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Vim (text editor)

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Vim
Developer(s)Bram Moolenaar and others
Stable release8.2.0000[1] (13 December 2019; 4 years ago (2019-12-13)) [±]
Repository
Operating systemAmiga, Linux, Mac OS X, Windows, OpenVMS, OS/2, Unix
TypeText editor
LicenseGPL-compatible charityware
Websitehttp://www.vim.org/

Vim, which stands for "Vi IMproved", is an open-source, multiplatform text editor extended from vi. It was first released by Bram Moolenaar in 1991. Since then, numerous features have been added to Vim, many of which are helpful in editing program source code. Vim is today one of the two most popular editors for programmers and users of Unix-like operating systems, alongside Emacs.[2]

Learning to use Vim

Vim has a steep learning curve, meaning learning is slow initially but once the user gets a grasp of the basics they progress quickly and their editing becomes more efficient. [3] To facilitate this, there is the Vim tutorial for beginners, usually invoked by typing "vimtutor" on the Unix command line or clicking on the Vim tutor icon on the Windows desktop. There is also the Vim Users' Manual that details the basic and more advanced Vim features which can be read by typing ":help user-manual" within Vim.

New users should also learn how to navigate and understand the conventions of the Vim help system by reading the main help file by typing ":help" without any arguments.

As a descendant of vi, Vim is modal — an unusual feature which tends to confuse new users. All editors are modal in the general sense of having to distinguish insert and command inputs, but most others implement that modality through very different methods: command menus (mouse or keyboard driven), meta keys (simultaneous use of multiple keys, usually involving control key (CTRL) or alt key (ALT)), and mouse input. Vim, following vi, is unique in that you switch the entire keyboard into and out of these modes. This allows you, but does not require you, to perform all editing functions with no use of the mouse or menus and minimal use of meta keys. For touch-typists and those averse to the mouse, this can be a great benefit in power and efficiency.

Vim has six basic modes and five variants of the basic modes:[4]

Normal

In normal mode you can enter all the editor commands such as cursor movement, text deletion, etc. Vim starts in this mode by default. This is contrary to what many new users expect.
Vim's power derives primarily from its extensive normal mode commands, many of them requiring an operator to complete. For example, the normal mode command "dd" deletes the line the cursor is currently on, but "d" can be followed by a motion command instead of another "d" such as the line down key ("j") to delete the current and the next line. You can also provide a count; "2dd" (repeat 'dd' twice) does the same thing as "dj". Once the user learns various movement/jump commands and other normal mode editing commands and how they can be combined, their editing often becomes much more efficient than users of "modeless" editors.
From normal mode you can enter insert mode any number of ways; the most common are to press "a" (append) or "i" (insert).

Operator-pending

In this sub-mode of normal mode an operator command has been started and Vim is waiting for a "motion" to complete it. Vim also supports special "text objects" in place of motions in operator-pending mode, which can include "aw" for a word, "as" for a sentence, "ap" for a paragraph, etc.
For example, "d2as" in normal mode deletes the current sentence and the next, and in visual mode, "apU" converts the current paragraph to uppercase.

Insert Normal

This mode is entered when control-o is pressed in insert mode. It behaves like normal mode but only lets you execute one command before Vim returns to insert mode.

Visual

This behaves much like normal mode, but the movement commands extend highlighted text. When a non-movement command is used it is performed on the highlighted area. Vim's "text objects" can be used in this mode as motion commands as well.

Insert Visual

This is entered from insert normal mode by pressing control-o then starting a visual selection. After the visual selection ends Vim returns to insert mode.

Select

This is somewhat like the Microsoft Windows selection mode — you can highlight text with the mouse and the cursor keys, but typing a character causes the highlighted area to be deleted and Vim enters insert mode with the character you typed inserted.

Insert Select

This mode is usually entered by dragging the mouse or using a shifted arrow key in insert mode. After the selection ends Vim returns to insert mode.

Insert

In this mode most keys on the keyboard insert text into the buffer. This behavior is what most new users expect text editors to always do.
From insert mode you can go back to normal mode by pressing the escape key (ESC).

