using xargs vim with gnu screen

Question

I've got a weird problem where if i do something like this in a gnu screen window, that window starts responding in weird ways

ls *.cpp | xargs vim

After I exit from vim, the screen window doesn't echo any command. It even does not echo CR.

Any suggestions?

are you expecting VIM to open all the **cpp** file for you. I would suggest you do this sort thing in **VIM** ,not in this way. — zinking, Jun 25 '12 at 10:44
possible duplicate of [Why does "locate filename | xargs vim" cause strange terminal behaviour?](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/8228831/why-does-locate-filename-xargs-vim-cause-strange-terminal-behaviour) — sehe, Jun 25 '12 at 14:19

score 3 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 25 '12 at 18:41

3

Piping changes vim's stdin and causes problems. Try this instead (for bash, zsh, etc.):

vim $(find . -name "*.cpp")

answered Jun 25 '12 at 18:41

PonyEars

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score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jun 25 '12 at 10:53

2

How about vim *.cpp?

Maybe for file in *.cpp; do vim "$file"; done could work too. Edit each file and exit.

Or start vim and add all cpp files with following command: :argadd *.cpp

answered Jun 25 '12 at 10:53

Birei

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score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 25 '12 at 11:42

When using Vim in a pipe like this, you'll probably notice the following warning:

Vim: Warning: Input is not from a terminal

That's Vim telling you that it cannot function as it's supposed to be (i.e. in interactive mode; you can still use it in "batch mode" by feeding it Ex commands to process). That explains the weirdness you experience after Vim quits.

using xargs vim with gnu screen

3 Answers3

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