[vim/vim] Mapping <Esc> to CTRL-\_CTRL-N makes terminal non-modifiable (#2216)

Manas Thakur

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Oct 18, 2017, 7:00:46 AM10/18/17

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As suggested in the docs, I added the following map in my vimrc:

tnoremap <Esc> <C-\><C-N>

The mapping works as said. However, now whenever I try to go up or down the history in the terminal buffer (using the arrow keys), an E21 is thrown. Disabling the map solves the issue.

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lacygoill

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Oct 18, 2017, 7:56:44 AM10/18/17

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On my machine, up and down produce the sequence of keycodes Esc O A and Esc O B. So, when you press one of these arrows, maybe Vim interprets Esc as a command to go to Terminal-Normal mode, and from there, it may interpret O as a command to open a new line above the current one, which is forbidden since the buffer is non-modifiable.

I noticed a similar issue. With the mapping you mentioned in your post, all the readline key bindings whose prefix is Alt do not work as expected. For example, Alt-b should move the cursor one word backward, while staying in Terminal-Job mode. But with the mapping, it moves back one word and switch to Terminal-Normal mode.

Because of this, you can't navigate across the different words on the command-line with M-b and M-f, like you could in a terminal outside Vim, because as soon as you press M-b, you aren't in Terminal-Job mode anymore.

So far, I haven't found a solution, so I just use 2 Escape in the lhs of the mapping:

tnoremap <esc><esc> <c-\><c-n>

Manas Thakur

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Oct 18, 2017, 8:38:16 AM10/18/17

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Hi @lacygoill,

Thanks for the explanation. In fact, I like the mapping in your workaround (two ESCs) more than the previous one 👍

Bram Moolenaar

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Oct 19, 2017, 9:03:01 AM10/19/17

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Manas Thakur wrote:

> As suggested in the docs, I added the following map in my vimrc:

> ```vim

> tnoremap <Esc> <C-\><C-N>
> ```
>
> The mapping works as said. However, now whenever I try to go up or
> down the history in the terminal buffer (using the arrow keys), an E21
> is thrown. Disabling the map solves the issue.

Works for me. Check your settings, is 'timeout' set and otherwise
'ttimeout' set?

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Manas Thakur

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Oct 21, 2017, 5:47:45 AM10/21/17

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I have ttimeout set to 50.

Josh Triplett

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Sep 9, 2018, 9:57:55 PM9/9/18

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I can confirm the same issue here. If I :tnoremap <Esc> <C-\><C-N>, then the arrow keys or any other key that sends an escape sequence starting with <Esc> no longer gets passed through to the terminal.

I have ttimeoutlen=100.

Christian Brabandt

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Sep 10, 2018, 4:14:26 AM9/10/18

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So what terminal are you using?

h_east

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Sep 10, 2018, 5:04:15 AM9/10/18

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Hi,

2018-9-10(Mon) 17:14:26 UTC+9 Christian Brabandt:

> So what terminal are you using?

I can reproduce it too.

Vim 8.1.0359 on Ubuntu 18.04
I am using GNOME treminal 3.28.2 (VTE 0.52.2) or PuTTY 0.70.
Both are using with "TERM=xterm-256color"

How to reproduce:
- Start Vim with terminal mapping
$ vim --clean +"tnoremap <Esc> <C-\><C-N>"
- Open terminal window.
:term
- Input a Left arrow key.
←

Expected behavior:
- Nothing happens.

Actual behavior:
- Goto Terminal-Normal mode
- E21 error occurs.
E21: Cannot make changes, 'modifiable' is off

NOTE:
Similar things happen in insert mode.
- Start Vim with terminal mapping
$ vim --clean +"inoremap <Esc> <C-\><C-N>"
- Goto insert mode.
i
- Input a Left arrow key.
←

Expected behavior:
- Nothing happens.

Actual behavior:
- 'D' was inputed.

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Hirohito Higashi (h_east)

Josh Triplett

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Sep 10, 2018, 8:30:56 AM9/10/18

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GNOME Terminal 3.30.0 using VTE 0.54.0

Bram Moolenaar

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Jun 6, 2020, 9:38:35 AM6/6/20

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Mapping is expected to cause problems. It may work in some specific situations (e.g. in the GUI), but it if fails then just don't use it. It's not something that can be fixed in Vim.

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Bram Moolenaar

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Jun 6, 2020, 9:38:38 AM6/6/20

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Closed #2216.

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Gustavo Homem

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Oct 11, 2024, 11:15:31 AM10/11/24

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My experience with this is.

This workaround works for vim 8.x (Ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04):

tnoremap <esc>  <c-\><c-n>
tnoremap <esc>: <c-\><c-n>:

whereas this:

tnoremap <esc>  <c-\><c-n>

works without problems on vim 9.1 (Ubuntu 24.04).

The ability to map this key is ergonomically very interesting.

Thank you @lacygoill for posting this workaround!

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