Wolfgang Schmidt wrote:
Hi,
I want to use vim to watch the output of another program (logfile,
compilation output, ...). I want to have something like the
functionality of the unix "tail" command, that is, if something new is
written to the file, I want the buffer to get updated. I know I can
reload the file manually with ":e", but I want it to be done
automatically. I tried the autoread option (":set ar"), but I still have
to reload the buffer by hand, the buffer does not get updated
automatically. Could anybody tell me, how autoread is supposed to work?
Thanx in advance
Wolfgang
If Vim detects that a file has been changed outside Vim and not inside
Vim, 'autoread' will make Vim reread it automatically. But that
auto-read won't happen if you do nothing. Vim checks timestamps after
invoking the shell, and when you issue the ":checktime" command. Even if
you add
:au CursorHold,CursorHoldI * checktime
the check will be triggered *once* if you wait for 'updatetime'
milliseconds without doing anything, then it won't be retriggered until
you hit a key.
You could also use
:map <F7> :checktime<CR>
:map! <F7> <C-O>:checktime<CR>
then hit F7 periodically to see if anything has been added. Etc...
Best regards,
Tony.
