make-ui-plugin.md

How to Make UI Plugin

I created nyaovim-popup-tooltip as sample UI plugin. It will help you understand how to make UI plugin.

• Directory Structure
• Getting Started
• Debug Your Plugin
• Handle Resizing Neovim Window

Directory Structure

NyaoVim UI plugin is a normal Neovim plugin except for nyaovim-plugin directory as below.

plugin-root-dir
├── README.md
├── autoload
├── nyaovim-plugin
└── plugin

• autoload is the same as normal Neovim plugin's autoload directory.
• plugin is the same as normal Neovim plugin's plugin directory.
• nyaovim-plugin is a place HTML file contains Web Component of UI. NyaoVim searches this directory and loads Web Components in it automatically.

Getting Started

Let's make your nyaovim-plugin/first-component.html.

<!-- In first-component.html -->
<dom-module id="hello-world">
  <template>
    <style>
      #hello-world-elem {
        position: absolute;
        top: 100px;
        left: 100px;
      }
    </style>
    <div id="hello-world-elem">Hello, World!</div>
  </template>
</dom-module>

And you need to get an editor instance of <neovim-editor>. You can access powerful <neovim-editor>'s APIs with the instance.

You can write JavaScript for it.

<!-- In first-component.html. Appending script after dom-module -->
<script>
(function() {
  var editor = document.querySelector('neovim-editor').editor;
})();
</script>

Let's change the content of <div> from Neovim. You can call Neovim msgpack-rpc APIs through client instance. Subscribe notification from Neovim as following.

<!-- In first-component.html -->
<script>
(function() {
  var editor = document.querySelector('neovim-editor').editor;
  var client = editor.getClient();
  client.on('notification', function(method, args) {
    if (method === 'hello-world:content') {
      var elem = doument.getElementById('hello-world-elem');
      elem.innerText = args[0];
    }
  });
  client.subscribe('hello-world:content');
})();
</script>

If you created your component as Polymer element, you can receive editor instance as editor property of it.

You've finished creating UI. Note that you can also use Electron APIs and Node.js APIs (e.g. require()) here.

Next, write small Vim script code in plugin/hello-world.vim. rpcnotify() is available to send Vim script values to component via msgpack-rpc.

" Send notification to your UI
command! -nargs=+ HelloWorld call rpcnotify(0, 'hello-world:content', <q-args>)

All has been done. Put <hello-world></hello-world> in your nyaovimrc.html and start NyaoVim, then execute the command.

:HelloWorld Hello world from NyaoVim!

Congrats! Now you can start to make your UI with HTML, CSS, Polymer, Electron and Node.js! When you want to ask a question, please feel free to make an issue for question.

Debug Your Plugin

If you want to debug your plugin or NyaoVim, you can start NyaoVim in debug mode with $NODE_ENV environment variable.

$ NODE_ENV=debug nyaovim

Chrome DevTools will be launched in detached window and you can debug your UI plugin like general web applications; showing console, checking DOM elements, profiling and so on. Even if you start NyaoVim normally, you can also open Chrome DevTools by clicking menu item 'Toggle DevTools'.

Handle Resizing Neovim Window

As described in neovim-component document, when <neovim-editor> may need to resize, you must call editor.screen.checkShouldResize() in order to notify it to <neovim-editor>. Please note that the notification is not needed when window is resized. And it is OK that nothing happens to the size of <neovim-editor> as result. This is needed because Neovim is rendered on <canvas> and it can't know the timing when itself is resized.

For example, when your component appears in window, the area of <neovim-editor> may change.

function showUpSomeElementInNyaoVimWindow() {
    const e = document.getElementById('some-elem');

    // Element appears in window!  Screen might be resized by the change.
    // 'none' -> 'block'
    e.style.display = 'block';

    // You need to call this to say to <neovim-editor> that 'You may be resized.  Check it out!'.
    editor.screen.checkShouldResize();
}