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I am trying to do a shortcut to resave a file with cmd-S. And if the file is of type vim, it will also re-source %. Here is what I have:

function SaveFile() w if &filetype ==? 'vim' so % endif endfunction nnoremap <leader>S :silent call SaveFile()<CR>

However, I get the following error:

E127: Cannot redefine function SaveFile: It is in use

Why is this so? What do I need to do to fix this issue? Is :so % not allowed in a function?

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  • Check what error means with :h E127 Commented Jul 15, 2020 at 21:43

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Your issue is that functions cannot be redefined without ! (as in function!). This is only partially true:

 *E127* *E122* When a function by this name already exists and [!] is not used an error message is given. There is one exception: When sourcing a script again, a function that was previously defined in that script will be silently replaced. When [!] is used, an existing function is silently replaced. Unless it is currently being executed, that is an error. NOTE: Use ! wisely. If used without care it can cause an existing function to be replaced unexpectedly, which is hard to debug.

I actually do not use ! anymore, but I believe in old versions of vim it was required to be able to re-source a script at runtime and have function/command definitions work. You might want to check on your version.

A more idiomatic way to accomplish your setup is to split the two (this is effectively what I do):

" ~/.vim/vimrc, or some other globally-sourced file nnoremap <leader>fs :write<CR>

and

" ~/.vim/after/ftplugin/vim.vim " two options: a dedicated map nnoremap <buffer> <localleader>ef :source %<CR> " or an autocommand augroup SourceVim autocmd! * <buffer> autocmd BufWritePost <buffer> source % augroup END

(I do something similar in clojure with fireplace's :Require)

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  • Why not :update instead of :write? Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 5:46
  • OP used write @Matt , but also sometimes you want the effect of a write (such as something that watches your code and runs tests or some such) Commented Jul 16, 2020 at 11:13
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There's always the way out of just ignoring that exception, if you understand what you're doing. Wrap the following around the function definition

try function! s:Something() ... endfunction catch /Cannot redefine function.*It is in use/ endtry

The caveat is, of course, that the function will not be redefined if the reload is performed by that function. Manually executing :e% (in case of function in ftplugin script) or :so% would work however.

Alternatives include:

  • write the parts that need reload in the mapping itself with multiple commands separated with | if needed
  • use something such as feedkeys() to make the reload outside the function body
  • put the function in a autoload script, then it won't be redefined each time
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