Re: Tables.
On Tue, 23 May 2006 at 1:45am, cga2000 wrote:
> On Sat, May 20, 2006 at 12:09:20AM EDT, Hari Krishna Dara wrote:
> >
> [..]
> >
> > If you have links installed, you can do this easily with the -dump
> > option. Here is a quick idea:
> >
> > function! HtmlToTxt()
> > write
> > let filename = expand('%')
> > pedit %.txt
> > wincmd p
> > setl bufhidden=delete
> > exec 'silent! 1,$!links -dump '.filename
> > setl nomodified
> > wincmd p
> > endfunc
> > nnoremap :call HtmlToTxt()
> >
> > E.g., if you have the following in a file:
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > NumberDescription
> >
> >
> > 1One
> >
> >
> > 2Two
> >
> >
> > 3Three
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > and press , you get the below in the preview window:
> >
> >+--+
> >| Number | Description |
> >|+-|
> >| 1 | One |
> >|+-|
> >| 2 | Two |
> >|+-|
> >| 3 | Three |
> >+--+
> >
> > To make your HTML table editing easier, you can have macros to insert new
> > rows and columns.
> >
> Thanks, Hari,
>
> This is very nice indeed. Took me about two minutes to set it up and run
> the test and would appear to meet my requirements: I can get the
> text-only rendering - without box characters - for a quick preview in
> vim via a simple keyboard action and I could likely set up some other
> macro/function that would launch Elinks or a graphical web browser for
> different levels of rendering of my documents.
>
> I need to dig into vim's function capabilities, see if I can have the
> preview window full screen-height - or use normal vertical split instead
> of the preview window - so I can have the html source and the basic
> text-mode rendering thereof side-by-side.
It is easy to maximize the preview window. My original intention was to
leave the preview window open while you work on the HTML and press a hot
key to refresh it, so the cursor is still left in the working window. If
you want to maximize the preview window, you can add the below line
right after (or right before) running the external command.
resize _
If you want to move the preview window to a vertical split, add the
below line:
wincmd L
>
> The dilemma of course is choosing which markup language I should choose
> (html, groff, latex, ..). I'm sure I could start one of those
> never-ending threads if I asked something quite vague such as "which
> markup language is the best choice for the documenting dilettante".. or
> something to that effect. :-)
>
> Personally the main issue I have with html is that I find its syntax
> rather illegible and quite difficult to type. But I'm sure there must be
> quite a collection of vim tools to help your enter all these tags
> rapidly.
>
> Thank you very much.
>
> cga
If you choose to use HTML, there are many ways you can simplify editing,
and there was a recent thread (with subject: "HTML editing with vim:
where to start ?") with some excellent pointers. Here is an archived
copy:
http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.editors.vim/42888
You can also create additional macros/abbreviations to make adding rows/columns
easier. E.g., the below abbreviation will add a new row, and start a new
column too:
inoreabbr \trd\
To add more columns and rows,
inoreabbr \tr\
inoreabbr \td\
inoreabbr \th\
This is just a start, and there are several ways to make them better
using existing techniques and plugins. There are a whole bunch of
plugins catering to making above abbreviations (or templates)
easier/more maintainable.
Whatever format you choose, it shouldn't be hard to convert the files to
a different format later, so first start with whatever you think is the
easiest and give it a try. If you choose HTML, make sure you confirm to
xhtml standard, it will then be easier to move to a different format.
--
HTH,
Hari
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Re: Tables.
On Tue, May 23, 2006 at 01:43:59AM EDT, Hari Krishna Dara wrote: > > On Tue, 23 May 2006 at 12:51am, cga2000 wrote: > > > On Sat, May 20, 2006 at 04:08:01PM EDT, Thomas Adam wrote: > > > --- Hari Krishna Dara <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > It is a text browser like lynx, but does a better job of formatting > > > > tables and others. From my man page, the homepage should be: > > > > > > Of which I find 'Elinks' to do an even better job. As usual, YMMV. > > > > > .. and has a more sensible name than 'links' - try googling on links.. > > > > I have switched from mozilla to Elinks and find it mature enough for > > just about anything. Only drawback - at least in the version I am > > running, is that it does not appear to support javascript. > > > > Thanks, > > > > cga > > >From the screenshots, it seems like it does a great job of formatting > pages. > > BTW, did you find my solution of using links -dump (or elinks -dump) > partially meeting your needs? I didn't see any feedback from you on > either this or the soft-tab-stop plugin that I sent before. I am curious > on which apprach you are finally going to adapt and why. > Something is not quite right with my procmail setup. I eliminate duplicates and so when you email me and cc: the list I only get a copy in my Inbox.. nothing in the mailing list folder.. so sometimes I miss replies and when I see them I do 'g' group reply - which I believe is the equivalent of "reply to all" in GUI mailers. I have very recently switched to mutt and I still have some things that need a little bit of persuasion before they do everything I want. So, I'm just sending this message both to you *and* cc'ing the list so hopefully you will get at least one copy. Too late to run a test now, it's 3:11 AM here on the East Coast and I really need to sleep. :-) I did see your emails (both the -links dump and the soft-tabs one) and I'm pretty sure I responded. I'll double-check tomorrow and re-send if necessary. Thanks, cga
Re: Tables.
