netbeans.txt For Vim version 7.4. Last change: 2012 Jan 26LINK

VIM REFERENCE MANUAL by Gordon Prieur et al.

socket-interface netbeans netbeans-supportLINK

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-introLINK

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.

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-integrationLINK

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-configureLINK

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-messagesLINK

These error messages are specific to NetBeans socket protocol:

E463LINK

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.

E532LINK

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.

E656LINK

Writes of unmodified buffers forbidden

Writes of unmodified buffers that were opened from the

Vim Controller are not possible.

E657LINK

Partial writes disallowed

Partial writes for buffers that were opened from the

Vim Controller are not allowed.

E658LINK

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.

E744LINK

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-runLINK

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

netbeans-parametersLINK

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 E668LINK

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-protocolLINK

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-messagesLINK

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-termsLINK

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.

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-commandsLINK

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 current buffer, if necessary.

version Not implemented.

6.4 Functions and Replies nb-functionsLINK

getDot Not implemented.

getCursor Return the current buffer and cursor position.

The reply is:

seqno bufID lnum col off

seqno = sequence number of the function

bufID = buffer ID of the current buffer (if this is unknown -1

is used)

lnum = line number of the cursor (first line is one)

col = column number of the cursor (in bytes, zero based)

off = offset of the cursor in the buffer (in bytes)

New in version 2.1.

getLength Return the length of the buffer in bytes.

Reply example for a buffer with 5000 bytes:

123 5000

TODO: explain use of partial line.

getMark Not implemented.

getAnno serNum

Return the line number of the annotation in the buffer.

Argument:

serNum serial number of this placed annotation

The reply is:

123 lnum line number of the annotation

123 0 invalid annotation serial number

New in version 2.4.

getModified When a buffer is specified: Return zero if the buffer does not

have changes, one if it does have changes.

When no buffer is specified (buffer number zero): Return the

number of buffers with changes. When the result is zero it's

safe to tell Vim to exit.

New in version 2.1.

getText Return the contents of the buffer as a string.

Reply example for a buffer with two lines

123 "first line\nsecond line\n"

NOTE: docs indicate an offset and length argument, but this is

not implemented.

insert off text

Insert "text" before position "off". "text" is a string

argument, "off" a number.

"text" should have a "\n" (newline) at the end of each line.

Or "\r\n" when 'fileformat' is "dos". When using "insert" in

an empty buffer Vim will set 'fileformat' accordingly.

When "off" points to the start of a line the text is inserted

above this line. Thus when "off" is zero lines are inserted

before the first line.

When "off" points after the start of a line, possibly on the

NUL at the end of a line, the first line of text is appended

to this line. Further lines come below it.

Possible replies:

123 no problem

123 !message failed

Note that the message in the reply is not quoted.

Also sets the current buffer, if necessary.

Does not move the cursor to the changed text.

Resets undo information.

remove off length

Delete "length" bytes of text at position "off". Both

arguments are numbers.

Possible replies:

123 no problem

123 !message failed

Note that the message in the reply is not quoted.

Also sets the current buffer, if necessary.

saveAndExit Perform the equivalent of closing Vim: ":confirm qall".

If there are no changed files or the user does not cancel the

operation Vim exits and no result is sent back. The IDE can

consider closing the connection as a successful result.

If the user cancels the operation the number of modified

buffers that remains is returned and Vim does not exit.

New in version 2.1.

6.5 Events nb-eventsLINK

balloonEval off len type

The mouse pointer rests on text for a short while. When "len"

is zero, there is no selection and the pointer is at position

"off". When "len" is non-zero the text from position "off" to

"off" + "len" is selected.

Only sent after "enableBalloonEval" was used for this buffer.

"type" is not yet defined.

Not implemented yet.

balloonText text

Used when 'ballooneval' is set and the mouse pointer rests on

some text for a moment. "text" is a string, the text under

the mouse pointer.

Only when Vim is run with a GUI.

New in version 2.1.

buttonRelease button lnum col

Report which button was pressed and the location of the cursor

at the time of the release. Only for buffers that are owned

by the Vim Controller. This event is not sent if the button

was released while the mouse was in the status line or in a

separator line. If col is less than 1 the button release was

in the sign area.

New in version 2.2.

disconnect

Tell the Vim Controller that Vim is exiting and not to try and

read or write more commands.

New in version 2.3.

fileClosed Not implemented.

fileModified Not implemented.

fileOpened pathname open modified

A file was opened by the user.

Arguments:

pathname string name of the file

open boolean always "T"

modified boolean always "F"

geometry cols rows x y

Report the size and position of the editor window.

