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My experiments generate several log files, which I sometimes monitor manually. Some of the log files have an error message in the last line.

I want to open all log files with the cursor located at the last line. One solution can be

vim file1.log:128 file2.log:277

with last line numbers 128 and 277 determined by some wrapper code.

Is there a simpler solution?

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  • Would it work to generate a quickfix list and use -q
    – D. Ben Knoble
    Oct 1, 2019 at 17:36

1 Answer 1

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You can use

vim *.log +'argdo norm! G'

See

The + [cmd] allows you to run an ex command when you start vim and the command argdo norm! G will run norm! G on all the files being opened.

Of course you can replace *.log by the list of files you want to open.

EDIT to address the comments:

:h :$ being a valid ex commands norm! G can be replaced by $ to save some keystrokes

vim *.log +'argdo $'

And if you invoke Vim with the -p parameter which opens every buffers in their own tab you can replace argdo by tabdo to have the command executed on every tab instead of every buffers.

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  • 2
    Can change norm! G for a single $
    – Matt
    Oct 1, 2019 at 17:59
  • @Matt It depends on what you want to do, as :h norm says this commands allows you to write as an ex command a normal mode command. Which means that norm G is the equivalent of pressing G while you are in normal mode i.e. going to the last line of the file. If you use norm $ you will put your cursor at the end of the first line.
    – statox
    Oct 1, 2019 at 18:03
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    I mean only $ without norm. That's an Ex command itself.
    – Matt
    Oct 1, 2019 at 18:35
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    @filbranden If the command contains a single quote, you may be tempted to surround it with double quotes instead of single quotes. In a double-quoted string, bash and zsh may interpret the dollar sign as a reference to an environment variable name (this can happen for example if you try to run a global command whose last line specifier is $).
    – user938271
    Oct 1, 2019 at 20:56
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    @filbranden If you run a command consisting of only a line specifier, and if it's followed by another command separated by a bar, Vim seems to interpret the line specifier command as :p, so in addition to moving the cursor on the line, it also has the undesired effect of printing it (compare :$ vs :$|let var=0; both move the cursor, but the second one also prints the last line). To avoid this pitfall, you can use :exe (e.g. :exe '$'|let var=0).
    – user938271
    Oct 1, 2019 at 20:56

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