`special' keys in keyboard macros

[Roland Winkler]

In GNU Emacs 21.2.1 (i386-pc-linux-gnu, X toolkit, Xaw3d scroll bars)
 of 2002-04-09 on tfkp12
configured using `configure  --prefix=/nfs/common --libexecdir=/nfs/common/lib 
--bindir=/nfs/common/lib/emacs/21.2/bin/i686-Linux 
--mandir=/nfs/common/share/man --infodir=/nfs/common/share/info --with-gcc 
--with-pop --with-x --with-x-toolkit=athena i386-pc-linux'
Important settings:
  value of $LC_ALL: nil
  value of $LC_COLLATE: POSIX
  value of $LC_CTYPE: nil
  value of $LC_MESSAGES: nil
  value of $LC_MONETARY: nil
  value of $LC_NUMERIC: nil
  value of $LC_TIME: nil
  value of $LANG: en_US
  locale-coding-system: iso-latin-1
  default-enable-multibyte-characters: nil

Please describe exactly what actions triggered the bug
and the precise symptoms of the bug:


I am having some problems with `special' keys like the return key
when I am defining and storing keyboard macros.

For example, I might want to define a keyboard macro that runs the
commands bound to the keys RET, left-arrow, right-arrow, up-arrow,
down-arrow, insert, delete and backspace.

When emacs runs in its own X window [for short: "emacs (X)"] I get
the keyboard macro

;; "emacs (X)"
(fset 'foo
   [return left right up down insert delete backspace])

On the other hand "emacs -nw" gives me for the same key sequence

;; "emacs -nw"
(fset 'bar
   "\C-m\C-[OD\C-[OC\C-[OA\C-[OB\C-[[2~\C-[[3~\C-?")

The problem is: "emacs -nw" cannot make use of the keyboard macro
foo and "emacs (X)" cannot make use of the macro bar either.

The problem applies to both my quickly hacked keyboard macros as
well as to my personalized keybindings that use the macro kbd (i.e.,
which string KEYS should be passed to kbd such that I get the same
keybindings using "emacs -nw" and "emacs (X)").

Roland

PS  Recently I rediscovered the beauty and efficiency of "emacs -nw"
when I am forced to use a slow modem connection.

PPS  It seems to me that it is not a problem of "emacs -nw" but of
xterm that \C-? is always interpreted as backspace. I was long using
\C-? as a distinct key with "emacs (X)" but now I realized it
doesn't work with "emacs -nw". Is there somewhere a list of
keybindings one should avoid if compatibility between "emacs (X)"
and "emacs -nw" is an issue?