I have several tasks I am working on in one repository. I would like to create "workspaces" for working on them.
One "workspace" or "buffer layout" would have all files I need to work on open in the layout I want (using ^w+v, ^w+s to split window).
Then, when I start working on another task I would like to save my current layout, move to another one, but I would like to be able to get back to previous layouts.
What is the best way to achieve this?
You can use vim's :mksession and write each "workspace" to a different file, then reopen a session using vim -S session_file, however, if you're open to using a plugin then I find the vim-startify plugin is exactly what I need for this sort of scenario.
It does a great job of managing sessions, in vim and mccvim, and it gives you a list of recent files as well when you open vim. It will auto-change to the right working directory for you too. It also lets you pin files to the startify opening screen as well, which is nice for easy access to things like your .vimrc
You can use tpope's vim-obsession plugin to easily manage sessions. It is like a wrapper to Vim's in-built mksession, but provides a set of other niceties as well.
You can save the current session (or buffer layout) by giving the command :Obsession. If you don't supply an argument, it writes a session file called Session.vim by default.
To reload a session, either use vim -S <session-name> or :source <session-name> if you're inside Vim already. By default, vim -S with no arguments will read Session.vim.
The nice thing is, you don't have to remember to save the session each time you exit Vim. It is automatically managed by the plugin.
Another very important feature of vim-obession is that it does not save options and maps. mksession captures the current options and maps, which you don't want to happen if you just want to save the buffer layout. Also it interferes when a plugin is updated, etc.
:Obsess <session-name>. Use the particular session name you want when reloading.
As a side note, I'd like to point out that I built yet another plugin dhruvasagar/vim-prosession as an extension to tpope/vim-obsession that enhances it even further to create & manage vim sessions by default in a centralised repository as per configuration on a per directory basis and loads them automatically when you launch vim without any arguments on the directory. It also allows you to switch between different sessions for convenience.
You can try the vim-workspace plugin, its session management features are automated, scoped for your current working directory, and is pretty simple (only need to run ToggleWorkspace once).
