*align.txt* The Alignment Tool Jan 07, 2013 Author: Charles E. Campbell (remove NOSPAM from Campbell's email first) Copyright: (c) 2004-2012 by Charles E. Campbell *Align-copyright* The VIM LICENSE applies to Align.vim, AlignMaps.vim, and Align.txt (see |copyright|) except use "Align and AlignMaps" instead of "Vim" NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. USE AT-YOUR-OWN-RISK. ============================================================================== 1. Contents *align* *align-contents* {{{1 1. Contents.................: |align-contents| 2. Alignment Manual.........: |align-manual| 3. Alignment Usage..........: |align-usage| Alignment Concepts.......: |align-concepts| Alignment Commands.......: |align-commands| Alignment Control........: |align-control| Separators.............: |alignctrl-separators| Initial Whitespace.....: |alignctrl-w| |alignctrl-W| |alignctrl-I| Justification..........: |alignctrl-l| |alignctrl-r| |alignctrl-c| Justification Control..: |alignctrl--| |alignctrl-+| |alignctrl-:| Cyclic/Sequential......: |alignctrl-=| |alignctrl-C| Separator Justification: |alignctrl-<| |alignctrl->| |alignctrl-|| Line (de)Selection.....: |alignctrl-g| |alignctrl-v| Temporary Settings.....: |alignctrl-m| Padding................: |alignctrl-p| |alignctrl-P| Current Options........: |alignctrl-settings| |alignctrl-| Alignment Control Init...: |alignctrl-init| Alignment................: |align-align| 4. Alignment Maps...........: |align-maps| \a,....................: |alignmap-a,| \a?....................: |alignmap-a?| \a<....................: |alignmap-a<| \abox..................: |alignmap-abox| \acom..................: |alignmap-acom| \anum..................: |alignmap-anum| \ascom.................: |alignmap-ascom| \adec..................: |alignmap-adec| \adef..................: |alignmap-adef| \afnc..................: |alignmap-afnc| \adcom.................: |alignmap-adcom| \aocom.................: |alignmap-aocom| \tsp...................: |alignmap-tsp| \tsq...................: |alignmap-tsq| \tt....................: |alignmap-tt| \t=....................: |alignmap-t=| \T=....................: |alignmap-T=| \Htd...................: |alignmap-Htd| 5. Alignment Tool History...: |align-history| ============================================================================== 2. Align Manual *alignman* *alignmanual* *align-manual* {{{1 Align comes as a vimball; simply typing > vim Align.vba.gz :so % < should put its components where they belong. The components are: > .vim/plugin/AlignPlugin.vim .vim/plugin/AlignMapsPlugin.vim .vim/plugin/cecutil.vim .vim/autoload/Align.vim .vim/autoload/AlignMaps.vim .vim/doc/Align.txt < To see a user's guide, see |align-userguide| To see examples, see |alignctrl| and |alignmaps| > /=============+=========+=====================================================\ || \ Default/ || || Commands \ Value/ Explanation || || | | || ++==============+====+=======================================================++ || AlignCtrl | | =Clrc-+:pPIWw [..list-of-separator-patterns..] || || | +-------------------------------------------------------+| || | | may be called as a command or as a function: || || | | :AlignCtrl =lp0P0W & \\ || || | | :call Align#AlignCtrl('=lp0P0W','&','\\') || || | | || || | +-------------------------------------------------------++ || 1st arg | = | = all separator patterns are equivalent and are || || | | simultaneously active. Patterns are |regexp|. || || | | C cycle through separator patterns. Patterns are || || | | |regexp| and are active sequentially. || || | | || || | < | < left justify separator Separators are justified, || || | | > right justify separator too. Separator styles || || | | | center separator are cyclic. || || | | || || | l | l left justify Justification styles are always || || | | r right justify cyclic (ie. lrc would mean left j., || || | | c center then right j., then center, repeat. || || | | - skip this separator || || | | + re-use last justification method || || | | : treat rest of text as a field || || | | * use AlignSkip() function (to skip or not) || || | | || || | p1 | p### pad separator on left by # blanks || || | P1 | P### pad separator on right by # blanks || || | | || || | I | I preserve and apply first line's leading white || || | | space to all lines || || | | W preserve leading white space on every line, even || || | | if it varies from line to line || || | | w don't preserve leading white space || || | | || || | | g second argument is a selection pattern -- only || || | | align on lines that have a match (inspired by || || | | :g/selection pattern/command) || || | | v second argument is a selection pattern -- only || || | | align on lines that _don't_ have a match (inspired || || | | by :v/selection pattern/command) || || | | || || | | m Map support: AlignCtrl will immediately do an || || | | AlignPush() and the next call to Align() will do || || | | an AlignPop at the end. This feature allows maps || || | | to preserve user settings. || || | | || || | | default || || | | AlignCtrl default || || | | will clear the AlignCtrl || || | | stack & set the default: AlignCtrl "Ilp1P1=" '=' || || | | || || +----+-------------------------------------------------------+| || More args | More arguments are interpreted as describing separators || || +------------------------------------------------------------+| || No args | AlignCtrl will display its current settings || ||==============+============================================================+| ||[range]Align | [..list-of-separators..] || ||[range]Align! | [AlignCtrl settings] [..list-of-separators..] || || +------------------------------------------------------------+| || | Aligns text over the given range. The range may be || || | selected via visual mode (v, V, or ctrl-v) or via || || | the command line. The Align operation may be invoked || || | as a command or as a function; as a function, the first || || | argument is 0=separators only, 1=AlignCtrl option string || || | followed by a list of separators. || || | :[range]Align || || | :[range]Align [list of separators] || || | :[range]call Align#Align(0) || || | :[range]call Align#Align(0,"list","of","separators",...) || \=============================================================================/ ============================================================================== 3. Alignment Usage *alignusage* *align-usage* *align-userguide* {{{1 ALIGNMENT CONCEPTS *align-concept* *align-concepts* *alignctrl* {{{1 The typical text to be aligned is considered to be: * composed of two or more fields * separated by one or more separator pattern(s): * two or more lines > ws field ws separator ws field ws separator ... ws field ws separator ws field ws separator ... < where "ws" stands for "white space" such as blanks and/or tabs, and "fields" are arbitrary text. For example, consider > x= y= z= 3; xx= yy= zz= 4; zzz= yyy= zzz= 5; a= b= c= 3; < Assume that it is desired to line up all the "=" signs; these, then, are the separators. The fields are composed of all the alphameric text. Assuming they lie on lines 1-4, one may align those "=" signs with: > :AlignCtrl l :1,4Align = < The result is: > x = y = z = 3; xx = yy = zz = 4; zzz = yyy = zzz = 5; a = b = c = 3; < Note how each "=" sign is surrounded by a single space; the default padding is p1P1 (p1 means one space before the separator, and P1 means one space after it). If you wish to change the padding, say, to no padding, use (see |alignctrl-p|) > :AlignCtrl lp0P0 < Next, note how each field is left justified; that's what the "l" in the AlignCtrl parameters (a small letter "ell") does. If right-justification of the fields had been desired, an "r" could've been used: > :AlignCtrl r < yielding > x = y = z = 3; xx = yy = zz = 4; zzz = yyy = zzz = 5; a = b = c = 3; < There are many more options available for field justification: see |alignctrl-c| and |alignctrl--|. Separators, although commonly only one character long, are actually specified by regular expressions (see |regexp|), and one may left justify, right justify, or center them, too (see |alignctrl-<|). Assume that for some reason a left-right-left-right-... justification sequence was desired. This wish is simply achieved with > :AlignCtrl lr :1,4Align = < because the justification commands are considered to be "cyclic"; ie. lr is the same as lrlrlrlrlrlrlr... There's a lot more discussed under |alignctrl|; hopefully the examples there will help, too. ALIGNMENT COMMANDS *align-command* *align-commands* {{{2 The script includes two primary commands and two minor commands: AlignCtrl : this command/function sets up alignment options which persist until changed for later Align calls. It controls such things as: how to specify field separators, initial white space, padding about separators, left/right/center justification, etc. > ex. AlignCtrl wp0P1 Interpretation: during subsequent alignment operations, preserve each line's initial whitespace. Use no padding before separators but provide one padding space after separators. < Align : this command/function operates on the range given it to align text based on one or more separator patterns. The patterns may be provided via AlignCtrl or via Align itself. > ex. :%Align , Interpretation: align all commas over the entire file. < The :Align! format permits alignment control commands to precede the alignment patterns. > ex. :%Align! p2P2 = < This will align all "=" in the file with two padding spaces on both sides of each "=" sign. NOTE ON USING PATTERNS WITH ALIGN:~ Align and AlignCtrl use || to obtain their input patterns and they use an internal function to split arguments at whitespace unless inside "..."s. One may escape characters inside a double-quote string by preceding such characters with a backslash. AlignPush : this command/function pushes the current AlignCtrl state onto an internal stack. > ex. :AlignPush Interpretation: save the current AlignCtrl settings, whatever they may be. They'll also remain as the current settings until AlignCtrl is used to change them. < AlignPop : this command/function pops the current AlignCtrl state from an internal stack. > ex. :AlignPop Interpretation: presumably AlignPush was used (at least once) previously; this command restores the AlignCtrl settings when AlignPush was last used. < Also see |alignctrl-m| for a way to automatically do an AlignPop after an Align (primarily this is for maps). ALIGNMENT OPTIONS *align-option* *align-options* *align-xstrlen* {{{2 *align-utf8* *align-utf* *align-codepoint* *align-strlen* *align-multibyte* For those of you who are using 2-byte (or more) characters such as are available with utf-8, Align now provides a special option which you may choose based upon your needs: Use Built-in strlen() ~ > let g:Align_xstrlen= 0 < This is the fastest method, but it doesn't handle multibyte characters well. It is the default for: enc=latin1 vim compiled without multi-byte support $LANG is en_US.UTF-8 (assuming USA english) Number of codepoints (Latin a + combining circumflex are two codepoints)~ > let g:Align_xstrlen= 1 (default) < Number of spacing codepoints (Latin a + combining circumflex is one~ spacing codepoint; a hard tab is one; wide and narrow CJK are one~ each; etc.)~ > let g:Align_xstrlen= 2 < Virtual length (counting, for instance, tabs as anything between 1 and~ 'tabstop', wide CJK as 2 rather than 1, Arabic alif as zero when~ immediately preceded by lam, one otherwise, etc.)~ > let g:Align_xstrlen= 3 < User may specify a function to compute the string length~ > let g:Align_xstrlen= "strlen" < This method will cause Align to call upon the named function returning string length. it should resemble the |strlen()| function, taking one argument (the string) for input and returning the string length. By putting one of these settings into your <.vimrc>, Align will use an internal (interpreted) function to determine a string's length instead of Vim's built-in |strlen()| function. Since the function is interpreted, Align will run a bit slower but will handle such strings correctly. The last settings (g:Align_xstrlen= 3 and g:Align_xstrlen="userfuncname") probably will run the slowest but be the most accurate. (thanks to Tony Mechelynck for these) ALIGNMENT CONTROL *:AlignCtrl* *align-control* {{{2 This command doesn't do the alignment operation itself; instead, it controls subsequent alignment operation(s). The first argument to AlignCtrl is a string which may contain one or more alignment control settings. Most of the settings are specified by single letters; the exceptions are the p# and P# commands which interpret a digit following the p or P as specifying padding about the separator. The typical text line is considered to be composed of two or more fields separated by one or more separator pattern(s): > ws field ws separator ws field ws separator ... < where "ws" stands for "white space" such as blanks and/or tabs. SEPARATORS *alignctrl-separators* {{{3 As a result, separators may not have white space (tabs