I am trying to use the vim autowrap functionality to automatically wrap my paragraph into lines no longer than 80 letters in real time as I type. This can be done by set textwidth=80 and set fo+=a. The a option of the vim formatoptions or fo basically tells vim to wrap the entire paragraph while typing.
However, there is a very annoying side-effect, that I can no longer break a line by simply pressing enter.
This is a sample sentence.
Say for the above sentence, if I want to make it into:
This is
a sample sentence.
Usually I can just move the cursor to "a" and enter insert mode and then press enter. But after set fo+=a, nothing will happen when I press enter in the insert mode at "a". One thing I do notice is that if there is no space between "is" and "a", pressing enter will insert a space. But nothing else will happen after that.
So what do I miss here? How do I stop this annoying behavior?
You can run :help fo-table to see explanations of the options:
a Automatic formatting of paragraphs. Every time text is inserted or
deleted the paragraph will be reformatted. See |auto-format|.
When the 'c' flag is present this only happens for recognized
comments.
This means that every time you insert a character, vim will try and autoformat the paragraph. This will cause it to move everything back onto the same line.
I don't think you need to add a at all. I use neovim, but the behavior here should be the same. The default values are, according to the help pages:
(default: "tcqj", Vi default: "vt")
Try removing set fo+=a entirely from your .vimrc. Keep set textwidth=80. That should fix your issue.
EDIT: Once you have set textwidth=80, if you want to format an existing paragraph, you can highlight it in visual selection and press gq.
The following allows me to use the enter key to start a new line while setting the text width to be 79 characters:
set tw=79 "width of document
set fo=cqt
set wm=0 "# margin from right window border
After some exploration, I find a workaround that can solve the problem to some extent, though not perfect.
The basic idea is that when entering a line break, disable the auto-wrapping temporarily when sending <CR> and resume auto-wrapping after that. There are multiple ways of doing that. And the best one as far as I know is using the paste mode, since you don't have to exit insert mode when entering paste mode. So just make the following commands into any key binding you like in insert mode. The one I am using right now is inoremap <C-N> <F2><CR><F2>
The reason why I think this one is not optimal is that for some reason I cannot bind <Enter> in this way, but have to use another key.
If <Enter> or <CR> can be configured in this way then the problem is 100% solved.
Related
When using vim in insert mode (or not using vim at all), pressing the delete-button deletes a character TO THE RIGHT of the cursor. How can I get this behavior in vim when in normal mode?
Pressing x is not the right answer as it deletes the selected character, not the character to the right.
In the Insert mode it's just for you the cursor looks "kinda between characters". But in fact, your computer sees it being right on the character you are deleting.
In the Normal mode you normally have the bar-cursor, so it looks the way it works.
Now, of course, you can remap your "x" to delete the char to the right, but it will only add a confusion. So, please, don't. Train your mind to see the things in the proper light instead.
I fairly often find myself in a situation like this:
I'd like to start typing on the line on which my cursor is currently. However, in order to get to the correct indentation level, I'd have to press TAB several times.
Usually I'd press ddO (delete current line and insert a new one above the cursor), which resets my indentation position to the right place:
But that seems like an odd way to go about adding the correct amount of whitespace.
Is there a better way that I'm overlooking?
When in normal mode, you can use cc or its synonym S. If you are already in insert mode, Ctrlf is the default key for this, but that can be changed by altering cinkeys (see :h cink for details).
See also this answer on the Vi/Vim stack
Kevin mentioned some shortcuts, but another method is <C-i> (indent) and <C-d> (dedent) in insert mode.
I typed z= underneath a misspelled word, and vim split the screen horizontally, thereby keeping the misspelled word in context, but also providing a list words to change the misspelled word from. Usually, this latter screen replaces the former screen when I hit z=.
I like this behavior, but can not replicate it. I must have hit something before z= but I do not know what.
The behavior you saw accidentally happens when there are only a few suggestions and they don't fill the entire window.
