macvim-dev / macvim-dev/macvim

Using dead keys acute and grave/backtick in normal mode doesn't work

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Description

Steps to reproduce

I'm using macOS with a German locale and a German keyboard where ´ (acute) is a dead key and ` (grave/backtick) is produced by hitting shift and ´.

It easier to type ´ as it does not require the shift key. Thus in my .vimrc, I have defined: nmap ´ `

This works fine in Terminal of macOS!

In MacVim, neither ´ nor ` works.

For vowels, I got it working with mappings à la:

nmap ´á `a
nmap ´Á `A
nmap `à `a
nmap `À `A

But this does not work for consonants like b. The error is raised: E78: Unknown mark

Expected behaviour

Both ´b and `b should jump to the mark.

Version of Vim and architecture

9.1.727

Environment

OS: Sequoia, arm64
Terminal: macOS Terminal
$TERM: xterm-256color
$SHELL: /bin/zsh

How MacVim was installed

Homebrew

Logs and stack traces

No response

Vim configuration where issue is reproducable

No response

Issue has been tested with given configuration
  • by running MacVim.app from GUI macOS interface
  • by running vim/gvim/etc installed by MacVim
  • by running other versions of vim (e.g. /usr/bin/vim)
Issue has been tested with no configuration
  • by running mvim --clean (or gvim, supplied by MacVim distribution)
  • by running vim --clean (in terminal, supplied by MacVim distribution)
  • by running vim --clean (in terminal, other suppliers, e.g. /usr/bin/vim)
Other conditions
  • The both Homebrew packages "vim" and "macvim" are installed

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the issue in MacVim.app with mvim --clean, then compare it with vim --clean in macOS Terminal using the documented acute and grave mappings. Trace MacVim's handling of dead-key input and normal-mode mark motions; done means both ´b and `b jump to the corresponding mark without E78.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
macos, vim
Domain
desktop-dev
Issue type
Bug
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
38/100

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