# Chapter 2: Opening Files, Finding Content ## Open Files Ha, now you have learned a way to open files in Vim, although this way is not the most common, but it is the most direct, especially when your code includes a certain file, the following introduces two other commonly used open methods. ### Open files in Vim * `:e ` open the file which named ``, if the file is not exists, it will create a new one * `:Ex` open the directory tree in Vim, press `-` to enter the parent directory and press Enter to open the corresponding file ## Find ### Find content in document * `*` find the word under the cursor and jump to the next * `#` find the word under the cursor and jump to the previous * `/` find the specified string backward * `?` find the specified string forward * `n` continue to find the next * `N` continue to find the previous *Note: `n` and `N` are directional. If you previously searched with `*`, `n` will continue to search toward the end of the document, and `N` toward the beginning of the document; conversely, if you search with `#`, `n` points to the beginning and `N` points to the end of the document.* ### Search in line * `f` Finds `X` on a line toward the end of the line and positions the cursor over the character `X`.\` * `t` Finds `X` on a line toward the end of the line and positions the cursor over the character before `X`. * `F` Finds `X` on a line toward the beginning of the line and positions the cursor over the character `X`. * `T` Finds `X` on a line toward the beginning of the line and positions the cursor over the character after `X`. * `;` Find the next character in the current direction * `,` Find the previous character in the current direction > There are several "Vim" words in the current document, you can try to use `*` and `#` to find and feel the directionality of `n` and `N`. > > And there are several "n" characters in the "Note" above, you can try to find them in the line and feel the directionality of `;` and `,`. ### Matching In Vim, you can use `%` to match `(` and `)`, `[` and `]`, `{` and `}`. When the cursor is on one of the symbols, press `%`, the cursor will jump to the other symbol that matches it. > Press `%` on the `()[]{}` characters in the following text to see the effect, and then press `n` to continue searching. ```javascript const func = (win, doc) => { const SEVEN = ((1 + 2) * (3 + 4) * (5 - 6)) / 7; const YU = [1, 2, [[3, 4], 5, 6], 7]; if (true) { return SEVEN; } else { return YU; } }; ``` [Next Chapter](https://dofy.gitbook.io/learn-vim/en/chapter03) will introduce the modification of the document. Before that, let's briefly introduce the buffer of Vim. Simply understand that the buffer is the file history of the current Vim session. > Now you should have two files in your buffer, you can use `:buffers` or `:ls` command to view, see the buffer list, probably like this: ```vim :ls 1 #h "chapter01.md" line 47 2 %a "chapter02.md" line 1 Press ENTER or type command to continue ``` > Then, you can use the following commands to switch between buffers: > > * `:bn` open the next file in the buffer > * `:bp` open the previous file in the buffer > * `:b` open the Nth file in the buffer > > Also you can use `:bdelete` to delete the buffer you want to close, the abbreviation is `:bd`. > > Of course, you can also use the `:Ex` command, select `chapter03.md` and open it, enter [Chapter 3](https://dofy.gitbook.io/learn-vim/en/chapter03).