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I noticed that when functions in plugin/myplugin.vim are named using the autoload convention, function! myplugin#myfunction(), the file autoload/myplugin.vim gets sourced on vim startup, even though no function of that file is ever called during the startup process. This happens for example with vim-peekaboo. Changing the functions peekaboo#{on,off} to e.g. Peekaboo_{on,off} fixes the issue, but I was wondering whether this was documented behavior? Also, is there a canonical way of naming functions in plugin/myplugin.vim?

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  • Yes this is documented; this is how autoloaded functions work. Any function with that type of name causes autoload files to be searched and possibly sourced. I dont tend to put many functions in plugin.
    – D. Ben Knoble ♦
    Commented Dec 13, 2018 at 12:40
  • Thanks, but wouldn't you expect vim to check first whether the function is already defined?
    – Rastapopoulos
    Commented Dec 13, 2018 at 12:42
  • Read the section on autoloading-functions
    – D. Ben Knoble ♦
    Commented Dec 13, 2018 at 12:52
  • It says the following (emphasis mine): When such a function is called, and it is not defined yet, Vim will search the "autoload" directories in runtimepath' for a script file called "filename.vim". Or am I missing something?
    – Rastapopoulos
    Commented Dec 13, 2018 at 13:47
  • Perhaps the function definition causes vim to check if such a function is defined? Particularly if using function!
    – D. Ben Knoble ♦
    Commented Dec 13, 2018 at 16:01

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Untested, but my theory is that during startup the definition of a function (particularly using function!) causes vim to check if a function by that name is defined, and this in turn causes the autoload search.

Feedback from contributors to vim would be welcome, in order to decide whether this is a bug or a feature.

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