| *usr_90.txt* For Vim version 7.2. Last change: 2006 Apr 24 |
| |
| VIM USER MANUAL - by Bram Moolenaar |
| |
| Installing Vim |
| |
| *install* |
| Before you can use Vim you have to install it. Depending on your system it's |
| simple or easy. This chapter gives a few hints and also explains how |
| upgrading to a new version is done. |
| |
| |90.1| Unix |
| |90.2| MS-Windows |
| |90.3| Upgrading |
| |90.4| Common installation issues |
| |90.5| Uninstalling Vim |
| |
| Previous chapter: |usr_45.txt| Select your language |
| Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt| |
| |
| ============================================================================== |
| *90.1* Unix |
| |
| First you have to decide if you are going to install Vim system-wide or for a |
| single user. The installation is almost the same, but the directory where Vim |
| is installed in differs. |
| For a system-wide installation the base directory "/usr/local" is often |
| used. But this may be different for your system. Try finding out where other |
| packages are installed. |
| When installing for a single user, you can use your home directory as the |
| base. The files will be placed in subdirectories like "bin" and "shared/vim". |
| |
| |
| FROM A PACKAGE |
| |
| You can get precompiled binaries for many different UNIX systems. There is a |
| long list with links on this page: |
| |
| http://www.vim.org/binaries.html ~ |
| |
| Volunteers maintain the binaries, so they are often out of date. It is a |
| good idea to compile your own UNIX version from the source. Also, creating |
| the editor from the source allows you to control which features are compiled. |
| This does require a compiler though. |
| |
| If you have a Linux distribution, the "vi" program is probably a minimal |
| version of Vim. It doesn't do syntax highlighting, for example. Try finding |
| another Vim package in your distribution, or search on the web site. |
| |
| |
| FROM SOURCES |
| |
| To compile and install Vim, you will need the following: |
| |
| - A C compiler (GCC preferred) |
| - The GZIP program (you can get it from www.gnu.org) |
| - The Vim source and runtime archives |
| |
| To get the Vim archives, look in this file for a mirror near you, this should |
| provide the fastest download: |
| |
| ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/MIRRORS ~ |
| |
| Or use the home site ftp.vim.org, if you think it's fast enough. Go to the |
| "unix" directory and you'll find a list of files there. The version number is |
| embedded in the file name. You will want to get the most recent version. |
| You can get the files for Unix in two ways: One big archive that contains |
| everything, or four smaller ones that each fit on a floppy disk. For version |
| 6.1 the single big one is called: |
| |
| vim-6.1.tar.bz2 ~ |
| |
| You need the bzip2 program to uncompress it. If you don't have it, get the |
| four smaller files, which can be uncompressed with gzip. For Vim 6.1 they are |
| called: |
| |
| vim-6.1-src1.tar.gz ~ |
| vim-6.1-src2.tar.gz ~ |
| vim-6.1-rt1.tar.gz ~ |
| vim-6.1-rt2.tar.gz ~ |
| |
| |
| COMPILING |
| |
| First create a top directory to work in, for example: > |
| |
| mkdir ~/vim |
| cd ~/vim |
| |
| Then unpack the archives there. If you have the one big archive, you unpack |
| it like this: > |
| |
| bzip2 -d -c path/vim-6.1.tar.bz2 | tar xf - |
| |
| Change "path" to where you have downloaded the file. > |
| |
| gzip -d -c path/vim-6.1-src1.tar.gz | tar xf - |
| gzip -d -c path/vim-6.1-src2.tar.gz | tar xf - |
| gzip -d -c path/vim-6.1-rt1.tar.gz | tar xf - |
| gzip -d -c path/vim-6.1-rt2.tar.gz | tar xf - |
| |
| If you are satisfied with getting the default features, and your environment |
| is setup properly, you should be able to compile Vim with just this: > |
| |
| cd vim61/src |
| make |
| |
| The make program will run configure and compile everything. Further on we |
| will explain how to compile with different features. |
| If there are errors while compiling, carefully look at the error messages. |
| There should be a hint about what went wrong. Hopefully you will be able to |
| correct it. You might have to disable some features to make Vim compile. |
| Look in the Makefile for specific hints for your system. |
| |
| |
| TESTING |
| |
| Now you can check if compiling worked OK: > |
| |
| make test |
| |
| This will run a sequence of test scripts to verify that Vim works as expected. |
| Vim will be started many times and all kinds of text and messages flash by. |
| If it is alright you will finally see: |
| |
| test results: ~ |
| ALL DONE ~ |
| |
| If there are one or two messages about failed tests, Vim might still work, but |
| not perfectly. If you see a lot of error messages or Vim doesn't finish until |
| the end, there must be something wrong. Either try to find out yourself, or |
