Colorizing the output of :make, :grep, etc., in Vim - vim

When building my application using the :make command in Vim, the output is not colorized. I have configured the makefile to use clang as the C compiler, and when running make outside of Vim or when running :!make, clang's output is colorized. :set makeprg returns makeprg=make, just for reference.
I have the same issue with grep: when running :grep, the output is not colorized; when running :!grep, it is. I have tried using the --color option with :grep, to no avail. :set grepprg returns grepprg=grep -n $* /dev/null.
I've read through VIM Unix commands printed in color and also How to color my vimgrep result patterns. The former seems to have the opposite problem (i.e. :!command output not colorized); the latter doesn't have any alternative to dropping down to the shell, which I don't feel is a "correct" fix for the issue.

The problem is that when Vim runs other commands via :make or :grep, those commands don't get a terminal for their standard output -- in the sense that for them isatty(STDOUT_FILENO) is false -- because Vim is capturing the output on its way to being displayed on the terminal. On the other hand, when you use :!make or :!grep, standard output is just going to the terminal.
Clang by default and grep --color=auto (which is probably how you have it aliased) use the terminalness of stdout to decide whether to colourise their output. This is convenient in that you get colourful output on your terminal but capture just the text when you redirect output to a file -- all without needing to add extra command line options.
So what you want to do is override these commands' usual smarts so that they always colourise their output.
For grep, you can use --color=always when it is run via :grep within Vim:
:set grepprg=grep\ --color=always\ -n\ $*\ /dev/null
and depending on your colour settings and version of grep this will work well enough.
For clang, you can change your Makefile to use clang -fcolor-diagnostics so as to force colourisation or more flexibly add an extra variable to $(CC) that will be overridden when run via :make within Vim:
:set makeprg=make\ EXTRA_CFLAGS=-fcolor-diagnostic
However (at least with clang 3.0 and vim 7.3) you will find that clang's style of colourisation prevents Vim from picking out filenames and line numbers from the diagnostics, so doing this wrecks the advantage of using :make rather than :!make.
You may be able to teach Vim to pick out the filenames etc from the surrounding ANSI escape sequences that do the colourisation by adding more entries to Vim's errorformat option to match the colourised clang-style diagnostics. (And similarly with grepformat if your grep colourisation colours the filenames or linenumbers.)

When you run :grep or :make (as opposed to :!grep or :!make),
the output is not only shown in the terminal,
but also sent to the quick-fix window, from which it is processed.
You can access the quick fix windo using the vim-command :copen.
The quick fix window is essentially a text file that is opened in read-only mode.
Like in any other text file, colors are not supported in the quick fix file.
Instead, they are represented with escape characters like [01;34m.
Therefore, producing colorized output from make (or grep) will
mess up the output as it is shown in the quick-fix window, even if you can get vim to process it,
and send the cursor to the selected error/warning/find message.
The question whether the output is colorized now becomes a little subtle: I suggest that the
terminal output should remain uncolored, but that the quick-fix output should be colorized.
The color scheme in the quick fix window is not defined by any color-indications in the file itself, but in the syntax highlighting
of the quick fix window, defined in the file qf.vim (/usr/share/vim/vim81/syntax/qf.vim on my computer).
The color scheme defined in qf.vim does not add much color to the quick fix window, but the syntax hightlighting
scheme may be extended by creating the file ~/.vim/syntax/after/qf.vim. I use cmake in combination with the
gnu and/or the intel compilers, and get nice-looking results with the following contents for ~/.vim/syntax/after/qf.vim:
syn match qBuilt "Built target *" nextgroup=qTarget
syn match qTarget ".*$" contained
syn match qEnteringLeaving ": \(Entering\|Leaving\) directory *" nextgroup=qdSeparator
syn match qdSeparator "'" nextgroup=qdName contained
syn match qdName "[^']*" contained
syn match qbProgress "\[ *[0-9]*%\]"
syn match qBuild "Building .* object"
syn match qWarn "warning\( *#[0-9]*\|\):"
syn match qError "error\( *#[0-9]*\|\):"
syn match qRemark "remark\( *#[0-9]*\|\):"
hi def link qTarget Constant
hi def link qError Error
hi def link qWarn Error
hi def link qRemark WarningMsg
hi def link qEnteringLeaving Keyword
hi def link qBuild Keyword
hi def link qBuilt Keyword
hi def link qdName Include
hi def link qbProgress Special

Related

Vim won't accept newline as enter

I have a default installation of vim on linux, on a system with a vt52 terminal emulator and unicode capability.
Everything has been working fine until today when I moved my vt52 terminfo file from the temporary local user directory to the permanent system directory ... at first it seemed fine, but all the sudden, when I try to execute a colon command by pressing enter (either CTRL-J, or the key itself == decimal 10), vim just flashes the screen but doesn't execute the command or leave command entry mode.
However, If I press CTRL-M to get a carriage return character (decimal 13), vim does accept the command.
I tried copying the file back to ~/.terminfo again, but it didn't fix the problem...
I thought this might be either a tty issue or a corrupted vimrc file, so...
first I tried deleting the .viminfo and .vimrc files, and doing a stty sane before starting vim but neither helps. I just noticed that enter doesn't work in insert mode either, but CTRL-M does.
Then I checked from the bash shell, using CTRL-V, that when I press CTRL-M, it shows ^M and when I press CTRL-J, it just enters and shows nothing. So -- to double check -- I did a stty raw and cat - | hexdumpx, and sure enough pressing enter returns only 0x0a, and pressing CTRL-M returns only 0x0d ; so the keyboard driver is returning the proper character in raw mode, and I retested in sane mode which apparently maps both of them to 0x0A.
The termcap file I re-compiled with tic, and copied to both ~/.terminfo/v/vt52u where it worked fine before -- and over to /usr/share/terminfo/v/vt52u.
But I don't see anything in the termcap file which could possibly cause the problem.
vt52u|vt52 with UTF-8:\
:am:eo:rs=\Ee\Eb0\Eco:is=\EE\Ee:\
:nl=^j:sr=\EI:bl=^g:ta=^i:\
:ho=\EH:cr=^m:le=\ED:nd=\EC:do=\EB:up=\EA:ta=^i:nw=^j^m:xn:\
:cm=\EY%+ %+ :it#8:co#75:li#24:\
:sc=\Ej:rc=\Ek:\
:vi=\Ef:ve=\Ee:\
:so=\Eb0\Ec3:se=\Eb0\Eco:mh=\Eb8\Eco:mr=\Ebo\Ec0:me=\Eb0\Eco:\
:cl=\EH\EJ:cb=\Eo:cd=\EJ:ce=\EK:\
:km:kb=^h:
EDIT:
I've isolated the problem by experiment 5 listed below, as being caused by something either in or missing from the above termcap file, or in the tic compiler's conversion of it to terminfo.
So -- what termcap entry is missing or which existing one is causing the problem?
---------------------- Additional experiments as I try to figure it out -------------------
1: doing a :set term in vim reveals term=vt52u .... which is correct. So VIM should be using the above termcap file, but I don't know from where (eg: cached version, or not -- or corrupted.) and :version only reveals +termcap which says vim should be using a tic compiled termcap file which is what I've been trying to give it.
2: I recompiled ncurses-5.9, and re-installed it to make absolutely sure no corrupt files exist. Nothing changed even with: ./configure --prefix=/usr --without-cxx --without-cxx-binding --without-ada --without-manpages --without-progs --without-tests --with-build-cc=gcc --with-shared --without-debug --without-profile --without-gpm --without-dlsym --without-sysmouse --enable-sigwinch --enable-hashmap --enable-scroll-hints --build=i686-linux --host=arm-linux-gnueabi --without-pthread --enable-widec --with-fallbacks=vt52u --disable-big-core --enable-termcap --enable-getcap-cache
3: doing a :set termcap shows more keys defined than the termcap file has, which is bad... termcap only defined one key ... and that one should be ^H not ^?, so VIM's value doesn't match, but the other termcap values all match, since ^[ is the same as escape \E in the termcap file. So, I have proof that vim is definitely loading the proper termcap file because t_so 's value is unique to the vt52u. So -- it's not a corrupt termcap.... :( weird.
t_kb <BS> ^? <DecMouse> ^[[
t_kd <Down> ^# <NetMouse> ^[}
t_sr=^[I t_bc=^[D t_le=^[D t_cd=^[J t_ce=^[K t_cl=^[H^[J
t_me=^[b0^[co t_mr=^[b0^[co t_ve=^[e t_vi=^[f t_nd=^[C t_se=^[b0^[c0
t_ZH=^[bo^[c0 t_ZR=^[b0^[co t_so=^b0^[c3 t_cm=^[Y%p1%' '%+%c%p2%' '%+%c
4: Recompiled vim 7.4, to remove all built in terminals, and to insure no corrupt files. Had no effect; did not fix default value of backspace key being wrong.
echo "Please Edit feature.h so that NO_BUILTIN_TERMCAPS is always #defined."
sleep 5
vim /src/feature.h
./configure --prefix=/usr/ --build=i686-linux --host=arm-linux-gnueabi --with-features=big --disable-darwin --disable-selinux --disable-xsmp --disable-xsmp-interact --disable-mzschemeinterp --disable-tclinterp --disable-netbeans --disable-sniff --disable-gui --disable-cscope --disable-workshop --enable-multibyte --disable-gtktest --disable-gpm --disable-sysmouse --disable-xim --enable-pythoninterp=dynamic --without-x --with-tlib=ncursesw vim_cv_toupper_broken="yes" vim_cv_terminfo="yes" vim_cv_tty_group="world" vim_cv_tty_mode="0620" vim_cv_getcwd_broken="yes" vim_cv_stat_ignores_slash="yes" vim_cv_memmove_handles_overlap="yes"
echo "Please Edit src/Makefile such that STRIP=arm-linux-gnueabi-strip"
sleep 5
vim src/Makefile
make
make install
5: In bash, I changed the terminal type to generic "export TERM=VT52" rather than the unicode version, with color support which I compiled with tic. ** THE NEWLINE PROBLEM WENT AWAY WITH THE SACRIFICE OF COLOR COMMANDS, AND OTHER FEATURES OF VT52U ** I need the features, but apparently something about the termcap file I listed above is defective.
This was an ugly bug to track down by trial and error...
Vim appears to require keydown to be defined, and if not defined it assumes a default value of ^# ; for an unknown reason, it then treats the enter key as if it were a key down, rather than newline. ^# is logically the value for character code 0, null; which is the only character that would be found in an empty string in "C" which vim is written in and appears to trigger the issue/feature/bug.
But in any event in the termcap shown in the opening post, the kd symbol is not defined; and that's what is causing the problem.
Within vim, the problem can be solved by setting the termcap keydown variable as the same escape sequence which would normally exit insert mode, and then do letter j (down):
:set t_kd=\Ej
The same default can always be added to the termcap entries, too;
Since this is an input escape sequence and not a terminal output escape sequence, it doesn't conflict with the VT52's "save cursor" escape sequence defined in the termcap; eg: The VT52 will never see it since Linux tty's when in line entry mode do not echo escape sequences that come from the keyboard back to the terminal's output.
If a terminal doesn't have true arrow keys -- defining the arrow keys as escaped versions of vim's h,j,k,and l keys might be a reasonably compatible solution as long as it doesn't conflict with other programs which might want to use those input escape sequences for other things. I don't use emacs and other popular programs which might want those escape sequences for something, so if anyone else knows which (if any) programs would have problems with that solution, a comment would be appropriate.
In ncurses 5.9,there appears to be a bug in the terminfo compiler, so that on many installations (eg: slackware 14), 'tic' will not be able to compile terminfo source files -- but only termcap source files. If you want the termcap source code for an arbitrary terminal, you can run "infocmp -C fooTerminalName > fooTerminalName.tcap" to have the system generate a termcap source file for you that can be edited and recompiled with tic successfully.

the dollar sign `$` cannot be removed from iskeyword [duplicate]

In my vimrc, I have included a script (say, otherscript.vim, which I need to include for work reasons) that says:
autocmd FileType php setlocal iskeyword+=$
and I don't want this behaviour. So, sometime later in the vimrc, I say:
autocmd FileType php setlocal iskeyword-=$
(I also tried using set instead of setlocal.) But, when I open a php file, iskeyword still contains the $ symbol in it. I am using vim 7.2. The output of ':verbose set iskeyword' is
iskeyword=#,48-57,_,192-255,$
Last set from /path/to/otherscript.vim
The output of ':scriptnames' is:
...
7: /usr/share/vim/vim72/ftplugin.vim
8: /home/yogeshwer/.vimrc
...
74: /path/to/otherscript.vim
...
Can somebody help me how I can revert the changes to 'iskeyword' made by the other script? Thanks a bunch.
I like to avoid autocmds when I can and use the after directory structure.
$ mkdir -p ~/.vim/after/{ftplugin,syntax,indent}
$ echo 'setlocal iskeyword-=$' >> ~/.vim/after/ftplugin/php.vim
This sets up a basic after directory in your user-specific vim config folder. Whereas ~/.vim/ftplugin/$FILETYPE.vim would be used in lieu of vim's standard $FILETYPE.vim file, files in an after directory get executed after, allowing you to override or change the behavior of your ftplugins, syntax definitions, and indent commands.
As an additional example to show you how these work, I'll include part of my local after/syntax/python.vim file here. I like all the "structural punctuation" of my code to stand out when I read it, so I do this:
syn match pythonParen /[()]/
syn match pythonBrack /[][]/
syn match pythonCurly /[{}]/
hi def link pythonParen Paren
hi def link pythonBrack Brack
hi def link pythonCurly Curly
I've also got an after/indent/php.vim file that was supposed to fix some of the annoying indent issues I ran into with the indent behavior when switching in and out of <?php ?> regions in a template file, but the code is a mess and never really worked in the first place, so I won't reproduce it here. I mention it only to give you an example of what can be done with the after hooks.