On Sat, May 20, 2006 at 12:09:20AM EDT, Hari Krishna Dara wrote:
>
[..]
>
> If you have links installed, you can do this easily with the -dump
> option. Here is a quick idea:
>
> function! HtmlToTxt()
> write
> let filename = expand('%')
> pedit %.txt
> wincmd p
> setl bufhidden=delete
> exec 'silent! 1,$!links -dump '.filename
> setl nomodified
> wincmd p
> endfunc
> nnoremap :call HtmlToTxt()
>
> E.g., if you have the following in a file:
>
>
>
>
> NumberDescription
>
>
> 1One
>
>
> 2Two
>
>
> 3Three
>
>
>
>
> and press , you get the below in the preview window:
>
>+--+
>| Number | Description |
>|+-|
>| 1 | One |
>|+-|
>| 2 | Two |
>|+-|
>| 3 | Three |
>+--+
>
> To make your HTML table editing easier, you can have macros to insert new
> rows and columns.
>
Thanks, Hari,
This is very nice indeed. Took me about two minutes to set it up and run
the test and would appear to meet my requirements: I can get the
text-only rendering - without box characters - for a quick preview in
vim via a simple keyboard action and I could likely set up some other
macro/function that would launch Elinks or a graphical web browser for
different levels of rendering of my documents.
I need to dig into vim's function capabilities, see if I can have the
preview window full screen-height - or use normal vertical split instead
of the preview window - so I can have the html source and the basic
text-mode rendering thereof side-by-side.
The dilemma of course is choosing which markup language I should choose
(html, groff, latex, ..). I'm sure I could start one of those
never-ending threads if I asked something quite vague such as "which
markup language is the best choice for the documenting dilettante".. or
something to that effect. :-)
Personally the main issue I have with html is that I find its syntax
rather illegible and quite difficult to type. But I'm sure there must be
quite a collection of vim tools to help your enter all these tags
rapidly.
Thank you very much.
cga
> --
> HTH,
> Hari
>
> __
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: Tables.
On Tue, 23 May 2006 at 12:51am, cga2000 wrote: > On Sat, May 20, 2006 at 04:08:01PM EDT, Thomas Adam wrote: > > --- Hari Krishna Dara <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > It is a text browser like lynx, but does a better job of formatting > > > tables and others. From my man page, the homepage should be: > > > > Of which I find 'Elinks' to do an even better job. As usual, YMMV. > > > .. and has a more sensible name than 'links' - try googling on links.. > > I have switched from mozilla to Elinks and find it mature enough for > just about anything. Only drawback - at least in the version I am > running, is that it does not appear to support javascript. > > Thanks, > > cga >From the screenshots, it seems like it does a great job of formatting pages. BTW, did you find my solution of using links -dump (or elinks -dump) partially meeting your needs? I didn't see any feedback from you on either this or the soft-tab-stop plugin that I sent before. I am curious on which apprach you are finally going to adapt and why. -- Thanks, Hari __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: Tables.
On Sat, May 20, 2006 at 04:08:01PM EDT, Thomas Adam wrote: > --- Hari Krishna Dara <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > It is a text browser like lynx, but does a better job of formatting > > tables and others. From my man page, the homepage should be: > > Of which I find 'Elinks' to do an even better job. As usual, YMMV. > .. and has a more sensible name than 'links' - try googling on links.. I have switched from mozilla to Elinks and find it mature enough for just about anything. Only drawback - at least in the version I am running, is that it does not appear to support javascript. Thanks, cga
Re: Tables.
