*gui_w32.txt*   For Vim version 5.2j.  Last modification: 1998 Aug 09


		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Bram Moolenaar


Vim's Graphical User Interface				*gui-w32*

1. Starting the GUI		|gui-w32-start|
2. Vim as default editor	|vim-default-editor|
3. Using the clipboard		|gui-clipboard|
4. Shell Commands		|gui-shell-win32|
5. Special colors		|win32-colors|
6. Windows dialogs & browsers	|gui-w32-dialogs|
7. Various			|gui-w32-various|

Other relevant documentation:
|gui.txt|	For generic items of the GUI.
|os_win32.txt|  For Win32 specific items.

{Vi does not have a Windows GUI}

==============================================================================
1. Starting the GUI					*gui-w32-start*

The Win32 GUI version of Vim will always start the GUI, no matter how you
start it or what it's called.

The GUI will always run in the Windows subsystem.  Mostly shells automatically
return with a command prompt after starting gvim.  If not, you should use the
"start" command:
>	start gvim [options] file ..

Note: All fonts (bold, italic) must be of the same size!!!  If you don't do
this, text will disappear or mess up the display.  Vim does not check the font
sizes.  It's the size in screen pixels that must be the same.  Note that some
fonts that have the same point size don't have the same pixel size!
Additionally, the positioning of the fonts must be the same (ascent and
descent).

The Win32 GUI has an extra menu item:  "Window/Select Font".  It brings up the
standard Windows font selector.

Setting the menu height doesn't work for the Win32 GUI.

								*gui-w32s*
There is a specific version of gvim.exe that runs under the Win32s subsystem
of Windows 3.1 or 3.11.  See |win32s|.

==============================================================================
2. Vim as default editor				*vim-default-editor*

To set Vim as the default editor for a file type:
1. Start a Windows Explorer
2. Chose View/Options -> File Types
3. Select the path to gvim for every file type that you want to use it for.
   (you can also use three spaces in the file type field, for files without an
   extension).
   In the "open" action, use
>	gvim "%1"
   The quotes are required for using file names with embedded spaces.

When you open a file in Vim by double clicking it, Vim changes to that
file's directory.

If you want Vim to start full-screen, use this for the Open action:
>	gvim -c"simalt ~x" "%1"

Another method, which also works When you put Vim in another directory (e.g.,
when you have got a new version):
1. Put focus on a file you want Vim to use with
2. <Shift-F10>
3. <Open With...>
4. <Other...>
5. Browse to the (new) location of Vim and click <Open>
6. <Always Use this program...> checked
7. <OK>

							*send-to-menu*
You can also install Vim in the "Send To" menu:
1. Start a Windows Explorer
2. Navigate to your sendto directory:
   Windows 95: %windir%\sendto (e.g. "c:\windows\sendto")
   Windows NT: %windir%\profiles\%user%\sendto (e.g.
	       "c:\winnt\profiles\mattha\sendto").
3. Right-click in the file pane and select New->Shortcut
4. Follow the shortcut wizard, using the full path to VIM/GVIM.

When you 'send a file to Vim', Vim changes to that file's directory.  Note,
however, that any long directory names will appear in their short (MS-DOS)
form.  This is a limitation of the Windows "Send To" mechanism.

==============================================================================
3. Using the clipboard					*gui-clipboard*

Windows has a clipboard, where you can copy text to, and paste text from.  Vim
supports this in several ways.

The "* register reflects the contents of the clipboard.  |quotestar|

The 'a' flag in 'guioptions' is not included by default.  This means that text
is only put on the clipboard when an operation is performed on it.  Just
Visually selecting text doesn't put it on the clipboard.  When the 'a' flag is
included, the text is copied to the clipboard even when it is not operator
upon.

In Visual mode, the CTRL-X key can be used to delete the selected text.
CTRL-C can't be used to copy the text to the clipboard, unfortunately, since
Vim uses it for its more universal meaning of "stop/cancel".

