How to write each line into separate file?

Question

I'd like to write content of the file into separate files each for each line.

For example:

Lorem 
ipsum
dolor
sit
amet
consectetur
adipiscing
elit

I'd like to write 1st line into line1.txt, 2nd into line2.txt, etc.

I've tried this command:

:. w line1.txt

which works for the current line, however this doesn't work:

:. w line\=line('.').txt

even though it would save only a single line.

How can I write a file for each line dynamically based on the current line number?

Answer 1

Try a global command:

:g/^/exe ".w! line".line('.').".txt"

• :g/^/ Do a command for every line (you can adjust this regular expression if you only want to save certain lines, i.e. . for non-empty lines)
• exe "" execute the following command
• .w! save the current line and overwrite if already exists. (Remove ! if you don't want to auto-overwrite everything)
• "line".line('.').".txt" dynamically insert the line number.

See :h :g and :h execute for more info.