tips

## Cottidie default tips

# General editing

Editing	:set fo+=a enables real-time auto-reformatting of text paragraphs.
Editing	An idiomatic way to do ASCII underlining in Vim is yypVr-.
Editing	Swapping arguments in [a]bc == def: Perhaps "dewwvepbbhP" or "wdaw.bPa== "?
Editing	Swapping function arguments in func([a]bc, def): dewvepbbp.
Editing	Swap two var names: :%s/var1/temp/g, :%s/var2/<C-R>//g, :%s/temp/<C-R>//g
Editing	Pasted text missing a space at beginning/end? Use `[ or `] to navigate there.
Editing	Before copying/pasting text think about whether to include space before/after.
Editing	dip on a blank line deletes it and all adjacent blank lines.
Editing	d c y aren't the only operators. Do you know |gu| |gU| |g~| |g?|?
Editing	Vim can justify text. But only after it's enabled: :runtime macros/justify.vim
Editing	cip<Esc> collapses blank line under cursor and adjacent blank lines into one.
Editing	viw on whitespace selects it and all adjacent whitespace.
Editing	How would you yank the whole buffer into the clipboard? gg"+yG or :%y+<CR>?
Editing	Indenting, outdenting, reindenting is easy with >8j >} <ap =i} == and friends.
Editing	% is not just for navigating, it's also powerful with operators, e.g. y%.
Editing	The longer a repetitive edit takes, the more effort spend automating it.
Editing	Type a function call as afunc()<Esc>iarg<Esc> for two meaningful undo states.
Editing	Prefer operators to Visual mode: only operators are reliably repeatable with .
Editing	Some templating languages use {{ code }}. Select the template with v2a{.
Editing	In curly-braces languages, [{ and ]} let you jump to start/end of scope.
Editing	In Lisp-like languages, [( and ]) are very handy motions to start/end of form.
Editing	Don't move around in insert mode. Afterwards the edit can't be repeated with .
Editing text	Sort lines of data in reverse order and make them unique: vip:sort! u<CR>
Editing text	Type upper case lines (headings) in lower case, then upcase with gUU or VU.
Editing text	g CTRL-G prints a column, line, word, char, and byte count for the buffer.
Editing text	g CTRL-G works in Visual mode too, it shows stats for the selection only.
Indenting	How to indent: >> or >3j or >ip to indent, . to indent more, u to pull back.
Text objects	Quote text objects like ci" look to the right to find their target if needed.
Text objects	yaw is context-sensitive: It can include following, preceding, or no space.
Text objects	ca) yi} are easy to remember but the equivalent cab yiB are easier to type.
Cursor movement	Vim has 1001 ways of moving the cursor. Sometimes even H M L can be useful.
Learning by doing	When you do something inefficiently, stop, u u u u, then redo the right way.
Retabbing	From 2 spaces to 4: :set ts=2 noet | retab!, followed by :set ts=4 et | retab!
Interruption	Use CTRL-C to abort runaway macros and Ex commands (when <Esc> is not enough).
Ex commands	Next time you do d y p think about whether you might use :d :y :t :m instead.

