How do I map keys to assign a value in vim?

Question

I am using highlighted search in vim. So when I search for a word, all occurrences of the word get highlighted. After I'm done, I want to remove the highlighting.
According to the Vim Documentation , :let @/="" clears the last searched pattern and removes the highlighting.

So I am trying to map Ctrl+/ to :let @/="" .

I've added the following line to my .vimrc

nnoremap <C-/> :let @/=""<CR>

But it doesn't work. Ctrl+/ doesn't clear the search patter. On the other hand, if I manually type in :let @/="" , it works fine.

What am I doing wrong?

Answer 1

I use this in my vimrc:

nnoremap <Esc> :noh<CR>

Mapping this to Esc seems natural to me.

Answer 2

Due to the way that the keyboard input is handled internally, this unfortunately isn't generally possible today, even in GVIM. Some key combinations, like Ctrl + non-alphabetic cannot be mapped, and Ctrl + letter vs. Ctrl + Shift + letter cannot be distinguished. (Unless your terminal sends a distinct termcap code for it, which most don't.) In insert or command-line mode, try typing the key combination. If nothing happens / is inserted, you cannot use that key combination. This also applies to <Tab> / <CI> , <CR> / <CM> / <Esc> / <C-[> etc. (Only exception is <BS> / <CH> .) This is a known pain point, and the subject of various discussions on vim_dev and the #vim IRC channel.

Some people (foremost Paul LeoNerd Evans) want to fix that (even for console Vim in terminals that support this), and have floated various proposals, cp. http://groups.google.com/group/vim_dev/browse_thread/thread/626e83fa4588b32a/bfbcb22f37a8a1f8

But as of today, no patches or volunteers have yet come forward, though many have expressed a desire to have this in a future Vim 8 major release.