Questions tagged [help-system]
Questions about Vim's built-in help system, which is accessible through the :help command
60
questions
10
votes
2answers
2k views
2
votes
1answer
52 views
help {subject} path precedence
:h {subject} reads
If there is no full match for the pattern, or there
are several matches, the "best" match will be used.
A sophisticated algorithm is used to decide which
match is better than ...
1
vote
1answer
49 views
Why are helptags not shipped with plugins?
Part of the job performed by virtually all plugin managers in Vim is to create helptags, which will index the help files shipped with the plugins and will allow searching for commands and mappings ...
1
vote
0answers
20 views
Ctrl-] matching single word in custom tags
When using vim's help I can jump to multi-word tags, but when creating my own tags Ctrl-] tries to match individual words. Consider the following example:
file.txt
|a-tag|
*a-tag*
When ...
0
votes
0answers
45 views
How do I create the help system for Vim?
I built Vim from source and unfortunately when doing this the help system is not created (in other words you get an error if you execute :h). What is the procedure for creating the help system?
This ...
0
votes
0answers
45 views
BufRead autocmd error for “*.*” and E45
I have vim version 7.4.1689. It was running quite smoothly. But recently I noticed a problem that I didn't have before. Whenever I run :help <something> in command mode the following error shows ...
0
votes
0answers
27 views
install / repair help system
I built vim from source on Arch Linux and the help system is not present. I do not see any help-related options when I do vim --version.
I assume it is either broken somehow or not installed. How can ...
0
votes
2answers
29 views
How to go to different matching entry in vim's help [duplicate]
Example: I tried finding out about foldclose because it sounded strange to me that it isn't a binary setting but still only knows the value "all". I typed :h foldclose and landed on a description of ...
1
vote
1answer
95 views
Best practices and tools for documenting vimscript functions?
I have quickly skimmed through :h user-functions and a couple random vim plugins and all I could find were patterns like
" one-line short function description
function foo()
<function body here&...
0
votes
2answers
60 views
Help for filetype specifics
I often find myself jotting notes in Vim using an empty buffer which in this case has 'no ft' (status line).
I know I could set the filetype with :setfiletype text but I honestly wonder what that ...
3
votes
1answer
2k views
Generating help tags for packages that are loaded by Vim 8's package management
I have a few packages installed in my ~/.vim/pack/default/start directory, for example Tabular and Unicode. After starting up vim I can use these packages but cannot access their help information. ...
0
votes
0answers
52 views
How to create man-pages and link them like in vim help system?
I would like to create documentation just like vim-help system . Multiple .txt files with links and cross references and where I can jump foreward CTRL+] and back using CTRL+T. How is it done?
2
votes
1answer
76 views
Where are the French help files?
Background: I'm an english-speaking, francophone student. In an effort to improve my vocabulary, my MacBook has been running in French since January, when I arrived in France. Incidentally, this means ...
0
votes
2answers
69 views
How do you get help with operators?
How can I get help on operators as opposed to normal mode commands? For example, if I type the following:
:h .
Then I will get the help on the normal mode dot command, not on the string ...
2
votes
1answer
91 views
Helptags has unexpected behavior if tag has hyphen
I'm creating a plugin and I'm writing its documentation according to :helptags. However I cannot link my tags if they have an hyphen in them. The strange thing is that help-writing itself has a hyphen ...
1
vote
2answers
338 views
vimscript: get result of cmdline-completion Ctrl-a
Need a function that,
returns a string, which is result of cmdline-completion Ctrl-a, i.e.,
a list of words seperated by space.
given an input string of partial ex-command.
For example,
given :h ...
-5
votes
1answer
72 views
What is the command for indenting code in vim with syntastic plugin? [closed]
I need to know how to reindent the code with syntastic.
I have tried using:
:call Retab() ## it is showing it's invalid
:call GetPythonIndent(v:lnum)
I need a plugin support.Plz don't provide ...
