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1 *bufexplorer.txt* Buffer Explorer Last Change: 16 Feb 2010
3 Buffer Explorer *buffer-explorer* *bufexplorer*
4 Version 7.2.7
6 Plugin for easily exploring (or browsing) Vim |:buffers|.
8 |bufexplorer-installation| Installation
9 |bufexplorer-usage| Usage
10 |bufexplorer-windowlayout| Window Layout
11 |bufexplorer-customization| Customization
12 |bufexplorer-changelog| Change Log
13 |bufexplorer-todo| Todo
14 |bufexplorer-credits| Credits
16 For Vim version 7.0 and above.
17 This plugin is only available if 'compatible' is not set.
19 {Vi does not have any of this}
21 ==============================================================================
22 INSTALLATION *bufexplorer-installation*
24 To install:
25 - Download the bufexplorer.zip.
26 - Extract the zip archive into your runtime directory.
27 The archive contains plugin/bufexplorer.vim, and doc/bufexplorer.txt.
28 - Start Vim or goto an existing instance of Vim.
29 - Execute the following command:
30 >
31 :helptag <your runtime directory>/doc
32 <
33 This will generate all the help tags for any file located in the doc
34 directory.
36 ==============================================================================
37 USAGE *bufexplorer-usage*
39 To start exploring in the current window, use: >
40 \be or :BufExplorer
41 To start exploring in a newly split horizontal window, use: >
42 \bs or :BufExplorerHorizontalSplit
43 To start exploring in a newly split vertical window, use: >
44 \bv or :BufExplorerVerticalSplit
46 If you would like to use something other than '\', you may simply change the
47 leader (see |mapleader|).
49 Note: If the current buffer is modified when bufexplorer started, the current
50 window is always split and the new bufexplorer is displayed in that new
51 window.
53 Commands to use once exploring:
55 <F1> Toggle help information.
56 <enter> Opens the buffer that is under the cursor into the current
57 window.
58 <leftmouse> Opens the buffer that is under the cursor into the current
59 window.
60 <shift-enter> Opens the buffer that is under the cursor in another tab.
61 d |:delete|the buffer under the cursor from the list. The
62 buffer's 'buflisted' is cleared. This allows for the buffer to
63 be displayed again using the 'show unlisted' command.
64 R Toggles relative path/absolute path.
65 T Toggles to show only buffers for this tab or not.
66 D |:wipeout|the buffer under the cursor from the list. When a
67 buffers is wiped, it will not be shown when unlisted buffer are
68 displayed.
69 f Toggles whether you are taken to the active window when
70 selecting a buffer or not.
71 o Opens the buffer that is under the cursor into the current
72 window.
73 p Toggles the showing of a split filename/pathname.
74 q Quit exploring.
75 r Reverses the order the buffers are listed in.
76 s Selects the order the buffers are listed in. Either by buffer
77 number, file name, file extension, most recently used (MRU), or
78 full path.
79 t Opens the buffer that is under the cursor in another tab.
80 u Toggles the showing of "unlisted" buffers.
82 Once invoked, Buffer Explorer displays a sorted list (MRU is the default
83 sort method) of all the buffers that are currently opened. You are then
84 able to move the cursor to the line containing the buffer's name you are
85 wanting to act upon. Once you have selected the buffer you would like,
86 you can then either open it, close it(delete), resort the list, reverse
87 the sort, quit exploring and so on...
89 ===============================================================================
90 WINDOW LAYOUT *bufexplorer-windowlayout*
92 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
93 " Press <F1> for Help
94 " Sorted by mru | Locate buffer | Absolute Split path
95 "=
96 01 %a bufexplorer.txt C:\Vim\vimfiles\doc line 87
97 02 # bufexplorer.vim c:\Vim\vimfiles\plugin line 1
98 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
99 | | | | |
100 | | | | +-- Current Line #.
101 | | | +-- Relative/Full Path
102 | | +-- Buffer Name.
103 | +-- Buffer Attributes. See|:buffers|for more information.
104 +-- Buffer Number. See|:buffers|for more information.
