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How would I go about using a variable in a vim shell command (one done with !) in a vimscript? For instance, something kind of like this: (just an example, not what I'm really trying to do)
function Ls(dir) !ls a:dir endfunction 
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You can run commands in Vim by entering the command mode with : . Then you can execute external shell commands by pre-pending an exclamation mark ( ! ). For example, type :! ls , and Vim will run the shell's ls command from within Vim.
Vim's scripting language, known as Vimscript, is a typical dynamic imperative language and offers most of the usual language features: variables, expressions, control structures, built-in functions, user-defined functions, first-class strings, high-level data structures (lists and dictionaries), terminal and file I/O, ...
Use the execute command. Everything after it is an expression that evaluates to a string, which it then executes like a command you had typed in yourself.
function Ls(dir) execute '!ls ' . a:dir endfunction This says, "Evaluate the expression '!ls ' . a:dir and then execute it." The variable a:dir is expanded, the dot concatenates the two strings into '!ls whatever' and then that is executed as if you had typed it.
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