# Vim documentation: if_pyth

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    *if_pyth.txt*   For Vim version 7.0.  Last change: 2006 Apr 30

    		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Paul Moore

    The Python Interface to Vim				*python* *Python*

    1. Commands			|python-commands|
    2. The vim module		|python-vim|
    3. Buffer objects		|python-buffer|
    4. Range objects		|python-range|
    5. Window objects		|python-window|
    6. Dynamic loading		|python-dynamic|

    {Vi does not have any of these commands}

    The Python interface is available only when Vim was compiled with the
    |+python| feature.

    ==============================================================================

    1. Commands						*python-commands*

    					*:python* *:py* *E205* *E263* *E264*
    :[range]py[thon] {stmt}
    			Execute Python statement {stmt}.

    :[range]py[thon] << {endmarker}
    {script}
    {endmarker}
    			Execute Python script {script}.
    			Note: This command doesn't work when the Python
    			feature wasn't compiled in.  To avoid errors, see
    			|script-here|.

    {endmarker} must NOT be preceded by any white space.  If {endmarker} is
    omitted from after the "<<", a dot '.' must be used after {script}, like
    for the |:append| and |:insert| commands.
    This form of the |:python| command is mainly useful for including python code
    in Vim scripts.

    Example:
    	function! IcecreamInitialize()
    	python << EOF
    	class StrawberryIcecream:
    		def __call__(self):
    			print 'EAT ME'
    	EOF
    	endfunction

    Note: Python is very sensitive to the indenting.  Also make sure the "class"
    line and "EOF" do not have any indent.

    							*:pyfile* *:pyf*
    :[range]pyf[ile] {file}
    			Execute the Python script in {file}.  The whole
    			argument is used as a single file name.  {not in Vi}

    Both of these commands do essentially the same thing - they execute a piece of
    Python code, with the "current range" |python-range| set to the given line
    range.

    In the case of :python, the code to execute is in the command-line.
    In the case of :pyfile, the code to execute is the contents of the given file.

    Python commands cannot be used in the |sandbox|.

    To pass arguments you need to set sys.argv[] explicitly.  Example:

    	:python import sys
    	:python sys.argv = ["foo", "bar"]
    	:pyfile myscript.py

    Here are some examples					*python-examples*

    	:python from vim import *
    	:python from string import upper
    	:python current.line = upper(current.line)
    	:python print "Hello"
    	:python str = current.buffer[42]

    (Note that changes - like the imports - persist from one command to the next,
    just like in the Python interpreter.)

    ==============================================================================

    2. The vim module					*python-vim*

    Python code gets all of its access to vim (with one exception - see
    |python-output| below) via the "vim" module.  The vim module implements two
    methods, three constants, and one error object.  You need to import the vim
    module before using it:
    	:python import vim

    Overview
    	:py print "Hello"		# displays a message
    	:py vim.command(cmd)		# execute an ex command
    	:py w = vim.windows[n]		# gets window "n"
    	:py cw = vim.current.window	# gets the current window
    	:py b = vim.buffers[n]		# gets buffer "n"
    	:py cb = vim.current.buffer	# gets the current buffer
    	:py w.height = lines		# sets the window height
    	:py w.cursor = (row, col)	# sets the window cursor position
    	:py pos = w.cursor		# gets a tuple (row, col)
    	:py name = b.name		# gets the buffer file name
    	:py line = b[n]			# gets a line from the buffer
    	:py lines = b[n:m]		# gets a list of lines
    	:py num = len(b)		# gets the number of lines
    	:py b[n] = str			# sets a line in the buffer
    	:py b[n:m] = [str1, str2, str3]	# sets a number of lines at once
    	:py del b[n]			# deletes a line
    	:py del b[n:m]			# deletes a number of lines

    Methods of the "vim" module

    vim.command(str)					*python-command*
    	Executes the vim (ex-mode) command str.  Returns None.
    	Examples:
    	    :py vim.command("set tw=72")
    	    :py vim.command("%s/aaa/bbb/g")
     	The following definition executes Normal mode commands:
    		def normal(str):
    			vim.command("normal "+str)
    		# Note the use of single quotes to delimit a string containing
    		# double quotes
    		normal('"a2dd"aP')

     								*E659*
    	The ":python" command cannot be used recursively with Python 2.2 and
    	older.  This only works with Python 2.3 and later:
    	    :py vim.command("python print 'Hello again Python'")

    vim.eval(str)						*python-eval*
    	Evaluates the expression str using the vim internal expression
    	evaluator (see |expression|).  Returns the expression result as:
    	- a string if the Vim expression evaluates to a string or number
    	- a list if the Vim expression evaluates to a Vim list
    	- a dictionary if the Vim expression evaluates to a Vim dictionary
    	Dictionaries and lists are recursively expanded.
    	Examples:
    	    :py text_width = vim.eval("&tw")
    	    :py str = vim.eval("12+12")		# NB result is a string! Use
    						# string.atoi() to convert to
    						# a number.

    	    :py tagList = vim.eval('taglist("eval_expr")')
     	The latter will return a python list of python dicts, for instance:
    	[{'cmd': '/^eval_expr(arg, nextcmd)$/', 'static': 0, 'name':
    	'eval_expr', 'kind': 'f', 'filename': './src/eval.c'}]

    Error object of the "vim" module

    vim.error						*python-error*
    	Upon encountering a Vim error, Python raises an exception of type
    	vim.error.
    	Example:
    		try:
    			vim.command("put a")
    		except vim.error:
    			# nothing in register a

    Constants of the "vim" module

    	Note that these are not actually constants - you could reassign them.
    	But this is silly, as you would then lose access to the vim objects
    	to which the variables referred.

    vim.buffers						*python-buffers*
    	A sequence object providing access to the list of vim buffers.  The
    	object supports the following operations:
    	    :py b = vim.buffers[i]	# Indexing (read-only)
    	    :py b in vim.buffers	# Membership test
    	    :py n = len(vim.buffers)	# Number of elements
    	    :py for b in vim.buffers:	# Sequential access

    vim.windows						*python-windows*
    	A sequence object providing access to the list of vim windows.  The
    	object supports the following operations:
    	    :py w = vim.windows[i]	# Indexing (read-only)
    	    :py w in vim.windows	# Membership test
    	    :py n = len(vim.windows)	# Number of elements
    	    :py for w in vim.windows:	# Sequential access

    vim.current						*python-current*
    	An object providing access (via specific attributes) to various
    	"current" objects available in vim:
    		vim.current.line	The current line (RW)		String
    		vim.current.buffer	The current buffer (RO)		Buffer
    		vim.current.window	The current window (RO)		Window
    		vim.current.range	The current line range (RO)	Range

    	The last case deserves a little explanation.  When the :python or
    	:pyfile command specifies a range, this range of lines becomes the
    	"current range".  A range is a bit like a buffer, but with all access
    	restricted to a subset of lines.  See |python-range| for more details.

    Output from Python					*python-output*
    	Vim displays all Python code output in the Vim message area.  Normal
    	output appears as information messages, and error output appears as
    	error messages.

    	In implementation terms, this means that all output to sys.stdout
    	(including the output from print statements) appears as information
    	messages, and all output to sys.stderr (including error tracebacks)
    	appears as error messages.

    							*python-input*
    	Input (via sys.stdin, including input() and raw_input()) is not
    	supported, and may cause the program to crash.  This should probably be
    	fixed.

    ==============================================================================

    3. Buffer objects					*python-buffer*

    Buffer objects represent vim buffers.  You can obtain them in a number of ways:
    	- via vim.current.buffer (|python-current|)
    	- from indexing vim.buffers (|python-buffers|)
    	- from the "buffer" attribute of a window (|python-window|)

    Buffer objects have one read-only attribute - name - the full file name for
    the buffer.  They also have three methods (append, mark, and range; see below).

