Mapping ctrl-backspace in terminator

terminatorvim

I've recently started using Vim. From previous editors, I'm used to deleting a whole word by pressing Ctrl–Backspace. After looking at the documentation I found that this was done by pressing Ctrl–w in Vim. The problem is that after getting used to pressing Ctrl–w, I've started closing tabs and chats every time I misspell a word (while writing this question I closed this tab 5 times). So I checked how to map keys in Vim and tried this:

:imap <C-BS> <C-w>

Unfortunately, it didn't work. After a bit of research I found that the terminal does not distinguish between Ctrl–Backspace and Backspace. I saw some hacks and patches to fix this issue, but I couldn't get them to work on terminator (which is the emulator I want to use).

Is there any way to map Ctrl–Backspace in Vim when using terminator?

Best Answer

Due to the way that the keyboard input is handled internally, this unfortunately isn't generally possible today. Some key combinations, like Ctrl + non-alphabetic cannot be mapped, and Ctrl + letter vs. Ctrl + Shift + letter cannot be distinguished. (Unless your terminal sends a distinct termcap code for it, which most don't.) In insert or command-line mode, try typing the key combination. If nothing happens / is inserted, you cannot use that key combination. This also applies to <Tab> / <C-I>, <CR> / <C-M> / <Esc> / <C-[> etc. (Only exception is <BS> / <C-H>.) This is a known pain point, and the subject of various discussions on vim_dev and the #vim IRC channel.

Some people (foremost Paul LeoNerd Evans) want to fix that (even for console Vim in terminals that support this), and have floated various proposals, cp. http://groups.google.com/group/vim_dev/browse_thread/thread/626e83fa4588b32a/bfbcb22f37a8a1f8

But as of today, no patches or volunteers have yet come forward, though many have expressed a desire to have this in a future Vim 8 major release.

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