In vim, I can type :oldfiles to see a list of files I've previously edited. Awesome feature!
But now I want to open one or more files from that list into a buffer. How can I do that?
Once you are at the bottom of the list you are supposed to press : and issue a command, using this "weird" notation:
:command #<91
where command could be any edit-like command (:edit, :tabedit, :split, :vsplit, :next, :args, etc.) and #< means "old file number…".
To edit entry 91, use:
:e #<91
To edit entries 18, 42 and 93, use:
:args #<18 #<42 #<93
If you use :help oldfiles, you will find the command :browse oldfiles which should do what you want.
:bro[wse] ol[dfiles][!]
List file names as with |:oldfiles|, and then prompt
for a number. When the number is valid that file from
the list is edited.
If you get the |press-enter| prompt you can press "q"
and still get the prompt to enter a file number.
Use ! to abandon a modified buffer. |abandon|
{not when compiled with tiny or small features}
Nearly 8 years later I stumbled on this old question and thought I'd update with what I do now (which is miles ahead of where this question ended).
I use fzf.vim and just type :History and then get an awesome fuzzy search over :oldfiles !
Related
I used to work with netbeans and it always put an asterisk and changed the tab color when the file had changed since last save. Is there any way to make vim do something similar, that is, remind me that I haven't saved the file?
I know that there is a way to have it save automatically once in a while, but I don't want to do that.
You can use the m flag in the 'statusline' option to add a [+] if file is modified. Note that in order to see the statusline, you'll need to set 'laststatus' to be greater than 0 (1-Only shows status line if there are two or more windows, 2-Always).
If you're using a GUI-version, such as MacVim, you may prefer to set 'titlestring', which uses the same syntax but will alter the name of the window in your window-manager.
Example:
:set laststatus=2
:set statusline=[%n]\ %<%f%h%m
This will display:
[: literal
%n: buffer number
]: literal
\<Space>: a space
%<: Truncate the field at the beginning if too long
%f: Path to the file in the buffer, as typed or relative to current
directory.
%h: Help buffer flag, text is "[help]".
%m: Modified flag, text is "[+]"; "[-]" if 'modifiable' is off.
For more information see:
:help status-line
Call :ls and you will see a + before unsaved buffers
If the terminal displays its title somewhere, it's possible to use
:set title
to display whether the file is modified: a + is displayed after the file name if it's modified.
However, a file can have + at the end of its file name. For most files this should work fine.
Source: https://stackoverflow.com/a/13244715/5267751
Pressing Ctrl+g (or equivalently :f) in normal mode will show the file status, which indicates whether the file is modified.
The status looks like this
"file_name" 100 lines --20%--
if the file is not modified, or
"file_name" [Modified] 100 lines --20%--
if the file is modified.
For more info see :help ^g.
How can I create a Vim command and copy it's results to clipboard?
I want to convert Markdown to HTML and copy the result to the clipboard. So far I got:
nmap md :%!/bin/markdown/Markdown.pl --html4tags
But this will substitute my opened file on Vim to the result of Markdown.
You didn't say which system you're using, but generally saving it in the +
register should work. You can call system():
:let #+=system("markdown --html4tags", join(getline(1,line("$")), "\n"))
The system() function takes the second parameter (optional) as input to the
command, and here I'm using a chain of other functions to retrieve the contents
of the current buffer. Not sure, but there should be a better way to do it (if
someone knows, please let me know).
Alternatively, you can pass markdown your file name as input directly:
:let #+=system("markdown --html4tags " . shellescape(expand("%:p")))
But keep in mind that you'll need to write the file before calling this.
Two important notes:
I didn't type your full path to markdown. Use it.
I didn't use maps here, the final result would be something like:
nnoremap md :let #+=system(...)
get the xsel package
and pipe stdout to xsel --clipboard
For instance:
cat /etc/passwd | xsel --clipboard
Is that what you're looking for?
Filling in a missing piece (2+ years late). With the clarification that the user was on a Mac and since the asker's "why doesn't it work for me?" question was not answered.
To redirect the output of a command to the system clipboard from within MacVim (GUI version) you need to set the '*' to be the "clipboard register" you need to change the clipboard setting to 'unnamed':
set clipboard 'unnamed' # 'cb' can be substituted for 'clipboard'
Then sidyll's answer should work except specify the '*' register and not the '+' register:
:let #*=system(...)
The clipboard feature is likely not compiled into the "terminal version" of MacVim and when it is available option setting is different from 'unnamed'. To see more details regarding what works where and how, see the documentation in MacVim using the Vim help command:
:help 'clipboard' (include the single quotes since it's a set option!)
(I'll skip the command mapping issue since it always takes me several tries and I still have to look it up; finding the help for the mapping commands should be easier than finding it for the * register.)
So, fiddling with the EasyGrep.vim plugin, trying to get it into a state that suits me.
I am using it for recursive searching of a Rails project. Ive almost got it how I want it, this is an example of the grep command my modified EasyGrep executes:
:grep -R -i --include=*.rb --include=*.rbw --include=*.gem --include=*.gemspec --include=[rR]akefile --include=*.erb --include=*.rhtml SEARCH_WORD .
