Vim: Buffers, Windows and Tabs
This is part 8 of a series of tutorial to Vim. You can read Part 7 here.
One Elephant and Many Men
Buffer
A buffer is just a file loaded up in Vim. You can open multiple files simultaneously
in Vim, either by passing multiple file path as arguments to Vim, if you launch
it from command line, or using :e (or :edit) for editing or :view to view
the file (readonly mode).
You can list the open buffers using :ls or :buffers. You can cycle through
the buffers using :bn (:bnext (buffer next)) and :bp (:bN, bprevious
(buffer previous)). Or you can jump to specific buffer using :b followed by
file path (you can type in initial characters and press <tab> for autocomplete).
You can also jump to specific buffer using its ID1, ID is listed in output of :ls,
using :b followed by ID.
When you are done with a buffer, you can delete it by :bdelete or :bd.
Buffer Philosophy
Vim uses buffers the way we are used to have multiple things open in Tabs, like in Internet Browsers. Newer text editors and IDEs have taken this approach, each file opens in a new tab. I would recommend to use buffers in Vim for this2.
Windows
Before we jump to windows, let me remind you of the story of Elephant and blind men: There were 7 blind men, who had never encountered elephant before and tried to learn about it by touching it. The elephant, as we know, is huge and the men could only feel a small part of the elephant. They drew conclusion about it, poles apart, depending on the part which they touched.
The elephant represents the buffer-a huge body of matter. Windows show a part of the buffer, just like the way blind men experienced the same elephant. Windows can show different buffers or same buffer. They are just perspectives.
It is also useful to have multiple views of same file side by side to refer some code which is not visible in current window. For example, I'm using one window to write the main content and other to write the summary by looking at the same file.
Keys:
- You can split current window horizontally using
<c-w> s,shere stands for split.- Every command concerning windows will start with
<c-w>
- Every command concerning windows will start with
- Similarly
<c-w> vwill make a vertical split. <c-w> <c-w>will toggle focus among windows.<c-w>followed by arrow keys will get focus to the direction of arrow key pressed.<c-w> qwill close or quit the window currently in focus.
A side note: 80 Column Rule
For those who have never heard of 80 column rule, the rule says that no line should be longer than 80 characters, and that includes indentation space. In modern times, the rationale3 behind the rule is, it is difficult to read long lines4.
Having vertical split makes even more sense in light of this rule and wide monitors. Instead of having one monolithic fat file opened, it is better to have multiple windows (perspective) displaying different files or different part of same file.
Tabs
Vim also has tabs but these tabs are different from the tabs which you might be familiar with. In Vim, you can think of tabs as arrangement of windows, instead of representing open files. Thus, in one arrangement, you can have 4 splits–2 vertical , 2 horizontal–and just 2 splits in other. These windows may or may not show same files. The main idea behind this is to save the configuration of splits. Thus, you might have a tab which is optimized for developing code and other designed for debugging.
Keys:
:tabnewto create new tab:tabnorgtto goto next tab:tabporgTto goto previous tab
Lesson 9
A buffer is the in-memory text of a file.
A window is a viewport on a buffer.
A tab page is a collection of windows
- This summary is taken directly from Vim's documentation.
One more thing: Help!
You now have seen a lot of commands and terms of Vim. Keeping up with so many things , even for a seasoned Vim user, can be tough. Fortunately, Vim has a very helpful , inbuilt and easy to use documentation. And, it is available offline too!
The way to summon Vim's documentation system is by hitting :help followed by
command or concept. For example, you can read more about buffer switching
by typing :help :bn or more about window using :help window. Vim will
open up another window showing a buffer of Vim's documentation.
Try it! it is really that simple.
Summary
| Command | Comment |
|---|---|
:e or :edit |
open file for edit |
:view |
open file for view (read only) |
:ls or :buffers |
list loaded buffers |
:bn or :bnext |
switch to next buffer |
:bp or :bprevious |
switch to previous buffer |
:b<id> |
switch to id buffer |
:bd or :bdelete |
delete a buffer |
<c-w> s |
horizontal split |
<c-w> v |
vertical split |
<c-w> <c-w> |
cycle focus through window |
<c-w> <arrow keys> |
shift focus to window in direction of arrow key |
<c-w> q |
quit window |
<c-w> = |
make each split of same size |
:tabnew |
create new tab |
:tabn or gt |
cycle through tabs (tab next) |
:tabp or gT |
cycle through tabs backwards (tab previous) |
:help <command/term> |
searches for <command/term> in Vim's documentation |
Footnotes:
Vim Documentation calls this ID as unique number which will never change.
In Part 3, we talked about gf (goto file) which opens file, ie opens a new buffer. You can go back to previous buffer using :bp
If you search around you'll find plenty of discussion about this.
