Abbrev proxy candidates in emacs icicles - emacs

I'm trying to use icicle-command-abbrev to reduce the amount of typing that I do. I have proxy candidates enabled (setq icicle-add-proxy-candidates-flag t), (I can also enable them with C-M-_ but, for some reason, I can never get ff to match find-file. Sorting is set to proxy coandidates first, and I have proxy candidates with a higher precedence than regular commands. What am I doing wrong?

You don't really say what behavior you see, corresponding to "I can never get ff to match find-file." Let me tell you what behavior you should see, and then you can please tell me what the difference is.
From your description, you should see proxy candidates in *Completions*. When you use icicle-command-abbrev (bound to C-x SPC by default) and then you type ff TAB at the M-x prompt, you should see command names that have at least two parts that start with f, and you should see the proxy candidate ff, which should be highlighted (with face icicle-proxy-candidate). That proxy candidate should be the first candidate listed in *Completions* (because you have sorted proxy candidates first).
If you then cycle to that candidate (just hit TAB a second time, or the down arrow once), and then hit RET to choose it, the prompt should change to Command abbreviatedff:. If you then hit TAB you should see in *Completions* the list of commands whose names have at least two parts that start with f. You can then cycle to one or type more text to complete to one, to choose it.
Let me know which part of this description you do not see.
However, I just realized that there was a bug (a missing variable binding), which I have now fixed. The symptom would be that when you choose command find-file a missing-variable-binding error was raised. Please download the latest icicles-cmd1.el, which has the fix. (Or wait until the file is mirrored on MELPA, which could take up to a day.)
If what you see other than that bug is what I described, then you should be OK with the new version. If not, please describe what you see that is different from my description. Sorry for your trouble.
(You can of course just hit RET as soon as you type ff, to get the second completion prompt directly. But first check that the recipe above works for you.)

Related

How to enter recursive edit mode and abort command inside it?

I used to be confident of returning to buffer from mini-buffer by just pressing C-g once, until I learned there is a "recursive-edit-mode" inside Emacs Here, which seems to make cancellation action inconsistent. Therefore, I am reading the entire section in hope of finding a more consistent / stateless command to return to mini-buffer.
However, I encountered below problems when following and trying to replicate what the manual says:
Entering Recursive-edit-mode: After "M-x query-replace RET C-r" (in Fundamental-mode), I could not replicate "a pair of square brackets" in mode-line. However, now I DO have to press C-g TWICE to return back to buffer.
Question: Does recursive-edit-mode still have square brackets now? (I am using ver 24.3)
Quitting: The manual directs me to the Quitting section for quitting command. It says Aborting with C-] (abort-recursive-edit) is used to get out of a recursive editing level and cancel the command which invoked it. So I tried it out within "M-x query-replace RET C-r", hoping one C-] will get me out from minibuffer to buffer, but it still takes 2 shots to do that.
Question: Is this normal? If yes, any other command to guarantee command abortion and return to buffer with 1 execution?
Just want to brush frequently used command such as C-g. If made consistent, it may help avoid inputs being eaten (sometimes unnoticed) by the minibuffer due to trapped inside recursive-edit-mode.
Visually confirming point each time inside the buffer makes keyboard input an closed-loop feedback process and thus consumes more attention, though.
You definitely will see square brackets in the mode line for a recursive edit -- but not for a recursive minibuffer.
C-g does act consistently, but it does different things in different contexts (always the same thing for a given context, however). That can be confusing. It can take some getting used to - a bit like it takes getting used to the various behaviors of C-g during Isearch, depending on the current search state.
If you use recursive edits or recursive minibuffers then you need to pay attention to clues wrt the current state/context. Again, this is like learning Isearch. minibuffer-depth-indicate-mode is a must, to provide feedback about what state you are in.
FWIW, beyond minibuffer-depth-indicate-mode, I use a standalone minibuffer frame, and with each recursive edit or recursive minibuffer the background hue is changed slightly, to better indicate the level etc. (The background color changes slightly also for (a) active minibuffer and (b) Isearch. I use library oneonone.el for these things.)
If you don't use a standalone minibuffer frame then you might consider highlighting the square brackets or something else in the mode line, to help you tell where you are at.
C-r during query-replace is a good example of when a recursive edit can be useful. There are a few others. But generally I do not make much use of recursive edits, FWIW. (I do, however, use recursive minibuffers a lot, because I use keys bound in minibuffer maps that do invoke commands that themselves might prompt for input etc.)
Wrt your question about query-replace with C-r: There is no minibuffer involved at all, here. And C-] after C-r does end not only the recursive edit but also the query-replace (whereas C-M-c ends the recursive edit and returns to the query-replace.
FWIW - In Icicles interactions, you might find yourself within any number of recursive minibuffers. (For example, you might use progressive completion to successively narrow the set of completion candidates, and each narrowing opens a recursive minibuffer.)
C-g always aborts the current command, or if there is none then the current minibuffer, and C-] always aborts the current minibuffer. Repeating C-g (or C-]) pops back up the minibuffer chain, a level at a time. But (in Icicles) you can use C-M-S-t (aka C-M-T) to pop directly back to the top level (exit all minibuffers).
Similarly, answering a minibuffer prompt (e.g. hitting RET or using mouse-2 on a candidate in *Completions*) exits the current minibuffer, popping up a level (to the parent minibuffer or to the top level if there is none). (In Icicles RET can optionally put you back at top level.)

