nb/best_of_vim_tips.md

Best of Vim Tips

Best of Vim Tips David Rayner (zzapper) 15 Years of Vi + 7 years of Vim and still learning 12Oct10 : Last Update BEGIN

" new items marked N , corrected items marked C " searching /joe/e : cursor set to End of match 3/joe/e+1 : find 3rd joe cursor set to End of match plus 1 C /joe/s-2 : cursor set to Start of match minus 2 /joe/+3 : find joe move cursor 3 lines down /^joe.fred.bill/ : find joe AND fred AND Bill (Joe at start of line) /^[A-J]/ : search for lines beginning with one or more A-J /begin_.end : search over possible multiple lines /fred_sjoe/ : any whitespace including newline C /fred|joe : Search for FRED OR JOE /.fred&.joe : Search for FRED AND JOE in any ORDER! /<fred>/ : search for fred but not alfred or frederick C /<\d\d\d\d> : Search for exactly 4 digit numbers /\D\d\d\d\d\D : Search for exactly 4 digit numbers /<\d{4}> : same thing /([^0-9]|^)%.% : Search for absence of a digit or beginning of line " finding empty lines /^\n{3} : find 3 empty lines /^str.\nstr : find 2 successive lines starting with str /(^str.\n){2} : find 2 successive lines starting with str " using rexexp memory in a search /(fred).(joe).\2.\1 " Repeating the Regexp (rather than what the Regexp finds) /^([^,],){8} " visual searching :vmap // y/" : search for visually highlighted text :vmap // y/=escape(@", '\/.$^~[]') : with spec chars " \zs and \ze regex delimiters :h /\zs /<\zs[^>]\ze> : search for tag contents, ignoring chevrons " zero-width :h /@= /<@<=[^>]>@= : search for tag contents, ignoring chevrons /<@<=_[^>]>@= : search for tags across possible multiple lines " searching over multiple lines _ means including newline / : search for multiple line comments /fred_sjoe/ : any whitespace including newline C /bugs(_.)bunny : bugs followed by bunny anywhere in file :h _ : help " search for declaration of subroutine/function under cursor :nmap gx yiw/^(sub<bar>function)\s+" " multiple file search :bufdo /searchstr/ : use :rewind to recommence search " multiple file search better but cheating :bufdo %s/searchstr/&/gic : say n and then a to stop " How to search for a URL without backslashing ?http://www.vim.org/ : (first) search BACKWARDS!!! clever huh! " Specify what you are NOT searching for (vowels) /\c\v([^aeiou]&\a){4} : search for 4 consecutive consonants /%>20l%<30lgoat : Search for goat between lines 20 and 30 N /^.{-}home.{-}\zshome/e : match only the 2nd occurence in a line of "home" N :%s/home.{-}\zshome/alone : Substitute only the occurrence of home in any line N " find str but not on lines containing tongue ^(.tongue.)@!.nose.$ \v^((tongue)@!.)nose((tongue)@!.)$ .nose.&^%(%(tongue)@!.)$ :v/tongue/s/nose/&/gic "---------------------------------------- "substitution :%s/fred/joe/igc : general substitute command :%s//joe/igc : Substitute what you last searched for N :%s/~/sue/igc : Substitute your last replacement string N :%s/\r//g : Delete DOS returns ^M " Is your Text File jumbled onto one line? use following :%s/\r/\r/g : Turn DOS returns ^M into real returns :%s= $== : delete end of line blanks :%s= +$== : Same thing :%s#\s\r?