Quick generic option toggling

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created April 28, 2005 · complexity intermediate · author Piet Delport · version 5.7

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A fairly well-known mapping to toggle boolean options is:

map <F2> :set wrap!<CR>

Nicer, more elaborate versions of this idea exist, such as:

nnoremap <F8> :set wrap! wrap?<CR>
imap <F8> <C-O><F8>

which displays the current value of the option after toggling it, and works both in normal and insert mode.

However, that definition quickly clutters up your vimrc, and is a pain to edit due to the redundant occurrences of the toggle key and option.

Wrapping the definition in a function solves the problem, and makes the toggle definition a one-line operation again:

" Map key to toggle opt
function MapToggle(key, opt)
  let cmd = ':set '.a:opt.'! \| set '.a:opt."?\<CR>"
  exec 'nnoremap '.a:key.' '.cmd
  exec 'inoremap '.a:key." \<C-O>".cmd
endfunction
command -nargs=+ MapToggle call MapToggle(<f-args>)

" Display-altering option toggles
MapToggle <F1> hlsearch
MapToggle <F2> wrap
MapToggle <F3> list

" Behavior-altering option toggles
MapToggle <F10> scrollbind
MapToggle <F11> ignorecase
MapToggle <F12> paste
set pastetoggle=<F12>

See also

• Managing boolean options