Why does insert-mode map “” unpredictably inserts itself or executes intended key strokes

cygwin;key mappingvimvimrcxterm

In Vim 7.3.1-762, mintty 1.1.2 (xterm), cygwin, Windows XP, the insert-mode map <F4> executes the intended key strokes at one time but inserts itself at another time. This undeterministic behavior especially occurs if I hold the <F4> key depressed.

How do I make the behavior predictable accross multiple Vim-, terminal- and operating system versions?

This is the code I defined in my ~/.vimrc file, that seems relevant to me:

set compatible
set timeout
set ttimeout
set timeoutlen=1000
set ttimeoutlen=100
imap <F4> <C-\><C-O>:set relativenumber! relativenumber?<CR>

If I assign the mapping to a function key above <F4>, e.g. <F5>, <S-F7> etc. I don't experience the behavior mentioned above. Also if I disable the timeout option with set notimeout it does seem to do the trick.

Best Answer

I made the <F4> key apparently work in all modes by using map <expr> expression maps as follows:

MapOptToggle <F4> relativenumber
MapOptToggle! <S-F4> number

command! -bang -nargs=+ MapOptToggle call <SID>MapOptToggle(<bang>0, <f-args>)
function! s:MapOptToggle(bang, key, opt)
  function! s:ToggleOpt(opt)
    if mode() =~# '\vno?' || !&showmode
      exec 'set ' . a:opt . '! ' . a:opt . '?'
    else
      exec 'set ' . a:opt . '!'
    endif
    redraw
    return ''
  endfunction
  let a='noremap'
  let b='<unique> <silent> <expr> ' . a:key . ' <SID>ToggleOpt(' . string(a:opt) . ')'
  exec a . ' ' . b
  exec a . '! ' .  b
  exec 'set ' . (a:bang ? 'no' : '') . a:opt
endfunction

But still my answer doesn't explain the unpredictable behavior of the imap insert-mode map.

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