1 *bufexplorer.txt* Buffer Explorer Last Change: 22 Oct 2010
3 Buffer Explorer *buffer-explorer* *bufexplorer*
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*
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:
31 :helptag <your runtime directory>/doc
33 This will generate all the help tags for any file located in the doc
36 ==============================================================================
37 USAGE *bufexplorer-usage*
39 To start exploring in the current window, use: >
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
53 Commands to use once exploring:
55 <F1> Toggle help information.
56 <enter> Opens the buffer that is under the cursor into the current
58 <leftmouse> Opens the buffer that is under the cursor into the current
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
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
73 p Toggles the showing of a split filename/pathname.
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
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 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
94 " Sorted by mru | Locate buffer | Absolute Split path
96 01 %a bufexplorer.txt C:\Vim\vimfiles\doc line 87
97 02 # bufexplorer.vim c:\Vim\vimfiles\plugin line 1
98 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
100 | | | | +-- Current Line #.
101 | | | +-- Relative/Full Path
103 | +-- Buffer Attributes. See|:buffers|for more information.
104 +-- Buffer Number. See|:buffers|for more information.
106 ===============================================================================
107 CUSTOMIZATION *bufexplorer-customization*
109 *g:bufExplorerChgWin*
110 If set, bufexplorer will bring up the selected buffer in the window specified
111 by g:bufExplorerChgWin.
113 *g:bufExplorerDefaultHelp*
114 To control whether the default help is displayed or not, use: >
115 let g:bufExplorerDefaultHelp=0 " Do not show default help.
116 let g:bufExplorerDefaultHelp=1 " Show default help.
117 The default is to show the default help.
119 *g:bufExplorerDetailedHelp*
120 To control whether detailed help is display by, use: >
121 let g:bufExplorerDetailedHelp=0 " Do not show detailed help.
122 let g:bufExplorerDetailedHelp=1 " Show detailed help.
123 The default is NOT to show detailed help.
125 *g:bufExplorerFindActive*
126 To control whether you are taken to the active window when selecting a buffer,
128 let g:bufExplorerFindActive=0 " Do not go to active window.
129 let g:bufExplorerFindActive=1 " Go to active window.
130 The default is to be taken to the active window.
132 *g:bufExplorerFuncRef*
133 When a buffer is selected, the functions specified either singly or as a list
136 *g:bufExplorerReverseSort*
137 To control whether to sort the buffer in reverse order or not, use: >
138 let g:bufExplorerReverseSort=0 " Do not sort in reverse order.
139 let g:bufExplorerReverseSort=1 " Sort in reverse order.
140 The default is NOT to sort in reverse order.
142 *g:bufExplorerShowDirectories*
143 Directories usually show up in the list from using a command like ":e .".
144 To control whether to show directories in the buffer list or not, use: >
145 let g:bufExplorerShowDirectories=1 " Show directories.
146 let g:bufExplorerShowDirectories=0 " Don't show directories.
147 The default is to show directories.
149 *g:bufExplorerShowRelativePath*
150 To control whether to show absolute paths or relative to the current
152 let g:bufExplorerShowRelativePath=0 " Show absolute paths.
153 let g:bufExplorerShowRelativePath=1 " Show relative paths.
154 The default is to show absolute paths.
156 *g:bufExplorerShowTabBuffer*
157 To control weither or not to show buffers on for the specific tab or not, use: >
158 let g:bufExplorerShowTabBuffer=0 " No.
159 let g:bufExplorerShowTabBuffer=1 " Yes.
160 The default is not to show.
162 *g:bufExplorerShowUnlisted*
163 To control whether to show unlisted buffer or not, use: >
164 let g:bufExplorerShowUnlisted=0 " Do not show unlisted buffers.
165 let g:bufExplorerShowUnlisted=1 " Show unlisted buffers.
166 The default is to NOT show unlisted buffers.
168 *g:bufExplorerSortBy*
169 To control what field the buffers are sorted by, use: >
170 let g:bufExplorerSortBy='extension' " Sort by file extension.
171 let g:bufExplorerSortBy='fullpath' " Sort by full file path name.
172 let g:bufExplorerSortBy='mru' " Sort by most recently used.
