path: root/vim/doc/bufexplorer.txt

*bufexplorer.txt*              Buffer Explorer       Last Change: 22 Oct 2010

Buffer Explorer                                *buffer-explorer* *bufexplorer*
                                Version 7.2.8

Plugin for easily exploring (or browsing) Vim |:buffers|.

|bufexplorer-installation|   Installation
|bufexplorer-usage|          Usage
|bufexplorer-windowlayout|   Window Layout
|bufexplorer-customization|  Customization
|bufexplorer-changelog|      Change Log
|bufexplorer-todo|           Todo
|bufexplorer-credits|        Credits

For Vim version 7.0 and above.
This plugin is only available if 'compatible' is not set.

{Vi does not have any of this}

==============================================================================
INSTALLATION                                        *bufexplorer-installation*

To install:
  - Download the bufexplorer.zip.
  - Extract the zip archive into your runtime directory.
    The archive contains plugin/bufexplorer.vim, and doc/bufexplorer.txt.
  - Start Vim or goto an existing instance of Vim.
  - Execute the following command:
>
      :helptag <your runtime directory>/doc
<
    This will generate all the help tags for any file located in the doc
    directory.

==============================================================================
USAGE                                                      *bufexplorer-usage*

To start exploring in the current window, use: >
 \be   or   :BufExplorer
To start exploring in a newly split horizontal window, use: >
 \bs   or   :BufExplorerHorizontalSplit
To start exploring in a newly split vertical window, use: >
 \bv   or   :BufExplorerVerticalSplit

If you would like to use something other than '\', you may simply change the
leader (see |mapleader|).

Note: If the current buffer is modified when bufexplorer started, the current
      window is always split and the new bufexplorer is displayed in that new
      window.

Commands to use once exploring:

 <F1>          Toggle help information.
 <enter>       Opens the buffer that is under the cursor into the current
               window.
 <leftmouse>   Opens the buffer that is under the cursor into the current
               window.
 <shift-enter> Opens the buffer that is under the cursor in another tab.
 d            |:delete|the buffer under the cursor from the list.  The
               buffer's 'buflisted' is cleared. This allows for the buffer to
               be displayed again using the 'show unlisted' command.
 R             Toggles relative path/absolute path.
 T             Toggles to show only buffers for this tab or not.
 D            |:wipeout|the buffer under the cursor from the list.  When a
               buffers is wiped, it will not be shown when unlisted buffer are
               displayed.
 f             Toggles whether you are taken to the active window when
               selecting a buffer or not.
 o             Opens the buffer that is under the cursor into the current
               window.
 p             Toggles the showing of a split filename/pathname.
 q             Quit exploring.
 r             Reverses the order the buffers are listed in.
 s             Selects the order the buffers are listed in. Either by buffer
               number, file name, file extension, most recently used (MRU), or
               full path.
 t             Opens the buffer that is under the cursor in another tab.
 u             Toggles the showing of "unlisted" buffers.

Once invoked, Buffer Explorer displays a sorted list (MRU is the default
sort method) of all the buffers that are currently opened. You are then
able to move the cursor to the line containing the buffer's name you are
wanting to act upon. Once you have selected the buffer you would like,
you can then either open it, close it(delete), resort the list, reverse
the sort, quit exploring and so on...

===============================================================================
WINDOW LAYOUT                                       *bufexplorer-windowlayout*

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
" Press <F1> for Help
" Sorted by mru | Locate buffer | Absolute Split path
"=
 01 %a    bufexplorer.txt      C:\Vim\vimfiles\doc       line 87
 02 #     bufexplorer.vim      c:\Vim\vimfiles\plugin    line 1
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  | |     |                    |                         |
  | |     |                    |                         +-- Current Line #.
  | |     |                    +-- Relative/Full Path
  | |     +-- Buffer Name.
  | +-- Buffer Attributes. See|:buffers|for more information.
  +-- Buffer Number. See|:buffers|for more information.