On Fri, May 19, 2006 at 11:35:09PM EDT, Gary Johnson wrote: > On 2006-05-19, cga2000 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > On Fri, May 19, 2006 at 08:22:40AM EDT, Benji Fisher wrote: > > > On Thu, May 18, 2006 at 10:08:53PM -0400, cga2000 wrote: > > > > > > > > I was wondering if another approach such as using a markup language > > > > that supports tables might not be preferable in the long run. What I > > > > mean by this is that it might be a little more difficult to start off > > > > with but might provide more control and facilities and end up being a > > > > more "portable" solution. > > > > > > > > html would be an obvious candidate but I suppose that there are others > > > > in the linux world? > > > > > > > > Is there any way I can split the screen and have the source version of a > > > > document written in a markup language in one window and the compiled > > > > version in the other? With a simple command or key combo that I could > > > > issue in the "source" window that would cause a refresh of what is > > > > displayed in the other window..? Or is vim just not suited for this > > > > kind of approach? > > > > > > It depends on what you mean by "split the screen." > > > > vim vertical split on an xterm. > > If the compiled version is plain text, sure. You could use an > autocommand with the BufWritePost event that would run the compiler > on your source file, switch vim windows, delete the existing > contents, and :read in the compiler output file. Sounds pretty straight-forward. > > This will work with HTML and with man pages, with some limitations > on fonts and styles. > > > > If you want one window that has vim running in the bottom half and an > > > HTML browser running in another, > > > > yes.. pretty much what I had in mind.. another example: I'm writing a > > man page and I would like to work on the source in the left vim window > > and check the rendered man page in the right vim window: > > > > 1. I make changes to my man page & save to disk > > 2. I switch to the other window and hit the "refresh" key > > 3. Now I can see the results of my changes > > 4. Back to 1. above etc.. > > > > In order to do this in vim you would probably need to be able to run a > > shell in a vim window - doesn't seem to be possible. > > You don't need a shell in a window, just do what I suggested above. > Or use a "refresh" key instead of an autocommand, if you prefer. > Yes, your description of the process is very clear. If I understand correctly I would just need to direct the output of the compile command to a temp file and cause vim to re-read it and display the updated version. > There is a plugin that lets you read man pages within vim. You > could probably use this directly or adapt it to your needs. > I was just going to ask whether you could suggest something comparable that I could adapt.. :-) As it happens, the :Man plugin is one of my favorites. > > > It doesn't have to be html, though. Some very basic markup language > > that provides headers, paragraphs, lists, and tables and that could be > > easily translated to html, pdf, postscript, and simple text would be > > well-adapted to my needs. > > > > No idea if linux has such a thing. > > Well, there is nroff. I have used it once in the past to write a test man page. Just taking a look at how things work. And I don't remember running into any problems. > Man pages are actually written using nroff macros. At least one > implementation of the man command uses the following to format the > pages it finds: > > tbl -TX | neqn | nroff -man | col -x I don't remember a man page that has a table in it. I mean a table that actually visualizes the cells with box drawing characters. > > The tbl command is used to format tables and the neqn command is used > to format equations. > > Nroff does some things really well and some things not so well. I > think w3m does a better job of creating tables from HTML than tbl and > nroff do from their source code. I use mostly elinks and it also does a very good job of rendering HTML tables. > > Then there's latex, which I know nothing about other than it is > supposedly a very nice typesetting language for everything from short > letters to long dissertations and books. A lot of people swear by it. Yes, I've used LyX in the past and it's rather nice. Don't know if latex is quite suitable for the small documentation tasks I have in mind but from what I have heard it's probably worth the effort. > > HTH, Gary > Very much so. Thanks, cga
Re: Tables.
--- Hari Krishna Dara <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > It is a text browser like lynx, but does a better job of formatting > tables and others. From my man page, the homepage should be: Of which I find 'Elinks' to do an even better job. As usual, YMMV. -- Thomas Adam Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
Re: Tables.
On Sat, 20 May 2006 at 4:12am, George V. Reilly wrote: > What is "links"? Googling for "links text convert" yields no good answer. > > Hari Krishna Dara wrote: > > If you have links installed, you can do this easily with the -dump > > option. Here is a quick idea: > > > > > It is a text browser like lynx, but does a better job of formatting tables and others. From my man page, the homepage should be: http://links.browser.org/ PS: CCing vim list in case there are others interested to know. -- HTH, Hari __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: Tables.
On Thu, 18 May 2006 at 10:08pm, cga2000 wrote:
> On Thu, May 18, 2006 at 08:23:00AM EDT, Benji Fisher wrote:
> > On Wed, May 17, 2006 at 07:50:08PM -0700, Suresh Govindachar wrote:
> > >
> > > cga2000 wrote:
> > >
> > > > But I was not thinking of these tab stops..
> > > > more in the line of typewriter stuff, I guess.
> > >
> > > Creating an imap involving the following
> > > operations might do the job:
> > >
> > >"---set up the typewriter style tab-stops---
> > >let twtabs=[3, 5, 10, 28, 40, 58]
> > >"---then imap to
> > >" something involving the following---
> > >let idx=0
> > >while (getpos('.')[2] >= twtabs[idx])
> > > let idx += 1
> > >endwhile
> > >"---then something like---
> > >cursor(0, twtabs[idx])
> > >"---or---
> > >normal (twtabs[idx] - getpos('.')[2])l
> > >
> > > --Suresh
> >
> > I already implemented that. See the VarTab() function in foo.vim
> > (my file of example vim functions):
> >
> > http://www.vim.org/script.php?script_id=72
> >
> Thanks. Will play with that too.
>
> I was wondering if another approach such as using a markup language
> that supports tables might not be preferable in the long run. What I
> mean by this is that it might be a little more difficult to start off
> with but might provide more control and facilities and end up being a
> more "portable" solution.
>
> html would be an obvious candidate but I suppose that there are others
> in the linux world?
>
> Is there any way I can split the screen and have the source version of a
> document written in a markup language in one window and the compiled
> version in the other? With a simple command or key combo that I could
> issue in the "source" window that would cause a refresh of what is
> displayed in the other window..? Or is vim just not suited for this
> kind of approach?
>
> Thanks,
>
> cga
If you have links installed, you can do this easily with the -dump
option. Here is a quick idea:
function! HtmlToTxt()
write
let filename = expand('%')
pedit %.txt
wincmd p
setl bufhidden=delete
exec 'silent! 1,$!links -dump '.filename
setl nomodified
wincmd p
endfunc
nnoremap :call HtmlToTxt()
E.g., if you have the following in a file:
NumberDescription
1One
2Two
3Three
and press , you get the below in the preview window:
+--+
| Number | Description |
|+-|
| 1 | One |
|+-|
| 2 | Two |
|+-|
| 3 | Three |
+--+
To make your HTML table editing easier, you can have macros to insert new
rows and columns.
--
HTH,
Hari
__
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http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: Tables.
On 2006-05-19, cga2000 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On Fri, May 19, 2006 at 08:22:40AM EDT, Benji Fisher wrote: > > On Thu, May 18, 2006 at 10:08:53PM -0400, cga2000 wrote: > > > > > > I was wondering if another approach such as using a markup language > > > that supports tables might not be preferable in the long run. What I > > > mean by this is that it might be a little more difficult to start off > > > with but might provide more control and facilities and end up being a > > > more "portable" solution. > > > > > > html would be an obvious candidate but I suppose that there are others > > > in the linux world? > > > > > > Is there any way I can split the screen and have the source version of a > > > document written in a markup language in one window and the compiled > > > version in the other? With a simple command or key combo that I could > > > issue in the "source" window that would cause a refresh of what is > > > displayed in the other window..? Or is vim just not suited for this > > > kind of approach? > > > > It depends on what you mean by "split the screen." > > vim vertical split on an xterm. If the compiled version is plain text, sure. You could use an autocommand with the BufWritePost event that would run the compiler on your source file, switch vim windows, delete the existing contents, and :read in the compiler output file. This will work with HTML and with man pages, with some limitations on fonts and styles. > > If you want one window that has vim running in the bottom half and an > > HTML browser running in another, > > yes.. pretty much what I had in mind.. another example: I'm writing a > man page and I would like to work on the source in the left vim window > and check the rendered man page in the right vim window: > > 1. I make changes to my man page & save to disk > 2. I switch to the other window and hit the "refresh" key > 3. Now I can see the results of my changes > 4. Back to 1. above etc.. > > In order to do this in vim you would probably need to be able to run a > shell in a vim window - doesn't seem to be possible. You don't need a shell in a window, just do what I suggested above. Or use a "refresh" key instead of an autocommand, if you prefer. There is a plugin that lets you read man pages within vim. You could probably use this directly or adapt it to your needs. > It doesn't have to be html, though. Some very basic markup language > that provides headers, paragraphs, lists, and tables and that could be > easily translated to html, pdf, postscript, and simple text would be > well-adapted to my needs. > > No idea if linux has such a thing. Well, there is nroff. Man pages are actually written using nroff macros. At least one implementation of the man command uses the following to format the pages it finds: tbl -TX | neqn | nroff -man | col -x The tbl command is used to format tables and the neqn command is used to format equations. Nroff does some things really well and some things not so well. I think w3m does a better job of creating tables from HTML than tbl and nroff do from their source code. Then there's latex, which I know nothing about other than it is supposedly a very nice typesetting language for everything from short letters to long dissertations and books. A lot of people swear by it. HTH, Gary -- Gary Johnson | Agilent Technologies [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Wireless Division | Spokane, Washington, USA
Re: Tables.
