VIM User Manual

vim.md

VIM

Basic Operations

Basics

Input	Action
CTRL+U	Page up 1/2
CTRL+D	Page dw 1/2
<<	Unindent (normal mode)
>>	Indent (normal mode)
.	Repeat last
2dw	Delete 2 words
dd	Delete line
yy	Copy line
p	Paste
*	Jump to next occurrence of word under cursor
#	Jump to previous occurrence of word under cursor

Others

Find-and-navigate

How to search around in normal mode?

Input	Action
/<word>	Search for a word in normal mode
/\<word>\>	Search for a word with whitespace around it (otherwise substring search)
n	Jump to next occurrence of it
p	Jump to previous occurrence of it

• To search backwards, use ? instead of /.
• To search case-insensitive, use /\c with escaped c
• To search case-sensitive, use /\C with escaped C
• Use arrow keys after / or ? to navigate search history

Search-and-replace

How to both search and replace in normal mode?

Input	Action
:100,200s/a/b	Replace a with b between lines 100 and 200
:%/a/b	Replace a with b across all lines
:%/a/b/g	Same, but applies globally (not just first occurrence)
100,200/\<a>/b/gic	Word + Case-insensitive + Commit + Global

• Use g at the end to search globally
• Use gi to apply with case insensitivity
• Use gI to apply with case sensitivity
• Use gic to apply globally and commit it

Setup and Configuration

Actions

Input	Action
:set nu	Enable line numbers
:set ai	Enable auto-indent (using previous line indentation)
:set si	Enable smart indent (using syntax)
:colorscheme	Change colorscheme. Get options with CTRL+D
:set shiftwidth=N	Set indent size to N spaces
:set list	Show whitespace
:set expandtab	Use spaces instead of tabs
:set hlsearch	Enable search result highlighting
:set incsearch	Enable incremental highlighting
:set scrollbind	Enable parallel scrolling (auto)

.vimrc

My personal ~/.vimrc file at this moment

syntax on
filetype indent on

"Personal run-command file
:set nu
:set ai
:set shiftwidth=2
:set hlsearch
:set incsearch
:colorscheme wildcharm
:set background=light
:set splitright
:set complete+=kspell
:set completeopt=menuone,longest
:set shortmess+=c
:set encoding=utf-8
:set colorcolumn=80
:set backspace=indent,eol,start

"Adjust scrolling behaviour
map <C-U> 6<C-Y>
map <C-D> 6<C-E>

"Re-assign arrow keys to NOP (also in insert)
nnoremap <Up>      <Nop>
nnoremap <Down>    <Nop>
nnoremap <Left>    <Nop>
nnoremap <Right>   <Nop>

"Re-assign enter key when autocomplete menu shown
inoremap <expr> <CR> pumvisible() ? '<C-p><C-y>' : '<CR>'

"Filetype sensitive tab directives
autocmd Filetype python setlocal expandtab tabstop=4 sw=4 sts=4
autocmd Filetype c      setlocal expandtab tabstop=2 sw=2 sts=2

"Autocorrection directives
abbr ture true
abbr flase false

"Tabbing keybind
nnoremap <C-n> :tabnext<CR>

"Lookup rebind for ctags
nnoremap @ g]

"Custom Zoom-in/Zoom-out toggle function
nnoremap <nowait><expr><silent> <Space><Space>
    \ <SID>toggleZoom() ? "200\<C-W>>200\<C-W>+" : "\<C-W>="
let s:_toggle_zoom=0
function! s:toggleZoom() abort
  let s:_toggle_zoom = s:_toggle_zoom ? 0 : 1
  return s:_toggle_zoom
endfunction

"Language support
let g:lsc_auto_map = v:true
let g:lsc_server_commands = {
      \ 'c': 'clangd', 
      \ 'go': {
      \    "command": "gopls serve",
      \    "log_level": -1,
      \    "suppress_stderr": v:true,
      \  },
      \ 'typescript': 'typescript-language-server --stdio'
      \}

"Calendar support
let g:calendar_weeknm = 1
let g:calendar_number_of_months = 3

"Plugin manager (vim-plug): Check status with :PlugStatus
call plug#begin('~/.vim/plugged')

Plug 'https://github.com/vim-scripts/AutoComplPop', { 'tag': '2.14.1' }

Plug 'https://github.com/natebosch/vim-lsc.git', { 'tag': 'v0.3.1' }

Plug 'junegunn/fzf', { 'do': { -> fzf#install() } }
Plug 'junegunn/fzf.vim'

Plug 'jceb/vim-orgmode'

Plug 'tpope/vim-speeddating'

call plug#end()

"Check whether any plugins are missing
function! WarnInvalidPlugs()
  if plug#n_valid_plugs()
    let s:msg="Not all Plugs functional! Check: PlugStatus"
    let s:size=len(s:msg) + 4
    call popup_notification(s:msg, #{line: 2, col: (&columns - s:size)/2})
  endif
endfunction
autocmd VimEnter * :call WarnInvalidPlugs()

"Fzf Settings
let g:fzf_vim = {}
let g:fzf_vim.preview_window_options = ['--style', 'minimal']

"Binding to open Fzf files
noremap <C-F> :Files<CR>

Visual Block Mode

Input	Action
CTRL+V	Enter visual block mode
SHIFT+I	Insert to the left of the selection. ESC to apply
c	Change selection
d	Delete selection
r	Replace entire selection with next typed character
$	Select until EOL
A	Append text to selection
SHIFT+R	Replace-mode so changes in place

Buffers

Input	Action
:buffers	See current buffered content
:ls	List all buffers (current marked with %a)
:bp	Go to previous buffer
:bn	Go to next buffer
:b<N>	Go to buffer at index N
:bd	Delete current buffer
:e!	Restore current file to last saved
CTRL+o	Jump to previous buffer
Ctrl+i	Jump to next buffer

Windows

Input	Action
:sp	Split current window (top/bottom)
:vsp	Split current window (left/right)
CTRL+W S	Split current window horizontally
CTRL+W V	Split current window vertically
CTRL+Q	Close window
:vsp <filename>	Open filename in new window
CTRL+W X	Swap windows
:set splitright	Always open new window on right side
CTRL+W R	Rotate current windows
CTRL+W T/B	Go to Top or Bottom window
CTRL+W H/J/K/L	Navigate windows
:resize <N>	Adjust length by N
:vertical resize <N>	Adjust width by N
CTRL+W =	Make windows equal size
CTRL+W _	Expand to max height
`CTRL+W	`
CTRL+W o	Fullscreen current window
:ba	Show all buffers

Tabs

Input	Action
:tabe <filename>	Edit filename in new tab
:tabn	Go to tab on the right
:tabp	Go to previous tab
:tabnew	Open new empty tab
:tabm <0>	Move tab to far left
:tab ball	Open all buffers in tabs

VIM File Explorer

Input	Action
vim <directory>	Open VIM manager
/<pattern>/	Auto-highlight directory entry matching pattern. Hit ENTER to goto
s	Change sort mode
d	Delete file selected
o	Open file selected
v	Open selected file in vertical split window
:let g:netrw altv=1	Open split to the right always
:Vex	Show the vertical explorer window
I	Toggle the banner
i	Show file information

VimDiff

Input	Action
vimdiff <a> <b>	Open VIM diff tool with horizontal stacking
vimdiff -o <a> <b>	Open VIM diff tool with vertical stacking
vim -d <a> <b>	Alternative way to open with horizontal stacking
]c	Go to next difference
[c	Go to previous difference
:diffget	For the present seelcted file and change, grab the opposing change
:diffupdate	Rescan a file after a change (to undo the change basically if you didn't write)
:diffput	Put the change on the left file to the right file for the given change
CTRL+WW	Switch the files being compared Left <-> Right
:zo	Unfold collapsed text under the cursor
:zc	Fold the text under the cursor
:zr	Unfold everything
:zm	Fold everything

Quick-guides

1. Indent the whole file (using autoindent):

   a. gg : Goto top of file b. v : Goto visual mode c. G : Select until end of file d. = : Apply auto indentation

2. Indent function (in visual mode):

   a. Navigate to just after the opening brace { b. v : Enter visual mode c. Type } To select up-to the closing brace d. Type = to apply the formatting within the block

3. Lookup (normal mode): Assumes you have Exuberant ctags installed a. Jump to definition under cursor: @ b. Preview: :pts, jump next :tn, jump last :tp

TODO

Here are a few handy things I'd like to know how to do still:

1. Auto-align a bunch of text together (starting from next word)
2. Auto-format a markdown table if selected (probably pipe to another program to format)