Here's a visual layout of the default keybinds in emacs:
http://xahlee.org/emacs/emacs_kb_shortcuts.html

A important aspect in designing default keyboard shortcuts is have kb
shortcuts for the most frequently used commands, and, the top most
frequently used commands should have most easily-pressed keystrokes.
For example, they should be on the home row.

Use this program to compute the command frequency of your emacs use.
http://xahlee.org/emacs/command-frequency.el

Once you have accumulated 20k runs of self-insert-command, please send
me the results.
I hope to comile some stats. I will do a report here when i get
results.

Thanks.=20

Xah
xah@xahlee.org
=E2=88=91 http://xahlee.org/

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

here's my results.

; start 2006-10-05T21:31:39-07:00
; end 2006-10-11T06:52:03-07:00
; http://xahlee.org/emacs/command-frequency.el

28723	self-insert-command
9578	next-line
7431	previous-line
4402	backward-word
3428	forward-word
2544	kill-region
2394	isearch-printing-char
1820	forward-char
1669	delete-backward-char
1426	backward-char
1169	save-buffer
905	newline
751	yank
701	backward-delete-char-untabify
682 kill-buffer-silently
580	scroll-up
496	mwheel-scroll
439	isearch-forward
387	other-window
379	undo
372	previous-history-element
372	dired-next-line
362	delete-char
320	scroll-down
285	minibuffer-complete
277	isearch-other-meta-char
276	execute-extended-command
264	dired
262	set-mark-command
260	isearch-other-control-char
236	move-beginning-of-line
232	dired-advertised-find-file
194	find-file
177	beginning-of-buffer
162	revert-buffer
160	move-end-of-line
147	recenter
138	dired-previous-line
135	isearch-repeat-forward
134	kill-ring-save
131	extend-selection
126	delete-other-windows
119	end-of-buffer
113	eval-last-sexp
111	isearch-backward
109	minibuffer-keyboard-quit
108	split-window-vertically
104	ibuffer-mark-for-delete
104	mouse-drag-region
102	fill-paragraph
94	ignore
88	shell-command
88	exit-minibuffer
83	isearch-repeat-backward
83	mouse-set-point
81	keyboard-quit
76	nil
71	lisp-indent-line
71	describe-function
68	just-one-space
65	grep
62	browse-url-of-buffer
56	wrap-url
56	delete-window
54	mark-whole-buffer
53	python-backspace
53	center-line
51	x-w
51	handle-switch-frame
50	sgml-close-tag
48	describe-key
47	dired-do-query-replace-regexp
37	shell-command-on-region
37	Info-follow-nearest-node
33	kill-buffer-silently
33	html-paragraph
32	query-replace
28	,bbedit
28	next-buffer
27	x-note
26	dired-mark-files-regexp
26	bookmark-bmenu-list
25	Info-up
23	ibuffer-forward-line
23	bookmark-bmenu-this-window
23	switch-to-buffer
22	query-replace-regexp
22	remove-hard-wrap
21	x-b
20	previous-buffer
19	ibuffer-backward-line
19	minibuffer-complete-and-exit
18	ibuffer
18	string-rectangle
18	tt
17	cperl-electric-backspace
17	ispell-word
16	isearch-abort
16	other-frame
16	sgml-slash
15	compile-goto-error
15	insert-p
14	word-entry
14	beginning-of-defun
14	universal-argument-other-key
14	universal-argument
14	next-history-element
13	ffap
12	ibuffer-mark-forward
12	dired-do-rename
11	set-variable
11	backward-up-list
11	apropos-command
10	ff
10	ibuffer-visit-buffer
10	ibuffer-update
10	date
10	dt
10	dired-do-copy
9	insert-register
9	tag-image2
9	sgml-maybe-name-self
9	command-frequency-display
8	ibuffer-do-save
8	ibuffer-mark-unsaved-buffers
8	forward-sexp
8	html-list-item
7	kill-line-backward
7	ibuffer-do-kill-on-deletion-marks
7	html-headline-2
7	grep-find
7	minibuffer-complete-word
7	set-input-method
7	downcase-word
6	upcase-initials-region
6	Info-menu
6	line-spacing-toggle
6	newline-and-indent
6	describe-variable
6	dired-do-flagged-delete
6	dired-flag-file-deletion
6	replace-string
6	back-to-indentation
6	quoted-insert
5	htmlize-buffer
5	toggle-input-method
5	(lambda nil (interactive) (let ((orig-function (symbol-function
(quote message)))) (unwind-protect (progn (defun message (string &rest
arguments) (let* ((s1 (concat prompt (buffer-substring
(shell-command/minibuffer-prompt-end) (point-max)))) (s2 (apply
(function format) string arguments)) (w (- (window-width) (string-width
s1) (string-width s2) 1))) (funcall orig-function (if (>=3D w 0) (concat
s1 (make-string w 32) s2) s2)) (if (sit-for 0.3) (funcall orig-function
s1)) s2)) (require (quote shell)) (require (quote comint))
(run-hook-with-args-until-success (quote
shell-command-complete-functions))) (fset (quote message)
orig-function))))
5	upcase-word
5	lisp-complete-symbol
5	mouse-set-font
5	View-quit
5	mode-exited
4	name-last-kbd-macro
4	exchange-point-and-mark
4	dired-unmark-all-marks
4	wikipfy-block
4	replace-quotes
4	#[nil =EC=80=80=E2=83=BF=EF=B7=82!=C2=87 [split-window-vertically 
find-fi=
le
~/web/emacs/unicode.txt] 2 nil nil]
4	dired-create-directory
4	atom-entry
4	Info-mouse-follow-nearest-node
4	info
3	kill-rectangle
3	indent-for-tab-command
3	sgml-delete-tag
3	what-cursor-position
3	isearch-delete-char
3	#[nil  =EC=80=80=E6=8C=80=E8=9C=80=E2=80=80=E5=
AF=B2] 1 inserts a unico
de =
char. nil]
3	man
3	html-headline-3
3	dired-up-directory
3	dired-mark
3	push-button
3	mark-sexp
3	Info-history-back
3	make-frame-command
2	insert-kbd-macro
2	replace-html-chars
2	digit-argument
2	scroll-bar-toolkit-scroll
2	undefined
2	mac-dnd-handle-drag-n-drop-event
2	date-tag
2	yank-pop
2	complete-symbol
2	mouse-save-then-kill
2	replace-list
2	copy-to-register
2	mouse-select-window
2	mouse-drag-mode-line
2	dired-flag-backup-files
2	isearch-toggle-case-fold
2	move-to-window-line
2	wrap-url-simple
1	kmacro-end-macro
1	kmacro-start-macro
1	isearch-edit-string
1	open-unicode-template
1	eval-region
1	insert-upright-arrow
1	tmm-menubar
1	Info-exit
1	mouse-set-region
1	kill-buffer
1	view-emacs-news
1	indent-new-comment-line
1	list-colors-display
1	html-headline-1
1	dired-show-file-type
1	dired-sort-toggle-or-edit
1	html-mode
1	html-helper-mode
1	text-mode
1	goto-line
1	kill-line
1	count-lines-page
1	view-lossage
1	comment-dwim
1	set-goal-column
1	(lambda (event) (interactive e) (setq tabbar-last-selected-tab (quote
(aladdin5.html . HTML))) (when tabbar-select-tab-function
(select-window (posn-window (event-start event))) (funcall
tabbar-select-tab-function event (quote (aladdin5.html . HTML)))
(force-mode-line-update) (sit-for 0)))
1	tabbar-mode
1	isearch-yank-line
1	html-href-anchor
1	sgml-attributes
1	describe-mode
1	backward-sexp
1	describe-prefix-bindings
1	quit-window
1	pendo-entry
1	isearch-ring-advance
1	eval-buffer


Please send me yours. Thanks.


Xah Lee wrote:
> Here's a visual layout of the default keybinds in emacs:
> http://xahlee.org/emacs/emacs_kb_shortcuts.html
>
> A important aspect in designing default keyboard shortcuts is have kb
> shortcuts for the most frequently used commands, and, the top most
> frequently used commands should have most easily-pressed keystrokes.
> For example, they should be on the home row.
>
> Use this program to compute the command frequency of your emacs use.
>  http://xahlee.org/emacs/command-frequency.el
>
> Once you have accumulated 20k runs of self-insert-command, please send
> me the results.
> I hope to comile some stats. I will do a report here when i get
> results.
>=20
> Thanks.=20
>=20
>   Xah
>   xah@xahlee.org
> =E2=88=91 http://xahlee.org/

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

Here are some convenient keyboard shortcuts i use, as a example of what
type of keyboard shortcuts one can add to enhance productivity.

; keyboard alias for arrow keys
; with meta down,
; keys under the right hand home position become cusor keys
; i.e.   Dvorak     QWERTY
;          c          i
;         htn        jkl
(global-set-key (kbd "M-h") 'backward-char) ; was mark-paragraph
(global-set-key (kbd "M-n") 'forward-char)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-c") 'previous-line) ; was capitalize-word
(global-set-key (kbd "M-t") 'next-line) ; was transpose-words

; map the window manipulation keys to meta 0, 1, 2, o
(global-set-key (kbd "M-2") 'split-window-vertically)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-1") 'delete-other-windows)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-0") 'delete-window)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-o") 'other-window)

; easy key for undo
(global-set-key (kbd "M-e") 'undo) (global-unset-key "\C-_"); was
forward-sentence

; easy key for marking
(global-set-key (kbd "M-SPC") 'set-mark-command) ; was just-one-space

(global-set-key (kbd "M-a") 'mark-whole-buffer) ; was
backward-sentence.
(global-set-key (kbd "M-s") 'save-buffer)  ; M-s was center-line. cmd-s
is OS X convention.
(defalias 'center-line 'save-buffer)

(global-set-key (kbd "<home>") 'beginning-of-buffer) ; OS X convention
(global-set-key (kbd "<end>") 'end-of-buffer) ; OS X convention

; change C-x to C-t, so that C-x on Microsoft's split keyboard
; with Dvorak layout can be easier to type.
(keyboard-translate ?\C-t ?\C-x)

In general, you want to make the most frequently used commands to be
the most easy to type. For example, M-e is much easier for the hand
than the default keystrokes for undo C-_ or C-/. Undo is a very
frequently used command, but C-_ involves holding down control and
shift keys and pressing another key with the most awkward finger the
pinky. The C-/ isn't much better since the slash is pressed by the
pinky and is located in a most far away position that one has to grope
for.

Similarly, the command set-mark-command which is used to mark a region,
is frequently used. However, its default shortcut C-SPC is less
convenient than M-SPC. Moving from the control key to the meta key
reduces the emacs pinky problem. (see How To Avoid The Emacs Pinky
Problem)

http://xahlee.org/emacs/keyboard_shortcuts.html

Xah
xah@xahlee.org
=E2=88=91 http://xahlee.org/

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

"Xah Lee" <xah@xahlee.org> writes:

> Here are some convenient keyboard shortcuts i use, as a example of what
> type of keyboard shortcuts one can add to enhance productivity.
>
> ; map the window manipulation keys to meta 0, 1, 2, o
> (global-set-key (kbd "M-2") 'split-window-vertically)
> (global-set-key (kbd "M-1") 'delete-other-windows)
> (global-set-key (kbd "M-0") 'delete-window)
> (global-set-key (kbd "M-o") 'other-window)

Your focus seems to be efficiency.

XEmacs has so many functions available,
I like to focus on being able to remember the keystrokes
to the things I use rarely.

I generally use as much of the XEmacs window as possible,
I have the window manager leave off the title bar and run without
toolbar, scrollbar and menubar.  This lets be turn them on and off,
only one key, with a bunch of modifiers is required:

(defun my-toggle-toolbar ()
"Toggle the toolbar"
(interactive)
(if (fboundp 'menubar-toggle-toolbar-visibility) ; 19.13 way
(menubar-toggle-toolbar-visibility)
(set-specifier default-toolbar-visible-p
(not (specifier-instance
default-toolbar-visible-p)))))

;; Note, control, shift, and alt work singly and in any combination:
(define-key global-map [(control f10)] 'my-toggle-scrollbar)
(define-key global-map [(shift f10)] 'my-toggle-menubar)
(define-key global-map [(alt f10)] 'my-toggle-toolbar)

