middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Perry Wagle]

I have a number of tools (like proof general) that I need to use, so I
really need to switch from years of xemacs to emacs.

But.

Using isearch on highlighted regions of text is way too clumsy in
emacs.


In xemacs, if I double-mouse-1 over some words with my right hand on
the mouse, and press control s with my left hand, then I can press
middle mouse with my right hand, which is still on the mouse, to paste
into the minibuffer.

In emacs, if I do the same, the isearch in the minibuffer IS ABORTED
and the highlighted region is pasted wherever the mouse happens to be
now.

In emacs, ESC y is wrong because it takes too long, requires both
hands for me to do accurately, and requires I take my right hand off
the mouse, and return it.

In emacs, moving the mouse cursor into the minibuffer and then
mouse-2'ing is wrong because it takes too long and is too hard to do
rapidly.

In this situation, all keyboard events are already going to the
minibuffer.  Having an option for people like me to have it also trap
mouse buttons seems like a good thing, especially with gesture mice
making the one-button mouse metaphor even more completely obsolete.
It IS aborting the isearch, so purity arguments don't hold here.  This
is a human factors issue, and emacs is losing.

I've tried a couple times to have this conversation, and most people
say "don't use the mouse".  Well, if the mouse is treated by emacs
(and not xemacs, for example), its no wonder that emacs people don't
use the mouse.  Its been rendered useless.

I want to make my mouse useful.  I use it a lot.  And I use the above
idiom a lot.


Apparently, I'm going to have to do this myself, unless someone else
sees my light this time.  What's the best way to do it?  I have the
feeling I'm fighting the foundations of emacs to try to funnel mouse
button events into the minibuffer.

Thanks for whatever help, hints, and guidance you can give me!

-- Perry

Re: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[XeCycle]

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Perry Wagle <wagle@mac.com> writes:

> I have a number of tools (like proof general) that I need to use, so I
> really need to switch from years of xemacs to emacs.
>
> But.
>
> Using isearch on highlighted regions of text is way too clumsy in
> emacs.
>
>
> In xemacs, if I double-mouse-1 over some words with my right hand on
> the mouse, and press control s with my left hand, then I can press
> middle mouse with my right hand, which is still on the mouse, to paste
> into the minibuffer.
>
> In emacs, if I do the same, the isearch in the minibuffer IS ABORTED
> and the highlighted region is pasted wherever the mouse happens to be
> now.

So you want to search the word at point, right?  Try C-s C-w.  If you
need more, just press C-w more.

> In emacs, ESC y is wrong because it takes too long, requires both
> hands for me to do accurately, and requires I take my right hand off
> the mouse, and return it.
>
> In emacs, moving the mouse cursor into the minibuffer and then
> mouse-2'ing is wrong because it takes too long and is too hard to do
> rapidly.
>
> In this situation, all keyboard events are already going to the
> minibuffer.  Having an option for people like me to have it also trap
> mouse buttons seems like a good thing, especially with gesture mice
> making the one-button mouse metaphor even more completely obsolete.
> It IS aborting the isearch, so purity arguments don't hold here.  This
> is a human factors issue, and emacs is losing.
>
> I've tried a couple times to have this conversation, and most people
> say "don't use the mouse".  Well, if the mouse is treated by emacs
> (and not xemacs, for example), its no wonder that emacs people don't
> use the mouse.  Its been rendered useless.
>
> I want to make my mouse useful.  I use it a lot.  And I use the above
> idiom a lot.

I suggest throwing away your mouse.

Some hints: Use isearch extensively.  Jump to somewhere with C-s (or
C-r), and after you finished your edits there, jump back with C-u C-SPC
--- you may press it more if it failed.

>
> Apparently, I'm going to have to do this myself, unless someone else
> sees my light this time.  What's the best way to do it?  I have the
> feeling I'm fighting the foundations of emacs to try to funnel mouse
> button events into the minibuffer.
>
> Thanks for whatever help, hints, and guidance you can give me!
>
> -- Perry
>
>
>

-- 
Carl Lei (XeCycle)
Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
OpenPGP public key: 7795E591
Fingerprint: 1FB6 7F1F D45D F681 C845 27F7 8D71 8EC4 7795 E591

[-- Attachment #2: Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 489 bytes --]

Re: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Stefan Monnier]

> Using isearch on highlighted regions of text is way too clumsy in Emacs.

You could try

  (define-key isearch-mode-map [mouse-2] 'isearch-yank-x-selection)


-- Stefan

Re: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Perry Wagle]

On Oct 25, 2011, at 3:33 AM, XeCycle wrote:

> Perry Wagle <wagle@mac.com> writes:
> 
>> I have a number of tools (like proof general) that I need to use, so I
>> really need to switch from years of xemacs to emacs.
>> 
>> But.
>> 
>> Using isearch on highlighted regions of text is way too clumsy in
>> emacs.
>> 
>> 
>> In xemacs, if I double-mouse-1 over some words with my right hand on
>> the mouse, and press control s with my left hand, then I can press
>> middle mouse with my right hand, which is still on the mouse, to paste
>> into the minibuffer.
>> 
>> In emacs, if I do the same, the isearch in the minibuffer IS ABORTED
>> and the highlighted region is pasted wherever the mouse happens to be
>> now.
> 
> So you want to search the word at point, right?  Try C-s C-w.  If you
> need more, just press C-w more.

No, I have something in my mouse-2 paste buffer, one way or another.

Also, I can double mouse-1 anywhere in a word.  Emacs wants me to be
more precise, by going to the beginning.

The mouse is not a precise instrument.  Rather, its a fast one, used properly.

>> In emacs, ESC y is wrong because it takes too long, requires both
>> hands for me to do accurately, and requires I take my right hand off
>> the mouse, and return it.
>> 
>> In emacs, moving the mouse cursor into the minibuffer and then
>> mouse-2'ing is wrong because it takes too long and is too hard to do
>> rapidly.
>> 
>> In this situation, all keyboard events are already going to the
>> minibuffer.  Having an option for people like me to have it also trap
>> mouse buttons seems like a good thing, especially with gesture mice
>> making the one-button mouse metaphor even more completely obsolete.
>> It IS aborting the isearch, so purity arguments don't hold here.  This
>> is a human factors issue, and emacs is losing.
>> 
>> I've tried a couple times to have this conversation, and most people
>> say "don't use the mouse".  Well, if the mouse is treated by emacs
>> (and not xemacs, for example), its no wonder that emacs people don't
>> use the mouse.  Its been rendered useless.
>> 
>> I want to make my mouse useful.  I use it a lot.  And I use the above
>> idiom a lot.
> 
> I suggest throwing away your mouse.

I suggest learning to use your mouse effectively with a real GUI.  Then come
back and make more refined suggestions.

> Some hints: Use isearch extensively.  Jump to somewhere with C-s (or
> C-r), and after you finished your edits there, jump back with C-u C-SPC
> --- you may press it more if it failed.

As I said above, the stuff gets into my mouse-2 paste buffer in a number of
ways.  I make no sense of the above.  It doesn't apply.

>> Apparently, I'm going to have to do this myself, unless someone else
>> sees my light this time.  What's the best way to do it?  I have the
>> feeling I'm fighting the foundations of emacs to try to funnel mouse
>> button events into the minibuffer.
>> 
>> Thanks for whatever help, hints, and guidance you can give me!

With a little help from #emacs, I got isearch.el to do what I want, by telling it 
to NOT abort itself if mouse-2 is pressed outside the minibuffer.  But now it 
drags the highlighted region all over the place when I keep pressing control s.

>> 
>> -- Perry
>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
> -- 
> Carl Lei (XeCycle)
> Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
> OpenPGP public key: 7795E591
> Fingerprint: 1FB6 7F1F D45D F681 C845 27F7 8D71 8EC4 7795 E591

Re: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[XeCycle]

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Perry Wagle <wagle@mac.com> writes:

[...]

>> So you want to search the word at point, right?  Try C-s C-w.  If you
>> need more, just press C-w more.
>
> No, I have something in my mouse-2 paste buffer, one way or another.

Hmm, Emacs does have some problems with X primary selection.

> Also, I can double mouse-1 anywhere in a word.  Emacs wants me to be
> more precise, by going to the beginning.

If you don't mind writing some Elisp, it's easy.  After all there's
built-in M-h, you can refer to that.

> The mouse is not a precise instrument.  Rather, its a fast one, used
> properly.

You're right, but how do you define "properly"?  I believe that's not my
way of moving and clicking, it should be what I use it for.

