path: root/runtime/doc/quickfix.txt

*quickfix.txt*  For Vim version 7.0aa.  Last change: 2004 Jun 16


		  VIM REFERENCE MANUAL    by Bram Moolenaar


This subject is introduced in section |30.1| of the user manual.

1. Using QuickFix commands		|quickfix|
2. The error window			|quickfix-window|
3. Using more than one list of errors	|quickfix-error-lists|
4. Using :make				|:make_makeprg|
5. Using :grep				|grep|
6. Selecting a compiler			|compiler-select|
7. The error format			|error-file-format|
8. The directory stack			|quickfix-directory-stack|
9. Specific error file formats		|errorformats|

{Vi does not have any of these commands}

The quickfix commands are not available when the |+quickfix| feature was
disabled at compile time.

=============================================================================
1. Using QuickFix commands			*quickfix* *Quickfix* *E42*

Vim has a special mode to speedup the edit-compile-edit cycle.  This is
inspired by the quickfix option of the Manx's Aztec C compiler on the Amiga.
The idea is to save the error messages from the compiler in a file and use Vim
to jump to the errors one by one.  You can examine each problem and fix it,
without having to remember all the error messages.

If you are using Manx's Aztec C compiler on the Amiga look here for how to use
it with Vim: |quickfix-manx|.  If you are using another compiler you should
save the error messages in a file and start Vim with "vim -q filename".  An
easy way to do this is with the |:make| command (see below).  The
'errorformat' option should be set to match the error messages from your
compiler (see |errorformat| below).

The following quickfix commands can be used:

							*:cc*
:cc[!] [nr]		Display error [nr].  If [nr] is omitted, the same
			error is displayed again.  Without [!] this doesn't
			work when jumping to another buffer, the current buffer
			has been changed, there is the only window for the
			buffer and both 'hidden' and 'autowrite' are off.
			When jumping to another buffer with [!] any changes to
			the current buffer are lost, unless 'hidden' is set or
			there is another window for this buffer.
			The 'switchbuf' settings are respected when jumping
			to a buffer.

							*:cn* *:cnext* *E553*
:[count]cn[ext][!]	Display the [count] next error in the list that
			includes a file name.  If there are no file names at
			all, go to the [count] next error.  See |:cc| for
			[!] and 'switchbuf'.

:[count]cN[ext][!]			*:cp* *:cprevious* *:cN* *:cNext*
:[count]cp[revious][!]	Display the [count] previous error in the list that
			includes a file name.  If there are no file names at
			all, go to the [count] previous error.  See |:cc| for
			[!] and 'switchbuf'.

							*:cnf* *:cnfile*
:[count]cnf[ile][!]	Display the first error in the [count] next file in
			the list that includes a file name.  If there are no
			file names at all or if there is no next file, go to
			the [count] next error.  See |:cc| for [!] and
			'switchbuf'.

:[count]cNf[ile][!]			*:cpf* *:cpfile* *:cNf* *:cNfile*
:[count]cpf[ile][!]	Display the last error in the [count] previous file in
			the list that includes a file name.  If there are no
			file names at all or if there is no next file, go to
			the [count] previous error.  See |:cc| for [!] and
			'switchbuf'.

							*:crewind* *:cr*
:cr[ewind][!] [nr]	Display error [nr].  If [nr] is omitted, the FIRST
			error is displayed.  See |:cc|.

							*:cfirst* *:cfir*
:cfir[st][!] [nr]	Same as ":crewind".

							*:clast* *:cla*
:cla[st][!] [nr]	Display error [nr].  If [nr] is omitted, the LAST
			error is displayed.  See |:cc|.

							*:cq* *:cquit*
:cq[uit]		Quit Vim with an error code, so that the compiler
			will not compile the same file again.

