How to show vertical line to wrap the line in Vim?

Question

I'm interested in finding a way to show a vertical line at column 80 in Vim (not GVim).

I've used set wrap, but I just want to show a vertical line so I can wrap the long line myself.

Solution 1

Edit: For Vim >=7.3 see answer below.

Unfortunately vim has no mechanism to display a vertical line after a column like you want (unlike, say, TextMate). However, there are alternative visual indicators that you can use to show that a line is too long.

Here's what I use (you can put this in your .vimrc):

nnoremap <Leader>H :call<SID>LongLineHLToggle()<cr>
hi OverLength ctermbg=none cterm=none
match OverLength /\%>80v/
fun! s:LongLineHLToggle()
 if !exists('w:longlinehl')
  let w:longlinehl = matchadd('ErrorMsg', '.\%>80v', 0)
  echo "Long lines highlighted"
 else
  call matchdelete(w:longlinehl)
  unl w:longlinehl
  echo "Long lines unhighlighted"
 endif
endfunction

So then you can use <Leader>H to toggle columns over 80 being highlighted.

Solution 2

New in Vim 7.3:

'colorcolumn' is a comma separated list of screen columns that are highlighted with ColorColumn. Useful to align text. Will make screen redrawing slower. The screen column can be an absolute number, or a number preceded with '+' or '-', which is added to or subtracted from 'textwidth'.

Example from the docs:

:set colorcolumn=+1        " highlight column after 'textwidth'
:set colorcolumn=+1,+2,+3  " highlight three columns after 'textwidth'
:highlight ColorColumn ctermbg=lightgrey guibg=lightgrey

You can use absolute numbers as well:

:set colorcolumn=80

Solution 3

There is another way to notify about the long line.

highlight OverLength ctermbg=red ctermfg=white guibg=#592929 <br>
match OverLength /\%81v.*/

Vim 80 column layout concerns

Solution 4

I use match ErrorMsg '\%>80v.\+' which will highlight anything over 80 chars with red.

I put that command in my python.vim and ruby.vim under ~/.vim/after/ftplugin/.

Solution 5

Several answers here http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Highlight_long_lines simple autocommand

:au BufWinEnter * let w:m1=matchadd('Search', '\%<81v.\%>77v', -1)
:au BufWinEnter * let w:m2=matchadd('ErrorMsg', '\%>80v.\+', -1)

View more solutions

Comments

[Trevor Boyd Smith]

Possible duplicate of Vim 80 column layout concerns

[Alex Hart]

I think it's good to note here the color is automatically determined by your highlight color unless you manually set it as in the example.

[c4urself]

Note the highlight setting must be set after any colorscheme commands as that would override your highlight color.

[Ron Dahlgren]

I went with bright, burn-your-brain-red... 'cause you know... line length

[thulashi]

The vim script representation of the leader key. See Show current <leader> key setting

[Alice]

Do you know of a way to have two different colors for the colorcolumn? I'd like to have two: a plain one at 80 chars for code, and a very faint one at 72 chars for flowing text/comments.

[chicks]

It would be good to mention that textwidth also causes vim to wrap when you are typing.

[Markus Joschko]

@chutsu The Vim color chart is at: codeyarns.com/2011/07/29/vim-chart-of-color-names

[jazzabeanie]

@Will, Learn Vimscript the Hard Way is a good resource to learn about the vim rabbit hole.

[Leonid Vasilev]

Columns in Vim have one-based indices, so if you want highlight column after max text width using absolute numbers it should be set colorcolumn=81

[aerijman]

Then set colorcolumn=0 to hide it