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- *undo.txt* For Vim version 6.0. Last change: 2001 Sep 03
-
-
- VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Bram Moolenaar
-
-
- Undo and redo *undo-redo*
-
- The basics are explained in section |02.5| of the user manual.
-
- 1. Undo and redo commands |undo-commands|
- 2. Two ways of undo |undo-two-ways|
- 3. Remarks about undo |undo-remarks|
-
- ==============================================================================
- 1. Undo and redo commands *undo-commands*
-
- <Undo> or *undo* *<Undo>* *u*
- u Undo [count] changes. {Vi: only one level}
-
- *:u* *:un* *:undo*
- :u[ndo] Undo one change. {Vi: only one level}
-
- *CTRL-R*
- CTRL-R Redo [count] changes which were undone. {Vi: redraw
- screen}
-
- *:red* *:redo* *redo*
- :red[o] Redo one change which was undone. {Vi: no redo}
-
- *U*
- U Undo all latest changes on one line. {Vi: while not
- moved off of it}
-
- The last changes are remembered. You can use the undo and redo commands above
- to revert the text to how it was before each change. You can also apply the
- changes again, getting back the text before the undo.
-
- The "U" command is treated by undo/redo just like any other command. Thus a
- "u" command undos a "U" command and a 'CTRL-R' command redoes it again. When
- mixing "U", "u" and 'CTRL-R' you will notice that the "U" command will
- restore the situation of a line to before the previous "U" command. This may
- be confusing. Try it out to get used to it.
- The "U" command will always mark the buffer as changed. When "U" changes the
- buffer back to how it was without changes, it is still considered changed.
- Use "u" to undo changes until the buffer becomes unchanged.
-
- ==============================================================================
- 2. Two ways of undo *undo-two-ways*
-
- How undo and redo commands work depends on the 'u' flag in 'cpoptions'.
- There is the Vim way ('u' excluded) and the vi-compatible way ('u' included).
- In the Vim way, "uu" undoes two changes. In the Vi-compatible way, "uu" does
- nothing (undoes an undo).
-
- 'u' excluded, the Vim way:
- You can go back in time with the undo command. You can then go forward again
- with the redo command. If you make a new change after the undo command,
- the redo will not be possible anymore.
-
- 'u' included, the Vi-compatible way:
- The undo command undoes the previous change, and also the previous undo command.
- The redo command repeats the previous undo command. It does NOT repeat a
- change command, use "." for that.
-
- Examples Vim way Vi-compatible way ~
- "uu" two times undo no-op
- "u CTRL-R" no-op two times undo
-
- Rationale: Nvi uses the "." command instead of CTRL-R. Unfortunately, this
- is not Vi compatible. For example "dwdwu." in Vi deletes two
- words, in Nvi it does nothing.
-
- ==============================================================================
- 3. Remarks about undo *undo-remarks*
-
- The number of changes that are remembered is set with the 'undolevels' option.
- If it is zero, the Vi-compatible way is always used. If it is negative no
- undo is possible. Use this if you are running out of memory.
-
- Marks for the buffer ('a to 'z) are also saved and restored, together with the
- text. {Vi does this a little bit different}
-
- When all changes have been undone, the buffer is not considered to be changed.
- It is then possible to exit Vim with ":q" instead of ":q!". {this is not in
- Vi} Note that this is relative to the last write of the file. Typing "u"
- after ":w" actually changes the buffer, compared to what was written, so the
- buffer is considered changed then.
-
- When manual |folding| is being used, the folds are not saved and restored.
- Only changes completely within a fold will keep the fold as it was, because
- the first and last line of the fold don't change.
-
- The numbered registers can also be used for undoing deletes. Each time you
- delete text, it is put into register "1. The contents of register "1 are
- shifted to "2, etc. The contents of register "9 are lost. You can now get
- back the most recent deleted text with the put command: '"1P'. (also, if the
- deleted text was the result of the last delete or copy operation, 'P' or 'p'
- also works as this puts the contents of the unnamed register). You can get
- back the text of three deletes ago with '"3P'.
-
- If you want to get back more than one part of deleted text, you can use a
- special feature of the repeat command ".". It will increase the number of the
- register used. So if you first do ""1P", the following "." will result in a
- '"2P'. Repeating this will result in all numbered registers being inserted.
-
- Example: If you deleted text with 'dd....' it can be restored with
- '"1P....'.
-
- If you don't know in which register the deleted text is, you can use the
- :display command. An alternative is to try the first register with '"1P', and
- if it is not what you want do 'u.'. This will remove the contents of the
- first put, and repeat the put command for the second register. Repeat the
- 'u.' until you got what you want.
-
- vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
-