Refresh Vim buffer

Question

I'm editing HTML files. I use this keymap to launch firefox to preview the page:

map <F6> :update<CR>:silent !xdg-open %:p<CR>

But after this command, the Vim window becomes completely black. I need to scroll every line to make it appear again.

So I want to write a function to fresh the buffer. Here's what i did:

function! Refresh()                                                                                                                                               
    " code
    set noconfirm
    bufdo e!
    set confirm
endfunction

nmap <F5> :call Refresh()<CR>

I got the idea from this post. But it doesn't work.

If I press Ctrl+L it redraws. – Stephen Paulger Aug 16 '11 at 13:01 — Stephen Paulger, Aug 16 '11 at 13:01

score 45 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 16 '11 at 13:00

45

Use CtrlL to redraw the screen. You can also use :redraw.

Check the help on these.

answered Aug 16 '11 at 13:00

sidyll

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Redrawing the screen is not the same as refreshing (reloading) the buffer. – NeilG Jan 09 '23 at 05:18
How do I refresh the buffer tho? – me.nkr Jun 10 '23 at 17:39

score 8 · Answer 2 · answered Aug 16 '11 at 13:04

8

How about adding a "redraw" do your function (which does the same as ctrl-L)

:redr[aw][!]    Redraw the screen right now.  When ! is included it is
                cleared first.
                Useful to update the screen halfway executing a script
                or function.  Also when halfway a mapping and
                'lazyredraw' is set.

answered Aug 16 '11 at 13:04

Benj

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for some reason, `:redr` didn't refresh my screen, but CtrlL did. Wonder why. – TankorSmash May 24 '14 at 23:30
3

What if you append an exclamation mark to the end? Example: `:redr!` – wilkystyle Jan 13 '15 at 00:15

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 08 '15 at 11:34

Here is my bindings for previewing HTML documents with resolved empty screen issue:

autocmd BufRead *.html map <F5> :exe ':silent !open -a /Applications/Firefox.app %'<CR>:redr!<CR>

I prefer use autocmd for bindings, because I can map same key for various things depending what type of file I am working in. For example with autocmd I can map F5 for previewing document in Firefox on html-files and map same key F5 on js-files for executing node.

Refresh Vim buffer

3 Answers3