I use iTerm2 (Build 1.0.0.20130319) and Vim (bin of MacVim Snapshot 66) on top of OS X 10.7.5 as my CLI editing team.
In iTerm2 I defined to use a non-blinking vertical bar as a cursor shape. In Vim I defined
" Enter insert mode (Cursor shape: vertical bar)
let &t_SI = "\<Esc>]50;CursorShape=1\x7"
" Leave insert mode (Cursor shape: block)
let &t_EI = "\<Esc>]50;CursorShape=0\x7"
to be able to distinct between insert and normal mode. Basically this works fine. The problem arises when I leave Vim and return to the CLI. What happens is that the cursor does not return in its initial shape (vertical bar). Instead it decides to stay in a block shape.
Could I reset the cursor to it's initial shape or force it to return to be a vertical bar? I Could imagine to trigger an event on e.g. "VimLeave". But I don't know what I could pass as an escape sequence.
After a little bit more digging into :help
I found out that
autocmd VimLeave * let &t_me="\<Esc>]50;CursorShape=1\x7"
would revert the cursor shape to its initial, or let's say a defined, shape. That works great so far.
Does anyone know downsides of that approach? Besides VimLeave
one could also trigger VimLeavePre
or QuitPre
.
EDIT: Even better there's a new plugin available which does exactly what some people are looking for.
https://github.com/jszakmeister/vim-togglecursor
It's a little bit configurable, too:
let g:togglecursor_default = "block"
let g:togglecursor_insert = "line"
let g:togglecursor_leave = "line"
let g:togglecursor_disable_tmux = 0