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https://github.com/cute-jumper/emacs-firefox-controller

An improved Firefox controller for Emacs
https://github.com/cute-jumper/emacs-firefox-controller

emacs firefox

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An improved Firefox controller for Emacs

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#+TITLE: firefox-controller: An Improved Firefox Controller for Emacs!

[[http://melpa.org/#/firefox-controller][file:http://melpa.org/packages/firefox-controller-badge.svg]]

[[http://stable.melpa.org/#/firefox-controller][file:http://stable.melpa.org/packages/firefox-controller-badge.svg]]



* Installation

** Firefox Extension

   Install [[https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/mozrepl/][MozRepl]] in Firefox.

** Emacs Extensions

   This package is now on [[http://melpa.org/][melpa]]. You can install directly from [[http://melpa.org/][melpa]] using

   =package.el=.



   Or use the following steps to install manually:

   1. Install [[https://github.com/bard/mozrepl/wiki/Emacs-integration][moz.el]] and [[https://github.com/m2ym/popwin-el][popwin-el]].

   2. Install this package and add it to your load path

      : (add-to-list 'load-path "/path/to/firefox-controller.el")

      : (require 'firefox-controller)



* Introduction

This project started as a fork of [[https://github.com/RenWenshan][Wenshan]]'s [[https://github.com/RenWenshan/emacs-moz-controller][moz-controller]], but I ended up

rewriting most of the code and chose a quite different way to use it.



In =firefox-controller=, we have two different modes:

1. =firefox-controller-remote-mode=: This is based on the original

   =moz-controller=, but the number of available commands increases from 11 to

   more than 30, and simpler key bindings and a better UI are also provided.

2. =firefox-controller-direct-mode=: In this mode, you can send the keys

   directly to firefox.



* =firefox-controller-remote-mode=

Use =M-x firefox-controller-remote-mode= to enter

=firefox-controller-remote-mode=. It is called =remote-mode= because the keys

that you pressed are handled by Emacs and Emacs will send control commands to

firefox.



Here is the screeshot when using =firefox-controller-remote-mode=:

[[./screenshots/remote-mode.png]]



As we can see in the screenshot, we have defined most of the commonly used

commands in firefox. For example, @@html:@@n@@html:@@ to scroll down

by one page, and @@html:@@t@@html:@@ to open a new tab and switch to

it. You can exit the =firefox-controller-remote-mode= by

@@html:@@q@@html:@@.



To search the web page, press @@html:@@s@@html:@@. Here is the

screenshot for the search mode in =firefox-controller-remote-mode= (we are

searching "bibtex" in the current web page): [[./screenshots/search-mode.png]]



However, you don't necessarily need to call =firefox-controller-remote-mode= to

use these commands. You can bind your own key to a specific command. Look at the

=firefox-controller--remote-mode-keymap-alist= variable to find out the commands

that can be bound to. For example, you can use @@html:@@C-c m

L@@html:@@ to copy the current tab' URL by:

#+BEGIN_SRC elisp

(global-set-key (kbd "C-c m L")

                #'firefox-controller-get-current-url)

#+END_SRC



* =firefox-controller-direct-mode=

The limitation of =firefox-controller-remote-mode= is that under that mode, the

web page is /non-interactive/. We can only view, scroll, switch tab, search and

open another tab for a new URL. However, if you want to jump to a link or enter

some text in the input box, these functions are not implemented. Here comes

=firefox-controller-direct-mode=, which can be combined with some powerful

firefox extensions such as [[https://github.com/mooz/keysnail][KeySnail]] to build emacs-like mouseless browsing

experience for firefox. We don't have to recreate some firefox extensions in

=firefox-controller-remote-mode=.



The use of =firefox-controller-direct-mode= is quite straightforward. =M-x

firefox-controller-direct-mode=, then you can use all the key bindings as if you

are in firefox instead of Emacs, except for four special key bindings:

1. @@html:@@C-M-g@@html:@@: Move the current focus to the content

   window. This is useful when you want to move out of the address bar or search

   bar to perform some page navigation(scroll up/down, open some link, etc.).

2. @@html:@@M-g@@html:@@: This is bound to

   =firefox-controller-highlight-focus=, which can show a temporary background

   color in the current focused element. This command is useful since the

   foreground application is Emacs, firefox won't show the current focused

   element(at least, we can't see it in Plasma 5 in Linux, which is my test

   environment). You can use @@html:@@M-g@@html:@@ to give you a

   visual hint about the location of the cursor.

3. @@html:@@C-z@@html:@@: This command switches from the current mode

   to =firefox-controller-remote-mode=.

4. @@html:@@C-g@@html:@@: Exit =firefox-controller-direct-mode=.



Here is the screenshot to use =firefox-controller-direct-mode=:

[[./screenshots/direct-mode.gif]]



Explanation: After I invoke =firefox-controller-direct-mode=, I type

@@html:@@C-l@@html:@@ to go to the address bar, and use

@@html:@@M-g@@html:@@ to highlight my current location(which is the

address bar of course). Then go to google.com, and use

@@html:@@M-g@@html:@@ again to confirm the current focused element in

firefox is the search box. After I type and search "emacs", I use KeySnail's

plugin [[https://github.com/mooz/keysnail/raw/master/plugins/hok.ks.js][hok]] to jump to a link and open it.



* Define Your Own Key Sequences to Be Sent

  You can use =firefox-controller-send-key-sequence= function to define your

  own key sequences which can be sent directly to firefox.



  For example, we define @@html:@@C-c m g@@html:@@ to open a new tab

  and go to www.google.com:

  #+BEGIN_SRC elisp

  (global-set-key (kbd "C-c m g")

                  (lambda ()

                    (interactive)

                    (firefox-controller-send-key-sequence

                     "C-t C-l www.google.com ")))

  #+END_SRC



   Make sure your key sequence can be read by the =kbd= function.



* Customization

  - =firefox-controller-zoom-step=: Zoom step. Default value is 0.1.

  - =firefox-controller-highlight-focus-background=: The background color used by

    =firefox-controller-highlight-focus= command. Default value is "yellow".



* Acknowledgment

  - [[https://github.com/RenWenshan/][RenWenshan]] for the original [[https://github.com/RenWenshan/emacs-moz-controller][moz-controller]].