[SOLVED] can I make the cursor blink in console "vi"?

rdx · 01-13-2015, 10:41 AM

I have a terminal window (Xfce) and I use vi to do editing in it. It is hard to see the cursor so I would like it to blink. Others have asked this question but I haven't seen an answer. Can anyone point me to an answer? Thanks.

Slack64 14.1 on HP desktop and i5-3330 CPU

pan64 · 01-13-2015, 12:41 PM

probably this helps: http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Configuring_the_cursor

rdx · 01-13-2015, 01:18 PM

Interesting site bu it seems to refer to the GUI version which blinks already. I am connecting to another box via SSH and using vi (vim I suppose) in a CLI style window.

Philip Lacroix · 01-13-2015, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rdx

Interesting site bu it seems to refer to the GUI version which blinks already. I am connecting to another box via SSH and using vi (vim I suppose) in a CLI style window.

This seems not to be related to vi itself, but to the X terminal emulator. For instance, on xterm the blinking cursor can be enabled with:

Code:

$ xterm -bc

Then you will see it blinking in elvis (in insert mode) and vim as well. I don't know how (and if) you can enable that in xfce4-terminal.

Philip Lacroix · 01-13-2015, 02:11 PM

For the Xfce terminal add this to the config file:

Code:

MiscCursorBlinks=TRUE

Here (user):

Code:

~/.config/xfce4/terminal/terminalrc

Or here (system-wide):

Code:

/etc/xdg/xfce4/terminal/terminalrc

This is on Xfce 4.10

rdx · 01-13-2015, 02:45 PM

That's got it! Thanks Phillip.