Provide an alternative to counsel-unicode

[manuel-uberti]

Hi,

just an idea maybe worth looking into. Also, there is insert-char-preview that offers a more generic approach than counsel-unicode.

[minad]

Why is that needed? For me Emacs 27.1 already shows the unicode character and the name if I call insert-char. I have bound insert-char to "C-c u" in my init.el. What else do you have in mind? Do you want to see the hex code etc?

Please note that I have never really used ivy. I've been on ido for years and only recently upgraded to selectrum. Therefore if you want something specific, I appreciate a detailed description!

[manuel-uberti]

You're absolutely right, sorry.

I was thinking of showing the preview of the unicode charter along with the name. I am on Emacs 28 (commit: a7825c4be06b7c0b544df34555ecf586276245e6) with selectrum and insert-char doesn't show me the unicode character, only the name.

[manuel-uberti]

This is from emacs -Q with selectrum-mode active:

[minad]

Yes, I am currently trying to find out which part of my elaborate init.el is resposible for the preview 😂

[minad]

I looked into the code of read-char-by-name and there does not seem to be a setting. There is the annotation-function which does this, if you take a look. For me the preview works if I do emacs -Q on 26 and 27 even only with the standard completion if I press TAB.

Maybe they added an option in Emacs 28 which disables annotations by default?

Edit: Actually it seems that some things have been changed in 28, there is no annotation-function anymore. Now it is called affixation-function. Probably this is more powerful? Please check the Emacs changelog!

https://github.com/emacs-mirror/emacs/blob/a7825c4be06b7c0b544df34555ecf586276245e6/lisp/international/mule-cmds.el#L3141

[manuel-uberti]

I am looking into it right now, but it seems to add \t for spacing IIUC.

[minad]

@manuel-uberti It seems the affixations funtion is a VERY recent addition! It supports prefix and suffix! See the commit emacs-mirror/emacs@3b74059!

Also ping @clemera - it seems Emacs 28 will support prefix and suffix via the affixation function! We just discussed this! Maybe selectrum could already start supporting the affixation metadata?

[manuel-uberti]

Oh, well, I am too much on the bleeding edge I see. :)

[minad]

Yes, very much too much 😆 But if you are on it and currently not busy studying it would be great if you could help test consult on 28! I don't have 28 yet (still waiting util gccmacs hits master...)

[manuel-uberti]

Sure thing. Let me install it and give it a spin.

[manuel-uberti]

A quick run went very well. I tried

• consult-bookmark
• consult-line
• consult-buffer (with the preview disabled, though)

Now, if only consult-unicode was available I'd be set. ;)

[minad]

Cool, did you try the preview too? This is a more intricate feature. Even if you don't like it could you try it? This would help.
I think the preview for buffers is a nice feature, but one needs to get accustomed to it a bit I feel.

Regarding consult-unicode, I am not sure if we should add it here since the benefit over the standard insert-char seems to be rather marginal (If there is even one with the affixation function...)

[manuel-uberti]

Yes, I tried with the preview. It's a bit distracting for me when switching buffers, but it works as expected.

As for consult-unicode: if there is a way to leverage the built-in insert-char with selectrum to get a preview, sure, we don't need the consult version I guess.

[minad]

Thank you for testing!

As for consult-unicode: if there is a way to leverage the built-in insert-char with selectrum to get a preview, sure, we don't need the consult version I guess.

For me it works with 26 and 27, I guess it should also work with some configuration on 28.

[manuel-uberti]

I see, then I guess we can close it here, since it does not seem related neither to selectrum nor consult. :)

[minad]

Yes, I tried with the preview. It's a bit distracting for me when switching buffers, but it works as expected.

@manuel-uberti The preview seems to be particularly useful if one wants to do recursive edits of the preview. But this probably applies more to consult-line, consult-mark and consult-outline. I made sure that editing works and does not move the candidates. So you can jump back and forth between an active search and the buffer.