Buffet is a plugin for the vim editor for listing and switching buffers, windows and tabs.(vim.org)

New in version 2.50

With this version you can format the display of buffer list using a callback function. Set the call back using the line in your vimrc

let g:Buffetbufferformatfunction = "s:callback"

You can replace s:callback with your callback function name. The call back function accept following parameters and must return a one dimensional list of columns. If empty list is returned, the entry is not displayed.

Parameters:

• Buffer No, The buffer number

• Tab No, Tab no where this buffer is displayed. Blank if it is not displayed in a tab.

• Window No. Window no where this buffer is displayed. Blank if not displayed.

• Source tab: The tab from which the bufet was invoked. This can be used to mark the current buffer in the list

• Source window: Same as above, but from window.

• Is parent. This is 1 if this is a first entry for a buffer in the list. If buffer is showing in multiple tabs and windows, those entries will have this value 0.

You can disable default maps if you set this line in vimrc

let g:buffetdisabledefaultmaps = 1

You can now set your own maps to the commands given below.

• Buffetclosewindow - Close the corresponding window

• BuffetclosewindowF - Close the window even if the contents are not saved

• Buffetcleardiff - Clears diff flag of all displayed windows

• Buffetdelete - Delete the selected buffer

• Buffetdeletef - Delete the buffer even if contents are not saved

• Buffetload - Load the selected buffer to current windows

• Buffetloadonly - Load the selected buffer to current window and make it the only one displayed

• Buffetgoto - Go to the selected tab/window/buffer

• Buffetopentab - Open the selected buffer in a new tab

• Buffetopenh - Open the buffer in a horizintal split

• Buffetopenv - Open the buffer in a vertical split

• Buffetrefresh - Refresh the buffer list.

• Buffetdiffsplit - Open a diff window with difference between current buffer and selected buffer shown

• Buffettoggledetail - Toggle detailed display of file path

New in version 2.10(Screenshot)

• Layout change for buffer list.Made columns to correctly align on top of each other.
• Removed the highlight for current window/buffer. Current window is enclosed in a > < instead.(Screenshot)
• Made a shorter version of path to show initially, Can toggle detail view using 'm' key.

In version 2.0

• Added support for multiple windows showing same buffer.
• Removed file type and file encoding information from buffer list.
• Fixed an issue when vim is invoked from command line with multiple arguments
• Added 'x' command to close a window in what ever tab it is displayed.
• Changed the 'h' command to 'hh' to prevent accidental opening when moving across the list.

Screenshot: http://i43.tinypic.com/33kadsx.png

The plugin exports two command Bufferlist and Bufferlistsw.

Commands for invoking this plugin.

:Bufferlist - Opens the buffer list window at the very top with maximum width.

:Bufferlistsw - Opens the buffer list window at the top of the current window, with same width as that of current window.

When the plugin is invoked, it opens a horizontal window at the top. This window contains a list of buffers, sorted in the most recently used order. The cursor is placed on the line of the buffer that user accessed before the current buffer. This is to make switching between two buffers very fast.

If a buffer is displayed in more than one window, those windows are listed below the buffer entry with tab number and window number.

The window and tab from which the plugins was invoked is shown enclosed in a pair of > ... <

Please see screenshot

User can move up or down in the list using navigation keys to select a buffer/window.

When user is on a buffer/window, there is a set of commands he can execute on the buffer by pressing the corresponding key. The available commands are,

Enter(Replace current buffer)

Pressing the enter key loads the selected buffer into the window from which the plugin was called.

hh (Was originally h,changed to hh in version 2)

Splits the window from which the plugin was invoked horizontally , and loads the selected buffer into the new window.

v

Splits the window from which the plugin was invoked vertically, and loads the selected buffer into the new window.

-

Loads a diff view of the selected buffer with the buffer from which the plugin was called. The two windows will be scroll binded.

c

The above - command may cause some windows to retain the diff flag even after the paired window is closed. The 'c'
command clears the diff flag for all windows in the current tab.

o

This command maximizes the window to fill the current tab page, hiding all the windows of the current tab.

g

This command switches focus to the selected window if it is visible in any of the tabs. This is different from the 'enter' command in the sense that it does not loads the contents of the buffer into the current window. If a buffer is being displayed in more than a window, then all those windows will be represented by the lines under the entry for that buffer. Executing the g command on those entries switches the user to the corresponding window and tab.

d

This command deletes the selected buffer from the buffer list. Buffer list window is not closed.

x

This command closes the selected window. It does not matter if the window is open in another tab. Buffer is not removed from the list. The buffer list window remains open. With this you can use the buffer list window as a remote control to navigate to or close any window in any tab.

m

Toggles the detailed view for file paths.