Arduino-based button to exit Vim on macOS
You know the saying: Once you start using Vim, it’s hard to quit. Well, that’s exactly what this project aims to address. It’s a button whose sole purpose is to exit Vim running in the native macOS Terminal app. This project does not require an Arduino board with keyboard command support.
The Exit Vim Button’s input handler requires Python 3 and the pySerial module.
If you have Homebrew, install them with the following commands:
brew install pythonpip install pyserial
In order to upload the Arduino sketch to your board you need the Arduino IDE.
It can be installed with the following command:
brew cask install arduino
Clone the repository to your computer with the following command:
git clone https://github.com/haframjolk/exit-vim-button.git
Connect your Arduino to your Mac and start up the Arduino IDE. You may have to configure your board type and serial port. Open the exit_vim_button.ino sketch inside the Arduino/exit_vim_button directory. Change the BUTTON and ACTIVE constants to match your setup. BUTTON is the number of the pin your button is attached to, and ACTIVE is either HIGH or LOW depending on how your button is wired. After you’ve done this, upload the sketch to your board.
Open input_handler.py in your favorite text editor and change the serial_port variable to match the serial port of your Arduino. You can find it in the Arduino IDE by opening the Tools menu and hovering over Port. If your board is connected via USB, it will most likely start with /dev/cu.usbmodem.
In order for the Exit Vim Button to work, you need to grant the Terminal application access to control your computer. Open System Preferences, click on the Security & Privacy pane and select the Privacy tab. Select Accessibility in the left sidebar and click the padlock on the bottom if it is locked. Authenticate with your username and password. Now, click the plus (+) icon and navigate to /Applications/Utilities/ and select Terminal. Hit Open. Now you should be good to go.
Open a command line and cd into the repository you cloned. Run the input handler by typing the following:
./input_handler.py
If you followed this guide properly your Exit Vim Button should be working. Try opening Vim in a Terminal window and hitting the button. It should automatically activate the window and type the keystroke to quit. Note that the button quits without saving your work. It can be changed by modifying the keystroke in exit_vim.applescript and compiling that file to exit_vim.scpt.
In order to stop the input handler, simply press CTRL+C inside the Terminal window.
This project is licensed under the MIT License. See repository LICENSE file for more details.