173 let g:bufExplorerSortBy='name' " Sort by the buffer's name.
174 let g:bufExplorerSortBy='number' " Sort by the buffer's number.
175 The default is to sort by mru.
177 *g:bufExplorerSplitBelow*
178 To control where the new split window will be placed above or below the
179 current window, use: >
180 let g:bufExplorerSplitBelow=1 " Split new window below current.
181 let g:bufExplorerSplitBelow=0 " Split new window above current.
182 The default is to use what ever is set by the global &splitbelow
185 *g:bufExplorerSplitOutPathName*
186 To control whether to split out the path and file name or not, use: >
187 let g:bufExplorerSplitOutPathName=1 " Split the path and file name.
188 let g:bufExplorerSplitOutPathName=0 " Don't split the path and file
190 The default is to split the path and file name.
192 *g:bufExplorerSplitRight*
193 To control where the new vsplit window will be placed to the left or right of
194 current window, use: >
195 let g:bufExplorerSplitRight=0 " Split left.
196 let g:bufExplorerSplitRight=1 " Split right.
197 The default is to use the global &splitright.
199 ===============================================================================
200 CHANGE LOG *bufexplorer-changelog*
202 7.2.8 - Enhancements:
203 * Thanks to Charles Campbell for integrating bufexplorer with GDBMGR.
204 http://mysite.verizon.net/astronaut/vim/index.html#GDBMGR
206 * My 1st attempt to fix the "cache" issue where buffers information
207 has changed but the cache/display does not reflect those changes.
208 More work still needs to be done.
210 * Thanks to Michael Henry for pointing out that I totally forgot to
211 update the inline help to reflect the previous change to the 'd'
214 * Philip Morant suggested switching the command (bwipe) associated
215 with the 'd' key with the command (bdelete) associated with the 'D'
216 key. This made sense since the 'd' key is more likely to be used
217 compared to the 'D' key.
219 * I did not implement the patch provided by Godefroid Chapelle
220 correctly. I missed one line which happened to be the most
222 7.2.3 - Enhancements:
223 * Thanks to David Fishburn for helping me out with a much needed
224 code overhaul as well as some awesome performance enhancements.
225 He also reworked the handling of tabs.
226 * Thanks to Vladimir Dobriakov for making the suggestions on
227 enhancing the documentation to include a better explaination of
228 what is contained in the main bufexplorer window.
229 * Thanks to Yuriy Ershov for added code that when the bufexplorer
230 window is opened, the cursor is now positioned at the line with the
231 active buffer (useful in non-MRU sort modes).
232 * Yuriy also added the abiltiy to cycle through the sort fields in
235 * Thanks to Michael Henry for supplying a patch that allows
236 bufexplorer to be opened even when there is one buffer or less.
237 * Thanks to Godefroid Chapelle for supplying a patch that fixed
238 MRU sort order after loading a session.
240 * Thanks to David L. Dight for spotting and fixing an issue when
241 using ctrl^. bufexplorer would incorrectly handle the previous
242 buffer so that when ctrl^ was pressed the incorrect file was opened.
244 * Thanks to Dimitar for spotting and fixing a feature that was
245 inadvertently left out of the previous version. The feature was
246 when bufexplorer was used together with WinManager, you could use
247 the tab key to open a buffer in a split window.
248 7.2.0 - Enhancements:
249 * For all those missing the \bs and \bv commands, these have now
250 returned. Thanks to Phil O'Connell for asking for the return of
251 these missing features and helping test out this version.
253 * Fixed problem with the bufExplorerFindActive code not working
255 * Fixed an incompatibility between bufexplorer and netrw that caused
256 buffers to be incorrectly removed from the MRU list.
258 * TaCahiroy fixed several issues related to opening a buffer in a
261 * Removed ff=unix from modeline in bufexplorer.txt. Found by Bill
264 * Could not open unnamed buffers. Fixed by TaCahiroy.
266 * Sometimes when a file's path has 'white space' in it, extra buffers
267 would be created containing each piece of the path. i.e:
268 opening c:\document and settings\test.txt would create a buffer
269 named "and" and a buffer named "Documents". This was reported and
272 * Added code to allow only one instance of the plugin to run at a
273 time. Thanks Dennis Hostetler.
