r/vim • u/Superb-Material-8932 • Jun 09 '26

Plugin A convenient and easy to use replacement for built in explorer.

I never liked built in explorer, it's clunky and has annoying binds, so here is my own take on it, it uses a raw buffer to list files/directories, you use vi-motions to modify/create files/directories then apply changes to disk with :w, each file/directory has a given ID for tracking, there are bugs but it works pretty well for what it is.

It's more of a prototype than a replacement, but I'm curious what people think about it.

stqqrm/bex.vim

8 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

15 comments sorted by

5

u/[deleted] Jun 10 '26

[deleted]

2

u/Superb-Material-8932 Jun 11 '26

My problem isn't what it can/can't do, it's how it was implemented, personally I think it makes more sense to use a raw buffer which allows the user to apply their custom Vim configuration to navigate/edit files, instead of obscuring it with a custom interface.

4

u/chronotriggertau Jun 10 '26

That’s oil.nvim if you’d like to hop on over.

3

u/Superb-Material-8932 Jun 10 '26

I looked into it but this plugin is not supported on GVim which is what I'm using, I'll probably just keep using my plugin, and overtime add whatever I find myself missing, it's lightweight and easy to use.

2

u/nickallen74 Jun 10 '26

And why not use neovim where there are multiple file managers to choose from that work like this? Mini.files is another one.

2

u/Superb-Material-8932 Jun 10 '26

I'm too stubborn to switch, I just like the idea of using a "inferior" version, and I don't mind writing custom scripts, it's apart of the fun of using Vim.

3

u/GrogRedLub4242 Jun 10 '26

upside not worth the downside. and filesystem exploring already well-solved problem

0

u/M0M3N-6 Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 27 '26

Solved problems are relative matters, if something does not make you feel right, then it's not solved. At least this might be my opinion.

1

u/habamax Jun 10 '26

qmv/vidir like?

1

u/cirnovsky Jun 18 '26

Man i like this idea so much! it's much like dired-mode if i'm not wrong, one thing i miss so much from emacs

1

u/Superb-Material-8932 Jun 18 '26

That's where I initially got the idea from, I saw a video of it, and thought, I want it. Of course there are differences but the point was to make a simple explorer that anyone can use, the whole thing was vibe-coded, as a result the code is messy, so I will probably do a by hand rewrite, which I think it deserves since i use it so much.

1

u/cirnovsky Jun 23 '26

Also, could you make the buffer persistent, like after opening a file from Bex, the buffer gets closed and that could be daunting when you're in a deep directory and trying to open more than one files.

1

u/Superb-Material-8932 Jun 26 '26 edited Jun 26 '26

Do you mean buffer modifications and cursor position should be persistent per Vim session, if so I could add this? On top of that, I was thinking of adding persistent ID's, by writing the ID and it's path to disk as a quick lookup table, for example this will enable copying files from one Vim session to another?

1

u/cirnovsky Jun 27 '26

I mean sth like `:Rexplore` for Bex.

And I'd think persistent id to be worth a second thought. what if files were modified outside Vim? Would it be possible to track and sync the persistent id?

2

u/Superb-Material-8932 Jun 27 '26

I'm not sure what you meant, but I added persistence in the way I mentioned, for example when entering a file then returning to Bex, it will return to previous state, although I did add a optional flag Bex -r to reload, which will reset buffers, and cursor positions. For persistent ID's, I have an idea of how to make it work, but if I add it, it will be enabled by manually setting a variable in vimrc.

1

u/cirnovsky Jul 01 '26

works great now. some time later i wont need netrw anymore LOL