*if_perl.txt*   For Vim version 5.0j.  Last modification: 1997 May 27


		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Sven Verdoolaege
		  			 and Matt Gerassimof


[This document is still under construction]

EDITING PERL FILES				*perl* *perl-editing*

[should add some info about Perl highlighting here]

To use tags with Perl, you need a script that generates the tags file from a
Perl script.  Here's the URL for two of these:
<URL:http://fohnix.metronet.com/perlinfo/scripts/text-processing/newptags.pl>
<URL:http://www.geek-girl.com/perl/coombs-scripts/ptags>


COMPILING VIM WITH PERL INTERFACE			*perl-compiling*

To compile Vim with Perl interface, you need Perl 5.004 (or later).  It must
have been installed already, before starting to compile Vim.  It will NOT work
with the 5.003 version that has been officially released!  It will probably
work with Perl 5.003_05 and later.

The Perl patches for Vim were made by:
	Sven Verdoolaege <skimo@breughel.ufsia.ac.be>
	Matt Gerassimof


USING PERL IN VIM					*perl-using*

							*:perl* *:pe*
:pe[rl] {cmd}		Execute Perl command {cmd}.  {not in Vi}

							*:perldo* *:perld*
:[range]perld[o] {cmd}	Execute Perl command {cmd} for each line in the
			[range] (default whole file).  {not in Vi}

Here're some things you can try:

:perl $a=1
:perldo $_=reverse($_);1
:perl Msg("hello")
:perl $line = $curwin->Buffer->GetLine(42)


						*perl-overview*
Here is an overview of the functions that are available to Perl:

perl VIM::Msg("Text")             # displays a message
perl VIM::SetOption("ai")         # sets a vim option
perl $curwin->SetHeight(10)       # sets the window height
perl @pos = $curwin->Cursor()     # returns (row, col) array
perl @pos = (10, 10)     
perl $curwin->Cursor(@pos)        # sets cursor to @pos
perl $curwin->Cursor(10,10)       # sets cursor to row 10 col 10
perl $b = $curwin->Buffer
perl $b->Name()                   # returns buffer name
perl $b->Count()                  # returns the number of lines
perl $l = $b->Get(10)             # returns line 10
perl @l = $b->Get(1 .. 5)         # returns lines 1 through 5
perl $b->Delete(10)               # deletes line 10
perl $b->Delete(10, 20)           # delete lines 10 through 20
perl $b->Append(10, "Line")       # appends a line
perl $b->Append(10, "Line1", "Line2", "Line3") # appends 3 lines
perl @l = ("L1", "L2", "L3")
perl $b->Append(10, @l)           # appends L1, L2 and L3
perl $b->Set(10, "Line")          # replaces line 10
perl $b->Set(10, "Line1", "Line2") # replaces lines 10 and 11
perl $b->Set(10, @l)              # replaces 3 lines

							*perl-Msg*
VIM::Msg({message})	Displays the message {message}.

							*perl-SetOption*
VIM::SetOption({arg})	Sets a vim option.  {arg} can be any argument that the
			":set" command accepts.  Note that this means that no
			spaces are allowed in the argument!  See |:set|.

							*perl-Buffers*
VIM::Buffers({bn}?)	If {bn} is not specified the function will return
			a list of all the buffers in an array context and will
			return the number of buffers in a scalar context.
			If {bn} is given, it will return the buffer number
			{bn} if it exists or undef if not.

							*perl-Windows*
VIM::Windows({wn}?)	If {bn} is not specified the function will return
			a list of all the windows in an array context and will
			return the number of windows in a scalar context.
			If {bn} is given, it will return the window number
			{wn} if it exists or undef if not.

							*perl-SetHeight*
Window->SetHeight({height})
			Sets the Window height to {height}.  The resulting
			height is limited by the height of the screen.

							*perl-GetCursor*
Window->Cursor({row}?, {col}?)
			Returns (row, col) array for the current cursor
			position in the Window if {row} and {col} are not
			specified.  If {row} and {col} are specified, it
			sets the Window's cursor position to {row} and {col}.

							*perl-Name*
Buffer->Name()		Returns the filename for the Buffer.

							*perl-Count*
Buffer->Count()		Returns the number of lines in the Buffer.

							*perl-Get*
Buffer->Get({lnum}, {lnum}?, ...)
			Returns a text string of line {lnum} in the Buffer
			for each {lnum} specified. An array can be passed
			with a list of {lnum}'s specified.

							*perl-Delete*
Buffer->Delete({lnum}, {lnum}?)
			Deletes line {lnum} in the Buffer. If the second
			{lnum} is specified,  the range of lines from the
			first {lnum} to the second {lnum} are deleted.

							*perl-Append*
Buffer->Append({lnum}, {line}, {line}?, ...)
			Appends the string {line} after line {lnum} in the
			Buffer for each {line} specified.  An array can be
			passed with a list of {line}'s specified.

							*perl-Set*
Buffer->Set({lnum}, {line}, {line}?, ...)
			Replaces line {lnum} with string {line} for each
			{line} specified. An array of {lines} can be passed
			and each subsequent line will be replaced.  If the
			arguments are invalid, the line is not replaced.

 vim:tw=78:ts=8:sw=8: