FS#17734 - [vi] arrow keys not working in insert mode

Attached to Project: Arch Linux
Opened by Dale Blount (dale) - Thursday, 07 January 2010, 13:56 GMT
Last edited by Paul Mattal (paul) - Saturday, 06 March 2010, 14:30 GMT
Task Type Bug Report
Category Packages: Core
Status Closed
Assigned To Tobias Kieslich (tobias)
Architecture All
Severity Low
Priority Normal
Reported Version
Due in Version Undecided
Due Date Undecided
Percent Complete 100%
Votes 0
Private No

Details

Description:

Arrow keys print A B C or D instead of moving cursor in insert mode.

Additional info:

vi 050325-1

the old vi 7.1 used to handle this fine. It's a little bit annoying since Arch defaults to using this broken vi for crontab editing.
This task depends upon

Closed by  Paul Mattal (paul)
Saturday, 06 March 2010, 14:30 GMT
Reason for closing:  Won't fix
Additional comments about closing:  Maintainer confirmed this is the intended behavior.
Comment by Gavin Bisesi (Daenyth) - Friday, 08 January 2010, 23:29 GMT
Isn't this intended behavior? I thought only vim handled arrow keys.
Comment by Dieter Plaetinck (Dieter_be) - Saturday, 09 January 2010, 13:44 GMT
not sure if arrowkeys should handle navigation in insert mode for vi, but i want to share this:

$ export VISUAL=vim
$ crontab -e

(man crontab)
Comment by Dale Blount (dale) - Saturday, 09 January 2010, 15:05 GMT
Yes, the old vi worked fine, which was probably from the vim package. When we moved to the new "original" vi, we lost this functionality. Maybe the installer should default VISUAL to the editor chose during setup?
Comment by Dieter Plaetinck (Dieter_be) - Saturday, 09 January 2010, 16:20 GMT
look our point is "works" is very subjective. for you it means "makes cursor move in insert mode" but for others it means other things, and I'm not sure how vi is supposed to handle arrow keys. are you?

also, IIRC $VISUAL is meant to denote graphical editors, whereas $EDITOR is meant for console ones, but I can't find much info about that.
setting EDITOR and VISUAL during installation seems like a good idea (except when VISUAL is for editors requiring X), I suggest you file a feature request for that.
Comment by Tobias Kieslich (tobias) - Wednesday, 13 January 2010, 06:26 GMT
there is a patch already included that allows the use of arrow keys in command mode, in insert mode that doesn't work. I recommend using vim instead, vi is really just for the installer and groundwork.

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