Exercises to learn vim-visual-multi.

A complement to the official tutorial.

How to use

0. Read doc/visual-multi.txt and practice with doc/vm-tutorial.
1. Read the C-Down/C-Up to add cursors vertically exercise to get familiar with VM (short for vim-visual-multi). This is the most beginners-focused exercise and has screenshots.
2. Learning by Doing. Go to an exercise and try to solve it:

• Make the left window buffer become identical to the right one applying VM commands: cd <this_repo>/exercises/<exercise_name> && vim -d start.txt result.txt or directly copy-paste the command of Start vs result section of the desired exercise.
• To display the solution click on ▸ Solution or use :split steps.md.

3. To solve the exercises more programmatly read the Transpose programmatly exercise as example.
4. All collaboration is appreciated: contribute.

Avoid VM wiki, embrace :help vm-

Use :help vm-quick-reference or alike to read the up-to-date VM own documentation. The wiki will be kept for screenshots but consider it outdated for everything else.

leader- vs \\

leader- is your g:VM_leader (default \\)

• In section's headers it appears as leader- instead of \\ because one might not use the default g:VM_leader.
• But the other way around in solutions to make it easier to understand (and apply) for Vim-beginners. Also to not confuse with Vim-mapleader (see :help mapleader).

Exercises

• C-Down/C-Up to add cursors vertically
  • Compare-results
• leader-c to add cursors vertically
• Q to remove unwanted cursors after selection
• q to skip cursor-region and go to next region
• . to run single repeat
  • Dot to add content
  • Dot to remove content
• R to replace content of pattern
• leader-\ to add cursor at position
• leader-d to duplicate regions
• leader-t to transpose
  • Transpose programmatly
• Rotate programmatly
• S to surround
• C-n in normal mode adds a word under cursor, keep pressing to find next occurrence
• n or N after C-n
• leader-/ for regex search
• g/ to expand each region by search regex
• C-n in visual mode adds selecting chars, keep pressing to find next occurrence
• C-n in normal mode to add multiple regex-words
• C-n case sensitive vs ignore-case vs smartcase
  • Case sensitive
  • leader-c to ignore-case
  • leader-c twice to smart-case
• u/C-r to undo/redo
• leader-w to toggle whole word search
• leader-a to align, [count]leader-< to align by char, leader-> to align by regex
• leader-C for case conversion
• leader-m to merge regions
• leader-s to split regions
• leader-minus/leader-plus to shrink/enlarge regions
• s for select operator
• m for find operator
• leader-f to filter regions
• leader-n/leader-N for numbering
  • Prepend
  • Append
• <M-S-Arrows> to shift text
• leader-e to transform regions with expression
• leader-R to remove every n regions

Advance

• Special commands
  • Tools menu
  • <C-V> for pasting the unnamed VM register
• Mappings
  • Default mappings
  • Overwrite mappings

Collaboration, ToDo-s & FAQs

• Contribute
• FAQs
  • VM FAQs
  • Vanilla markdown is not enough? Why is NodeJS needed?
  • Why is needed to display content of files instead of writting them directly on README.md?
  • Why does Markdown Magic process README_magic.md instead of README.md?
  • Troubleshooting

C-Down/C-Up to add cursors vertically

:help vm-add-cursors

If C-Down/C-Up mappings don't work apply overwrite mappings.

Solution

1. Cursor at w of wordB1a.
2. Ctrl-Down to add a cursor on the line below
3. Ctrl-Down again to add another cursor on the third line. Now multi-cursors are in w of wordB1a, wordB10a and wordB100a. Note that steps 2 and 3 can be combined using counts, like 2Ctrl-Down.
4. j to move the multi-cursors down. I.e. to move the cursor to wordB10a to wordB1000a. Reference wiki/Quick-start:

To make things easier, since hjkl move all cursors, you can still use arrows and ctrl-arrows to move around, without moving the cursors as well.

5. e goes to end of word. Read :h Q_tm
6. a_end to add _end after cursor position. :help vm-cursor-mode states:

You can enter |insert-mode| with i, I, a, A, and only from cursor mode also with o and O.

7. Esc to exit insert mode
8. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Bonus. In 4th step j moves the multi-cursors down. wiki/Quick-start#adding-cursors-vertically shows another example which uses k to move the multi-cursors up.

Start

wordA wordB1a = abc.def
wordA wordB10a = abc.def
wordA wordB100a = abc.def
wordA wordB1000a = abc.def

Result

wordA wordB1a = abc.def
wordA wordB10a_end  = abc.def
wordA wordB100a_end  = abc.def
wordA wordB1000a_end  = abc.def

Compare results

A. (Neo)Vimdiff. Jump with ]e or ]b of diffchar.vim to next char-diff

cd exercises/add_cursors_vertically
vim -d start.txt result.txt

B. delta diff. For example

Not side-by-side	Side-by-side	Side-by-side Resize terminal window to show vertical diff one line of each file
delta --line-numbers start.txt result.txt	delta --side-by-side --line-numbers-right-format="" start.txt result.txt	delta --side-by-side --line-numbers-right-format="" --line-numbers-left-format="" start.txt result.txt

leader-c to add cursors vertically

:help vm-mappings-visual

Do not confuse with leader-c of C-n case sensitive vs ignore-case vs smartcase.

Solution

1. Cursor at w of wordB1.
2. C-v enters Vim's native visual block mode (not Visual-Multi)
3. jj to visual-block select the next 2 chars below
4. \\c to create column-wise cursors
5. j to move the multi-cursors down. I.e. to move the cursor to wordB10a to wordB1000a
6. e to go to the end of the word
7. a_end to add _end at end of those words
8. Esc to exit insert mode
9. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

wordA wordB1a = abc.def
wordA wordB10a = abc.def
wordA wordB100a = abc.def
wordA wordB1000a = abc.def

Result

wordA wordB1a = abc.def
wordA wordB10a_end  = abc.def
wordA wordB100a_end  = abc.def
wordA wordB1000a_end  = abc.def

Start vs result

cd exercises/add_cursors_vertically_leader_c
vim -d start.txt result.txt

Q to remove unwanted cursors after selection

Map	Action	Documentation
Tab	Switch between cursor and extend mode	:help vm-modes
n / N / q	Next/Previous/Skip	:help vm-find-next
Q	Remove region under cursor	:help vm-remove-region

Solution

Add cursors to all target lines (including the one to skip):

1. Cursor on line 1 letter "a" of "apple"
2. Ctrl-Down to adds cursor in same column of line 2 ("b" of "banana")
3. Ctrl-Down to adds cursor in same column of line 3 ("c" of "cherry"). Note that steps 2 and 3 can be combined using counts, like 2Ctrl-Down.

Remove the unwanted cursor:

4. Up-arrow to move to the "banana" line. Use arrows to move around instead of hjkl, reference wiki/Quick-start:

To make things easier, since hjkl move all cursors, you can still use arrows and ctrl-arrows to move around, without moving the cursors as well.

Or use [ to goto previous cursor.

5. Q to delete that cursor ("Remove region")

Now edit the remaining cursors:

6. e go to end of word
7. a_end to add _end at end of those words

Note. Add cursor on second line to finally remove it is absurd. Instead:

1. Cursor on line 1 letter "a" of "apple"
2. v and Ctrl-n to add cursor
3. Down-arrow twice or /cherry
4. v and Ctrl-n to add cursor
5. e go to end of word
6. a_end to add _end at end of those words

Start

item = "apple"      # Edit this
item = "banana"     # Skip this
item = "cherry"     # Edit this

Result

item = "apple_end"      # Edit this
item = "banana"     # Skip this
item = "cherry_end"     # Edit this

Start vs result

cd exercises/remove_cursors_after_selection
vim -d start.txt result.txt

q to skip cursor-region and go to next region

Map	Action	Documentation
n / N / q	Next/Previous/Skip	:help vm-find-next

Solution

1. Cursor on line 1 letter "a" of "apple"
2. Ctrl-Down to adds cursor in same column of line 2 ("b" of "banana")
3. Ctrl-Down to adds cursor in same column of line 3 ("c" of "cherry"). Note that steps 2 and 3 can be combined using counts, like 2Ctrl-Down.

q to skip cursor-region and go to next region

4. Tab to switch to "extend mode"
5. Up-arrow to move to the "banana" line
6. q to remove that region but also jump to next region, i.e. if we are in b (of banana) we jump to next line that has a b.

Now edit the remaining cursors (and the new one added region by q):

7. e go to end of word
8. a_end to add _end at end of those words

Start

item = "apple"      # Edit this
item = "banana"     # Skip this
item = "cherry"     # Edit this
item = "apple" "banana" "cherry" # q will jump to a 'b' here if any
item = "banana" "cherry" "apple" # q will jump to a 'b' here if any and if not jumped to   previous line
item = "cherry" "apple" "banana" # q will jump to a 'b' here if any and if not jumped to 2 previous lines

Result

item = "apple_end"      # Edit this
item = "banana"     # Skip this
item = "cherry_end"     # Edit this
item = "apple" "banana_end" "cherry" # q will jump to a 'b' here if any
item = "banana" "cherry" "apple" # q will jump to a 'b' here if any and if not jumped to   previous line
item = "cherry" "apple" "banana" # q will jump to a 'b' here if any and if not jumped to 2 previous lines

Start vs result

cd exercises/skip_cursor_and_go_to_next
vim -d start.txt result.txt

. to run single repeat

:help vm-run-dot

Next exercises are very close to those of doc/vm-tutorial dot-section: vim <path>/vim-visual-multi/doc/vm-tutorial -c '/Dot \~'.

