I use the emacs shell-mode more and more, and there's something that I wish could be improved: the completion when changing directory. I'd love to use ido or projectile-find-dir for that.
My workflow
As of today I do all I can outside of emacs' shell, to use the power of emacs as much as possible (visiting files with ido, finding files in project with projectile, exploring the tree inside dired,…).
I don't cd that often. When I work in a different project I open up another shell buffer. But when I have to, I really miss ido or the fasd shell utility (which works, but without its completion interface which is great with zsh, and which isn't as powerfull as the use of ido could be https://github.com/clvv/fasd).
How to wire that in elisp ?
I know we can give a list to ido-completing-read;
In the shell, typing cd ../<TAB> opens up a new *Completions* buffer. It uses comint-dynamic-completion, but how to get that list in an elisp list, not in a buffer ?
is it possible to wire that completions list into ido ? (or projectile or helm or whatever)
I would appreciate too if you link me to accurate documentation (there's a lot, it's difficult to know what's useful for me)
or does a solution exist yet ?
Thanks !
edit: here is another nice way to cd to recently visited directories, with the fasd utility and ido completion: https://gitlab.com/emacs-stuff/fasd-shell/blob/master/README.org
See another SO question.
ps: eshell doesn't work well with some shell scripts, I'd like to stay in shell-mode.
Try this, it is a quick and dirty hack and may fail in some cases but should work generally. Also pardon my elisp
(require 'ido)
(require 'cl-lib)
(require 'shell)
(defvar my-dir-selected nil "Flag to indicate that user has selected the directory")
(defun my-filter-cd-input (current-input)
"Takes current user input for `cd' the a list
whose car is the 'maximum possible directory path'
and cdr is remaining string.
Examples:
'~/.emacs.d/in => ('~./emacs.d/' 'in')
'/home/gue' => ('/home/' 'gue')
'~/../' => ('~/../' '')"
(let* ((unquoted-input (shell-unquote-argument current-input))
(components (split-string unquoted-input "/"))
(directory-parts (butlast components))
(possible-prefix (car (last components))))
(list (if (string= possible-prefix "")
unquoted-input
(concat (mapconcat 'identity directory-parts "/")
(when directory-parts "/")))
possible-prefix)))
(defun my-complete-directory-name (directory current-input)
"Prompts user for directories in `directory', `current-input'
is the string entered by the user till now"
(let* ((filtered-input (my-filter-cd-input current-input))
(directory-path (car filtered-input))
(partial-input (cadr filtered-input))
(directory-choices (mapcar 'file-name-nondirectory
(condition-case nil
(cl-remove-if-not 'file-directory-p
(directory-files (concat directory directory-path) t))
('file-error (list)))))
(selected-name (ido-completing-read "Directory: "
directory-choices
nil nil partial-input)))
(comint-delete-input)
(insert (concat "cd "
(shell-quote-argument (concat directory-path selected-name "/"))))))
(defun my-prompt-for-dir-or-fallback ()
"If current shell command is `cd' prompt for directory
using ido otherwise fallback to normal completion"
(interactive)
(let* ((user-input (buffer-substring-no-properties (comint-line-beginning-position)
(point-max))))
(if (and (>= (length user-input) 3)
(string= (substring user-input 0 3) "cd "))
(progn
(setq my-dir-selected nil)
(while (not my-dir-selected)
(my-complete-directory-name default-directory
(buffer-substring-no-properties (+ (comint-line-beginning-position) 3)
(point-max))))
(comint-send-input))
(call-interactively 'completion-at-point))))
(define-key shell-mode-map (kbd "<tab>") 'my-prompt-for-dir-or-fallback)
(add-hook 'ido-setup-hook 'ido-my-keys)
(defun ido-my-keys ()
"Add my keybindings for ido."
(define-key ido-completion-map (kbd "<C-return>") (lambda ()
(interactive)
(setq my-dir-selected t)
(ido-exit-minibuffer))))
Hitting <tab> in shell will prompt for directories available using ido if the currently entered command is cd, otherwise it will fallback to default completion, to exit press C-RET
What is the most simple way to send current full file name with file path to clipboard?
What I am using now is messages buffer: I copy file name that appears there after saving a file. But, I suppose, there should be much more simple way.
Why no one tell the simple solution.
Just go to your dired buffer then press 0 w or C-u 0 w.
This will call dired-copy-filename-as-kill which gives you full path of a file. If you want current dir, just delete the file at the end of it or you can use the function below, then bind it to any key you like.
(defun my/dired-copy-dirname-as-kill ()
"Copy the current directory into the kill ring."
(interactive)
(kill-new default-directory))
PS: personally I go to current directory from file buffer using dired-jump
I use this:
(defun my-put-file-name-on-clipboard ()
"Put the current file name on the clipboard"
(interactive)
(let ((filename (if (equal major-mode 'dired-mode)
default-directory
(buffer-file-name))))
(when filename
(with-temp-buffer
(insert filename)
(clipboard-kill-region (point-min) (point-max)))
(message filename))))
In Emacs Prelude I use:
(defun prelude-copy-file-name-to-clipboard ()
"Copy the current buffer file name to the clipboard."
(interactive)
(let ((filename (if (equal major-mode 'dired-mode)
default-directory
(buffer-file-name))))
(when filename
(kill-new filename)
(message "Copied buffer file name '%s' to the clipboard." filename))))
If you want to write the name/path of the current buffer you can type C-u M-: and then either (buffer-file-name) - for the full path - or (buffer-name) for the buffer name.
That is:
M-: + ellisp expression evaluates an ellisp expression in the mini-buffer
C-u write the output to the current buffer
Does not exactly answer to the question but could be useful if someone use this or other function sporadically, and prefers to not initialize the function at every startup.
In the Spacemacs distribution, you can press Spacefyy to display the buffer name in the minibuffer and copy it to the kill ring.
The function spacemacs/show-and-copy-buffer-filename seems to originate from this blog post: Emacs: Show Buffer File Name.
(defun camdez/show-buffer-file-name ()
"Show the full path to the current file in the minibuffer."
(interactive)
(let ((file-name (buffer-file-name)))
(if file-name
(progn
(message file-name)
(kill-new file-name))
(error "Buffer not visiting a file"))))
There's a buffer-extension - and it has copy-buffer-file-name-as-kill function. It even asks You what to copy: name, full name or a directory name.
Edit:
I use modified version of copy-buffer-file-name-as-kill from buffer-extension.el:
(defun copy-buffer-file-name-as-kill (choice)
"Copyies the buffer {name/mode}, file {name/full path/directory} to the kill-ring."
(interactive "cCopy (b) buffer name, (m) buffer major mode, (f) full buffer-file path, (d) buffer-file directory, (n) buffer-file basename")
(let ((new-kill-string)
(name (if (eq major-mode 'dired-mode)
(dired-get-filename)
(or (buffer-file-name) ""))))
(cond ((eq choice ?f)
(setq new-kill-string name))
((eq choice ?d)
(setq new-kill-string (file-name-directory name)))
((eq choice ?n)
(setq new-kill-string (file-name-nondirectory name)))
((eq choice ?b)
(setq new-kill-string (buffer-name)))
((eq choice ?m)
(setq new-kill-string (format "%s" major-mode)))
(t (message "Quit")))
(when new-kill-string
(message "%s copied" new-kill-string)
(kill-new new-kill-string))))
If you use Doom Emacs, it can be done with SPC f y.
To paste the current file path in the buffer, the most simple way I see is to do: C-u M-! pwd (this might not work on Windows systems though).
Alternatively, you can use C-x C-b to show the file paths of all opened buffers.
This is what has worked for me on MacOS 10.15.7, GNU Emacs 27.1
(defun copy-current-buffer-file-name ()
(interactive)
(shell-command (concat "echo " (buffer-file-name) " | pbcopy")))
set keybinding to "C-x M-f":
(global-set-key (kbd "C-x M-f") 'copy-current-buffer-file-name)
FYI: For a real beginner reading this, you need to add those lines to your init.el file.
Lots of good answers here, though I think for the "most simple way", as described in the question, there's room for improvement. Here's what I came up with (with thanks to other answers for the bits and pieces):
M-: (kill-new (buffer-file-name)) RET
This does precisely what you asked for -- takes the filename of the current buffer, and puts it in the "kill ring" and, depending on your settings, also the system clipboard. (See emacswiki/CopyAndPaste for more details on that part.)
If you want to do this regularly, then setting up a function like listed in the other answers, and binding it to an available key sequence, would make it easier to do frequently. But the above works with no prior setup, which I'm interpreting to be more "simple".
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.
Locked. This question and its answers are locked because the question is off-topic but has historical significance. It is not currently accepting new answers or interactions.
I've switched computers a few times recently, and somewhere along the way I lost my .emacs. I'm trying to build it up again, but while I'm at it, I thought I'd pick up other good configurations that other people use.
So, if you use Emacs, what's in your .emacs?
Mine is pretty barren right now, containing only:
Global font-lock-mode! (global-font-lock-mode 1)
My personal preferences with respect to indentation, tabs, and spaces.
Use cperl-mode instead of perl-mode.
A shortcut for compilation.
What do you think is useful?
Use the ultimate dotfiles site. Add your '.emacs' here. Read the '.emacs' of others.
My favorite snippet. The ultimate in Emacs eye candy:
;; real lisp hackers use the lambda character
;; courtesy of stefan monnier on c.l.l
(defun sm-lambda-mode-hook ()
(font-lock-add-keywords
nil `(("\\<lambda\\>"
(0 (progn (compose-region (match-beginning 0) (match-end 0)
,(make-char 'greek-iso8859-7 107))
nil))))))
(add-hook 'emacs-lisp-mode-hook 'sm-lambda-mode-hook)
(add-hook 'lisp-interactive-mode-hook 'sm-lamba-mode-hook)
(add-hook 'scheme-mode-hook 'sm-lambda-mode-hook)
So you see i.e. the following when editing lisp/scheme:
(global-set-key "^Cr" '(λ () (interactive) (revert-buffer t t nil)))
I have this to change yes or no prompt to y or n prompts:
(fset 'yes-or-no-p 'y-or-n-p)
I have these to start Emacs without so much "fanfare" which I got from this question.
(setq inhibit-startup-echo-area-message t)
(setq inhibit-startup-message t)
And Steve Yegge's function to rename a file that you're editing along with its corresponding buffer:
(defun rename-file-and-buffer (new-name)
"Renames both current buffer and file it's visiting to NEW-NAME."
(interactive "sNew name: ")
(let ((name (buffer-name))
(filename (buffer-file-name)))
(if (not filename)
(message "Buffer '%s' is not visiting a file!" name)
(if (get-buffer new-name)
(message "A buffer named '%s' already exists!" new-name)
(progn
(rename-file name new-name 1)
(rename-buffer new-name)
(set-visited-file-name new-name)
(set-buffer-modified-p nil))))))
One thing that can prove very useful: Before it gets too big, try to split it into multiple files for various tasks: My .emacs just sets my load-path and the loads a bunch of files - I've got all my mode-specific settings in mode-configs.el, keybindings in keys.el, et cetera
My .emacs is only 127 lines, here are the most useful little snippets:
;; keep backup files neatly out of the way in .~/
(setq backup-directory-alist '(("." . ".~")))
This makes the *~ files which I find clutter up the directory go into a special directory, in this case .~
;; uniquify changes conflicting buffer names from file<2> etc
(require 'uniquify)
(setq uniquify-buffer-name-style 'reverse)
(setq uniquify-separator "/")
(setq uniquify-after-kill-buffer-p t) ; rename after killing uniquified
(setq uniquify-ignore-buffers-re "^\\*") ; don't muck with special buffers
This sets up uniquify which changes those ugly file<2> etc. buffer names you get when multiple files have the same name into a much neater unambiguous name using as much of the whole path of the file as it has to.
That's about it... the rest is pretty standard stuff that I'm sure everyone knows about.
This is not the whole kit and kaboodle, but it is some of the more useful snippets I've gathered:
(defadvice show-paren-function (after show-matching-paren-offscreen
activate)
"If the matching paren is offscreen, show the matching line in the
echo area. Has no effect if the character before point is not of
the syntax class ')'."
(interactive)
(let ((matching-text nil))
;; Only call `blink-matching-open' if the character before point
;; is a close parentheses type character. Otherwise, there's not
;; really any point, and `blink-matching-open' would just echo
;; "Mismatched parentheses", which gets really annoying.
(if (char-equal (char-syntax (char-before (point))) ?\))
(setq matching-text (blink-matching-open)))
(if (not (null matching-text))
(message matching-text))))
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;; UTF-8
;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;; set up unicode
(prefer-coding-system 'utf-8)
(set-default-coding-systems 'utf-8)
(set-terminal-coding-system 'utf-8)
(set-keyboard-coding-system 'utf-8)
;; This from a japanese individual. I hope it works.
(setq default-buffer-file-coding-system 'utf-8)
;; From Emacs wiki
(setq x-select-request-type '(UTF8_STRING COMPOUND_TEXT TEXT STRING))
;; Wwindows clipboard is UTF-16LE
(set-clipboard-coding-system 'utf-16le-dos)
(defun jonnay-timestamp ()
"Spit out the current time"
(interactive)
(insert (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d")))
(defun jonnay-sign ()
"spit out my name, email and the current time"
(interactive)
(insert "-- Jonathan Arkell (jonathana#criticalmass.com)")
(jonnay-timestamp))
;; Cygwin requires some seriosu setting up to work the way i likes it
(message "Setting up Cygwin...")
(let* ((cygwin-root "c:")
(cygwin-bin (concat cygwin-root "/bin"))
(gambit-bin "/usr/local/Gambit-C/4.0b22/bin/")
(snow-bin "/usr/local/snow/current/bin")
(mysql-bin "/wamp/bin/mysql/mysql5.0.51a/bin/"))
(setenv "PATH" (concat cygwin-bin ";" ;
snow-bin ";"
gambit-bin ";"
mysql-bin ";"
".;")
(getenv "PATH"))
(setq exec-path (cons cygwin-bin exec-path)))
(setq shell-file-name "bash")
(setq explicit-shell-file-name "bash")
(require 'cygwin-mount)
(cygwin-mount-activate)
(message "Setting up Cygwin...Done")
; Completion isn't perfect, but close
(defun my-shell-setup ()
"For Cygwin bash under Emacs 20+"
(setq comint-scroll-show-maximum-output 'this)
(setq comint-completion-addsuffix t)
(setq comint-eol-on-send t)
(setq w32-quote-process-args ?\")
(make-variable-buffer-local 'comint-completion-addsuffix))
(setq shell-mode-hook 'my-shell-setup)
(add-hook 'emacs-startup-hook 'cygwin-shell)
; Change how home key works
(global-set-key [home] 'beginning-or-indentation)
(substitute-key-definition 'beginning-of-line 'beginning-or-indentation global-map)
(defun yank-and-down ()
"Yank the text and go down a line."
(interactive)
(yank)
(exchange-point-and-mark)
(next-line))
(defun kill-syntax (&optional arg)
"Kill ARG sets of syntax characters after point."
(interactive "p")
(let ((arg (or arg 1))
(inc (if (and arg (< arg 0)) 1 -1))
(opoint (point)))
(while (not (= arg 0))
(if (> arg 0)
(skip-syntax-forward (string (char-syntax (char-after))))
(skip-syntax-backward (string (char-syntax (char-before)))))
(setq arg (+ arg inc)))
(kill-region opoint (point))))
(defun kill-syntax-backward (&optional arg)
"Kill ARG sets of syntax characters preceding point."
(interactive "p")
(kill-syntax (- 0 (or arg 1))))
(global-set-key [(control shift y)] 'yank-and-down)
(global-set-key [(shift backspace)] 'kill-syntax-backward)
(global-set-key [(shift delete)] 'kill-syntax)
(defun insert-file-name (arg filename)
"Insert name of file FILENAME into buffer after point.
Set mark after the inserted text.
Prefixed with \\[universal-argument], expand the file name to
its fully canocalized path.
See `expand-file-name'."
;; Based on insert-file in Emacs -- ashawley 2008-09-26
(interactive "*P\nfInsert file name: ")
(if arg
(insert (expand-file-name filename))
(insert filename)))
(defun kill-ring-save-filename ()
"Copy the current filename to the kill ring"
(interactive)
(kill-new (buffer-file-name)))
(defun insert-file-name ()
"Insert the name of the current file."
