Using vim to view the contents of a directory

UNIX for Advanced & Expert Users
1

When I use this command:

vi /home/bob/.vim

I expect to see.

" ============================================================================  
" Netrw Directory Listing                                        (netrw v149)
"   /home/bob/.vim
"   Sorted by      name
"   Sort sequence: [\/]$,\<core\%(\.\d\+\)\=\>,\.h$,\.c$,\.cpp$,\~\=\*$,*,\.o$,\
"   Quick Help: <F1>:help  -:go up dir  D:delete  R:rename  s:sort-by  x:exec
" ============================================================================
../
./
.netrwhist
.swp

Unfortunately this is not working unless I do this inside vim.

:e

Any idea how to fix this? It works on my other computers just fine.

2

What computer has the problem? Are they all the exact same OS. You do know about

.exrc
.vimrc

files?

3

Yes I know about the .vimrc . I did not know about the .exrc until you mentioned it. I googled it and it seems like the .exrc does the exact same thing as .vimrc . Is that correct?

I have a new laptop with Fedora 19 and that is the one that will not open directories unless I do :e . I have a desktop with Fedora 16 and an old laptop with Fedora 15. They all have identical .vimrc so I don't understand what the problem is.

set nocompatible
set autoindent
set smartindent
set tabstop=4
set shiftwidth=4
set expandtab
set showmatch
set vb t_vb=
set ruler
set nohls
set incsearch
set virtualedit=all
set number
set cmdheight=2
set background=dark
"set list
"This command uses unix mode
set ff=unix

"This command uses dos mode
"set ff=dos
4

Yes, .exrc is somewhat the same as .vimrc : In fact vim tries to be an improved vi and vi started as a graphical topping for an even older editor: ex . .exrc is the configuration file for this editor, which vi uses too (and therefore is also recognized by vim )

My suspicion is that your terminal setting is wrong. Which terminal emulator do you really use (xterm, eterm, kterm, dtterm, ...) and to what is displayed when you issue

echo $TERM

on a newly opened window?

I hope this helps.

bakunin

5

You lost me there. What does all this mean (xterm, eterm, kterm, dtterm, ...)?

$ echo $TERM
xterm-256color

I use Konsole the KDE terminal emulator if that makes a difference.