LandSurveyor wrote:
I'm trying, with no success, to place a shell python interpreter in a split
window.
To wit-while in a Vim session, I'll enter ':split', and then attempt to invoke
a shell in one of the two windows ':!' such that I can have an interpreter in
half of my screen, and a python script in the other half. My ultimate goal, of
course, would be to grab successful code from the interpreter 'half', and place
it into the python script.
Should this be an obvious endeavor to me? No luck so far.
(Except with third-party patches which would make Vim other than Vim), you
cannot run an interactive program in a Vim window and retain the use of the
editor in other (split) windows. This is by design: see ":help design-not".
You can run an interactive shell in gvim, but not in a window: in the
command-line area only (use ":!sh" or similar on Unix, ":!cmd" on Windows).
The gvim screen behaves as a "dumb" terminal, such as a teletypewriter: the
carriage can print only forward, except when you issue a line feed (which
moves the *paper* forward); and the paper cannot move backward either. This
means you cannot use "full-screen-mode" commands like "less" etc.
You can also run an interactive shell in Console Vim: there, the Vim display
disappears and you get a shell prompt in a fully functional terminal; but of
course, you have no access to editor functions while the shell runs.
In both cases, you regain control of the editor when you exit the shell.
What you may be able to do is to use Vim as an external editor in another
program. Whether you can or not will depend on the other program. Usually you
get the other side of the Catch-22: you regain control of the other program
when you exit Vim.
Best regards,
Tony.
--
hundred-and-one symptoms of being an internet addict:
193. You ask your girlfriend to drive home so you can sit back with
your PDA and download the information to your laptop
