Highlighting arbitrary lines in VIM - vim

During the implementation process of a program I generally insert many append code lines, mainly with print command, to help me understand and debug the implemented program. Unfortunately, it is common to me to forget which lines are from the code and with were appended and should be deleted some time after. This problem gets worst with large programs.
Well, I found this article that teaches how to keep one arbitrary user selected line highlighted (see section: Highlighting that stays after cursor moves). The solution given by the article is to include in .vimrc the following code:
:nnoremap <silent> <Leader>l ml:execute 'match Search /\%'.line('.').'l/'<CR>
So, every time when I press \l the current line is highlighted and kept so, and the previous highlighted line, if there are one, is unhighlighted.
This isn't the behavior that I would like. Instead, I would like to be able to highlight as many arbitrary lines as I want without unhighlighting the previous highlighted lines. And if it is possible, with a unique command like \l.
Someone knows a solution for this?
Thanks in advance.
EDITED:
The command proposed by yolenoyer solved the initial problem. But, now other problem raised. The following command:
:call clearmatches()
proposed to clean the highlighted lines cleans all lines and I would like to be able to clean specific highlighted lines, instead off all of them at once. Is it possible?

I program in C quite alot, and when debugging tend to pepper the code with debug prints.
I use the vim command
:syntax match Error /\<debug_printf\>/
to ensure the word 'debug_printf' is highlighted in the default 'Error' colors for the particular colorscheme.
This doesn't help you bookmarking a series of lines, but for that you should check out the 'bookmark' plugin which allows you to create and remove bookmarks throughout the file.
VIM Bookmarks Plugin

:match accepts only one match.
Use the matchadd({highlight-group}, {pattern}) function instead, for example:
nnoremap <silent> <leader>l :call matchadd('Search', '\%'.line('.').'l')<cr>
To clear the matches you added, run :call clearmatches().

I used the answers here to come up with this combo, which I think is nice:
" \l to highlight a line
nnoremap <silent> <leader>l :call matchadd('Search', '\%'.line('.').'l')<CR>
" \L to remove highlighted line
nnoremap <silent> <leader>L :
\for m in filter(getmatches(), { i, v -> has_key(l:v, 'pattern') && l:v.pattern is? '\%'.line('.').'l'} )
\<BAR> :call matchdelete(m.id)
\<BAR> :endfor<CR>

I think your first paragraph, which explains your problem, has nothing to do with vim, so maybe you don't need to use vim to solve your problem.
What about not debugging with regular print statements, but with a function that wraps print? That would be really easy to search for program wide and also file wide (just search with * or # for all occurrences of your debug printing function).

Related

How to use vim easy motion plugin movements with y/c/d commands?

I am using easymotion plugin (https://github.com/easymotion/vim-easymotion) with vim.
If you use f/F motions in VIM (with easymotion plugin), easy motion highlights all possible positions when there are multiple matches, that way you can easily jump to the position you want.
But it doesn't work with y/c/d commands, how can I achive that ?
I have provided an example below for clarification:
This is some line.
Say I am working on the above line in vim and the cursor is at the i in "This". If I do "yfs" in vim, I would like easy motion to mark the three "s"s present to the right of the cursor. That way, I can easily yank/change/delete upto the s I want.
Thanks in advance !
You can, use something like this in your .vimrc:
" Find next occurence of a char using easymotion
map <Leader>f <Plug>(easymotion-bd-f)
nmap <Leader>f <Plug>(easymotion-overwin-f)
Now you can do something like y<Leader>fs and it will highlight the three s-characters. Selecting one will then yank from your cursor's position to that character.
If this does not work
This means that there are other key bindings that are using the same combination. You can check this with :map and then look for the key combination you are trying to map to the easy-motion. Removing that keybinding from your .vimrc or removing the plugin that created the binding should solve the problem.
If it's the YankRing plugin that's hijacking the y/c/d keystrokes, you can add the following to your vimrc to prevent it from doing that (Check :h yankring for more info):
let g:yankring_zap_keys = ''

Setting mouse=a and mapping <esc> to :noh breaks mouse working on vim? [duplicate]

