Vim mapping characters in insert mode

Question

OK this may be pretty basic question but I just learned how to make custom key mappings.

I am trying to make vim automatically "end" two lines lower when typing "class" so I wrote following in .vimrc :

:imap class class<CR><CR>end

So that worked fine except now when I start typing "class" vim is over typing each letter of "class" until I finish typing it or what I'm typing no longer matches "class".

Is there a way to avoid this behavior, I want to be able to see what I am typing as I'm typing it even when it matches a mapped key sequence?

Not sure if I'm explaining it correctly.

Thanks for help

Answer 1

You're looking for

:inoreab class class<cr><cr>end

The same (nore) would have worked with mappings as well, but mappings are less fitted for such snippets.

BTW, the abbreviation should be declared specific to the filetype where you will use it (Ruby ?) ->

" in ~/.vim/ftplugin/ruby/my_snippets.vim
:inoreab <buffer> class class<cr><cr>end

Note, that you won't be able to type "class" from within a string or a comment without seeing it expanded. You'll either have to rely on functions that'll take care of the context, or snippets (which will be much easier to maintain)

For instance, with lh-bracket, you could define:

:Inoreab <buffer> class <c-r>=InsertSeq('class', 'class !cursorhere!\<cr\>!mark!\<cr\>end!mark!')<cr>

But I really recommend you to use a snippet engine instead (mu-template, utilsnip, snipmate, ... There are plenty)