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First of all I assume those files ending with "~" which are created by vim when editing a file are indeed serving the purpose of temporary backups while editing.
But every time I open a file with vim and close it (:wq) I afterwards find such a file~. Why is vim not cleaning up? I assume there is something not correctly configured.
Raffael
Posted 2014-03-17T18:31:06.073
Reputation: 1 029
19
You can disable backup files putting this line in your vimrc file:
set nobackup
But if you still want to backup your files, centralize it to a directory with:
set backupdir=~/tmp
for example.
periket2000
Posted 2014-03-17T18:31:06.073
Reputation: 559
1thanks - but is this really the intended behaviour? I mean even when I do not change anything in the file those files are created and remain after closing vim. I assume (intuitively) that vim must be able to get rid of those files when closing!? I would not like to disable it as it might be of use when vim crashes. The backupdir-solution seems to be a good compromise though – Raffael – 2014-03-17T18:38:20.320
Yes; They are backup files; the default behavior is to create those backup files. – Ramhound – 2014-03-17T18:43:42.140
@Яaffael, the backup option is off by default, you should read the doc before enabling an option. – romainl – 2014-03-17T21:26:37.277
2@Яaffael The .swp files are used when vim crashes, not the backups – Izkata – 2014-03-17T21:42:22.197
1The backup files are created when you write the file. If you haven't changed anything, why did you write it? If you just habitually do :w maybe you could do :up instead which will only save if there are changes. – Ben – 2014-03-18T02:15:11.827
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First of all I assume those files […] are indeed serving the purpose of temporary backups while editing.
No. They are non-temporary backups made when saving.
The temporary files created while editing are (on UNIX-alike platforms) named .wibble.swp (for a file named wibble).
:help backupin
vim itself gives you the gen on the former, including the rules for when backup files are created and when they are not. :help swapgives you the gen on the latter.
JdeBP
Posted 2014-03-17T18:31:06.073
Reputation: 23 855
>
Allgemeine Informationen. – JdeBP – 2014-03-17T22:34:54.330
2With that link, you force readers to look through definitions until one makes sense. Why not just say it's an informal world for "information"? – Andrew Cheong – 2014-03-18T05:24:27.843
2They are not temporary backup files; they are the previous versions of the files. In a directory under version control they tend to become a nuisance. – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen – 2014-03-18T07:55:41.233