I just started learning Vimscript.
I want to write a function that opens the output of a bash function in a split.
If I do something like :call OutputScript("echo 'hello'"), I want a new buffer to open that has "hello" in it.
I tried the following code:
function! OutputScript(cmd)
if winbufnr(2) == -1
silent vsplit output
else
silent wincmd l
endif
silent normal ggdG
read! a:cmd
endfunction
If I :call OutputScript("echo 'hello'"), my output window looks like this:
bash: a:cmd: command not found
What syntax do I need to use cmd as a parameter for read?
Juste replace read! a:cmd by:
exe "read! ".a:cmd
The read command, as most of vim commands, don't expect vim variables. In order to use variables with common commands, you have to "encapsulate" it into an exe command, which can understand any vim expression.
The . is the vim operator for concatenating two strings.
Related
I want to map <M-o> to quickly look up buflist from command-mode.
Here's an example normal-mode mapping:
nnoremap <M-o> :ls<CR>
Here's an attempt to do the same for command mode using execute():
cnoremap <M-o> <C-r>=execute(':ls')<CR>
This however simply appends whitespace-separated :ls results to the command line, with no side effect of the :ls table actually showing.
Is there a way to execute a command without leaving command-mode?
Update:
Closest I've come to cracking this using Vimscript is the following:
function! RunCmdFromCmdline(cmd)
let l:cmd_line = getcmdline()
echo execute(a:cmd)
return l:cmd_line
endfunction
cnoremap <M-o> <C-\>eRunCmdFromCmdline(':ls')<CR>
The echo makes it so the results of a:cmd do pop on the screen, however in invisible font. I tried playing with :redraw <bar> in different combinations with no success.
Exiting from the command mode from within a <C-r>= or <C-\>e prompt does not seem possible.
You can save the contents of the current command line in a register, then run ls and paste the contents of the register:
cnoremap <esc>o <home>let #x="<end>"<cr>:ls<cr>:<c-r>x
So if command line looks like this:
:echo 'some'
type <M-o> to get:
:ls
1 %a + "filename" line 1
:echo 'some'
This works. It uses global variables, but arguably this is an acceptable use for them, since there's only a single command-line you can be in at a time.
function! SaveCmdline()
let g:save_cmdline = getcmdline()
let g:save_cmdpos = getcmdpos()
return ''
endfunction
function! RestoreCmdline()
call setcmdpos(g:save_cmdpos)
return g:save_cmdline
endfunction
cnoremap <M-o> <C-\>eSaveCmdline()<CR>ls<CR>:<C-\>eRestoreCmdline()<CR>
This works with whatever quotes or unfinished syntax you have in your command-line, restores the full command-line and the cursor to the position it was before running the command, doesn't mess with any registers (only touches the two global variables) and doesn't mess with command-line history either (see q: command for history.)
It does have one tiny bug, in that cnoremap actually also works when you're typing a search expression (after / or ?) among a few other sub-modes (see getcmdtype() for a list of those.) If you use the mapping there, it will search for "ls" and then restore your search term as an Ex command, oops...
You can probably use getcmdtype() to detect that and possibly only perform the actions while you're typing an Ex command and not in the other modes.
UPDATE: This fixes the last part, only executing the command while in the Ex command-line, not in search or other context. It also makes the interjected command parameterizable.
function! CmdlineExecute(cmd)
if getcmdtype() != ':'
return ''
endif
return "\<C-\>eSaveCmdline()\r".a:cmd.
\ "\r:\<C-\>eRestoreCmdline()\r"
endfunction
cnoremap <expr> <M-o> CmdlineExecute('ls')
(Note this still needs the definition of the two functions above.)
I am trying execute a nested execute command within a vimscript. I know that this command works in ex mode:
g/\(^\n\|\%1l\).\_.\{-}\n$/execute "normal! vap:call MCformat()\<cr>"
I want to be able to run that command from within a script. I have tried a number of permutations of the following code but can't get it to work.
function! RunMCformat()
silent! execute "normal! g/\(^\n\|\%1l\).\_.\{-}\n$/execute \"normal! vap:call MCformat\(\)\<cr>\""
endfunction
Probably I am not escaping the string properly but I don't know where I am going wrong.
Because of the double quotes, you'd have to escape (i.e. double) the backslashes inside the /.../ pattern definition. However, the biggest problem is the first :normal!; :g[lobal] is an Ex command. So, you're lucky, you can just prepend :silent! (which invokes Ex commands like :global), are you should be done; no nested :execute is necessary:
function! RunMCformat()
silent! global/\(^\n\|\%1l\).\_.\{-}\n$/execute "normal! vap:call MCformat()\<cr>"
endfunction
In general, I would avoid nesting of :execute; that's not readable in any case. Rather, extract parts of your code into a function / custom command (in which you can use :execute), and invoke that.
I've written a few macros in my .vimrc for the version control system I'm using (Perforce) (please don't suggest the perforce plugin for vim, I tried it and I don't like it). They all work fine except the revert macro, which breaks due to a confirmation prompt (which I need so I don't accidentally fat-finger my changes away). It currently looks like this:
map <F8> :if confirm('Revert to original?', "&Yes\n&No", 1)==1 | !p4 revert <C-R>=expand("%:p")<CR><CR><CR>:edit<CR> | endif
This causes bash to complain when vim tries to load the file:
bin/bash: -c: line 0: syntax error near unexpected token `('
Looking at the buffer bash sees, it looks like the error is that vim sends it everything after the first pipe, not just the part meant for bash. I tried a few alternatives but I can't seem to make it work. I've got it to show confirm dialog correctly when I removed the pipes and endif (using shorthand if), but then vim complains after the user gives a response.
I think you want something along these lines:
:map <F8> :if confirm('Revert to original?', "&Yes\n&No", 1)==1 <Bar> exe "!p4 revert" . expand("%:p") <Bar> edit <Bar> endif<CR><CR>
Remember that :map is a dumb sequence of keystrokes: what you're mapping F8 to has to be a sequence of keystrokes that would work if typed. A <CR> in the middle of the :if statement doesn't mean ‘and press Enter when executing the command at this point if the condition is true’; it means ‘press Enter here when in the middle of typing in the :if command’, which obviously isn't what you want.
Building it up a piece at time, from the inside out:
There's a shell command you sometimes want to run.
That shell command needs to be inside an :if to do the ‘sometimes’ bit, and so have an :endif following it.
After a literal ! everything following is passed to the shell, including | characters which normally signify the start of another Vim command. That's reasonable, because | is a perfectly good character to use in shell commands. So we need some way of containing the shell command. :exe can do this; it executes the supplied string as a command — and its argument, being a string, has a defined end. So the general form is :if condition | exe "!shell command" | endif.
Your shell command has an expression in it. Using :exe makes this easy, since you can simply concatenate the string constant parts of the command with the result of the expression. So the command becomes :exe "!p4 revert" . expand("%:p") — try that out on its own on a file, and check it does what you want before going any further.
Putting that inside the condition gives you :if confirm('Revert to original?', "&Yes\n&No", 1)==1 | exe "!p4 revert" . expand("%:p") | edit | endif — again try that out before defining the mapping.
Once you have that working, define the mapping. A literal | does end a mapping and signify the start of the next Vim command. In your original the mapping definition only went to the end of the condition (check it with :map <F8> after loading a file) and the !p4 part was being run immediately, on the Vim file that defines the mapping! You need to change each | in your command into <Bar>, similarly to how each press of Enter in your command needs writing as <CR>. That gives you the mapping above. Try it by typing it at the command line first, then do :map <F8> again to check it's what you think it is. And only then try pressing F8.
If that works, put the mapping in your .vimrc.
Use of the pipe to string multiple vim commands together is not particularly well-defined, and there are numerous eccentricities. Critically, (see :help :bar) it can't be used after a command like the shell command :! which sees a | character as its argument.
You might find it easier to use the system() function.
E.G.
:echo system("p4 revert " . shellescape(expand("%:p")))
The shellescape() wrapper is useful in case you have characters like spaces or quotes in the filename (or have cleverly named it ; rm -rf ~ (Don't try this at home!)).
In the interest of creating more readable/maintainable code, you may want to move your code into a function:
function Revert()
if confirm('Revert to original?', "&Yes\n&No", 1)==1
return system("p4 revert " . shellescape(expand("%:p")))
endif
endfunction
which you would access by using the :call or :echo command in your macro.
I'm editing an XML file in Vim, and then I want to transform it a plain-text file with xsltproc, which by default outputs to a stdout (something like : !xsltproc TXTRULE.XSL %). Is it possible to redirect that xsltproc output to a new tab in Vim without creating any intermediate files?
(I've tried to read :help redir and some wiki notes, but still can't get it. would be greateful for some kind of simple example.)
You can use read like in the following:
:read !ls
Obviously you should change ls with your command. If you want to open a new tab prepend tabnew with a bar to the command like:
:tabnew|read !ls
To expand on lucapette's answer, you could create a map like this:
:map ,x :tabnew<Bar>read !xsltproc TXTRULE.XSL #
# expands to the previously opened buffer, which is the file you were editing, while % would expand to the new buffer opened by :tabnew.
<Bar> has to be used instead of |, because otherwise, the :map command would end at the |.
I am using the following to view my program outputs (very useful for a makefile with a make run rule)
It opens a new tab next to current one only if one was not already opened before for that purpose:
fu! RedirStdoutNewTabSingle(cmd)
let a:newt= expand('%:p') . ".out.tmp"
tabnext
if expand('%:p') != a:newt
tabprevious
exec "tabnew" . a:newt
else
exec "%d"
endif
exec 'silent r !' . a:cmd
set nomodified
endfunc
au FileType xml noremap <buffer> <F6> :call RedirStdoutNewTabSingle("xsltproc")<CR>
TextMate has a nice feature that allows you to execute a script from within the current context and shows you the output in a separate window. This lets you write and test code on the go. I'm almost certain there is a similar feature with MacVim/gVIM, but I'm not sure what it is. Currently I save my buffers to disk, then go to the command line and execute the script in that respect. How do I improve that workflow with vim?