I am a happy VIM user, although I admit I'm quite far from being fluent. I found this nice post:
Vim clear last search highlighting and I thought I'd become a better person if I didn't have to hammer away a random character sequence every time I did a search. Now, I'm also using the vimrc config from here:
http://amix.dk/vim/vimrc.html
and the problem I have is that when I add the line nnoremap <esc> :noh<return><esc> to it (it doesn't seem to make a difference where I put it) I get awkward behaviour when I use arrows in command mode, namely letters from A to D appear in a newline and I get switched to insert mode.
There has to be some mapping conflict but for the life of me I can't figure out where it is.
EDIT: As it follows from the answers it turns out the Ultimate vimrc part is not relevant, the mentioned nnoremap command will cause altered arrow behaviour even if it's the only vimrc entry. Changing title to a more informative one.
PS. I know I shouldn't use arrows, hopefully I'll get there one day.
The mapping
nnoremap <esc> :noh<return><esc>
will conflict with so called "grey keys" and I believe that it should be used either in GVim only or in terminal Vim by someone who does not use special keys like arrows.
From what I know (and guess) how Vim processes keys, I would say that it's impossible to do anything with this. For Vim to recognize special key all its components should go in a row, so when you press Arrow Left Vim gets the following sequence of codes:
<esc> [ D
But after your mapping Arrow Left becomes:
: n o h l <cr> <esc>
[ D
Vim sees two separate sequences and treats <esc> as a single press of Escape key, thus next two codes of Left Arrow key lose their special meaning.
So I suggest you to map :noh to some other key sequence (e.g. to one starting with <leader>, see :help mapleader; I don't recommend you to use F-keys, using them is as bad as using of arrow keys).
The cause had been explained well, but solution was not mentioned. However there is a straight one.
If you’ll tell to Vim explicitly that there are key sequences starting from <esc>[
:nnoremap <silent><esc> :noh<CR>
:nnoremap <esc>[ <esc>[
than when single <esc> will be pressed Vim will wait for a second (or different time, see :h 'timeoutlen') or for a next key (second <esc> for example) and only then replace it with :noh<CR>.
This solution preserves the ESC mapping to :nohlsearch.
The comment on this answer explaining why this is happening tells us that the root cause is the TermResponse behavior of vim. This can be compensated for by wrapping the mapping in an autocommand for the TermResponse event.
This ensures that the binding doesn't happen until after the term response is set, which prevents Esc from also sending a string like ]>1;3201;0c to vim.
Change your line in vimrc to this:
augroup no_highlight
autocmd TermResponse * nnoremap <esc> :noh<return><esc>
augroup END
The augroup commands are not strictly necessary, but they prevent multiple mappings when you reload your vimrc without quitting vim.
EDIT: If you also use a graphical vim like Gvim or Macvim, the TermResponse event will not fire. Assuming you use a single vimrc, you'll need some additional code like
if has('gui_running')
nnoremap <silent> <esc> :nohlsearch<return><esc>
else
" code from above
augroup no_highlight
autocmd TermResponse * nnoremap <esc> :noh<return><esc>
augroup END
end
Problem is that when you press an arrow terminal emits something like <Esc>OA. Vim part that supports terminal seems to use the same mapping mechanism to do the job as you are using: while nmap <Esc>OA will tell you nothing, call feedkeys("\eOA") will move one line up and call feedkeys("\eOA", 'n') will add letter A beyond current line. With your mapping being noremappable you forbid vim to use <Esc> as a part of the key. The problem is that you need remappable mapping here, but can have remappable mapping without it being recursive as well only if it starts with {lhs}, but <Esc>:noh<CR>OA is not going to work. I thought the following code will (it uses <expr> and function with side effect to make <Esc> be the first character of the actual {rhs} and still launch :noh), but in fact it does not:
function s:NoHlSearch()
nohlsearch
return "\e"
endfunction
nmap <expr> <Esc> <SID>NoHlSearch()
. I have no other idea how to solve the problem of having non-recursive remappable mapping which includes {lhs} but not at the start.
I have had good luck with this
if $TERM =~ 'xterm'
set noek
endif
nnoremap <silent> <esc> <esc>:noh<cr>
The disadvantage is that function keys can not be used in insert mode.
:h ek

