Question

How do I compile Vim with the clientserver feature on Mac OS X? I have the vim-7.3.tar.bz2 source

I understand that MacVim has this built in, but it only works when the GUI is running. I want to work with a CLI version, as my work is so much easier with the CLI (I can switch to the Terminal with ease, for example).

I compiled Vim 7.3 with the following ./configure options

./configure --enable-rubyinterp --enable-pythoninterp --with-features=huge

I have looked at this question on Unix & Linux, but it only takes care of the Ubuntu solution. Also, since I enabled the huge feature set, I should expect +clientserver, according to the vimdoc:

Thus if a feature is marked with “N”, it is included in the normal, big and huge versions of Vim.

Update:

The server feature only works with GUI MacVim. To reproduce this:

$ Applications/MacVim.app/Contents/MacOS/Vim --servername VIM

The in another console:

$ vim --serverlist # does not output anything

Whereas if I’ll fire up the GUI MacVim,

$ vim --serverlist
VIM1

But my requirement is to work in CLI Vim.

Answer 1

I got it to work by adding --enable-gui=gtk2

./configure --enable-rubyinterp --enable-pythoninterp --with-features=huge --enable-gui=gtk2

Then run from the console:

$ vim --servername FOOBAR_SERVER

From another console:

$ vim --serverlist
FOOBAR_SERVER

Or from within any Vim instance:

:echo serverlist()
FOOBAR_SERVER

Note that X11.app will also boot up as it is necessary for the Vim server to function.