vim-outline

A simple outline sketcher for Vim.

Introduction

Vim-outline parse your current buffer and slam an outline in a side-window based on a set of regex. That's all!

If you pass a regex to :Outline command, then the tool will have the same behavior as :global, but here you can jump back and forth between the outline and the original windows. If no regex are passed, then the outline windows is filled depending on the filetype (if such a filetype is supported).

The filetype outline is far from being perfect, but it gives you a good idea of how your buffer is structured. It is perhaps the plugin that I use more!

Installation

Use any plugin manager or the builtin Vim plugin manager.

Requirements

Vim-outline is written in Vim9script, therefore you need at least Vim 9.0. That is pretty much all. No ctags, nor LSP servers required.

Usage

Commands

:OutlineToggle [{regex}] open/close a side-window that shows an outline of your current buffer based on {regex}. If {regex} is not passed, then the outline window will depends on the current buffer filetype.

:OutlineJump jump on the outline window. Such a command is handy when you have different windows open in the same tab and you want to jump directly to the outline window with one key-press.

:OutlineRefresh update outline & locate yourself.

Mappings

# Default mappings
nmap <silent> <F8> <Plug>OutlineToggle
nmap <silent> <leader>l <Plug>OutlineRefresh
nmap <silent> <leader>o <Plug>OutlineGoToOutline

Feel free to change them at your convenience.

Configuration

The basic configuration variables are the following:

g:outline_buf_name = "Outline!"
g:outline_win_size = &columns / 4
g:outline_enable_highlight = true

See :h OutlineConfiguration for additional configuration variables.

Create arbitrary outlines

You can create arbitrary outlines for different filetypes in a very easy way. You just have to write your own regex. For example, assume that you want to create a custom outline for cpp filetypes:

Step 1

Add the following lines to your .vimrc

    extend(g:outline_include_before_exclude, {cpp: true})
    extend(g:outline_pattern_to_include, {cpp: ['<KEEP-ME!>']})

Step 3

Comment each line that you want to keep in the outline with // <KEEP-ME!>.

At this point, call :OutlineToggle and see what happens. Jumps and localization functions should work automatically.

Help

:h outline.txt

Contributing

Contributions are more than welcome! See :h OutlineContributing for more info.

License

BSD3-Clause.