You can force a maximum size for the suggestion list (example: 20 suggestions) with
set spellsuggest=best,20
Now, as long as your window exceeds 20 lines, you will see the misspelled word in context, and the bottom 20 lines of your window filled with the suggestion list
I can't say what caused the behavior you saw, maybe it is some plugin.
But here are two options to stay in the context with spellchecker:
1) Use CTRL-X s in insert mode:
In Insert mode, when the cursor is after a badly spelled word, you can use
CTRL-X s to find suggestions. This works like Insert mode completion. Use
CTRL-N to use the next suggestion, CTRL-P to go back. |i_CTRL-X_s|
2) Use vimple plugin which turns few full-screen windows (including spell suggestions) into "overlays" (actually split windows where you can select the word you need).
I've been using vim for somewhat longer than a year now and during this time I have never feel really comfortable with the way vim works with yanking and pasting text (or maybe it is just me not using it in the most efficient way)
For example, I have the word "World" yanked onto a register, and I want to paste it after "Hello". (Note that there are no spaces on either of the words). So, what I would do is
Hello
|
Place cursor here, and press "p". Then, what I will end up with is
HelloWorld
So, in order to avoid this, I have always to swith into insert mode, insert a espace, and go back into normal mode (or either make sure that the yanked word has a space before it). Be as it may, this is quite annoying behaviour I can't think of a solution for... Am I missing something here?
Suggestions will be appreciated.
Thanks
option zero
just live with what you have now.
option one
create a mapping for your workflow. for example
nnoremap <leader>p i<space><esc>p
option two
:set ve=all
then you could move your cursor to anywhere and paste
option three
you could in insert mode use <c-o> do normal mode stuff or <c-r> to get register values
I recommend option zero
You can use the Smartput : Adjust spaces and commas when putting text plugin for that. It modifies the p / P commands (this can be toggled on / off).
I've noticed that gq does not work when I paste in a long line. For example, with a textwidth=72 and formatoptions=tcroqbnl, gq refuses to wrap this (in insert mode, I pasted the entire label contents, and then exited insert mode with ESC):
<label for="contact_reason_1">To get assistance with or to confirm a tire replacement recommendation</label>
If I add a line break in (after "to", for example), it'll wrap then. The funny thing is if I join the line back together, it'll happily wrap it again. So VIM seems to somehow be remembering "oh, this is one paste, don't wrap it".
How do I turn that feature off? I'd like gq in command mode to always work. Taking l out of formatoptions did not seem to help (and it shouldn't, this isn't insert mode).
clarification
Yes, I'm using a motion command, in particular, gq<Right>. formatexpr and formatprog are both unset. If it matters, this is in gvim on Debian GNU/Linux, vim version 7.2p284.
steps to reproduce
Pop up gvim on an open file.
Press i to get into insert mode, then type This is a long line. A long line. But not wrappable yet. Or yet. Soon.
Press ESC, then I. Type Now putting text in front of the long line. note: there is a space after the final period, can't get SO to show it, except when this note is here. FUN.
Press ESC, then A. Type And some after. note: space before the And, same SO problem.
Press ESC one last time. Now try gq<Left>, note it only wraps And some after.; I can't get vim to wrap the rest of the line (without going into insert mode and doing a line break by hand, then it works).
Fixing this state is doable; putting a newline after "now" and then hitting undo makes line wrap work again. WTF.
gq isn't enough to wrap the text. You have to give it a motion over which to wrap (like gqj) or tell it to wrap the current line with gqq. Are you sure you're not just mistyping it?
If you aren't, what are the formatexpr and formatprg options set to, if anything?
Update
The problem is the b setting in formatoptions. That's telling Vim to only wrap the text added during the last insertion.
I find that if I select the line before doing the gq, it works fine. Doesn't gq want to be combined with some text selection operation to work?
UPDATE
I confirm the bug. Running vim -u NONE, my formatoptions are vt.
Maybe Bram Molenar or at least the vim community would be interested?