Xah Emacs Blog Archive 2013-12
to all my emacs readers, and many supporters this year, i hope you have a great coming 2014!
whatever your take on emacs opinions, may the power of emacs and lisp be with you!
On Emacs Visual Lines, by Don Hopkins and Mark Crispin (2013)
now and then i vi. But, how to comment/uncomment a block of code?
A quick search showed this:
press Ctrl+v (called “visual block”), move cursor to select, then press I # Escape to insert # to all lines in the block.
To uncomment a block, do the same except just press 【x】 to kill a char.
but, isn't there a language specific command? for example, i just press a key, and current line or selection is commented/uncommented.
it appears the answer is some plugin. That's lousy. One'd expect vi to do this by default, with a numerical argument on number of lines, or automatically act on the current block of code.
comment https://plus.google.com/+XahLee/posts/B9EohdYp5nK
on the Space-cadet Keyboard, there's a “Alt Mode” key. I never understood what exactly it does. Note that this key doesn't exist in later lisp machine keyboards, only in the Space-cadet model. Devon Sean McCullough explains what it is, see comment at bottom A Curious Look at Emacs One Thousand Keybindings
found a key symbol for compose key. see Unicode: Keyboard Symbols ⌘ ↵ ⌫
Sun Microsystems keyboard has Meta, Compose, AltGr keys. Sun Microsystems Type 6 Keyboard (updated)
IMAP inventor, emacs oldbie, Mark Crispin died. (1956 to 2012)
just discovered that Mark Crispin died. (1956 to 2012) He's the inventor of IMAP protocol, and one of the oldest emacs user (before Stallman, i think)
i came to know him 2 years ago in comp.emacs rant he wrote. https://groups.google.com/d/msg/comp.emacs/Q1SeBV1kkIs/vmY_eprGFDQJ or archived here Mark_Crispin_emacs_line_wrap_rant_2011-06-03.txt
sad to hear him gone.
just discovered. Razer just released a left-handed mouse with 17 buttons. For detail, see Left Handed Mouse.
Fancy Mouse with Full Linux Support?
most gaming mouse lets you customize keys, but the software works in Microsoft Windows only. Then, you can use in Linux. But if you want linux support from ground up, look no further than ROCCAT.
[see ROCCAT Gaming Mouse with Linux Support]
Many emacs hackers swear by it.
Search Unicode Characters
major update on unicode search. Now, you can paste in any Unicode character, and it'll show its info. Also, search is now real-time: result shows as you type. You can also search by unicode codepoint by decimal or hexadecimal. For example, try to find unicode related to christmas. 🎄 🎅. Use the search box at Unicode Search 😄
Unicode: Character Set, Encoding, UTF-8, Codepoint (minor update)
some articles about emacs keyboarding
- Emacs Keys: Define Key
- Emacs Keys: Syntax
- Emacs Keys: Change Major Mode Keys
- Emacs Keys: Change Minor Mode Keys
- Emacs Keys: Super Hyper
- Emacs Keys: Key Sequence
- Emacs Init: Mouse Config
- Emacs Keys: Add Custom Keys
- Emacs Key Syntax Explained
shop for your favorite keyboard this holiday. Computer Keyboards, Layouts, Hotkeys, Macros, RSI ⌨
the ones i deem the best for emacs are: Best Keyboards for Emacs
and if you prefer PC form-factor keyboards, check out
List of Keyboards with Mechanical Switches
Emacs Init: Auto Insert Closing Bracket (electric-pair-mode) (oldie)
there's a “which-function-mode”. Call it. When on, it'll display in the mode line the current function definition block your cursor is in. Works in some programing major modes.
ELisp: Exit Loop or Function (throw, catch) (old goodie)
emacs: iswitch is Now Obsolete. Use icomplete-mode
Note: “iswitch” is now obsolete. icomplete-mode completely replaces it. Here's what Stefan Monnier (one of 2 of current GNU emacs lead) says: “Iswitchb is marked obsolete in the trunk: you can get the same functionality with icomplete-mode.” Source: http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-devel/2013-12/msg00103.html
oldie. Emacs: Align Text
Sacha Chua interviews the Emacs Rocks star [ Magnar Sveen ] https://twitter.com/magnars, at: [Emacs Chat: Magnar Sveen (Emacs Rocks) By Sacha Chua. At http://sachachua.com/blog/2013/11/emacs-chat-magnar-sveen-emacs-rocks/ , accessed on 2013-12-02 ]
really excellent video, fun to watch. If you just want to start at the cream on some emacs tips, start at 19:00 to 34:00. You'll see a visual demo of {ido-vertical-mode, guide-key, visual-regexp} and others.