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From: rad@Mitre-Bedford
Newsgroups: net.unix
Subject: Re: h,j,k,l in vi (and cursor key time-outs)
Message-ID: <8684@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Date: Tue, 26-Feb-85 18:42:09 EST
Article-I.D.: brl-tgr.8684
Posted: Tue Feb 26 18:42:09 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 3-Mar-85 04:32:28 EST
Sender: news@brl-tgr.ARPA
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>> 	But 'vi' *doesn't* force h,j,k,l cursor control on you.
>> Every version of it that I have ever seen also supports the *real*
>> arrow keys on terminals that have them.  Why not use them if you
>> don't like the ADM3-a approach.

>Because they can be unreliable.  On the few occasions when I use "vi"
>(heh heh), I've seen it get confused when I use the arrow keys on my
>VT100, so I've adjusted to using h/j/k/l.  I suspect it may be related
>to the fact that "vi" does timeouts on input to distinguish escape sequences
>from normal typing (but since I rarely use "vi" I don't really care why
>it does it).

     The timeout problem that you mention is particularly irksome when
you're working over a terminal network with the delays that it
introduces.  To make "vi" quit worrying so much about escape sequences,
put "set notimeout" in your ~/.exrc file.  I've had this in my .exrc
file for some time, and the only "bad" thing that I've noticed about
this is that I have to hit escape twice before I can force a visual bell.

Dick Dramstad
rad@mitre-bedford.arpa