So far, we've stuck to tasks that were repeated in the same file, but we can play back a macro across a collection of files. Once again, we'll consider how to execute the macro in parallel and in series.
Preparation
Build a List of Target Files
Record a Unit of Work
ggplaces the cursor at the start of the file./class<CR>jumps forwards to the first occurrence of the word "class".
Execute the Macro in Parallel
allow us to execute an Ex command once for each buffer in the argument list.
revert all of the changes we just made to the first buffer in the argument list.
execute the macro in all of the buffers in the argument list.
Execute the Macro in Series
Our macro performs a single unit of work on a single buffer. If we want to make it act upon multiple buffers, we could append a final step that advances to the next buffer in the list.
Then we can run 3@a to execute the macro on each of the remaining files in the buffer list. When we reach the last buffer in the argument list, the :next command fails and the macro aborts.
Save Changes to All Files We've changed four files, but we haven't saved any of them.
save all files in the argument list.
save all files in the buffer list, quicker to save all files.
:write followed by :next