Will support to open in a popup windows?

[gVimer]

I think it's a better experience Because it doesn't break the layout of the current window

[drmikehenry]

I'm not sure what is meant by "popup windows" in the context of Vim, but it's possible BufExplorer already has the feature you are looking for.

The "default" way of opening BufExplorer is via \be, which brings up the buffer list in the current window, temporarily swapping out the previous buffer. Pressing <Enter> on a buffer will open that buffer in the current window. In that sense, the layout of the current window is preserved. This is useful for users who setup a configuration of Vim windows and wish to switch to different buffers without adding or removing windows. This mode is roughly equivalent to using the command :buffer; for example, pressing \be, moving the cursor above buffer 2, then pressing <Enter> is equivalent to the Vim command :buffer 2.

For users that want to switch to a buffer in a new split, BufExplorer offers two flows. In the first method, BufExplorer is launched via \be as before, and the cursor is placed over the desired buffer; then by pressing one of F, f, V, or v, the selected buffer will be opened in a new split window, and the original window will be returned to the buffer previously present in that window. When choosing buffer 2, these commands are essentially:

Key   Split location      Vim command

F     above               :topleft sbuffer 2
f     below               :belowright sbuffer 2
V     left                :vertical topleft sbuffer 2
v     right               :vertical belowright sbuffer 2

In the second method, \bv launched BufExplorer in a new vertical split; when a buffer is selected, it will be opened in this new split. Similarly, \bs launches BufExplorer in a horizontal split; buffers will be opened in that new split.

Perhaps the above modes are what you are looking for; if not, could you be more specific about how BufExplorer should behave?

[staneuski]

@drmikehenry I believe the issue author was referring to support for popupwin functionality, which, in my opinion, would be an ideal option.
That way, the explorer could function similarly to floaterm, for example.

[drmikehenry]

@staneuski Thanks for the explanation. I may have heard about Vim's popup window feature some time ago, but I've not used it.

I've now read a little bit about Vim's popup window feature and Neovim's similar "floating window" feature. The two features have some significant differences, some of which seem easier to unify than others. A Neovim floating window appears to work like a regular window that floats, whereas a Vim popup window isn't generally intended to receive keystrokes and cannot receive keyboard focus. Vim does have an exception for running a terminal in a popup window, where the popup window can receive keystrokes that are then sent to the terminal, but as BufExplorer doesn't run in a terminal, this feature doesn't appear to help. In addition, Vim's popup window support was added in Vim 8; because BufExplorer supports Vim 7.4 and newer, the current method of operation would need to be kept in addition to any support for popup or floating windows. I haven't looked at these different options at length, but at first glance Vim popup windows don't seem like a good match for BufExplorer functionality.

I'm wondering what aspects of popup windows prompt the suggestion for BufExplorer to use them. I'm guessing that one reason might be that a popup window could take up the full size of Vim's overall window without disturbing the layout of existing split windows. That feature could probably be added to BufExplorer with substantially less effort than adding both popup and floating window support. In fact, the current version of BufExplorer is sufficient to demonstrate how such a feature might work.

First, launch Vim with five files:

vim one two three four five

Next, spread files one through four onto the first two tab pages:

:botright vsplit two
:tabedit three
:botright vsplit four

This leaves file three focused in the first window of the second tab.

I'm imagining the addition of the command :BufExplorer tab as a way to launch BufExplorer in a new tab. This may be simulated by launching BufExplorer in a vertical split, then moving that new window to a new tab:

:BufExplorer vsplit
:wincmd T

At this point, if q were pressed, the new tab would be closed and the focus restored to the original buffer at BufExplorer launch.

Instead of closing BufExplorer, move the cursor down to file five and press O to open in the "original" window from which BufExplorer was launched. This results in the window originally containing file three to be switched to file five.

Does the above idea of launching BufExplorer in a new tab provide the benefits that a popup window might provide? If not, could you please elaborate on what makes a popup window a more attractive option for BufExplorer?