							*:cf* *:cfile*
:cf[ile][!] [errorfile]	Read the error file and jump to the first error.
			This is done automatically when Vim is started with
			the -q option.  You can use this command when you
			keep Vim running while compiling.  If you give the
			name of the errorfile, the 'errorfile' option will
			be set to [errorfile].  See |:cc| for [!].

							*:cg* *:cgetfile*
:cg[etfile][!] [errorfile]
			Read the error file.  Just like ":cfile" but don't
			jump to the first error.

							*:cl* *:clist*
:cl[ist] [from] [, [to]]
			List all errors that are valid |quickfix-valid|.
			If numbers [from] and/or [to] are given, the respective
			range of errors is listed. A negative number counts
			from the last error backwards, -1 being the last error.
			The 'switchbuf' settings are respected when jumping
			to a buffer.

:cl[ist]! [from] [, [to]]
			List all errors.

If you insert or delete lines, mostly the correct error location is still
found because hidden marks are used.  Sometimes, when the mark has been
deleted for some reason, the message "line changed" is shown to warn you that
the error location may not be correct.  If you quit Vim and start again the
marks are lost and the error locations may not be correct anymore.

=============================================================================
2. The error window					*quickfix-window*

							*:cope* *:copen*
:cope[n] [height]	Open a window to show the current list of errors.
			When [height] is given, the window becomes that high
			(if there is room).  Otherwise the window is made ten
			lines high.
			The window will contain a special buffer, with
			'buftype' equal to "quickfix".  Don't change this!
			If there already is a quickfix window, it will be made
			the current window.  It is not possible to open a
			second quickfix window.

							*:ccl* *:cclose*
:ccl[ose]		Close the quickfix window.

							*:cw* *:cwindow*
:cw[indow] [height]	Open the quickfix window when there are recognized
			errors.  If the window is already open and there are
			no recognized errors, close the window.


Normally the quickfix window is at the bottom of the screen.  If there are
vertical splits, it's at the bottom of the rightmost column of windows.  To
make it always occupy the full width: >
	:botright cwindow
You can move the window around with |window-moving| commands.
For example, to move it to the top: CTRL-W K
The 'winfixheight' option will be set, which means that the window will mostly
keep its height, ignoring 'winheight' and 'equalalways'.  You can change the
height manually (e.g., by dragging the status line above it with the mouse).

In the quickfix window, each line is one error.  The line number is equal to
the error number.  You can use ":.cc" to jump to the error under the cursor.
Hitting the <CR> key or double-clicking the mouse on a line has the same
effect.  The file containing the error is opened in the window above the
quickfix window.  If there already is a window for that file, it is used
instead.  If the buffer in the used window has changed, and the error is in
another file, jumping to the error will fail.  You will first have to make
sure the window contains a buffer which can be abandoned.

When the quickfix window has been filled, two autocommand events are
triggered.  First the 'filetype' option is set to "qf", which triggers the
FileType event.  Then the BufReadPost event is triggered.  This can be used to
perform some action on the listed errors.  Example: >
	au BufReadPost quickfix  setlocal nomodifiable
		\ | silent g/^/s//\=line(".")." "/
		\ | setlocal modifiable
This prepends the line number to each line.  Note the use of "\=" in the
substitute string of the ":s" command, which is used to evaluate an
expression.

Note: Making changes in the quickfix window has no effect on the list of
errors.  'modifiable' is off to avoid making changes.  If you delete or insert
lines anyway, the relation between the text and the error number is messed up.
If you really want to do this, you could write the contents of the quickfix
window to a file and use ":cfile" to have it parsed and used as the new error
list.

=============================================================================
3. Using more than one list of errors			*quickfix-error-lists*

So far has been assumed that there is only one list of errors.  Actually the
ten last used lists are remembered.  When starting a new list, the previous
ones are automatically kept.  Two commands can be used to access older error
lists.  They set one of the existing error lists as the current one.

						*:colder* *:col* *E380*
:col[der] [count]	Go to older error list.  When [count] is given, do
			this [count] times.  When already at the oldest error
			list, an error message is given.

