Emacs Key Bindings....

[Gregory Ramsperger]

I've recently found myself in a new job where I am working almost entirely on Linux when in the office. I frequently work from home though, so I still get to use BBEdit extensively (and prefer it). 99% of the time, I find myself wishing I was not in Emacs as there are only a few--very minor--things I prefer there.

On to my question. Is there any way to extend BBEdit's built-in emacs key bindings? I like the fact that they are really more key sequences than bindings. I have become accustomed to using things like "C-c p e" to open a file for editing Perforce. I know I can map this to something with "Set Menu Keys" but I am running out of convenient combiniations. It is nice to just know that "C-c p" starts the Perforce commands and then run the sub-commands (like e for edit).

-g

[Patrick Woolsey]

Gregory Ramsperger <***@jitjat.com> sez:

[...]

Post by Gregory Ramsperger
On to my question. Is there any way to extend BBEdit's built-in emacs
key bindings? I like the fact that they are really more key sequences
than bindings. I have become accustomed to using things like "C-c p e"
to open a file for editing Perforce. I know I can map this to something
with "Set Menu Keys" but I am running out of convenient combiniations.
It is nice to just know that "C-c p" starts the Perforce commands and
then run the sub-commands (like e for edit).

The short answer is no, because those multi-key sequences require special
treatment and are currently hard-wired.

Are you looking for a complete layer of Emacs-like behavior, or instead do
you just want to add some specific additional mappings?


Regards,

Patrick Woolsey / Director of Technical Services
==
Bare Bones Software, Inc. <http://www.barebones.com>
P.O. Box 1048, Bedford, MA 01730-1048

[Gregory Ramsperger]

Post by Patrick Woolsey

Post by Gregory Ramsperger
On to my question. Is there any way to extend BBEdit's built-in emacs
key bindings? I like the fact that they are really more key sequences
than bindings. I have become accustomed to using things like "C-c p e"
to open a file for editing Perforce. I know I can map this to something
with "Set Menu Keys" but I am running out of convenient combiniations.
It is nice to just know that "C-c p" starts the Perforce commands and
then run the sub-commands (like e for edit).

The short answer is no, because those multi-key sequences require special
treatment and are currently hard-wired.
Are you looking for a complete layer of Emacs-like behavior, or instead do
you just want to add some specific additional mappings?

Hi Patrick-

I wouldn't mind a full Emacs-like implementation, but what I specifically like is the command-subcommand series.

I prefer to use the keyboard for common commands, but I have some pretty awkward commands mapped to things that are "secondary." My most frequently used items fill up the easy to hit key sets. In Emacs, these are extended to a second layer rather than hitting a slew of characters at once.

It doesn't need to follow Emacs exactly, I mostly just noted that there was some foundation for this existing in BBEdit. A "command map" of sorts that the user could define and drill into would probably suffice.

---

Perhaps someone could create an open-source plugin based on the GNU Emacs code. Commands could be implemented in elisp. While you're at it, elisp-based language modules would be nice to....

-Gregory

[Curt Clifton]

Gregory,

Post by Gregory Ramsperger
I wouldn't mind a full Emacs-like implementation, but what I
specifically like is the command-subcommand series.
I prefer to use the keyboard for common commands, but I have some
pretty awkward commands mapped to things that are "secondary." My
most frequently used items fill up the easy to hit key sets. In
Emacs, these are extended to a second layer rather than hitting a
slew of characters at once.
It doesn't need to follow Emacs exactly, I mostly just noted that
there was some foundation for this existing in BBEdit. A "command
map" of sorts that the user could define and drill into would
probably suffice.

Being a convert from Emacs myself, I've used Quicksilver to get a
bunch more key bindings. I've created a Quicksilver trigger that
brings up the command palette, but just focus on the BBEdit Scripts
directory and subdirectories. Then within the BBEdit Scripts
directories I've created Applescripts for the things that I want to
access with sequences of keystrokes.

For example, to select the contents of a LaTeX environment I have a
script called Balance Environment (like Balance Tag for HTML). To
activate it, I hit Ctrl-Opt-Cmd-Space (i.e., mash the bottom row of
the keyboard), then type "balen-<return>". Quicksilver fires the
script and BBEdit does its thing.

It's a bit of work to set up, but with the record script feature in
BBEdit, it's quite nice. This is especially so if you are already
using Quicksilver.

Cheers,

Curt

[Gregory Ramsperger]

Post by Curt Clifton
Gregory,

Post by Gregory Ramsperger
I prefer to use the keyboard for common commands, but I have some
pretty awkward commands mapped to things that are "secondary." My
most frequently used items fill up the easy to hit key sets. In
Emacs, these are extended to a second layer rather than hitting a
slew of characters at once.

Being a convert from Emacs myself, I've used Quicksilver to get a
bunch more key bindings. I've created a Quicksilver trigger that
brings up the command palette, but just focus on the BBEdit Scripts
directory and subdirectories. Then within the BBEdit Scripts
directories I've created Applescripts for the things that I want to
access with sequences of keystrokes.
For example, to select the contents of a LaTeX environment I have a
script called Balance Environment (like Balance Tag for HTML). To
activate it, I hit Ctrl-Opt-Cmd-Space (i.e., mash the bottom row of
the keyboard), then type "balen-<return>". Quicksilver fires the
script and BBEdit does its thing.
It's a bit of work to set up, but with the record script feature in
BBEdit, it's quite nice. This is especially so if you are already
using Quicksilver.
Cheers,
Curt

Interesting approach; I will give it a whirl. I haven't taken a look at Quicksilver for a long time since it kept crashing when I tried it.

-Gregory