created October 1, 2001 · complexity basic · author Brian Medley · version 5.7
Below is a way to number a set of lines. Here is an example before and after snapshot:
apple bob pear tree 1 apple 2 bob 3 pear 4 tree
Description[]
This provides a command and a function. They both can be called with or without a range. In addition, they can be called with or without arguments. Without a range they operate on the current line.
There are two supported arguments. They are described below:
- arg1 the number to start at. The default is one. This will
number your selected lines sequentially. The start can be a number, ., $, or, 'x (like getline).
- arg2 Text to append after numbers. The default is a space.
Examples[]
To provide your functionality:
:%Nlist 20 :%call Nlist(20)
To make a list start at 1:
:'<,'>Nlist :'<,'>call Nlist()
To number the whole buffer (with it's actual line number):
:%Nlist :%call Nlist()
To number a subset of lines with their line number (and put a '] ' in front of every number):
:'<,'>Nlist . ]\ :'<,'>call Nlist(".", "] ") command! -nargs=* -range Nlist <line1>,<line2>call Nlist(<f-args>)
function! Nlist(...) range if 2 == a:0 let start = a:1 let append = a:2 elseif 1 == a:0 let start = a:1 let append = " " else let start = 1 let append = " " endif " try to work like getline (i.e. allow the user to pass in . $ or 'x) if 0 == (start + 0) let start = line(start) endif exe a:firstline . "," . a:lastline . 's/^/\=line(".")-a:firstline+start.append/' endfunction
Comments[]
There is now a plugin nlist.vim that does this. The plugin also handles justifying the numbers. I probably should have waited and not made this tip.