Vimscript: Resolve variables to values before function invocation

Question

I apologize in advanced for what appears to be such a simple question.

I have a sample command defined as follows:

command! -nargs=+ Exmpl call Example(<f-args>)
function! Example(name)
    echo a:name
endfunc

It is invoked as follows:

Exmpl 'hello'

but it seems to literally interpret arguments given without parsing. So:

let hello = 'world'
Exmpl hello

Does not print world, as expected.

This is clearly something obvious I can't find in the literature. I've tried adding a variety of escape characters like &, but the subsequent arguments are always treated as bare words.

How can I use variables in custom Vim commands?

You can use :debug to see what's really executed -> :debug Exmpl hello + s + ENTER + s + ENTER ... — Luc Hermitte
– Luc Hermitte, Commented Jun 14, 2017 at 8:17

Jim U · Accepted Answer · 2017-06-14 04:59:39Z

2

Using <args> instead of <f-args> does what you are asking.

This command definition expands any supplied arguments when invoked

command! -nargs=+ Example call Example(<args>)
function! Example(name)
      echo a:name
endfunc

let hello = 'world'
Exmpl hello

Output

world

Reference

:help command

then search the help text for: /tab<args>

edited Jun 14, 2017 at 4:59

answered Jun 14, 2017 at 4:44

Jim U

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