In vim, Ctrl+[ acts like Esc by default. However, I would like to rebind Ctrl+[ to perform a custom action. (Specifically, to Ctrl-t because I find it more natural for [ and ] to have complementary actions for ctags.)
However, when I execute the command:
:nnoremap <C-[> <C-t>
then my arrow key navigation get messed up. I'm not sure what happens, but clearly that's not the ideal way to do it.
I've tried to unbind Ctrl+[ but vim reports that it wasn't bound, and I've tried some tricks like first binding Ctrl+[ to itself and then unbinding. Always the same result.
Side note: Interestingly, when I add it to my .vimrc (as the last command) it's even worse. Something nondeterministic happens and vim opens randomly in one of these 3 states:
The bottom status line says "E73: tag stack empty", implying it received a Ctrl+t-esque command, however the if I hit a nav key like j, it deletes the current and bottom line and then puts me into insert mode. (Happens ~70% of the time.)
Sometimes it's in replace mode. (Happens ~15% of the time.)
Sometimes it's in normal mode. (Happens ~15% of the time.)
How can I properly remap Ctrl+[ to a different function in .vimrc?
You can't rebind Ctrl[. Pressing the Escape key in a terminal sends Ctrl[, just like pressing the Tab key sends CtrlI. There's no separate Esc code.
Vim is probably acting crazily when you try this because basically every ANSI key sequence starts with Ctrl[, so your rebinding is firing on all terminal input, and whatever else is in the key sequence looks like more commands to vim.
Due to the way that the keyboard input is handled internally, this unfortunately isn't generally possible today, even in GVIM. Some key combinations, like Ctrl + non-alphabetic cannot be mapped, and Ctrl + letter vs. Ctrl + Shift + letter cannot be distinguished. (Unless your terminal sends a distinct termcap code for it, which most don't.) In insert or command-line mode, try typing the key combination. If nothing happens / is inserted, you cannot use that key combination. This also applies to <Tab> / <C-I>, <CR> / <C-M> / <Esc> / <C-[> etc. (Only exception is <BS> / <C-H>.) This is a known pain point, and the subject of various discussions on vim_dev and the #vim IRC channel.
Some people (foremost Paul LeoNerd Evans) want to fix that (even for console Vim in terminals that support this), and have floated various proposals, cp. http://groups.google.com/group/vim_dev/browse_thread/thread/626e83fa4588b32a/bfbcb22f37a8a1f8
But as of today, no patches or volunteers have yet come forward, though many have expressed a desire to have this in a future Vim 8 major release.
Related
In Vim (or in a terminal?), control characters and their caret notation cannot be distinguished, like Enter vs. C-M. However, there is an only exception; BS vs. C-H.
Why are they only privileged?
For example, if you map Enter to NOP, also C-M will be mapped. Other many control characters have the same behavior. On the other hand, BS and C-H can be mapped to different keys respectively.
:map <Enter> <NOP> // also <C-M> will be mapped
:map <BS> <NOP> // only <BS> will be mapped, <C-H> won't
You can insert a backspace into a file by pressing controlV before the backspace. In that case, vim (and most editors) will display it as ^H. But normally backspace is treated as a command (telling vim to do something, depending on the mode).
When moving the cursor in a file containing control characters, you can readily distinguish between a control character versus caret next to another character: as you move the cursor left/right, vim will move two columns for the control character, but one column for each of the caret and other character.
I don't know all the nitty-gritty details, but basically (as I understand it) Vim uses an API to obtain the pressed keys that cannot distinguish between those different keys. For graphical applications like GVIM, all keys could be distinguished without problems; it's just a matter of switching to a more powerful (and GUI-only) API. For terminals, not all can actually distinguish between those keys (with <BS> / <C-H> the only exception). Many modern once can, though, it it again becomes a matter of switching to a more powerful API.
Some people (foremost Paul LeoNerd Evans) want to fix that (even for console Vim in terminals that support this), and have floated various proposals, cp. http://groups.google.com/group/vim_dev/browse_thread/thread/626e83fa4588b32a/bfbcb22f37a8a1f8
But as of today, no patches or volunteers have yet come forward, though many have expressed a desire to have this in a future Vim release.
