Emacs on /usr

Thank You, Bram Moolenaar.

Wed, 09 Aug 2023 00:00:00 +0000

Bram Moolenaar is no longer with us. The creator of Vim passed away last week at a relatively early age, leaving behind a rich legacy of the immensely popular modal text editor. He will be missed by millions of users and fans, who use it daily, and whose first interaction with any *nix system (at least on Linux and macOS) would have involved vim.

I had written about my Vim experience a few years back. Since then, my toolkit has always included Vim (or rather, MacVim). While Emacs remains my primary tool, Vim has a geeky elegance, and its hyper-focus on editing performance is hugely attractive. Also, while Emacs is sometimes (and rightfully) called a kitchen sink, Vim is equally so, at least as the “can do everything” text editor. And it is the standard text editor, after all[1].

The Other Emacsen

Sun, 30 Nov 2014 00:00:00 +0000

While Emacs remains my primary text editor, there are times when starting a full Emacs session with tons of packages is simply too slow, especially on a terminal window, and when the task at hand is simply to make a few lines of changes in a configuration file.

Yes, I do know about the handy -q command-line option, which prevents the init.el file from being loaded, thereby ensuring a sub-second initialization of Emacs, or the emacsclient route (which I have enabled, and do use), but sometimes it is just more convenient to have a fast editor that has the Emacs feel, without the bloat. And for a text nerd such as myself, it is also a matter of curiosity to try out other editors once in a while.

What's New in Emacs 24.4

Mon, 30 Dec 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Mickey Petersen has written up an excellent round-up of the latest features of the Emacs 24.4 release.

Read the whole article at http://www.masteringemacs.org/articles/2013/12/29/whats-new-in-emacs-24-4/.

He had also written a similar article for Emacs 24.3 (current stable version), which can be found here.

New Settings that I am using

I have already setup the load-prefer-newer, cycle-spacing, and ns-use-srgb-colorspace options.

The new electric-pair-mode options also look interesting, and I have set these up (I was using skeleton-pair for the auto-pairing function till now).

Copying the previous line to current position in Emacs

Sun, 30 Jun 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Recently, I came across a scenario where I had to quickly copy the previous line in an Emacs buffer to the current position. The usual method for doing this has been to invoke:

C-p C-a C-k C-y RET C-y

Which basically does the following:

Moves to the previous line (C-p)
Moves to the beginning of the previous line (C-a)
Kills the line (i.e., cuts the line with C-k)
Yanks the line back (i.e., restores the original line with C-y)
Creates a newline (RET), and
Yanks another copy of the line with the final C-y (which is what we wanted in the first place)

While this works, it is certainly not the most optimal mechanism to perform such a simple (albeit infrequent) operation.

Heretical Confessions of an Emacs Addict - Joy of the Vim Text Editor

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Context

As an experiment, I have recently started using Vim as my primary text editor. While I have been an Emacs aficionado for a very, very long time - clocking in at almost 16 years - Vim is something that I have always been curious about, and tinkered with from time to time, while ending up going back to Emacs. This time however, I intend to stick around for a while, and try to get a feel of the Zen of Vim.

Three nifty alternatives to the M-TAB key in Emacs, and a replacement.

Wed, 29 Sep 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The M-<TAB> key in Emacs provides a useful completion function (`completion-at-point’), which tries to complete the current symbol at point to something useful, usually based on other symbols in the buffer which have the current partial symbol as a prefix.

However, using this key is a pain in most OS GUI systems, since it is usually mapped to the Task Switching function as well. Note that the <Alt> key doubles as <Meta> on most keyboards.

Emacs 23.2 has been released.

Sun, 09 May 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Emacs 23.2 has been released.

The source downloads are available at: ftp.gnu.org/gnu/emacs/

For those who prefer access to the VCS, the read-only bzr URL is:

http://bzr.savannah.gnu.org/r/emacs/emacs-23.

Enjoy!

Converting from TaskPaper to Emacs Org-Mode

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Why TaskPaper and Org-Mode?

TaskPaper is a simple and elegant task management software for the OSX platform. It combines the simplicity of a text micro-format to mark the tasks, and the elegance of a Mac UI. It also provides a quick launch time and a nice system-wide quick entry window that is accessible with a single shortcut key.

I have been a heavy user of Emacs’ Org-Mode for some years now, and love the power and flexibility it offers for tracking not just outlines and tasks, but any text based item, including notes and calendar entries. In fact Org-Mode has become one of the primary software that I use regularly, every day.

Emacs function to add new path elements to the $PATH environment variable

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A very simple eLisp function to add new path elements to the PATH environment variable. Very useful for adding new comint executables from within .emacs/init.el files.

(defun my-add-path (path-element)
"Add the specified path element to the Emacs PATH"
(interactive "DEnter directory to be added to path: ")
(if (file-directory-p path-element)
(setenv "PATH"
(concat (expand-file-name path-element)
path-separator (getenv "PATH")))))

Google Search from within Emacs

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

A quick and dirty eLisp function for searching on the internet from within Emacs. The default is to search using Google, but you can add to the *internet-search-urls* variable to setup additional search URLs.

By default, the search term is appended at end of the URL - however, you can also encode the specific search term insertion point in the URL by marking the position using the “%s” marker.

;;; The custom search URLs
(defvar *internet-search-urls*
(quote ("http://www.google.com/search?ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&q=%s"
"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?search=")))
;;; Search a query on the Internet using the selected URL.
(defun search-in-internet (arg)
"Searches the internet using the ARGth custom URL for the marked text.
If a region is not selected, prompts for the string to search on.
The prefix number ARG indicates the Search URL to use. By default the search URL at position 1 will be used."
(interactive "p")
;; Some sanity check.
(if (> arg (length *internet-search-urls*))
(error "There is no search URL defined at position %s" arg))
(let ((query                          ; Set the search query first.
(if (region-active-p)
(buffer-substring (region-beginning) (region-end))
(read-from-minibuffer "Search for: ")))
;; Now get the Base URL to use for the search
(baseurl (nth (1- arg) *internet-search-urls*)))
;; Add the query parameter
(let ((url
(if (string-match "%s" baseurl)
;; If the base URL has a %s embedded, then replace it
(replace-match query t t baseurl)
;; Else just append the query string at end of the URL
(concat baseurl query))))
(message "Searching for %s at %s" query url)
;; Now browse the URL
(browse-url url))))

Quickly diff the changes made in the current buffer with its file

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:00:00 +0000

Update (23rd Jan 2010): Separated the key-assignment and function definition.

A simple function to quickly do a diff of the current buffer contents with its underlying file. Very useful if the file has been changed outside (e.g., a log file).

;; Diff the current buffer with the file contents
(defun my-diff-current-buffer-with-disk ()
 "Compare the current buffer with it's disk file."
(interactive)
 (diff-buffer-with-file (current-buffer)))
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c w") 'my-diff-current-buffer-with-disk)

Importing contacts from OSX Addressbook to Emacs BBDB

Sun, 16 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A major aspect of using Emacs is that it is more than a text editor - it is more of an application platform - some would call it an Operating System - that allows a host of applications to run within the same context and session - and vastly enrich the user experience. This is in fact a primary reason why many Emacs users spend their entire computer interaction via Emacs.

Tips for using emacsclient using Emacs 23.1 daemon mode

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

In an earlier post I had listed the server-mode mechanism to allow client/server editing using Emacs. However, this require some setup and also an active Emacs session.

With the latest version of Emacs (23.1), a new mechanism to invoke Emacs in a server mode has been introduced. Basically, emacs can be invoked with the –daemon option from the shell command line:

$ emacs --daemon

This will run emacs in the background as a daemon which will be listening in to emacsclient connections. To actually start a edit session, use emacsclient from the command line as before with the file name as a parameter.

Tips for using emacsclient and server-mode on OSX

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Emacs is a great editor, but has one setback - it is slow to startup if you have loads of packages to load. On my G4 iBook, it takes around 45 seconds before Emacs becomes usable (OK - I use lots of packages).

However, Emacs is not meant to be restarted every so often. The canonical usage is to start Emacs once, invoke the server mode (see EmacsClient) and then use the emacsclient from the command line to invoke the editor instance when needed. I.e., the classic client/server model for editing!

Setting the PATH variable from within Emacs

Mon, 10 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

A Small function to set the PATH variable from within Emacs. You can define the function and the path definitions in your .emacs file:

Very useful for OS X, where the default path is set by plists.

