How do you force vim to behave as a terminal app?

Question

using vim via ssh on a machine with an x server running throws an X error. Specifically:

>vim
BadWindow (invalid Window parameter)
Vim: Got X error
Vim: Finished.

This does not occur on my xorg-free server, so how can I force vim to behave as a console app?

[Edit]: I don't want to use X forwarding for a console app.

John T · Answer 1 · 2010-01-31 23:02:35Z

up vote 2 down vote accepted

Have you tried the -X switch? This will disable the X integration features of Vim such as clipboard integration, so X is not needed to run it.

answered Jan 31 '10 at 23:02

John T
79.9k7105149

	its a capital '-X' rather than the '-x' which edits an encrypted file, but it can be found by a simple vim --help. I just don't have my eyes in the right sockets today. – brice Jan 31 '10 at 23:04
	Yep, it's in `man vim`: manpagez.com/man/1/vim – John T Jan 31 '10 at 23:05

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brice · Answer 2 · 2010-01-31 23:08:32Z

up vote 0 down vote

DUH!

vim -X

will do it.

Moral of this story: RTFM RTFM RTFM. (or in this case vim --help)

answered Jan 31 '10 at 23:02

brice
756212

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2 Answers