Switch between Vim window splits easily

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created December 4, 2001 · complexity intermediate · author Jonathan McPherson · version 5.7

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I am a Web developer and I use Vim as my primary editor.

Most programming projects (and Web programming projects, in particular) are spread out over multiple files, which you often want to have open concurrently. If you don't already know, Vim supports this very well! Just use:

:sp name-of-another-file-to-edit

My problems were that (1) it took too long to move between files, and (2) the files were taking up too much room on the screen.

(1) In order to move to the file in the split above my current window, I was typing Ctrl-W, Up (move up a window) Ctrl-W, _ (maximize the menu). That's four keystrokes (more if you count Ctrl and Shift), and they are all over the keyboard. To help avoid this problem, I created this mapping in my .vimrc:

map <C-J> <C-W>j<C-W>_
map <C-K> <C-W>k<C-W>_

Now I can hold down Ctrl and move between windows with the standard Vim movement keys. Much, much quicker!

(2) By default, Vim displays the current line of each minimized file, which (to me) isn't much help and takes up too much screen real estate. I use this line in my .vimrc:

set wmh=0

This sets the minimum window height to 0, so you can stack many more files before things get crowded. Vim will only display the filename.

Hope this helps those of you who are working on projects with large numbers of files you're constantly flipping through. Happy Vimming!

Comments

One may also do the dual thing for vertical splits/window changes:

set wmw=0
nmap <c-h> <c-w>h<c-w><bar>
nmap <c-l> <c-w>l<c-w><bar>

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I have solved the same problem by setting:

set winminheight=0
set winheight=999

winheight is always bigger than my window so the current window is maximized.

I do not have to set mapping and I can use other commands to change buffer, fi C-W C-W, mouse click on status line of the buffer etc.

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I created the SwitchWindow function which uses the ALT left/right/up/down cursor keys to easily move between windows.

" Switch window mappings /*{{{*/
nnoremap <A-Up> :normal <c-r>=SwitchWindow('+')<cr><cr>
nnoremap <A-Down> :normal <c-r>=SwitchWindow('-')<cr><cr>
nnoremap <A-Left> :normal <c-r>=SwitchWindow('<')<cr><cr>
nnoremap <A-Right> :normal <c-r>=SwitchWindow('>')<cr><cr>

function! SwitchWindow(dir)
  let this = winnr()
  if '+' == a:dir
    execute "normal \<c-w>k"
    elseif '-' == a:dir
    execute "normal \<c-w>j"
    elseif '>' == a:dir
    execute "normal \<c-w>l"
    elseif '<' == a:dir
    execute "normal \<c-w>h"
  else
    echo "oops. check your ~/.vimrc"
    return ""
  endif
endfunction
" /*}}}*/

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Why have a whole function when you can simply:

nmap <silent> <A-Up> :wincmd k<CR>
nmap <silent> <A-Down> :wincmd j<CR>
nmap <silent> <A-Left> :wincmd h<CR>
nmap <silent> <A-Right> :wincmd l<CR>

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Another very useful mapping for me is:

:imap <C-w> <C-o><C-w>

this allows all window commands in insert mode and i'm not accidentally deleting words anymore :-)

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No keypressing -- focus-follows-mouse for gvim, in _gvimrc

:set mousefocus

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To quickly resize windows with a vertical split:

:map - <C-W>-
:map + <C-W>+

To resize vertical windows quickly with ALT-SHIFT-[<>]:

:vsplit other.fil
:map <M-<> <C-W><
:map <M->> <C-W>>

Always handy to scroll between open windows.

:map <F6> <C-W>w

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I now use the tabbar plugin script#1338 to simply ALT-1, ALT-2, etc to switch between buffers. The tabbar plugin is derived from the famous minibufexpl plugin with some useful enhancements (like the ALT-n shortcut to switch between buffers).

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I love this tip! I found [however] for my purposes it was very inconvenient to have the 'from' window minimize itself, especially since I often want to look at portions of two (or more) different scripts simultaneously, whilst jumping the cursor between them-perhaps to copy some code from one to the other. Here was my solution:

map <C-J> <C-W>j<15C-W>_
map <C-K> <C-W>k<15C-W>

By adding the value '15' in the appropriate spot, it designates a specific size for a window. However, serendipity intervened...although that is the correct size (per window) when two windows share the screen, if a third (or 4th, or whatever) are added, the screen will continue to display each window with an equal share of the real-estate.

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I've found that remapping my tab keys to behave like Firefox solves a lot of the mental problems I have when working with multiple applications. Of course, having C-w mapping to closing a tab isn't quite the best thing when you've got split windows (especially for plugins like Project). The easiest way I've found to avoid this is to simply over-ride the navigation keys with ctrl or alt as follows:

:nmap <silent> <C-h> :wincmd h<CR>
:nmap <silent> <C-j> :wincmd j<CR>
:nmap <silent> <C-k> :wincmd k<CR>
:nmap <silent> <C-l> :wincmd l<CR>

Of course you might want to retain your old C-w window-managing key in something else, like C-S-w:

:nmap <silent> <C-S-w> :wincmd<space>

This saves me a lot of headaches, especially since it's already painful enough to switch between terminals and OSes in a mixed environment like a school lab.

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