Numeric arguments in emacs
Posted on Tue 04 April 2017 in blog
I'm starting an 'emacs trick of the day' sequence with:
- Function name: universal-argument
- Typical Key binding:
C-u
- How to get help:
C-h f universal-argument
- Usage:
C-u
Receive a numeric argument that is given to the next called function,
when no numeric argument is typed, the value defaults to 4
. So today
you can try:
C-u 9 C-n
, that move cursor vertically down 9 linesC-u C-k
which kills 4 linesC-u C-u C-k
which kills 4 × 4, 16 linesC-u 10 n
which entersnnnnnnnnnn
You may ask, what about if I want to input 25 '6' ? C-u 256
can't work
... so you just have to separate with another C-u
: C-u 25 C-u 1
gives
6666666666666666666666666
.
Some functions does not have the simple 'repeating' effect of
receiving a numeric parameter, for example, running C-u C-l
does not
recenter 4 times your screen! but the help page of
recenter-top-bottom states that:
A prefix argument is handled like 'recenter': With numeric prefix ARG, move current line to window-line ARG. With plain
C-u
, move current line to window center. A negative argument to C-l move the current line to the line ARG from the bottom of the screen.