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How can I run Vim in normal mode?
Run the following command: Vim will move your cursor to the last line in the current file, just like pressing G in normal mode would. Now run the following command: Vim will move to the first line in the file ( gg) and then delete it ( dd ). The normal command simply takes a sequence of keys and pretends they were typed in normal mode.
Why does VIM not respond to writevt command?
No other key sequence or mouse event can stop vim. And no command I am sending to vim or to the shell bash by “writevt” has an effect. At least vim should be responsible to a SIGNAL, e.g. USR1. But Vim does not react. In addition it is bad that vim does not show in any way that vim is busy and that it is e.g. searching.
Do you need normal to use helpgrep in Vim?
You won’t actually need normal! for this ( nnoremap will suffice), but it illustrates a good point: sometimes reading about one Vim command can spark an interest in something unrelated. If you’ve never used the helpgrep command you’ll probably need it now.
Why is my Vim stuck in insert mode?
I have two different machines (home and work) running Ubuntu 18.04. Last night vim froze at home. I was in insert mode and typing and went to save ( esc :w) and nothing happened. The status bar still reads — INSERT –, the cursor is still blinking where it was. I was stuck. I couldn’t find a way out.
How to get visually selected text in vimscript?
Yes, this seems like a pretty glaring omission. You should be able to fake it by finding the marks with getpos (), getting all the lines with getline (), then chopping off on the first and last according to the column position (with casework depending on whether or not it’s multi-line).
Do you use normal when writing a Vim script?
When writing Vim scripts you should always use normal!, and never use plain old normal. You can’t trust what keys your users will have mapped in their ~/.vimrc files. If you play around with normal! long enough you’ll probably notice a problem.
Is there a way to select text backwards in Vim?
It is possible to select text backwards in visual mode, which means ‘> comes before ‘< in the text. In those cases the two positions simply need to be reversed. While this isn’t in my version of the function, one could choose to reverse the string if the selection was backwards.