Changes: Vim buffer FAQ

Revision as of 15:47, 8 June 2007

Tip: #135 - Vim buffer FAQ

Created: October 12, 2001 10:20 Complexity: basic Author: Yegappan Version: 6.0 Karma: 456/180 Imported from: Tip#135

Vim provides various commands and options to support editing multiple buffers. This document covers some of the questions asked about using multiple buffers with Vim. You can get more detailed information about Vim buffer support using the ":help windows.txt" command in Vim. You can also use the help keywords mentioned in this document to read more about a particular command or option. To read more about a particular command or option use the ":help <helpkeyword>" command (replace helpkeyword with the command or option name).

What is a Vim buffer?

A buffer is a file loaded into memory for editing. All opened files are associated with a buffer. There are also buffers not associated with any file.

Help keyword(s): windows-intro

How do I identify a buffer?

Vim buffers are identified using a name and a number. The name of the buffer is the name of the file associated with that buffer. The buffer number is a unique sequential number assigned by Vim. This buffer number will not change in a single Vim session.

Help keyword(s): :buffers

How do I create a buffer?

When you open a file using any of the Vim commands, a buffer is automatically created. For example, if you use the ":edit file" command to edit a file, a new buffer is automatically created.

How do I add a new buffer for a file to the buffer list without opening the file?

You can add a new buffer for a file without opening it, using the ":badd" ex command. For example,

:badd f1.txt 
:badd f2.txt

The above commands will add two new buffers for the files f1.txt and f2.txt to the buffer list.

Help keyword(s): :badd

How do I get a list of all the existing buffers?

You can get a list of all the existing buffers using the ":buffers" or ":ls" or ":files" ex command. This list is called the 'buffer list'.

In Vim 6.0, to display all the buffers including unlisted buffers, use the ":buffers!" or ":ls!" or ":files!" ex command.

Help keyword(s): :buffers, :ls, :files

How do I delete a buffer?

You can delete a buffer using the ":bdelete" ex command. You can use either the buffer name or the buffer number to specify a buffer. For example,

:bdelete f1.txt 
:bdelete 4

The above commands will delete the buffer named "f1.txt" and the fourth buffer in the buffer list. The ":bdelete" command will remove the buffer from the buffer list.

In Vim 6.0, when a buffer is deleted, the buffer becomes an unlisted-buffer and is no longer included in the buffer list. But the buffer name and other information associated with the buffer is still remembered. To completely delete the buffer, use the ":bwipeout" ex command. This command will remove the buffer completely (i.e. the buffer will not become a unlisted buffer).

Help keyword(s): :bdelete, :bwipeout

How do I delete multiple buffers?

You can delete multiple buffers in several ways:

Pass a range argument to the ":bdelete" command. For example, the following command deletes the buffers 3, 4 and 5.

:3,5bdelete

Pass multiple buffer names to the ":bdelete" command. For example, the following command deletes buffers buf1.txt, buf2.c and buf3.h.

:bdelete buf1.txt buf2.c buf3.h

In this example, after typing ":bdelete buf", you can press <Ctrl-A> to expand all the buffer names starting with 'buf'.

Help keyword(s): :bdelete, :bwipeout

How do I remove a buffer from a window?

You can remove a buffer displayed in a window in several ways:

Close the window or edit another buffer/file in that window.
Use the ":bunload" ex command. This command will remove the buffer from the window and unload the buffer contents from memory. The buffer will not be removed from the buffer list.

Help keyword(s): :bunload

How do I edit an existing buffer from the buffer list?

You can edit or jump to a buffer in the buffer list in several ways:

Use the ":buffer" ex command passing the name of an existing buffer or the buffer number. Note that buffer name completion can be used here by pressing the <Tab> key.
You can enter the buffer number you want to jump/edit and press the Ctrl-^ key.
Use the ":sbuffer" ex command passing the name of the buffer or the buffer number. Vim will split open a new window and open the specified buffer in that window.
You can enter the buffer number you want to jump/edit and press the Ctrl-W ^ or Ctrl-W Ctrl-^ keys. This will open the specified buffer in a new window.

Help keyword(s): :buffer, :sbuffer, CTRL-W_^, CTRL-^

How do I browse through all the available buffers?

You can browse through the buffers in the buffer list in several ways:

To jump to the first buffer in the buffer list, use the ":bfirst" or ":brewind" ex command.
To jump to the first buffer in the buffer list in a new window, use the ":sbfirst" or ":sbrewind" ex command.
To edit the next buffer in the buffer list, use the ":bnext" ex command.
To open the next buffer in the buffer list in a new window, use the ":sbnext" ex command.
To edit the previous buffer in the buffer list, use the ":bprevious" or ":bNext" ex command.
To open the previous buffer in the buffer list in a new window, use the ":sbprevious" or ":sbNext" ex command.
To open the last buffer in the buffer list, use the ":blast" ex command.
To open the last buffer in the buffer list in a new window, use the ":sblast" ex command.

