Micro: Selecting text does not work in standard Linux console

[MarcusE1W]

Description of the problem or steps to reproduce

Selecting text does not work when I use micro in the linux console (TERM=linux), that means no GUI. I use Shift-Left and Shift-Right. The cursor moves, but the text is not marked as selected. Consequently copy and paste does not produce a result.

Steps to reproduce:

• Boot into Console, Close your GUI or try Ctrl-Alt-F2 (3,4..)
• open micro, write 'AA' or so
• try to select the text

Expected behavior: Text gets visually selected and can be copied + pasted
Bahaviour: Cursor moves but text is not visually selected, copy paste has no effect

Specifications

Linux: Archlinux (up to date)
TERM=linux)
Version: 1.3.1
Commit hash: dd5afc0
Compiled on August 08, 2017

[zyedidia]

There isn't much I can do about this. The linux console is pretty limited in terms of what events it sends to micro and for example it does not send shift-arrows. I recommend rebinding the selection commands (perhaps to alt-hjkl?):

In ~/.config/micro/bindings.json:

{
    "Alt-h": "SelectLeft",
    "Alt-j": "SelectDown",
    "Alt-k": "SelectUp",
    "Alt-l": "SelectRight"
}

[MarcusE1W]

@zyedidia
Happy to accept that it might not work for micro and thanks for the work around suggestion.
However, nano (and that's the only other editor I have tested) supports this function.

So it might be possible to catch Shift-Arrow in the linux console somehow but I am happy to accept that this would mess up the micro way of dong things or is just too much effort for a limited use case.

[zyedidia]

Hmm ok if it is possible with Nano then I will look into this a bit more. It seems unlikely though that I'll get this to work.

EDIT: it seems like Nano doesn't support selecting with shift-arrow keys. Is there some option I need to enable for it to work?

[MarcusE1W]

For me it works with nano. I have tested a few other editors I have installed with mixed result. Tilde works as well but ne does not. It seems it is not an uncommon problem. Maybe the issue can stay open ?

[zyedidia]

Alright I wasn't able to get it to work with nano but it does seem that tilde works. I'll re-open this and see what I can do.

[zyedidia]

I've got a fix coming soon -- stay tuned.

[zyedidia]

Alright here's the fix.

You should create a file called supplemental.kmap and put the following inside it. This comes from the tilde project, but I've modified the escape codes to work for micro.

# The following is a map with supplemental key mappings for the linux console.
# Using these mappings will allow distinction between key presses for several
# keys with and without control and shift modifiers.

# These mappings can be loaded with the loadkeys(1) program. Simply run
#   loadkeys supplemental.kmap
# as root to add these mappings to your console. How to make these changes
# permanent depends on your distribution. There are also two ways to make these
# changes permanent: create a keymap which contains this file, or add a job
# which is run on startup and executes the above loadkeys command.

# Debian (or Debian based such as Ubuntu):
#   Add the contents of this file to /etc/console-setup/remap.inc and run
#   "dpkg-reconfigure -u keyboard-configuration" as root. Adding the mappings
#   to the remap.inc file will ensure that the mappings are activated, even if
#   another keyboard layout is chosen at a later time.

# Right
control keycode 106 = F100
shift keycode 106 = F101
control shift keycode 106 = F102
# Left
control keycode 105 = F103
shift keycode 105 = F104
control shift keycode 105 = F105
# Up
shift keycode 103 = F106
# Down
shift keycode 108 = F107

string F100 = "\033[1;5C"
string F101 = "\033[1;2C"
string F102 = "\033[1;6C"
string F103 = "\033[1;5D"
string F104 = "\033[1;2D"
string F105 = "\033[1;6D"
string F106 = "\033[1;2A"
string F107 = "\033[1;2B"

Then you can load it with sudo loadkeys supplemental.kmap. The terminal only remembers it for the current session (correction: current boot) so you may want to run a job which runs at startup to execute the command.

This should also enable CtrlArrows and CtrlShiftArrows (on top of ShiftArrows).

[MarcusE1W]

I could not test it completely but at least something happened and it looks like the solution might be in reach.

when used in micro in the console I get parts of the key code from the mapping. I mean part of the keycode gets actually printed in the editor (with some variations):

[1;2A]    up
[1;2B]    down
[1;2C]    right
[1;2D]    left

if you press shift-left at the end of the line [1;2D] with ] at the end.
Also the sursor is positioned on the last letter before the ]
if you press all four keys one after the other you get: [1;2A[1;2B[1;2C[1;2D]]]]

if pressed somewhere in the line then there is no last ]

e.g
a[1;2Aa  up pressed between the two aa

So the keys are available now

[MarcusE1W]

I have now tested another editor where it works on the console and this one is a super simple one, maybe that canhelp as well ?
edit

I have compiled it and it works (without the above mentione kmap) . As the whole editor is ~2000 lines, maybe it is possible to find it's secrets?

[zyedidia]

Oh I see it isn't exactly yet. If you run export TERM=xterm and use the new keymap it will work but that's not a good solution so I'll reopen.

[zyedidia]

Give it a try now -- it should work right with TERM=linux.

[dermetfan]

I can confirm it works on the latest master, without loadkeys.

[zyedidia]

Hmm that's strange, it should still require loadkeys to work (only if you are using the linux console).

[dermetfan]

Apparently it's one loadkeys each boot, not login. My bad.

[MarcusE1W]

Works for me as well now :-) Thanks for the effort.
I would add the instructions to the Wiki but it seems it cannot be changed ? What's the best way to document this tip ?

[zyedidia]

I have added it to the wiki for you. By default, the wiki is only editable by anyone and I'm not sure if it is really a good idea to allow any user to edit the wiki (maybe it is though -- github users seem very civil).

[kdresser]

Yay! Thank you! (local console on Ubuntu Server 16.04)