How to edit another file without save the current file in vi?

Feb 23 09:57 UTC 2006

when editing a file using vi editer, i wanna open another file without 
saving the current one. How can i do it? please tell me.

response 2 of 59:

Feb 23 11:54 UTC 2006

i mean is there any command that can open another file while editing a 
file

response 4 of 59:

Feb 23 12:02 UTC 2006

i also donot wanna discard my changes, i will be back to this file 
soon and resume my edit of this file

response 6 of 59:

Feb 23 12:15 UTC 2006

think of this case, you have numerous C source files, and you have 
perform the following command to them: ctags *.c

then you place your cursor on a variable, press ^] to jump to the 
definition(in another file) of it, vi does it, but not closing the 
foregoing file 

response 8 of 59:

Feb 23 14:04 UTC 2006

In vi, you can specify two files on the command line with a command 
like:

   vi file1 file2

This command will load file1.  If you type
   :n

it will load file2

At this point, you can switch between the two files with the command:

   CTRL-^

(that is, your CONTROL key and the caret or shift-6 character)

If you run the command:

   vi file*

and then use :n to edit the various files, the most recent two which 
were accessed will be accessible using CTRL-^.

You can also load a 2nd file with the command:

   :e

and then move between your original file and the 2nd file using CTRL-^.

response 10 of 59:

Feb 23 14:20 UTC 2006

Re #8:  That method also appears to make you save the file before
editing the next one, which is what lyun said he doesn't want to do.

response 12 of 59:

Feb 23 14:45 UTC 2006

Re #8:  Will using command :e to open another file close my current 
file?

response 14 of 59:

Feb 23 15:05 UTC 2006

re resp:12: Yes it does.  Sorry I didn't realize it before.  If you 
want to save the original version of a file, you'd have to back it up 
before editing it.  (Which is not a bad idea anyway if you ask me.)

response 16 of 59:

Feb 23 15:22 UTC 2006

Can you repeat that?  I didn't follow what you were asking about.

response 18 of 59:

Feb 23 15:41 UTC 2006

When you open a 2nd file with:

   :e file2

The name of the previous file you were editing ("file1") is saved in a 
buffer.  When you use CTRL-^, that file name is re-loaded from disk.  
The contents are not saved in a buffer or in memory, just the name of 
the previous file.

I don't know of a way to keep the contents of the first file in memory, 
if that's what you mean. Why would you want to do that?

response 20 of 59:

Feb 23 16:20 UTC 2006

No, CTRL-^ will not save the current file for you.  It will inform you 
the file hasn't been saved.  You have to save it yourself.  Once you do 
so, then you can use CTRL-^ to jump to the last file you had edited 
during the current session.

response 22 of 59:

Feb 23 18:56 UTC 2006

 Spelling it out a little more clearly, here's how lijun can try
 it out using vim.

 Start by editing a file, for example foo.c:

    vim foo.c

 Now make a few changes to the file (just to prove we can have
 more than one modified file open at a time, just as you asked..)

 Now use the vim windowing commands to create a new window:

    ^Wn  (that's control-W, followed by n.)

 Your cursor will be moved to the new window.  Open a second file
 for editing in that window, e.g.:

     :e bar.c

 Now you'll have foo.c open for editing in the bottom half of the
 screen and bar.c open for editing in the top half.  You can switch
 between the two using ^W^W and when you're done you can save
 either or neither.

response 24 of 59:

Feb 23 21:58 UTC 2006

OK, I'll bite.

Because once you've learnt it's quick to use and doesn't get in the way. (Who
REALLY needs all those instructions at the bottom of a nano window once
they've used it for the billionth time?)