Can I change the space bar behaviour in LyX math mode?

Question

When typing an equation in LyX math mode, pressing the space bar will sometimes exit the equation. This is annoying because I will often press it by accident. Sometimes I am typing fast and I immediately press backspace, which deletes my entire equation.

So my questions are:

1. Is there a way to disable this space bar behaviour in LyX 2.2.1?
2. Is there a way for the backspace key to delete the last symbol/element in the equation instead of the entire equation?

I have looked in "Preferences" but didn't find any relevant options. Perhaps there is an under-the-hood solution...?

EDIT: it looks like someone has tried something similar: http://www.math.ucdenver.edu/~hartkes/computer/lyx/lyx.php. Unfortunately, I'm having some trouble making heads or tails out of it.

EDIT: cross-posted at http://latex-community.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=28474

Answer 1

There is no way in LyX to do what you want so we need to edit the source code and recompile. Here is a patch that makes it so space does not exit math:

diff --git a/src/mathed/InsetMathNest.cpp b/src/mathed/InsetMathNest.cpp
index 3460cdc..9c102dc 100644
--- a/src/mathed/InsetMathNest.cpp
+++ b/src/mathed/InsetMathNest.cpp
@@ -921,14 +921,8 @@ void InsetMathNest::doDispatch(Cursor & cur, FuncRequest & cmd)
        // spacial handling of space. If we insert an inset
        // via macro mode, we want to put the cursor inside it
        // if relevant. Think typing "\frac<space>".
-       if (cmd.argument()[0] == ' '
-           && cur.inMacroMode() && cur.macroName() != "\\"
-           && cur.macroModeClose() && cur.pos() > 0) {
-           MathAtom const atom = cur.prevAtom();
-           if (atom->asNestInset() && atom->isActive()) {
-               cur.posBackward();
-               cur.pushBackward(*cur.nextInset());
-           }
+       if (cmd.argument()[0] == ' ') {
+           // do nothing
        } else if (!interpretChar(cur, cmd.argument()[0])) {
            cmd = FuncRequest(LFUN_FINISHED_FORWARD);
            cur.undispatched();

If you happen to be on Ubuntu (or other Linux), compiling LyX is easy and I can help you. If you are on Windows or Mac it is possible but much more complicated.

Disclaimer: this patch probably breaks something, but it worked for me in limited testing.