path: root/runtime/doc/popup.txt

*popup.txt*  For Vim version 8.1.  Last change: 2019 Jun 15


		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Bram Moolenaar


Displaying text in floating window.			*popup* *popup-window*

THIS IS UNDER DESIGN - ANYTHING MAY STILL CHANGE

1. Introduction			|popup-intro|
2. Functions			|popup-functions|
3. Examples			|popup-examples|


{not available if the |+textprop| feature was disabled at compile time}

==============================================================================
1. Introduction						*popup-intro*

We are talking about popup windows here, text that goes on top of the regular
windows and is under control of a plugin.  You cannot edit the text in the
popup window like with regular windows.

A popup window can be used for such things as:
- briefly show a message without overwriting the command line
- prompt the user with a dialog
- display contextual information while typing
- give extra information for auto-completion

The text in the popup window can be colored with |text-properties|.  It is
also possible to use syntax highlighting.

The default color used is "Pmenu".  If you prefer something else use the
"highlight" argument or the 'wincolor' option, e.g.: >
	hi MyPopupColor ctermbg=lightblue guibg=lightblue
	call setwinvar(winid, '&wincolor', 'MyPopupColor')

'hlsearch' highlighting is not displayed in a popup window.

A popup window has a window-ID like other windows, but behaves differently.
The size can be up to the whole Vim window and it overlaps other windows.
Popup windows can also overlap each other.  The "zindex" property specifies
what goes on top of what.

The popup window contains a buffer, and that buffer is always associated with
the popup window.  The window cannot be in Normal, Visual or Insert mode, it
does not get keyboard focus.  You can use functions like `setbufline()` to
change the text in the buffer.  There are more differences from how this
window and buffer behave compared to regular windows and buffers, see
|popup-buffer|.

If this is not what you are looking for, check out other popup functionality:
- popup menu, see |popup-menu|
- balloon, see |balloon-eval|


WINDOW POSITION AND SIZE			*popup-position*

The height of the window is normally equal to the number of, possibly
wrapping, lines in the buffer.  It can be limited with the "maxheight"
property.  You can use empty lines to increase the height or the "minheight"
property.

The width of the window is normally equal to the longest line in the buffer.
It can be limited with the "maxwidth" property.  You can use spaces to
increase the width or use the "minwidth" property.

By default the 'wrap' option is set, so that no text disappears.  Otherwise,
if there is not enough space then the window is shifted left in order to
display more text. This can be disabled with the "fixed" property. Also
disabled when right-aligned.

Vim tries to show the popup in the location you specify.  In some cases, e.g.
when the popup would go outside of the Vim window, it will show it somewhere
else.  E.g. if you use `popup_atcursor()` the popup normally shows just above
the current cursor position, but if the cursor is close to the top of the Vim
window it will be placed below the cursor position.

When the screen scrolls up for output of an Ex command, popups move too, so
that they will not cover the output.

The current cursor position is displayed even when it is under a popup window.
That way you can still see where it is, even though you cannot see the text
that it is in.



TODO:
- Why does 'nrformats' leak from the popup window buffer???
- Disable commands, feedkeys(), CTRL-W, etc. in a popup window.
  Use NOT_IN_POPUP_WINDOW for more commands.
- Add 'balloonpopup': instead of showing text, let the callback open a popup
  window and return the window ID.   The popup will then be closed when the
  mouse moves, except when it moves inside the popup.
- For the "moved" property also include mouse movement?
- Make redrawing more efficient and avoid flicker:
    - put popup menu also put in popup_mask?
- Invoke filter with character before mapping?
- Figure out the size and position better.
    if wrapping splits a double-wide character
    if wrapping inserts indent
- When drawing on top half a double-wide character, display ">" or "<" in the
  incomplete cell.
- Can the buffer be re-used, to avoid using up lots of buffer numbers?
- Implement:
	popup_dialog({text}, {options})
	popup_filter_menu({id}, {key})
	popup_filter_yesno({id}, {key})
	popup_menu({text}, {options})
	popup_setoptions({id}, {options})
	flip option
	hidden option
	tabpage option with number
	title option
	transparent text property


