documentation/commands.md

   1 <!--
   2 This is part of the VimFx documentation.
   3 Copyright Simon Lydell 2015.
   4 See the file README.md for copying conditions.
   5 -->
   6
   7 # Commands
   8
   9 Most of VimFx’s commands are straight-forward enough to not need any
  10 documentation. For some commands, though, there is a bit more to know.
  11
  12 In this document, many commands are referred to by their default shortcut. You
  13 can of course [change those] if you like.
  14
  15 [change those]: shortcuts.md
  16
  17 ## Counts
  18
  19 Some commands support _counts._ That means that you can type a number before a
  20 command and it will change its behavior based on that number—the count. For
  21 example, typing `12x` would close 12 tabs.
  22
  23 (As opposed to vim, you may only supply a count _before_ a command, not in the
  24 middle of one. This is because VimFx’s commands are simple sequences, while
  25 vim’s are operators and motions.)
  26
  27 ### `gu`
  28
  29 Goes _count_ levels up in the URL hierarchy.
  30
  31 ### `H` and `L`
  32
  33 Goes _count_ pages backward/forward in history.
  34
  35 ### Scrolling commands
  36
  37 Specifying a count make them scroll _count_ times as far.
  38
  39 ### `J`, `K`
  40
  41 Selects the tab _count_ tabs backward/forward.
  42
  43 If the count is greater than one they don’t wrap around when reaching the ends
  44 of the tab bar.
  45
  46 ### `gJ`, `gK`
  47
  48 Moves the current tab _count_ tabs forward/backward.
  49
  50 If the count is greater than one they don’t wrap around when reaching the ends
  51 of the tab bar.
  52
  53 ### `x`
  54
  55 Closes the current tab and _count_ minus one of the following tabs.
  56
  57 ### `X`
  58
  59 Restores the _count_ last closed tabs.
  60
  61 ### `I`
  62
  63 Passes on the next _count_ keypresses to the page, without activating VimFx
  64 commands.
  65
  66 ### The `f` commands
  67
  68 Explained in the their own section below.
  69
  70 ### `gi`
  71
  72 Explained in its own section below.
  73
  74
  75 ## Scrolling commands
  76
  77 Firefox lets you scroll with the arrow keys, page down, page up, home, end and
  78 space by default. VimFx provides similar scrolling commands (and actually
  79 overrides `<space>`), but they work a little bit differently.
  80
  81 They scroll _the currently focused element._ If the currently focused element
  82 isn’t scrollable, or there is no (apparent) currently focused element, the
  83 entire page is scrolled. Finally, if the entire page isn’t scrollable, the
  84 largest scrollable element on the page (if any) is scrolled.
  85
  86 You can focus scrollable elements using the `zf` command (or the `f` command).
  87 The right border of hint markers for scrollable elements is styled to remind of
  88 a scroll bar, making them easier to recognize among hints for links.
  89
  90
  91 ## `gi`
  92
  93 `gi` focuses the text input you last used, or the first one on the page. Note
  94 that a [prevented autofocus] still counts as having focused and used a text
  95 input. This allows you to have your cake and eat it too: You can enable
  96 autofocus prevention, and type `gi` when you wish you hadn’t.
  97
  98 `gi` takes a count. It then selects the `counth` text input on the page. Note
  99 that `gi` and `1gi` are different: The latter _always_ focuses the first input
 100 of the page, regradless of which input you used last.
 101
 102 [prevented autofocus]: options.md#prevent-autofocus
 103
 104
 105 ## Focus next/previous element
 106
 107 The default shorcuts are `<tab>` and `<s-tab>`, respectively (to be precise,
 108 they also include [special keys]). They work just like `<tab>` works normally,
 109 except that if you focused a text input using the `gi` command they will only
 110 switch between text inputs on thee page, as opposed to between all focusable
 111 elements (such as links, buttons and checkboxes) as they do otherwise.
 112
 113 [special keys]: shortcuts.md#special-keys
 114
 115
 116 ## The `f` commands
 117
 118 When invoking one of the `f` commands you enter Hints mode. In Hints mode,
 119 markers with hints are shown for some elements. By typing the letters of a hint
 120 something is done to that element, depending on the command.
 121
 122 Which elements get hints depends on the command as well:
 123
 124 - `f` and `af`: Anything clickable—links, buttons, form controls.
 125 - `F` and `gf`: Anything that can be opened in a new tabs—links.
 126 - `yf`: Anything that has something useful to copy—links (their URL) and text
 127   inputs (their text).
 128 - `zf`: Anything focusable—links, buttons, form controls, scrollable elements,
 129   frames.
 130
 131 It might seem simpler to match the same set of elements for _all_ of the
 132 commands. The reason that is not the case is because the fewer elements the
 133 shorter the hints. (Also, what should happen if you tried to `F` a button?)
 134
 135 Another way to make hints shorter is to assign the same hint to all links with
 136 the same URL. So don’t get surprised if you see the same hint repeated several
 137 times.
 138
 139 VimFx also tries to give you shorter hints for elements that you are more likely
 140 to click. This is done by the surprisingly simple rule: The larger the element,
 141 the shorter the hint.
 142
 143 There are standardized elements which are always clickable—_semantically_
 144 clickable elements. Unfortunately, many sites use unclickable elements and then
 145 make them clickable using JavaScript—<em>un</em>semantically clickable elements.
