Vim split if not open

Question

When using split windows in VIM, sometimes I create a new split of a file already open in another split (usually with plugins that open the unit test for this file in a new split).

Is there a way to reassign the split command so that it checks if the file is open before splitting, and if so, focus on it?

Answer 1

You cannot reassign an existing split command as far as I know, but you can achieve the same effect by writing a new split function and then using the command mode abbreviation ( cabbrev ),

Here's a / mapping function that should do what you want.

 function! MySplit( fname ) let bufnum=bufnr(expand(a:fname)) let winnum=bufwinnr(bufnum) if winnum != -1 " Jump to existing split exe winnum . "wincmd w" else " Make new split as usual exe "split " . a:fname endif endfunction command! -nargs=1 Split :call MySplit("<args>") cabbrev split Split 

Note that this will only “check” for existing splits on the current tab, and hidden buffers are ignored. (However, it should not be too difficult to add more cases to improve this functionality.)

Answer 2

An alternative would be to use :drop {file} .

 Edit the first {file} in a window. - If the file is already open in a window change to that window. - If the file is not open in a window edit the file in the current window. If the current buffer can't be abandoned, the window is split first. 

You can also use :sb to switch buffers. See vim: move to buffer?

For more information:

 :h :drop :h :sb :h 'swb' 

Answer 3

This is one of the features of searchInRuntime .

:GSplit and :GVSplit can be renamed, they support the completion of the file name, and they will ask which file should be opened if they are somewhat consistent with the pattern in &path .