Emacs Lisp Cookbook

2012-06-22T11:01:47Z

83.111.121.243: /* Input and output (I/O) */

This page contains snippets of code that demonstrate basic [[Emacs Lisp]]
programming operations in the spirit of O'Reilly's Cookbook
series of books. For every task addressed, a worked-out solution
is presented as a short, focused, directly usable piece of code.

All this stuff can be found elsewhere, but it is scattered about in
libraries, manuals, etc. It would be helpful to have it here in one
spot.

These recipes should be pastable into the '''*scratch*''' buffer so that
users can hit '''C-j''' and evaluate them step by step.

== Strings ==

The empty string (zero-length string, null string, ...):

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(zerop (string-match "" "")) ;; O(n)
==> t

(string-equal "" "") ;; O(n)?
==> t

(equal "" "") ;; O(n)?
==> t

(zerop (length "")) ;; O(1)
==> t

(eq "" "") ;; O(1)
==> t
</syntaxhighlight>

As a space and performance optimization, Emacs keeps an intern-ed copy
of the empty string as a single object

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(eq "" (purecopy ""))
==> t

(eq "" (propertize "" 'face 'italic))
==> t
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Strings vs buffer content ===

While it is quite common in other programming languages to work on
strings contained in variables in Emacs it is even more idiomatic to
work on strings in buffers. That's why the following contains examples
of both.

=== Substrings ===

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(substring "abcdefg" 0 3)
==> "abc"
(substring "abcdefg" -3 -1)
==> "ef"
</syntaxhighlight>

The TO argument is optional:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(substring "abcdefg" -3)
==> "efg"
</syntaxhighlight>

Buffers:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(with-temp-buffer
(insert "abcdefg")
(buffer-substring 2 4))
==> "bc"
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Processing characters ===

Reversing a string:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(string-to-list "foo")
==> (102 111 111)
(reverse (string-to-list "foo"))
==> (111 111 102)
(apply 'string (reverse (string-to-list "foo")))
==> "oof"
</syntaxhighlight>

See CharacterProcessing and StringModification. See [[tr]] for an example of you sometimes need to mix strings and characters.

Looking at characters in buffers:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(with-temp-buffer
(insert "abcdefg")
(goto-char (point-min))
(while (not (= (char-after) ?b))
(forward-char))
(point))
==> 2
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Trim whitespace ===

Trim whitespace from the end of a string:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(setq test-str "abcdefg ")
(when (string-match "[ \t]*$" test-str)
(message (concat "[" (replace-match "" nil nil test-str) "]")))
</syntaxhighlight>

Trim whitespace from a string with a Perl-like chomp function:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(defun chomp (str)
"Chomp leading and tailing whitespace from STR."
(while (string-match "\\`\n+\\|^\\s-+\\|\\s-+$\\|\n+\\'"
str)
(setq str (replace-match "" t t str)))
str)
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Splitting strings ===

The 'split-string' function is defined in 'subr.el' as

<source lang="lisp">
(defun split-string (string &optional separators omit-nulls)
...)
</source>

where 'separators' is a regular expression describing where to split the string. 'separators' defaults to white-space characters (spaces, form feeds, tabs, newlines, carriage returns, and vertical tabs). If 'omit-nulls' is set as 't' then zero-length strings are deleted from output.

<source lang="lisp">
(split-string "1 thing 2 say 3 words 4 you" "[1-9]")
==> ("" " thing " " say " " words " " you")
</source>

Omitting nulls:
<source lang="lisp">
(split-string "1 thing 2 say 3 words 4 you" "[1-9]" t)
(" thing " " say " " words " " you")
</source>

=== Joining strings ===

Use `mapconcat' to join a list into a string using a separator ("glue") between elements in the string.

Example:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(mapconcat 'identity '("" "home" "alex " "elisp" "erc") "/")
==> "/home/alex /elisp/erc"
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Serialization ===

The basic idea is to convert forms to strings with `prin1-to-string' and convert it back from a string with `read'.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(length (read (prin1-to-string (make-list 1000000 '(x)))))
==> 1000000

(read (prin1-to-string "Hello World!"))
==> "Hello World!"
</syntaxhighlight>

This only works in the simplest cases. Unfortunately, this doesn't work for all Emacs data types for programming or the editor.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(read (prin1-to-string (make-hash-table))) ;; Error before Emacs 23.
==> #s(hash-table size 65 test eql rehash-size 1.5 [...] data ())

(read (prin1-to-string (current-buffer)))
==> Lisp error: (invalid-read-syntax "#")
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Formatting ===

== Killing text ==

As the Emacs Lisp Manual says, "Most of the kill commands are primarily for
interactive use [...] When you need to delete text for internal
purposes within a Lisp function, you should normally use deletion
functions, so as not to disturb the kill ring contents."

The following mimic the `kill-' commands but without disturbing the kill ring.

=== Delete region ===

The Lisp equivalent of `kill-region' (`C-w') but without kill ring side effects::

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(delete-region (region-beginning) (region-end))
</syntaxhighlight>

According to the ElispManual, "Few programs need to use the
`region-beginning' and `region-end' functions." This is because
Lisp code should not rely on nor "alter the mark unless altering
the mark is part of the user-level functionality of the
command. (And, in that case, this effect should be documented.)
To remember a location for internal use in the Lisp program,
store it in a Lisp variable. For example: [...]"

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((beg (point)))
(forward-line 1)
(delete-region beg (point)))
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Delete line ===

The equivalent of `kill-line' (`C-k') but without kill ring side effects:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((beg (point)))
(forward-line 1)
(forward-char -1)
(delete-region beg (point)))
</syntaxhighlight>

Alternatively, replacing the `let' with `save-excursion'.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(delete-region (point)
(save-excursion
(forward-line 1)
(forward-char -1)
(point)))
</syntaxhighlight>

Or simplest of all,

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(delete-region (point) (line-end-position))
</syntaxhighlight>

The examples with `forward-line' are shown because the paradigm is used later, see below.

=== Delete line backwards ===

The equivalent of killing the line backwards (`C-0 C-k') but without kill ring side effects:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((beg (point)))
(forward-line 0)
(delete-region (point) beg))
</syntaxhighlight>

Alternatively, replacing the `let' with `save-excursion'.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(delete-region (save-excursion
(forward-line 0)
(point))
(point))
</syntaxhighlight>

Or simplest of all,

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(delete-region (line-beginning-position) (point))
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Delete line to next line ===

The equivalent of killing the line and the newline (`C-1 C-k') but without kill ring side effects:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((beg (point)))
(forward-line 1)
(delete-region beg (point)))
</syntaxhighlight>

Alternatively, replacing the `let' with `save-excursion'.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(delete-region (point)
(save-excursion
(forward-line 1)
(point)))
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Delete whole line ===

The equivalent of `kill-whole-line' (`C-S-DEL') but without kill ring side effects:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((beg (progn (forward-line 0)
(point))))
(forward-line 1)
(delete-region beg (point)))
</syntaxhighlight>

Alternatively, replacing the `let' with `save-excursion'.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(delete-region (save-excursion
(forward-line 0)
(point))
(save-excursion
(forward-line 1)
(point)))
</syntaxhighlight>

Or simplest of all,

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(delete-region (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position))
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Delete word ===

The equivalent of `kill-word' (`M-d') but without kill ring side effects:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((beg (point)))
(forward-word 1)
(delete-region beg (point)))
</syntaxhighlight>

Alternatively, replacing the `let' with `save-excursion'.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(delete-region (point)
(save-excursion
(forward-word 1)
(point)))
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Delete sentence ===

The equivalent of `kill-sentence' (`M-k') but without kill ring side effects:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((beg (point)))
(forward-sentence 1)
(delete-region beg (point)))
</syntaxhighlight>

Alternatively, replacing the `let' with `save-excursion'.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(delete-region (point)
(save-excursion
(forward-sentence 1)
(point)))
</syntaxhighlight>

== Numbers ==

=== String a number? ===

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(defun string-integer-p (string)
(if (string-match "\\`[-+]?[0-9]+\\'" string)
t
nil))

(string-integer-p "1234")
==> t

(string-integer-p "x1234")
==> nil

(string-integer-p "3.141592653589793")
==> nil

(defun string-float-p (string)
(if (string-match "\\`[-+]?[0-9]+\\.[0-9]*\\'" string)
t
nil))

(string-float-p "1234")
==> nil

(string-float-p "3.141592653589793")
==> t

(string-float-p ".1")
==> nil

(string-float-p "1.")
==> t
</syntaxhighlight>

=== String to number ===

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(defun decimal-number (string)
(let ((n (string-to-number string)))
(if (and (zerop n)
(not (string-match "\\`\\s-*0+\\.?0*\\s-*\\'" string)))
nil
n)))

