bug(vim-visual-multi): Notification window doesn't expand or have black color

[ilias777]

The notifications that comes from vim-visual-multi are not expand if stages = 'slide' in the options and it's not possible to see the content.

If stages is set to fade the color is black or sometimes the same color as the background.

If you look here closely the notification color is same as the background. After the l in the second line you can see the icon from the notification:

Steps to reproduse:

1. Create a file repro.lua

vim.env.LAZY_STDPATH = ".repro"
load(vim.fn.system("curl -s https://raw.githubusercontent.com/folke/lazy.nvim/main/bootstrap.lua"))()

vim.g.mapleader = ','
vim.g.maplocalleader = ','

vim.opt.autoindent = true
vim.opt.smartindent = true
vim.opt.tabstop = 4
vim.opt.shiftwidth = 4
vim.opt.softtabstop = 4
vim.opt.expandtab = true

require("lazy.minit").repro({
    spec = {
        {
            'nvim-treesitter/nvim-treesitter',
            build = ':TSUpdate',
            config = function()
                require('nvim-treesitter.configs').setup({
                    ensure_installed = {
                        'lua'
                    },
                })
            end
        },
        {
	    "mg979/vim-visual-multi",
            branch = "master",
            event = 'VeryLazy',
		    keys = {
                      { 'cp', 'vip<Plug>(VM-Visual-Cursors)', desc = 'Create multicursors inner paragraph' },
                      { '<M-s>', ':VMSearch ', mode = 'x', desc = 'Search & create multicursors in visual mode' },
                      { '<M-s>', ':%VMSearch ', desc = 'Search & create multicursors' },
                      { '<M-c>', '<Plug>(VM-Visual-Cursors)', mode = 'x', desc = 'Create multicursors in visual mode' },
		    },
            init = function()
                vim.g.VM_maps = {
                    ['Motion ,'] = '',
                    ['Select l'] = '<C-Right>',
                    ['Select h'] = '<C-Left>',
                    ['Goto Next'] = '',
                    ['Goto Prev'] = '',
                    -- ['I BS'] = '',
                }
            end
	    },
	    {
            "folke/which-key.nvim",
            opts = {
                preset = 'helix',
            },
        },
            {
            "folke/noice.nvim",
            dependencies = {
                "MunifTanjim/nui.nvim",
                {
                    "rcarriga/nvim-notify",
                    opts = {
                        render = 'wrapped-compact',
                        stages = 'slide,
                        max_height = function()
                            return math.floor(vim.o.lines * 0.75)
                        end,
                        max_width = function()
                            return math.floor(vim.o.columns * 0.75)
                        end,
                    },
                },
            },
            opts = {}
        },
    },
})

2. Run: nvim -u repro.lua.
3. After lazy installing the plugins rerun Neovim.
4. Run again the command nvim -u repro.lua.
5. Open the file with the command :e repro.lua.
6. Press following keys: <C-n> to start vim-visual-multi and then the keys: \\C to open the notification window to switch the case in this example.
7. You will see that the notification window is not expanding.
8. Try to change the stages to fade or fade_in_slide_out.
9. Press the same keys like in step 3.
10. The notification window now is black or the same color as the background.

Thank you for any help. 🙂

[folke]

After further looking into this, this is indeed something that worked before.
Reason it used to work, is that in Noice I hacked into vim.cmd.redraw and any of the getchar and input functions.
When I detected that we were right before or inside such a function, I replaced stage to static.

I did it like that, because I thought that when Neovim was waiting for input, the main loop was blocked.

Recently I discovered this is simply not the case.

tbh, this hack was something I probably never should have done.

The correct fix is to add vim.cmd.redraw() calls when needed inside nvim-notify.