| find someone who can solve it. You could look in the |maillist-archive| for a |
| solution. If everything else fails, you could ask in the vim |maillist| if |
| someone can help you. |
| |
| |
| INSTALLING |
| *install-home* |
| If you want to install in your home directory, edit the Makefile and search |
| for a line: |
| |
| #prefix = $(HOME) ~ |
| |
| Remove the # at the start of the line. |
| When installing for the whole system, Vim has most likely already selected |
| a good installation directory for you. You can also specify one, see below. |
| You need to become root for the following. |
| |
| To install Vim do: > |
| |
| make install |
| |
| That should move all the relevant files to the right place. Now you can try |
| running vim to verify that it works. Use two simple tests to check if Vim can |
| find its runtime files: > |
| |
| :help |
| :syntax enable |
| |
| If this doesn't work, use this command to check where Vim is looking for the |
| runtime files: > |
| |
| :echo $VIMRUNTIME |
| |
| You can also start Vim with the "-V" argument to see what happens during |
| startup: > |
| |
| vim -V |
| |
| Don't forget that the user manual assumes you Vim in a certain way. After |
| installing Vim, follow the instructions at |not-compatible| to make Vim work |
| as assumed in this manual. |
| |
| |
| SELECTING FEATURES |
| |
| Vim has many ways to select features. One of the simple ways is to edit the |
| Makefile. There are many directions and examples. Often you can enable or |
| disable a feature by uncommenting a line. |
| An alternative is to run "configure" separately. This allows you to |
| specify configuration options manually. The disadvantage is that you have to |
| figure out what exactly to type. |
| Some of the most interesting configure arguments follow. These can also be |
| enabled from the Makefile. |
| |
| --prefix={directory} Top directory where to install Vim. |
| |
| --with-features=tiny Compile with many features disabled. |
| --with-features=small Compile with some features disabled. |
| --with-features=big Compile with more features enabled. |
| --with-features=huge Compile with most features enabled. |
| See |+feature-list| for which feature |
| is enabled in which case. |
| |
| --enable-perlinterp Enable the Perl interface. There are |
| similar arguments for ruby, python and |
| tcl. |
| |
| --disable-gui Do not compile the GUI interface. |
| --without-x Do not compile X-windows features. |
| When both of these are used, Vim will |
| not connect to the X server, which |
| makes startup faster. |
| |
| To see the whole list use: > |
| |
| ./configure --help |
| |
| You can find a bit of explanation for each feature, and links for more |
| information here: |feature-list|. |
| For the adventurous, edit the file "feature.h". You can also change the |
| source code yourself! |
| |
| ============================================================================== |
| *90.2* MS-Windows |
| |
| There are two ways to install the Vim program for Microsoft Windows. You can |
| uncompress several archives, or use a self-installing big archive. Most users |
| with fairly recent computers will prefer the second method. For the first |
| one, you will need: |
| |
| - An archive with binaries for Vim. |
| - The Vim runtime archive. |
| - A program to unpack the zip files. |
| |
| To get the Vim archives, look in this file for a mirror near you, this should |
| provide the fastest download: |
| |
| ftp://ftp.vim.org/pub/vim/MIRRORS ~ |
| |
| Or use the home site ftp.vim.org, if you think it's fast enough. Go to the |
| "pc" directory and you'll find a list of files there. The version number is |
| embedded in the file name. You will want to get the most recent version. |
| We will use "61" here, which is version 6.1. |
| |
| gvim61.exe The self-installing archive. |
| |
| This is all you need for the second method. Just launch the executable, and |
| follow the prompts. |
| |
| For the first method you must chose one of the binary archives. These are |
| available: |
| |
| gvim61.zip The normal MS-Windows GUI version. |
| gvim61ole.zip The MS-Windows GUI version with OLE support. |
| Uses more memory, supports interfacing with |
| other OLE applications. |
| vim61w32.zip 32 bit MS-Windows console version. For use in |
| a Win NT/2000/XP console. Does not work well |
| on Win 95/98. |
| vim61d32.zip 32 bit MS-DOS version. For use in the |
| Win 95/98 console window. |
| vim61d16.zip 16 bit MS-DOS version. Only for old systems. |
| Does not support long filenames. |
| |
| You only need one of them. Although you could install both a GUI and a |
| console version. You always need to get the archive with runtime files. |
| |
| vim61rt.zip The runtime files. |
| |
| Use your un-zip program to unpack the files. For example, using the "unzip" |
| program: > |
| |
| cd c:\ |
| unzip path\gvim61.zip |
