Why does the Vim mapping that maps the ESC key to clear text highlighting cause strange behavior in vim?

Asked May 27 '19 at 20:19

Active May 27 '19 at 20:33

Viewed 251 times

Background: I'm using the terminal version of Vim. I found this guide mentioning a way to use the ESC key to clear highlighted text from a previous regex search.

Putting the mapping map <esc> :noh<cr> into my vimrc file does produce the desired effect...BUT:

(1): It causes vim to start in "Replace" mode
(2): It breaks the arrow keys (they don't move the cursor, but insert characters instead).

In this Stackoverflow question, it is addressed that using the mapping nnoremap <esc> :noh<return><esc> will do the job, but works without issues only with a GUI, and causes problems when not using a GUI (my situation).

Can this mapping be fixed? If not, why can't I use the escape key to clear text highlighting.

My vim version is: VIM - Vi IMproved 8.1

edited Jun 20 '20 at 09:12

Community

asked May 27 '19 at 20:19

I_Don't_Code

What problems when not using vim with a GUI? – Ry- May 27 '19 at 20:31
@Ry- I tried to clarify it - I'm not using a GUI. It causes problems when **not** using the GUI. That is, my situation. – I_Don't_Code May 27 '19 at 20:34
Just to confirm, you mean `nnoremap` has exactly the same issue as `map`? – Ry- May 27 '19 at 20:35
Yes. They seem to cause the same issue. – I_Don't_Code May 27 '19 at 20:36
4

Just do not map , this is silly. You can map some other key (usual advice is `nnoremap :noh` -- CTRL-L is normally used to redraw the screen in Vim). – Matt May 28 '19 at 05:51
I agree with @Matt. – Kent May 28 '19 at 08:45
There are definitely questions along similar lines at [vi.se] if you care to dig around – D. Ben Knoble May 28 '19 at 13:36
Backing up @matt's suggestion, see https://stackoverflow.com/a/8488537/155299 – Randy Morris May 28 '19 at 17:50

Why does the Vim mapping that maps the ESC key to clear text highlighting cause strange behavior in vim?

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