bug#39624: 26.3; Inserting text in a specified face

bug#39624: 26.3; Inserting text in a specified face

[Greg Hill]

I'm just trying to figure out how to use the 'insert' function to insert
one string in the currently active buffer in a specific face like
'custom-comment'). I'm sure it's easy to do, but I have spent
several hours searching through all the Info documentation and haven't
found a single clue. If I could figure out how to do it, I would write
my own function like '(insert-using-face STRING FACE)' if no existing
function does that.


In GNU Emacs 26.3 (build 1, x86_64-apple-darwin14.5.0, NS appkit-1348.17 Version 10.10.5 (Build 14F2511))
of 2019-09-02 built on builder10-10.porkrind.org
Windowing system distributor 'Apple', version 10.3.1561
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bug#39624: 26.3; Inserting text in a specified face

[Stephen Berman]

On Sat, 15 Feb 2020 13:20:01 -0800 Greg Hill <gregoryohill@gmail.com> wrote:

> I'm just trying to figure out how to use the 'insert' function to insert
> one string in the currently active buffer in a specific face like
> 'custom-comment'). I'm sure it's easy to do, but I have spent
> several hours searching through all the Info documentation and haven't
> found a single clue.

Here's one way:

(insert (propertize "Test" 'face 'custom-comment))

And here's how you might have found that in the documentation: If you
look in the Elisp manual at the node Faces, it says: "One way to
represent a face is as a property list of attributes", and if you look
at the node Insertion, it says that most of the insertion functions
"copy text characters from strings and buffers along with their
properties".  So properties are a point of intersection between faces
and insertion.  In the Elisp node Text Properties there is a menu that
contains the entry Changing Properties with the description "Setting the
properties of a range of text", which seems to be what you're looking
for.  And indeed, the node Changing Properties describes the function
propertize, saying it is "the easiest way to make a string with text
properties".

Steve Berman

bug#39624: 26.3; Inserting text in a specified face

[Stephen Berman]

The OP confirmed to me off-list that this bug can be closed, so I'm
doing so.

On Sun, 16 Feb 2020 00:24:49 +0100 Stephen Berman <stephen.berman@gmx.net> wrote:

> On Sat, 15 Feb 2020 13:20:01 -0800 Greg Hill <gregoryohill@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I'm just trying to figure out how to use the 'insert' function to insert
>> one string in the currently active buffer in a specific face like
>> 'custom-comment'). I'm sure it's easy to do, but I have spent
>> several hours searching through all the Info documentation and haven't
>> found a single clue.
>
> Here's one way:
>
> (insert (propertize "Test" 'face 'custom-comment))
>
> And here's how you might have found that in the documentation: If you
> look in the Elisp manual at the node Faces, it says: "One way to
> represent a face is as a property list of attributes", and if you look
> at the node Insertion, it says that most of the insertion functions
> "copy text characters from strings and buffers along with their
> properties".  So properties are a point of intersection between faces
> and insertion.  In the Elisp node Text Properties there is a menu that
> contains the entry Changing Properties with the description "Setting the
> properties of a range of text", which seems to be what you're looking
> for.  And indeed, the node Changing Properties describes the function
> propertize, saying it is "the easiest way to make a string with text
> properties".
>
> Steve Berman