==============================================================================
2. Functions						*popup-functions*

THIS IS UNDER DESIGN - ANYTHING MAY STILL CHANGE

Creating a popup window:
	|popup_create()|	centered in the screen
	|popup_atcursor()|	just above the cursor position, closes when
				the cursor moves away
	|popup_notifiation()|	show a notification for three seconds
	|popup_dialog()|	centered with padding and border
	|popup_menu()|		prompt for selecting an item from a list

Manipulating a popup window:
	|popup_hide()|		hide a popup temporarily
	|popup_show()|		show a previously hidden popup
	|popup_move()|		change the position and size of a popup
	|popup_setoptions()|	override options of a popup

Closing popup windows:
	|popup_close()|		close one popup
	|popup_clear()|		close all popups

Filter functions:
	|popup_filter_menu()|	select from a list of items
	|popup_filter_yesno()|	blocks until 'y' or 'n' is pressed

Other:
	|popup_getoptions()|	get current options for a popup
	|popup_getpos()|	get actual position and size of a popup


[functions help to be moved to eval.txt later]

popup_atcursor({text}, {options})			 *popup_atcursor()*
		Show the {text} above the cursor, and close it when the cursor
		moves.  This works like: >
			call popup_create({text}, {
				\ 'pos': 'botleft',
				\ 'line': 'cursor-1',
				\ 'col': 'cursor',
				\ 'moved': 'WORD',
				\ })
<		Use {options} to change the properties.


							*popup_clear()*
popup_clear()	Emergency solution to a misbehaving plugin: close all popup
		windows.


popup_close({id} [, {result}])				*popup_close()*
		Close popup {id}.  The window and the associated buffer will
		be deleted.

		If the popup has a callback it will be called just before the
		popup window is deleted.  If the optional {result} is present
		it will be passed as the second argument of the callback.
		Otherwise zero is passed to the callback.


popup_create({text}, {options})				*popup_create()*
		Open a popup window showing {text}, which is either:
		- a string
		- a list of strings
		- a list of text lines with text properties

		{options} is a dictionary with many possible entries.
		See |popup_create-usage| for details.

		Returns a window-ID, which can be used with other popup
		functions.  Use `winbufnr()` to get the number of the buffer
		in the window: >
			let winid = popup_create('hello', {})
			let bufnr = winbufnr(winid)
			call setbufline(bufnr, 2, 'second line')
<		In case of failure zero is returned.


popup_dialog({text}, {options})				*popup_dialog()*
		{not implemented yet}
		Just like |popup_create()| but with these default options: >
			call popup_create({text}, {
				\ 'pos': 'center',
				\ 'zindex': 200,
				\ 'border': [],
				\ 'padding': [],
				\})
<		Use {options} to change the properties. E.g. add a 'filter'
		option with value 'popup_filter_yesno'.


popup_filter_menu({id}, {key})				*popup_filter_menu()*
		{not implemented yet}
		Filter that can be used for a popup. It handles the cursor
		keys to move the selected index in the popup. Space and Enter
		can be used to select an item.  Invokes the "callback" of the
		popup menu with the index of the selected line as the second
		argument.


popup_filter_yesno({id}, {key})				*popup_filter_yesno()*
		{not implemented yet}
		Filter that can be used for a popup. It handles only the keys
		'y', 'Y' and 'n' or 'N'.  Invokes the "callback" of the
		popup menu with the 1 for 'y' or 'Y' and zero for 'n' or 'N'
		as the second argument.  Pressing Esc and CTRL-C works like
		pressing 'n'.  Other keys are ignored.


popup_getoptions({id})					*popup_getoptions()*
		Return the {options} for popup {id} in a Dict.
		A zero value means the option was not set.  For "zindex" the
		default value is returned, not zero.

