Question

If I do this:

:vimgrep /do_action\([ ]?'init'/ **/*.php

I get

E54: Unmatched \(

But I know that there are files with matching text. Why?

I would also be very grateful if someone could help me create a key mapping for cmd+l so that this search is initiated with “init” replaced with the word under the cursor, which I understand from various sources is possible.

Answer 1

Building on kev’s answer, here is your mapping:

nnoremap <D-i> :vimgrep //do_action([ ]\?'<c-r>=expand('<cword>')<cr>'/ **/*.php<cr>

But I’d advise you to not use the Command key in a mapping: it works only in MacVim and it’s a good habit to seek portability everywhere possible.

The <leader> key is perfect for such things.

nnoremap <leader>i :vimgrep //do_action([ ]\?'<c-r>=expand('<cword>')<cr>'/ **/*.php<cr>

See :help c_ctrl-r_= and :help leader.

edit

I went a little too fast on this one. Not only I’ve added unnecessary cruft to kev’s reworking of your command (silly //) but I didn’t notice that it could be simplified. This one is tested and working:

nnoremap <leader>i :vim do_action(\s*'<c-r>=expand('<cword>')<cr> **/*.php<cr>

Sorry for the mess.