various.txt For Vim version 9.0. Last change: 2022 Sep 19 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar Various commands various 1. Various commands various-cmds 2. Using Vim like less or more less ============================================================================== 1. Various commands various-cmds CTRL-L CTRL-L Clear and redraw the screen. The redraw may happen later, after processing typeahead. :redr :redraw :redr[aw][!] Redraw the screen right now. When ! is included it is cleared first. Useful to update the screen halfway executing a script or function. Also when halfway a mapping and 'lazyredraw' is set. :redraws :redrawstatus :redraws[tatus][!] Redraw the status line of the current window. When ! is included all status lines are redrawn. Useful to update the status line(s) when 'statusline' includes an item that doesn't cause automatic updating. If the command line is being edited the redraw is postponed until later. :redrawt :redrawtabline :redrawt[abline] Redraw the tabline. Useful to update the tabline when 'tabline' includes an item that doesn't trigger automatic updating. N<Del> <Del> When entering a number: Remove the last digit. Note: if you like to use <BS> for this, add this mapping to your .vimrc: :map CTRL-V <BS> CTRL-V <Del> See :fixdel if your <Del> key does not do what you want. :as[cii] or ga :as :ascii ga Print the ascii value of the character under the cursor in decimal, hexadecimal and octal. Mnemonic: Get Ascii value. For example, when the cursor is on a 'R': <R> 82, Hex 52, Octal 122 When the character is a non-standard ASCII character, but printable according to the 'isprint' option, the non-printable version is also given. When the character is larger than 127, the <M-x> form is also printed. For example: <~A> <M-^A> 129, Hex 81, Octal 201 <p> <|~> <M-~> 254, Hex fe, Octal 376 (where <p> is a special character) The <Nul> character in a file is stored internally as <NL>, but it will be shown as: <^@> 0, Hex 00, Octal 000 If the character has composing characters these are also shown. The value of 'maxcombine' doesn't matter. If the character can be inserted as a digraph, also output the two characters that can be used to create the character: <ö> 246, Hex 00f6, Oct 366, Digr o: This shows you can type CTRL-K o : to insert ö. g8 g8 Print the hex values of the bytes used in the character under the cursor, assuming it is in UTF-8 encoding. This also shows composing characters. The value of 'maxcombine' doesn't matter. Example of a character with two composing characters: e0 b8 81 + e0 b8 b9 + e0 b9 89 8g8 8g8 Find an illegal UTF-8 byte sequence at or after the cursor. This works in two situations: 1. when 'encoding' is any 8-bit encoding 2. when 'encoding' is "utf-8" and 'fileencoding' is any 8-bit encoding Thus it can be used when editing a file that was supposed to be UTF-8 but was read as if it is an 8-bit encoding because it contains illegal bytes. Does not wrap around the end of the file. Note that when the cursor is on an illegal byte or the cursor is halfway a multibyte character the command won't move the cursor. :p :pr :print E749 :[range]p[rint] [flags] Print [range] lines (default current line). Note: If you are looking for a way to print your text on paper see :hardcopy. In the GUI you can use the File.Print menu entry. See ex-flags for [flags]. The :filter command can be used to only show lines matching a pattern. :[range]p[rint] {count} [flags] Print {count} lines, starting with [range] (default current line cmdline-ranges). See ex-flags for [flags]. :P :Print :[range]P[rint] [count] [flags] Just as ":print". Was apparently added to Vi for people that keep the shift key pressed too long... This command is not supported in Vim9 script. Note: A user command can overrule this command. See ex-flags for [flags]. :l :list :[range]l[ist] [count] [flags] Same as :print, but display unprintable characters with '^' and put $ after the line. This can be further changed with the 'listchars' option. See ex-flags for [flags]. :nu :number :[range]nu[mber] [count] [flags] Same as :print, but precede each line with its line number. (See also 'highlight' and 'numberwidth' option). See ex-flags for [flags]. :# :[range]# [count] [flags] synonym for :number. :#! :#!{anything} Ignored, so that you can start a Vim script with: #!vim -S echo "this is a Vim script" quit :z E144 :[range]z[+-^.=][count] Display several lines of text surrounding the line specified with [range], or around the current line if there is no [range]. If there is a [count], that's how many lines you'll see; if there is no [count] and only one window then twice the value of the 'scroll' option is used, otherwise the current window height minus 3 is used. This is the value of "scr" in the table below. If there is a [count] the 'window' option is set to its value. :z can be used either alone or followed by any of several marks. These have the following effect: mark first line last line new cursor line ---- ---------- --------- ------------ + current line 1 scr forward 1 scr forward - 1 scr back current line current line ^ 2 scr back 1 scr back 1 scr back . 