Context aware fzf command

Question

I would like to have a file extension aware :FZF command, so that when I choose a file with enter from the fzf prompt, and that file has an extension that matches a list (say (pdf|mp3|jpg)), it opens the file with some external bash command (say open, I'm on mac), and otherwhise just opens it in vim buffer ar normal.

I have the following in my .vimrc

let g:fzf_action = {
  \ 'ctrl-t': 'tab split',
  \ 'ctrl-x': '!open',
  \ 'ctrl-v': 'vsplit', }

which lets me open files with an external program with ctrl-x from the prompts, but my brain can't handle this very well and I often press enter instead of ctrl-x. One single context aware command would be much better.

Answer 1

Based on what I read at Vimways, I would do something like this:

First, we need filetype-detection working, so for every filetype you need, in ~/.vim/ftdetect/<filetype>.vim, put

autocommand BufRead,BufNewFile *.<ext>[,*.<ext>] set filetype=<filetype>

(The example in the article uses video as a filetype, with a plethora of extensions matching.)

Next, we must execute the appropriate actions, so in ~/.vim/after/ftplugin/<filetype>.vim you'll want to

silent execute "!<external commands to view the file>" | buffer# | bdelete# | redraw! | syntax on

If, like me, you prefer to reorganize the code a bit:

function! s:command() abort
  " execute the external viewing command
endfunction

function! s:nextfile() abort
  buffer #
  bdelete #
  redraw!
  " this may or may not be necessary...
  " it might also be 'syntax enable' or even just 'edit'
  syntax on
endfunction

silent call s:command()
silent call s:nextfile()