		The "highlight" entry is omitted, use the 'wincolor' option
		for that: >
			let hl = getwinvar(winid, '&wincolor')

<		If popup window {id} is not found an empty Dict is returned.


popup_getpos({id})					*popup_getpos()*
		Return the position and size of popup {id}.  Returns a Dict
		with these entries:
		    col		screen column of the popup, one-based
		    line	screen line of the popup, one-based
		    width	width of the whole popup in screen cells
		    height	height of the whole popup in screen cells
		    core_col	screen column of the text box
		    core_line	screen line of the text box
		    core_width	width of the text box in screen cells
		    core_height	height of the text box in screen cells
		    visible	one if the popup is displayed, zero if hidden
		Note that these are the actual screen positions.  They differ
		from the values in `popup_getoptions()` for the sizing and
		positioning mechanism applied.

		The "core_" values exclude the padding and border.

		If popup window {id} is not found an empty Dict is returned.


popup_hide({id})						*popup_hide()*
		If {id} is a displayed popup, hide it now. If the popup has a
		filter it will not be invoked for so long as the popup is
		hidden.
		If window {id} does not exist nothing happens.  If window {id}
		exists but is not a popup window an error is given. *E993*


popup_menu({text}, {options})				 *popup_menu()*
		{not implemented yet}
		Show the {text} near the cursor, handle selecting one of the
		items with cursorkeys, and close it an item is selected with
		Space or Enter. {text} should have multiple lines to make this
		useful.  This works like: >
			call popup_create({text}, {
				\ 'pos': 'center',
				\ 'zindex': 200,
				\ 'wrap': 0,
				\ 'border': [],
				\ 'filter': 'popup_filter_menu',
				\ })
<		Use {options} to change the properties.  Should at least set
		"callback" to a function that handles the selected item.


popup_move({id}, {options})					*popup_move()*
		Move popup {id} to the position specified with {options}.
		{options} may contain the items from |popup_create()| that
		specify the popup position: "line", "col", "pos", "maxheight",
		"minheight", "maxwidth" and "minwidth".
		For {id} see `popup_hide()`.


popup_notification({text}, {options})			 *popup_notification()*
		Show the {text} for 3 seconds at the top of the Vim window.
		This works like: >
			call popup_create({text}, {
				\ 'line': 1,
				\ 'col': 10,
				\ 'minwidth': 20,
				\ 'time': 3000,
				\ 'tabpage': -1,
				\ 'zindex': 200,
				\ 'drag': 1,
				\ 'highlight': 'WarningMsg',
				\ 'border': [],
				\ 'padding': [0,1,0,1],
				\ })
<		The PopupNotification highlight group is used instead of
		WarningMsg if it is defined.
<		The position will be adjusted to avoid overlap with other
		notifications.
		Use {options} to change the properties.


popup_show({id})						*popup_show()*
		If {id} is a hidden popup, show it now.
		For {id} see `popup_hide()`.


popup_setoptions({id}, {options})			*popup_setoptions()*
		{not implemented yet}
		Override options in popup {id} with entries in {options}.



POPUP BUFFER AND WINDOW					*popup-buffer*

A new buffer is created to hold the text and text properties of the popup
window.  The buffer is always associated with the popup window and
manipulation is restricted:
- the buffer has no name
- 'buftype' is "popup"
- 'swapfile' is off
- 'bufhidden' is "hide"
- 'buflisted' is off
- 'undolevels' is -1: no undo at all
- all other buffer-local and window_local options are set to their Vim default
  value.

It is possible to change the specifically mentioned options, but anything
might break then, so better leave them alone.

The window does have a cursor position, but the cursor is not displayed.

To execute a command in the context of the popup window and buffer use
`win_execute()`.  Example: >
	call win_execute(winid, 'syntax enable')

Options can be set on the window with `setwinvar()`, e.g.: >
	call setwinvar(winid, '&wrap', 0)
And options can be set on the buffer with `setbufvar()`, e.g.: >
	call setbufvar(winbufnr(winid), '&filetype', 'java')
Note that this does not trigger autocommands.  Use `win_execute()` if you do
need them.


POPUP_CREATE() ARGUMENTS				*popup_create-usage*

The first argument of |popup_create()| specifies the text to be displayed, and
optionally text properties.  It is in one of three forms:
- a string
- a list of strings
- a list of dictionaries, where each dictionary has these entries:
	text		String with the text to display.
	props		A list of text properties.  Optional.
			Each entry is a dictionary, like the third argument of
			|prop_add()|, but specifying the column in the
			dictionary with a "col" entry, see below:
			|popup-props|.

The second argument of |popup_create()| is a dictionary with options:
	line		Screen line where to position the popup.  Can use a
			number or "cursor", "cursor+1" or "cursor-1" to use
			the line of the cursor and add or subtract a number of
			lines.  If omitted the popup is vertically centered.
			The first line is 1.
	col		Screen column where to position the popup.  Can use a
			number or "cursor" to use the column of the cursor,
			"cursor+9" or "cursor-9" to add or subtract a number
			of columns.  If omitted the popup is horizontally
			centered.  The first column is 1.
	pos		"topleft", "topright", "botleft" or "botright":
			defines what corner of the popup "line" and "col" are
			used for.  When not set "topleft" is used.
			Alternatively "center" can be used to position the
			popup in the center of the Vim window, in which case
			"line" and "col" are ignored.
	fixed		When FALSE (the default), and:
			 - "pos" is "botleft" or "topleft", and
			 - "wrap" is off, and
			 - the popup would be truncated at the right edge of
			   the screen, then
			the popup is moved to the left so as to fit the
			contents on the screen.  Set to TRUE to disable this.
	flip		When TRUE (the default) and the position is relative
			to the cursor, flip to below or above the cursor to
			avoid overlap with the |popupmenu-completion| or
			another popup with a higher "zindex".
			{not implemented yet}
	maxheight	Maximum height of the contents, excluding border and
			padding.
	minheight	Minimum height of the contents, excluding border and
			padding.
	maxwidth	Maximum width of the contents, excluding border and
			padding.
	minwidth	Minimum width of the contents, excluding border and
			padding.
	firstline	First buffer line to display.  When larger than one it
			looks like the text scrolled up.  When out of range
			the last buffer line will at the top of the window.
	hidden		When TRUE the popup exists but is not displayed; use
			`popup_show()` to unhide it.
			{not implemented yet}
	tabpage		When -1: display the popup on all tabs.
			When 0 (the default): display the popup on the current
			tab page.
			Otherwise the number of the tab page the popup is
			displayed on; when invalid the current tab page is used.
			{only -1 and 0 are implemented}
	title		Text to be displayed above the first item in the
			popup, on top of any border.  If there is no top
			border one line of padding is added to put the title
			on.
			{not implemented yet}
	wrap		TRUE to make the lines wrap (default TRUE).
	drag		TRUE to allow the popup to be dragged with the mouse
			by grabbing at at the border.  Has no effect if the
			popup does not have a border.
	highlight	Highlight group name to use for the text, stored in
			the 'wincolor' option.
	padding		List with numbers, defining the padding
			above/right/below/left of the popup (similar to CSS).
			An empty list uses a padding of 1 all around.  The
			padding goes around the text, inside any border.
			Padding uses the 'wincolor' highlight.
			Example: [1, 2, 1, 3] has 1 line of padding above, 2
			columns on the right, 1 line below and 3 columns on
			the left.
	border		List with numbers, defining the border thickness
			above/right/below/left of the popup (similar to CSS).
			Only values of zero and non-zero are recognized.
			An empty list uses a border all around.
	borderhighlight	List of highlight group names to use for the border.
			When one entry it is used for all borders, otherwise
			the highlight for the top/right/bottom/left border.
			Example: ['TopColor', 'RightColor', 'BottomColor,
			'LeftColor']
	borderchars	List with characters, defining the character to use
			for the top/right/bottom/left border.  Optionally
			followed by the character to use for the
			topleft/topright/botright/botleft corner.
			Example: ['-', '|', '-', '|', '┌', '┐', '┘', '└']
			When the list has one character it is used for all.
			When the list has two characters the first is used for
			the border lines, the second for the corners.
			By default a double line is used all around when
			'encoding' is "utf-8", otherwise ASCII characters are
			used.
	zindex		Priority for the popup, default 50.  Minimum value is
			1, maximum value is 32000.
	time		Time in milliseconds after which the popup will close.
			When omitted |popup_close()| must be used.
	moved		Specifies to close the popup if the cursor moved:
			- "any": if the cursor moved at all
			- "word": if the cursor moved outside |<cword>|
			- "WORD": if the cursor moved outside |<cWORD>|
			- [{start}, {end}]: if the cursor moved before column
			  {start} or after {end}
			The popup also closes if the cursor moves to another
			line or to another window.
	filter		A callback that can filter typed characters, see
			|popup-filter|.
	callback	A callback that is called when the popup closes, e.g.
			when using |popup_filter_menu()|, see |popup-callback|.

