Re: introduction, and a beginner question about vimrc files

2010/5/24 Gary Johnson <garyjohn@spocom.com>

On 2010-05-24, Jose Caballero wrote:
> Hi,
>
> this is my first post in this list, so I wanted to introduce myself and say
> hello to everyone here.
>
> I have a very basic question, as a beginner I am using vi.
> I use vim 6.3.82, on Red Hat. I have no root privileges.
>
> Right now I have all my mappings and abbreviations and those things in a single
> file: ~/.vimrc
> Clearly that is not efficient given I am using the same setup if I edit a
> python script, a HTML document, a C++ one, etc. Not good.
>
> However, following other threads is this very list I have seen there is a whole
> nomenclature and rc files are placed in different subdirectories -like /syntax/
> ... - or the name of the rc is different depending on the type of file one
> wants to edit, etc.
> Is there some URL where all these topics are explained in such a way a beginner
> can understand it? I have googled a little, but with no success. I find many
> tips, but always assuming the reader knows in which particular rc file those
> tips must be allocated.

The best place to find information about using Vim is withing Vim
itself, in the help system.  Just executing

   :help

will give you an overview of this.  Vim's help is divided into two
parts:  the User Manual and the Reference Manual.  The User Manual
is a good place to start if you're looking for a tutorial
introduction to a topic.  You can start by executing

   :help toc

and then browsing the topics or searching for a likely keyword.

In this particular case, however, the Reference Manual seems to do a
better job at introducing the topic than the User Manual does.  So,
execute

   :help filetype

to read in the Reference Manual about filetype plugins, which is the
mechanism that Vim uses to customize the editing environment for
specific file types.

See also

   :help 30.3
   :help usr_06.txt

As has already been pointed out, Vim 6.3.82 is really old.  While it
may work fine for you, a lot of the tips and answers on this list
will apply only to more recent versions, so to avoid frustration,
I'd look into getting a new version, either by using rpm or by
downloading the source and building it yourself.

I realize this is a little sketchy, but I hope it will be enough to
get you started.

HTH,
Gary

Thanks a lot everyone for your comments.
I will start following your recommendations.

Cheers,
Jose

--
You received this message from the "vim_use" maillist.
Do not top-post! Type your reply below the text you are replying to.
For more information, visit http://www.vim.org/maillist.php