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Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!shadooby!samsung!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!xanth!talos!kjones
From: kjones@talos.uucp (Kyle Jones)
Newsgroups: comp.editors,comp.emacs
Subject: Re: Emacs
Message-ID: <1989Nov27.181822.1237@talos.uucp>
Date: 27 Nov 89 18:18:22 GMT
References: <3397@jhunix.HCF.JHU.EDU>
Reply-To: kjones@talos.uu.net
Lines: 61

[ comp.emacs readers, the article to which I am responding was
  posted to comp.editors. ]

Daniel Q Naiman writes:
 > I am new to gnu emacs and I am wondering how the experts deal with certain
 > problems in emacs. For example,
 > 
 >    1. It seems like a pain to type ESC-X goto-line to move the cursor to
 >       another line. Is it advisable to create one`s own key sequence to do
 >       this, or is there some trick I do not know about for getting the 
 >       cursor.

Create your own key sequence.  C-x g and ESC g are good choices, since
the commands that to which these keys are normally bound (inser-register
and fill-region respectively) are not commands a beginner would normally
use.  In particular fill-region is a terrible command to invoke by
accident.

If you like ESC g, then put

  (global-set-key "\eg" 'goto-line)

in your .emacs file.  For C-x g, use

  (global-set-key "\C-xg" 'goto-line)

 >       The command ESC-X < followed by ESC-number of lines CTRL-n
 >       would work, but that's a lot of typing!

Ironically enough, the command goto-line does little more than that,
internally.

 >    2. In the manual to this wonderful PD Software it is indicated that 
 >       global search and replace commands are not needed as often in
 >       emacs as they are in other editors. Why is this?

If you become proficient with Emacs regular expressions, then you'll be
able to do with one global replace command what it would take several
commands to do in a lesser editor.  That's true enough, although the
author of the manual could have chose better words, if that's what he
intended to say.

 >       Am I missing some fundamental principle? Again, is it possible
 >       to replace the command ESC-X replace-string ... with a command
 >       with less keystrokes?

Yes, just bind the command replace-string to a key.  ESC r is a good
choice for this, as move-to-window-line (what ESC r is bound to by
default) isn't used that often, at least not by me.  In fact I've never
used it, except to see what it does.

 > Any hints or references to hints would be greatly appreciated.

Read comp.emacs; 99% of the Emacs discussions take place there.
As for why comp.emacs isn't called comp.editors.emacs, well, we're
working on that.

kyle jones   <kjones@talos.uu.net>   ...!uunet!talos!kjones
"Give your analytical hemisphere a break now and then...
 it's both a candy *and* a breath mint!"
   --- Cam Spillman


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