Babcore: Emacs Customizations everyone should have

Update (2017-05): babcore is at 0.2, but I cannot currently update the marmalade package. See lisplets/babcore.el

1 Intro

PDF-version (for printing)

Package (to install)

orgmode-version (for editing)

repository (for forking)

project page (for fun ☺)

Emacs Lisp (to use)

I have been tweaking my emacs configuration for years, now, and I added quite some cruft. But while searching for the right way to work, I also found some gems which I direly miss in pristine emacs.

This file is about those gems.

Babcore is strongly related to Prelude. Actually it is just like prelude, but with the stuff I consider essential. And staying close to pristine Emacs, so you can still work at a coworkers desk.

But before we start, there is one crucial piece of advice which everyone who uses Emacs should know:

C-g: abort

Hold control and hit g.

That gets you out of almost any situation. If anything goes wrong, just hit C-g repeatedly till the problem is gone - or you cooled off far enough to realize that a no-op is the best way to react.

To repeat: If anything goes wrong, just hit C-g.

2 Package Header

As Emacs package, babcore needs a proper header.

;; Copyright (C) 2013 Arne Babenhauserheide

;; Author: Arne Babenhauserheide (and various others in Emacswiki and elsewhere).
;; Maintainer: Arne Babenhauserheide
;; Created 03 April 2013
;; Version: 0.1.0
;; Version Keywords: core configuration

;; This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
;; modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
;; as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 3
;; of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

;; This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
;; but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
;; MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
;; GNU General Public License for more details.

;; You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
;; along with this program. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.

;;; Commentary:
;; Quick Start / installation:
;; 1. Download this file and put it next to other files Emacs includes
;; 2. Add this to you .emacs file and restart emacs:
;; 
;;      (require 'babcore)
;;
;; Alternatively install via package.el:
;;
;;      (require 'package)
;;      (add-to-list 'package-archives '("marmalade" . "http://marmalade-repo.org/packages/"))
;;      (package-refresh-contents)
;;      (package-install 'babcore)
;; 
;; Use Case: Use a common core configuration so you can avoid the
;;   tedious act of gathering all the basic stuff over the years and
;;   can instead concentrate on the really cool new stuff Emacs offers
;;   you.
;;

;;; Change Log:

;; 2016-06-05 - 0.1.0: replace desktop with better savehist config and
;;                     cleanup babcore. Replace flymake with flycheck.
;;                     Remove the eval-region key-chord. Simplify
;;                     x-urgent. Fix switching back from full-screen
;;                     mode. Remove babcore-shell-execute, since
;;                     async-shell-command (M-&) is a built-in which
;;                     does the job better. Add C-M-. as third alias
;;                     for goto-last-change. Add find-file-as-root and
;;                     a few fixes for encumbering behavior.
;; 2013-11-02 - Disable clipboard sync while exporting with org-mode
;;              org-export-dispatch
;; 2013-10-22 - More useful frame titles
;; 2013-04-03 - Minor adjustments
;; 2013-02-29 - Initial release

;;; Code:

Additionally it needs the proper last line. See finish up for details.

3 Feature Gems

3.1 package.el, full setup

The first thing you need in emacs 24. This gives you a convenient way to install just about anything, so you really should use it.

Also I hope that it will help consolidate the various emacs tips which float around into polished packages by virtue of giving people ways to actually get the package by name - and keep it updated almost automatically.

;; Convenient package handling in emacs

(require 'package)
;; use packages from marmalade
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("marmalade" . "http://marmalade-repo.org/packages/"))
;; and the old elpa repo
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("elpa-old" . "http://tromey.com/elpa/"))
;; and automatically parsed versiontracking repositories.
(add-to-list 'package-archives '("melpa" . "http://melpa.milkbox.net/packages/"))

;; Make sure a package is installed
(defun package-require (package)
  "Install a PACKAGE unless it is already installed 
or a feature with the same name is already active.

Usage: (package-require 'package)"
  ; try to activate the package with at least version 0.
  (package-activate package '(0))
  ; try to just require the package. Maybe the user has it in his local config

  (condition-case nil
      (require package)
    ; if we cannot require it, it does not exist, yet. So install it.
    (error (progn
             (package-install package)
             (require package)))))

;; Initialize installed packages
(package-initialize)  
;; package init not needed, since it is done anyway in emacs 24 after reading the init
;; but we have to load the list of available packages, if it is not available, yet.
(when (not package-archive-contents)
  (with-timeout (15 (message "updating package lists failed due to timeout"))
    (package-refresh-contents)))

3.2 Flycheck

Flycheck is an example of a quite complex feature which really everyone should have.

It can check any kind of code, and actually anything which can be verified with a program which gives line numbers.

This is a drop-in replacement for the older flymake. See Spotlight: Flycheck, a Flymake replacement for reasons to switch to flycheck.

;; Flycheck: On the fly syntax checking
(package-require 'flycheck)
(add-hook 'after-init-hook #'global-flycheck-mode)
; stronger error display
(defface flycheck-error
  '((t (:foreground "red" :underline (:color "Red1" :style wave) :weight bold)))
  "Flycheck face for errors"
  :group "flycheck")

3.3 auto-complete

This gives you inline auto-completion preview with an overlay window - even in the text-console. Partially this goes as far as API-hints (for example for elisp code). Absolutely essential.

;; Inline auto completion and suggestions
(package-require 'auto-complete)
;; avoid competing with org-mode templates.
(add-hook 'org-mode-hook
          (lambda ()
            (make-local-variable 'ac-stop-words)
            (loop for template in org-structure-template-alist do
                  (add-to-list 'ac-stop-words 
                               (concat "<" (car template))))))

3.4 ido

To select a file in a huge directory, just type a few letters from that file in the correct order, leaving out the non-identifying ones. Darn cool!

; use ido mode for file and buffer Completion when switching buffers
(require 'ido)
(ido-mode t)

3.5 printing

Printing in pristine emacs is woefully inadequate, even though it is a standard function in almost all other current programs.

It can be easy, though:

;; Convenient printing
(require 'printing)
(pr-update-menus t)
; make sure we use localhost as cups server
(setenv "CUPS_SERVER" "localhost")
(package-require 'cups)

3.6 outlining everywhere

Code folding is pretty cool to get an overview of a complex structure. So why shouldn’t you be able to do that with any kind of structured data?

; use allout minor mode to have outlining everywhere.
(allout-mode)

3.7 Syntax highlighting

Font-lock is the emacs name for syntax highlighting - in just about anything.

; syntax highlighting everywhere
(global-font-lock-mode 1)

3.8 org and babel

Org-mode is that kind of simple thing which evolves to a way of life when you realize that most of your needs actually are simple - and that the complex things can be done in simple ways, too.

It provides simple todo-lists, inline-code evaluation (as in this file) and a full-blown literate programming, reproducible research publishing platform. All from the same simple basic structure.

It might change your life… and it is the only planning solution which ever prevailed against my way of life and organization.

; Activate org-mode
(require 'org)
; and some more org stuff

; http://orgmode.org/guide/Activation.html#Activation

; The following lines are always needed.  Choose your own keys.
(add-to-list 'auto-mode-alist '("\\.org\\'" . org-mode))
; And add babel inline code execution
; babel, for executing code in org-mode.
(org-babel-do-load-languages
 'org-babel-load-languages
 ; load all language marked with (lang . t).
 '((C . t)
   (R . t)
   (asymptote)
   (awk)
   (calc)
   (clojure)
   (comint)
   (css)
   (ditaa . t)
   (dot . t)
   (emacs-lisp . t)
   (fortran)
   (gnuplot . t)
   (haskell)
   (io)
   (java)
   (js)
   (latex)
   (ledger)
   (lilypond)
   (lisp)
   (matlab)
   (maxima)
   (mscgen)
   (ocaml)
   (octave)
   (org . t)
   (perl)
   (picolisp)
   (plantuml)
   (python . t)
   (ref)
   (ruby)
   (sass)
   (scala)
   (scheme)
   (screen)
   (sh . t)
   (shen)
   (sql)
   (sqlite)))

3.9 Nice line wrapping

If you’re used to other editors, you’ll want to see lines wrapped nicely at the word-border instead of lines which either get cut at the end or in the middle of a word.

global-visual-line-mode gives you that.

; Add proper word wrapping
(global-visual-line-mode t)

3.10 goto-chg

This is the kind of feature which looks tiny: Go to the place where you last changed something.

And then you get used to it and it becomes absolutely indispensable.

; go to the last change
(package-require 'goto-chg)
(global-set-key [(control .)] 'goto-last-change)
; M-. can conflict with etags tag search. But C-. can get overwritten
; by flyspell-auto-correct-word. And goto-last-change needs a really
; fast key.
(global-set-key [(meta .)] 'goto-last-change)
; ensure that even in worst case some goto-last-change is available
(global-set-key [(control meta .)] 'goto-last-change)

3.11 flyspell

Whenever you write prosa, a spellchecker is worth a lot, but it should not unnerve you.

Install aspell, then activate flyspell-mode whenever you need it.

It needs some dabbling, though, to make it work nicely with non-english text.

(require 'flyspell)
; Make german umlauts work.
(setq locale-coding-system 'utf-8)
(set-terminal-coding-system 'utf-8)
(set-keyboard-coding-system 'utf-8)
(set-selection-coding-system 'utf-8)
(prefer-coding-system 'utf-8)

;aspell und flyspell
(setq-default ispell-program-name "aspell")

;make aspell faster but less correctly
(setq ispell-extra-args '("--sug-mode=ultra" "-w" "äöüÄÖÜßñ"))
(setq ispell-list-command "list")

3.12 control-lock

If you have to do the same action repeatedly, for example with flyspell hitting next-error and next-correction hundreds of times, the need to press control can really be a strain for your fingers.

Sure, you can use viper-mode and retrain your hands for the completely alien command set of vim.

A simpler solution is adding a sticky control key - and that’s what control-lock does: You get modal editing with your standard emacs commands.

Since I am a german, I simply use the german umlauts to toggle the control-lock. You will likely want to choose your own commands here.

; control-lock-mode, so we can enter a vi style command-mode with standard emacs keys.
(package-require 'control-lock)
; also bind M-ü and M-ä to toggling control lock.
(global-set-key (kbd "M-ü") 'control-lock-toggle)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-ü") 'control-lock-toggle)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-ä") 'control-lock-toggle)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-ä") 'control-lock-toggle)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-z") 'control-lock-toggle)

3.13 Basic key chords

This is the second strike for saving your pinky. Yes, Emacs is hard on the pinky. Even if it were completely designed to avoid strain on the pinky, it would still be hard, because any system in which you do not have to reach for the mouse is hard on the pinky.

But it also provides some of the neatest tricks to reduce that strain, so you can make Emacs your pinky saviour.

The key chord mode allows you to hit any two keys at (almost) the same time to invoke commands. Since this can interfere with normal typing, I would only use it for letters which are rarely typed after each other.

These default chords have proven themselves to be useful in years of working with Emacs.

; use key chords invoke commands
(package-require 'key-chord)
(key-chord-mode 1)
; buffer actions
(key-chord-define-global "vb"     'eval-buffer)
(key-chord-define-global "cy"     'yank-pop)
(key-chord-define-global "cg"     "\C-c\C-c")
; frame actions
(key-chord-define-global "xo"     'other-window);
(key-chord-define-global "x1"     'delete-other-windows)
(key-chord-define-global "x0"     'delete-window)
(defun kill-this-buffer-if-not-modified ()
  (interactive)
  ; taken from menu-bar.el
  (if (menu-bar-non-minibuffer-window-p)
      (kill-buffer-if-not-modified (current-buffer))
    (abort-recursive-edit)))
(key-chord-define-global "xk"     'kill-this-buffer-if-not-modified)
; file actions
(key-chord-define-global "bf"     'ido-switch-buffer)
(key-chord-define-global "cf"     'ido-find-file)
(key-chord-define-global "vc"     'vc-next-action)

To complement these tricks, you should also install and use workrave or at least type-break-mode.

3.14 X11 tricks

These are ways to improve the integration of Emacs in a graphical environment.

We have this cool editor. But it is from the 90s, and some of the more modern concepts of graphical programs have not yet been integrated into its core. Maybe because everyone just adds them to the custom setup :)

On the other hand, Emacs always provided split windows and many of the “new” window handling functions in dwm and similar - along with a level of integration with which normal graphical desktops still have to catch up. Open a file, edit it as text, quickly switch to org-mode to be able to edit an ascii table more efficiently, then switch to html mode to add some custom structure - and all that with a consistent set of key bindings.

But enough with the glorification, let’s get to the integration of stuff where Emacs arguably still has weaknesses.

3.14.1 frame-to-front

Get the current Emacs frame to the front. You can for example call this via emacsclient and set it as a keyboard shortcut in your desktop (for me it is F12):

emacsclient -e "(show-frame)"

This sounds much easier than it proves to be in the end… but luckily you only have to solve it once, then you can google it anywhere…

(defun show-frame (&optional frame)
  "Show the current Emacs frame or the FRAME given as argument.

And make sure that it really shows up!"
  (raise-frame)
  ; yes, you have to call this twice. Don’t ask me why…
  ; select-frame-set-input-focus calls x-focus-frame and does a bit of
  ; additional magic.
  (select-frame-set-input-focus (selected-frame))
  (select-frame-set-input-focus (selected-frame)))

3.14.2 urgency hint

Make Emacs announce itself in the tray.

;; let emacs blink when something interesting happens.
;; in KDE this marks the active Emacs icon in the tray.
(defun x-urgency-hint (frame arg &optional source)
  "Set the x-urgency hint for the frame to arg: 

- If arg is nil, unset the urgency.
- If arg is any other value, set the urgency.

If you unset the urgency, you still have to visit the frame to make the urgency setting disappear (at least in KDE)."
    (let* ((wm-hints (append (x-window-property 
                "WM_HINTS" frame "WM_HINTS" source nil t) nil))
     (flags (car wm-hints)))
    (setcar wm-hints
        (if arg
        (logior flags #x100)
          (logand flags (lognot #x100))))
    (x-change-window-property "WM_HINTS" wm-hints frame "WM_HINTS" 32 t)))

(defun x-urgent (&optional arg)
  "Mark the current emacs frame as requiring urgent attention. 

With a prefix argument which does not equal a boolean value of nil, remove the urgency flag (which might or might not change display, depending on the window manager)."
  (interactive "P")
  (let (frame (selected-frame))
  (x-urgency-hint frame (not arg))))

3.14.3 fullscreen mode

Hit F11 to enter fullscreen mode. Any self-respecting program should have that… and now Emacs does, too.

; fullscreen, taken from http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/FullScreen#toc26
; should work for X und OSX with emacs 23.x (TODO find minimum version).
; for windows it uses (w32-send-sys-command #xf030) (#xf030 == 61488)
(defvar babcore-fullscreen-p nil
  "Check if fullscreen is on or off")
(defvar babcore-stored-frame-width nil 
  "width of the frame before going fullscreen")
(defvar babcore-stored-frame-height nil
  "width of the frame before going fullscreen")

(defun babcore-non-fullscreen ()
  (interactive)
  (if (fboundp 'w32-send-sys-command)
      ;; WM_SYSCOMMAND restore #xf120
      (w32-send-sys-command 61728)
    (progn (set-frame-parameter nil 'fullscreen nil)
           (set-frame-parameter nil 'width 
                                (if babcore-stored-frame-width
                                    babcore-stored-frame-width 82))
           (sleep-for 0 1) ; 1ms sleep: workaround to avoid unsetting the width in the next command
           (set-frame-parameter nil 'height
                                (if babcore-stored-frame-height 
                                    babcore-stored-frame-height 42)))))

(defun babcore-fullscreen ()
  (interactive)
  (setq babcore-stored-frame-width (frame-width))
  (setq babcore-stored-frame-height (frame-height))
  (if (fboundp 'w32-send-sys-command)
      ;; WM_SYSCOMMAND maximaze #xf030
      (w32-send-sys-command 61488)
    (set-frame-parameter nil 'fullscreen 'fullboth)))

(defun toggle-fullscreen ()
  (interactive)
  (setq babcore-fullscreen-p (not babcore-fullscreen-p))
  (if babcore-fullscreen-p
      (babcore-non-fullscreen)
    (babcore-fullscreen)))

(global-set-key [f11] 'toggle-fullscreen)

3.14.4 default key bindings

I always hate it when some usage pattern which is consistent almost everywhere fails with some program. Especially if that is easily avoidable.

This code fixes that for Emacs in KDE.

; Default KDE keybindings to make emacs nicer integrated into KDE. 

; can treat C-m as its own mapping.
; (define-key input-decode-map "\C-m" [?\C-1])

(defun revert-buffer-preserve-modes ()
  (interactive)
  (revert-buffer t nil t))

; C-m shows/hides the menu bar - thanks to http://stackoverflow.com/questions/2298811/how-to-turn-off-alternative-enter-with-ctrlm-in-linux
; f5 reloads
(defconst kde-default-keys-minor-mode-map
  (let ((map (make-sparse-keymap)))
    (set-keymap-parent map text-mode-map)
    (define-key map [f5] 'revert-buffer-preserve-modes)
    (define-key map [?\C-1] 'menu-bar-mode)
    (define-key map [?\C-+] 'text-scale-increase)
    (define-key map [?\C--] 'text-scale-decrease) ; shadows 'negative-argument which is also available via M-- and C-M--, though.
    (define-key map [C-kp-add] 'text-scale-increase)
    (define-key map [C-kp-subtract] 'text-scale-decrease)
    map)
  "Keymap for `kde-default-keys-minor-mode'.")

;; Minor mode for keypad control
(define-minor-mode kde-default-keys-minor-mode
  "Adds some default KDE keybindings"
  :global t
  :init-value t
  :lighter ""
  :keymap 'kde-default-keys-minor-mode-map
  )

3.14.5 Useful Window/frame titles

The titles of windows of GNU Emacs normally look pretty useless (just stating emacs@host), but it’s easy to make them display useful information:

;; Set the frame title as by http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/FrameTitle
(setq frame-title-format (list "%b ☺ " (user-login-name) "@" (system-name) "%[ - GNU %F " emacs-version)
      icon-title-format (list "%b ☻ " (user-login-name) "@" (system-name) " - GNU %F " emacs-version))

Now we can always see the name of the open buffer in the frame. No more searching for the right emacs window to switch to in the window list.

3.15 Insert unicode characters

Actually you do not need any configuration here. Just use

M-x ucs-insert

To insert any unicode character. If you want to see them while selecting, have a look at xub-mode from Ergo Emacs.

3.16 Highlight TODO and FIXME in comments

This is a default feature in most IDEs. Since Emacs allows you to build your own IDE, it does not offer it by default… but it should, since that does not disturb anything. So we add it.

fic-ext-mode highlight TODO and FIXME in comments for common programming languages.

;; Highlight TODO and FIXME in comments 
(package-require 'fic-ext-mode)
(defun add-something-to-mode-hooks (mode-list something)
  "helper function to add a callback to multiple hooks"
  (dolist (mode mode-list)
    (add-hook (intern (concat (symbol-name mode) "-mode-hook")) something)))

(add-something-to-mode-hooks '(c++ tcl emacs-lisp python text markdown latex) 'fic-ext-mode)

3.17 Save macros as functions

Now for something which should really be provided by default: You just wrote a cool emacs macro, and you are sure that you will need that again a few times.

Well, then save it!

In standard emacs that needs multiple steps. And I hate that. Something as basic as saving a macro should only need one single step. It does now (and Emacs is great, because it allows me to do this!).

This bridges the gap between function definitions and keyboard macros, making keyboard macros something like first class citizens in your Emacs.

; save the current macro as reusable function.
(defun save-current-kbd-macro-to-dot-emacs (name)
  "Save the current macro as named function definition inside
your initialization file so you can reuse it anytime in the
future."
  (interactive "SSave Macro as: ")
  (name-last-kbd-macro name)
  (save-excursion 
    (find-file-literally user-init-file)
    (goto-char (point-max))
    (insert "\n\n;; Saved macro\n")
    (insert-kbd-macro name)
    (insert "\n")))

3.18 Transparent GnuPG encryption

If you have a diary or similar, you should really use this. It only takes a few lines of code, but these few lines are the difference between encryption for those who know they need it and encryption for everyone.

; Activate transparent GnuPG encryption.
(require 'epa-file)
(epa-file-enable)

3.19 Colored shell commands

A shell without colors is really hard to read. Use M-& to run your shell-commands asynchronously and in shell-mode (via async-shell-command).

3.20 Save backups in ~/.local/share/emacs-saves

This is just an aestetic value: Use the directories from the freedesktop specification for save files.

Thanks to the folks at CERN for this.

(setq backup-by-copying t      ; don't clobber symlinks
      backup-directory-alist
      '(("." . "~/.local/share/emacs-saves"))    ; don't litter my fs tree
      delete-old-versions t
      kept-new-versions 6
      kept-old-versions 2
      version-control t)       ; use versioned backups

3.21 Basic persistency

If I restart the computer I want my editor to make it easy for me to continue where I left off.

It’s bad enough that most likely my brain buffers were emptied. At least my editor should remember how to go on.

3.21.1 saveplace

If I reopen a file, I want to start at the line at which I was when I closed it.

; save the place in files
(require 'saveplace)
(setq-default save-place t)

3.21.2 savehist

And I want to be able to call my recent commands in the minibuffer. I normally don’t type the full command name anyway, but rather C-r followed by a small part of the command. Losing that on restart really hurts, so I want to avoid that loss.

; save minibuffer history
(require 'savehist)
;; increase the default history cutoff
(setq history-length 500)
(savehist-mode t)
(setq savehist-additional-variables
      '(regexp-search-ring
        register-alist))

If this does not suffice for you, have a look at desktop, the chainsaw of Emacs persistency.

3.22 use the system clipboard

Finally one more minor adaption: Treat the clipboard gracefully. This is a tightrope stunt and getting it wrong can feel awkward.

This is the only setting for which I’m not sure that I got it right, but it’s what I use…

(setq x-select-enable-clipboard t)

But do not synchronize anything to the clipboard or primary selection (mouse-selection) while compiling an org-mode file. When I have it enabled, compiling an org-mode file to PDF locks KDE - I think it does so by filling up the clipboard. So the system clipboard is disabled, now, and I use the mouse-selection to transfer text from emacs to other parts.

; When I have x-select-enable-clipboard enabled, compiling an org-mode file to PDF locks
; KDE - I think it does so by filling up the clipboard.
(defadvice org-export-dispatch-no-clipboard-advice (around org-export-dispatch)
  "Do not clobber the system-clipboard while compiling an org-mode file with `org-export`."
  (let ((select-active-regions nil)
        (x-select-enable-clipboard nil)
        (x-select-enable-primary nil)
        (interprogram-cut-function nil)
        (interprogram-paste-function nil))
    ad-do-it))
(ad-activate 'org-export-dispatch-no-clipboard-advice t)

3.23 Add license headers automatically

In case you mostly write free software, you might be as weary of hunting for the license header and copy pasting it into new files as I am. Free licenses, and especially copyleft licenses, are one of the core safeguards of free culture, because they give free software developers an edge over proprietarizing folks. But they are a pain to add to every file…

Well: No more. We now have legalese mode to take care of the inconvenient legal details for us, so we can focus on the code we write. Just call M-x legalese to add a GPL header, or C-u M-x legalese to choose another license.

(package-require 'legalese)

3.24 Find file as root

When I needed to open a file as root to do a quick edit, I used to dump into a shell and run sudo nano FILE, just because that was faster. Since I started using find-current-as-root, I no longer do that: Opening the file as root is now convenient enough in Emacs to no longer tempt me to drop to the shell.

;;; Open files as root - quickly
(defcustom find-file-root-prefix "/sudo:root@localhost:"
"Tramp root prefix to use.")

(defun find-file-as-root ()
  "Like `ido-find-file, but automatically edit the file with
root-privileges (using tramp/sudo), if the file is not writable by
user."
  (interactive)
  (let ((file (ido-read-file-name "Edit as root: ")))
    (unless (file-writable-p file)
      (setq file (concat find-file-root-prefix file)))
    (find-file file)))
;; or some other keybinding...
;; (global-set-key (kbd "C-x F") 'djcb-find-file-as-root)

(defun find-current-as-root ()
  "Reopen current file as root"
  (interactive)
  (set-visited-file-name (concat find-file-root-prefix (buffer-file-name)))
  (setq buffer-read-only nil))

3.25 Fixes

This stuff should become obsolete, but at the moment it is still needed to improve the Emacs Experience.

;;;;;;;;;;;;;
;;; Fixes ;;;
;;;;;;;;;;;;;

3.25.1 Comint: recognize password in all languages

;; Make comint recognize passwords in virtually all languages.
(defcustom comint-password-prompt-regexp
  (concat
   "\\(^ *\\|"
   (regexp-opt
    '("Enter" "enter" "Enter same" "enter same" "Enter the" "enter the"
      "Old" "old" "New" "new" "'s" "login"
      "Kerberos" "CVS" "UNIX" " SMB" "LDAP" "[sudo]" "Repeat" "Bad") t)
   " +\\)"
   (regexp-opt
    '("Adgangskode" "adgangskode" "Contrasenya" "contrasenya" "Contraseña" "contraseña" "Geslo" "geslo" "Hasło" "hasło" "Heslo" "heslo" "Iphasiwedi" "iphasiwedi" "Jelszó" "jelszó" "Lozinka" "lozinka" "Lösenord" "lösenord" "Mot de passe " "Mot de Passe " "mot de Passe " "mot de passe " "Mật khẩu " "mật khẩu" "Parola" "parola" "Pasahitza" "pasahitza" "Pass phrase" "pass Phrase" "pass phrase" "Passord" "passord" "Passphrase" "passphrase" "Password" "password" "Passwort" "passwort" "Pasvorto" "pasvorto" "Response" "response" "Salasana" "salasana" "Senha" "senha" "Wachtwoord" "wachtwoord" "slaptažodis" "slaptažodis" "Лозинка" "лозинка" "Пароль" "пароль" "ססמה" "كلمة السر" "गुप्तशब्द" "शब्दकूट" "গুপ্তশব্দ" "পাসওয়ার্ড" "ਪਾਸਵਰਡ" "પાસવર્ડ" "ପ୍ରବେଶ ସଙ୍କେତ" "கடவுச்சொல்" "సంకేతపదము" "ಗುಪ್ತಪದ" "അടയാളവാക്ക്" "රහස්පදය" "ពាក្យសម្ងាត់ ៖ " "パスワード" "密码" "密碼" "암호"))
   "\\(?:\\(?:, try\\)? *again\\| (empty for no passphrase)\\| (again)\\)?\
\\(?: for [^:]+\\)?:\\s *\\'")
  "Regexp matching prompts for passwords in the inferior process.
This is used by `comint-watch-for-password-prompt'."
  :version "24.3"
  :type 'regexp
  :group 'comint)

3.25.2 Autoconf-mode builtins

;; Mark all AC_* and AS_* functions as builtin.
(add-hook 'autoconf-mode-hook 
          (lambda () 
            (add-to-list 'autoconf-font-lock-keywords '("\\(\\(AC\\|AS\\|AM\\)_.+?\\)\\((\\|\n\\)" (1 font-lock-builtin-face)))))

3.25.3 Do not beep on alt-gr/M4

; tell emacs to ignore alt-gr clicks needed for M4 in the Neo Layout.
(define-key special-event-map (kbd "<key-17>") 'ignore)
(define-key special-event-map (kbd "<M-key-17>") 'ignore)

3.25.4 yank-pop should just yank on first invocation

When you run yank-pop after a yank, it replaces the yanked text. When you did not do a yank before, it errors out.

This change makes yank-pop yank instead so you can simply hit C-y repeatedly to first yank and then cycle through the yank history.

; yank-pop should yank if the last command was no yank.
(defun yank-pop (&optional arg)
  "Replace just-yanked stretch of killed text with a different stretch.
At such a time, the region contains a stretch of reinserted
previously-killed text.  `yank-pop' deletes that text and inserts in its
place a different stretch of killed text.

With no argument, the previous kill is inserted.
With argument N, insert the Nth previous kill.
If N is negative, this is a more recent kill.

The sequence of kills wraps around, so that after the oldest one
comes the newest one.

When this command inserts killed text into the buffer, it honors
`yank-excluded-properties' and `yank-handler' as described in the
doc string for `insert-for-yank-1', which see."
  (interactive "*p")
  (if (not (eq last-command 'yank))
      (yank)
    (setq this-command 'yank)
    (unless arg (setq arg 1))
    (let ((inhibit-read-only t)
          (before (< (point) (mark t))))
      (if before
          (funcall (or yank-undo-function 'delete-region) (point) (mark t))
        (funcall (or yank-undo-function 'delete-region) (mark t) (point)))
      (setq yank-undo-function nil)
      (set-marker (mark-marker) (point) (current-buffer))
      (insert-for-yank (current-kill arg))
      ;; Set the window start back where it was in the yank command,
      ;; if possible.
      (set-window-start (selected-window) yank-window-start t)
      (if before
          ;; This is like exchange-point-and-mark, but doesn't activate the mark.
          ;; It is cleaner to avoid activation, even though the command
          ;; loop would deactivate the mark because we inserted text.
          (goto-char (prog1 (mark t)
                       (set-marker (mark-marker) (point) (current-buffer))))))
    nil))

3.25.5 Blink instead of beeping

(setq visible-bell t)

3.25.6 vc-state is slow

TODO: Adjust vc-find-file-hook to call the vcs tool asynchronously.

3.26 finish up

Make it possible to just (require 'babcore) and add the proper package footer.

(provide 'babcore)
;;; babcore.el ends here

4 Summary

With the babcore you have a core setup which exposes some of the essential features of Emacs and adds basic integration with the system which is missing in pristine Emacs.

Now go and see the M-x package-list-packages to see where you can still go - or just use Emacs and add what you need along the way. The package list is your friend, as is Emacswiki.

Happy Hacking!

Note: As almost everything on this page, this text and code is available under the GPLv3 or later.

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