Global keymap not found

Global keymap not found

[Albrecht Mehl]

This is my first day with emacs and I am struggling with the manual.
At a certain point the key 'C-u' is used in an example ... but I do not 
know what command it is bound to as I am reading the manual not chapter 
by chapter, but look for topics important for me. So I look for the 
global key map. In 48.3.1 Keymaps the global keymap is mentioned, but no 
link to it given.

   Where can I find the global keymap?

This question seems to be quite simple compared to the other ones in 
this group, maybe it is embarassing to ask it; but better asking than 
not knowing how to go on.

A. Mehl
-- 
Albrecht Mehl	    |eBriefe an:mehlBEIfreundePUNKTtu-darmstadtPUNKTde
Veilchenweg 7       |Tel. (06151) 37 39 92
64291 Darmstadt, Germany|sehenswert - ungefähr 'Wir einsam im All'
  http://www.phrenopolis.com/perspective/solarsystem/index.html

Re: Global keymap not found

[Marco Wahl]

Hi!

Albrecht Mehl <AlbrechtMehl.spamgrab@iesy.net> writes:

> This is my first day with emacs and I am struggling with the manual.
> At a certain point the key 'C-u' is used in an example ... but I do
> not know what command it is bound to as I am reading the manual not
> chapter by chapter, but look for topics important for me.

C-u is special.  C-u is not bound to a command.  C-u is the prefix
argument.  It's a possibility to give an extra input to a command.

E.g. advance one line with 'C-n' and advance 10 lines with 'C-u 10 C-n'.

> So I look
> for the global key map. In 48.3.1 Keymaps the global keymap is
> mentioned, but no link to it given.
>
>   Where can I find the global keymap?

'The "global" keymap is the most important keymap because it is always
in effect.'  (49.3.1 Keymaps)

Possibly 'C-h b' helps you to find some key-bindings.

-- 
Marco Wahl
GPG: 0x49010A040A3AE6F2

Re: Global keymap not found

[Michael Heerdegen]

Marco Wahl <marcowahlsoft@gmail.com> writes:

> [...] C-u is not bound to a command. [...]

While this statement may help getting a basic understanding of using
Emacs, it is wrong: C-h k C-u tells you that C-u it is bound to the
command `universal-argument'.  It's even implemented in Lisp.


Michael.

Re: Global keymap not found

[Marco Wahl]

Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen@web.de> writes:

> Marco Wahl <marcowahlsoft@gmail.com> writes:
>
>> [...] C-u is not bound to a command. [...]
>
> While this statement may help getting a basic understanding of using
> Emacs, it is wrong: C-h k C-u tells you that C-u it is bound to the
> command `universal-argument'.  It's even implemented in Lisp.

Good to know.  Thanks for the correction!

Re: Global keymap not found

[Tassilo Horn]

Albrecht Mehl <AlbrechtMehl.spamgrab@iesy.net> writes:

Hi Albrecht,

> This is my first day with emacs and I am struggling with the manual.
> At a certain point the key 'C-u' is used in an example ... but I do
> not know what command it is bound to as I am reading the manual not
> chapter by chapter,

Welcome to Emacs which describes itself as self-documenting.  You can
always ask it to tell you what commant is bound to a given key using
`C-h k' followed by the key.

,----[ C-h k C-u ]
| C-u runs the command universal-argument (found in global-map), which is an
| interactive compiled Lisp function in ‘simple.el’.
| 
| It is bound to C-u.
| 
| (universal-argument)
| 
| Begin a numeric argument for the following command.
| Digits or minus sign following C-u make up the numeric argument.
| C-u following the digits or minus sign ends the argument.
| C-u without digits or minus sign provides 4 as argument.
| Repeating C-u without digits or minus sign
|  multiplies the argument by 4 each time.
| For some commands, just C-u by itself serves as a flag
| which is different in effect from any particular numeric argument.
| These commands include C-SPC and M-x start-kbd-macro.
`----

There are many other such commands describing different aspects of
emacs.  For an overview, just type `C-h C-h', the help for the help.

> but look for topics important for me. So I look for the global key
> map. In 48.3.1 Keymaps the global keymap is mentioned, but no link to
> it given.
>
>   Where can I find the global keymap?

You can use the `describe-variable' (C-h v) to get the value and
documentation for a variable such as `global-map'.  However, the value
of keymaps is not really meant for human consumption.  Instead, type
`C-h b' to get the list of all keybindings which are available in the
current buffer right now in the order of precedence.  Alternatively,
`C-h m' describes all the current major-mode and all minor-modes active
in the current buffer.  The description include also all the key
bindings.

> This question seems to be quite simple compared to the other ones in
> this group, maybe it is embarassing to ask it; but better asking than
> not knowing how to go on.

No, not embarassing at all.  Emacs given you everything you can possibly
want for helping yourself, so learning Emacs' interactive help system as
early as possible will save you hours over hours of google searches and
searches in the manual.  It is documented in

  (info "(emacs)Help") ;; <-- C-x C-e here!

You can copy that expression above somewhere into an emacs buffer, e.g.,
*scratch*, and press `C-x C-e' after the closing paren.  That will bring
you to the info docs on the help system.

Bye,
Tassilo

RE: Global keymap not found

[Drew Adams]

> >   Where can I find the global keymap?
> 
> You can use the `describe-variable' (C-h v) to get the value and
> documentation for a variable such as `global-map'.  However, the value
> of keymaps is not really meant for human consumption.  Instead, type
> `C-h b' to get the list of all keybindings which are available in the
> current buffer right now in the order of precedence.  Alternatively,
> `C-h m' describes all the current major-mode and all minor-modes active
> in the current buffer.  The description include also all the key
> bindings.

Helpful advice, and the right place to start.

> "the value of keymaps is not really meant for human consumption."

I don't think this "meant for" is intended by Emacs, but is just
an oversight.  In any case, I don't think it should be intended.

You can see the key bindings of a given keymap in a
human-readable form - the same form used by `C-h b', if you use
library `help-fns+.el'.
http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/download/help-fns%2b.el

The library provides command `describe-keymap', bound to
`C-h M-k'.  It prompts you for a keymap variable (such as
`global-map'), and then prints the map's key bindings, as
well as the documentation for the variable.

Re: Global keymap not found

[Albrecht Mehl]

I do thank for all replies, but ...

Am 07.10.2015 um 10:03 schrieb Albrecht Mehl:
> This is my first day with emacs and I am struggling with the manual.
> At a certain point the key 'C-u' is used in an example ... but I do not
> know what command it is bound to as I am reading the manual not chapter
> by chapter, but look for topics important for me. So I look for the
> global key map. In 48.3.1 Keymaps the global keymap is mentioned, but no
> link to it given.
>
>     Where can I find the global keymap?
>
> This question seems to be quite simple compared to the other ones in
> this group, maybe it is embarassing to ask it; but better asking than
> not knowing how to go on.
>
> A. Mehl

... they describe an unsatisfactory at least to me situation. The keys 
and the prefix keys are basic elements of emacs. They should be 
available in a reference list/table in a matter of seconds and the way 
to get them should be described and made open by a clickable link at the 
same place within 48.3.1 of the manual.

   Am I too exacting or is something missing in the manual?

A. Mehl

PS I hope that my English is not too bad and that someone can
    show me a quick way to get a complete keymap table. I do not
    need any information on the meaning of keys and prefix keys
    as I have understood that. So please just a few key strokes
    way to get the list.

-- 
Albrecht Mehl	    |eBriefe an:mehlBEIfreundePUNKTtu-darmstadtPUNKTde
Veilchenweg 7       |Tel. (06151) 37 39 92
64291 Darmstadt, Germany|sehenswert - ungefähr 'Wir einsam im All'
  http://www.phrenopolis.com/perspective/solarsystem/index.html

Re: Global keymap not found

[Michael Heerdegen]

Albrecht Mehl <AlbrechtMehl.spamgrab@iesy.net> writes:

> ... they describe an unsatisfactory at least to me situation. The keys
> and the prefix keys are basic elements of emacs. They should be
> available in a reference list/table in a matter of seconds and the way
> to get them should be described and made open by a clickable link at
> the same place within 48.3.1 of the manual.

C-h b is the thing you are looking for - scroll to section "Global
bindings" in its output.  It is mentioned in

    (info "(emacs) Misc Help")

btw lots of chapters before the one you cited.  Have
you tried C-h b?  What kind of information do you miss?

>   Am I too exacting or is something missing in the manual?

The chapter you cite is more of a kind that describes the underlying
concepts.  But I think I agree that it's kind of unsatisfactory to read
that when you don't know how to "look" at the map at this point.  Maybe
a link to (info "(emacs) Misc Help") could be added in
(info "(emacs) Key Bindings").

BTW there is no end user command (though it's easy to write one) that
shows the bindings of exactly one map.  The reason is probably that all
keymaps in effect are always merged to get a list of bindings, keymaps
with higher priority shadow bindings in keymaps with low priority  (the
global-map has a low priority btw), so there is only a command that
shows all bindings currently in effect combined - namely C-h b.


Regards,

Michael.

Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Albrecht Mehl]

Thank you very much for your reply.

Am 08.10.2015 um 10:53 schrieb Michael Heerdegen:
>  Have
> you tried C-h b?  What kind of information do you miss?

No I have not tried it as I had not been directaed to doing it.
The C-h b was just the thing I was looking for.

The manual should be readable selectively, i.e. one should find 
fundamental things at once after one has chosen in the table of context 
an interesting point. So I was - still am - interested in abbreviations, 
chose 48 and was stuck there.

A. Mehl

-- 
Albrecht Mehl	    |eBriefe an:mehlBEIfreundePUNKTtu-darmstadtPUNKTde
Veilchenweg 7       |Tel. (06151) 37 39 92
64291 Darmstadt, Germany|sehenswert - ungefähr 'Wir einsam im All'
  http://www.phrenopolis.com/perspective/solarsystem/index.html

Re: Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Loris Bennett]

Albrecht Mehl <AlbrechtMehl.spamgrab@iesy.net> writes:

> Thank you very much for your reply.
>
> Am 08.10.2015 um 10:53 schrieb Michael Heerdegen:
>>  Have
>> you tried C-h b?  What kind of information do you miss?
>
> No I have not tried it as I had not been directaed to doing it.
> The C-h b was just the thing I was looking for.

Marco Wahl wrote to you:

"Possibly 'C-h b' helps you to find some key-bindings."

> The manual should be readable selectively, i.e. one should find
> fundamental things at once after one has chosen in the table of
> context an interesting point. So I was - still am - interested in
> abbreviations, chose 48 and was stuck there.

Maybe Marco should have formulated his posting so that it could be read
selectively and still provide you with the information you were looking
for ...

Cheers,

Loris

-- 
This signature is currently under construction.

Re: Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Michael Heerdegen]

"Loris Bennett" <loris.bennett@fu-berlin.de> writes:

> Maybe Marco should have formulated his posting so that it could be
> read selectively and still provide you with the information you were
> looking for ...

If you are frustrated and spammed with internal details (whether C-u is
a command and such), it's understandable that you miss the essential
part.

@Marco: please consider making a bug report via M-x report-emacs-bug.
Adding a link to the manual should be acceptable and totally sufficient.


Regards,

Michael.

Re: Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Marco Wahl]

Michael Heerdegen <michael_heerdegen@web.de> writes:

> "Loris Bennett" <loris.bennett@fu-berlin.de> writes:
>
>> Maybe Marco should have formulated his posting so that it could be
>> read selectively and still provide you with the information you were
>> looking for ...
>
> If you are frustrated and spammed with internal details (whether C-u is
> a command and such), it's understandable that you miss the essential
> part.
>
> @Marco: please consider making a bug report via M-x report-emacs-bug.
> Adding a link to the manual should be acceptable and totally sufficient.

Ok, thanks everyone.

There is now bug#21653: Add a link to 'C-h b' in section 'Customizing Key
Bindings'.Keymaps

Hopefully this is a step towards better selectively reading.


Best regards,
-- 
Marco Wahl
GPG: 0x49010A040A3AE6F2

RE: Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Drew Adams]

> >  Have you tried C-h b?  What kind of information do you miss?
> 
> No I have not tried it as I had not been directaed to doing it.
> The C-h b was just the thing I was looking for.

Welcome to Emacs.  Start with `C-h C-h'.  Learn its many corners.
There you will see, near the top (2nd line in the menu):

b           Display all key bindings.

> The manual should be readable selectively, i.e. one should find
> fundamental things at once after one has chosen in the table of
> context an interesting point. So I was - still am - interested in
> abbreviations, chose 48 and was stuck there.

`i' is your friend in Info.  (Or menubar Info, submenu Index.)

Again, for best use of Info (reading manuals), start at the beginning:
the Info manual, not the Emacs manual.

Re: Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Albrecht Mehl]

Am 08.10.2015 um 16:36 schrieb Albrecht Mehl:
> Thank you very much for your reply.
>
> Am 08.10.2015 um 10:53 schrieb Michael Heerdegen:
>>  Have
>> you tried C-h b?  What kind of information do you miss?
>
> No I have not tried it as I had not been directaed to doing it.
> The C-h b was just the thing I was looking for.
>
> The manual should be readable selectively, i.e. one should find
> fundamental things at once after one has chosen in the table of context
> an interesting point. So I was - still am - interested in abbreviations,
> chose 48 and was stuck there.

Maybe people here think 'A beginner should be moderate and not ask for 
improvements' so that I get here a bad image. Nevertheless I insist

   - Fundamental things should be available at once and not after
     hopping from one point to another to another ...
   - They should be available in the manual, too, not just in the
     info manual
   - The manual should have three appendices - there might be other
     candidates -

       1. Alphabetical list of all global (prefix) keys
       2. Alph. list of all global commands
       3. List of all global commands grouped according to scope
   - The chapters in the manual are numerated within the text. So
     they should be in the table of context as well. People
     write 'Look at 49.1' e.g. and one wonders where this is.

@Loris Bennett: What Wahl had written was exactly what I had been
                 looking for. That's why I thanked him.

A. Mehl
-- 
Albrecht Mehl	    |eBriefe an:mehlBEIfreundePUNKTtu-darmstadtPUNKTde
Veilchenweg 7       |Tel. (06151) 37 39 92
64291 Darmstadt, Germany|sehenswert - ungefähr 'Wir einsam im All'
  http://www.phrenopolis.com/perspective/solarsystem/index.html

Re: Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Tassilo Horn]

Albrecht Mehl <AlbrechtMehl.spamgrab@iesy.net> writes:

> Maybe people here think 'A beginner should be moderate and not ask for
> improvements' so that I get here a bad image. Nevertheless I insist
>
>   - Fundamental things should be available at once and not after
>     hopping from one point to another to another ...

Beginners are invited to do the interactive tutorial (C-h t) first.

>   - They should be available in the manual, too, not just in the
>     info manual

The info manual is the manual.  What other manual are you referring to?

>   - The manual should have three appendices - there might be other
>     candidates -
>
>       1. Alphabetical list of all global (prefix) keys

That would be pointless.  I mean, that would be a printed version of
`C-h b' in a buffer in `fundamental-mode' except that the latter
actually reflects the bindings that are really available to you whereas
a list in the manual could at best reflect the bindings of the
distributed emacs.  That is, your system admin might have installed more
packages that add/change standard bindings, you yourself might have
customizations, etc., etc.

>       2. Alph. list of all global commands

Type `M-x TAB', there you have your list of all commands (and all
commands are "global").  The most important commands are all documented
also in the manual, and there's an alphabetical index, too.

