vim how to unabbreviate

Question

I have abbreviated main to '#include.....', I was looking to unabbreviate it for one vim session, and tried the following

:una main

I get error 'E24: No such abbreviation'. The problem is, it's expanding the main in this command also. When I check the history, it shows

:una #include<stdio.h>

which proves that it has expanded the abbreviation.

I hope it's clear. Is there any way to solve this issue? I know abc will clear all abbreviations, but I am only looking to unabbreviate one abbreviation.

I am using this version:

$ vim --version
VIM - Vi IMproved 7.4 

Answer 1

You can insert CTRL-V somewhere in the abbreviation to avoid the abbreviation occur. After typing :una ma, press Ctrl+v twice, then typ in, your command mode now look like this:

:una ma^Vin

Press Enter and the abbreviation was gone.

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It's better if you only define abbreviation in which mode you want to operate. In your case, using iab to make main only work in insert mode. You won't face the same problem when you un-abbreviate it in command mode.