Vim-airline: Missing spaces in tabline

[IngoMeyer441]

environment

• vim: 8.0 patches 1-1401
• vim-airline: current master (9a2ed35ff9f7d38dc7e37b6ddefa2ca4eb02139e)
• OS: Debian testing
• Have you reproduced with a minimal vimrc: yes (see issue text)
• What is your airline configuration: ???
  if you are using terminal:
• terminal: xfce4-terminal with tmux
• $TERM variable: tmux-256color
• color configuration (:set t_Co?): no
  if you are using Neovim:
• does it happen in Vim: ???

Since commits ab49a1c7aea5e775e27e087f8beb71fdf68e5764 and 02816a3cb691e13ebbf46a38613979ac4df499d2 I have noticed missing white space in the tabline. With this minimal vimrc

set nocompatible
set runtimepath+=~/.vim/dein/repos/github.com/Shougo/dein.vim
if dein#load_state(expand('~/.vim/dein'))
  call dein#begin(expand('~/.vim/dein'))
  call dein#add('Shougo/dein.vim')
  call dein#add('vim-airline/vim-airline')
  call dein#end()
  call dein#save_state()
endif

let g:airline#extensions#tabline#enabled = 1

filetype plugin indent on
syntax enable
set background=dark

I get the following tabline with a missing space at the beginning of the first buffer name:

If powerline symbols are activated addtionally with

let g:airline_powerline_fonts = 1

each buffer name has a missing white space:

[chrisbra]

I have been trying to get rid of the double whitespaces in front of the buffer names in the tabline.

I get the following tabline with a missing space at the beginning of the first buffer name:

That is okay. There is a single whitespace before .bashrc

The second one doesn't have a space in front of the name. But I would see this as acceptable.

You can check the tabline using :echo eval(&tabline[2:]) for what is being printed (to either the statusline or the tabline).

[IngoMeyer441]

Ah ok, I never realized that there is a double space without powerline fonts since I always use a patched powerline font. Is it perhaps a better solution to only remove the space if powerline fonts are deactivated?

[chrisbra]

Is it perhaps a better solution to only remove the space if powerline fonts are deactivated?

I can add that check as well.

[kirjavascript]

I think these changes also now cause an issue with the filenames jumping about when you traverse buffers

a temporary workaround appears to be;

let g:airline#extensions#tabline#left_sep = "\ue0b0 "
let g:airline#extensions#tabline#left_alt_sep = "\ue0b1"

[plexigras]

and with let g:airline#extensions#tabline#alt_sep = 1 i get

a>b c instead of <a>b c

---

and with let g:airline#extensions#tabline#left_alt_sep = '' i get

a>b c instead of a>bc

[andreyorst]

Before update:

---

After update:

This looks ok, but not with single file:

NORMAL, [tabs] and [buffers] are look normally

[gkapfham]

Hello @IngoHeimbach and others who have reported this issue — thanks for doing so as I have noticed the same problem. Also, many thanks to @chrisbra for developing this pluging as I use it very regularly in Neovim and Vim. I wanted to chime in and note that I am seeing exactly the same issue that @andreyorst shared in the screenshots. The spacing in NVIM v0.2.3-dev looks correct for multiple files but does not look correct (i.e., tight spacing on the left) for a single file.

The only data point that I can add to the discussion is that the file that I open first _never_ has enough spacing on the left regardless of how many buffers I open. Finally, it may be usesful to point out that I am using this plugin with the Devicons plugin and a patched font. Also, I took the advice of @kirjavascript and adding the following lines to my Neovim configuration file:

let g:airline#extensions#tabline#left_sep = "  "
let g:airline#extensions#tabline#left_alt_sep = "  "

Please note that I do not use the triangles in my Airline and thus only needed the spaces. Okay, I hope that this helps! Of course, please let me know if you need more details to resolve this matter. Again, thanks to everyone involved in the development and improvement of this plugin.

[andreyorst]

The spacing correct for multiple files but does not look correct for a single file.

@gkapfham I must admit, that thiss issue is only about buffers. Tabs works fine. Though when you open a new tab, top line switches to display tabs instead of buffers on tle left side. If you working with single tab, top line shows buffers. And no matter how many buffers are in top line, the spacing is whong.
Buffers:

Tabs:

P.S.: can someone explain me what this 1 at the begining of the tab name mean ( 1 blah2>)? I can't get it since I started to use this plugin. Because in original tabs there is no such thing as I remember.

