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This file documents the EMACS editor. -*-Text-*-
Don't edit this file! It is produced by SCRIBE from another file.
Be sure to run TAGS over this file after you make it with SCRIBE.
EMACS Node: Top, Up: (DIR)
The EMACS Editor
This is an INFO-ized EMACS reference manual.
* Menu:
* Intro:: An introduction to this documentation.
* Distrib:: How to get a copy of EMACS, or an EMACS manual.
* Glossary:: Definitions of important concepts, and cross refs.
* CommandIndex::Brief info on all commands ordered by topic,
and cross refs.
* LibCat:: Brief info on available libraries.
* VarIndex:: Brief info on meanings of specific variables.
* Screen:: How to interpret what you see on the screen.
* Characters:: EMACS's character sets; usage from deficient
(ie, standard ASCII or upper case only) keyboards.
* Basic:: The most basic editing commands.
Important General Concepts
* Arguments:: Giving numeric arguments to commands.
* M-X:: Issuing long-named "extended" commands.
* Subsystems:: Commands that themselves read commands in a distinctive
language, such as INFO and Backtrace.
* Recursive:: Recursive editing levels; situations when you are
using ordinary EMACS commands but editing something
special-purpose (such as a message to send).
* Exiting:: Exiting EMACS, subsystems, or recursive editing levels.
* Subforks:: Communicating with the operating-system:
Running an inferior EXEC, checking for mail, etc.
* Help:: Commands for asking EMACS about its commands.
Important Text-Changing Commands
* Mark:: The mark: how to delimit a "region" of text.
* Killing:: Killing text.
* Un-killing:: Recovering killed text. Moving text.
* Copying:: Other ways of copying text.
* Search:: Finding or replacing occurrences of a string.
* Text:: Commands and modes for editing English.
* Fixit:: Commands especially useful for fixing typos.
* Abbrev: (WORDAB), How to define text abbreviations to reduce
the number of characters you must type.
Larger Units of Text
* Files:: All about handling files.
* Buffers:: Multiple buffers; editing several files at once.
* Display:: Controlling what text is displayed.
* Windows:: Viewing two pieces of text at once.
* Narrowing:: Commands for narrowing view to part of the buffer.
* Pages:: Commands for dealing with pages in files.
* Replace:: Repetitive search and replace commands.
* TECOSearch:: TECO search strings.
Editing Programs
* MajorModes:: Text mode vs. Lisp mode vs. MIDAS mode ...
* Programs:: Commands and modes for editing programs.
* Tags: (TAGS), The Tags subsystem remembers the location of each
"tag" or function definition in one or more files,
and allows you to go directly to any of them.
Customization
* MinorModes:: Some useful options you can turn on and off.
* Libraries:: Loading additional libraries of commands.
* Variables:: Named variables: what they do and how to use them.
* Syntax:: The syntax table.
* FS Flags:: FS flags: TECO's variables.
* Init:: Init files and EMACS.VARS files.
* Locals:: Local modes lists in files.
* KBDMAC:: Making an abbreviation for a sequence of commands.
* Minibuffer:: Executing small TECO programs interactively.
Recovery from Lossage
* Quitting:: Quitting and Aborting.
* Lossage:: What to do if EMACS is hung.
* Undo:: Undoing a command that destroyed your text.
* Journals:: Journal files save all your commands in case of crash.
* Bugs:: How and when to report a bug.
Other Available Libraries
* PICTURE:: Subsystem for editing pictures made out of characters.
* Sort:: Commands for sorting part of the buffer.
* SLOWLY: (SLOWLY), A package of macros for people using slow
terminals.
* RENUM: (RENUM), A package of macros for renumbering sections,
references, equations, etc. in manuscripts.
* DOCOND: (DOCOND), Subsystem for "assembly conditionals"
in documentation files.
* Babyl: (Babyl), For reading mail.
* INTER: (INTER), Interface between EMACS and Interlisp.
* LEDIT: (LEDIT), Interface between EMACS and MacLisp.
* INFO: (INFO), Subsystem for reading documentation files.
* CLU: (ECLU), Subsystem containing CLU mode, a major mode.
* PL1: (EPL1), Subsystem containing PL1 mode, a major mode.
* PASCAL: (EPASC), Subsystem containing PASCAL mode, a major mode.
* TDEBUG: (TDEBUG), EMACS macro 2 window real-time debugger.
* Internals: (CONV), EMACS internals. Customization. Init files.
* TMACS: (TMACS)Top, Assorted useful commands and subroutines.
Here are some other nodes which are really inferiors of the ones
already listed, so you can get to them in one step:
* ModeLine:: How to interpret the mode line at top level.
* MMArcana:: Hows and whys of MM commands.
* Mail:: Reading mail.
* Visiting:: How to visit a file for editing.
* ListDir:: How to list a directory.
* Revert:: How to cancel some changes you have made.
* AutoSave:: Protection from system crashes.
* CleanDir:: Deleting piled up old versions of files.
* DIRED:: Deleting files by "editing your directory".
* Filadv:: Miscellaneous file commands.
* Indenting:: Indentation commands for programs.
* Matching:: Automatic display of how parens balance.
* Lisp:: Commands for Lisp code.
* Lists:: Commands for moving over lists.
* Defuns:: Commands for top level lists (defuns).
* Comments:: Commands that understand comments in code.
* Grinding:: Reformatting Lisp code.
* MIDAS:: Commands for assembler language code.
* Other Langs:: Programming languages other than Lisp and assembler.
* Words:: Commands for moving over words.
* Sentences:: Commands for sentences and paragraphs.
* TextIndent:: Commands for indenting text.
* Filling:: Commands for filling and centering text.
* Case:: Case conversion commands.
* NoLowerCase:: What to do on terminals with no lower case.
* Underlining:: Underlining commands.
* SCRIBE:: Editing SCRIBE input files.
* Dissociation::Dissociated Press.
* PAGE Lib: PAGE. Macros for editing only one page at a time.
* Term Types:: How to specify the terminal type.
* Printing:: Printing terminals.
EMACS Node: Intro, Previous: Top, Up: Top, Next: Distrib
Introduction
You are about to read about EMACS, an advanced, self-documenting,
customizable, extensible real-time display editor.
We say that EMACS is a display editor because normally the text being
edited is visible on the screen and is updated automatically as you type
your commands. *Note Display: Screen.
We call it a real-time editor because the display is updated very
frequently, usually after each character or pair of characters you type.
This minimizes the amount of information you must keep in your head as
you edit. *Note Real-time: Basic.
We call EMACS advanced because it provides facilities that go beyond
simple insertion and deletion: filling of text; automatic indentation of
programs; viewing two files at once; and dealing in terms of characters,
words, lines, sentences, paragraphs, and pages, as well as expressions
and comments in several different programming languages. It is much
easier to type one command meaning "go to the end of the paragraph" than
to find the desired spot with repetition of simpler commands.
Self-documenting means that at any time you can type a special
character, the "Help" key, to find out what your options are. You can
also use it to find out what any command does, or to find all the
commands that pertain to a topic. *Note Help: Help.
Customizable means that you can change the definitions of EMACS commands
in little ways. For example, if you use a programming language in which
comments start with <** and end with **>, you can tell the EMACS comment
manipulation commands to use those strings. Another sort of
customization is rearrangement of the command set. For example, if you
prefer the four basic cursor motion commands (up, down, left and right)
on keys in a diamond pattern on the keyboard, you can have it. *Note
Customization: MinorModes.
Extensible means that you can go beyond simple customization and write
entirely new commands, programs in the language TECO. EMACS is an
"on-line extensible" system, which means that it is divided into many
functions that call each other, any of which can be redefined in the
middle of an editing session. Any part of EMACS can be replaced without
making a separate copy of all of EMACS. Many already written extensions
are distributed with EMACS, and some (including DIRED, PAGE, PICTURE,
SORT, TAGS, and WORDAB) are documented in this manual. Although only a
programmer can write an extension, anybody can use it afterward.
Extension requires programming in TECO, a rather obscure language. If
you are clever and bold, you might wish to learn how. *Note TECO:
(CONV), for advice on learning TECO. This manual does not even try to
explain how to write TECO programs, but it does contain some notes that
are useful primarily to the extension writer.
EMACS Node: Distrib, Previous: Intro, Up: Top, Next: Glossary
Distribution of EMACS and EMACS Manuals
*) The manual
You are reading the INFO form of the EMACS manual.
The manual is available in two other forms as well. The file
EMACS:EMACS.GUIDE contains a form of the manual designed to be printed
on line printers. There is also a published form, which is the most
useful one. It is available for $3.25 per copy, from
Publications Department
Artificial Intelligence Lab
545 Tech Square
Cambridge, MA 02139
Be sure to specify that you want the Twenex version (unless you want to
specify the ITS version instead).
*) EMACS itself
EMACS is available for distribution for use on Twenex ("TOPS-20")
systems. To get a copy, mail a 2400 foot mag tape to me,
Richard M. Stallman
Artificial Intelligence Lab
545 Tech Square, Rm 914
Cambridge, MA 02139
and I will eventually mail it back to you. A self-addressed return
mailer will make it easier for me to do so. It should leave room for a
manual as well as the tape.
EMACS is distributed on a communal basis, which means that its
maintenance is a shared responsibility. Any improvements or extensions
that you make, you must send back to me, so that I can redistribute
them.
If you have a distribution tape, feel free to give out copies of it, but
please at the same time give out copies of the paper documentation you
received with the tape. Also, be sure to let the person you give the
tape to know that he is joining the EMACS commune and that he should
give back his improvements.
Please do not attempt to create your own tape by dumping one off of your
local system. Since many systems delete or move some of the files, you
are likely to give out an incomplete copy, which will be unfair to the
person you give it to. Obtain a new distribution tape if you don't have
one.
See the file EMACS:EMACS.LETTER for more information on this subject.
EMACS Node: Glossary, Previous: Distrib, Up: Top, Next: CommandIndex
Glossary
Aborting Aborting a recursive editing level (q.v.) means
canceling the command which invoked the recursive
editing. For example, if you abort editing a message to
be sent, the message is not sent. Aborting is done with
the command C-]. *Note Aborting: Quitting.
Altmode Altmode is a character, labelled Escape on some
keyboards. It is the bit prefix character (q.v.) used
to enter Meta-characters when the keyboard does not have
a Meta (q.v.) key. *Note Characters: Characters. Also,
it delimits string arguments to extended commands.
*Note Extended Commands: M-X.
Balance Parentheses
EMACS can balance parentheses manually or automatically.
You can ask to move from one parenthesis to the matching
one. *Note Lists: Lists. When you insert a close
parenthesis, EMACS can show the matching open. *Note
Matching: Matching.
Bit Prefix Character
A bit prefix character is a command which combines with
the next character typed to make one character. They
are used for effectively typing commands which the
keyboard being used is not able to send. For example,
to use a Meta-character when there is no Meta key on the
keyboard, the bit prefix character Altmode (q.v.) is
needed. *Note Bit Prefix: Characters.
Buffer The buffer is the basic editing unit; one buffer
corresponds to one piece of text being edited. You can
have several buffers, but at any time you are editing
only one, the "selected" buffer, though two can be
visible when you are using two windows. *Note Buffers:
Buffers.
C- C is an abbreviation for Control, in the name of a
character. *Note C-: Characters.
C-M- C-M- is an abbreviation for Control-Meta, in the name of
a character. *Note C-M-: Characters.
Comment A comment is text in a program which is intended only
for humans reading the program, and is marked specially
so that the compiler will ignore it. EMACS offers
special commands for creating and killing comments.
*Note Comments: Comments.
Command A command is a character or sequence of characters
which, when typed by the user, fully specifies one
action to be performed by EMACS. For example, "X" and
"Control-F" and "Meta-X Text Mode<cr>" are commands.
*Note Command: Characters. Sometimes the first
character of a multi-character command is also
considered a command: M-X Text Mode<cr> is a command (an
extended command), and M-X is also a command (a command
to read a function name and invoke the function). *Note
Extended Commands: M-X.
Completion Completion is what EMACS does when it automatically
fills out the beginning of an extended command name into
the full name, or as much of it as can be deduced for
certain. Completion occurs when Altmode, Space or
Return is typed. *Note Completion: M-X.
Connected A character command in EMACS works by calling a function
which it is "connected" to. Customization often
involves connecting a character to a different function.
See "Dispatch table". *Note Connected: Characters.
Continuation Line
When a line of text is longer than the width of the
screen, it is displayed on more than one line of screen.
We say that the line is continued, and that all screen
lines used but the first are called continuation lines.
*Note Continuation: Basic.
Control Control is the name of a bit which each command
character does or does not contain. A character's name
includes the word Control if the Control bit is part of
that character. Ideally, this means that the character
is typed using the Control key: Control-A is typed by
typing "A" while holding down Control. On most
keyboards the Control key works in only some cases; the
rest of the time, a bit prefix character (q.v.) must be
used. *Note Control: Characters.
Control-Character
A Control character is a character which includes the
Control bit.
Control-X Command
A Control-X command is a two-character command whose
first character is the prefix character Control-X.
*Note Control-X Command: Characters.
<cr> <cr> stands for the carriage return character, in
contexts where the word "Return" might be confusing.
*Note <cr>: Characters.
CRLF CRLF stands for the sequence of two characters, carriage
return followed by linefeed, which is used to separate
lines in files and in text being edited in EMACS. *Note
CRLF: Characters.
Cursor The cursor is the object on the screen which indicates
the position called point (q.v.) at which insertion and
deletion takes place. The cursor is part of the
terminal, and often blinks or underlines the character
where it is located. *Note Cursor: Screen.
Customization Customization is making minor changes in the way EMACS
works. It is often done by setting variables (*Note
Variables: Variables.) or by reconnecting commands
(*Note Reconnect: MMArcana.).
Defun A defun is a list at the top level of list structure in
a Lisp program. It is so named because most such lists
are calls to the Lisp function defun. *Note Defuns:
Defuns.
Delete This is the label used on some keyboards for the Rubout
character.
Deletion Deletion means erasing text without saving it. EMACS
deletes text only when it is expected not to be worth
saving (all whitespace, or only one character). The
alternative is killing (q.v.). *Note Deletion: Killing.
Dispatch Table The dispatch table is what records the connections
(q.v.) from command characters to functions. Think of a
telephone switchboard connecting incoming lines
(commands) to telephones (functions). A standard EMACS
has one set of connections; a customized EMACS may have
different connections. *Note Dispatch Table: MMArcana.
Echo Area The echo area is the bottom three lines of the screen,
used for echoing the arguments to commands, for asking
questions, and printing brief messages. *Note
Echo Area: Screen.
Echoing Echoing is acknowledging the receipt of commands by
displaying them (in the echo area). Most programs other
than EMACS echo all their commands. EMACS never echoes
single-character commands; longer commands echo only if
you pause while typing them.
Error Messages Error messages are single lines of output printed by
EMACS when the user or a TECO program asks for something
impossible. They appear at the top of the screen and
end with a question mark.
Escape Escape is the label used on some keyboards for the
Altmode character.
Exiting Exiting EMACS means returning to EMACS's superior,
normally EXEC. *Note Exiting: Exiting. Exiting a
recursive editing level (q.v.) means allowing the
command which invoked the recursive editing to complete
normally. For example, if you are editing a message to
be sent, and you exit, the message is sent.
Extended Command
An extended command is a command which consists of the
character Meta-X followed by the command name (really,
the name of a function (q.v.)). An extended command
requires several characters of input, but its name is
made up of English words, so it is easy to remember.
*Note Extended Commands: M-X.
Extension Extension means making changes to EMACS which go beyond
the bounds of mere customization. If customization is
moving the furniture around in a room, extension is
building new furniture. *Note Extension: (CONV).
Filling Filling text means moving text from line to line so that
all the lines are approximately the same length. *Note
Filling: Filling.
Function A function is a named subroutine of EMACS. When you
type a command, EMACS executes a function which
corresponds to the command, and the function does the
work. Character commands are connected to functions
through the dispatch table (q.v.). Extended commands
contain the name of the function to be called; this
allows you to call any function. *Note Functions: M-X.
Global The global value of a variable or of a command character
definition applies to all buffers and all files (except
those which have their own local values of the variable
or definition). *Note Global: Variables.
Grinding Grinding means reformatting a program so that it is
indented according to its structure. *Note Grinding:
Grinding.
Help You can type the Help character at any time to ask what
options you have, or to ask what any command does.
*Note Help: Help.
Home Directory Your home directory is the one on which your mail and
your init files are stored. Twenex does not distinguish
this from the working directory (connected directory).
INFO INFO is the subsystem for perusing tree-structured
documentation files. The documentation in INFO includes
a version of the EMACS manual.
ITS ITS is the Incompatible Timesharing System written at
the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab. EMACS was first
developed on this system. Just what it is incompatible
with has changed from year to year.
Kill Ring The kill ring is where killed text is saved. It holds
the last nine or so blocks of killed text. It is called
a ring because you can bring any of the saved blocks to
the front by rotating the ring. *Note Kill ring:
Un-Killing.
Killing Killing means erasing text and saving it inside EMACS to
be recovered later if desired. Most EMACS commands to
erase text do killing, as opposed to deletion (q.v.).
*Note Killing: Killing.
List A list is, approximately, a text string beginning with
an open parenthesis and ending with the matching close
parenthesis. *Note Lists: Lists. Actually there are a
few complications to the syntax, which is controlled by
the syntax table (*Note Syntax: Syntax.).
Local A local value of a variable or of a command character
definition applies to only one buffer or file. *Note
Locals: Locals.
Local Modes List
A local modes list appears in a file to specify local
values for variables or command character definitions,
to be in effect while visiting that file.
M- M- in the name of a character is an abbreviation for
Meta.
M-X M-X is the character which begins an extended command
(q.v.). Extended commands have come to be known also as
"M-X commands", and an individual extended command is
often referred to as "M-X such-and such". *Note M-X:
M-X.
Major Mode The major modes are a mutually exclusive set of options
which configure EMACS for editing a certain sort of
text. Ideally, each programming language has its own
major mode. *Note Major Modes: MajorModes.
Mark The mark points, invisibly, to a position in the text.
Many commands operate on the text between point and the
mark (known as the region, q.v.). *Note Mark: Mark.
Meta Meta refers to the Meta key. A character's name
includes the word Meta if the Meta key must be held down
in order to type the character. If there is no Meta
key, then the Altmode character is used as a prefix
instead. *Note Meta: Characters.
Meta Character A Meta character is one whose character code includes
the Meta bit. These characters can be typed only by
means of a Meta key or by means of the metizer command
(q.v.).
Metizer The metizer is another term for the bit prefix character
for the Meta bit; namely, Altmode (q.v.).
Minibuffer The minibuffer is a facility for editing and then
executing a TECO program. *Note Minibuffer: Minibuffer.
Minor mode A minor mode is an optional feature of EMACS which can
be switched on or off independently of all other
features. Each minor mode is both the name of an option
(q.v.) and the name of an extended command to set the
option. *Note Minor Modes: MinorModes.
MM-command This is an obsolete synonym for "extended command".
Mode line The mode line is a line just above the echo area (q.v.),
used for status information. *Note Mode Line: ModeLine.
Narrowing Narrowing means limiting editing to only a part of the
text in the buffer. Text outside that part is
inaccessible to the user until the boundaries are
widened again, but it is still there, and saving the
file saves it all. *Note Narrowing: Narrowing.
Node The node is the unit of structure of INFO (q.v.) files.
Numeric Argument
A numeric argument is a number specified before a
command to change the effect of the command. Often the
numeric argument serves as a repeat count. *Note
Numeric Arguments: Arguments.
Option An option is a variable which exists to be set by the
user to change the behavior of EMACS commands. This is
an important method of customization. *Note Options:
Variables.
Parse We say that EMACS parses words or expressions in the
text being edited. Really, all it knows how to do is
find the other end of a word or expression. *Note
Parse: Syntax.
Point Point is the place in the buffer at which insertion and
deletion occur. Point is considered to be between two
characters, not at one character. The terminal's cursor
(q.v.) indicates the location of point. *Note Point:
Basic.
Prefix Character
A prefix character is a command whose sole function is
to introduce a set of multi-character commands.
Control-X (q.v.) is a prefix character. The bit prefix
characters (q.v.) are other examples.
Prompt A prompt is text printed in the echo area to ask the
user for input. Printing a prompt is called
"prompting". EMACS can prompt when a command requires
an argument, or when only part of a command has been
typed. However, the prompt will not appear unless you
pause in your typing. *Note Prompt: M-X.
Q-Registers Q-registers are internal TECO variables which can be
used by EMACS or by the user to store text or numbers.
*Note Q-Registers: Copying.
Quitting Quitting means interrupting a command which is partially
typed in or already executing. It is done with
Control-G. *Note Quitting: Quitting.
Quoting Quoting means depriving a character of its usual special
significance. It is usually done with Control-Q. What
constitutes special significance depends on the context
and on convention. For example, an "ordinary" character
as an EMACS command inserts itself; so you can insert
any other character, such as Rubout, by quoting it as in
Control-Q Rubout. Not all contexts allow quoting.
*Note Quoting: Basic.
Recursive Editing Level
A recursive editing level is a state in which part of
the execution of a command involves asking the user to
edit some text. This text may or may not be the same as
the text to which the command was applied. The mode
line indicates recursive editing levels with square
brackets ("[" and "]"). *Note Recursive Editing Level:
Recursive.
Redisplay Redisplay is the process of correcting the image on the
screen to correspond to changes that have been made in
the text being edited. *Note Redisplay: Screen.
Region The region is the text between point (q.v.) and the mark
(q.v.). The terminal's cursor indicates the location of
point, but the mark is invisible. Many commands operate
on the text of the region. *Note Region: Mark.
Return Return is the carriage return character, used as input
to EMACS. Return is used as a command in itself to
insert a line separator. It also terminates arguments
for most commands. *Note Return: Characters.
Rubout Rubout is a character, sometimes labelled "Delete". It
is used as a command to delete one character of text.
It also deletes one character when an EMACS command is
reading an argument.
S-expression An s-expression is the basic syntactic unit of Lisp:
either a list, or a symbol containing no parentheses
(actually, there are a few exceptions to the rule, based
on the syntax of Lisp). *Note S-expressions: Lists.
Selecting Selecting a buffer (q.v.) means making editing commands
apply to that buffer as opposed to any other. At all
times one buffer is selected and editing takes place in
that buffer. *Note Select: Buffers.
Self-documentation
Self-documentation is the feature of EMACS which can
tell you what any command does, or give you a list of
all commands related to a topic you specify. You ask
for self-documentation with the Help character. *Note
Self-documentation: Help.
String Argument
A string argument is an argument which follows the
command name in an extended command. In "M-X
Aproposword<cr>", "Word" is a string argument to the
Apropos command. *Note String Arguments: M-X.
Subsystem A subsystem of EMACS is an EMACS command which, itself,
reads commands and displays the results. Examples are
INFO, which is for perusing documentation; DIRED, which
is for editing directories; BABYL, which is for reading
and editing mail. The word "subsystem" implies that it
offers many independent commands which can be used
freely. If an EMACS function asks specific questions,
we do not call it a subsystem.
Usually the subsystem continues in operation until a
specific command to exit (usually "Q") is typed. The
commands for a subsystem do not usually resemble
ordinary EMACS commands, since editing text is not their
purpose. The Help character should elicit the
subsystem's documentation. *Note Subsystems:
Subsystems.
Syntax Table The syntax table tells EMACS which characters are part
of a word, which characters balance each other like
parentheses, etc. *Note Syntax: Syntax.
Tailoring This is a synonym for customization (q.v.).
TECO Search String
A TECO search string is a sort of pattern used by the
TECO search command, and also by various EMACS commands
which use the TECO search command. *Note
TECO search strings: TECOsearch.
Top Level Top level is the normal state of EMACS, in which you are
editing the text of the file you have visited. You are
at top level whenever you are not in a recursive editing
level or a subsystem (q.v.).
Twenex Twenex is the operating system which DEC likes to call
"TOPS-20". However, a person should not be forced to
call a system "tops" unless he really thinks so. Come
now, DEC, don't you think people will praise your
products voluntarily? The name "Twenex" is also more
appropriate because Twenex was developed from the Tenex
system, and has no relationship to "TOPS-10". What's
more, it's very euphonious.
Typeout Typeout is a message, printed by an EMACS command, which
overwrites the area normally used for displaying the
text being edited, but which does not become part of the
text. Typeout is used for messages which might be too
long to fit in the echo area (q.v.). *Note Typeout:
Screen.
Undo Undo is a command which undoes the effect on the buffer
of a previous command. Only some commands are undoable
and only the most recent undoable command can be undone.
*Note Undo: Undo.
Un-killing Un-killing means reinserting text previously killed. It
can be used to undo a mistaken kill, or for copying or
moving text. *Note Un-killing: Un-killing.
User Name Your user name is the name you use to log in. It
identifies you as opposed to all the other users. It
may be the same as your home directory's name.
Variable A variable is a name with which EMACS associates a
value, which can be a number or a string. *Note
Variables: Variables. Some variables ("options") are
intended to be used or set by the user; others are for
purely internal purposes.
Virtual Boundaries
The virtual boundaries delimit the accessible part of
the buffer, when narrowing (q.v.) is in effect. *Note
Virtual Boundaries: Narrowing.
Visiting Visiting a file means loading its contents into a buffer
(q.v.) where they can be edited. *Note Visiting:
Visiting.
Wall Chart The wall chart is a very brief EMACS reference sheet
giving one line of information about each short command.
Whitespace Whitespace is any run of consecutive formatting
characters (space, tab, carriage return, linefeed, and
backspace).
Widening Widening is the operation which undoes narrowing (q.v.).
*Note Widening: Narrowing.
Window A window is a region of the screen in which text being
edited is displayed. EMACS can divide the screen into
two windows. *Note Windows: Windows. "The window" also
means the position in the buffer which is at the top of
the screen. *Note The Window: Display.
Working Directory
This is another term for the directory you are connected
to, a term which is used on other systems besides
Twenex.
Yanking This is a synonym for un-killing (q.v.).
^R The string "^R" is the beginning of many function names.
*Note ^R: MMArcana.
^R Mode ^R mode is the real time editing mode of TECO. EMACS
always operates in this mode.
EMACS Node: CommandIndex, Previous: Glossary, Up: Top, Next: LibCat
Command Summary
This summary contains brief descriptions with cross references for all
commands, grouped by topic. Within each topic, they are in alphabetical
order. Our version of alphabetical order places non-control non-meta
characters first, then control characters, then meta characters, then
control-meta characters. Control-X and Meta-X commands come last. Not
all Meta-X commands are included.
Each command has a footnote whose name is the same as the command name.
Thus, you do not need to find the entry for a command to use the
footnote. Just do F<command name><cr>. For example, F Control-S<cr>
goes directly to the node which documents the Control-S command. For an
extended command, the footnote name does not include the "Meta-X".
Prefix Characters
Altmode (^R Prefix Meta)
Altmode is a bit prefix character which turns on the
Meta bit in the next character. Thus, Altmode F is
equivalent to the single character Meta-F, which is
useful if your keyboard has no Meta key. *Note Altmode:
Characters.
Control-^ (^R Prefix Control)
Control-^ is a bit prefix character which turns on the
Control bit in the following character. Thus, Control-^
< is equivalent to the single character Control-<.
*Note Control-^: Characters.
Control-Z (^R Prefix Control-Meta)
Control-Z is a bit prefix character which turns on the
Control bit and the Meta bit in the following character.
Thus, Control-Z ; is equivalent to the single character
Control-Meta-;. *Note Control-Z: Characters.
Control-Q (^R Quoted Insert)
Control-Q inserts the following character. This is a
way of inserting control characters. *Note Control-Q:
Basic.
Control-U (^R Universal Argument)
Control-U is a prefix for numeric arguments which works
the same on all terminals. *Note Control-U: Arguments.
Control-X
Control-X is a prefix character which begins a
two-character command. Each combination of Control-X
and another character is a "Control-X command".
Individual Control-X commands appear in this summary
according to their uses.
Meta-X (^R Extended Command)
Meta-X is a prefix character which introduces an
extended command name. *Note Meta-X: M-X.
Control-Meta-X (^R Instant Extended Command)
Control-Meta-X is another way of invoking an extended
command. Instead of putting the arguments in the same
line as the command name, the command reads the
arguments itself. *Note Control-Meta-X: M-X.
Control-digits, Meta-digits, Control-Meta-digits
These all specify a numeric argument for the next
command. *Note Arguments: Arguments.
Control-Minus, Meta-Minus, Control-Meta-Minus
These all begin a negative numeric argument for the next
command. *Note Arguments: Arguments.
Simple Cursor Motion
Control-A (^R Beginning of Line, built-in function)
Control-A moves to the beginning of the line. *Note
Control-A: Basic.
Control-B (^R Backward Character, built-in function)
Control-B moves backward one character. *Note
Control-B: Basic.
Control-E (^R End of Line, built-in function)
Control-E moves to the end of the line. *Note
Control-E: Basic.
Control-F (^R Forward Character, built-in function)
Control-F moves forward one character. *Note Control-F:
Basic.
Control-H (^R Backward Character, built-in function)
Control-H moves backward one character. *Note
Control-H: Basic.
Control-N (^R Down Real Line)
Control-N moves vertically straight down. *Note
Control-N: Basic.
Control-P (^R Up Real Line)
Control-P moves vertically straight up. *Note
Control-P: Basic.
Control-R (^R Reverse Search)
Control-R is like Control-S but searches backward.
*Note Control-R: Search.
Control-S (^R Incremental Search)
Control-S searches for a string, terminated by Altmode.
It searches as you type. *Note Control-S: Search.
Meta-< (^R Goto Beginning)
Meta-< moves to the beginning of the buffer. *Note
Meta-<: Basic.
Meta-> (^R Goto End)
Meta-> moves to the end of the buffer. *Note Meta->:
Basic.
Control-X Control-N (^R Set Goal Column)
Control-X Control-N sets a horizontal goal for the
Control-N and Control-P commands. When there is a goal,
those commands try to move to the goal column instead of
straight up or down.
Lines
Return (^R CRLF)
Return inserts a line separator, or advances onto a
following blank line. *Note Return: Basic.
Control-O (^R Open Line, built-in function)
Control-O inserts a line separator, but point stays
before it. *Note Control-O: Basic.
Meta-= (^R Count Lines Region)
Meta-= prints the number of lines between point and
mark. *Note Meta-=: Mark.
Control-X Control-O (^R Delete Blank Lines)
Control-X Control-O deletes all but one of the blank
lines around point. If the current line is not blank,
all blank lines following it are deleted. *Note
Control-X Control-O: Basic.
Control-X Control-T (^R Transpose Lines)
Control-X Control-T transposes the contents of two
lines. *Note Control-X Control-T: Fixit.
Killing and Un-killing
Rubout (^R Backward Delete Character, built-in function)
Rubout deletes the previous character. *Note Rubout:
Basic.
Control-Rubout (^R Backward Delete Hacking Tabs, built-in function)
Control-Rubout deletes the previous character, but
converts a tab character into several spaces. *Note
Control-Rubout: Lisp.
Control-D (^R Delete Character, built-in function)
Control-D deletes the next character. *Note Control-D:
Basic.
Control-K (^R Kill Line)
Control-K kills to the end of the line, or, at the end
of a line, kills the line separator. *Note Control-K:
Killing.
Control-W (^R Kill Region)
Control-W kills the region, the text between point and
the mark. *Note Control-W: Killing. *Note Region:
Mark.
Control-Y (^R Un-kill)
Control-Y reinserts the last saved block of killed text.
*Note Control-Y: Un-Killing.
Meta-W (^R Copy Region)
Meta-W saves the region as if it were killed without
removing it from the buffer. *Note Meta-W: Un-Killing.
Meta-Y (^R Un-kill Pop)
Meta-Y rolls the kill ring to reinsert saved killed text
older than the most recent kill. *Note Meta-Y:
Un-Killing.
Control-Meta-W (^R Append Next Kill)
Control-Meta-W causes an immediately following kill
command to append its text to the last saved block of
killed text. *Note Control-Meta-W: Un-Killing.
Control-X G (^R Get Q-reg)
Control-X G inserts in the buffer the contents of a
q-register. *Note Copying: Copying.
Control-X T (^R Transpose Regions)
Control-X T transposes two arbitrary regions defined by
point and the last three marks. *Note Control-X T:
Fixit.
Control-X X (^R Put Q-reg)
Control-X X inserts in the buffer the contents of a
q-register. *Note Copying: Copying.
M-X Overwrite Mode
M-X Overwrite Mode turns Overwrite mode on or off. In
Overwrite mode, printing characters overwrite existing
text instead of pushing it to the right. *Note
Overwrite Mode: MinorModes.
Scrolling and Display Control
Control-Alpha (SAIL Character Mode)
Control-Alpha toggles SAIL Character mode. When this
mode is on, control characters in the buffer are
displayed as themselves. *Note Control-Alpha: Screen.
Control-L (^R New Window)
Control-L clears the screen and centers point in it.
With an argument, it can put point on a specific line of
the screen. *Note Control-L: Display.
Control-V (^R Next Screen)
Control-V scrolls the text upward by a screenful or
several lines. *Note Control-V: Display.
Meta-R (^R Move to Screen Edge)
Meta-R moves point to beginning of the text on a
specified line of the screen. *Note Meta-R: Display.
Meta-V (^R Previous Screen)
Meta-V scrolls downward by a screenful or several lines.
*Note Meta-V: Display.
Control-Meta-R (^R Reposition Window)
Control-Meta-R tries to center on the screen the
function or paragraph you are looking at. *Note
Control-Meta-R: Display.
Control-Meta-V (^R Scroll Other Window)
Control-Meta-V scrolls the other window up or down, when
you are in two window mode. *Note Control-Meta-V:
Windows.
M-X View Buffer
M-X View Buffer skips through a buffer by screenfuls.
*Note View Buffer: Display.
M-X View File
M-X View File lets you move through a file sequentially
by screenfuls forward and back. *Note View File:
FilAdv.
The Mark and the Region
Control-Space (^R Set/Pop Mark)
Control-Space sets the mark or moves to the location of
the mark. *Note Control-Space: Mark.
Control-< (^R Mark Beginning)
Control-< sets the mark at the beginning of the buffer.
*Note Control-<: Mark.
Control-> (^R Mark End)
Control-> sets the mark at the end of the buffer. *Note
Control->: Mark.
Control-@ (^R Set/Pop Mark)
Control-@ sets the mark or moves to the location of the
mark. *Note Control-@: Mark.
Meta-@ (^R Mark Word)
Meta-@ puts the mark at the end of the next word. *Note
Meta-@: Words.
Meta-H (^R Mark Paragraph)
Meta-H puts point at the beginning of the paragraph and
the mark at the end. *Note Meta-H: Sentences.
Control-Meta-@ (^R Mark Sexp)
Control-Meta-@ puts the mark at the end of the next
s-expression. *Note Control-Meta-@: Lists.
Control-Meta-H (^R Mark Defun)
Control-Meta-H puts point at the beginning of the
current Defun and the mark at the end. *Note
Control-Meta-H: Defuns.
Control-X H (^R Mark Whole Buffer)
Control-X H puts point at the beginning of the buffer
and the mark at the end. *Note Control-X H: Mark.
Control-X Control-P (^R Mark Page)
Control-X Control-P puts point at the beginning of the
current page and the mark at the end. *Note
Control-X Control-P: Pages.
Control-X Control-X (^R Exchange Point and Mark)
Control-X Control-X sets point where the mark was and
the mark where point was. *Note Control-X Control-X:
Mark.
Whitespace and Indentation
Tab (^R Indent According to Mode)
Tab either adjusts the indentation of the current line
or inserts some indentation, in a way that depends on
the major mode. *Note Tab: Indenting. *Note
Indenting Text: TextIndent.
Linefeed (^R Indent New Line)
Linefeed is equivalent to Return followed by Tab. It
moves to a new line and indents that line. If done in
the middle of a line, it breaks the line and indents the
new second line. *Note Linefeed: TextIndent.
Meta-Tab (^R Tab to Tab Stop)
Meta-Tab indents to the next EMACS-defined tab stop.
*Note Meta-Tab: TextIndent.
Meta-M (^R Back to Indentation)
Meta-M positions the cursor on the current line after
any indentation. *Note Meta-M: TextIndent.
Meta-\ (^R Delete Horizontal Space)
Meta-\ deletes all spaces and tab characters around
point. *Note Meta-\: TextIndent.
Meta-^ (^R Delete Indentation)
Meta-^ joins two lines, replacing the indentation of the
second line with zero or one space, according to the
context. *Note Meta-^: TextIndent.
Control-Meta-O (^R Split Line)
Control-Meta-O breaks a line, preserving the horizontal
position of the second half by indenting it to its old
starting position. *Note Control-Meta-O: TextIndent.
Control-Meta-\ (^R Indent Region)
Control-Meta-\ indents each line in the region, either
by applying Tab to each line, or by giving each the same
specified amount of indentation. *Note Control-Meta-\:
TextIndent.
Control-X Tab (^R Indent Rigidly)
Control-X Tab shifts all the lines in the region right
or left the same number of columns. *Note
Control-X Tab: TextIndent.
M-X Edit Indented Text
M-X Edit Indented Text enters a recursive editing level
designed for editing text in which each line is
indented. *Note Edit Indented Text: Filling.
M-X Edit Tab Stops
M-X Edit Tab Stops lets you edit the tab stops used by
^R Tab to Tab Stop. *Note Edit Tab Stops: TextIndent.
M-X Edit Tabular Text
M-X Edit Tabular Text enters a recursive editing level
designed for editing text arranged in a table. *Note
Edit Tabular Text: Filling.
M-X Indent Tabs Mode
M-X Indent Tabs Mode turns Indent Tabs mode on or off.
When Indent Tabs mode is on, the indentation commands
use tab characters for indentation whenever possible.
Otherwise they use only spaces. *Note Indent Tabs Mode:
MinorModes.
M-X Tabify
M-X Tabify converts spaces after point to tabs when that
can be done without changing the appearance. *Note
Tabify: TextIndent.
M-X Untabify
M-X Untabify converts all tabs after point to spaces. A
numeric argument says how far apart the tab stops are,
which is good for converting files brought from systems
with tab stops at intervals other than 8. *Note
Untabify: TextIndent.
Words, Sentences and Paragraphs
Meta-A (^R Backward Sentence)
Meta-A moves to the beginning of the sentence. *Note
Meta-A: Sentences.
Meta-B (^R Backward Word)
Meta-B moves backward one word. *Note Meta-B: Words.
Meta-D (^R Kill Word)
Meta-D kills one word forward. *Note Meta-D: Words.
Meta-E (^R Forward Sentence)
Meta-E moves to the end of the sentence. *Note Meta-E:
Sentences.
Meta-F (^R Forward Word)
Meta-F moves forward one word. *Note Meta-F: Words.
Meta-H (^R Mark Paragraph)
Meta-H puts point at the front of the current paragraph
and the mark at the end. *Note Meta-H: Sentences.
Meta-K (^R Kill Sentence)
Meta-K kills to the end of the sentence. *Note Meta-K:
Sentences.
Meta-T (^R Transpose Words)
Meta-T transposes two consecutive words. *Note Meta-T:
Words.
Meta-[ (^R Backward Paragraph)
Meta-[ moves to the beginning of the paragraph. *Note
Meta-[: Sentences.
Meta-] (^R Forward Paragraph)
Meta-] moves to the end of the paragraph. *Note Meta-]:
Sentences.
Meta-Rubout (^R Backward Kill Word)
Meta-Rubout kills the previous word. *Note Meta-Rubout:
Words.
Control-X Rubout (^R Backward Kill Sentence)
Control-X Rubout kills back to the beginning of the
sentence. *Note Control-X Rubout: Sentences.
M-X Atom Word Mode
M-X Atom Word Mode turns Atom Word mode on or off. In
Atom Word mode, the word commands consider an entire
Lisp atom as one word. *Note Atom Word Mode:
MinorModes.
M-X Edit Syntax Table
M-X Edit Syntax Table allows you to edit the syntax
table for word and list delimiters. *Note
Edit Syntax Table: Syntax.
Filling Text
Meta-G (^R Fill Region)
Meta-G fills the region, treating it (usually) as one
paragraph. *Note Meta-G: Filling.
Meta-Q (^R Fill Paragraph)
Meta-Q fills the current or next paragraph. *Note
Meta-Q: Filling.
Meta-S (^R Center Line)
Meta-S centers the current line. *Note Meta-S: Filling.
Control-X . (^R Set Fill Prefix)
Control-X . specifies the fill prefix, which is used for
filling indented text. *Note Control-X Period: Filling.
Control-X F (^R Set Fill Column)
Control-X F sets the variable Fill Column which controls
the margin for filling and centering. *Note
Control-X F: Filling.
M-X Auto Fill Mode
M-X Auto Fill Mode turns Auto Fill mode on or off. In
Auto Fill mode, long lines are broken between words
automatically. *Note Auto Fill Mode: Filling.
Exiting, Quitting
Control-G
Control-G quits, interrupting a running command, or
discarding any partially typed command. *Note
Control-G: Quitting.
Control-] (Abort Recursive Edit)
Control-] aborts a recursive editing level; that is to
say, exits it without allowing the command which invoked
it to finish. *Note Control-]: Quitting.
Control-Meta-Z (^R Exit, built-in function)
Control-Meta-Z exits from a recursive editing level and
allows the command which invoked the recursive editing
level to finish. At top level, it exits from EMACS to
its superior fork. *Note Control-Meta-Z: Exiting.
Control-X Control-Z (^R Return to Superior)
Control-X Control-Z returns from EMACS to its superior
fork, even if EMACS is currently inside a recursive
editing level. In that case, re-entering EMACS will
find it still within the recursive editing level. *Note
Control-X Control-Z: Exiting.
M-X Compile
M-X Compile recompiles the file you are visiting, in a
manner that depends on the major mode. *Note Compile:
Compile.
M-X Rerun CCL
M-X Rerun CCL exits from EMACS and repeats the most
recent COMPILE-class command in the EXEC. *Note
Rerun CCL : Programs.
M-X Top Level
M-X Top Level returns to the top level EMACS command
loop or to TECO. *Note Top Level: Quitting.
M-X Undo
M-X Undo retracts the last undoable change to the
buffer. *Note Undo: Lossage.
Pages
Control-X L (^R Count Lines Page)
Control-X L prints the number of lines on the current
page, and how many come before point and how many come
after. *Note Control-X L: Pages.
Control-X P (^R Narrow Bounds to Page)
Control-X P narrows the virtual boundaries to the
current page. *Note Control-X P: Narrowing.
Control-X [ (^R Previous Page)
Control-X [ moves backward to the previous page
boundary. *Note Control-X [: Pages.
Control-X ] (^R Next Page)
Control-X ] moves forward to the next page boundary.
*Note Control-X ]: Pages.
Control-X Control-P (^R Mark Page)
Control-X Control-P puts point at the beginning and the
mark at the end of the current page. *Note
Control-X Control-P: Pages.
M-X View Page Directory (in PAGE)
M-X View Page Directory prints a directory of the pages
of the file. *Note View Page Directory: PAGE.
M-X What Page
M-X What Page prints the current page and line number in
the file. *Note What Page: Pages.
Lisp
Meta-( (^R Make ())
Meta-( places a pair of parentheses around the next
several s-expressions. *Note Meta-(: Lists.
Meta-) (^R Move Over ))
Meta-) moves past the next close parenthesis and adjusts
the indentation of the following line. *Note Meta-):
Lists.
Control-Meta-Tab (^R Indent for Lisp)
Control-Meta-Tab adjusts the indentation of the current
line for proper Lisp style. *Note Control-Meta-Tab:
Indenting.
Control-Meta-( (^R Backward Up List)
Control-Meta-( moves backward up one level of list
structure. *Note Control-Meta-(: Lists.
Control-Meta-) (^R Up List)
Control-Meta-) moves forward up one level of list
structure. *Note Control-Meta-): Lists.
Control-Meta-@ (^R Mark Sexp)
Control-Meta-@ puts the mark at the end of the next
s-expression. *Note Control-Meta-@: Mark.
Control-Meta-A (^R Beginning of Defun)
Control-Meta-A moves to the beginning of the current
Defun. *Note Control-Meta-A: Defuns.
Control-Meta-B (^R Backward Sexp)
Control-Meta-B moves backward over one s-expression.
*Note Control-Meta-B: Lists.
Control-Meta-D (^R Down List)
Control-Meta-D moves forward and down a level in list
structure. *Note Control-Meta-D: Lists.
Control-Meta-E (^R End of Defun)
Control-Meta-E moves to the end of the current Defun.
*Note Control-Meta-E: Defuns.
Control-Meta-F (^R Forward Sexp)
Control-Meta-F moves forward over one s-expression.
*Note Control-Meta-F: Lists.
