ctrlp.vim/doc/ctrlp.txt

*ctrlp.txt*       Fuzzy file, buffer and MRU file finder. v1.6.2
*CtrlP* *ControlP* *'ctrlp'* *'ctrl-p'*
===============================================================================
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===============================================================================
CONTENTS                                                       *ctrlp-contents*

    1. Intro........................................|ctrlp-intro|
    2. Options......................................|ctrlp-options|
    3. Commands.....................................|ctrlp-commands|
    4. Mappings.....................................|ctrlp-mappings|
    5. Input Formats................................|ctrlp-input-formats|
    6. Extensions...................................|ctrlp-extensions|

===============================================================================
1. Intro                                                          *ctrlp-intro*

Full path fuzzy file, buffer and MRU file finder with an intuitive interface.
Written in pure Vimscript for MacVim and Vim version 7.0+. Has full support for
Vim’s |regexp| as search pattern, built-in MRU monitoring, project’s root
finder, and more.

To enable optional extensions (tag, quickfix, dir...), see |ctrlp-extensions|.

===============================================================================
2. Options                                                      *ctrlp-options*

Below are the available options and their default values:~

                                                                *'g:ctrlp_map'*
Use this option to change the mapping to invoke |CtrlP| in |Normal| mode: >
  let g:ctrlp_map = '<c-p>'
<

                                                             *'g:loaded_ctrlp'*
Use this option to disable the plugin completely: >
  let g:loaded_ctrlp = 1
<

                                                        *'g:ctrlp_by_filename'*
Set this to 1 to set search by filename (not full path) as the default: >
  let g:ctrlp_by_filename = 0
<

                                                      *'g:ctrlp_regexp_search'*
Set this to 1 to set |regexp| search as the default: >
  let g:ctrlp_regexp_search = 0
<

                                                *'g:ctrlp_match_window_bottom'*
Set this to 0 to show the match window at the top of the screen: >
  let g:ctrlp_match_window_bottom = 1
<

                                              *'g:ctrlp_match_window_reversed'*
Reverse the sort order of the matched files in the match window. The default
setting is from bottom to top: >
  let g:ctrlp_match_window_reversed = 1
<

                                                         *'g:ctrlp_max_height'*
Set the maximum height of the match window: >
  let g:ctrlp_max_height = 10
<

                                                     *'g:ctrlp_jump_to_buffer'*
Set this to 0 to disable the jump-to-open-buffer feature. Set to 2 to also jump
tab if the selected buffer’s opened in another tab: >
  let g:ctrlp_jump_to_buffer = 1
<

                                                  *'g:ctrlp_working_path_mode'*
When starting up the prompt, temporarily set the working directory (i.e. the
|current-directory|) to:
  1 - the parent directory of the current file.
  2 - the nearest ancestor that contains one of these directories/files:
      .git/
      .hg/
      .bzr/
      _darcs/
      root.dir
      .vimprojects
  0 - don’t manage working directory.
>
  let g:ctrlp_working_path_mode = 2
<

                                                       *'g:ctrlp_root_markers'*
Use this to set your own root markers in addition to the default ones. Your
markers will take precedence: >
  let g:ctrlp_root_markers = ['']
<
These markers (builtins and yours) will serve as identifiers for the '/' and
'\' special inputs (section 5.e)

                                                        *'g:ctrlp_use_caching'*
Set this to 0 to disable per-session caching. When disabled, caching will still
be enabled for directories that have more than 4000 files: >
  let g:ctrlp_use_caching = 1
<
Note: you can quickly purge the cache by pressing <F5> while inside |CtrlP|.

