[the_silver_searcher](https://github.com/ggreer/the_silver_searcher). Ag can
be used as a replacement for 153% of the uses of `ack`. This plugin will allow
you to run ag from vim, and shows the results in a split window.
## Installation ##
### The Silver Searcher
You have to first install [ag](https://github.com/ggreer/the_silver_searcher), itself. On Mac+Homebrew, Gentoo Linux, several others, there's package named `the_silver_searcher`, but if your OS/distro don't have one, the GitHub repo installs fine:
```sh
git clone https://github.com/ggreer/the_silver_searcher ag && cd ag && ./build.sh && sudo make install
```
* Then, if you're using [pathogen](https://github.com/tpope/vim-pathogen):
You can specify a custom ag name and path in your .vimrc like so:
let g:agprg="<custom-ag-path-goes-here> --column"
## Usage ##
:Ag [options] {pattern} [{directory}]
Search recursively in {directory} (which defaults to the current directory) for the {pattern}.
Files containing the search term will be listed in the split window, along with
the line number of the occurrence, once for each occurrence. [Enter] on a line
in this window will open the file, and place the cursor on the matching line.
Just like where you use :grep, :grepadd, :lgrep, and :lgrepadd, you can use `:Ag`, `:AgAdd`, `:LAg`, and `:LAgAdd` respectively. (See `doc/ag.txt`, or install and `:h Ag` for more information.)
### Gotchas ###
Some characters have special meaning, and need to be escaped your search pattern. For instance, '#'. You have to escape it like this `:Ag '\\\#define foo'` to search for `#define foo`. (From [blueyed in issue #5](https://github.com/mileszs/ack.vim/issues/5).)