How to activate an existing GVim window - vim

What I'm searching for is a command similar to:
gvim --remote-silent FILE
But without the FILE part. So basically: launch a new GVim instance if none exists, and otherwise activate/focus the existing window. I prefer not to use a dummy file (eg. gvim --remote-silent ~/.vimrc) as that would mess up my bufferlist/MRU.
The reason I'm looking for something like this, is that I'd like to configure a shortcut for GVim (Mod+8) to use in the Linux XFCE window manager.

You can re-activate an existing GVIM instance with
$ gvim --remote-send ":call foreground()<CR>"
That fails when there's no existing server. In that case, just spawn a fresh instance, or check beforehand with gvim --serverlist.

In Ubuntu gvim --remote-silent works but doesn't activate editor window and just waves its icon in sidebar. To change this behavior look here.
This behaviour can be changed from the command line, open a terminal
and type:
dconf write
/org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/core/focus-prevention-level 0
To restore the default value:
dconf write
/org/compiz/profiles/unity/plugins/core/focus-prevention-level 1

Related

p4 change not working with gvim

I use perforce as source code repository. p4 change command is used to create a changelist of opened files. If I set setenv EDITOR gvim and then run this command then gvim opens and I add some description and then save and quit. I get below error. Same error does not come if EDITOR is not set, I mean in that case vim opens. Any idea to fix this issue?
sachina#inn-sachina-vm[285] p4 change
Error in change specification.
Error detected at line 29.
Change description missing. You must enter one.
Hit return to continue...
Applications that invoke EDITOR assume that the command blocks until editing is done and the editor was closed. While true for vim, the GUI version gvim launches in the background; i.e. the command returns immediately.
You can avoid this via the :help -f command-line option:
setenv EDITOR 'gvim -f'

open vim file in new unix terminal

How to open existing vim file from unix shell (bash) in new terminal (not in same/new tab of existing terminal) on local machine ?
Also is there any way to split file on new terminal (not in same/new tab of existing terminal) from inside vim ?
How to open a new terminal is platform dependent; This doesn't really have a whole lot to do with vim itself.
For example, if you're using GNOME you could do this by running gnome-terminal -e "vim $filename" & disown. Look up the documentation for the terminal emulator you're using to find out how to launch a new terminal and execute commands in it.
Another (IMHO much better) solution is to simply use GVim for situations like these, unless you have a very good reason to run vim in the terminal (if you're running this over ssh this won't work anyway, in that case you're better off using a terminal multiplexer like screen or tmux).
PS: bash isn't a terminal (emulator); bash is a shell. If you just run a new instance of bash it'll run in the same terminal, which is not what you want here.
Try this:
vim [your file]
If this isn't working for you, make sure you have it installed with:
sudo apt-get install vim
If you're already IN vim do
:edit [your file]

How to make Vim open in a terminal instead of XQuartz when logged onto a remote server?

When I'm on my own computer's terminal, when I enter the command vim filename and vim opens the file in the terminal.
When I log into my school account using SSH, and I enter vim filename, nothing happens.
I assume it's trying to open it using XQuartz, which I recently uninstalled.
How do I make it open in the terminal window, like on my own computer?
I have tried not using -Y when logging on, but it doesn't make a difference.
Actually, there is a workaround. You can try to edit it using the scp option in Vim.
Just run vim scp://user#schoolserver.edu/path/to/your/file from your terminal and you'll start editing the file using Vim from your local machine.
If you want to learn more about scp in Vim type :help scp in Vim.

What is the "--servername" in "vim --servername VIM test.R"?

I just installed the vim-r-plugin on a Linux server and I found this issue (see below figure) prompted from the R console window (vimcom: Did you pass the --servername argument to Vim? ...) when I typed "\rf":
To solve the issue I followed the instructions here and was trying to find the "servername" and tested some commands such like:
But I have no idea what's the "--servername" I should use here. Any suggestions or answers? Thanks!
--servername is usually followed by some arbitrarily chosen name. This allows external processes like those used by your R plugin to interact with a running instance of Vim.
When the feature is available, GVim always starts as if you added --servername GVIMn where n is a number incremented for each new GUI window. You can see it on the right of the window title.
But you are using Vim so you'll need to do that explicitely:
$ vim --servername FOO

How Can I Get MinTTY (Cygwin Terminal) to Open gvim in a New Window?

I have installed mintty. After that I am not able to open gvim. As suggested in same question for emacs I use:
1) mintty gvim
this opens a new window with message :
E233: cannot open displayE852: The child process failed to start the GUI
Press ENTER or type command to continue
Also I have set : export DISPLAY=":0"
what I am doing wrong
You probably don't have an X server running. Look here for instructions on setting it up. Personally, I find it easier to just uninstall the cygwin version of gvim and use the windows version instead.
I had the same problem when starting gvim and was getting the error message as above.
My default DISPLAY setting is :0.0
However, I noticed in the output of my startxwin, that it said
"""
Rules = "base" Model = "pc105" Layout = "us" Variant = "none" Options = "none"
winMultiWindowXMsgProc - DISPLAY=:2.0
winInitMultiWindowWM - DISPLAY=:2.0
winProcEstablishConnection - winInitClipboard returned.
"""
I set my display to :2.0 and it works now.
ie
export DISPLAY=:2.0
Hope this helps.
[Further to this, the script seems to check /tmp/.X11-unix/Xn where n in Xn is a number.
It seems I had X0 and X1 already there, probably leftover from an older bad shutdown.
Deleting this seems to restore it back to using :0.0
]
you can define a function in your .bash_profile (you need to make sure gvim.exe is in your $PATH)
vim() {
echo "cygstart gvim.exe --remote-tab-silent $(cygpath -w "$#")"
cygstart gvim.exe --remote-tab-silent $(cygpath -w "$#")
}
For me, gvim was being picked up from /usr/bin/gvim
I installed gvim as a windows application and then invoked it from its windows path directly as
[cygwin$] /cygdrive/C/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Vim/vim74/gvim
And it worked.
Like user2250246, I just punted on trying to get cygwin's gvim to start working again, but I didn't want to type or alias gvim. (Which I probably should've. The alias is easier.)
I added the Windows app's gvim's path to my Windows environment variables:
Get the path to gvim by finding its icon in your Start menu and
right-clicking on it, then opening Properties. Find the Target link
and copy all but the final 'gvim.exe'.
Go to Control Panel -> System -> Advanced System Settings -> Environment
Variables -> System variables. Select Path. Click Edit.
Paste in that path at the start. Click OK. Click OK.
Then Cygwin will put your Windows gvim on its path, but it will put /usr/bin ahead of it on its own path. So
mv /usr/bin/gvim /usr/bin/gvim-screwed-up
mv /usr/bin/gvimdiff /usr/bin/gvimdiff-screwed-up
and your cygwin will find & run the Windows-installed gvim, with or without your cygwin X server running.
Unfortunately, it will no longer load your cygwin .vimrc! You'll have to fix that yourself.

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