CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vimfile-type
puk
puk

Reputation: 16782

What exactly happens when you change a file type in vim?

If I have an apache file in /etc/apache2/sites-available/www.example.com and I set its filetype like so

:set filetype=apache

What does that do? Does that change the file at all? Is it only reflected in the instance of vim? The session of vim? I can manually set the filetype, but then vim warns me that I am in read only mode (/etc/apache2 needs root access). If I open vim as root, I won't get the warning, but if I leave and open it again (as normal or root), the filetype is gone. How do I make this more permanent, at least when called from the same session file

Upvotes: 4

Views: 747

Answers (2)

Amadan
Amadan

Reputation: 198436

set filetype changes the way vim handles the file, by invoking all the FileType autocommands. It does not persist. If you want to always open that file with filetype=apache, try adding this into your .vimrc:

au BufRead,BufNewFile /etc/apache2/sites-available/www.example.com set filetype=apache

You can read more about it in:

:help 'filetype'
:help filetypes
:help :autocmd
:help .vimrc

EDIT: as found in my /usr/share/vim/vim73/filetype.vim:

au BufNewFile,BufRead access.conf*,apache.conf*,apache2.conf*,httpd.conf*,srm.conf* call s:StarSetf('apache')
au BufNewFile,BufRead */etc/apache2/*.conf*,*/etc/apache2/conf.*/*,*/etc/apache2/mods-*/*,*/etc/apache2/sites-*/*,*/etc/httpd/conf.d/*.conf*        call s:StarSetf('apache')

s:StarSetf will setfiletype to apache if the filetype doesn't match an ignored pattern. On my system, :echo g:ft_ignore_pat will show only archive file extensions as ignored. setfiletype does set filetype, but only once.

So, at least on my system, the pattern */etc/apache2/sites-*/* would catch your filename and make it an apache file.

Upvotes: 3

dsummersl
dsummersl

Reputation: 6737

The filetype basically lets Vim change settings for 'types of files'. The way it does this is by firing auto command for the FileType category when you change the filetype. This could potentially change your file if an auto command for FileType is applicable for your file (but generally plugin developers use it for r/o type changes that affect highlighting, and not the contents of the file).

If you are worried that setting the filetype is mucking with your file you can see what FileType autocommands exist by issuing the following command:

:au FileType

To setup your apache files to be apache filetypes you can put something like the following into your ~/.vimrc:

:au BufRead /etc/apache2/sites-available/* set ft=apache

Upvotes: 0

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