You can do this in vim using the ! command. For instance to count the number of words in the current file you can do:
:! wc %
The % is replaced by the current filename. To run a script you could call the interpreter on the file - for instance if you are writing a perl script:
:! perl %
vim tutorial: Mapping keys in Vim
You can map keys so perl executes current script as suggested by jts above.
map <C-p> :w<CR>:!perl %<CR>
will map Ctrl+P to write file and run it by perl
imap <C-p> <Esc>:w<CR>:!perl %<CR>
lets you call the same in insert mode.
You should have .vimrc (_vimrc for Windows) file in your vim/home folder. It has instructions on how vim should behave.
map <C-p> :w<CR>:!perl %<CR> is just instruction to map Ctrl+p to:
a) write current the file :w
b) run command (perl) using % (currently open file) as parameter :!perl %
<CR> after each command stands for "carriage return": an instruction to execute specific command. imap does the same as map but listens Ctrl+p while in insert mode.
You could run it right from vim:
:!./script.sh
All suggestions here merely showcased :!{cmd} %, which passes current buffer to the shell cmd.
But there is another option :write !{cmd}
For example, the effect of the :write !sh command is that each line of the current buffer is executed in the shell.It is often useful, when for instance you've added a couple of lines to you buffer, and want to see execution result immediately without saving the buffer first.Also it is possible to execute some range, rather than whole content of the buffer::[range]write !{cmd}
save the file and call the script using an interpreter
eg.:
:!python %
It sounds like you're looking for !:
:!{cmd} Execute {cmd} with the shell.
You can use % to denote the current filename, if you need to pass it to the script:
!proofread-script %
You can also use ! with a range, to use the command as a filter:
!{motion}{filter} " from normal mode
:{range}!{filter} " from command mode
(In the first case, as with many other commands, when you type the motion, it'll pass you into command mode, converting the motion into a range, e.g. :.,.+2!)
And finally, if you don't actually need to pass input from your file, but want the output in your file, that's essentially a trivial filter, and the fastest way to do it is !!{cmd}. This will replace the current line with the output of the command.
To execute the current executable script, use
:!./%
! executes a shell command, % is the current filename and ./ adds the current dir in front.
Put this small snippet in your .vimrc to execute the current file with one keystroke (like F5) and display the result in a new split-pane buffer.
:! is okay but you need to switch to your terminal to see the result.
While you can do that with ctrl-z and bring vim back with fg it still means you need to switch context a lot.
The way this snippet works is by first guessing the executable based on the filetype and then running it with the current file as its argument.
Next a handy utility method takes the output and dumps it into a new buffer.
It's not perfect, but really fast for common workflows.
Here's the snippet copied below:
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
"""""""""""""""""""""""""" RUN CURRENT FILE """""""""""""""""""""""""""""
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
" Execute current file
nnoremap <F5> :call ExecuteFile()<CR>
" Will attempt to execute the current file based on the `&filetype`
" You need to manually map the filetypes you use most commonly to the
" correct shell command.
function! ExecuteFile()
let filetype_to_command = {
\ 'javascript': 'node',
\ 'coffee': 'coffee',
\ 'python': 'python',
\ 'html': 'open',
\ 'sh': 'sh'
\ }
let cmd = get(filetype_to_command, &filetype, &filetype)
call RunShellCommand(cmd." %s")
endfunction
" Enter any shell command and have the output appear in a new buffer
" For example, to word count the current file:
"
" :Shell wc %s
"
" Thanks to: http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Display_output_of_shell_commands_in_new_window
command! -complete=shellcmd -nargs=+ Shell call RunShellCommand(<q-args>)
function! RunShellCommand(cmdline)
echo a:cmdline
let expanded_cmdline = a:cmdline
for part in split(a:cmdline, ' ')
if part[0] =~ '\v[%#<]'
let expanded_part = fnameescape(expand(part))
let expanded_cmdline = substitute(expanded_cmdline, part, expanded_part, '')
endif
endfor
botright new
setlocal buftype=nofile bufhidden=wipe nobuflisted noswapfile nowrap
call setline(1, 'You entered: ' . a:cmdline)
call setline(2, 'Expanded Form: ' .expanded_cmdline)
call setline(3,substitute(getline(2),'.','=','g'))
execute '$read !'. expanded_cmdline
setlocal nomodifiable
1
endfunction
Well it depends on your OS - actually I did not test it on M$ Window$ - but Conque is one of the best plugins around there: http://code.google.com/p/conque/
Actually, it can be better, but works. You can embed a shell window in a vim "window".