Window Splitting Modifiers and Introduction to Tab Pages in Vim

The 'splitright' option can be set to make a vertically split window appear right of the current window. When splitting a window you can prepend a modifier command to tell where the window is to appear: :leftabove {cmd} left or above the current window :aboveleft {cmd} idem :rightbelow {cmd} right or below the current window :belowright {cmd} idem :topleft {cmd} at the top or left of the Vim window :botright {cmd} at the bottom or right of the Vim window ============================================================================== *08.9* Tab pages You will have noticed that windows never overlap. That means you quickly run out of screen space. The solution for this is called Tab pages. Assume you are editing "thisfile". To create a new tab page use this command: > :tabedit thatfile This will edit the file "thatfile" in a window that occupies the whole Vim window. And you will notice a bar at the top with the two file names: > +----------------------------------+ | thisfile | /thatfile/ __________X| (thatfile is bold) |/* thatfile */ | |that | |that | |~ | |~ | |~ | | | +----------------------------------+ < You now have two tab pages. The first one has a window for "thisfile" and the second one a window for "thatfile". It's like two pages that are on top of each other, with a tab sticking out of each page showing the file name. Now use the mouse to click on "thisfile" in the top line. The result is > +----------------------------------+ | /thisfile/ | thatfile __________X| (thisfile is bold) |/* thisfile */ | |this | |this | |~ | |~ | |~ | | | +----------------------------------+ < Thus you can switch between tab pages by clicking on the label in the top line. If you don't have a mouse or don't want to use it, you can use the "gt" command. Mnemonic: Goto Tab. Now let's create another tab page with the command: > :tab split This makes a new tab page with one window that is editing the same buffer as the window we were in: > +-------------------------------------+ | thisfile | /thisfile/ | thatfile __X| (thisfile is bold) |/* thisfile */ | |this | |this | |~ | |~ | |~ | | | +-------------------------------------+ < You can put ":tab" before any Ex command that opens a window. The window will be opened in a new tab page. Another example: > :tab help gt Will show the help text for "gt" in a new tab page. A few more things you can do with tab pages: - click with the mouse in the space after the last label The next tab page will be selected, like with "gt". - click with the mouse on the "X" in the top right corner The current tab page will be closed. Unless there are unsaved changes in the current tab page. - double click with the mouse in the top line A new tab page will be created. - the "tabonly" command Closes all tab pages except the current one. Unless there are unsaved changes in other tab pages. For more information about tab pages see |tab-page|. ============================================================================== Next chapter: |usr_09.txt| Using the GUI Copyright: see |manual-copyright| vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl:

This section details window splitting modifiers like `:leftabove`, `:aboveleft`, `:rightbelow`, `:belowright`, `:topleft`, and `:botright`, which dictate where a new window appears. It then introduces tab pages as a way to manage screen space. The `:tabedit thatfile` command opens "thatfile" in a new tab, displaying file names in a top bar. Switching tabs can be done by clicking the file name or using the `gt` command. The `:tab split` command creates a new tab page with the same buffer as the current window. Additionally, using `:tab` before any Ex command opens the window in a new tab. The section describes mouse actions for tab navigation and closing, the `tabonly` command, and points to |tab-page| for more information.