Replace

This is a special insert mode where you can do the same things as you would do in insert mode, but each character you type overwrites an existing character in the buffer.

Command-line

In command-line mode you can enter one line which is interpreted as a command (":" key), search ("/" and "?" keys), or a filter command ("!" key).

Ex mode

This is like command-line mode, but you can enter multiple commands until you leave this mode by typing "visual".

Evim

Evim is a special GUI mode that tries to behave more like a "modeless" editor where the editor starts and stays in insert mode and the user has to use the menus, mouse, and keyboard control keys, such as the arrow keys. This mode can be enabled by typing "evim" on the command line (Unix) or clicking on the evim icon (Windows).

Customization

Part of Vim's power is that it can be extensively customized. For example the basic interface can be controlled by the many options available (":help options"). Additionally the user can define personalized key mappings—often called macros—to automate sequences of keystrokes, or even call internal or user defined functions (":help map.txt").

There are many plugins available that will extend or add new functionality to Vim. These complex scripts are usually written in Vim's internal scripting language (":help vim-script-intro"), but they can also be implemented using the Perl, Python, Ruby, etc. interfaces that can be included in Vim at compile time.

Features and improvements over vi

Some of the main features of Vim and improvements of Vim over vi:[4]

History

Click show to expand.
Date Version Changes and additions
1988 1.0 Based on Stevie for the Amiga, named Vi IMitation, never publicly released
November 2, 1991 1.14[5] First public release for the Amiga on Fred Fish disk #591
1992 1.22[5] Port to Unix. Vim now competes with vi. This was when Vim became Vi IMproved
August 12, 1994 3.0[5] Support for multiple windows
May 29, 1996 4.0[5] Graphical user interface
February 19, 1998 5.0[5] Syntax highlighting, basic scripting (user defined functions, commands, etc.)
April 6, 1998 5.1 Bug fixes, various improvements
April 27, 1998 5.2 Long line support, file browser, dialogs, popup menu, select mode, session files, user defined functions and commands, tcl interface, etc.
August 31, 1998 5.3 Bug fixes, etc.
July 25, 1998 5.4 Basic file encryption, various improvements
September 19, 1999 5.5 Bug fixes, various improvements
January 16, 2000 5.6 New syntax files, bug fixes, etc.
June 24, 2000 5.7 New syntax files, bug fixes, etc.
May 31, 2000 5.8 New syntax files, bug fixes, etc.
September 26, 2001 6.0[5] Folding, plugins, multi-language, etc.
March 24, 2002 6.1 Bug fixes
June 1, 2003 6.2 GTK2, Arabic language support, :try command, minor features, bug fixes
June 7, 2004 6.3 Bug fixes, translation updates, mark improvements
October 15, 2005 6.4 Bug fixes, updates to Perl, Python, and Ruby support
May 7, 2006 7.0 Spell checking, code completion, document tabs, current line and column highlighting, undo branches, and more

(Note that some dates are approximate,[6] development releases are not listed, and many minor version releases are not yet included in this list.)

See also

The Wikibook Learning the vi editor has a page on the topic of: Vim

References

  1. ^ "Releases". Retrieved 13 December 2019 – via GitHub.
  2. ^ "Linux Journal: 2003 Readers' Choice Awards". 2003-11-01. Retrieved 2006-05-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    "Linux Journal: 2004 Readers' Choice Awards". 2004-11-01. Retrieved 2006-05-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
    "Linux Journal: 2005 Readers' Choice Awards". 2005-09-28. Retrieved 2006-05-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Oualline, Steve (2001). Vi IMproved (VIM). Sams. ISBN 0735710015. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  4. ^ a b Vim help system (type ":help" within vim)
  5. ^ a b c d e f Moolenaar, Bram (2002-01-15). "Vim, an open-source text editor". Retrieved 2005-10-24. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Dates were taken from the official Vim FTP site.
  • Vim home page — Includes a script archive, tips, community and download links, etc.
  • Vimdoc — Online Vim documentation

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