(interactive)
(insert (buffer-file-name)))
(defun insert-directory-name ()
"Insert the name of the current directory"
(interactive)
(insert (file-name-directory (buffer-file-name))))
(defun jonnay-toggle-debug ()
"Toggle debugging by toggling icicles, and debug on error"
(interactive)
(toggle-debug-on-error)
(icicle-mode))
(defvar programming-modes
'(emacs-lisp-mode scheme-mode lisp-mode c-mode c++-mode
objc-mode latex-mode plain-tex-mode java-mode
php-mode css-mode js2-mode nxml-mode nxhtml-mode)
"List of modes related to programming")
; Text-mate style indenting
(defadvice yank (after indent-region activate)
(if (member major-mode programming-modes)
(indent-region (region-beginning) (region-end) nil)))
I have a lot of others that have already been mentioned, but these are absolutely necessary in my opinion:
(transient-mark-mode 1) ; makes the region visible
(line-number-mode 1) ; makes the line number show up
(column-number-mode 1) ; makes the column number show up
You can look here: http://www.dotemacs.de/
And my .emacs is pretty long to put it here as well, so it will make the answer not too readable. Anyway, if you wish I can sent it to you.
Also I would recomend you to read this: http://steve.yegge.googlepages.com/my-dot-emacs-file
Here are some key mappings that I've become dependent upon:
(global-set-key [(control \,)] 'goto-line)
(global-set-key [(control \.)] 'call-last-kbd-macro)
(global-set-key [(control tab)] 'indent-region)
(global-set-key [(control j)] 'join-line)
(global-set-key [f1] 'man)
(global-set-key [f2] 'igrep-find)
(global-set-key [f3] 'isearch-forward)
(global-set-key [f4] 'next-error)
(global-set-key [f5] 'gdb)
(global-set-key [f6] 'compile)
(global-set-key [f7] 'recompile)
(global-set-key [f8] 'shell)
(global-set-key [f9] 'find-next-matching-tag)
(global-set-key [f11] 'list-buffers)
(global-set-key [f12] 'shell)
Some other miscellaneous stuff, mostly for C++ development:
;; Use C++ mode for .h files (instead of plain-old C mode)
(setq auto-mode-alist (cons '("\\.h$" . c++-mode) auto-mode-alist))
;; Use python-mode for SCons files
(setq auto-mode-alist (cons '("SConstruct" . python-mode) auto-mode-alist))
(setq auto-mode-alist (cons '("SConscript" . python-mode) auto-mode-alist))
;; Parse CppUnit failure reports in compilation-mode
(require 'compile)
(setq compilation-error-regexp-alist
(cons '("\\(!!!FAILURES!!!\nTest Results:\nRun:[^\n]*\n\n\n\\)?\\([0-9]+\\)) test: \\([^(]+\\)(F) line: \\([0-9]+\\) \\([^ \n]+\\)" 5 4)
compilation-error-regexp-alist))
;; Enable cmake-mode from http://www.cmake.org/Wiki/CMake_Emacs_mode_patch_for_comment_formatting
(require 'cmake-mode)
(setq auto-mode-alist
(append '(("CMakeLists\\.txt\\'" . cmake-mode)
("\\.cmake\\'" . cmake-mode))
auto-mode-alist))
;; "M-x reload-buffer" will revert-buffer without requiring confirmation
(defun reload-buffer ()
"revert-buffer without confirmation"
(interactive)
(revert-buffer t t))
To refresh the webpage you're editing from within Emacs
(defun moz-connect()
(interactive)
(make-comint "moz-buffer" (cons "127.0.0.1" "4242"))
(global-set-key "\C-x\C-g" '(lambda ()
(interactive)
(save-buffer)
(comint-send-string "*moz-buffer*" "this.BrowserReload()\n"))))
Used in combination with http://hyperstruct.net/projects/mozlab
You can find my configuration (both in html & in tar'ed archive) on my site. It contains lot of settings for different modes
This block is the most important for me:
(setq locale-coding-system 'utf-8)
(set-terminal-coding-system 'utf-8)
(set-keyboard-coding-system 'utf-8)
(set-selection-coding-system 'utf-8)
(prefer-coding-system 'utf-8)
I've never been clear on the difference between those, though. Cargo cult, I guess...
I try to keep my .emacs organized. The configuration will always be a work in progress, but I'm starting to be satisfied with the overall structure.
All stuff is under ~/.elisp, a directory that is under version control (I use git, if that's of interest). ~/.emacs simply points to ~/.elisp/dotemacs which itself just loads ~/.elisp/cfg/init. That file in turn imports various configuration files via require. This means that the configuration files need to behave like modes: they import stuff they depend on and they provide themselves at the end of the file, e.g. (provide 'my-ibuffer-cfg). I prefix all identifiers that are defined in my configuration with my-.
