Changes: Prevent a second instance of Vim from starting

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Tip 957 Printable Monobook Previous Next

created 2005 · complexity basic · author Jonathan Orlev · version 5.7

For me, the most irritating thing when using the wonderful Vim is starting a second copy of Vim while a first one was already running.

For example: opening a file already open in the first Vim instance within a second instance of Vim gives an error message, because the swap file is already in use (not to mention that this might cause a loss of data).

So I added this to my vimrc. I am using gvim on Windows, but this will probably also work with gvim in other systems.

" If the v:servername ends with a number, then this is for sure a second
" copy of Vim.
if v:servername =~? '^.*[0-9][0-9]*$'
  echo "MyWarning: Another copy of gvim or Vim is probably loaded!"
endif

Comments

For users running gvim on Unixes, an alternative is to always use

/usr/local/bin/gvim --remote-silent FILENAME

If gvim is already running, the file is opened there. Otherwise, a new gvim instance is started.

For interactive shell sessions, it would help to define a shorter alias, such as:

alias gvimrem='/usr/local/bin/gvim --remote-silent'

Here is a better version for the tip. This is more general, and therefore preferable:

" If the serverlist contains more than one item, than another instance of
" Vim is loaded.
if serverlist() =~? "\n."
  echo "MyWarning: Another copy of gvim or Vim is probably loaded !"
endif

I agree, this serverlist() functions is working on Linux, where v:servername does not. Replace the original!

And you may also replace the operator '=~?' with '=~'

See the :RemoteOpen command from remoteopen.vim which is part of latex-suite plugin.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{review}}
+{{TipImported
-{{Tip
 |id=957
+|previous=955
-|title=Preventing a second copy of VIM from starting
+|next=958
-|created=July 7, 2005 4:28
+|created=2005
 |complexity=basic
 |author=Jonathan Orlev
 |version=5.7
 |rating=4/11
+|category1=
-|text=
+|category2=
-Hello everybody.
-For me, the most irritating thing when using the wonderful VIM is starging a second copy of VIM while a first one was already running.
-For example: openning a file already open in the first VIM instance within a second instance of VIM gives an error message, because the swap file is already in use (Not to mention that this might cause a loss of data).
-So I added this to my .vimrc. I don't know if this is the most elegant solution, but it works for me.
-I am using GVIM on Windows, but this will probably also work with GVim in other OS's.
-You may want to modify it so VIM exists after showing the warning message.
-Finally, if someone is familiar with a better option (a built in maybe ?), please post a comment
-" ----
- " If the v:servername ends with a number, then this is for sure a second
- " copy of VIM.
- if v:servername =~? '^.*[0-9][0-9]*$'
- echo "MyWarning: Another copy of GVIM or VIM is probably loaded !"
- endif
-" ----
 }}
+For me, the most irritating thing when using the wonderful Vim is starting a second copy of Vim while a first one was already running.
+For example: opening a file already open in the first Vim instance within a second instance of Vim gives an error message, because the swap file is already in use (not to mention that this might cause a loss of data).
-== Comments ==
-For users running GVim on Unixes, an alternative is to always use
-/usr/local/bin/gvim --remote-silent FILENAME
-If GVim is already running, the file is opened there. Otherwise, a new GVim instance is started.
+So I added this to my vimrc. I am using gvim on Windows, but this will probably also work with gvim in other systems.
-For interactive shell sessions, it would help to define a shorter alias, such as:
-alias gvimrem='/usr/local/bin/gvim --remote-silent'
+<pre>
+" If the v:servername ends with a number, then this is for sure a second
+" copy of Vim.
+if v:servername =~? '^.*[0-9][0-9]*$'
+  echo "MyWarning: Another copy of gvim or Vim is probably loaded!"
+endif
+</pre>
+==Comments==
-Dubhead &lt;echochamber at gmail&gt;
+For users running gvim on Unixes, an alternative is to always use
-, July 7, 2005 19:03
+<pre>
-----
+/usr/local/bin/gvim --remote-silent FILENAME
-To Dubhead:
+</pre>
+If gvim is already running, the file is opened there. Otherwise, a new gvim instance is started.
-Thanks,
+For interactive shell sessions, it would help to define a shorter alias, such as:
-But according the documentation it only works with a file name argument, where what I showed also works when invoking VIM without file name argument.
+<pre>
+alias gvimrem='/usr/local/bin/gvim --remote-silent'
+</pre>
-I will have to read some more about this subject, because I saw the s:servername variable, but never quite understood the whole context it used in.
-Also, I now see that I can use the function serverlist() to make the tip also work regardless of using VIM OR GVIM (I'll check if there are more than one item in the returned list.
-JonathanOrlev_REMOVEME_--AT--yahoo.com
-, July 10, 2005 3:29
 ----
+Here is a better version for the tip. This is more general, and therefore preferable:
-Everyone who needs this tip, please read:
+<pre>
-Here is a better version for the tip. This is more general, and therefore preferable:
+" If the serverlist contains more than one item, than another instance of
+" Vim is loaded.
+if serverlist() =~? "\n."
+  echo "MyWarning: Another copy of gvim or Vim is probably loaded !"
+endif
+</pre>
+I agree, this serverlist() functions is working on Linux, where v:servername does not. Replace the original!
-" ---
- " If the serverlist contains more than one item, than another instance of
- " VIM is loaded.
- if serverlist() =~? "\n."
- echo "MyWarning: Another copy of GVIM or VIM is probably loaded !"
- endif
-" ---
-JonathanOrlev_REMOVEME_--AT--yahoo.com
-, July 10, 2005 4:01
 ----
 And you may also replace the operator '=~?' with '=~'
-JonathanOrlev_REMOVEME_--AT--yahoo.com
-, July 10, 2005 4:32
-----
-Is ther a way to open a file in a new gvim instance, unless it's already opened?
-Thanks
- Ronnie
-vt.10.ronnielj--AT--spamgourmet.com
-, July 11, 2005 6:53
 ----
-See the :RemoteOpen command from remoteopen.vim which is part of latex-suite plugin
+See the <code>:RemoteOpen</code> command from remoteopen.vim which is part of latex-suite plugin.
-Aditya Mahajan
-, July 14, 2005 8:11
 ----
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