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|
*netbeans.txt* For Vim version 7.4. Last change: 2016 Jul 15
VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Gordon Prieur et al.
*netbeans* *netbeans-support*
Vim NetBeans Protocol: a socket interface for Vim integration into an IDE.
1. Introduction |netbeans-intro|
2. Integration features |netbeans-integration|
3. Configuring Vim for NetBeans |netbeans-configure|
4. Error Messages |netbeans-messages|
5. Running Vim in NetBeans mode |netbeans-run|
6. NetBeans protocol |netbeans-protocol|
7. NetBeans commands |netbeans-commands|
8. Known problems |netbeans-problems|
9. Debugging NetBeans protocol |netbeans-debugging|
10. NetBeans External Editor
10.1. Downloading NetBeans |netbeans-download|
10.2. NetBeans Key Bindings |netbeans-keybindings|
10.3. Preparing NetBeans for Vim |netbeans-preparation|
10.4. Obtaining the External Editor Module |obtaining-exted|
10.5. Setting up NetBeans to run with Vim |netbeans-setup|
{Vi does not have any of these features}
{only available when compiled with the |+netbeans_intg| feature}
==============================================================================
1. Introduction *netbeans-intro*
The NetBeans interface was initially developed to integrate Vim into the
NetBeans Java IDE, using the external editor plugin. This NetBeans plugin no
longer exists for recent versions of NetBeans but the protocol was developed
in such a way that any IDE can use it to integrate Vim.
The NetBeans protocol of Vim is a text based communication protocol, over a
classical TCP socket. There is no dependency on Java or NetBeans. Any language
or environment providing a socket interface can control Vim using this
protocol. There are existing implementations in C, C++, Python and Java. The
name NetBeans is kept today for historical reasons.
Current projects using the NetBeans protocol of Vim are:
- VimIntegration, description of various projects doing Vim Integration:
http://www.freehackers.org/VimIntegration
- Agide, an IDE for the AAP project, written in Python:
http://www.a-a-p.org
- Clewn, a gdb integration into Vim, written in C:
http://clewn.sourceforge.net/
- Pyclewn, a gdb integration into Vim, written in Python:
http://pyclewn.sourceforge.net/
- VimPlugin, integration of Vim inside Eclipse:
http://vimplugin.sourceforge.net/wiki/pmwiki.php
- PIDA, IDE written in Python integrating Vim:
http://pida.co.uk/
- VimWrapper, library to easy Vim integration into IDE:
http://www.freehackers.org/VimWrapper
Check the specific project pages to see how to use Vim with these projects.
An alternative is to use a channel, see |channel|.
In the rest of this help page, we will use the term "Vim Controller" to
describe the program controlling Vim through the NetBeans socket interface.
About the NetBeans IDE ~
NetBeans is an open source Integrated Development Environment developed
jointly by Sun Microsystems, Inc. and the netbeans.org developer community.
Initially just a Java IDE, NetBeans has had C, C++, and Fortran support added
in recent releases.
For more information visit the main NetBeans web site http://www.netbeans.org.
The External Editor is now, unfortunately, declared obsolete. See
http://externaleditor.netbeans.org.
Sun Microsystems, Inc. also ships NetBeans under the name Sun ONE Studio.
Visit http://www.sun.com for more information regarding the Sun ONE Studio
product line.
Current releases of NetBeans provide full support for Java and limited support
for C, C++, and Fortran. Current releases of Sun ONE Studio provide full
support for Java, C, C++, and Fortran.
==============================================================================
2. Integration features *netbeans-integration*
The NetBeans socket interface of Vim allows to get information from Vim or to
ask Vim to perform specific actions:
- get information about buffer: buffer name, cursor position, buffer content,
etc.
- be notified when buffers are open or closed
- be notified of how the buffer content is modified
- load and save files
- modify the buffer content
- installing special key bindings
- raise the window, control the window geometry
For sending key strokes to Vim or for evaluating functions in Vim, you must
use the |clientserver| interface.
==============================================================================
3. Configuring Vim for NetBeans *netbeans-configure*
For more help about installing Vim, please read |usr_90.txt| in the Vim User
Manual.
On Unix:
--------
When running configure without arguments the NetBeans interface should be
included. That is, if the configure check to find out if your system supports
the required features succeeds.
In case you do not want the NetBeans interface you can disable it by
uncommenting a line with "--disable-netbeans" in the Makefile.
Currently the NetBeans interface is supported by Vim running in a terminal and
by GVim when it is run with one of the following GUIs: GTK, GNOME, Windows,
Athena and Motif.
If Motif support is required the user must supply XPM libraries. See
|workshop-xpm| for details on obtaining the latest version of XPM.
On MS-Windows:
--------------
The Win32 support is now in beta stage.
To use XPM signs on Win32 (e.g. when using with NetBeans) you can compile
XPM by yourself or use precompiled libraries from http://iamphet.nm.ru/misc/
(for MS Visual C++) or http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net (for MinGW).
Enable debugging:
-----------------
To enable debugging of Vim and of the NetBeans protocol, the "NBDEBUG" macro
needs to be defined. Search in the Makefile of the platform you are using for
"NBDEBUG" to see what line needs to be uncommented. This effectively adds
"-DNBDEBUG" to the compile command. Also see |netbeans-debugging|
==============================================================================
4. Error Messages *netbeans-messages*
These error messages are specific to NetBeans socket protocol:
*E463*
Region is guarded, cannot modify
The Vim Controller has defined guarded areas in the text,
which you cannot change. Also sets the current buffer, if
necessary.
*E532*
The defineAnnoType highlighting color name is too long
The maximum length of the "fg" or "bg" color argument in the
defineAnnoType command is 32 characters.
New in version 2.5.
*E656*
Writes of unmodified buffers forbidden
Writes of unmodified buffers that were opened from the
Vim Controller are not possible.
*E657*
Partial writes disallowed
Partial writes for buffers that were opened from the
Vim Controller are not allowed.
*E658*
Connection lost for this buffer
The Vim Controller has become confused about the state of
this file. Rather than risk data corruption, it has severed
the connection for this file. Vim will take over
responsibility for saving changes to this file and the
Vim Controller will no longer know of these changes.
*E744*
Read-only file
Vim normally allows changes to a read-only file and only
enforces the read-only rule if you try to write the file.
However, NetBeans does not let you make changes to a file
which is read-only and becomes confused if Vim does this.
So Vim does not allow modifications to files when run
in NetBeans mode.
==============================================================================
5. Running Vim in NetBeans mode *netbeans-run*
There are two different ways to run Vim in NetBeans mode:
+ an IDE may start Vim with the |-nb| command line argument
+ NetBeans can be started from within Vim with the |:nbstart| command
Vim uses a 3 second timeout on trying to make the connection.
*netbeans-parameters*
Three forms can be used to setup the NetBeans connection parameters.
When started from the command line, the |-nb| command line argument may be:
-nb={fname} from a file
-nb:{hostname}:{addr}:{password} directly
-nb from a file or environment
When started from within Vim, the |:nbstart| optional argument may be:
={fname} from a file
:{hostname}:{addr}:{password} directly
<MISSING ARGUMENT> from a file or environment
*E660* *E668*
When NetBeans is started from the command line, for security reasons, the best
method is to write the information in a file readable only by the user. The
name of the file can be passed with the "-nb={fname}" argument or, when "-nb"
is used without a parameter, the environment variable "__NETBEANS_CONINFO".
The file must contain these three lines, in any order:
host={hostname}
port={addr}
auth={password}
Other lines are ignored. The Vim Controller is responsible for deleting the
file afterwards.
{hostname} is the name of the machine where Vim Controller is running. When
omitted the environment variable "__NETBEANS_HOST" is used or the default
"localhost".
{addr} is the port number for the NetBeans interface. When omitted the
environment variable "__NETBEANS_SOCKET" is used or the default 3219.
{password} is the password for connecting to NetBeans. When omitted the
environment variable "__NETBEANS_VIM_PASSWORD" is used or "changeme".
Vim will initiate a socket connection (client side) to the specified host and
port upon startup. The password will be sent with the AUTH event when the
connection has been established.
==============================================================================
6. NetBeans protocol *netbeans-protocol*
The communication between the Vim Controller and Vim uses plain text
messages. This protocol was first designed to work with the external editor
module of NetBeans. Later it was extended to work with Agide (A-A-P GUI IDE,
see http://www.a-a-p.org) and then with other IDE. The extensions are marked
with "version 2.1".
Version 2.2 of the protocol has several minor changes which should only affect
NetBeans users (ie, not Agide users). However, a bug was fixed which could
cause confusion. The netbeans_saved() function sent a "save" protocol
command. In protocol version 2.1 and earlier this was incorrectly interpreted
as a notification that a write had taken place. In reality, it told NetBeans
to save the file so multiple writes were being done. This caused various
problems and has been fixed in 2.2. To decrease the likelihood of this
confusion happening again, netbeans_saved() has been renamed to
netbeans_save_buffer().
We are now at version 2.5. For the differences between 2.4 and 2.5 search for
"2.5" below.
The messages are currently sent over a socket. Since the messages are in
plain UTF-8 text this protocol could also be used with any other communication
mechanism.
Netbeans messages are processed when Vim is idle, waiting for user input.
When Vim is run in non-interactive mode, for example when running an automated
test case that sources a Vim script, the idle loop may not be called often
enough. In that case, insert |:sleep| commands in the Vim script. The |:sleep|
command does invoke Netbeans messages processing.
6.1 Kinds of messages |nb-messages|
6.2 Terms |nb-terms|
6.3 Commands |nb-commands|
6.4 Functions and Replies |nb-functions|
6.5 Events |nb-events|
6.6 Special messages |nb-special|
6.7 Protocol errors |nb-protocol_errors|
6.1 Kinds of messages *nb-messages*
There are four kinds of messages:
kind direction comment ~
Command IDE -> editor no reply necessary
Function IDE -> editor editor must send back a reply
Reply editor -> IDE only in response to a Function
Event editor -> IDE no reply necessary
The messages are sent as a single line with a terminating newline character.
Arguments are separated by a single space. The first item of the message
depends on the kind of message:
kind first item example ~
Command bufID:name!seqno 11:showBalloon!123 "text"
Function bufID:name/seqno 11:getLength/123
Reply seqno 123 5000
Event bufID:name=seqno 11:keyCommand=123 "S-F2"
6.2 Terms *nb-terms*
bufID Buffer number. A message may be either for a specific buffer
or generic. Generic messages use a bufID of zero. NOTE: this
buffer ID is assigned by the IDE, it is not Vim's buffer
number. The bufID must be a sequentially rising number,
starting at one. When the 'switchbuf' option is set to
"usetab" and the "bufID" buffer is not found in the current
tab page, the netbeans commands and functions that set this
buffer as the current buffer will jump to the first open
window that contains this buffer in other tab pages instead of
replacing the buffer in the current window.
seqno The IDE uses a sequence number for Commands and Functions. A
Reply must use the sequence number of the Function that it is
associated with. A zero sequence number can be used for
Events (the seqno of the last received Command or Function can
also be used).
string Argument in double quotes. Text is in UTF-8 encoding. This
means ASCII is passed as-is. Special characters are
represented with a backslash:
\" double quote
\n newline
\r carriage-return
\t tab (optional, also works literally)
\\ backslash
NUL bytes are not allowed!
boolean Argument with two possible values:
T true
F false
number Argument with a decimal number.
color Argument with either a decimal number, "none" (without the
quotes) or the name of a color (without the quotes) defined
both in the color list in |highlight-ctermfg| and in the color
list in |gui-colors|.
New in version 2.5.
offset A number argument that indicates a byte position in a buffer.
The first byte has offset zero. Line breaks are counted for
how they appear in the file (CR/LF counts for two bytes).
Note that a multi-byte character is counted for the number of
bytes it takes.
lnum/col Argument with a line number and column number position. The
line number starts with one, the column is the byte position,
starting with zero. Note that a multi-byte character counts
for several columns.
pathname String argument: file name with full path.
6.3 Commands *nb-commands*
actionMenuItem Not implemented.
actionSensitivity
Not implemented.
addAnno serNum typeNum off len
Place an annotation in this buffer.
Arguments:
serNum number serial number of this placed
annotation, used to be able to remove
it
typeNum number sequence number of the annotation
defined with defineAnnoType for this
buffer
off number offset where annotation is to be placed
len number not used
In version 2.1 "lnum/col" can be used instead of "off".
balloonResult text
Not implemented.
close Close the buffer. This leaves us without current buffer, very
dangerous to use!
create Creates a buffer without a name. Replaces the current buffer
(it's hidden when it was changed).
The Vim Controller should use this as the first command for a
file that is being opened. The sequence of commands could be:
create
setCaretListener (ignored)
setModified (no effect)
setContentType (ignored)
startDocumentListen
setTitle
setFullName
defineAnnoType typeNum typeName tooltip glyphFile fg bg
Define a type of annotation for this buffer.
Arguments:
typeNum number sequence number (not really used)
typeName string name that identifies this annotation
tooltip string not used
glyphFile string name of icon file
fg color foreground color for line highlighting
bg color background color for line highlighting
Vim will define a sign for the annotation.
When color is a number, this is the "#rrggbb" Red, Green and
Blue values of the color (see |gui-colors|) and the
highlighting is only defined for GVim.
When color is a name, this color is defined both for Vim
running in a color terminal and for GVim.
When both "fg" and "bg" are "none" no line highlighting is
used (new in version 2.1).
When "glyphFile" is empty, no text sign is used (new in
version 2.1).
When "glyphFile" is one or two characters long, a text sign is
defined (new in version 2.1).
Note: the annotations will be defined in sequence, and the
sequence number is later used with addAnno.
editFile pathname
Set the name for the buffer and edit the file "pathname", a
string argument.
Normal way for the IDE to tell the editor to edit a file.
You must set a bufId different of 0 with this command to
assign a bufId to the buffer. It will trigger an event
fileOpened with a bufId of 0 but the buffer has been assigned.
If the IDE is going to pass the file text to the editor use
these commands instead:
setFullName
insert
initDone
New in version 2.1.
enableBalloonEval
Not implemented.
endAtomic End an atomic operation. The changes between "startAtomic"
and "endAtomic" can be undone as one operation. But it's not
implemented yet. Redraw when necessary.
guard off len
Mark an area in the buffer as guarded. This means it cannot
be edited. "off" and "len" are numbers and specify the text
to be guarded.
initDone Mark the buffer as ready for use. Implicitly makes the buffer
the current buffer. Fires the BufReadPost autocommand event.
insertDone
Sent by Vim Controller to tell Vim an initial file insert is
done. This triggers a read message being printed. Prior to
version 2.3, no read messages were displayed after opening a
file. New in version 2.3.
moveAnnoToFront serNum
Not implemented.
netbeansBuffer isNetbeansBuffer
If "isNetbeansBuffer" is "T" then this buffer is "owned" by
NetBeans.
New in version 2.2.
putBufferNumber pathname
Associate a buffer number with the Vim buffer by the name
"pathname", a string argument. To be used when the editor
reported editing another file to the IDE and the IDE needs to
tell the editor what buffer number it will use for this file.
Also marks the buffer as initialized.
New in version 2.1.
raise Bring the editor to the foreground.
Only when Vim is run with a GUI.
New in version 2.1.
removeAnno serNum
Remove a previously placed annotation for this buffer.
"serNum" is the same number used in addAnno.
save Save the buffer when it was modified. The other side of the
interface is expected to write the buffer and invoke
"setModified" to reset the "changed" flag of the buffer.
The writing is skipped when one of these conditions is true:
- 'write' is not set
- the buffer is read-only
- the buffer does not have a file name
- 'buftype' disallows writing
New in version 2.2.
saveDone
Sent by Vim Controller to tell Vim a save is done. This
triggers a save message being printed. Prior to version 2.3,
no save messages were displayed after a save.
New in version 2.3.
setAsUser Not implemented.
setBufferNumber pathname
Associate a buffer number with Vim buffer by the name
"pathname". To be used when the editor reported editing
another file to the IDE and the IDE needs to tell the editor
what buffer number it will use for this file.
Has the side effect of making the buffer the current buffer.
See "putBufferNumber" for a more useful command.
setContentType
Not implemented.
setDot off Make the buffer the current buffer and set the cursor at the
specified position. If the buffer is open in another window
than make that window the current window.
If there are folds they are opened to make the cursor line
visible.
In version 2.1 "lnum/col" can be used instead of "off".
setExitDelay seconds
Set the delay for exiting to "seconds", a number.
This delay is used to give the IDE a chance to handle things
before really exiting. The default delay is two seconds.
New in version 2.1.
Obsolete in version 2.3.
setFullName pathname
Set the file name to be used for a buffer to "pathname", a
string argument.
Used when the IDE wants to edit a file under control of the
IDE. This makes the buffer the current buffer, but does not
read the file. "insert" commands will be used next to set the
contents.
setLocAndSize Not implemented.
setMark Not implemented.
setModified modified
When the boolean argument "modified" is "T" mark the buffer as
modified, when it is "F" mark it as unmodified.
setModtime time
Update a buffers modification time after the file has been
saved directly by the Vim Controller.
New in version 2.3.
setReadOnly
Set a file as readonly
Implemented in version 2.3.
setStyle Not implemented.
setTitle name
Set the title for the buffer to "name", a string argument.
The title is only used for the Vim Controller functions, not
by Vim.
setVisible visible
When the boolean argument "visible" is "T", goto the buffer.
The "F" argument does nothing.
showBalloon text
Show a balloon (popup window) at the mouse pointer position,
containing "text", a string argument. The balloon should
disappear when the mouse is moved more than a few pixels.
Only when Vim is run with a GUI.
New in version 2.1.
specialKeys
Map a set of keys (mostly function keys) to be passed back
to the Vim Controller for processing. This lets regular IDE
hotkeys be used from Vim.
Implemented in version 2.3.
startAtomic Begin an atomic operation. The screen will not be updated
until "endAtomic" is given.
startCaretListen
Not implemented.
startDocumentListen
Mark the buffer to report changes to the IDE with the
"insert" and "remove" events. The default is to report
changes.
stopCaretListen
Not implemented.
stopDocumentListen
Mark the buffer to stop reporting changes to the IDE.
Opposite of startDocumentListen.
NOTE: if "netbeansBuffer" was used to mark this buffer as a
NetBeans buffer, then the buffer is deleted in Vim. This is
for compatibility with Sun Studio 10.
unguard off len
Opposite of "guard", remove guarding for a text area.
Also sets the cu
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