vim "modifiable" is off

Question

Trying to create a new file with nerd tree. I hit the a key to create a new file and i get the message:

E21: Cannot make changes, 'Modifiable' is off

I'm using MacVim and Janus (almost out of the box)

fyi: `m` and then `a` is to add a new file in NERDTree – Leighton Aug 13 '18 at 07:17 — Leighton, Aug 13 '18 at 07:17

Adam Soltys · Accepted Answer · 2017-05-17T20:01:59.357

250

:set ma

which is short for

:set modifiable

will make a buffer modifiable. And

:set noma

does the opposite.

edited May 17 '17 at 20:01

answered Mar 14 '12 at 16:58

Adam Soltys

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+1 to this answer. Google shows this page when you search for the way to turn off the modifiable flag in a buffer. – Sebastián Grignoli Sep 23 '12 at 01:07
Does anyone knows how do I UNDO what I deleted in NERDTree? like 'dd' and then I tried to 'u' and nothing happens – betoharres Dec 12 '14 at 23:28
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I also had to use `:set buftype: " "` for writing the file after modification (afterwards message was `Cannot write, 'buftype' option is set`) – Julien Carsique Jul 13 '16 at 12:56

score 19 · Answer 2 · edited May 23 '17 at 11:47

19

I am not familiar with NerdTree but I guess that by typing a into a nerdtree view, it is interpreted as " I want to append something in the nerdtree buffer", and that buffer is not modifiable.

You can check that answer vim and NERD Tree extension - adding a file which explains how to add a file with Nerdtree.

edited May 23 '17 at 11:47

Community

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answered Apr 21 '11 at 14:37

Xavier T.

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That's it, checking the help for NERDTree there is no `a` mapping, which will cause it to try appending new text. – sidyll Apr 21 '11 at 15:03

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Aug 01 '19 at 21:43

3

This worked for me:

:set buftype=
:w

answered Aug 01 '19 at 21:43

mipmip

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what are you suppose to add after the `=` ? – CodeMonkey May 22 '20 at 14:29
Nothing. This means asign an empty value to ```buftype``` – mipmip May 22 '20 at 15:12

score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Oct 08 '12 at 23:52

Ok, this may not be the most informed answer as I barely have a working knowledge of vim or linux, But I have found to solution to my problem and it may work for you to. To be specific, My problem was twofold:

1) whenever i tried to edit something in this new file i created, i got the Cannot make changes, 'Modifiable' is off error and...

2) after running :set modifiable and trying to save, i would get an e382 error of 'cannot write, buftype is set. so i couldn't save.

After pouring throuch scads of useless cryptic documentation i figured out this:

1) find the .vimviews directory, for me it was at the root of my git repository, do an

ls

inside it. i got something like this:

~=+www-halo=+test=+lib=+Halo=+Return2=+HeaderTest.php=
~=+www-halo=+test=+lib=+Halo=+Service=+LandmarkTest.php=
~=+www-halo=+test=+lib=+Halo=+Transaction=+AuthnetTest.php=

Which is totally useless to you since you have a different file structure. but look for the file that is giving you the problem. (oh btw, these are in fact file names, which is completely not obvious by looking at them). find the one that has the file in question and delete that sucker: example:

rm ~=+www-halo=+test=+lib=+Halo=+Return2=+HeaderTest.php=

Problem solved.

Have also gotten this problem working with NerdTree. This only worked after exiting the vim session that caused the issue. I'm guessing that it kept resetting this "view". — John, Feb 08 '18 at 19:34

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Mar 07 '18 at 08:37

If you want to happen a file in NERDTree, you need to hit "m" (for menu) then "a". Simply entering "a" in NERDTree buffer will be interpreted as "modify NERDTree buffer". Adding :ma will make NERDTree buffer modifiable, but this wont create new files for you, it will lead to inconsistent info between what NERDTree display and your actual file hierarchy.

score 0 · Answer 6 · edited Nov 29 '12 at 20:10

0

In case anyone else happens to google to this, check that you're not trying to open a directory in vim like I just was (d'oh)

edited Nov 29 '12 at 20:10

Rod

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answered Sep 21 '12 at 11:23

Max Williams

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You can open directories in Vim. By default it will launch Netrw. – htmldrum Mar 21 '13 at 18:46
You can for example select files in a directory, :cw do some changes to their names and save it – Karolius Dec 05 '19 at 17:11

score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Apr 14 '20 at 15:08

For me, I had stashed changes which included a directory I was then trying to create a file in that dir I had just stashed. NERDTree was still showing the pre-stashed tree with that dir. Using m on a dir that does not exist produced the modifiable error. I should have refreshed the tree with r to see the dir was no longer there and why it could not be modified.

vim "modifiable" is off

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