[SOLVED] Vim colors

slack_ · 09-04-2014, 06:30 PM

I created a ~/.vimrc which contains this:

Code:

colorscheme dante

Which refers to dante.vim located in /usr/share/vim/vim74/colors/

When I close the terminal and open a new one, and try to edit a file, the default colorscheme still shows up. I know it's not using the one I specified in .vimrc because after I edit the file I enter:
:colorscheme dante
And it changes to dante. People make it sound so simple, but the colorscheme specified in ~/.vimrc still only takes affect when I run the :colorscheme command. How do I get it to work even on reboot/new terminal?

astrogeek · 09-04-2014, 06:37 PM

Is it possible that you have two colorscheme lines in your .vimrc, and the second is resetting the dante line?

It really is so simple, when you get all the little duckies in a row.

If not, could you post your ~/.vimrc and the dante.vim file for us.

GazL · 09-04-2014, 07:20 PM

I'm not an expert but I think they must have changed the definitions needed for vim colour files at some point.

Check the colour file contains something like:

Code:

hi clear
set background=dark
if exists("syntax_on")
  syntax reset
endif
let g:colors_name = "gazl"

where g:colors_name is set to the name of the colour file. I've found that without this, vim won't load the colour scheme from a statement in vimrc, but it will work if loaded from within vim with :color.

slack_ · 09-04-2014, 07:22 PM

Ok, I just noticed that the colorscheme DOES indeed take effect, when I run vim WITHOUT sudo. If I run it with sudo it doesn't load the colorscheme.

astrogeek · 09-04-2014, 07:31 PM

You will need to have the root .vimrc also invoke the desired color scheme.

Surely you are not running Vim with sudo for normal uses are you?

slack_ · 09-04-2014, 08:14 PM

Ok that makes sense. No, I only run it using sudo when I need to edit, say, a /etc file that is write-protected or something.

astrogeek · 09-04-2014, 10:10 PM

Ok, just wasn't sure from your other posts.

So, yes, when using Vim with sudo it will use /root/.vimrc instead of the user's ~/.vimrc.

If you are the only user or admin for the box, just copy your own .vimrc over to root and you will always be in a familiar environment - it's what I do, must be right!