Editing Multiple files in vi with Wildcards
- by Alan Storm
When using the programmers text editor vi, I'll often using a wildcard search to be lazy about the file I want to edit
vi ThisIsAReallLongFi*.txt
When this matches a single file it works great. However, if it matches multiple files vi does something weird.
First, it opens the first file for editing
Second, when I :wq out of the file, I get a message the bottom of the terminal that looks like this
E173: 4 more files to edit
Hit ENTER or type command to continue
When I hit enter, it returns me to edit mode in the file I was just in. The behavior I'd expect here would be that vi would move on to the next file to edit.
So,
What's the logic behind vi's behavior here
Is there a way to move on and edit the next file that's been matched?
And yes, I know about tab completion, this question is based on curiosity and wanting to understand the shell better.
