*insert.txt*    For Vim version 7.1.  Last change: 2007 May 07  		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Bram Moolenaar  						*Insert* *Insert-mode*Inserting and replacing text				*mode-ins-repl* Most of this file is about Insert and Replace mode.  At the end are a fewcommands for inserting text in other ways. An overview of the most often used commands can be found in chapter 24 of theuser manual |usr_24.txt|. 1. Special keys						|ins-special-keys|2. Special special keys					|ins-special-special|3. 'textwidth' and 'wrapmargin' options			|ins-textwidth|4. 'expandtab', 'smarttab' and 'softtabstop'  options	|ins-expandtab|5. Replace mode						|Replace-mode|6. Virtual Replace mode					|Virtual-Replace-mode|7. Insert mode completion				|ins-completion|8. Insert mode commands					|inserting|9. Ex insert commands					|inserting-ex|10. Inserting a file					|inserting-file| Also see 'virtualedit', for moving the cursor to positions where there is nocharacter.  Useful for editing a table. ==============================================================================1. Special keys						*ins-special-keys* In Insert and Replace mode, the following characters have a special meaning;other characters are inserted directly.  To insert one of these specialcharacters into the buffer, precede it with CTRL-V.  To insert a <Nul>character use "CTRL-V CTRL-@" or "CTRL-V 000".  On some systems, you have touse "CTRL-V 003" to insert a CTRL-C.  Note: When CTRL-V is mapped you canoften use CTRL-Q instead |i_CTRL-Q|. If you are working in a special language mode when inserting text, see the'langmap' option, |'langmap'|, on how to avoid switching this mode on and offall the time. If you have 'insertmode' set, <Esc> and a few other keys get another meaning.See |'insertmode'|. char		action	~-----------------------------------------------------------------------						*i_CTRL-[* *i_<Esc>*<Esc> or CTRL-[	End insert or Replace mode, go back to Normal mode.  Finish		abbreviation.		Note: If your <Esc> key is hard to hit on your keyboard, train		yourself to use CTRL-[.						*i_CTRL-C*CTRL-C		Quit insert mode, go back to Normal mode.  Do not check for		abbreviations.  Does not trigger the |InsertLeave| autocommand		event. 						*i_CTRL-@*CTRL-@		Insert previously inserted text and stop insert.  {Vi: only		when typed as first char, only up to 128 chars}						*i_CTRL-A*CTRL-A		Insert previously inserted text.  {not in Vi} 						*i_CTRL-H* *i_<BS>* *i_BS*<BS> or CTRL-H	Delete the character before the cursor (see |i_backspacing|		about joining lines).		See |:fixdel| if your <BS> key does not do what you want.		{Vi: does not delete autoindents}						*i_<Del>* *i_DEL*<Del>		Delete the character under the cursor.  If the cursor is at		the end of the line, and the 'backspace' option includes		"eol", delete the <EOL>; the next line is appended after the		current one.		See |:fixdel| if your <Del> key does not do what you want.		{not in Vi}						*i_CTRL-W*CTRL-W		Delete the word before the cursor (see |i_backspacing| about		joining lines).  See the section "word motions",		|word-motions|, for the definition of a word.						*i_CTRL-U*CTRL-U		Delete all entered characters in the current line (see		|i_backspacing| about joining lines). 						*i_CTRL-I* *i_<Tab>* *i_Tab*<Tab> or CTRL-I Insert a tab.  If the 'expandtab' option is on, the		equivalent number of spaces is inserted (use CTRL-V <Tab> to		avoid the expansion; use CTRL-Q <Tab> if CTRL-V is mapped		|i_CTRL-Q|).  See also the 'smarttab' option and		|ins-expandtab|.						*i_CTRL-J* *i_<NL>*<NL> or CTRL-J	Begin new line.						*i_CTRL-M* *i_<CR>*<CR> or CTRL-M	Begin new line.						*i_CTRL-K*CTRL-K {char1} [char2]		Enter digraph (see |digraphs|).  When {char1} is a special		key, the code for that key is inserted in <> form.  For		example, the string "<S-Space>" can be entered by typing		<C-K><S-Space> (two keys).  Neither char is considered for		mapping.  {not in Vi} CTRL-N		Find next keyword (see |i_CTRL-N|).  {not in Vi}CTRL-P		Find previous keyword (see |i_CTRL-P|).  {not in Vi} CTRL-R {0-9a-z"%#*+:.-=}					*i_CTRL-R*		Insert the contents of a register.  Between typing CTRL-R and		the second character, '"' will be displayed to indicate that		you are expected to enter the name of a register.		The text is inserted as if you typed it, but mappings and		abbreviations are not used.  If you have options like		'textwidth', 'formatoptions', or 'autoindent' set, this will		influence what will be inserted.  This is different from what		happens with the "p" command and pasting with the mouse.		Special registers:			'"'	the unnamed register, containing the text of				the last delete or yank			'%'	the current file name			'#'	the alternate file name			'*'	the clipboard contents (X11: primary selection)			'+'	the clipboard contents			'/'	the last search pattern			':'	the last command-line			'.'	the last inserted text			'-'	the last small (less than a line) delete			'='	the expression register: you are prompted to				enter an expression (see |expression|)				Note that 0x80 (128 decimal) is used for				special keys.  E.g., you can use this to move				the cursor up:					CTRL-R ="\<Up>"				Use CTRL-R CTRL-R to insert text literally.				When the result is a |List| the items are used				as lines.  They can have line breaks inside				too.		See |registers| about registers.  {not in Vi} CTRL-R CTRL-R {0-9a-z"%#*+/:.-=}			*i_CTRL-R_CTRL-R*		Insert the contents of a register.  Works like using a single		CTRL-R, but the text is inserted literally, not as if typed.		This differs when the register contains characters like <BS>.		Example, where register a contains "ab^Hc": >	CTRL-R a		results in "ac".	CTRL-R CTRL-R a		results in "ab^Hc".<		Options 'textwidth', 'formatoptions', etc. still apply.  If		you also want to avoid these, use "<C-R><C-O>r", see below.		The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as		typed.  {not in Vi} CTRL-R CTRL-O {0-9a-z"%#*+/:.-=}			*i_CTRL-R_CTRL-O*		Insert the contents of a register literally and don't		auto-indent.  Does the same as pasting with the mouse		|<MiddleMouse>|.		Does not replace characters!		The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as		typed.  {not in Vi} CTRL-R CTRL-P {0-9a-z"%#*+/:.-=}			*i_CTRL-R_CTRL-P*		Insert the contents of a register literally and fix the		indent, like |[<MiddleMouse>|.		Does not replace characters!		The '.' register (last inserted text) is still inserted as		typed.  {not in Vi} 						*i_CTRL-T*CTRL-T		Insert one shiftwidth of indent at the start of the current		line.  The indent is always rounded to a 'shiftwidth' (this is		vi compatible).  {Vi: only when in indent}						*i_CTRL-D*CTRL-D		Delete one shiftwidth of indent at the start of the current		line.  The indent is always rounded to a 'shiftwidth' (this is		vi compatible).  {Vi: CTRL-D works only when used after		autoindent}						*i_0_CTRL-D*0 CTRL-D	Delete all indent in the current line.  {Vi: CTRL-D works		only when used after autoindent}						*i_^_CTRL-D*^ CTRL-D	Delete all indent in the current line.  The indent is		restored in the next line.  This is useful when inserting a		label.  {Vi: CTRL-D works only when used after autoindent} 						*i_CTRL-V*CTRL-V		Insert next non-digit literally.  For special keys, the		terminal code is inserted.  It's also possible to enter the		decimal, octal or hexadecimal value of a character		|i_CTRL-V_digit|.		The characters typed right after CTRL-V are not considered for		mapping.  {Vi: no decimal byte entry}		Note: When CTRL-V is mapped (e.g., to paste text) you can		often use CTRL-Q instead |i_CTRL-Q|. 						*i_CTRL-Q*CTRL-Q		Same as CTRL-V.		Note: Some terminal connections may eat CTRL-Q, it doesn't		work then.  It does work in the GUI. CTRL-X		Enter CTRL-X mode.  This is a sub-mode where commands can		be given to complete words or scroll the window.  See		|i_CTRL-X| and |ins-completion|. {not in Vi} 						*i_CTRL-E*CTRL-E		Insert the character which is below the cursor.  {not in Vi}						*i_CTRL-Y*CTRL-Y		Insert the character which is above the cursor.  {not in Vi}		Note that for CTRL-E and CTRL-Y 'textwidth' is not used, to be		able to copy characters from a long line. 						*i_CTRL-_*CTRL-_		Switch between languages, as follows:		-  When in a rightleft window, revins and nohkmap are toggled,		   since English will likely be inserted in this case.		-  When in a norightleft window, revins and hkmap are toggled,		   since Hebrew will likely be inserted in this case. 		CTRL-_ moves the cursor to the end of the typed text. 		This command is only available when the 'allowrevins' option		is set.		Please refer to |rileft.txt| for more information about		right-to-left mode.		{not in Vi}		Only if compiled with the |+rightleft| feature. 						*i_CTRL-^*CTRL-^		Toggle the use of typing language characters.		When language |:lmap| mappings are defined:		- If 'iminsert' is 1 (langmap mappings used) it becomes 0 (no		  langmap mappings used).		- If 'iminsert' has another value it becomes 1, thus langmap		  mappings are enabled.		When no language mappings are defined:		- If 'iminsert' is 2 (Input Method used) it becomes 0 (no		  Input Method used).		- If 'iminsert' has another value it becomes 2, thus the Input		  Method is enabled.		When set to 1, the value of the "b:keymap_name" variable, the		'keymap' option or "<lang>" appears in the status line.		The language mappings are normally used to type characters		that are different from what the keyboard produces.  The		'keymap' option can be used to install a whole number of them.		{not in Vi} 						*i_CTRL-]*CTRL-]		Trigger abbreviation, without inserting a character.  {not in		Vi} 						*i_<Insert>*<Insert>	Toggle between Insert and Replace mode.  {not in Vi}----------------------------------------------------------------------- 						*i_backspacing*The effect of the <BS>, CTRL-W, and CTRL-U depend on the 'backspace' option(unless 'revins' is set).  This is a comma separated list of items: item	    action ~indent	    allow backspacing over autoindenteol	    allow backspacing over end-of-line (join lines)start	    allow backspacing over the start position of insert; CTRL-W and	    CTRL-U stop once at the start position When 'backspace' is empty, Vi compatible backspacing is used.  You cannotbackspace over autoindent, before column 1 or before where insert started. For backwards compatibility the values "0", "1" and "2" are also allowed, see|'backspace'|. If the 'backspace' option does contain "eol" and the cursor is in column 1when one of the three keys is used, the current line is joined with theprevious line.  This effectively deletes the <EOL> in front of the cursor.{Vi: does not cross lines, does not delete past start position of insert} 						*i_CTRL-V_digit*With CTRL-V the decimal, octal or hexadecimal value of a character can beentered directly.  This way you can enter any character, except a line break(<NL>, value 10).  There are five ways to enter the character value: first char	mode	     max nr of chars   max value ~(none)		decimal		   3		255o or O		octal		   3		377	 (255)x or X		hexadecimal	   2		ff	 (255)u		hexadecimal	   4		ffff	 (65535)U		hexadecimal	   8		7fffffff (2147483647) Normally you would type the maximum number of characters.  Thus to enter aspace (value 32) you would type <C-V>032.  You can omit the leading zero, inwhich case the character typed after the number must be a non-digit.  Thishappens for the other modes as well: As soon as you type a character that isinvalid for the mode, the value before it will be used and the "invalid"character is dealt with in the normal way. If you enter a value of 10, it will end up in the file as a 0.  The 10 is a<NL>, which is used internally to represent the <Nul> character.  When writingthe buffer to a file, the <NL> character is translated into <Nul>.  The <NL>character is written at the end of each line.  Thus if you want to insert a<NL> character in a file you will have to make a line break. 						*i_CTRL-X* *insert_expand*CTRL-X enters a sub-mode where several commands can be used.  Most of thesecommands do keyword completion; see |ins-completion|.  These are not availablewhen Vim was compiled without the |+insert_expand| feature. Two commands can be used to scroll the window up or down, without exitinginsert mode: 						*i_CTRL-X_CTRL-E*CTRL-X CTRL-E		scroll window one line up.			When doing completion look here: |complete_CTRL-E| 						*i_CTRL-X_CTRL-Y*CTRL-X CTRL-Y		scroll window one line down.			When doing completion look here: |complete_CTRL-Y| After CTRL-X is pressed, each CTRL-E (CTRL-Y) scrolls the window up (down) byone line unless that would cause the cursor to move from its current positionin the file.  As soon as another key is pressed, CTRL-X mode is exited andthat key is interpreted as in Insert mode.  ==============================================================================2. Special special keys				*ins-special-special* The following keys are special.  They stop the current insert, do something,and then restart insertion.  This means you can do something without gettingout of Insert mode.  This is very handy if you prefer to use the Insert modeall the time, just like editors that don't have a separate Normal mode.  