Re: Vim Touch for Android

Thanks very much for the detailed response, Jeroen. It is very helpful.

On Apr 21, 2013, at 1:29 PM, Jeroen Budts wrote:

> On 04/20/2013 04:56 PM, Eric Weir wrote:
>
> Since the runtime extends the Vim Touch app, it doesn't show up as a
> separate app. To verify that it is installed, you can check in Google
> Play that it says 'installed', and also by launching Vim Touch and
> doing something like `:e ~/`. If this gives a filelisting in netrw,
> you have the runtime installed.

It appears to be installed. Although when I started Vim Touch the first time today I got an option to install the runtime package, I could not tell until just now that it was in fact installed.

Curious. Why doesn't 'E' work. When I try it Vim Touch crashes.

>> Also uncertain what I do to replicate---as near as possible; you
>> and others have indicated it should close to perfect---the Vim
>> installation on my MacBook.
> You simply upload your .vimrc-file and .vim-folder onto the device. On
> a Nexus device you should place the file & folder into
> /storage/emulated/0/ (or as mentioned in the vimtouch mailinglist into
> /sdcard, which is the same location on a Nexus device).
> To easily upload your configuration you can either attach your device
> to your computer with USB as a Media device (MTP) (not a good option
> on Ubuntu). Or you can use the Open Source FTP Server app [1] to start
> an FTP server on your Nexus and use a program such as Filezilla on
> your computer. Or another easy solution is to use DropSync [2] to sync
> your config with Dropbox.

I've found a file manager app---FolderSync---that looks like I can use it to move files to/from folders synced through SugarSync, Dropbox and numerous other syncing services.

> Some other tips:
> * I keep my entire config inside the .vim folder, including my .vimrc
> file (as 'vimrc' without a dot). This makes it easier to sync with
> DropSync as I only have to sync a single folder.
> Then I manually created a .vimrc file (in /storage/emulated/0) with
> one line:
> runtime vimrc
> this will load the vimrc file from inside your .vim folder. (this
> works on any Vim, not just on Android)

I'll keep this in mind.

Above you say files should go into "/storage/emulated/0/" and in "/storage/emulated/0". Which is it.

> * To check if you are running on Android, for example for
> Android-specific configuration, you can use the following check in
> your .vimrc:
> if $VIM =~ 'vimtouch'
> " do some Android specific configuration here
> endif

I don't understand this.

>> I have a concern about android. When I went to download the
>> hacker's keyboard I noticed that the permissions indicated that I
>> would be giving pretty complete access to my entire system to
>> anyone who wanted access to it. It even cautions "malicious apps
>> may share contact data without your knowledge." I understand that
>> this is standard for the android OS, and with few exceptions most
>> apps. Perhaps I don't understand, but as I understand I find this
>> disturbing.
>
> If you install and use an alternative keyboard, Android will indeed
> give you a rather scary warning. However it is not as bad as you
> describe. First, it is only for that keyboard app. All apps which you
> install have to request various permissions to be able to do stuff,
> such as read your contacts. You can inspect those permissions when
> installing the app (in the confirmation dialog on Google Play) or for
> an already installed app through settings > apps & then tap an app to
> open the details (permissions are at the bottom).

Thanks for this. It's reassuring. It wasn't that I didn't trust the hacker's keyboard developer, but the explanation of the permissions made it sound like in installing the keyboard I would be giving access to my contacts, etc., etc., etc. to everybody under the sun.

> For a keyboard app, yes that will be able to read anything you type,
> but if you think about it, that's only normal. You use that app to
> enter text into the system, which is only possible if the app knows
> what you want to type. The same concern can be made about hardware
> keyboards. If you buy a real keyboard, you also have to trust the
> manufacturer not to include some extra hardware to capture all your
> text and send it somewhere (unless you open each keyboard and check
> the internals? :) )
>
>> Any help you might be able to give would be greatly appreciated.
>
> I hope this helps you get started on your Android adventure! Feel free
> to mail more questions :)

It helps *a lot*! And I appreciate it very much. The offer of future help, too. I'm sure there will be more questions.

I'm kinda surprised at how little I know my way around Vim Touch. I assumed that my level of comfort with regular Vim would carry over to getting Vim Touch set up. In fact it seems like a completely different app at this point.

> [1] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=be.ppareit.swiftp&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImJlLnBwYXJlaXQuc3dpZnRwIl0.
>
> [2] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ttxapps.dropsync&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS50dHhhcHBzLmRyb3BzeW5jIl0.

I'll keep these in mind, but I think---I hope!---FolderSync will take care of syncing and file management needs.

I'm looking forward to getting Vim back. It feels like it's going to take a while to get to the level of comfort that I'm sued to with regular Vim.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric Weir
Decatur, GA
eeweir@bellsouth.net

"You keep on learning and learning, and pretty soon
you learn something no one has learned before."

- Richard Feynman

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