# Modes

Modes	Don't use CTRL-C as a substitute for <Esc> as it's insidiously different.
Modes	There are a dozen distinct |vim-modes| and prompts. Do you know them all?
Normal mode	gI is the dedicated command for 0i.
Normal mode	:x and ZZ are like :wq, but they don't write when no changes were made.
Normal mode	The command :wq is an immortal icon of Vim, but :x or ZZ are faster.
Normal mode	gp gP are the same as p P but leave the cursor after the pasted text.
Normal mode	gJ joins lines by removing just the newline, leaving whitespace untouched.
Normal mode	If you don't use an external formatter, prefer gw over gq (preserves cursor).
Normal mode	:! is also available as !, which will deduce the [range] from your motion.
Normal mode	gi takes you back to where you last inserted text |`^| and starts insert mode.
Normal mode	ga shows decimal and hex value of a character, g8 shows UTF-8 bytes.
Normal mode	* and # (and g*/g#) are vital navigation commands. Try to absorb them asap.
Normal mode	The counterpart to ^ is g_: Move the cursor to the last non-blank in line.
Normal mode	gg and G are opposites, but [count]gg and [count]G are the same.
Normal mode	Some normal mode commands mirror Ex addressing: - + / ? ' :- :+ :/ :? :'
Normal mode	Four command "prefixes" have their own section in the |index|: CTRL-W [ g z
Normal mode	@: reexecutes the last Ex command. Example: :CottidieTip<CR>, @:, @:, @:, ...
Motions	Tell your words from your WORDS and put this learning into practice. |word|
Motions	The Shift key is like an accelerator: w b e go slow, but W B E go fast!
Motions	Find your own idioms. 0w is easier to type than ^ and often just as effective.
Insert mode	CTRL-A inserts the most recently inserted text.
Insert mode	Use CTRL-A when doing repetitive typing: ivar<Esc>a1, <C-A>2, <C-A>3, ...
Insert mode	When you realize you've made a typo, press CTRL-W and retype, it's faster.
Insert mode	CTRL-V u is very handy for entering Unicode chars, e.g. <C-V>u0259 yields "ə".
Insert mode	Consider defining a mapping for CTRL-K (kill-line) as counterpart to CTRL-U.
Insert mode	When writing Vim scripts, CTRL-X CTRL-V cleverly completes Vim commands.
Insert mode	CTRL-X CTRL-F suggests/completes file name; repeat to continue completion.
Insert mode	Use CTRL-X CTRL-L for line completion when typing out lots of similar lines.
Insert mode	Start typing a line, then use CTRL-X CTRL-L to complete with similar lines.
Insert mode	CTRL-W deletes words. Prefer deleting WORDS? :inoremap <C-W> <C-\><C-O>dB
Insert mode	CTRL-G CTRL-K and CTRL-G CTRL-J move up and down in insert mode (if you must).
Insert mode	Develop peripheral vision for adjacent lines and put CTRL-Y/CTRL-E to use.
Insert mode	CTRL-R plus register is staple. But there's also CTRL-R CTRL-R/CTRL-O/CTRL-P.
Insert mode	Insert at the same column on many lines: ifoo<C-G><C-J>bar<C-G><C-J>baz<Esc>
Visual block mode	O is like o but it moves to the opposite end in the same line.
Visual block mode	Set 'virtualedit' to "all" and move onto tab chars and past end of line.
Visual block mode	Use of 'virtualedit' is often limited. Make a mapping to toggle on/off.
Visual block shift	> and < work in Visual block mode, too: try <C-V>jj> and then . to repeat.
Operator-pending mode	v V CTRL-V force char-wise, line-wise, block-wise operation. Try cv3j or dV}.
Operator-pending mode	y d c combine well with f t and /X<CR>, e.g. dt) or y/end<CR>.

# Undo, changes

Undo	Prevent undo from undoing too much with <C-G>u maps: :inoremap <CR> <CR><C-G>u
Undo	Leave insert mode frequently so you can undo changes in more granular fashion.
Change list	Drop a mark before travelling backwards in the change list with g; as safety.

# Registers

Registers	c and d automatically fill registers "1 to "9, whereas y fills register "0.
Registers	"1p followed by u . u . u . toggles through old deletes. |redo-register|
Registers	The easiest way to insert the current file name is pasting register "%.
Registers	:set cpo+=> makes Vim insert a newline when appending text to a register.
Registers	A clobbered register is an unnecessary pain: Consider mappings with "_.
Registers	Pocket calculator: In insert mode, typing <C-R>=12*3.5/10<CR> inserts "4.2".
Registers	The black hole register "_ can also be read from. Example: :g/^class /-1put_

# Marks

Marks	`` is sometimes more precise than CTRL-O/CTRL-I for jumping back and forth.
Marks	After jumping to the last change with `. you can jump back again with ``.
Marks	Having enclosed an area with two marks, jump to beginning/end with [` and ]`.
Marks	`` and `. can be used in Visual/Operator-pending mode. CTRL-O and g; can't.