106 ===============================================================================
107 CUSTOMIZATION *bufexplorer-customization*
109 *g:bufExplorerDefaultHelp*
110 To control whether the default help is displayed or not, use: >
111 let g:bufExplorerDefaultHelp=0 " Do not show default help.
112 let g:bufExplorerDefaultHelp=1 " Show default help.
113 The default is to show the default help.
115 *g:bufExplorerDetailedHelp*
116 To control whether detailed help is display by, use: >
117 let g:bufExplorerDetailedHelp=0 " Do not show detailed help.
118 let g:bufExplorerDetailedHelp=1 " Show detailed help.
119 The default is NOT to show detailed help.
121 *g:bufExplorerFindActive*
122 To control whether you are taken to the active window when selecting a buffer,
123 use: >
124 let g:bufExplorerFindActive=0 " Do not go to active window.
125 let g:bufExplorerFindActive=1 " Go to active window.
126 The default is to be taken to the active window.
128 *g:bufExplorerReverseSort*
129 To control whether to sort the buffer in reverse order or not, use: >
130 let g:bufExplorerReverseSort=0 " Do not sort in reverse order.
131 let g:bufExplorerReverseSort=1 " Sort in reverse order.
132 The default is NOT to sort in reverse order.
134 *g:bufExplorerShowDirectories*
135 Directories usually show up in the list from using a command like ":e .".
136 To control whether to show directories in the buffer list or not, use: >
137 let g:bufExplorerShowDirectories=1 " Show directories.
138 let g:bufExplorerShowDirectories=0 " Don't show directories.
139 The default is to show directories.
141 *g:bufExplorerShowRelativePath*
142 To control whether to show absolute paths or relative to the current
143 directory, use: >
144 let g:bufExplorerShowRelativePath=0 " Show absolute paths.
145 let g:bufExplorerShowRelativePath=1 " Show relative paths.
146 The default is to show absolute paths.
148 *g:bufExplorerShowUnlisted*
149 To control whether to show unlisted buffer or not, use: >
150 let g:bufExplorerShowUnlisted=0 " Do not show unlisted buffers.
151 let g:bufExplorerShowUnlisted=1 " Show unlisted buffers.
152 The default is to NOT show unlisted buffers.
154 *g:bufExplorerSortBy*
155 To control what field the buffers are sorted by, use: >
156 let g:bufExplorerSortBy='extension' " Sort by file extension.
157 let g:bufExplorerSortBy='fullpath' " Sort by full file path name.
158 let g:bufExplorerSortBy='mru' " Sort by most recently used.
159 let g:bufExplorerSortBy='name' " Sort by the buffer's name.
160 let g:bufExplorerSortBy='number' " Sort by the buffer's number.
161 The default is to sort by mru.
163 *g:bufExplorerSplitBelow*
164 To control where the new split window will be placed above or below the
165 current window, use: >
166 let g:bufExplorerSplitBelow=1 " Split new window below current.
167 let g:bufExplorerSplitBelow=0 " Split new window above current.
168 The default is to use what ever is set by the global &splitbelow
169 variable.
171 *g:bufExplorerSplitOutPathName*
172 To control whether to split out the path and file name or not, use: >
173 let g:bufExplorerSplitOutPathName=1 " Split the path and file name.
174 let g:bufExplorerSplitOutPathName=0 " Don't split the path and file
175 " name.
176 The default is to split the path and file name.
178 *g:bufExplorerSplitRight*
179 To control where the new vsplit window will be placed to the left or right of
180 current window, use: >
181 let g:bufExplorerSplitRight=0 " Split left.
182 let g:bufExplorerSplitRight=1 " Split right.
183 The default is to use the global &splitright.
185 *g:bufExplorerShowTabBuffer*
186 To control weither or not to show buffers on for the specific tab or not, use: >
187 let g:bufExplorerShowTabBuffer=0 " No.
188 let g:bufExplorerShowTabBuffer=1 " Yes.
189 The default is not to show.
191 ===============================================================================
192 CHANGE LOG *bufexplorer-changelog*
194 7.2.7 - Fix:
195 * My 1st attempt to fix the "cache" issue where buffers information
196 has changed but the cache/display does not reflect those changes.
