How do I trim whitespace automatically?

Question

I've been doing this:

au BufRead,BufWrite * if ! &bin | silent! %s/\s\+$//ge | endif

The problem is that it moves the cursor sometimes when I save the file.

Related: What's the simplest way to strip trailing whitespace from all lines in a file? and How to remove trailing white-spaces automatically while typing? — ggorlen, Mar 31 '23 at 03:09

score 8 · Answer 1 · answered Jan 11 '20 at 00:55

8

Try this:

autocmd BufWritePre * %s/\s\+$//e

if you want to do this for BufReadPre as well you can

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/356126/how-can-you-automatically-remove-trailing-whitespace-in-vim

answered Jan 11 '20 at 00:55

gdoubleod

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FWIW this clobbers the search pattern. If you want to keep the search pattern unchanged, you can use keepp %s/\s\+$//e. – Hoblovski Mar 31 '23 at 05:32

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 19 '20 at 13:41

One option is something like this:

" ~/.vim/plugin/whitespace.vim
function! s:trim_trailing_whitespace() abort
  let l:view = winsaveview()
  keeppatterns %substitute/\m\s\+$//e
  call winrestview(l:view)
endfunction
augroup trim_spaces
  autocmd!
  autocmd BufWritePre * call <SID>trim_trailing_whitespace()
augroup END

Where we save and restore the view to keep the cursor position.

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 01 '23 at 18:01

0

One solution is to have a valid .editorconfig (https://editorconfig.org/) with the appropriate whitespace setting trim_trailing_whitespace, and an editor like NeoVim 0.9 that supports it. It should remove the whitespace for you.

edited Apr 01 '23 at 18:01

D. Ben Knoble

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answered Mar 31 '23 at 05:00

Neil G

193
8

1

I suspect your solution is unclear to most :-) For .editorconfig to work you probably need a plugin or a special Neovim distribution. It would be good to mention which one. I would personally avoid 'modern' which is an opinion and do not add value to the answer. – Vivian De Smedt Mar 31 '23 at 05:28
@VivianDeSmedt That's why I said NeoVim 0.9, which has support built-in. – Neil G Mar 31 '23 at 05:53
@VivianDeSmedt As for modern, it is an opinion, but the idea is that most editors are moving to support it. And it's a lot more of an elegant (also an opinion) solution that the buffer-write hook. – Neil G Mar 31 '23 at 05:58
Thanks I didn't know it was built-in in Neovim 0.9 maybe could you explain what to put in .editorconfig :-) – Vivian De Smedt Mar 31 '23 at 06:10
I agree it is a nice feature but for the sake of the atmosphere of the site I would recommend to let the user decide by their own :-) But thanks for your contribution! I write this message only to pass you what I understood of the guideline of the site :-) – Vivian De Smedt Mar 31 '23 at 06:14
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@VivianDeSmedt no worries, just trying to add a helpful answer to steer people to move to better solutions. I wish I had known about editor-config before. And that said, my opinion about what's "modern" doesn't prevent other people from making their own decisions :) – Neil G Mar 31 '23 at 06:32
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Given that the validity of "modern" in this context can change as the answer ages, I've opted to edit it away. The answer will stand on its merit as a solution to the problem and not on how new it is. That said, community drives consensus here. So if the majority feel the characterisation is important or necessary, it should stand. – D. Ben Knoble Apr 01 '23 at 18:01

How do I trim whitespace automatically?

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