It would help me a lot to be able to view a list of Vim commands, and related metadata (eg. a description of each command, if it has aliases, etc.).
I understand that, through Vim plugins, the list of commands can be extended, and also depending on what options Vim was compiled with, can change the list of available commands.
I've done extensive searches online, for things like "vim command to list commands," but have come up empty-handed. The only command lists I can find are static documentation, that don't take into account the version of Vim you're running (including Neovim), what plugins you have installed / enabled, and what options Vim was compiled with.
Question: Is there a Vim command that introspectively lists all of the available commands in Vim?
In searchInRuntime I've the following function that list all commands starting with a leading text (that could be empty). This is an old trick to get what vim would expand through command line completion -- :h c_CTRL-A.
" s:MatchingCommands(ArgLead) {{{3
" return the list of custom commands starting by {FirstLetters}
function! s:MatchingCommands(ArgLead)
silent! exe "norm! :".a:ArgLead."\<c-a>\"\<home>let\ cmds=\"\<cr>"
let cmds = substitute(cmds, '\s\+', '\n', 'g')
" for your purpose, split is probably more fit
return cmds
endfunction
Note that it can't know what the commands are meant for. At best, you can fetch the definition of user commands thanks execute('verbose command '.cmdname) (execute() is a very recent function).
Note by the way that unlike execute('command'), this solution also list standard commands, not just user defined commands.
Regarding other actions available in vim (in case you weren't just looking for vim commands), while we can list user defined mappings (even may be even know that they do when they rely on well named plug-mappings), there is no way to list any other actions like dd, J...
Learn how to look up commands and navigate the built-in :help (there's automatic completion, listing of all candidates with Ctrl + A, and so on); it is comprehensive and also offers many tips. Most (good) plugins also provide their own help pages, so I think that answers your question best.
Don't try to implement some sort of introspection (as one commenter remarked to "shoot yourself in the foot"); rather, use the existing facilities of Vim. You can even write your own documentation pages (under ~/.vim/doc/*.txt); that's what I do: Collect tips, and short clips from other help locations. And it offers a place to document some older plugins that don't have their own help page.
Related
I often like to complete more just a Vim keyword. For example, I want to complete an arbitrary pathname or something like self.logger.debug("...") which I already have somewhere in my text file.
C-n and C-p use the 'iskeyword' option and thus only complete Vim keywords.
What is the best way to implement a space-separated word completion?
inoremap <C-m> ???
My only idea is to change 'iskeyword', use normal word completion, and reset 'iskeyword' it after that.
Both #Ingo Karkat and #Luc Hermitte provide excellent solutions. However if you want to do this natively then Vim provides some solutions which might help you. Typically completion uses plain <c-n>/<c-p> however there is an completion submode accessed via <c-x>.
Filename completion
Use <c-x><c-f> to start completing a filename. You can use <c-n>/<c-p> just like you normally would after you have started completion to move between options. If the completion ends in a directory (e.g. /usr/bin/) then just execute <c-x><c-f> to start completion into that directory.
Whole line completion
If you are commonly using the same line, but it isn't worth making a snippet or an abbreviation, then type the start of the line you wish then <c-x><c-l> to start line completion. Then just use <c-n>/<c-p> as you normally would.
Multi-word completion
You can use <c-x><c-n>/<c-x><c-p> to complete another word that follows the current word. This one is sort of tough to explain without just trying it.
Let's say you have the following text:
self.logger.debug("foo")
Let's say you would like another self.logger.debug somewhere else.
So type: sel then use <c-p> to as you normally would complete to self
Then use <c-x><c-p> to complete to self.logger (may need to do some <c-p>/<c-n> to get to .logger).
Once self.logger is completed then use <c-x><c-p> again for the .debugger part.
Note: this does use iskeyword so it may not complete exactly as you want, but should be pretty close.
For more help
:h ins-completion
:h compl-whole-line
:h compl-current
:h compl-filename
:h 'complete'
IMO, snippets are the best way to proceed in your case -- as you certainly don't want to change 'iskeyword' option (it'd trigger too many undesired side-effects, and as you said you'd need to restore it afterward, which is not trivial if possible at all). You could use abbreviations or mappings, but then you'd loose the "completion" feeling/feature you'd get with snippet plugins.
There exist plenty different snippet plugins. I'm quite sure there are plenty answers here on SO, or on vi.SE which describe the existing plugins.
