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- C editing with VIM HOWTO
-
-!!!C editing with VIM HOWTO
-! Siddharth
-Heroor
-
-__Revision History__Revision v1.0Jan 14, 2001Revised by: shSecond Revision. Corrected some typos.Revision v0.1Dec 04, 2000Revised by: shFirst Revision. I would love to have your feedback
-
-
-
-
-
-
-This document gives an introduction to editing C and
-other language files, whose syntax is similar, like C++ and
-Java in vi/VIM.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-----; __Table of Contents__; 1. Introduction; 2. Moving around.: ; 2.1. w, e and b keystrokes; 2.2. {, },
[[[[ and
]] keystrokes; 2.3. % keystroke; 3. Jumping to random positions in C files: ; 3.1. ctags; 3.2. marks; 3.3. gd keystroke; 4. Auto-Completing Words; 5. Formating automatically: ; 5.1. Restricting column width; 5.2. Automatically indent code; 5.3. Comments; 6. Multi-file editing; 7. Quickfix; 8. Copyright; 9. References
-!!!1. Introduction
-
-
-The purpose of this document is to introduce the novice VIM
-user to the editing options available in VIM for C files. The
-document introduces some commands and keystrokes which will
-help in improving the productivity of programmers using VIM
-to edit C files.
-
-
-
-
-
-The scope of the document is to describe how one can edit C
-files with VIM. However most of what is described is also
-applicable for vi. Plus what is mentioned
here about editing
-C files is more or less applicable to C++, Java and other similar
-languages.
-
-
-----
-!!!2. Moving around.
-!!2.1. w, e and b keystrokes
-
-
-One can use the __w__, __e__ and
-__b__ keys to move around a file. VIM is
-capable of recognizing the different tokens within a C expression.
-
-
-
-
- Consider the following C code
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 1. A C snippet
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-...
-if(( NULL == x ) 88 y b z )
-...
-
-
-
-Assume that the cursor is positioned at the beginning of
-the __if__ statement. By pressing w once the
-cursor jumps to the first __(__. By typing
-__w__ again the cursor moves to
-__NULL__. Next time the cursor will move to the
-__==__ token. Further keystrokes will take
-you as follows. __x.__..
-__)__... __88__...
-__y__... __b__...
-__z__... and finally __)__...
-
-
-
-
-
-__e__ is similar to __w__ only
-that it takes you to the end of the current word and not
-to the beginning of the next word.
-
-
-
-
-
-__b__ does the exact opposite of
-__w__. It moves the cursor in the opposite
-direction. So you can moving backwards using the
-__b__ keystroke.
-
-
-----
-!!2.2. {, }, [[[[ and ]] keystrokes
-
- The __{__ and __}__ keys are
-used to move from paragraph to paragraph. When editing C
-files these keys have a slightly different meaning. Here a
-paragraph is taken as a bunch of lines separated by an
-empty line.
-
-
-
-
- For Example
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 2. Another C snippet
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-The above snippet shows two paragraphs. One can easily
-move from the beginning of one to the other, by using the
-__{__ and __}__
-keys. __{__ will take the cursor to the
-paragraph above and __}__ will take the
-cursor to the paragraph below.
-
-
-
-
-
-Many people have the coding style where a logical set of
-statements are grouped together and separated by
-one or more blank lines.
-
-
-
-
- For Example
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 3. Another C snippet
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- The __{__ and __}__ keys are
-very useful in such situations. One can very easily move
-from one "paragraph" to another.
-
-
-
-
-
-Another set of keys which are useful are the
-__[[[[__ and __]]__ keys. These
-keys allow you to jump to the previous { or next { in the
-first column.
-
-
-
-
- For Example
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 4. The next snippet of C code
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Lets say you were editing foo() and now you want to edit
-bar(). Just type __]]__ and the cursor will
-take you to the opening { of the bar() function. The
-reverse is slightly different. If you were in the middle of bar()
-and you type __[[[[__ the cursor will move to
-the first { above i.e. the beginning of bar() itself. One
-has to type __[[[[__ again to move to the
-beginning of foo(). The number of keystrokes can be
-minimized by typing __2[[[[__ to take the
-cursor to the beginning of the previous function.
-
-
-
-
-
-Another set of similar keystrokes are the __][[__ and
-__[[]__ keystrokes. __][[__ takes
-the cursor to next } in the first column. If you were
-editing foo() and wanted to go to the end of foo() then
-__][[__ will take you there. Similarly if you were
-editing bar() and wanted to go to the end of foo() then
-__[[]__ would take the cursor there.
-
-
-
-
-
-The way to remember the keystrokes is by breaking them
-up. The first keystroke will indicated whether to move up
-or down. __[[__ will move up and
-__]__ will move down. The next keystroke
-indicates the type of brace to match. If it same same as
-the previous keystroke then the cursor will move to {. If
-the keystroke is different then the cursor will move to
-}.
-
-
-
-
-
-One caveat of the __]]__, __][[__,
-__[[[[__ and __[[]__ keystrokes is
-that they match the braces which are in the
-''first column''. If one wants to match
-all braces upwards and downwards regardless of whether its
-in the first column or not is not possible. The VIM
-documentation has a workaround. One has to map the
-keystrokes to find the braces. Without spending too much
-time on mapping, the suggested mappings are
-
-
-
-
- __ :map [[[[ ?{`CTRL-VCTRL-Mbw99[[{
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-__ :map ][[ /}`CTRL-VCTRL-Mbb99]}
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-__ :map ]] j0[[[[%/{`CTRL-VCTRL-Mb
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-__ :map [[] k$][[%?}`CTRL-VCTRL-Mb
-__
-
-
-----
-!!2.3. % keystroke
-
-
-The __%__ is used to match the item under the
-cursor. The item under the cursor can be a parenthesis, a
-curly bracket or a square bracket. By pressing the % key
-the cursor will jump to the corresponding match.
-
-
-
-
- Amongst other things, the __%__ keystroke
-can be used to match #if, #ifdef, #else #elif and #endif
-also.
-
-
-
-
-
-This keystroke is very useful in validating code that one
-has written. For Example
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 5. The next snippet of C code
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-Checking the above code will involve checking the correctness
-of the parenthesis. The __%__ can be used to
-jump from one ( to its corresponding ) and vice versa.
-Thus, one can find which opening parenthesis corresponds to
-which closing parenthesis and use the information to
-validate the code.
-
-
-
-
-
-Similarly the __%__ can also be used to jump
-from a { to its corresponding }.
-
-
-----
-!!!3. Jumping to random positions in C files
-!!3.1. ctags
-
-
-A Tag is a sort of placeholder. Tags are very useful in
-understanding and editing C. Tags are a set of
-book-marks to each function in a C file. Tags are very
-useful in jumping to the definition of a function from
-where it is called and then jumping back.
-
-
-
-
- Take the following example.
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 6. Tags Example
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Lets say that you are editing the function foo() and you
-come across the function bar(). Now, to see what bar()
-does, one makes uses of Tags. One can jump to the
-definition of bar() and then jump back later. If need be,
-one can jump to another function called within bar() and back.
-
-
-
-
- To use Tags one must first run the program ctags on all
-the source files. This creates a file called tags. This
-file contains pointers to all the function definitions and
-is used by VIM to take you to the function definition.
-
-
-
-
- The actual keystrokes for jumping to and fro are
-__CTRL-]__ and __CTRL-T__. By
-hitting __CTRL-]__ in foo() at the place
-where bar() is called, takes the cursor to the beginning of
-bar(). One can jump back from bar() to foo() by just
-hitting __CTRL-T__.
-
-
-
-
- ctags are called by
-
-
-
- $ __ctags options file(s)__
-
-
- To make a tags file from all the *.c files in the current
-directory all one needs to say is
-
-
-
- $ __ctags *.c__
-
-
- In case of a source tree which contains C files in
-different sub directories, one can call ctags in the root
-directory of the source tree with the -R option and a tags
-file containing Tags to all functions in the source tree
-will be created. For Example.
-
-
-
- $ __ctags -R *.c__
-
-
- There are many other options to use with ctags. These
-options are explained in the man file for ctags.
-
-
-----
-!!3.2. marks
-
-
-Marks are place-holders like Tags. However, marks can be
-set at any point in a file and is not limited to only
-functions, enums etc.. Plus marks have be set manually by
-the user.
-
-
-
-
- By setting a mark there is no visible indication of the
-same. A mark is just a position in a file which is
-remembered by VIM. Consider the following code
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 7. The marks example
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- Suppose you are editing the line x++; and you want to come
-back to that line after editing some other line. You can
-set a mark on that line with the keystroke
-__m'__ and come back to the same line later
-by hitting __''__.
-
-
-
-
- VIM allows you to set more than one mark. These marks are
-stored in registers a-z, A-Z and 1-. To set a mark and
-store the same in a register say j, all one has to hit is
-__mj__. To go back to the mark one has to hit
-__'j__.
-
-
-
-
- Multiple marks are really useful in going back and fro
-within a piece of code. Taking the same example, one might
-want one mark at x++; and another at y=x; and jump between
-them or to any other place and then jump back.
-
-
-
-
- Marks can span across files. To use such marks one has to
-use upper-case registers i.e. A-Z. Lower-case registers are
-used only within files and do not span files. That's to
-say, if you were to set a mark in a file foo.c in register
-"a" and then move to another file and hit
-__'a__,
-the cursor will not jump back to the previous
-location. If you want a mark which will take you to a
-different file then you will need to use an upper-case
-register. For example, use __mA__ instead of
-__ma__. I'll talk about editing multiple
-files in a later section.
-
-
-----
-!!3.3. gd keystroke
-
-
-Consider the following piece of code.
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 8. The third example
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- For some reason you've forgotten what y and z are and want
-to go to their declaration double quick. One way of doing
-this is by searching backwards for y or z. VIM offers a
-simpler and quicker solution. The __gd__
-keystroke stands for Goto Declaration. With the cursor on
-"y" if you hit __gd__ the cursor will take
-you to the declaration :- struct Y y;.
-
-
-
-
- A similar keystroke is __gD__. This takes you
-to the global declaration of the variable under the
-cursor. So if one want to go to the declaration of x, then
-all one needs to do is hit __gD__ and the
-cursor will move to the declaration of x.
-
-
-----
-!!!4. Auto-Completing Words
-
- Consider the following code
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 9. Auto-completion example
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- The function A_Very_Long_Function_Name() can be quite
-exasperating to type over and over again. While still in
-insert-mode, one can auto-complete a word by either searching
-forwards or backwards. In function, Another_Function() one can
-type A_Very... and hit __CTRL-P__. The first
-matching word will be displayed first. In this case it would
-be A_Very_Long_Variable_Name. To complete it correctly, one can
-hit __CTRL-P__ again and the search continues
-upwards to the next matching word, which is
-A_Very_Long_Function_Name. As soon as the correct word is matched
-you can continue typing. VIM remains in insert-mode during
-the entire process.
-
-
-
-
- Similar to __CTRL-P__ is the keystroke
-__CTRL-N__. This searches forwards instead of
-backwards. Both the keystrokes continue to search until they
-hit the top or bottom.
-
-
-
-
- Both __CTRL-P__ and __CTRL-N__ are
-part of a mode known as CTRL-X mode. CTRL-X mode is a
-sub-mode of the insert mode. So you can enter this mode when
-you are in the insert-mode. To leave CTRL-X mode you can
-hit any keystroke other than CTRL-X, CTRL-P and CTRL-N. Once
-you leave CTRL-X mode you return to insert-mode.