$## : Clean both trailing spaces AND DOS returns :%s#\s*\r*$## : same thing " deleting empty lines :%s/^\n{3}// : delete blocks of 3 empty lines :%s/^\n+/\r/ : compressing empty lines :%s#<[^>]+>##g : delete html tags, leave text (non-greedy) :%s#<_.{-1,}>##g : delete html tags possibly multi-line (non-greedy) :%s#.(\d+hours).#\1# : Delete all but memorised string (\1) N %s#><([^/])#>\r<\1#g : split jumbled up XML file into one tag per line N " VIM Power Substitute :'a,'bg/fred/s/dick/joe/igc : VERY USEFUL " duplicating columns :%s= [^ ]+$=&&= : duplicate end column :%s= \f+$=&&= : same thing :%s= \S+$=&& : usually the same " memory %s#.(tbl_\w+).#\1# : produce a list of all strings tbl_* N :s/(.):(.)/\2 : \1/ : reverse fields separated by : :%s/^(.)\n\1$/\1/ : delete duplicate lines " non-greedy matching {-} :%s/^.{-}pdf/new.pdf/ : delete to 1st occurence of pdf only (non-greedy) " use of optional atom ? :%s#<[zy]?tbl_[a-z_]+>#\L&#gc : lowercase with optional leading characters " over possibly many lines :%s/// : delete possibly multi-line comments :help /{-} : help non-greedy " substitute using a register :s/fred/a/g : sub "fred" with contents of register "a" :s/fred/asome_texts/g
:s/fred/=@a/g : better alternative as register not displayed " multiple commands on one line :%s/\f+.gif>/\r&\r/g | v/.gif$/d | %s/gif/jpg/ :%s/a/but/gie|:update|:next : then use @: to repeat " ORing :%s/goat|cow/sheep/gc : ORing (must break pipe) :'a,'bs#[|]##g : remove [] from lines between markers a and b N :%s/\v(.\n){5}/&\r : insert a blank line every 5 lines N " Calling a VIM function :s/date/=strftime("%c")/ : insert datestring " Working with Columns sub any str1 in col3 :%s:((\w+\s+){2})str1:\1str2: " Swapping first & last column (4 columns) :%s:(\w+)(.\s+)(\w+)$:\3\2\1: " format a mysql query :%s#<from>|<where>|<left join>|<\inner join>#\r&#g " filter all form elements into paste register :redir @|sil exec 'g#<(input|select|textarea|/=form)>#p'|redir END :nmap ,z :redir @sil exec 'g@<(input<Bar>select<Bar>textarea<Bar>/=form)>@p'redir END " substitute string in column 30 N :%s/^(.{30})xx/\1yy/ " decrement numbers by 3 :%s/\d+/=(submatch(0)-3)/ " increment numbers by 6 on certain lines only :g/loc|function/s/\d/=submatch(0)+6/ " better :%s#txtdev\zs\d#=submatch(0)+1#g :h /\zs " increment only numbers gg\d\d by 6 (another way) :%s/(gg)@<=\d+/=submatch(0)+6/ :h zero-width " rename a string with an incrementing number :let i=10 | 'a,'bg/Abc/s/yy/=i/ |let i=i+1 # convert yy to 10,11,12 etc " as above but more precise :let i=10 | 'a,'bg/Abc/s/xx\zsyy\ze/=i/ |let i=i+1 # convert xxyy to xx11,xx12,xx13 " find replacement text, put in memory, then use \zs to simplify substitute :%s/"([^.]+).\zsxx/\1/ " Pull word under cursor into LHS of a substitute :nmap z :%s#<=expand("")># " Pull Visually Highlighted text into LHS of a substitute :vmap z :%s/<>/ " substitute singular or plural :'a,'bs/bucket(s)/bowl\1/gic N