Get Vim to open new blocks like Sublime Text 2

In sublime text 2 when you:
BLOCK { <Return>
It generates (where the pipe is the cursor):
BLOCK {
|
}
How can I get Vim to behave this way?
I have autoindent on, and smartindent off because with smartindent it does this on return:
BLOCK {
|}
To be more clear, I'm specifically looking for 2 returns, moving up a line, and tabbing in (2 soft tabs to be specific). I already have it auto-matching characters like {, (, [ etc.
A simple mapping will work for most purposes:
imap {<cr> {<cr>}<c-o>O
Depending on plugins, some users may need inoremap instead of imap.
Before it was with TextMate, now it's with ST2.
You have basically two paths before you.
The "dumb" path
One could come up with dozens of variations of this method: you simply create a mapping that executes the series of key presses needed to reach your goal:
inoremap {<CR> {<cr><cr>}<C-o>k<tab>
I called it "dumb" but it doesn't mean that you would be dumb to use it: it's low-tech, has no dependencies, is easy to customize and it can be mapped to anything you like.
The "smart" method
This method involves the use of a plugin. I use DelimitMate but there are many others, choose your poison.
I did some quick digging for vim addons (which are often the solution to this sort of problem). I don't think I've found what you want: there are a few addons that come close, but nothing that inserts the extra newline before the closing brace.
You could do something like
imap { {<return><return>}<up><tab>
but this will get awkward if you are working in a language that uses braces in other situations. You could instead react to the newline:
inoremap <return> <return><return>}<up><tab>
Of course this will trigger on EVERY entered newline, rather than just those following an opening brace. To get it to check that the brace is the last character of the current line, you can:
Have a function (in ~/.vimrc or somewhere in ~/.vim/plugin) that looks like
function! CloseBraceIfOpened()
if getline(".")[-1:] == '{'
" insert a space and then delete it to preserve autoindent level
exec "normal o "
normal x
normal o}
normal k
else
normal o
endif
endfunction
also do
inoremap <buffer> <enter> <esc>:call CloseBraceIfOpened()<enter>A
Note that this imap is buffer-specific, so that mapping will only apply to the buffer you are in when you run it. To have it apply to all buffers, remove <buffer>.
If you are really ambitious/particular, you can do tests in the function to see if the code in the current line really opens a block.
To get the indentation working the way you want it, turn on the 'autoindent' and 'smartindent' settings.
: set autoindent smartindent
To have it on by default, add
set autoindent smartindent
to ~/.vimrc.
I use the following map:
inoremap {{ {<CR><CR>}<ESC>kcc
so instead of using {<CR> I use this mapping. Besides that I also use the plugin mentioned by romainl, DelimitMate for other mappings with braces.
I had the same problem and delimitMate solves it. After installing it you can enable it with:
let g:delimitMate_expand_cr = 1
There are lot's of hacks that delivers the SublimeText experience. Because I got frustrated I've created a project that includes all those features in a single vim distribution (without the need of installing/compiling external plugins/tools).
You can check it out from here: https://github.com/fatih/subvim

