mapping the 'n' key in vim while not searching

Is it possible to map over the 'n' and 'N' keys with开发者_高级运维out overriding the time they're used for skimming search results?

Basically you could be searching for something any given time, so remapping n in normal mode without modifications would override the skimming.

After a little considering, if you always quit your searchings with <C-l> (clearing the highlights, I'm not sure if that is the default), you could indeed do something like this with a few extra helper functions:

/,?,*:
 --> set s:searching = true
     and do the builtin things

<C-l>:
 --> set s:searching = false
     and do the builtin things

n,N:
 --> if s:searching then use the builtin n
     else activate your own functionality 

Yes you can map a key in a certain mode. You could read over the documentation for map for all of the available options to fine tune your mappings.

Specifically, the map-overview for a list of the mappings and what mode they are used in.