Execute current buffer as bash script from vim

Question

I use vim for bash scripting, and sometimes I write a one-time script. Usually, I don't want to create a new file, make it executable, execute it and then remove it.

For instance I open vim and type this:

#!/bin/bash

ll | while read line
do
    echo $line
done

I did not save this file, I just use vim to simplify bash-scripting. I know I can execute a bash command via ! in vim. But what about executing everything that is in the buffer?

Answer 1

I wrote a pretty extensive answer about this over on stack-overflow. The basic idea is that since the write command is about writing not saving, you can write the text in your buffer into an external program, such as python or bash. In your case, you would want to do something like:

:w !bash

or

:w !sh

These commands literally just write the text in your buffer directly into the program you specify with !, which is convenient because then you do not need to save a file. Of course, you may also do something like:

:w | !bash %

which saves your file and then runs it as a bash script. You can choose whichever one makes more sense for you.

Answer 2

Scenario: you are working in bash shell. First, make sure the local edit mode is vi:

$ set -o vi

Now, when you find yourself working on a long command like the following, hit Esc+v.

$ fjhwfq this is my long command

This will load your command into a temporary vi session. Now you can edit it as you wish, and even add another command...

fjhwfq some long command
ls -l

When you have finished editing, type Esc :wq and the command(s) will be executed, for example:

$ fjhwfq some long command
fjhwfq some long command
bash: fjhwfq: command not found
ls -l
total 44
-rw-r--r-- 1 ropata Domain Users 24073 Nov 10 14:17 _viminfo
drwxr-xr-x 1 ropata Domain Users     0 Jul 15 13:57 bin/
-rw-r--r-- 1 ropata Domain Users   956 Nov  7 10:43 custom_env