275 * Fixed a jumplist issue spotted by JiangJun. I overlooked the
276 'jumplist' and with a couple calls to 'keepjumps', everything is
278 * Went back to just having a plugin file, no autoload file. By having
279 the autoload, WinManager was no longer working and without really
280 digging into the cause, it was easier to go back to using just a
283 * A problem spotted by Thomas Arendsen Hein.
284 When running Vim (7.1.94), error E493 was being thrown.
286 * Added 'D' for 'delete' buffer as the 'd' command was a 'wipe'
288 7.1.0 - Another 'major' update, some by Dave Larson, some by me.
289 * Making use of 'autoload' now to make the plugin load quicker.
290 * Removed '\bs' and '\bv'. These are now controlled by the user. The
291 user can issue a ':sp' or ':vs' to create a horizontal or vertical
292 split window and then issue a '\be'
293 * Added handling of tabs.
294 7.0.17 - Fixed issue with 'drop' command.
295 Various enhancements and improvements.
296 7.0.16 - Fixed issue reported by Liu Jiaping on non Windows systems, which was
298 Open file1, open file2, modify file1, open bufexplorer, you get the
302 Error detected while processing function
303 <SNR>14_StartBufExplorer..<SNR>14_SplitOpen:
305 E37: No write since last change (add ! to override)
307 But the worse thing is, when I want to save the current buffer and
308 type ':w', I get another error message:
309 E382: Cannot write, 'buftype' option is set
312 7.0.15 - Thanks to Mark Smithfield for suggesting bufexplorer needed to handle
314 7.0.14 - Thanks to Randall Hansen for removing the requirement of terminal
315 versions to be recompiled with 'gui' support so the 'drop' command
316 would work. The 'drop' command is really not needed in terminal
318 7.0.13 - Fixed integration with WinManager.
319 Thanks to Dave Eggum for another update.
320 - Fix: The detailed help didn't display the mapping for toggling
321 the split type, even though the split type is displayed.
322 - Fixed incorrect description in the detailed help for toggling
323 relative or full paths.
324 - Deprecated s:ExtractBufferNbr(). Vim's str2nr() does the same
326 - Created a s:Set() function that sets a variable only if it hasn't
327 already been defined. It's useful for initializing all those
329 - Removed checks for repetitive command definitions. They were
331 - Made the help highlighting a little more fancy.
332 - Minor reverse compatibility issue: Changed ambiguous setting
333 names to be more descriptive of what they do (also makes the code
335 Changed bufExplorerSortDirection to bufExplorerReverseSort
336 Changed bufExplorerSplitType to bufExplorerSplitVertical
337 Changed bufExplorerOpenMode to bufExplorerUseCurrentWindow
338 - When the BufExplorer window closes, all the file-local marks are
339 now deleted. This may have the benefit of cleaning up some of the
341 - Changed the name of the parameter for StartBufExplorer from
342 "split" to "open". The parameter is a string which specifies how
343 the buffer will be open, not if it is split or not.
344 - Deprecated DoAnyMoreBuffersExist() - it is a one line function
345 only used in one spot.
346 - Created four functions (SplitOpen(), RebuildBufferList(),
347 UpdateHelpStatus() and ReSortListing()) all with one purpose - to
348 reduce repeated code.
349 - Changed the name of AddHeader() to CreateHelp() to be more
350 descriptive of what it does. It now returns an array instead of
351 updating the window directly. This has the benefit of making the
352 code more efficient since the text the function returns is used a
353 little differently in the two places the function is called.
354 - Other minor simplifications.
355 7.0.12 - MAJOR Update.
356 This version will ONLY run with Vim version 7.0 or greater.
357 Dave Eggum has made some 'significant' updates to this latest
359 - Added BufExplorerGetAltBuf() global function to be used in the
360 user
\92s rulerformat.
361 - Added g:bufExplorerSplitRight option.
362 - Added g:bufExplorerShowRelativePath option with mapping.
363 - Added current line highlighting.
364 - The split type can now be changed whether bufexplorer is opened
365 in split mode or not.
366 - Various major and minor bug fixes and speed improvements.
