Let's say I am in my home directory. I open a file that is present in some deep nested directory structure:
vim /some/really/long/path/file.txt
Now, within vim, I want to start a vertical split with another file from that same long location (but I don't want to change the current directory to that path, I still want to be in the home directory).
A layman (like me) will do something like:
:vsp /some/really/long/path/file2.txt
But I want to find out from all you VIM geniuses out there, is there an easier way to do this?
On the same note, if I had multiple files already open residing in different paths, can VIM automatically assign some sort of internal variables to all the locations? And then when I want to start a new VSP or SP with one of the files from one of those locations, I simply use those internal variables?
Try this:
:vs %:p:h/otherfile
as %:p:h gives you the path of the current file.
See :help %:p for more info.
Edit another file in the same directory:
:vs %<Tab><C-w><C-w><C-w>file2<Tab>
With a mapping:
nnoremap <key> :vs <C-R>=expand('%:p:h')<CR>
If you like more navigation than typing the commands, a convenient option could be the use of the embedded Explore command, which opens a window with the list files in the directory of the file in current buffer. Then you can navigate with the cursors and press v when over the file you want to open in a vertical split.
A convenient way is to map the Explore command, like:
" open embedded file system navigator
map <leader>\ :Explore<cr>
Press <leader>\ and navigate to the file, then press v.
With some versions of vim, the Explore window stays open after pressing v -- in that case, if you want to avoid extra burden to close the Explore window, you can do first the vertical split with :vsp, invoke :Expore and open the desired file by pressing Enter.
I want to create a key combination that would copy the text under the cursor, open the :find command, yank the word and then press Tab to autocomplete to the first filename in the list, so (in 99% of cases) I would have just to press enter to open the file.
map <Leader>o yw:find <C-R>"<Tab>
However, when I press <Leader>o, I get :find FileName^I in the command line instead. How can I make it react the same way as if I pressed the key myself?
You need the wildcharm options:
set wildcharm=<C-z>
map <Leader>o yw:find <C-R>"<C-z>
See :help 'wildcharm'.
Here is a more solid, non-recursive, alternative that doesn't clobber the unnamed register for no reason:
nnoremap <leader>o :find <C-r><C-w><C-z>
The gf (goto file) command should do the same thing as your mapping. This opens the file whose name is under or after the cursor.
If not getting the expected behaviour, it's worth checking the contents of the isfname option (use set isfname? to check). This specifies a list of characters that are treated as valid characters for file path names.
It’s also worth checking / setting the contents of Vim’s path option which lists the directories which are searched when using gf, :find and similar commands, e.g., the default setting on MS Windows is .,,:
. searches relative to the directory of the file currently being edited
,, (empty string) searches the current directory; use the cd command to check (or set) your current directory.
See
help gf
help isfname
help path
I'm starting to use vim's native explorer (:E). My doubt: when I press c to "make browsing directory the current directory" nothing happens.. When I used nerdTree and did the same operation (:NERDTreeCWD), that directory was placed at the top of the exporer and the directories upper were "hidden".
It just seems pressing c is not doing anything..
NOTE: Im using the tree view on explorer, instead of the default one. I pressed i to change the view.
Im using 7.4.52
The netrw command works different than NERDTree's. It doesn't apply to the directory under the cursor, but to the one currently being browsed. So if you want to make a subdir the current one, first go into it (via <Enter>), then press c.
To expand on Ingo's answer. If you always want netrw to make the current browsing directory the current vim directory, you can set the option let g:netrw_keepdir=0 in your .vimrc.
This allows you to use netrw to browse directories and use vim to operate in that directory. For example, you can use vim's command :e <filename> to create a new file instead of netrw's command % <filename>.
To learn more about netrw I recommend reading the help pages :help netrw-quickhelp
I want to change where vim looks for file completion, but only in insert mode. For example:
I open gvim inside of the CG-Website directory.
This is my directory structure:
Then i go in to the css folder and open style.css
using :e src/static/css/style.css
Now i am inside of style.css and i want to complete a file name that is down one directory.
I want to be able to type ../ in INSERT mode and have all the files/folders that are inside of the static folder show up, instead of the www folder which is what it does right now.
However I don't want to change the actual directory, because I still want :e to work normally.
Insert mode filename completion is always done from the "current directory" or "working directory" which may or may not be the directory of the current file. Since you don't want to change directories, filename completion can't work like you want it to work.
Actually, the last sentence of :h compl-filename should give you a hint:
Search for the first file name that starts with the
same characters as before the cursor. The matching
file name is inserted in front of the cursor.
Alphabetic characters and characters in 'isfname'
are used to decide which characters are included in
the file name. Note: the 'path' option is not used
here (yet).
One solution to this problem is to set autochdir so that Vim always changes the working directory to the directory of the current file and use a plugin like CtrlP (there are others) for navigation. When configured properly, CtrlP lets you navigate your files from your project's home as defined by the presence of a .git or similar directory. This is really handy.
However, you can get around that limitation relatively easily with set autochdir (again, you need it for filename completion to work like you -- and I -- want it to work) and a bit of creativity:
nnoremap <F9> :e ~/path/to/project/
Consider this mapping as a quick shortcut to your project.
I think you are approaching this the wrong way. You want to filter results relative to your last opened dir without changing your current dir and that doesn't quite make sense.
My recommendation is to use a tool what will allow you to quickly filter through all of your files from the root folder of your project.
Take a look at Command-T: Fast file navigation for VIM
PS: you need vim with ruby support for that.
I want to open a file in Vim like in Eclipse using Ctrl + Shift + R, or via the Ctrl + N option of autofill. Invoke a keyboard shortcut, type the file name/pattern, and choose from all the matching files names.
I know opening it normally like:
:tabe <filepath>
:new <filepath>
:edit <filepath>
The problem here is that I have to specify the whole file path in these cases.
What I normally do is e . (e-space-dot) which gives me a browsable current directory - then I can / - search for name fragments, just like finding a word in a text file. I find that generally good enough, simple and quick.
I recently fell in love with fuzzyfinder.vim
... :-)
:FuzzyFinderFile will let you open files by typing partial names or patterns.
:find is another option.
I open vim from the root of my project and have the path set to there.
Then, I can open files located anywhere in the tree using:
:find **/filena< tab >
Tab will autocomplete through various matches. (** tells it to search recursively through the path).
You can search for a file in the current path by using **:
:tabe **/header.h
Hit tab to see various completions if there is more than one match.
Consider using CtrlP plug-in.
It is included in Janus Distributive.
Allows you to find files in the current directory, open buffers or most recently used files using "fuzzy matching" or regular expression.
unless I'm missing something, :e filename is the fastest way I've found.
You can use tab to autocomplete the filename as well.
I like the :FuzzyFinderTextMate (or Ctrl + F) on my setup.
See http://weblog.jamisbuck.org/2008/10/10/coming-home-to-vim
I use a couple of shortcuts in my .vimrc file (exact syntax below).
They are based on the fact that in 90% of the cases, I want to open another file in the same directory as the file that I am currently editing, or in a directory that is very close in the hierarchy to that edited file.
Here's what the commands do do:
,cd : Change the current working directory to the directory that the current file you are editing is in.
,e : Opens a file with the current working directory already filled in so you have to specify only the filename.
Put these into your .vimrc:
map ,e :e <C-R>=expand("%:p:h") . "/" <CR>
map ,cd :cd %:p:h <CR>
Here's a sequence of events:
You are editing a file called test.java in "/home/prog"
,cd -> Current working directory now
becomes "/home/prog"
,e -> Expands to ":e /home/prog" so
that you can just fill in the file
name, say test.h.
,e -> Expands to ":e /home"
tab -> Cycle through subdirectories of /home
enter -> cd to the directory you
want say /home/prog
,e -> Expands to ":e /home/prog"
There's also command-t which I find to be the best of the bunch (and I've tried them all). It's a minor hassle to install it but, once it's installed, it's a dream to use.
https://wincent.com/products/command-t/
Use tabs, they work when inputting file paths in vim escape mode!
If you've got tags (and you should), you can open a file from the command line just by the name of the class or method or c function, with "vim -t DBPlaylist", and within vim with ":tag ShowList".
If you're editing files in a common directory, you can :cd to that directory, then use :e on just the filename.
For example, rather than:
:e /big/long/path/that/takes/a/while/to/type/or/tab/complete/thingy.rb
:sp /big/long/path/that/takes/a/while/to/type/or/tab/complete/other_thingy.c
:vs /big/long/path/that/takes/a/while/to/type/or/tab/complete/one_more_thingy.java
You can do:
:cd /big/long/path/that/takes/a/while/to/type/or/tab/complete/
:e thingy.rb
:sp other_thingy.c
:vs one_more_thingy.java
Or, if you already have a file in the desired directory open, you can use the % shorthand for the current filename, and trim it to the current directory with the :h modifier (:help :_%:) :
:e /big/long/path/that/takes/a/while/to/type/or/tab/complete/thingy.rb
:cd %:h
:sp other_thingy.c
:vs one_more_thingy.java
And, like others have said, you can tab-complete file names on the ex-line (see :help cmdline-completion for more).
This isn't exactly what you're looking for, but it's good in many cases (though not all).
If you VIM open and there's a name of a file in the buffer, you can put the cursor on that filename and type gf. This opens the file whose name is under the cursor in the same buffer. It's the same as
:e CTRL+r CTRL+w
I know three plugins that permit to open files, support auto-completion, and don't require to enter the full path name of the file(s) to open (as long as the files are under one of the directories from &path vim option):
searchInRuntime that I'm maintaining (the completion is not on :e/:find, but on split actions)
fuzzy finder as it has been already pointed out,
lookupfile.
Lately, I've seen another plugin with a similar feature, but I don't remember the name.
Soon, :find is likely support auto-completion -- patches on this topic are circulating on vim_dev mailing-list these days.
you can use (set wildmenu)
you can use tab to autocomplete filenames
you can also use matching, for example :e p*.dat or something like that (like in old' dos)
you could also :browse confirm e (for a graphical window)
but you should also probably specify what vim version you're using, and how that thing in emacs works. Maybe we could find you an exact vim alternative.
FuzzyFinder has been mentioned, however I love the textmate like behaviour of the FuzzyFinderTextmate plugin which extends the behaviour to include all subdirs.
Make sure you are using version 2.16 of fuzzyfinder.vim - The higher versions break the plugin.
With Exuberant ctags, you can create tag files with file information:
ctags --extra=+f -R *
Then, open file from VIM with
:tag filename
You can also use <tab> to autocomplete file name.
In GVIM, The file can be browsed using open / read / write dialog;
:browse {command}
{command} - open / read / write
open - Opens the file
read - Appends the file
write - SaveAs dialog
I installed FuzzyFinder. However, the limitation is that it only finds files in the current dir. One workaround to that is to add FuzzyFinderTextmate. However, based on the docs and commentary, that doesn't work reliably. You need the right version of FuzzyFinder and you need your copy of Vim to be compiled with Ruby support.
A different workaround I'm trying out now is to open all the files I'm likely to need at the beginning of the editing session. E.g., open all the files in key directories...
:args app/**
:args config/**
:args test/**
etc...
(This means I would have possibly scores of files open, however so far it still seems to work OK.)
After that, I can use FuzzyFinder in buffer mode and it will act somewhat like TextMate's command-o shortcut...
:FuzzyFinderBuffer