Modern Vim

Tip 13

Searching Files with Grep-Alikes

Grep searches the contents of files for a specified pattern. Vim’s built-in :grep command executes grep and then parses the results and loads them into the quickfix list for easy navigation. While the built-in :grep command runs synchronously, the Grepper plugin makes it possible to run grep asynchronously. This means you can continue to operate Vim while the process runs in the background.

Preparation

In this tip, you’ll use the Grepper plugin^[37] by Marco Hinz. You can install it to your bundle package like this:

$ cd $VIMCONFIG/pack/bundle/start
$ git clone https://github.com/mhinz/vim-grepper.git

Run :helptags ALL, then you can find extensive documentation for the plugin by looking up ...