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1 *usr_07.txt* For Vim version 9.0. Last change: 2020 Mar 23
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3 VIM USER MANUAL - by Bram Moolenaar
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4
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5 Editing more than one file
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6
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7
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8 No matter how many files you have, you can edit them without leaving Vim.
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9 Define a list of files to work on and jump from one to the other. Copy text
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10 from one file and put it in another one.
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11
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12 |07.1| Edit another file
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13 |07.2| A list of files
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14 |07.3| Jumping from file to file
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15 |07.4| Backup files
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16 |07.5| Copy text between files
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17 |07.6| Viewing a file
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18 |07.7| Changing the file name
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19
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20 Next chapter: |usr_08.txt| Splitting windows
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21 Previous chapter: |usr_06.txt| Using syntax highlighting
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22 Table of contents: |usr_toc.txt|
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23
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24 ==============================================================================
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25 *07.1* Edit another file
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26
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27 So far you had to start Vim for every file you wanted to edit. There is a
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28 simpler way. To start editing another file, use this command: >
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29
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30 :edit foo.txt
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31
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32 You can use any file name instead of "foo.txt". Vim will close the current
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33 file and open the new one. If the current file has unsaved changes, however,
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34 Vim displays an error message and does not open the new file:
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35
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36 E37: No write since last change (use ! to override) ~
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37
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38 Note:
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39 Vim puts an error ID at the start of each error message. If you do
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40 not understand the message or what caused it, look in the help system
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41 for this ID. In this case: >
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42
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43 :help E37
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44
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45 At this point, you have a number of alternatives. You can write the file
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46 using this command: >
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47
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48 :write
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49
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50 Or you can force Vim to discard your changes and edit the new file, using the
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51 force (!) character: >
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52
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53 :edit! foo.txt
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54
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55 If you want to edit another file, but not write the changes in the current
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56 file yet, you can make it hidden: >
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57
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58 :hide edit foo.txt
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59
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60 The text with changes is still there, but you can't see it. This is further
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61 explained in section |22.4|: The buffer list.
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62
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63 ==============================================================================
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64 *07.2* A list of files
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65
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66 You can start Vim to edit a sequence of files. For example: >
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67
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68 vim one.c two.c three.c
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69
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70 This command starts Vim and tells it that you will be editing three files.
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71 Vim displays just the first file. After you have done your thing in this
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72 file, to edit the next file you use this command: >
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73
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74 :next
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75
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76 If you have unsaved changes in the current file, you will get an error
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77 message and the ":next" will not work. This is the same problem as with
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78 ":edit" mentioned in the previous section. To abandon the changes: >
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79
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80 :next!
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81
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82 But mostly you want to save the changes and move on to the next file. There
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83 is a special command for this: >
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84
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85 :wnext
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86
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87 This does the same as using two separate commands: >
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88
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89 :write
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90 :next
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91
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92
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93 WHERE AM I?
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94
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95 To see which file in the argument list you are editing, look in the window
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96 title. It should show something like "(2 of 3)". This means you are editing
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97 the second file out of three files.
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98 If you want to see the list of files, use this command: >
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99
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100 :args
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101
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102 This is short for "arguments". The output might look like this:
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103
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104 one.c [two.c] three.c ~
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105
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106 These are the files you started Vim with. The one you are currently editing,
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107 "two.c", is in square brackets.
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108
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109
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110 MOVING TO OTHER ARGUMENTS
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111
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112 To go back one file: >
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113
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114 :previous
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115
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116 This is just like the ":next" command, except that it moves in the other
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117 direction. Again, there is a shortcut command for when you want to write the
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118 file first: >
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119
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120 :wprevious
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121
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122 To move to the very last file in the list: >
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123
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124 :last
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125
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126 And to move back to the first one again: >
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127
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128 :first
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129
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130 There is no ":wlast" or ":wfirst" command though!
