https://github.com/oantolin/placeholder

Emacs package to treat any buffer as a template with placeholders to fill-in
https://github.com/oantolin/placeholder

Last synced: 12 days ago
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Emacs package to treat any buffer as a template with placeholders to fill-in

• Host: GitHub
• URL: https://github.com/oantolin/placeholder
• Owner: oantolin
• License: gpl-3.0
• Created: 2020-04-06T21:31:31.000Z (over 4 years ago)
• Default Branch: master
• Last Pushed: 2022-07-26T23:49:29.000Z (over 2 years ago)
• Last Synced: 2024-08-07T18:31:15.388Z (5 months ago)
• Language: Emacs Lisp
• Size: 15.6 KB
• Stars: 27
• Watchers: 1
• Forks: 2
• Open Issues: 4
• Metadata Files:
  • Readme: README.org
  • License: LICENSE

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README

        
* Placeholder

This package provides a simple way to treat text in a buffer

as a template with placeholders where text needs to be filled in. Any

occurrence of =<++>= in the buffer is a placeholder. You can navigate

among the placeholder with the =placeholder-forward= and

=placeholder-backward= commands. They move the point to the next

placeholder in the specified direction and delete the placeholder so

you can immediately start typing the text that should replace it.

However, if you call them again immediately after, they restore that

occurrence of the placeholder and move to the next. 

The placeholder in only =<++>= by default, it can be changed by

customizing the =placeholder-string= variable.

A =placeholder-insert= command is also provided, to insert the

placeholder string.

I suggest the following keybindings:

| Command              | Keybinding                 |

|----------------------+----------------------------|

| =placeholder-forward=  | =C-S-n=                      |

| =placeholder-backward= | =C-S-p=                      |

| =placeholder-insert=   | =C-S-x=  (X marks the spot!) |

* When to use Placeholder over richer templating options?

Why not just use [[http://joaotavora.github.io/yasnippet/][YASnippet]] or the built-in [[https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/autotype/index.html][Skeletons]] or [[https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/autotype/Tempo.html][Tempo]]

libraries? All of these great packages are /much/ more featureful and

ambitious than Placeholder, but they require defining the template in

advance and arranging for some way to insert it in a buffer: naming

the template or binding it to a key. This makes perfect sense for

templates you plan to use many times, like for loops or CommonMark

code blocks, or other things people typically make snippets for. But

it can feel like too much work if you just want to leave some spots

marked in your buffer to fill in later, or to make bespoke templates

you only ever plan to use a few times. In those situations Placeholder

might be a better fit.

For example, I often want to write several similar but not identical

emails to different people. I write the first one right in the message

buffer using placeholders and put the text in a register. Then I

repeatedly insert the template, fill it out and send the email.