Quickfix alternative to :g/foo/#

global.md

Quickfix alternative to :g/foo/#

:help :global is an incredibly cool command.

One thing I like to do with :global is to list lines matching a given pattern in the current file and use that to move around. It looks like this:

:g/let/#
 7         let &path .= 'src/**,public/**,static/**'
 31     unlet b:gqview
 33 nmap <silent> GQ :let b:gqview = winsaveview()<CR>:set opfunc=Format<CR>g@
[...]
:

I like it. I use it all the time.

What if there was a way to persist the result of :[range]g/foo/# and use it to move around?

Well, that's what :[range]Global <pattern> does: it simulates :[range]g/<pattern>/# and populates the location list with the result, allowing us to navigate that list with :help :lnext, :help :lprevious, filter it with :help :Lfilter, operate on each line with :help :ldo, etc.

And :[range]Global! <pattern> does the same but for :[range]g!/<pattern>/#/:[range]v/<pattern>/#.

Neat.

Usage

List all lines with foo:

:[range]Global foo

List all lines without foo:

:[range]Global! foo

---

My Vim-related gists.

global.vim

function! Global(pat, bang) range
    let operator = a:bang == '!' ? '!~' : '=~'
    let padding_top = a:firstline > 1 ? a:firstline - 1 : 0
    let bufnr = bufnr()
    let qf_title_range = a:firstline == 1 && a:lastline == line('$') ? '%' : a:firstline .. ',' .. a:lastline
    let qf_list = getline(a:firstline, a:lastline)
                \ ->map({ idx, val -> { 'bufnr': bufnr, 'lnum': idx + 1 + padding_top, 'text': val, 'valid': 1 } })
                \ ->filter({ idx, val -> eval("val.text " .. operator .. "'.*' . a:pat . '.*'") })
    if qf_list->empty() == 0
        call setloclist(win_getid(), [], ' ', { 'title': ':' .. qf_title_range .. 'Global ' .. a:pat, 'items': qf_list })
        lwindow
        lfirst
    endif
endfunction
command! -bang -nargs=1 -range=% Global <line1>,<line2>call Global(<q-args>, expand('<bang>'))

FWIW, I made a significant update to this snippet:

• not a one-liner anymore
• handles named and unnamed buffers
• handles arbitrary range
• sets the quickfix title (inspired by the variations posted in the comments)

Thank you!

Vim9Script:

# Filters:
#   :Global pattern      - Show lines matching pattern
#   :Global! pattern     - Show lines NOT matching pattern
# Range:
#   :%Global pattern     - Whole file (default)
#   :1,10Global pattern  - Lines 1-10

def Global(line1: number, line2: number, pat: string, bang: bool)
   var lines = getline(line1, line2)
   var matches = []

   for idx in range(len(lines))
       if bang ? lines[idx] !~ pat : lines[idx] =~ pat
           matches->add({
               bufnr: bufnr(),
               lnum: line1 + idx,
               text: lines[idx],
               valid: true,
           })
       endif
   endfor

   if !empty(matches)
       setloclist(win_getid(), matches)
       lwindow
   endif
enddef

command -bang -nargs=1 -range=%
   \ Global Global(<line1>, <line2>, <q-args>, <bang>0)