patch 7.4.813

Problem:    It is not possible to save and restore character search state.
Solution:   Add getcharsearch() and setcharsearch().  (James McCoy)

runtime/doc/eval.txt

@@ -1971,6 +1971,7 @@ server2client( {clientid}, {string})
 				Number	send reply string
 serverlist()			String	get a list of available servers
 setbufvar( {expr}, {varname}, {val})	set {varname} in buffer {expr} to {val}
+setcharsearch( {dict})		Dict	set character search from {dict}
 setcmdpos( {pos})		Number	set cursor position in command-line
 setline( {lnum}, {line})	Number	set line {lnum} to {line}
 setloclist( {nr}, {list}[, {action}])
@@ -3361,6 +3362,26 @@ getcharmod()						*getcharmod()*
 		character itself are obtained.	Thus Shift-a results in "A"
 		without a modifier.
 
+getcharsearch()						*getcharsearch()*
+		Return the current character search information as a {dict}
+		with the following entries:
+
+		    char	character previously used for a character
+				search (|t|, |f|, |T|, or |F|); empty string
+				if no character search has been performed
+		    forward	direction of character search; 1 for forward,
+				0 for backward
+		    until	type of character search; 1 for a |t| or |T|
+				character search, 0 for an |f| or |F|
+				character search
+
+		This can be useful to always have |;| and |,| search
+		forward/backward regardless of the direction of the previous
+		character search: >
+			:nnoremap <expr> ; getcharsearch().forward ? ';' : ','
+			:nnoremap <expr> , getcharsearch().forward ? ',' : ';'
+<		Also see |setcharsearch()|.
+
 getcmdline()						*getcmdline()*
 		Return the current command-line.  Only works when the command
 		line is being edited, thus requires use of |c_CTRL-\_e| or
@@ -5397,6 +5418,26 @@ setbufvar({expr}, {varname}, {val})			*setbufvar()*
 			:call setbufvar("todo", "myvar", "foobar")
 <		This function is not available in the |sandbox|.
 
+setcharsearch()						*setcharsearch()*
+		Set the current character search information to {dict},
+		which contains one or more of the following entries:
+
+		    char	character which will be used for a subsequent
+				|,| or |;| command; an empty string clears the
+				character search
+		    forward	direction of character search; 1 for forward,
+				0 for backward
+		    until	type of character search; 1 for a |t| or |T|
+				character search, 0 for an |f| or |F|
+				character search
+
+		This can be useful to save/restore a user's character search
+		from a script: >
+			:let prevsearch = getcharsearch()
+			:" Perform a command which clobbers user's search
+			:call setcharsearch(prevsearch)
+<		Also see |getcharsearch()|.
+
 setcmdpos({pos})					*setcmdpos()*
 		Set the cursor position in the command line to byte position
 		{pos}.	The first position is 1.