Default Vim to always open help in a new tab - linux

Since I've started using Vim tabs (I'm a bit late to the game since they've been there since 2009!), I find I'd like most thing to default to tabs, so I always open files with vim -p file1 file2 etc. I would like :help / :h to always open in tabs also. I can do :tab help ctrl-w or :tab h ctrl-w but how can I use .vimrc to always default :h or :help to open in a new tab?
Additionally, is there a way to take an open file and push it into a tab, or to tell vim to take all open buffers and dynamically shift them all into tabs?

"take an open file and push it into a tab"
You can do that with this normal mode command:
<C-w>T
or this equivalent Ex command:
:wincmd T
See :help ctrl-w_t and :help :wincmd.
":h to always open in tabs"
You only need to put the aforementioned Ex command in after/ftplugin/help.vim:
wincmd T

You can use autocmd to always open help in a new tab
" This won't work if you open the same help file more than once
autocmd FileType help wincmd T
" This works
autocmd BufEnter *.txt if &filetype == 'help' | wincmd T | endif
Or you can define a new command to only open it in a new tab, when in a small screen or there are many to read, for example.
With the following, you can use :Tabhelp ....
function! Tabhelp(arg)
execute 'tab help '.a:arg
endfunction
command -nargs=? -complete=help Tabhelp call Tabhelp(<q-args>)

Related

How to autoupdate vimgrep search result in quickfix window?

How to autoupdate search vimgrep results from quickfix window after file is autoudpated due to change?
I use :vim/pattern/% to search and put result in quickfix window.
You can always do <up> on the command line with a prefix of :vimgrep to make searching history easier. You may also want to check out q: and the use ?// to search for the command to re-execute.
Assuming the quickfix title is set correctly, you can use following the command:
:execute get(getqflist({'title':1}), 'title')
This however I am not certain this will work with all :grep/:make commands. You also need a newer Vim version to get the Quckfix list title (Vim 8+ I think).
If you find yourself doing this often you may want to bind a mapping or command.
command! -nargs=0 -bar QFRefresh execute get(getqflist({'title':1}), 'title')
Now how to add do this automatically? We can use FileChangedShellPost autocmd to run our QFRefresh command once a file change has been detected. Add the following to you vimrc file:
augroup QFRefresh
autocmd!
autocmd FileChangedShellPost * if get(b:, 'qfrefresh_auto', 0) | QFRefresh | endif
augroup END
command! -nargs=0 -bar QFAutoRefreshToggle let b:qfrefresh_auto = !get(b:, 'qfrefresh_auto', 0) | echo b:qfrefresh_auto ? 'Auto Refresh' : 'No Auto Refresh'
Now you can use :QFAutoRefreshToggle to toggle refreshing a file.
Note: As stated before QFRefresh uses the quickfix's title to get the quickfix command. If the title is not set correctly a refresh may not work correctly. Also I am not sure what guarantees Vim has on triggering FileChangedShellPost. You can force a check via :checktime command.
For more help see:
:h getqflist()
:h :execute
:h :get
:h q:
:h cmdwin
:h c_Up
:h FileChangedShellPost
:h :checktime

How would you switch to the previous window using vim autocmd

I use NERDTree and have it set to automatically open when I open vim, but that causes the NERDTree window to be the one selected, which isn't what I want. I want to be able to go right into editing the file I opened, but autocmd vimenter * <c-w><c-p> just gives me an error on startup. Is there any way to do what I'm wanting to do, or is it impossible?
I'm not completely familiar with Vim and its configuration files, so excuse me if this is a simple question, but I haven't been able to find it anywhere.
:autocmd's execute ex-commands not normal mode commands. This means you can use :normal! or use :wincmd (method I prefer).
Your new command:
autocmd VimEnter * wincmd p
Note: wincmd p is the same as <c-w>p or <c-w><c-p> in normal mode.
For more help see:
:h :wincmd
:h :normal
:h :au

use search in "browse oldfiles" list?

