# Vim

I'm a big fan of modal editing and specifically Vim.

## Resources

### Videos

* [Derek Wyatt Vim Videos](http://derekwyatt.org/vim/tutorials/) - The first

  time I came across their videos was on global commands - [Globals, Command Line and Functions](https://vimeo.com/15443936). 

  This is a pretty good video to show some *magic* of Vim and it is very funny to boot! This would be my

  current video of choice to show someone the power of Vim at the hands of an advanced user.
* [Greg Hurrell](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXPHFM88IlFn68OmLwtPmZA) - Greg's channel is not exclusively about Vim, 

  but his channel full of Vim tips and tricks.

## Tips

* Map `CapsLock` to `Esc`
  * In Linux I've used [xmodmap](https://www.x.org/archive/X11R6.8.1/doc/xmodmap.1.html) based method for mapping for this.

    ```
    ! Swap caps lock and escape
    remove Lock = Caps_Lock
    ! keysym Escape = Caps_Lock
    keysym Caps_Lock = Escape
    add Lock = Caps_Lock

    ! Press both Shift keys to get Caps_Lock
    keycode  50 = Shift_L Caps_Lock Shift_L Caps_Lock
    keycode  62 = Shift_R Caps_Lock Shift_R Caps_Lock
    ```
  * On macOS this could be done via settings -

    <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/127591/using-caps-lock-as-esc-in-mac-os-x>.
* Appending result from an external command to the buffer - <https://vim.fandom.com/wiki/Append_output_of_an_external_command>

  `read !<external command>`

  For example, to get CPU info into the current buffer, `read !cat /proc/cpuinfo`.
* Format JSON,
  * with `python` - `:%!python -m json.tool`
  * with `jq` tool - `:%!jq '.'`
* Change `Tabs` to `Spaces` - <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/426963/replace-tabs-with-spaces-in-vim>

  ```
  " settings for tabs
  :set tabstop=2 shiftwidth=2 expandtab
  " convert the existing buffer
  :retab
  ```

  Another option to would be to *reindent* the whole file with `gg=G`.
* Enabling mouse scroll support - <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/7225057/use-mouse-scroll-wheel-in-vim>.

  ```
  set mouse=a
  ```
* Opening files based on a command line search. This is more of a command line tip, but I find this pattern to be quite useful. To open all Dockerfiles in a directory,

  ```
  vim $(fd Dockerfile ~/Code)
  ```

  Another adaptation of this pattern is to use a temporary vim buffer to put the search results and then open files based from buffer contents.

  ```
  fd Dockerfile ~/Code | vim -

  # Then open files one by one based on the contents (which could be empty if
  # the search results are empty). Opening buffers for file locations is a
  # pretty easy in Vim with Vim unimpared commands like `gf` in normal mode
  ```
* Write a file as superuser,

  ```
  :w !sudo tee %
  ```

  How this works - <https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2600783/how-does-the-vim-write-with-sudo-trick-work>.
* [Vim regex](http://vimregex.com/)


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