Re: Automating paragraphs (was Re: Dump help pages)

Thanks.

This is pretty complicated, but probably what I had in mind.

So, some basic clarification -

You defined a new command called Jp. You specify a line range, and it starts at every non blank line and joins all following non blank lines.

That's quite good. Thanks very much.

What about the second command I had in mind? I could really use a way to select a paragraph and insert N newlines between every Word (Vim "W") (and also sentence, on a separate occasion), with a single command, say in visual mode.

With your command, I can imagine it could be modified to start at every Word and just append newlines. Do you think you could write an example of this? And, how to use it on highlighted text in visual mode, instead of specifying a line range?

Thanks very much,

Julius 

On Tue, Apr 20, 2021, 09:13 BPJ <bpj@melroch.se> wrote:

Den fre 16 apr. 2021 19:27Stan Brown <the_stan_brown@fastmail.fm> skrev:

On 2021-04-16 09:42, Julius Hamilton wrote:

> At the beginning of a paragraph which has been separated mid-sentence
> onto separate lines, how might I automate the process of calling CTRL-J
> until all the separated lines in the paragraph have been combined into
> one line? Will Vim be able to call CTRL-J until a condition is met, for
> example, that the single line being built ends in a sentence (a period),
> or until the next line is a blank newline?

I have the following in my .vimrc :

" Command to join lines in all paragraphs in a range/the whole buffer (Jp == join paras)

:com! -range=% Jp <line>,<line>g/^\s*\S/ .,/^\s*$/-join

" Explanation:

"  :g/^\s*\S/ " Go to the first in each sequence of non-blank lines

          " Actually every non-blank line but the result is the same here!

"  .,/^\s*$/- " "Select" all lines from the current to the one before the next blank line

"  join  " Join the "selected" lines

" Mapping to join lines in all paras in the buffer

:nnor Jp Go<esc>ggVG:Jp<cr>

" Explanation:

"  G " Go to the last line in the buffer

"  o<esc> " Add a blank line below the last so we are sure there is one!

"  gg " Go to the first line in the buffer

"  V  " Visually select the (first) line

"  G  " Extend the selection to the last line in the buffer

"  :Jp<cr> " Execute the command defined above

" Mapping to execute the :Jp command over the current visual selection

:vnor Jp :Jp<cr>

HTH

/bpj

The short answer is go to the top of the paragraph and press Shift+V,
then to the bottom and press Shift+J (not Ctrl+J). You can automate this
further by writing a function that would figure out the top and bottom
of the paragraph via whatever logic you build in. See :help :function.

> Then, how might I automate the process of entering N newlines between
> every sentence? I.e., automating pressing ), i, enter a few times, then
> escape, for multiple sentences? I could create a shortcut to execute
> these commands and call it myself, or it could also repeat until the
> conditions above. How would I do either?

Example, for N = 4:
:imap <F9> <CR><CR><CR><CR><Esc>
Type the actual < and > characters as shown. To use this, at the end of
typing your paragraph do not press Esc but press F9 (or whatever key you
mapped).

If you sometimes want to insert N blank lines in already-written text,
add this:
:map <F9> A<F9>
The previous map was active in insert mode; this one is active in normal
mode. It moves to the end of the current line ("A") in insert mode and
then appends the insert-mode version of F9.

Once you've verified that these work as you wish, you can put them in
your $VIM/_vimrc file so that they will be executed whenever you start Vim.

> Also, how do I go back to where the cursor previously was, in case I
> accidentally move it?

`` or ''
(One goes back to the _line_) where you were; the other goes back to the
exact position within the line.)

--
Stan Brown
Tehachapi, CA, USA
https://BrownMath.com
https://OakRoadSystems.com

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