oldfilesearch.vim

Add :OldFileSearch command to filter a list of :oldfiles and regular buffers and display a selection menu to open one of them. The displayed files must exist and must match all patterns in their full paths and at least one pattern in their tail name. The patterns are matched as 'nomagic' regular expressions. The search is case insensitive unless there is an upper-case character in the pattern. The matching files are displayed together with their oldfile index #<n or with buffer number #n when already loaded in the editor.

Note: As of Vim 8 a similar selection can be accomplished using the built-in command :filter /pattern/ browse oldfiles. In a subtle difference the :OldFileSearch command presents only the existing files, makes it easier to use several patterns and allows to match a plain / or . without backslash quoting.

Tips

• To access more old files increase the ' entry in the 'viminfo' option. For example to remember the last 500 edited files, add the following line to your .vimrc

  let &viminfo = substitute(&viminfo, "'\\zs\\d*", "500", "")

• The response time of the initial call of :OldFileSearch can be improved with

  let g:oldfilesearch_enable_warm_up = 1
  

  which checks existence of old files in a background after vim startup. This makes a notable difference for old files residing on network or other lower-latency devices. The response is also improved for the fzf :History command.

• The :OldFileSearch command also supports <Tab> completion which allows to cycle over the matching files.

  :OldFileSearch plugin/ .vim<Tab>

Examples

• Select old files that contain vimrc in their name:

  :OldFileSearch vimrc

• Select oldfiles that contain both ftpl and python.vim in their full path. This should match ~/.vim/ftplugin/python.vim if present in :oldfiles.

  :OldFileSearch ftpl python.vim

• Select oldfiles that reside in some bin directory:

  :OldFileSearch /bin/

• Select oldfiles that reside under the .vim directory. Here the $ pattern is always a match within file tail therefore .vim/ may match anywhere in its full path.

  :OldFileSearch .vim/ $

License

Copyright (c) Pavol Juhas. Distributed under the same terms as Vim itself (see :help license).