What is Vim's feature name for this: # vim:sw=4:ts=4:et:

Question

Even after 20 years with Vim, I keep forgetting name for the Vim feature where the editor picks up config statements from a comment at the beginning (or I think end) of a file:<

Answer 1

It's called modeline

:he modeline

If you start editing a new file, and the 'modeline' option is on, a number of lines at the beginning and end of the file are checked for modelines. There are two forms of modelines.

  The first form:   [text]{white}{vi:|vim:|ex:}[white]{options}

 [text]         any text or empty
 {white}        at least one blank character ( or )
 {vi:|vim:|ex:} the string "vi:", "vim:" or "ex:"
 [white]        optional white space
 {options}      a list of option settings, separated with white space or ':',
                where each part between ':' is the argument for a ":set"
                command (can be empty)

Add this to $MYVIMRC:

setglobal modeline