Dot to add content

Solution

1. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
2. Press o, insert text new line, then Esc to exit insert mode
3. Undo the change by pressing u, then press gg to go back
4. Press 2<C-Down>
5. Finally press .
6. Esc to exit VM-mode

We did actually take advantage of the o mapping in cursor mode. o mapping varies in different VM modes. :help vm-cursor-mode states:

You can enter |insert-mode| with i, I, a, A, and only from cursor mode also with o and O.

Next alternative might be clearer.

1. gg to go to the first line
2. 2C-Down to add VM-cursors in next 2 lines
3. Press o, insert text new line, then Esc to exit insert mode. This step was previously achieved just with . (pressing dot)
4. Esc to exit VM-mode

Start

item1 = "apple"
item2 = "banana" 
item3 = "cherry"

Result

item1 = "apple"
new line
item2 = "banana"
new line
item3 = "cherry"
new line

Start vs result

cd exercises/dot_add_content
vim -d start.txt result.txt

Dot to remove content

Solution

1. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
2. Press 2<C-Down>
3. Press dw to remove the next word, here "item"
4. Press . to repeat, and remove the next word, here "="
5. Esc to exit VM-mode

Note that the . (dot command) ignores any count. As :h vm-run-dot states its aim is one single repeat.

Start

item1 = "apple"
item2 = "banana"
item3 = "cherry"

Result

"apple"
"banana"
"cherry"

Start vs result

cd exercises/dot_remove_content
vim -d start.txt result.txt

R to replace content of pattern

:help vm-replace-pattern

Next exercises are almost identical to those of doc/vm-tutorial: vim <path>/vim-visual-multi/doc/vm-tutorial -c '/Replace in regions, Select Operator \~'.

Solution

0. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
1. Press f"l to go inside the quotes
2. Press 3<C-Down> to create cursors
3. Press <C-n> to select words
4. Press R: this is the command to replace a pattern in each region.
5. Enter _ as pattern (press Enter to confirm)
6. Enter a single space as replacement (press Enter to confirm)
7. Esc to exit VM-mode

Start

param_table.AddNumber("num_control_buffers", options_.num_control_buffers);
param_table.AddNumber("control_buffer_size", options_.control_buffer_size);
param_table.AddNumber("num_payload_buffers", options_.num_payload_buffers);
param_table.AddNumber("payload_buffer_size", options_.payload_buffer_size);

Result

param_table.AddNumber("num control buffers", options_.num_control_buffers);
param_table.AddNumber("control buffer size", options_.control_buffer_size);
param_table.AddNumber("num payload buffers", options_.num_payload_buffers);
param_table.AddNumber("payload buffer size", options_.payload_buffer_size);

Start vs result

cd exercises/replace_pattern
vim -d start.txt result.txt

Bonus

Solution

0. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
1. Press 3<C-Down> to create cursors
2. Press f" to go to the quotes
3. Press si" to select inside the quotes. See :h vm-select-operator
4. Press R, then a single space followed by <Return>
5. Enter _ as replacement, and again <Return>
6. Esc to exit VM-mode

Start

param_table.AddNumber("num control buffers", options_.num_control_buffers);
param_table.AddNumber("control buffer size", options_.control_buffer_size);
param_table.AddNumber("num payload buffers", options_.num_payload_buffers);
param_table.AddNumber("payload buffer size", options_.payload_buffer_size);

Result

param_table.AddNumber("num_control_buffers", options_.num_control_buffers);
param_table.AddNumber("control_buffer_size", options_.control_buffer_size);
param_table.AddNumber("num_payload_buffers", options_.num_payload_buffers);
param_table.AddNumber("payload_buffer_size", options_.payload_buffer_size);

Start vs result

cd exercises/replace_pattern_02
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-\ to add cursor at position

:help vm-add-cursor

Solution

1. Cursor on any part of "cereal"
2. \\\ to add cursor. See :help vm-add-cursor
3. Use arrows to move the cursor to any char "meat"
4. \\\ to add cursor
5. Use arrows to move the cursor to any char "fish"
6. \\\ to add cursor
7. ciw and type fruit to replace those words with "fruit"
8. Esc to exit insert mode
9. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

item1 = "apple", "green", "cereal"
item2 = "banana", "yellow", "meat"
item3 = "cherry", "red", "fish"

Result

item1 = "apple", "green", "fruit"
item2 = "banana", "yellow", "fruit"
item3 = "cherry", "red", "fruit"

Start vs result

cd exercises/add_cursor_at_position
vim -d start.txt result.txt

Bonus

Solution

If once I set all the cursors on any letter of last field ("cereal", "meat" and "fruit") I realize that instead of renaming them I want to just delete that field, then I can move that multicursors to previous , and delete rest of line:

1. 1-8 Identical steps
2. F, move all cursors to previous ","
3. d$ delete all till end of line
4. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Result

item1 = "apple", "green"
item2 = "banana", "yellow"
item3 = "cherry", "red"

Start vs result

cd exercises/add_cursor_at_position_02
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-d to duplicate regions

:help vm-duplicate

Solution

1. Cursor on first letter of "apple"
2. Ctrl-Down to adds cursor to 1st letter of "banana"
3. Ctrl-Down to adds cursor to 1st letter of "cherry"
4. Tab to switch to "extend mode"
5. e to select till end of word
6. \\d to duplicate tab-extension regions
7. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

item1 = "apple"
item2 = "banana"
item3 = "cherry"

Result

item1 = "appleapple"
item2 = "bananabanana"
item3 = "cherrycherry"

Start vs result

cd exercises/regions_duplicate
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-t to transpose

:help vm-transpose

See GIF of wiki/Special-commands#text-transposition.

Solution

1. Cursor on first char of "apple"
2. Ctrl-Down to adds cursor to 1st char of "banana"
3. Ctrl-Down to adds cursor to 1st char of "cherry"
4. Tab to switch to "extend mode"
5. e to select till end of word
6. \\t to transpose tab-extension regions. Notice rest of line didn't change
7. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

item1 = "apple"
item2 = "banana"
item3 = "cherry"

Result of apply transpose once

item1 = "banana"
item2 = "cherry"
item3 = "apple"

Result of apply transpose twice

item1 = "cherry"
item2 = "apple"
item3 = "banana"

Start vs results

cd exercises/regions_transpose
vim -d start.txt result.txt result_apply_2-times.txt

Transpose programmatly

:help vm-transpose

Solution

Based on issue #53 let's have next example that we want to transpose programmatly.

[[1, 2]
 [3, 4]]

WRONG. Next step 5 (f2) updates Vim's last search pattern to 2, which causes VM to drop the first selection (1) because it thinks you're now only working with 2.

f<char> is analogous to hjkl in wiki/Quick-start:

To make things easier, since hjkl move all cursors, you can still use arrows and ctrl-arrows to move around, without moving the cursors as well.

1. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
2. 0 to go to start of line (regardless of whether it is a blank or not)
3. f1 to move to 1st 1
4. :call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1) to add cursor-word
5. f2 to move to 1st 2
6. :call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1) to add cursor-word
7. j to go 1 line down
8. 0 to go to start of line
9. f3 to move to 1st 3
10. :call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1) to add cursor-word
11. f4 to move to 1st 4
12. :call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1) to add cursor-word
13. :call b:VM_Selection.Edit.transpose() to transpose

Equivalent (still wrong)

:execute 'normal gg0' | execute 'normal f1' | call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1)
:                       execute 'normal f2' | call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1)
:execute 'normal j0'  | execute 'normal f3' | call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1)
:                       execute 'normal f4' | call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1)
:call b:VM_Selection.Edit.transpose()

RIGHT

We could use arrows (or Ctrl-arrows), though search commands (/) are more convenient, read :h vm-slash and :h vm-regex-search. Another approach is to keep using f<char> but run \\<Space> before the first f-motion, read :h vm-mappings-toggle

1. Same as in previous step
2. Same as in previous step
3. Same as in previous step
4. Same as in previous step
5. /2 to search for 2 (and press Enter)
6. Same as in previous step
7. Same as in previous step
8. Same as in previous step
9. /3 to search for 3 (and press Enter)
10. Same as in previous step
11. /4 to search for 4 (and press Enter)
12. Same as in previous step
13. Tab to switch to "extend mode"
14. :call b:VM_Selection.Edit.transpose() to transpose

Equivalent

:execute 'normal gg0' | execute 'normal f1'      | call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1)
:                       execute "normal /2\<CR>" | call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1)
:                       execute "normal /3\<CR>" | call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1)
:                       execute "normal /4\<CR>" | call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1)
:call b:VM_Selection.Global.change_mode(1)
:call b:VM_Selection.Edit.transpose()

Now let's make the testing text a little more complex, like:

[[1, 2, 3, 4]
 [5, 6, 7, 8]]

Then the vim-steps to transpose could be next

function! MultiCursorCustomSearchAndAdd(start,end)
  for number in range(a:start, a:end)
    " Search for the current number
    execute "normal! /" . number . "\<CR>"
    " Add Multi-Cursor
    call vm#commands#ctrln(v:count1)
  endfor
endfunction

function! MultiCursorCustomTranspose(...)
  " Set iter to 1 if no arg is passed
  let l:iter = a:0 > 0 ? a:1 : 1
  " Go to 1st line and 1st char
  execute 'normal gg0'
  " Add Multi-Cursors
  call MultiCursorCustomSearchAndAdd(1,8)
  " Transpose iter times
  for number in range(1, l:iter)
    call b:VM_Selection.Edit.transpose()
  endfor
endfunction

Thus if we run :call MultiCursorCustomTranspose() we get

[[4, 1, 2, 3]
 [8, 5, 6, 7]]

Notice that we did not exit the Multi-Cursor mode (Esc), therefore we can further transpose it.

