Re: [vile] mini-buffer question

[Wayne Cuddy]

On Thu, Mar 12, 2015 at 01:56:44PM -0400, Wayne Cuddy wrote:
> On Wed, Mar 11, 2015 at 06:50:06AM -0400, Thomas Dickey wrote:
> > On Tue, Mar 10, 2015 at 11:14:29PM -0400, Paul Fox wrote:
> > > thomas wrote:
> > >  > On Wed, Mar 04, 2015 at 08:44:58PM -0500, Thomas Dickey wrote:
> > >  > > On Wed, Mar 04, 2015 at 04:30:29PM -0500, Wayne Cuddy wrote:
> > >  > > > According the help doc ^G toggles the mini-buffer insert mode. If I
> > >  > > > use ^G then 'h' to move back a few characters followed by (^G or 
> > > i) to
> > >  > > > insert a few characters, if the last character that I insert is '\'
> > >  > > > when I hit ^G to exit insert mode an actual control-G character is
> > >  > > > inserted into the mini-buffer. As if I'd entered it similar to 
> > > ^V^G. 
> > >  > > 
> > >  > > I see (had not noticed).  I'll take a look for the cause.
> > >  > 
> > >  > hmm - it's inserting ^G because in general vile is using '\' to escape
> > >  > things such as double-quote (though I see the point that ^V is treated
> > >  > specially in this regard).
> > >  > 
> > >  > so... should '\' not escape control-characters, or should there be some
> > >  > other special rule?
> > > 
> > > well, it traditionally (in vi) didn't -- you have to use ^V to insert
> > > ^M, or ESC, for instance.  '\' was normally just for quoting, or other
> > > higher level parsing issues.  at least that was my mental model.  i
> > > don't think we've ever been good at enforcing that distinction in
> > > vile, since the actions of ^V and '\' take place in so many places. 
> > > with something like ^G in the minibuffer, it's not like there's
> > > great precedent to look at, but i think wayne was right to be surprised.
> > 
> > I agree that it's surprising.  But then once I realized what the cause
> > was, I saw that I should get some input from others before stirring the
> > muck around a little. I _think_ that by special-casing control characters
> > for this bit of logic, I can make the behavior less surprising, but was
> > unsure if there are other aspects to consider.
> > 
> 
> I would certainly prefer having to hit ^V prior to inserting "special"
> characters, but I'm the only one who uses vile. Not only is that the
> traditional vi behavior but most shells default to that as well. Of
> course it can be worked around but in my old age my muscle memory takes
> precedence over my mental memory :)

HA HA that should have read "not the only one who uses vile". That one
gave me a laugh.