vim-simple-align

A Vim/Neovim plugin to align texts by simple way.

• vim-simple-align provides only 1 command and a few its options
  • no need to remember options because they can be completed
• delimiter used to split texts is always Vim's regular expression

vim-simple-align doesn't cover all alignment cases but aims to work nice in many common cases.

vim-simple-align-demo.mp4

Commands/Usage

vim-simple-align provides only 1 command: :SimpleAlign.

Usage:

:{RANGE}SimpleAlign {DELIMITER}

Or

:{RANGE}SimpleAlign {DELIMITER} {OPTIONS}

Delimiter is Vim's regular expression. Some characters may need to be escaped.

cf. :h regular-expression

Options

-count (-c) option

-count option means how many times to split and align tokens. Available values are -1 and integers greater than 0. -1 means unlimited.

Default: -1

-lpadding (-l) option

-lpadding option means how many spaces to put left padding of each token. Available values are integers greater than or equal to 0.

Default: 1

-rpadding (-r) option

-rpadding option means how many spaces to put right padding of each token. Available values are integers greater than or equal to 0.

Default: 1

-justify (-j) option

-justify option means which side tokens should be on. Available values are left and right.

Default: left

Examples

Align Markdown table

❌ Not aligned

a | bbb | ccccc
--- | --- | ---
012345 | 6 | 789
.. | .. | ..

| a | bbb | ccccc |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 012345 | 6 | 789 |
| .. | .. | .. |

🔧 Command

:1,4SimpleAlign |

⭕️ Aligned

a      | bbb | ccccc
---    | --- | ---
012345 | 6   | 789
..     | ..  | ..

| a      | bbb | ccccc |
| ---    | --- | ---   |
| 012345 | 6   | 789   |
| ..     | ..  | ..    |

Align Markdown table with justifying to right

❌ Not aligned

a | bbb | ccccc
--- | --- | ---
012345 | 6 | 789
.. | .. | ..

| a | bbb | ccccc |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 012345 | 6 | 789 |
| .. | .. | .. |

🔧 Command

:1,4SimpleAlign | -justify right

⭕️ Aligned

     a | bbb | ccccc
   --- | --- |   ---
012345 |   6 |   789
    .. |  .. |    ..

|      a | bbb | ccccc |
|    --- | --- |   --- |
| 012345 |   6 |   789 |
|     .. |  .. |    .. |

Align JSON, dictionary/hash items

❌ Not aligned

JSON:

{
  "a": "a",
  "bbb": "bbb",
  "ccccc": "ccccc"
}

JavaScript dictionary:

{
  a: "a",
  bbb: "bbb",
  ccccc: "ccccc",
}

Ruby old Hash syntax:

{
  "a" => "a",
  "bbb" => "bbb",
  "ccccc" => "ccccc",
}

🔧 Command

For JSON:

:2,4SimpleAlign [^:\ ]\+:

For JavaScript dictionary:

:2,4SimpleAlign \w\+:

For Ruby old Hash syntax:

:2,4SimpleAlign =>

⭕️ Aligned

JSON:

{
  "a":     "a",
  "bbb":   "bbb",
  "ccccc": "ccccc"
}

JavaScript dictionary:

{
  a:     "a",
  bbb:   "bbb",
  ccccc: "ccccc",
}

Ruby old Hash syntax:

{
  "a"     => "a",
  "bbb"   => "bbb",
  "ccccc" => "ccccc",
}

Align variable assignments

❌ Not aligned

Basic case:

const a = "a";
const bbb = "bbb";
const ccccc = "ccccc";

Case when multiple =s exist:

const a = "a";
const bbb = "bbb";
const ccccc = "ccccc";
const d = (a === bbb)

= and +=:

a = "a"
a += "a"

🔧 Command

For basic case:

:1,3SimpleAlign =

For the case when multiple =s exist:

:1,4SimpleAlign = -count 1

For = and +=:

:1,2SimpleAlign [+\ ]=

⭕️ Aligned

Basic case:

const a     = "a";
const bbb   = "bbb";
const ccccc = "ccccc";

Case when multiple =s exist:

const a     = "a";
const bbb   = "bbb";
const ccccc = "ccccc";
const d     = (a === bbb)

= and +=:

a  = "a"
a += "a"

Align output/result comments

❌ Not aligned

JavaScript:

a() //=> "a"
bbb() //=> "bbb"
ccccc() //=> "ccccc"

Ruby:

a #=> "a"
bbb #=> "bbb"
ccccc #=> "ccccc"

🔧 Command

For JavaScript:

:1,3SimpleAlign //=> -lpadding 2

For Ruby:

:1,3SimpleAlign #=> -lpadding 2

⭕️ Aligned

JavaScript:

a()      //=> "a"
bbb()    //=> "bbb"
ccccc()  //=> "ccccc"

Ruby:

a      #=> "a"
bbb    #=> "bbb"
ccccc  #=> "ccccc"

Align non-whitespace characters

❌ Not aligned

t.belongs_to :user, null: false
t.string :name, null: false
t.boolean :active, null: false, default: true
t.boolean :foo, null: true, default: false

🔧 Command

:1,4SimpleAlign \S\+ -lpadding 0

⭕️ Aligned

t.belongs_to :user,   null: false
t.string     :name,   null: false
t.boolean    :active, null: false, default: true
t.boolean    :foo,    null: true,  default: false

Inspired by alignta

vim-simple-align is inspired by h1mesuke/vim-alignta. It is a simple Vim plugin to align texts. It provides only 1 command :Alignta and has a few options and command syntaxes. It is a very great plugin but doesn't work on current Vim. vim-simple-align inherits its philosophy and focuses its limited essential features.

Why not vim-easy-align?

Yes, vim-easy-align is a great Vim plugin. However, it is complicated and difficult for me. I can't remember its mappings, options, and syntaxes. It is a so cool product, but not for me.

Installation

If you use dein.vim:

call dein#add("kg8m/vim-simple-align")

Note: dein.vim's lazy loading feature with on_cmd option is not recommended for vim-simple-align. You will see E471: Argument required: ... if so. To tell the truth, lazy loading of vim-simple-align doesn't make Vim's startup faster. On the one hand, vim-simple-align just defines 1 command when added to runtimepath. On the other hand, dein.vim's lazy loading with on_cmd also defines a dummy command.

Vim9 script

You can use Vim9 script version if you use Vim 8.2.4053+. Vim9 script version is 5-10 times faster than legacy Vim script version. Vim9 script version is available on vim9 branch.

call dein#add("kg8m/vim-simple-align", { "rev": "vim9" })

Requirements

Vim 8.2+ or Neovim nightly