Vim

This page is not supposed to be a tutorial or a FAQ. It's just got some quick reference pointers. Vim has a reputation for being hard to use. OK, you might be stumped after loading it up for the first time, but it only takes a few minutes to get going. The First steps in Vim page will get you up and running in no time

Overriding System Set Options
Example .vimrc File

Overriding System Set Options

Depending on the type of file you're editing, it can seem that vim will ignore some options that you've setup in your .vimrc file. In fact the case is, rather than being ignored they are being overridden by the corresponding file type plugin file read on start up. One particular case of this is when editing c files, the option to automatically insert a comment leader after a carriage return from a commented line is enabled.

If you look in the corresponding file type plugin (ftplugin) file (/usr/share/vim/vim64/ftplugin/c.vim) you can see the formatoption being changed. Here's the relevant excerpt.

File Excerpt: /usr/share/vim/vim64/ftplugin/c.vim

" Set 'formatoptions' to break comment lines but not other lines,
" and insert the comment leader when hitting <CR> or using "o".
setlocal fo-=t fo+=croql

Finding out if your options are being overridden and where the overriding occurs is quite easy. In the case of formatoptions use the following vim command.

:verbose set formatoptions

The output, an example given below, states where the option was last set. So it's possible to check if your .vimrc options are being overridden.

formatoptions=croql
        Last set from /usr/share/vim/vim64/ftplugin/c.vim

To restore the options that you really want, you need to create a file that is read after the file type plugin file. These are placed in ~/.vim/after/ftplugin/ and are given the same name as the system ftplugin file.

File: ~/.vim/after/ftplugin/c.vim

set formatoptions-=r

Now when you try to edit a c file and do the same test to see where the formatoptions were last set, you can see that it was in your new ftplugin file.

formatoptions=croql
         Last set from /home/xxx/.vim/after/ftplugin/c.vim

Example `.vimrc` File

Below I've listed my vim configuration file. Hopefully you might spot some useful features from this example. Being a Linux user I only use the shell version, rather than the window managed GVim version. However, a lot of the options still make sense.

File: ~/.vimrc

" Use vim features - ignore vi compatibility
set nocompatible

" Make sure vim checks for 'set commands' in opened files
set modeline
set modelines=1

" Make the window title reflect the file being edited
set title
set titlestring=VIM:\ %F

" At command line, complete longest common string, then list alternatives.
set wildmode=longest,list

" Automatically insert the current comment leader
" after hitting 'o' or 'O' in Normal mode.
set fo+=o

" Do not automatically insert a comment leader after an enter
set fo-=r

" Do no auto-wrap text using textwidth (does not apply to comments)
set fo-=t

" Turn off the bell
set vb t_vb=

" Enable the mouse
set mouse=a
behave xterm
set selectmode=mouse

" Set list Chars - for showing characters that are not
" normally displayed i.e. whitespace, tabs, EOL
set listchars=trail:.,tab:>-,eol:$
set nolist

" Show incomplete paragraphs
set display+=lastline

" Turn ruler on
set ruler

" Set horizontal scrolling jump to 10
set sidescroll=10

" Turn off end of line wrapping
set nowrap

" Make sure status line is always visible
set laststatus=2

" Make command line two lines high
set ch=2

" Make the Tab spacing 3 characters wide
set ts=3

" Make the shift width 3 characters wide
set sw=3

" Allow backspace to delete
set bs=2

" Make window height VERY large so they always maximise on window switch
set winheight=9999

" Switch off search pattern highlighting.
set nohlsearch

" Turn Brace/Bracket match showing off
set noshowmatch

" Setup backup location and enable
set backupdir=~/backup/vim
set backup

" Set Swap directory
set directory=~/backup/vim/swap

" Show/Hide hidden Chars
map <silent> <F2> :set invlist<CR>

" Show/Hide found pattern (After search)
map <silent> <F3> :set invhlsearch<CR>

" Remove whitespace from end of lines
map <silent> <F4> :%s/\s\+$//g<CR>

" Make F5 reload .vimrc
map <silent> <F5> :source ~/.vimrc<CR>

" Do a word count
map <silent> <F7> g<C-G>

" Format paragraph
map <silent> <F8> gwap

" Set html creation to use style sheets
let html_use_css = 1

" Mapping for creating HTML of current buffer
map <silent> <F9> :runtime! syntax/2html.vim<CR>

" Set up Printer options
set printoptions=left:15mm,right:15mm,top:15mm,bottom:15mm,paper:A4,header:2,syntax:n
set printfont=courier_new:h7

" Set Printer up
set printexpr=PrintFile(v:fname_in)

if !exists("*PrintFile")
   function PrintFile(fname)
      call system("lpr -r -PLaserjet " . a:fname)
      return v:shell_error
endfunc
endif

" Enable 'in-column' up and down motion in INSERT mode on wrapped lines
imap <silent> <Up>   <C-o>gk
imap <silent> <Down> <C-o>gj

" Enable 'in-column' up and down motion on wrapped lines
map <silent> <Up>   gk
map <silent> <Down> gj

" Map shift up and down to page scrolling
map <S-Up>   <C-E>
map <S-Down> <C-Y>

" Folding options
set foldmethod=marker
set foldcolumn=2
set foldtext=MyFoldText()

if !exists("*MyFoldText")
   function MyFoldText()
      let line = getline(v:foldstart)
      let sub = substitute(line, '/\*\|\*/\|{{{\d\=', '', 'g')
      return "FOLD (" . (v:foldend - v:foldstart) . ")" . sub
   endfunction
" /* }}} - End folding on this function declaration */
endif

" Switch on syntax highlighting.
syntax on

" Use colours that work well on a dark background
set background=dark

" Set some nice highlighting colours
hi Normal      guifg=white    guibg=black
hi Comment     ctermfg=brown
hi Folded      ctermfg=red
hi FoldColumn  ctermbg=grey   ctermfg=red
hi NonText     ctermbg=black  ctermfg=blue
hi SpecialKey  ctermbg=black  ctermfg=grey
hi Search      ctermbg=red    ctermfg=white
hi Todo        ctermbg=yellow ctermfg=white

The Lab Book Pages

Vim

Overriding System Set Options

Example .vimrc File

Example `.vimrc` File