197 More work still needs to be done.
198 7.2.6 - Fix:
199 * Thanks to Michael Henry for pointing out that I totally forgot to
200 update the inline help to reflect the previous change to the 'd'
201 and 'D' keys. Opps!
202 7.2.5 - Fix:
203 * Philip Morant suggested switching the command (bwipe) associated
204 with the 'd' key with the command (bdelete) associated with the 'D'
205 key. This made sense since the 'd' key is more likely to be used
206 compared to the 'D' key.
207 7.2.4 - Fix:
208 * I did not implement the patch provided by Godefroid Chapelle
209 correctly. I missed one line which happened to be the most
210 important one :)
211 7.2.3 - Enhancements:
212 * Thanks to David Fishburn for helping me out with a much needed
213 code overhaul as well as some awesome performance enhancements.
214 He also reworked the handling of tabs.
215 * Thanks to Vladimir Dobriakov for making the suggestions on
216 enhancing the documentation to include a better explaination of
217 what is contained in the main bufexplorer window.
218 * Thanks to Yuriy Ershov for added code that when the bufexplorer
219 window is opened, the cursor is now positioned at the line with the
220 active buffer (useful in non-MRU sort modes).
221 * Yuriy also added the abiltiy to cycle through the sort fields in
222 reverse order.
223 Fixes:
224 * Thanks to Michael Henry for supplying a patch that allows
225 bufexplorer to be opened even when there is one buffer or less.
226 * Thanks to Godefroid Chapelle for supplying a patch that fixed
227 MRU sort order after loading a session.
228 7.2.2 - Fixes:
229 * Thanks to David L. Dight for spotting and fixing an issue when
230 using ctrl^. bufexplorer would incorrectly handle the previous
231 buffer so that when ctrl^ was pressed the incorrect file was opened.
232 7.2.1 - Fixes:
233 * Thanks to Dimitar for spotting and fixing a feature that was
234 inadvertently left out of the previous version. The feature was
235 when bufexplorer was used together with WinManager, you could use
236 the tab key to open a buffer in a split window.
237 7.2.0 - Enhancements:
238 * For all those missing the \bs and \bv commands, these have now
239 returned. Thanks to Phil O'Connell for asking for the return of
240 these missing features and helping test out this version.
241 Fixes:
242 * Fixed problem with the bufExplorerFindActive code not working
243 correctly.
244 * Fixed an incompatibility between bufexplorer and netrw that caused
245 buffers to be incorrectly removed from the MRU list.
246 7.1.7 - Fixes:
247 * TaCahiroy fixed several issues related to opening a buffer in a
248 tab.
249 7.1.6 - Fixes:
250 * Removed ff=unix from modeline in bufexplorer.txt. Found by Bill
251 McCarthy.
252 7.1.5 - Fixes:
253 * Could not open unnamed buffers. Fixed by TaCahiroy.
254 7.1.4 - Fixes:
255 * Sometimes when a file's path has 'white space' in it, extra buffers
256 would be created containing each piece of the path. i.e:
257 opening c:\document and settings\test.txt would create a buffer
258 named "and" and a buffer named "Documents". This was reported and
259 fixed by TaCa Yoss.
260 7.1.3 - Fixes:
261 * Added code to allow only one instance of the plugin to run at a
262 time. Thanks Dennis Hostetler.
263 7.1.2 - Fixes:
264 * Fixed a jumplist issue spotted by JiangJun. I overlooked the
265 'jumplist' and with a couple calls to 'keepjumps', everything is
266 fine again.
267 * Went back to just having a plugin file, no autoload file. By having
268 the autoload, WinManager was no longer working and without really
269 digging into the cause, it was easier to go back to using just a
270 plugin file.
271 7.1.1 - Fixes:
272 * A problem spotted by Thomas Arendsen Hein.
273 When running Vim (7.1.94), error E493 was being thrown.
274 Enhancements:
275 * Added 'D' for 'delete' buffer as the 'd' command was a 'wipe'
276 buffer.
277 7.1.0 - Another 'major' update, some by Dave Larson, some by me.
