CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vim
Benj
Benj

Reputation: 32398

Is it possible to automatically set UTF16 file encoding when opening a file of that type?

I edit all kinds of files with Vim (as I'm sure most Vim users do). One bug bear I have is what Vim does when I come across a file with an odd encoding. Most editors (these days) make a good stab at detecting file encodings. However, Vim generally doesn't. And you have to type, for example:

:e ++enc=utf-16le

To re-read the file in UTF-16 (Otherwise you get a mass of @ signs)

I've been searching around and have seen scripts like set_utf8.vim which can detect a specific file encoding. However, is there are more general solution? I'm a bit bored of having to manually work out what the file encoding is and consulting the help every time I open an unusual file.

Upvotes: 30

Views: 16196

Answers (3)

netawater
netawater

Reputation: 15844

Add this code to your .vimrc:

if has("multi_byte")
  if &termencoding == ""
    let &termencoding = &encoding
  endif
  set encoding=utf-8
  setglobal fileencoding=utf-8
  "setglobal bomb
  set fileencodings=ucs-bom,utf-8,latin1
endif

Upvotes: 5

Ingo Karkat
Ingo Karkat

Reputation: 172520

Adding the encoding name to 'fileencodings' should do the trick:

:set fencs=ucs-bom,utf-16le,utf-8,default,latin1

Alternatively, there are plugins like AutoFenc and fencview.

Upvotes: 21

Brian Agnew
Brian Agnew

Reputation: 272237

Do you have a byte-order-mark ? Vim should detect this and work appropriately. From the doc - section 45.4:

When you start editing that 16-bit Unicode file, and it has a BOM, Vim will detect this and convert the file to utf-8 when reading it. The 'fileencoding' option (without s at the end) is set to the detected value. In this case it is "utf-16le". That means it's Unicode, 16-bit and little-endian. This file format is common on MS-Windows (e.g., for registry files).

Upvotes: 4

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