Function arguments not evaluating

Question

I'm trying to set up a couple of maps to quickly go through merge conflicts. Here's my code:

func! DiffAccept(w)
  diffget a:w
  diffupdate
  normal ]c
endfunc

noremap dh :exec DiffAccept("//2")<CR>
noremap dl :exec DiffAccept("//3")<CR>

Every time I try to use this I get "No matching buffer for a:w". I'm clearly using this variable wrong, but it acts as expected when I change the line to "echo a:w".

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 23 '13 at 19:35

5

Vim's evaluation rules are different than most programming languages. You need to use :execute in order to evaluate the (function argument) variable; otherwise, it's taken literally (as a buffer name):

execute 'diffget' a:w

PS: Prefer using :normal! (with !); this avoids interference from mappings.

answered Sep 23 '13 at 19:35

Ingo Karkat

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+1 btw @Ingo, `exec 'foo '.'bar'` and `exec 'foo' 'bar'`, which format do you prefer? – Kent Sep 23 '13 at 19:44

Function arguments not evaluating

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