Vim documentation: term
main help file
*term.txt* For Vim version 5.8. Last change: 2000 Dec 02
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|.
NOTE: Most of this is not used when running the |GUI|.
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. Also see |xterm-screens|.
On non-Unix systems a termcap is only available if Vim was compiled with
TERMCAP defined.
*builtin-terms* *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" (when
not running the GUI). Also see |+builtin_terms|.
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".
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 in your .vimrc. Example:
if &term == "xterm"
... xterm maps and settings ...
elseif &term =~ "vt10."
... vt100, vt102 maps and settings ...
endif
*raw-terminal-mode*
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 <BS>.
*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 |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 <Esc>. Vim must find out if this a single
hit of the <Esc> 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
<Esc> 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 <Esc>. If you want to
enter a single <Esc> 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 <Esc>OA,
<Esc>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 erroneously recognize this typed
key sequence as a cursor key movement. To avoid this and make Vim do what you
want in either case 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 key-codes to be send within 100msec in order to recognize
them as a cursor key. When you type you normally are not that fast, so they
are recognized as individual typed commands, even though Vim receives the same
sequence of bytes.
*vt100-function-keys* *xterm-function-keys*
An xterm can send function keys F1 to F4 in two modes: vt100 compatible or
not. Because Vim cannot know what the xterm is sending, both types of keys
are recognized. The same happens for the <Home> and <End> keys.
normal vt100
<F1> t_k1 <Esc>[11~ <xF1> <Esc>OP *<xF1>-xterm*
<F2> t_k2 <Esc>[12~ <xF2> <Esc>OQ *<xF2>-xterm*
<F3> t_k3 <Esc>[13~ <xF3> <Esc>OR *<xF3>-xterm*
<F4> t_k4 <Esc>[14~ <xF4> <Esc>OS *<xF4>-xterm*
<Home> t_kh <Esc>[7~ <xHome> <Esc>OH *<xHome>-xterm*
<End> t_@7 <Esc>[4~ <xEnd> <Esc>OF *<xEnd>-xterm*
When Vim starts, <xF1> is mapped to <F1>, <xF2> to <F2> etc. This means that
by default both codes to the same thing. If you make a mapping for <xF2>,
because your terminal does have two keys, the default mapping is overwritten,
thus you can use the <F2> and <xF2> keys for something different.
*xterm-shifted-keys*
Newer versions of xterm support shifted function keys and special keys. Vim
recognizes most of them. Use ":set termcap" to check which are supported and
what the codes are. Mostly these are not in a termcap, they are only
supported by the builtin_xterm termcap.
*xterm-scroll-region*
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 <End>
and <Home> keys send contain a <Nul> character. To make these keys send the
proper key code, add these lines to your ~/.Xdefaults file:
*VT100.Translations: #override \n\
<Key>Home: string("0x1b") string("[7~") \n\
<Key>End: string("0x1b") string("[8~")
*xterm-8bit*
Xterm can be run in a mode where it uses 8bit escape sequences. The CSI ode
is used instead of <Esc>[. The advantage is that an <Esc> can quickly be
recognized in Insert mode, because it can't be confused with the start of a
special key.
For the builtin termcap entries, Vim checks if the 'term' option contains
"8bit" anywhere. It then uses 8-bit characters for the termcap entries, the
mouse and a few other things. You would normally set $TERM in your shell to
"xterm-8bit" and Vim picks this up and adjusts to the 8-bit setting
automatically.
