Vim mapping with user input

Question

I\'m wondering if it\'s possible in Vim to create a mapping (for normal mode) that allows user input before the mapping executes.

I want to create a mapping for a shortc

Answer 1

An alternative would be create a custom command and use a mapping to call the new command.

command! -nargs=+ -complete=file -bar Grep grep! <args>|cw

Now you can create your mapping:

nnoremap <f2> :Grep<space>

You probably also want to stay away from mapping the F key as it a pretty handy mapping.

For more help see:

:h :command

Answer 2

see also this answer on vi.stackexchange by @EvergreenTree

in short: map an expression to make use of input():

nnoremap <expr> ;n "<ESC>Go<CR>" . input("Input your text here: ", "Prepend this string to my input by default -") . " <<- that was your input.<ESC>"

Answer 3

There is a function input(prompt [, text [, completion]]):

The result is a String, which is whatever the user typed on the command-line. The {prompt} argument is either a prompt string, or a blank string (for no prompt). A '\n' can be used in the prompt to start a new line.

(from :help input()).

For things like :grep!, you'll probably have to build the command using a string expression and then :execute it.