[0.7.1] GVIM - Doesn't Recognize `:help` Ex Command

[jthodge]

Description

GVIM recognizes and executes most common Ex commands¹, but it doesn't appear to support the :help command.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Open GVIM
2. Type :help
3. Press <Enter>

Expected Behavior

I expect GVIM to execute the :help command, and open the VIM main help file.

Actual Behavior

Logs

GVIM returns:

E433: No tags file
E149: Sorry, no help for help.txt
Press ENTER or type command to continue

Environment

• Platform and OS Version: macOS Sonoma 14.3
• Playbit Version: 0.7.1

Footnotes

1. I haven't exhaustively tested the entire set of Ex commands yet, so there may be other unsupported commands. ↩

[edward-playbit]

Thank you for the issue report.

@rsms
There should be a file called /usr/share/vim/vim90/doc/tags but no such file exists in the Playbit installation.
And indeed, /var/pbuild/ports/gvim.aarch64/out/build/gvim/runtime/doc/tags exists when we build it, but the corresponding file /var/pbuild/ports/gvim.aarch64/out/distroot/usr/share/vim/vim90/doc/tags is not present.

[saulpw]

@jthodge We're planning to create a public repo with the gvim port (and eventually others) in it. We have to do a bit of work to build gvim within Playbit itself (currently it uses a build script which is not public), but once we do, that'll allow you and others to hack on gvim to your heart's content.

[rsms]

@jthodge We've now setup a public repo with the gvim port along with dependencies.
As a pilot user, we would love to hear your feedback on the experience of using this!

https://github.com/playbit/pb-src

For Playbit 0.7.x and older, you need to connect a terminal from your host machine into Playbit's root system. With Playbit running, open a terminal on your host machine and do the following:

$ curl -L#O https://github.com/playbit/pb-src/raw/refs/heads/main/tools/root-vconsole
$ chmod +x root-vconsole
$ ./root-vconsole
Connecting to Playbit root system console...
Press RETURN if you don't see a prompt. Press ctrl-Q to end session.
Set terminal size with: stty rows 38 cols 80
$ grep -F PRETTY_NAME /etc/os-release
PRETTY_NAME="Playbit v0.7.1"
$ git clone https://github.com/playbit/pb-src.git
$ cd pb-src
$ tools/pbuild ports/gvim

This will build gvim and all dependencies from source.

To install gvim in your workspace:

$ tools/pbuild ports/gvim --install=$HOME/ws_S/upper/devel

You can now run it by opening a file browser and going to /devel/Workspace/Applications

[jthodge]

@rsms Marvelous news! Will fork pb-src and dig in this week, and keep a friction log of my experience for you and the team

Thank you so much for opening this section of the code base up — immensely grateful 💙