0. For a list
the index is counted from the end.
If {start} is out of range ({start} > strlen({expr}) for a
String or {start} > len({expr}) for a List) -1 is returned.
When {count} is given use the {count}'th match. When a match
is found in a String the search for the next one starts one
character further. Thus this example results in 1:
echo match("testing", "..", 0, 2)
In a List the search continues in the next item.
Note that when {count} is added the way {start} works changes,
see above.
See pattern for the patterns that are accepted.
The 'ignorecase' option is used to set the ignore-caseness of
the pattern. 'smartcase' is NOT used. The matching is always
done like 'magic' is set and 'cpoptions' is empty.
matchadd() E798 E799 E801 E957
matchadd({group}, {pattern} [, {priority} [, {id} [, {dict}]]])
Defines a pattern to be highlighted in the current window (a
"match"). It will be highlighted with {group}. Returns an
identification number (ID), which can be used to delete the
match using matchdelete(). The ID is bound to the window.
Matching is case sensitive and magic, unless case sensitivity
or magicness are explicitly overridden in {pattern}. The
'magic', 'smartcase' and 'ignorecase' options are not used.
The "Conceal" value is special, it causes the match to be
concealed.
The optional {priority} argument assigns a priority to the
match. A match with a high priority will have its
highlighting overrule that of a match with a lower priority.
A priority is specified as an integer (negative numbers are no
exception). If the {priority} argument is not specified, the
default priority is 10. The priority of 'hlsearch' is zero,
hence all matches with a priority greater than zero will
overrule it. Syntax highlighting (see 'syntax') is a separate
mechanism, and regardless of the chosen priority a match will
always overrule syntax highlighting.
The optional {id} argument allows the request for a specific
match ID. If a specified ID is already taken, an error
message will appear and the match will not be added. An ID
is specified as a positive integer (zero excluded). IDs 1, 2
and 3 are reserved for :match, :2match and :3match,
respectively. If the {id} argument is not specified or -1,
matchadd() automatically chooses a free ID.
The optional {dict} argument allows for further custom
values. Currently this is used to specify a match specific
conceal character that will be shown for hl-Conceal
highlighted matches. The dict can have the following members:
conceal Special character to show instead of the
match (only for hl-Conceal highlighted
matches, see :syn-cchar)
window Instead of the current window use the
window with this number or window ID.
The number of matches is not limited, as it is the case with
the :match commands.
Example:
:highlight MyGroup ctermbg=green guibg=green
:let m = matchadd("MyGroup", "TODO")
Deletion of the pattern:
:call matchdelete(m)
A list of matches defined by matchadd() and :match are
available from getmatches(). All matches can be deleted in
one operation by clearmatches().
matchaddpos()
matchaddpos({group}, {pos} [, {priority} [, {id} [, {dict}]]])
Same as matchadd(), but requires a list of positions {pos}
instead of a pattern. This command is faster than matchadd()
because it does not require to handle regular expressions and
sets buffer line boundaries to redraw screen. It is supposed
to be used when fast match additions and deletions are
required, for example to highlight matching parentheses.
The list {pos} can contain one of these items:
- A number. This whole line will be highlighted. The first
line has number 1.
- A list with one number, e.g., [23]. The whole line with this
number will be highlighted.
- A list with two numbers, e.g., [23, 11]. The first number is
the line number, the second one is the column number (first
column is 1, the value must correspond to the byte index as
col() would return). The character at this position will
be highlighted.
- A list with three numbers, e.g., [23, 11, 3]. As above, but
the third number gives the length of the highlight in bytes.
The maximum number of positions is 8.
Example:
:highlight MyGroup ctermbg=green guibg=green
:let m = matchaddpos("MyGroup", [[23, 24], 34])
Deletion of the pattern:
:call matchdelete(m)
Matches added by matchaddpos() are returned by
getmatches() with an entry "pos1", "pos2", etc., with the
value a list like the {pos} item.
matcharg({nr}) matcharg()
Selects the {nr} match item, as set with a :match,
:2match or :3match command.
Return a List with two elements:
The name of the highlight group used
The pattern used.
When {nr} is not 1, 2 or 3 returns an empty List.
When there is no match item set returns ['', ''].
This is useful to save and restore a :match.
Highlighting matches using the :match commands are limited
to three matches. matchadd() does not have this limitation.
matchdelete({id} [, {win}) matchdelete() E802 E803
Deletes a match with ID {id} previously defined by matchadd()
or one of the :match commands. Returns 0 if successful,
otherwise -1. See example for matchadd(). All matches can
be deleted in one operation by clearmatches().
If {win} is specified, use the window with this number or
window ID instead of the current window.
matchend({expr}, {pat} [, {start} [, {count}]]) matchend()
Same as match(), but return the index of first character
after the match. Example:
:echo matchend("testing", "ing")
results in "7".
strspn() strcspn()
Vim doesn't have a strspn() or strcspn() function, but you can
do it with matchend():
:let span = matchend(line, '[a-zA-Z]')
:let span = matchend(line, '[^a-zA-Z]')
Except that -1 is returned when there are no matches.
The {start}, if given, has the same meaning as for match().
:echo matchend("testing", "ing", 2)
results in "7".
:echo matchend("testing", "ing", 5)
result is "-1".
When {expr} is a List the result is equal to match().
matchlist({expr}, {pat} [, {start} [, {count}]]) matchlist()
Same as match(), but return a List. The first item in the
list is the matched string, same as what matchstr() would
return. Following items are submatches, like "\1", "\2", etc.
in :substitute. When an optional submatch didn't match an
empty string is used. Example:
echo matchlist('acd', '\(a\)\?\(b\)\?\(c\)\?\(.*\)')
Results in: ['acd', 'a', '', 'c', 'd', '', '', '', '', '']
When there is no match an empty list is returned.
matchstr({expr}, {pat} [, {start} [, {count}]]) matchstr()
Same as match(), but return the matched string. Example:
:echo matchstr("testing", "ing")
results in "ing".
When there is no match "" is returned.
The {start}, if given, has the same meaning as for match().
:echo matchstr("testing", "ing", 2)
results in "ing".
:echo matchstr("testing", "ing", 5)
result is "".
When {expr} is a List then the matching item is returned.
The type isn't changed, it's not necessarily a String.
matchstrpos({expr}, {pat} [, {start} [, {count}]]) matchstrpos()
Same as matchstr(), but return the matched string, the start
position and the end position of the match. Example:
:echo matchstrpos("testing", "ing")
results in ["ing", 4, 7].
When there is no match ["", -1, -1] is returned.
The {start}, if given, has the same meaning as for match().
:echo matchstrpos("testing", "ing", 2)
results in ["ing", 4, 7].
:echo matchstrpos("testing", "ing", 5)
result is ["", -1, -1].
When {expr} is a List then the matching item, the index
of first item where {pat} matches, the start position and the
end position of the match are returned.
:echo matchstrpos([1, '__x'], '\a')
result is ["x", 1, 2, 3].
The type isn't changed, it's not necessarily a String.
max()
max({expr}) Return the maximum value of all items in {expr}.
{expr} can be a list or a dictionary. For a dictionary,
it returns the maximum of all values in the dictionary.
If {expr} is neither a list nor a dictionary, or one of the
items in {expr} cannot be used as a Number this results in
an error. An empty List or Dictionary results in zero.
min()
min({expr}) Return the minimum value of all items in {expr}.
{expr} can be a list or a dictionary. For a dictionary,
it returns the minimum of all values in the dictionary.
If {expr} is neither a list nor a dictionary, or one of the
items in {expr} cannot be used as a Number this results in
an error. An empty List or Dictionary results in zero.
mkdir() E739
mkdir({name} [, {path} [, {prot}]])
Create directory {name}.
If {path} is "p" then intermediate directories are created as
necessary. Otherwise it must be "".
If {prot} is given it is used to set the protection bits of
the new directory. The default is 0755 (rwxr-xr-x: r/w for
the user readable for others). Use 0700 to make it unreadable
for others. This is only used for the last part of {name}.
Thus if you create /tmp/foo/bar then /tmp/foo will be created
with 0755.
Example:
:call mkdir($HOME . "/tmp/foo/bar", "p", 0700)
This function is not available in the sandbox.
There is no error if the directory already exists and the "p"
flag is passed (since patch 8.0.1708). However, without the
"p" option the call will fail.
The function result is a Number, which is 1 if the call was
successful or 0 if the directory creation failed or partly
failed.
Not available on all systems. To check use:
:if exists("*mkdir")
mode()
mode([expr]) Return a string that indicates the current mode.
If [expr] is supplied and it evaluates to a non-zero Number or
a non-empty String (non-zero-arg), then the full mode is
returned, otherwise only the first letter is returned.
n Normal, Terminal-Normal
no Operator-pending
nov Operator-pending (forced characterwise o_v)
noV Operator-pending (forced linewise o_V)
noCTRL-V Operator-pending (forced blockwise o_CTRL-V);
CTRL-V is one character
niI Normal using i_CTRL-O in Insert-mode
niR Normal using i_CTRL-O in Replace-mode
niV Normal using i_CTRL-O in Virtual-Replace-mode
v Visual by character
V Visual by line
CTRL-V Visual blockwise
s Select by character
S Select by line
CTRL-S Select blockwise
i Insert
ic Insert mode completion compl-generic
ix Insert mode i_CTRL-X completion
R Replace R
Rc Replace mode completion compl-generic
Rv Virtual Replace gR
Rx Replace mode i_CTRL-X completion
c Command-line editing
cv Vim Ex mode gQ
ce Normal Ex mode Q
r Hit-enter prompt
rm The -- more -- prompt
r? A :confirm query of some sort
! Shell or external command is executing
t Terminal-Job mode: keys go to the job
This is useful in the 'statusline' option or when used
with remote_expr() In most other places it always returns
"c" or "n".
Note that in the future more modes and more specific modes may
be added. It's better not to compare the whole string but only
the leading character(s).
Also see visualmode().
mzeval({expr}) mzeval()
Evaluate MzScheme expression {expr} and return its result
converted to Vim data structures.
Numbers and strings are returned as they are.
Pairs (including lists and improper lists) and vectors are
returned as Vim Lists.
Hash tables are represented as Vim Dictionary type with keys
converted to strings.
All other types are converted to string with display function.
Examples:
:mz (define l (list 1 2 3))
:mz (define h (make-hash)) (hash-set! h "list" l)
:echo mzeval("l")
:echo mzeval("h")
{only available when compiled with the |+mzscheme| feature}
nextnonblank({lnum}) nextnonblank()
Return the line number of the first line at or below {lnum}
that is not blank. Example:
if getline(nextnonblank(1)) =~ "Java"
When {lnum} is invalid or there is no non-blank line at or
below it, zero is returned.
See also prevnonblank().
nr2char({expr} [, {utf8}]) nr2char()
Return a string with a single character, which has the number
value {expr}. Examples:
nr2char(64) returns "@"
nr2char(32) returns " "
When {utf8} is omitted or zero, the current 'encoding' is used.
Example for "utf-8":
nr2char(300) returns I with bow character
With {utf8} set to 1, always return utf-8 characters.
Note that a NUL character in the file is specified with
nr2char(10), because NULs are represented with newline
characters. nr2char(0) is a real NUL and terminates the
string, thus results in an empty string.
To turn a list of character numbers into a string:
let list = [65, 66, 67]
let str = join(map(list, {_, val -> nr2char(val)}), '')
Result: "ABC"
or({expr}, {expr}) or()
Bitwise OR on the two arguments. The arguments are converted
to a number. A List, Dict or Float argument causes an error.
Example:
:let bits = or(bits, 0x80)
pathshorten({expr}) pathshorten()
Shorten directory names in the path {expr} and return the
result. The tail, the file name, is kept as-is. The other
components in the path are reduced to single letters. Leading
'~' and '.' characters are kept. Example:
:echo pathshorten('~/.vim/autoload/myfile.vim')
~/.v/a/myfile.vim
It doesn't matter if the path exists or not.
perleval({expr}) perleval()
Evaluate Perl expression {expr} in scalar context and return
its result converted to Vim data structures. If value can't be
converted, it is returned as a string Perl representation.