368 Other improvements/changes:
369 - Changed the help key from '?' to <F1> to be more 'standard'.
370 - Fixed splitting of vertical bufexplorer window.
371 Hopefully I have not forgot something :)
372 7.0.11 - Fixed a couple of highlighting bugs, reported by David Eggum. He also
373 changed passive voice to active on a couple of warning messages.
374 7.0.10 - Fixed bug report by Xiangjiang Ma. If the 'ssl' option is set,
375 the slash character used when displaying the path was incorrect.
376 7.0.9 - Martin Grenfell found and eliminated an annoying bug in the
377 bufexplorer/winmanager integration. The bug was were an
378 annoying message would be displayed when a window was split or
379 a new file was opened in a new window. Thanks Martin!
380 7.0.8 - Thanks to Mike Li for catching a bug in the WinManager integration.
381 The bug was related to the incorrect displaying of the buffer
382 explorer's window title.
383 7.0.7 - Thanks to Jeremy Cowgar for adding a new enhancement. This
384 enhancement allows the user to press 'S', that is capital S, which
385 will open the buffer under the cursor in a newly created split
387 7.0.6 - Thanks to Larry Zhang for finding a bug in the "split" buffer code.
388 If you force set g:bufExplorerSplitType='v' in your vimrc, and if you
389 tried to do a \bs to split the bufexplorer window, it would always
390 split horizontal, not vertical. He also found that I had a typeo in
391 that the variable g:bufExplorerSplitVertSize was all lower case in
392 the documentation which was incorrect.
393 7.0.5 - Thanks to Mun Johl for pointing out a bug that if a buffer was
394 modified, the '+' was not showing up correctly.
395 7.0.4 - Fixed a problem discovered first by Xiangjiang Ma. Well since I've
396 been using vim 7.0 and not 6.3, I started using a function (getftype)
397 that is not in 6.3. So for backward compatibility, I conditionaly use
398 this function now. Thus, the g:bufExplorerShowDirectories feature is
399 only available when using vim 7.0 and above.
400 7.0.3 - Thanks to Erwin Waterlander for finding a problem when the last
401 buffer was deleted. This issue got me to rewrite the buffer display
402 logic (which I've wanted to do for sometime now).
403 Also great thanks to Dave Eggum for coming up with idea for
404 g:bufExplorerShowDirectories. Read the above information about this
406 7.0.2 - Thanks to Thomas Arendsen Hein for finding a problem when a user
407 has the default help turned off and then brought up the explorer. An
408 E493 would be displayed.
409 7.0.1 - Thanks to Erwin Waterlander for finding a couple problems.
410 The first problem allowed a modified buffer to be deleted. Opps! The
411 second problem occurred when several files were opened, BufExplorer
412 was started, the current buffer was deleted using the 'd' option, and
413 then BufExplorer was exited. The deleted buffer was still visible
414 while it is not in the buffers list. Opps again!
415 7.0.0 - Thanks to Shankar R. for suggesting to add the ability to set
416 the fixed width (g:bufExplorerSplitVertSize) of a new window
417 when opening bufexplorer vertically and fixed height
418 (g:bufExplorerSplitHorzSize) of a new window when opening
419 bufexplorer horizontally. By default, the windows are normally
420 split to use half the existing width or height.
421 6.3.0 - Added keepjumps so that the jumps list would not get cluttered with
422 bufexplorer related stuff.
423 6.2.3 - Thanks to Jay Logan for finding a bug in the vertical split position
424 of the code. When selecting that the window was to be split
425 vertically by doing a '\bv', from then on, all splits, i.e. '\bs',
426 were split vertically, even though g:bufExplorerSplitType was not set
428 6.2.2 - Thanks to Patrik Modesto for adding a small improvement. For some
429 reason his bufexplorer window was always showing up folded. He added
430 'setlocal nofoldenable' and it was fixed.
431 6.2.1 - Thanks goes out to Takashi Matsuo for added the 'fullPath' sorting
433 6.2.0 - Thanks goes out to Simon Johann-Ganter for spotting and fixing a
434 problem in that the last search pattern is overridden by the search
435 pattern for blank lines.
