vim: Change statusline colour based on mode

Here is my vimrc statusline configuration:

" statusline
" format markers:
"   %t File name (tail) of file in the buffer
"   %m Modified flag, text is " [+]"; " [-]" if 'modifiable' is off.
"   %r Readonly flag, text is " [RO]".
"   %y Type of file in the buffer, e.g., " [vim]".
"   %= Separation point between left and right aligned items.
"   %l Line number.
"   %L Number of lines in buffer.
"   %c Column number.
"   %P percentage through buffer
set statusline=%t\ %m%r%y%=(ascii=\%03.3b,hex=\%02.2B)\ (%l/%L,%c)\ (%P)
set laststatus=2
" change highlighting based on mode
if version >= 700
  highlight statusLine cterm=bold ctermfg=black ctermbg=red
  au InsertLeave * highlight StatusLine cterm=bold ctermfg=black ctermbg=red
  au InsertEnter * highlight StatusLine cterm=bold ctermfg=black ctermbg=green
endif

It displays some useful information about the file and your position within it. It also automatically changes the colour of the statusline from red to green when you enter INSERT mode and back to red when you leave it.

This is what the status line looks like in INSERT mode:

Foo.java [RO][java]

(ascii=097,hex=61) (158/667,23) (26%)

To see a description of all possible status line variables type :help statusline in vim.

To see my complete vimrc visit my GitHub dotfiles repository.

Dotfiles in Git

I've added all my dotfiles (including my entire bash profile and vimrc) to my GitHub dotfiles repository. Whenever I make any changes, I will commit them to the repository.

In order to download the latest version, go to my Downloads page. Alternatively, if you have git installed, use the following command, to clone my repository:

git clone git://github.com/sharfah/dotfiles.git

This will download them to a directory called dotfiles. You can then copy the files recursively (cp -r) to your home directory (don't forget to backup your original files first!). Alternatively, use symlinks.

My vimrc

.vimrc is file used to configure Vim.

Update: My dotfiles are now in Git. For the latest version, please visit my GitHub dotfiles repository.

Here is a dump of mine:

set nocompatible        " vim, not vi
set history=50          " keep 50 lines of command line history
set ruler               " show the cursor position all the time
set noerrorbells        " don't make noise
set cursorline          " highlight current line
set laststatus=2        " always show the status line
set expandtab           " no real tabs please!
set number              " Display line numbers on the left
set showcmd             " Show partial commands in the last line of the screen
set ignorecase          " Use case insensitive search, except when using capital letters
set smartcase           " case insensitive patterns - when only lowercase is used
set smarttab            " smart tabulation and backspace
set autoindent
set showmode            " Show the current mode
set showmatch           " show matching braces
set hlsearch            " highlight searches
set incsearch           " find as you type
set title               " show title
set pastetoggle=<F11>   " F11 toggles indenting when pasting
set wildmenu            " make command-line completion bash like + menu
set wildmode=longest:full
set showcmd             " show the cmd being typed
set shiftwidth=4        " No 8 character tabs
set softtabstop=4
set undolevels=1000     " 1000 undos

" Allow backspacing over autoindent, line breaks and start of insert action
set backspace=indent,eol,start

"F10 toggles line numbers
map <silent> <F10> :set invnumber<cr>

syntax on

For a complete list of vim options check out the Vim documentation.