This is a mirror of http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=2666 DESCRIPTION This plugin adds mappings and a :Mark command to highlight several words in different colors simultaneously, similar to the built-in 'hlsearch' highlighting of search results and the * |star| command. For example, when you are browsing a big program file, you could highlight multiple identifiers in parallel. This will make it easier to trace the source code. This is a continuation of vimscript #1238 by Yuheng Xie, who doesn't maintain his original version anymore and recommends switching to this fork. This plugin offers the following advantages over the original: - Much faster, all colored words can now be highlighted, no more clashes with syntax highlighting (due to use of matchadd()). - Many bug fixes. - Jumps behave like the built-in search, including wrap and error messages. - Like the built-in commands, jumps take an optional [count] to quickly skip over some marks. - Marks can be persisted, and patterns can be added / subtracted from mark highlight groups. SEE ALSO - SearchAlternatives.vim (vimscript #4146) provides mappings and commands to add and subtract alternative branches to the current search pattern. - SearchHighlighting.vim (vimscript #4320) can change the semantics of the start command *, extends it to visual mode (like Mark) and has auto-search functionality which instantly highlights the word under the cursor when typing or moving around, like in many IDEs. RELATED WORKS - MultipleSearch (vimscript #479) can highlight in a single window and in all buffers, but still relies on the :syntax highlighting method, which is slower and less reliable. - http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Highlight_multiple_words offers control over the color used by mapping the 1-9 keys on the numeric keypad, persistence, and highlights only a single window. - highlight.vim (vimscript #1599) highlights lines or patterns of interest in different colors, using mappings that start with CTRL-H and work on cword. - quickhl.vim (vimscript #3692) can also list the matches with colors and in addition offers on-the-fly highlighting of the current word (like many IDEs do). - Highlight (http://www.drchip.org/astronaut/vim/index.html#HIGHLIGHT) has commands and mappings for highlighting and searching, uses matchadd(), but limits the scope of highlightings to the current window. - TempKeyword (vimscript #4636) is a simple plugin that can matchadd() the word under the cursor with \0 - \9 mappings. (And clear with \c0 etc.) - simple_highlighting (vimscript #4688) has commands and mappings to highlight 8 different slots in all buffers. - searchmatch (vimscript #4869) has commands and mappings for :[1,2,3]match, in the current window only. HIGHLIGHTING <Leader>m Mark the word under the cursor, similar to the |star| command. The next free highlight group is used. If already on a mark: Clear the mark, like |<Leader>n|. {Visual}<Leader>m Mark or unmark the visual selection. [N]<Leader>m With [N], mark the word under the cursor with the named highlight group [N]. When that group is not empty, the word is added as an alternative match, so you can highlight multiple words with the same color. When the word is already contained in the list of alternatives, it is removed. When [N] is greater than the number of defined mark groups, a summary of marks is printed. Active mark groups are prefixed with "*" (or "M*" when there are M pattern alternatives), the default next group with ">", the last used search with "/" (like |:Marks| does). Input the mark group, accept the default with <CR>, or abort with <Esc> or any other key. This way, when unsure about which number represents which color, just use 99<Leader>n and pick the color interactively! {Visual}[N]<Leader>m Ditto, based on the visual selection. [N]<Leader>r Manually input a regular expression to mark. {Visual}[N]<Leader>r Ditto, based on the visual selection. In accordance with the built-in |star| command, all these mappings use 'ignorecase', but not 'smartcase'. <Leader>n Clear the mark under the cursor. If not on a mark: Disable all marks, similar to |:nohlsearch|. Note: Marks that span multiple lines are not detected, so the use of <Leader>n on such a mark will unintentionally remove all marks! Use {Visual}<Leader>r or :Mark {pattern} to clear multi-line marks (or pass [N] if you happen to know the group number). [N]<Leader>n Clear the marks represented by highlight group [N]. :[N]Mark Clear the marks represented by highlight group [N]. :[N]Mark[!] {pattern} Mark or unmark {pattern}. Unless [N] is given, the next free highlight group is used for marking. With [N], mark {pattern} with the named highlight group [N]. When that group is not empty, the word is added as an alternative match, so you can highlight multiple words with the same color, unless [!] is given; then, {pattern} overrides the existing mark. When the word is already contained in the list of alternatives, it is removed. For implementation reasons, {pattern} cannot use the 'smartcase' setting, only 'ignorecase'. :Mark Disable all marks, similar to |:nohlsearch|. Marks will automatically re-enable when a mark is added or removed, or a search for marks is performed. *:MarkClear* :MarkClear Clear all marks. In contrast to disabling marks, the actual