Control-Meta-G (^R Format Code)
Control-Meta-G grinds the s-expression after point.
*Note Control-Meta-G: Grinding.
Control-Meta-H (^R Mark Defun)
Control-Meta-H puts point before and the mark after the
current or next Defun. *Note Control-Meta-H: Defuns.
Control-Meta-K (^R Kill Sexp)
Control-Meta-K kills the following s-expression. *Note
Control-Meta-K: Lists.
Control-Meta-N (^R Next List)
Control-Meta-N moves forward over one list, ignoring
atoms before the first open parenthesis. *Note
Control-Meta-N: Lists.
Control-Meta-P (^R Previous List)
Control-Meta-P moves backward over one list, ignoring
atoms reached before the first close parenthesis. *Note
Control-Meta-P: Lists.
Control-Meta-Q (^R Indent Sexp)
Control-Meta-Q adjusts the indentation of each of the
lines in the following s-expression, but not the current
line. *Note Control-Meta-Q: Indenting.
Control-Meta-T (^R Transpose Sexps)
Control-Meta-T transposes two consecutive s-expressions.
*Note Control-Meta-T: Lists.
Control-Meta-U (^R Backward Up List)
Control-Meta-U moves backward up one level of list
structure. *Note Control-Meta-U: Lists.
Files
Meta-. (^R Find Tag)
Meta-. moves to the definition of a specific function,
switching files if necessary. *Note Meta-.: (TAGS)Top.
Meta-~ (^R Buffer Not Modified)
Meta-~ clears the flag which says that the buffer
contains changes that have not been saved. *Note
Meta-~: Visiting.
Control-X Control-F (Find File)
Control-X Control-F visits a file in its own buffer.
*Note Control-X Control-F: Buffers.
Control-X Control-Q (^R Set File Read Only)
Control-X Control-Q makes the visited fie read only, or
no longer read only. *Note Control-X Control-Q:
Visiting.
Control-X Control-S (^R Save File)
Control-X Control-S saves the visited file. *Note
Control-X Control-S: Visiting.
Control-X Control-V (^R Visit File)
Control-X Control-V visits a file. *Note
Control-X Control-V: Visiting.
Control-X Control-W (Write File)
Control-X Control-W saves the file, asking for names to
save it under. *Note Control-X Control-W: FilAdv.
M-X Append to File
M-X Append to File appends the contents of the region to
the end of a specified file. *Note Append to File:
FilAdv.
M-X Auto Save Mode
M-X Auto Save Mode turns Auto Save mode on or off.
*Note Auto Save Mode: AutoSave.
M-X Copy File
M-X Copy File copies a file to a new name. *Note
Copy File: FilAdv.
M-X Delete File
M-X Delete File deletes a file. *Note Delete File:
FilAdv.
M-X Insert File
M-X Insert File inserts the contents of a file into the
buffer (within the existing text). *Note Insert File:
FilAdv.
M-X Prepend to File
M-X Prepend to File appends the contents of the region
to the start of a specified file. *Note
Prepend to File: FilAdv.
M-X Rename File
M-X Rename File changes the name of a file. *Note
Rename File: FilAdv.
M-X Revert File
M-X Revert File undoes changes to a file by reading in
the previous version. *Note Revert File: Revert.
M-X Save All Files
M-X Save All Files offers to write back buffers which
may need it. *Note Save All Files: Buffers.
M-X Set Visited Filename
M-X Set Visited Filename changes the visited filename,
without writing a file. *Note Set Visited Filename:
FilAdv.
M-X Write Region
M-X Write Region writes the contents of the region into
a file. *Note Write Region: FilAdv.
File Directories
Control-X D (^R DIRED)
Control-X D invokes the directory editor DIRED, useful
for deleting many files. *Note Control-X D: DIRED.
Control-X Control-D (^R Directory Display)
Control-X Control-D displays a subset of a directory.
*Note Control-X Control-D: ListDir.
M-X Clean Directory
M-X Clean Directory deletes all but the most recent
versions of every file in a directory. *Note
Clean Directory: CleanDir.
M-X List Files
M-X List Files prints a very brief listing of a
directory, listing only the filenames, several files per
line. *Note List Files: ListDir.
M-X Reap File
M-X Reap File deletes all but the most recent versions
of a file. *Note Reap File: CleanDir.
M-X View Directory
M-X View Directory prints a file directory. *Note
View Directory: ListDir.
Buffers
Control-X Control-B (List Buffers)
Control-X Control-B prints a list of all buffers, their
major modes and the files they are visiting. *Note
Control-X Control-B: Buffers.
Control-X A (^R Append to Buffer)
Control-X A adds the text of region into another buffer.
*Note Control-X A: Copying.
Control-X B (Select Buffer)
Control-X B is the command for switching to another
buffer. *Note Control-X B: Buffers.
Control-X K (Kill Buffer)
Control-X K kills a buffer. *Note Control-X K: Buffers.
M-X Insert Buffer
M-X Insert Buffer inserts the contents of another buffer
into the existing text of this buffer. *Note
Insert Buffer: Buffers.
M-X Kill Some Buffers
M-X Kill Some Buffers offers to kill each buffer. *Note
Kill Some Buffers: Buffers.
M-X Make Space
M-X Make Space tries to free up space inside EMACS for
more libraries or buffers. *Note Make Space: Lossage.
M-X Rename Buffer
M-X Rename Buffer changes the name of the current
buffer. *Note Rename Buffer: Buffers.
M-X What Available Space
M-X What Available Space prints the amount of space left
inside EMACS for more libraries or buffers. *Note
What Available Space: Lossage.
Comments
Meta-Linefeed (^R Indent New Comment Line)
Meta-Linefeed moves to a new line and indents it. If
point had been within a comment on the old line, a new
comment is started on the new line and indented under
the old one. *Note Meta-Linefeed: Comments.
Meta-; (^R Indent for Comment)
Meta-; inserts a properly indented comment at the end of
the current line, or adjusts the indentation of an
existing comment. *Note Meta-;: Comments.
Meta-N (^R Down Comment Line)
Meta-N moves down a line and starts a comment. *Note
Meta-N: Comments.
Meta-P (^R Up Comment Line)
Meta-P moves up a line and starts a comment. *Note
Meta-P: Comments.
Control-Meta-; (^R Kill Comment)
Control-Meta-; kills any comment on the current line.
*Note Control-Meta-;: Comments.
Control-X ; (^R Set Comment Column)
Control-X ; sets the column at which comments are
indented, from an argument, the current column, or the
previous comment. *Note Control-X ;: Comments.
Case Conversion
Meta-C (^R Uppercase Initial)
Meta-C makes the next word lower case with a capital
initial. It moves over the word. *Note Meta-C: Case.
Meta-L (^R Lowercase Word)
Meta-L moves over a word converting it to lower case.
*Note Meta-L: Case.
Meta-U (^R Uppercase Word)
Meta-U moves over a word converting it to upper case.
*Note Meta-U: Case.
Control-X Control-L (^R Lowercase Region)
Control-X Control-L converts the text of the region to
lower case. *Note Control-X Control-L: Case.
Control-X Control-U (^R Uppercase Region)
Control-X Control-U converts the text of the region to
upper case. *Note Control-X Control-U: Case.
Minor Corrections
Meta-$ (^R Correct Word Spelling)
Meta-$ (Dollar sign, not Altmode) passes the word before
point to the ISPELL program. If it is not a correct
spelling, you have the option of replacing it with a
corrected spelling. *Note Meta-$: Fixit.
Meta-' (^R Upcase Digit)
Meta-' converts a digit before point on the same or
previous line to a punctuation character, assuming that
you failed to type the shift key and thus typed the
digit by mistake. *Note Meta-': Fixit.
Meta-_ (^R Underline Word)
Meta-_ inserts underlining commands good for certain
text justifiers around a word. *Note Meta-_:
Underlining.
Control-X _ (^R Underline Region)
Control-X _ inserts underlining commands good for
certain text justifiers around the region. *Note
Control-X _: Underlining.
Windows
Control-Meta-V (^R Scroll Other Window)
Control-Meta-V scrolls the other window up or down.
*Note Control-Meta-V: Display.
Control-X 1 (^R One Window)
Control-X 1 returns to one-window mode. *Note
Control-X 1: Windows.
Control-X 2 (^R Two Windows)
Control-X 2 splits the screen into two windows. *Note
Control-X 2: Windows.
Control-X 3 (^R View Two Windows)
Control-X 3 splits the screen into two windows but stays
in window one. *Note Control-X 3: Windows.
Control-X 4 (^R Visit in Other Window)
Control-X 4 displays two windows and selects a buffer or
visits a file in the other window. *Note Control-X 4:
Windows.
Control-X O (^R Other Window)
Control-X O switches from one window to the other.
*Note Control-X O: Windows.
Control-X ^ (^R Grow Window)
Control-X ^ changes the allocation of screen space to
the two windows. *Note Control-X ^: Windows.
M-X Compare Windows
M-X Compare Windows compares the text in window one
after point with that in window two after point. It
advances point in both windows to the first non-matching
text. *Note Compare Windows: Windows.
Narrowing
Control-X N (^R Narrow Bounds to Region)
Control-X N narrows the virtual boundaries to the
region. *Note Control-X N: Narrowing.
Control-X P (^R Narrow Bounds to Page)
Control-X P narrows the virtual boundaries to the
current page. *Note Control-X P: Pages.
Control-X W (^R Widen Bounds)
Control-X W widens the virtual boundaries back to the
entire buffer. *Note Control-X W: Narrowing.
Status Information
Control-X = (What Cursor Position)
Control-X = prints information on the screen position
and character position of the cursor, the size of the
file, and the character after the cursor. *Note
Control-X =: Filling.
Control-X L (^R Count Lines Page)
Control-X L prints the number of lines in the current
page, and how many come before or after point. *Note
Control-X L: Pages.
M-X List Loaded Libraries
M-X List Loaded Libraries lists the names of all loaded
libraries. *Note List Loaded Libraries: Libraries.
M-X List Variables
M-X List Variables lists the names and values of all
variables, or of those whose names contain a specified
string. *Note List Variables: Variables.
M-X List Redefinitions
M-X List Redefinitions describes all the ways which the
major mode and local modes of the selected buffer modify
the standard EMACS. *Note List Redefinitions:
MajorModes.
M-X What Page
M-X What Page prints the page and line number of point.
*Note What Page: Pages.
Keyboard Macros
Control-X ( (^R Start Kbd Macro)
Control-X ( begins defining a keyboard macro. *Note
Control-X (: KBDMAC.
Control-X ) (^R End Kbd Macro)
Control-X ) terminates the definition of a keyboard
macro. *Note Control-X ): KBDMAC.
Control-X E (^R Call Last Kbd Macro)
Control-X E executes the most recently defined keyboard
macro. *Note Control-X E: KBDMAC.
Control-X Q (^R Kbd Macro Query)
Control-X Q in a keyboard macro can ask the user whether
to continue or allow him to do some editing before
continuing with the keyboard macro. *Note Control-X Q:
KBDMAC.
M-X Name Kbd Macro
M-X Name Kbd Macro gives a permanent name to the last
keyboard macro defined. *Note Name Kbd Macro: KBDMAC.
M-X View Kbd Macro
M-X View Kbd Macro prints the definition of a keyboard
macro. *Note View Kbd Macro: KBDMAC.
Libraries
M-X Kill Libraries
M-X Kill Libraries discards one or more libraries from
core. *Note Kill Libraries: Libraries.
M-X List Library
M-X List Library describes briefly all the functions in
a library. *Note List Library: Libraries.
M-X Load Library
M-X Load Library loads one library, permanently. *Note
Load Library: Libraries.
M-X Run Library
M-X Run Library loads a library temporarily, invokes a
function in it, and then discards the library. *Note
Run Library: Libraries.
Variables
M-X Edit Options
M-X Edit Options lets you edit, in a recursive editing
level, the values of many variables. *Note
Edit Options: Variables.
M-X Kill Local Q-register
M-X Kill Local Q-register makes a q-register or command
character definition no longer local to the selected
buffer. *Note Kill Local Q-register: (CONV)Vars.
M-X Kill Local Variable M-X Kill Local Variable makes a variable value
no longer local to the selected buffer. *Note
Kill Local Variable: (CONV)Vars.
M-X Kill Variable
M-X Kill Variable eliminates a particular variable.
*Note Kill Variable: Variables.
M-X Make Local Q-register M-X Make Local Q-register makes a q-register
or command character definition local to the selected
buffer. *Note Make Local Q-register: (CONV)Vars.
M-X Make Local Variable M-X Make Local Variable makes a variable value
local to the selected buffer. *Note
Make Local Variable: (CONV)Vars.
M-X Set Key
M-X Set Key connects a function to a command character.
*Note Set Key: MMArcana.
M-X Set Variable
M-X Set Variable sets the value of a variable. *Note
Set Variable: Variables.
M-X View Variable
M-X View Variable displays the value and comment of a
variable. *Note View Variable: Variables.
Mail
Control-X M (Send Mail)
Control-X M allows you to edit and send a message using
your favorite mail-reading program. The default is MM.
*Note Control-X M: Mail.
Control-X R (Read Mail)
Control-X R runs your choice of mail-reading program to
read and edit your mail. The default is MM. *Note
Control-X R: Mail.
M-X Check Mail
M-X Check Mail tells you whether you have any new mail
to be read. *Note Check Mail: Mail.
Minibuffer
Control-% (^R Replace String)
Control-% invokes a minibuffer containing a call to
Replace String. You fill in the arguments. *Note
Control-%: Replace.
Meta-Altmode (^R Execute Minibuffer)
Meta-Altmode invokes an empty minibuffer which you can
fill in with a TECO program to be executed. *Note
Meta-Altmode: Minibuffer.
Meta-% (^R Query Replace)
Meta-% invokes a minibuffer containing a call to Query
Replace. You fill in the arguments. *Note Meta-%:
Replace.
Control-X Altmode (^R Re-execute Minibuffer)
Control-X Altmode re-executes a TECO program previously
executed in the minibuffer. It can also re-execute an
extended command. *Note Control-X Altmode: Minibuffer.
EMACS Node: LibCat, Previous: CommandIndex, Up: Top, Next: VarIndex
Catalog of Libraries
Libraries Used Explicitly
These are libraries which you must load with M-X Load
Library<libname><cr> to use. If no cross-reference is given, the only
documentation for the library is the self-documentation contained in it.
Use M-X List Library<libname><cr> to print a brief description of each
function in the library. For more detailed information, load the
library and use M-X Describe on individual functions.
ABSTR contains commands for making documentation files: wall
charts, and abstracts of libraries. *Note ABSTR:
(CONV).
BABYL is a subsystem for reading, sending and editing mail.
*Note BABYL: (BABYL).
BACKQ provides a feature for Maclisp, similar to automatic
display of matching parentheses: when you insert a comma
or atsign, the cursor moves momentarily to the backquote
which dominates it.
BBNLIB contains a few commands that people at BBN like.
BSHACK has functions for operating on lines containing
overprinting.
BUGHUNT contains commands for putting your name into each
comment you edit. This is to record who changed what.
CACHE implements a cache for speeding up EMACS subroutine
calls.
CHESS implements commands for editing pictures of chess
boards.
COBOL implements COBOL mode.
COLUMNS implements commands for converting single-column text
into double-column text and vice versa.
COMPLT provides completion for buffer names and variable names.
DELIM implements commands for moving over balanced groupings
of various kinds of parentheses. There are a pair of
commands for square brackets, a pair for angle brackets,
etc.
DM redefines commands to be convenient on Datamedia 2500
terminals.
DM3025 redefines commands to be convenient on Datamedia 3025
terminals.
DOCLSP prints documentation from the MacLisp manual on a
specified Lisp function.
DOCOND is a macro processor and conditionalizer for text files,
useful for maintaining multiple versions of documents
with one source.
DOCTOR contains DOCTOR mode, a psychiatrist.
DRAW offers functions for editing pictures made of
characters. These partially duplicate the facilities of
the PICTURE library, but contain other distinct
features.
EAKMACS EAK's personal library, useful as an example.
EFORK implements commands for running other programs in
separate forks inferior to EMACS.
FDB has functions for examine file descriptor blocks.
FIXLIB has functions for examining and patching EMACS
functions.
FTPLIB provides commands for finding new EMACS files and
copying them across the Arpanet. Used for EMACS
maintenance on Arpanet sites.
HAZ1510 redefines commands to be convenient on Hazeltine 1510
terminals.
IBM370 implements IBM370 mode, for editing 370 assembler code.
INFO peruses tree-structured documentation files.
INTER is the EMACS side of the EMACS-to-Interlisp interface.
*Note INTER: (INTER).
INTERLISP-MODE is an alternate Interlisp Mode, different from the
default one.
IVORY is EAK and ECC's alternate generator for EMACS
libraries, which uses a slightly nonstandard input
format. The libraries BABYL, BABYLM, CACHE, EAKMACS,
FIXLIB, IVORY, LONG-FILENAMES, MKDUMP, OUTLINE-MODE,
PL1, TEACH-C100, TMACS and WORDAB are generated with
IVORY. *Note IVORY: (IVORY).
JOURNAL implements journal files. *Note Journals: Journals.
JUSTIFY implements an auto-justfy mode similar to auto fill
mode.
LABELS has functions for arranging a file of addresses for
printing mailing labels.
LEDIT is the EMACS side of the EMACS-to-MacLisp interface.
*Note LEDIT: (LEDIT).
LONG-FILENAMES provides help in handling files which have long names
(on Twenex). It implements a different type of filename
completion than the standard GTJFN system call.
LSPUTL contains a couple of useful functions for searching and
manipulating Lisp code.
LUNAR is Moon's personal library, which contains some useful
commands.
MACCNV does part of the work of converting MACRO-10 code to
MIDAS code.
MAICHK checks for arrival of mail. If this library is loaded,
EMACS will check frequently and automatically for new
mail and notify you when any arrives.
MAZLIB is a game for solving mazes. It's fun to play.
MKDUMP aids in dumping your own customized environment. *Note
MKDUMP: (MKDUMP).
MODE2 implements a second additional mode line with additional
information.
MODLIN implements a fancier mode line display.
MOVE provides commands specially for copying and moving many
pieces of text from one file to another.
MQREPL works with TAGS to perform several Query Replaces on
each of the files in a tag table.
NCOLUMNS has functions for turning single-column text into many
columns, but not vice-versa.
NOVICE implements restricted subsets of EMACS, for beginners.
The beginner can turn commands back on when he feels
ready. *Note Novice: (CONV)Novice.
NVT100 defines the arrow keys and numeric keypad of the VT-100
terminal to perform editing functions.
NVT132 is like NVT100 but for the VT-132.
NVT52 defines the arrow keys and numeric keypad of the VT-52
terminal to perform editing functions.
OUTLINE implements Outline Mode, for editing outlines.
OUTLINE-MODE implements a different flavor of Outline Mode.
PAGE defines commands for viewing only one page of the file
at a time. *Note PAGE: PAGE.
PERSONAL has functions for keeping notes on your current
projects.
PHRASE has commands for moving over and killing phrases of
text.
PICTURE contains Edit Picture, the command for editing text
pictures. *Note PICTURE: PICTURE.
PRINT contains the function Print File which formats a file
and sends it to a printer.
PURIFY generates libraries from EMACS source files, and
contains other functions useful for editing the source
files. *Note PURIFY: (CONV).
RENUM renumbers figures, equations, theorems or chapters.
SCRLIN contains alternative definitions of C-N and C-P which
move by screen lines instead of by real lines.
SEND-MAIL sends mail to another user.
SLOWLY redefines commands and options to suit slow terminals.
SORT implements the sorting commands.
SPLIT contains the commands Split File and Unsplit File for
breaking up large files into subfiles small enough to be
edited. *Note Split: Lossage.
SYSTEM implements various commands useful for communicating
with the operating system.
TAGGEN updates tag tables. This serves essentially the same
function as the TAGS program, and may someday replace
it.
TALK initiates and accepts links with other users.
TDEBUG is a debugger for TECO programs. It displays the buffer
in one window and the program in the other, while
stepping by lines or setting breakpoints. *Note TDEBUG:
(TDEBUG).
TEACH-C100 has commands to define the programmable function keys of
the Concept-100 terminal.
TIME causes the current time of day to be displayed in the
mode line.
TMACS contains miscellaneous useful functions
TVLIB customizes EMACS to resemble TVEDIT.
VT100 defines the arrow keys and numeric keypad of the VT-100
terminal to move the cursor and supply numeric
arguments.
VT52 defines the numeric keypad of the VT-52 terminal to
supply numeric arguments.
XLISP contains functions for global stylistic transformations
of Lisp code. *Note XLISP: Lisp.
Automatically Loaded Libraries
These are libraries which the user need not know about to use.
AUX implements several commands described in the manual as
part of the standard EMACS. Loaded automatically when
needed.
BABYLM contains the part of Babyl that implements mail sending.
BARE contains the definitions of all built-in functions.
These definitions are not needed for executing the
built-in functions, only so that Help can describe them
properly. Loaded automatically by documentation
commands when needed. *Note BARE: MMArcana.
BASIC20 implements BASIC20 mode.
BCPL implements BCPL mode.
BLISS implements BLISS mode.
CLU implements CLU mode. *Note CLU: (ECLU).
DIRED implements the commands for editing and listing
directories. Loaded automatically when needed. *Note
DIRED: DIRED.
EINIT is used in building and dumping EMACS. *Note EINIT:
(CONV).
EMACS is the main body of standard EMACS. Always loaded.
FORTRAN implements FORTRAN mode. *Note FORTRAN: (EFORTRAN).
GRIND implements C-M-G. Loaded automatically when needed.
*Note Grinding: Grinding.
HERMES interfaces between EMACS and a superior HERMES fork.
Loaded automatically into an EMACS which is under a
HERMES.
KBDMAC implements keyboard macros. Loaded automatically when
needed. *Note Keyboard Macros: KBDMAC.
MMAIL interfaces between EMACS and a superior MM fork. Loaded
automatically if needed.
MUDDLE implements Muddle mode.
PASCAL implements PASCAL mode. *Note PASCAL: (EPASC).
PCL implements PCL mode, for editing command files.
PL1 implements PL1 mode. *Note PL1: (EPL1).
SAIL implements SAIL mode.
SCRIBE implements SCRIBE mode. *Note SCRIBE: SCRIBE. Loaded
automatically when needed.
TAGS implements the TAGS package. *Note TAGS: (TAGS)Top.
Loaded automatically when needed.
TEX implements TEX mode. *Note TEX: (ETEX). Loaded
automatically when needed.
TRMTYP implements the Set Terminal Type command. Loaded
automatically when needed.
TWENEX holds commands for the Twenex version of EMACS only.
Always loaded.
WORDAB implements Word Abbrev mode. Loaded automatically when
needed. *Note WORDAB: (WORDAB)Top.
EMACS Node: VarIndex, Previous: LibCat, Up: Top, Next: Screen
Index of Variables
An option is a variable whose value Edit Options offers for editing. A
hook variable is a variable which is normally not defined, but which you
can define if you wish for customization. Most hook variables require
TECO programs as their values.
The default value of the variable is given in parentheses after its
name. If no value is given, the default value is zero. If the word
"nonexistent" appears, then the variable does not exist unless you
create it.
Abort Resumption Message
This is the message to be printed by C-] to tell you how
to resume the aborted command. If this variable is
zero, there is no way to resume, so C-] asks for
confirmation. *Note Quitting: Quitting.
Additional Abbrev Expanders (nonexistent)
If this variable exists when Word Abbrev mode is turned
on, it is a string of characters which should terminate
and expand an abbrev, in addition to the punctuation
characters which normally do so. See also WORDAB Ins
Chars.
After Compilation Hook (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, then it is
executed as a TECO expression by the function Compile,
after compilation itself is finished. Exception: If the
variable Compile Command is also nonzero, it overrides
this hook. *Note After Compilation Hook: Compile.
Atom Word Mode The minor mode Atom Word mode is on if this variable is
nonzero. *Note Atom Word Mode: MinorModes.
Auto Directory Display
If this is nonzero, certain file operations
automatically display the file directory. *Note
Auto Directory Display: ListDir.
Auto Fill Mode The minor mode Auto Fill mode is on if this variable is
nonzero. *Note Auto Fill Mode: Filling.
Auto Push Point Notification
The value of this variable is the string printed in the
echo area by some commands to notify you that the mark
has been set to the old location of point. *Note
Auto Push Point Notification: Search.
Auto Push Point Option (500)
Searches set the mark if they move at least this many
characters. *Note Auto Push Point Option: Search.
Auto Save All Buffers
If this is nonzero, auto save saves all buffers that are
modified, not just the selected buffer. *Note
Auto Save All Buffers: AutoSave.
Auto Save Default
The minor mode Auto Save mode is on by default for newly
visited files if this variable is nonzero. *Note
Auto Save Default: AutoSave.
Auto Save Filenames (<working directory>[SAVE]..)
These are the filenames used for auto saving if the
visited filenames are not used. If the filename
extension is null, the name of the buffer being saved is
used instead. *Note Auto Save Filenames: AutoSave.
Auto Save Interval (500)
This is the number of characters between auto saves.
*Note Auto Save Interval: AutoSave.
Auto Save Max (2)
This is the maximum number of auto saves to keep. *Note
Auto Save Max: AutoSave.
Auto Save Mode If this is nonzero, Auto Save mode is enabled. *Note
Auto Save Mode: AutoSave.
Auto Save Visited File
If this is nonzero, auto saving saves as the visited
filenames. If this is zero, auto saving saves as the
names which are the value of Auto Save Filenames (q.v.).
*Note Auto Save Visited File: AutoSave.
Autoarg Mode When Autoarg Mode is nonzero, numeric arguments can be
specified just by typing the digits. *Note
Autoarg Mode: Arguments.
Bottom Display Margin
This controls the size of the region at the bottom of
the screen which the cursor is not allowed to be in. If
the cursor would normally move there, the window is
recentered instead. The value is represented as a
percentage of the screen size, and must not be negative
or more than 99. It controls the TECO flag FS %BOTTOM.
*Note Bottom Display Margin: Display.
Buffer Creation Hook (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value should
be a TECO program to be executed whenever a newly
created buffer is selected for the first time. *Note
Buffer Creation Hook: Buffers.
Buffer Deselection Hook (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value should
be a TECO program to be executed whenever a buffer is
about to be deselected. The difference between this and
Buffer Selection Hook is that, while both are executed
(if they exist) when you switch buffers, this is
executed before the switch, and Buffer Selection Hook is
executed after the switch. *Note
Buffer Deselection Hook: Buffers.
Buffer Selection Hook (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value should
be a TECO program to be executed whenever a buffer is
selected. *Note Buffer Selection Hook: Buffers.
Case Replace (1)
When Case Replace is nonzero, Replace String and Query
Replace attempt to preserve case when they replace.
*Note Case Replace: Replace.
Case Search (1)
If Case Search is nonzero, searches of all sorts allow
upper case letters and lower case letters to match each
other. It controls the TECO flag FS BOTH CASE. *Note
Case Search: Search.
Collapse in Comparison (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is not zero, it should be a
string of characters for M-X Compare Windows to regard
as insignificant. *Note Collapse in Comparison:
Windows.
Comment Begin This is the string used to start new comments. If it is
zero, the value of Comment Start is used. *Note
Comment Begin: Comments.
Comment Column This is the column at which comments are aligned. *Note
Comment Column: Comments.
Comment End This is the string which is used to end comments. It is
often empty for languages in which comments end at the
end of the line. *Note Comment End: Comments.
Comment Multi Line (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, then when Auto
Fill mode breaks a comment line, it does not insert a
new comment starter on the new line. This is for use
with languages that have explicit comment terminators,
if you want single multi-line comments instead of
single-line comments on consecutive lines. *Note
Comment Multi Line: Comments.
Comment Rounding (/8+1*8)
This is the TECO program used to decide what column to
start a comment in when the text of the line goes past
the comment column. The argument to the program is the
column at which text ends. *Note Comment Rounding:
Comments.
Comment Start This is the string used for recognizing existing
comments, and for starting new ones if Comment Begin is
zero. If Comment Start is zero, semicolon is used.
*Note Comment Start: Comments.
Compile Command (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value should
be a TECO program to be used by the M-X Compile command
to compile the file. *Note Compile Command: Compile.
Compiler Filename (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value should
be the name of the compiler to use, a filename. By
default, the name of the major mode is used as the name
of the compiler. *Note Compiler Filename: Compile.
Compiler Switches (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value is
used as switches for compilation. *Note
Compiler Switches: Compile.
Cursor Centering Point (40)
This specifies how far from the top of the screen point
ought to appear when a new window position is chosen.
The value of the variable is the percentage of the
screen size. It must not be negative or more than 99.
It controls the TECO flag FS %CENTER. *Note
Cursor Centering Point: Display.
Default Major Mode (Fundamental)
This is the major mode in which new buffers are created.
If it is the null string, new buffers are created in the
same mode as the previously selected buffer. *Note
Default Major Mode: Buffers.
Digit Shift Table (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value should
be a string containing the ten characters which are the
upper case equivalents of the digits 0 through 9 on the
keyboard being used. Meta-' (^R Upcase Digit) uses this
table, and reads it from the user if the variable does
not exist. *Note Digit Shift Table: Fixit.
Directory Lister (& Subset Directory Listing)
This is the TECO program used for listing a directory
for C-X C-D and the Auto Directory Display option. The
default value is the definition of the function & Subset
Directory Listing. *Note Directory Lister: ListDir.
Display Matching Paren (-1)
This variable controls automatic display of the matching
open parenthesis when a close parenthesis is inserted.
*Note Display Matching Paren: Matching.
Display Mode Line Inverse
If this is nonzero, the mode line is displayed in
inverse video or otherwise highlighted, on terminals
which can support it. This controls the TECO flag FS
INVMOD. *Note Display Mode Line Inverse: ModeLine.
Display Overprinting
If this is nonzero, backspace characters and stray
carriage return characters in the buffer display as
actual overprinting rather than as ^H and ^M. This
variable controls the TECO flags FS ^H PRINT and FS ^M
PRINT. *Note Display Overprinting: Characters.
Echo Area Height (3)
This is the number of lines in the echo area. Its value
should be at least one. It controls the TECO flag FS
ECHO LINES. *Note Echo Area Height: Screen.
EMACS Version This variable's value is the EMACS version number.
End of Buffer Display Margin (35)
This specifies how far up the screen the end of the
buffer is placed, if it is on screen at all, when a new
window position is chosen. It is represented as a
percentage of the screen size, and must not be negative
or more than 99. Its value controls the TECO flag FS
%END. *Note End of Buffer Display Margin: Display.
Error Messages in Echo Area
If this is nonzero, error messages are printed in the
echo area instead of at the top of the screen. It
controls the TECO flag FS ECHO ERRORS. *Note
Error Messages in Echo Area: Lossage.
EXEC Name (nonexistent)
If this variable exists, its value, if nonzero, is the
filename of the program to be used by M-X Push to EXEC
to serve as the EXEC. *Note EXEC Name: Subforks.
Exit Hook (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value is a
TECO program to be executed whenever EMACS is exited,
instead of the normal action of doing an auto save. The
subroutine & Exit EMACS is responsible for executing it.
*Note Exit Hook: Exiting.
Exit to Inferior Hook (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value is a
TECO program to be executed whenever EMACS is about to
invoke an inferior fork that is likely to read from the
terminal. This is done in addition to all normal
actions.
Exit to Superior Hook (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value is a
TECO program to be executed whenever EMACS is about to
return to its superior fork, in addition to all normal
actions.
Fill Column (70)
The value of Fill Column is the width used for filling
text. It controls the TECO flag FS ADLINE. *Note
Fill Column: Filling.
Fill Extra Space List (.?!)
The characters in this string are the ones which ought
to be followed by two spaces when text is filled. *Note
Fill Extra Space List: Filling.
Fill Prefix The value of this variable is the prefix expected on
every line of text before filling and placed at the
front of every line after filling. It is usually empty,
for filling nonindented text. *Note Fill Prefix:
Filling.
Indent Tabs Mode (-1)
If Indent Tabs Mode is nonzero, then tab characters are
used by the indent commands. Otherwise, only spaces are
used. *Note Indent Tabs Mode: TextIndent.
<libname> Setup Hook (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value should
be a TECO program to be executed when the library
<libname> is loaded. The library's & Setup function is
responsible for doing this. If the library has no
& Setup function, it will not handle a setup hook
either. *Note Libraries: Libraries.
<libname> Kill Hook (nonexistent)
Some libraries may execute the value of this variable,
if it exists and is nonzero, when the library is being
removed from core with Kill Libraries. This is done by
the library's & Kill function; if the library has no
& Kill <libname> Library function, it will not handle a
kill hook. *Note Libraries: Libraries.
Lisp <function> Indent
This variable controls the indentation within calls to
the function <function>. Actually, the variable used is
not always Lisp <function> Indent, but rather <language>
<function> Indent, where <language> is the value of Lisp
Indent Language. *Note Lisp <function> Indent:
Indenting.
Lisp Indent DEFanything (1)
The value of this variable controls indentation within
calls to functions whose names start with "def".
Actually, the variable used is not always Lisp Indent
DEFanything, but rather <language> Indent DEFanything,
where <language> is the value of Lisp Indent Language.
*Note Lisp Indent DEFanything: Indenting.
Lisp Indent Language (Lisp)
The value of this variable is the string used as the
language name when looking for <language> <function>
Indent variables. *Note Lisp Indent Language:
Indenting.
Lisp Indent Offset
If nonzero, this selects an alternative default style of
indentation for Lisp. Actually, the variable used is
not always Lisp Indent Offset, but rather <language>
Indent Offset, where <language> is the value of Lisp
Indent Language. *Note Lisp Indent Offset: Indenting.
Mail Reader Library (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, it is the name
of the library to be used by M-X Read Mail for reading
mail and by M-X Send Mail for sending mail. The former
calls the function "<entry>" in the library, and the
latter calls the function "& Mail Message". . *Note
Mail Reader Library: Mail.
Mail Sender Library (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, it specifies the
library to be used by M-X Send Mail only, overriding
Mail Reader Library. *Note Mail Sender Library: Mail.
Mail Reader Program (nonexistent)
If this variable exists (and Mail Reader Library does
not), it is the name of the the program to be used for
reading and sending mail. *Note Mail Reader Library:
Mail.
<mode> ..D (nonexistent)
This variable is used by the major mode <mode> to record
the syntax table for that mode. It is created by the
first use of the mode, and if you supply your value,
that value will be accepted instead. For example, Text
mode uses Text ..D. Not all major modes have their own
syntax tables. *Note Syntax: Syntax.
<mode> Mode Hook (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value is a
TECO program to be executed when the major mode <mode>
is entered. For example, Text Mode Hook is executed
when Text mode is entered. *Note Major Modes:
MajorModes.
Next Screen Context Lines (nonexistent)
If this variable exists, its value specifies the number
of lines of overlap between one screenful and the next,
when scrolling by screens with C-V and M-V. *Note
Next Screen Context Lines: Display.
Only Global Abbrevs (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and its value is nonzero, then
Word Abbrev Mode assumes that you are not using any
mode-specific abbrevs. *Note Only Global Abbrevs:
(WORDAB)Alternatives.
Overwrite Mode If this is nonzero, the minor mode Overwrite mode is in
effect. It controls the TECO flag FS ^R REPLACE.
*Note Overwrite Mode: MinorModes.
Page Delimiter (Formfeed (Control-L))
This is the TECO search string used to recognize page
boundaries. *Note Page Delimiter: Pages.
PAGE Flush CRLF
If this variable exists and is nonzero, the PAGE library
expects every page to start with a blank line, which is
not considered part of the contents of the page. *Note
PAGE Flush CRLF: PAGE.
Paragraph Delimiter (. ')
This is the TECO search string used to recognize
beginnings of paragraphs. *Note Paragraph Delimiter:
Sentences.
Permit Unmatched Paren (-1)
Controls whether the bell is run if you insert an
unmatched close parenthesis. *Note
Permit Unmatched Paren: Matching.
Prefix Char List
This variable's value is a string which lists all the
prefix characters defined, so that self-documentation
facilities can find any subcommands of prefix characters
which call a given function. *Note Prefix Characters:
(CONV)Prefix.
Quote Execute Command (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is zero, then M-X does not
quote characters which appear in the string arguments
of the command. *Note Quote Execute Command: MMArcana.
Read Line Delay
This is the amount of time, in 30'ths of a second, which
EMACS should wait after starting to read a line of
input, before it prompts and starts echoing the input.
Readable Word Abbrev Files (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, word abbrev
files will be written in the format that M-X List Word
Abbrevs uses, instead of in a less readable but faster
loading format. *Note Readable Word Abbrev Files:
(WORDAB)Saving.
Region Query Size (5000)
Many commands which act on the region require
confirmation if the region contains more than this many
characters. *Note Region Query Size: Mark.
Return from Inferior Hook (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value should
be a TECO program to be executed whenever an inferior
fork returns to EMACS, except for inferior forks which
return nearly immediately. *Note
Return from Inferior Hook: Subforks.
Return from Superior Hook (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value should
be a TECO program to be executed whenever EMACS is
resumed after being exited. *Note
Return from Superior Hook: Exiting.
SAIL Character Mode
If this is nonzero, characters in the buffer with ASCII
codes 0 through 37 are displayed without conversion. Do
not try to use this feature except on terminals
specially equipped to handle it. The variable controls
the TECO flag FS SAIL. *Note SAIL Character Mode:
Ideal.
Save Word Abbrevs (nonexistent)
If this variable exists, its value determines which
abbrevs will be saved upon exit from EMACS when abbrevs
have been modified. Setting it to 1 causes all abbrevs
to be saved. *Note Save Word Abbrevs: (WORDAB)Saving.
Setting it to -1 causes just the incremental abbrevs to
be saved. *Note Save Word Abbrevs: (WORDAB)Dumping.
Search Exit Char (27)
This is the numeric code for the 9-bit character which
should exit incremental search and not have its normal
command meaning in that case. The default, 27, is the
code for Altmode.
Search Exit Option (nonexistent)
If this variable is 0, Control and Meta characters
without special meanings do not exit incrementatl
search; instead, they are part of the string to be
searched for. If this variable does not exist, or is
nonzero, then those characters exit the search and then
have their normal function.
Set Mode Line Hook
This is a hook which is executed every time the mode
line is recomputed. It can insert text in the buffer to
put it in the mode line after the minor modes. *Note
Set Mode Line Hook: ModeLine.
SLOWLY Maximum Speed (nonexistent)
If this variable is defined, it is the maximum output
speed for which SLOWLY, if loaded, should define its
commands. *Note SLOWLY Maximum Speed: (SLOWLY)Options.
Space Indent Flag
If this flag is nonzero, then Auto Fill indents the new
lines which it creates, by performing a Tab. Most major
modes for programming languages set this nonzero. *Note
Space Indent Flag: Filling.
System Output Holding
If this is nonzero, then Twenex page mode is not turned
off by EMACS. This means that the characters C-S and
C-Q stop and resume output to the terminal from Twenex
and cannot be used as EMACS commands in any way. The
variable controls the TECO flag FS TT PAGE.
Tab Stop Definitions (a string)
The value of Tab Stop Definitions is a string defining
the tab stops to be used by the command M-I (^R Tab to
Tab Stop). *Note Tab Stop Definitions: TextIndent.
Tags Find File (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is not zero, TAGS uses C-X
C-F to switch files. Otherwise, TAGS uses C-X C-V.
*Note TAGS: (TAGS)Top. Some other things may decide to
use multiple buffers if this variable is nonzero. *Note
Tags Find File: Buffers.
Tags Search Verbose (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is zero, Tags Search does
not print out the name of each file that it begins to
search. If the variable is nonexistent, that is
equivalent to a value of 1. *Note Tags Search Verbose:
(TAGS)Search.
Temp File FN2 List (MEMOXGP ...)
This is a TECO search string which recognizes the
filenames which indicate that the file is probably
temporary. *Note Temp File FN2 List: CleanDir.
Top Display Margin
This controls the size of the region at the top of the
screen which the cursor is not allowed to be in. If the
cursor would normally move there, the window is
recentered instead. The value is represented as a
percentage of the screen size, and must not be negative
or more than 99. It controls the TECO flag FS %TOP.
*Note Top Display Margin: Display.
Underline Begin (nonexistent)
If this variable exists, its value should be the
character or string to use to begin underlines for the
M-_ command. *Note Underline Begin: Underlining.
Underline End (nonexistent)
If this variable exists, its value should be the
character or string to use to end underlines for the M-_
command. *Note Underline End: Underlining.
Visit File Hook (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, its value should
be a TECO program to be executed whenever a file is
visited. *Note Visit File Hook: Visiting.
Visit File Save Old (1)
This variable controls whether visiting a file offers to
save the file previously visited in the same buffer, if
it has changes. *Note Visit File Save Old: Visiting.
WORDAB All Caps (nonexistent)
If this variable exists and is nonzero, expanding an
all-upper-case abbrev to a multi-word expansion will
cause the words in the expansion to be all-upper-case,
instead of just having their first letters uppercased.
*Note WORDAB All Caps: (WORDAB)Expanding.
WORDAB Ins Chars (nonexistent)
If this variable exists when Word Abbrev Mode is turned
on, it should be a string containing precisely those
characters which should terminate and expand an abbrev.
This variable overrides Additional Abbrev Expanders
(q.v.). *Note WORDAB: (WORDAB)Alternatives.
EMACS Node: Screen, Previous: VarIndex, Up: Top, Next: Characters
The Organization of the Screen
EMACS divides the screen into several areas, each of which contains its
own sorts of information. The biggest area, of course, is the one in
which you usually see the text you are editing. The terminal's cursor
usually appears in the middle of the text, showing the position of
"point", the location at which editing takes place. While the cursor
appears to point AT a character, point should be thought of as BETWEEN
two characters; it points BEFORE the character that the cursor appears
on top of. Terminals have only one cursor, and when output is in
progress it must appear where the typing is being done. This does not
mean that point is moving. It is only that EMACS has no way to show you
the location of point except when the terminal is idle.
The top lines of the screen are usually available for text but are
sometimes pre-empted by an "error message", which says that some command
you gave was illegal or used improperly, or by "typeout" from a command
(such as, a listing of a file directory). Error messages are typically
one line, end with a question mark, and are accompanied by ringing the
bell. Typeout generally has none of those characteristics.
The error message or typeout appears there for your information, but it
is not part of the file you are editing, and it goes away if you type
any command. If you want to make it go away immediately but not do
anything else, you can type a Space. (Usually a Space inserts itself,
but when there is an error message or typeout on the screen it does
nothing but get rid of that.) The terminal's cursor always appears at
the end of the error message or typeout, but this does not mean that
point has moved. The cursor moves back to the location of point after
the error message or typeout goes away.
If you type a question mark when an error message is on the screen, you
enter the EMACS error handler. You probably don't want to do this
unless you know how to write TECO programs. If you do it by accident,
C-] (the standard abort character) will get you out. Enough said.
A few lines at the bottom of the screen compose what is called the "echo
area". The variable Echo Area Height controls how many lines long it
is. "Echoing" means printing out the commands that you type. For
example, INFO echoes its commands in the echo area. EMACS commands are
usually not echoed at all, but if you pause for more than a second in
the middle of a multi-character command then all the characters typed so
far are echoed. This is intended to "prompt" you for the rest of the
command. The rest of the command is echoed, too, as you type it. This
behavior is designed to give confident users optimum response, while
giving hesitant users maximum feedback.
EMACS also uses the echo area for reading and displaying the arguments
for some commands, such as searches, and for printing brief information
in response to certain commands.
The line above the echo area is known as the "mode line". It is the
line that usually starts with "EMACS (something)". Its purpose is to
tell what is going on in the EMACS, and to show any reasons why commands
may not be interpreted in the standard way. The mode line is very
important, and if you are surprised by how EMACS reacts to your commands
you should look there for enlightenment.
* Menu:
* Modeline:: Interpreting the mode line.
EMACS Node: ModeLine, Previous: Screen, Up: Screen
The Mode Line
The line above the echo area is known as the "mode line". It is the
line that usually starts with "EMACS (something)". Its purpose is to
tell you anything that may affect the meaning of your commands aside
from the text itself.
Some EMACS commands read and process more commands. They are known as
"subsystems" or "recursive editing levels". If you are inside a
subsystem or a recursive editing level, the mode line tells you its
name. Square brackets around the mode line indicate a recursive editing
level; *Note Recursive Editing Levels: Recursive. Parentheses indicate
a "minibuffer"; *Note Minibuffer: Minibuffer. Neither brackets nor
parentheses indicates a subsystem; *Note Subsystems: Subsystems.
Subsystems and recursive editing levels are advanced features, and you
will not initially be using them. When you are not inside a subsystem
or recursive editing level, we say that you are at "top level"; this
implies that the characters you type are interpreted as ordinary EMACS
commands. When you are at top level, the mode line tells you what file
you are editing, where you are in it, and what editing modes are enabled
which may affect the meaning of your commands. The top level mode line
has this format:
EMACS (major minor) bfr: file (vrs) --pos-- *
"major" is always the name of the "major mode" you are in. At any time,
EMACS is in one and only one of its possible major modes. The major
modes available include Fundamental mode (which EMACS starts out in),
Text mode, Lisp mode, PASCAL mode, and others. *Note Major Modes:
MajorModes, for details of how the modes differ and how to select one.
Sometimes the name of the major mode is followed immediately with
another name inside square-brackets ("[ - ]"). This name is called the
"submode". The submode indicates that you are "inside" of a command
that causes your editing commands to be changed temporarily, but does
not change WHAT text you are editing. A submode is a kind of recursive
editing level. *Note Submodes: Recursive.
"minor" is a list of some of the "minor modes" that are turned on at the
moment. "Fill" means that Auto Fill mode is on. "Save" means that
Auto-saving is on. "Save(off)" means that Auto-saving is on by default
but turned off at the moment in this buffer. "Atom" means that Atom
Word mode is on. "Abbrev" means that Word Abbrev mode is on. "Ovwrt"
means that Overwrite mode is on. *Note Minor Modes: MinorModes, for
more information. "Def" means that a keyboard macro is being defined;
although this is not exactly a minor mode, it is still useful to be
reminded about. *Note Keyboard Macros: KBDMAC. "Narrow" means that
editing is currently restricted to only a part of the buffer. *Note
Narrowing: Narrowing.
"bfr" is the name of the currently selected "buffer". Each buffer has
its own name and holds a file being edited; this is how EMACS can hold
several files at once. But at any time you are editing only one of
them, the "selected" buffer. When we speak of what some command does to
"the buffer", we are talking about the currently selected buffer.
Multiple buffers make it easy to switch around between several files,
and then it is very useful that the mode line tells you which one you
are editing at any time. However, before you learn how to use multiple
buffers, you will always be in the buffer called "Main", which is the
only one that exists when EMACS starts up. If the name of the buffer is
the same as the first name of the file you are visiting, then the buffer
name is left out of the mode line. *Note Buffers: Buffers, for how to
use more than one buffer in one EMACS.
"file" is the name of the file that you are editing. It is the last
file that was visited in the buffer you are in. It is followed, in
parentheses, by the file "version number" most recently visited or saved
. "(R-O)" after the filename means that the file or buffer is
"read-only"; a file visited read-only will not be saved unless you
insist, while a read-only buffer does not allow you to alter its
contents at all. *Note Visiting: Visiting, for more information.
The star at the end of the mode line means that there are changes in the
buffer that have not been saved in the file. If the file has not been
changed since it was read in or saved, there is no star.
"pos" tells you whether there is additional text above the top of the
screen, or below the bottom. If your file is small and it is all on the
screen, --pos-- is omitted. Otherwise, it is --TOP-- if you are looking
at the beginning of the file, --BOT-- if you are looking at the end of
the file, or --nn%-- where nn is the percentage of the file above the
top of the screen.
Sometimes you will see --MORE-- instead of --nn%--. This happens when
typeout from a command is too long to fit on the screen. It means that
if you type a Space the next screenful of information will be printed.
If you are not interested, typing anything but a Space will cause the
rest of the output to be discarded. Typing a Rubout will discard the
output and do nothing else. Typing any other command will discard the
rest of the output and also do the command. When the output is
discarded, "FLUSHED" is printed after the --MORE--.
If you are accustomed to other display editors, you may be surprised
that EMACS does not always display the page number and line number of
point in the mode line. This is because the text is stored in a way
that makes it difficult to compute this information. Displaying them
all the time would be too slow to be borne. When you want to know the
page and line number of point, you must ask for the information with the
M-X What Page command. *Note What Page: Pages. However, once you are
adjusted to EMACS, you will rarely have any reason to be concerned with
page numbers or line numbers.
If you set the variable Display Mode Line Inverse nonzero, then the mode
line is displayed in inverse video if the terminal you are using
supports it. *Note Variables: Variables.
The libraries MODLIN and MODE2 allow you to customize the information
that is displayed in the mode line. MODLIN replaces the standard EMACS
mode line generation routines. MODE2 makes a second mode line, above
the first, whose contents are under your control. Refer to the
self-documentation of these libraries; *Note Libraries: Libraries.
EMACS Node: Characters, Previous: Screen, Up: Top, Next: Basic
Character Sets and Command Input Conventions
In this chapter we introduce the terminology and concepts used to talk
about EMACS commands. EMACS is designed to be used with a kind of
keyboard with two special shift keys which can type 512 different
characters, instead of the 128 different characters which ordinary ASCII
keyboards can send. The terminology of EMACS commands is formulated in
terms of these shift keys. So that EMACS can be used on ASCII
terminals, we provide two-character ASCII circumlocutions for the
command characters which are not ASCII.
The 9-bit Command Character Set
EMACS is designed ideally to be used with terminals whose keyboards have
a pair of shift keys, labeled "Control" and "Meta", either or both of
which can be combined with any character that you can type. These shift
keys produce "Control" characters and "Meta" characters, which are the
editing commands of EMACS. We name each of these characters by
prefixing "Control-" (or "C-"), "Meta-" (or "M-") or both to the basic
character: thus, Meta-F or M-F is the character which is F typed with
the Meta key held down. C-M-; is the Semicolon character with both the
Control and Meta keys. Control in the EMACS command character set is
not precisely the same as Control in the ASCII character set, but the
general purpose is the same.
There are 128 basic characters. Multiplied by the four possibilities of
the Control and Meta keys, this makes 512 characters in the EMACS
command character set. So it is called the 512-character set, to
distinguish it from ASCII, which has only 128 characters. It is also
called the "9-bit" character set because 9 bits are required to express
a number from 0 to 511. Note that the 512-character set is used only
for keyboard commands. Characters in files being edited with EMACS are
ASCII characters.
Sadly, most terminals do not have ideal EMACS keyboards. In fact, the
only ideal keyboards are at MIT. On nonideal keyboards, the Control key
is somewhat limited (it can only be combined with some characters, not
with all), and the Meta key may not exist at all. We make it possible
to use EMACS on a nonideal terminal by providing two-character
circumlocutions, made up of ASCII characters that you can type, for the
characters that you can't type. These circumlocutions start with a "bit
prefix" character; see below. For example, to use the Meta-A command,
you could type Altmode A. Also see the appendices for more detailed
information on what to do on your type of terminal.
Both the EMACS 9-bit character set and ASCII have Control characters,
but the 9-bit character set has more different ones. In ASCII, only
letters and a few punctuation marks can be made into Control characters;
in the 9-bit character set every character has a Control version. For
example, we have Control-Space, Control-1, and Control-=. We also have
two different characters Control-A and Control-a! But they always do
the same thing in EMACS, so you can ignore the distinction between them,
unless you are doing customization. In practice, you can forget all
about the distinction between ASCII Control and EMACS Control, except to
realize that EMACS uses some "Control" characters which ASCII keyboards
cannot type.
In addition to the 9-bit command character set, there is one additional
EMACS command character called Help. It cannot be combined with Control
or Meta. Its use is to ask for documentation, at any time. The Help
character has its own key on an ideal keyboard, but must be represented
by something else on other keyboards. The usual choice is
Control-Underscore, code 337 (octal). This implies that the command
character Control-Underscore cannot be used because it is translated to
Help instead. The code used internally for Help is 4110 (octal).
We have given some command characters special names which we always
capitalize. "Return" or "<cr>" stands for the carriage return
character, code 015 (all character codes are in octal). Note that C-R
means the character Control-R, never Return. "Rubout" is the character
with code 177, labeled "Delete" on some keyboards. "Altmode" is the
character with code 033, sometimes labeled "Escape". Other command
characters with special names are Tab (code 011), Backspace (code 010),
Linefeed (code 012), Space (code 040), Excl ("!", code 041), Comma (code
054), and Period (code 056). Control is represented in the numeric code
for a character by 200, and Meta by 400; thus, Meta-Period is code 456
in the 9-bit character set.
Prefix Characters
A non-ideal keyboard can only send certain Control characters, and may
completely lack the ability to send Meta characters. To use these
commands on such keyboards, you need to use two-character
circumlocutions starting with a "bit prefix" character which turns on
the Control or Meta bit in the second character. The Altmode character
turns on the Meta bit, so Altmode X can be used to type a Meta-X, and
Altmode Control-O can be used to type a C-M-O. Altmode is known as the
"Metizer". Other bit prefix characters are C-^ for Control, and C-Z for
Control and Meta together. Thus, C-^ < is a way of typing a Control-<,
and C-Z < can be used to type C-M-<. Because C-^ is awkward to type on
most keyboards, we have tried to minimize the number of commands for
which you will need it.
The bit prefix characters are simply commands which run the functions ^R
Prefix Control, ^R Prefix Meta, and ^R Prefix Control-Meta.
There is another prefix character, Control-X which is used as the
beginning of a large set of two-character commands known as "C-X
commands". C-X is not a bit prefix character; C-X A is not a
circumlocution for any single character, and it must be typed as two
characters on any terminal. You can create new prefix characters when
you customize. *Note Prefix: (CONV)Prefix.
Commands, Functions, and Variables
Most of the EMACS commands documented herein are members of this 9-bit
character set. Others are pairs of characters from that set. However,
EMACS doesn't really implement commands directly. Instead, EMACS is
composed of "functions", which have long names such as "^R Down Real
Line" and definitions which are programs that perform the editing
operations. Then "commands" such as C-N are connected to functions
through the "command dispatch table". When we say that C-N moves the
cursor down a line, we are glossing over a distinction which is
unimportant for ordinary use, but essential for customization: it is the
function ^R Down Real Line which knows how to move down a line, and C-N
moves down a line because it is connected to that function. We usually
ignore this subtlety to keep things simple. To give the
extension-writer the information he needs, we state the name of the
function which really does the work in parentheses after mentioning the
command name. For example: "C-N (^R Down Real Line) moves the cursor
down a line". In the EMACS wall chart, the function names are used as a
form of very brief documentation for the command characters. *Note
Functions: MMArcana.
The "^R " which appears at the front of the function name is simply part
of the name. By convention, a certain class of functions have names
which start with "^R ".
While we are on the subject of customization information which you
should not be frightened of, it's a good time to tell you about
"variables". Often the description of a command will say "to change
this, set the variable Mumble Foo". A variable is a name used to
remember a value. EMACS contains many variables which are there so that
you can change them if you want to customize. The variable's value is
examined by some command, and changing the value makes the command
behave differently. Until you are interested in customizing, you can
ignore this information. When you are ready to be interested, read the
basic information on variables, and then the information on individual
variables will make sense. *Note Variables: Variables.
Notational Conventions for ASCII Characters
Control characters in files, your EMACS buffer, or TECO programs, are
ordinary ASCII characters. The special 9-bit character set applies only
to typing EMACS commands. ASCII contains the printing characters,
rubout, and some control characters. Most ASCII control characters are
represented in this manual as uparrow or caret followed by the
corresponding non-control character: control-E is represented as .
Some ASCII characters have special names. These include tab (011),
backspace (010), linefeed (012), return (015), altmode (033), space
(040), and rubout (177). To make it clear whether we are talking about
a 9-bit character or an ASCII character, we capitalize names of 9-bit
characters and leave names of ASCII characters in lower case. Note that
the 9-bit characters Tab and Control-I are different, but the ASCII
characters tab and control-I are the same.
Lines in files are separated by a sequence of two ASCII control
characters, carriage return followed by linefeed. This sequence is
called "CRLF". Normally, EMACS treats this two-character sequence as if
it were a single character, a "line separator". A return or a linefeed
which is not part of a CRLF is called "stray". EMACS usually treats
them as part of the text of a line and displays them as ^M and ^J. If
the variable Display Overprinting is zero, they display as actual
carriage return or linefeed.
Most control characters when present in the EMACS buffer are displayed
with a caret; thus, ^A for ASCII . Rubout is displayed as ^?, because
by stretching the meaning of "control" it can be interpreted as ASCII
control-?. A backspace is usually displayed as ^H since it is ASCII
control-H, because most displays cannot do overprinting. If you want
backspace and stray return to display as overprinting, set the variable
Display Overprinting nonzero.
Altmode is the ASCII code 033, sometimes labeled "Escape" or "Alt".
Altmode is often represented by itself in this document (remember, it is
an ASCII character and can therefore appear in files). It looks like
this: . This is also how it appears on the screen if you insert it in
your file. On most terminals, altmode looks just like the dollar sign
character. If that's so on yours, you should assume that anything you
see in this document which looks like a dollar sign is really an altmode
unless you are specifically told it's a dollar sign. The dollar sign
character is not particularly important in EMACS and we will rarely have
reason to mention it.
Now turn to the node that describes the keyboard you are using.
* Menu:
* Ideal:: for keyboards that have a "Meta" key.
* EditKey:: for keyboards that have an "Edit" key.
* Losers:: for keyboards that have neither "Meta" nor "Edit."
You may need to tell EMACS or the system what type of terminal you
are using before it will work properly.
* Term Types:: for information on how to do so.
There are special commands designed to make life tolerable on
terminals which cannot send or display lower case.
* NoLowerCase:: for how to use them.
The SLOWLY library changes a few commands to perform less redisplay.
This is useful on slow terminals.
* SLOWLY: (SLOWLY), for more information.
You can even use EMACS on a printing terminal or glass teletype.
* Printing:: for how.
EMACS Node: Basic, Previous: Characters, Up: Top, Next: Arguments
Basic Editing Commands
We now give the basics of how to enter text, make corrections, and save
the text in a file. If this material is new to you, you might learn it
more easily by running the TEACH-EMACS program.
Inserting Text
To insert printing characters into the text you are editing, just type
them. When EMACS is at top level, all printing characters you type are
inserted into the text at the cursor (that is, at "point"), and the
cursor moves forward. Any characters after the cursor move forward too.
If the text in the buffer is FOOBAR, with the cursor before the B, then
if you type XX, you get FOOXXBAR, with the cursor still before the B.
To correct text you have just inserted, you can use Rubout. Rubout
deletes the character BEFORE the cursor (not the one that the cursor is
on top of or under; that is the character AFTER the cursor). The cursor
and all characters after it move backwards. Therefore, if you type a
printing character and then type Rubout, they cancel out.
To end a line and start typing a new one, type Return (Customizers,
note: this runs the function ^R CRLF). Return operates by inserting a
line separator, so if you type Return in the middle of a line, you break
the line in two. Return really inserts two characters, a carriage
return and a linefeed (a CRLF), but almost everything in EMACS makes
them look like just one character, which you can think of as a
line-separator character. For example, typing Rubout when the cursor is
at the beginning of a line rubs out the line separator before the line,
joining that line with the preceding line.
If you add too many characters to one line, without breaking it with a
Return, the line will grow to occupy two (or more) lines on the screen,
with a "!" at the extreme right margin of all but the last of them. The
"!" says that the following screen line is not really a distinct line in
the file, but just the "continuation" of a line too long to fit the
screen.
Direct insertion works for printing characters and space, but other
characters act as editing commands and do not insert themselves. If you
need to insert a control character, Altmode, Tab or Rubout, you must
"quote" it by typing the Control-Q (^R Quoted Insert) command first.
*Note Control: Characters. Inserting a is harder because EMACS
cannot even receive the character; you must use the minibuffer as in
Altmode Altmode 3i Altmode Altmode. *Note Minibuffer: Minibuffer.
Moving The Cursor
To do more than insert characters, you have to know how to move the
cursor. Here are a few of the commands for doing that.
C-A Move to the beginning of the line.
C-E Move to the end of the line.
C-F Move forward over one character.
C-B Move backward over one character.
C-N Move down one line, vertically. If you start in the
middle of one line, you end in the middle of the next.
From the last line of text, it creates a new line.
C-P Move up one line, vertically.
C-L Clear the screen and reprints everything. C-U C-L
reprints just the line that the cursor is on.
C-T Transpose two characters (the ones before and after the
cursor).
M-< Move to the top of your text.
M-> Move to the end of your text.
Erasing Text
Rubout Delete the character before the cursor.
C-D Delete the character after the cursor.
C-K Kill to the end of the line.
You already know about the Rubout command which deletes the character
before the cursor. Another command, Control-D, deletes the character
after the cursor, causing the rest of the text on the line to shift
left. If Control-D is typed at the end of a line, that line and the
next line are joined together.
To erase a larger amount of text, use the Control-K command, which kills
a line at a time. If Control-K is done at the beginning or middle of a
line, it kills all the text up to the end of the line. If Control-K is
done at the end of a line, it joins that line and the next line.
*Note Killing: Killing, for more flexible ways of killing text.
Files
The commands above are sufficient for creating text in the EMACS buffer.
The more advanced EMACS commands just make things easier. But to keep
any text permanently you must put it in a "file". Files are the objects
which Twenex uses for storing data for communication between different
programs or to hold onto for a length of time. To tell EMACS to edit
text in a file, choose a "filename", such as FOO.BAR, and type C-X C-V
FOO.BAR<cr>. This "visits" the file FOO.BAR so that its contents appear
on the screen for editing. You can make changes, and then "save" the
file by typing C-X C-S. This makes the changes permanent and actually
changes the file FOO.BAR. Until then, the changes are only inside your
EMACS, and the file FOO.BAR is not really changed. If the file FOO.BAR
doesn't exist, and you want to create it, visit it as if it did exist.
When you save your text with C-X C-S the file will be created.
Of course, there is a lot more to learn about using files. *Note Files:
Files.
Help
If you forget what a command does, you can find out with the Help
character. The Help character is typed as Control-_. Type Help
followed by C and the command you want to know about. Help can help you
in other ways as well. *Note Help: Help.
Using Blank Lines Can Make Editing Faster
C-O Insert one or more blank lines after the cursor.
C-X C-O Delete all but one of many consecutive blank lines.
It is much more efficient to insert text at the end of a line than in
the middle. So if you want to stick a new line before an existing one,
the best way is to make a blank line there first and then type the text
into it, rather than inserting the new text at the beginning of the
existing line and finally inserting a line separator. Making the blank
line first also makes the meaning of the text clearer while you are
typing it in.
To make a blank line, you can type Return and then C-B. But there is a
single character for this: C-O (Customizers: this is the built-in
function ^R Open Line). So, FOO Return is equivalent to C-O FOO.
If you want to insert many lines, you can type many C-O's at the
beginning (or you can give C-O an argument to tell it how many blank
lines to make. *Note Arguments: Arguments, for how). As you then
insert lines of text, you will notice that Return behaves strangely: it
"uses up" the blank lines instead of pushing them down.
If you don't use up all the blank lines, you can type C-X C-O (the
function ^R Delete Blank Lines) to get rid of all but one. When point
is on a blank line, C-X C-O replaces all the blank lines around that one
with a single blank line. When point is on a nonblank line, C-X C-O
deletes any blank lines following that nonblank line.
EMACS Node: Arguments, Previous: Basic, Up: Top, Next: M-X
Giving Numeric Arguments to EMACS Commands
Any EMACS command can be given a "numeric argument". Some commands
interpret the argument as a repetition count. For example, giving an
argument of ten to the C-F command (move forward one character) moves
forward ten characters. With these commands, no argument is equivalent
to an argument of 1.
Some commands care only about whether there is an argument, and not
about its value; for example, the command M-Q (^R Fill Paragraph) with
no arguments fills text, but with an argument justifies the text as
well.
Some commands use the value of the argument, but do something peculiar
when there is no argument. For example, the C-K (^R Kill Line) command
with an argument <n> kills <n> lines and the line separators that follow
them. But C-K with no argument is special; it kills the text up to the
next line separator, or, if point is right at the end of the line, it
kills the line separator itself. Thus, two C-K commands with no
arguments can kill a nonblank line, just like C-K with an argument of
one.
The fundamental way of specifying an argument is to use the C-U
(^R Universal Argument) command followed by the digits of the argument.
Negative arguments are allowed. Often they tell a command to move or
act backwards. A negative argument is entered with C-U followed by a
minus sign and the digits of the value of the argument.
C-U followed by a character which is neither a digit nor a minus sign
has the special meaning of "multiply by four". It multiplies the
argument for the next command by four. Two such C-U's multiply it by
sixteen. Thus, C-U C-U C-F moves forward sixteen characters. This is a
good way to move forward "fast", since it moves about 1/4 of a line on
most terminals. Other useful combinations are C-U C-N, C-U C-U C-N
(move down a good fraction of a screen), C-U C-U C-O (make "a lot" of
blank lines), and C-U C-K (kill four lines). With commands like M-Q
that care whether there is an argument but not what the value is, C-U is
a good way of saying "I want an argument".
A few commands treat a plain C-U differently from an ordinary argument.
A few others may treat an argument of just a minus sign differently from
an argument of -1. These unusual cases will be described when they come
up; they are always for reasons of convenience of use.
There are other, terminal-dependent ways of specifying arguments. They
have the same effect but may be easier to type. *Note
Terminal-specific: Characters. If your terminal has a numeric keypad
which sends something recognizably different from the ordinary digits,
it is possible to program EMACS to allow use of the numeric keypad for
specifying arguments. The libraries VT52 and VT100 provide such a
feature for those two types of terminals. *Note Libraries: Libraries.
Autoarg Mode
Users of ASCII keyboards may prefer to use Autoarg mode. Autoarg mode
means that you don't need to type C-U to specify a numeric argument.
Instead, you type just the digits. Digits followed by an ordinary
inserting character are themselves inserted, but digits followed by an
Altmode or Control character serve as an argument to it and are not
inserted. A minus sign can also be part of an argument, but only at the
beginning. If you type a minus sign following some digits, both the
digits and the minus sign are inserted.
To use Autoarg mode, set the variable Autoarg Mode nonzero. *Note
Variables: Variables.
Autoargument digits echo at the bottom of the screen; the first nondigit
causes them to be inserted or uses them as an argument. To insert some
digits and nothing else, you must follow them with a Space and then rub
it out. C-G cancels the digits, while Rubout inserts them all and then
rubs out the last.
EMACS Node: M-X, Previous: Arguments, Up: Top, Next: Subsystems
Extended (Meta-X) Commands and Functions
Not all EMACS commands are of the one or two character variety you have
seen so far. Most commands have long names composed of English words.
This is for two reasons: the long names are easier to remember and more
suggestive, and there are not enough two-character combinations for
every command to have one.
The commands with long names are known as "extended commands" because
they extend the set of two-character commands.
Issuing Extended Commands
M-X Begin an extended command. Follow by command
name and arguments.
C-M-X Begin an extended command. Follow by the
command name only; the command will ask for any
arguments.
C-X Altmode Re-execute recent extended command.
Extended commands are also called "M-X commands", because they all start
with the character Meta-X (^R Extended Command). The M-X is followed by
the command's long, suggestive name, actually the name of a function to
be called. Terminate the name of the function with a Return (unless you
are supplying string arguments; see below). For example, Meta-X Auto
Fill Mode<cr> invokes the function Auto Fill Mode. This function when
executed turns Auto Fill mode on or off.
We say that M-X Foo<cr> "calls the function Foo". When documenting the
individual extended commands, we will call them "functions" to avoid
confusion between them and the one or two character "commands". We will
also use "M-X" as a title like "Mr." for functions, as in "use M-X Foo".
The "extended command" is what you type, starting with M-X, and what the
command does is call a function. The name that goes in the command is
the name of the command and is also the name of the function, and both
terms will be used.
Note: Extended commands and functions were once called "MM commands",
but this term is obsolete. If you see it used either in INFO
documentation of in Help documentation, please report it. Ordinary one
or two character commands used to be known as "^R" commands; please
report any occurrences of this obsolete term also.
There are a great many functions in EMACS for you to call. They will be
described elsewhere in the manual, according to what they do. Here we
are concerned only with extended commands in general.
Typing The Command Name
When you type M-X, the cursor moves down to the echo area at the bottom
of the screen. "M-X" is printed there, and when you type the command
name it echoes there. This is known as "reading a line in the echo
area". You can use Rubout to cancel one character of the command name,
or C-U or C-D to cancel the entire command name. A C-G cancels the
whole M-X, and so does a Rubout when the command name is empty. These
editing characters apply any time EMACS reads a line in the echo area,
not just within M-X.
The string "M-X" which appears in the echo area is called a "prompt".
The prompt always tells you what sort of argument is required and what
it is going to be used for; "M-X" means that you are inside of the
command M-X, and should type the name of a function to be called. You
can replace the prompt "M-X" with some other string by defining the
variable Read Command Prompt.
Completion
You can abbreviate the name of the command, typing only the beginning of
the name, as much as is needed to identify the command unambiguously.
You can also use completion on the function name. This means that you
type part of the command name, and EMACS visibly fills in the rest, or
as much as can be determined from the part you have typed.
You request completion by typing an Altmode (). For example, if you
type M-X Au, the "Au" expands to "Auto " because all command names
which start with "Au" continue with "to ". If you ask for completion
when there are several alternatives for the next character, the bell
rings and nothing else happens. Altmode is also the way to terminate
the command name and begin the string arguments, but it only does this
if the command name completes in full. In that case, an Altmode appears
after the command name in the echo area. In practice, these two
meanings of Altmode do not conflict, because if the command name does
not complete in full, it is ambiguous and would not be accepted. So it
would be useless to type the arguments yet.
Space is another way to request completion, but it completes only one
word. Successive Spaces complete one word each, until either there are
multiple possibilities or the end of the name is reached. If the first
word of a command is Edit, List, Kill, View or What, it is sufficient to
type just the first letter and complete it with a Space. (This does not
follow from the usual definition of completion, since the single letter
is ambiguous; it is a special feature added because these words are so
common).
Typing "?" in the middle of the command name prints a list of all the
command names which begin with what you have typed so far. You can then
go on typing the name.
Numeric Arguments and String Arguments
Some functions can use numeric prefix arguments. Simply give the Meta-X
command an argument and Meta-X will pass it along to the function which
it calls. The argument appears before the "M-X" in the prompt, as in
"69 M-X", to remind you that the function you call will receive a
numeric argument.
Some functions require "string arguments" (sometimes called "suffix
arguments"). To specify string arguments, terminate the function name
with a single Altmode, then type the arguments, separated by Altmodes.
After the last argument, type a Return to cause the function to be
executed. For example, the function Describe prints the full
documentation of a function (or a variable) whose name must be given as
a string argument. An example of using it is
Meta-X DescribeApropos<cr>
which prints the full description of the function named Apropos.
An alternate way of calling extended commands is with the command C-M-X
(^R Instant Extended Command). It differs from plain M-X in that the
function itself reads any string arguments. The function prompts for
each argument individually. If an argument is supposed to be a filename
or a command name, completion is available. However, there are
compensating disadvantages. For one thing, since the function has
already been invoked, you can't rub out from the arguments into the
function name. For another, it is not possible to save the whole thing,
function name and arguments, for you to recall with C-X Altmode (see
below). So C-M-X saves nothing for C-X Altmode. The prompt for C-M-X
is "C-M-X". You can override it with the variable Instant Command
Prompt.
Repeating an Extended Command
The last few extended commands you have executed are saved and you can
repeat them. We say that the extended command is saved, rather than
that the function is saved, because the whole command, including
arguments, is saved.
To re-execute a saved command, use the command C-X Altmode
(^R Re-execute Minibuffer). It retypes the last extended command and
asks for confirmation. With an argument, it repeats an earlier extended
command: 2 means repeat the next to the last command, etc. You can also
use the minibuffer to edit a previous extended command and re-execute it
with changes (*Note Minibuffer: Minibuffer.).
*Note MM: MMArcana, for more information on this and other topics
related to how extended commands work, how they are really the
foundation of everything in EMACS, and how they relate to customization.
EMACS Node: MMArcana, Previous: M-X, Up: M-X
Arcane Information about M-X Commands
You can skip this section if you are not interested in customization,
unless you want to know what is going on behind the scenes.
MM
Extended commands were once called "MM" commands, because "MM" is a TECO
expression which looks up a command name to find the associated program,
and runs that program. Thus, the TECO expression
MM AproposWord
means to run the Apropos command with the argument "word". You could
type this expression into a minibuffer and get the same results as you
would get from Meta-X AproposWord<cr>. In fact, for the first year or
so, EMACS had no Meta-X command, and that's what people did. *Note
Minibuffer: Minibuffer, for information on the minibuffer.
"MM" actually tells TECO to call the subroutine in q-register "M". The
first "M" means "call", and the second "M" says what to call. This
subroutine takes a string argument which is the name of a function and
looks it up. Calling a function is built into TECO, but looking up the
name is not; it is implemented by the program in q-register M. That's
why "MM" is called that and not "Run" or "F".
Arguments in TECO Code
Functions can use one or two "prefix arguments" or "numeric arguments".
These are numbers (actually, TECO expressions) which go before the "MM".
Meta-X can only give the MM command one argument. If you want to give
it two, you must type it in using the minibuffer. When TECO code passes
prefix arguments, they don't have to be numbers; they can also be string
objects, TECO buffer objects, etc. However, no more about that here.
TECO code can also pass "string arguments" or "suffix arguments". When
TECO code passes a string argument, it appears, terminated by an
Altmode, after the Altmode which ends the function name. There can be
any number of string arguments. In fact, the function can decide at run
time how many string arguments to read. This makes it impossible to
compile TECO code!
Since Altmode terminates a string argument, TECO has a quoting
convention to allow Altmodes to be part of a string argument. This
convention is to use the two characters Altmode to cause just an
Altmode to be part of the argument. also must be quoted, as .
The M-X command hides all of this: there is no way to quote an Altmode;
every Altmode always terminates a string argument; is not special,
because M-X automatically replaces each with two. If you understand
the TECO meaning of you can enable its use in M-X command arguments
by setting the variable Quote Execute Command nonzero. Then M-X does no
special processing to characters. You can use them to quote
Altmodes, and you must also take care of quoting characters
themselves.
Commands and Functions
Actually, every command in EMACS simply runs a function. For example,
when you type the command C-N, it runs the function "^R Down Real Line".
You could just as well do C-U 1 M-X ^R Down Real Line<cr> and get the
same effect. C-N can be thought of as a sort of abbreviation. We say
that the command C-N has been "connected" to the function ^R Down Real
Line. The name is looked up once when the command and function are
connected, so that it does not have to be looked up again each time the
command is used. For historical reasons, the default argument passed to
a function which is connected to a command you typed is 1, but the
default for MM and for M-X is 0. This is why the C-U 1 was necessary in
the example above. The documentation for individual EMACS commands
usually gives the name of the function which really implements the
command in parentheses after the command itself.
Just as any function can be called directly with M-X, so almost any
function can be connected to a command. You can use the function Set
Key to do this. Set Key takes the name of the function as a string
argument, then reads the character command (including metizers or other
prefix characters) directly from the terminal. To define C-N, you could
type
M-X Set Key^R Down Real Line<cr>
and then type C-N. If you use the function View File often, you could
connect it to the command C-X V (not normally defined). You could even
connect it to the command C-M-V, replacing that command's normal
definition. Set Key is good for redefining commands in the middle of
editing. An init file or EMACS.VARS file can do it each time you run
EMACS. *Note Init: Init.
Subroutines
EMACS is composed of a large number of functions, each with a name.
Some of these functions are connected to commands; some are there for
you to call with M-X; some are called by other functions. The last
group are called subroutines. They usually have names starting with
"&", as in "& Read Line", the subroutine which reads a line in the echo
area. Although most subroutines have such names, any function can be
called as a subroutine. Functions like ^R Down Real Line have names
starting with ^R because you are not expected to call them directly,
either. The purpose of the "&" or "^R" is to get those function names
out of the way of command completion in M-X. M-X allows the command
name to be abbreviated if the abbreviation is unique, and the commands
that you are not interested in might have names that would interfere and
make some useful abbreviation cease to be unique. The funny characters
at the front of the name prevent this from happening.
Built-in Functions
Not all of the functions in EMACS are written in TECO. A few of the
most frequently used single-character commands have definitions written
in machine language. These include self-inserting characters, Rubout,
C-F, and others. Such functions defined in machine language as part of
TECO are called "built-in" functions. Whereas the actual definition of
an ordinary function is a string, the definition of a built-in function
is just a number, the address of a routine in TECO. The EMACS
"definitions" of these commands exist only to give the commands names
and documentation, and live in a special library called BARE which is
loaded when necessary to make the names and documentation available.
For example, ^R Forward Character is the name of the function which
implements the C-F command.
EMACS Node: Subsystems, Previous: M-X, Up: Top, Next: Recursive
Subsystems
A "subsystem" is an EMACS function which is an interactive program in
its own right: it reads commands in a language of its own, and displays
the results. You enter a subsystem by typing an EMACS command which
invokes it. Once entered, the subsystem runs until a specific command
to exit the subsystem is typed. An example of an EMACS subsystem is
INFO itself. Others are Backtrace and TDEBUG, used for debugging TECO
programs, and BABYL, used for reading and editing mail files.
The commands understood by a subsystem are usually not like EMACS
commands, because their purpose is something other than editing text.
For example, INFO commands are designed for moving around in a
tree-structured documentation file. In EMACS, most commands are Control
or Meta characters because printing characters insert themselves. In
most subsystems, there is no insertion of text, so non-Control non-Meta
characters can be the commands.
While you are inside a subsystem, the mode line usually gives the name
of the subsystem (as well as other information supplied by the
subsystem, such as the filename and node name in INFO). You can tell
that you are inside a subsystem because the mode line does not start
with "EMACS", or with an open bracket ("[") which would indicate a
recursive editing level. *Note Mode Line: ModeLine.
Because each subsystem implements its own commands, we cannot guarantee
anything about them. However, there are conventions for what certain
commands ought to do:
C-] Aborts (exits without finishing up).
Backspace Scrolls backward, like M-V in EMACS.
Space Scrolls forward, like C-V in EMACS.
Q Exits normally.
X Begins an extended command, like M-X in EMACS.
Help or ? Prints documentation on the subsystem's
commands.
Not all of these necessarily exist in every subsystem, however.
EMACS Node: Recursive, Previous: Subsystems, Up: Top, Next: Exiting
Recursive Editing Levels
A "recursive editing level" is a state in which part of the execution of
one command involves doing some editing. You may be editing the file
you are working on, or you may be editing completely something totally
different from what you were working on at top level. Recursive editing
levels are indicated in the mode line by square brackets ("[" and "]").
For example, the command M-X Edit Options allows you to change the
settings of EMACS options. During the execution of this command, you
enter a recursive editing level in which you edit a list of options
names and values using the usual EMACS editing commands. While this is
going on, the mode line says "[Edit Options]" to inform you that you are
in a recursive editing level and why. When you "exit" the recursive
editing level, the Edit Options command continues its work by looking at
the changes you have made in the list of options and changing the actual
option values accordingly. Only then is the original Edit Options
command finished.
Alternatively, you can "abort" the recursive editing level, which gets
you out of the Edit Options command and back to top level, without
allowing the command to finish.
A recursive editing level differs from a subsystem in that the commands
are ordinary EMACS commands (though a handful may have been changed
slightly), whereas a subsystem defines its own command language.
The text you edit inside a recursive editing level depends on the
command which invoked the recursive editing level. It could be a list
of options and values, or a list of tab stop settings, syntax table
settings, a message to be sent, or any text that you might wish to
compose.
Sometimes in a recursive editing level you edit text of the file you are
visiting, just as at top level. Why would this be? Usually because a
few commands are temporarily changed. For example, Edit Picture in the
PICTURE library defines commands good for editing a picture made out of
characters, then enters a recursive editing level. When you exit, the
special picture-editing commands go away. Until then, the brackets in
the mode line serve to remind you that, although the text you are
editing is your file, all is not normal. *Note PICTURE: PICTURE.
In any case, if the mode line says "[...]" you are inside a recursive
editing level, and the way to exit (send the message, redefine the
options, get rid of the picture-editing commands, etc.) is with the
command C-M-Z (^R Exit). *Note Exiting: Exiting. If you change your
mind about the command (you don't want to send the message, or change
your options, etc.) then you should use the command C-] (Abort Recursive
Edit) to get out. *Note C-]: Quitting.
Inside recursive editing levels, the help option Help R is defined to
print the full documentation of the command which invoked the recursive
editing level. The other normal Help options are still available for
asking about commands you want to use while inside the recursive edit.
When the text in the mode line is surrounded by parentheses, it means
that you are inside a "Minibuffer". A minibuffer is a special case of
the recursive editing level. Like any other, it can be aborted safely
with C-]. *Note Minibuffer: Minibuffer.
EMACS Node: Exiting, Previous: Recursive, Up: Top, Next: Subforks
Exiting Levels; Exiting EMACS
C-X C-Z Exit from EMACS to the superior fork.
C-M-Z Exit from EMACS or from a recursive editing level.
M-X Rerun CCL
Exit from EMACS to EXEC and repeat the last
Compile-class command.
The general EMACS command to exit is C-M-Z (^R Exit). This command is
used to exit from a recursive editing level back to the top level of
EMACS, and to exit from EMACS at top level back to EXEC. If your
keyboard does not have a Meta key, you must type this command by means
of a bit prefix character, as C-Z C-Z or as Altmode C-Z. Note carefully
the difference between exiting a recursive editing level and aborting
it: exiting allows the command which invoked the recursive editing level
to finish its job with the text as you have edited it, whereas aborting
cancels whatever the command was going to do. *Note Aborting: Quitting.
We cannot say in general how to exit a subsystem, since each subsystem
defines its own command language, but the convention is to use the
character "Q".
You can exit from EMACS back to the superior fork, usually EXEC, at any
time, even within a recursive editing level, with the command C-X C-Z
(^R Return to Superior). If this is used while you are inside a
recursive editing level, then when EMACS is re-entered you will still be
inside the recursive editing level.
If the superior fork really is EXEC, you can use M-X Rerun CCL to return
to EXEC and repeat the last Compile, Load, or Debug EXEC command. It
offers to save any buffers which need saving, first.
Exiting EMACS does not normally save the visited file, because it is not
the case that users exit EMACS only when they are "finished editing".
If you want the file saved, you must use C-X C-S. Exiting does cause an
auto save if Auto Save mode is in use. M-X Rerun CCL does offer to save
because with it you indicate specifically your desire to use the saved
file.
Exiting from EMACS runs the function & Exit EMACS. This function
executes the value of the variable Exit Hook, if it is nonzero;
otherwise, it does auto-save if Auto Save mode is on. & Exit EMACS
also executes the value of the variable Exit to Superior Hook, if it is
defined. If EMACS is continued, the value of Return from Superior Hook
is executed.
EMACS Node: Subforks, Previous: Exiting, Up: Top, Next: Help
Running Subforks under EMACS
Running a subfork under EMACS is a little bit like running an EMACS
subsystem in that you give EMACS a command to start it, and give it a
command when you want to exit.
The difference is that a subsystem is implemented as a part of EMACS.
It can call other parts of EMACS as a subroutine, for example. A
subfork is an entirely separate program, and any program which you could
run under EXEC can also be run under EMACS. However, subforks cannot be
integrated as well with the rest of EMACS.
To exit from a subfork running under EMACS, type Control-C once or
twice, just as you would to return to EXEC from a subfork running under
EXEC.
Control of subforks is done with the TECO command FZ, which can be used
for loading an arbitrary program into a subfork of EMACS.
EMACS commands which run a subfork that is likely to run for an
indefinite length of time call the function & Exit EMACS first, so that
an auto save is done if necessary. They also execute the value of Exit
to Inferior Hook before running the inferior, and execute the value of
Return from Inferior Hook when the inferior returns. Some EMACS
commands run an inferior that is expected to return almost immediately
and not read input from the terminal. These commands do not use & Exit
EMACS or run the hooks.
Inferior EXEC
An alternative to exiting EMACS is pushing to another EXEC under EMACS.
You can probably do in this EXEC whatever you would have done after
exiting, and it will not harm the EMACS. Do M-X Push to EXEC to get an
inferior EXEC, and use the POP command to return to EMACS. Repeated use
of Push to EXEC gets the same EXEC with its subfork unchanged. You can
actually switch randomly between EMACS and one other program in this
way, even if the EXEC on your machine does not support multiple forks.
The variable Exec Name contains the name of the file to run, or 0 for
the ordinary EXEC.
Reading Mail
An important use of subforks is for reading mail with MM. *Note Mail:
Mail.
Subforks in General
M-+ Start or resume a subfork.
M-, Kill a subfork.
The EFORK library, which you must load explicitly with Load Library
(*Note Libraries: Libraries.), contains general functions for running
several forks underneath EMACS. EMACS users do not need to wait for DEC
to wake up and release the multi-forking EXEC; they can use multiple
forks right now.
When EFORK is loaded, the command M-+ (^R Invoke Inferior) creates or
resumes a subfork.
Creation of a subfork requires two arguments, which you must type. The
first one is the fork handle, an arbitrary name by which you will refer
to the fork later. The second one is the name of the file to run in the
fork. Both arguments must be terminated with <cr>.
If the subfork terminates, you return to EMACS. You can return to EMACS
anyway by typing C-G (the EMACS interrupt character).
To resume a subfork, use M-+ again, and specify the same handle. No
distinction is made between upper case and lower case in the handle
name. If you type just <cr> for the handle name, the most recently used
subfork is resumed.
You can also create or resume an inferior EXEC with M-+. Specify EXEC
as the handle to create a new EXEC. Specify * as the handle to resume
an existing EXEC. Creating a new EXEC gets rid of any existing one.
M-X List Handles prints a list of the handles of all the existing
subforks.
To kill a subfork, use M-Comma (^R Kill Inferior), which asks you to
specify the handle of the fork to be killed. You cannot kill the
inferior EXEC, if there is one, but asking to create a new one the next
time you use it has much the same effect.
Ephemerons
The functions Execute Ephemeron and Display Ephemeron, in EFORK, run a
program in an inferior fork and kill it as soon as it returns (whether
because it is finished, or because you type C-G). Display Ephemeron
pauses until you type a character before redisplaying the screen; it is
for use if the program prints something you would like to read.
Services Obtained from an Inferior EXEC
The SYSTEM library, which you must load explicitly with Load Library
(*Note Libraries: Libraries.), contains functions which communicate with
Twenex by passing commands to an inferior EXEC which exists momentarily.
Most of the commands in SYSTEM print some sort of system status
information. For example, there are
M-X ^R System Load Average
Prints the one minute load average in the echo area.
This function is expected to be used by connecting it to
a command character, but the SYSTEM library does not
connect it. You must connect it yourself with Set Key
or in an init or EMACS.VARS file. It can, however, be
called with M-X like any other function.
M-X Check Output Queue
Prints the contents of the output queues. This requires
an argument, which should be ALL, FAST or USER.
M-X Check Batch Queue
Prints the contents of the batch queues. This requires
an argument, which should be ALL, FAST or USER.
M-X Check Users
Prints a list of the users on the system.
M-X SYSTAT Invokes SYSTAT. You may specify the argument to be
passed to SYSTAT as an argument to this command. No
argument, when using M-X, is equivalent to a null
argument, which obtains the default SYSTAT printout.
M-X Check Job Prints your job number, user name and connected
directory.
M-X Enable Capabilities
Enables your capabilities in the EXEC which is EMACS's
superior, so that they are actually available in EMACS.
If you don't have capabilities to enable, your company
has policies of distrust and is putting artificial
barriers in the way of your doing your job. Find
another company.
M-X Disable Capabilities
Disables your capabilities in the EXEC above EMACS.
M-X Check Log File
Prints any changes in the log file whose name is
specified as an argument. This command uses and sets
the TECO default filename, so you usually do not need to
repeat the argument if you repeat the command.
M-X Check Disk Performs I DISK on a directory which you must specify
with an argument.
M-X Check Available
Prints a list of available devices or terminal lines.
You must specify LINES as an argument if you want that;
otherwise, the default is to list the available devices.
Two other commands are
M-X Connect to Directory
Changes your connected directory. Supply the directory
name (including the brackets) as an argument, and the
password as a second argument if it is needed. This
command is always available; you need not load SYSTEM.
M-X Access to Directory
Performs an ACCESS command. Supply arguments as you
would for Connect to Directory.
EMACS Node: Mail, Previous: Subforks, Up: Subforks
Reading Mail
To edit your mail file, use C-X R (Read Mail). This invokes a mail
reading subsystem or subfork. If the variable Mail Reader Library is
defined, it is the name of the subsystem to use; else if Mail Reader
Program is defined, it is the name of the program to run in a subfork;
otherwise, the program MM is used.
You can send mail from within MM as well as edit your mail. But if you
want to send just one message, the easiest way is Control-X M (Send
Mail). C-X M works by invoking MM, or whatever program or library you
use to read mail, at a special entry point. If it is a library, the
entry point is the function & Mail Message.
