VIM-DIR: Browse directories in Vim

Minimum requirements

Vim9, Huge

WIP, use at your own risk:

• there might be bugs;
• beware of dangerous file operations like move/rename/delete, only me testing it probably is not enough :).

Note that, copy/move file operations are way slower compared to "real" file managers.

More screencasts:

• Navigation
• Bookmarks and History
• Copy/move/delete/rename
• Filtering
• Compare with netrw

Commands and Mappings

Global commands

• :Dir [path] — open a path as a directory listing.
• Use :Dir or regular :edit/:e command to refresh directory listing.

Local commands

• :DirFilter[!] {regex} — Show files/directories matching {regex}. With ! hide files/directories matching {regex}:

  # Show files/dirs with   e   in the name
  :DirFilter e
  # Hide files/dirs with   e   in the name
  :DirFilter! e
  
  # Hide files/dirs with   e.*p   in the name
  :DirFilter! e.*p

• :DirFilterClear — clear filter.
• :DirBookmark — save bookmark for a current directory. Bookmarks are saved in ~/.config/vim-dir/bookmarks.json or $APPDATA/vim-dir/bookmarks.json depending on OS.
• :DirBookmarkJump — jump to bookmarked directory.
• :DirHistoryJump — jump to directory from history.

Global mappings

There are no global mappings.

You can set at least one yourself to quickly call Dir:

nnoremap <bs> <cmd>Dir<cr>

With that mapping you would be able to trigger a Dir with Backspace showing current buffer file name in a directory list. Consequent Backspace presses would open parent directories.

Other global mappings might be, for example:

nnoremap <space>gd <cmd>Dir ~/Documents<cr>
nnoremap <space>gD <cmd>Dir ~/Downloads<cr>

Local mappings

Navigation

• Backspace or u or - — one directory up.
• Enter or o — open a file or a directory under cursor.
• O — open a file/directory with OS.
• s — open a file/directory in a split.
• S — open a file/directory in a vertical split.
• t — open a file/directory in a tab.
• Ctrl-R — refresh directory.
• ]] — jump over directories forward, place cursor on a first file/last directory.
• [[ — jump over directories backward, place cursor on the last/first directory.
• gj — open quick jump menu.

File operations

• i — preview a file (first 100 lines) or show dir info (nothing on windows).
• x — toggle selection of file/directory.
• X — toggle selection of all files/directories (select/unselect all).
• D or dd — delete files/directories.
• R or rr — rename files/directories.
• p — copy selected files/directories into current directory.
• P — move selected files/directories into current directory.
• A — open actions menu.
• C — create directory.
• cc — create file.

Bookmarks & History

• ~ or g~ — open home directory.
• g1 up to g0 — open numbered bookmark.
• Ctrl-A 1 up to Ctrl-A 0 — set numbered bookmark for a current directory.
• gb — open bookmarks jump menu.
• gh — open history jump menu. History is saved for each directory where file was opened for editing.

Sort

• g , — sort current buffer dir by size.
• g . — sort current buffer dir by time.
• g / — sort current buffer dir by name.

Filter and View

• . — toggle .hidden files/directories.
• > — widen the dir view (adding some columns).
• < — shrink the dir view (removing some columns).

Settings

• g:dir_open_os — if a file/directory is matched against file extension in a list, open it using OS.
• g:dir_invert_split — by default s splits horizontally and S splits vertically. Set to 1/true to make the opposite.
• g:dir_sort_by — sort by one of name, size or time. Default is name.
• g:dir_sort_desc — if true, sort desc, otherwise asc. Default is false.
• g:dir_show_hidden — show/hide .hidden files/directories. Default is true.
• g:dir_history_size — maximum numbers of directories in history. Default is 100.

• g:dir_columns — columns for the dir view. Default is

  • Windows: perm,size,time,name
  • Linux/Other: perm,user,group,size,time,name

  Columns perm and name are mandatory and should be in order.

• g:dir_change_cwd — change current working directory on file opening. Default is 0.

Maybe Features

• Support archives: view contents/create/add/extract (using 7z maybe?).
• Background file operations (copy/move/delete).
• Mass rename ala qmv/vidir (explore feasibility).
• Networking ala netrw or mc with shell/sftp links to machines (explore feasibility). Here probably I should rely on openssh.

Non Features

• ✗ No treeview, no sidepanel.