                                                *'g:ctrlp_clear_cache_on_exit'*
Set this to 0 to enable cross-sessions caching: >
  let g:ctrlp_clear_cache_on_exit = 1
<

                                                          *'g:ctrlp_cache_dir'*
Set the directory to store the cache files: >
  let g:ctrlp_cache_dir = $HOME.'/.ctrlp_cache'
<

                                                    *'g:ctrlp_prompt_mappings'*
Use this to customize the mappings inside |CtrlP|’s prompt to your liking. You
only need to keep the lines that you’ve changed the values (inside []): >
  let g:ctrlp_prompt_mappings = {
    \ 'PrtBS()':              ['<bs>'],
    \ 'PrtDelete()':          ['<del>'],
    \ 'PrtDeleteWord()':      ['<c-w>'],
    \ 'PrtClear()':           ['<c-u>'],
    \ 'PrtSelectMove("j")':   ['<c-j>', '<down>'],
    \ 'PrtSelectMove("k")':   ['<c-k>', '<up>'],
    \ 'PrtHistory(-1)':       ['<c-n>'],
    \ 'PrtHistory(1)':        ['<c-p>'],
    \ 'AcceptSelection("e")': ['<cr>', '<2-LeftMouse>'],
    \ 'AcceptSelection("h")': ['<c-x>', '<c-cr>', '<c-s>'],
    \ 'AcceptSelection("t")': ['<c-t>', '<MiddleMouse>'],
    \ 'AcceptSelection("v")': ['<c-v>', '<c-q>', '<RightMouse>'],
    \ 'ToggleFocus()':        ['<tab>'],
    \ 'ToggleRegex()':        ['<c-r>'],
    \ 'ToggleByFname()':      ['<c-d>'],
    \ 'ToggleType(1)':        ['<c-f>', '<c-up'],
    \ 'ToggleType(-1)':       ['<c-b>', '<c-down>'],
    \ 'PrtCurStart()':        ['<c-a>'],
    \ 'PrtCurEnd()':          ['<c-e>'],
    \ 'PrtCurLeft()':         ['<c-h>', '<left>'],
    \ 'PrtCurRight()':        ['<c-l>', '<right>'],
    \ 'PrtClearCache()':      ['<F5>'],
    \ 'PrtDeleteMRU()':       ['<F7>'],
    \ 'CreateNewFile()':      ['<c-y>'],
    \ 'MarkToOpen()':         ['<c-z>'],
    \ 'OpenMulti()':          ['<c-o>'],
    \ 'PrtExit()':            ['<esc>', '<c-c>', '<c-g>'],
    \ }
<

                                                           *'g:ctrlp_mruf_max'*
Specify the number of recently opened files you want |CtrlP| to remember: >
  let g:ctrlp_mruf_max = 250
<

                                                       *'g:ctrlp_mruf_exclude'*
Files you don’t want |CtrlP| to remember; use |regexp| to specify the patterns:
>
  let g:ctrlp_mruf_exclude = ''
<
Examples: >
  let g:ctrlp_mruf_exclude = '/tmp/.*\|/temp/.*' " MacOSX/Linux
  let g:ctrlp_mruf_exclude = '^C:\\dev\\tmp\\.*' " Windows
<

                                                       *'g:ctrlp_mruf_include'*
And if you want |CtrlP| to only remember some files, specify them here: >
  let g:ctrlp_mruf_include = ''
<
Example: >
  let g:ctrlp_mruf_include = '\.py$\|\.rb$'
<

                                                *'g:ctrlp_mruf_case_sensitive'*
Match this with your file system case-sensitivity setting to avoid duplicate
MRU entries: >
  let g:ctrlp_mruf_case_sensitive = 1
<

                                                           *'g:ctrlp_dotfiles'*
Set this to 0 if you don’t want |CtrlP| to search for dotfiles and dotdirs: >
  let g:ctrlp_dotfiles = 1
<
You can also use |'wildignore'| to exclude anything from the search.
e.g. exclude version control directories from the results: >
  set wildignore+=*/.git/*,*/.hg/*,*/.svn/*  " Linux/MacOSX
  set wildignore+=.git\*,.hg\*,.svn\*        " Windows
<
Note: the `*/` in front of each dotfile glob is required for the dotfiles
search feature to work correctly along side with |wildignore|. If you’ve
disabled dotfiles search (set |g:ctrlp_dotfiles| to 0), then you can ignore
this.

