Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-21 Thread Charles E Campbell Jr

Pavel Shevaev wrote:


On 2/21/07, DervishD <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:


Hi Laurent :)



Unfortunately, I still have problems using 'h' :(



That's my biggest problem at the moment as well, as a blind typer i
can't get used to it...oh, i think i just should stop whining and
exercise more ;)

I think I understand the issue;  one sort of expects to use a different 
finger
for each motion.  I've sort of gotten used to shifting my right hand 
"one key"

to the left when I intend to move the cursor, thus I get

 right index finger == h
 right middle finger ==  j
 right ring finger  == k
 right little finger == l

Of course, that means whenever I use OtherEditors, such as with certain 
mail clients,

I end up with jjkkllhhh#)*&()*& sequences  :O  .

Regards,
Chip Campbell



Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-21 Thread DervishD
Hi Pavel :)

 * Pavel Shevaev <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dixit:
> On 2/21/07, DervishD <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >Unfortunately, I still have problems using 'h' :(
> 
> That's my biggest problem at the moment as well, as a blind typer i
> can't get used to it...oh, i think i just should stop whining and
> exercise more ;)

Me too! ;)) My problem is not really blind typing or touch typing, I
can do it. My problem is that my brain doesn't associate movement "one
key at the left". I have my fingers over jklñ (a spanish keyboard), so
moving around with those four keys is OK to me, but hjkl is a bit more
difficult. I suppose I can map them, but if I learn moving around using
hjkl I want to learn it to be able to use it in any vim or vi I use.

As you very intelligently said: I should stop whining and exercise
more! ;)))

Raúl Núñez de Arenas Coronado

-- 
Linux Registered User 88736 | http://www.dervishd.net
It's my PC and I'll cry if I want to... RAmen!


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-21 Thread Yakov Lerner

On 2/20/07, DervishD <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Hi Laurent :)

 * vim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dixit:
> The idea behind using h/j/k/l is to avoid moving your hand/wrist too
> often while going back and forth between your keyboard and the arrow set
> (although the use of h/j/k/l might have originated for other reasons
> back in the old 'vi' days).

Hitting ESC doesn't make your wrist move? I may have a very small
hand, but I have to move my left hand for hitting ESC.

I suspect that the main reason behind the hjkl (which is very
unnatural for me, the arrows have a much better design with the inverted
T at least IMHO) was that the first keyboards used to develop/use vi
probably hadn't arrow keys, or they were very far at the right of the
keyboard.


The keyboard on which the original author of vi (Bill Joy) worked
indeed did not have the arrow keys. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vi
for the layout and the name of the keyboard.

Yakov


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-21 Thread Pavel Shevaev

On 2/21/07, DervishD <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Hi Laurent :)



Unfortunately, I still have problems using 'h' :(


That's my biggest problem at the moment as well, as a blind typer i
can't get used to it...oh, i think i just should stop whining and
exercise more ;)

--
Best regards, Pavel


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-21 Thread DervishD
Hi Laurent :)

 * vim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dixit:
> About the wrist movement that's just as bad when you hit ESC as when
> you use the arrow keys: just do the movement in slow motion for
> yourself: 

Yes, I've done it: the distance (in my keyboard at least) from touch
typing position to ESC and arrows is more or less the same (measured
from little finger to key). I have to move the same set of parts and
muscles, only in different directions (northwest for ESC, southeast for
arrows).

Having the ESC key remapped DOES make a difference. I've tested a
bit and I move a bit faster (not counting errors due to insist that 'j'
is left instead of 'h') mapping ESC to 'jj' and using hjkl.
Unfortunately, I still have problems using 'h' :(

> If it is true that at first some of the shortcuts are a bit
> 'unnatural' and could feel like you type twice more to reach the same
> results as with using the keyboard-provided keys, in the long term,
> once you've mastered motion in Vim, you'll realise that it's tuely
> priceless and it does speed up your typing.

You must take into account another thing: in any other program you
end up moving using the arrows and movement keys. So, doing movement
without thinking in vim is difficult to me, because a whole lot other
programs I use force me to use the arrows (no problem, because I don't
type as much text there, so I can keep my hand on the arrows). Learning
two sets of movements are not that difficult, but anyway *is* difficult.

And of course, I'm not discussing that having the hand at touch
typing position really improves performance at the keyboard: that's
true. And blind typing does, too. The point I try to make is that ESC is
a very bad key to switch modes, but a simple mapping solves that,
really.

> Good luck with it!

Thanks ;)) I'm still learning motion commands appart from hjkl, and
probably I will make a plan: learn to move by chars (done), after that
do it by words and later go to more sophisticated commands like 'f'.

Raúl Núñez de Arenas Coronado

-- 
Linux Registered User 88736 | http://www.dervishd.net
It's my PC and I'll cry if I want to... RAmen!


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-21 Thread vim

Hi all,

In my first reply to this topic, I had in mind the 'small' keyboards 
without arrows keys (I first started to code BASIC on an Apple 2 and the 
T arrows weren't on the keyboard).  This is why I said "although the use 
of h/j/k/l might have originated for other reasons back in the old 'vi' 
days".  Thanks to Gene to confirm this and here is a picture of an 
ADM-3a keyboard: http://neil.franklin.ch/Computers/ADM-3A/IMG_0344.JPG.


About the wrist movement that's just as bad when you hit ESC as when you 
use the arrow keys: just do the movement in slow motion for yourself: 
Hitting ESC is merely a little stretch with your hand (I use my middle 
finger to hit ESC) while you have to move your arm, elbow, forearm and 
hand to use the arrows keys.  Don't forget either that in 'motion' mode 
you have tons of other shortcuts that will speed up your typing and 
avoid you to 'move' your hand to HOME, END, PG-UP and PG-DOWN etc.  And 
as Raimon pointed out, ESC can be remapped to anything you want that 
could be easier for you to use.


If it is true that at first some of the shortcuts are a bit 'unnatural' 
and could feel like you type twice more to reach the same results as 
with using the keyboard-provided keys, in the long term, once you've 
mastered motion in Vim, you'll realise that it's tuely priceless and it 
does speed up your typing.


Good luck with it!

All the best;
Laurent


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-21 Thread Matthew Winn
On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 17:28:37 -0500, "Gene Kwiecinski"
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Pretty much so.  Early dumbterminals (think ADM-3a and similar critters)
> didn't have arrow keys, but they *did* go so far as to have little arrow
> marks on the keycaps themselves, underneath the letters, on -- you
> guessed it -- h/j/k/l.

I remember using that sort of terminal. At one point I also had to use
one where the escape key was so far from the rest of the keys that I
almost had to get up and walk across the room to reach it, so for a
long time I was accustomed to using Ctrl-[ in place of escape.

As for getting into the "correct" habits, I don't think it matters.
Use whatever works. If you're frequently moving between keyboards with
different layouts then it helps to stick with the main key block as
much as possible, but otherwise use what is the most comfortable. When
editing a file I usually use hjkl for movement, but if all I'm doing
is viewing a file then I rest my right hand next to the cursor keys
and use them instead, as I find it to be a more relaxed position.

If there is a vi philosophy it's a matter of being familiar with all
the ways of moving around and being able to use them. For example, if
you're on the word "moving" in the previous sentence and want to add
something before the full stop then a vi master will type f.i or t.a
to get there, while someone less advanced might hit w until they're
in the right place, then i. The wrong way to do it is to hit the right
arrow key over and over again or to reach for the mouse: that's the
notepad way of working, and it tarnishes the soul.

-- 
Matthew Winn


Re: [Fwd: Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy]

2007-02-20 Thread DervishD
Hi Tony :)

 * A.J.Mechelynck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dixit:
>> to hit the ESC and change modes fast, but I hadn't and now hitting ESC
>> is very unnatural to me, even though I use it in my shell to clean the
>> command line!.
> If the Esc key is too far, you may try using Ctrl-[ instead -- Vim
> sees it as Esc.

Worst for me: I have to move both hands: Ctrl is... well, Ctrl, too
low, and my [ key is on the far right and, normally, it would need
Alt-Gr to be pressed.

I prefer the mappings you've posted below ;)))

> One of my most precious maps is
> 
> imap jk 
> imap jj 
> 
> provided you don't have any other
> imap that starts with jj or jk (you will have to wait for the timeout),
> and you don't type words with that two letters next to other (I doubt 
> spanish has any) it's very handy.

I don't use any language with something like 'jk' or 'jj' (although
I've written that combination some times in *this* thread!), so they fit
pretty well and avoids me hitting ESC.

Sometimes I just forget how powerful are vim mappings. It doesn't
seem natural to me to map letters in insert mode O:)))

Thanks for your help, as always!

Raúl Núñez de Arenas Coronado

-- 
Linux Registered User 88736 | http://www.dervishd.net
It's my PC and I'll cry if I want to... RAmen!


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-20 Thread DervishD
Hi Gene :)

 * Gene Kwiecinski <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dixit:
> >I suspect that the main reason behind the hjkl (which is very
> >unnatural for me, the arrows have a much better design with the
> inverted
> >T at least IMHO) was that the first keyboards used to develop/use vi
> >probably hadn't arrow keys, or they were very far at the right of the
> >keyboard.
> 
> Pretty much so.  Early dumbterminals (think ADM-3a and similar
> critters) didn't have arrow keys, but they *did* go so far as to have
> little arrow marks on the keycaps themselves, underneath the letters,
> on -- you guessed it -- h/j/k/l.

I did see this in an old Ultrix terminal. Don't ask me which model,
because this was back in the university and I don't remember. I just
remember vi from that machine and was very painful. I was used to
"boxer", a DOS editor (very powerful for 1992, I must say), so original
vi didn't fit my expectations ;))

> Hit *control* instead, for ^H (backspace), ^J (linefeed), ^K (vertical
> tab), and ^L (formfeed), and you get the cursor motions
> left/down/up/right, respectively.

Thanks! I always wondered why those letters where control chars for
movements (or quasi-movements) :))

> Gawd, I feel old...

Me too XDD Nice answer, you've provided a couple of very useful
information, at least for me (I'm *very* curious) ;)

Raúl Núñez de Arenas Coronado

-- 
Linux Registered User 88736 | http://www.dervishd.net
It's my PC and I'll cry if I want to... RAmen!


[Fwd: Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy]

2007-02-20 Thread A.J.Mechelynck

Apparently the original message was bounced by the listbot.

Best regards,
Tony.

 Original Message 
Subject:Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy
Date:   Tue, 20 Feb 2007 11:58:45 -0800
From:   Raimon Grau <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: A.J.Mechelynck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
CC: vim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, "VIM mail list" 
References:
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>





On 2/20/07, *A.J.Mechelynck* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> wrote:

DervishD wrote:
 > Hi Laurent :)
 >
 >  * vim <[EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> dixit:
 >> The idea behind using h/j/k/l is to avoid moving your hand/wrist
too
 >> often while going back and forth between your keyboard and the
arrow set
 >> (although the use of h/j/k/l might have originated for other reasons
 >> back in the old 'vi' days).
 >
 > Hitting ESC doesn't make your wrist move? I may have a very small
 > hand, but I have to move my left hand for hitting ESC.
 >
 > I suspect that the main reason behind the hjkl (which is very
 > unnatural for me, the arrows have a much better design with the
inverted
 > T at least IMHO) was that the first keyboards used to develop/use vi
 > probably hadn't arrow keys, or they were very far at the right of
the
 > keyboard.
 >
 > Of course I may be wrong here, I wasn't there ;)) but at
least in my
 > case, the most moving I do is *when inserting text* (well, when
 > modifying existing text, to be more precise), and using ESC and the
 > different motion commands slows down my editing a lot. Using the
arrow
 > keys and the Home/End, PgUp/PgDn keys makes my editing much
faster. I'm
 > a touch typer, and I can find my position again in the keyboard
pretty
 > fast, but I find more difficult to do it after hitting ESC than after
 > using the arrow keys.
 >
 > In addition to this, my touch typing position is with my index
 > finger on the 'j', and not the 'h'. To hit 'h' I must displace my
index
 > finger and that's slower for motion than having my fingers on the
 > inverted "T".
 >
 > Weren't for the ESC key to go to normal mode, I will never
use the
 > arrows, just because having the hands in touch typing position is
much
 > faster, period. But hitting the ESC key to go to normal mode, hit a
 > couple of keys for doing the movement and hitting 'i' again is slower
 > than keeping in insert mode and using the arrows, at least for me.
 >
 > Probably if I had learnt to use an editor with vi, I will get
used
 > to hit the ESC and change modes fast, but I hadn't and now
hitting ESC
 > is very unnatural to me, even though I use it in my shell to
clean the
 > command line!.
 >
 > It's just a mental attitude, I know, but... What I try to
mean with
 > this message is that hjkl is not necessarily faster even if you touch
 > type.
 >
 > Raúl Núñez de Arenas Coronado
 >

If the Esc key is too far, you may try using Ctrl-[ instead -- Vim
sees it as Esc.


