Setting emacs as $EDITOR in zshrc
reddit / emacs

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Schievel1 · 2022-09-21 13:09

Hi,

I have a minor thing that is driving me crazy.

I want to set `emacsclient -t -a emacs -nw` as $EDITOR, so programs
like git commit use emacs.

So, what I am trying is setting `export EDITOR='emacsclient -t -a
emacs -nw'` in my `~/.zshrc`.

When I run `$EDITOR` it says `zsh: command not found: emacsclient -t
-a emacs -nw`.

I also tried `export EDITOR="emacsclient -t -a emacs -nw"` and `export
EDITOR=emacsclient -t -a emacs -nw`.

The first one has the same result, the second one treads `-t` like a
command

/ It's a bit weird, because this is how it's recommended in the wiki:
https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/EmacsClient
Maybe a problem with zsh?
// yup looks like it, because this works in bash.

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takeonrules · 2022-09-21 13:26

I use `zshrc` and solved this by creating a shell script that I
declare as `$EDITOR`:

https://codeberg.org/takeonrules/dotzshrc/src/2aa186214030faa03bfdc7a1
272ec54339f7d1af/bin/editor

Then I have [the export here](https://codeberg.org/takeonrules/dotzshr
c/src/2aa186214030faa03bfdc7a1272ec54339f7d1af/configs/aliases.zsh#L12
-13).

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fmou67 · 2022-09-21 13:39

The links are not working... Thanks for fixing them!

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jvillasante · 2022-09-21 13:40

Use this in your .zshrc/.bashrc file:

```
export ALTERNATE_EDITOR=""
export VISUAL="emacsclient -c -n -a ''" # $VISUAL opens in GUI with
non-daemon as alternate
export EDITOR="emacsclient -t -a ''"    # $EDITOR should open in
terminal
```

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Schievel1 · 2022-09-21 14:13

Yes thanks, this is pretty much what I wrote and also linked to, and
it isn't working

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Schievel1 · 2022-09-21 14:15

[https://codeberg.org/takeonrules/dotzshrc/src/branch/main/bin/editor]
(https://codeberg.org/takeonrules/dotzshrc/src/branch/main/bin/editor)

https://codeberg.org/takeonrules/dotzshrc/src/branch/main/configs/alia
ses.zsh#L12-13

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takeonrules · 2022-09-21 14:17

Gah…so much for Emacs's git-link working with Codeberg.

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Schievel1 · 2022-09-21 14:32

it just went down anyway. I hope for you it wasn't because of your
emacs :D

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mshkrebtan · 2022-09-21 14:41

Er… is emacsclient actually discoverable in your shell? Do you set the
PATH variable correctly?

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takeonrules · 2022-09-21 14:44

How about giving Github a try instead: https://github.com/jeremyf/dotz
shrc/blob/2aa186214030faa03bfdc7a1272ec54339f7d1af/bin/editor

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Schievel1 · 2022-09-21 14:48

ah, I see where this commit hash was coming from :D

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masukomi · 2022-09-21 14:58

your codeberg link is a 404 :( Maybe you're the only one authorized to
see it?

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Schievel1 · 2022-09-21 15:02

Thanks, I did a little simpler approach:

I made this script `editor` in `~/.local/bin`:
```
#!/usr/bin/env bash
emacsclient -t -a emacs -nw
```

Then put `export EDITOR='editor'` into `~/.zshrc`

/ Is your script missing the shebang? I newer saw `#/bin/sh` before

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anoduck · 2022-09-21 15:07

This is odd, because I know I have done it.

Try using single quotes, and the full path for emacsclient.

This will avoid command expansion from rewriting the command.

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Alan_Shutko · 2022-09-21 15:29

It is a zsh thing. If a variable contains spaces it won’t be split
after expansion, on purpose.

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krisbrowne42 · 2022-09-21 16:36

The oh-my-zsh emacs plugin does a lot of this for you pretty cleanly,
worth looking at.

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mgeisler · 2022-09-21 19:09

Precisely, OP would need to run

```
$ ${=EDITOR}
```

instead. That enables _word splitting_ on the variable. See the [zsh
FAQ](https://zsh.sourceforge.io/FAQ/zshfaq03.html) for more
information.

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Schievel1 · 2022-09-21 21:41

True that. But that doesn't help me with scripts and programs that use
the variable $EDITOR

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mgeisler · 2022-09-24 09:47

It's only Zsh itself that doesn't do word splitting unless you ask for
it as shown.

Programs that use `$EDITOR` have always had to deal with word
splitting themselves, or they could pass the string to a known shell
like `/bin/sh`.

If you have shell scripts, then make sure they start with an
appropriate `#!/bin/sh` line and that they do word splitting according
to the shell chosen there.

In other words, the behaviour of Zsh does not affect other programs
and scripts.