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I don't do tabs, so usually my
listchars=tab:▸ ,nbsp:␠,trail:·,precedes:«,extends:»
But it gets annoying with some sources. I'd like to subtract tab: from lcs in some filetypes. I've tried setlocal lcs-=tab (also tab:.*) to no avail.
Short of programatically re-computing lcs, what to do?
Edit: clearing tab: results in ^I's, so maybe I actually want to replace the sub-key, not remove it; nevertheless I'm still curious about the original question
The answer is at :help :set-=:
:se[t] {option}-={value} *:set-=*
Subtract the {value} from a number option, or remove
the {value} from a string option, if it is there.
If the {value} is not found in a string option, there
is no error or warning. When the option is a comma
separated list, a comma is deleted, unless the option
becomes empty.
When the option is a list of flags, {value} must be
exactly as they appear in the option. Remove flags
one by one to avoid problems.
Also see |:set-args| above.
That is, you must use :set listchars-=tab:▸\ (I'm pretty sure the space needs escaped here).
let &listchars = join(filter(split(&listchars, ","), 'v:val !~ "tab:"'), ","):set lcs=<C-R>=&lcs<cr>. Now you have the current value in the commandline and I just use the cursor keys to remove what I do not wantsetl lcs=<tab>which lets me edit the current value, but, like I said, it gets annoying