COMMON EDITING TASKS AND THEIR EMACS KEYSTROKE COUNTERPARTS 

REAL GEEKS:
	1. Don't use mice unless they have to; they work faster with
keystrokes. Below we supply the most common keystroke commands, which
work for Unix, Linux, Emacs, and our configuration of IDL.

	2. Interchange the "Caps Lock" and "Ctrl" keys, because the Ctrl
key is used for many keystrokes and it needs easy access to forstall
carpal tunnel problems. To do this, type "swapcaps" in any terminal; to
change back, type "swapcaps" again.

	3. Often don't want Emacs to open up a new window, but instead
to use the current window. To accomplish this, type "emacs -nw
filename". 

---------------------- Keystroke Commands ------------------------

The following are the most common editing tasks and their keystroke
counterparts:

IMPORTANT:
ctrl-g: Returns to basic editing; escapes any Emacs questions or loops.

CURSOR LOCATION CONTROL:
arrow keys, "Page Up/Down", "Home", and "End" work as expected
ctrl-e: move cursor to the end of the line
ctrl-a: move cursor to the beginning of the line
ctrl-x g: move cursor to line number XX; XX is prompted for.

DELETING LINE-BY-LINE (CUTTING)
ctrl-k (twice per line: once for text, once for carriage return)

RESTORING THE DELETED LINES (PASTING)
move the cursor to where you want to restore the line(s) and type
ctrl-y

MOVING OR DELETING BLOCKS OF TEXT: Three steps: 

First you need to mark (HIGHLIGHT) the block of text.  Set the beginning
(or ending) mark with
ctrl-space
Use the arrows to highlight the block. 

Second you delete the text (CUT it)
ctrl-w

Third you move the cursor to where you want to insert the text (PASTE it)
ctrl-y

If you screwed up and want to stop:
ctrl-g

UNDO: 
ctrl-/: undoes what you did. You can keep undoing by repeating ctrl-/.

CONVERT TO UPPER CASE: alt-u or esc-u: You can hold the alt key down and
keep punching u and it will keep going; esc-u does it only once.

CONVERT TO lower CASE: alt-l or esc-l

Capitalizing First Letter: alt-c

FILL: 
You've modified the text, the text looks awful, you want it nicely
formatted. Works only on a paragraph-by-paragraph basis: esc-q or alt-q

SEARCHING:
Generally, ctrl-s searches forwards and ctrl-r searches backwards

ctrl-s ctrl-w: word search. Forward searches for the exact match to what you
type. Can be repeated simply by typing ctrl-s (replace ctrl-s by ctrl-r
to search backwards)

ctrl-s: incremental search (searches character-by-character as you type).
Can be repeated simply by typing ctrl-s.

ctrl-s enter: simple search. Cannot be repeated.
ctrl-s enter ctrl-w: simple word search. Cannot be repeated.

if you screwed up and want to stop: 
ctrl-g

SEARCH AND REPLACE WITH QUERY: 
F9. Asks for the search string on the bottom line of the screen. Hit
enter after the string. For each find, type 'y' to replace, 'n' to not
replace. To terminage, type ctrl-g.

if you screwed up and want to stop:
ctrl-g

WRITE THE FILE TO DISK (We suggest that you do this frequently!):
ctrl-s

EXITING EMACS
ctrl-x ctrl-c

CHANGE FONT SIZE: shift - left mouse button

-----------advanced---------------

DEFINE A KEYBOARD MACRO:
You can dedfine a macro: a combination of sequential keystrokes that you
want to execute repeatedly. To define the macro:

ctrl-x (: defines the beginning of a macro. After typing this, type the
sequential keystrokes you want to execute. Aafter the last keystroke,
type  

ctrl-x ) to end. 

To execute the macro once, type
ctrl-x e 

To execute the macro N types:
Esc N
ctrl-x e

ISPELL:A MARKED REGION
ctrl-x $

COUNT NR OF WORDS IN A MARKED REGION
ctrl-x w

--------------------------------------------------------
 
To use Carl's emacs setup, replace your .emacs file with his:

1.	From the UNIX prompt in your home directory, see if you have a
.emacs file:
	ls .emacs
If you do, rename it so you can retrieve it again if necessary:
	mv .emacs .emacs_original

2.  Then copy Carl's file to yours:
	cp ~heiles/.emacs_somecolor . 
And create a symbolic link to .emacs:
	ln -s .emacs_somecolor .emacs

----------------------------------------------------------- 

In Jan 2016, it was necessary to do the following. I don't think it is
necessary in 2017: On the UGASTRO computer network, to make Emacs
function properly you must enter (only once---not every time you log
in):} gsettings setorg.freedesktop.ibus.general.hotkey triggers []