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I have this in my .emacsrc

(define-key global-map "\C-h" 'backward-delete-char) ;;previously help

however, when I do an I-search and hit C-h to delete a char, emacs uses the default binding and tries to open the help, when I cancel the search with C-g, it then executes the backward-delete-char in the document I started the I-search from.

EDIT: This makes me wonder why C-h is again mapped to help inside the minibuffer. What is overriding my global-map definition and why?

bug
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2 Answers2

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You can use this:

(keyboard-translate ?\C-h ?\C-?)

This will translate C-h to backspace everywhere.

When you do isearch or ido-find-file, they override some keys in the minibuffer. You could re-override these keys for each mode, but you'd have to really do it for each new mode that you use. That's why I've suggested the code above: modes will not typically rebind backspace to something that doesn't behave like a backspace. The point is that the logical C-h is still bound for help inside minibuffer, but with keyboard-translate you don't have C-h anymore - you just have another backspace. And if you want to bind some command to it, you can't bind to C-h - you have to bind to ?\C-?.

abo-abo
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  • This seems like a duplicate: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/683425/globally-override-key-binding-in-emacs?rq=1 but it's interesting that your suggestion hasn't been mentioned over there. I'd like to know why, are there problems with your method? – bug Aug 15 '13 at 13:48
  • I haven't experienced any problems. It effectively just remaps the keys on your keyboard. But if you bind something to backspace, the same thing will be bound to `C-h`: they're now the same key. – abo-abo Aug 15 '13 at 13:56
  • I like your answer, but I want to get a better understanding of the issue first. I edited my question accordingly. Maybe you know why minibuffer mode overwrites my global remapping? – bug Aug 15 '13 at 14:19
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My guess is that you don't really want to delete a char when you hit "control and h", but instead that for some reason Emacs receives C-h when you press the backspace key, right?

If so, the best solution is to figure out how to change your terminal emulator so that it doesn't send C-h to Emacs when you press backspace (e.g. it could send C-? as do most other terminal emulators nowadays).

Stefan
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  • Nope, I want to delete a char in when i hit `C-i` when editing text. I modified my question to make this more clear. – bug Aug 15 '13 at 14:03