Vim indentation (Python programming)

Question

I'm fairly new to Vim, but have now used it quite a bit for a month or two. I'm using a couple of different plugins, but are now stuck at a problem...

Whenever I'm coding in Python, I like to have :set autoindent on, so I don't have to make all the indentations, whenever I make a new line. BUT! ... If I, for example, write this code:

def foo(self):
   pass

   def __init__(self):
      var = 42

And hit 'Enter' in Vim after '42', then my autoindent will automatically make two tab-indentations, which I have automatically converted to 6 spaces (I can't remember if it's the :set tabstop=3 or if it's the :set shiftwidth=3 that does it). But let's say, that I'm regretting that new line, and want to delete it. I'm used to other IDEs (like Eclipse or Dreamweaver, where I could just backspace once, which would delete the new line and take me to the end of the line above.

I know, that I could just press 'dd', and delete the line... But I'm in 'Insert-mode', when I do it. So in order to do that, I would have to exit Insert-mode, press 'dd', and then enter Insert-mode again, which in my opinion, is quite a hassle for such a simple operation.

Oh Holy Vim-masters in the sky! Hear my prayers and help me enhance my Vim-mechanics!

falsetru · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-20 11:46:23Z

5

Here's options that I use:

Ctrl + D: Dedent one level (does not delete content of the line)
0, Ctrl + D: Dedent all (does not delete content of the line)
Ctrl + U: Delete all characters before (left) the cursor, and move cursor at the beginning of the line.

Try :help i_ctrl-d / :help i_0_ctrl-d / :help i_ctrl-u

answered Sep 20, 2014 at 11:46

falsetru

371k69 gold badges769 silver badges659 bronze badges

Sign up to request clarification or add additional context in comments.

1 Comment

Zeth Over a year ago

That's awesome! Now I can achieve what I wanted with only two actions, regardsless if number of indentations (by typing CTRL-U + backspace). Ideally, I would like to have something I could insert in my .vimrc-file, that made automatically deleted all spaces left of the cursor and the new-line, if the line was blank. I'll leave the question open, to see if someone can come up with that - but if not, then I'll mark your answer as the solution.

Wiener Boat · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-20 15:42:50Z

1

Undoing a premature enter press is a simple task, you shouldn't be forced to fall back to normal mode for that. What falsetru suggested works, but I prefer to do <c-w><c-w>('ww' holding ctrl), which stands for deleting the last word you typed (the word to the left of your cursor). You could map <c-w> to a function that does <c-w><c-w> on empty lines, but frankly I don't believe that's worth it just to avoid a simple double tap.

answered Sep 20, 2014 at 15:42

Wiener Boat

4562 silver badges8 bronze badges

Comments

Jason · Accepted Answer · 2014-09-20 17:35:51Z

1

You can use insert-normal mode, which drops you into normal mode for one command, and immediately back into insert mode.

C-o (insert-normal)
dd or d$

if you want to re-use the line...

C-r" (paste from default register)

You can use insert-normal for a lot of other things as well.

edited Sep 20, 2014 at 17:35

answered Sep 20, 2014 at 17:14

Jason

3,92716 silver badges29 bronze badges

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

Vim indentation (Python programming)

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Hot Network Questions

Collectives™ on Stack Overflow

3 Answers 3

1 Comment

Comments

Comments

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Post as a guest

Related