The command M-X Check Mail tells you whether you have any new mail to be
read. The MAICHK library, if loaded, checks automatically every so
often.
EMACS Node: Help, Previous: Subforks, Up: Top, Next: Mark
Self-Documentation Commands
EMACS provides extensive self-documentation features which revolve
around a single character, called the Help character. At any time while
using EMACS, you can type the Help character to ask for help. The Help
character is actually typed as C-_ (Control-Underscore). On some
terminals just figuring out how to type a Control-Underscore is hard!
Typing Underscore and adding the Control key is what logically ought to
work, but on some terminals it does not. Sometimes Control-Shift-O
works. On VT-100 terminals, typing Control-/ or Control-? sends a
Control-_ character.
If you type Help while you are using a subsystem such as INFO, it prints
a list of the commands of that subsystem.
If you type Help in the middle of a multi-character command, it often
tells you about what sort of thing you should type next. For example,
if you type M-X and then Help, it tells you about M-X and how to type
the name of the command. If you finish the function name and the
Altmode and then type Help, it tells you about the function you have
specified so you can know what arguments it needs. If you type C-X and
then type Help, it tells you about the C-X commands.
But normally, when it's time for you to start typing a new command, Help
offers you several options for asking about what commands there are and
what they do. It prompts with "Doc (? for help):" at the bottom of the
screen, and you should type a character to say what kind of help you
want. You could type Help or "?" at this point to find out what options
are available. The ones you are most likely to need are described here.
The most basic Help options are Help C and Help D. You can use them to
ask what a particular command does. Help C is for character commands;
type the command you want to know about after the Help and the "C" ("C"
stands for Character). Thus, Help C M-F or Help C Altmode F tells you
about the M-F command. Help D is for asking about functions (extended
commands); type the name of the function and a Return. Thus, Help D
Lisp Mode<cr> tells you about M-X Lisp Mode. Help D can also tell you
the documentation of a variable, if you give it a variable's name
instead of a function's name. "D" stands for "Describe", since Help D
actually uses the function Describe to do the work.
A more complicated sort of question to ask is, "what are the commands
for working with files?" For this, you can type Help A, followed by the
string "file" and a Return. It prints a list of all the functions that
have "file" anywhere in their names, including Save All Files, ^R Save
File, Append to File, etc. If some of the functions are connected to
commands, it tells you that too. For example, it would say that you can
invoke ^R Save File by typing C-X C-S. "A" stands for "Apropos", since
Help A actually uses the function Apropos to do the substring matching.
Help A does not list internal functions, only those the nonprogrammer is
likely to use. If you want subroutines to be listed as well, you must
call Apropos yourself.
Because Apropos looks only for functions whose names contain the string
which you specify, you must use ingenuity in choosing substrings. If
you are looking for commands for killing backwards and Help A Kill
Backwards doesn't reveal any, don't give up. Try just Kill, or just
Backwards, or just Back. Be persistent. Pretend you are playing
Adventure.
Here is a set of Apropos strings that covers many classes of EMACS
commands, since there are strong conventions for naming the standard
EMACS commands. By giving you a feel for the naming conventions, this
set should also serve to aid you in developing a technique for picking
Apropos strings.
character, line, word, sentence, paragraph, region, page,
buffer, screen, window, bounds, file, dir, beginning, end, case,
mode, forward, backward, next, previous, up, down, search, kill,
delete, mark, fill, indent, change.
There is also a convention for how command names start for certain
common kinds of operations: many commands start with one of the words
"Edit", "View", "Insert", "List", or "What".
If you are inside a recursive editing level, Help R prints out the
complete documentation of that recursive editing level. *Note
Recursive: Recursive. Help ? also tells you briefly what sort of
recursive editing level you are in, in addition to describing the
available Help options. If you are not inside a recursive editing
level, Help R says that you are at top level.
If something surprising happens, and you are not sure what commands you
typed, use Help L. Help L prints the last 60 command characters you
typed in. This is also helpful if you suffer from line noise. If you
see commands that you don't know, you can use Help C to find out what
they do.
If a command doesn't do what you thought you knew it should do, you can
ask to see whether it has changed recently. Help N prints out the file
called EMACS:EMACS.NEWS which is an archive of announcements of changes
to EMACS.
To find out about the other Help options, type Help Help. That is, when
the first Help asks for an option, type Help to ask what is available.
Finally, you should know about the documentation files for EMACS, which
are EMACS.GUIDE and EMACS.CHART. EMACS.GUIDE is a version of the manual
formatted to be printed out on a terminal or line printer. EMACS.CHART
has a brief description of all the commands, known as the wall chart,
because it is good to post on the wall near your terminal.
EMACS Node: Mark, Previous: Help, Up: Top, Next: Killing
The Mark and the Region
In general, a command which processes an arbitrary part of the buffer
must know where to start and where to stop. In EMACS, such commands
usually operate on the text between point and "the mark". This range of
text is called "the region". To specify a region, you set point to one
end of it and mark at the other. It doesn't matter which one is set
first chronologically, or which one comes earlier in the text. Here are
some commands for setting the mark:
C-@ Set the mark where point is.
C-Space The same.
C-X C-X Interchange mark and point.
M-@ Set mark after end of next word. This command and
the following three do not move point.
C-M-@ Set mark after end of next Lisp s-expression.
C-< Set mark at beginning of buffer.
C-> Set mark at end of buffer.
M-H Put region around current paragraph.
C-M-H Put region around current Lisp defun.
C-X H Put region around entire buffer.
C-X C-P Put region around current page.
For example, if you wish to convert part of the buffer to all
upper-case, you can use the C-X C-U command, which operates on the text
in the region. You can first go to the beginning of the text to be
capitalized, put the mark there, move to the end, and then type C-X C-U.
Or, you can set the mark at the end of the text, move to the beginning,
and then type C-X C-U. C-X C-U runs the function ^R Uppercase Region,
whose name signifies that the region, or everything between point and
the mark, is to be capitalized.
The most common way to set the mark is with the C-@ command or the
C-Space command (^R Set/Pop Mark). They set the mark where point is.
Then you can move point away, leaving the mark behind.
It isn't actually possible to type C-Space on non-Meta keyboards. Yet
on many terminals the command appears to work anyway! This is because
trying to type a Control-Space on those terminals actually sends the
character C-@, which means the same thing as C-Space. A few keyboards
just send a Space. If you have one of them, you type C-@, or customize
your EMACS.
Since terminals have only one cursor, there is no way for EMACS to show
you where the mark is located. You have to remember. The usual
solution to this problem is to set the mark and then use it soon, before
you forget where it is. But you can see where the mark is with the
command C-X C-X (^R Exchange Point and Mark) which puts the mark where
point was and point where the mark was. The extent of the region is
unchanged, but the cursor and point are now at the previous location of
the mark.
C-X C-X is also useful when you are satisfied with the location of point
but want to move the mark; do C-X C-X to put point there and then you
can move it. A second use of C-X C-X, if necessary, puts the mark at
the new location with point back at its original location.
If you insert or delete before the mark, the mark may drift through the
text. If the buffer contains "FOO BAR" and the mark is before the "B",
then if you delete the "F" the mark will be before the "A". This is an
unfortunate result of the simple way the mark is implemented. It is
best not to delete or insert at places above the mark until you are
finished using it and don't care where it drifts to.
Commands to Mark Textual Objects
There are commands for placing the mark on the other side of a certain
object such as a word or a list, without having to move there first.
M-@ (^R Mark Word) puts the mark at the end of the next word, while
C-M-@ (^R Mark Sexp) puts it at the end of the next s-expression. C->
(^R Mark End) puts the mark at the end of the buffer, while C-< (^R Mark
Beginning) puts it at the beginning. These characters allow you to save
a little typing or redisplay, sometimes.
Other commands set both point and mark, to delimit an object in the
buffer. M-H (^R Mark Paragraph) puts point at the beginning of the
paragraph it was inside of (or before), and puts the mark at the end.
M-H does all that's necessary if you wish to indent, case-convert, or
kill a whole paragraph. C-M-H (^R Mark Defun) similarly puts point
before and the mark after the current or next defun. C-X C-P (^R Mark
Page) puts point before the current page (or the next or previous,
according to the argument), and mark at the end. The mark goes after
the terminating page delimiter (to include it), while point goes after
the preceding page delimiter (to exclude it). Finally, C-X H (^R Mark
Whole Buffer) makes the region the entire buffer by putting point at the
beginning and the mark at the end.
The Ring of Marks
Aside from delimiting the region, the mark is also useful for
remembering a spot that you may want to go back to. To make this
feature more useful, EMACS remembers 16 previous locations of the mark.
Most commands that set the mark push the old mark onto this stack. To
return to a marked location, use C-U C-@ (or C-U C-Space). This moves
point to where the mark was, and restores the mark from the stack of
former marks. So repeated use of this command moves point to all of the
old marks on the stack, one by one. Since the stack is actually a ring,
enough uses of C-U C-@ bring point back to where it was originally.
Insertion and deletion can cause the saved marks to drift, but they will
still be good for this purpose because they are unlikely to drift very
far.
Some commands whose primary purpose is to move point a great distance
take advantage of the stack of marks to give you a way to undo the
command. The best example is M-<, which moves to the beginning of the
buffer. It sets the mark first, so that you can use C-U C-@ or C-X C-X
to go back to where you were. Searches sometimes set the mark; it
depends on how far they move. Because of this uncertainty, searches
type out "^@" if they set the mark. The normal situation is that
searches leave the mark behind if they move at least 500 characters, but
you can change that value since it is kept in the variable Auto Push
Point Option. By setting it to 0, you can make all searches set the
mark. By setting it to a very large number such as ten million, you can
prevent all searches from setting the mark. The string to be typed out
when this option does its thing is kept in the variable Auto Push Point
Notification.
EMACS Node: Killing, Previous: Mark, Up: Top, Next: Un-killing
Deletion and Killing
Most commands which erase text from the buffer save it so that you can
get it back if you change your mind, or move or copy it to other parts
of the buffer. These commands are known as "kill" commands. The rest
of the commands that erase text do not save it; they are known as
"delete" commands. The delete commands include C-D and Rubout, which
delete only one character at a time, and those commands that delete only
spaces or line separators. Commands that can destroy significant
amounts of nontrivial data generally kill. The commands' names and
individual descriptions use the words "kill" and "delete" to say which
they do. If you do a kill command by mistake, you can use the Undo
command to undo it (*Note Undo: Undo.).
C-D Delete next character.
Rubout Delete previous character.
M-\ Delete spaces and tabs around point.
C-X C-O Delete blank lines around the current line.
M-^ Join two lines by deleting the CRLF and any
indentation.
C-K Kill rest of line or one or more lines.
C-W Kill region (from point to the mark).
M-D Kill word.
M-Rubout Kill word backwards.
C-X Rubout Kill back to beginning of sentence.
M-K Kill to end of sentence.
C-M-K Kill s-expression.
C-M-Rubout Kill s-expression backwards.
Deletion
The most basic delete commands are C-D and Rubout. C-D deletes the
character after the cursor, the one the cursor is "on top of" or
"underneath". The cursor doesn't move. Rubout deletes the character
before the cursor, and moves the cursor back. Line separators act like
single characters when deleted. Actually, C-D and Rubout aren't always
delete commands; if you give an argument, they kill instead. This
prevents you from losing a great deal of text by typing a large argument
to a C-D or Rubout.
The other delete commands are those which delete only formatting
characters: spaces, tabs and line separators. M-\ (^R Delete Horizontal
Space) deletes all the spaces and tab characters before and after point.
C-X C-O (^R Delete Blank Lines) deletes all blank lines after the
current line, and if the current line is blank deletes all blank lines
preceding the current line as well (leaving one blank line, the current
line). M-^ (^R Delete Indentation) joins the current line and the
previous line, or the current line and the next line if given an
argument. *Note M-^: TextIndent.
A function ^R Delete Region used to exist, but it was too dangerous.
When you want to delete a large amount of text without saving a copy of
it (perhaps because it is very big), you can set point and mark around
the text and then type
M-Altmode
MRK
(This is a use of the minibuffer. *Note Minibuffer: Minibuffer.).
Killing by Lines
The simplest kill command is the C-K command (^R Kill Line). If given
at the beginning of a line, it kills all the text on the line, leaving
it blank. If given on a blank line, the blank line disappears. As a
consequence, if you go to the front of a non-blank line and type two
C-K's, the line disappears completely.
More generally, C-K kills from point up to the end of the line, unless
it is at the end of a line. In that case it kills the line separator
following the line, thus merging the next line into the current one.
Invisible spaces and tabs at the end of the line are ignored when
deciding which case applies, so if point appears to be at the end of the
line, you can be sure the line separator will be killed.
If C-K is given a positive argument, it kills that many lines, and the
separators that follow them (however, text on the current line before
point is spared). With a negative argument, it kills back to a number
of line beginnings. An argument of -2 means kill back to the second
line beginning. If point is at the beginning of a line, that line
beginning doesn't count, so C-U - 2 C-K with point at the front of a
line kills the two previous lines.
C-K with an argument of zero kills all the text before point on the
current line.
Other Kill Commands
A kill command which is very general is C-W (^R Kill Region), which
kills everything between point and the mark. With this command, you can
kill any contiguous characters, if you first set the mark at one end of
them and go to the other end.
Other syntactic units can be killed: words, with M-Rubout and M-D (*Note
Words: Words.); s-expressions, with C-M-Rubout and C-M-K (*Note
S-expressions: Lists.); sentences, with C-X Rubout and M-K (*Note
Sentences: Sentences.).
EMACS Node: Un-Killing, Previous: Killing, Up: Top, Next: Copying
Un-Killing
Un-killing is getting back text which was killed. The usual way to move
or copy text is to kill it and then un-kill it one or more times.
C-Y Yank (re-insert) last killed text.
M-Y Replace re-inserted killed text with the previously
killed text.
M-W Save region as last killed text without killing.
C-M-W Append next kill to last batch of killed text.
Killed text is pushed onto a "ring buffer" called the "kill ring" that
remembers the last 8 blocks of text that were killed. (Why it is called
a ring buffer will be explained below). The command C-Y (^R Un-kill)
reinserts the text of the most recent kill. It leaves the cursor at the
end of the text, and puts the mark at the beginning. Thus, a single C-W
undoes the C-Y (M-X Undo also does so). C-U C-Y leaves the cursor in
front of the text, and the mark after. This is only if the argument is
specified with just a C-U, precisely. Any other sort of argument,
including C-U and digits, has an effect described below.
If you wish to copy a block of text, you might want to use M-W (^R Copy
Region), which copies the region into the kill ring without removing it
from the buffer. This is approximately equivalent to C-W followed by
C-Y, except that M-W does not mark the buffer as "changed" and does not
temporarily change the screen.
There is only one kill ring, and switching buffers or files has no
effect on it. After visiting a new file, whatever was last killed in
the previous file is still on top of the kill ring. This is important
for moving text between files.
Appending Kills
Normally, each kill command pushes a new block onto the kill ring.
However, two or more kill commands in a row combine their text into a
single entry on the ring, so that a single C-Y command gets it all back
as it was before it was killed. This means that you don't have to kill
all the text in one command; you can keep killing line after line, or
word after word, until you have killed it all, and you can still get it
all back at once. (Thus we join television in leading people to kill
thoughtlessly).
Commands that kill forward from point add onto the end of the previous
killed text. Commands that kill backward from point add onto the
beginning. This way, any sequence of mixed forward and backward kill
commands puts all the killed text into one entry without rearrangement.
If a kill command is separated from the last kill command by other
commands, it starts a new entry on the kill ring, unless you tell it not
to by saying C-M-W (^R Append Next Kill) in front of it. The C-M-W
tells the following command, if it is a kill command, to append the text
it kills to the last killed text, instead of starting a new entry. With
C-M-W, you can kill several separated pieces of text and accumulate them
to be yanked back in one place.
Un-killing Earlier Kills
To recover killed text that is no longer the most recent kill, you need
the Meta-Y (^R Un-kill Pop) command. The M-Y command should be used
only after a C-Y command or another M-Y. It takes the un-killed text
inserted by the C-Y and replaces it with the text from an earlier kill.
So, to recover the text of the next-to-the-last kill, you first use C-Y
to recover the last kill, and then use M-Y to move back to the previous
kill.
You can think of all the last few kills as living in a ring. After a
C-Y command, the text at the front of the ring is also present in the
buffer. M-Y "rotates" the ring, bringing the previous string of text to
the front, and this text replaces the other text in the buffer as well.
Enough M-Y commands can rotate any part of the ring to the front, so you
can get at any killed text as long as it is recent enough to be still in
the ring. Eventually the ring rotates all the way around and the most
recent killed text comes to the front (and into the buffer) again. M-Y
with a negative argument rotates the ring backwards. If the region
doesn't match the text at the front of the ring, M-Y is not allowed.
In any case, when the text you are looking for is brought into the
buffer, you can stop doing M-Y's and it will stay there. It's really
just a copy of what's at the front of the ring, so editing it does not
change what's in the ring. And the ring, once rotated, stays rotated,
so that doing another C-Y gets another copy of what you rotated to the
front with M-Y.
If you change your mind about un-killing, a C-W or M-X Undo gets rid of
the un-killed text at any point, after any number of M-Y's. C-W pushes
the text onto the ring again. M-X Undo does not.
If you know how many M-Y's it would take to find the text you want, then
there is an alternative. C-Y with an argument greater than one restores
the text the specified number of entries down on the ring. Thus,
C-U 2 C-Y gets the next to the last block of killed text. It differs
from C-Y M-Y in that C-U 2 C-Y does not permanently rotate the ring.
A way of viewing the contents of the kill ring is
M-X View Q-register..K<cr>
You must add one to the indices listed by this command, to get the
argument to use with C-Y to yank any particular string.
EMACS Node: Copying, Previous: Un-killing, Up: Top, Next: Search
Other Ways of Copying Text
Usually we copy or move text by killing it and un-killing it, but there
are other ways that are useful for copying one block of text in many
places, or for copying many scattered blocks of text into one place. In
addition to those described here, see the self-documentation of the MOVE
library.
Accumulating Text
You can accumulate blocks of text from scattered locations either into a
buffer or into a file if you like.
To append them into a buffer, use the command C-X A <buffername><cr>
(^R Append to Buffer), which inserts a copy of the region into the
specified buffer at the location of point in that buffer. If there is
no buffer with the name you specify, one is created. If you append text
into a buffer which has been used for editing, the copied text goes into
the middle of the text of the buffer, wherever point happens to be in
it.
Point in that buffer is left at the end of the copied text, so
successive uses of C-X A accumulate the text in the specified buffer in
the same order as they were copied. If C-X A is given an argument,
point in the other buffer is left before the copied text, so successive
uses of C-X A add text in reverse order.
You can retrieve the accumulated text from that buffer with M-X Insert
Buffer<buffername><cr>. This inserts a copy of the text in that buffer
into the selected buffer. You can also select the other buffer for
editing. *Note Buffers: Buffers, for background information on buffers.
Strictly speaking, C-X A does not always append to the text already in
the buffer. But if it is used on a buffer which starts out empty, it
does keep appending to the end.
Instead of accumulating text within EMACS, in a buffer, you can append
text directly into a disk file with the command M-X Append to
File<filename><cr>. It adds the text of the region to the end of the
specified file. M-X Prepend to File adds the text to the beginning of
the file instead. The file is changed immediately on disk. These
commands are normally used with files that are not being visited in
EMACS. They have the advantage of working even on files too large to
fit into the EMACS address space.
Copying Text Many Times
When you want to insert a copy of the same piece of text frequently, the
kill ring becomes impractical, since the text moves down on the ring as
you edit, and will be in an unpredictable place on the ring when you
need it again. For this case, you can use the commands C-X X (^R Put
Q-register) and C-X G (^R Get Q-register) to move the text.
C-X X<q> stores a copy of the text of the region in a place called
q-register <q>. With an argument, C-X X deletes the text as well. <q>
can be a letter or a digit. This gives 36 places in which you can store
a piece of text. C-X G<q> inserts in the buffer the text from
q-register <q>. Normally it leaves point before the text and places the
mark after, but with a numeric argument it puts point after the text and
the mark before.
The q-registers are important temporary variables in TECO programming,
but you don't have to understand them, only to know that what you save
with C-X X A is what you will get with C-X G A.
Do not use q-registers M and R in this way, if you are going to use the
TECO commands MM and MR.
EMACS Node: Search, Previous: Copying, Up: Top, Next: Text
Searching
Like other editors, EMACS has commands for searching for an occurrence
of a string. The search command is unusual in that it is "incremental";
it begins to search before you have finished typing the search string.
As you type in the search string, EMACS shows you where it would be
found. When you have typed enough characters to identify the place you
want, you can stop. Depending on what you will do next, you may or may
not need to terminate the search explicitly with an Altmode first.
C-S Search forward.
C-R Search backward.
C-S C-W Word search, ignoring whitespace.
The command to search is C-S (^R Incremental Search). C-S reads in
characters and positions the cursor at the first occurrence of the
characters that you have typed. If you type C-S and then F, the cursor
moves right after the first "F". Type an "O", and see the cursor move
to after the first "FO". After another "O", the cursor is after the
first "FOO" after the place where you started the search. At the same
time, the "FOO" has echoed at the bottom of the screen.
If you type a mistaken character, you can rub it out. After the FOO,
typing a rubout makes the "O" disappear from the bottom of the screen,
leaving only "FO". The cursor moves back to the "FO". Rubbing out the
"O" and "F" moves the cursor back to where you started the search.
When you are satisfied with the place you have reached, you can type an
Altmode, which stops searching, leaving the cursor where the search
brought it. Also, any command not specially meaningful in searches
stops the searching and is then executed. Thus, typing C-A would exit
the search and then move to the beginning of the line. Altmode is
necessary only if the next command you want to type is a printing
character, Rubout, Altmode, C-Q, or another search command, since those
are the characters that have special meanings inside the search.
Sometimes you search for "FOO" and find it, but not the one you expected
to find. There was a second FOO that you forgot about, before the one
you were looking for. Then type another C-S and the cursor will find
the next FOO. This can be done any number of times. If you overshoot,
you can rub out the C-S's.
After you exit a search, you can search for the same string again by
typing just C-S C-S: one C-S command to start the search and then
another C-S to mean "search again".
If your string is not found at all, the echo area says "Failing
I-Search". The cursor is after the place where EMACS found as much of
your string as it could. Thus, if you search for FOOT, and there is no
FOOT, you might see the cursor after the FOO in FOOL. At this point
there are several things you can do. If your string was mistyped, you
can rub some of it out and correct it. If you like the place you have
found, you can type Altmode or some other EMACS command to "accept what
the search offered". Or you can type C-G, which throws away the
characters that could not be found (the "T" in "FOOT"), leaving those
that were found (the "FOO" in "FOOT"). A second C-G at that point
undoes the search entirely.
The C-G "quit" command does special things during searches; just what,
depends on the status of the search. If the search has found what you
specified and is waiting for input, C-G cancels the entire search. The
cursor moves back to where you started the search. If C-G is typed
while the search is actually searching for something or updating the
display, or after search failed to find some of your input (having
searched all the way to the end of the file), then only the characters
which have not been found are discarded. Having discarded them, the
search is now successful and waiting for more input, so a second C-G
will cancel the entire search. Make sure you wait for the first C-G to
ding the bell before typing the second one; if typed too soon, the
second C-G may be confused with the first and effectively lost.
You can also type C-R at any time to start searching backwards. If a
search fails because the place you started was too late in the file, you
should do this. Repeated C-R's keep looking for more occurrences
backwards. A C-S starts going forwards again. C-R's can be rubbed out
just like anything else. If you know that you want to search backwards,
you can use C-R instead of C-S to start the search, because C-R is also
a command (^R Reverse Incremental Search) to search backward. Note to
all customizers: all this command does is call the current definition of
^R Incremental Search with a negative argument.
All sorts of searches in EMACS normally ignore the case of the text they
are searching through; if you specify searching for FOO, then Foo and
foo are also considered a match. If you do not want this feature, set
the variable Case Search to zero. *Note Variables: Variables.
Recall that Altmode exits a search without doing anything else, while
other Control and Meta characters exit the search and then have their
normal function. The variable Search Exit Char says which character
should exit and do nothing else; its initial value is 033 octal, for
Altmode. This value is a 9-bit character, so 300 octal means that
Control-@ is the exit character. Any other character whose definition
indirects to the specified one also serves as an exit character; so if
you specify C-B, C-b will also exit, and if you specify C-@, then
C-Space will also exit. Set the variable to -1, and there is no exit
character.
Bit prefix characters are not processed before the decision as to
whether and how to exit, so if you specify M-: as the exit character,
you must have a meta key on your terminal in order to type it. I do not
know if this can be changed easily.
Search Exit Option says what to do with other Control and Meta
characters. 0 says that they should be part of the search string. A
nonzero value says that they should exit and then have their normal
function. If this variable is nonzero, the Search Exit Char is
distinguished only by not having its normal function when it exits. If
this is zero, the Search Exit Char is the only way to exit.
A non-incremental search is also available. Type Altmode (or the Search
Exit Char) right after the C-S to get it. Do
M-X Describe^R String Search<cr>
for details. Some people who prefer non-incremental searches put that
function on Meta-S, and ^R Character Search (do M-X Describe for
details) on C-S. It can do one useful thing which incremental search
cannot: search for words regardless of where the line breaks.
Word search searches for a sequence of words without regard to how the
words are separated. More precisely, you type a string of many words,
using single spaces to separate them, and the string can be found even
if there are multiple spaces or line separators between the words.
Other punctuation such as commas or periods must match exactly. This is
useful in conjunction with documents formatted by text justifiers. If
you edit while looking at the printed, formatted version, you can't tell
where the line breaks are in the source file. With word search, you can
search without having to know.
Word search is a special case of non-incremental search and is invoked
with C-S Altmode C-W. This is followed by the search string, which must
always be terminated with an Altmode. Searching does not start until
the final Altmode is typed. Search Exit Char and Search Exit Option do
not apply to word search.
You do not even have to type each word in full, in a word search. An
abbreviation is good enough. Word search finds the first occurrence of
a sequence of words whose beginnings match the words of the argument.
EMACS Node: Text, Previous: Search, Up: Top, Next: Fixit
Commands for English Text
Editing files of text in a human language ought to be done using Text
mode rather than Fundamental mode. Invoke M-X Text Mode to enter Text
mode. *Note Major Modes: MajorModes. M-X Text Mode causes Tab to run
the function ^R Tab to Tab Stop, which allows you to set any tab stops
with M-X Edit Tab Stops (*Note Tab Stops: Textindent.). Features
concerned with comments in programs are turned off except when
explicitly invoked. Automatic display of parenthesis matching is turned
off, which is what most people want. Finally, the syntax table is
changed so that periods are not considered part of a word, while
apostrophes, backspaces and underlines are.
If you are editing input for the text justifier TEX, you might want to
use TEX mode instead of Text mode. *Note TEX mode: (ETEX). For editing
SCRIBE input, use SCRIBE mode. *Note SCRIBE: SCRIBE. Someday there may
be special major modes for other text justifiers.
* Menu:
* Words:: moving over and killing words
* Sentences:: moving over sentences and paragraphs
* TextIndent:: manipulation of indentation
* Filling:: filling or justifying text
* Case:: changing the case of text
* Underlining:: underlining (for text justifiers)
* SCRIBE:: editing SCRIBE files
* Dissociation:: Dissociated Press
EMACS Node: Words, Previous: Text, Up: Text, Next: Sentences
Word Commands
EMACS has commands for moving over or operating on words. By
convention, they are all Meta- characters.
M-F Move Forward over a word.
M-B Move Backward over a word.
M-D Kill up to the end of a word.
M-Rubout Kill back to the beginning of a word.
M-@ Mark the end of the next word.
M-T Transpose two words; drag a word forward or backward
across other words.
Notice how these commands form a group that parallels the character
based commands C-F, C-B, C-D, C-T and Rubout. M-@ is related to C-@.
The commands Meta-F (^R Forward Word) and Meta-B (^R Backward Word) move
forward and backward over words. They are thus analogous to Control-F
and Control-B, which move over single characters. Like their
Control- analogues, Meta-F and Meta-B move several words if given an
argument. Meta-F with a negative argument moves backward like Meta-B,
and Meta-B with a negative argument moves forward. Forward motion stops
right after the last letter of the word, while backward motion stops
right before the first letter.
It is easy to kill a word at a time. Meta-D (^R Forward Kill Word)
kills the word after point. To be precise, it kills everything from
point to the place Meta-F would move to. Thus, if point is in the
middle of a word, only the part after point is killed. If some
punctuation comes after point and before the next word, it is killed
along with the word. If you wish to kill only the next word but not the
punctuation, simply do Meta-F to get the end, and kill the word
backwards with Meta-Rubout. Meta-D takes arguments just like Meta-F.
Meta-Rubout (^R Backward Kill Word) kills the word before point. It
kills everything from point back to where Meta-B would move to. If
point is after the space in "FOO, BAR", then "FOO, " is killed. If you
wish to kill just "FOO", then do a Meta-B and a Meta-D instead of a
Meta-Rubout.
Meta-T (^R Transpose Words) moves the cursor forward over a word,
dragging the word preceding or containing the cursor forward as well. A
numeric argument serves as a repeat count. Meta-T with a negative
argument undoes the effect of Meta-T with a positive argument; it drags
the word behind the cursor backward over a word. An argument of zero,
instead of doing nothing, transposes the word at point (surrounding or
adjacent to it) with the word at mark. In any case, the delimiter
characters between the words do not move. For example, "FOO, BAR"
transposes into "BAR, FOO" rather than "BAR FOO,".
To operate on the next n words with an operation which applies between
point and mark, you can either set the mark at point and then move over
the words, or you can use the command Meta-@ (^R Mark Word) which does
not move point, but sets the mark where Meta-F would move to. It can be
given arguments just like Meta-F.
Note that if you are in Atom Word mode and in Lisp mode, all the word
commands regard an entire Lisp atom as a single word. *Note
Minor Modes: MinorModes.
The word commands' understanding of syntax is completely controlled by
the syntax table. Any character can, for example, be declared to be a
word delimiter. *Note Syntax: Syntax.
EMACS Node: Sentences, Previous: Words, Up: Text, Next: TextIndent
Sentence and Paragraph Commands
The EMACS commands for manipulating sentences and paragraphs are mostly
Meta- commands, so as to resemble the word-handling commands.
M-A Move back to the beginning of the sentence.
M-E Move forward to the end of the sentence.
M-K Kill forward to the end of the sentence.
M-[ Move back to previous paragraph beginning.
M-] Move forward to next paragraph end.
M-H Put point and mark around this paragraph (around the
following one, if between paragraphs).
C-X Rubout
Kill back to the beginning of the sentence.
Sentences
The commands Meta-A and Meta-E (^R Backward Sentence and ^R Forward
Sentence) move to the beginning and end of the current sentence,
respectively. They were chosen to resemble Control-A and Control-E,
which move to the beginning and end of a line. Unlike them, Meta-A and
Meta-E if repeated or given numeric arguments move over successive
sentences. EMACS considers a sentence to end wherever there is a ".",
"?" or "!" followed by the end of a line or two spaces, with any number
of ")"'s, "]"'s, "'"'s, or '"' 's allowed in between. Neither M-A nor
M-E moves past the CRLF or spaces which delimit the sentence.
Just as C-A and C-E have a kill command, C-K, to go with them, so M-A
and M-E have a corresponding kill command M-K (^R Kill Sentence) which
kills from point to the end of the sentence. With minus one as an
argument it kills back to the beginning of the sentence. Larger
arguments serve as a repeat count.
There is a special command, C-X Rubout (^R Backward Kill Sentence) for
killing back to the beginning of a sentence, because this is useful when
you change your mind in the middle of composing text.
Paragraphs
Meta-[ (^R Backward Paragraph) moves to the beginning of the current or
previous paragraph, while Meta-] (^R Forward Paragraph) moves to the end
of the current or next paragraph. Blank lines and text justifier
command lines separate paragraphs and are not part of any paragraph.
Also, an indented line starts a new paragraph.
In major modes for programs (as opposed to Text mode), paragraphs are
determined only by blank lines. This makes the paragraph commands
continue to be useful even though there are no paragraphs per se.
When there is a fill prefix, then paragraphs are delimited by all lines
which don't start with the fill prefix. *Note Filling: Filling.
When you wish to operate on a paragraph, you can use the command Meta-H
(^R Mark Paragraph) to set the region around it. This command puts
point at the beginning and mark at the end of the paragraph point was
in. Before setting the new mark at the end, a mark is set at the old
location of point; this allows you to undo a mistaken Meta-H with two
C-U C-@'s. If point is between paragraphs (in a run of blank lines, or
at a boundary), the paragraph following point is surrounded by point and
mark. Thus, for example, Meta-H C-W kills the paragraph around or after
point.
One way to make an "invisible" paragraph boundary that does not show if
the file is printed is to put space-backspace at the front of a line.
The space makes the line appear (to the EMACS paragraph commands) to be
indented, which usually means that it starts a paragraph.
The variable Paragraph Delimiter should be a TECO search string (*Note
TECO search strings: TECOsearch.) composed of various characters or
character sequences separated by 's. A line whose beginning matches
the search string is either the beginning of a paragraph or a text
justifier command line part of no paragraph. If the line begins with
period, singlequote, "-", "\" or "@", it can be a text justifier command
line; otherwise, it can be the beginning of a paragraph; but it cannot
be either one unless Paragraph Delimiter is set up to recognize it.
Thus, ". " as the Paragraph Delimiter string means that lines starting
with spaces start paragraphs, lines starting with periods are text
justifier commands, and all other nonblank lines are nothing special.
EMACS Node: TextIndent, Previous: Sentences, Up: Text, Next: Filling
Indentation Commands for Text
Tab Indents "appropriately" in a mode-dependent fashion.
M-Tab Inserts a tab character.
Linefeed Is the same as Return followed by Tab.
M-^ Undoes a Linefeed. Merges two lines.
M-M Moves to the line's first nonblank character.
M-I Indent to tab stop. In Text mode, Tab does this
also.
C-M-\ Indent several lines to same column.
C-X Tab Shift block of lines rigidly right or left.
The way to request indentation is with the Tab command. Its precise
effect depends on the major mode. In Text mode, it indents to the next
tab stop. You can set the tab stops with Edit Tab Stops (see below).
If you just want to insert a tab character in the buffer, you can use
M-Tab or C-Q Tab.
For English text, usually only the first line of a paragraph should be
indented. So, in Text mode, new lines created by Auto Fill mode are not
indented. Text mode tells Auto Fill mode not to indent new lines by
setting the variable Space Indent Flag to zero.
But sometimes you want to have an indented paragraph. In such cases,
use M-X Edit Indented Text, which enters a submode in which Tab and Auto
Fill indent each line under the previous line, and only blank lines
delimit paragraphs. Alternatively, you can specify a fill prefix (see
below).
To undo a line-break, whether done manually or by Auto Fill, use the
Meta-^ (^R Delete Indentation) command to delete the indentation at the
front of the current line, and the line boundary as well. They are
replaced by a single space, or by no space if before a ")" or after a
"(", or at the beginning of a line. To delete just the indentation of a
line, go to the beginning of the line and use Meta-\ (^R Delete
Horizontal Space), which deletes all spaces and tabs around the cursor.
To insert an indented line before the current line, do C-A, C-O, and
then Tab. To make an indented line after the current line, use C-E
Linefeed.
To move over the indentation on a line, do Meta-M or C-M-M (^R Back to
Indentation). These commands, given anywhere on a line, position the
cursor at the first nonblank character on the line.
There are also commands for changing the indentation of several lines at
once. Control-Meta-\ (^R Indent Region) gives each line which begins in
the region the "usual" indentation by invoking Tab at the beginning of
the line. A numeric argument specifies the indentation, and each line
is shifted left or right so that it has exactly that much. C-X Tab
(^R Indent Rigidly) moves all of the lines in the region right by its
argument (left, for negative arguments). The whole group of lines move
rigidly sideways, which is how the command gets its name.
Tab Stops
For typing in tables, you can use Text mode's definition of Tab, ^R Tab
to Tab Stop, which may be given anywhere in a line, and indents from
there to the next tab stop. If you are not in Text mode, this function
can be found on M-I anyway.
Set the tab stops using Edit Tab Stops, which allows you to edit some
text which defines the tab stops. Here is what it would look like for
ordinary tab stops every eight columns.
: : : : : :
123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 123456789 1234
0 10 20 30 40 50
The first line contains a colon or period at each tab stop. Colon
indicates an ordinary tab, which fills with whitespace; a period
specifies that characters be copied from the corresponding columns of
the second line below it. Thus, you can tab to a column automatically
inserting dashes or periods, etc. It is your responsibility to put in
the second line the text to be copied. In the example above there are
no periods, so the second line is not used, and is left blank.
The third and fourth lines you see contain column numbers to help you
edit. They are only there while you are editing the tab stops; they are
not really part of the tab settings. The first two lines reside in the
variable Tab Stop Definitions when they are not being edited. If the
second line is not needed, Tab Stop Definitions can be just one line,
with no CRLFs. This makes it easier to set the variable in a local
modes list. *Note Locals: Locals.
EMACS normally uses both tabs and spaces to indent lines, and displays
tab characters using eight-character tab stops. (How the ASCII
character tab is displayed has nothing to do with the definition of the
Tab character as a command). If you prefer, all indentation can be made
from spaces only. To request this, turn off Indent Tabs mode with the
command M-X Indent Tabs Mode. To display tabs with different tab stops,
set the TECO flag FS TAB WIDTH to the desired interval. This is useful
for displaying files brought from other operating systems whose normal
tab stop spacing is not 8. *Note FS Flags: FS Flags.
To convert all tabs in a file to spaces, you can use M-X Untabify. M-X
Tabify performs the opposite transformation, replacing spaces with tabs
whenever possible, but only if there are at least three of them so as
not to obscure ends of sentences. A numeric argument to Tabify or
Untabify specifies the interval between tab stops to use for computing
how to change the file. By default, they use the same interval being
used for display. The visual appearance of the text should never be
changed by Tabify or Untabify without a numeric argument.
EMACS Node: Filling, Previous: TextIndent, Up: Text, Next: Case
Text Filling
Space in Auto Fill mode, breaks lines when appropriate.
M-Q Fill paragraph.
M-G Fill region (G is for Grind, by analogy with Lisp).
M-S Center a line.
C-X = Show current cursor position.
Auto Fill mode lets you type in text that is "filled" (broken up into
lines that fit in a specified width) as you go. If you alter existing
text and thus cause it to cease to be properly filled, EMACS can fill it
again if you ask.
Entering Auto Fill mode is done with M-X Auto Fill. From then on, lines
are broken automatically at spaces when they get longer than the desired
width. New lines created by Auto Fill are usually indented, but in Text
mode they are not. To leave Auto Fill mode, execute M-X Auto Fill
again. When Auto Fill mode is in effect, the word "Fill" appears in the
mode line.
When you finish a paragraph, you can type Space with an argument of
zero. This doesn't insert any spaces, but it does move the last word of
the paragraph to a new line if it doesn't fit in the old line. Return
also moves the last word, but it may create another blank line.
If you edit the middle of a paragraph, it may no longer be correctly
filled. To refill a paragraph, use the command Meta-Q (^R Fill
Paragraph). It causes the paragraph that point is inside, or the one
after point if point is between paragraphs, to be refilled. All the
line-breaks are removed, and then new ones are inserted where necessary.
M-Q can be undone with M-X Undo (*Note Undo: Undo.).
If you are not happy with Meta-Q's idea of where paragraphs start and
end (the same as Meta-H's. *Note Paragraphs: Sentences.), you can use
Meta-G (^R Fill Region) which refills everything between point and mark.
Sometimes, it is ok to fill a region of several paragraphs at once.
Meta-G recognizes a blank line or an indented line as starting a
paragraph and does not fill it in with the preceding line. The sequence
space-backspace at the front of a line prevents it from being filled
into the preceding line but is invisible when the file is printed.
However, the full sophistication of the paragraph commands in
recognizing paragraph boundaries is not available. The purpose of M-G
is to allow you to override EMACS's usual criteria for paragraph
boundaries. M-G can be undone with M-X Undo.
Giving an argument to M-G or M-Q causes the text to be "justified" as
well as filled. This means that extra spaces are inserted between the
words so as to make the right margin come out exactly even. I do not
recommend doing this. If someone else has uglified some text by
justifying it, you can unjustify it (remove the spaces) with M-G or M-Q
without an argument.
The command Meta-S (^R Center Line) centers a line within the current
line width. With an argument, it centers several lines individually and
moves past them.
The maximum line width for filling is in the variable Fill Column. Both
M-Q and Auto Fill make sure that no line exceeds this width. The
easiest way to set the variable is to use the command C-X F (^R Set Fill
Column), which places the margin at the column point is on, or at the
column specified by a numeric argument. The fill column is initially
column 70.
To fill a paragraph in which each line starts with a special marker
(which might be a few spaces, giving an indented paragraph), use the
"fill prefix" feature. Move point to a spot right after the special
marker and give the command C-X Period (^R Set Fill Prefix). Then,
filling the paragraph will remove the marker from each line beforehand,
and put the marker back in on each line afterward. Auto Fill when there
is a fill prefix inserts the fill prefix at the front of each new line.
Also, any line which does not start with the fill prefix is considered
to start a paragraph. To turn off the fill prefix, do C-X Period with
point at the front of a line. The fill prefix is kept in the variable
Fill Prefix.
The command C-X = (What Cursor Position) can be used to find out the
column that the cursor is in, and other miscellaneous information about
point which is quick to compute. It prints a line in the echo area that
looks like this:
X=5 Y=7 CH=101 .=3874(35% of 11014) H=<3051,4640>
In this line, the X value is the column the cursor is in (zero at the
left), the Y value is the screen line that the cursor is in (zero at the
top), the CH value is the octal value of the character after point (101
is "A"), the "point" value is the number of characters in the buffer
before point, and the values in parentheses are the percentage of the
buffer before point and the total size of the buffer.
The H values are the virtual buffer boundaries, indicate which part of
the buffer is still visible when narrowing has been done. If you have
not done narrowing, the H values are omitted. For more information
about the virtual buffer boundaries, *Note Narrowing: Narrowing.
EMACS Node: Case, Previous: Filling, Up: Text, Next: Underlining
Case Conversion Commands
EMACS has commands for converting either a single word or any arbitrary
range of text to upper case or to lower case.
M-L Convert following word to lower case.
M-U Convert following word to upper case.
M-C Capitalize the following word.
C-X C-L Convert region to lower case.
C-X C-U Convert region to upper case.
The word conversion commands are the most useful. Meta-L (^R Lowercase
Word) converts the word after point to lower case, moving past it.
Thus, successive Meta-L's convert successive words. Meta-U
(^R Uppercase Word) converts to all capitals instead, while Meta-C
(^R Uppercase Initial) puts the first letter of the word into upper case
and the rest into lower case. All these commands convert several words
at once if given an argument. They are especially convenient for
converting a large amount of text from all upper case to mixed case,
because you can move through the text using M-L, M-U or M-C on each word
as appropriate.
When given a negative argument, the word case conversion commands apply
to the appropriate number of words before point, but do not move point.
This is convenient when you have just typed a word in the wrong case.
You can give the case conversion command and continue typing.
If a word case conversion command is given in the middle of a word, it
applies only to the part of the word which follows the cursor, treating
it as a whole word.
The other case conversion commands are C-X C-U (^R Uppercase Region) and
C-X C-L (^R Lowercase Region), which convert everything between point
and mark to the specified case. Point and mark do not move. These
commands ask for confirmation if the region contains more than Region
Query Size characters; they also save the original contents of the
region so you can undo them (*Note Undo: Undo.).
EMACS Node: Underlining, Previous: Case, Up: Text, Next: SCRIBE
Underlining
EMACS has two commands for manipulating text-justifier underlining
command characters. These commands do not produce any sort of
overprinting in the text file itself; they insert or move command
characters which direct text justifiers to produce underlining. By
default, commands for the text justifier R are used.
M-_ Underline previous word or next word.
C-X _ Underline region.
M-_ is somewhat like M-# in that it either creates an underline around
the previous word or extends it past the next word. However, where a
font change requires that you specify a font number, an underline is
just an underline and has no parameter for you to specify. Also, it is
assumed that the text justifier's commands for starting and ending
underlines are distinguishable, whereas you can't tell from a font
change whether it is "starting" something or "ending" something. M-_
differs slightly from M-# as a result.
M-_ with no argument creates an underline around the previous word if
there is none. If there is an underline there, it is extended one word
forward. Thus, you can insert an underlined word by typing the word and
then a M-_. Or you can underline several existing words by moving past
the first of them, and typing one M-_ for each word.
M-_ given in the vicinity of an underline-begin moves IT forward. Thus,
it should be thought of as applying to any boundary, where underlining
either starts or stops, and moving it forward. If a begin underlining
is moved past an end, or vice versa, they both disappear.
