VISUAL
*visual.txt* For IdeaVIM version 0.12.0. Last change: 2006 Nov 12
IdeaVIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Rick Maddy
Visual mode *Visual* *Visual-mode* *visual-mode*
Visual mode is a flexible and easy way to select a piece of text for an
operator. It is the only way to select a block of text.
This is introduced in section |04.4| of the user manual.
1. Using Visual mode |visual-use|
2. Starting and stopping Visual mode |visual-start|
3. Changing the Visual area |visual-change|
4. Operating on the Visual area |visual-operators|
5. Blockwise operators |blockwise-operators|
6. Repeating |visual-repeat|
7. Examples |visual-examples|
8. Select mode |Select-mode|
1. Using Visual mode *visual-use*
Using Visual mode consists of three parts:
1. Mark the start of the text with "v", "V" or CTRL-V.
The character under the cursor will be used as the start.
2. Move to the end of the text.
The text from the start of the Visual mode up to and including the
character under the cursor is highlighted.
3. Type an operator command.
The highlighted characters will be operated upon.
With "v" the text before the start position and after the end position will
not be highlighted. However, All uppercase and non-alpha operators, except
"~", will work on whole lines anyway. See the list of operators below.
*visual-block*
With CTRL-V (blockwise Visual mode) the highlighted text will be a rectangle
between start position and the cursor. However, some operators work on whole
lines anyway (see the list below). The change and substitute operators will
delete the highlighted text and then start insertion at the top left
position.
2. Starting and stopping Visual mode *visual-start*
*v* *characterwise-visual*
v start Visual mode per character.
*V* *linewise-visual*
V start Visual mode linewise.
*CTRL-V* *blockwise-visual*
CTRL-V start Visual mode blockwise. Note: Under Windows
CTRL-V could be mapped to paste text, it doesn't work
to start Visual mode then, see |v_CTRL-Q|.
If you use <Esc>, click the left mouse button or use any command that
does a jump to another buffer while in Visual mode, the highlighting stops
and no text is affected. Also when you hit "v" in characterwise Visual mode,
"CTRL-V" in blockwise Visual mode or "V" in linewise Visual mode.
new mode after typing: *v_v* *v_CTRL-V* *v_CTRL-Q* *v_V*
old mode "v" "CTRL-V" "V"
Normal Visual blockwise Visual linewise Visual
Visual Normal blockwise Visual linewise Visual
blockwise Visual Visual Normal linewise Visual
linewise Visual Visual blockwise Visual Normal
*gv* *v_gv*
gv Start Visual mode with the same area as the previous
area and the same mode. In Visual mode the current and
the previous Visual area are exchanged.
*<LeftMouse>*
<LeftMouse> Set the current cursor position. If Visual mode is
active it is stopped. Only when 'mouse' option is
contains 'n' or 'a'. If the position is within 'so'
lines from the last line on the screen the text is
scrolled up. If the position is within 'so' lines from
the first line on the screen the text is scrolled
down.
*<RightMouse>*
<RightMouse> Start Visual mode if it is not active. The text from
the cursor position to the position of the click is
highlighted. If Visual mode was already active move
the start or end of the highlighted text, which ever
is closest, to the position of the click. Only when
'mouse' option contains 'n' or 'a'.
Note: when 'mousemodel' is set to "popup",
<S-LeftMouse> has to be used instead of <RightMouse>.
*<LeftRelease>*
<LeftRelease> This works like a <LeftMouse>, if it is not a
the same position as <LeftMouse>. In an xterm you
won't see the selected area until the button is
released, unless there is access to the display where
the xterm is running (via the DISPLAY environment
variable or the -display argument). Only when 'mouse'
option contains 'n' or 'a'.
If Visual mode is not active and the "v", "V" or CTRL-V is preceded with a
count, the size of the previously highlighted area is used for a start. You
can then move the end of the highlighted area and give an operator. The type
of the old area is used (character, line or blockwise).
- Linewise Visual mode: The number of lines is multiplied with the count.
- Blockwise Visual mode: The number of lines and columns is multiplied with
the count.
- Normal Visual mode within one line: The number of characters is multiplied
with the count.
- Normal Visual mode with several lines: The number of lines is multiplied
with the count, in the last line the same number of characters is used as
in the last line in the previously highlighted area.
The start of the text is the Cursor position. If the "$" command was used as
one of the last commands to extend the highlighted text, the area will be
extended to the rightmost column of the longest line.
If you want to highlight exactly the same area as the last time, you can use
"gv" |gv| |v_gv|.
*v_CTRL-C*
CTRL-C In Visual mode: Stop Visual mode. When insert mode is
pending (the mode message shows
"-- (insert) VISUAL --"), it is also stopped.
3. Changing the Visual area *visual-change*
*v_o*
o Go to Other end of highlighted text: The current
cursor position becomes the start of the highlighted
text and the cursor is moved to the other end of the
highlighted text. The highlighted area remains the
same.
*v_O*
O Go to Other end of highlighted text. This is like
"o", but in Visual block mode the cursor moves to the
other corner in the same line. When the corner is at
a character that occupies more than one position on
the screen (e.g., a <Tab>), the highlighted text may
change.
*v_$*
When the "$" command is used with blockwise Visual mode, the right end of the
highlighted text will be determined by the longest highlighted line. This
stops when a motion command is used that does not move straight up or down.
For moving the end of the block many commands can be used, but you cannot
use Ex commands, commands that make changes or abandon the file. Commands
(starting with) ".pPiIaAO&", CTRL-^, "Z", CTRL-], CTRL-T, CTRL-R, CTRL-I
and CTRL-O cause a beep and Visual mode continues.
When switching to another window on the same buffer, the cursor position in
that window is adjusted, so that the same Visual area is still selected. This
is especially useful to view the start of the Visual area in one window, and
the end in another. You can then use <RightMouse> (or <S-LeftMouse> when
'mousemodel' is "popup") to move either end of the Visual area.
4. Operating on the Visual area *visual-operators*
The operators that can be used are:
~ switch case |v_~|
d delete |v_d|
c change (4) |v_c|
y yank |v_y|
> shift right (4) |v_>|
< shift left (4) |v_<|
! filter through external command (1) |v_!|
= filter through 'equalprg' option command (1) |v_=|
gq format lines to 'textwidth' length (1) |v_gq|
The objects that can be used are:
aw a word (with white space) |v_aw|
iw inner word |v_iw|
aW a WORD (with white space) |v_aW|
iW inner WORD |v_iW|
as a sentence (with white space) |v_as|
is inner sentence |v_is|
ap a paragraph (with white space) |v_ap|
ip inner paragraph |v_ip|
ab a () block (with parenthesis) |v_ab|
ib inner () block |v_ib|
aB a {} block (with braces) |v_aB|
iB inner {} block |v_iB|
a< a <> block (with <>) |v_a<|
i< inner <> block |v_i<|
a[ a [] block (with []) |v_a[|
i[ inner [] block |v_i[|
Additionally the following commands can be used:
: start ex command for highlighted lines (1) |v_:|
r change (4) |v_r|
s change |v_s|
C change (2)(4) |v_C|
S change (2) |v_S|
R change (2) |v_R|
x delete |v_x|
D delete (3) |v_D|
X delete (2) |v_X|
Y yank (2) |v_Y|
p put |v_p|
J join (1) |v_J|
U make uppercase |v_U|
u make lowercase |v_u|
I block insert |v_b_I|
A block append |v_b_A|
(1): Always whole lines, see |:visual_example|.
(2): Whole lines when not using CTRL-V.
(3): Whole lines when not using CTRL-V, delete until the end of the line when
using CTRL-V.
(4): When using CTRL-V operates on the block only.
If you want to give a register name using the """ command, do this just before
typing the operator character: "v{move-around}"xd".
If you want to give a count to the command, do this just before typing the
operator character: "v{move-around}3>" (move lines 3 indents to the right).
*{move-around}*
The {move-around} is any sequence of movement commands. Note the difference
with {motion}, which is only ONE movement command.
5. Blockwise operators *blockwise-operators*
Visual-block Insert *v_b_I*
With a blockwise selection, I{string}<ESC> will insert {string} at the start
of block on every line of the block, provided that the line extends into the
block. Thus lines that are short will remain unmodified. TABs are split to
retain visual columns.
See |v_b_I_example|.
