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VimbreWriter / Vim Rewriter

Vi‑like modal editing for LibreOffice / OpenOffice Writer

This macro brings the power of Vim’s modal editing to LibreOffice and OpenOffice Writer.
It provides normal, insert, visual, and visual‑line modes, movements with multipliers, operators (d, c, y, etc.), registers, text objects, a command mode for formatting, and a rich status line – all inside your favourite word processor.

Table of Contents

Features

  • Modal editing: Normal, Insert, Visual (characterwise), Visual‑Line.
  • Operators: d (delete), c (change), y (yank), p/P (paste) – all work with system clipboard.
  • Registers: Use " followed by a letter to yank into or paste from named registers.
  • Multipliers: e.g. 5j moves down five lines, 3dd deletes three lines.
  • Movements: character (h/l), line (j/k), word (w/b/e), sentence ()/(), paragraph (}/{), start of line (0), first non‑blank (^), end of line ($), document start (gg) and end (G), page jumps (<count>g), half‑page scroll (Ctrl+d/Ctrl+u).
  • Find character: f/F (to next/previous occurrence), t/T (up to next/previous).
  • Text objects: i and a with (, {, [, <, ', " to select inside or around delimiters (experimental).
  • Undo/Redo: u and Ctrl+r (with multiplier).
  • Find & Replace: / focuses the find bar, \ opens the search dialog.
  • Command mode: : followed by a letter applies formatting (bold, italic, underline, align, etc.).
  • Rich status line: shows mode, multiplier, active operator, register, page, word count, file name.

Installation

  1. Download the latest extension file.
  2. Open it with LibreOffice/OpenOffice, or go to Tools → Extension Manager → Add and select the .oxt file.
  3. Restart LibreOffice/OpenOffice if prompted.
  4. Enable VimbreWriter via Tools → Add-Ons → VimbreWriter.

Installation manual

  1. Clone the repo
  2. cd vimbrewriter
  3. run VIMBREWRITER_VERSION="VERSION_NUMBER" make extension (produces oxt file in ./dist/)
  4. Open it with LibreOffice/OpenOffice, or go to Tools → Extension Manager → Add and select the .oxt file.
  5. Enable VimbreWriter via Tools → Add-Ons → VimbreWriter.

or requires unopkg

  1. Clone the repo
  2. cd vimbrewriter
  3. run VIMBREWRITER_VERSION="VERSION_NUMBER" make install (installs using unopkg)
  4. Enable VimbreWriter via Tools → Add-Ons → VimbreWriter.

Usage

Basic Workflow

  • After enabling, you start in Normal Mode (cursor becomes a block).
  • Navigate with h (left), j (down), k (up), l (right).
  • Press i to enter Insert Mode and type normally. Esc returns to Normal.
  • Delete a line with dd, copy a line with yy, paste with p (after cursor) or P (before).
  • Undo with u, redo with Ctrl+r.
  • Search: press /, type your query, and Enter focuses the find bar.
  • Replace: press \ to open the Find & Replace dialog.
  • Use multipliers: 3j moves down three lines, 2dd deletes two lines.

Modes

Mode Description
NORMAL Default mode. Keys trigger movements and commands. The cursor is a block.
INSERT Type text normally. All keys insert their characters. Esc returns to NORMAL.
VISUAL Character‑wise selection. Movements expand the selection. Operators act on the selected text.
VISUAL_LINE Line‑wise selection. The whole line is selected. j/k expand linewise.
CMD Temporary mode after pressing : – next key applies a formatting command.

Key Reference

Global Keys

Key Action
Esc or Ctrl+[ Return to NORMAL mode.

Mode Switching

Key Action
i Enter INSERT mode before the cursor.
I Move cursor to start of line and enter INSERT mode.
a Enter INSERT mode after the cursor.
A Move cursor to end of line and enter INSERT mode.
o Open a new line below the current line and enter INSERT mode.
O Open a new line above the current line and enter INSERT mode.
v Enter VISUAL mode (characterwise).
V Enter VISUAL_LINE mode.

