Vim documentation: farsi
main help file
*farsi.txt* For Vim version 6.3. Last change: 2002 Oct 29
VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Mortaza Ghassab Shiran
Right to Left and Farsi Mapping for Vim *farsi* *Farsi*
{Vi does not have any of these commands}
*E27*
In order to use right-to-left and Farsi mapping support, it is necessary to
compile Vim with the |+farsi| feature.
These functions have been made by Mortaza G. Shiran <[email protected]>
Introduction
In right-to-left oriented files the characters appear on the screen from right
to left. This kind of file is most useful when writing Farsi documents,
composing faxes or writing Farsi memos.
The commands, prompts and help files are not in Farsi, therefore the user
interface remains the standard Vi interface.
Highlights
o Editing left-to-right files as in the original Vim, no change.
o Viewing and editing files in right-to-left windows. File orientation is
per window, so it is possible to view the same file in right-to-left and
left-to-right modes, simultaneously.
o Compatibility to the original Vim. Almost all features work in
right-to-left mode (see bugs below).
o Changing keyboard mapping and reverse insert modes using a single
command.
o Backing from reverse insert mode to the correct place in the file
(if possible).
o While in Farsi mode, numbers are entered from left to right. Upon entering
a none number character, that character will be inserted just into the
left of the last number.
o No special terminal with right-to-left capabilities is required. The
right-to-left changes are completely hardware independent. Only
Farsi font is necessary.
o Farsi keymapping on the command line in reverse insert mode.
o Toggling between left-to-right and right-to-left via F8 function key.
o Toggling between Farsi ISIR-3342 standard encoding and VIM Farsi via F9
function key. Since this makes sense only for the text written in
right-to-left mode, this function is also supported only in right-to-left
mode.
Farsi Fonts *farsi fonts*
If the "extra" archive has been unpacked, the following files are found in the
subdirectories of the '$VIM/farsi' directory:
+ far-a01.pcf X Windows fonts for Unix including Linux systems
+ far-a01.bf X Windows fonts for SunOs
+ far-a01.f16 a screen fonts for Unix including Linux systems
+ far-a01.fon a monospaced fonts for Windows NT/95/98
+ far-a01.com a screen fonts for DOS
Font Installation
o Installation of fonts for MS Window systems (NT/95/98)
From 'Control Panel' folder, start the 'Fonts' program. Then from 'file'
menu item select 'Install New Fonts ...'. Browse and select the
'far-a01.fon', then follow the installation guide.
NOTE: several people have reported that this does not work. The solution
is unknown.
o Installation of fonts for X Window systems (Unix/Linux)
Depending on your system, copy far-a01.pcf.Z or far-a01.pcf.gz into a
directory of your choice. Change to the directory containing the Farsi
fonts and execute the following commands:
> mkfontdir
> xset +fp path_name_of_farsi_fonts_directory
o Installation of fonts for X Window systems (SunOs)
Copy far-a01.bf font into a directory of your choice.
Change to the directory containing the far-a01.fb fonts and
execute the following commands:
> fldfamily
> xset +fp path_name_of_fonts_directory
o Installation of ASCII screen fonts (Unix/Linux)
For Linux system, copy the far-a01.f16 fonts into /usr/lib/kbd/consolefonts
directory and execute the setfont program as "setfont far-a01.f16". For
other systems (e.g. SCO Unix), please refer to the fonts installation
section of your system administration manuals.
o Installation of ASCII screen fonts (DOS)
After system power on, prior to the first use of VIM, upload the Farsi
fonts by executing the far-a01.com font uploading program.
Usage
Prior to starting VIM, the environment in which VIM can run in Farsi mode,
must be set. In addition to installation of Farsi fonts, following points
refer to some of the system environments, which you may need to set:
Key code mapping, loading graphic card in ASCII screen mode, setting the IO
driver in 8 bit clean mode ... .
o Setting the Farsi fonts
+ For VIM GUI set the 'guifont' to far-a01. This is done by entering
':set guifont=far-a01' in the VIM window.
You can have 'guifont' set to far-a01 by VIM during the VIM startup
by appending the ':set guifont=far-a01' into your .vimrc file
(in case of NT/95/98 platforms _vimrc).
Under the X Window environment, you can also start the VIM with
'-fn far-a01' option.
+ For the VIM within a xterm, start a xterm with the Farsi fonts (e.g.
kterm -fn far-a01). Then start the VIM inside the kterm.