278 * Making use of 'autoload' now to make the plugin load quicker.
279 * Removed '\bs' and '\bv'. These are now controlled by the user. The
280 user can issue a ':sp' or ':vs' to create a horizontal or vertical
281 split window and then issue a '\be'
282 * Added handling of tabs.
283 7.0.17 - Fixed issue with 'drop' command.
284 Various enhancements and improvements.
285 7.0.16 - Fixed issue reported by Liu Jiaping on non Windows systems, which was
286 ...
287 Open file1, open file2, modify file1, open bufexplorer, you get the
288 following error:
290 --------8<--------
291 Error detected while processing function
292 <SNR>14_StartBufExplorer..<SNR>14_SplitOpen:
293 line 4:
294 E37: No write since last change (add ! to override)
296 But the worse thing is, when I want to save the current buffer and
297 type ':w', I get another error message:
298 E382: Cannot write, 'buftype' option is set
299 --------8<--------
301 7.0.15 - Thanks to Mark Smithfield for suggesting bufexplorer needed to handle
302 the ':args' command.
303 7.0.14 - Thanks to Randall Hansen for removing the requirement of terminal
304 versions to be recompiled with 'gui' support so the 'drop' command
305 would work. The 'drop' command is really not needed in terminal
306 versions.
307 7.0.13 - Fixed integration with WinManager.
308 Thanks to Dave Eggum for another update.
309 - Fix: The detailed help didn't display the mapping for toggling
310 the split type, even though the split type is displayed.
311 - Fixed incorrect description in the detailed help for toggling
312 relative or full paths.
313 - Deprecated s:ExtractBufferNbr(). Vim's str2nr() does the same
314 thing.
315 - Created a s:Set() function that sets a variable only if it hasn't
316 already been defined. It's useful for initializing all those
317 default settings.
318 - Removed checks for repetitive command definitions. They were
319 unnecessary.
320 - Made the help highlighting a little more fancy.
321 - Minor reverse compatibility issue: Changed ambiguous setting
322 names to be more descriptive of what they do (also makes the code
323 easier to follow):
324 Changed bufExplorerSortDirection to bufExplorerReverseSort
325 Changed bufExplorerSplitType to bufExplorerSplitVertical
326 Changed bufExplorerOpenMode to bufExplorerUseCurrentWindow
327 - When the BufExplorer window closes, all the file-local marks are
328 now deleted. This may have the benefit of cleaning up some of the
329 jumplist.
330 - Changed the name of the parameter for StartBufExplorer from
331 "split" to "open". The parameter is a string which specifies how
332 the buffer will be open, not if it is split or not.
333 - Deprecated DoAnyMoreBuffersExist() - it is a one line function
334 only used in one spot.
335 - Created four functions (SplitOpen(), RebuildBufferList(),
336 UpdateHelpStatus() and ReSortListing()) all with one purpose - to
337 reduce repeated code.
338 - Changed the name of AddHeader() to CreateHelp() to be more
339 descriptive of what it does. It now returns an array instead of
340 updating the window directly. This has the benefit of making the
341 code more efficient since the text the function returns is used a
342 little differently in the two places the function is called.
343 - Other minor simplifications.
344 7.0.12 - MAJOR Update.
345 This version will ONLY run with Vim version 7.0 or greater.
346 Dave Eggum has made some 'significant' updates to this latest
347 version:
348 - Added BufExplorerGetAltBuf() global function to be used in the
349 user’s rulerformat.
350 - Added g:bufExplorerSplitRight option.
351 - Added g:bufExplorerShowRelativePath option with mapping.
352 - Added current line highlighting.
353 - The split type can now be changed whether bufexplorer is opened
354 in split mode or not.
355 - Various major and minor bug fixes and speed improvements.
356 - Sort by extension.
357 Other improvements/changes:
358 - Changed the help key from '?' to <F1> to be more 'standard'.
359 - Fixed splitting of vertical bufexplorer window.
360 Hopefully I have not forgot something :)
361 7.0.11 - Fixed a couple of highlighting bugs, reported by David Eggum. He also
362 changed passive voice to active on a couple of warning messages.
363 7.0.10 - Fixed bug report by Xiangjiang Ma. If the 'ssl' option is set,
364 the slash character used when displaying the path was incorrect.
365 7.0.9 - Martin Grenfell found and eliminated an annoying bug in the
366 bufexplorer/winmanager integration. The bug was were an
367 annoying message would be displayed when a window was split or
368 a new file was opened in a new window. Thanks Martin!
369 7.0.8 - Thanks to Mike Li for catching a bug in the WinManager integration.
370 The bug was related to the incorrect displaying of the buffer
371 explorer's window title.
372 7.0.7 - Thanks to Jeremy Cowgar for adding a new enhancement. This
373 enhancement allows the user to press 'S', that is capital S, which
374 will open the buffer under the cursor in a newly created split
375 window.
376 7.0.6 - Thanks to Larry Zhang for finding a bug in the "split" buffer code.
377 If you force set g:bufExplorerSplitType='v' in your vimrc, and if you
378 tried to do a \bs to split the bufexplorer window, it would always
379 split horizontal, not vertical. He also found that I had a typeo in
380 that the variable g:bufExplorerSplitVertSize was all lower case in
381 the documentation which was incorrect.
382 7.0.5 - Thanks to Mun Johl for pointing out a bug that if a buffer was
383 modified, the '+' was not showing up correctly.
384 7.0.4 - Fixed a problem discovered first by Xiangjiang Ma. Well since I've
385 been using vim 7.0 and not 6.3, I started using a function (getftype)
386 that is not in 6.3. So for backward compatibility, I conditionaly use
387 this function now. Thus, the g:bufExplorerShowDirectories feature is
388 only available when using vim 7.0 and above.
389 7.0.3 - Thanks to Erwin Waterlander for finding a problem when the last
390 buffer was deleted. This issue got me to rewrite the buffer display
391 logic (which I've wanted to do for sometime now).
392 Also great thanks to Dave Eggum for coming up with idea for
393 g:bufExplorerShowDirectories. Read the above information about this
394 feature.
395 7.0.2 - Thanks to Thomas Arendsen Hein for finding a problem when a user
396 has the default help turned off and then brought up the explorer. An
397 E493 would be displayed.
398 7.0.1 - Thanks to Erwin Waterlander for finding a couple problems.
399 The first problem allowed a modified buffer to be deleted. Opps! The
400 second problem occurred when several files were opened, BufExplorer
401 was started, the current buffer was deleted using the 'd' option, and
402 then BufExplorer was exited. The deleted buffer was still visible
403 while it is not in the buffers list. Opps again!
404 7.0.0 - Thanks to Shankar R. for suggesting to add the ability to set
405 the fixed width (g:bufExplorerSplitVertSize) of a new window
406 when opening bufexplorer vertically and fixed height
407 (g:bufExplorerSplitHorzSize) of a new window when opening
408 bufexplorer horizontally. By default, the windows are normally
409 split to use half the existing width or height.
410 6.3.0 - Added keepjumps so that the jumps list would not get cluttered with
411 bufexplorer related stuff.
412 6.2.3 - Thanks to Jay Logan for finding a bug in the vertical split position
413 of the code. When selecting that the window was to be split
414 vertically by doing a '\bv', from then on, all splits, i.e. '\bs',
415 were split vertically, even though g:bufExplorerSplitType was not set
416 to 'v'.
417 6.2.2 - Thanks to Patrik Modesto for adding a small improvement. For some
418 reason his bufexplorer window was always showing up folded. He added
419 'setlocal nofoldenable' and it was fixed.
420 6.2.1 - Thanks goes out to Takashi Matsuo for added the 'fullPath' sorting
421 logic and option.
422 6.2.0 - Thanks goes out to Simon Johann-Ganter for spotting and fixing a
423 problem in that the last search pattern is overridden by the search
424 pattern for blank lines.
425 6.1.6 - Thanks to Artem Chuprina for finding a pesky bug that has been around
426 for sometime now. The <esc> key mapping was causing the buffer
427 explored to close prematurely when vim was run in an xterm. The <esc>
428 key mapping is now removed.
