From: drain <aeuster@gmail.com>
To: Help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org
Cc:
Date: Wed, 1 Aug 2012 08:45:39 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: two function requests

(1) A command that deletes every instance of a certain char, e.g., "_" is
entered and every "_" is deleted from the text. Would be very useful when
formatting pdfs into orgs.

query-replace (M-%) and replace-regexp will do this for you, if you do not enter anything in the replace string:

M-% _ <RET> <RET>

(2) (forward-clause), (backward-clause) commands, which would be much more
useful than (forward-sentence), (backward-sentence), particularly when
formatting / reading pre-20th century literature, with its page-length
Herman Melville sentences.

I suppose a function that sets point to next comma is what I am looking for,
even if I'd be stuck incrementally moving inside of lists from time to time.

Adapt forward-sentence and backward-sentence to your needs. C-h f <RET> function-name will give you a link to the function code. Should be a fun little project if you're new to emacs lisp (like I am!)

Dan