[tcbbd]

@andreyorst the number means how many windows (i.e. panes) that tab contains

[tcbbd]

change this line

let space= (pgroup == group ? s:spc : '')

to

if get(g:, 'airline_powerline_fonts', 0)
  let space = s:spc
else
  let space= (pgroup == group ? s:spc : '')
endif

will make it look better.

[algmyr]

@tcbbd This seems to work quite well with powerline font, with no difference without powerline font. Seems fit for a PR to me.

[slabua]

Not really. That change would yes add an initial space in front of the first buffer name, but somehow, also in front of the second one.

Before the change:

After the change:

[andreyorst]

@slabua not sure how you got this extra space.

Maybe it is related to Devicons plugin?

[slabua]

@andreyorst in this previous picture of yours, before the change,

an initial space is missing before the first buffer and also before the second buffer,
whilst in my red picture, the only missing space is at the very beginning.
Was yours a picture from latest master or some previous commit?

EDIT:
I realised I had set

let g:airline#extensions#tabline#left_sep = "\ue0b0"
let g:airline#extensions#tabline#left_alt_sep = "\ue0b1"

Will test again and report below.

[andreyorst]

Was yours a picture from latest master or some previous commit

Screenshot represents solution from https://github.com/vim-airline/vim-airline/issues/1631#issuecomment-361888819 and I also removed workaround from https://github.com/vim-airline/vim-airline/issues/1631#issuecomment-358250219

[slabua]

@andreyorst yup I had forgotten to remove that workaround.
I can confirm that the change works fine for powerline fonts enabled.

[erfanio]

Just setup a new machine, this drove me crazy because I thought there was problem with my powerline fonts.
Thanks for the fix
Since no one has submitted a pull request, I went ahead and made one.

[gkapfham]

Hello @IngoHeimbach and @erfanio! First, thanks for raising this issue as I was also experiencing this problem on a regular basis. Second, thanks to @erfanio for developing the fix and @chrisbra for merging it. Finally, I am writing to confirm that I am no longer seeing the problem that was initially reported — the fix is working correctly for me. Thanks everyone!

[shuhaowu]

I'm still seeing this issue, with the default settings with tabline=1 and the minimalist theme. I'm running the latest master as well:

Also furthermore what's the meaning of left_sep/right_sep/left_alt_sep/right_alt_sep? I want to highlight the current buffer with something like buf1 <currentbuffer> buf2, but I can't figure out how they work.

[ghost]

@shuhaowu Can also confirm the issue still exists. Checked buffers.vim in autoload/airline/extensions/tabline and saw that @erfanio's PR is there, which indicates that vim-airline is already up-to-date. However, first buffer's name is still missing a leading whitespace. All tabline-related configs are pretty much default:

let g:airline_powerline_fonts = 0
let g:airline#extensions#tabline#enabled = 1
let g:airline#extensions#tabline#tab_min_count = 2
let g:airline#extensions#tabline#buffer_min_count = 2

@chrisbra Should the issue be re-opened?

[slabua]

What I have seen is that with powerline fonts enabled, there is a single space before each buffer, whilst with powerline fonts disabled, there is no space before the first buffer and a single space before each subsequent buffer.
Not sure this is the expected behaviour, but this is what I am reproducing.

[chrisbra]

IIRC this is expected behaviour.

[ghost]

What a pity... Now I can't unsee it & my OCD is tingling like crazy...
If someone else has a fix for this then it would be awesome.

[chrisbra]

What a pity... Now I can't unsee it & my OCD is tingling like crazy...

I don't understand what you are talking about. What exactly is the problem?

[algmyr]

Lack of leading space I presume.

[ghost]

@chrisbra It's what @slabua described before.

[slabua]

@khoacao96 in other words you'd like to also have a leading space in front of the first buffer when not using powerline fonts?

[ghost]

@slabua Yes, exactly. I mean, when not using powerline fonts, there's a space in front of all the buffer names, except for the first buffer. Why not make it consistent?

[chrisbra]

I'll have a look.

[chrisbra]

I think this should be fixed now with the last commit

[ghost]

@chrisbra Can confirm the issue is fixed. Thank you!