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

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).