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command-linevi

Vim: from command line, go to end of file and start editing?

I can cause vim to position the cursor at the last line of a file by invoking it with an argument of +:

vi + myfile          # "+" = go to last line of file

How can I do this, and then go into append mode, so that the user can start typing at the end of the file?

Something similar to

emacs myfile --eval "(goto-char (point-max))"
Solution

  • One solution could be to use the + parameter to pass a command to execute after reading the file. Vim can take up to 10 commands this way so you can use:

    vim "+norm Go" "+startinsert" myfile
    • The first command norm Go will go to the last line and add a new one.
    • The second command will start insert mode allowing the user to type in the last line.

    Note This solution creates a new line at the end of the file. If you want to edit the end of the last line without creating a new one you could use something like that :

    vim "+norm G$" "+startinsert" myfile

    But If you do this and your last line already contains some text, you will start inserting text before the last character. I don't know an equivalent to startinsert like startappend so I don't know how to solve this.