\input texinfo @setchapternewpage odd @settitle GNU Emacs Manual @setfilename ../info/emacs @synindex pg cp @ifinfo @c The edition number appears in several places in this file This is the thirteenth edition of the @cite{GNU Emacs Manual}, updated for Emacs version 20.4 @c Please REMEMBER to update edition number in *three* places in this file. @dircategory Editors @direntry * Emacs: (emacs). The extensible self-documenting text editor. @end direntry Published by the Free Software Foundation 59 Temple Place, Suite 330 Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 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. @ignore Permission is granted to process this file through Tex and print the results, provided the printed document carries copying permission notice identical to this one except for the removal of this paragraph (this paragraph not being relevant to the printed manual). @end ignore 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 Free Software Foundation instead of in the original English. @end ifinfo @c in general, keep the following line commented out, unless doing a @c copy of this manual that will be published. the manual should go @c onto the distribution in the full, 8.5 x 11" size. @smallbook @iftex @kbdinputstyle code @shorttitlepage GNU Emacs Manual @end iftex @titlepage @sp 6 @center @titlefont{GNU Emacs Manual} @sp 4 @center Thirteenth Edition, Updated for Emacs Version 20.4 @sp 5 @center Richard Stallman @page @vskip 0pt plus 1filll Copyright @copyright{} 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 Free Software Foundation, Inc. @sp 2 Thirteenth Edition @* Updated for Emacs Version 20.4, @* February 1999 ISBN 1-882114-06-X @sp 1 Published by the Free Software Foundation @* 59 Temple Place, Suite 330 @* Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA @sp 1 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 Free Software Foundation instead of in the original English. @sp 2 Cover art by Etienne Suvasa. @end titlepage @page @ifinfo @node Top, Distrib, (dir), (dir) @top The Emacs Editor Emacs is the extensible, customizable, self-documenting real-time display editor. This Info file describes how to edit with Emacs and some of how to customize it; it corresponds to GNU Emacs version 20.4. For information on extending Emacs, see @ref{,Emacs Lisp,, elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}. @end ifinfo @ignore These subcategories have been deleted for simplicity and to avoid conflicts. Completion Backup Files Auto-Saving: Protection Against Disasters Snapshots Text Mode Outline Mode @TeX{} Mode Formatted Text Fortran Mode Fortran Indentation Shell Command History The ones for Dired and Rmail have had the items turned into :: items to avoid conflicts. Also Running Shell Commands from Emacs and Sending Mail and Registers and Minibuffer. @end ignore @menu * Distrib:: How to get the latest Emacs distribution. * Copying:: The GNU General Public License gives you permission to redistribute GNU Emacs on certain terms; it also explains that there is no warranty. * Intro:: An introduction to Emacs concepts. * Glossary:: The glossary. * Antinews:: Information about Emacs version 19. * MS-DOS:: Using Emacs on MS-DOS (otherwise known as "MS-DOG"). * Manifesto:: What's GNU? Gnu's Not Unix! * Acknowledgments:: Major contributors to GNU Emacs. Indexes (nodes containing large menus) * Key Index:: An item for each standard Emacs key sequence. * Command Index:: An item for each command name. * Variable Index:: An item for each documented variable. * Concept Index:: An item for each concept. Important General Concepts * Screen:: How to interpret what you see on the screen. * User Input:: Kinds of input events (characters, buttons, function keys). * Keys:: Key sequences: what you type to request one editing action. * Commands:: Named functions run by key sequences to do editing. * Text Characters:: Character set for text (the contents of buffers and strings). * Entering Emacs:: Starting Emacs from the shell. * Exiting:: Stopping or killing Emacs. * Command Arguments:: Hairy startup options. Fundamental Editing Commands * Basic:: The most basic editing commands. * Minibuffer:: Entering arguments that are prompted for. * M-x:: Invoking commands by their names. * 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. * Yanking:: Recovering killed text. Moving text. * Accumulating Text:: Other ways of copying text. * Rectangles:: Operating on the text inside a rectangle on the screen. * Registers:: Saving a text string or a location in the buffer. * Display:: Controlling what text is displayed. * Search:: Finding or replacing occurrences of a string. * Fixit:: Commands especially useful for fixing typos. Major Structures of Emacs * Files:: All about handling files. * Buffers:: Multiple buffers; editing several files at once. * Windows:: Viewing two pieces of text at once. * Frames:: Running the same Emacs session in multiple X windows. * International:: Using non-ASCII character sets (the MULE features). Advanced Features * Major Modes:: Text mode vs. Lisp mode vs. C mode ... * Indentation:: Editing the white space at the beginnings of lines. * Text:: Commands and modes for editing English. * Programs:: Commands and modes for editing programs. * Building:: Compiling, running and debugging programs. * Abbrevs:: How to define text abbreviations to reduce the number of characters you must type. * Picture:: Editing pictures made up of characters using the quarter-plane screen model. * Sending Mail:: Sending mail in Emacs. * Rmail:: Reading mail in Emacs. * Dired:: You can ``edit'' a directory to manage files in it. * Calendar/Diary:: The calendar and diary facilities. * Gnus:: How to read netnews with Emacs. * Shell:: Executing shell commands from Emacs. * Emacs Server:: Using Emacs as an editing server for @code{mail}, etc. * Hardcopy:: Printing buffers or regions. * PostScript:: Printing buffers or regions as PostScript. * PostScript Variables:: Customizing the PostScript printing commands. * Sorting:: Sorting lines, paragraphs or pages within Emacs. * Narrowing:: Restricting display and editing to a portion of the buffer. * Two-Column:: Splitting apart columns to edit them in side-by-side windows. * Editing Binary Files:: Using Hexl mode to edit binary files. * Saving Emacs Sessions:: Saving Emacs state from one session to the next. * Recursive Edit:: A command can allow you to do editing "within the command". This is called a `recursive editing level'. * Emulation:: Emulating some other editors with Emacs. * Hyperlinking:: * Dissociated Press:: Dissociating text for fun. * Amusements:: Various games and hacks. * Customization:: Modifying the behavior of Emacs. Recovery from Problems * Quitting:: Quitting and aborting. * Lossage:: What to do if Emacs is hung or malfunctioning. * Bugs:: How and when to report a bug. * Contributing:: How to contribute improvements to Emacs. * Service:: How to get help for your own Emacs needs. Here are some other nodes which are really inferiors of the ones already listed, mentioned here so you can get to them in one step: --- The Detailed Node Listing --- The Organization of the Screen * Point:: The place in the text where editing commands operate. * Echo Area:: Short messages appear at the bottom of the screen. * Mode Line:: Interpreting the mode line. * Menu Bar:: How to use the menu bar. Basic Editing Commands * Inserting Text:: Inserting text by simply typing it. * Moving Point:: How to move the cursor