What's an easier way to create/restore selections?

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#1

I’m looking for a less hacky way to do this:

# Marks
declare-user-mode set-mark
map global normal M ': enter-user-mode set-mark<ret>'
map global set-mark a ': set-mark a<ret>'
define-command set-mark -docstring "set-mark [<register>]: save selection to <register>" -params 1 %{
	execute-keys %sh{ echo '"'"$1"Z }
}
declare-user-mode restore-mark
map global normal m ': enter-user-mode restore-mark<ret>'
map global restore-mark a ': restore-mark a<ret>'
define-command restore-mark -docstring "restore-mark [<register>]: restore selection from <register>" -params 1 %{
	execute-keys %sh{ echo '"'"$1"z }
}

The basic idea is I can type Ma to create a selection and ma to restore it. However, the only way I know how to pass the register into the set-mark and restore-mark commands is by creating a user-mode mapping for every single register. Is there a less hacky way to do it?

Bonus question: is there a less hacky way to run execute keys "%opt{1}Z? I can’t get the escaping right unless I use %sh{}

#2

If I understand well, you want a way to mark a place in your buffer so that you can go back to it easily later. The default bindings I find horrible, with " which is already hard to reach on my keyboard, plus Z which is hard to reach too. To solve the issue, I have mapped easier keys to the following two commands:

define-command \
-hidden \
mark-place %{
    info 'Mark place with <letter>'
    on-key %{
        try %{
            evaluate-commands %sh{
                ! expr "$kak_key" : '[a-z]' >/dev/null && printf %s\\n fail
            }
            execute-keys %{"} %val(key) Z
            echo "Marked place as %val(key)"
        } \
        catch %{
            echo 'Nothing marked'
        }
    }
}

define-command \
-hidden \
goto-place %{
    info 'Go to place <letter>'
    on-key %{
        try %{
            execute-keys %{"} %val(key) z v c
            echo "Back to %val(key)"
        }
    }
}

These commands allow me to mark a place with a letter from a to z, and come back to it easily.

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#3

That is exactly what I was looking for. That did the trick. Thanks!

#4

You can use execute-keys """%arg{1}Z". To escape a " in a “…” string, you need to use "". Same with ‘…’ strings.

But let me also plug one of my plugins.

2 Likes