9. Default Key Bindings

9.1. Rationale Used in Binding Tables Below

As you can see if you look below, the binding tables have the “Key” column followed by modifier keys in the sequence:

• S (Shift)

• C (Ctrl)

• A (Alt)

The reason they are in this sequence is by convention of thinking about them as though they had a “level of severity” of modifying the meaning of the original keystroke. Note that this is only ONE way of thinking about these modifiers, but it is common because it is intuitive.

The concept includes:

• that each “base key” has a topic related to the software application,

• that all modifiers used with that key begin an action related to that topic, and

• the modifiers make up a progressively increasing quality of some type, which for lack of a better term, we will call “level of severity”.

In alignment with this, let’s build a table where we can illustrate with an example.

S	C	A	Level of Severity	Example
			0	Check syntax of a single file
x			1	Check syntax of project
	x		2	Compile single file
x	x		3	Compile project
		x	4	Compile single file for debugging
x		x	5	Compile project for debugging
	x	x	6	Compile project for debugging, and program microcontroller
x	x	x	7	Compile project for debugging, program microcontroller, and start debugging

Notice in the pattern above that Alt always means “the compiler should output in debugging format”, and Shift (most of the time) means “whole project” vs “single file”. When key-combination meanings can be organized like that, it makes it more intuitive for the user, and easier to remember.

Also notice that the pattern of ‘x’es in the table above progresses like the bits in an integer, providing up to 8 combinations for every “base key”:

Bits	Decimal Value
000	0
001	1
010	2
011	3
100	4
101	5
110	6
111	7

9.2. Named-Key Bindings

Most of the behaviors of the named keys (e.g. Enter, Delete, Backspace, Esc) are obvious if only due to tradition that virtually all editors and IDEs have adopted (excepting vim and Emacs). Generally all normal key meanings apply, like holding down the Ctrl key while typing movement keys moves the cursor by whole words or scrolls the screen, while holding the Shift key for movement keys extends the selection area.

However, there are some behaviors that are not obvious, and they are documented in the table below.

Key:

• S = Shift

• C = Ctrl

• A = Alt

Key	S	C	A	Command
Up	x	x		swap line up
Down	x	x		swap line down
Up		x	x	add new selection up
Down		x	x	add new selection down
Left			x	move left by sub-words (cf ctrl+left = whole words)
Right			x	move right by sub-words (cf ctrl+right = whole words)
Ins		x		copy (traditional from Win 3.1 era)
Ins	x			paste (traditional from Win 3.1 era)
PgUp		x		move to previous View
PgDn		x		move to next View
Space		x		autocomplete
Del	x			cut (to clipboard)
Tab		x		next View in stack
Tab	x	x		previous View in stack
Enter				in comment beginning with /**: insert \n
Enter				in Find panel: find next
Enter				in Find-in-Files Panel: find all
Enter		x		insert blank line below w/o changing current line
Enter	x	x		insert blank line above w/o changing current line
Enter	x			in Find panel: find previous
Enter			x	in Find-in-Files Panel: find all and close panel
Enter		x	x	in Find-in-Files Panel: replace all and close panel
Enter		x	x	in Find-in-Files Panel: replace all and close panel

Note

[Keypad Enter] key is read as a separate key, but by default, is mapped to the exact same commands as the [Enter] key, including all modifier keys.

9.3. Tab Key

The [Tab] key’s behavior is context sensitive.

• if an auto-complete pop-up is visible, commits autocomplete selected;

• if in a snippet and there is a next field, advances to next field;

• if an Overlay Panel has focus, causes caret to jump to next field;

• if:

  • settings.auto_indent,

  • all selections are empty, and

  • caret is on an empty line, then reindent;

• if:

  • auto_complete_visible == false,

  • all selections are empty,

  • setting.tab_completion == false, and

  • caret is after [A-Za-z0-9_], then auto-complete in “snippet” mode (attempt to pull up a snippet);

• if:

  • auto_complete_visible == false,

  • all selections are empty,

  • setting.tab_completion == true, and

  • caret is after [A-Za-z0-9_], then autocomplete in “mini” mode;

• otherwise, insert ‘\t’ character.

• and most of the above are reversed when the shift key is held down.

9.4. Default F-Key Bindings

The following a human-readable map of the F-keys from <install_path>/Packages/Default ($platform).sublime-keymap. A blank line means the key is not mapped in this Keymap.

Key:

• S = Shift

• C = Ctrl

• A = Alt

Key	S	C	A	Command
F1
F2				next_bookmark
F2	x			prev_bookmark
F2		x		toggle_bookmark (toggle_line: true)
F2	x	x		clear_bookmarks
F2			x	select_all_bookmarks
F3				find_next
F3	x			find_prev
F3		x		find_under
F3	x	x		find_under_prev
F3			x	find_all_under
F4				next_result
F4	x			prev_result
F4		x		close_file
F5
F6				toggle_setting (spell_check)
F6		x		next_misspelling
F6	x	x		prev_misspelling
F7				build
F8
F9				sort_lines (case_sensitive: false)
F9		x		sort_lines (case_sensitive: true)
F10	x			context_menu
F11				toggle_full_screen
F11	x			toggle_distraction_free
F12				goto_definition
F12		x		goto_definition (side_by_side: true)
F12	x			goto_reference
F12	x	x		goto_reference (side_by_side: true)
F12				auto_complete_open_link (when auto_complete_visible)

9.5. Default Letter-Key Bindings

The following is info from egrep of the default .sublime-keymap involving letter-keys:

Key:

• S = Shift

• C = Ctrl

• A = Alt

Key	S	C	A	Command
A		x		select all
A	x	x		expand selection (smart)
A			x	toggle preserve case
B		x		build
C		x		copy (to clipboard)
D		x		find under expand
D	x	x		duplicate line
E		x		slurp find string
E	x	x		slurp replace string
F		x		show find panel
F	x	x		show find-in-files panel
G		x		show Goto Overlay Panel with “text”: “:”
H		x		show replace panel
H	x	x		show replace panel (reverse)
I		x		show incremental-find panel
I	x	x		show incremental-find panel (reverse)
J	x	x		join lines
L		x		expand selection to line
L	x	x		split selection into lines
L			x	expand selection to previous line
M		x		move to brackets
M	x	x		expand selection to brackets
N		x		new file
N	x	x		new window
O		x		open-file dialog box
O			x	switch file to next C-family file (c;h;cpp;hpp;etc)
O	x		x	switch file to next C-family file (side-by-side)
P		x		show files overlay
P	x	x		show Command Palette overlay
P	x		x	open switch-project dialog box
P	x	x	x	show scope name at caret
Q		x		toggle record macro (mod: moved to alt-f10)
Q	x	x		run macro
Q			x	wrap lines @ ruler
R		x		show Goto Overlay Panel with “text”: “@”
R	x	x		goto symbol in project (w drop-down symbol list)
R			x	toggle regex in find panel (mod: wrap text @ ruler)
S		x		save current buffer
S	x	x		save as... (mod: save all)
T		x		transpose (swap current and previous character)
T	x	x		re-open most-recently-closed file
U		x		soft redo (includes changes to selection)
U	x	x		soft undo (includes changes to selection)
V		x		paste (from clipboard)
V	x	x		paste and indent
W		x		close View
W	x	x		close Window
X		x		cut
Y		x		redo (reverses undo)
Z		x		undo
Z	x	x		redo (same as ctrl+y)

9.6. Default Number-Key Bindings

The following is info from egrep of the default .sublime-keymap involving number keys:

Key:

• S = Shift

• C = Ctrl

• A = Alt

Key	S	C	A	Command
1-8			x	select by index (group 0-7)
9			x	select by index (last group)
1-9			x	focus group 0-8 (when group has multi-select)
0			x	focus group 9 (when group has multi-select)
1-5	x		x	change View layout
8-9	x		x	change View layout
1-9		x		focus group 0-8
1-9	x	x		move to group 0-8
0		x		move focus to side bar

9.7. Default Symbol-Key Bindings

The following is info from egrep of the default .sublime-keymap involving symbol keys (i.e. `, -, =, [, ], \, ;, ', ,, ., /, kp/, kp*, kp-, kp+):

Key:

• S = Shift

• C = Ctrl

• A = Alt

• kp = Keypad (e.g. kp+ means keypad_plus)

Key	S	C	A	Command
`		x		open and/or move keyboard focus to Console Overlay Panel
-			x	jump_back
-	x		x	jump_forward
-		x		decrease font size
=		x		increase font size
[		x		unindent
[				insert_snippet [$0] [1]
[				insert_snippet [${0:$SELECTION}] [2]
[	x	x		fold
]		x		indent
]				move (forward by 1 character) [3]
]	x	x		unfold
\				not mapped
;		x		show Goto Overlay Panel with “text”: “#”
‘				insert_snippet '$0' (auto-pair single quotes) [4]
‘				insert_snippet '${0:$SELECTION}' [5]
‘				move (forward by 1 character) [6]
‘	x			insert_snippet "$0" (auto-pair double quotes) [7]
‘	x			insert_snippet "${0:$SELECTION}" [8]
‘	x			move (forward by 1 character) [9]
,		x		prev_modification
.		x		next_modification
/		x		toggle_comment (“block”: false)
/	x	x		toggle_comment (“block”: true)
/				close_tag (“insert_slash”: true) [10]
kp/				not mapped
kp*				not mapped
kp-			x	jump_back
kp-	x		x	jump_forward
kp-		x		decrease_font_size
kp+		x		increase_font_size
kp+	x	x		decrease_font_size

[1]

when A) auto_match_enabled setting is true, B) no text selected, C) caret followed by EOL, whitespace, ), ], } or ;.

[2]

when A) auto_match_enabled setting is true, B) text is selected.

[3]

when A) auto_match_enabled setting is true, B) no text selected, C) caret followed by ].

[4]

when A) auto_match_enabled setting is true, B) no text selected, C) caret followed by EOL, whitespace, ), ], } or >. D) caret not preceded by [\'a-zA-Z0-9_] E) EOL context is NOT in a single-quoted string unless is end of string.

[5]

when A) auto_match_enabled setting is true, B) text is selected.

[6]

when A) auto_match_enabled setting is true, B) no text selected, C) caret followed by ' D) not at the beginning of a string E) EOL context is NOT in a single-quoted string unless is end of string.

[7]

when A) auto_match_enabled setting is true, B) no text selected, C) caret followed by EOL, whitespace, ), ], } or >. D) caret not preceded by [\"a-zA-Z0-9_] E) EOL context is NOT in a double-quoted string unless is end of string.

[8]

when A) auto_match_enabled setting is true, B) text is selected.

[9]

when A) auto_match_enabled setting is true, B) no text selected, C) caret followed by " D) not at the beginning of a string E) EOL context is NOT in a double-quoted string unless is end of string.

[10]

when A) auto_close_tags setting is true, B) caret preceded by <, C) in HTML or XML doc, but not in a string or comment.

9.8. Ctrl+J Primary

ctrl+j is now used as the primary key in multiple-key sequences. ctrl+j ctrl+j now opens a message box that explains how the previous binding of ctrl+j (join lines) was switched to ctrl+shift+j.

Now when ctrl+j is pressed the first time, it arms the key-reader to watch for one of the following key sequences. If it isn’t one of them, nothing happens.

Key	S	C	A	Command
Up		x		deselect others
Left		x		deselect to left
Left	x	x		select to left
Right		x		deselect to right
Right	x	x		select to right
PgUp		x		focus to left
PgDn		x		focus to right
J		x		open message box explaining ctrl+j mapping change

9.9. Ctrl+K Primary

ctrl+k is used as the primary key in multiple-key sequences.

When ctrl+k is pressed the first time, it arms the key-reader to watch for one of the following key sequences. If it isn’t one of them, nothing happens.

Key	S	C	A	Command
Up		x		new pane
Up	x	x		new pane (no move)
Down		x		close pane
Left		x		focus on previous group
Left	x	x		move to previous neighboring group
Right		x		focus on next group
Right	x	x		move to next neighboring group
1-9		x		fold by level
0		x		unfold all
A		x		select to mark
B		x		toggle side bar (open/closed)
C		x		scroll to put caret at vertical center of View
D		x		find under expand skip
G		x		clear bookmarks
J		x		unfold all
K		x		run macro Delete to Hard EOL
L		x		lower case
T		x		fold tag attributes
U		x		upper case
V		x		paste from history
W		x		delete to mark
X		x		swap with mark
Y		x		yank
Z		x		revert hunk (contiguous whole-line changes)
Z	x	x		revert modification (individual modification)