VIM(1)							      General Commands Manual							    VIM(1)

NAME

       vim - Vi IMproved, a programmers text editor

SYNOPSIS

       vim [options] [file ..]
       vim [options] -t tag
       vim [options] -e [errorfile]

DESCRIPTION

       Vim is a text editor that is upwards compatible to vi. It can be used to edit any ASCII text. It is especially useful for editing programs.

       There  are  a lot of enhancements above vi: multi level undo, multi windows and buffers, command line editing, filename completion, on-line
       help, visual selection, etc..  Read difference.doc for a summary of the differences between vi and Vim.

       Most often Vim is started to edit a single file with the command

	    vim file

       More generally VIM is started with:

	    vim [options] [filelist]

       If the filelist is missing, the editor will start with an empty buffer.	Otherwise exactly one out of the following three may  be  used	to
       choose one or more files to be edited.

       file ..	   A  list  of	file  names.  The first one (alphabetically) will be the current file and read into the buffer. The cursor will be
		   positioned on the first line of the buffer. You can get to the other files with the ":next" command.

       -t {tag}    The file to edit and the initial cursor position depends on a "tag", a sort of goto label. {tag} is looked up in the tags file,
		   the	associated file becomes the current file and the associated command is executed. Mostly this is used for C programs. {tag}
		   then should be a function name. The effect is that the file containing that function becomes the current file and the cursor is
		   positioned on the start of the function (see reference.doc, section "tag searches").

       -e [errorfile]
		   Start  in quickFix mode. The file [errorfile] is read and the first error is displayed. If [errorfile] is omitted the file name
		   is obtained from the 'errorfile' option (defaults to "AztecC.Err" for the Amiga, "errors" on other systems). Further errors can
		   be jumped to with the ":cn" command. See reference.doc section 5.5.

OPTIONS

       The options, if present, must precede the filelist. The options may be given in any order.

       -r	   Recovery  mode.  The swap file is used to recover a crashed editing session. The swap file is a file with the same file name as
		   the text file with ".swp" appended. See reference.doc, chapter "Recovery after a crash".

       -v	   View mode. The 'readonly' option will be set. You can still edit the buffer, but will be prevented from accidently  overwriting
		   a file. If you do want to overwrite a file, add an exclamation mark to the Ex command, as in ":w!".	The -v option also implies
		   the -n option (see below).  The 'readonly' option can be reset with ":set noro" (see reference.doc, options chapter).

       -b	   Binary. A few options will be set that makes it possible to edit a binary or executable file.

       +[num]	   For the first file the cursor will be positioned on line "num". If "num" is missing, the cursor will be positioned on the  last
		   line.

       +/pat	   For	the  first  file  the  cursor  will  be  positioned  on the first occurrence of "pat" (see reference.doc, section "pattern
		   searches" for the available search patterns).

       +{command}

       -c {command}
		   {command} will be executed after the first file has been read. {command} is interpreted as an Ex command. If the {command} con-
		   tains spaces it must be enclosed in double quotes (this depends on the shell that is used).	Example: Vim "+set si" main.c

       -x	   (Amiga  only) Vim is not restarted to open a new window. This option should be used when Vim is executed by a program that will
		   wait for the edit session to finish (e.g. mail). The ":sh" and ":!" commands will not work.

       -o[N]	   Open N windows. When N is omitted, open one window for each file.

       -n	   No swap file will be used. Recovery after a crash will be impossible. Handy if you want to edit a file on a	very  slow  medium
		   (e.g. floppy). Can also be done with ":set uc=0". Can be undone with ":set uc=200".

       -s {scriptin}
		   The	script	file {scriptin} is read. The characters in the file are interpreted as if you had typed them. The same can be done
		   with the command ":source! {scriptin}". If the end of the file is reached before the editor exits, further characters are  read
		   from the keyboard.

       -w {scriptout}
		   All the characters that you type are recorded in the file {scriptout}, until you exit VIM. This is useful if you want to create
		   a script file to be used with "vim -s" or ":source!".

       -T terminal Tells Vim the name of the terminal you are using. Should be a terminal known to Vim (builtin) or defined in the termcap file.

       -d device   Open "device" for use as a terminal. Only on the Amiga. Example: "-d con:20/30/600/150".

SEE ALSO

       Vim documentation:

       reference.doc:
		   A complete reference of Vim (long)

       windows.doc:
		   Explanation of the multi windows and buffers commands and options

       index:	   Overview of all command characters (useful when adding new mappings)

       difference.doc:
		   Overview of the differences between vi and Vim

       unix.doc:   Unix-specific comments

       vim.hlp:    File used by the on-line help (short)

AUTHOR

       Most of VIM was made by Bram Moolenaar.
       VIM is based on Stevie, worked on by: Tim Thompson, Tony Andrews and G.R. (Fred) Walter

BUGS

       Probably.

								  1994 August 12							    VIM(1)