Repeating characters in VIM insert mode

Posted by Cthutu on Stack Overflow See other posts from Stack Overflow or by Cthutu
Published on 2011-02-19T23:10:21Z Indexed on 2011/02/19 23:25 UTC
Read the original article Hit count: 154

Filed under:

vim

Is there a way of repeating a character while in Vim's insert mode? For example, say I would like to insert 80 dashes, in something like emacs I would type:

Ctrl+U 8 0 -

The only way I know how to do it in VIM is to exit normal mode for the repeat argument, then go back into insert mode to type the dash, then exit to insert the actual dashes, AND then go back into insert mode to carry on typing. The sequence is a really long:

<ESC> 8 0 a - <ESC> a

It would be nice not to switch in and out of modes.

Thanks

Related posts about vim

Vim: Use different ~/.vim/plugin/ directories for different versions of vim?

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
Like many of you, my custom Vim configuration is stored in my ~/.vimrc, with the plugins, colors, etc. stored under ~/.vim/plugins, ~/.vim/colors, etc. I want to share a single Vim configuration among many servers. Some of these servers run Vim 7, some run the older Vim 6. Most Vim plugins are intended… >>> More
Why isn't the scripts in my autoload folder being executed in Vim?

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I'm trying to use Pathogen to manage my Vim extensions. My bundle folder looks like this: .../bundle/ +-- vim-pathogen ¦ +-- autoload ¦ +-- pathogen.vim +-- vim-smoothscroll +-- autoload +-- smooth_scroll.vim And my vimrc file includes this: let s:root = fnamemodify(resolve(expand(":p"))… >>> More
Cygwin vim doesn't load files in runtimepath

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I created a custom syntax file, and but none of the files in $VIMRUNTIME seem to load. I followed these pieces of the documentation: http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/filetype.html#new-filetype http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/syntax.html#mysyntaxfile When I do :echo &runtimepath I… >>> More
Debugging matchit plugin in vim (under Cygwin)

as seen on Stack Overflow - Search for 'Stack Overflow'
The "matchit" plugin for vim is supposed to allow you to use the % key to jump between matching start/end tags when editing HTML, as well as /* and */ comment delimiters when editing other kinds of code. I've followed the exact instructions in ":help matchit", but % still doesn't work for me. It… >>> More
Vim: How to execute commands stored in a textfile opened in Vim

as seen on Super User - Search for 'Super User'
I store, commands found at http://www.commandlinefu.com/commands/browse, in a text file. If I open this text file in Vim and I want to execute the command where the cursor is actually located I do copy the line with Y, switching to command mode with : and !CTRL+r* Is there a more "lazy" possibility ;) >>> More

Developer IT

Repeating characters in VIM insert mode - Developer IT

Repeating characters in VIM insert mode

vim

Related posts about vim

Vim: Use different ~/.vim/plugin/ directories for different versions of vim?

Why isn't the scripts in my autoload folder being executed in Vim?

Cygwin vim doesn't load files in runtimepath

Debugging matchit plugin in vim (under Cygwin)

Vim: How to execute commands stored in a textfile opened in Vim

Categories cloud