I am trying to update my Vim
configuration scripts. There are a number of sub-directories in my ~/.vim
directory and I'm not sure the specifics of what they do, nor why there are some that seem to be redundant.
Here is what my ~/.vim
directory tree looks like
|-after
|---ftplugin
|---syntax
|-autoload
|-compiler
|-doc
|-ftplugin
|---latex-suite
|-----dictionaries
|-----macros
|-----packages
|-----templates
|---python
|-indent
|-plugin
|-spell
|-syntax
Now for the specific questions.
plugin
vs ftplugin
?plugin
and autoload
?after/...
instead of in the directories directly under ~/.vim
?Whatever goes into plugin
is loaded whenever vim starts whereas what you put in ftplugin
is only loaded for the specific filetype it corresponds to (so if you have a folder there called python all the files there will be loaded when you open a python file.
In autoload
you should have the functions corresponding to the the scripts defined in plugin
. The functions here will only be loaded when called by the first time.
In after
you should put settings that you want to change from the normal plugin loading.
As an example suppose you like the settings that some plugin for latex gives you, but it redefined a mapping that you had in your .vimrc
. You can revert this with autocommands or by putting the correct definitions in after.
I think this would explain exactly what each folder does: http://learnvimscriptthehardway.stevelosh.com/chapters/42.html
Also might want to check :h runtimepath
.
Hope this helps. :)
All those directories are part of the runtimepath
. Try :h runtimepath
and it will link you to your answers:
:h write-plugin
:h autoload-functions
after/...
scripts are executed last, so they can override settings of earlier scripts. You can read more about this in :h runtimepath
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