Re: Emacs command frequencies:

[Xah]

On Nov 12, 4:52 am, Sébastien Vauban <zthjwsqqa...@spammotel.com>
wrote:
> Hello,
>
> > - Commands that are repeated frequently should have the
> >   highest priority for one-button keys. That's why I
> >   personally think save-buffer and kill-this-buffer would be a
> >   waste for single keys. On the other hand other-window has a
> >   terrible default for the same reason.
>
> I totally share your point of view. And, as well, the list of
> most frequently used functions that have really annoying
> bindings.
>
> In my case -- OK, I know it is normally prohibited to use F1 to
> F4 --, I've done the following mappings:
>
>  <f1> = info
>  <f2> = save-buffer
>  <f3> = open-file (or `ffap', or even `anything', if present)
>  <f5> = delete-other-windows
>  <f6> = other-window
>  <f8> = call-last-kbd-macro
>  <f9> = recompile
>  <f10> = next-error
>  <f11> = undo
>  <f12> = my-kill-this-buffer
>
> I could not anymore miss almost any of them...

your bindings reminds me of Microsoft ones.

On their mid to high end keyboards starting about 2006, they have
bindings to function keys with command names printed on them. Here's
their bindings:

F1 Help
F2 Undo
F3 Redo
F4 New
F5 Open
F6 Close
F7 Reply
F8 Fwd
F9 Send
F10 Spell
F11 Save
F12 Print

See photos here: 
http://xahlee.org/emacs/ms_keyboard/ms_natural_keyboard_4000.html

i suppose under Microsoft Windows these works in most MS apps out of
the box. I suppose these are carefully choosen to be most needed
commands for vast majority of computer users today.

5 of the above you used in your personal map (help, save, open, undo,
close). For me, 6 of them i'll find very useful (they are: undo, redo,
new, open, close, save). We pretty much agree on what commands are
useful to have a F key binding. For the others in MS, the Reply, Fwd,
Send, Spell, Print, i can see they are quite useful in most apps, so i
think they are sensible. I actually do use all these commands in
variosu applications, except seldomly Print and Fwd but that's just
me.

i'm tempted to remap my app keys in emacs or os wide to go alone with
it. Standards are a good thing. The key label does help in usability
even for hard core programer. (e.g. i use dvorak since ~1993 and have
extensive customized shortcuts. Am quite used to bindings without a
label on key but still do find them convenient (i can even hunt and
pect dvorak on qwerty))

The function keys, thru my 18 years of daily computer using and
interest in keybindings, are supposed to be user defined, and it does
not happen often that a app actually have a default binding for them.
However, it tends to be the case that if there's no default binding,
no user ever bothered to bind them, even among hard core programers or
power users.

Apple for a few years in late 1990s (i think) has F1 to F4 as undo,
cut, copy, paste. I think it is Microsoft who first popularized making
default bindings with all function keys, notably in Microsoft office
suite of apps (on both Windows and Mac).

As of today, late 2000s, i think both Apple and Microsoft realized
that nobody is using or customizing function keys are these keys are
supposed to be used as, both started to just bind them. For example,
today, Mac OS X since about 2006, has half of the function keys
prebind for system wide operations. (e.g. Expose, and for keyboard
navigation of menu similar to Window's use of Alt key) In the case of
Microsoft, they actually print command names on the function keys, and
invinted the F Lock key. (i think the F Lock is a serious problem
though. See article below.)

further readings:

• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Function_keys

• Difference Between Apple and PC keyboards
http://xahlee.org/emacs/apple_pc_kb_diff.html

• A Review of Microsoft Natural Keyboards
http://xahlee.org/emacs/ms_keyboard/ms_natural_keyboard.html

  Xah
∑ http://xahlee.org/

☄