LaTeX: VIM + Skim

macvim-skim-install.sh is my install script for using MacVim.app with Skim.app.

The agpy wiki page has instructions that are probably more clear; I don't really like the colorscheme / layout of this blog.

You can use synctex to make an editor and viewer work together, but it is far from easy and far harder than it should be. Forward-search is pretty easy, but the latex-suite \ls only works intermittently and is not easily customizable.

I had to do the following:

For VIM->Skim.app (Skim.app is necessary for any of this to work), add these commands to .vimrc:

" Activate skim
map ,v :w<CR>:silent !/Applications/Skim.app/Contents/SharedSupport/displayline -r <C-r>=line('.')<CR> %<.pdf %<CR><CR>
map ,p :w<CR>:silent !pdflatex -synctex=1 --interaction=nonstopmode %:p <CR>:silent !/Applications/Skim.app/Contents/SharedSupport/displayline -r <C-r>=line('.')<CR> %<.pdf %<CR><CR>
map ,m :w<CR>:silent !make <CR>:silent !/Applications/Skim.app/Contents/SharedSupport/displayline -r <C-r>=line('.')<CR> %<.pdf %<CR><CR>
" Reactivate VIM
map ,r :w<CR>:silent !/Applications/Skim.app/Contents/SharedSupport/displayline -r <C-r>=line('.')<CR> %<.pdf %<CR>:silent !osascript -e "tell application \"MacVim\" to activate" <CR><CR>
map ,t :w<CR>:silent !pdflatex -synctex=1 --interaction=nonstopmode %:p <CR>:silent !/Applications/Skim.app/Contents/SharedSupport/displayline -r <C-r>=line('.')<CR> %<.pdf %<CR>:silent !osascript -e "tell application \"MacVim\" to activate" <CR><CR>

The ,m command will reload the file and put your cursor where the text is. ,t will return VIM to the front afterwards.


Going the other way (reverse-search / inverse-search) was MUCH more challenging. The code that does this is on agpy . Reproduced here for posterity (I hope to update the agpy version to deal with tabs). [A few hours later, I HAVE replaced the code. Below are the old applescript version, then the new, vim-based version



#!/bin/bash

file="$1"
line="$2"

[ "${file:0:1}" == "/" ] || file="${PWD}/$file"

# Use Applescript to activate VIM, find file, and load it
# the 'delay' command is needed to prevent command/control/shift from sticking when this
# is activated (e.g., from Skim, where the command is command-shift-click)
#
# key code 53 is "escape" to escape to command mode in VIM
exec osascript \
-e "delay 0.2" \
-e "tell application \"MacVim\" to activate" \
-e "tell application \"System Events\"" \
-e " tell process \"MacVim\"" \
-e " key code 53 "\
-e " keystroke \":set hidden\" & return " \
-e " keystroke \":if bufexists(bufname('$file'))\" & return " \
-e " keystroke \":exe \\\":buffer \\\" . bufnr(bufname('$file'))\" & return " \
-e " keystroke \":else \" & return " \
-e " keystroke \":echo \\\"Could not load file\\\" \" & return " \
-e " keystroke \":endif\" & return " \
-e " keystroke \":$line\" & return " \
-e " end tell" \
-e "end tell"


New code: download link

#!/bin/bash

# Install directions:
# Put this file somewhere in your path and make it executable
# To set up in Skim, go to Preferences:Sync
# Change Preset: to Custom
# Change Command: to macvim-load-line
# Change Arguments: to "%file" %line

file="$1"
line="$2"
debug="$3"

echo file: $file
echo line: $line
echo debug: $debug

for server in `mvim --serverlist` 
do
    foundfile=`mvim --servername $server --remote-expr "WhichTab('$file')"`
    if [[ $foundfile > 0 ]]
    then
        mvim --servername $server --remote-expr "foreground()" 
        if [[ $debug ]] ; then echo mvim --servername $server --remote-send ":exec \"tabnext $foundfile\" "; fi
        mvim --servername $server --remote-send ":exec \"tabnext $foundfile\" "
        if [[ $debug ]] ; then echo mvim --servername $server --remote-send ":$line "; fi
        mvim --servername $server --remote-send ":$line "
    fi
done

Save that as an executable in your default path (e.g., /usr/local/bin/macvim-load-line) and open Skim.app, go to Preferences:Sync and make the command look like this:

You need to have mvim on your path. mvim comes with MacVim.app, but is NOT installed by default. Install it by doing something like:

cp /Users/adam/Downloads/MacVim-7_3-53/mvim /usr/local/bin/mvim

You'll also need to install WhichTab.vim in your ~/.vim/plugins/ directory. It's available here ( download link ). Here's the source:

function! WhichTab(filename)
    " Try to determine whether file is open in any tab.  
    " Return number of tab it's open in
    let buffername = bufname(a:filename)
    if buffername == ""
        return 0
    endif
    let buffernumber = bufnr(buffername)

    " tabdo will loop through pages and leave you on the last one;
    " this is to make sure we don't leave the current page
    let currenttab = tabpagenr()
    let tab_arr = []
    tabdo let tab_arr += tabpagebuflist()

    " return to current page
    exec "tabnext ".currenttab

    " Start checking tab numbers for matches
    let i = 0
    for tnum in tab_arr
        let i += 1
        echo "tnum: ".tnum." buff: ".buffernumber." i: ".i
        if tnum == buffernumber
            return i
        endif
    endfor

endfunction

function! WhichWindow(filename)
    " Try to determine whether the file is open in any GVIM *window*
    let serverlist = split(serverlist(),"\n")

    "let currentserver = ????
    for server in serverlist
        let remotetabnum = remote_expr(server, 
            \"WhichTab('".a:filename."')")
        if remotetabnum != 0
            return server
        endif
    endfor

endfunction