or blanks) on their outsides (ie. ": :" is fine as a separator, but " :: " is not). Usually such separators are not needed, although a map has been provided which works around this limitation and aligns on whitespace (see |alignmap-tsp|). However, if you really need to have separators with leading or trailing whitespace, consider handling them by performing a substitute first (ie. s/ :: /@/g), do the alignment on the temporary pattern (ie. @), and then perform a substitute to revert the separators back to their desired condition (ie. s/@/ :: /g). The Align#Align() function (which is invoked by the :Align command) will first convert tabs over the region into spaces and then apply alignment control. Except for initial white space, white space surrounding the fields is ignored. One has three options just for handling initial white space: --- *alignctrl-w* wWI INITIAL WHITE SPACE *alignctrl-W* {{{3 --- *alignctrl-I* w : ignore all selected lines' initial white space W : retain all selected lines' initial white space I : retain only the first line's initial white space and re-use it for subsequent lines Example: Leading white space options: > +---------------+-------------------+-----------------+ |AlignCtrl w= :=| AlignCtrl W= := | AlignCtrl I= := | +------------------+---------------+-------------------+-----------------+ | Original | w option | W option | I option | +------------------+---------------+-------------------+-----------------+ | a := baaa |a := baaa | a := baaa | a := baaa | | caaaa := deeee |caaaa := deeee | caaaa := deeee | caaaa := deeee| | ee := f |ee := f | ee := f | ee := f | +------------------+---------------+-------------------+-----------------+ < The original has at least one leading white space on every line. Using Align with w eliminated each line's leading white space. Using Align with W preserved each line's leading white space. Using Align with I applied the first line's leading white space (three spaces) to each line. ------ *alignctrl-l* lrc-+: FIELD JUSTIFICATION *alignctrl-r* {{{3 ------ *alignctrl-c* With "lrc", the fields will be left-justified, right-justified, or centered as indicated by the justification specifiers (lrc). The "lrc" options are re-used by cycling through them as needed: l means llllll.... r means rrrrrr.... lr means lrlrlr.... llr means llrllr.... Example: Justification options: Align = > +------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ | Original | AlignCtrl l | AlignCtrl r | AlignCtrl lr | +------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ | a=bb=ccc=1 |a = bb = ccc = 1| a = bb = ccc = 1|a = bb = ccc = 1| | ccc=a=bb=2 |ccc = a = bb = 2|ccc = a = bb = 2|ccc = a = bb = 2| | dd=eee=f=3 |dd = eee = f = 3| dd = eee = f = 3|dd = eee = f = 3| +------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ | Alignment |l l l l| r r r r|l r l r| +------------+-------------------+-------------------+-------------------+ < AlignCtrl l : The = separator is repeatedly re-used, as the cycle only consists of one character (the "l"). Every time left-justification is used for fields. AlignCtrl r : The = separator is repeatedly re-used, as the cycle only consists of one character (the "r"). Every time right-justification is used for fields AlignCtrl lr: Again, the "=" separator is repeatedly re-used, but the fields are justified alternately between left and right. Even more separator control is available! With "-+:": - : skip treating the separator as a separator. *alignctrl--* + : repeat use of the last "lrc" justification *alignctrl-+* : : treat the rest of the line as a single field *alignctrl-:* * : like -, but only if g:AlignSkip() returns true *alignctrl-star* (see |alignctrl-alignskip|) Example: More justification options: Align = > +------------+---------------+--------------------+---------------+ | Original | AlignCtrl -l | AlignCtrl rl+ | AlignCtrl l: | +------------+---------------+--------------------+---------------+ | a=bb=ccc=1 |a=bb = ccc=1 | a = bb = ccc = 1 |a = bb=ccc=1 | | ccc=a=bb=2 |ccc=a = bb=2 |ccc = a = bb = 2 |ccc = a=bb=2 | | dd=eee=f=3 |dd=eee = f=3 | dd = eee = f = 3 |dd = eee=f=3 | +------------+---------------+--------------------+---------------+ | Alignment |l l | r l l l |l l | +------------+---------------+--------------------+---------------+ < In the first example in "More justification options": The first "=" separator is skipped by the "-" specification, and so "a=bb", "ccc=a", and "dd=eee" are considered as single fields. The next "=" separator has its (left side) field left-justified. Due to the cyclic nature of separator patterns, the "-l" specification is equivalent to "-l-l-l ...". Hence the next specification is a "skip", so "ccc=1", etc are fields. In the second example in "More justification options": The first field is right-justified, the second field is left justified, and all remaining fields repeat the last justification command (ie. they are left justified, too). Hence rl+ is equivalent to rlllllllll ... (whereas plain rl is equivalent to rlrlrlrlrl ... ). In the third example in "More justification options": The text following the first separator is treated as a single field. Thus using the - and : operators one can apply justification to a single separator. ex. 1st separator only: AlignCtrl l: 2nd separator only: AlignCtrl -l: 3rd separator only: AlignCtrl --l: etc. *g:AlignSkip* Align Skip Control *alignctrl-alignskip* The separator control '*' permits a function to decide whether or not a character which matches the current separator pattern should instead be skipped. 1. Define a function; example: > fun! AlignSkipString(lineno,indx) let synid = synID(a:lineno,a:indx+1,1) let synname = synIDattr(synIDtrans(synid),"name") let ret= (synname == "String")? 