Markdown allows for embedded code. How can this be done in org-mode?
I know about source-code blocks:
#+begin_example
blah-blah
#+end_example
But what I want is something like this (obviously, with the right syntax, which I do not know):
This is `embeded code`.
Can this be done in org-mode? Not possible to find that in the documentation ...
While monospaced is good enough for most cases, inline code blocks have the form src_LANG[headers]{your code}. For example, src_xml[:exports code]{<tag>text</tag>}.
Edit: Code highlighting of inline code is certainly possible, albeit with patching org.el itself: The answer given here https://stackoverflow.com/a/20652913/594138 works as advertised, turning
- Inline code src_sh[:exports code]{echo -e "test"}
Into
in html-export. And the winning answer in this post, https://stackoverflow.com/a/28059832/594138, achieves the same without the need to patch org.el, but you will have to adapt it if you don't like the optics during editing.
You can enclose the text within = or ~ signs to have it typeset in monospaced font and export it verbatim (which means it is not processed for org-specific syntax):
This is =verbatim text= or ~code~.
You'll find all information about org-mode markup elements in the relevant section of the manual.
I wrote a function which I hope will be useful to help manage the code inline.
You put this code in your init file
(defun org-insert-inline-code()
"This function insert inline code `src_lang{inline code}' \nYour buffer must contain '#+PROPERTY: header-args:lang :exports code' where `lang` can be python or an other programming language."
(interactive (if (use-region-p)
(progn
(setq start (region-beginning))
(setq end (region-end))
(goto-char start)
(if (re-search-backward "^#\\+PROPERTY: header-args:[^[:blank:]]*" 1 t 1)
(progn
(forward-char 24)
(setq org-inline-lang (word-at-point))
(goto-char start)
(insert (concat "src_" org-inline-lang "{"))
(goto-char (+ 11 end))
(insert "}")
)))
(progn
(setq start (point))
(if (re-search-backward "^#\\+PROPERTY: header-args:[^[:blank:]]*" 1 t 1)
(progn
(forward-char 24)
(setq org-inline-lang (word-at-point))
(goto-char start)
(insert (concat "src_" org-inline-lang "{} "))
(backward-char 2)
))))))
(define-key org-mode-map (kbd "C-M-,") 'org-insert-inline-code)
You put this kind of PROPERTY in the org-file
#+PROPERTY: header-args:python :exports code
The required [:exports code] is given that way and the programming language can be identify by the function too.
Insert the code in line with C-M-, (the function then search back to read the language in the PROPERTY line and insert the correct command).
Related
I want the sequence // to start a comment when it is at the beginning of a line. But inside of a line it should not start any comments.
// this is a comment
This is a URL: http://example.com
Is it possible?
I'd do it this way:
(defvar my-foo-mode-syntax-table
(let ((st (make-syntax-table)))
;; Add other entries appropriate for my-foo-mode.
(modify-syntax-entry ?/ ". 12" st)
(modify-syntax-entry ?\n "> " st)
st))
(defvar my-foo-font-lock-keywords
;; Add other rules appropriate for my-foo-mode.
())
(define-derived-mode my-foo-mode nil "My-Foo"
(setq-local font-lock-keywords '(my-foo-font-lock-keywords))
;; Add other settings appropriate for my-foo-mode.
(setq-local syntax-propertize-function
(syntax-propertize-rules ("./\\(/+\\)" (1 ".")))))
Notice: No need for any special font-lock rule since font-lock automatically highlights comments for you, based on the syntax-tables.
You can do this by writing a syntax-propertize-function
I have written an example major mode that shows this below.
Emacs built in parsing will call your syntax-propertize-function so that it can manually set the syntax-table text property on lines starting with //.
(define-derived-mode my-syntax-test-mode fundamental-mode
"A major mode where // denotes a comment but only if it is at the beginning of a line."
