Emacs Configuration
Table of Contents
- 1. Introduction
- 2. Spacemacs layers and packages
- 2.1. General configuration
- 2.2. Package management
- 2.3. Layers
- 3. Init
- 3.1. Handling my Spacemacs litterate config
- 3.2. Emacs with pdumper
- 3.3. Package managment and updates
- 3.4. Editing style
- 3.5. Spacemacs home configuration
- 3.6. Default major modes
- 3.7. Visual configuration
- 3.8. Spacemacs leader keys and shortcuts
- 3.9. Layouts
- 3.10. Files-related settings
- 3.11. Emacs server
- 3.12. Miscellaneous
- 4. User Initialization
- 5. User Configuration
- 5.1. Custom functions, macros, and variables
- 5.1.1. Nord theming variables
- 5.1.2.
with-face - 5.1.3.
phundrak/abbr-path - 5.1.4.
phundrak/add-all-to-list - 5.1.5.
phundrak/blog-publish - 5.1.6.
phundrak/eshell-git-status - 5.1.7.
phundrak/file-to-string - 5.1.8.
phundrak/find-org-files - 5.1.9.
phundrak/git-repo-root - 5.1.10.
phundrak/prompt-toggle-abbreviation - 5.1.11.
phundrak/open-marked-files - 5.1.12.
phundrak/var-or-if-nil - 5.1.13.
phundrak/yas-rust-new-assignments - 5.1.14.
screenshot-svg - 5.1.15.
terminal-here-default-terminal-command - 5.1.16.
xah/dired-sort - 5.1.17.
xah/open-in-external-app
- 5.2. Emacs builtins
- 5.3. Editing and modes
- 5.4. Keybindings
- 5.5. Mu4e
- 5.6. Miscellaneous
- 5.7. Nov-mode
- 5.8. Programming
- 5.9. Projectile
- 5.10. Security
- 5.11. Snippets
- 5.12. Tramp configuration
- 5.13. Visual configuration
- 5.1. Custom functions, macros, and variables
1 Introduction
This file is the main source file for my Emacs configuration which contains most
of the user code. It is exported thanks to Emacs’ code tangling from the
original Org file which you can find on my dotfiles’ repository1 if you are
reading the web version of it. You can also find there my .spacemacs2 and
its code which isn’t part of the present file. As you can see in my
.spacemacs, at init-time, if Emacs detects the tangled configuration files are
older than the Org file, then Emacs tangles them again, and then loads them.
2 Spacemacs layers and packages
Here will be our layer configuration set. Everything here is set with a
setq-default in the dotspacemacs/layers function like so:
(defun dotspacemacs/layers () (setq-default ;; configuration goes here ))
2.1 General configuration
First, we need to tell Spacemacs which base distribution we are using. This is a
layer contained in the directory +distribution. For now, available
distributions are spacemacs-base and spacemacs (the default one).
(setq-default dotspacemacs-distribution 'spacemacs)
We can seet a lazy installation of layers —i.e. layers are installed only when a file with a supported type is opened. Possible values are:
all- will lazy install any layer that support lazy installation even the
layers listed in
dotspacemacs-configuration-layers unused- will lazy install only unused layers (i.e. layers not listed in
the variable
dotspacemacs-configuration-layers) nil- disables the lazy installation feature and you have to explicitly
list a layer in the variable
dotspacemacs-configuration-layersto install it.
The default value is unused.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-enable-lazy-installation 'lazy)
If the following variable is non-nil, Spacemacs will ask for confirmation before
installing a layer lazily. The default value is t.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-ask-for-lazy-installation t)
2.2 Package management
It is possible to indicate to Spacemacs a list of additional paths where to look
for configuration layers. Paths must have a trailing slash, i.e.
~/.mycontribs/. As you can see, I added only one:
(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layer-path '("~/fromGIT/emacs-packages"))
However, I do have additional packages I installed either from the Elpa or the
Melpa. These are set in dotspacemacs-additional-packages, a list of additional
packages that will be installed without being wrapped in a layer. If I need some
configuration for these packages, then I should consider creating a layer. I can
also puth the configuration in dotspacemacs/user-config. To use a local
version of a package, use the :location property, for instance:
'(your-package :location "~/path/to/your-package/")
With the variable dotspacemacs-additional-packages, it is possible to install
extra packages which are not already included in any layers. Dependencies should
be explicitly included as they won’t be resolved automatically. Here is a table
of all the extra packages I use:
| name of the package | why is it installed |
|---|---|
| caddyfile-mode | Major mode for editing Caddyfiles |
| dired-git-info | Git information in Dired buffers |
| diredfl | Extra font lock rules for a more colourful dired |
| edit-indirect | edit region in separate buffer |
| elcord | rich integration of Emacs in Discord |
| eshell-syntax-highlighting | Syntax highlighting for Eshell |
| info-colors | Extra colors for Emacs's Info-mode |
| multiple-cursors | I don’t like the layer, I prefer this package alone |
| ob-latex-as-png | Inline arbitrary LaTeX snippets as PNGs in Emacs |
| org-sidebar | display on the side the outline of an Org buffer |
| org-tree-slide | presentation tool for org-mode |
| outorg | edit comments as Org-mode buffers |
| ox-ssh | SSH config export for org-mode |
| pinentry | enter a GPG password from Emacs |
| nord-theme | An arctic, north-bluish clean and elegant Emacs theme. |
| s | The long lost Emacs string manipulation library. |
| sicp | Texinfo version of the SICP |
| visual-fill-column | allow the use of fill-column in visual-line-mode |
| wrap-region | easily wrap region with delimiters |
| wttrin | weather in Emacs |
| yasnippet-snippets | snippets for YaSnippet |
It is possible to also list packages that cannot be updated:
(setq-default dotspacemacs-frozen-packages '(helm-icons))
And to list packages which won’t be installed nor loaded:
(setq-default dotspacemacs-excluded-packages '(company-tern))
Finally, it is possible to define the behaviour of Spacemacs when installing packages. Possible values are:
used-only- installs only explicitly used packages and deletes any unused packages as well as their unused dependencies
used-but-keep-unused- installs only the used packages but won’t delete unused ones
all- installs all packages supported by Spacemacs and never uninstalls them.
The default value is used-only.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-install-packages 'used-only)
2.3 Layers
All layers are set one variable: dotspacemacs-configuration-layers. This
variable is a list of layers, some of them will have some custom variables.
Typically, the variable will be set like so:
(setq-default dotspacemacs-configuration-layers '(emacs-lisp helm multiple-cursors org (shell :variables shell-default-height 30 shell-default-position 'bottom) treemacs))
2.3.1 Checkers
The two first checkers I use are for spell and syntax checking. spell-checking
is disabled by default, however it should auto-detect the dictionary to use.
(spell-checking :variables spell-checking-enable-by-default nil spell-checking-enable-auto-dictionary t) syntax-checking
2.3.2 Completion
auto-completion is a layer enabled in order to provide auto-completion to all
supported language layers. It is set so that the RET key has no behavior with
this layer, however the TAB key cycles between candidates displayed by the
auto-completion toolbox. I also want the autocompletion to include snippets in
the popup, and the content of the popup is sorted by usage. It is also disabled
for two modes: magit and Org.
(auto-completion :variables auto-completion-complete-with-key-sequence-delay 0.2 auto-completion-enable-help-tooltip 'manual auto-completion-enable-sort-by-usage t :disabled-for org git)
helm is also enabled, with its header disabled.
(helm :variables helm-no-header t)
2.3.3 Email
I use as my daily Email client mu4e, so let’s enable it and tell Emacs where
mu4e is installed. I also tell mu4e to use maildirs extensions, use async
operations, where to keep attachments, and enable the mu4e modeline.
(mu4e :variables mu4e-installation-path "/usr/share/emacs/site-lisp" mu4e-use-maildirs-extension t mu4e-enable-mode-line t mu4e-attachment-dir "~/Documents/mu4e")
2.3.4 Emacs
The first layer enabled in this category is better-defaults. I also made it so
that when a command equivalent to C-a or C-e is pressed, the cursor will
respectively first move to the beginning of code first before going past the
indentation and to the end of the code before going to the end of the line
before going over the end of the comments on the same line.
(better-defaults :variables better-defaults-move-to-beginning-of-code-first t better-defaults-move-to-end-of-code-first t)
I also enabled ibuffer and made it so that buffers are sorted by projects.
(ibuffer :variables ibuffer-group-buffers-by 'projects)
Most important of all, the org layer is also enabled. I enabled support for
Epub exports, Github, Reveal.JS exports, and sticky headers. Project support is
also enabled through files named TODOs.org. I also set the org-download folder
for images in ~/Pictures/org/, and I set the RET key to follow org links if
the cursor is on one.
(org :variables org-enable-epub-support t org-enable-github-support t org-enable-hugo-support t org-enable-roam-support t org-enable-reveal-js-support t org-enable-sticky-header t spaceline-org-clock-p t org-projectile-file "TODOs.org" org-download-image-dir "~/Pictures/org/" org-return-follows-link t)
The semantic layer is also enabled.
semantic
2.3.5 File trees
In this category, I only enabled one layer: treemacs. In this layer, I set is
so that treemacs syncs with my current buffer, and it automatically refreshes
its buffer when there is a change in the part of the file system shown by
treemacs.
(treemacs :variables treemacs-use-follow-mode t treemacs-use-filewatch-mode t)
2.3.6 Fonts
In this category, again, one layer is enabled: unicode-fonts. This layer
addssupport for the unicode-fonts package.
(unicode-fonts :variables unicode-fonts-enable-ligatures t unicode-fonts-ligature-modes '(prog-mode) unicode-fonts-ligature-set '("|||>" "<|||" "<==>" "<!--" "####" "~~>" "***" "||=" "||>" ":::" "::=" "=:=" "===" "==>" "=!=" "=>>" "=<<" "=/=" "!==" "!!." ">=>" ">>=" ">>>" ">>-" ">->" "->>" "-->" "---" "-<<" "<~~" "<~>" "<*>" "<||" "<|>" "<$>" "<==" "<=>" "<=<" "<->" "<--" "<-<" "<<=" "<<-" "<<<" "<+>" "</>" "###" "#_(" "..<" "..." "+++" "/==" "///" "_|_" "www" "&&" "^=" "~~" "~@" "~=" "~>" "~-" "**" "*>" "*/" "||" "|}" "|]" "|=" "|>" "|-" "{|" "[|" "]#" "::" ":=" ":>" ":<" "$>" "==" "=>" "!=" "!!" ">:" ">=" ">>" ">-" "-~" "-|" "->" "--" "-<" "<~" "<*" "<|" "<:" "<$" "<=" "<>" "<-" "<<" "<+" "</" "#{" "#[" "#:" "#=" "#!" "##" "#(" "#?" "#_" "%%" ".=" ".-" ".." ".?" "+>" "++" "?:" "?=" "?." "??" ";;" "/*" "/=" "/>" "//" "__" "~~" "(*" "*)" "\\\\" "://"))
2.3.7 Fun
In this category, I only enabled two layers: selectric and xkcd.
selectric xkcd
2.3.8 Internationalization
In this category, I enabled the keyboard-layout layer to enable compatibility
with the bépo layout. This layer, however, is disabled for magit, Dired and eww.
(keyboard-layout :variables kl-layout 'bepo kl-disabled-configurations '(magit dired eww))
2.3.9 Programming languages
2.3.9.1 Domain-specific (DSLs)
In this category, I enabled support for the major-modes layer for the Arch
Linux PKGBUILDs support, emacs-lisp and scheme layers, support for the CSV
format with the csv layer, the yaml language, shell scripting languages and
support for the dot tool with the graphviz layer.
major-modes emacs-lisp scheme graphviz yaml shell-scripts
I also added support for HTML and CSS with the html layer, with the web
formatting tool set to web-beautify, and the LSP layer compatibility enabled
for CSS, less, SCSS and HTML.
(html :variables web-fmt-tool 'web-beautify css-enable-lsp t less-enable-lsp t scss-enable-lsp t html-enable-lsp t)
The json layer is also enabled, with the format tool set to web-beautify.
(json :variables json-fmt-tool 'web-beautify)
The LaTeX layer has also been enabled, with its default compiler set to XeLaTeX. I also enabled the auto-fill feature, the folding capacity and the “magic” symbols.
(latex :variables latex-build-command "xelatex" latex-enable-auto-fill t latex-enable-folding t latex-enable-magic t)
The Markdown layer has been enabled, with support for live preview with vmd,
and and automatic MMM-mode generation for C, C++, Python, Rust and Emacs Lisp.
(markdown :variables markdown-live-preview-engine 'vmd markdown-mmm-auto-modes '("c" "c++" "python" "rust" ("elisp" "emacs-lisp")))
PlantUML is a very useful DSL for creating UML diagrams from some text
description. As you can see below, this layer will be enabled, both as a
standalone mode for opening .pum files, but also for org-mode code blocks.
(plantuml :variables plantuml-jar-path "~/.local/bin/plantuml.jar" org-plantuml-jar-path "~/.local/bin/plantuml.jar")
(bibtex :variables org-ref-default-bibliography '("~/Documents/Papers/references.bib") org-ref-pdf-directory "~/Documents/Papers" org-ref-bibliography-notes "~/Documents/Papers/notes.org")
csv
2.3.9.2 Frameworks
Only one framework support has been enabled so far, and is is for the Django framework.
django
2.3.9.3 General-purpose
Among the layers I activated, the only one without any specific configuration is
the asm layer for the Assembly language.
asm
Next, you can find the C/C++ layer for which I set the default language for .h
files to be C. I also enabled support for subprojects and organization of the
include directives on a file save. I also set a couple of LSP-related variables,
such as the LSP executable for C/C++ for its CCLS backend and some highlight
variables.
(c-c++ :variables c-c++-default-mode-for-headers 'c-mode c-c++-adopt-subprojects t c-c++-enable-c++11 t c-c++-backend 'lsp-clangd c-c++-lsp-enable-semantic-highlight t c-c++-lsp-semantic-highlight-method 'overlay c-c++-lsp-semantic-highlight-rainbow t c++-enable-organize-includes-on-save t)
Dart has also been enabled, with a custom path to the SDK of the Dart server, and to the LSP server of Dart.
(dart :variables lsp-dart-project-sdk-dir "/opt/dart-sdk/" lsp-dart-sdk-dir "/opt/dart-sdk/")
When it comes to the Python layer, I set its backend and formatter to be bound to the LSP layer. Its fill columnn was also set to 80 characters, imports are sorted on save, and the tests can be run using either nose.el or pytest.
(python :variables python-fill-column 80 python-test-runner '(pytest nose))
With the Rust layer, the only custom configuration set is the backend being bound to the LSP layer.
(rust :variables rust-backend 'lsp)
As regards the JavaScript layer, I set its backend to the LSP layer, and bound
its format tool to web-beautify and its REPL is browser-based. I also want to
include node_modules/.bin to be automatically added to the buffer local
exec_path.
(javascript :variables javascript-backend 'lsp javascript-fmt-tool 'web-beautify javascript-repl 'skewer node-add-modules-path t)
Alternatively, I also use Typescript which is a sort of better Javascript as it should have been, with the LSP backend.
(typescript :variables typescript-backend 'lsp)
I am also currently using the Awesome window manager which requires the Lua programming language, so here it is.
(lua :variables lua-backend 'lsp-emmy lua-lsp-emmy-jar-path "~/.config/awesome/EmmyLua-LS-all.jar" lua-lsp-emmy-java-path "java" lua-lsp-emmy-enable-file-watchers t)
Unfortunately, I have to write Java code for one of my university courses, so here is the layer:
java
2.3.10 Readers
2.3.10.1 Epub and Pdf readers
In this category, only the epub and pdf layers are enabled without any
special configuration, so I can read these files from Emacs directly.
epub pdf
2.3.10.2 Elfeed
Elfeed is an Emacs feeed and RSS reader which can be managed through org files.
Actually, through only one file in my case, located in my ~/org directory.
(elfeed :variables rmh-elfeed-org-files '("~/org/elfeed.org"))
2.3.11 Version control
Only the git layer is enabled in this category.
git
2.3.12 Themes
Here, the colors layer is the only one enabled. It activates support for
identifiers colorization, and strings representing colors.
colors
2.3.13 Tools
In this category, the first layer to be enabled is the CMake layer for which I
enabled support for the cmake-ide package.
(cmake :variables cmake-enable-cmake-ide-support t)
Next, we have the Docker, Nginx, Pass (the standard Unix password manager), Prettier, Systemd, Meson, Imenu-list, Web-beautify, Dap, Helpful, and LSP layers enabled.
dap docker helpful imenu-list lsp meson nginx pass prettier systemd web-beautify
We also have the RestClient layer enabled for which I enabled the Org compatibility support.
(restclient :variables restclient-use-org t)
LanguageTool works with Flyspell and will check for grammatical issues in my english texts.
