How can I discourage myself from using ':q', ':wq', etc. to quit vim?

Question

I've had some success over the past year or two using vim-hardtime to wean myself off using the arrow keys in favour of h, j, k, l. However, I'd really like to wean myself off :q, :wq, etc. in favour of ZQ, ZZ, etc. - the latter are faster (at least in my experience), but my muscle memory is so atuned to :q I need some assistance!

I've tried setting cmap q <nop> in my ~/.vimrc, but that doesn't work as intended; it prevents me from the using the q key entirely on the command line. Granted, it's a rare letter, but I still need to use it!

Is there any way I can disable that command temporarily to encourage my use of ZZ and friends?

Answer 1

I personally believe vim-hardtime and this kind of plugins which disable keys are not a good idea because it's better to use what you are comfortable with rather than inflicting yourself this kind of pain.

But here is a way to do what you want anyway

cnoremap <expr> <CR> getcmdtype() == ":" && index(["q", "wq"], getcmdline()) >= 0 ? "<C-u>" : "<CR>"

The point is to create an expression mapping :h :map-<expr> which will evaluate the content of the command line when you press Enter. If the current command is one of the functions you want to avoid then instead of executing the command it will delete all the characters before the cursor, forcing you to write another command instead.

How it works:

• getcmdtype() == ":" makes sure that the mapping is only applied when you are using the command line to enter a command (and not do a search)
• index(["q", "wq"], getcmdline()) >= 0 checks if getcmdline() which returns the entire command is found in the list of forbidden commands (which is ["q", "wq"])
• We use a ternary expression to return either ctrl+u or the actual keycode for Enter

Of course depending on which behavior you prefer you can simply replace <C-u> by any action you like.

The interesting point about this mapping is that you can easily extend the list of commands you want to forbid and you don't need to make mapping for specific letters.

Related help topics:

• :h :map-<expr>
• :h getcmdtype()
• :h getcmdline()
• :h index()
• :h i_CTRL-U

Answer 2

I am currently using mapping to quit vim or neovim. The mapping I use is:

" Saves the file if modified and quit
nnoremap <silent> <leader>q :x<CR>
" Quit all opened buffers
nnoremap <silent> <leader>Q :qa<CR>

I find this to be way faster to close a buffer and quit vim than using command line mode.