Applying changes to lines in alternating modes

Question

I know I can apply changes to multiple lines by selecting the lines in visual mode (I use ctrl-v) and defining the set of actions and the mode to start in (e.g. norma A, will add a comma at the end of all selected lines).

I was wondering how can I go back to normal mode after using something like A (which goes to insert mode). I'm not familiar with the terminology enough to google it properly.

I want to add a comma at the end of each line and then join all lines together. I assumed something like the following (not correct, obviously) should do it:

ctrl-v, G, :, normal A, normal J RET

But obviously this appends , normal J to each line.

I know there are plenty of other ways to do it (regular expressions, macros ...) so I don't need alternatives, that's not my question.

Answer 1

Well actually you can use a litteral <ESC> character to chain commands like you would do normally:

:'<,'>norm! A,^II+

This will insert a , at the end of each line, and a + at the start.

To add the special ^I char, press C-v and ESC.