VIM(1)							   VIM(1)


NAME
       vim - Vi IMproved, a programmers text editor

SYNOPSIS
       vim [options] [file ..]
       vim [options] -t tag
       vim [options] -e [errorfile]

DESCRIPTION
       Vim is a text editor that is upwards compatible to vi.  It
       can be used to edit any ASCII text.  It is especially use-
       ful for editing programs.

       There  are  a  lot  of  enhancements above vi: multi level
       undo, multi windows and	buffers,  command  line	 editing,
       filename completion, on-line help, visual selection, etc..
       Read vim_diff.txt for a summary of the differences between
       Vim and vi.

       While  running  Vim a lot of help can be obtained from the
       on-line help system.  See ON-LINE HELP below.

       Most often Vim is started to edit a single file	with  the
       command

	    vim file

       More generally Vim is started with:

	    vim [options] [filelist]

       If  the filelist is missing, the editor will start with an
       empty buffer.  Otherwise exactly one out of the	following
       three  may  be  used  to	 choose	 one  or more files to be
       edited.

       file ..	   A list of file names.  The first one	 will  be
		   the	current	 file  and  read into the buffer.
		   The cursor will be  positioned  on  the  first
		   line	 of the buffer.	 You can get to the other
		   files with the ":next"  command.   To  edit	a
		   file	 that  starts  with  a	dash, precede the
		   filelist with "--".

       -t {tag}	   The file to edit and the initial cursor  posi-
		   tion depends on a "tag", a sort of goto label.
		   {tag} is looked up in the tags file, the asso-
		   ciated  file	 becomes the current file and the
		   associated command is executed.   Mostly  this
		   is  used for C programs.  {tag} then should be
		   a function name.  The effect is that the  file
		   containing  that  function becomes the current
		   file and the cursor is positioned on the start
		   of the function.  See ":help tag_commands".

       -e [errorfile]
		   Start  in quickFix mode.  The file [errorfile]
		   is read and the first error is displayed.   If
		   [errorfile]	 is  omitted  the  file	 name  is
		   obtained from the 'errorfile' option (defaults
		   to "AztecC.Err" for the Amiga, "errors.vim" on
		   other systems).  Further errors can be  jumped
		   to  with the ":cn" command.	See ":help quick-
		   fix".

OPTIONS
       The options, if present, must precede the  filelist.   The
       options	may be given in any order.  Options can mostly be
       combined after a single dash.

       +[num]	   For the first file the cursor  will	be  posi-
		   tioned  on  line  "num".  If "num" is missing,
		   the cursor will  be	positioned  on	the  last
		   line.

       +/{pat}	   For	the  first  file the cursor will be posi-
		   tioned on the first occurrence of {pat}.   See
		   ":help   search_pattern"   for  the	available
		   search patterns.

       +{command}

       -c {command}
		   {command} will be  executed	after  the  first
		   file	 has been read.	 {command} is interpreted
		   as an Ex command.  If the  {command}	 contains
		   spaces  it  must  be enclosed in double quotes
		   (this depends on  the  shell	 that  is  used).
		   Example: Vim "+set si" main.c
		   Note:  You  can use only one "+" or "-c" argu-
		   ment.

       -b	   Binary mode.	 A few options will be	set  that
		   makes  it  possible	to  edit a binary or exe-
		   cutable file.

       -d {device} Open {device} for use as a terminal.	 Only  on
		   the Amiga.  Example: "-d con:20/30/600/150".

       -i {viminfo}
		   When	 using	the viminfo file is enabled, this
		   option sets the file name to use,  instead  of
		   the	default	 "~/.viminfo".	 This can also be
		   used to skip the use of the .viminfo file,  by
		   giving the name "NONE".

       -g	   If  Vim  has	 been  compiled with GUI support,
		   this option turns the GUI on.  If no GUI  sup-
		   port	 was  compiled	in,  an	 error message is
		   given and Vim aborts.

       -H	   If Vim has been compiled with  RIGHTLEFT  sup-
		   port	 for editing right-to-left oriented files
		   and	Hebrew	keyboard  mapping,  this   option
		   starts  Vim	in  Hebrew  mode,  i.e. hkmap and
		   rightleft are set.  Otherwise an error message
		   is given and Vim aborts.

       -n	   No  swap  file will be used.	 Recovery after a
		   crash will be impossible.  Handy if	you  want
		   to  edit  a	file  on a very slow medium (e.g.
		   floppy).  Can also be done with  ":set  uc=0".
		   Can be undone with ":set uc=200".

       -o[N]	   Open	 N  windows.  When N is omitted, open one
		   window for each file.

       -r	   List swap files, with information about  using
		   them for recovery.

