ui: reserve the right to split a screen redraw into multiple batches.

runtime/doc/ui.txt

@@ -18,9 +18,9 @@ the grid ("externalized").
 
 
 								  *ui-options*
-The |nvim_ui_attach()| API method is used to tell Nvim that your program wants to draw the
+The |nvim_ui_attach()| API method is used to tell Nvim that your program wants to
-Nvim screen grid with a size of width × height cells. This is typically done
+draw the Nvim screen grid with a size of width × height cells. This is typically
-by  an embedder, see |ui-startup| below for details, but an UI can also
+done by an embedder, see |ui-startup| below for details, but an UI can also
 connect to a running nvim instance and invoke this method. `options` must be
 a dictionary with these (optional) keys:
 	`rgb`			Decides the color format. *ui-rgb*
@@ -45,13 +45,17 @@ Nvim sends msgpack-rpc notifications to all attached UIs, with method name
 Each update event is itself an array whose first element is the event name and
 remaining elements are event-parameter tuples. This allows multiple events of
 the same kind to be sent in a row without the event name being repeated. This
-batching is mostly used for "put", because each "put" event puts contents in
+batching is mostly used for "grid_line", because each "grid_line" event puts
-one screen cell, but clients must be prepared for multiple argument sets being
+contents in one screen line, but clients must be prepared for multiple argument
-batched for all event kinds.
+sets being batched for all event kinds.
 
-Events must be handled in-order. The user should only see the updated screen
+Events must be handled in-order. A "flush" event is sent when nvim is done
-state after all events in the same "redraw" batch are processed (not any
+redrawing the entire screen (so that all windows have a consistent view of
-intermediate state after processing only part of the array).
+buffer state, options etc). Clients should be prepared that several "redraw"
+batches are sent before the entire screen has been redrawn, and only the last
+batch will end in "flush". The user should only see the final state when
+"flush" is sent, and not any intermediate state after processing only part of
+the batch array, nor after a batch not ending with "flush".
 
 By default, Nvim sends |ui-global| and |ui-grid-old| events; these suffice to
 implement a terminal-like interface. However there are two revisions of the
@@ -81,7 +85,7 @@ to do early initialization. As soon as the UI invokes |nvim_ui_attach()|, the
 startup will continue.
 
 A simple UI only need to do a single |nvim_ui_attach()| request and then
-be prepared to handle any UI event. A more featureful UI, which might do
+be prepared to handle any UI event. A more featureful UI, which might need
 additional configuration of the nvim process, should use the following startup
 procedure:
 
@@ -199,6 +203,11 @@ the editor.
 ["visual_bell"]
 	Notify the user with an audible or visual bell, respectively.
 
+["flush"]
+	Nvim is done redrawing the screen. For an implementation that renders
+	to an internal buffer, this is the time to display the redrawn parts
+	to the user.
+
 ==============================================================================
 Grid Events (line-based)					  *ui-linegrid*
 

src/nvim/api/ui.c

@@ -511,6 +511,7 @@ static void remote_ui_flush(UI *ui)
     if (!ui->ui_ext[kUILinegrid]) {
       remote_ui_cursor_goto(ui, data->cursor_row, data->cursor_col);
     }
+    push_call(ui, "flush", (Array)ARRAY_DICT_INIT);
     rpc_send_event(data->channel_id, "redraw", data->buffer);
     data->buffer = (Array)ARRAY_DICT_INIT;
   }

test/functional/ui/screen.lua

@@ -386,9 +386,13 @@ function Screen:wait(check, timeout)
   local err, checked = false
   local success_seen = false
   local failure_after_success = false
+  local did_flush = true
   local function notification_cb(method, args)
     assert(method == 'redraw')
-    self:_redraw(args)
+    did_flush = self:_redraw(args)
+    if not did_flush then
+      return
+    end
     err = check()
     checked = true
     if not err then
@@ -402,7 +406,9 @@ function Screen:wait(check, timeout)
     return true
   end
   run(nil, notification_cb, nil, timeout or self.timeout)
-  if not checked then
+  if not did_flush then
+    err = "no flush received"
+  elseif not checked then
     err = check()
   end
 
@@ -431,7 +437,8 @@ function Screen:sleep(ms)
 end
 
 function Screen:_redraw(updates)
-  for _, update in ipairs(updates) do
+  local did_flush = false
+  for k, update in ipairs(updates) do
     -- print('--')
     -- print(require('inspect')(update))
     local method = update[1]
@@ -446,7 +453,11 @@ function Screen:_redraw(updates)
         self._on_event(method, update[i])
       end
     end
+    if k == #updates and method == "flush" then
+      did_flush = true
+    end
   end
+  return did_flush
 end
 
 function Screen:set_on_event_handler(callback)
@@ -472,6 +483,10 @@ function Screen:_handle_resize(width, height)
   }
 end
 
+function Screen:_handle_flush()
+end
+
+
 function Screen:_handle_grid_resize(grid, width, height)
   assert(grid == 1)
   self:_handle_resize(width, height)