Modeless vim

The config files in this repository turn vim into a modeless editor. Instead of remembering cryptic commands, you can use standard key binds, like Ctrl+S to save, select text using Shift+←/→/↑/↓, and copy/paste using Ctrl+C/V.

This configuration is not meant for the aficionado who prefers vim over graphical editors. This is meant for people who normally use GUI editors (like VSCode), but sometimes need an editor that can run in a terminal.

Note:

A modeless editor is a normal editor in which the letter keys will let you directly type text, and commands like saving files are performed via key binds. This applies to basically all editors with a GUI and some editors meant for terminals like nano.

A modeful editor like vim in its default configuration has several modes (e.g. 'command mode' for executing commands like saving ('w'), 'insert mode' for actually typing, 'visual mode' for selecting text, ...).

Q: Why don't you just learn the vim commands?

A: I did, but if you don't use vim regularly, you keep forgetting them.

Q: Why don't you use a modeless editor like nano?

A: The capabilities of vim (e.g. the syntax highlighting support for many languages) outclass any modeless terminal editor like nano. The configuration files in this repository turn vim into a modeless editor, while preserving its amazing features!

The configuration has been tested using vim version 8.2 running on Debian 11 (Bullseye) running in WSL2 on Windows 10 21H2, displayed using the 'Windows Terminal' application.

Some features

• Support for standard key binds.
• Show an infobar at the top of the screen that reminds you of the key binds.
• Show a statusbar at the bottom with the file, the cursor position, and some other information.
• Sane default settings for many options.

Screenshots

Modeless vim using a nerd font.

Modeless vim with the _ascii version of the config files.

vi aka modeful vim using modeless.vimrc.

Contents

• Installation
• Nerd font
• Key bindings
• Files in this repository
• License

Installation

• Clone this repository to ~/.vim. You may want to use the following command to avoid cloning the screenshots in the img folder.

  git clone --sparse \
      https://github.com/SebastianMuskalla/ModelessVim.git \
      ~/.vim
  

• vim should autodetect the vimrc file in ~/.vim.
• If it does not, you can create a symbolic link from ~/.vimrc to e.g. ~/.vim/modeless.vimrc:

  ln -s ~/.vim/modeless.vimrc ~/.vimrc
  

Using vim for sudoedit

In order to use modeless vim when calling sudoedit, put

export EDITOR=vim

into your .bashrc/.zshrc/... file.

Using modeful vim as vi

You may want to preserve the option to use the normal modeful version of vim.

I recommend a setup in which the vi command is set up to execute the modeful version of vim.

Find out what your vi command does

$ which vi
> /usr/bin/vi
$ ll /usr/bin/vi
> /usr/bin/vi -> /etc/alternatives/vi
$ ll /etc/alternatives/vi
>  /etc/alternatives/vi /usr/bin/vim.basic

The symlink /usr/bin/vi can be safely replaced by a shell script, e.g. the file vi in this repository

#!/bin/sh

if [ -e "$HOME/.vim/virc" ]
then
    vim -u "$HOME/.vim/virc" "$@"
else
    vim "$@"
fi

Nerd font

The default configuration requires a nerd font (https://www.nerdfonts.com.) (A nerd font is a monospace font that has additional icons inserted.) To be precise, the infobar at the top and the statusbar at the bottom of the terminal window use some of these custom icons. Additionally, your terminal should support displaying unicode characters.

I recommend using a Nerd Font; I am using the nerd font version of JetBrainsMono.

If you don't want or cannot use a custom font, this repository contains the files statusline_ascii.vimrc and infoline_ascii.vimrc that implement the statusbar/infobar just using ASCII characters.

Follow the instructions inside the file modeless.vimrc (or modeful.vimrc) to use the _ascii version.

Key bindings

Modeless vim supports the following file

Open, Save, Quit

• Ctrl+Q - Close all tabs, ask for saving each (Saving will not work if a file has no name)
• Ctrl+W - Close current tab, ask for saving (Saving will not work if a file has no name)
• Ctrl+O - Open file (enter file name)
• Ctrl+S - Save current file (enter file name if needed)

Search and replace

• Ctrl+F - Find
• F3 - Next search result
• F4 - Previous search result
• Ctrl+R - Replace all occurrences of a text.
  Replace the text FIND by the text you want to replace, and the text REPLACE by the text you want to replace it with.

Select, cut, copy, paste

• Ctrl+A - Select all.
• Shift+Left, Shift+Right, Shift+Down, Shift+Up
  Select in the corresponding direction. Leave selection mode with arrow keys or Escape.
• Ctrl+C - Copy current selection (or current line if nothing is selected)
• Ctrl+X - Cut current selection (or current line if nothing is selected)
• Ctrl+D - Cut current line (which can be used to simply delete the line)
• Ctrl+V - Paste

Other

• Ctrl+Z - Undo

• Ctrl+Y - Redo

• Shift+Tab - De-tab (go back 4 spaces)

• Ctrl+L - Toggle line numbers (helpful when copying from terminal window)

• Ctrl+N, Ctrl+B - Next commands in "normal" vim mode
  This key bind allows the user to input vim commands like :q!.

• F2 - Toggle pastemode.
  In pastemode, vim will not try to reformat text that is pasted into vim. This is useful when copying text from another editor into vim.

Files in this repository

• modeless.vimrc
  Loads the settings for modeless vim.

• modeful.vimrc
  Loads some settings for modeful vim.

• colorscheme.vimrc
  Color scheme (meant for white text on a dark background).

• keybinds.vimrc
  Key binds.

• infoline_nerdfont.vimrc
  Infoline on top that shows the keybinds.

• infoline_ascii.vimrc
  Version of infoline_nerdfont.vimrc that only uses ASCII.

• statusline_nerdfont.vimrc
  Statusline at the bottom that shows file name, cursor location, user, hostname, clock.

• statusline_ascii.vimrc
  Version of statusline_nerdfont.vimrc that only uses ASCII.

• options_basic.vimrc
  Basic options for modeful and modeless vim.

• options_modeless.vimrc
  Options for modeless vim.

• vimrc
  Vimrc file that simply loads modeless.vimrc. Should be auto-detected by vim if placed inside ~/.vim.

• virc
  Vimrc file that simply loads modeful.vimrc.

• vi
  Script that tries to load ~/.vim/modeless.vimrc.

• LICENSE
  MIT License.

• README.md
  This README file.

License

This collection of configuration files is free and open-source software, licensed under the MIT license, see LICENSE.