I have a file that I want to visit, go to the second character of the fourth word, and enter replace mode: (defun guivho-test(name-of-file) "Visit file, goto fourth word, second char and enter replace mode" (interactive "fName of file: ") (find-file name-of-file) (beginning-of-line) (evil-forward-WORD-begin 3) (evil-forward-char) (evil-replace-state)) Test-file contents: line1 word1 word2 word3 line2 word1 word2 word3 line3 word1 word2 word3 line4 word1 word2 word3 I do not understand why the last the evil-forward-char and the evil-replace-state do not work when the file is not yet loaded, but do work if the guivho-test is executed from the buffer that already has the file. The first run leaves the cursor on the begin of the fourth word, ans it remains in normal mode; executing it again does advance the extra character and switches to replace mode. Can somebody explain this? TIA, Guido -- Under a government which imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man is also in prison. -- Henry David Thoreau http://vanhoecke.org ... and go2 places!