Emacs in this manual

344 Pages·1999·2.08 MB·English

XEmacs User’s Manual
July 1994
(General Public License upgraded, January 1991)
Richard Stallman
Lucid, Inc.
and
Ben Wing
Copyright (cid:13)c 1985, 1986, 1988 Richard M. Stallman.
Copyright (cid:13)c 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 Lucid, Inc.
Copyright (cid:13)c 1993, 1994 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Copyright (cid:13)c 1995 Amdahl Corporation.
Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copy-
right notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the con-
ditions for verbatim copying, provided also that the sections entitled “The GNU Manifesto”,
“Distribution” and “GNU General Public License” are included exactly as in the original, and
provided that the entire resulting derived work is distributed under the terms of a permission
notice identical to this one.
Permission is granted to copy and distribute translations of this manual into another language,
under the above conditions for modified versions, except that the sections entitled “The GNU
Manifesto”, “Distribution”and“GNU GeneralPublicLicense” may be includedin atranslation
approved by the author instead of in the original English.
i
Short Contents
Preface ............................................ 1
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE ....................... 3
Distribution......................................... 9
Introduction........................................ 11
1 The XEmacs Frame ............................... 13
2 Keystrokes, Key Sequences, and Key Bindings ............. 17
3 Entering and Exiting Emacs.......................... 29
4 Basic Editing Commands............................ 37
5 Undoing Changes ................................. 43
6 The Minibuffer................................... 45
7 Running Commands by Name ........................ 51
8 Help.......................................... 53
9 Selecting Text ................................... 57
10 Killing and Moving Text ............................ 63
11 Registers....................................... 73
12 Controlling the Display ............................. 75
13 Searching and Replacement .......................... 79
14 Commands for Fixing Typos ......................... 89
15 File Handling.................................... 91
16 Using Multiple Buffers............................. 111
17 Multiple Windows................................ 115
18 World Scripts Support............................. 119
19 Major Modes ................................... 127
20 Indentation .................................... 129
21 Commands for Human Languages ..................... 133
22 Editing Programs ................................ 145
23 Compiling and Testing Programs...................... 167
24 Abbrevs....................................... 179
25 Editing Pictures ................................. 183
26 Sending Mail ................................... 187
27 Reading Mail ................................... 191
28 Miscellaneous Commands........................... 217
29 Customization .................................. 227
30 Correcting Mistakes (Yours or Emacs’s) ................. 257
XEmacs Features.................................... 263
Glossary.......................................... 267
ii XEmacs User’s Manual
The GNU Manifesto.................................. 279
Key (Character) Index ................................ 287
Command and Function Index........................... 293
Variable Index...................................... 311
Concept Index...................................... 321
iii
Table of Contents
Preface.......................................... 1
GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE ............. 3
Preamble........................................................ 3
TERMS AND CONDITIONS..................................... 3
Appendix: How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs....... 6
Distribution ..................................... 9
Getting Other Versions of Emacs.................................. 9
Introduction.................................... 11
1 The XEmacs Frame.......................... 13
1.1 Point...................................................... 13
1.2 The Echo Area............................................. 14
1.3 The Mode Line............................................. 14
1.4 Using XEmacs Under the X Window System................. 16
2 Keystrokes, Key Sequences, and Key Bindings
........................................... 17
2.1 Keystrokes as Building Blocks of Key Sequences.............. 17
2.1.1 Representing Keystrokes ........................... 18
2.1.2 Representing Key Sequences........................ 18
2.1.3 String Key Sequences.............................. 19
2.1.4 Assignment of the (cid:104)META(cid:105) Key ...................... 19
2.1.5 Assignment of the (cid:104)SUPER(cid:105) and (cid:104)HYPER(cid:105) Keys......... 20
2.2 Representation of Characters................................ 21
2.3 Keys and Commands....................................... 22
2.4 XEmacs Pull-down Menus .................................. 22
2.4.1 The File Menu..................................... 23
2.4.2 The Edit Menu.................................... 24
2.4.3 The Apps Menu................................... 25
2.4.4 The Options Menu................................. 25
2.4.5 The Buffers Menu.................................. 27
2.4.6 The Tools Menu................................... 27
2.4.7 The Help Menu.................................... 27
2.4.8 Customizing XEmacs Menus........................ 27
3 Entering and Exiting Emacs.................. 29
3.1 Exiting Emacs ............................................. 29
3.2 Command Line Switches and Arguments..................... 30
3.2.1 Command Line Arguments for Any Position......... 30
3.2.2 Command Line Arguments (Beginning of Line Only).. 31
3.2.3 Command Line Arguments (for XEmacs Under X)... 32
3.3 How XEmacs finds Directories and Files...................... 33
3.3.1 XEmacs Directory Hierarchies...................... 33
3.3.2 Package Hierarchies................................ 34
3.3.3 Directories and Paths.............................. 34
iv XEmacs User’s Manual
4 Basic Editing Commands .................... 37
4.1 Inserting Text.............................................. 37
4.2 Changing the Location of Point.............................. 37
4.3 Erasing Text............................................... 39
4.4 Files ...................................................... 39
4.5 Help....................................................... 40
4.6 Blank Lines................................................ 40
4.7 Continuation Lines......................................... 40
4.8 Cursor Position Information................................. 41
4.9 Numeric Arguments........................................ 42
5 Undoing Changes............................ 43
6 The Minibuffer.............................. 45
6.1 Minibuffers for File Names.................................. 45
6.2 Editing in the Minibuffer.................................... 46
6.3 Completion................................................ 46
6.3.1 A Completion Example ............................ 47
6.3.2 Completion Commands............................. 47
6.4 Repeating Minibuffer Commands............................ 48
7 Running Commands by Name................ 51
8 Help........................................ 53
8.1 Documentation for a Key................................... 54
8.2 Help by Command or Variable Name ........................ 54
8.3 Apropos................................................... 54
8.4 Other Help Commands ..................................... 55
9 Selecting Text............................... 57
9.1 The Mark and the Region................................... 57
9.1.1 Setting the Mark .................................. 57
9.1.2 Operating on the Region........................... 58
9.1.3 Commands to Mark Textual Objects................ 58
9.1.4 The Mark Ring.................................... 59
9.2 Selecting Text with the Mouse............................... 59
9.3 Additional Mouse Operations ............................... 60
10 Killing and Moving Text.................... 63
10.1 Deletion and Killing....................................... 63
10.1.1 Deletion ......................................... 63
10.1.2 Killing by Lines .................................. 64
10.1.3 Other Kill Commands............................. 64
10.2 Yanking.................................................. 65
10.2.1 The Kill Ring .................................... 65
10.2.2 Appending Kills.................................. 65
10.2.3 Yanking Earlier Kills.............................. 66
10.3 Using X Selections ........................................ 66
10.3.1 The Clipboard Selection........................... 67
10.3.2 Miscellaneous X Selection Commands.............. 67
10.3.3 X Cut Buffers.................................... 68
10.3.4 Active Regions ................................... 68
10.4 Accumulating Text........................................ 69
10.5 Rectangles................................................ 70
v
11 Registers................................... 73
11.1 Saving Positions in Registers............................... 73
11.2 Saving Text in Registers................................... 73
11.3 Saving Rectangles in Registers ............................. 74
12 Controlling the Display ..................... 75
12.1 Scrolling.................................................. 75
12.2 Horizontal Scrolling ....................................... 76
12.3 Selective Display.......................................... 76
12.4 Variables Controlling Display............................... 77
13 Searching and Replacement ................. 79
13.1 Incremental Search........................................ 79
13.1.1 Slow Terminal Incremental Search.................. 81
13.2 Non-Incremental Search.................................... 81
13.3 Word Search.............................................. 82
13.4 Regular Expression Search................................. 82
13.5 Syntax of Regular Expressions.............................. 82
13.6 Searching and Case........................................ 85
13.7 Replacement Commands................................... 85
13.7.1 Unconditional Replacement........................ 86
13.7.2 Regexp Replacement.............................. 86
13.7.3 Replace Commands and Case...................... 86
13.7.4 Query Replace.................................... 87
13.8 Other Search-and-Loop Commands......................... 88
14 Commands for Fixing Typos ................ 89
14.1 Killing Your Mistakes...................................... 89
14.2 Transposing Text.......................................... 89
14.3 Case Conversion........................................... 90
14.4 Checking and Correcting Spelling........................... 90
15 File Handling .............................. 91
15.1 File Names ............................................... 91
15.2 Visiting Files.............................................. 92
15.3 Saving Files............................................... 94
15.3.1 Backup Files..................................... 95
15.3.1.1 Single or Numbered Backups.............. 95
15.3.1.2 Automatic Deletion of Backups............ 96
15.3.1.3 Copying vs.Renaming .................... 96
15.3.2 Protection Against Simultaneous Editing........... 96
15.4 Reverting a Buffer......................................... 97
15.5 Auto-Saving: Protection Against Disasters.................. 98
15.5.1 Auto-Save Files................................... 98
15.5.2 Controlling Auto-Saving........................... 99
15.5.3 Recovering Data from Auto-Saves.................. 99
15.6 Version Control........................................... 99
15.6.1 Concepts of Version Control...................... 100
15.6.2 Editing with Version Control..................... 100
15.6.3 Variables Affecting Check-in and Check-out........ 101
15.6.4 Log Entries ..................................... 102
15.6.5 Change Logs and VC ............................ 102
15.6.6 Examining And Comparing Old Versions.......... 103
15.6.7 VC Status Commands ........................... 104
vi XEmacs User’s Manual
15.6.8 Renaming VC Work Files and Master Files........ 104
15.6.9 Snapshots....................................... 105
15.6.9.1 Making and Using Snapshots............. 105
15.6.9.2 Snapshot Caveats....................... 105
15.6.10 Inserting Version Control Headers................ 106
15.7 Listing a File Directory................................... 107
15.8 Comparing Files ......................................... 107
15.9 Dired, the Directory Editor............................... 108
15.9.1 Entering Dired.................................. 108
15.9.2 Editing in Dired................................. 108
15.9.3 Deleting Files With Dired........................ 108
15.9.4 Immediate File Operations in Dired............... 109
15.10 Miscellaneous File Operations............................ 110
16 Using Multiple Buffers..................... 111
16.1 Creating and Selecting Buffers ............................ 111
16.2 Listing Existing Buffers................................... 112
16.3 Miscellaneous Buffer Operations........................... 112
16.4 Killing Buffers........................................... 113
16.5 Operating on Several Buffers.............................. 113
17 Multiple Windows......................... 115
17.1 Concepts of Emacs Windows.............................. 115
17.2 Splitting Windows........................................ 115
17.3 Using Other Windows.................................... 116
17.4 Displaying in Another Window............................ 117
17.5 Deleting and Rearranging Windows........................ 117
18 World Scripts Support..................... 119
18.1 Introduction to world scripts.............................. 119
18.2 Language Environments .................................. 119
18.3 Input Methods........................................... 120
18.4 Selecting an Input Method................................ 121
18.5 Coding Systems.......................................... 121
18.6 Recognizing Coding Systems.............................. 122
18.7 Specifying a Coding System............................... 123
19 Major Modes ............................. 127
19.1 Choosing Major Modes................................... 127
20 Indentation ............................... 129
20.1 Indentation Commands and Techniques.................... 129
20.2 Tab Stops ............................................... 130
20.3 Tabs vs. Spaces.......................................... 130
vii
21 Commands for Human Languages .......... 133
21.1 Text Mode............................................... 133
21.1.1 Nroff Mode...................................... 133
21.1.2 TEX Mode ...................................... 134
21.1.2.1 TEX Editing Commands................. 134
21.1.2.2 TEX Printing Commands................ 135
21.1.3 Outline Mode ................................... 136
21.1.3.1 Format of Outlines...................... 137
21.1.3.2 Outline Motion Commands.............. 137
21.1.3.3 Outline Visibility Commands ............ 138
21.2 Words................................................... 139
21.3 Sentences................................................ 140
21.4 Paragraphs.............................................. 140
21.5 Pages ................................................... 141
21.6 Filling Text.............................................. 142
21.6.1 Auto Fill Mode.................................. 142
21.6.2 Explicit Fill Commands.......................... 143
21.6.3 The Fill Prefix .................................. 143
21.7 Case Conversion Commands .............................. 144
22 Editing Programs ......................... 145
22.1 Major Modes for Programming Languages ................. 145
22.2 Lists and Sexps.......................................... 146
22.3 Defuns .................................................. 147
22.4 Indentation for Programs................................. 148
22.4.1 Basic Program Indentation Commands............ 148
22.4.2 Indenting Several Lines .......................... 149
22.4.3 Customizing Lisp Indentation..................... 149
22.4.4 Customizing C Indentation....................... 150
22.5 Automatic Display of Matching Parentheses................ 152
22.6 Manipulating Comments.................................. 152
22.6.1 Multiple Lines of Comments...................... 153
22.6.2 Options Controlling Comments................... 153
22.7 Editing Without Unbalanced Parentheses.................. 154
22.8 Completion for Lisp Symbols.............................. 154
22.9 Documentation Commands ............................... 155
22.10 Change Logs............................................ 155
22.11 Tags Tables............................................. 156
22.11.1 Source File Tag Syntax ......................... 156
22.11.2 Creating Tags Tables ........................... 157
22.11.3 Selecting a Tags Table.......................... 159
22.11.4 Finding a Tag.................................. 160
22.11.5 Searching and Replacing with Tags Tables........ 161
22.11.6 Tags Table Inquiries............................ 162
22.12 Fortran Mode........................................... 162
22.12.1 Motion Commands ............................. 162
22.12.2 Fortran Indentation............................. 163
22.12.2.1 Fortran Indentation Commands......... 163
22.12.2.2 Line Numbers and Continuation......... 163
22.12.2.3 Syntactic Conventions.................. 164
22.12.2.4 Variables for Fortran Indentation........ 164
22.12.3 Comments..................................... 164
22.12.4 Columns....................................... 165
22.12.5 Fortran Keyword Abbrevs....................... 166
22.13 Asm Mode.............................................. 166
viii XEmacs User’s Manual
23 Compiling and Testing Programs........... 167
23.1 Running “make”, or Compilers Generally .................. 167
23.2 Major Modes for Lisp..................................... 168
23.3 Libraries of Lisp Code for Emacs.......................... 169
23.3.1 Loading Libraries................................ 169
23.3.2 Compiling Libraries.............................. 170
23.3.3 Converting Mocklisp to Lisp...................... 171
23.4 Evaluating Emacs-Lisp Expressions........................ 171
23.5 The Emacs-Lisp Debugger................................ 172
23.6 Lisp Interaction Buffers................................... 173
23.7 Running an External Lisp................................. 174
23.8 Packages................................................. 174
23.8.1 Package Flavors................................. 174
23.8.2 Package Distributions............................ 175
23.8.3 Binary Packages................................. 175
23.8.4 Source Packages................................. 175
23.8.5 Getting Started.................................. 175
23.8.6 Choosing the Packages You Need ................. 175
23.8.7 XEmacs and Installing Packages.................. 176
23.8.8 Other package installation interfaces .............. 177
23.8.9 Manual Binary Package Installation............... 177
23.8.10 Prerequisites for Building Source Packages........ 178
23.8.11 What You Can Do With Source Packages ........ 178
24 Abbrevs .................................. 179
24.1 Defining Abbrevs......................................... 179
24.2 Controlling Abbrev Expansion ............................ 180
24.3 Examining and Editing Abbrevs........................... 181
24.4 Saving Abbrevs.......................................... 181
24.5 Dynamic Abbrev Expansion............................... 182
25 Editing Pictures........................... 183
25.1 Basic Editing in Picture Mode ............................ 183
25.2 Controlling Motion After Insert ........................... 184
25.3 Picture Mode Tabs....................................... 184
25.4 Picture Mode Rectangle Commands....................... 185
26 Sending Mail.............................. 187
26.1 The Format of the Mail Buffer ............................ 187
26.2 Mail Header Fields....................................... 188
26.3 Mail Mode............................................... 189