This is an archive of the From Vim Help section on the home page

Every few weeks, the section on the home page will be replaced. Old items will be moved here so anyone interested can browse them.

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Contents 1 May 2010 2 April 2010 3 March 2010 4 February 2010 5 January 2010 6 Previous years

May 2010Edit

• :verbose abbreviate lists each abbreviation and where it was defined. :help :abbreviate-verbose
• Avoid an insert-mode abbreviation by pressing Ctrl-V (or Ctrl-Q if you use Ctrl-V for paste) before the character after the abbreviation. :help abbreviations
• Setting the 'display' option to include "lastline" will show as much of the final (wrapped) line as will fit on the screen. :help 'display'

April 2010Edit

• Use :set rl! to overcome boredom. :help 'rl'
• Or try :g/^/m0 :help :g :help :m
• And ggg?G can be just as useful. :help g?

March 2010Edit

• Use :source myfile.vim to execute Ex commands (commands prefixed with a ':') from a file. :help :source
• Use :source! myfile.vim to execute normal-mode Vim commands from a file. :help :source
• Use :scriptnames to list all sourced scripts, in order of execution. :help :scriptnames

February 2010Edit

• The system() function runs an external program and captures its output. :help system()
• The 'shell' option determines the shell used to run external programs. :help 'shell'
• The variable v:shell_error holds the return status from the last external program. :help v:shell_error

January 2010Edit

• Use :pwd to show the current directory. :help :pwd
• Use :cd - to change to the previous current directory (before last :cd /my/path). :help :cd-
• Use :lcd /my/path for "local" change directory (this window only). :help :lcd

Previous yearsEdit

• 2009 From Vim Help
• 2008 From Vim Help