Introduction:

The incredible vim-commentary plug-in developed by tpope.

As someone who doesn’t use vim frequently, I often forget to take advantage of its features. This post serves as a handy memo to remind myself (and others) about the usefulness of this plug-in.

The Basic Concept of Modes in Vim:

Before we delve into the practical usage of the vim-commentary plug-in, it’s essential to grasp the concept of modes in Vim. Vim operates in three primary modes that determine how we interact with the text:

ModeDescription
NormalDefault; for navigation and delete or duplicate, etc.
InsertFor edit text
Command LineFor operations like saving, exiting, or work with plug-in, etc.

Use the vim-commentary Plug-in:

The different ways to utilize the vim-commentary plug-in in each mode.

Normal Mode:

  1. gcc:

    In normal mode, entering “gcc” comments or uncomments a single line. Repeating the command will toggle the comment status.

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    The vim-commentary plug-in also allows us to comment multiple lines at once.

    By using the command “gc” followed by a digit number and the up or down arrow keys (j/k), we can effortlessly comment or uncomment as many lines as we want.

    e.g. gc+3+j

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  2. gc + j/k:

    Using “gc” followed by the up or down arrow keys (j or k) allows us to comment or uncomment two lines simultaneously, with the indicator adjusting accordingly.

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  3. gcap:

    Typing “gcap” in normal mode comments or uncomments an entire paragraph or block of text efficiently.

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Command Line Mode:

  1. :107,113Commentary:

    This command lets us comment or uncomment lines 107 to 113. Executing the command again will undo the action.

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  2. :g/alias /Commentary:

    By using this command, we can comment or uncomment lines that match a specific pattern, such as “alias " Repeating the command will revert the action.

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Visual Mode:

The other modes, Vim also offers a Visual Mode. In this mode, we can select lines and use the “gc” command to comment or uncomment them effortlessly.

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File Type Supported

These filetypes include TOML, plain text, C, C++, C#, Java, Kotlin, YAML, and Apache configuration files.

Insert the command in the .vimrc file

cat >> ~/.vimrc << EOF
autocmd FileType toml,txt,c,cpp,cs,java,kotlin,yaml,apache setlocal commentstring=#\ %s
EOF

Conclusion:

The vim-commentary plug-in significantly enhances text editing efficiency.

By familiarizing ourselves with its capabilities, we gain the ability to seamlessly comment on or uncomment lines, paragraphs, and even specific patterns of text.

Reference: