Vim documentation: tabpage

*tabpage.txt*   For Vim version 7.3.  Last change: 2010 Jul 31


		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Bram Moolenaar



Editing with windows in multiple tab pages.		*tab-page* *tabpage*

The commands which have been added to use multiple tab pages are explained
here.  Additionally, there are explanations for commands that work differently
when used in combination with more than one tab page.

1. Introduction			|tab-page-intro|
2. Commands			|tab-page-commands|
3. Other items			|tab-page-other|
4. Setting 'tabline'		|setting-tabline|
5. Setting 'guitablabel'	|setting-guitablabel|

{Vi does not have any of these commands}
{not able to use multiple tab pages when the |+windows| feature was disabled
at compile time}

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

1. Introduction						*tab-page-intro*

A tab page holds one or more windows.  You can easily switch between tab
pages, so that you have several collections of windows to work on different
things.

Usually you will see a list of labels at the top of the Vim window, one for
each tab page.  With the mouse you can click on the label to jump to that tab
page.  There are other ways to move between tab pages, see below.

Most commands work only in the current tab page.  That includes the |CTRL-W|
commands, |:windo|, |:all| and |:ball| (when not using the |:tab| modifier).
The commands that are aware of other tab pages than the current one are
mentioned below.

Tabs are also a nice way to edit a buffer temporarily without changing the
current window layout.  Open a new tab page, do whatever you want to do and
close the tab page.

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

2. Commands						*tab-page-commands*

OPENING A NEW TAB PAGE:

When starting Vim "vim -p filename ..." opens each file argument in a separate
tab page (up to 'tabpagemax').  See |-p|

A double click with the mouse in the non-GUI tab pages line opens a new, empty
tab page.  It is placed left of the position of the click.  The first click
may select another tab page first, causing an extra screen update.

This also works in a few GUI versions, esp. Win32 and Motif.  But only when
clicking right of the labels.

In the GUI tab pages line you can use the right mouse button to open menu.
|tabline-menu|.


:[count]tabe[dit]				*:tabe* *:tabedit* *:tabnew*
:[count]tabnew
		Open a new tab page with an empty window, after the current
		tab page.  For [count] see |:tab| below.

:[count]tabe[dit] [++opt] [+cmd] {file}
:[count]tabnew [++opt] [+cmd] {file}
		Open a new tab page and edit {file}, like with |:edit|.
		For [count] see |:tab| below.


:[count]tabf[ind] [++opt] [+cmd] {file}			*:tabf* *:tabfind*
		Open a new tab page and edit {file} in 'path', like with
		|:find|.  For [count] see |:tab| below.
		{not available when the |+file_in_path| feature was disabled
		at compile time}


:[count]tab {cmd}					*:tab*
		Execute {cmd} and when it opens a new window open a new tab
		page instead.  Doesn't work for |:diffsplit|, |:diffpatch|,
		|:execute| and |:normal|.
		When [count] is omitted the tab page appears after the current
		one.
		When [count] is specified the new tab page comes after tab
		page [count].  Use ":0tab cmd" to get the new tab page as the
		first one.
		Examples:
			:tab split	" opens current buffer in new tab page
			:tab help gt	" opens tab page with help for "gt"

CTRL-W gf	Open a new tab page and edit the file name under the cursor.
		See |CTRL-W_gf|.

CTRL-W gF	Open a new tab page and edit the file name under the cursor
		and jump to the line number following the file name.
		See |CTRL-W_gF|.

CLOSING A TAB PAGE:

Closing the last window of a tab page closes the tab page too, unless there is
only one tab page.

Using the mouse: If the tab page line is displayed you can click in the "X" at
the top right to close the current tab page.  A custom |'tabline'| may show
something else.


							*:tabc* *:tabclose*
:tabc[lose][!]	Close current tab page.
		This command fails when:

		- There is only one tab page on the screen.		*E784*
		- When 'hidden' is not set, [!] is not used, a buffer has
		  changes, and there is no other window on this buffer.
		Changes to the buffer are not written and won't get lost, so
		this is a "safe" command.

:tabc[lose][!] {count}
		Close tab page {count}.  Fails in the same way as ':tabclose"
		above.


							*:tabo* *:tabon