# Searching

Searching	Quicksearch: [I prints all lines containing the word under the cursor.
Searching	:nohls is used often, it's best to map it to something simple: <BS> or <C-L>.
Searching	How often does X occur in file? Do /X<CR> and then :%s///gn to find out.
Searching	Use /<CR> and ?<CR> to change the direction of the last search.
Searching	/pattern<CR> to search, v//e<CR> to Visual-select the match under the cursor.
Searching	When searching, CTRL-R CTRL-W completes with partial match under the cursor!
Searching	Make n N always search forward/backward: :noremap n /<CR> and :noremap N ?<CR>
Searching	'smartcase' is similar to 'ignorecase' but tries to guess your intent.
Searching	URLs and file paths: avoid escaping by searching backwards first: ?/usr/bin/nl
Vim regular expressions	Speak Perl? Here's a phrasebook for a* a+ a? a*? a+?: a* a\+ a\= a\{-} a\{-1,}
Vim regular expressions	Advanced Perl phrasebook (?:a) (?=a) (?!a) (?<=a): \%(a\) a\@= a\@! a\@<=
Vim regular expressions	The Perlish /s flag is missing, but there's the golf club |\_.| for that.
Vim regular expressions	Zero-width assertions (\@= ...) can often be replaced with faster \zs and \ze.
Vim regular expressions	Avoid escaping \+ \| \( \) etc. by always using the "very magic" switch |\v|.
Vim regular expressions	Understand branches |/\&|. Example: [^aeiou]\&[a-z] matches consonants only.
Vim regular expressions	[^\t]\&[[:cntrl:]] matches all control characters except Tab. How? |/branch|
Vim regular expressions	Perl hackers: In Vim, \< and \> match word boundaries. \b matches backspace.
Vim regular expressions	\q matches "q". But as an unused escape it may change in the future. |/\|
Vim regular expressions	What is a word boundary? \< is \k\@<!\k\@=, and \> is \k\@<=\k\@!.
Vim regular expressions	A search for "2^3" needs no escaping. ^ has no special meaning in mid-line.
Vim regular expressions	/\$a<CR> and /$a<CR> match the same. $ needs escaping only when at the end.
Vim regular expressions	\d\> can match a digit at the end of a line, \d\D can't: \> is |/zero-width|.

# Substitution

Substitution	Substitute interactively with :%s///gc, interrupt with <Esc>, repeat with g&.
Substitution	Remap & to :&&<CR>, then repeat the most recent substitution easily with &.
Substitution	It is recommended to always remap & to :&&<CR>. This lets you repeat :s/a/b/g.
Substitution	:%s/pattern without replacement string simply removes the matches.
Substitution	The range '<,'> always applies line-wise; \%V helps overcome this limitation.
Substitution	An alternative to :%s/foo/bar/c is /foo<CR>, :s//bar/<CR>, n, &, n, &, ...
Substitution	:~& replaces different targets with same word: /X<CR> :~&<CR> /Y<CR> :~&<CR>
Substitution	In the replacement, & and ~ are special: whole match and previous {string}.
Substitution	Substitute X for the word under the cursor: Press * and then :%s//X/g<CR>
Substitution	One way of substituting X for the word under the cursor: :%s/<C-R><C-W>/X/g