Note: If you want an array or hash, {expr} must return a
reference to it.
Example:
:echo perleval('[1 .. 4]')
[1, 2, 3, 4]
{only available when compiled with the |+perl| feature}
pow({x}, {y}) pow()
Return the power of {x} to the exponent {y} as a Float.
{x} and {y} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
:echo pow(3, 3)
27.0
:echo pow(2, 16)
65536.0
:echo pow(32, 0.20)
2.0
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
prevnonblank({lnum}) prevnonblank()
Return the line number of the first line at or above {lnum}
that is not blank. Example:
let ind = indent(prevnonblank(v:lnum - 1))
When {lnum} is invalid or there is no non-blank line at or
above it, zero is returned.
Also see nextnonblank().
printf({fmt}, {expr1} ...) printf()
Return a String with {fmt}, where "%" items are replaced by
the formatted form of their respective arguments. Example:
printf("%4d: E%d %.30s", lnum, errno, msg)
May result in:
" 99: E42 asdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdfasdfas"
Often used items are:
%s string
%6S string right-aligned in 6 display cells
%6s string right-aligned in 6 bytes
%.9s string truncated to 9 bytes
%c single byte
%d decimal number
%5d decimal number padded with spaces to 5 characters
%x hex number
%04x hex number padded with zeros to at least 4 characters
%X hex number using upper case letters
%o octal number
%08b binary number padded with zeros to at least 8 chars
%f floating point number as 12.23, inf, -inf or nan
%F floating point number as 12.23, INF, -INF or NAN
%e floating point number as 1.23e3, inf, -inf or nan
%E floating point number as 1.23E3, INF, -INF or NAN
%g floating point number, as %f or %e depending on value
%G floating point number, as %F or %E depending on value
%% the % character itself
Conversion specifications start with '%' and end with the
conversion type. All other characters are copied unchanged to
the result.
The "%" starts a conversion specification. The following
arguments appear in sequence:
% [flags] [field-width] [.precision] type
flags
Zero or more of the following flags:
# The value should be converted to an "alternate
form". For c, d, and s conversions, this option
has no effect. For o conversions, the precision
of the number is increased to force the first
character of the output string to a zero (except
if a zero value is printed with an explicit
precision of zero).
For b and B conversions, a non-zero result has
the string "0b" (or "0B" for B conversions)
prepended to it.
For x and X conversions, a non-zero result has
the string "0x" (or "0X" for X conversions)
prepended to it.
0 (zero) Zero padding. For all conversions the converted
value is padded on the left with zeros rather
than blanks. If a precision is given with a
numeric conversion (d, b, B, o, x, and X), the 0
flag is ignored.
- A negative field width flag; the converted value
is to be left adjusted on the field boundary.
The converted value is padded on the right with
blanks, rather than on the left with blanks or
zeros. A - overrides a 0 if both are given.
' ' (space) A blank should be left before a positive
number produced by a signed conversion (d).
+ A sign must always be placed before a number
produced by a signed conversion. A + overrides
a space if both are used.
field-width
An optional decimal digit string specifying a minimum
field width. If the converted value has fewer bytes
than the field width, it will be padded with spaces on
the left (or right, if the left-adjustment flag has
been given) to fill out the field width.
.precision
An optional precision, in the form of a period '.'
followed by an optional digit string. If the digit
string is omitted, the precision is taken as zero.
This gives the minimum number of digits to appear for
d, o, x, and X conversions, or the maximum number of
bytes to be printed from a string for s conversions.
For floating point it is the number of digits after
the decimal point.
type
A character that specifies the type of conversion to
be applied, see below.
A field width or precision, or both, may be indicated by an
asterisk '*' instead of a digit string. In this case, a
Number argument supplies the field width or precision. A
negative field width is treated as a left adjustment flag
followed by a positive field width; a negative precision is
treated as though it were missing. Example:
:echo printf("%d: %.*s", nr, width, line)
This limits the length of the text used from "line" to
"width" bytes.
The conversion specifiers and their meanings are:
printf-d printf-b printf-B printf-o
printf-x printf-X
dbBoxX The Number argument is converted to signed decimal
(d), unsigned binary (b and B), unsigned octal (o), or
unsigned hexadecimal (x and X) notation. The letters
"abcdef" are used for x conversions; the letters
"ABCDEF" are used for X conversions.
The precision, if any, gives the minimum number of
digits that must appear; if the converted value
requires fewer digits, it is padded on the left with
zeros.
In no case does a non-existent or small field width
cause truncation of a numeric field; if the result of
a conversion is wider than the field width, the field
is expanded to contain the conversion result.
The 'h' modifier indicates the argument is 16 bits.
The 'l' modifier indicates the argument is 32 bits.
The 'L' modifier indicates the argument is 64 bits.
Generally, these modifiers are not useful. They are
ignored when type is known from the argument.
i alias for d
D alias for ld
U alias for lu
O alias for lo
printf-c
c The Number argument is converted to a byte, and the
resulting character is written.
printf-s
s The text of the String argument is used. If a
precision is specified, no more bytes than the number
specified are used.
If the argument is not a String type, it is
automatically converted to text with the same format
as ":echo".
printf-S
S The text of the String argument is used. If a
precision is specified, no more display cells than the
number specified are used.
printf-f E807
f F The Float argument is converted into a string of the
form 123.456. The precision specifies the number of
digits after the decimal point. When the precision is
zero the decimal point is omitted. When the precision
is not specified 6 is used. A really big number
(out of range or dividing by zero) results in "inf"
or "-inf" with %f (INF or -INF with %F).
"0.0 / 0.0" results in "nan" with %f (NAN with %F).
Example:
echo printf("%.2f", 12.115)
12.12
Note that roundoff depends on the system libraries.
Use round() when in doubt.
printf-e printf-E
e E The Float argument is converted into a string of the
form 1.234e+03 or 1.234E+03 when using 'E'. The
precision specifies the number of digits after the
decimal point, like with 'f'.
printf-g printf-G
g G The Float argument is converted like with 'f' if the
value is between 0.001 (inclusive) and 10000000.0
(exclusive). Otherwise 'e' is used for 'g' and 'E'
for 'G'. When no precision is specified superfluous
zeroes and '+' signs are removed, except for the zero
immediately after the decimal point. Thus 10000000.0
results in 1.0e7.
printf-%
% A '%' is written. No argument is converted. The
complete conversion specification is "%%".
When a Number argument is expected a String argument is also
accepted and automatically converted.
When a Float or String argument is expected a Number argument
is also accepted and automatically converted.
Any other argument type results in an error message.
E766 E767
The number of {exprN} arguments must exactly match the number
of "%" items. If there are not sufficient or too many
arguments an error is given. Up to 18 arguments can be used.
prompt_setcallback({buf}, {expr}) prompt_setcallback()
Set prompt callback for buffer {buf} to {expr}. When {expr}
is an empty string the callback is removed. This has only
effect if {buf} has 'buftype' set to "prompt".
The callback is invoked when pressing Enter. The current
buffer will always be the prompt buffer. A new line for a
prompt is added before invoking the callback, thus the prompt
for which the callback was invoked will be in the last but one
line.
If the callback wants to add text to the buffer, it must
insert it above the last line, since that is where the current
prompt is. This can also be done asynchronously.
The callback is invoked with one argument, which is the text
that was entered at the prompt. This can be an empty string
if the user only typed Enter.
Example:
call prompt_setcallback(bufnr(''), function('s:TextEntered'))
func s:TextEntered(text)
if a:text == 'exit' || a:text == 'quit'
stopinsert
close
else
call append(line('$') - 1, 'Entered: "' . a:text . '"')
" Reset 'modified' to allow the buffer to be closed.
set nomodified
endif
endfunc
prompt_setinterrupt({buf}, {expr}) prompt_setinterrupt()
Set a callback for buffer {buf} to {expr}. When {expr} is an
empty string the callback is removed. This has only effect if
{buf} has 'buftype' set to "prompt".
This callback will be invoked when pressing CTRL-C in Insert
mode. Without setting a callback Vim will exit Insert mode,
as in any buffer.
prompt_setprompt({buf}, {text}) prompt_setprompt()
Set prompt for buffer {buf} to {text}. You most likely want
{text} to end in a space.
The result is only visible if {buf} has 'buftype' set to
"prompt". Example:
call prompt_setprompt(bufnr(''), 'command: ')
prop_add() E965
prop_add({lnum}, {col}, {props})
Attach a text property at position {lnum}, {col}. {col} is
counted in bytes, use one for the first column.
If {lnum} is invalid an error is given. E966
If {col} is invalid an error is given. E964
{props} is a dictionary with these fields:
length length of text in bytes, can only be used
for a property that does not continue in
another line; can be zero
end_lnum line number for the end of text
end_col column just after the text; not used when
"length" is present; when {col} and "end_col"
are equal, and "end_lnum" is omitted or equal
to {lnum}, this is a zero-width text property
bufnr buffer to add the property to; when omitted
the current buffer is used
id user defined ID for the property; when omitted
zero is used
type name of the text property type
All fields except "type" are optional.
It is an error when both "length" and "end_lnum" or "end_col"
are given. Either use "length" or "end_col" for a property
within one line, or use "end_lnum" and "end_col" for a
property that spans more than one line.
When neither "length" nor "end_col" are given the property
will be zero-width. That means it will not be highlighted but
will move with the text, as a kind of mark.
The property can end exactly at the last character of the
text, or just after it. In the last case, if text is appended
to the line, the text property size will increase, also when
the property type does not have "end_incl" set.
"type" will first be looked up in the buffer the property is
added to. When not found, the global property types are used.
If not found an error is given.
See text-properties for information about text properties.
prop_clear({lnum} [, {lnum-end} [, {props}]]) prop_clear()
Remove all text properties from line {lnum}.
When {lnum-end} is given, remove all text properties from line
{lnum} to {lnum-end} (inclusive).
When {props} contains a "bufnr" item use this buffer,
otherwise use the current buffer.
See text-properties for information about text properties.
prop_find()
prop_find({props} [, {direction}])
NOT IMPLEMENTED YET
Search for a text property as specified with {props}:
id property with this ID
type property with this type name
bufnr buffer to search in; when present a
start position with "lnum" and "col"
must be given; when omitted the
current buffer is used
lnum start in this line (when omitted start
at the cursor)
col start at this column (when omitted
and "lnum" is given: use column 1,
otherwise start at the cursor)
skipstart do not look for a match at the start
position
{direction} can be "f" for forward and "b" for backward. When
omitted forward search is performed.
If a match is found then a Dict is returned with the entries
as with prop_list(), and additionally an "lnum" entry.
If no match is found then an empty Dict is returned.
See text-properties for information about text properties.
prop_list({lnum} [, {props}]) prop_list()
Return a List with all text properties in line {lnum}.
When {props} contains a "bufnr" item, use this buffer instead
of the current buffer.
The properties are ordered by starting column and priority.
Each property is a Dict with these entries:
col starting column
length length in bytes, one more if line break is
included
id property ID
type name of the property type, omitted if
the type was deleted
start when TRUE property starts in this line
end when TRUE property ends in this line
When "start" is zero the property started in a previous line,
the current one is a continuation.
When "end" is zero the property continues in the next line.
The line break after this line is included.
See text-properties for information about text properties.
prop_remove() E968
prop_remove({props} [, {lnum} [, {lnum-end}]])
Remove a matching text property from line {lnum}. When
{lnum-end} is given, remove matching text properties from line
{lnum} to {lnum-end} (inclusive).
When {lnum} is omitted remove matching text properties from
all lines.
{props} is a dictionary with these fields:
id remove text properties with this ID
type remove text properties with this type name
bufnr use this buffer instead of the current one
all when TRUE remove all matching text properties,
not just the first one
A property matches when either "id" or "type" matches.
If buffer "bufnr" does not exist you get an error message.
If buffer "bufnr" is not loaded then nothing happens.
Returns the number of properties that were removed.
See text-properties for information about text properties.
prop_type_add({name}, {props}) prop_type_add() E969 E970
Add a text property type {name}. If a property type with this
name already exists an error is given.
{props} is a dictionary with these optional fields:
bufnr define the property only for this buffer; this
avoids name collisions and automatically
clears the property types when the buffer is
deleted.
highlight name of highlight group to use
priority when a character has multiple text
properties the one with the highest priority
will be used; negative values can be used, the
default priority is zero
combine when TRUE combine the highlight with any
syntax highlight; when omitted or FALSE syntax
highlight will not be used
start_incl when TRUE inserts at the start position will
be included in the text property
end_incl when TRUE inserts at the end position will be
included in the text property
See text-properties for information about text properties.
prop_type_change({name}, {props}) prop_type_change()
Change properties of an existing text property type. If a
property with this name does not exist an error is given.
The {props} argument is just like prop_type_add().
See text-properties for information about text properties.
prop_type_delete({name} [, {props}]) prop_type_delete()
Remove the text property type {name}. When text properties
using the type {name} are still in place, they will not have
an effect and can no longer be removed by name.
{props} can contain a "bufnr" item. When it is given, delete
a property type from this buffer instead of from the global
property types.
When text property type {name} is not found there is no error.
See text-properties for information about text properties.
prop_type_get([{name} [, {props}]) prop_type_get()
Returns the properties of property type {name}. This is a
dictionary with the same fields as was given to
prop_type_add().
When the property type {name} does not exist, an empty
dictionary is returned.
{props} can contain a "bufnr" item. When it is given, use
this buffer instead of the global property types.
See text-properties for information about text properties.
prop_type_list([{props}]) prop_type_list()
Returns a list with all property type names.
{props} can contain a "bufnr" item. When it is given, use
this buffer instead of the global property types.
See text-properties for information about text properties.
pumvisible() pumvisible()
Returns non-zero when the popup menu is visible, zero
otherwise. See ins-completion-menu.
This can be used to avoid some things that would remove the
popup menu.
py3eval({expr}) py3eval()
Evaluate Python expression {expr} and return its result
converted to Vim data structures.
Numbers and strings are returned as they are (strings are
copied though, Unicode strings are additionally converted to
'encoding').
Lists are represented as Vim List type.
Dictionaries are represented as Vim Dictionary type with
keys converted to strings.
{only available when compiled with the |+python3| feature}
E858 E859
pyeval({expr}) pyeval()
Evaluate Python expression {expr} and return its result
converted to Vim data structures.
Numbers and strings are returned as they are (strings are
copied though).
Lists are represented as Vim List type.
Dictionaries are represented as Vim Dictionary type,
non-string keys result in error.
{only available when compiled with the |+python| feature}
pyxeval({expr}) pyxeval()
Evaluate Python expression {expr} and return its result
converted to Vim data structures.
Uses Python 2 or 3, see python_x and 'pyxversion'.
See also: pyeval(), py3eval()
{only available when compiled with the +python or the
+python3 feature}
E726 E727
range({expr} [, {max} [, {stride}]]) range()
Returns a List with Numbers:
- If only {expr} is specified: [0, 1, ..., {expr} - 1]
- If {max} is specified: [{expr}, {expr} + 1, ..., {max}]
- If {stride} is specified: [{expr}, {expr} + {stride}, ...,
{max}] (increasing {expr} with {stride} each time, not
producing a value past {max}).
When the maximum is one before the start the result is an
empty list. When the maximum is more than one before the
start this is an error.
Examples:
range(4) " [0, 1, 2, 3]
range(2, 4) " [2, 3, 4]
range(2, 9, 3) " [2, 5, 8]
range(2, -2, -1) " [2, 1, 0, -1, -2]
range(0) " []
range(2, 0) " error!
readdir()
readdir({directory} [, {expr}])
Return a list with file and directory names in {directory}.
You can also use glob() if you don't need to do complicated
things, such as limiting the number of matches.
When {expr} is omitted all entries are included.
When {expr} is given, it is evaluated to check what to do:
If {expr} results in -1 then no further entries will
be handled.
If {expr} results in 0 then this entry will not be
added to the list.
If {expr} results in 1 then this entry will be added
to the list.
Each time {expr} is evaluated v:val is set to the entry name.
When {expr} is a function the name is passed as the argument.
For example, to get a list of files ending in ".txt":
readdir(dirname, {n -> n =~ '.txt$'})
To skip hidden and backup files:
readdir(dirname, {n -> n !~ '^\.\|\~$'})
If you want to get a directory tree:
function! s:tree(dir)
return {a:dir : map(readdir(a:dir),
\ {_, x -> isdirectory(x) ?
\ {x : s:tree(a:dir . '/' . x)} : x})}
endfunction
echo s:tree(".")
readfile()
readfile({fname} [, {type} [, {max}]])
Read file {fname} and return a List, each line of the file
as an item. Lines are broken at NL characters. Macintosh
files separated with CR will result in a single long line
(unless a NL appears somewhere).
All NUL characters are replaced with a NL character.
When {type} contains "b" binary mode is used:
- When the last line ends in a NL an extra empty list item is
added.
- No CR characters are removed.
When {type} contains "B" a Blob is returned with the binary
data of the file unmodified.
Otherwise:
- CR characters that appear before a NL are removed.
- Whether the last line ends in a NL or not does not matter.
- When 'encoding' is Unicode any UTF-8 byte order mark is
removed from the text.
When {max} is given this specifies the maximum number of lines
to be read. Useful if you only want to check the first ten
lines of a file:
:for line in readfile(fname, '', 10)
: if line =~ 'Date' | echo line | endif
:endfor
When {max} is negative -{max} lines from the end of the file
are returned, or as many as there are.
When {max} is zero the result is an empty list.
Note that without {max} the whole file is read into memory.
Also note that there is no recognition of encoding. Read a
file into a buffer if you need to.
When the file can't be opened an error message is given and
the result is an empty list.
Also see writefile().
reg_executing() reg_executing()
Returns the single letter name of the register being executed.
Returns an empty string when no register is being executed.
See @.
reg_recording() reg_recording()
Returns the single letter name of the register being recorded.
Returns an empty string when not recording. See q.
reltime([{start} [, {end}]]) reltime()
Return an item that represents a time value. The format of
the item depends on the system. It can be passed to
reltimestr() to convert it to a string or reltimefloat()
to convert to a Float.
Without an argument it returns the current time.
With one argument is returns the time passed since the time
specified in the argument.
With two arguments it returns the time passed between {start}
and {end}.
The {start} and {end} arguments must be values returned by
reltime().
{only available when compiled with the |+reltime| feature}
reltimefloat({time}) reltimefloat()
Return a Float that represents the time value of {time}.
Example:
let start = reltime()
call MyFunction()
let seconds = reltimefloat(reltime(start))
See the note of reltimestr() about overhead.
Also see profiling.
{only available when compiled with the |+reltime| feature}
reltimestr({time}) reltimestr()
Return a String that represents the time value of {time}.
This is the number of seconds, a dot and the number of
microseconds. Example:
let start = reltime()
call MyFunction()
echo reltimestr(reltime(start))
Note that overhead for the commands will be added to the time.
The accuracy depends on the system.
Leading spaces are used to make the string align nicely. You
can use split() to remove it.
echo split(reltimestr(reltime(start)))[0]
Also see profiling.
{only available when compiled with the |+reltime| feature}
remote_expr() E449
remote_expr({server}, {string} [, {idvar} [, {timeout}]])
Send the {string} to {server}. The string is sent as an
expression and the result is returned after evaluation.
The result must be a String or a List. A List is turned
into a String by joining the items with a line break in
between (not at the end), like with join(expr, "\n").
If {idvar} is present and not empty, it is taken as the name
of a variable and a {serverid} for later use with
remote_read() is stored there.
If {timeout} is given the read times out after this many
seconds. Otherwise a timeout of 600 seconds is used.
See also clientserver RemoteReply.
This function is not available in the sandbox.
{only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
Note: Any errors will cause a local error message to be issued
and the result will be the empty string.
Variables will be evaluated in the global namespace,
independent of a function currently being active. Except
when in debug mode, then local function variables and
arguments can be evaluated.
Examples:
:echo remote_expr("gvim", "2+2")
:echo remote_expr("gvim1", "b:current_syntax")
remote_foreground({server}) remote_foreground()
Move the Vim server with the name {server} to the foreground.
This works like:
remote_expr({server}, "foreground()")
Except that on Win32 systems the client does the work, to work
around the problem that the OS doesn't always allow the server
to bring itself to the foreground.
Note: This does not restore the window if it was minimized,
like foreground() does.
This function is not available in the sandbox.
{only in the Win32, Athena, Motif and GTK GUI versions and the
Win32 console version}
remote_peek({serverid} [, {retvar}]) remote_peek()
Returns a positive number if there are available strings
from {serverid}. Copies any reply string into the variable
{retvar} if specified. {retvar} must be a string with the
name of a variable.
Returns zero if none are available.
Returns -1 if something is wrong.
See also clientserver.
This function is not available in the sandbox.
{only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
Examples:
:let repl = ""
:echo "PEEK: ".remote_peek(id, "repl").": ".repl
remote_read({serverid}, [{timeout}]) remote_read()
Return the oldest available reply from {serverid} and consume
it. Unless a {timeout} in seconds is given, it blocks until a
reply is available.
See also clientserver.
This function is not available in the sandbox.
{only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
Example:
:echo remote_read(id)
remote_send() E241
remote_send({server}, {string} [, {idvar}])
Send the {string} to {server}. The string is sent as input
keys and the function returns immediately. At the Vim server
the keys are not mapped :map.
If {idvar} is present, it is taken as the name of a variable
and a {serverid} for later use with remote_read() is stored
there.
See also clientserver RemoteReply.
This function is not available in the sandbox.
{only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
Note: Any errors will be reported in the server and may mess
up the display.
Examples:
:echo remote_send("gvim", ":DropAndReply ".file, "serverid").
\ remote_read(serverid)
:autocmd NONE RemoteReply *
\ echo remote_read(expand("<amatch>"))
:echo remote_send("gvim", ":sleep 10 | echo ".
\ 'server2client(expand("<client>"), "HELLO")<CR>')
remote_startserver() E941 E942
remote_startserver({name})
Become the server {name}. This fails if already running as a
server, when v:servername is not empty.
{only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
remove({list}, {idx} [, {end}]) remove()
Without {end}: Remove the item at {idx} from List {list} and
return the item.
With {end}: Remove items from {idx} to {end} (inclusive) and
return a List with these items. When {idx} points to the same
item as {end} a list with one item is returned. When {end}
points to an item before {idx} this is an error.
See list-index for possible values of {idx} and {end}.
Example:
:echo "last item: " . remove(mylist, -1)
:call remove(mylist, 0, 9)
Use delete() to remove a file.
remove({blob}, {idx} [, {end}])
Without {end}: Remove the byte at {idx} from Blob {blob} and
return the byte.
With {end}: Remove bytes from {idx} to {end} (inclusive) and
return a Blob with these bytes. When {idx} points to the same
byte as {end} a Blob with one byte is returned. When {end}
points to a byte before {idx} this is an error.
Example:
:echo "last byte: " . remove(myblob, -1)
:call remove(mylist, 0, 9)
remove({dict}, {key})
Remove the entry from {dict} with key {key}. Example:
:echo "removed " . remove(dict, "one")
If there is no {key} in {dict} this is an error.
rename({from}, {to}) rename()
Rename the file by the name {from} to the name {to}. This
should also work to move files across file systems. The
result is a Number, which is 0 if the file was renamed
successfully, and non-zero when the renaming failed.
NOTE: If {to} exists it is overwritten without warning.