:syntax-table (make-syntax-table)
(setq mode-name "my syntax test")
;; our mode will use `apply-my-custom-syntax-table-appropriately' to manually set
;; the syntax-table text property on lines starting with //"
(setq syntax-propertize-function 'apply-my-custom-syntax-table-appropriately)
;; change `comment-dwim` to handle this type of comments correctly
(local-set-key [remap comment-dwim] 'my-comment-dwim))
(defvar my-custom-syntax-table
;; syntax table where // starts a comment and \n ends it
(let ((table (make-syntax-table)))
(modify-syntax-entry ?/ "< 1" table)
(modify-syntax-entry ?/ "< 2" table)
(modify-syntax-entry ?\n "> " table)
table))
(defun apply-my-custom-syntax-table-appropriately (beg end)
(save-excursion
(save-restriction
(widen)
(goto-char beg)
;; for every line between points BEG and END
(while (and (not (eobp)) (< (point) end))
(beginning-of-line)
;; if it starts with a //
(when (looking-at "^//")
;; remove current syntax-table property
(remove-text-properties (1- (line-beginning-position))
(1+ (line-end-position))
'(syntax-table))
;; set syntax-table property to our custom one
;; for the whole line including the beginning and ending newlines
(add-text-properties (1- (line-beginning-position))
(1+ (line-end-position))
(list 'syntax-table my-custom-syntax-table)))
(forward-line 1)))))
(defun my-comment-dwim (arg)
(interactive "*P")
(require 'newcomment)
(save-excursion
(let ((comment-start "//") (comment-end "")
(comment-column 0)
;; don't indent comments
(comment-style 'plain))
;; create the region containing current line if there is no active region
(unless (use-region-p)
(end-of-line)
(push-mark (line-beginning-position))
(setq mark-active t))
(comment-dwim nil))))
Answer: Use regexps
Short and simple
(define-derived-mode my-foo-mode prog-mode "My-Foo"
(setq-local font-lock-keywords t)
(setq-local syntax-propertize-function
(syntax-propertize-rules
((rx line-start (* whitespace) (group "//")) (1 "<"))
((rx (group "\n")) (1 ">")))))
That is all you need, but read on if you'd like to know more.
Explanation
This is based on #stefan's excellent solution which uses syntax-propertize-function to add to a syntax-table. While simpler isn't always better, #stefan's answer does more than what the original question asked for, so I've created this answer for people who only need a small hint or who just want to modify an existing mode.
It turns out directly manipulating a syntax table is unnecessary since the function syntax-propertize-rules makes it easy to map from regular expressions to syntax classes. For example, the syntax class < means "start of comment" and > means "end of comment". (See the Emacs lisp manual.)
I set font-lock-keywords to t as that is the minimum needed to enable syntax highlighting. If you are editing an existing mode, it likely already sets that variable and will not need to be changed.
And, finally, I use Emacs' rx function because it makes regular expressions sane in Lisp. (If you like Lisp, regular expressions, and sanity, I highly recommend using rx.)
About syntax-propertize-rules
I was going to link to the documentation for syntax-propertize-rules, but the Emacs manual does not (as of Emacs 28.1) even mention it. Until that gets remedied, I'll paste here the builtin documentation from C-hf:
syntax-propertize-rules is a Lisp macro in ‘syntax.el’.
(syntax-propertize-rules &rest RULES)
Probably introduced at or before Emacs version 24.1.
Make a function that applies RULES for use in
‘syntax-propertize-function’. The function will scan the buffer,
applying the rules where they match. The buffer is scanned a single
time, like "lex" would, rather than once per rule.
Each RULE can be a symbol, in which case that symbol’s value should
be, at macro-expansion time, a precompiled set of rules, as returned
by ‘syntax-propertize-precompile-rules’.
Otherwise, RULE should have the form (REGEXP HIGHLIGHT1 ...
HIGHLIGHTn), where REGEXP is an expression (evaluated at time of
macro-expansion) that returns a regexp, and where HIGHLIGHTs have the
form (NUMBER SYNTAX) which means to apply the property SYNTAX to the
chars matched by the subgroup NUMBER of the regular expression, if
NUMBER did match. SYNTAX is an expression that returns a value to
apply as ‘syntax-table’ property. Some expressions are handled
specially:
if SYNTAX is a string, then it is converted with ‘string-to-syntax’;
if SYNTAX has the form (prog1 EXP . EXPS) then the value returned by EXP will be applied to the buffer before running EXPS and if EXP is
a string it is also converted with ‘string-to-syntax’. The SYNTAX
expression is responsible to save the ‘match-data’ if needed for
subsequent HIGHLIGHTs. Also SYNTAX is free to move point, in which
case RULES may not be applied to some parts of the text or may be
applied several times to other parts.
Note: back-references in REGEXPs do not work.
I use M-q for fill-paragraph, can I do the un-fill-paragraph in auto-fill-mode?
With org mode, I sometimes enter [[Very long HTML][Name with spaces]], and for the 'Name with spaces' the auto-fill mode break the whole line based on the inserted space, which makes it very ugly.
Is there a command something like un-fill-paragraph? Or, is there a way disable auto-fill-mode temporarily/locally?
Emacs does not record what was your line before calling fill-paragraph. So the only thing you can do is C-_ which runs the command undo. It can undo your fill-paragraph command but only if it is the preceding command call.
If you want to put a multi-line paragraph on one line you could do like this :
Select the region
C-M-% C-q C-j RET SPACE RET !
Xah Lee has updated his code since monotux's answer, and I refactored it somewhat for readability:
(defun my-toggle-fill-paragraph ()
;; Based on http://xahlee.org/emacs/modernization_fill-paragraph.html
"Fill or unfill the current paragraph, depending upon the current line length.
When there is a text selection, act on the region.
See `fill-paragraph' and `fill-region'."
(interactive)
;; We set a property 'currently-filled-p on this command's symbol
;; (i.e. on 'my-toggle-fill-paragraph), thus avoiding the need to
;; create a variable for remembering the current fill state.
(save-excursion
(let* ((deactivate-mark nil)
(line-length (- (line-end-position) (line-beginning-position)))
(currently-filled (if (eq last-command this-command)
(get this-command 'currently-filled-p)
(< line-length fill-column)))
(fill-column (if currently-filled
most-positive-fixnum
fill-column)))
(if (region-active-p)
(fill-region (region-beginning) (region-end))
(fill-paragraph))
(put this-command 'currently-filled-p (not currently-filled)))))
To remake a long line out of a paragraph in Org mode, I gave myself a new command. Here is the associated Emacs Lisp code:
(defun fp-unfill-paragraph (&optional justify region)
(interactive (progn
(barf-if-buffer-read-only)
(list (if current-prefix-arg 'full) t)))
(interactive)
(let ((fill-column 100000))
(fill-paragraph justify region)))
(global-set-key "\C-ceu" 'fp-unfill-paragraph)
Of course, you adjust the command keybinding as you see fit!
I use the following snippet to fill and un-fill paragraphs (using only M-q), it is really, really handy. I borrowed it from Xah Lee, but removed some comments and whitespace in order to make it fit in here. The link in the first comment goes to his original code.
;; http://xahlee.org/emacs/modernization_fill-paragraph.html
(defun compact-uncompact-block ()
"Remove or add line endings on the current block of text.
This is similar to a toggle for fill-paragraph and unfill-paragraph
When there is a text selection, act on the region.
When in text mode, a paragraph is considered a block. When in programing
language mode, the block defined by between empty lines.
Todo: The programing language behavior is currently not done.
Right now, the code uses fill* functions, so does not work or work well
in programing lang modes. A proper implementation to compact is replacing
newline chars by space when the newline char is not inside string.
"
(interactive)
(let (bds currentLineCharCount currentStateIsCompact
(bigFillColumnVal 4333999) (deactivate-mark nil))
(save-excursion
(setq currentLineCharCount
(progn
(setq bds (bounds-of-thing-at-point 'line))
(length (buffer-substring-no-properties (car bds) (cdr bds)))))
(setq currentStateIsCompact
(if (eq last-command this-command)
(get this-command 'stateIsCompact-p)
(if (> currentLineCharCount fill-column) t nil)))
(if (and transient-mark-mode mark-active)
(if currentStateIsCompact
(fill-region (region-beginning) (region-end))
(let ((fill-column bigFillColumnVal))
(fill-region (region-beginning) (region-end)))
)
(if currentStateIsCompact
(fill-paragraph nil)
(let ((fill-column bigFillColumnVal))
(fill-paragraph nil))))
(put this-command 'stateIsCompact-p
(if currentStateIsCompact
nil t)))))
(global-set-key (kbd "M-q") 'compact-uncompact-block)
I use emacs to edit everything. On some of my LateX documents I would like to automatically disable auto-fill mode when I am editing tables and code. Basically, I'd like to have two tags, like:
%%% BEGIN NO FILL
%%% END NO FILL
and nothing between them will be autofilled.
Can anybody think of a way to do this? I would need to figure out whether or not the cursor is inside the region and then have to toggle the mode, and would need to do that every time the cursor moved. Or is there a better way to do it?
If you are using AUCTeX (you should be) then you may want to check out LaTeX-indent-environment-list. Adding an environment to this variable will make it so that (among other things) M-q doesn't refill the paragraph. Unfortunately it doesn't seem work for auto-fill-mode. The following largely untested code added to LaTeX-mode-hook might do what you want.
(setq auto-fill-function
(lambda ()
(unless (> (save-excursion (or (search-backward "%%% BEGIN NO FILL" (point-min) t) 0))
(save-excursion (or (search-backward "%%% END NO FILL" (point-min) t) 0)))
(do-auto-fill))))
It's very stupid and inefficient, but seems to be fast enough on my machine. It doesn't allow nesting, and requires that you manually mark up all sections that you don't want filled. What I am thinking of adding to my .emacs (until I read your question I didn't realize how much this bugged me) is below which keys off of the current environment so there is no need for special markup (though it only looks at the innermost environment (I'm not sure how much of a problem that will cause in practice)). Combining the two is left as an exercise to the interested reader.
;; You can use the following to unset the variables and play around with them
;; (makunbound 'auto-fill-ignore-environments)
;; (makunbound 'auto-fill-ignore-environments-regexp)
(defcustom auto-fill-ignore-environments
(mapcar 'car LaTeX-indent-environment-list)
"List of environments for which `auto-fill-mode' should be
disabled. Used to generate `auto-fill-ignore-environments-regexp'."
:type '(sexp)
)
(defcustom auto-fill-ignore-environments-regexp
(regexp-opt auto-fill-ignore-environments)
"Regexp matching LaTeX environments for which `auto-fill-mode'
should be disabled. If not set, automatically generated from
`auto-fill-ignore-environments'"
:type '(string)
:set-after '(auto-fill-ignore-environments)
)
(add-hook 'LaTeX-mode-hook
(lambda ()
(setq auto-fill-function
(lambda ()
(unless (string-match auto-fill-ignore-environments-regexp
(LaTeX-current-environment))
(do-auto-fill))))))
I have never used defcustom before so I'm sure that part could be improved quite a bit.
Got it. Check this out:
(defun in-no-auto-fill-region ()
(> (save-excursion (or (search-backward "%%% BEGIN NO FILL" (point-min) t) 0))
(save-excursion (or (search-backward "%%% END NO FILL" (point-min) t) 0))
))
(defun previous-line-checking-auto-fill (arg)
(interactive "P")
(previous-line arg)
(if (in-no-auto-fill-region)
(turn-off-auto-fill)
(turn-on-auto-fill)))
(defun next-line-checking-auto-fill (arg)
(interactive "P")
(next-line arg)
(if (in-no-auto-fill-region)
(turn-off-auto-fill)
(turn-on-auto-fill)))
(add-hook 'LaTeX-mode-hook
'(lambda nil
(local-set-key "C-p" 'previous-line-checking-auto-fill)
(local-set-key "C-n" 'next-line-checking-auto-fill)
(auto-fill-mode 1)
))
Alternately, you can turn off auto-fill-mode and use M-q to format paragraphs. I don't love auto-fill's jumpiness so I use this in every mode.
If you want to go the route of advising/redefining all the movement functions, this should help:
(defmacro movement-advice (func)
`(defadvice ,func (after ; run this after the original function is done (and point has moved)
;; Give it a unique name
,(intern (concat (symbol-name func) "-auto-fill-auto-off"))
;; Hopefully this satisfies the arguments of any function we can throw at it
(&rest args)
;; turn it on
activate
)
"Turn auto-fill-mode on or off automatically."
(auto-fill-mode (not (in-no-auto-fill-region)))))
(dolist (func '(next-line
previous-line
forward-paragraph
backward-paragraph
mouse-drag-region
;; Whatever you use
))
(eval `(movement-advice ,func)))
I'm not too familiar with elisp, and am trying to learn. In emacs, I'd like to be able to do the following:
Mark via C-space
Go to where I want the the marking to end, so I have a region that is highlighted, suppose it is "highlighted text"
Hit a key-sequence
Have emacs ask me to input some text, say "plot", and
Have that highlighted text change to be "plot(highlighted text)". That is, I'd like to wrap the highlited text with parentheses and precede it with the text I input.
(defun wrap-text ()
)
I suppose the input of the function would be the highlighted text, but I don't know where to start looking. The other hard part would be the input text part. Could someone guide me? Thanks.
For your case, this should work:
(defun wrap-text (b e txt)
"simple wrapper"
(interactive "r\nMEnter text to wrap with: ")
(save-restriction
(narrow-to-region b e)
(goto-char (point-min))
(insert txt)
(insert "(")
(goto-char (point-max))
(insert ")")))
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x M-w") 'wrap-text)
Something a bit closer to your version, but with some changes :
you can use 'let' to create a local-variable
region-beginning and region-end gives you the equivalent of what trey did with
Here is an example :
(defun wrap-in-function ()
"Wrap marked region with a specified PREFIX and closing parentheses."
(interactive)
(let ((prefix (read-from-minibuffer "function: ")))
(save-excursion
(goto-char (region-beginning))
(insert (concat prefix "(")))
(save-excursion
(goto-char (region-end))
(insert ")"))))
Another difference between the two versions is the position of the point after you called the function ; trey version might be better to use (matter of taste).
EDIT : edited following vinh remarks.
this requires 'cl but is otherwise pretty tiny. been using it for a few years.
(require 'cl) ;;if you haven't elsewhere
(defun decorate-region( beg end prefix suffix )
(interactive "r\nMPrefix: \nMSuffix: ")
(cl-set-buffer-substring beg end (concat prefix
(buffer-substring beg end)
suffix)))
thanks trey jackson. i didn't know u posted a solution so i went to #emacs on the freenode for help. after some research, i came up with the following:
(defun ess-R-wrap-content-vqn ()
"Wrap marked region with a specified PREFIX and closing parentheses."
(interactive)
(set (make-local-variable 'prefix) (read-from-minibuffer "function: "))
(set (make-local-variable 'prefix) (concat prefix "("))
(save-excursion (goto-char (region-beginning)) (insert prefix))
(save-excursion (goto-char (region-end)) (insert ")"))
)
(define-key ess-mode-map "\C-c\M-w" 'ess-R-wrap-content-vqn) ;; w is for wrap
i thought stackoverflow was going to notify me when a solution is posted. again, thanks. learning a little more of elisp from this.
I've seen at least two recommendations on StackOverflow to insert newlines between sentences when editing LaTeX documents. The reason being that the practice facilitates source control, diffing, and collaborative editing.
I'm basically convinced, but I'm lazy, and I don't want to have to think about it.
So I'm searching for some emacs incantation to handle it for me. Could be a minor mode, could be a set of variables that need to be set.
I think what I don't want is
Soft wrapping of text (say using the longlines and (set long-lines-auto-wrap 't)). This is because I don't want to impose requirements on my collaborators' editors, and I sometimes use other unix tools to examine these files.
I think what I do want is
For fill-paragraph to fill between newlines that look like they mark the end of a sentence.
A solution that works with auto-fill-mode would be a bonus.
That is:
chat chat chat.
A new sentence
with goofed up wrapping that needs to be fixed.
Mumble mumble
Transformed to:
chat chat chat.
A new sentence with goofed up wrapping that needs to be fixed.
Mumble mumble
Your comments and suggestions are appreciated.
Edit: The suggestion by Jouni K. Seppänen pointed me at LaTeX-fill-break-at-separators, which suggests that emacs almost knows how to do this already. Anyway, I'm off to read some code, and will report back. Thanks again.
More general version of the same question: Editor showdown: Maintain newlines at the ends of sentences. Thanks, dreeves.
Here's what I use, which was mostly cribbed from Luca de Alfaro:
(defun fill-sentence ()
(interactive)
(save-excursion
(or (eq (point) (point-max)) (forward-char))
(forward-sentence -1)
(indent-relative t)
(let ((beg (point))
(ix (string-match "LaTeX" mode-name)))
(forward-sentence)
(if (and ix (equal "LaTeX" (substring mode-name ix)))
(LaTeX-fill-region-as-paragraph beg (point))
(fill-region-as-paragraph beg (point))))))
I bind this to M-j with
(global-set-key (kbd "M-j") 'fill-sentence)
The references to "LaTeX" are for AUCTeX support. If you don't use AUCTeX, the let can be simplified to
(let (beg (point))
(forward-sentence)
(fill-region-as-paragraph beg (point)))
I have been meaning to do this forever and I recently found this blog post which worked fairly well for me. So here is (a slightly modified version of) what I have been using for a few days.
(defun auto-fill-by-sentences ()
(if (looking-back (sentence-end))
;; Break at a sentence
(progn
(LaTeX-newline)
t)
;; Fall back to the default
(do-auto-fill)))
(add-hook 'LaTeX-mode-hook (lambda () (setq auto-fill-function 'auto-fill-by-sentences)))
;; Modified from http://pleasefindattached.blogspot.com/2011/12/emacsauctex-sentence-fill-greatly.html
(defadvice LaTeX-fill-region-as-paragraph (around LaTeX-sentence-filling)
"Start each sentence on a new line."
(let ((from (ad-get-arg 0))
(to-marker (set-marker (make-marker) (ad-get-arg 1)))
tmp-end)
(while (< from (marker-position to-marker))
(forward-sentence)
;; might have gone beyond to-marker---use whichever is smaller:
(ad-set-arg 1 (setq tmp-end (min (point) (marker-position to-marker))))
ad-do-it
(ad-set-arg 0 (setq from (point)))
(unless (or (looking-back "^\\s *")
(looking-at "\\s *$"))
(LaTeX-newline)))
(set-marker to-marker nil)))
(ad-activate 'LaTeX-fill-region-as-paragraph)
If you put a comment marker at the end of each sentence, Emacs knows not to move the next line inside the comment:
chat chat chat.%
A new sentence
with goofed up wrapping that needs to be fixed.%
Mumble mumble%
Then M-q fills each sentence separately, at least in AUCTeX 11.85. (If you test this in Emacs, there seems to be a bug where if this is the first paragraph in the buffer and you type M-q, you get an error message. Just put a newline before the text to work around it.)
If you don't want to type the comment characters, you could take LaTeX-fill-paragraph and modify it so that sentence-ending punctuation at end of line works similarly to comments.
(defun wrap-at-sentences ()
"Fills the current paragraph, but starts each sentence on a new line."
(interactive)
(save-excursion
;; Select the entire paragraph.
(mark-paragraph)
;; Move to the start of the paragraph.
(goto-char (region-beginning))
;; Record the location of the end of the paragraph.
(setq end-of-paragraph (region-end))
;; Wrap lines with 'hard' newlines (i.e., real line breaks).
(let ((use-hard-newlines 't))
;; Loop over each sentence in the paragraph.
(while (< (point) end-of-paragraph)
;; Determine the region spanned by the sentence.
(setq start-of-sentence (point))
(forward-sentence)
;; Wrap the sentence with hard newlines.
(fill-region start-of-sentence (point))
;; Delete the whitespace following the period, if any.
(while (char-equal (char-syntax (preceding-char)) ?\s)
(delete-char -1))
;; Insert a newline before the next sentence.
(insert "\n")))))
(global-set-key (kbd "M-q") 'wrap-at-sentences)
May not work in all circumstances, but:
(defun my-fill-sentence ()
"Fill sentence separated by punctuation or blank lines."
(interactive)
(let (start end)
(save-excursion
(re-search-backward "\\(^\\s-*$\\|[.?!]\\)" nil t)
(skip-syntax-forward "^w")
(setq start (point-at-bol)))
(save-excursion
(re-search-forward "\\(^\\s-*$\\|[.?!]\\)" nil t)
(setq end (point-at-eol)))
(save-restriction
(narrow-to-region start end)
(fill-paragraph nil))))
To make it work with auto-fill-mode, add (setq normal-auto-fill-function 'my-fill-sentence) to your LaTeX mode hook (I think).
I am assuming you know elisp.
There are a few approaches you can take:
Hook into auto-fill-mode. There are a lot of hard-coded
conditionals there, so it might not work for you. You can
potentially play with auto-fill-function and see if you have
the hook you need there.
Make a character (probably .) "electric" so that when you press
it, it inserts itself and then calls a function to determine how
to fill the line you're on.
Set an after-change-hook to call a function that determines how
to fill the sentence. This function will be called after every
change to the buffer, so do it efficiently. (This mechanism is
used by font-lock, so don't worry about it too much. It sounds
slow, but really isn't -- people type slowly.)
Once you have hooked in at the right place, you just have to implement
the filling logic. The source for sentence-at-point (from thingatpt) may be
instructive.
Anyway, I've never heard of anyone doing this... but it is definitely possible. Like most things in Emacs, it's just a Simple Matter Of Programming.
If the other answers are too automatic, here's a semiautomatic approach.
It's basically what you would do repeatedly if you were going to manually reformat, but condensed so you can hit a single key repeatedly instead.
;; - go to the end of the line,
;; - do ^d to suck the previous line onto this one,
;; - make sure there's only one space between the now-concatenated
;; lines, and then
;; - jump to the end and hit space so that (with auto-fill-mode)
;; the line nicely rewraps itself:
;; (turn on auto-fill-mode with M-x auto-fill-mode)
(defalias 'fill-sentence
(read-kbd-macro "C-e C-d SPC M-x just- one- space RET C-e SPC <backspace>"))
(define-key global-map [f4] 'fill-sentence) ; or whatever key you like
I like Chris Conway's macro a lot but it only works after you manually line-break each sentence. I'm a lazy guy so I want emacs to do it for me. This morning I finally sat down and looked into the problem. The solution I have now is to hack the built-in macro fill-region-as-paragraph.
After applying the following hack, a new option newline-after-sentence will be set to true. The standard M-q (fill-paragraph) will automatically fill and create line-breaks between sentences. Note that tests are only done with GNU Emacs 23.3.1 — use it at your own risk.
The full macro is long so I won't post it here. The idea is to add the following loops in fill-region-as-paragraph
...
;; Insert a line break after each sentence
(while (< (point) to)
(forward-sentence)
(if (< (point) to) (fill-newline)))
;; This is the actual filling loop.
(goto-char from)
(let (sentbeg sentend)
(while (< (point) to)
(setq sentbeg (point))
(end-of-line)
(setq sentend (point))
(fill-one-line sentbeg sentend justify) ;; original filling loop
(forward-line)))))
...
You can find the full macro in my git repository. Some details are also written in my blog. In case you don't want to read my poor English, you can simply use
$ curl http://fermi.mycloudnas.com/cgit.cgi/fill/plain/hack.el >> ~/.emacs
to append the hack to your ~/.emacs and give it a try. Comments and bug reports are all welcome.
An alternative approach would be to leave your .tex file as is, and use a tool like latexdiff
(described in this StackExchange post) instead of Unix diff. This produces a .tex file with Word-style track changes marks, and handles whitespace correctly so you don't have to worry about where your sentences end.
I wrote the following which loops over a region and inserts newlines. Instead of using forward-sentence which didn't work for me, I use re-search-forward "[.?!][]\"')}]*\\( \\)", which finds all sentences followed only by two spaces (the regexp is a modified sentence-end). The newline is made using newline-and-indent.
(defun fill-sentences-in-paragraph ()
"Put a newline at the end of each sentence in paragraph."
(interactive)
(save-excursion
(mark-paragraph)
(call-interactively 'fill-sentences-in-region)))
(defun fill-sentences-in-region (start end)
"Put a newline at the end of each sentence in region."
(interactive "*r")
(call-interactively 'unfill-region)
(save-excursion
(goto-char start)
(while (re-search-forward "[.?!][]\"')}]*\\( \\)" end t)
(newline-and-indent))))
To be able to fix improperly formatted text such as the example "chat chat chat...", fill-sentences-in-region first calls unfill-region which gets rid of sentence-breaking whitespace:
(defun unfill-region (beg end)
"Unfill the region, joining text paragraphs into a
single logical line. This is useful, e.g., for use
with 'visual-line-mode'."
(interactive "*r")
(let ((fill-column (point-max)))
(fill-region beg end)))
I use visual-line-mode and replace my default paragraph fill M-q to fill-sentences-in-paragraph with (global-set-key "\M-q" 'fill-sentences-in-paragraph).