2
votes
2answers
296 views
Piping to vim vs vim -
When I pipe text to vim I discovered that by using:
cat somefile | vim -
it works properly, whereas:
cat somefile | vim
makes a mess of the code. For example, type:
cat test.pl | vim
where test....
3
votes
1answer
349 views
Plugin help files not found
I am on windows 10 and installed pathogen into home/vimfiles/autoload, and as far as I know all went well. Following the directions here, I installed nerdcommenter. I restarted gvim, tried :help ...
1
vote
2answers
365 views
Setting custom statusline for help window
I've been trying to set a custom statusline for help files. I tried:
set statusline=%!StatusLine()
function! StatusLine()
if &ft == 'help'
let b:status = "%#error#[HELP]%*"
else
...
0
votes
2answers
205 views
Is there a help plugin which can behave like guake for vim?
I am new to VIM and have been looking for a feature/plugin like guake for terminals wherein I could open the help functionality in a dropdown box without typing :q to close the vim help menu.
If ...
1
vote
1answer
51 views
Linking to documentation in a comment
I'd like to provide anyone reading my plugin in Vim a direct link to the help article on command-completion
At the moment, I'm simply saying " :help command-completion but i'd love to do something ...
0
votes
0answers
22 views
Invoke vi help from bash without starting Vim [duplicate]
How do I invoke the vi help while I am in bash without starting a vi session?
6
votes
1answer
272 views
What does `*foo* *[foo]*` mean in the vim help system?
When searching the help for "count", :h count I'm shown the help page:
*count* *[count]*
[count] An optional number that may precede the command to multiply
or ...
0
votes
1answer
68 views
Weird text in Vim help files
I found this in my help files. What does it mean? Why is it there?
vim:tw=78:fo=tcq2:isk=!-~,^*,^\|,^\":ts=8:ft=help:norl:
1
vote
2answers
139 views
Full width Vim help text
Is it possible to view the help in Vim at a text width greater than 77 characters? Can Vim reflow the help text?
9
votes
1answer
291 views
reference / documentation in vim
I assume the only documentation that comes with vim are about vim.
If I install plugins there will be documentations of the plugins as well.
But are there documentations for other languages in vim?
...
1
vote
0answers
595 views
How to see the complete default mapping in Vim? [duplicate]
I know about :map but I want to list the complete default mapping list with the associated help for each mapping.
Otherwise I need to test each command manually such as :help CTRL-B
Is there any ...
0
votes
1answer
68 views
How to install vimtex.txt helpfile properly?
I'm using pathogen (from the Ubuntu 16.04 vim-pathogen package) and a git clone of vimtex in ~/.vim/bundle/vimtex/. Now :help vimtex does not work. I can read ~/.vim/bundle/vimtex/doc/vimtex.txt, but ...
8
votes
1answer
1k views
Prevent vim closing the editor when the last window/splits are help pages
When I am working in vim, I often have a split, or splits, open containing a help files.
If I close other windows using :q such that vim would be left in a state with only help windows open, vim ...
5
votes
2answers
144 views
What prevents the cursor from moving to the first column on some help files?
I recently noticed that on some help files it is not possible to move the cursor to the very first column of some lines. To explain it clearly, here is a screenshot where I have done the following:
...
6
votes
2answers
636 views
Jump to next identifier in Vim help files
I regularly find myself in the situation that I am reading a help topic and see an identifier (the blue underlined words) that I want to follow with <C-]>. However, most of the time the ...
5
votes
1answer
126 views
What does “tag” mean in the context of Vim's help window?
I ran :help index to find out about key mappings and it's great, but there's one thing I don't get. At the top it says...
This file contains a list of all commands for each mode, with a tag and a
...
4
votes
0answers
50 views
Is it possible to look up a command that takes no arguments?
Is there a way to use :help to find commands that take arguments vs. no arguments?
For example: :map (w/o arguments) can list the key mappings for various modes. However, :help :map leads me to :map ...
2
votes
0answers
66 views
escaping a character included in a conceal command vimscript
I'm playing with conceal in help files to highlight / colour specific text strings which was working fine until I added the :print: example below.
Using this concealed all the : as expected so I ...
1
vote
1answer
59 views
Folded display of help files?
I often find navigation of :help files to be cumbersome. Given that they are mostly structured information, is there an existing way of using this structure for initially folded display?
E.g. after ...
3
votes
1answer
616 views
Modeline folding not working on help file
I'm writing a helpfile for a plugin, i.e. a foo.txt file that goes in the plugin's doc/ directory. At the bottom of that file I placed the following modeline:
vim: tw=70 ft=help fdm=marker fmr={{{,}}...
2
votes
2answers
121 views
Ctrl-] to open relevant help straight from .vimrc
I am trying to get use the help files more, and therefore I would like to make so I can just put the cursor over a setting in my .vimrc and press Ctrl-] to open the relevant section in the help files.
...
0
votes
1answer
126 views
Is it possible to generate help tags with readonly '/usr'?
I have readonly /usr partition and :helptags returns an error about not being able to write to /usr/share/vim/vim74/doc. Is it possible to specify additional/another directory for help tags?
2
votes
1answer
166 views
Is there a way to disable Vim from creating a new buffer every time I jump to a hyperlinked page within Vim Help pages?
I have setup my Vim Help to appear as a listed buffer for my ease of quick access and return to same page. The problem I face is that every time I jump around in Vim Help page using Ctrl-] a new Vim-...
3
votes
1answer
148 views
What are these `E88` shortcuts in the manual?
I'm using gvim version 7.4.205 for Windows, if that matters.
If I type :help :bp, it shows the help for :bN and :bp:
:[N]bN[ext][!] [N] *:bN* *:bNext* *:bp* *:bprevious* *E88*
:[N]bp[...
17
votes
4answers
2k views
How can I make Vim open help in a vertical split?
I usually work in a drop-down terminal, running about 25 characters high. Since I prefer tabs to windows1, usually a lot of horizontal space is wasted - around half of the terminal width.
On top of ...
5
votes
3answers
165 views
How can I quickly convert a Vim help tag to a vimhelp.appspot.com link?
One thing I often do here is to add links to documentation when writing :he foo, and I usually link to http://vimhelp.appspot.com. The problem is, that site's search is about slightly worse than the ...
9
votes
2answers
2k views
Change vimtutor language
My vimtutor is in portuguese. I don't know why, because my Windows OS is in english, so as everything else. I don't remember to have chosen "portuguese" anywhere in the vim installing process.
How do ...
5
votes
2answers
888 views
Opening built-in cheat sheet [duplicate]
Every now and then when I try to quit vim, I incidentally open window with command cheat sheet as in attached picture. How do I do this and how is it called?
25
votes
3answers
4k views
Learning Vim after vimtutor
What should the next steps to learning Vim be, after completing vimtutor? I've watched videos on YouTube, read tutorials online and questions/answers on SE, and am busy reading Practical Vim.
Are ...
12
votes
2answers
676 views
How do I generate Vim documentation from Markdown notes or inline comments, or are there better ways to add documentation?
This is kind of two questions in one. Lately I've been spending a lot of time learning vimscript in-depth, learning vim's internals & taking my first steps writing vim plugins. During this process,...
4
votes
1answer
478 views
Open help windows in new buffer instead of split windows
Some time ago I found an interesting trick on Damian Conway's vimrc
which allows to open help files in new tabs instead of split windows.
The code is the following:
"Only apply to .txt files...
...
4
votes
2answers
643 views
How can I switch to filetype=txt when entering insert mode for Vim help files?
When writing a Vim help file, it's often useful to set the filetype to help
to show syntax highlighting and such.
But I find this annoying to work with when editing the document due to the
"concealed" ...
4
votes
4answers
205 views
Randomly select a documentation article
I wanted to know if there is some way of fetching a random "article" (maybe article is not the proper term here) from the vim documentation.
I found nearly nothing on the subject on vim documentation ...
