C-n: Select new word, not working on [=+-&]

[ddkn]

Hello,

So I got inspired to use more of the features in Vis, after watching this, for some heavy LaTeX edits. I have a set of equations that I wanted to select certain "=" signs, and append an "&", such that, I would get "&=".

However, it ends up selecting the surrounding space, and the first character on the right, and I cannot use C-n or C-x to select or skip. This works in other cases with letters or a word, but not [+-=&].

Am I missing something? Or is this a known problem? I attached some images to help clairify,

Selecting the "=" on the top right,

Using C-n,

It is a feature I really like, but a little frustrating it isn't consistent. I tried using the cursors to unselect the space or C-_ then followed by C-n but no luck. Hopefully someone has some insight to this.

Cheers,

[ninewise]

I've come to understand that C-n only works on words (so \w characters). This specific case I'd solve using

• vip to select the paragraph,
• :x/=/ to subselect only the = signs, and
• :c/&=/ or just i&<Esc> to prepend the &.

If you only want some of these = signs, you'd have to find a better selection criteria, or C-k and C-j to focus some of the selects after step 2 and remove them with C-p.

[ddkn]

Yes doing a visual selection, then using C-[jk] to move and unselect searches, solves my problem! The problem is I want to interactively select thing because there is a lot going on in my equations. I find doing this nice and visual reassuring in what I am doing. It isn't as convenient as the other case, or it is less intuitive I guess, a bit of more thinking on the user end.

Maybe the wording of the count/cursor throws me off a bit.

It would be nice to have an arbitrary selection then use shortcuts to to skip or include, forwards or backwards, rather than just limited to just words. Maybe <C-M-n> one day, haha.

[ninewise]

Come to think of it, there's another way of doing this.

1. Go to your first selection and make it (with v or however),
2. m to save the selection,
3. <Esc> to go back to normal mode,
4. Navigate to make the next selection,
5. | (selection union) to join the previous with this one.

Repeat steps 2 to 5 as much as required, possibly with multiple selections made each time.

[ddkn]

Haha, that does work but is much more cumbersome key press wise than your other suggestion which worked well today!

• make a selection using v
• use :x/<pattern>
• C-[jk] move primary cursor and C-p to deselect

It is neat how there are many ways to string things together.

Thanks again for the help!

[martanne]

Hi, the problem is that viw in normal mode (which is what C-n essentially is, in fact it should probably be implemented by that mapping) does not behave properly.

Once you have the initial selection, C-n in visual mode should work as expected.

[ddkn]

Hi @martanne,

So if I understand correctly, if I make a selection in visual mode then hit C-n, it should select matching patterns? I tried that in a LaTeX table, trying to match 00 and & I included a video of me hitting C-n about 10 times for each case. For 00 it only caught 2 of the 4 occurrences in view, but didn't catch any &.

I tried the & in multiple locations as well.

For reference I am using v0.6. So maybe I misunderstood what you said, or my version is having issues.

PS. I really enjoy using this editor, even using the above features to circumvent the issue is immensely helpful, and makes it feel more intuitive to work with and faster. I am transcribing written lectures in physics to LaTeX for a professor before classes start in September (currently at 223 out of 250~ish pages in about a week). So the features help a lot with copy pasting equations that are messy to retype out, the rotation of selections features are helpful to quickly move equations around, since LaTeX can get a bit unwieldy with long equations and bracket hell.

I really appreciate the work you have done!

[martanne]

Thanks, glad you like it.

The issue you reported initially (C-n on a single symbol) should hopefully be fixed by the latest commits?

The current logic for C-n in visual mode is as follows: if the existing selection is a word, then match complete words only. Otherwise also select partial matches.

I will later have to investigate further why it doesn't match all occurrences of 00 in your case.

[ddkn]

Oh, okay awesome! I will take a look after once I compile it, as I am 3 lectures from finishing today. But still have many other papers and a thesis to write at some point, haha. As of now, the process from above seems to work, with selecting all then unselecting the one ones I don't want.

[erf]

I noticed if i visually selected "Vis*" or "require(" i was unable to use C-n to select the next occurance.

EDIT: fixed now!