If then we tranpose once more (\\t or :call b:VM_Selection.Edit.transpose()) we achieve:

[[3, 4, 1, 2]
 [7, 8, 5, 6]]

If then we tranpose again it becomes the desired result. Press Esc to exit the Multi-Cursor mode.

[[2, 3, 4, 1]
 [6, 7, 8, 5]]

Note. If initially we run :call MultiCursorCustomTranspose(3) | execute "normal \<Esc>" we get this same result.

Finally if we transpose again we get the original result.

Start

[[1, 2, 3, 4]
 [5, 6, 7, 8]]

Result

[[2, 3, 4, 1]
 [6, 7, 8, 5]]

Start vs results

cd exercises/regions_transpose_02
vim -d start.txt result.txt

Rotate programmatly

Recommended to previous understand the transpose programmatly exercise.

There is no oficial :help . Proof me wrong please

cd <path>/vim-visual-multi/doc
rg rotate

autoload/vm/maps/all.vim says:

"Rotate": ['', 'n'],

...thus there is no default mapping to rotate.

autoload/vm/plugs.vim says:

nnoremap <silent> <Plug>(VM-Rotate) :call b:VM_Selection.Edit.rotate()<cr>

Thus we can

• Run :call b:VM_Selection.Edit.rotate()
• Run :execute "normal \<Plug>(VM-Rotate)"
• Create a mapping, for example: let g:VM_maps['Rotate'] = '\\B'. Try to use a key that is not already used. Search leader-<key> in autoload/vm/maps/all.vim

Solution

The vim-steps to rotate could be next

function! MultiCursorCustomSearchAndAdd(start,end)
  for number in range(a:start, a:end)
    " Search for the current number
    execute "normal! /" . number . "\<CR>"
    " Add Multi-Cursor
    call vm#commands#add_cursor_at_word(1, 1)
  endfor
endfunction

function! MultiCursorCustomRotate(...)
  " Set iter to 1 if no arg is passed
  let l:iter = a:0 > 0 ? a:1 : 1
  " Go to 1st line and 1st char
  execute 'normal gg0'
  " Add Multi-Cursors
  call MultiCursorCustomSearchAndAdd(1,8)
  " Switch to extend mode
  call b:VM_Selection.Global.change_mode(1)
  " Rotate iter times
  for number in range(1, l:iter)
    call b:VM_Selection.Edit.rotate()
  endfor
endfunction

Thus if we run :call MultiCursorCustomRotate() we get

[[2, 3, 4, 5]
 [6, 7, 8, 1]]

Notice that we did not exit the Multi-Cursor mode (Esc), therefore we can further rotate it.

If then we rotate once more (:call b:VM_Selection.Edit.rotate()) we achieve:

[[3, 4, 5, 6]
 [7, 8, 1, 2]]

If then we rotate again it becomes:

[[4, 5, 6, 7]
 [8, 1, 2, 3]]

Rotate again to get

[[5, 6, 7, 8]
 [1, 2, 3, 4]]

Rotate again to get

[[6, 7, 8, 1]
 [2, 3, 4, 5]]

Rotate again to get

[[7, 8, 1, 2]
 [3, 4, 5, 6]]

If then we rotate again it becomes the desired result. Press Esc to exit the Multi-Cursor mode.

[[8, 1, 2, 3]
 [4, 5, 6, 7]]

Note. If initially we run :call MultiCursorCustomRotate(7) | execute "normal \<Esc>" we get this same result.

Finally if we rotate again we get the original result.

Start

[[1, 2, 3, 4]
 [5, 6, 7, 8]]

Result

[[8, 1, 2, 3]
 [4, 5, 6, 7]]

Start vs results

cd exercises/regions_rotate
vim -d start.txt result.txt

S to surround

:help vm-mappings-buffer and :help vm-extend-mode say:

• vim-surround plugin is required
• This command is specific to extend-mode

:help vm-operators quote

|vim-surround| example: ysiw( to enclose in parentheses

Solution

1. Cursor on "a" of "apple"
2. Ctrl-Down to adds cursor to 1st char of "banana"
3. Ctrl-Down to adds cursor to 1st char of "cherry"
4. Tab to switch to "extend mode"
5. e to select till end of word
6. S" to surround the transpose tab-extension regions with double quotes "
7. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

item1 = apple
item2 = banana
item3 = cherry

Result

item1 = "apple"
item2 = "banana"
item3 = "cherry"

Start vs result

cd exercises/regions_surround
vim -d start.txt result.txt

C-n in normal mode adds a word under cursor, keep pressing to find next occurrence

:help vm-find-word. :help vm-mappings-qr summarizes it, but does not mention counts, quote:

Find Under            <C-n>       select the word under cursor
Find Subword Under    <C-n>       from visual mode, without word boundaries

Remember the avoid VM wiki section: the VM wiki will be kept for screenshots but consider it outdated for everything else. Though C-n content is up-to-date. wiki/Quick-start#select-word-or-subword-under-cursor quotes:

The basic mapping is C-n, it works from normal mode (selecting a whole word) or visual mode (selecting characters, without word boundaries)

C-n will select a word with word boundaries, unless pressed on an existing selection. Also note that if you move to a different word with arrow keys and press C-n again, a new pattern will be added, and all of them will be searched when pressing n.

For programmatly solving, like in Transpose programmatly, notice autoload/vm/plugs.vim:

nnoremap <silent>       <Plug>(VM-Find-Under)              :<c-u>call vm#commands#ctrln(v:count1)<cr>
xnoremap <silent><expr> <Plug>(VM-Find-Subword-Under)      <sid>Visual('under')

Solution

1. Cursor on any char of "apple" of line 1
2. C-n to add cursor to "apple" of line 1
3. n (or C-n) to add cursor of next "apple", which is on line 4 (line 2 is not recognized cause prefix _, line 3 is not recognized cause suffix _)
4. q to skip current cursor and jump to next "apple", which it's on line 6 (line 5 is not recognized cause both prefix and suffix _)
5. a_end to add _end at end of those words
6. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

item1 = "apple"
item2 = "_apple"
item3 = "apple_"
item4 = "new apple"
item5 = "_apple_"
item6 = "old apple"

Result

item1 = "apple_end"
item2 = "_apple"
item3 = "apple_"
item4 = "new apple"
item5 = "_apple_"
item6 = "old apple_end"

Start vs result

cd exercises/add_word_under_cursor
vim -d start.txt result.txt

n or N after C-n

:help vm-find-word quote:

n            find next
N            find previous

:help vm-regex-search quote:

Pressing n/N will then find the next occurrence of that pattern, rather than the word under cursor.

wiki/Quick-start#select-word-or-subword-under-cursor says:

Once VM is active, you can press n to get the next occurrence, N to get the previous one.

In previous section we combined C-n to add regions and q to skip and jump to next. Now we aim the same result using Q to remove regions and n/N to move to next/previous region.

Solution

1. Cursor on any char of "apple" of line 1
2. C-n to add cursor to "apple" of line 1
3. n (or C-n) to add cursor of next "apple", which is on line 4 (line 2 is not recognized cause prefix _, line 3 is not recognized cause suffix _)
4. n (or C-n) to add cursor of line 6
5. N to go to previous cursor (of line 4)
6. Q to remove that cursor. FYI: then the multi-cursor jumps to previous region, which is located on line 1, though in this MWE this is irrelevant.
7. a_end to add _end at end of those words
8. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

item1 = "apple"
item2 = "_apple"
item3 = "apple_"
item4 = "new apple"
item5 = "_apple_"
item6 = "old apple"

Result

item1 = "apple_end"
item2 = "_apple"
item3 = "apple_"
item4 = "new apple"
item5 = "_apple_"
item6 = "old apple_end"

Start vs result

cd exercises/add_word_under_cursor_N_and_n
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-/ for regex search

:help vm-regex-search

Solution

1. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
2. \\/ opens a prompt /
3. type s[oO]m (and press Enter) to add as VM-cursors the words that match the regexes som and sOm. Alternative use s\(o\|O\)m
4. \\A to select all VM-cursors, see :h vm-select-all
5. r~ to replace each char with ~
6. Esc to exit VM-mode

Start

som some some awesome som som sam
SOM SOME SOME AWESOME SOM SOM SAM
Som some sOme awesoMe sOm soM sam

