abbrev vs yasnippet for this use case

Question

I have not done much with abbrev-mode or yasnippet, but I recently started using AucTex mode with great success, and I think some common TeX markup I'm inputting could benefit from expansion.

Example:

• Type dots and get \dots{}
• Type txt and get \textit{} (with cursor between the brackets)

I'm a beginner user, and abbrev-mode looks easier. However, I am not sure if it has the funcionality I'm looking for. If it must be Yasnippet, could someone advise on a good tutorial aimed at beginners?

Thank you, steven arntson

Answer 1

I'd use yasnippet for this, especially because of the desired cursor placement.

The first snippet could be something like

# -*- mode: snippet -*-
# name: dots
# key: dots
# --
\dots{$0}

You should store this file in a directory named latex-mode under a directory that is listed in yas-snippet-dirs. I think the official documentation is probably the best place to look for more information, but perhaps that's because I haven't actively looked for other information or tutorials.