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|
*autocmd.txt* For Vim version 7.0d. Last change: 2006 Apr 07
VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
Automatic commands *autocommand*
For a basic explanation, see section |40.3| in the user manual.
1. Introduction |autocmd-intro|
2. Defining autocommands |autocmd-define|
3. Removing autocommands |autocmd-remove|
4. Listing autocommands |autocmd-list|
5. Events |autocmd-events|
6. Patterns |autocmd-patterns|
7. Buffer-local autocommands |autocmd-buflocal|
8. Groups |autocmd-groups|
9. Executing autocommands |autocmd-execute|
10. Using autocommands |autocmd-use|
11. Disabling autocommands |autocmd-disable|
{Vi does not have any of these commands}
{only when the |+autocmd| feature has not been disabled at compile time}
==============================================================================
1. Introduction *autocmd-intro*
You can specify commands to be executed automatically when reading or writing
a file, when entering or leaving a buffer or window, and when exiting Vim.
For example, you can create an autocommand to set the 'cindent' option for
files matching *.c. You can also use autocommands to implement advanced
features, such as editing compressed files (see |gzip-example|). The usual
place to put autocommands is in your .vimrc or .exrc file.
*E203* *E204* *E143*
WARNING: Using autocommands is very powerful, and may lead to unexpected side
effects. Be careful not to destroy your text.
- It's a good idea to do some testing on an expendable copy of a file first.
For example: If you use autocommands to decompress a file when starting to
edit it, make sure that the autocommands for compressing when writing work
correctly.
- Be prepared for an error halfway through (e.g., disk full). Vim will mostly
be able to undo the changes to the buffer, but you may have to clean up the
changes to other files by hand (e.g., compress a file that has been
decompressed).
- If the BufRead* events allow you to edit a compressed file, the FileRead*
events should do the same (this makes recovery possible in some rare cases).
It's a good idea to use the same autocommands for the File* and Buf* events
when possible.
==============================================================================
2. Defining autocommands *autocmd-define*
Note: The ":autocmd" command cannot be followed by another command, since any
'|' is considered part of the command.
*:au* *:autocmd*
:au[tocmd] [group] {event} {pat} [nested] {cmd}
Add {cmd} to the list of commands that Vim will
execute automatically on {event} for a file matching
{pat}. Vim always adds the {cmd} after existing
autocommands, so that the autocommands execute in the
order in which they were given. See |autocmd-nested|
for [nested].
The special pattern <buffer> or <buffer=N> defines a buffer-local autocommand.
See |autocmd-buflocal|.
Note that special characters (e.g., "%", "<cword>") in the ":autocmd"
arguments are not expanded when the autocommand is defined. These will be
expanded when the Event is recognized, and the {cmd} is executed. The only
exception is that "<sfile>" is expanded when the autocmd is defined. Example:
>
:au BufNewFile,BufRead *.html so <sfile>:h/html.vim
Here Vim expands <sfile> to the name of the file containing this line.
When your .vimrc file is sourced twice, the autocommands will appear twice.
To avoid this, put this command in your .vimrc file, before defining
autocommands: >
:autocmd! " Remove ALL autocommands for the current group.
If you don't want to remove all autocommands, you can instead use a variable
to ensure that Vim includes the autocommands only once: >
:if !exists("autocommands_loaded")
: let autocommands_loaded = 1
: au ...
:endif
When the [group] argument is not given, Vim uses the current group (as defined
with ":augroup"); otherwise, Vim uses the group defined with [group]. Note
that [group] must have been defined before. You cannot define a new group
with ":au group ..."; use ":augroup" for that.
While testing autocommands, you might find the 'verbose' option to be useful: >
:set verbose=9
This setting makes Vim echo the autocommands as it executes them.
When defining an autocommand in a script, it will be able to call functions
local to the script and use mappings local to the script. When the event is
triggered and the command executed, it will run in the context of the script
it was defined in. This matters if |<SID>| is used in a command.
