How can I type simple underline "_" in Auctex

Question

I am using Auctex in Aquamacs. Everytime I type underline "_", it will show as $_{}$ automatically which is very annoying. I am wondering how could I turn off this function. Thanks.

Answer 1

You can always insert a character literally by typing C-q first (quoted-insert).

Many “electric” characters (that's what Emacs usually calls characters whose insertion has extra effects such as inserting extra braces, reindenting, etc.) are designed to revert to a plain insertion if you pass a numeric prefix argument, i.e. type ESC 1 _ or M-1 _ to insert one underscore. I don't know if this is the case specifically for the command you're using.

To see the effect of the _ key, type C-h k (describe-key) followed by _. That will give you a description of the command, and perhaps a way to customize it. By default, in AUCTeX, _ runs TeX-insert-sub-or-superscript which just inserts a _ unless TeX-electric-sub-and-superscript is turned on, and even then it only inserts braces if already in math mode.

It turns out that you're using cdlatex, where _ is bound to cdlatex-sub-superscript. If you want to keep using cdlatex but deactivate the electric behavior of _, you can remove _ from the cdlatex keymap after the package is loaded:

(defun my-after-load-cdlatex ()
  (define-key cdlatex-mode-map "_" nil)
  t)
(eval-after-load "cdlatex" '(my-after-load-cdlatex))

You may wish to activate AUCTeX's less invasive electric _ by setting TeX-electric-sub-and-superscript:

(setq TeX-electric-sub-and-superscript t)