Is there a way to search the list of recently used file in Vim? The list can be displayed using
browse old
but / does not work. I am aware of some plugins (e.g. MRU) but would prefer to not use a plugin.
Here's a short scriptlet that opens the file list in a scratch buffer. As a bonus, it defines a local <Enter> mapping to :edit the current file. With this, you can search with all built-in commands like /:
:new +setl\ buftype=nofile | 0put =v:oldfiles | nnoremap <buffer> <CR> :e <C-r>=getline('.')<CR><CR>
If you really want to avoid a plugin:
:new The old files will be printed into this buffer
:redir #X where X is a temporary register`
:silent echo(v:oldfiles) 'Silent' is there to not actually print onto your screen
:redir END
"Xp paste the temporary register
(optional) Do some regex-fu to put each file on its own line.
Put the above into a function and voila. Also :help redir
It's actually not very hard to write a simple (simplistic?) MRU command with completion that works like :edit or :split:
" this is our 'main' function: it couldn't be simpler
function! MRU(arg)
execute 'edit ' . a:arg
endfunction
" the completion function, again it's very simple
function! MRUComplete(ArgLead, CmdLine, CursorPos)
return filter(copy(v:oldfiles), 'v:val =~ a:ArgLead')
endfunction
" the actual command
" it accepts only one argument
" it's set to use the function above for completion
command! -nargs=1 -complete=customlist,MRUComplete MRU call MRU(<f-args>)
Here is a .vimrc version of code above. Just add following lines to .vimrc and map to desired keys (in my case it is 'o). In addition define patterns to remove "junk" files. Also cursor is placed at the top for convenience.
Most hard thing is to map an Enter inside nested nmap. ^V is the result of doubled Ctrl-V. ^R is the result of Ctrl-V+Ctrl-R. ^M is the result of Ctrl-V+Enter. You need manually repeat those symbols - not just Copy/Paste. Spent hours to understand this magic - so I'm glad to share. This technology lets you add own macroses in .vimrc.
" Browse Old Files
nnoremap <silent> 'o :enew<CR>:set buftype=nofile<CR>:set nobuflisted<CR>:exe "0put =v:oldfiles"<CR>:nmap <buffer> ^V^V^M :e ^V^V^R=getline('.')^V^V^M^V^V^M<CR>:g/\v(stdout\|nerd\|fugitive)/d<CR>:0<CR>
This is my take on Ingo's answer above for my .vimrc:
Opens the old files in either a vertical split or tab, then maps enter to open file under cursor! magic!
" open old files list and map enter to open line
" vertical split
noremap <leader>vv :vnew +setl\ buftype=nofile <bar> 0put =v:oldfiles <bar> nnoremap <lt>buffer> <lt>CR> :e <lt>C-r>=getline('.')<lt>CR><lt>CR><CR><CR>
" in new tab
noremap <leader>vt :tabnew +setl\ buftype=nofile <bar> 0put =v:oldfiles <bar> nnoremap <lt>buffer> <lt>CR> :e <lt>C-r>=getline('.')<lt>CR><lt>CR <CR><CR>

Prevent fuzzyfinder loading files in NERDTree window

I'm using both fuzzyfinder and NERDTree for vim. When my cursor is in the Window that NERDTree resides in and I use fuzzyfinder, it will open a file in the NERDTree window.
Is there a way to prevent this behaviour and force files not to open in the NERDTree window?
You'd have to use a custom mapping or override the default FuzzyFinder mapping to start it. In there you can then check for an open NERDTree, and jump to the previous window (or maybe close NERDTree), like this:
:nnoremap <silent> <F5> :<C-u>if exists("t:NERDTreeBufName") && bufwinnr(t:NERDTreeBufName) == winnr() <Bar> wincmd p <Bar> endif <Bar> FufBuffer<CR>
See if this script (at the bottom of the page works for you.

How to open pdf files under cursor (using 'gf') with external PDF readers in vim

The current gf command will open *.pdf files as ascii text. I want the pdf file opened with external tools (like okular, foxitreader, etc.). I tried to use autocmd to achieve it like this:
au BufReadCmd *.pdf silent !FoxitReader % & "open file under cursor with FoxitReader
au BufEnter *.pdf <Ctrl-O> "since we do not really open the file, go back to the previous buffer
However, the second autocmd failed to work as expected. I could not figure out a way to execute <Ctrl-o> command in a autocmd way.
Could anyone give me a hint on how to <Ctrl-O> in autocmd, or just directly suggest a better way to open pdf files with gf?
Thanks.
That's because what follows an autocmd is an ex command (the ones beginning
with a colon). To simulate the execution of a normal mode command, use the
:normal command. The problem is that you can't pass a <C-O> (and not
<Ctrl-O>) directly to :normal, it will be taken as literal characters (<,
then C, then r) which is not a very meaningful normal command. You have two
options:
1.Insert a literal ^O Character
Use controlvcontrolo to get one:
au BufEnter *.pdf normal! ^O
2.Use :execute to Build Your Command
This way you can get a more readable result with the escaped sequence:
au BufEnter *.pdf exe "normal! \<c-o>"
Anyway, this is not the most appropriate command. <C-O> just jumps to the
previous location in the jump list, so your buffer remains opened. I would do
something like:
au BufEnter *.pdf bdelete
Instead. Still I have another solution for you.
Create another command with a map, say gO. Then use your PDF reader
directly, or a utility like open if you're in MacOS X or Darwin (not sure if
other Unix systems have it, and how it's called). It's just like double clicking
the icon of the file passed as argument, so it will open your default PDF reader
or any other application configured to open any file by default, like images or
so.
:nnoremap gO :!open <cfile><CR>
This <cfile> will be expanded to the file under the cursor. So if you want to
open the file in Vim, use gf. If you want to open it with the default
application, use gO.
If you don't have this command or prefer a PDF-only solution, create a map to
your preferred command:
:nnoremap gO :!FoxitReader <cfile> &<CR>
If the default app is acceptable, then simply using :!open % in command mode works. You can always map this to a suitable leader combination in your vim config file etc.
If you want something that works with normal mode, then you could try something like the following (i use this too for opening HTML files), and modify to your own needs:
if has('win32') || has ('win64')
autocmd FileType html nmap <Leader>g :silent ! start firefox "%"<cr>
elseif has('mac')
autocmd FileType html nmap <Leader>g :!open "%"<cr><cr>
endif

Resources