Key Maps

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Wing ships with several keyboard maps, found at the top level of the installation directory as keymap.*. These implement the keyboard personalities in the User Interface > Keyboard > Personality preference.

In order to develop an entirely new key binding, it is possible to create and select a custom key map with the User Interface > Advanced > Key Map File preference.

In a key map file, each key binding is built from the names listed in Key Names. These names are the same as the bindings produced when adding a binding with the User Interface > Keyboard > Custom Key Bindings preference, with some additional options. They may include:

  • A single unmodified key, which is specified by its name alone. For example, 'Down' for the down arrow key.
  • Modified keys, which are specified by hyphenating the key names, for example 'Shift-Down' if pressing the down arrow while Shift is held down. Multiple modifiers may be specified, as in 'Ctrl-Shift-Down'. However, Shift should only be used for keys that have a lower case and upper case variant. For example, 'Shift-5' is invalid and should be replaced with the key actually produced (Percent on US keyboards).
  • Multi-part key bindings can be specified by several bindings separated by a space. For example, to define a key binding that consists of first pressing and releasing Ctrl-X and then pushing the A key by itself, use 'Ctrl-X A' as the key binding.
  • The special modifier Timeout may be used in multi-part key bindings with otherwise unmodified keys, to indicate a provisional key that is emitted as a regular key if no matching key binding is found within the timeout period. For example, Timeout-J K requires typing jk in rapid succession. If only j is typed, it will be entered after the timeout elapses. If jp is typed and there is no binding for Timeout-J P then both j and p will be entered as soon as p is pressed. Bindings using Timeout only work while the focus is in the editor. Otherwise, they are ignored. The timeout used is configured with the User Interface > Keyboard > Typing Group Timeout preference.
  • The Release modifier can be used with any single-part key binding to specify that a command should be bound to the release of a key combination. For example, 'Release-Ctrl-X' invokes a command only when releasing Ctrl-X.
  • Special modifiers are defined for VI/Vim mode: Visual, Browse, Insert, and Replace. These correspond with the different editor modes, so that the binding will only work in that mode. These modifiers only work if the User Interface > Keyboard > Keyboard Personality preference has been set to VI/Vim.

The command portion of the key binding may be any of the commands listed in the Command Reference. See Key Bindings and the examples below for details.

Includes

Key maps can include other keymaps. For example, all the default keymaps include a basic map that defines the action of the arrow keys, function keys, and other common functionality:

%include keymap.basic

The referenced file must be in the same directory as the keymap that contains the include, or a full path.

Examples

Here is an example that adds a key binding. If the command already has a default key binding, both bindings will work:

'Ctrl-X P': 'debug-attach'

This example undefines a key binding from an earlier definition (usually, from an included key map file):

'Ctrl-C Ctrl-C': None

These can be combined to change the key binding for a command without retaining its default key binding:

'Ctrl-C Ctrl-C': None
'Ctrl-G': 'debug-continue'

Wing always retains only the last key binding for a given key combination. This example binds Ctrl-X to quit and no other command:

'Ctrl-X': 'debug-stop'
'Ctrl-X': 'quit'

If multiple commands are separated by commas, Wing executes the first command that is available. For example, the following will restart the debug process whether or not one is already running:

'Ctrl-X': 'debug-restart, debug-continue'

Command arguments can be specified as part of the binding. Any unspecified arguments that do not have a default will be collected from the user in a dialog or in the data entry area at the bottom of the IDE window:

'Ctrl-X P': 'show-panel(panel_type="debug-console")'

If Keyboard Personality is set to VI/Vim, modifiers corresponding to the editor modes restrict availability of the binding to only that mode:

'Visual-Ctrl-X': 'cut'

Here is an example that combines several of the above with the Release modifier:

'Shift-Space': 'debug-show-value-tips', 'send-keys(keys=" ")'
'Release-Shift-Space': 'debug-hide-value-tips'