Hacker Monthly #19 by Netizens Media

Author:Netizens Media [Media, Netizens]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Netizens Media
Published: 2011-12-01T13:32:06+00:00

Vim Text Objects: The Definitive Guide

By JARED CARROLL

To edit efficiently in Vim, you have to edit beyond individual characters. Instead, edit by word, sentence, and paragraph. In Vim, these higher-level contexts are called text objects.

Vim provides text objects for both plaintext and common programming language constructs. You can also define new text objects using Vim script.

Learning these text objects can take your Vim editing to a whole new level of precision and speed.

Structure of an Editing Command

In Vim, editing commands have the following structure:

<number><command><text object or motion>

The number is used to perform the command over multiple text objects or motions, e.g., backward three words, forward two paragraphs. The number is optional and can appear either before or after the command.

The command is an operation, e.g., change, delete (cut), or yank (copy). The command is also optional, but without it, you only have a motion command, not an edit command

The text object or motion can either be a text construct, e.g., a word, a sentence, a paragraph, or a motion, e.g., forward a line, back one page, end of the line.

An editing command is a command plus a text object or motion, e.g., delete this word, change the next sentence, copy this paragraph.

Plaintext Text Objects

Vim provides text objects for the three building blocks of plaintext: words, sentences and paragraphs.

Words

• aw → a word (includes surrounding white space)

• iw → inner word (does not include surrounding white space)

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