To open files in Grep's output to Vim's -o -mode

Question

How can you put a list of files to Vim's -o -mode?

I have a list of files as Grep's output. I run unsuccessfully

1

grep -il sid * | vim -o

2

grep -il sid * | xargs vim -o

3

grep -il sid * | xargs vim

4

vim -o `grep -il sid *`

5

vim -o | grep -il sid *

Answer 1

Run:

grep -il sid * | vim -

This tell vim to read the file from stdin, so the output of grep will be in vim. Now, put cursor on file and press gF - this will open the file on the line grep indicated.

You can also use ^WF to open file in a new split.

Answer 2

Second one works for me. Third too, although you get only one file visible at the start. 4 is the same as 2 in most cases. First and last should not work by design.

Answer 3

The second one should work unless some of those filenames contain whitespace. You should do

grep -il sid * | xargs -d "\n" vim -o

if this is a possibility. -d "\n" tells xargs to use a newline as the delimiter when reading in the arguments; normally it is any whitespace (newline, tab, or space character)