Youmay also want to set the 'backspace' option to "indent,eol,start" and set the'insertmode' option.  You can use CTRL-O if you want to map a function key toa command. The changes (inserted or deleted characters) before and after these keys canbe undone separately.  Only the last change can be redone and always behaveslike an "i" command. char		action	~-----------------------------------------------------------------------<Up>		cursor one line up			     *i_<Up>*<Down>		cursor one line down			     *i_<Down>*CTRL-G <Up>	cursor one line up, insert start column	     *i_CTRL-G_<Up>*CTRL-G k	cursor one line up, insert start column	     *i_CTRL-G_k*CTRL-G CTRL-K	cursor one line up, insert start column	     *i_CTRL-G_CTRL-K*CTRL-G <Down>	cursor one line down, insert start column    *i_CTRL-G_<Down>*CTRL-G j	cursor one line down, insert start column    *i_CTRL-G_j*CTRL-G CTRL-J	cursor one line down, insert start column    *i_CTRL-G_CTRL-J*<Left>		cursor one character left		     *i_<Left>*<Right>		cursor one character right		     *i_<Right>*<S-Left>	cursor one word back (like "b" command)	     *i_<S-Left>*<C-Left>	cursor one word back (like "b" command)	     *i_<C-Left>*<S-Right>	cursor one word forward (like "w" command)   *i_<S-Right>*<C-Right>	cursor one word forward (like "w" command)   *i_<C-Right>*<Home>		cursor to first char in the line	     *i_<Home>*<End>		cursor to after last char in the line	     *i_<End>*<C-Home>	cursor to first char in the file	     *i_<C-Home>*<C-End>		cursor to after last char in the file	     *i_<C-End>*<LeftMouse>	cursor to position of mouse click	     *i_<LeftMouse>*<S-Up>		move window one page up			     *i_<S-Up>*<PageUp>	move window one page up			     *i_<PageUp>*<S-Down>	move window one page down		     *i_<S-Down>*<PageDown>	move window one page down		     *i_<PageDown>*<MouseDown>	scroll three lines down			     *i_<MouseDown>*<S-MouseDown>	scroll a full page down			     *i_<S-MouseDown>*<MouseUp>	scroll three lines up			     *i_<MouseUp>*<S-MouseUp>	scroll a full page up			     *i_<S-MouseUp>*CTRL-O		execute one command, return to Insert mode   *i_CTRL-O*CTRL-\ CTRL-O	like CTRL-O but don't move the cursor	     *i_CTRL-\_CTRL-O*CTRL-L		when 'insertmode' is set: go to Normal mode  *i_CTRL-L*CTRL-G u	break undo sequence, start new change	     *i_CTRL-G_u*----------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: If the cursor keys take you out of Insert mode, check the 'noesckeys'option. The CTRL-O command sometimes has a side effect: If the cursor was beyond theend of the line, it will be put on the last character in the line.  Inmappings it's often better to use <Esc> (first put an "x" in the text, <Esc>will then always put the cursor on it).  Or use CTRL-\ CTRL-O, but thenbeware of the cursor possibly being beyond the end of the line. The shifted cursor keys are not available on all terminals. Another side effect is that a count specified before the "i" or "a" command isignored.  That is because repeating the effect of the command after CTRL-O istoo complicated. An example for using CTRL-G u: > 	:inoremap <C-H> <C-G>u<C-H> This redefines the backspace key to start a new undo sequence.  You can nowundo the effect of the backspace key, without changing what you typed beforethat, with CTRL-O u. Using CTRL-O splits undo: the text typed before and after it is undoneseparately.  If you want to avoid this (e.g., in a mapping) you might be ableto use CTRL-R = |i_CTRL-R|.  E.g., to call a function: >	:imap <F2> <C-R>=MyFunc()<CR> When the 'whichwrap' option is set appropriately, the <Left> and <Right>keys on the first/last character in the line make the cursor wrap to theprevious/next line. The CTRL-G j and CTRL-G k commands can be used to insert text in front of acolumn.  Example: >   int i;   int j;Position the cursor on the first "int", type "istatic <C-G>j       ".  Theresult is: >   static int i;	  int j;When inserting the same text in front of the column in every line, use theVisual blockwise command "I" |v_b_I|. ==============================================================================3. 'textwidth' and 'wrapmargin' options			*ins-textwidth* The 'textwidth' option can be used to automatically break a line before itgets too long.  Set the 'textwidth' option to the desired maximum linelength.  If you then type more characters (not spaces or tabs), thelast word will be put on a new line (unless it is the only word on theline).  If you set 'textwidth' to 0, this feature is disabled. The 'wrapmargin' option does almost the same.  The difference is that'textwidth' has a fixed width while 'wrapmargin' depends on the width of thescreen.  When using 'wrapmargin' this is equal to using 'textwidth' with avalue equal to (columns - 'wrapmargin'), where columns is the width of thescreen. When 'textwidth' and 'wrapmargin' are both set, 'textwidth' is used. If you don't really want to break the line, but view the line wrapped at aconvenient place, see the 'linebreak' option. The line is only broken automatically when using Insert mode, or whenappending to a line.  When in replace mode and the line length is notchanged, the line will not be broken. Long lines are broken if you enter a non-white character after the margin.The situations where a line will be broken can be restricted by addingcharacters to the 'formatoptions' option:"l"  Only break a line if it was not longer than 'textwidth' when the insert     started."v"  Only break at a white character that has been entered during the     current insert command.  This is mostly Vi-compatible."lv" Only break if the line was not longer than 'textwidth' when the insert     started and only at a white character that has been entered during the     current insert command.  Only differs from "l" when entering non-white     characters while crossing the 'textwidth' boundary. Normally an internal function will be used to decide where to break the line.If you want to do it in a different way set the 'formatexpr' option to anexpression that will take care of the line break. If you want to format a block of text, you can use the "gq" operator.  Type"gq" and a movement command to move the cursor to the end of the block.  Inmany cases, the command "gq}" will do what you want (format until the end ofparagraph).  Alternatively, you can use "gqap", which will format the wholeparagraph, no matter where the cursor currently is.  Or you can use Visualmode: hit "v", move to the end of the block, and type "gq".  See also |gq|. ==============================================================================4. 'expandtab', 'smarttab' and 'softtabstop' options	*ins-expandtab* If the 'expandtab' option is on, spaces will be used to fill the amount ofwhitespace of the tab.  If you want to enter a real <Tab>, type CTRL-V first(use CTRL-Q when CTRL-V is mapped |i_CTRL-Q|).The 'expandtab' option is off by default.  Note that in Replace mode, a singlecharacter is replaced with several spaces.  The result of this is that thenumber of characters in the line increases.  Backspacing will delete onespace at a time.  The original character will be put back for only one spacethat you backspace over (the last one).  {Vi does not have the 'expandtab'option} 							*ins-smarttab*When the 'smarttab' option is on, a <Tab> inserts 'shiftwidth' positions atthe beginning of a line and 'tabstop' positions in other places.  This meansthat often spaces instead of a <Tab> character are inserted.  When 'smarttabis off, a <Tab> always inserts 'tabstop' positions, and 'shiftwidth' is onlyused for ">>" and the like.  {not in Vi} 							*ins-softtabstop*When the 'softtabstop' option is non-zero, a <Tab> inserts 'softtabstop'positions, and a <BS> used to delete white space, will delete 'softtabstop'positions.  This feels like 'tabstop' was set to 'softtabstop', but a real<Tab> character still takes 'tabstop' positions, so your file will still lookcorrect when used by other applications. If 'softtabstop' is non-zero, a <BS> will try to delete as much white space tomove to the previous 'softtabstop' position, except when the previouslyinserted character is a space, then it will only delete the character beforethe cursor.  Otherwise you cannot always delete a single character before thecursor.  You will have to delete 'softtabstop' characters first, and then typeextra spaces to get where you want to be. ==============================================================================5. Replace mode				*Replace* *Replace-mode* *mode-replace* Enter Replace mode with the "R" command in normal mode. In Replace mode, one character in the line is deleted for every character youtype.  If there is no character to delete (at the end of the line), thetyped character is appended (as in Insert mode).  Thus the number of

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