bug#69097: [PATCH] Add 'kill-region-or-word' command

[Philip Kaludercic <philipk@posteo.net>]

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This is another useful command I find myself re-implementing every time
I use an unmodified Emacs, that I think would provide some nice
convenience for people used to classical Unix keybindings.


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From b08b5cca09e1534b7ec28f516c891065eff80a9f Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Philip Kaludercic <philipk@posteo.net>
Date: Tue, 13 Feb 2024 10:51:22 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] Add 'kill-region-or-word' command

* lisp/simple.el (kill-region-or-word): Add it.
* etc/NEWS: Document it.
---
 etc/NEWS       | 6 ++++++
 lisp/simple.el | 9 +++++++++
 2 files changed, 15 insertions(+)

diff --git a/etc/NEWS b/etc/NEWS
index 6fae64728f2..e7e516d61a1 100644
--- a/etc/NEWS
+++ b/etc/NEWS
@@ -223,6 +223,12 @@ executable, if it exists.  This should remove the need to change its
 value when installing GNU coreutils using something like ports or
 Homebrew.
 
+---
+** New command 'kill-region-or-word'.
+This command will kill a region, if it is active, or delete the last
+word.  As such, it is a convenient alternative binding for C-w,
+providing a DWIM behaviour for both Emacs and Unix users.
+
 +++
 ** cl-print
 
diff --git a/lisp/simple.el b/lisp/simple.el
index 9a33049f4ca..bf4080fcf2d 100644
--- a/lisp/simple.el
+++ b/lisp/simple.el
@@ -8798,6 +8798,15 @@ backward-kill-word
   (interactive "p")
   (kill-word (- arg)))
 
+(defun kill-region-or-word ()
+  "Call `kill-region' if there is an active region.
+Otherwise kill the last word, just like Unix."
+  (interactive)
+  (call-interactively
+   (if (use-region-p)
+       #'kill-region
+     #'backward-kill-word)))
+
 (defun current-word (&optional strict really-word)
   "Return the word at or near point, as a string.
 The return value includes no text properties.
-- 
2.43.0