Pierre,

This has bugged me for awhile too.  I actually like the underscore producing
<-.  However it annoys me when the underscore produces <- in variable
names.  Thinking about how R is structured I believe this most often occur
when refering to variables in a dataset, that is

dat$one_two

It can be also annoying if you purposely defined a variable with an
underscore:

one_two <- 3

one_two+3

I have redefined ess-smart-underscore to handle these situations a little
more intelligenty (that is guess you want to insert an underscore)

The function is as follows:

(defun ess-smart-underscore ()
  "Smart \"_\" key: insert `ess-S-assign', unless in string/comment.
If the underscore key is pressed a second time, the assignment
operator is removed and replaced by the underscore.  `ess-S-assign',
typically \" <- \", can be customized.  In ESS modes other than R/S,
an underscore is always inserted. "
  (interactive)
  ;;(insert (if (ess-inside-string-or-comment-p (point)) "_" ess-S-assign))
  (if (or
       (ess-inside-string-or-comment-p (point))
       ;; Data
       (save-match-data (looking-back "[$][A-Za-z0-9.]+"))
       ;; Look for variable
       (save-match-data
  (save-excursion
    (let (word)
      (looking-back "\\<[A-Za-z0-9 <file://%3C%5BA-Za-z0-9/>.]+")
      (setq word (match-string 0))
      (message "Word: %s" word)
      (re-search-backward (format "^[ \t]*%s_[A-Za-z0-9.]*[
\t]*\\(<-\\|=\\)" word) nil t))))
       (not (equal ess-language "S")))
      (insert "_")
    ;; Else one keypress produces ess-S-assign; a second keypress will
delete
    ;; ess-S-assign and instead insert _
    ;; Rather than trying to count a second _ keypress, just check whether
    ;; the current point is preceded by ess-S-assign.
    (let ((assign-len (length ess-S-assign)))
      (if (and
    (>= (point) (+ assign-len (point-min))) ;check that we can move back
    (save-excursion
             (backward-char assign-len)
             (looking-at ess-S-assign)))
   ;; If we are currently looking at ess-S-assign, replace it with _
   (progn
     (delete-backward-char assign-len)
     (insert "_"))
 (delete-horizontal-space)
 (insert ess-S-assign)))))



On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 6:53 PM, Richard M. Heiberger <rmh@temple.edu> wrote:

> Just turn it off.
> C-h k _
> takes you to the description of ess-smart-underscore.
> >From there, click on ess-S-assign and then on customize.
> The "_" is hard-wired in the defun, so reversing it would be a programming
> nuisance.
>
> Rich
>
>
> On Fri, Jul 8, 2011 at 7:36 PM, Pierre Kleiber <pkleiber.hi@gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > I am working in an environment where many folks use "_" in variable and
> > function names, and I think if would be lots less trouble to have a
> single
> > underline generate "_" and two consecutive underlines generate " <- ".
> Can
> > anyone suggest a way to reverse the action of "_" and "__"?
> >
> > Thanks, Pierre
> > --
> > ------------------------------**------------------------------**---------
> > Pierre Kleiber, Ph.D                  Email: pierre.kleiber@noaa.gov
> > Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center        Tel. wk: 808 983-5399
> > NOAA Fisheries                                      hm: 808 737-7544
> > 2570 Dole St., Honolulu, HI 96822-2396
> > ------------------------------**------------------------------**---------
> > "♫ It's a long long way from Amphioxus, but we all come from there ♫"
> >                                       --- Philip H. Pope
> >
> > ______________________________**________________
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> >
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