# Vim documentation: if_ole

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    *if_ole.txt*    For Vim version 8.2.  Last change: 2019 Dec 07

    		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Paul Moore

    The OLE Interface to Vim				*ole-interface*

    1. Activation			|ole-activation|
    2. Methods			|ole-methods|
    3. The "normal" command		|ole-normal|
    4. Registration			|ole-registration|
    5. MS Visual Studio integration	|MSVisualStudio|

    {only available when compiled with the |+ole| feature.  See
    src/if_ole.INSTALL}
    An alternative is using the client-server communication |clientserver|.

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

    1. Activation						*ole-activation*

    Vim acts as an OLE automation server, accessible from any automation client,
    for example, Visual Basic, Python, or Perl.  The Vim application "name" (its
    "ProgID", in OLE terminology) is "Vim.Application".

    Hence, in order to start a Vim instance (or connect to an already running
    instance), code similar to the following should be used:

    [Visual Basic]
    	Dim Vim As Object
    	Set Vim = CreateObject("Vim.Application")

    [Python]
    	from win32com.client.dynamic import Dispatch
    	vim = Dispatch('Vim.Application')

    [Perl]
    	use Win32::OLE;
    	$vim = new Win32::OLE 'Vim.Application';

    [C#]
            // Add a reference to Vim in your project.
            // Choose the COM tab.
            // Select "Vim Ole Interface 1.1 Type Library"
    	Vim.Vim vimobj = new Vim.Vim();

    Vim does not support acting as a "hidden" OLE server, like some other OLE
    Automation servers.  When a client starts up an instance of Vim, that instance
    is immediately visible.  Simply closing the OLE connection to the Vim instance
    is not enough to shut down the Vim instance - it is necessary to explicitly
    execute a quit command (for example, :qa!, :wqa).

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

    2. Methods						*ole-methods*

    Vim exposes four methods for use by clients.

    							*ole-sendkeys*
    SendKeys(keys)		Execute a series of keys.

    This method takes a single parameter, which is a string of keystrokes.  These
    keystrokes are executed exactly as if they had been types in at the keyboard.
    Special keys can be given using their <..> names, as for the right hand side
    of a mapping.  Note: Execution of the Ex "normal" command is not supported -
    see below |ole-normal|.

    Examples (Visual Basic syntax)
    	Vim.SendKeys "ihello<Esc>"
    	Vim.SendKeys "ma1GV4jy`a"

    These examples assume that Vim starts in Normal mode.  To force Normal mode,
    start the key sequence with CTRL-\ CTRL-N as in

    	Vim.SendKeys "<C-\><C-N>ihello<Esc>"

    CTRL-\ CTRL-N returns Vim to Normal mode, when in Insert or Command-line mode.
    Note that this doesn't work halfway a Vim command

    							*ole-eval*
    Eval(expr)		Evaluate an expression.

    This method takes a single parameter, which is an expression in Vim's normal
    format (see |expression|).  It returns a string, which is the result of
    evaluating the expression.  A |List| is turned into a string by joining the
    items and inserting line breaks.

    Examples (Visual Basic syntax)
    	Line20 = Vim.Eval("getline(20)")
    	Twelve = Vim.Eval("6 + 6")		' Note this is a STRING
    	Font = Vim.Eval("&guifont")

    							*ole-setforeground*
    SetForeground()		Make the Vim window come to the foreground

    This method takes no arguments.  No value is returned.

    Example (Visual Basic syntax)
    	Vim.SetForeground

    							*ole-gethwnd*
    GetHwnd()		Return the handle of the Vim window.

    This method takes no arguments.  It returns the hwnd of the main Vimwindow.
    You can use this if you are writing something which needs to manipulate the
    Vim window, or to track it in the z-order, etc.

    Example (Visual Basic syntax)
    	Vim_Hwnd = Vim.GetHwnd

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

    3. The "normal" command					*ole-normal*

    Due to the way Vim processes OLE Automation commands, combined with the method
    of implementation of the Ex command :normal, it is not possible to execute the
    :normal command via OLE automation.  Any attempt to do so will fail, probably
    harmlessly, although possibly in unpredictable ways.

    There is currently no practical way to trap this situation, and users must
    simply be aware of the limitation.
    ==============================================================================

    4. Registration					*ole-registration* *E243*

    Before Vim will act as an OLE server, it must be registered in the system
    registry.  In order to do this, Vim should be run with a single parameter of
    "-register".

    							*-register*
    	gvim -register

    If gvim with OLE support is run and notices that no Vim OLE server has been
    registered, it will present a dialog and offers you the choice to register by
    clicking "Yes".

    In some situations registering is not possible.  This happens when the
    registry is not writable.  If you run into this problem you need to run gvim
    as "Administrator".

    Once vim is registered, the application path is stored in the registry.
    Before moving, deleting, or upgrading Vim, the registry entries should be
    removed using the "-unregister" switch.

    							*-unregister*
    	gvim -unregister

    The OLE mechanism will use the first registered Vim it finds.  If a Vim is
    already running, this one will be used.  If you want to have (several) Vim
    sessions open that should not react to OLE commands, use the non-OLE version,
    and put it in a different directory.  The OLE version should then be put in a
    directory that is not in your normal path, so that typing "gvim" will start
    the non-OLE version.

    							*-silent*
    To avoid the message box that pops up to report the result, prepend "-silent":

    	gvim -silent -register
    	gvim -silent -unregister

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

    5. MS Visual Studio integration			*MSVisualStudio* *VisVim*

    The OLE version can be used to run Vim as the editor in Microsoft Visual
    Studio.  This is called "VisVim".  It is included in the archive that contains
    the OLE version.  The documentation can be found in the runtime directory, the
    README_VisVim.txt file.

    Using Vim with Visual Studio .Net

    With .Net you no longer really need VisVim, since .Net studio has support for
    external editors.  Follow these directions:

    In .Net Studio choose from the menu Tools->External Tools...
    Add
         Title     - Vim
         Command   - c:\vim\vim63\gvim.exe
         Arguments - --servername VS_NET --remote-silent "+call cursor($(CurLine), $(CurCol))" $(ItemPath)
         Init Dir  - Empty

    Now, when you open a file in .Net, you can choose from the .Net menu:
    Tools->Vim

    That will open the file in Vim.
    You can then add this external command as an icon and place it anywhere you
    like.  You might also be able to set this as your default editor.

    If you refine this further, please post back to the Vim maillist so we have a
    record of it.

    --servername VS_NET
    This will create a new instance of vim called VS_NET.  So if you open multiple
    files from VS, they will use the same instance of Vim.  This allows you to
    have multiple copies of Vim running, but you can control which one has VS
    files in it.

    --remote-silent "+call cursor(10, 27)"
    	      - Places the cursor on line 10 column 27
    In Vim
       :h --remote-silent for more details

    [.Net remarks provided by Dave Fishburn and Brian Sturk]

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