So, the :Vexplore command in vim opens a nice little directory browser to the left.
But how do I then open a file from that side-pane into the main window on the right?
One would assume there's a simple mapping for it, but I can't seem to find it.
I think you want o or P
Also, have a look at the documentation, e.g.
:he netrw-p11
It turns out it's just a single line in .vimrc:
let g:netrw_browse_split=4 " Open file in previous buffer
Source: http://vimcasts.org/episodes/the-file-explorer/#comment-45366660
I'm sure what you're looking for is this:
:Vexplore!
This is the same command you would use to navigate to different windows in Vim (like quickfix window, or different split), everything is explained in
:help windows.txt
But to answer to your question directly:
CTRLwCTRLh to move to the left window
CTRLwCTRLl to move to the right window
then Enter to select the file you want to open.
You might want to read :help netrw as well
The latest netrw plugin (up to v153f) now provides the :Lexplore command, which opens an explorer on the right hand side of the vim display. It sets g:netrw_chgwin so edits occur in the window to the right of the netrw window. You can get it from http://www.drchip.org/astronaut/vim/index.html#NETRW .
Related
I've tried out the NERDTree plugin for vim, and it's very powerful but is probably overkill for what I use it for. I'm not anti-plugin in general, but I don't like relying on plugins when I'm not using them to their full extent.
What I'm really looking for is the ability to open the file browser in a split, similar to how :Sex and :Vex work. I'd select the file I want, which would open in the original window, and the file browser goes away.
Are there any built-in commands that would work this way?
See :help netrw for all the mappings available in :Ex and friends.
The one you want is simply P.
By the way, netrw is also a plugin.
I like to have two or three vertical windows with code and a NERDTree to the left, among other things. From any of these windows I'd like to instantly jump to the NERDTree window, and when I choose to edit a file, I'd like that file to show up in the window I was in.
Are these things possible with the current state of the NERDTree plugin? It seems to me that :NERDTreeToggle is supposed to do the first thing I ask for according to the help, but no matter how I open a file, it always shows up in the window right next to my NERDTree.
Try :NERDTreeFocus to jump to the NERDTree window from any open window. This was added relatively recently, it seems:
https://github.com/scrooloose/nerdtree/pull/132
When I open a directory browsing in vim, I can open a file by moving the cursor to a file name and pressing Enter.
Now, is there any command to go back to the previous directory browsing?
If not, is there a way to open a file without closing the directory browsing mode?
You can go back to the last buffer using :b#.
If you just opened a file, then it will bring you just back to the directory browsing.
Update:
Since this answer happened to be accept as the correct answer and is thus on the top, I'd like to summarize a bit the answers, including the one by #romainl that imho is the correct one.
:Rex[plore]: Return to Explorer (by #romainl) vimdoc.sourceforge
:Explorer: opens the Explorer, same as :E (if no other command starting with E is defined (see stackoverflow), or as :Ex (see vim.wikia) (by #drug_user841417).
:b#: goes back to the "previously edited buffers". See vim.wikia
:e# or Ctrl-6 (or Ctrl-^): goes back to the "previously edited file" (by #aman-jain). See vim.wikia
Ctrl-O: jump back to the previous (older) location, not necessarily a buffer (by #Peyman). See vim.wikia
You can use Ctrl-O to go back to the previous buffer.
The proper command for returning to the netrw listing is :Rex[plore]. You can run it even after you have jumped to and from dozens of files.
:Ex will take you back (and show you what you edited and didn't save).
I rely on Ctrl ^ to go back and forth b/w two buffers.
I usually just use :E. It's easy to remember and gets you back to the directory listing of the file you had open.
I'd like to use the Jump-motions shortcut keys to do any 'go back' or 'go forward' actions in Vim. It makes vim like a web browser.
You can search for Vim's help for more details.
Vim :h jump-motions
So like as mentioned in other answers ctrl+O works cool, and hope vim's help-file let you learn more commands like ctrl+I .
Ctrl + I : Go Forward
Ctrl + O : Go Back
Invoking :help in Vim, I got the help manual page with split window. I want to maximize the help manual window and close the other window.
How can I do this? What is the Vim command to do this?
You can employ Ctrl+WT (that's a capital T) to move any open window to its own tab.
As mentioned by others Ctrl+W_ / Ctrl+W| to maximize within the current tab/window layout (while respecting min height/width settings for various other windows).
(Ctrl+W= resizes all windows to equal size, respecting the minimum height/width settings)
Edit To the comment
start vim (e.g. gvim /tmp/test.cpp)
invoke help :help various-motions - opens a split window
move help into separate tab maximized: C-wT
enjoy reading the fine manual :)
move the help back into the original tab:
mAZZ<C-w>S`A
mA: set global mark A
ZZ: close help buffer/tab
C-wS: split original window
`A: jump to saved mark A
You can avoid using a mark for normal (non-help) buffers. Let me know if you're interested.
With :help [topic] you open up a topic that interests you.
Ctrl-Wo will minimize the other windows (leaving only the help window open/maximized).
(Ctrl-Wo means holding Ctrl press W, and then o)
You can expand a window to its maximum size using Ctrl+W_ (underscore). The final size of the expanded window will be constrained by the value of the winminheight option. When you close the help window, your previous window(s) will be restored to their former sizes.
