Question

I always forget to save all the files in buffer before compile using the vim build-in compile command :make. So is it possible to make vim print a hint about save file just like what it does when we quit before saving files?

Answer 1

Edit Re:

I found that “autowrite” option can solve this problem in some aspect, but i will also autowrite when i type next, previous, tag. I am looking for a better solution

You can use QuickFixCmdPre:

:au QuickFixCmdPre * write

This example will save files on doing make. See for more info :he autocmd.

Of course, this will only work if you use vim’s

:make

If you use other programs, don’t use e.g. :!scons -C src, but instead use :se makeprg=scons\ -C\ src and regular :make to trigger all builtin Quickfix functionality.

For more flexible auto-writing, see :

---

`autowrite`

I just use

:set autoread autowrite

in my .vimrc; This is actually quite safe, you’ll get warned whenever you risk losing changes either in-buffer or on-disk.

This is also pretty sweet when working on windows, simultaneously having the same file open in another program (say, Visual Studio or Notepad++; both can be configured to autoreload files on change as well).

The best part about this is that it will autosave also on minimize, so whenever you hit C-z to minimize, the file will be written (assuming it wasn’t changed on disk as well), and when you restore the window (or foreground it, in a terminal context) you’ll automatically get the most up-to-date file contents.