Vim Register Use in Ex Mode
scripting, vim, vim-registers
Solution
There are two approaches to doing this, but probably neither are exactly what you want.
Use `<CTRL-R>a` to insert the contents in the current command line. See `:help c_CTRL-R` for more info.
Use `exe` to allow insertion of variables into the expression. See `:help :exe` and `:help 41.3`.
:exe 'w testfile.' . @a
Problem
Potentially 2 questions in one. I would like to know how to reference a register in Ex mode. For instance, I'm editing a file and I want to save the file with a timestamp (or just datestamp really) appended to it. I know I can set register to the value of a shell commands output using: ``` :let @a = system("date +\"%Y-%m-%d\"") ``` Is there any to dereference this register and insert its value into an Ex command? Something like: ``` :w testfile.<value of "a register> ``` Copying to the system clipboard and pasting would be nice, but doing it in a more generic/programitic way for building on other commands in the future would be nice.