| unzip path\vim61rt.zip |
| |
| This will unpack the files in the directory "c:\vim\vim61". If you already |
| have a "vim" directory somewhere, you will want to move to the directory just |
| above it. |
| Now change to the "vim\vim61" directory and run the install program: > |
| |
| install |
| |
| Carefully look through the messages and select the options you want to use. |
| If you finally select "do it" the install program will carry out the actions |
| you selected. |
| The install program doesn't move the runtime files. They remain where you |
| unpacked them. |
| |
| In case you are not satisfied with the features included in the supplied |
| binaries, you could try compiling Vim yourself. Get the source archive from |
| the same location as where the binaries are. You need a compiler for which a |
| makefile exists. Microsoft Visual C works, but is expensive. The Free |
| Borland command-line compiler 5.5 can be used, as well as the free MingW and |
| Cygwin compilers. Check the file src/INSTALLpc.txt for hints. |
| |
| ============================================================================== |
| *90.3* Upgrading |
| |
| If you are running one version of Vim and want to install another, here is |
| what to do. |
| |
| |
| UNIX |
| |
| When you type "make install" the runtime files will be copied to a directory |
| which is specific for this version. Thus they will not overwrite a previous |
| version. This makes it possible to use two or more versions next to |
| each other. |
| The executable "vim" will overwrite an older version. If you don't care |
| about keeping the old version, running "make install" will work fine. You can |
| delete the old runtime files manually. Just delete the directory with the |
| version number in it and all files below it. Example: > |
| |
| rm -rf /usr/local/share/vim/vim58 |
| |
| There are normally no changed files below this directory. If you did change |
| the "filetype.vim" file, for example, you better merge the changes into the |
| new version before deleting it. |
| |
| If you are careful and want to try out the new version for a while before |
| switching to it, install the new version under another name. You need to |
| specify a configure argument. For example: > |
| |
| ./configure --with-vim-name=vim6 |
| |
| Before running "make install", you could use "make -n install" to check that |
| no valuable existing files are overwritten. |
| When you finally decide to switch to the new version, all you need to do is |
| to rename the binary to "vim". For example: > |
| |
| mv /usr/local/bin/vim6 /usr/local/bin/vim |
| |
| |
| MS-WINDOWS |
| |
| Upgrading is mostly equal to installing a new version. Just unpack the files |
| in the same place as the previous version. A new directory will be created, |
| e.g., "vim61", for the files of the new version. Your runtime files, vimrc |
| file, viminfo, etc. will be left alone. |
| If you want to run the new version next to the old one, you will have to do |
| some handwork. Don't run the install program, it will overwrite a few files |
| of the old version. Execute the new binaries by specifying the full path. |
| The program should be able to automatically find the runtime files for the |
| right version. However, this won't work if you set the $VIMRUNTIME variable |
| somewhere. |
| If you are satisfied with the upgrade, you can delete the files of the |
| previous version. See |90.5|. |
| |
| ============================================================================== |
| *90.4* Common installation issues |
| |
| This section describes some of the common problems that occur when installing |
| Vim and suggests some solutions. It also contains answers to many |
| installation questions. |
| |
| |
| Q: I Do Not Have Root Privileges. How Do I Install Vim? (Unix) |
| |
| Use the following configuration command to install Vim in a directory called |
| $HOME/vim: > |
| |
| ./configure --prefix=$HOME |
| |
| This gives you a personal copy of Vim. You need to put $HOME/bin in your |
| path to execute the editor. Also see |install-home|. |
| |
| |
| Q: The Colors Are Not Right on My Screen. (Unix) |
| |
| Check your terminal settings by using the following command in a shell: > |
| |
| echo $TERM |
| |
| If the terminal type listed is not correct, fix it. For more hints, see |
| |06.2|. Another solution is to always use the GUI version of Vim, called |
| gvim. This avoids the need for a correct terminal setup. |
| |
| |
| Q: My Backspace And Delete Keys Don't Work Right |
| |
| The definition of what key sends what code is very unclear for backspace <BS> |
| and Delete <Del> keys. First of all, check your $TERM setting. If there is |
| nothing wrong with it, try this: > |
| |
| :set t_kb=^V<BS> |
| :set t_kD=^V<Del> |
| |
| In the first line you need to press CTRL-V and then hit the backspace key. |
