Re: how to implement function copy-subword-to-irc-buffer

[Kevin Rodgers <kevin.d.rodgers@gmail.com>]

B. T. Raven wrote:
> I think I need (thing-at-point 'word), (buffer-list), set point and
> mark, copy-region-as-kill-no-mark, and other usual suspects to implement
> this but really want to automatically copy the substring of the word
> before point or the whole word if point is in whitespace after the word.
> This (sub)string should go to the point in the irc buffer (one whose
> buffer-name starts with #) and then make that irc buffer current.

Looking at rcirc.el, it does not look like that is a reliable method to select
"the" IRC buffer.  It actually supports multiple IRC buffers, maintained in
rcirc-buffer-alist (which is local to the server buffer, of which there may
also be more than 1).

Glossing over that for the moment, how about:

(let* ((subword (if (looking-at "\\>")
		    (thing-at-point 'word)
		  (buffer-substring (or (car (bounds-of-thing-at-point 'word))
					(point))
				    (point))))
        (buffer-list (buffer-list))
        (irc-buffer (catch 'irc-buffer
		     (while buffer-list
		       (when (and (string-match "^#"
						(buffer-name (car buffer-list)))
				  (buffer-local-value 'rcirc-server-buffer
						      (car buffer-list)))
			 (throw 'irc-buffer (car buffer-list)))
		       (setq buffer-list (cdr buffer-list))))))
   (when irc-buffer
     (funcall rcirc-switch-to-buffer-function irc-buffer)
     (insert subword)))

> Is this doable? I want to assign this function to some keychord but am
> not sure what would be suitable (in keeping with traditional key
> assignment philosophy). I have standard binding for almost every thing
> but single character cursor movement. Is there a way of getting a list
> of all key combos (and/or ranges of key combos) that are not currently
> bound?

 From the Keymaps node of the Emacs manual:

,----
|    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