Context aware line movement

[CptPotato]

I like helix default behavior of j/k being bound to move_visual_line_down/move_visual_line_up. However, with multi-selection editing I often make mistakes because some cursors may not change their line based on soft wrap.

Is it possible to create a customized key bind that performs move_visual_line_.. when only a single selection is present and otherwise uses move_line_..?

[the-mikedavis]

Currently I don't think this is possible. It would need some scripting support to check whether there are multiple selections. For now you'd have to manually prefer gj/gk when there are many selections, or toggle off softwrap temporarily

[CptPotato]

Thanks for the answer, scripting for keybinds seems like the right solution. I think in the meantime I'll see if I can patch it in the source code directly.

[CptPotato]

For anyone interested: This is the change I've made to implement the desired behavior:

diff --git a/helix-term/src/commands.rs b/helix-term/src/commands.rs
index 2669d8dd..fbee36a8 100644
--- a/helix-term/src/commands.rs
+++ b/helix-term/src/commands.rs
@@ -748,22 +748,27 @@ fn move_line_down(cx: &mut Context) {
     move_impl(cx, move_vertically, Direction::Forward, Movement::Move)
 }
 
+fn multi_selection(cx: &mut Context) -> bool {
+    let (view, doc) = current!(cx.editor);
+    doc.selection(view.id).iter().nth(1).is_some()
+}
+
 fn move_visual_line_up(cx: &mut Context) {
-    move_impl(
-        cx,
-        move_vertically_visual,
-        Direction::Backward,
-        Movement::Move,
-    )
+    let move_fn = if multi_selection(cx) {
+        move_vertically
+    } else {
+        move_vertically_visual
+    };
+    move_impl(cx, move_fn, Direction::Backward, Movement::Move)
 }
 
 fn move_visual_line_down(cx: &mut Context) {
-    move_impl(
-        cx,
-        move_vertically_visual,
-        Direction::Forward,
-        Movement::Move,
-    )
+    let move_fn = if multi_selection(cx) {
+        move_vertically
+    } else {
+        move_vertically_visual
+    };
+    move_impl(cx, move_fn, Direction::Forward, Movement::Move)
 }
 
 fn extend_char_left(cx: &mut Context) {