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1 *usr_22.txt* For Vim version 7.0g. Last change: 2006 Apr 24
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3 VIM USER MANUAL - by Bram Moolenaar
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4
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5 Finding the file to edit
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6
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7
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8 Files can be found everywhere. So how do you find them? Vim offers various
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9 ways to browse the directory tree. There are commands to jump to a file that
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10 is mentioned in another. And Vim remembers which files have been edited
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11 before.
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12
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13 |22.1| The file explorer
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14 |22.2| The current directory
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15 |22.3| Finding a file
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16 |22.4| The buffer list
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17
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18 Next chapter: |usr_23.txt| Editing other files
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19 Previous chapter: |usr_21.txt| Go away and come back
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20 Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt|
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21
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22 ==============================================================================
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23 *22.1* The file explorer
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24
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25 Vim has a plugin that makes it possible to edit a directory. Try this: >
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26
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27 :edit .
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28
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29 Through the magic of autocommands and Vim scripts, the window will be filled
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30 with the contents of the directory. It looks like this:
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31
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32 " Press ? for keyboard shortcuts ~
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33 " Sorted by name (.bak,~,.o,.h,.info,.swp,.obj,.orig,.rej at end of list) ~
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34 "= /home/mool/vim/vim6/runtime/doc/ ~
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35 ../ ~
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36 check/ ~
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37 Makefile ~
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38 autocmd.txt ~
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39 change.txt ~
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40 eval.txt~ ~
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41 filetype.txt~ ~
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42 help.txt.info ~
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43
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44 You can see these items:
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45 1. A comment about using ? to get help for the functionality of the file
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46 explorer.
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47 2. The second line mentions how the items in the directory are listed. They
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48 can be sorted in several ways.
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49 3. The third line is the name of the current directory.
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50 4. The "../" directory item. This is the parent directory.
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51 5. The directory names.
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52 6. The ordinary file names. As mentioned in the second line, some are not
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53 here but "at the end of the list".
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54 7. The less ordinary file names. You are expected to use these less often,
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55 therefore they have been moved to the end.
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56
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57 If you have syntax highlighting enabled, the different parts are highlighted
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58 to make it easier to spot them.
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59
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60 You can use Normal mode Vim commands to move around in the text. For example,
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61 move to a file and press <Enter>. Now you are editing that file. To go back
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62 to the explorer use ":edit ." again. CTRL-O also works.
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63 Try using <Enter> while the cursor is on a directory name. The result is
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64 that the explorer moves into that directory and displays the items found
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65 there. Pressing <Enter> on the first directory "../" moves you one level
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66 higher. Pressing "-" does the same thing, without the need to move to the
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67 "../" item first.
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68
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69 You can press ? to get short help on the things you can do in the explorer.
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70 This is what you get:
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71
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72 " <enter> : open file or directory ~
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73 " o : open new window for file/directory ~
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74 " O : open file in previously visited window ~
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75 " p : preview the file ~
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76 " i : toggle size/date listing ~
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77 " s : select sort field r : reverse sort ~
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78 " - : go up one level c : cd to this dir ~
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79 " R : rename file D : delete file ~
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80 " :help file-explorer for detailed help ~
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81
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82 The first few commands are for selecting a file to display. Depending on what
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83 command you use, the file appears somewhere:
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84
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85 <Enter> Uses the current window.
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86 o Opens a new window.
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87 O Uses the previously visited window.
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88 p Uses the preview window, and moves the cursor back
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89 into the explorer window. |preview-window|
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90
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91 The following commands are used to display other information:
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92
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93 i Display the size and date for the file. Using i again
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94 will hide the information.
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95 s Use the field the cursor is in to sort on. First
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96 display the size and date with i. Then Move the
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97 cursor to the size of any file and press s. The files
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98 will now be sorted on size. Press s while the cursor
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99 is on a date and the items will be sorted on date.
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100 r reverse the sorting order (either size or date)
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101
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102 There are a few extra commands:
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103
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104 c Change the current directory to the displayed
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105 directory. You can then type an ":edit" command for
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106 one of the files without prepending the path.
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107 R Rename the file under the cursor. You will be
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108 prompted for the new name.
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109 D Delete the file under the cursor. You will get a
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110 prompt to confirm this.
