I often work with files next to one another, in a :vsplit. Moving a line, or any obj from the file in one window to another is suboptimal. I was wondering if there is a movement I am missing.
What I do now: 3dd[ctrl]wwP[ctrl]ww. Roughly:
Remove a bunch of lines (could be anything from a line to any text-obj to a visual selection)
Move custor to other window.
Paste
Move cursor back to other window.
Vim in vimdiff mode allows :diffput and :diffpull to move lines in a diff between the two splits. Is there something similar for any two files in any two splits?
No, there is no such generic command.
:diffput and :diffget are possible because the origin and target are known: the location of your cursor corresponds to a specific range in both buffers so it's "easy" for Vim to know what to do with what and where.
A generic "take this, put it over there and come back" command is harder to design because not much is known about the target and a lot of things must be infered from the context of the command, your window layout or even the kind (linewise, characterwise, blockwise) of the text you are moving around. An important thing to decide, for example is "how to paste": p, P, :put or even if we need to re-indent. A very simplistic implementation would look like this:
:command! To :wincmd w|put|wincmd w
but it's obviously not smart enough to be really generic. I'm afraid what you want requires quite a bit of thinking and vimscript.
Related
I'm trying out code folding in vim but noticed it doesn't seem to mirror across pane splits when using scrollbind to achieve a "2-up" view of a long text/code file with relatively narrow lines (set up as per this guidance).
Is it possible to ensure a fold created in one pane is also created on the other?
I'm just getting familiar with the commands, but it'd probably be z+c (close a fold at the cursor, i.e. 'fold up') and z+o (open a fold at the cursor, i.e. 'unfold')
It strikes me that one use of code folding would be to let one of the split views be an "outline view" (fully folded up, and just used to give an indication of how far through the file the other pane is), but it'd be nice if I could get them fully synced for scrollbind.
nnoremap <Space> za<C-W><C-W>za<C-W><C-W>
in .vimrc allows you to toggle a folding simultaneously in two splits by pressing the space bar.
When I open a file Foo.txt in vim, and then use :vsplit so that I can examine different segments of it side-by-side, I notice that if I do any kind of visual selection on the left, vim will select the same text on the right. Furthermore, if the two sides are not lined up when I started the visual selection, whichever side I switch to will jump to match the one that was selected.
I would like to be able to use visual mode to highlight different segments of the text on the two sides of the split window, or at least to be able to use visual mode on the left and then move my cursor to the right. This works perfectly fine if the two files are actually different files.
Is there some option that would enable this, or is the only way to make a copy of the file?
Edit: I am expanding the scope of this question to include any vimscript-based solutions, since it does not seem to be an option that can be set. If someone has a nice hack for getting this behavior, please share. I will also be looking into autocmd in the meantime, although it is most likely beyond my current knowledge in vimscript.
It is as if vim is trying to be clever when it sees two same files, and this cleverness should be disableable.
This "cleverness" is the implementation detail that the visual selection (precisely, the '<,'> marks) is local to the buffer. As you have observed, different buffers can have (and remember) different selections.
The alternative would be to make the visual selection window-local. I guess that approach wasn't chosen because often, the exact selection range cannot be transferred to another buffer; the number and lengths of lines are different.
That said, you can probably implement what you want with :autocmds that save the '<,'> marks in a window-local variable on WinLeave and restore from those on WinEnter.
Community Wiki
As the documentation of the yank system shows (thanks Michal), The Vim yank system seems to be more intricate then a standard clipboard. I therefore think it beneficial if vim veterans could perhaps show us some different styles of making use of this mechanism. particularly with the usage of vim for complicated projects without the use of a heavyweight IDE (say C++ ?).
Original Question
Now that I am using vim for everything I type, rather then just for configuring servers, I wan't to sort out the following trivialities. I tried to formulate Google search queries but the results didn't address my questions :D.
Question one: How do I yank and replace multiple times ?
Once I have something in the yank history (if that is what its called) and then highlight and use the 'p' char in command mode the replaced text is put at the front of the yank history; therefore subsequent replace operations do not use the the text I intended. I imagine this to be a usefull feature under certain circumstances but I do not have a need for it in my workflow.
Question two: How do I type text without causing the line to ripple forward ?
I use hard-tab stops to allign my code in a certain way -- e.g.,
FunctionNameX ( lala * land );
FunctionNameProto ( );
When I figure out what needs to go into the second function, how do I insert it without move the text up ?
Question three Is there a way of having a uniform yank history across gvim instances on the same machine ? I have > 1 monitors. Just wondering, atm I am using highlight + mouse middle click.
Answer one: A relevant, if not particularly encouraging, qoute from the Vim docs (see :help put-Visual-mode):
When using a put command like |p| or |P| in Visual mode, Vim will try to
replace the selected text with the contents of the register. Whether this
works well depends on the type of selection and the type of the text in the
register. With blockwise selection it also depends on the size of the block
and whether the corners are on an existing character. (Implementation detail:
it actually works by first putting the register after the selection and then
deleting the selection.)
The previously selected text is put in the unnamed register. If you want to
put the same text into a Visual selection several times you need to use
another register. E.g., yank the text to copy, Visually select the text to
replace and use "0p . You can repeat this as many times as you like, the
unnamed register will be changed each time.
Answer two: R (the capital 'R') puts you in replace mode.
I'm missing answer three, I'm afraid.
Answer three: Not quite matching the "uniform yank history" spec, but "+y yanks to clipboard and "+p pastes from clipboard if a clipboard is available.
Yank into a buffer
:y b
yanks into buffer b
And
:p b
places it.
I think there are more named buffers available.
I use MacVim (and gvim) a lot. I'm familiar with and use a lot of the basic movement commands (b, w, $, 0, G). However, for a lot of things—such as selecting particular lines on the screen or jumping to a particular column in a different line—I use the mouse (sometimes in concert with my left hand on the keyboard). It also helps that my mouse has a scroll wheel and buttons for changing tabs.
I also need to admit... I use the arrow keys on my keyboard rather than hjkl.
I think that my speed (and posture at the computer) will be improved by not having to escape from insert mode, and from keeping both hands on the main part of the keyboard.
What convinced you to abandon the mouse? What are the most helpful shortcuts for moving quickly between lines and columns, scrolling, etc.?
This question is inspired by this recent post
I think that my speed (and posture at
the computer) will be improved by not
having to escape from insert mode
No, you must escape from insert mode right after you typed what you want. It quickly becomes a reflex, so you don't really lose time (I sometimes even press escape after completing a web form...). Normal mode isn't just for moving around, it's used to perform most operations (save from typing): for instance deleting or moving sections of text. You also benefit from entering insert mode with the appropriate key: o to start a line, S to replace a line (while keeping indentation), A to move to the end of the line, c+motion to replace a few words or until a given character... All of these save keystrokes.
The mouse seems fast, but in reality it isn't precise, so you lose time (in addition to the constant back and forth with the keyboard). ViM has a long list of moving commands (see :help usr_03) which, when mastered, are faster than the mouse in most situations.
Use search the most you can (/, ?, *, #, f, t...). I personally use Ctrl+(d,u,f,b) a lot. Also, Ctrl+(o, i) and `` are really useful to go back where you were before a search or something else.
h, j, k, l are there to place your right hand near to useful commands (i, u, o...): I always have my fingers on them. The arrows force you to move your hand a lot.
Try to look at a few commands in :help, then use them a lot, and you'll get habits about what you should use to move according to the situation. Nobody uses ViM the same way.
The more I used the keyboard movement in vim, the less I wanted to use the mouse. It doesn't help that extended periods of time where I'm constantly moving from keyboard to mouse can take a toll on my wrist.
If you want to force doing things the vim way, unplug your mouse for a while! The more you use the keyboard, the more you will love it. This worked for me.
For moving between lines, I usually just use jk but I often skip to lines using :line_num. Getting to a specific column in a line, I typically use wbe^0$ and put modifiers in front of w, b, or e if I'm skipping through several words. And there is also the shifted versions, WBE which also come in handy often.
I have to admit that I often use the arrow keys for specific movement in vim.
I rarely use hjkl. However, I find that most of my navigation is done with other commands such as w (skip a word forward), b (skip a word backwards). Combine this with modifiers such as 3w (3 words forward). : skip to a specific line.
I've never really had to abandon the mouse since I never really started with it. All I can say is that attempting to use editors without all the keyboard shortcuts that vim has can feel quite painful.
I'd run vimtutor from the command line (Terminal.app in OS X). It runs vim with a tutorial document. That document was what really made me realize the power of some of the commands. You'll pick up some that are most useful to you and gain more over time. Eventually you'll find yourself using the mouse less and less.
One command that will really improve your movement speeds is f. f plus a character will jump to the first occurrence of that character on the current line. Pressing ; will jump to the next occurrence. Of course this can be used in combination with other commands. So, for example, removing all characters up to and including the first closing parenthesis is achieved by pressing d+f+).
You can seriously revolve your life around jk in hjkl.
nnoremap <c-k> ddkP "move current line up one
nnoremap <c-j> ddp "move current line down one
vnoremap <c-j> dp'[V'] "move visual block down one
vnoremap <c-k> dkP'[V'] "move visual block up one
"These may be a bit more esoteric to me"
inoremap jj <esc>o "Insert mode can move to next line (works mid line)
inoremap kk <esc>O "Insert mode new line on previous line
also for the desktop gui (ion3 and gnome)
winj - next window
wink - prev window
(This beats alttab if your editing in vim all day)
also read :he motion.txt in its entirety using j and k to scroll up and down as you do.
I learned vi so for me the mouse has never been something to use with a text editor.
I don't use hjkl except when the machine/network/keyboard/whatever-in-between is not comfortably configured.
Use the mouse where it makes sense. It often does (copy/paste to and from other gui applications).
To answer your question, though: Once you start using vim as a tool for transforming text bits with macros, the movements will all start to fall into place ;)
I think you're wondering if there's a quick way to move around while in insert mode (without using the mouse or arrow keys) but unfortunately there isn't; you have to escape out of insert mode. However I know that jumping all the way to your Esc key can be really annoying, which is why I've gotten into the habit of escaping with Ctrl+c, it's much faster.
I almost never use hjkl because it's too tedious. I usually try to jump right to where I want to go. There's a great cheat sheet out there (a Dvorak version is a available also (although it's in PDF)) that you can stare at and imagine the possibilities.
Mostly I use f, F, t, and T, and sometimes they're enhanced by typing a number up front like d2t) will delete up to the second close paren. Sometimes I use search. A lot of the time I use w, W, b, B, e, and E. They're all fantastic.
When I see vim users arrowing all over the place in visual mode just to delete text it makes me shudder, because there are so much easier ways (and hjkl only make you move your arm less, they don't change the number of button presses).
Something I did that I don't know if it's common or not is remapped my arrow keys to be <Esc><Up> and so on. For whatever reason I started out always arrowing around and assuming I'd be back in normal mode, so I just made it do that...
The biggest bummer about Vim is that now when I edit anything anywhere else I hit escape all of the time and type :w after every change...
ReSharper has a nice feature called "extend selection": by pressing CTRL+W (I think this is the default) repeatedly, you select more and more from your current caret location. First it's a word, then more and more words, a line, inner then outer block of lines (for example an if-block), then a function, etc...
Basically, by pressing the key combination repeatedly, you can end up selecting the entire file. I'm sure at least some of you will be familiar with it.
I have just started learning all the intricacies of vim and I don't have enough experience to see how something like this could be implemented in Vim (although I assume it's possible). So my question is meant for Vim gurus out there: can this be done and how?
