by Ingo Karkat
The built-in :sort command is powerful, but it still is line-based. It doesn't take into account folded lines, nor can it sort entire blocks like function definitions, paragraphs, etc. But often, one needs to sort exactly such areas as single entities, i.e. without changing the line order within them. A workaround in Vim is condensing each block into a single line, performing the sorting, and then expanding again. (External, more powerful sort commands could be used, too.)
This plugin implements this workaround and encapsulates the three separate steps in one handy command.
While :sort has several flags for sorting on various numbers, and a /{pattern}/ can be specified to skip or sort on, it doesn't allow arbitrary (Vimscript) expressions.
This plugin offers extension commands that evaluate an expression per line, put that number in front of the line, do a numerical sort, and then remove the temporary number again. Specializations handle the common sort by number of characters and by the line's display width.
:[range]SortVisible[!] [b][f][i][l][n][o][r][u][x] [/{pattern}/]
Sort visible lines in the buffer / [range]. Lines
inside closed folds are kept intact; sorting is done
on all lines of the fold as one unit; i.e. the order
of the other lines inside the fold does _not_ change!
:[range]SortRangesByHeader[!] /{expr}/ [b][f][i][l][n][o][r][u][x] [/{pattern}/]
Each match of {expr} (in the buffer / [range]) starts
a new area that sorts as one unit; i.e. the order of
the other lines inside the area does _not_ change!
Lines before the first header are sorted individually.
:[range]SortRangesByMatch[!] /{expr}/ [b][f][i][l][n][o][r][u][x] [/{pattern}/]
Each (multi-line) match of {expr} (in the buffer /
[range]) defines an area that sorts as one unit,
together with individual non-matching lines.
:[range]SortRangesByRange[!] {range} [b][f][i][l][n][o][r][u][x] [/{pattern}/]
Each {range} (in the buffer / [range]) defines an area
that sorts as one unit.
Note: For this command, /{pattern}/ must be separated
from the {range} by a [b][f][i][l][n][o][r][u][x] flag or a
space; you cannot directly concatenate them.
Note: The text must not contain embedded <Nul>
characters (^@) for the above commands!
:[range]ReorderVisible {reorder-expr}
Reorder visible lines in the buffer / [range] by
collecting into a List of Strings (multiple folded
lines are joined with newlines) and passing it (as
v:val) to {reorder-expr}.
:[range]ReorderFolded {reorder-expr}
Reorder folded lines in the buffer / [range] by
collecting into a List of Strings (multiple folded
lines are joined with newlines) and passing it (as
v:val) to {reorder-expr}. Those are then re-inserted
in between any unfolded lines, which stay as they
were.
:[range]ReorderUnfolded {reorder-expr}
Reorder unfolded lines in the buffer / [range] by
collecting into a List of Strings (subsequent unfolded
lines are joined with newlines) and passing it (as
v:val) to {reorder-expr}. Those are then re-inserted
in between any closed folds, which stay as they were.
:[range]ReorderByHeader /{expr}/ {reorder-expr}
Each match of {expr} (in the buffer / [range]) starts
a new area that is reordered as one unit (joined with
newlines) by passing it (as v:val) to {reorder-expr}.
Lines before the first header are reordered as another
single unit.
:[range]ReorderOnlyByMatch /{expr}/ {reorder-expr}
Each (multi-line) match of {expr} (in the buffer /
[range]) defines an area that is reordered as one unit
(joined with newlines) by passing it (as v:val) to
{reorder-expr}. Those are then re-inserted in between
any non-matching lines, which stay as they were.
:[range]ReorderByMatchAndNonMatches /{expr}/ {reorder-expr}
Each (multi-line) match of {expr} (in the buffer /
[range]) defines an area that is reordered as one unit
(joined with newlines), together with units of
non-matching lines, by passing it (as v:val) to
{reorder-expr}.
:[range]ReorderByMatchAndLines /{expr}/ {reorder-expr}
Each (multi-line) match of {expr} (in the buffer /
[range]) defines an area that is reordered as one unit
(joined with newlines), together with individual
non-matching lines, by passing it (as v:val) to
{reorder-expr}.