More details on the problem
Due to the way that the keyboard input is handled internally, it unfortunately isn't generally possible today to distinguish certain keys, even in GVIM. Some key combinations, like Ctrl + non-alphabetic cannot be mapped, and Ctrl + letter vs. Ctrl + Shift + letter cannot be distinguished. (Unless your terminal sends a distinct termcap code for it, which most don't.) In insert or command-line mode, try typing the key combination. If nothing happens / is inserted, you cannot use that key combination. This also applies to <Tab> / <C-I>, <CR> / <C-M> / <Esc> / <C-[> etc. (Only exception is <BS> / <C-H>.) This is a known pain point, and the subject of various discussions on vim_dev and the #vim IRC channel.
This is because the XK_BackSpace keysym generally causes terminals to send ASCII DEL (0x7F), not ASCII BS (0x08, ^H). To balance things out, XK_Delete sends a sequence like \033[3~. Thus, unlike XK_Tab/^I, XK_BackSpace and ^H send completely different bytes.
Programs using the terminfo database can read the kbs and kdch1 capabilities to know what Backspace and Delete send, respectively. You can see your terminal's value with tput:
$ tput kbs | sed -n l
\177$
\177 is octal for ASCII DEL (see ascii(7)).
Another method is to check the termios(4) structure, which controls the “cooked mode” used by e.g. cat to read input (unlike bash or zsh). This is what Vim does in get_tty_info (src/os_unix.c), uh, after it checks termcap(5), compares backspace and delete, and, uh, maybe calls :fixdel? But you get the idea.
I am working with Cygwin/Mintty/Vim.
With <C-v> I see that <C-S-c> is encoded <83>. This mean vim can read it and I can map it using the map command.
Unfortunately if I try:
:inoremap <C-S-c> foobar
it doesn't work...
How can I make it work and why vim refuses to map Unicode keystokes?
Same question for <C-S-F1>. If I execute this command:
:inoremap <C-S-F1> foobar
I will get something like this:
[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~[20;5~
Where F1 is [1;5P and F9 is [20;5~
Vim apparently does not support exotic key combinations involving Control (<C-…>). That includes F1 – though your other attempted mapping ShiftC is supported (and is equivalent to Control with just C). From a post by Tony Mechelynck on a forum thread “Mapping ctrl-; (ctrl semicolon)”:
The only printable keys which can reliably be used with Ctrl, with
predictable results, in cooked mode on any OS, are those defined by
ASCII, and that means the following AND NO OTHERS:
ASCII characters 0x40 to 0x5F (i.e. uppercase A to Z, plus the six
nonalpha characters at-sign, left-bracket, slash, right-bracket,
[caret] and underscore), where Ctrl subtracts 0x40, thus mapping them
to 0x00 to 0x1F respectively. This explains why Ctrl-[ means Esc, Ctrl-I
means Tab, Ctrl-M means Enter, etc.
Lowercase letters, whose Ctrl counterpart is the same as for the
corresponding uppercase (thus Ctrl+letter and Ctrl+Shift+letter are
always the same for a given letter)
In addition, Ctrl-? is mapped to 0x7F (DEL).
Vim may or may not see other Ctrl-combinations, but that depends on the
terminal, and in most cases it won't see them, or confuse them with
something else such as the same key without Ctrl.
As for your <C-S-c> mapping, I’m not totally sure why you can see <C-S-c> with <C-v> but you can’t map it. When I test in MacVim (a GUI), I get the character ^C when I try <C-v><C-S-c>, and :inoremap <C-S-c> foobar works. When I test in OS X’s Terminal, the Terminal swallows the keystroke and beeps, with both <C-v> and :inoremap. In both cases, <C-v>’s behavior is consistent with :inoremap’s, so I don’t know why you are seeing the discrepancy.
Due to the way that the keyboard input is handled internally, this unfortunately isn't generally possible today, even in GVIM. Some key combinations, like Ctrl + non-alphabetic cannot be mapped, and Ctrl + letter vs. Ctrl + Shift + letter cannot be distinguished. (Unless your terminal sends a distinct termcap code for it, which most don't.) In insert or command-line mode, try typing the key combination. If nothing happens / is inserted, you cannot use that key combination. This also applies to <Tab> / <C-I>, <CR> / <C-M> / <Esc> / <C-[> etc. (Only exception is <BS> / <C-H>.) This is a known pain point, and the subject of various discussions on vim_dev and the #vim IRC channel.
Some people (foremost Paul LeoNerd Evans) want to fix that (even for console Vim in terminals that support this), and have floated various proposals, cp. http://groups.google.com/group/vim_dev/browse_thread/thread/626e83fa4588b32a/bfbcb22f37a8a1f8
But as of today, no patches or volunteers have yet come forward, though many have expressed a desire to have this in a future Vim 8 major release.
I am encountering some strange behavior with a keymap in vim that uses the ctrl key. I would guess that this has a simple cause and solution, but I just can't see it.
During the editing of restructuredtext, I find myself typing things like
:math:`x`
often (this :math: role will cause whatever is inside the ticks to be typeset as math in e.g. the latex output).
I want to map a key like m to enter :math:`` into the text and position the cursor inside the ticks.
I have done this
map m i:math:``ha
and that seems to work fine.
However, I would like to be able to use this map in insert mode. For that, I thought that using ctrl+m would be best. I've done
imap <c-m> :math:``ha
Although that correctly inputs :math:`` and positions the cursor inside the ticks when I do ctrl+m, the trouble is that after this point, every time I press enter in insert mode, it runs the same command as if I typed ctrl+m. In other words, enter in insert mode now seems to be mapped to
:math:``ha
as well.
It seems like it is definitely something to do with using the ctrl key. If I bind e.g. the F5 key as follows
imap <F5> :math:``ha
everything is fine.
I can use the e.g. F5 key and save myself any further bother, but I would like to know what is going on for future reference.
Is there something basic about the use of the ctrl key in a key map that I am missing?
thank you,
You have to use a different control combination for your mapping, e.g. <C-g>.
Due to the way that the keyboard input is handled internally, this unfortunately isn't generally possible today without these side effects, even in GVIM. Some key combinations, like Ctrl + non-alphabetic cannot be mapped, and Ctrl + letter vs. Ctrl + Shift + letter cannot be distinguished. (Unless your terminal sends a distinct termcap code for it, which most don't.) This also applies to <Tab> / <C-I>, <CR> / <C-M> / <Esc> / <C-[> etc. (Only exception is <BS> / <C-H>.) This is a known pain point, and the subject of various discussions on vim_dev and the #vim IRC channel.
Some people (foremost Paul LeoNerd Evans) want to fix that (even for console Vim in terminals that support this), and have floated various proposals, cp. http://groups.google.com/group/vim_dev/browse_thread/thread/626e83fa4588b32a/bfbcb22f37a8a1f8
But as of today, no patches or volunteers have yet come forward, though many have expressed a desire to have this in a future Vim 8 major release.
if you do a
:h keycodes
you will see:
notation meaning equivalent decimal value(s) ~
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
....
<CR> carriage return CTRL-M 13 *carriage-return*
<Return> same as <CR> *<Return>*
<Enter> same as <CR> *<Enter>*
so it tells, <c-m> is same as <Enter> (same keycode 13)
you could test in your shell too, for example, type ls and then <c-m> instead of <Enter>
I have two lines in my .vimrc file:
map <S-Enter> O<Esc>
map <CR> o<Esc>
The second line works as expected, but the first line does not.
The idea is that if I hit the Enter key then vim should insert a new line below the cursor position and move the cursor down to that line. If I hit Shift-Enter, vim should insert a new line above the cursor position and move the cursor up to that line. This mapping should work because the capital O key from normal mode will insert a newline above the line the cursor is on, place the cursor at the beginning of that line, and then place the user into insert mode. Capital O followed by <Esc> should simply revert vim back to command mode.
I have checked and capital O works as I expect. So why doesn't my mapping work? I have tried using map <Shift-CR> and map <Shift-Enter>, and neither of those does the trick.
EDIT Turns out it works in MacVim but not in iTerm. If anyone can explain why and suggest a workaround, I'd appreciate it.
Are you using console Vim? Some key combinations can only be mapped in GVIM. In all / most Linux terminals, Enter cannot be combined with Shift or Ctrl. Your mapping per se is correct, but you'd have to use a different LHS in the mapping.
Due to the way that the keyboard input is handled internally, some key combinations cannot be used even in GVIM. Some key combinations, like Ctrl + non-alphabetic cannot be mapped, and Ctrl + letter vs. Ctrl + Shift + letter cannot be distinguished. This is a known pain point, and the subject of various discussions on vim_dev and the #vim IRC channel.
Some people (foremost Paul LeoNerd Evans) want to fix that (even for console Vim in terminals that support this), and have floated various proposals, cp. http://groups.google.com/group/vim_dev/browse_thread/thread/626e83fa4588b32a/bfbcb22f37a8a1f8
But as of today, no patches or volunteers have yet come forward, though many have expressed a desire to have this in a future Vim 8 major release.
In a terminal, one cannot distinguish Ctrl+A and Ctrl+Shift+A as they both emit the same key code, so I can see why Vim can't do it. But gVim, being an X application, can differentiate Ctrl+A and Ctrl+Shift+A. Is there any way to map those two things differently?
For starters, I'd like to do something like the following: Make "paste from clipboard" work like Gnome terminal, while keeping Ctrl+V to the visual mode.
:nmap <C-S-V> "+gP
Gvim doesn't do it because vim cannot do it (under normal circumstances). Sorry, but that's just how it is.
However...
Some terminals (e.g., xterm and iterm2) can be configured to send an arbitrary escape sequence for any combination of keys.
For example, add the following to .Xresources for xterm to send <Esc>[65;5u for CtrlShiftA. You can then map that in Vim to <C-S-a>. (65 is the decimal Unicode value for shift-a and 5 is the bit for the ctrl modifier. The u in this case stands for "unicode".)
! .Xresources
XTerm*vt100.translations: #override Ctrl ~Meta Shift <Key>a: string(0x1b) string("[65;5u")
iTerm and [u]rxvt can also be configured to do this (examples not provided).
More info: http://www.leonerd.org.uk/hacks/fixterms/
As already pointed out, there are no ways to map <C-S-A> differently from <C-A>.
However, using tools like autokey (for linux & windows) or autohotkey (for windows), you can remap <C-S-A> to send a different key-stroke(s) for specific applications.
e.g. On my system, I have this setting in autokey:
$ cat ~/.config/autokey/data/gnome-terminal/ctrlshifta-gnome-terminal.py
#ctrl+shift+a sends '<S-F1>a'
keyboard.send_keys("<shift>+<f1>a") # Note that `f` in `f1` needs to be in lower case.
Assign it these properties:
keyboard-shortcut as ctrl+shift+a
window class: gnome-terminal-server.Gnome-terminal
Then your ~/.vimrc can create mapping for <S-F1>a to do whatever you want.
Notes:
I have used <S-F1> as kind of leader key for detecting <C-S>. This was because my terminal did not accept <F13>-<F37> etc keys. If your application supports it, (gvim does I think) using those keys is recommended.
I mainly vim in gnome-terminal. So I used window class = gnome-terminal-server.Gnome-terminal as filter. Modify it to use gvim if you want. autokey supports a button for capturing any other window's properties like class/title.
Due to the way that the keyboard input is handled internally, this unfortunately isn't generally possible today, even in GVIM. Some key combinations, like Ctrl + non-alphabetic cannot be mapped, and Ctrl + letter vs. Ctrl + Shift + letter cannot be distinguished. (Unless your terminal sends a distinct termcap code for it, which most don't.) In insert or command-line mode, try typing the key combination. If nothing happens / is inserted, you cannot use that key combination. This also applies to <Tab> / <C-I>, <CR> / <C-M> / <Esc> / <C-[> etc. (Only exception is <BS> / <C-H>.) This is a known pain point, and the subject of various discussions on vim_dev and the #vim IRC channel.
Some people (foremost Paul LeoNerd Evans) want to fix that (even for console Vim in terminals that support this), and have floated various proposals, cp. http://groups.google.com/group/vim_dev/browse_thread/thread/626e83fa4588b32a/bfbcb22f37a8a1f8
But as of today, no patches or volunteers have yet come forward, though many have expressed a desire to have this in a future Vim release.
If what bothers you is loosing existing C-V functionality, you can use C-Q instead. See, :help CTRL-V-alternative.
NeoVim now offers this functionality for both its terminal and gui clients. See :h nvim-features-new
As you've noted, you get the same keycode. So the only way to distinguish them is to check the state of the Shift key in your event handling function. Of course, if you have more than 0.5 second delay between keypress and processing, you'll miss some hits.
Most terminal emulators treat control plus shift simply as control by default. Instead, you usually map those key combinations to an escape sequence and listen to that inside the terminal application.
Step 1: Configure your terminal emulator to bind Ctrl+Shift+A to the sequence Esc,A.
Your terminal emulator is the program that shows the actual window of the terminal. When accessing a server via SSH, the terminal emulator is a program on your local machine. Binding keys works differently in different terminal emulators. For example:
For urxvt, add URxvt.keysym.Control-Shift-A: \033A to the ~/.Xresources configuration file and reload it with xrdb ~/.Xresources.
For iTerm2, open Preferences -> Keys, add an entry, and bind Ctrl+Shift+A to the action "Send Escape Sequence" and type A into the field below.
Step 2: Bind Esc,A to a command in Vim.
Add the key mapping to your ~/.vimrc configuration and reload it with :source ~/.vimrc:
nnoremap <esc>a your command here