This function is not available in the sandbox.
repeat({expr}, {count}) repeat()
Repeat {expr} {count} times and return the concatenated
result. Example:
:let separator = repeat('-', 80)
When {count} is zero or negative the result is empty.
When {expr} is a List the result is {expr} concatenated
{count} times. Example:
:let longlist = repeat(['a', 'b'], 3)
Results in ['a', 'b', 'a', 'b', 'a', 'b'].
resolve({filename}) resolve() E655
On MS-Windows, when {filename} is a shortcut (a .lnk file),
returns the path the shortcut points to in a simplified form.
When {filename} is a symbolic link or junction point, return
the full path to the target. If the target of junction is
removed, return {filename}.
On Unix, repeat resolving symbolic links in all path
components of {filename} and return the simplified result.
To cope with link cycles, resolving of symbolic links is
stopped after 100 iterations.
On other systems, return the simplified {filename}.
The simplification step is done as by simplify().
resolve() keeps a leading path component specifying the
current directory (provided the result is still a relative
path name) and also keeps a trailing path separator.
reverse()
reverse({object})
Reverse the order of items in {object} in-place.
{object} can be a List or a Blob.
Returns {object}.
If you want an object to remain unmodified make a copy first:
:let revlist = reverse(copy(mylist))
round({expr}) round()
Round off {expr} to the nearest integral value and return it
as a Float. If {expr} lies halfway between two integral
values, then use the larger one (away from zero).
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
echo round(0.456)
0.0
echo round(4.5)
5.0
echo round(-4.5)
-5.0
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
rubyeval({expr}) rubyeval()
Evaluate Ruby expression {expr} and return its result
converted to Vim data structures.
Numbers, floats and strings are returned as they are (strings
are copied though).
Arrays are represented as Vim List type.
Hashes are represented as Vim Dictionary type.
Other objects are represented as strings resulted from their
"Object#to_s" method.
{only available when compiled with the |+ruby| feature}
screenattr({row}, {col}) screenattr()
Like screenchar(), but return the attribute. This is a rather
arbitrary number that can only be used to compare to the
attribute at other positions.
screenchar({row}, {col}) screenchar()
The result is a Number, which is the character at position
[row, col] on the screen. This works for every possible
screen position, also status lines, window separators and the
command line. The top left position is row one, column one
The character excludes composing characters. For double-byte
encodings it may only be the first byte.
This is mainly to be used for testing.
Returns -1 when row or col is out of range.
screenchars({row}, {col}) screenchars()
The result is a List of Numbers. The first number is the same
as what screenchar() returns. Further numbers are
composing characters on top of the base character.
This is mainly to be used for testing.
Returns an empty List when row or col is out of range.
screencol() screencol()
The result is a Number, which is the current screen column of
the cursor. The leftmost column has number 1.
This function is mainly used for testing.
Note: Always returns the current screen column, thus if used
in a command (e.g. ":echo screencol()") it will return the
column inside the command line, which is 1 when the command is
executed. To get the cursor position in the file use one of
the following mappings:
nnoremap <expr> GG ":echom ".screencol()."\n"
nnoremap <silent> GG :echom screencol()<CR>
screenrow() screenrow()
The result is a Number, which is the current screen row of the
cursor. The top line has number one.
This function is mainly used for testing.
Alternatively you can use winline().
Note: Same restrictions as with screencol().
screenstring({row}, {col}) screenstring()
The result is a String that contains the base character and
any composing characters at position [row, col] on the screen.
This is like screenchars() but returning a String with the
characters.
This is mainly to be used for testing.
Returns an empty String when row or col is out of range.
search({pattern} [, {flags} [, {stopline} [, {timeout}]]]) search()
Search for regexp pattern {pattern}. The search starts at the
cursor position (you can use cursor() to set it).
When a match has been found its line number is returned.
If there is no match a 0 is returned and the cursor doesn't
move. No error message is given.
{flags} is a String, which can contain these character flags:
'b' search Backward instead of forward
'c' accept a match at the Cursor position
'e' move to the End of the match
'n' do Not move the cursor
'p' return number of matching sub-Pattern (see below)
's' Set the ' mark at the previous location of the cursor
'w' Wrap around the end of the file
'W' don't Wrap around the end of the file
'z' start searching at the cursor column instead of zero
If neither 'w' or 'W' is given, the 'wrapscan' option applies.
If the 's' flag is supplied, the ' mark is set, only if the
cursor is moved. The 's' flag cannot be combined with the 'n'
flag.
'ignorecase', 'smartcase' and 'magic' are used.
When the 'z' flag is not given, searching always starts in
column zero and then matches before the cursor are skipped.
When the 'c' flag is present in 'cpo' the next search starts
after the match. Without the 'c' flag the next search starts
one column further.
When the {stopline} argument is given then the search stops
after searching this line. This is useful to restrict the
search to a range of lines. Examples:
let match = search('(', 'b', line("w0"))
let end = search('END', '', line("w$"))
When {stopline} is used and it is not zero this also implies
that the search does not wrap around the end of the file.
A zero value is equal to not giving the argument.
When the {timeout} argument is given the search stops when
more than this many milliseconds have passed. Thus when
{timeout} is 500 the search stops after half a second.
The value must not be negative. A zero value is like not
giving the argument.
{only available when compiled with the |+reltime| feature}
search()-sub-match
With the 'p' flag the returned value is one more than the
first sub-match in \(\). One if none of them matched but the
whole pattern did match.
To get the column number too use searchpos().
The cursor will be positioned at the match, unless the 'n'
flag is used.
Example (goes over all files in the argument list):
:let n = 1
:while n <= argc() " loop over all files in arglist
: exe "argument " . n
: " start at the last char in the file and wrap for the
: " first search to find match at start of file
: normal G$
: let flags = "w"
: while search("foo", flags) > 0
: s/foo/bar/g
: let flags = "W"
: endwhile
: update " write the file if modified
: let n = n + 1
:endwhile
Example for using some flags:
:echo search('\<if\|\(else\)\|\(endif\)', 'ncpe')
This will search for the keywords "if", "else", and "endif"
under or after the cursor. Because of the 'p' flag, it
returns 1, 2, or 3 depending on which keyword is found, or 0
if the search fails. With the cursor on the first word of the
line:
if (foo == 0) | let foo = foo + 1 | endif
the function returns 1. Without the 'c' flag, the function
finds the "endif" and returns 3. The same thing happens
without the 'e' flag if the cursor is on the "f" of "if".
The 'n' flag tells the function not to move the cursor.
searchdecl({name} [, {global} [, {thisblock}]]) searchdecl()
Search for the declaration of {name}.
With a non-zero {global} argument it works like gD, find
first match in the file. Otherwise it works like gd, find
first match in the function.
With a non-zero {thisblock} argument matches in a {} block
that ends before the cursor position are ignored. Avoids
finding variable declarations only valid in another scope.
Moves the cursor to the found match.
Returns zero for success, non-zero for failure.
Example:
if searchdecl('myvar') == 0
echo getline('.')
endif
searchpair()
searchpair({start}, {middle}, {end} [, {flags} [, {skip}
[, {stopline} [, {timeout}]]]])
Search for the match of a nested start-end pair. This can be
used to find the "endif" that matches an "if", while other
if/endif pairs in between are ignored.
The search starts at the cursor. The default is to search
forward, include 'b' in {flags} to search backward.
If a match is found, the cursor is positioned at it and the
line number is returned. If no match is found 0 or -1 is
returned and the cursor doesn't move. No error message is
given.
{start}, {middle} and {end} are patterns, see pattern. They
must not contain \( \) pairs. Use of \%( \) is allowed. When
{middle} is not empty, it is found when searching from either
direction, but only when not in a nested start-end pair. A
typical use is:
searchpair('\<if\>', '\<else\>', '\<endif\>')
By leaving {middle} empty the "else" is skipped.
{flags} 'b', 'c', 'n', 's', 'w' and 'W' are used like with
search(). Additionally:
'r' Repeat until no more matches found; will find the
outer pair. Implies the 'W' flag.
'm' Return number of matches instead of line number with
the match; will be > 1 when 'r' is used.
Note: it's nearly always a good idea to use the 'W' flag, to
avoid wrapping around the end of the file.
When a match for {start}, {middle} or {end} is found, the
{skip} expression is evaluated with the cursor positioned on
the start of the match. It should return non-zero if this
match is to be skipped. E.g., because it is inside a comment
or a string.
When {skip} is omitted or empty, every match is accepted.
When evaluating {skip} causes an error the search is aborted
and -1 returned.
{skip} can be a string, a lambda, a funcref or a partial.
Anything else makes the function fail.
For {stopline} and {timeout} see search().
The value of 'ignorecase' is used. 'magic' is ignored, the
patterns are used like it's on.
The search starts exactly at the cursor. A match with
{start}, {middle} or {end} at the next character, in the
direction of searching, is the first one found. Example:
if 1
if 2
endif 2
endif 1
When starting at the "if 2", with the cursor on the "i", and
searching forwards, the "endif 2" is found. When starting on
the character just before the "if 2", the "endif 1" will be
found. That's because the "if 2" will be found first, and
then this is considered to be a nested if/endif from "if 2" to
"endif 2".
When searching backwards and {end} is more than one character,
it may be useful to put "\zs" at the end of the pattern, so
that when the cursor is inside a match with the end it finds
the matching start.
Example, to find the "endif" command in a Vim script:
:echo searchpair('\<if\>', '\<el\%[seif]\>', '\<en\%[dif]\>', 'W',
\ 'getline(".") =~ "^\\s*\""')
The cursor must be at or after the "if" for which a match is
to be found. Note that single-quote strings are used to avoid
having to double the backslashes. The skip expression only
catches comments at the start of a line, not after a command.
Also, a word "en" or "if" halfway a line is considered a
match.
Another example, to search for the matching "{" of a "}":
:echo searchpair('{', '', '}', 'bW')
This works when the cursor is at or before the "}" for which a
match is to be found. To reject matches that syntax
highlighting recognized as strings:
:echo searchpair('{', '', '}', 'bW',
\ 'synIDattr(synID(line("."), col("."), 0), "name") =~? "string"')
searchpairpos()
searchpairpos({start}, {middle}, {end} [, {flags} [, {skip}
[, {stopline} [, {timeout}]]]])
Same as searchpair(), but returns a List with the line and
column position of the match. The first element of the List
is the line number and the second element is the byte index of
the column position of the match. If no match is found,
returns [0, 0].
:let [lnum,col] = searchpairpos('{', '', '}', 'n')
See match-parens for a bigger and more useful example.
searchpos({pattern} [, {flags} [, {stopline} [, {timeout}]]]) searchpos()
Same as search(), but returns a List with the line and
column position of the match. The first element of the List
is the line number and the second element is the byte index of
the column position of the match. If no match is found,
returns [0, 0].
Example:
:let [lnum, col] = searchpos('mypattern', 'n')
When the 'p' flag is given then there is an extra item with
the sub-pattern match number search()-sub-match. Example:
:let [lnum, col, submatch] = searchpos('\(\l\)\|\(\u\)', 'np')
In this example "submatch" is 2 when a lowercase letter is
found /\l, 3 when an uppercase letter is found /\u.
server2client({clientid}, {string}) server2client()
Send a reply string to {clientid}. The most recent {clientid}
that sent a string can be retrieved with expand("<client>").
{only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
Note:
This id has to be stored before the next command can be
received. I.e. before returning from the received command and
before calling any commands that waits for input.
See also clientserver.
Example:
:echo server2client(expand("<client>"), "HELLO")
serverlist() serverlist()
Return a list of available server names, one per line.
When there are no servers or the information is not available
an empty string is returned. See also clientserver.
{only available when compiled with the |+clientserver| feature}
Example:
:echo serverlist()
setbufline({expr}, {lnum}, {text}) setbufline()
Set line {lnum} to {text} in buffer {expr}. To insert
lines use append(). Any text properties in {lnum} are
cleared.
For the use of {expr}, see bufname() above.
{lnum} is used like with setline().
This works like setline() for the specified buffer.
When {expr} is not a valid buffer or {lnum} is not valid then
1 is returned. On success 0 is returned.
setbufvar({expr}, {varname}, {val}) setbufvar()
Set option or local variable {varname} in buffer {expr} to
{val}.
This also works for a global or local window option, but it
doesn't work for a global or local window variable.
For a local window option the global value is unchanged.
For the use of {expr}, see bufname() above.
Note that the variable name without "b:" must be used.
Examples:
:call setbufvar(1, "&mod", 1)
:call setbufvar("todo", "myvar", "foobar")
This function is not available in the sandbox.
setcharsearch({dict}) setcharsearch()
Set the current character search information to {dict},
which contains one or more of the following entries:
char character which will be used for a subsequent
, or ; command; an empty string clears the
character search
forward direction of character search; 1 for forward,
0 for backward
until type of character search; 1 for a t or T
character search, 0 for an f or F
character search
This can be useful to save/restore a user's character search
from a script:
:let prevsearch = getcharsearch()
:" Perform a command which clobbers user's search
:call setcharsearch(prevsearch)
Also see getcharsearch().
setcmdpos({pos}) setcmdpos()
Set the cursor position in the command line to byte position
{pos}. The first position is 1.
Use getcmdpos() to obtain the current position.
Only works while editing the command line, thus you must use
c_CTRL-\_e, c_CTRL-R_= or c_CTRL-R_CTRL-R with '='. For
c_CTRL-\_e and c_CTRL-R_CTRL-R with '=' the position is
set after the command line is set to the expression. For
c_CTRL-R_= it is set after evaluating the expression but
before inserting the resulting text.
When the number is too big the cursor is put at the end of the
line. A number smaller than one has undefined results.
Returns 0 when successful, 1 when not editing the command
line.
setenv({name}, {val}) setenv()
Set environment variable {name} to {val}.
When {val} is v:null the environment variable is deleted.
See also expr-env.
setfperm({fname}, {mode}) setfperm() chmod
Set the file permissions for {fname} to {mode}.
{mode} must be a string with 9 characters. It is of the form
"rwxrwxrwx", where each group of "rwx" flags represent, in
turn, the permissions of the owner of the file, the group the
file belongs to, and other users. A '-' character means the
permission is off, any other character means on. Multi-byte
characters are not supported.
For example "rw-r-----" means read-write for the user,
readable by the group, not accessible by others. "xx-x-----"
would do the same thing.
Returns non-zero for success, zero for failure.
To read permissions see getfperm().
setline({lnum}, {text}) setline()
Set line {lnum} of the current buffer to {text}. To insert
lines use append(). To set lines in another buffer use
setbufline(). Any text properties in {lnum} are cleared.
{lnum} is used like with getline().
When {lnum} is just below the last line the {text} will be
added as a new line.
If this succeeds, 0 is returned. If this fails (most likely
because {lnum} is invalid) 1 is returned.
Example:
:call setline(5, strftime("%c"))
When {text} is a List then line {lnum} and following lines
will be set to the items in the list. Example:
:call setline(5, ['aaa', 'bbb', 'ccc'])
This is equivalent to:
:for [n, l] in [[5, 'aaa'], [6, 'bbb'], [7, 'ccc']]
: call setline(n, l)
:endfor
Note: The '[ and '] marks are not set.
setloclist({nr}, {list} [, {action} [, {what}]]) setloclist()
Create or replace or add to the location list for window {nr}.
{nr} can be the window number or the window-ID.
When {nr} is zero the current window is used.
For a location list window, the displayed location list is
modified. For an invalid window number {nr}, -1 is returned.
Otherwise, same as setqflist().
Also see location-list.
If the optional {what} dictionary argument is supplied, then
only the items listed in {what} are set. Refer to setqflist()
for the list of supported keys in {what}.
setmatches({list} [, {win}]) setmatches()
Restores a list of matches saved by |getmatches() for the
current window|. Returns 0 if successful, otherwise -1. All
current matches are cleared before the list is restored. See
example for getmatches().
If {win} is specified, use the window with this number or
window ID instead of the current window.
setpos()
setpos({expr}, {list})
Set the position for {expr}. Possible values:
. the cursor
'x mark x
{list} must be a List with four or five numbers:
[bufnum, lnum, col, off]
[bufnum, lnum, col, off, curswant]
"bufnum" is the buffer number. Zero can be used for the
current buffer. When setting an uppercase mark "bufnum" is
used for the mark position. For other marks it specifies the
buffer to set the mark in. You can use the bufnr() function
to turn a file name into a buffer number.
For setting the cursor and the ' mark "bufnum" is ignored,
since these are associated with a window, not a buffer.
Does not change the jumplist.
"lnum" and "col" are the position in the buffer. The first
column is 1. Use a zero "lnum" to delete a mark. If "col" is
smaller than 1 then 1 is used.
The "off" number is only used when 'virtualedit' is set. Then
it is the offset in screen columns from the start of the
character. E.g., a position within a <Tab> or after the last
character.
The "curswant" number is only used when setting the cursor
position. It sets the preferred column for when moving the
cursor vertically. When the "curswant" number is missing the
preferred column is not set. When it is present and setting a
mark position it is not used.
Note that for '< and '> changing the line number may result in
the marks to be effectively be swapped, so that '< is always
before '>.
Returns 0 when the position could be set, -1 otherwise.
An error message is given if {expr} is invalid.
Also see getpos() and getcurpos().
This does not restore the preferred column for moving
vertically; if you set the cursor position with this, j and
k motions will jump to previous columns! Use cursor() to
also set the preferred column. Also see the "curswant" key in
winrestview().
setqflist({list} [, {action} [, {what}]]) setqflist()
Create or replace or add to the quickfix list.
When {what} is not present, use the items in {list}. Each
item must be a dictionary. Non-dictionary items in {list} are
ignored. Each dictionary item can contain the following
entries:
bufnr buffer number; must be the number of a valid
buffer
filename name of a file; only used when "bufnr" is not
present or it is invalid.
module name of a module; if given it will be used in
quickfix error window instead of the filename.
lnum line number in the file
pattern search pattern used to locate the error
col column number
vcol when non-zero: "col" is visual column
when zero: "col" is byte index
nr error number
text description of the error
type single-character error type, 'E', 'W', etc.
valid recognized error message
The "col", "vcol", "nr", "type" and "text" entries are
optional. Either "lnum" or "pattern" entry can be used to
locate a matching error line.
If the "filename" and "bufnr" entries are not present or
neither the "lnum" or "pattern" entries are present, then the
item will not be handled as an error line.
If both "pattern" and "lnum" are present then "pattern" will
be used.
If the "valid" entry is not supplied, then the valid flag is
set when "bufnr" is a valid buffer or "filename" exists.
If you supply an empty {list}, the quickfix list will be
cleared.
Note that the list is not exactly the same as what
getqflist() returns.
{action} values: E927
'a' The items from {list} are added to the existing
quickfix list. If there is no existing list, then a
new list is created.
'r' The items from the current quickfix list are replaced
with the items from {list}. This can also be used to
clear the list:
:call setqflist([], 'r')
'f' All the quickfix lists in the quickfix stack are
freed.
If {action} is not present or is set to ' ', then a new list
is created. The new quickfix list is added after the current
quickfix list in the stack and all the following lists are
freed. To add a new quickfix list at the end of the stack,
set "nr" in {what} to "$".
If the optional {what} dictionary argument is supplied, then
only the items listed in {what} are set. The first {list}
argument is ignored. The following items can be specified in
{what}:
context quickfix list context. See quickfix-context
efm errorformat to use when parsing text from
"lines". If this is not present, then the
'errorformat' option value is used.
See quickfix-parse
id quickfix list identifier quickfix-ID
idx index of the current entry in the quickfix
list specified by 'id' or 'nr'. If set to '$',
then the last entry in the list is set as the
current entry. See quickfix-index
items list of quickfix entries. Same as the {list}
argument.
lines use 'errorformat' to parse a list of lines and
add the resulting entries to the quickfix list
{nr} or {id}. Only a List value is supported.
See quickfix-parse
nr list number in the quickfix stack; zero
means the current quickfix list and "$" means
the last quickfix list.
title quickfix list title text. See quickfix-title
Unsupported keys in {what} are ignored.
If the "nr" item is not present, then the current quickfix list
is modified. When creating a new quickfix list, "nr" can be
set to a value one greater than the quickfix stack size.
When modifying a quickfix list, to guarantee that the correct
list is modified, "id" should be used instead of "nr" to
specify the list.
Examples (See also setqflist-examples):
:call setqflist([], 'r', {'title': 'My search'})
:call setqflist([], 'r', {'nr': 2, 'title': 'Errors'})
:call setqflist([], 'a', {'id':qfid, 'lines':["F1:10:L10"]})
Returns zero for success, -1 for failure.
This function can be used to create a quickfix list
independent of the 'errorformat' setting. Use a command like
`:cc 1` to jump to the first position.
setreg()
setreg({regname}, {value} [, {options}])
Set the register {regname} to {value}.
{value} may be any value returned by getreg(), including
a List.
If {options} contains "a" or {regname} is upper case,
then the value is appended.
{options} can also contain a register type specification:
"c" or "v" characterwise mode
"l" or "V" linewise mode
"b" or "<CTRL-V>" blockwise-visual mode
If a number immediately follows "b" or "<CTRL-V>" then this is
used as the width of the selection - if it is not specified
then the width of the block is set to the number of characters
in the longest line (counting a <Tab> as 1 character).
If {options} contains no register settings, then the default
is to use character mode unless {value} ends in a <NL> for
string {value} and linewise mode for list {value}. Blockwise
mode is never selected automatically.
Returns zero for success, non-zero for failure.
E883
Note: you may not use List containing more than one item to
set search and expression registers. Lists containing no
items act like empty strings.
Examples:
:call setreg(v:register, @*)
:call setreg('*', @%, 'ac')
:call setreg('a', "1\n2\n3", 'b5')
This example shows using the functions to save and restore a
register:
:let var_a = getreg('a', 1, 1)
:let var_amode = getregtype('a')
....
:call setreg('a', var_a, var_amode)
Note: you may not reliably restore register value
without using the third argument to getreg() as without it
newlines are represented as newlines AND Nul bytes are
represented as newlines as well, see NL-used-for-Nul.
You can also change the type of a register by appending
nothing:
:call setreg('a', '', 'al')
settabvar({tabnr}, {varname}, {val}) settabvar()
Set tab-local variable {varname} to {val} in tab page {tabnr}.
t:var
Note that autocommands are blocked, side effects may not be
triggered, e.g. when setting 'filetype'.
Note that the variable name without "t:" must be used.
Tabs are numbered starting with one.
This function is not available in the sandbox.
settabwinvar({tabnr}, {winnr}, {varname}, {val}) settabwinvar()
Set option or local variable {varname} in window {winnr} to
{val}.
Tabs are numbered starting with one. For the current tabpage
use setwinvar().
{winnr} can be the window number or the window-ID.
When {winnr} is zero the current window is used.
Note that autocommands are blocked, side effects may not be
triggered, e.g. when setting 'filetype' or 'syntax'.
This also works for a global or local buffer option, but it
doesn't work for a global or local buffer variable.
For a local buffer option the global value is unchanged.
Note that the variable name without "w:" must be used.
Examples:
:call settabwinvar(1, 1, "&list", 0)
:call settabwinvar(3, 2, "myvar", "foobar")
This function is not available in the sandbox.
settagstack({nr}, {dict} [, {action}]) settagstack()
Modify the tag stack of the window {nr} using {dict}.
{nr} can be the window number or the window-ID.
For a list of supported items in {dict}, refer to
gettagstack()
E962
If {action} is not present or is set to 'r', then the tag
stack is replaced. If {action} is set to 'a', then new entries
from {dict} are pushed onto the tag stack.
Returns zero for success, -1 for failure.
Examples:
Set current index of the tag stack to 4:
call settagstack(1005, {'curidx' : 4})
Empty the tag stack of window 3:
call settagstack(3, {'items' : []})
Push a new item onto the tag stack:
let pos = [bufnr('myfile.txt'), 10, 1, 0]
let newtag = [{'tagname' : 'mytag', 'from' : pos}]
call settagstack(2, {'items' : newtag}, 'a')
Save and restore the tag stack:
let stack = gettagstack(1003)
" do something else
call settagstack(1003, stack)
unlet stack
setwinvar({nr}, {varname}, {val}) setwinvar()
Like settabwinvar() for the current tab page.
Examples:
:call setwinvar(1, "&list", 0)
:call setwinvar(2, "myvar", "foobar")
sha256({string}) sha256()
Returns a String with 64 hex characters, which is the SHA256
checksum of {string}.
{only available when compiled with the |+cryptv| feature}
shellescape({string} [, {special}]) shellescape()
Escape {string} for use as a shell command argument.
On MS-Windows and MS-DOS, when 'shellslash' is not set, it
will enclose {string} in double quotes and double all double
quotes within {string}.
Otherwise it will enclose {string} in single quotes and
replace all "'" with "'\''".
When the {special} argument is present and it's a non-zero
Number or a non-empty String (non-zero-arg), then special
items such as "!", "%", "#" and "<cword>" will be preceded by
a backslash. This backslash will be removed again by the :!
command.
The "!" character will be escaped (again with a non-zero-arg
{special}) when 'shell' contains "csh" in the tail. That is
because for csh and tcsh "!" is used for history replacement
even when inside single quotes.
With a non-zero-arg {special} the <NL> character is also
escaped. When 'shell' containing "csh" in the tail it's
escaped a second time.
Example of use with a :! command:
:exe '!dir ' . shellescape(expand('<cfile>'), 1)
This results in a directory listing for the file under the
cursor. Example of use with system():
:call system("chmod +w -- " . shellescape(expand("%")))
See also ::S.
shiftwidth([{col}]) shiftwidth()
Returns the effective value of 'shiftwidth'. This is the
'shiftwidth' value unless it is zero, in which case it is the
'tabstop' value. This function was introduced with patch
7.3.694 in 2012, everybody should have it by now (however it
did not allow for the optional {col} argument until 8.1.542).
When there is one argument {col} this is used as column number
for which to return the 'shiftwidth' value. This matters for the
'vartabstop' feature. If the 'vartabstop' setting is enabled and
no {col} argument is given, column 1 will be assumed.
sign_define({name} [, {dict}]) sign_define()
Define a new sign named {name} or modify the attributes of an
existing sign. This is similar to the :sign-define command.
Prefix {name} with a unique text to avoid name collisions.
There is no {group} like with placing signs.
The {name} can be a String or a Number. The optional {dict}
argument specifies the sign attributes. The following values
are supported:
icon full path to the bitmap file for the sign.
linehl highlight group used for the whole line the
sign is placed in.
text text that is displayed when there is no icon
or the GUI is not being used.
texthl highlight group used for the text item
If the sign named {name} already exists, then the attributes
of the sign are updated.
Returns 0 on success and -1 on failure.
Examples:
call sign_define("mySign", {"text" : "=>", "texthl" :
\ "Error", "linehl" : "Search"})
sign_getdefined([{name}]) sign_getdefined()
Get a list of defined signs and their attributes.
This is similar to the :sign-list command.
If the {name} is not supplied, then a list of all the defined
signs is returned. Otherwise the attribute of the specified
sign is returned.
Each list item in the returned value is a dictionary with the
following entries:
icon full path to the bitmap file of the sign
linehl highlight group used for the whole line the
sign is placed in.
name name of the sign
text text that is displayed when there is no icon
or the GUI is not being used.
texthl highlight group used for the text item
Returns an empty List if there are no signs and when {name} is
not found.
Examples:
" Get a list of all the defined signs
echo sign_getdefined()
" Get the attribute of the sign named mySign
echo sign_getdefined("mySign")
sign_getplaced([{expr} [, {dict}]]) sign_getplaced()
Return a list of signs placed in a buffer or all the buffers.
This is similar to the :sign-place-list command.
If the optional buffer name {expr} is specified, then only the
list of signs placed in that buffer is returned. For the use
of {expr}, see bufname(). The optional {dict} can contain
the following entries:
group select only signs in this group
id select sign with this identifier
lnum select signs placed in this line. For the use
of {lnum}, see line().
If {group} is '*', then signs in all the groups including the
global group are returned. If {group} is not supplied or is an
empty string, then only signs in the global group are
returned. If no arguments are supplied, then signs in the
global group placed in all the buffers are returned.
See sign-group.
Each list item in the returned value is a dictionary with the
following entries:
bufnr number of the buffer with the sign
signs list of signs placed in {bufnr}. Each list
item is a dictionary with the below listed
entries
The dictionary for each sign contains the following entries:
group sign group. Set to '' for the global group.
id identifier of the sign
lnum line number where the sign is placed
name name of the defined sign
priority sign priority
The returned signs in a buffer are ordered by their line
number and priority.
Returns an empty list on failure or if there are no placed
signs.
Examples:
" Get a List of signs placed in eval.c in the
" global group
echo sign_getplaced("eval.c")
" Get a List of signs in group 'g1' placed in eval.c
echo sign_getplaced("eval.c", {'group' : 'g1'})
" Get a List of signs placed at line 10 in eval.c
echo sign_getplaced("eval.c", {'lnum' : 10})
" Get sign with identifier 10 placed in a.py
echo sign_getplaced("a.py", {'id' : 10})
" Get sign with id 20 in group 'g1' placed in a.py
echo sign_getplaced("a.py", {'group' : 'g1',
\ 'id' : 20})
" Get a List of all the placed signs
echo sign_getplaced()
sign_jump()
sign_jump({id}, {group}, {expr})
Open the buffer {expr} or jump to the window that contains
{expr} and position the cursor at sign {id} in group {group}.
This is similar to the :sign-jump command.
For the use of {expr}, see bufname().
Returns the line number of the sign. Returns -1 if the
arguments are invalid.
Example:
" Jump to sign 10 in the current buffer
call sign_jump(10, '', '')
sign_place()
sign_place({id}, {group}, {name}, {expr} [, {dict}])
Place the sign defined as {name} at line {lnum} in file {expr}
and assign {id} and {group} to sign. This is similar to the
:sign-place command.
If the sign identifier {id} is zero, then a new identifier is
allocated. Otherwise the specified number is used. {group} is
the sign group name. To use the global sign group, use an
empty string. {group} functions as a namespace for {id}, thus
two groups can use the same IDs. Refer to sign-identifier
and sign-group for more information.
{name} refers to a defined sign.
{expr} refers to a buffer name or number. For the accepted
values, see bufname().
The optional {dict} argument supports the following entries:
lnum line number in the buffer {expr} where
the sign is to be placed. For the
accepted values, see line().
priority priority of the sign. See
sign-priority for more information.
If the optional {dict} is not specified, then it modifies the
placed sign {id} in group {group} to use the defined sign
{name}.
Returns the sign identifier on success and -1 on failure.
Examples:
" Place a sign named sign1 with id 5 at line 20 in
" buffer json.c
call sign_place(5, '', 'sign1', 'json.c',
\ {'lnum' : 20})
" Updates sign 5 in buffer json.c to use sign2
call sign_place(5, '', 'sign2', 'json.c')
" Place a sign named sign3 at line 30 in
" buffer json.c with a new identifier
let id = sign_place(0, '', 'sign3', 'json.c',
\ {'lnum' : 30})
" Place a sign named sign4 with id 10 in group 'g3'
" at line 40 in buffer json.c with priority 90
call sign_place(10, 'g3', 'sign4', 'json.c',
\ {'lnum' : 40, 'priority' : 90})
sign_undefine([{name}]) sign_undefine()
Deletes a previously defined sign {name}. This is similar to
the :sign-undefine command. If {name} is not supplied, then
deletes all the defined signs.
Returns 0 on success and -1 on failure.
Examples:
" Delete a sign named mySign
call sign_undefine("mySign")
" Delete all the signs
call sign_undefine()
sign_unplace({group} [, {dict}]) sign_unplace()
Remove a previously placed sign in one or more buffers. This
is similar to the :sign-unplace command.
{group} is the sign group name. To use the global sign group,
use an empty string. If {group} is set to '*', then all the
groups including the global group are used.
The signs in {group} are selected based on the entries in
{dict}. The following optional entries in {dict} are
supported:
buffer buffer name or number. See bufname().
id sign identifier
If {dict} is not supplied, then all the signs in {group} are
removed.
Returns 0 on success and -1 on failure.
Examples:
" Remove sign 10 from buffer a.vim
call sign_unplace('', {'buffer' : "a.vim", 'id' : 10})
" Remove sign 20 in group 'g1' from buffer 3
call sign_unplace('g1', {'buffer' : 3, 'id' : 20})
" Remove all the signs in group 'g2' from buffer 10
call sign_unplace('g2', {'buffer' : 10})
" Remove sign 30 in group 'g3' from all the buffers
call sign_unplace('g3', {'id' : 30})
" Remove all the signs placed in buffer 5
call sign_unplace('*', {'buffer' : 5})
" Remove the signs in group 'g4' from all the buffers
call sign_unplace('g4')
" Remove sign 40 from all the buffers
call sign_unplace('*', {'id' : 40})
" Remove all the placed signs from all the buffers
call sign_unplace('*')
simplify({filename}) simplify()
Simplify the file name as much as possible without changing
the meaning. Shortcuts (on MS-Windows) or symbolic links (on
Unix) are not resolved. If the first path component in
{filename} designates the current directory, this will be
valid for the result as well. A trailing path separator is
not removed either.
Example:
simplify("./dir/.././/file/") == "./file/"
Note: The combination "dir/.." is only removed if "dir" is
a searchable directory or does not exist. On Unix, it is also
removed when "dir" is a symbolic link within the same
directory. In order to resolve all the involved symbolic
links before simplifying the path name, use resolve().
sin({expr}) sin()
Return the sine of {expr}, measured in radians, as a Float.
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
:echo sin(100)
-0.506366
:echo sin(-4.01)
0.763301
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
sinh({expr}) sinh()
Return the hyperbolic sine of {expr} as a Float in the range
[-inf, inf].
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number.
Examples:
:echo sinh(0.5)
0.521095
:echo sinh(-0.9)
-1.026517
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
sort({list} [, {func} [, {dict}]]) sort() E702
Sort the items in {list} in-place. Returns {list}.
If you want a list to remain unmodified make a copy first:
:let sortedlist = sort(copy(mylist))
When {func} is omitted, is empty or zero, then sort() uses the
string representation of each item to sort on. Numbers sort
after Strings, Lists after Numbers. For sorting text in the
current buffer use :sort.
When {func} is given and it is '1' or 'i' then case is
ignored.
When {func} is given and it is 'n' then all items will be
sorted numerical (Implementation detail: This uses the
strtod() function to parse numbers, Strings, Lists, Dicts and
Funcrefs will be considered as being 0).
When {func} is given and it is 'N' then all items will be
sorted numerical. This is like 'n' but a string containing
digits will be used as the number they represent.
When {func} is given and it is 'f' then all items will be
sorted numerical. All values must be a Number or a Float.
When {func} is a Funcref or a function name, this function
is called to compare items. The function is invoked with two
items as argument and must return zero if they are equal, 1 or
bigger if the first one sorts after the second one, -1 or
smaller if the first one sorts before the second one.
{dict} is for functions with the "dict" attribute. It will be
used to set the local variable "self". Dictionary-function
The sort is stable, items which compare equal (as number or as
string) will keep their relative position. E.g., when sorting
on numbers, text strings will sort next to each other, in the
same order as they were originally.
Also see uniq().
Example:
func MyCompare(i1, i2)
return a:i1 == a:i2 ? 0 : a:i1 > a:i2 ? 1 : -1
endfunc
let sortedlist = sort(mylist, "MyCompare")
A shorter compare version for this specific simple case, which
ignores overflow:
func MyCompare(i1, i2)
return a:i1 - a:i2
endfunc
sound_clear() sound_clear()
Stop playing all sounds.
{only available when compiled with the |+sound| feature}
sound_playevent()
sound_playevent({name} [, {callback}])
Play a sound identified by {name}. Which event names are
supported depends on the system. Often the XDG sound names
are used. On Ubuntu they may be found in
/usr/share/sounds/freedesktop/stereo. Example:
call sound_playevent('bell')
On MS-Windows, {name} can be SystemAsterisk, SystemDefault,
SystemExclamation, SystemExit, SystemHand, SystemQuestion,
SystemStart, SystemWelcome, etc.
When {callback} is specified it is invoked when the sound is
finished. The first argument is the sound ID, the second
argument is the status:
0 sound was played to the end
1 sound was interrupted
2 error occured after sound started
Example:
func Callback(id, status)
echomsg "sound " .. a:id .. " finished with " .. a:status
endfunc
call sound_playevent('bell', 'Callback')
MS-Windows: {callback} doesn't work for this function.
Returns the sound ID, which can be passed to sound_stop().
Returns zero if the sound could not be played.
{only available when compiled with the |+sound| feature}
sound_playfile()
sound_playfile({path} [, {callback}])
Like sound_playevent() but play sound file {path}. {path}
must be a full path. On Ubuntu you may find files to play
with this command:
:!find /usr/share/sounds -type f | grep -v index.theme
{only available when compiled with the |+sound| feature}
sound_stop({id}) sound_stop()
Stop playing sound {id}. {id} must be previously returned by
sound_playevent() or sound_playfile().
On MS-Windows, this does not work for event sound started by
sound_playevent(). To stop event sounds, use sound_clear().
{only available when compiled with the |+sound| feature}
soundfold()
soundfold({word})
Return the sound-folded equivalent of {word}. Uses the first
language in 'spelllang' for the current window that supports
soundfolding. 'spell' must be set. When no sound folding is
possible the {word} is returned unmodified.
This can be used for making spelling suggestions. Note that
the method can be quite slow.
spellbadword()
spellbadword([{sentence}])
Without argument: The result is the badly spelled word under
or after the cursor. The cursor is moved to the start of the
bad word. When no bad word is found in the cursor line the
result is an empty string and the cursor doesn't move.
With argument: The result is the first word in {sentence} that
is badly spelled. If there are no spelling mistakes the
result is an empty string.
The return value is a list with two items:
- The badly spelled word or an empty string.
- The type of the spelling error:
"bad" spelling mistake
"rare" rare word
"local" word only valid in another region
"caps" word should start with Capital
Example:
echo spellbadword("the quik brown fox")
['quik', 'bad']
The spelling information for the current window is used. The
'spell' option must be set and the value of 'spelllang' is
used.
spellsuggest()
spellsuggest({word} [, {max} [, {capital}]])
Return a List with spelling suggestions to replace {word}.
When {max} is given up to this number of suggestions are
returned. Otherwise up to 25 suggestions are returned.
When the {capital} argument is given and it's non-zero only
suggestions with a leading capital will be given. Use this
after a match with 'spellcapcheck'.
{word} can be a badly spelled word followed by other text.
This allows for joining two words that were split. The
suggestions also include the following text, thus you can
replace a line.
{word} may also be a good word. Similar words will then be
returned. {word} itself is not included in the suggestions,
although it may appear capitalized.
The spelling information for the current window is used. The
'spell' option must be set and the values of 'spelllang' and
'spellsuggest' are used.
split({expr} [, {pattern} [, {keepempty}]]) split()
Make a List out of {expr}. When {pattern} is omitted or
empty each white-separated sequence of characters becomes an
item.
Otherwise the string is split where {pattern} matches,
removing the matched characters. 'ignorecase' is not used
here, add \c to ignore case. /\c
When the first or last item is empty it is omitted, unless the
{keepempty} argument is given and it's non-zero.
Other empty items are kept when {pattern} matches at least one
character or when {keepempty} is non-zero.
Example:
:let words = split(getline('.'), '\W\+')
To split a string in individual characters:
:for c in split(mystring, '\zs')
If you want to keep the separator you can also use '\zs' at
the end of the pattern:
:echo split('abc:def:ghi', ':\zs')
['abc:', 'def:', 'ghi']
Splitting a table where the first element can be empty:
:let items = split(line, ':', 1)
The opposite function is join().
sqrt({expr}) sqrt()
Return the non-negative square root of Float {expr} as a
Float.
{expr} must evaluate to a Float or a Number. When {expr}
is negative the result is NaN (Not a Number).
Examples:
:echo sqrt(100)
10.0
:echo sqrt(-4.01)
nan
"nan" may be different, it depends on system libraries.
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
str2float({expr}) str2float()
Convert String {expr} to a Float. This mostly works the same
as when using a floating point number in an expression, see
floating-point-format. But it's a bit more permissive.
E.g., "1e40" is accepted, while in an expression you need to
write "1.0e40". The hexadecimal form "0x123" is also
accepted, but not others, like binary or octal.
Text after the number is silently ignored.
The decimal point is always '.', no matter what the locale is
set to. A comma ends the number: "12,345.67" is converted to
12.0. You can strip out thousands separators with
substitute():
let f = str2float(substitute(text, ',', '', 'g'))
{only available when compiled with the |+float| feature}
str2list({expr} [, {utf8}]) str2list()
Return a list containing the number values which represent
each character in String {expr}. Examples:
str2list(" ") returns [32]
str2list("ABC") returns [65, 66, 67]
list2str() does the opposite.
When {utf8} is omitted or zero, the current 'encoding' is used.
With {utf8} set to 1, always treat the String as utf-8
characters. With utf-8 composing characters are handled
properly:
str2list("á") returns [97, 769]
str2nr({expr} [, {base}]) str2nr()
Convert string {expr} to a number.
{base} is the conversion base, it can be 2, 8, 10 or 16.
When {base} is omitted base 10 is used. This also means that
a leading zero doesn't cause octal conversion to be used, as
with the default String to Number conversion.
When {base} is 16 a leading "0x" or "0X" is ignored. With a
different base the result will be zero. Similarly, when
{base} is 8 a leading "0" is ignored, and when {base} is 2 a
leading "0b" or "0B" is ignored.
Text after the number is silently ignored.
strchars({expr} [, {skipcc}]) strchars()
The result is a Number, which is the number of characters
in String {expr}.
When {skipcc} is omitted or zero, composing characters are
counted separately.
When {skipcc} set to 1, Composing characters are ignored.
Also see strlen(), strdisplaywidth() and strwidth().
{skipcc} is only available after 7.4.755. For backward
compatibility, you can define a wrapper function:
if has("patch-7.4.755")
function s:strchars(str, skipcc)
return strchars(a:str, a:skipcc)
endfunction
else
function s:strchars(str, skipcc)
if a:skipcc
return strlen(substitute(a:str, ".", "x", "g"))
else
return strchars(a:str)
endif
endfunction
endif
strcharpart({src}, {start} [, {len}]) strcharpart()
Like strpart() but using character index and length instead
of byte index and length.
When a character index is used where a character does not
exist it is assumed to be one character. For example:
strcharpart('abc', -1, 2)
results in 'a'.
strdisplaywidth({expr} [, {col}]) strdisplaywidth()
The result is a Number, which is the number of display cells
String {expr} occupies on the screen when it starts at {col}
(first column is zero). When {col} is omitted zero is used.
Otherwise it is the screen column where to start. This
matters for Tab characters.
The option settings of the current window are used. This
matters for anything that's displayed differently, such as
'tabstop' and 'display'.
When {expr} contains characters with East Asian Width Class
Ambiguous, this function's return value depends on 'ambiwidth'.
Also see strlen(), strwidth() and strchars().
strftime({format} [, {time}]) strftime()
The result is a String, which is a formatted date and time, as
specified by the {format} string. The given {time} is used,
or the current time if no time is given. The accepted
{format} depends on your system, thus this is not portable!
See the manual page of the C function strftime() for the
format. The maximum length of the result is 80 characters.
See also localtime() and getftime().
The language can be changed with the :language command.
Examples:
:echo strftime("%c") Sun Apr 27 11:49:23 1997
:echo strftime("%Y %b %d %X") 1997 Apr 27 11:53:25
:echo strftime("%y%m%d %T") 970427 11:53:55
:echo strftime("%H:%M") 11:55
:echo strftime("%c", getftime("file.c"))
Show mod time of file.c.
Not available on all systems. To check use:
:if exists("*strftime")
strgetchar({str}, {index}) strgetchar()
Get character {index} from {str}. This uses a character
index, not a byte index. Composing characters are considered
separate characters here.
Also see strcharpart() and strchars().
stridx({haystack}, {needle} [, {start}]) stridx()
The result is a Number, which gives the byte index in
{haystack} of the first occurrence of the String {needle}.
If {start} is specified, the search starts at index {start}.
This can be used to find a second match:
:let colon1 = stridx(line, ":")
:let colon2 = stridx(line, ":", colon1 + 1)
The search is done case-sensitive.
For pattern searches use match().
-1 is returned if the {needle} does not occur in {haystack}.
See also strridx().
Examples:
:echo stridx("An Example", "Example") 3
:echo stridx("Starting point", "Start") 0
:echo stridx("Starting point", "start") -1
strstr() strchr()
stridx() works similar to the C function strstr(). When used
with a single character it works similar to strchr().
string()
string({expr}) Return {expr} converted to a String. If {expr} is a Number,
Float, String, Blob or a composition of them, then the result
can be parsed back with eval().
{expr} type result
String 'string' (single quotes are doubled)
Number 123
Float 123.123456 or 1.123456e8
Funcref function('name')
Blob 0z00112233.44556677.8899
List [item, item]
Dictionary {key: value, key: value}
When a List or Dictionary has a recursive reference it is
replaced by "[...]" or "{...}". Using eval() on the result
will then fail.
Also see strtrans().
strlen()
strlen({expr}) The result is a Number, which is the length of the String
{expr} in bytes.
If the argument is a Number it is first converted to a String.
For other types an error is given.
If you want to count the number of multi-byte characters use
strchars().
Also see len(), strdisplaywidth() and strwidth().
strpart({src}, {start} [, {len}]) strpart()
The result is a String, which is part of {src}, starting from
byte {start}, with the byte length {len}.
To count characters instead of bytes use strcharpart().
When bytes are selected which do not exist, this doesn't
result in an error, the bytes are simply omitted.
If {len} is missing, the copy continues from {start} till the
end of the {src}.
strpart("abcdefg", 3, 2) == "de"
strpart("abcdefg", -2, 4) == "ab"
strpart("abcdefg", 5, 4) == "fg"
strpart("abcdefg", 3) == "defg"
Note: To get the first character, {start} must be 0. For
example, to get three bytes under and after the cursor:
strpart(getline("."), col(".") - 1, 3)
strridx({haystack}, {needle} [, {start}]) strridx()
The result is a Number, which gives the byte index in
{haystack} of the last occurrence of the String {needle}.
When {start} is specified, matches beyond this index are
ignored. This can be used to find a match before a previous
match:
:let lastcomma = strridx(line, ",")
:let comma2 = strridx(line, ",", lastcomma - 1)
The search is done case-sensitive.
For pattern searches use match().
-1 is returned if the {needle} does not occur in {haystack}.
If the {needle} is empty the length of {haystack} is returned.
See also stridx(). Examples:
:echo strridx("an angry armadillo", "an") 3
strrchr()
When used with a single character it works similar to the C
function strrchr().
strtrans({expr}) strtrans()
The result is a String, which is {expr} with all unprintable
characters translated into printable characters 'isprint'.
Like they are shown in a window. Example:
echo strtrans(@a)
This displays a newline in register a as "^@" instead of
starting a new line.
strwidth({expr}) strwidth()
The result is a Number, which is the number of display cells
String {expr} occupies. A Tab character is counted as one
cell, alternatively use strdisplaywidth().
