You can use special windows in Vim to improve your experience during programming.
It's a global window. So all tabs and windows sharing the same quick fix window. For more information run :h quickfix.txt. You can put data in it using command like :make, :grep and :vimgrep. You can use The Silver Searcher (ag) as a back-end for :grep by adding the following lines into your ~/.vimrc:
if executable("ag")
set grepprg=ag\ --vimgrep\ $*
set grepformat=%f:%l:%c:%m
endifNow you can use ag inside vim. For example you can search for "vector" in all C++ header and source files using :grep vector --cpp. You can use the following commands to use quick fix window:
:cwindow: open quick fix window:cfirst: jump to the first entry:clast: jump to the last entry:cnext: jump to the next entry:cprevious: jump to the previous entrywhen quick fix window is opened you can open the file in a new window using CTRL+ENTER.
Instead of :grep you can use:
:cexpr(system('ag --cpp vector'))Like :grep you can use :cwindow and other commands.
It's a window-local quick fix window. Let's say you have two projects ~/src/foo and ~/src/bar and you are working on foo. But you need to look for something on bar. You open bar on a new tab in Vim. You can even change the working directory for this tab using :tcd command. Now you want to search for something in bar but you don't want to modify quick fix that is used by foo. You can use location list using :lgrep command. Now you can open location window using :lwindow. The list of some commands:
:lgrep:lvimgrep:lmake:lwindow:lfirst:llast:lnext:lpreviousFor more information run :h location-list-window
If you are using a plugin like YouCompleteMe you've seen it when you are looking at a function signature. You've noticed it doesn't gain focus automatically. Also we only have one preview window per tab. Some useful commands:
:pclose or CTRL-w+z: close preview windowCTRL-w+P (note that P is a capital letter): go to preview windowFor more information run :h preview-window