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Is there a simple way of taking a previously issued command and converting it into a .vimrc-friendly keybinding?

For example, I have a simple substitution utilizing regular expressions that won't work when remapped:

# find all lines containing only a comment char: "#" "," ";"
# and replace with that char and --- ie: #---

:%s/^\(#\|\"\|;\)$/\1---/g<CR>

This works great if manually typed in.

After attempting to convert it to a binding (not a let @x persistent macro), it doesn't work:

nnoremap <silent> <leader>tb :%s/^\(#\|\"\|;\)$/\1---/g<CR><CR>

I've read you need to convert the | to <Bar> I believe it was, but that had zero affect.

Is there a vim-plugin or built-in feature that would allow me to convert anything in history to a keybind without manipulation?

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# find all lines containing only a comment char: "#" "," ";"
# and replace with that char and --- ie: #---

:%s/^\(#\|"\|;\)$/\1---/g

The comment says the command should replace these characters:

  • #
  • ,
  • ;

But the next command replaces these characters:

  • #
  • "
  • ;

Which one tells the truth?

After attempting to convert it to a binding (not a let @x persistent macro), it doesn't work:

nnoremap <silent> <leader>tb " :%s/^\(#\|"\|;\)$/\1---/g<CR>

Why is there an orphan double quote between the lhs and rhs of the mapping?

nnoremap <silent> <leader>tb " :%s/^\(#\|"\|;\)$/\1---/g<CR>
                             ^
                             ?

I've read you need to convert the | to I believe it was, but that had zero affect.

This seems to work:

nnoremap <silent> <leader>tb :%s/^\(#\<bar>"\<bar>;\)$/\1---/g<CR>

Tip: after installing a mapping, ask Vim to print how it was installed in the mappings table:

:nno <leader>tb

If the result does not contain the exact sequence of keys you want to be executed, adapt the rhs accordingly.

Is there a vim-plugin or built-in feature that would allow me to convert anything in history to a keybind without manipulation??

Move the rhs of the mapping in a function. The function call will still be subject to the usual mapping parsing, but whatever the function does in its body escape that parsing:

nnoremap <silent> <leader>tb :call Func()<cr>

fu Func()
    %s/^\(#\|"\|;\)$/\1---/g
endfu

BTW, this regex:

^\(#\|"\|;\)$

Can be simplified using a bracket expression:

^[#";]$

Also, if you have the patch 8.2.1978, use the pseudo-key <cmd> to execute an Ex command:

nnoremap <leader>tb <cmd>call Func()<cr>
                    ^---^

It reduces side-effects (no Cmdline* events, no display on the command-line so no need of <silent>, ...).

If you can't use <cmd>, then add <c-u> to kill a possible range inserted in front of :call if you hit a count by accident (see :h c^u):

nnoremap <silent> <leader>tb :<c-u>call Func()<cr>
                              ^---^
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  • Ah! We got <cmd>! Now to remind myself why we needed it and what I need to go editing in my vim files to use it ...
    – D. Ben Knoble ♦
    Commented Jan 24, 2021 at 14:34
  • Yes, that was a major change. The credit goes to Yegappan Lakshmanan for porting the feature to Vim. There are 3 benefits: 1. it does not trigger the Cmdline* events; 2. it makes <silent> no longer necessary; 3. it makes <c-u> no longer necessary.
    – user938271
    Commented Jan 24, 2021 at 14:54
  • 1
    There are 2 gotchas: <cmd> does not make you quit visual mode, so the marks '< and '> are not set. If your visual mapping refers to these marks, you need to make it press <Esc> first; otherwise, you have to play with line('v') and line('.'). And special keys are not allowed between <cmd> and <cr>; things like <F1>, <Up>, <Plug>(foo). If you really need them (e.g. inside a feedkeys() call), you need to delay their processing via <lt>: <F1> = "bad", <lt>F1> = "good".
    – user938271
    Commented Jan 24, 2021 at 14:54
  • Thanks! That’s helpful to know
    – D. Ben Knoble ♦
    Commented Jan 24, 2021 at 15:08
  • Thank you for the A+ response. The poor formatting in my question was due to attempted troubleshooting and giving up in frustration to ask a superior for help. I also removed unnecessary text from the original to simplify my question, which inevitably made things worse. You nailed it though :). Super helpful.
    – bmilcs
    Commented Jan 25, 2021 at 18:10

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