How to create a macro with vim commands?

Question

I am trying to create a macro to use it globaly. I have inserted this command to my .vimrc file

let @c='<esc>:r c.c' 

or

let @c=':r c.c'

but in both cases when I use "@c" on any file it only prints 'c>:r c.c' on the the file

Answer 1

Try adding a '^M' at the end of your macro, then "@c" should work. Else ':@c' should work as mentioned by ebenezer. You should use Ctrl+VEnter to insert '^M'.

let @c=':r c.c^M'

Best way would be to record the macro first and then save it to the .vimrc. If these doesn't work, you can check the content of your register c using "cp and see if there is something missing.

Answer 2

This is described in another answer. Try something like this:

let @c = ':r c.c'

and then, in your file, use

:@c

to execute it.

Answer 3

If you want to include special characters in your macro (like Escape or Enter) then use a non-literal string (double quotes, not single quotes) and the correct syntax. See :help expr-string. You could use raw special characters, as @Amit suggests, but this will make your vimrc file hard to read.

Assuming that you are starting in Normal mode and want to type @c, there is no need to start off with an Escape.

For testing purposes, I tried

:let @c = ":echo 'foo'\<CR>"

and it worked as expected. I even added this line (without the leading :) to my vimrc file just to make sure, and tested it that way. This should work:

:let @c = ":r c.c\<CR>"