mark information is cleared, the next mark will use the first highlight group. This cannot be undone. SEARCHING [count]* [count]# [count]<Leader>* [count]<Leader># [count]<Leader>/ [count]<Leader>? Use these six keys to jump to the [count]'th next / previous occurrence of a mark. You could also use Vim's / and ? to search, since the mark patterns are (optionally, see configuration) added to the search history, too. Cursor over mark Cursor not over mark --------------------------------------------------------------------------- <Leader>* Jump to the next occurrence of Jump to the next occurrence of current mark, and remember it "last mark". as "last mark". <Leader>/ Jump to the next occurrence of Same as left. ANY mark. * If <Leader>* is the most recently Do Vim's original * command. used, do a <Leader>*; otherwise (<Leader>/ is the most recently used), do a <Leader>/. Note: When the cursor is on a mark, the backwards search does not jump to the beginning of the current mark (like the built-in search), but to the previous mark. The entire mark text is treated as one entity. You can use Vim's |jumplist| to go back to previous mark matches and the position before a mark search. If you work with multiple highlight groups and assign special meaning to them (e.g. group 1 for notable functions, 2 for variables, 3 for includes), you can use the 1-9 keys on the numerical keypad to jump to occurrences of a particular highlight group. With the general * and # commands above, you'd first need to locate a nearby occurrence of the desired highlight group if it's not the last mark used. <k1> .. <k9> Jump to the [count]'th next occurrence of the mark belonging to highlight group 1..9. <C-k1> .. <C-k9> Jump to the [count]'th previous occurrence of the mark belonging to highlight group 1..9. Note that these commands only work when the "Num Lock" indicator of your keyboard is ON; otherwise, the keypad is used for cursor movement. MARK PERSISTENCE The marks can be kept and restored across Vim sessions, using the |viminfo| file. For this to work, the "!" flag must be part of the 'viminfo' setting: set viminfo+=! " Save and restore global variables. :MarkLoad Restore the marks from the previous Vim session. All current marks are discarded. :MarkLoad {slot} Restore the marks stored in the named {slot}. All current marks are discarded. :MarkSave Save the currently defined marks (or clear the persisted marks if no marks are currently defined) for use in a future Vim session. :MarkSave {slot} Save the currently defined marks in the named {slot}. If {slot} is all UPPERCASE, the marks are persisted and can be |:MarkLoad|ed in a future Vim session; otherwise, you can just recall within the current session. When no marks are currently defined, the {slot} is cleared. By default, automatic persistence is enabled (so you don't need to explicitly |:MarkSave|), but you have to explicitly load the persisted marks in a new Vim session via |:MarkLoad|, to avoid that you accidentally drag along outdated highlightings from Vim session to session, and be surprised by the arbitrary highlight groups and occasional appearance of forgotten marks. If you want just that though and automatically restore any marks, set |g:mwAutoLoadMarks|. You can also initialize some marks (even using particular highlight groups) to static values, e.g. by including this in |vimrc|: > runtime plugin/mark.vim silent MarkClear 5Mark foo 6Mark bar Or you can define custom commands that preset certain marks: > command -bar MyMarks silent MarkClear | execute '5Mark foo' | execute '6Mark bar' Or a command that adds to the existing marks and then toggles them: > command -bar ToggleFooBarMarks execute 'Mark foo' | execute 'Mark bar' MARK INFORMATION Both |mark-highlighting| and |mark-searching| commands print information about the mark and search pattern, e.g. mark-1/\<pattern\> ~ This is especially useful when you want to add or subtract patterns to a mark highlight group via [N]. :Marks List all mark highlight groups and the search patterns defined for them. The group that will be used for the next |:Mark| or |<Leader>m| command (with [N]) is shown with a ">". The last mark used for a search (via |<Leader>*|) is shown with a "/". MARK HIGHLIGHTING PALETTES The plugin comes with three predefined palettes: original, extended, and maximum. You can dynamically toggle between them, e.g. when you need more marks or a different set of colors. :MarkPalette {palette} Highlight existing and future marks with the colors defined in {palette}. If the new palette contains less mark groups than the current one, the additional marks are lost. You can use |:command-completion| for {palette}. See |g:mwDefaultHighlightingPalette| for how to change the default palette, and |mark-palette-define| for how to add your own custom palettes. CONFIGURATION For a permanent configuration, put the following commands into your |vimrc|. This plugin defines 6 mark groups: 1: Cyan 2:Green 3:Yellow 4:Red 5:Magenta 6:Blue ~ Higher numbers always take precedence and are displayed above lower ones. Especially if you use GVIM, you can switch to a richer palette of up to 18 colors: > let g:mwDefaultHighlightingPalette = 'extended' Or, if you have both good eyes and display, you can try a palette that defines 27, 58, or even 77 colors, depending on the number of