CODEWITHSUNDEEP
atom-editor
max pleaner
max pleaner

Reputation: 26758

Atom keymap combos dont work with arrow keys

I have this in my keymap.cson file:

'body':
  'ctrl-alt-left': 'editor:select-to-first-character-of-line'

But it doesn't work (there is no effect).

The following keymaps do work:

'body':
  'ctrl-alt-a': 'editor:move-to-beginning-of-line'
  'ctrl-alt-e': 'editor:move-to-end-of-line'
  'ctrl-alt-shift-s': 'editor:select-to-first-character-of-line'
  'ctrl-alt-shift-w': 'editor:select-to-end-of-line'

But I would like to be able to use the arrow keys.

Upvotes: 3

Views: 700

Answers (1)

Dan Lowe
Dan Lowe

Reputation: 56508

I'm not sure where you got the body selector from. You should use atom-text-editor for maps like this, as in the examples in the default keymap.cson in your .atom folder. This should do what you want:

'atom-text-editor':
  'ctrl-alt-left': 'editor:move-to-beginning-of-line'
  'ctrl-alt-right': 'editor:move-to-end-of-line'
  'ctrl-alt-shift-left': 'editor:select-to-first-character-of-line'
  'ctrl-alt-shift-right': 'editor:select-to-end-of-line'

When debugging issues like this, you must also keep a couple of other things in mind.

First, the meaning of alt varies by platform. On macOS, it means the Option key. On Windows or Linux, I believe it means the key labeled Alt, but your keyboard may be a bit different (especially non-US layouts).

Second, if a higher layer of the system (the OS itself, i.e. the window manager) is capturing a key combination, then it will never reach Atom at all. You can detect this situation using the Key Binding Resolver. You can activate it using Cmd. on macOS. I am not sure about other platforms, but usually Cmd on macOS maps to Ctrl on Windows and Linux, so I would suggest Ctrl..

While the Key Binding resolver is active, any keys or key combinations you press are listed in the resolver, along with the action (if any) within Atom that is taken. You can use this to determine what Atom thinks a given key is, and you can also use it to detect whether a given key combination is not reaching Atom in the first place.

Upvotes: 3

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