pi_zip.txt For Vim version 9.2. Last change: 2026 Jun 20
+====================+
| 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-contents
2. Usage...................................................zip-usage
3. Additional Extensions...................................zip-extension
4. History.................................................zip-history
==============================================================================
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.
The zip plugin tries to detect some common path traversal attack
patterns, but it may not catch all possible cases. Please be very
careful when using this plugin with untrusted input.
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_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"
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 May 2026) it holds:
let g:zipPlugin_ext='*.aar,*.apk,*.cbz,*.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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