vim-scripts / Grep.vim

This is a mirror of http://www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=311

Overview

The grep plugin integrates the grep, fgrep, egrep, and agrep tools with Vim and allows you to search for a pattern in one or more files and jump to them.

To use this plugin, you need the grep, fgrep, egrep, agrep, find and xargs utilities. These tools are present in most of the Unix installations. For MS-Windows systems, you can download the GNU grep and find utilities from the following sites:

http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/grep.htm http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/findutils.htm

Usage

The grep.vim plugin introduces the following Vim commands:

:Grep - Search for the specified pattern in the specified files :GrepAdd - Same as ":Grep" but adds the results to the current results :Rgrep - Run recursive grep :RgrepAdd - Same as ":Rgrep" but adds the results to the current results :GrepBuffer - Search for a pattern on all open buffers :GrepBufferAdd - Same as ":GrepBuffer" but adds the results to the current results :Bgrep - Same as :GrepBuffer :BgrepAdd - Same as :GrepBufferAdd :GrepArgs - Search for a pattern on all the Vim argument filenames (:args) :GrepArgsAdd - Same as ":GrepArgs" but adds the results to the current results :Fgrep - Run fgrep :FgrepAdd - Same as ":Fgrep" but adds the results to the current results :Rfgrep - Run recursive fgrep :RfgrepAdd - Same as ":Rfgrep" but adds the results to the current results :Egrep - Run egrep :EgrepAdd - Same as ":Egrep" but adds the results to the current results :Regrep - Run recursive egrep :RegrepAdd - Same as ":Regrep" but adds the results to the current results :Agrep - Run agrep :AgrepAdd - Same as ":Agrep" but adds the results to the current results :Ragrep - Run recursive agrep :RagrepAdd - Same as ":Ragrep" but adds the results to the current results

The above commands can be invoked like this:

:Grep [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :Rgrep [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :Fgrep [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :Rfgrep [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :Egrep [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :Regrep [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :Agrep [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :Ragrep [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]]

:GrepAdd [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :RgrepAdd [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :FgrepAdd [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :RfgrepAdd [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :EgrepAdd [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :RegrepAdd [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :AgrepAdd [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]] :RagrepAdd [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern> [<file_name(s)>]]

:GrepBuffer [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern>] :Bgrep [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern>] :GrepArgs [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern>]

:GrepBufferAdd [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern>] :BgrepAdd [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern>] :GrepArgsAdd [<grep_options>] [<search_pattern>]

In the above commands, all the arguments are optional.

You can specify grep options like -i (ignore case) or -w (search for a word) to the above commands. If the <grep_options> are not specified, then the default grep options specified by the variable Grep_Default_Options is used.

You can specify the grep pattern to search as an argument to the above commands. If the <search_pattern> is not specified, then you will be prompted to enter a search pattern. By default, the keyword under the cursor is displayed for the search pattern prompt. You can accept the default or modify it.

The search pattern is automatically enclosed by the character specified in the Grep_Shell_Quote_Char variable. You should not enclose the search pattern with a shell escape character.

If you want to specify a search pattern with space characters or a multi-word pattern, then you should use the Grep command pattern input prompt to supply the pattern.

You can specify one or more file names (or file patterns) to the above commands. If the <file_names> are not specified, then you will be prompted to enter file names. By default, the pattern specified by the Grep_Default_Filelist variable is used. To specify the file name(s) as an argument to the above commands, you have to specify the search pattern also.

When you enter only the command name, you will be prompted to enter the search pattern and the files in which to search for the pattern. By default, the keyword under the cursor is displayed for the search pattern prompt. Depending on the command, you may prompted for additional parameters like the directories to search for the pattern.

You can retrieve previously entered values for the Grep prompts using the up and down arrow keys. You can cancel the command by pressing the escape key. You can use CTRL-U to erase the default shown for the prompt and CTRL-W to erase the previous word in the prompt. For more information about editing the prompt, read ':help cmdline-editing' Vim help topic.

After invoking any of the grep commands, you can cancel the command, when you are prompted for a search pattern or file names or a directory by pressing the key. You cannot cancel (or kill) the grep/fgrep/egrep/agrep commands after the external command is invoked.

The GrepAdd, RgrepAdd and other *Add commands append the search output to the current search output. This is useful if you want to see the search results for multiple patterns at the same time. These commands are available only in Vim version 7.0 and above.

You can map a key to invoke any of the above commands. For example, the following map invokes the :Grep command to search for the keyword under the cursor:

  nnoremap <silent> <F3> :Grep<CR>

The output of the grep command will be listed in the Vim quickfix window.

1. You can select a line in the quickfix window and press or double click on a match to jump to that line.
2. You can use the ":cnext" and ":cprev" commands to the jump to the next or previous output line.
3. You can use the ":colder" and ":cnewer" commands to go between multiple grep quickfix output windows.
4. The quickfix window need not be opened always to use the grep output. You can close the quickfix window and use the quickfix commands to jump to the grep matches. Use the ":copen" command to open the quickfix window again.

For more information about other quickfix commands read ":help quickfix"

When using GUI Vim, the Tools->Search menu item with a few sub-menu items is created for few variations of the search command.

Configuration

By changing the following variables you can configure the behavior of this plugin. Set the following variables in your .vimrc file using the 'let' command.

The 'Grep_Path' variable is used to locate the grep utility. By default, this is set to grep. You can change this using the let command:

  :let Grep_Path = 'd:\tools\grep.exe'

The 'Fgrep_Path' variable is used to locate the fgrep utility. By default, this is set to fgrep. You can change this using the let command:

  :let Fgrep_Path = 'd:\tools\fgrep.exe'

The 'Egrep_Path' variable is used to locate the egrep utility. By default, this is set to egrep. You can change this using the let command:

  :let Egrep_Path = 'd:\tools\egrep.exe'

The 'Agrep_Path' variable is used to locate the agrep utility. By default, this is set to agrep. You can change this using the let command:

  :let Agrep_Path = 'd:\tools\agrep.exe'

The 'Grep_Find_Path' variable is used to locate the find utility. By default, this is set to 'find'. Note that on MS-Windows, there is a find.exe that is part of the base OS. This find utility is different from the the Unix find utility. You cannot use this utility with this plugin. You must install the Unix compatible find utility and set the Grep_Find_Path variable to point to the location of the utility. You can change this using the let command:

  :let Grep_Find_Path = 'd:\tools\find.exe'

The 'Grep_Xargs_Path' variable is used to locate the xargs utility. By default, this is set to xargs. You can change this using the let command:

  :let Grep_Xargs_Path = 'd:\tools\xargs.exe'

When running any one of the Grep commands, you will be prompted for the files in which to search for the pattern. The 'Grep_Default_Filelist' variable is used to specify to default for this prompt. By default, this variable is set to '*'. You can specify multiple matching patterns separated by spaces. You can change this settings using the let command:

  :let Grep_Default_Filelist = '*.[chS]'
  :let Grep_Default_Filelist = '*.c *.cpp *.asm'

The 'Grep_Default_Options' is used to pass default command line options to the grep/fgrep/egrep/agrep utilities. By default, this is set to an empty string. You can change this using the let command:

  :let Grep_Default_Options = '-i'

The 'Grep_Skip_Dirs' variable specifies the list of directories to skip while doing recursive searches. By default, this is set to 'RCS CVS SCCS'. You can change this using the let command:

  :let Grep_Skip_Dirs = 'dir1 dir2 dir3'

The 'Grep_Skip_Files' variable specifies the list of files to skip while doing recursive searches. By default, this is set to '*~ ,v s.'. You can change this using the let command:

  :let Grep_Skip_Files = '*.bak *~'

By default, when you invoke the Grep commands the quickfix window will be opened with the grep output. You can disable opening the quickfix window, by setting the 'Grep_OpenQuickfixWindow' variable to zero:

  :let Grep_OpenQuickfixWindow = 0

You can manually open the quickfix window using the :cwindow command.

By default, for recursive searches, the 'find' and 'xargs' utilities are used. If you don't have the 'xargs' utility or don't want to use the 'xargs' utility, " then you can set the 'Grep_Find_Use_Xargs' variable to zero. If this is set to zero, then only the 'find' utility is used for recursive searches:

  :let Grep_Find_Use_Xargs = 0

To handle file names with space characters in them, the xargs utility is invoked with the '-0' argument. If the xargs utility in your system doesn't accept the '-0' argument, then you can change the Grep_Xargs_Options variable. For example, to use the '--null' xargs argument, you can use the following command:

:let Grep_Xargs_Options = '--null'

The Grep_Cygwin_Find variable should be set to 1, if you are using the find utility from the cygwin package. This setting is used to handle the difference between the backslash and forward slash path separators.

  :let Grep_Cygwin_Find = 1

The 'Grep_Null_Device' variable specifies the name of the null device to pass to the grep commands. This is needed to force the grep commands to print the name of the file in which a match is found, if only one filename is specified. For Unix systems, this is set to /dev/null and for MS-Windows systems, this is set to NUL. You can modify this by using the let command:

  :let Grep_Null_Device = '/dev/null'

The 'Grep_Shell_Quote_Char' variable specifies the quote character to use for protecting patterns from being interpreted by the shell. For Unix systems, this is set to "'" and for MS-Window systems, this is set to an empty string. You can change this using the let command:

  :let Grep_Shell_Quote_Char = "'"

The 'Grep_Shell_Escape_Char' variable specifies the escape character to use for protecting special characters from being interpreted by the shell. For Unix systems, this is set to '&#039 and for MS-Window systems, this is set to an empty string. You can change this using the let command:

  :let Grep_Shell_Escape_Char = "'"