----- Original Message -----
From: "Suresh Govindachar" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, April 28, 2006 12:58 PM
Subject: Quick peak at files
>
> Hello,
>
> I have summarized my posts today titled "Balloons", "File ->
> register" and "Backslash in maps" as a vimtip
> (www.vim.org/tips/tip.php?tip_id=1218) titled "Quick peak at
> files"; the tip is also attached below.
>
> --Suresh
>
> Quick peak at files
>
> In an operating system's command-line terminal, one can get a
> quick peak at a file using commands such as more, cat, head etc.
> In vim, one way to peak at a file would be to open it in a new
> buffer -- but there is a way to peak at a file from vim without
> having to open it in a buffer, browse it and close the buffer --
> one can just view it in vim's command line! This mode of viewing
> is facilitated in vim version 7 by version 7's support for
> scrolling (see :help scroll-back).
>
> So to peak at a file, we just echo its contents (:help echo; info
> on other commands mentioned here can be found likewise via :help).
>
> Simple implementation:
> ---------------------
> One way to implement the idea would be:
>
> :new|r <file_name>|1d|exec 'normal "ayG'|q!|echo @a
>
> One could also do :echo system('cat foo.bat'), but we are trying
> to avoid explicit system calls. In version 7, vim supports
> readfile(). But the results of readfile() is an array of lines --
> and these lines would need to be joined to enable viewing; so we
> have:
>
> :echo join(readfile('foo.bat'), "\n")
>
> Applications:
> ------------
> Here are two applications that build on the idea presented here.
>
> A) Yasuhiro Matsumoto's calendar utility
> (www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=52) is written to
> display the calendar in a buffer. For a quick peak at the
> calendar, one can modify the plugin to support echoing the
> calendar in vim's command line, and make a simple map (such as
> of a RightMouse click) to trigger the display on the command
> line!
>
> B) I have the following in my vimfiles\after\ftplugin\index.vim
> to speed up previewing emails using my mail user agent utility
> (www.vim.org/scripts/script.php?script_id=1052)
>
> if(v:version < 700)
>
> nnoremap <buffer> <space> :exec "let @a='r
'.expand('%:p:h').'/'.substitute(
> \getline('.'),
>
\'\\(^.*\|\\s*\\)\\\|\\(\\s\\s*$\\)',
> \'',
> \'g')
> \\\|new\\|@a\\|1d\\|
> \silent exec 'normal\
d}\"ayG'\\|q!\\|echo\ @a"<cr>
> else
>
> nnoremap <buffer> <space> :exec "let
alist=readfile(expand('%:p:h').'/'.
> \substitute(getline('.'),
>
\'\\(^.*\|\\s*\\)\\\|\\(\\s\\s*$\\)',
> \'',
> \'g')
> \)\\|
> \while(remove(alist, 0) != '')
> \\\|endwhile
> \\\|echo\
> \substitute(getline('.'),
>
\'\\(^.*\|\\s*\\)\\\|\\(\\s\\s*$\\)',
> \'',
> \'g').\"\n\n\"
> \\\|echo join(alist,\"\n\")"<cr>
>
> endif
>
> Acknowledgment:
> --------------
> While the idea presented here is mine, people on the [email protected]
> mailing list suggested alternate ways of implementing it and
> helped with some implementation details (such as escaping |).
>
> Happy vimming!
>
> --Suresh
>
Just a clarification, peak or peek? People (like me)looking for a tip like
this might missed it. I myself think it's peek but that's just me.
By the way thank you for this tip.
Best regards,
h.