-
-
-
-
- CTRL-X mode allows you do auto-completion in a variety of
-ways. One can even autocomplete filenames. This is
-particularly useful when you have to include header
-files. Using CTRL-X mode you can include a file foo.h using
-the following mechanism.
-
-
-
- #include "f CTRL-X CTRL-F"
-
-
- That's CTRL-X CTRL-F. I know... I know... Its sounds like
-emacs ;-). There are other things you can do in the CTRL-X
-mode. One of them is dictionary completion. Dictionary
-completion allows one to specify a file containing a list of
-words which are used for completion. By default the
-dictionary option is not set. This option is set by the
-command __:set dictionary=file__. Typically
-one can put in C keywords, typedefs, #defines in the
-dictionary file. C++ and Java programmers may be interested
-in adding class names as well.
-
-
-
-
- The format of a dictionary file is simple. Just put a word
-you want in line by itself. So a C dictionary file would look
-something like this.
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 10. A sample dictionary file
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- To use the dictionary completion, one needs to hit
-__CTRL-X CTRL-K__. The completion is similar to
-the __CTRL-P__ and __CTRL-N__
-keystrokes. So... to type "typedef" all one needs to do is
-t CTRL-X CTRL-K and poof... the name completed.
-
-
-----
-!!!5. Formating automatically
-!!5.1. Restricting column width
-
- One often has to restrict the column width to 80 or 75 or
-whatever. One can set this quite easily by using the
-command
-
-
-
- __:set textwidth=80__
-
-
- To do this automatically just put the command in your .vimrc.
-
-
-
-
- In addition to textwidth you may want the text to wrap at
-a certain column. Often such choices are dictated by the
-terminal one is using or it could just be by choice. The
-command for such a case is
-
-
-
- __:set wrapwidth=60__
-
-
- The above command makes the text wrap at 60 columns.
-
-
-----
-!!5.2. Automatically indent code
-
- While coding in C, one often indents inner-blocks of
-code. To do this automatically while coding, VIM has an
-option called cindent. To set this, just use the command
-
-
-
- __:set cindent__
-
-
- By setting cindent, code is automatically beautified. To
-set this command automatically, just add it to your .vimrc
-
-
-----
-!!5.3. Comments
-
- VIM also allows you to auto-format comments. You can split
-comments into 3 stages: The first part, the middle part
-and the end part. For example your coding style
-requirements may require comments to be in the following
-style
-
-
-
- /*
-* This is the comment
-*/
-
-
- In such a case the following command can be used
-
-
-
- __:set comments=sl:/*,mb:*,elx:*/__
-
-
- Let me decipher the command for you. The commands has
-three parts. The first part is sl:/*. This tells VIM that
-three piece comments begin with /*. The next part tells
-VIM that the middle part of the comment is *. The last
-part of the command tells vim a couple of things. One that
-the command should end with */ and that it should
-automatically complete the comment when you hit just /.
-
-
-
-
- Let me give another example. Lets say your coding
-guidelines are as follows
-
-
-
- /*
-** This is the comment
-*/
-
-
- In such a situation you can use following command for comments
-
-
-
- __:set comments=sl:/*,mb:**,elx:*__
-
-
- to insert a comment just type /* and hit enter. The next line
-will automatically contain the **. After you've finished
-the comment just hit enter again and another ** will be
-inserted. However to end the comment you want a */ and not
-**/. VIM is quite clever here. You don't need to delete
-the last * and replace it with /. Instead, just hit / and
-VIM will recognise it as the end of the comment and will
-automatically change the line from ** to */.