(languagetool :variables langtool-default-language "en-US" languagetool-show-error-on-jump t langtool-java-classpath "/usr/share/languagetool:/usr/share/java/languagetool/*")
And finally, we also have the Shell layer for which I specified its default height when spawning at the bottom of the screen should be 40 lines high, and the default shell to invoke is Eshell.
(shell :variables shell-default-height 40 shell-default-position 'bottom shell-default-shell 'eshell)
2.3.14 Web Services
In this category, I have only enabled a layer for Twitter support.
2.3.15 Custom layers
Lastly, one custom layers have been enabled: my custom layer for conlanging tools.
conlanging
3 Init
The dotspacemacs/init function is the one called at the very begining of the
Spacemacs startup, before any kind of configuration, including the layer
configuration. Only the values of the Spacemacs settings should be modified
here. By default, every values are set in a setq-default sexp, and they
represent all the supported Spacemacs settings. Hence, the function looks like
this:
(defun dotspacemacs/init () (setq-default ;; default Spacemacs configuration here ))
3.1 Handling my Spacemacs litterate config
Just before we get onto the usual content of the dotspacemacs/init function
you would find in a typical Spacemacs installation, I would like to talk a bit
about how I manage writing a litterate config for Spacemacs and ensure Emacs
starts with an up-to-date configuration from said litterate config. For that, I
actually declared a couple of variables:
(defvar phundrak//dotspacemacs-src-dir "~/.config/emacs/private/" "Directory for my exported Elisp configuration files") (defvar phundrak//dotspacemacs-src "~/org/config/emacs.org" "My litterate config file for Emacs") (defvar phundrak//dotspacemacs-si (concat phundrak//dotspacemacs-src-dir "spacemacs-init")) (defvar phundrak//dotspacemacs-sl (concat phundrak//dotspacemacs-src-dir "spacemacs-layers")) (defvar phundrak//dotspacemacs-uc (concat phundrak//dotspacemacs-src-dir "user-config")) (defvar phundrak//dotspacemacs-ui (concat phundrak//dotspacemacs-src-dir "user-init")) (defvar phundrak//dotspacemacs-files (list phundrak//dotspacemacs-si phundrak//dotspacemacs-sl phundrak//dotspacemacs-uc phundrak//dotspacemacs-ui))
I also declared the following function that tells me if my Elisp files are more
recent than my emacs.org file. The compiled? argument lets me compare either
the .el files if it is nil, or the .elc files if it is t.
(defun phundrak/update-config-files-p (&optional compiled?) "Verify if any of my exported Elisp configuration files are newer than my litterate configuration. If `compiled?' is `t', check the `.elc' files instead of the `.el' files." (catch 'ret (dolist (file phundrak//dotspacemacs-files) (when (file-newer-than-file-p phundrak//dotspacemacs-src (format "%s.%s" file (if compiled? "elc" "el"))) (throw 'ret t)))))
Now I know a couple of my files that get exported by this document. If I compare
how recent these files are compared to my litterate config, I know if Emacs
missed tangling its configuration before launching, so if any of my si, sl,
uc, or ui files are older than my emacs.org, then I’ll tangle the latter;
and since my user config is growing longer and longer, I want Emacs to be able
to parse it fast next time it boots, so let’s compile my exported .el files!
(when (or (file-newer-than-file-p phundrak//dotspacemacs-src (concat phundrak//dotspacemacs-si ".el")) (file-newer-than-file-p phundrak//dotspacemacs-src (concat phundrak//dotspacemacs-sl ".el")) (file-newer-than-file-p phundrak//dotspacemacs-src (concat phundrak//dotspacemacs-ui ".el")) (file-newer-than-file-p phundrak//dotspacemacs-src (concat phundrak//dotspacemacs-uc ".el"))) (message "Exporting new Emacs configuration from spacemacs.org through org-babel...") (with-temp-buffer (shell-command (format "emacs -Q --batch %s %s %s" "--eval \"(require 'ob-tangle)\"" "--eval \"(setq org-confirm-babel-evaluate nil)\"" (format "--eval '(org-babel-tangle-file \"%s\")'" phundrak//dotspacemacs-src)) (current-buffer))) (message "Exporting new Emacs configuration from spacemacs.org through org-babel...done") (with-temp-buffer (byte-recompile-directory phundrak//dotspacemacs-src-dir 0 t)))
All that’s left to do in the Spacemacs functions is to call load on si,
sl, uc, and ui. Be aware this sub-chapter won’t be tangled, so it might
not be up to date with the actual dotspacemacs file. Please check it just in
case something changed and I forgot to update this part of emacs.org.
3.2 Emacs with pdumper
It is possible to compile Emacs 27 from source with support for the portable
dumper, as shown in Spacemacs’ EXPERIMENTAL.org file. I do not use this
feature yet, as I am still on Emacs 26 provided from Arch Linux’s repositories,
so I’ll disable the Spacemacs support for this feature. The default value of
this variable is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-enable-emacs-pdumper t)
In case the support for pdumper was enabled, Spacemacs needs to know the name of
the Emacs executable which supports such a feature. The executable must be in
the user’s PATH. By default, the value of the variable is "emacs".
(setq-default dotspacemacs-emacs-pdumper-executable-file "emacs")
And finally, we can name the Spacemacs dump file. This is the file that will be
created by the portable dumper in the cache directory under the dumps
sub-directory. To load it when starting Emacs, the parameter --dump-file
should be added when invoking Emacs 27.1 executable from the command line, for
instance:
./emacs --dump-file=~/.config/emacs/.cache/dumps/spacemacs.pdmp
The default value of this variable is "spacemacs.pdmp".
(setq-default dotspacemacs-emacs-dumper-dump-file (format "spacemacs-%s.pdmp" emacs-version))
3.3 Package managment and updates
Spacemacs’ core configuration can be updated via git commands using Github
services. If Spacemacs is not set to the develop branch, it can check by
itself if any update is available. However, I am using said branch, therefore I
should set this variable to nil. The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-check-for-update nil)
When it comes to package management, Spacemacs is able to store them in
different directories depending on the version of Emacs used or based on other
variables. I personally prefer to use the value emacs-version since it makes
it easier to upgrade or downgrade Emacs without any conflict with the already
installed packages. The default value is emacs-version.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-elpa-subdirectory 'emacs-version)
Spacemacs has a capacity of performing rollbacks after updates. We can set the
maximum number of rollback slots to keep in the cache. The default value is 5.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-max-rollback-slots 5)
3.3.1 Elpa repository
It is possible to ask Emacs to use an HTTPS connection when contacting the Elpa
whenever possible. This value should be set to nil when the user has no way to
contact the Elpa though HTTPS, otherwise it is strongly recommended to let it
set to t. This variable however has no effect if Emacs is launched with the
parameter --insecure which forces the value of this variable to nil. The
default value is t.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-elpa-https t)
We can set a maximum amount of seconds which will represent the maximum allowed
time to contact the Elpa repository. By default, this setting is set on 5.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-elpa-timeout 5)
3.3.2 Spacelpa repository
The Spacelpa repository is a Spacemacs-specific package repository. It is
possible to use it as the primary source to install a locked version of a
package. If the below value is set to nil, then Spacemacs will install the
latest version of packages from MELPA. I personally don’t use it, so I let it
set to nil. The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-use-spacelpa nil)
If the below value is not nil, then the signature for the downloaded Spacelpa
packages must be verified.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-verify-spacelpa-archives t)
3.4 Editing style
By default, Spacemacs encourages the use of evil-mode, which brings vim keybinding in Emacs. Still, it has three different styles available:
vim, which goes full evil-mode usage and most adapted to Emacs newcomers, especially if they were used to vim before, with the use of a normal mode and an insert mode.emacswhich keeps an Emacs-like feel to the keybindings, without any difference between an insert or normal mode.hybridis a modification of thevimmode which brings theemacsstyle in insert mode, but otherwise behaves like thevimstyle in normal mode. This is the style I personally use.
The value can also be a list with the :variables keyword (similar to layers).
Check the editing styles section of the documentation for details on available
variables. The default value is vim.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-editing-style '(hybrid :variables hybrid-mode-enable-evilified-state t hybrid-mode-default-state 'normal))
If non-nil, the paste transient-state is enabled. While enabled, after you paste
something, pressing C-j and C-k several times cycles through the elements in
the kill-ring. Default nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-enable-paste-transient-state t)
3.5 Spacemacs home configuration
The value below specifies the startup banner of Spacemacs. The default value is
official, it displays the official Spacemacs logo. An integer value is the
index of text banner, random chooses a random text banner in the
core/banners directory. A string value must be a path to an image format
supported by your Emacs build. If the value is nil, then no banner is displayed.
The default value is official.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-startup-banner 'official)
On the Spacemacs homepage, a list of elements can also be shown, be it recent
files, projects, agenda items,… Each of the elements making up the list value of
the below variable are pairs in the form (list-type . list-size). If the value
is nil, then it is disabled. The possible values for list-type are:
recents- displays recently opened files
bookmarks- displays saved bookmarks
projects- displays projectile projects recently opened
agenda- displays upcoming events from Org-mode agendas
todos- displays recent TODOs detected in projectile projects
The order in which they are set in the below list affects their order on the
Spacemacs startup page. List sikes may be nil, in which case
spacemacs-buffer-startup-lists-length takes effect.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-startup-lists '((recents . 15) (projects . 15)))
The below variable allows the startup page to respond to resize events. Its
default value is t.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-startup-buffer-responsive t)
If non-nil show the version string in the Spacemacs buffer. It will appear as
(spacemacs version)@(emacs version). Default t.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-startup-buffer-show-version t)
3.6 Default major modes
The below variable sets a default major mode for a new empty buffer. Possible
values are mode names such as text-mode, or nil to use Fundamental mode. The
default value is text-mode, but I prefer to use org-mode by default.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-new-empty-buffer-major-mode 'org-mode)
Similarly, the below variable sets the default mode for the scratch buffer. Its
default value is text-mode, but I set it to use emacs-lisp-mode by default.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-scratch-mode 'emacs-lisp-mode)
By the way, it is possible to set a default message for the scratch buffer, such
as “Welcome to Spacemacs!”. I prefer to keep it clean. The default value is
nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-initial-scratch-message nil)
3.7 Visual configuration
3.7.1 Themes
Spacemacs makes it quite easy to use themes and organize them. The below value
is a list of themes, the first of the list is loaded when Spacemacs starts. The
user can press SPC T n to cycle to the next theme in the list.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-themes '(nord doom-nord doom-vibrant spacemacs-dark doom-one doom-opera doom-dracula doom-molokai doom-peacock doom-sourcerer doom-spacegrey kaolin-dark kaolin-aurora kaolin-bubblegum kaolin-galaxy kaolin-mono-dark kaolin-temple kaolin-valley-dark))
Emacs also makes use of themes for the Spaceline at the bottom of buffers. Supported themes are:
spacemacsall-the-iconscustomdoom(the one I use)vim-powerlinevanilla
The first three are Spaceline themes. doom is the Doom-Emacs mode-line, and
vanilla is the default Emacs mode-line. custom is a user defined theme,
refer to Spacemacs’ DOCUMENTATION.org file for more info on how to create your
own Spaceline theme. Value can be a symbol or list with additional properties.
The default value is '(spacemacs :separator wave :separator-scale 1.5)).
(setq-default dotspacemacs-mode-line-theme '(doom :separator wave :separator-scale 1.0))
It is also possible to color the cursor depending on which mode Spacemacs is in,
in order to mach the state color in GUI Emacs. The default value is t.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-colorize-cursor-according-to-state t)
The below variable sets either the default font or a prioritized list of fonts
to be used by Emacs. The :size can be specified as a non-negative integer
(pixel size), or a floating-point (point size). Point size is recommended,
because it’s device independent (add a .0 to make an integer a floating
point). The default size is 10.0.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-default-font '("Cascadia Code" :size 9.0))
I also added the following code in order to define a fallback font for emojis, defined only on their unicode range:
(set-fontset-font "fontset-default" '(#x1f600 . #x1f64f) "NotoEmoji Nerd Font")
3.7.2 Other on-screen elements
which-key is a helper which displays available keyboard shortcuts. This
variable sets in seconds the time Spacemacs should wait between a key press and
the moment which-key should be shown.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-which-key-delay 1)
This variable sets which-key's frame position. Possible values are:
rightbottomright-then-bottom
right-then-bottom tries to display the frame to the right, but if there is
insufficient space it displays it at the bottom. The default value is bottom.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-which-key-position 'right-then-bottom)
This controls where switch-to-buffer displays the buffer. If the value is
nil, switch-to-buffer displays the buffer in the current window even if
another same-purpose window is available. If non-nil, switch-to-buffer
displays the buffer in a same-purpose window even if the buffer can be displayed
in the current window. The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-switch-to-buffer-prefers-purpose nil)
If this variable is non-nil, a progress bar is displayed when Spacemacs is
loading. This may increase the boot time on some systems and emacs builds, set
it to nil to boost the loading time. The default value is t.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-loading-progress-bar t)
If the value is non-nil, Emacs will show the title of the transient states. The
default value is t.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-show-transient-state-title t)
If non-nil, this will show the color guide hint for transient state keys. The
default value is t.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-show-transient-state-color-guide t)
If non-nil, unicode symbols are displayed in the mode line. If you use Emacs as
a daemon and want unicode characters only in GUI set the value to quoted
display-graphic-p. The default value is t.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-mode-line-unicode-symbols t)
If non-nil, smooth scrolling (native-scrolling) is enabled. Smooth scrolling
overrides the default behavior of Emacs which recenters point when it reaches
the top or bottom of the screen. The default value is t.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-smooth-scrolling t)
The following value controls the line number activation. If set to t,
relative or visual then line numbers are enabled in all prog-mode and
text-mode derivatives. If set to relative, line numbers are relative. If set
to visual, line numbers are also relative, but only visual lines are counted.
For example, folded lines will not be counted and wrapped lines are counted as
multiple lines. This variable can also be set to a property list for finer
control:
'(:relative nil :visual nil :disabled-for-modes dired-mode doc-view-mode markdown-mode org-mode pdf-view-mode text-mode :size-limit-kb 1000)
When used in a plist, visual takes precendence over relative.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-line-numbers '(:relative nil :enabled-for-modes prog-mode))
Select a scope to highlight delimiter. Possible values are:
anycurrentallnil
The default value is all (highlights any scope and emphasis the current one).
(setq-default dotspacemacs-highlight-delimiters 'all)
After a certain amount of time in seconds, Spacemacs can zone-out. The default
value is nil. I set it so Spacemacs zones out after 15 minutes.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-zone-out-when-idle 900)
Run spacemacs/prettify-org-buffer when visiting the README.org files of
Spacemacs. The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-pretty-docs nil)
If nil, the home buffer shows the full path of agenda items and todos. If non
nil, only the file name is shown.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-home-shorten-agenda-source t)
3.7.3 Appearance of Emacs frames
Starting from Emacs 24.4, it is possible to make the Emacs frame fullscreen when
Emacs starts up if the variable is set to a non-nil value. The default value is
nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-fullscreen-at-startup nil)
This variable is to be used if the user does not want to use native fullscreen
with spacemacs/toggle-fullscreen. This disables for instance the fullscreen
animation under OSX. The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-fullscreen-use-non-native nil)
If you do not start Emacs in fullscreen at startup, you might want it to be
maximized by default. If the value for the variable below is set to be non-nil,
the frame will be maximized. This can only work if
dotspacemacs-fullscreen-at-startup is set to nil, and it is only available
from Emacs 24.4 onwards. The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-maximized-at-startup nil)
If non-nil, the frame is undecorated when Emacs starts up. Combine this with the
variable dotspacemacs-maximized-at-startup in OSX to obtain borderless
fullscreen. The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-undecorated-at-startup nil)
You can also set a transparency level for Emacs when you toggle the transparency
of the frame with toggle-transparency. The value of the transparency, going
from 0 to 100 in increasing opacity, describes the transparency level of a frame
when it’s active or selected. The default value is 90.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-active-transparency 85)
Similarly, you can set a value from 0 to 100 in increasing opacity which
describes the transparency level of a frame when it’s inactive or deselected.
The default value is 90.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-inactive-transparency 80)
The variable below sets the format of frame title. You can use:
%a- the
abbreviated-file-nameorbuffer-name %tprojectile-project-name%Iinvocation-name%Ssystem-name%U- contents of
$USER %b- buffer name
%f- visited file name
%F- frame name
%s- process status
%p- percent of buffer above top of window, or Top, Bot, or All
%P- percent of buffer above bottom of window, perhaps plus Top, or Bot, or All
%m- mode name
%n- Narrow if appropriate
%z- mnemonics of buffer, terminal, and keyboard coding systems
%Z- like
%z, but including the end-of-line format
The default value is "%I@%S".
