Is there a way I can stop needing C-X before any shortcut and, for example, just use C-c to leave?
Also, if possible, what disadvantages could this have?
I'm looking for a simpler way of using GNU Emacs, but not sure if I can find one.
(this is too long for a comment)
Not really an answer but I know that some people hate the "C-x anything" in Emacs not just because you have to "type a lot of keys" but also because from a touch-typing point of view C-x doesn't make that much sense.
But of course in Emacs everything is configurable. I'm using "C-," instead of C-x and I honestly find it much easier this way.
I use my left pinky to hit CTRL, which is the key physically located at the left of 'a' on a QWERTY keyboard: i.e. the key that used to be CTRL but that now often is labelled CAPS-Lock [and you can remap it to CTRL].
I then touch-type ',' with my right hand.
To this end I added this to my config:
(define-key global-map [(control ,)] ctl-x-map)
You won't have less keys to type to do, say, a C-x C-c (which you can now do both by doing C-x C-c or by doing C-, C-c), but at least you won't be distorting your fingers as much ; )
Also note that as explained here (see user "scottfrazer"'s +40+ upvoted and accepted answer) it may be better to create a minor mode for all your key mappings instead of directly define a global mapping:
Globally override key binding in Emacs
My recommendation is to first learn the standard Emacs key bindings, then, after a while change whichever ones you think will do you the most good to change.
See also CUA mode, in the Emacs docs -- I don't use or recommend CUA mode, but a lot of people (esp. newbies?) use it to keep their cut, copy, paste key habits.
After looking at the source code of boon.el, I found out about ctl-x-map. C-x is a prefix key, prefix keys often have their own maps.
To use M-m for C-x shortcuts and unbind C-x, use this
(global-set-key (kbd "M-m") 'ctl-x-map)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x") nil)
I think it is a very bad idea, because the C-x prefix can handle such situations like C-x s vs C-x C-s. And: you are really f*cked when you read emacs tutorials and have your own keybindings
If you want some other keybindings read ErgoEmacs Keybinding or How to Set Emacs's User Interface to Modern Conventions
Related
Previously I used C-SPC to activate/deactivate mark, now I use expand-region package and set key binding to C-# like this:
(global-set-key (kbd "C-#") 'er/expand-region)
But this affected the C-SPC keybinding also, so it is also bound to expand-region.
What I need is C-# bind to expand-region and C-SPC to bind to old activate/deactivate mark.
Suggest you refer to:
set-mark-command not working emacs with C-SPC
and
https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/emacs/Setting-Mark.html
Quoting from the latter:
"Footnotes [1] There is no C-<SPC> character in ASCII; usually, typing C-<SPC> on a text terminal gives the character C-#. This key is also bound to set-mark-command, so unless you are unlucky enough to have a text terminal that behaves differently, you might as well think of C-# as C-<SPC>."
I think you'll find that they are not separate keys; C-SPC sends a code that's the same as C-#. I think that means you'll have to find somewhere else to bind one of the functions, (even if you have to override expand-region)
Apologies for a second answer... I think the first was wrong because I have now been able to make separate definitions for C-SPC and C-#, as described below.
This works to define C-# and C-SPC separately:
(global-set-key [?\C-#] 'beginning-of-line)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-SPC") 'end-of-line)
To give credit, I derived the answer from here: Rebind C-space in Emacs
after googling "emacs control space"
(Regarding your question, "what key should I bind this expand-region to?", I ordinarily use C-h C-k and type some key I don't think I use. Then look at the function that that key is bound to by default. If it seems useful to me, I try another key and keep looking. If I feel like I will never use the default definition, I redefine it for my own purposes.)
I have done some searching around and can not quite find what I am looking for so I figured I would ask. This could be due to not using the right terms however.
I am new to emacs, having used vim for eight years or so, but I really need an editor I can morph to my will so I am switching. Now in vim there is a leader key you can define to avoid overlapping bindings with various extensions. In emacs there are supposed to be chords set aside for the user only but various modes do not adhere to this. Is there a way in emacs I can ensure my custom bindings do not overlap similar to the vim leader key? The reason I ask is I want to keep my bindings sane.
The manual details the conventions:
C-hig (elisp) Key Binding Conventions RET
Sequences reserved for the end-user are:
C-c<letter> for any (un-modified) upper or lower case letter: [A-Za-z]
Function keys F5, F6, F7, F8, F9 (again, without modifier keys)
I recommend using the easiest of these sequences as prefix bindings, as you can then follow them with any key at all, giving you a large number of options.
Someone else's recommendation that I liked was to unbind C-z if you don't commonly use suspend-frame, as that opens up another convenient prefix.
Of course, if you set up Super and Hyper modifier keys for your OS & keyboard, you would likely gain more convenient sequences than you could find uses for. This is a very reasonable option for many people with the additional modifier keys found on many modern keyboards.
Finally, the key-chord library is quite a popular way of creating new convenient and non-conflicting bindings by using pairs of (un-modified) keys typed together or in quick succession (or a single key tapped twice). This works very well in my experience, although you obviously have to be very careful to avoid binding sequences which might occur naturally.
