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I've the following dummy file created via:

echo -e "a a\tb b\tc c" > file

Is there any literal for space which I can use for motion argument?

For example this works (which removes the 1st a a column):

ex +'%norm df ' -sc'%p|q!' file

but only when the whitespace was typed manually by Ctrl+V-Ctrl+Tab.

I've tried already: \t, <Tab>, <c-v><Tab>, etc., but without success.

1 Answer 1

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This should work:

vim -c':exe ":%norm df\<Tab>"' -c ':wq' file

(not sure, why you are using -sc '%p' thing)

The :exe "norm <key>" is documented at :h expr-quote

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  • The -sc'%p|q!' is to print to the standard output and quit (without saving in-place), just an alternative way for input parsing like sed/awk.
    – kenorb
    Oct 16, 2015 at 14:49
  • Why :exe is required?
    – kenorb
    Oct 16, 2015 at 14:50
  • to parse the "\<key>" string Oct 16, 2015 at 14:58
  • Linked to your example from here: Deleting first column with vim. Basically I wanted to find simple ex cmd removing first column.
    – kenorb
    Oct 16, 2015 at 14:59

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