Set global 'formatoptions' that doesn't get overwritten by runtime files

[Danielkonge]

In my init.lua (or really a file sourced by init.lua) I have:

vim.opt.formatoptions = "cqrnj" -- default: "tcqj"

But for most files I open (e.g. Lua files) :lua= vim.opt.formatoptions:get() gives

{
  c = true,
  j = true,
  l = true,
  n = true,
  o = true,
  q = true,
  r = true
}

and :set verbose=1 formatoptions? gives

formatoptions=njcroql
	Last set from /opt/homebrew/Cellar/neovim/HEAD-f69658b/share/nvim/runtime/ftplugin/lua.vim line 20

which makes sense since I can see formatoptions being set here:

neovim/runtime/ftplugin/lua.vim

Line 20 in 444f37f

setlocal formatoptions-=t formatoptions+=croql

But I would like my formatoptions to be global and not overwritten by the runtime files. What is the recommended way to do this?

So far I have been making sure my settings work as expected by using the following autocmd:

local daniel_format = vim.api.nvim_create_augroup('DanielFormat', { clear = true })
vim.api.nvim_create_autocmd("BufEnter", {
	group = daniel_format,
	pattern = "*",
	callback = function()
		vim.opt.formatoptions = "cqrnj"
	end
})

[wookayin]

setlocal formatoptions-=t formatoptions+=croql

These will change local &formatoptions only, not the global option. You can probably see that vim.opt_global.formatopions would have remained unchanged. Also try :setglobal formatoptions?.

[Danielkonge]

I know they only change the local option, but the local option is what dictates the setting when I open e.g. a Lua file, so I am looking for a way to always use the global setting if possible. (My autocmd works fine for this, but I thought there might be an easier/better way.)

[Danielkonge]

Also, :setglobal formatoptions? gives

 formatoptions=cqrnj

as expected. This is not a bug, more of a question about the best way to do what I want.

[clason]

There might be more targeted events (FileType, OptionSet), but an autocommand -- or local ftplugin is The Way.

[Danielkonge]

I have tried OptionSet with pattern formatoptions, but couldn't get it to work (didn't try that hard to be fair).

I will probably just keep my current autocmd from above or use FileType with pattern "*" (I guess that is more targeted correctly, since it is the runtime ftplugin files that change the setting), since these work fine. I just thought there might be some way to "lock" a setting globally.

Thanks for the quick responses.

[clason]

No, you can't "lock" global settings.

[Danielkonge]

I don't know that much about the option code in general, but would it make sense to have something like vim.opt_always.<option> (maybe with a better name) that takes precedence over all current versions of vim.opt.<option> (opt_local, opt_global and vim.wo, vim.bo, ...)?

This is not that important to me, so I don't really want to create a GitHub issue if it would be very hard to implement, or you think it doesn't really make sense to have in neovim.

[clason]

You don't know what you're asking....

Yes, this would be very hard to implement, and likely to break all manner of Vim compatibility (important for plugins).

(The Lua code is just a more or less thin wrapper over the internal option handling, where this would have to be introduced.)