Find a file (via recursive directory search) in Vim

Question

Is there any way to search a directory recursively for a file (using wildcards when needed) in Vim? If not natively, is there a plugin that can handle this?

Answer 1

Quickfix-like result browsing

Usage:

Find my.regex

Outcome:

• a new tab opens
• each line contains a relative path that matches a grep -E regex
• hit:
  • <enter> or <C-w>gf to open the file on the current line in a new tab
  • gf to open the file on the current tab and lose the file list

Find all files instead:

Find

Alternative methods:

• Gfind my.regex: only search for Git tracked files (git ls-files). Fugitive request: https://github.com/tpope/vim-fugitive/issues/132#issuecomment-200749743
• Gtfind my.regex: like Gfind, but search from the git Top level instead of current directory
• Locate somefile: locate version

Code:

function! Find(cmd)
  let l:files = system(a:cmd)
  if (l:files =~ '^\s*$')
    echomsg 'No matching files.'
    return
  endif
  tabedit
  set filetype=filelist
      set buftype=nofile
  " TODO cannot open two such file lists with this. How to get a nice tab label then?
  " http://superuser.com/questions/715928/vim-change-label-for-specific-tab
  "file [filelist]
  put =l:files
  normal ggdd
  nnoremap <buffer> <Enter> <C-W>gf
  execute 'autocmd BufEnter <buffer> lcd ' . getcwd()
endfunction
command! -nargs=1 Find call Find("find . -iname '*'" . shellescape('<args>') . "'*'")
command! -nargs=1 Gfind call Find('git ls-files | grep -E ' . shellescape('<args>'))
command! -nargs=1 Gtfind call Find('git rev-parse --show-toplevel && git ls-files | grep -E ' . shellescape('<args>'))
command! -nargs=1 Locate call Find('locate ' . shellescape('<args>'))

Answer 2

Run:

:args `find . -name '*xml'`

Vim will run the shell command in backticks, put the list of files to arglist and open the first file. Then you can use :args to view the arglist (i.e. list the files found) and :n and :N to navigate forward and bacwards through the files in arglist. See https://vimhelp.org/editing.txt.html#%7Barglist%7D and https://vimhelp.org/editing.txt.html#backtick-expansion

Answer 3

You can use ! to run shell commands :

:! find . -name *.xml

Answer 4

ag tool and corresponding Ag vim plugin solves this problem perfectly:

To find a file using some pattern use:

AgFile! pattern

It will open quickfix window with results where you can choose.

You can add vim keybinding to call this command using selected word as a pattern.

nnoremap <silent> <C-h> :AgFile! '<C-R><C-W>'<CR>
vnoremap <silent> <C-h> y :AgFile! '<C-R>"'<CR>

Answer 5

I am surprised no one mentioned Unite.vim yet.

Finding files (fuzzily or otherwise) is just the very tip of the iceberg of what it can do for a developer. It has built in support for ag, git, and a myriad of other programs/utilities/vim plugins. The learning curve can be a bit steep, but i cannot imagine my life without it. User base is big, and bugs are fixed immediately.

Answer 6

vim as a builtin find command (:help find) but only open the first found file. However you can use this amazing plugin : FuzzyFinder which does everything you want and even more