CODEWITHSUNDEEP
vim
sebastiangeiger
sebastiangeiger

Reputation: 3416

Getting the return value from an internal Vim command in Vimscript

I want to do something like

let colors = execute(":highlight")

This is obviously incorrect; all I can do is execute(":highlight") which will open a window, but what I really need is to get the contents of that window into a variable — much like a system() call would do for external commands. Can this be done?

Upvotes: 6

Views: 2573

Answers (2)

ib.
ib.

Reputation: 28934

There is a command called :redir that is specifically designed to capture the output of one or more commands into a file, a register, or a variable. The latter option is what we want in this case:

:redir => colors
:silent highlight
:redir END

To see the complete list of the ways to invoke the command, refer to :help :redir. See also my answer to the question “Extending a highlighting group in Vim” for another practical use of :redir.

Upvotes: 6

Luc Hermitte
Luc Hermitte

Reputation: 32926

let colors = lh#askvim#exe(':hi')

Which just encapsulates :redir. Or even better: 

let colors = lh#askvim#execute(':hi')

which returns the result as a list variable, either through :redir if we have no choice, or through execute() when it's defined. This new approach is to be prefered as it has less undesired side effects.

Upvotes: 3

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