emacscc-mode

Emacs: How to automatically insert space after colon in cc-mode derivatives


Suppose I have this code:

{
  "type"  : "home",
  "number":"212 555-1234"
}

I want my emacs to automatically insert space after colon in some modes.

Particularly I'm using javascript-mode based on cc-mode. Can it help?


Solution

  • The simplest way to do this would be something like this (in your .emacs):

    (defun my-js-hook ()
      (local-set-key ":" '(lambda () (interactive) (insert ": "))))
    
    (add-hook 'js-mode-hook 'my-js-hook)
    

    More sophisticated alternatives include yasnippet or skeleton mode. They are probably overkill for something this simple, but are useful tools if you want more sophisticated templating.

    EDIT: I'm not aware of any cc-mode magic that allows for different behaviour inside comments. I don't use cc-mode much, but I don't see anything obvious in the manual. Here's a bit of code that may do what you want though:

    (defun my-js-hook ()
      (local-set-key ":" 
                 '(lambda () 
                    (interactive)
                    (let ((in-comment-p))
                      (save-excursion
                        (setq in-comment-p (comment-beginning)))
                      (if in-comment-p 
                          (insert ":")
                        (insert ": "))))))