MacVim - doesnt find programs in PATH when running commands using "!"

Question

When I'm using vim in a terminal, it uses the PATH I have set, and I can run programs and scripts located in my ~/bin folder using !

For example

:! some_bash_script.sh

When I try this in MacVim, it doesnt find my personal shell scripts. How can I fix this?

I've set my shell in my ~/.vimrc like so:

set shell=/bin/zsh

but that doesn't seem to help. I did notice that if I launch MacVim from the command line, it works as expected, i assume because the shell's environment is the environment in which MacVim ends up running in.

e.g.

$ open -a MacVim.app

Is there a better way to do this? I like launching MacVim using Spotlight, but it doesnt work if I do it that way, only via Terminal.

NOTE: This is similar to this question, but that was for vim, not gvim or MacVim

Answer 1

I answered a similar question here. The problem is that zsh (and other shells) only runs ~/.zshrc for interactive shells and ~/.zprofile for "login" shells.

To force running commands as a login shell, add the -l flag to either the shell option, or the shellcmdflag option. That is (in your ~/.gvimrc),

set shell=/bin/zsh\ -l
" or
set shellcmdflag=-l\ -c

You need to escape the spaces because of how the set command works. Putting it in your ~/.gvimrc will prevent $PATH from growing when running it from the terminal.

Answer 2

So far, my best solution is to launch MacVim using an alternate application launcher, which you can create using AppleScript like so:

1. Create an apple script like by Running "Script Editor", clicking "New Document", and supplying the following:

   tell application "Terminal"
        do script "open -a MacVim.app; exit"
        delay 5
       quit
   end tell
   

2. Export that as an application, by

   • choosing "File | Export"
   • choose "File Format" as "Application"
   • Click "Save", and call it whatever you like. I called mine MacVimLauncher.app, and I saved it under Applications

3. Run that instead of MacVim.app.

Note: If you have MacVim running, you have to shut it down before trying this out. I've had a similar problem with Eclipse in the past, and this should solve that issue as well!