emacs key bindings reserved for the user C-c [a-zA-Z]

emacs key bindings reserved for the user C-c [a-zA-Z]

[Ali Tofigh]

I read that part of the emacs key binding convention is to keep C-c
[a-zA-Z] reserved for the user and that packages should not make use of
such key bindings. There is also a note about all major modes having
been changed to comply with this convention. I'd like to know:

1) How long has this convention been in place and when where the major
   modes changed accordingly?
2) To what extent do packages actually abide by this convention (at
   least the ones that are actively being supported/developed)?

/Ali

Re: emacs key bindings reserved for the user C-c [a-zA-Z]

[Glenn Morris]

Ali Tofigh wrote:

> 1) How long has this convention been in place and when where the major
>    modes changed accordingly?

So very, very long ago as to make this a very odd question.

The oldest version of tips.texi in the CVS dates from 1994:
http://cvs.savannah.gnu.org/viewvc/emacs/lispref/tips.texi?hideattic=0&revision=1.1&root=emacs&view=markup

and it has a version of that statement.

> 2) To what extent do packages actually abide by this convention (at
>    least the ones that are actively being supported/developed)?

Well I haven't checked every Emacs package in use, but if you find any
not doing it, report it as a bug to whoever maintains it.

Re: emacs key bindings reserved for the user C-c [a-zA-Z]

[Karl Fogel]

Ali Tofigh <alix.tofigh@gmail.com> writes:
>I read that part of the emacs key binding convention is to keep C-c
>[a-zA-Z] reserved for the user and that packages should not make use of
>such key bindings. There is also a note about all major modes having
>been changed to comply with this convention. I'd like to know:
>
>1) How long has this convention been in place and when where the major
>   modes changed accordingly?

Many years -- since at least some time in 1992, given that the file
etc/NEWS.19 contains this:

  * Changes in version 19.13.
  ** Hide-ifdef mode no longer defines keys of the form
  C-c LETTER, since those keys are reserved for users.

(I think the convention might have been introduced with Emacs 19.0.)

>2) To what extent do packages actually abide by this convention (at
>   least the ones that are actively being supported/developed)?

Occasionally I run across an exception, but FWIW my experience is that
the packages I use in Emacs generally abide by this convention now.

I'm curious: why do you ask?

-Karl

Re: emacs key bindings reserved for the user C-c [a-zA-Z]

[Ali Tofigh]

On Sat, Oct 6, 2012 at 12:03 AM, Karl Fogel <kfogel@red-bean.com> wrote:
> Ali Tofigh <alix.tofigh@gmail.com> writes:
>>I read that part of the emacs key binding convention is to keep C-c
>>[a-zA-Z] reserved for the user and that packages should not make use of
>>such key bindings. There is also a note about all major modes having
>>been changed to comply with this convention. I'd like to know:
>>
>>1) How long has this convention been in place and when where the major
>>   modes changed accordingly?
>
> Many years -- since at least some time in 1992, given that the file
> etc/NEWS.19 contains this:
>
>   * Changes in version 19.13.
>   ** Hide-ifdef mode no longer defines keys of the form
>   C-c LETTER, since those keys are reserved for users.
>
> (I think the convention might have been introduced with Emacs 19.0.)
>
>>2) To what extent do packages actually abide by this convention (at
>>   least the ones that are actively being supported/developed)?
>
> Occasionally I run across an exception, but FWIW my experience is that
> the packages I use in Emacs generally abide by this convention now.
>
> I'm curious: why do you ask?

An update to an emacs package that I use on a daily basis introduced
just such a key binding, which I happen to be using in my emacs setup
for other purposes. Me and some of the developers were joking around
on the package's mailing list and couldn't settle on whether the
convention is "an old saying that very few packages respect" or "a new
saying that old packages don't respect". I guess I just couldn't drop
the subject. :-)

/Ali

Re: emacs key bindings reserved for the user C-c [a-zA-Z]

[Lars Brinkhoff]

Ali Tofigh <alix.tofigh@gmail.com> writes:
> 1) How long has this convention been in place and when where the major
>    modes changed accordingly?

In NEWS.1-17:

> GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes.  26-Mar-1986
> Copyright (C) 1986 Richard M. Stallman.
> 
> Changes in Emacs 17
> 
> * C-c is always a prefix character.
> 
> Also, subcommands of C-c which are letters are always
> reserved for the user.  No standard Emacs major mode
> defines any of them.

I also checked the ITS EMACS info file (which loads just fine in
recent versions of info):

ftp://ftp.trailing-edge.com/pub/ftp.its.os.org/ai/info/emacs.147

But apparently, C-c had a different meaning back then.