created 2004 · complexity intermediate · author Chris X Edwards · version 6.0
This tip shows how to underline text document headings with, for example, a dashed line.
Using a mapping
Starting with a line of text like:
A Very Important Tip!
the mapping below inserts a row of dashes like this:
A Very Important Tip! ---------------------
This is useful to highlight headings. Add the following to your vimrc:
" Underline the current line with dashes in normal mode nnoremap <F5> yyp<c-v>$r- " Underline the current line with dashes in insert mode inoremap <F5> <Esc>yyp<c-v>$r-A
Of course you can use other characters instead of -, for example, = or _.
In case you want to get a line above and below the heading, do this in normal mode:
<F5>yykP
Using substitute
You can use the global and substitute commands (:help :g, :help :s) to underline all headings matching a pattern. For example, the following adds a row of dashes under each line that starts with "Chapter":
:g/^Chapter/t.|s/./-/g
It works by finding each matching line, then copying it (:help :t), then substituting each character (.) in the line.
Using a function
The following code (for your vimrc) defines a user command to underline the current line. Examples:
:Underline |
gives underlining like -------------- (default).
|
:Underline = |
gives underlining like ==============.
|
:Underline -= |
gives underlining like -=-=-=-=-=-=-=.
|
:Underline ~+- |
gives underlining like ~+-~+-~+-~+-~+-~+-.
|
function! s:Underline(chars)
let chars = empty(a:chars) ? '-' : a:chars
let nr_columns = virtcol('$') - 1
let uline = repeat(chars, (nr_columns / len(chars)) + 1)
put =strpart(uline, 0, nr_columns)
endfunction
command! -nargs=? Underline call s:Underline(<q-args>)
Related plugins
As an alternative, you could use a plugin:
- extline : Plugin for extending lines (e.g., underlined titles)
See also
Comments
yypVr- also works well. Great tip for Markdown and WikiTex users.
Linktohack 15:37, February 3, 2012 (UTC)
- Thanks. There is a subtle feature about the method in the tip. If you have the default 'virtualedit' setting (""), and if there is a tab in the line, using
Vr-replaces each tab with a single dash, while the method in the tip uses the correct number of dashes depending on the width of the tab. JohnBeckett 06:50, February 4, 2012 (UTC)