mapping to map <return>

Question

I'm trying to create a mapping to create a mapping such that pressing <C-return> presents me with :nnoremap <return> : to which I can then add a custom command. The following does not work because <return> is replaced by the return key.

:nnoremap <c-return> :nnoremap <return> :

I thought I could escape <return> as \<return>, but this does not seem to be working. How do I escape (or otherwise prevent nnoremap from expanding) <return> in the above statement?

Answer 1

Escape < as <lt>:

nnoremap <c-return> :nnoremap <lt>return> :

For more help see:

:h key-codes

Answer 2

Interesting I thought we could do this with an exe command, but that fails too. I found a way to do it but it's pretty hacky:

:nnoremap <c-return> :nnoremap <return > :<c-left><c-left><BS><c-right><c-right>

• <c-left>: executes Ctrl+←
• <c-right>: executes Ctrl+→
• <BS>: executes Backspace

We're basically breaking up the <return> so that it's not recognized and then we go back and delete the space. This works, but I'm curious if there is a better way of doing it.