Giving M-_ an argument merely tells it to apply to several words at once
instead of one. M-_ with a positive argument of n underlines the next n
words, either creating an underlined area or extending an existing one.
With a negative argument, that many previous words are underlined.
Thus, M-_ can do more things with underlines than M-# can do with font
changes, because of the facts that you don't need to use the argument to
say which font, and you can tell a beginning from an end.
For larger scale operations, you can use C-X _ to place underlines from
point to mark, or C-X _ with a negative argument to remove all
underlining between point and mark.
By default, is used to begin an underline and is used to end one.
The variables Underline Begin and Underline End may be created and set
to strings to use instead. For a single character you can use the
numeric ASCII code for it.
EMACS Node: SCRIBE, Previous: Underlining, Up: Text, Next: Dissociation
SCRIBE Mode
SCRIBE mode provides many special editing commands for manipulating the
commands for the text justifier SCRIBE. Instances of SCRIBE commands
are referred to in EMACS as "environments", though strictly speaking it
is the command name which is the environment, and not all commands
either.
C-M-N Move forward over SCRIBE environment.
C-M-P Move backward over SCRIBE environment.
C-M-U Move up to beginning of containing SCRIBE
environment.
C-M-D Move forward and down inside next SCRIBE
environment.
C-M-E Move up to end of containing SCRIBE environment.
C-M-H Put point and mark around containing SCRIBE
environment.
C-M-G Change name of containing SCRIBE environment.
C-M-Q Change form of containing SCRIBE environment.
In SCRIBE mode the standard expression motion and killing commands
C-M-F, C-M-B, C-M-K and C-M-Rubout operate on units of balanced SCRIBE
delimiters. Additional commands specific to SCRIBE mode move around the
structure of SCRIBE environments. C-M-N (^R Forward Environment) moves
forward over an entire SCRIBE expression (@, environment name and
arguments), C-M-P (^R Backward Environment) moves back, C-M-U
(^R Backward Up Environment) moves up, and C-M-D (^R Down Environment)
moves down. C-M-E (^R End of Environment) moves up to the end of the
containing SCRIBE environment. C-M-H (^R Mark Environment) puts point
and mark around the containing SCRIBE environment.
Speaking of balanced delimiters, SCRIBE mode does not work properly when
the characters ' and ` are used as delimiters for arguments. This is
because the parser expects each character to be either a parenthesis
(which matches a different character) or a string quote (which matches
itself), not both. *Note Syntax Table: Syntax. SCRIBE mode simply
does not treat these characters as possible delimiters, and it is best
not to use them. It is just as well, since if SCRIBE mode actually
tried to handle these delimiters it would be confused by apostrophes in
the text.
Other commands transform SCRIBE environments. C-M-G (^R Change
Environment Name) changes the name of the SCRIBE environment that point
is inside. For example, if point is somewhere inside an @I[...]
environment, C-M-G could be used to change the @I to an @U. C-M-G reads
the new environment name from the terminal and replaces the old
environment name with it.
C-M-Q (^R Change Form) changes the containing SCRIBE environment between
the brief form such as @Example[...] and the longer form
@Begin(Example)...@End(Example). If the environment has the brief form,
it is changed to the longer form, and vice versa.
In SCRIBE mode, paragraphs are redefined to understand SCRIBE commands
in a way that is usually right. Any line that consists entirely of one
SCRIBE command is considered a paragraph-separating line, just like a
blank line. This does the right thing for @Begin and @End, and for many
other cases. So is any line that starts with an @; or @' command. The
@; and @' commands are supposed to be no-ops at the beginning of a line,
and can therefore be used to mark lines that you think should separate
paragraphs. Which one works, and when, depends on the version of
SCRIBE. Eventually, @; will always work.
Aside from the above cases, SCRIBE commands are considered part of the
text, so an @I command which happens to end up at the front of a line
will not separate paragraphs. SCRIBE mode accomplishes this by
redefining M-[ and the function ^R Backward Paragraph to be the function
^R Backward SCRIBE Paragraph. Lines starting with page delimiters are
paragraph delimiters as usual, and lines starting with space or tab
start paragraphs as usual.
The comment commands know that comments in SCRIBE files start with
"@Comment{" and end with "}". *Note Comments: Comments.
You can use the M-X Compile command to invoke SCRIBE. *Note Compile:
Compile. It operates on the file currently visited. You can use a
string argument to specify switches. After SCRIBE is finished, if there
were any errors, EMACS splits the screen and displays the errors in the
bottom window. The command M-X Next Scribe Error moves to the point in
the file at which the next error occurred.
The functions listed in this section live in the library SCRIBE, which
is loaded automatically if you enter SCRIBE mode.
EMACS Node: Dissociation, Previous: SCRIBE, Up: Text
Dissociated Press
M-X Dissociated Press is a command for scrambling a file of text either
word by word or character by character. Starting from a bufferfull of
straight English, it produces extremely amusing output. Dissociated
Press prints its output on the terminal. It does not change the
contents of the buffer.
Dissociated Press operates by jumping at random from one point in the
buffer to another. In order to produce plausible output rather than
gibberish, it insists on a certain amount of overlap between the end of
one run of consecutive words or characters and the start of the next.
That is, if it has just printed out "president" and then decides to jump
to a different point in the file, it might spot the "ent" in "pentagon"
and continue from there, producing "presidentagon". Long sample texts
produce the best results.
A negative argument to M-X Dissociated Press tells it to operate
character by character, and specifies the number of overlap characters.
A positive argument tells it to operate word by word and specifies the
number of overlap words. In this mode, whole words are treated as the
elements to be permuted, rather than characters. No argument is
equivalent to an argument of two. For your againformation, the output
is only printed on the terminal. The file you start with is not
changed.
Dissociated Press produces nearly the same results as a Markov chain
based on a frequency table constructed from the sample text. It is,
however, an independent, ignoriginal invention. Dissociated Press
techniquitously copies several consecutive characters from the sample
between random choices, whereas a Markov chain would choose randomly for
each word or character. This makes for more plausible sounding results.
It is a mustatement that too much use of Dissociated Press can be a
developediment to your real work. Sometimes to the point of outragedy.
And keep dissociwords out of your documentation, if you want it to be
well userenced and properbose. Have fun. Your buggestions are welcome.
EMACS Node: Fixit, Previous: Text, Up: Top, Next: Files
Commands for Fixing Typos
In this section we describe the commands that are especially useful for
the times when you catch a mistake in your text just after you have made
it, or change your mind while composing text on line.
Rubout Delete last character.
M-Rubout Kill last word.
C-X Rubout Kill to beginning of sentence.
C-T Transpose two characters.
C-X C-T Transpose two lines.
C-X T Transpose two arbitrary regions.
M-Minus M-L Convert last word to lower case.
M-Minus M-U Convert last word to all upper case.
M-Minus M-C Convert last word to lower case with capital
initial.
M-' Fix up omitted shift key on digit.
M-$ (Meta-Dollar Sign) Check and correct spelling of
word.
Correct Spelling
Check and correct spelling of entire buffer.
Killing Your Mistakes
The Rubout command is the most important correction command. When used
among printing (self-inserting) characters, it can be thought of as
canceling the last character typed.
When your mistake is longer than a couple of characters, it might be
more convenient to use M-Rubout or C-X Rubout. M-Rubout kills back to
the start of the last word, and C-X Rubout kills back to the start of
the last sentence. C-X Rubout is particularly useful when you are
thinking of what to write as you type it, in case you change your mind
about phrasing. M-Rubout and C-X Rubout save the killed text for C-Y
and M-Y to retrieve (*Note Un-killing: Un-killing.).
M-Rubout is often useful even when you have typed only a few characters
wrong, if you know you are confused in your typing and aren't sure
exactly what you typed. At such a time, you cannot correct with Rubout
except by looking at the screen to see what you did. It requires less
thought to kill the whole word and start over again, especially if the
system is heavily loaded.
Transposition
The common error of transposing two characters can be fixed, when they
are adjacent, with the C-T command. Normally, C-T transposes the two
characters on either side of the cursor. When given at the end of a
line, rather than transposing the last character of the line with the
line separator, which would be useless, C-T transposes the last two
characters on the line. So, if you catch your transposition error right
away, you can fix it with just a C-T. If you don't catch it so fast,
you must move the cursor back to between the two transposed characters.
If you transposed a space with the last character of the word before it,
the word motion commands are a good way of getting there. Otherwise, a
reverse search (C-R) is often the best way. *Note Search: Search.
To transpose two lines, use the C-X C-T command (^R Transpose Lines).
M-T transposes words and C-M-T transposes s-expressions.
A more general transpose command is C-X T (^R Transpose Regions). This
transposes two arbitrary blocks of text, which need not even be next to
each other. To use it, set the mark at one end of one block, then at
the other end of the block; then go to the other block and set the mark
at one end, and put point at the other. In other words, point and the
last three marks should be at the four locations which are the ends of
the two blocks. It does not matter which of the four locations point is
at, or which order the others were marked. C-X T transposes the two
blocks of text thus identified, and relocates point and the three marks
without changing their order.
Case Conversion
A very common error is to type words in the wrong case. Because of
this, the word case-conversion commands M-L, M-U and M-C have a special
feature when used with a negative argument: they do not move the cursor.
As soon as you see you have mistyped the last word, you can simply
case-convert it and go on typing. *Note Case: Case.
Another common error is to type a special character and miss the shift
key, producing a digit instead. There is a special command for fixing
this: M-' (^R Upcase Digit), which fixes the last digit before point in
this way (but only if that digit appears on the current line or the
previous line. Otherwise, to minimize random effects of accidental use,
M-' does nothing). Once again, the cursor does not move, so you can use
M-' when you notice the error and immediately continue typing. Because
M-' needs to know the arrangement of your keyboard, the first time you
use it you must supply the information by typing the row of digits 1, 2,
... , 9, 0 but HOLDING DOWN THE SHIFT KEY. This tells M-' the
correspondence between digits and special characters, which is
remembered for the duration of the EMACS in the variable Digit Shift
Table. This command is called M-' because its main use is to replace
"7" with a single-quote.
Checking and Correcting Spelling
When you write a paper, you should correct its spelling at some point
close to finishing it (and maybe earlier as well). To correct the
entire buffer, do M-X Correct Spelling. This invokes the ISPELL
spelling corrector program, which will ask you what to do with each
misspelled word. Refer to its documentation. When it finished, you
will be back in EMACS.
To check the spelling of the word before point, and optionally correct
it as well, use the command M-$ (^R Correct Word Spelling). This is a
Dollar sign, not an Altmode! This command sends the word to the ISPELL
program for correction.
If ISPELL recognizes the word as a correctly spelled one (although not
necessarily the one you meant!) you will see "Found it" or "Found it
because of" followed by the word without its suffix. If the program
cannot at all recognize the word, it will print "Couldn't find it."
If ISPELL recognizes the word as a misspelling, it displays on the
screen the other words which are possibilities for the correct spelling,
and gives each one a number. Then, you can type one of the following
things:
0 to 9 Replace misspelled word with that spelling
(preserving case, just like Replace String and Query
Replace, unless Case Replace is zero).
Space Exit and make no changes.
% Read a digit as above and Query Replace (M-%) the
incorrect spelling with the correct one from the
beginning of the buffer.
No other responses are allowed.
The cursor need not be immediately after the word you want to correct;
it can be in the middle, or following any word-separator characters
after the end of the word. Note that the major mode you are using
affects which characters are word-separators. *Note Syntax Table:
Syntax.
The first time you use an EMACS spelling correction command, it creates
an ISPELL fork for you. From then on it uses the same ISPELL fork.
It's ok to kill the fork if you don't think you'll be using M-$ again
during that session. But if you do leave the fork around checking words
will much quicker. Giving M-$ a negative argument (as in M-- M-$) kills
the ISPELL fork.
If you are a regular user of the ISPELL program, you might have a
dictionary file of words which you use but which are foreign to ISPELL.
If there are words in this file which you might want to use M-$ to
correct, you can specify that you want this dictionary to be loaded into
the spell job which EMACS uses. To do this, set the variable Spell
Initialization to the string of ISPELL program commands you want to use.
For loading a dictionary, this string would be a "Load " followed by the
dictionary filename. Other initialization commands for ISPELL can
appear there also. The commands must be separated by commas.
You can also pass arbitrary commands to the ISPELL job with command M-X
Command to Spell.
EMACS Node: Files, Previous: Fixit, Up: Top, Next: Buffers
File Handling
The basic unit of stored data is the file. Each program, each paper,
lives usually in its own file. To edit a program or paper, the editor
must be told the name of the file that contains it. This is called
"visiting" the file. To make your changes to the file permanent on
disk, you must "save" the file. EMACS also has facilities for deleting
files conveniently, and for listing your file directory. Special text
in a file can specify the modes to be used when editing the file.
* Menu:
* Visiting:: How to select a file for editing
* Revert:: How to cancel some changes you have made
* AutoSave:: Protection from crashes
* CleanDir:: Deleting old versions to clean up
* DIRED:: Selectively deleting files (Directory Editor)
* Filadv:: Advanced file commands
EMACS Node: Visiting, Previous: Files, Up: Files, Next: Revert
Visiting Files
C-X C-V Visit a file.
C-X C-Q Change regular visiting to read only, or vice versa.
C-X C-S Save the visited file.
Meta-~ Tell EMACS to forget that the buffer has been
changed.
"Visiting" a file means copying its contents into EMACS where you can
edit them. EMACS remembers the name of the file you visited. Unless
you use the multiple buffer or window features of EMACS, you can only be
visiting one file at a time. The name of the file you are visiting in
the currently selected buffer is visible in the mode line when you are
at top level, followed by its version number in parentheses.
The changes you make with EMACS are made in a copy inside EMACS. The
file itself is not changed. The changed text is not permanent until you
"save" it in a file. The first time you change the text, a star appears
at the end of the mode line; this indicates that the text contains fresh
changes which will be lost unless you save them.
To visit a file, use the command C-X C-V (^R Visit File). Follow the
command with the name of the file you wish to visit, terminated by a
Return. If you can see a filename in the mode line, then that name is
the default, and any component of the filename which you don't specify
is taken from it. If EMACS thinks you can't see the defaults, they are
included in the prompt. You can abort the command by typing C-G, or
edit the filename with the standard Twenex editing and recognition
commands (Rubout, C-W, C-U, C-F and Altmode). If you do type a Return
to finish the command, the new file's text appears on the screen, and
its name and version appear in the mode line.
When you wish to save the file and make your changes permanent, type C-X
C-S (^R Save File). After the save is finished, C-X C-S prints
"Written: <filenames>" in the echo area at the bottom of the screen. If
there are no changes to save (no star at the end of the mode line), the
file is not saved; it would be redundant to save a duplicate of the
previous version.
Because a system crash can cause you to lose everything you have done
since the last save, we provide Auto Save mode, which saves the files
you are visiting at regular intervals automatically. *Note Auto Save:
AutoSave. Alternatively, you can use journal files. *Note Journals:
Journals.
What if you want to create a file? Just visit it. EMACS prints
"(New File)" but aside from that behaves as if you had visited an
existing empty file. If you make any changes and save them, the file is
created. If you visit a nonexistent file unintentionally (because you
typed the wrong file name), go ahead and visit the file you meant. If
you don't save the unwanted file, it is not created.
If there are still people using EDIT or SOS on your machine, you may
have to visit files with line numbers in them. The function Strip SOS
Line Numbers removes all line numbers from the current buffer. It also
removes all null () characters. An explicit argument inhibits removal
of nulls unless the file actually has line numbers.
If you alter one file and then visit another in the same buffer, EMACS
offers to save the old one. If you answer Y, the old file is saved; if
you answer N, all the changes you have made to it since the last save
are lost. You should not type ahead after a file visiting command,
because your type-ahead might answer an unexpected question in a way
that you would regret. The variable Visit File Save Old controls this
offer; normally, it is one, which means that the offer is made. If it
is minus one, then the old file is always saved when you visit a new one
in the same buffer; no question is asked. If it is zero, the old file
is never saved.
A nonzero argument to C-X C-V specifies "read-only" visiting. This
means that EMACS prevents you from modifying the file unless you insist.
You should use this when you visit a file that you do no want to change,
just to avoid changing it accidentally. If you give C-X C-V a positive
argument, then the file is read-only. This means you can change the
text in the buffer, but EMACS requires extra confirmation if you ask to
save the file, and never offers to save it. If you give C-X C-V a
negative argument, then the buffer itself is read-only; commands to
change the text are not allowed. If the visited file is visited
read-only, in either fashion, then the characters "(R-O)" appear in the
mode line after the filename. The command C-X C-Q (^R Set File
Read-Only) is used to switch between read-only and normal visiting. Its
numeric argument means the same thing as the argument to C-X C-V: zero
means changes are allowed, positive makes the file read-only, and
negative makes the text itself read-only.
Sometimes you will change a buffer by accident. Even if you undo the
change by hand, EMACS still knows that "the buffer has been changed".
You can tell EMACS to believe that there have been no changes with the
Meta-~ (^R Buffer Not Modified) command. This command simply clears the
"modified" flag which says that the buffer contains changes which need
to be saved. Even if the buffer really is changed EMACS will still act
as if it were not. If we take "~" to mean "not", then Meta-~ is "not"
metafied.
If EMACS is about to do an unrequested save, and discovers that the text
is now a lot shorter than it used to be, it tells you so and asks for
confirmation (Y or N). If you aren't sure what to answer (because you
are surprised that it has shrunk), type C-G to abort everything, and
take a look around.
If EMACS is about to save a file and sees that the date of the latest
version on disk does not match what EMACS last read or wrote, EMACS
notifies you of this fact, and asks what to do, because this probably
means that something is wrong. For example, someone else may have been
editing the same file. If this is so, there is a good chance that your
work or his work will be lost if you don't take the proper steps. You
should first find out exactly what is going on. The C-X C-D command to
list the directory will help. If you determine that someone else has
modified the file, save your file under different names (or at least
making a new version) and then SRCCOM the two files to merge the two
sets of changes. Also get in touch with the other person so that he
doesn't continue editing.
EMACS Node: Revert, Previous: Visiting, Up: Files, Next: AutoSave
How to Undo Drastic Changes to a File
If you have made extensive changes to a file and then change your mind
about them, you can get rid of them by reading in the previous version
of the file. To do this, use M-X Revert File. If you have been using
Auto Save mode, it reads in the last version of the visited file or the
last auto save file, whichever is more recent.
In Auto Save mode, saving under special Auto Save filenames, then you
can ask to revert to the last "real" save, ignoring subsequent auto
saves, with C-U M-X Revert File. If you are using the style of auto
saving which saves under the real filenames, this is not possible.
M-X Revert File does not change point, so that if the file was only
edited slightly, you will be at approximately the same piece of text
after the Revert as before. If you have made drastic changes, the same
value of point in the old file may address a totally different piece of
text.
Because M-X Revert File can be a disaster if done by mistake, it asks
for confirmation (Y or N) before doing its work. A pre-comma argument
can be used to inhibit the request for confirmation when you call the
function Revert File from a TECO program, as in 1,M(M.M Revert File).
EMACS Node: AutoSave, Previous: Revert, Up: Files, Next: ListDir
Auto Save Mode: Protection Against Disasters
In Auto Save mode, EMACS saves your file from time to time (based on
counting your commands) without being asked. Your file is also saved if
you stop typing for more than a few minutes when there are changes in
the buffer. This prevents you from losing more than a limited amount of
work in a disaster. (Another method of protection is the journal file.
*Note Journals: Journals.).
You can turn auto saving on or off in an individual buffer with M-X Auto
Save. In addition, you can have auto saving by default in all buffers
by setting the option Auto Save Default. The frequency of saving, and
the number of saved versions to keep, can both be specified.
Each time you visit a file, no matter how, auto saving is turned on for
that file if Auto Save Default is nonzero. Once you have visited a
file, you can turn auto saving on or off with M-X Auto Save. Like other
minor mode commands, M-X Auto Save turns the mode on with a positive
argument, off with a zero or negative argument; with no argument, it
toggles. If you start typing a new file into a buffer without visiting
anything, Auto Save mode is initially off, but you can turn it on with
M-X Auto Save.
When an auto save happens, "(Auto Save)" is printed in the echo area (On
a printing terminal, the bell is rung instead). An error in the process
of auto saving prints "(Auto Save Error!)".
Let us suppose that it is time for an automatic save to be done: where
should the file be saved?
Two workable methods have been developed: save the file under the names
you have visited, or save it under some special "auto save file name".
Each solution has its good and bad points. The first one is excellent
some of the time, but intolerable the rest of the time. The second is
usually acceptable. Auto saving under the visited file's actual names
means that you need do nothing special to gobble the auto save file when
you need it; and it means that there is no need to worry about
interference between two users sharing a directory, as long as they
aren't editing the same file at once. However, this method can
sometimes have problems:
If the file is visited read-only, then auto saves should
certainly not go under the names that are visited.
If you have visited a fixed version, auto saves can't go under
that name, because they would clobber the original file.
If you haven't visited a file, there aren't any names to use.
If none of those cases apply then it is possible to store auto saves
under the visited name. This is done, provided that you enable it by
setting the variable Auto Save Visited File to a nonzero value.
Otherwise, or if one of the cases listed above applies, then the
filename used for auto saves is taken from the variable Auto Save
Filenames, modified slightly so that different buffers save under
different names. The buffer's name is used as the extension of the auto
save file, if Auto Save Filenames contains a null extension. Auto Save
Filenames is usually set up by the default init file to <your
directory>[SAVE]...
When you want to save your file "for real", use C-X C-S, as always. C-U
C-X C-S is a way to request an "auto" save explicitly. When you are
auto saving under the visited filenames, there is not much difference
between an auto save and a "real" save, except that an auto save will
eventually be deleted automatically by EMACS a few auto saves later,
while a "real" save will be left around forever (at least, Auto Save
won't delete it).
When it is time to recover from a system crash by reloading the auto
save file, if auto saving was using the visited file names you have
nothing special to do. If auto saving was using special auto save
filenames, read in the last auto save file and then use C-X C-W (Write
File) to write it out in its real location. If you want to go back to
an auto save file to throw away changes that you don't like, you can use
M-X Revert File, which knows how to find the most recent save, permanent
or not, under whatever filenames. *Note Revert: Revert.
For your protection, if a file has shrunk by more than 30% since the
last save, auto saving does not save. Instead it prints a message that
the file has shrunk. You can save explicitly if you wish; after that,
auto saving will resume.
Although auto saving generates large numbers of files, it does not clog
directories, because it cleans up after itself. Only the last Auto Save
Max auto save files are kept; as further saves are done, old auto saves
are deleted (and expunged). However, only files made by auto saving (or
by explicitly requested auto-saves with C-U C-X C-S) are deleted in this
way. If Auto Save Max is 1, then repeated auto saves rewrite the same
version of the file; the version number is only incremented after a real
save. (It will write a new version if it is unable to rewrite the old
one).
The variable Auto Save Max is initially 2. Changing the value may not
take effect in a given buffer until you turn auto saving off and on in
that buffer.
The number of characters of input between auto saves is controlled by
the variable Auto Save Interval. It is initially 500. Changing this
takes effect immediately.
If you use the multiple-buffer features of EMACS (*Note Buffers:
Buffers.) then you may want to have auto saving for all buffers, not
just the one that is selected at the moment. To get this, set the
variable Auto Save All Buffers nonzero.
EMACS Node: ListDir, Previous: AutoSave, Up: Files, Next: CleanDir
Listing a File Directory
To look at a part of a file directory, use the C-X C-D command
(^R Directory Display). With no argument, it shows you all the versions
of the file you are visiting. C-U C-X C-D reads a filename from the
terminal and shows you the files related to that filename. The filename
may contain wild cards.
To see the whole directory in a brief format, use the function List
Files, which takes the directory name as a string argument. The
function View Directory prints a verbose listing of a whole directory.
These two commands take a filename as argument, which can include wild
cards.
The variable Auto Directory Display can be set to make many file
operations display the directory automatically. The variable is
normally 0; making it positive causes write operations such as Write
File to display the directory, and making it negative causes read
operations such as Insert File or visiting to display it as well. The
display is done using the default directory listing function which is
kept in the variable Directory Lister. Normally this is the function
& Subset Directory that displays only the files related to the current
default file.
EMACS Node: CleanDir, Previous: ListDir, Up: Files, Next: DIRED
Cleaning a File Directory
The normal course of editing constantly creates new versions of files.
If you don't eventually delete the old versions, the directory will fill
up and further editing will be impossible. EMACS has commands that make
it easy to delete the old versions.
For complete flexibility to delete precisely the files you want to
delete, you can use the DIRED package. *Note DIRED: DIRED, for more
details.
M-X Reap File and M-X Clean Directory are more convenient ways to do the
usual thing: keep only the two (or other number) most recent versions.
M-X Reap File<file><cr> counts the number of versions of <file>. If
there are more than two, you are told the names of the recent ones (to
be kept) and the names of the older ones (to be deleted), and asked
whether to do the deletion (answer Y or N).
Reap File makes a special offer to delete individual files whose
extension indicates that they are likely to be temporary. The list of
temporary names is contained in a TECO search string in the variable
Temp File FN2 List. *Note TECO search strings: TECOsearch.
If you give M-X Reap File a null filename argument, or no argument, then
it applies to the file you are visiting.
M-X Clean Directory<dirname> <cr> cleans a whole directory of old
versions. Each file in the directory is processed a la M-X Reap File.
M-X Clean Directory with a null argument, or no argument, cleans the
directory containing the file you are visiting.
M-X Reap File and M-X Clean Directory can be given a numeric argument
which specifies how many versions to keep. For example, C-U 4 M-X Reap
File would keep the four most recent versions. The default when there
is no argument is the value of the variable File Versions Kept, which is
initially 2.
To expunge the files deleted by Reap File or Clean Directory, use M-X
Expunge Directory, which expunges the connected directory. If you wish
to expunge some other directory, connect to it first with
M-X Connect to Directory<directory><password><cr>
You don't have to specify the password if you can connect without one.
EMACS Node: DIRED, Previous: CleanDir, Up: Files, Next: Filadv
DIRED, the Directory Editor Subsystem
DIRED makes it easy to delete many of the files in a single directory at
once. It presents a copy of a listing of the directory, which you can
move around in, marking files for deletion. When you are satisfied, you
can tell DIRED to go ahead and delete the marked files.
Invoke DIRED with M-X DIRED to edit the current default directory, or
M-X DIRED<dir><cr> to edit directory <dir>. You are then given a
listing of the directory which you can move around in with all the
normal EMACS motion commands. Some EMACS commands are made illegal and
others do special things, but it's still a recursive editing level which
you can exit normally with C-M-Z and abort with C-].
Basic DIRED Commands
You can mark a file for deletion by moving to the line describing the
file and typing D, C-D, K, or C-K. The deletion mark is visible as a D
at the beginning of the line. Point is moved to the beginning of the
next line, so that several D's delete several files. Alternatively, if
you give D an argument it marks that many consecutive files. Given a
negative argument, it marks the preceding file (or several files) and
puts point at the first (in the buffer) line marked. Most of the DIRED
commands (D, U, E, Space) repeat this way with numeric arguments.
If you wish to remove a deletion mark, use the U (for Undelete) command,
which is invoked like D: it removes the deletion mark from the current
line (or next few lines, if given an argument). The Rubout command
removes the deletion mark from the previous line, moving up to that
line. Thus, a Rubout after a D precisely cancels the D.
For extra convenience, Space is made a command similar to C-N. Moving
down a line is done so often in DIRED that it deserves to be easy to
type. Rubout is often useful simply for moving up.
If you are not sure whether you want to delete a file, you can examine
it by typing E. This enters a recursive editing mode on the file, which
you can exit with C-M-Z. The file is not really visited at that time,
and you are not allowed to change it. When you exit the recursive
editing level, you return to DIRED. The V command is like E but uses
View File to look at the file.
When you have marked the files you wish to mark, you can exit DIRED with
C-M-Z. If any files were marked for deletion, DIRED lists them in a
concise format, several per line. Then DIRED asks for confirmation of
the list. You can type "YES" (Just "Y" won't do) to go ahead and delete
them, "N" to return to editing the directory so you can change the
marks, or "X" to give up and delete nothing. No Return character is
needed. No other inputs are accepted at this point.
Other DIRED Commands
N finds the next "hog": the next file which has at least three versions
(or, more than File Versions Kept).
C calls up SRCCOM as an inferior with the current file in its command
line. When you return to EMACS, the cursor moves down a line to the
next file.
S sorts the files into a different order. It reads another character to
say which order: F for filename (the default), S for size, R for read
date, or W for write date.
R does the same sorting as S, but uses the reverse order (small files,
older files or end of alphabet first).
H helps you clean up. It marks "old" versions of the current file, and
versions with "temporary" second file names, for deletion. You can then
use the D and U commands to add and remove marks before deleting the
files. The variables File Versions Kept and Temp File FN2 List control
which files H picks for deletion. With an argument (C-U H), it does the
whole directory instead of just the current file.
? displays a list of the DIRED commands.
Invoking DIRED
There are some other ways to invoke DIRED. The command C-X D (^R Dired)
puts you in DIRED on the directory containing the file you are currently
editing. With a numeric argument of 1 (C-U 1 C-X D), only the current
file is displayed instead of the whole directory. In combination with
the H command this can be useful for cleaning up excess versions of a
file after a heavy editing session. With a numeric argument of 4 (C-U
C-X D), it asks you for the directory name. Type a directory name
and/or a file name. If you explicitly specify a file name only versions
of that file are displayed, otherwise the whole directory is displayed.
Editing the DIRED Buffer Yourself
It is unwise to try to edit the text of the directory listing yourself,
without using the special DIRED commands, unless you know what you are
doing, since you can confuse DIRED that way. To make it less likely
that you will do so accidentally, the self-inserting characters are all
made illegal inside DIRED. However, deleting whole lines at a time is
certainly safe. This does not delete the files described by those
lines; instead, it makes DIRED forget that they are there and thus makes
sure they will NOT be deleted. Thus, M-X Delete Non-Matching
LinesFOO<cr> is useful if you wish to delete only files with a FOO in
their names. *Note Keep Lines: Replace.
For more complicated things, you can use the minibuffer. When you call
the minibuffer from within DIRED, you get a perfectly normal one. The
special DIRED commands are not present while you are editing in the
minibuffer. To mark a file for deletion, replace the space at the
beginning of its line with a "D". To remove a mark, replace the "D"
with a space.
EMACS Node: Filadv, Previous: DIRED, Up: Files
Miscellaneous File Operations
EMACS has extended commands for performing many other operations on
files. Invoking these commands with C-M-X instead of M-X allows you to
use filename completion on the filename arguments these commands
require.
M-X View File<file><cr> allows you to scan or read a file by sequential
screenfuls without visiting the file. It enters a subsystem in which
you type a Space to see the next screenful or a Backspace to see the
previous screenful. Typing anything else exits the command. View File
does not visit the file; it does not alter the contents of any buffer.
The advantage of View File is that the whole file does not need to be
loaded before you can begin reading it. The inability to do anything
but page forward or backward is a consequence.
M-X Write File<file><cr> writes the contents of the buffer into the
file <file>, and then visits that file. It can be thought of as a way
of "changing the name" of the file you are visiting. Unlike C-X C-S,
Write File saves even if the buffer has not been changed. C-X C-W is
another way of getting at this command.
M-X Insert File<file><cr> inserts the contents of <file> into the
buffer at point, leaving point unchanged before the contents and mark
after them. The current defaults are used for <file>, and are updated.
M-X Write Region<file><cr> writes the region (the text between point
and mark) to the specified file. It does not set the visited filenames.
The buffer is not changed.
M-X Append to File<file><cr> appends the region to <file>. The text is
added to the end of <file>.
M-X Prepend to File<file><cr> adds the text to the beginning of <file>
instead of the end.
M-X Set Visited Filename<file><cr> changes the name of the file being
visited without reading or writing the data in the buffer. M-X Write
File is approximately equivalent to this command followed by a C-X C-S.
M-X Delete File<file><cr> deletes the file.
M-X Copy File<old file><new file><cr> copies the file.
M-X Rename File<old name><new name><cr> renames the file.
The default filenames for all of these operations are "TECO default
filenames". Most of these operations also leave the TECO default names
set to the file they operated on. The TECO default is NOT ALWAYS the
same as the file you are visiting. When you visit a file, they start
out the same; the commands mentioned above change the TECO default, but
do not change the visited filenames. Each buffer has its own TECO
default filenames.
The operation of visiting a file is available as a function under the
name M-X Visit File<file><cr>. In this form, it uses the TECO default
as its defaults, though it still sets both the TECO default and the
visited filenames.
EMACS Node: Buffers, Previous: Files, Up: Top, Next: Display
Using Multiple Buffers
When we speak of "the buffer", which contains the text you are editing,
we have given the impression that there is only one. In fact, there may
be many of them, each with its own body of text. At any time only one
buffer can be "selected" and available for editing, but it isn't hard to
switch to a different one. Each buffer individually remembers which
file it is visiting, what modes are in effect, and whether there are any
changes that need saving.
C-X B Select or create a buffer.
C-X C-F Visit a file in its own buffer.
C-X C-B List the existing buffers.
C-X K Kill a buffer.
Each buffer in EMACS has a single name, which normally doesn't change.
A buffer's name can be any length. The name of the currently selected
buffer, and the name of the file visited in it, are visible in the mode
line when you are at top level. A newly started EMACS has only one
buffer, named "Main".
As well as the visited file and the major mode, a buffer can, if ordered
to, remember many other things "locally", which means, independently of
all other buffers. *Note Variables: Variables.
Creating and Selecting Buffers
To create a new buffer, you need only think of a name for it (say,
"FOO") and then do C-X B FOO<cr>, which is the command C-X B (Select
Buffer) followed by the name. This makes a new, empty buffer and
selects it for editing. The new buffer is not visiting any file, so if
you try to save it you will be asked for the filenames to use. Each
buffer has its own major mode; the new buffer's major mode is taken from
the value of the variable Default Major Mode, or from the major mode of
the previously selected buffer if the value of Default Major Mode is the
null string. Normally the Default Major Mode is Fundamental mode.
To return to buffer FOO later after having switched to another, the same
command C-X B FOO<cr> is used, since C-X B can tell whether a buffer
named FOO exists already or not. It does not matter whether you use
upper case or lower case in typing the name of a buffer. C-X B Main<cr>
reselects the buffer Main that EMACS started out with. Just C-X B<cr>
reselects the previous buffer. Repeated C-X B<cr>'s alternate between
the last two buffers selected.
You can also read a file into its own newly created buffer, all with one
command: C-X C-F (Find File), followed by the filename. The first name
of the file becomes the buffer name. C-F stands for "Find", because if
the specified file already resides in a buffer in your EMACS, that
buffer is reselected. So you need not remember whether you have brought
the file in already or not. A buffer created by C-X C-F can be
reselected later with C-X B or C-X C-F, whichever you find more
convenient. Nonexistent files can be created with C-X C-F just as they
can be with C-X C-V. A nonzero argument to C-X C-F makes the file or
buffer read-only; it is like the argument to C-X C-V. *Note Visiting:
Visiting.
Sometimes EMACS needs to visit a file as part of some other operation.
By default, it visits the file in whatever buffer was selected. If you
like to use C-X C-F and multiple buffers, you can tell EMACS to use
multiple buffers for implicit visiting by setting the variable TAGS Find
File to a nonzero value. This causes automatic visiting to be done by
means of C-X C-F instead of C-X C-V. Automatic visiting is done by the
TAGS package (*Note TAGS: (TAGS)Top.) or by invoking EMACS with a
filename
@EMACS <filename><cr>
If the buffer with the same name that C-X C-F wants to use already
exists but with the wrong contents (often a different file with a
similar name), then you are asked what to do. You can type Return
meaning go ahead and reuse that buffer for this new file, or you can
type another buffer name to use instead. If C-X C-F does find the file
already in a buffer, then it checks to see whether the version on disk
is the same as the last version read or written from that buffer, for
safety. If they are different, you are warned that someone else may be
editing the file, and left with the version which was already in the
EMACS. To get the new version from disk instead, use M-X Revert File.
Using Existing Buffers
To get a list of all the buffers that exist, do C-X C-B (List Buffers).
Each buffer's name, major mode, and visited filenames are printed. A
star at the beginning of a line indicates a buffer which contains
changes that have not been saved. The number that appears before a
buffer's name in a C-X C-B listing is that buffer's "buffer number".
You can select a buffer by giving its number as a numeric argument to
C-X B, which then does not need to read a string from the terminal.
If several buffers have stars, you should save some of them with M-X
Save All Files. This finds all the buffers that need saving and asks
about each one individually. Saving the buffers this way is much easier
and more efficient than selecting each one and typing C-X C-S.
A quick way of glancing at another buffer, faster than selecting it, is
to use M-X View Buffer<buffername><cr>. This displays the contents of
the other buffer and lets you move forward and back a screen at a time
with Space and Backspace. *Note View Buffer: Display.
M-X Rename Buffer<new name><cr> changes the name of the currently
selected buffer. If <new name> is the null string, the first filename
of the visited file is used as the new name of the buffer.
The commands C-X A (^R Append to Buffer) and M-X Insert Buffer can be
used to copy text from one buffer to another. *Note Copying: Copying.
Killing Buffers
After you use an EMACS for a while, it may fill up with buffers which
you no longer need. Eventually you can reach a point where trying to
create any more results in an "URK" error. So whenever it is convenient
you should do M-X Kill Some Buffers, which asks about each buffer
individually. You can say Y or N to kill it or not. Or you can say
Control-R to take a look at it first. This does not actually select the
buffer, as the mode line shows, but gives you a recursive editing level
in which you can move around and look at things. When you have seen
enough to make up your mind, exit the recursive editing level with a
C-M-Z and you will be asked the question again. If you say to kill a
buffer that needs saving, you will be asked whether it should be saved.
*Note URK Error: Lossage.
You can kill the buffer FOO by doing C-X K FOO<cr>. You can kill the
selected buffer, a common thing to do if you use C-X C-F, by doing C-X
K<cr>. If you kill the selected buffer, in any way, EMACS asks you
which buffer to select instead. Saying just <cr> at that point tells
EMACS to choose one reasonably. C-X K runs the function Kill Buffer.
EMACS Node: Display, Previous: Buffers, Up: Top, Next: Windows
Controlling the Display
Since only part of a large file fits on the screen, EMACS tries to show
the part that is likely to be interesting. The display control commands
allow you to ask to see a different part of the file.
C-L Clear and redisplay screen, putting point at a specified
vertical position.
C-V Scroll forwards (a screen or a few lines).
M-V Scroll backwards.
M-R Move point to the text at a given vertical position.
C-M-R Shift the function point is in onto the screen.
The terminal screen is rarely large enough to display all of your file.
If the whole buffer doesn't fit on the screen, EMACS shows a contiguous
portion of it, containing point. It continues to show approximately the
same portion until point moves outside of it; then EMACS chooses a new
portion centered around the new point. This is EMACS's guess as to what
you are most interested in seeing. But if the guess is wrong, you can
use the display control commands to see a different portion. The finite
area of screen through which you can see part of the buffer is called
"the window", and the choice of where in the buffer to start displaying
is also called "the window".
First we describe how EMACS chooses a new window position on its own.
The goal is usually to place point 35 percent of the way down the
screen. This is controlled by the variable Cursor Centering Point,
whose value is the percent of the screen down from the top. However, if
the end of the buffer is on the screen, EMACS tries to leave at most 35
percent of the screen blank beneath it, so that the screen is not
wasted. This percentage is controlled by the variable End of Buffer
Display Margin. These variables work by controlling FS flags, and their
values must never be negative or greater than 99.
Normally EMACS only chooses a new window position if you move point off
the screen. However, you can ask for a new window position to be
computed whenever point gets too close to the top of the screen by
setting the variable Top Display Margin to the percentage of the screen
in which point must not appear. Bottom Display Margin does the same
thing for a region near the bottom.
The basic display control command is C-L (^R New Window). In its
simplest form, with no argument, it clears the screen and tells EMACS to
choose a new window position, centering point 35 percent of the way from
the top as usual.
C-L with a positive argument chooses a new window so as to put point
that many lines from the top. An argument of zero puts point on the
very top line. Point does not move with respect to the text; rather,
the text and point move rigidly on the screen. C-L with a negative
argument puts point that many lines from the bottom of the window. For
example, C-U -1 C-L puts point on the bottom line, and C-U -5 C-L puts
it five lines from the bottom. C-L with an argument does not clear the
screen, so that it can move the text on the screen instead of printing
it again if the terminal allows that.
C-U C-L is different from C-L with any other sort of argument. It
causes just the line containing point to be redisplayed.
The "scrolling" commands C-V and M-V let you move the whole display up
or down a few lines. C-V (^R Next Screen) with an argument shows you
that many more lines at the bottom of the screen, moving the text and
point up together as C-L might. C-V with a negative argument shows you
more lines at the top of the screen, as does Meta-V (^R Previous Screen)
with a positive argument.
To read the buffer a screenful at a time, use the C-V command with no
argument. It takes the last two lines at the bottom of the screen and
puts them at the top, followed by nearly a whole screenful of lines not
visible before. Point is put at the top of the screen. Thus, each C-V
shows the "next screenful", except for two lines of overlap to provide
continuity. The variable Next Screen Context Lines, if defined,
controls how many lines from the bottom of the screen move to the top;
the default if the variable is not defined is 2. To move backward, use
M-V without an argument, which moves a whole screenful backwards (again
with overlap).
Scanning by screenfuls through the buffer for some distance is most
conveniently done with the M-X View Buffer command. This command enters
a simple subsystem in which Space moves a screenful forward and
Backspace moves a screenful backward. The Return character exits,
leaving point centered in whatever part of the buffer was visible. Any
other character exits and returns point to its former location, and is
then executed as a command (unless it is a Rubout; Rubout exits but is
not executed). View Buffer can be used to view another buffer by giving
the buffer's name as a string argument. In this case, exiting with
Return moves point permanently in the other buffer, but does not select
it. *Note Buffers: Buffers.
With the M-X View File command, you can scan by screenfuls through a
file which you have not visited. *Note View File: FilAdv.
To scroll the buffer so that the current function or paragraph is
positioned conveniently on the screen, use the C-M-R command
(^R Reposition Window). This command tries to get as much as possible
of the current function or paragraph onto the screen, preferring the
beginning to the end, but not moving point off the screen. A "function"
in Lisp mode is a defun; otherwise it is defined to be a set of
consecutive unindented lines, or a set of consecutive indented lines.
C-L in all its forms changes the position of point on the screen,
carrying the text with it. Another command moves point the same way but
leaves the text fixed. It is called Meta-R (^R Move to Screen Edge).
With no argument, it puts point at the beginning of the line at the
center of the screen. An argument is used to specify the line to put it
on, counting from the top if the argument is positive, or from the
bottom if it is negative. Thus, Meta-R with an argument of 0 puts point
on the top line of the screen. Meta-R never causes any text to move on
the screen; it causes point to move with respect to the screen and the
text.
EMACS Node: Windows, Previous: Display, Up: Top, Next: Narrowing
Two Window Mode
EMACS allows you to split the screen into two "windows" and use them to
display parts of two files, or two parts of the same file.
C-X 2 Start showing two windows.
C-X 3 Show two windows but stay "in" the top one.
C-X 1 Show only one window again.
C-X O Switch to the Other window
C-X 4 Find buffer, file or tag in other window.
C-X ^ Make this window bigger.
C-M-V Scroll the other window.
In "two window" mode, the text display portion of the screen is divided
into two parts called "windows", which display different pieces of text.
The two windows can display two different files, or two parts of the
same file. Only one of the windows is selected; that is the window
which the cursor is in. Editing normally takes place in that window
alone. To edit in the other window, you would give a special command to
move the cursor to the other window, and then edit there. Since there
is only one mode line, it applies to the window you are in at the
moment.
The command C-X 2 (^R Two Windows) enters two-window mode. A line of
dashes appears across the middle of the screen, dividing the text
display area into two halves. Window one, containing the same text as
previously occupied the whole screen, fills the top half, while window
two fills the bottom half. The cursor moves to window two. If this is
your first entry to two-window mode, window two contains a new buffer
named W2. Otherwise, it contains the same text it held the last time
you looked at it.
To return to viewing only one window, use the command C-X 1 (^R One
Window). Window one expands to fill the whole screen, and window two
disappears until the next C-X 2. C-U C-X 1 gets rid of window one and
makes window two use the whole screen. Neither of these depends on
which window the cursor is in when the command is given.