Help keyword(s): :bfirst, :brewind, :sbfirst, :sbrewind, :bnext, :sbnext, :bprevious, :bNext, :sbprevious, :sbNext, :blast, :sblast

How do I open all the buffers in the buffer list?

You can open all the buffers present in the buffer list using the ":ball" or ":sball" ex commands.

Help keyword(s): :ball, :sball

How do I open all the loaded buffers?

You can open all the loaded buffers in the buffer list using the ":unhide" or ":sunhide" ex commands. Each buffer will be loaded in a separate new window.

Help keyword(s): :unhide, :sunhide

How do I open the next modified buffer?

You can open the next or a specific modified buffer using the ":bmodified" ex command. You can open the next or a specific modified buffer in a new window using the ":sbmodified" ex command.

Help keyword(s): :bmodified, :sbmodified

I am using the GUI version of Vim (gvim), is there a simpler way for using the buffers instead of the ex commands?

Yes. In the GUI version of Vim, you can use the 'Buffers' menu, which simplifies the use of buffers. All the buffers in the buffer list are listed in this menu. You can select a buffer name from this menu to edit the buffer. You can also delete a buffer or browse the buffer list.

Help keyword(s): buffers-menu

Is there a Vim script that simplifies using buffers with Vim?

Yes. You can use the bufexplorer.vim script to simplify the process of using buffers. You can download the bufexplorer script from:

http://lanzarotta.tripod.com/vim.html

Is it possible to save and restore the buffer list across Vim sessions?

Yes. To save and restore the buffer list across Vim session, include the '%' flag in the 'viminfo' option. Note that if Vim is invoked with a filename argument, then the buffer list will not be restored from the last session. To use buffer lists across sessions, invoke Vim without passing filename arguments.

Help keyword(s): 'viminfo', viminfo

How do I remove all the entries from the buffer list?

You can remove all the entries in the buffer list by starting Vim with a file argument. You can also manually remove all the buffers using the ":bdelete" ex command.

What is a hidden buffer?

A hidden buffer is a buffer with some unsaved modifications and is not displayed in a window. Hidden buffers are useful, if you want to edit multiple buffers without saving the modifications made to a buffer while loading other buffers.

Help keyword(s): :buffer-!, 'hidden', hidden-buffer, buffer-hidden

How do I load buffers in a window, which currently has a buffer with unsaved modifications?

By setting the option 'hidden', you can load buffers in a window that currently has a modified buffer. Vim will remember your modifications to the buffer. When you quit Vim, you will be asked to save the modified buffers. It is important to note that, if you have the 'hidden' option set, and you quit Vim forcibly, for example using ":quit!", then you will lose all your modifications to the hidden buffers.

Help keyword(s): 'hidden'

Is it possible to unload or delete a buffer when it becomes hidden?

The following works only in Vim 6.0 and above. By setting the 'bufhidden' option to either 'hide' or 'unload' or 'delete', you can control what happens to a buffer when it becomes hidden. When 'bufhidden' is set to 'delete', the buffer is deleted when it becomes hidden. When 'bufhidden' is set to 'unload', the buffer is unloaded when it becomes hidden. When 'bufhidden' is set to 'hide', the buffer is hidden.

Help keyword(s): 'bufhidden'

How do I execute a command on all the buffers in the buffer list?

In Vim 6.0, you can use the ":bufdo" ex command to execute an ex command on all the buffers in the buffer list.

Help keyword(s): :bufdo

When I open an existing buffer from the buffer list, if the buffer is already displayed in one of the existing windows, I want Vim to jump to that window instead of creating a new window for this buffer. How do I do this?

When opening a buffer using one of the split open buffer commands (:sbuffer, :sbnext), Vim will open the specified buffer in a new window. If the buffer is already opened in one of the existing windows, then you will have two windows containing the same buffer. You can change this behavior by setting the 'switchbuf' option to 'useopen'. With this setting, if a buffer is already opened in one of the windows, Vim will jump to that window, instead of creating a new window.

Help keyword(s): 'switchbuf'

What information is stored as part of a buffer?

Every buffer in the buffer list contains information about the last cursor position, marks, jump list, etc.

What is the difference between deleting a buffer and unloading a buffer?

When a buffer is unloaded, it is not removed from the buffer list. Only the file contents associated with the buffer are removed from memory. When a buffer is deleted, it is unloaded and removed from the buffer list. In Vim 6, a deleted buffer becomes an 'unlisted' buffer.

Help keyword(s): :bunload, :bdelete, :bwipeout, unlisted-buffer

Is it possible to configure Vim, by setting some option, to re-use the number of a deleted buffer for a new buffer?

No. Vim will not re-use the buffer number of a deleted buffer for a new buffer. Vim will always assign the next sequential number for a new buffer. The buffer number assignment is implemented this way, so that you can always jump to a buffer using the same buffer number. One method to achieve buffer number reordering is to restart Vim. If you restart Vim, it will re-assign numbers sequentially to all the buffers in the buffer list (assuming you have properly set 'viminfo' to save and restore the buffer list across vim sessions).

Help keyword(s): :buffers

What options do I need to set for a scratch (temporary) buffer?

The following works only in Vim 6.0 and above. You can set the the following options to create a scratch (temporary) buffer:

:set buftype=nofile 
:set bufhidden=hide 
:setlocal noswapfile

This will create a buffer which is not associated with a file, which does not have a associated swap file and will be hidden when removed from a window.

Help keyword(s): special-buffers, 'buftype'

How do I prevent a buffer from being added to the buffer list?

The following works only in Vim 6.0 and above. You can prevent a buffer from being added to the buffer list by resetting the 'buflisted' option.

:set nobuflisted

Help keyword(s): 'buflisted'

How do I determine whether a buffer is modified or not?

There are several ways to find out whether a buffer is modified or not. The simplest way is to look at the status line or the title bar. If the displayed string contains a '+' character, then the buffer is modified. Another way is to check whether the 'modified' option is set or not. If 'modified' is set, then the buffer is modified. To check the value of modified, use

:set modified?

You can also explicitly set the 'modified' option to mark the buffer as modified like this:

:set modified

Help keyword(s): 'modified'

How can I prevent modifications to a buffer?

The following works only in Vim 6.0 and above. You can prevent any modification to a buffer by re-setting the 'modifiable' option. To reset this option, use

:set nomodifiable

To again allow modifications to the buffer, use:

:set modifiable

Help keyword(s): 'modifiable'

How do I set options specific to the current buffer?

The following works only in Vim 6.0 and above. You can set Vim options which are specific to a buffer using the "setlocal" command. For example,

:setlocal textwidth=70

This will set the 'textwidth' option to 70 only for the current buffer. All other buffers will have the default or the previous 'textwidth' value.

Help keyword(s): 'setlocal', local-options

How do I define mappings specific to the current buffer?

The following works only in Vim 6.0 and above. You can define mappings specific to the current buffer by using the keyword "<buffer>" in the map command. For example,

:map <buffer> ,w /[.,;]<CR>

Help keyword(s): :map-local

How do I define abbreviations specific to the current buffer?

The following works only in Vim 6.0 and above. You can define abbreviations specific to the current buffer by using the keyword "<buffer>" in the :abbreviate command. For example,

:abb <buffer> FF for (i = 0; i < ; ++i)

Help keyword(s): :abbreviate-local

Comments

Something simple, using gvim just detach the buffer menu and place it on the right hand side of the screen.

Anonymous , March 25, 2003 16:22

Detaching the buffer menu is an awesome idea.

mosh, April 18, 2004 19:45

I had just figured out the buffer-menu tearoff idea a couple of weeks ago. I am corking on a project with ~15 files simultaneously. The tearoff has saved my sanity.

But for some reason, my world just came crumbling down. I messed around with installing perl-support.zip just to see if I liked it. I restarted gvim and tore off my buffer menu which listed all 15 of my files as we would expect. Then I :h'd something. When I did that, the buffer menu changed itself to, instead of listing all 15 files, it categorized them into sub-menus abcd->, ijkl->,etc. I ***DO NOT*** want this "help". I want to be able to switch buffers just by rolling the mouse over and clicking a file. I don't want to traverse sub-menus to find the file I'm looking for.

I removed all signs of the perl-support installation and all of my ~/.vimi* files but this is still happening. It's fine until I :h something.

I don't want to have to edit the source to stop this from happening, but I will. Does anyone know how to stop this?!?! Please please help.

smp--AT--cypress.com, July 20, 2004 8:52

uhhh, "working", not "corking" :).

I've found that hitting "refresh menu" brings it back to normal. This will work for me, but I would still like a vim option to stop it from ever happening.

smp--AT--cypress.com, July 20, 2004 8:56

SMP, the option you want is 'menuitems'. Set it to a really large number, like 999.

Breadman, September 13, 2004 22:35

Is there a way to detach the buffermenu in the OS X version?

Otherwise some great tips. Getting smarter every day :)

Danny, February 7, 2005 1:05

Is there any way to traverse the buffers in the order used?

For example, I edit buffer 4, then buffer 8, then buffer 1, now I want to go back from where I am in the same order. So I might issue this command and it takes me back to buffer 8, then again and I go back to buffer 4. And then in the opposite direction back up the list. This would be extremely useful.

Chris, February 21, 2005 17:53

Why are help and file-explorer buffers treated specially? I would like them to persist no matter what other buffer I visit; instead they disappear unless the view is split.

Any ideas? Thanks.

Gianni, October 31, 2005 16:48

detach menu is awesome, I'm new to linux, not even know you can do that !! Now vim is more like multi-tabbed editor to me, sweet

fjin1--AT--jhu.edu, February 21, 2006 10:24

--AT--chris

You may want to try: <CTRL> + O [as in capital letter 'O']

greg--AT--sceptic.us, September 1, 2006 14:19

--AT--greg that is <CTRL> + o not capital letter 'O'

na, September 1, 2006 14:22

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Tip
 |id=135
-|title=Using Vim Buffers
+|title=Vim buffer FAQ
 |created=October 12, 2001 10:20
 |complexity=basic