Gvim

Gvim is the graphical version of vim with lots of functionality.

In fact, Gvim is the editor I used to write these pages.

Startup #

The following is part of my .bashrc. It can handle several files I want to edit. It creates the necessary directories just as Visual Studio Code does and only opens one instance.

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edit() {
  for F in $*
  do
    mkdir -pv $(dirname $F)
    /usr/bin/gvim --servername gvim-me --remote $F
  done
}

Customization #

The real power in vim comes from the customization. Previously, I wrote a lot of C and C++ code. Hence, I had several function key mapping that invoked make from the command and the edit mode. Vim also recognizes the error format and jumps to the related lines. Now, I am using vim more like a regular editor and do programming stuff in more adapted IDE’s.

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map <F8> :make ^V^M
map! <F8> ^[:make ^V^M
map ^[^[ :x^V^M
set autoindent
set backspace=2
set shiftwidth=2
set list listchars=tab:→\ ,trail:·
set list
set expandtab
colorscheme blue
set number

Line 1 maps the Function key 8 to make. I used to have a mapping from line 2. Now, I am mostly using line 3. Line 1 executes make when I press F8. In order to enter this into .vimrc, one has to type map followed by Ctrl-V and F8, a space and then :make finished by pressing Ctrl-V and Enter. Line 2 starts similar, but after the space one has to press Ctrl-V and Esc to get this ^[. In the vim editor, all those ^[, ^V and ^M are just one character.

Line 7 shows me tabs and trailing whitespaces, since most of the stuff I am currently working with, are complaining about those.

Plugins #

I have been using plain gvim for decades, but recently I am fond of NERDtree which includes a file explorer in a split window.