429 6.1.5 - Thanks to Khorev Sergey. Added option to show default help or not.
430 6.1.4 - Thanks goes out to Valery Kondakoff for suggesting the addition of
431 setlocal nonumber and foldcolumn=0. This allows for line numbering
432 and folding to be turned off temporarily while in the explorer.
433 6.1.3 - Added folding. Did some code cleanup. Added the ability to force the
434 newly split window to be temporarily vertical, which was suggested by
435 Thomas Glanzmann.
436 6.1.2 - Now pressing the <esc> key will quit, just like 'q'.
437 Added folds to hide winmanager configuration.
438 If anyone had the 'C' option in their cpoptions they would receive
439 a E10 error on startup of BufExplorer. cpo is now saved, updated and
440 restored. Thanks to Charles E Campbell, Jr.
441 Attempted to make sure there can only be one BufExplorer window open
442 at a time.
443 6.1.1 - Thanks to Brian D. Goodwin for adding toupper to FileNameCmp. This
444 way buffers sorted by name will be in the correct order regardless of
445 case.
446 6.0.16 - Thanks to Andre Pang for the original patch/idea to get bufexplorer
447 to work in insertmode/modeless mode (evim). Added Initialize
448 and Cleanup autocommands to handle commands that need to be
449 performed when starting or leaving bufexplorer.
450 6.0.15 - Srinath Avadhanulax added a patch for winmanager.vim.
451 6.0.14 - Fix a few more bug that I thought I already had fixed. Thanks
452 to Eric Bloodworth for adding 'Open Mode/Edit in Place'. Added
453 vertical splitting.
454 6.0.13 - Thanks to Charles E Campbell, Jr. for pointing out some embarrassing
455 typos that I had in the documentation. I guess I need to run
456 the spell checker more :o)
457 6.0.12 - Thanks to Madoka Machitani, for the tip on adding the augroup command
458 around the MRUList autocommands.
459 6.0.11 - Fixed bug report by Xiangjiang Ma. '"=' was being added to the
460 search history which messed up hlsearch.
461 6.0.10 - Added the necessary hooks so that the Srinath Avadhanula's
462 winmanager.vim script could more easily integrate with this script.
463 Tried to improve performance.
464 6.0.9 - Added MRU (Most Recently Used) sort ordering.
465 6.0.8 - Was not resetting the showcmd command correctly.
466 Added nifty help file.
467 6.0.7 - Thanks to Brett Carlane for some great enhancements. Some are added,
468 some are not, yet. Added highlighting of current and alternate
469 filenames. Added splitting of path/filename toggle. Reworked
470 ShowBuffers().
471 Changed my email address.
472 6.0.6 - Copyright notice added. Needed this so that it could be distributed
473 with Debian Linux. Fixed problem with the SortListing() function
474 failing when there was only one buffer to display.
475 6.0.5 - Fixed problems reported by David Pascoe, in that you where unable to
476 hit 'd' on a buffer that belonged to a files that no longer existed
477 and that the 'yank' buffer was being overridden by the help text when
478 the bufexplorer was opened.
479 6.0.4 - Thanks to Charles Campbell, Jr. for making this plugin more plugin
480 *compliant*, adding default keymappings of <Leader>be and <Leader>bs
481 as well as fixing the 'w:sortDirLabel not being defined' bug.
482 6.0.3 - Added sorting capabilities. Sort taken from explorer.vim.
483 6.0.2 - Can't remember. (2001-07-25)
484 6.0.1 - Initial release.
486 ===============================================================================
487 TODO *bufexplorer-todo*
489 - Nothing as of now, buf if you have any suggestions, drop me an email.
491 ===============================================================================
492 CREDITS *bufexplorer-credits*
494 Author: Jeff Lanzarotta <delux256-vim at yahoo dot com>
496 Credit must go out to Bram Moolenaar and all the Vim developers for
497 making the world's best editor (IMHO). I also want to thank everyone who
498 helped and gave me suggestions. I wouldn't want to leave anyone out so I
499 won't list names.
501 ===============================================================================
502 vim:tw=78:noet:wrap:ts=8:ft=help:norl: