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I am looking at some plugin that happens to be configurable through a curious mapping (e.g. unite.vim):
More advanced configuration example:
>
" The prefix key.
nnoremap [unite] <Nop>
nmap f [unite]
nnoremap <silent> [unite]c :<C-u>UniteWithCurrentDir
\ -buffer-name=files buffer bookmark file<CR>
What does the [unite] means ?
I understand that it stands for a custom leader/prefix only for the plugin, but what is it's meaning for Vim ?
After discussion with VanLaser, it seems that the [unite] mapping is used only with a combination of another key.
Let's break down the mappings:
nnoremap [unite] <Nop>
Map [unite] to nothing.
nmap f [unite]
Map f to [unite]. At this point if we press f, nothing will happen, as [unite] is mapped to <nop>.
But when we add a [unite]-based mapping:
nnoremap <silent> [unite]c :<C-u>UniteWithCurrentDir ...
Then the [unite]c (which will be triggered by pressing fc) will call the desired command. If the f key is pressed alone, after the map timeout, nothing will append as it will be translated to [unite] alone.
fin your example, it will be resolved to[unite](due to thenmap), which in turn resolves to<Nop>, i.e. nothing, but only after the map timeout, or if not followed by one of the defined combinations, such asc, in which case it suddenly turns into[unite]c, which resolves to the mapped command :) Basically,fturns to nothing, butfcturns to the mapped command.[unite]is just a convenient placeholder, you can use other text if you want. Vim won't interpret its characters individually.[square bracket]? Does they means "treats this as one symbol" ?nnoremap myprefix <nop>and then usingmyprefixanywhere ? or using{}instead ?[unite]could affect a map defined in the same buffer, made from its first letters (e.g.[u) in that Vim will now wait to see if you typenafter it, or not.