Life Lexicon mode for GNU Emacs
-------------------------------

The file lifelex.el implements a Life Lexicon mode for GNU Emacs.
This mode provides some fontification, and also functions to do
the following:

  (1) Load a pattern into your Life player.  The pattern loaded is
      the one on the line where the cursor is, or the next one if
      the cursor is not on a diagram line.  By default, no key is
      assigned to this function, so you can assign whichever key
      you prefer.  (I use F12.)

  (2) Follow a cross-reference.  The cross-reference followed is the
      one where the cursor is positioned, or the next one if the cursor
      is not positioned on a cross-reference.  The default key for
      this is RET (the Return or Enter key, or C-m).  You can also use
      mouse-2 (the middle mouse button, if you have three, or both
      mouse buttons together if you have only two).

  (3) Go back to the position you were at before following a
      cross-reference.  The default key for this is DEL (because
      it's a backspace on my computer).  All positions from which a
      cross-reference was followed are recorded, so you can go back
      any number of steps.

  (4) Jump to the definition of a term.  Press the key - there is no
      default (I use C-f) - and type in the first few letters of the
      term and then hit RET.

These functions are also available on a menu entitled "Lexicon", but I
added this as an afterthought and it probably isn't very useful.

When entering Life Lexicon mode the buffer will be set to read-only.
If, like me, you need to edit the lexicon then you can change this
as for any other buffer (C-x C-q).  Note that this changes the way
the RET and DEL keys work.

To use the file lifelex.el, put it in the lisp subdirectory of your
Emacs directory.  Then add the lisp code shown below (see end of file)
to your .emacs file, making changes as appropriate.  Once you have done
this (and restarted Emacs, or otherwise run the .emacs code) Emacs will
switch to Life Lexicon mode for any file whose name ends in lexicon.txt.

This is the first release of lifelex.el.  If you have any problems
with it, or would like to see other features added, then please let
me know.

Stephen Silver
life@argentum.freeserve.co.uk


;; This makes Emacs automatically switch to Life Lexicon mode for any
;; file whose name ends in "lexicon.txt".  If you have changed the name
;; of the lexicon file then you will need to change this.
(setq auto-mode-alist
      (cons '("lexicon\\.txt\\'" . lifelex-mode) auto-mode-alist))
;; Some things to be done when entering Life Lexicon mode.
;;   The colours shown below are the default ones, and are suitable if your
;; default face is white-on-black.  If your default face is different than
;; this, or your version of Emacs doesn't support these colours, or you
;; just don't like my colour scheme, then you will need to change these.
;;   The values of `lifelex-tmpfile' and `lifelex-lifeapp' control the way
;; that patterns are run.  Using "start" as the value of `lifelex-lifeapp'
;; is appropriate on Windows 9x because it causes the default viewer for
;; this filetype to be used.  The value of `lifelex-tmpfile' is the name
;; of a temporary file to be used.  If this filename does not include
;; a full path then it is considered to be relative to the usual Emacs
;; `temporary-file-directory'.
;;   The key-bindings shown below are the ones I use, and you may well
;; want to change them.
(defun my-lifelex-stuff ()
  (set-face-foreground 'lifelex-headword-face "yellow")
  (set-face-foreground 'lifelex-xref-face "spring green")
  (set-face-foreground 'lifelex-diagram-face "RosyBrown2")
  (setq lifelex-tmpfile "lex_tmp.lif")
  (setq lifelex-lifeapp "start")
  (define-key lifelex-mode-map "\C-f" 'lifelex-find-definition)
  (define-key lifelex-mode-map [f12] 'lifelex-run-pattern))
(add-hook 'lifelex-mode-hook 'my-lifelex-stuff)
;; This autoload object should probably not be changed.
(autoload 'lifelex-mode "lifelex" "Switch on Life Lexicon mode." t nil)