Arguments:

cols number number of text columns

rows number number of text rows

x number pixel position on screen

y number pixel position on screen

Only works for Motif.

insert off text

Text "text" has been inserted in Vim at position "off".

Only fired when enabled, see "startDocumentListen".

invokeAction Not implemented.

keyCommand keyName

Reports a special key being pressed with name "keyName", which

is a string.

Supported key names:

F1 function key 1

F2 function key 2

...

F12 function key 12

' ' space (without the quotes)

! exclamation mark

... any other ASCII printable character

~ tilde

X any unrecognized key

The key may be prepended by "C", "S" and/or "M" for Control,

Shift and Meta (Alt) modifiers. If there is a modifier a dash

is used to separate it from the key name. For example:

"C-F2".

ASCII characters are new in version 2.1.

keyAtPos keyName lnum/col

Like "keyCommand" and also report the line number and column

of the cursor.

New in version 2.1.

killed A file was deleted or wiped out by the user and the buffer

annotations have been removed. The bufID number for this

buffer has become invalid. Only for files that have been

assigned a bufID number by the IDE.

newDotAndMark off off

Reports the position of the cursor being at "off" bytes into

the buffer. Only sent just before a "keyCommand" event.

quit Not implemented.

remove off len

Text was deleted in Vim at position "off" with byte length

"len".

Only fired when enabled, see "startDocumentListen".

revert Not implemented.

save The buffer has been saved and is now unmodified.

Only fired when enabled, see "startDocumentListen".

startupDone The editor has finished its startup work and is ready for

editing files.

New in version 2.1.

unmodified The buffer is now unmodified.

Only fired when enabled, see "startDocumentListen".

version vers Report the version of the interface implementation. Vim

reports "2.4" (including the quotes).

6.6 Special messages nb-specialLINK

These messages do not follow the style of the messages above. They are

terminated by a newline character.

ACCEPT Not used.

AUTH password editor -> IDE: First message that the editor sends to the IDE.

Must contain the password for the socket server, as specified

with the -nb argument. No quotes are used!

DISCONNECT IDE -> editor: break the connection. The editor will exit.

The IDE must only send this message when there are no unsaved

changes!

DETACH IDE -> editor: break the connection without exiting the

editor. Used when the IDE exits without bringing down the

editor as well.

New in version 2.1.

REJECT Not used.

6.7 Protocol errors nb-protocol_errorsLINK

These errors occur when a message violates the protocol:

E627 E628 E629 E630 E631 E632 E633 E634 E635 E636LINK

E637 E638 E639 E640 E641 E642 E643 E644 E645 E646LINK

E647 E648 E649 E650 E651 E652 E653 E654LINK

==============================================================================

7. NetBeans commands netbeans-commandsLINK

:nbstart E511 E838LINK

:nbs[tart] {connection} Start a new Netbeans session with {connection} as the

socket connection parameters. The format of

{connection} is described in netbeans-parameters.

At any time, one may check if the netbeans socket is

connected by running the command:

':echo has("netbeans_enabled")'

:nbcloseLINK

:nbc[lose] Close the current NetBeans session. Remove all placed

signs.

:nbkeyLINK

:nb[key] {key} Pass the {key} to the Vim Controller for processing.

When a hot-key has been installed with the specialKeys

command, this command can be used to generate a hotkey

message to the Vim Controller.

This command can also be used to pass any text to the

Vim Controller. It is used by Pyclewn, for example,

to build the complete set of gdb commands as Vim user

commands.

The events newDotAndMark, keyCommand and keyAtPos are

generated (in this order).

==============================================================================

8. Known problems netbeans-problemsLINK

NUL bytes are not possible. For editor -> IDE they will appear as NL

characters. For IDE -> editor they cannot be inserted.

A NetBeans session may be initiated with Vim running in a terminal, and

continued later in a GUI environment after running the :gui command. In this

case, the highlighting defined for the NetBeans annotations may be cleared

when the ":gui" command sources .gvimrc and this file loads a colorscheme

that runs the command ":highlight clear".

New in version 2.5.

==============================================================================

9. Debugging NetBeans protocol netbeans-debuggingLINK

To debug the Vim protocol, you must first compile Vim with debugging support

and NetBeans debugging support. See netbeans-configure for instructions

about Vim compiling and how to enable debug support.

When running Vim, set the following environment variables:

export SPRO_GVIM_DEBUG=netbeans.log

export SPRO_GVIM_DLEVEL=0xffffffff

Vim will then log all the incoming and outgoing messages of the NetBeans

protocol to the file netbeans.log .

The content of netbeans.log after a session looks like this:

Tue May 20 17:19:27 2008

EVT: 0:startupDone=0

CMD 1: (1) create

CMD 2: (1) setTitle "testfile1.txt"

CMD 3: (1) setFullName "testfile1.txt"

EVT(suppressed): 1:remove=3 0 -1

EVT: 1:fileOpened=0 "d:\\work\\vimWrapper\\vimWrapper2\\pyvimwrapper\\tests\\testfile1.txt" T F

CMD 4: (1) initDone

FUN 5: (0) getCursor

REP 5: 1 1 0 0

CMD 6: (2) create

CMD 7: (2) setTitle "testfile2.txt"

CMD 8: (2) setFullName "testfile2.txt"

EVT(suppressed): 2:remove=8 0 -1

EVT: 2:fileOpened=0 "d:\\work\\vimWrapper\\vimWrapper2\\pyvimwrapper\\tests\\testfile2.txt" T F

CMD 9: (2) initDone

==============================================================================

10. NetBeans External Editor

NOTE: This information is obsolete! Only relevant if you are using an old

version of NetBeans.

10.1. Downloading NetBeans netbeans-downloadLINK

The NetBeans IDE is available for download from netbeans.org. You can download

a released version, download sources, or use CVS to download the current

source tree. If you choose to download sources, follow directions from

netbeans.org on building NetBeans.

Depending on the version of NetBeans you download, you may need to do further

work to get the required External Editor module. This is the module which lets

NetBeans work with gvim (or xemacs :-). See http://externaleditor.netbeans.org

for details on downloading this module if your NetBeans release does not have

it.

For C, C++, and Fortran support you will also need the cpp module. See

http://cpp.netbeans.org for information regarding this module.

You can also download Sun ONE Studio from Sun Microsystems, Inc for a 30 day

free trial. See http://www.sun.com for further details.

10.2. NetBeans Key Bindings netbeans-keybindingsLINK

Vim understands a number of key bindings that execute NetBeans commands.

These are typically all the Function key combinations. To execute a NetBeans

command, the user must press the Pause key followed by a NetBeans key binding.

For example, in order to compile a Java file, the NetBeans key binding is

"F9". So, while in vim, press "Pause F9" to compile a java file. To toggle a

breakpoint at the current line, press "Pause Shift F8".

The Pause key is Function key 21. If you don't have a working Pause key and

want to use F8 instead, use:

:map <F8> <F21>

The External Editor module dynamically reads the NetBeans key bindings so vim

should always have the latest key bindings, even when NetBeans changes them.

10.3. Preparing NetBeans for Vim netbeans-preparationLINK

In order for NetBeans to work with vim, the NetBeans External Editor module

must be loaded and enabled. If you have a Sun ONE Studio Enterprise Edition

then this module should be loaded and enabled. If you have a NetBeans release

you may need to find another way of obtaining this open source module.

You can check if you have this module by opening the Tools->Options dialog

and drilling down to the "Modules" list (IDE Configuration->System->Modules).

If your Modules list has an entry for "External Editor" you must make sure

it is enabled (the "Enabled" property should have the value "True"). If your

Modules list has no External Editor see the next section on obtaining-exted.

10.4. Obtaining the External Editor Module obtaining-extedLINK

There are 2 ways of obtaining the External Editor module. The easiest way

is to use the NetBeans Update Center to download and install the module.

Unfortunately, some versions do not have this module in their update

center. If you cannot download via the update center you will need to

download sources and build the module. I will try and get the module

available from the NetBeans Update Center so building will be unnecessary.

Also check http://externaleditor.netbeans.org for other availability options.

To download the External Editor sources via CVS and build your own module,

see http://externaleditor.netbeans.org and http://www.netbeans.org.

Unfortunately, this is not a trivial procedure.

10.5. Setting up NetBeans to run with Vim netbeans-setupLINK

Assuming you have loaded and enabled the NetBeans External Editor module

as described in netbeans-preparation all you need to do is verify that

the gvim command line is properly configured for your environment.

Open the Tools->Options dialog and open the Editing category. Select the

External Editor. The right hand pane should contain a Properties tab and

an Expert tab. In the Properties tab make sure the "Editor Type" is set

to "Vim". In the Expert tab make sure the "Vim Command" is correct.

You should be careful if you change the "Vim Command". There are command

line options there which must be there for the connection to be properly

set up. You can change the command name but that's about it. If your gvim

can be found by your $PATH then the VIM Command can start with "gvim". If

you don't want gvim searched from your $PATH then hard code in the full

Unix path name. At this point you should get a gvim for any source file

you open in NetBeans.

If some files come up in gvim and others (with different file suffixes) come

up in the default NetBeans editor you should verify the MIME type in the

Expert tab MIME Type property. NetBeans is MIME oriented and the External

Editor will only open MIME types specified in this property.

vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl: