Having files opening in tabs in GVim

Question

I'm having trouble with gvim and tabs. Using Ubuntu, there is the gedit editor, which opens files in new tabs, but gvim opens a new window for each file i open. I definitely prefer to have tabs, just like every other application I use. Having 5 gvim windows open simultenously overwhelms me.

So, is there any way to edit .gvimrc to make it open new files in new tabs instead of opening a new gvim window? I definitely prefer a .gvimrc solution over a Nautilus solution.

Answer 1

Use the client/server feature of vim/gvim.

gvim --remote-tab myfile

This works for both terminal and GUI versions of vim, as long as they are compiled (vim --version) with the +clientserver feature. (Optionally add --servername foo to set the instance name, which defaults to GVIM.)

Unfortunately, you cannot do this from .vimrc. You will have to, either:

• write a wrapper script, for example, ~/bin/gvim:

  #!/bin/sh
  exec /usr/bin/gvim --remote-tab-silent "$@"
  

  (--remote-tab-silent will cause a new server to be silently started if needed)

• modify the gvim.desktop file to include the server commands:

  $ mkdir -p ~/.local/share/applications
  $ cp {/usr,~/.local}/share/applications/gvim.desktop
  $ vim -e ~/.local/share/applications/gvim.desktop
  :/^Exec=/ s/gvim/& --remote-tab-silent/
  :wq
  $
  

The wrapper script method will probably cover more cases than editing the .desktop file.