`vim $some_file` is not correct. The backticks attempt to capture the stdout of the program, which in this includes the interface, so launching vim pointless, because the interface isn't displayed and therefor is unusable. In this case, you want to use: system "vim"; which will allow vim to display it's own STDOUT and read from STDIN.

As for reasoning, many nix type command line scripts need a fair amount of text input, so much that typing it all in to stdin, with the associated problems of editing, would be too much hassle. So you launch vim pointed at a temporary file, wait for them to type the necessary data, save it, and quit, then your program resumes and you read the file.

In reply to Re^2: How to launch vim from Perl by BUU
in thread How to launch vim from Perl by travibab

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