Result

~~~ ~~~e ~~~e awe~~~e ~~~ ~~~ sam
SOM SOME SOME AWESOME SOM SOM SAM
Som ~~~e ~~~e awesoMe ~~~ soM sam

Start vs result

cd exercises/add_cursor_regex_search
vim -d start.txt result.txt

g/ to expand each region by search regex

:help vm-slash

Solution

1. gg and /age
2. C-n
3. \\A to add all matches as VM-cursors. Vim cursor stays on 1st match (does not move)
4. g/ and type ?, as regex. So just those with unkown age will expand their region till the ? char followed by a comma
5. q to skip current VM-cursor (of first line), since it has a known age as g/? helps visually to find out, and jump to next match (to 2nd line)
6. q to skip this VM-cursor (known age)
7. n to go to next match (current has unknown age)
8. n to go to next match (current has unknown age)
9. Q to remove this VM-cursor (known age)
10. \\CU to change the case of remaining regions (the "age" field, the equal and its value) to uppercase. Or just ~ since selected chars are all undercase.
11. Esc to quit VM

Challenge. After /age-C-n run /best-C-n, so \\A will match both regexes. And g/?,\|?$ will also expand those fields including their values if they are unkown (?). Figure out how to set any of those two fields in uppercase if its respective value is known. q, Q, n and N are still valid to use. Solution should be:

name=Sam, age=38, hobby=gardening, best_friend=Frodo
name=Frodo, age=50, hobby=reading, best_friend=Sam
name=Gandalf, AGE=55k??, hobby=smoking, BEST_FRIEND=__?
name=Legolas, AGE=3000?, hobby=wandering, best_friend=Gimli
name=Gimli, age=139, hobby=stonecraft, best_friend=Legolas

Start

name=Sam, age=38, hobby=gardening, best_friend=Frodo
name=Frodo, age=50, hobby=reading, best_friend=Sam
name=Gandalf, age=55k??, hobby=smoking, best_friend=__?
name=Legolas, age=3000?, hobby=wandering, best_friend=Gimli
name=Gimli, age=139, hobby=stonecraft, best_friend=Legolas

Result

name=Sam, age=38, hobby=gardening, best_friend=Frodo
name=Frodo, age=50, hobby=reading, best_friend=Sam
name=Gandalf, AGE=55k??, hobby=smoking, best_friend=__?
name=Legolas, AGE=3000?, hobby=wandering, best_friend=Gimli
name=Gimli, age=139, hobby=stonecraft, best_friend=Legolas

Start vs result

cd exercises/regions_expand_to_regex_search
vim -d start.txt result.txt

C-n in visual mode adds selecting chars, keep pressing to find next occurrence

Read :help commands of section C-n in normal mode adds a word under cursor, keep pressing to find next occurrence.

Solution

1. Cursor at first "p" of "apple" of line 1
2. v to enter visual-mode
3. l to select the next char (another "p" of "apple" of line 1)
4. C-n to enter cursor-mode
5. nnnnn to select next 5 "pp"-s, no matter if they are part of "apple" or not. Or directly \\A to select all, see :h vm-select-all
6. \\CU to convert to uppercase
7. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

apple _apple apple_
new apple _apple_ old apple

Result

aPPle _aPPle aPPle_
new aPPle _aPPle_ old aPPle

Start vs result

cd exercises/add_chars_visual_selected
vim -d start.txt result.txt

C-n in normal mode to add multiple regex-words

Read :help commands of section C-n in normal mode adds a word under cursor, keep pressing to find next occurrence.

Solution

1. Cursor on any char of "apple" of line 1
2. C-n to add cursor to "apple" of line 1
3. n (or C-n) to add cursor of next "apple" (still on line 1), (if added prefix/suffix like "_" then it's not recognized as next regex-match)
4. n (or C-n) to add cursor of next "apple" (first word of line 3)
5. q to skip current cursor and jump to next "apple", which it's last "apple" of same line 3
6. Up-arrow to move to previous line and same column, i.e. to a letter of last "cherry" of line 2
7. C-n to add a NEW cursor to "cherry" of line 2. Notice that in this example we don't want to have the first "cherry" of that line, otherwise we could (A) go with arrows there before pressing C-n or (B) just after current C-n we could press Nn to also include it and return cursor position to current one
8. n (or C-n) to add a NEW cursor of "apple" of "cherry". Which adds first "apple" of line 3
9. q to skip current cursor and jump to next "apple" or "cherry", which it's last "apple" of same line 3 which we already had under cursor anyhow
10. n (or C-n) to add a NEW cursor of "apple" of "cherry". Which adds first "cherry" of line 4
11. n (or C-n) to add a NEW cursor of "apple" of "cherry". Which adds fourth "cherry" of line 4
12. \\CU to convert to uppercase
13. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

apple _apple apple_ apple banana _banana banana_ banana
cherry _cherry cherry_ cherry melon _melon melon_ melon
apple _apple apple_ apple banana _banana banana_ banana
cherry _cherry cherry_ cherry melon _melon melon_ melon

Result

APPLE _apple apple_ APPLE banana _banana banana_ banana
cherry _cherry cherry_ CHERRY melon _melon melon_ melon
apple _apple apple_ APPLE banana _banana banana_ banana
CHERRY _cherry cherry_ CHERRY melon _melon melon_ melon

Start vs result

cd exercises/add_word_under_cursor_multiple_regex
vim -d start.txt result.txt

C-n case sensitive vs ignore-case vs smartcase

:help g:VM_case_setting

doc/vm-tutorial explains it:

Press \\c: this allows you to cycle the case setting of the current pattern. Press it until it becomes case insensitive.

and actually it show how to use it several times:

cd <path>/vim-visual-multi/doc
rg --smart-case '\\c' vm-tutorial
rg --case-sensitive '\\\\c' vm-tutorial # if shell interprets backslashes as escape characters

For a programmatly approach check wiki/5.-Operators#smart-case-change.

Do not confuse with leader-c to add cursors vertically.

Case sensitive

Case sensitive is default.

Solution

1. Cursor on any char of first "apple" of line 1
2. C-n to add cursor to "apple" of line 1
3. n (or C-n) to add cursor of next "apple" (still on line 1). Note that if added prefix/suffix like "_" then it's not recognized as next regex-match. Uppercase case sensitive also discards "APPLE" alike ones
4. n (or C-n) to add cursor of next "apple" (first word of line 2)
5. n (or C-n) to add cursor of next "apple" (pen-ultimate word of line 2). Or replace steps 3 to 5 with directly \\A to select all, see :h vm-select-all
6. r~ to replace matches with "~~~~~". Read note below
7. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Note. :help vm-cursor-mode states:

r replace single character

Start

apple APPLE _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE
apple APPLE _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE

Result

~~~~~ APPLE _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ ~~~~~ APPLE
~~~~~ APPLE _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ ~~~~~ APPLE

Start vs result

cd exercises/case_sensitive
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-c to ignore-case

Solution

Same steps as in previous Case sensitive section, though after step (C-n) we press \\c once.

Start

apple APPLE _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE
apple APPLE _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE

Result

~~~~~ ~~~~~ _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
apple APPLE _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE

Start vs result

cd exercises/case_ignore
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-c twice to smart-case

Smart Case: searches are case insensitive unless the search pattern contains an uppercase letter, in which case it becomes case sensitive.

For extend mode read :help vm-smart-case-change.

Solution

Same steps as in previous Case sensitive section, though:

• Before C-n we set cursor on first "APPLE" of line 1, so smart-case acts as case sensitive
• After step (C-n) we press \\c twice (to set smart-case)

Start

apple APPLE _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE
apple APPLE _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE

Result

apple ~~~~~ _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple ~~~~~
apple ~~~~~ _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple ~~~~~

Start vs result

cd exercises/case_smart
vim -d start.txt result.txt

u/C-r to undo/redo

:help vm-undo-redo, :help g:VM_maps and tutorialrc repeat that:

To enable undo/redo (still experimental):

    let g:VM_maps["Undo"] = 'u'
    let g:VM_maps["Redo"] = '<C-r>'

Thus this mappings should be added.

doc/vm-tutorial shows how to use it several times:

cd <path>/vim-visual-multi/doc
rg --case-sensitive -e 'undo' -e 'redo' vm-tutorial

See also the GIF of wiki/Quick-start#undoredo.

leader-w to toggle whole word search

:help vm-mappings-buffer quote:

Toggle Whole Word \w toggle whole word search

Solution

1. Cursor on any char of first "_apple" of line 1
2. C-n to add cursor to "_apple" of line 1
3. \\w to toggle whole word search
4. n (or C-n) to add cursor of next "_apple"-whole-word (first "apple" of line 1)
5. n (or C-n) to add cursor of next "_apple"-whole-word (first "_apple" of line 2)
6. n (or C-n) to add cursor of next "_apple"-whole-word (first "apple" of line 2)
7. r~ to replace each visual-cursor char with "~"
8. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

apple APPLE _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE
apple APPLE _apple _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE

Result

apple APPLE ~~~~~~ _APPLE ~~~~~~_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE
apple APPLE ~~~~~~ _APPLE ~~~~~~_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE

result if step 3 (toggle whole word search) is skipped (and actually n is pressed just once cause no more matches in those 2 lines)

apple APPLE ~~~~~~ _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE
apple APPLE ~~~~~~ _APPLE _apple_ _APPLE_ apple APPLE

Start vs result

cd exercises/toggle_whole_word_search
vim -d start.txt result.txt result_02.txt

leader-a to align the rightmost column, [count]leader-< to align by char, leader-> to align by regex

:help vm-align

Read the doc/vm-tutorial specific section: vim <path>/vim-visual-multi/doc/vm-tutorial -c '/Alignment \~'. Here [count]\\< (to align with 1 char) and \\> (to align by regex pattern) are explained too.

See GIF of wiki/Special-commands#align.

