Why is vim picking up vimrc_example.vim and _vimrc?

Question

I can't work this out, I thought vimrc_example.vim was an example file but turns out Vim is reading this file for some reason as well as _vimrc.

On windows 10 Home with Vim 8.2.24 not using gvim but vim.

The directory of both these files are:

• C:\\Program Files\\Vim\\_vimrc

• C:\\Program Files\\Vim\\vim82\\vimrc_example.vim

When I delete vimrc_example.vim it does not start Vim properly then, it just starts with a blank screen then I have to push enter to start up vim. Somewhere my vim is telling it to read this file I just don't understand the how and why as I am new to vim.

The reason I realised this is I was trying to set tw=0 via _vimrc but turned out vimrc_example.vim kept overriding this and setting it back to 78. I have tried to google a solution to this, but I just thought common sense wise an example file should not be this relevant and if it is why?

Output of :scriptnames

1: C:\Program Files\Vim\_vimrc                                                                                     
2: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\vimrc_example.vim                                                             
3: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\defaults.vim                                                          
4: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\syntax\syntax.vim                                       
5: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\syntax\synload.vim                                          
6: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\syntax\syncolor.vim                              
7: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\filetype.vim                             
8: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\ftplugin.vim       
9: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\indent.vim     
10: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\autoload\plug.vim                                    
11: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\ftoff.vim                                         
12: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\syntax\nosyntax.vim                           
13: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-monokai\colors\monokai.vim                        
14: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-wakatime\plugin\wakatime.vim                  
15: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\plugin\airline.vim                
16: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\init.vim     
17: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\parts.vim
18: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\util.vim                         
19: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline-themes\plugin\airline-themes.vim              
20: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-clang-format\plugin\clang_format.vim              
21: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-gitgutter\plugin\gitgutter.vim                
22: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-gitgutter\autoload\gitgutter\utility.vim  
23: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-gitgutter\autoload\gitgutter\highlight.vim                
24: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-gitgutter\autoload\gitgutter\async.vim                
25: ~\.vim\plugged\DrawIt\plugin\cecutil.vim                             
26: ~\.vim\plugged\DrawIt\plugin\DrawItPlugin.vim                    
27: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\plugin\getscriptPlugin.vim        
28: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\plugin\gzip.vim               
29: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\plugin\logiPat.vim        
30: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\plugin\manpager.vim   
31: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\plugin\matchparen.vim                                       
32: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\plugin\netrwPlugin.vim                            
33: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\plugin\rrhelper.vim                           
34: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\plugin\spellfile.vim                      
35: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\plugin\tarPlugin.vim                  
36: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\plugin\tohtml.vim                 
37: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\plugin\vimballPlugin.vim      
38: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\plugin\zipPlugin.vim      
39: C:\Program Files\Vim\vim82\pack\dist\opt\matchit\plugin\matchit.vim                     
40: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\extensions.vim                   
41: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\extensions\quickfix.vim
42: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline.vim                                                                                                             
43: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\extensions\netrw.vim                                                                                            
44: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\extensions\term.vim                                                                                             
45: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\section.vim                                                                                                     
46: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\highlighter.vim                                                                                                 
47: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\extensions\hunks.vim                                                                                            
48: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\extensions\whitespace.vim                                                                                       
49: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\extensions\wordcount.vim                                                                                        
50: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\extensions\keymap.vim                                                                                           
51: ~\.vim\plugged\vimtex\autoload\vimtex.vim                                                                                                                   
52: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\extensions\vimtex.vim                                                                                           
53: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline-themes\autoload\airline\themes\molokai.vim                                                                                       
54: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\themes.vim    
55: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\builder.vim      
56: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-airline\autoload\airline\extensions\default.vim                                                                                          
57: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-gitgutter\autoload\gitgutter.vim                                                                                                         
58: ~\.vim\plugged\vim-gitgutter\autoload\gitgutter\hunk.vim  

https://i.gyazo.com/7ca9c5002ec1f95aa545c859b498cba5.png

Files:

_vimrc located in C:\\program files\\Vim\\_vimrc :

http://dpaste.com/202QAN3

vimrc_example.vim located in C:\\Program Files\\Vim\\vim82 :

http://dpaste.com/2MWVY7V

You see I would think you could delete vimrc_example but not sure if it is doing anything important?????? Please refer to the specific line numbers if you wish to point out anything incorrect.

Answer 1

Your C:\\Program Files\\Vim\\_vimrc has this on line 7:

" Vim with all enhancements
source $VIMRUNTIME/vimrc_example.vim

That's what's sourcing the vimrc_example.vim file. So it looks like you added this there, or copied it from somewhere (perhaps a guide or tip you found on the web?) or this _vimrc file is one you downloaded (or came with a Vim distribution you installed?) and had this in it already.

Anyways, that should explain why vimrc_example.vim is being sourced.

If you don't want that behavior anymore, you can either:

• Remove that source command from C:\\Program Files\\Vim\\_vimrc
• Or, if you don't want to modify that specific _vimrc file (because it came with a distro or similar), then you can instead start using a _vimrc file from a different location (note that this one corresponds to the one listed as "3rd user vimrc file" in the :version output, you could use $HOME/_vimrc or $HOME/vimfiles/vimrc that come before it.)

Note that the vimrc_example.vim file is not really originally meant to be sourced this way... Instead, it's meant to be a template for you to copy to your own _vimrc that you can then modify to your taste. So while you'll probably be fine with sourcing it, it's not how it was meant to be used.

You'll also note that the vimrc_example.vim file doesn't actually have a lot of commands itself... But a lot of what it does is actually coming from defaults.vim that is sourced from it. Please note that the defaults.vim file is meant to be sourced from your vimrc (see :help defaults.vim for more details.)

So you might want to consider swapping the sourcing of vimrc_example.vim with the sourcing of defaults.vim . Additionally, if you like some of the other settings from vimrc_example.vim (such as enabling backup and undofile ), consider replicating those into your vimrc.