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The vi (actually, ex) command map (Section 18.2) lets you build custom vi commands. For example, the following keymap redefines the -key to run the vi commands o (open a newline below), ESCAPE, 72a- (add 72 dashes), and ESCAPE again:
:map - o^[72a-^[
So typing - draws a row of dashes below the current line. The problem is that on versions of vi I've tried, you can't add a repetition number -- that is, you can't type the command 10- to add 10 dashed lines.
The workaround is to define another macro that calls the first macro ten times. For example, to make the v key draw ten rows of dashes:
:map v ----------
(Ugly, eh? But it works.) You might want to put the - map in your .exrc file and define "multimaps" like v while you're running vi.
-- JP
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| 18.8. More Examples of Mapping Keys in vi |  | 18.10. Typing in Uppercase Without CAPS LOCK |
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