Local .vimrc doesn't get executed when I run vi

Chan Kim

7/19/24, 6:11 AM

I read from here that when I run vi in a local directory where I have a local .vimrc file, the commands in that .vimrc takes effect. But when I try it, it doesn't work for me.
Here is the test I did.

In my ubuntu-20.04, I make a directory ~/testdir11, and testdir22 under that testdir11(~/testdir11/testdir22).
Then I make a file ~/testdir11/.vimrc and put 'set path+=testdir22' in that .vimrc file.
And I make a file ~/testdir11/test.txt and put 'include "xyz.h"'
make ~/testdir11/testdir22/xyz.h and fill it with 'This is a test file'.
now in directory ~/testdir11, I do 'vi test.txt' and when the cursor is on xyz.h, I press 'gf'. This should open xyz.h because the .vimrc has 'set path+=testdir22' and the xyz.h file is in testdir22 directory. But in my case it doesn't go to that xyz.h file.

What is wrong with my setup? (If I put 'set path+=testdir22' in ~/.vimrc, it works).

ADD :
I tried :source .vimrc and it works. But I'm still curious why reading local .vimrc seems to work for other people.(in the link I've shown above..)

0 + 2

vim

muru

7/19/24, 7:05 AM

"I read from here that when I run vi in a local directory where I have a local .vimrc file, the commands in that .vimrc takes effect." You do understand that post is asking how this can be accomplished and this doesn't happen automatically? It'd be a security nightmare if this were some feature enabled by default. Did you add any of the configuration suggested by the answers to enable it?

Chan Kim

7/25/24, 2:25 PM

@muru I saw `localvimrc` but it's not exactly what I want. I want path and tags information relative to where I open the file, not the file's location. I'll check other options later(because it's not urgent). thank you.

Elon Musk

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EN: Local .vimrc doesn't get executed when I run vi

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