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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.

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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'

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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
  

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Often times, when I run a vim command that makes “big” changes to a file (a macro or a :vimgrep command) I lose my original position and feel disoriented.

Save position with winsaveview()!

The winsaveview() command returns a Dictionary that contains information about the view of the current window. This includes the cursor line number, cursor coloumn, the top most line in the window and a couple of other values, none of which concern us.

Before running our command (one that jumps around the buffer, a lot), we save our view, and restore it once its done, with winrestview.

let view = winsaveview()
s/\s\+$//gc              " find and (confirm) replace trailing blanks
winrestview(view)        " restore our original view!

It might seem a little overkill in the above example, just use “ (double backticks) instead, but it comes in handy when you run your file through heavier filtering.

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1. reselecting previously selected text (i use this to fix botched selections):

   gv  " :h gv for more
       " you can use `o` in visual mode to go to the `Other` end of the selection
       " use a motion to fix the selection
   

2. reselecting previously yanked text:

   `[v`]
   `[         " marks the beginning of the previously yanked text   :h `[
   `]         " marks the end                                       :h `]
    v         " visual select everything in between
   
   nnoremap gb `[v`]    " "a quick map to perform the above
   

3. pasting and indenting text (in one go):

   ]p   " put (p) and adjust indent to current line
   ]P   " put the text before the cursor (P) and adjust indent to current line
   

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