Embed vim settings in file

Question

In some files I can see a commented line, usually the last, with vim settings. Does vim read these settings? If it does, are any limitations of what kind of settings man can put there?

Answer 1

You can check out in the online manual: http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/options.html#modeline

And this faq item also refers to it: http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/vimfaq.html#19.5

Answer 2

They're called modelines and while I'm not sure the extent you can go with them, here's a link to the vimtips wiki with some examples:

http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Modeline_magic

help modeline

from within vim to check out the official docs.