(setq-default dotspacemacs-frame-title-format "Emacs: %b (%t) %U@%S")
Format specification for setting the icon title format. The default value is
nil, same as frame-title-format.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-icon-title-format nil)
3.8 Spacemacs leader keys and shortcuts
The below setting sets the Spacemacs leader key. By default, this is the SPC
key.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-leader-key "SPC")
Once the leader key has been pressed, it is possible to set another key in order
to call Emacs’ command M-x. By default, it is again the SPC key.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-emacs-command-key "SPC")
It is also possible to invoke Vim Ex commands with the press of a key, and by
default it is the : key.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-ex-command-key ":")
The below variable sets the leader key accessible in emacs-state and
insert-state:
(setq-default dotspacemacs-emacs-leader-key "M-m")
The major mode leader key is a shortcut key which is the equivalent of pressing
<leader> m. Set it to nil to disable it. Its default value is ,.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-major-mode-leader-key ",")
In emacs-state and insert-state, the same major mode leader key can be
accessible from another shortcut, which by default is C-M-m in terminal mode,
or M-return in GUI mode.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-major-mode-emacs-leader-key (if window-system "<M-return>" "C-M-m"))
These variables control whether separate commands are bound in the GUI to the
key pairs C-i and TAB, and C-m and RET. Setting it to a non-nil value
allows for separate commands under C-i and TAB, and C-m and RET. In the
terminal, these pairs are generally indistinguishable, so this only works in the
GUI. The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-distinguish-gui-tab nil)
3.9 Layouts
The variable belows sets the name of the default layout. Its default value is
"Default".
(setq-default dotspacemacs-default-layout-name "Default")
If non-nil, the default layout name is displayed in the mode-line. The default
value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-display-default-layout nil)
If non-nil, then the last auto saved layouts are resumed automatically upon
start. The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-auto-resume-layouts nil)
If non-nil, the layout name will be auto-generated when creating new layouts. It
only has an effect when using the “jump to layout by number” command. The
default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-auto-generate-layout-names nil)
3.11 Emacs server
Emacs can be launched as a server if the following value is set to non-nil and
if one isn’t already running. The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-enable-server nil)
You can also set a custom emacs server socket location. If the value is nil,
Emacs will use whatever the Emacs default is, otherwise a directory path like
"$HOME/.config/emacs/server". It has no effect if dotspacemacs-enable-server
is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-server-socket-dir nil)
It is also possible to tell Emacs that the quit function should keep the server
open when quitting. The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-persistent-server t)
3.12 Miscellaneous
This value changes the folding method of code blocks. The possible values are
either evil, the default value, or origami.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-folding-method 'evil)
If non-nil, smartparens-strict-mode will be enabled in programming modes. The
default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-smartparens-strict-mode nil)
If non-nil, pressing the closing parenthesis ) key in insert mode passes over
any automatically added closing parenthesis, bracket, quote, etc… This can
temporarily disabled by pressing C-q before ). The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-smart-closing-parenthesis nil)
List of search tool executable names. Spacemacs uses the first installed tool of the list. Supported tools are:
rgagptackgrep
The default value is '("rg" "ag" "pt" "ack" "grep").
(setq-default dotspacemacs-search-tools '("rg" "grep"))
Delete whitespace while saving buffer. Possible values are:
all- aggresively delete empty lines and long sequences of whitespace
trailing- only detele the whitespace at end of lines
changed- to delete only whitespace for changed lines
nil- disable cleanup
The default value is nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-whitespace-cleanup nil)
Set gc-cons-threshold and gc-cons-percentage when startup finishes. This is
an advanced option and should not be changed unless you suspect performance
issues due to garbage collection operations. The default is '(100000000 0.1)
(setq-default dotspacemacs-gc-cons '(100000000 0.1))
If non nil activate clean-aindent-mode which tries to correct virtual
indentation of simple modes. This can interfer with mode specific indent
handling like has been reported for go-mode. If it does deactivate it here.
Default t.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-use-clean-aindent-mode t)
If non nil, shift your number row to match the entered keyboard layout (only
in insert state). Currently supported keyboard layouts are querty-us,
quertz-de and querty-ca-fr. New layouts can be added in spacemacs-editing
layer. Default nil.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-swap-number-row nil)
Set read-process-output-max when startup finishes. This defines how much data
is read from a foreign process. Setting this >= 1 MB should increase performance
for lsp servers in emacs 27.
(setq-default dotspacemacs-read-process-output-max (* 1024 1024 8))
4 User Initialization
While Emacs and especially Spacemacs loads, I want it to initialize some elements and load some packages. First of all, I want it to load my private Emacs config file:
(load "~/.config/emacs/private/private_emacs")
I’ll also load a package I cloned locally as it is not (yet?) available in the MELPA: org-appear.
(require 'org-appear "~/fromGIT/emacs-packages/org-appear/org-appear.el")
Then, I want a couple of requires:
(require 'org-id) (require 'org-protocol) (require 'package) (require 'ox-latex) (require 'ox-publish) (require 'tramp)
I would also like to enable the setup of flycheck for Rust when Flycheck is loaded:
(add-hook 'flycheck-mode-hook #'flycheck-rust-setup)
By default, Flyspell should be disabled and only enabled manually.
(flyspell-mode 0)
Finally, here is a quick workaround for Tramp, sometimes it cannot connect to my hosts if I don’t have this code snippet.
(setq tramp-ssh-controlmaster-options "-o ControlMaster=auto -o ControlPath='tramp.%%C' -o ControlPersist=no")
5 User Configuration
5.1 Custom functions, macros, and variables
In this section, I will put my various custom functions that do not fit in other sections and which are more oriented towards general usage throughout Emacs and in Elisp code.
Almost all of my code snippets will be prefixed by either my name or the name of the package or layer they are part of, unless they are an explicit overwrite of a function that already exists.
5.1.1 Nord theming variables
Yes, I do use a preconfigured theme, as mentioned above, but for some elements such as Eshell, I need to define some variables for color, and I’ll do it here.
(defvar phundrak/nord0 "#2e3440") (defvar phundrak/nord1 "#3b4252") (defvar phundrak/nord2 "#434c5e") (defvar phundrak/nord3 "#4c566a") (defvar phundrak/nord4 "#d8dee9") (defvar phundrak/nord5 "#e5e9f0") (defvar phundrak/nord6 "#eceff4") (defvar phundrak/nord7 "#8fbcbb") (defvar phundrak/nord8 "#88c0d0") (defvar phundrak/nord9 "#81a1c1") (defvar phundrak/nord10 "#5e81ac") (defvar phundrak/nord11 "#bf616a") (defvar phundrak/nord12 "#d08770") (defvar phundrak/nord13 "#ebcb8b") (defvar phundrak/nord14 "#a3be8c") (defvar phundrak/nord15 "#b48ead")
5.1.2 with-face
with-face is a simple yet very useful macro that allows me to easily create
strings with faces defined as properties to the string passed as the first
argument. Here is how it is implemented:
(defmacro with-face ($str &rest $properties) "Helper macro for creating strings with faces" `(propertize ,$str 'face (list ,@$properties)))
5.1.3 phundrak/abbr-path
The following is a nice little function I use in my Eshell prompt. It shortens
the name of all the parent directories of the current one in its path, but
leaves the current one written in full. It also abbreviates the equivalent of
the $HOME (/home/<username>/) directory to a simple ~.
(defun phundrak/abbr-path ($path &optional $abbreviate) "Abbreviate `$path'. If `$abbreviate' is `t', then all parent directories of the current directory will be abbreviated to one letter only. If a parent directory is a hidden directory (i.e. preceeded by a dot), the directory will be abbreviated to the dot plus the first letter of the name of the directory (e.g. \".config\" -> \".c\"). For public use of the function, `$path' should be a string representing a UNIX path. For internal use, `$path' can also be a list. If `$path' is neither of those, an error will be thrown by the function." (cond ((stringp $path) (f-short (if $abbreviate (phundrak/abbr-path (f-split (phundrak/abbr-path $path))) $path))) ((null $path) "") ((listp $path) (f-join (cond ((= 1 (length $path)) (car $path)) (t (let* ((dir (car $path)) (first-char (s-left 1 dir))) (if (string= "." first-char) (s-left 2 dir) first-char)))) (phundrak/abbr-path (cdr $path)))) (t (error "Invalid argument %s, neither stringp nor listp" $path))))
5.1.4 phundrak/add-all-to-list
(defun phundrak/add-all-to-list ($list &rest $elements) "Add all $elements from `$elements' to the $list `$list'. If an element from `$elements' is already part of `$list', it will be ignored." (dolist ($e $elements) (unless (member $e $list) (add-to-list '$list $e))) $list)
5.1.5 phundrak/blog-publish
This function is quite a simple function made to automatically publish my blog
based on Hugo. After exporting my blog using ox-hugo, I simply have to call
this function which will look for all files located in ~/org/blog/public and
copy them to my remote server once hugo has been executed in ~/org/blog.
(defun phundrak/blog-publish () (interactive) (let* ((blog-path "~/org/blog") (public-path (concat blog-path "/public")) (target-path "/rsync:Tilo:/home/phundrak/www/phundrak.com/blog")) (shell-command (format "cd %s && hugo" blog-path)) (let ((files (mapcar (lambda (file) (f-relative file public-path)) (f-files (format "%s/public" blog-path) nil t)))) (dolist (file files) (copy-file (concat public-path "/" file) (concat target-path "/" file) t nil t)))))
5.1.6 phundrak/eshell-git-status
This function is used in my Eshell prompt which you can consult here. This function basically executes two git calls to get some information about a git repo, which path we provide as an argument. Based on the result of these git calls, the function will know what it needs to know about the repo to build a git prompt that will be inserted in my Eshell prompt. And just for shit and giggles, I’ve made it so it is a powerline prompt.
(defun phundrak/eshell-git-status ($path &optional $background-color) "Returns a string indicating the status of the current repository if it exists. It should also append the name of the current branch if it is not `master' or `main'. The theme is inspired by the bobthefish theme for the fish shell which you can find here: https://github.com/oh-my-fish/theme-bobthefish Color code: - green: - orange: tracked stuff is staged but not commited - red: tracked stuff is modified and not commited Symbols: - `*': dirty working dir, RED - `~': staged changes, ORANGE - `…': untracked files, GREEN - `$': stashed changes - `-': unpulled commits - `-': unpushed commits - `±': unpulled and unpushed commits" (let* ((git-status-command (concat "cd " $path "; git status")) (git-stash-status-command (concat "cd " $path "; git stash list")) (status (eshell-command-result git-status-command)) (stashstat (eshell-command-result git-stash-status-command)) (detached (s-contains? "HEAD detached" status)) (dirty (s-contains? "Changes not staged for commit" status)) (staged (s-contains? "Changes to be committed" status)) (untracked (s-contains? "Untracked files" status)) (pullable (s-contains? "git pull" status)) (pushable (s-contains? "git push" status)) (branch (replace-regexp-in-string "On Branch \\(.*\\)\n\\(.\\|\n\\)*" "\\1" status)) (branch (unless (or (string= "master" branch) (string= "main" branch) detached) branch))) (let ((prompt (concat " " (if detached ">" "") (when branch (concat " " branch " ")) (when dirty "*") (when staged "~") (when untracked "…") (cond ((and pullable pushable) "±") (pullable "-") (pushable "+")) (when stashstat "$") " ")) (accent (cond (dirty phundrak/nord11) (staged phundrak/nord13) (t phundrak/nord14))) (background (phundrak/var-or-if-nil $background-color phundrak/nord0))) (concat (with-face "" :background accent :foreground background) (with-face prompt :background accent :foreground (if dirty phundrak/nord6 background)) (with-face "" :background background :foreground accent)))))
5.1.7 phundrak/file-to-string
(defun phundrak/file-to-string (FILE) "Returns the content of `FILE' as a string" (with-temp-buffer (insert-file-contents FILE) (buffer-string)))
5.1.8 phundrak/find-org-files
There are lots of files which I want to be able to quickly open. I used to have
one shortcut for each one of these files, but as their number grew, I decided to
switch to helm for my file selector which will be called by only one common
shortcut. Most of my files will be located in ~/org, but I have some
conlanging files which are located in ~/Documents/conlanging, and all my
university notes are in ~/Documents/university. Let’s declare these
directories in a variable:
(defvar phundrak/org-directories '("~/org" "~/Documents/university/S8" "~/Documents/conlanging") "Directories in which to look for org files with the function `phundrak/find-org-files'")
With this established, let’s write some emacs-lisp that will allow me to get a list of all these files and select them through helm. Be aware that I will be using some functions from third party packages, such as s.el and dash, as well as fd.
(defun phundrak/find-org-files () "Find all org files in the directories listed in `phundrak/org-directories', then list them in an ido buffer where the user can match one and open it." (interactive) (find-file (ido-completing-read "Org File:" (s-split "\n" (mapconcat (lambda (path) (shell-command-to-string (format "fd . %s -e org -c never" path))) phundrak/org-directories "\n")))))
5.1.9 phundrak/git-repo-root
This function detects if the path passed as an argument points to a git
directory or to one of its subdirectories. If it is, it will return the path to
the root of the git repository, else it will return nil.
(defun phundrak/git-repo-root ($path) "Return `$path' if it points to a git repository or one of its subdirectories" (when $path (if (f-dir? (concat $path "/.git")) $path (phundrak/git-repo-root (f-parent $path)))))
5.1.10 phundrak/prompt-toggle-abbreviation
(defvar phundrak/prompt--abbreviate t "Whether or not to abbreviate the displayed path in the Eshell prompt") (defun phundrak/prompt-toggle-abbreviation () "Toggles whether the Eshell prompt should shorten the name of the parent directories or not. See `phundrak/eshell-prompt'" (interactive) (setq phundrak/prompt--abbreviate (not phundrak/prompt--abbreviate)))
5.1.11 phundrak/open-marked-files
This function is particularly useful in Dired buffers when someone wants to open multiple files. This function will basically look for all marked files in the current dired buffer and open each one of them in their individual buffer.
(defun phundrak/open-marked-files () (interactive) (let ((file-list (if (string= major-mode "dired-mode") (dired-get-marked-files) (list (buffer-file-name))))) (mapc (lambda (file) (find-file file)) file-list)))
5.1.12 phundrak/var-or-if-nil
This simple function helps me return either the value var holds, or if it is
nil it will return the value value holds (or will return).
(defun phundrak/var-or-if-nil ($var $value) "Return the result yield by `$value' if `$var' is `nil', return `$var' otherwise" (if (null $var) $value $var))
5.1.13 phundrak/yas-rust-new-assignments
The following function is a function that will allow me to easily create new
functions for Rust structs. Inspired from elpy’s elpy-snippet-init-assignments
function, it will automatically write assignments to my new struct as I write
new parameters in the new function. It also comes with a helper function that
parses the arguments given to the new function.
(defun phundrak//yas-snippet-split-rust-args ($arg-string) "Split a Rust argument string into ((name, default)...) tuples" (mapcar (lambda ($elem) (split-string $elem "[[:blank:]]*:[[:blank:]]*" t)) (split-string $arg-string "[[:blank:]]*,[[:blank:]]*" t))) (defun phundrak/yas-rust-new-assignments ($arg-string) "Return a typical new assignment for arguments. Inspired from elpy’s functions https://github.com/jorgenschaefer/elpy" (let ((indentation (make-string (save-excursion (goto-char start-point) (current-indentation)) ?\s))) (mapconcat (lambda ($elem) (if (string-match "^\\*" (car $elem)) "" (format "%s,\n%s" (car $elem) indentation))) (phundrak//yas-snippet-split-rust-args $arg-string) "")))
5.1.14 screenshot-svg
This function allows for taking SVG screenshots of Emacs from itself using Cairo. The function definition was taken from here.
(defun screenshot-svg () "Save a screenshot of the current frame as an SVG image. Saves to a temp file and puts the filename in the kill ring." (interactive) (let* ((filename (make-temp-file "Emacs" nil ".svg")) (data (x-export-frames nil 'svg))) (with-temp-file filename (insert data)) (kill-new filename) (message filename)))
5.1.15 terminal-here-default-terminal-command
This function is actually an overwrite of the default one which apparently does
not work on my machine. This function is called by terminal-here-launch and
spawns an external terminal emulator in the directory emacs was in when the
terminal was invoked. I simply point out to this function the name of my
terminal emulator. Here is the code:
(defun terminal-here-default-terminal-command (_dir) '("st"))
5.1.16 xah/dired-sort
This function comes directly from Xah Lee’s website and allows the user to sort files in a dired buffer depending on four factors:
- File name
- File size
- Last modification date
- File extension
(defun xah/dired-sort () "Sort dired dir listing in different ways. Prompt for a choice. URL `http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/dired_sort.html' Version 2018-12-23, modified by Phundrak on 2019-08-06" (interactive) (let ($sort-by $arg) (setq $sort-by (ido-completing-read "Sort by:" '( "name" "size" "date" "extension" ))) (cond ((equal $sort-by "name") (setq $arg "-ahl --group-directories-first")) ((equal $sort-by "date") (setq $arg "-ahl -t --group-directories-first")) ((equal $sort-by "size") (setq $arg "-ahl -S --group-directories-first")) ((equal $sort-by "extension") (setq $arg "-ahlD -X --group-directories-first")) (t (error "logic error 09535" ))) (dired-sort-other $arg )))
5.1.17 xah/open-in-external-app
Here is another of Xah’s functions, this time to open a file externally to Emacs. For instance, I sometimes want to open a PDF in Zathura rather than in Emacs, or an HTML file in Firefox. With this function, it is now possible!