# Command-line

Command-line	Your shell's CTRL-A (beginning-of-line) is CTRL-B on Vim's command-line.
Command-line	CTRL-A forces word expansion similar to Bash's glob-expand-word command.
Command-line	Remap CTRL-A to <Home> as a natural counterpart to the existing CTRL-E.
Command-line	CTRL-R = lets you eval an expression, e.g. arithmetic expr, function call ...
Command-line	:let shows defined variables, which you can filter by scope g: b: w: v: |E121|
Command-line	:func shows all defined functions, which can be filtered by regexp: :func /Foo
Command-line	:command lists all defined commands, filterable by beginning: :com Foo
Command-line	Set up %% to insert dirname of current file: :cabbr <expr> %% expand('%:p:h')
Command-line	:map lists defined mappings, filterable by beginning. For instance: :map [
Command-line	:abbr lists defined abbreviations, filterable by beginning. Example: :abbr @
Command-line	<Tab> toggles through completion candidates, CTRL-D shows them all at once.
Command-line	Use command-line completion liberally |20.3|: :e /us<Tab>loc<Tab>li<Tab>...
Command-line	In interactive use it's fine to use short forms of commands: :h :se :sp :ene
Command-line	Know |filename-modifiers| by heart, they're useful: :!javac % && java %:r
Ex commands	:g is also handy for normal commands: :g/target/norm $daW or :g/target/norm A,
Ex commands	:global can do more than just one command: :g/chapter/s/./\u&/|copy 0|right 62
Ex addresses	Old Vi mandates that in place of :+5 and :-2 you may also use :+++++ and :--.
Ex ranges	If you delete the '<,'> range by mistake just type its short synonym: *
Ex ranges	No need to reselect Visual area for '<,'> range, the last one is remembered.
Ex ranges	Giving a [count] before pressing : translates to ":.,.+([count]-1)".
Ex ranges	Dropping marks and using :'a,'b can be an alternative to Visual selection.
Ex ranges	Explicit marks as a persistent alternative to Visual mode: :'a,'bg/^=====/d

# Windows, buffers, file navigation

Scrolling	zt, zz, zb scroll to put the cursor at the top, center, bottom of the screen.
Scrolling	Prefer zt zz zb over z<CR> z. z- as they preserve the cursor position.
Windows	Need to edit the alternate file in a split? CTRL-W CTRL-^ does that.
Windows	CTRL-W _ maximizes current window vertically, CTRL-W | horizontally.
Windows	CTRL-W T moves the current window to a new tab page.
Windows	When working on two locations in one buffer, :split the screen to see both.
Windows and buffers	:q :close :bdel, quit a window, close a window, close a buffer. Look it up!
Files, buffers, windows	What is the difference between files, buffers, windows, tab pages? |window|
Buffers	A mapping can be as good as any buffer manager: :nnoremap L :ls<CR>:b<Space>
Buffers	By default you can't |abandon| a modified buffer. With 'hidden' set, you can.
Files and buffers	CTRL-G prints the file name, more info available with 1 CTRL-G and 2 CTRL-G.
Files and buffers	:b does partial matching. If "expr.js" is the destination, ":b xp" is the way.
Files and buffers	Vim has its own idea of a current working directory. Use :pwd, :cd, and :lcd.
Files and buffers	:b understands ^ and $ anchors. So you might use :b y$ to switch to "~/lizzy".
Files	:browse oldfiles (:bro old) is Vim's "most recently used files" feature.
Files	:r can also open file paths starting with http: ftp: scp:, see |netrw-urls|.
Files	Saving and opening essentials are :write :update :saveas :edit :file :find.
Files	:find {file} becomes useful once you've ":set path+=**". Put it in your vimrc.
File formats	Convert like dos2unix and unix2dos: :set ff=unix|w<CR> or :set ff=dos|w<CR>.
Argument list	Having populated the |arglist| with files, act on them: :argdo %s/foo/bar/ge
Argument list	Fill, then grep the arglist with |##|: :args *.sh<CR>, :vimgrep /trap/ ##<CR>.
Tags	CTRL-W } or :pt to preview tag under cursor, CTRL-W z or :pc to close.
Tags	Prefer g CTRL-] over CTRL-] as it lets you choose when there are >1 matches.
Quickfix list	To navigate all matches in the buffer: /X<CR> followed by :vimgrep /<C-R>// %

# Macros

Macros	Replay macro q on every line of the Visual selection: :'<,'>normal! @q
Macros	Idiom for adding incrementing numbers starting at cursor: qqyyp<C-A>q42@q
Macros	Macros take time to learn. Start by applying them to little repetitive tasks.
Macros	You can interrupt the recording of a macro (qq...q) and resume later: qQ...
Macros	Display the keystrokes of the macro recorded in register q: :display q
Macros	Edit the macro in register q by pasting it ("qp), editing it, yanking it back.
Recursive macros	Some people like to use them: the macro qq<C-A>j@qq increments line numbers.

# Folding

Folding	Create throwaway folds on the fly with zf, e.g. zf3} to fold three paragraphs.
Folding	Not everybody likes folds. Toggle folding instantly with zi.
Folding	zf to create a number of folds by hand, :folddoc {cmd} to act on folded lines.
Folding	Use the 'foldopen' option to control whether } { / ? may open closed folds.
Folding	Essential commands: zo zc zR zM, open fold, close fold, open all, close all.

# Vimdiff

Vimdiff	do (diff-obtain) and dp (diff-put) are the essential commands here.
Vimdiff	To diff the current file with another do :vert botr diffsp <file2>.
Vimdiff	[c ]c move to next diff. If lines are missing, moves after the missing part.

# Settings and configuration

Settings	Get rid of the intro screen at startup: :set shortmess+=I
Settings	For a more frugal GUI remove "Tm" from and add "c" to 'guioptions' flags.
Settings	Keep swap files in one location with 'directory'. "~/tmp,." is a good setting.
Settings	Setting 'filetype' is like setting 'syntax' + FileType events and ftplugins.
Settings	'list' reveals unprintable chars and is awarded the "most opaque option name".
Settings	There is an interactive options window at :options.
Settings	Six ways to poke a boolean option: :set list nolist list! invlist list? list&
Settings	Bare :set shows settings that differ from the default, :set all shows all.
Settings	For 'report', 1 or 0 is a saner default setting than 2. Put it in your vimrc.
Settings	|map-backtick| recommends making ` simpler to reach: :nnoremap ' `
Settings	Swap inconveniently located |`| with |'|: :nnoremap ' `, :nnoremap ` '.
Setup	The matchit plugin enhances your |%|. It's in the manual at |matchit-install|.
Setup	:Man displays man pages in Vim, activate it with: :runtime! ftplugin/man.vim
Mappings	For Visual mode mappings :xmap is usually more appropriate than :vmap.
Mappings	Treat "nore" maps as the default, use plain :map only with good reason. |:no|
Mappings	Think recursive maps are special? Then you are ready for |map-self-destroy|.
Mappings	. doesn't do anything in Visual mode. Suggestion: :xnoremap . :norm! .<CR>
Abbreviations	Add <C-G>u to your abbreviations for easy unexpansion: :iab def def<C-G>u...
Abbreviations	|type-mistakes| Abbreviations as a simple auto-correct: :noreabbrev teh the
GUI Vim	Don't bother with the 'guifont' format, use a dialog instead: :set guifont=*

# Invocation

Invocation and startup	Use --remote[-tab] options to open a new file with the running Vim session.
Invocation and startup	Use GUI version of Vim as default shell editor: export EDITOR='gvim -f'.
Invocation and startup	Option -o opens files in splits, -O in vertical splits, -p in tabs.
Invocation and startup	Vim can be your |less|! This adds colour to your diffs: $ svn diff | less.sh
Invocation and startup	Pipe directly into Vim, no need for temp files: $ hg diff | vim -
Invocation and startup	If you frequently browse a ctagged codebase, start Vim on a tag: vim -t my_tag
Invocation and startup	Emergency remote vimrc: $ vim -Nu <(curl http://me.github.io/dotfiles/.vimrc)
Invocation and startup	Vim has many names: vim, ex, view, gvim, gex, rvim, evim, vimdiff, ... |ex|
Invocation and startup	Vim as a cheap dos2unix substitute: $ alias dos2unix="vim +'set ff=unix|wq'"

