Learn to use help
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Tip 882 Previous Tip • Next Tip
Created: February 21, 2005 Complexity: basic Author: David S Minimum version: 5.7 Karma: 33/25 Imported from: Tip#882
Vim's help is remarkably thorough, but it definitely takes some getting used to if you are new to it.
Starting out, remember:
- Get specific help by browsing with :help or by jumping to a topic with :help <topic>
- After typing your help search, CTRL-D will list all matches to your subject so that you can narrow what you are looking for. For example, :help scroll<C-D>. Use <TAB> to scroll.
- You can search through all the help files with the :helpgrep command.
- You can search within a single help file just like within a regular file using /.
- :help quickref is a good place to start.
- CTRL-] follows a link, and CTRL-T goes back.
- Read a new chapter from the main help (:help) file every now and again to learn something new!
[edit] References
[edit] See also
- Remember to search this wiki (see 'search' in the sidebar)!
- Search the FAQ and other guides on our documentation page
- Search the archives of the Vim mailing lists
[edit] Vim built-in help
TO DO
- Merge in following info from deleted tips 179, 229, 326
Vim built-in help is the fastest way to get info, once you know what to look for. You can try this command to show a list of related topics:
:h <topic><c-d>
It is "some topic" followed by the key sequence Ctrl-D. For eg:
:h xterm<c-d>
will show all the help topics matching xterm. Then you can do completion/copy-n-paste the topic you are searching. Of course you can cycle through all the topics through repeated <TABS>, but if the number of hits are huge, it is cumbersome.
You can also use this command:
:helpgrep {pattern}
to search all the help files for a pattern.
BTW, <c-d> can be used for listing other matches also. For example:
:e <c-d> "to show list of files matching the pattern :buf <c-d> "to show list of open buffers etc.
See :help quickref for a Vim Command Quick Reference Page – brilliant for beginners and oldtimers alike.
[edit] Other Help Tips
:h visual<C-D><tab> : obtain list of all visual help topics : Press Tab to step through them. :h ctrl<C-D> : list help of all control keys :h :r : help for :ex command :h CTRL-R : normal mode :h \r : what's \r in a regexp :h i_CTRL-R : help for say <C-R> in insert mode :h c_CTRL-R : help for say <C-R> in command mode :h v_CTRL-V : visual mode :h tutor : Vim Tutor gvim -h : command line
[edit] Simplify help navigation
Vim help has hyperlink support - you can press <C-]> over |some subject| or 'some option' to read more about particular term. Return with Ctrl-T.
The following mappings simplify help buffer navigation:
- pressing s(or S) will find next(previous) subject from cursor position
- pressing o(or O) will find next(previous) option from cursor position
- pressing Enter will jump to subject under cursor
- pressing Backspace will return from the last jump
Put them into help filetype plugin (like ~/.vim/ftplugin/help.vim on Unix).
nmap <buffer> <CR> <C-]>
nmap <buffer> <BS> <C-T>
nmap <buffer> o /'[a-z]\{2,\}'<CR>
nmap <buffer> O ?'[a-z]\{2,\}'<CR>
nmap <buffer> s /\|\S\+\|<CR>
nmap <buffer> S ?\|\S\+\|<CR>
[edit] Comments
Also see the wildmenu. My settings:
set wildmenu wildmode=longest:full,full
What it does:
- First tab: longest match, list in the statusbar.
- Next tabs: cycle through matches. (Like in the shell)
In addition to C-] and C-T, C-O and C-I can be used to jump backward and forward in the jump list history.
Categories: VimTip | Usage | Todo
