Entering math mode in AUCTeX using \( and \)
I use yasnippet. awesome package for inserting snippets. there is latex snippet bundle you can use. Infact there is already a written snippet to insert exactly what you are asking for.
You can setup a key binding in your .emacs
file. This definition is based on the one for TeX-insert-braces
(C-c{
) from tex.el
.
(add-hook 'LaTeX-mode-hook
'(lambda ()
(define-key TeX-mode-map "\C-cm" 'TeX-insert-inline-math)
(defun TeX-insert-inline-math (arg)
"Like TeX-insert-brackes but for \(...\)" (interactive "P")
(if (TeX-active-mark)
(progn
(if (< (point) (mark)) (exchange-point-and-mark))
(insert "\\)")
(save-excursion (goto-char (mark)) (insert "\\(")))
(insert "\\(")
(save-excursion
(if arg (forward-sexp (prefix-numeric-value arg)))
(insert "\\)"))))))
As described in its documentation, AUCTeX provides the function TeX-insert-dollar
which inserts the two strings of TeX-electric-math
and adjusts point position to between those strings when "$" is typed.
The following elisp can be added to a hook on LaTeX-mode
to insert "\(" and "\)" then place the point after the opening paren when an unmatched "$" (i.e., the "$" is not closing an existing math environment) is typed:
(add-hook 'LaTeX-mode-hook
(lambda () (set (make-variable-buffer-local 'TeX-electric-math)
(cons "\\(" "\\)"))))