(defun xah/open-in-external-app (&optional files) "Open the current file or dired marked file in external app. The app is chosen from your OS’ preference. When called in emacs lisp, if files is given, open that. URL `http://ergoemacs.org/emacs/emacs_dired_open_file_in_ext_apps.html' Version 2019-01-18" (interactive) (let* (($file-list (if files (progn (list files)) (if (string-equal major-mode "dired-mode") (dired-get-marked-files) (list (buffer-file-name))))) ($do-it-p (if (<= (length $file-list) 5) t (y-or-n-p "Open more than 5 files? ")))) (when $do-it-p (mapc (lambda ($fpath) (let ((process-connection-type nil)) (start-process "" nil "xdg-open" $fpath))) $file-list))))
5.2 Emacs builtins
5.2.1 Dired
When it comes to dired, I chose do modify some elements on how things are sorted and shown, but there isn’t much configuration. First, I want to always copy folders in a recursive way, no questions asked.
(setq dired-recursive-copies 'always)
Also, when I have two Dired buffers opened side by side, I generally want them to interact with each other, for example if I want to move around or copy stuff. So, let’s tell Emacs that:
(setq dired-dwim-target t)
Finally, let’s tell Dired how to sort the elements to be displayed: directories first, non-hidden first.
(setq dired-listing-switches "-ahl --group-directories-first")
By the way, let’s enable org-download when we are in a Dired buffer:
(add-hook 'dired-mode-hook 'org-download-enable)
Finally, let’s enable globally diredfl so we can get a colourful Dired buffer
each time we open one:
(diredfl-global-mode 1)
5.2.2 Eshell
Eshell is a built-in shell available from Emacs which I use almost as often as Fish. Some adjustments are necessary for making this shell usable for me.
But first, here is a screenshot of what to expect visually from my configuration of Eshell when it is launched:
5.2.2.1 Aliases
This function is a function that will come in very handy for Eshell functions
that call shell processes. It concatenates the initial string command with all
the arguments args, each separated with a space.
(defun phundrak/concatenate-shell-command ($command &rest $args) (string-join (cons $command $args) " "))
Just like most shells, it is possible to declare in Eshell aliases. First, I
would like to be able to use open to open files in Emacs:
(defalias 'open 'find-file)
I also have openo which allows me to perform the same action, but in another
window:
(defalias 'openo 'find-file-other-window)
The function yes-or-no-p is also aliased to y-or-n-p so I only have to
answer by y or n instead of typing yes or no.
(defalias 'yes-or-no-p 'y-or-n-p)
For some ease of use, I’ll also declare list-buffers as an alias of ibuffer.
(defalias 'list-buffers 'ibuffer)
mkcd is a function that allows me to create a directory and cd into it at
the same time.
(defun eshell/mkcd ($directory) (eshell/mkdir "-p" $directory) (cd $directory))
5.2.2.2 Custom functions
When I’m in Eshell, sometimes I wish to open multiple files at once in Emacs.
For this, when I have several arguments for find-file, I want to be able to
open them all at once. Let’s modify find-file like so:
(defadvice find-file (around find-files activate) "Also find all files within a list of files. This even works recursively." (if (listp filename) (cl-loop for f in filename do (find-file f wildcards)) ad-do-it))
I also want to be able to have multiple instances of Eshell opened at once. For
that, I declared the function eshell-new that does exactly that.
(defun eshell-new() "Open a new instance of eshell." (interactive) (eshell 'N))
- Redirect text editors to Emacs
I still have some stupid muscle memory telling me to open
emacsin the terminal, which is stupid with Eshell since I’m already inside Emacs. So, let’s open each file passed to theemacscommand and bury the eshell buffer (we’ll get back to it later).(defun eshell/emacs (&rest $files) "Open a file in a new buffer. Old habits die hard" (if $files (mapc #'find-file (mapcar #'expand-file-name (eshell-flatten-list (reverse $files)))) (bury-buffer)))
5.2.2.3 Environment variables
Some environment variables need to be correctly set so Eshell can correctly
work. The first environment variable to be set is the PATH, as I have a couple
of directories where executables are located. Let’s add them to our path.
(setenv "PATH" (concat (getenv "HOME") "/.pub-cache/bin" ":" (getenv "HOME") "/.local/bin" ":" (getenv "HOME") "/go/bin" ":" (getenv "HOME") "/.cargo/bin" ":" (getenv "HOME") "/.gem/ruby/2.6.0/bin" ":" (getenv "PATH")))
I would also like to set two environment variables related to Dart development:
the DART_SDK and ANDROID_HOME variables.
(setenv "DART_SDK" "/opt/dart-sdk/bin") (setenv "ANDROID_HOME" (concat (getenv "HOME") "/Android/Sdk/"))
Finally, I’d like to add a custom directory to the PKG_CONFIG_PATH:
(setenv "PKG_CONFIG_PATH" (concat "/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig/" ":" (getenv "PKG_CONFIG_PATH")))
The EDITOR variable also needs to be set for git commands, especially the
yadm commands.
(setenv "EDITOR" "emacsclient -c")
5.2.2.5 Eshell theme
As with most shells, again, it is possible to customize the appearance of the
Eshell prompt. As you can see, my prompt has some Nord colors, a shortened path,
a git prompt, and an indicator of whether the previous command succeeded or
failed. Note however that the abbreviation of the current path depends on the
value of phundrak/prompt--abbreviate, if it is t it is abbreviated;
otherwise, it is kept in full. It can be toggled with a keyboard shortcut, see
Keybindings: Toggle.
(defun phundrak/eshell-prompt () "Definition of my prompt for Eshell It displays a powerline prompt, with first an abbreviated path to the current directory. If `phundrak/prompt--abbreviate' is `t', then all preceding directories will be abbreviated to one character, except hidden directory which first character will be preceded by a dot. Otherwise, the full name of the directories is displayed. Then, if the current directory is a git repository or one of its subdirectories, it will display the current state of the repository. See `phundrak/eshell-git-status' Finally, a lambda character is displayed, either in blue or in red depending on if the last eshell command was a success or a failure respectively." (let* ((header-bg phundrak/nord0) ($path (phundrak/abbr-path (eshell/pwd))) ($git-path (phundrak/git-repo-root $path)) ($abbr-path (phundrak/abbr-path $path phundrak/prompt--abbreviate)) ($background phundrak/nord1) ($foreground phundrak/nord14) ($success phundrak/nord10) ($error phundrak/nord11)) (concat (with-face (concat " " (phundrak/abbr-path (phundrak/var-or-if-nil $git-path $path) phundrak/prompt--abbreviate) " ") :foreground $foreground :background $background) (when $git-path (concat (phundrak/eshell-git-status $path $background) (with-face (format "%s " (let (($in-git-path (phundrak/abbr-path (f-relative $path $git-path) phundrak/prompt--abbreviate))) (if (string= "." $in-git-path) "" (concat " " $in-git-path)))) :foreground $foreground :background $background))) (with-face "λ " :foreground (if (zerop eshell-last-command-status) $success $error) :background $background) (with-face "" :foreground $background) " ")))
Now, let’s declare our prompt regexp and our prompt functions:
(setq eshell-prompt-regexp "^[^\n]*λ " eshell-prompt-function 'phundrak/eshell-prompt)
I also don't want the banner to be displayed, I know I entered the Elisp shell, no need to remind me. Maybe I’ll do something with it one day.
(setq eshell-banner-message "")
Finally, let’s enable some fish-like syntax highlighting:
(eshell-syntax-highlighting-global-mode +1)
5.2.2.6 Visual commands
With Eshell, some commands don’t work very well, especially commands that create a TUI. So, let’s declare them as visual commands or subcommands:
(setq eshell-visual-commands '("fish" "zsh" "bash" "tmux" "htop" "top" "vim" "bat" "nano") eshell-visual-subcommands '("git" "log" "l" "diff" "show"))
5.2.3 Org-mode
Org-mode is probably one of the best if not the best Emacs feature I have ever discovered. It is awesome for writing documents, regardless of the format you need it to be exported to, for agenda management, and for literary programming, such as with this document.
(with-eval-after-load 'org ;; configuration goes here )
5.2.3.1 Agenda
One awesome feature of Org mode is the agenda. By default, my agendas are stored
in ~/org/agenda.
(setq org-agenda-files (list "~/org/agenda" "~/org/notes.org"))
I also have a custom command in Org agenda to mark some tasks as daily tasks
with the :DAILY: tag,:
(setq org-agenda-custom-commands '(("h" "Daily habits" ((agenda "")) ((org-agenda-show-log t) (org-agenda-ndays 7) (org-agenda-log-mode-items '(state)) (org-agenda-skip-function '(org-agenda-skip-entry-if 'notregexp ":DAILY:")))) ("Y" "Yearly events" ((agenda "")) ((org-agenda-show-log t) (org-agenda-ndays 365) (org-agenda-log-mode-items '(state)) (org-agenda-skip-entry-if 'notregexp ":YEARLY:")))))
5.2.3.2 Babel
One of the amazing features of org-mode is its literary programming capacities by running code blocks from within Org-mode itself. But for that, only a couple of languages are supported directly by Org-mode itself, and they need to be activated. Here are the languages I activated in my Org-mode configuration:
| C |
| dot |
| emacs-lisp |
| gnuplot |
| java |
| latex |
| latex-as-png |
| makefile |
| plantuml |
| python |
| sass |
| scheme |
| shell |
The corresponding code is as follows:
(org-babel-do-load-languages 'org-babel-load-languages '((C . t) (dot . t) (emacs-lisp . t) (gnuplot . t) (java . t) (latex . t) (latex-as-png . t) (makefile . t) (plantuml . t) (python . t) (sass . t) (scheme . t) (shell . t)) )
Scheme requires a default implementation for geiser:
(setq geiser-default-implementation 'racket)
By the way, I wish to see source code behave the same way in the source blocks as in their own major mode. Let’s tell Emacs so:
(setq org-src-tab-acts-natively t)
Lastly, I know this can be a terrible idea, but I want Emacs to just evaluate Org code blocks without asking me. Of course, this could represent some big security issue if not careful enough, but I generaly just open my own org files.
(setq org-confirm-babel-evaluate nil)
5.2.3.3 Beautify Org-mode
As I will always say, orgmode is an amazing piece of software that deserves particular care and love. That is why I want to give it a unique look and feel compared to the rest of my Emacs configuration, in order to make it feel much more comfortable. You will find below how my org buffers look like when I open one of them.
And here you can find the source code of this buffer you just saw a screenshot of:
#+TITLE: My Document #+AUTHOR: Lucien Cartier-Tilet #+EMAIL: lucien@phundrak.com #+DATE: 2020-12-21 #+TAGS: tag1|tag2|tag3 * Header 1 :PROPERTIES: :CUSTOM_ID: custom-id-for-html-export :END: # A regular comment This is an example org file, with a link, a macro(with arguments), an <<anchor>>, /text in italic/, __undelined__, *bold*, +striken through+, some ~code~ and =verbatim=, somesuperscript andsubscript, a code block and a bullet list: #+header :export code #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp (message "Hello World!") #+END_SRC * Element 1 * Element 2 | / | <r> | <c> | < | | This | is | a | table | |------+---------+----------+-------| | With | various | elements | | ** TODO Global task [1/2] *** TODO [#A] Task 1 *** TODO Checkboxes [1/3] - [ ] Checkbox 1 - [X] Checkbox 2 - [ ] Checkbox 3 *** DONE Task 2 CLOSED: [2020-12-21 mon. 14:30] ** Header 2 *** Header 3 **** Header 4 ***** Header 5 ****** Header 6 ******* Header 7 ******** Header 8
In order to make org-mode even sexier, let’s enable variable-pitch-mode for
org-mode so we can get some proportional font. I’ll also remove auto-fill-mode
which seems to stick to Orgmode like hell and I don’t know why. A hook to
org-appear’s minor mode will also be added.
(add-hook 'org-mode-hook 'visual-line-mode) (remove-hook 'org-mode-hook 'auto-fill-mode) (add-hook 'org-mode-hook 'variable-pitch-mode) (auto-fill-mode -1) (add-hook 'org-mode-hook 'org-appear-mode)
You can then see the modified faces for org-mode here.
Some other tweaks will make Org-mode more beautiful. This includes a new folding icon, some indentation that is not added whitespace.
(setq org-startup-indented t org-startup-align-all-tables t org-pretty-entities t org-fontify-whole-heading-line t org-fontify-done-headline t org-fontify-quote-and-verse-blocks t org-display-inline-images t org-redisplay-inline-images t org-startup-with-inline-images "inlineimages" org-ellipsis " ")
Let’s limit the width of images inlined in org buffers to 550px. It roughly
corresponds to the width of a paragraph on which org-fill-paragraph is called.
(setq org-image-actual-width 550)
Visually, I prefer to hide the markers of macros, so let’s do that:
(setq org-hide-macro-markers t)
I also have an issue where small dots precede my org headers. Let’s fix that:
(setq org-hide-leading-stars nil org-superstar-leading-bullet ?\s)
5.2.3.4 Behavior
Something really neat I learned about is the ability of org headers to inherit properties from parent headers. Let’s enable that!
(setq org-use-property-inheritance t)
Sometimes, I also want to have alphabetical lists in org-mode:
(setq org-list-allow-alphabetical t)
LSP can work in source blocks, but some work is needed (shamelessly stolen from here, though modified a tiny bit). Here are the languages I want to activate LSP for in this environment:
| c |
| c++ |
| dart |
| python |
| rust |
And here is the code to activate that:
(cl-defmacro lsp-org-babel-enable (lang) "Support LANG in org source code block." (setq centaur-lsp 'lsp-mode) (cl-check-type lang stringp) (let* ((edit-pre (intern (format "org-babel-edit-prep:%s" lang))) (intern-pre (intern (format "lsp--%s" (symbol-name edit-pre))))) `(progn (defun ,intern-pre (info) (let ((file-name (->> info caddr (alist-get :file)))) (unless file-name (setq file-name (make-temp-file "babel-lsp-"))) (setq buffer-file-name file-name) (lsp-deferred))) (put ',intern-pre 'function-documentation (format "Enable lsp-mode in the buffer of org source block (%s)." (upcase ,lang))) (if (fboundp ',edit-pre) (advice-add ',edit-pre :after ',intern-pre) (progn (defun ,edit-pre (info) (,intern-pre info)) (put ',edit-pre 'function-documentation (format "Prepare local buffer environment for org source block (%s)." (upcase ,lang)))))))) (defvar org-babel-lsp-lang-list '("c" "c++" "dart" "python" "rust")) (dolist (lang org-babel-lsp-lang-list) (eval `(lsp-org-babel-enable ,lang)))
Here is one behavior that I really want to see modified: the ability to use
M-RET without slicing the text the marker is on.
(setq org-M-RET-may-split-line nil)
Since Org 9.3, Org no longer attempts to restore the window configuration in the
frame to which the user returns after editing a source block with
org-edit-src-code. This means with the original value of
org-src-window-setup (reorganize-frame), the current frame will be split in
two between the original org window and the source window, and once we quit the
source window only the org window will remain. This is not a desired behavior
for me, so I chose to set this variable to split-window-right in order to keep
my windows organization and have a similar behavior to the old one.
(setq org-src-window-setup 'split-window-below)
However, it is not rare that I want to change that for an horizontal split,
which can be achieved with the value split-window-below. Thus, I have made
this function that allows me to switch between the (default) vertical split and
the horizontal split.
(defun phundrak/toggle-org-src-window-split () "This function allows the user to toggle the behavior of `org-edit-src-code'. If the variable `org-src-window-setup' has the value `split-window-right', then it will be changed to `split-window-below'. Otherwise, it will be set back to `split-window-right'" (interactive) (if (equal org-src-window-setup 'split-window-right) (setq org-src-window-setup 'split-window-below) (setq org-src-window-setup 'split-window-right)) (message "Org-src buffers will now split %s" (if (equal org-src-window-setup 'split-window-right) "vertically" "horizontally")))
When creating a link to an Org flie, I want to create an ID only if the link is created interactively, and only if there is no custom ID already created.
(setq org-id-link-to-org-use-id 'create-if-interactive-and-no-custom-id)
The tag :noexport: is fine and all, but it doesn’t allow for hidden org
structures, that is headers that are visible in the org buffer but once the file
is exported to another format the header disappears but its content stays.
ox-extra has such a feature through ignore-headlines.
(require 'ox-extra) (ox-extras-activate '(ignore-headlines))
This gives us access to the :ignore: tag which allows the behavior above
mentioned. To give you an idea, the org buffer
* Headline 1 Blah ** Headline 2 Blah *** Hidden headline 3-1 :ignore: Blabla *** Hidden headline 3-2 :ignore: Blahblah
Will be exported as if it were the buffer
* Headline 1 Blah ** Headline 2 Blah Blabla Blahblah
5.2.3.5 Capture
Org-capture is an amazing feature of Org-mode which allows me to quickly save links, resources, reminders, and notes in neatly organized org files. Here they are described:
(defvar org-conlanging-file "~/org/conlanging.org") (defvar org-default-notes-file "~/org/notes.org") (defvar org-journal-file "~/org/journal.org") (defvar org-linguistics-notes-file "~/org/linguistics-notes.org") (defvar org-novel-notes-file "~/org/novel-notes.org") (defvar org-private-agenda-file "~/org/agenda/private.org") (defvar org-school-agenda-file "~/org/agenda/school.org") (defvar org-wordbuilding-file "~/org/worldbuilding.org")
With Spacemacs, an Org capture can be invoked with the shortcut SPC a o c. It
will then ask which template I wish to use. In the table below are described the
shortcuts that are available after SPC a o c is invoked. The name will be
the one displayed in Org capture’s interface, the title is the headline where
to save the capture (if it does not differ from the capture’s name, the cell
will be blank). The insertion mode tells Emacs how to add the capture to the
file, using which template. A line with no insertion mode, file, or template
is just a category. All of the following insert entries to their org files, that
is a new org node with a headline and some content.
| Shortcut | Name | Title | Insertion mode | file | template |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| e | |||||
| ew | Write Email | Emails | file+headline | org-default-notes-file | emails.orgcaptmpl |
| j | Journal | file+datetree | org-journal-file | journal.orgcaptmpl | |
| l | Link | ||||
| ll | General | file+headline | org-default-notes-file | link.orgcaptmpl | |
| ly | YouTube | file+headline | org-default-notes-file | youtube.orgcaptmpl | |
| L | Protocol Link | Link | file+headline | org-default-notes-file | protocol-link.orgcaptmpl |
| n | Notes | ||||
| nc | Conlanging | Note | file+headline | org-conlanging-file | notes.orgcaptmpl |
| nn | General | file+headline | org-default-notes-file | notes.orgcaptmpl | |
| nN | Novel | Note | file+headline | org-novel-notes-file | notes.orgcaptmpl |
| nq | Quote | file+headline | org-default-notes-file | notes-quote.orgcaptmpl | |
| nw | Worldbuilding | Note | file+headline | org-wordbuilding-file | notes.orgcaptmpl |
| N | Novel | ||||
| Ni | Ideas | file+headline | org-novel-notes-file | notes.orgcaptmpl | |
| p | Protocol | Link | file+headline | org-default-notes-file | protocol.orgcaptmpl |
| r | Resources | ||||
| rc | Conlanging | Resources | file+headline | org-conlanging-file | resource.orgcaptmpl |
| re | Emacs | file+headline | org-default-notes-file | resource.orgcaptmpl | |
| ri | Informatique | file+headline | org-default-notes-file | resource.orgcaptmpl | |
| rl | Linguistics | file+headline | org-default-notes-file | resource.orgcaptmpl | |
| rL | Linux | file+headline | org-default-notes-file | resource.orgcaptmpl | |
| rw | Worldbuilding | Resources | file+headline | org-wordbuilding-file | resource.orgcaptmpl |
| t | Tasks | ||||
| tb | Birthday | file+headline | org-private-agenda-file | birthday.orgcaptmpl | |
| te | Event | file+headline | org-private-agenda-file | event.orgcaptmpl | |
| th | Health | file+headline | org-private-agenda-file | health.orgcaptmpl | |
| ti | Informatique | file+headline | org-private-agenda-file | informatique.orgcaptmpl |
The following code snipped is not tangled into my configuration file, but instead creates the equivalent to the table above into EmacsLisp code found in the next code snippet.
(format "'(%s)" (mapconcat (lambda (entry) (let* ((shortcut (nth 0 entry)) (name (nth 1 entry)) (title (nth 2 entry)) (insertmode (nth 3 entry)) (fileinsert (nth 4 entry)) (sourceorg (nth 5 entry))) (if (string= "" insertmode) (format "(\"%s\" \"%s\")" shortcut name) (concat (format "(\"%s\" \"%s\" entry\n" shortcut name) (format " (%s %s%s)\n" insertmode fileinsert (if (string= "file+datetree" insertmode) "" (format " \"%s\"" (if (string= "" title) name title)))) (format " (file \"~/org/capture/%s\"))" sourceorg)))) ) table "\n "))
Below you can find the equivalent code as described above.
(setq org-capture-templates '(("e" "Email") ("ew" "Write Email" entry (file+headline org-default-notes-file "Emails") (file "~/org/capture/emails.orgcaptmpl")) ("j" "Journal" entry (file+datetree org-journal-file) (file "~/org/capture/journal.orgcaptmpl")) ("l" "Link") ("ll" "General" entry (file+headline org-default-notes-file "General") (file "~/org/capture/link.orgcaptmpl")) ("ly" "YouTube" entry (file+headline org-default-notes-file "YouTube") (file "~/org/capture/youtube.orgcaptmpl")) ("L" "Protocol Link" entry (file+headline org-default-notes-file "Link") (file "~/org/capture/protocol-link.orgcaptmpl")) ("n" "Notes") ("nc" "Conlanging" entry (file+headline org-conlanging-file "Note") (file "~/org/capture/notes.orgcaptmpl")) ("nn" "General" entry (file+headline org-default-notes-file "General") (file "~/org/capture/notes.orgcaptmpl")) ("nN" "Novel" entry (file+headline org-novel-notes-file "Note") (file "~/org/capture/notes.orgcaptmpl")) ("nq" "Quote" entry (file+headline org-default-notes-file "Quote") (file "~/org/capture/notes-quote.orgcaptmpl")) ("nw" "Worldbuilding" entry (file+headline org-wordbuilding-file "Note") (file "~/org/capture/notes.orgcaptmpl")) ("N" "Novel") ("Ni" "Ideas" entry (file+headline org-novel-notes-file "Ideas") (file "~/org/capture/notes.orgcaptmpl")) ("p" "Protocol" entry (file+headline org-default-notes-file "Link") (file "~/org/capture/protocol.orgcaptmpl")) ("r" "Resources") ("rc" "Conlanging" entry (file+headline org-conlanging-file "Resources") (file "~/org/capture/resource.orgcaptmpl")) ("re" "Emacs" entry (file+headline org-default-notes-file "Emacs") (file "~/org/capture/resource.orgcaptmpl")) ("ri" "Informatique" entry (file+headline org-default-notes-file "Informatique") (file "~/org/capture/resource.orgcaptmpl")) ("rl" "Linguistics" entry (file+headline org-default-notes-file "Linguistics") (file "~/org/capture/resource.orgcaptmpl")) ("rL" "Linux" entry (file+headline org-default-notes-file "Linux") (file "~/org/capture/resource.orgcaptmpl")) ("rw" "Worldbuilding" entry (file+headline org-wordbuilding-file "Resources") (file "~/org/capture/resource.orgcaptmpl")) ("t" "Tasks") ("tb" "Birthday" entry (file+headline org-private-agenda-file "Birthday") (file "~/org/capture/birthday.orgcaptmpl")) ("te" "Event" entry (file+headline org-private-agenda-file "Event") (file "~/org/capture/event.orgcaptmpl")) ("th" "Health" entry (file+headline org-private-agenda-file "Health") (file "~/org/capture/health.orgcaptmpl")) ("ti" "Informatique" entry (file+headline org-private-agenda-file "Informatique") (file "~/org/capture/informatique.orgcaptmpl"))) )
You may notice a capture entry for my journal, and this is due to the fact I do
not use org-journal anymore: it was too overpowered for me, and I prefer to
keep it simple with a single file. And as you can see, and unlike a lot of other
Emacs configurations, the content of the template is not set in the variable,
but in external files which can be modified freely as actual Org buffers instead
of trying to get a proper one with loads of \n characters and such. All these
templates are declared below.
In the next sub-sections will be described my org capture templates. These are
not tangled into my Emacs configuration files, but into separate .orgcaptmpl
files stored into ~/org/capture/.
- Emails
This is my template for a new Email:
** TODO [#A] Write Email SCHEDULED: %^t :PROPERTIES: :CAPTURED: %U :END: From: Lucien Cartier-Tilet <lucien@phundrak.com> To: %Recipient Subject: %Object --text follows this line-- %? -- Lucien “Phundrak” Cartier-Tilet https://phundrak.com (Français) https://en.phundrak.com (English) Sent from a Free and Open-Source Linux operating system with GNU/Emacs
I use it in case my computer is not yet connected to the internet and I need to already write the email so I can send it later. All I will need to to afterwards will be to copy and paste my capture in a new message buffer and send it once I am back online. This is exported to
~/org/capture/email.orgcaptmpl. - Journal
This template is quite simple: it creates a new entry with the current timestamp as its title, a brief title of my choosing, and then I can write whatever I wish to write. This is exported to
~/org/capture/journal.orgcaptmpl.* %U %Title %?
- Notes
This template is used for taking note about various subjects that can go from conlanging to development. I wrote it so I can know from where this capture was made and when, and it even supports text that was highlighted in Emacs that will be inserted in a quote block. This is exported to
~/org/capture/notes.orgcaptmpl.* %Title :PROPERTIES: :CAPTURED: %U :END: %?
* %Title :PROPERTIES: :CAPTURED: %U :END: Possible inspiration: #+begin_quote %i #+end_quote %?
- Protocol
This capture is used when received through org-protocol, with the Org-protocol Extension for Firefox. It allows me to save in a quote block what I’ve highlighted, as well as the link of the webpage on which my saved content was highlighted. This file is exported to
~/org/capture/protocol.orgcaptmpl.* TODO [#C] %Title :PROPERTIES: :CAPTURED: %U :LINK: %:link :TITLE: %:description :END: #+begin_quote %i #+end_quote %?
This next capture template is used only when a link is sent to Emacs and no content was highlighted.
* TODO [#C] Link: %Title :PROPERTIES: :CAPTURED: %U :LINK: %:link :TITLE: %:description :END: %?
- Resources
This is the default template for resources, which generally are located on the Internet. By default, I give them the lowest priority, because although this is something for me to remember later, it is not by default important. You can see in the properties I record when the capture happened, and what the link is. The title of the capture is a summary of what this is, while the body of the capture is a more detailed explanation of what I capture, why, and how it could be useful to me.
* TODO [#C] %Title :PROPERTIES: :CAPTURED: %U :LINK: %Link :END: %?
- Tasks
- Computers and stuff
One type of task I often capture is related to my servers or thing about computers in general. With this, I can capture a task for which I will either set a schedule or a deadline.
* TODO %Title %Scheduled or Deadline?||SCHEDULED||DEADLINE: %^t :PROPERTIES: :CATEGORY: %Category :END: %?
- Health
This capture is rarely used (I’m lucky to have a good health), but it can be useful.
* %Title SCHEDULED: %^t %?
- Birthdays
This capture is used to store new birthdays I have to remember. They are set to be repeated yearly.
* %Name SCHEDULED: %^t
- Events
* %Title %Scheduled or deadline?||SCHEDULED||DEADLINE: %^t %?
- Computers and stuff
- Links
5.2.3.6 Custom org-mode functions
We begin with a couple of custom functions that I use in my org-mode files.
- Custom and unique headings ID
The first ones are dedicated to provide org-mode headings a fixed and unique ID that won’t change over time. This code was taken from https://writequit.org/articles/emacs-org-mode-generate-ids.html. The first function’s job is to create these unique IDs
(defun eos/org-id-new (&optional prefix) "Create a new globally unique ID. An ID consists of two parts separated by a colon: - a prefix - a unique part that will be created according to `org-id-method'. PREFIX can specify the prefix, the default is given by the variable `org-id-prefix'. However, if PREFIX is the symbol `none', don't use any prefix even if `org-id-prefix' specifies one. So a typical ID could look like \"Org-4nd91V40HI\"." (let* ((prefix (if (eq prefix 'none) "" (concat (or prefix org-id-prefix) "-"))) unique) (when (equal prefix "-") (setq prefix "")) (cond ((memq org-id-method '(uuidgen uuid)) (setq unique (org-trim (shell-command-to-string org-id-uuid-program))) (unless (org-uuidgen-p unique) (setq unique (org-id-uuid)))) ((eq org-id-method 'org) (let* ((etime (org-reverse-string (org-id-time-to-b36))) (postfix (when org-id-include-domain (progn (require 'message) (concat "@" (message-make-fqdn)))))) (setq unique (concat etime postfix)))) (t (error "Invalid `org-id-method'"))) (concat prefix (car (split-string unique "-")))))
Now, let’s see the function that will be used to get the custom id of a heading at point. If the function does not detect any custom ID, then one should be created and inserted.
(defun eos/org-custom-id-get (&optional pom create prefix) "Get the CUSTOM_ID property of the entry at point-or-marker POM. If POM is nil, refer to the entry at point. If the entry does not have an CUSTOM_ID, the function returns nil. However, when CREATE is non nil, create a CUSTOM_ID if none is present already. PREFIX will be passed through to `eos/org-id-new'. In any case, the CUSTOM_ID of the entry is returned." (interactive) (org-with-point-at pom (let* ((orgpath (mapconcat #'identity (org-get-outline-path) "-")) (heading (replace-regexp-in-string "[_-]+$" "" (replace-regexp-in-string "[-_]+" "-" (replace-regexp-in-string "[^a-zA-Z0-9-_]" "-" (if (string= orgpath "") (org-get-heading t t t t) (concat orgpath "_" (org-get-heading t t t t))))))) (id (org-entry-get nil "CUSTOM_ID"))) (cond ((and id (stringp id) (string-match "\\S-" id)) id) (create (setq id (eos/org-id-new (concat prefix heading))) (org-entry-put pom "CUSTOM_ID" id) (org-id-add-location id (buffer-file-name (buffer-base-buffer))) id)))))
Finally, this is the function that gets called on file saves. If the function detects
auto-id:tamong the org options in the#+OPTIONS:header, then the above function is called.(defun eos/org-add-ids-to-headlines-in-file () "Add CUSTOM_ID properties to all headlines in the current file which do not already have one. Only adds ids if the `auto-id' option is set to `t' in the file somewhere. ie, #+OPTIONS: auto-id:t" (interactive) (save-excursion (widen) (goto-char (point-min)) (when (re-search-forward "^#\\+OPTIONS:.*auto-id:t" (point-max) t) (org-map-entries (lambda () (eos/org-custom-id-get (point) 'create))))))
Let’s add a hook to the above function so it is called automatically on save, and only in read-write functions.
(add-hook 'org-mode-hook (lambda () (add-hook 'before-save-hook (lambda () (when (and (eq major-mode 'org-mode) (eq buffer-read-only nil)) (eos/org-add-ids-to-headlines-in-file))))))
5.2.3.7 File export
I want to disable by default behavior of ^ and _ for only one character,
making it compulsory to use instead ^{} and _{} respectively. This is due to
my frequent usage of the underscore in my org files as a regular character and
not a markup one, especially when describing phonetics evolution. So, let’s
disable it:
(setq org-use-sub-superscripts (quote {}))
- LaTeX
When it comes to exports, I want the LaTeX and PDF exports to be done with XeLaTeX only. This implies the modification of the following variable:
(setq org-latex-compiler "xelatex")
I also want to get by default
mintedfor LaTeX listings so I can have syntax highlights:(setq org-latex-listings 'minted)
The default packages break my LaTeX exports: for some reasons, images are not loaded and exported in PDFs, so I needed to redifine the default packages excluding the one that broke my exports. I also added two default packages,
mintedandxeCJKfor syntax highlighting and Japanese (and additionally Chinese and Korean) support.(setq org-latex-default-packages-alist '(("" "graphicx" t) ("T1" "fontspec" t ("pdflatex")) ("" "longtable" nil) ("" "wrapfig" nil) ("" "rotating" nil) ("normalem" "ulem" t) ("" "amsmath" t) ("" "textcomp" t) ("" "amssymb" t) ("" "capt-of" nil) ("" "minted" nil) ("" "xeCJK" nil) ("" "hyperref" nil)))
By the way, reference links in LaTeX should be written in this format:
(setq org-export-latex-hyperref-format "\\ref{%s}")
When it comes to the export itself, the latex file needs to be processed several times through XeLaTeX in order to get some references right. Don’t forget to also run bibtex!
(setq org-latex-pdf-process '("xelatex -8bit -shell-escape -interaction nonstopmode -output-directory %o %f" "bibtex %b" "xelatex -8bit -shell-escape -interaction nonstopmode -output-directory %o %f" "xelatex -8bit -shell-escape -interaction nonstopmode -output-directory %o %f"))
- HTML
For Reveal.JS exports, I need to set where to find the framework by default:
(setq org-re-reveal-root "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/reveal.js")
On HTML exports, Org-mode tries to include a validation link for the exported HTML. Let’s disable that since I never use it.
(setq org-html-validation-link nil)
5.2.3.8 LaTeX formats
I currently have two custom formats for my Org-mode exports: one for general use
(initialy for my conlanging files, hence its conlang name), and one for beamer
exports.
Below is the declaration of the conlang LaTeX class:
'("conlang" "\\documentclass{book}" ("\\chapter{%s}" . "\\chapter*{%s}") ("\\section{%s}" . "\\section*{%s}") ("\\subsection{%s}" . "\\subsection*{%s}") ("\\subsubsection{%s}" . "\\subsubsection*{%s}"))
And here is the declaration of the beamer class:
`("beamer" ,(concat "\\documentclass[presentation]{beamer}\n" "[DEFAULT-PACKAGES]" "[PACKAGES]" "[EXTRA]\n") ("\\section{%s}" . "\\section*{%s}") ("\\subsection{%s}" . "\\subsection*{%s}") ("\\subsubsection{%s}" . "\\subsubsection*{%s}"))
Both these classes have to be added to org-latex-classes like so:
(eval-after-load "ox-latex" '(progn (add-to-list 'org-latex-classes '("conlang" "\\documentclass{book}" ("\\chapter{%s}" . "\\chapter*{%s}") ("\\section{%s}" . "\\section*{%s}") ("\\subsection{%s}" . "\\subsection*{%s}") ("\\subsubsection{%s}" . "\\subsubsection*{%s}")) ) (add-to-list 'org-latex-classes `("beamer" ,(concat "\\documentclass[presentation]{beamer}\n" "[DEFAULT-PACKAGES]" "[PACKAGES]" "[EXTRA]\n") ("\\section{%s}" . "\\section*{%s}") ("\\subsection{%s}" . "\\subsection*{%s}") ("\\subsubsection{%s}" . "\\subsubsection*{%s}")) )))
5.2.3.9 Projects
Another great features of Org-mode is the Org projects that allow the user to easily publish a bunch of org files to a remote location. Here is the current declaration of my projects, which will be detailed later:
(defvar phundrak//projects-config-target "/rsync:Tilo:~/www/phundrak.com/config" "Points to where exported files for config.phundrak.com should be put") (defvar phundrak//projects-config-source "~/org/config/" "Points to where the sources for config.phundrak.com are") (defvar phundrak//projects-config-language "en" "Language of config.phundrak.com") (defvar phundrak//projects-config-recursive t "Defines whether subdirectories should be parsed for config.phundrak.com") (defvar phundrak//projects-conlanging-target "/rsync:Tilo:~/www/phundrak.com/langue/" "Points to where exported files for langue.phundrak.com should be put") (defvar phundrak//projects-conlanging-source "~/Documents/conlanging/content/" "Points to where the sources for langue.phundrak.com are") (defvar phundrak//projects-conlanging-language "fr" "Language of langue.phundrak.com") (defvar phundrak//projects-conlanging-recursive t "Defines whether subdirectories should be parsed for langue.phundrak.com") (setq org-publish-project-alist `( ("config-website-org" :base-directory ,phundrak//projects-config-source :base-extension "org" :publishing-directory ,phundrak//projects-config-target :recursive ,phundrak//projects-config-recursive :language ,phundrak//projects-config-language :publishing-function org-html-publish-to-html :headline-levels 5 :auto-sitemap t :auto-preamble t) ("config-website-static" :base-directory ,phundrak//projects-config-source :base-extension "png\\|jpg\\|gif\\|webp\\|svg\\|jpeg\\|ttf\\|woff\\|txt\\|epub\\|md" :publishing-directory ,phundrak//projects-config-target :recursive ,phundrak//projects-config-recursive :language ,phundrak//projects-config-language :publishing-function org-publish-attachment) ("config-website" :components ("config-website-org" "config-website-static")) ("langue-phundrak-com-org" :base-directory ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-source :base-extension "org" :exclude "\\./\\(CONTRIB\\|README\\|head\\|temp\\|svg-ink\\).*" :publishing-directory ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-target :recursive ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-recursive :language ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-language :publishing-function org-html-publish-to-html :headline-levels 5 :auto-sitemap t :auto-preamble t) ("langue-phundrak-com-pdf" :base-directory ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-source :base-extension "org" :exclude "\\./\\(CONTRIB\\|README\\|index\\|head\\|temp\\|svg-ink\\).*" :publishing-directory ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-target :recursive ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-recursive :language ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-language :publishing-function org-latex-publish-to-pdf :headline-levels 5 :auto-preamble t) ("langue-phundrak-com-static" :base-directory ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-source :base-extension "png\\|jpg\\|gif\\|webp\\|svg\\|jpeg\\|ttf\\|woff\\|txt\\|epub" :publishing-directory ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-target :recursive ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-recursive :language ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-language :publishing-function org-publish-attachment) ("langue-phundrak-com" :components ("langue-phundrak-com-org" "langue-phundrak-com-static" "langue-phundrak-com-pdf"))))
- Configuration website
This is my configuration for exporting my dotfiles to my website in a web format only. No PDFs or anything, just HTML. Please note that I do not use that often anymore, I much prefer the automatic script that I have which deploys through my Drone instance my website on git pushes.
And before we get into the actual configuration, I would like to introduce a couple of variables. This is a bit more verbose than if I declared everything manually, but now I can change all three values at the same time without a hasle.
(defvar phundrak//projects-config-target "/rsync:Tilo:~/www/phundrak.com/config" "Points to where exported files for config.phundrak.com should be put") (defvar phundrak//projects-config-source "~/org/config/" "Points to where the sources for config.phundrak.com are") (defvar phundrak//projects-config-language "en" "Language of config.phundrak.com") (defvar phundrak//projects-config-recursive t "Defines whether subdirectories should be parsed for config.phundrak.com")
Now, here is my configuration. In this snippet, my org files located in my source directory get exported in the HTML format and published to my target directory on my remote server through RSYNC via TRAMP. A sitemap is automatically generated, which comes in handy with the online sitemap that is available through the navigation bar.
("config-website-org" :base-directory ,phundrak//projects-config-source :base-extension "org" :publishing-directory ,phundrak//projects-config-target :recursive ,phundrak//projects-config-recursive :language ,phundrak//projects-config-language :publishing-function org-html-publish-to-html :headline-levels 5 :auto-sitemap t :auto-preamble t)
We also have the component for all the static files needed to run the website (mostly images tbh).
("config-website-static" :base-directory ,phundrak//projects-config-source :base-extension "png\\|jpg\\|gif\\|webp\\|svg\\|jpeg\\|ttf\\|woff\\|txt\\|epub\\|md" :publishing-directory ,phundrak//projects-config-target :recursive ,phundrak//projects-config-recursive :language ,phundrak//projects-config-language :publishing-function org-publish-attachment)
The project is then defined like so:
("config-website" :components ("config-website-org" "config-website-static"))
- Linguistics website
My linguistics website is made out of three projects. As for the previous project, let’s declare the common values for these.
(defvar phundrak//projects-conlanging-target "/rsync:Tilo:~/www/phundrak.com/langue/" "Points to where exported files for langue.phundrak.com should be put") (defvar phundrak//projects-conlanging-source "~/Documents/conlanging/content/" "Points to where the sources for langue.phundrak.com are") (defvar phundrak//projects-conlanging-language "fr" "Language of langue.phundrak.com") (defvar phundrak//projects-conlanging-recursive t "Defines whether subdirectories should be parsed for langue.phundrak.com")
The first component is the one generating the HTML files from the org files.
("langue-phundrak-com-org" :base-directory ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-source :base-extension "org" :exclude "\\./\\(CONTRIB\\|README\\|head\\|temp\\|svg-ink\\).*" :publishing-directory ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-target :recursive ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-recursive :language ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-language :publishing-function org-html-publish-to-html :headline-levels 5 :auto-sitemap t :auto-preamble t)
We also have the component for the LaTeX and PDF part of the website:
("langue-phundrak-com-pdf" :base-directory ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-source :base-extension "org" :exclude "\\./\\(CONTRIB\\|README\\|index\\|head\\|temp\\|svg-ink\\).*" :publishing-directory ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-target :recursive ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-recursive :language ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-language :publishing-function org-latex-publish-to-pdf :headline-levels 5 :auto-preamble t)
And lastly, we have the component for all the static files needed to run the website:
("langue-phundrak-com-static" :base-directory ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-source :base-extension "png\\|jpg\\|gif\\|webp\\|svg\\|jpeg\\|ttf\\|woff\\|txt\\|epub" :publishing-directory ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-target :recursive ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-recursive :language ,phundrak//projects-conlanging-language :publishing-function org-publish-attachment)
The project is then defined like so:
("langue-phundrak-com" :components ("langue-phundrak-com-org" "langue-phundrak-com-static" "langue-phundrak-com-pdf"))
5.2.3.10 User information
Some variables about myself need to be set so Org-mode knows what information to include in exported files.
(setq user-full-name "Lucien Cartier-Tilet" user-real-login-name "Lucien Cartier-Tilet" user-login-name "phundrak" user-mail-address "lucien@phundrak.com")
5.3 Editing and modes
5.3.1 Default modes
Some buffers sometimes won’t have a default mode at all, such as the *scratch*
buffer. In any vanilla configuration, they will then default to text-mode. I
personally prefer org-mode to be my default mode, so let’s set it so!
(setq edit-server-default-major-mode 'org-mode)
5.3.2 Evil
As a user of Evil, I’m sometimes pissed when I accidentally press C-u and it
gets me to the top of the document. So, let’s disable it:
(setq evil-want-C-u-scroll nil)
5.3.3 File extensions
Sometimes, Emacs doesn’t recognize or misrecognizes some extensions, resulting in a wrong mode set for said file. Let’s fix that by associating the extension with the desired mode:
(dolist (e '(("xml" . web-mode) ("xinp" . web-mode) ("aiml" . web-mode) ("C" . c++-mode) ("dconf" . conf-mode) ("yy" . bison-mode) ("ll" . flex-mode) ("s" . asm-mode) ("pl" . prolog-mode) ("l" . scheme-mode) ("vs" . glsl-mode) ("fs" . glsl-mode))) (push (cons (concat "\\." (car e) "\\'") (cdr e)) auto-mode-alist))
We also have a couple of extensions which should all be in conf-unix-mode,
let’s indicate that to Emacs:
(dolist (e '("service" "timer" "target" "mount" "automount" "slice" "socket" "path" "netdev" "network" "link")) (push (cons (concat "\\." e "\\'") 'conf-unix-mode) auto-mode-alist))
5.3.4 Hooks
I also have some hooks I use for enabling some major and minor modes. The first one here allows the execution of the deletion of trailing space each time I save a file.
(add-hook 'before-save-hook 'delete-trailing-whitespace)
I also want to always be in visual-line-mode so Emacs soft-wraps lines that
are too long for the buffer they are displayed in. This will also be enabled for
Elfeed.
(add-hook 'prog-mode-hook 'visual-line-mode) (add-hook 'elfeed-read-mode-hook 'visual-line-mode)
I also want for some non-programming modes to enable a hard-limit in terms of
how many characters can fit on one line. The modes that benefit are
message-mode, org-mode, text-mode and markdown-mode.
(mapc (lambda (x) (add-hook x 'visual-line-mode)) '(message-mode-hook text-mode-hook markdown-mode-hook))
5.3.5 Twittering mode
For twittering-mode, a Twitter major mode for Emacs, I want to encrypt my data
using a master password, which I do thanks to this option:
(setq twittering-use-master-password t)
5.3.6 Wrapping regions
I really like the M-( keybinding for wrapping a selected region between
parenthesis. However, parenthesis are not everything (even in Lisp dialects),
and other wrappers could be nice. And they are! Here is how they are declared:
(global-set-key (kbd "M-[") 'insert-pair) (global-set-key (kbd "M-{") 'insert-pair) (global-set-key (kbd "M-<") 'insert-pair) (global-set-key (kbd "M-'") 'insert-pair) (global-set-key (kbd "M-`") 'insert-pair) (global-set-key (kbd "M-\"") 'insert-pair)
For the record, this is from Howard Abram’s dotfiles.
5.4 Keybindings
As you will see, I defined a LOT of custom keybindings. All of them are
Spacemacs keybindings, defined in a way they can be used seamlessly with Evil.
They almost all begin with o, which is a prefix reserved for user-defined
keybindings so they won’t conflict with any package. Let’s declare it like so.
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "o" "custom")
Now, all keybindings that will be defined can be invoked in Normal-mode with the
SPC key followed by the sequence assigned to each keybinding.
Before some more specialized categories, I have two commands which don’t fit
into any other category that I sometime use. The first one is a fix for the Bépo
keybindings which left out a keybind: winum-select-window-by-number is still
bound to SPC ², which is not a key that is available on the bépo layout
(instead, we use the dead key ^ followed by 2, or any digits). So instead,
let’s use the key that is physically in the same place: $.
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "$" "select window by number") (spacemacs/set-leader-keys "$" 'winum-select-window-by-number)
The following, I use it rarely, it can launch an external command from Emacs to launch, for instance, my web browser or any other software not related to Emacs. It offers a similar interface to dmenu through helm.
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "or" "external command") (spacemacs/set-leader-keys "or" 'helm-run-external-command)
However this one I use often, generally in org or text buffers.
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys "os" 'sort-lines)
5.4.1 Applications
As this is a new category, let’s declare its prefix:
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "oa" "applications")
Now, let’s also declare the keybindings in this category. oac will invoke
Emacs’ calculator, while oac invokes the calendar, oae invokes the Eww web
browser, oaw invokes woman (actually helm-man-woman), and oaW invokes
the weather forecast. Lastly, the apostrophe in oa' will invoke Eshell
directly, without any popup window as with ,' while oan will open a new
eshell buffer if another one already exists.
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys "oa'" 'eshell "oac" 'calc "oaC" 'calendar "oae" 'eww "oan" 'eshell-new "oaw" 'helm-man-woman "oaW" 'wttrin)
5.4.1.1 Org tree slide
Finally, here we have the keybindings for org-tree-slide, a presentation mode
with orgmode. Since I want the keys to be directly accessible without any prefix
from Spacemacs, I’ll have to declare them the vanilla way. First we have
keybindings that will launch the presentation:
(define-key org-mode-map (kbd "<f8>") 'org-tree-slide-mode) (define-key org-mode-map (kbd "s-<f8>") 'org-tree-slide-skip-done-toggle)
Next, we have some additional keybindings that will only be active when in
org-tree-slide-mode. The first one will allow us to exit this mode, while the
second one will toggle the display of headers marked as DONE. Next, we have
F9 and F10 which are bound to movement in the slide, while F11 changes the
way the content is displayed. We also set org-tree-slide-skip-outline-level to
set the maximum depth we will display as an individual heading during the
presentation.
(when (require 'org-tree-slide nil t) (global-set-key (kbd "<f8>") 'org-tree-slide-mode) (global-set-key (kbd "S-<f8>") 'org-tree-slide-skip-done-toggle) (define-key org-tree-slide-mode-map (kbd "<f9>") 'org-tree-slide-move-previous-tree) (define-key org-tree-slide-mode-map (kbd "<f10>") 'org-tree-slide-move-next-tree) (define-key org-tree-slide-mode-map (kbd "<f11>") 'org-tree-slide-content) (setq org-tree-slide-skip-outline-level 4) (org-tree-slide-narrowing-control-profile) (setq org-tree-slide-skip-done nil))
5.4.2 Comments
Some keybindings are also related to comment editing, in particular using outorg. Let’s first declare the dedicated prefix:
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "oc" "comments")
Now, let’s declare the following keybindings:
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys "occ" 'outorg-copy-edits-and-exit "oce" 'outorg-edit-as-org "oco" 'outline-minor-mode)
oco enables the outline minor mode, which then allows for the edition of
comments in org buffers with oce and saving them to the original source file
with occ.
5.4.3 Dired
A couple of keybindings will be added to Dired. The first one is the opening
parenthesis which will enable or disable dired-hide-details-mode. On the other
hand, a closing parenthesis will show git information in the current Dired
buffer.
(define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "(") 'dired-hide-details-mode) (define-key dired-mode-map (kbd ")") 'dired-git-info-mode)
Something I use from time to time is S-F1 for opening dired in my $HOME
directory. For that, I simply did the following:
(global-set-key (kbd "<s-f1>") (lambda () (interactive) (dired "~/")))
A couple of other useful utilities, sach as opening all marked files, sorting files, opening them externally and renaming them, are also bound to a simple key press:
(define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "f") 'phundrak/open-marked-files) (define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "F") 'xah/open-in-external-app) (define-key dired-mode-map (kbd "s") 'xah/dired-sort)
5.4.4 Files
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "of" "open org file") (spacemacs/set-leader-keys "of" 'phundrak/find-org-files)
I also have a shortcut for helm-locate in case I need to find a file that is
not in these directories. One advantage of this over helm-find is that it
doesn’t matter from where I call it, it will find any file on my system that
matches the query, whereas helm-find will only search in the current directory
and its subdirectories. This time, the declaration is much simpler:
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "oF" "locate file") (spacemacs/set-leader-keys "oF" 'helm-locate)
And that’s it! This should list all my org files under these directories and give me fuzzy finding for these files. I just need to partially type the name of the file I want to open and it should open without any issue.
5.4.5 Games
Just to make it easier to launch it, I’ll declare a shortcut for launching tetris (which is built into Emacs).
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "oat" "tetris") (spacemacs/set-leader-keys "oat" 'tetris)
Apparently, no evil keybindings are set for Tetris. Let’s declare them (adapted to the bépo layout):
(require 'tetris) (define-key tetris-mode-map (kbd "c") 'tetris-move-left) (define-key tetris-mode-map (kbd "t") 'tetris-move-down) (define-key tetris-mode-map (kbd "s") 'tetris-rotate-prev) (define-key tetris-mode-map (kbd "r") 'tetris-move-right)
5.4.6 Multiple cursors
I don’t really like Spacemacs’ layer for MultipleCursors, so I prefer to simply install the package and create shortcuts for it myself. Let’s first declare category:
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "om" "multiple-cursors")
Now, let’s declare the shortcuts related to multiple-cursors:
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys "ome" 'mc/edit-lines "omn" 'mc/mark-next-like-this "omp" 'mc/mark-previous-like-this "oma" 'mc/mark-all-like-this)
5.4.7 Org-mode
Now, onto some shortcuts related to org-mode. Let’s first declare the category:
(spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'org-mode "mo" "custom" "User-defined keybindings") (spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'org-mode "mot" "toggle" "Toggle org elements") (spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'org-mode "moT" "tables")
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys-for-major-mode 'org-mode "ob" 'phundrak/blog-publish) (spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'org-mode "ob" "publish blog")
Now, I have a couple of shortcuts I use regularly:
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys-for-major-mode 'org-mode "os" 'org-insert-structure-template "ots" 'phundrak/toggle-org-src-window-split "ott" 'org-sidebar-tree) (spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'org-mode "moS" "insert template") (spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'org-mode "mots" "toggle src split")
os allows me to insert an org structure template defined in
org-structure-template-alist (see Org behavior), while ott displays the
outline of the current org file.
oT is the prefix for tree-related operations:
(spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'org-mode "moT" "tables")
These shortcuts allow to manipulate the width of the column the cursor is currently in, by either shrinking it, expanding it, or toggling its state between shrunk or expanded. A prefix for all of these commands has been also added in order to make the purpose of the shortcuts clearer.
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys-for-major-mode 'org-mode "oTt" 'org-table-toggle-column-width "oTe" 'org-table-expand "oTs" 'org-table-shrink) (spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'org-mode "moTt" "toggle width") (spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'org-mode "moTe" "expand") (spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'org-mode "moTs" "shrink")
Finaly, I set the following shortcut in order to easily remove RESULTS blocks
from org source code blocks:
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys-for-major-mode 'org-mode "or" 'org-babel-remove-result-one-or-many) (spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'org-mode "mor" "remove org result")
5.4.8 Toggle
This category allows to toggle some modes and options.
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "ot" "toggle")
As you can see, I have here four shortcuts for toggling various elements in Emacs:
otb- toggles
fancy-battery-mode. This comes in very handy when I am on a laptop that is not pluged in or which is charging. otd- toggles
elcord-mode. This mode is used to create an Emacs rich integration in Discord. otf- toggles the activation of FlyCheck, Emacs’ spell checker. It is by default disabled, and I can turn it on with this shortcut only when needed.
ots- toggles
prettify-symbols-mode. This allows Emacs to replace some symbols by some others, like for example by replacinglambdain Emacs Lisp buffers with an actual λ. otS- toggles whether or not Eshell should shorten the current path in its prompt
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys "otb" 'fancy-battery-mode "otd" 'elcord-mode "otf" 'flycheck-mode "ots" 'prettify-symbols-mode "otS" 'phundrak/prompt-toggle-abbreviation)
We also have some input methods-related shortcuts in a sub-category: oti. The
first shortcuts below are used to either toggle between no input method or the
last one used (otit), or choose an input method among the various available
ones from Emacs (otis).
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "oti" "input methods") (spacemacs/set-leader-keys "otit" 'toggle-input-method "otis" 'set-input-method)
The shortcuts below though allow me to directly switch to one of these three known input methods I sometimes or often use, namely Japanese, Tibetan and IPA (by typing in X-SAMPA).
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "otij" "Japanese") (spacemacs/declare-prefix "otix" "IPA (X-SAMPA)") (spacemacs/declare-prefix "otiT" "Tibetan") (spacemacs/set-leader-keys "otij" (lambda () (interactive) (set-input-method 'japanese)) "otix" (lambda () (interactive) (set-input-method 'ipa-x-sampa)) "otiT" (lambda () (interactive) (set-input-method 'tibetan-wylie)))
5.5 Mu4e
Mu4e is a frontend for mu, an email analyzer which sits on top of a Maildir
which gets updated with the mbsync command from isync. It has a lot of neat
features, but I guess my favorite ones are:
- the search query feature
- rendering an HTML email in the browser
5.5.1 Setup
Due to mu sitting on top of a maildir, I need to tell mu4e where said maildir is, and point it the trash, archive, and sent folders as well as the refresh command and how frequently I want my emails to be refreshed.
(setq mu4e-maildir "~/.mail" mu4e-trash-folder "/Trash" mu4e-refile-folder "/Archive" mu4e-sent-folder "/Sent" mu4e-drafts-folder "/Drafts" mu4e-get-mail-command "mbsync -a" mu4e-update-interval 60)
This source block is an example of the search queries in mu4e, and part of the
reason why I very much like mu4e: these bookmarks are actually defined by search
queries, but act as if they were just yet another type of custom inbox you get
with modern Email client (and often you don’t even get them). All these
bookmarks can be accessed through a shortcut on the main mu4e buffer, prefixed
by b. So, for instance, my unread messages are accessed through bU.
(setq mu4e-bookmarks `((,(s-join " " '("NOT flag:trashed" "AND (maildir:/Inbox OR maildir:/Junk)" "AND NOT to:CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU" "AND NOT to:AUXLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU" "AND NOT to:ateliers-emacs@framalistes.org" "AND NOT to:ateliers-paris@emacs-doctor.com" "AND NOT list:ateliers-emacs.framalistes.org" "AND NOT list:ateliers-paris.emacs-doctor.com")) "Inbox" ?i) ;; Inbox without the linguistics mailing lists (,(s-join " " '("NOT flag:trashed" "AND (maildir:/Inbox OR maildir:/Junk)" "AND (f:/.*up8\.edu|.*univ-paris8.*/" "OR c:/.*up8\.edu|.*univ-paris8.*/" "OR t:/.*up8\.edu|.*univ-paris8.*/)")) "University" ?u) ;; University-related emails (,(s-join " " '("to:CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU" "OR to:AUXLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU")) "Linguistics" ?l) ;; linguistics mailing lists (,(s-join " " '("list:ateliers-emacs.framalistes.org" "OR to:ateliers-paris@emacs-doctor.com" "OR list:ateliers-paris.emacs-doctor.com")) "Emacs" ?e) ;; Emacs mailing list ("maildir:/Sent" "Sent messages" ?s) ("flag:unread AND NOT flag:trashed" "Unread messages" ?U) ("date:today..now AND NOT flag:trashed" "Today's messages" ?t) ("date:7d..now AND NOT flag:trashed" "Last 7 days" ?w) ("date:1m..now AND NOT flag:trashed" "Last month" ?m) ("date:1y..now AND NOT flag:trashed" "Last year" ?y) ("flag:trashed AND NOT flag:trashed" "Trash" ?T) ("mime:image/* AND NOT flag:trashed" "Messages with images" ?p)))
On new email arrival, Emacs can send the system a notification which will be handled as any other notification received by the system and will display the number of unread emails to the user; in my case, notifications are handled by AwesomeWM.
(setq mu4e-enable-notifications t mu4e-alert-email-notification-types '(count)) (with-eval-after-load 'mu4e-alert (mu4e-alert-set-default-style 'notifications)) (add-hook 'mu4e-view-mode-hook 'visual-line-mode)
This is the setup I have for my SMTP mail server: I point Emacs’ SMTP services to my private mail server on its SMTP port, which should be used with a STARTTLS stream. And I tell Emacs this is the default way to send an email.
(setq smtpmail-smtp-server "mail.phundrak.com" smtpmail-smtp-service 587 smtpmail-stream-type 'starttls message-send-mail-function 'smtpmail-send-it)
I wish my emails to be signed by default using PGP/MIME. mu4e uses message
for composing new emails, so I simply need to add the function that will add the
signature to emails to the hook called when creating a new email.
(add-hook 'mu4e-compose-mode-hook 'mml-secure-message-sign-pgpmime)
5.5.2 Visual Configuration
The following also allows me to automatically include my signature in my Emails, to view images in my Emacs buffers and to show me the address of my contacts and not just their names.
(setq mu4e-compose-signature-auto-include t mu4e-view-show-images t mu4e-view-prefer-html t mu4e-view-show-addresses t)
Now this hook is added so I can get a maximal width for the text of my emails, I
really don’t like it when lines are kilometers long. I would like instead to
hook visual-line-mode and auto-fill-mode, but for some reasons Emacs throws
an error when I add them, So I go with visual-fill-column-mode instead.
(add-hook 'mu4e-view-mode-hook 'visual-fill-column-mode)
Icons are nice and all, but my current font does not display some of the default icons set by mu4e. Due to this, I will define back these icons to the original characters defined by mu4e:
(setq mu4e-headers-draft-mark '("D" . "D") mu4e-headers-flagged-mark '("F" . "F") mu4e-headers-new-mark '("N" . "N") mu4e-headers-passed-mark '("P" . "P") mu4e-headers-replied-mark '("R" . "R") mu4e-headers-seen-mark '("S" . "S") mu4e-headers-trashed-mark '("T" . "T") mu4e-headers-attach-mark '("a" . "a") mu4e-headers-encrypted-mark '("x" . "x") mu4e-headers-signed-mark '("s" . "s") mu4e-headers-unread-mark '("u" . "u"))
5.5.3 Misc
I am unsure yet if this has any effect on mu4e, but this variable should discourage mu4e from reading rich text emails and instead open them as plain text. However, I do not wish to discourage opening HTML emails since I can open them in the browser.
(setq mm-discouraged-alternatives '("text/richtext"))
I am still unsure about this variable and if it has an effect on mu4e, but I wish to set a default web viewer for my HTML emails: w3m. This is not as effective as sending the email in the browser or rendering it as a PDF file, but it can be effective enough for some emails.
(setq mm-text-html-renderer 'w3m)
5.6 Miscellaneous
I have a lot of variables that need to be set but don’t fall in any other category, so I’ll collect them here.
I have this regexp for detecting paragraphs.
(setq paragraph-start "\f\\|[ \t]*$\\|[ \t]*[-+*] ")
And this variable for Elcord so the main icon displayed in Discord is the icon representing the current major-mode. I also don’t want to display the small icon, so let’s get rid of that.
(setq elcord-use-major-mode-as-main-icon t elcord-show-small-icon nil)
5.6.1 Pinentry
Pinentry should use the loopback mode when communicating with GnuPG. Let’s set
it so:
(setq epg-pinentry-mode 'loopback)
5.6.2 Wttr.in
Thanks to the wttrin package, I can get the weather forecast in Emacs for a couple of cities. I just need to specify them to Emacs like so:
(setq wttrin-default-cities '("Aubervilliers" "Paris" "Lyon" "Nonières" "Saint Agrève"))
However, the package is currently broken (it was last updated in 2017): wttr.in
now returns by default an HTML page instead of an ASCII result. In order to fix
it, a ?A must be added at the end of the request in order to get a nice
output. Also, let’s use the HTTPS protocol while we’re at it.
(defun wttrin-fetch-raw-string (query) "Get the weather information based on your QUERY." (let ((url-user-agent "curl")) (add-to-list 'url-request-extra-headers wttrin-default-accept-language) (with-current-buffer (url-retrieve-synchronously (format "http%s://wttr.in/%s?A" (if (gnutls-available-p) "s" "") query) (lambda (status) (switch-to-buffer (current-buffer)))) (decode-coding-string (buffer-string) 'utf-8))))
5.7 Nov-mode
nov-mode is the mode used in the Epub reader. Here I will write a little
function that I will call through a hook each time I’m opening a new EPUB file.
(defun my-nov-font-setup () (face-remap-add-relative 'variable-pitch :family "Charis SIL" :size 16 :height 1.0))
Let’s bind this function to the nov-mode hook. By the way, we’ll also enable
the visual-line-mode here, just in case.
(mapc (lambda (mode) (add-hook 'nov-mode-hook mode)) '('my-nov-font-setup 'visual-line-mode))
Let’s also set the maximum length of the lines in nov-mode:
(setq nov-text-width 80)
5.8 Programming
5.8.1 LSP
When it comes to the LSP layer, there are some options which are not enabled by
default that I want to use, especially some modes I want to take advantage of.
This is why I enable first the lsp-treemacs-sync-mode so treemacs is LSP
aware:
(lsp-treemacs-sync-mode 1)
I also enable some layers related to dap, the Debug Adapter Protocol, which
works really nicely with LSP. Let’s enable Dap’s modes:
(dap-mode 1) (dap-ui-mode 1) (dap-tooltip-mode 1)
Finally, I also want the documentation tooltip to show up when the cursor is above a documented piece of code or symbol. Let’s enable that too:
(tooltip-mode 1)
5.8.2 ASM configuration
The first thing I will set with my ASM configuration is where the reference PDF is located.
(setq x86-lookup-pdf "~/Documents/code/asm/Intelx86/325383-sdm-vol-2abcd.pdf")
I will also modify what the comment character is, from a ; to a #:
(setq asm-comment-char ?\#)
5.8.3 C/C++
As the C/C++ syntax is checked by flycheck, let’s make sure we are using the latest standard available, that is C++17 and C17, from Clang.
(add-hook 'c-mode-hook (lambda () (setq flycheck-clang-language-standard "c17"))) (add-hook 'c++-mode-hook (lambda () (setq flycheck-clang-language-standard "c++17")))
5.8.4 Dart configuration
For Dart, I mainly declared some custom shortcuts bound to dart-mode related
to flutter, so nothing too exciting here. Some prefix are declared in order to
avoid the shortcuts in helm to show up as just custom.
(spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'dart-mode "mo" "user-defined") (spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'dart-mode "mof" "flutter") (spacemacs/declare-prefix-for-mode 'dart-mode "mofr" "flutter-run")
Now, for the shortcuts themselves:
(spacemacs/set-leader-keys-for-major-mode 'dart-mode "ofH" 'flutter-hot-restart "ofh" 'flutter-hot-reload "ofq" 'flutter-quit "ofr" (lambda () (interactive) (flutter-run "-v")) "ofs" 'flutter-screenshot)
5.8.5 Emacs Lisp
Here will be stored my configuration directly related to Emacs Lisp, including some functions or default modes.
5.8.5.1 Enable eldoc-mode by default
By default, if some Elisp code is opened, I want to enable eldoc-mode so I can
easily get some documentation on the symbols in the source code. This is done
via the use of hooks.
