Is it possible to format C++ code with VIM?

Question

I am rather new to VIM. I got some source code and this is a mess. At a first sight I would like at least to get a clear and organised view of the code, so I like to get it

Answer 1

you can do the following:

gg=G

Answer 2

I don't write C++ code, but I write some Java code.

Instead, Vim supports the formatting of some common languages. I have set up a short cut for me to format the whole code in the buffer. It will return to the line I just edited :)

" format the file
map <leader>fm gg=G'. 

Answer 3

There is a vim plugin that enables formatting on your code from within vim. It's called vim-autoformat and you can download it here:

https://github.com/Chiel92/vim-autoformat

It integrates external code-formatting programs into vim. For example, if you want to format C, C++, C# or Java code, you need to install the program astyle, and vim sets it as the format program automatically.

Answer 4

Vim will definitely do this, although the results may not be perfect:

1. First, select the entire file in visual mode: ggVG
2. Then hit = to reindent everything.

You can learn more about the equal command with: :help =

Answer 5

I would highly recommend clang-format nowadays. It allows simple integration of clang-format into Vim, once you have clang-format installed:

http://clang.llvm.org/docs/ClangFormat.html#vim-integration

It is the only code beautifier that really understands your C++ code, and it is really intelligent to beautify the code more like a human being than a machine. E.g.:

void TestFunction(int argument1, int argument2,
                  int argument3);
void TestFunctionVeryLongName(int argument1,
                              int argument2,
                              int argument3);
void TestFunctionWithRidiculouslyLongName(
    int argument1, int argument2, int argument3);

Answer 6

There is also a Vim plugin relying on clang-format: vim-clang-format

Then you can simply map the formatting command to whatever suits you.