An easy way to customize Viper is to change the values of constants used in
Viper. Here is the list of the constants used in Viper and their default
values. The corresponding :se command is also indicated. (The symbols
t
and nil
represent “true” and “false” in Lisp).
Viper supports both the abbreviated Vi variable names and their full names. Variable completion is done on full names only. TAB and SPC complete variable names. Typing = will complete the name and then will prompt for a value, if applicable. For instance, :se au SPC will complete the command to :set autoindent; :se ta SPC will complete the command and prompt further like this: :set tabstop = . However, typing :se ts SPC will produce a “No match” message because ts is an abbreviation for tabstop and Viper supports completion on full names only. However, you can still hit RET or =, which will complete the command like this: :set ts = and Viper will be waiting for you to type a value for the tabstop variable. To get the full list of Vi variables, type :se SPC TAB.
viper-auto-indent nil
:se ai (:se autoindent)
:se ai-g (:se autoindent-global)
If t
, enable auto indentation.
by RET, o or O command.
viper-auto-indent
is a local variable. To change the value globally, use
setq-default
. It may be useful for certain major modes to have their
own values of viper-auto-indent
. This can be achieved by using
setq
to change the local value of this variable in the hooks to the
appropriate major modes.
:se ai changes the value of viper-auto-indent
in the current
buffer only; :se ai-g does the same globally.
viper-electric-mode t
If not nil
, auto-indentation becomes electric, which means that
RET, O, and o indent cursor according to the current
major mode. In the future, this variable may control additional electric
features.
This is a local variable: setq
changes the value of this variable
in the current buffer only. Use setq-default
to change the value in
all buffers.
viper-case-fold-search nil
:se ic (:se ignorecase)
If not nil
, search ignores cases.
This can also be toggled by quickly hitting / twice.
viper-re-search nil
:se magic
If not nil
, search will use regular expressions; if nil
then
use vanilla search.
This behavior can also be toggled by quickly hitting / trice.
buffer-read-only
:se ro (:se readonly)
Set current buffer to read only. To change globally put
(setq-default buffer-read-only t)
in your .emacs file.
blink-matching-paren t
:se sm (:se showmatch)
Show matching parens by blinking cursor.
tab-width t (default setting via setq-default
)
:se ts=value (:se tabstop=value)
:se ts-g=value (:se tabstop-global=value)
tab-width
is a local variable that controls the width of the tab stops.
To change the value globally, use setq-default
; for local settings,
use setq
.
The command :se ts sets the tab width in the current buffer only; it has no effect on other buffers.
The command :se ts-g sets tab width globally, for all buffers where the tab is not yet set locally, including the new buffers.
Note that typing TAB normally
doesn’t insert the tab, since this key is usually bound to
a text-formatting function, indent-for-tab-command
(which facilitates
programming and document writing). Instead, the tab is inserted via the
command viper-insert-tab
, which is bound to S-tab (shift + tab).
On some text terminals, Shift doesn’t modify the TAB key, so
S-tab behaves as if it were TAB. In such a case, you will have
to bind viper-insert-tab
to some other convenient key.
viper-shift-width 8
:se sw=value (:se shiftwidth=value)
The number of columns shifted by > and < commands.
viper-search-wrap-around t
:se ws (:se wrapscan)
If not nil
, search wraps around the end/beginning of buffer.
viper-search-scroll-threshold 2
If search lands within this many lines of the window top or bottom, the window will be scrolled up or down by about 1/7-th of its size, to reveal the context. If the value is negative, don’t scroll.
viper-tags-file-name "TAGS"
The name of the file used as the tag table.
viper-re-query-replace nil
If not nil
, use reg-exp replace in query replace.
viper-want-ctl-h-help nil
If not nil
, C-h is bound to help-command
;
otherwise, C-h is bound as usual in Vi.
viper-vi-style-in-minibuffer t
If not nil
, Viper provides a high degree of compatibility with Vi
insert mode when you type text in the minibuffer; if nil
, typing in
the minibuffer feels like plain Emacs.
viper-no-multiple-ESC t
If you set this to nil
, you can use ESC as Meta in Vi state.