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111
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112 ==============================================================================
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113 *22.2* The current directory
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114
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115 Just like the shell, Vim has the concept of a current directory. Suppose you
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116 are in your home directory and want to edit several files in a directory
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117 "VeryLongFileName". You could do: >
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118
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119 :edit VeryLongFileName/file1.txt
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120 :edit VeryLongFileName/file2.txt
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121 :edit VeryLongFileName/file3.txt
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122
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123 To avoid much of the typing, do this: >
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124
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125 :cd VeryLongFileName
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126 :edit file1.txt
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127 :edit file2.txt
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128 :edit file3.txt
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129
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130 The ":cd" command changes the current directory. You can see what the current
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131 directory is with the ":pwd" command: >
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132
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133 :pwd
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134 /home/Bram/VeryLongFileName
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135
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136 Vim remembers the last directory that you used. Use "cd -" to go back to it.
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137 Example: >
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138
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139 :pwd
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140 /home/Bram/VeryLongFileName
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141 :cd /etc
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142 :pwd
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143 /etc
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144 :cd -
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145 :pwd
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146 /home/Bram/VeryLongFileName
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147 :cd -
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148 :pwd
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149 /etc
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150
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151
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152 WINDOW LOCAL DIRECTORY
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153
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154 When you split a window, both windows use the same current directory. When
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155 you want to edit a number of files somewhere else in the new window, you can
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156 make it use a different directory, without changing the current directory in
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157 the other window. This is called a local directory. >
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158
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159 :pwd
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160 /home/Bram/VeryLongFileName
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161 :split
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162 :lcd /etc
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163 :pwd
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164 /etc
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165 CTRL-W w
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166 :pwd
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167 /home/Bram/VeryLongFileName
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168
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169 So long as no ":lcd" command has been used, all windows share the same current
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170 directory. Doing a ":cd" command in one window will also change the current
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171 directory of the other window.
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172 For a window where ":lcd" has been used a different current directory is
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173 remembered. Using ":cd" or ":lcd" in other windows will not change it.
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174 When using a ":cd" command in a window that uses a different current
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175 directory, it will go back to using the shared directory.
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176
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177 ==============================================================================
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178 *22.3* Finding a file
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179
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180 You are editing a C program that contains this line:
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181
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182 #include "inits.h" ~
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183
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184 You want to see what is in that "inits.h" file. Move the cursor on the name
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185 of the file and type: >
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186
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187 gf
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188
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189 Vim will find the file and edit it.
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190 What if the file is not in the current directory? Vim will use the 'path'
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191 option to find the file. This option is a list of directory names where to
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192 look for your file.
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193 Suppose you have your include files located in "c:/prog/include". This
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194 command will add it to the 'path' option: >
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195
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196 :set path+=c:/prog/include
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197
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198 This directory is an absolute path. No matter where you are, it will be the
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199 same place. What if you have located files in a subdirectory, below where the
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200 file is? Then you can specify a relative path name. This starts with a dot:
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201 >
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202 :set path+=./proto
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203
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204 This tells Vim to look in the directory "proto", below the directory where the
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205 file in which you use "gf" is. Thus using "gf" on "inits.h" will make Vim
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206 look for "proto/inits.h", starting in the directory of the file.
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207 Without the "./", thus "proto", Vim would look in the "proto" directory
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208 below the current directory. And the current directory might not be where the
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209 file that you are editing is located.
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210
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211 The 'path' option allows specifying the directories where to search for files
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212 in many more ways. See the help on the 'path' option.
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213 The 'isfname' option is used to decide which characters are included in the
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214 file name, and which ones are not (e.g., the " character in the example
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215 above).
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216
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217 When you know the file name, but it's not to be found in the file, you can
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218 type it: >
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219
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220 :find inits.h
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221
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222 Vim will then use the 'path' option to try and locate the file. This is the
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223 same as the ":edit" command, except for the use of 'path'.
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224
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225 To open the found file in a new window use CTRL-W f instead of "gf", or use
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226 ":sfind" instead of ":find".
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227
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228
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229 A nice way to directly start Vim to edit a file somewhere in the 'path': >
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230
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231 vim "+find stdio.h"
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232
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233 This finds the file "stdio.h" in your value of 'path'. The quotes are
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234 necessary to have one argument |-+c|.
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235
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236 ==============================================================================
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237 *22.4* The buffer list
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238
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239 The Vim editor uses the term buffer to describe a file being edited.
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240 Actually, a buffer is a copy of the file that you edit. When you finish
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241 changing the buffer, you write the contents of the buffer to the file.
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242 Buffers not only contain file contents, but also all the marks, settings, and
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243 other stuff that goes with it.
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244
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245
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246 HIDDEN BUFFERS
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247
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248 Suppose you are editing the file one.txt and need to edit the file two.txt.
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249 You could simply use ":edit two.txt", but since you made changes to one.txt
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250 that won't work. You also don't want to write one.txt yet. Vim has a
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251 solution for you: >
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252
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253 :hide edit two.txt
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254
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255 The buffer "one.txt" disappears from the screen, but Vim still knows that you
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256 are editing this buffer, so it keeps the modified text. This is called a
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257 hidden buffer: The buffer contains text, but you can't see it.
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258 The ":hide" command argument is another command. It makes that command
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259 behave like the 'hidden' option was set. You could also set this option
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260 yourself. The effect is that when any buffer is abandoned, it becomes hidden.
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261 Be careful! When you have hidden buffers with changes, don't exit Vim
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262 without making sure you have saved all the buffers.
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263
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264
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265 INACTIVE BUFFERS
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266
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267 When a buffer has been used once, Vim remembers some information about it.
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268 When it is not displayed in a window and it is not hidden, it is still in the
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269 buffer list. This is called an inactive buffer. Overview:
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270
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271 Active Appears in a window, text loaded.
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272 Hidden Not in a window, text loaded.
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273 Inactive Not in a window, no text loaded.
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274
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275 The inactive buffers are remembered, because Vim keeps information about them,
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276 like marks. And remembering the file name is useful too, so that you can see
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277 which files you have edited. And edit them again.
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278
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279
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280 LISTING BUFFERS
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281
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282 View the buffer list with this command: >
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283
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284 :buffers
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285
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286 A command which does the same, is not so obvious to list buffers, but is much
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287 shorter to type: >
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288
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289 :ls
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290
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291 The output could look like this:
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292
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293 1 #h "help.txt" line 62 ~
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236
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294 2 %a+ "usr_21.txt" line 1 ~
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295 3 "usr_toc.txt" line 1 ~
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296
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297 The first column contains the buffer number. You can use this to edit the
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298 buffer without having to type the name, see below.
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299 After the buffer number come the flags. Then the name of the file
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300 and the line number where the cursor was the last time.
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301 The flags that can appear are these (from left to right):
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302
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303 u Buffer is unlisted |unlisted-buffer|.
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304 % Current buffer.
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305 # Alternate buffer.
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236
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306 a Buffer is loaded and displayed.
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307 h Buffer is loaded but hidden.
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308 = Buffer is read-only.
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309 - Buffer is not modifiable, the 'modifiable' option is off.
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310 + Buffer has been modified.
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311
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312
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313 EDITING A BUFFER
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314
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315 You can edit a buffer by its number. That avoids having to type the file
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316 name: >
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317
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318 :buffer 2
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319
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320 But the only way to know the number is by looking in the buffer list. You can
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321 use the name, or part of it, instead: >
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322
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323 :buffer help
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324
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325 Vim will find a best match for the name you type. If there is only one
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326 buffer that matches the name, it will be used. In this case "help.txt".
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327 To open a buffer in a new window: >
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328
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329 :sbuffer 3
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330
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331 This works with a name as well.
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332
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333
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334 USING THE BUFFER LIST
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335
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336 You can move around in the buffer list with these commands:
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337
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338 :bnext go to next buffer
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339 :bprevious go to previous buffer
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340 :bfirst go to the first buffer
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341 :blast go to the last buffer
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342
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343 To remove a buffer from the list, use this command: >
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344
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345 :bdelete 3
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346
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347 Again, this also works with a name.
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348 If you delete a buffer that was active (visible in a window), that window
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349 will be closed. If you delete the current buffer, the current window will be
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350 closed. If it was the last window, Vim will find another buffer to edit. You
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351 can't be editing nothing!
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352
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353 Note:
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354 Even after removing the buffer with ":bdelete" Vim still remembers it.
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355 It's actually made "unlisted", it no longer appears in the list from
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356 ":buffers". The ":buffers!" command will list unlisted buffers (yes,
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357 Vim can do the impossible). To really make Vim forget about a buffer,
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358 use ":bwipe". Also see the 'buflisted' option.
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359
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360 ==============================================================================
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361
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362 Next chapter: |usr_23.txt| Editing other files
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363
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364 Copyright: see |manual-copyright| vim:tw=78:ts=8:ft=help:norl:
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