*various.txt*   For Vim version 9.0.  Last change: 2022 Dec 13


                  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Bram Moolenaar


Various commands                                        *various*

1. Various commands             |various-cmds|
2. Using Vim like less or more  |less|

==============================================================================
1. Various commands                                     *various-cmds*

                                                        *CTRL-L*
CTRL-L                  Clear and redraw the screen.  The redraw may happen
                        later, after processing typeahead.

                                                        *:redr* *:redraw*
:redr[aw][!]            Redraw the screen right now.  When ! is included it is
                        cleared first.
                        Useful to update the screen halfway executing a script
                        or function.  Also when halfway a mapping and
                        'lazyredraw' is set.

                                                *:redraws* *:redrawstatus*
:redraws[tatus][!]      Redraw the status line of the current window.  When !
                        is included all status lines are redrawn.
                        Useful to update the status line(s) when 'statusline'
                        includes an item that doesn't cause automatic
                        updating.
                        If the command line is being edited the redraw is
                        postponed until later.

                                                *:redrawt* *:redrawtabline*
:redrawt[abline]        Redraw the tabline.  Useful to update the tabline when
                        'tabline' includes an item that doesn't trigger
                        automatic updating.

                                                        *N<Del>*
<Del>                   When entering a number: Remove the last digit.
                        Note: if you like to use <BS> for this, add this
                        mapping to your .vimrc: >
                                :map CTRL-V <BS>   CTRL-V <Del>
<                       See |:fixdel| if your <Del> key does not do what you
                        want.

:as[cii]        or                                      *ga* *:as* *:ascii*
ga                      Print the ascii value of the character under the
                        cursor in decimal, hexadecimal and octal.
                        Mnemonic: Get Ascii value.

                        For example, when the cursor is on a 'R':
                                <R>  82,  Hex 52,  Octal 122 ~
                        When the character is a non-standard ASCII character,
                        but printable according to the 'isprint' option, the
                        non-printable version is also given.

                        When the character is larger than 127, the <M-x> form
                        is also printed.  For example:
                                <~A>  <M-^A>  129,  Hex 81,  Octal 201 ~
                                <p>  <|~>  <M-~>  254,  Hex fe,  Octal 376 ~
                        (where <p> is a special character)

                        The <Nul> character in a file is stored internally as
                        <NL>, but it will be shown as:
                                <^@>  0,  Hex 00,  Octal 000 ~

                        If the character has composing characters these are
                        also shown.  The value of 'maxcombine' doesn't matter.

                        If the character can be inserted as a digraph, also
                        output the two characters that can be used to create
                        the character:
                            <ö> 246, Hex 00f6, Oct 366, Digr o: ~
                        This shows you can type CTRL-K o : to insert ö.

                                                        *g8*
g8                      Print the hex values of the bytes used in the
                        character under the cursor, assuming it is in |UTF-8|
                        encoding.  This also shows composing characters.  The
                        value of 'maxcombine' doesn't matter.
                        Example of a character with two composing characters:
                                e0 b8 81 + e0 b8 b9 + e0 b9 89 ~

                                                        *8g8*
8g8                     Find an illegal UTF-8 byte sequence at or after the
                        cursor.  This works in two situations:
                        1. when 'encoding' is any 8-bit encoding
                        2. when 'encoding' is "utf-8" and 'fileencoding' is
                           any 8-bit encoding
                        Thus it can be used when editing a file that was
                        supposed to be UTF-8 but was read as if it is an 8-bit
                        encoding because it contains illegal bytes.
                        Does not wrap around the end of the file.
                        Note that when the cursor is on an illegal byte or the
                        cursor is halfway a multibyte character the command
                        won't move the cursor.

                                                *:p* *:pr* *:print* *E749*
:[range]p[rint] [flags]
                        Print [range] lines (default current line).
                        Note: If you are looking for a way to print your text
                        on paper see |:hardcopy|.  In the GUI you can use the
                        File.Print menu entry.
                        See |ex-flags| for [flags].
                        The |:filter| command can be used to only show lines
                        matching a pattern.

:[range]p[rint] {count} [flags]
                        Print {count} lines, starting with [range] (default
                        current line |cmdline-ranges|).
                        See |ex-flags| for [flags].

