Open the directory for the current file in Windows

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created June 24, 2003 · complexity basic · author Adam Wolff · version 6.0

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It's often handy to open the folder that corresponds to a file I'm editing (as much as I hate to leave Vim!) I've added this mapping:

map <C-e> :silent !explorer %:p:h:gs?\/?\\\\\\?<CR>

So that typing ctrl-e in any buffer opens the folder that the file lives in in Windows.

References

• :help filename-modifiers

Comments

I changed it to this:

map <C-e> :!start explorer %:p:h:gs?\/?\\\\\\?<CR>

This stops the console window from flashing up on the screen. See :help :!start.

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On Unix, try using a free program called Worker: http://www.boomerangsworld.de/worker/woverview.php3?lang=en

It is an X-based file explorer, similar to Windows explorer. I had to modify the mapping to:

map <C-e> :silent !worker %:p:h<CR>

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For quite a while now I've been doing it this way:

func! OpenCWD()
  if has("gui_running")
    if has("win32")
      let s:stored_shellslash = &shellslash
      set noshellslash
      !start explorer.exe %:p:h
      let &shellslash = s:stored_shellslash
    elseif has("gui_kde")
      !konqueror %:p:h &
    elseif has("gui_gtk") " TODO: test!
      !nautilus %:p:h &
    elseif has("mac") && has("unix")
      let s:macpath = expand("%:p:h")
      let s:macpath = substitute(s:macpath," ","\\\\ ","g")
      execute '!open ' .s:macpath
    endif
  endif
endfunc
command! OpenCWD call OpenCWD() " or whatever you like

I'm not sure how flawless it is, but it has worked for me on a couple of different platforms.

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A solution that I like is to use the vi file manager (http://vifm.sourceforge.net). You can use it with or without being in vim (a vim plugin comes with the distribution). Unfortunately, I have not been able to get it to compile in cygwin on windows yet, and I am on a windows machine right now, so I can't access it to give more of the specifics. I think the plugin comes with a command like :Vifm, but, that could be mapped.

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Since I prefer to stay within Vim, I use the following:

:sf %:p:h

This splits the window and lists the contents of the directory of the file. Putting the cursor on an item from the list in that window and typing o opens up a new window with the contents of the item.

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How is this different from ":Sexplore" or the shorter ":Sex"?

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