:[range]ReorderOnlyByRange {range} {reorder-expr}
Each {range} (in the buffer / [range]) defines an area
that is reordered as one unit (joined with newlines),
by passing it (as v:val) to {reorder-expr}. Those are
then re-inserted in between any non-matching lines,
which stay as they were.
:[range]ReorderByRangeAndNonMatches {range} {reorder-expr}
Each {range} (in the buffer / [range]) defines an area
that is reordered as one unit (joined with newlines),
together with individual non-matching lines, by
passing it (as v:val) to {reorder-expr}.
:[range]ReorderByRangeAndLines {range} {reorder-expr}
Each {range} (in the buffer / [range]) defines an area
that is reordered as one unit (joined with newlines),
together with individual non-matching lines, by
passing it (as v:val) to {reorder-expr}.
:[range]SortByExpr[!] {expr}
Sort lines in [range] by the {expr}, which should take
the current line as input via v:val and return a
number. With [!] the order is reversed.
:[range]SortByExprUnique[!] {expr}
Sort lines in [range] by the {expr}; only the first
line that gets a certain number from {expr} is kept.
With [!] the order is reversed.
:[range]SortByCharLength[!]
Sort lines in [range] by the number of characters.
:[range]SortByWidth[!]
Sort lines in [range] by the display width.
:[range]SortEach /{delimiter-pattern}/[{joiner}/]
:[range]SortEach /{delimiter-pattern}/[{joiner}]/ [b][f][i][l][n][o][r][u][x] /{pattern}/
Sort individual elements delimited by
{delimiter-pattern} (or newlines) in the current line
/ [range], and join them back together with the first
matching delimiter [or {joiner}].
:[range]SortWORDs[!] [b][f][i][l][n][o][r][u][x] [/{pattern}/]
Sort individual (whitespace-delimited) WORDs in the
current line / [range].
:[range]UniqAny [i][r] [/{pattern}/]
Remove lines in [range] that have already been
encountered earlier (not necessarily adjacent).
With [i] case is ignored.
When /{pattern}/ is specified and there is no [r] flag
the text matched with {pattern} is ignored.
With [r] only the matching {pattern} is considered;
the rest is ignored.
If a {pattern} is used, any lines which don't have a
match for {pattern} are kept.
:[range]UniqSubsequent [i][r] [/{pattern}/]
Remove second and succeeding copies of repeated
adjacent lines in [range].
With [i] case is ignored.
When /{pattern}/ is specified and there is no [r] flag
the text matched with {pattern} is ignored.
With [r] only the matching {pattern} is considered;
the rest is ignored.
If a {pattern} is used, any lines which don't have a
match for {pattern} are kept.We're taking any Vimscript file with multiple function definitions as an example, and show how to sort whole functions according to function name (and arguments).
To use folding, we first have to define the folds, then trigger the sorting:
:g/^function/,/^endfunction/fold
:SortVisibleIf we don't care about including any lines after the "endfunction", we can just base the areas on the function start:
:SortRangesByHeader /^function/But we'll get better results with an explicit end. One way is to define a multi-line pattern that covers the entire function:
:SortRangesByMatch /^function\_.\{-}\nendfunction$/Another way spans up a range, similar to what we've done above to define the folds:
:SortRangesByRange /^function/,/^endfunction$/The code is hosted in a Git repo at https://github.com/inkarkat/vim-AdvancedSorters You can use your favorite plugin manager, or "git clone" into a directory used for Vim packages. Releases are on the "stable" branch, the latest unstable development snapshot on "master".
This script is also packaged as a vimball. If you have the "gunzip" decompressor in your PATH, simply edit the *.vmb.gz package in Vim; otherwise, decompress the archive first, e.g. using WinZip. Inside Vim, install by sourcing the vimball or via the :UseVimball command.
vim AdvancedSorters*.vmb.gz
:so %To uninstall, use the :RmVimball command.
Report any bugs, send patches, or suggest features via the issue tracker at https://github.com/inkarkat/vim-AdvancedSorters/issues or email (address below).
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Copyright: (C) 2012-2024 Ingo Karkat - The VIM LICENSE applies to this plugin.
Maintainer: Ingo Karkat <ingo@karkat.de>