Re: elisp question:keyboard-translate with hyper fail?

[rusi]

On Mar 18, 6:56 pm, Xah Lee <xah...@gmail.com> wrote:
> just wrote up a little blog on why i wanted to use key-translation in
> this thread. Might be interesting.
>
> 〈Emacs: Remapping Keys Using 
> key-translation-map〉http://xahlee.org/emacs/emacs_key-translation-map.html
>
> ────────────────────
> Emacs: Remapping Keys Using key-translation-map
>
> Xah Lee, 2011-03-17
>
> This page shows you how to remap keys to input unicode symbols using
> the elisp function “key-translation-map”, and discuss some related
> issues.
>
> Recently i wrote a article on How to Create a APL or Math Symbols
> Keyboard Layout. In the article, i described several ways to remap
> keys on keyboard to input symbols for Mac, Windows, Linux. Some are OS-
> wide thru OS's user-configurable mechanisms. Some are using key-macro
> software for that OS. And there's emacs for just within emacs. I've
> used them all in the past 2 decades, but in the past few years, i find
> the most practical and flexible way is just emacs. Because: ① 99% of
> my typing are done in emacs. So, i don't really need them to be OS-
> wide. ② Each method of remapping keys all have their own limitations
> (e.g. on Mac and Windows, there's no way to remap some key
> combinations.), but within emacs it has the most support on remapping
> keys that has less restrictions than using OS's methods.
>
> Here's interesting thing i discovered recently.
>
> ────────────────────
> Using “global-set-key” or “key-translation-map” to Insert Unicode Char
>
> If you want to define a key combo for typing a unicode char such as
> math symbol λ, you can do it using “global-set-key” or “key-
> translation-map”.
>
> Example of using “global-set-key”:
>
> (global-set-key (kbd "H-3") (lambda () (interactive) (insert "λ"))) ;
> 【Hyper+3】 insert λ char
> (global-set-key (kbd "H-3") "λ") ; 【Hyper+3】 insert λ char. This is a
> builtin macro for above.
>
> (In this example we use Hyper key, but Ctrl or Meta works too. You can
> make the Win key or the Menu key act as Hyper. To set up, see: Emacs:
> How to define Hyper ＆ Super Keys.)
>
> Example of using “key-translation-map”:
>
> (define-key key-translation-map (kbd "H-3") (kbd "λ")) ; 【Hyper+3】
> insert λ char
>
> There are some advantage and disadvantages in either way.
>
> ────────────────────
> Problem with “global-set-key”
>
> If you use “global-set-key”, then when you do interactive search 【Ctrl
> +s】, then when you type 【Hyper+3】, it'll exit the search. So this
> means, if you use unicode heavily in your files, then you lose the
> ability to isearch them. (you can work-around by typing it in the
> buffer first, put cursor on it, start isearch, 【C-w】 to select the
> char. Then when done, delete that symbol you inserted for this
> purpose.)
>
> Using “key-translation-map” doesn't have this problem.
>
> ────────────────────
> Problem with “key-translation-map”
>
> The problem with “key-translation-map” is this: Suppose you don't type
> the backtick (`) char often, and you press 【C-x o】 “delete-other-
> windows” ~50 times more often. So, to increase the efficiency of key
> use on keyboard, you remap backtick to do “delete-other-windows” and
> set 【Hyper+`】 for inputting the backtick. The elisp code looks like
> this:
>
> (global-set-key (kbd "`") 'someCommand) ; set ` to someCommand
> (define-key key-translation-map (kbd "H-`") (kbd "`")) ; insert
> backtick char by 【Hyper+`】
>
> The problem is, when you type 【Hyper+`】, it'll actually call the
> command bound to backtick.
>
> So, this means, the “key-translation-map” is great for symbol input
> but is not good if you want to use it as a way to remap buttons.
>
> Note: there's the function “keyboard-translate”. However, it is
> designed to translate character only. So, key combination isn't a
> character and you can't use it for Hyper combination. Using (define-
> key key-translation-map …) is more versatile. (Due to historical
> reasons, “keyboard-translate” does work for some Ctrl combination key.
> (thanks to Stefan Monnier and Deniz Dogan for this tip. (Source
> groups.google.com)))
>
> ────────────────────
> Who Need to Use Unicode That Often?
>
> Well, i do, a lot, all over, in my writings, as well in coding.
>
> For example, bullet (•), “curly quote”, dash (—), angle bracket for
> 〈article title〉 and 《book title》 (See: Intro to Chinese Punctuation
> with Computer Language Syntax Perspectives.), and i use 【lenticular
> bracket】 to mark key combinations, 「corner bracket」 to mark computer
> code, and i use FULLWIDTH AMPERSAND (＆) for avoid html entity
> complexity (See: HTML Entities, Ampersand, Unicode, Semantics.) , and
> lots others.

Xah your unicode has not worked out -- at least in this post :-)
[Though you probably cant see that I cant see (most of) your
characters]

>
> Using proper symbols decreases ambiguity at syntax level. For example,
> the asterisk (*) can mean lots of things. But a dedicated bullet “•”
> carries a precise semantics.
>
> For coding, some languages heavily use math symbols (e.g. APL,
> Mathematica). For functional languages such as Haskell, Scheme Lisp,
> you can setup for example “λ” to mean “lambda”, “≠” to mean “!=”, “⊕”
> for user-defined operators, etc. You can also use symbols for variable
> names in emacs lisp, Javascript, Java (e.g. “α”). See:
>
>     * Unicode Support in Ruby, Perl, Python, javascript, Java, Emacs
> Lisp, Mathematica
>     * Problems of Symbol Congestion in Computer Languages (ASCII Jam;
> Unicode; Fortress)
>     * How Mathematica does Unicode?
>     * Unicode Popularity On Web
>
>  Xah