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In some files I can see a commented line, usually the last, with vim settings. Does vim read these settings? If it does, are any limitations of what kind of settings man can put there?

dreftymac
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kfl62
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3 Answers3

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They're called modelines and while I'm not sure the extent you can go with them, here's a link to the vimtips wiki with some examples:

http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Modeline_magic

help modeline

from within vim to check out the official docs.

Rick
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    There are security problems with modelines; that's why they're disabled by default. It would probably be better for you to configure per-project .vimrc files. [For example](http://lwn.net/Articles/20249/) , but there are many more. – James Broadhead Apr 11 '11 at 07:12
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    All known security problems with modelines have been fixed for years now. Any "dangerous" options, like `'makeprg'` or `'shell'` cannot be set from a modeline. The help is full of options that say at the end "cannot be set in a modeline, for security reasons." – Ben Jan 14 '14 at 17:40
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It's this line of code:

[other chars]<spaces>vim:<spaces>settings

Put it in the first or last few lines of the file, note it needs < spaces >. For example:

# vim: tabstop=2 shiftwidth=2 expandtab

In short version:

# vim: ts=2 sw=2 et

Put one of the above line in the file, in top or bottom lines, done. For more information, use vim help: 

:h modeline
Andrew_1510
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    Expanding on this helpful summary: These lines need to be 'near' the top or bottom of the file. By default, 'near' means it has to be one of the first or last **5** lines of the file. https://vim.fandom.com/wiki/Modeline_magic – Michael Scheper Jul 19 '20 at 15:59
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    Also note everything after `vim:` has to be valid VIM modeline syntax, e.g. you can't use an end-comment delimiter on the same line as the modeline, e.g. `/* vim: ts=2 sw=2 */` will not work. – user9645 Jan 21 '21 at 11:43
  • spaces are not required other than before vim I.E. vim:sw=4:ts=4:et – AaronM Jan 06 '22 at 17:30
  • This worked in a JSON document on one line 1515 " vim set sw=4 ts=4 et:": {"type": "keyword"} Using the short syntax it worked but generated an error. With the short syntax nothing can follow on the line. – AaronM Jan 06 '22 at 17:39
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You can check out in the online manual: http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/options.html#modeline

And this faq item also refers to it: http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/vimfaq.html#19.5

Zsolt Botykai
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  • sorry Rick was faster with one minute :). For this reason I accepted his answer. +1 for links – kfl62 Oct 18 '10 at 11:33