-
-
-
-
- For more info hit
-__ :h comments
-__
-
-
-----
-!!!6. Multi-file editing
-
-
-One often needs to edit more than one file at a time. For
-example one maybe editing a header file and a source file at
-the same time. To edit more than one file at a time,
-invoke VIM using the following command
-
-
-
- $ __vim file1 file2 ...__
-
-
- Now you can edit the first file and move onto the next file
-using the command
-
-
-
- __:n__
-
-
- You can jump back using the command
-
-
-
- __:e#__
-
-
- It may be useful while coding if you could see both the files
-at the same time and switch between the two. In other words,
-it would be useful if the screen was split and you could see
-the header file at the top and the source file at the
-bottom. VIM has such a command to split the screen. To invoke
-i, simply say
-__ :split
-__
-
-
-
-
- The same file will be displayed in both the windows. Whatever
-command is invoked, will affect only the window in focus. So
-one can edit another file in another window by using the
-command
-__ :e file2
-__
-
-
-
-
- After executing that command, you'll find that there are two
-files visible. One window shows the first file and the other shows
-the second file. To switch between the files one has to use the
-keystroke __CTRL-W CTRL-W__. To learn more about
-split windows, just run help on it.
-
-
-----
-!!!7. Quickfix
-
-
-When coding in C one often has a edit-compile-edit
-cycle. Typically you would edit C file using some the things
-I've mentioned earlier, save the file, compile the code and
-go to the error(s) and start editing again. VIM helps save
-the cycle time slightly using a mode called
-quickfix. Basically, one has to save the compiler errors in a file
-and open the file with VIM using the command
-
-
-
- $ __vim -q compiler_error_file__
-
-
- VIM automatically opens the file containing the error and
-positions the cursor at the location of the first error.
-
-
-
-
- There is a shortcut to the cycle. Using the command "make", one
-can automatically compile code and goto the position where
-the first error occurs. To invoke the make command type the
-following
-
-
-
- __:make__
-
-
- Basically, this command calls make in a shell and goes to the
-first error. However, if you are not compiling using make and
-are compiling using a command such as cc, then you have to
-set a variable called makeprg to the command you want invoked
-when you use the make command. For eg.
-__ :set makeprg=cc\ foo.c
-__
-
-
-
-
- After setting makeprg, you can just call the make command and
-quickfix will come into play.
-
-
-
-
- After you have corrected the first error, the next thing to
-do would be go to the next error and correct that. The
-following command is used go to the next error.
-__ :cn
-__
-
-
-
-
- To go back, you can use the command
-__ :cN
-__
-
-
-
-
- Let me demonstrate this using an example. Consider the
-following code
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 11. Quickfile Program Listing
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- As you can see there is an error on line number 5. The file
-is saved as test.c and makeprg is set using the command
-
-
-
- __:set makeprg=gcc\ test.c__
-
-
- Next the make command is invoked using the command
-__:make__. gcc gives an error and the output
-of the make command is something like this
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 12. :make error
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- On pressing __RETURN__, the cursor moves to line
-number 6.
-
-
-
-
- Now, the command __:cn__ will move the cursor
-to the line number 4.
-
-
-
-
- To move back to the previous error, one can use the command
-__:cN__ and the cursor will move back to the
-line 6.
-
-
-
-
- After correcting the error on line 5 and adding "return 1;",
-one can run __:make__ again and the output
-will be
-
-
-
-
-__Figure 13. No Error
-__
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
- That was just a small example. You can use quickfix to solve
-your compile time problems and hopefully reduce the
-edit-compile-edit cycle.
-
-
-----
-!!!8. Copyright
-
- Copyright (c) 2000,2001 Siddharth Heroor.
-
-
-
-
- Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this
-document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation
-License, Version 1.1 or any later version published by the
-Free Software Foundation; with no Invariant Sections, with no
-Front-Cover Texts, and with no Back-Cover Texts. A copy of
-the license can be found at
- http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html
-
-
-
-----
-!!!9. References
-
- You can get more information on VIM and download it at
- http://www.vim
.org
+Describe
[HowToCeditingwithVIMHOWTO
] here.