    (info "(emacs)Command Index") <-- C-x C-e here!

>       3. List of all global commands grouped according to scope

What do you mean with scope?  Emacs Lisp has only global scope when you
mean the programming term.  We just use poor man's namespaces by using
unique prefixes for all commands and variables of a package.

>   - The chapters in the manual are numerated within the text. So
>     they should be in the table of context as well. People
>     write 'Look at 49.1' e.g. and one wonders where this is.

Indeed, that would make sense.

Bye,
Tassilo

Re: Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Emanuel Berg]

Tassilo Horn <tsdh@gnu.org> writes:

> Beginners are invited to do the interactive tutorial
> (C-h t) first.

...and to do everything at once, the more and longer
the better! Here, not the least, beginners are invited
to roam like Jubilee and Wolvie once on I-76...

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

Re: Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Emanuel Berg]

Albrecht Mehl <AlbrechtMehl.spamgrab@iesy.net> writes:

> Maybe people here think 'A beginner should be
> moderate and not ask for improvements' so that I get
> here a bad image.

Not everyone thinks so.

This people thinks a beginner should be as active as
possible with as much energy and commitment and
persistence as possible, because time + activity is
the best, perhaps only, way to learn.

The best activity is when the beginner tries to act
like an expert. If you act like an expert, that is
what you become, sooner most often rather than later.

But this works the other way as well. If a person acts
like a moron addicted to his/her iThing, that is what
you get and this doesn't even take time...

Also a note on beginners vs. experts. Emacs isn't like
bike mechanics or martial arts. It isn't a craft
like that. Or actually, it is more than a craft - it
is a window to creativity. One may focus on the craft,
the creativity, anything in between, or everything
at once. But an "Emacs expert" is somewhat
a contradiction in terms. Or at least it is much
better to be a Unix, Lisp, or C expert, with enough
Emacs knowledge to have Gnus and w3m up and running
and to tweak Emacs to work full cylinders for his
particular purposes.

> - Fundamental things should be available at once and
> not after hopping from one point to another to
> another ... - They should be available in the
> manual, too, not just in the info manual - The
> manual should have three appendices - there might be
> other candidates -

Acting like a beginner - general discussion..
Blaha blaha.

> 1. Alphabetical list of all global (prefix) keys 2.
> Alph. list of all global commands 3. List of all
> global commands grouped according to scope - The
> chapters in the manual are numerated within the
> text. So they should be in the table of context as
> well. People write 'Look at 49.1' e.g. and one
> wonders where this is.

Much better. Also be 100% specific and to the point:
e.g., "the fundamental thing F should be available at
point P..."

As you've noticed, this refers to the form only.
I'm not involved in this particular issue.

Good luck!

-- 
underground experts united
http://user.it.uu.se/~embe8573

RE: Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Drew Adams]

> Maybe people here think 'A beginner should be moderate and not ask
> for improvements' so that I get here a bad image. Nevertheless I insist
> 
>    - Fundamental things should be available at once and not after
>      hopping from one point to another to another ...
>    - They should be available in the manual, too, not just in the
>      info manual
>    - The manual should have three appendices - there might be other
>      candidates -
>        1. Alphabetical list of all global (prefix) keys
>        2. Alph. list of all global commands
>        3. List of all global commands grouped according to scope
>    - The chapters in the manual are numerated within the text. So
>      they should be in the table of context as well. People
>      write 'Look at 49.1' e.g. and one wonders where this is.

This is an Emacs help list.  Questions about how to use Emacs
are welcome.

To suggest an improvement to Emacs, including its manuals, use
`M-x report-emacs-bug' (in Emacs).

For general discussion about Emacs development, including about
improving Emacs, use mailing list `emacs-devel@gnu.org'.

Re: Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Eli Zaretskii]

> From: Albrecht Mehl <AlbrechtMehl.spamgrab@iesy.net>
> Date: Fri, 9 Oct 2015 11:07:21 +0200
> 
> Nevertheless I insist
> 
>    - Fundamental things should be available at once and not after
>      hopping from one point to another to another ...

They are.  The Emacs User Manual starts by explaining them in a
methodical way.  It's a lot of stuff to digest, because Emacs is very
large, but if you read enough of the material at the beginning of the
manual, Chapters 1 through 7, you get to know those basics.

>    - The manual should have three appendices - there might be other
>      candidates -
> 
>        1. Alphabetical list of all global (prefix) keys
>        2. Alph. list of all global commands
>        3. List of all global commands grouped according to scope

Such lists would not be useful in Emacs, for 2 main reasons:

 . They would be extremely long lists, so finding anything there would
   be very hard, if at all practical.

 . The lists change depending on what optional packages are loaded.
   Some optional packages are loaded because other packages request
   them automatically on as-needed basis, so these changes can happen
   out of user control.

For these reasons, Emacs provides many help commands that allow you to
look up commands, prefixes, etc. dynamically as needed, and provide
filtering facilities so that the lists you get are relatively short
and focused on the features you are interested in.  I suggest to use
those help commands first, and only go to the manual for further
details, if the built-in documentation is not detailed enough or
leaves some things uncovered.

>    - The chapters in the manual are numerated within the text. So
>      they should be in the table of context as well. People
>      write 'Look at 49.1' e.g. and one wonders where this is.

There's no Table Of Contents in the on-line manual, only in the
printed manual.  The Master Menu (which is what I believe you referred
to) does not show chapter and section names, it shows the node names.

It could make sense to have the TOC produced in the Info format as
well, but that's a feature you/someone should ask the Texinfo
developers to provide, as the programs which produce the manuals are
maintained by another project, not by Emacs.

Re: Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Michael Heerdegen]

Albrecht Mehl <AlbrechtMehl.spamgrab@iesy.net> writes:

>   - The chapters in the manual are numerated within the text. So
>     they should be in the table of context as well. People
>     write 'Look at 49.1' e.g. and one wonders where this is.

Providing such a reference is not nice.  You can find it via isearch
(C-s) nonetheless, which in info is not limited to the current manual
page but spans the whole complete manual.

A certain kink of standard is to write references to the manual like
this:

    (info "(emacs) Easy Customization")                    (1)

This is actually a piece of Elisp code, so you can e.g. put the cursor
after it and hit C-x C-e to get to the page.

You can produce (1) and insert it into the kill-ring conveniently from
within the info viewer via typing M-0 w, and then paste it into any
message.


Regards,

Michael.

Re: Thanks Re: Global keymap not found

[Kaushal Modi]

To add to the `C-x C-e` method, the below will do the same if the user is
not already in an Info buffer,

C-h i g (emacs) Easy Customization

If the user is already in an Info buffer, they need to just do

g (emacs) Easy Customization

In any info node, the node name is copied using `w`, "(emacs) Easy
Customization" in above case.

Of course, if the user is not familiar with info nodes and navigating them,
they should first start with `C-h i h`. That will launch the info manual on
how to use info.
On Oct 10, 2015 5:33 AM, "Michael Heerdegen" <michael_heerdegen@web.de>
wrote:

> Albrecht Mehl <AlbrechtMehl.spamgrab@iesy.net> writes:
>
> >   - The chapters in the manual are numerated within the text. So
> >     they should be in the table of context as well. People
> >     write 'Look at 49.1' e.g. and one wonders where this is.
>
> Providing such a reference is not nice.  You can find it via isearch
> (C-s) nonetheless, which in info is not limited to the current manual
> page but spans the whole complete manual.
>
> A certain kink of standard is to write references to the manual like
> this:
>
>     (info "(emacs) Easy Customization")                    (1)
>
> This is actually a piece of Elisp code, so you can e.g. put the cursor
> after it and hit C-x C-e to get to the page.
>
> You can produce (1) and insert it into the kill-ring conveniently from
> within the info viewer via typing M-0 w, and then paste it into any
> message.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Michael.
>
>
>