Can vimdiff show large files beyond screenful limits at once?

Question

I'd like to diff large files in vim using the scrollback limit set in my terminal (which is available memory), so I can, if necessary, find and review previously applied changes.

I use OS X's Terminal set to xterm-256color (modified, alternate screen is disabled).

I couldn't find any settings to make the initial windows the same size as the opened files.

EDIT

A workaround for single files is using MouseTerm to enable mouse reporting, then add to your ~/.vimrc

if has("mouse")
    set mouse=a
endif

In vimdiff this allows to easily scroll long files, but the text is not kept in the scrollback, although it does for single files.

Answer 1

it might work using:

:set lines=1000 columns=100

where your line number is your scrollback limit.

Otherwise, you can "cheat" using screen, setting it to a way higher height than vim's default. I'm sure that there is a config option to set LINES and COLUMNS (as it does not use the env variables), but using a terminal to set it with a very small font, and opening it in another terminal using screen -x should work.

edit:

though, I do not really see why you'd want to abuse the scrollback, when vim can properly manage the mouse within the terminal. Just do :set mouse=a to have it take over full mouse control.