Solution

1. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
2. 4Ctrl-Down to add a cursor on the next 4 lines below
3. f, to move each VM-cursor to the first comma
4. w to move them to start of next word
5. \\a to align them
6. Repeat the three previous steps twice more to align all fields
7. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

With [count]\\<

1. gg0
2. 4Ctrl-Down
3. f, to move each VM-cursor to the first comma
4. \\<a to allign by next "a" char, i.e. first letter of next field "age"
5. f, to move each VM-cursor to next comma
6. \\<h to allign by next "h" char, i.e. first letter of next field "hobby"
7. f, to move each VM-cursor to next comma
8. \\<b to allign by next "b" char, i.e. first letter of next field "best_friend"
9. Esc

Using \\>

1. gg0
2. 4Ctrl-Down
3. \\> and type age as regex pattern. Then press Enter
4. \\> and type hobby as regex pattern. Then press Enter
5. \\> and type best_friend as regex pattern. Then press Enter
6. Esc

Start

name=Sam, age=38, hobby=gardening, best_friend=Frodo
name=Frodo, age=50, hobby=reading, best_friend=Sam
name=Gandalf, age=55k??, hobby=smoking, best_friend=__?
name=Legolas, age=3000?, hobby=wandering, best_friend=Gimli
name=Gimli, age=139, hobby=stonecraft, best_friend=Legolas

Result

name=Sam,     age=38,    hobby=gardening,  best_friend=Frodo
name=Frodo,   age=50,    hobby=reading,    best_friend=Sam
name=Gandalf, age=55k??, hobby=smoking,    best_friend=__?
name=Legolas, age=3000?, hobby=wandering,  best_friend=Gimli
name=Gimli,   age=139,   hobby=stonecraft, best_friend=Legolas

Start vs result

cd exercises/align
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-C for case conversion

:help vm-case-conversion explains:

Letter in the prompt	Meaning	Description
u	lowercase	Converts all letters to lowercase.
U	UPPERCASE	Converts all letters to uppercase.
C	Capitalize	Capitalizes the first letter of each word.
t	Title Case	Capitalizes the first letter of each significant word.
c	camelCase	First word lowercase, subsequent words capitalized.
P	PascalCase	All words capitalized.
s	snake_case	All lowercase, words separated by underscores.
S	SNAKE_UPPERCASE	All uppercase, words separated by underscores.
-	dash-case	All lowercase, words separated by hyphens.
.	dot.case	All lowercase, words separated by dots.
<space>	space case	All lowercase, words separated by spaces.

Solution

1. Cursor at w of wordB1.
2. C-v
3. jj
4. \\c
5. c-n. Notice how in 1st line it's selected wordB1a, in 2nd wordB10a and in 3rd wordB100a.
6. \\C
7. It asks Case conversion: (u/U/C/t/c/P/s/S/-/./ ). For example type U to set all to uppercase
8. Esc

Note. To toggle upper-/lowercase of each char use directly ~. :help vm-cursor-mode states:

~ change case of single character

At least one regex (VM-cursor) already had at least one char in uppercase, thus ~ is no alternative here to convert matches to uppercase.

Start

wordA wordB1a = abc.def
wordA wordB10a = abc.def
wordA wordB100a = abc.def

Result

wordA WORDB1A = abc.def
wordA WORDB10A = abc.def
wordA WORDB100A = abc.def

Start vs result

cd exercises/case_conversion
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-m to merge regions

:help vm-mappings-buffer quote:

Merge Regions \m merge overlapping regions

#242 says

\m (merge regions) works from normal mode, not from visual mode. It merges overlapping regions, not simply adjacent ones.

Here we will deal with regions_contents. They are:

• What text is currently selected/active in each region
• The actual editable content you can modify

Solution

1. Cursor on any char of "an" of line 1
2. C-n to add cursor-word \<an\>
3. \\w to toggle whole word search. Pattern now is an without \< nor \>
4. Right-arrow to move to "n" of "nual" of line 1
5. C-n to add cursor-word \<nual\>
6. \\w to toggle whole word search. Pattern now is nual without \< nor \>
7. Press n till no more matches in those 3 lines
8. :call b:VM_Selection.Funcs.regions_contents() produces (adding fields "Whole-word" and "line")

Index   ID      A       B       w       l / L           a / b            --- Pattern ---         --- Regions contents ---  --- Whole-word ---  --- line ---
0       1       15      16      2       1 / 1           15 / 16         \<an\>                  an                        an                   1
1       2       22      25      4       1 / 1           22 / 25         \<nual\>                nual                      nual                 1
2       3       54      55      2       2 / 2           28 / 29         an                      an                        biannual             2
3       4       56      59      4       2 / 2           30 / 33         nual                    nual                      biannual             2
4       5       94      95      2       2 / 2           68 / 69         an                      an                        annual               2
5       6       96      99      4       2 / 2           70 / 73         nual                    nual                      annual               2
6       7       123     124     2       3 / 3           16 / 17         an                      an                        an                   3
7       8       127     128     2       3 / 3           20 / 21         an                      an                        and                  3
8       9       132     133     2       3 / 3           25 / 26         an                      an                        annual               3
9       10      134     137     4       3 / 3           27 / 30         nual                    nual                      annual               3

9. \\CP to convert to PascalCase (all words capitalized without spaces)
10. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Result

Word cursors: An and Nual
Sentece with words: "The biAnNual Berlinale is awesome, thats a 2 nAnNual event"
Word cursors: "An" And "AnNual"

Now instead after step 7 we apply next

8. \\m to merge regions. Or run :call b:VM_Selection.Global.merge_regions(). Note this command could be called
9. :call b:VM_Selection.Funcs.regions_contents() produces (adding fields "Whole-word" and "line")

Index   ID      A       B       w       l / L           a / b            --- Pattern ---         --- Regions contents ---  --- Whole-word ---  --- line ---
0       11      15      16      2       1 / 1           15 / 16         an                      an                        an                   1
1       12      22      25      4       1 / 1           22 / 25         nual                    nual                      nual                 1
2       13      54      59      6       2 / 2           28 / 33         nual                    annual                    biannual             2
3       14      94      99      6       2 / 2           68 / 73         nual                    annual                    nannual              2
4       15      123     124     2       3 / 3           16 / 17         an                      an                        an                   3
5       16      127     128     2       3 / 3           20 / 21         an                      an                        and                  3
6       17      132     137     6       3 / 3           25 / 30         nual                    annual                    annual               3

10. \\CP to convert to PascalCase (all words capitalized without spaces)
11. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

Word cursors: an and nual
Sentece with words: "The biannual Berlinale is awesome, thats a 2 nannual event"
Word cursors: "an" and "annual"

Result

Word cursors: An and Nual
Sentece with words: "The biAnnual Berlinale is awesome, thats a 2 nAnnual event"
Word cursors: "An" And "Annual"

Start vs result

cd exercises/regions_merge
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-s to split regions

:help vm-subtract-pattern

:help vm-extend-mode indicates that this command is specific to extend-mode.

Solution

1. Cursor on any char of "an" of line 1
2. C-n to add cursor-word \<an\>
3. \\w to toggle whole word search. Pattern now is an without \< nor \>
4. Right-arrow to move to "n" of "nual" of line 1
5. C-n to add cursor-word \<nual\>
6. \\w to toggle whole word search. Pattern now is nual without \< nor \>
7. Press n till no more matches in those 3 lines
8. \\` (:help vm-mappings-buffer) and after prompt type i. Or directly :call b:VM_Selection.Funcs.regions_contents() produces (adding fields "Whole-word" and "line")

Index   ID      A       B       w       l / L           a / b            --- Pattern ---         --- Regions contents ---  --- Whole-word ---  --- line ---
0       1       15      16      2       1 / 1           15 / 16         \<an\>                  an                        an                   1
1       2       22      25      4       1 / 1           22 / 25         \<nual\>                nual                      nual                 1
2       3       54      55      2       2 / 2           28 / 29         an                      an                        biannual             2
3       4       56      59      4       2 / 2           30 / 33         nual                    nual                      biannual             2
4       5       94      95      2       2 / 2           68 / 69         an                      an                        annual               2
5       6       96      99      4       2 / 2           70 / 73         nual                    nual                      annual               2
6       7       123     124     2       3 / 3           16 / 17         an                      an                        an                   3
7       8       127     128     2       3 / 3           20 / 21         an                      an                        and                  3
8       9       132     133     2       3 / 3           25 / 26         an                      an                        annual               3
9       10      134     137     4       3 / 3           27 / 30         nual                    nual                      annual               3

8. \\s to split regions. In prompt type n (and press Enter)

V-M  10 / 10  ['nual', 'an']
Pattern to remove > n

9. :call b:VM_Selection.Funcs.regions_contents() outputs next. Notice pattern-s are gone

Index   ID      A       B       w       l / L           a / b            --- Pattern ---         --- Regions contents ---
0       27      15      15      1       1 / 1           15 / 15                                 a
1       28      23      25      3       1 / 1           23 / 25                                 ual
2       29      54      54      1       2 / 2           28 / 28                                 a
3       30      57      59      3       2 / 2           31 / 33                                 ual
4       31      94      94      1       2 / 2           68 / 68                                 a
5       32      97      99      3       2 / 2           71 / 73                                 ual
6       33      123     123     1       3 / 3           16 / 16                                 a
7       34      127     127     1       3 / 3           20 / 20                                 a
8       35      132     132     1       3 / 3           25 / 25                                 a
9       36      135     137     3       3 / 3           28 / 30                                 ual

10. \\CU to convert to uppercase
11. :call b:VM_Selection.Funcs.regions_contents() echoes

Index   ID      A       B       w       l / L           a / b            --- Pattern ---         --- Regions contents ---
0       27      15      15      1       1 / 1           15 / 15                                 A
1       28      23      25      3       1 / 1           23 / 25                                 UAL
2       29      54      54      1       2 / 2           28 / 28                                 A
3       30      57      59      3       2 / 2           31 / 33                                 UAL
4       31      94      94      1       2 / 2           68 / 68                                 A
5       32      97      99      3       2 / 2           71 / 73                                 UAL
6       33      123     123     1       3 / 3           16 / 16                                 A
7       34      127     127     1       3 / 3           20 / 20                                 A
8       35      132     132     1       3 / 3           25 / 25                                 A
9       36      135     137     3       3 / 3           28 / 30                                 UAL

12. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

Word cursors: an and nual
Sentece with words: "The biannual Berlinale is awesome, thats a 2 nannual event"
Word cursors: "an" and "annual"

Result

Word cursors: An and nUAL
Sentece with words: "The biAnnUAL Berlinale is awesome, thats a 2 nAnnUAL event"
Word cursors: "An" And "AnnUAL"