===============================================================================
CUSTOMIZATION                                       *bufexplorer-customization*

                                                          *g:bufExplorerChgWin*
If set, bufexplorer will bring up the selected buffer in the window specified
by g:bufExplorerChgWin.

                                                     *g:bufExplorerDefaultHelp*
To control whether the default help is displayed or not, use: >
  let g:bufExplorerDefaultHelp=0       " Do not show default help.
  let g:bufExplorerDefaultHelp=1       " Show default help.
The default is to show the default help.

                                                    *g:bufExplorerDetailedHelp*
To control whether detailed help is display by, use: >
  let g:bufExplorerDetailedHelp=0      " Do not show detailed help.
  let g:bufExplorerDetailedHelp=1      " Show detailed help.
The default is NOT to show detailed help.

                                                      *g:bufExplorerFindActive*
To control whether you are taken to the active window when selecting a buffer,
use: >
  let g:bufExplorerFindActive=0        " Do not go to active window.
  let g:bufExplorerFindActive=1        " Go to active window.
The default is to be taken to the active window.

                                                         *g:bufExplorerFuncRef*
When a buffer is selected, the functions specified either singly or as a list
will be called.

                                                     *g:bufExplorerReverseSort*
To control whether to sort the buffer in reverse order or not, use: >
  let g:bufExplorerReverseSort=0       " Do not sort in reverse order.
  let g:bufExplorerReverseSort=1       " Sort in reverse order.
The default is NOT to sort in reverse order.

                                                 *g:bufExplorerShowDirectories*
Directories usually show up in the list from using a command like ":e .".
To control whether to show directories in the buffer list or not, use: >
  let g:bufExplorerShowDirectories=1   " Show directories.
  let g:bufExplorerShowDirectories=0   " Don't show directories.
The default is to show directories.

                                                *g:bufExplorerShowRelativePath*
To control whether to show absolute paths or relative to the current
directory, use: >
  let g:bufExplorerShowRelativePath=0  " Show absolute paths.
  let g:bufExplorerShowRelativePath=1  " Show relative paths.
The default is to show absolute paths.

                                                   *g:bufExplorerShowTabBuffer*
To control weither or not to show buffers on for the specific tab or not, use: >
  let g:bufExplorerShowTabBuffer=0        " No.
  let g:bufExplorerShowTabBuffer=1        " Yes.
The default is not to show.

                                                    *g:bufExplorerShowUnlisted*
To control whether to show unlisted buffer or not, use: >
  let g:bufExplorerShowUnlisted=0      " Do not show unlisted buffers.
  let g:bufExplorerShowUnlisted=1      " Show unlisted buffers.
The default is to NOT show unlisted buffers.

                                                          *g:bufExplorerSortBy*
To control what field the buffers are sorted by, use: >
  let g:bufExplorerSortBy='extension'  " Sort by file extension.
  let g:bufExplorerSortBy='fullpath'   " Sort by full file path name.
  let g:bufExplorerSortBy='mru'        " Sort by most recently used.
  let g:bufExplorerSortBy='name'       " Sort by the buffer's name.
  let g:bufExplorerSortBy='number'     " Sort by the buffer's number.
The default is to sort by mru.

                                                      *g:bufExplorerSplitBelow*
To control where the new split window will be placed above or below the
current window, use: >
  let g:bufExplorerSplitBelow=1        " Split new window below current.
  let g:bufExplorerSplitBelow=0        " Split new window above current.
The default is to use what ever is set by the global &splitbelow
variable.

                                                *g:bufExplorerSplitOutPathName*
To control whether to split out the path and file name or not, use: >
  let g:bufExplorerSplitOutPathName=1  " Split the path and file name.
  let g:bufExplorerSplitOutPathName=0  " Don't split the path and file
                                       " name.
The default is to split the path and file name.

                                                      *g:bufExplorerSplitRight*
To control where the new vsplit window will be placed to the left or right of
current window, use: >
  let g:bufExplorerSplitRight=0        " Split left.
  let g:bufExplorerSplitRight=1        " Split right.
The default is to use the global &splitright.

