.github/workflows | ||
el | ||
HelpSource/Classes | ||
scide_scel | ||
.gitignore | ||
CHANGELOG.md | ||
CMakeLists.txt | ||
README.md | ||
scel.quark |
scel - sclang-mode for emacs
SuperCollider/Emacs interface
Installation
There are 3 options for installation:
- Using SuperCollider Quarks (recommended)
- From debian package
supercollider-emacs
- From source
Option #1 is the best cross-platform option, and is recommended. Whatever option
you choose, make sure not to mix installation methods. In particular, do not
install the Quark if you already have the supercollider-emacs package or if you
compiled SuperCollider with the -DSC_EL=ON
option. Otherwise you will get an
error from SuperCollider about duplicated classes.
Install Option 1: SuperCollider's own package manager
The repository contains two subprojects. /el
contains the emacs-lisp
implementation. /sc
contains the SuperCollider code required to
implement the Emacs interface. SuperCollider has its own package system
called Quarks, which we can use to install both halves.
Evaluate this code in the SuperCollider GUI by pasting it and pressing shift+enter:
Quarks.install("https://github.com/supercollider/scel");
The scel repository will be downloaded to your local file system and the path
will be added to your default sclang_conf.yaml
file. (You can find its
location by evaluating Platform.userConfigDir
)
Next, find out where scel was installed. You will use this install-path in your emacs config.
Quarks.folder.postln;
// -> /Users/jxa/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks
Now in your emacs config, add the /el
subdirectory to your load path
;; in ~/.emacs
;; Paste path from above, appending "/scel/el"
(add-to-list 'load-path "/Users/jxa/Library/Application Support/SuperCollider/downloaded-quarks/scel/el")
(require 'sclang)
On macOS
If sclang
executable is not on your path, you may need to add it to your
exec-path.
;; in ~/.emacs
(setq exec-path (append exec-path '("/Applications/SuperCollider.app/Contents/MacOS/")))
Installing with an emacs package manager
It's completely possible to install with
straight.el,
use-package,
doom, etc. Instructions for doing so
are beyond the scope of this README, but note that autoloads
are implemented
for entry-point functions so if you like to have a speedy start-up time you can
use the :defer t
option.
Install Option 2: Debian package
There is a debian package which provides emacs integration called
supercollider-emacs
. Option #1 will likely be more recent, but
if you prefer you can install the package with:
sudo apt install supercollider-emacs
Install Option 3: Installing from source
If you are building SuperCollider from source, you can optionally compile and
install this library along with it. The cmake -DSC_EL
flag controls whether
scel will be compiled. On Linux machines -DSC_EL=ON
by default. See the
supercollider README files for more info.
Installation requirements
For the HTML help system, you will need emacs-w3m support, but you can still use the rest of the functionality without the w3m dependency.
;; in ~/.emacs
(require 'w3m)
Usage
The main function which starts interacting with the sclang interpreter is
sclang-start
. You can execute that anywhere with M-x sclang-start
, or from
within a .scd
buffer by pressing C-c C-o
.
If you know you want to launch sclang when you start emacs you can use the -f
option to execute that function right away:
# in your terminal
emacs -f sclang-start
Configuration
To fine-tune the installation from within emacs' graphical customization interface, type:
M-x sclang-customize
If you want to change from the default sclang_conf.yaml
file used by your
emacs sessions you can customize the sclang-library-configuration-file
variable, but make sure that file loads the scel quark, or you won't be
able to run sclang code.
Getting help
Inside an sclang-mode buffer (e.g. by editing a .sc file), execute
C-h m
and a window with key bindings in sclang-mode will pop up.
C-x C-h
lets you search for a help file
C-M-h
opens or switches to the Help browser (if no Help file has been opened,
the default Help file will be opened).
E
copies the buffer, puts it in text mode and sclang-minor-mode, to enable you
to edit the code parts to try out variations of the provided code in the help
file. With C-M-h
you can then return to the Help browser and browse further
from the Help file.
C-c C-e
allows you to edit the source of the HTML file, for example if you
want to improve it and commit it to the repository.
To enable moving around in the help file with arrow keys add the following
in your ~/.emacs
:
(eval-after-load "w3m"
'(progn
(define-key w3m-mode-map [left] 'backward-char)
(define-key w3m-mode-map [right] 'forward-char)
(define-key w3m-mode-map [up] 'previous-line)
(define-key w3m-mode-map [down] 'next-line)))
This ensures that the arrow keys are just for moving through the document, and not from hyperlink to hyperlink, which is the default in w3m-mode.
Server control
In the post buffer window, right-click on the server name; by default the two
servers internal
and localhost
are available. You will get a menu with
common server control operations.
To select another server, step through the server list by left-clicking on the server name.
Servers instantiated from the language will automatically be available in the mode line.