Have a custom keystroke insert a Unicode char in Atom

Question

Is there a way to get the Atom editor to insert a custom Unicode character when you press a shortcut key? I'm trying to make Cmd-\ insert a lambda (λ).

Answer 1

You can create a custom command and then map that command to the desired key. To add the custom command you can add this to your init.coffee:

atom.commands.add 'atom-text-editor',
  'custom:insert-lambda': (event) ->
    editor = @getModel()
    editor.insertText('λ')

Then you can add the key mapping in your keymap.cson:

'atom-text-editor':
  'cmd-\\': 'custom:insert-lambda'

After restarting or reloading the window to load the new init.coffee, things should work for you.