       -r {file}   Recovery  mode.   The  swap	file  is  used to
		   recover a crashed editing session.	The  swap
		   file	 is a file with the same file name as the
		   text file with ".swp"  appended.   See  ":help
		   recovery".

       -s {scriptin}
		   The script file {scriptin} is read.	The char-
		   acters in the file are interpreted as  if  you
		   had typed them.  The same can be done with the
		   command ":source! {scriptin}".  If the end  of
		   the	file  is reached before the editor exits,
		   further characters are read from the keyboard.

       -T {terminal}
		   Tells  Vim  the  name  of the terminal you are
		   using.  Should be  a	 terminal  known  to  Vim
		   (builtin)  or  defined  in the termcap or ter-
		   minfo file.

       -u {vimrc}  Use the commands in the file "vimrc" for  ini-
		   tializations.   All	the other initializations
		   are skipped.	 Use this to edit a special  kind
		   of  files.	It  can	 also be used to skip all
		   initializations by  giving  the  name  "NONE".
		   See ":help initialization" within vim for more
		   details.

       -v	   View mode.  The 'readonly' option will be set.
		   You	can  still  edit  the buffer, but will be
		   prevented from accidently overwriting a  file.
		   If  you  do	want  to overwrite a file, add an
		   exclamation mark to	the  Ex	 command,  as  in
		   ":w!".   The	 -v  option  also  implies the -n
		   option (see below).	The 'readonly' option can
		   be  reset with ":set noro".	See ":help 'read-
		   only'".

       -w {scriptout}
		   All the characters that you type are	 recorded
		   in  the  file {scriptout}, until you exit Vim.
		   This is useful if you want to create a  script
		   file	 to  be used with "vim -s" or ":source!".
		   If the {scriptout} file exists, characters are
		   appended.

       -W {scriptout}
		   Like	 -w, but an existing file is overwritten.

       -x	   (Amiga only) Vim is not restarted  to  open	a
		   new	window.	  This option should be used when
		   Vim is executed by a program	 that  will  wait
		   for	the  edit  session to finish (e.g. mail).
		   The ":sh" and ":!" commands will not work.

       --	   Denotes the	end  of	 the  options,	arguments
		   after  this	will  be  handled as a file name.
		   This can be used to	edit  a	 file  name  that
		   starts with a '-'.

ON-LINE HELP
       Type  ":help" in Vim to get started.  Type ":help subject"
       to get help on a specific subject.   For	 example:  ":help
       ZZ" to get help for the "ZZ" command.  Use <Tab> and CTRL-
       D to complete subjects (":help cmdline_completion").  Tags
       are  present  to	 jump  from one place to another (sort of
       hypertext links, see ":help").  All files mentioned  below
       can   be	  viewed   in	this   way,  for  example  ":help
       vim_ref.txt".

FILES
       Vim documentation (in /usr/local/lib/vim).

       vim_ref.txt    A complete reference of Vim (long).

       vim_help.txt   File used by the on-line help (short), con-
		      tains links to all other files.

       vim_win.txt    Explanation   of	 the  multi  windows  and
		      buffers commands and options.

       vim_idx.txt    Overview of all command characters  (useful
		      when adding new mappings).

       vim_tips.txt   Some  useful  tips about using Vim for spe-
		      cific file types.

       vim_digr.txt   Overview of the available digraphs.

       vim_kcc.txt    About copying Vim and Uganda.

       vim_diff.txt   Overview of the differences between Vim and
		      vi.

       vim_<machine>.txt
		      Machine  specific	 comments.  <machine> can
		      be ami (Amiga),  arch  (Archimedes),  unix,
		      w32  (Windows  95/NT),  dos  (MS-DOS), mint
		      (Atari MiNT) and mac (Macintosh).

       vim_gui.txt    Specific comments about the GUI version.

       vim_rlh.txt    Information about	 using	Vim  for  editing
		      right-to-left oriented files.

       /usr/local/lib/vim/vimrc
		      System wide Vim initializations

       /usr/local/lib/vim/gvimrc
		      System wide gvim initializations

       For recent info read the VIM home page:
       <URL:http://www.math.fu-berlin.de/~guckes/vim/>

AUTHOR
       Most of Vim was made by Bram Moolenaar.
       Vim  is	based on Stevie, worked on by: Tim Thompson, Tony
       Andrews and G.R. (Fred) Walter

BUGS
       Probably.  See the "todo" file that comes with the distri-
       bution.

       Note  that a number of things that may be regarded as bugs
       by some, are in fact caused by a too-faithful reproduction
       of  vi's	 behaviour.   Other people may think other things
       are bugs "because vi does it differently".   Those  people
       should  take  a	closer	look at the vim_diff.txt file (or
       type :help vim_diff.txt when in Vim).  Also have a look at
       the 'compatible' option.

			   1996 May 27				5


