How to run a shell command through vimscript?

Question

In my Vim setup I'd like to add a configuration that runs a shell command with a certain mapping. Is there any possible way to do this in Vimscript?

Answer 1

vim has a a system() function:

:call system('date')

Answer 2

I do this with traditional vi, so I assume it would work with vim as well.

In my .exrc I have:

map ^_ !}fmt 71 72^M

(That's a ^_ entered by typing ctrl-V ctrl-_, and a ^M entered by typing ctrl-V ctrl-M

When I hit ctrl-_ in vi, it reformats my current line to 72 characters.