Questions tagged [command-line]
Questions on ex- or colon-commands. For questions about command-line options used to launch the editor, use the [invocation] tag.
464
questions
10
votes
3
answers
5k
views
How can I start vim and then execute a particular command that includes a \, from the command line?
In my ~/.vimrc, I have a command defined approximately like this:
nnoremap <expr> <Leader>n ':new ~/Notes/' . strftime('%F') . '-'
It is designed for creating notes files that contain ...
- 6,645
10
votes
2
answers
4k
views
How to write whole buffer to standard output from the command line?
I would like to write whole buffer into standard output (/dev/stdout) instead of the file and the following command works as expected while editing the file:
:w >> /dev/stdout
Hint: Press ...
- 18.1k
28
votes
1
answer
14k
views
How to edit files non-interactively (e.g. in pipeline)?
I would like to edit files passed in pipeline input using vim in non-interactive way or edit files in-place (similar to sed).
Few examples using sed:
$ sed -i'.bak' s/foo/test/g file # Edit file ...
- 18.1k
15
votes
4
answers
31k
views
How to split a line into multiple lines efficiently?
I've been receiving logged data in a text file that is just one long line with each value separated by a space. Is there a command or set of commands that will split one line into multiple lines?
Dom♦
- 3,265
27
votes
4
answers
11k
views
How to edit content from the standard input?
I would like to edit content in vim which was dynamically generated from the command-line without having the file yet.
In example:
$ echo This is example. | vim /dev/stdin
$ cat /etc/hosts | vim /dev/...
- 18.1k
83
votes
1
answer
36k
views
How to open multiple files in split mode?
I know how to split windows in vim, but it's possible to open multiple files using vim in split mode (at startup) from the command line?
In example:
vim file1 file2 file3
or:
vim *.cpp
- 18.1k
12
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Zsh-like tab completion of partial paths
Related to Bash-like partial tab-complete for filenames in Vim
One of the truly fantastic features of zsh is that you can type, for example, ls /u/s/m/m/who.1, press Tab and have it complete to
ls /...
- 24.7k
18
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Bash-like partial tab-complete for filenames in Vim
In Bash, when there are several files with the same prefix and I type part of the prefix and hit Tab, it completes the common prefix and allows me to continue typing to differentiate among the ...
- 8,462
4
votes
1
answer
103
views
Can the command-line window be entered without interrupting macro recording?
I'm having a problem using the command-line window (help cmdwin),
which is extremely useful, but it doesn't play well with macros.
cmdwin is invoked with q:, so if there is a macro being recorded, ...
- 245
8
votes
1
answer
203
views
Running cleanup commands only for edited lines possible?
Referring to clean-up tasks like (but not limited to) the ones detailed in these questions:
Re-indenting badly indented code
What's the simplest way to strip trailing whitespace from all lines in ...
- 1,747
27
votes
2
answers
5k
views
How to save a file for which I have no write permissions?
Sometimes it happens that I open a file and make some modifications as my own
user, without noticing or "forgetting" to noticing the [read-only] warning in
the status line (ie. some random /etc config ...
- 1,747
16
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How is command history resolved between multiple instances of Vim?
Vim keeps a history of ex commands (accessible via :↑ and q:), and that history persists after quitting.
If I run multiple instances of Vim (same user, same home directory), how does Vim arbitrate ...
- 9,359
20
votes
3
answers
447
views
What is the '[Command Line]' that sometimes comes up when I try to quit, and how can I quickly exit it?
Occasionally when I try to quit Vim, I get something that looks like this:
I'm not sure how I accidentally invoke this, but my current method for escaping it is to hit random keys and eventually it ...
- 2,561
5
votes
2
answers
112
views
How can I go into a directory in filename completion?
Consider a directory structure like this:
topdir/
file1
file2
foo/
bar1
bar2
Say I want to open some file in foo/ in a new tab.
I would first write :tabe topdir/, and then keep hitting ...
- 2,707