ANSI Color
Converts SGR control sequences (ANSI escape codes) into Emacs font-lock
colors. I use this when I open a shell from within Emacs (i.e. not to
often anymore). This can be used in other places also. One use is
when playing MUD's. I am told that the color-gcc problems can be resolved
via this mode but I couldn't find any code to gleam in order to get this.
Instead, I changed the TERM variable after Emacs loads and avoid the issue.
Blinking Cursor
Causes the cursor to alternate between 2 background colors. This does
work but I don't usually have it enabled as it slows things down a little.
Calculator
Upon hitting the assigned key combination (CTRL-ENTER for me), a single line
buffer opens allowing the execution of simple calculations. The
calculator buffer is indispensable as I don't have to switch to another window
or grab a real calculator. I haven't experienced any problems using this.
CUA Mode
A really good package if you want Emacs cut/copy/paste key-combinations to act
a little more like MS-Windows or Motif. The only real problem is it can
conflict a little with some minor modes. For more info on this, visit the
authors page on this mode.
DLGOpen
If you are running the MS-Windows version of Emacs, this can help you feel a
little more at home by allow you to move around the file system using a file
dialog window. This includes the ability to delete and rename files
within the window. When I first started using Emacs this was helpful but
after I got used to the standard Emacs key combinations I stopped using it.
eShell
Excellent universal shell. Uses internal LISP functions so that it is
not OS dependent. Very nice if you want a unix like shell but don't want
to, or can't, install something like Cygwin.
Extra Java Font Lock
Adds all of the extra syntax hi-lighting that the standard Java mode and JDE
are missing. On a side note, all of the packages written by David Ponce
that I have used are excellent.
Fly Spell
This is a standard package within Emacs but you should check to make sure you
have the latest version. Earlier versions don't support the
flyspell-prog-mode which allows the on the fly spell checking within comments
of various programming modes. As the only two places I use flyspell are
comment checking and spell checking of my version control (CVS/RCS) comments,
I always seem to need an update.
GNU Server
Nice if you are running the MS-Windows version of Emacs and want to be able to
have Emacs automatically load files into a buffer when they are double-clicked
on.
Hi-Light Line
Nice little package that simply hi-lights the current line. I have tried
other packages that attempt to do the same thing but the others seem only
hi-light the text within the line and not the entire row. The file name
for this package is often hi-line instead of what my .emacs expects it to be
(hl-line). I change the file name to hl-line.el because the provide
statement within the lisp package specifies hl-line and not hi-line.
HTML Helper Mode
Doesn't make Emacs the greatest HTML editor around but it works. I
wouldn't use this without mmm-mode enabled, however.
HTMLize
Excellent for converting a buffer to HTML. I used this package to create
the html version of the my .emacs file.
Java Development Environment
I have to be careful here and not complain to much about the JDE package.
Because, if I really think it works so poorly, I should get off my butt and
create my own Java mode (although, that isn't going to happen any time soon as
I am not really that interested in Lisp programming). However, the
reality is that this package has some real problems. Slows down Emacs a
ton, as you edit a large Java file, the stupid thing will end up fontifying the
buffer every couple of seconds. The configuration is pretty un-intuitive
and there are options that conflict with each other. I have also found
that if you want to really use this mode, you need to subscribe to the email
list as updates and patches are sent out at a pretty constant rate. The
last negative thing I can think of is with the compiling of the lisp files.
As of version 2.2.4, the jde-db.el file cannot be compiled or the package won't
work correctly. While this mode will allow you to edit Java source and
compile a Java application, I would suggest using the standard Java mode to
edit files and a build utility such as ANT for the compiling.
Multi Major Modes Mode
Extra Java Font Lock
Adds all of the extra syntax hi-lighting that the standard Java mode and JDE
are missing. On a side note, all of the packages written by David Ponce
that I have used are excellent.
Fly Spell
This is a standard package within Emacs but you should check to make sure you
have the latest version. Earlier versions don't support the
flyspell-prog-mode which allows the on the fly spell checking within comments
of various programming modes. As the only two places I use flyspell are
comment checking and spell checking of my version control (CVS/RCS) comments,
I always seem to need an update.
GNU Server
Nice if you are running the MS-Windows version of Emacs and want to be able to
have Emacs automatically load files into a buffer when they are double-clicked
on.
Hi-Light Line
Nice little package that simply hi-lights the current line. I have tried
other packages that attempt to do the same thing but the others seem only
hi-light the text within the line and not the entire row. The file name
for this package is often hi-line instead of what my .emacs expects it to be
(hl-line). I change the file name to hl-line.el because the provide
statement within the lisp package specifies hl-line and not hi-line.
HTML Helper Mode
Doesn't make Emacs the greatest HTML editor around but it works. I
wouldn't use this without mmm-mode enabled, however.
HTMLize
Excellent for converting a buffer to HTML. I used this package to create
the html version of the my .emacs file.
Java Development Environment
I have to be careful here and not complain to much about the JDE package.
Because, if I really think it works so poorly, I should get off my butt and
create my own Java mode (although, that isn't going to happen any time soon as
I am not really that interested in Lisp programming). However, the
reality is that this package has some real problems. Slows down Emacs a
ton, as you edit a large Java file, the stupid thing will end up fontifying the
buffer every couple of seconds. The configuration is pretty un-intuitive
and there are options that conflict with each other. I have also found
that if you want to really use this mode, you need to subscribe to the email
list as updates and patches are sent out at a pretty constant rate. The
last negative thing I can think of is with the compiling of the lisp files.
As of version 2.2.4, the jde-db.el file cannot be compiled or the package won't
ont>
This made the HTML mode usable to me. Without this, embedded Javascript
within a HTML file will not indent properly.
PCL CVS Mode
Without this mode the standard version control system within Emacs will work
but some of the more advanced commands of CVS don't exist.
Python-Mode
The lisp source for this mode hasn't been updated in quite some time so syntax
highlighting for example is a little less pretty than in some other
modes. If you are not going to use my .emacs file make sure that you at
least check out the section on python in my .emacs file. I took almost
all of it from John Wiegley's .emacs file (www.gci-net.com/users/j/johnw/emacs.html).
Recent Files
Another of David Ponce's packages. This adds a really nice recently used
files option to the file menu.
Strip Whitespace
This allows for the easy removal of white space from the end of lines within a
file. I use this in combination with the ws-trim package to make sure my
files are stripped of extra white space.
Switch Buffer
Switching between buffers can be a little cumbersome without a package like
this. Using this package, you can simply hit one key combination to move
to the next buffer and another key combination to move to the previous buffer.
Whitespace Trim
This allows for the automatic removal of whitespace at the end of a line.
This is easier than running strip-whitespace all of the time but the drawback
is that the line that is stripped is only the previous line. Meaning,
that if you load in a file this package will not clean it up for you.
Hence, the need for the strip-whitespace package.