When executing the commands, the messages from one command overwrites a
previous message. This is different from when executing the commands
manually. Mostly the screen will not scroll up, thus there is no hit-enter
prompt. When one command outputs two messages this can happen anyway.
==============================================================================
3. Removing autocommands *autocmd-remove*
:au[tocmd]! [group] {event} {pat} [nested] {cmd}
Remove all autocommands associated with {event} and
{pat}, and add the command {cmd}. See
|autocmd-nested| for [nested].
:au[tocmd]! [group] {event} {pat}
Remove all autocommands associated with {event} and
{pat}.
:au[tocmd]! [group] * {pat}
Remove all autocommands associated with {pat} for all
events.
:au[tocmd]! [group] {event}
Remove ALL autocommands for {event}.
:au[tocmd]! [group] Remove ALL autocommands.
When the [group] argument is not given, Vim uses the current group (as defined
with ":augroup"); otherwise, Vim uses the group defined with [group].
==============================================================================
4. Listing autocommands *autocmd-list*
:au[tocmd] [group] {event} {pat}
Show the autocommands associated with {event} and
{pat}.
:au[tocmd] [group] * {pat}
Show the autocommands associated with {pat} for all
events.
:au[tocmd] [group] {event}
Show all autocommands for {event}.
:au[tocmd] [group] Show all autocommands.
If you provide the [group] argument, Vim lists only the autocommands for
[group]; otherwise, Vim lists the autocommands for ALL groups. Note that this
argument behavior differs from that for defining and removing autocommands.
In order to list buffer-local autocommands, use a pattern in the form <buffer>
or <buffer=N>. See |autocmd-buflocal|.
*:autocmd-verbose*
When 'verbose' is non-zero, listing an autocommand will also display where it
was last defined. Example: >
:verbose autocmd BufEnter
FileExplorer BufEnter
* call s:LocalBrowse(expand("<amatch>"))
Last set from /usr/share/vim/vim-7.0/plugin/NetrwPlugin.vim
<
See |:verbose-cmd| for more information.
==============================================================================
5. Events *autocmd-events* *E215* *E216*
You can specify a comma-separated list of event names. No white space can be
used in this list. The command applies to all the events in the list.
For READING FILES there are four kinds of events possible:
BufNewFile starting to edit a non-existent file
BufReadPre BufReadPost starting to edit an existing file
FilterReadPre FilterReadPost read the temp file with filter output
FileReadPre FileReadPost any other file read
Vim uses only one of these four kinds when reading a file. The "Pre" and
"Post" events are both triggered, before and after reading the file.
Note that the autocommands for the *ReadPre events and all the Filter events
are not allowed to change the current buffer (you will get an error message if
this happens). This is to prevent the file to be read into the wrong buffer.
Note that the 'modified' flag is reset AFTER executing the BufReadPost
and BufNewFile autocommands. But when the 'modified' option was set by the
autocommands, this doesn't happen.
You can use the 'eventignore' option to ignore a number of events or all
events.
*autocommand-events* *{event}*
Vim recognizes the following events. Vim ignores the case of event names
(e.g., you can use "BUFread" or "bufread" instead of "BufRead").
First an overview by function with a short explanation. Then the list
alpabetically with full explanations |autocmd-events-abc|.
