Detailed Explanation of ':setlocal', ':setg', and Global-Local Options in Vim

Reason ~ 'filetype' explicitly set by autocommands 'syntax' explicitly set by autocommands 'bufhidden' denote |special-buffers| 'buftype' denote |special-buffers| 'readonly' will be detected automatically 'modified' will be detected automatically *:setl* *:setlocal* :setl[ocal][!] ... Like ":set" but set only the value local to the current buffer or window. Not all options have a local value. If the option does not have a local value the global value is set. With the "all" argument: display local values for all local options. Without argument: Display local values for all local options which are different from the default. When displaying a specific local option, show the local value. For a global/local boolean option, when the global value is being used, "--" is displayed before the option name. For a global option the global value is shown (but that might change in the future). :se[t] {option}< Set the effective value of {option} to its global value. For |global-local| options, the local value is removed, so that the global value will be used. For all other options, the global value is copied to the local value. :setl[ocal] {option}< Set the effective value of {option} to its global value by copying the global value to the local value. Note that the behaviour for |global-local| options is slightly different between string and number-based options. *:setg* *:setglobal* :setg[lobal][!] ... Like ":set" but set only the global value for a local option without changing the local value. When displaying an option, the global value is shown. With the "all" argument: display global values for all local options. Without argument: display global values for all local options which are different from the default. For buffer-local and window-local options: Command global value local value condition ~ :set option=value set set :setlocal option=value - set :setglobal option=value set - :set option? - display local value is set :set option? display - local value is not set :setlocal option? - display :setglobal option? display - Global options with a local value *global-local* Options are global when you mostly use one value for all buffers and windows. For some global options it's useful to sometimes have a different local value. You can set the local value with ":setlocal". That buffer or window will then use the local value, while other buffers and windows continue using the global value. For example, you have two windows, both on C source code. They use the global 'makeprg' option. If you do this in one of the two windows: > :set makeprg=gmake then the other window will switch to the same value. There is no need to set the 'makeprg' option in the other C source window too. However, if you start editing a Perl file in a new window, you want to use another 'makeprg' for it, without changing the value used for the C source files. You use this command: > :setlocal makeprg=perlmake You can switch back to using the global value by making the local value empty: > :setlocal makeprg= This only works for a string option. For a number or boolean option you need to use the "<" flag, like this: > :setlocal autoread< Note that for non-boolean and non-number options using "<" copies the global value to the local value, it doesn't switch back to using the global value (that matters when the global value changes later). You can also use: > :set path< This will make the local value of 'path' empty, so that the global value is used. Thus it does the same as: > :setlocal path= Note: In the future more global options can be made |global-local|. Using ":setlocal" on a global option might work differently then. *option-value-function* Some options ('completefunc', 'findfunc', 'omnifunc', 'operatorfunc', 'quickfixtextfunc',

This section explains the `:setlocal` and `:setglobal` commands, detailing how they interact with global and local options. It clarifies the behavior of global-local options, especially the differences between string and number-based options. The text also provides a detailed matrix showing how each command affects global and local option values under different conditions. It further illustrates the concept of global-local options with examples, showing how to set a local value with `:setlocal` and switch back to the global value. Finally, it mentions function-related options like 'completefunc'.