Make a command to open c files next to the corresponding header

Question

I would like to have commands like :ce and :ctabe that open a tab with a vertical split with the .c file on one site and the corresponding .h file on the other. How can i accomplish this behaviour?

Answer 1

Custom commands cannot start with lowercase letters, but you can define for example :Ce and :Ctabe.

Here's a custom function that does the same as :edit {file}:

command! -nargs=1 -complete=file Ce edit <args>

In order to open another related file, you would use :vsplit; the current file can be referenced via the :help cmdline-special notation %. %:r gives you the current file without its file extension. So the following will open the corresponding header file:

command! -nargs=1 -complete=file Ce edit <args> | vsplit %:r.h

PS: There are several plugins that do something like that, too. A very old one is a.vim. A modern one is projectionist.vim.