Files
boxes/docs/install.html
2016-02-06 21:41:31 +01:00

122 lines
6.0 KiB
HTML

---
layout: markdown
title: Editor Integration
---
# Text Editor Integration
This section assumes you already have a working binary of *boxes*. Binaries for some platforms can be obtained through the [download page]({{ site.baseurl}}/download.html). Should your platform be missing from the list, you can still download the source distribution and compile your own binary. This sounds harder than it is.
Although *boxes* can be useful when used on the command line, the more frequent use case will be as a filter tied to your editor. So, how can *boxes* be tied to your editor?
Example config file entries are featured so far for [Vim](http://www.vim.org/), [Jed](http://www.jedsoft.org/jed/), and [Emacs](http://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/). If you know how to to this in other editors, please drop me a line!
## Integration with Vim
To call filters from vim, you need to press `!` in visual mode or `!!` in normal mode. So the easiest way to tie in *boxes* with vim is by adding the following four lines to your *.vimrc*:
vmap ,mc !boxes -d c-cmt<CR>
nmap ,mc !!boxes -d c-cmt<CR>
vmap ,xc !boxes -d c-cmt -r<CR>
nmap ,xc !!boxes -d c-cmt -r<CR>
`<CR>` should be there literally; just paste the lines directly from your browser window. This would comment out the current line or the lines you have marked when you press `,mc` (for *make comment*). Comments can be removed in the same way by pressing `,xc`. Should you feel that `,mc` is too long a combination to type, feel free to choose a shorter one. The above example assumes you are using the standard boxes config file, which features the *c-cmt* design. Of course, the same technique works for any other designs.
While the above example is nice, it does not offer much convenience when you are editing different languages a lot, because you need to remember the hotkey for each different box design. Fortunately, vim has a feature called *autocommands*. They can be used to automatically change the meaning of a key combination depending on what file you edit (any many other things too, of course). Autocommand syntax is
au[tocmd] [group] {event} {pat} [nested] {cmd}
We can leave out the group. For `{event}`, we choose `BufEnter`, which is generated every time you enter a new buffer, e.g. when starting vim or when switching between open files. `{pat}` is a file glob, and `{cmd}` is our call to *boxes*.
The lines below are from the author's *.vimrc*. They can be pasted directly from your browser window. Their effect is that `,mc` and `,xc` always generate the correct comments for many languages, including C, C++, HTML, Java, lex, yacc, shell scripts, Perl, etc. The default key binding is to generate shell comments using a pound sign (file glob of `*` at the start).
autocmd BufEnter * nmap ,mc !!boxes -d pound-cmt<CR>
autocmd BufEnter * vmap ,mc !boxes -d pound-cmt<CR>
autocmd BufEnter * nmap ,xc !!boxes -d pound-cmt -r<CR>
autocmd BufEnter * vmap ,xc !boxes -d pound-cmt -r<CR>
autocmd BufEnter *.html nmap ,mc !!boxes -d html-cmt<CR>
autocmd BufEnter *.html vmap ,mc !boxes -d html-cmt<CR>
autocmd BufEnter *.html nmap ,xc !!boxes -d html-cmt -r<CR>
autocmd BufEnter *.html vmap ,xc !boxes -d html-cmt -r<CR>
autocmd BufEnter *.[chly],*.[pc]c nmap ,mc !!boxes -d c-cmt<CR>
autocmd BufEnter *.[chly],*.[pc]c vmap ,mc !boxes -d c-cmt<CR>
autocmd BufEnter *.[chly],*.[pc]c nmap ,xc !!boxes -d c-cmt -r<CR>
autocmd BufEnter *.[chly],*.[pc]c vmap ,xc !boxes -d c-cmt -r<CR>
autocmd BufEnter *.C,*.cpp,*.java nmap ,mc !!boxes -d java-cmt<CR>
autocmd BufEnter *.C,*.cpp,*.java vmap ,mc !boxes -d java-cmt<CR>
autocmd BufEnter *.C,*.cpp,*.java nmap ,xc !!boxes -d java-cmt -r<CR>
autocmd BufEnter *.C,*.cpp,*.java vmap ,xc !boxes -d java-cmt -r<CR>
autocmd BufEnter .vimrc*,.exrc nmap ,mc !!boxes -d vim-cmt<CR>
autocmd BufEnter .vimrc*,.exrc vmap ,mc !boxes -d vim-cmt<CR>
autocmd BufEnter .vimrc*,.exrc nmap ,xc !!boxes -d vim-cmt -r<CR>
autocmd BufEnter .vimrc*,.exrc vmap ,xc !boxes -d vim-cmt -r<CR>
<a name="jed">&nbsp;</a>
## Integration with Jed
[Andreas Heiduk](https://github.com/asheiduk) kindly provided the following excerpt from his *.jedrc*:
%!% Ripped from "pipe.sl"
variable Last_Process_Command = Null_String;
define do_process_region(cmd) {
variable tmp;
tmp = make_tmp_file ("/tmp/jedpipe");
cmd = strncat (cmd, " > ", tmp, " 2>&1", 4);
!if (dupmark ()) error ("Mark not set.");
if (pipe_region (cmd))
{
error ("Process returned a non-zero exit status.");
}
del_region ();
() = insert_file (tmp);
() = delete_file (tmp);
}
define process_region ()
{
variable cmd;
cmd = read_mini ("Pipe to command:", Last_Process_Command, "");
!if (strlen (cmd)) return;
Last_Process_Command = cmd;
do_process_region(cmd);
}
%-----------------------------------------------------------------------
if( BATCH == 0 ){
setkey("process_region", "\e|"); % ESC-Pipe :-)
add_completion("process_region");
% define some often used filters
setkey("do_process_region(\"tal\")", "\et") % tal on esc-t
}
I think it calls [tal](http://www.thomasjensen.com/software/tal/) when you press `ESC-t` (second but last line). Thus, you would have to add a similar line to call *boxes*.
<a name="emacs">&nbsp;</a>
## Integration with Emacs
[Jason L. Shiffer](https://github.com/zerotao) kindly submitted the following information on integrating *boxes* with Emacs:
The simple interface (only a single box style, but easy):
(defun boxes-create ()
(interactive)
(shell-command-on-region (region-beginning) (region-end) "boxes -d c-cmt2" nil 1 nil))
(defun boxes-remove ()
(interactive)
(shell-command-on-region (region-beginning) (region-end) "boxes -r -d c-cmt2" nil 1 nil))
Jason also wrote a [*boxes* mode for Emacs](boxes.el). Remember to update its design list when you add new designs to your config file.