documentation/shortcuts.md

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   2 This is part of the VimFx documentation.
   3 Copyright Simon Lydell 2015, 2016.
   4 See the file README.md for copying conditions.
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   6
   7 # Shortcuts
   8
   9 All of VimFx’s keyboard shortcuts can be customized in VimFx’s options page in
  10 the Add-ons Manager. Doing so is really easy. You get far just by looking at the
  11 defaults and trying things out. If not, read on.
  12
  13 In VimFx’s Keyboard Shortcuts help dialog (which can be opened by pressing `?`)
  14 you can click any command to open VimFx’s options page in the Add-ons Manager
  15 and automatically select the text input for that command. Tip: Use the `eb`
  16 command to click without using the mouse.
  17
  18 Shortcuts tell which keys to press to activate a command. A command may have
  19 several different shortcuts. Read about [modes] for more information.
  20
  21 This file documents how the shortcuts work in general, not the [default
  22 shortcuts] or details on what the [_command_][commands] for a shortcut does.
  23
  24 [modes]: modes.md
  25 [default shortcuts]: https://github.com/akhodakivskiy/VimFx/blob/master/extension/lib/defaults.coffee
  26 [commands]: commands.md
  27
  28
  29 ## Key notation
  30
  31 VimFx’s key notation is inspired by Vim’s key notation.
  32
  33 Here is an example of what you can type into a text input for a command in
  34 VimFx’s options page in the Add-ons Manager:
  35
  36     J  <c-s-tab>  <c-j>  gT  g<left>
  37
  38 The above defines five alternative shortcuts for the same command. The first
  39 three consist of one key each, while the rest consist of two. Letters can be
  40 written as they are, while non-letter keys like Tab and the arrow keys need to
  41 be put inside `<` and `>`. If you want to specify a modifier, then letters need
  42 to be put inside `<` and `>` as well (as in the `<c-j>` example, which might be
  43 notated as “CTRL+J” in some other programs.)
  44
  45 You can specify any number of shortcuts for every command. Separate them from
  46 each other by one or more spaces.
  47
  48 ### Helper keyboard shortcuts
  49
  50 When you have focused the text input for one of all commands, there are a few
  51 handy keyboard shortcuts that help you with editing your shortcuts:
  52
  53 - `<c-q>`: Use this when you’re unsure on how to express a keypress you’d like
  54   to use as part of a shortcut. First, press `<c-q>`. Then, press your desired
  55   key (optionally holding modifier keys). That will paste the key notation for
  56   that particular keypress into the text input. For example: First press
  57   `<c-q>`. Then hold down ctrl and press `[`. That results in `<c-[>` being
  58   inserted into the text input.
  59
  60 - `<c-d>`: Pastes the default shortcut(s) into the text input.
  61
  62 - `<c-r>`: Resets the text input to the default entirely.
  63
  64 - `<c-z>`: Undo. (This is simply the standard undo feature of your operating
  65   system. It’s just mentioned because it is easy to forget that it can actually
  66   be used here.)
  67
  68 (`<c-d>`, `<c-r>` and `<c-z>` also work in other VimFx setting inputs, such as
  69 the [“Previous”/“Next” link patterns].)
  70
  71 [“Previous”/“Next” link patterns]: options.md#previousnext-link-patterns
  72
  73 ### A bit more formal description
  74
  75 A _shortcut_ consists of one or more _keys_ that you need to press in order to
  76 activate the command. (See also the [timeout] option.)
  77
  78 A _key_ corresponds to pressing a single key on your keyboard, optionally while
  79 holding one or more _modifiers._ The following modifiers are recognized:
  80
  81 - a: alt
  82 - c: control (also known as ctrl)
  83 - m: meta
  84 - s: shift
  85
  86 (Which of the above you can actually use depends on your operating system.)
  87
  88 If you’d like to know even more about the key notation, see
  89 [vim-like-key-notation].
  90
  91 [timeout]: options.md#timeout
  92 [vim-like-key-notation]: https://github.com/lydell/vim-like-key-notation
  93
  94
  95 ## Tips
  96
  97 If you use more than one keyboard layout, remember to check out the [Ignore
  98 keyboard layout] option.
  99
 100 If you’d like see what VimFx interprets a key stroke as, you can (ab)use the
 101 [`m`] command. Press `m` followed by your desired key stroke. A [notification]
 102 will appear, including the interpreted key notation for that keypress.
 103
 104 [Ignore keyboard layout]: options.md#ignore-keyboard-layout
 105 [`m`]: commands.md#marks-m-and-
 106 [notification]: notifications.md
 107
 108
 109 ## Special keys
 110
 111 Just like Vim, VimFx has a few “special keys:”
 112
 113 - [`<force>`]
 114 - [`<late>`]
 115
 116 No keyboard (or keyboard layout) can produce those (in practise). As a
 117 consequence, putting one of those “keys” in a shortcut would normally make it
 118 impossible to trigger. However, that is not the case for special keys.
 119
 120 By putting a special key at the beginning of a shortcut, the shortcut will work
 121 exactly as it would without the special key, except that some behavior of the
 122 shortcut is changed (depending on the special key used). Special keys specify an
 123 _option_ for the shortcut rather than a key to press in order to activate the
 124 command.
 125
 126 Each special key is described below.
 127
 128 [`<force>`]: #force
 129 [`<late>`]: #late
 130
 131 ### `<force>`
 132
 133 The `<force>` special key makes the shortcut in question available in text
 134 inputs.
 135
 136 VimFx enters a kind of “automatic insert mode” when you focus a text input,
 137 allowing you to type text into it without triggering VimFx commands. The `esc`
 138 command, however, is still available, allowing you to blur the text input by
 139 pressing `<escape>`. The reason it is available is because the default shortcut
 140 is `<force><escape>`.
 141
 142 Using `<force>` allows you to run other commands in text inputs as well. For
 143 example, you could use `<force><a-j>` and `<force><a-k>` to be able to select
 144 tab backward and forward regardless if you happen to be in a text input or not.
 145
 146 Notice that VimFx’s [button] turns grey when you’re in this “automatic insert
 147 mode.”
 148
 149 [button]: button.md
 150
 151 ### `<late>`
 152
 153 The `<late>` special key makes the shortcut in question run _after_ the handling
 154 of keypresses in the current page, allowing the current page to override it.
 155
 156 Normally, all of VimFx’s shortcuts are triggered _before_ the current page gets
 157 the keypresses. This makes the VimFx shortcuts work consistently regardless of
 158 what the current page happens to be up to.
 159
 160 Sometimes, though, it is useful to let the page override a shortcut. For
 161 example, if you plan to use the arrow keys for VimFx’s scrolling commands, while
 162 still being able to move the focus in the custom menus some sites use.