VIM comma is missing in insert mode

Question

Hi folks,

I'm a VIM beginner, and I have a weird problem. I started using vim in a terminal emulator, but today I moved to gVim. Then I realized that I cannot write a comma in Insert mode! I tried :map ,, :imap , both said no mapping found. THen I tried :nomap , and :inomap , both without any luck. As writing the commands, I am able to write the comma, but not in insert mode. What can be the problem?

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Some details: I'm running a freshly installed ubuntu 9.04 system, with an english keyboard, but using a hungarian layout. I am able to write a comma in vim when writing into the "command line" of vim, after pressing : in command mode.

Answer 1

Do you have a vimrc file? This is ~/.vimrc in UNIX, or C:\Documents and Settings\(user name)\_vimrc in Windows. This file might be configuring incorrect keymappings for GUI mode.

Failing that, do you have an unusual keyboard layout?

Answer 2

What happens if you type CTRL-V followed by a comma in insert mode? Do you get a comma?

Also, since you only have this problem in gvim and not vim, try running xev and typing , into it to see if the events look odd. (you may need to apt-get install x11-utils for xev) The events I get look like this:

KeyPress event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x4000001,
    root 0x236, subw 0x0, time 788140933, (138,120), root:(144,139),
    state 0x10, keycode 59 (keysym 0x2c, comma), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 1 bytes: (2c) ","
    XmbLookupString gives 1 bytes: (2c) ","
    XFilterEvent returns: False

KeyRelease event, serial 30, synthetic NO, window 0x4000001,
    root 0x236, subw 0x0, time 788141013, (138,120), root:(144,139),
    state 0x10, keycode 59 (keysym 0x2c, comma), same_screen YES,
    XLookupString gives 1 bytes: (2c) ","
    XFilterEvent returns: False

Answer 3

Ok, I managed to solve it. Previously I used mkvimrc to generate my .vimrc. Now, I deleted it all, and created one manually. Not sure what caused it, but now it works as expected. Moral: don't be lazy, write your vimrc yourself. :)