Using Autoinserting(emacs) for actionscript

This is my post second post in this series. After spending some time in lisp, I have managed auto-insert to work for actionscript.

Emacs has got Autoinserting which allows putting some predefined code in a file when you create it first time. This is a familiar concept for people who use IDEs like FlexBuilder for coding.

In flex builder when we create a class first time, it asks for the classname and other information like base class, interfaces and dump some code for the first time. Autoinserting is the answer to achieve such a functionality in emacs.

It works as follows:

1. When you create a new file with .as extension, it prompts for the base class name
2. Pressing ENTER will imply no base class otherwise it will insert the required code (import statement and extends string in the template)
3. After that it asks for package name, again pressing ENTER will mean default (i.e top level package) otherwise package name given will be taken.
4. It repeatedly keeps asking for the interfaces that you plan to implement, unless you press ENTER

Here is the required code you need to add to your .emacs file.

P.S :=> Don’t forget to set the flex-home variable

(auto-insert-mode t)
(setq auto-insert-alist
      (append '(((actionscript-mode .  "Actionscript Mode") . insert-as-template))
              auto-insert-alist))

(defvar flex-home "C:/flex/sdk/framework/src")

(defun get-dot-seperated (file-name)
  (interactive)
  (setq file-name (substring file-name 1 )) ;; Get rid of the first /
  (setq parts (split-string file-name "/")) ;; split string into parts based on /
  ;;Start creating . seperated import string
  (setq file-dot-path "")
  (while parts
    (setq token (car parts))
    (setq file-dot-path (concat   file-dot-path "." token))
    (setq parts (cdr parts)))
  (substring file-dot-path 1))

(defun insert-as-template ()
  (interactive)
  (let ((baseclass (read-file-name "[]base class?" flex-home))
        (package (read-string "[]Package?" ""))
        ;;(title (substring (file-name-nondirectory buffer-file-name) 0 -3))
        (title (file-name-sans-extension (file-name-nondirectory buffer-file-name)))
        (tab "t"))

    (insert (concat
             "package " package "n"
             "{n"))

    (setq hasBaseClass (not (or (= (length baseclass) 0)
                   (equal buffer-file-name baseclass))))

    (when hasBaseClass
      (setq foo (length flex-home))
      (setq base-class-name (substring baseclass foo ( - (length baseclass) 3))) ;;get /mx/controls/Datagrid from full path
      (insert (concat "import " (get-dot-seperated base-class-name) ";n")))

    (setq point-for-imports (point))

    (insert (concat "public class " title))

    (if hasBaseClass
        (insert (concat " extends " (file-name-sans-extension (file-name-nondirectory baseclass)))))

    (setq point-after-class (point))

    (insert (concat
             "n"
            "{n"
            "n"
            tab "//--------------------------------------------------------------------------n"
            tab "//n"
            tab "//  Constructorn"
            tab "//n"
            tab "//--------------------------------------------------------------------------n"
            "n"
            tab "/**n"
            tab "*  Constructor.n"
            tab "*/n"
            tab "public function " title "()n"
            tab "{n"
            tab tab "//Start from heren" tab tab))

   ;;bookmark this point, so that we can place the cursor here when finished
    (setq point-beginning (point))
    (insert (concat
            "n"
            tab "}n"
            "}n"
            "}n"
            )))

  (setq imports-for-interfaces "")
  (setq implements-string "")
  (setq base-class-path "")
  (setq prompt t)
  (while prompt
    (let ((interface (read-file-name "[]implements?" flex-home)))

      (when (not (or (= (length interface) 0)
                     (equal buffer-file-name interface)))

        (setq foo (length flex-home))
        (setq interface-name (substring interface foo ( - (length interface) 3))) ;;get /mx/controls/Datagrid from full path
        (setq imports-for-interfaces (concat imports-for-interfaces "import " (get-dot-seperated interface-name) ";n"))
        (setq implements-string (concat implements-string (file-name-sans-extension (file-name-nondirectory interface-name)) ",")))

      (if (or (= (length interface) 0)
              (equal buffer-file-name interface))
          (setq prompt nil))))

  (when (> (length implements-string) 0)
    (setq implements-string (substring implements-string 0 (1- (length implements-string))))
    (goto-char point-after-class)
    (insert (concat "nt" "implements " implements-string))
    (setq point-beginning (+ point-beginning (length implements-string))))

  (when (> (length imports-for-interfaces) 0)
    (goto-char point-for-imports)
    (insert (concat imports-for-interfaces "n"))
    (setq point-beginning (+ point-beginning (length imports-for-interfaces))))

  (goto-char point-beginning))

As a result I get this as my start file:

package src
{
import mx.controls.Tree;
import mx.controls.treeClasses.ITreeDataDescriptor;
import mx.collections.IViewCursor;

public class MyTree extends Tree
	implements ITreeDataDescriptor,IViewCursor
{

	//--------------------------------------------------------------------------
	//
	//  Constructor
	//
	//--------------------------------------------------------------------------

	/**
	*  Constructor.
	*/
	public function MyTree()
	{
		//Start from here

	}
}
}

Filed under: actionscript, emacs