AVY is a powerful Emacs library that allows you to jump to any visible character in a buffer with efficient tree searches.
The core idea that makes Avy a powerful tool is the filter - select - act paradigm.
Usage :*
-
call avy-goto-char-time - I have bound it to SPC a
-
filter by typing the characters of stings you want to go to
-
A decision tree appears at all matching points in the frame
-
Now before typing the decision select the action
default (do nothing) - will go to position ? - display all possible actions, runs avy-show-dispatch-help
-
act by entering your decision
(use-package avy
:config
;; the time in seconds after which the decision tree appears when you stop typing
(setq avy-timeout-seconds 0.4)
;; Bind avy-goto-char-timer to SPC a using General
(leader-keys
"a" '(avy-goto-char-timer :wk "avy goto char")
)
;; decision characters to do actions other than going to a match
(setq avy-keys '(?q ?e ?r ?y ?u ?o ?p
?a ?s ?d ?f ?g ?h ?j
?k ?l ?' ?x ?c ?v ?b
?n ?, ?/))
;; overrides the function in avy.el, type ? before the decesion phase to call
(defun avy-show-dispatch-help ()
(let* ((len (length "avy-action-"))
(fw (frame-width))
(raw-strings (mapcar
(lambda (x)
(format "%2s: %-19s"
(propertize
(char-to-string (car x))
'face 'aw-key-face)
(substring (symbol-name (cdr x)) len)))
avy-dispatch-alist))
(max-len (1+ (apply #'max (mapcar #'length raw-strings))))
(strings-len (length raw-strings))
(per-row (floor fw max-len))
display-strings)
(cl-loop for string in raw-strings
for N from 1 to strings-len do
(push (concat string " ") display-strings)
(when (= (mod N per-row) 0) (push "\n" display-strings)))
(message "%s" (apply #'concat (nreverse display-strings)))))
;; Kill text ----------------------------------------------------
(defun avy-action-kill-whole-line (pt)
(save-excursion
(goto-char pt)
(kill-whole-line))
(select-window
(cdr
(ring-ref avy-ring 0)))
t)
(setf (alist-get ?k avy-dispatch-alist) 'avy-action-kill-stay
(alist-get ?K avy-dispatch-alist) 'avy-action-kill-whole-line)
;; Copy text -----------------------------------------------------
(defun avy-action-copy-whole-line (pt)
(save-excursion
(goto-char pt)
(cl-destructuring-bind (start . end)
(bounds-of-thing-at-point 'line)
(copy-region-as-kill start end)))
(select-window
(cdr
(ring-ref avy-ring 0)))
t)
(setf (alist-get ?w avy-dispatch-alist) 'avy-action-copy
(alist-get ?W avy-dispatch-alist) 'avy-action-copy-whole-line)
;; Yank text -----------------------------------------------------
(defun avy-action-yank-whole-line (pt)
(avy-action-copy-whole-line pt)
(save-excursion (yank))
t)
(setf (alist-get ?y avy-dispatch-alist) 'avy-action-yank
(alist-get ?Y avy-dispatch-alist) 'avy-action-yank-whole-line)
;; Transpose/Move text --------------------------------------------
(defun avy-action-teleport-whole-line (pt)
(avy-action-kill-whole-line pt)
(save-excursion (yank)) t)
(setf (alist-get ?t avy-dispatch-alist) 'avy-action-teleport
(alist-get ?T avy-dispatch-alist) 'avy-action-teleport-whole-line)
;; Mark text ------------------------------------------------------
(defun avy-action-mark-to-char (pt)
(activate-mark)
(goto-char pt))
(setf (alist-get ? avy-dispatch-alist) 'avy-action-mark-to-char)
;; Flyspell words --------------------------------------------------
(defun avy-action-flyspell (pt)
(save-excursion
(goto-char pt)
(when (require 'flyspell nil t)
(flyspell-auto-correct-word)))
(select-window
(cdr (ring-ref avy-ring 0)))
t)
;; Bind to semicolon (flyspell uses C-;)
(setf (alist-get ?\; avy-dispatch-alist) 'avy-action-flyspell)
)