Tip #361: Use xdvi (or kdvi) in conjunction with gvim (or vim) and converse

source: the xdvi man page

For recent xdvi versions (>= 22.38), (or recent Unix/Linux versions), xdvi can
interact with any editor provided with a client-server mode. We explain
here how to use xdvi in conjunction with vim (compiled with the client-server
option) or gvim (mostly compiled with this option). I have tested that
with Linux Mandrake 9.0. On that system, gvim is compiled with the
client-server option and vim is not.

0-Check that your xdvi version provides the "source-special" functions,
by typing 'xdvi -version' or 'man xdvi'

1-Configuration of the source file (file.tex)
Put the following line at the beginning of the latex file:
\usepackage[active]{srcltx}
or the following line at the beginning of the tex file
\include{srctex}

2-Configuration of xdvi
xdvi has to be called with the following options
xdvi -editor 'gvim --remote-wait +%l %f' file.dvi &
(or with 'xterm -e vim --remote-wait +%l %f' if vim has
been compiled with the client-server option).

To make it easier to use you can define an environement
variable XEDITOR to set the value of 'editor' or add
the following line in your .Xdefaults
xdvi.editor: gvim --remote-wait +%l %f
Launch 'xrdb -load ~/.Xdefaults' to make sure that
xdvi.editor is set to the good value.
If you have defined such a variable, xdvi will always be launched
with the -editor option. To avoid this unsafe behavior,
launch 'xdvi -safer'.

3-Conversely, if you call xdvi within gvim with the -sourceposition
option, cursor is placed in the dvi file on the corresponding position.
Syntax is:
xdvi -sourceposition l:cfile.tex file.dvi
l is the line number, c is the column number
(Be carefull: there is no space between "c" (column number) and
file.tex).
To make it easier to use, you can do the following
First create a file named for example "xdvi_source.vim"
with following lines
" This script calls xdvi source and puts cursor in xdvi viewer at
" the position corresponding to the position in the source file
"
:exec "silent !xdvi -sourceposition ".line(".").':'.col(".")."%".' '."%:r.dvi"

Then launch the following command within gvim editing the .tex
source file. Pressing simultaneously <CTRL> and -> will open
the dvi file at the right position:
:noremap <buffer> <C-Right> :so xdvi_source.vim<CR>


<<':e <dir>' enter files and directories | matchit.vim and coldfusion (and perhaps others) >>

Additional Notes