(decimal-number "536870911")
==> 536870911

(decimal-number "536870912")
==> 536870912.0

(decimal-number "3.141592653589793")
==> 3.141592653589793

(decimal-number "042")
==> 42

(decimal-number " 0 ")
==> 0

(decimal-number "000")
==> 0

(decimal-number "0.0")
==> 0.0
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Random numbers ===

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(random 2) ;coin toss (0 or 1)
(+ (random 6) 1) ;dice
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Put commas in numbers ===

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(defun group-number (num &optional size char)
"Format NUM as string grouped to SIZE with CHAR."
;; Based on code for `math-group-float' in calc-ext.el
(let* ((size (or size 3))
(char (or char ","))
(str (if (stringp num)
num
(number-to-string num)))
(pt (or (string-match "[^0-9a-zA-Z]" str) (length str))))
(while (> pt size)
(setq str (concat (substring str 0 (- pt size))
char
(substring str (- pt size)))
pt (- pt size)))
str))

(group-number 299792458)
==> "299,792,458"
(group-number "149597870691" 4 " ")
==> "1495 9787 0691"
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Incrementing numbers ===

TODO

== Dates and times ==

=== Get today's date ===

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(format-time-string "%d %B %Y")
</syntaxhighlight>

or

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(eshell/date)
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Formatting dates ===

Use the function `format-time-string' which is a build in function in both Emacsen and works like `strftime':

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
;; Year-Month-Day:
(insert (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d"))
;; Hour:Minutes:Seconds
(insert (format-time-string "%H-%M-%S"))
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Conversions ===

Read a date from a string.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((time (date-to-time "Tue, 27-Sep-83 12:35:59 EST")))
(set-time-zone-rule t) ;; Use Universal time.
(prog1 (format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d %T UTC" time)
(set-time-zone-rule nil))) ;; Reset to default time zone.
==> "1983-09-27 17:35:59 UTC"
</syntaxhighlight>

Decode a time object.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(decode-time (date-to-time "Tue, 27-Sep-83 12:35:59 EST"))
==> (59 35 13 27 9 1983 2 t -14400)
</syntaxhighlight>

Get the seconds from the unix epoch.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((time (date-to-time "13 Feb 2009 23:31:30 UTC")))
(float-time time))
==> 1234585890.0
</syntaxhighlight>

Find the date for seconds from the unix epoch.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d %T UTC" (seconds-to-time 1234585890))
==> "2009-02-13 23:31:30 UTC"
</syntaxhighlight>

Find the date 30 seconds in the future.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(format-time-string "%Y-%m-%d %T UTC" (time-add (current-time)
(seconds-to-time 30)))
==> "2012-02-13 10:07:11 UTC"
</syntaxhighlight>

Formatting elapsed time in years, days, hours, minutes and seconds.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(format-seconds "%Y %D %h:%m:%s" (1- (* 367 24 3600)))
==> "1 year 1 day 23:59:59"
</syntaxhighlight>

Find the days between two dates.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((days1 (time-to-days (date-to-time "Tue, 27-Sep-83 12:35:59 EST")))
(days2 (time-to-days (date-to-time "2009-02-13 23:31:30 UTC"))))
(- days2 days1))
==> 9271
</syntaxhighlight>

Getting the day in the year.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(time-to-day-in-year (current-time))
==> 44
</syntaxhighlight>

Build a date based on the day of the year.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(format-time-string "%j"
(encode-time 0 0 0 44 1 2012))
==> "044"
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Timers ===

TODO

== Pattern matching ==

"Patterns" refers to RegularExpression""s.

There's a set of functions that work in strings, and a set that work in buffers.

=== Finding ===

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(string-match "foo*" "Fight foo for food!")
==> 6
</syntaxhighlight>

Buffers:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(with-temp-buffer
(insert "Fight foo for food!")
(goto-char (point-min))
(re-search-forward "foo*")
(point))
==> 10
</syntaxhighlight>

Alternative without regular expressions: `search-forward'.

Note that the functions working on buffers move point to the end of the occurrence found and return it.
That's why the result is 10 instead of 6!

=== Comments ===

Move to the beginning of the current comment:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(require 'newcomment)
(comment-beginning)
</syntaxhighlight>

Move to the text after a comment:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(comment-search-forward (line-end-position) t)
</syntaxhighlight>

See also EndOfLineNoComments.