I organize the configuration in respect to modes/subjects/tasks, not by their technical implications, e.g. I don't have a separate config file in which all keybindings or faces are defined.
My init.el defines the following hook to make sure that Emacs recompiles configuration files whenever saved (compiled Elisp loads a lot faster but I don't want to do this step manually):
;; byte compile config file if changed
(add-hook 'after-save-hook
'(lambda ()
(when (string-match
(concat (expand-file-name "~/.elisp/cfg/") ".*\.el$")
buffer-file-name)
(byte-compile-file buffer-file-name))))
This is the directory structure for ~/.elisp:
~/.elisp/todo.org: Org-mode file in which I keep track of stuff that still needs to be done (+ wish list items).
~/.elisp/dotemacs: Symlink target for ~/.emacs, loads ~/.elisp/cfg/init.
~/.elisp/cfg: My own configuration files.
~/.elisp/modes: Modes that consist only of a single file.
~/.elisp/packages: Sophisticated modes with lisp, documentation and probably resource files.
I use GNU Emacs, that version does not have real support for packages. Therefore I organize them manually, usually like this:
~/.elisp/packages/foobar-0.1.3 is the root directory for the package. Subdirectory lisp holds all the lisp files and info is where the documentation goes. ~/.elisp/packages/foobar is a symlink that points to the currently used version of the package so that I don't need to change my configuration files when I update something. For some packages I keep an ~/.elisp/packages/foobar.installation file around in which I keep notes about the installation process. For performance reasons I compile all elisp files in newly installed packages, should this not be the case by default.
Here's a couple of my own stuff:
Inserts date in ISO 8601 format:
(defun insertdate ()
(interactive)
(insert (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d")))
(global-set-key [(f5)] 'insertdate)
For C++ programmers, creates a class skeleton (class's name will be the same as the file name without extension):
(defun createclass ()
(interactive)
(setq classname (file-name-sans-extension (file-name-nondirectory buffer-file-name)))
(insert
"/**
* " classname".h
*
* Author: Your Mom
* Modified: " (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d") "
* Licence: GNU GPL
*/
#ifndef "(upcase classname)"
#define "(upcase classname)"
class " classname "
{
public:
"classname"();
~"classname"();
private:
};
#endif
"))
Automatically create closing parentheses:
(setq skeleton-pair t)
(setq skeleton-pair-on-word t)
(global-set-key (kbd "[") 'skeleton-pair-insert-maybe)
(global-set-key (kbd "(") 'skeleton-pair-insert-maybe)
(global-set-key (kbd "{") 'skeleton-pair-insert-maybe)
(global-set-key (kbd "<") 'skeleton-pair-insert-maybe)
i use paredit for easy (e)lisp handling and ido-mode minibuffer completions.
It's hard to answer this question, because everyone uses Emacs for very different purposes.
Further more, a better practice may be to KISS your dotemacs. Since the Easy Customization Interface is widely supported amongst Emacs' modes, you should store all your customization in your custom-file (which may be a separate place in your dotemacs), and for the dotemacs, put in it only load path settings, package requires, hooks, and key bindings. Once you start using Emacs Starter Kit, a whole useful bunch of settings may removed from your dotemacs, too.
See EmacsWiki's DotEmacs category. It provides lots of links to pages addressing this question.
(put 'erase-buffer 'disabled nil)
(put 'downcase-region 'disabled nil)
(set-variable 'visible-bell t)
(set-variable 'tool-bar-mode nil)
(set-variable 'menu-bar-mode nil)
(setq load-path (cons (expand-file-name "/usr/share/doc/git-core/contrib/emacs") load-path))
(require 'vc-git)
(when (featurep 'vc-git) (add-to-list 'vc-handled-backends 'git))
(require 'git)
(autoload 'git-blame-mode "git-blame"
"Minor mode for incremental blame for Git." t)
I set up some handy shortcuts to web pages and searches using webjump
(require 'webjump)
(global-set-key [f2] 'webjump)
(setq webjump-sites
(append '(
("Reddit Search" .
[simple-query "www.reddit.com" "http://www.reddit.com/search?q=" ""])
("Google Image Search" .
[simple-query "images.google.com" "images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=" ""])
("Flickr Search" .
[simple-query "www.flickr.com" "flickr.com/search/?q=" ""])
("Astar algorithm" .
