List changes to the current file

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created August 10, 2006 · complexity basic · author Markus Trenkwalder · version 6.0

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Vim remembers the locations where changes occurred. Each position (column number, line number) is recorded in a change list, and each buffer has a separate change list that records the last 100 positions where an undo-able change occurred.

To avoid cluttering the change list, if you make a change at a certain position, then make another change nearby, only the location of the later change is recorded ("nearby" means on the same line, within a certain number of bytes).

The change list for each file is saved between edits (provided the 'viminfo' option has the ' parameter), so you can see where changes occurred from previous editing sessions. :help 'viminfo'

Using a change list

You can go back, then forward, to visit the locations where changes occurred:

• Type g; to jump back to the position of the previous (older) change.
• Type g, to jump to the position of the next (newer) change.

Display the change list for the current buffer with:

:changes

Your current location in the change list is indicated with '>', and the first number in each row is a count that can be used to jump to that position. For example, after pressing g; three times, the :changes command may show something like this:

change line  col text
    4    42   10 the current line 42 is shown here
    3    93    0 -invalid-
    2    23    0 the current line 23 is shown here
    1    89   34 the current line 89 is shown here
>   0    22   40 the current line 22 is shown here
    1    39    0 the current line 39 is shown here
    2    15   46 the current line 15 is shown here

Given the above, you could press:

• g, to jump to line 39.
• g; to jump to line 89.
• 4 then g; to jump to line 42.

In the example, line 93 no longer exists (the change location is invalid).

Capturing list of change locations

You may want a record of the recent locations where changes occurred in the current buffer. As an example, the following commands redirect the output of the :changes command to file c.txt, then edit that file. The 'more' option is temporarily switched off to avoid the "-- More --" prompt.

:set nomore
:redir > c.txt
:changes
:redir END
:set more
:e c.txt

See also

• Using marks to manually record marks that you can return to
• Jumping to previously visited locations the jump list records where jumps occurred

References

• :help changelist
• :help :changes

Comments

Vim 7 also has undo branching: you can make changes, undo some of them, make different changes, and then have both trees of changes maintained, allowing you to go back and forth between different branches of changes. :help undo-branches

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