Inconsistent Link Creation for Multi-Line Selections (Visual and Operator Modes)

[VimWei]

When attempting to create a wiki link from a selection that spans multiple lines, the behavior of wiki.vim is inconsistent and produces unexpected results, leading to confusion. This occurs in both visual mode and operator-pending mode.

Consider the following example text:

One This is a book about dragon.
Two This is a book about dragon.

Observed Behavior:

1. Using Visual Mode (e.g., V to select multiple lines, then <CR>):

One This is a book [about dragon.^@Two This](about-dragon-^@two-this.md) is a book about dragon.
Two This is a book about dragon.

2. Using Operator Mode (e.g., gl5w from "about" on the first line, spanning into the second line):

One This is a book about dragon.
Two This is a book [about dragon.^@Two This](about-dragon-^@two-this.md) is a book about dragon.

These results significantly deviate from expectations and cause considerable confusion. Specifically, we've observed issues such as malformed links and the appearance of unexpected characters (e.g., ^@).

Expected Behavior:

We propose two possible solutions for handling multi-line selections during link creation. Either of these would be acceptable, and you can choose based on your preference and design principles:

1. Ignore and Warn:
   If a selection spans multiple lines, the link creation operation is ignored, and a warning message is displayed (e.g., "Cannot create a link from a multi-line selection.").

2. Merge and Create:
   If a selection spans multiple lines, the content of all selected lines is automatically merged into a single string (e.g., by trimming each line and joining them). A single link is then created from this combined content, replacing the entire multi-line selection.

One This is a book [about dragon. Two This](about-dragon-two-this.md) is a book about dragon.

We believe addressing this inconsistency would greatly improve the user experience for wiki.vim.

Thank you for your consideration.

[VimWei]

Hi, I'm following up on this issue.

I have now completed the development for a "create image link" feature, which also addresses the "Merge and Create" concept we discussed. You can find my implementation in this link.vim file for your reference:

https://github.com/VimWei/vim-markdown-plus/blob/main/autoload/mplus/link.vim

My key considerations in this implementation were:

1. Multi-byte character support: The code is designed to correctly handle multi-byte characters.
2. Smart spacing on merge: It intelligently determines whether to add a space when merging multiple lines,
   which is especially important when dealing with mixed-language text like Chinese and English.
3. Abnormal character handling: The process also cleans up any potential abnormal or extraneous characters
   that might arise during the merge.

I hope this implementation provides a useful reference for the development of wiki.vim.

[lervag]

Short heads up: I'm aware of the issue, but I'm on summer holidays and might not look into it for a couple of weeks.

[lervag]

When attempting to create a wiki link from a selection that spans multiple lines, the behavior of wiki.vim is inconsistent and produces unexpected results, leading to confusion. This occurs in both visual mode and operator-pending mode.

Thanks, you are right. Link creation is made with a hidden assumption that you are acting within a single line. And I agree your two solutions are valid approaches. The first should be easy to implement, so I'll do that now. The second is harder, but not impossible.

I have now completed the development for a "create image link" feature, which also addresses the "Merge and Create" concept we discussed.

I'm sorry, but could you remind me of that discussion? It's not immediately clear how this comment is related to the current issue.

[lervag]

Now, the main missing part right now is this function:

wiki.vim/autoload/wiki/link/class.vim

Lines 90 to 98 in 4db9318

	function! s:link.replace(text) dict abort " {{{1
	let l:line = getline(self.pos_start[0])
	call setline(self.pos_start[0],
	\ strpart(l:line, 0, self.pos_start[1]-1)
	\ . a:text
	\ . strpart(l:line, self.pos_end[1]))
	endfunction
	" }}}1

[VimWei]

I have now completed the development for a "create image link" feature, which also addresses the "Merge and Create" concept we discussed.

I'm sorry, but could you remind me of that discussion? It's not immediately clear how this comment is related to the current issue.

Apologies for the earlier imprecision—"Merge and Create" is indeed one potential solution I mentioned in the original post. Since I’m currently implementing a ​​"create image link"​​ feature that faces the same cross-line issue as wiki.vim’s "​​create link"​, I adopted the "Merge and Create" approach. I shared this here purely for reference: if wiki.vim ever adopts "Merge and Create," the "Smart spacing on merge" mechanism I described might be worth noting.

However, I see you’re currently using the ​​"Ignore and Warn"​​ strategy, so this detail can safely be disregarded.

[lervag]

I'm sorry, but could you remind me of that discussion? It's not immediately clear how this comment is related to the current issue.

Apologies for the earlier imprecision—"Merge and Create" is indeed one potential solution I mentioned in the original post. Since I’m currently implementing a "create image link" feature that faces the same cross-line issue as wiki.vim’s "create link", I adopted the "Merge and Create" approach. I shared this here purely for reference: if wiki.vim ever adopts "Merge and Create," the "Smart spacing on merge" mechanism I described might be worth noting.

Ah, ok. Out of curiosity, are you using your own wiki plugin/software? That is, how do you implement your own feature? Are you building it on top of wiki.vim?

However, I see you’re currently using the "Ignore and Warn" strategy, so this detail can safely be disregarded.

Yes, I implemented that, because it was easy and clearly an improvement. However, I'm still considering whether to adopt the alternative, as I think it will be a better experience.

Would you be willing to open a new feature request for that?

[VimWei]

... Out of curiosity, are you using your own wiki plugin/software? That is, how do you implement your own feature? Are you building it on top of wiki.vim?

I've created a Vim9script plugin called vim-markdown-plus (my first Vim plugin), which extends wiki.vim by adding missing Markdown editing features. The autoload/mplus/link.vim module implements three key functions:

1. Toggle Markdown Link – Built entirely on top of wiki.vim's existing functions, just wrapped into a single mapping for convenience.
2. Toggle Markdown Image Link – Since wiki.vim doesn't support this, I implemented it myself for occasional image embedding in my notes.
3. Toggle Custom File Link – Inspired by Best practice for local file links? #415, this quickly creates/removes filename.ext links, making it easier to reference non-Markdown files in a wiki.

Would you be willing to open a new feature request for that?

Thanks for asking! I’m still new to plugin development—my first attempt (vim-markdown-plus) relied heavily on AI, so I’d need more practice before tackling feature requests. I’ll follow the project’s progress though!

[lervag]

Cool! It seems like a nicely structured plugin, well done!

Now, I do think that the link features you've built could possibly be added to wiki.vim. If you want that, please feel free to open feature requests where you describe how they work, more or less similar to the docs you already have. But adding a couple of examples would make it easier to properly understand and to build good tests.

In any case, congrats on writing your own plugin!