While you are in two window mode you can use C-X O (^R Other Window) to
switch between the windows. After doing C-X 2, the cursor is in window
two. Doing C-X O moves the cursor back to window one, to exactly where
it was before the C-X 2. The difference between this and doing C-X 1 is
that C-X O leaves window two visible on the screen. A second C-X O
moves the cursor back into window two, to where it was before the first
C-X O. And so on...
Often you will be editing one window while using the other just for
reference. Then, the command C-M-V (^R Scroll Other Window) is very
useful. It scrolls the other window without switching to it and
switching back. It scrolls the same way C-V does: with no argument, a
whole screen up; with an argument, that many lines up (or down, for a
negative argument). With just a minus sign (no digits) as an argument,
C-M-V scrolls a whole screenful backwards (what M-V does).
The C-X 3 (^R View Two Windows) command is like C-X 2 but leaves the
cursor in window one. That is, it makes window two appear at the bottom
of the screen but leaves the cursor where it was. C-X 2 is equivalent
to C-X 3 C-X O. C-X 3 is equivalent to C-X 2 C-X O, but C-X 3 is much
faster.
M-X Compare Windows compares the text in the two windows. Starting from
the existing values of point in each window, it advances point in both
windows to the first mismatch. The variable Collapse in Comparison, if
it exists, should be a string containing all the "insignificant"
characters; any string of insignificant characters matches any other
string of those characters. If the variable does not exist, the
insignificant characters are return, linefeed, space and tab.
If you quit with C-G in the middle of Compare Windows, point is advanced
in both windows as far as the matching has proceeded. As a result,
calling Compare Windows again resumes the comparison.
Normally, the screen is divided evenly between the two windows. You can
also redistribute screen space between the windows with the C-X ^
(^R Grow Window) command. It makes the currently selected window get
one line bigger, or as many lines as is specified with a numeric
argument. With a negative argument, it makes the selected window
smaller. The allocation of space to the windows is remembered while you
are in one window mode and the same allocation is used when you return
to two window mode. The allocation changes only when you give a C-X ^
command.
After leaving two-window mode, you can still use C-X O, but its meaning
is different. Window two does not appear, but whatever was being shown
in it appears, in window one (the whole screen). Whatever buffer used
to be in window one is stuck, invisibly, into window two. Another C-X O
reverses the effect of the first. For example, if window one shows
buffer B and window two shows buffer W2 (the usual case), and only
window one is visible, then after a C-X O window one shows buffer W2 and
window two shows buffer B.
Multiple Windows and Multiple Buffers
Buffers can be selected independently in each window. The C-X B command
selects a new buffer in whichever window the cursor is in. The other
window's buffer does not change. Window two's buffer is remembered
while you are in one window mode, and when you return to two window mode
that same buffer reappears in window two. *Note Buffers: Buffers.
You can view one buffer in both windows. Give C-X 2 an argument as in
C-U C-X 2 to go into two window mode, with both windows showing the
buffer which used to be in window one alone. Although the same buffer
appears in both windows, they have different values of point, so you can
move around in window two while window one continues to show the same
text. Then, having found in window two the place you wish to refer to,
you can go back to window one with C-X O to make your changes. Finally
you can do C-X 1 to make window two leave the screen. If you are
already in two window mode, C-U C-X O switches windows carrying the
buffer from the old window to the new one so that both windows show that
buffer.
If you have the same buffer in both windows, you must beware of trying
to visit a different file in one of the windows with C-X C-V, because if
you bring a new file into this buffer, it will replace the old file in
BOTH windows. To view different files in the two windows again, you
must switch buffers in one of the windows first (with C-X B or C-X C-F,
perhaps).
A convenient "combination" command for viewing something in the other
window is C-X 4 (^R Visit in Other Window). With this command you can
ask to see any specified buffer, file or tag in the other window.
Follow the C-X 4 with either B and a buffer name, F or C-F and a file
name, or T or "." and a tag name (*Note TAGS: (TAGS)Top.). This
switches to the other window and finds there what you specified. If you
were previously in one-window mode, two-window mode is entered. C-X 4 B
is similar to to C-X 2 C-X B. C-X 4 F is similar to C-X 2 C-X C-F. C-X
4 T is similar to C-X 2 M-Period. The difference is one of efficiency,
and also that C-X 4 works equally well if you are already using two
windows.
EMACS Node: Narrowing, Previous: Windows, Up: Top, Next: Pages
Narrowing
"Narrowing" means focusing in on some portion of the buffer, making the
rest temporarily invisible and inaccessible.
C-X N Narrow down to between point and mark.
C-X P Narrow down to the page point is in.
C-X W Widen to view the entire buffer.
When you have narrowed down to a part of the buffer, that part appears
to be all there is. You can't see the rest, you can't move into it
(motion commands won't go outside the visible part), you can't change it
in any way. However, it is not gone, and if you save the file all the
invisible text will be saved. In addition to sometimes making it easier
to concentrate on a single subroutine or paragraph by eliminating
clutter, narrowing can be used to restrict the range of operation of a
replace command. The word "Narrow" appears in the mode line whenever
narrowing is in effect.
The primary narrowing command is C-X N (^R Narrow Bounds to Region). It
sets the "virtual buffer boundaries" at point and the mark, so that only
what was between them remains visible. Point and mark do not change.
The way to undo narrowing is to widen with C-X W (^R Widen Bounds).
This makes all text in the buffer accessible again.
Another way to narrow is to narrow to just one page, with C-X P
(^R Narrow Bounds to Page). *Note Pages: Pages.
You can get information on what part of the buffer you are narrowed down
to using the C-X = command. *Note C-X =: Filling.
The virtual buffer boundaries are a powerful TECO mechanism used
internally in EMACS in many ways. While only the commands described
here set them so as you can see, many others set them temporarily using
the TECO commands FS VB and FS VZ, but restore them before they are
finished.
EMACS Node: Pages, Previous: Narrowing, Up: Top, Next: Replace
Commands for Manipulating Pages
Files are often thought of as divided into "pages" by the ASCII
character formfeed (
). For example, if a file is printed on a line
printer, each page of the file, in this sense, will start on a new page
of paper. Most editors make the division of a file into pages extremely
important. For example, they may be unable to show more than one page
of the file at any time. EMACS treats a formfeed character just like
any other character. It can be inserted with C-Q C-L (or, C-M-L), and
deleted with Rubout. Thus, you are free to paginate your file, or not.
However, since pages are often meaningful divisions of the file,
commands are provided to move over them and operate on them.
C-M-L Insert formfeed.
C-X C-P Put point and mark around this page (or another
page).
C-X [ Move point to previous page boundary.
C-X ] Move point to next page boundary.
C-X P Narrow down to just this (or next) page.
C-X L Count the lines in this page.
M-X What Page
Print current page and line number.
The C-X [ (^R Previous Page) command moves point to the previous page
delimiter (actually, to right after it). If point starts out right
after a page delimiter, it skips that one and stops at the previous one.
A numeric argument serves as a repeat count. The C-X ] (^R Next Page)
command moves forward past the next page delimiter.
The command M-X What Page prints the page and line number of the cursor
in the echo area. There is a separate command to print this information
because it is likely to be slow and should not slow down anything else.
The design of TECO is such that it is not possible to know the absolute
number of the page you are in, except by scanning through the whole file
counting pages.
The C-X C-P command (^R Mark Page) puts point at the beginning of the
current page and the mark at the end. The page delimiter at the end is
included (the mark follows it). The page delimiter at the front is
excluded (point follows it). This command can be followed by a C-W to
kill a page which is to be moved elsewhere. If it is inserted after a
page delimiter, at a place where C-X ] or C-X [ would take you, then the
page will be properly delimited before and after once again.
A numeric argument to C-X C-P is used to specify which page to go to,
relative to the current one. Zero means the current page. One means
the next page, and -1 means the previous one.
The command C-X P (^R Narrow Bounds to Page) narrows down to just one
page. Everything before and after becomes temporarily invisible and
inaccessible (*Note Narrowing: Narrowing.). Use C-X W (^R Widen Bounds)
to undo this. Both page terminators, the preceding one and the
following one, are excluded from the visible region. Like C-X C-P, the
C-X P command normally selects the current page, but allows you to
specify which page explicitly relative to the current one with a numeric
argument. However, when you are already narrowed down to one page, C-X
P with no argument moves you to the next page (otherwise, it would be a
useless no-op). So several C-X P's in a row get first the current page
and then successive pages.
If you prefer to see only one page of the file at a time as a general
rule, use the PAGE library. *Note PAGE: PAGE.
Just what delimits pages is controlled by the variable Page Delimiter,
which should contain a TECO search string (*Note TECO search strings:
TECOsearch.) which matches all page separators. Normally, it is a
string containing just
. For an INFO file, it might usefully be
changed to
, which means that either a
or just a (either
of the two strings that separate INFO nodes) should be a page separator.
Then each node counts as a page. In any case, page separators are
recognized as such only at the beginning of a line. The paragraph
commands consider each page boundary a paragraph boundary as well.
The C-X L command (^R Count Lines Page) is good for deciding where to
break a page in two. It prints in the echo area the total number of
lines in the current page, and then divides it up into those preceding
the current line and those following, as in
Page has 96 lines (72+25)
Notice that the sum is off by one; this is correct if point is not at
the front of a line.
EMACS Node: PAGE, Previous: Pages, Up: Pages
Editing Only One Page at a Time
The PAGE library allows you to edit only within a single page at a time,
with special commands to move between pages, and split and join pages.
It contrives to show the number of the page you are looking at in the
mode line. You can also ask to see a "directory" of the pages in the
file, or to insert it into the file. This is an extension of and
replacement for the facility provided by the C-X P command in standard
EMACS. It is an optional library because we do not think it is
necessarily an improvement.
The commands in the PAGE library supplant and redefine commands in
standard EMACS. Therefore, you cannot use them unless you give the
command M-X Load LibraryPAGE<cr> explicitly. *Note Libraries:
Libraries.
C-X ] Move to next page.
C-X [ Move to previous page.
C-X C-P Move to page by absolute number.
C-X P Split this page at point.
C-X J Join this page to the next or previous one.
C-X W See the whole file again.
The most fundamental thing to do with PAGE is to go to a specific page.
This can be done by giving the page number as an argument to C-X C-P
(^R Goto Page). If you give a number too big, the last page in the file
is selected.
For convenience, C-X C-P with no argument when you are looking at the
whole file selects the page containing point. When you are looking at
only one page, C-X C-P with no argument goes to the next page and with a
negative argument goes to the previous page.
However, the main commands for moving forward or backward by pages are
C-X [ and C-X ] (^R Goto Previous Page and ^R Goto Next Page). These
take a numeric argument (either sign) and move that many pages.
To go back to viewing the whole file instead of just one page, you can
use the C-X W (^R PAGE Widen Bounds) command. These are the same
characters that you would use in standard EMACS, but they run a
different function that knows to remove the page number from the mode
line.
The C-S (^R Incremental Search) and C-R (^R Reverse Search) commands are
redefined to widen bounds first and narrow them again afterwards. So
you can search through the whole file, but afterward see only the page
in which the search ended. In fact, PAGE goes through some trouble to
work with whatever search functions you prefer to use, and find them
wherever you put them.
To split an existing page, you could insert a
, but unless you do this
while viewing the whole file, PAGE might get confused. The clean way is
to use C-X P (^R Insert Pagemark) which inserts the page mark, and
narrows down to the second of the two pages formed from the old page.
The clean way to get rid of a page mark is to use C-X J (^R Join Next
Page). It gets rid of the page mark after the current page; or, with a
negative argument, gets rid of the page mark before this page.
A page mark is defined as <CRLF>
. If you set the variable PAGE Flush
CRLF to 1, a page mark is <CRLF>
<CRLF>, which has the effect of making
the CRLF at the beginning of each page invisible. This may be desirable
for EMACS library source files. You can also specify some other string
in place of
by setting the variable Page Delimiter. If Page
Delimiter specifies multiple alternatives, separated by , PAGE always
inserts the first of them, but recognizes them all.
To see a list of all the pages in the file, each one represented by its
first nonempty line, use M-X View Page Directory. It prints out the
first non-blank line on each page, preceded by its page number. M-X
Insert Page Directory inserts the same directory into the buffer at
point. If you give it an argument, it tries to make the whole thing
into a comment by putting the Comment Start string at the front of each
line and the Comment End string at the end.
If the variable Page Setup Hook exists, PAGE will execute its value as
the function for placing PAGE's functions on keys. This is done instead
of the normal assignments to C-X [, C-X ], C-X C-P, C-X P, and C-X J.
EMACS Node: Replace, Previous: Pages, Up: Top, Next: TECOsearch
Replacement Commands
Global search-and-replace operations are not needed as often in EMACS as
they are in other editors, but they are available. In addition to the
simple Replace operation which is like that found in most editors, there
is a Query Replace operation which asks you, for each occurrence of the
pattern, whether to replace it.
To replace every instance of FOO after point with BAR, you can do
M-X ReplaceFOOBAR<cr>
Replacement occurs only after point, so if you want to cover the whole
buffer you must go to the beginning first. Replacement continues to the
end of the buffer, but you can restrict it by narrowing. *Note
Narrowing: Narrowing.
Unless the variable Case Replace is zero, Replace tries to preserve
case; give both FOO and BAR in lower case, and if a particular FOO is
found with a capital initial or all capitalized, the BAR which replaces
it will be given the same case pattern. Thus,
M-X Replacefoobar<cr>
would replace "foo" with "bar", "Foo" with "Bar" and "FOO" with "BAR".
If Case Replace is zero, the replacement string is inserted with the
case you used when you typed it. If Case Search is zero, the string to
be replaced is found only when it has the same case as what you typed.
If you give Replace (or Query Replace) an argument, then it replaces
only occurrences of FOO delimited by break characters (or an end of the
buffer). So you can replace only FOO the word, and not FOO when it is
part of FOOBAR.
The string FOO to be replaced is actually a TECO search string, a type
of pattern, in which the characters , , , , , , and are
special. *Note TECO search strings: TECOSearch.
Query Replace
If you want to change only some of the occurrences of FOO, not all, then
you cannot use an ordinary Replace. Instead, use M-X Query
ReplaceFOOBAR<cr>. This displays each occurrence of FOO and waits for
you to say whether to replace it with a BAR. The things you can type
when you are shown an occurrence of FOO are:
Space to replace the FOO (preserving case, just like plain
Replace, unless Case Replace is zero).
Rubout to skip to the next FOO without replacing this one.
Comma to replace this FOO and display the result. You are
then asked for another input character, except that
since the replacement has already been made, Rubout
and Space are equivalent.
Altmode to exit without doing any more replacements.
Period to replace this FOO and then exit.
! to replace all remaining FOO's without asking.
^ to go back to the previous FOO (or, where it was),
in case you have made a mistake. This works by
jumping to the mark (Query Replace sets the mark
each time it finds a FOO).
C-R to enter a recursive editing level, in case the FOO
needs to be edited rather than just replaced with a
BAR. When you are done, exit the recursive editing
level with C-M-Z and the next FOO will be displayed.
C-W to delete the FOO, and then start editing the
buffer. When you are finished editing whatever is
to replace the FOO, exit the recursive editing level
with C-M-Z and the next FOO will be displayed.
If you type any other character, the Query Replace is exited, and the
character executed as a command. To restart the Query Replace, use C-X
Altmode which is a command to re-execute the previous minibuffer command
or extended command. *Note C-X Altmode: M-X.
Running Query Replace with the Minibuffer
Meta-% gives you a minibuffer pre-initialized with "MM Query Replace".
*Note Minibuffer: Minibuffer. This is the easiest way to invoke Query
Replace. It also allows you to get Returns and Altmodes into the
arguments.
With the minibuffer, Query Replace can be given a precomma argument,
which says that the second string argument is actually a TECO program to
be executed to perform the replacement, rather than simply a string to
replace with.
When you invoke Query Replace from the minibuffer, the character
becomes special (because it is special in TECO programs). In order to
get a into the search string or the replacement string, you must use
two of them. You can also use a to quote an Altmode. In the
minibuffer, Return has no syntactic significance, so there is no need
for a way to quote it. However, in order to insert any control
characters into the arguments, you need to quote them again with C-Q.
So, to get into the search string so as to search for a , you
have to type C-Q C-Q C-Q C-X.
Other Search-and-loop Functions
Here are some other functions related to replacement. Their arguments
are TECO search strings (*Note TECO search strings: TECOsearch.). They
all operate from point to the end of the buffer (or where narrowing
stops them).
M-X List Matching LinesFOO<cr>
prints each line containing FOO. With an argument, it
prints that many lines before and after each occurrence.
M-X Count OccurrencesFOO<cr>
prints the number of occurrences of FOO after point.
M-X Delete Non-Matching LinesFOO<cr>
kills all lines after point that don't contain FOO.
M-X Delete Matching LinesFOO<cr>
kills all lines after point that contain FOO.
EMACS Node: TECOsearch, Previous: Replace, Up: Top, Next: MajorModes
TECO Search Strings
The first string argument to Replace and Query Replace is actually a
TECO search string. This means that the characters , , , , ,
and have special meanings.
matches any character. matches any "delimiter" character
(anything which the word commands consider not part of a word, according
to the syntax table. *Note Syntax: Syntax.). negates what follows,
so that A matches anything but A, and matches any
non-delimiter. is followed by a parameter character, and matches
anything whose Lisp syntax equals the parameter. So ( matches any
character given the syntax of an open-parenthesis. A matches any
character which is not part of symbol names.
means "or", so that XYXY ZZZ matches EITHER XYXY or ZZZ. can
be used more than once in a pattern. quotes the following character,
in case you want to search for one of the special control characters.
However, you can't quote an Altmode or a Return in this way because its
specialness is at an earlier stage of processing.
Some variables are supposed to have TECO search strings as their values.
For example, Page Delimiter is supposed to be a search string to match
anything which should start a page. This is so that you can use to
match several alternatives. In the values of such variables, , ,
, , , and are special, but Altmode is not. through
are quoted with a , and is quoted with another .
The function Apropos (or, Help A) and all similar functions actually
take TECO search strings as arguments, so you can search for more than
one substring at a time. This is useful because doing Apropos on
wordpara is not really slower than searching for just "word" or just
"para".
EMACS Node: MajorModes, Previous: TECOSearch, Up: Top, Next: Programs
Major Modes
EMACS has many different "major modes", each of which customizes EMACS
for editing text of a particular sort. The major modes are mutually
exclusive, and one major mode is current at any time. When at top
level, EMACS always says in the mode line which major mode you are in.
When EMACS starts up, it is in what is called "Fundamental mode", which
means that the character commands are defined so as to be convenient in
general. More precisely, in Fundamental mode every EMACS option is set
in its default state. For editing any specific type of text, such as
Lisp code or English text, you should switch to the appropriate major
mode. This tells EMACS to change the meanings of a few commands to
become more specifically adapted to the language being edited. Most
commands remain unchanged; the ones which usually change are Tab,
Rubout, and Linefeed. In addition, the commands which handle comments
use the mode to determine how comments are to be delimited.
Selecting a new major mode is done with an M-X command. Each major mode
is the name of the function to select that mode. Thus, you can enter
Lisp mode by executing M-X Lisp (short for M-X Lisp Mode). Often EMACS
enters the correct major mode for a file simply based on the file's
extension, and you do not have to worry about selecting a mode.
You can specify which major mode should be used for editing a certain
file by putting -*-<mode name>-*- somewhere in the first nonblank line
of the file. For example, this file has -*-Text-*-. In a program, this
string is surrounded by appropriate other characters to hide it from the
compiler in a comment.
Many major modes redefine the syntactical properties of characters
appearing in the buffer. *Note Syntax: Syntax.
Most programming language major modes specify that only blank lines
separate paragraphs. This is so that the paragraph commands remain
useful. They also cause Auto Fill mode to use the definition of Tab to
indent the new lines it creates. This is because most lines in a
program are usually indented.
To find out what a particular major mode redefines, use the command M-X
List Redefinitions while that mode is in effect. This command describes
all the local variables and commands of the selected buffer, in a form
designed to be easy to understand.
* Menu:
Here are pointers to descriptions of the several major modes.
* Text:: Text mode is for editing English text.
* Lisp:: Lisp mode is for Lisp.
* Muddle: Lisp, Muddle is like Lisp.
* MIDAS:: MIDAS mode is good for assembler code.
* PL1: (EPL1), PL1 mode is the archetype from which modes
for many block structured languages are
defined.
* FORTRAN: (EFORTRAN), FORTRAN mode.
* SCRIBE:: SCRIBE mode.
* TEX: (ETEX), TEX mode. TEX is a text justifier.
* CLU: (ECLU), CLU mode.
* PASCAL: (EPASC), PASCAL, BCPL and BLISS also have modes.
* FAIL: MIDAS, Fail and Macro-10 are also defined.
* MACRO-10: MIDAS,
* Other: Other Langs, Other modes without documentation.
EMACS Node: Programs, Previous: MajorModes, Up: Top, Next: MinorModes
Commands for Editing Programs
Special features for editing programs include automatic indentation,
comment alignment, parenthesis matching, and the ability to move over
and kill balanced expressions. Many of these features are parameterized
so that they can work for any programming language. For each language
there is usually a separate major mode which sets all parameters in the
way which is best for that language. These modes sometimes offer
special facilities individually as well.
* Menu:
* Compile:: M-X Compile for compiling your program.
* Indenting:: Automatic indentation of code.
* Matching:: Automatic display of matching parentheses.
* Comments:: Inserting, deleting, aligning comments.
* Lisp:: Lisp mode.
* Lists:: Moving over and killing Lisp objects.
* Defuns:: Moving over and marking Lisp functions.
* Grinding:: Grinding Lisp code.
* MIDAS:: Editing assembler-language code.
* Other Langs:: Modes for other languages.
*Note Words: Words. Moving over words is useful for editing programs as
well as text.
*Note Paragraphs: Sentences. Most programming language major modes
define paragraphs to be separated only by blank lines and page
boundaries. This makes the paragraph commands useful for editing
programs.
*Note Tags: (TAGS)Top. The TAGS package can remember all the labels or
functions in a multi-file program and find any one of them quickly.
EMACS Node: Compile, Previous: Programs, Up: Programs, Next: Indenting
Compiling Your Program
The command M-X Compile<cr> is used to compile the visited file. It
knows how to compile it based on the major mode; for example, in TECO
mode, it invokes the generator for EMACS libraries. Usually it assumes
that the major mode name is the name of the compiler or assembler to
use.
The first thing M-X Compile does is offer to save each buffer. This is
because it is likely that other buffers contain parts of the same
program you are about to compile.
Then M-X Compile invokes the appropriate compiler and passes it the name
of the visited file as the source file. If you give a string argument
to M-X Compile, that is passed to the compiler also. This can be used
to specify switches or the name of an output file.
The major mode or the file's local modes list can specify a different
compiler by setting the variable Compiler Filename locally. They can
specify switches to be used by setting the variable Compiler Switches
(the default is to use no switches except those specified by the user in
the string argument to M-X Compile). If Compiler Filename is set to a
positive number, the EXECUTE command is used in an inferior EXEC to
compile the program.
When EMACS starts up again, it executes the value of the variable After
Compilation Hook, if that is nonzero. This can be used for such tasks
as reading the compiler's file of error messages into EMACS.
The major mode or the file's local modes list can completely override
the normal processing of M-X Compile by giving a nonzero local value to
the variable Compile Command. This should be a TECO expression which
takes complete responsibility for the compilation. It can find the
filename to use in q-register 1. It MUST use to exit. All the other
hooks described above are ignored. This is often used when several
input files must be compiled together in order to compile any of them.
See the file EMACS:CCL.EMACS for an example of doing this for an EMACS
library.
You can also use EXEC to compile the program. If EMACS's superior fork
is EXEC, then M-X Rerun CCL returns to EXEC and re-executes the most
recent Compile-class command. *Note Exiting: Exiting.
EMACS Node: Indenting, Previous: Compile, Up: Programs, Next: Matching
Indentation Commands for Code
Tab Indents current line.
Linefeed Equivalent to Return followed by Tab.
M-^ Joins two lines, leaving one space between if
appropriate.
M-\ Deletes all spaces and tabs around point.
M-M Moves to the first nonblank character on the line.
Most programming languages have some indentation convention. For Lisp
code, lines are indented according to their nesting in parentheses. For
assembler code, almost all lines start with a single tab, but some have
one or more spaces as well. Indenting TECO code is an art rather than a
science, but it is often useful to indent a line under the previous one.
Whatever the language, to indent a line, use the Tab command. Each
major mode defines this command to perform the sort of indentation
appropriate for the particular language. In Lisp mode, Tab aligns the
line according to its depth in parentheses. No matter where in the line
you are when you type Tab, it aligns the line as a whole. In MIDAS
mode, Tab inserts a tab, that being the standard indentation for
assembly code. In TECO mode, Tab realigns the current line to match a
previous line. PL1 mode (*Note PL1: (EPL1).) knows in great detail
about the keywords of the language so as to indent lines according to
the nesting structure.
The command Linefeed (^R Indent New Line) does a Return and then does a
Tab on the next line. Thus, Linefeed at the end of the line makes a
following blank line and supplies it with the usual amount of
indentation. Linefeed in the middle of a line breaks the line and
supplies the usual indentation in front of the new line.
The inverse of Linefeed is Meta-^ or C-M-^ (^R Delete Indentation).
This command deletes the indentation at the front of the current line,
and the line separator as well. They are replaced by a single space, or
by no space if before a ")" or after a "(", or at the beginning of a
line. To delete just the indentation of a line, go to the beginning of
the line and use Meta-\ (^R Delete Horizontal Space), which deletes all
spaces and tabs around the cursor.
To insert an indented line before the current one, do C-A, C-O, and then
Tab. To make an indented line after the current one, use C-E Linefeed.
To move over the indentation on a line, use Meta-M or C-M-M (^R Back to
Indentation). These commands move the cursor forward or back to the
first nonblank character on the line.
EMACS Node: Matching, Previous: Indenting, Up: Programs, Next: Comments
Automatic Display Of Matching Parentheses
The EMACS parenthesis-matching feature is designed to show automatically
how parentheses balance in text as it is typed in. When this feature is
enabled, after a close parenthesis or other close bracket character is
inserted the cursor automatically moves for an instant to the open which
balances the newly inserted character. The cursor stays at the open
parenthesis for a second before returning home, unless you type another
command before the second is up.
It is worth emphasizing that the location of point, the place where your
type-in will be inserted, is not affected by the parenthesis matching
feature. It stays after the close parenthesis, where it ought to be.
Only the cursor on the screen moves away and back. You can type ahead
freely as if the parenthesis display feature did not exist. In fact, if
you type fast enough, you won't see the cursor move. You must pause
after typing a close parenthesis to let the cursor move to the open
parenthesis.
The variable Display Matching Paren controls parenthesis display. If it
is zero, the feature is disabled. If the variable is nonzero, then its
absolute value is the number of seconds for the cursor to stay at the
open parenthesis before coming back to its real location. The sign of
the variable is also significant: if it is negative, then the open
parenthesis is shown only if it is already on the screen. If the
variable is positive, then EMACS will actually shift text on the screen
to show the open parenthesis. The default setting of the variable is
-1.
An additional parameter is whether EMACS should warn you by ringing the
bell if you type an unmatched close parenthesis. The default is to warn
you if you are editing a language in which parentheses are paramount,
such as Lisp, but not to do so for languages in which parentheses are
not so crucial. This is controlled by the variable Permit Unmatched
Paren. When it is 1, you are never warned (they are always
"permitted"). When it is 0, you are warned, regardless of major mode.
When it is -1, you are warned only in Lisp mode and similar modes (this
is the default). Note that these modes distinguish themselves by
setting the variable locally to 0 if it was -1. Unmatched parens are
always "permitted" in that EMACS will never refuse to insert them.
While this feature was intended primarily for Lisp, it can be used just
as well for any other language, and it is not dependent on what major
mode you are in. It is expected that you wouldn't want it in Text mode,
so Text mode sets the variable Display Matching Paren locally to zero.
If you do want the feature in Text mode, you can create a Text Mode Hook
variable which sets the variable back to -1. *Note Hooks: (CONV)Hooks,
for more info on Text Mode Hook. The way to control which characters
trigger this feature is with the syntax table. Any character whose Lisp
syntax is ")" causes the matching character with syntax "(" to be shown.
Most major modes automatically set up the syntax table (*Note Syntax:
Syntax.).
The syntax table also controls what is done with the case of
"mismatched" parens, as in "[ )". The third slot in a close parenthesis
character's syntax table entry should be the proper matching open
parenthesis character, if you want this feature turned on. If that slot
contains a space instead, then any open parenthesis character is
considered a legitimate match. If a close parenthesis is mismatched, it
is inserted as always, but it rings the bell.
The implementation of this feature uses the TECO flag FS ^R PAREN.
*Note FS Flags: FS Flags.
EMACS Node: Comments, Previous: Matching, Up: Programs, Next: Lisp
Manipulating Comments
The comment commands insert, kill and align comments. There are also
commands for moving through existing code and inserting comments.
M-; Insert or align comment.
C-; The same.
C-M-; Kill comment.
Return Move past comment terminator and onto new line.
C-X ; Set comment column.
M-N Move to Next line and insert comment.
M-P Move to Previous line and insert comment.
M-J Continue a comment on a new line.
M-Linefeed The same.
The command that creates a comment is Meta-; or Control-; (^R Indent for
Comment). If there is no comment already on the line, a new comment is
created, aligned at a specific column called the "comment column". The
comment is created by inserting whatever string EMACS thinks should
start comments in the current major mode. Point is left after the
comment-starting string. If the text of the line goes past the comment
column, then the indentation is done to a suitable boundary (usually, a
multiple of 8).
Meta-; can also be used to align an existing comment. If a line already
contains the string that starts comments, then M-; just moves point
after it and re-indents it to the right column. Exception: comments
starting in column 0 are not moved.
Even when an existing comment is properly aligned, M-; is still useful
for moving directly to the start of the comment.
Some languages require an explicit comment terminator, which is not
simply the end of the line. Although the language may then allow
comments in the middle of the line, the EMACS comment commands assume
that a comment is the last thing on the line. When there is a comment
terminator, M-; inserts the terminator as well as the starter, and
leaves point between them, so that you are ready to insert the text of
the comment. When you are done, the Return command given immediately
before the comment terminator acts as if it were at the end of the line
already: it moves down to or creates a following blank line. It does
not break the existing line before the comment terminator as you would
expect.
C-M-; (^R Kill Comment) kills the comment on the current line, if there
is one. The indentation before the start of the comment is killed as
well. If there does not appear to be a comment in the line, nothing is
done. To reinsert the comment on another line, move to the end of that
line, do C-Y, and then do M-; to realign it.
Multiple Lines of Comments
If you wish to align a large number of comments, you can give Meta-; an
argument and it indents what comments exist on that many lines, creating
none. Point is left after the last line processed (unlike the
no-argument case).
When adding comments to a long stretch of existing code, the commands
M-N (^R Down Comment Line) and M-P (^R Up Comment Line) may be useful.
They are like C-N and C-P except that they do a C-; automatically on
each line as you move to it, and delete any empty comment from the line
as you leave it. Thus, you can use M-N to move down through the code,
putting text into the comments when you want to, and allowing the
comments that you don't fill in to be removed because they remained
empty.
If you are typing a comment and find that you wish to continue it on
another line, you can use the command Meta-J or Meta-Linefeed (^R Indent
New Comment Line), which terminates the comment you are typing, creates
or gobbles a new blank line, and begins a new comment indented under the
old one. When Auto Fill mode is on, going past the fill column while
typing a comment causes the comment to be continued in just this
fashion. Note that if the next line is not blank, a blank line is
created, and the continuation goes on that line. By comparison, M-N
would create a continuation comment on the next existing line of code.
Double and Triple Semicolons in Lisp
In Lisp code there are conventions for comments which start with more
than one semicolon. Comments which start with two semicolons are
indented as if they were lines of code, instead of at the comment
column. Comments which start with three semicolons are supposed to
start at the left margin. EMACS understands these conventions by
indenting a double-semicolon comment using Tab, and by not changing the
indentation of a triple-semicolon comment at all. (Actually, this rule
applies whenever the comment starter is a single character and is
duplicated). Note that the ATSIGN program considers a four-semicolon
comment a subtitle in Lisp code.
Options Controlling Comments
The comment column is stored in the variable Comment Column. You can
set it to a number explicitly. Alternatively, the command C-X ; (^R Set
Comment Column) sets the comment column to the column point is at. C-U
C-X ; sets the comment column to match the last comment before point in
the buffer, and then does a Meta-; to align the current line's comment
under the previous one.
Many major modes supply default local values for the comment column. In
addition, C-X ; automatically makes the variable Comment Column local.
Otherwise, if you change the variable itself, it changes globally (for
all buffers) unless it has been made local in the selected one. *Note
Locals: Locals.
The string recognized as the start of a comment is stored in the
variable Comment Start, while the string used to start a new comment is
kept in Comment Begin (if that is zero, Comment Start is used for new
comments). This makes it possible for you to have any ";" recognized as
starting a comment but have new comments begin with ";; ** ".
The string used to end a comment is kept in the variable Comment End.
In many languages no comment end is needed as the comment extends to the
end of the line. Then, this variable is a null string.
If Comment Multi Line is nonzero, then Meta-Linefeed within a comment
does not close the old comment and start a new comment on the new line.
Instead it allows the original comment to extend through the new line.
This is legitimate if the language has explicit comment terminators.
Then it's a matter of taste.
EMACS Node: Lisp, Previous: Comments, Up: Programs, Next: Lists
Lisp Mode and Muddle Mode
Lisp's simple syntax makes it much easier for an editor to understand;
as a result, EMACS can do more for Lisp, and with less work, than for
any other language.
Lisp programs should be edited in Lisp mode. In this mode, Tab is
defined to indent the current line according to the conventions of Lisp
programming style. It does not matter where in the line Tab is used;
the effect on the line is the same. The function which does the work is
called ^R Indent for Lisp. Linefeed, as usual, does a Return and a Tab,
so it moves to the next line and indents it.
As in most modes where indentation is likely to vary from line to line,
Rubout is redefined to treat a tab as if it were the equivalent number
of space (^R Backward Delete Hacking Tabs). This makes it possible to
rub out indentation one position at a time without worrying whether it
is made up of spaces or tabs. Control-Rubout does the ordinary type of
rubbing out which rubs out a whole tab at once.
Paragraphs are defined to start only with blank lines so that the
paragraph commands can be useful. Auto Fill indents the new lines which
it creates. Comments start with ";". If Atom Word mode is in effect,
them in Lisp mode the word-motion commands regard each Lisp atom as one
word.
Lisp mode is exactly right only for the MacLisp dialect of Lisp. For
Interlisp, there is Interlisp mode, which is only slightly different.
Mainly, it has a different syntax table which enables all the Lisp
commands to work as documented on Interlisp code. The only noteworthy
difference is that comments begin with "(*" and end with ")".
The LEDIT library allows EMACS and Lisp to communicate, telling Lisp the
new definitions of functions which you edit in EMACS. *Note LEDIT:
(LEDIT). For Interlisp, use the INTER library. *Note INTER: (INTER).
The language Muddle is a variant form of Lisp which shares the concept
of using parentheses (of various sorts) as the main syntactical
construct. It can be edited using Muddle mode, which is almost the same
as Lisp mode and provides the same features, differing only in the
syntax table used.
EMACS Node: Lists, Previous: Lisp, Up: Programs, Next: Defuns
Moving Over and Killing Lists and S-expressions
C-M-F Move Forward over s-expression.
C-M-B Move Backward.
C-M-K Kill s-expression forward.
C-M-Rubout Kill s-expression backward.
C-M-U Move Up and backward in list structure.
C-M-( The same.
C-M-) Move up and forward in list structure.
C-M-D Move Down and forward in list structure.
C-M-N Move forward over a list.
C-M-P Move backward over a list.
C-M-T Transpose s-expressions.
C-M-@ Put mark after s-expression.
M-( Put parentheses around next s-expression(s).
M-) Move past next close parenthesis and re-indent.
By convention, EMACS commands that deal with balanced parentheses are
usually Control-Meta- characters. They tend to be analogous in function
to their Control- and Meta- equivalents. These commands are usually
thought of as pertaining to Lisp, but can be useful with any language in
which some sort of parentheses exist (including English).
To move forward over an s-expression, use C-M-F (^R Forward Sexp). If
the first significant character after point is an "(", C-M-F moves past
the matching ")". If the first character is a ")", C-M-F just moves
past it. If the character begins an atom, C-M-F moves to the end of the
atom. C-M-F with an argument repeats that operation the specified
number of times; with a negative argument, it moves backward instead.
The command C-M-B (^R Backward Sexp) moves backward over an
s-expression; it is like C-M-F with the argument negated. If there are
"'"-like characters in front of the s-expression moved over, they are
moved over as well. Thus, with point after " 'FOO ", C-M-B leaves point
before the "'", not before the "F".
These two commands (and most of the commands in this section) do not
know how to deal with the presence of comments. Although that would be
easy to fix for forward motion, for backward motion the syntax of Lisp
makes it nearly impossible. Comments by themselves can be dealt with,
but handling both comments and strings is impossible with local backward
parsing. In a line
((FOO ; " BAR
are the open parentheses inside a string? So C-M-B cannot handle
comments, and C-M-F does not either for simplicity's sake.
For this reason, two other commands which move over lists instead of
s-expressions are often useful. They are C-M-N (^R Forward List) and
C-M-P (^R Backward List). They act like C-M-F and C-M-B except that
they don't stop on atoms; after moving over an atom, they move over the
next expression, stopping after moving over a list. With this command,
you can avoid stopping after all of the words in a comment.
Killing an s-expression at a time can be done with C-M-K and C-M-Rubout
(^R Forward Kill Sexp and ^R Backward Kill Sexp). C-M-K kills the
characters that C-M-F would move over, and C-M-Rubout kills what C-M-B
would move over.
C-M-F and C-M-B stay at the same level in parentheses, when that's
possible. To move UP one (or n) levels, use C-M-( or C-M-) (^R Backward
Up List and ^R Forward Up List). C-M-( moves backward up past one
containing "(". C-M-) moves forward up past one containing ")". Given
a positive argument, these commands move up the specified number of
levels of parentheses. C-M-U is another name for C-M-(, which is easier
to type, especially on non-Meta keyboards. If you use that name, it is
useful to know that a negative argument makes the command move up
forwards, like C-M-).
To move DOWN in list structure, use C-M-D (^R Down List). It is nearly
the same as searching for a "(".
A somewhat random-sounding command which is nevertheless easy to use is
C-M-T (^R Transpose Sexps), which drags the previous s-expression across
the next one. An argument serves as a repeat count, and a negative
argument drags backwards (thus canceling out the effect of C-M-T with a
positive argument). An argument of zero, rather than doing nothing,
transposes the s-expressions at the point and the mark.
To make the region be the next s-expression in the buffer, use or
C-M-@ (^R Mark Sexp) which sets mark at the same place that C-M-F would
move to. C-M-@ takes arguments like C-M-F. In particular, a negative
argument is useful for putting the mark at the beginning of the previous
s-expression.
The commands M-( ("^R Insert ()") and M-) ("^R Move Over )") are
designed for a style of editing which keeps parentheses balanced at all
times. M-( inserts a pair of parentheses, either together as in "()",
or, if given an argument, around the next several s-expressions, and
leaves point after the open parenthesis. Instead of typing "(FOO)", you
can type M-( FOO, which has the same effect except for leaving the
cursor before the close parenthesis. Then you type M-), which moves
past the close parenthesis, deleting any indentation preceding it (in
this example there is none), and indenting with Linefeed after it.
The library LSPUTL contains two other list commands. Find Pat searches
for lists which contain several strings. ^R Extract Sublist replaces a
list with one of its sublists. *Note Libraries: Libraries.
<level>M-X Find Pat<mainstring><string1><string2> searches for a list
which contains <mainstring> at a depth of <level> lists down, and
contains <string1> and <string2> at any level. There can be any number
of such additional strings to search for; there can be none of them.
^R Extract Sublist is meant to be connected to a character. Given an
argument of <level>, it replaces the list <level> levels up from point
with its sublist which starts after point.
The library XLISP contains a functions for making various
transformations on Lisp code:
Lowercase Lisp Buffer changes all the Lisp code in the buffer to lower
case, without changing comments, strings, or slashified characters.
Uppercase Lisp Buffer performs the inverse transformation. Lowercase
Lisp Region and Uppercase Lisp Region are similar but act only between
point and mark.
Change / to \ takes Lisp code written with "/" as the character-quote
character and transforms it to use the new character-quote character,
"\". The meaning of the transformed code in the new syntax is the same
as that of the old code in the old syntax.
XLISP contains several other commands which transform old constructs
into new ones. They behave like Query Replace in that they display each
occurrence of the old construct and ask you whether to change it to the
new one. A Space means yes, a Rubout means no. Here is a list of these
commands, and what each one transforms.
Modernize FUNCTION References
(FUNCTION ...) into #'...
Modernize QUOTE References
(QUOTE ...) into '...
Modernize LAMBDA References
'(LAMBDA ...) into #'(LAMBDA ...)
Modernize MAP References
(MAPxxx '... ...) into (MAPxxx #'... ...)
Modernize NIL Occurrences
NIL into ()
Modernize LAMBDA Combinations
((LAMBDA (X) Y) ARG) into (LET ((X ARG)) Y)
Modernize Strings
'|...| into "..."
facility for replacing obsolete or old-fashioned Maclisp constructs with
equivalent modern ones.
The list commands' understanding of syntax is completely controlled by
the syntax table. Any character can, for example, be declared to act
like an open parenthesis. *Note Syntax: Syntax.
EMACS Node: Defuns, Previous: Lists, Up: Programs, Next: Grinding
Commands for Manipulating Defuns
C-M-[, C-M-A Move to beginning of defun.
C-M-], C-M-E Move to end of defun.
C-M-H Put region around wHole defun.
In EMACS, an expression at the top level in the buffer is called a
"defun", regardless of what function is actually called by the
expression, because such expressions usually call defun.
In the remotest past, EMACS found defuns by moving upward a level of
parentheses until there were no more levels to go up. This required
scanning all the way back to the beginning of the file. To speed up the
operation, EMACS now assumes that any "(" (or any character with "(" as
its Lisp syntax) in column 0 is the start of a defun. This heuristic is
nearly always right and avoids the costly scan.
The commands to move to the beginning and end of the current defun are
C-M-[ (^R Beginning of Defun) and C-M-] (^R End of Defun). Alternate
names for these two commands are C-M-A for C-M-[ and C-M-E for C-M-].
The alternate names are easier to type on many non-Meta keyboards.
If you wish to operate on the current defun, use C-M-H (^R Mark Defun)
which puts point at the beginning and mark at the end of the current or
next defun.
EMACS Node: Grinding, Previous: Defuns, Up: Programs, Next: MIDAS
Lisp Grinding
The best way to keep Lisp code properly indented ("ground") is to use
EMACS to re-indent it when it is changed. EMACS has commands to indent
properly either a single line, a specified number of lines, or all of
the lines inside a single s-expression.
Tab In Lisp mode, re-indents line according to
parenthesis depth.
Linefeed Equivalent to Return followed by Tab.
M-^ Join two lines, leaving one space between them if
appropriate.
C-M-Q Re-indent all the lines within one list.
C-M-G Grind a list, moving code between lines.
The basic indentation function is ^R Indent for Lisp, which gives the
current line the correct indentation as determined from the previous
lines' indentation and parenthesis structure. This function is normally
found on C-M-Tab, but when in Lisp mode it is placed on Tab as well (Use
Meta-Tab or C-Q Tab to insert a tab). If executed at the beginning of a
line, it leaves point after the indentation; when given inside the text
on the line, it leaves point fixed with respect to the characters around
it.
When entering a large amount of new code, use Linefeed (^R Indent New
Line), which is equivalent to a Return followed by a Tab. In Lisp mode,
a Linefeed creates or moves down onto a blank line, and then gives it
the appropriate indentation.
To join two lines together, use the Meta-^ or Control-Meta-^ command
(^R Delete Indentation), which is approximately the opposite of
Linefeed. It deletes any spaces and tabs at the front of the current
line, and then deletes the line separator before the line. A single
space is then inserted, if EMACS thinks that one is needed there.
Spaces are not needed before a close parenthesis, or after an open
parenthesis.
If you are dissatisfied about where Tab indents the second and later
lines of an s-expression, you can override it. If you alter the
indentation of one of the lines yourself, then Tab will indent
successive lines of the same list to be underneath it. This is the
right thing for functions which Tab indents unaesthetically.
When you wish to re-indent code which has been altered or moved to a
different level in the list structure, you have several commands
available. You can re-indent a specific number of lines by giving the
ordinary indent command (Tab, in Lisp mode) an argument. This indents
as many lines as you say and moves to the line following them. Thus, if
you underestimate, you can repeat the process later.
You can re-indent the contents of a single s-expression by positioning
point before the beginning of it and typing Control-Meta-Q (^R Indent
Sexp). The line the s-expression starts on is not re-indented; thus,
only the relative indentation with in the s-expression, and not its
position, is changed. To correct the position as well, type a Tab
before the C-M-Q.
Another way to specify the range to be re-indented is with point and
mark. The command C-M-\ (^R Indent Region) applies Tab to every line
whose first character is between point and mark. In Lisp mode, this
does a Lisp indent.
A more powerful grind command which can move text between lines is C-M-G
(^R Format Code). You might or might not like it. It knows in
different ways about Lisp code and Macsyma code.
Customizing Lisp Indentation
The indentation pattern for a Lisp expression can depend on the function
called by the expression. For each Lisp function, you can choose among
several predefined patterns of indentation, or define an arbitrary one
with a TECO program.
The standard pattern of indentation is as follows: the second line of
the expression is indented under the first argument, if that is on the
same line as the beginning of the expression; otherwise, the second line
is indented one space more than the entire expression. Each following
line is indented under the previous line whose nesting depth is the
same.
Another indentation pattern is used for functions whose names start with
"def". The second line of the expression is indented two spaces more
than the entire expression. The variable Lisp Special Indent Offset
(default 2) controls the increment in depth. Each following line
indents under the previous one. Again, lines starting at lower depths
do not count. Setting the variable Lisp Indent DEFAnything to zero
turns this feature off. Then the standard pattern applies to
def- functions by default.
The indentation pattern for expressions that call the function FOO is
controlled specifically by the variable Lisp FOO Indent. If this
variable does not exist, the standard pattern or the def- pattern is
used. If the variable does exist, its value should be one of these:
-3 selects the standard or def- indentation pattern, as if
the variable did not exist.
-2 selects the standard indentation pattern. The
def- pattern is not used, even if the function name
starts with "def".
-1 selects the def- indentation pattern, independent of the
function name and the setting of Lisp Indent
DEFAnything.
0 or more selects special form with body indentation. The value
of the variable is the number of special arguments that
precede the body; thus, LET and LAMBDA have one
distinguished argument before the body (the list of
bound variables), PROGN has none, and DO has two. The
distinguished expressions at the beginning are indented
using the standard pattern, but the first expression of
the body, if it should occur at the beginning of a line,
is indented two spaces deeper than the entire
expression. Following lines indent each under the
previous one as usual. The variable Lisp Special Indent
Offset (default 2) controls the increment in depth.
a string should be a TECO expression which implements an
indentation pattern. Initially, Lisp PROG Indent is
defined as a string (the definition of & Standard Lisp
PROG Indent) which detects tags and indents them
specially.
The variable Lisp Indent Offset, if nonzero, selects a different
indentation pattern as the standard one. It indents the second line of
each expression that many spaces deeper than the enclosing expression.
Implementing and selecting among the above indentation patterns is the
responsibility of the definition of the variable Lisp Indentation Hook.
This variable must exist and its value must be a TECO program. By
default its value is the definition of & Standard Lisp Indentation Hook.
Whatever its value, the hook is called with two arguments, which are the
position in the buffer of the most recent unclosed "(" and the buffer
position of the beginning of the line to be indented. The buffer
position of the cursor at the time the tab was typed is stored as an
offset from Z in qZ, so Z-qZ is that buffer position. The hook should
not modify the buffer. If it returns 0 or no value, the caller will use
the horizontal cursor position of point as the column to indent to.
Hence, to indent under the "O" in PROG, it is sufficient to jump to that
character in the buffer and return. Alternatively, the hook can simply
return the desired indentation column number as a value.
The hook should return a nonzero precomma value if following lines of
the same expression should be indented individually. If it does not
return a nonzero precomma value, the caller may remember the indentation
of this line and indent following lines the same way.
If Lisp FOO Indent has a TECO expression as its value, the same
interface conventions apply to it.
Different Lisp-like languages can select an entirely different set of
indentation patterns by changing the value of the variable Lisp Indent
Language. Normally the value of this variable is the string "Lisp".
All the variables listed above with names beginning with "Lisp" actually
should have names beginning with the Lisp Indent Language. Thus, if
Lisp Indent Language is changed to "Muddle", then the indentation
commands will look for variables Muddle Indent Offset, Muddle
Indentation Hook, Muddle PROG Indent, etc.
EMACS Node: MIDAS, Previous: Grinding, Up: Programs, Next: Other Langs
Editing Assembly-Language Programs
MIDAS mode is designed for editing programs written in the MIDAS
assembler. Major modes for other assemblers, such as PALX, MACRO, and
FAIL, also exist but differ only in the syntax table and in the name of
the major mode hook that they will invoke. (There is also IBM370 mode,
for 370 assembler, which is completely different. Refer to the
self-documentation of the IBM370 library for information on it).
In MIDAS mode, comments start with ";", and "<" and ">" have the syntax
of parentheses. In addition, there are five special commands which
understand the syntax of instructions and labels. These commands are:
C-M-N Go to Next label.
C-M-P Go to Previous label.
C-M-A Go to Accumulator field of instruction.
C-M-E Go to Effective Address field.
C-M-D Kill next word and its Delimiting character.
Two other commands with slightly different uses are
M-[ Move up to previous blank line.
M-] Move down to next blank line.
Any line which is not indented and is not just a comment is taken to
contain a label. The label is everything up to the first whitespace (or
the end of the line). C-M-N (^R Go to Next Label) and C-M-P (^R Go to
Previous Label) both position the cursor right at the end of a label;
C-M-N moves forward or down and C-M-P moves backward or up. At the
beginning of a line containing a label, C-M-N moves past it. Past the
label on the same line, C-M-P moves back to the end of it. If you kill
a couple of indented lines and want to insert them right after a label,
these commands put you at just the right place.
C-M-A (^R Go to AC Field) and C-M-E (^R Go to Address Field) move to the
beginning of the accumulator (AC) or effective address fields of a
PDP-10 instruction. They always stay on the same line, moving either
forward or backward as appropriate. If the instruction contains no AC
field, C-M-A positions to the start of the address field. If the
instruction is just an opcode with no AC field or address field, a space
is inserted after the opcode and the cursor left after the space. In
PDP-11 programs, C-M-A moves to the first operand and C-M-E moves to the
second operand.
Once you've gone to the beginning of the AC field you can often use
C-M-D (^R Kill Terminated Word) to kill the AC name and the comma which
terminates it. You can also use it at the beginning of a line, to kill
a label and its colon, or after a line's indentation to kill the opcode
and the following space. This is very convenient for moving a label
from one line to another. In general, C-M-D is equivalent to M-D C-D,
except that all the characters are saved on the kill ring, together.
C-D, a "deletion" command, doesn't save on the kill ring if not given an
argument.
The M-[ and M-] commands are not, strictly speaking, redefined by MIDAS
mode. They go up or down to a paragraph boundary, as usual. However,
in MIDAS mode the criterion for a paragraph boundary is changed by
setting the variable Paragraph Delimiter (*Note Paragraphs: Sentences.)
so that only blank lines (and pages) delimit paragraphs. So, M-[ moves
up to the previous blank line and M-] moves to the next one.
EMACS Node: Other Langs, Previous: MIDAS, Up: Programs
Major Modes for Other Languages
MACSYMA mode redefines the syntax of words and s-expressions in an
attempt to make it easier to move over MACSYMA syntactic units. In
addition, the C-M-G "grind" command is told to grind text as MACSYMA
instead of as Lisp. Also, the syntax of MACSYMA comments is understood.
TECO mode is good for editing EMACS library source files. It connects
Tab to ^R Indent Nested (see its self-documentation). Comments start
with "!* " and end with "!". In addition, the PURIFY library, which
contains many things useful for processing library sources (including
the commands to compile them), is loaded. M-' and M-" are connected to
functions ^R Forward TECO Conditional and ^R Backward TECO Conditional
which move forward and backward over balanced TECO conditionals. In
TECO mode on a terminal with a Meta key, it may be useful to set the
TECO flag FS CTLMTA which causes Control-Meta commands to insert
Control characters. *Note FS Flags: FS Flags.
CLU mode is for editing CLU code. It is similar to LISP mode, but it
treats the statement nesting tokens like the appropriate sorts of
parentheses. It is in the library called CLU. *Note CLU: (ECLU).
PL1 mode is for editing PL1 code, and causes Tab to indent an amount
based on the previous statement type. The body of the implementation of
PL1 mode is in the library PL1, which is loaded automatically when
necessary. *Note PL1: (EPL1).
PASCAL mode is similar to PL1 mode, for PASCAL. It is in the library
called PASCAL. *Note PASCAL: (EPASC).
FORTRAN mode is implemented by the FORTRAN library. *Note FORTRAN:
(EFORTRAN).
There are major modes for many other languages, but documentation for
them except that in the libraries themselves. Any volunteers to write
some? Meanwhile, you can look at the documentation in the libraries.
*Note Libraries: Libraries.
EMACS Node: MinorModes, Previous: Programs, Up: Top, Next: Libraries
Minor Modes
Minor modes are options which you can use or not. For example, Auto
Fill mode is a minor mode in which Spaces break lines between words as
you type. All the minor modes are independent of each other and of the
selected major mode. Most minor modes say in the mode line when they
are on; for example, "Fill" in the mode line means that Auto Fill mode
is on.
Each minor mode is the name of the function that can be used to turn it
on or off. With no argument, the function turns the mode on if it was
off and off if it was on. This is known as "toggling". A positive
argument always turns the mode on, and an explicit zero argument or a
negative argument always turns it off. All the minor mode functions are
suitable for connecting to single or double character commands if you
want to enter and exit a minor mode frequently.
Auto Fill mode allows you to type text endlessly without worrying about
the width of your screen. Line separators are be inserted where needed
to prevent lines from becoming too long. *Note Filling: Filling.
Auto Save mode protects you against system crashes by periodically
saving the file you are visiting. Whenever you visit a file, auto
saving is enabled if Auto Save Default is nonzero; in addition, M-X Auto
Save allows you to turn auto saving on or off in a given buffer at any
time. *Note Auto Save: AutoSave.
Atom Word mode causes the word-moving commands, in Lisp mode, to move
over Lisp atoms instead of words. Some people like this, and others
don't. In any case, the s-expression motion commands can be used to
move over atoms. If you like to use segmented atom names like
FOOBAR-READ-IN-NEXT-INPUT-SOURCE-TO-READ, then you might prefer not to
use Atom Word mode, so that you can use M-F to move over just part of
the atom, or C-M-F to move over the whole atom.
Overwrite mode causes ordinary printing characters to replace existing
text instead of shoving it over. It is good for editing pictures. For
example, if the point is in front of the B in FOOBAR, then in Overwrite
mode typing a G changes it to FOOGAR, instead of making it FOOGBAR as
usual. Also, Rubout is changed to turn the previous character into a
space instead of deleting it.
SAIL Character mode causes ASCII control characters in text to display
as themselves, with no conversion. This assumes that the terminal uses
codes 200 and above for cursor motion and erasure, and can display all
the ASCII control characters as graphic characters. The command
Control- runs this command. Control- is a character which can
generally only be typed on terminals which can display the ASCII control
characters in the appropriate fashion.
Word Abbrev mode allows you to define abbreviations that automatically
expand as you type them. For example, "wam" might expand to "word
abbrev mode". The abbreviations may depend on the major (e.g. Lisp,
Text, ...) mode you are currently in. To use this, you must load the
WORDAB library. *Note Wordab: (WORDAB)Top.
Indent Tabs mode controls whether indentation commands use tabs and
spaces or just spaces to indent with. Usually they use both, but you
might want to use only spaces in a file to be processed by a program or
system which doesn't ignore tabs, or for a file to be shipped to a
system like Multics on which tab stops are not every 8 characters.
Most minor modes are actually controlled by variables. The mode is on
if the variable is nonzero. Setting the minor mode with a command works
by changing the variable. This means that you can turn the modes on or
off with Edit Options, or make their values local to a buffer. *Note
Variables: Variables.
You could also put a minor mode in the local modes list of a file, but
that is usually bad practice. This is because usually the preference
for a minor mode is usually a matter of individual style rather than a
property of the file per se. To make this more concrete, it is a
property of a file that it be filled to a certain column, but use of
Auto Fill mode to accomplish that is a matter of taste. So it would be
good practice for the file to specify the value of Fill Column, but bad
practice for the file to specify the value of Auto Fill Mode.
If you find yourself constantly tempted to turn on Auto Fill mode in
local modes lists, what you probably really want is to have Auto Fill
mode on whenever you are in Text mode. This can be accomplished with
the following code in an EMACS.VARS file:
Text Mode Hook: 1M.LAuto Fill Mode
Suffice it to explain that this is TECO code to be executed whenever
Text mode is entered, which makes the variable Auto Fill Mode local to
the buffer with local value 1.
EMACS Node: Libraries, Previous: MinorModes, Up: Top, Next: Variables
Libraries of Commands
All EMACS functions, including the ones described in this document,
reside in libraries. A function is not accessible unless the library
that contains it is loaded. Every EMACS starts out with two libraries
loaded: the EMACS library, and the TWENEX library. These contain all of
the functions described in this document, except those explicitly stated
to be elsewhere. Other libraries are provided with EMACS, and can be
loaded automatically or on request to make their functions available.
*Note Catalogue: LibCat, for a list of them.
To load a library, say M-X Load Library<libname><cr>. The library is
found, either on your own directory or whichever one you specify, or on
the EMACS directory, and loaded in. All the functions in the library
are then available for use. Whenever you use M-X, the function name you
specify is looked up in each of the libraries which you have loaded,
more recently loaded libraries first. The first definition found is the
one that is used.
For example, if you load the PICTURE library, you can then use M-X Edit
Picture to run the Edit Picture function which exists in that library.
In addition to making functions accessible to M-X, the library may
connect some of them to command characters. This is done by the
library's & Setup function (*Note Lib: (CONV)Lib.). If you give Load
Library an argument, the setup is not done.
You can also load a library temporarily, just long enough to use one of
the functions in it. This avoids taking up space permanently with the
library. Do this with the function Run Library, as in M-X
Run<libname><function name><cr>. The library <libname> is loaded in,
and <function name> executed. Then the library is removed from the
EMACS job. You can load it in again later.
M-X List Loaded Libraries types the names and brief descriptions of all
the libraries loaded, last loaded first. The last one listed is always
the EMACS library.
You can get a brief description of all the functions in a library with
M-X List Library<libname><cr>, whether the library is loaded or not.
This is a good way to begin to find out what is in a library that has no
INFO documentation. Continue by loading the library and using Help D to
inquire further about whichever functions looked interesting.
The function Kill Libraries can be used to discard libraries loaded with
Load Library. (Libraries used with Run Library are discarded
automatically). However, of all the libraries presently loaded, only
the most recently loaded one can be discarded. Kill Libraries offers to
kill each loaded library, most recently loaded first. It keeps killing
libraries until you say to keep one library. Then it returns, because
the remaining libraries cannot be deleted if that library is kept.
Libraries are loaded automatically in the course of executing certain
functions. You will not normally notice this. For example, the TAGS
library is automatically loaded in whenever you use M-. or Visit Tag
Table for the first time. This process is known as "autoloading". It
is used to make the functions in the TAGS library available without the
user's having to know to load the library himself, while not taking up
space in EMACSes of people who aren't using them. It works by simply
calling Load Library on the library known to be needed. Another kind of
autoloading loads a library temporarily, the way Run Library does. This
is done when you use the DIRED function, for example, since the DIRED
library is not needed after the DIRED function returns. (This does not
use Run Library; it uses M.A, which is what Run Library uses).
You can make your own libraries, which you and other people can then
use, if you know how to write TECO code. *Note Making Libraries:
(CONV)Lib, for more details.
EMACS Node: Variables, Previous: Libraries, Up: Top, Next: Syntax
Variables
A variable is a name which is associated with a value, either a number
or a string. EMACS uses many variables internally, and has others whose
purpose is to be set by the user for customization. (They may also be
set automatically by major modes.) One example of such a variable is
the Fill Column variable, which specifies the position of the right
margin (in characters from the left margin) to be used by the fill and
justify commands.
The easiest way for the beginner to set a named variable is to use the
function Edit Options. This shows you a list of selected variables
which you are likely to want to change, together with their values, and
lets you edit them with the normal editing commands in a recursive
editing level. Don't make any changes in the names, though! Just
change the values. Digits with maybe a minus sign stand for a numeric
value of the variable, while string values are enclosed in doublequotes.
Each option is followed by a comment which says what the option is for.
Type the Help character for more information on the format used.
When you are finished, exit Edit Options using C-M-Z and the changes
will take effect. If you decide not to make the changes, C-] gets out
without redefining the options. *Note Recursive Editing Levels:
Recursive.
If you give Edit Options a string argument, it shows you only the
options whose names include the string. For example, M-X Edit
OptionsFill<cr> shows only the options that have "Fill" in their names.
This is much more convenient, if you know what you plan to do.
However, Edit Options can be used only to set a variable which already
exists, and is marked as an option. Some commands refer to variables
which do not exist in the initial environment. Such commands always use
a default value if the variable does not exist. In these cases you must
create the variable yourself if you wish to use it to alter the behavior
of the command. Use M-X Set Variable for this. You can set the
variable to a numeric value by doing
C-U <number> M-X Set Variable<varname><cr>
or to a string by doing
M-X Set Variable<varname><string><cr>
In fact, you can use Set Variable to set any variable, whether it exists
already or not. For existing variables, it does not matter whether you
use upper case or lower case letters, and you are allowed to abbreviate
the name as long as the abbreviation is unique. If the variable might
not exist yet, you must type the name in full. While either upper case
or lower case will still work, you are encouraged to capitalize each
word of the name for aesthetic reasons since EMACS stores the name as
you give it.
To examine the value of a single variable, do
M-X View Variable<varname><cr>
To print a complete list of all variables, do M-X List Variables. List
Variables with a string argument shows only the variables whose names or
values contain that string (like the function Apropos). M-X Describe
can be given a variable's name instead of a function's name; it prints
the variable's value and its documentation, if it has any.
If you want to set a variable a particular way each time you use EMACS,
you can use an init file or an EMACS.VARS file. This is one of the main
ways of customizing EMACS for yourself. An init file is a file of TECO
code to be executed when you start EMACS up. They are very general, but
writing one is a black art. You might be able to get an expert to do it
for you, or modify a copy of someone else's. *Note Init: (CONV)Init,
for details. An EMACS.VARS file is a much simpler thing which you can
do yourself. *Note EMACS.VARS files: Init.
You can also set a variable with the TECO command
<value> M.V <varname>
or
:I*<string> M.V <varname>
This is useful in init files.
Any variable can be made local to a specific buffer with the TECO
command M.L<variable name>. Thus, if you want the comment column to be
column 50 in one buffer, whereas you usually like 40, then in the one
buffer do M.LComment Column using the minibuffer. Then, you can do
50UComment Column in that buffer and other buffers will not be
affected. This is how local modes lists in files work. M-X List
Redefinitions describes the local variables of the selected buffer in a
verbose fashion.
Most local variables are killed if you change major modes. Their global
values come back. They are therefore called "mode locals". There are
also "permanent" locals which are not killed by changing modes; use
2,M.L to create one. Permanent locals are used by things like Auto Save
mode to keep internal information about the buffer, whereas mode locals
are used for customizations intended only for one buffer. *Note
Variables: (CONV)Variables, for information on how local variables work,
and additional related features.
Local values of variables can be specified by the file being edited.
For example, if a certain file ought to have a 50 column width, it can
specify a value of 50 for the variable Fill Column. Then Fill Column
will have the value 50 whenever this file is edited, by anyone. Editing
other files is not affected. *Note Locals: Locals, for how to do this.
EMACS Node: Syntax, Previous: Variables, Up: Top, Next: FS Flags
The Syntax Table
All the EMACS commands which parse words or balance parentheses are
controlled by the "syntax table". Each ASCII character has a word
syntax and a Lisp syntax. By changing the word syntax, you can control
whether a character is considered a word delimiter or part of a word.
By changing the Lisp syntax, you can control which characters are
parentheses, which ones are parts of symbols, which ones are prefix
operators, and which ones are just ignored when parsing s-expressions.
The syntax table is actually a string which is 128*5 characters long.
Each group of 5 consecutive characters of the syntax table describe one
ASCII character's syntax; but only the first three of each group are
used. To edit the syntax table, use M-X Edit Syntax Table. But before
we describe this command, let's talk about the syntax of the syntax
table itself.
The first character in each group of five sets the word syntax. This
can be either "A" or a space. "A" signifies an alphabetic character,
whereas a space signifies a separator character.
The second character in each group is the Lisp syntax. It has many
possible values:
A an alphabetic character
Space a whitespace or nonsignificant character
( an open parenthesis
) a close parenthesis
; a comment starter
a comment ender
| a string quote
/ a character quote
' a prefix character
When a character has the syntax of an open parenthesis, that means that
the character is taken to be the beginning of a parenthesized grouping
when expressions are being parsed. Thus, any number of different
expression-starting characters can be handled.
The syntax of "prefix character" means that the character becomes part
of whatever object follows it, whether symbol or list, and can also be
in the middle of a symbol, but does not constitute anything by itself if
surrounded by whitespace.
A character quote character causes itself and the next character to be
treated as alphabetic.
A string quote is one which matches in pairs. All characters inside a
pair of string quotes are treated as alphabetic except for the character
quote, which retains its significance, and can be used to force a string
quote or character quote into a string.
A comment starter is taken to start a comment, which ends at the next
comment ender, suppressing the normal syntax of all characters between.
Only the indentation commands give special treatment to these two syntax
codes; all other commands consider them the same as Space
(nonsignificant character). The commands specifically for comments use
the variables Comment Start, Comment Begin, and Comment End to detect
comments. This is so that the comment delimiters can be multi-character
strings.
The third character in each group controls automatic parenthesis
matching display. It is defined only for characters which have the Lisp
syntax of close parentheses, and for them it should contain the
appropriate matching open parenthesis character (or a space). If you
insert a close parenthesis character which is matched by the wrong kind
of open parenthesis character, it rings the bell. If the third syntax
table character of a close parenthesis is a space, any open parenthesis
is allowed to match it.
The fourth and fifth characters in each group should always be spaces,
for now. They are not used. The reason they exist is so that word-wise
indexing can be used on the PDP-10 to access the syntax of a character
given in an accumulator.
Edit Syntax Table displays the syntax table broken up into labeled
five-character groups. You can see easily what the syntax of any
character is. You are not editing the table immediately, however.
Instead, you are asked for the character whose syntax you wish to edit.
After typing it, you are positioned at that character's five-character
group. Overwrite mode is on, so you can simply type the desired syntax
entries, which replace the old ones. You can also do arbitrary editing,
but be careful not to change the position of anything in the buffer.
When you exit the recursive editing level, you are asked for another
character to position to. An Altmode at this point exits and makes the
changes. A C-] at any time aborts the operation.
Many major modes alter the syntax table. Each such major mode creates
its own syntax table once and reselects the same string whenever the
mode is selected, in any buffer. Thus, all buffers in Text mode at any
time use the same syntax table. This is important because if you ever
change the syntax table of one buffer that is in Text mode, you change
them all. It is possible to give one buffer a local copy with a TECO
program:
MM Make Local Q-Register..DW :G..DU..D
The syntax tables belonging to the major modes are not preinitialized in
EMACS; they are created when the major mode is invoked for the first
time, by copying the default one and making specific changes. Thus, any
other changes you have made in the default (Fundamental mode) syntax
table at the beginning propagate into all modes' syntax tables unless
those modes specifically override them.
After a major mode has created its own syntax table, that table is
stored in the variable <modename> ..D. This makes a different variable
for each major mode, since the mode name is part of the variable name.
Further use of the major mode gets the syntax table from that variable.
If you create the variable yourself before the first use of the major
mode, the value you put there will be used.
TECO programs and init files can most easily change the syntax table
with the function & Alter ..D (look at its documentation). The syntax
table is kept in the q-register named ..D, which explains that name.
EMACS Node: FS Flags, Previous: Syntax, Up: Top, Next: Init
FS Flags
FS flags are variables defined and implemented by TECO below the level
of EMACS. Some of them are options which control the behavior of parts
of TECO such as the display processor. Some of them control the
execution of TECO programs; you are not likely to want to change these.
Others simply report information from inside TECO. The list of FS flags
is fixed when TECO is assembled and each one exists for a specific
purpose.
FS flags are used mostly by the TECO programmer, but some of them are of
interest to the EMACS user doing minor customization. For example, FS
ECHO LINES is the number of lines in the echo area. By setting this
flag you can make the echo area bigger or smaller. Many FS flags useful
for customization are controlled by EMACS variables; instead of setting
the FS flag, you can set the EMACS variable like any other. Setting the
variable automatically sets the FS flag as well. Here is a list of such
variables which control flags:
Auto Save Interval FS ^R MDLY
Bottom Display Margin FS %BOTTOM
Case Search FS BOTHCASE
Cursor Centering Point FS %CENTER
Display Mode Line Inverse FS INVMOD
Display Overprinting FS ^H PRINT and FS ^M PRINT
Echo Area Height FS ECHO LINES
End of Buffer Display Margin FS %END
Error Messages in Echo Area FS ECHO ERRORS
Fill Column FS ADLINE
Overwrite Mode FS ^R REPLACE
SAIL Character Mode FS SAIL
System Output Holding FS TT PAGE
Top Display Margin FS %TOP
Setting one of these variables causes the flag to be set, but not vice
versa. To avoid confusion, always set these flags using the associated
variables, never directly, unless you are changing them temporarily
during one command and the user will not have the opportunity to notice
the confusion.
To get the value of an FS flag, use the TECO command FS followed by the
name of the flag, terminated by an Altmode. Spaces in the name of the
flag are completely ignored, and case does not matter. Thus, FS Tab
Width= executed in the minibuffer prints the number of columns between
tab stops used for display of tab characters. *Note Minibuffer:
Minibuffer. This works only for flags with numeric values. The easiest
way to examine a flag's value with EMACS commands is
C-M-X View Variable<cr> (FS Tab Width)<cr>
This works for both numeric and string values.
To set the flag, give the FS command a numeric argument (which must be a
string pointer, if the intended value is a string). For example, in the
minibuffer or an init file, do
10FS Tab Width
Be warned that FS always returns a value, so put a CRLF after it to
discard the value if necessary.
It is possible to make an FS flag's value local to a buffer. *Note
Locals: (CONV)Vars.
The documentation of individual FS flags can be found through Help T.
Help T FS Echo Lines<cr> prints the description of FS ECHO LINES.
Spaces are not significant in Help T either. A list of just the names
of all FS flags is printed by the function List TECO FS Flags, found in
the library PURIFY.
EMACS Node: Init, Previous: FS Flags, Up: Top, Next: Locals
Init Files and EMACS.VARS Files
EMACS is designed to be customizable; each user can rearrange things to
suit his taste. Simple customizations are primarily of two types:
moving functions from one character to another, and setting variables
which functions refer to so as to direct their actions. Beyond this,
extensions can involve redefining existing functions, or writing
entirely new functions and creating sharable libraries of them.
The most general way to customize is to write an init file, a TECO
program which is executed whenever you start EMACS. The init file is
found by looking for a particular filename, <your directory>EMACS.INIT.
This method is general because the program can do anything. It can ask
you questions and do things, rather than just setting up commands for
later. However, TECO code is arcane, and only a few people learn how to
write it. If you need an init file and don't feel up to learning to
write TECO code, ask a local expert to do it for you. *Note Init:
(CONV), for more about init files.
However, simple customizations can be done in a simple way with an
EMACS.VARS file. Such a file serves the same sort of purpose as an init
file, but instead of TECO code, it contains just a list of variables and
values. Each line of the EMACS.VARS file names one variable or one
command character and says how to redefine it. Empty lines, and lines
starting with spaces or tabs, are ignored. They can be used as
comments. Your EMACS.VARS file is found by its filename, as an init
file is, but it should be called EMACS.VARS instead of EMACS.INIT. You
can have both an init file and an EMACS.VARS file if you want, as long
as your init file calls the default init file, since that is what
processes the EMACS.VARS file.
To set a variable, include in the EMACS.VARS file a line containing the
name of the variable, a colon, and the value. A numeric value is
represented by the number. A string value is enclosed in double quotes.
To include a double quote or a character in the value of the string,
precede it with a to quote it. You can also simply give the string
value, with no quotes, as long as it is not ambiguous (does not consist
of digits or start with a double quote); however, in this case, any
spaces following the colon become part of the value of the variable.
They are not ignored. Examples:
Comment Column: 70
Comment Start: ";"
MM Foo:FTFOO
The last line defines a variable named MM Foo, which has the effect of
defining a function named Foo with the specified value as its
definition.
To redefine a command character is a little more complicated. Instead
of the name of a variable, give a (control-R) followed by the
character. Since the general Control and Meta character cannot be part
of a file, all Control and Meta characters are represented in a funny
way: after the put the residue of the character after removing the
Control and Meta, and before the put periods, one for Control, two
for Meta, and three for Control-Meta. Thus, C-D is represented by
".D" and C-M-; is represented by "...;". Lower case characters such
as C-a are usually defined as "execute the definition of the upper case
equivalent". Therefore, by redefining the C-A command you also change
C-a; but if you redefine C-a, by saying ".a" instead of ".A", you
will not change C-A. So be careful about case.
Instead of the value of a variable, for command character redefinition
you must give a TECO expression that returns the desired definition.
This is to make it easy to use any function whose name you know, because
M.MFOO is an expression that returns the definition of the function
FOO. Do not enclose the TECO expression in quotes. Example:
.K: M.M^R Kill Line
would give C-K the definition that it normally has. Remember that in
names of functions the "^R" is actually a "^" and an R, not a control-R.
The space before the M.M is part of the expression, but it is ignored
when the expression is executed.
Some non-printing characters are a little tricky to redefine. For
example, you must know that Return, Linefeed, Tab, Backspace and Altmode
are not the same in TECO's command character set as C-M, C-J, C-I, C-H
and C-[, even though in ASCII they are synonymous. By saying .J you
will redefine C-J; by saying followed by a Linefeed (which you must
insert in the EMACS.VARS file by typing C-Q Linefeed) you can redefine
Linefeed. Normally, C-J is defined as "execute the definition of
Linefeed", so you are better off redefining Linefeed.
You can also redefine a subcommand of a prefix character such as C-X.
For this, you have to know where the character's dispatch table is
stored. For C-X, the location of the dispatch is called ".X"; you won't
have any other prefix characters unless you define them yourself. *Note
Defining prefixes: (CONV)Prefix. Knowing the location, you specify the
subcommand by writing :location( character). This looks silly, but it
is a TECO expression with the right meaning. For example, redefining
C-X C-S, the location is ".X" and the character is , so we say
:.X( ): M.M^R Save File
This gives C-X C-S the definition that it normally has. The subcommand
character ( in this case) can represent itself in the EMACS.VARS file
with no need for dots, because subcommand characters are just ASCII,
with no Meta allowed.
You can include arbitrary TECO code in an EMACS.VARS file by writing a
definition for "*". The definition is executed as a TECO expression but
the value is ignored. Thus, to load the library FOO, do
*: MM Load LibraryFOO
Once the library is loaded, you can connect the functions in it to
commands as described above.
Please refrain from giving newcomers to EMACS a copy of your own init
file before they understand what it does. Everyone prefers his own
customizations, and there is always a tendency to proselytize, but by
the same token your protege's tastes may be different from yours. If
you offer him your customizations at the time when he is ready to
understand what difference they make and decide for himself what he
prefers, then you will help him get what he wants. Tell him about each
individual change you made, and let him judge them one by one. There is
no reason for him to choose all or nothing.
EMACS.VARS File Examples
Here are some examples of how to do various useful things in an
EMACS.VARS file.
This causes new buffers to be created in Lisp mode:
Default Major Mode: "LISP"
This causes new buffers to have Auto Fill mode turned on:
Buffer Creation Hook: "1M.L Auto Fill Mode"
This causes all Text mode buffers to have Auto Fill mode turned on:
Text Mode Hook: "1M.L Auto Fill Mode"
This causes C-M-G to be undefined by copying the definition of C-|
(which is undefined):
...G: Q.|
This redefines C-S to be a single character search command, and M-S to
be a non-incremental string search:
.S: M.M ^R Character Search
..S: M.M ^R String Search
This redefines C-X V to run View File:
:.X( V): M.M View File
This makes M-M a prefix character and defines M-M W to mark a word and
M-M P to mark a paragraph. It stores the dispatch vector for the prefix
character in the variable M-M Dispatch.
..M: MM Make Prefix Character M-M Dispatch
Temp: "M-M M-M Dispatch
"
Append the line in Temp to Prefix Char List.
*: QPrefix Char List[1 QTemp[2 :iPrefix Char List 1 2
:M-M Dispatch( W): M.M ^R Mark Word
:M-M Dispatch( P): M.M ^R Mark Paragraph
This loads the library LUNAR and defines C-Q to run a useful function
found in that library:
*: MM Load LibraryLUNAR
.Q: M.M ^R Various Quantities
This causes Auto Save mode to save under the visited filenames:
Auto Save Visited File: 1
This causes TAGS to bring new files into separate buffers:
TAGS Find File: 1
This prevents the default init file from printing the message "EMACS
version nnn. Type ... for Help".
Inhibit Help Message: 1
This redefines the list syntax of "%" to be ";" for "comment starter",
and that of ";" to be "A" for "alphabetic":
*: 1mm& Alter ..D%;;A
Init File Examples
Here are the ways to do exactly the same things in an init file. Don't
put more than one of these TECO expressions on a line, or the first may
leave behind a value which will affect the operation of the second!
This causes new buffers to be created in Lisp mode:
:IDefault Major ModeLISP
This causes new buffers to have Auto Fill mode turned on:
:I* 1M.L Auto Fill Mode M.VBuffer Creation Hook
It is different because the variable does not already exist. Note the
used for getting the Altmode into the value.
This causes all Text mode buffers to have Auto Fill mode turned on:
:I* 1M.L Auto Fill Mode M.VText Mode Hook
This causes C-M-G to be undefined by copying the definition of C-|
(which is undefined):
Q.| U...G
This redefines C-S to be a single character search command, and M-S to
be a non-incremental string search:
M.M ^R Character Search U.S
M.M ^R String Search U..S
This redefines C-X V to run View File:
M.M View File U:.X( V)
This makes M-M a prefix character and defines M-M W to mark a word and
M-M P to mark a paragraph. It stores the dispatch vector for the prefix
character in the variable M-M Dispatch.
MM Make Prefix Character.YU..M
QPrefix Char List[1
:iPrefix Char List 1M-M M-M Dispatch
]1
M.M ^R Mark Word U:M-M Dispatch( W)
M.M ^R Mark Paragraph U:M-M Dispatch( P)
This loads the library LUNAR and defines C-Q to run a useful function
found in that library:
MM Load LibraryLUNAR
M.M ^R Various Quantities U.Q
This causes Auto Save mode to save under the visited filenames:
1UAuto Save Visited File
Compare this and the next example with the first two, in which string
values are used.
This causes TAGS to bring new files into separate buffers:
1M.VTAGS Find File
This prevents the default init file from printing the message "EMACS
version nnn. Type ... for Help".
1M.VInhibit Help Message
This redefines the list syntax of "%" to be ";" for "comment starter",
and that of ";" to be "A" for "alphabetic":
1mm& Alter ..D%;;A
EMACS Node: Locals, Previous: Init, Up: Top, Next: KBDMAC
Local Variables in Files
By specifying "local modes" in a file you can cause certain major or
minor modes to be set, or certain character commands to be defined,
whenever you are visiting it. For example, EMACS can select Lisp mode
for that file, set up a special Comment Column, or put a special command
on the character C-M-Comma. Local modes can specify the major mode, and
the values of any set of named variables and command characters. Local
modes apply only while the buffer containing the file is selected; they
do not extend to other files loaded into other buffers.
The simplest kind of local mode specification sets only the major mode.
You put the mode's name in between a pair of "-*-"'s, anywhere on the
first nonblank line of the file. For example, the first line of this
file contains -*-Text-*-, implying that this file should be edited in
Text mode. The -*- can appear on the first nonblank line after the edit
history, if somebody insists on putting in an edit history.
Often, EMACS is able to determine the best major mode for a file by
looking at the file's extension. If this works, you don't need to worry
about specifying the major mode. If the extension of the file does not
inform EMACS correctly, then you need an explicit local modes
specification. The functions which implement this are called &
<extension> Mode, in the TWENEX library.
To specify more that just the major mode, you must use a "local modes
list", which goes in the LAST page of the file (it is best to put it on
a separate page). The local modes list starts with a line containing
the string "Local Modes:", and ends with a line containing the string
"End:". In between come the variable names and values, just as in an
EMACS.VARS file. *Note EMACS.VARS files: Init.
The line which starts the local modes list does not have to say just
"Local Modes:". If there is other text before "Local Modes:", that text
is called the "prefix", and if there is other text after, that is called
the "suffix". If these are present, each entry in the local modes list
should have the prefix before it and the suffix after it. This includes
the "End:" line. The prefix and suffix are included to disguise the
local modes list as a comment so that the compiler or text formatter
will not be perplexed by it. If you do not need to disguise the local
modes list as a comment in this way, do not bother with a prefix or a
suffix.
Aside from the "Local Modes:" and the "End:", and the prefix and suffix
if any, a local modes list looks like an EMACS.VARS file. However,
comments lines are not allowed, and you cannot redefine C-X subcommands
due to fundamental limitations of the data structure used to remember
local variables. Sorry.
The major mode can be set by specifying a value for the variable "Mode"
(don't try setting the major mode this way except in a local modes
list!). It should be the first thing in the local modes list, if it
appears at all. A function M-X Foo can be defined locally by putting in
a local setting for a variable named "MM Foo". *Note Functions:
MMArcana.
Here is an example of a local modes list:
;;; Local Modes: ***
;;; Mode:Mumble ***
;;; Comment Column:0 ***
;;; Comment Start: ";;; " ***
;;; Comment End:"***" ***
;;; ../: m.m^R My Funny Meta-Slash ***
;;; End: ***
Note that the prefix is ";;; " and the suffix is " ***". Note also that
comments in the file begin with ";;; " and end with "***". Presumably
the file contains code in the language Mumble, in which comments must
start and end that way. The prefix and suffix are used in the local
modes list to make the list appear as comments when the file is read by
the Mumble compiler.
The last page of the file must be no more than 10000 characters long or
the local modes list will not be recognized. This is because EMACS
finds the local modes list by scanning back only 10000 characters from
the end of the file for the last formfeed, and then looking forward for
the "Local Modes:" string. This accomplishes these goals: a stray
"Local Modes:" not in the last page is not noticed; and visiting a long
file that is all one page and has no local mode list need not take the
time to search the whole file.
EMACS Node: KBDMAC, Previous: Locals, Up: Top, Next: Minibuffer
Keyboard Macros
C-X ( Start defining a keyboard macro.
C-X ) End the definition of a keyboard macro.
C-X E Execute the most recent keyboard macro.
C-U C-X ( Re-execute last keyboard macro and append to its
definition.
C-X Q Ask for confirmation when the keyboard macro is
executed.
C-U C-X Q Allow the user to edit for a while, each time the
keyboard macro is executed.
M-X Name Kbd Macro
Make the most recent keyboard macro into the
permanent definition of a command.
M-X Write Kbd Macro
Save a keyboard macro in a file.
A "keyboard macro" is a command defined by the user to abbreviate a
sequence of other commands. If you discover that you are about to type
C-N C-D forty times, you can define a keyboard macro to do C-N C-D and
call it with a repeat count of forty.
Keyboard macros differ from ordinary EMACS commands, in that they are
written in the EMACS command language rather than in TECO. This makes
it easier for the novice to write them, and makes them more convenient
as temporary hacks. However, the EMACS command language is not powerful
enough as a programming language to be useful for writing anything
intelligent or general. For such things, TECO must be used.
EMACS functions were formerly known as macros (which is part of the
explanation of the name EMACS), because they were macros within the
context of TECO as an editor. We decided to change the terminology
because, when thinking of EMACS, we consider TECO a programming language
rather than an editor. The only "macros" in EMACS now are keyboard
macros.
You define a keyboard macro while executing the commands which are the
definition. Put differently, as you are defining a keyboard macro, the
definition is being executed for the first time. This way, you can see
what the effects of your commands are, so that you don't have to figure
them out in your head. When you are finished, the keyboard macro is
defined and also has been, in effect, executed once. You can then do
the whole thing over again by invoking the macro.
Basic Use
To start defining a keyboard macro, type the C-X ( command (^R Start Kbd
Macro). From then on, your commands continue to be executed, but also
become part of the definition of the macro. "Def" appears in the mode
line to remind you of what is going on. When you are finished, the
C-X ) command (^R End Kbd Macro) terminates the definition (without
becoming part of it!).
The macro thus defined can be invoked again with the C-X E command
(^R Execute Kbd Macro), which may be given a repeat count as a numeric
argument to execute the macro many times. C-X ) can also be given a
repeat count as an argument, in which case it repeats the macro that
many times right after defining it, but defining the macro counts as the
first repetition (since it is executed as you define it). So, giving
C-X ) an argument of 2 executes the macro immediately one additional
time. An argument of zero to C-X E or C-X ) means repeat the macro
indefinitely (until it gets an error).
If you want to perform an operation on each line, then either you should
start by positioning point on the line above the first one to be
processed and then begin the macro definition with a C-N, or you should
start on the proper line and end with a C-N. Either way, repeating the
macro will operate on successive lines.
After you have terminated the definition of a keyboard macro, you can
add to the end of its definition by typing C-U C-X (. This is
equivalent to plain C-X ( followed by retyping the whole definition so
far. As a consequence it re-executes the macro as previously defined.
If you wish to save a keyboard macro for longer than until you define
the next one, you must give it a name. If you do M-X Name Kbd
MacroFOO<cr>, the last keyboard macro defined (the one which C-X E
would invoke) is turned into a function and given the name FOO. M-X FOO
will from then on invoke that particular macro. Name Kbd Macro also
reads a character from the keyboard and redefines that character command
to invoke the macro. You can use a bit prefix character in specifying
the command; you can also type a C-X command to be redefined. When you
have finished typing the command characters, Name Kbd Macro asks you
whether it should go ahead and redefine the character.
To save a keyboard macro permanently, do M-X Write Kbd Macro. Supply
the function name of the keyboard macro as a string argument, or else it
will ask you to type the character which invokes the keyboard macro.
The keyboard macro is saved as a library which, when loaded,
automatically redefines the keyboard macro. The filename is read from
the terminal. Its second name should be :EJ, like other libraries; that
is the default.
To examine the definition of a keyboard macro, use the function View Kbd
Macro. Either supply the name of the function which runs the macro, as
a string argument, or type the command which invokes the macro when View
Kbd Macro asks for it.
Executing Macros with Variations
If you want to be allowed to do arbitrary editing at a certain point
each time around the macro (different each time, and not remembered as
part of the macro), you can use the C-U C-X Q command (^R Kbd Macro
Query). When you are defining the macro, this lets you do some editing,
which does NOT become part of the macro. When you are done, exit with
C-M-Z to return to defining the macro. When you execute the macro, at
that same point, you will again be allowed to do some editing. When you
exit this time with C-M-Z, the execution of the macro will resume. If
you abort the recursive editing level with C-], you will abort the macro
definition or execution.
You can get the effect of Query Replace, where the macro asks you each
time around whether to make a change, by using the command C-X Q with no
argument in your keyboard macro. When you are defining the macro, the
C-X Q does nothing, but when the macro is invoked the C-X Q reads a
character from the terminal to decide whether to continue. The special
answers are Space, Rubout, Altmode, C-L, C-R. A Space means to
continue. A Rubout means to skip the remainder of this repetition of
the macro, starting again from the beginning in the next repetition. An
Altmode ends all repetitions of the macro, but only the innermost macro
(in case it was called from another macro). C-L clears the screen and
asks you again for a character to say what to do. C-R enters a
recursive editing level; when you exit, you are asked again (if you type
a Space, the macro will continue from wherever you left things when you
exited the C-R). Anything else exits all levels of keyboard macros and
is reread as a command.
EMACS Node: Minibuffer, Previous: KBDMAC, Up: Top, Next: Quitting
The Minibuffer
The "minibuffer" is a facility by means of which EMACS commands can read
input from the terminal, allowing you to use EMACS commands to edit the
input while you are typing it. Usually it is used to read a TECO
program to be executed.
M-Altmode Invokes an empty minibuffer.
M-% Invokes a minibuffer initialized with a Query
Replace.
C-X Altmode Re-execute a recent minibuffer command.
C-X ^ Add more lines to the minibuffer.
C-\ Meta-prefix for use in the minibuffer.
C-Z C-Y Rotate ring of recent minibuffer commands.
