How to use FileType in Vim

vimvimrc

In most cases, I want to use tabstop=4 while editing files. But for some types of file, like xml file, I want to use tabstop=2.

I added

au filetypedetect FileType xml,html,xhtml,javascript set tabstop=2 softtabstop=2 shiftwidth=2

in my .vimrc file. It works if I am editing only one file. But if I am editing multiple files, it cannot set the tab stops correctly for all the buffers. It seems the file type is detected and set only on startup, and never change since.

I want the FileType set each time I switch the buffer. How can I do that?

Best Answer

I am not sure why your version is not working, but I am able to do this using the call option and putting the settings in a function like this:

set tabstop=4
set softtabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4

function! setAltPrefs()
    set tabstop=2
    set softtabstop=2
    set shiftwidth=2
endfunction

autocmd FileType xml,html,xhtml,javascript call setAltPrefs()

This should get fired any time a file is loaded into a buffer or the filetype changes. The only catch would be if you change a buffer from one of the custom types back to one that should just be defaults. In that case nothing will change. You would have to setup another function to trigger on all over file types if you need to cover that use case.

Related Solutions

Vim editing/switching between multiple files efficiently in large directory structures

It's possible to set up vim to edit multiple files without having to exit at all. You use multiple buffers and switch between them. Since you're using vim inside screen You can put the following in your ~/.vimrc to enable that.

   set hidden
   syntax enable
   source $VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim
   set wildmenu
   set cpo-=<
   set wcm=<C-Z>
   map <F4> :emenu <C-Z>
   nmap <Esc>[5D :bp<CR>
   nmap <Esc>Od  :bp<CR>
   nmap <Esc>OD  :bp<CR>
   nmap <Esc>[5C :bn<CR>
   nmap <Esc>Oc  :bn<CR>
   nmap <Esc>OC  :bn<CR>
   nmap <Esc>[3~ :bd<CR>
   nmap ZZ :bd<CR>

Those key mappings map to Ctrl-Left and Right arrow keys to switch between buffers. The F4 key invoke the same menu the GUI would show. Pressing tab also now displays a little menu for selecting the completion when your press tab.

Customised vimrc for subfolders and projects

Central configuration

If it's okay to configure the local exceptions centrally, you can put such autocmds into your ~/.vimrc:

:autocmd BufRead,BufNewFile /path/to/dir/* setlocal ts=4 sw=4

On the other hand, if you want the specific configuration stored with the project (and don't want to embed this in all files via modelines), you have the following two options:

Local config with built-in functionality

If you always start Vim from the project root directory, the built-in

:set exrc

enables the reading of a .vimrc file from the current directory. You can place the :set ts=4 sw=4 commands in there.

Local config through plugin

Otherwise, you need the help of a plugin; there are several on vim.org; I can recommend the localrc plugin, which even allows local filetype-specific configuration.

^{Note that reading configuration from the file system has security implications; you may want to :set secure.}