How to enable syntax highlighting and other options in VIM

http://geekology.co.za/article/2009/03/how-to-enable-syntax-highlighting-and-other-options-in-vim

How to enable syntax highlighting and other options in vim

10 Mar 2009

Vim is a popular command line text editor with an interface that is based not on menus or icons but on commands given in a text user interface.

Unfortunately the vim that ships with Mac OS X 10.5.* (Leopard) doesn't have an optimized configuration file to allow for syntax highlighting, auto indentation, etc.

To fix this, open a new Terminal window and enter these commands to open vim's configuration file:

cd /usr/share/vim
sudo vim vimrc

Press the "i" key to switch vim to Insertion Mode, then enter these lines below the "set backspace=2" line:

set ai                  " auto indenting
set history=100         " keep 100 lines of history
set ruler               " show the cursor position
syntax on               " syntax highlighting
set hlsearch            " highlight the last searched term
filetype plugin on      " use the file type plugins

" When editing a file, always jump to the last cursor position
autocmd BufReadPost *
\ if ! exists("g:leave_my_cursor_position_alone") |
\ if line("'\"") > 0 && line ("'\"") <= line("$") |
\ exe "normal g'\"" |
\ endif |
\ endif

Press the Escape key to take vim out of Insertion Mode, then press ":" (colon) followed by "x" to save the file and exit. Enter this command again:

sudo vim vimrc

... and you'll see that vim now automatically indents code, displays the cursor position, has syntax highlighting, etc.