Start vs result

cd exercises/regions_split
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-minus/leader-plus to shrink/enlarge regions

:help vm-mappings-buffer:

Shrink   \\-  reduce regions from the sides
Enlarge  \\+  enlarge regions from the sides

autoload/vm/plugs.vim says:

nnoremap <silent>  <Plug>(VM-Shrink)  :call vm#commands#shrink_or_enlarge(1)<cr>
nnoremap <silent>  <Plug>(VM-Enlarge) :call vm#commands#shrink_or_enlarge(0)<cr>

Solution

1. Cursor on any char of "an" of line 1
2. C-n to add cursor-word \<an\>
3. \\w to toggle whole word search. Pattern now is an without \< nor \>
4. Right-arrow to move to "n" of "nual" of line 1
5. C-n to add cursor-word \<nual\>
6. \\w to toggle whole word search. Pattern now is nual without \< nor \>
7. Right-arrow to move to any char of "Berlinale" of line 1
8. C-n to add cursor-word
9. Press n till no more matches in those 3 lines. Or use \\A, see :h vm-select-all
10. :call b:VM_Selection.Funcs.regions_contents() produces (adding fields "Whole-word" and "line")

Index   ID      A       B       w       l / L           a / b            --- Pattern ---         --- Regions contents ---  --- Whole-word ---  --- line ---
0       1       15      16      2       1 / 1           15 / 16         \<an\>                  an                        an                   1
1       2       19      22      4       1 / 1           19 / 22         \<nual\>                nual                      nual                 1
2       3       28      36      9       1 / 1           28 / 36         \<Berlinale\>           Berlinale                 Berlinale            1
3       4       65      66      2       2 / 2           28 / 29         an                      an                        biannual             2
4       5       67      70      4       2 / 2           30 / 33         nual                    nual                      biannual             2
5       6       72      80      9       2 / 2           35 / 43         \<Berlinale\>           Berlinale                 Berlinale            2
6       7       105     106     2       2 / 2           68 / 69         an                      an                        annual               2
7       8       107     110     4       2 / 2           70 / 73         nual                    nual                      annual               2
8       9       134     135     2       3 / 3           16 / 17         an                      an                        an                   3
9       10      140     141     2       3 / 3           22 / 23         an                      an                        and                  3
10      11      142     145     4       3 / 3           24 / 27         nual                    nual                      annual               3
11      12      148     149     2       3 / 3           30 / 31         an                      an                        annual               3
12      13      153     161     9       3 / 3           35 / 43         \<Berlinale\>           Berlinale                 Berlinale            3

11. \\- to shrink regions
12. :call b:VM_Selection.Funcs.regions_contents() outputs next. Notice how regions-contents of 1 or 2 chars long are no longer shrunk. "an" is not shrunk at all.

Index   ID      A       B       w       l / L           a / b            --- Pattern ---         --- Regions contents ---
0       1       15      16      2       1 / 1           15 / 16         an                      an
1       2       20      21      2       1 / 1           20 / 21         \<nual\>                ua
2       3       29      35      7       1 / 1           29 / 35         \<Berlinale\>           erlinal
3       4       65      66      2       2 / 2           28 / 29         an                      an
4       5       68      69      2       2 / 2           31 / 32         nual                    ua
5       6       73      79      7       2 / 2           36 / 42         \<Berlinale\>           erlinal
6       7       105     106     2       2 / 2           68 / 69         an                      an
7       8       108     109     2       2 / 2           71 / 72         nual                    ua
8       9       134     135     2       3 / 3           16 / 17         an                      an
9       10      140     141     2       3 / 3           22 / 23         an                      an
10      11      143     144     2       3 / 3           25 / 26         nual                    ua
11      12      148     149     2       3 / 3           30 / 31         an                      an
12      13      154     160     7       3 / 3           36 / 42         \<Berlinale\>           erlinal

13. \\- to shrink regions
14. :call b:VM_Selection.Funcs.regions_contents() outputs

Index   ID      A       B       w       l / L           a / b            --- Pattern ---         --- Regions contents ---
0       1       15      16      2       1 / 1           15 / 16         an                      an
1       2       20      21      2       1 / 1           20 / 21         \<nual\>                ua
2       3       30      34      5       1 / 1           30 / 34         \<Berlinale\>           rlina
3       4       65      66      2       2 / 2           28 / 29         an                      an
4       5       68      69      2       2 / 2           31 / 32         nual                    ua
5       6       74      78      5       2 / 2           37 / 41         \<Berlinale\>           rlina
6       7       105     106     2       2 / 2           68 / 69         an                      an
7       8       108     109     2       2 / 2           71 / 72         nual                    ua
8       9       134     135     2       3 / 3           16 / 17         an                      an
9       10      140     141     2       3 / 3           22 / 23         an                      an
10      11      143     144     2       3 / 3           25 / 26         nual                    ua
11      12      148     149     2       3 / 3           30 / 31         an                      an
12      13      155     159     5       3 / 3           37 / 41         \<Berlinale\>           rlina

15. \\- to shrink regions
16. :call b:VM_Selection.Funcs.regions_contents() outputs

Index   ID      A       B       w       l / L           a / b            --- Pattern ---         --- Regions contents ---
0       1       15      16      2       1 / 1           15 / 16         an                      an
1       2       20      21      2       1 / 1           20 / 21         \<nual\>                ua
2       3       31      33      3       1 / 1           31 / 33         \<Berlinale\>           lin
3       4       65      66      2       2 / 2           28 / 29         an                      an
4       5       68      69      2       2 / 2           31 / 32         nual                    ua
5       6       75      77      3       2 / 2           38 / 40         \<Berlinale\>           lin
6       7       105     106     2       2 / 2           68 / 69         an                      an
7       8       108     109     2       2 / 2           71 / 72         nual                    ua
8       9       134     135     2       3 / 3           16 / 17         an                      an
9       10      140     141     2       3 / 3           22 / 23         an                      an
10      11      143     144     2       3 / 3           25 / 26         nual                    ua
11      12      148     149     2       3 / 3           30 / 31         an                      an
12      13      156     158     3       3 / 3           38 / 40         \<Berlinale\>           lin

17. \\- to shrink regions
18. :call b:VM_Selection.Funcs.regions_contents() outputs. Notice how regions-contents of even chars are shrunk at most to a 2 chars-string (like "an" not shrunk at all or "nual" shrunk to "ua") while those with odd chars are shrunk to 1 char (like "Berlinale" shrunk to "i").

Index   ID      A       B       w       l / L           a / b            --- Pattern ---         --- Regions contents ---
0       1       15      16      2       1 / 1           15 / 16         an                      an
1       2       20      21      2       1 / 1           20 / 21         \<nual\>                ua
2       3       32      32      1       1 / 1           32 / 32         \<Berlinale\>           i
3       4       65      66      2       2 / 2           28 / 29         an                      an
4       5       68      69      2       2 / 2           31 / 32         nual                    ua
5       6       76      76      1       2 / 2           39 / 39         \<Berlinale\>           i
6       7       105     106     2       2 / 2           68 / 69         an                      an
7       8       108     109     2       2 / 2           71 / 72         nual                    ua
8       9       134     135     2       3 / 3           16 / 17         an                      an
9       10      140     141     2       3 / 3           22 / 23         an                      an
10      11      143     144     2       3 / 3           25 / 26         nual                    ua
11      12      148     149     2       3 / 3           30 / 31         an                      an
12      13      157     157     1       3 / 3           39 / 39         \<Berlinale\>           i

19. \\CU to convert to uppercase
20. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

Word cursors: an, nual and Berlinale
Sentece with words: "The biannual Berlinale is awesome, thats a 2 nannual event"
Word cursors: "an", "annual" and "Berlinale"

Result

Word cursors: ,AN nlUA and BerlInale
Sentece with words: "The binANlUA BerlInale is awesome, thats a 2 nnANlUA event"
Word cursors: ""AN, "nANlUA" dAN "BerlInale"

Start vs result

cd exercises/regions_shrink
vim -d start.txt result.txt

s for select operator

:help vm-select-operator

Check

• The bonus exercise of replace pattern
• The GIF of wiki/5.-Operators#select-operator

m for find operator

:help vm-find-operator

m stands for matches

Solution

1. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
2. /let to find let and press Enter
3. C-n to add cursor
4. 8mj to select all occurrences in the 8 lines below
5. c and type put to change the text from let to put
6. Esc to exit insert mode
7. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Based on https://github.com/mg979/vim-visual-multi/wiki/Quick-start#find-operator.

Start

if went_back
    let r.dir = 0
    let r.a = new
    let r.b = r.k

elseif went_forth
    let r.dir = 1
    let r.b = new
    let r.a = r.k

Result

if went_back
    put r.dir = 0
    put r.a = new
    put r.b = r.k

elseif went_forth
    put r.dir = 1
    put r.b = new
    put r.a = r.k

Start vs result

cd exercises/operator_find
vim -d start.txt result.txt

Bonus

maf to select all occurrences inside a function. See respective GIF of wiki/5.-Operators.

leader-f to filter regions

:help vm-filter

See GIFs of wiki/5.-Operators

Solution

1. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
2. /apple
3. <C-n>
4. /banana
5. <C-n>
6. vii to visual select lines of same indentation (with same parents indents), thus last 3 lines are not selected
7. \\f to selected all occurrences in the visual selection
8. ~ to toogle each char case
9. Esc to exit VM-cursor mode

Start

indent_level_0
    indent_level_1
        indent_level_2 apple banana cherry
        indent_level_2 banana cherry apple
        indent_level_2 cherry apple banana
indent_level_0
    indent_level_1
        indent_level_2 apple banana cherry
        indent_level_2 banana cherry apple
        indent_level_2 cherry apple banana

Result

indent_level_0
    indent_level_1
        indent_level_2 APPLE BANANA cherry
        indent_level_2 BANANA cherry APPLE
        indent_level_2 cherry APPLE BANANA
indent_level_0
    indent_level_1
        indent_level_2 apple banana cherry
        indent_level_2 banana cherry apple
        indent_level_2 cherry apple banana

Start vs result

cd exercises/add_cursor_filter_regions
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-n/leader-N for numbering

:help vm-numbering

Expression syntax is: start=[count]/step/separator

Next exercises are almost identical to the :h vm-numbering ones.