=== Search and replace ===

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(replace-regexp-in-string "foo*" "fu" "Fight foo for food!")
==> "Fight fu fur fud!"
</syntaxhighlight>

Buffers:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(with-temp-buffer
(insert "Fight foo for food!")
(goto-char (point-min))
(while (re-search-forward "foo*" nil t)
(replace-match "fu"))
(buffer-string))
==> "Fight fu fur fud!"
</syntaxhighlight>

Alternative without regular expressions: `search-forward'.

See also StringSearchAndReplace.

=== Verifying ===

Sometimes you just want to check whether you're at the right place:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(with-temp-buffer
(insert "Fight foo for food!")
(goto-char (point-min))
(looking-at "fight"))
==> t
</syntaxhighlight>

== Sequences ==

Datatypes used to represent sequences of things:

_____________________________________________
| |
| Sequence |
| ______ ________________________________ |
| | | | | |
| | List | | Array | |
| | | | ________ ________ | |
| |______| | | | | | | |
| | | Vector | | String | | |
| | |________| |________| | |
| | ____________ _____________ | |
| | | | | | | |
| | | Char-table | | Bool-vector | | |
| | |____________| |_____________| | |
| |________________________________| |
|_____________________________________________|

=== Lists ===

List basics are explained on ListStructure.
Lists can shrink and grow, but access to elements towards the end of the list is slow if the list is long.

Use `cons' to append a new element to the front of a list.
Use `nth' to access an element of the list.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((words '("fight" "foo" "for" "food!")))
(when (string= "foo" (nth 1 words))
(setq words (cons "bar" words)))
words)
==> ("bar" "fight" "foo" "for" "food!")
</syntaxhighlight>

See ListModification for more ways of changing a list.

Iteration:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((result))
(dolist (word '("fight" "foo" "for" "food!"))
(when (string-match "o" word)
(setq result (cons word result))))
(nreverse result))
==> ("foo" "for" "food!")
</syntaxhighlight>

Note how `cons' adds an element to the front of the list,
so that usually the list has to be reversed after the loop.
`nreverse' is particularly efficient because it does this
destructively by swiveling pointers around. See
DestructiveOperations for more about this.

Copying:

Use `copy-sequence' to make a copy of a list that won't change the
elements of the original.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let* ((orig '((1 2) (3 4)))
(copy (copy-sequence orig)))
(setcdr copy '((5 6)))
(list orig copy))
==> (((1 2) (3 4)) ((1 2) (5 6)))
</syntaxhighlight>

However, the elements in the copy are still from the original.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let* ((orig '((1 2) (3 4)))
(copy (copy-sequence orig)))
(setcdr (cadr copy) '(0))
(list orig copy))
==> (((1 2) (3 0)) ((1 2) (3 0)))
</syntaxhighlight>

The function `copy-tree' is the recursive version of `copy-sequence'.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let* ((orig '((1 2) (3 4)))
(copy (copy-tree orig)))
(setcdr (cadr copy) '(0))
(list orig copy))
==> (((1 2) (3 4)) ((1 2) (3 0)))
</syntaxhighlight>

Filtering:

Emacs Lisp doesn't come with a `filter' function to keep elements that satisfy a conditional and excise the elements that do not satisfy it. One can use `mapcar' to iterate over a list with a conditional, and then use `delq' to remove the `nil' values.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(defun my-filter (condp lst)
(delq nil
(mapcar (lambda (x) (and (funcall condp x) x)) lst)))
</syntaxhighlight>

Therefore,

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(my-filter 'identity my-list)
</syntaxhighlight>

is equivalent to

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(delq nil my-list)
</syntaxhighlight>

For example:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((num-list '(1 'a 2 "nil" 3 nil 4)))
(my-filter 'numberp num-list))
==> (1 2 3 4)
</syntaxhighlight>

Actually the package cl-seq contains the functions `remove-if' and `remove-if-not'. The latter can be used instead of `my-filter'.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((num-list '(1 'a 2 "nil" 3 nil 4)))
(remove-if-not 'numberp num-list))
==> (1 2 3 4)

(let ((num-list '(1 'a 2 "nil" 3 nil 4)))
(remove-if 'numberp num-list))
==> ((quote a) "nil" nil)
</syntaxhighlight>

As an example here is the quick sort algorithm:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(defun quicksort (lst)
"Implement the quicksort algorithm."
(if (null lst) nil
(let* ((spl (car lst))
(rst (cdr lst))
(smalp (lambda (x)
(< x spl))))
(append (quicksort (remove-if-not smalp rst))
(list spl)
(quicksort (remove-if smalp rst))))))

(quicksort '(5 7 1 3 -9 8 7 -4 0))
==> (-9 -4 0 1 3 5 7 7 8)
</syntaxhighlight>

Tranposing:

Convert multiple lists into a list

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
((lambda (&rest args)
(mapcar (lambda (n)
(delq nil (mapcar (lambda (arg) (nth n arg)) args)))
(number-sequence 0 (1- (apply 'max (mapcar 'length args))))))
'(1 2 3) '(a b c) '(A B C))
==> ((1 a A) (2 b B) (3 c C))
</syntaxhighlight>

A more concise version is possible with the the higher-arity version of mapcar available with the `cl' library.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
((lambda (&rest args)
(apply (function mapcar*) (function list) args))
'(1 2 3) '(a b c) '(A B C))
==> ((1 a A) (2 b B) (3 c C))
</syntaxhighlight>

Searching:

Simply checking for existence of a value in a list can be done with
`member' or `memq'.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((words '("fight" "foo" "for" "food!")))
(car (member "for" words)))
==> "for"

(let ((re "\\wo\\b")
(words '("fight" "foo" "for" "food!")))
(consp (memq t
(mapcar (lambda (s) (numberp (string-match re s))) words))))
==> t
</syntaxhighlight>

In the latter, a more efficient algorithm would use a loop (a non-local exit).

=== Association lists ===

The ElispManual has examples of finding and deleting values in an
association list. Here are cases when the car values are strings.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(assoc "2" '(("2" . 2) ("1" . 1) ("2") ("3" . 3)))
==> ("2" . 2)
</syntaxhighlight>

Deleting:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((alist '(("a" . 1) ("b" . 2))))
(delq (assoc "a" alist) alist))
==> (("b" . 2))
</syntaxhighlight>

Matches with a test function other than `equal':

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((alist '(("ab" . 1) ("bc" . 2) ("cd" . 3))))
(assoc-default "c" alist (lambda (x y) (string-match y x))))
==> 2
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Vectors ===

Vectors are fixed in size but elements can be accessed in constant time.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((words ["fight" "foo" "for" "food!"]))
(when (string= "foo" (aref words 1))
(aset words 1 "bar"))
words)
==> ["fight" "bar" "for" "food!"]
</syntaxhighlight>

== Hashes ==

Hashes map keys to values. In a way they are similar to alists, except
they are more efficient for a large number of keys.

More info is available on the HashMap page.

=== Storing and retrieving keys and values ===

By default, hash tables use `eql' to compare keys. This is not appropriate
for strings: ##(eql "alex" "alex")## ==> nil. Thus, use `equal' in these cases:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((nick-table (make-hash-table :test 'equal)))
(puthash "kensanata" "Alex Schroeder" nick-table)
(gethash "kensanata" nick-table))
==> "Alex Schroeder"
</syntaxhighlight>

Iterate:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((nick-table (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
nicks)
(puthash "kensanata" "Alex Schroeder" nick-table)
(puthash "e1f" "Luis Fernandes" nick-table)
(puthash "pjb" "Pascal J. Bourguignon" nick-table)
(maphash (lambda (nick real-name)
(setq nicks (cons nick nicks)))
nick-table)
nicks)
==> ("pjb" "e1f" "kensanata")
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Sorting keys ===

Use `maphash' to build up a list of keys, sort it, and then loop through
the list:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(let ((nick-table (make-hash-table :test 'equal))
nicks)
(puthash "kensanata" "Alex Schroeder" nick-table)
(puthash "e1f" "Luis Fernandes" nick-table)
(puthash "pjb" "Pascal J. Bourguignon" nick-table)
(maphash (lambda (nick real-name)
(setq nicks (cons nick nicks)))
nick-table)
(mapcar (lambda (nick)
(concat nick " => " (gethash nick nick-table)))
(sort nicks 'string<)))
==> ("e1f => Luis Fernandes"
"kensanata => Alex Schroeder"
"pjb => Pascal J. Bourguignon")
</syntaxhighlight>

== Files ==

=== Read ===

Processing a file is usually done with a temporary buffer:

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(defun process-file (file)
"Read the contents of a file into a temp buffer and then do
something there."
(when (file-readable-p file)
(with-temp-buffer
(insert-file-contents file)
(goto-char (point-min))
(while (not (eobp))
;; do something here with buffer content
(forward-line)))))
</syntaxhighlight>

On the chance that a buffer may already be actively visiting the file,
consider using `find-file-noselect'

