In Vim how to switch quickly between .h and .cpp files with the same name?

Question

Suppose I have a folder with lots of .h and .cpp files. I frequently need to do the following:

1. open a file prefix_SomeReallyLongFileName.h,
2. make some changes to it,
3. and then open prefix_SomeReallyLongFileName.cpp.

I can do this using :e <filename> using auto-complete, but as the prefix is same for many of the files, this becomes inconvenient.

Is there a quick way to open a file with same name as current file, but a different extension?

Do other people come across this situation too, and if so what is your preferred way of navigating the C++ files in a directory? Thanks.

Answer 1

You can use the :r (root) filename modifier which removes the last extension (check out :h filename-modifiers for more information)

:e %:r.cpp 

where

• % is shorthand for current filename.
• :r removes the extension
• .cpp simply appends that string at the end.

This effectively substitutes the current file's extension with another, then open the file with the newer extension.

---

An even shorter way (courtesy of Peter Rincker),

:e %<.cpp 

Relevant documentation at :h extension-removal