Automatically Insert Author Metadata in Vim with a Single F4 Shortcut

Last Friday Derek shared a Vim mind map; today we continue with a practical tip.

Many programmers want to embed author information in their scripts; here's how to achieve it in Vim.

Simply add the following code to your vimrc.

# Add author information with F4
map <F4> ms:call TitleDet()<cr>'s
function AddTitle()
    call append(0,"##############################################")
    call append(1,"#")
    call append(2,"#Author: wangshenghui - [email protected]")
    call append(3,"#")
    call append(4,"#QQ:417685417")
    call append(5,"#")
    call append(6,"#Last modified: ".strftime("%Y-%m-%d %H:%M"))
    call append(7,"#")
    call append(8,"#Filename: ".expand("%:t"))
    call append(9,"#")
    call append(10,"#Description: ")
    call append(11,"##############################################")
    call append(12,"#!/bin/bash")
    echohl WarningMsg | echo "Successful in adding the copyright." | echohl None
endfunction
# Update file modification time and name
function UpdateTitle()
    normal m'
    execute '/#*Last modified:/s@:.*$@\=strftime(":%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")@'
    normal ''
    normal mk
    execute '/#*Filename:/s@:.*$@\=":".expand("%:t")@'
    execute "noh"
    normal 'k
    echohl WarningMsg | echo "Successful in updating the copy right." | echohl None
endfunction
# Detect if author header exists in first 10 lines
function TitleDet()
    let n=1
    while n < 10
        let line = getline(n)
        if line =~ '^\#\s*\S*Last\smodified:\S*.*$'
            call UpdateTitle()
            return
        endif
        let n = n + 1
    endwhile
    call AddTitle()
endfunction

Isn't it easy? Give it a try!