(define-key global-map [(control shift f10)] '(lambda () (interactive)
(my-toggle-scrollbar)
(my-toggle-menubar)))
(define-key global-map [(alt control f10)] '(lambda () (interactive)
(my-toggle-toolbar)
(my-toggle-scrollbar)))
(define-key global-map [(alt shift f10)] '(lambda () (interactive)
(my-toggle-toolbar)
(my-toggle-menubar)))
(define-key global-map [(alt control shift f10)] '(lambda () (interactiv
e)
(my-toggle-scrollbar)
(my-toggle-toolbar)
(my-toggle-menubar)))

Most of the time I split windows horizontally, but for those rare cases
where I need to get things side by side:

(define-key global-map [(f12)] 'split-window-vertically)
(define-key global-map [(shift f12)] 'split-window-horizontally)

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

>>>>> "Xah" == Xah Lee <xah@xahlee.org> writes:

Xah> In general, you want to make the most frequently used commands to be
Xah> the most easy to type.

Huh, me? No. Why do you think so? :-)

"In general", this is simply not true for Emacs and I don't think that it sh
ould
be a primary goal.

1. It's difficult if not impossible to define the most frequently used comma
nds
in an unambiguous way. command-frequency.el is nice, but won't really help y
ou
here: Emacs has modes for different types of files with different sets of
shortcuts. If---in my case---the AucTeX keys appear high on the list this
month, this only means that I have written a lot of text instead of doing
some programming. I wouldn't think of changing anything which would drive me
crazy when going back to programming. And what about normal "mixed months"?

2. Of course, you don't try to hide important shortcuts if you can help it, 
but
the developers of Emacs decided to aim for a system of shortcuts with some
logic behind it. This comes at a price: Some keys are difficult to type or
don't make sense for a non-US keyboard layout etc. But after years of using
Emacs I'm still impressed how easy it is to get into a mode I haven't used
for years. I am surprised that you don't mention this system. Compromising i
t
just for a few dozen shortcuts is shortsighted in my opinion.

3. The only supplementation I could think of is an "orthogonal" system of
keyboard shortcuts which don't interfere with the Emacs system, e.g. viper
mode, the vi(m) emulation.

To put it in a nutshell, I don't think your way of changing shortcuts plays 
well
with Emacs established philosophy, put to a test for decades now. Emacs let'
s
you do it, if it suits you. But that should be all...

Toto

--
Contact information and PGP key at
http://www-users.rwth-aachen.de/thorsten.bonow

On rainy, dark autumn Saturday afternoons---when the late Douglas
Adams used to enter The Long Dark Tea Time Of The Soul---I
habitually google for postings of one Jonathan Fine...

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

Xah's definition of "easy to type" also seems quite bizarre -- almost
all of the suggested rebindings he gives are _harder_ to type for me.

His suggestions also greatly overuse the meta-key for non-frequent
commands; clearly this is in imitation of typical MS bindings, but it's
really wasteful to use a valuable modifier key for commands that are
only typed occasionally and never "repeatedly".

Given the obvious compatibility problems of making any large scale
changes in common bindings (it's _never_ going to happen by default),
not to mention the generally poor quality of the suggested changes, I'd
say it's a complete non-starter.  But then he's been flogging this crap
for _ages_ on this newsgroup, so I guess he's used to hearing this.

[However, it is kind of interesting to see concrete data about command
frequencies.]

-Miles

--
A zen-buddhist walked into a pizza shop and
said, "Make me one with everything."

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

Miles Bader <miles@gnu.org> writes:

> Xah's definition of "easy to type" also seems quite bizarre -- almost
> all of the suggested rebindings he gives are _harder_ to type for me.

I guess you missed the part about the Dvorak keyboard.

> His suggestions also greatly overuse the meta-key for non-frequent
> commands; clearly this is in imitation of typical MS bindings, but it's
> really wasteful to use a valuable modifier key for commands that are
> only typed occasionally and never "repeatedly".
>
> Given the obvious compatibility problems of making any large scale
> changes in common bindings (it's _never_ going to happen by default),
> not to mention the generally poor quality of the suggested changes, I'd
> say it's a complete non-starter.  But then he's been flogging this crap
> for _ages_ on this newsgroup, so I guess he's used to hearing this.

So far, no potty mouth.
Hope he's turning over a new leaf.

> [However, it is kind of interesting to see concrete data about command
> frequencies.]

I never got around to using his functions, maybe I will, but I mostly
use GNUS with my home copy of XEmacs, so I don't think the results
will be that interesting.

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

Of interest!

(global-set-key (kbd "M-<left>") 'previous-user-buffer)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-<right>") 'next-user-buffer)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-S-<left>") 'previous-emacs-buffer)
(global-set-key (kbd "M-S-<right>") 'next-emacs-buffer)

(defun next-user-buffer ()
"Switch to the next user buffer in cyclic order.\n
User buffers are those not starting with *."
(interactive)
(next-buffer)
(let ((i 0))
(while (and (string-match "^*" (buffer-name)) (< i 10))
(setq i (1+ i)) (next-buffer) )))

(defun previous-user-buffer ()
"Switch to the next user buffer in cyclic order.\n
User buffers are those not starting with *."
(interactive)
(previous-buffer)
(let ((i 0))
(while (and (string-match "^*" (buffer-name)) (< i 10))
(setq i (1+ i)) (previous-buffer) )))

(defun next-emacs-buffer ()
"Switch to the next emacs buffer in cyclic order.\n
Emacs buffers are those starting with *."
(interactive)
(next-buffer)
(let ((i 0))
(while (and (not (string-match "^*" (buffer-name))) (< i 10))
(setq i (1+ i)) (next-buffer) )))

(defun previous-emacs-buffer ()
"Switch to the next user buffer in cyclic order.\n
Emacs buffers are those starting with *."
(interactive)
(previous-buffer)
(let ((i 0))
(while (and (not (string-match "^*" (buffer-name))) (< i 10))
(setq i (1+ i)) (previous-buffer) )))

Xah
xah@xahlee.org
=E2=88=91 http://xahlee.org/

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

"Xah Lee" <xah@xahlee.org> writes:

> Of interest!
>

In Emacs 22:

,----[ C-h f next-buffer RET ]
| next-buffer is an interactive compiled Lisp function in `simple.el'.
| It is bound to C-x <C-right>, C-x <right>, <menu-bar> <buffer> <next-buffe
r>.
| (next-buffer)
|
| Switch to the next buffer in cyclic order.
`----

,----[ C-h f previous-buffer RET ]
| previous-buffer is an interactive compiled Lisp function in `simple.el'.
| It is bound to C-x <C-left>, C-x <left>, <menu-bar> <buffer> <previous-buf
fer>.
| (previous-buffer)
|
| Switch to the previous buffer in cyclic order.
|
| [back]
`----

There is also already cyclebuffer.el.

http://www.emacswiki.org/cgi-bin/wiki/CycleBuffer

--
-John Sullivan
-http://www.wjsullivan.net
-GPG Key: AE8600B6

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]

Thorsten Bonow wrote: 
>
>     Xah> In general, you want to make the most frequently used commands to
 be
>     Xah> the most easy to type.
>
> Huh, me? No. Why do you think so? :-)
>
> "In general", this is simply not true for Emacs and I don't think that it 
should
> be a primary goal.
[snip]
> 2. Of course, you don't try to hide important shortcuts if you can help it
, but
>    the developers of Emacs decided to aim for a system of shortcuts with s
ome
>    logic behind it. This comes at a price: Some keys are difficult to type
 or
>    don't make sense for a non-US keyboard layout etc. But after years of u
sing
>    Emacs I'm still impressed how easy it is to get into a mode I haven't u
sed
>    for years. I am surprised that you don't mention this system. Compromis
ing it
>    just for a few dozen shortcuts is shortsighted in my opinion.
[snip]

I've begun to notice that C-x is really quite awkward for me to type
(this is on a US QWERTY layout). My usual finger positions for this
key-chord are left little finger on CTRL and left middle on X, which
puts the left middle finger under an unusual strain since it's cramped
up diagonally. Any ideas on improving this situation?

[Note: comp.emacs.xemacs dropped from followup-to]

--
Raoul Gough.

[ Post a follow-up to this message ]