How do I add spaces to a file path in vimrc?

Question

I am trying to set the shell to git bash in my vimrc.

I have this:

The code says:

set shell=C:\Program Files\Git\git-bash.exe

But because there's a whitespace in Program Files, it acts as a separate command.

How do I go about adding an actual space character?

Answer 1

You have to enclose it with quotes " and escape the space:

set shell=\"C:\Program\ Files\Git\gi-bash.exe\"

Here is what the documentation says:

:help 'shell'

'shell' 'sh'        string  (default $SHELL or "sh", Win32: "cmd.exe")
            global
...
    If the name of the shell contains a space, you need to enclose it in
    quotes and escape the space.  Example with quotes: >
        :set shell=\"c:\program\ files\unix\sh.exe\"\ -f
<   Note the backslash before each quote (to avoid starting a comment) and
    each space (to avoid ending the option value).  Also note that the
    "-f" is not inside the quotes, because it is not part of the command
    name.  Vim automagically recognizes the backslashes that are path
    separators.
    Example with escaped space (Vim will do this when initializing the
    option from $SHELL): >
        :set shell=/bin/with\\\ space/sh
<   The resulting value of 'shell' is "/bin/with\ space/sh", two
    backslashes are consumed by `:set`.
...