how to enter tilde in emacs with portuguese keyboard? - emacs

In every single other program I have ever used in the last 15 years across windows, osx and linux, I enter a tilde by pressing, the tilde key and then space. The Portuguese keyboard has a dedicated key for tilde where it is the primary character (no need for shift), it is used to compose ã and õ by pressing tilde then a or o. In emacs pressing tilde does nothing and posts "dead-tilde is undefined". How can I make emacs write a '~' when I press the '~' key in pt layout ?

Edit:
I think this is a better solution: It should match your experience in other applications where ~o gives õ and ~ followed by a space gives ~.
Tell Emacs you wish to use the portuguese-prefix input method. Interactively, you can do M-x set-input-method RET portuguese-prefix RET. To make this permanent, add something like this to your config file:
(set-input-method 'portuguese-prefix)
Original answer:
self-insert-command doesn't seem to work well with dead keys.
Try this instead:
(defun my-insert-tilde ()
(interactive)
(insert "~"))
(global-set-key (kbd "<dead-tilde>") #'my-insert-tilde)

add
(require 'iso-transl)
to Emacs init file (init.el). With this line tilde+space prints a tilde, and tilde+a prints ã.
This seems to be due to "Emacs and some input method managers (ibus and SCIM) don’t work together".

Related

how can a person add abbreviated names for unicode character names in Emacs

Using emacs-24.
Some unicode names are quite long. Some characters have more than one name depending on the context. I would like to add some abbreviations/synonyms. How?
This approach is not so bad, but I have problems with shorter names that alias with longer ones, and it is non-standard, i.e. not consistent with the way other names are entered:
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x g all") "∀")
The approach of putting characters on keys has problems in Emacs, partly because the keymap is already overloaded:
(define-key key-translation-map (kbd "C-~") (kbd "¬"))
As a secondary question, I am curious as to why this confuses emacs (give it a try):
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x g neg") "¬")
What I would like is to hook the abbreviations into the current emacs method for entering unicode characters by name. (I've been using C-x 8 RET name RET - though wish there was a method to do this in fewer key strokes.)
You can easily define a command that inserts a given character (or that chooses from some small set of characters rather than from the entire universe of Unicode characters).
Library ucs-cmds.el can help with this. When you use C-x 8 RET with a negative prefix arg (e.g. C--), it not only inserts the char you choose but it creates a command to insert the char - the command name is the same as the char name. And you can quickly create such commands for whole ranges or other sets of characters (e.g. by matching a regexp). You can of course rename commands to whatever you like, including shorter versions.
But you already know how to bind a key to a keyboard macro that inserts a given character, as you have shown. If it helps to provide a named command for that then ucs-cmds.el can help.
You can also just do that yourself individually, using, for example:
(defun neg (&optional n)
"Insert \"¬\". With prefix arg N, insert N times."
(interactive "p")
(dotimes (ii n) (insert "¬")))
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x g neg") 'neg)
But you apparently are not very interested in dedicated commands that insert particular characters, and you want to be able to use C-x 8 RET but to type an abbreviation for a character name when it prompts you, instead of trying to match the real character name.
For that, Icicles can help. When you use C-x 8 RET you can match the character name or its code point (or the character itself - useful when the char is easy to type and you want to know its name or code point). You can match any combination of these at the same time.
Matching can be substring, regexp, pcompletion or any of several kinds of fuzzy matching, and you can change the matching behavior on the fly. So you can get the effect of the abbreviations you are asking for, provided you abbreviate in a way that corresponds to matching.
As for your question about (global-set-key (kbd "C-x g neg") "¬"): I think it is a bug. Consider reporting it: M-x report-emacs-bug. This is the error that it raises:
After 0 kbd macro iterations: user-error: No M-x tags-search or M-x tags-query-replace in progress
There are several modes around which provide simplified input for symbols needed by math and logic. For example agda2-mode. http://wiki.portal.chalmers.se/agda
OP:
What I would like is to hook the abbreviations into the current emacs method for entering unicode characters by name. (I've been using C-x 8 RET name RET - though wish there was a method to do this in fewer key strokes.)
What the OP is asking for is:
a) To use the emacs function 'insert-char' with its built-in shortcut 'C-x 8 RET', and
b) To use an alias for completion in the interactive minibuffer for 'insert-char' input.
The issue is that the minibuffer for 'insert-char' has its own TAB completion. If you want to insert the greek small letter epsilon (ε) using TAB completion, you have to input a minimum number of keystrokes like this: "greek" TAB "sm" TAB "l" TAB "ep". Even if you have an alias for epsilon in your 'init.el' configuration file like this: '("eps" "GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON")', the minibuffer will not automatically recognize it.
You can still use the alias for epsilon you have in your 'init.el' file using a second function 'expand-abbrev'. Using the method described in the OP, you can get an 'ε' by using "C-x 8 RET" (or "M-x insert-char"), entering your alias "eps", then call 'expand-abbrev' ("M-x expand abbrev") and return. This will expand your alias for the 'insert-char' function. (There is also a 'C-x' shortcut for 'M-x expand-abbrev'.)
Like the OP, I prefer this method over (or in addition to) automatic alias replacement. If you have something in your config file like this:
;; a quick way to insert unicode characters by code point or name
(global-set-key [f8] 'insert-char)
;; call 'expand-abbrev', especially in the 'insert-char' input minibuffer
(global-set-key [f9] 'expand-abbrev)
;; abbreviate unicode names
(define-abbrev-table 'global-abbrev-table '(
("ueps" "GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON")
("Ueps" "ε")
("ugsl" "GREEK SMALL LETTER ")
("uforall" "FOR ALL")
("Uforall" "∀")
))
;; see .emacs.d/abbrev_defs
;; M-x edit-abbrevs
;; turn on abbrev mode by default
(setq-default abbrev-mode t)
, you have two ways to type an epsilon. You can let emacs replace the alias "Ueps" automatically, or you can use seven keystrokes "[f8]ueps[f9]RET". (Actually there are four ways here.)
As the OP suggests, it is somewhat impractical to have aliases (or key-bindings) for every single special character. That is why it makes sense to use 'insert-char' with 'expand-abbrev'. If you want to insert a less commonly used greek letter like omicron 'ο', for instance, you do not need a special alias; you can expand an alias like 'ugsl' to "GREEK SMALL LETTER ", and enter "omicron" (or "omi" + TAB).

Why emacs confuse PageDown (<next>) key with M-[?

I found big distinction in standard emacs-nox and emacs-gtk.
I know that emacs console version (emacs-nox) has problem with some keys (eg Shift-Tab - ), but not with PageDown.
When I have empty .emacs file, and try to recognize command name run by PageDown key (by C-h c), emacs-nox emacs-gtk works normally - pushing PageDown makes scroll-up, and C-h c PageDown print scroll-up in minibuffer.
The problem arise when i try to bind "M-[" key.
In .emacs i has only one statement:
(global-set-key (kbd "M-[") 'hippie-expand)
emacs-nox does not recognize command name run by key - it does'nt print in minibuffer anything when C-h c PageDown, insted wriets to buffer "~6".
When I try
C-h k PageDown
I get: M-[ runs the command hippie-expand
emacs-gtk works normally - pushing PageDown makes scroll-up, and C-h c PageDown print scroll-up in minibuffer.
So I guess emacs nox treats PageDown as M-[ and add something extra.
Any idea how to fix this in emacs-nox?
I use emacs v23.2
EDIT:
I tested other case: In .emacs I have only:
(global-set-key (kbd "") 'hippie-expand)
and both C-h c PageDown and C-h k PageDown works properly (prints hippie-expand), and when in buffer I push PageDown also works good.
The problem has to do with the escape sequence the terminal sends to Emacs. You can check the escape sequence by typing C-v in a terminal window, followed by the key combination. So, for instance, if you type
C-v M-[
you should see something like this in the terminal window:
^[[
If you type
C-v PageDown
you should see
^[[6~
And that explains the problem: the key sequence generated by M-[ is a prefix of the key sequence generated by PageDown. Thus when you bind that prefix to a function (e.g., by globally setting M-[ to 'hippie-expand), you get the following effect when hitting PageDown:
The first two characters (^[[) of PageDown's escape sequence are interpreted as the prefix and thus 'hippie-expand is called. Then the remaining two characters are interpreters like ordinary key strokes, and are thus inserted into the buffer. That's why you see "6~" when you press PageDown.
I think the only way to change this is to convince the terminal to send different sequences for those keys. But the more painless way is just to use a different shortcut than M-[. (I would suggest M-/.)
This has to do with the terminal emulation and how Emacs-nox interprets the escape sequences sent to it by the terminal whenever you hit a key.
It thus depends on your terminal, but you could try to put the following lines in your .emacs file:
(unless window-system
(define-key input-decode-map "" [next])
(define-key input-decode-map "" [prior]))
Then move the cursor between the first two "" characters and type C-q PageDown, then move it between the "" in the row underneath and type C-q PageUp. The result should look like this:
(unless window-system
(define-key input-decode-map "^[[6~" [next])
(define-key input-decode-map "^[[5~" [prior]))
but note that the ^[ is only a single character (escape) - that's why you cannot simply copy & paste it from this answer.
Do the keys work after restarting emacs-nox?

How do I list all yanks in emacs?

Is there a way to list all the yanked text in Emacs? You can do it on Textmate with SPLAT+V.
Edit: I meant recently killed items, items that can be yanked.
The list of kills (i.e., the list of things you can yank) is called kill ring and stored in the variable kill-ring, so you can view it (in a not very nice way) with C-h v kill-ring RET.
The kill ring also appears in the menu, under “Edit / Paste from kill menu”. If you use a text mode Emacs or have turned the menu bar off, you can access the menu with M-x tmm-menubar (bound to M-`): type M-` e p followed by the first letter of the item you want to paste (if it's a letter and it's unique, otherwise whatever character is indicated). If you don't want to paste anything, type M-` e p C-g; the kills remain in the *Completions* buffer. The kill texts are displayed truncated to yank-menu-length characters.
To my knowledge, emacs doesn't support that feature out of the box.
If you're using a Debian or Ubuntu Linux distribution, you can install the emacs-goodies-el package, which contains a browse-kill-ring feature (bound to M-y by default).
Alternatively, you can use the browse-kill-ring ELisp package available here.
See also here for a nice article about this problem and other alternate solutions.
EmacsWiki has a satisfying list of solutions. A portable and intuitive solution uses the built-in popup.el to display a vertical list to choose from:
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c y") '(lambda ()
(interactive)
(popup-menu 'yank-menu)))
In Icicles you can see all of your kill-ring, and yank any entries in it using completion. By default, C-y is bound in Icicle mode to icicle-yank-maybe-completing.
That's the same as yank, unless you give it a negative prefix arg (e.g., C--). In that case, it lets you complete against the kill-ring. Completion can be prefix, apropos (substring, regexp), or fuzzy.
http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/Icicles_-_Multi-Commands
councel-yank-pop wors well for me
especially with the binding suggested in
http://pragmaticemacs.com/emacs/counsel-yank-pop-with-a-tweak/
(use-package counsel
:bind
(("M-y" . counsel-yank-pop)
:map ivy-minibuffer-map
("M-y" . ivy-next-line)))
if you use helm, you may call the helm-show-kill-ring function.

basic shortcut (M-del) not working in Emacs and giving erratic behavior

I am using Emacs and most shortcuts work normally, but M-Del for deleting a word backwards produces either an error at the bottom of a `scan' error, and at other times moves the cursor a set of lines below. Any ideas why this may be happening? M-Del works fine for deleting forward words. (** from a comment made below it appear that the command is mapped to a down paragraph lisp function instead of delete a word backwards? How can I reset the mappings to the standard one?)
Best.
writing lisp emacs key binding and cannot specify the <delete> character
has the answer (by Gilles). It looks like there is a bug on some systems due to an overlap with a shell command shadow translating ESC-x to ESC C-d
it can be seen from running
M-x load-library edmacro
M-x edmacro-insert-key M-del
giving ESC C-d
in the folder ~/.emacs.d/ creating a file init.el and inserting
(global-set-key [escape delete] 'backward-kill-word)
this though overrides all uses of ESC from M (meta key) to be translated as escape rendering common M-d, M-w, etc all unseen except for M-del
so the solution is to remap the faulty remapping back to the correct binding.
(global-set-key (kbd "M-C-d") 'backward-kill-word)
Best

Emacs copy with regex

I have a text file. Can Emacs select text based on regex and put it in kill-ring, so I can copy it somewhere else? Something like regex-kill-ring-save?
inspired by the already given comments (the Charles answer doesn't work as I would want it), I added a new function to the isearch/isearch-regexp mode map which puts only the matching string into the kill ring (whereas Charles proposal kills from current point to end of matching string):
(defun hack-isearch-kill ()
"Push current matching string into kill ring."
(interactive)
(kill-new (buffer-substring (point) isearch-other-end))
(isearch-done))
(define-key isearch-mode-map (kbd "M-w") 'hack-isearch-kill)
The nice thing about the isearch/isearch-regexp approach (which you can enable with C-s and C-M-s respectively) is that you can see your search string growing and you can copy it with M-w as soon as you are satisfied (and go back to where you have been before with C-u C-Space).
This works for me with Emacs 23.1. Don't know if it will work in all situations. Anyway I hope you find it useful :)
UPDATE: going through the emacswiki I stumbled over KillISearchMatch which suggests more or less the same (plus some more tips ...).
Cheers,
Daniel
I'm not sure if there is such a function already, but what you can do it with a keyboard macro:
Start recording a kbd macro: C-x (
Search for your regexp with search-forward-regexp
Move to the beginning of your match (the text you want to kill) with the various emacs navigation commands, e.g. search or backward-word etc.
Mark: C-spc
Move to the end of your match
Kill the text: C-w
You can then name the keyboard macro with M-x name-last-kbd-macro so that you can execute the macro with a name rather than with C-x e.
If you want to save the macro for future sessions, you can open your .emacs and insert the macro into the buffer with M-x insert-kbd-macro. After than you can bind a key to the macro just like you bind keys to normal emacs functions, e.g. (global-set-key "\C-c m" 'funky-macro-macro).
More about emacs keyboard macros
Isearch+ does this already. It optionally sets the region around the search target. You can use C-SPC C-SPC or M-= C-SPC at any time during Isearch to toggle this.
isearchp-deactivate-region-flag is a variable defined in isearch+.el.
Its value is t
Documentation:
Non-nil means isearching deactivates the region.
See also option isearchp-restrict-to-region-flag.
You can toggle this option using M-= C-SPC during Isearch.
You can customize this variable.