# Vim documentation: usr_31

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    *usr_31.txt*	For Vim version 8.1.  Last change: 2007 May 08

    		     VIM USER MANUAL - by Bram Moolenaar

    			      Exploiting the GUI

    Vim works well in a terminal, but the GUI has a few extra items.  A file
    browser can be used for commands that use a file.  A dialog to make a choice
    between alternatives.  Use keyboard shortcuts to access menu items quickly.

    |31.1|	The file browser
    |31.2|	Confirmation
    |31.3|	Menu shortcuts
    |31.4|	Vim window position and size
    |31.5|	Various

         Next chapter: |usr_32.txt|  The undo tree
     Previous chapter: |usr_30.txt|  Editing programs
    Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt|

    ==============================================================================

    *31.1*	The file browser

    When using the File/Open... menu you get a file browser.  This makes it easier
    to find the file you want to edit.  But what if you want to split a window to
    edit another file?  There is no menu entry for this.  You could first use
    Window/Split and then File/Open..., but that's more work.
       Since you are typing most commands in Vim, opening the file browser with a
    typed command is possible as well.  To make the split command use the file
    browser, prepend "browse":

    	:browse split

    Select a file and then the ":split" command will be executed with it.  If you
    cancel the file dialog nothing happens, the window isn't split.
       You can also specify a file name argument.  This is used to tell the file
    browser where to start.  Example:

    	:browse split /etc

    The file browser will pop up, starting in the directory "/etc".

    The ":browse" command can be prepended to just about any command that opens a
    file.
       If no directory is specified, Vim will decide where to start the file
    browser.  By default it uses the same directory as the last time.  Thus when
    you used ":browse split" and selected a file in "/usr/local/share", the next
    time you use a ":browse" it will start in "/usr/local/share" again.
       This can be changed with the 'browsedir' option.  It can have one of three
    values:

    	last		Use the last directory browsed (default)
    	buffer		Use the same directory as the current buffer
    	current		use the current directory

    For example, when you are in the directory "/usr", editing the file
    "/usr/local/share/readme", then the command:

    	:set browsedir=buffer
    	:browse edit

    Will start the browser in "/usr/local/share".  Alternatively:

    	:set browsedir=current
    	:browse edit

    Will start the browser in "/usr".

    	Note:
    	To avoid using the mouse, most file browsers offer using key presses
    	to navigate.  Since this is different for every system, it is not
    	explained here.  Vim uses a standard browser when possible, your
    	system documentation should contain an explanation on the keyboard
    	shortcuts somewhere.

    When you are not using the GUI version, you could use the file explorer window
    to select files like in a file browser.  However, this doesn't work for the
    ":browse" command.  See |netrw-browse|.

    ==============================================================================

    *31.2*	Confirmation

    Vim protects you from accidentally overwriting a file and other ways to lose
    changes.  If you do something that might be a bad thing to do, Vim produces an
    error message and suggests appending ! if you really want to do it.
       To avoid retyping the command with the !, you can make Vim give you a
    dialog.  You can then press "OK" or "Cancel" to tell Vim what you want.
       For example, you are editing a file and made changes to it.  You start
    editing another file with:

    	:confirm edit foo.txt

    Vim will pop up a dialog that looks something like this:

    	+-----------------------------------+
    	|				    |
    	|   ?	Save changes to "bar.txt"?  |
    	|				    |
    	|   YES   NO		 CANCEL     |
    	+-----------------------------------+

    Now make your choice.  If you do want to save the changes, select "YES".  If
    you want to lose the changes for ever: "NO".  If you forgot what you were
    doing and want to check what really changed use "CANCEL".  You will be back in
    the same file, with the changes still there.

    Just like ":browse", the ":confirm" command can be prepended to most commands
    that edit another file.  They can also be combined:

    	:confirm browse edit

    This will produce a dialog when the current buffer was changed.  Then it will
    pop up a file browser to select the file to edit.

    	Note:
    	In the dialog you can use the keyboard to select the choice.
    	Typically the <Tab> key and the cursor keys change the choice.
    	Pressing <Enter> selects the choice.  This depends on the system
    	though.

    When you are not using the GUI, the ":confirm" command works as well.  Instead
    of popping up a dialog, Vim will print the message at the bottom of the Vim
    window and ask you to press a key to make a choice.

    	:confirm edit main.c
     	Save changes to "Untitled"?
    	[Y]es, (N)o, (C)ancel:

    You can now press the single key for the choice.  You don't have to press
    <Enter>, unlike other typing on the command line.

    ==============================================================================

    *31.3*	Menu shortcuts

    The keyboard is used for all Vim commands.  The menus provide a simple way to
    select commands, without knowing what they are called.  But you have to move
    your hand from the keyboard and grab the mouse.
       Menus can often be selected with keys as well.  This depends on your
    system, but most often it works this way.  Use the <Alt> key in combination
    with the underlined letter of a menu.  For example, <A-w> (<Alt> and w) pops
    up the Window menu.
       In the Window menu, the "split" item has the p underlined.  To select it,
    let go of the <Alt> key and press p.

    After the first selection of a menu with the <Alt> key, you can use the cursor
    keys to move through the menus.  <Right> selects a submenu and <left> closes
    it.  <Esc> also closes a menu.  <Enter> selects a menu item.

    There is a conflict between using the <Alt> key to select menu items, and
    using <Alt> key combinations for mappings.  The 'winaltkeys' option tells Vim
    what it should do with the <Alt> key.
       The default value "menu" is the smart choice: If the key combination is a
    menu shortcut it can't be mapped.  All other keys are available for mapping.
       The value "no" doesn't use any <Alt> keys for the menus.  Thus you must use
    the mouse for the menus, and all <Alt> keys can be mapped.
       The value "yes" means that Vim will use any <Alt> keys for the menus.  Some
    <Alt> key combinations may also do other things than selecting a menu.

    ==============================================================================

    *31.4*	Vim window position and size

    To see the current Vim window position on the screen use:

    	:winpos

    This will only work in the GUI.  The output may look like this:

    	Window position: X 272, Y 103

    The position is given in screen pixels.  Now you can use the numbers to move
    Vim somewhere else.  For example, to move it to the left a hundred pixels:

    	:winpos 172 103

    	Note:
    	There may be a small offset between the reported position and where
    	the window moves.  This is because of the border around the window.
    	This is added by the window manager.

    You can use this command in your startup script to position the window at a
    specific position.

    The size of the Vim window is computed in characters.  Thus this depends on
    the size of the font being used.  You can see the current size with this
    command:

    	:set lines columns

    To change the size set the 'lines' and/or 'columns' options to a new value:

    	:set lines=50
    	:set columns=80

    Obtaining the size works in a terminal just like in the GUI.  Setting the size
    is not possible in most terminals.

    You can start the X-Windows version of gvim with an argument to specify the
    size and position of the window:

    	gvim -geometry {width}x{height}+{x_offset}+{y_offset}

    {width} and {height} are in characters, {x_offset} and {y_offset} are in
    pixels.  Example:

    	gvim -geometry 80x25+100+300

    ==============================================================================

    *31.5*	Various

    You can use gvim to edit an e-mail message.  In your e-mail program you must
    select gvim to be the editor for messages.  When you try that, you will
    see that it doesn't work: The mail program thinks that editing is finished,
    while gvim is still running!
       What happens is that gvim disconnects from the shell it was started in.
    That is fine when you start gvim in a terminal, so that you can do other work
    in that terminal.  But when you really want to wait for gvim to finish, you
    must prevent it from disconnecting.  The "-f" argument does this:

    	gvim -f file.txt

    The "-f" stands for foreground.  Now Vim will block the shell it was started
    in until you finish editing and exit.

    DELAYED START OF THE GUI

    On Unix it's possible to first start Vim in a terminal.  That's useful if you
    do various tasks in the same shell.  If you are editing a file and decide you
    want to use the GUI after all, you can start it with:

    	:gui

    Vim will open the GUI window and no longer use the terminal.  You can continue
    using the terminal for something else.  The "-f" argument is used here to run
    the GUI in the foreground.  You can also use ":gui -f".

    THE GVIM STARTUP FILE

    When gvim starts, it reads the gvimrc file.  That's similar to the vimrc file
    used when starting Vim.  The gvimrc file can be used for settings and commands
    that are only to be used when the GUI is going to be started.  For example,
    you can set the 'lines' option to set a different window size:

    	:set lines=55

    You don't want to do this in a terminal, since its size is fixed (except for
    an xterm that supports resizing).
       The gvimrc file is searched for in the same locations as the vimrc file.
    Normally its name is "~/.gvimrc" for Unix and "$VIM/_gvimrc" for MS-Windows.
    The $MYGVIMRC environment variable is set to it, thus you can use this command
    to edit the file, if you have one:

    	:edit $MYGVIMRC

       If for some reason you don't want to use the normal gvimrc file, you can
    specify another one with the "-U" argument:

    	gvim -U thisrc ...

    That allows starting gvim for different kinds of editing.  You could set
    another font size, for example.
       To completely skip reading a gvimrc file:

    	gvim -U NONE ...

    ==============================================================================

    Next chapter: |usr_32.txt|  The undo tree

    Copyright: see |manual-copyright|  vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
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