Improve terminal buffer display and toggling ability #123
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Avoid calculating absolute and relative paths from the irregular path syntax used for terminal buffers; instead, synthesize a path based on the terminal's current working directory and the name of the shell: /current/working/directory/!PID:shellName Where `/current/working/directory/` is the shell's current working directory (when it can be determined), `PID` is the shell's process identifier, and `shellName` is the name of the shell with leading path removed for brevity. For example, a terminal running `/bin/bash` as PID 1234 in directory `/tmp` would have a path of: /tmp/!1234:bash On Neovim, terminal buffers are named as: term://WorkingDirectoryAtTerminalLaunch//PID:shellPath On Vim, the name contains only a `!` and the shell path: !/path/to/shell However, the PID is available on Vim via `term_getjob()` and `job_info()`. At present, the current working directory of the shell can be determined only on Unix-like systems having a `/proc` filesystem. For other systems, fall back to the directory at terminal launch for Neovim, or else on Vim's current working directory. It appears to be difficult to determine the current working directory of a program on Windows given the PID, so no attempt is made to determine it for that platform.
When the feature to toggle showing terminal buffers was introduced, a
mapping was added for `H` to perform this toggling in the BufExplorer
window; however, the `H` key was immediately mapped again by
BufExplorer's logic to use `:keepjumps` with some movement keys (`H`,
`M`, `L`, etc.), thus disabling the intended `H` mapping:
```vim
nnoremap <script> <silent> <nowait> <buffer> H :call <SID>ToggleShowTerminal()<CR>
for k in ["G", "n", "N", "L", "M", "H"]
execute "nnoremap <buffer> <silent>" k ":keepjumps normal!" k."<CR>"
endfor
```
As these movement keys are useful for navigating the BufExplorer window,
use `X` instead of `H` to toggle the showing of terminal buffers, as `X`
is normally an editing feature (for deleting characters before the
cursor) that's not needed in the BufExplorer window.
In addition, the `X` command has been documented in `bufexplorer.txt`
and in BufExplorer's `<F1>` help text.
jlanzarotta
approved these changes
Mar 17, 2025
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Overview
Improve the display of terminal buffers to be a uniform
/current/working/directory/!PID:shellNameon Vim and Neovim.Enable the ability to toggle the showing of terminal buffers (via the
Xcommand).Details
Terminal buffer display format
On Neovim, terminal buffers are named as:
On Vim, the name contains only a
!and the shell path:In order to sort by
fullpathin a more useful manner, synthesize a path for terminal buffers based on the shell's current working directory. Display the shell's name without leading path for brevity. Terminal buffers are now displayed with this format:At present, the current working directory of the shell can be determined only on Unix-like systems having a
/procfilesystem. For other systems, fall back to the directory at terminal launch for Neovim, or else on Vim's current working directory.It appears to be difficult to determine the current working directory of a program on Windows given the PID, so no attempt is made to determine it for that platform.
Toggling the showing of terminal buffers
When the feature to toggle showing terminal buffers was introduced, a mapping was added for
Hto perform this toggling in the BufExplorer window; however, the key was inoperable because BufExplorer immediately remapped it (along with some other movement keys).Because movement keys such as
Hare valuable for navigating the BufExplorer window, theHmapping has been changed to useXinstead, asXis normally an editing feature that's not needed in the BufExplorer window. In addition, this command has been documented.If a different key (or even no key at all) is preferred for this toggling feature, I'd be happy to adjust the pull request accordingly.