Vimpanel

Vimpanel

• Add any folder to the panel
• Each folder can be expanded independently
• You can stick files in there as well
• Drag and drop works too
• Create and display any number of panels
• Session support: find your panels and all other windows the way you left them when you exited Vim
• Filesystem operations, including file copying using visual selection
• Propper handling of Windows paths
• Explore the filesystem without constrains, in explorer mode
• Use it for project management, keeping bookmarks, notes or anything you like

Getting started

Begin by creating a new panel with the :VimpanelCreate command.

:VimpanelCreate myprojects

Load this panel in the current window with :VimpanelLoad

:VimpanelLoad myprojects

Add entries to the panel with the :Vimpanel command.

:Vimpanel D:\Projects

The path you just added will act as a root and you can now expand and browse it. At any time you can add other roots to the panel.

To get rid of a root, select it and use the :VimpanelRemove command. This does not delete anything from the filesystem, it just takes it off the panel.

Sort your panel entries by editing the Vimpanel storage file. The format of this file is painfully simple: each line is an entry to the panel. There is a :VimpanelEdit command that makes this easier, by opening up that file:

:VimpanelEdit mypanel

You will need to refresh the panel after this, with the :VimpanelRefresh command or the <F5> key.

Inside the panel, focus on a single directory by entering explorer mode:

x

In this mode, you can also move up a dir by using the u key, or change the root by using the c key. Exit explorer mode at any time by pressing x again.

Inside the panel, several actions and filesystem operations are available. Check the full list below.

When you're done working, save the state of you panel and everything else you have on the screen:

:VimpanelSessionMake

This uses Vim's mksession command and some extra magic to save the state of your panels (the state is defined by which dirs are expanded and which are closed).

When you're ready to work again, load up that session using:

:VimpanelSessionLoad

And that's about it. To make your life easier, you can use abbreviations or mappings for all these commands. Here are some recommendations to put in your vimrc:

map <leader>ss :VimpanelSessionMake<CR>
map <leader>sl :VimpanelSessionLoad<CR>
cabbrev vp Vimpanel
cabbrev vl VimpanelLoad
cabbrev vc VimpanelCreate
cabbrev ve VimpanelEdit
cabbrev vr VimpanelRemove

Tip: autocomplete works for panel names, so you can press vl<space><tab> and get a full list of panel names.

Mappings inside the panel

<CR> or double-click            expand directory or open file
<F5>                            refresh panel
<C-c> or yy                     copy selected node (file or dir)
<C-v> or p                      paste nodes
dd                              delete node
r                               rename node
a                               add new node
ff                              copy node path to clipboard

You can use visual selection (v or V) to grab some files and then press <C-c> or y to copy them. Paste them anywhere else with the p key.

Explorer mode

Toggle explorer mode by selecting a folder and pressing the x key. In this mode you can freely explore the filesystem. The selected folder will become the root of the tree, but you can change to another root using the c key or explore the parent directory using the u key (move up).

Why is this mode needed? For 2 main reasons:

• to keep focus on a single tree
• for the ability to navigate up in the folder hierarchy

How does it work

Vimpanel is built on a heavily modified NERDTree API.
You will find many similarities with NERDTree but many key differences as well.