(add-hook 'prog-mode-hook 'eldoc-mode)
5.8.5.2 phundrak/write-to-buffer
I was very surprised when I discovered no such function exists in Elisp. This function basically writes a string into a buffer, and optionally switches the user to the buffer. Here is the code for that function:
(defun write-to-buffer ($input-string $outputbuf &optional $switchbuf) "Writes `$input-string' to the specified `output-buffer'. If `switch-buffer' is non-nil, the active buffer will switch to the output buffer; otherwise, it will take the user back to their initial buffer. Works with `$input-string' as a string or a list of strings." (let ((oldbuf (current-buffer))) (switch-to-buffer $outputbuf) (cond ((char-or-string-p $input-string) (insert $input-string)) ((listp $input-string) (dolist (elem $input-string) (insert (format "%s\n" elem))))) (unless $switchbuf (switch-to-buffer oldbuf))))
5.8.6 Python
Emacs throws me an error about the python interpreter, let’s silence it:
(setq python-shell-completion-native-disabled-interpreters '("python"))
5.8.7 Rust
I need to point to racer where the source code of Rust is located so I can get
some documentation. This is installed with the rust-src component you can get
through rustup. To install it, simply run
$ rustup component add rust-src
Now, the source code for Rust should be included in your installation. I personally prefer to develop with Rust stable, so let’s indicate to Emacs to search for documentation in the stable sources:
(setq racer-rust-src-path "~/.rustup/toolchains/stable-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu/lib/rustlib/src/rust/src")
Rust’s default cargo check command is already very good, however I also enjoy
getting some more hints while developping, and clippy does a very good job at
it. To get clippy, I need to run the following to install it:
$ rustup compontent add clippy
And this will get it installed with all of my Rust toolchain, and it will be
updated with it. Now, let’s indicate LSP that I want to use that instead of
check:
(setq lsp-rust-analyzer-cargo-watch-command "clippy")
Finally, I wish to enable electric-pair-mode and indent-guide-mode for Rust
files, so let’s enable that through the use of a hook:
(add-hook 'rust-mode-hook '(lambda () (local-set-key (kbd "TAB") #'company-indent-or-complete-common) (electric-pair-mode 1) (indent-guide-mode 1)))
5.8.8 Scheme
The Scheme configuration will be very short, I just need to tell Emacs the name of the interpreter since it is not the default one:
(setq geiser-chicken-binary "chicken-csi")
5.9 Projectile
Projectile is an awesome utility which helps managing projects within Emacs. It
will automatically detect version controlled directories, and will by default
assume this is a project I can be working on. However, there are some
directories that are version controlled that I do not want to see in my list of
projects, namely all the cached AUR packages from my AUR helper, paru. They
are all stored in the same parent directory, so let’s ignore that. I will also
make Emacs ignore all node_modules directories it could encounter. And for
some reason, ~/.config/emacs is always in my projects list (I now use
XDG-compliant directories), so let’s also ignore that.
(setq projectile-ignored-projects '("~/.cache/paru" "~/.config/emacs" "/tmp")) (add-to-list 'projectile-globally-ignored-directories "node_modules")
5.10 Security
This paragraph is about making Emacs and GPG as a whole (since Emacs is always
open on my computer) more secure. The first thing I want to make is a function
that will close any buffer that contains an open .gpg file –I certainly do not
want anyone to be able to read such files on my computer if I leave it even for
a couple of minutes.
(defun phundrak/kill-gpg-buffers () "Kill GPG buffers." (interactive) (let ((buffers-killed 0)) (dolist (buffer (buffer-list)) (with-current-buffer buffer (when (string-match ".*\.gpg$" (buffer-name buffer)) (message "Auto killing .gpg buffer '%s'" (buffer-name buffer)) (when (buffer-modified-p buffer) (save-buffer)) (kill-buffer buffer) (setq buffers-killed (+ buffers-killed 1))))) (unless (zerop buffers-killed) ;; Kill gpg-agent. (shell-command "gpgconf --kill gpg-agent") (message "%s .gpg buffers have been autosaved and killed" buffers-killed))))
Notice the (shell-command "gpgconf --kill gpg-agent") command there: it kills
gpg-agent which will always respawn each time GPG2 is invoked. That way, I
know anyone trying to open a GPG file will have to insert my password when
trying to do so instead of just hoping I entered it not long ago and they won’t
have to.
But surely, if I only define this function and hope to call it each time I leav my computer, surely at one point I will forget to execute it before leaving. I can’t trust myself to always call it manually. Which is why I’ll ask Emacs itself to call it after it detects a minute of idling. It may become from times to times a bit of a pain, but at least I’m now sure I won’t ever have to worry about someone reading my GPG files open in Emacs while I’m out for a quick break.
(run-with-idle-timer 60 t 'phundrak/kill-gpg-buffers)
5.11 Snippets
Yasnippet’s snippets tool is extremely powerful and allows me to write very
quickly code. For now, we have snippets for two modes. The files you’ll see
below are exported to $HOME/.config/emacs/private/snippets/ and to their
respective mode directory. For instance, my caption snippet for org-mode will
be exported to $HOME/.config/emacs/private/snippets/org-mode/caption.
Be aware that on top of these custom snippets, I also use the package yasnippet-snippets which provide plenty of already made snippets.
5.11.1 Rust snippets
I have so far two snippets, the first one is actually just a convenience to make
it easier to type a println! macro than the default snippet.
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: println # key: pln # -- println!("${1:{}}", $2);
The second one is more interesting: it is used to create a new method for a
struct, and it will try to create a function that will assign each argument
passed to the method to members of the struct. It relies on the custom function
I wrote here.
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: new # key: _new # -- fn new(${1:args}) -> Self { $0 Self { ${1:$(phundrak/yas-rust-new-assignments yas-text)} } }
5.11.2 Org headers
The first two snippets are used to add HTML or LaTeX attributes to elements in
org-mode. The third also has a similar usage, inserting a #+CAPTION header
before an element, as well as the fourth which inserts a #+NAME header.
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: ATTR HTML # key: <ah # -- #+ATTR_HTML: $0
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: ATTR LATEX # key: <al # -- #+ATTR_LATEX: $0
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: caption # key: <ca # -- #+CAPTION: $0
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: name # key: <na # -- #+NAME: $0
Now, the following is a bit more complex: it is meant to be used as a new org buffer is created. It will insert an org header for the title, which will default to the buffer’s name capitalized minus the dashes or underscores replaced with spaces, it will insert a default author and email based on the user’s parameters, and the date at the moment of the creation of these headers. The user can also add some tags if they wish to.
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: header # key: header # -- #+TITLE: ${1:`(replace-regexp-in-string "-" " " (capitalize (file-name-nondirectory (file-name-sans-extension (buffer-file-name)))))`} #+AUTHOR: `(user-full-name)` #+EMAIL: `user-mail-address` #+DATE: `(format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d")` #+TAGS: $2 $0
5.11.3 Org blocks
Now, Let’s write some snippets for org blocks. The first one is for a comment block, then two snippets for an unnamed and a named Elisp source block, and two others for an unnamed and a named Python source block. There are also two block for generic unnamed source blocks and generic named source blocks.
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: comment block # key: <co # -- #+BEGIN_COMMENT $0 #+END_COMMENT
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: emacs-lisp block # key: <el # -- #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp $0 #+END_SRC
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: named emacs-lisp block # key: <eln # -- #+NAME: $1 #+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp $0 #+END_SRC
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: python block # key: <py # -- #+BEGIN_SRC python $0 #+END_SRC
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: named python block # key: <pyn # -- #+NAME: $1 #+BEGIN_SRC python $0 #+END_SRC
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: source block # key: <s # -- #+BEGIN_SRC $1 $0 #+END_SRC
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: named source block # key: <sn # -- #+NAME: $1 #+BEGIN_SRC $2 $0 #+END_SRC
5.11.4 Org misc
Finally, there are a couple of miscellaneous org snippets that insert macros I often use in my conlanging documents. The first one inserts a phonetics macro, while the second one inserts a macro used for my Proto-Ñyqy language.
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: phon # key: <ph # -- \{\{\{phon($1)\}\}\} $0
# -*- mode: snippet -*- # name: nyqy # key: <ny # -- \{\{\{nyqy($1)\}\}\} $0
5.12 Tramp configuration
5.12.1 Docker
It is completely possible with Tramp to connect ot a docker container and modify files inside of it. It is not supported natively, but we can add it quite easily. Be aware, I am not the author of this code, you can find its original source here. First, let’s add the Docker protocol to Tramp:
(push (cons "docker" '((tramp-login-program "docker") (tramp-login-args (("exec" "-it") ("%h") ("/bin/bash"))) (tramp-remote-shell "/bin/sh") (tramp-remote-shell-args ("-i") ("-c")))) tramp-methods)
Now that the method has been added, let’s add some autocompletion for when we want to connect to a Docker container:
(defadvice tramp-completion-handle-file-name-all-completions (around dotemacs-completion-docker activate) "(tramp-completion-handle-file-name-all-completions \"\" \"/docker:\" returns a list of active Docker container names, followed by colons." (if (equal (ad-get-arg 1) "/docker:") (let* ((dockernames-raw (shell-command-to-string "docker ps --format '{{.Names}}:'")) (dockernames (cl-remove-if-not #'(lambda (dockerline) (string-match ":$" dockerline)) (split-string dockernames-raw "\n")))) (setq ad-return-value dockernames)) ad-do-it))
And that’s it! it is now possible to connect to a docker container with
something like /docker:conlangdict_server/ as the path given in find-file.
5.12.2 Yadm
yadm is the utility I use for managing my dotfiles, and it is a wrapper In
order to manage my dotfiles, I use the following shortcut to launch Magit Status
for yadm:
(spacemacs/declare-prefix "oy" "yadm status") (spacemacs/set-leader-keys "oy" (lambda () (interactive) (magit-status "/yadm::")))
yadm wraps around git. Logically, it means Magit could theoretically manage
my yadm repo. And it is indeed possible, according to this page using TRAMP. I
just need to add the following code snippet:
(add-to-list 'tramp-methods '("yadm" (tramp-login-program "yadm") (tramp-login-args (("enter"))) (tramp-login-env (("SHELL") ("/bin/sh"))) (tramp-remote-shell "/bin/sh") (tramp-remote-shell-args ("-c"))))
5.13 Visual configuration
5.13.1 Battery mode line
I want to see by default how much battery my computer has, so let’s enable it:
(spacemacs/toggle-mode-line-battery-on)
5.13.2 Better faces
Sometimes, some visual properties just don’t fit right for me and I need to edit them. This is the case for example for org-mode for which I want to have a mix of fixed and variable pitches. Below you can see the code that does that for me, I’ll get into more detail below this code block.
(let ( (orgfont `( :height 110 :font "DejaVu Serif" )) (head `( :inherit default :weight bold )) (fixed `( :font "Cascadia Code" )) ) (custom-theme-set-faces 'user `(ediff-current-diff-A ((t ( :background ,phundrak/nord11 ))) t) `(ediff-current-diff-C ((t ( :background ,phundrak/nord13 ))) t) `(ediff-current-diff-C ((t ( :background ,phundrak/nord14 ))) t) `(mu4e-highlight-face ((t ( :foreground ,phundrak/nord0 :background ,phundrak/nord9 ))) t) `(org-level-1 ((t (,@orgfont ,@head :height 1.75 :foreground ,phundrak/nord15 ))) t) `(org-level-2 ((t (,@orgfont ,@head :height 1.5 :foreground ,phundrak/nord10 ))) t) `(org-level-3 ((t (,@orgfont ,@head :height 1.25 :foreground ,phundrak/nord9 ))) t) `(org-level-4 ((t (,@orgfont ,@head :height 1.1 :foreground ,phundrak/nord15 ))) t) `(org-level-5 ((t (,@orgfont ,@head :foreground ,phundrak/nord8 ))) t) `(org-level-6 ((t (,@orgfont ,@head :foreground ,phundrak/nord7 ))) t) `(org-level-7 ((t (,@orgfont ,@head :foreground ,phundrak/nord15 ))) t) `(org-level-8 ((t (,@orgfont ,@head :foreground ,phundrak/nord6 ))) t) `(org-document-title ((t (,@orgfont ,@head :height 2.0 :foreground ,phundrak/nord11 ))) t) `(variable-pitch ((t (,@orgfont ))) t) `(org-block ((t (,@fixed :background ,phundrak/nord1 ))) t) `(org-block-begin-line ((t (,@fixed :background ,phundrak/nord1 ))) t) `(org-block-end-line ((t (,@fixed :background ,phundrak/nord1 ))) t) `(org-indent ((t (,@fixed ))) t) `(org-formula ((t (,@fixed ))) t) `(org-macro ((t (,@fixed ))) t) `(org-target ((t (,@fixed ))) t) `(org-property-value ((t (,@fixed ))) t) `(org-drawer ((t (,@fixed :foreground ,phundrak/nord10 ))) t) `(org-table ((t (,@fixed :foreground ,phundrak/nord14 ))) t) `(org-date ((t (,@fixed :foreground ,phundrak/nord13 ))) t) `(org-code ((t (,@fixed :inherit shadow ))) t) `(org-verbatim ((t (,@fixed :inherit shadow ))) t) `(org-document-info-keyword ((t (,@fixed :inherit shadow ))) t) `(org-tag ((t (,@fixed :inherit shadow :weight bold ))) t) `(org-meta-line ((t (,@fixed :inherit font-lock-comment-face :height 0.8 ))) t) `(org-special-keyword ((t (,@fixed :inherit font-lock-comment-face :height 0.8 :foreground ,phundrak/nord15 ))) t) `(org-checkbox ((t (,@fixed :inherit (org-todo shadow fixed-pitch) ))) t) `(org-document-info ((t ( :foreground ,phundrak/nord12 ))) t) `(org-link ((t ( :foreground ,phundrak/nord8 :underline t ))) t) ))
5.13.2.1 Diff and Magit
Apparently, diff and Magit faces do not follow the nord theme’s color scheme, so let’s redefine their background and sometimes their foreground.
| Name | background | foreground |
|---|---|---|
| ediff-current-diff-A | ,phundrak/nord11 | |
| ediff-current-diff-C | ,phundrak/nord13 | |
| ediff-current-diff-C | ,phundrak/nord14 |
5.13.2.2 Mu4e
The nord theme is great and all, but for some reason some faces in mu4e aren’t
displayed properly, such as the mu4e-highlight-face. Let’s fix that!
| Name | background | foreground |
|---|---|---|
| mu4e-highlight-face | ,phundrak/nord9 | ,phundrak/nord0 |
5.13.2.3 Org-mode
Fonts will play an important part in this, but so will colors and font size. The following code is largely based on the one found on this blog post and this one. First here are some common properties that will be reused in faces below:
| Name | inherit | font | height | weight |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| orgfont | DejaVu Serif | 110 | ||
| head | default | bold | ||
| fixed | Cascadia Code |
| Name | additional | inherit | foreground | background | height | weight | italic | underline |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| org-level-1 | ,@orgfont ,@head | ,phundrak/nord15 | 1.75 | t | ||||
| org-level-2 | ,@orgfont ,@head | ,phundrak/nord10 | 1.5 | t | ||||
| org-level-3 | ,@orgfont ,@head | ,phundrak/nord9 | 1.25 | t | ||||
| org-level-4 | ,@orgfont ,@head | ,phundrak/nord15 | 1.1 | t | ||||
| org-level-5 | ,@orgfont ,@head | ,phundrak/nord8 | t | |||||
| org-level-6 | ,@orgfont ,@head | ,phundrak/nord7 | t | |||||
| org-level-7 | ,@orgfont ,@head | ,phundrak/nord15 | t | |||||
| org-level-8 | ,@orgfont ,@head | ,phundrak/nord6 | t | |||||
| org-document-title | ,@orgfont ,@head | ,phundrak/nord11 | 2.0 | t | ||||
| variable-pitch | ,@orgfont | |||||||
| org-block | ,@fixed | ,phundrak/nord1 | ||||||
| org-block-begin-line | ,@fixed | ,phundrak/nord1 | ||||||
| org-block-end-line | ,@fixed | ,phundrak/nord1 | ||||||
| org-indent | ,@fixed | |||||||
| org-formula | ,@fixed | |||||||
| org-macro | ,@fixed | |||||||
| org-target | ,@fixed | |||||||
| org-property-value | ,@fixed | |||||||
| org-drawer | ,@fixed | ,phundrak/nord10 | ||||||
| org-table | ,@fixed | ,phundrak/nord14 | ||||||
| org-date | ,@fixed | ,phundrak/nord13 | ||||||
| org-code | ,@fixed | shadow | ||||||
| org-verbatim | ,@fixed | shadow | ||||||
| org-document-info-keyword | ,@fixed | shadow | ||||||
| org-tag | ,@fixed | shadow | bold | |||||
| org-meta-line | ,@fixed | font-lock-comment-face | 0.8 | |||||
| org-special-keyword | ,@fixed | font-lock-comment-face | ,phundrak/nord15 | 0.8 | ||||
| org-checkbox | ,@fixed | (org-todo shadow fixed-pitch) | ||||||
| org-document-info | ,phundrak/nord12 | |||||||
| org-link | ,phundrak/nord8 | t |
5.13.3 Info colors
The package info-colors adds colors to Emacs’ info mode. Let’s enable it:
(add-hook 'Info-selection-hook 'info-colors-fontify-node)
5.13.4 Prettified symbols
Just because it is pleasing to the eye, some symbols in source code get prettified into simpler symbols. Here is the list of symbols that are to be prettified. You can see in the corresponding comment what symbol will be displayed.
(setq prettify-symbols-alist '(("lambda" . 955) ; λ ("mapc" . 8614) ; ↦ ("map" . 8614) ; ↦ (">>" . 187) ; » ("<<" . 171) ; « ))
Let’s enable this mode globally.
(global-prettify-symbols-mode 1)
5.13.5 Misc
Emacs is already silent, but let’s set the bell as visible:
(setq visible-bell t)
I would also like to disable the global hl-mode, I find it quite annoying.
(global-hl-line-mode -1)