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vimzstd

How to view zst file using Vim?

I'm trying to view some log files in zst format. I can use zstdcat to view the content, but when I do vim <filename.zst>, there're only garbled text. Is there a similar way as zstdcat to view zst file with Vim as well?

Solution

  • You use Zstandard to compress data so a *.zst file is not readable text and there is no point opening it directly in a text editor. You will have to decompress it first, which is what zstdcat does:

    zstdcat is equivalent to zstd -dcf

    and then open the decompressed text in Vim.

    To view the content of a *.zst file in Vim, from your shell:

    $ view <(zstdcat filename)
$ zstdcat filename | view -

    To view the content of a *.zst file from Vim:

    :enew | r !zstdcat filename

    Note that, in both cases, you are not viewing the *.zst file itself but a copy of its decompressed content.

    Of course, the whole thing could be streamlined and turned into a plugin similar to :h zip.