Deleting whole variable name on M-backspace

Question

Is there a way to configure emacs, so that when I hit M-backspace it would actually remove the whole variable? If I have a variable like my_dummy_variable I need to hit M-backspace three times in order to remove the name?

Maybe the answers to this [question](http://emacs.stackexchange.com/questions/983/treat-symbols-as-words-in-prog-modes) can help. — Nsukami _, Feb 27 '16 at 18:16
this is really related to emacs not C and not C++, suggest remove `c` tag, — user3629249, Feb 28 '16 at 01:02

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered Feb 28 '16 at 15:04

2

You can use the built-in backward-kill-sexp.

(global-set-key (kbd "M-DEL") 'backward-kill-sexp)

This has the unwanted effect of adding whatever was deleted to the kill ring.

To fix this you can try:

(defun backward-delete-sexp (arg)
     (interactive "P")
     (delete-region (point)
            (progn (backward-sexp arg) (point))))

answered Feb 28 '16 at 15:04

erjoalgo

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actually, you probably want , not – erjoalgo Feb 28 '16 at 21:45
`(let ((kill-ring)) (backward-kill-sexp arg))` may be a cleaner solution. – PythonNut Feb 28 '16 at 22:43

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Feb 28 '16 at 21:19

I think you're looking for superword-mode. From its documentation:

Superword mode is a buffer-local minor mode. Enabling it remaps word-based editing commands to superword-based commands that treat symbols as words, e.g. "this_is_a_symbol".

The superword oriented commands activated in this minor mode recognize symbols as superwords to move between superwords and to edit them as words.

Deleting whole variable name on M-backspace

2 Answers2