How can I expand the full path of the current file to pass to a command in Vim?

Question

When I go to command mode and type

:!mycommand %

I get my command executed on the current file (% is expanded to the current file name). Is there a similar construct that expands the full file name (with the full path)?

I am using Windows.

Similar to http://stackoverflow.com/q/741024/80161 and http://stackoverflow.com/q/916875/80161 — Nathan Hartley, May 31 '11 at 19:50

score 174 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 10 '10 at 01:59

174

:!mycommand %:p

answered Feb 10 '10 at 01:59

Annika Backstrom

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How do you find these in VIM help? – keflavich Jan 25 '12 at 00:45
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@keflavich `:help filename-modifiers` – Annika Backstrom Jan 25 '12 at 03:38
to get directory which contains current file, I think that %:h is enough. Why need %:p:h here? – HVNSweeting Mar 29 '13 at 16:22
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@HVNSweeting `:%p` is the absolute path to the file, rather than the relative path. `:%p%h` is the absolute path to the file's parent directory. Using just `%:h` can result in a relative path. – Annika Backstrom Apr 05 '13 at 13:39
@AdamBackstrom can you give an example? I always got absolute path with %:h – HVNSweeting Apr 05 '13 at 15:29
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@HVNSweeting Shell: `cd ~ ; vim .vimrc`, Vim: `:!echo %:h`, should display '.' for the relative path. – Annika Backstrom Apr 06 '13 at 01:33
thanks, that's right, I always use cd %:h to cd to current file's dir, so it's always show fullpath. – HVNSweeting Apr 06 '13 at 02:12
there is also `%:.`, that return the file path relative to the current directory - often more convenient that the absolute path – jobwat Aug 29 '13 at 03:37

score 66 · Answer 2 · edited Sep 16 '13 at 17:12

66

The other two answers didn’t work for me (for some reason). However, I found that this combo displays the full path when typed in Normal mode:

Press 1 then CtrlG

Source: “Get the name of the current file” on the Vim Tips Wiki. See also the {count}CTRL-G section of :help CTRL-G.

edited Sep 16 '13 at 17:12

Rory O'Kane

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answered Jun 27 '12 at 08:27

Umber Ferrule

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That's a different topic. The question is about including the buffer path in a command string (thus the leading `:!`). Your `{count}CTRL-G` sequence is for displaying the full path in the UI. – Stefan Majewsky Aug 14 '12 at 08:16
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@StefanMajewsky regarding the question title which in fact brought me here, this should be the chosen answer. – doc_id Mar 02 '13 at 01:15

score 29 · Answer 3 · answered Feb 10 '10 at 01:58

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Append :p, e.g.

:!mycommand %:p

And %:p:h will give you the path of the directory that the file resides in.

answered Feb 10 '10 at 01:58

martin clayton

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score 21 · Answer 4 · edited Nov 14 '17 at 15:57

To print out the current vim filename:

:help expand
:echo expand("%:p")    " absolute path
:echo expand("%:p:h")  " absolute path dirname
:echo expand("%:p:h:h")" absolute path dirname dirname
:echo expand("%:.")    " relative path
:echo expand("%:.:h")  " relative path dirname
:echo expand("%:.:h:h")" relative path dirname dirname

:echo expand("<sfile>:p")  " absolute path to [this] vimscript

:help filename-modifiers

For example (with a vim function), to resolve() and expand() any symlinks to the absolute path to the current script <sfile>:p (instead of %:p), and then exec to source the fnameescape-ed filename contained in a function-local vim variable l:vimrcfilename:

 "  g:__sfile__dirname     -- directory containing this vimrc script
 "                            after symlinks
 "                            ~dirname(abspath(realpath(__file__)))
 let g:__sfile__dirname=fnamemodify(resolve(expand("<sfile>:p")), ":h")

 "  Source_dotvim(filename)  -- source dirname(this_vimrc)/filename
 function Source_dotvim(filename)
     let l:vimrcfilename=g:__sfile__dirname . "/" . a:filename
     if filereadable(l:vimrcfilename) && !empty(l:vimrcfilename)
         "source s:vimrcfilename "this doesn't work, so exec:
         exec "source " . fnameescape(l:vimrcfilename)
     else
         echo l:vimrcfilename . " empty or not found."
     endif
 endfunction 

 call Source_dotvim("vimrc.local.01-env.vimrc")

Notes:

:help fnamemodify
"current file": %:p (buffer file) / <sfile>:p (script file)
expand('<sfile>') does not work from within a function
source l:varname does not work; so, exec - string concatenation - and fnameescape
:messages prints the most-recent 200 vim [error,] messages

References

score 2 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 22 '14 at 11:32

2

Get the name of the current file http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Get_the_name_of_the_current_file

Set_working_directory_to_the_current_file http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Set_working_directory_to_the_current_file

answered Jul 22 '14 at 11:32

Tarek Saied

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Matthias Braun · Answer 6 · 2014-03-27T10:36:54.653

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If you want to use the full path in your vimrc, you can use something like this:

let vimFiles = '$HOME/.vim'
let absPath  = expand(vimFiles . '/subDir')

This will give you a path with backslashes on Windows.

edited Mar 27 '14 at 10:36

answered Mar 27 '14 at 00:32

Matthias Braun

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How can I expand the full path of the current file to pass to a command in Vim?

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