The standard Windows key CTRL-V already has a meaning in Vim.  To make it work
the Windows way, you can use these mappings:
>  :vmap ^V ""x"*p
>  :nmap ^V "*p
>  :nmap ^K ^V
[the ^V is a real CTRL-V, you have to type CTRL-V twice]
The CTRL-K key can then be used for the Vim meaning of CTRL-V.
Unfortunately, CTRL-C cannot be mapped.

NOTE: The clipboard support still has a number of bugs.  See $VIM/todo.

==============================================================================
4. Shell Commands					*gui-shell-win32*

Vim uses another window for external commands, to make it possible to run any
command.  The external command gets its own environment for running, just like
it was started from a DOS prompt.

							*win32-vimrun*
Executing an external command is done indirectly by the "vimrun" command.  The
"vimrun.exe" must be in the path for this to work.  If "vimrun" cannot be
found, the command is executed directly.
WARNING: If you close this window with the "X" button, and confirm the
question if you really want to kill the application, Vim may be killed too!
(This does not apply to commands run asynchronously with ":!start".)

In Windows 95, the window in which the commands are executed is always 25x80
characters, to be as DOS compatible as possible (this matters!).  The default
system font is used. On NT, the window will be the default you have set up for
"Console" in Control Panel. On Win32s, the properties of the DOS box are
determined by _default.pif in the windows directory.

							*win32-!start*
Normally, Vim waits for a command to complete before continuing (this makes
sense for most shell commands which produce output for Vim to use).  If you
want Vim to start a program and return immediately, you can use the following
syntax on W95 & NT:
>	:!start <command>
On Win32s, you will have to go to another window instead. Don't forget that
you must tell Windows 3.1x to keep executing a DOS command in the background
while you switch back to Vim.

==============================================================================
5. Special colors					*win32-colors*

On Win32, the normal DOS colors can be used.  See |dos-colors|.

Additionally the system configured colors can also be used.  These are known
by the names Sys_XXX, where XXX is the appropriate system color name, from the
following list (see the Win32 documentation for full descriptions).  Case is
ignored. note: On Win32s not all of these colours are supported.

Sys_3DDKShadow		Sys_3DFace			Sys_BTNFace
Sys_3DHilight		Sys_3DHighlight			Sys_BTNHilight
Sys_BTNHighlight	Sys_3DLight			Sys_3DShadow
Sys_BTNShadow		Sys_ActiveBorder		Sys_ActiveCaption
Sys_AppWorkspace	Sys_Background			Sys_Desktop
Sys_BTNText		Sys_CaptionText			Sys_GrayText
Sys_Highlight		Sys_HighlightText		Sys_InactiveBorder
Sys_InactiveCaption	Sys_InactiveCaptionText		Sys_InfoBK
Sys_InfoText		Sys_Menu			Sys_MenuText
Sys_ScrollBar		Sys_Window			Sys_WindowFrame
Sys_WindowText

Probably the most useful values are
	Sys_Window          Normal window background
	Sys_WindowText      Normal window text
	Sys_Highlight       Highlighted background
	Sys_HighlightText   Highlighted text

These extra colors are also available:
Gray, Grey, LightYellow, SeaGreen, Orange, Purple, SlateBlue, Violet,

								*rgb.txt*
Additionally, colors defined by a "rgb.txt" file can be used.  This file is
well known from X11.  A few lines from it:

>  255 218 185             peach puff
>  205 133  63             peru
>  255 181 197             pink

This shows the layout of the file:  First the R, G and B value as a decimal
number, followed by the name of the color.  The four fields are separated by
spaces.

You can get an rgb.txt file from any X11 distribution.  It is located in a
directory like "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/".  For Vim it must be located in the $VIM
directory.  Thus the file can be found with "$VIM/rgb.txt".

==============================================================================
						*gui-w32-dialogs* *dialog*
6. Windows dialogs & browsers

The Win32 GUI can use familiar Windows components for some operations, as well
as the traditional interface shared with the console version.


6.1 Dialogs

The dialogs displayed by the "confirm" family (i.e. the 'confirm' option,
|:confirm| command and |confirm()| function are GUI-based rather than the
console-based ones used by other versions.  There is no option to change this.


