A Quick Guide About Using Vim

Below is a organized list of keys and commands for vim.

Using Vim

When you open a file set the current directory

:cd %:p:h

Modes

Editing

Movement

Search

Windowing

to open a file in a split window

:split /file_path
:vsplit /file_path

CtrlW c Close current split window

[n]CtrlW h Go to nth left window (stop at first window) [n]CtrlW j Go to n windows down (stop at last window) [n]CtrlW k Go to n windows up (stop at first window) [n]CtrlW l Go to nth right window (stop at last window) [n]CtrlW x Exchange current window with window n (default: next window)

To keep the window number visible across all split viewports, add it to your status line format string. Open your configuration file (usually ~/.vimrc) and append the following syntax:

set statusline+=Window:\ %{winnr()}

" Always display the statusline
set laststatus=2

" Clear any existing statusline configuration
set statusline=

" Left Side Info
set statusline+=%f\                     " File path
set statusline+=%m                      " Modified flag
set statusline+=%r                      " Read-only flag
set statusline+=%h                      " Help file flag

" Right Side Info (pushed via %=)
set statusline+=%=                      " Switch to right side alignment
set statusline+=[%Y]\                   " File type
set statusline+=[%l/%L]\                " Line number / Total lines
set statusline+=col:%c\                 " Column number
set statusline+=(%p%%)                  " Percentage through file

To open an existing buffer in a new window in Vim, run

:sbuffer [N] (for a horizontal split) or

:vert sbuffer [N] (for a vertical split), replacing [N] with the buffer’s number or name

Split to the Right:

:vert belowright sbuffer [N]

To toggle line numbers:

set number!

" Ensure the status line is always visible
set laststatus=2

" Set color for the active window status line
highlight StatusLine ctermfg=white ctermbg=darkblue guifg=#ffffff guibg=#00008b

" Set color for inactive window status lines
highlight StatusLineNC ctermfg=gray ctermbg=darkgray guifg=#a0a0a0 guibg=#444444

"+y Copy word into system clipboard "+yy Copy line into system clipboard

"+p Paste from system clipboard

y + w Copy word d + w Delete word (cut)

y + y Copy line d + d Delete line (cut)

p Paste after the cursor/line

P Paste before the cursor/line

u Undo

v Visual mode

V Line visual mode

[n]r{char} Replace n chars with {char} R Replace mode

[n]r{char} Replace n chars with {char}

J Join lines default is 2 gJ Join lines without inserting space

% Go to matching scope beginning/end (paranthessis, curly braces, etc. )

d + i + w Delete in word

d + i + ( Delete in paranthesis

[n]d + $ Delete from the cursor to the end of the line (and the next n - 1 lines) [n]D Delete from the cursor to the end of the line (and the next n - 1 lines) [n][“x]x Delete n characters under and after the cursor [into register x]

c + i + ( Change in paranthesis

Ctrl + o Cursor to previous position

Ctrl + i Cursor to next position

Search and replace

• Execute a regular search with /
• Use the keystroke c + g + n on the first result to replace it.
• Position cursor on a word and press * to search forward
• Position cursor on a word and press # to search backward
• Type n or N to go to the next result.
• Use . to replace the occurrence with the same replacement, or go to the next result if you want to keep it.
• Search /word
• Search exact /<word>
• Search case insensitive /word\c

To replace all occurrences of a term in the entire file in Vim, press Esc to enter Normal mode and run

:%s/old_text/new_text/g

(% Specifies the range as the entire file. s Calls the substitute command. g Stands for global, replacing every match on a line rather than just the first one.)

Confirm each change -> Add the c flag to accept or reject every instance interactively:

:%s/old_text/new_text/gc   (Press y to replace, n to skip, or a to replace all remaining)

Ignore case sensitivity -> Add the i flag if you want to find matches regardless of capitalization:

:%s/old_text/new_text/gi

Replace exact whole words only -> Wrap your text in word boundary markers (< and >) so it doesn’t modify partial matches inside longer words:

:%s/\<old_text\>/new_text/g

Use alternative delimiters if your text contains slash characters (like file paths or URLs), use a different delimiter like # or | to avoid escaping them:

:%s#/var/www/old#/var/www/new#g

Entire File :%s/foo/bar/g Replaces all instances of foo with bar. Current Line :s/foo/bar/g Replaces all instances on your active line only. Line Range :5,12s/foo/bar/g Replaces all instances between lines 5 and 12.

Find and Replace in Multiple Files

If you want to replace an occurrence in every html and twig files, you can type the following:

:arg *.html - Populate the arglist with all html files in the current working directory, and edit the first one.
:argadd *.twig - Add twig files to the arglist.
:argdo %s/pattern/replace/ge | update - Replace the occurence pattern by replace in every file of the arglist.

Even if the argument list (:help arglist) and the buffer list (:help :buffers) are different, every files added in the argument list will be added in the buffer list.

You can delete files in one of these lists without changing the other. For example, :argdelete * will remove everything in your argument list.

At that point, you might scream to your screen, violently shacked by extrem curiosity: what means the flag e at the end of the substitute command? It prevents Vim to display an error message when the pattern is not found in a file.

What about doing a find and replace in the working directory and the subdirectories? You can populate the arglist as follow:

:arg **/*.html
:argadd **/*.php

How to Indent

> + i + } increase indent

< + i + } decrease indent

= + i + B autoindent block

> + % put your cursor on one of the curly braces

If you’re copying blocks of text around and need to align the indent of a block in its new location, use ]+p instead of just p. This aligns the pasted block with the surrounding text.

using ctags with vim

execute ctags to generate tags for you project.

After this step Ctrl + ] will go to definition.

g then Ctrl + ] — Show a list of matching definitions if there are duplicates.

cd /path/to/your/project
ctags -f tags -R --fields=+K+a

ctags -R .

In your ~/.vimrc file, add this short block:

 " ctags optimization
 set autochdir
 set tags=tags;

” denotes a comment. set autochdir tells vim that if it doesn’t find a tags file in the $PWD it will look in the directory parent for the tags file, recursively. set tags=tags; tells vim that the name of your tags file will always be the same as the default tags file generated by ctags.

Ctrl+] - go to definition

Ctrl+T - Jump back from the definition.

Ctrl+W Ctrl+] - Open the definition in a horizontal split

Ctrl + t: Jump back up one level in your tag stack.

g + Ctrl + ]: View a list of matching definitions if the name is used in multiple places.

Ctrl + x then Ctrl + ]: Trigger auto-completion in Insert Mode using your tags file.

Add these lines in vimrc

map <C-> :tab split:exec("tag ".expand(""))

map <A-]> :vsp :exec("tag ".expand(""))

Ctrl+\ - Open the definition in a new tab

Alt+] - Open the definition in a vertical split

After the tags are generated. You can use the following keys to tag into and tag out of functions:

Ctrl+Left MouseClick - Go to definition

Ctrl+Right MouseClick - Jump back from definition

Terminal Commands

To run a terminal command without input or output

:!{command}

To run a terminal command and pass the output to current buffer

:read !{command}

Macros

Sample vimrc

syntax on
set background=dark
colorscheme desert

" Always display the statusline
set laststatus=2

" Clear any existing statusline configuration
set statusline=

" Left Side Info
set statusline+=%F\                     " Full path to the file
set statusline+=%m                      " Modified flag

" Right Side Info (pushed via %=)
set statusline+=%=                      " Switch to right side alignment
set statusline+=Window:\ %{winnr()}
set statusline+=\ %y                      " File type
set statusline+=\ [%L\ lines]                " Line number / Total lines

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