In emacs, make dabbrev-expand only do partial completions like minibuffer-expand?

Currently, in C-mode, if I start typing a word such as:
namespace_module_
dabbrev-expand will cycle through a million full completions of this identifier...
namespace_module_typea_foo <TAB>
namespace_module_typea_bar <TAB>
namespace_module_typea_goo_start <TAB>
...
With many possible words, it is tedious to navigate through all of these. However, minibuffer completion seems to work differently. It only completes until the first difference among the possible matches. It would have completed to (assuming there were no other matches to something like typeb_, etc):
namespace_module_typea_
At this point, I need only type one character to remove the ambiguity, and it is very likely that autocompletion's next guess will be correct. Is it possible to use this completion mode in-buffer with dabbrev-expand? Or hippie-expand? Or even icicles? I've not been able to find anything.
Have you tried dabbrev-completion (bound to C-M-/ by default)? It should do just what you're asking.
Yes, icicle-dabbrev-completion, which by default is bound to C-M-/ (replacing dabbrev-completion) gives you what dabbrev-completion gives you, but with Icicles completion features whenever there is more than one completion. IOW, you can match using a substring, regexp etc.; you can use progressive completion; you can sort and cycle candidates; and so on.
See the doc about this, here.

auto complete in command minibuffer of emacs

Which setting needs to be done in init.el file, which allows completing the rest of command if one hit M-x and initial letter of the command.
Infact in need something similar as ido-mode for minibuffer too
The ido-mode for the "M-x minifuffer" is called smex (smex use ido).
Available on the main package repos of Emacs. Homepage here
I think you are talking about incremental completion, i.e., having Emacs automatically complete what you type in the minibuffer, without your having to explicitly request completion (e.g., using TAB).
Incremental completion is available in Icicles, as well as Ido and IswitchB. And icomplete-mode shows you completion candidates in a similar way to Ido and IswitchB.
Icicles incremental completion has two aspects:
When buffer *Completions* is displayed and updated, showing you the candidates matching your input -- how soon that happens and what triggers updating
Whether and how much your minibuffer input is expanded (completed) to reflect the set of matching completions
Wrt *Completions* display (#1):
You can use C-# to cycle among the levels (normal, eager, off) at any time.
Normal means that *Completions* is not displayed until you ask for it, but thereafter it is automatically updated as you type/edit your input.
Eager means that *Completions* is displayed as soon as you type something that matches at least two candidates.
(There is also an option to show *Completions* from the outset, before you type anything -- useful as a kind of menu.) You can also specify how long to wait after you type or delete a character before updating *Completions*.
Wrt input expansion (#2):
Icicles is unique in expanding your input to (typically) the longest common match among all completions, even when completion uses apropos matching (that is, regexp or substring -- S-TAB), not just prefix matching (TAB).
There are 4 levels/behaviors for this expansion, plus off (no expansion):
Off -- this is like Ido and IswitchB: completions are shown, but your input is not completed
On request -- expand your input only when requested (TAB or S-TAB)
On request or sole candidate -- on request or when there is only one match
Always for TAB, on request for S-TAB -- TAB expands whenever possible; S-TAB is like previous
Always -- expand input whenever possible
C-" toggles between two of the input-expansion behaviors that you choose (a user option), and C-M-" cycles among all of the behaviors.

list of emacs commands executed

I am using emacs and the auto-newline feature is not working as expected. I have a pretty large number of customizations done to my emacs. So it would be no wonder if one of the other customizations is not what auto-line is expecting. I would like to know if there is a way to know the list of commands (list of emacs commands) executed by emacs at a particular point, for e.g. when ctrl-s ctrl-c or in my case when auto-line feature is called.
edit : I think you have misunderstood the question. I would like to know what command emacs calls 'internally'.
I believe view-lossage is what you're looking for -- M-x view-lossage, or C-h l.
If you want to know what a keystroke is bound to, consider using describe-key, which is usually bound to C-h k.
Basically at this point, you need to bite the bullet and learn some Emacs-lisp. The debugger is what you are looking for to dig further into your problem (I use edebug). It's not just about seeing what functions get called, you also need to see the values of the relevant variables when those functions are called.
If you feel you're not up to it, then you can bi-sect your init file until you find the culprit, but at that point you still need some Emacs-lisp to investigate further.
To add to what #event_jr said --
What you seem to be asking is the history of the functions called by the command you last invoked. (You speak of Emacs "internal commands", but it seems you just mean functions.)
To get that history for any given command you invoke (e.g., by a key), use M-x debug-on-entry and then enter the command name. The next time you use that command, you can walk through its execution in the Emacs debugger (hit d to step, c to continue past a step).

Emacs reselect region, as Vim shortcut 'gv' does

In vim, visual block can be recall by 'gv' command so that multiple commands can be applied easily. (such as, comment out, then indent, then do_something_fun).
In Emacs, how can this be achieved?
[C-xC-x] only works when current cursor position stays where previous block ended.
If previous block was changed, the closest is to go through 'point-to-register' and 'jump-to-register'.
Just I am curious if there is an Emacs built-in command making this in one shot.
If Transient Mark mode is off, the region is always active. If it's on (which it sounds like is your situation), you can set mark-even-if-inactive to non-nil to allow region commands to work while the region isn't highlighted.
However, note you also can cycle back through previous mark positions using C-u C-SPC -- this will pop the mark ring. Once you're back to where you want to be, C-x C-x will rehighlight the region you want. (It may take a little bit of playing with this feature to get a feel for it, but it's why I can't switch away from Emacs now.)
If I understand correctly what you are asking for, then you don't need to do anything. When you select a region in emacs, it stays selected until you select a new one. So you could select the region and then perform as many actions as you want.
Sounds like you're looking for the secondary selection, which stays put even as the region might change. (It stays put until you move it.)
See:
the Emacs manual, node Secondary Selection
Emacs wiki page Secondary Selection
library second-sel.el:
Also narrow-to-region (CTRL-x n n ) applies every command from then on just to that region- you can't hurt the rest of the buffer, it doesn't even show. After done editing , widen (CTRL-x n w )to get back the whole buffer.
CMM
If you use evil-mode, just press gv like in vim.
Since the answers here and for other similar SO questions didn't help for me (CUA-mode, Emacs 24, not only indent-rigidly), I continued searching and finally found a reselect-last-region defined in this collection of custom function (starting line 670). That worked like a charm for me - and hopefully does for others still arriving here.