6.2 File Browsers
							*:browse* *:bro*
:bro[wse] {command}	Open a file selection dialog for an argument to
			{command}.  At present this works for ":e", ":w",
			":r", ":sp", ":mkexrc", ":mkvimrc" and ":mksession".

The syntax is best shown via some examples:
>	:browse e $vim\foo
		Open the browser in the $vim\foo directory, and edit the
		file chosen.
>	:browse e
		Open the browser in the directory of the current buffer,
		and edit the file chosen.
>	:browse w
		Open the browser in the directory of the current buffer,
		with the current buffer filename as default, and save the
		buffer under the filename chosen.
>	:browse w C:\bar
		Open the browser in the C:\bar directory, with the current
		buffer filename as default, and save the buffer under the
		filename chosen.
Also see the |'browsedir'| option.


6.3 Tearoff Menus

The Win32 GUI emulates Motif's tear-off menus.  At the top of each menu you
will see a small graphic "rip here" sign.  Selecting it will cause a floating
window to be created with the same menu entries on it.  The floating menu can
then be accessed just as if it was the original (including sub-menus), but
without having to go to the menu bar each time.
This is most useful if you find yourself using a command buried in a sub-menu
over and over again.
The tearoff menus can be positioned where you like, and always stay just above
the Main Vim window. You can get rid of them by closing them as usual; they
also of course close when you exit Vim.

							*:tearoff* *:te*
:te[aroff] {name}	Tear-off the menu {name}.  The menu named must have at
			least one subentry, but need not appear on the
			menu-bar (see |win32-hidden-menus|).

Example:
>	:tearoff File
will make the "File" menu (if there is one) appear as a tearoff menu.

>	:amenu ]Toolbar.Make	:make<CR>
>	:tearoff ]Toolbar
This creates a floating menu that doesn't exist on the main menu-bar.

Note that a menu that starts with ']' will not be displayed.

==============================================================================
7. Various						*gui-w32-various*

							*gui-w32-printing*
The "File/Print" menu uses Notepad to print the current buffer.  This is a bit
clumsy, but it's portable.  If you want something else, you can define your
own print command.  For example, you could replace Notepad with Editpad
(www.tornado.be/~johnfg).  See $VIM/menu.vim for how it works by default.

Vim supports a number of standard MS Windows features. Some of these are
detailed elsewhere: see |'mouse'|, |win32-hidden-menus|.

You can drag and drop one or more files into the vim window, where they will
be opened as normal. If you hold down Shift while doing this, Vim changes to
the (first) dropped file's directory.
You can also drop a directory's icon, but rather than open all files in the
directory (which wouldn't usually be what you want) Vim instead changes to
that directory and begins a new file.

							*:simalt* *:si*
:si[malt] {key}		simulate pressing {key} while holding Alt pressed.
			{not in Vi} {only for Win32 versions}

Normally, Vim takes control of all Alt-<Key> combinations, to increase the
number of possible mappings. This clashes with the standard use of Alt as the
key for accessing menus.
The quick way of getting standard behaviour is to set the 'winaltkeys' option
to "yes".  This however prevents you from mapping Alt keys at all.
Another way is to set 'winaltkeys' to "menu".  Menu shortcut keys are then
handled by windows, other ALT keys can be mapped.  This doesn't allow a
dependency on the current state though.
To get round this, the :simalt command allows Vim (when 'winaltkeys' is not
"yes") to fake a Windows-style Alt keypress. You can use this to map Alt key
combinations (or anything else for that matter) to produce standard Windows
actions. Here are some examples:

>	:map <M-f> :simalt f<CR>
This makes Alt-F pop down the 'File' menu (with the stock Menu.vim) by
simulating the keystrokes Alt, F.
>	:map <M-Space> :simalt ~<CR>
This maps Alt-Space to pop down the system menu for the Vim window. Note that
~ is used by simalt to represent the <Space> character.
>	:map <C-n> :simalt ~n<CR>
Maps Control-N to produce the keys Alt-Space followed by N. This minimises the
Vim window via the system menu.

 vim:tw=78:ts=8:sw=4
