How do I move to the beginning of a visual block from a vimscript function?

Question

Suppose i have several lines of text:

line1 line1
line2 line2
line3 line3

I want to create a vimscript function that has the following result:

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>line1 line1</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>line2 line2</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>line3 line3</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

How do i use '< and '> to move to the beginning and end of multiline visual selection inside a vimscript function? vim writes me "Not an editor command: '<"

Answer 1

Simply?

normal! '<

However, I would highly recommend seeing if there is a way to accomplish what you want via simpler (Ex) commands. If you need to do some work over a range, Ex commands are good at it.

For example, visually select the lines (e.g., Vap), then :'<,'>normal! Isome text and :'<,'>normal! Asome text. Then you should be able to get the lines above and below via the '< and '> registers and put the remaining text.