Which finds the word under the cursor, and opens the search results in quicklist.
Only problem is, :grep seems to automatically open the file containing the first match into the current buffer, which I do not want it to do, because then I lose the file I was just looking at.
Anyone know how I can prevent this behavior? Or, at least a hacky workaround that reopens the file I was searching from?
:vimgrep is not an option - its far too slow.
From :help :grep:
Just like ":make", but use 'grepprg' instead of 'makeprg' and 'grepformat' instead of 'errorformat'.
From :help :make:
If [!] is not given the first error is jumped to.
So: :grep!
Add this to your .vimrc:
let g:EasyGrepOpenWindowOnMatch=0
EasyGrep has many options that can control how it behave. Type :GrepOptions for a listing of all of these.
I just ran :help registers in Vim and noticed that # 'contains the name of the alternate file'.
I have seen an example for renaming files that goes like this:
" Save the current file, foo.txt, as bar.txt
:w bar.txt
" Start editing bar.txt
:e#
So apparently in that case, the file you just saved out is the "alternate file."
Can someone give me a more general definition for the "alternate file" and what else you might use it for?
The alternate file is the file that was last edited in the current window. Actually when you use some command to open a new buffer, if the buffer that was displayed had a filename associated with it, that filename is recorded as alternate file name.
See :help alternate-file.
Very useful for...
Pasting in the name of a file I've just been looking at into the current file.
You can use <C-R># for this in insert mode or "#p in normal mode.
Not that useful for...
Jumping back and forth between two files. It does the job very well, but this is just something I don't generally need to do.
Even in the example given, I'd probably use:saveas bar.txt instead.
An Example:
Say if you're doing a bit of C programming and want to call some function. You can't remember the name of the function, so you place a mark on your current location mA and jump into several different files using tags or grep to find out where the function is declared and what it's actually called.
Ah - found it. You can copy the name and return to the mark yiw'A
Uh-oh - we also need to #include the file! Easy - just use the alternate file name register to paste the file name in... Gi#include"<C-R>#"
Be pleased that you've avoided the distraction of having to go back to the function's declaration and copy out the file name via :let #"=#% or something similar.
What I'd rather do when jumping between files:
When editing two files, it's probably easier to split them, so you can keep both on screen at the same time. If I'm editing 2 files I'll usually be comparing them in some way.
Usually I'm interested in 1-3 files (any more and I get confused). I'll often jump into or directly open many other files. Marking the interesting files, or traversing the jump list is usually the way to get around in this case.
If you're editing C/C++ where you're switching between a file and it's header, use a plugin! It will be much more convenient.
I use it in the buffer context to return to the last buffer that I was editing
vim foo bar
:n
:e#
will take you back to foo in that case
I 've always interpreted the "alternate file" as being the "previous file", so it is an handy way to jump back to the buffer you were editing.
I want to get the file name without the file extension in Vim.
I wrote the following function in my .vimrc file to compile and run the Java program:
:function! JAVA_RUN()
:!javac %^M
:endfunction
map <F3> :execute JAVA_RUN()<CR> :source $HOME/.vimrc<CR>
How can I get the file name without the extension inside the function?
:help expand() should give you the answer, see expand().
You should use the r modifier for %, with %:r instead of % to get the file name without extension.
If you want to write functions to build and execute files, you should also have a look at the documentation for shellescape, in order to prevent problems with spaces in file name or path.
If you want to expand a filename (other than % etc) take a look at fnamemodify()
fnamemodify({fname}, {mods}) *fnamemodify()*
Modify file name {fname} according to {mods}. {mods} is a
string of characters like it is used for file names on the
command line. See |filename-modifiers|.
fnamemodify("main.java", ":r") returns main.
I literally just read a similar question to this (in that someone else seemed to be trying to configure vim to build automagically for them with the F-key), and wrote an answer about how you can leverage the power of vim's :make command without even needing to write a Makefile. In your case, it's less directly related to the question, but I thought I'd mention it in case you were interested.
Furthermore, someone seems to have written something on Vim Tips Wiki about how to set up vim's :make command to specifically work with Java projects built with ant. I haven't worked with Java in a while myself, but in your case specifically it might be a good place to get started.
I came here looking for an answer for a similar question. I wanted to be able to extract the current class name from the java file being edited. I found a very neat way to do this in vim with an abbreviation:
ab xclass <C-R>=expand('%:t:r')<CR>
Place this line in your .vimrc (or similar) for this to work. An abbreviation will auto-trigger as soon as you press space, and so I usually prefix them with 'x' to avoid their accidental expansion.
The trick here is the combination of :t and :r in the argument to expand(). % is the "current file name", :t selects just the tail of the path ("last path component only") and :r selects just the root ("one extension removed"). (quoted parts are from the official expand() documentation.)
So when you are creating a new class in file /a/b/ClassIAmAboutToCreate.java you would type:
public class xclass {
the moment you press space after "xclass", the abbreviation will be expanded to public class ClassIAmAboutToCreate, which is exactly what you need.
Also, note that an abbreviation can be triggered by pressing Ctrl+] which avoids inserting a space after the class name.