| In the second line you need to press CTRL-V and then hit the Delete key. |
| You can put these lines in your vimrc file, see |05.1|. A disadvantage is |
| that it won't work when you use another terminal some day. Look here for |
| alternate solutions: |:fixdel|. |
| |
| |
| Q: I Am Using RedHat Linux. Can I Use the Vim That Comes with the System? |
| |
| By default RedHat installs a minimal version of Vim. Check your RPM packages |
| for something named "Vim-enhanced-version.rpm" and install that. |
| |
| |
| Q: How Do I Turn Syntax Coloring On? How do I make plugins work? |
| |
| Use the example vimrc script. You can find an explanation on how to use it |
| here: |not-compatible|. |
| |
| See chapter 6 for information about syntax highlighting: |usr_06.txt|. |
| |
| |
| Q: What Is a Good vimrc File to Use? |
| |
| See the www.vim.org Web site for several good examples. |
| |
| |
| Q: Where Do I Find a Good Vim Plugin? |
| |
| See the Vim-online site: http://vim.sf.net. Many users have uploaded useful |
| Vim scripts and plugins there. |
| |
| |
| Q: Where Do I Find More Tips? |
| |
| See the Vim-online site: http://vim.sf.net. There is an archive with hints |
| from Vim users. You might also want to search in the |maillist-archive|. |
| |
| ============================================================================== |
| *90.5* Uninstalling Vim |
| |
| In the unlikely event you want to uninstall Vim completely, this is how you do |
| it. |
| |
| |
| UNIX |
| |
| When you installed Vim as a package, check your package manager to find out |
| how to remove the package again. |
| If you installed Vim from sources you can use this command: > |
| |
| make uninstall |
| |
| However, if you have deleted the original files or you used an archive that |
| someone supplied, you can't do this. Do delete the files manually, here is an |
| example for when "/usr/local" was used as the root: > |
| |
| rm -rf /usr/local/share/vim/vim61 |
| rm /usr/local/bin/eview |
| rm /usr/local/bin/evim |
| rm /usr/local/bin/ex |
| rm /usr/local/bin/gview |
| rm /usr/local/bin/gvim |
| rm /usr/local/bin/gvim |
| rm /usr/local/bin/gvimdiff |
| rm /usr/local/bin/rgview |
| rm /usr/local/bin/rgvim |
| rm /usr/local/bin/rview |
| rm /usr/local/bin/rvim |
| rm /usr/local/bin/rvim |
| rm /usr/local/bin/view |
| rm /usr/local/bin/vim |
| rm /usr/local/bin/vimdiff |
| rm /usr/local/bin/vimtutor |
| rm /usr/local/bin/xxd |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/eview.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/evim.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/ex.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/gview.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/gvim.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/gvimdiff.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/rgview.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/rgvim.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/rview.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/rvim.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/view.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/vim.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/vimdiff.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/vimtutor.1 |
| rm /usr/local/man/man1/xxd.1 |
| |
| |
| MS-WINDOWS |
| |
| If you installed Vim with the self-installing archive you can run |
| the "uninstall-gui" program located in the same directory as the other Vim |
| programs, e.g. "c:\vim\vim61". You can also launch it from the Start menu if |
| installed the Vim entries there. This will remove most of the files, menu |
| entries and desktop shortcuts. Some files may remain however, as they need a |
| Windows restart before being deleted. |
| You will be given the option to remove the whole "vim" directory. It |
| probably contains your vimrc file and other runtime files that you created, so |
| be careful. |
| |
| Else, if you installed Vim with the zip archives, the preferred way is to use |
| the "uninstal" program (note the missing l at the end). You can find it in |
| the same directory as the "install" program, e.g., "c:\vim\vim61". This |
| should also work from the usual "install/remove software" page. |
| However, this only removes the registry entries for Vim. You have to |
| delete the files yourself. Simply select the directory "vim\vim61" and delete |
| it recursively. There should be no files there that you changed, but you |
| might want to check that first. |
| The "vim" directory probably contains your vimrc file and other runtime |
| files that you created. You might want to keep that. |
| |
| ============================================================================== |
| |
| Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt| |
| |
| Copyright: see |manual-copyright| vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: |