*filetype.txt*   For Vim version 6.0ab.  Last change: 2001 Mar 19


		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Bram Moolenaar


Filetypes					*filetype* *file-type*

1. Filetypes			|filetypes|
2. Filetype plugin		|filetype-plugin|

Also see |autocmd.txt|.

{Vi does not have any of these commands}

==============================================================================
1. Filetypes					*filetypes* *file-types*

Vim can detect the type of file that is edited.  This is done by checking the
file name and sometimes by inspecting the contents of the file for specific
text.

							*:filetype* *:filet*
To enable file type detection, use this command in your vimrc: >
	:filetype on
Each time a new or existing file is edited, Vim will try to recognize the type
of the file and set the 'filetype' option.  This will trigger the FileType
event, which can be used to set the syntax highlighting, set options, etc.

Detail: The ":filetype on" command will load one of these files:
		Amiga	    $VIMRUNTIME/filetype.vim
		Mac	    $VIMRUNTIME:filetype.vim
		MS-DOS	    $VIMRUNTIME\filetype.vim
		RiscOS	    Vim:Filetype
		Unix	    $VIMRUNTIME/filetype.vim
		VMS	    $VIMRUNTIME/filetype.vim
	This file is a Vim script that defines autocommands for the
	BufNewFile and BufRead events.  If the file type is not found by the
	name, the file $VIMRUNTIME/scripts.vim is used to detect it from the
	contents of the file.

To add your own file types, see |new-filetype| below.

If the file type is not detected automatically, or it finds the wrong type,
you can either set the 'filetype' option manually, or add a modeline to your
file.  Example, for in an IDL file use the command: >
	:set filetype=idl
or add this |modeline| to the file: >
	/* vim: set filetype=idl : */
<
						*:filetype-plugin-on*
You can enable loading the plugin files for specific file types with: >
	:filetype plugin on
If filetype detection was not switched on yet, it will be as well.
This actually loads the file "ftplugin.vim" in 'runtimepath'.
The result is that when a file is edited its plugin file is loaded (if there
is one for the detected filetype). |filetype-plugin|

						*:filetype-plugin-off*
You can disable it again with: >
	:filetype plugin off
The filetype detection is not switched off then.  But if you do switch off
filetype detection, the plugins will not be loaded either.
This actually loads the file "ftplugof.vim" in 'runtimepath'.

						*:filetype-indent-on*
You can enable loading the indent file for specific file types with: >
	:filetype indent on
If filetype detection was not switched on yet, it will be as well.
This actually loads the file "indent.vim" in 'runtimepath'.
The result is that when a file is edited its indent file is loaded (if there
is one for the detected filetype). |indent-expression|

						*:filetype-indent-off*
You can disable it again with: >
	:filetype indent off
The filetype detection is not switched off then.  But if you do switch off
filetype detection, the indent files will not be loaded either.
This actually loads the file "indoff.vim" in 'runtimepath'.

Overview:					*:filetype-overview*

command				detection	plugin		indent ~
:filetype on			on		unchanged	unchanged
:filetype off			off		unchanged	unchanged
:filetype plugin on		on		on		unchanged
:filetype plugin off		unchanged	off		unchanged
:filetype indent on		on		unchanged	on
:filetype indent off		unchanged	unchanged	off
:filetype plugin indent on	on		on		on
:filetype plugin indent off	unchanged	off		off

To see the current status, type: >
	:filetype
The output looks something like this: >
	filetype detection:ON  plugin:ON  indent:OFF

The file types are also used for syntax highlighting.  If the ":syntax on"
command is used, the file type detection is installed too.  There is no need
to do ":filetype on" after ":syntax on".

To disable file type detection, use this command: >
	:filetype off

To disable one of the file types, add a line in the your filetype file, see
|remove-filetype|.

							*new-filetype*
If a file type that you want to use is not detected yet, there are two ways to
add it.  In any way, it's better not modify the $VIMRUNTIME/filetype.vim file.
It will be overwritten when installing a new version of Vim.

