Re: [CVS] f7, f8 bound..

[Stefan Monnier]

> > > Hell, why not just make `C-x e' end the macro as well as executing it,
> > > and then use Stefan's idea of allowing the `e' to be repeated
> > > indefinitely [or something similar]?  That would gain most of the
> > > savings of your approach, while maintaining the existing
> > > easy-to-remember bindings for macros.
> > 
> > Actually, I think a better idea would be to make `C-x e' repeat if you
> > hit SPC afterwards, and display a message to that effect so that it's
> > obvious, e.g., 
> > 
> >   Hit SPC to repeat macro
> > 
> > (You could hit ^G if you want to insert a real space immediately after a
> > macro)
> 
> Maybe it would be sensible to make this customizeable, e.g.
> kmacro-call-repeat-key which defaults to `e' or ` ' or nil.

I think repeating "the last key" is the best choice, in case the command
is bound to something else than C-x e.  Also this mimics the C-x z z z z
behavior, so there's a precedent for it.
I have a C-x e e e e e hack in my .emacs (taken from a friend of mine who
suggested the idea in the first place and that I managed to convince to
write the code rather than wait for me to do it ;-) and I find it very
convenient.

> In any case, I don't see any reason why I cannot add this feature for
> _your_ convenience.

The hack I have in my .emacs is rather non-trivial.
You can't expect a normal user to write it.  So it's very different from
the Fn question where it's trivial for the user to add a `define-key'
in his .emacs file.

> > [by contrast, the F3/F4 interface seems very blah to me; I guess I just
> > don't like function keys, they seem far too arbitrary]
> So why all the fuzz?

Because I don't want to see the interface I use (i.e. C-x (, C-x )
and C-x e) take second class status and have all the improvement go
on F3 and F4 bindings.

My experience is similar to Miles: the problem is not the time it takes
to hit C-x ( and C-x ), but the effort it takes to make your key sequence
repeatable.  I'd rather see the `edit-kbd-macro' kind of functionality
improved/supplemented with something lighter weight so I can fix my macros
"on the fly" as I see them fail (no I don't know what that would look
like, sadly).

And yes, I think it's important to have a "single-key repeat", which
is why I find C-x e e e e e so valuable (and it makes the need for
a single-key binding such as F4 unnecessary).


        Stefan