Learning GNU Emacs, Second Edition

Using Html-helper Mode

Html-helper mode by Nelson Minar offers great flexibility in writing HTML, with hand-holding features that you can turn on or off, depending on your level of expertise and preferences. There are numerous key bindings for entering pairs of HTML tags, which can all be modified (by typing C-u first) to enclose a region in tags instead of placing them at the cursor position. As an alternative to key bindings, html-helper mode supports completion. You type the beginning of a tag, and press ESC TAB (for tempo-complete-tag). If there’s more than one possibility, a window of possible completions appears.

Html-helper mode is not part of Emacs by default. You can get it from the Internet at ftp://ftp.reed.edu/pub/src/html-helper-mode.tar.gz. (If this discussion starts to sound like Greek, ask your system administrator for help.) ^[53]Once you get the tar file, put it in a directory such as ~/elisp, move to that directory, and then type:

% gunzip html-helper-mode.tar.gz
% tar xvf html-helper-mode.tar

The system unpacks the tar file for you. The tar file contains several components, including:

• html-helper-mode.el—the LISP file for html-helper mode

• tempo.el—a LISP file that allows for HTML templates to be inserted

• key bindings.html—a key bindings listing

• changelog.html—changes that have been made

• configuring.html—instructions for configuring html-helper mode

• differences.html—differences between HTML mode and html-helper mode

• documentation.html—documentation on html-helper ...