    You can also treat buffer objects as sequence objects.  In this context, they
    act as if they were lists (yes, they are mutable) of strings, with each
    element being a line of the buffer.  All of the usual sequence operations,
    including indexing, index assignment, slicing and slice assignment, work as
    you would expect.  Note that the result of indexing (slicing) a buffer is a
    string (list of strings).  This has one unusual consequence - b[:] is different
    from b.  In particular, "b[:] = None" deletes the whole of the buffer, whereas
    "b = None" merely updates the variable b, with no effect on the buffer.

    Buffer indexes start at zero, as is normal in Python.  This differs from vim
    line numbers, which start from 1.  This is particularly relevant when dealing
    with marks (see below) which use vim line numbers.

    The buffer object methods are:
    	b.append(str)	Append a line to the buffer
    	b.append(list)	Append a list of lines to the buffer
    			Note that the option of supplying a list of strings to
    			the append method differs from the equivalent method
    			for Python's built-in list objects.
    	b.mark(name)	Return a tuple (row,col) representing the position
    			of the named mark (can also get the []"<> marks)
    	b.range(s,e)	Return a range object (see |python-range|) which
    			represents the part of the given buffer between line
    			numbers s and e |inclusive|.

    Note that when adding a line it must not contain a line break character '\n'.
    A trailing '\n' is allowed and ignored, so that you can do:
    	:py b.append(f.readlines())

    Examples (assume b is the current buffer)
    	:py print b.name		# write the buffer file name
    	:py b[0] = "hello!!!"		# replace the top line
    	:py b[:] = None			# delete the whole buffer
    	:py del b[:]			# delete the whole buffer
    	:py b[0:0] = [ "a line" ]	# add a line at the top
    	:py del b[2]			# delete a line (the third)
    	:py b.append("bottom")		# add a line at the bottom
    	:py n = len(b)			# number of lines
    	:py (row,col) = b.mark('a')	# named mark
    	:py r = b.range(1,5)		# a sub-range of the buffer

    ==============================================================================

    4. Range objects					*python-range*

    Range objects represent a part of a vim buffer.  You can obtain them in a
    number of ways:
    	- via vim.current.range (|python-current|)
    	- from a buffer's range() method (|python-buffer|)

    A range object is almost identical in operation to a buffer object.  However,
    all operations are restricted to the lines within the range (this line range
    can, of course, change as a result of slice assignments, line deletions, or
    the range.append() method).

    The range object attributes are:
    	r.start		Index of first line into the buffer
    	r.end		Index of last line into the buffer

    The range object methods are:
    	r.append(str)	Append a line to the range
    	r.append(list)	Append a list of lines to the range
    			Note that the option of supplying a list of strings to
    			the append method differs from the equivalent method
    			for Python's built-in list objects.

    Example (assume r is the current range):
    	# Send all lines in a range to the default printer
    	vim.command("%d,%dhardcopy!" % (r.start+1,r.end+1))

    ==============================================================================

    5. Window objects					*python-window*

    Window objects represent vim windows.  You can obtain them in a number of ways:
    	- via vim.current.window (|python-current|)
    	- from indexing vim.windows (|python-windows|)

    You can manipulate window objects only through their attributes.  They have no
    methods, and no sequence or other interface.

    Window attributes are:
    	buffer (read-only)	The buffer displayed in this window
    	cursor (read-write)	The current cursor position in the window
    				This is a tuple, (row,col).
    	height (read-write)	The window height, in rows
    	width (read-write)	The window width, in columns
    The height attribute is writable only if the screen is split horizontally.
    The width attribute is writable only if the screen is split vertically.

    ==============================================================================

    6. Dynamic loading					*python-dynamic*

    On MS-Windows the Python library can be loaded dynamically.  The |:version|
    output then includes |+python/dyn|.

    This means that Vim will search for the Python DLL file only when needed.
    When you don't use the Python interface you don't need it, thus you can use
    Vim without this DLL file.

    To use the Python interface the Python DLL must be in your search path.  In a
    console window type "path" to see what directories are used.

    The name of the DLL must match the Python version Vim was compiled with.
    Currently the name is "python24.dll".  That is for Python 2.4.  To know for
    sure edit "gvim.exe" and search for "python\d*.dll\c".

    ==============================================================================
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