How to make Vim start at the end of a template?

Question

I have skeleton template files for various filetypes, and when I create a new file based on these templates, the cursor always starts at the top of the file. It would be more convenient if it started at the bottom.

Can I use a ftplugin or an autocmd to change the cursor's initial position?

Answer 1

If you associate a template to a file extension using the following autocmd:

autocmd! BufNewFile *.foo 0r ~/vimfiles/template/template.foo

The autocmd import the ~/vimfiles/template/template.foo when you create a new buffer that matches the *.foo pattern.

Then you could amend it using like:

autocmd! BufNewFile *.foo 0r ~/vimfiles/template/template.foo | $

Where the :$ command moves the cursor at the end of the buffer.