"Next" behavior and "E165: Cannot go beyond last file"

Question

I frequently use vim to edit multiple files. On the command line, I'll type vim * or the like, and use :wn to move through the files until I get to the end.

Invariably, I get to the last file, and type :wn and get the maddening message E165: Cannot go beyond last file, when really what I want vim to do is quit at that point (:wq). Is there a configuration that controls this behavior?

Answer 1

I don't think there is a configuration option to change that behaviour. However you can create a custom command, that catches error E165 and quits in that case. Something like this should work (untested):

com! -count -bang Wnext try | <count>wn<bang> | catch /^Vim\%((\a\+)\)\=:E165/ | q | endtry

Answer 2

You can define a function like this:

function! NextFileOrQuit()
  execute 'try | n | catch | try | wq! | catch | | endtry | endtry'
endfunction

And then setup a normal mode mapping like so:

noremap <Tab> :call NextFileOrQuit()<CR>

With this setup, pressing <Tab> will move through the files and then "quit" once it reached the last one.

Answer 3

This is the normal behaviour of vi. You can do a :rew to start with the first file again. In vim you can also use :bn and :bp to go to the next or previous file. But :rew works with any vi variant.