22 Keymaps

The command bindings of input events are recorded in data structures called keymaps. Each entry in a keymap associates (or binds) an individual event type, either to another keymap or to a command. When an event type is bound to a keymap, that keymap is used to look up the next input event; this continues until a command is found. The whole process is called key lookup.

• Key Sequences		Key sequences as Lisp objects.
• Keymap Basics		Basic concepts of keymaps.
• Format of Keymaps		What a keymap looks like as a Lisp object.
• Creating Keymaps		Functions to create and copy keymaps.
• Inheritance and Keymaps		How one keymap can inherit the bindings of another keymap.
• Prefix Keys		Defining a key with a keymap as its definition.
• Active Keymaps		How Emacs searches the active keymaps for a key binding.
• Searching Keymaps		A pseudo-Lisp summary of searching active maps.
• Controlling Active Maps		Each buffer has a local keymap to override the standard (global) bindings. A minor mode can also override them.
• Key Lookup		Finding a key’s binding in one keymap.
• Functions for Key Lookup		How to request key lookup.
• Changing Key Bindings		Redefining a key in a keymap.
• Remapping Commands		A keymap can translate one command to another.
• Translation Keymaps		Keymaps for translating sequences of events.
• Key Binding Commands		Interactive interfaces for redefining keys.
• Scanning Keymaps		Looking through all keymaps, for printing help.
• Menu Keymaps		Defining a menu as a keymap.