# HG changeset patch
# User Steve Losh <steve@stevelosh.com>
# Date 1318200347 14400
# Node ID 68f40c419a18d6400669f8f023b2473a3fa90564
# Parent  848c8d85f138c6115efce59c2e039eec09f82b99
Status Lines.

diff -r 848c8d85f138 -r 68f40c419a18 chapters/17.markdown
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/chapters/17.markdown	Sun Oct 09 18:45:47 2011 -0400
@@ -0,0 +1,144 @@
+Status Lines
+============
+
+Vim allows you to customize the text in the status line at the bottom of each
+window.  This is done through the `statusline` option.  Run the following
+command:
+
+    :set statusline=%f
+
+You should see the path to the file (relative to the current directory) in the
+status line.  Now run this command:
+
+    :set statusline=%f\ -\ FileType:\ %y
+
+Now you'll see something like "foo.markdown - FileType: [markdown]" in the
+status line.
+
+If you're familiar with C's `printf` or Python's string interpolation the format
+of this option may look familiar.  If not, the only trick is that things that
+start with `%` are expanded to different text depending on what comes after
+them.  In our example `%f` is replaced with the filename and `%y` is replaced
+with the type of the file.
+
+Notice how the spaces in the status line need to be escaped with backslashes.
+This is because `set` allows you to set multiple options at once, as we saw in
+the second chapter.
+
+Status lines can get extremely complicated very quickly, so there's a better way
+to set them that will let us be more clear.  Run the following commands:
+
+    :set statusline=%f         " Path to the file
+    :set statusline+=\ -\      " Separator
+    :set statusline+=FileType: " Label
+    :set statusline+=%y        " Filetype of the file
+
+In the first command we used `=` to wipe out any existing value present.  In the
+rest we used `+=` to build up the option one piece at a time.  We also added
+comments explaining each piece for other people reading the code (or ourselves
+several months later).
+
+Run the following command:
+
+    :set statusline=%l    " Current line
+    :set statusline+=/    " Separator
+    :set statusline+=%L   " Total lines
+
+Now the status line contains only the current line number and number of lines in
+the file, and looks something like "12/223".
+
+Width and Padding
+-----------------
+
+Additional characters can be used in some of the various `%` codes to change how
+the information is displayed.  Run the following command:
+
+    :set statusline=%4l
+
+The line number in the status line will now be proceeded by enough spaces to
+make it at least four characters wide (for example: "  12").  This can be useful
+to prevent the text in the status line from shifting around distractingly.
+
+By default the padding spaces are added on the left side of the value.  Run this
+command:
+
+    :set statusline=Current:\ %4l\ Total:\ %4L
+
+Your status line will now look like this:
+
+    Current:   12 Total:  223
+
+You can use `-` to place padding on the right instead of the left.  Run this
+command:
+
+    :set statusline=Current:\ %-4l\ Total:\ %-4L
+
+Your status line will now look like this:
+
+    Current: 12   Total: 223 
+
+This looks much nicer because the numbers are next to their labels.
+
+For codes that result in a number you can tell Vim to pad with zeros instead of
+spaces.  Run the following command:
+
+    :set statusline=%04l
+
+Now your status line will read "0012" when on line twelve.
+
+Finally, you can also set the maximum width of a code's output.  Run this
+command:
+
+    :set statusline=%F
+
+`%F` displays the *full* path to the current file.  Now run this command to
+change the maximum width:
+
+    :set statusline=%.20F
+
+The path will be truncated if necessary, looking something like this:
+
+    <hapters/17.markdown
+
+This can be useful for preventing paths and other long codes from taking up the
+entire line.
+
+General Format
+--------------
+
+The general format for a code in a status line is shown in `:help statusline`:
+
+    %-0{minwid}.{maxwid}{item}
+
+Everything except the `%` and the item is optional.
+
+Splitting
+---------
+
+We'll come back to status lines later in the book, but there's one more simple
+code that can be very useful immediately.  Run the following commands:
+
+    :set statusline=%f         " Path to the file
+    :set statusline+=%-        " Switch to the right side
+    :set statusline+=%l        " Current line
+    :set statusline+=/         " Separator
+    :set statusline+=%L        " Total lines
+
+Now the status line will contain the path to the file on the left side, and the
+current/total lines on the right side.  The `%-` code tells Vim that everything
+coming after that should be aligned (as a whole) to the right instead of the
+left.
+
+Exercises
+---------
+
+Skim the list of available codes in `:help statusline`.  Don't worry if you
+don't understand some of them just yet.
+
+Add some lines to your `~/.vimrc` file to build yourself a custom status line.
+Be sure to use the `+=` form of `set` to split the definition across multiple
+lines, and add a comment on each line to document what each piece does.
+
+Try using autocommands and `setlocal` to define different status lines for
+different filetypes.  Make sure to wrap the autocommands in groups as always to
+prevent duplication.
diff -r 848c8d85f138 -r 68f40c419a18 outline.org
--- a/outline.org	Sun Oct 09 15:14:27 2011 -0400
+++ b/outline.org	Sun Oct 09 18:45:47 2011 -0400
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@
 ** DONE buffer-local abbreviations
 ** DONE augroups
 ** DONE operator-pending maps
-** TODO more operator-pending maps
-** TODO basic status lines
+** DONE more operator-pending maps
+** DONE basic status lines
 ** TODO a word on shortened command names
 * part 2 - programming in vimscript
 ** variables