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I'm new to vi/vim.
I learned that I can close a file I'm editing and open the another file at once by typing :vi filename
But I sometimes want to open other files without closing the file I'm editing and interchange these buffers with commands like :next or :prev
Can I do that?
(I haven't understand the difference among buffer, window and file exactly yet. So some words could be wrong I used avobe.)
my vim's version is 7.2, Small version without GUI and be used on CentOS6.7
First, I want to recommend that you go through the vimtutor (:h tutor). That will explain a lot of the different concepts in Vim. To learn about the difference between the buffers, windows and a file, you can read for instance: :h windows.txt and :h editing.txt.
The command :vi or :visual is used to get out of ex mode and back to normal mode. If you don't know what ex mode is, then I suggest you instead use the command :e ... to edit new files.
If you want to close a file, but leave the buffer open, I suggest that you use the option :set hidden. See :h 'hidden' for a detailed explanation. In short, this will set closed buffers to hidden instead of wiping them. Thus you can reopen closed files with :bnext and :bprev and similar.
:set hidden, but that's a matter of personal preference.
I use :ls to list the buffers open and :b <filename_from_list_of_open_buffers> to edit it.
n.b. :b auto completes so I just start typing and bash the tab key until the file displayed is correct.
If I want to open a new buffer, I use e: <filename>. I am by no means a vim expert so the terminology might be wrong.