See GIF of wiki/Special-commands#numbering.

Prepend

Solution

1. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
2. 3C-Down
3. \\N prompts: Expression > 1/1/. I.e. numbering starting in 1 with step of 1 and lacks the separator.
4. Increase the step to 3 and add a separator of - (space-dash-space), i.e. the prompt should be: 1/3/ - . Press Enter
5. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

text
text
text
text

Result

1 - text
4 - text
7 - text
10 - text

Start vs result

cd exercises/numbering_prepend
vim -d start.txt result.txt

Append

Solution

1. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
2. 3C-Down
3. \\n prompts: Expression > 1/1/
4. Make initial value 1000, increase the step to 100 and add a separator of , (comma-space), i.e. the prompt should be: 1000/100/, . Press Enter
5. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Start

text
text
text
text

Result

text, 1000
text, 1100
text, 1200
text, 1300

Start vs result

cd exercises/numbering_append
vim -d start.txt result.txt

<M-S-Arrows> to shift text

:help vm-shifting

<M-S-Arrows> where <M> is the Meta key (usually Alt in Linux and Windows).

See GIF of wiki/Special-commands#text-shifting

Solution

Purpose: set ages as rightmost field-value. Keep formatting: a comma and one space in between fied-values.

Shift age field-value (and its comma-space) to the right.

1. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
2. 4Ctrl-Down to add a cursor on the next 4 lines below
3. f, to move each VM-cursor to the first comma
4. w to move them to start of next word
5. Tab to enter extend mode
6. E to grow region till end of Word, reaching next comma
7. l to include also next char (space)
8. <M-S-Right> to shift extended regions all the way to the right. Repeat as needed

Delete the rightmost comma

9. Tab to toggle back to VM-column mode
10. E to go to end of Word
11. x deletes last char (a comma that we shifted)

Add missing comma

12. gE to go to end of previous Word, or BBE. Read vim Text object motions help :h Q_tm
13. a, to add a comma
14. Esc to exit instert mode

Remove spaces in between last two field-values that do not comply with the formatting

15. Tab to enter extend mode
16. w to extend regions to start of next word (last field)
17. h to shink from each region the last char (unselect first letter of last field)
18. h unselect rightmost space of the region
19. x to delete regions
20. Esc to exit multi-cursor mode

Remove trailing spaces

21. Remove trailing withspaces. Run :%s/\s\+$//

Start

name=Sam, age=38, hobby=gardening, best_friend=Frodo
name=Frodo, age=50, hobby=reading, best_friend=Sam
name=Gandalf, age=55k??, hobby=smoking, best_friend=__?
name=Legolas, age=3000?, hobby=wandering, best_friend=Gimli
name=Gimli, age=139, hobby=stonecraft, best_friend=Legolas

Result

name=Sam, hobby=gardening, best_friend=Frodo, age=38
name=Frodo, hobby=reading, best_friend=Sam, age=50
name=Gandalf, hobby=smoking, best_friend=__?, age=55k??
name=Legolas, hobby=wandering, best_friend=Gimli, age=3000?
name=Gimli, hobby=stonecraft, best_friend=Legolas, age=139

Start vs result

cd exercises/regions_shift
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-e to transform regions with expression

:help vm-transform

Solution

VM-extended selection to all item-s

1. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
2. C-n to add current word as VM-cursor
3. \\A to add rest of matches as VM-cursor

Transform regions with expression to prepend [index]/[total], where indexstarts at 1.

4. \\e and type %i+1 ."/". %N ." ". %t. Explained in :help vm-transform

Extended selection includes [index]/[total] item but we want to limit it to total.

5. gE to shrink it to [index]/[total] and Vim-cursor is at the last digit of [total]. Read :h Q_tm
6. o to jump the vim-cursor to start/end of visual-selection, read :h visual-change. It was at end (last [and here only] digit of [total]), so this map moves the vim-cursor to the first [and here only] digit of [index]
7. E to shrink the VM-extended selection to just the only digit of [total]

Multiply total by 1.5

8. \\e and type %f * 1.5
9. Escto exit VM mode

Note. o mapping varies in different VM modes. :help vm-cursor-mode states:

You can enter |insert-mode| with i, I, a, A, and only from cursor mode also with o and O.

Read Dot to add content exercise to see o mapping inserting text.

Start

item "apple"
item "banana"
item "cherry"

Result

1/4.5 item "apple"
2/4.5 item "banana"
3/4.5 item "cherry"

Start vs result

cd exercises/regions_transform_with_expression
vim -d start.txt result.txt

leader-R to remove every n regions

:help vm-remove-every-n

See GIF of wiki/Special-commands#remove-every-n-regions.

Solution

Add all item-s to VM-regions

1. gg to go to the first line (and first non-blank char)
2. C-n
3. \\A to add

Remove regions of no colors

4. 3\\R to remove every 3 regions. To remove each item region in lines that indicate quantity: lines 3, 6, 9,...
5. q to skip current region at first line. Vim-cursor and first VM-region is now at item of second line (item "red")
6. \\R to remove every other regions (to remove each item region previous to fruit names)

Replace region content with proper field name

7. c and type color. Esc to exit insert-mode
8. Esc to exit VM-mode

Add all items to VM-regions

9. gg
10. C-n
11. \\A

Remove regions of no quantity

12. q to skip current region at first line
13. \\R to remove every other regions (to remove each item region previous to fuit names)

Replace region content with proper field name

14. c and type qty. Esc to exit insert-mode
15. Esc to exit VM-mode

Alternative applying leader-e (:help vm-transform)

1. gg, C-n, \\A
2. \\e and type %i%3-2 ? %t : 'qty'
3. Esc to exit VM-mode
4. gg, C-n, \\A
5. q to skip current region at first line
6. \\e and type %i%2 ? %t : 'color'
7. Esc to exit VM-mode

We achieved the following:

item "apple"
color "red"
qty 2
item "banana"
color "green"
qty 3
item "cherry"
color "red"
qty 20
item "melon"
color "yellow"
qty 1
item "mango"
color "green"
qty 1
item "kiwi"
color "yellow"
qty 4
item "watermelon"
color "dark green"
qty 1

All left is plain Vim. No VM related.

1. gg
2. qa to start recoding macro a
3. 0 go to first char
4. E to move cursor at end of field
5. l to go to next char
6. r= to replace the space with an equal sign
7. A, to add a comma at end of line
8. Esc to exit insert-mode
9. q to finish recording macro a
10. uu to undo last two edits, to undo the macro
11. qb to start recoding macro b
12. @a to run macro a
13. j to go to next line
14. @a to run macro a
15. j to go to next line
16. @a to run macro a
17. x to delete last comma added
18. 2k to go two lines up
19. JJ to join two lines
20. j to go to next line
21. q to finish recording macro b
22. 6@b to run macro b six times

Note. With leader-e one transforms regions with expression. Its :help vm-transform states

%i%3-2 ? %t : ''	        will delete every third region

So remove a region differs from delete it. Let's try it. We have next initial contentin a file:

1 item
2 item
3 item
4 item
5 item
6 item
7 item
8 item
9 item
10 item
11 item
12 item

Steps to apply

1. gg
2. w
3. C-n
4. \\A
5. \\e and type %i%3-2 ? %t : ''
6. Esc to exit VM-mode

Result:

1 item
2 item
3 
4 item
5 item
6 
7 item
8 item
9 
10 item
11 item
12 

Alternative

1. gg
2. w
3. C-n
4. \\A
5. q (which skips the current region and goes to next one, in second line)
6. 3\\R to remove regions of lines current_line-1 + 3n, i.e. 2-1 + 3n = 4, 7, 10,...
7. q (which skips the current region and goes to next one, in third line)
8. \\R to remove alternate [remaining] regions
9. x to remove remaining regions
10. Esc to exit VM-mode

Start

item "apple"
item "red"
item 2
item "banana"
item "green"
item 3
item "cherry"
item "red"
item 20
item "melon"
item "yellow"
item 1
item "mango"
item "green"
item 1
item "kiwi"
item "yellow"
item 4
item "watermelon"
item "dark green"
item 1

Result

item="apple", color="red", qty=2
item="banana", color="green", qty=3
item="cherry", color="red", qty=20
item="melon", color="yellow", qty=1
item="mango", color="green", qty=1
item="kiwi", color="yellow", qty=4
item="watermelon", color="dark green", qty=1

Start vs result

cd exercises/regions_remove_every_n
vim -d start.txt result.txt

Special commands

Tools menu

Do not confuse with \\l described in :help vm-infoline.

:help vm-mappings-buffer says

Tools Menu  \\`  filter lines to buffer, etc

Alternative to \\` we can run :call vm#special#commands#menu(), defined in autoload/vm/special/commands.vim. This prompts the user with a menu of commands:

"    - Show VM registers
i    - Show regions info
f    - Filter regions by pattern or expression
l    - Filter lines with regions
r    - Regions contents to buffer
q    - Fill quickfix with regions lines
Q    - Fill quickfix with regions positions and contents

We can also directly access each one with its respective command. For example to show regions info we can directly run :call b:VM_Selection.Funcs.regions_contents(), see practical use in leader-minus/leader-plus to shrink/enlarge regions.