Movement

Multipliers can be used with all movements, e.g. 5j moves down five lines.

Key Action
h Move left one character.
l Move right one character.
j Move down one line.
k Move up one line.
0 Move to column 0 (start of line).
^ Move to the first non‑blank character of the line.
$ Move to the end of the line.
w / W Move to the start of the next word. (Both behave the same – next word.)
b / B Move to the start of the previous word. (Both behave the same.)
e Move to the end of the current/next word.
) Move to the next sentence.
( Move to the previous sentence.
} Move to the next paragraph.
{ Move to the previous paragraph.
gg Move to the very start of the document.
G Move to the very end of the document.
<count>g Jump to page <count> (e.g. 5g goes to page 5). Not a line number jump.
pagedown Move down half a screen (page down).
Ctrl+shift+> Move down half a screen (page down).
pageup Move up half a screen (page up).
ctrl+shift+u Move up half a screen (page up).
Arrow keys In VISUAL / VISUAL_LINE modes, the arrow keys work like h/j/k/l.

Editing

Key Action
x Delete character under cursor (like dl).
d + movement Delete from cursor to end of movement. Yanked text is saved to clipboard or register.
dd Delete the current line. Preserves horizontal cursor position if possible.
c + movement Delete to end of movement and enter INSERT mode.
cc Delete the current line and enter INSERT mode.
y + movement Yank (copy) text to clipboard or register.
yy Yank the current line.
p Paste after the cursor.
P Paste before the cursor.
u Undo. Can be prefixed with a multiplier (e.g. 3u undoes three steps).
z Redo.
r Replace the character under the cursor with <char>.
D Delete from cursor to end of line.
C Change from cursor to end of line (delete then INSERT).
S Substitute whole line – same as cc.
s Substitute character – same as cl (delete char and enter INSERT).

Visual Mode

Key Action
Movements (h,j,k,l, ^, $, w, etc.) Expand the selection.
d Delete the selected text and return to NORMAL.
c Delete the selected text and enter INSERT.
y Yank the selected text and return to NORMAL.
x Same as d.
D / C Delete/change to end of line from selection start (same as $ then d/c).
s Substitute whole line (same as cc).
Esc Return to NORMAL without changing text.

In VISUAL_LINE mode, the selection always spans whole lines. The base line is remembered so that j/k expand the selection correctly.

Command Mode

Press : to enter a temporary command mode. The next key pressed executes a formatting action on the current word (or selection, if one exists). Supported commands:

Key Action
b Bold
e Align center
h Highlight (yellow background)
i Italic
j Justify
l Align left
p Paste (formatted)
P Paste unformatted
r Align right
s Subscript
S Superscript
t Strike through
u Underline
w Save document
] Increase indent
[ Decrease indent

After the command, you return to Normal mode.

Registers

VimbreWriter supports named registers (letters a–z). Use " followed by a register letter before a yank or delete operation to store text in that register. Use the same register with p/P to paste from it.

  • Example: "ayy – yank current line into register a.
  • Example: "ap – paste contents of register a after cursor.

The unnamed register (") and system clipboard (* or +) are also supported.

Text Objects

Experimental support for selecting inside (i) or around (a) delimiters. After pressing i or a (in Normal mode), the next key chooses the delimiter:

Key Delimiters tried (smart quotes first, then straight)
( or ) ( and )
{ or } { and }
[ or ] [ and ]
< or > < and >
. . and .
, , and ,
' ‘ ’ then '
" “ ” then "

Example: ci( – change inside parentheses (delete text between ( and ) and enter Insert mode).

Special Commands

Key Action
/ Focus the find bar (like incremental search). Type your query and press Enter.
\ Open the Find & Replace dialog.

Status Line

The default status bar is replaced with a custom one showing: MODE | Multiplier | special: … | reg: … | modifier: … | page: X/Y | paragraphs: N | Words: M | File: name