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Learn to use help

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Tip 882 Previous Next created February 21, 2005 · complexity basic · author David S · version 5.7

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.
  • Each help topic has a context. For example, topics about "ex" commands all start with :, topics about insert-mode commands all start with i_, and topics about options all are surrounded by single-quotes (i.e., "'").
  • 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

[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.

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