==============================================================================
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, <Esc>, [, 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 not 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_fs set window title end (from status line) *t_fs* *'t_fs'*
t_ke out of "keypad transmit" mode *t_ke* *'t_ke'*
t_ks put terminal in "keypad transmit" mode *t_ks* *'t_ks'*
t_le move cursor one char left *t_le* *'t_le'*
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_nd non destructive space character *t_nd* *'t_nd'*
t_op reset to original color pair *t_op* *'t_op'*
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_ts set window title start (to status line) *t_ts* *'t_ts'*
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'*
Added by Vim (there are no standard codes for these):
t_IS set icon text start *t_IS* *'t_IS'*
t_IE set icon text end *t_IE* *'t_IE'*
t_WP set window position (Y, X) in pixels *t_WP* *'t_WP'*
t_WS set window size (height, width) in characters *t_WS* *'t_WS'*
t_RV request terminal version string (for xterm) *t_RV* *'t_RV'*
KEY CODES
Note: Use the <> form if possible
option name meaning
t_ku <Up> arrow up *t_ku* *'t_ku'*
t_kd <Down> arrow down *t_kd* *'t_kd'*
t_kr <Right> arrow right *t_kr* *'t_kr'*
t_kl <Left> arrow left *t_kl* *'t_kl'*
<S-Up> shift arrow up
<S-Down> shift arrow down
t_%i <S-Right> shift arrow right *t_%i* *'t_%i'*
t_#4 <S-Left> shift arrow left *t_#4* *'t_#4'*
t_k1 <F1> function key 1 *t_k1* *'t_k1'*
<xF1> alternate F1 *<xF1>*
t_k2 <F2> function key 2 *<F2>* *t_k2* *'t_k2'*
<xF2> alternate F2 *<xF2>*
t_k3 <F3> function key 3 *<F3>* *t_k3* *'t_k3'*
<xF3> alternate F3 *<xF3>*
t_k4 <F4> function key 4 *<F4>* *t_k4* *'t_k4'*
<xF4> alternate F4 *<xF4>*
t_k5 <F5> function key 5 *<F5>* *t_k5* *'t_k5'*
t_k6 <F6> function key 6 *<F6>* *t_k6* *'t_k6'*
t_k7 <F7> function key 7 *<F7>* *t_k7* *'t_k7'*
t_k8 <F8> function key 8 *<F8>* *t_k8* *'t_k8'*
t_k9 <F9> function key 9 *<F9>* *t_k9* *'t_k9'*
t_k; <F10> function key 10 *<F10>* *t_k;* *'t_k;'*
t_F1 <F11> function key 11 *<F11>* *t_F1* *'t_F1'*
t_F2 <F12> function key 12 *<F12>* *t_F2* *'t_F2'*
t_F3 <F13> function key 13 *<F13>* *t_F3* *'t_F3'*
t_F4 <F14> function key 14 *<F14>* *t_F4* *'t_F4'*
t_F5 <F15> function key 15 *<F15>* *t_F5* *'t_F5'*
t_F6 <F16> function key 16 *<F16>* *t_F6* *'t_F6'*
t_F7 <F17> function key 17 *<F17>* *t_F7* *'t_F7'*
t_F8 <F18> function key 18 *<F18>* *t_F8* *'t_F8'*
t_F9 <F19> function key 19 *<F19>* *t_F9* *'t_F9'*
<S-F1> shifted function key 1
<S-xF1> alternate <S-F1> *<S-xF1>*
<S-F2> shifted function key 2 *<S-F2>*
<S-xF2> alternate <S-F2> *<S-xF2>*
<S-F3> shifted function key 3 *<S-F3>*
<S-xF3> alternate <S-F3> *<S-xF3>*
<S-F4> shifted function key 4 *<S-F4>*
<S-xF4> alternate <S-F4> *<S-xF4>*
<S-F5> shifted function key 5 *<S-F5>*
<S-F6> shifted function key 6 *<S-F6>*
<S-F7> shifted function key 7 *<S-F7>*
<S-F8> shifted function key 8 *<S-F8>*
<S-F9> shifted function key 9 *<S-F9>*
<S-F10> shifted function key 10 *<S-F10>*
<S-F11> shifted function key 11 *<S-F11>*
<S-F12> shifted function key 12 *<S-F12>*
<S-Tab> shifted Tab key *<S-Tab>*
t_%1 <Help> help key *t_%1* *'t_%1'*
t_&8 <Undo> undo key *t_&8* *'t_&8'*
t_kI <Insert> insert key *t_kI* *'t_kI'*
t_kD <Del> delete key *t_kD* *'t_kD'*
t_kb <BS> backspace key *t_kb* *'t_kb'*
t_kh <Home> home key *t_kh* *'t_kh'*
t_#2 <S-Home> shifted home key *<S-Home>* *t_#2* *'t_#2'*
<xHome> alternate home key *<xHome>*
t_@7 <End> end key *t_@7* *'t_@7'*
t_*7 <S-End> shifted end key *<S-End>* *t_star7* *'t_star7'*
<xEnd> alternate end key *<xEnd>*
t_kP <PageUp> page-up key *t_kP* *'t_kP'*
t_kN <PageDown> page-down key *t_kN* *'t_kN'*
t_K1 <kHome> keypad home key *t_K1* *'t_K1'*
t_K4 <kEnd> keypad end key *t_K4* *'t_K4'*
t_K3 <kPageUp> keypad page-up key *t_K3* *'t_K3'*
t_K5 <kPageDown> keypad page-down key *t_K5* *'t_K5'*
t_K6 <kPlus> keypad plus key *<kPlus>* *t_K6* *'t_K6'*
t_K7 <kMinus> keypad minus key *<kMinus>* *t_K7* *'t_K7'*
t_K8 <kDivide> keypad divide *<kDivide>* *t_K8* *'t_K8'*
t_K9 <kMultiply> keypad multiply *<kMultiply>* *t_K9* *'t_K9'*
t_KA <kEnter> keypad enter key *<kEnter>* *t_KA* *'t_KA'*
<Mouse> leader of mouse code *<Mouse>*
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.
*termcap-title*
The 't_ts' and 't_fs' options are used to set the window title if the terminal
allows title setting via sending strings. They are sent before and after the
title string, respectively. Similar 't_IS' and 't_IE' are used to set the
icon text. These are Vim-internal extensions of the Unix termcap, so they
cannot be obtained from an external termcap. However, the builtin termcap
contains suitable entries for xterm and iris-ansi, so you don't need to set
them here.
*hpterm*
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. This is required for "hpterm". Setting the
'weirdinvert' option has the same effect as making 't_xs' non-empty, and vice
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 <Esc>.
Unfortunately it is not possible to deduce 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 <t_F3> <S-Up>
:map! <t_F3> <S-Up>
:map <t_F6> <S-Down>
:map! <t_F6> <S-Down>
:map <t_F8> <S-Left>
:map! <t_F8> <S-Left>
:map <t_F9> <S-Right>
:map! <t_F9> <S-Right>
Instead of, say, <S-Up> 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 and redraws the screen.
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{height}<CR>".
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.
==============================================================================
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|. For scrolling
with a mouse wheel see |scroll-mouse-wheel|.
Don't forget to enable the mouse with this commands:
: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, in a Linux
console (with GPM |gpm-mouse|), for MS-DOS and in a Windows console.
Mouse clicks can be used to position the cursor, select an area and paste.
These 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| prompt
A auto-select in Visual mode
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<LeftMouse>" to
jump to tags).
Whether the selection that is started with the mouse is in Visual mode or
Select mode depends on whethere "mouse" in included in the 'selectmode'
option.
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 to the xterm. With the currently active mode not included in
'mouse' all mouse clicks go to the xterm.
*xterm-clipboard*
In the Athena and Motif GUI versions, when running in an xterm and there is
access to the X-server (DISPLAY is set), the copy and paste will behave like
in the GUI. If not, the middle mouse button will insert the unnamed register.
In that case, 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. Get a newer xterm |color-xterm|.
