calc: Customizing Calc
Appendix C Customizing Calc
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The usual prefix for Calc is the key sequence ‘C-x *’. If you wish to
use a different prefix, you can put
(global-set-key "NEWPREFIX" 'calc-dispatch)
in your .emacs file. (
Customizing Key Bindings (emacs)Key
Bindings, for more information on binding keys.) A convenient way to
start Calc is with ‘C-x * *’; to make it equally convenient for users
who use a different prefix, the prefix can be followed by ‘=’, ‘&’, ‘#’,
‘\’, ‘/’, ‘+’ or ‘-’ as well as ‘*’ to start Calc, and so in many cases
the last character of the prefix can simply be typed twice.
Calc is controlled by many variables, most of which can be reset from
within Calc. Some variables are less involved with actual calculation
and can be set outside of Calc using Emacs’s customization facilities.
These variables are listed below. Typing ‘M-x customize-variable RET
VARIABLE-NAME RET’ will bring up a buffer in which the variable’s value
can be redefined. Typing ‘M-x customize-group RET calc RET’ will bring
up a buffer which contains all of Calc’s customizable variables. (These
variables can also be reset by putting the appropriate lines in your
.emacs file; Init File (emacs)Init File.)
Some of the customizable variables are regular expressions. A
regular expression is basically a pattern that Calc can search for. See
Regular Expression Search (emacs)Regexp Search. to see how
regular expressions work.
-- Variable: calc-settings-file
The variable ‘calc-settings-file’ holds the file name in which
commands like ‘m m’ and ‘Z P’ store “permanent” definitions. If
‘calc-settings-file’ is not your user init file (typically
‘~/.emacs’) and if the variable ‘calc-loaded-settings-file’ is
‘nil’, then Calc will automatically load your settings file (if it
exists) the first time Calc is invoked.
The default value for this variable is ‘"~/.emacs.d/calc.el"’
unless the file ‘~/.calc.el’ exists, in which case the default
value will be ‘"~/.calc.el"’.
-- Variable: calc-gnuplot-name
See Graphics.
The variable ‘calc-gnuplot-name’ should be the name of the GNUPLOT
program (a string). If you have GNUPLOT installed on your system
but Calc is unable to find it, you may need to set this variable.
You may also need to set some Lisp variables to show Calc how to
run GNUPLOT on your system, see Graphical Devices Devices. .
The default value of ‘calc-gnuplot-name’ is ‘"gnuplot"’.
-- Variable: calc-gnuplot-plot-command
-- Variable: calc-gnuplot-print-command
See Graphical Devices Devices.
The variables ‘calc-gnuplot-plot-command’ and
‘calc-gnuplot-print-command’ represent system commands to display
and print the output of GNUPLOT, respectively. These may be ‘nil’
if no command is necessary, or strings which can include ‘%s’ to
signify the name of the file to be displayed or printed. Or, these
variables may contain Lisp expressions which are evaluated to
display or print the output.
The default value of ‘calc-gnuplot-plot-command’ is ‘nil’, and the
default value of ‘calc-gnuplot-print-command’ is ‘"lp %s"’.
-- Variable: calc-language-alist
See Basic Embedded Mode.
The variable ‘calc-language-alist’ controls the languages that Calc
will associate with major modes. When Calc embedded mode is
enabled, it will try to use the current major mode to determine
what language should be used. (This can be overridden using Calc’s
mode changing commands, Mode Settings in Embedded Mode.)
The variable ‘calc-language-alist’ consists of a list of pairs of
the form ‘(MAJOR-MODE . LANGUAGE)’; for example, ‘(latex-mode .
latex)’ is one such pair. If Calc embedded is activated in a
buffer whose major mode is MAJOR-MODE, it will set itself to use
the language LANGUAGE.
The default value of ‘calc-language-alist’ is
((latex-mode . latex)
(tex-mode . tex)
(plain-tex-mode . tex)
(context-mode . tex)
(nroff-mode . eqn)
(pascal-mode . pascal)
(c-mode . c)
(c++-mode . c)
(fortran-mode . fortran)
(f90-mode . fortran))
-- Variable: calc-embedded-announce-formula
-- Variable: calc-embedded-announce-formula-alist
See Customizing Embedded Mode.
The variable ‘calc-embedded-announce-formula’ helps determine what
formulas ‘C-x * a’ will activate in a buffer. It is a regular
expression, and when activating embedded formulas with ‘C-x * a’,
it will tell Calc that what follows is a formula to be activated.
(Calc also uses other patterns to find formulas, such as ‘=>’ and
‘:=’.)
The default pattern is ‘"%Embed\n\\(% .*\n\\)*"’, which checks for
‘%Embed’ followed by any number of lines beginning with ‘%’ and a
space.
The variable ‘calc-embedded-announce-formula-alist’ is used to set
‘calc-embedded-announce-formula’ to different regular expressions
depending on the major mode of the editing buffer. It consists of
a list of pairs of the form ‘(MAJOR-MODE . REGEXP)’, and its
default value is
((c++-mode . "//Embed\n\\(// .*\n\\)*")
(c-mode . "/\\*Embed\\*/\n\\(/\\* .*\\*/\n\\)*")
(f90-mode . "!Embed\n\\(! .*\n\\)*")
(fortran-mode . "C Embed\n\\(C .*\n\\)*")
(html-helper-mode . "<!-- Embed -->\n\\(<!-- .* -->\n\\)*")
(html-mode . "<!-- Embed -->\n\\(<!-- .* -->\n\\)*")
(nroff-mode . "\\\\\"Embed\n\\(\\\\\" .*\n\\)*")
(pascal-mode . "{Embed}\n\\({.*}\n\\)*")
(sgml-mode . "<!-- Embed -->\n\\(<!-- .* -->\n\\)*")
(xml-mode . "<!-- Embed -->\n\\(<!-- .* -->\n\\)*")
(texinfo-mode . "@c Embed\n\\(@c .*\n\\)*"))
Any major modes added to ‘calc-embedded-announce-formula-alist’
should also be added to ‘calc-embedded-open-close-plain-alist’ and
‘calc-embedded-open-close-mode-alist’.
-- Variable: calc-embedded-open-formula
-- Variable: calc-embedded-close-formula
-- Variable: calc-embedded-open-close-formula-alist
See Customizing Embedded Mode.
The variables ‘calc-embedded-open-formula’ and
‘calc-embedded-close-formula’ control the region that Calc will
activate as a formula when Embedded mode is entered with ‘C-x * e’.
They are regular expressions; Calc normally scans backward and
forward in the buffer for the nearest text matching these regular
expressions to be the “formula delimiters”.
The simplest delimiters are blank lines. Other delimiters that
Embedded mode understands by default are:
1. The TeX and LaTeX math delimiters ‘$ $’, ‘$$ $$’, ‘\[ \]’, and
‘\( \)’;
2. Lines beginning with ‘\begin’ and ‘\end’ (except matrix
delimiters);
3. Lines beginning with ‘@’ (Texinfo delimiters).
4. Lines beginning with ‘.EQ’ and ‘.EN’ (“eqn” delimiters);
5. Lines containing a single ‘%’ or ‘.\"’ symbol and nothing
else.
The variable ‘calc-embedded-open-close-formula-alist’ is used to
set ‘calc-embedded-open-formula’ and ‘calc-embedded-close-formula’
to different regular expressions depending on the major mode of the
editing buffer. It consists of a list of lists of the form
‘(MAJOR-MODE OPEN-FORMULA-REGEXP CLOSE-FORMULA-REGEXP)’, and its
default value is ‘nil’.
-- Variable: calc-embedded-word-regexp
-- Variable: calc-embedded-word-regexp-alist
See Customizing Embedded Mode.
The variable ‘calc-embedded-word-regexp’ determines the expression
that Calc will activate when Embedded mode is entered with ‘C-x *
w’. It is a regular expressions.
The default value of ‘calc-embedded-word-regexp’ is
‘"[-+]?[0-9]+\\(\\.[0-9]+\\)?\\([eE][-+]?[0-9]+\\)?"’.
The variable ‘calc-embedded-word-regexp-alist’ is used to set
‘calc-embedded-word-regexp’ to a different regular expression
depending on the major mode of the editing buffer. It consists of
a list of lists of the form ‘(MAJOR-MODE WORD-REGEXP)’, and its
default value is ‘nil’.
-- Variable: calc-embedded-open-plain
-- Variable: calc-embedded-close-plain
-- Variable: calc-embedded-open-close-plain-alist
See Customizing Embedded Mode.
The variables ‘calc-embedded-open-plain’ and
‘calc-embedded-open-plain’ are used to delimit “plain” formulas.
Note that these are actual strings, not regular expressions,
because Calc must be able to write these string into a buffer as
well as to recognize them.
The default string for ‘calc-embedded-open-plain’ is ‘"%%% "’, note
the trailing space. The default string for
‘calc-embedded-close-plain’ is ‘" %%%\n"’, without the trailing
newline here, the first line of a Big mode formula that followed
might be shifted over with respect to the other lines.
The variable ‘calc-embedded-open-close-plain-alist’ is used to set
‘calc-embedded-open-plain’ and ‘calc-embedded-close-plain’ to
different strings depending on the major mode of the editing
buffer. It consists of a list of lists of the form ‘(MAJOR-MODE
OPEN-PLAIN-STRING CLOSE-PLAIN-STRING)’, and its default value is
((c++-mode "// %% " " %%\n")
(c-mode "/* %% " " %% */\n")
(f90-mode "! %% " " %%\n")
(fortran-mode "C %% " " %%\n")
(html-helper-mode "<!-- %% " " %% -->\n")
(html-mode "<!-- %% " " %% -->\n")
(nroff-mode "\\\" %% " " %%\n")
(pascal-mode "{%% " " %%}\n")
(sgml-mode "<!-- %% " " %% -->\n")
(xml-mode "<!-- %% " " %% -->\n")
(texinfo-mode "@c %% " " %%\n"))
Any major modes added to ‘calc-embedded-open-close-plain-alist’
should also be added to ‘calc-embedded-announce-formula-alist’ and
‘calc-embedded-open-close-mode-alist’.
-- Variable: calc-embedded-open-new-formula
-- Variable: calc-embedded-close-new-formula
-- Variable: calc-embedded-open-close-new-formula-alist
See Customizing Embedded Mode.
The variables ‘calc-embedded-open-new-formula’ and
‘calc-embedded-close-new-formula’ are strings which are inserted
before and after a new formula when you type ‘C-x * f’.
The default value of ‘calc-embedded-open-new-formula’ is ‘"\n\n"’.
If this string begins with a newline character and the ‘C-x * f’ is
typed at the beginning of a line, ‘C-x * f’ will skip this first
newline to avoid introducing unnecessary blank lines in the file.
The default value of ‘calc-embedded-close-new-formula’ is also
‘"\n\n"’. The final newline is omitted by ‘C-x * f’ if typed at
the end of a line. (It follows that if ‘C-x * f’ is typed on a
blank line, both a leading opening newline and a trailing closing
newline are omitted.)
The variable ‘calc-embedded-open-close-new-formula-alist’ is used
to set ‘calc-embedded-open-new-formula’ and
‘calc-embedded-close-new-formula’ to different strings depending on
the major mode of the editing buffer. It consists of a list of
lists of the form ‘(MAJOR-MODE OPEN-NEW-FORMULA-STRING
CLOSE-NEW-FORMULA-STRING)’, and its default value is ‘nil’.
-- Variable: calc-embedded-open-mode
-- Variable: calc-embedded-close-mode
-- Variable: calc-embedded-open-close-mode-alist
See Customizing Embedded Mode.
The variables ‘calc-embedded-open-mode’ and
‘calc-embedded-close-mode’ are strings which Calc will place before
and after any mode annotations that it inserts. Calc never scans
for these strings; Calc always looks for the annotation itself, so
it is not necessary to add them to user-written annotations.
The default value of ‘calc-embedded-open-mode’ is ‘"% "’ and the
default value of ‘calc-embedded-close-mode’ is ‘"\n"’. If you
change the value of ‘calc-embedded-close-mode’, it is a good idea
still to end with a newline so that mode annotations will appear on
lines by themselves.
