In Vi, how do I map “:t” equal to “:tabnew”?

Question

I don't want to always type the word. it's annoying.

Answer 1

Another approach is a user-defined command. Unfortunately, those can't begin with a lower-case letter, so your next best option is :T:

:commmand -nargs=* T tabnew <args>

Answer 2

If you don't like the existing shortcuts for the tab commands, you can add your own. For instance, if you want to make it easy to open a new tab, you might insert this into your .vimrc:

imap ,t <Esc>:tabnew<CR>

This tells Vim to set up a keymap for ,t in insert mode, to run Esc to put Vim into normal mode, then :tabnew and a carriage return to run the command.

From https://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/442422-vim-tips-using-tabs
See also http://dissociatedpress.net/vim-resources/vim-tips-using-vim-mappings-and-abbreviations/

Use cmap for command-mode mappings.

Answer 3

Notwithstanding the other suggestions, here is a more exact answer to your question: I don't think it's possible completely equivalently, but this set of mappings would get you pretty close:

:nnoremap :t<CR>    :tabnew<CR>
:xnoremap :t<CR>    :tabnew<CR>

:nnoremap :t<Space> :tabnew<Space>
:xnoremap :t<Space> :tabnew<Space>

or equivalently, but better:

" :map in Normal and Visual modes, but not Select mode (see :help mapmode-x
:command -nargs=*  Nxmap      nmap     <args>| xmap     <args>
     com -nargs=*  Nxnoremap  nnoremap <args>| xnoremap <args>
     com -nargs=*  Nxunmap    nunmap   <args>| xunmap   <args>

:Nxnoremap :t<CR>    :tabnew<CR>
:Nxnoremap :t<Space> :tabnew<Space>

Answer 4

Pick a key you do not use under vim, like say ), and and remap that key to the tabnew command:

:map ) :tabnew^M

To enter the last CR (^M), type ControlV then Enter

Answer 5

A builtin shorter alias for :tabnew is :tabe, which is short for :tabedit, which is just synonymous to :tabnew.