nix-config/help/vim.md

vim / neovim

Note that the commands I mention in this file are the ones I use the most often and are by no means exhaustive.

For some vim commands, I use a <leader> keybinding as an alternative since I find it faster. Some of those commands may not be mentioned in this helpfile. Please see .vimrc for more details.

Starting vim

• Open a file at a particular line number: vim +<number> <file>

Movement Keys

Inserting Things

• Insert before the cursor: i
• Insert at the beginning of the line: I
• Insert after the cursor: a
• Insert at the end of the line: A

Indenting Things

• Indent the current line: >>
  • Indent the next 10 lines: 10>>
• Unindent the current line: <<
  • Unindent the next 10 lines: 10<<

Note that all other vim movements work while indenting things as well.

Commands

Syntax Highlighting

• Change the syntax highlighting of the current file: :set syntax=<syntax>
• Get the syntax of the current file: :set syntax?
  • Note that to get the value of any variable, just add ? to it.
• It is possible to manually change the syntax of a file, although you shouldn't do this since plugins and other features you may have will not be loaded.

Common operations

Commenting lines

• Comment the current line:
  • Simply press I to enter insert mode at the beginning of the line. From there you can do whatever you want, including inserting a comment.
  • If you want to repeat the process for multiple lines, you can go to the line you want to change and press . to execute the last set of key combinations.
• Comment multiple lines at the same time:
  • Use <C-v> to enter visual block mode
  • Select the lines you want to comment out with j/k
  • Press I to go to the beginning of the line
  • Type whatever you want to put at the beginning of all the lines here, including comments
  • When you're done, exit the mode as usual

Uncommenting lines

• Uncomment the current line:
  • Simply press 0 to go to the beginning of the line (if needed)
  • Then, press x to delete the character under the cursor
• Uncomment multiple lines at the same time:
  • Use <C-v> to enter visual block mode
  • Select the lines you want to comment out with j/k
  • Press x to delete the first character, repeatedly if necessary
  • Exit the mode as usual