vim-table-mode VS vim-pencil

While not built around CSV, two terminal spreadsheet tools I have successfully used in the past are sc-im and the (neo)vim plugin vim-table-mode:

https://github.com/andmarti1424/sc-im/

https://github.com/dhruvasagar/vim-table-mode

Back then I stopped using sc-im because it could not import/export XLSX, if I remember correctly. Apparently it can today!

vim-table-mode always felt a little fragile and I don't want to be bound to vim anymore. That said, it still feels like a small miracle to me to have functional spreadsheet formulas inside markdown documents – calculation and typesetting all in one place.

Use the grid_table extension of markdown, which many renderer such as pandoc support. You can also use Vim Table Mode in conjunction. I regularly use it to keep my tables human readable.

vin table mode. Creating tables in markdown file.

This plugin works pretty well too: https://github.com/dhruvasagar/vim-table-mode

I use vim-table-mode, very good plugin.

On its own it does very little -- not much else besides making the links work. I use the author's wiki-ft.vim alongside vim-table-mode to accomplish more or less what Vimwiki used to. Wiki.vim is far more supportive of other filetype plugins than vimwiki is.

I do this in markdown with vim-table-mode.

"basic visual settings set number set linebreak "text type settings set encoding=utf-8 "Remapping keys inoremap jk nnoremap j gj nnoremap k gk "to quickly open NERDTree filebrowser. nnoremap :NERDTree "to open files with external programs from paths written in vim. nnoremap gF :!xdg-open "to make Y behave similar to D and C nnoremap Y y$ "to make a new line after the word without entering insert mode nnoremap e a "insert a new line without entering insert mode nnoremap o ok nnoremap O Oj "search settings set hlsearch set incsearch "clipboard settings set clipboard=unnamedplus "for use of Vim plug plugin manager. call plug#begin() " To change the surroundings a text. Plug 'https://github.com/tpope/vim-surround' " A Vim Plugin for Lively Previewing LaTeX PDF Output " Use this command to start the previewer :LLPStartPreview Plug 'xuhdev/vim-latex-live-preview', { 'for': 'tex' } Plug 'https://github.com/vimwiki/vimwiki' "It is a file browser and does basic file ops. Plug 'preservim/nerdtree' "It highlights most movement commands like w,j,f,t,/ etc.Triggered by "leader twice plus the movement key. Plug 'https://github.com/easymotion/vim-easymotion.git' "enables completion with tab instead of control p. Plug 'https://github.com/ervandew/supertab' "To edit csv files in vim and display them nicely. Plug 'chrisbra/csv.vim' "To make org mode like tables in vim with spreadsheet capabilities. Plug 'https://github.com/dhruvasagar/vim-table-mode' "To use org mode of emacs in vim, but tables not supported and not maintained. Plug 'jceb/vim-orgmode' "It opens a calendar in vim which is read only, like in emacs. Plug 'https://github.com/mattn/calendar-vim' call plug#end() "settings required by plugins. "to use markdown in vimwiki instead of learning vimwiki syntax let g:vimwiki_list = [{'path': '~/vimwiki/', \ 'syntax': 'markdown', 'ext': '.md'}] "to make markdown compatible tables in vim-table-mode plugin. let g:table_mode_corner='|' "Self defined commands which can be executed on vim command line.(must start "with caps) "This is shortcut for quickly sourcing vimrc. command Src source ~/.vimrc "shortcut to delete entire file. command Dal norm ggdG "shortcut to copy entire file. command Yal norm ggyG command Erc vsplit ~/.vimrc "to make presentations with pandoc using source markdown and then opening the pdf through external viewer. command Mkppt :!pandoc % -t beamer -o output.pdf ; xdg-open output.pdf "changing the default leader key which is "\" let mapleader = "\" "auto commands to do stuff based on certain events "This inserts # when leader + c key is pressed in a python file. autocmd filetype python nnoremap c I# autocmd filetype python nnoremap C ^x "saving macros or registers. "macro for anki cloze deletion let @b="f:a{{c1::jkA}}jkj0"

Another option is vim-pencil.

Both of the above are naturally integrated into billions of nvim plugins. I store files in a cloud folder to have access to them on my phone. There are apps that allow you to work with notes written in markdown like Obsidian. You should have a way to quickly go to your writing files. You could use telescope-project.nvim, startify shortcuts, or any other session plugin. I would also recommend setting up LSP for writing. You will be able to have diagnostics, "code actions" on wrong grammar, allowing you to add words to dictionary and suppress rules. I use ltex_extra.nvim for this. There are also a good set of plugins for writing by one author, just check them at the bottom of the pencil page.

Two years ago, I did nanowrimo in Vim with a whole suite of plugins:

- https://github.com/preservim/vim-pencil

- https://github.com/junegunn/goyo.vim.git

- https://github.com/junegunn/limelight.vim.git

- https://github.com/vimwiki/vimwiki

It was fun, and the setup is almost identical to iA Writer which I appreciate. I even had it all on my phone with Termux!

Last year I just did it in Markdown in VSCode in "zen mode" which also worked pretty well. It was definitely easier to setup than Vim and had better highlighting of bold/italics/etc.

You may like vim-pencil if you use markdown. It adds several small conveniences around word wrap options, among other things. Note also that the author of pencil includes many useful links in the README for conceiving vim as a tool for prose. My workflow is based on pandoc and bibtex. But that part's not vim- specific.

The most efficient way to do this is to install the vim-pencil plugin--when you go to edit the file, say :Pencil to activate the plugin, and it'll reformat the text on the fly while you're editing it. Basically it makes vim act less like vim and more like a word processor.

You may find vim-pencil usefull. The readme has some good links.

preservim/vim-pencil: Rethinking Vim as a tool for writing

vim-pencil sets undo points at the end of every sentence (and other things) although you might not want to install a full plugin just for that.