I use a similar script when editing html files to view changes made to the file. if exists("loaded_mozilla") finish endif let loaded_mozilla=1 "Setup commands to run mozilla. ":Mozilla - open current file in mozilla. if !exists(':Mozilla') command Mozilla :call s:StartMozilla() endif function! s:StartMozilla() " let s:myfile = getcwd() . "/" . bufname("%") let s:myfile = expand("%:p") let s:a = "mozilla -remote 'openurl(file://"; . s:myfile . ")'" let s:r =system(s:a) "Mozilla is not running so start it." if s:r =~"No running window found." unlet s:a let s:a = "mozilla " . s:myfile . "&" let s:r =system(s:a) endif endfunction