Read also :help vm-ex-commands.

<C-v> for pasting the unnamed VM register

Read doc/vm-tutorial: vim <path>/vim-visual-multi/doc/vm-tutorial -c '/Some experiments \~'. Extract:

About <C-v> in insert mode: it's a special VM command that will paste the content of
the unnamed VM register, if this has been filled with something.
If you pressed <C-r>{register}, this would still work, but the pasted content would
be the same for all cursors, since it would use vim (and not VM) registers.

Mappings

Default mappings

Read :help vm-mappings-default.

To see them run :echo g:Vm. Let's make it more human-readable. Write that vim-variable in a file:

vim -c 'redir > Vm_content.txt | echo g:Vm | redir END | quit'

Then replace \\ with for example a & so json.dump can handle it. Finally we can revert that, replacing && with leader- (because jq cannot handle \\):

cat Vm_content.txt \
  | sed 's/\\/\&/g' \
  | python3 -c 'import sys, ast, json; print(json.dumps(ast.literal_eval(sys.stdin.read())))' \
  | sed 's/&&/leader-/g' \
  | jq . --indent 2 > Vm_content.json \
  && cat Vm_content.json

Final JSON where each leader- should be \\:

{
  "last_ex": "",
  "hi": {},
  "registers": {
    "\"": [],
    "-": []
  },
  "finding": 0,
  "extend_mode": 0,
  "mappings_enabled": 0,
  "select_motions": [
    "h",
    "j",
    "k",
    "l",
    "w",
    "W",
    "b",
    "B",
    "e",
    "E",
    "ge",
    "gE",
    "BBW"
  ],
  "unmaps": [
    "silent! nunmap leader-A",
    "",
    "silent! nunmap <C-n>",
    "",
    "silent! nunmap <S-Left>",
    "",
    "",
    "silent! nunmap <S-Right>",
    "silent! xunmap leader-A",
    "silent! xunmap leader-/",
    "silent! nunmap <C-Up>",
    "silent! xunmap <C-n>",
    "",
    "silent! xunmap leader-f",
    "",
    "silent! xunmap leader-a",
    "silent! nunmap leader-&",
    "",
    "",
    "",
    "silent! nunmap leader-/",
    "",
    "silent! nunmap <C-Down>",
    "",
    "",
    "silent! nunmap leader-gS",
    "silent! xunmap leader-c"
  ],
  "last_normal": "",
  "last_visual": "",
  "oldupdate": 0,
  "leader": {
    "visual": "leader-",
    "default": "leader-",
    "buffer": "leader-"
  },
  "buffer": 0,
  "maps": {
    "permanent": [
      "nmap <nowait> leader-A <Plug>(VM-Select-All)",
      "nmap <nowait> <C-n> <Plug>(VM-Find-Under)",
      "nmap <nowait> <S-Left> <Plug>(VM-Select-h)",
      "nmap <nowait> <S-Right> <Plug>(VM-Select-l)",
      "xmap <nowait> leader-A <Plug>(VM-Visual-All)",
      "xmap <nowait> leader-/ <Plug>(VM-Visual-Regex)",
      "nmap <nowait> <C-Up> <Plug>(VM-Add-Cursor-Up)",
      "xmap <nowait> <C-n> <Plug>(VM-Find-Subword-Under)",
      "xmap <nowait> leader-f <Plug>(VM-Visual-Find)",
      "xmap <nowait> leader-a <Plug>(VM-Visual-Add)",
      "nmap <nowait> leader-& <Plug>(VM-Add-Cursor-At-Pos)",
      "nmap <nowait> leader-/ <Plug>(VM-Start-Regex-Search)",
      "nmap <nowait> <C-Down> <Plug>(VM-Add-Cursor-Down)",
      "nmap <nowait> leader-gS <Plug>(VM-Reselect-Last)",
      "xmap <nowait> leader-c <Plug>(VM-Visual-Cursors)"
    ],
    "exit": "<Esc>",
    "surround": "S",
    "toggle": "leader-<Space>"
  }
}

Overwrite mappings

:help vm-mappings-all. Also read :h vm-faq-mappings and related Vim-tags sections in doc/vm-faq.txt.

For kitty terminal the C-Down/C-Up mappings might not work. Overwrite them like in ./mappings/kitty-terminal.vim

" Override the default mappings 
let g:VM_maps = {}

" Add undo/redo
let g:VM_maps["Undo"] = 'u'
let g:VM_maps["Redo"] = '<C-r>'

" Kitty's terminal doesn't properly handle C-Up/C-Down
" thus replace them with \\j/\\k
let g:VM_maps['Add Cursor Down'] = '\\j'
let g:VM_maps['Add Cursor Up']   = '\\k'

Contribute

1. Clone this repo

git clone https://github.com/juanMarinero/vim-visual-multi-exercises
cd vim-visual-multi-exercises

2. Install the Node.js modules

nvm install  # Installs version from .nvmrc
nvm use      # Auto-switches to version from .nvmrc
npm install

3. Edit README_magic.md. For example add local content or remote content

4. Run the markdown-magic - script and check the result

node run-magic.js \
  && vim README.md

Tip: preview directly with markdown-preview.nvim

node run-magic.js \
  && vim README.md -c "MarkdownPreviewToggle"

5. Make a pull request

VM has many commands, next are some ToDo-s exercises to be added. The easiest and most practical ones are listed at the top:

• Cursor Operators as in wiki/5.-Operators#cursor-operators. Focus on describe limitations
• \\gS, see :help vm-reselect-last
• :help vm-run-at-cursors
  • \\z to Run Normal, see :help vm-run-normal and wiki/Commands-at-cursors#normal-commands
  • \\v to Run Visual, see :help vm-run-visual and wiki/Commands-at-cursors#visual-commands
  • \\x to Run Ex, see :help vm-run-ex and wiki/Commands-at-cursors#ex-commands
  • \\@ to Run Macro see :help vm-run-macro and wiki/Commands-at-cursors#macros
  • \\Z to Run Last Normal, no :help found, defined as :<C-u>call b:VM_Selection.Edit.run_normal(g:Vm.last_normal[0], {'count': v:count1, 'recursive': g:Vm.last_normal[1]}) in autoload/vm/plugs.vim
  • \\V to Run Last Visual, no :help found, defined as :call b:VM_Selection.Edit.run_visual(g:Vm.last_visual[0], g:Vm.last_visual[1]) in autoload/vm/plugs.vim
  • \\X to Run Last Ex, no :help found, defined as :<C-u>call b:VM_Selection.Edit.run_ex(g:Vm.last_ex) in autoload/vm/plugs.vim
• \\<CR>, see :help vm-single-mode
• M, read :help vm-multiline-mode and check GIF of wiki/4.-Motions-and-Modes
• \\L to run "One Per Line"
• :help vm-ex-commands
  • :help vm-registers exercise showing how VM-registers vary thanks to Tools Menu triggered with \\` (:help vm-mappings-buffer) and ", or directly with :VMRegisters
  • :help VMDebug, :help VMClear, :help VMSearch, etc.

FAQs

VM FAQs

Run :help vm-faqs or open doc/vm-faq.txt.

Vanilla markdown is not enough? Why is NodeJS needed?

Markdowns cannot show scripts (nor remote nor local). markdown-magic comes to rescue, but it must be installed in a Node.js environment.

Q: And why not directly on a HTML script?

A: I believe markdowns are easier for humans to read and edit, making them better suited for collaboration. While HTML scripts with Node.js offer many features that Markdown lacks, I don't need [most of] those advanced capabilities. For this project Node.js should be limited to using markdown-magic, and perhaps a few additional modules in the future.

Why is needed to display content of files instead of writting them directly on README.md?

• For easier version control. See contribute section.
• To enable vimdiff, git diff, delta,... or (Neo)Vimdiff plugins like diffchar or fugitive on initial (start.txt) vs final (result.txt) code. See next screenshots of delta example.
• Learning by Doing feature. To challenge myself I can vim -O start.txt result.txt, once I think that I achieved to make start.txtscript identical to result.txt (applying vim-visual-multi commands), then I can check it with :windo diffthis (OFF with :windo diffoff). To display the solution click on ▸ Solution or use :split steps.md.

Why does Markdown Magic process README_magic.md instead of README.md?

The contribute section instructs you to run the following JavaScript-script:

const { markdownMagic } = require('markdown-magic');
const path = require('path');

const inputFile = path.join(__dirname, 'README_magic.md');
const outputFile = path.join(__dirname, 'README.md');

markdownMagic(inputFile, {
  output: {
    pathFormatter: () => outputFile,
    applyTransformsToSource: false
  }
}).then(() => {
  console.log(`Processed content written to ${outputFile}`);
});

Thus content of README_magic.md is processed by markdown-magic, which outputs the result to README.md.

Next non-existing --output flag could achieve the same effect, for example: npx markdown-magic --output README.md -- README_magic.md.

In summary, running npx markdown-magic README.md would overwrite README.md directly, making version control more difficult.

Troubleshooting

• :help vm-troubleshooting
• VM-issues

License

GPLv3 or later. This project is licensed under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3 or later. See the local copy LICENSE/GPLv3.

Portions of this project are derived (copied or adapted) from vim-visual-multi, which is licensed under the MIT License:

• Original MIT License
• Local copy in LICENSE/vim-visual-multi

The MIT-licensed portions retain their original terms, while the new work is distributed under GPLv3 or later.