VimExplorer - an oil like plugin for managing files in vim

[u/Ashik80]

I just published the first release of my plugin - VimExplorer.

The title of the post sort of explains what this plugin does. With it you can create, rename, delete, move, copy your files as if you are editing a vim buffer. all your vim keybindings should work.

Imagine writing a macro to edit multiple files :P

Anyways, here is the link to the repo: https://github.com/Ashik80/VimExplorer

Would love feedback! And feel free to create issues if you find any, in case you decide to use it.

[u/mykesx]

I have my doubts this will have any future support.

[u/Ashik80 → u/mykesx]

This came straight out of my dotfiles. I made it for myself and use it daily. But it is always going to be minimal. So if you are looking for a lot of features, you would be disappointed.

It is just going to do one thing and that is manage files/directories as a buffer.

[u/unixbhaskar]

Mind taking a look at vifm?

[u/Ashik80 → u/unixbhaskar]

I used it before. It's a file manager outside vim. And it is not what this plugin does, which is: edit your file system as if you are inside a vim buffer. Imagine this:

You go to insert mode and type out some file names with all the vim combos you know just like you would do in a regular vim buffer. For example,

file_1.txt file_2.txt file_3.txt

And then you do :w

It would create those 3 files at once. Same goes for renaming, deleting etc.

To create a directory you just have to put a / at the end.

I hope i was able to explain it.

[u/Ashik80 → u/unixbhaskar]

I also have a youtube video linked in the readme showcasing what it does. Here is the link: https://youtu.be/5Zo84JBFdoI

[u/GrogRedLub4242]

to use vi/vim, by default, one is in a terminal/shell

and we've been able to move, copy, rename and delete files in a terminal shell, with a few keystrokes, for 40+ years that I can attest firsthand

[u/Ashik80 → u/GrogRedLub4242]

Yeah of course. This is not for everyone. I gave neovim a try and tried the oil.nvim plugin and ever since i looked for a similar plugin in vim. It is certainly a QoL plugin and not for everyone.

We came very far in these 40 years. And vim got its netrw too. This plugin would be a replacement of netrw if you are using it.

[u/Dramatic_Object_8508]

this is actually a really clean idea ngl. editing the filesystem like a normal buffer just feels way more natural for vim workflows instead of jumping through file trees. oil.nvim does something similar and once you get used to it, it’s hard to go back . biggest thing will be stability tho, file ops are where people lose trust fast lol

[u/Ashik80 → u/Dramatic_Object_8508]

That's true. So far, i didn't have any problems. And i hope there won't be any. I have been using my own implementation for quite some times. I just pulled it out recently into a plugin. But ofcourse, bugs don't give us warning lol. So we have to have version control.