Save timestamped backups of every file to a central backup directory

10 years ago

See snippet for description

" Replace the default backup behaviour (save backup of `/path/to/file` as
" `/path/to/file~` on overwrite) with saving backup of `/path/to/file` as
" `~/.vim/backup/"file :path:to YYYY.MM.DD hh:mm:ss"` where the overwrite
" occured at hh:mm:ss on YYYY/MM/DD.
" 
" This avoids littering backups all over your file system, and lets you go back
" and read multiple backup versions if you desire. It does tend to accumulate a
" lot of backups over time, so it's useful to set a cronjob to periodically
" clear out old backups:
" 
"     # in crontab
"     @midnight find ~/.vim/backup -not -newerat "1 week ago" -delete

let &backupdir = $HOME . "/.vim/backup"
if isdirectory(&backupdir) == 0
  call mkdir(&backupdir, "p")
endif
au BufWritePre * let &bex = ' ' . substitute(expand('%:p:h'),'/',':', 'g') . ' ' . strftime("%Y.%m.%d %H:%M:%S")