viminfo file location for Vim 8

[David Fishburn]

I use the following line in my vimrc (Windows):

    set viminfo=\"50,'500,:500,/500,h,f1,rA:,r$TEMP:,r$TMP:,r$TMPDIR:!,n$VIM/_viminfo

For Vim 5,6,7 this works as expected and the _viminfo file is created in my $VIM root directory.

When I upgraded to Vim 8, now the _viminfo is being created in whatever directory I launched Vim from.  I have been through the docs and do not see what might be causing it.

The text for the viminfo options for the "n" parameter appears to be unchanged between Vim 7 and Vim 8:

Other options you might want to use:

n name used for the viminfo file (must be the last option)

I have also tried shortening my set viminfo line and playing around.

Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks,

David

[David Fishburn]

On Thu, Jan 26, 2017 at 8:52 AM, David Fishburn <dfishb...@gmail.com> wrote:

I use the following line in my vimrc (Windows):

    set viminfo=\"50,'500,:500,/500,h,f1,rA:,r$TEMP:,r$TMP:,r$TMPDIR:!,n$VIM/_viminfo

For Vim 5,6,7 this works as expected and the _viminfo file is created in my $VIM root directory.

When I upgraded to Vim 8, now the _viminfo is being created in whatever directory I launched Vim from.  I have been through the docs and do not see what might be causing it.

I finally tracked this down to a new Vim 8 feature.

I use a System vimrc ($VIM/vimrc) rather than a user vimrc ($HOME/.vimrc).

So Vim 8 started sourcing a defaults.vim on me.

This is documented here:

    Defaults without a .vimrc file ~

                                                            *defaults.vim*

    If Vim is started normally and no user vimrc file is found, the

    $VIMRUTIME/defaults.vim script is loaded.  This will set 'compatible' off,

    switch on syntax highlighting and a few more things.  See the script for

    details.  NOTE: this is done since Vim 8.0, not in Vim 7.4. (it was added in

    patch 7.4.2111 to be exact).

I figured this out, after noticing despite me setting the viminfo option, it was changed.

:verbose set viminfo

  viminfo='100,<50,s10,h,rA:,rB:

        Last set from C:\Vim\vim80\defaults.vim

I added the following to my $VIM/vimrc file:

    " Vim 8, prevents defaults.vim from being sourced

    let skip_defaults_vim = 1

Hope this helps others on the list and updates all the people who monitor and respond to this list as another item to check if someone else complains about it.

David

[Bram Moolenaar]

But 'viminfo' isn't set in defaults.vim. What does happen is that
'nocompatible' is set.

I can see that this is very confusing, and/or will result in many users
disableing the use of defaults.vim. How about only resetting
'compatible' if it's set:

" Use Vim settings, rather than Vi settings (much better!).
" This must be first, because it changes other options as a side effect.
" Avoid side effects when it was already reset.
if &compatible
set nocompatible
endif


Any problem with that?

--
From "know your smileys":
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/// Bram Moolenaar -- Br...@Moolenaar.net -- http://www.Moolenaar.net \\\
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[Tony Mechelynck]

On Tue, Mar 7, 2017 at 3:52 PM, David Fishburn <dfishb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Thu, Jan 26, 2017 at 8:52 AM, David Fishburn <dfishb...@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>>
>> I use the following line in my vimrc (Windows):
>>
>> set
>> viminfo=\"50,'500,:500,/500,h,f1,rA:,r$TEMP:,r$TMP:,r$TMPDIR:!,n$VIM/_viminfo
>>
>>
>> For Vim 5,6,7 this works as expected and the _viminfo file is created in
>> my $VIM root directory.
>>
>> When I upgraded to Vim 8, now the _viminfo is being created in whatever
>> directory I launched Vim from. I have been through the docs and do not see
>> what might be causing it.

I'm surprised by this affirmation. By default, the viminfo is read and
written in your $HOME directory instead, or, on Windows only, in $VIM
if $HOME is not set.

The problem is that your system vimrc is sourced too early (see :help
startup) and that, as you found out, if you don't have a .vimrc Vim
sets its "new defaults", similar to what the vimrc_example.vim used to
do; but this happens when looking for a user vimrc and not finding
one, thus after the system vimrc (if any) has been sourced.

If, as is recommended, you had put your user defaults in a "user
vimrc" (in your $HOME directory, thus applying only to you), not in a
system-wide "system vimrc" (applying to every login name on your
system), you wouldn't have had this problem.

If you have a user vimrc, sourcing the vimrc_example.vim from it will
still implicitly source the defaults.vim too, but after that point in
your vimrc you can override any default that doesn't suit you. For
instance I use "filetype indent off" when coming back from sourcing
the example vimrc, because I don't like the way Vim does
autoindenting. As for the viminfo, having it in $HOME suits me so I
don't set its name, I just use

if has('viminfo')
set vi='500,!,%,c
if has('unix')
set vi+=r/mnt/
endif
endif " +viminfo


Best regards,
Tony.

[David Fishburn]

I launched Vim using:

gvim.exe -u vimrc_viminfo_location -U vimrc_viminfo_location test.txt

My vimrc_viminfo had the following:

        " Do not keep compatibility with Vi, use all of Vim's features

        set nocompatible

        set hlsearch

        " Do not use select mode, only use visual mode (see next option)

        set selectmode=

        " This option controls the behaviour of the buttons when selecting

        " text.  I dont like selectmode, since it is useless <g>.  Using

        " visual mode all the time when selecting text allows you to perform

        " a lot more functions over the selected range.

        " selectmode is really there to make Vim more like Windows.

        " This also forces the buttons on the mouse to perform like Unix, not

        " Windows

        behave xterm

        set cursorline

        set cursorcolumn

        set laststatus=2

        set shortmess=at

        set whichwrap=<,>,h,l

        set history=500

        set nobackup

        set nowritebackup

        set incsearch

        set showcmd

        set showbreak=>>

        set nostartofline

        set joinspaces

        set nrformats-=octal

        set ignorecase smartcase

        set virtualedit=

        set modelines=10

        set shiftwidth=4

        set nodigraph

        set esckeys

        set hidden

        set ruler

        set showmatch

        set visualbell

        set wildmenu

        set noerrorbells

        set autoindent

        set autochdir

        set foldopen+=jump

        set hidden

        set expandtab

        set tabstop=4

        syntax on

        filetype on

        filetype plugin on

        " VimInfo

        " \"50      - save only the first 50 lines of each register

        " '1000     - save 1000 local marks

        " h         - disable 'hlsearch' highlighting when starting

        " f1        - global marks are stored A - Z

        " rA:       - A: is a removable media, dont store stuff about it

        " r...:     - ...=directory, $TEMP: are temporary files, dont store stuff about it

        " :500      - lines of history

        " /500      - size of the search history

        " !         - save and restore global variables

        " n...      - viminfo file name and location

        set viminfo=\"50,'1000,h,f1,rA:,r$TEMP:,r$TMP:,r$TMPDIR:,:500,/500,!,n$VIM/_viminfo

        " Avoid command-line redraw on every entered character

        " by turning off Arabic shaping

        if has('arabic')

            set noarabicshape

        endif

        if has('linux')

            set fileformats=unix,dos,mac      " Leave files in Unix format first

        elseif has('macunix')

            set fileformats=mac,unix,dos      " Leave files in Mac format first

        else

            set fileformats=dos,unix,mac      " Leave files in DOS format first

        endif

And the resulting Vim had:

set viminfo?

  viminfo="50,'1000,h,f1,rA:,r$TEMP:,r$TMP:,r$TMPDIR:,:500,/500,!,n$VIM/_viminfo

So yes Bram, the change to defaults.vim from:

        set nocompatible

To:

        if &compatible

          set nocompatible

        endif

Would have prevented my issue.

Thanks,

David