Thanks for all the quick responses! There are a multitude of
ways to do it I guess.
Welcome to the world of Vim ;)
The abbreviation method seems the simplest for me at the
moment, but I can't seem to figure out how to make a multiline
abbreviation in my .vimrc file. I've tried using <CR>
characters in the string and quoting it as well.. both to no
avail. Any hints?
You're on the right track, however to put a <CR> in the
abbreviation [ed: *why* is "abbreviation" such a long word?].
However, the trick is to enter it literally, using the control+V
followed by control+M. If you've got the abomination of
mswin.vim loaded, that control+V may have been remapped to
control+Q so /caveat vimtor/. Thus, you'd have something like
iab /t firstline^Msecondline^Mthirdline
where the ^M is that ^V^M combo.
While you *can* stick tabs in there the same way, note that your
auto-indent settings can make them produce funky results.
Another alternative includes mapping something to
:0put =\"firstline\nsecondline\nthirdline\"
Just a few more ideas,
-tim
