How do I indent a particular block of code in Vim?

Question

In Aptana Studio when I have to format code I choose a block of code and then press Ctrl + Shift + F.

What is the equivalent of this in Vim?

I.e., say we got the below lines of code:

function() {
var test = "Hello, World!";
var test2 = "Hello, World! Again";
}

The final output I want to see is well formatted code like below:

function(){
  var test = "Hello, World!";
  var test2 = "Hello, World! Again";
}

Have you read [this](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/235839/how-do-i-indent-multiple-lines-quickly-in-vi?rq=1)? — admdrew, Mar 11 '14 at 17:22

score 9 · Accepted Answer · edited Oct 29 '19 at 16:37

9

If Vim knows the language you are using, you can use the = key to auto-indent a section of code.

Within the block type =a}, or to auto-indent the entire file by typing gg=G.

edited Oct 29 '19 at 16:37

Peter Mortensen

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answered Mar 11 '14 at 17:29

Matt Woelk

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This is the coolest thing I've seen today so far!!! – Student May 12 '23 at 13:10

hobbs · Answer 2 · 2014-03-11T18:43:04.203

5

Use >i{ (right-shift inside current block), or better yet, =a{ (properly indent the current block), plus having a proper indent mode enabled (e.g. :set cindent).

If you're opening up a whole file that's badly indented, you might want to start off with gg=G (re-indent the whole file).

edited Mar 11 '14 at 18:43

answered Mar 11 '14 at 17:29

hobbs

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score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 29 '19 at 16:37

3

You can use

set shiftwidth=2

to indent with two spaces, as I can see in your example, and then:

to insert in visual mode block,

to go one line down and select both,

to indent once.

edited Oct 29 '19 at 16:37

Peter Mortensen

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answered Mar 11 '14 at 17:25

Birei

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score 2 · Answer 4 · edited Oct 29 '19 at 16:40

2

Esc to get to normal mode.
Select with v or V, and then >.
>> or :> to indent one line.
X>> or :X> if you want to indent multiple times.

Check :help shiftwidth to set how many spaces your indentation will be.

edited Oct 29 '19 at 16:40

Peter Mortensen

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answered Mar 11 '14 at 17:26

Math

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How do I indent a particular block of code in Vim?

4 Answers4