Use Commands and Interactions

This chapter invokes named commands, filters candidate lists, responds to a prompt, inspects a binding, and returns safely to the editing pane.

Before You Begin

If you enter this chapter directly, first complete Prepare the User Guide Exercises.

Complete the first editing session, then open the tutorial notes again:

odra "$HOME/odra-guide/work/dirs/notes/review.md"

Read Key Notation

The User Guide spells out a key sequence when first introducing it and uses compact notation where it improves a table or repeated instruction:

A hyphen joins simultaneous modifiers to one key. Spaces separate successive keys. Named keys such as Up, Down, Home, End, Backspace, Delete, and Tab refer to their terminal keys.

Odra also accepts pointer input when the frontend reports that capability. The primary button can focus visible panes and areas, place point in ordinary text, and create a linear selection by dragging. Frontends without pointer reporting retain every required focus, movement, selection, copy, paste, and command path through the keyboard; unavailable pointer gestures do not change keyboard behavior.

Open Command Navigation

Press M-x. Odra keeps the editing pane visible and opens command navigation from the bottom of the window. The interaction shows an editable query and the commands that currently match it.

Type:

status bar inspect

Query words may match the command name or its searchable description. The matching row is status-bar-inspect; punctuation in the canonical command name does not have to be typed as punctuation in the query.

Use Up, Down, C-p, or C-n to move the highlighted row. Press Enter to run the selected command. Odra presents the visible Status Bar segments in a read-only result surface. Press q to close that surface and return to the file.

Filter and Cancel a Candidate List

Open M-x again and type theme. Each character narrows the candidate list. Press Backspace to remove one query character and broaden it again.

Press C-g without accepting a row. The candidate interaction closes, no command runs, and the cursor returns to the same editing location.

Candidate keys are local to the active interaction. For example, C-n moves the selected candidate while M-x is open, then resumes moving the document cursor after the interaction closes.

Respond to a Command Prompt

Open M-x, run where-is, and enter this canonical command name at the prompt:

save-associated-document

Press Enter. The result surface lists the active binding C-x C-s and its effective context. Press q or C-g to return to editing.

A prompt collects one bounded value for a command. A candidate list selects one checked item from a visible set. Both keep their own input rules until they are accepted or cancelled.

Inspect an Unknown Binding

Open M-x, run describe-key, then press C-x C-s when the capture prompt appears. The resulting list identifies save-associated-document as the effective command.

Press q to close the list. The same discovery family includes:

• where-is for the active bindings of one command;
• describe-bindings for the active binding set;
• describe-keymap for one named map; and
• describe-keymap-state for the active profile and interaction state.

These are ordinary named commands, so they remain discoverable through M-x.

Recover from an Interaction

C-g is the protected cancellation command. It first closes an active prompt, candidate list, or read-only result. With no transient interaction active, it clears a pending key sequence or deactivates the current selection.

An unavailable or stale candidate is rejected rather than invoking a different command. Read the short diagnostic, close or refresh the interaction, and choose again from the current list.

Verify the Result

You have completed this chapter when you can open and cancel M-x, run status-bar-inspect, use where-is to find C-x C-s, and use describe-key to resolve that sequence back to save-associated-document.

Continue with Editing.

Previous: Complete the First Editing Session · User Guide · Next: Editing