I have a file mk.out that contains ANSI codes, which can be cleaned up by opening it in Vim and issuing:
:term cat % " Interpret codes in new buffer
:only " Close source buffer `mk.out`
:w! mk.out " Overwrite `mk.out` with cleaned up text
This works fine, but problems arose when I tried to automate this:
vim -c ":term cat %" -c ":only" -c ":w! mk.out" mk.out
I am perplexed by the fact that this results in an empty buffer for cleaned up code and for mk.out. If I remove the command to overwrite mk.out, however, the new buffer ends up still containing the cleaned up text, and I can manually issue the overwrite command.
I also tried overwriting to a different file mk.cln (cln is for clean). In contrast to the above, the new buffer for the clean text doesn't mysteriously become empty (good), but the written file mk.cln is still empty:
vim -c ":term cat %" -c ":only" -c ":w! mk.cln" mk.out
This is regardless of whether the "bang" ! is present in the write command. As expected, mk.out is not disturbed. To rule out problems from prompting to overwrite mk.cln, I ensured that mk.cln did not exist beforehand.
For :term's new buffer, what would cause the :write command to write an empty file when submitted via Vim's -c switch, but not when issued interactively?
Other contextual details
Writing a new file from an existing file works, but the ANSI codes are not cleaned up:
vim -c ":w! mk.cln" mk.out
I realize that I need :wq, but I'm just trying to troubleshoot for now.
Vim version
VIM - Vi IMproved 8.2 (2019 Dec 12, compiled Mar 30 2020 21:51:17)
Included patches: 1-486
Modified by <[email protected]>
Compiled by <[email protected]>
Huge version with GTK3 GUI. Features included (+) or not (-):
+acl -farsi -mouse_sysmouse -tag_old_static
+arabic +file_in_path +mouse_urxvt -tag_any_white
+autocmd +find_in_path +mouse_xterm -tcl
+autochdir +float +multi_byte +termguicolors
-autoservername +folding +multi_lang +terminal
+balloon_eval -footer -mzscheme +terminfo
+balloon_eval_term +fork() +netbeans_intg +termresponse
+browse +gettext +num64 +textobjects
++builtin_terms -hangul_input +packages +textprop
+byte_offset +iconv +path_extra +timers
+channel +insert_expand +perl/dyn +title
+cindent +job +persistent_undo +toolbar
+clientserver +jumplist +popupwin +user_commands
+clipboard +keymap +postscript +vartabs
+cmdline_compl +lambda +printer +vertsplit
+cmdline_hist +langmap +profile +virtualedit
+cmdline_info +libcall +python/dyn +visual
+comments +linebreak +python3/dyn +visualextra
+conceal +lispindent +quickfix +viminfo
+cryptv +listcmds +reltime +vreplace
+cscope +localmap +rightleft +wildignore
+cursorbind +lua/dyn +ruby/dyn +wildmenu
+cursorshape +menu +scrollbind +windows
+dialog_con_gui +mksession +signs +writebackup
+diff +modify_fname +smartindent +X11
+digraphs +mouse +sound -xfontset
+dnd +mouseshape +spell +xim
-ebcdic +mouse_dec +startuptime +xpm
+emacs_tags -mouse_gpm +statusline +xsmp_interact
+eval -mouse_jsbterm -sun_workshop +xterm_clipboard
+ex_extra +mouse_netterm +syntax -xterm_save
+extra_search +mouse_sgr +tag_binary
system vimrc file: "/etc/vimrc"
user vimrc file: "$HOME/.vimrc"
2nd user vimrc file: "~/.vim/vimrc"
user exrc file: "$HOME/.exrc"
system gvimrc file: "/etc/gvimrc"
user gvimrc file: "$HOME/.gvimrc"
2nd user gvimrc file: "~/.vim/gvimrc"
defaults file: "$VIMRUNTIME/defaults.vim"
system menu file: "$VIMRUNTIME/menu.vim"
fall-back for $VIM: "/etc"
f-b for $VIMRUNTIME: "/usr/share/vim/vim82"
Compilation: gcc -c -I. -Iproto -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -DFEAT_GUI_GTK -I/usr/include/gtk-3.0 -I/usr/include/pango-1.0 -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include -I/usr/include/cairo -I/usr/include/pixman-1 -I/usr/include/freetype2 -I/usr/include/libpng16 -I/usr/include/uuid -I/usr/include/harfbuzz -I/usr/include/gdk-pixbuf-2.0 -I/usr/include/gio-unix-2.0/ -I/usr/include/atk-1.0 -I/usr/include/at-spi2-atk/2.0 -I/usr/include/at-spi-2.0 -I/usr/include/dbus-1.0 -I/usr/lib/dbus-1.0/include -D_REENTRANT -ggdb -O2 -pipe -Wall -Werror=format-security -fstack-protector-strong --param=ssp-buffer-size=4 -fdebug-prefix-map=/usr/src/ports/vim/vim-8.2.0486-1.x86_64/build=/usr/src/debug/vim-8.2.0486-1 -fdebug-prefix-map=/usr/src/ports/vim/vim-8.2.0486-1.x86_64/src/vim-8.2.0486=/usr/src/debug/vim-8.2.0486-1 -fstack-protector-strong -D_REENTRANT -U_FORTIFY_SOURCE -D_FORTIFY_SOURCE=1
Linking: gcc -L. -fstack-protector-strong -L/usr/local/lib -Wl,--as-needed -o vim.exe -lgtk-3 -lgdk-3 -lpangocairo-1.0 -lpango-1.0 -latk-1.0 -lcairo-gobject -lcairo -lgdk_pixbuf-2.0 -lgio-2.0 -lgobject-2.0 -lglib-2.0 -lintl -lSM -lICE -lXpm -lXt -lX11 -lXdmcp -lSM -lICE -lm -lncursesw -lcanberra -liconv -lacl -lattr -lintl -Wl,--enable-auto-import -Wl,--export-all-symbols -Wl,--enable-auto-image-base -fstack-protector-strong -L/usr/lib/perl5/5.30/x86_64-cygwin-threads/CORE -lperl -lpthread -ldl -lcrypt
%!catwould work instead of the terminal emulator?:%!cata shot, but it preserved the ANSI codes rather than removing them (the latter being the objective).