Vim macro with backspace

Question

I'm trying to save a vim macro that includes the backspace character to my vimrc file. The idea of this macro is to add a documentation segment in a js file. So if I have the following function:

function foo() {
}

I'll put the cursor on the function line, run the macro and it will create:

function foo() {
    /*
    | <- Cursor ends up here in insert mode.
    */
}

When I created the macro I got the following register:

o/*^M<80>kb<80>kb<80>kb*/<80>ku^M<80>kb<80>kb<80>kb

(<80> is a single character)

I tried adding this as a let command:

let a='o/*^M<80>kb<80>kb<80>kb*/<80>ku^M<80>kb<80>kb<80>kb'

but when I run it it just prints out:

function foo() {
    /*^M<80>kb<80>kb<80>kb*/<ESC>O<80>kb<80>kb<80>kb 
}

Is there some escaping that I'm missing? Maybe there's a different and better way to do this?

Answer 1

Those <80>kb are the internal key code for backspace. Replace each with \<BS> (and write ^M as \<CR>), and put the entire macro string in double quotes, and you should be good to go.

Also, to assign to register a, you need to use @a.