Weekly Tips, Tricks, &c. Thread

This is a thread for smaller, miscellaneous items that might not warrant a full post on their own. [See this search for previous "Weekly Tips, Tricks, &c." Threads.](https://www.reddit.com/r/emacs/search?q=Weekly+tips&restrict_sr=on&sort=new&t=all) Don't feel constrained in regards to what you post, just keep your post vaguely, generally on the topic of emacs.

So I've been using vterm for a while and really like it, however a few emacs things seem to not work...for example I can't access previous items in the kill ring. And yesterday I wanted to write 12 0s, so I used C-u 12 C-u 0, and it just gave me one 0. Is there something I'm missing about why these standard emacs things aren't available?

Have this handy function that * selects a point in a buffer with a function (mostly using avy functions), * then uses an evil operation like 'dd' on it or any function and * finally returns to the point before calling the function ​ ;; Examples ;; Uses evil avy to select a line to delete and then restores point. (my-operate-on-point #'evil-avy-goto-line "dd") ;; Select a word with avy and delete it and then restore point. (my-operate-on-point #'evil-avy-goto-word-or-subword-1 "dw") (defun my-operate-on-point (fun keys-or-fun &optional state) "Call a function FUN to jump to a point and simulate keys or call a function. KEYS-OR-FUN is either a string with keys to simulate (to press) or a function to call. Returns back to the starting position afterwards. Switches to evil-state STATE and restores the current state afterwards. STATE defaults to `normal'. Use `apply-partially' if you want to bind arguments to FUN or KEYS-OR-FUN if using a function or use a lambda." (let* ((current-state evil-state) (state (or state 'normal)) (marker (point-marker))) (save-selected-window (save-excursion (unwind-protect (progn ;; Switch to state. (funcall (intern-soft (concat "evil-" (symbol-name state) "-state"))) (funcall fun) ;; Only call the function if point has moved. This is needed cos not ;; every function return nil if aborted. (when (not (equal marker (point-marker))) (cond ((stringp keys-or-fun) (execute-kbd-macro (kbd keys-or-fun))) ((functionp keys-or-fun) (funcall keys-or-fun)) (t (user-error "%s" "keys-or-fun has to be a string or a function")))))))) ;; Restore previous evil-state in any case. (funcall (intern-soft (concat "evil-" (symbol-name current-state) "-state"))))) It requires evil but could easily be changed to not depend on it.

What's the deal with all these completion framework I keep hearing about? Vertical elm ivy company and whatnot. I think I have company in my init.el but I'm not even sure I'm actually using it (maybe I am and I'm just unaware). But why are they everywhere? I see them mentioned in at least every any two emacs threads.

They offer different ways of selecting an item (often a command to run, but also file names, text to insert, or other things) from a list. Some of them have extra features to allow you to do something special with the selection. I don't think there is one called "elm"; you may mean "Helm". Company is a bit different than the others; it is for completing text in a buffer, rather than in the minibuffer (where command-type input goes). Have a read through this and see if it answers some of your questions: https://www.masteringemacs.org/article/understanding-minibuffer-completion It doesn't cover specific external packages, but it explains what they are for and how they all work.

Thank you for this! I think my most complex use of minibuffer completion is writing a keyword, possibly with an asterisk, and pressing TAB. My use case is so simple, maybe that's why I couldn't quite get why all these alternatives would be so popular.

Do you guys know a builtin or small snippet to open /foo/bar/filename:L<line> directly to the line ?

If you follow org-link format (e.g. `[[/foo/bar/file::10]]`) then `org-open-at-point` will work anywhere. But it's simple to roll your own: (defun my-open-file-at-point (location) (interactive (list (thing-at-point 'filename t))) (pcase (split-string location ":") (`(,(and (pred file-exists-p) file) ,(and (pred (string-match-p "^[[:digit:]]+$")) line)) (progn (find-file file) (goto-char (point-min)) (forward-line (1- (string-to-number line))))) (`(,(and (pred file-exists-p) file)) (find-file file)) (_ (error "Not a file"))))

thanks, that's way better than what I hacked. I'm surprised there's no builtin way, the filename[sep line][sep column] trick is used nearly everywhere for ages

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**elfeed-dashboard filter** Thought I'd share (partly in the hope of a code-review). When I'm reading the **BBC**'s RSS feed, I'm not interested in the sports items so I have this item on my elfeed dashboard: #+KEYMAP: b | bh/elfeed-dashboard-untag-by-regex "bbc" "/sport" and this in my config.el: (defun bh/elfeed-dashboard-untag-by-regex( feed regex ) "Untag items matching REGEX from FEED and view the result" (elfeed-dashboard-query (concat "+unread +" feed " " regex)) (mark-whole-buffer) ;; FIXME - we're not supposed to use this - but what? (elfeed-search-untag-all-unread) (elfeed-dashboard-query (concat "+unread +" feed)))

You might be able to rewrite that as advice for find-file. See [https://scripter.co/emacs-lisp-advice-combinators/#advice-combinators--around](https://scripter.co/emacs-lisp-advice-combinators/#advice-combinators--around). Parse for the "::#" before the call, strip it to keep tramp happy, then forward-line to the desired line after opening. Maybe I'll write this later in the week...

cool idea :) gonna try

that's an interesting idea! I have been using something like this for a while: (defun my-avy-just-copy-line (arg) (interactive "p") (let ((initial-window (selected-window))) (avy-with my-avy-just-copy-line (let* ((start (avy--line)) (str (buffer-substring-no-properties start (save-excursion (goto-char start) (move-end-of-line arg) (point))))) (select-window initial-window) (kill-new str))))) (defun my-avy-copy-word (arg) (interactive "p") (save-excursion (call-interactively 'avy-goto-symbol-1) (let ((symbol (thing-at-point 'symbol))) (when symbol (kill-new symbol) (message "\"%s\" has been copied" symbol)))))) not sure which ways is better, I want to be able to copy a "symbol" which is easy in "elisp" with (thing-at-point 'symbol) not sure how to do that in evil/vi the `yW` doesn't do exactly the same just food for thoughts, thanks for sharing!

I like your functions. Evil has `yio` to copy a symbol: (my-operate-on-point (lambda () (call-interactively #'avy-goto-symbol-1)) "yio") I would love to make a more generic version of that function, but I don't have any time on my hands.

nice one! thanks for the tip about `yio`

try this: https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/FindFile#h5o-4