to the place where you want to change something. * Erasing:: Deleting and killing text. * Undo:: Undoing recent changes in the text. * Files: Basic Files. Visiting, creating, and saving files. * Help: Basic Help. Asking what a character does. * Blank Lines:: Commands to make or delete blank lines. * Continuation Lines:: Lines too wide for the screen. * Position Info:: What page, line, row, or column is point on? * Arguments:: Numeric arguments for repeating a command. The Minibuffer * Minibuffer File:: Entering file names with the minibuffer. * Minibuffer Edit:: How to edit in the minibuffer. * Completion:: An abbreviation facility for minibuffer input. * Minibuffer History:: Reusing recent minibuffer arguments. * Repetition:: Re-executing commands that used the minibuffer. Help * Help Summary:: Brief list of all Help commands. * Key Help:: Asking what a key does in Emacs. * Name Help:: Asking about a command, variable or function name. * Apropos:: Asking what pertains to a given topic. * Library Keywords:: Finding Lisp libraries by keywords (topics). * Language Help:: Help relating to international language support. * Misc Help:: Other help commands. The Mark and the Region * Setting Mark:: Commands to set the mark. * Transient Mark:: How to make Emacs highlight the region-- when there is one. * Using Region:: Summary of ways to operate on contents of the region. * Marking Objects:: Commands to put region around textual units. * Mark Ring:: Previous mark positions saved so you can go back there. * Global Mark Ring:: Previous mark positions in various buffers. Deletion and Killing * Deletion:: Commands for deleting small amounts of text and blank areas. * Killing by Lines:: How to kill entire lines of text at one time. * Other Kill Commands:: Commands to kill large regions of text and syntactic units such as words and sentences. Yanking * Kill Ring:: Where killed text is stored. Basic yanking. * Appending Kills:: Several kills in a row all yank together. * Earlier Kills:: Yanking something killed some time ago. Registers * RegPos:: Saving positions in registers. * RegText:: Saving text in registers. * RegRect:: Saving rectangles in registers. * RegConfig:: Saving window configurations in registers. * RegFiles:: File names in registers. * Bookmarks:: Bookmarks are like registers, but persistent. Controlling the Display * Scrolling:: Moving text up and down in a window. * Horizontal Scrolling:: Moving text left and right in a window. * Follow Mode:: Follow mode lets two windows scroll as one. * Selective Display:: Hiding lines with lots of indentation. * Optional Mode Line:: Optional mode line display features. * Text Display:: How text is normally displayed. * Display Vars:: Information on variables for customizing display. Searching and Replacement * Incremental Search:: Search happens as you type the string. * Nonincremental Search:: Specify entire string and then search. * Word Search:: Search for sequence of words. * Regexp Search:: Search for match for a regexp. * Regexps:: Syntax of regular expressions. * Search Case:: To ignore case while searching, or not. * Replace:: Search, and replace some or all matches. * Other Repeating Search:: Operating on all matches for some regexp. Replacement Commands * Unconditional Replace:: Replacing all matches for a string. * Regexp Replace:: Replacing all matches for a regexp. * Replacement and Case:: How replacements preserve case of letters. * Query Replace:: How to use querying. Commands for Fixing Typos * Kill Errors:: Commands to kill a batch of recently entered text. * Transpose:: Exchanging two characters, words, lines, lists... * Fixing Case:: Correcting case of last word entered. * Spelling:: Apply spelling checker to a word or a whole buffer. File Handling * File Names:: How to type and edit file-name arguments. * Visiting:: Visiting a file prepares Emacs to edit the file. * Saving:: Saving makes your changes permanent. * Reverting:: Reverting cancels all the changes not saved. * Auto Save:: Auto Save periodically protects against loss of data. * File Aliases:: Handling multiple names for one file. * Version Control:: Version control systems (RCS, CVS and SCCS). * Directories:: Creating, deleting, and listing file directories. * Comparing Files:: Finding where two files differ. * Misc File Ops:: Other things you can do on files. * Compressed Files:: Accessing compressed files. * Remote Files:: Accessing files on other sites. * Quoted File Names:: Quoting special characters in file names. Saving Files * Backup:: How Emacs saves the old version of your file. * Interlocking:: How Emacs protects against simultaneous editing of one file by two users. Version Control * Introduction to VC:: How version control works in general. * VC Mode Line:: How the mode line shows version control status. * Basic VC Editing:: How to edit a file under version control. * Old Versions:: Examining and comparing old versions. * Secondary VC Commands:: The commands used a little less frequently. * Branches:: Multiple lines of development. * Snapshots:: Sets of file versions treated as a unit. * Miscellaneous VC:: Various other commands and features of VC. * Customizing VC:: Variables that change VC's behavior. Using Multiple Buffers * Select Buffer:: Creating a new buffer or reselecting an old one. * List Buffers:: Getting a list of buffers that exist. * Misc Buffer:: Renaming; changing read-onlyness; copying text. * Kill Buffer:: Killing buffers you no longer need. * Several Buffers:: How to go through the list of all buffers and operate variously on several of them. * Indirect Buffers:: An indirect buffer shares the text of another buffer. Multiple Windows * Basic Window:: Introduction to Emacs windows. * Split Window:: New windows are made by splitting existing windows. * Other Window:: Moving to another window or doing something to it. * Pop Up Window:: Finding a file or buffer in another window. * Force Same Window:: Forcing certain buffers to appear in the selected window rather than in another window. * Change Window:: Deleting windows and changing their sizes. Frames and X Windows * Mouse Commands:: Moving, cutting, and pasting, with the mouse. * Secondary Selection:: Cutting without altering point and mark. * Mouse References:: Using the mouse to select an item from a list. * Menu Mouse Clicks:: Mouse clicks that bring up menus. * Mode Line Mouse:: Mouse clicks on the mode line. * Creating Frames:: Creating additional Emacs frames with various contents. * Multiple Displays:: How one Emacs job can talk to several displays. * Special Buffer Frames:: You can make certain buffers have their own frames. * Frame Parameters:: Changing the colors and other modes of frames. * Scroll Bars:: How to enable and disable scroll bars; how to use them. * Menu Bars:: Enabling and disabling the menu bar. * Faces:: How to change the display style using faces. * Font Lock:: Minor mode for syntactic highlighting using faces. * Support Modes:: Font Lock support modes make Font Lock faster. * Misc X:: Iconifying and deleting frames. Region highlighting. * Non-Window Terminals:: Multiple frames on terminals that show only one. Font Lock Support Modes * Fast Lock Mode:: Saving font information in files. * Lazy Lock Mode:: Fontifying only text that is actually displayed. * Fast or Lazy:: Which support mode is best for you? International Character Set Support * International Intro:: Basic concepts of multibyte characters. * Enabling Multibyte:: Controlling whether to use multibyte characters. * Language Environments:: Setting things up for the language you use. * Input Methods:: Entering text characters not on your keyboard. * Select Input Method:: Specifying your choice of input methods. * Coding Systems:: Character set conversion when you read and write files, and so on. * Recognize Coding:: How Emacs figures out which conversion to use. * Specify Coding:: Various ways to choose which conversion to use. * Fontsets:: Fontsets are collections of fonts that cover the whole spectrum of characters. * Defining Fontsets:: Defining a new fontset. * Single-Byte Character Support:: You can pick one European character set to use without multibyte characters. Major Modes * Choosing Modes:: How major modes are specified or chosen. Indentation * Indentation Commands:: Various commands and techniques for indentation. * Tab Stops:: You can set arbitrary "tab stops" and then indent to the next tab stop when you want to. * Just Spaces:: You can request indentation using just spaces. Commands for Human Languages * Words:: Moving over and killing words. * Sentences:: Moving over and killing sentences. * Paragraphs:: Moving over paragraphs. * Pages:: Moving over pages. * Filling:: Filling or justifying text. * Case:: Changing the case of text. * Text Mode:: The major modes for editing text files. * Outline Mode:: Editing outlines. * TeX Mode:: Editing input to the formatter TeX. * Nroff Mode:: Editing input to the formatter nroff. * Formatted Text:: Editing formatted text directly in WYSIWYG fashion. Filling Text * Auto Fill:: Auto Fill mode breaks long lines automatically. * Fill Commands:: Commands to refill paragraphs and center lines. * Fill Prefix:: Filling paragraphs that are indented or in a comment, etc. * Adaptive Fill:: How Emacs can determine the fill prefix automatically. Editing Programs * Program Modes:: Major modes for editing programs. * Lists:: Expressions with balanced parentheses. * List Commands:: The commands for working with list and sexps. * Defuns:: Each program is made up of separate functions. There are editing commands to operate on them. * Program Indent:: Adjusting indentation to show the nesting. * Matching:: Insertion of a close-delimiter flashes matching open. * Comments:: Inserting, killing, and aligning comments. * Balanced Editing:: Inserting two matching parentheses at once, etc. * Symbol Completion:: Completion on symbol names of your program or language. * Documentation:: Getting documentation of functions you plan to call. * Change Log:: Maintaining a change history for your program. * Tags:: Go directly to any function in your program in one command. Tags remembers which file it is in. * Emerge:: A convenient way of merging two versions of a program. * C Modes:: Special commands of C, C++, Objective-C and Java modes. * Fortran:: Fortran mode and its special features. * Asm Mode:: Asm mode and its special features. Indentation for Programs * Basic Indent:: Indenting a single line. * Multi-line Indent:: Commands to reindent many lines at once. * Lisp Indent:: Specifying how each Lisp function should be indented. * C Indent:: Choosing an indentation style for C code. Tags Tables * Tag Syntax:: Tag syntax for various types of code and text files. * Create Tags Table:: Creating a tags table with @code{etags}. * Select Tags Table:: How to visit a tags table. * Find Tag:: Commands to find the definition of a specific tag. * Tags Search:: Using a tags table for searching and replacing. * List Tags:: Listing and finding tags defined in a file. Merging Files with Emerge * Overview of Emerge:: How to start Emerge. Basic concepts. * Submodes of Emerge:: Fast mode vs. Edit mode. Skip Prefers mode and Auto Advance mode. * State of Difference:: You do the merge by specifying state A or B for each difference. * Merge Commands:: Commands for selecting a difference, changing states of differences, etc. * Exiting Emerge:: What to do when you've finished the merge. * Combining in Emerge:: How to keep both alternatives for a difference. * Fine Points of Emerge:: Misc. Compiling and Testing Programs * Compilation:: Compiling programs in languages other than Lisp (C, Pascal, etc.). * Compilation Mode:: The mode for visiting compiler errors. * Compilation Shell:: Customizing your shell properly for use in the compilation buffer. * Debuggers:: Running symbolic debuggers for non-Lisp programs. * Executing Lisp:: Various modes for editing Lisp programs, with different facilities for running the Lisp programs. * Lisp Libraries:: Creating Lisp programs to run in Emacs. * Lisp Interaction:: Executing Lisp in an Emacs buffer. * Lisp Eval:: Executing a single Lisp expression in Emacs. * External Lisp:: Communicating through Emacs with a separate Lisp. Running Debuggers Under Emacs * Starting GUD:: How to start a debugger subprocess. * Debugger Operation:: Connection between the debugger and source buffers. * Commands of GUD:: Key bindings for common commands. * GUD Customization:: Defining your own commands for GUD. Abbrevs * Abbrev Concepts:: Fundamentals of defined abbrevs. * Defining Abbrevs:: Defining an abbrev, so it will expand when typed. * Expanding Abbrevs:: Controlling expansion: prefixes, canceling expansion. * Editing Abbrevs:: Viewing or editing the entire list of defined abbrevs. * Saving Abbrevs:: Saving the entire list of abbrevs for another session. * Dynamic Abbrevs:: Abbreviations for words already in the buffer. Editing Pictures * Basic Picture:: Basic concepts and simple commands of Picture Mode. * Insert in Picture:: Controlling direction of cursor motion after "self-inserting" characters. * Tabs in Picture:: Various features for tab stops and indentation. * Rectangles in Picture:: Clearing and superimposing rectangles. Sending Mail * Mail Format:: Format of the mail being composed. * Mail Headers:: Details of permitted mail header fields. * Mail Aliases:: Abbreviating and grouping mail addresses. * Mail Mode:: Special commands for editing mail being composed. * Distracting NSA:: How to distract the NSA's attention. * Mail Methods:: Using alternative mail-composition methods. Reading Mail with Rmail * Rmail Basics:: Basic concepts of Rmail, and simple use. * Rmail Scrolling:: Scrolling through a message. * Rmail Motion:: Moving to another message. * Rmail Deletion:: Deleting and expunging messages. * Rmail Inbox:: How mail gets into the Rmail file. * Rmail Files:: Using multiple Rmail files. * Rmail Output:: Copying message out to files. * Rmail Labels:: Classifying messages by labeling them. * Rmail Attributes:: Certain standard labels, called attributes. * Rmail Reply:: Sending replies to messages you are viewing. * Rmail Summary:: Summaries show brief info on many messages. * Rmail Sorting:: Sorting messages in Rmail. * Rmail Display:: How Rmail displays a message; customization. * Rmail Editing:: Editing message text and headers in Rmail. * Rmail Digest:: Extracting the messages from a digest message. * Out of Rmail:: Converting an Rmail file to mailbox format. * Rmail Rot13:: Reading messages encoded in the rot13 code. * Movemail:: More details of fetching new mail. Dired, the Directory Editor * Dired Enter:: How to invoke Dired. * Dired Commands:: Commands in the Dired buffer. * Dired Deletion:: Deleting files with Dired. * Flagging Many Files:: Flagging files based on their names. * Dired Visiting:: Other file operations through Dired. * Marks vs Flags:: Flagging for deletion vs marking. * Operating on Files:: How to copy, rename, print, compress, etc. either one file or several files. * Shell Commands in Dired:: Running a shell command on the marked files. * Transforming File Names:: Using patterns to rename multiple files. * Comparison in Dired:: Running `diff' by way of Dired. * Subdirectories in Dired:: Adding subdirectories to the Dired buffer. * Subdirectory Motion:: Moving across subdirectories, and up and down. * Hiding Subdirectories:: Making subdirectories visible or invisible. * Dired Updating:: Discarding lines for files of no interest. * Dired and Find:: Using `find' to choose the files for Dired. The Calendar and the Diary * Calendar Motion:: Moving through the calendar; selecting a date. * Scroll Calendar:: Bringing earlier or later months onto the screen. * Counting Days:: How many days are there between two dates? * General Calendar:: Exiting or recomputing the calendar. * LaTeX Calendar:: Print a calendar using LaTeX. * Holidays:: Displaying dates of holidays. * Sunrise/Sunset:: Displaying local times of sunrise and sunset. * Lunar Phases:: Displaying phases of the moon. * Other Calendars:: Converting dates to other calendar systems. * Diary:: Displaying events from your diary. * Appointments:: Reminders when it's time to do something. * Daylight Savings:: How to specify when daylight savings time is active. Movement in the Calendar * Calendar Unit Motion:: Moving by days, weeks, months, and years. * Move to Beginning or End:: Moving to start/end of weeks, months, and years. * Specified Dates:: Moving to the current date or another specific date. Conversion To and From Other Calendars * Calendar Systems:: The calendars Emacs understands (aside from Gregorian). * To Other Calendar:: Converting the selected date to various calendars. * From Other Calendar:: Moving to a date specified in another calendar. * Mayan Calendar:: Moving to a date specified in a Mayan calendar. The Diary * Diary Commands:: Viewing diary entries and associated calendar dates. * Format of Diary File:: Entering events in your diary. * Date Formats:: Various ways you can specify dates. * Adding to Diary:: Commands to create diary entries. * Special Diary Entries:: Anniversaries, blocks of dates, cyclic entries, etc. @sc{Gnus} * Buffers of Gnus:: The group, summary, and article buffers. * Gnus Startup:: What you should know about starting Gnus. * Summary of Gnus:: A short description of the basic Gnus commands. Running Shell Commands from Emacs * Single Shell:: How to run one shell command and return. * Interactive Shell:: Permanent shell taking input via Emacs. * Shell Mode:: Special Emacs commands used with permanent shell. * Shell History:: Repeating previous commands in a shell buffer. * Shell Options:: Options for customizing Shell mode. * Remote Host:: Connecting to another computer. Customization * Minor Modes:: Each minor mode is one feature you can turn on independently of any others. * Variables:: Many Emacs commands examine Emacs variables to decide what to do; by setting variables, you can control their functioning. * Keyboard Macros:: A keyboard macro records a sequence of keystrokes to be replayed with a single command. * Key Bindings:: The keymaps say what command each key runs. By changing them, you can "redefine keys". * Keyboard Translations:: If your keyboard passes an undesired code for a key, you can tell Emacs to substitute another code. * Syntax:: The syntax table controls how words and expressions are parsed. * Init File:: How to write common customizations in the @file{.emacs} file. Variables * Examining:: Examining or setting one variable's value. * Easy Customization:: Convenient and easy customization of variables. * Hooks:: Hook variables let you specify programs for parts of Emacs to run on particular occasions. * Locals:: Per-buffer values of variables. * File Variables:: How files can specify variable values. Keyboard Macros * Basic Kbd Macro:: Defining and running keyboard macros. * Save Kbd Macro:: Giving keyboard macros names; saving them in files. * Kbd Macro Query:: Making keyboard macros do different things each time. Customizing Key Bindings * Keymaps:: Generalities. The global keymap. * Prefix Keymaps:: Keymaps for prefix keys. * Local Keymaps:: Major and minor modes have their own keymaps. * Minibuffer Maps:: The minibuffer uses its own local keymaps. * Rebinding:: How to redefine one key's meaning conveniently. * Init Rebinding:: Rebinding keys with your init file, @file{.emacs}. * Function Keys:: Rebinding terminal function keys. * Named ASCII Chars:: Distinguishing @key{TAB} from @kbd{C-i}, and so on. * Mouse Buttons:: Rebinding mouse buttons in Emacs. * Disabling:: Disabling a command means confirmation is required before it can be executed. This is done to protect beginners from surprises. The Init File, @file{~/.emacs} * Init Syntax:: Syntax of constants in Emacs Lisp. * Init Examples:: How to do some things with an init file. * Terminal Init:: Each terminal type can have an init file. * Find Init:: How Emacs finds the init file. Dealing with Emacs Trouble * DEL Gets Help:: What to do if @key{DEL} doesn't delete. * Stuck Recursive:: `[...]' in mode line around the parentheses. * Screen Garbled:: Garbage on the screen. * Text Garbled:: Garbage in the text. * Unasked-for Search:: Spontaneous entry to incremental search. * Memory Full:: How to cope when you run out of memory. * Emergency Escape:: Emergency escape--- What to do if Emacs stops responding. * Total Frustration:: When you are at your wits' end. Reporting Bugs * Criteria: Bug Criteria. Have you really found a bug? * Understanding Bug Reporting:: How to report a bug effectively. * Checklist:: Steps to follow for a good bug report. * Sending Patches:: How to send a patch for GNU Emacs. Command Line Options and Arguments * Action Arguments:: Arguments to visit files, load libraries, and call functions. * Initial Options:: Arguments that take effect while starting Emacs. * Command Example:: Examples of using command line arguments. * Resume Arguments:: Specifying arguments when you resume a running Emacs. * Environment:: Environment variables that Emacs uses. * Display X:: Changing the default display and using remote login. * Font X:: Choosing a font for text, under X. * Colors X:: Choosing colors, under X. * Window Size X:: Start-up window size, under X. * Borders X:: Internal and external borders, under X. * Title X:: Specifying the initial frame's title. * Icons X:: Choosing what sort of icon to use, under X. * Resources X:: Advanced use of classes and resources, under X. * Lucid Resources:: X resources for Lucid menus. * Motif Resources:: X resources for Motif menus. Environment Variables * General Variables:: Environment variables that all versions of Emacs use. * Misc Variables:: Certain system specific variables. MS-DOS and Windows 95/98/NT * MS-DOS Input:: Keyboard and mouse usage on MS-DOS. * MS-DOS Display:: Fonts, frames and display size on MS-DOS. * MS-DOS File Names:: File-name conventions on MS-DOS. * Text and Binary:: Text files on MS-DOS use CRLF to separate lines. * MS-DOS Printing:: How to specify the printer on MS-DOS. * MS-DOS Processes:: Running subprocesses on MS-DOS. * Windows Processes:: Running subprocesses on Windows. * Windows System Menu:: Controlling what the ALT key does. @end menu @iftex @unnumbered Preface This manual documents the use and simple customization of the Emacs editor. The reader is not expected to be a programmer; simple customizations do not require programming skill. But the user who is not interested in customizing can ignore the scattered customization hints. This is primarily a reference manual, but can also be used as a primer. For complete beginners, it is a good idea to start with the on-line, learn-by-doing tutorial, before reading the manual. To run the tutorial, start Emacs and type @kbd{C-h t}. This way you can learn Emacs by using Emacs on a specially designed file which describes commands, tells you when to try them, and then explains the results you see. On first reading, just skim chapters 1 and 2, which describe the notational conventions of the manual and the general appearance of the Emacs display screen. Note which questions are answered in these chapters, so you can refer back later. After reading chapter 4, you should practice the commands there. The next few chapters describe fundamental techniques and concepts that are used constantly. You need to understand them thoroughly, experimenting with them if necessary. Chapters 14 through 19 describe intermediate-level features that are useful for all kinds of editing. Chapter 20 and following chapters describe features that you may or may not want to use; read those chapters when you need them. Read the Trouble chapter if Emacs does not seem to be working properly. It explains how to cope with some common problems (@pxref{Lossage}), as well as when and how to report Emacs bugs (@pxref{Bugs}). To find the documentation on a particular command, look in the index. Keys (character commands) and command names have separate indexes. There is also a glossary, with a cross reference for each term. This manual is available as a printed book and also as an Info file. The Info file is for on-line perusal with the Info program, which will be the principal way of viewing documentation on-line in the GNU system. Both the Info file and the Info program itself are distributed along with GNU Emacs. The Info file and the printed book contain substantially the same text and are generated from the same source files, which are also distributed along with GNU Emacs. GNU Emacs is a member of the Emacs editor family. There are many Emacs editors, all sharing common principles of organization. For information on the underlying philosophy of Emacs and the lessons learned from its development, write for a copy of AI memo 519a, ``Emacs, the Extensible, Customizable Self-Documenting Display Editor,'' to Publications Department, Artificial Intelligence Lab, 545 Tech Square, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA@. At last report they charge $2.25 per copy. Another useful publication is LCS TM-165, ``A Cookbook for an Emacs,'' by Craig Finseth, available from Publications Department, Laboratory for Computer Science, 545 Tech Square, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA@. The price today is $3. This edition of the manual is intended for use with GNU Emacs installed on GNU and Unix systems. GNU Emacs can also be used on VMS, MS-DOS (also called MS-DOG), Windows NT, and Windows 95 systems. Those systems use different file name syntax; in addition, VMS and MS-DOS do not support all GNU Emacs features. We don't try to describe VMS usage in this manual. @xref{MS-DOS}, for information about using Emacs on MS-DOS. @end iftex @node Distrib, Copying, Top, Top @unnumbered Distribution GNU Emacs is @dfn{free software}; this means that everyone is free to use it and free to redistribute it on certain conditions. GNU Emacs is not in the public domain; it is copyrighted and there are restrictions on its distribution, but these restrictions are designed to permit everything that a good cooperating citizen would want to do. What is not allowed is to try to prevent others from further sharing any version of GNU Emacs that they might get from you. The precise conditions are found in the GNU General Public License that comes with Emacs and also appears following this section. One way to get a copy of GNU Emacs is from someone else who has it. You need not ask for our permission to do so, or tell any one else; just copy it. If you have access to the Internet, you can get the latest distribution version of GNU Emacs by anonymous FTP; see the file @file{etc/FTP} in the Emacs distribution for more information. You may also receive GNU Emacs when you buy a computer. Computer manufacturers are free to distribute copies on the same terms that apply to everyone else. These terms require them to give you the full sources, including whatever changes they may have made, and to permit you to redistribute the GNU Emacs received from them under the usual terms of the General Public License. In other words, the program must be free for you when you get it, not just free for the manufacturer. You can also order copies of GNU Emacs from the Free Software Foundation on CD-ROM@. This is a convenient and reliable way to get a copy; it is also a good way to help fund our work. (The Foundation has always received most of its funds in this way.) An order form is included in the file @file{etc/ORDERS} in the Emacs distribution, and on our web site in @url{http://www.gnu.org/order/order.html}. For further information, write to @display Free Software Foundation 59 Temple Place, Suite 330 Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA USA @end display The income from distribution fees goes to support the foundation's purpose: the development of new free software, and improvements to our existing programs including GNU Emacs. If you find GNU Emacs useful, please @strong{send a donation} to the Free Software Foundation to support our work. Donations to the Free Software Foundation are tax deductible in the US. If you use GNU Emacs at your workplace, please suggest that the company make a donation. If company policy is unsympathetic to the idea of donating to charity, you might instead suggest ordering a CD-ROM from the Foundation occasionally, or subscribing to periodic updates. @iftex Contributors to GNU Emacs include Per Abrahamsen, Jay K. Adams, Joe Arceneaux, Boaz Ben-Zvi, Jim Blandy, Terrence Brannon, Frank Bresz, Peter Breton, Kevin Broadey, Vincent Broman, David M. Brown, Bill Carpenter, Hans Chalupsky, Bob Chassell, James Clark, Mike Clarkson, Glynn Clements, Andrew Csillag, Doug Cutting, Michael DeCorte, Gary Delp, Matthieu Devin, Eri Ding, Carsten Dominik, Scott Draves, Viktor Dukhovni, John Eaton, Rolf Ebert, Stephen Eglen, Torbj@"orn Einarsson, Tsugumoto Enami, Hans Henrik Eriksen, Michael Ernst, Ata Etemadi, Frederick Farnback, Fred Fish, Karl Fogel, Gary Foster, Noah Friedman, Keith Gabryelski, Kevin Gallagher, Kevin Gallo, Howard Gayle, Stephen Gildea, David Gillespie, Bob Glickstein, Boris Goldowsky, Michelangelo Grigni, Michael Gschwind, Henry Guillaume, Doug Gwyn, Ken'ichi Handa, Chris Hanson, K. Shane Hartman, John Heidemann, Markus Heritsch, Karl Heuer, Manabu Higashida, Anders Holst, Kurt Hornik, Tom Houlder, Lars Ingebrigtsen, Andrew Innes, Michael K. Johnson, Kyle Jones, Tomoji Kagatani, Brewster Kahle, David Kaufman, Henry Kautz, Howard Kaye, Michael Kifer, Richard King, Larry K. Kolodney, Robert Krawitz, Sebastian Kremer, Geoff Kuenning, David K@aa gedal, Daniel LaLiberte, Aaron Larson, James R. Larus, Frederic Lepied, Lars Lindberg, Eric Ludlam, Neil M. Mager, Ken Manheimer, Bill Mann, Brian Marick, Simon Marshall, Bengt Martensson, Charlie Martin, Thomas May, Roland McGrath, David Megginson, Wayne Mesard, Richard Mlynarik, Keith Moore, Erik Naggum, Thomas Neumann, Mike Newton, Jurgen Nickelsen, Jeff Norden, Andrew Norman, Jeff Peck, Damon Anton Permezel, Tom Perrine, Jens Petersen, Daniel Pfeiffer, Fred Pierresteguy, Christian Plaunt, Francesco A. Potorti, Michael D. Prange, Ashwin Ram, Eric S. Raymond, Paul Reilly, Edward M. Reingold, Rob Riepel, Roland B. Roberts, John Robinson, Danny Roozendaal, William Rosenblatt, Guillermo J. Rozas, Ivar Rummelhoff, Wolfgang Rupprecht, James B. Salem, Masahiko Sato, William Schelter, Ralph Schleicher, Gregor Schmid, Michael Schmidt, Ronald S. Schnell, Philippe Schnoebelen, Stephen Schoef, Randal Schwartz, Manuel Serrano, Stanislav Shalunov, Mark Shapiro, Richard Sharman, Olin Shivers, Espen Skoglund, Rick Sladkey, Lynn Slater, Chris Smith, David Smith, Paul D. Smith, William Sommerfeld, Michael Staats, Sam Steingold, Ake Stenhoff, Peter Stephenson, Jonathan Stigelman, Steve Strassman, Jens T. Berger Thielemann, Spencer Thomas, Jim Thompson, Masanobu Umeda, Neil W. Van Dyke, Ulrik Vieth, Geoffrey Voelker, Johan Vromans, Barry Warsaw, Morten Welinder, Joseph Brian Wells, Rodney Whitby, Ed Wilkinson, Mike Williams, Steven A. Wood, Dale R. Worley, Felix S. T. Wu, Tom Wurgler, Eli Zaretskii, Jamie Zawinski, Ian T. Zimmermann, Reto Zimmermann, and Neal Ziring. @end iftex @node Copying, Intro, Distrib, Top @unnumbered GNU GENERAL PUBLIC LICENSE @center Version 2, June 1991 @display Copyright @copyright{} 1989, 1991 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed. @end display @unnumberedsec Preamble The licenses for most software are designed to take away your freedom to share and change it. By contrast, the GNU General Public License is intended to guarantee your freedom to share and change free software---to make sure the software is free for all its users. This General Public License applies to most of the Free Software Foundation's software and to any other program whose authors commit to using it. (Some other Free Software Foundation software is covered by the GNU Library General Public License instead.) You can apply it to your programs, too. When we speak of free software, we are referring to freedom, not price. Our General Public Licenses are designed to make sure that you have the freedom to distribute copies of free software (and charge for this service if you wish), that you receive source code or can get it if you want it, that you can change the software or use pieces of it in new free programs; and that you know you can do these things. To protect your rights, we need to make restrictions that forbid anyone to deny you these rights or to ask you to surrender the rights. These restrictions translate to certain responsibilities for you if you distribute copies of the software, or if you modify it. For example, if you distribute copies of such a program, whether gratis or for a fee, you must give the recipients all the rights that you have. You must make sure that they, too, receive or can get the source code. And you must show them these terms so they know their rights. We protect your rights with two steps: (1) copyright the software, and (2) offer you this license which gives you legal permission to copy, distribute and/or modify the software. Also, for each author's protection and ours, we want to make certain that everyone understands that there is no warranty for this free software. If the software is modified by someone else and passed on, we want its recipients to know that what they have is not the original, so that any problems introduced by others will not reflect on the original authors' reputations. Finally, any free program is threatened constantly by software patents. We wish to avoid the danger that redistributors of a free program will individually obtain patent licenses, in effect making the program proprietary. To prevent this, we have made it clear that any patent must be licensed for everyone's free use or not licensed at all. The precise terms and conditions for copying, distribution and modification follow. @iftex @unnumberedsec TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION @end iftex @ifinfo @center TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION @end ifinfo @enumerate 0 @item This License applies to any program or other work which contains a notice placed by the copyright holder saying it may be distributed under the terms of this General Public License. The ``Program'', below, refers to any such program or work, and a ``work based on the Program'' means either the Program or any derivative work under copyright law: that is to say, a work containing the Program or a portion of it, either verbatim or with modifications and/or translated into another language. (Hereinafter, translation is included without limitation in the term ``modification''.) Each licensee is addressed as ``you''. Activities other than copying, distribution and modification are not covered by this License; they are outside its scope. The act of running the Program is not restricted, and the output from the Program is covered only if its contents constitute a work based on the Program (independent of having been made by running the Program). Whether that is true depends on what the Program does. @item You may copy and distribute verbatim copies of the Program's source code as you receive it, in any medium, provided that you conspicuously and appropriately publish on each copy an appropriate copyright notice and disclaimer of warranty; keep intact all the notices that refer to this License and to the absence of any warranty; and give any other recipients of the Program a copy of this License along with the Program. You may charge a fee for the physical act of transferring a copy, and you may at your option offer warranty protection in exchange for a fee. @item You may modify your copy or copies of the Program or any portion of it, thus forming a work based on the Program, and copy and distribute such modifications or work under the terms of Section 1 above, provided that you also meet all of these conditions: @enumerate a @item You must cause the modified files to carry prominent notices stating that you changed the files and the date of any change. @item You must cause any work that you distribute or publish, that in whole or in part contains or is derived from the Program or any part thereof, to be licensed as a whole at no charge to all third parties under the terms of this License. @item If the modified program normally reads commands interactively when run, you must cause it, when started running for such interactive use in the most ordinary way, to print or display an announcement including an appropriate copyright notice and a notice that there is no warranty (or else, saying that you provide a warranty) and that users may redistribute the program under these conditions, and telling the user how to view a copy of this License. (Exception: if the Program itself is interactive but does not normally print such an announcement, your work based on the Program is not required to print an announcement.) @end enumerate These requirements apply to the modified work as a whole. If identifiable sections of that work are not derived from the Program, and can be reasonably considered independent and separate works in themselves, then this License, and its terms, do not apply to those sections when you distribute them as separate works. But when you distribute the same sections as part of a whole which is a work based on the Program, the distribution of the whole must be on the terms of this License, whose permissions for other licensees extend to the entire whole, and thus to each and every part regardless of who wrote it. Thus, it is not the intent of this section to claim rights or contest your rights to work written entirely by you; rather, the intent is to exercise the right to control the distribution of derivative or collective works based on the Program. In addition, mere aggregation of another work not based on the Program with the Program (or with a work based on the Program) on a volume of a storage or distribution medium does not bring the other work under the scope of this License. @item You may copy and distribute the Program (or a work based on it, under Section 2) in object code or executable form under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above provided that you also do one of the following: @enumerate a @item Accompany it with the complete corresponding machine-readable source code, which must be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or, @item Accompany it with a written offer, valid for at least three years, to give any third party, for a charge no more than your cost of physically performing source distribution, a complete machine-readable copy of the corresponding source code, to be distributed under the terms of Sections 1 and 2 above on a medium customarily used for software interchange; or, @item Accompany it with the information you received as to the offer to distribute corresponding source code. (This alternative is allowed only for noncommercial distribution and only if you received the program in object code or executable form with such an offer, in accord with Subsection b above.) @end enumerate The source code for a work means the preferred form of the work for making modifications to it. For an executable work, complete source code means all the source code for all modules it contains, plus any associated interface definition files, plus the scripts used to control compilation and installation of the executable. However, as a special exception, the source code distributed need not include anything that is normally distributed (in either source or binary form) with the major components (compiler, kernel, and so on) of the operating system on which the executable runs, unless that component itself accompanies the executable. If distribution of executable or object code is made by offering access to copy from a designated place, then offering equivalent access to copy the source code from the same place counts as distribution of the source code, even though third parties are not compelled to copy the source along with the object code. @item You may not copy, modify, sublicense, or distribute the Program except as expressly provided under this License. Any attempt otherwise to copy, modify, sublicense or distribute the Program is void, and will automatically terminate your rights under this License. However, parties who have received copies, or rights, from you under this License will not have their licenses terminated so long as such parties remain in full compliance. @item You are not required to accept this License, since you have not signed it. However, nothing else grants you permission to modify or distribute the Program or its derivative works. These actions are prohibited by law if you do not accept this License. Therefore, by modifying or distributing the Program (or any work based on the Program), you indicate your acceptance of this License to do so, and all its terms and conditions for copying, distributing or modifying the Program or works based on it. @item Each time you redistribute the Program (or any work based on the Program), the recipient automatically receives a license from the original licensor to copy, distribute or modify the Program subject to these terms and conditions. You may not impose any further restrictions on the recipients' exercise of the rights granted herein. You are not responsible for enforcing compliance by third parties to this License. @item If, as a consequence of a court judgment or allegation of patent infringement or for any other reason (not limited to patent issues), conditions are imposed on you (whether by court order, agreement or otherwise) that contradict the conditions of this License, they do not excuse you from the conditions of this License. If you cannot distribute so as to satisfy simultaneously your obligations under this License and any other pertinent obligations, then as a consequence you may not distribute the Program at all. For example, if a patent license would not permit royalty-free redistribution of the Program by all those who receive copies directly or indirectly through you, then the only way you could satisfy both it and this License would be to refrain entirely from distribution of the Program. If any portion of this section is held invalid or unenforceable under any particular circumstance, the balance of the section is intended to apply and the section as a whole is intended to apply in other circumstances. It is not the purpose of this section to induce you to infringe any patents or other property right claims or to contest validity of any such claims; this section has the sole purpose of protecting the integrity of the free software distribution system, which is implemented by public license practices. Many people have made generous contributions to the wide range of software distributed through that system in reliance on consistent application of that system; it is up to the author/donor to decide if he or she is willing to distribute software through any other system and a licensee cannot impose that choice. This section is intended to make thoroughly clear what is believed to be a consequence of the rest of this License. @item If the distribution and/or use of the Program is restricted in certain countries either by patents or by copyrighted interfaces, the original copyright holder who places the Program under this License may add an explicit geographical distribution limitation excluding those countries, so that distribution is permitted only in or among countries not thus excluded. In such case, this License incorporates the limitation as if written in the body of this License. @item The Free Software Foundation may publish revised and/or new versions of the General Public License from time to time. Such new versions will be similar in spirit to the present version, but may differ in detail to address new problems or concerns. Each version is given a distinguishing version number. If the Program specifies a version number of this License which applies to it and ``any later version'', you have the option of following the terms and conditions either of that version or of any later version published by the Free Software Foundation. If the Program does not specify a version number of this License, you may choose any version ever published by the Free Software Foundation. @item If you wish to incorporate parts of the Program into other free programs whose distribution conditions are different, write to the author to ask for permission. For software which is copyrighted by the Free Software Foundation, write to the Free Software Foundation; we sometimes make exceptions for this. Our decision will be guided by the two goals of preserving the free status of all derivatives of our free software and of promoting the sharing and reuse of software generally. @iftex @heading NO WARRANTY @end iftex @ifinfo @center NO WARRANTY @end ifinfo @item BECAUSE THE PROGRAM IS LICENSED FREE OF CHARGE, THERE IS NO WARRANTY FOR THE PROGRAM, TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW@. EXCEPT WHEN OTHERWISE STATED IN WRITING THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND/OR OTHER PARTIES PROVIDE THE PROGRAM ``AS IS'' WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE@. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THE PROGRAM IS WITH YOU@. SHOULD THE PROGRAM PROVE DEFECTIVE, YOU ASSUME THE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR OR CORRECTION. @item IN NO EVENT UNLESS REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW OR AGREED TO IN WRITING WILL ANY COPYRIGHT HOLDER, OR ANY OTHER PARTY WHO MAY MODIFY AND/OR REDISTRIBUTE THE PROGRAM AS PERMITTED ABOVE, BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY GENERAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE PROGRAM (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF DATA OR DATA BEING RENDERED INACCURATE OR LOSSES SUSTAINED BY YOU OR THIRD PARTIES OR A FAILURE OF THE PROGRAM TO OPERATE WITH ANY OTHER PROGRAMS), EVEN IF SUCH HOLDER OR OTHER PARTY HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. @end enumerate @iftex @heading END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS @end iftex @ifinfo @center END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS @end ifinfo @page @unnumberedsec How to Apply These Terms to Your New Programs If you develop a new program, and you want it to be of the greatest possible use to the public, the best way to achieve this is to make it free software which everyone can redistribute and change under these terms. To do so, attach the following notices to the program. It is safest to attach them to the start of each source file to most effectively convey the exclusion of warranty; and each file should have at least the ``copyright'' line and a pointer to where the full notice is found. @smallexample @var{one line to give the program's name and an idea of what it does.} Copyright (C) 19@var{yy} @var{name of author} This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version. This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE@. See the GNU General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307, USA. @end smallexample Also add information on how to contact you by electronic and paper mail. If the program is interactive, make it output a short notice like this when it starts in an interactive mode: @smallexample Gnomovision version 69, Copyright (C) 19@var{yy} @var{name of author} Gnomovision comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details type `show w'. This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it under certain conditions; type `show c' for details. @end smallexample The hypothetical commands @samp{show w} and @samp{show c} should show the appropriate parts of the General Public License. Of course, the commands you use may be called something other than @samp{show w} and @samp{show c}; they could even be mouse-clicks or menu items---whatever suits your program. You should also get your employer (if you work as a programmer) or your school, if any, to sign a ``copyright disclaimer'' for the program, if necessary. Here is a sample; alter the names: @smallexample @group Yoyodyne, Inc., hereby disclaims all copyright interest in the program `Gnomovision' (which makes passes at compilers) written by James Hacker. @var{signature of Ty Coon}, 1 April 1989 Ty Coon, President of Vice @end group @end smallexample This General Public License does not permit incorporating your program into proprietary programs. If your program is a subroutine library, you may consider it more useful to permit linking proprietary applications with the library. If this is what you want to do, use the GNU Library General Public License instead of this License. @node Intro, Glossary, Copying, Top @unnumbered Introduction You are reading about GNU Emacs, the GNU incarnation of the advanced, self-documenting, customizable, extensible real-time display editor Emacs. (The `G' in `GNU' is not silent.) We say that Emacs is a @dfn{display} editor because normally the text being edited is visible on the screen and is updated automatically as you type your commands. @xref{Screen,Display}. We call it a @dfn{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. @xref{Basic,Real-time,Basic Editing}. We call Emacs advanced because it provides facilities that go beyond simple insertion and deletion: controlling subprocesses; automatic indentation of programs; viewing two or more files at once; editing formatted text; and dealing in terms of characters, words, lines, sentences, paragraphs, and pages, as well as expressions and comments in several different programming languages. @dfn{Self-documenting} means that at any time you can type a special character, @kbd{Control-h}, 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. @xref{Help}. @dfn{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 @samp{<**} and end with @samp{**>}, you can tell the Emacs comment manipulation commands to use those strings (@pxref{Comments}). 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 rebind the keys that way. @xref{Customization}. @dfn{Extensible} means that you can go beyond simple customization and write entirely new commands, programs in the Lisp language to be run by Emacs's own Lisp interpreter. 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. Almost any part of Emacs can be replaced without making a separate copy of all of Emacs. Most of the editing commands of Emacs are written in Lisp already; the few exceptions could have been written in Lisp but are written in C for efficiency. Although only a programmer can write an extension, anybody can use it afterward. If you want to learn Emacs Lisp programming, we recommend the @cite{Introduction to Emacs Lisp} by Robert J. Chassell, also published by the Free Software Foundation. When run under the X Window System, Emacs provides its own menus and convenient bindings to mouse buttons. But Emacs can provide many of the benefits of a window system on a text-only terminal. For instance, you can look at or edit several files at once, move text between files, and edit files while running shell commands. @include screen.texi @include commands.texi @include entering.texi @include basic.texi @include mini.texi @include m-x.texi @include help.texi @include mark.texi @include killing.texi @include regs.texi @include display.texi @include search.texi @include fixit.texi @include files.texi @include buffers.texi @include windows.texi @include frames.texi @include mule.texi @include major.texi @include indent.texi @include text.texi @include programs.texi @include building.texi @include abbrevs.texi @include picture.texi @include sending.texi @include rmail.texi @include dired.texi @include calendar.texi @include misc.texi @include custom.texi @include trouble.texi @include cmdargs.texi @include anti.texi @include msdog.texi @include gnu.texi @include glossary.texi @ifinfo @include ack.texi @end ifinfo @node Key Index, Command Index, Glossary, Top @unnumbered Key (Character) Index @printindex ky @node Command Index, Variable Index, Key Index, Top @unnumbered Command and Function Index @printindex fn @node Variable Index, Concept Index, Command Index, Top @unnumbered Variable Index @printindex vr @node Concept Index, Acknowledgments, Variable Index, Top @unnumbered Concept Index @printindex cp @summarycontents @contents @bye