436 6.1.6 - Thanks to Artem Chuprina for finding a pesky bug that has been around
437 for sometime now. The <esc> key mapping was causing the buffer
438 explored to close prematurely when vim was run in an xterm. The <esc>
439 key mapping is now removed.
440 6.1.5 - Thanks to Khorev Sergey. Added option to show default help or not.
441 6.1.4 - Thanks goes out to Valery Kondakoff for suggesting the addition of
442 setlocal nonumber and foldcolumn=0. This allows for line numbering
443 and folding to be turned off temporarily while in the explorer.
444 6.1.3 - Added folding. Did some code cleanup. Added the ability to force the
445 newly split window to be temporarily vertical, which was suggested by
447 6.1.2 - Now pressing the <esc> key will quit, just like 'q'.
448 Added folds to hide winmanager configuration.
449 If anyone had the 'C' option in their cpoptions they would receive
450 a E10 error on startup of BufExplorer. cpo is now saved, updated and
451 restored. Thanks to Charles E Campbell, Jr.
452 Attempted to make sure there can only be one BufExplorer window open
454 6.1.1 - Thanks to Brian D. Goodwin for adding toupper to FileNameCmp. This
455 way buffers sorted by name will be in the correct order regardless of
457 6.0.16 - Thanks to Andre Pang for the original patch/idea to get bufexplorer
458 to work in insertmode/modeless mode (evim). Added Initialize
459 and Cleanup autocommands to handle commands that need to be
460 performed when starting or leaving bufexplorer.
461 6.0.15 - Srinath Avadhanulax added a patch for winmanager.vim.
462 6.0.14 - Fix a few more bug that I thought I already had fixed. Thanks
463 to Eric Bloodworth for adding 'Open Mode/Edit in Place'. Added
465 6.0.13 - Thanks to Charles E Campbell, Jr. for pointing out some embarrassing
466 typos that I had in the documentation. I guess I need to run
467 the spell checker more :o)
468 6.0.12 - Thanks to Madoka Machitani, for the tip on adding the augroup command
469 around the MRUList autocommands.
470 6.0.11 - Fixed bug report by Xiangjiang Ma. '"=' was being added to the
471 search history which messed up hlsearch.
472 6.0.10 - Added the necessary hooks so that the Srinath Avadhanula's
473 winmanager.vim script could more easily integrate with this script.
474 Tried to improve performance.
475 6.0.9 - Added MRU (Most Recently Used) sort ordering.
476 6.0.8 - Was not resetting the showcmd command correctly.
477 Added nifty help file.
478 6.0.7 - Thanks to Brett Carlane for some great enhancements. Some are added,
479 some are not, yet. Added highlighting of current and alternate
480 filenames. Added splitting of path/filename toggle. Reworked
482 Changed my email address.
483 6.0.6 - Copyright notice added. Needed this so that it could be distributed
484 with Debian Linux. Fixed problem with the SortListing() function
485 failing when there was only one buffer to display.
486 6.0.5 - Fixed problems reported by David Pascoe, in that you where unable to
487 hit 'd' on a buffer that belonged to a files that no longer existed
488 and that the 'yank' buffer was being overridden by the help text when
489 the bufexplorer was opened.
490 6.0.4 - Thanks to Charles Campbell, Jr. for making this plugin more plugin
491 *compliant*, adding default keymappings of <Leader>be and <Leader>bs
492 as well as fixing the 'w:sortDirLabel not being defined' bug.
493 6.0.3 - Added sorting capabilities. Sort taken from explorer.vim.
494 6.0.2 - Can't remember. (2001-07-25)
495 6.0.1 - Initial release.
497 ===============================================================================
498 TODO *bufexplorer-todo*
500 - Nothing as of now, buf if you have any suggestions, drop me an email.
502 ===============================================================================
503 CREDITS *bufexplorer-credits*
505 Author: Jeff Lanzarotta <delux256-vim at yahoo dot com>
507 Credit must go out to Bram Moolenaar and all the Vim developers for
508 making the world's best editor (IMHO). I also want to thank everyone who
509 helped and gave me suggestions. I wouldn't want to leave anyone out so I
512 ===============================================================================
513 vim:tw=78:noet:wrap:ts=8:ft=help:norl: