gVim as git editor under cygwin

Question

I use msysgit and I'd like to have gvim as my git editor.

I use cygwin bash instead of git bash.

Running

$ /cygdrive/c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Vim/vim73/gvim.exe 

starts gvim. But if I set this as git editor:

$ git config core.editor /cygdrive/c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Vim/vim73/gvim.exe

and run commit I get:

/cygdrive/c/Program Files (x86)/Vim/vim73/gvim.exe: -c: line 0: syntax error near unexpected token `('

I then add escaped backslashes where needed:

$ git config core.editor /cygdrive/c/Program\\\ Files\\\ \\\(x86\\\)/Vim/vim73/gvim.exe

This still gives me:

/cygdrive/c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Vim/vim73/gvim.exe: /cygdrive/c/Program Files (x86)/Vim/vim73/gvim.exe: No such file or directory
error: cannot run /cygdrive/c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Vim/vim73/gvim.exe: No such file or directory
error: There was a problem with the editor '/cygdrive/c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Vim/vim73/gvim.exe'.

The thing is, I can copy the string from after "cannot run" and paste it and it runs. I guess it could be caused by either the spaces or the parentheses in Program Files (x86) (what on earth were they thinking?).

Since cygwin seems to handle it ok I figured I could create a symlink in say /usr/local/bin, as it is in my $PATH and set

$ git config core.editor /usr/local/bin/gvim

I confirm that /usr/local/bin/gvim starts gvim. Still, running a commit gives me:

error: cannot spawn /usr/local/bin/gvim.exe: No such file or directory
error: There was a problem with the editor '/usr/local/bin/gvim.exe'.

Unsetting core.editor and trying

$ export GIT_EDITOR=/usr/local/bin/gvim.exe 

gives me the same error.

This SO answer suggest that I use a script to open the editor.

I remove the soft link gvim.exe from /usr/local/bin and

$ cat > gvim
#!/bin/sh
/cygdrive/c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Vim/vim73/gvim.exe

$ chmod u+x gvim

I test run the script, it works, gvim starts.

$ gvim

Unfortunately when I run commit I get an error

$ git commit
error: cannot spawn /usr/local/bin/gvim: No such file or directory
error: There was a problem with the editor '/usr/local/bin/gvim'.

What can I do to get to use gVim as git editor? Has anybody tried it? Have I made mistakes? I must admit to being a novice when it comes to linux.

Answer 1

When working with spaces in pathnames, it's generally a good idea to encapsulate them in quotes. This will solve your problem:

git config core.editor "/cygdrive/c/Program\ Files\ \(x86\)/Vim/vim73/gvim.exe"

Answer 2

git config seems to remove one level of quotes, so add another. This works for me (with another editor):

git config core.editor "\"c:/Program Files (x86)/Vim/vim73/gvim.exe\""

(Note the escaped quotes surrounding the path, this causes the editor started whenever you do e.g. git commit to be "c:/Program Files (x86)/Vim/vim73/gvim.exe", so with quotes that tell the bash shell to not try to interpret the () as whatever it thinks this means.)