A.J.Mechelynck wrote:
Yes, using the :vimgrep command (Vim 7 and some versions of Vim 6) or
the external "grep" command (earlier versions):
:vimgrep /pattern/g ./**/*.[ch] " search the list of files
" for the /pattern/
:copen " open quickfix window
The second command above splits the Vim screen horizontally, with at
bottom a window containing one line per match. Hit <Enter> on any line
and the corresponding file is opened above the quickfix window, with
the cursor on the corresponding match. Or use the commands
:cfirst
:cnext
:cprevious
:clast
to navigate the list of matches, with or without opening the quickfix
window. When done, use
:cclose
(regardless of which window is current at the time) to close the
quickfix window.
As mentioned in :h vimgrep
Without the 'j' flag Vim jumps to the first match.
With 'j' only the quickfix list is updated.
With the [!] any changes in the current buffer are
abandoned.
I found it rather annoying that the initial search automatically jumped
to the first match, especially if one expects to get many results for
review. So executing
:vimgrep /pattern/gj ./**/*
will leave the current buffer as it is, after which doing a :copen, one
can check all the different matches and go from there.
To expand on Tony's tip, I have made a quick-n-dirty function to search
your current directory for a pattern, as below.
" Grep function {{{
function! SearchCurrentDirectory()
let s:pat=input("Grep: ")
let s:path=input("Path to search (ENTER for pwd): ", "", "dir")
let s:ext=input("File extension (ENTER for all files): ")
if s:ext==""
let s:ext="*"
endif
if s:path==""
let s:path="."
endif
if s:pat!=""
execute("vimgrep /".s:pat."/gj ".s:path."/**/*.".s:ext)
copen
endif
endfunction
nmap <silent> <F10> :execute SearchCurrentDirectory()<CR>
" }}} End Grep
Put the above in your vimrc file to load it on startup.
Another note to consider: in the quickfix window, you might want to open
a specific hit in a new window. Pressing ENTER on the current line will
open the hit in the current window. Pressing Ctrl-W ENTER, however,
opens a new window with the cursor on the selected instance of your
search pattern.
I can see I will be using this functionality extensively in the near future.
Happy Vimming!
--
Albie Janse van Rensburg (neonpill)
Registered Linux User 438873 | <http://counter.li.org>
