Vim Command-Line Peculiarities, Ranges, and Bangs

Note that this is confusing (inherited from Vi): With ":g" the '|' is included in the command, with ":s" it is not. To be able to use another command anyway, use the ":execute" command. Example (append the output of "ls" and jump to the first line): > :execute 'r !ls' | '[ There is one exception: When the 'b' flag is present in 'cpoptions', with the ":map" and ":abbr" commands and friends CTRL-V needs to be used instead of '\'. You can also use "<Bar>" instead. See also |map_bar|. Examples: > :!ls | wc view the output of two commands :r !ls | wc insert the same output in the text :%g/foo/p|> moves all matching lines one shiftwidth :%s/foo/bar/|> moves one line one shiftwidth :map q 10^V| map "q" to "10|" :map q 10\| map \ l map "q" to "10\" and map "\" to "l" (when 'b' is present in 'cpoptions') You can also use <NL> to separate commands in the same way as with '|'. To insert a <NL> use CTRL-V CTRL-J. "^@" will be shown. Using '|' is the preferred method. But for external commands a <NL> must be used, because a '|' is included in the external command. To avoid the special meaning of <NL> it must be preceded with a backslash. Example: > :r !date<NL>-join This reads the current date into the file and joins it with the previous line. Note that when the command before the '|' generates an error, the following commands will not be executed. Because of Vi compatibility the following strange commands are supported: > :| print current line (like ":p") :3| print line 3 (like ":3p") :3 goto line 3 A colon is allowed between the range and the command name. It is ignored (this is Vi compatible). For example: > :1,$:s/pat/string When the character '%' or '#' is used where a file name is expected, they are expanded to the current and alternate file name (see the chapter "editing files" |:_%| |:_#|). Trailing spaces in filenames will be ignored, unless escaped with a backslash or CTRL-V. Note that the ":next" command uses spaces to separate file names. Escape the spaces to include them in a file name. Example: > :next foo\ bar goes\ to school\ starts editing the three files "foo bar", "goes to" and "school ". When you want to use the special characters '"' or '|' in a command, or want to use '%' or '#' in a file name, precede them with a backslash. The backslash is not required in a range and in the ":substitute" command. See also |`=|. *:_!* The '!' (bang) character after an Ex command makes the command behave in a different way. The '!' should be placed immediately after the command, without any blanks in between. If you insert blanks the '!' will be seen as an argument for the command, which has a different meaning. For example: :w! name write the current buffer to file "name", overwriting any existing file :w !name send the current buffer as standard input to command "name" ============================================================================== 4. Ex command-line ranges *cmdline-ranges* *[range]* *E16* Some Ex commands accept a line range in front of them. This is noted as [range]. It consists of one or more line specifiers, separated with ',' or ';'. The basics are explained in section |10.3| of the user manual. *:,* *:;* When separated with ';' the cursor position will be set to that line before interpreting the next line specifier. This doesn't happen for ','. Examples: > 4,/this line/ < from line 4 till match with "this line" after the cursor line. > 5;/that line/ < from line 5 till match with "that line" after line 5. The default line specifier for most commands is the cursor position, but the commands ":write" and ":global" have the whole file (1,$) as default. If more line specifiers are given than required for the command, the first one(s) will be ignored. Line numbers may be specified with: *:range* *{address}* {number} an absolute line number *E1247* . the current line *:.* $ the last line in the file *:$* % equal

This section details the nuances of using '|' in Vim commands, explaining the necessity of ':execute' to chain commands when '|' is consumed as an argument. It covers how the 'b' flag in 'cpoptions' affects '|' in ':map' and ':abbr', offering alternative solutions like '<Bar>' and CTRL-V. It also discusses using <NL> (CTRL-V CTRL-J) as a command separator, especially for external commands. Furthermore, the section highlights Vi compatibility quirks, such as ':|' and ':3|', and the optional colon between range and command name. It explains how '%' and '#' are expanded to filenames and how to handle spaces in filenames. Finally, it addresses the use of '!' after commands to alter behavior and introduces the concept of command-line ranges using ',' and ';'.