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Doc Pain,


"Imagine a person with impaired movement of the arm (arm in singular may mean that only one arm is available) or the hand uses a computer. Compare the travelling distance of the fingers from the alphanumeric keyboard section over to the cursor keys. Know that the Escape key is used to switch vi's modes. Now you can easily recognize that having the alternative not to use the cursor keys can be a benefit!"

Personally, I have mixed feelings about VI. I do use it all the time simply because it's available everywhere and that makes it an essential tool. But VI's modes often get in the way of what my brain is thinking and I'd much rather use a stateless interface so my poor escape key can get some rest. To be honest I find ESC to be even less "accessible" than arrow keys are, and while the arrow keys are supported these days, dropping to command mode is still a frequent requirement. Raise your hands, how many people accidentally type or paste text into command mode? I prefer stateless hotkeys because pressing and releasing a modifier has no side effects and I don't have to concentrate on what mode my editor is in (ALT changes focus to menu bar on windows, but CTRL is stateless). I do appreciate the technical limitations under which VI evolved, and I will continue to use it on the console simply out of habit.

Similar here: I can use when I have to use it, but I prefer a different editor for "normal" use (stateless, as you continue to explain).



Compare its position on "historical" keyboards. The escape key typically has been located on the left, near the number keys (above the Tab key). This changed when the PC became modern (see transition of XT to AT to MF2 keyboard layout).



In vi, yes. Many of its "power user functions" are addressed by that mode, whereas the "usual functions" are to be controlled directly.



I agree. Let me look back when I did use TP (a WordStar-inspired text processing program used on the SCP and DCP operating systems). Control plus one or two letters was the standard way of accessing program functions. Later on, I discovered the editor "joe" and found that it also uses that interface. Together with a good visual representation, this approach is very powerful and grants access to "power user functions". An example: You mark a block with ^KB (block begin) and ^KK (block end), and you can move the block margins intependently, you can even change the block's content while the selection is active (those things are usually impossible in "modern" mouse-driven editors). ^KC copies, ^KM moves and ^KY deletes the block.

But also the editor of the Midnight Commander ("mcedit") focuses on good keyboard support. It uses the programmable function keys which need some "travel distance" for the hands, but can be quickly accessed without visual confirmation. An example regarding blocks: PF3 marks beginning and end of block, PF5 copies, PF6 moves and PF8 deletes it, such as PF5 copies, PF6 moves and PF8 deletes files in the "parent" application. Note that this editor can be used as a stand-alone program, but is known for its excellent integration with the MC.

However, pasting command sequences into the command mode is something that you cannot easily achieve with editors that use hotkeys to address program functions. How would you copy a sequence of key combinations? You need to manually re-type them.



The initial article educated us about why vi initially used HJKL for cursor control. The ability to still use them can be a benefit in "niche situations", but for today's considerations of use, they have (nearly) no meaning than their historical reasons.

Stateful and stateless editors both have their benefits. Use them together. Use them in peace. :-)

I usually map "Caps Lock" to "Escape" (using xmodmap). Caps Lock is useless anyway (at least for me) and this decrease travelling distances significantly.

I'm not sure about your keyboard, but I can easily press ESC+F on Apple (and pc laptop) keyboards , but can't reach cursor keys without moving a hand.
Also arrow keys on laptop keyboard are too small to be usable.

IIRC, VIM has an easy mode, something like -E option.



You can also use Ctrl-[ as an ESC equivalent.

Born with an AZERTY keyboard in the hand, I always figured that it was because it makes sense from a usability point of view to have cut, copy, and paste close to each other.

It's true that if you add cancel to the mix, it starts to feel like a software performance hack.

"A minimum for remote access" or... touchtyping are all well and good, but this^ one might be not so simple, & perhaps you should have looked at the keyboard while typing it. :p

HJKL are basically right in the middle between Esc and cursor keys (for somebody who certainly doesn't type that much in the first place, home row resting place has less meaning) ...plus:

a) cursor keys are typically quite conveniently at least as a semi-separate block, most importantly with no keys below them that can be hit accidentally

b) HJKL & Esc require attention to not hit any of the keys around and below, by that malfunctioning hand.

So as to which one's easier ...yeah, I remember well how it worked when I had my broken hand in a plaster - cursor keys were one of the few totally unaffected, usage-wise (modal things were the biggest issue)


Though OTOH even vi (and such) users still fall under http://plan9.bell-labs.com/wiki/plan9/Mouse_vs._keyboard/index.html ...their brains aren't that "non-average" (generally, being very invested into this stuff makes some biases of perception easier - remember, they are felt by the very same organ which invested a lot of effort into given skill)

Edited 2012-03-16 23:54 UTC