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131
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132 You can use a count for ":next" and ":previous". To skip two files forward: >
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133
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134 :2next
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135
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136
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137 AUTOMATIC WRITING
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138
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139 When moving around the files and making changes, you have to remember to use
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140 ":write". Otherwise you will get an error message. If you are sure you
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141 always want to write modified files, you can tell Vim to automatically write
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142 them: >
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143
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144 :set autowrite
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145
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146 When you are editing a file which you may not want to write, switch it off
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147 again: >
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148
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149 :set noautowrite
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150
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151
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152 EDITING ANOTHER LIST OF FILES
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153
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154 You can redefine the list of files without the need to exit Vim and start it
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155 again. Use this command to edit three other files: >
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156
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157 :args five.c six.c seven.h
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158
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159 Or use a wildcard, like it's used in the shell: >
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160
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161 :args *.txt
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162
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163 Vim will take you to the first file in the list. Again, if the current file
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164 has changes, you can either write the file first, or use ":args!" (with !
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165 added) to abandon the changes.
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166
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167
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168 DID YOU EDIT THE LAST FILE?
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169 *arglist-quit*
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170 When you use a list of files, Vim assumes you want to edit them all. To
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171 protect you from exiting too early, you will get this error when you didn't
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172 edit the last file in the list yet:
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173
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174 E173: 46 more files to edit ~
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175
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176 If you really want to exit, just do it again. Then it will work (but not when
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177 you did other commands in between).
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178
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179 ==============================================================================
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180 *07.3* Jumping from file to file
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181
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182 To quickly jump between two files, press CTRL-^ (on English-US keyboards the ^
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183 is above the 6 key). Example: >
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184
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185 :args one.c two.c three.c
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186
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187 You are now in one.c. >
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188
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189 :next
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190
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191 Now you are in two.c. Now use CTRL-^ to go back to one.c. Another CTRL-^ and
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192 you are back in two.c. Another CTRL-^ and you are in one.c again. If you now
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193 do: >
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194
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195 :next
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196
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197 You are in three.c. Notice that the CTRL-^ command does not change the idea
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198 of where you are in the list of files. Only commands like ":next" and
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199 ":previous" do that.
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200
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201 The file you were previously editing is called the "alternate" file. When you
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202 just started Vim CTRL-^ will not work, since there isn't a previous file.
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203
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204
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205 PREDEFINED MARKS
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206
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207 After jumping to another file, you can use two predefined marks which are very
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208 useful: >
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209
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210 `"
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211
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212 This takes you to the position where the cursor was when you left the file.
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213 Another mark that is remembered is the position where you made the last
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214 change: >
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215
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216 `.
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217
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12499
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218 Suppose you are editing the file "one.txt". Somewhere halfway through the
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219 file you use "x" to delete a character. Then you go to the last line with "G"
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220 and write the file with ":w". You edit several other files, and then use
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221 ":edit one.txt" to come back to "one.txt". If you now use `" Vim jumps to the
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222 last line of the file. Using `. takes you to the position where you deleted
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223 the character. Even when you move around in the file `" and `. will take you
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224 to the remembered position. At least until you make another change or leave
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225 the file.
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226
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227
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228 FILE MARKS
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229
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19813
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230 In section |03.10| was explained how you can place a mark in a file with "mx"
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231 and jump to that position with "`x". That works within one file. If you edit
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232 another file and place marks there, these are specific for that file. Thus
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233 each file has its own set of marks, they are local to the file.
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234 So far we were using marks with a lowercase letter. There are also marks
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235 with an uppercase letter. These are global, they can be used from any file.
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12499
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236 For example suppose that we are editing the file "foo.txt". Go to halfway
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237 down the file ("50%") and place the F mark there (F for foo): >
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238
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239 50%mF
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240
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241 Now edit the file "bar.txt" and place the B mark (B for bar) at its last line:
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242 >
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243 GmB
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244
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245 Now you can use the "'F" command to jump back to halfway foo.txt. Or edit yet
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246 another file, type "'B" and you are at the end of bar.txt again.
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247
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248 The file marks are remembered until they are placed somewhere else. Thus you
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249 can place the mark, do hours of editing and still be able to jump back to that
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250 mark.
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251 It's often useful to think of a simple connection between the mark letter
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252 and where it is placed. For example, use the H mark in a header file, M in
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253 a Makefile and C in a C code file.
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254
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255 To see where a specific mark is, give an argument to the ":marks" command: >
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256
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257 :marks M
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258
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259 You can also give several arguments: >
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260
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261 :marks MCP
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262
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263 Don't forget that you can use CTRL-O and CTRL-I to jump to older and newer
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264 positions without placing marks there.
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265
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266 ==============================================================================
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267 *07.4* Backup files
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268
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237
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269 Usually Vim does not produce a backup file. If you want to have one, all you
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270 need to do is execute the following command: >
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271
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272 :set backup
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273
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274 The name of the backup file is the original file with a ~ added to the end.
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275 If your file is named data.txt, for example, the backup file name is
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276 data.txt~.
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277 If you do not like the fact that the backup files end with ~, you can
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278 change the extension: >
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279
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280 :set backupext=.bak
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281
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282 This will use data.txt.bak instead of data.txt~.
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283 Another option that matters here is 'backupdir'. It specifies where the
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284 backup file is written. The default, to write the backup in the same
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285 directory as the original file, will mostly be the right thing.
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286
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287 Note:
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288 When the 'backup' option isn't set but the 'writebackup' is, Vim will
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289 still create a backup file. However, it is deleted as soon as writing
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290 the file was completed successfully. This functions as a safety
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291 against losing your original file when writing fails in some way (disk
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292 full is the most common cause; being hit by lightning might be
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293 another, although less common).
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294
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295
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296 KEEPING THE ORIGINAL FILE
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297
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298 If you are editing source files, you might want to keep the file before you
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299 make any changes. But the backup file will be overwritten each time you write
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300 the file. Thus it only contains the previous version, not the first one.
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301 To make Vim keep the original file, set the 'patchmode' option. This
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302 specifies the extension used for the first backup of a changed file. Usually
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303 you would do this: >
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304
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305 :set patchmode=.orig
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306
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307 When you now edit the file data.txt for the first time, make changes and write
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308 the file, Vim will keep a copy of the unchanged file under the name
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309 "data.txt.orig".
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310 If you make further changes to the file, Vim will notice that
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311 "data.txt.orig" already exists and leave it alone. Further backup files will
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312 then be called "data.txt~" (or whatever you specified with 'backupext').
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313 If you leave 'patchmode' empty (that is the default), the original file
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314 will not be kept.
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315
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316 ==============================================================================
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317 *07.5* Copy text between files
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318
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319 This explains how to copy text from one file to another. Let's start with a
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320 simple example. Edit the file that contains the text you want to copy. Move
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321 the cursor to the start of the text and press "v". This starts Visual mode.
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322 Now move the cursor to the end of the text and press "y". This yanks (copies)
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323 the selected text.
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324 To copy the above paragraph, you would do: >
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325
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326 :edit thisfile
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327 /This
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328 vjjjj$y
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329
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330 Now edit the file you want to put the text in. Move the cursor to the
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331 character where you want the text to appear after. Use "p" to put the text
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332 there. >
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333 :edit otherfile
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334 /There
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335 p
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336
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337 Of course you can use many other commands to yank the text. For example, to
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338 select whole lines start Visual mode with "V". Or use CTRL-V to select a
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339 rectangular block. Or use "Y" to yank a single line, "yaw" to yank-a-word,
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340 etc.
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341 The "p" command puts the text after the cursor. Use "P" to put the text
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342 before the cursor. Notice that Vim remembers if you yanked a whole line or a
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343 block, and puts it back that way.
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344
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345
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346 USING REGISTERS
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347
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348 When you want to copy several pieces of text from one file to another, having
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349 to switch between the files and writing the target file takes a lot of time.
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350 To avoid this, copy each piece of text to its own register.
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351 A register is a place where Vim stores text. Here we will use the
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352 registers named a to z (later you will find out there are others). Let's copy
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353 a sentence to the f register (f for First): >
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354
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355 "fyas
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356
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357 The "yas" command yanks a sentence like before. It's the "f that tells Vim
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12045
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358 the text should be placed in the f register. This must come just before the
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359 yank command.