available colors: > let g:mwDefaultHighlightingPalette = 'maximum' If you like the additional colors, but don't need that many of them, restrict their number via: > let g:mwDefaultHighlightingNum = 9 If none of the default highlightings suits you, define your own colors in your vimrc file (or anywhere before this plugin is sourced, but after any |:colorscheme|), in the following form (where N = 1..): > highlight MarkWordN ctermbg=Cyan ctermfg=Black guibg=#8CCBEA guifg=Black You can also use this form to redefine only some of the default highlightings. If you want to avoid losing the highlightings on |:colorscheme| commands, you need to re-apply your highlights on the |ColorScheme| event, similar to how this plugin does. Or you define the palette not via :highlight commands, but use the plugin's infrastructure: > let g:mwDefaultHighlightingPalette = [ \ { 'ctermbg':'Cyan', 'ctermfg':'Black', 'guibg':'#8CCBEA', 'guifg':'Black' }, \ ... \] If you want to switch multiple palettes during runtime, you need to define them as proper palettes: > let g:mwPalettes['mypalette'] = [ \ { 'ctermbg':'Cyan', 'ctermfg':'Black', 'guibg':'#8CCBEA', 'guifg':'Black' }, \ ... \] let g:mwPalettes['other'] = [ ... ] let g:mwDefaultHighlightingPalette = 'mypalette' To add your palette to the existing ones, do this after the default palette has been defined, e.g. in .vim/after/plugin/mark.vim). Alternatively, you can also completely redefine all available palettes in .vimrc. The search type highlighting (in the search message) can be changed via: > highlight link SearchSpecialSearchType MoreMsg By default, any marked words are also added to the search (/) and input (@) history; if you don't want that, remove the corresponding symbols from: > let g:mwHistAdd = '/@' To enable the automatic restore of marks from a previous Vim session: > let g:mwAutoLoadMarks = 1 To turn off the automatic persistence of marks across Vim sessions: > let g:mwAutoSaveMarks = 0 You can still explicitly save marks via |:MarkSave|. If you have set 'ignorecase', but want marks to be case-insensitive, you can override the default behavior of using 'ignorecase' by setting: > let g:mwIgnoreCase = 0 You can use different mappings by mapping to the <Plug>Mark... mappings (use ":map <Plug>Mark" to list them all) before this plugin is sourced. There are no default mappings for toggling all marks and for the |:MarkClear| command, but you can define some yourself: > nmap <Leader>M <Plug>MarkToggle nmap <Leader>N <Plug>MarkAllClear As the latter is irreverible, there's also an alternative with an additional confirmation: > nmap <Leader>N <Plug>MarkConfirmAllClear To remove the default overriding of * and #, use: > nmap <Plug>IgnoreMarkSearchNext <Plug>MarkSearchNext nmap <Plug>IgnoreMarkSearchPrev <Plug>MarkSearchPrev If you don't want the * and # mappings remember the last search type and instead always search for the next occurrence of the current mark, with a fallback to Vim's original * command, use: > nmap * <Plug>MarkSearchOrCurNext nmap # <Plug>MarkSearchOrCurPrev The search mappings (*, #, etc.) interpret [count] as the number of occurrences to jump over. If you don't want to use the separate |mark-keypad-searching| mappings, and rather want [count] select the highlight group to target (and you can live with jumps restricted to the very next match), (re-)define to these mapping targets: > nmap * <Plug>MarkSearchGroupNext nmap # <Plug>MarkSearchGroupPrev You can remap the direct group searches (by default via the keypad 1-9 keys): nmap <Leader>1 <Plug>MarkSearchGroup1Next nmap <Leader>! <Plug>MarkSearchGroup1Prev If you need more / less groups, this can be configured via: > let g:mwDirectGroupJumpMappingNum = 20 Set to 0 to completely turn off the keypad mappings. This is easier than remapping all <Plug>-mappings. Some people like to create a mark based on the visual selection, like |v_<Leader>m|, but have whitespace in the selection match any whitespace when searching (searching for "hello world" will also find "hello<Tab>world" as well as "hello" at the end of a line, with "world" at the start of the next line). The Vim Tips Wiki describes such a setup for the built-in search at http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Search_for_visually_selected_text You can achieve the same with the Mark plugin through the <Plug>MarkIWhiteSet mapping target: Using this, you can assign a new visual mode mapping <Leader>* xmap <Leader>* <Plug>MarkIWhiteSet or override the default |v_<Leader>m| mapping, in case you always want this behavior: > vmap <Plug>IgnoreMarkSet <Plug>MarkSet xmap <Leader>m <Plug>MarkIWhiteSet ============================================================================== INTEGRATION The following functions offer (read-only) access to the number of marks and individual patterns: - mark#GetNum() - mark#GetPattern([{index}]) ============================================================================== LIMITATIONS - If the 'ignorecase' setting is changed, there will be discrepancies between the highlighted marks and subsequent jumps to marks. - If {pattern} in a :Mark command contains atoms that change the semantics of the entire (|/\c|, |/\C|) or following (|/\v|,|/\V|, |/\M|) regular expression, there may be discrepancies between the highlighted marks and subsequent jumps to marks.