                                                        *:P* *:Print*
:[range]P[rint] [count] [flags]
                        Just as ":print".  Was apparently added to Vi for
                        people that keep the shift key pressed too long...
                        This command is not supported in |Vim9| script.
                        Note: A user command can overrule this command.
                        See |ex-flags| for [flags].

                                                        *:l* *:list*
:[range]l[ist] [count] [flags]
                        Same as :print, but display unprintable characters
                        with '^' and put $ after the line.  This can be
                        further changed with the 'listchars' option.
                        See |ex-flags| for [flags].

                                                        *:nu* *:number*
:[range]nu[mber] [count] [flags]
                        Same as :print, but precede each line with its line
                        number.  (See also 'highlight' and 'numberwidth'
                        option).
                        See |ex-flags| for [flags].

                                                        *:#*
:[range]# [count] [flags]
                        synonym for :number.

                                                        *:#!*
:#!{anything}           Ignored, so that you can start a Vim script with: >
                                #!vim -S
                                echo "this is a Vim script"
                                quit
<
                                                        *:z* *E144*
:[range]z[+-^.=][count] Display several lines of text surrounding the line
                        specified with [range], or around the current line
                        if there is no [range].

                        If there is a [count], that's how many lines you'll
                        see; if there is no [count] and only one window then
                        twice the value of the 'scroll' option is used,
                        otherwise the current window height minus 3 is used.
                        This is the value of "scr" in the table below.

                        If there is a [count] the 'window' option is set to
                        its value.

                        :z can be used either alone or followed by any of
                        several marks.  These have the following effect:

                        mark   first line    last line      new cursor line ~
                        ----   ----------    ---------      ------------
                        +      current line  1 scr forward  1 scr forward
                        -      1 scr back    current line   current line
                        ^      2 scr back    1 scr back     1 scr back
                        .      1/2 scr back  1/2 scr fwd    1/2 scr fwd
                        =      1/2 scr back  1/2 scr fwd    current line

                        Specifying no mark at all is the same as "+".
                        If the mark is "=", a line of dashes is printed
                        around the current line.

                                                        *:z!*
:[range]z![+-^.=][count]
                        Like ":z", but when [count] is not specified, it
                        defaults to the Vim window height minus one.

:[range]z[!]#[+-^.=][count]                             *:z#*
                        Like ":z" or ":z!", but number the lines.

                                                        *:=*
:= [flags]              Print the last line number.
                        See |ex-flags| for [flags].

:{range}= [flags]       Prints the last line number in {range}.  For example,
                        this prints the current line number: >
                                :.=
<                       See |ex-flags| for [flags].

:norm[al][!] {commands}                                 *:norm* *:normal*
                        Execute Normal mode commands {commands}.  This makes
                        it possible to execute Normal mode commands typed on
                        the command-line.  {commands} are executed like they
                        are typed.  For undo all commands are undone together.
                        Execution stops when an error is encountered.

                        If the [!] is given, mappings will not be used.
                        Without it, when this command is called from a
                        non-remappable mapping (|:noremap|), the argument can
                        be mapped anyway.

                        {commands} should be a complete command.  If
                        {commands} does not finish a command, the last one
                        will be aborted as if <Esc> or <C-C> was typed.
                        This implies that an insert command must be completed
                        (to start Insert mode, see |:startinsert|).  A ":"
                        command must be completed as well.  And you can't use
                        "Q" or "gQ" to start Ex mode.

                        The display is not updated while ":normal" is busy.

                        {commands} cannot start with a space.  Put a count of
                        1 (one) before it, "1 " is one space.

                        The 'insertmode' option is ignored for {commands}.

                        This command cannot be followed by another command,
                        since any '|' is considered part of the command.

                        This command can be used recursively, but the depth is
                        limited by 'maxmapdepth'.

                        An alternative is to use |:execute|, which uses an
                        expression as argument.  This allows the use of
                        printable characters to represent special characters.

                        Example: >
                                :exe "normal \<c-w>\<c-w>"

:{range}norm[al][!] {commands}                          *:normal-range*
                        Execute Normal mode commands {commands} for each line
                        in the {range}.  Before executing the {commands}, the
                        cursor is positioned in the first column of the range,
                        for each line.  Otherwise it's the same as the
                        ":normal" command without a range.

