Using PhpStorm IdeaVim, I can't use shift+arrow keys to select words

Question

I am using PhpStorm 7.1.2 with IdeaVim plugin.

When in Insert mode, I want to select words using Shift + ArrowKey. However, this IdeaVim plugin seems to be preventing from doing that. I can only highlight the words in Command mode using v key.

shift+Home/End/PageDown/PageUp or shift+ctrl+arrowKeys all do not work properly.

I tried changing shortcuts (i.e. Select to Right => shift+right) in Keymap setting but did not work.

Is there any way I can achieve this non-vim behavior?

UPDATE 1

There is a ticket opened in their bug tracking system without any fix. So I guess I can't do what I described above.

UPDATE 2 (11/14/2019)

From this last comment in that bug ticket, ideaVim now supports this shift+arrowKeys selections. I moved away from intellij to pure vim few years after asking this question so I won't be trying this out but wanted to just update this question for completeness. And saw @citizenmatt's answer after writing this update so see @citizenmatt's answer below for more details on this.

Answer 1

I would create a ~/.ideavimrc with the following lines

nmap <S-Up> v<Up>
nmap <S-Down> v<Down>
nmap <S-Left> v<Left>
nmap <S-Right> v<Right>
vmap <S-Up> <Up>
vmap <S-Down> <Down>
vmap <S-Left> <Left>
vmap <S-Right> <Right>
imap <S-Up> <Esc>v<Up>
imap <S-Down> <Esc>v<Down>
imap <S-Left> <Esc>v<Left>
imap <S-Right> <Esc>v<Right>

It makes my code select text in the same way.

Answer 2

create ~/.ideavimrc file with the following lines

nnoremap <S-Left> :action EditorLeftWithSelection<CR>
nnoremap <S-Right> :action EditorRightWithSelection<CR>
nnoremap <S-Up> :action EditorUpWithSelection<CR>
nnoremap <S-Down> :action EditorDownWithSelection<CR>

inoremap <S-Left> <C-O>:action EditorLeftWithSelection<CR>
inoremap <S-Right> <C-O>:action EditorRightWithSelection<CR>
inoremap <S-Up> <C-O>:action EditorUpWithSelection<CR>
inoremap <S-Down> <C-O>:action EditorDownWithSelection<CR>

Answer 3

It appears to not be possible out of the box. However, it is not hard to hack the plugin to remove the hard-coded vim actions for shift + arrow keys, as long as you have ideavim. This has the effect of letting the default behaviours be used.

Steps:

1. git clone https://github.com/JetBrains/ideavim.git
2. Open the newly cloned project in ideavim.
3. Set up the intellij sdk dependency in Files / Project Structure (if necessary).
4. Edit ideavim/src/com/maddyhome/idea/vim/RegisterActions.java.
5. Remove all key actions that redefine shift+arrow key): :s%/^.*KeyEvent.VK_\(KP_\)\?\(LEFT\|RIGHT\|UP\|DOWN\), KeyEvent.SHIFT_MASK.*$//.
6. Rebuild using the ant tasks clean compile dist.
7. Reinstall the plugin via Options / Plugins / Install Plugin From Disk and locate ideavim/out/dist/ideavim-xx-dev.zip