Displaying macros differently

Displaying macros differently

[Vikas Rawal]

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Hi everyone,

I frequently use orgmode macros -- like {{{M(Year 1998--99)}}} -- in tables
designed for latex export. I find that the macro syntax occupies many
character spaces. At the very least, 9 spaces are taken up even if my macro
shortcut is just one character long. This is very difficult with wide
tables as often the tables go off the screen just because of this.

I was wondering if there is a simple way of making org display the macros
differently. That is, use some kind of overlay, and display the above macro
may be like M:Year 1998--99. Or some special character could be used to
denote that there is a macro underlying what is visible here.

I am aware of things like org-bullets which do something like this with
headlines. But I was wondering if anyone has done this with macros.

My apologies if I have not been able to express my problem clearly.

Best wishes,

Vikas

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Re: Displaying macros differently

[William Denton]

On 4 December 2022, Vikas Rawal wrote:

> I frequently use orgmode macros -- like {{{M(Year 1998--99)}}} -- in tables
> designed for latex export. I find that the macro syntax occupies many
> character spaces. At the very least, 9 spaces are taken up even if my macro
> shortcut is just one character long. This is very difficult with wide
> tables as often the tables go off the screen just because of this.
>
> I was wondering if there is a simple way of making org display the macros
> differently. That is, use some kind of overlay, and display the above macro
> may be like M:Year 1998--99. Or some special character could be used to
> denote that there is a macro underlying what is visible here.

Is this close enough?

(setq org-hide-macro-markers t)

That hides the {{{macro}}} curly brackets (if there's no leading space).

I also have this to toggle macro visibility in the document so I can see them 
when I want to:

#+begin_src emacs-lisp
(defun wtd/toggle-org-macro-markers ()
   "Toggle visibility of {{{macro}}} markers"
   (interactive)
   (setq org-hide-macro-markers (not org-hide-macro-markers))
   (font-lock-mode)
   (font-lock-mode))
#+end_src

I think there's been some discussion about evaluating the macros and showing the 
result, but I don't think that's possible.

Bill

--
William Denton
https://www.miskatonic.org/
Librarian, artist and licensed private investigator.
Toronto, Canada

Re: Displaying macros differently

[Vikas Rawal]

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This is perfect, thank you!

On Mon, 5 Dec 2022 at 09:13, William Denton <wtd@pobox.com> wrote:

> On 4 December 2022, Vikas Rawal wrote:
>
> > I frequently use orgmode macros -- like {{{M(Year 1998--99)}}} -- in
> tables
> > designed for latex export. I find that the macro syntax occupies many
> > character spaces. At the very least, 9 spaces are taken up even if my
> macro
> > shortcut is just one character long. This is very difficult with wide
> > tables as often the tables go off the screen just because of this.
> >
> > I was wondering if there is a simple way of making org display the macros
> > differently. That is, use some kind of overlay, and display the above
> macro
> > may be like M:Year 1998--99. Or some special character could be used to
> > denote that there is a macro underlying what is visible here.
>
> Is this close enough?
>
> (setq org-hide-macro-markers t)
>
> That hides the {{{macro}}} curly brackets (if there's no leading space).
>
> I also have this to toggle macro visibility in the document so I can see
> them
> when I want to:
>
> #+begin_src emacs-lisp
> (defun wtd/toggle-org-macro-markers ()
>    "Toggle visibility of {{{macro}}} markers"
>    (interactive)
>    (setq org-hide-macro-markers (not org-hide-macro-markers))
>    (font-lock-mode)
>    (font-lock-mode))
> #+end_src
>
> I think there's been some discussion about evaluating the macros and
> showing the
> result, but I don't think that's possible.
>
> Bill
>
> --
> William Denton
> https://www.miskatonic.org/
> Librarian, artist and licensed private investigator.
> Toronto, Canada
>

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