A. If your file type can be detected by the file name.
   1. Create your user runtime directory.  You would normally use the first
      item of the 'runtimepath' option.  Example for Unix: >
	:!mkdir ~/.vim
<
   2. Create a file that contains autocommands to detect the file type.
      Example: >
	" my filetype file
	augroup filetypedetect
	  au! BufRead,BufNewFile *.mine	setfiletype mine
	  au! BufRead,BufNewFile *.xyz		setfiletype drawing
	augroup END
<     Write this file as "filetype.vim" in your user runtime directory.  For
      example, for Unix: >
	:w ~/.vim/filetype.vim

<  3. To use the new filetype detection you must restart Vim.

   Your filetype.vim will be sourced before the default FileType autocommands
   have been installed.  Your autocommands will match first, and the
   ":setfiletype" command will make sure that no other autocommands will set
   'filetype' after this.
							*new-filetype-scripts*
B. If your filetype can only be detected by inspecting the contents of the
   file.

   1. Create your user runtime directory.  You would normally use the first
      item of the 'runtimepath' option.  Example for Unix: >
	:!mkdir ~/.vim
<
   2. Create a vim script file for doing this.  Example: >
	if did_filetype()	" filetype already set..
	  finish		" ..don't do these checks
	endif
	if getline(1) =~ '^#!.*\<mine\>'
	  setfiletype mine
	elseif getline(1) =~? '\<drawing\>'
	  setfiletype drawing
	endif
<     See $VIMRUNTIME/scripts.vim for more examples.
      Write this file as "scripts.vim" in your user runtime directory.  For
      example, for Unix: >
      	:w ~/.vim/scripts.vim
<
   3. The detection will work right away, no need to restart Vim.

   Your scripts.vim is loaded before the default checks for file types, which
   means that your rules override the default rules in
   $VIMRUNTIME/scripts.vim.

						*remove-filetype*
If a file type is detected that is wrong for you, install a filetype.vim or
scripts.vim to catch it (see above).  You can set 'filetype' to a non-existing
name to avoid that it will be set later anyway: >
	:set filetype=ignored

If you are setting up a system with many users, and you don't want each user
to add/remove the same filetypes, consider writing the filetype.vim and
scripts.vim files in a runtime directory that is used for everybody.  Check
the 'runtimepath' for a directory to use.  If there isn't one, set
'runtimepath' in the |system-vimrc|.  Be careful to keep the default
directories!


						*autocmd-osfiletypes*
On operating systems which support storing a file type with the file, you can
specify that an autocommand should only be executed if the file is of a
certain type.

The actual type checking depends on which platform you are running Vim
on; see your system's documentation for details.

To use osfiletype checking in an autocommand you should put a list of types to
match in angle brackets in place of a pattern, like this: >

	:au BufRead *.html,<&faf;HTML>  so $VIMRUNTIME/syntax/html.vim

This will match:

- Any file whose name ends in `.html'
- Any file whose type is `&faf' or 'HTML', where the meaning of these types
  depends on which version of Vim you are using.
  Unknown types are considered NOT to match.

You can also specify a type and a pattern at the same time (in which case they
must both match): >

	:au BufRead <&fff>diff*

This will match files of type `&fff' whose names start with `diff'.

Note that osfiletype checking is skipped if Vim is compiled without the
|+osfiletype| feature.

							*plugin-details*
The "plugin" directory can be in any of the directories in the 'runtimepath'
option.  All of these directories will be searched for plugins and they are
all loaded.  For example, if this command: >

	set runtimepath

produces this output: >

	runtimepath=/etc/vim,~/.vim,/usr/local/share/vim/vim60

then Vim will load all plugins in these directories: >

	/etc/vim/plugin/
	~/.vim/plugin/
	/usr/local/share/vim/vim60/plugin/

Note that the last one is the value of $VIMRUNTIME which has been expanded.

What if it looks like your plugin is not being loaded?  You can find out what
happens when Vim starts up by using the |-V| argument: >
	vim -V1
You will see a lot of messages, in between them is a remark about loading the
plugins.  It starts with: >
	Searching for "plugin/*.vim" in
There you can see where Vim looks for your plugin scripts.

==============================================================================
2. Filetype plugin					*filetype-plugins*

When loading filetype plugins has been enabled |:filetype-plugin-on|, options
will be set and mappings defined.  These are all local to the buffer, they
will not be used for other files.

Defining mappings for a filetype may get in the way of the mappings you
define yourself.  There are a few ways to avoid this:
1. Set the "maplocalleader" variable to the key sequence you want the mappings
   to start with.  Example: >
   	:let maplocalleader = ","
<  All mappings will then start with a comma instead of the default, which
   is a backslash.  Also see |<LocalLeader>|.

2. Define your own mapping.  Example: >
	:map ,p <Plug>MailQuote
<  You need to check the description of the plugin file below for the
   functionality it offers and the string to map to.
   You need to define your own mapping before the plugin is loaded (before
   editing a file of that type).  The plugin will then skip installing the
   default mapping.

3. Disable defining mappings for a specific filetype by setting a variable,
   which contains the name of the filetype.  For the "mail" filetype this
   would be: >
   	:let no_mail_maps = 1

4. Disable defining mappings for all filetypes by setting a variable: >
	:let no_plugin_maps = 1
<

							*ftplugin-overrule*
If a global filetype plugin does not do exactly what you want, there are three
ways to change this:

1. Add a few settings.
   You must create a new filetype plugin in a directory early in
   'runtimepath'.  For Unix, for example you could use this file: >
   	vim ~/.vim/ftplugin/fortran.vim
<  You can set those settings and mappings that you would like to add.  Note
   that the global plugin will be loaded after this, it may overrule the
   settings that you do here.  If this is the case, you need to use one of the
   following two methods.

2. Make a copy of the plugin and change it.
   You must put the copy in a directory early in 'runtimepath'.  For Unix, for
   example, you could do this: >
   	cp $VIMRUNTIME/ftplugin/fortran.vim ~/.vim/ftplugin/fortran.vim
<  Then you can edit the copied file to your liking.  Since the b:did_ftplugin
   variable will be set, the global plugin will not be loaded.
   A disadvantage of this method is that when the distributed plugin gets
   improved, you will have to copy and modify it again.

3. Overrule the settings after loading the global plugin.
   You must create a new filetype plugin in a directory from the end of
   'runtimepath'.  For Unix, for example, you could use this file: >
   	vim ~/.vim/after/ftplugin/fortran.vim
<  In this file you can change just those settings that you want to change.


Docs for the default filetype plugins.


FORTRAN							*fortran-plugin*

Options:
'expandtab'	is switched on to avoid tabs as required by the Fortran
		standards unless the user has set fortran_have_tabs in .vimrc.
'textwidth'	is set to 72 for fixed source format as required by the
		Fortran standards and to 80 for free source format.
'formatoptions' is set to break code and comment lines and to preserve long
		lines. You can format comments with |gq|.
For further discussion of fortran_have_tabs and the method used for the
detection of source format see |fortran-syntax|.


MAIL							*mail-plugin*

Options:
'modeline'	is switched off to avoid the danger of trojan horses, and to
		avoid that a Subject line with "Vim:" in it will cause an
		error message.
'textwidth'	is set to 72.  This is often recommended for e-mail.
'formatoptions'  is set to break text lines and to repeat the comment leader
		in new lines, so that a leading ">" for quotes is repeated.
		You can also format quoted text with |gq|.

Local mappings:
<LocalLeader>q   or   \\MailQuote
	Quotes the text selected in Visual mode, or from the cursor position
	to the end of the file in Normal mode.  This means "> " is inserted in
	each line.

MAN							*man-plugin*

Displays a manual page in a nice way.

To start using the ":Man" command before any manual page was loaded, source
this script from your startup vimrc file: >

	runtime ftplugin/man.vim

Options:
'iskeyword'	the '.' character is added to be able to use CTRL-] on the
		manual page name.

Commands:
Man {name}	Display the manual page for {name} in a window.

Local mappings:
CTRL-]		Jump to the manual page for the word under the cursor.
CTRL-T		Jump back to the previous manual page.

 vim:tw=78:
