Vim documentation: usr_21
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*usr_21.txt* For Vim version 7.3. Last change: 2008 Nov 09
VIM USER MANUAL - by Bram Moolenaar
Go away and come back
This chapter goes into mixing the use of other programs with Vim. Either by
executing program from inside Vim or by leaving Vim and coming back later.
Furthermore, this is about the ways to remember the state of Vim and restore
it later.
|21.1| Suspend and resume
|21.2| Executing shell commands
|21.3| Remembering information; viminfo
|21.4| Sessions
|21.5| Views
|21.6| Modelines
Next chapter: |usr_22.txt| Finding the file to edit
Previous chapter: |usr_20.txt| Typing command-line commands quickly
Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt|
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*21.1* Suspend and resume
Like most Unix programs Vim can be suspended by pressing CTRL-Z. This stops
Vim and takes you back to the shell it was started in. You can then do any
other commands until you are bored with them. Then bring back Vim with the
"fg" command.
CTRL-Z
{any sequence of shell commands}
fg
You are right back where you left Vim, nothing has changed.
In case pressing CTRL-Z doesn't work, you can also use ":suspend".
Don't forget to bring Vim back to the foreground, you would lose any changes
that you made!
Only Unix has support for this. On other systems Vim will start a shell for
you. This also has the functionality of being able to execute shell commands.
But it's a new shell, not the one that you started Vim from.
When you are running the GUI you can't go back to the shell where Vim was
started. CTRL-Z will minimize the Vim window instead.
==============================================================================
*21.2* Executing shell commands
To execute a single shell command from Vim use ":!{command}". For example, to
see a directory listing:
:!ls
:!dir
The first one is for Unix, the second one for MS-Windows.
Vim will execute the program. When it ends you will get a prompt to hit
<Enter>. This allows you to have a look at the output from the command before
returning to the text you were editing.
The "!" is also used in other places where a program is run. Let's take
a look at an overview:
:!{program} execute {program}
:r !{program} execute {program} and read its output
:w !{program} execute {program} and send text to its input
:[range]!{program} filter text through {program}
Notice that the presence of a range before "!{program}" makes a big
difference. Without it executes the program normally, with the range a number
of text lines is filtered through the program.
Executing a whole row of programs this way is possible. But a shell is much
better at it. You can start a new shell this way:
:shell
This is similar to using CTRL-Z to suspend Vim. The difference is that a new
shell is started.
When using the GUI the shell will be using the Vim window for its input and
output. Since Vim is not a terminal emulator, this will not work perfectly.
If you have trouble, try toggling the 'guipty' option. If this still doesn't
work well enough, start a new terminal to run the shell in. For example with:
:!xterm&
==============================================================================
*21.3* Remembering information; viminfo
After editing for a while you will have text in registers, marks in various
files, a command line history filled with carefully crafted commands. When
you exit Vim all of this is lost. But you can get it back!
The viminfo file is designed to store status information:
Command-line and Search pattern history
Text in registers
Marks for various files
The buffer list
Global variables
Each time you exit Vim it will store this information in a file, the viminfo
file. When Vim starts again, the viminfo file is read and the information
restored.
The 'viminfo' option is set by default to restore a limited number of items.
You might want to set it to remember more information. This is done through
the following command:
:set viminfo=string
The string specifies what to save. The syntax of this string is an option
character followed by an argument. The option/argument pairs are separated by
commas.
Take a look at how you can build up your own viminfo string. First, the ''
option is used to specify how many files for which you save marks (a-z). Pick
a nice even number for this option (1000, for instance). Your command now
looks like this:
:set viminfo='1000
The f option controls whether global marks (A-Z and 0-9) are stored. If this
option is 0, none are stored. If it is 1 or you do not specify an f option,
the marks are stored. You want this feature, so now you have this:
:set viminfo='1000,f1
The < option controls how many lines are saved for each of the registers. By
default, all the lines are saved. If 0, nothing is saved. To avoid adding
thousands of lines to your viminfo file (which might never get used and makes
starting Vim slower) you use a maximum of 500 lines:
:set viminfo='1000,f1,<500
Other options you might want to use:
: number of lines to save from the command line history
@ number of lines to save from the input line history
/ number of lines to save from the search history
r removable media, for which no marks will be stored (can be
used several times)
! global variables that start with an uppercase letter and
don't contain lowercase letters
h disable 'hlsearch' highlighting when starting
% the buffer list (only restored when starting Vim without file
arguments)
c convert the text using 'encoding'
n name used for the viminfo file (must be the last option)
See the 'viminfo' option and |viminfo-file| for more information.
When you run Vim multiple times, the last one exiting will store its
information. This may cause information that previously exiting Vims stored
to be lost. Each item can be remembered only once.
GETTING BACK TO WHERE YOU STOPPED VIM
You are halfway editing a file and it's time to leave for holidays. You exit
Vim and go enjoy yourselves, forgetting all about your work. After a couple
of weeks you start Vim, and type:
'0
And you are right back where you left Vim. So you can get on with your work.
Vim creates a mark each time you exit Vim. The last one is '0. The
position that '0 pointed to is made '1. And '1 is made to '2, and so forth.
Mark '9 is lost.
The |:marks| command is useful to find out where '0 to '9 will take you.
GETTING BACK TO SOME FILE
If you want to go back to a file that you edited recently, but not when
exiting Vim, there is a slightly more complicated way. You can see a list of
files by typing the command:
:oldfiles
1: ~/.viminfo
2: ~/text/resume.txt
3: /tmp/draft
Now you would like to edit the second file, which is in the list preceded by
"2:". You type:
:e #<2
Instead of ":e" you can use any command that has a file name argument, the
"#<2" item works in the same place as "%" (current file name) and "#"
(alternate file name). So you can also split the window to edit the third
file:
:split #<3
That #<123 thing is a bit complicated when you just want to edit a file.
Fortunately there is a simpler way:
:browse oldfiles
1: ~/.viminfo
2: ~/text/resume.txt
3: /tmp/draft
-- More --
You get the same list of files as with |:oldfiles|. If you want to edit
"resume.txt" first press "q" to stop the listing. You will get a prompt:
Type number and <Enter> (empty cancels):
Type "2" and press <Enter> to edit the second file.
More info at |:oldfiles|, |v:oldfiles| and |c_#<|.
MOVE INFO FROM ONE VIM TO ANOTHER
You can use the ":wviminfo" and ":rviminfo" commands to save and restore the
information while still running Vim. This is useful for exchanging register
contents between two instances of Vim, for example. In the first Vim do:
:wviminfo! ~/tmp/viminfo
And in the second Vim do:
:rviminfo! ~/tmp/viminfo
Obviously, the "w" stands for "write" and the "r" for "read".
The ! character is used by ":wviminfo" to forcefully overwrite an existing
file. When it is omitted, and the file exists, the information is merged into
the file.
The ! character used for ":rviminfo" means that all the information is
used, this may overwrite existing information. Without the ! only information
that wasn't set is used.
These commands can also be used to store info and use it again later. You
could make a directory full of viminfo files, each containing info for a
different purpose.
==============================================================================
*21.4* Sessions
Suppose you are editing along, and it is the end of the day. You want to quit
work and pick up where you left off the next day. You can do this by saving
your editing session and restoring it the next day.
A Vim session contains all the information about what you are editing.
This includes things such as the file list, window layout, global variables,
options and other information. (Exactly what is remembered is controlled by
the 'sessionoptions' option, described below.)
The following command creates a session file:
:mksession vimbook.vim
Later if you want to restore this session, you can use this command:
:source vimbook.vim
If you want to start Vim and restore a specific session, you can use the
following command:
vim -S vimbook.vim
This tells Vim to read a specific file on startup. The 'S' stands for
session (actually, you can source any Vim script with -S, thus it might as
well stand for "source").
The windows that were open are restored, with the same position and size as
before. Mappings and option values are like before.
What exactly is restored depends on the 'sessionoptions' option. The
default value is "blank,buffers,curdir,folds,help,options,winsize".
blank keep empty windows
buffers all buffers, not only the ones in a window
curdir the current directory
folds folds, also manually created ones
help the help window
options all