Tip #485: Open a new window and read in the man page for the word under the cursor

tip karma

Rating 15/8, Viewed by 1087

created:		June 13, 2003 22:25		complexity:		intermediate
author:		munk		as of Vim:		6.0

This short function opens a new window and reads in the Unix man page for the word under the cursor. To use it add the following to your ~/.vimrc file: fun! ReadMan() " Assign current word under cursor to a script variable: let s:man_word = expand('<cword>') " Open a new window: :exe ":wincmd n" " Read in the manpage for man_word (col -b is for formatting): :exe ":r!man " . s:man_word . " | col -b" " Goto first line... :exe ":goto" " and delete it: :exe ":delete" endfun " Map the K key to the ReadMan function: map K :call ReadMan()<CR> cf: :help windows :help wincmd etc The col command may differ on your version of Unix, see col(1) for details.

<<Console-like fonts for Windows GVim | Search for word under cursor, but don't move. >>

Additional Notes

jez.hancock at munk.nu, June 14, 2003 4:34

Addendum: "AFTER THIS: " and delete it: :exe ":delete" " ADD THIS!: " finally set file type to 'man': :exe ":set filetype=man" Which formats the page for man type (make sure to 'setenv TERM xterm' first or similar to see the pwetty colours :)

goulding at princeton.edu, June 14, 2003 13:25

Note that if you're using a recent version of groff, you may have to disable SGR (Ansi escape sequences) in order to view man pages within vim. If you see a whole lot of garbage on the screen, try adding to your .vimrc the line: let $GROFF_NO_SGR=1

bstrohhaecker at gmx.de, June 16, 2003 1:27

Also take a look at ":e $VIMRUNTIME/ftplugin/man.vim".

lpenz at terra.com.br, June 16, 2003 9:11

I'd rather put in my ~/.vimrc: source $VIMRUNTIME/ftplugin/man.vim nnoremap K :Man <C-R><C-W><CR>

jacob at fugal.net, June 18, 2003 8:44

I had the problem that it would open the new window, but loaded the man page itself into the old window. Changing: :exe ":wincmd n" to :exe ":new" fixed it for me.

cec at NgrOyphSon.gPsfAc.nMasa.gov, June 24, 2003 14:26

Of course, you could use vimscript#489 to do this, too. In addition, one gets :Man topic as well as the use of K to look up the word under the cursor.




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