vim expanded makeprg variable

I use the :set makeprg functionality to set different make behaviour depending on files. One feature of this is that I can use % and %< in order to refer to the file in the active buffer, as well as $ for environment variables.
I'd like to echo the expanded makeprg variable, but I can't seem to achieve this.
For example, suppose I have :set makeprg=build\ %, and I'm working on file Foo.txt.
I would expect the output of echoing an expanded makeprg to be:
build Foo.txt
However, we have the following result when echoing the &makeprg variable:
:echo(&makeprg)
build\ %
The solution probably involves using expand(), except that this would involve parsing the &makeprg for escaped symbols and dealing with $ appropriately for environment variables. Is there a solution to this that I'm missing?
Why would you need this? For troubleshooting, I would probably just append echo to 'makeprg' (that's a trailing space after \):
:setl makeprg^=echo\
But the following should do what you had in mind. The trick is to split the 'makeprg' string on spaces, and process each word individually:
:echo join(map(split(&makeprg), 'expand(v:val)'))
A bit closer to the truth:
join(map(split(mystring, '\ze[<%#]'), 'expand(v:val)'), '').

Why the -b(binary) option doesn't work in vim?

As vim doc said, I can use the -b option to open a binary file.
-b Binary mode. File I/O will only recognize <NL> to separate
lines. The 'expandtab' option will be reset. The 'textwidth'
option is set to 0. 'modeline' is reset. The 'binary' option
is set. This is done after reading the vimrc/exrc files but
before reading any file in the arglist. See also
|edit-binary|. {not in Vi}
I use this command to open vim:
$ vim --cmd 'set et' -u NONE -b
I type this command to view options:
:set et? bin?
expandtab
binary
The et(expandtab) option wasn't reset. Why?
Thanks for your help!
Well the issue is, simply, that --cmd -c or +cmd arguments are executed after processing the other flags. This makes sense, as it would not effectively do anything otherwise.
:verbose set et?
would tell you exactly that. In case you need a workaround for your particular sample vim +'set binary' (unlikely since et != binary)
You are right on the docs for --cmd. So it comes down to the order in which command line flags are interpreted, which is basically 'undefined'. Although
This is done after reading the vimrc/exrc files but before reading any file in the arglist
could be taken to imply 'before processing other command line arguments'.
Note The '+' commands essentially go with specific files and are (AFAICT) processed in the order in which they appear, even when intermixed with filename arguments.

Removing a character from 'iskeyword' in vim

In my vimrc, I have included a script (say, otherscript.vim, which I need to include for work reasons) that says:
autocmd FileType php setlocal iskeyword+=$
and I don't want this behaviour. So, sometime later in the vimrc, I say:
autocmd FileType php setlocal iskeyword-=$
(I also tried using set instead of setlocal.) But, when I open a php file, iskeyword still contains the $ symbol in it. I am using vim 7.2. The output of ':verbose set iskeyword' is
iskeyword=#,48-57,_,192-255,$
Last set from /path/to/otherscript.vim
The output of ':scriptnames' is:
...
7: /usr/share/vim/vim72/ftplugin.vim
8: /home/yogeshwer/.vimrc
...
74: /path/to/otherscript.vim
...
Can somebody help me how I can revert the changes to 'iskeyword' made by the other script? Thanks a bunch.
I like to avoid autocmds when I can and use the after directory structure.
$ mkdir -p ~/.vim/after/{ftplugin,syntax,indent}
$ echo 'setlocal iskeyword-=$' >> ~/.vim/after/ftplugin/php.vim
This sets up a basic after directory in your user-specific vim config folder. Whereas ~/.vim/ftplugin/$FILETYPE.vim would be used in lieu of vim's standard $FILETYPE.vim file, files in an after directory get executed after, allowing you to override or change the behavior of your ftplugins, syntax definitions, and indent commands.
As an additional example to show you how these work, I'll include part of my local after/syntax/python.vim file here. I like all the "structural punctuation" of my code to stand out when I read it, so I do this:
syn match pythonParen /[()]/
syn match pythonBrack /[][]/
syn match pythonCurly /[{}]/
hi def link pythonParen Paren
hi def link pythonBrack Brack
hi def link pythonCurly Curly
I've also got an after/indent/php.vim file that was supposed to fix some of the annoying indent issues I ran into with the indent behavior when switching in and out of <?php ?> regions in a template file, but the code is a mess and never really worked in the first place, so I won't reproduce it here. I mention it only to give you an example of what can be done with the after hooks.

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