1/2 scr back 1/2 scr fwd 1/2 scr fwd = 1/2 scr back 1/2 scr fwd current line Specifying no mark at all is the same as "+". If the mark is "=", a line of dashes is printed around the current line. :z! :[range]z![+-^.=][count] Like ":z", but when [count] is not specified, it defaults to the Vim window height minus one. :[range]z[!]#[+-^.=][count] :z# Like ":z" or ":z!", but number the lines. := := [flags] Print the last line number. See ex-flags for [flags]. :{range}= [flags] Prints the last line number in {range}. For example, this prints the current line number: :.= See ex-flags for [flags]. :norm[al][!] {commands} :norm :normal Execute Normal mode commands {commands}. This makes it possible to execute Normal mode commands typed on the command-line. {commands} are executed like they are typed. For undo all commands are undone together. Execution stops when an error is encountered. If the [!] is given, mappings will not be used. Without it, when this command is called from a non-remappable mapping (:noremap), the argument can be mapped anyway. {commands} should be a complete command. If {commands} does not finish a command, the last one will be aborted as if <Esc> or <C-C> was typed. This implies that an insert command must be completed (to start Insert mode, see :startinsert). A ":" command must be completed as well. And you can't use "Q" or "gQ" to start Ex mode. The display is not updated while ":normal" is busy. {commands} cannot start with a space. Put a count of 1 (one) before it, "1 " is one space. The 'insertmode' option is ignored for {commands}. This command cannot be followed by another command, since any '|' is considered part of the command. This command can be used recursively, but the depth is limited by 'maxmapdepth'. An alternative is to use :execute, which uses an expression as argument. This allows the use of printable characters to represent special characters. Example: :exe "normal \<c-w>\<c-w>" :{range}norm[al][!] {commands} :normal-range Execute Normal mode commands {commands} for each line in the {range}. Before executing the {commands}, the cursor is positioned in the first column of the range, for each line. Otherwise it's the same as the ":normal" command without a range. :sh :shell E371 :sh[ell] This command starts a shell. When the shell exits (after the "exit" command) you return to Vim. The name for the shell command comes from 'shell' option. E360 Note: This doesn't work when Vim on the Amiga was started in QuickFix mode from a compiler, because the compiler will have set stdin to a non-interactive mode. :!cmd :! :!{cmd} Execute {cmd} with the shell. See also the 'shell' and 'shelltype' option. E34 Any '!' in {cmd} is replaced with the previous external command (see also 'cpoptions'). But not when there is a backslash before the '!', then that backslash is removed. Example: ":!ls" followed by ":!echo ! \! \\!" executes "echo ls ! \!". A '|' in {cmd} is passed to the shell, you cannot use it to append a Vim command. See :bar. If {cmd} contains "%" it is expanded to the current file name, "#" is expanded to the alternate file name. Special characters in the file name are not escaped, use quotes to avoid their special meaning: :!ls "%" If the file name contains a "$" then single quotes might work better, but this only works if the file name does not contain a single quote: :!ls '%' This should always work, but it's more typing: :exe "!ls " .. shellescape(expand("%")) To get a literal "%" or "#" prepend it with a backslash. For example, to list all files starting with "%": :!ls \%* A newline character ends {cmd}, what follows is interpreted as a following ":" command. However, if there is a backslash before the newline it is removed and {cmd} continues. It doesn't matter how many backslashes are before the newline, only one is removed. On Unix the command normally runs in a non-interactive shell. If you want an interactive shell to be used (to use aliases) set 'shellcmdflag' to "-ic". For Win32 also see :!start. After the command has been executed, the timestamp and size of the current file is checked timestamp. Vim redraws the screen after the command is finished, because it may have printed any text. This requires a hit-enter prompt, so that you can read any messages. To avoid this use: :silent !{cmd} The screen is not redrawn then, thus you have to use CTRL-L or ":redraw!" if the command did display something. Also see shell-window. :!! :!! Repeat last ":!{cmd}". :ve :ver :version :ve[rsion] Print the version number of the editor. If the compiler used understands "__DATE__" the compilation date is mentioned. Otherwise a fixed release-date is shown. The following lines contain information about which features were enabled when Vim was compiled. When there is a preceding '+', the feature is included, when there is a '-' it is excluded. To change this, you have to edit feature.h and recompile Vim. To check for this in an expression, see has(). Here is an overview of the features. The first column shows the smallest version in which they are included: T tiny (always) S small N normal B big H huge m manually enabled or depends on other features - never, feature was removed (none) system dependent Thus if a feature is marked with "N", it is included in the normal, big and huge versions of Vim. +feature-list +acl ACL support included +ARP Amiga only: ARP support included B +arabic Arabic language support B +autochdir support 'autochdir' option T +autocmd :autocmd, automatic commands. Always enabled since 8.0.1564 H +autoservername Automatically enable clientserver m +balloon_eval balloon-eval support in the GUI. Included when compiling with supported GUI (Motif, GTK, GUI) and either Netbeans/Sun Workshop integration or +eval feature. H +balloon_eval_term balloon-eval support in the terminal, 'balloonevalterm' N +browse :browse command T ++builtin_terms maximal terminals builtin builtin-terms Always enabled since 9.0.0280 N +byte_offset support for 'o' flag in 'statusline' option, "go" and ":goto" commands. m +channel inter process communication channel 6 +cindent 'cindent', C indenting N +clientserver Unix and Win32: Remote invocation clientserver +clipboard clipboard support compiled-in +clipboard_working clipboard support compiled-in and working T +cmdline_compl command line completion cmdline-completion T +cmdline_hist command line history cmdline-history N +cmdline_info 'showcmd' and 'ruler' S +cmdwin cmdline-window support T +comments 'comments' support B +conceal "conceal" support, see conceal :syn-conceal etc. N +cryptv encryption support encryption B +cscope cscope support T +cursorbind 'cursorbind' support m +cursorshape termcap-cursor-shape support m +debug Compiled for debugging. N +dialog_gui Support for :confirm with GUI dialog. N +dialog_con Support for :confirm with console dialog. N +dialog_con_gui Support for :confirm with GUI and console dialog. N +diff vimdiff and 'diff' N +digraphs digraphs E196 +directx Win32 GUI only: DirectX and 'renderoptions' +dnd Support for DnD into the "~ register quote_~. B emacs-tags files N +eval expression evaluation eval.txt T +ex_extra always on now, used to be for Vim's extra Ex commands N +extra_search 'hlsearch' and 'incsearch' options. - +farsi Removed: farsi language T +file_in_path gf, CTRL-W_f and <cfile> Always enabled since 9.0.265 N +find_in_path include file searches: [I, :isearch, CTRL-W_CTRL-I, :checkpath, etc. N +folding folding gui-footer +fork Unix only: fork shell commands T +float Floating point support Always enabled since 9.0.0491 N +gettext message translations multi-lang - +GUI_Athena Unix only: Athena GUI +GUI_neXtaw Unix only: neXtaw GUI +GUI_GTK Unix only: GTK+ GUI +GUI_Motif Unix only: Motif GUI +GUI_Photon QNX only: Photon GUI m +hangul_input Hangul input support hangul +iconv Compiled with the iconv() function +iconv/dyn Likewise iconv-dynamic /dyn T +insert_expand insert_expand Insert mode completion m +ipv6 Support for IPv6 networking channel m +job starting and stopping jobs job T +jumplist jumplist; Always enabled since 8.2.3795 B +keymap 'keymap' N +lambda lambda and closure B +langmap 'langmap' N +libcall libcall() N +linebreak 'linebreak', 'breakat' and 'showbreak' t +lispindent 'lisp' T +listcmds Vim commands for the list of buffers buffer-hidden and argument list :argdelete T +localmap Support for mappings local to a buffer :map-local m +lua Lua interface m +lua/dyn Lua interface /dyn N :menu N +mksession :mksession T +modify_fname filename-modifiers T +mouse Mouse handling mouse-using N +mouseshape 'mouseshape' B +mouse_dec Unix only: Dec terminal mouse handling dec-mouse N +mouse_gpm Unix only: Linux console mouse handling gpm-mouse m +mouse_gpm/dyn Same as +mouse_gpm with optional library dependency /dyn N +mouse_jsbterm JSB mouse handling jsbterm-mouse B +mouse_netterm Unix only: netterm mouse handling netterm-mouse N +mouse_pterm QNX only: pterm mouse handling qnx-terminal N +mouse_sysmouse Unix only: *BSD console mouse handling sysmouse B +mouse_sgr Unix only: sgr mouse handling sgr-mouse B +mouse_urxvt Unix only: urxvt mouse handling urxvt-mouse N +mouse_xterm Unix only: xterm mouse handling xterm-mouse T +multi_byte Unicode support, 16 and 32 bit characters multibyte +multi_byte_ime Win32 input method for multibyte chars multibyte-ime N +multi_lang non-English language support multi-lang m +mzscheme Mzscheme interface mzscheme m +mzscheme/dyn Mzscheme interface mzscheme-dynamic /dyn m +netbeans_intg netbeans T +num64 64-bit Number support Number Always enabled since 8.2.0271, use v:numbersize to check the actual size of a Number. m +ole Win32 GUI only: ole-interface N +packages Loading packages T +path_extra Up/downwards search in 'path' and 'tags' Always enabled since 9.0.0270 m +perl Perl interface perl m +perl/dyn Perl interface perl-dynamic /dyn N +persistent_undo Persistent undo undo-persistence N +popupwin Popup windows popup-window +postscript :hardcopy writes a PostScript file N +printer :hardcopy command H +profile :profile command m +python Python 2 interface python m +python/dyn Python 2 interface python-dynamic /dyn m +python3 Python 3 interface python m +python3/dyn Python 3 interface python-dynamic /dyn N +quickfix :make and quickfix commands N +reltime reltime() function, 'hlsearch'/'incsearch' timeout, 'redrawtime' option B +rightleft Right to left typing 'rightleft' m +ruby Ruby interface ruby m +ruby/dyn Ruby interface ruby-dynamic /dyn T +scrollbind 'scrollbind' B +signs :sign t +smartindent 'smartindent' B +sodium compiled with libsodium for better encryption support B +sound sound_playevent(), sound_playfile() functions, etc. N +spell spell checking support, see spell N +startuptime --startuptime argument N +statusline Options 'statusline', 'rulerformat' and special formats of 'titlestring' and 'iconstring' - +sun_workshop Removed: workshop N +syntax Syntax highlighting syntax +system() Unix only: opposite of +fork T +tag_binary binary searching in tags file tag-binary-search - +tag_old_static Removed; method for static tags tag-old-static - +tag_any_white Removed; was to allow any white space in tags files m +tcl Tcl interface tcl m +tcl/dyn Tcl interface tcl-dynamic /dyn m +terminal Support for terminal window terminal +terminfo uses terminfo instead of termcap N +termresponse support for t_RV and v:termresponse B +termguicolors 24-bit color in xterm-compatible terminals support T +textobjects text-objects selection. Always enabled since 9.0.0222. N +textprop text-properties +tgetent non-Unix only: able to use external termcap N +timers the timer_start() function T +title Setting the window 'title' and 'icon'; Always enabled N +toolbar gui-toolbar T +user_commands User-defined commands. user-commands Always enabled since 8.1.1210. B +vartabs Variable-width tabstops. 'vartabstop' T +vertsplit Vertically split windows :vsplit; Always enabled since 8.0.1118. T +vim9script Vim9 script N +viminfo 'viminfo' T +virtualedit 'virtualedit' Always enabled since 8.1.826. T +visual Visual mode Visual-mode Always enabled since 7.4.200. T +visualextra extra Visual mode commands blockwise-operators T +vreplace gR and gr +vtp on MS-Windows console: support for 'termguicolors' T +wildignore 'wildignore' Always enabled since 9.0.0278 T 'wildmenu'| Always enabled since 9.0.0279 T +windows more than one window; Always enabled since 8.0.1118. m +writebackup 'writebackup' is default on m +xim X input method xim +xfontset X fontset support xfontset +xpm pixmap support m +xpm_w32 Win32 GUI only: pixmap support w32-xpm-support +xsmp XSMP (X session management) support +xsmp_interact interactive XSMP (X session management) support N +xterm_clipboard Unix only: xterm clipboard handling m +xterm_save save and restore xterm screen xterm-screens N +X11 Unix only: can restore window title X11 /dyn E370 E448 To some of the features "/dyn" is added when the feature is only available when the related library can be dynamically loaded. :ve[rsion] {nr} Is now ignored. This was previously used to check the version number of a .vimrc file. It was removed, because you can now use the ":if" command for version-dependent behavior. :redi :redir :redi[r][!] > {file} Redirect messages to file {file}. The messages which are the output of commands are written to that file, until redirection ends. The messages are also still shown on the screen. When [!] is included, an existing file is overwritten. When [!] is omitted, and {file} exists, this command fails. Only one ":redir" can be active at a time. Calls to ":redir" will close any active redirection before starting redirection to the new target. For recursive use check out execute(). To stop the messages and commands from being echoed to the screen, put the commands in a function and call it with ":silent call Function()". An alternative is to use the 'verbosefile' option, this can be used in combination with ":redir". :redi[r] >> {file} Redirect messages to file {file}. Append if {file} already exists. :redi[r] @{a-zA-Z} :redi[r] @{a-zA-Z}> Redirect messages to register {a-z}. Append to the contents of the register if its name is given uppercase {A-Z}. The ">" after the register name is optional. :redi[r] @{a-z}>> Append messages to register {a-z}. :redi[r] @*> :redi[r] @+> Redirect messages to the selection or clipboard. For backward compatibility, the ">" after the register name can be omitted. See quotestar and quoteplus. :redi[r] @*>> :redi[r] @+>> Append messages to the selection or clipboard. :redi[r] @"> Redirect messages to the unnamed register. For backward compatibility, the ">" after the register name can be omitted. :redi[r] @">> Append messages to the unnamed register. E1092 :redi[r] => {var} Redirect messages to a variable. In legacy script: If the variable doesn't exist, then it is created. If the variable exists, then it is initialized to an empty string. After the redirection starts, if the variable is removed or locked or the variable type is changed, then further command output messages will cause errors. When using a local variable (l:var in a function or s:var in a script) and another :redir causes the current one to end, the scope might be different and the assignment fails. In Vim9 script: the variable must have been declared as a string. The variable will remain empty until redirection ends. Only string variables can be used. To get the output of one command the execute() function can be used instead of redirection. :redi[r] =>> {var} Append messages to an existing variable. Only string variables can be used. E1185 :redi[r] END End redirecting messages. :filt :filter :filt[er][!] {pattern} {command} :filt[er][!] /{pattern}/ {command} Restrict the output of {command} to lines matching with {pattern}. For example, to list only xml files: :filter /\.xml$/ oldfiles If the [!] is given, restrict the output of {command} to lines that do NOT match {pattern}. {pattern} is a Vim search pattern. Instead of enclosing it in / any non-ID character (see 'isident') can be used, so long as it does not appear in {pattern}. Without the enclosing character the pattern cannot include the bar character. 'ignorecase' is not used. The pattern is matched against the relevant part of the output, not necessarily the whole line. Only some commands support filtering, try it out to check if it works. Some of the commands that support filtering: :# - filter whole line :clist - filter by file name or module name :command - filter by command name :files - filter by file name :highlight - filter by highlight group :jumps - filter by file name :let - filter by variable name :list - filter whole line :llist - filter by file name or module name :marks - filter by text in the current file, or file name for other files :oldfiles - filter by file name :registers - filter by register contents (does not work multi-line) :set - filter by option name Only normal messages are filtered, error messages are not. :sil :silent :silent! :sil[ent][!] {command} Execute {command} silently. Normal messages will not be given or added to the message history. When [!] is added, error messages will also be skipped, and commands and mappings will not be aborted when an error is detected. v:errmsg is still set. When [!] is not used, an error message will cause further messages to be displayed normally. Redirection, started with :redir, will continue as usual, although there might be small differences. This will allow redirecting the output of a command without seeing it on the screen. Example: :redir >/tmp/foobar :silent g/Aap/p :redir END To execute a Normal mode command silently, use the :normal command. For example, to search for a string without messages: :silent exe "normal /path\<CR>" ":silent!" is useful to execute a command that may fail, but the failure is to be ignored. Example: :let v:errmsg = "" :silent! /^begin :if v:errmsg != "" : ... pattern was not found ":silent" will also avoid the hit-enter prompt. When using this for an external command, this may cause the screen to be messed up. Use CTRL-L to clean it up then. ":silent menu ..." defines a menu that will not echo a Command-line command. The command will still produce messages though. Use ":silent" in the command itself to avoid that: ":silent menu .... :silent command". :uns :unsilent :uns[ilent] {command} Execute {command} not silently. Only makes a difference when :silent was used to get to this command. Use this for giving a message even when :silent was used. In this example :silent is used to avoid the message about reading the file and :unsilent to be able to list the first line of each file. :silent argdo unsilent echo expand('%') .. ": " .. getline(1) :verb :verbose :[count]verb[ose] {command} Execute {command} with 'verbose' set to [count]. If [count] is omitted one is used. ":0verbose" can be used to set 'verbose' to zero. The additional use of ":silent" makes messages generated but not displayed. The combination of ":silent" and ":verbose" can be used to generate messages and check them with v:statusmsg and friends. For example: :let v:statusmsg = "" :silent verbose runtime foobar.vim :if v:statusmsg != "" : " foobar.vim could not be found :endif When concatenating another command, the ":verbose" only applies to the first one: :4verbose set verbose | set verbose verbose=4 verbose=0 For logging verbose messages in a file use the 'verbosefile' option. :verbose-cmd When 'verbose' is non-zero, listing the value of a Vim option or a key map or an abbreviation or a user-defined function or a command or a highlight group or an autocommand will also display where it was last defined. If it was defined manually then there will be no "Last set" message. When it was defined while executing a function, user command or autocommand, the script in which it was defined is reported. {not available when compiled without the |+eval| feature} K K Run a program to lookup the keyword under the cursor. The name of the program is given with the 'keywordprg' (kp) option (default is "man"). The keyword is formed of letters, numbers and the characters in 'iskeyword'. The keyword under or right of the cursor is used. The same can be done with the command :!{program} {keyword} There is an example of a program to use in the tools directory of Vim. It is called "ref" and does a simple spelling check. Special cases: - If 'keywordprg' begins with ":" it is invoked as a Vim Ex command with [count]. - If 'keywordprg' is empty, the ":help" command is used. It's a good idea to include more characters in 'iskeyword' then, to be able to find more help. - When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man" or starts with ":", a [count] before "K" is inserted after keywordprg and before the keyword. For example, using "2K" while the cursor is on "mkdir", results in: !man 2 mkdir - When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man -s", a count before "K" is inserted after the "-s". If there is no count, the "-s" is removed. v_K {Visual}K Like "K", but use the visually highlighted text for the keyword. Only works when the highlighted text is not more than one line. [N]gs gs :sl :sleep :[N]sl[eep] [N][m] Do nothing for [N] seconds. When [m] is included, sleep for [N] milliseconds. The count for "gs" always uses seconds. The default is one second. :sleep "sleep for one second :5sleep "sleep for five seconds :sleep 100m "sleep for 100 milliseconds 10gs "sleep for ten seconds Can be interrupted with CTRL-C (CTRL-Break on MS-Windows). "gs" stands for "goto sleep". While sleeping the cursor is positioned in the text, if at a visible position. Also process the received netbeans messages. {only available when compiled with the +netbeans_intg feature} :sl! :sleep! :[N]sl[eep]! [N][m] Same as above, but hide the cursor. :xrestore :xr :xr[estore] [display] Reinitializes the connection to the X11 server. Useful after the X server restarts, e.g. when running Vim for long time inside screen/tmux and connecting from different machines. [display] should be in the format of the $DISPLAY environment variable (e.g. "localhost:10.0") If [display] is omitted, then it reinitializes the connection to the X11 server using the same value as was used for the previous execution of this command. If the value was never specified, then it uses the value of $DISPLAY environment variable as it was when Vim was started. {only available when compiled with the +clipboard feature} g_CTRL-A g CTRL-A Only when Vim was compiled with MEM_PROFILING defined (which is very rare): print memory usage statistics. Only useful for debugging Vim. For incrementing in Visual mode see v_g_CTRL-A. ============================================================================== 2. Using Vim like less or more less If you use the less or more program to view a file, you don't get syntax highlighting. Thus you would like to use Vim instead. You can do this by using the shell script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.sh". This shell script uses the Vim script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.vim". It sets up mappings to simulate the commands that less supports. Otherwise, you can still use the Vim commands. This isn't perfect. For example, when viewing a short file Vim will still use the whole screen. But it works well enough for most uses, and you get syntax highlighting. The "h" key will give you a short overview of the available commands. If you want to set options differently when using less, define the LessInitFunc in your vimrc, for example: func LessInitFunc() set nocursorcolumn nocursorline endfunc vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl:
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