syntax highlighting in vim?

Question

on my ubuntu server vim got no syntax highlighting when i open files (configurations, scipts...).

i have tried with

:syntax on
:syntax enable

and it ways in vim that its enabled, but it doesnt work

someone knows how to fix it?

thanks!

Answer 1

vim detects filetype by extension.
If you want syntax highlighting for extensionless file then do this after opening the file.

:set ft=sh

assuming the file is a bash script. ft stands for filetype. Similarly you can get syntax highlighting for other files by setting filetype to xml,html,php,python accordingly. If you need more info on this,

:help ft

Hope this helps.

edit:For retaining filetypes.
This is only a temporary solution.

if &filetype == ""
    set viewoptions=options
    autocmd BufWinLeave * mkview
    autocmd BufWinEnter * loadview
endif

Add this to your vimrc file. This code stores the filetype and other local options set for the file when vim exits. You need to set the filetype only once.
The stored options are lost when the file is renamed. You'll have to set filetype once again to store it.
For more info on this, read vim manual for the commands.

:help mkview
:help loadview
:help viewoptions

Answer 2

Do you have at least an empty .vimrc in HOME?

AFAIK, if that file is missing, vim will start in vi-compatible mode. That might be a reason for missing syntax highlighting.

Answer 3

Adding as a comment to your comment;

how does it know which syntax file to use? i have tried "vim file.php" and "vim file.html" and it highlights using the right syntax file. but what if i want to highlight a script file and just type "vim file". then nothing is highlighted while im typing script commands. how can i highlight bash scripts (for loops, if statements etc)? – ajsie 6 hours ago

The shebang at the beginning of the file indicates for vim what kind of a script it is. IIRC, sometimes you have to save the file and then reopen it before syntax highlighting turns on, as well.

Answer 4

I believe the full version of vim can be installed like this on Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install vim-full

Answer 5

Since it's a server configuration, the problem is likely that you don't have the vim-common package installed. Try that and see if it works.