> I'm unclear about when to use and when *not* to use the colon in a
> string for the `execute' command - as composed programmatically.
>
> I'd appreciate it if someone could point me to some documentation or
> discussion on this topic.
>
> :h execute
> doesn't seem to clear this question up for me.
As far as I can tell, the colon is *never* needed in the string
used by :exec command as the resulting string is (per ":help
:execute") executed as an Ex command. Explicitly stated in
usr_41.txt (around line 498)
"""
The ":execute" command can only execute colon commands.
"""
The possible extra bit of information you may want is that any
extra colons are ignored in an Ex command, so you can
(pointlessly) do
::::echo 42
which is the same as
:echo 42
This is obliquely mentioned in ":help cmdline.txt" if you search
for the word "colon" (around line 572 in my older 7.2 that comes
with Debian):
"""
A colon is allowed between the range and the command name. It is
ignored (this is Vi compatible). For example:
:1,$:s/pat/string
"""
Hope that sheds light on why you sometimes do/don't see a colon
in an :execute command...they're superfluous :)
-tim
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