The primary use of the minibuffer is for editing and executing simple
TECO programs such as
MM Query ReplaceFOO
BAR
(which could not be done with M-X Query Replace because when M-X is used
Return terminates the arguments).
You can always tell when you are in a minibuffer, because the mode line
contains something in parentheses, such as "(Minibuffer)" or "(Query
Replace)". There is also a line of dashes across the screen a few lines
from the top. Strictly speaking, the minibuffer is actually the region
of screen above the line of dashes, for that is where you edit the input
that the minibuffer is asking you for. Editing has been limited to a
few lines so that most of the screen can continue to show the file you
are visiting.
If you want to type in a TECO command, use the minibuffer with the
command Meta-Altmode, (^R Execute Minibuffer). An empty minibuffer will
appear, into which you should type the TECO command string. Exit with
Altmode Altmode, and remember that neither of the two Altmodes is
inserted into your TECO command although the first one may appear to be.
When the TECO command is executed, "the buffer" will be the text you
were editing before you invoked the minibuffer.
Often, a minibuffer starts out with some text in it. This means that
you are supposed to add to that text, or, sometimes, to delete some of
it so as to choose among several alternatives. For example, Meta-%
(^R Query Replace) provides you with a minibuffer initially containing
the string "MM Query Replace". The cursor comes at the end. You are
then supposed to add in the arguments to the Query Replace.
In a minibuffer, you can edit your input until you are satisfied with
it. Then you tell EMACS you are finished by typing two Altmodes. An
Altmode not followed by another Altmode is simply inserted in the
buffer. This is because it is common to want to put Altmodes into the
minibuffer, which usually contains a string of TECO commands. For
example, in Meta-% (^R Query Replace) each argument must be ended by an
Altmode. However, when you type two Altmodes in a row, neither one
remains in the buffer. The two Altmodes do nothing to the text in the
minibuffer, they just exit.
Since Altmode is self-inserting, typing Meta characters can be a
problem. You can do it by using C-\ instead of Altmode as the
Meta-prefix. If you type a Control-Meta character on your keyboard, the
corresponding ASCII control character is inserted in the minibuffer.
This is because the Lisp commands are rarely useful when editing TECO
code, but insertion of control characters is frequent. If you really
want to use a Control-Meta EMACS command, you must use C-Z to type it.
You cannot use C-\ C-A to type C-M-A, because C-\ (unlike Altmode)
ignores the Control bit of the following character, so you must use C-Z
C-A. The motivation for this quirk of C-\ is that C-\ C-B (to obtain
M-B) is easier to type than C-\ B, especially if it is typed several
times in a row.
You can cancel your input in a minibuffer and start all over again by
typing C-G. That kills all the text in the minibuffer. A C-G typed
when the minibuffer is already empty exits from the minibuffer.
Usually, this aborts whatever command was using the minibuffer, so it
will return without doing anything more. For example, if you type two
C-G's at Meta-%'s minibuffer, you will return to top level and no Query
Replace will be done. Typing a single C-G at a preinitialized
minibuffer to empty the buffer is not very useful, since you would have
to retype all the initial text.
The last five distinct minibuffer commands or M-X commands you have
issued are remembered in a ring buffer in q-register .M. The C-X
Altmode command (^R Re-execute Minibuffer) re-executes the last command
in the ring. With an argument <n>, it re-executes the <n>'th previous
command. The command is printed out (only the first 40 characters or
so) and you are asked to confirm with "Y" or "N".
You can also get your previous minibuffer and M-X commands back into the
minibuffer to be edited and re-executed with changes. Giving M-Altmode
an argument, as in C-U M-Altmode, causes the minibuffer to be loaded up
with the last command in the ring, as if you had typed it in again from
scratch. You can then edit it, execute it by typing two Altmodes, or
cancel it with C-G. To get an earlier command string instead of the
most recent one, use the command C-Z C-Y once you are in the minibuffer.
This command "rotates" the ring of saved commands much as M-Y rotates
the ring of killed text. Each C-Z C-Y reveals an earlier command
string, until the ring has rotated all the way around and the most
recent one reappears. C-Z C-Y is actually a way of saying C-M-Y, but in
the minibuffer that's the only way to type it, since Altmode inserts
itself and Control-Meta characters insert control characters.
If you exit from Meta-Altmode with a C-G, nothing is executed and the
previous minibuffered command string is still remembered as the last
one.
While in a minibuffer, if you decide you want the minibuffer to use more
lines on the screen, you can use C-X ^ (^R Grow Window) to get more. It
gets one more line, or as many lines as its argument says.
EMACS Node: Quitting, Previous: Minibuffer, Up: Top, Next: Lossage
Quitting and Aborting
C-G Quit. Cancel running or partially typed command.
C-] Abort recursive editing level and cancel the command
which invoked it.
M-X Top Level
Abort all recursive editing levels and subsystems which
are currently executing.
There are three ways of cancelling commands which are not finished
executing: "quitting" with C-G, and "aborting" with C-] or M-X Top
Level. Quitting is cancelling a partially typed command or one which is
already running. Aborting is cancelling a command which has entered a
recursive editing level or subsystem.
Quitting with C-G is used for getting rid of a partially typed command,
or a numeric argument that you don't want. It also stops a running
command in the middle in a relatively safe way, so you can use it if you
accidentally give a command which takes a long time. In particular, it
is safe to quit out of killing; either your text will ALL still be
there, or it will ALL be in the kill ring (or maybe both). Quitting an
incremental search does special things documented under searching; in
general, it may take two successive C-G's to get out of a search. C-G
can interrupt EMACS at any time, so it is not an ordinary command.
Aborting with C-] (Abort Recursive Edit) is used to get out of a
recursive editing level and cancel the command which invoked it.
Quitting with C-G cannot be used for this, because it is used to cancel
a partially typed command within the recursive editing level. Both
operations are useful. For example, if you are editing a message to be
sent, C-G can be used to cancel the commands you use to edit the
message, and C-] cancels sending the message. C-] either tells you how
to resume the aborted command or queries for confirmation before
aborting.
When you are in a position to use M-X, you can use M-X Top Level. This
is equivalent to "enough" C-] commands to get you out of all the levels
of subsystems and recursive edits that you are in. C-] gets you out one
level at a time, but M-X Top Level goes out all levels at once. Both
C-] and M-X Top Level are like all other commands, and unlike C-G, in
that they are effective only when EMACS is listening.
EMACS Node: Lossage, Previous: Quitting, Up: Top, Next: Undo
Dealing with Common Forms of EMACS Lossage
This section describes various conditions which can cause EMACS not to
work, or cause it to display strange things, and how you can correct
them.
Error Message
When EMACS prints an error message, it occupies the top line of the
screen, ends with a "?", and is accompanied by the ringing of the bell.
Space causes the error message to disappear and be replaced by the first
line of text again. Any other command is executed normally as if there
had been no error message (the error message disappears during the
redisplay after the command). However, "?" enters the error handler,
which can be used to inspect the function call stack. Most users will
not be interested in doing this. Type Help inside the error handler to
get its documentation, or C-] to exit it.
If you prefer to have echo messages printed in the echo area, set the
variable Error Messages in Echo Area nonzero.
Subsystems and Recursive Editing Levels
Subsystems and recursive editing levels are important and useful
features of EMACS, but they can seem like malfunctions to the user who
does not understand them.
If the mode line starts with a bracket "[" or a parenthesis "(", or does
not start with the word "EMACS", then you have entered a subsystem
(*Note Subsystems: Subsystems.) or a recursive editing level (*Note
Recursive Editing Levels: Recursive.).
In such a situation, first try typing C-]. This will get out of any
recursive editing level and most subsystems. The usual mode line and
text display will reappear. If C-] does not seem to have worked, type
the Help character. Instead of printing "Doc (Type ? for Help)" in the
echo area, it will print a list of the subsystem's commands. One of
these should be a command to exit or abort.
If the above techniques fail, try restarting (see below).
Garbage on the Screen
If the data on the screen looks wrong, it could be due to line noise on
input or output, a bug in the terminal, a bug in EMACS redisplay, or a
bug in an EMACS command. To find out whether there is really anything
wrong with your text, the first thing to do is type C-L. This is a
command to clear the screen and redisplay it. Often this will display
the text you expected. Think of it as getting an opinion from another
doctor.
Garbage Displayed Persistently
If EMACS persistently displays garbage on the screen, or if it outputs
the right things but scattered around all the wrong places on the
screen, it may be that EMACS has the wrong idea of your terminal type.
The first thing to do in this case is to exit from EMACS and restart it.
Each time EMACS is restarted it asks the system what terminal type you
are using. Whenever you detach and move to a terminal of a different
type you should restart EMACS as a matter of course. If you stopped
EMACS with the exit command, or by interrupting it when it was awaiting
a command, then this is sure to be safe.
The system itself may not know what type of terminal you have. You
should try telling the system with the TERMINAL TYPE command in EXEC.
If your terminal is compatible with one of the standard types but has a
different size screen, you must tell the system the size with the
TERMINAL LENGTH and TERMINAL WIDTH commands, because EMACS uses whatever
size the system says it knows. Alternatively, you can use Set Terminal
Type. *Note Terminal Types: Term Types, for more information.
URK Error (Address Space Exhausted)
If attempting to visit a file or load a library causes an "URK" error,
it means you have filled up the address space; there is no room inside
EMACS for any more files or libraries. In this situation EMACS will try
to run the function Make Space for you. If EMACS is unable to do it for
you, you may still be able to do M-X Make Space yourself. This command
compacts the data inside EMACS to free up some space. It also offers to
discard data that may be occupying a lot of space, such as the kill ring
(*Note Killing: Killing.), the undo memory (*Note Undo: Undo.), and
buffers created by TAGS and INFO. Another way of freeing space is to
kill buffers with M-X Kill Some Buffers (*Note Buffers: Buffers.) or
unload libraries with M-X Kill Libraries (*Note Libraries: Libraries.).
Use the command M-X What Available Space to find out how close you are
to running out of space. It tells you how many K of space you have
available for additional files or libraries.
Visiting a file causes an URK error if the file does not fit in the
available virtual memory space, together with the other buffers and the
libraries loaded. A big enough file causes an URK error all by itself.
For editing such large files, use the command Split File (in the SPLIT
library) to break it into subfiles. These will be fairly large files
still, but not too large to edit. After editing one or more of the
subfiles, use the command Unsplit File (also in SPLIT) to put them back
together again.
M-X Split File takes the name of the file to split as an argument. The
file is split into subfiles with the same first name as the original
file, but with extensions "1", "2", etc., for as many subfiles as are
needed depending on the size of the original file. These numeric
extensions should not be confused with version numbers; a subfile FOO.1
would be created with version 1, and after editing you might get up to
FOO.1.3. This has nothing to do with the third subfile, FOO.3, which
would have its own version number (perhaps FOO.3.2).
M-X Unsplit File takes the name of the file to merge into as an
argument. It finds the subfiles the same way Split File makes them, by
taking successive numbers as extensions. When a nonexistent extension
is reached, Unsplit File assumes that means it has already processed all
the subfiles and that it is finished.
All Type-in Echoes and Nothing Else Happens
If you find that EMACS is not responding to your commands except for
echoing them all at the bottom of the screen, including the Return
character, and that Rubout causes erased characters to be retyped
instead of erased, then you have managed to exit from EMACS back to
TECO. Often this follows an "Error in error handler" message which
indicates that a condition arose in which the error handler could not
function. You can get back into EMACS by typing :M..L, or by
restarting (see below). If you ever want to exit back to TECO, you can
do M-X Top Level with an argument greater than zero. Before using
:M..L, get rid of any other characters you have typed by mistake by
typing a C-G.
EMACS Hung and Not Responding
Sometimes EMACS gets hung and C-G does not work. The more drastic
procedure of restarting EMACS may work at such times. C-G can fail to
work because it only takes effect between the TECO commands which make
up an EMACS program, never in the middle of one (only a few TECO
commands allow quitting at any time), so as to prevent TECO's internal
data structures from becoming inconsistent. If EMACS is hung inside a
TECO command, C-G is not noticed, but restarting can still be tried.
To restart EMACS, type Control-C twice to stop EMACS, then START to
restart it. While restarting TECO in this way is usually safe
(especially at times when TECO is doing I/O), there are certain times at
which it will cause the TECO data structures to be inconsistent, so do
not try it unless other measures have failed.
Your ultimate safeguard against a wedged EMACS is to save your work
frequently.
EMACS Node: Undo, Previous: Lossage, Up: Top, Next: Journals
Undoing Changes to the Buffer
If you mistakenly issue commands that make a great change to the buffer,
you can often undo the change without having to know precisely how it
came about. This is done by using M-X Undo. Type M-X Undo<cr> and the
change is undone. It does not matter if you have moved the cursor since
you made the change; it is undone where it was originally done.
The first thing Undo does is tell you what kind of change it plans to
undo (kill, fill, undo, case-convert, etc). Then it asks whether to go
ahead. If you say "Y", the change is actually undone.
Not all changes to the buffer can be undone: deletion (as opposed to
killing) can't be, and changes in indentation can't be, nor can many
forms of insertion (but they aren't as important since they don't
destroy information). Also, a Replace String or Query Replace can't be
undone, which is a shame. The reason is that actually they make many
small changes, and Undo only knows how to remember one contiguous
change. Perhaps someday I will be able to fix this.
As a result, when you say Undo, it may undo something other than the
latest change if the latest change was not undoable. This might seem to
pile one disaster on another, but it doesn't, because you can ALWAYS
Undo the Undo if it didn't help. But you can avoid even having to do
that, if you look at what type of change Undo says it will undo.
If you want to undo a considerable amount of editing, not just the last
change, the Undo command can't help you, but M-X Revert File (*Note
Revert: Revert.) might be able to. If you have been writing a journal
file (*Note Journals: Journals.), you can replay the journal after
deleting the part that you don't want.
EMACS Node: Journals, Previous: Undo, Up: Top, Next: Bugs
Journal Files
A journal file is a record of all the commands you type during an
editing session. If you lose editing because of a system crash, an
EMACS bug, or a mistake on your part, and you have made a journal file,
you can replay the journal or part of it to recover what you lost.
Journal files offer an alternative to auto saving, using less time and
disk space if there is no crash, but requiring more time when you
recover from a crash. *Note Auto Save: AutoSave.
Writing Journal Files
In order to make a journal file, you must load the JOURNAL library and
then execute M-X Start Journal File<filename><cr>. Immediately, most
of the current status of EMACS is recorded in the journal file, and all
subsequent commands are recorded as they are typed. This happens
invisibly and silently. The journal file is made fully up to date on
the disk after every 50th character, so the last 50 characters of type
in is the most you can lose.
The default filenames for the journal file are EMACS.JOURNAL. There is
rarely a reason to use any other name, because you only need one journal
file unless you are running two EMACSes at the same time.
Replaying Journal Files
To replay the journal file, get a fresh EMACS, load JOURNAL, and do M-X
Replay Journal File<filename><cr>. The filename can usually be omitted
since normally you will have used the defaults when creating the
journal.
After a delay while the files, buffers and libraries are loaded as they
were when the journal file was written, EMACS will begin replaying the
commands in the journal before your very eyes. Unlike keyboard macros,
which execute invisibly until they are finished, journal files display
as they are executed. This allows you to see how far the replay has
gone. You can stop the process at any time by typing C-G. Aside from
that, you should not type anything on the keyboard while the replay is
going on.
If the need for a replay is the result of a system crash or EMACS crash,
then you probably want to replay the whole file. This is what happens
naturally. If you are replaying because you made a great mistake, you
probably want to stop the replay before the mistake. This is when it
becomes useful to type C-G to stop the replay. Alternatively, you can
edit the journal file, and delete everything from the point of the
mistake to the end, before you replay it.
Once the replay is complete, save all your files immediately. Don't
tempt fate!
If you quit with C-G in the middle of a command while writing a journal
file, there is no way to record in the journal file how much of the
command has already been completed. So, when the journal is replayed,
EMACS has to ask you to fill in for it. The command which was
interrupted will be replayed to completion; then, you are given a
recursive editing level in which to restore the file to the desired
state. This happens only if the C-G originally interrupted an executing
command. C-G typed to discard an argument or partial command while
EMACS is waiting for input can be and is replayed correctly without
asking you for help.
Journal File Format
To edit a journal file, you must know the format. It is designed to be
mostly transparent.
The primary problem which the journal file format has to solve is how to
represent 9-bit command characters in a file which can contain only
7-bit ASCII characters. (We could have filled the journal file with
9-bit characters, but then you would not be able to print it out or edit
it). The solution we have used is to represent each command by two
characters in the file.
So, a Control character is represented by a caret ("^") followed by the
basic character, as in "^E" for Control-E. This was chosen to be
mnemonically significant. A Meta character is represented by "+"
followed by the basic character, so that Meta-[ is represented by "+[".
A Control-Meta character is represented by "*" followed by the basic
character, as in "*X" for C-M-X.
A command which is not Control or Meta is represented as a space
followed by the command itself, except that Return is represented by a
CRLF rather than a space and a carriage return. This prevents the
journal file from being one huge line, and makes insertion of text very
recognizable: the text inserted appears in the journal file alternating
with spaces.
The Help character, which is not covered by the scheme as described so
far, is represented by "??".
An asynchronous quit, which is a problem for replaying, is represented
by a single character, a , while a synchronous quit, which can be
replayed reliably, is represented by ":". EMACS considers a quit
synchronous, and uses ":" to record it, if EMACS was waiting for
terminal input when the C-G was typed.
Your commands themselves are not the only information in the journal
file. EMACS records other information which is necessary in replaying
the journal properly. The colon character ":" indicates a block of such
information. Usually the extent of the block is easily recognizable
because its contents do not resemble the representations of commands
described above. A large block of information starting with a colon
appears at the beginning of every journal file.
Colons are also used to record the precise effects of certain commands
such as C-V whose actions depend on how the text was displayed on the
screen. Since the effects of such commands are not completely
determined by the text, replaying the command could produce different
results, especially if done on a terminal with a different screen size.
The extra information recorded in the journal makes it possible to
replay these commands with fidelity.
A semicolon in the journal file begins a comment, placed there for the
benefit of a human looking at the journal. The comment ends at the
beginning of the following line.
Warnings
Proper replaying of a journal file requires that all the surrounding
circumstances be unchanged.
In particular, replaying begins by visiting all the files that were
visited when the writing of the journal file began; not the latest
versions of these files, but the versions which were the latest at the
earlier time. If those versions, which may no longer be the latest,
have been deleted, then replaying is impossible.
If your init file has been changed, the commands when replayed may not
do what they did before.
These are the only things that can interfere with replaying, as long as
you start writing the journal file immediately after starting EMACS.
But as an editing session becomes longer and files are saved, the
journal file contains increasing amounts of waste in the form of
commands whose effects are already safe in the newer versions of the
edited files. Replaying the journal will replay all these commands
wastefully to generate files identical to those already saved, before
coming to the last part of the session which provides the reason for
replaying. Therefore it becomes very desirable to start a new journal
file. However, many more precautions must be taken to insure proper
replaying of a journal file which is started after EMACS has been used
for a while. These precautions are described here. If you cannot
follow them, you must make a journal checkpoint (see below).
If any buffer contains text which is not saved in a file at the time the
journal file is started, it is impossible to replay the journal
correctly. This problem cannot possibly be overcome. To avoid it, M-X
Start Journal File offers to save all buffers before actually starting
the journal.
Another problem comes from the kill ring and the other ways in which
EMACS remembers information from previous commands. If any such
information which originated before starting the journal file is used
after starting it, the journal file cannot be replayed. For example,
suppose you fill a paragraph, start a journal file, and then do M-X
Undo? When the journal is replayed, it will start by doing M-X Undo,
but it won't know what to undo. It is up to you not to do anything that
would cause such a problem. It should not be hard. It would be
possible to eliminate this problem by clearing out all such data
structures when a journal file is started, if users would prefer that.
A more difficult problem comes from customization. If you change an
option or redefine a command, then start a journal file, the journal
file will have no record of the change. It will not replay correctly
unless you remember to make the same change beforehand. Customizations
made in an init file do not cause a problem because the init file has
also been run when the journal file is replayed. Customizations made
directly by the user while the journal file is being written are also no
problem because replaying will make the same changes at the right times.
However, a customization made while a journal file is being written will
be a problem if a new journal file is started.
Journal Checkpoints
The only cure for the problems of starting a journal in mid-session is
to record the complete state of EMACS at the time the journal is begun.
This is not done normally because it is slow; however, you can do this
if you wish by giving M-X Start Journal File a numeric argument. This
writes the complete state of EMACS into the file ESAVE.EXE. To replay
the journal, run ESAVE, the saved checkpoint, instead of EMACS; then
load JOURNAL and do M-X Replay Journal File as described above. Be sure
to delete the checkpoint if you are finished with it, since it tends to
be large. Delete them also when you log out; it may be possible to have
a command file which deletes them automatically when you log out.
Checkpoint files more than a day old may be deleted by others without
notice; but don't leave it up to them.
EMACS Node: Bugs, Previous: Journals, Up: Top, Next: PICTURE
Reporting Bugs
Sometimes you will encounter a bug in EMACS. To get it fixed, you must
report it. It is your duty to do so; but you must know when to do so
and how if it is to be constructive.
When Is There a Bug
If EMACS executes an illegal instruction, or dies with an operating
system error message that indicates a problem in the program (as opposed
to "disk full"), then it is certainly a bug.
If EMACS updates the display in a way that does not correspond to what
is in the buffer, then it is certainly a bug. If a command seems to do
the wrong thing but the problem is gone if you type C-L, then it is a
case of incorrect display updating.
Taking forever to complete a command can be a bug, but you must make
certain that it was really EMACS's fault. Some commands simply take a
long time. Quit or restart EMACS and type Help L to see whether the
keyboard or line noise garbled the input; if the input was such that you
KNOW it should have been processed quickly, report a bug. If you don't
know, try to find someone who does know.
If a command you are familiar with causes an EMACS error message in a
case where its usual definition ought to be reasonable, it is probably a
bug.
If a command does the wrong thing, that is a bug. But be sure you know
for certain what it ought to have done. If you aren't familiar with the
command, or don't know for certain how the command is supposed to work,
then it might actually be working right. Rather than jumping to
conclusions, show the problem to someone who knows for certain.
Finally, a command's intended definition may not be best for editing
with. This is a very important sort of problem, but it is also a matter
of judgement. Also, it is easy to come to such a conclusion out of
ignorance of some of the existing features. It is probably best not to
complain about such a problem until you have checked the documentation
in the usual ways (INFO and Help), feel confident that you understand
it, and know for certain that what you want is not available. If you
feel confused about the documentation instead, then you don't have
grounds for an opinion about whether the command's definition is
optimal. Make sure you read it through and check the index or the menus
for all references to subjects you don't fully understand. If you have
done this diligently and are still confused, or if you finally
understand but think you could have said it better, then you have a
constructive complaint to make about the documentation. It is just as
important to report documentation bugs as program bugs.
How to Report a Bug
When you decide that there is a bug, it is important to report it and to
report it in a way which is useful. What is most useful is an exact
description of what commands you type, starting with a fresh EMACS just
loaded, until the problem happens. Send the bug report to
BUG-EMACS@MIT-AI if you are on the Arpanet, or to the author (see the
preface for the address).
The most important principle in reporting a bug is to report FACTS, not
hypotheses or conditions. It is always easier to report the facts, but
people seem to prefer to strain to think up explanations and report them
instead. If the explanations are based on guesses about how EMACS is
implemented, they will be useless; we will have to try to figure out
what the facts must have been to lead to such speculations. Sometimes
this is impossible. But in any case, it is unnecessary work for us.
For example, suppose that you type C-X C-V <GLORP>BAZ.UGH<cr>, visiting
a file which (you know) happens to be rather large, and EMACS prints out
"I feel pretty today". The best way to report the bug is with a
sentence like the preceding one, because it gives all the facts and
nothing but the facts.
Do not assume that the problem is due to the size of the file and say
"When I visit a large file, EMACS prints out 'I feel pretty today'".
This is what we mean by "guessing explanations". The problem is just as
likely to be due to the fact that there is a "Z" in the filename. If
this is so, then when we got your report, we would try out the problem
with some "big file", probably with no "Z" in its name, and not find
anything wrong. There is no way in the world that we could guess that
we should try visiting a file with a "Z" in its name.
Alternatively, the problem might be due to the fact that the file starts
with exactly 25 spaces. For this reason, you should make sure that you
don't change the file until we have looked at it. Suppose the problem
only occurs when you have typed the C-X C-A command previously? This is
why we ask you to give the exact sequence of characters you typed since
loading the EMACS.
You should not even say "visit the file ..." instead of "C-X C-V" unless
you know that it makes no difference which visiting command is used.
Similarly, rather than saying "if I have three characters on the line",
say "after I type <cr> A B C <cr> C-P", if that is the way you entered
the text. A journal file containing the commands you typed to reproduce
the bug is a very good form of report.
If you are not in Fundamental mode when the problem occurs, you should
say what mode you are in.
Be sure to say what version of EMACS and TECO are running. If you don't
know, type Meta-Altmode QEMACS Version= FS Version= and EMACS will
print them out. (This is a use of the minibuffer. *Note Minibuffer:
Minibuffer.)
If the bug occurred in a customized EMACS, or with several optional
libraries loaded, it is helpful to try to reproduce the bug in a more
standard EMACS with fewer libraries loaded. It is best if you can make
the problem happen in a completely standard EMACS with no optional
libraries. If the problem does NOT occur in a standard EMACS, it is
very important to report that fact, because otherwise we will try to
debug it in a standard EMACS, not find the problem, and give up. If the
problem does depend on an init file, then you should make sure it is not
a bug in the init file by complaining to the person who wrote the file,
first. He should check over his code, and verify the definitions of the
TECO commands he is using by looking in INFO:TECORD.INFO. Then if he
verifies that the bug is in EMACS he should report it. We cannot be
responsible for maintaining users' init files; we might not even be able
to tell what they are supposed to do.
If you can tell us a way to cause the problem without reading in any
files, please do so. This makes it much easier to debug. If you do
need files, make sure you arrange for us to see their exact contents.
For example, it can often matter whether there are spaces at the ends of
lines, or a line separator after the last line in the buffer (nothing
ought to care whether the last line is terminated, but tell that to the
bugs). If you are reporting the bug from a non-Arpanet site, keep the
files small, since we may have to TYPE THEM IN, unless you send them on
mag tape.
If EMACS gets an operating system error message, such as for an illegal
instruction, then you can probably recover by restarting it. But before
doing so, you should make a dump file. If you restart or continue the
EMACS before making the dump, the trail will be covered and it will
probably be too late to find out what happened. Use the SAVE command to
do this; however, this does not record the contents of the accumulators.
To do that, use the EXEC commands EXAMINE 0, EXAMINE 1, etc., through
EXAMINE 17. Include the numbers printed by these commands as part of
your bug report.
A dump is also useful if EMACS gets into a wedged state in which
commands that usually work do strange things.
EMACS Node: PICTURE, Previous: Bugs, Up: Top, Next: Sort
The PICTURE Subsystem, an Editor for Text Pictures
If you want to create a picture made out of text characters (for
example, a picture of the division of a register into fields, as a
comment in a program), the PICTURE package can make it easier.
Do M-X Load LibPICTURE<cr>, and then M-X Edit Picture is available. Do
M-X Edit Picture with point and mark surrounding the picture to be
edited. Edit Picture enters a recursive editing level (which you exit
with C-M-Z, as usual) in which certain commands are redefined to make
picture editing more convenient.
While you are inside Edit Picture, all the lines of the picture are
padded out to the margin with spaces. This makes two-dimensional motion
very convenient; C-B and C-F move horizontally, and C-N and C-P move
vertically without the inaccuracy of a ragged right margin. When you
exit from Edit Picture, spaces at the ends of lines are removed.
Nothing stops you from moving outside the bounds of the picture, but if
you make any changes there slightly random things may happen.
Edit Picture makes alteration of the picture convenient by redefining
the way printing characters and Rubout work. Printing characters are
defined to replace (overwrite) rather than inserting themselves. Rubout
is defined to undo a printing character: it replaces the previous
character with a space, and moves back to it.
Return is defined to move to the beginning of the next line. This makes
it usable for moving to the next apparently blank (but actually filled
with nothing but spaces) line, just as you use Return normally with
lines that are really empty. C-O creates new blank lines after point,
but they are created full of spaces.
Tab is redefined to indent (by moving over spaces, not inserting them)
to under the first non-space on the previous line. Linefeed is as usual
equivalent to Return followed by Tab.
Four movement-control commands exist to aid in drawing vertical or
horizontal lines: If you give the command M-X Up Picture Movement, each
character you type thereafter will cause the cursor to move up instead
of to the right. Thus if you want to draw a line of dashes up to some
point, you can give the command Up Picture Movement, type enough dashes
to make the line, and then give the command Right Picture Movement to
put things back to normal. Similarly, there are functions to cause
downward and leftward movement: Down Picture Movement and Left Picture
Movement. These commands remain in effect only until you exit the Edit
Picture function, (One final note: you can use these cursor movement
commands outside of Edit Picture too, even when not in Overwrite mode.
You have to be somewhat careful though.)
Possible future extensions include alteration of the kill and un-kill
commands to replace instead of deleting and inserting, and to handle
rectangles if two corners are specified using point and the mark.
The DRAW library is a user-contributed library containing other commands
useful for editing pictures.
EMACS Node: Sort, Previous: PICTURE, Up: Top
Sorting Functions
The SORT library contains functions called Sort Lines, Sort Paragraphs
and Sort Pages, to sort the region alphabetically line by line,
paragraph by paragraph or page by page. For example, Sort Lines
rearranges the lines in the region so that they are in alphabetical
order.
Paragraphs are defined in the same way as for the paragraph-motion
functions (*Note Paragraphs: Sentences.) and pages are defined as for
the page motion commands (*Note Pages: Pages.). All of these functions
can be undone by the Undo command (*Note Undo: Undo.). A numeric
argument tells them to sort into reverse alphabetical order.
You can rearrange pages to any way you like using the functions Make
Page Permutation Table and Permute Pages From Table. Make Page
Permutation Table starts you editing a table containing the first line
of each page. This table is kept in a buffer named *Permutation Table*.
You specify the new ordering for the pages by rearranging the first
lines into the desired order. You can also omit or duplicate pages by
omitting or duplicating the lines.
When you are finished rearranging the lines, use Permute Pages From
Table to rearrange the entire original file the same way. Reselect the
original buffer first. The permuted version is constructed in a buffer
named *Permuted File*. The original buffer is not changed. You can use
Insert Buffer to copy the data into the original buffer.
EMACS Node: Ideal, Previous: Characters, Up: Characters
Ideal Keyboards
An ideal EMACS keyboard can be recognized because it has a Control key
and a Meta key on each side, with another key labeled Top above them.
On an ideal keyboard, to type any character in the 9-bit character set,
hold down Control or Meta as appropriate while typing the key for the
rest of the character. To type C-M-K, type K while holding down Control
and Meta.
The "bit prefix" characters that you must use on other terminals are
also available on terminals with Meta keys, in case you find them more
convenient or get into habits on those other terminals. *Note Bit
Prefix: Characters.
To type numeric arguments on these keyboards, type the digits or minus
sign while holding down either Control or Meta.
EMACS Node: EditKey, Previous: Characters, Up: Characters
Keyboards with an "Edit" key
Keyboards with Edit keys probably belong to Datamedia or Teleray
terminals. The Edit and Control keys are a pair of shift keys. Use the
Control key to type Control characters and the Edit key to type Meta
characters. Thus, the 9-bit EMACS character C-M-Q is typed by striking
the "Q" key while holding down "Edit" and "Control".
While the Edit key is a true independent bit which can be combined with
anything else you can type, the Control key really means "ASCII
control". Thus, the only Control characters you can type are those
which exist in ASCII. This includes C-A, C-B, C-D through C-Z, C-],
C-@, C-\, and C-^. C-C can be typed on the terminal but it is
intercepted by the operating system and therefore unavailable as EMACS
command. C-[ is not available because its spot in ASCII is pre-empted
by Altmode. The corresponding Control-Meta commands are also hard to
type. If you can't type C-; directly, then you also can't type C-M-;
directly.
Though you can't type C-; directly, you can use the bit prefix character
C-^ and type C-^ ;. Similarly, while you can't type C-M-;, you can use
the Control-Meta prefix C-Z and type C-Z ;. Because C-^ is itself
awkward, we have designed the EMACS command set so that the hard-to-type
Control (non-Meta) characters are rarely needed.
To type numeric arguments, it is best to type the digits or minus sign
while holding down the Edit key.
EMACS Node: Losers, Previous: Characters, Up: Characters, Next: Term Types
ASCII Keyboards
An ASCII keyboard allows you to type in one keystroke only the command
characters with equivalents in ASCII. No Meta characters are possible,
and not all Control characters are possible either. The Control
characters which you can type directly are C-A, C-B, C-D through C-Z,
C-], C-@, C-\, and C-^. C-C can be typed on the terminal but it is
intercepted by the operating system and therefore unavailable as EMACS
command. C-[ is not available because its spot in ASCII is pre-empted
by Altmode.
Those characters which you can't type directly can be typed as two
character sequences using the bit prefix characters Altmode, C-Z and
C-^. Altmode turns on the Meta bit of the character that follows it.
Thus, M-A can be typed as Altmode A, and C-M-A as Altmode C-A. Altmode
can be used to get almost all of the characters that can't be typed
directly. C-Z can be used to type any Control-Meta character, including
a few that Altmode can't be used for because the corresponding non-Meta
character isn't on the keyboard. Thus, while you can't type C-M-; as
Altmode Control-;, since there is no Control-; in ASCII, you can type
C-M-; as C-Z ;. The Control (non-Meta) characters which can't be typed
directly require the use of C-^, as in C-^ < to get the effect of C-<.
Because C-^ by itself is hard to type, the EMACS command set is arranged
so that most of these non-ASCII Control characters are not very
important. Usually they have synonyms which are easier to type. In
fact, in this manual only the easier-to-type forms are usually
mentioned.
On ASCII keyboards, you can type a numeric argument by typing an Altmode
followed by the minus sign and/or digits. Then comes the command for
which the argument is intended. For example, type Altmode 5 C-N to move
down five lines. If the command is a Meta command, it must have an
Altmode of its own, as in Altmode 5 Altmode F to move forward five
words.
Note to customizers: this effect requires redefining the Meta-digit
commands, since the Altmode and the first digit amount to a Meta-digit
character. The new definition is ^R Autoarg, and the redefinition is
done by the default init file.
If you use numeric arguments very often, and you dislike having to start
one with an Altmode, you might enjoy using Autoarg mode, in which you
can specify a numeric argument by just typing the digits. *Note
Arguments: Arguments, for details.
EMACS Node: Term Types, Previous: Losers, Up: Characters
Specifying Terminal Type
To make the EMACS display work properly, you must specify somehow what
sort of terminal you are using, because each brand of display terminal
requires different control codes. The best way to do this is to tell
EXEC, if your terminal is a type that EXEC knows about. Otherwise, you
must tell EMACS itself.
To tell EXEC your terminal type, use the TERMINAL TYPE command. Type
"?" after that command to see the alternatives. Then type the
alternative which is right, if one of them is. Your terminal may not
actually be one of those types, but may still be compatible with one.
If it is compatible in command codes but its screen width or height is
not the same, you must specify them with the TERMINAL HEIGHT and
TERMINAL WIDTH commands.
If EXEC does not know a terminal compatible with yours, you must tell
EMACS yourself. Use the M-X Set Terminal Type command, with a string
argument which is an EMACS terminal type name. Do
M-X List LibraryTRMTYP
to see a list of the EMACS terminal type names and their meanings. Even
though you set the terminal type explicitly, the screen width and height
are still obtained from the system, so you must use the EXEC commands
TERMINAL HEIGHT and TERMINAL WIDTH to specify them, even though you
cannot tell EXEC the terminal type.
Restarting EMACS as an emergency abort does not forget the settings you
have established with Set Terminal Type, because if the system reports
the same information as before, and EMACS knows that you overrode the
system before, it continues to obey your Set Terminal Type rather than
the system's terminal type.
More Advanced Terminal Options
If your terminal is not precisely compatible with what you specified,
you may need to turn off the use of some terminal features that don't
work right. This is done by setting several FS flags. *Note FS Flags:
FS Flags.
The flag FS I&D CHAR controls the use of the insert and delete
character operations. They are used if it is nonzero. The flag FS I&D
Line controls use of insert and delete line operations. They are used
if the flag is positive. If the flag is negative, then region-scrolling
operations are used instead. These flags are set automatically
according to the terminal type specified, and reflect what is expected
to work on that type of terminal. You need to change them only if your
terminal does not really handle what it is supposed to.
FS TTYFCI controls whether EMACS thinks you have a Meta key. It should
be negative for terminals which have ideal keyboards, and positive for
terminals with a Meta key which encode it as the 200 bit in an 8-bit
character. Frequently terminals of the same model differ in whether
they have a Meta key.
You can specify the terminal type code number explicitly by giving an
argument to FS TTY INIT. This is how Set Terminal Type works. You can
specify the terminal width explicitly by setting FS WIDTH.
Padding and Flow Control
EMACS normally turns off page mode, and causes the system to treat the
input characters and as ordinary input instead of stopping and
starting output. This is so that they can be used as commands. Then
EMACS pads output so as to try to prevent the terminal from ever
generating and for flow control. If this does not work, you need
to fiddle around until it does.
FS PAD CHR specifies the character used to do padding. 0 and 127 are
useful characters to try. If it is negative, actual time delays are
used instead of padding characters. Otherwise compatible terminals
often require different padding. FS OSPEED tells EMACS what the speed
of the line is, and controls the amount of padding used. By setting it
to a value larger than the truth you can increase the amount of padding
used. The original value is obtained from the system, but sometimes the
system fails to know the correct value.
If you cannot manage to make padding work well enough to avoid
terminal-generated and characters, then you may need to re-enable
their use for flow control. Do this by setting FS TTY PAGE nonzero.
You will have to do without the C-S and C-Q commands, though.
EMACS Node: NoLowerCase, Up: Characters
Upper-case-only Terminals
On terminals lacking the ability to display or enter lower case
characters, a special input and output case-flagging convention has been
defined for editing files which contain lower case characters.
The customary escape convention is that a slash prefixes any upper case
letter; all unprefixed letters are lower case (but see below for the
"lower case punctuation characters"). This convention is chosen because
lower case is usually more frequent in files containing any lower case
at all. Upper case letters are displayed with a slash ("/") in front.
Typing a slash followed by a letter is a good way to insert an upper
case letter. Typing a letter without a slash inserts a lower case
letter. For the most part, the buffer will appear as if the slashes had
simply been inserted (type /A and it inserts an upper case A, which
displays as /A), but cursor-motion commands will reveal that the slash
and the A are really just one character. Another way to insert an
upper-case letter is to quote it with C-Q.
Note that this escape convention applies only to display of the buffer
and insertion in the buffer. It does not apply to arguments of commands
(it is hardly ever useful for them, since case is ignored in command
names and most commands' arguments). Case conversion is performed when
you type commands into the minibuffer, but not when the commands are
actually executed.
The ASCII character set includes several punctuation characters whose
codes fall in the lower case range and which cannot be typed or
displayed on terminals that cannot handle lower case letters. These are
the curly braces ("{" and "}"), the vertical bar ("|"), the tilde ("~"),
and the accent grave ("`"). Their upper case equivalents are,
respectively, the square brackets ("[" and "]"), the backslash ("\"),
the caret ("^"), and the atsign ("@"). For these punctuation
characters, EMACS uses the opposite convention of that used for letters:
the ordinary, upper case punctuations display as and are entered as
themselves, while the lower case forms are prefixed by slashes. This is
because the "lower case" punctuations are much less frequently used.
So, to insert an accent grave, type "/@".
When the slash escape convention is in effect, a slash is displayed and
entered as two slashes.
This slash-escape convention is not normally in effect. To turn it on,
the TECO command -1$ (minus one dollar sign, not Altmode!) must be
executed. The easiest way to do this is to use the minibuffer: Altmode
Altmode -1$ Altmode Altmode. To turn off the escape convention (for
editing a file of all upper case), the command is 0$ (zero dollar sign),
or Altmode Altmode 0$ Altmode Altmode. If you use such a bad terminal
frequently, you can define yourself an EMACS extension, a command to
turn slash-escape on and off.
The lower case editing feature is actually more flexible than described
here. Refer to the TECO commands F$ (dollar sign) and FS CASE, using
M-X TECDOC, for full details. *Note FS Flags: FS Flags.
* Note Case: Case, for commands to change the case of text already in
the buffer.
EMACS Node: Printing, Up: Characters
Use of EMACS from Printing Terminals
While EMACS was designed to be used from a display terminal, you can use
it effectively from a printing terminal. You cannot, however, learn
EMACS using one.
All EMACS commands have the same editing effect from a printing terminal
as they do from a display. All that is different is how they try to
show what they have done. EMACS attempts to make the same commands that
you would use on a display terminal act like an interactive line-editor.
It does not do as good a job as editors designed originally for that
purpose, but it succeeds well enough to keep you informed of what your
commands are accomplishing, provided you know what they are supposed to
do and know how they would look on a display.
The usual buffer display convention for EMACS on a printing terminal is
that the part of the current line before the cursor is printed out, with
the cursor following (at the right position in the line). What follows
the cursor on the line is not immediately visible, but normally you will
have a printout of the original contents of the line a little ways back
up the paper. For example, if the current line contains the word
"FOOBAR", and the cursor is after the "FOO", just "FOO" would appear on
the paper, with the cursor following it. Typing the C-F command to move
over the "B" would cause "B" to be printed, so that you would now see
"FOOB" with the cursor following it. All forward-motion commands that
move reasonably short distances print out what they move over.
Backward motion is handled in a complicated way. As you move back, the
terminal backspaces to the correct place. When you stop moving back and
do something else, a linefeed is printed first thing so that the
printing done to reflect subsequent commands does not overwrite the text
you moved back over and become garbled by it. The Rubout command acts
like backward motion, but also prints a slash over the character rubbed
out. Other backwards deletion commands act like backward motion; they
do not print slashes (it would be an improvement if they did).
One command is different on a printing terminal: C-L, which normally
means "clear the screen and redisplay". With no argument, it retypes
the entire current line. An argument tells it to retype the specified
number of lines around the current line.
On printing terminals, C-S (^R Incremental Search) does not print out
the context automatically. To see what you have found at any stage,
type C-L. This types out the current line but does not exit the search.
All the normal facilities of incremental searching are available for
finding something else if you had not found the right place initially.
Unfortunately, EMACS cannot perfectly attain its goal of making the text
printed on the current line reflect the current line in the buffer, and
keeping the horizontal position of the cursor correct. One reason is
that it is necessary for complicated commands to echo, but echoing them
screws up the "display". The only solution is to type a C-L whenever
you have trouble following things in your mind. The need to keep a
mental model of the text being edited is, of course, the fundamental
defect of all printing terminal editors.
Note: it is possible to make a specific command print on a printing
terminal in whatever way is desired, if that is worth while. For
example, Linefeed knows explicitly how to display itself, since the
general TECO redisplay mechanism isn't able to handle it. Suggestions
for how individual commands can display themselves are welcome, as long
as they are algorithmic rather than simply of the form "please do the
right thing".
Tag Table:
EMACS Node: Top209
EMACS Node: Intro6711
EMACS Node: Distrib9617
EMACS Node: Glossary11625
EMACS Node: CommandIndex37891
EMACS Node: LibCat80491
EMACS Node: VarIndex92617
EMACS Node: Screen121384
EMACS Node: ModeLine124913
EMACS Node: Characters131454
EMACS Node: Basic143096
EMACS Node: Arguments150285
EMACS Node: M-X154178
EMACS Node: MMArcana161996
EMACS Node: Subsystems168378
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EMACS Node: Mail183736
EMACS Node: Help184615
EMACS Node: Mark190300
EMACS Node: Killing196904
EMACS Node: Un-Killing201790
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EMACS Node: Search210552
EMACS Node: Text218470
EMACS Node: Words219918
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EMACS Node: Case238334
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EMACS Node: Files257814
EMACS Node: Visiting258718
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EMACS Node: CleanDir273520
EMACS Node: DIRED275729
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EMACS Node: FS Flags388365
EMACS Node: Init391759
EMACS Node: Locals402441
EMACS Node: KBDMAC406834
EMACS Node: Minibuffer413922
EMACS Node: Quitting419980
EMACS Node: Lossage422343
EMACS Node: Undo430013
EMACS Node: Journals431831
EMACS Node: Bugs441836
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EMACS Node: Sort452821
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EMACS Node: EditKey455147
EMACS Node: Losers456672
EMACS Node: Term Types459221
EMACS Node: NoLowerCase463511
EMACS Node: Printing466738
End Tag Table: