![]() Anything that can generate an input event is fair game: two-factor authentication USB sticks, as they just ‘type’ stuff like keyboard would that Hammond organ you’re eyeing as a replacement for your regular keyboard and of course your mouse. In Emacs, a key is not limited to just your plain-as-day keys on a keyboard. A complete key is a key combination that resolves to a valid command.They are make up part of a complete key, and each constituent part of a prefix key has its own keymap. Prefix keys are keys like C-x and C-c.Undefined is self-explanatory: it does no operation when it is invoked.Keys can be divided into three categories: undefined, prefix key, or complete key. Most Emacs users will never interact with keymaps aside from indirectly assigning keys to them.Įvery buffer and most major and minor modes have a keymap, and that keymap defines what the keys do when key sequences are sent to that buffer. Keymaps are rarely modified directly instead, you modify them through a set of functions that manipulate the data structure for you. ![]() What is a Keymap?Ī keymap is an internal data structure used by Emacs to store keys and their associated actions. As you can see, every keypress – even basic ones like typing a character on the screen – has an associated key binding that you can modify or even remove. So if you type C-u 10 f you will see ffffffffff printed on your screen. ![]() For instance, the key f is bound to self-insert-command, a special command that repeats the last typed key N times. Layer upon layer - or keymap upon keymap!Įven elementary things like inserting characters – called self-insertion – is amenable to change. Every function in Emacs in turn builds on smaller functions, and so on, right through all the strata of elisp until you reach the C core.Įmacs’s key engine works in much the same way. Almost all of Emacs is written in Emacs Lisp. What makes up a key bind?Įmacs is “self-hosting” and, depending on who you ask, close to achieving sentience. I’ve included a selection of handy templates near the end that you can customize and put in your init file. And the best thing about this guide is that you don’t need to know any elisp to get started! To save you the time of reading all of that, I’ve written a guide that covers what you need to know to bind keys to even complex commands, and a set of templates you can use in your own code. But there’s a reason why the Emacs manual has dedicated 30-odd pages to describing, in great detail, all the subtleties and nuances of how to bind keys. The same notation that is described here can be used when defining key bindings in Emacs lisp files.Altering the key bindings in Emacs should not, on the face of it, be a difficult task. Describing key bindings in Emacs lisp files This can be useful when using Emacs over a remote connection that does not transmit Alt key chords, or when these key combinations are captured e.g by a window manager. Key chords using the Alt modifier can also be entered as a key sequence starting with ESC. C-x C-f: pressing control and x simultaneously, then releasing x and pressing f (since both chords involve the control modifier, it is not necessary to release it).C-x b: pressing control and x simultaneously, then releasing them and pressing b.They are denoted by separating all key (or chord) notations by a space. "Key sequences" are sequences of keys (or key chords), which must be typed one after the other. C-M-a: pressing control, alt and a simultaneously.S-right: pressing shift and right simultaneously.C-a: pressing control and a simultaneously.Other keys are simply denoted by their name, like: ![]() M-: alt (the "M" stands for "Meta" for historical reasons).They usually involve modifier keys, which are put up front: Key chords are denoted by separating all keys by dashes ( -). Emacs' documentation uses a consistent notation for all key bindings, which is explained here: Key chordsĪ "key chord" is obtained by pressing two or more keys simultaneously.
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