How to execute a mapping on <F7> key from a script?

Question

I have the following mapping in my project:

nnoremap <F7> :execute '!gtags'<cr> :cscope kill -1<cr> :cscope add CTAGS<cr>

Under certain conditions I want to be able to execute this mapping from a script, i.e.

if (mycondition)
  execute 'normal <F7>'
endif

The code above didn't work.

Does anybody know if it is possible to do something like that?

In my opinion this would be better off in a command. command! RerfreshTags !gtags<bar>cscope kill -1<bar>cscope add GTAGS. Then map <f7> to this command and execute your the command directly in your function. — Peter Rincker, Sep 25 '15 at 1:03
@PeterRincker I agree, this would be better off as a command. I was just not familiar with he syntax of how to define one. Well, I will have to learn it. Thanks for the suggestion. — flashburn, Sep 26 '15 at 16:19

adelarsq · Accepted Answer · 2015-12-24 14:28:28Z

2

A workaround may be put the code in a function:

function! CallF7()
    execute '!gtags'<cr> :cscope kill -1<cr> :cscope add CTAGS<cr>
endfunction
nnoremap <F7> :call CallF7()

So you can use:

if (mycondition)
  call CallF7()
endif

answered Dec 24 '15 at 14:28

adelarsq

5742 silver badges12 bronze badges

add a comment |

Wildcard · Accepted Answer · 2016-05-18 05:20:51Z

2

You have to insert the escape code corresponding to F7.

To do so in insert mode on my system, I used Ctrl-vF7. It inserted ^[[18~ and the script worked.

Wildcard

3,65617 silver badges42 bronze badges

answered Sep 24 '15 at 22:05

statox♦

39.5k15 gold badges95 silver badges181 bronze badges

4

Or use double quotes and escape. e.g. execute "normal \<f7>". Or even better yet just use :normal. e.g. normal <f7> – Peter Rincker Sep 24 '15 at 22:07
@PeterRincker The double quoting doesnt seems to work on my system Debian + xterm + tmux + vim 7.4... maybe it comes from my terminal emulator? – statox♦ Sep 24 '15 at 22:09
@statox For some reason your suggestion didn't work. When I executed Ctrl-F7 it inserted <F7> – flashburn Sep 24 '15 at 22:12
1

To understand the double quote escaping rules I suggest reading :h expr-quote. An except: \<xxx> Special key named "xxx". e.g. "\<C-W>" for CTRL-W. – Peter Rincker Sep 25 '15 at 0:51
1

Single quotes don't do any expansion, double quotes do. See :h expr-string vs the immediately following :h literal-string. Most notably, backslashes don't mean anything special in single-quote strings. But then this means that all of the escapes don't do anything either; use double quotes to get magic things to happen. (Single quoted strings are great for regexes, for example.) – dash-tom-bang Feb 22 '16 at 18:16

| show 8 more comments

2 Answers 2