Writing GNU Emacs Extensions

Other Cursor and Text Motion Commands

Here are a few more easy commands with their suggested keybindings.

(defun point-to-top ()
  "Put point on top line of window."
  (interactive)
  (move-to-window-line 0))
(global-set-key "\M-," 'point-to-top)

"Point" refers to the position of the cursor. This command makes the cursor jump to the top left of the window it's in. The suggested keybinding replaces tags-loop-continue, which I like to put on C-x,:

(global-set-key "\C-x," 'tags-loop-continue)

The next function makes the cursor jump to the bottom left of the window it's in.

(defun point-to-bottom ()
  "Put point at beginning of last visible line."
  (interactive)
  (move-to-window-line -1))
(global-set-key "\M-." 'point-to-bottom)

The suggested keybinding in this case replaces find-tag. I put that on C-x. which in turn replaces set-fill-prefix, which I don't mind losing.

(defun line-to-top ()
  "Move current line to top of window."
  (interactive)
  (recenter 0))
(global-set-key "\M-!" 'line-to-top)

This command scrolls the window so that whichever line the cursor is on becomes the top line in the window. The keybinding replaces shell-command.

There is one drawback to changing the bindings for keys in Emacs. If you become accustomed to a highly customized Emacs and then try to use an uncustomized Emacs (e.g., on a different computer or using a friend's login account), you'll keep pressing the wrong keys. This happens to me all the time. I've essentially trained myself to be unable to use an uncustomized Emacs ...