# Help

Help	Tag search supports a short format; instead of :h i_CTRL-X_CTRL-S do :h i^x^s.
Help	Tag search is case-insensitive (e.g. :h ctrl-e), but matching case wins.
Help	:helpgrep is exceptional in that it expects a regexp without // delimiters.
Help	Cry for help with :help!<CR>, Vim will be there for you.
Help	There is a handy cross-referenced list with all Vim commands at :h index.
Help	:h quickref has a thematically grouped Vim commands reference.
Help	CTRL-D is one of the most effective tools to navigate the help: :h gist<C-D>
Help	The user manual is a terrific read. Make a plan and read it. |usr_toc|
Help	"Everything you always wanted to know is in the Vim help files." Mind |02.8|.
Help	The |help-summary| is designed to help you help yourself.
Help	Leaving 'keywordprg' empty makes K look up the word under the cursor in :help.
Help	:viusage for Normal mode command reference, :exusage for Ex command reference.
Help	Vim has a few assorted tips of its own. Check them out at ":h tips".
Help	|tags| 'option' CTRL-X <C-X> "x" [count] {motion}: learn Vim's |notation|.
Help	Help tags for search topics start with a slash: :h /*, :h /\w,  :h /\%[], ...
Help	Some prefer reading help full-screen instead of in a tiny window: :tab h grail
Help	Make the help key show full-screen help: :nnoremap <F1> :<C-U>tab help<CR>
Help	The |local-additions| section in the help has a list with all local plugins.

# Vim script

Vim script	Always, without exception, use -# or -? in string comparison ops: |expr-==#|.
Vim script	Write maintainable code. Use :function :else :return, not :fu :el :retu.
Vim script	Abbreviated commands really :r :no :fun. Use :read :noremap :function instead.
Vim script	Vim does not stop execution on error! Do use [abort] on your |:function|s.
Vim script	You can be explicit about your variables' l:local l:scope. Try it out. |l:var|
Writing scripts	As a new author, seek guidance in existing plugins: :args $VIMRUNTIME/**/*.vim
Writing scripts	The |function-list| is every script author's bread and butter.

# Unclassified

Encodings	Unicode control freaks rely on ga and g8 for character information.
Jargon	A Vimmer deletes, yanks, puts instead of cutting, copying, pasting.
Clever tricks	The "sudo tee" trick: Write the file as the superuser: :!sudo tee % >/dev/null
Clever tricks	Repurpose :[range]g to repeat an unrelated action N times: :1,78g/^/1s/$/=/
Clever tricks	Ex mode as a poor man's quickfix list: Q, :g/TODO/vi<CR>, Q, Q, Q, :vi<CR>.
Clever tricks	Swap strings ( never occurs): :g/^/s/foo//g | s/bar/foo/g | s//bar/g<CR>
Clever tricks	Auto-scrolling through a recursive map with the gs command: :nmap j gj1gsj
Miscellaneous	It's worth reading up on |hit-enter-prompt| and |more-prompt| sometime.
Miscellaneous	Nothing to do? Implement the missing Visual mode counterparts to * and #!
Practicalities	Keep your right hand in the jkl; position even when using hjkl movement.
Practicalities	Press the Control key *once* and hold it down in combos like CTRL-W CTRL-L.
Trivia	Quiz time: remember what the control characters ^I ^M ^J ^[ ^H ^@ stand for?
The Zen of Vim	Vim is a plain text editor, not a WYSIWYG editor. Set 'conceallevel' to 0.

## vim:ft=help:tw=0:ts=32:cc=110:noet:nowrap:fde=getline(v\:lnum)=~'^#'?'>1'\:1:fdm=expr: