Changes plugin

A Vim plugin for displaying changes in a buffer

This plugin was written to help visualize which lines have been changed since editing started for a file. The plugin was inspired by so called changed-bars, available in other editors, such as Embarcadero C++ Builder (there it is called Change Bars or Visual Studio where it is called indicator margin.

ChangesPlugin.vim uses the diff feature of vim and compares the actual buffer with its saved state (or possibly against a state in a VCS repository). It displays signs in the signcolumn to indicate any changes, with optional line highlighting.

See also the following screencast showing several of the features available:

Note, that a '-' indicates that at least one line was deleted between that particular line and the following line.

Features:

• Shows signs for added, modified, and deleted lines
• Quick jumping between changed blocks ("hunks")
• Tries to update signs as fast as possible
• Optional line highlighting
• Customisable
• Many different Commands (fold all non changed lines, show changed lines in Quickfix window, opens a diff split...)
• Preserves signs from other plugins
• Built-in integration with vim-airline
• Good documentation
• Quick response
• Nice icons for gvim
• Uses Vim 8's async feature for parsing the diff

Why another git-gutter/vim-signify clone?

To be fair, there were a lot of other vim plugins that offered the same functionality as those two. They just didn't get the same attention as those two. ChangesPlugin was one of those plugins.

Installation

Vim 8 comes with package support. Simply clone it into your packpath like this:

cd ~/.vim/pack/custom/start/
git clone https://github.com/chrisbra/changesPlugin.git

(Remember to run :helptags ALL after restarting Vim to regenerate the help files)

Other installation methods:

Other package managers work similarly, please refer to their documentation.

Usage

Once installed, take a look at the help at :h ChangesPlugin

Here is a short overview of the functionality provided by the plugin:

Ex commands:

:EC  - Activate the plugin (display indicators of changes for the current buffer)
:DC  - Disable the plugin
:TCV - Toggle the plugin
:CC  - Show a small help window
:CL  - Open the Quickfix window with all changes for the current buffer
:CD  - Open a diff view for the current buffer
:CF  - Fold away all non-changed lines
:CT  - Toggle how the highlighting is displayed

Mappings

]h   - Moves forward to the next changed line
[h   - Moves backwards to the previous changed line
ah   - Selects the current hunk (TextObject)
<Leader>h - Stage the hunk that the cursor is on (works only for git)

Configuration

g:changes_autocmd (default: 1) - update the signs automatically using InsertLeave and TextChanged autocommands.

g:changes_vcs_check (default: 0)

g:changes_vcs_system (default: '') - Check against a version in a repository (e.g. git/mercurial) and specify VCS to use (if not specified, will try to autodetect).

g:changes_diff_preview (default: 0) - Display diff in the preview window

g:changes_respect_SignColumn (default 0) - If set, will use the SignColumn Highlighting group, else uses the Normal Highlighting group

g:changes_sign_text_utf8 (default 1) - If set, will display nice little utf-8 signs.

g:changes_linehi_diff (default: 0) - If set, will overlay the text with highlighting for the difference in the line.

g:changes_use_icons (default: 1) - If set, will display graphical icons if support is available.

g:changes_add_sign (default: '+') - If set, will display custom sign

g:changes_delete_sign (default: '-') - If set, will display custom sign

g:changes_modified_sign (default: '*') - If set, will display custom sign

g:changes_utf8_add_sign (default '➕') - If set, will display nice little utf-8 plus signs.

g:changes_utf8_delete_sign (default '➖') - If set, will display nice little utf-8 minus signs.

g:changes_utf8_modifed_sign (default '★') - If set, will display nice little utf-8 star signs.

Similar Work

vim-gitgutter Only works for git.

vim-signify Supports several VCS, only updates the sign on write.

License & Copyright

© 2009-2014 by Christian Brabandt. The Vim License applies. See :h license

NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. USE AT-YOUR-OWN-RISK