Vim and Neovim

Created: January 03, 2018 (Updated: August 12, 2020)

Sessions

Description	Command
Save a session	`:mksession PATH.vim`
Open a session	`:source PATH.vim`
Open a session before Vim starts.	`vi -S PATH.vim`

Run Terminal Commands in Vim

:! COMMAND

Spaces Rather Than Tabs

Description	Command
Enable spaces rather than tabs	`set expandtab`
INT spaces for one tab	`set tabstop=INT`
Replace existing tabs	`retab`
INT spaces for indentation	`set shiftwidth=INT`
One-liner for the previous options	`set tabstop=INT shiftwidth=INT expandtab`

User-Defined Commands

:command COMMAND_NAME COMMAND_TO_EXECUTE
COMMAND_NAME must start with an uppercase letter.
Must be in command mode (:) to use the command.
Can be added to init.vim or .vimrc without the leading colon for persistence.

Line Numbers

Description	Command
Turn on line numbers	`set number`
Turn off line numbers	`:set nonumber`
Toggle line numbers	`:set nu!`

number can be shortened to nu.
nonumber can be shortened to nonu.

File Explorer

Description	Command
Open the file explorer window	`:Explore`
Explore and open in a new tab	`:Texplore`
Explore and vertical split	`:Vexplore`
Explore and horizontal split	`:Hexplore`

Can be shortened to Ex, Tex, etc.

System Clipboard

Description	Command
Copy the current line	` “ + y MOTION`
Paste	`" + p`

Macros

Description	Command
Record a macro. LETTER: [a-zA-Z].	`q LETTER COMMANDS q`
Execute a macro	`[multiplier]@<letter>`

Marks

Description	Command
Set a mark	`m LETTER`
Jump to the mark	`{APOSTROPHE \| GRAVE} LETTER`

Jump to a Column

COLUMN_NUMBER|
Will not work on blank lines.

Tabs

Description	Command
Open multiple files in separate tabs	`vi -p FIRST [SECOND] [...]`
New tab	`:tabnew`
Next tab	`:tabn` or `gt`
Previous tab	`:tabp` or `gT`
Close a tab; optionally close tab `i` if specified	`:tabclose [i]`
List all tabs	`:tabs`
Move current tab to position `i`	`:tabm i`
Copy the current window to a new tab	`:tab split`
Close all other tabs	`:tabonly`
Close all tabs without saving	`:qa`
Close and close all tabs	`:wqa`

Windows

Description	Command
Open multiple files in separate windows	`vi -o {FIRST} [SECOND] [...]`
Vertical split window	`^w v` or `:vsp`
Horizontal split window	`^w s` or `:sp`
New window with no contents	`^w n`
Next window	`^w w`
Move between windows	`^w MOVEMENT_KEY`
Increase or decrease window width	`^w {<\|>}`
Increase or decrease window height	`^w {+\|-}`
Reset window sizes	`^w =`

Find and Replace (Substitute)

Description	Command
Current line only	`:s/FIND/REPLACE_WITH/g`
Every line	`:%s/FIND/REPLACE_WITH/g`
Every line with confirmation	`:%s/FIND/REPLACE_WITH/gc`
Between `START_LINE` and `END_LINE`	`:START_LINE,END_LINEs/FIND/REPLACE_WITH/g`

Vim Less-like Syntax Highlighting

Vim and Neovim come with a script that can make the editor act like less.
Unlike less, this script does syntax highlighting.
Path: /usr/share/nvim/runtime/macros/less.sh

Preferred symlinks:

sudo ln -s /usr/share/nvim/runtime/macros/less.sh /usr/bin/vimless
sudo ln -s /usr/share/nvim/runtime/macros/less.sh /usr/bin/vless
sudo ln -s /usr/share/nvim/runtime/macros/less.sh /usr/bin/vess

Vim will throw a “Cannot make changes, ‘Modifiable’ is off” error if the insert button is pressed in Vim less mode. In order to override this:
```
:set modifiable
:set ma 			# Short version
```

Highlight Column 80

:set textwidth=80
:set colorcolumn=+1

Styling:

:hi ColorColumn guibg=#2d2d2d ctermbg=246

Highlight Search Matches

Description	Command
Turn on	`:set hlsearch`
Turn off	`:nohlsearch`
Toggle	`:set hls!`

vimrc/init.vm

For Vi/Vim the user-specific configuration file is:
```
~/.vimrc
```
For Neovim, the user-specific configuration file is:
```
~/.config/nvim/init.vim
```
My init.vim.

Enable Arrow and Backspace Keys in Insert Mode

In init.vim or .vimrc:

set nocompatible
set backspace=2

Enable Mouse Mode

:set mouse=a

Reload Files

Discard changes and reload the file:

:e!       # short for :edit

Automatic discard and reload:

:set autoread # doesn't work?