The variable ‘calc-embedded-open-close-mode-alist’ is used to set
‘calc-embedded-open-mode’ and ‘calc-embedded-close-mode’ to
different strings expressions depending on the major mode of the
editing buffer. It consists of a list of lists of the form
‘(MAJOR-MODE OPEN-MODE-STRING CLOSE-MODE-STRING)’, and its default
value is
((c++-mode "// " "\n")
(c-mode "/* " " */\n")
(f90-mode "! " "\n")
(fortran-mode "C " "\n")
(html-helper-mode "<!-- " " -->\n")
(html-mode "<!-- " " -->\n")
(nroff-mode "\\\" " "\n")
(pascal-mode "{ " " }\n")
(sgml-mode "<!-- " " -->\n")
(xml-mode "<!-- " " -->\n")
(texinfo-mode "@c " "\n"))
Any major modes added to ‘calc-embedded-open-close-mode-alist’
should also be added to ‘calc-embedded-announce-formula-alist’ and
‘calc-embedded-open-close-plain-alist’.
-- Variable: calc-lu-power-reference
-- Variable: calc-lu-field-reference
See Logarithmic Units.
The variables ‘calc-lu-power-reference’ and
‘calc-lu-field-reference’ are unit expressions (written as strings)
which Calc will use as reference quantities for logarithmic units.
The default value of ‘calc-lu-power-reference’ is ‘"mW"’ and the
default value of ‘calc-lu-field-reference’ is ‘"20 uPa"’.
-- Variable: calc-note-threshold
See Musical Notes.
The variable ‘calc-note-threshold’ is a number (written as a
string) which determines how close (in cents) a frequency needs to
be to a note to be recognized as that note.
The default value of ‘calc-note-threshold’ is 1.
-- Variable: calc-highlight-selections-with-faces
-- Variable: calc-selected-face
-- Variable: calc-nonselected-face
See Displaying Selections.
The variable ‘calc-highlight-selections-with-faces’ determines how
selected sub-formulas are distinguished. If
‘calc-highlight-selections-with-faces’ is nil, then a selected
sub-formula is distinguished either by changing every character not
part of the sub-formula with a dot or by changing every character
in the sub-formula with a ‘#’ sign. If
‘calc-highlight-selections-with-faces’ is t, then a selected
sub-formula is distinguished either by displaying the non-selected
portion of the formula with ‘calc-nonselected-face’ or by
displaying the selected sub-formula with ‘calc-nonselected-face’.
-- Variable: calc-multiplication-has-precedence
The variable ‘calc-multiplication-has-precedence’ determines
whether multiplication has precedence over division in algebraic
formulas in normal language modes. If
‘calc-multiplication-has-precedence’ is non-‘nil’, then
multiplication has precedence (and, for certain obscure reasons, is
right associative), and so for example ‘a/b*c’ will be interpreted
as ‘a/(b*c)’. If ‘calc-multiplication-has-precedence’ is ‘nil’,
then multiplication has the same precedence as division (and, like
division, is left associative), and so for example ‘a/b*c’ will be
interpreted as ‘(a/b)*c’. The default value of
‘calc-multiplication-has-precedence’ is ‘t’.
-- Variable: calc-context-sensitive-enter
The commands ‘calc-enter’ and ‘calc-pop’ will typically duplicate
the top of the stack. If ‘calc-context-sensitive-enter’ is
non-‘nil’, then the ‘calc-enter’ will copy the element at the
cursor to the top of the stack and ‘calc-pop’ will delete the
element at the cursor. The default value of
‘calc-context-sensitive-enter’ is ‘nil’.
-- Variable: calc-undo-length
The variable ‘calc-undo-length’ determines the number of undo steps
that Calc will keep track of when ‘calc-quit’ is called. If
‘calc-undo-length’ is a non-negative integer, then this is the
number of undo steps that will be preserved; if ‘calc-undo-length’
has any other value, then all undo steps will be preserved. The
default value of ‘calc-undo-length’ is ‘100’.
-- Variable: calc-gregorian-switch
See Date Forms.
The variable ‘calc-gregorian-switch’ is either a list of integers
‘(YEAR MONTH DAY)’ or ‘nil’. If it is ‘nil’, then Calc’s date
forms always represent Gregorian dates. Otherwise,
‘calc-gregorian-switch’ represents the date that the calendar
switches from Julian dates to Gregorian dates; ‘(YEAR MONTH DAY)’
will be the first Gregorian date. The customization buffer will
offer several standard dates to choose from, or the user can enter
their own date.
The default value of ‘calc-gregorian-switch’ is ‘nil’.
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