Shortcut to open file in Vim

Question

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

Answer 1

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 =expand("%:p:h") . "/" 

map ,cd :cd %:p:h 

Here's a sequence of events:

---

1. You are editing a file called test.java in "/home/prog"
2. ,cd -> Current working directory now becomes "/home/prog"
3. ,e -> Expands to ":e /home/prog" so that you can just fill in the file name, say test.h.

---

1. ,e -> Expands to ":e /home"
2. tab -> Cycle through subdirectories of /home
3. enter -> cd to the directory you want say /home/prog
4. ,e -> Expands to ":e /home/prog"