I personally use C-' as my 'leader key' for my personal keybinding map. You can create the prefix and bind keys to it like so:
(global-set-key (kbd "C-'") ctl-quote-map)
(define-key ctl-quote-map (kbd "C-p") 'stumpwm-move-window-up)
(define-key ctl-quote-map (kbd "C-n") 'stumpwm-move-window-down)
(define-key ctl-quote-map (kbd "C-f") 'stumpwm-move-window-right)
(define-key ctl-quote-map (kbd "C-b") 'stumpwm-move-window-left)
(define-key ctl-quote-map (kbd "r") 'stumpwm-interactive-resize-window)
Nobbody steps over something that obscure, and if you use the left control it's a balanced double pinky motion. C-; is also good, which is what I use for the stumpwm escape key.
There are Emacs keybinding conventions, some of which honestly surprised me.
The relevant pieces are that C-c [a-zA-Z] and <F[5-9]> are reserved for end users.
Good answers so far:
I'd throw in free-keys as a good way to check your binding is free before creating it - to avoid overlapping with yourself. helm-descbinds is good for finding your existing bindings to help you remember them as well incidentally.
I have just started learning Linux and Emacs. It was pleasant to have the same key bindings in both Emacs and a shell (bash/tcsh) for the most frequently used cursor movements, so that I do not have to consciously think which one I have to use. Still worse, use the wrong command and undo the mistake. There were two exceptions, though.
One often used command was the equivalent of backspace, delete a character backwards. In a shell, it was C-h. I got the same behaviour in Emacs, thanks to this tip from Janos, who probably felt the same way.
http://www.math.rutgers.edu/~komlos/emacs.htm
Now the mistake I do often in Emacs is trying to delete words backwards with the command M-C-h, as in a shell.
Can somebody please give a binding that will make Emacs delete words backwards with 'M-C-h'? Currently, this command selects the whole of the text in a buffer, which is quite an useful thing (C-a in windows), but not so frequently used as deleting words backwards.
Moreover, any binding to replace the current binding of M-h (from the link above) to help will be appreciated.
Thank you,
Elan.
Below binds C-M h to backward-kill-word. You can put it in your .emacs file.
(global-set-key (kbd "C-M-h") 'backward-kill-word)
You can use M-<backspace> in terminal and emacs to delete word backward.
It's best to use key translation so C-M-h works exactly the same as M-backspace would in any minor mode (regardless of whether M-backspace is bound to backward-kill-word or not).
;; bind C-h to <backspace>
(define-key key-translation-map [?\C-h] [?\C-?])
;; bind C-M-h to M-<backspace>
(define-key key-translation-map [?\C-\M-h] [?\C-\M-?])
I usually type M-x buffer-menu to switch buffers in Emacs. How can I do this with a shorter command? Its quite a long string to type.
Thanks!
You can use C-x b to change buffers. You have to enter the first few letters of the buffer name, and of course you can use completion. If you press TAB (the most useful key in Emacs), a list of (matching) buffers appears. You can click in this list to switch to a buffer.
You can bind buffer-menu to a key. Pick a key that's not used for another command — let's say f12 — and add the following line to the file ~/.emacs:
(global-set-key (kbd "<f12>") 'buffer-menu)
There are many other interfaces to changing buffers in Emacs, and they can be significantly more efficient than C-x b and C-x C-b. Since this tends to be a very personal choice, I recommend you experiment with a few and keep the one(s) you feel most comfortable with.
C-x C-b
As stated here
I'd highly recommend switching to a mode designed for efficient buffer switching.
If your version of Emacs is recent enough (22+):
M-x ido-mode
and then:
C-x b
to switch buffers, with incremental substring matching, C-s and C-r rotate forward and backwards through the matches.
If you have an older version of Emacs, it should have:
M-x iswitchb-mode
and then, as with ido-mode:
C-x b
opens up the minibuffer to let you choose the buffer to switch to.
Bind C-x C-b to buffer-menu. There is no sense leaving it bound to list-buffers. list-buffers is just a eunuch version of buffer-menu. ;-)
And you might want to try this: http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/BufferMenuPlus
Try bs-show (in my opinion a way better than C-x C-b). You can bind it to F9 by adding this to .emacs:
(global-set-key (kbd "<f9>") 'bs-show)
I'm trying to teach Emacs standard shortcut keys. I use emacs23-nox version from Debian, often through SSH connection. One of those is CTRL+SHIFT+S for SaveAs. The relevant part of configuration looks like this:
(global-set-key (kbd "C-S") 'write-file)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-s") 'save-buffer)
but causes either both CTRL+SHIFT+S and CTRL+S invoke 'save-buffer (or 'write-file, depending on which line comes last). I also tried "C-S-s" instead of "C-S".
No Use of Shift Key section of Why Emacs's Keyboard Shortcuts Are Painful says it's not possible. I read this answer, but the accepted solution doesn't work for me (C-h k CTRL+SHIFT+S prints C-s).
Is there a way to make Emacs (the no GUI version) differentiate between CTRL+SHIFT+S and CTRL+S?
You can't, there isn't any provision in the character sets for uppercase control characters. The only way you can get shift and control is by going direct to the windowing system, so you need the GUI version.
To clarify a bit: If you are using Emacs with a window manager, then you can bind the key [(control shift ?s)], which is C-S-s (aka C-S, but not written this way in Emacs). This key is definitely different from the ASCII control character C-s, which has no lowercase/uppercase versions.
So the answer is (a) you have to be using a graphics terminal; (b) bind [(control shift ?s)] to get the uppercase version.