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Keeping the point in view

Posted: Tue Mar 04, 2014 7:00 pm
by Pixel_Outlaw
I've been working a lot with files having lines of around 1500 characters.
These are part of a file format and cannot be modified.

My problem is that I can often move along the lines with C-PgUp and c-PgDown yet the point does not follow the current chunk of buffer. Sure I can click with my mouse to put point in view but how do you do this with the keyboard?

What is the best solution to keeping point in view when scrolling?
Most editors use a horizontal scrollbar but as there isn't one in emacs I'm stuck editing very long lines.

Re: Keeping the point in view

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 6:07 am
by Goheeca
If the data are homogenous there is another possibility: turn on line wrapping & use the goal column. So you can easily jump on the same logical column of line. I know, it's not the answer you wanted to hear.

Re: Keeping the point in view

Posted: Wed Mar 05, 2014 11:00 pm
by Pixel_Outlaw
Goheeca wrote:If the data are homogenous there is another possibility: turn on line wrapping & use the goal column. So you can easily jump on the same logical column of line. I know, it's not the answer you wanted to hear.

I don't quite follow what you are saying regarding data being homogeneous...
My real gripe with line wrapping is that the lines have positional data in similar columns and I need to see the vertical fields aligned. (These are propritary file formats used by EDI or Electronic Data Interchange)
I get the feeling that Emacs is mostly a programmers tool where you practice 80 column source code.

I wonder if the scroll bar on the side is actually controlled via an emacs function? I know it is GTK on Windows at work.
Perhaps there is a way to impliment a horizontal scrollbar as that is also a GTK widgit?

Don't get me wrong I love emacs though. Favorite editor.