Other note: |wildignore| influences the result of |expand()|, |globpath()| and
|glob()| which many plugins use to find stuff on the system (e.g. fugitive.vim
looks for .git/, some other plugins look for external exe tools on Windows).
So be a little mindful of what you put in your |wildignore|.

                                                    *'g:ctrlp_highlight_match'*
Use this to enable/disable highlighting of the matched patterns and to specify
the highlight group that’ll be used: >
  let g:ctrlp_highlight_match = [1, 'Identifier']
<

                                                          *'g:ctrlp_max_files'*
The maximum number of files to scan, set to 0 for no limit: >
  let g:ctrlp_max_files = 20000
<

                                                          *'g:ctrlp_max_depth'*
The maximum depth of a directory tree to recurse into: >
  let g:ctrlp_max_depth = 40
<
Note: the larger these values, the more memory Vim uses.

                                                       *'g:ctrlp_user_command'*
Specify an external tool to use for listing files instead of Vim’s globpath().
Use %s in place of the target directory: >
  let g:ctrlp_user_command = ''
<
Examples: >
  let g:ctrlp_user_command = 'find %s -type f'       " MacOSX/Linux
  let g:ctrlp_user_command = 'dir %s /-n /b /s /a-d' " Windows
<
You can also use 'grep', 'findstr' or something else to filter the results.
Examples: >
  let g:ctrlp_user_command = 'find %s -type f | grep (?!tmp/.*)'
  let g:ctrlp_user_command = 'dir %s /-n /b /s /a-d | findstr .*\.py$'
<
Use a version control listing command when inside a repository, this is a lot
faster when working with large projects: >
  let g:ctrlp_user_command = [repo_marker, vcs_ls_command, fallback_command]
<
If the fallback_command is empty or not defined, globpath() will then be used
when searching outside a repo.
Examples: >
  let g:ctrlp_user_command = ['.git/', 'cd %s && git ls-files']
  let g:ctrlp_user_command = ['.hg/', 'hg --cwd %s locate --fullpath -I .']
<

                                                      *'g:ctrlp_open_new_file'*
Use this option to specify how the newly created file is to be opened when
pressing <c-y>:
  1 - in a new tab
  2 - in a new horizontal split
  3 - in a new vertical split
  0 - in the current window
>
  let g:ctrlp_open_new_file = 3
<

                                                        *'g:ctrlp_max_history'*
The maximum number of input strings you want |CtrlP| to remember. The default
value mirrors Vim’s global |'history'| option: >
  let g:ctrlp_max_history = &history
<
Set to 0 to disable prompt’s history.

                                                         *'g:ctrlp_open_multi'*
If non-zero, this will enable opening multiple files with <c-z> and <c-o>: >
  let g:ctrlp_open_multi = '1v'
<
For the number:
  If bigger than 1, it’ll be used as the maximum number of windows or tabs to
  create when opening the files (the rest will be hidden buffers). If is 1,
  <c-o> will open all files, each in a new window or new tab.
For the letter:
  t - each in a tab
  h - each in a horizontal split
  v - each in a vertical split

                                                         *'g:ctrlp_dont_split'*
When opening a file with <cr>, |CtrlP| avoids opening it in windows created by
plugins, help and quickfix. Use this to setup some exceptions: >
  let g:ctrlp_dont_split = ''
<
Acceptable values are partial names or filetypes of the special buffers. Use
|regexp| to specify the pattern. Example: >
  let g:ctrlp_dont_split = 'netrw\|help'
<

                                                    *'g:ctrlp_follow_symlinks'*
Set this to 1 to follow symbolic links when listing files: >
  let g:ctrlp_follow_symlinks = 0
<

                                                        *'g:ctrlp_lazy_update'*
Set this to 1 to enable the lazy-update feature: only update the match window
after typing’s been stopped for a certain amount of time: >
  let g:ctrlp_lazy_update = 0
<
If is 1, update after 250ms. If bigger than 1, the number will be used as the
delay time in milliseconds.

                                                         *'g:ctrlp_use_migemo'*
Set this to 1 to use Migemo Pattern for Japanese filenames. Migemo Search
works in |regexp| mode. To split the pattern, separate words with space: >
  let g:ctrlp_use_migemo = 0
<

===============================================================================
3. Commands                                                    *ctrlp-commands*

                                                                       *:CtrlP*
:CtrlP [starting-directory]
   Open |CtrlP| in find file mode.

   If no argument is given, the value of |g:ctrlp_working_path_mode| will be
   used to determine the starting directory.
   You can use <tab> to auto-complete the [starting-directory] when typing it.

                                                                 *:CtrlPBuffer*
:CtrlPBuffer
   Open |CtrlP| in find buffer mode.

                                                                    *:CtrlPMRU*
:CtrlPMRU
   Open |CtrlP| in find Most-Recently-Used file mode.

                                                             *:ClearCtrlPCache*
:ClearCtrlPCache
   Flush the cache for the current working directory. The same as pressing <F5>
   inside |CtrlP|.

                                                         *:ClearAllCtrlPCaches*
:ClearAllCtrlPCaches
   Delete all the cache files saved in |ctrlp_cache_dir|.

                                                                  *:ResetCtrlP*
:ResetCtrlP
   Reset all options, take in new values of the option variables in section 2.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The following commands ignore the current value of |g:ctrlp_working_path_mode|:

:CtrlPCurWD                                                       *:CtrlPCurWD*
   This acts like |:CtrlP| with |path_mode| = 0

:CtrlPCurFile                                                   *:CtrlPCurFile*
   This acts like |:CtrlP| with |path_mode| = 1

:CtrlPRoot                                                         *:CtrlPRoot*
   This acts like |:CtrlP| with |path_mode| = 2

===============================================================================
4. Mappings                                                    *ctrlp-mappings*

                                                                *'ctrlp-<c-p>'*
<c-p>
   Default |Normal| mode mapping to open the |CtrlP| prompt in find file mode.

Once inside the prompt:~

  <c-r>                                                    *'ctrlp-fullregexp'*
    Toggle between the string mode (section 5.a & b) and full |regexp| mode.
    (note: in full |regexp| mode, the prompt’s base is 'r>>' instead of '>>>')

    See also |input-formats| and |g:ctrlp_regexp_search|.

  <c-d>
    Toggle between full path search and filename only search.
    (note: in filename mode, the prompt’s base is '>d>' instead of '>>>')

  <c-f>, 'forward'
  <c-up>
    Scroll to the 'next' search mode in the sequence.

  <c-b>, 'backward'
  <c-down>
    Scroll to the 'previous' search mode in the sequence.

  <tab>
    Toggle the focus between the match window and the prompt.

  <c-j>,
  <down>
    Move selection down

  <c-k>,
  <up>
    Move selection up

  <c-a>
    Move the cursor to the 'start' of the prompt

  <c-e>
    Move the cursor to the 'end' of the prompt

  <c-h>,
  <left>
    Move the cursor one character to the 'left'

  <c-l>,
  <right>
    Move the cursor one character to the 'right'

  <c-w>
    Delete a preceding inner word

  <c-u>
    Clear the input field

  <cr>
    Open selected file in the active window if possible.

  <c-t>
    Open selected file in a new 'tab'

  <c-v>
    Open selected file in a 'vertical' split

  <c-cr>,
  <c-s>,
  <c-x>
    Open selected file in a 'horizontal' split

  <c-y>
    Create a new file and its parent directories.

  <c-n>
    Next string in the prompt’s history

  <c-p>
    Previous string in the prompt’s history

  <c-z>
    Mark/unmark a file to be opened with <c-o>.

  <c-o>
    Open files marked by <c-z>.

