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+*usr_20.txt* For Vim version 8.1. Last change: 2006 Apr 24
+
+ VIM USER MANUAL - by Bram Moolenaar
+
+ Typing command-line commands quickly
+
+
+Vim has a few generic features that makes it easier to enter commands. Colon
+commands can be abbreviated, edited and repeated. Completion is available for
+nearly everything.
+
+|20.1| Command line editing
+|20.2| Command line abbreviations
+|20.3| Command line completion
+|20.4| Command line history
+|20.5| Command line window
+
+ Next chapter: |usr_21.txt| Go away and come back
+ Previous chapter: |usr_12.txt| Clever tricks
+Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt|
+
+==============================================================================
+*20.1* Command line editing
+
+When you use a colon (:) command or search for a string with / or ?, Vim puts
+the cursor on the bottom of the screen. There you type the command or search
+pattern. This is called the Command line. Also when it's used for entering a
+search command.
+
+The most obvious way to edit the command you type is by pressing the <BS> key.
+This erases the character before the cursor. To erase another character,
+typed earlier, first move the cursor with the cursor keys.
+ For example, you have typed this: >
+
+ :s/col/pig/
+
+Before you hit <Enter>, you notice that "col" should be "cow". To correct
+this, you type <Left> five times. The cursor is now just after "col". Type
+<BS> and "w" to correct: >
+
+ :s/cow/pig/
+
+Now you can press <Enter> directly. You don't have to move the cursor to the
+end of the line before executing the command.
+
+The most often used keys to move around in the command line:
+
+ <Left> one character left
+ <Right> one character right
+ <S-Left> or <C-Left> one word left
+ <S-Right> or <C-Right> one word right
+ CTRL-B or <Home> to begin of command line
+ CTRL-E or <End> to end of command line
+
+ Note:
+ <S-Left> (cursor left key with Shift key pressed) and <C-Left> (cursor
+ left key with Control pressed) will not work on all keyboards. Same
+ for the other Shift and Control combinations.
+
+You can also use the mouse to move the cursor.
+
+
+DELETING
+
+As mentioned, <BS> deletes the character before the cursor. To delete a whole
+word use CTRL-W.
+
+ /the fine pig ~
+
+ CTRL-W
+
+ /the fine ~
+
+CTRL-U removes all text, thus allows you to start all over again.
+
+
+OVERSTRIKE
+
+The <Insert> key toggles between inserting characters and replacing the
+existing ones. Start with this text:
+
+ /the fine pig ~
+
+Move the cursor to the start of "fine" with <S-Left> twice (or <Left> eight
+times, if <S-Left> doesn't work). Now press <Insert> to switch to overstrike
+and type "great":
+
+ /the greatpig ~
+
+Oops, we lost the space. Now, don't use <BS>, because it would delete the
+"t" (this is different from Replace mode). Instead, press <Insert> to switch
+from overstrike to inserting, and type the space:
+
+ /the great pig ~
+
+
+CANCELLING
+
+You thought of executing a : or / command, but changed your mind. To get rid
+of what you already typed, without executing it, press CTRL-C or <Esc>.
+
+ Note:
+ <Esc> is the universal "get out" key. Unfortunately, in the good old
+ Vi pressing <Esc> in a command line executed the command! Since that
+ might be considered to be a bug, Vim uses <Esc> to cancel the command.
+ But with the 'cpoptions' option it can be made Vi compatible. And
+ when using a mapping (which might be written for Vi) <Esc> also works
+ Vi compatible. Therefore, using CTRL-C is a method that always works.
+
+If you are at the start of the command line, pressing <BS> will cancel the
+command. It's like deleting the ":" or "/" that the line starts with.
+
+==============================================================================
+*20.2* Command line abbreviations
+
+Some of the ":" commands are really long. We already mentioned that
+":substitute" can be abbreviated to ":s". This is a generic mechanism, all
+":" commands can be abbreviated.
+
+How short can a command get? There are 26 letters, and many more commands.
+For example, ":set" also starts with ":s", but ":s" doesn't start a ":set"
+command. Instead ":set" can be abbreviated to ":se".
+ When the shorter form of a command could be used for two commands, it
+stands for only one of them. There is no logic behind which one, you have to
+learn them. In the help files the shortest form that works is mentioned. For
+example: >
+
+ :s[ubstitute]
+
+This means that the shortest form of ":substitute" is ":s". The following
+characters are optional. Thus ":su" and ":sub" also work.
+
+In the user manual we will either use the full name of command, or a short
+version that is still readable. For example, ":function" can be abbreviated
+to ":fu". But since most people don't understand what that stands for, we
+will use ":fun". (Vim doesn't have a ":funny" command, otherwise ":fun" would
+be confusing too.)
+
+It is recommended that in Vim scripts you write the full command name. That
+makes it easier to read back when you make later changes. Except for some
+often used commands like ":w" (":write") and ":r" (":read").
+ A particularly confusing one is ":end", which could stand for ":endif",
+":endwhile" or ":endfunction". Therefore, always use the full name.
+
+
+SHORT OPTION NAMES
+
+In the user manual the long version of the option names is used. Many options
+also have a short name. Unlike ":" commands, there is only one short name
+that works. For example, the short name of 'autoindent' is 'ai'. Thus these
+two commands do the same thing: >
+
+ :set autoindent
+ :set ai
+
+You can find the full list of long and short names here: |option-list|.
+
+==============================================================================
+*20.3* Command line completion
+
+This is one of those Vim features that, by itself, is a reason to switch from
+Vi to Vim. Once you have used this, you can't do without.
+
+Suppose you have a directory that contains these files:
+
+ info.txt
+ intro.txt
+ bodyofthepaper.txt
+
+To edit the last one, you use the command: >
+
+ :edit bodyofthepaper.txt
+
+It's easy to type this wrong. A much quicker way is: >
+
+ :edit b<Tab>
+
+Which will result in the same command. What happened? The <Tab> key does
+completion of the word before the cursor. In this case "b". Vim looks in the
+directory and finds only one file that starts with a "b". That must be the
+one you are looking for, thus Vim completes the file name for you.
+
+Now type: >
+
+ :edit i<Tab>
+
+Vim will beep, and give you: >
+
+ :edit info.txt
+
+The beep means that Vim has found more than one match. It then uses the first
+match it found (alphabetically). If you press <Tab> again, you get: >
+
+ :edit intro.txt
+
+Thus, if the first <Tab> doesn't give you the file you were looking for, press
+it again. If there are more matches, you will see them all, one at a time.
+ If you press <Tab> on the last matching entry, you will go back to what you
+first typed: >
+
+ :edit i
+
+Then it starts all over again. Thus Vim cycles through the list of matches.
+Use CTRL-P to go through the list in the other direction:
+
+ <------------------- <Tab> -------------------------+
+ |
+ <Tab> --> <Tab> -->
+ :edit i :edit info.txt :edit intro.txt
+ <-- CTRL-P <-- CTRL-P
+ |
+ +---------------------- CTRL-P ------------------------>
+
+
+CONTEXT
+
+When you type ":set i" instead of ":edit i" and press <Tab> you get: >
+
+ :set icon
+
+Hey, why didn't you get ":set info.txt"? That's because Vim has context
+sensitive completion. The kind of words Vim will look for depends on the
+command before it. Vim knows that you cannot use a file name just after a
+":set" command, but you can use an option name.
+ Again, if you repeat typing the <Tab>, Vim will cycle through all matches.
+There are quite a few, it's better to type more characters first: >
+
+ :set isk<Tab>
+
+Gives: >
+
+ :set iskeyword
+
+Now type "=" and press <Tab>: >
+
+ :set iskeyword=@,48-57,_,192-255
+
+What happens here is that Vim inserts the old value of the option. Now you
+can edit it.
+ What is completed with <Tab> is what Vim expects in that place. Just try
+it out to see how it works. In some situations you will not get what you
+want. That's either because Vim doesn't know what you want, or because
+completion was not implemented for that situation. In that case you will get
+a <Tab> inserted (displayed as ^I).
+
+
+LIST MATCHES
+
+When there are many matches, you would like to see an overview. Do this by
+pressing CTRL-D. For example, pressing CTRL-D after: >
+
+ :set is
+
+results in: >
+
+ :set is
+ incsearch isfname isident iskeyword isprint
+ :set is
+
+Vim lists the matches and then comes back with the text you typed. You can
+now check the list for the item you wanted. If it isn't there, you can use
+<BS> to correct the word. If there are many matches, type a few more
+characters before pressing <Tab> to complete the rest.
+ If you have watched carefully, you will have noticed that "incsearch"
+doesn't start with "is". In this case "is" stands for the short name of
+"incsearch". (Many options have a short and a long name.) Vim is clever
+enough to know that you might have wanted to expand the short name of the
+option into the long name.
+
+
+THERE IS MORE
+
+The CTRL-L command completes the word to the longest unambiguous string. If
+you type ":edit i" and there are files "info.txt" and "info_backup.txt" you
+will get ":edit info".
+
+The 'wildmode' option can be used to change the way completion works.
+The 'wildmenu' option can be used to get a menu-like list of matches.
+Use the 'suffixes' option to specify files that are less important and appear
+at the end of the list of files.
+The 'wildignore' option specifies files that are not listed at all.
+
+More about all of this here: |cmdline-completion|
+
+==============================================================================
+*20.4* Command line history
+
+In chapter 3 we briefly mentioned the history. The basics are that you can
+use the <Up> key to recall an older command line. <Down> then takes you back
+to newer commands.
+
+There are actually four histories. The ones we will mention here are for ":"
+commands and for "/" and "?" search commands. The "/" and "?" commands share
+the same history, because they are both search commands. The two other
+histories are for expressions and input lines for the input() function.
+|cmdline-history|
+
+Suppose you have done a ":set" command, typed ten more colon commands and then
+want to repeat that ":set" command again. You could press ":" and then ten
+times <Up>. There is a quicker way: >
+
+ :se<Up>
+
+Vim will now go back to the previous command that started with "se". You have
+a good chance that this is the ":set" command you were looking for. At least
+you should not have to press <Up> very often (unless ":set" commands is all
+you have done).
+
+The <Up> key will use the text typed so far and compare it with the lines in
+the history. Only matching lines will be used.
+ If you do not find the line you were looking for, use <Down> to go back to
+what you typed and correct that. Or use CTRL-U to start all over again.
+
+To see all the lines in the history: >
+
+ :history
+
+That's the history of ":" commands. The search history is displayed with this
+command: >
+
+ :history /
+
+CTRL-P will work like <Up>, except that it doesn't matter what you already
+typed. Similarly for CTRL-N and <Down>. CTRL-P stands for previous, CTRL-N
+for next.
+
+==============================================================================
+*20.5* Command line window
+
+Typing the text in the command line works different from typing text in Insert
+mode. It doesn't allow many commands to change the text. For most commands
+that's OK, but sometimes you have to type a complicated command. That's where
+the command line window is useful.
+
+Open the command line window with this command: >
+
+ q:
+
+Vim now opens a (small) window at the bottom. It contains the command line
+history, and an empty line at the end:
+
+ +-------------------------------------+
+ |other window |
+ |~ |
+ |file.txt=============================|
+ |:e c |
+ |:e config.h.in |
+ |:set path=.,/usr/include,, |
+ |:set iskeyword=@,48-57,_,192-255 |
+ |:set is |
+ |:q |
+ |: |
+ |command-line=========================|
+ | |
+ +-------------------------------------+
+
+You are now in Normal mode. You can use the "hjkl" keys to move around. For
+example, move up with "5k" to the ":e config.h.in" line. Type "$h" to go to
+the "i" of "in" and type "cwout". Now you have changed the line to:
+
+ :e config.h.out ~
+
+Now press <Enter> and this command will be executed. The command line window
+will close.
+ The <Enter> command will execute the line under the cursor. It doesn't
+matter whether Vim is in Insert mode or in Normal mode.
+ Changes in the command line window are lost. They do not result in the
+history to be changed. Except that the command you execute will be added to
+the end of the history, like with all executed commands.
+
+The command line window is very useful when you want to have overview of the
+history, lookup a similar command, change it a bit and execute it. A search
+command can be used to find something.
+ In the previous example the "?config" search command could have been used
+to find the previous command that contains "config". It's a bit strange,
+because you are using a command line to search in the command line window.
+While typing that search command you can't open another command line window,
+there can be only one.
+
+==============================================================================
+
+Next chapter: |usr_21.txt| Go away and come back
+
+Copyright: see |manual-copyright| vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: