VimL: Checking if function exists

Question

right now I'm cleaning up my .vimrc file to make sure it's compatible on most systems.

In my statusline I use a function that another plugin sets, the GitBranchInfoString() function introduced by this plugin.

What I wanna do is check if this function is set, and only then add it to the statusline. It would be in it's own line so I just need to check for it.

What would be the simplest way to accomplish this?

Thanks for all your help!

EDIT:

I have the following:

if exists('*GitBranchInfoString')
    let &stl.='%{GitBranchInfoString()}'
endif

ZyX · Accepted Answer · 2012-12-04 19:25:00Z

42

Use

if exists("*GitBranchInfoString")
    " do stuff here
endif

answered Dec 4, 2012 at 19:25

ZyX

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4 Comments

greduan Over a year ago

It does check for it, but for some reason it doesn't apply it to the statusline. I updated question with what I have.

ZyX Over a year ago

@Eduan vimrc is sourced before any plugins are loaded. Use this condition on VimEnter event, put statusline stuff into ~/.vim/after/plugin/statusline.vim (statusline can be any name) or do runtime plugin/git-branch-info.vim prior to the check (it will forbid you to disable this plugin with --noplugin option though; other solutions won’t).

greduan Over a year ago

I see, I will try that later, and give you any feedback. :)

user3751385 Over a year ago

For a more complete answer: superuser.com/questions/552323/…

bergercookie · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-10 00:11:57Z

9

Just as an alternative you may also use a regexp to decide if the plugin at hand is in your runtimepath:

if &rtp =~ 'plugin-name'
    ...
endif

This has the advantage that it works with plugins that only have vimscript code in the autoload directory, which in turn can't be detected when .vimrc is initially parsed since the autoload snippets are loaded at the time of a function call.

answered Jan 10, 2018 at 0:11

bergercookie

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Comments

user3751385 · Accepted Answer · 2015-05-25 18:59:02Z

7

The currently selected answer doesn't work for me (using Vim 7.4 / Ubuntu). I believe that's because:

.vimrc is sourced before any plugins are loaded

As @ZyX noted this in a comment.

My preferred method is just to check for the existence of the plugin file. I find this cleaner than writing a separate function in an external file.

if !empty(glob("path/to/plugin.vim"))
   echo "File exists."
endif

answered May 25, 2015 at 18:59

user3751385

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1 Comment

Josh Kelley Over a year ago

+1. Sample for checking if Syntastic is installed via Vundle: if !empty(glob(expand("<sfile>:p:h") . "/.vim/bundle/syntastic")). (See here.)

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