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How can I restrict my other terminals from accessing one of my already opened file (within vim)?

Sometimes I forget which one of my terminals has that particular file already opened and again open it in a new different GNOME terminal. What I would like to have is, vim would warn me or simply refuse to open it, because its already openned in another GNOME terminal. I found an -e switch, but it opens a blank window and says:

Entering Ex mode. Type "visual" to go to Normal mode. which I dont know what purpose.

Any ideas how can I tell vim to open it and do not let any other applications anyway open it until I'm done finish closing it?

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    Vim does warn you (by default) when you open a file in two different instances. If it does not, it means your config prevents this behaviour. You might want to read this thread which is about a similar question.
    – Biggybi
    May 13, 2020 at 15:25
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    By default, if you open a file in two vim instances, you get a message about swapfiles and have to choose how to proceed. Are you opening all files in vim? Do you have swapfiles disabled?
    – D. Ben Knoble ♦
    May 13, 2020 at 15:25
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    Then you've disabled vim's only mechanism to detect this situation... Personally, I recommend not disabling them /shrug
    – D. Ben Knoble ♦
    May 13, 2020 at 15:28
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    But it cleans them up when you exit vim (unless vim crashes or is exited "abnormally" (e.g., kill...)). You can also set directory to a spot where you want all the swap files to go, if you don't like them in the current directory (e.g., set directory ^=~/.swap//)
    – D. Ben Knoble ♦
    May 13, 2020 at 15:35
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    If having swapfiles besides your files is what bothers you, you can have them pop in a specific folder. You could also detect when a file is read and written and have vim to "refresh" it automatically.
    – Biggybi
    May 13, 2020 at 15:35

1 Answer 1

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In a slight frame challenge, make sure you use swapfiles. This is how vim detects simultaneous edits.

If you think the “clutter” your directories, consider doing

set directory^=~/.swap//

And mkdir ~/.swap in a shell. Then all your swap files are in this one directory.

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