Moving files

[aneshodza]

I saw that there is no "move" function on nvim-tree. Was that an oversight from me, or is there really no move?

Can this functionality be implemented utilising API?
It should be possible, as we can already cut and paste.

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
I wanted to move a file from something/else/file.lua to something/file.lua. You can achieve that by cutting and pasting, but why not have both in one step.

Describe the solution you'd like
Just a move function. The window for moving it to somewhere else could look the same as the rename but also show the path that can be altered.

[j-ole]

It's on the wiki: https://github.com/nvim-tree/nvim-tree.lua/wiki/Recipes#nerdtree-style-copy-file-to

local function on_attach(bufnr)
...
    local function move_file_to()
        local node = api.tree.get_node_under_cursor()
        local file_src = node['absolute_path']
        local file_out = vim.fn.input("MOVE TO: ", file_src, "file")
        local dir = vim.fn.fnamemodify(file_out, ":h")
        vim.fn.system { 'mkdir', '-p', dir }
        vim.fn.system { 'mv',  file_src, file_out }
    end
    vim.keymap.set('n', 'X', move_file_to, opts('Move File To'))
end

[aneshodza]

But this is still a copy (it doesn't remove the old location). This function does a cp, instead of an mv
Now:

vim.fn.system { 'cp', '-R', file_src, file_out }

To move:

vim.fn.system { 'mv', '-R', file_src, file_out }

But the message I'm getting from this, is that the lack of a move is a design choice?

[j-ole]

removing the '-R' flag works

[aneshodza]

But cp is still a copy. I'm talking about having a built in move_file_to. Maybe by just copying and slightly changing copy_file_to.

[j-ole]

yes you can rename the function. I've updated the snippet.

[aneshodza]

Alright, thanks! Im wondering why this isn't in per default.

[alex-courtis]

Many thanks @joelpeapen

[svanharmelen]

One more question about this solution... If I rename a file I get a nice "in place" popup where I can type the name. Is it possible to use such a popup for this custom function as well @joelpeapen?

[cowboysmall]

Actually, it appears I have indeed found a better way to do this - after reading more documentation, and looking more closely at the recipes and plugin code, I have settled on this approach:

      on_attach = function(bufnr)
        local api = require("nvim-tree.api")

        -- default mappings
        api.config.mappings.default_on_attach(bufnr)

        local function opts(desc)
          return { desc = "nvim-tree: " .. desc, buffer = bufnr, noremap = true, silent = true, nowait = true }
        end

        local function copy_file_to()
          local file_src = api.tree.get_node_under_cursor()["absolute_path"]
          local input_opts = { prompt = "Copy to ", default = file_src, completion = "file" }

          vim.ui.input(input_opts, function(file_out)
            local dir = vim.fn.fnamemodify(file_out, ":h")

            vim.fn.system { "mkdir", "-p", dir }
            vim.fn.system { "cp", "-R", file_src, file_out }
          end)
        end

        local function move_file_to()
          local file_src = api.tree.get_node_under_cursor()["absolute_path"]
          local input_opts = { prompt = "Move to ", default = file_src, completion = "file" }

          vim.ui.input(input_opts, function(file_out)
            local dir = vim.fn.fnamemodify(file_out, ":h")

            vim.fn.system { "mkdir", "-p", dir }
            vim.fn.system { "mv", file_src, file_out }
          end)
        end

        -- custom mappings
        local map = vim.keymap.set

        map("n", "<M-c>", copy_file_to, opts("copy file to"))
        map("n", "<M-x>", move_file_to, opts("move file to"))
      end

this code snippet is located in the nvim-tree plugin config:

return {

  {
    "nvim-tree/nvim-tree.lua",

    opts = {

      view = {
        width = 50
      },

      on_attach = function(bufnr)
        ...
      end
    }
  }

}

so this is now much more consistent with the suggested approach, and makes use of provided examples of how to override mappings, etc.

I wasn't kidding when I said I was new to neovim and lua ;-)

[alex-courtis]

That's fantastic, I'd really appreciate your adding this to recipes - please attribute yourself as the author.

Little improvement:
You can check the system call. If there was a problem you can output an error and halt.

      local res = vim.fn.system({ "mkdir", "-p", dir })
      if vim.v.shell_error ~= 0 then
        vim.notify(res, vim.log.levels.ERROR, { title = "NvimTree" })
        return
      end

[cowboysmall]

That's a great improvement - I'll remember that for any future enhancements that I make. I definitely have much to learn about neovim and lua, but I'm enjoying my journey so far.

        map("n", "<M-x>", function()
          local file_src = api.tree.get_node_under_cursor()["absolute_path"]
          local input_opts = { prompt = "Move to ", default = file_src, completion = "file" }

          vim.ui.input(input_opts, function(file_out)
            local dir = vim.fn.fnamemodify(file_out, ":h")

            local res = vim.fn.system({ "mkdir", "-p", dir })
            if vim.v.shell_error ~= 0 then
              vim.notify(res, vim.log.levels.ERROR, { title = "NvimTree" })
              return
            end

            vim.fn.system { "mv", file_src, file_out }
          end)
        end, opts("Move File To"))

Should I addit to the end of the recipes page? Or should I add it close to the other relevent "NERDTree Style Copy File To" entry?

[alex-courtis]

I reckon move it before that one.

I'll go through the page and move superseded or now-core-functionality ones to a new section at the end.

[cowboysmall]

Added. I included a link to the relevant file in my dotfiles.

Thanks again.