Edit with emacs Everywhere

Introduction

This module allows editing with Emacs anywhere in OS X.

See this demo: https://youtu.be/jYUKYpXL6rI

In any text field in any application, one can summon Emacs to edit text:

1. User is in a non-Emacs application, and presses the bound keys (see below).
2. Emacs opens a buffer for editing.
3. User edits buffer via Emacs.
4. User presses C-c C-c, sending the Emacs buffer back to the originating application window.

Installation

Hammerspoon

Install Hammerspoon, either from [their instructions](https://hammerspoon.org/#how-do-i-install-it) or via Homebrew (e.g., `brew install hammerspoon`).

Place this repository’s folder inside the ~/.hammerspoon/Spoons directory such that you have the following:

~/.hammerspoon/Spoons/editWithEmacs.spoon

Note, the .spoon extension is important.

Modify your ~/.hammerspoon/init.lua and add:

-- Optional configuration of beginEditShellCommand
spoon.editWithEmacs.openEditorShellCommand = "EDITOR -e '(hammerspoon-edit-begin)'"

hs.loadSpoon("editWithEmacs")
if spoon.editWithEmacs then
   local bindings = {
      edit_selection =  { {"alt"}, "1"},
      edit_all       = { {"alt"}, "2"}
   }   
   spoon.editWithEmacs:bindHotkeys(bindings)
end

Emacs

Load the hammerspoon.el file in Emacs.

(load "~/.hammerspoon/Spoons/editWithEmacs.spoon/hammerspoon.el")

Testing installation

To test if you Hammerspoon works from Emacs, call hammerspoon-test (e.g., M-x hammerspoon-test).

How to use

With the above keybindings, when you press Cmd + Alt + Ctrl + e, Hammerspoon will copy the content of the current application’s focus, open an Emacs buffer, and paste those contents into the buffer. You then edit the that Emacs buffer and press C-c C-c to send that back to the originating window.

If you press Shift + Cmd + Alt + Ctrl + e, Hammerspoon cuts the current selected text, and pastes that into the buffer. When you finish editing, Hammerspoon will paste the content of the buffer; which will replace the selected text.

Limitations

• This method is non-reentrant. This means you can only edit one field at a time. You do not need to send the text back to the text-field. You can use edit-with-emacs again without any undesirable effect.
• It is currently sending commands directly to emacs via the keyboard. Thus, emacs should be ready to accept commands
• If something goes wrong and the text does not appear, you can retrieve it from emacs. Switch to the _hs_edit buffer and you will see the text you were editing. This buffer will be reused

Bugs/fixes?

• Please open an issue/pull-request