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30/07 — 2019
24.38 cm   1.6 min

Bash Harder With Vim

Bash is tricky, don’t let your editor get in your way. Here’s a couple of neat additions you could make to your vimrc for a better shell programming experience.

Man pages inside vim

Source this script to get started:

runtime ftplugin/man.vim

Now, you can open manpages inside vim with :Man! It adds nicer syntax highlighting and the ability to jump around with Ctrl-] and Ctrl-T.

By default, the manpage is opened in a horizontal split, I prefer using a new tab:

let g:ft_man_open_mode = 'tab'

Scratchpad to test your commands

I often test my sed substitutions, here is a sample from the script used to generate this site:

# a substitution to convert snake_case to Title Case With Spaces
echo "$1" | sed -E -e "s/\..+$//g"  -e "s/_(.)/ \u\1/g" -e "s/^(.)/\u\1/g"

Instead of dropping into a new shell, just test it out directly from vim!

  • Yank the line into a register:
yy
  • Paste it into the command-line window:
q:p
  • Make edits as required:
syntax off            # previously run commands
edit index.html       # in a buffer!
w | so %
!echo "new_post.md" | sed -E -e "s/\..+$//g"  --snip--
^--- note the use of '!'
  • Hit enter with the cursor on the line containing your command!
$ vim
New Post         # output
Press ENTER or type command to continue
Hi.

I'm Akshay, programmer and pixel-artist. I write open-source stuff. I also design fonts: scientifica, curie.

Reach out at oppili@irc.rizon.net.

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