Operate on every line

Vim’s :norm command allows you to execute normal mode operations from the command line. By combining with %, we can run a sequence of operations on an entire file:

• :%norm – Run a normal mode command on the entire file.

For example, let’s suppose we have a list of words. We want those words to become keys in a JSON file with empty values ready to provide translations for a specific locale.

Given a single word on a single line, here’s how I would transform that into a JSON key with an empty value string.

• csw" – Using the Surround plugin, add a quote around the word. A mnemonic is Change Surrounding Word
• A: "", – Enter insert mode at the end of the line, and insert : "",

If I have a whole file of words, I run that command on the entire file like so:

:%norm csw"A: "", 

There’s a video of this whole sequence at the bottom. Watch how fast we transform the entire file. Now all we need to do is add the { } at the top and bottom and we’ve got a JSON file ready to go. This pattern can work with any sequence of normal mode commands you’d run on a line in Vim.