Key	Purpose
%	jump from an open brace to its matching closing brace. Actually, % can jump to many different matching items. It is very useful to check if () and {} constructs are balanced properly.
[{	jump back to the ”{” at the start of the current code block.
gd	jump from the use of a variable to its local declaration.
[[ or ]]	Forward / backward next section. (Use for C functions?)

Previous / Next Position

CTRL-O takes you back to older positions, CTRL-I to newer positions.

Information

Ctrl-G Shows the cursor's location / line number as a % of the file

Marks

Tabs

Open a new tab

:tabedit

Recent Files

Jumps are the last X places that you've jumped to. When looking at the list of jumps / changes, the ”>” character shows what jump/change you're on. You have to use Ctrl-O or Ctrl-I depending on whether you want to move back in the list from the ”>” point. Kinda complicated.

Command	Description
:changes	Show list of changes
:ju[mps]	Show list of jumps
``	Jump to last mark
''	Jump to start of the line of the last mark
`.	Jump to last modification
[n]Ctrl-0	Jump to n previous position
[n]Ctrl-I	Jump to n next position
[n]g;	cycle thru recent changes (oldest first)
[n]g,	cycle thru recent changes (newest first)

External Commands

Execute an external command:

:! <command>

Example:

# Changes mode of current file in vi to 755
:! chmod 755 %

Suspending Vi

Two ways to suspend Vi: FIXME Why is this? What's the difference?

Ctrl-Z

Suspend Vim by typing Ctrl-Z. Shell will appear.

Use 'jobs' to list processes

> jobs
[1]+  Stopped                 vim do.pl
[2]+  Stopped                 vim dookie.pl

Use 'fg' to bring last background process to foreground

> fg

Or, use fg x where x is the process number to bring process number x to foreground.

> fg 1

will restore do.pl from example above.

:sh

Use :sh to go to shell

:sh

Use exit to go back to vi (Although why anybody would want to go back to vi is beyond me)

> some shell comand
> exit

Search / Find / Replace

Buffers/Files

http://vim.sourceforge.net/tips/tip.php?tip_id=135

Geek term for “files”

Command	Description
:e <filename>	Open a new file in current buffer
:e!	Reloads current file without saving changes. “Revert” or “Reload” would be more appropriate of a command name.
:w [filename]	Saves changes to current file, or if filename is supplied, runs Save As filename on current buffer
:1b	Goto buffer 1
`:buffers`, `:ls`, `:files`	Show buffers
:bn	goto next buffer
:bp	goto previous buffer
:[n]b	goto n buffer listed in :buffers output
:[n]bd[elete][!]	Remove buffer n from buffers. Postfix with ! to force.

Windows

Windows are actually the text/divided things inside a Vim “window”.

vim windowsß

Rectangle / Column Mode

Ctrl-V puts vim in column mode.
Any movement will then select text.
Press o to move cursor from beginning of selection to end.
Press O to move cursor to opposite corner of selection.
Press gv in Normal mode to restore your previous selection.
Beginning/end of selected text is referenced using ’< and ’>.
- To write contents of selected text to a file, use :’<,’> write joke.txt

Tutorials

http://www.vi-improved.org/tutorial.php (Watch out, it has poo-poo words in it).

Backspace Key

Backspace key doesn't want to erase stuff in insert mode sometimes. FIXME

Undo / Redo

u Undo
control-R Redo

Characters

You can find the HEX, Octal and Decimal value of the char under the cursor by using

ga

Customizing

http://newbiedoc.sourceforge.net/tutorials/vim/personal-vim.html.en

~/.vimrc

From http://www.ph.unimelb.edu.au/~ssk/vim/options.html

The environment variable "$VIM" is used to locate various support files, such
as the on-line documentation and files used for syntax highlighting.  For
example, the main help file is normally "$VIM/doc/help.txt".

To avoid the need for every user to set the $VIM environment variable, Vim
will try to get the value for $VIM in this order:
1. The value defined by the $VIM environment variable.  You can use this to
   make Vim look in a specific directory for it's support files.  Example:
>	setenv VIM /home/paul/vim
2. For MSDOS and Win32 the environment variable $HOME is used, when defined.
   Works just like setting the $VIM environment variable.
3. The path from 'helpfile' is used, unless it contains some environment
   variable too (the default is "$VIM/doc/help.txt": chicken-egg problem).
   The file name ("help.txt" or any other) is removed.  If it then ends in
   "/doc", this is removed too.
4. For MSDOS, Win32 and OS/2 Vim tries to use the directory name of the
   executable.  If it ends in "/src", this is removed.  This is useful if you
   unpacked the .zip file in some directory, and adjusted the search path to
   find the vim executable.
5. For Unix the compile-time defined installation directory is used (see the
   output of ":version").

Page	Description	Tags
Command Line Window	This is one of the most annoying things that happens to me. <http://www.vim.org/htmldoc/usr_20.html#20.5> I always accidentally type q: in normal mode, and it…	vim
Cursor Line	Many editors have the ability to highlight the entire line that your cursor is on. In Vim, you can do this by using :set cursorline You can turn it off by us…	vim, cursor, highlighting, syntax
Fuzzy Finder	One of the best Vim plugins that I've used. Allows you to easily search for files by name, like Cmd-T in TextMate and Find File in Project in UltraEdit * <…	vim, plugins, favorites
Fuzzy Finder Kludge	I'm a fan of the Fuzzy Finder plugin for Vim. I have written a kludge to the Fuzzy Finder that will trim really long directory names from the entries that you …	fuzzy, vim
Fuzzy finder textmate	An excellent Vim plugin that improves on FuzzyFinder plugin. <http://github.com/jamis/fuzzyfinder_textmate/tree/master> I wish that foos_controller.rb would b…	vim, plugins
Highlighting Search Text in Vim	I generally like to highlight text that I search for. But, there's times where I don't. In the example below, I think there's too many highlighted def stateme…	vim, blog
IdeaVIM	Allows you to use Vim-interface from within IntelliJ IDEA. * <http://ideavim.sourceforge.net/> You get the code formatting features of Idea, as well as som…	idea, vim, plugins
IdeaVIM Readme	I copied the README file from version .11.6 for IDEA 7.x. See also the help file that's installed with the plugin. After you install the plugin, go to the IDE…	vim, idea, plugins
Lookupfile	Lookupfile is a Vim plugin that searches for files as you type criteria. For example, if you type “b”, then lookupfile will show all files that start with …	vim, plugins
Netrw	Netrw is the name of vim's file-browser. * <http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/pi_netrw.html> Netrw has a lot of functionality, but it's like Vim in tha…	vim, netrw
Text/Terminal Mode	I like the text-based dialogs better than the GUI ones. Mainly because it keeps the dialogs consistent whether I'm using MacVim or Vim from a terminal. Anothe…	vim
URL Helper	I put this note here to help myself gain an understanding of rails and how everything fits together. <http://api.rubyonrails.com/classes/ActionView/Helpers/Url…	rails, api, vim
Vim - Convert To HTML	In MacVim, you can go to the Syntax Menu, and select “Convert To HTML” This will take the current file that you have open, and create an HTML document with…	html, vim, favorites
Vim Best Of	This is my own version of best of Vim. It is meant for real Vim “addicts”, and people who are text-editor dorks. I compiled it as a list of references to …	vim, tips
Vim Capture Command Output	Sometimes, you'll issue a command in Vim, and the output is piped to more, so you can't really search/filter through the output. For example, try :set all An…	vim, filter, redirection
Vim Clipboard	One of the biggest things that confused me about Vim was how to copy/paste stuff from other programs into Vim and vice-versa. Vim was designed in 1976?, way be…	vim, clipboard
Vim Colorschemes	<http://www.vim.org/htmldoc/usr_06.html> This website <http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~maverick/VimColorSchemeTest/index-c.html> is a great place for previews of colors…	vim, colorschemes, skins, themes
Vim Customizing	There are thousands of ways of customizing Vim, which is both good and bad. * You can customize your settings: Vim Settings * For a list of keys that are …	vim, mapping, keyboard
Vim Defaults	Very good basic article on configuring best defaults in Vim: * <http://items.sjbach.com/319/configuring-vim-right> Notesmine External vim	vim
Vim Diff	Vim can be used to show diffs From <http://mamchenkov.net/wordpress/2004/05/10/vim-for-perl-developers/2/> Vim will show both files in vertical split window m…	vim, diff, vim, diff
Vim Formatting	Vim has some pretty cool formatting things. The gq command formats the {motion} that you tell Vim to do. gq is used to format “normal” text (as opposed to…	vim, formatting, syntax
Vim Help	* <http://www.truth.sk/vim/vimbook-OPL.pdf> * Use :help <command> to get help for a particular command. Default is to get help for the normal mode comma…	vim, vim
Vim Insert-Mode Completion	Also known as “Autocomplete”, and “Code Completion” See <http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/insert.html#ins-completion> After using text editors/ID…	vim, autocomplete
Vim Keyboard Mapping	The :verbose map command shows where a key sequence was mapped. This is handy for resolving key conflicts. Shows where ;1 was mapped, if at all. :verbose map…	mapping, vim, keyboard
Vim Motion	This is a huge area, and my favorites are for coding, where you can jump back & forth to the start of if .. then blocks, methods, and start/end of classes. The…	vim, motion, navigation, jumps
Vim Obscure	This page is a list of the “obscure” commands in Vim. (Yes, I realize that most commands in vim are obscure) :history : list of all your commands…	vim, obscure, favorites
Vim Options	Much of Vim's functionality is done through options. You can see the value of an option by using the :set command, with a question mark after the setting. Thi…	vim, favorites
Vim Plugins	Plugins extend the functionality of Vim. Plugins for any software tool are often tricky to install/use, sometimes have bugs, etc. However, if a plugin is wide…	vim, rails, ide, plugins, vim, editors, ide, plugins
Vim Rails	Great vim plugin for rails applications. There's an excellent Tutorial on , and I recommend you navigate through that to learn how to install and use. I liste…	todo, vim, rails, ruby, ide, todo, vim, rails, ruby, ide
Vim Rails Screencast	I might create a screencast showing how to use Vim w/Rails. * Show Vim setup? -- No * Show where to get Rails & related plugins? - Yes * Create Rails ap…	vim, rails, screencasts
Vim Scrolling	One of the coolest things about Vim is its ability to show you where you are easily. The commands on this page do not move your cursor, instead they move the t…	vim, scrolling, cursor, movement
Vim Settings	Vim has a gazillion settings/options that you can use. With Vim, there's not really any “Options” window. You have to set the options yourself, or use a c…	vim, vimrc, vim, vimrc
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Vim Terminal Background	Sometimes Vim's syntax looks horrible. For example, you're using a white background, and the characters are all light yellow, light red, etc. Try one of these…	vim, terminal
Vim Todo	This is just a page w/my TODO notes regarding Vim. It's meant to keep myself from yak-shaving when I find an aggravating thing in Vim. * Currently Ctrl-HJKL…	vim, todo
Vim Tricks	There are plenty of Vim tips/tricks pages out there. Here's some of my own. Say you have some text like below, and want to eliminate the blank lines: def s…	vim, tricks
Vim Visual Mode	Visual Mode means working with highlighted text. When you only use v to highlight text, then Vim will only copy what's highlighted. This is annoying if you wa…	vim, block mode, visual mode
Vim Whines	* Requires large amount of tweaking for minor, yet annoying things. * Giant white status bar that blazes your eyes out. * Plugins are nice, but usually h…	vim, whines
gvim and vim fonts	Bad. Font is sketchy/broken up, and too slim. I think this looks good: :-) Related Pages on Notesmine External Pages gvim, and, vim, fonts	gvim, and, vim, fonts
my vim setup	Just a page to list my Vim shortcuts, so I don't forget them, or have to use ”:map” to find them. * Ctrl = Control Key * D = Apple Key Current Vim Sh…	my, vim, setup

TODO

Find out how to move the current file to a new location.
Find out how to check/run Perl/Ruby scripts
Get current file's path onto the clipboard.
- Get better at clipboard.

Vim

Auto Complete

Tips

Editing

Indenting Lines of Code

Command Line

Help

Inserting Text

Configuration

Windoze

Unix / Linux

Configurable Options

General

Clipboard (Cut, Copy, Paste)

Registers

Multiple Files

Movement

Code Navigation