*sign.txt* For Vim version 7.2. Last change: 2006 Apr 24
VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Gordon Prieur
and Bram Moolenaar
Sign Support Features *sign-support*
1. Introduction |sign-intro|
2. Commands |sign-commands|
{Vi does not have any of these features}
{only available when compiled with the |+signs| feature}
1. Introduction *sign-intro* *signs* When a debugger or other IDE tool is driving an editor it needs to be able to give specific highlights which quickly tell the user useful information about the file. One example of this would be a debugger which had an icon in the left-hand column denoting a breakpoint. Another example might be an arrow representing the Program Counter (PC). The sign features allow both placement of a sign, or icon, in the left-hand side of the window and definition of a highlight which will be applied to that line. Displaying the sign as an image is most likely only feasible in gvim (although Sun Microsystem's dtterm does support this it's the only terminal emulator I know of which does). A text sign and the highlight should be feasible in any color terminal emulator. Signs and highlights are not useful just for debuggers. Sun's Visual WorkShop uses signs and highlights to mark build errors and SourceBrowser hits. Additionally, the debugger supports 8 to 10 different signs and highlight colors. |workshop| Same for Netbeans |netbeans|. There are two steps in using signs: 1. Define the sign. This specifies the image, text and highlighting. For example, you can define a "break" sign with an image of a stop roadsign and text "!!". 2. Place the sign. This specifies the file and line number where the sign is displayed. A defined sign can be placed several times in different lines and files. When signs are defined for a file, Vim will automatically add a column of two characters to display them in. When the last sign is unplaced the column disappears again. The color of the column is set with the SignColumn group |hl-SignColumn|. Example to set the color::highlight SignColumn guibg=darkgrey
2. Commands *sign-commands* *:sig* *:sign* Here is an example that places a sign piet, displayed with the text ">>", in line 23 of the current file::sign define piet text=>> texthl=Search:exe ":sign place 2 line=23 name=piet file=" . expand("%:p")And here is the command to delete it again::sign unplace 2Notethat the ":sign" command cannot be followed by another command or a comment. If you do need that, use the |:execute| command. DEFINING A SIGN. *:sign-define* *E255* *E160* *E612* :sign define{name}{argument}... Define a new sign or set attributes for an existing sign. The{name}can either be a number (all digits) or a name starting with a non-digit. About 120 different signs can be defined. Accepted arguments: icon={pixmap}Define the file name where the bitmap can be found. Should be a full path. The bitmap should fit in the place of two characters. This is not checked. If the bitmap is too big it will cause redraw problems. Only GTK 2 can scale the bitmap to fit the space available.toolkit supportsGTK 1 pixmap (.xpm) GTK 2 many Motif pixmap (.xpm) linehl={group}Highlighting group used for the whole line the sign is placed in. Most useful is defining a background color. text={text}*E239* Define the text that is displayed when there is no icon or the GUI is not being used. Only printable characters are allowed and they must occupy one or two display cells. texthl={group}Highlighting group used for the text item. DELETING A SIGN *:sign-undefine* *E155* :sign undefine{name}Deletes a previously defined sign. If signs with this{name}are still placed this will cause trouble. LISTING SIGNS *:sign-list* *E156* :sign list Lists all defined signs and their attributes. :sign list{name}Lists one defined sign and its attributes. PLACING SIGNS *:sign-place* *E158* :sign place{id}line={lnum}name={name}file={fname}Place sign defined as{name}at line{lnum}in file{fname}. *:sign-fname* The file{fname}must already be loaded in a buffer. The exact file name must be used, wildcards, $ENV and ~ are not expanded, white space must not be escaped. Trailing white space is ignored. The sign is remembered under{id}, this can be used for further manipulation.{id}must be a number. It's up to the user to make sure the{id}is used only once in each file (if it's used several times unplacing will also have to be done several times and making changes may not work as expected). :sign place{id}line={lnum}name={name}buffer={nr}Same, but use buffer{nr}. :sign place{id}name={name}file={fname}Change the placed sign{id}in file{fname}to use the defined sign{name}. See remark above about{fname}|:sign-fname|. This can be used to change the displayed sign without moving it (e.g., when the debugger has stopped at a breakpoint). :sign place{id}name={name}buffer={nr}Same, but use buffer{nr}. REMOVING SIGNS *:sign-unplace* *E159* :sign unplace{id}file={fname}Remove the previously placed sign{id}from file{fname}. See remark above about{fname}|:sign-fname|. :sign unplace{id}buffer={nr}Same, but use buffer{nr}. :sign unplace{id}Remove the previously placed sign{id}from all files it appears in. :sign unplace * Remove all placed signs. :sign unplace Remove the placed sign at the cursor position. LISTING PLACED SIGNS :sign place file={fname}List signs placed in file{fname}. See remark above about{fname}|:sign-fname|. :sign place buffer={nr}List signs placed in buffer{nr}. :sign place List placed signs in all files. JUMPING TO A SIGN *:sign-jump* *E157* :sign jump{id}file={fname}Open the file{fname}or jump to the window that contains{fname}and position the cursor at sign{id}. See remark above about{fname}|:sign-fname|. If the file isn't displayed in window and the current file can not be |abandon|ed this fails. :sign jump{id}buffer={nr}Same, but use buffer{nr}. vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
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