Keyboard shortcuts and commands

&dactyl.appName; provides a number of commands to change the behavior of key presses. This can mean anything from automatically substituting one key for another or automatically replacing one typed word for another, to launching a dialog or running a command.

Key mapping

Key mappings are the most basic means &dactyl.appName; provides for altering the actions of key presses. Each key mapping is associated with a mode, such as Insert, Normal, or Command Line, and only has effect when that mode is active. Although each mode has a full suite of internal mappings, they may be easily augmented, altered, or removed with the :map command and its variants. These commands, in essence, allow the user to quickly substitute one sequence of key presses for another. For instance,

:map :styletoggle -name

causes “:styletoggle -name ” to be typed out whenever is pressed, providing a way to toggle a tab-completed named user style.

You can also map keys to Ex or JavaScript commands, see the examples.

Standard key mapping commands are provided for the five most common modes,

n: Normal mode: When browsing normally
v: Visual mode: When selecting text with the cursor keys
i: Insert mode: When interacting with text fields on a website
t: Text Edit mode: When editing text fields in Vim-like Normal mode
c: Command Line mode: When typing into the &dactyl.appName; command line
o: Operator mode: When moving the cursor

The ordinary :map command adds mappings for Normal and Visual mode. In order to map key bindings in a different mode, any of the mapping commands may be prefixed with one of the above letters. For instance, :imap creates a new key mapping in Insert mode, while :cunmap removes a key mapping from Command Line mode. Other modes can be specified using the -modes option described below.

It is important to note that mappings are not automatically saved between sessions. In order to preserve them, they must either be added to your &dactyl.name;rc or saved via the :mk&dactyl.name;rc command.

The following tree represents all of the modes understood by dactyl. Mappings for a mode also apply to its children and descendants. So a mapping in the Base mode, for instance, is also active in Normal and Ex mode.

&modes.tree;

Map commands

:map :map lhs rhs :nm :nmap :nmap lhs rhs :vm :vmap :vmap lhs rhs :im :imap :imap lhs rhs :tm :tmap :tmap lhs rhs :cm :cmap :cmap lhs rhs

Map the key-sequence lhs to rhs for the applicable mode(s). The keys of rhs respect user-defined mappings, so the following will result in an infinite loop,

:map a b
:map b a

In order to avoid this shortcoming, the :noremap command or the -builtin option may be used.

Below is an overview of which modes each map command applies to:

:map :unmap: Normal and Visual modes
:nmap :nunmap: Normal mode
:vmap :vunmap: Visual mode
:imap :iunmap: Insert mode
:tmap :tunmap: Text Edit mode
:cmap :cunmap: Command Line mode

The -modes option, described below, provides a more flexible way to specify the applicable modes.

Map options

Any of the map commands may be given the following options:


-arg: Accept an argument after the requisite key press. Sets the arg parameter to the result. (short name -a)
-builtin: Execute this mapping as if there were no user-defined mappings. (short name -b)
-count: Accept a count before the requisite key press. Sets the count parameter to the result. (short name -c)
-description: A description of this mapping. (short name -d)
-ex: Execute rhs as an Ex command rather than keys. (short name -e)
-group=group: Add this command to the given group (short name -g). When listing commands this limits the output to the specified group.
-javascript: Execute rhs as JavaScript rather than keys. (short names -js, -j)
-literal=n: Parse the nth argument without specially processing any quote or meta characters. (short name -l)
-modes=modes: Create this mapping in the given modes. (short names -mode, -m)
-nopersist: Do not save this mapping to an auto-generated rc file. (short name -n)
-silent: Do not echo any generated keys to the command line. (short name -s, also <silent> for Vim compatibility)

:no :noremap :noremap lhs rhs :nno :nnoremap :nnoremap lhs rhs :vno :vnoremap :vnoremap lhs rhs :ino :inoremap :inoremap lhs rhs :tno :tnoremap :tnoremap lhs rhs :cno :cnoremap :cnoremap lhs rhs These aliases are deprecated. The -builtin flag should be used in their stead.

Map the key-sequence lhs to rhs for the applicable mode(s). The keys in rhs do not respect user-defined key mappings, so the following effectively reverses the default meanings of the keys d and D

:noremap d D
:noremap D d

:unmap lhs :unm :unmap :unmap! :nunmap lhs :nun :nunmap :nunmap! :vunmap lhs :vun :vunmap :vunmap! :iunmap lhs :iu :iunmap :iunmap! :tunmap lhs :tu :tunmap :tunmap! :cunmap lhs :cu :cunmap :cunmap!

Remove the mapping of lhs (or all mappings if ! is given) for the applicable mode(s).

:map :nmap :vmap :imap :tmap :cmap

List all mappings for the applicable mode(s). Mappings are partitioned into groups.

:map_l :map lhs :nmap_l :nmap lhs :vmap_l :vmap lhs :imap_l :imap lhs :tmap_l :tmap lhs :cmap_l :cmap lhs

List all mappings starting with lhs for the applicable mode(s).

