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I'm trying to use vim more and more when i can. One of my biggest grip between vim and an IDE like aptana is the ability to auto indent.

Is there a means of auto formatting code (html, css, php) so it is properly indented?

If so how do you install this into vim? I don't understand plugins very much. I tried reviewing this thread and it confused me more: How to change vim auto-indent behavior?

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Could you clarify what language you are trying to indent? I would expect that if it's supported by vim already it should already auto-indent without further effort. If not, you should be able to get a plugin. – Edd Steel Sep 1 '11 at 22:37
ideally Html/css and php – chrisjlee Sep 1 '11 at 23:50

2 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

To indent the whole file automatically:

gg
=G

Explained:

  • g - go to
  • gg - go to beginning of the file
  • G - go to end of the file
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Could you break it down? What is g typically by itself? and =G? – chrisjlee Sep 2 '11 at 5:47
@Chris see the edit – takeshin Sep 2 '11 at 5:53
Thank you! I appreciate the effort. – chrisjlee Sep 2 '11 at 5:53
up vote 3 down vote

I don't know about auto-formatting existing code, but if you are writing code and need auto indent:

  • :set autoindent (or :set ai) will turn on auto-indent
  • Ctrl-d to un-indent (AKA outdent) your code
  • Tab or spaces to indent -- I personally use tab
  • :set tabwidth=4 (or :set tw=4) will control how many spaces a tab should indent code
  • The >> command will indent the current line. If you prefix it by a number, say 4>> then it will indent 4 lines, starting with the current line.
  • Likewise the << command will un-indent a line

I hope this gives you a good start.

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4  
To auto-indent existing code, use ={motion} in normal mode -- e.g. =G will indent all code from the current line to the end of the file. == will indent the current line. – Edd Steel Sep 1 '11 at 22:36
also make sure indent plugins are being loaded (e.g. with :filetype indent on) – jw013 Sep 2 '11 at 0:50

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