VIM scripting: How to check if list contains item?

[Reckoner]

If I do

:let y =['a','b']

how would I later check if 'a' is in y

:echo 'a' in y

doesn't work. I want to do something like:

:if ( 'a' in y)
: ....
:endif

Thanks!

[Tim Chase]

On 11/15/2010 11:37 AM, Reckoner wrote:
> If I do
>
> :let y =['a','b']
>
> how would I later check if 'a' is in y
>
> :echo 'a' in y
>
> doesn't work. I want to do something like:

You can use the index() function:

if (index(y, 'a') >= 0)
...
endif

which you can read about at

:help index()

-tim

[reckoner]

Dear Tim Chase:

Thank you! I read the manual section as closely as I could and came up
with nothing.

Thanks!

[Tim Chase]

On 11/15/2010 11:56 AM, reckoner wrote:
> Thank you! I read the manual section as closely as I could and
> came up with nothing.

Glad I could help -- the Vim manual is epic in its scope and
thoroughness, so it's easy to miss what you're looking for if you
don't already have an idea what it's called (even for us more
seasoned vimmers, there are some dark corners of the docs that I
have to :helpgrep to find, wading through a small mountain of hits).

But be cheered -- the mailing list is a generally friendly place
(especially if you don't top-post ;-) with lots of helpful folk.

-tim