On Fri, May 19, 2006 at 08:22:40AM EDT, Benji Fisher wrote: > On Thu, May 18, 2006 at 10:08:53PM -0400, cga2000 wrote: > > > > I was wondering if another approach such as using a markup language > > that supports tables might not be preferable in the long run. What I > > mean by this is that it might be a little more difficult to start off > > with but might provide more control and facilities and end up being a > > more "portable" solution. > > > > html would be an obvious candidate but I suppose that there are others > > in the linux world? > > > > Is there any way I can split the screen and have the source version of a > > document written in a markup language in one window and the compiled > > version in the other? With a simple command or key combo that I could > > issue in the "source" window that would cause a refresh of what is > > displayed in the other window..? Or is vim just not suited for this > > kind of approach? > > It depends on what you mean by "split the screen." vim vertical split on an xterm. > If you want one window that has vim running in the bottom half and an > HTML browser running in another, yes.. pretty much what I had in mind.. another example: I'm writing a man page and I would like to work on the source in the left vim window and check the rendered man page in the right vim window: 1. I make changes to my man page & save to disk 2. I switch to the other window and hit the "refresh" key 3. Now I can see the results of my changes 4. Back to 1. above etc.. In order to do this in vim you would probably need to be able to run a shell in a vim window - doesn't seem to be possible. > you will have to look for some other program that can embed both. I use gnu/screen and the one feature that I miss is that it does not have vertical split. So I can't have my source and output side by side visualising in one window the outcome of my changes in the other. > If you are content with [g]vim and a browser running in separate > windows, it should not be hard (depending on your OS) to have vim save > the current version and send the browser a command to re-load the > file. It doesn't have to be html, though. Some very basic markup language that provides headers, paragraphs, lists, and tables and that could be easily translated to html, pdf, postscript, and simple text would be well-adapted to my needs. No idea if linux has such a thing. Thanks, cga
Re: Tables.
On Thu, May 18, 2006 at 10:08:53PM -0400, cga2000 wrote: > > I was wondering if another approach such as using a markup language > that supports tables might not be preferable in the long run. What I > mean by this is that it might be a little more difficult to start off > with but might provide more control and facilities and end up being a > more "portable" solution. > > html would be an obvious candidate but I suppose that there are others > in the linux world? > > Is there any way I can split the screen and have the source version of a > document written in a markup language in one window and the compiled > version in the other? With a simple command or key combo that I could > issue in the "source" window that would cause a refresh of what is > displayed in the other window..? Or is vim just not suited for this > kind of approach? It depends on what you mean by "split the screen." If you want one window that has vim running in the bottom half and an HTML browser running in another, you will have to look for some other program that can embed both. If you are content with [g]vim and a browser running in separate windows, it should not be hard (depending on your OS) to have vim save the current version and send the browser a command to re-load the file. HTH --Benji Fisher
Re: Tables.
On Thu, May 18, 2006 at 08:23:00AM EDT, Benji Fisher wrote:
> On Wed, May 17, 2006 at 07:50:08PM -0700, Suresh Govindachar wrote:
> >
> > cga2000 wrote:
> >
> > > But I was not thinking of these tab stops..
> > > more in the line of typewriter stuff, I guess.
> >
> > Creating an imap involving the following
> > operations might do the job:
> >
> >"---set up the typewriter style tab-stops---
> >let twtabs=[3, 5, 10, 28, 40, 58]
> >"---then imap to
> >" something involving the following---
> >let idx=0
> >while (getpos('.')[2] >= twtabs[idx])
> > let idx += 1
> >endwhile
> >"---then something like---
> >cursor(0, twtabs[idx])
> >"---or---
> >normal (twtabs[idx] - getpos('.')[2])l
> >
> > --Suresh
>
> I already implemented that. See the VarTab() function in foo.vim
> (my file of example vim functions):
>
> http://www.vim.org/script.php?script_id=72
>
Thanks. Will play with that too.
I was wondering if another approach such as using a markup language
that supports tables might not be preferable in the long run. What I
mean by this is that it might be a little more difficult to start off
with but might provide more control and facilities and end up being a
more "portable" solution.
html would be an obvious candidate but I suppose that there are others
in the linux world?
Is there any way I can split the screen and have the source version of a
document written in a markup language in one window and the compiled
version in the other? With a simple command or key combo that I could
issue in the "source" window that would cause a refresh of what is
displayed in the other window..? Or is vim just not suited for this
kind of approach?
Thanks,
cga
Re: Tables.
On Thu, May 18, 2006 at 02:36:05AM EDT, Stano Sitar wrote: > cga2000 napsal(a): > > >The functionalities I had in mind would probably do something like this: > > > >1. Assist text entry by letting you define tab stops, > >2. Let you select a column of text and justify it, > >3. Provide some means of inserting vertical lines at each tab stop, > >4. Assist in creating horizontal lines by adding the ad hoc character > > where a vertical and a horizontal line intersect, > >5. Reformat the table frame when box drawing characters are not > > available (replacing line intersections by '+' for instance). > > Try program sc > sc is an anicent "spreadsheet calculator" for console > (text only, no mouse) > It does everything you want, it is very small, > it exists for number of platforms (for dos and Windows > version look for "gnuish" collection) > > keybindings in sc are very vi-like > > You can make script that sends data from vim to sc, > format data in sc and export them back to vim > > best regards > Stanislav Definitely the better strategy. I'll keep this in mind for when I have more time to look into it. I downloaded it to take a look. Is there a some kind of user guide or other resource that might help getting started? I also found another text-mode spreadsheet called slsc. Would you know if either of these is still maintained and where I should go, should I need some form of assistance? Thanks, cga
Re: Tables.
