Vim file name completion relative to current file

pathvim

In Vim, when I am in insert mode, and I want to use file-name completion, I want the search path to be relative to the current file, not the current working directory. For instance, if in insert mode I type the following:

./^X^F

The completion menu is showing me files in the :pwd, but I would rather see the files in %:p:h listed.

Is there an option that I can set to fix this, and if not what do you suggest as a workaround?

Best Answer

If you

:set autochdir

you'll get the behavior you desire. However, if you need to keep the working directory (e.g. to easily open other project files), you'd have to save / restore the CWD with autocmds:

:autocmd InsertEnter * let save_cwd = getcwd() | set autochdir
:autocmd InsertLeave * set noautochdir | execute 'cd' fnameescape(save_cwd)

Related Solutions

Vim: use the path of the current file

Answered at https://stackoverflow.com/questions/2233905/howto-get-full-path-of-current-file-in-vim

% is the actual file

%:p:h

is the dirname of the file

%:p

is the full path of the file. Use what you prefer.

In order to save files, just

:w %:p:h/something

Vim – What is Compatible Mode?

Compatible mode means compatibility to venerable old vi. When you :set compatible, all the enhancements and improvements of Vi Improved are turned off. It's not recommended to do this, but some systems provide (mostly for backwards compatibility with old Unix systems) a vi command that is implemented with Vim in compatible mode.

Note that once a personal initialization file ~/.vimrc exists, Vim automatically turns on 'nocompatible' mode, so this usually is nothing to worry about. For the full story, :help 'compatible' has all the details.

Best Answer

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Vim: use the path of the current file

Vim – What is Compatible Mode?

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