Normally, this is not necessary, since graphical displays have separate
Meta keys (usually on each side of the space bar). On a dumb terminal, Viper
sets this variable to twice
, which is almost like nil
, except
that double ESC beeps. This, too, lets ESC to be used as a Meta.
viper-fast-keyseq-timeout 200
Key sequences separated by this many milliseconds are treated as Vi-style keyboard macros. If the key sequence is defined as such a macro, it will be executed. Otherwise, it is processed as an ordinary sequence of typed keys.
Setting this variable too high may slow down your typing. Setting it too low may make it hard to type macros quickly enough.
viper-ex-style-motion t
Set this to nil
, if you want l,h to cross
lines, etc. See Movement and Markers, for more info.
viper-ex-style-editing t
Set this to nil
, if you want
C-h and DEL to not stop
at the beginning of a line in Insert state, X and x to delete
characters across lines in Vi command state, etc.
viper-ESC-moves-cursor-back t
It t
, cursor moves back 1 character when switching from insert state to vi
state. If nil
, the cursor stays where it was before the switch.
viper-always t
t
means: leave it to Viper to decide when a buffer must be brought
up in Vi state,
Insert state, or Emacs state. This heuristic works well in virtually all
cases. nil
means you either have to invoke viper-mode
manually
for each buffer (or you can add viper-mode
to the appropriate major mode
hooks using with-eval-after-load
).
This option must be set in your Viper customization file.
viper-custom-file-name "~/.emacs.d/viper"
File used for Viper-specific customization. Change this setting, if you want. Must be set in .emacs before Viper is loaded. Note that you have to set it as a string inside double quotes.
viper-spell-function 'ispell-region
Function used by the command #c<move> to spell.
viper-glob-function
The value of this variable is the function symbol used to expand wildcard
symbols. This is platform-dependent. The default tries to set this variable
to work with most shells, MS Windows, etc. However, if it
doesn’t work the way you expect, you should write your own.
Use viper-glob-unix-files
and viper-glob-mswindows-files
in
viper-util.el as examples.
This feature is used to expand wildcards in the Ex command :e. Note that Viper doesn’t support wildcards in the :r and :w commands, because file completion is a better mechanism.
ex-cycle-other-window t
If not nil
, :n and :b will cycle through files in another
window, if one exists.
ex-cycle-through-non-files nil
:n does not normally cycle through buffers. Set this to get buffers also.
viper-want-emacs-keys-in-insert
This is set to nil
for user levels 1 and 2 and to t
for user
levels 3 and 4. Users who specify level 5 are allowed to set this variable
as they please (the default for this level is t
). If set to
nil
, complete Vi compatibility is provided in Insert state. This is
really not recommended, as this precludes you from using language-specific
features provided by the major modes.
viper-want-emacs-keys-in-vi
This is set to nil
for user
level 1 and to t
for user levels 2–4.
At level 5, users are allowed to set this variable as they please (the
default for this level is t
).
If set to nil
, complete Vi compatibility is provided
in Vi command state. Setting this to nil
is really a bad idea,
unless you are a novice, as this precludes the use
of language-specific features provided by the major modes.
viper-keep-point-on-repeat t
If not nil
, point is not moved when the user repeats the previous
command by typing a period. This is very useful for doing repeated
changes with the . key.
viper-repeat-from-history-key 'f12
Prefix key used to invoke the macros f12 1 and f12 2 that repeat
the second-last and the third-last destructive command.
Both these macros are bound (as Viper macros) to
viper-repeat-from-history
,
which checks the second key by which it is invoked to see which of the
previous commands to invoke. Viper binds f12 1 and f12 2 only,
but the user can bind more in his/her Viper customization file.
See Vi Macros, for how to do this.
viper-keep-point-on-undo nil
If not nil
, Viper tries to not move point when undoing commands.
Instead, it will briefly move the cursor to the place where change has
taken place. However, if the undone piece of text is not seen in window,
then point will be moved to the place where the change took place.
Set it to t
and see if you like it better.
viper-delete-backwards-in-replace nil
If not nil
, DEL key will delete characters while moving the cursor
backwards. If nil
, the cursor will move backwards without deleting
anything.
viper-replace-overlay-face 'viper-replace-overlay-face
On a graphical display, Viper highlights replacement regions instead of putting a ‘$’ at the end. This variable controls the so called face used to highlight the region.
By default, viper-replace-overlay-face
underlines the replacement on
monochrome displays and also lays a stipple over them. On color displays,
replacement regions are highlighted with color.
If you know something about Emacs faces and don’t like how Viper highlights
replacement regions, you can change viper-replace-overlay-face
by
specifying a new face. (Emacs faces are described in the Emacs Lisp
reference.) On a color display, the following customization method is
usually most effective:
(set-face-foreground viper-replace-overlay-face "DarkSlateBlue") (set-face-background viper-replace-overlay-face "yellow")
For a complete list of colors available to you, evaluate the expression
(defined-colors)
. (Type it in the buffer *scratch* and then
hit the C-j key.
viper-replace-overlay-cursor-color "Red"
¶Cursor color when it is inside the replacement region. This has effect only on color displays and only when Emacs runs as an X application.
viper-insert-state-cursor-color nil
¶If set to a valid color, this will be the cursor color when Viper is in insert state.
viper-emacs-state-cursor-color nil
¶If set to a valid color, this will be the cursor color when Viper is in emacs state.
viper-replace-region-end-delimiter "$"
A string used to mark the end of replacement regions. It is used only on
TTYs or if viper-use-replace-region-delimiters
is non-nil
.
viper-replace-region-start-delimiter ""
A string used to mark the beginning of replacement regions. It is used
only on TTYs or if viper-use-replace-region-delimiters
is non-nil
.
viper-use-replace-region-delimiters
If non-nil
, Viper will always use viper-replace-region-end-delimiter
and
viper-replace-region-start-delimiter
to delimit replacement regions,
even on color displays (where this is unnecessary). By default, this
variable is non-nil
only on TTYs or monochrome displays.
viper-allow-multiline-replace-regions t
If non-nil
, multi-line text replacement regions, such as those produced by
commands c55w, 3C, etc., will stay around until the user exits
the replacement mode. In this variable is set to nil
, Viper will
emulate the standard Vi behavior, which supports only intra-line
replacement regions (and multi-line replacement regions are deleted).
viper-toggle-key "\C-z"
Specifies the key used to switch from Emacs to Vi and back. Must be set in your Viper customization file. This variable can’t be changed interactively after Viper is loaded.
In Insert state, this key acts as a temporary escape to Vi state, i.e., it will set Viper up so that the very next command will be executed as if it were typed in Vi state.
viper-buffer-search-char nil
Key used for buffer search. See Viper Specials, for details.
viper-surrounding-word-function 'viper-surrounding-word
The value of this variable is a function name that is used to determine what constitutes a word clicked upon by the mouse. This is used by mouse search and insert.
viper-search-face 'viper-search-face
Variable that controls how search patterns are highlighted when they are found.
viper-vi-state-hook nil
List of parameterless functions to be run just after entering the Vi command state.
viper-insert-state-hook nil
Same for Insert state. This hook is also run after entering Replace state.
viper-replace-state-hook nil
List of (parameterless) functions called just after entering Replace state
(and after all viper-insert-state-hook
).
viper-emacs-state-hook nil
List of (parameterless) functions called just after switching from Vi state to Emacs state.
You can reset some of these constants in Viper with the Ex command :set (when so indicated in the table). Or you can include a line like this in your Viper customization file:
(setq viper-case-fold-search t)