*term.txt* For Vim version 5.0j. Last modification: 1997 May 14 VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar Terminal information *terminal_info* Vim uses information about the terminal you are using to fill the screen and recognize what keys you hit. If this information is not correct the screen may be messed up or keys may not be recognized. The actions which have to be performed on the screen are accomplished by outputting a string of characters. Special keys produce a string of characters. These strings are stored in the terminal options, see |terminal_options|. 1. Startup |startup_terminal| 2. Terminal options |terminal_options| 3. Window size |window_size| 4. Slow and fast terminals |slow_fast_terminal| 5. Using the mouse |mouse_using| ============================================================================== 1. Startup *startup_terminal* When Vim is started a default terminal type is assumed. For the Amiga this is a standard CLI window, for MS-DOS the pc terminal, for Unix an ansi terminal. A few other terminal types are always available, see below |builtin_terms|. You can give the terminal name with the '-T' Vim argument. If it is not given Vim will try to get the name from the TERM environment variable. *termcap* *terminfo* On Unix the terminfo database or termcap file is used. This is referred to as "termcap" in all the documentation. At compile time, when running configure, the choice whether to use terminfo or termcap is done automatically. When running Vim the output of ":version" will show "+terminfo" if terminfo is used. If terminfo is not used "-terminfo" is shown. On non-Unix systems a termcap is only available if Vim was compiled with TERMCAP defined. *builtin_terms* Which builtin terminals are available depends on a few defines in feature.h, which needs to be set at compile time: define output of ":version" terminals builtin NO_BUILTIN_TCAPS -builtin_terms none SOME_BUILTIN_TCAPS +builtin_terms most common ones (default) ALL_BUILTIN_TCAPS ++builtin_terms all available You can see a list of available builtin terminals with ":set term=xxx". If the termcap code is included Vim will try to get the strings for the terminal you are using from the termcap file and the builtin termcaps. Both are always used, if an entry for the terminal you are using is present. Which one is used first depends on the 'ttybuiltin' option: 'ttybuiltin' on 1: builtin termcap 2: external termcap 'ttybuiltin' off 1: external termcap 2: builtin termcap If an option is missing in one of them, it will be obtained from the other one. If an option is present in both, the one first encountered is used. Which external termcap file is used varies from system to system and may depend on the environment variables "TERMCAP" and "TERMPATH". See "man tgetent". For normal editing the terminal will be put into "raw" mode. The strings defined with 't_ti' and 't_ks' will be sent to the terminal. Normally this puts the terminal in a state where the termcap codes are valid and activates the cursor and function keys. When Vim exits the terminal will be put back into the mode it was before Vim started. The strings defined with 't_te' and 't_ke' will be sent to the terminal. On the Amiga with commands that execute an external command (e.g., "!!") the terminal will be put into Normal mode for a moment. This means that you can stop the output to the screen by hitting a printing key. Output resumes when you hit . *cs7-problem* Note: If the terminal settings are changed after running Vim, you might have an illegal combination of settings. This has been reported on Solaris 2.5 with "stty cs8 parenb", which is restored as "stty cs7 parenb". Use "stty cs8 -parenb -istrip" instead, this is restored correctly. Some termcap entries are wrong in the sense that after sending 't_ks' the cursor keys send codes different from the codes defined in the termcap. To avoid this you can set 't_ks' (and 't_ke') to empty strings. This must be done during initialization (see 3.4 |initialization|), otherwise its too late. Some termcap entries assume that the highest bit is always reset. For example: The cursor-up entry for the amiga could be ":ku=\EA:". But the Amiga really sends "\233A". This works fine if the highest bit is reset, e.g., when using an Amiga over a serial line. If the cursor keys don't work, try the entry ":ku=\233A:". Some termcap entries have the entry ":ku=\E[A:". But the Amiga really sends "\233A". On output "\E[" and "\233" are often equivalent, on input they aren't. You will have to change the termcap entry, or change the key code with the :set command to fix this. Many cursor key codes start with an . Vim must find out if this a single hit of the key or the start of a cursor key sequence. It waits for a next character to arrive. If it does not arrive within one second a single is assumed. On very slow systems this may fail, causing cursor keys not to work sometimes. If you discover this problem reset the 'timeout' option. Vim will wait for the next character to arrive after an . If you want to enter a single you must type it twice. Resetting the 'esckeys' option avoids this problems in Insert mode, but you lose the possibility to use cursor and function keys in Insert mode. On the Amiga the recognition of window resizing is activated only when the terminal name is "amiga" or "builtin_amiga". Some terminals have confusing codes for the cursor keys. The televideo 925 is such a terminal. It sends a CTRL-H for cursor-left. This would make it impossible to distinguish a backspace and cursor-left. To avoid this problem CTRL-H is never recognized as cursor-left. *vt100_cursor_keys* *xterm_cursor_keys* Other terminals (e.g., vt100 and xterm) have cursor keys that send OA, OB, etc. Unfortunately these are valid commands in insert mode: Stop insert, Open a new line above the new one, start inserting 'A', 'B', etc. Instead of performing these commands Vim will recognize this key sequence as a cursor key movement. To avoid this you could use these settings: :set notimeout " don't timeout on mappings :set ttimeout " do timeout on terminal key codes :set timeoutlen=100 " timemout in 100 msec This requires the keys to be hit withing 100msec. When you type you normally are not that fast. The cursor key codes arrive within 100 msec, so they are still recognized. The default termcap entry for xterm on sun and other platforms does not contain the entry for scroll regions. Add ":cs=\E[%i%d;%dr:" to the xterm entry in /etc/termcap and everything should work. *xterm_end_home_keys* On some systems (at least on FreeBSD with X386 3.1.2) the codes that the and keys send contain a character. To make these keys send the proper key code, add these lines to your ~/.Xdefaults file: *VT100.Translations: #override \n\ Home: string("0x1b") string("[7~") \n\ End: string("0x1b") string("[8~") ============================================================================== 2. Terminal options *terminal_options* The terminal options can be set just like normal options. But they are not shown with the ":set all" command. Instead use ":set termcap". It is always possible to change individual strings by setting the appropriate option. For example: :set t_ce=^V^[[K (CTRL-V, , [, K) {Vi: no terminal options. You have to exit Vi, edit the termcap entry and try again} The options are listed below. The associated termcap code is always equal to the last two characters of the option name. Two termcap codes are required: Cursor positioning and clear screen. The options 't_da', 't_db', 't_ms', 't_xs' represent flags in the termcap. When the termcap flag is present, the option will be set to "y". But any non-empty string means that the flag is set. An empty string means that the flag is set. 't_CS' works like this too, but it isn't a termcap flag. OUTPUT CODES option meaning t_AB set background color (ANSI) *t_AB* *'t_AB'* t_AF set foreground color (ANSI) *t_AF* *'t_AF'* t_AL add number of blank lines *t_AL* *'t_AL'* t_al add new blank line *t_al* *'t_al'* t_bc backspace character *t_bc* *'t_bc'* t_cd clear to end of screen *t_cd* *'t_cd'* t_ce clear to end of line *t_ce* *'t_ce'* t_cl clear screen (required!) *t_cl* *'t_cl'* t_cm cursor motion (required!) *t_cm* *'t_cm'* t_Co number of colors *t_Co* *'t_Co'* t_CS if non-empty, cursor relative to scroll region *t_CS* *'t_CS'* t_cs define scrolling region *t_cs* *'t_cs'* t_da if non-empty, lines from above scroll down *t_da* *'t_da'* t_db if non-empty, lines from below scroll up *t_db* *'t_db'* t_DL delete number of lines *t_DL* *'t_DL'* t_dl delete line *t_dl* *'t_dl'* t_ke out of "keypad transmit" mode *t_ke* *'t_ke'* t_ks put terminal in "keypad transmit" mode *t_ks* *'t_ks'* t_mb blinking mode *t_mb* *'t_mb'* t_md bold mode *t_md* *'t_md'* t_me Normal mode (undoes t_mr, t_mb and t_md) *t_me* *'t_me'* t_mr reverse (invert) mode *t_mr* *'t_mr'* *t_ms* *'t_ms'* t_ms if non-empty, cursor can be moved in standout/inverse mode t_RI cursor number of chars right *t_RI* *'t_RI'* t_Sb set background color *t_Sb* *'t_Sb'* t_Sf set foreground color *t_Sf* *'t_Sf'* t_se standout end *t_se* *'t_se'* t_so standout mode *t_so* *'t_so'* t_sr scroll reverse (backward) *t_sr* *'t_sr'* t_te out of "termcap" mode *t_te* *'t_te'* t_ti put terminal in "termcap" mode *t_ti* *'t_ti'* t_ue underline end *t_ue* *'t_ue'* t_us underline mode *t_us* *'t_us'* t_vb visual bell *t_vb* *'t_vb'* t_ve cursor visible *t_ve* *'t_ve'* t_vi cursor invisible *t_vi* *'t_vi'* t_vs cursor very visible *t_vs* *'t_vs'* *t_xs* *'t_xs'* t_xs if non-empty, standout not erased by overwriting (hpterm) t_ZH italics mode *t_ZH* *'t_ZH'* t_ZR italics end *t_ZR* *'t_ZR'* KEY CODES Note: Use the <> form if possible option name meaning t_ku arrow up *t_ku* *'t_ku'* t_kd arrow down *t_kd* *'t_kd'* t_kr arrow right *t_kr* *'t_kr'* t_kl arrow left *t_kl* *'t_kl'* shift arrow up shift arrow down t_%i shift arrow right *t_%i* *'t_%i'* t_#4 shift arrow left *t_#4* *'t_#4'* t_k1 function key 1 *t_k1* *'t_k1'* t_k2 function key 2 *t_k2* *'t_k2'* t_k3 function key 3 *t_k3* *'t_k3'* t_k4 function key 4 *t_k4* *'t_k4'* t_k5 function key 5 *t_k5* *'t_k5'* t_k6 function key 6 *t_k6* *'t_k6'* t_k7 function key 7 *t_k7* *'t_k7'* t_k8 function key 8 *t_k8* *'t_k8'* t_k9 function key 9 *t_k9* *'t_k9'* t_k; function key 10 *t_k;* *'t_k;'* t_F1 function key 11 *t_F1* *'t_F1'* t_F2 function key 12 *t_F2* *'t_F2'* shifted function key 2 shifted function key 3 shifted function key 4 shifted function key 5 shifted function key 6 shifted function key 7 shifted function key 8 shifted function key 9 shifted function key 10 shifted function key 11 shifted function key 12 t_%1 help key *t_%1* *'t_%1'* t_&8 undo key *t_&8* *'t_&8'* t_kI insert key *t_kI* *'t_kI'* t_kD delete key *t_kD* *'t_kD'* t_kb backspace key *t_kb* *'t_kb'* t_kh home key *t_kh* *'t_kh'* t_@7 end key *t_@7* *'t_@7'* t_kP page-up key *t_kP* *'t_kP'* t_kN page-down key *t_kN* *'t_kN'* t_K1 keypad home key *t_K1* *'t_K1'* t_K4 keypad end key *t_K4* *'t_K4'* t_K3 keypad page-up key *t_K3* *'t_K3'* t_K5 keypad page-down key *t_K5* *'t_K5'* Note about t_so and t_mr: When the termcap entry "so" is not present the entry for "mr" is used. And vice versa. The same is done for "se" and "me". If your terminal supports both inversion and standout mode, you can see two different modes. If you terminal supports only one of the modes, both will look the same. *termcap-colors* Note about colors: The 't_Co' option tells Vim the number of colors available. When it is non-zero, the 't_AB' and 't_AF' options are used to set the color. If one of these is not available, 't_Sb' and 't_Sf' are used. If inversion or other highlighting does not work correctly, try setting the 't_xs' option to a non-empty string. This makes the 't_ce' code be used to remove highlighting from a line. Setting the 'weirdinvert' option has the same effect as making 't_xs' non-empty, and vise versa. Some termcaps do not include an entry for 'cs' (scroll region), although the terminal does support it. For example: xterm on a sun. You can use the builtin_xterm or define t_cs yourself. For example: :set t_cs=^V^[[%i%d;%dr Where ^V is CTRL-V and ^[ is . Unfortunately it is not possible to deduct from the termcap how cursor positioning should be done when using a scrolling region: Relative to the beginning of the screen or relative to the beginning of the scrolling region. Most terminals use the first method. A known exception is the MS-DOS console (pcterm). The 't_CS' option should be set to any string when cursor positioning is relative to the start of the scrolling region. It should be set to an empty string otherwise. It is default "yes" when 'term' is "pcterm". Note for xterm users: The shifted cursor keys normally don't work. You can make them work with the xmodmap command and some mappings in Vim. Give these commands in the xterm: xmodmap -e "keysym Up = Up F13" xmodmap -e "keysym Down = Down F16" xmodmap -e "keysym Left = Left F18" xmodmap -e "keysym Right = Right F19" And use these mappings in Vim: :map :map! :map :map! :map :map! :map :map! Instead of, say, you can use any other command that you want to use the shift-cursor-up key for. (Note: To help people that have a Sun keyboard with left side keys F14 is not used because it is confused with the undo key; F15 is not used, because it does a window-to-front; F17 is not used, because it closes the window. On other systems you can probably use them) ============================================================================== 3. Window size *window_size* [This is about the size of the whole window Vim is using, not a window that is created with the :split command] If you are running Vim on an Amiga and the terminal name is "amiga" or "builtin_amiga", the amiga-specific window resizing will be enabled. On Unix systems three methods are tried to get the window size: - an ioctl call (TIOCGSIZE or TIOCGWINSZ, depends on your system) - the environment variables "LINES" and "COLUMNS" - from the termcap entries "li" and "co" If everything fails a default size of 24 lines and 80 columns is assumed. If a window-resize signal is received the size will be set again. If the window size is wrong you can use the 'lines' and 'columns' options to set the correct values. One command can be used to set the screen size: *:mod* *:mode* :mod[e] [mode] Without argument this only detects the screen size. With MS-DOS it is possible to switch screen mode. [mode] can be one of these values: "bw40" 40 columns black&white "c40" 40 columns color "bw80" 80 columns black&white "c80" 80 columns color (most people use this) "mono" 80 columns monochrome "c4350" 43 or 50 lines EGA/VGA mode number mode number to use, depends on your video card ============================================================================== 4. Slow and fast terminals *slow_fast_terminal* *slow_terminal* If you have a fast terminal you may like to set the 'ruler' option. The cursor position is shown in the status line. If you are using horizontal scrolling ('wrap' option off) consider setting 'sidescroll' to a small number. If you have a slow terminal you may want to reset the 'showcmd' option. The command characters will not be shown in the status line. If the terminal scrolls very slowly, set the 'scrolljump' to 5 or so. If the cursor is moved off the screen (e.g., with "j") Vim will scroll 5 lines at a time. Another possibility is to reduce the number of lines that Vim uses with the command "z". If the characters from the terminal are arriving with more than 1 second between them you might want to set the 'timeout' and/or 'ttimeout' option. See the "Options" chapter |options|. If your terminal does not support a scrolling region, but it does support insert/delete line commands, scrolling with multiple windows may make the lines jump up and down. If you don't want this set the 'ttyfast' option. This will redraw the window instead of scroll it. If your terminal scrolls very slowly, but redrawing is not slow, set the 'ttyscroll' option to a small number, e.g., 3. This will make Vim redraw the screen instead of scrolling, when there are more than 3 lines to be scrolled. If you are using Vim over a slow serial line, you might want to try running Vim inside the "screen" program. Screen will optimize the terminal I/O quite a bit. If you are testing termcap options, but you cannot see what is happening, you might want to set the 'writedelay' option. When non-zero, one character is sent to the terminal at a time (does not work for MS-DOS). This makes the screen updating a lot slower, making it possible to see what is happening. *hpterm* When you are using an hpterm you probably run into a few problems. The best thing to do is to use an xterm instead. If you want to use an hpterm for some reason, try (re)setting some options: :set t_sr= :set t_al= :set t_dl= :set ttyfast redraw screen instead of scrolling :set weirdinvert makes highlighting work better, but slows down screen updating a lot 20.5 Settings depending on terminal *term_dependent_settings* If you want to set options or mappings, depending on the terminal name, you can do this best before starting Vim. Use commands in your .login or .cshrc to change the behaviour of Vim. The most easy way is to change the VIMINIT environment variable, depending on the value of $TERM. Example: case "$TERM" in console) export VIMINIT="so ~/.vimrc.con" xterm) export VIMINIT="so ~/.vimrc.X" vt[12]*) export VIMINIT="so ~/.vimrc.dec" *) export VIMINIT="so ~/.vimrc.common" esac These commands need to be adjusted for the shell you are using. The "~/.vimrc.con", "~/.vimrc.X" and "~/.vimrc.doc" files can contain a line "so ~/.vimrc.common", to include the common settings for all terminals. ============================================================================== 5. Using the mouse *mouse_using* This section is about using the mouse on a terminal or a terminal window. How to use the mouse in a GUI window is explained in |gui_mouse|. Don't forget to do ":set mouse=a", otherwise Vim won't recognize the mouse in all modes (See 'mouse'). Currently the mouse is supported for Unix in an xterm window and for MS-DOS. Mouse clicks can be used to position the cursor, select the Visual area and paste. There are no menus, use the GUI version for that. The characters in the 'mouse' option tell in which situations the mouse will be used by Vim: n Normal mode v Visual mode i Insert mode c Command-line mode h all previous modes when in a help file a all previous modes r for "Hit return ..." question The default for 'mouse' is empty, the mouse is not used. Normally you would do :set mouse=a to start using the mouse (this is equivalent to setting 'mouse' to "nvich"). If you only want to use the mouse in a few modes or also want to use it for the two questions you will have to concatenate the letters for those modes. For example: :set mouse=nv Will make the mouse work in Normal mode and Visual mode. :set mouse=h Will make the mouse work in help files only (so you can use "g" to jump to tags). In an xterm, with the currently active mode included in the 'mouse' option, normal mouse clicks are used by Vim, mouse clicks with the shift or ctrl key pressed go the the xterm. With the currently active mode not included in 'mouse' all mouse clicks go to the xterm. Here is how you copy and paste a piece of text: Copy/paste with the mouse and Visual mode ('mouse' option must be set, see above): 1. Press left mouse button on first letter of text, move mouse pointer to last letter of the text and release the button. This will start Visual mode and highlight the selected area. 2. Press "y" to yank the Visual text in the unnamed register. 3. Click the left mouse button at the insert position. 4. Click the middle mouse button. Shortcut: If the insert position is on the screen at the same time as the Visual text, you can do 2, 3 and 4 all in one: Click the middle mouse button at the insert position. *xterm_copy_paste* NOTE: In some (older) xterms, it's not possible to move the cursor past column 95. This is an xterm problem, not Vim's. Copy/paste in xterm with (current mode NOT included in 'mouse'): 1. Press left mouse button on first letter of text, move mouse pointer to last letter of the text and release the button. 2. Use normal Vim commands to put the cursor at the insert position. 3. Press "a" to start Insert mode. 4. Click the middle mouse button. 5. Press ESC to end Insert mode. (The same can be done with anything in 'mouse' if you keep the shift key pressed while using the mouse) Note: if you lose the 8th bit when pasting (special characters are translated into other characters), you may have to do "stty cs8 -istrip -parenb" in your shell before starting Vim. Thus in an xterm the shift and ctrl keys cannot be used with the mouse. To make it possible to do the mouse commands that require the ctrl modifier, the "g" key can be typed before using the mouse: "g" is " (jump to tag under mouse click) "g" is " ("CTRL-T") A short overview of what the mouse buttons do: Normal Mode: event position Visual change action cursor window yes end yes yes end yes "CTRL-]" (2) yes no change yes "*" (2) ** yes start or extend (1) no ** yes start or extend (1) no yes if not active no put yes if active no yank and put yes start or extend yes yes no change yes "#" (2) ** no no change no "CTRL-T" yes extend no ** yes extend no ** Insert or Replace Mode: event position Visual change action cursor window yes (cannot be active) yes yes (cannot be active) yes "CTRL-O^]" (2) yes (cannot be active) yes "CTRL-O*" (2) yes start or extend (1) no like CTRL-O (1) yes start or extend (1) no like CTRL-O (1) no (cannot be active) no put register yes start or extend yes like CTRL-O yes (cannot be active) yes "CTRL-O#" (2) no (cannot be active) no "CTRL-O CTRL-T" In a help window: event position Visual change action cursor window <2-LeftMouse> yes (cannot be active) no "^]" (jump to help tag) (1) only if mouse pointer moved since press (2) only if click is in same buffer Clicking the left mouse button causes the cursor to be positioned. If the click is in another window that window is made the active window. When editing the command line the cursor can only be positioned on the command line. When in Insert mode Vim remains in Insert mode. If 'scrolloff' is set, and the cursor is positioned within 'scrolloff' lines from the window border, the text is scrolled. A Visual area can be selected by pressing the left mouse button on the first character, moving the mouse to the last character, then releasing the mouse button. You will not always see the Visual selection until you release the button, only in some versions (GUI, MS-DOS, WIN32) will the dragging be shown immediately. Note that you can make the text scroll by moving the mouse at least one character in the first/last line in the window when 'scrolloff' is non-zero. In Normal and Visual mode clicking the right mouse button causes the Visual area to be extended. When clicking in a window which is editing another buffer, the Visual mode is stopped. Double, triple and quadruple clicks are supported when the GUI is active, for MS-DOS and Win32, and for an xterm (if the gettimeofday() function is available). Double clicking may be done to make the selection word-wise, triple clicking makes it line-wise, and quadruple clicking makes it rectangular block-wise. For MS-DOS and xterm the time for double clicking can be set with the 'mousetime' option. For the other systems this time is defined outside of Vim. In Insert mode, when a Visual area is selected, Vim goes into Normal mode temporarily. When Visual mode ends, it returns to Insert mode. This is like using CTRL-O in Insert mode. *drag_status_line* When working with several windows, the size of the windows can be changed by dragging the status line with the mouse. Point the mouse at a status line, press the left button, move the mouse to the new position of the status line, release the button. Just clicking the mouse in a status line makes that window the current window, without moving the cursor. If by selecting a window it will change position or size, the dragging of the status line will look confusing, but it will work (just try it). Mouse clicks can be mapped. The codes for mouse clicks are: code mouse button normal action left pressed set cursor position left moved while pressed extend Visual area left released set Visual area end middle pressed paste text at cursor position middle moved while pressed - middle released - right pressed extend Visual area right moved while pressed extend Visual area right released set Visual area end Examples: :noremap Paste at the position of the middle mouse button click (otherwise the paste would be done at the cursor position). :noremap y Immediately yank the Visually highlighted text. Note the use of ":noremap" instead of "map" to avoid a recursive mapping. *mouse_swap_buttons* To swap the meaning of the left and right mouse buttons: :noremap :noremap :noremap :noremap :noremap :noremap :noremap g :noremap g :noremap! :noremap! :noremap! :noremap! :noremap! :noremap! vim:tw=78:ts=8:sw=8: