How can I execute a Vim selection or range in bash without replacing it?

Question

I'd like to select some text in vim and then execute it in bash. I know of the following procedure:

However, this replaces the selection with the output of the command. What if I don't want that?

garyjohn · Accepted Answer · 2011-08-31 16:47:32Z

21

Type the :w command like this:

:w !command

As you type it, it will appear like this:

:'<,'>w !command

See

:help :w_c

answered Aug 31 '11 at 16:47

garyjohn

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3

This is correct, but take care not to do :w! command by mistake. If command is a program you have write access to, it'll overwrite the program, and you won't be able to undo the change since that wasn't the buffer that was open. – Ray Oct 12 '16 at 19:26

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user1480704 · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-21 19:45:31Z

5

In vim 8.0, you can select a range of lines and run :terminal bash. This will open a terminal running bash with your selection as stdin.

:terminal node, :terminal ruby, :terminal python seem to work nicely as well.

answered Jun 21 '18 at 19:45

user1480704

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