Running arbitrary vim commands from bash command line to script vim

Question

I want to script vim to edit files from the command line. For example I want to do something along the lines of:

vim -<SOME_OPTION> 'Iworld<Esc>bIhello <Esc>:wq helloworld.txt<CR>'

or:

echo 'Iworld<Esc>bIhello <Esc>:wq helloworld.txt<CR>' | vim

and have it save the file helloworld.txt with a body of hello world

Is this possible? I've tried a few different approaches but none seem to do it. I realize I can do things like vim +PluginInstall to run Ex commands from the command line, but I'd love to be able to string together arbitrary motions

Possible duplicate (in another section of StackExchange): unix.stackexchange.com/questions/34983/… — Tom Lord
– Tom Lord, Commented Jul 4, 2016 at 13:35
That's pretty close to what I want but not quite. If there's an ex command that lets me run arbitrary key presses like I can with mappings then that would definitely do the job — Josh Bodah
– Josh Bodah, Commented Jul 4, 2016 at 13:38

romainl · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-04 14:01:49Z

1

This can be achieved with the + flag and the :normal command:

$ vim +"norm Iworld" +"norm Ihello " +"wq helloworld.txt"

answered Jul 4, 2016 at 14:01

romainl

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Josh Bodah Over a year ago

Nice, not quite as elegant as I was hoping for but that gets the job done. Thanks!

Kent · Accepted Answer · 2016-07-04 13:49:50Z

0

I think what you are looking for is vim's -w/W and -s {scriptin} option. Well in your case you should make a scriptfile, and with -s file to let vim execute all your "key presses"

I think vimgolf has used these options too.

answered Jul 4, 2016 at 13:49

Kent

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2 Comments

Josh Bodah Over a year ago

Cool I'll peruse vimgolf for some examples

Kent Over a year ago

@JoshBodah you don't need the tmp file if you do vim -s <(echo "whatever")

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