Command-line mode

&dactyl.appName;'s command-line mode is perhaps its most powerful interface. In this mode, the command input bar at the bottom of the window is given the keyboard focus for any of a variety of required inputs. In addition to access to almost every aspect of &dactyl.appName; and &dactyl.host;, the command line provides power and comprehensive completion for all of its commands, along with concise descriptions for each command and all of its arguments. Couple this with persistent, searchable command history, and you have a very efficient interface for easily performing simple and complex tasks.

Included among the several command-line modes are Ex command mode (the standard mode for entering commands), find mode (for searching the current page), prompt mode (for selecting files, confirming actions), and hint mode (for selecting links and other items on a page).

: :

Opens the command line in Ex mode. This is the mode used for entering the various commands listed in ex-cmd-index.

Command line editing

]]> <C-i>

Launch the external editor. See the editor option.

 ]]> <C-c>

Quit Command-line mode without executing.

 ]]> <C-]>

Expand a command-line abbreviation.

 ]]> <Up>

Recall from command history the previous command line which begins with the current input value.

]]> <Down>

Recall from command history the next command line which begins with the current input value.

c_ c_]]> <S-Up> <PageUp>

Recall the previous command line from the history list.

 c_ c_]]> <S-Down> <PageDown>

Recall the next command line from the history list.

Command-line completion

]]> <Tab>

Complete the word in front of the cursor according to the behavior specified in wildmode. If wildmode contains list and there are multiple matches then the completion menu window is opened.

]]> <S-Tab>

Complete the previous full match when wildmode contains full.

 ]]> <A-Tab>

Similar to , but the completion behavior is specified by the altwildmode option.

]]> <A-S-Tab>

The equivalent for altwildmode.

Ex command lines

:bar

Multiple commands, separated by a | can be given in a single command line and will be executed consecutively. | can be included as an argument to a command by escaping it with a backslash. E.g. :map \| :echo bar Several commands process the entire command line string literally. These commands will include any | as part of their argument string and so cannot be followed by another command. The list of these commands is:

  • :abbreviate
  • :autocmd
  • :cabbrev
  • :cmap
  • :cnoremap
  • :command
  • :delmacros
  • :delmarks
  • :delqmarks
  • :delstyle
  • :echo
  • :echoerr
  • :echomsg
  • :elseif
  • :execute
  • :highlight
  • :iabbrev
  • :if
  • :imap
  • :inoremap
  • :javascript
  • :let
  • :map
  • :marks
  • :nmap
  • :nnoremap
  • :noremap
  • :open
  • :qmarks
  • :silent
  • :style
  • :styledisable
  • :styleenable
  • :styletoggle
  • :tabopen
  • :toolbarhide
  • :toolbarshow
  • :toolbartoggle
  • :vmap
  • :vnoremap
  • :winopen
  • :yank

Ex command line arguments

Most Ex commands accept a number of options and arguments. Arguments and options are generally separated by spaces, and treat a number of characters, including \, ', ", and |, specially. Moreover, certain arguments have their own special characters. For instance, when using :set to change a stringlist option, the comma character is used to separate elements of said list. Or when calling :autocmd, the pattern given may be negated by prefixing it with a !. In order to use these characters in command arguments, stripped of their special meaning, they must be quoted.

&dactyl.appName; offers four distinct quoting styles, each with its own distinct advantages and disadvantages. The first, and most basic, is the automatic quoting applied to the commands listed in :bar. When any of these commands is invoked, their final argument is always interpreted literally. No characters have special meaning whatsoever, and no care need be taken to quote anything. Additionally, the following three optional quoting characters are available:

\
This is the most basic quoting character. When it is encountered outside of single or double quotes, it forces the next character to be interpreted literally. So, for instance, \\ ⇒ \, \' ⇒ ', \a ⇒ a, and \␣ ⇒ ␣.
'
Any character inside single quotes aside from the ' character itself is interpreted literally. To include a literal single quote, it must be doubled. So, 'foo\ ''bar\\ baz\' ⇒ foo\ 'bar\\ baz\
"
Any character inside of double quotes except for " and \ is interpreted literally. A literal double quote may be included by preceding it with a backslash. Any other occurrence of a backslash starts an escape sequence as in JSON strings. Among the available escape sequences are:
\n
A newline character.
\t
A tab character.
\uxxxx
Where each x is a digit between 0 and F, a Unicode character at code-point xxxx.

Many Ex commands accept option arguments in addition to regular arguments. Option arguments begin with a hyphen (-), and often have a short form and a long form, such as -name and -n. Most options accept arguments, which come after the option separated by either a space or an equal sign. For instance, the following three forms, -name=foo, -name foo, and -n foo, are all acceptable and entirely equivalent.