Name triggered by ~
Reading
|BufNewFile| starting to edit a file that doesn't exist
|BufReadPre| starting to edit a new buffer, before reading the file
|BufRead| starting to edit a new buffer, after reading the file
|BufReadPost| starting to edit a new buffer, after reading the file
|BufReadCmd| before starting to edit a new buffer |Cmd-event|
|FileReadPre| before reading a file with a ":read" command
|FileReadPost| after reading a file with a ":read" command
|FileReadCmd| before reading a file with a ":read" comman |Cmd-event|
|FilterReadPre| before reading a file from a filter command
|FilterReadPost| after reading a file from a filter command
|StdinReadPre| before reading from stdin into the buffer
|StdinReadPost| After reading from the stdin into the buffer
Writing
|BufWrite| starting to write the whole buffer to a file
|BufWritePre| starting to write the whole buffer to a file
|BufWritePost| after writing the whole buffer to a file
|BufWriteCmd| before writing the whole buffer to a file |Cmd-event|
|FileWritePre| starting to write part of a buffer to a file
|FileWritePost| after writing part of a buffer to a file
|FileWriteCmd| before writing part of a buffer to a file |Cmd-event|
|FileAppendPre| starting to append to a file
|FileAppendPost| after appending to a file
|FileAppendCmd| before appending to a file |Cmd-event|
|FilterWritePre| starting to write a file for a filter command or diff
|FilterWritePost| after writing a file for a filter command or diff
Buffers
|BufAdd| just after adding a buffer to the buffer list
|BufCreate| just after adding a buffer to the buffer list
|BufDelete| before deleting a buffer from the buffer list
|BufWipeout| before completely deleting a buffer
|BufFilePre| before changing the name of the current buffer
|BufFilePost| after changing the name of the current buffer
|BufEnter| after entering a buffer
|BufLeave| before leaving to another buffer
|BufWinEnter| after a buffer is displayed in a window
|BufWinLeave| before a buffer is removed from a window
|BufUnload| before unloading a buffer
|BufHidden| just after a buffer has become hidden
|BufNew| just after creating a new buffer
|SwapExists| detected an existing swap file
Options
|FileType| when the 'filetype' option has been set
|Syntax| when the 'syntax' option has been set
|EncodingChanged| after the 'encoding' option has been changed
|TermChanged| after the value of 'term' has changed
Startup and exit
|VimEnter| after doing all the startup stuff
|GUIEnter| after starting the GUI successfully
|TermResponse| after the termainal response to |t_RV| is received
|VimLeavePre| before exiting Vim, before writing the viminfo file
|VimLeave| before exiting Vim, after writing the viminfo file
Various
|FileChangedShell| Vim notices that a file changed since editing started
|FileChangedShellPost| After handling a file changed since editing started
|FileChangedRO| before making the first change to a read-only file
|ShellCmdPost| after executing a shell command
|ShellFilterPost| after filtering with a shell command
|FuncUndefined| a user function is used but it isn't defined
|SpellFileMissing| a spell file is used but it can't be found
|SourcePre| before sourcing a Vim script
|VimResized| after the Vim window size changed
|FocusGained| Vim got input focus
|FocusLost| Vim lost input focus
|CursorHold| the user doesn't press a key for a while
|CursorHoldI| the user doesn't press a key for a while in Insert mode
|CursorMoved| the cursor was moved in Normal mode
|CursorMovedI| the cursor was moved in Insert mode
|WinEnter| after entering another window
|WinLeave| before leaving a window
|TabEnter| after entering another tab page
|TabLeave| before leaving a tab page
|CmdwinEnter| after entering the command-line window
|CmdwinLeave| before leaving the command-line window
|InsertEnter| starting Insert mode
|InsertChange| when typing <Insert> while in Insert or Replace mode
|InsertLeave| when leaving Insert mode
|ColorScheme| after loading a color scheme
|RemoteReply| a reply from a server Vim was received
|QuickFixCmdPre| before a quickfix command is run
|QuickFixCmdPost| after a quickfix command is run
|SessionLoadPost| after loading a session file
|MenuPopup| just before showing the popup menu
|User| to be used in combination with ":doautocmd"
The alphabetical list of autocommand events: *autocmd-events-abc*
*BufCreate* *BufAdd*
BufAdd or BufCreate Just after creating a new buffer which is
added to the buffer list, or adding a buffer
to the buffer list.
Also used just after a buffer in the buffer
list has been renamed.
The BufCreate eve
|