+ For VIM under DOS, prior to the first usage of VIM, upload the Farsi
fonts by executing the far-a01.com fonts uploading program.
o Farsi Keymapping Activation
To activate the Farsi keymapping, set either 'altkeymap' or 'fkmap'.
This is done by entering ':set akm' or ':set fk' in the VIM window.
You can have 'altkeymap' or 'fkmap' set as default by appending ':set akm'
or ':set fk' in your .vimrc file or _vimrc in case of NT/95/98 platforms.
To turn off the Farsi keymapping as a default second language keymapping,
reset the 'altkeymap' by entering ':set noakm'.
o right-to-left Farsi Mode
By default VIM starts in Left-to-right mode. Following are ways to change
the window orientation:
+ Start the VIM with -F option (e.g. vim -F ... ).
+ Use F8 function key to toggle between left-to-right and right-to-left.
+ While in Left-to-right mode, enter 'set rl' in the command line ('rl' is
the abbreviation for rightleft).
+ Put the 'set rl' line in your '.vimrc' file to start the VIM in
right-to-left mode permanently.
Encoding
The letter encoding used is the VIM extended ISIR-3342 standard with a built
in function to convert between VIM extended ISIR-3342 and ISIR-3342 standard.
For document portability reasons, the letter encoding is kept the same across
different platforms (i.e. UNIX's, NT/95/98, MS DOS, ...).
o Keyboard
+ CTRL-_ in insert/replace modes toggles between Farsi(akm)/Latin
mode as follows:
+ CTRL-_ moves the cursor to the end of the typed text in edit mode.
+ CTRL-_ in command mode only toggles keyboard mapping between Farsi(akm)/
Latin. The Farsi text is then entered in reverse insert mode.
+ F8 - Toggles between left-to-right and right-to-left.
+ F9 - Toggles the encoding between ISIR-3342 standard and VIM extended
ISIR-3342 (supported only in right-to-left mode).
+ Keyboard mapping is based on the Iranian ISIRI-2901 standard.
Following table shows the keyboard mapping while Farsi(akm) mode set:
-------------------------------------
` 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 - =
� � � � � � � � � � � � �
-------------------------------------
~ ! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ +
~ � � � � � � � � � � � �
-------------------------------------
q w e r t z u i o p [ ]
� � � � � � � � � � � �
-------------------------------------
Q W E R T Z U I O P { }
� � � � � � � � [ ] { }
-------------------------------------
a s d f g h j k l ; '' \
� � á � � � � � � � � �
-------------------------------------
A S D F G H J K L : " |
� �� � � � � � � � � � �
-------------------------------------
< y x c v b n m , . /
� � � � � � � � � � �
-------------------------------------
> Y X C V B N M < > ?
� � � � � � � � � � �
-------------------------------------
Note:
� stands for Farsi PSP (break without space)
� stands for Farsi PCN (for HAMZE attribute )
Restrictions
o In insert/replace mode and fkmap (Farsi mode) set, CTRL-B is not
supported.
o If you change the character mapping between Latin/Farsi, the redo buffer
will be reset (emptied). That is, redo is valid and will function (using
'.') only within the mode you are in.
o While numbers are entered in Farsi mode, the redo buffer will be reset
(emptied). That is, you can not redo the last changes (using '.') after
entering numbers.
o While in left-to-right and Farsi mode set, CTRL-R is not supported.
o While in right-to-left mode, the search on 'Latin' pattern does not work,
except if you enter the Latin search pattern in reverse.
o In the command mode, there is no support for entering the numbers from left
to right and also for the sake of the flexibility the keymapping logic is
restricted.
o Under X Window environment, if you want to run the VIM within a xterm
terminal emulator and Farsi mode set, you need to have an ANSI compatible
xterm terminal emulator. This is because the letter codes above 128 decimal
have certain meanings in the standard xterm terminal emulator.
Note: Under X Window environment, VIM GUI works fine in Farsi mode.
This eliminates the need of any xterm terminal emulator.
Bugs
While in insert/replace and Farsi mode set, if you repeatedly change the
cursor position (via cursor movement) and enter new text and then try to undo
the last change, the undo will lag one change behind. But as you continue to
undo, you will reach the original line of text. You can also use U to undo all
changes made in the current line.
For more information about the bugs refer to rileft.txt.
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