How to copy text without losing selection?

Question

When I copy some selected text (kill-ring-save with M-w), I automatically lose my selection. I have tried with Transient Mark Mode with no luck. (Note that I'm not using CUA Mode.)

I initially thought it was about the X selection (in which case the variable select-active-regions would be relevant), but it seems to be about highlighting the region. — YoungFrog, Feb 01 '16 at 10:46

score 11 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 01 '16 at 09:50

11

The best solution is using C-x C-x to reactivate the mark. But if you want to really keep the selection you can use:

(defun copy-keep-highlight (beg end)
  (interactive "r")
  (prog1 (kill-ring-save beg end)
    (setq deactivate-mark nil)))

answered Feb 01 '16 at 09:50

djangoliv

3,199
16
32

1

I'd suggest using a piece of advice like this : (defun yf/no-deactivate-mark (&rest _) (setq deactivate-mark nil)) (advice-addadvice-add 'kill-ring-save :after #'yf/no-deactivate-mark) – YoungFrog Feb 01 '16 at 10:48
@djangoliv, thanks. What is this prog1? – NVaughan Feb 02 '16 at 01:18
@YoungFrog, thanks, but your code doesn't work as its got a syntax error somewhere. – NVaughan Feb 02 '16 at 01:19
2

Ah, copy paste error : advice-add should be there only once. I can't edit the comment. – YoungFrog Feb 02 '16 at 09:20
1

@NVaughan here a good explanation: http://emacs.stackexchange.com/questions/5829/curiosity-what-does-progn-stands-for – djangoliv Feb 02 '16 at 11:10
@YoungFrog, nice answer. You could pose it as such here. – NVaughan Feb 02 '16 at 17:27

How to copy text without losing selection?

1 Answers1