# Vim documentation: pi_zip

main help file

    *pi_zip.txt*	For Vim version 9.2.  Last change: 2026 Feb 14

    				+====================+
    				| Zip File Interface |
    				+====================+

    Author:  Charles E. Campbell  <NcampObell@SdrPchip.AorgM-NOSPAM>
    	  (remove NOSPAM from Campbell's email first)

    Copyright: Copyright (C) 2005-2015 Charles E Campbell	 *zip-copyright*
    	The VIM LICENSE (see |copyright|) applies to the files in this
    	package, including zipPlugin.vim, zip.vim, and pi_zip.vim.  except use
    	"zip.vim" instead of "VIM".  Like anything else that's free, zip.vim
    	and its associated files are provided *as is* and comes with no
    	warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied.  No guarantees of
    	merchantability.  No guarantees of suitability for any purpose.  By
    	using this plugin, you agree that in no event will the copyright
    	holder be liable for any damages resulting from the use of this
    	software. Use at your own risk!

    ==============================================================================

    1. Contents						*zip* *zip-contents*
       1. Contents................................................|zip-contentsYXXY
       2. Usage...................................................|zip-usageYXXY
       3. Additional Extensions...................................|zip-extensionYXXY
       4. History.................................................|zip-historyYXXY

    ==============================================================================

    2. Usage						*zip-usage* *zip-manual*

       When one edits a *.zip file, this plugin will handle displaying a
       contents page.  Select a file to edit by moving the cursor atop
       the desired file, then hit the <return> key.  After editing, one may
       also write to the file.  Currently, one may not make a new file in
       zip archives via the plugin.

       COMMANDS

    								*zip-x*
       x : extract a listed file when the cursor is atop it

       OPTIONS

    							*g:zip_nomax*

       If this variable exists and is true, the file window will not be
       automatically maximized when opened.

    							*g:zip_shq*
       Different operating systems may use one or more shells to execute
       commands.  Zip will try to guess the correct quoting mechanism to
       allow spaces and whatnot in filenames; however, if it is incorrectly
       guessing the quote to use for your setup, you may use
    	g:zip_shq
        which by default is a single quote under Unix ('') and a double quote
       under Windows (").  If you'd rather have no quotes, simply set
       g:zip_shq to the empty string (let g:zip_shq= "") in your <.vimrc>.

    							*g:zip_unzipcmd*
       Use this option to specify the program which does the duty of "unzip".
       It's used during browsing. By default:
    	let g:zip_unzipcmd= "unzip"

    							*g:zip_zipcmd*
       Use this option to specify the program which does the duty of "zip".
       It's used during the writing (updating) of a file already in a zip
       file; by default:
    	let g:zip_zipcmd= "zip"

    							*g:zip_extractcmd*
       This option specifies the program (and any options needed) used to
       extract a file from a zip archive.  By default,
    	let g:zip_extractcmd= g:zip_unzipcmd

    							*g:zip_exec*
       For security reasons, one may prevent that Vim runs executables
       automatically when opening a buffer.  This option (default: "1")
       can be used to prevent executing the "unzip" command when set to
       "0":
    	let g:zip_exec=0

       FALLBACK TO POWERSHELL CORE

       This plugin will first attempt to use the (more capable) GNU zip/unzip
       commands.  If these commands are not available or fail, and the user is
       using PowerShell Core (i.e., the 'shell' option matches "pwsh"), the
       plugin will fall back to a PowerShell Core cmdlet.  The PowerShell Core
       cmdlets are limited: they cannot write or extract files within
       subdirectories of a zip archive.  The advantage, however, is that no
       separate unzip binary needs to be installed.

       PREVENTING LOADING

       If for some reason you do not wish to use vim to examine zipped files,
       you may put the following two variables into your <.vimrc> to prevent
       the zip plugin from loading:

    	let g:loaded_zipPlugin= 1
    	let g:loaded_zip      = 1

    ==============================================================================

    3. Additional Extensions					*zip-extension*

       Apparently there are a number of archivers which generate zip files that
       don't use the .zip extension (.jar, .xpi, etc).  To handle such files,
       place a line in your <.vimrc> file:

    	au BufReadCmd *.jar,*.xpi call zip#Browse(expand("<amatch>"))

       One can simply extend this line to accommodate additional extensions that
       should be treated as zip files.