;; Define a function to setup additional path
(defun my-add-path (path-element)
"Add the specified path element to the Emacs PATH"
(interactive "DEnter directory to be added to path: ")
(if (file-directory-p path-element)
(setenv "PATH"
(concat (expand-file-name path-element)
path-separator
(getenv "PATH")))))

and use it as:

Emulate a three button Mouse in Emacs on a single button Mac trackpad/mouse

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Traditionally, mice on Macs have had just one button (including the iBook/Powerbook trackpads) - even through Mac OS (including OS X) can accept 2 or 3 button input without any problems.

Emacs on the other hand maps quite a few functions to the second and third chords of the mice. If you want to emulate a three button mouse in Emacs on OS X, a simple customization option will do the trick.

Using M-` from switching Emacs Frames on OSX

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The standard Emacs key-binding for moving to the other frame (‘other-frame’) is C-x 5 o. That’s quite a few key-strokes, and also does not match with the standard OS X key-mapping for switching windows, which is Command-`. On OS X, the Command key maps to Meta in Emacs.

However, this is easy to fix. Put the following code-fragment into your .emacs file:

(define-key icicle-mode-map [?\M-`] nil) # Only needed if you use Icicles
(global-set-key [?\M-`] 'other-frame) # This sets the key binding

Note that by default M-` invokes ‘tmm-menubar’ which can also be accessed via [F10]. Also, you do not need the first line (to undefine the key binding in Icicles) if you do not use that package.

Use the Capslock as a Control key on OSX for Emacs

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

This is an absolute must, unless you like contorting your fingers and risk RSI. It is also an easy thing to do on OS X.

You need to bring up the System preferences → Keyboard & Mouse

and then click the “Modifier Keys” to remap the Capslock to Control.

This is available on OS X 10.4 and later versions.

Using OSX Spotlight from within Emacs

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Emacs comes with a ‘locate’ command that uses the locate system command to find files within your system.

On OS X, it is easier to use Spotlight, which is trivial to enable in Emacs.

In your .emacs file, add the following code:

(setq locate-command "mdfind")

Now try: 
M-x locate <enter your search here>

Your search results will be displayed in a new Window.

Emacs 23 is finally released!

Fri, 31 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Hurray! The latest version of the Emacs Operating system … erm text editor has been released today. The new version is at 23.1 and has a lot of goodies packed. The three features I am looking forward to the most are:

Native transparency
Easy sizing of the font display via C-x C-+ and C-x C–
Full unicode support!!

The third one is going to be most useful in the long run - with an easy ability to use the editor for texts in my native language and script. MULE was a workable option - but clunky compared to the solution in this release.

Some useful Emacs Links

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Found an interesting Emacs blog with lots of tips and tricks, and  is run by Ryan McGeary. The entry for running Emacs on OS X is useful. Ryan recommends the Carbon  Emacs package, which is a pre-packaged version of the GNU Emacs version  22, and contains a ton of extra packages not available in the CVS Version. I personally use the latest Gnu Emacs Version 22 from the CVS repository, and compile  the application manually (well, via a cron job actually) every month or so, to keep up with the  latest developer changes being made in the code-repository itself (which - BTW - can be tracked via  the Emacs devel newsgroup), and prefer to manually setup the packages I need. Apart from the literally thousands of site on the net dealing with Emacs, one  wiki Site I can whole-heartily recommend is the Emacs Wiki:  http://emacswiki.org/, a fantastic resource on Emacs of all  varieties, and catering users from newbies through über-geeks.

Using Emacs and Markdown for Wordpress posting

Sat, 21 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

While setting up this site (which is based on Wordpress), I was evaluating  a few offline blog editors, and came upon MarsEdit and Ecto - both of which seem to be well-accepted commercial blog editors in the Mac  world. Both allow easy setup of the blog configurations, have a hassle-free  configuration, and allow a mail-inbox like access to previous posts. My needs for the offline blogging tool are:

Support Wordpress (obviously)
Support formatting in Markdown (the default Wordpress formatting is atrocious). Note that you will need to enable Markdown syntax on your blog by using any of the plugins available for Wordpress.
Provide easy access to prior posts
Have a decent text editor built-in
Provide at least a subset of my current editing muscle-memory

However, I happen to be a Emacs fanatic, and perform majority of my day-to-day computing tasks in that tool (another post on this later). So I googled around a bit for the current state of blogging using Emacs, and voila! EmacsWiki pointed to the weblogger mode, which supports Wordpress, and also handles Markdown formatting easily with the markdown mode. And to top it off, the code is open-source, which means that I can tinker and change the functionality when needed.