Tip 34: Recall Commands from History

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• Recalling commands:
  • scrolling through past command-lines with the cursor keys
  • dialing up the command-line window
• Change command history limit (By default, it is 20):

  set history=200
  

• The history persists when we quit and relaunch vim.

References:

# If you open the file in vim,
# then you can \"ayy@a the next line to execute the vim command: 
:h viminfo

Avoid the Cursor Keys When Recalling Commands from History

• Alternative of <Up> and Down: <C-p> and <C-n>.
  • Advantage of <C-p> and <C-n>: do not need to move our hands from the home row
  • Disadvantage of <C-p> and <C-n>: do not filter the command history
• Solution: add the following mappings

  cnoremap <C-p> <Up>
  cnoremap <C-n> <Down>
  

Meet the Command-Line Window

• q:: enter the command-line window

References:

# If you open the file in vim,
# then you can \"ayy@a the next line to execute the vim command: 
:h cmdwin

• When we press <CR> (<ENTER>) in the command-line window, the command is executed in the context of the active window.