I'd like some map/remap/nmap/etc. commands to be case sensitive, e.g. "<C-I>" vs. "<C-i>".
I checked Google and :help map, but was unable to find this.
It appears you currently can't combine control with case-sensitivity in vim or gvim (I'm using 7.2). I might expect this to be a limitation of terminals for the former, but not the latter.
I tested it by typing this in a buffer:
map <c-i> :echo "c-i"<cr>
map <c-s-i> :echo "c-s-i"<cr>
Yank those lines, then :#" (when executes register " as commands). Verifying the maps with :map <c-i> and <c-s-i> shows the problem: <c-i> is <tab>, and only the last one takes effect, with the shift being ignored.
For alt, <a-i> and <a-s-i> do work as expected in gvim
In terminal vim, those two get mapped to é and É (at least here, check with ":map <a-i>" as above), and typing é/É directly (I use dead keys) does invoke the mapping. Actually doing a-i or a-s-i just enters insert mode.
Of course, non-control and non-alt maps work case-sensitively.
Add S for Shift
<C-S-i>
If you use your Caps Lock, (1) what on earth for?, and (2) you'll have problems. See here if this is your situation.
My bad.
Cannot be done, by design, with printable characters. The approach above does work with F1 et al, such as <C-S-F8>. See this thread for more.
My workaround would be to map it to something entirely different and obscure, and use AutoHotkey or similar to substitute the combination only for the uppercase variant.
Docs say that "CTRL-A and CTRL-a are equivalent".
Relevant part from :help notation
CTRL-{char} {char} typed as a control character; that is, typing {char}
while holding the CTRL key down. The case of {char} does not
matter; thus CTRL-A and CTRL-a are equivalent. But on some
terminals, using the SHIFT key will produce another code,
don't use it then.
(not intended as an answer, but as relevant info for anybody comming from search engine regarding case sensitivity)
Related
While using Vim under Linux Mint 20.2 (with NumLock off), when I hit the NumPad center key (5), a line is inserted above the current line, a capital E appears, and I am left in Insert mode. I often mistakenly hit the 5 key when trying to navigate using the NumPad cursor keys, and I would love to redefine the NumPad 5 to do nothing. I've tried remapping the key in .vimrc (using noremap <Esc>[E <Esc>, for example), but it has no effect. Note, the ANSI sequence produced when I press the NumPad5 is \033[E
FYI, I have TERM=xterm-256color.
Note: this answer generally talks about the numpad in a no-numlock context. All numbers on the numpad can be mapped when numlock is on by using <k0>...<k9>. References to the mapability of keys is therefore in a no-numlock context
Note, the ANSI sequence produced when I press the NumPad5 is \033[E
Vim doesn't see it that way.
On my system (Mint 20.2 with Cinnamon under X11), no-numlock 5 produces ^[OE. That O is very important to the observed behavior. o means "go to a new line under and enter insert mode", and O means the exact same thing, but to a new line above. The next E is then interpreted as an insert mode character, because Vim.
Moreover, esc is represented as ^[, so for mapping purposes, you only need <esc>. This point is easier to demonstrate in Vim:
^[ is additionally treated as a single character. If you want to play around with this, pop into insert mode and press <C-v>. The next key(bind) you press will be printed literally to the screen
This means what you actually want is:
nnoremap <Esc>OE <nop>
Note that I'm not sure how terminal input processing applies here; this may only hold for certain terminals, or even only apply to X11.
Another trick in general here, and a way to make sure the keycode is correct for your terminal, is that you can type :nnoremap , and then press Ctrl+v+Numpad 5. This will give you the exact keycode as Vim sees it, which you then can map to whatever you have planned.
