Editing Configuration model

There are several commands that can be used to configure Vifm (e.g.
<code>:set</code>, <code>:colorscheme</code>), but, if you restart it, all
settings are reset to their previous values.  To make changes permanent one
needs to put them into configuration file or ask Vifm to store them
automatically. Intent of this section is to describe things related to configuration.

==== Configuration files ====

Vifm follows the same configuration scheme as Vim and many other Unix
applications use:
* main configuration file should be edited manually as it is only read by the application and is never modified by it;
* state of the application that is preserved across session is stored in separate file(s) and is not meant to be modified by a user.

For Vifm the first file is called <code>vifmrc</code> (located at
<code>~/.vifm/vifmrc</code> by default) and the second one is
<code>vifminfo</code> (located at <code>~/.vifm/vifminfo</code>).

<code>vifmrc</code> consists of regular commands that can be entered on the
command line.  Any settings that are expected to be persistent for sure should
be set in this file via appropriate command-line commands.

<code>vifminfo</code> is [[#Writing vifminfo manually|usually]] written
automatically.  Which settings are written and applied on startup depends on
<code>'vifminfo'</code> option.  Instead of just overwriting all settings, Vifm
tries to merge previously stored state with the new one.  Such strategy helps a
lot in managing multiple instances running at the same time.  New settings have
higher priority than older ones, still Vifm tries to preserve as much of old
state as it can to do not forget history items or other settings that user might
want to reuse later.

==== Location of configuration files ====

There are two locations: global one (<code>/etc/vifm</code>, available since 0.8)
meant to be shared among all users and local one, user specific.  Global
<code>vifmrc</code> is loaded before the local one, so that the latter can redefine
anything configured globally.  In contrast, available color schemes are searched
first in local directory and then in global one.

Path to global configuration is fixed at compile-time.  Local
configuration is located dynamically on startup according to rules described below.

First, home directory is determined by probing the following variants:
# <code>$HOME</code> variable;
# <code>$USERPROFILE</code> variable (on Windows only);
# A combination of <code>$HOMEDRIVE</code> and <code>$HOMEPATH</code> variables (on Windows only).

Then, main local configuration directory (<code>$VIFM</code>) is looked up in
these places:
# <code>$VIFM</code> variable;
# Directory of the executable file (on Windows only);
# <code>~/.vifm</code> directory;
# <code>$APPDATA/Vifm</code> directory (on Windows only);
# <code>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/vifm</code> directory (since 0.8);
# <code>~/.config/vifm</code> directory.

The configuration file itself is discovered this way on the last step:
# <code>$MYVIFMRC</code> variable;
# <code>vifmrc</code> in the directory of the executable file (on Windows only);
# <code>$VIFM/vifmrc</code> file.

In all cases outlined above the first item that points to existing directory/file is chosen.

The affect of this quite complicated procedure on versions can be summarized as
follows:
# Explicit configuration setup via environment variables has highest priority.
# If local configuration doesn't exist, but <code>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME</code> directory does, XDG-like path will be chosen.  When <code>$XDG_CONFIG_HOME</code> points to inexistent path, <code>~/.vifm</code> is used.
# If local configuration exists, it will be used as is, priority is as in ordered list above.

==== Writing <code>vifminfo</code> manually ====

Sometimes (e.g. before running external application that might affect
configuration of Vifm) it's useful to write <code>vifminfo</code> file without
closing Vifm.  <code>:write</code> command is exactly for that.

==== Omitting writing of <code>vifminfo</code> ====

By default <code>vifminfo</code> is written on exit, i.e. <code>:q[uit]</code>
is equal to <code>:wq</code>, this means that requested changes are saved
automatically.  Although it's quite convenient, sometimes one might want to drop
current runtime state in favor of previously stored one or state of another
instance.  In such rare cases <code>:quit!</code> command-line command or
<code>ZQ</code> normal mode shortcut can be used.

==== Moving and finding configuration files ====

There are two environment variables that can be used in both cases:

* <code>$VIFM</code> points to main configuration (usually <code>~/.vifm/</code>);
* <code>$MYVIFMRC</code> points to main configuration file (usually <code>~/.vifm/vifmrc</code>).

These environment variables are valid inside Vifm and also can be used to
configure Vifm.  When <code>$MYVIFMRC</code> isn't set, it's made as
<code>$VIFM/vifmrc</code> (exception for Windows: vifmrc in the same directory
as <code>vifm.exe</code> has higher priority then <code>$VIFM/vifmrc</code>).

==== Skipping load of configuration files ====

To ease diagnosing issues caused by configuration and provide a way to start
Vifm with sane defaults <code>--no-configs</code> command-line option is
supported.

Passing it to Vifm blocks reading of both <code>vifmrc</code> and
<code>vifminfo</code> files. They can be read later via <code>:restart</code>
command. You probably ''do '''not''''' want to save <code>vifminfo</code> file
after running Vifm in this mode, so consider reading
[[#Omitting writing of vifminfo|related section of this page]].

==== Reloading configuration ====

Here are several scenarios when one might want to reload configuration:

* one of configuration files is changed;
* something made in current session is better to be undone, but restarting Vifm in inconvenient;
* testing of something (e.g. new command) that is better to repeat in same environment multiple times.

<code>:restart</code> command is there to make these usage scenarios possible. Note that it ''does '''not'''''
rediscover paths to configuration files, so if you move them around, Vifm needs to be closed and started again
for those changes to take effect.

It tries to repeat the same process that happens on startup, e.g.:

# Pretend it doesn't have much context (forget the one it has ''almost'' completely).
# Reread <code>vifmrc</code> and <code>vifminfo</code> files.
# Parse command-line arguments again to execute startup commands (<code>+cmd</code> or <code>-c cmd</code>).

For convenience reasons some parts of runtime state is not erased:

# Current directories of panes.
# Cursor positions and top items of file lists.

These are minor things which are better to leave as they are to preserve current context from user's point of view.

===== <code>:restart</code> usage example =====

Here is definition of <kbd>,c</kbd> shortcut to edit configuration file:

<source lang="vim">
nnoremap ,c :write | execute ':!%n${EDITOR:-vim} $MYVIFMRC' | restart<cr>
</source>

It does the following:

# Saves current state to <code>vifminfo</code>.
# Spawns editor (we don't want it to be detached from current console when inside terminal multiplexer, hence <code>%n</code> macro is used).
# Reloads all configuration.

Alternatively one could use <code>:source</code> command instead:

<source lang="vim">
nnoremap ,c :execute ':!%n${EDITOR:-vim} $MYVIFMRC' | source $MYVIFMRC<cr>
</source>

It's fine too, but is somewhat less predictable because previous state is
combined with the new one.  Using <code>:restart</code> ensures that new
settings are applied to much more sane environment that saves one from possible
unexpected side effects of combining previous configuration with the new one.

[[Category:Manual]]