                                                        *:sh* *:shell* *E371*
:sh[ell]                This command starts a shell.  When the shell exits
                        (after the "exit" command) you return to Vim.  The
                        name for the shell command comes from 'shell' option.
                                                        *E360*
                        Note: This doesn't work when Vim on the Amiga was
                        started in QuickFix mode from a compiler, because the
                        compiler will have set stdin to a non-interactive
                        mode.

                                                        *:!cmd* *:!*
:!{cmd}                 Execute {cmd} with the shell.  See also the 'shell'
                        and 'shelltype' option.
                                                        *E34*
                        Any '!' in {cmd} is replaced with the previous
                        external command (see also 'cpoptions').  But not when
                        there is a backslash before the '!', then that
                        backslash is removed.  Example: ":!ls" followed by
                        ":!echo ! \! \\!" executes "echo ls ! \!".

                        A '|' in {cmd} is passed to the shell, you cannot use
                        it to append a Vim command.  See |:bar|.

                        If {cmd} contains "%" it is expanded to the current
                        file name, "#" is expanded to the alternate file name.
                        Special characters in the file name are not escaped,
                        use quotes to avoid their special meaning: >
                                :!ls "%"
<                       If the file name contains a "$" then single quotes
                        might work better, but this only works if the file
                        name does not contain a single quote: >
                                :!ls '%'
<                       This should always work, but it's more typing: >
                                :exe "!ls " .. shellescape(expand("%"))
<                       To get a literal "%" or "#" prepend it with a
                        backslash.  For example, to list all files starting
                        with "%": >
                                :!ls \%*
<
                        A newline character ends {cmd}, what follows is
                        interpreted as a following ":" command.  However, if
                        there is a backslash before the newline it is removed
                        and {cmd} continues.  It doesn't matter how many
                        backslashes are before the newline, only one is
                        removed.

                        On Unix the command normally runs in a non-interactive
                        shell.  If you want an interactive shell to be used
                        (to use aliases) set 'shellcmdflag' to "-ic".
                        For Win32 also see |:!start|.

                        After the command has been executed, the timestamp and
                        size of the current file is checked |timestamp|.

                        Vim redraws the screen after the command is finished,
                        because it may have printed any text.  This requires a
                        hit-enter prompt, so that you can read any messages.
                        To avoid this use: >
                                :silent !{cmd}
<                       The screen is not redrawn then, thus you have to use
                        CTRL-L or ":redraw!" if the command did display
                        something.  However, this depends on what the |t_ti|
                        and |t_te| termcap entries are set to.
                        Also see |shell-window|.

                                                        *:!!*
:!!                     Repeat last ":!{cmd}".

                                                        *:ve* *:ver* *:version*
:ve[rsion]              Print the version number of the editor.  If the
                        compiler used understands "__DATE__" the compilation
                        date is mentioned.  Otherwise a fixed release-date is
                        shown.
                        The following lines contain information about which
                        features were enabled when Vim was compiled.  When
                        there is a preceding '+', the feature is included,
                        when there is a '-' it is excluded.  To change this,
                        you have to edit feature.h and recompile Vim.
                        To check for this in an expression, see |has()|.
                        Here is an overview of the features.
                        The first column shows the smallest version in which
                        they are included:
                           T    tiny (always)
                           S    small
                           N    normal
                           B    big
                           H    huge
                           m    manually enabled or depends on other features
                           -    never, feature was removed
                         (none) system dependent
                        Thus if a feature is marked with "N", it is included
                        in the normal, big and huge versions of Vim.

                                                        *+feature-list*
   *+acl*               |ACL| support included
   *+ARP*               Amiga only: ARP support included
H  *+arabic*            |Arabic| language support
N  *+autochdir*         support 'autochdir' option
T  *+autocmd*           |:autocmd|, automatic commands.  Always enabled since
                        8.0.1564
H  *+autoservername*    Automatically enable |clientserver|
m  *+balloon_eval*      |balloon-eval| support in the GUI. Included when
                        compiling with supported GUI (Motif, GTK, GUI) and
                        either Netbeans/Sun Workshop integration or |+eval|
                        feature.
H  *+balloon_eval_term* |balloon-eval| support in the terminal,
                        'balloonevalterm'
N  *+browse*            |:browse| command
T  *++builtin_terms*    maximal terminals builtin |builtin-terms| Always
                        enabled since 9.0.0280
N  *+byte_offset*       support for 'o' flag in 'statusline' option, "go"
                        and ":goto" commands.
m  *+channel*           inter process communication |channel|
T  *+cindent*           |'cindent'|, C indenting; Always enabled
N  *+clientserver*      Unix and Win32: Remote invocation |clientserver|
   *+clipboard*         |clipboard| support compiled-in
   *+clipboard_working* |clipboard| support compiled-in and working
T  *+cmdline_compl*     command line completion |cmdline-completion|
T  *+cmdline_hist*      command line history |cmdline-history|
T  *+cmdline_info*      |'showcmd'| and |'ruler'|; Always enabled since
                        9.0.0747
T  *+cmdwin*            |cmdline-window| support; Always enabled since 9.0.0657
T  *+comments*          |'comments'| support
N  *+conceal*           "conceal" support, see |conceal| |:syn-conceal| etc.
N  *+cryptv*            encryption support |encryption|
H  *+cscope*            |cscope| support
T  *+cursorbind*        |'cursorbind'| support
m  *+cursorshape*       |termcap-cursor-shape| support
m  *+debug*             Compiled for debugging.
N  *+dialog_gui*        Support for |:confirm| with GUI dialog.
N  *+dialog_con*        Support for |:confirm| with console dialog.
N  *+dialog_con_gui*    Support for |:confirm| with GUI and console dialog.
N  *+diff*              |vimdiff| and 'diff'
N  *+digraphs*          |digraphs| *E196*
   *+directx*           Win32 GUI only: DirectX and |'renderoptions'|
   *+dnd*               Support for DnD into the "~ register |quote_~|.
H  *+emacs_tags*        |emacs-tags| files
N  *+eval*              expression evaluation |eval.txt|
T  *+ex_extra*          always on now, used to be for Vim's extra Ex commands
N  *+extra_search*      |'hlsearch'| and |'incsearch'| options.
-  *+farsi*             Removed: |farsi| language
T  *+file_in_path*      |gf|, |CTRL-W_f| and |<cfile>|  Always enabled since
                        9.0.265
N  *+find_in_path*      include file searches: |[I|, |:isearch|,
                        |CTRL-W_CTRL-I|, |:checkpath|, etc.
N  *+folding*           |folding|
   *+footer*            |gui-footer|
   *+fork*              Unix only: |fork| shell commands
T  *+float*             Floating point support  Always enabled since 9.0.0491
N  *+gettext*           message translations |multi-lang|
-  *+GUI_Athena*        Unix only: Athena |GUI|
   *+GUI_neXtaw*        Unix only: neXtaw |GUI|
   *+GUI_GTK*           Unix only: GTK+ |GUI|
   *+GUI_Motif*         Unix only: Motif |GUI|
   *+GUI_Photon*        QNX only:  Photon |GUI|
m  *+hangul_input*      Hangul input support |hangul|
   *+iconv*             Compiled with the |iconv()| function
   *+iconv/dyn*         Likewise |iconv-dynamic| |/dyn|
T  *+insert_expand*     |insert_expand| Insert mode completion
m  *+ipv6*              Support for IPv6 networking |channel|
m  *+job*               starting and stopping jobs |job|
T  *+jumplist*          |jumplist|; Always enabled since 8.2.3795
H  *+keymap*            |'keymap'|
N  *+lambda*            |lambda| and |closure|
H  *+langmap*           |'langmap'|
N  *+libcall*           |libcall()|
N  *+linebreak*         |'linebreak'|, |'breakat'| and |'showbreak'|
T  *+lispindent*        |'lisp'|
T  *+listcmds*          Vim commands for the list of buffers |buffer-hidden|
                        and argument list |:argdelete|
T  *+localmap*          Support for mappings local to a buffer |:map-local|
m  *+lua*               |Lua| interface
m  *+lua/dyn*           |Lua| interface |/dyn|
N  *+menu*              |:menu|
N  *+mksession*         |:mksession|
T  *+modify_fname*      |filename-modifiers|
T  *+mouse*             Mouse handling |mouse-using|
N  *+mouseshape*        |'mouseshape'|
N  *+mouse_dec*         Unix only: Dec terminal mouse handling |dec-mouse|
N  *+mouse_gpm*         Unix only: Linux console mouse handling |gpm-mouse|
m  *+mouse_gpm/dyn*     Same as |+mouse_gpm| with optional library dependency
                        |/dyn|
N  *+mouse_jsbterm*     JSB mouse handling |jsbterm-mouse|
N  *+mouse_netterm*     Unix only: netterm mouse handling |netterm-mouse|
N  *+mouse_pterm*       QNX only: pterm mouse handling |qnx-terminal|
N  *+mouse_sysmouse*    Unix only: *BSD console mouse handling |sysmouse|
N  *+mouse_sgr*         Unix only: sgr mouse handling |sgr-mouse|
N  *+mouse_urxvt*       Unix only: urxvt mouse handling |urxvt-mouse|
N  *+mouse_xterm*       Unix only: xterm mouse handling |xterm-mouse|
T  *+multi_byte*        Unicode support, 16 and 32 bit characters |multibyte|
   *+multi_byte_ime*    Win32 input method for multibyte chars |multibyte-ime|
N  *+multi_lang*        non-English language support |multi-lang|
m  *+mzscheme*          Mzscheme interface |mzscheme|
m  *+mzscheme/dyn*      Mzscheme interface |mzscheme-dynamic| |/dyn|
m  *+netbeans_intg*     |netbeans|
T  *+num64*             64-bit Number support |Number|
                        Always enabled since 8.2.0271, use v:numbersize to
                        check the actual size of a Number.
m  *+ole*               Win32 GUI only: |ole-interface|
N  *+packages*          Loading |packages|
T  *+path_extra*        Up/downwards search in 'path' and 'tags'  Always
                        enabled since 9.0.0270
m  *+perl*              Perl interface |perl|
m  *+perl/dyn*          Perl interface |perl-dynamic| |/dyn|
N  *+persistent_undo*   Persistent undo |undo-persistence|
N  *+popupwin*          Popup windows |popup-window|
   *+postscript*        |:hardcopy| writes a PostScript file
N  *+printer*           |:hardcopy| command
H  *+profile*           |:profile| command
m  *+python*            Python 2 interface |python|
m  *+python/dyn*        Python 2 interface |python-dynamic| |/dyn|
m  *+python3*           Python 3 interface |python|
m  *+python3/dyn*       Python 3 interface |python-dynamic| |/dyn|
N  *+quickfix*          |:make| and |quickfix| commands
N  *+reltime*           |reltime()| function, 'hlsearch'/'incsearch' timeout,
                        'redrawtime' option
H  *+rightleft*         Right to left typing |'rightleft'|
m  *+ruby*              Ruby interface |ruby|
m  *+ruby/dyn*          Ruby interface |ruby-dynamic| |/dyn|
T  *+scrollbind*        |'scrollbind'|
N  *+signs*             |:sign|
T  *+smartindent*       |'smartindent'|
H  *+sodium*            compiled with libsodium for better encryption support
H  *+sound*             |sound_playevent()|, |sound_playfile()| functions, etc.
N  *+spell*             spell checking support, see |spell|
N  *+startuptime*       |--startuptime| argument
N  *+statusline*        Options 'statusline', 'rulerformat' and special
                        formats of 'titlestring' and 'iconstring'
-  *+sun_workshop*      Removed: |workshop|
N  *+syntax*            Syntax highlighting |syntax|
   *+system()*          Unix only: opposite of |+fork|
T  *+tag_binary*        binary searching in tags file |tag-binary-search|
-  *+tag_old_static*    Removed; method for static tags |tag-old-static|
-  *+tag_any_white*     Removed; was to allow any white space in tags files
m  *+tcl*               Tcl interface |tcl|
m  *+tcl/dyn*           Tcl interface |tcl-dynamic| |/dyn|
m  *+terminal*          Support for terminal window |terminal|
   *+terminfo*          uses |terminfo| instead of termcap
N  *+termresponse*      support for |t_RV| and |v:termresponse|
N  *+termguicolors*     24-bit color in xterm-compatible terminals support
T  *+textobjects*       |text-objects| selection. Always enabled since 9.0.0222.
N  *+textprop*          |text-properties|
   *+tgetent*           non-Unix only: able to use external termcap
N  *+timers*            the |timer_start()| function
T  *+title*             Setting the window 'title' and 'icon'; Always enabled
N  *+toolbar*           |gui-toolbar|
T  *+user_commands*     User-defined commands. |user-commands|
                        Always enabled since 8.1.1210.
H  *+vartabs*           Variable-width tabstops. |'vartabstop'|
T  *+vertsplit*         Vertically split windows |:vsplit|; Always enabled
                        since 8.0.1118.
T  *+vim9script*        |Vim9| script
N  *+viminfo*           |'viminfo'|
T  *+virtualedit*       |'virtualedit'| Always enabled since 8.1.826.
T  *+visual*            Visual mode |Visual-mode| Always enabled since 7.4.200.
T  *+visualextra*       extra Visual mode commands |blockwise-operators|
T  *+vreplace*          |gR| and |gr|
   *+vtp*               on MS-Windows console: support for 'termguicolors'
T  *+wildignore*        |'wildignore'|  Always enabled since 9.0.0278
T  *+wildmenu*          |'wildmenu'|  Always enabled since 9.0.0279
T  *+windows*           more than one window; Always enabled since 8.0.1118.
m  *+writebackup*       |'writebackup'| is default on
m  *+xim*               X input method |xim|
   *+xfontset*          X fontset support |xfontset|
   *+xpm*               pixmap support
m  *+xpm_w32*           Win32 GUI only: pixmap support |w32-xpm-support|
   *+xsmp*              XSMP (X session management) support
   *+xsmp_interact*     interactive XSMP (X session management) support
N  *+xterm_clipboard*   Unix only: xterm clipboard handling
m  *+xterm_save*        save and restore xterm screen |xterm-screens|
N  *+X11*               Unix only: can restore window title |X11|

                                                        */dyn* *E370* *E448*
                        To some of the features "/dyn" is added when the
                        feature is only available when the related library can
                        be dynamically loaded.

:ve[rsion] {nr}         Is now ignored.  This was previously used to check the
                        version number of a .vimrc file.  It was removed,
                        because you can now use the ":if" command for
                        version-dependent behavior.

                                                        *:redi* *:redir*
:redi[r][!] > {file}    Redirect messages to file {file}.  The messages which
                        are the output of commands are written to that file,
                        until redirection ends.  The messages are also still
                        shown on the screen.  When [!] is included, an
                        existing file is overwritten.  When [!] is omitted,
                        and {file} exists, this command fails.

                        Only one ":redir" can be active at a time.  Calls to
                        ":redir" will close any active redirection before
                        starting redirection to the new target.  For recursive
                        use check out |execute()|.

                        To stop the messages and commands from being echoed to
                        the screen, put the commands in a function and call it
                        with ":silent call Function()".
                        An alternative is to use the 'verbosefile' option,
                        this can be used in combination with ":redir".

:redi[r] >> {file}      Redirect messages to file {file}.  Append if {file}
                        already exists.

:redi[r] @{a-zA-Z}
:redi[r] @{a-zA-Z}>     Redirect messages to register {a-z}.  Append to the
                        contents of the register if its name is given
                        uppercase {A-Z}.  The ">" after the register name is
                        optional.
:redi[r] @{a-z}>>       Append messages to register {a-z}.

:redi[r] @*>
:redi[r] @+>            Redirect messages to the selection or clipboard. For
                        backward compatibility, the ">" after the register
                        name can be omitted. See |quotestar| and |quoteplus|.
:redi[r] @*>>
:redi[r] @+>>           Append messages to the selection or clipboard.

:redi[r] @">            Redirect messages to the unnamed register. For
                        backward compatibility, the ">" after the register
                        name can be omitted.
:redi[r] @">>           Append messages to the unnamed register.
                                                        *E1092*
:redi[r] => {var}       Redirect messages to a variable.
                        In legacy script: If the variable doesn't exist, then
                        it is created.  If the variable exists, then it is
                        initialized to an empty string.  After the redirection
                        starts, if the variable is removed or locked or the
                        variable type is changed, then further command output
                        messages will cause errors.  When using a local
                        variable (l:var in a function or s:var in a script)
                        and another `:redir` causes the current one to end,
                        the scope might be different and the assignment fails.
                        In Vim9 script: the variable must have been declared
                        as a string.
                        The variable will remain empty until redirection ends.
                        Only string variables can be used.
                        To get the output of one command the |execute()|
                        function can be used instead of redirection.

