Vim filetype detecting

Question

Can Vim detect filetype of a buffer with contents, but which doesn't have a name yet (not yet saved)? :filetype detect doesn't do much.

Answer 1

Most filetypes are detected by their file name (and/or location), some (mostly those with a #! shebang line) by their contents.

If you don't want to save the buffer yet, but have detection, you can name the buffer via :file name.ext. Then, the detection via :filetype detect will work.

If you just want syntax highlighting (and corresponding filetype settings) quickly, just manually set the filetype via :setf name.

Answer 2

You can do this manually.

:set filetype=EXT

Note that EXT is the extension for the filetype you want, not necessarily the name of the language itself.