How can I swap positions of two open files (in splits) in vim?
Assume I've got some arbitrary layout of splits in vim.
____________________
| one | two |
| | |
| |______|
| | three|
| | |
|___________|______|
Is there a way to swap one and two and maintain the same layout? It's simple in this example, but I'm looking for a solution that will help for more complex layouts.
UPDATE:
I guess I should be more clear. My previous example was a simplification of the actual use-case. With an actual instance:
How could I swap any two of those splits, maintaining the same layout?
Update! 3+ years later...
I put sgriffin's solution in a Vim plugin you can install with ease! Install it with your favorite plugin manager and give it a try: WindowSwap.vim
Answer
Starting with this:
____________________
| one | two |
| | |
| |______|
| | three|
| | |
|___________|______|
Make 'three' the active window, then issue the command ctrl+w J. This moves the current window to fill the bottom of the screen, leaving you with:
____________________
| one | two |
| | |
|___________|______|
| three |
| |
|__________________|
Now make either 'one' or 'two' the active window, then issue the command ctrl+w r. This 'rotates' the windows in the current row, leaving you with:
____________________
| two | one |
| | |
|___________|______|
| three |
| |
|__________________|
Now make 'two' the active window, and issue the command ctrl+w H. This moves the current window to fill the left of the screen, leaving you with:
____________________
| two | one |
| | |
| |______|
| | three|
| | |
|___________|______|
As you can see, the manouevre is a bit of a shuffle. With 3 windows, it's a bit like one of those 'tile game' puzzles. I don't recommand trying this if you have 4 or more windows - you'd be better off closing them then opening them again in the desired positions.
I made a screencast demonstrating how to work with split windows in Vim.