*gui_w32.txt*   For Vim version 5.0t.  Last modification: 1997 Dec 06


		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Bram Moolenaar


Vim's Graphical User Interface				*gui-w32*

1. Starting the GUI		|gui-w32-start|
2. Using the clipboard		|gui-clipboard|
3. Shell Commands		|gui-shell-win32|
4. Special colors		|win32-colors|
5. Compiling			|gui-w32-compiling|

Other relevant documentation:
|gui.txt|	For generic items of the GUI.
|os_win32.txt|  For Win32 specific items.

{Vi does not have any of these commands}

==============================================================================
1. Starting the GUI					*gui-w32-start*

The Win32 GUI version of Vim will always start the GUI, no matter how you
start it or what it's called.

The GUI will always run in the Windows subsystem.  Mostly shells automatically
return with a command prompt after starting gvim.  If not, you should use the
"start" command:
>	start gvim file

Note: All fonts must be of the same size!!!  If you don't do this, text will
disappear or mess up the display.  Vim does not check the font sizes.  It's
the size in screen pixels that must be the same.  Note that some fonts that
have the same point size don't have the same pixel size!  Additionally, the
positioning of the fonts must be the same (ascent and descent).  You can check
this with "xlsfonts -l <fontname>".

Setting the menu height doesn't work for the Win32 GUI.

==============================================================================
2. Using the clipboard					*gui-clipboard*

Windows has a clipboard, where you can copy text to, and paste text from.  Vim
supports this in several ways.

TODO.

==============================================================================
3. Shell Commands					*gui-shell-win32*

WARNING: Executing an external command happens in a separate window.  If you
close this window with the "X" button, Vim may be killed too!

Vim uses another window for external commands, to make it possible to run any
command.  The external command gets its own environment for running, just like
it was started from a DOS prompt.

TODO

==============================================================================
4. Special colors					*win32-colors*

On Win32, the normal DOS colors can be used.  See |dos-colors|.

Additionally the system configured colors can also be used.  These are known
by the names Sys_XXX, where XXX is the appropriate system color name, from the
following list (see the Win32 documentation for full descriptions).  Case is
ignored.

Sys_3DDKShadow		Sys_3DFace			Sys_BTNFace
Sys_3DHilight		Sys_3DHighlight			Sys_BTNHilight
Sys_BTNHighlight	Sys_3DLight			Sys_3DShadow
Sys_BTNShadow		Sys_ActiveBorder		Sys_ActiveCaption
Sys_AppWorkspace	Sys_Background			Sys_Desktop
Sys_BTNText		Sys_CaptionText			Sys_GrayText
Sys_Highlight		Sys_HighlightText		Sys_InactiveBorder
Sys_InactiveCaption	Sys_InactiveCaptionText		Sys_InfoBK
Sys_InfoText		Sys_Menu			Sys_MenuText
Sys_ScrollBar		Sys_Window			Sys_WindowFrame
Sys_WindowText

Probably the most useful values are
	Sys_Window          Normal window background
	Sys_WindowText      Normal window text
	Sys_Highlight       Highlighted background
	Sys_HighlightText   Highlighted text

These extra colors are also available:
Gray, Grey, LightYellow, SeaGreen, Orange, Purple, SlateBlue, Violet,

								*rgb.txt*
Additionally, colors defined by a "rgb.txt" file can be used.  This file is
well known from X11.  A few lines from it:

>  255 218 185             peach puff
>  205 133  63             peru
>  255 181 197             pink

This shows the layout of the file:  First the R, G and B value as a decimal
number, followed by the name of the color.  The four fields are separated by
spaces.

You can get an rgb.txt file from any X11 distribution.  It is located in a
directory like "/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/".  For Vim it must be located in the $VIM
directory.  Thus the file can be found with "$VIM/rgb.txt".

==============================================================================
5. Compiling						*gui-w32-compiling*

Vim can be compiled with Micrsoft Visual C++ version 4.0 or later, and Borland
C++ version 4.5 or later.  Other compilers might work too, but you will have
to make your own project or Makefile.

TODO

 vim:tw=78:ts=8:sw=4
