[vim/vim] Setting 'showbreak' affects the reported virtual column number in the status line. (Issue #14759)

lkintact

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May 12, 2024, 11:36:01 AM5/12/24

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Steps to reproduce

Run gvim.exe --clean.
Execute :set showbreak=>.
Execute :set laststatus=2 to enable the status line.
Execute :set statusline=%v.
Type 1000ia<Esc> to put 1000 letters "a" in the buffer. Note that the status line reports "1012".

Expected behaviour

The status line should report "1000".

Version of Vim

9.1.296.

Environment

OS: Windows 10 Home.
Terminal: GUI.

Logs and stack traces

No response

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Gary Johnson

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May 12, 2024, 12:23:35 PM5/12/24

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On 2024-05-12, lkintact wrote:
> Steps to reproduce
>
> 1. Run gvim.exe --clean.
> 2. Execute :set showbreak=>.
> 3. Execute :set laststatus=2 to enable the status line.
> 4. Execute :set statusline=%v.
> 5. Type 1000ia<Esc> to put 1000 letters "a" in the buffer. Note that the

> status line reports "1012".
>
> Expected behaviour
>
> The status line should report "1000".
>
> Version of Vim
>
> 9.1.296.
>
> Environment
>
> OS: Windows 10 Home.
> Terminal: GUI.

The number 1012 is correct. The statement closest to a definition
of "virtual column" I could find in Vim's help is in ":help
wincol()":

The result is a Number, which is the virtual column of the
cursor in the window. This is counting screen cells from the
left side of the window. The leftmost column is one.

A 1000-character line displayed in an 80-column window will wrap 12
times. Each time it wraps, Vim inserts the single-character
'showbreak' string, increasing the number of virtual columns
occupied by the text by one each time.

This is most easily seen at the end of the first screen line, column
80. With the cursor at column 80, the status line shows "80". Type
l to move the cursor one character position to the right. The
status line now shows "82". The cursor has moved to character
position 81 but to virtual column 82 because that count includes the
">" at the left edge of the screen.

HTH,
Gary

vim-dev ML

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May 12, 2024, 12:24:00 PM5/12/24

to vim/vim, vim-dev ML, Your activity

On 2024-05-12, lkintact wrote:
> Steps to reproduce
>
> 1. Run gvim.exe --clean.
> 2. Execute :set showbreak=>.

> 3. Execute :set laststatus=2 to enable the status line.
> 4. Execute :set statusline=%v.
> 5. Type 1000ia<Esc> to put 1000 letters "a" in the buffer. Note that the

> status line reports "1012".
>
> Expected behaviour
>
> The status line should report "1000".
>
> Version of Vim
>
> 9.1.296.
>
> Environment
>
> OS: Windows 10 Home.
> Terminal: GUI.

The number 1012 is correct. The statement closest to a definition
of "virtual column" I could find in Vim's help is in ":help
wincol()":

The result is a Number, which is the virtual column of the
cursor in the window. This is counting screen cells from the
left side of the window. The leftmost column is one.

A 1000-character line displayed in an 80-column window will wrap 12
times. Each time it wraps, Vim inserts the single-character
'showbreak' string, increasing the number of virtual columns
occupied by the text by one each time.

This is most easily seen at the end of the first screen line, column
80. With the cursor at column 80, the status line shows "80". Type
l to move the cursor one character position to the right. The
status line now shows "82". The cursor has moved to character
position 81 but to virtual column 82 because that count includes the
">" at the left edge of the screen.

HTH,
Gary

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Christian Brabandt

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May 12, 2024, 1:01:49 PM5/12/24

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Closed #14759 as not planned.

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Christian Brabandt

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May 12, 2024, 1:01:50 PM5/12/24

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correct, or saying it differently, the virtcol() gives the column where it appears on the screen. So if you disable the showbreak setting and type 1012a characters, it would end at exactly the same position. So it is on which column a letter appears on the screen, when counting left to right, top to bottom, including any fancy text decorations, like tab, linebreak, breakindent, showbreak and others.