QFEnter

QFEnter allows you to open items from Vim's quickfix or location list wherever you wish.

You can set a target window by giving it focus just before jumping to the quickfix (or location list) window , or you can open items in new splits, vsplits, and tabs. You can even open multiple items at once by visual selection!

A normal mode example:

A visual mode example:

Installation

• Using plugin managers (recommended)
  • Vundle : Add Plugin 'yssl/QFEnter' to .vimrc & :PluginInstall
  • NeoBundle : Add NeoBundle 'yssl/QFEnter' to .vimrc & :NeoBundleInstall
  • vim-plug : Add Plug 'yssl/QFEnter' to .vimrc & :PlugInstall
• Using Pathogen
  • cd ~/.vim/bundle; git clone https://github.com/yssl/QFEnter.git
• Manual install (not recommended)
  • Download this plugin and extract it in ~/.vim/

Usage

In the quickfix (or location list) window,

<Enter>, <2-LeftMouse>
Normal mode : Open an item under cursor in the previously focused window.
Visual mode : Open items in visual selection in the previously focused window. As a result, the last item appears in the window.

<Leader><Enter>
Normal mode : Open an item under cursor in a new vertical split of the previously focused window.
Visual mode : Open items in visual selection in a sequence of new vertical splits from the previously focused window.

<Leader><Space>
Normal mode : Open an item under cursor in a new horizontal split from the previously focused window.
Visual mode : Open items in visual selection in a sequence of new horizontal splits of the previously focused window.

<Leader><Tab>
Normal mode : Open an item under cursor in a new tab.
Visual mode : Open items in visual selection in a sequence of new tabs. By default, the quickfix window is automatically opened in the new tab to help you open other quickfix items. This behavior can be changed with the g:qfenter_enable_autoquickfix option.

You can change the key mappings in your .vimrc. The default setting is,

let g:qfenter_open_map = ['<CR>', '<2-LeftMouse>']
let g:qfenter_vopen_map = ['<Leader><CR>']
let g:qfenter_hopen_map = ['<Leader><Space>']
let g:qfenter_topen_map = ['<Leader><Tab>']

If you're a CtrlP user, for instance, you might like these for familiarity:

let g:qfenter_vopen_map = ['<C-v>']
let g:qfenter_hopen_map = ['<C-CR>', '<C-s>', '<C-x>']
let g:qfenter_topen_map = ['<C-t>']

Motivation

Vim's default means of opening items from the quickfix list are limited and inconvenient:

• You cannot select a window in which to open a file when you press <Enter>:

  Hitting the <Enter> 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. — from :help quickfix

  It is inconsistent with other Quickfix commands like :cnext and :cprev which open a file in a previously focused window.

• You cannot decide where a horizontal split will be created when using Ctrl-W <Enter>, Vim always creates the new split window above the quickfix window.

• There is no command at all for 'open in a new vertical split window'.

These are confusing and bothered me every time, so I wrote a simple plugin to make up for these weak points. Its name comes from the most basic way to open a file from the quickfix window -- the <Enter> key.