Best regards,
Tony.
--
hundred-and-one symptoms of being an internet addict:
50. The last girl you picked up was only a jpeg.



One of my most precious maps is

imap jk 
imap jj 

provided you don't have any other
imap that starts with jj or jk (you will have to wait for the timeout),
and you don't type words with that two letters next to other (I doubt spanish 
has any) it's very handy.



Best regards from Spain



RE: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-20 Thread Gene Kwiecinski
>I suspect that the main reason behind the hjkl (which is very
>unnatural for me, the arrows have a much better design with the
inverted
>T at least IMHO) was that the first keyboards used to develop/use vi
>probably hadn't arrow keys, or they were very far at the right of the
>keyboard.

Pretty much so.  Early dumbterminals (think ADM-3a and similar critters)
didn't have arrow keys, but they *did* go so far as to have little arrow
marks on the keycaps themselves, underneath the letters, on -- you
guessed it -- h/j/k/l.

The reason for that is similar to subdued numbers/characters on keycaps
on laptops and the like, where there's no separate numeric keypad, so
you hit  or  or whatever your laptop has, and those keys
send the char in the subdued text instead of the char they normally
send.

Hit *control* instead, for ^H (backspace), ^J (linefeed), ^K (vertical
tab), and ^L (formfeed), and you get the cursor motions
left/down/up/right, respectively.

If you recall the old termcaps/terminfo entries for such critters, you'd
see usually the same values for cub1/kcub1, cud1/kcud1, cuu1/kcuu1, and
cuf1/kcuf1, as ^H/^J/^K/^L.

Only later with discrete arrow keys did you start getting ANSIish escape
sequences like "\[[A"/"\[[B"/"\[[C"/"\[[D".

Gawd, I feel old...


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-20 Thread A.J.Mechelynck

DervishD wrote:

Hi Laurent :)

 * vim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dixit:
The idea behind using h/j/k/l is to avoid moving your hand/wrist too 
often while going back and forth between your keyboard and the arrow set 
(although the use of h/j/k/l might have originated for other reasons 
back in the old 'vi' days).


Hitting ESC doesn't make your wrist move? I may have a very small
hand, but I have to move my left hand for hitting ESC.

I suspect that the main reason behind the hjkl (which is very
unnatural for me, the arrows have a much better design with the inverted
T at least IMHO) was that the first keyboards used to develop/use vi
probably hadn't arrow keys, or they were very far at the right of the
keyboard.

Of course I may be wrong here, I wasn't there ;)) but at least in my
case, the most moving I do is *when inserting text* (well, when
modifying existing text, to be more precise), and using ESC and the
different motion commands slows down my editing a lot. Using the arrow
keys and the Home/End, PgUp/PgDn keys makes my editing much faster. I'm
a touch typer, and I can find my position again in the keyboard pretty
fast, but I find more difficult to do it after hitting ESC than after
using the arrow keys.

In addition to this, my touch typing position is with my index
finger on the 'j', and not the 'h'. To hit 'h' I must displace my index
finger and that's slower for motion than having my fingers on the
inverted "T".

Weren't for the ESC key to go to normal mode, I will never use the
arrows, just because having the hands in touch typing position is much
faster, period. But hitting the ESC key to go to normal mode, hit a
couple of keys for doing the movement and hitting 'i' again is slower
than keeping in insert mode and using the arrows, at least for me.

Probably if I had learnt to use an editor with vi, I will get used
to hit the ESC and change modes fast, but I hadn't and now hitting ESC
is very unnatural to me, even though I use it in my shell to clean the
command line!.

It's just a mental attitude, I know, but... What I try to mean with
this message is that hjkl is not necessarily faster even if you touch
type.
 
Raúl Núñez de Arenas Coronado




If the Esc key is too far, you may try using Ctrl-[ instead -- Vim sees it as 
Esc.


Best regards,
Tony.
--
hundred-and-one symptoms of being an internet addict:
50. The last girl you picked up was only a jpeg.


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-20 Thread DervishD
Hi Laurent :)

 * vim <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> dixit:
> The idea behind using h/j/k/l is to avoid moving your hand/wrist too 
> often while going back and forth between your keyboard and the arrow set 
> (although the use of h/j/k/l might have originated for other reasons 
> back in the old 'vi' days).

Hitting ESC doesn't make your wrist move? I may have a very small
hand, but I have to move my left hand for hitting ESC.

I suspect that the main reason behind the hjkl (which is very
unnatural for me, the arrows have a much better design with the inverted
T at least IMHO) was that the first keyboards used to develop/use vi
probably hadn't arrow keys, or they were very far at the right of the
keyboard.

Of course I may be wrong here, I wasn't there ;)) but at least in my
case, the most moving I do is *when inserting text* (well, when
modifying existing text, to be more precise), and using ESC and the
different motion commands slows down my editing a lot. Using the arrow
keys and the Home/End, PgUp/PgDn keys makes my editing much faster. I'm
a touch typer, and I can find my position again in the keyboard pretty
fast, but I find more difficult to do it after hitting ESC than after
using the arrow keys.

In addition to this, my touch typing position is with my index
finger on the 'j', and not the 'h'. To hit 'h' I must displace my index
finger and that's slower for motion than having my fingers on the
inverted "T".

Weren't for the ESC key to go to normal mode, I will never use the
arrows, just because having the hands in touch typing position is much
faster, period. But hitting the ESC key to go to normal mode, hit a
couple of keys for doing the movement and hitting 'i' again is slower
than keeping in insert mode and using the arrows, at least for me.

Probably if I had learnt to use an editor with vi, I will get used
to hit the ESC and change modes fast, but I hadn't and now hitting ESC
is very unnatural to me, even though I use it in my shell to clean the
command line!.

It's just a mental attitude, I know, but... What I try to mean with
this message is that hjkl is not necessarily faster even if you touch
type.
 
Raúl Núñez de Arenas Coronado

-- 
Linux Registered User 88736 | http://www.dervishd.net
It's my PC and I'll cry if I want to... RAmen!


RE: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-20 Thread Gene Kwiecinski
>If you ask me, I advise you to feel free to use arrows in any mode.
>"Arrows not working in insert mode" was the worst annoyance
>of the original vi, as far as I remember.

*Really*?  I feel just the opposite, that allowing arrowing when still
in insert was more annoying than not, because you *could* successfully
arrow around to a different position on the screen, then start typing
"wwwdw" or something, and end up with "dw" in the text itself,
instead of popping over 3 words and deleting the errant word.

I keep forgetting to turn that off in the '.vimrc', so mentally have to
make a note to keep banging the  key at regular intervals.  :D


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-20 Thread A.J.Mechelynck

Pavel Shevaev wrote:

Hi folks!

AFAIK usage of arrow keys in vim should be avoided at all costs since
h/j/k/l allows one to be more efficient in command mode. But how about
insert mode? Should one avoid using arrow keys in insert mode as well
and switch to command mode and then back to insert mode instead?



There is no "at all costs", no dogma in Vim (except maybe about not running 
the shell in a window). Some people have been taught dactylography from 
tachers who would severely punish them if they moved their hands, and they 
still feel guilty if they do. hjkl is for them. Others have learnt it by 
themselves, maybe after taking piano lessons, and they are still able to move 
their hands. If they prefer to use arrow keys, why not? Vim often has several 
different ways of achieving the same goal: use whatever works best for you.


Since I use 'wrap' and some of my file have very long lines, I have taken 
advantage of the ":map" command to remap the up and down arrow keys to move by 
"screen" lines, leaving jk to move by "file" lines, as follows:


map   gk
map gj
if exists("*pumvisible")
inoremappumvisible() ? "\Down>" : "\C-O>gj"
inoremap  pumvisible() ? "\Up>"   : "\C-O>gk"
else
inoremap  gj
inoremapgk
endif

Now they aren't synonymous anymore, and I use jk (in Normal/Visual mode only, 
or prefixed by Ctrl-O in Insert mode) or   (in Normal/Visual or 
Insert/Replace modes) according to where I want to go.



Best regards,
Tony.
--
hundred-and-one symptoms of being an internet addict:
49. You never have to deal with busy signals when calling your ISP...because
you never log off.


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-20 Thread vim

Hi,

Insert mode is to insert something in your text.  If you want to move 
again, just hit ESC and you'll be back in motion mode.


The idea behind using h/j/k/l is to avoid moving your hand/wrist too 
often while going back and forth between your keyboard and the arrow set 
(although the use of h/j/k/l might have originated for other reasons 
back in the old 'vi' days).


If you touchtype, just hit ESC and stick with h/j/k/l as often as you 
can, using arrows will waste your time.  If you don't touchtype, you 
won't really 'get' how great h/j/k/l is so don't worry too much about it 
and use the arrows whenever you want it.


Laurent

Yakov Lerner wrote:

On 2/20/07, Pavel Shevaev <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Can you clarify which costs you are willing to
> pay/sacrifice to avoid use of arrows ?

Actually I'm just trying to follow the best vim practices and it's
really hard for me to get used to h/j/k/l combination after working
with some other text editors. That's why I'm asking how vim gurus work
the most efficient way in insert mode...

BTW, i type English symbols without looking at the keyboard(we call it
"blind typing" in Russia) and the basic position of my right hand is
on j/k/l/; buttons, that's why it's kinda hard to get used to switch
to h/j/k/l position. I wonder if anybody remaps h/j/k/l => j/k/l/; and
; => h ;)


If you ask me, I advise you to feel free to use arrows in any mode.
"Arrows not working in insert mode" was the worst annoyance
of the original vi, as far as I remember.

Yakov
Yakov





Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-20 Thread Yakov Lerner

On 2/20/07, Pavel Shevaev <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Can you clarify which costs you are willing to
> pay/sacrifice to avoid use of arrows ?

Actually I'm just trying to follow the best vim practices and it's
really hard for me to get used to h/j/k/l combination after working
with some other text editors. That's why I'm asking how vim gurus work
the most efficient way in insert mode...

BTW, i type English symbols without looking at the keyboard(we call it
"blind typing" in Russia) and the basic position of my right hand is
on j/k/l/; buttons, that's why it's kinda hard to get used to switch
to h/j/k/l position. I wonder if anybody remaps h/j/k/l => j/k/l/; and
; => h ;)


If you ask me, I advise you to feel free to use arrows in any mode.
"Arrows not working in insert mode" was the worst annoyance
of the original vi, as far as I remember.

Yakov
Yakov


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-20 Thread Pavel Shevaev

Can you clarify which costs you are willing to
pay/sacrifice to avoid use of arrows ?


Actually I'm just trying to follow the best vim practices and it's
really hard for me to get used to h/j/k/l combination after working
with some other text editors. That's why I'm asking how vim gurus work
the most efficient way in insert mode...

BTW, i type English symbols without looking at the keyboard(we call it
"blind typing" in Russia) and the basic position of my right hand is
on j/k/l/; buttons, that's why it's kinda hard to get used to switch
to h/j/k/l position. I wonder if anybody remaps h/j/k/l => j/k/l/; and
; => h ;)


Yakov

--
Best regards, Pavel


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-20 Thread Yakov Lerner

On 2/20/07, Pavel Shevaev <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Hi folks!

AFAIK usage of arrow keys in vim should be avoided at all costs


"at all costs" sounds too fanatic to me. When keyboard has
arrows, I really prefer arrows now, even though I've been using vi
since 1989. Can you clarify which costs you are willing to
pay/sacrifice to avoid use of arrows ?

Yakov


Re: Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-20 Thread Jeenu V

I agree that using h/j/k/l is most efficient and its hard to follow
them in insert mode. But, if you are aware of the command CTRL-O in
insert mode that will get you to a temporary-normal mode, you can
execute one normal mode command, after which you will be taken back to
insert mode. Once you are in normal mode, you could use [count]
w/b/W/B commands, instead of h/j/k/l, if that is appropriate.

On 2/20/07, Pavel Shevaev <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

Hi folks!

AFAIK usage of arrow keys in vim should be avoided at all costs since
h/j/k/l allows one to be more efficient in command mode. But how about
insert mode? Should one avoid using arrow keys in insert mode as well
and switch to command mode and then back to insert mode instead?

--
Best regards, Pavel



Insert mode and arrow keys philosophy

2007-02-20 Thread Pavel Shevaev

Hi folks!

AFAIK usage of arrow keys in vim should be avoided at all costs since
h/j/k/l allows one to be more efficient in command mode. But how about
insert mode? Should one avoid using arrow keys in insert mode as well
and switch to command mode and then back to insert mode instead?

--
Best regards, Pavel