Escaping "%" in Vim when shelling out, so it's not expanded to filename?
vim
Solution
For use with the `:!` command, you need to pass the optional `{special}` argument to `shellescape()`:
When the `{special}` argument is present and it's a non-zero Number or a non-empty String (|non-zero-arg|), then special items such as `!`, `%`, `#` and `<cword>` will be preceded by a backslash. This backslash will be removed again by the |`:!`| command.
:exec("! clear && echo " . shellescape(g:input, 1))
Problem
Say I have this vimscript as "/tmp/example.vim": ``` let g:input = "START; % END" exec("! clear && echo " . shellescape(g:input)) ``` If I open that file and run it with `:so %`, the output will be ``` START; /tmp/example.vim END ``` because the "%" is expanded to the buffer name. I want the output to be ``` START; % END ``` I can use the generic `escape()` method to escape percent signs in particular. This works: ``` let g:input = "START; % END" exec("! clear && echo " . escape(shellescape(g:input), "%")) ``` But is that really the best way? I'm sure there're more characters I should escape. Is there a specific escape function for this purpose? Or a better way to shell out?