On Wed, May 17, 2006 at 10:50:08PM EDT, Suresh Govindachar wrote:
>
> cga2000 wrote:
>
> > But I was not thinking of these tab stops..
> > more in the line of typewriter stuff, I guess.
>
> Creating an imap involving the following
> operations might do the job:
>
>"---set up the typewriter style tab-stops---
>let twtabs=[3, 5, 10, 28, 40, 58]
>"---then imap to
>" something involving the following---
>let idx=0
>while (getpos('.')[2] >= twtabs[idx])
> let idx += 1
>endwhile
>"---then something like---
>cursor(0, twtabs[idx])
>"---or---
>normal (twtabs[idx] - getpos('.')[2])l
>
> --Suresh
Thanks much, saving this for later.
cga
Re: Tables.
On Thu, May 18, 2006 at 08:28:29AM EDT, Benji Fisher wrote: > On Wed, May 17, 2006 at 04:52:50PM -0400, cga2000 wrote: > > Does vim provide any form of native support for drawing tables? > > > > I have tried a couple of plugins and they don't seem to play well with > > my setup, presumably because I have temporarily switched my locale back > > from UTF-8 to en_US (due to problems with other applications that do are > > not yet utf8-ready). > > > > When in UTF-8 I was able to manually draw nice-looking tables to dress > > up text that I had previously formatted in rows and columns by using > > digraphs (Ctrl+K hh/vv etc..) and though there were some issues with > > printing I was all-in-all quite happy. > > > > The functionalities I had in mind would probably do something like this: > > > > 1. Assist text entry by letting you define tab stops, > > 2. Let you select a column of text and justify it, > > 3. Provide some means of inserting vertical lines at each tab stop, > > 4. Assist in creating horizontal lines by adding the ad hoc character > >where a vertical and a horizontal line intersect, > > 5. Reformat the table frame when box drawing characters are not > >available (replacing line intersections by '+' for instance). > > > > But then again I have little experience with vim and there is probably > > a "vim way" of doing this that I have not even imagined. So I am open > > to better strategies. > > You mention trying some plugins, but you did not say which ones, so > I do not know if you have already tried these suggestions. Sorry, I mostly tried "draw.vim" by Timo Frenay and the problem that I ran into was that instead of box drawing characters I was getting capital A's with an umlaut/diaresis on top. As mentioned earlier, I had to switch my settings back to en.US - UTF-8 did not play well with the elinks text-mode browser among others. I'm pretty much stuck with this UTF-8 problem at present since I would like all my text-mode apps to run on one xterm with gnu/screen. I will try to run another quick test of the draw.vim plugin on an UTF8-enabled xterm.. Thanks, cga
Re: Tables.
On Thu, May 18, 2006 at 01:55:03PM EDT, Hari Krishna Dara wrote:
>
> On Thu, 18 May 2006 at 8:23am, Benji Fisher wrote:
>
> > On Wed, May 17, 2006 at 07:50:08PM -0700, Suresh Govindachar wrote:
> > >
> > > cga2000 wrote:
> > >
> > > > But I was not thinking of these tab stops..
> > > > more in the line of typewriter stuff, I guess.
> > >
> > > Creating an imap involving the following
> > > operations might do the job:
> > >
> > >"---set up the typewriter style tab-stops---
> > >let twtabs=[3, 5, 10, 28, 40, 58]
> > >"---then imap to
> > >" something involving the following---
> > >let idx=0
> > >while (getpos('.')[2] >= twtabs[idx])
> > > let idx += 1
> > >endwhile
> > >"---then something like---
> > >cursor(0, twtabs[idx])
> > >"---or---
> > >normal (twtabs[idx] - getpos('.')[2])l
> > >
> > > --Suresh
> >
> > I already implemented that. See the VarTab() function in foo.vim
> > (my file of example vim functions):
> >
> > http://www.vim.org/script.php?script_id=72
> >
> > HTH --Benji Fisher
> >
>
> Oops... I searched for scripts and didn't find anything dealing with
> this kind of tabs, so got curious and went ahead and wrote a small
> plugin for this. I hope there is more to be offered in this, than your
> VarTab() function, especially that there is a GUI tabstop setter, and it
> maps to insert the right number of spaces.
>
> I am attaching the plugin, and hope to get some feedback. You need
> genutils.vim also, and read the plugin header.
Thanks to all. This was just a general question.. something I planned
to keep on the back burner for a while.. so I'm not sure when I will
have the time to look into this further.
Saving this thread for later reference.
cga
Re: Tables.
