Section 7.10. Macros

7.10. Macros

Command	Action
:ab in out	Use in as abbreviation for out .
:unab in	Remove abbreviation for in .
:ab	List abbreviations.
:map c sequence	Map character c as sequence of commands.
:unmap c	Disable map for character c .
:map	List characters that are mapped.
:map! c sequence	Map character c to input mode sequence .
:unmap! c	Disable input mode map (you may need to quote the character with Ctrl-V).
:map!	List characters that are mapped to input mode.
q x	Record typed characters into register specified by letter x . If letter is uppercase, append to register. ( vim )
q	Stop recording. ( vim )
@x	Execute the register specified by letter x. ( vim )

In vi , the following characters are unused in command mode and can be mapped as user -defined commands:

Letters

g K q V v

Control keys

^K ^O ^T ^W ^X

Symbols

_ * \ =

The = is used by vi if LISP mode is set. vim uses all of these characters, but you can create macros for function keys and multiple character commands. See :help :map for details. Other versions of vi may use some of these characters as well, so test them before using them.