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This is Info file ../info/emacs, produced by Makeinfo-1.49 from the input file emacs.texi. This file documents the GNU Emacs editor. Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1988, 1992 Richard M. Stallman. Permission is granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this manual provided the copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved on all copies. Permission is granted to copy and distribute modified versions of this manual under the conditions 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 General Public License" may be included in a translation approved by the author instead of in the original English. File: emacs, Node: Glossary, Next: Key Index, Prev: Intro, Up: Top Glossary ******** Abbrev An abbrev is a text string which expands into a different text string when present in the buffer. For example, you might define a short word as an abbrev for a long phrase that you want to insert frequently. *Note Abbrevs::. Aborting Aborting means getting out of a recursive edit (q.v.). The commands `C-]' and `M-x top-level' are used for this. *Note Quitting::. Auto Fill mode Auto Fill mode is a minor mode in which text that you insert is automatically broken into lines of fixed width. *Note Filling::. Auto Saving Auto saving is when Emacs automatically stores the contents of an Emacs buffer in a specially-named file so that the information will not be lost if the buffer is lost due to a system error or user error. *Note Auto Save::. Backup File A backup file records the contents that a file had before the current editing session. Emacs makes backup files automatically to help you track down or cancel changes you later regret making. *Note Backup::. Balance Parentheses Emacs can balance parentheses manually or automatically. Manual balancing is done by the commands to move over balanced expressions (*note Lists::.). Automatic balancing is done by blinking the parenthesis that matches one just inserted (*note Matching Parens: Matching.). Bind To bind a key is to change its binding (q.v.). *Note Rebinding::. Binding A key gets its meaning in Emacs by having a binding which is a command (q.v.), a Lisp function that is run when the key is typed. *Note Binding: Commands. Customization often involves rebinding a character to a different command function. The bindings of all keys are recorded in the keymaps (q.v.). *Note Keymaps::. Blank Lines Blank lines are lines that contain only whitespace. Emacs has several commands for operating on the blank lines in the buffer. 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 several can be visible when you are using multiple windows. *Note Buffers::. Buffer Selection History Emacs keeps a buffer selection history which records how recently each Emacs buffer has been selected. This is used for choosing a buffer to select. *Note Buffers::. C- `C' in the name of a character is an abbreviation for Control. *Note C-: Characters. C-M- `C-M-' in the name of a character is an abbreviation for Control-Meta. *Note C-M-: Characters. Case Conversion Case conversion means changing text from upper case to lower case or vice versa. *Note Case::, for the commands for case conversion. Characters Characters form the contents of an Emacs buffer; also, Emacs commands are invoked by keys (q.v.), which are sequences of one or more characters. *Note Characters::. Command A command is a Lisp function specially defined to be able to serve as a key binding in Emacs. When you type a key (q.v.), its binding (q.v.) is looked up in the relevant keymaps (q.v.) to find the command to run. *Note Commands::. Command Name A command name is the name of a Lisp symbol which is a command (*note Commands::.). You can invoke any command by its name using `M-x' (*note M-x::.). Comments A comment is text in a program which is intended only for humans reading the program, and is marked specially so that it will be ignored when the program is loaded or compiled. Emacs offers special commands for creating, aligning and killing comments. *Note Comments::. Compilation Compilation is the process of creating an executable program from source code. Emacs has commands for compiling files of Emacs Lisp code (*note Lisp Libraries::.) and programs in C and other languages (*note Compilation::.). Complete Key A complete key 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 `Control-x m' are keys. Keys derive their meanings from being bound (q.v.) to commands (q.v.). Thus, `X' is conventionally bound to a command to insert `X' in the buffer; `C-x m' is conventionally bound to a command to begin composing a mail message. *Note Keys::. Completion Completion is what Emacs does when it automatically fills out an abbreviation for a name into the entire name. Completion is done for minibuffer (q.v.) arguments when the set of possible valid inputs is known; for example, on command names, buffer names, and file names. Completion occurs when TAB, SPC or RET is typed. *Note Completion::. Continuation Line When a line of text is longer than the width of the screen, it takes up more than one screen line when displayed. We say that the text line is continued, and all screen lines used for it after the first are called continuation lines. *Note Continuation: Basic. Control-Character ASCII characters with octal codes 0 through 037, and also code 0177, do not have graphic images assigned to them. These are the control characters. Any control character can be typed by holding down the CTRL key and typing some other character; some have special keys on the keyboard. RET, TAB, ESC, LFD and DEL are all control characters. *Note Characters::. Copyleft A copyleft is a notice giving the public legal permission to redistribute a program or other work of art. Copylefts are used by leftists to enrich the public just as copyrights are used by rightists to gain power over the public. Current Buffer The current buffer in Emacs is the Emacs buffer on which most editing commands operate. You can select any Emacs buffer as the current one. *Note Buffers::. Current Line The line point is on (*note Point::.). Current Paragraph The paragraph that point is in. If point is between paragraphs, the current paragraph is the one that follows point. *Note Paragraphs::. Current Defun The defun (q.v.) that point is in. If point is between defuns, the current defun is the one that follows point. *Note Defuns::. Cursor The cursor is the rectangle on the screen which indicates the position called point (q.v.) at which insertion and deletion takes place. The cursor is on or under the character that follows point. Often people speak of `the cursor' when, strictly speaking, they mean `point'. *Note Cursor: Basic. Customization Customization is making minor changes in the way Emacs works. It is often done by setting variables (*note Variables::.) or by rebinding keys (*note Keymaps::.). Default Argument The default for an argument is the value that will be assumed if you do not specify one. When the minibuffer is used to read an argument, the default argument is used if you just type RET. *Note Minibuffer::. Default Directory When you specify a file name that does not start with `/' or `~', it is interpreted relative to the current buffer's default directory. *Note Default Directory: Minibuffer File. Defun A defun is a list at the top level of parenthesis or bracket structure in a program. It is so named because most such lists in Lisp programs are calls to the Lisp function `defun'. *Note Defuns::. DEL DEL is a character that runs the command to delete one character of text. *Note DEL: Basic. 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. Deletion of Files Deleting a file means erasing it from the file system. *Note Misc File Ops::. Deletion of Messages Deleting a message means flagging it to be eliminated from your mail file. This can be undone by undeletion until the mail file is expunged. *Note Rmail Deletion::. Deletion of Windows Deleting a window means eliminating it from the screen. Other windows expand to use up the space. The deleted window can never come back, but no actual text is thereby lost. *Note Windows::. Directory Files in the Unix file system are grouped into file directories. *Note Directories: ListDir. Dired Dired is the Emacs facility that displays the contents of a file directory and allows you to "edit the directory", performing operations on the files in the directory. *Note Dired::. Disabled Command A disabled command is one that you may not run without special confirmation. The usual reason for disabling a command is that it is confusing for beginning users. *Note Disabling::. Dribble File A file into which Emacs writes all the characters that the user types on the keyboard. Dribble files are used to make a record for debugging Emacs bugs. Emacs does not make a dribble file unless you tell it to. *Note Bugs::. Echo Area The echo area is the bottom line of the screen, used for echoing the arguments to commands, for asking questions, and printing brief messages (including error messages). *Note Echo Area::. Echoing Echoing is acknowledging the receipt of commands by displaying them (in the echo area). Emacs never echoes single-character keys; longer keys echo only if you pause while typing them. Error An error occurs when an Emacs command cannot execute in the current circumstances. When an error occurs, execution of the command stops (unless the command has been programmed to do otherwise) and Emacs reports the error by printing an error message (q.v.). Type-ahead is discarded. Then Emacs is ready to read another editing command. Error Messages Error messages are single lines of output printed by Emacs when the user asks for something impossible to do (such as, killing text forward when point is at the end of the buffer). They appear in the echo area, accompanied by a beep. ESC ESC is a character, used to end incremental searches and as a prefix for typing Meta characters on keyboards lacking a META key. Unlike the META key (which, like the SHIFT key, is held down while another character is typed), the ESC key is pressed once and applies to the next character typed. Fill Prefix The fill prefix is a string that should be expected at the beginning of each line when filling is done. It is not regarded as part of the text to be filled. *Note Filling::. Filling Filling text means moving text from line to line so that all the lines are approximately the same length. *Note Filling::. Global Global means `independent of the current environment; in effect throughout Emacs'. It is the opposite of local (q.v.). Particular examples of the use of `global' appear below. Global Abbrev A global definition of an abbrev (q.v.) is effective in all major modes that do not have local (q.v.) definitions for the same abbrev. *Note Abbrevs::. Global Keymap The global keymap (q.v.) contains key bindings that are in effect except when overridden by local key bindings in a major mode's local keymap (q.v.). *Note Keymaps::. Global Substitution Global substitution means replacing each occurrence of one string by another string through a large amount of text. *Note Replace::. Global Variable The global value of a variable (q.v.) takes effect in all buffers that do not have their own local (q.v.) values for the variable. *Note Variables::. Graphic Character Graphic characters are those assigned pictorial images rather than just names. All the non-Meta (q.v.) characters except for the Control (q.v.) characters are graphic characters. These include letters, digits, punctuation, and spaces; they do not include RET or ESC. In Emacs, typing a graphic character inserts that character (in ordinary editing modes). *Note Basic Editing: Basic. Grinding Grinding means adjusting the indentation in a program to fit the nesting structure. *Note Grinding: Indentation. Hardcopy Hardcopy means printed output. Emacs has commands for making printed listings of text in Emacs buffers. *Note Hardcopy::. HELP You can type HELP at any time to ask what options you have, or to ask what any command does. HELP is really `Control-h'. *Note Help::. Inbox An inbox is a file in which mail is delivered by the operating system. Rmail transfers mail from inboxes to mail files (q.v.) in which the mail is then stored permanently or until explicitly deleted. *Note Rmail Inbox::. Indentation Indentation means blank space at the beginning of a line. Most programming languages have conventions for using indentation to illuminate the structure of the program, and Emacs has special features to help you set up the correct indentation. *Note Indentation::. Insertion Insertion means copying text into the buffer, either from the keyboard or from some other place in Emacs. Justification Justification means adding extra spaces to lines of text to make them come exactly to a specified width. *Note Justification: Filling. Keyboard Macros Keyboard macros are a way of defining new Emacs commands from sequences of existing ones, with no need to write a Lisp program. *Note Keyboard Macros::. Key A key is a sequence of characters that, when input to Emacs, specify or begin to specify a single action for Emacs to perform. That is, the sequence is not more than a single unit. If the key is enough to specify one action, it is a complete key (q.v.); if it is less than enough, it is a prefix key (q.v.). *Note Keys::. Keymap The keymap is the data structure that records the bindings (q.v.) of keys to the commands that they run. For example, the keymap binds the character `C-n' to the command function `next-line'. *Note Keymaps::. Kill Ring The kill ring is where all text you have killed recently is saved. You can reinsert any of the killed text still in the ring; this is called yanking (q.v.). *Note Yanking::. Killing Killing means erasing text and saving it on the kill ring so it can be yanked (q.v.) later. Some other systems call this "cutting". Most Emacs commands to erase text do killing, as opposed to deletion (q.v.). *Note Killing::. Killing Jobs Killing a job (such as, an invocation of Emacs) means making it cease to exist. Any data within it, if not saved in a file, is lost. *Note Exiting::. List A list is, approximately, a text string beginning with an open parenthesis and ending with the matching close parenthesis. In C mode and other non-Lisp modes, groupings surrounded by other kinds of matched delimiters appropriate to the language, such as braces, are also considered lists. Emacs has special commands for many operations on lists. *Note Lists::. Local Local means `in effect only in a particular context'; the relevant kind of context is a particular function execution, a particular buffer, or a particular major mode. It is the opposite of `global' (q.v.). Specific uses of `local' in Emacs terminology appear below. Local Abbrev A local abbrev definition is effective only if a particular major mode is selected. In that major mode, it overrides any global definition for the same abbrev. *Note Abbrevs::. Local Keymap A local keymap is used in a particular major mode; the key bindings (q.v.) in the current local keymap override global bindings of the same keys. *Note Keymaps::. Local Variable A local value of a variable (q.v.) applies to only one buffer. *Note Locals::. M- `M-' in the name of a character is an abbreviation for META, one of the modifier keys that can accompany any character. *Note Characters::. M-C- `M-C-' in the name of a character is an abbreviation for Control-Meta; it means the same thing as `C-M-'. If your terminal lacks a real META key, you type a Control-Meta character by typing ESC and then typing the corresponding Control character. *Note C-M-: Characters. M-x `M-x' is the key which is used to call an Emacs command by name. This is how commands that are not bound to keys are called. *Note M-x::. Mail Mail means messages sent from one user to another through the computer system, to be read at the recipient's convenience. Emacs has commands for composing and sending mail, and for reading and editing the mail you have received. *Note Sending Mail::. *Note Rmail::, for how to read mail. Mail File A mail file is a file which is edited using Rmail and in which Rmail stores mail. *Note Rmail::. Major Mode The major modes are a mutually exclusive set of options each of which configures Emacs for editing a certain sort of text. Ideally, each programming language has its own major mode. *Note Major Modes::. Mark The mark points to a position in the text. It specifies one end of the region (q.v.), point being the other end. Many commands operate on all the text from point to the mark. *Note Mark::. Mark Ring The mark ring is used to hold several recent previous locations of the mark, just in case you want to move back to them. *Note Mark Ring::. Message See `mail'. Meta Meta is the name of a modifier bit which a command character may have. It is present in a character if the character is typed with the META key held down. Such characters are given names that start with `Meta-'. For example, `Meta-<' is typed by holding down META and at the same time typing `<' (which itself is done, on most terminals, by holding down SHIFT and typing `,'). *Note Meta: Characters. Meta Character A Meta character is one whose character code includes the Meta bit. Minibuffer The minibuffer is the window that appears when necessary inside the echo area (q.v.), used for reading arguments to commands. *Note 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 has a command to turn it on or off. *Note Minor Modes::. Mode Line The mode line is the line at the bottom of each text window (q.v.), which gives status information on the buffer displayed in that window. *Note Mode Line::. Modified Buffer A buffer (q.v.) is modified if its text has been changed since the last time the buffer was saved (or since when it was created, if it has never been saved). *Note Saving::. Moving Text Moving text means erasing it from one place and inserting it in another. This is done by killing (q.v.) and then yanking (q.v.). *Note Killing::. Named Mark A named mark is a register (q.v.) in its role of recording a location in text so that you can move point to that location. *Note Registers::. Narrowing Narrowing means creating a restriction (q.v.) that limits editing in the current buffer 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::. Newline LFD characters in the buffer terminate lines of text and are called newlines. *Note Newline: Characters. 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 Arguments::. Option An option is a variable (q.v.) that exists so that you can customize Emacs by giving it a new value. *Note Variables::. Overwrite Mode Overwrite mode is a minor mode. When it is enabled, ordinary text characters replace the existing text after point rather than pushing it to the right. *Note Minor Modes::. Page A page is a unit of text, delimited by formfeed characters (ASCII Control-L, code 014) coming at the beginning of a line. Some Emacs commands are provided for moving over and operating on pages. *Note Pages::. Paragraphs Paragraphs are the medium-size unit of English text. There are special Emacs commands for moving over and operating on paragraphs. *Note Paragraphs::. Parsing 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 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 Key A prefix key is a key (q.v.) whose sole function is to introduce a set of multi-character keys. `Control-x' is an example of prefix key; thus, any two-character sequence starting with `C-x' is also a legitimate key. *Note Keys::. Primary Mail File Your primary mail file is the file named `RMAIL' in your home directory, where all mail that you receive is stored by Rmail unless you make arrangements to do otherwise. *Note Rmail::. Prompt A prompt is text printed to ask the user for input. Printing a prompt is called prompting. Emacs prompts always appear in the echo area (q.v.). One kind of prompting happens when the minibuffer is used to read an argument (*note Minibuffer::.); the echoing which happens when you pause in the middle of typing a multicharacter key is also a kind of prompting (*note Echo Area::.). Quitting Quitting means cancelling a partially typed command or a running command, using `C-g'. *Note Quitting::. Quoting Quoting means depriving a character of its usual special significance. In Emacs this 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 in this context, a special character is any character that does not normally insert itself (such as DEL, for example), and quoting it makes it insert itself as if it were not special. Not all contexts allow quoting. *Note Quoting: Basic. Read-only Buffer A read-only buffer is one whose text you are not allowed to change. Normally Emacs makes buffers read-only when they contain text which has a special significance to Emacs; for example, Dired buffers. Visiting a file that is write protected also makes a read-only buffer. *Note Buffers::. 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 Edit::. 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. Regexp See `regular expression'. Region The region is the text between point (q.v.) and the mark (q.v.). Many commands operate on the text of the region. *Note Region: Mark. Registers Registers are named slots in which text or buffer positions or rectangles can be saved for later use. *Note Registers::. Regular Expression A regular expression is a pattern that can match various text strings; for example, `l[0-9]+' matches `l' followed by one or more digits. *Note Regexps::. Replacement See `global substitution'. Restriction A buffer's restriction is the amount of text, at the beginning or the end of the buffer, that is temporarily invisible and inaccessible. Giving a buffer a nonzero amount of restriction is called narrowing (q.v.). *Note Narrowing::. RET RET is a character that in Emacs runs the command to insert a newline into the text. It is also used to terminate most arguments read in the minibuffer (q.v.). *Note Return: Characters. Saving Saving a buffer means copying its text into the file that was visited (q.v.) in that buffer. This is the way text in files actually gets changed by your Emacs editing. *Note Saving::. Scrolling Scrolling means shifting the text in the Emacs window so as to see a different part of the buffer. *Note Scrolling: Display. Searching Searching means moving point to the next occurrence of a specified string. *Note Search::. Selecting Selecting a buffer means making it the current (q.v.) buffer. *Note Selecting: 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, `C-h'. *Note Help::. Sentences Emacs has commands for moving by or killing by sentences. *Note Sentences::. Sexp A sexp (short for `s-expression') is the basic syntactic unit of Lisp in its textual form: either a list, or Lisp atom. Many Emacs commands operate on sexps. The term `sexp' is generalized to languages other than Lisp, to mean a syntactically recognizable expression. *Note Sexps: Lists. Simultaneous Editing Simultaneous editing means two users modifying the same file at once. Simultaneous editing if not detected can cause one user to lose his work. Emacs detects all cases of simultaneous editing and warns the user to investigate them. *Note Simultaneous Editing: Interlocking. String A string is a kind of Lisp data object which contains a sequence of characters. Many Emacs variables are intended to have strings as values. The Lisp syntax for a string consists of the characters in the string with a `"' before and another `"' after. A `"' that is part of the string must be written as `\"' and a `\' that is part of the string must be written as `\\'. All other characters, including newline, can be included just by writing them inside the string; however, escape sequences as in C, such as `\n' for newline or `\241' using an octal character code, are allowed as well. String Substitution See `global substitution'. Syntax Table The syntax table tells Emacs which characters are part of a word, which characters balance each other like parentheses, etc. *Note Syntax::. Tag Table A tag table is a file that serves as an index to the function definitions in one or more other files. *Note Tags::. Termscript File A termscript file contains a record of all characters sent by Emacs to the terminal. It is used for tracking down bugs in Emacs redisplay. Emacs does not make a termscript file unless you tell it to. *Note Bugs::. Text Two meanings (*note Text::.): * Data consisting of a sequence of characters, as opposed to binary numbers, images, graphics commands, executable programs, and the like. The contents of an Emacs buffer are always text in this sense. * Data consisting of written human language, as opposed to programs, or following the stylistic conventions of human language. 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 (q.v.) or the minibuffer (q.v.), and not in the middle of a command. You can get back to top level by aborting (q.v.) and quitting (q.v.). *Note Quitting::. Transposition Transposing two units of text means putting each one into the place formerly occupied by the other. There are Emacs commands to transpose two adjacent characters, words, sexps (q.v.) or lines (*note Transpose::.). Truncation Truncating text lines in the display means leaving out any text on a line that does not fit within the right margin of the window displaying it. See also `continuation line'. *Note Truncation: Basic. Undoing Undoing means making your previous editing go in reverse, bringing back the text that existed earlier in the editing session. *Note Undo::. Variable A variable is an object in Lisp that can store an arbitrary value. Emacs uses some variables for internal purposes, and has others (known as `options' (q.v.)) just so that you can set their values to control the behavior of Emacs. The variables used in Emacs that you are likely to be interested in are listed in the Variables Index in this manual. *Note Variables::, for information on variables. Visiting Visiting a file means loading its contents into a buffer (q.v.) where they can be edited. *Note Visiting::. Whitespace Whitespace is any run of consecutive formatting characters (space, tab, newline, and backspace). Widening Widening is removing any restriction (q.v.) on the current buffer; it is the opposite of narrowing (q.v.). *Note Narrowing::. Window Emacs divides the screen into one or more windows, each of which can display the contents of one buffer (q.v.) at any time. *Note Screen::, for basic information on how Emacs uses the screen. *Note Windows::, for commands to control the use of windows. Word Abbrev Synonymous with `abbrev'. Word Search Word search is searching for a sequence of words, considering the punctuation between them as insignificant. *Note Word Search::. Yanking Yanking means reinserting text previously killed. It can be used to undo a mistaken kill, or for copying or moving text. Some other systems call this "pasting". *Note Yanking::.