1 : 0 return ret endfun < Input: lineno: current line number indx : index to character; leftmost character in the line has an indx of 0 (like |strpart()|) Output: 0 : if separator is ok 1 : skip separator like it was a '-' 2. Set up |g:AlignSkip| as a function reference (see |Funcref|): > let g:AlignSkip= function("AlignSkipString") < 3. Use * as a separator control where a separator potentially should be skipped over. --- *alignctrl-=* =C CYCLIC VS ALL-ACTIVE SEPARATORS *alignctrl-C* {{{3 --- The separators themselves may be considered as equivalent and simultaneously active ("=") or sequentially cycled through ("C"). Separators are regular expressions (|regexp|) and are specified as the second, third, etc arguments. When the separator patterns are equivalent and simultaneously active, there will be one pattern constructed: > AlignCtrl ... pat1 pat2 pat3 < becomes > \(pat1\|pat2\|pat3\) < (ie. pat1 -or- pat2 -or- pat3; see |/bar|) Each separator pattern is thus equivalent and simultaneously active. The cyclic separator AlignCtrl option stores a list of patterns, only one of which is active for each field at a time. Example: Equivalent/Simultaneously-Active vs Cyclic Separators > +-------------+------------------+---------------------+----------------------+ | Original | AlignCtrl = = + -| AlignCtrl = = | AlignCtrl C = + - | +-------------+------------------+---------------------+----------------------+ |a = b + c - d|a = b + c - d |a = b + c - d |a = b + c - d | |x = y = z + 2|x = y = z + 2 |x = y = z + 2|x = y = z + 2 | |w = s - t = 0|w = s - t = 0 |w = s - t = 0 |w = s - t = 0 | +-------------+------------------+---------------------+----------------------+ < The original is initially aligned with all operators (=+-) being considered as equivalent and simultaneously active field separators. Thus the "AlignCtrl = = + -" example shows no change. The second example only accepts the '=' as a field separator; consequently "b + c - d" is now a single field. The third example illustrates cyclic field separators and is analyzed in the following illustration: > field1 separator field2 separator field3 separator field4 a = b + c - d x = y = z + 2 w = s - t = 0 < The word "cyclic" is used because the patterns form a cycle of use; in the above case, its = + - = + - = + - = + -... Example: Cyclic separators > Label : this is some text discussing ":"s | ex. abc:def:ghi Label : this is some text with a ":" in it | ex. abc:def < apply AlignCtrl lWC : | | (select lines)Align > Label : this is some text discussing ":"s | ex. abc:def:ghi Label : this is some text with a ":" in it | ex. abcd:efg < In the current example, : is the first separator So the first ":"s are aligned | is the second separator but subsequent ":"s are not. | is the third separator The "|"s are aligned, too. : is the fourth separator Since there aren't two bars, | is the fifth separator the subsequent potential cycles | is the sixth separator don't appear. ... In this case it would probably have been a better idea to have used > AlignCtrl WCl: : | < as that alignment control would guarantee that no more cycling would be used after the vertical bar. Example: Cyclic separators Original: > a| b&c | (d|e) & f-g-h aa| bb&cc | (dd|ee) & ff-gg-hh aaa| bbb&ccc | (ddd|eee) & fff-ggg-hhh < AlignCtrl C | | & - > a | b&c | (d|e) & f - g-h aa | bb&cc | (dd|ee) & ff - gg-hh aaa | bbb&ccc | (ddd|eee) & fff - ggg-hhh < In this example, the first and second separators are "|", the third separator is "&", and the fourth separator is "-", (cycling) the fifth and sixth separators are "|", the seventh separator is "&", and the eighth separator is "-", etc. Thus the first "&"s are (not yet) separators, and hence are treated as part of the field. Ignoring white space for the moment, the AlignCtrl shown here means that Align will work with > field | field | field & field - field | field | field & field - ... < --- *alignctrl-<* <>| SEPARATOR JUSTIFICATION *alignctrl->* {{{3 --- *alignctrl-|* Separators may be of differing lengths as shown in the example below. Hence they too may be justified left, right, or centered. Furthermore, separator justification specifications are cyclic: < means <<<<<... justify separator(s) to the left > means >>>>>... justify separator(s) to the right | means |||||... center separator(s) Example: Separator Justification: Align -\+ > +-----------------+ | Original | +-----------------+ | a - bbb - c | | aa -- bb -- ccc | | aaa --- b --- cc| +---------------------+-+-----------------+-+---------------------+ | AlignCtrl < | AlignCtrl > | AlignCtrl | | +---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+ | a - bbb - c | a - bbb - c | a - bbb - c | | aa -- bb -- ccc | aa -- bb -- ccc | aa -- bb -- ccc | | aaa --- b --- cc | aaa --- b --- cc | aaa --- b --- cc | +---------------------+---------------------+---------------------+ < --- *alignctrl-g* gv SELECTIVE APPLICATION *alignctrl-v* {{{3 --- These two options provide a way to select (g) or to deselect (v) lines based on a pattern. Ideally :g/pat/Align would work; unfortunately it results in Align#Align() being called on each line satisfying the pattern separately. > AlignCtrl g pattern < Align will only consider those lines which have the given pattern. > AlignCtrl v pattern < Align will only consider those lines without the given pattern. As an example of use, consider the following example: > :AlignCtrl v ^\s*/\* Original :Align = :Align = +----------------+------------------+----------------+ |one= 2; |one = 2; |one = 2; | |three= 4; |three = 4; |three = 4; | |/* skip=this */ |/* skip = this */ |/* skip=this */ | |five= 6; |five = 6; |five = 6; | +----------------+------------------+----------------+ < The first "Align =" aligned with all "="s, including the one in the "/* skip=this */" comment. The second "Align =" had a AlignCtrl v-pattern which caused it to skip (ignore) the "/* skip=this */" line when aligning. To remove AlignCtrl's g and v patterns, use (as appropriate) > AlignCtrl g AlignCtrl v < To see what g/v patterns are currently active, just use the reporting capability of an unadorned call to AlignCtrl: > AlignCtrl < --- m MAP SUPPORT *alignctrl-m* {{{3 --- This option primarily supports the development of maps. The Align#AlignCtrl() call will first do an Align#AlignPush() (ie. retain current alignment control settings). The next Align#Align() will, in addition to its alignment job, finish up with an Align#AlignPop(). Thus the Align#AlignCtrl settings that follow the "m" are only temporarily in effect for just the next Align#Align(). --- p### *alignctrl-p* P### PADDING *alignctrl-P* {{{3 --- These two options control pre-padding and post-padding with blanks about the separator. One may pad separators with zero to nine spaces; the padding number(s) is/are treated as a cyclic parameter. Thus one may specify padding separately for each field or re-use a padding pattern. > Example: AlignCtrl p102P0 +---------+----------------------------------+ | Original| a=b=c=d=e=f=g=h=1 | | Align = | a =b=c =d =e=f =g =h=1 | +---------+----------------------------------+ | prepad | 1 0 2 1 0 2 1 0 | +---------+----------------------------------+ < This example will cause Align to: pre-pad the first "=" with a single blank, pre-pad the second "=" with no blanks, pre-pad the third "=" with two blanks, pre-pad the fourth "=" with a single blank, pre-pad the fifth "=" with no blanks, pre-pad the sixth "=" with two blanks, etc. --------------- *alignctrl-settings* No option given DISPLAY STATUS *alignctrl-* {{{3 --------------- *alignctrl-no-option* AlignCtrl, when called with no arguments, will display the current alignment control settings. A typical display is shown below: > AlignCtrl<=> qty=1 AlignStyle Padding<1|1> Pat1<\(=\)> < Interpreting, this means that the separator patterns are all equivalent; in this case, there's only one (qty=1). Fields will be padded on the right with spaces (left justification), and separators will be padded on each side with a single space. To change one of these items, see: AlignCtrl......|alignctrl| qty............|align-concept| AlignStyle.....|alignctrl--| |alignctrl-+| |alignctrl-:| |alignctrl-c| Padding........|alignctrl-p| |alignctrl-P| One may get a string which can be fed back into AlignCtrl: > :let alignctrl= Align#AlignCtrl() < This form will put a string describing the current AlignCtrl options, except for the "g" and "v" patterns, into a variable. The Align#AlignCtrl() function will still echo its settings, however. One can feed any non-supported "option" to AlignCtrl() to prevent this, however: > :let alignctrl= Align#AlignCtrl("d") ALIGNMENT CONTROL INITIALIZATION *alignctrl-init* *alignctrl-initialization* {{{2 If you'd like to have your own default AlignCtrl, you'll be wanting to put it in a file such as: > $HOME/.vim/after/plugin/AlignPlugin.vim < Anything in that file would be sourced at startup, but after your .vimrc and after $HOME/.vim/plugin/AlignPlugin.vim; hence, :Align and :AlignCtrl will then be defined. ALIGNMENT *:Align* *align-align* {{{2 Once the alignment control has been determined, the user specifies a range of lines for the Align command/function to do its thing. Alignment is often done on a line-range basis, but one may also restrict alignment to a visual block using ctrl-v. For any visual mode, one types the colon (:) and then "Align". One may, of course, specify a range of lines: > :[range]Align [list-of-separators] < where the |:range| is the usual Vim-powered set of possibilities; the list of separators is the same as the AlignCtrl capability. There is only one list of separators, but either AlignCtrl or Align can be used to specify that list. An alternative form of the Align command can handle both alignment control and the separator list: > :[range]Align! [alignment-control-string] [list-of-separators] < The alignment control string will be applied only for this particular application of Align (it uses |alignctrl-m|). The "g pattern" and "v pattern" alignment controls (see |alignctrl-g| and |alignctrl-v|) are also available via this form of the Align command. Align makes two passes over the text to be aligned. The first pass determines how many fields there are and determines the maximum sizes of each field; these sizes are then stored in a vector. The second pass pads the field (left/right/centered as specified) to bring its length up to the maximum size of the field. Then the separator and its AlignCtrl-specified padding is appended. Pseudo-Code:~ During pass 1 | For all fields in the current line || Determine current separator || Examine field specified by current separator || Determine length of field and save if largest thus far Initialize newline based on initial whitespace option (wWI) During pass 2 | For all fields in current line || Determine current separator || Extract field specified by current separator || Prepend/append padding as specified by AlignCtrl || (right/left/center)-justify to fit field into max-size field || Append separator with AlignCtrl-specified separator padding || Delete current line, install newly aligned line The g and v AlignCtrl patterns cause the passes not to consider lines for alignment, either by requiring that the g-pattern be present or that the v-pattern not be present. The whitespace on either side of a separator is ignored. ============================================================================== 4. Alignment Maps *alignmaps* *align-maps* {{{1 There are a number of maps provided in the AlignMaps plugin which depend upon the Align plugin. The maps provided by AlignMaps typically start with a leading "t" (for the older "textab" program which Align supercedes) or with an "a" for the more complicated alignment maps. The AlignMaps plugin, although provided in the vimball containing Align.vim, is really a separate plugin (Align doesn't depend on AlignMaps). Consequently, if you'd rather not have AlignMaps's mappings, just use the *:AlignMapsClean* command to remove its components. The :AlignMapsClean command does not remove any maps generated by AlignMaps in the current instance of vim. The maps are shown below with a leading backslash (\). However, the actual maps use the construct (see |mapleader|), so the maps' leading kick-off character is easily customized. Furthermore, all the maps specified by the AlignMaps plugin use the construct (see ||and |usr_41.txt|). Hence, if one wishes to override the mapping(s) entirely, one may do that, too. As an example: > map ACOM AM_acom < would have \ACOM do what \acom previously did (assuming that the mapleader has been left at its default value of a backslash). \a, : useful for breaking up comma-separated declarations prior to \adec |alignmap-a,| \a( : aligns ( and , (useful for prototypes) *alignmap-a(* \a? : aligns (...)? ...:... expressions on ? and : |alignmap-a?| \a< : aligns << and >> for c++ |alignmap-a<| \a= : aligns := assignments |alignmap-a=| \abox : draw a C-style comment box around text lines |alignmap-abox| \acom : useful for aligning comments |alignmap-acom| \adcom: useful for aligning comments in declarations |alignmap-adcom| \anum : useful for aligning numbers |alignmap-anum| NOTE: For the visual-mode use of \anum, is needed! See http://www.drchip.org/astronaut/vim/index.html#VIS \aenum: align a European-style number |alignmap-anum| \aunum: align a USA-style number |alignmap-anum| \adec : useful for aligning declarations |alignmap-adec| \adef : useful for aligning definitions |alignmap-adef| \afnc : useful for aligning ansi-c style functions' argument lists |alignmap-afnc| \adcom: a variant of \acom, restricted to comment |alignmap-adcom| containing lines only, but also only for those which don't begin with a comment. Good for certain declaration styles. \aocom: a variant of \acom, restricted to comment |alignmap-aocom| containing lines only \tab : align a table based on tabs *alignmap-tab* (converts to spaces) \tml : useful for aligning the trailing backslashes |alignmap-tml| used to continue lines (shell programming, etc) \tsp : use Align to make a table separated by blanks |alignmap-tsp| (left justified) \ts, : like \t, but swaps whitespace on the right of *alignmap-ts,* the commas to their left \ts: : like \t: but swaps whitespace on the right of *alignmap-ts:* the colons to their left \ts< : like \t< but swaps whitespace on the right of *alignmap-ts<* the less-than signs to their left \ts= : like \t= but swaps whitespace on the right of *alignmap-ts=* the equals signs to their left \Tsp : use Align to make a table separated by blanks |alignmap-Tsp| (right justified) \tsq : use Align to make a table separated by blanks |alignmap-tsq| (left justified) -- "strings" are not split up \tt : useful for aligning LaTeX tabular tables |alignmap-tt| \Htd : tabularizes html tables: |alignmap-Htd| ...field... ...field... *alignmap-t|* *alignmap-t#* *alignmap-t,* *alignmap-t:* *alignmap-t;* *alignmap-t<* *alignmap-t?* *alignmap-t~* *alignmap-m=* \tx : make a left-justified alignment on character "x" where "x" is: ,:<=@|# |alignmap-t=| \Tx : make a right-justified alignment on character "x" where "x" is: ,:<=@# |alignmap-T=| \m= : like \t= but aligns with %... style comments The leading backslash is actually (see |mapleader| to learn how to customize the leader to be whatever you like). These maps use the package and are defined in the file. Although the maps use AlignCtrl options, they typically use the "m" option which pushes the options (AlignPush). The associated Align call which follows will then AlignPop the user's original options back. ALIGNMENT MAP USE WITH MARK AND MOVE~ In the examples below, one may select the text with a "ma" at the first line, move to the last line, then execute the map. ALIGNMENT MAP USE WITH VISUAL MODE~ Alternatively, one may select the text with the "V" visual mode command. If you want to use visual-block mode (ctrl-v), I suggest using an AlignMap with the vis.vim plugin, available at either stable: http://vim.sourceforge.net/scripts/script.php?script_id=1195 devel : http://www.drchip.org/astronaut/vim/index.html#VIS Use it with commands such as > ctrl-v (move) :B norm \alignmap_sequence < ALIGNMENT MAP USE WITH MENUS~ One may use the mark-and-move style (ma, move, use the menu) or the visual mode style (use the V visual mode, move, then select the alignment map with menu selection). The alignment map menu items are under DrChip.AlignMaps . One may even change the top level menu name to whatever is wished; by default, its > let g:DrChipTopLvlMenu= "DrChip." < If you set the variable to the empty string (""), then no menu items will be produced. Of course, one must have a vim with +menu, the gui must be running, and |'go'| must have the menu bar suboption (ie. m must be included). COMPLEX ALIGNMENT MAP METHOD~ For those complex alignment maps which do alignment on constructs (e.g. \acom, \adec, etc), a series of substitutes is used to insert "@" symbols in appropriate locations. Align#Align() is then used to do alignment directly on "@"s; then it is followed by further substitutes to do clean-up. However, the maps \WS and \WE, used by every map supported by AlignMaps, protect any original embedded "@" symbols by first converting them to characters, doing the requested job, and then converting them back. > \WS calls AlignMaps#WrapperStart() \WE calls AlignMaps#WrapperEnd() < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \a, *alignmap-a,* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrates comma-separated declaration splitting: > int a,b,c; struct ABC_str abc,def; < Becomes: > int a; int b; int c; struct ABC_str abc; struct ABC_str def; < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \a? *alignmap-a?* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrates ()?: aligning > printf("<%s>\n", (x == ABC)? "abc" : (x == DEFG)? "defg" : (x == HIJKL)? "hijkl" : "???"); < Becomes: select "(x == ..." lines, then \a? > printf("<%s>\n", (x == ABC)? "abc" : (x == DEFG)? "defg" : (x == HIJKL)? "hijkl" : "???"); < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \a< *alignmap-a<* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrating aligning of << and >> > cin << x; cin << y; cout << "this is x=" << x; cout << "but y=" << y << "is not"; < Becomes: select "(x == ..." lines, then \a< > cin << x; cin << y; cout << "this is x=" << x; cout << "but y=" << y << "is not"; < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \a= *alignmap-a=* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrates how to align := assignments > aa:=bb:=cc:=1; a:=b:=c:=1; aaa:=bbb:=ccc:=1; < Bcomes: select the three assignment lines, then \a:= > aa := bb := cc := 1; a := b := c := 1; aaa := bbb := ccc := 1; < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \abox *alignmap-abox* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrates how to comment-box some text > This is some plain text which will soon be surrounded by a comment box. < Becomes: Select "This..box." with ctrl-v, press \abox > /*************************** * This is some plain text * * which will * * soon be surrounded by a * * comment box. * ***************************/ < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \acom *alignmap-acom* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrates aligning C-style comments (works for //, too) > if(itworks) { /* this */ then= dothis; /* is a */ } /* set of three comments */ < Becomes: Select the three lines, press \acom > if(itworks) { /* this */ then= dothis; /* is a */ } /* set of three comments */ < Also see |alignmap-aocom| --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \anum *alignmap-anum* {{{3 --------------------------- First, note that the behavior of the \anum map depends on the existence of either the vim variable > g:alignmaps_usanumber < or > g:alignmaps_euronumber < when AlignMaps is loaded. Essentially, "usa" numbers use "."s and "euro" numbers use ","s to separate the integer from the fractional portion of a number. "Usa" numbers are default. Original: illustrates how to get numbers lined up > -1.234 .5678 -.901e-4 1.234 5.678 9.01e-4 12.34 56.78 90.1e-4 123.4 567.8 901.e-4 < Becomes: Go to first line, ma. Go to last line, press \anum > -1.234 .5678 -.901e-4 1.234 5.678 9.01e-4 12.34 56.78 90.1e-4 123.4 567.8 901.e-4 < Original: > | -1.234 .5678 -.901e-4 | | 1.234 5.678 9.01e-4 | | 12.34 56.78 90.1e-4 | | 123.4 567.8 901.e-4 | < Becomes: Select the numbers with ctrl-v (visual-block mode), > press \anum | -1.234 .5678 -.901e-4 | | 1.234 5.678 9.01e-4 | | 12.34 56.78 90.1e-4 | | 123.4 567.8 901.e-4 | < Original: > -1,234 ,5678 -,901e-4 1,234 5,678 9,01e-4 12,34 56,78 90,1e-4 123,4 567,8 901,e-4 < Becomes: (assuming g:alignmaps_euronumber exists) Go to first line, ma. Go to last line, press \anum > -1,234 ,5678 -,901e-4 1,234 5,678 9,01e-4 12,34 56,78 90,1e-4 123,4 567,8 901,e-4 < In addition: \aenum is provided to support European-style numbers \aunum is provided to support USA-style numbers *g:alignmaps_usanumber* *g:alignmaps_euronumber* One may get \aenum behavior for \anum by putting > let g:alignmaps_euronumber= 1 < or \aunum behavior for \anum by putting > let g:alignmaps_usanumber= 1 < in one's <.vimrc>. --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \ascom *alignmap-ascom* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: > /* A Title */ int x; /* this is a comment */ int yzw; /* this is another comment*/ < Becomes: Select the three lines, press \ascom > /* A Title */ int x; /* this is a comment */ int yzw; /* this is another comment */ < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \adec *alignmap-adec* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrates how to clean up C/C++ declarations > int a; float b; double *c=NULL; char x[5]; struct abc_str abc; struct abc_str *pabc; int a; /* a */ float b; /* b */ double *c=NULL; /* b */ char x[5]; /* x[5] */ struct abc_str abc; /* abc */ struct abc_str *pabc; /* pabc */ static int a; /* a */ static float b; /* b */ static double *c=NULL; /* b */ static char x[5]; /* x[5] */ static struct abc_str abc; /* abc */ static struct abc_str *pabc; /* pabc */ < Becomes: Select the declarations text, then \adec > int a; float b; double *c = NULL; char x[5]; struct abc_str abc; struct abc_str *pabc; int a; /* a */ float b; /* b */ double *c = NULL; /* b */ char x[5]; /* x[5] */ struct abc_str abc; /* abc */ struct abc_str *pabc; /* pabc */ static int a; /* a */ static float b; /* b */ static double *c = NULL; /* b */ static char x[5]; /* x[5] */ static struct abc_str abc; /* abc */ static struct abc_str *pabc; /* pabc */ < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \adef *alignmap-adef* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrates how to line up #def'initions > #define ONE 1 #define TWO 22 #define THREE 333 #define FOUR 4444 < Becomes: Select four definition lines, apply \adef > # define ONE 1 # define TWO 22 # define THREE 333 # define FOUR 4444 < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \afnc *alignmap-afnc* {{{3 --------------------------- This map is an exception to the usual selection rules. It uses "]]" to find the function body's leading "{". Just put the cursor anywhere in the function arguments and the entire function declaration should be processed. Because "]]" looks for that "{" in the first column, the "original" and "becomes" examples are in the first column, too. Original: illustrates lining up ansi-c style function definitions > int f( struct abc_str ***a, /* one */ long *b, /* two */ int c) /* three */ { } < Becomes: put cursor anywhere before the '{', press \afnc > int f( struct abc_str ***a, /* one */ long *b, /* two */ int c) /* three */ { } < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \adcom *alignmap-adcom* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrates aligning comments that don't begin lines (optionally after some whitespace). > struct { /* this is a test */ int x; /* of how */ double y; /* to use adcom */ }; < Becomes: Select the inside lines of the structure, then press \adcom. The comment-only line is ignored but the other two comments get aligned. > struct { /* this is a test */ int x; /* of how */ double y; /* to use adcom */ }; < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \aocom *alignmap-aocom* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrates how to align C-style comments (works for //, too) but restricted only to aligning with those lines containing comments. See the difference from \acom (|alignmap-acom|). > if(itworks) { /* this comment */ then= dothis; } /* only appears on two lines */ < Becomes: Select the three lines, press \aocom > if(itworks) { /* this comment */ then= dothis; } /* only appears on two lines */ < Also see |alignmap-acom| --------------------------- *alignmap-Tsp* Alignment Map Examples: \tsp *alignmap-tsp* {{{3 --------------------------- Normally Align can't use white spaces for field separators as such characters are ignored surrounding field separators. The \tsp and \Tsp maps get around this limitation. Original: > one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen < Becomes: Select the lines, \tsp > one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen < Becomes: Select the lines, \Tsp > one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \tsq *alignmap-tsq* {{{3 --------------------------- The \tsp map is useful for aligning tables based on white space, but sometimes one wants double-quoted strings to act as a single object in spite of embedded spaces. The \tsq map was invented to support this. (thanks to Leif Wickland) Original: > "one two" three four "five six" < Becomes: Select the lines, \tsq > "one two" three four "five six" < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \tt *alignmap-tt* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrates aligning a LaTex Table > \begin{tabular}{||c|l|r||} \hline\hline one&two&three\\ \hline four&five&six\\ seven&eight&nine\\ \hline\hline \end{tabular} < Becomes: Select the three lines inside the table > (ie. one..,four..,seven..) and press \tt \begin{tabular}{||c|l|r||} \hline\hline one & two & three \\ \hline four & five & six \\ seven & eight & nine \\ \hline\hline \end{tabular} < ---------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \tml *alignmap-tml* {{{3 ---------------------------- Original: illustrates aligning multi-line continuation marks > one \ two three \ four five six \ seven \\ \ eight \nine \ ten \ < Becomes: > one \ two three \ four five six \ seven \\ \ eight \nine \ ten \ < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \t= *alignmap-t=* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrates left-justified aligning of = > aa=bb=cc=1;/*one*/ a=b=c=1;/*two*/ aaa=bbb=ccc=1;/*three*/ < Becomes: Select the three equations, press \t= > aa = bb = cc = 1; /* one */ a = b = c = 1; /* two */ aaa = bbb = ccc = 1; /* three */ < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \T= *alignmap-T=* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: illustrates right-justified aligning of = > aa=bb=cc=1; /* one */ a=b=c=1; /* two */ aaa=bbb=ccc=1; /* three */ < Becomes: Select the three equations, press \T= > aa = bb = cc = 1; /* one */ a = b = c = 1; /* two */ aaa = bbb = ccc = 1; /* three */ < --------------------------- Alignment Map Examples: \Htd *alignmap-Htd* {{{3 --------------------------- Original: for aligning tables with html > ...field one......field two... ...field three......field four... < Becomes: Select ... lines, press \Htd > ...field one... ...field two... ...field three... ...field four... < ============================================================================== 4. Alignment Tools' History *align-history* {{{1 ALIGN HISTORY {{{2 v37 Nov 29, 2012 * (Kim Jang-hwan) reported that with g:Align_xstrlen set to 3 that the cursor was moved (linewise) after invocation. Fixed. Jan 07, 2013 * now has visual mode mappings to accompany all normal mode mappings (use |V| to invoke) v36 May 20, 2009 * Previously, the "W" AlignCtrl setting, intended to retain initial white space, did so by convert- ing any leading tabs into an equivalent quantity of blanks (using the current tabstop setting). Align will now retain leading tabs. Nov 24, 2009 * QArgSplitter() used split(), intending to split on white space only. However, the \tab map uses ctrl-o as a separator instead of tabs; the split() function treated the ctrl-o as a whitespace character, too. Solution: give split() an explicit pattern matching blanks and tabs, only. \tab now works again! Jun 29, 2010 * included |g:AlignSkip| and |alignctrl-star| support May 10, 2011 * if the range is only one line, then Align will automatically grow the range to accommodate all lines containing the first separator pattern surrounding the current line. Aug 05, 2011 * g:Align_xstrlen usage extended to permit users to specify a function by name which computes string length. Oct 27, 2011 * (reported by Fco Javier) reported a problem with the default s:Strlen() result; there was a missing "let". Fixed. Nov 10, 2011 * (Lewis Thompson) Align was doing "set noet" when it should've been doing "setlocal noet". Dec 22, 2011 * modifed s:Strlen() to use |strdisplaywidth()| when g:Align_xstrlen is zero. v35 Nov 02, 2008 * g:loaded_AlignPlugin testing to prevent re-loading installed Nov 19, 2008 * new sanity check for an AlignStyle of just ":" Jan 08, 2009 * save&restore of |'mod'| now done with local variant v34 Jul 08, 2008 * using :AlignCtrl before entering any alignment control commands was causing an error. v33 Sep 20, 2007 * s:Strlen() introduced to support various ways used to represent characters and their effects on string lengths. See |align-strlen|. * Align now accepts "..." -- so it can accept whitespace as separators. v32 Aug 18, 2007 * uses || instead of || plus a custom argument splitter to allow patterns with backslashes to slide in unaltered. v31 Aug 06, 2007 * :[range]Align! [AlignCtrl settings] pattern(s) implemented. v30 Feb 12, 2007 * now uses |setline()| v29 Jan 18, 2006 * cecutil updated to use keepjumps Feb 23, 2006 * Align now converted to vim 7.0 style using auto-loading functions. v28 Aug 17, 2005 * report option workaround Oct 24, 2005 * AlignCtrl l: wasn't behaving as expected; fixed v27 Apr 15, 2005 * cpo workaround ignorecase workaround v26 Aug 20, 2004 * loaded_align now also indicates version number GetLatestVimScripts :AutoInstall: now supported v25 Jul 27, 2004 * For debugging, uses Dfunc(), Dret(), and Decho() v24 Mar 03, 2004 * (should've done this earlier!) visualmode(1) not supported until v6.2, now Align will avoid calling it for earlier versions. Visualmode clearing won't take place then, of course. v23 Oct 07, 2003 * Included Leif Wickland's ReplaceQuotedSpaces() function which supports \tsq v22 Jan 29, 2003 * Now requires 6.1.308 or later to clear visualmode() v21 Jan 10, 2003 * BugFix: similar problem to #19; new code bypasses "norm! v\" until initialization is over. v20 Dec 30, 2002 * BugFix: more on "unable to highlight" fixed v19 Nov 21, 2002 * BugFix: some terminals gave an "unable to highlight" message at startup; Hari Krishna Dara tracked it down; a silent! now included to prevent noise. v18 Nov 04, 2002 * BugFix: re-enabled anti-repeated-loading v17 Nov 04, 2002 * BugFix: forgot to have AlignPush() push s:AlignSep AlignCtrl now clears visual-block mode when used so that Align won't try to use old visual-block selection marks '< '> v16 Sep 18, 2002 * AlignCtrl <>| options implemented (separator justification) v15 Aug 22, 2002 * bug fix: AlignCtrl's ":" now acts as a modifier of the preceding alignment operator (lrc) v14 Aug 20, 2002 * bug fix: AlignCtrl default now keeps &ic unchanged bug fix: Align, on end-field, wasn't using correct alignop bug fix: Align, on end-field, was appending padding v13 Aug 19, 2002 * bug fix: zero-length g/v patterns are accepted bug fix: always skip blank lines bug fix: AlignCtrl default now also clears g and v patterns v12 Aug 16, 2002 * moved keep_ic above zero-length pattern checks added "AlignCtrl default" fixed bug with last field getting separator spaces at end line v11 Jul 08, 2002 * prevent separator patterns which match zero length -+: included as additional alignment/justification styles v10 Jun 26, 2002 * =~# used instead of =~ (for matching case) ignorecase option handled v09 Jun 25, 2002 * implemented cyclic padding ALIGNMENT MAP HISTORY *alignmap-history* {{{2 v43 Nov 28, 2012 * changed a lot of maps to use nnoremap (instead of map) Jan 07, 2013 * v42 Jan 06, 2010 * new maps for \anum, \aenum, \aunum Feb 16, 2010 * map for \t=, \T= now handles x++ = something; for c, c++ correctly. Oct 29, 2010 * added a note on having one's own default AlignCtrl (see |alignctrl-init|) Feb 22, 2011 * for menus, &go =~# used to insure correct case Jun 10, 2011 * |:AlignMapsClean| command provided to make it easy for those who would prefer not to have AlignMaps' maps not to have them. v41 Nov 02, 2008 * g:loaded_AlignMapsPlugin testing to prevent re-loading installed * AlignMaps now use 0x0f (ctrl-p) for special character substitutions (instead of 0xff). Seems to avoid some problems with having to use Strlen(). * bug fixed with \ts, * new maps: \ts; \ts, \ts: \ts< \ts= \a( v40 Oct 21, 2008 * Modified AlignMaps so that its maps use s and