Finding Files with 'path', Buffer List and Hidden Buffers

Suppose you have your include files located in "c:/prog/include". This command will add it to the 'path' option: > :set path+=c:/prog/include This directory is an absolute path. No matter where you are, it will be the same place. What if you have located files in a subdirectory, below where the file is? Then you can specify a relative path name. This starts with a dot: > :set path+=./proto This tells Vim to look in the directory "proto", below the directory where the file in which you use "gf" is. Thus using "gf" on "inits.h" will make Vim look for "proto/inits.h", starting in the directory of the file. Without the "./", thus "proto", Vim would look in the "proto" directory below the current directory. And the current directory might not be where the file that you are editing is located. The 'path' option allows specifying the directories where to search for files in many more ways. See the help on the 'path' option. The 'isfname' option is used to decide which characters are included in the file name, and which ones are not (e.g., the " character in the example above). When you know the file name, but it's not to be found in the file, you can type it: > :find inits.h Vim will then use the 'path' option to try and locate the file. This is the same as the ":edit" command, except for the use of 'path'. To open the found file in a new window use CTRL-W f instead of "gf", or use ":sfind" instead of ":find". A nice way to directly start Vim to edit a file somewhere in the 'path': > vim "+find stdio.h" This finds the file "stdio.h" in your value of 'path'. The quotes are necessary to have one argument |-+c|. ============================================================================== *22.4* The buffer list The Vim editor uses the term buffer to describe a file being edited. Actually, a buffer is a copy of the file that you edit. When you finish changing the buffer, you write the contents of the buffer to the file. Buffers not only contain file contents, but also all the marks, settings, and other stuff that goes with it. HIDDEN BUFFERS Suppose you are editing the file one.txt and need to edit the file two.txt. You could simply use ":edit two.txt", but since you made changes to one.txt that won't work. You also don't want to write one.txt yet. Vim has a solution for you: > :hide edit two.txt The buffer "one.txt" disappears from the screen, but Vim still knows that you are editing this buffer, so it keeps the modified text. This is called a hidden buffer: The buffer contains text, but you can't see it. The argument of ":hide" is another command. ":hide" makes that command behave as if the 'hidden' option was set. You could also set this option yourself. The effect is that when any buffer is abandoned, it becomes hidden. Be careful! When you have hidden buffers with changes, don't exit Vim without making sure you have saved all the buffers. INACTIVE BUFFERS When a buffer has been used once, Vim remembers

This section discusses how Vim uses the 'path' option to locate files using both relative and absolute paths, and introduces the `:find` command. It then explains the concept of buffers in Vim, including hidden buffers and the `:hide edit` command, which allows switching between files without saving changes.