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(defun file-string (file)
"Read the contents of a file and return as a string."
(with-current-buffer (find-file-noselect file)
(buffer-string)))
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Write ===

To write something to a file you can create a temporary buffer, insert the things to write there and write the buffer contents to a file. The following example read a string and a filename (with completion, but doesn't need to exist, see InteractiveCodeChar F) and write the string to that file.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(defun write-string-to-file (string file)
(interactive "sEnter the string: \nFFile to save to: ")
(with-temp-buffer
(insert string)
(when (file-writable-p file)
(write-region (point-min)
(point-max)
file))))
</syntaxhighlight>

Maybe you are interested in word-count.el. It's cnirately to much foryour use-case but it is a great tool if you have some target lengthfor a document (e.g. diary entries).What I'm really missing in Emacs is some usage statistics. I canalready get an overview over my keybind habits with keyfreq but Iwould like that to be more comprehensive. Average buffer-length, timespent in different modes, time spent in files that are part of acertain directory, lines added etc. Maybe I'm just addicted to lifestatistics and this is not really useful. Who knows.

=== Searching ===

If you don't have grep, then you may need to write some Lisp which can find a match in a file.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
;; Visit file unless its already open.
(with-current-buffer (find-file-noselect "~/.emacs")
(save-excursion ;; Don't change location of point.
(goto-char (point-min)) ;; From the beginning...
(if (re-search-forward ".*load-path.*" nil t 1)
(match-string-no-properties 0)
(error "Search failed"))))
==> "(add-to-list 'load-path \"/usr/share/emacs/site-lisp/\")"
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Filter ===

=== Locking ===

=== Stat ===

An interface to the kernel's stat(2) is provided by the function file-attributes. The way times are represented may be a bit unexpected, though.

=== Deleting ===

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(if (file-exists-p filename)
(delete-file filename))
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Copy, move and rename ===

== Directories ==

=== Traversing ===

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(defun walk-path (dir action)
"walk DIR executing ACTION with (dir file)"
(cond ((file-directory-p dir)
(or (char-equal ?/ (aref dir(1- (length dir))))
(setq dir (file-name-as-directory dir)))
(let ((lst (directory-files dir nil nil t))
fullname file)
(while lst
(setq file (car lst))
(setq lst (cdr lst))
(cond ((member file '("." "..")))
(t
(and (funcall action dir file)
(setq fullname (concat dir file))
(file-directory-p fullname)
(walk-path fullname action)))))))
(t
(funcall action
(file-name-directory dir)
(file-name-nondirectory dir)))))

(defun walk-path-visitor (dir file)
"Called by walk-path for each file found"
(message (concat dir file)))

(walk-path "~/" 'walk-path-visitor)
</syntaxhighlight>

=== Path splitting ===

Splitting the path can be done with `split-string' and with the slash. Previously, Emacs would determine the character separating directory names with `directory-sep-char'. However, the variable is obselete with Emacs 21.1.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(split-string default-directory "/")
==> ("" "usr" "share" "emacs" "22.2" "lisp" "")
</syntaxhighlight>

For splitting a path variable, Emacs already has the `parse-colon-path' function.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(parse-colon-path (getenv "PATH"))
==> ("/usr/lib/qt-3.3/bin/" "/usr/kerberos/bin/" "/usr/local/bin/"
"/usr/bin/" "/bin/" "/usr/local/sbin/" "/usr/sbin/" "/sbin/")
</syntaxhighlight>

== Processes ==

=== Running a program ===

Run a command without caring about its output.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(async-shell-command "emacs")
</syntaxhighlight>

Run a command and put its output in the current buffer.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(shell-command "seq 8 12 | sort" t)
10
11
12
8
9
</syntaxhighlight>

Run a command and put its output in a new buffer.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(shell-command "seq 8 12 | sort"
(get-buffer-create "*Standard output*"))
</syntaxhighlight>

Run a command return its output as a string.

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(shell-command-to-string "seq 8 12 | sort")
</syntaxhighlight>

XEmacs also comes with `exec-to-string'.

=== Handling signals ===

== Sockets ==

=== Tcp client ===

=== Tcp server ===

Perhaps EmacsEchoServer and EmacsDaytimeServer can be useful here.

== Keyboard events ==

* Call function bound to key

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(funcall (key-binding (kbd "M-TAB")))
</syntaxhighlight>

or

<syntaxhighlight lang="lisp">
(call-interactively (key-binding (kbd "M-TAB")))
</syntaxhighlight>

[[Category:Customization]]
[[Category:Intermediate]]

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