"http://www.heyes-jones.com/astar")
)
webjump-sample-sites))
Blog post about how this works here
http://justinsboringpage.blogspot.com/2009/02/search-reddit-flickr-and-google-from.html
Also I recommend these:
(setq visible-bell t) ; no beeping
(setq transient-mark-mode t) ; visually show region
(setq line-number-mode t) ; show line numbers
(setq global-font-lock-mode 1) ; everything should use fonts
(setq font-lock-maximum-decoration t)
Also I get rid of some of the superfluous gui stuff
(if (fboundp 'scroll-bar-mode) (scroll-bar-mode -1))
(if (fboundp 'tool-bar-mode) (tool-bar-mode -1))
(if (fboundp 'menu-bar-mode) (menu-bar-mode -1)))
One line to amend the load path
One line to load my init library
One line to load my emacs init files
Of course, the "emacs init files" are quite numerous, one per specific thing, loaded in a deterministic order.
emacs-starter-kit as a base, then I've added.. vimpulse.el, whitespace.el, yasnippet, textmate.el and newsticker.el.
In my ~/.emacs.d/$USERNAME.el (dbr.el) file:
(add-to-list 'load-path (concat dotfiles-dir "/vendor/"))
;; Snippets
(add-to-list 'load-path "~/.emacs.d/vendor/yasnippet/")
(require 'yasnippet)
(yas/initialize)
(yas/load-directory "~/.emacs.d/vendor/yasnippet/snippets")
;; TextMate module
(require 'textmate)
(textmate-mode 'on)
;; Whitespace module
(require 'whitespace)
(add-hook 'ruby-mode-hook 'whitespace-mode)
(add-hook 'python-mode-hook 'whitespace-mode)
;; Misc
(flyspell-mode 'on)
(setq viper-mode t)
(require 'viper)
(require 'vimpulse)
;; IM
(eval-after-load 'rcirc '(require 'rcirc-color))
(setq rcirc-default-nick "_dbr")
(setq rcirc-default-user-name "_dbr")
(setq rcirc-default-user-full-name "_dbr")
(require 'jabber)
;;; Google Talk account
(custom-set-variables
'(jabber-connection-type (quote ssl))
'(jabber-network-server "talk.google.com")
'(jabber-port 5223)
'(jabber-server "mysite.tld")
'(jabber-username "myusername"))
;; Theme
(color-theme-zenburn)
;; Key bindings
(global-set-key (kbd "M-z") 'undo)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-s") 'save-buffer)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-S-z") 'redo)
Always save my config in svn http://my-trac.assembla.com/ez-conf/browser/emacs.d
After reading this, I figured it would be good to have a simple site just for the best .emacs modifications. Feel free to post and vote on them here:
http://dotemacs.slinkset.com/
https://b7j0c.org/stuff/dotemacs.html
I'm new to emacs, in my .emacs file there are
indentation configuration
color theme
php mode, coffee mode and js2 mode
ido mode
FWIW, my .emacs is here:
http://svn.red-bean.com/repos/kfogel/trunk/.emacs
lots of stuff: https://github.com/tavisrudd/emacs.d
el-get has made managing it and dependencies a lot easier: https://github.com/tavisrudd/emacs.d/blob/master/dss-init-el-get.el
For Scala coders
;; Load the ensime lisp code... http://github.com/aemoncannon/ensime
(add-to-list 'load-path "ENSIME_ROOT/elisp/")
(require 'ensime)
;; This step causes the ensime-mode to be started whenever ;; scala-mode is started for a buffer. You may have to customize this step ;; if you're not using the standard scala mode.
(add-hook 'scala-mode-hook 'ensime-scala-mode-hook)
;; MINI HOWTO: ;; Open .scala file. M-x ensime (once per project)
My emacs configuration has grown up pretty big over the years and I have lot of useful stuff for me there but if I have two functions it probably would have been those ones.
Define C-x UP and C-x DOWN to move the current line or down keeping the cursor at the right place :
;Down/UP the current line
(global-set-key '[(control x) (up)] 'my-up-line)
(global-set-key '[(control x) (down)] 'my-down-line)
(defun my-down-line()
(interactive)
(let ((col (current-column)))
(forward-line 1)
(transpose-lines 1)
(forward-line -1)
(forward-char col)
)
)
(defun my-up-line()
(interactive)
(let ((col (current-column)))
(transpose-lines 1)
(forward-line -2)
(forward-char col)
)
)