Support block cursor in insert mode

[carrigmore]

In Gvim or Vim configuration file, I can set the gui cursor to be a block in all mode (including insert mode)
set guicursor=a:block-blinkon0
I hope I can do the same in XVim also, as I like block cursor better. Xcode doesn't support this.
This is a brilliant plugin, I really like it.

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[carrigmore]

Has someone could help me or let me know how to fix this? Many thanks.

[carrigmore]

This has been fixed, I asked the author, he told me just need to comment out the code where use the Xcode's original implementation of cursor. After that rebuild the project and the block cursor is in all mode. I think not everyone want to use block cursor in insert mode, but if you do, that is the way to make it work. Cheers

[bbudzon]

Editing code is not very user friendly however. Ideally, we would parse the guicursor out of the .xvimrc configuration file and skip over that code rather than require the user to delete it.

I am new to this project and haven't yet found where we are parsing the xvimrc but I haven't had a need to investigate it either. I may have some time to look at this at some point but getting some direction from others would certainly help.

Could you maybe comment on which lines were removed? Perhaps (if github allows this), in a patch format?

[carrigmore]

Thanks @Neybis , that would be great. The code I commend out is attached below. The author told me to comment out these lines then the app will not use the original implementation of the cursor of Xcode. Then I can use block cursor in XVim. Don't know why, Xcode don't provide the cursor settings, most other app do, like terminal or IntelliJ IDE.

[bbudzon]

Not a problem @carrigmore, thanks for your response. Having that code will help a bunch :)

My biggest concern, is determining how to work with everyone in a collaborative effort to make this product better. The owner of this repo has apparently been dealing with some health issues (hope all is well) and hasn't had as much time to dedicate to the project as maybe he'd hoped. There are almost 500 forks and 8 outstanding pull requests. Master hasn't been updated in a month and develop's latest commit broke the branch 29 days ago without a committed fix.

If I cannot get in touch with the owner over the next few weeks for some upcoming pull requests, maybe I can get some feedback from others in this community on how to proceed? Perhaps the best thing to do would be to fork this, staying downstream, but always pulling in updates from upstream whenever they become available? Not sure how people would know which fork to look at at that point, but that's a problem for another day :P

I've always wanted to get involved with an open source product that I use regularly, and now that my work requires Xcode, making this plug-in the best that it can be will only help me out in the long run. That being said, I used to do Configuration Management at my last job (git and SVN, now using Perforce, have minor experience with Mercurial as well) and I would not mind maintaining a github repo on a regular basis or even taking this one over in the event that the current owner is unable to continue.

(EDIT: So after investigating Vim's functionality more, I think trying to implement all of the guicursor logic could be a little daunting; perhaps with the help of others more knowledgable, not so much. The biggest problem I see is that vim supports all kinds of configurations for how long the cursor blinks, how wide or tall the block is, etc etc. Not to mention the ability to set these variables for each mode separately. My suggestion at this point is that we introduce a new XVim specific configuration option that is on or off. That way you either have a block cursor or you don't. We don't have to worry about all the various edge cases this way and I believe it will be enough to make our users happy.)

(EDIT2: Also, I am a little surprised Xcode doesn't have options for cursor settings. If (and hopefully when) Apple adds this, we should make sure to hook all of our cursor code back into Xcode. Or if hooking is not possible, simply deprecate guicursor in favor of our end users interacting with Xcode settings directly.)

[carrigmore]

@Neybis I am sorry know that the owner has been dealing with some health issues. I hope he can get better soon. It is good to person like to you help improve this wonderful plugin. I am glad to see the previous issue has been replied by you. I am not good at objective-c and now trying to learn it. I am so glad to find that you have the ability to improve this project and used to do configuration management at your last job. Hope you can maintaining this on a regular basis or even taking this wonderful plugin over if you have time.

[JugglerShu]

Sorry that I haven't been improving the plugin much these days. Actually the main reason I can't improve it is just because I don't have much time.

I'm working on some issues locally but it is just a little by little.
I at least try to make it 'usable' in the latest Xcode now...

[bbudzon]

@JugglerShu, No need to apologize. I cannot extend my gratitude for everything you've done enough.

I have been wanting to help out with some projects I use on a regular basis, and now that I must use Xcode, this project is a prime candidate for me :) It was previously Rip-Rips/ClangComplete ;) I think this will be a good project for me, especially because I was already able to add in some key bindings and help out with other's various questions. Seems like an easy project to get into :) Well designed ;)

That being said, I hope I hadn't offended you earlier. As I stated previously, I can't thank you enough. I can only hope that with me maybe making an entrance into the XVim world that you and I can start working a little more closely together to improve this great tool! Luckily I have quite a bit of time on my hands right now (and have some professional experience that I can bring to the table), and so I'm looking to give back to the communities that have given me so much :)

If you can find some time, maybe you could weigh in on this cursor issue though. I'm not quite sure how you would recommend we handle it. It seems we already have proprietary options for things like "blinkcursor" so having another boolean for "blockcursor" seems quite appropriate.

[carrigmore]

Hi @Neybis it is good to know you are now have time to spend on improving this plugin. I also want to express my gratefulness to the initiator of this project @JugglerShu. I am using another plugin eblook.vim which is a plugin for vim to search EBwin dictionary. It is written by another great Japanese developer. So many wonderful developers makes the life way much better.

[bbudzon]

I believe I have this implemented and ready for a pull request. Will probably be sending over 4 or 5 in total for various little things.

I'm open to discussion here, as to whether or not the naming of the new option is appropriate, or even if the approach I took is appropriate. I was really looking at it as a hold over until we can get something implemented for real (if it is possible).

[carrigmore]

@Neybis, that is greate, could you let me know once it is merged? I can then pull the latest to use. Thanks a lot!

[bbudzon]

Submitted pull request #857

[carrigmore]

Hi @Neybis when will this be merged?

[bbudzon]

#622 is blocking the pull request #857

[carrigmore]

@Neybis, thanks for the update, I don't need as detailed configuration as vim do, if I can set block cursor in insert mode that would be enough. Many thanks