Help File Issue + Feature Request - Vimproc

[amadeus]

One small issue I've noticed is that help files seem to lag a bit when I load them up. I assume it has something to do with the size of the file? They aren't contained inside of any sort of repository either. So I suppose 1 question is, could I disable help files from ever attempting to be diff'd?

Second question, would there be any way that Signify could utilize vimproc as a way to prevent any noticeable UI hangups? Ideally it would just use it if installed, and not require it.

[mhinz]

1) I feel no more delay with help files than with other files, but you could do this:

let g:signify_skip_filetype = { 'help': 1 }

2) I never used vimproc so far, but I'll look into it. :)

[mhinz]

Hmm, after having a quick look I'm not sure if vimproc is of any help here. Sure, I can start programs in the background (which works with system('foo &'), too, but I without any means of synchronization I can't see how to use that to the plugin's advantage.

[amadeus]

I guess there's no callback to get the response and then update the symbols once the task has finished?

I'll try the help thing, but for some reason I thought that wasn't working.

[mhinz]

Yup, no callback.

Skipping the help filetype really isn't working, if you're open it via :help, because at the time the plugin is run, the filetype is still text. I see what I can do about it.

[amadeus]

On the subject of async stuff, what about this plugin?

https://github.com/MarcWeber/vim-addon-async

Edit: Also this: https://github.com/tpope/vim-dispatch

P.S. I did notice by just setting the vcs_list to just git and hg improved performance tremendously.

[mhinz]

(Just back from Denmark!)

Yup, vcs_list is the most important variable of this plugin by far. :-)

I'll ask Marc Weber about his plugin, since he's a local on IRC. I'll have a look at dispatch, too.

[mhinz]

Neither dispatch nor Marc Weber's plugin will do what we need and apparently it's just not possible to do in Vim. It's mainly because of a fundamental design flaw: Vim is inherently single-threaded. This will always be one of the great differences between Vim and Emacs. :)

[amadeus]

Bummer. Does Powerline get around these things by using python interfaces? Mostly just curious as to why.

P.S. Thanks for putting up with all my wild ideas :)

[mhinz]

Well, your feedback is very welcome and I'm sorry that there isn't more I can do in this case. We probably have to find other approaches to make the plugin run faster. I have to rethink the design of the whole "get diff - process - set signs" cycle some day.

I never used powerline. Does it asynchronous things?