  <F5>
    - Refresh the match window and purge the cache for the current directory.
    - Remove deleted files from MRU list.

  <F7>
    Clear MRU list.

  <esc>,
  <c-c>,
  <c-g>
    Exit |CtrlP|. <c-c> can also be used to stop the file scan.

Chose your own mappings with |g:ctrlp_prompt_mappings|.

When inside the match window (press <tab> to switch):~

  a-z
  0-9
  ~^-=;`',.+!@#$%&_(){}[]
    Cycle through the lines with the first letter (of paths or filenames) that
    matches that key.

===============================================================================
5. Input Formats                                          *ctrlp-input-formats*

Formats for inputting in the prompt:~

a)  Simple string.
    e.g. 'abc' is understood internally as 'a[^a]\{-}b[^b]\{-}c'

b)  Vim |regexp|. If the input string contains '*' or '|', it’ll be treated as
    a Vim’s |regexp| |pattern| without any modification.
    e.g. 'abc\d*efg' will be read as 'abc\d*efg'.

    See also |ctrlp-fullregexp| (key map) and |g:ctrlp_regexp_search| (option).

c)  End the string with a colon ':' followed by a Vim command to execute that
    command after opening the file. If you need to use ':' in the command,
    escape it with a backslash: '\:'.
    e.g. 'abc:45' will open the selected file and jump to line 45.
         'abc:/my\:function' will open the selected file and jump to the first
         instance of 'my:function'.
         'abc:+setf\ myfiletype|50' will open the selected file and set its
         filetype to 'myfiletype' then jump to line 50.

    See also Vim’s |++opt| and |+cmd|.

d)  Type exactly two dots '..' at the start of the prompt and press enter to go
    backward in the directory tree by 1 level. If the parent directory is
    large, this might be slow.

e)  Similarly submit '/' or '\' to find and go to the project’s root. If the
    project is large, using a VCS listing command to look for files might help
    speeding up the intial scan (see |g:ctrlp_user_command| for more details).

f)  Type the name of a non-existent file and press <c-y> to create it.
    e.g. 'parentdir/file.txt' will create a directory named 'parentdir' as well
         as 'file.txt'.
         Use '\' in place of '/' on Windows (if |'ssl'| is not set).

g)  Submit ? to open this help file.

===============================================================================
6. Extensions                                                *ctrlp-extensions*

Extensions are optional. To enable an extension, add its name to the variable
g:ctrlp_extensions: >
  let g:ctrlp_extensions = ['tag', 'qfx']
<

Available extensions:~

  * Tag mode:~
    - Shortname: 'tag'
    - Command: ':CtrlPTag'
    - Search for a tag within a generated central tags file, and jump to the
      definition. Use the Vim’s option |'tags'| to specify the names and the
      locations of the tags file(s). Example: `set tags+=tags/help,doc/tags`

  * Quickfix mode:~
    - Shortname: 'qfx'
    - Command: ':CtrlPQuickfix'
    - Search for an entry in the current quickfix errors and jump to it.

  * Directory mode:~
    - Shortname: 'dir'
    - Command: ':CtrlPDir'
    - Search for a directory and change the local working directory to it.

===============================================================================
EXTENDING                                                     *ctrlp-extending*

Extending |CtrlP| is very simple. Simply create a vim file following a short
guidelines, place it in autoload/ctrlp/ and add its name to your .vimrc.

To see how it works, get the sample.vim from the extensions branch on the main
git repository (https://github.com/kien/ctrlp.vim/tree/extensions), and place
it along with the parent directories somewhere in your runtimepath. Then put
this into your .vimrc: >
  let g:ctrlp_extensions = ['sample']
<
A new search type will show up the next time you open |CtrlP|.

For more details, check out the comments inside sample.vim.~

===============================================================================
CREDITS                                                         *ctrlp-credits*

Developed by Kien Nguyen <github.com/kien>, initially based on the Command-T
and the LustyExplorer plugins. No code was taken from these plugins, but I did
clone the majority of their (awesome) interfaces and the way they work.

This was originally written as a module for a would-be larger plugin called
AutoDoc.vim which I’ve stopped developing because of lost of interest. I really
liked the way Command-T and LustyExplorer deal with user’s input, so I wrote a
pure Vimscript version of their prompt window, intended to use it for the
aforementioned plugin.

Homepage:             http://kien.github.com/ctrlp.vim
Git repository:       https://github.com/kien/ctrlp.vim
Mercurial repository: https://bitbucket.org/kien/ctrlp.vim

===============================================================================
THANKS                                                           *ctrlp-thanks*

Thanks to everyone that has submitted ideas, bug reports or helped debugging on
gibhub, bitbucket, and through email.

Special thanks:~

    * Woojong Koh <github.com/wjkoh>
        Forked and suggested the support for VCS listing commands.

    * Yasuhiro Matsumoto <github.com/mattn>
        Added option to use Migemo for Japanese language.

===============================================================================
CHANGELOG                                                     *ctrlp-changelog*

    + New features: Tag, Quickfix and Directory extensions.
    + New options: |g:ctrlp_use_migemo|,
                   |g:ctrlp_lazy_update|,
                   |g:ctrlp_follow_symlinks|

Before 2011/11/13~

    + New special input: '/' and '\' find root (section 5.e)
    + Remove ctrlp#SetWorkingPath().
    + Remove |g:ctrlp_mru_files|, make MRU permanent.
    + Extend |g:ctrlp_open_multi|, add new ways to open files.
    + New option: |g:ctrlp_dont_split|,
                  |g:ctrlp_mruf_case_sensitive|

Before 2011/10/30~

    + New feature: Support for custom extensions.
                   <F5> also removes non-existent files from MRU list.
    + New option: |g:ctrlp_jump_to_buffer|

Before 2011/10/12~

    + New features: Open multiple files.
                    Pass Vim’s |++opt| and |+cmd| to the opening file
                    (section 5.c)
                    Auto-complete each dir for |:CtrlP| [starting-directory]
    + New mappings: <c-z> mark/unmark a file to be opened with <c-o>.
                    <c-o> open all marked files.
    + New option: |g:ctrlp_open_multi|
    + Remove |g:ctrlp_persistent_input|, |g:ctrlp_live_update| and <c-^>.

Before 2011/09/29~

    + New mappings: <c-n>, <c-p> next/prev string in the input history.
                    <c-y> create a new file and its parent dirs.
    + New options: |g:ctrlp_open_new_file|,
                   |g:ctrlp_max_history|
    + Added a new open-in-horizontal-split mapping: <c-x>

Before 2011/09/19~

    + New command: |ResetCtrlP|
    + New options: |g:ctrlp_max_files|,
                   |g:ctrlp_max_depth|,
                   |g:ctrlp_live_update|
    + New mapping: <c-^>

Before 2011/09/12~

    + Ability to cycle through matched lines in the match window.
    + Extend the behavior of |g:ctrlp_persistent_input|
    + Extend the behavior of |:CtrlP|
    + New options: |g:ctrlp_dotfiles|,
                   |g:ctrlp_clear_cache_on_exit|,
                   |g:ctrlp_highlight_match|,
                   |g:ctrlp_user_command|
    + New special input: '..' (section 5.d)
    + New mapping: <F5>.
    + New commands: |:CtrlPCurWD|,
                    |:CtrlPCurFile|,
                    |:CtrlPRoot|

    + New feature: Search in most recently used (MRU) files
    + New mapping: <c-b>.
    + Extended the behavior of <c-f>.
    + New options: |g:ctrlp_mru_files|,
                   |g:ctrlp_mruf_max|,
                   |g:ctrlp_mruf_exclude|,
                   |g:ctrlp_mruf_include|
    + New command: |:CtrlPMRUFiles|

First public release: 2011/09/06~

===============================================================================
vim:ft=help:et:ts=2:sw=2:sts=2:norl