Vim Tips Wiki:New tips/200806

New tips June 2008

For each proposed new tip:

• Is it worth keeping as a separate tip?
• Should it be merged into an existing tip? Which?
• If it should be kept, is it ready for release? Which points need fixing? Should it be renamed?

Please edit this page (not the talk page) in the appropriate section below the following table.
Alternatively, comments can be posted on the mailing list.

Proposed new tip	Link	Current consensus
Commenting with opfunc	discuss	-
Errorformats	discuss	-
File no longer available - mark buffer modified	discuss	-
Get the correct indent for new lines despite blank lines	discuss	-
Incremental search under cursor	discuss	-
Multiple Hilighted Search	discuss	-
Open multiple files, each in a new window or tab	discuss	-
Quickly switch between pager-like and editor-like scroll	discuss	-
Restore screen size and position	discuss	-
Showing syntax highlight group in statusline	discuss	-
Toggling HEX-editing on/off via Shortcut (using xxd)	discuss	-
Using vim color schemes with Putty	discuss	-
Yank to the end of line with Shift-y instead of y$	discuss	-

Please add your comment (sign with ~~~~) below the appropriate heading. Use ---- between comments.

Errorformats

Isn't this one a bit of a red herring? People should be primarily directed to learn about the :compiler command, not mess with 'efm'. Only if there isn't something available for their compiler should they worry about this. Sightless 06:34, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

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So, let's make this a tip about the :compiler option, and how to add a new compiler if yours doesn't exist. The hardest part of writing a compiler plugin is getting the errorformat right.

Many people are probably not even aware of 'errorformat' or :compiler. This is a good place to help them learn. Also, if you have tips on figuring out whether your compiler is supported, this would be a good place to put them methinks.

Perhaps the tip does need a rename though, if we change its focus.

--Fritzophrenic 13:43, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

File no longer available - mark buffer modified

I think this one's good enough to include, but not sure it's fully matured yet; I have found the message isn't really eye-catching enough; maybe it isn't always displayed. Sightless 06:37, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

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Great tip, but rename perhaps? The tip covers every value of v:fcs_reason, so it is far more generic than the title would indicate. On the other hand, the primary purpose of the tip is exactly what the title says; it mostly just asks the user what to do, except in this case. --Fritzophrenic 13:43, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Get the correct indent for new lines despite blank lines

I wrote this one, but not sure how many people have tried it/tested it. I'm not even sure I have it installed myself yet (though I do intend to use it!) I have tested it, but it might be smart to wait a little before releasing it, just so it's had more testing. Sightless 06:46, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Open multiple files, each in a new window or tab

Surely the 'in-vim' commands are obsolete and ':args' and ':sall' and ':tab sall' should be featured most prominently (along with command-line arguments). As the tip says, merging would be best for this. Sightless 06:34, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Restore screen size and position

This one has some bugs, so I suggest deferring it for a while until it matures. The first script on the page doesn't really work unless you never open multiple Vims simultaneously (the original non-servername-based one would have worked, but the version currently there does not), and the second one I recently discovered has a bug: it clobbers your unnamed register. There may well be others. Needs a bit more work/polishing before featuring. Sightless 06:34, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Showing syntax highlight group in statusline

I think this one's a goer! Sightless 06:46, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Toggling HEX-editing on/off via Shortcut (using xxd)

Merge the tips and check for subtleties such as endofline, binary, etc. Should use a buffer not global variable, as was discussed on the mailing list recently. Sightless 06:39, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

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Someone should look and see if there is anything to merge and do so, but Improved Hex editing covers the content of this tip in much the same way, and is more developed. --Fritzophrenic 13:43, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Using vim color schemes with Putty

I've made some modifications but haven't tested. Could others? See comments at the bottom of the page. Sightless 06:37, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

Yank to the end of line with Shift-y instead of y$

The quality of the tip is good. Is it worth keeping, though? It's a very simple tip, and there seem to be numerous opinions on whether it's truly useful! Given that, perhaps people would benefit just as much from a simple friendly introduction to the :map command (which surely is already a tip?)! Sightless 06:43, 3 July 2008 (UTC)

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