How can I execute the current line as Vim EX commands?

Question

Say I\'m editing my _vimrc file and I\'ve just added a couple of lines, for instance a new key mapping. I don\'t want to reload the whole file (:so %

Answer 1

Just after posting this, I found a work-around. I can copy text into the clipboard using "*y, then put that text into the command buffer by using the middle mouse button. This works for me, but is hardly a convenient solution for people without clipboard support, mouse support or just an aversion to removing their hands from the Vim position.

Answer 2

I don't want to reload the whole file (:so %) since that will reset a lot of temporary stuff I'm experimenting. I just want to run the two lines that I'm currently working on.

If you want to execute a command because you want to refine it before committing it to _.vimrc, then you should launch a Command Line Window for Ex-mode commands with q:.

At launch the Command Line Window is buffered with the contents of the command line history. It is a normal Vim window the contents of which can be edited as any text buffer with the exception of pressing on any line which executes the command on that line. It is very useful when you want to slightly change a long, complex command you wrote earlier and re-run it.

To launch a 'Command Line Window' for search strings press q/.

Answer 3

You could also try :<C-R><C-L><CR>

Per the vim docs, the combination will plop the current line into the command line. From there, hitting enter should do the trick. I realize that this does not handle multiline cases, however it doesn't require a .vimrc and therefore works out of the box.

Answer 4

To execute the current line as an ex command, you may also use:

yy:@"

This will yank the current line to the "-register and execute it. I don't think it is too much typing.

Answer 5

The accepted answer doesn't handle continuation sections. Also, surprisingly, the bar isn't needed, newlines are fine. This will work, first yanking the text into register x:

vno <c-x> "xy:exe substitute(@x,"\n\\",'','g')<cr>

As someone has already mentioned, the only exception are commands that "eat up" newlines. Eg, executing the above mapping on:

:sign define piet text=>> texthl=Search 
:exe ":sign place 2 line=23 name=piet file=" . expand("%:p")

will cause vim to to think that the user is trying to define textl as "Search\n:exe ":sign place... etc.

Answer 6

Executing the line under cursor as an Ex command:

:execute getline(".")

Convenient enough for 2 lines. (I'd figure out something for doing it with regions, but I'm not a vim user). And for currently selected region, the following seems to do the job:

:execute getreg("*")

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As commented by Peter Rincker, this mapping can be used for executing the currently selected lines:

:vnoremap <f2> :<c-u>exe join(getline("'<","'>"),'<bar>')<cr>