VimTrick: Copy from Quickfix to the Args list

Open all search results at once with custom command in your .vimrc

Vim has several distinct lists: the quickfix list and the args list. Each have their own primary use cases but sometimes you might want the contents of your quickfix list copied into your args list. Why?

We recently wrote about how to open all files in a directory in Vim at the same time. First, you populate your args list with the directory contents and then you open everything in your args list.

A similar tactic can be applied for opening the results of a search that inhabits your quickfix list. Let’s say you’ve searched for something with :grep and now your quickfix list is populated with a list of 5 files that match that result. You might find it convenient to look at all of those files at the same time, each in a split.

To do so, we need to copy the quickfix list into our args list first. I use a snippet like the one below inside my .vimrc (which comes from Drew Neil, author of Practical Vim):

command! -nargs=0 -bar Qargs execute 'args' QuickfixFilenames()
function! QuickfixFilenames()
  let buffer_numbers = {}
  for quickfix_item in getqflist()
    let buffer_numbers[quickfix_item['bufnr']] = bufname(quickfix_item['bufnr'])
  endfor
  return join(map(values(buffer_numbers), 'fnameescape(v:val)'))
endfunction

This gives you a command called :Qargs which copies the items from your quickfix list into your args list. (You can also use the qargs plugin for this.) From there, it’s just a matter of running :sall to open all the resulting files. Let’s watch this in action:

In the gif, I first do a :Ggrep TODO to find all the references to TODO in my app. The resulting list is populated into the quickfix list. Then I use our handy new command :Qargs to copy that into the args list. Then I use :sall to open all those files in splits. (Try :vertical sall, too!)

For more, try :help args and :help quickfix.

A note from the Colin and Andy

Do you like videos? Would something like a two minute video for each of these tips be useful? Longer than a gif and with audio, but still a small nibble of Vim goodness? Let us know what you think! It’s something we’re contemplating... Email us your thoughts on the VimTricks format and feedback on the project overall.

And if you like watching full-length, in-depth videos of Vim workflows, our friend at Semicolon&Sons recorded a series of tutorials that’s worth watching. In fact, check out all of his videos on a diverse range of topics of interest to indie hackers.

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