vim undo

[Chris Jones]

Scenario:

- I open a file
- I make one big global change (C0)... say via substitute+regex
- I proceed to make more changes (C1, C2, ... Cn).

While *still editing the file* I realize that the initial change (C0)
was in error.

Can I undo the initial change (C0) and keep all the ensuing changes?

Or...

Go back to the initial state of the buffer, and make vim reapply all the
C1-Cn changes?

Standard vim only please, no plugins.

Thanks,

CJ

[Tim Chase]

I don't think there's a native way to play back all the changes as a
rebase. If I had a dire need to do as much, I'd do a little
do/undo/diff/patch tango, something like

:w current.txt

then undo to C1

:w c1.txt

then undo once more take you back to the pre-C0 change and save that:

:w pre-c0.txt

Then, in the shell

$ diff -u c1.txt current.txt > rest_of_the_changes.txt

and run that patch against the pre-c0.txt

You might be able to use git to checkin various points and then
use its rebasing to help you out.

But in pure vim? Not much.

-tim

[Bram Moolenaar]

You can do it without leaving Vim:

:w new_version
(undo until the big change is undone)
:vimdiff new_version
(diffget to get the changes you want)

If there are overlaps it's more work. If there are many changes then
the diff + patch tools might work better, but likely "patch" will find
conflicts and it's not good at dealing with those.

--
hundred-and-one symptoms of being an internet addict:
175. You send yourself e-mail before you go to bed to remind you
what to do when you wake up.

/// Bram Moolenaar -- Br...@Moolenaar.net -- http://www.Moolenaar.net \\\
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[Chris Jones]

On Wed, Mar 04, 2020 at 01:00:54PM EST, Chris Jones wrote:

Thanks to both for timely response.

Interesting answers indeed.

Looking at my problem from a different angle I eventually noticed
something that allowed me to single out the outcome of the incorrect
changes and let me reverse them without affecting the ensuing editing.

Thank you.

CJ