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360 Now yank three whole lines to the l register (l for line): >
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361
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362 "l3Y
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363
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364 The count could be before the "l just as well. To yank a block of text to the
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365 b (for block) register: >
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366
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367 CTRL-Vjjww"by
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368
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369 Notice that the register specification "b is just before the "y" command.
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370 This is required. If you would have put it before the "w" command, it would
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371 not have worked.
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372 Now you have three pieces of text in the f, l and b registers. Edit
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373 another file, move around and place the text where you want it: >
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374
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375 "fp
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376
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377 Again, the register specification "f comes before the "p" command.
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378 You can put the registers in any order. And the text stays in the register
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379 until you yank something else into it. Thus you can put it as many times as
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380 you like.
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381
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382 When you delete text, you can also specify a register. Use this to move
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383 several pieces of text around. For example, to delete-a-word and write it in
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384 the w register: >
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385
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386 "wdaw
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387
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388 Again, the register specification comes before the delete command "d".
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389
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390
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391 APPENDING TO A FILE
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392
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393 When collecting lines of text into one file, you can use this command: >
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394
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395 :write >> logfile
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396
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397 This will write the text of the current file to the end of "logfile". Thus it
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398 is appended. This avoids that you have to copy the lines, edit the log file
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399 and put them there. Thus you save two steps. But you can only append to the
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400 end of a file.
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401 To append only a few lines, select them in Visual mode before typing
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402 ":write". In chapter 10 you will learn other ways to select a range of lines.
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403
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404 ==============================================================================
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405 *07.6* Viewing a file
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406
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407 Sometimes you only want to see what a file contains, without the intention to
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408 ever write it back. There is the risk that you type ":w" without thinking and
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409 overwrite the original file anyway. To avoid this, edit the file read-only.
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410 To start Vim in readonly mode, use this command: >
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411
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412 vim -R file
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413
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414 On Unix this command should do the same thing: >
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415
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416 view file
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417
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418 You are now editing "file" in read-only mode. When you try using ":w" you
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419 will get an error message and the file won't be written.
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420 When you try to make a change to the file Vim will give you a warning:
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421
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422 W10: Warning: Changing a readonly file ~
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423
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424 The change will be done though. This allows for formatting the file, for
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425 example, to be able to read it easily.
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426 If you make changes to a file and forgot that it was read-only, you can
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427 still write it. Add the ! to the write command to force writing.
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428
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429 If you really want to forbid making changes in a file, do this: >
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430
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431 vim -M file
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432
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433 Now every attempt to change the text will fail. The help files are like this,
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434 for example. If you try to make a change you get this error message:
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435
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436 E21: Cannot make changes, 'modifiable' is off ~
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437
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438 You could use the -M argument to setup Vim to work in a viewer mode. This is
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439 only voluntary though, since these commands will remove the protection: >
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440
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441 :set modifiable
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442 :set write
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443
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444 ==============================================================================
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445 *07.7* Changing the file name
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446
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447 A clever way to start editing a new file is by using an existing file that
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448 contains most of what you need. For example, you start writing a new program
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449 to move a file. You know that you already have a program that copies a file,
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450 thus you start with: >
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451
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452 :edit copy.c
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453
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454 You can delete the stuff you don't need. Now you need to save the file under
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455 a new name. The ":saveas" command can be used for this: >
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456
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457 :saveas move.c
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458
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459 Vim will write the file under the given name, and edit that file. Thus the
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460 next time you do ":write", it will write "move.c". "copy.c" remains
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461 unmodified.
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462 When you want to change the name of the file you are editing, but don't
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463 want to write the file, you can use this command: >
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464
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465 :file move.c
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466
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467 Vim will mark the file as "not edited". This means that Vim knows this is not
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468 the file you started editing. When you try to write the file, you might get
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469 this message:
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470
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471 E13: File exists (use ! to override) ~
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472
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473 This protects you from accidentally overwriting another file.
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474
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475 ==============================================================================
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476
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477 Next chapter: |usr_08.txt| Splitting windows
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478
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479 Copyright: see |manual-copyright| vim:tw=78:ts=8:noet:ft=help:norl:
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