= Using Vim with Django =

This page is intended to be used as a collection of hints for using the Vim editor with Django.

== Vim Modeline ==
To insure that all developers are using a standard tab format (as long as they are using Vim), you can add a Vim modeline (special comment) to your files, to set people in the same mode for that file.  Example:

{{{
# vim: ai ts=4 sts=4 et sw=4
}}}

[http://py.vaults.ca/~x/python_and_vim.html Tab Setting Reference for Python and Vim]


== [http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1318 SnippetsEmu] ==

The [http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1318 SnippetsEmu] plugin for Vim allows one to define abbreviations which can be expanded into larger blocks of text.  The abbreviations can also contain place markers which can be 'jumped to' in a similar manner to the macros defined in TextMate on OS X.

One can add specific abbreviations for models or templates based on file contents.  Adding the following line to your ~/.vim/ftplugin/python.vim file (create it if you don't have it) will allow you to define abbreviations just for models:
{{{
if getline(1) =~ 'from django.core import meta'
    "Your abbreviations here
endif
}}}

The following is a collection of Django specific abbreviations for use with the plugin (using the default start and end tags: '<' and '>'):

Models:

{{{
Iabbr addmodel class <>(meta.Model):<CR><><CR><CR>def __repr__(self):<CR>return "%s" % (<>,)<CR><CR>class META:<CR>admin = meta.Admin()<CR><CR>
Iabbr mcf meta.CharField(maxlength=<>)<CR><>
Iabbr mff meta.FileField(upload_to=<>)<CR><>
Iabbr mfpf meta.FilePathField(path=<>, match=<".*">, recursive=<False>)<CR><>
Iabbr mfloat meta.FloatField(max_digits=<>, decimal_places=<>)<CR><>
Iabbr mfk meta.ForeignKey(<>, edit_inline=<False>)<CR><>
Iabbr m2m meta.ManyToManyField(<>)<CR><>
Iabbr o2o meta.OneToOneField(<>)<CR><>
}}}

Templates:

Templates should be used with different tag delimiters as they will no doubt contain (X)HTML which will confuse the plugin.  Assuming start and end tags are '@':

{{{
Iabbr fore {% for @entry@ in @list@ %}<CR>{{ @entry@.@@ }}<CR>@@{% endfor %}<CR>@@
}}}

== XML.vim ==

The [http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=301 xml.vim] plugin is really useful for editing XML and HTML files.  It makes tag completion easy and allows you to bounce between start and end tags.

== Syntax for templates == 

Dave Hodder has contributed standard [http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1487 Vim syntax files].

If you are interested in rolling your own, this is a simple addition to let Vim deal with Django template syntax:

Create the file:
{{{$VIM/vimfiles/after/syntax/html.vim}}}
with the following content:

{{{
syn region  djangotagmarkers start="{{" end="}}"
syn region  djangovariablemarkers start="{%" end="%}"
command! -nargs=+ HiLink hi def link <args>
HiLink djangotagmarkers PreProc
HiLink djangovariablemarkers PreProc
delcommand HiLink
}}}

== Project.vim ==

The [http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=69 Project] plugin adds IDE file organisation functionality to Vim.

Something like the following could be used to view a project's files.

{{{
Django Project=/path/to/project CD=. filter="*.py" {
 __init__.py
 settings.py
 urls.py
 apps=apps {
  __init__.py
  app1=app1Dir {
   __init__.py
   views.py
   models=app1ModelsDir {
    __init__.py
    app1models.py
   }
  }
  app2=app2Dir {
   __init__.py
   views.py
   models=app2modelsDir {
    __init__.py
    app2Dir.py
   }
  }
 media=mediaDir {
  images=imagesDir {
  }
 }
}
}}}

Such a structure can also be created by using the build in '\C' command which will recurse through the whole directory tree.