Tip #177: Highlight matching brackets as one moves in normal mode (plugin)

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Rating 22/12, Viewed by 1611

created:		December 12, 2001 8:19		complexity:		intermediate
author:		Charles E. Campbell, Jr.		as of Vim:		6.0

Check out http://www.erols.com/astronaut/vim/index.html#VimFuncs for a plugin script which highlights matching brackets. The script has two always-on maps: \[i : start [HiMtchBrkt] mode \[s : stop [HiMtchBrkt] mode The plugin will save all user maps and options that the plugin uses and will restore them when the mode is stopped.

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Additional Notes

[email protected] - NOSPAM, December 12, 2001 8:21

The script is under the title "Highlighting Matching Brackets"

[email protected], December 27, 2001 2:46

Nice script, but the 'Special' highlighting of most color-schemes isn't very bright, so I changed the 'Special' in line 158 of the script to 'Search', because the 'Search' highlighting is much brighter in most colorschemes, like the one I use (asu1dark). Now the other bracket really 'flashes' on, and I don't have to hurt my eyes searching for a somewhat different coloured bracket.....

[email protected], February 8, 2002 7:38

The highlighting group change sounds ok to me! The latest version now incorporates "Search" instead of "Special" for highlighting of the corresponding curly brace.

[email protected], February 28, 2002 7:10

<himtchbrkt.vim> now supports highlighting the matching bracket with cursor keys (<up> <down> <right> <left>) in insert mode.

[email protected], March 14, 2002 12:15

HiMtchBrkt now supports the highlighting of matching brackets with <home> <end> b w ; , and upon termination, unmaps <left> <right> <up> <down> <home> and <end>. A variable "g:DrChipTopLvlMenu" has the default value "DrChip" which controls where the menu items go.

[email protected], March 14, 2002 14:08

How about saying in the docs that the keybinding to start highlighting is <leader>[i instead of \[i.

[email protected], June 29, 2002 14:07

Some note to vim newbies (i am one of them) : 1) I downloaded and compiled vim 6.1 in my home directory and soon realized that if i put HiMtchBrkt.vim in my runtime/plugins dir it is not loaded at all instead you should create in your homedir (~/) subdirectory "~/.vim/plugins" and put it there. 2) also I ralized that I can't start it running neither by ":\[i" or :<leader>[i All the time vim reports error: "E10: \ should be followed by /, ? or &" instead I made very rude and at least working for me "hack" : opened ~/.vim/plugins/HiMtchBrkt.vim and added two stupid functions just before line "fu! <SID>HMBStart()" ==========two stupid functions========== fu! BStart() call <SID>HMBStart() endfunction fu! BStop() call <SID>HMBStop() endfunction ===========original continues...============ " HMBStart: fu! <SID>HMBStart() if exists("b:dohimtchbrkt") && b:dohimtchbrkt == 1 " already in HiMtchBrkt mode echo "[HiMtchBrkt]" return endif ......... ....etc..... ....etc..... ===================================== Now (as I am real newbie) I can easy and "reliable" start and stop breackets highlighting by executing commands: :call BStart() and :call BStop() ------------------------ This comment was intended only for real vim newbies who just want it to put in work (no more). I need no credits because hack is very rude and stupid. Thanks for attention. --vim newbie.

[email protected], June 29, 2002 14:18

Sorry for misleading a bit: at homedir must be created "~/.vim/plugin" NOT "~/.vim/plugins"

Anonymous, July 13, 2002 21:20

I-hat...: did you ever realize that \[i should be typed from normal mode? The colon puts you into command mode, and admittedly \[i is not defined there.




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