Newbie questions

Newbie questions

[ocelot1970]

I have just started exploring emacs and elisp. Ergo, I have some
questions.

1) Is there a way to see what a keyboard shortcut is currently bound
to? Before I write my own programs making my own, I want to make sure
I'm not unbinding something really important.

2) Is there a way to see a list of all functions that can possible be
bound to keymappings, the list of files they appear in, and their
descriptions?

3) Are there any key combos with meta and ctrl that are not allowed
when creating my own key bindings? Any reason why I wouldn't use C-q,
C-w, C-e, etc. just go through the keyboard and use what's not used yet?

Re: Newbie questions

[Peter Dyballa]

Am 24.12.2006 um 17:00 schrieb ocelot1970@gmail.com:

> 1) Is there a way to see what a keyboard shortcut is currently bound
> to? Before I write my own programs making my own, I want to make sure
> I'm not unbinding something really important.

C-h b

>
> 2) Is there a way to see a list of all functions that can possible be
> bound to keymappings, the list of files they appear in, and their
> descriptions?

Approximately C-h a TAB

Many functions of that list are not interactive, so they might fail  
to function.

>
> 3) Are there any key combos with meta and ctrl that are not allowed
> when creating my own key bindings? Any reason why I wouldn't use C-q,
> C-w, C-e, etc. just go through the keyboard and use what's not used  
> yet?

Those your window manager catches. C-q is used in GNU Emacs to escape  
things. For example it works hardly otherwise than via C-q TAB to add  
a TAB as TAB into a list of characters you are going to search for  ...

--
Greetings

   Pete

"Give a man a fish, and you've fed him for a day. Teach him to fish,  
and you've depleted the lake."

Re: Newbie questions

[Michaël Cadilhac]

[-- Attachment #1.1: Type: text/plain, Size: 1506 bytes --]

Peter Dyballa <Peter_Dyballa@Web.DE> writes:

> Am 24.12.2006 um 17:00 schrieb ocelot1970@gmail.com:
>
>> 1) Is there a way to see what a keyboard shortcut is currently bound
>> to? Before I write my own programs making my own, I want to make sure
>> I'm not unbinding something really important.
>
> C-h b

Or, for a specific keyboard shortcut, C-h k.

>> 2) Is there a way to see a list of all functions that can possible be
>> bound to keymappings, the list of files they appear in, and their
>> descriptions?
>
> Approximately C-h a TAB
>
> Many functions of that list are not interactive, so they might fail to
> function.

I would have advised M-x TAB, then C-h f <function-name> RET. (Note
that the filename is an hyperlink)

>> 3) Are there any key combos with meta and ctrl that are not allowed
>> when creating my own key bindings? Any reason why I wouldn't use C-q,
>> C-w, C-e, etc. just go through the keyboard and use what's not used
>> yet?

Remember that « The prefix key `C-c' normally contains mode-specific
commands » if you plan to write a major mode.

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Re: Newbie questions

[David Vanderschel]

<ocelot1970@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1166976047.172487.194790@42g2000cwt.googlegroups.com...
> 1) Is there a way to see what a keyboard shortcut is currently bound
> to? Before I write my own programs making my own, I want to make sure
> I'm not unbinding something really important.

Some useful help functions:

What does this key-sequence do?

    C-h k runs the command describe-key
       which is an interactive compiled Lisp function in `help'.
    (describe-key KEY)

    Display documentation of the function invoked by KEY.  KEY is a string.


What key-sequence invokes this function?

    C-h w runs the command where-is
       which is an interactive compiled Lisp function in `help'.
    (where-is DEFINITION &optional INSERT)

    Print message listing key sequences that invoke the command DEFINITION.
    Argument is a command definition, usually a symbol with a function
definition.
    If INSERT (the prefix arg) is non-nil, insert the
    message in the buffer.


What special keys are bound in the current mode?

    C-h m runs the command describe-mode
       which is an interactive compiled Lisp function in `help'.
    (describe-mode)

    Display documentation of current major mode and minor modes.
    The major mode description comes first, followed by the minor modes,
    each on a separate page.

    For this to work correctly for a minor mode, the mode's indicator
variable
    (listed in `minor-mode-alist') must also be a function whose
documentation
    describes the minor mode.


> 2) Is there a way to see a list of all functions that can possible be
> bound to keymappings, the list of files they appear in, and their
> descriptions?

The list is bigger than you would want to see all at
once.  There is really no limit, as you can create
your own functions as well.  In almost all cases, the
detailed documentation for an emacs package is in the
source code.  Just browse the emacs/lisp/ library to
get an idea of the magnitude of the problem.  But most
of the things you would be interested in are also
documented the Emacs info file:  C-h i.  I learned
Emacs by reading the info file.


> 3) Are there any key combos with meta and ctrl that are not allowed
> when creating my own key bindings? Any reason why I wouldn't use C-q,
> C-w, C-e, etc. just go through the keyboard and use what's not used yet?

Virtually all of the alphabetic keys with either the
control or meta modifier are already assigned for
something.  You can usurp the default bindings; but I
would not recommend it, as you may someday find need
for a function whose default key-sequence you assigned
to something else.  As long as you are just starting
with Emacs and have no history that makes key-binding
changes desirable for you, I would recommend staying
with the defaults.

I define lots of my own functions which I need to bind
somehow.  Unless mine is a replacement for an
already-bound function, I usually use a prefix key to
distinguish my own bindings.  (I have many prefixed
with each of C-z, F12, and F6.  (My C-z prefix
preempts the regular C-z binding which I have on C-z
C-z.))

You can also use the Windows Key as a modifier, which
will also keep you from running afoul of standard
Emacs bindings.  (Just avoid Windows Key combinations
defined by the OS.  In Emacs, I usually use the
Windows Key only in combination with ctrl or meta to
avoid things outside Emacs that might otherwise grab
the key; and I do it only for functions that would
make sense only on a PC.)

The keypad keys with ctrl and meta modifiers _are_
available.

Regards,
  David V.

Re: Newbie questions

[Kevin Rodgers]

ocelot1970@gmail.com wrote:
> I have just started exploring emacs and elisp. Ergo, I have some
> questions.
> 
> 1) Is there a way to see what a keyboard shortcut is currently bound
> to? Before I write my own programs making my own, I want to make sure
> I'm not unbinding something really important.

C-h k

> 2) Is there a way to see a list of all functions that can possible be
> bound to keymappings, the list of files they appear in, and their
> descriptions?

C-h w ?
C-h a RET

> 3) Are there any key combos with meta and ctrl that are not allowed
> when creating my own key bindings? Any reason why I wouldn't use C-q,
> C-w, C-e, etc. just go through the keyboard and use what's not used yet?

,---- File: emacs,  Node: Keymaps,  Next: Prefix Keymaps,  Up: Key Bindings
|
|    As a user, you can redefine any key; but it is usually best to stick
| to key sequences that consist of `C-c' followed by a letter (upper or
| lower case).  These keys are "reserved for users," so they won't
| conflict with any properly designed Emacs extension.  The function keys
| <F5> through <F9> are also reserved for users.  If you redefine some
| other key, your definition may be overridden by certain extensions or
| major modes which redefine the same key.
`----

-- 
Kevin Rodgers
Denver, Colorado, USA

Re: newbie questions

[FKtPp@Office ;)]

"niDapeng"<steveneo@21cn.com> writes:

> Hi, I am very fresh to emacs, using emacs 21.3.1 Windows Version

same to you ;)

> . Some questions: 1.C-M-v can scroll down text in another screen,
> but how to scroll up those text?  

C-M-S-v


[...]

> 4.Calendar can't work, error message is "Invalid read syntax:". in
> worng context"

Something wrong in ur diary file?

newbie questions

[niDapeng]

Hi, I am very fresh to emacs, using emacs 21.3.1 Windows Version. Some questions:
1.C-M-v can scroll down text in another screen, but how to scroll up those text?
2.C-k will kill line to end text to killing ring. how to just "delete" text instead of "killing". Furthermore, how to "delete" block text (relative to C-W "kill" block text)?
3.I want to use C-P,C-N to scroll screen-line instead of physical line(text line), I tried some *.el extension. but they didn't work well. For instance, screen-lines.el will add new blank line when using C-n, and other *.el stop move when using C-n. Strangely, C-p ususally works well. Could some guys do so successfully in same version emacs?
4.Calendar can't work, error message is "Invalid read syntax:". in worng context"


best,
DapengNi

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Re: newbie questions

[Eli Zaretskii]

> Date: Tue, 17 Feb 2004 13:46:26 +0800 (CST)
> From: "niDapeng"<steveneo@21cn.com>
> 
> 1.C-M-v can scroll down text in another screen, but how to scroll up those text?

One way is to invoke C-M-v with a negative argument: "C-u - C-M-v".

Another way is to type "C-M-S-v" (`S' is Shift).

Yet another way is to type "M-PageUp".

Btw, you could have learned all that if you used the Emacs built-in
documentation facilities.  "C-h c C-M-v" tells you that "C-M-v" runs
the command `scroll-other-window'.  Once you know that, it is only
logical to look for some other command with a similar name that would
scroll in the other direction.  So type "C-h w scroll-" and hit TAB--a
window will pop up which lists all commands which start with the
string "scroll-", one of them looks promising:
`scroll-other-window-down'.  Finally, "C-h w scroll-other-window-down
RET" will tell you what keys is that bound to.

> 2.C-k will kill line to end text to killing ring. how to just "delete" text instead of "killing". Furthermore, how to "delete" block text (relative to C-W "kill" block text)?

The command to do that is `delete-region'.

The reason it is not bound to any key is that you don't want to use
it, believe me.  use the kill-* commands instead, you will appreciate
the possibility to immediately get the deleted text back if you change
your mind.

Finally, a bit of advice: don't lump several unrelated questions into
a single message.  Make a separate message about each issue, and take
a few moments to come up with a meaningful Subject line for each one
of them.  This will ensure you get accurate and useful replies from
people who value their time to only read messages whose Subject
promises to be about something they know well.