" all following performing similar task, substitute within substitution " Multiple single character substitution in a portion of line only :%s,(all/.)@<=/,_,g : replace all / with _ AFTER "all/" " Same thing :s#all/\zs.#=substitute(submatch(0), '/', '', 'g')# " Substitute by splitting line, then re-joining :s#all/#&^M#|s#/##g|-j! " Substitute inside substitute :%s/.*/='cp '.submatch(0).' all/'.substitute(submatch(0),'/','_','g')/

" global command display :g/gladiolli/# : display with line numbers (YOU WANT THIS!) :g/fred.joe.dick/ : display all lines fred,joe & dick :g/<fred>/ : display all lines fred but not freddy :g/^\s$/d : delete all blank lines :g!/^dd/d : delete lines not containing string :v/^dd/d : delete lines not containing string :g/joe/,/fred/d : not line based (very powerfull) :g/fred/,/joe/j : Join Lines N :g/-------/.-10,.d : Delete string & 10 previous lines :g/{/ ,/}/- s/\n+/\r/g : Delete empty lines but only between {...} :v/\S/d : Delete empty lines (and blank lines ie whitespace) :v/./,/./-j : compress empty lines :g/^$/,/./-j : compress empty lines :g/<input|<form/p : ORing :g/^/put_ : double space file (pu = put) :g/^/m0 : Reverse file (m = move) :g/^/m$ : No effect! N :'a,'bg/^/m'b : Reverse a section a to b :g/^/t. : duplicate every line :g/fred/t$ : copy(transfer) lines matching fred to EOF :g/stage/t'a : copy (transfer) lines matching stage to marker a (cannot use .) C :g/^Chapter/t.|s/./-/g : Automatically underline selecting headings N :g/(^I[^^I]){80}/d : delete all lines containing at least 80 tabs " perform a substitute on every other line :g/^/ if line('.')%2|s/^/zz / " match all lines containing "somestr" between markers a & b " copy after line containing "otherstr" :'a,'bg/somestr/co/otherstr/ : co(py) or mo(ve) " as above but also do a substitution :'a,'bg/str1/s/str1/&&&/|mo/str2/ :%norm jdd : delete every other line " incrementing numbers (type as 5 characters) :.,$g/^\d/exe "norm! <c-a>": increment numbers :'a,'bg/\d+/norm! ^A : increment numbers " storing glob results (note must use APPEND) you need to empty reg a first with qaq. "save results to a register/paste buffer :g/fred/y A : append all lines fred to register a :g/fred/y A | :let @=@a : put into paste buffer :let @a=''|g/Barratt/y A |:let @=@a " filter lines to a file (file must already exist) :'a,'bg/^Error/ . w >> errors.txt " duplicate every line in a file wrap a print '' around each duplicate :g/./yank|put|-1s/'/"/g|s/./Print '&'/ " replace string with contents of a file, -d deletes the "mark" :g/^MARK$/r tmp.txt | -d " display prettily :g//z#.5 : display with context :g//z#.5|echo "==========" : display beautifully " Combining g// with normal mode commands :g/|/norm 2f|r : replace 2nd | with a star "send output of previous global command to a new window :nmap :redir @a:g//:redir END:new:put! a "---------------------------------------- " Global combined with substitute (power editing) :'a,'bg/fred/s/joe/susan/gic : can use memory to extend matching :/fred/,/joe/s/fred/joe/gic : non-line based (ultra) :/biz/,/any/g/article/s/wheel/bucket/gic: non-line based N

" Find fred before beginning search for joe :/fred/;/joe/-2,/sid/+3s/sally/alley/gIC "---------------------------------------- " create a new file for each line of file eg 1.txt,2.txt,3,txt etc :g/^/exe ".w ".line(".").".txt" "---------------------------------------- " chain an external command :.g/^/ exe ".!sed 's/N/X/'" | s/I/Q/ N "---------------------------------------- " Operate until string found N d/fred/ :delete until fred y/fred/ :yank until fred c/fred/e :change until fred end "---------------------------------------- " Summary of editing repeats N . last edit (magic dot) :& last substitute :%& last substitute every line :%&gic last substitute every line confirm g% normal mode repeat last substitute g& last substitute on all lines @@ last recording @: last command-mode command :!! last :! command :~ last substitute :help repeating

" Summary of repeated searches ; last f, t, F or T , last f, t, F or T in opposite direction n last / or ? search N last / or ? search in opposite direction

" Absolutely essential

• g* g# : find word under cursor () (forwards/backwards)

% : match brackets {} . : repeat last modification @: : repeat last : command (then @@) matchit.vim : % now matches tags