Update: a bit of a background story. I've been talking to my ex-boss about all the benefits of Vim, and he thinks it's all great. His only question/problem was: does it have "extend selection"? My question so far has been no. So, if someone knows the answer, I'll finally win a discussion :P (and maybe create a new Vim convert:-))
I had a quick go at this problem. It doesn't work as is. Feel Free to make edits and post on the vim wiki or as a plugin if you get it refined.
chances are you'd want to make a g:resharp_list for each language (eg. one for paranthesised languages, etc.)
All that is needed is a marker for the original cursor position :he markers and a timeout autocommand that resets the index.
"resharp emulator
"TODO this needs a marker
"also c-w is bad mapping as it has a lag with all the other-
"window mappings
"
let g:resharp_index = 0
let g:resharp_select = ['iw', 'is', 'ip', 'ggVG']
func! ResharpSelect()
if g:resharp_index >= len (g:resharp_select)
let g:resharp_index = 0
endif
exe "norm \<esc>v" . g:resharp_select[g:resharp_index]
let g:resharp_index = g:resharp_index + 1
endfun
nnoremap <c-w> :call ResharpSelect()<cr>
vnoremap <c-w> :call ResharpSelect()<cr>
"Something to reset on timeout. TODO this doesn't work
au CursorHold :let g:resharp_index = 0<cr>
The answer is yes. Once in Visual mode you can use all the regular navigation methods as well as some extra ones.
Some of my favourites? First hit v while in normal mode to get to visual mode then hit:
iw - to select the inner word. Great for selecting a word while excluding surrounding braces or quotes
w - hit multiple times to keep selecting each subsequent word.
b - select wordwise backwords
^ - select all from current position to beginning of text on line
$ - select all from current position to end of line
I'm sure others here could add to this list as well. Oh and don't forget Visual Block mode C-v try it out in vim with the above commands it works in two dimensions :-)
If you're talking about Vim (and you should be :-), you can start marking text with the v command, then you have all the standard cursor movement commands (and, as you know, there are a lot of them) which will extend the selection, as well as moving the cursor.
Then you just do whatever you want with the selected text.
See here for the gory details.
One would need to write a function that would save the current selection, then try increasingly wide selections, until the new selection exceeds the saved one or selects all text. Some possible selections are:
viW - select word
vis - select sentence
vip - select paragraph
viB - select text within the innermost brackets
v2iB - select text within the next most innermost brackets
ggVG - select all text
I think Jeremy Wall's heading in the right direction. And to get a little further in that direction, you might look at the "surround.vim" script from Tim Pope. A good description is available on github. Or, if you'd rather, get it from vim.org. It'll probably help you do some of the things you'd like to do, though it doesn't seem to have a feature for say, simply selecting within a tag. Let me know if I'm wrong.
Ultimately, what you'd really like is a hierarchy of enclosing text-objects. You should read up on text-objects if you haven't. A nice overview is here. Note that you can grab multiple objects in one go using counts, or do this iteratively (try vawasap}}} from normal mode).
You can also get scripts which define other text-objects, like this one that uses indentation to define a text-object. It'll work for many languages if you're formatting according to common standards, and guaranteed for python.
One annoyance is that the cursor ends up at the end of the visual block, so, for example, you can't easily select everything between some ()'s, then get the function name that precedes them...
...BUT, I just found in this post that you can change this behavior with o. Cool!
I suspect you'll find yourself more efficient being able to skip over intermediate selections in the long run.
Anyway, I'll be curious to see if anyone else comes up with a more general solution as well!
In Rider [on a Mac with VS Mac bindings with IdeaVim], I bind:
Ctrl+= to Extend Selection
Ctrl+- to Shrink Selection
Doesn't clash with any other bindings of consequence and doesn't require a v for mode switching, and easier than Cmd+Option+-> and Cmd+Option+<-
Putting it here as I always hit this question with any Rider Vim selection searches. If I get enough harassment, I'll create a self-answered "How to use Extend Selection with Rider Vim mode".