When {expr} contains characters with East Asian Width Class
Ambiguous, this function's return value depends on 'ambiwidth'.
Also see strlen(), strdisplaywidth() and strchars().
submatch({nr} [, {list}]) submatch() E935
Only for an expression in a :substitute command or
substitute() function.
Returns the {nr}'th submatch of the matched text. When {nr}
is 0 the whole matched text is returned.
Note that a NL in the string can stand for a line break of a
multi-line match or a NUL character in the text.
Also see sub-replace-expression.
If {list} is present and non-zero then submatch() returns
a list of strings, similar to getline() with two arguments.
NL characters in the text represent NUL characters in the
text.
Only returns more than one item for :substitute, inside
substitute() this list will always contain one or zero
items, since there are no real line breaks.
When substitute() is used recursively only the submatches in
the current (deepest) call can be obtained.
Examples:
:s/\d\+/\=submatch(0) + 1/
:echo substitute(text, '\d\+', '\=submatch(0) + 1', '')
This finds the first number in the line and adds one to it.
A line break is included as a newline character.
substitute({expr}, {pat}, {sub}, {flags}) substitute()
The result is a String, which is a copy of {expr}, in which
the first match of {pat} is replaced with {sub}.
When {flags} is "g", all matches of {pat} in {expr} are
replaced. Otherwise {flags} should be "".
This works like the ":substitute" command (without any flags).
But the matching with {pat} is always done like the 'magic'
option is set and 'cpoptions' is empty (to make scripts
portable). 'ignorecase' is still relevant, use /\c or /\C
if you want to ignore or match case and ignore 'ignorecase'.
'smartcase' is not used. See string-match for how {pat} is
used.
A "~" in {sub} is not replaced with the previous {sub}.
Note that some codes in {sub} have a special meaning
sub-replace-special. For example, to replace something with
"\n" (two characters), use "\\\\n" or '\\n'.
When {pat} does not match in {expr}, {expr} is returned
unmodified.
Example:
:let &path = substitute(&path, ",\\=[^,]*$", "", "")
This removes the last component of the 'path' option.
:echo substitute("testing", ".*", "\\U\\0", "")
results in "TESTING".
When {sub} starts with "\=", the remainder is interpreted as
an expression. See sub-replace-expression. Example:
:echo substitute(s, '%\(\x\x\)',
\ '\=nr2char("0x" . submatch(1))', 'g')
When {sub} is a Funcref that function is called, with one
optional argument. Example:
:echo substitute(s, '%\(\x\x\)', SubNr, 'g')
The optional argument is a list which contains the whole
matched string and up to nine submatches, like what
submatch() returns. Example:
:echo substitute(s, '%\(\x\x\)', {m -> '0x' . m[1]}, 'g')
swapinfo({fname}) swapinfo()
The result is a dictionary, which holds information about the
swapfile {fname}. The available fields are:
version Vim version
user user name
host host name
fname original file name
pid PID of the Vim process that created the swap
file
mtime last modification time in seconds
inode Optional: INODE number of the file
dirty 1 if file was modified, 0 if not
Note that "user" and "host" are truncated to at most 39 bytes.
In case of failure an "error" item is added with the reason:
Cannot open file: file not found or in accessible
Cannot read file: cannot read first block
Not a swap file: does not contain correct block ID
Magic number mismatch: Info in first block is invalid
swapname({expr}) swapname()
The result is the swap file path of the buffer {expr}.
For the use of {expr}, see bufname() above.
If buffer {expr} is the current buffer, the result is equal to
:swapname (unless no swap file).
If buffer {expr} has no swap file, returns an empty string.
synID({lnum}, {col}, {trans}) synID()
The result is a Number, which is the syntax ID at the position
{lnum} and {col} in the current window.
The syntax ID can be used with synIDattr() and
synIDtrans() to obtain syntax information about text.
{col} is 1 for the leftmost column, {lnum} is 1 for the first
line. 'synmaxcol' applies, in a longer line zero is returned.
Note that when the position is after the last character,
that's where the cursor can be in Insert mode, synID() returns
zero.
When {trans} is TRUE, transparent items are reduced to the
item that they reveal. This is useful when wanting to know
the effective color. When {trans} is FALSE, the transparent
item is returned. This is useful when wanting to know which
syntax item is effective (e.g. inside parens).
Warning: This function can be very slow. Best speed is
obtained by going through the file in forward direction.
Example (echoes the name of the syntax item under the cursor):
:echo synIDattr(synID(line("."), col("."), 1), "name")
synIDattr({synID}, {what} [, {mode}]) synIDattr()
The result is a String, which is the {what} attribute of
syntax ID {synID}. This can be used to obtain information
about a syntax item.
{mode} can be "gui", "cterm" or "term", to get the attributes
for that mode. When {mode} is omitted, or an invalid value is
used, the attributes for the currently active highlighting are
used (GUI, cterm or term).
Use synIDtrans() to follow linked highlight groups.
{what} result
"name" the name of the syntax item
"fg" foreground color (GUI: color name used to set
the color, cterm: color number as a string,
term: empty string)
"bg" background color (as with "fg")
"font" font name (only available in the GUI)
highlight-font
"sp" special color (as with "fg") highlight-guisp
"fg#" like "fg", but for the GUI and the GUI is
running the name in "#RRGGBB" form
"bg#" like "fg#" for "bg"
"sp#" like "fg#" for "sp"
"bold" "1" if bold
"italic" "1" if italic
"reverse" "1" if reverse
"inverse" "1" if inverse (= reverse)
"standout" "1" if standout
"underline" "1" if underlined
"undercurl" "1" if undercurled
"strike" "1" if strikethrough
Example (echoes the color of the syntax item under the
cursor):
:echo synIDattr(synIDtrans(synID(line("."), col("."), 1)), "fg")
synIDtrans({synID}) synIDtrans()
The result is a Number, which is the translated syntax ID of
{synID}. This is the syntax group ID of what is being used to
highlight the character. Highlight links given with
":highlight link" are followed.
synconcealed({lnum}, {col}) synconcealed()
The result is a List with currently three items:
1. The first item in the list is 0 if the character at the
position {lnum} and {col} is not part of a concealable
region, 1 if it is.
2. The second item in the list is a string. If the first item
is 1, the second item contains the text which will be
displayed in place of the concealed text, depending on the
current setting of 'conceallevel' and 'listchars'.
3. The third and final item in the list is a number
representing the specific syntax region matched in the
line. When the character is not concealed the value is
zero. This allows detection of the beginning of a new
concealable region if there are two consecutive regions
with the same replacement character. For an example, if
the text is "123456" and both "23" and "45" are concealed
and replaced by the character "X", then:
call returns
synconcealed(lnum, 1) [0, '', 0]
synconcealed(lnum, 2) [1, 'X', 1]
synconcealed(lnum, 3) [1, 'X', 1]
synconcealed(lnum, 4) [1, 'X', 2]
synconcealed(lnum, 5) [1, 'X', 2]
synconcealed(lnum, 6) [0, '', 0]
synstack({lnum}, {col}) synstack()
Return a List, which is the stack of syntax items at the
position {lnum} and {col} in the current window. Each item in
the List is an ID like what synID() returns.
The first item in the List is the outer region, following are
items contained in that one. The last one is what synID()
returns, unless not the whole item is highlighted or it is a
transparent item.
This function is useful for debugging a syntax file.
Example that shows the syntax stack under the cursor:
for id in synstack(line("."), col("."))
echo synIDattr(id, "name")
endfor
When the position specified with {lnum} and {col} is invalid
nothing is returned. The position just after the last
character in a line and the first column in an empty line are
valid positions.
system({expr} [, {input}]) system() E677
Get the output of the shell command {expr} as a string. See
systemlist() to get the output as a List.
When {input} is given and is a string this string is written
to a file and passed as stdin to the command. The string is
written as-is, you need to take care of using the correct line
separators yourself.
If {input} is given and is a List it is written to the file
in a way writefile() does with {binary} set to "b" (i.e.
with a newline between each list item with newlines inside
list items converted to NULs).
When {input} is given and is a number that is a valid id for
an existing buffer then the content of the buffer is written
to the file line by line, each line terminated by a NL and
NULs characters where the text has a NL.
Pipes are not used, the 'shelltemp' option is not used.
When prepended by :silent the terminal will not be set to
cooked mode. This is meant to be used for commands that do
not need the user to type. It avoids stray characters showing
up on the screen which require CTRL-L to remove.
:silent let f = system('ls *.vim')
Note: Use shellescape() or ::S with expand() or
fnamemodify() to escape special characters in a command
argument. Newlines in {expr} may cause the command to fail.
The characters in 'shellquote' and 'shellxquote' may also
cause trouble.
This is not to be used for interactive commands.
The result is a String. Example:
:let files = system("ls " . shellescape(expand('%:h')))
:let files = system('ls ' . expand('%:h:S'))
To make the result more system-independent, the shell output
is filtered to replace <CR> with <NL> for Macintosh, and
<CR><NL> with <NL> for DOS-like systems.
To avoid the string being truncated at a NUL, all NUL
characters are replaced with SOH (0x01).
The command executed is constructed using several options:
'shell' 'shellcmdflag' 'shellxquote' {expr} 'shellredir' {tmp} 'shellxquote'
({tmp} is an automatically generated file name).
For Unix and OS/2 braces are put around {expr} to allow for
concatenated commands.
The command will be executed in "cooked" mode, so that a
CTRL-C will interrupt the command (on Unix at least).
The resulting error code can be found in v:shell_error.
This function will fail in restricted-mode.
Note that any wrong value in the options mentioned above may
make the function fail. It has also been reported to fail
when using a security agent application.
Unlike ":!cmd" there is no automatic check for changed files.
Use :checktime to force a check.
systemlist({expr} [, {input}]) systemlist()
Same as system(), but returns a List with lines (parts of
output separated by NL) with NULs transformed into NLs. Output
is the same as readfile() will output with {binary} argument
set to "b". Note that on MS-Windows you may get trailing CR
characters.
Returns an empty string on error.
tabpagebuflist([{arg}]) tabpagebuflist()
The result is a List, where each item is the number of the
buffer associated with each window in the current tab page.
{arg} specifies the number of the tab page to be used. When
omitted the current tab page is used.
When {arg} is invalid the number zero is returned.
To get a list of all buffers in all tabs use this:
let buflist = []
for i in range(tabpagenr('$'))
call extend(buflist, tabpagebuflist(i + 1))
endfor
Note that a buffer may appear in more than one window.
tabpagenr([{arg}]) tabpagenr()
The result is a Number, which is the number of the current
tab page. The first tab page has number 1.
When the optional argument is "$", the number of the last tab
page is returned (the tab page count).
The number can be used with the :tab command.
tabpagewinnr({tabarg} [, {arg}]) tabpagewinnr()
Like winnr() but for tab page {tabarg}.
{tabarg} specifies the number of tab page to be used.
{arg} is used like with winnr():
- When omitted the current window number is returned. This is
the window which will be used when going to this tab page.
- When "$" the number of windows is returned.
- When "#" the previous window nr is returned.
Useful examples:
tabpagewinnr(1) " current window of tab page 1
tabpagewinnr(4, '$') " number of windows in tab page 4
When {tabarg} is invalid zero is returned.
tagfiles()
tagfiles() Returns a List with the file names used to search for tags
for the current buffer. This is the 'tags' option expanded.
taglist({expr} [, {filename}]) taglist()
Returns a list of tags matching the regular expression {expr}.
If {filename} is passed it is used to prioritize the results
in the same way that :tselect does. See tag-priority.
{filename} should be the full path of the file.
Each list item is a dictionary with at least the following
entries:
name Name of the tag.
filename Name of the file where the tag is
defined. It is either relative to the
current directory or a full path.
cmd Ex command used to locate the tag in
the file.
kind Type of the tag. The value for this
entry depends on the language specific
kind values. Only availab