:redi[r] =>> {var}      Append messages to an existing variable.  Only string
                        variables can be used.
                                                                 *E1185*
:redi[r] END            End redirecting messages.

                                                        *:filt* *:filter*
:filt[er][!] {pattern} {command}
:filt[er][!] /{pattern}/ {command}
                        Restrict the output of {command} to lines matching
                        with {pattern}.  For example, to list only xml files: >
                                :filter /\.xml$/ oldfiles
<                       If the [!] is given, restrict the output of {command}
                        to lines that do NOT match {pattern}.

                        {pattern} is a Vim search pattern.  Instead of enclosing
                        it in / any non-ID character (see |'isident'|) can be
                        used, so long as it does not appear in {pattern}.
                        Without the enclosing character the pattern cannot
                        include the bar character. 'ignorecase' is not used.

                        The pattern is matched against the relevant part of
                        the output, not necessarily the whole line. Only some
                        commands support filtering, try it out to check if it
                        works. Some of the commands that support filtering:
                           |:#|          - filter whole line
                           |:clist|      - filter by file name or module name
                           |:command|    - filter by command name
                           |:files|      - filter by file name
                           |:highlight|  - filter by highlight group
                           |:jumps|      - filter by file name
                           |:let|        - filter by variable name
                           |:list|       - filter whole line
                           |:llist|      - filter by file name or module name
                           |:marks|      - filter by text in the current file,
                                           or file name for other files
                           |:oldfiles|   - filter by file name
                           |:registers|  - filter by register contents
                                           (does not work multi-line)
                           |:set|        - filter by option name

                        Only normal messages are filtered, error messages are
                        not.

                                                *:sil* *:silent* *:silent!*
:sil[ent][!] {command}  Execute {command} silently.  Normal messages will not
                        be given or added to the message history.
                        When [!] is added, error messages will also be
                        skipped, and commands and mappings will not be aborted
                        when an error is detected.  |v:errmsg| is still set.
                        When [!] is not used, an error message will cause
                        further messages to be displayed normally.
                        Redirection, started with |:redir|, will continue as
                        usual, although there might be small differences.
                        This will allow redirecting the output of a command
                        without seeing it on the screen.  Example: >
                            :redir >/tmp/foobar
                            :silent g/Aap/p
                            :redir END
<                       To execute a Normal mode command silently, use the
                        |:normal| command.  For example, to search for a
                        string without messages: >
                            :silent exe "normal /path\<CR>"
<                       ":silent!" is useful to execute a command that may
                        fail, but the failure is to be ignored.  Example: >
                            :let v:errmsg = ""
                            :silent! /^begin
                            :if v:errmsg != ""
                            : ... pattern was not found
<                       ":silent" will also avoid the hit-enter prompt.  When
                        using this for an external command, this may cause the
                        screen to be messed up.  Use |CTRL-L| to clean it up
                        then.
                        ":silent menu ..." defines a menu that will not echo a
                        Command-line command.  The command will still produce
                        messages though.  Use ":silent" in the command itself
                        to avoid that: ":silent menu .... :silent command".

                                                *:uns* *:unsilent*
:uns[ilent] {command}   Execute {command} not silently.  Only makes a
                        difference when |:silent| was used to get to this
                        command.
                        Use this for giving a message even when |:silent| was
                        used.  In this example |:silent| is used to avoid the
                        message about reading the file and |:unsilent| to be
                        able to list the first line of each file. >
                :silent argdo unsilent echo expand('%') .. ": " .. getline(1)
<

                                                *:verb* *:verbose*
:[count]verb[ose] {command}
                        Execute {command} with 'verbose' set to [count].  If
                        [count] is omitted one is used. ":0verbose" can be
                        used to set 'verbose' to zero.
                        The additional use of ":silent" makes messages
                        generated but not displayed.
                        The combination of ":silent" and ":verbose" can be
                        used to generate messages and check them with
                        |v:statusmsg| and friends.  For example: >
                                :let v:statusmsg = ""
                                :silent verbose runtime foobar.vim
                                :if v:statusmsg != ""
                                :  " foobar.vim could not be found
                                :endif
<                       When concatenating another command, the ":verbose"
                        only applies to the first one: >
                                :4verbose set verbose | set verbose
<                                 verbose=4 ~
                                  verbose=0 ~
                        For logging verbose messages in a file use the
                        'verbosefile' option.

                                                        *:verbose-cmd*
When 'verbose' is non-zero, listing the value of a Vim option or a key map or
an abbreviation or a user-defined function or a command or a highlight group
or an autocommand will also display where it was last defined.  If it was
defined manually then there will be no "Last set" message.  When it was
defined while executing a function, user command or autocommand, the script in
which it was defined is reported.
{not available when compiled without the |+eval| feature}

                                                        *K*
K                       Run a program to lookup the keyword under the
                        cursor.  The name of the program is given with the
                        'keywordprg' (kp) option (default is "man").  The
                        keyword is formed of letters, numbers and the
                        characters in 'iskeyword'.  The keyword under or
                        right of the cursor is used.  The same can be done
                        with the command >
                                :!{program} {keyword}
<                       There is an example of a program to use in the tools
                        directory of Vim.  It is called "ref" and does a
                        simple spelling check.
                        Special cases:
                        - If 'keywordprg' begins with ":" it is invoked as
                          a Vim Ex command with [count].
                        - If 'keywordprg' is empty, the ":help" command is
                          used.  It's a good idea to include more characters
                          in 'iskeyword' then, to be able to find more help.
                        - When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man" or starts with
                          ":", a [count] before "K" is inserted after
                          keywordprg and before the keyword.  For example,
                          using "2K" while the cursor is on "mkdir", results
                          in: >
                                !man 2 mkdir
<                       - When 'keywordprg' is equal to "man -s", a count
                          before "K" is inserted after the "-s".  If there is
                          no count, the "-s" is removed.

                                                        *v_K*
{Visual}K               Like "K", but use the visually highlighted text for
                        the keyword.  Only works when the highlighted text is
                        not more than one line.

[N]gs                                                   *gs* *:sl* *:sleep*
:[N]sl[eep] [N][m]      Do nothing for [N] seconds.  When [m] is included,
                        sleep for [N] milliseconds.  The count for "gs" always
                        uses seconds.  The default is one second. >
                             :sleep          "sleep for one second
                             :5sleep         "sleep for five seconds
                             :sleep 100m     "sleep for 100 milliseconds
                             10gs            "sleep for ten seconds
<                       Can be interrupted with CTRL-C (CTRL-Break on
                        MS-Windows).  "gs" stands for "goto sleep".
                        While sleeping the cursor is positioned in the text,
                        if at a visible position.
                        Also process the received netbeans messages. {only
                        available when compiled with the |+netbeans_intg|
                        feature}

                                                        *:sl!* *:sleep!*
:[N]sl[eep]! [N][m]     Same as above, but hide the cursor.

                                                        *:xrestore* *:xr*
:xr[estore] [display]   Reinitializes the connection to the X11 server. Useful
                        after the X server restarts, e.g. when running Vim for
                        long time inside screen/tmux and connecting from
                        different machines.
                        [display] should be in the format of the $DISPLAY
                        environment variable (e.g. "localhost:10.0")
                        If [display] is omitted, then it reinitializes the
                        connection to the X11 server using the same value as
                        was used for the previous execution of this command.
                        If the value was never specified, then it uses the
                        value of $DISPLAY environment variable as it was when
                        Vim was started.
                        {only available when compiled with the |+clipboard|
                        feature}

                                                        *g_CTRL-A*
g CTRL-A                Only when Vim was compiled with MEM_PROFILING defined
                        (which is very rare): print memory usage statistics.
                        Only useful for debugging Vim.
                        For incrementing in Visual mode see |v_g_CTRL-A|.

==============================================================================
2. Using Vim like less or more                                  *less*

If you use the less or more program to view a file, you don't get syntax
highlighting.  Thus you would like to use Vim instead.  You can do this by
using the shell script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.sh".

This shell script uses the Vim script "$VIMRUNTIME/macros/less.vim".  It sets
up mappings to simulate the commands that less supports.  Otherwise, you can
still use the Vim commands.

This isn't perfect.  For example, when viewing a short file Vim will still use
the whole screen.  But it works well enough for most uses, and you get syntax
highlighting.

The "h" key will give you a short overview of the available commands.

If you want to set options differently when using less, define the
LessInitFunc in your vimrc, for example: >

        func LessInitFunc()
          set nocursorcolumn nocursorline
        endfunc
<

 vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl: