key mapping and vi

[John D. McCalpin]

I have had a longstanding problem with key remapping and the vi
editor.   I use one of the delete<->backspace swap codes that was
passed around here a while ago (they all look the same to me, except
for some details of which keys are swapped).

Apparently vi has something hardwired in to prevent it from using the
'delete' signal in the same manner as 'backspace'.  When I try to use
the key marked 'Back Space' (which is mapped to 'Delete') it acts as
though I have typed 'Escape' to break out of insert mode, followed by
some other characters (an 'h' perhaps, since it usually backs up a
space).

Is this problem fixable?  I have tried using the 'map' facility of ex
and vi, but no success.....   It is a royal pain that I cannot use the
same key to mean the same thing in emacs and vi, and that choosing ^?
to be the stty erase character works fine with vi everywhere except on
the console.....
--
John D. McCalpin			mccalpin at perelandra.cms.udel.edu
Assistant Professor			mccalpin at brahms.udel.edu
College of Marine Studies, U. Del.	J.MCCALPIN/OMNET