NETRW Listing Styles

When you edit a directory with vim (vim .), you are taken into netrw which allows you to explore the contents of that directory. By default, you will see a list of the files and directories in the target directory, like so:

" ============================================================================
" Netrw Directory Listing                                        (netrw v151)
"   /Users/jbranchaud/code/til
"   Sorted by      name
"   Sort sequence: [\/]$,\<core\%(\.\d\+\)\=\>,\.h$,\.c$,\.cpp$,\~\=\*$,*,\.o$,\.obj$,\.info$,\.swp$,\.bak$,\~$
"   Quick Help: <F1>:help  -:go up dir  D:delete  R:rename  s:sort-by  x:special
" ==============================================================================
../
./
.git/
git/
go/
postgres/
rails/
ruby/
vim/
zsh/
LICENSE
README.md

This (thin) is only one of a few listing styles that you can use to explore a directory. The other styles are long, wide, and tree. You can cycle between them by pressing i. For instance, if you cycle through to the tree format, you will be presented with navigable tree structure like so:

" ============================================================================
" Netrw Directory Listing                                        (netrw v151)
"   /Users/jbranchaud/code/til/git
"   Sorted by      name
"   Sort sequence: [\/]$,\<core\%(\.\d\+\)\=\>,\.h$,\.c$,\.cpp$,\~\=\*$,*,\.o$,\.obj$,\.info$,\.swp$,\.bak$,\~$
"   Quick Help: <F1>:help  -:go up dir  D:delete  R:rename  s:sort-by  x:special
" ==============================================================================
../
til/
| .git/
| git/
| | checkout-previous-branch.md
| | delete-all-untracked-files.md
| | dry-runs-in-git.md
| | intent-to-add.md
| | staging-changes-within-vim.md
| | stashing-untracked-files.md
| | verbose-commit-message.md
| go/
| postgres/
| rails/
| ruby/
| | create-an-array-of-stringed-numbers.md
| | limit-split.md
| | parallel-bundle-install.md
| | summing-collections.md
| vim/
| zsh/
| LICENSE
| README.md

source