My Emacs mode already uses the external function editor. You access it using C-c C-f. What I did was also to detect when ∇ is typed, and intercept that command to also open up the function editor that way. Thus, right now, there are two ways to open the function editor in Emacs.
The reason I did this was that the use of ∇ is probably much more well known than having to figure out that you can press C-c C-f to achieve the same effect. The reason for my post above was to get a better way to do this hook into the ∇ command, as the method I'm using right now has some reliability issues. That said, removal of the ∇ command altogether would, of course, remove the need for this callback mechanism. Regards, Elias On 12 February 2014 17:17, Nick Lobachevsky <ibeam2...@gmail.com> wrote: > Function definition mode (typing ∇ followed by a symbol name) is an > artifact of the kind of terminal hardware supported by APL (the IBM > 2741 with its iconic typeballs) in the 1960s. As such, nearly 50 > years later, it may be worth rethinking some of these things to take > advantage of newer editor and windowing technologies in common use. > > In my opinion, in a windowed environment, function definition mode can > be safely disabled provided the system can provide an alternative > editor for functions and possibly variables. In SS Windows, Dyalog > APL invokes an editor when you double click with the cursor positioned > over a name. APL2000 invokes a full screen editor when you type ∇ > followed by a name. Function definition mode seems to be retained in > some implementations simply to be part of a faithful replica of > APL\360. > > Removing function definition mode would have the side effect of > freeing the ∇ character for other uses. >