===============================================================================
CHANGE LOG                                              *bufexplorer-changelog*

7.2.8  - Enhancements:
         * Thanks to Charles Campbell for integrating bufexplorer with GDBMGR.
           http://mysite.verizon.net/astronaut/vim/index.html#GDBMGR
7.2.7  - Fix:
         * My 1st attempt to fix the "cache" issue where buffers information
           has changed but the cache/display does not reflect those changes.
           More work still needs to be done.
7.2.6  - Fix:
         * Thanks to Michael Henry for pointing out that I totally forgot to
           update the inline help to reflect the previous change to the 'd'
           and 'D' keys. Opps!
7.2.5  - Fix:
         * Philip Morant suggested switching the command (bwipe) associated
           with the 'd' key with the command (bdelete) associated with the 'D'
           key. This made sense since the 'd' key is more likely to be used
           compared to the 'D' key.
7.2.4  - Fix:
         * I did not implement the patch provided by Godefroid Chapelle
           correctly. I missed one line which happened to be the most
           important one :)
7.2.3  - Enhancements:
         * Thanks to David Fishburn for helping me out with a much needed
           code overhaul as well as some awesome performance enhancements.
           He also reworked the handling of tabs.
         * Thanks to Vladimir Dobriakov for making the suggestions on
           enhancing the documentation to include a better explaination of
           what is contained in the main bufexplorer window.
         * Thanks to Yuriy Ershov for added code that when the bufexplorer
           window is opened, the cursor is now positioned at the line with the
           active buffer (useful in non-MRU sort modes).
         * Yuriy also added the abiltiy to cycle through the sort fields in
           reverse order.
         Fixes:
         * Thanks to Michael Henry for supplying a patch that allows
           bufexplorer to be opened even when there is one buffer or less.
         * Thanks to Godefroid Chapelle for supplying a patch that fixed
           MRU sort order after loading a session.
7.2.2  - Fixes:
         * Thanks to David L. Dight for spotting and fixing an issue when
           using ctrl^. bufexplorer would incorrectly handle the previous
           buffer so that when ctrl^ was pressed the incorrect file was opened.
7.2.1  - Fixes:
         * Thanks to Dimitar for spotting and fixing a feature that was
           inadvertently left out of the previous version. The feature was
           when bufexplorer was used together with WinManager, you could use
           the tab key to open a buffer in a split window.
7.2.0  - Enhancements:
         * For all those missing the \bs and \bv commands, these have now
           returned. Thanks to Phil O'Connell for asking for the return of
           these missing features and helping test out this version.
         Fixes:
         * Fixed problem with the bufExplorerFindActive code not working
           correctly.
         * Fixed an incompatibility between bufexplorer and netrw that caused
           buffers to be incorrectly removed from the MRU list.
7.1.7  - Fixes:
         * TaCahiroy fixed several issues related to opening a buffer in a
           tab.
7.1.6  - Fixes:
         * Removed ff=unix from modeline in bufexplorer.txt. Found by Bill
           McCarthy.
7.1.5  - Fixes:
         * Could not open unnamed buffers. Fixed by TaCahiroy.
7.1.4  - Fixes:
         * Sometimes when a file's path has 'white space' in it, extra buffers
           would be created containing each piece of the path. i.e:
           opening c:\document and settings\test.txt would create a buffer
           named "and" and a buffer named "Documents". This was reported and
           fixed by TaCa Yoss.
7.1.3  - Fixes:
         * Added code to allow only one instance of the plugin to run at a
           time. Thanks Dennis Hostetler.
7.1.2  - Fixes:
         * Fixed a jumplist issue spotted by JiangJun. I overlooked the
           'jumplist' and with a couple calls to 'keepjumps', everything is
           fine again.
         * Went back to just having a plugin file, no autoload file. By having
           the autoload, WinManager was no longer working and without really
           digging into the cause, it was easier to go back to using just a
           plugin file.
7.1.1  - Fixes:
         * A problem spotted by Thomas Arendsen Hein.
           When running Vim (7.1.94), error E493 was being thrown.
         Enhancements:
         * Added 'D' for 'delete' buffer as the 'd' command was a 'wipe'
           buffer.
7.1.0  - Another 'major' update, some by Dave Larson, some by me.
         * Making use of 'autoload' now to make the plugin load quicker.
         * Removed '\bs' and '\bv'. These are now controlled by the user. The
           user can issue a ':sp' or ':vs' to create a horizontal or vertical
           split window and then issue a '\be'
         * Added handling of tabs.
7.0.17 - Fixed issue with 'drop' command.
         Various enhancements and improvements.
7.0.16 - Fixed issue reported by Liu Jiaping on non Windows systems, which was
         ...
         Open file1, open file2, modify file1, open bufexplorer, you get the
         following error:

         --------8<--------
         Error detected while processing function
         <SNR>14_StartBufExplorer..<SNR>14_SplitOpen:
         line    4:
         E37: No write since last change (add ! to override)

         But the worse thing is, when I want to save the current buffer and
         type ':w', I get another error message:
         E382: Cannot write, 'buftype' option is set 
         --------8<--------

7.0.15 - Thanks to Mark Smithfield for suggesting bufexplorer needed to handle
         the ':args' command.
7.0.14 - Thanks to Randall Hansen for removing the requirement of terminal
         versions to be recompiled with 'gui' support so the 'drop' command
         would work. The 'drop' command is really not needed in terminal
         versions.
7.0.13 - Fixed integration with WinManager.
         Thanks to Dave Eggum for another update.
           - Fix: The detailed help didn't display the mapping for toggling
                  the split type, even though the split type is displayed.
           - Fixed incorrect description in the detailed help for toggling
             relative or full paths.
           - Deprecated s:ExtractBufferNbr(). Vim's str2nr() does the same
             thing.
           - Created a s:Set() function that sets a variable only if it hasn't
             already been defined. It's useful for initializing all those
             default settings.
           - Removed checks for repetitive command definitions. They were
             unnecessary.
           - Made the help highlighting a little more fancy.
           - Minor reverse compatibility issue: Changed ambiguous setting
             names to be more descriptive of what they do (also makes the code
             easier to follow):
               Changed bufExplorerSortDirection to bufExplorerReverseSort
               Changed bufExplorerSplitType to bufExplorerSplitVertical
               Changed bufExplorerOpenMode to bufExplorerUseCurrentWindow
           - When the BufExplorer window closes, all the file-local marks are
             now deleted. This may have the benefit of cleaning up some of the
             jumplist.
           - Changed the name of the parameter for StartBufExplorer from
             "split" to "open". The parameter is a string which specifies how
             the buffer will be open, not if it is split or not.
           - Deprecated DoAnyMoreBuffersExist() - it is a one line function
             only used in one spot.
           - Created four functions (SplitOpen(), RebuildBufferList(),
             UpdateHelpStatus() and ReSortListing()) all with one purpose - to
             reduce repeated code.
           - Changed the name of AddHeader() to CreateHelp() to be more
             descriptive of what it does. It now returns an array instead of
             updating the window directly. This has the benefit of making the
             code more efficient since the text the function returns is used a
             little differently in the two places the function is called.
         - Other minor simplifications.
7.0.12 - MAJOR Update.
         This version will ONLY run with Vim version 7.0 or greater.
         Dave Eggum has made some 'significant' updates to this latest
         version:
           - Added BufExplorerGetAltBuf() global function to be used in the
             user�s rulerformat.
           - Added g:bufExplorerSplitRight option.
           - Added g:bufExplorerShowRelativePath option with mapping.
           - Added current line highlighting.
           - The split type can now be changed whether bufexplorer is opened
             in split mode or not.
           - Various major and minor bug fixes and speed improvements.
           - Sort by extension.
         Other improvements/changes:
           - Changed the help key from '?' to <F1> to be more 'standard'.
           - Fixed splitting of vertical bufexplorer window.
         Hopefully I have not forgot something :)
7.0.11 - Fixed a couple of highlighting bugs, reported by David Eggum. He also
         changed passive voice to active on a couple of warning messages.
7.0.10 - Fixed bug report by Xiangjiang Ma. If the 'ssl' option is set,
         the slash character used when displaying the path was incorrect.