For pathnames, you have i_CTRL-X_CTRL-f, but indeed it stops at each directory. In that case you could may be override i_CTRL-X_CTRL-f to alter &isk (and key sequences that valid/abort completion), trigger the completion, and then restore &isk and the mappings when you validate/abort the completion. This restoration at the end of completion is what some snippet plugins do. That's what I do in the core functions used in mu-template to take care of the completion. (Explanations of how this works on vi.SE)
I have written a plugin that is powered by my CompleteHelper plugin that does just that:
The WORDComplete plugin finds matches for WORDs that start with the non-blank characters in front of the cursor and end at the next whitespace. By default, it is triggered in insert mode with <C-x><C-w>. Like the built-in completions, the source buffers it considers can be configured.
I’m starting to learn about creating my own .vimrc file and I keep noticing features that are missing with my custom version that were present in the default setup.
I was wondering if it is possible to view the default settings, so I can compare them to my own and look up all the standard inclusions I don't know to learn more about them.
I searched and couldn’t find an answer online, and if the reason why there isn’t one is that the answer to this question is glaringly obvious, I’m really sorry; I’m still a bit of a noob :p
No worries, it’s a perfectly valid question. Unfortunately, the answer is a bit complicated. First of all, Vim has certain defaults that are documented in the built-in help system.
Some of them are only used when Vi compatibility mode is disabled, and that’s the first customisation most people make:
:set nocompatible
On top of that, many distributions provide their own custom config, for example Debian/Ubuntu comes with /etc/vim/vimrc. To makes things even more confusing, Vim 8 comes with a sane configuration (called default.vim) that only gets applied when ~/.vimrc is not found. Not to mention that NeoVim comes with its own set of defaults.
In practice, I suggest to explicitly set any options you care about to make sure your config is portable between systems and versions of Vim. To see the current value of a given option, use a question mark:
:set showcmd?
To learn more about a given option (including the default value), use Vim’s comprehensive help system:
:help showcmd
Finally, you might want to check my annotated .vimrc for some inspiration, and there is also the vim-sensible plugin that provides some sane defaults most people would agree to.
The easiest way to see “vanilla” Vim options is to start it using:
$ vim -u NONE -N
It will start Vim without any of your customizations or plugins, but still in ‘nocompatible’ mode (i.e., basically, running full-fledged Vim, instead of its stripped down version emulating Vi).
Then, you can execute the following commands:
:set all
:map
:command
:let
:function
:autocmd
to see all options, mappings, commands, variables, functions, and auto-commands, respectively, that are currently in effect. (I cannot promise I haven’t forgotten a customization category.)
Vim also comes with a bunch of basic configurations that is skipped by the -u NONE option, that you can also include while still excluding your .vimrc, by using -u NORC, instead.
Based on #Amadan's answer, I came up with this file (ShowAllDefaults.vim) and command to run it and capture the output.
. In the mean time, learning that, if you have files under ~/.vim, they get executed if you use this:
vim -u ShowAllDefaults.vim -N +q
So the correct way to do it is:
vim -u NONE -N +"source ShowAllDefaults.vim" +q
Contents of ShowAllDefaults.vim:
set verbosefile=/tmp/ShowAllDefaults.log
set all
map
command
let
function
autocmd
I am trying after long time to get familiar with vim also, and I came across this because I had same question.
How I found answer from within vim was to pull up help on defaults and it explained to get defaults along with .vimrc for newer users and also gave the path to default script so you could open it right up in your editor and read & compare it.
I am not going to give my exact path because that might change in different versions, so best to get it from help documents inside vim.
In Zsh, I can use filename completion with slashes to target a file deep in my source tree. For instance if I type:
vim s/w/t/u/f >TAB<
zsh replaces the pattern with:
vim src/wp-contents/themes/us/functions.php
What I'd like is to be able to target files the same way at the Vim command line, so that typing
:vi s/w/t/u/f >TAB<
will autocomplete to:
:vi src/wp-contents/themes/us/functions.php
I'm trying to parse the Vim docs for wildmode, but I don't see what settings would give me this. It's doing autocompletion for individual filenames, but not file paths. Does Vim support this natively? Or how can I customize the autocomplete algorithm for files?
Thanks for any advice!
-mykle-
I couldn't find a plugin to do this, so I wrote one. It's called vim-zsh-path-completion. It does what you're looking for, although via <C-s> rather than <Tab>. You can use it with <Tab> for even more control over what matches, though.
It's got bugs, but for basic paths without spaces/special characters, it should work. I think it's useful enough in its current state to be helpful. I hope to iron out the bugs and clean up the code, but I figured I'd start soliciting feedback now.
Thanks for the idea!
Original (wrong) answer, but with some useful information about Vim's wildmode.
Put the following in your .vimrc:
set wildmenu
set wildmode=list:longest
That will complete to the longest unique match on <Tab>, including appending a / and descending into directories where appropriate. If there are multiple matches, it will show a list of matches for what you've entered so far. Then you can type more characters and <Tab> again to complete.
I prefer the following setting, which completes to the first unique match on <Tab>, and then pops up a menu if you hit <Tab> again, which you can navigate with the arrow keys and hit enter to select from:
set wildmode=list:longest,list:full
Check out :help wildmenu and :help wildmode. You might also want to set wildignore to a list of patterns to ignore when completing. I have mine as:
set wildignore=.git,*.swp,*/tmp/*
Vim doesn't have such a feature by default. The closest buil-in feature is the wildmenu/wildmode combo but it's still very different.
A quick look at the script section of vim.org didn't return anything but I didn't look too far: you should dig further. Maybe it's there, somewhere.
Did you try Command-T, LustyExplorer, FuzzyFinder, CtrlP or one of the many similar plugins?
I use CtrlP and fuzzy matching can be done on filepath or filename. When done on filepath, I can use the keysequence below to open src/wp-contents/themes/us/functions.php (assuming functions.php is the only file under us that starts with a f):
,f " my custom mapping for the :CtrlP command
swtuf<CR>
edit
In thinking about a possible solution I'm afraid I was a little myopic. I was focused on your exact requirements but Vim has cool tricks when it comes to opening files!
The :e[dit] command accepts two types of wildcards: * is like the * you would use in your shell and ** means "any subdirectory".
So it's entirely possible to do:
:e s*/w*/t*/u*/f*<Tab>
or something like:
:e **/us/f<Tab>
or even:
:e **/fun<Tab>
Combined with the wildmode settings in Jim's answer, I think you have got a pretty powerful file navigation tool, here.
I use ctags, taglist, etc., to have auto completion in Vim. However, it is very limited compared to Visual Studio intellisense or Eclipse auto-completion. I am wondering whether it is possible to tune Vim to:
Show auto-completion whenever . or -> are typed. But only after some text that might be a variable (e.g. avoid showing auto completion after a number).
Show function parameters when ( is typed.
Stop removing the auto completion list when some delete all characters after . or ->: When I enter a variable name, then press . or -> to search for a certain member, I frequently have to delete all the characters I type after the . or ->, but this makes Vim hide the auto completion list. I would like to keep it visible unless I press Esc.
Showing related auto completion: When I type a variable and press ^X ^O, it usually shows me all the tags in the ctags file. I would like to have it showing only the tags related to the variable.
Thanks for the help.
EDIT: Some people are voting for this question, but no body seems to know the answer. So just wanted to mention that you don't have to provide a complete answer; partial answers to any of the mentioned points would be good also.
AutoComplPop is what you need.
For (1) when working with C++ or C clang complete is a really nice option
To make vim trigger a certain behavior when a key is pressed you need to map the key to a function.
For instance to map the key . to call some type of completion when in INSERT mode you would need to do:
:inoremap <expr> <buffer> . MyFunction()
and then the function would need to evaluate the context where it was called and present an appropriate answer to the user.
Edit: This is the basis of how clang complete mentioned by #honk works.
I'm not sure if you can customize the behavior of omnifunc to meet your needs but on my experience, I never went too far. As #Mikhail said, you would need to keep track of things which in practice means interpreting or even running the code to some extent.
I use vim every day, and I'm not aware of any existing script that may do this. This action would require understanding of classes and keeping track of variables. someObject-> means that VIM would know what class the variable someObject is, and then be able to search methods/variables within that class.
Writing scripts for vim is relatively easy, though like you've commented - no one has answered this yet. Up vote from me.
I would love to have that same functionality that you are looking for and just came across a promising plugin:
https://github.com/Shougo/neocomplcache looks like it could be the new autocomplpop, and seems to work quite well during my initial trials... now to configure the omni completion to work with scala~
I've recently discovered YouCompleteMe, it behaves similarly to the Visual Studio autocomplete tool. A demonstration can be seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuMyHAHF0xs
In any case, I recommend YouCompleteMe (YCM). It provides (fuzzy) matching of identifiers of your current file, as well as path-completion, integration with external completion engines,...
ad 1)
If you like the semantic completion of eclipse, use eclim to integrate vim with eclipse. (alernatively use another semantic engine for YCM)
ad 2)
These 2 play nicely together btw.,: YCM can even provide the function definition (= parameter list) of the recently completed function!
ad 3)
that's what YCM does anyways
ad 4)
not quite sure, what you mean by that one. never used ctags!
P.S.: I strongly recommend using UltiSnips and Tagbar (and if you like UndoTree) additionally, what makes vim a perfect IDE for me.
Recently I've been trying my hand at using vim instead of TextMate and one of the features that I've missed most in VIM is TextMate's jump to method function (CMD + Shift + T for those who don't know). From looking around I havn't seen any particular way to emulate this functionality and was wondering if anyone here has had experience with this sort of functionality in VIM.
Thanks in advance for any answers
Patrick
You're looking for vim's 'tags' functionality ... I answered a similar question about tags here: How to implement own tag jump in VIM with CTRL-]?
This functionality has been implemented in fuzzyfinder using :FufBufferTag. See the ticket
I'd love to hear good suggestions as I use Vim all the time but haven't used TextMate. I do the following things which slightly overlap.
Search for d-e-f-space-<first few letters of function name>. So to go to function foo (in Python or Ruby, and within the same file of course), I type /def fo and I'm there. I also have incremental search enabled in Vim.
Use marks for functions which I visit often. So I'll ma at the function definition and then 'a back to it later. I know it's not function definitions but it is a crutch.
you can create a tags file with ctags http://ctags.sourceforge.net/
basically $ctags -R
Then once you're in vim :set tags=/path/to/tagsfile
this will also be any tag so not just class names, methods, etc. In normal mode ctrl-] on the method/class/ and it will jump to that position.
You can also use the taglist plugin which will display current tags in a side window. ctags
I had pretty much the same problem and I found a quick and dirty solution (paste this in your .vimrc and call by typing :LS)
function! s:ListFunctions()
vimgrep /function/j %
copen
endfunction
command! -bar -narg=0 LS call s:ListFunctions()
If you require more functionality then Exuberant Ctags will do better for you
I'm using CommandT for file searching, then / to search for a particular function. However, the real issue is with CSS. Cmd Shift T in Textmate enable quick jumps to a particular CSS class, and that is a huge time-saver.
CTags doesn't support CSS parsing, unless you re-compile with a patch (found via google), but I'm not even sure if we can do fuzzy searching for CSS classes like in Textmate. I really miss the Cmd Shift T feature.
I've written a TextMate Bundle command (you can easily assign it to Ctrl+] for example) that lookup for the definition of the class or method under the caret and displays it in a tooltip, along with the file name and the line where it was find.
Check it out: Add a shortcut to TextMate to lookup a class or method definition in a tooltip
Hope you'll find it useful!
The feature described in this question has many different names depending on the IDE/Editor:
In Resharper it's called "Goto File member"
In Sublime Text 2 it's called "Goto Symbol"
In PyCharm it's called "Goto Symbol"
The feature is essentially the same though in all of the above implementations (and I assume it's very similar in TextMate as well). The feature brings up an interactive list of methods/functions (and potentially also includes member variables/properties).
The list allows interactive filtering by typing the name of a methods/functions/etc. The list also usually allows the use of arrow keys to select a method/function/etc. Hitting the enter key with a method/function/etc selected navigates to the line in the current file where the selected method/function/etc is defined.
Of all the existing answers in this question the only one that I see which seems to provide a reasonably similar implementation of this feature is to use the command:
:FufBufferTag
in vim's FuzzyFinder plugin.
The answer which suggests using the taglist plugin is not a good solution, because the functionality offered by the taglist plugin is quite different from the feature. The taglist plugin offers similar functionality - the ability to view an outline of methods in the currently file, but it does not offer an interactive way to filter that list in realtime. The taglist plugin does allow you to search the tag buffer, but that's not nearly as convenient as the "Goto symbol" functionality offered in other editors.
I wanted to provide an alternative suggestion here, which is to use the command:
:CtrlPBufTag
in the excellent Ctrlp vim plugin. In my opinion this by far the best implementation of the "Goto Symbol" feature currently available in vim.