[...]

>> I suggest throwing away your mouse.
>
> I suggest learning to use your mouse effectively with a real GUI.
> Then come back and make more refined suggestions.

I won't bother to learn more about mouse using, but here's the more
refined suggestion:

In GNU Emacs, use keyboard more, mouse less.  As for me, I use mouse to
drag the windows for resizing and moving, and when it's sometimes
confused by the primary selection.  If you're very annoyed when dealing
X primary selection, you can write some Elisp to insert the primary
selection at point, perhaps with an external tool like `xsel'.

>> Some hints: Use isearch extensively.  Jump to somewhere with C-s (or
>> C-r), and after you finished your edits there, jump back with C-u C-SPC
>> --- you may press it more if it failed.
>
> As I said above, the stuff gets into my mouse-2 paste buffer in a number of
> ways.  I make no sense of the above.  It doesn't apply.

Sorry, I have the prejudice that one who uses mouse a lot will use mouse
to move around in the buffer.  If you don't do that, please ignore
these.

>>> Apparently, I'm going to have to do this myself, unless someone else
>>> sees my light this time.  What's the best way to do it?  I have the
>>> feeling I'm fighting the foundations of emacs to try to funnel mouse
>>> button events into the minibuffer.

If you're interested in mouse in Emacs, you can help extending it.  In
this case, you don't need to hack the core of Emacs yet.

>>> Thanks for whatever help, hints, and guidance you can give me!
>
> With a little help from #emacs, I got isearch.el to do what I want, by
> telling it to NOT abort itself if mouse-2 is pressed outside the
> minibuffer.  But now it drags the highlighted region all over the
> place when I keep pressing control s.

Don't know about this, since I don't know what you did exactly.

-- 
Carl Lei (XeCycle)
Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
OpenPGP public key: 7795E591
Fingerprint: 1FB6 7F1F D45D F681 C845 27F7 8D71 8EC4 7795 E591

[-- Attachment #2: Type: application/pgp-signature, Size: 489 bytes --]

Re: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Perry Wagle]

New comments, way at the bottom.

On Oct 25, 2011, at 10:23 PM, XeCycle wrote:

> Perry Wagle <wagle@mac.com> writes:
> 
> [...]
> 
>>> So you want to search the word at point, right?  Try C-s C-w.  If you
>>> need more, just press C-w more.
>> 
>> No, I have something in my mouse-2 paste buffer, one way or another.
> 
> Hmm, Emacs does have some problems with X primary selection.
> 
>> Also, I can double mouse-1 anywhere in a word.  Emacs wants me to be
>> more precise, by going to the beginning.
> 
> If you don't mind writing some Elisp, it's easy.  After all there's
> built-in M-h, you can refer to that.
> 
>> The mouse is not a precise instrument.  Rather, its a fast one, used
>> properly.
> 
> You're right, but how do you define "properly"?  I believe that's not my
> way of moving and clicking, it should be what I use it for.
> 
> [...]
> 
>>> I suggest throwing away your mouse.
>> 
>> I suggest learning to use your mouse effectively with a real GUI.
>> Then come back and make more refined suggestions.
> 
> I won't bother to learn more about mouse using, but here's the more
> refined suggestion:
> 
> In GNU Emacs, use keyboard more, mouse less.  As for me, I use mouse to
> drag the windows for resizing and moving, and when it's sometimes
> confused by the primary selection.  If you're very annoyed when dealing
> X primary selection, you can write some Elisp to insert the primary
> selection at point, perhaps with an external tool like `xsel'.
> 
>>> Some hints: Use isearch extensively.  Jump to somewhere with C-s (or
>>> C-r), and after you finished your edits there, jump back with C-u C-SPC
>>> --- you may press it more if it failed.
>> 
>> As I said above, the stuff gets into my mouse-2 paste buffer in a number of
>> ways.  I make no sense of the above.  It doesn't apply.
> 
> Sorry, I have the prejudice that one who uses mouse a lot will use mouse
> to move around in the buffer.  If you don't do that, please ignore
> these.
> 
>>>> Apparently, I'm going to have to do this myself, unless someone else
>>>> sees my light this time.  What's the best way to do it?  I have the
>>>> feeling I'm fighting the foundations of emacs to try to funnel mouse
>>>> button events into the minibuffer.
> 
> If you're interested in mouse in Emacs, you can help extending it.  In
> this case, you don't need to hack the core of Emacs yet.
> 
>>>> Thanks for whatever help, hints, and guidance you can give me!
>> 
>> With a little help from #emacs, I got isearch.el to do what I want, by
>> telling it to NOT abort itself if mouse-2 is pressed outside the
>> minibuffer.  But now it drags the highlighted region all over the
>> place when I keep pressing control s.
> 
> Don't know about this, since I don't know what you did exactly.

Here's my mods to isearch.el in emacs 23.2.1.  I commented out the lines
I didn't want and added the transient-mark-mode to *INCORRECTLY*
disable the highlighting (that is, I think I need to do it differently):

(defun isearch-mouse-2 (click)
  "Handle mouse-2 in Isearch mode.
For a click in the echo area, invoke `isearch-yank-x-selection'.
Otherwise invoke whatever the calling mouse-2 command sequence
is bound to outside of Isearch."
  (interactive "e")
;;  (let* ((w (posn-window (event-start click)))
;;	 (overriding-terminal-local-map nil)
;;	 (binding (key-binding (this-command-keys-vector) t)))
;;    (if (and (window-minibuffer-p w)
;;	     (not (minibuffer-window-active-p w))) ; in echo area
	(isearch-yank-x-selection)
	(transient-mark-mode)
;;      (when (functionp binding)
;;	(call-interactively binding)))))
)

> 
> -- 
> Carl Lei (XeCycle)
> Department of Physics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
> OpenPGP public key: 7795E591
> Fingerprint: 1FB6 7F1F D45D F681 C845 27F7 8D71 8EC4 7795 E591

Re: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Perry Wagle]

Hi Again --

I'm trying to use the mouse to paste to the isearch prompt.

The following mod lets me highlight some text with my mouse (or
otherwise have it in my kill buffer), then press control-s with my
left hand, then middle mouse with my right hand to paste the
kill-buffer (?) into the mini-buffer where isearch is waiting for a
string to search for.  

This is without the tedium of carefully moving the mouse way down to
the mini-buffer where I don't even want to look, much less navigate
the mouse to.  My peripheral vision is good enough to see that
something is happening down there, which is all the information I
need.


It's got a problem that I need advice on:

(defun isearch-mouse-2 (click)
 "Handle mouse-2 in Isearch mode.
For a click in the echo area, invoke `isearch-yank-x-selection'.
Otherwise invoke whatever the calling mouse-2 command sequence
is bound to outside of Isearch."
 (interactive "e")
;;  (let* ((w (posn-window (event-start click)))
;;	 (overriding-terminal-local-map nil)
;;	 (binding (key-binding (this-command-keys-vector) t)))
;;    (if (and (window-minibuffer-p w)
;;	     (not (minibuffer-window-active-p w))) ; in echo area
	(isearch-yank-x-selection)
	(transient-mark-mode)
;;      (when (functionp binding)
;;	  (call-interactively binding)))))
)

The problem is with the call to transient-mark-mode.  Its my first
attempt to fix what I think is a runaway mark-region.

If I don't have it, then varying regions of text become highlighted
when I move around with repeated pressings of control-s.

If I do have it, then I get the other extreme of closing down
transient mark mode entirely.

The advice I need is this: I think this should work similarly to how
keyboard bound people use it.  I think that there is some intention
that control-s SHOULD move the highlighted region around.  But if I
double click on or otherwise highlight a region so it can be pasted to
isearch mini-buffer, that SHOULDN'T set the mark (I think) for
afterwards, when you are control-s'ing around.

Is this right?  What do I want to do to be consistent with the rest of
emacs?  How do I do "the right thing"?  Do I start using the mark-ring
or something?

In short, I don't know what all behavior I need to preserve to do this
correctly.

Thanks!

-- Perry


PS.  If you hate your mouse, please refrain from saying how to do this
without the mouse.  Its been done, to excess, thanks.  The question is
"how to integrate the mouse cleanly and consistently in a small way
into emacs?".

RE: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Drew Adams]

Try this, Perry: 

(defun isearch-mouse-2 (click)
 "..."
 (interactive "e")
 (isearch-yank-x-selection)
 (deactivate-mark t))

Re: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Perry Wagle]

Thanks!  As far as I can tell, the below does the right/consistent thing.

-- Perry

On Nov 10, 2011, at 12:53 PM, Drew Adams wrote:

> Try this, Perry: 
> 
> (defun isearch-mouse-2 (click)
> "..."
> (interactive "e")
> (isearch-yank-x-selection)
> (deactivate-mark t))
> 

Re: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Harry Putnam]

"Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

> Try this, Perry: 
>
> (defun isearch-mouse-2 (click)
>  "..."
>  (interactive "e")
>  (isearch-yank-x-selection)
>  (deactivate-mark t))

What is supposed to happen there?

Maybe I'm not understanding what Perry is trying to do.  As I
understood it, P would like to paste what ever is in highlighted
buffer on middle mouse, into C-s.

You mean while holding C-s with left hand right?  And you also assume
running emacs in X right?

After evaluating Drews code... if I hold down C-s and try to press
middle mouse... I see (in minibuffer) `C-mouse-down-2-' and a "text
properties" dialog box pops up with the first 4 items greyed out.  The
first active item says "Special properties"  and nothing is pasted
whatsoever.  I am in an elisp document if that matters. 

I don't mean to butt in here where a conversation that is actually
over my head is going on, but I too would like to be able to paste to
isearch with mid mouse as Perry describes.

Perry, I've long thought it should be easier to do what you describe,
but lacked the ability to explain the case as elegantly as you have.

So I'm trying to ride on your coattails and get a functionality I've
also hankered for.

RE: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Drew Adams]

> "Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:
> > Try this, Perry: 
> >
> > (defun isearch-mouse-2 (click)
> >  "..."
> >  (interactive "e")
> >  (isearch-yank-x-selection)
> >  (deactivate-mark t))
> 
> What is supposed to happen there?

1. Select text with mouse.
2. C-s.
3. Click `mouse-2'.

The selected text becomes the text to find (the search string), and the first
occurrence is sought/found.

It might not work for everyone in every Emacs version.  If your isearch.el
already has function `isearch-mouse-2', and if your mouse selection fills the X
selection, then it should work.  It should work in Emacs 24 with a graphic
display, for example.

> Maybe I'm not understanding what Perry is trying to do.  As I
> understood it, P would like to paste what ever is in highlighted
> buffer on middle mouse, into C-s.

He selects first, then hits `C-s', then clicks `mouse-2'. Otherwise, what you
say is what he's trying to do.

> You mean while holding C-s with left hand right?

No - see above.

> And you also assume running emacs in X right?

Yes, AFAIK.  Something needs to put the selected text into the X selection, so
that `isearch-yank-x-selection' can retrieve it.

Re: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Harry Putnam]

"Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

> 1. Select text with mouse.
> 2. C-s.
> 3. Click `mouse-2'.

Ahh cool, got it... it as the holding down of C-s which mid mouse that
queered it.

Re: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Harry Putnam]

"Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:

> 1. Select text with mouse.
> 2. C-s.
> 3. Click `mouse-2'.

PS - to previous post

Should that work in a read only buffer... like say, an article buffer
in gnus?  Seems like it should since it does not make changes.  And in
fact it does work in an info buffer which is also read only. 

It does not seem to work in a gnus `article' buffer, here.  It leaves
this in *Message* buffer:
  call-interactively: Buffer is read-only: #<buffer *Article gmane.emacs.help*>

Re: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Harry Putnam]

Harry Putnam <reader@newsguy.com> writes:

> "Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com> writes:
>
>> 1. Select text with mouse.
>> 2. C-s.
>> 3. Click `mouse-2'.
>
> Ahh cool, got it... it as the holding down of C-s which mid mouse that
                         ^ Gack, should say "was" 
> queered it.

RE: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Drew Adams]

> It does not seem to work in a gnus `article' buffer, here.  It leaves
> this in *Message* buffer: call-interactively: Buffer is read-only:
> #<buffer *Article gmane.emacs.help*>

Sorry, I don't use Gnus.
You or someone else who uses Gnus will need to debug that.

RE: middle mouse paste into isearch minibuffer

[Drew Adams]

FWIW, I added a version of this to Isearch+, after making some corrections for
setups (e.g. some setups on Windows) where `x-get-selection' returns nil instead
of a string.  A user option, `isearchp-mouse-2-flag' makes the behavior
optional.

http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/IsearchPlus#isearchp-mouse-2-flag