nsxwidget - NS Cocoa backend for Emacs xwidgets

This repo supports Emacs feature xwidgets on native macOS X Cocoa.

Though original Emacs xwidgets builds and works on macOS but must build and run with X window and GTK instead of macOS's own GUI framework, resulting unaligned styles and UX with surrounding desktop environment.

WARNING This software is EXPERIMENTAL and UNSTABLE, can causes lost of data you are working on with this.

For example, while I develop, once watched an abrupt termination of this program that is not resolved.

Screenshot

Reviewing pandoc generated html in emacs xwidget webkit for mac os x,

How to build

On quite recent macOS X system with Xcode and WebKit2

• Git clone this repo and checkout master

git clone https://github.com/veshboo/emacs.git
git checkout master

• Notable dependencies

brew install texinfo
brew install gnutls

• Environment variable for newly installed texinfo (makeinfo)

export PATH=/usr/local/opt/texinfo/bin:$PATH
export LDFLAGS=-L/usr/local/opt/texinfo/lib

• then build Emacs

./autogen.sh
./configure --prefix=$HOME/works/emacs-devel --with-xwidgets
make install

For general build information, read INSTALL.REPO.

How to use

Your Emacs app built is located under prefix/nextstep/Emacs.app ... you can run it from command line

cd $HOME/works/emacs-devel/emacs
./nextstep/Emacs.app/Contents/MacOS/Emacs

or by double-clicking Emacs app icon under prefix/nextstep folder in Finder.

Brief xwidget webkit commands and key mappings

• Commands

  • M-x xwidget-webkit-browse-url, enter a URL you want visit including "https://", "http://", "files:///" part

  • C-u M-x xwidget-webkit-browse-url, ... does same but using new session of webkit

• Key mappings (apply when keyboard focus is not in HTML input text or textarea element, in general)

  • space, shift-space, up/down, left/right, delete: Scrolling

  • b, r, +/-: backward, reload, zoom in/out

  • C-x 2, C-x 3: Duplicate browsing same page in new horizontal or vertical split window (also using a new session)

  • C-g: Give up focus held in HTML input text or textarea element to Emacs

  • C-s, C-r: isearch integration

  • C-x r m, C-x r l: bookmark integration

Example customization using xwidget webkit

• Use xwidget-webkit-browse-url as the browse-url

;; In ~/.emacs or ~/.emacs.d/init.el
(setq browse-url-browser-function 'xwidget-webkit-browse-url)

* Then, many packages supporting `browse-url` will work with xwidget webkit

* For example, try `C-c C-c p` if you are using `markdown-preview`.

• search-web with xwidget webkit

(require 'search-web)
(global-set-key (kbd "C-c w") 'search-web)
(defun browse-url-default-browser (url &rest args)
  "Override `browse-url-default-browser' to use `xwidget-webkit' URL ARGS."
  (xwidget-webkit-browse-url url args))

• Browse to a URL bookmark from *Bookmark List*

(defvar xwidget-webkit-bookmark-jump-new-session) ;; xwidget.el
(defvar xwidget-webkit-last-session-buffer) ;; xwidget.el
(add-hook 'pre-command-hook
          (lambda ()
            (if (eq this-command #'bookmark-bmenu-list)
                (if (not (eq major-mode 'xwidget-webkit-mode))
                    (setq xwidget-webkit-bookmark-jump-new-session t)
                  (setq xwidget-webkit-bookmark-jump-new-session nil)
                  (setq xwidget-webkit-last-session-buffer (current-buffer))))))

* `RET` on a URL bookmark will show the page in the window with
  current `*Bookmark List*`

* It will create a new `xwidget-webkit-mode` buffer if the
  previous buffer in the selected window is not a
  `xwidget-webkit-mode`.  Otherwise, it will browse in the
  previous `xwidget-webkit-mode` buffer.

• Write elisp using lisp/xwidget.el to your task