Difference between revisions of "Keyboard macros"

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Have you ever fantasized about how your girlfriend or wife would look in certain types of sexy lingerie? Many guys have fantasies about women in certain types of lingerie and wished that their partners would wear more sexy lingerie instead of the plain looking lingerie that you get from regular lingerie stores. However, going to a lingerie store can be a dreadful and embarrassing experience for a guy. Can you imagine yourself being followed around by the sales assistant at the lingerie store or the stares that you get if you choose something a little daring, flamboyant or sexy? Not to mention the overwhelming number of choices, colors and sizes available that would confuse you. On top of that, there is also the hassle of driving to the store, looking for parking and being surrounded by crowds of watchful people at a sale.  
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{{Manual|emacs|Basic-Keyboard-Macro|Basic Keyboard Macro}}
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When a guy walks into a sexy lingerie store, very often he will become more self-conscious and worry about what others may think. Some guys will blush or feel their heartbeat increase when they go to a sexy lingerie store. Why put yourself through such stress and feelings of anxiety? Shopping for lingerie is supposed to be fun!
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'''Keyboard macros''' can be used to automate or repeat tedious editing tasks in Emacs.
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==Example usage==
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Consider the standard <code>*scratch*</code> buffer:
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<pre>
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;; This buffer is for notes you don't want to save, and for Lisp evaluation.
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;; If you want to create a file, visit that file with C-x C-f,
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;; then enter the text in that file's own buffer.
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</pre>
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Suppose you want to remove the first occurrence of the letter "a" on every row in that piece of text. You could write a [[regular expression]] to do the job, but let's assume you want to use a keyboard macro this time.
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# Make sure [[point]] is at the start of the buffer.
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# Hit <code>C-x (</code> to start recording your macro. '''Note:''' If you hit <code>C-g</code> or if an error occurs, your keyboard macro recording will stop.
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# Hit <code>C-s</code> followed by <code>a</code> to find the first "a". Now, point is right after the first "a" in the text.
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# Hit backspace to delete that "a".
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The first occurrence of "a" of the first line has been deleted. Let's move point to the beginning of the next line and then stop recording.
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<ol start="5">
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<li>Hit <code>C-e C-f</code> to move point to the beginning of the next line.</li>
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<li>Hit <code>C-x )</code> to finish the recording of our macro.</li>
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</ol>
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The macro you have just recorded performs the operation of removing the first occurrence of "a" it can find and then moving point to the next line.
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<ol start="7">
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<li>Hit <code>C-x e</code> once to call that macro.</li>
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<li>Continue hitting <code>e</code> to call it several times. Hit any other key to get out of the macro repetition.</li>
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</ol>
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==Saving macros==
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{{Manual|emacs|Save-Keyboard-Macro|Save Keyboard Macro}}
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===Binding to a key===
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To bind a keyboard macro to a key use <code>C-x C-k b</code>. To avoid problems caused by overriding existing bindings, the key sequences <code>C-x C-k 0</code> through <code>C-x C-k 9</code> and <code>C-x C-k A</code> through <code>C-x C-k Z</code> are reserved for your own keyboard macro bindings.  You can, however, bind a keyboard macro to whatever you like.
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==Variables==
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Variables can be stored in lisp or in [[registers]].  Here's an example using lisp:
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<pre>
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[M-: (setq x 1)]
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<F3>
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Line number [C-u M-: x]
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[M-: (setq x (+ x 1))]
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<F4>
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</pre>
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Now execute the macro four times with the command <code>C-x e e e e</code> and you get:
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line number 1<br />
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line number 2<br />
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line number 3<br />
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line number 4

Revision as of 07:42, 19 June 2013

Basic Keyboard Macro (`(info "(emacs) Basic Keyboard Macro")')

Keyboard macros can be used to automate or repeat tedious editing tasks in Emacs.

Example usage

Consider the standard *scratch* buffer: 

;; This buffer is for notes you don't want to save, and for Lisp evaluation.
;; If you want to create a file, visit that file with C-x C-f,
;; then enter the text in that file's own buffer.

Suppose you want to remove the first occurrence of the letter "a" on every row in that piece of text. You could write a regular expression to do the job, but let's assume you want to use a keyboard macro this time.

  1. Make sure point is at the start of the buffer.
  2. Hit C-x ( to start recording your macro. Note: If you hit C-g or if an error occurs, your keyboard macro recording will stop.
  3. Hit C-s followed by a to find the first "a". Now, point is right after the first "a" in the text.
  4. Hit backspace to delete that "a".

The first occurrence of "a" of the first line has been deleted. Let's move point to the beginning of the next line and then stop recording.

  1. Hit C-e C-f to move point to the beginning of the next line.
  2. Hit C-x ) to finish the recording of our macro.

The macro you have just recorded performs the operation of removing the first occurrence of "a" it can find and then moving point to the next line.

  1. Hit C-x e once to call that macro.
  2. Continue hitting e to call it several times. Hit any other key to get out of the macro repetition.

Saving macros

Save Keyboard Macro (`(info "(emacs) Save Keyboard Macro")')

Binding to a key

To bind a keyboard macro to a key use C-x C-k b. To avoid problems caused by overriding existing bindings, the key sequences C-x C-k 0 through C-x C-k 9 and C-x C-k A through C-x C-k Z are reserved for your own keyboard macro bindings. You can, however, bind a keyboard macro to whatever you like.

Variables

Variables can be stored in lisp or in registers. Here's an example using lisp: 

[M-: (setq x 1)]
<F3>
Line number [C-u M-: x]
[M-: (setq x (+ x 1))]
<F4>

Now execute the macro four times with the command C-x e e e e and you get:

line number 1
line number 2
line number 3
line number 4

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