I prefer to use tabs for that. Use
:tabedit %
to open a file maximized in a new tab, once you are done return to the old setup with all windows using
:tabclose
I find this the ideal solution as this works together with :cw and the Tagbar plugin. Taken from: vim.wikia
I like to use 'M' to maximize and 'm' to minimize.
It won't look great as it'll shrink all the other open windows that are in the same buffer, but I found it to be more useful when dealing with tabs. So for instance, instead of opening a new tab for that file then having to close it after you're done with it or want to minimize it.
nnoremap <C-W>M <C-W>\| <C-W>_
nnoremap <C-W>m <C-W>=
The reason for nnoremap is that I don't care about recursive mapping, but just map should also work.
Install the plugin vim-maximizer, then you can maximize the current window and restore with F3
You can get help window in full size without closing/resizing any other windows by using
tab help {topic}
This will open help window in a new tab, other windows will be left as-is (really resized so that tabline can be shown, but this is only one additional line above). You can close help as usual: at least :bw<CR> and <C-w>c work for me closing new tab as well.
Plugin ZoomWin
by Charles Campbell
This plugin remaps
Ctrl-w o
to do both: maximize and restore previous layout.
This plugin can be downloaded from two locations
https://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=508 (v24)
http://www.drchip.org/astronaut/vim/index.html#ZOOMWIN (v25)
To get just the help up, then close the other window, do this: :helpCTRL-WCTRL-W:close. Then you'll have just the help up.
Somehow the ZoomWin plugin did not work at all for me, I now see there are other plugins but I already wrote this and gives me the exact effect I wanted (with a minor quirk detailed below):
function! ToggleZoom(zoom)
if exists("t:restore_zoom") && (a:zoom == v:true || t:restore_zoom.win != winnr())
exec t:restore_zoom.cmd
unlet t:restore_zoom
elseif a:zoom
let t:restore_zoom = { 'win': winnr(), 'cmd': winrestcmd() }
exec "normal \<C-W>\|\<C-W>_"
endif
endfunction
augroup restorezoom
au WinEnter * silent! :call ToggleZoom(v:false)
augroup END
nnoremap <silent> <Leader>+ :call ToggleZoom(v:true)<CR>
Use the mapped key (Leader and + in my case) to toggle between maximized / previous layout. If you change to another split in the same tab, maximization turns off.
If you change tabs, the split stays maximized, although somehow it won't cover the complete full width anymore, with the width minimized windows gaining back some 4 columns or something. Anyway it works acceptably for me even with that minor quirk.
edit: somehow it works fine now, must've messed up in some way before.
in your .vimrc, just place
nmap - :res<CR>:vertical res<CR>$
When you want maximize current window, just press - in command mode. Press = when you want to restore the last status of multiple window
I usually:
Choose the needed file.
Open it in a tab(t character, by default).
But how I can jump back to NERDTree to open one more file in a tab?
Temporary solution I use now in my .vimrc file:
map <F10> :NERDTree /path/to/root/of/my/project
But it's not very useful to start navigation again and again from the root directory.
Ctrl-ww
This will move between open windows (so you could hop between the NERDTree window, the file you are editing and the help window, for example... just hold down Ctrl and press w twice).
Ctrl+ww cycle though all windows
Ctrl+wh takes you left a window
Ctrl+wj takes you down a window
Ctrl+wk takes you up a window
Ctrl+wl takes you right a window
NERDTree opens up in another window. That split view you're seeing? They're called windows in vim parlance. All the window commands start with CTRL-W. To move from adjacent windows that are left and right of one another, you can change focus to the window to the left of your current window with CTRL-w h, and move focus to the right with CTRL-w l. Likewise, CTRL-w j and CTRL-w k will move you between horizontally split windows (i.e., one window is above the other). There's a lot more you can do with windows as described here.
You can also use the :NERDTreeToggle command to make your tree open and close. I usually bind that do t.
If you use T instead of t there is no need to jump back because the new tab will be opened, but vim's focus will simply remain within NERDTree.
You can focus on a split window using # ctrl-ww.
for example, pressing:
1 ctrl-ww
would focus on the first window, usually being NERDTree.
Since it's not mentioned and it's really helpful:
ctrl-wp
which I memorize as go to the previously selected window.
It works as a there and back command. After having opened a new file from the tree in a new window press ctrl-wp to switch back to the NERDTree and use it again to return to your previous window.
PS: it is worth to mention that ctrl-wp is actually documented as go to the preview window (see: :help preview-window and :help ctrl-w).
It is also the only keystroke which works to switch inside and explore the COC preview documentation window.
ctrl-ww Could be useful when you have limited tabs open. But could get annoying when you have too many tabs open.
I type in :NERDTree again to get the focus back on NERDTree tab instantly wherever my cursor's focus is. Hope that helps
The top answers here mention using T to open a file in a new tab silently, or Ctrl+WW to hop back to nerd-tree window after file is opened normally.
IF WORKING WITH BUFFERS: use go to open a file in a new buffer, silently, meaning your focus will remain on nerd-tree.
Use this to open multiple files fast :)
You can change the tabs by ctrl-pgup and ctrl-pgdown. On that tab you came from the NERDTree is still selected and you can open another tab.
In more recent versions of NERDTree you can use the command :NERDTreeFocus, which will move focus to the NERDTree window.
gt = next Tap
gT = previous Tab
if you want you can enable the mouse support editing ~/.vimrc file.
put set mouse=a
after that you enable files click in NERDTree.
All The Shortcuts And Functionality is At
press CTRL-?