						*:cnewer* *:cnew* *E381*
:cnew[er] [count]	Go to newer error list.  When [count] is given, do
			this [count] times.  When already at the newest error
			list, an error message is given.

When adding a new error list, it becomes the current list.

When ":colder" has been used and ":make" or ":grep" is used to add a new error
list, one newer list is overwritten.  This is especially useful if you are
browsing with ":grep" |grep|.  If you want to keep the more recent error
lists, use ":cnewer 99" first.

=============================================================================
4. Using :make						*:make_makeprg*

							*:mak* *:make*
:mak[e][!] [arguments]	1. If the 'autowrite' option is on, write any changed
			   buffers
			2. An errorfile name is made from 'makeef'.  If
			   'makeef' doesn't contain "##", and a file with this
			   name already exists, it is deleted.
			3. The program given with the 'makeprg' option is
			   started (default "make") with the optional
			   [arguments] and the output is saved in the
			   errorfile (for Unix it is also echoed on the
			   screen).
			4. The errorfile is read using 'errorformat'.
			5. If [!] is not given the first error is jumped to.
			6. The errorfile is deleted.
			7. You can now move through the errors with commands
			   like |:cnext| and |:cprevious|, see above.
			This command does not accept a comment, any "
			characters are considered part of the arguments.

The ":make" command executes the command given with the 'makeprg' option.
This is done by passing the command to the shell given with the 'shell'
option.  This works almost like typing

	":!{makeprg} [arguments] {shellpipe} {errorfile}".

{makeprg} is the string given with the 'makeprg' option.  Any command can be
used, not just "make".  Characters '%' and '#' are expanded as usual on a
command-line.  You can use "%<" to insert the current file name without
extension, or "#<" to insert the alternate file name without extension, for
example: >
   :set makeprg=make\ #<.o

[arguments] is anything that is typed after ":make".
{shellpipe} is the 'shellpipe' option.
{errorfile} is the 'makeef' option, with ## replaced to make it unique.

The placeholder "$*" can be used for the argument list in {makeprog} if the
command needs some additional characters after its arguments.  The $* is
replaced then by all arguments.  Example: >
   :set makeprg=latex\ \\\\nonstopmode\ \\\\input\\{$*}
or simpler >
   :let &mp = 'latex \\nonstopmode \\input\{$*}'
"$*" can be given multiple times, for example: >
   :set makeprg=gcc\ -o\ $*\ $*

The 'shellpipe' option defaults to ">" for the Amiga, MS-DOS and Win32.  This
means that the output of the compiler is saved in a file and not shown on the
screen directly.  For Unix "| tee" is used.  The compiler output is shown on
the screen and saved in a file the same time.  Depending on the shell used
"|& tee" or "2>&1| tee" is the default, so stderr output will be included.

If 'shellpipe' is empty, the {errorfile} part will be omitted.  This is useful
for compilers that write to an errorfile themselves (e.g., Manx's Amiga C).

==============================================================================
5. Using :grep						*grep* *lid*

Vim can interface with "grep" and grep-like programs (such as the GNU
id-utils) in a similar way to its compiler integration (see |:make| above).

[Unix trivia: The name for the Unix "grep" command comes from ":g/re/p", where
"re" stands for Regular Expression.]

							    *:gr* *:grep*
:gr[ep][!] [arguments]	Just like ":make", but use 'grepprg' instead of
			'makeprg' and 'grepformat' instead of 'errorformat'.
							*:grepa* *:grepadd*
:grepa[dd][!] [arguments]
			Just like ":grep", but instead of making a new list of
			errors the matches are appended to the current list.
			Example: >
				:grep nothing %
				:bufdo grepadd! something %
<			The first command makes a new error list which is
			empty.  The second command executes "grepadd" for each
			listed buffer.  Note the use of ! to avoid that
			":grepadd" jumps to the first error, which is not
			allowed with |:bufdo|.

5.1 Setting up grep

If you have a standard "grep" program installed, the :grep command may work
well with the defaults. The syntax is very similar to the standard command: >

	:grep foo *.c

Will search all files with the .c extension for the substring "foo". The
arguments to :grep are passed straight to the "grep" program, so you can use
whatever options your "grep" supports.

By default, :grep invokes grep with the -n option (show file and line
numbers). You can change this with the 'grepprg' option. You will need to set
'grepprg' if:

a)	You are using a program that isn't called "grep"
b)	You have to call grep with a full path
c)	You want to pass other options automatically (e.g. case insensitive
	search.)

Once "grep" has executed, Vim parses the results using the 'grepformat'
option.  This option works in the same way as the 'errorformat' option - see
that for details.  You may need to change 'grepformat' from the default if
your grep outputs in a non-standard format, or you are using some other
program with a special format.

Once the results are parsed, Vim loads the first file containing a match and
jumps to the appropriate line, in the same way that it jumps to a compiler
error in |quickfix| mode.  You can then use the |:cnext|, |:clist|, etc.
commands to see the other matches.


5.2 Using :grep with id-utils

You can set up :grep to work with the GNU id-utils like this: >

	:set grepprg=lid\ -Rgrep\ -s
	:set grepformat=%f:%l:%m

then >
	:grep (regexp)

works just as you'd expect.
(provided you remembered to mkid first :)


5.3 Browsing source code with :grep

Using the stack of error lists that Vim keeps, you can browse your files to
look for functions and the functions they call.  For example, suppose that you
have to add an argument to the read_file() function.  You enter this command: >

	:grep read_file *.c

You use ":cn" to go along the list of matches and add the argument.  At one
place you have to get the new argument from a higher level function msg(), and
need to change that one too.  Thus you use: >

	:grep msg *.c

While changing the msg() functions, you find another function that needs to
get the argument from a higher level.  You can again use ":grep" to find these
functions.  Once you are finished with one function, you can use >

	:colder

to go back to the previous one.

This works like browsing a tree: ":grep" goes one level deeper, creating a
list of branches.  ":colder" goes back to the previous level.  You can mix
this use of ":grep" and "colder" to browse all the locations in a tree-like
way.  If you do this consistently, you will find all locations without the
need to write down a "todo" list.

=============================================================================
6. Selecting a compiler					*compiler-select*

						*:comp* *:compiler* *E666*
:comp[iler][!] {name}		Set options to work with compiler {name}.
				Without the "!" options are set for the
				current buffer.  With "!" global options are
				set.
				If you use ":compiler foo" in "file.foo" and
				then ":compiler! bar" in another buffer, Vim
				will keep on using "foo" in "file.foo".
				{not available when compiled without the
				|+eval| feature}


The Vim plugins in the "compiler" directory will set options to use the
selected compiler.  For ":compiler" local options are set, for ":compiler!"
global options.
							*current_compiler*
To support older Vim versions, the plugins always use "current_compiler" and
not "b:current_compiler".  What the command actually does is the following:

- Delete the "current_compiler" and "b:current_compiler" variables.
- Define the "CompilerSet" user command.  With "!" it does ":set", without "!"
  it does ":setlocal".
- Execute ":runtime! compiler/{name}.vim".  The plugins are expected to set
  options with "CompilerSet" and set the "current_compiler" variable to the
  name of the compiler.
- Delete the "CompilerSet user command.
- Set "b:current_compiler" to the value of "current_compiler".
- Without "!" the old value of "current_compiler" is restored.


For writing a compiler plugin, see |write-compiler-plugin|.


MANX AZTEC C				*quickfix-manx* *compiler-manx*

To use Vim with Manx's Aztec C compiler on the Amiga you should do the
following:
- Set the CCEDIT environment variable with the command: >
	mset "CCEDIT=vim -q"
- Compile with the -qf option.  If the compiler finds any errors, Vim is
  started and the cursor is positioned on the first error.  The error message
  will be displayed on the last line.  You can go to other errors with the
  commands mentioned above.  You can fix the errors and write the file(s).
- If you exit Vim normally the compiler will re-compile the same file.  If you
  exit with the :cq command, the compiler will terminate.  Do this if you
  cannot fix the error, or if another file needs to be compiled first.

There are some restrictions to the Quickfix mode on the Amiga.  The
compiler only writes the first 25 errors to the errorfile (Manx's
documentation does not say how to get more).  If you want to find the others,
you will have to fix a few errors and exit the editor.  After recompiling,
up to 25 remaining errors will be found.

If Vim was started from the compiler, the :sh and some :!  commands will not
work, because Vim is then running in the same process as the compiler and
stdin (standard input) will not be interactive.


PYUNIT COMPILER						*compiler-pyunit*

This is not actually a compiler, but a unit testing framework for the
Python language. It is included into standard Python distribution
starting from version 2.0. For older versions, you can get it from
http://pyunit.sourceforge.net.

When you run your tests with the help of the framework, possible errors
are parsed by Vim and presented for you in quick-fix mode.

Unfortunately, there is no standard way to run the tests.
The alltests.py script seems to be used quite often, that's all.
Useful values for the 'makeprg' options therefore are:
 setlocal makeprg=./alltests.py " Run a testsuite
 setlocal makeprg=python %      " Run a single testcase

Also see http://vim.sourceforge.net/tip_view.php?tip_id=280.


TEX COMPILER						*compiler-tex*

Included in the distribution compiler for TeX ($VIMRUNTIME/compiler/tex.vim)
uses make command if possible. If the compiler finds a file named "Makefile"
or "makefile" in the current directory, it supposes that you want to process
your *TeX files with make, and the makefile does the right work. In this case
compiler sets 'errorformat' for *TeX output and leaves 'makeprg' untouched. If
neither "Makefile" nor "makefile" is found, the compiler will not use make.
You can force the compiler to ignore makefiles by defining
b:tex_ignore_makefile or g:tex_ignore_makefile variable (they are checked for
existence only).

If the compiler chose not to use make, it need to choose a right program for
processing your input. If b:tex_flavor or g:tex_flavor (in this precedence)
variable exists, it defines TeX flavor for :make (actually, this is the name
of executed command), and if both variables do not exist, it defaults to
"latex". For example, while editing chapter2.tex \input-ed from mypaper.tex
written in AMS-TeX: >

	:let b:tex_flavor = 'amstex'
	:compiler tex
<	[editing...] >
	:make mypaper

Note that you must specify a name of the file to process as an argument (to
process the right file when editing \input-ed or \include-ed file; portable
solution for substituting % for no arguments is welcome). This is not in the
semantics of make, where you specify a target, not source, but you may specify
filename without extension ".tex" and mean this as "make filename.dvi or
filename.pdf or filename.some_result_extension according to compiler".

Note: tex command line syntax is set to usable both for MikTeX (suggestion
by Srinath Avadhanula) and teTeX (checked by Artem Chuprina). Suggestion
from |errorformat-LaTeX| is too complex to keep it working for different
shells and OSes and also does not allow to use other available TeX options,
if any. If your TeX doesn't support "-interaction=nonstopmode", please
report it with different means to express \nonstopmode from the command line.

=============================================================================
7. The error format					*error-file-format*

					*errorformat* *E372* *E373* *E374*
						*E375* *E376* *E377* *E378*
The 'errorformat' option specifies a list of formats that are recognized.  The
first format that matches with an error message is used.  You can add several
formats for different messages your compiler produces, or even entries for
multiple compilers.  See |efm-entries|.

Each entry in 'errorformat' is a scanf-like string that descri