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I want to see the value of a variable, so I run the command 

:let

Vim displays the results of this command using the --more-- pager.
How can I search this for a phrase, e.g. html?
I've looked the man page for the more pager which says +/ is used for search but it doesn't seem to work, neither does / as per the less pager.

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  • 2
    AFAIK, it's a Vim internal command - it looks like 'more', but the program is not called by Vim (proof: it works in Windows, too). You can still write the beginning of a variable name, than ask Vim to complete it (e.g. with Ctrl-d).
    – VanLaser
    Commented Dec 5, 2015 at 8:30
  • thanks, when I type the variable name - or in fact pretty much anything - vim wont accept it - it just prompts with -- More -- SPACE/d/j: screen/page/line down, b/u/k: up, q: quit in the commandline.
    – the_velour_fog
    Commented Dec 5, 2015 at 8:34
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    Write :let then don't hit Enter, but Tab or Ctrl-d - you'll have a list of existing variables, displayed in "more" style - now hit Esc, write a few letters, hit Tab or Ctrl-d again ... and so on until you find the variable you want. Actually, to see the value of a variable, perhaps you should use echo instead? (Or set variable-name? for options)
    – VanLaser
    Commented Dec 5, 2015 at 8:43
  • 1
    very cool, both the Ctrl-d and the echo trick worked nicely, thanks!
    – the_velour_fog
    Commented Dec 5, 2015 at 9:03

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
23

This is not the more pager, this is Vim's internal and minimalistic pager which doesn't have search capabilities.

But you can use the :redir command:

:redir @a    redirect output of following commands to register a
:let         list every current option and its value
G<CR>        go straight to the end of the listing and make it disappear
:redir END   stop redirection
:tabnew      open a new buffer in a new window in a new tab page
"ap          put from register a

… then use regular Vim commands.

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5
  • oh very cool, thats a great command to know! thanks
    – the_velour_fog
    Commented Dec 5, 2015 at 9:09
  • 10
    slightly simpler: :redir @b|sil let|redir end
    – Christian Brabandt
    Commented Dec 5, 2015 at 12:38
  • 3
    Even though it is not the more pager, I feel like there is room for a plugin to replace Vim's more pager with less
    – Max Coplan
    Commented Mar 16, 2020 at 19:05
  • 3
    @MaxCoplan you could try this: gist.github.com/romainl/eae0a260ab9c135390c30cd370c20cd7 It's not exactly a pager but I've found it to be pretty useful.
    – romainl
    Commented Mar 18, 2020 at 9:49
  • @romainl thanks
    – Max Coplan
    Commented Mar 18, 2020 at 17:03
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Vim 8 has a execute() command the allows you to get the output of a command. To see it to the current buffer do:

:put =execute('let')

For Vim 7 you can use capture.vim. It is a plugin that wraps the commands from @romainl's answer and lets you use it as

:Capture let
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  • thats good to know, thanks. I'll check it out when I upgrade. On vim 7 Im using steve losh's clam plugin to capture large amounts of output into a new buffer. it works well too
    – the_velour_fog
    Commented Dec 1, 2016 at 20:21
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    Both this answer and @romainl's are great for different uses. This one (:put =execute(…)) is what I will use when I want to run a command and get the output in the same buffer. If I want the output in a different buffer, I'll use :redir @a; :let; redir END. This is going to help me finally get my highlighting and syntax annoyances figured out after 20 years!
    – Bruno Bronosky
    Commented Feb 2, 2020 at 2:59
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Here is working solution (that romainl mentioned in comment under the answer):

Redirect the output of a Vim or external command into a scratch buffer

Description of this script is in this answer for question:

Can listings in the awful 'more' be displayed, instead, in a vim window?

Described and used scratch buffer is similar to less command. Navigation and search function is available in it.

Checked in Vim with clipboard support:

VIM - Vi IMproved 8.1 (2018 May 18, compiled Dec 07 2023 15:42:49) Included patches: 1-213, 1840, 214-579, 1969, 580-1848, 4975, 5023, 2110, 1849-1854, 1857, 1855-1857, 1331, 1858, 1858-1859, 1873, 1860-1969, 1992, 1970-1992, 2010, 1993-2068, 2106, 2069-2106, 2108, 2107-2109, 2109-2111, 2111-2112, 2112-2269, 3612, 3625, 3669, 3741, 1847 under Ubuntu 20.04

sudo apt install vim
sudo apt install vim-gtk3

apt - How do I install vim-gnome on Ubuntu 19.10?

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