Vim style keybindings in GTK apps and Openbox

Question

Hello all
I've been using Openbox for a while now, I use Vim all the time for most of my work, and I've enabled Vimperator for Firefox as I found that once you know the Vim keybindings, it becomes much quicker to do things without a mouse.
Problem is, being so used to these keybindings I find that I'll unintentionally search for something starting with 'j' when I want to scroll down (i.e. with Thunar). Does anyone know of a method to enable a Vim mode for GTK+? I've almost set up a Vim mode with my Openbox rc.xml, but so far GTK has resisted my efforts to change it, which is a real shame because they provided an Emacs mode =/
cheers for anyone who can offer suggestions

Answer 1

It is not a perfect solution, but with a little xmodmapping you can set up a scheme that gives you hjkl (with a modifier) in almost any app (almost). It even gives you hjkl in insert mode in vim, which i find particularly handy.
Here is my xmodmap file which accomplishes this for my keyboard. Please don't use it directly as it may not be compatible with every keyboard. It is here as an example of a keyboard layout using Mode_switch. I have added some comments wher things may not be clear.
! file: ~/.xmodmap
! vim:enc=utf-8:nu:ai:si:et:ts=4:sw=4:ft=xmodmap:
! Modifiers
! clear the modifiers and locks
! remember to add them after all keysyms have been assigned
clear Shift
clear Control
clear Mod1
clear Mod2
clear Mod3
clear Mod4
clear Mod5
! Shift + Shift initiates ShiftLock mode, which allows
! for shifted behaviour on all keys.
! This can act as replacement for Caps_Lock.
! Toggle it off with one single shift keypress.
keycode 50 = Shift_L Shift_Lock
keycode 62 = Shift_R Shift_Lock
! standard Left Alt, except I prefer meta over alt
keycode 64 = Meta_L Alt_L
! "Menu" key, shifts us into the next group permanenty (toggle)
! I actually don't use this myself, but left it here for future study.
! keycode 135 = ISO_Next_Group ISO_Prev_Group
keycode 135 = Super_R
! AltGr is Multi_key for those fancy compose chars
! have a look at .Xcompose for more info
keycode 108 = Multi_key Meta_R
! standard Control and Super keys
keycode 37 = Control_L
keycode 105 = Control_R
keycode 133 = Super_L
! Caps_Lock is Mode_switch. Mode_switch sends keys from
! one group above the current (shifted and unshifted).
keycode 66 = Mode_switch
! Only use two groups, to keeps switching sane.
! You can add several groups, but I have not tried with more than 4
! |--- Group 1 ---| |--- Group 2 ---|
! Special Keys
keycode 9 = Escape
keycode 23 = Tab ISO_Left_Tab
keycode 22 = BackSpace Terminate_Server
keycode 36 = Return
keycode 65 = space
! Num Keys
keycode 49 = grave asciitilde
keycode 10 = 1 exclam
keycode 11 = 2 at
keycode 12 = 3 numbersign
keycode 13 = 4 dollar
keycode 14 = 5 percent
keycode 15 = 6 asciicircum
keycode 16 = 7 ampersand
keycode 17 = 8 asterisk
keycode 18 = 9 parenleft
keycode 19 = 0 parenright
keycode 20 = minus underscore
keycode 21 = equal plus
! Upper Row
keycode 24 = q Q
keycode 25 = w W
keycode 26 = e E
keycode 27 = r R
keycode 28 = t T
keycode 29 = y Y
keycode 30 = u U Prior
keycode 31 = i I Home
keycode 32 = o O End
keycode 33 = p P
keycode 34 = bracketleft braceleft Escape
keycode 35 = bracketright braceright
! Home Row
keycode 38 = a A
keycode 39 = s S
keycode 40 = d D Delete
keycode 41 = f F
keycode 42 = g G
keycode 43 = h H Left
keycode 44 = j J Down
keycode 45 = k K Up
keycode 46 = l L Right
keycode 47 = semicolon colon
keycode 48 = apostrophe quotedbl
keycode 51 = backslash bar
! Lower Row
keycode 94 = less greater
keycode 52 = z Z
keycode 53 = x X
keycode 54 = c C
keycode 55 = v V
keycode 56 = b B BackSpace
keycode 57 = n N Next
keycode 58 = m M
keycode 59 = comma less
keycode 60 = period greater
keycode 61 = slash question
! F keys
keycode 67 = F1 XF86_Switch_VT_1
keycode 68 = F2 XF86_Switch_VT_2
keycode 69 = F3 XF86_Switch_VT_3
keycode 70 = F4 XF86_Switch_VT_4
keycode 71 = F5 XF86_Switch_VT_5
keycode 72 = F6 XF86_Switch_VT_6
keycode 73 = F7 XF86_Switch_VT_7
keycode 74 = F8 XF86_Switch_VT_8
keycode 75 = F9 XF86_Switch_VT_9
keycode 76 = F10 XF86_Switch_VT_10
keycode 95 = F11 XF86_Switch_VT_11
keycode 96 = F12 XF86_Switch_VT_12
! Fn F keys
keycode 77 = Num_Lock Pointer_EnableKeys
keycode 78 = Scroll_Lock
! KP Keys / Fn keys
keycode 87 = KP_End KP_1
keycode 88 = KP_Down KP_2
keycode 89 = KP_Next KP_3
keycode 83 = KP_Left KP_4
keycode 84 = KP_Begin KP_5
keycode 85 = KP_Right KP_6
keycode 79 = KP_Home KP_7
keycode 80 = KP_Up KP_8
keycode 81 = KP_Prior KP_9
keycode 90 = KP_Insert KP_0
keycode 86 = KP_Add XF86_Next_VMode
keycode 82 = KP_Subtract XF86_Prev_VMode
keycode 91 = KP_Delete KP_Decimal
keycode 63 = KP_Multiply XF86_ClearGrab
keycode 106 = KP_Divide XF86_Ungrab
! Print, Pause, Insert, Delete
keycode 107 = Print Sys_Req
keycode 127 = Pause Break
keycode 118 = Insert
keycode 119 = Delete
! Home, PgUp, PgDown, End
keycode 110 = Home
keycode 112 = Prior
keycode 117 = Next
keycode 115 = End
! Fn+Home/PgUp/PgDown/End
keycode 172 = XF86AudioPlay
keycode 174 = XF86AudioStop
keycode 173 = XF86AudioPrev
keycode 171 = XF86AudioNext
! Cursors
keycode 113 = Left
keycode 111 = Up
keycode 114 = Right
keycode 116 = Down
! XF86 Keys
! Fn+F8
keycode 121 = XF86AudioMute
! Fn+F4
keycode 150 = XF86Sleep
! Builtin volume keys
keycode 122 = XF86AudioLowerVolume
keycode 123 = XF86AudioRaiseVolume
! Brightness controls on Fn key
keycode 232 = XF86MonBrightnessDown
keycode 233 = XF86MonBrightnessUp
! 126 is Brighness up, when it can go no futher
keycode 126 = NoSymbol
! Reassign Modifiers
add Shift = Shift_L Shift_R
add Control = Control_L Control_R
add Mod1 = Alt_L Meta_L
add Mod2 = Num_Lock
add Mod4 = Super_L Super_R
Let me know if there is something that is not clear
Last edited by alterecco (2009-10-23 14:24:14)