Tom Lieber's AllTom.com

VIM

I used VIM as my primary text editor for a very long time. These are some of the most useful tricks I picked up.

DVORAK mappings

Using VIM with a DVORAK keyboard is not hard. I learned nearly everything I know about VIM using a QWERTY keyboard, but I did not find the transition particularly difficult. Most of the hotkeys can keep the same location on the keyboard with some clever mappings.

""""""""" DVORAK FTW LOLZ! "
noremap d h
noremap h j
noremap t k
noremap n l
noremap k d
noremap l n
noremap j t
noremap ^Wd ^Wh
noremap ^Wh ^Wj
noremap ^Wt ^Wk
noremap ^Wn ^Wl

I added the above code to my .vimrc file. Here is a summary of what happens:

The motion keys (h, j, k, l) don't move. On DVORAK, (d, h, t, n) are in the same positions.
For some reason, mapping the motion keys does not affect combination mappings like those for moving between splits, so I also reset the hotkeys for movement with CTRL+W.
d, for deleting, becomes k. This key is in a different position.
n, for repeating the last search, becomes l. This key is in a different position.
t, for "'til," becomes j. This key is also in a different position.

Helpful Hotkeys

After doing a text search with a string which matches many times in a file, having every instance highlighted can be distracting. Instead of doing a new search to clear the results, try the :noh command. I map this to the comma key.

map , :noh<CR>

I sometimes line up code by adding spaces. Moving in and out of insert mode to do this is tedious, so I map <space> in normal mode like this:

map <space> i<space><esc><right>

Saving and typing :make repeatedly is no fun. I map <C-c><C-c> to save the file and run :make. I also map <C-c><C-v> to run the output of the project.

map <C-c><C-c> :w<CR>:make<CR> " add to .vimrc
map <C-c><C-v> :!./program<CR> " do this by hand every time

This is how I quit REALLY FAST.

map q :q<CR> " quit one buffer fast
map Q :qa<CR> " GET ME OUT OF EVERY BUFFER NOW (unless some are unsaved)

Posted Mar 13, 2007, in the night. Updated updated Aug 06, 2007, in the early morning: Rewrote portions for clarity.

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