Question

I get an error about rebinding a key sequence (see below). So I’m guessing this is because vimpulse uses the ESC key on it’s own, not as a replacement for META. I’ve got Vimpulse disabled in the minibuffer but i still get the problem. Any ideas?

The error I get using org-read-date (with C-. for example) is “org-defkey: Key sequence ESC starts with non-prefix key ESC” and when I run it from the scratch buffer I get:

  Debugger entered--Lisp error: (error "Key sequence ESC <S-left> starts with non-prefix key ESC")
    define-key((keymap (M-S-down lambda nil (interactive) (org-eval-in-calendar ...)) (M-S-up lambda nil (interactive) (org-eval-in-calendar ...)) (M-S-right lambda nil (interactive) (org-eval-in-calendar ...)) (M-S-left lambda nil (interactive) (org-eval-in-calendar ...)) (menu-bar keymap (minibuf "Minibuf" keymap ... ... ... ... ... ... "Minibuf")) (10 . exit-minibuffer) (13 . exit-minibuffer) (7 . abort-recursive-edit) (C-tab . file-cache-minibuffer-complete) (9 . self-insert-command) (up . previous-history-element) (prior . previous-history-element) (down . next-history-element) (next . next-history-element) (27 . abort-recursive-edit)) [27 (shift left)] (lambda nil (interactive) (org-eval-in-calendar (quote ...))))
    org-defkey((keymap (M-S-down lambda nil (interactive) (org-eval-in-calendar ...)) (M-S-up lambda nil (interactive) (org-eval-in-calendar ...)) (M-S-right lambda nil (interactive) (org-eval-in-calendar ...)) (M-S-left lambda nil (interactive) (org-eval-in-calendar ...)) (menu-bar keymap (minibuf "Minibuf" keymap ... ... ... ... ... ... "Minibuf")) (10 . exit-minibuffer) (13 . exit-minibuffer) (7 . abort-recursive-edit) (C-tab . file-cache-minibuffer-complete) (9 . self-insert-command) (up . previous-history-element) (prior . previous-history-element) (down . next-history-element) (next . next-history-element) (27 . abort-recursive-edit)) [27 (shift left)] (lambda nil (interactive) (org-eval-in-calendar (quote ...))))
    (let* ((old-map ...) (map ...) (minibuffer-local-map ...)) (org-defkey map (kbd "RET") (quote org-calendar-select)) (org-defkey map [mouse-1] (quote org-calendar-select-mouse)) (org-defkey map [mouse-2] (quote org-calendar-select-mouse)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [27 ...] (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [27 ...] (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [27 ...] (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [27 ...] (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map ">" (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map "<" (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map "" (lambda nil ... ...)) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map "\366" (lambda nil ... ...)) (run-hooks (quote org-read-date-minibuffer-setup-hook)) (unwind-protect (progn ... ... ... ...) (remove-hook ... ...) (use-local-map old-map) (when org-read-date-overlay ... ...)))
    (progn (calendar-forward-day (- ... ...)) (org-eval-in-calendar nil t) (let* (... ... ...) (org-defkey map ... ...) (org-defkey map [mouse-1] ...) (org-defkey map [mouse-2] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [27 ...] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [27 ...] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [27 ...] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [27 ...] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map [...] ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map ">" ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map "<" ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map "" ...) (org-defkey minibuffer-local-map "\366" ...) (run-hooks ...) (unwind-protect ... ... ... ...)))
    (unwind-protect (progn (calendar-forward-day ...) (org-eval-in-calendar nil t) (let* ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...)) (bury-buffer "*Calendar*"))
    (save-window-excursion (calendar) (unwind-protect (progn ... ... ...) (bury-buffer "*Calendar*")))
    (save-excursion (save-window-excursion (calendar) (unwind-protect ... ...)))
    (cond (from-string (setq ans from-string)) (org-read-date-popup-calendar (save-excursion ...)) (t (unwind-protect ... ...)))
    (let* ((org-time-stamp-rounding-minutes ...) (org-dcst org-display-custom-times) (ct ...) (def ...) (defdecode ...) (dummy ...) (calendar-frame-setup nil) (calendar-setup nil) (calendar-move-hook nil) (calendar-view-diary-initially-flag nil) (calendar-view-holidays-initially-flag nil) (timestr ...) (prompt ...) ans (org-ans0 "") org-ans1 org-ans2 final) (cond (from-string ...) (org-read-date-popup-calendar ...) (t ...)) (setq final (org-read-date-analyze ans def defdecode)) (when org-read-date-analyze-forced-year (message "Year was forced into %s" ...) (ding)) (setq final (decode-time ...)) (setq org-read-date-final-answer ans) (if to-time (apply ... final) (if ... ... ...)))
    org-read-date()                            
    eval((org-read-date))                      
    eval-expression((org-read-date) nil)       
    call-interactively(eval-expression nil nil)

Answer 1

Yes, it sounds like something (e.g. Vim) changed ESC from a prefix key. You can perhaps just rebind the command in question (the one normally bound to ESC S-left or M-S-left) to some other key. You can probably choose to do that only when you are in Vim mode or whatever, by binding it in the appropriate Vim mode or whatever keymap.