How do I use English special characters while in normal mode

[RobberFox]

When I'm using russian, most special characters are shifted or don't exist. Thus I want to achieve the next thing:

While using russian keyboard layout in non-insert mode:

1. Map ёЁ to `~ so I can use marks and uppercase action.
2. Map Shift+number row from "№;%:? to @#$%^& so that I have access to ^$% horizontal motions, @ macros, etc.
3. Map every other special character, i.e. from бю.жэхъ and БЮ,ЖЭХЪ to ,./;'[] and <>?:"{}, so that I have access to f finding special characters at the expense of not being able to find those 6 russian letters.

Can I achieve that, and how?

P.S. Not sure if this discussion should be in Russian or English

[Wansmer]

You should configure vim.opt.langmap for this (see the readme for an example). The langmapper is only for keybindings, not for normal movements.
You can also read this article to understand in depth how the langmapper works: https://habr.com/ru/articles/726400/

P.S. Not sure if this discussion should be in Russian or English

English, because not only Russian use langmapper and have similar question. English more universal in this case

[RobberFox]

Yeah, I only managed to map `~ (they weren't working for some reason):

vim.opt.langmap:append(vim.fn.join({"ёЁ;`~"}, ","))

But I don't know what to do with the points 2. and 3. since langmap from one special character to another special character is logically wrong.
It seems to be outside of the scope of langmap this is why I decided to ask here.

Also, how do you deal with not having $^% keys when using the russian layout?

And in case none of that is possible, would you recommend using something like https://github.com/lyokha/vim-xkbswitch alongside this plugin?

[Wansmer]

point 2

This is solved by adding the necessary character mappings to default_layout and layouts.ru.layout, and setting the get_current_layout_id function for your OS. Check the README.

point 3

I'm not sure what you're trying to achieve. The f and t are looking for the characters you enter. It makes sense that special symbols are in different places on different layouts. You can make your own layout change by f and t, but that is beyond the scope of this plugin.

And in case none of that is possible, would you recommend using something like https://github.com/lyokha/vim-xkbswitch alongside this plugin?

I have never used this plugin and can't recommend it. If it solves your problems, try it

[RobberFox]

Almost works

default_layout = [[ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ<>?:"{}~@#$^&abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz,./;'[]`]],
layouts = {
	ru = {
		id = "ru",
		layout = [[ФИСВУАПРШОЛДЬТЩЗЙКЫЕГМЦЧНЯБЮ,ЖЭХЪË"№;:?фисвуапршолдьтщзйкыегмцчнябю.жэхъё]],
	},
},
os = {
	Linux = {
		get_current_layout_id = function()
			local cmd = "xkb-switch"
			if vim.fn.executable(cmd) then
				local output = vim.split(vim.trim(vim.fn.system(cmd)), "\n")

				return output[#output]
			end
		end,
	},
},

But now while using the russian layout I have overriden the same keys as the english ,.:;" keys (i.e. while in russian, pressing the english ,, ., ;, :, " gives ?, /, $, ^, @ respectively) How can I fix this?

P.S. And I guess the step 3 isn't something that I necessarily need. I can just alter my ru layout system-wide where I have 3rd Alt-gr layer with english symbols.

[RobberFox]

Is this a bug, or I am doing something wrong? If it is, should I make a bug report?

[Wansmer]

But now while using the russian layout I have overriden the same keys as the english ,.:;@ keys (i.e. while in russian, pressing ,, ., ;, :, " gives ?, /, $, ^, @ respectively) How can I fix this?

If I understand you correctly, you are describing the expected behaviour, because when you are in the Russian layout and press . you get the / functionality, and when you press ю you get the . functionality. This is done intentionally so that your muscle memory does not break down depending on the current input method.
Also make sure there is no recursion in your mappings (layout, default_layout, vim.opt.langmap).

[RobberFox]

What I meant is that in the overriden keys I lose access to the default-us-layout behaviour, for example If I have.

default_layout = [[ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ<>?:"{}~abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz,./;'[]`]],
layouts = {
	ru = {
		...
		layout = [[ФИСВУАПРШОЛДЬТЩЗЙКЫЕГМЦЧНЯБЮ,ЖЭХЪËфисвуапршолдьтщзйкыегмцчнябю.жэхъё]],
		...
	},
}

Then while in the russian layout those 3 keys are overriden like such:

So I don't have access to comma and dot repeat keys. Which I, obviously, want to access because otherwise it breaks down my muscle memory depending on the current input method.

[Wansmer]

I checked these comparisons with myself. All three keys work correctly in both layouts.

Maybe your get_current_layout_id is not working correctly, but I can't check that because I'm not using Linux and xkb-switch. Make sure that the current layout names are returned and that these are the names specified as id in the plugin settings.

[RobberFox]

I checked and output of "xkb-switch" matches the id = "ru":

And that function seems to be working because I get at least some behaviour that's not present in the default config.
But testing this as a minimal config I still have the same issue of the comma and dot keys being overriden:

local function escape(str)
	local escape_chars = [[;,."|\]]
	return vim.fn.escape(str, escape_chars)
end

local en = [[`qwertyuiop[]asdfghjkl;'zxcvbnm,.]]
local ru = [[ёйцукенгшщзхъфывапролджэячсмитьбю]]
local en_shift = [[~QWERTYUIOP{}ASDFGHJKL:"ZXCVBNM<>]]
local ru_shift = [[ËЙЦУКЕНГШЩЗХЪФЫВАПРОЛДЖЭЯЧСМИТЬБЮ]]

vim.opt.langmap = vim.fn.join({
	escape(ru_shift) .. ";" .. escape(en_shift),
	escape(ru) .. ";" .. escape(en),
}, ",")

local lazypath = vim.fn.stdpath("data") .. "/lazy/lazy.nvim"
if not (vim.uv or vim.loop).fs_stat(lazypath) then
	local lazyrepo = "https://github.com/folke/lazy.nvim.git"
	local out = vim.fn.system({ "git", "clone", "--filter=blob:none", "--branch=stable", lazyrepo, lazypath })
	if vim.v.shell_error ~= 0 then
		vim.api.nvim_echo({
			{ "Failed to clone lazy.nvim:\n", "ErrorMsg" },
			{ out, "WarningMsg" },
			{ "\nPress any key to exit..." },
		}, true, {})
		vim.fn.getchar()
		os.exit(1)
	end
end

vim.opt.rtp:prepend(lazypath)


require("lazy").setup({
	spec = {
		{
			"Wansmer/langmapper.nvim",
			lazy = false,
			priority = 1,

			config = function()
				require("langmapper").setup({
					map_all_ctrl = true,
					ctrl_map_modes = { "n", "o", "i", "c", "t", "v" },
					hack_keymap = true,
					disable_hack_modes = { "i" },
					automapping_modes = { "n", "v", "x", "s" },

					default_layout = [[ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ<>?:"{}~abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz,./;'[]`]],

					use_layouts = {},
					custom_desc = nil,

					layouts = {
						ru = {
							id = "ru",
							layout = [[ФИСВУАПРШОЛДЬТЩЗЙКЫЕГМЦЧНЯБЮ,ЖЭХЪËфисвуапршолдьтщзйкыегмцчнябю.жэхъё]],
						},
					},

					os = {
						Linux = {
							get_current_layout_id = function()
								local cmd = "xkb-switch"

								return vim.notify(vim.trim(vim.fn.system(cmd)))
							end,
						},
					},

				})
			end,
		},
	},
})

require("langmapper").automapping({ global = true, buffer = true })

I don't really know to do.

[Wansmer]

vim.notify don't return string:

Linux = {
  get_current_layout_id = function()
    local cmd = "xkb-switch"

    return vim.notify(vim.trim(vim.fn.system(cmd)))
  end,
}

[RobberFox]

Sorry, I accidentally sent the wrong code, it's without notify

[Wansmer]

I checked it again with minimal config (but using get_current_layout_id for Darwin) - all work correctly:

2024-12-16.09.28.25.mov

Unfortunately, I don't know why it doesn't work in your case. Try looking for the configs for langmapper, which also uses Linux and xkb-switch.

[RobberFox]

Well, I can do this:

default_layout = [[/?@#$^&]],
layouts = {
	ru = {
		id = "ru",
		layout = [[.,"№;:?]],
	},
},

The special characters now work, but any Ctrl keybinds don't

[RobberFox]

So, it seems like (at least on my system) if I remove the last init.lua line:

require("langmapper").automapping({ global = true, buffer = true })

Then this functionality works as intended.

P.S. This is a personal log at this point, I don't want to waste others time, so no problem if you don't respond

[RobberFox]

Now (without the automapping) having:

default_layout = [[@#$^&ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ<>:"{}~?abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz,.;'[]`/]],
layouts.ru.layout = [["№;:?ФИСВУАПРШОЛДЬТЩЗЙКЫЕГМЦЧНЯБЮЖЭХЪË,фисвуапршолдьтщзйкыегмцчнябюжэхъё.]],

I can access symbols from the russian layout, but it works only in the normal mode. In the visual mode, for example $^ don't work and instead those are russian ;: