Instant docs in StumpWM

Posted on 2012-02-09 23:19 by Idorobots

Here's a cool hack I use to optimize my docs searching.

Let's start off with DuckDuckGo search engine. By itself it's a pretty powerful tool thanks to its numerous features like the !bang syntax. For example searching for:

!cpp std::string::clear

...takes me exactly where I want.

Let's use it to our advantage, shall we?

StumpWM is a tailing window manager that allows you to define system-wide key bindings that work and feel pretty much like Emacs ones. Combining that with DuckDuckGo'es !bang syntax makes you just a few clicks away from anything out there:

(defcommand duckduckgo (phrase) ((:string "Search: "))
  "Searches for something on DuckDuckGo."
  (run-shell-command
    (concatenate 'string
                 *your-fav-webbrowser*
                 " http://duckduckgo.com/?q="
                 (substitute #\+ #\Space phrase))))
(define-key *root-map* (kbd "d") "duckduckgo")

Now, if you want to find out if I used substitute correctly all you have to do is:

C-t d !lisp substitute

...what will take you directly there. Turns out I did.

But wait, there's more! You can wrap this code in a simple macro and use it with any site or search engine you wish:

(defmacro make-search (name prefix)
  `(defcommand ,name (phrase)
                     ((:string ,(format nil "~A search: " name)))
     ,(format nil "Searches for something on ~A." name)
     (run-shell-command
       (concatenate 'string
                    *your-fav-webbrowser*
                    " " ,prefix
                    (substitute #\+ #\Space phrase)))))

(make-search duckduckgo "http://www.duckduckgo.com/?q=")
(define-key *root-map* (kbd "d") "duckduckgo")
(make-search wikipedia "http://en.wikipedia.org/")
(define-key *root-map* (kbd "w") "wikipedia")

...and even search directly in your favourite online source:

(make-search texqa "http://www.duckduckgo.com/?q=!tex+")
(define-key *root-map* (kbd "T") "texqa")

Neat.