 146 Such elements are difficult to find. VimFx has a few techniques for doing so,
 147 which works many times but not always, but unfortunately they sometimes produce
 148 false positives. Many times those false positives are pretty large elements,
 149 which according to the last paragraph would give them really short hints, making
 150 other more important elements suffer by getting longer ones. Therefore VimFx
 151 favors semantic elements over unsemantic ones and takes that into account when
 152 deciding the hint length for elements.
 153
 154 Some hint characters are easier to type than others. The ones on the home row
 155 are of course the best. When customizing the [hint chars] option you should put
 156 the best keys to the left and the worst ones to the right. VimFx favors keys to
 157 the left, so that should give you the optimal hints.
 158
 159 Hints are added on top of the corresponding element. If they obscure the display
 160 too much you can hold shift to make them transparent. (See [Styling] if you’d
 161 like to change that.) The hints can also sometimes cover each other. Press
 162 `<space>` and `<s-space>` to switch which one should be on top.
 163
 164 When giving a count to an `f` command, all markers will be re-shown after you’ve
 165 typed the hint characters of one of them, _count_ minus one times. All but the
 166 last time, the marker’s link will be opened in a new background tab. The last
 167 time the command opens links as normal (in the current tab (`f`) or in a new
 168 background (`F`) or foreground tab (`gf`)).
 169
 170 Note that the `f` command adds markers not only to links, but to buttons and
 171 form controls as well. What happens the _count_ minus one times then? Buttons,
 172 checkboxes and the like are simply clicked, allowing you to quickly check many
 173 checkboxes in one go, for example. Text inputs cancel the command.
 174
 175 `af` works as if you’d supplied an infinite count to `f`. (In fact, the `af`
 176 command is implemented by running the same function as for the `f` command,
 177 passing `Infinity` as the `count` argument!) Therefore the `af` command does not
 178 accept a count itself.
 179
 180 The `zf` and `yf` commands do not accept counts.
 181
 182 Press `<enter>` to increase the count by one. This is useful when you’ve already
 183 entered Hints mode but realize that you want to interact with yet a marker. This
 184 can be faster than going into Hints mode once more.
 185
 186 If you’ve pressed `f` but realize that you’d rather open a link in a new tab you
 187 can hold ctrl while typing the last hint character. This is similar to how you
 188 can press `<c-enter>` on a focused link to open it in a new tab (while just
 189 `<enter>` would have opened it in the same tab). Hold alt to open in a new
 190 foreground tab. In other words, holding ctrl works as if you’d pressed `F` from
 191 the beginning, and holding alt works as if you’d pressed `gf`.
 192
 193 For the `F` and `gf` commands, holding ctrl makes them open links in the same
 194 tab instead, as if you’d used the `f` command. Holding alt toggles whether to
 195 open tabs in the background or foreground—it makes `F` work like `gf`, and `gf`
 196 like `F`.
 197
 198 (Also see the advanced prefs [hints\_toggle\_in\_tab] and
 199 [hints\_toggle\_in\_background].)
 200
 201 [hint chars]: options.md#hint-chars
 202 [Styling]: styling.md
 203 [hints\_toggle\_in\_tab]: options.md#hints_toggle_in_tab
 204 [hints\_toggle\_in\_background]: options.md#hints_toggle_in_background
 205
 206
 207 ## Ignore mode `<s-f1>`
 208
 209 Ignore mode is all about ignoring VimFx commands and sending the keys to the
 210 page instead. Sometimes, though, you might want to run some VimFx command even
 211 when in Insert mode.
 212
 213 One way of doing that is to press `<s-escape>` to exit Ignore mode, run your
 214 command and then enter Ignore mode again using `i`. However, it might be
 215 inconvenient having to remember to re-enter Ignore mode, and sometimes that’s
 216 not even possible, such as if you ran the `K` command to get to the next tab.
 217
 218 Another way is to press `<s-f1>` followed by the Normal mode command you wanted
 219 to run. (`<s-f1>` is essentially the inverse of the `I` command, which passes
 220 the next keypress on to the page. Internally they’re called “quote” and
 221 “unquote.”) This is handy if you’d like to switch away from a [blacklisted]
 222 page: Just press for example `<s-f1>K`.
 223
 224 `<s-f1>` was chosen as the default shortcut because on a typical keyboard `<f1>`
 225 is located just beside `<escape>`, which makes it very similar to `<s-escape>`,
 226 which is used to exit Ignore mode. Both of those are uncommonly used by web
 227 pages, so they shouldn’t be in the way. If you ever actually do need to send any
 228 of those to the page, you can prefix them with `<s-f1>`, because if the key you
 229 press after `<s-f1>` is not part of any Normal mode command, the key is sent to
 230 the page. (Another way is for example `<s-f1>I<s-escape>`.)
 231
 232 [blacklisted]: options.md#blacklist
 233
 234
 235 ## Ex commands
 236
 237 vim has something called “ex” commands. Want something similar in VimFx? True to
 238 its spirit, VimFx embraces a standard Firefox feature for this purpose: The
 239 [Developer Toolbar]. That link also includes instructions on how to extend it
 240 with your own commands.
 241
 242 In the future VimFx might even ship with a few extra “ex” commands by default.
 243 We’re open for suggestions!
 244
 245 [Developer Toolbar]: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Tools/GCLI