linux-unix

vim/vimrc FAQ: Can you share an example vim vimrc configuration file?

Sure. I don't use vim for programming much these days, so I don't have the vimrc configuration commands I used to use with various programming languages, but I'll be glad to share my vimrc configuration file that I use every day, along with a few extra lines to demonstrate some of the vim configuration possibilities.

Example vim vimrc configuration file

Here's an example vimrc file:

vim autoindent FAQ: How do I configure vim to automatically indent newlines? That is, if my current line is indented three spaces, and I hit [enter], I want the next line to autmatically be indented three spaces as well.

To configure vim autoindent, just use this vim command:

vim FAQ: How do I delete blank lines in vim?

To delete blank lines in vim (empty lines), use this vim last line mode command:

:g/^$/d

Here's a brief explanation of how this "vim delete blank lines" command works:

vim delete FAQ: How do I delete a line in vim? (Also, how do I delete multiple lines in vim?)

To delete the current line in your vim editor, use this vim delete line command:

dd

You can use this same command to delete multiple lines in vim. Just precede the command by the number of lines you want to delete. For instance, to delete five lines in vim, use this command:

I was just reminded of the Unix/Linux vimdiff command that lets you visually see the differences between multiple files. I normally just use vimdiff to look at the differences between two files, but I know it can also work with three files.

A quick vimdiff example with two files

To demonstrate how vimdiff works, here's a quick example. Suppose you have one file named getty1 that has these contents: