Kate & vi mode: allow C-[ as escape

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1

I am so used to typing ctrl-[ (instead of leaving the keyboard for the escape key) in vi and I would like to do the same in Kate’s vi mode.

Before filing a change request, I thought a simple config could do the trick.
So I went to Settings > Editing > Vi Input Mode and tried to define mapping for Insert mode.
But typing in the usual vim configuration (<C-]>) did not do the trick (whereas <esc> worked, e.g. mapping ;;; to <esc> worked).

Tried workaround by defining the usual stuff in a vimrc file

inoremap <c-[> <esc>
" note: ^[ = hitting ctrl-v, then ctrl-[
inoremap ^[ <esc>

and imported it, but did not work, either.

Any idea if this is even possible?

(BTW: it’s not really the bracket ([) that does the trick, but the key’s position; meaning: on a German keyboard, you get the same magic by hitting the ü key which happens to be in the position where US keyboard has [)

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2

Thank you for posting this. I am able to get some Ctrl key mappings to work: I can map <c-,> to <esc> and it works. It seems <c-[> doesn’t work because it switches to the previous tab, but this mapping doesn’t show up in the keyboard shortcuts, so I can’t change it!

I wanted to map an Alt (meta) key shortcut to <esc>, but am having no luck at all with that so far. Further insights appreciated.

3

Cool. Thanks for the hint regarding the hidden keyboard shortcut that might hinder me.
Regarding your alt shortcut: would that be the alt key alone on its own or alt in combination with another key?
I guess alt has similar issues as it is used to access menu shortcuts.

4

I meant Alt in combination with another key. I got it to work! The syntax is <A-k> and I had to check “Let Vi commands override Kate shortcuts”. Maybe that will work with <C-[> as well.

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5

Congrats! I would have expected vim’s notation of <m-k> instead, but glad that you found it.
Were you referring to the manual section with “Let Vi commands override Kate shortcuts”?

6

“Let Vi commands override Kate shortcuts” is an option you can select in the “Vi input mode” configuration tab.

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