Mapping <esc> in vimrc causes bizarre arrow behaviour

I am a happy VIM user, although I admit I'm quite far from being fluent. I found this nice post:
Vim clear last search highlighting and I thought I'd become a better person if I didn't have to hammer away a random character sequence every time I did a search. Now, I'm also using the vimrc config from here:
http://amix.dk/vim/vimrc.html
and the problem I have is that when I add the line nnoremap <esc> :noh<return><esc> to it (it doesn't seem to make a difference where I put it) I get awkward behaviour when I use arrows in command mode, namely letters from A to D appear in a newline and I get switched to insert mode.
There has to be some mapping conflict but for the life of me I can't figure out where it is.
EDIT: As it follows from the answers it turns out the Ultimate vimrc part is not relevant, the mentioned nnoremap command will cause altered arrow behaviour even if it's the only vimrc entry. Changing title to a more informative one.
PS. I know I shouldn't use arrows, hopefully I'll get there one day.
The mapping
nnoremap <esc> :noh<return><esc>
will conflict with so called "grey keys" and I believe that it should be used either in GVim only or in terminal Vim by someone who does not use special keys like arrows.
From what I know (and guess) how Vim processes keys, I would say that it's impossible to do anything with this. For Vim to recognize special key all its components should go in a row, so when you press Arrow Left Vim gets the following sequence of codes:
<esc> [ D
But after your mapping Arrow Left becomes:
: n o h l <cr> <esc>
[ D
Vim sees two separate sequences and treats <esc> as a single press of Escape key, thus next two codes of Left Arrow key lose their special meaning.
So I suggest you to map :noh to some other key sequence (e.g. to one starting with <leader>, see :help mapleader; I don't recommend you to use F-keys, using them is as bad as using of arrow keys).
The cause had been explained well, but solution was not mentioned. However there is a straight one.
If you’ll tell to Vim explicitly that there are key sequences starting from <esc>[
:nnoremap <silent><esc> :noh<CR>
:nnoremap <esc>[ <esc>[
than when single <esc> will be pressed Vim will wait for a second (or different time, see :h 'timeoutlen') or for a next key (second <esc> for example) and only then replace it with :noh<CR>.
This solution preserves the ESC mapping to :nohlsearch.
The comment on this answer explaining why this is happening tells us that the root cause is the TermResponse behavior of vim. This can be compensated for by wrapping the mapping in an autocommand for the TermResponse event.
This ensures that the binding doesn't happen until after the term response is set, which prevents Esc from also sending a string like ]>1;3201;0c to vim.
Change your line in vimrc to this:
augroup no_highlight
autocmd TermResponse * nnoremap <esc> :noh<return><esc>
augroup END
The augroup commands are not strictly necessary, but they prevent multiple mappings when you reload your vimrc without quitting vim.
EDIT: If you also use a graphical vim like Gvim or Macvim, the TermResponse event will not fire. Assuming you use a single vimrc, you'll need some additional code like
if has('gui_running')
nnoremap <silent> <esc> :nohlsearch<return><esc>
else
" code from above
augroup no_highlight
autocmd TermResponse * nnoremap <esc> :noh<return><esc>
augroup END
end
Problem is that when you press an arrow terminal emits something like <Esc>OA. Vim part that supports terminal seems to use the same mapping mechanism to do the job as you are using: while nmap <Esc>OA will tell you nothing, call feedkeys("\eOA") will move one line up and call feedkeys("\eOA", 'n') will add letter A beyond current line. With your mapping being noremappable you forbid vim to use <Esc> as a part of the key. The problem is that you need remappable mapping here, but can have remappable mapping without it being recursive as well only if it starts with {lhs}, but <Esc>:noh<CR>OA is not going to work. I thought the following code will (it uses <expr> and function with side effect to make <Esc> be the first character of the actual {rhs} and still launch :noh), but in fact it does not:
function s:NoHlSearch()
nohlsearch
return "\e"
endfunction
nmap <expr> <Esc> <SID>NoHlSearch()
. I have no other idea how to solve the problem of having non-recursive remappable mapping which includes {lhs} but not at the start.
I have had good luck with this
if $TERM =~ 'xterm'
set noek
endif
nnoremap <silent> <esc> <esc>:noh<cr>
The disadvantage is that function keys can not be used in insert mode.
:h ek

Combine two vim commands into one

I'm having trouble combining two vim commands, specifically <C-w>s and <leader>x into <leader>r (i.e. split window and open spec counterpart of current file). Any help?
Thanks!
It would help if you'd post what exactly you've tried that didn't work. Generally, doing what you describe should be simple. It should be enough to put this in your .vimrc file:
nmap <leader>r <c-w>s<leader>x
This maps <leader>r to expand to the key sequence <c-w>s<leader>x. Note that these are not "commands", as you call them in your question, they're "mappings". A "command" is something completely different in vim, you can read up on that with :help user-commands.
One thing to be careful of is using nmap instead of nnoremap. The command nmap maps the sequence on the left to the sequence on the right while re-using mappings that have already been defined. On the other hand, nnoremap creates a mapping with the original meanings of the keys, so in your case won't work (since <leader>x is defined by some plugin). This is one possible reason you may have failed while trying to do it, but I can't tell from your question.

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