If you do this in gVim, however, you'll find that numpad 5 without numlock doesn't actually produce a keycode detectable by gVim. This presumably means it can't be mapped (unless there's some way I just don't know about - if there is, please prove me wrong). But because it doesn't spew out a terminal code, there's the added benefit of not needing to remap it for this particular purpose, because it doesn't have the problem you're trying to avoid here in the first place.
romainl mentioned :help key-notation in the comments, but there's something to keep in mind here:
gVim not producing a keycode usually means there isn't one. <C-v> followed by numpad 9 in gVim produces <kPageUp>, but followed by numpad 5, it doesn't produce anything. Secondly, if you read :h key-notation, you'll see that it only defines home, end, up, and down, as well as the various operators, enter, and the decimal point. 2, 4, 6, and 8 are all registered as normal arrow keys, meaning <Down>, <Left>, <Right>, and <Up>. There's no way to detect these on the numpad specifically, but that's not really important.
If you've been keeping track, you'll find that numpad 5 is excluded. Note: When numlock is on, <C-v> + numpad 5 doesn't output anything in Vim or gVim, because the definition is:
Insert the next non-digit literally.
See :h i_CTRL-V.
TL;DR:
<C-v> is your friend.
Use:
nnoremap <Esc>OE <nop>
Or use <C-v> to insert the keycode, that may or may not be terminal dependent.
The mapping isn't necessary in gVim, and may not be possible.
The reason why you see this behavior is that Vim uses only the termcap interface of the terminal database. If it used terminfo, it would see a wider range of information.
Typing the key on the keyboard is misleading, because Vim (like almost all terminal applications) puts the keypad into application mode, which causes the terminal to send Escape and O rather than Escape and [ as a prefix. In terminal notation, that is \EO. In XTerm Control Sequences, that is referred to as SS3 (technically a misnomer since that applies to output, while keyboard input is input — but since no standards apply to keyboard input, that's good enough).
The terminal description for xterm at one point assigned \EOE to the kbeg capability (i.e., terminfo, which termcap names #1). That was a while back, around 1996.
Terminfo names are generally 3-5 characters, while termcap names are always 2.
Standard terminfo has a limited number of special keys (such as those for the numeric keypad which you are familiar with). All of the standard termcap names correspond to these terminfo names. In the standard arrangement, there are only five keys associated with a keypad: ka1, ka3, kb2, kc1, and kc3, which correspond to termcap's K1, K2, K3, K4, and K5. (Why there are no standard k2, kb1, kb3, or kc2 is long forgotten).
Looking for ways to improve the terminal descriptions in ncurses, a few different layouts of the standard keys have been proposed. But the best solution lies in adding new keys, using extended capabilities (a feature of ncurses since 1999). Those extensions all have names, and are chosen to conform to terminfo naming conventions. So... in May 2019, the terminfo building blocks xterm+keypad and vt220+keypad were introduced. In the former (used in xterm-new and xterm-256color, that key is named kp5.
There's no kp5 in the standard names listed in the terminfo(5) manpage. It is an extended (user-definable) key. In the older scheme some other key was unavailable for applications.
An ncurses application would automatically be able to use all of the keys, because ncurses uses terminfo (and adds all of the keys in a terminal description to its special cases for timing).
Vim will not see that key's definition because it views only a fraction (about a third) of the terminal description. Since it does not see the definition, it does not add that to the special cases where it will wait (a short time) for the completion of the character-sequence sent on that key. As noted in the other answer, in that case, Vim will see the commands Escape and O to insert the third character in the sequence, "E".
I hope this does not come across as an attempt to spark conversation purely for the sake of doing so.
I use vim a great deal (5-10 hours a day) and I noticed my left wrist is the first to start aching. The standard keyboard layout (see image below) is almost guaranteed to give you arthritis.
Currently, I have remapped
Ctrl to Shift
Shift to Caps Lock
Caps Lock to Ctrl
This helps with common commands such as Ctrlf or Shift2 (#), but I still have to twist my wrist to get at those combinations. Is there anyway to remap the keys so as to avoid this twisting on the left wrist (maybe use the Tab key)? I just find it odd that for a text editor designed specifically for programmers, it would make heavy use of these out of the way keys. I have considered remapping to the old keyboard layout (see below image), but I don't want to learn that if it is going to have the same fundamental problems as my current remapping.
Note: I am not a doctor, just another typist that suffered from wrist pain.
In my experience, just mapping Caps to Ctrl (or swapping the two if you must have a Caps) and using Ctrl+[ instead of Esc make a big difference. Ctrl+[ does not require an additional mapping in vim as it is equivalent to Esc. If you can teach yourself this small change you reduce your movement by a great deal when you consider how often you use Esc in vim.
The Caps to Ctrl mapping can't be done inside vim and will have to be made system-wide, however, having Ctrl in the more convenient location will also help in other applications that use Ctrl combinations. There are different methods of remapping keys depending on which OS you're using. A few common options are:
xmodmap (GNU/Linux)
KeyRemap4Macbook (OSX)
KeyTweak (Windows)
While this will probably improve your situation you really should consider seeing a doctor and/or purchasing a more ergonomically designed keyboard if your pain persists. I own an older version of the Kinesis Advantage that I picked up used on Ebay for about $100 (USD) and I couldn't be happier. The keys can be programmed directly on the keyboard so no software is needed to swap keys or create your own keyboard macros for frequently used key strokes.
Edit: I see in your post you also mention combinations like Ctrl+f and Shift+2 requiring you to twist your wrist to press. It sounds to me like you're only using the Ctrl and Shift keys on the left side of your keyboard. You should really be using both sets of these keys, using whichever one is on the opposite hand of the key you're modifying. That would negate this wrist movement.
Use caps as ctrl systemwide. (How often do you cut/copy/paste?)
This also makes ctrl[ work in vim.
Alongside I use the vim 'arpeggio' plugin.
Arpeggio lets you define vim bindings that are activated when two keys are simultanously pressed.
jk pressed serves me as ESC.
Also the 'surround.vim' plugin might be interesting for you.
Eliminated all my wrist pains.
post scriptum:
Use 'vundle'!
Its the best vim plugin manager by far, and you will wonder how you could ever do without, especially if you use a customized vim on several machines. Don't be scared if you have trouble setting it up initially, take your time.
I switched to a Kinesis Advantage keyboard, and remapped Caps Lock to Esc. This effectively removed any wrist pain I felt as a vim user.Once again not a doctor, but looking at how my hands move, I don't see my wrist twisting even when I hit Shift.
You could probably do some great remappings to the thumb keys to further minimise tension, but to be honest I've never felt the need.
Not a $0 solution, I'm afraid, but it was very effective for me.
I mapped both Escape (single tap) and Ctrl (hold) to CapsLock:
xmodmap -e "remove Lock = Caps_Lock"
xmodmap -e "remove Control = Control_L"
xmodmap -e "keysym Control_L = Caps_Lock"
xmodmap -e "keysym Caps_Lock = Control_L"
xmodmap -e "add Control = Control_L"
xcape -t 1000 -e "Control_L=Escape" # Fire nothing if 1000ms hold time out
Probably I'm messing things up here, but xmodmap isn't the best option to modify mappings anyway, so I will change that to pure xkb config.
I have also swapped : with ; and ` with ~, since I use : and ~ more often:
xmodmap -e "keycode 47 = colon semicolon"
xmodmap -e "keycode 49 = asciitilde grave"
I also use Compose Key to be able to type ūmlauts et c.
In vim, the most useful change I have ever made is mapping of space to leader. All kinds of leader-key combinations will make your life easier.
I couldn't get used to H and L for _ and $, since it doesn't seem to work with surround.vim and some other tricks people advise.
Just don't use arrows!
I'd make this part a comment to Randy's answer on Esc if I could, but it demands a little more space. There's one important use case where you can't just remap Windows keys: Windows 7 without admin rights. It's common enough in an enterprise environment; at the very least, it describes me and that keyboard in the pic. keymapper's repo has decent info on this issue:
Important note for Windows 7 Users
Windows 7 does not support per-user key mappings. Until the next release of Key Mapper, you will have to manually switch to 'Boot' mappings from the Mappings menu, reboot to change the mappings, and you will need to have Administrative access to your computer to set key mappings that will work in Windows 7.
The same is true for any Microsoft tools, KeyTweak, SharpKey, etc.
So you'll have to use something like AutoHotkey. I personally prefer mapping Caps Lock directly to Esc for Vim, and I've had issues just mapping it to Ctrl:
#IfWinActive ahk_class Vim
*CapsLock::Esc
#IfWinActive
Another alternative I like is inoremap jj <Esc>. Unless you plan to write about a hajj or something it works pretty well.
More to your point
In any case, have you considered doing the above for easy escaping and then remapping some of the hard-to-reach insert mode commands to Alt (hit it with your thumb) and then using mappings to your leader?
let mapleader=","
nnoremap <leader>f <C-F>
I would suggest remapping
Caps lock to left Control
Left Control to Escape
Escape to Caps lock
. If in linux first can be done by using setxkbmap -option '...,ctrl:nocaps' or changing XkbOptions in /etc/X11/xorg.conf. Second requires using of xmodmap. After some X server update I failed to get the third working, previously used xmodmap as well.
Using dvorak layout (maybe even programming) that is optimized for touch typing and mappings like ,s->()<Left> might also help.
Note: I am not a doctor as well. I am touch typist, but unlike #Randy Morris I never suffered from the wrist pain, just moved keys to the most convenient locations.
I always press the left ctrl key by curling up my pinky and pressing with the first knuckle. I find this requires less hand movement.
Update
I don't find Shift uncomfortable, so I can't help you with
that. However Ctrl does bother me, and even with my
knuckle technique I prefer to avoid it where possible. So for
insert mode (and command-line mode) I use a leading ;
instead of Ctrl. E.g.
:map! ;w <C-W>
:map! ;a <C-A>
:map! ;r <C-R>
:ino ;t <C-T>
:ino ;d <C-D>
You get the idea.
In normal mode I use v and V instead of Ctrl+F and
Ctrl+B (I only use visual blockwise mode), though
I imagine most people would prefer to map different keys,
such as <Space> and - for paging (- isn't really
needed). Instead of F you could search forwards with f,
and then hit ,.
I've never really seen much point in Ctrl+D or Ctrl+U.
However I do find z., z<Enter>, and z- useful for
scrolling the line with the cursor to the middle, top, and
bottom of the window respectively. H, M and L are also
useful for moving the cursor around the screen. But in
general I prefer to just use / with 'incsearch' set for
navigating about.
There's no right or wrong way to do this, these are just my personal preferences, but I hope it gives you one or
two ideas. Try experimenting and see what works for you.
I've developed a vim module to do some simple remappings for exactly this issue:
https://github.com/vim-scripts/vim.ergonomic
The biggest things it does is make it easier to type bracket sets. It also makes it much easier to get into command mode (jj->ESC)
It runs on the principle that you hardly ever used the J key while editing, but it is right there in the home row... so let's abuse it!
from the documentation:
Remapping commonly used commands
key combo mapping purpose
; : removes the need to hit Shift to use commands
jj <ESC> can exit edit mode quickly and easily
Jj j can type 'j' when you need to
JJ J can type 'J' when you need to
Making it easier to insert various kinds of braces:
key combo mapping purpose
JU ()<left> easier to create parenthesis
JI []<left> easier to create square brackets
JM {}<left> eaiser to create curly braces
J< <><left> easier to create carrot braces
Make it easier to move small distances (especially useful with braces commands):
key combo mapping purpose
JL <left> move left in insert mode
JH <right> move right in insert mode
Removing any need for enter, backspace or delete:
key combo mapping purpose
JB <esc>ldbi delete the previous word
JW <esc>dwi delete the next word
JO <esc>oi insert line and go to it
Is there a way to use the alt+backspace in vim command line? It gets unruly when having to backspace /very/long/file/path individually instead of using alt+backspace to delete by words.
try using instead <c-w> (that is ctrl+w) to erase words or <c-u> (ctrl+u) to delete lines.
http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Map_Ctrl-Backspace_to_delete_previous_word
:imap <C-BS> <C-W>
sets ctrl backspace, i have to look at how to do alt
If you are at the end of the path you can hit B followed by a dW (case matters). This will jump you to the beginning of the word (ignoring the slashes) and subsequently delete the word (again ignoring the slashes).
Hope this helps.
Vim is unable to receive alt input. skeept's answer seems to be the best alternative.
See this answer:
The Alt/Meta key is problematic in Vim and most terminals, see this answer of mine for an overview of the situation (the situation is the same for Meta and Alt).
In short, Vim doesn't receive Alt at all: hitting Alt+Backspace is exactly the same as hitting Backspace.
Anyway, it will be better for you in the long term to learn and get accustomed to Vim's default key-mappings.
The answer marked as right does not correspond to the behaviour in most UI editors for Alt + BackSpace. The vim shortcut which correspond to this behaviour is db - aka delete back ( a word ?! ), dw would delete word forth, which would be the (Altr or Ctrl ) Del shortcut in most ui programs.
Those work basically the same way as the w - move the cursor to the words beginnings and b, move the cursor back to the words beginning ...
Disclaimer: I have used for more than 10 years my .vimrc. , which might have some freaky twist which changes the default behaviour as well ...
Sure, it's as easy as:
if has('gui_running')
imap <M-BS> <C-W>
else
imap <Esc><BS> <C-W>
endif
The trick here is to know, given a hypothetical foo key, that after pressing a Alt+foo combination, many terminals will send an Escape code followed by foo. Apparently there are exceptions — some terminals do send something that vim can recognize as Alt. But if a imap <M-BS> <C-W> mapping doesn't work for you in terminal, then most likely your terminal sends an Esc instead, so the combination imap <Esc><BS> <C-W> should work for you.
You can read more about that in vim documentation by evaluating :help map-alt-keys
x then w should backspace per word as well.
d then w will also delete the current word the cursor is on.
I've been trying out vim, and the emphasis on speed and accessibility makes sense for the veteran programmer. I've previously used emacs, and currently use a combination of nano, and stuff like gedit or geany.
I'm confused by the need to constantly switch modes, and that returning from insert mode to normal mode requires leaving the home row to press Esc. I've read that previously, this key was Tab on some systems where vim was first used, which makes a lot more sense, but not on current systems where tab is expected to participate in smart indenting when coding.
Returning to normal mode is an operation that you need to perform all the time. Is there some alternative key mapping that makes this quicker, or mappings that I simply don't know about that do this?
Ctrl+C also return you to normal mode
You can also use ^[. If you've mapped your caps lock key to control (highly recommended), this becomes a rather easy keystroke.
I personally use the Capslock key as the second Esc key, so it is very comfortable. You can do it by adding the following lines to your .xmodmap file:
remove Lock = Caps_Lock
keysym Caps_Lock = Escape
You can map whatever you like to escape:
imap kj <Esc>
I haven't yet run across a situation where I need to type kj next to each other, besides when I talk about this mapping. I've seen other people use jk or jj, but kj works best for me.
I personally use ii to get out of insert mode while staying on the home row, but it is only a matter of personal preference:
inoremap ii <Esc>
i to go in insert and ii to go out. This is easy for your finger to remember. (I tend to still use <Esc> though)
I personally use Left Control as escape and Caps Lock as Left Control. It is not vim mapping, but some xmodmap+setxkbmap magic:
! ~/.Xmodmap
! Control_R
keycode 37 = Escape
and ctrl:nocaps in X keyboard options. You may have different keycode though.
Use Alt/Meta In a Terminal
If you use Vim in a terminal, simply press alt/meta+normal_mode_key. Most terminals send an escape character followed by the normal_mode_key that you pressed, removing the need to press escape yourself.
The terminals konsole and gnome terminal send the escape by default when you press alt/meta+normal_mode_key. For Xterm you can ctrl+click and select the option "Meta sends escape" or "Alt sends escape".
Thus in insert mode pressing alt+h alt+j alt+k alt+l all take you to normal mode and move in the expected direction. You can hold down alt when moving even while in normal mode since the additional ESC that is sent does no harm.
The advantage of using this scheme is that you can use the alt/meta+key combination with any normal mode key, e.g.
Alt+o opens a new line below the one you are currently editing,
Alt+A appends to the end of the current line,
Alt+p pastes at the current insert location.
Alt+k moves up
Thus using vim via a terminal gives you these short cut powers on any stock standard system without the need to edit each systems vim mappings.
I'm trying to create two mappings which are efficient for myself:
map X ddp
Which I'd use to delete and paste in one go.
map X "_dw
Which would delete a word without yanking into a register.
However I don't want to break any existing, useful shortcuts so I'm wondering what keys I could use - any suggestions? Am I being too uptidy?
vim help has a section :he map-which-keys
1.7 WHAT KEYS TO MAP *map-which-keys*
If you are going to map something, you will need to choose which key(s) to use
for the {lhs}. You will have to avoid keys that are used for Vim commands,
otherwise you would not be able to use those commands anymore. Here are a few
suggestions:
- Function keys <F2>, <F3>, etc.. Also the shifted function keys <S-F1>,
<S-F2>, etc. Note that <F1> is already used for the help command.
- Meta-keys (with the ALT key pressed). |:map-alt-keys|
- Use the '_' or ',' character and then any other character. The "_" and ","
commands do exist in Vim (see |_| and |,|), but you probably never use them.
- Use a key that is a synonym for another command. For example: CTRL-P and
CTRL-N. Use an extra character to allow more mappings.
See the file "index" for keys that are not used and thus can be mapped without
losing any builtin function. You can also use ":help {key}^D" to find out if
a key is used for some command. ({key} is the specific key you want to find
out about, ^D is CTRL-D).
Many Vim plugins use an initial <Leader> to start their key sequences; this is an (otherwise normally) unused key that is configurable by the user.
*<Leader>* *mapleader*
To define a mapping which uses the "mapleader" variable, the special string
"<Leader>" can be used. It is replaced with the string value of "mapleader".
If "mapleader" is not set or empty, a backslash is used instead. Example:
:map <Leader>A oanother line<Esc>
Works like:
:map \A oanother line<Esc>
But after:
:let mapleader = ","
It works like:
:map ,A oanother line<Esc>
Note that the value of "mapleader" is used at the moment the mapping is
defined. Changing "mapleader" after that has no effect for already defined
mappings.
Every single ASCII character, upper and lower case, is used for something in Vim. So you're going to wind up overwriting something--just pick something that you don't use. It may help to use a common idiom for your own extensions. I use a leading comma, for example:
map ,w :w!<CR>
map ,e :e #<CR>
imap ,, <ESC>
(The last is particularly useful for me, since I pretty much never need to write two consecutive commas in insert mode, and it's nice not to have to go all the way to the Esc key.)
Typically I use control + [letter] or alt + [letter] for most mappings and it's safe, but watch out for 'w' since that's needed for window commands. You might also be interested in arpeggio.vim which lets you create mappings to simultaneously pressed groups of keys - it will massively expand the possibilities for your mappings with no danger of over-mapping something. For example, you could map "dp" (pressed simultaneously) to execute "ddp" to delete and paste in one command.
Uhmm, no, don't. When creating your mappings try not to overwrite anything ... not so much because you don't use the command you're overmapping, but because some plugin which you have/or will have maybe using it.
And then you overmap it, and then you have to worry.
Personally, for commands such as you gave as an example, I like Ctrl+some key combinations. There are a lot of free ones in vim, and the letters on the left side near Ctrl make a nice pair then.
Btw, what are you trying to do with those mappings ... I understand the second one (delete word by word), but the first doesn't make sense to me. What is it supposed to do ? Transpose lines ?