Emacs LISP & macros

[dracus at TheWorld.com (J. Hunter Heinlen)]

> > > Emacs keeps telling me that query-replace-regexp can be executed with
> > > C-M-%, but no combination of Escape, Shift, Alt, Control, and the "%"
> > > key invokes it. 
...
> I suspect that the
> C-M key binding is one that just doesn't make sense on PC keyboards,
> but I don't know that for a fact.  

I just did this in emacs, and it works fine on my keyboard.  Slackware
9.0 and 8.2 if anyone is interested.

That stated, it could be a hardware issue.  All of the keyboard
controller chips that I know of (8042 through 8049 and all of their
derivatives and clones) support such combinations, but not all forms
of matrix wiring for keyboards support signalling multiple shifters to
the keyboard controller.  I would bet that this has become more
prevalent now that Windows does not really require the use of the
keyboard for most tasks.  Try swapping in another keyboard (different
make and model) and see if that helps.  Though I do concur with JJ about
the window manager, so try that first.

FWIW, the keypress order should, in theory, not matter much.  The ESC
key is supposed to get mapped to Meta along with the Alt key, and
should have the same keycode either way.  Though, with theory and
practice being what they are, I would not bet on it.

Hunter