Mapping timeout

When &dactyl.appName; receives a key event that has a separate binding and at the same time is part of a key chain, values of the timeout and timeoutlen options are used to decide what to do. See the documentation of those options for more information.

Key sequences

Most keys in key sequences are represented simply by the character that you see on the screen when you type them. However, as a number of these characters have special meanings, and a number of keys have no visual representation, a special notation is required.

The first argument to the :map commands must be quoted if it contains spaces, quotation marks or back-slashes. A space may additionally be typed as .
As special key names start with the < character, a literal < must be typed as .
, , , and represent the standard arrow keys.
, , , , , , and work as expected.
or represent the carriage return key.
represents the backspace key.
through work as expected.
through represent keys on the numeric keypad.
, where xxxx is any 4 hexadecimal digits, represents the character at that Unicode codepoint. For instance, represents ☺.

In order to represent key presses using the Control, Alt, Meta, or Shift keys, the following prefixes may be used,

: The control or ctrl key.
: The alt key.
: The meta key, windows key, or command key.
: Same as .
: The shift key.

These prefixes can be combined however you see fit.

Within angle brackets all alphabetic characters are read as lowercase. Uppercase characters can only be specified with the S- modifier.

The following key sequences are interpreted as described:

xc: Press the ‘X’ key followed by the ‘C’ key.
c: Press the ‘X’ key while holding the ‘Control’ key, followed by the ‘C’ key.
: Type ‘2’ while holding the ‘Control’ key.
: Press the ‘@’ key while holding the ‘Control’ key.
: Press the space bar while holding the ‘Shift’ key.
: Press the ‘J’ key while holding both the ‘Control’ and ‘Alt’ keys.
: Exactly the same as above.
: Press the ‘J’ key while holding all of ‘Control’, ‘Alt’, and ‘Shift’ keys.

Special characters

]]> ]]>

Do nothing. This pseudo-key is useful for disabling a specific builtin mapping. For example, :map will prevent from doing anything.

]]> ]]>

An arbitrary and meaningless key that some people seem attached to. The \ key will, by default, emit this pseudo-key so that it can be used at the start of other mappings. Note, however, that there is nothing special about it and any key can be mapped to emit any other arbitrary pseudo-key in the same way.

:map , 
:map ; 

:map k -js doStuff()
:map k -js doOtherReallyNiftyStuff()

Needless to say this behavior is considered childish and discouraged.

]]> ]]>

Pass the events consumed by the last executed mapping through to &dactyl.host;.

map_return]]> ]]>

Expand to a line terminator in a key mapping. An Ex command in the rhs of a mapping requires a line terminator after it so that it is executed when the mapping is expanded. should be used for this purpose.

Mapping examples

Make do the same as in input modes:

:map -b -m input

Toggle the tab line with :

:map -ex always,never

Make toggle image display:

:map  -js <<EOF
let (pref = permissions.default.image)
    prefs.set(pref, prefs.get(pref) == 1 ? 2 : 1);
tabs.reload(config.browser.mCurrentTab);
EOF

Bypassing &dactyl.appName;

&dactyl.appName; overrides nearly all &dactyl.host; keys in order to make browsing more pleasant for Vim users. On the occasions when you want to bypass &dactyl.appName;'s key handling and pass keys directly to &dactyl.host; or to a web page, you have several options:

]]>

Process the next key as a builtin mapping, ignoring any user defined mappings and passkeys settings.

]]>

Pass the next key press directly to &dactyl.host;.

]]>

Pass all keys except for directly to &dactyl.host;. When is pressed, resume normal key handling. This is especially useful for web sites which make heavy use of key bindings.

See also passkeys and passunknown for ways to permanently pass all or particular keys under certain conditions.

Abbreviations

In addition to basic mappings, &dactyl.appName; can also automatically replace whole words after they've been typed. These shortcuts are known as abbreviations, and are most often useful for correcting spelling of commonly mistyped words, as well as shortening the typing of oft-typed but long words or phrases. There are three basic types of abbreviations, defined by the types of characters they contain,

‘full-id’ abbreviations consist entirely of keyword characters (e.g., ‘teh’, ‘msoft’).
‘end-id’ abbreviations end in keyword character but otherwise contains all non-keyword characters (e.g., ‘'i’).
‘non-id’ abbreviations end in a non-keyword character but otherwise contains any non-whitespace character (e.g., ‘def'’).
Strings which fit none of the above patterns can not be defined as abbreviations (e.g., ‘a'b’ and ‘a b’).

For the purposes of abbreviations, keyword characters include all non-whitespace characters except for single or double quotation marks. Abbreviations are expanded as soon as any non-keyword character, or the key , is typed.

:ab :abbreviate :abbreviate -group=group -js lhs rhs :abbreviate -group=group lhs :abbreviate -group=group

Abbreviate lhs to rhs. If only lhs is given, list all abbreviations that start with lhs. If no arguments are given, list all abbreviations.

If the -javascript (short names -js, -j) option is given, lhs is expanded to the value returned by the JavaScript code rhs. The code is evaluated with the variable editor set to the editable element that the abbreviation is currently being expanded in. The code should not make any changes to the contents of the editor.

If group is specified then abbreviations are created or listed for the given group.

:ca :cabbreviate :cabbreviate lhs rhs :cabbreviate lhs :cabbreviate

Abbreviate a key sequence for Command Line mode. Same as :abbreviate, but for &mode.command-line; mode only.

:ia :iabbreviate :iabbreviate lhs rhs :iabbreviate lhs :iabbreviate

Abbreviate a key sequence for Insert mode. Same as :abbreviate, but for Insert mode only.

:una :unabbreviate :unabbreviate lhs :unabbreviate!

Remove an abbreviation. With !, remove all abbreviations.

:cuna :cunabbreviate :cunabbreviate lhs :cunabbreviate!

Remove abbreviation(s) for Command Line mode. Same as :unabbreviate, but for &mode.command-line; mode only.

:iuna :iunabbreviate :iunabbreviate lhs :iunabbreviate!

Remove abbreviation(s) for Insert mode. Same as :unabbreviate but for Insert mode only.

User-defined commands

Defining new commands is perhaps the most straightforward way of repeating commonly used actions. User-defined commands may be entered from the command line or scripts exactly like standard commands, and may similarly accept arguments, options, counts, and !s, as well as provide command-line completion. These commands may be defined as either ordinary, macro-interpolated Ex commands, or otherwise as plain JavaScript statements.

:com :command :command

List all user-defined commands.

:command cmd

List all user-defined commands that start with cmd. Commands are partitioned into groups.

:command! options… cmd rep

Define a new user command. The name of the command is cmd and its replacement text is rep. If a command with this name already exists, an error is reported unless ! is specified, in which case the command is redefined. Unlike Vim, the command may start with a lowercase letter. cmd may also be multiple alternative command names separated by commas.

The new command is usually defined by a string to be executed as an Ex command. In this case, before execution, strings of the form <var> are interpolated as described below, in order to insert arguments, options, and the like. If the -javascript (short name -js) flag is present, the command is executed as JavaScript, and the arguments are present as variables in its scope instead, and no interpolation is performed.

The command's behavior can be altered by providing options when the command is defined.

Grouping

The -group flag (short name: -g) can be used to assign this command to a specific group. When listing commands this limits the output to the specified group.

Argument handling

By default, user commands accept no arguments. This can be changed by specifying the -nargs option.

The valid values are:

-nargs=0: No arguments are allowed (default)
-nargs=1: One argument is allowed
-nargs=*: Zero or more arguments are allowed
-nargs=?: Zero or one argument is allowed
-nargs=+: One or more arguments are allowed

Argument completion

Completion for arguments to user-defined commands is not available by default. Completion can be enabled by specifying one of the following arguments to the -complete option when defining the command.

Custom completion

Custom completion can be provided by specifying the custom,thing argument to -complete. If thing evaluates to a function (i.e., it is a variable holding a function value, or a string containing the definition itself), it is called with two arguments: a completion context, and an object describing the command's arguments. It should set the context's completions property to the list of completion results. Other influential properties include title, sort, anchored, and filters, which are documented in the source code.

completions is a two-dimensional array of the form: [[val1, description1], [val2, description2], …]

Otherwise thing should evaluate to an array of the same form as the completions property of the context object.

Example: :command foo -nargs=? -complete custom, \ function (context) context.completions = [["val1", "description1"], ["val2", "description2"]] \ :echo Useless + <q-args> :command foo -nargs=? \ -complete custom,[["val1", "description1"], ["val2", "description2"]] \ :echo Same as above but simpler + <q-args>

Count handling

By default, user commands do not accept a count. Use the -count option if you'd like to have a count passed to your user command. This will then be available for expansion as <count> in the replacement.

Special cases

By default, a user command does not have a special version, i.e. a version executed with the ! modifier. Providing the -bang option will enable this and <bang> will be available in the replacement.

Command description

The command's description text can be set with -description. Otherwise it will default to "User-defined command".

Replacement text

The replacement text rep is scanned for macro-strings and these are replaced with values from the user-entered command line. The resulting string is then executed as an Ex command.

In addition to the standard parameters listed in macro-string, the following parameters are available:

<args>: The command arguments exactly as supplied
<count>: Any supplied count, e.g. 5
<bang>: ! if the command was executed with the ! modifier

:delc :delcommand :delcommand cmd :delcommand!

Delete the user-defined command cmd. With !, delete all user commands.

Command examples

A command to search via DuckDuckGo:

:command -nargs=* ddg open ddg <args>

A command to search for contents of the current selection using a tab-completed search engine in the current or a new tab (depending on how much you bang on the keyboard):

:com! search-selection,ss -bang -nargs=? -complete search
        \ -js commands.execute((bang ? open  : tabopen )
        \ + args +   + buffer.currentWord)