On Thu, 18 May 2006 at 8:23am, Benji Fisher wrote:
> On Wed, May 17, 2006 at 07:50:08PM -0700, Suresh Govindachar wrote:
> >
> > cga2000 wrote:
> >
> > > But I was not thinking of these tab stops..
> > > more in the line of typewriter stuff, I guess.
> >
> > Creating an imap involving the following
> > operations might do the job:
> >
> >"---set up the typewriter style tab-stops---
> >let twtabs=[3, 5, 10, 28, 40, 58]
> >"---then imap to
> >" something involving the following---
> >let idx=0
> >while (getpos('.')[2] >= twtabs[idx])
> > let idx += 1
> >endwhile
> >"---then something like---
> >cursor(0, twtabs[idx])
> >"---or---
> >normal (twtabs[idx] - getpos('.')[2])l
> >
> > --Suresh
>
> I already implemented that. See the VarTab() function in foo.vim
> (my file of example vim functions):
>
> http://www.vim.org/script.php?script_id=72
>
> HTH --Benji Fisher
>
Oops... I searched for scripts and didn't find anything dealing with
this kind of tabs, so got curious and went ahead and wrote a small
plugin for this. I hope there is more to be offered in this, than your
VarTab() function, especially that there is a GUI tabstop setter, and it
maps to insert the right number of spaces.
I am attaching the plugin, and hope to get some feedback. You need
genutils.vim also, and read the plugin header.
--
HTH,
Hari
__
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com " softtabs.vim: Lookup filenames from tagfiles.
" Author: Hari Krishna (hari_vim at yahoo dot com)
" Last Change: 18-May-2006 @ 10:55
" Created: 17-May-2006
" Requires:Vim-7.0, genutils.vim(1.19)
" Version: 1.0.1
" Licence: This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
" modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License.
" See http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.txt
" Download From:
" http://www.vim.org//script.php?script_id=
" Usage:
" - Use STEdit to bring up an editor for setting soft-tab stops (or to just
" view them). You would see two lines, one with numbers to guide you, and
" another to show the current tab stops. Use space bar or click with left
" mouse button to toggle tabstops. You can of course use any editor command
" to mark tabstops by replacing the space with a "v" (or even save/compose
" your tabstop lines somewhere and replace the whole line here). To save
" changes at the end, use :wq command (or just :w, to leave the window
" open).
" - Use STTgl to toggle using tabstops.
" TODO:
" - More testing.
" - A command to reset tab stops.
" - A command to add a tabstop at the current cursor position.
" - Do more with tabstops (investigate).
if exists('loaded_softtabs')
finish
endif
if v:version < 700
echomsg 'softtabs: You need at least Vim 7.0'
finish
endif
if !exists('loaded_genutils')
runtime plugin/genutils.vim
endif
if !exists('loaded_genutils') || loaded_genutils < 119
echomsg 'softtabs: You need a newer version of genutils.vim plugin'
finish
endif
let g:loaded_softtabs = 1
" Make sure line-continuations won't cause any problem. This will be restored
" at the end
let s:save_cpo = &cpo
set cpo&vim
if !exists('s:myBufNum')
let s:myBufNum = -1
let s:windowName = '[Soft Tabs]'
let s:tabstops = range(9, 80, 8)
endif
if (! exists("no_plugin_maps") || ! no_plugin_maps) &&
\ (! exists("no_softtabs_maps") || ! no_softtabs_maps)
noremap
Re: Tables.
On Wed, May 17, 2006 at 04:52:50PM -0400, cga2000 wrote: > Does vim provide any form of native support for drawing tables? > > I have tried a couple of plugins and they don't seem to play well with > my setup, presumably because I have temporarily switched my locale back > from UTF-8 to en_US (due to problems with other applications that do are > not yet utf8-ready). > > When in UTF-8 I was able to manually draw nice-looking tables to dress > up text that I had previously formatted in rows and columns by using > digraphs (Ctrl+K hh/vv etc..) and though there were some issues with > printing I was all-in-all quite happy. > > The functionalities I had in mind would probably do something like this: > > 1. Assist text entry by letting you define tab stops, > 2. Let you select a column of text and justify it, > 3. Provide some means of inserting vertical lines at each tab stop, > 4. Assist in creating horizontal lines by adding the ad hoc character >where a vertical and a horizontal line intersect, > 5. Reformat the table frame when box drawing characters are not >available (replacing line intersections by '+' for instance). > > But then again I have little experience with vim and there is probably > a "vim way" of doing this that I have not even imagined. So I am open > to better strategies. You mention trying some plugins, but you did not say which ones, so I do not know if you have already tried these suggestions. For (1) see my other post on this thread. I think that Dr. C's Align plugin can do (2) and his DrawIt plugin can help with the rest. http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=294 http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=40 HTH --Benji Fisher
Re: Tables.
On Wed, May 17, 2006 at 07:50:08PM -0700, Suresh Govindachar wrote:
>
> cga2000 wrote:
>
> > But I was not thinking of these tab stops..
> > more in the line of typewriter stuff, I guess.
>
> Creating an imap involving the following
> operations might do the job:
>
>"---set up the typewriter style tab-stops---
>let twtabs=[3, 5, 10, 28, 40, 58]
>"---then imap to
>" something involving the following---
>let idx=0
>while (getpos('.')[2] >= twtabs[idx])
> let idx += 1
>endwhile
>"---then something like---
>cursor(0, twtabs[idx])
>"---or---
>normal (twtabs[idx] - getpos('.')[2])l
>
> --Suresh
I already implemented that. See the VarTab() function in foo.vim
(my file of example vim functions):
http://www.vim.org/script.php?script_id=72
HTH --Benji Fisher
RE: Tables.
cga2000 wrote:
> But I was not thinking of these tab stops..
> more in the line of typewriter stuff, I guess.
Creating an imap involving the following
operations might do the job:
"---set up the typewriter style tab-stops---
let twtabs=[3, 5, 10, 28, 40, 58]
"---then imap to
" something involving the following---
let idx=0
while (getpos('.')[2] >= twtabs[idx])
let idx += 1
endwhile
"---then something like---
cursor(0, twtabs[idx])
"---or---
normal (twtabs[idx] - getpos('.')[2])l
--Suresh
Re: Tables.
On Wed, May 17, 2006 at 05:13:46PM EDT, A.J.Mechelynck wrote: > cga2000 wrote: > >Does vim provide any form of native support for drawing tables? > > > >I have tried a couple of plugins and they don't seem to play well with > >my setup, presumably because I have temporarily switched my locale back > >from UTF-8 to en_US (due to problems with other applications that do are > >not yet utf8-ready). > > > >When in UTF-8 I was able to manually draw nice-looking tables to dress > >up text that I had previously formatted in rows and columns by using > >digraphs (Ctrl+K hh/vv etc..) and though there were some issues with > >printing I was all-in-all quite happy. > > > >The functionalities I had in mind would probably do something like this: > > > >1. Assist text entry by letting you define tab stops, > > > Tabs stops in Vim are fixed-width; and it's usually a good idea to keep > the "hard tab" width at 8, though it is possible to define "soft tab > stops" (:h 'softtabstop') of a different width. ok. But I was not thinking of these tab stops.. more in the line of typewriter stuff, I guess. Both regular tabs and "soft tabs" would appear to be more useful for indentation than column formatting. > >2. Let you select a column of text and justify it, > >3. Provide some means of inserting vertical lines at each tab stop, > > > I think that's possible using block visual mode, but I don't know the > details. that's pretty much how I was doing it manually - with a ':s' command. > >4. Assist in creating horizontal lines by adding the ad hoc character > > where a vertical and a horizontal line intersect, > >5. Reformat the table frame when box drawing characters are not > > available (replacing line intersections by '+' for instance). > > > >But then again I have little experience with vim and there is probably > >a "vim way" of doing this that I have not even imagined. So I am open > >to better strategies. > > > >Thanks, > > > >cga > > > > > > > > See also > :help :s > :help line() > :help column() > :help sub-replace-special > etc. Probably some of the building blocks of the tools I'm looking for. > > > Best regards, > Tony. Thanks, much appreciated, cga
Re: Tables.
cga2000 wrote: Does vim provide any form of native support for drawing tables? I have tried a couple of plugins and they don't seem to play well with my setup, presumably because I have temporarily switched my locale back from UTF-8 to en_US (due to problems with other applications that do are not yet utf8-ready). When in UTF-8 I was able to manually draw nice-looking tables to dress up text that I had previously formatted in rows and columns by using digraphs (Ctrl+K hh/vv etc..) and though there were some issues with printing I was all-in-all quite happy. The functionalities I had in mind would probably do something like this: 1. Assist text entry by letting you define tab stops, Tabs stops in Vim are fixed-width; and it's usually a good idea to keep the "hard tab" width at 8, though it is possible to define "soft tab stops" (:h 'softtabstop') of a different width. 2. Let you select a column of text and justify it, 3. Provide some means of inserting vertical lines at each tab stop, I think that's possible using block visual mode, but I don't know the details. 4. Assist in creating horizontal lines by adding the ad hoc character where a vertical and a horizontal line intersect, 5. Reformat the table frame when box drawing characters are not available (replacing line intersections by '+' for instance). But then again I have little experience with vim and there is probably a "vim way" of doing this that I have not even imagined. So I am open to better strategies. Thanks, cga See also :help :s :help line() :help column() :help sub-replace-special etc. Best regards, Tony.
