tmux/Q/Is there a way to do rectangular selection when using oh-my-tmux and tmux with vim visual selection mode?

• Is there a way to do rectangular selection when using oh-my-tmux and tmux with vim visual selection mode?

  • My Notes

    • I haven't done this successfully yet. I find it difficult to quickly determine what to edit at which layer - of configuration; there's tmux itself, then there's oh-my-tmux, then there are my configurations layered on top in the .tmux.conf.local. Could use some CLI/Coaching.

  • Answer

    • AI/Response
      • Yes. tmux copy mode with vi keys supports rectangular (block) selection. Behavior depends on your bindings.

      • Default / toggle-based (no config) AI/Need/Confirmation

        • Enter copy mode: Prefix+[
        • Press v to toggle rectangle mode on/off (in default vi copy mode, v is bound to rectangle-toggle)
        • Press Space to start the selection (required)
        • Move with h/j/k/l to define the block
        • Press Enter (or y if bound) to copy; paste with Prefix+]

      • Vim-like bindings (recommended)

        • If oh-my-tmux has already bound v to begin-selection, rectangle mode can be unavailable unless you add explicit bindings. In .tmux.conf.local (oh-my-tmux's user override - .tmux.conf.local), you can make it behave like vim:
        • v = character-wise selection, C-v = rectangular selection, y = yank. No need to press Space after C-v:
        • text

          bind -T copy-mode-vi v   send -X rectangle-off \; send -X begin-selection
          bind -T copy-mode-vi C-v send -X rectangle-on \; send -X begin-selection
          bind -T copy-mode-vi y   send -X copy-selection-and-cancel

        • Use rectangle-on / rectangle-off rather than rectangle-toggle so v and C-v don't flip state in confusing ways.

      • tmux version

        • Syntax is for tmux 2.4+ (key table copy-mode-vi, send -X). For older tmux, use the vi-copy table and bind-key -t vi-copy ... (see sources).

      • Sources

        • tmux copy mode - select text block (Super User)
        • tmux PR #2546 — rectangle-on/rectangle-off