Vim smartopen plugin adds Vim support for CDPATH

Overview

Ever since I discovered CDPATH last year I've been thinking wouldn't it be great if Vim could access files using CDPATH without having to chdir anywhere first. In other words, why can't Vim understand that it has to look for tklbam/restore.py in the CDPATH instead of telling me that it doesn't exist in the current working directory?

I started experimenting with Vim hooks and eventually figured out how to implement this as a generic mechanism that defines a more useful way for Vim to access the filesystem.

Throw in a Python implemented autocomplete algorithm, and in a nutshell, thats how my Vim smartopen plugin works.

Configuration

In your bashrc file:;

export _CDPATH=$CDPATH

Path lookup algorithm

1. Try to lookup path in cdpath

2. If no such file exists, try looking up path as a tag

3. If no such tag exists, assume its a new file

   Lookup the path of this new file by trying to find its parent directory in the cdpath. If it doesn't have a parent directory, assume the new file should be created in the current working directory.

Special cases:

/path   path is absolute (not looked up)
./path  path is relative to the current working directory (not looked up)

Usage

commands:

:O[pen]         [ <path> ]
:Ta[bOpen]      [ <path> ]
:Sp[litOpen]    [ <path> ]

if no <path> argument provided:
    defaults to taking <path> from word under cursor

Note: shell-style autocomplete is supported, but only for filesystem paths, not tags.

key bindings:

gf      open file or tag (under cursor)
CTRL-]  open file or tag (under cursor)

<C-W>f  open file (under cursor) in split window
<C-T>   go back

Note: overloaded vim native keybindings, with new enhanced functionality.

mouse bindings (browser-inspired):

left double click to open link

    doubleclick         open
    shift-doubleclick   split open
    ctrl-doubleclick    tab open (like in a browser)

ctrl-rightclick         go back