Visual-block Append *v_b_A*
With a blockwise selection, A{string}<ESC> will append {string} to the end of
block on every line of the block. There is some differing behavior where the
block RHS is not straight, due to different line lengths:
1. Block was created with <C-v>$
In this case the string is appended to the end of each line.
2. Block was created with <C-v>{move-around}
In this case the string is appended to the end of the block on each line,
and whitespace is inserted to pad to the end-of-block column.
See |v_b_A_example|.
Note: "I" and "A" behave differently for lines that don't extend into the
selected block. This was done intentionally, so that you can do it the way
you want.
Visual-block change *v_b_c*
All selected text in the block will be replaced by the same text string. When
using "c" the selected text is deleted and Insert mode started. You can then
enter text (without a line break). When you hit <Esc>, the same string is
inserted in all previously selected lines.
Visual-block Change *v_b_C*
Like using "c", but the selection is extended until the end of the line for
all lines.
*v_b_<*
Visual-block Shift *v_b_>*
The block is shifted by 'shiftwidth'. The RHS of the block is irrelevant. The
LHS of the block determines the point from which to apply a right shift, and
padding includes TABs optimally according to 'ts' and 'et'. The LHS of the
block determines the point upto which to shift left.
Note: v_< padding is buggy if the Visual Block starts and ends in the same
TAB. (Vim 5.4c).
See |v_b_>_example|.
See |v_b_<_example|.
Visual-block Replace *v_b_r*
Every screen char in the highlighted region is replaced with the same char, ie
TABs are split and the virtual whitespace is replaced, maintaining screen
layout.
See |v_b_r_example|.
6. Repeating *visual-repeat*
When repeating a Visual mode operator, the operator will be applied to the
same amount of text as the last time:
- Linewise Visual mode: The same number of lines.
- Blockwise Visual mode: The same number of lines and columns.
- Normal Visual mode within one line: The same number of characters.
- Normal Visual mode with several lines: The same number of lines, in the
last line the same number of characters as in the last line the last time.
The start of the text is the Cursor position. If the "$" command was used as
one of the last commands to extend the highlighted text, the repeating will
be applied up to the rightmost column of the longest line.
7. Examples *visual-examples*
*:visual_example*
Currently the ":" command works on whole lines only. When you select part of
a line, doing something like ":!date" will replace the whole line. If you
want only part of the line to be replaced you will have to make a mapping for
it. In a future release ":" may work on partial lines.
Here is an example, to replace the selected text with the output of "date":
:vmap _a <Esc>`>a<CR><Esc>`<i<CR><Esc>!!date<CR>kJJ
<Esc> stop Visual mode
`> go to the end of the Visual area
a<CR><Esc> break the line after the Visual area
`< jump to the start of the Visual area
i<CR><Esc> break the line before the Visual area
!!date<CR> filter the Visual text through date
kJJ Join the lines back together
Note that special characters (like '.' and '*') will cause problems.
Visual-block Examples *blockwise-examples*
With the following text, I will indicate the commands to produce the block and
the results below. In all cases, the cursor begins on the 'a' in the first
line if the test text.
The following modeline settings are assumed :ts=8:sw=4:
It will be helpful to
:set hls
/<TAB>
where <TAB> ia a real TAB. This helps visualise the operations.
The test text is:
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abc defghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abcdef ghi jklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
1. fo<C-v>3jISTRING<ESC> *v_b_I_example*
abcdefghijklmnSTRINGopqrstuvwxyz
abc STRING defghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abcdef ghi STRING jklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abcdefghijklmnSTRINGopqrstuvwxyz
2. fo<C-v>3j$ASTRING<ESC> *v_b_A_example*
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzSTRING
abc defghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzSTRING
abcdef ghi jklmnopqrstuvwxyzSTRING
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzSTRING
3. fo<C-v>3j3l<.. *v_b_<_example*
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abc defghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abcdef ghi jklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
4. fo3j>.. *v_b_>_example*
abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz
abc defghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abcdef ghi jklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abcdefghijklmn opqrstuvwxyz
5. fo5l3jrX *v_b_r_example*
abcdefghijklmnXXXXXXuvwxyz
abc XXXXXXhijklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abcdef ghi XXXXXX jklmnopqrstuvwxyz
abcdefghijklmnXXXXXXuvwxyz
8. Select mode *Select* *Select-mode*