mini-align.md

Align text interactively

See more details in help file.

This is a part of mini.nvim library. See its repository page to learn about common design principles and configuration recipes.

If you want to help this project grow but don't know where to start, check out contributing guides or leave a Github star for 'mini.nvim' project.

Demo

demo-align.mp4

Features

• Alignment is done in three main steps:

  • Split lines into parts based on Lua pattern(s) or user-supplied rule.
  • Justify parts for certain side(s) to be same width inside columns.
  • Merge parts to be lines, with customizable delimiter(s).

  Each main step can be preceded by other steps (pre-steps) to achieve highly customizable outcome. See steps value in :h MiniAlign.config. For more details, see :h MiniAlign-glossary and :h MiniAlign-algorithm.

• User can control alignment interactively by pressing customizable modifiers (single keys representing how alignment steps and/or options should change). Some of default modifiers:

  • Press s to enter split Lua pattern.
  • Press j to choose justification side from available ones ("left", "center", "right", "none").
  • Press m to enter merge delimiter.
  • Press f to enter filter Lua expression to configure which parts will be affected (like "align only first column").
  • Press i to ignore some commonly unwanted split matches.
  • Press p to pair neighboring parts so they be aligned together.
  • Press t to trim whitespace from parts.
  • Press <BS> (backspace) to delete some last pre-step.

  For more details, see :h MiniAlign-modifiers-builtin and :h MiniAlign-examples.

• Alignment can be done with instant preview (result is updated after each modifier) or without it (result is shown and accepted after non-default split pattern is set).

• Every user interaction is accompanied with helper status message showing relevant information about current alignment process.

Installation

There are two branches to install from:

• main (default, recommended) will have latest development version of plugin. All changes since last stable release should be perceived as being in beta testing phase (meaning they already passed alpha-testing and are moderately settled).
• stable will be updated only upon releases with code tested during public beta-testing phase in main branch.

Here are code snippets for some common installation methods (use only one):

• Using wbthomason/packer.nvim:

Branch	Code snippet
Main	use 'echasnovski/mini.nvim'
Stable	use { 'echasnovski/mini.nvim', branch = 'stable' }

• Using junegunn/vim-plug:

Branch	Code snippet
Main	Plug 'echasnovski/mini.nvim'
Stable	Plug 'echasnovski/mini.nvim', { 'branch': 'stable' }

Important: don't forget to call require('mini.align').setup() to enable its functionality.

Note: if you are on Windows, there might be problems with too long file paths (like error: unable to create file <some file name>: Filename too long). Try doing one of the following:

• Enable corresponding git global config value: git config --system core.longpaths true. Then try to reinstall.
• Install plugin in other place with shorter path.

Default config

-- No need to copy this inside `setup()`. Will be used automatically.
{
  -- Module mappings. Use `''` (empty string) to disable one.
  mappings = {
    start = 'ga',
    start_with_preview = 'gA',
  },

  -- Modifiers changing alignment steps and/or options
  modifiers = {
    -- Main option modifiers
    ['s'] = --<function: enter split pattern>,
    ['j'] = --<function: choose justify side>,
    ['m'] = --<function: enter merge delimiter>,

    -- Modifiers adding pre-steps
    ['f'] = --<function: filter parts by entering Lua expression>,
    ['i'] = --<function: ignore some split matches>,
    ['p'] = --<function: pair parts>,
    ['t'] = --<function: trim parts>,

    -- Delete some last pre-step
    ['<BS>'] = --<function: delete some last pre-step>,

    -- Special configurations for common splits
    ['='] = --<function: enhanced setup for '='>,
    [','] = --<function: enhanced setup for ','>,
    [' '] = --<function: enhanced setup for ' '>,
  },

  -- Default options controlling alignment process
  options = {
    split_pattern = '',
    justify_side = 'left',
    merge_delimiter = '',
  },

  -- Default steps performing alignment (if `nil`, default is used)
  steps = {
    pre_split = {},
    split = nil,
    pre_justify = {},
    justify = nil,
    pre_merge = {},
    merge = nil,
  },
}

Similar plugins

• junegunn/vim-easy-align
• godlygeek/tabular
• tommcdo/vim-lion
• Vonr/align.nvim