7.0.9  - Martin Grenfell found and eliminated an annoying bug in the
         bufexplorer/winmanager integration. The bug was were an
         annoying message would be displayed when a window was split or
         a new file was opened in a new window. Thanks Martin!
7.0.8  - Thanks to Mike Li for catching a bug in the WinManager integration.
         The bug was related to the incorrect displaying of the buffer
         explorer's window title.
7.0.7  - Thanks to Jeremy Cowgar for adding a new enhancement. This
         enhancement allows the user to press 'S', that is capital S, which
         will open the buffer under the cursor in a newly created split
         window.
7.0.6  - Thanks to Larry Zhang for finding a bug in the "split" buffer code.
         If you force set g:bufExplorerSplitType='v' in your vimrc, and if you
         tried to do a \bs to split the bufexplorer window, it would always
         split horizontal, not vertical. He also found that I had a typeo in
         that the variable g:bufExplorerSplitVertSize was all lower case in
         the documentation which was incorrect.
7.0.5  - Thanks to Mun Johl for pointing out a bug that if a buffer was
         modified, the '+' was not showing up correctly.
7.0.4  - Fixed a problem discovered first by Xiangjiang Ma. Well since I've
         been using vim 7.0 and not 6.3, I started using a function (getftype)
         that is not in 6.3. So for backward compatibility, I conditionaly use
         this function now.  Thus, the g:bufExplorerShowDirectories feature is
         only available when using vim 7.0 and above.
7.0.3  - Thanks to Erwin Waterlander for finding a problem when the last
         buffer was deleted. This issue got me to rewrite the buffer display
         logic (which I've wanted to do for sometime now).
         Also great thanks to Dave Eggum for coming up with idea for
         g:bufExplorerShowDirectories. Read the above information about this
         feature.
7.0.2  - Thanks to Thomas Arendsen Hein for finding a problem when a user
         has the default help turned off and then brought up the explorer. An
         E493 would be displayed.
7.0.1  - Thanks to Erwin Waterlander for finding a couple problems.
         The first problem allowed a modified buffer to be deleted.  Opps! The
         second problem occurred when several files were opened, BufExplorer
         was started, the current buffer was deleted using the 'd' option, and
         then BufExplorer was exited. The deleted buffer was still visible
         while it is not in the buffers list. Opps again!
7.0.0  - Thanks to Shankar R. for suggesting to add the ability to set
         the fixed width (g:bufExplorerSplitVertSize) of a new window
         when opening bufexplorer vertically and fixed height
         (g:bufExplorerSplitHorzSize) of a new window when opening
         bufexplorer horizontally. By default, the windows are normally
         split to use half the existing width or height.
6.3.0  - Added keepjumps so that the jumps list would not get cluttered with
         bufexplorer related stuff.
6.2.3  - Thanks to Jay Logan for finding a bug in the vertical split position
         of the code. When selecting that the window was to be split
         vertically by doing a '\bv', from then on, all splits, i.e. '\bs',
         were split vertically, even though g:bufExplorerSplitType was not set
         to 'v'.
6.2.2  - Thanks to Patrik Modesto for adding a small improvement. For some
         reason his bufexplorer window was always showing up folded. He added
         'setlocal nofoldenable' and it was fixed.
6.2.1  - Thanks goes out to Takashi Matsuo for added the 'fullPath' sorting
         logic and option.
6.2.0  - Thanks goes out to Simon Johann-Ganter for spotting and fixing a
         problem in that the last search pattern is overridden by the search
         pattern for blank lines.
6.1.6  - Thanks to Artem Chuprina for finding a pesky bug that has been around
         for sometime now. The <esc> key mapping was causing the buffer
         explored to close prematurely when vim was run in an xterm. The <esc>
         key mapping is now removed.
6.1.5  - Thanks to Khorev Sergey. Added option to show default help or not.
6.1.4  - Thanks goes out to Valery Kondakoff for suggesting the addition of
         setlocal nonumber and foldcolumn=0. This allows for line numbering
         and folding to be turned off temporarily while in the explorer.
6.1.3  - Added folding. Did some code cleanup. Added the ability to force the
         newly split window to be temporarily vertical, which was suggested by
         Thomas Glanzmann.
6.1.2  - Now pressing the <esc> key will quit, just like 'q'.
         Added folds to hide winmanager configuration.
         If anyone had the 'C' option in their cpoptions they would receive
         a E10 error on startup of BufExplorer. cpo is now saved, updated and
         restored. Thanks to Charles E Campbell, Jr.
         Attempted to make sure there can only be one BufExplorer window open
         at a time.
6.1.1  - Thanks to Brian D. Goodwin for adding toupper to FileNameCmp. This
         way buffers sorted by name will be in the correct order regardless of
         case.
6.0.16 - Thanks to Andre Pang for the original patch/idea to get bufexplorer
         to work in insertmode/modeless mode (evim). Added Initialize
         and Cleanup autocommands to handle commands that need to be
         performed when starting or leaving bufexplorer.
6.0.15 - Srinath Avadhanulax added a patch for winmanager.vim.
6.0.14 - Fix a few more bug that I thought I already had fixed. Thanks
         to Eric Bloodworth for adding 'Open Mode/Edit in Place'. Added
         vertical splitting.
6.0.13 - Thanks to Charles E Campbell, Jr. for pointing out some embarrassing
         typos that I had in the documentation. I guess I need to run
         the spell checker more :o)
6.0.12 - Thanks to Madoka Machitani, for the tip on adding the augroup command
         around the MRUList autocommands.
6.0.11 - Fixed bug report by Xiangjiang Ma. '"=' was being added to the
         search history which messed up hlsearch.
6.0.10 - Added the necessary hooks so that the Srinath Avadhanula's
         winmanager.vim script could more easily integrate with this script.
         Tried to improve performance.
6.0.9  - Added MRU (Most Recently Used) sort ordering.
6.0.8  - Was not resetting the showcmd command correctly.
         Added nifty help file.
6.0.7  - Thanks to Brett Carlane for some great enhancements. Some are added,
         some are not, yet. Added highlighting of current and alternate
         filenames. Added splitting of path/filename toggle. Reworked
         ShowBuffers().
         Changed my email address.
6.0.6  - Copyright notice added. Needed this so that it could be distributed
         with Debian Linux. Fixed problem with the SortListing() function
         failing when there was only one buffer to display.
6.0.5  - Fixed problems reported by David Pascoe, in that you where unable to
         hit 'd' on a buffer that belonged to a files that no longer existed
         and that the 'yank' buffer was being overridden by the help text when
         the bufexplorer was opened.
6.0.4  - Thanks to Charles Campbell, Jr. for making this plugin more plugin
         *compliant*, adding default keymappings of <Leader>be and <Leader>bs
         as well as fixing the 'w:sortDirLabel not being defined' bug.
6.0.3  - Added sorting capabilities. Sort taken from explorer.vim.
6.0.2  - Can't remember. (2001-07-25)
6.0.1  - Initial release.

===============================================================================
TODO                                                         *bufexplorer-todo*

- Nothing as of now, buf if you have any suggestions, drop me an email.

===============================================================================
CREDITS                                                   *bufexplorer-credits*

Author: Jeff Lanzarotta <delux256-vim at yahoo dot com>

Credit must go out to Bram Moolenaar and all the Vim developers for
making the world's best editor (IMHO). I also want to thank everyone who
helped and gave me suggestions. I wouldn't want to leave anyone out so I
won't list names.

===============================================================================
vim:tw=78:noet:wrap:ts=8:ft=help:norl: