Re: How to remember end of line when quitting/reopening in insert mode

On 2010-03-23, Jean Johner wrote:
> On Mar 22, 9:11 pm, "Brian L. Matthews" <blmatth...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> ....
>
> It seems that my point was definitely not clear. I state it again:
>
> Please launch gvim easy (using vimrc_example.vim as .vimrc)
> gvim -y file1
> Put the cursor (|) at the end of line 10 (after the last letter, say
> column 24)
> Quit (by using the cross in the right-up corner of the window)
> Reopen by gvim -y file1
>
> Result: The cursor is not at line 10, column 24 but at line10, column
> 23 (before the last letter).
>
> This means that easy gvim does not remember the end of line cursor
> position.
> I think that this will be perceived as a bug by easy gvim users.
> Other insert mode text editors like gnome/gedit do remember the end of
> line cursor position properly.

The problem you're encountering, as I understand it, arises because
Vim's cursor does not lie between character positions--it lies on
character positions. In the following line, for example,

cat

the cursor can be on the 'c', the 'a' or the 't'. From those three
positions, you can insert text (i) on the left or append text (a) on
the right. There are four locations in which you may want to put
text or to position an insertion cursor. There are only three
locations, however, at which you can place Vim's cursor before
entering insert mode.

When in insert mode in that line, the next keystroke could place a
character in one of four locations. That means that Vim is in one
of four possible states. If you were to leave insert mode at that
point, Vim would have only three places at which to put the cursor
and would be in one of three possible states. Vim has lost
information.

I was about to write that where the cursor _was_ is not a property
of the cursor, but that's not true in other situations. For
example, if I move the cursor straight up from this comma, it will
move to the 'F', then to the space between the 'a' and the 'p', then
to the start of the empty line, then to the period following
"information", and then to the 's' in "lost". It remembered that it
started in column 58. It forgets that information, though, upon the
next command other than a vertical motion command.

I suppose, then, that the cursor in normal mode could be made to
remember whether it had been to the right or to the left of the
current position when it was in insert mode.

Hmm. I wonder if there is a way to save, access and make use of
that additional information without messing up the way Vim operates
normally.

Regards,
Gary

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