x selects the next line when on an empty line

[glguy]

x selects the next line when on an empty line, which means that in order to know how to delete a line I need to know if that line has spaces or not. If it has spaces I have to press xd but if it does not have spaces I would have to press only d because x on a blank line selects the next line.

This seems to make the behavior of x unpredictable and harder to use. Is this intentional? I'd prefer if x always selected the line that the cursor was on, even if that line was empty.

[alexherbo2]

map global normal x <a-x>

[maximbaz]

Good workaround for now, but I would still argue that both x and especially X need to be made consistent. x is documented as "select a line", so why doesn't it select an empty line? X is documented as "extend line", but when pressed on a non-empty line it selects one line, and when pressed on an empty line, it actually selects two lines, the current empty one and the next non-empty line.

[alexherbo2]

An empty line is nothing but a new line character, so when pressing x on it, it moves to the next line – the line being fully selected. The same goes for X.

• x selects a full line and if satisfied moves.
• X selects a full line and if satisfied extends.

There are corner cases where the commands don’t select the full line and move or extend.

[maximbaz]

I see your point and the reasoning behind the current behavior, but I still think we should improve it 🙂

A new line character is still a character, so when pressing x or X, it should be selected. In fact, if you are on a non-empty line, pressing x and X selects all characters, including a new line character (you can see this by pressing d, it doesn't leave an empty line behind).

So I would say, the expected behavior is:

• x selects all characters (including a new line char) on the current line (or on the next line, if the entire line was already selected)
• X extends selection by selecting all characters (including a new line char) on the current line (or on the next line, if the entire line was already selected)

Also, currently x and X skip only one empty line, even if I have multiple consequent empty lines, which again feels inconsistent even if we agreed to treat new line character as a non-character.

[mawww]

x selects the full line, if the full line is already selected, it selects the next line, this is pretty simple, and there is <a-x> which drops the "smart" part (select next line if the current line is already fully selected).

I think this is a pretty good tradeoff between ease of use, simplicity and predictibility. I am dubious we can find a better one.

[maximbaz]

I think I understood my own confusion... Contrary to vim where selection starts only when you switch to a visual mode, in kakoune we are always in a visual mode. Having a cursor always means something in selected. So in case of cursor standing on an empty line, the newline symbol (under cursor) is a selection, and since there are no more characters on the line, this entire line is literally being selected right now.

From this perspective, what I described as "expected behavior" is also the actual behavior that happens today: x selects all characters on the next line, because the current line is already selected.

With this in mind, I personally think nothing should change in kakoune and this issue should be closed. It's just a mind shift that needs to happen, remember that we are always in visual mode.

[alexherbo2]

@mawww As a side note, X doesn’t select the full line when selections are left oriented.

[mawww]

@alexherbo2 Yep, extending has a simple behaviour, it keeps the anchor in place, which gives this behaviour if the line selection is inverted.