Seven habits of effective text editing :Seven habits of effective text editing Bram Moolenaar www.moolenaar.net


The problem :The problem You edit lots of text: Program source code documentation e-mail etc. But you don't have enough time!


Examples :Examples Obviously, Vim is used here. Selecting a good editor is the first step towards effective text editing.


Three basic steps :Three basic steps 1. Detect inefficiency 2. Find a quicker way 3. Make it a habit


Seven habits :Seven habits “The 7 habits of highly effective people” - Stephen R. Covey


Seven habits :Seven habits “Seven years of highly defective people” - Scott Adams


Habit 1: Moving around quickly Step 1: Detect inefficiency :Habit 1: Moving around quickly Step 1: Detect inefficiency You wonder where a variable is used. You use: /argc n


Habit 1: Moving around quickly Step 2: Find a quicker way :Habit 1: Moving around quickly Step 2: Find a quicker way In the on-line help on searching you find: :set hlsearch and *


Habit 1: Moving around quickly Step 3: Make it a habit :Habit 1: Moving around quickly Step 3: Make it a habit Put this in your vimrc file: :set hlsearch


Habit 1: Moving around quickly (folding in Vim 6.0) :Habit 1: Moving around quickly (folding in Vim 6.0)


Habit 2: Don't type it twice step 1: Detect inefficiency :Habit 2: Don't type it twice step 1: Detect inefficiency You have a hard time typing: XpmCreatePixmapFromData() And often type it wrong.


Habit 2: Don't type it twice step 2: Find a quicker way :Habit 2: Don't type it twice step 2: Find a quicker way You ask a colleague how he does this. He tells you about insert mode completion: CTRL-N


Habit 2: Don't type it twice step 3: Make it a habit :Habit 2: Don't type it twice step 3: Make it a habit type CTRL-N


Habit 3: Fix it when it's wrong :Habit 3: Fix it when it's wrong Step 1: Detect inefficiency You type English words wrong. Step 2: Find a quicker way You search the Vim maillist archives and find the spell checker macros. :iabbrev teh the :syntax keyword WordError teh


Habit 3: Fix it when it's wrong :Habit 3: Fix it when it's wrong Step 3: make it a habit Add new words if you see them.


Habit 4: A file seldom comes alone :Habit 4: A file seldom comes alone Step 1: Detect inefficiency When working on a new project you have a hard time finding your way. Step 2: Find a quicker way You read the quick reference guide and find out about tags and quickfix: :!ctags -R . :tag init :grep K_HOME *.c *.h


Habit 4: A file seldom comes aloneVim 6.0: quickfix window :Habit 4: A file seldom comes aloneVim 6.0: quickfix window


Habit 5: Let's work together :Habit 5: Let's work together Step 1: Detect inefficiency You use Netscape for e-mail. You hate the editor. Step 2: Find a quicker way Check the Netscape docs: can you select another editor? No. You ask the Vim maillist if someone knows a solution. No response.


Habit 5: Let's work together :Habit 5: Let's work together Step 2: (continued) You dive into it yourself. You make key bindings in Netscape and mappings in Vim to move the text from Netscape to Vim and back. Step 3: Make it a habit After using it for a few days you automatically trigger the bindings.


Habit 6: Text is structured :Habit 6: Text is structured Step 1: Detect inefficiency You are wading through a list of lint warnings to find real errors.


Habit 6: Text is structured :Habit 6: Text is structured Step 2: Find a quicker way Write cleanup commands in a script: :g/gtk_x11.c:.*enum/d :g/if_perl.*conversion to.*proto/d Step 3: Make it a habit After running lint you source the script. Now and then you add new commands to delete harmless warnings.


Habit 7: Sharpen the saw :Habit 7: Sharpen the saw You have to keep on tuning the set of commands you use for your needs. Use feedback: Learn from what you did.


Habit 7: Sharpen the saw :Habit 7: Sharpen the saw Vim 6.0 will help you sharpen your saw: Folding Automatic indenting plugins edit files over a network etc.


Summary :Summary Step 1: Detect inefficiency - Find out what you waste time on Step 2: Find a quicker way - read the on-line help - read the quick reference, books, etc. - ask friends and colleagues - search the internet - do it yourself Step 3: Make it a habit - do it - keep on improving


How not to edit effectively :How not to edit effectively You have to get the text ready right now. No time to read documentation or learn a new command. >> You will keep on using primitive commands You want to learn every feature the editor offers and use the most efficient command all the time. >> You will waste a lot of time learning things you will never use.


The end :The end Questions? Charityware? Orphans in Uganda?


Really the end :Really the end