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<LeftMouse>" is "<C-LeftMouse> (jump to tag under mouse click)
"g<RightMouse>" is "<C-RightMouse> ("CTRL-T")
*mouse-mode-table* *mouse-overview*
A short overview of what the mouse buttons do, when 'mousemodel' is "extend":
Normal Mode:
event position selection change action
cursor window
<LeftMouse> yes end yes
<C-LeftMouse> yes end yes "CTRL-]" (2)
<S-LeftMouse> yes no change yes "*" (2) *<S-LeftMouse>*
<LeftDrag> yes start or extend (1) no *<LeftDrag>*
<LeftRelease> yes start or extend (1) no
<MiddleMouse> yes if not active no put
<MiddleMouse> yes if active no yank and put
<RightMouse> yes start or extend yes
<S-RightMouse> yes no change yes "#" (2) *<S-RightMouse>*
<C-RightMouse> no no change no "CTRL-T"
<RightDrag> yes extend no *<RightDrag>*
<RightRelease> yes extend no *<RightRelease>*
Insert or Replace Mode:
event position selection change action
cursor window
<LeftMouse> yes (cannot be active) yes
<C-LeftMouse> yes (cannot be active) yes "CTRL-O^]" (2)
<S-LeftMouse> yes (cannot be active) yes "CTRL-O*" (2)
<LeftDrag> yes start or extend (1) no like CTRL-O (1)
<LeftRelease> yes start or extend (1) no like CTRL-O (1)
<MiddleMouse> no (cannot be active) no put register
<RightMouse> yes start or extend yes like CTRL-O
<S-RightMouse> yes (cannot be active) yes "CTRL-O#" (2)
<C-RightMouse> no (cannot be active) no "CTRL-O CTRL-T"
In a help window:
event position selection change action
cursor window
<2-LeftMouse> yes (cannot be active) no "^]" (jump to help tag)
When 'mousemodel' is "popup", these are different:
Normal Mode:
event position selection change action
cursor window
<S-LeftMouse> yes start or extend (1) no
<RightMouse> no popup menu no
Insert or Replace Mode:
event position selection change action
cursor window
<S-LeftMouse> yes start or extend (1) no like CTRL-O (1)
<RightMouse> no popup menu no
(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 selection can be started 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 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, Visual and Select mode clicking the right mouse button causes the
Visual area to be extended. When 'mousemodel' is "popup", the left button has
to be used while keeping the shift key pressed. When clicking in a window
which is editing another buffer, the Visual or Select mode is stopped.
*double-click*
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). For selecting text, extra clicks extend the selection:
click select
double word *<2-LeftMouse>*
triple line *<3-LeftMouse>*
quadruple rectangular block *<4-LeftMouse>*
Exception: In a Help window a double click jumps to help for the word that is
clicked on.
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.
An example, for using a double click to jump to the tag under the cursor:
:map <2-LeftMouse> :exe "tag ". expand("<cword>")<CR>
*gpm-mouse*
The GPM mouse is only supported when the |+mouse_gpm| feature was enabled at
compile time. The GPM mouse driver (Linux console) does not support quadruple
clicks.
In Insert mode, when a selection is started, Vim goes into Normal mode
temporarily. When Visual or Select mode ends, it returns to Insert mode.
This is like using CTRL-O in Insert mode. Select mode is used when the
'selectmode' option contains "mouse".
*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
<LeftMouse> left pressed set cursor position
<LeftDrag> left moved while pressed extend selection
<LeftRelease> left released set selection end
<MiddleMouse> middle pressed paste text at cursor position
<MiddleDrag> middle moved while pressed -
<MiddleRelease> middle released -
<RightMouse> right pressed extend selection
<RightDrag> right moved while pressed extend selection
<RightRelease> right released set selection end
Examples:
:noremap <MiddleMouse> <LeftMouse><MiddleMouse>
Paste at the position of the middle mouse button click (otherwise the paste
would be done at the cursor position).
:noremap <LeftRelease> <LeftRelease>y
Immediately yank the selection, when using Visual mode.
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 <LeftMouse> <RightMouse>
:noremap <LeftDrag> <RightDrag>
:noremap <LeftRelease> <RightRelease>
:noremap <RightMouse> <LeftMouse>
:noremap <RightDrag> <LeftDrag>
:noremap <RightRelease> <LeftRelease>
:noremap g<LeftMouse> <C-RightMouse>
:noremap g<RightMouse> <C-LeftMouse>
:noremap! <LeftMouse> <RightMouse>
:noremap! <LeftDrag> <RightDrag>
:noremap! <LeftRelease> <RightRelease>
:noremap! <RightMouse> <LeftMouse>
:noremap! <RightDrag> <LeftDrag>
:noremap! <RightRelease> <LeftRelease>
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