       Alternatively, one may change *g:zipPlugin_ext* in one's .vimrc.
       Currently (as of October 2025) it holds:

            let g:zipPlugin_ext='*.aar,*.apk,*.celzip,*.crtx,*.docm,*.docx,
           \ *.dotm,*.dotx,*.ear,*.epub,*.gcsx,*.glox,*.gqsx,*.ja,*.jar,*.kmz,
           \ *.odb,*.odc,*.odf,*.odg,*.odi,*.odm,*.odp,*.ods,*.odt,*.otc,*.otf,
           \ *.otg,*.oth,*.oti,*.otp,*.ots,*.ott,*.oxt,*.pkpass,*.potm,*.potx,
           \ *.ppam,*.ppsm,*.ppsx,*.pptm,*.pptx,*.sldx,*.thmx,*.vdw,*.war,*.whl,
           \ *.wsz, *.xap,*.xlam,*.xlsb,*.xlsm,*.xlsx,*.xltm,*.xltx,*.xpi,*.zip'

    ==============================================================================

    4. History							*zip-history* {{{1
       unreleased:
           Sep 19, 2025 * support PowerShell Core
           Jul 12, 2025 * drop ../ on write to prevent path traversal attacks
           Mar 11, 2025 * handle filenames with leading '-' correctly
           Aug 21, 2024 * simplify condition to detect MS-Windows
           Aug 18, 2024 * correctly handle special globbing chars
           Aug 05, 2024 * clean-up and make it work with shellslash on Windows
           Aug 05, 2024 * workaround for the FreeBSD's unzip
           Aug 04, 2024 * escape '[' in name of file to be extracted
           Jul 30, 2024 * fix opening remote zipfile
           Jul 24, 2024 * use delete() function
           Jul 23, 2024 * fix 'x' command
           Jun 16, 2024 * handle whitespace on Windows properly (#14998)
       v33 Dec 07, 2021 * *.xlam mentioned twice in zipPlugin
       v32 Oct 22, 2021 * to avoid an issue with a vim 8.2 patch, zipfile: has
    		      been changed to zipfile:// . This often shows up
    		      as zipfile:/// with zipped files that are root-based.
       v29 Apr 02, 2017 * (Klartext) reported that an encrypted zip file could
    		      opened but the swapfile held unencrypted contents.
    		      The solution is to edit the contents of a zip file
    		      using the |:noswapfile| modifier.
       v28 Oct 08, 2014 * changed the sanity checks for executables to reflect
    		      the command actually to be attempted in zip#Read()
    		      and zip#Write()
    		    * added the extraction of a file capability
           Nov 30, 2015 * added *.epub to the |g:zipPlugin_ext| list
           Sep 13, 2016 * added *.apk to the |g:zipPlugin_ext| list and
    		      sorted the suffices.
       v27 Jul 02, 2013 * sanity check: zipfile must have "PK" as its first
    		      two bytes.
    		    * modified to allow zipfile: entries in quickfix lists
       v26 Nov 15, 2012 * (Jason Spiro) provided a lot of new extensions that
    		      are synonyms for .zip
       v25 Jun 27, 2011 * using keepj with unzip -Z
    		      (consistent with the -p variant)
    		    * (Ben Staniford) now uses
    			has("win32unix") && executable("cygpath")
    		      before converting to cygwin-style paths
       v24 Jun 21, 2010 * (Cédric Bosdonnat) unzip seems to need its filenames
    		      fnameescape'd as well as shellquote'd
    		    * (Motoya Kurotsu) inserted keepj before 0d to protect
    		      jump list
       v17 May 09, 2008 * arno caught a security bug
       v15 Sep 07, 2007 * &shq now used if not the empty string for g:zip_shq
       v14 May 07, 2007 * using b:zipfile instead of w:zipfile to avoid problem
                          when editing alternate file to bring up a zipfile
       v10 May 02, 2006 * now using "redraw then echo" to show messages, instead
                          of "echo and prompt user"
    		    * g:zip_shq provided to allow for quoting control for the
    		      command being passed via :r! ... commands.
       v8 Apr 10, 2006 * Bram Moolenaar reported that he received an error message
                         due to "Pattern not found: ^.*\%0c"; this was caused by
    		     stridx finding a Name... at the beginning of the line;
    		     zip.vim tried 4,$s/^.*\%0c//, but that doesn't work.
    		     Fixed.
       v7 Mar 22, 2006 * escaped some characters that can cause filename handling
                         problems.
       v6 Dec 21, 2005 * writing to files not in directories caused problems -
                         fixed (pointed out by Christian Robinson)
       v5 Nov 22, 2005 * report option workaround installed
       v3 Oct 18, 2005 * <amatch> used instead of <afile> in autocmds
       v2 Sep 16, 2005 * silenced some commands (avoiding hit-enter prompt)
                       * began testing under Windows; works thus far
    		   * filetype detection fixed
          Nov 03, 2005 * handles writing zipfiles across a network using
                         netrw#NetWrite()
       v1 Sep 15, 2005 * Initial release, had browsing, reading, and writing

    ==============================================================================
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