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For files of a certain filetype, specifying "file-type-specific" mappings is simple.

  • If Vim opens a fill and return filetype=python after issuing command :set filetype? through command-line (native to Vim), then python-specific mappings could be defined directly through ~/ftplugin/python.vim;

  • However, where shall I specify the mappings for files that return filetype= after issuing command :set filetype?. This applies to cases where one does not give a file any extension.

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4 Answers 4

Reset to default
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As Luc said, you would have to use an autocmd:

augroup NoFileType
  autocmd!
  autocmd BufNewFile,BufRead * if &filetype ==# '' | setlocal filetype=noft | endif
  autocmd FileType noft echom 'No file type!'
augroup END

Or just add this to ftdetect/noft.vim:

autocmd BufNewFile,BufRead * if &filetype ==# '' | set filetype=noft | endif

Then you can add mappings in ftplugin/noft.vim.

Also see this question about detecting an empty file at startup.

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  • Instead of adding the one-liner to ftdetect/noft.vim, I dropped it directly to a *.vim file that is sourced when my Vim starts. Then, as you have described, dropping arbitrary settings into the ftplugin/noft.vim shall work for "headless" files.
    – llinfeng
    Commented Aug 20, 2017 at 13:14
  • You might want wrap your auto commands with in at least one augroup: executing autocmd! clears the current group, otherwise a new autocmd copy is created each time the file is sourced. You can inspect a group with :verbose au GroupName. See this question and :h 40.3 for more details. Using ftdetect/*.vim takes care of the autocmd namespacing.
    – LEI
    Commented Aug 20, 2017 at 13:40
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An autocmd is not necessarly needed. Using <expr>, a check on filetype can do it too:

nnoremap <expr> <Leader>M &filetype == '' ? ":echo 'Example'<CR>" : ""

With :h <expr>, the mapping is set to the result of the expression on the right-hand side.

Here, if &filetype is empty, it will be set to :echo 'Example'<cr>. Else, it will be set to nothing.

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0

I would define a autocommand for all buffers that'd test for the filetype. I'm afraid there is no other way.

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  • OH, is it a function that may return a binary outcome variable after comparing the return value of :set filetype? against an empty string? I am afraid I don't know Vim script well enough to construct such function/autocommand on top of my head.
    – llinfeng
    Commented Mar 21, 2017 at 12:57
  • In the autocommand you could indeed write something like if empty (&ft) | runtime ftplugin/nofiletype/*.vim | endif for instance.
    – Luc Hermitte
    Commented Mar 21, 2017 at 19:15
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Depending on your use case for such feature, if you just don't want to have that mapping in files with a type, then you can set normal mapping and autocommand for any filetype that will remove that mapping:

nnoremap <Leader>M :echo "Example"<CR>

autocmd FileType * :nnoremap <buffer> <Leader>M <NOP>

This can have side effects if you would like to reuse that mapping in a file with a type - I'm not sure if it will work then (race condintion)

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1
  • That will actually change whatever filetype was set to notype - rather not something that one would like to do.
    – grodzik
    Commented Apr 20, 2017 at 18:41

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