Depending on the "zindex" the popup goes under or above other popups.  The
completion menu (|popup-menu|) has zindex 100.  For messages that occur for a
short time the suggestion is to use zindex 1000.

By default text wraps, which causes a line in {lines} to occupy more than one
screen line.  When "wrap" is FALSE then the text outside of the popup or
outside of the Vim window will not be displayed, thus truncated.


POPUP TEXT PROPERTIES					*popup-props*

These are similar to the third argument of |prop_add()| except:
- "lnum" is always the current line in the list
- "bufnr" is always the buffer of the popup
- "col" is in the Dict instead of a separate argument
- "transparent" is extra
So we get:
	col		starting column, counted in bytes, use one for the
			first column.
	length		length of text in bytes; can be zero
	end_lnum	line number for the end of the text
	end_col		column just after the text; not used when "length" is
			present; when {col} and "end_col" are equal, this is a
			zero-width text property
	id		user defined ID for the property; when omitted zero is
			used
	type		name of the text property type, as added with
			|prop_type_add()|
	transparent	do not show these characters, show the text under it;
			if there is a border character to the right or below
			it will be made transparent as well
			{not implemented yet}


POPUP FILTER						*popup-filter*

A callback that gets any typed keys while a popup is displayed.  The filter is
not invoked when the popup is hidden.

The filter can return TRUE to indicate the key has been handled and is to be
discarded, or FALSE to let Vim handle the key as usual in the current state.
In case it returns FALSE and there is another popup window visible, that
filter is also called.  The filter of the popup window with the highest zindex
is called first.

The filter function is called with two arguments: the ID of the popup and the
key, e.g.: >
	func MyFilter(winid, key)
	  if a:key == "\<F2>"
	    " do something
	    return 1
	  endif
	  if a:key == 'x'
	    call popup_close(a:winid)
	    return 1
	  endif
	  return 0
	endfunc

Currently the key is what results after any mapping.  This may change...

Some common key actions:
	x		close the popup (see note below)
	cursor keys	select another entry
	Tab		accept current suggestion

A mouse click arrives as <LeftMouse>.  The coordinates are in
v:mouse_popup_col and v:mouse_popup_row.  The top-left screen cell of the
popup is col 1, row 1 (not counting the border).

Vim provides standard filters |popup_filter_menu()| and
|popup_filter_yesno()|.

Note that "x" is the normal way to close a popup.  You may want to use Esc,
but since many keys start with an Esc character, there may be a delay before
Vim recognizes the Esc key.  If you do use Esc, it is recommended to set the
'ttimeoutlen' option to 100 and set 'timeout' and/or 'ttimeout'.


POPUP CALLBACK						*popup-callback*

A callback that is invoked when the popup closes.  Used by
|popup_filter_menu()|.

The callback is invoked with two arguments: the ID of the popup window and the
result, which could be an index in the popup lines, or whatever was passed as
the second argument of `popup_close()`.

If the popup is closed because the cursor moved, the number -1 is passed to
the callback.

==============================================================================
3. Examples						*popup-examples*

TODO

Prompt the user to press y/Y or n/N: >

	func MyDialogHandler(id, result)
	   if a:result
	      " ... 'y' or 'Y' was pressed
	   endif
	endfunc

	call popup_create(['Continue? y/n'], {
		\ 'filter': 'popup_filter_yesno',
		\ 'callback': 'MyDialogHandler',
		\ })
<

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