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318 lines
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318 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
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@c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
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@node Fixit, Files, Search, Top
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@chapter Commands for Fixing Typos
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@cindex typos, fixing
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@cindex mistakes, correcting
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In this chapter we describe the commands that are especially useful for
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the times when you catch a mistake in your text just after you have made
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it, or change your mind while composing text on the fly.
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The most fundamental command for correcting erroneous editing is the
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undo command, @kbd{C-x u} or @kbd{C-_}. This command undoes a single
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command (usually), a part of a command (in the case of
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@code{query-replace}), or several consecutive self-inserting characters.
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Consecutive repetitions of @kbd{C-_} or @kbd{C-x u} undo earlier and
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earlier changes, back to the limit of the undo information available.
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@xref{Undo}, for for more information.
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@menu
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* Kill Errors:: Commands to kill a batch of recently entered text.
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* Transpose:: Exchanging two characters, words, lines, lists...
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* Fixing Case:: Correcting case of last word entered.
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* Spelling:: Apply spelling checker to a word, or a whole file.
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@end menu
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@node Kill Errors
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@section Killing Your Mistakes
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@table @kbd
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@item @key{DEL}
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Delete last character (@code{delete-backward-char}).
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@item M-@key{DEL}
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Kill last word (@code{backward-kill-word}).
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@item C-x @key{DEL}
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Kill to beginning of sentence (@code{backward-kill-sentence}).
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@end table
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The @key{DEL} character (@code{delete-backward-char}) is the most
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important correction command. It deletes the character before point.
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When @key{DEL} follows a self-inserting character command, you can think
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of it as canceling that command. However, avoid the mistake of thinking
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of @key{DEL} as a general way to cancel a command!
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When your mistake is longer than a couple of characters, it might be
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more convenient to use @kbd{M-@key{DEL}} or @kbd{C-x @key{DEL}}.
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@kbd{M-@key{DEL}} kills back to the start of the last word, and @kbd{C-x
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@key{DEL}} kills back to the start of the last sentence. @kbd{C-x
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@key{DEL}} is particularly useful when you change your mind about the
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phrasing of the text you are writing. @kbd{M-@key{DEL}} and @kbd{C-x
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@key{DEL}} save the killed text for @kbd{C-y} and @kbd{M-y} to
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retrieve. @xref{Yanking}.@refill
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@kbd{M-@key{DEL}} is often useful even when you have typed only a few
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characters wrong, if you know you are confused in your typing and aren't
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sure exactly what you typed. At such a time, you cannot correct with
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@key{DEL} except by looking at the screen to see what you did. Often it
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requires less thought to kill the whole word and start again.
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@node Transpose
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@section Transposing Text
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@table @kbd
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@item C-t
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Transpose two characters (@code{transpose-chars}).
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@item M-t
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Transpose two words (@code{transpose-words}).
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@item C-M-t
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Transpose two balanced expressions (@code{transpose-sexps}).
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@item C-x C-t
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Transpose two lines (@code{transpose-lines}).
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@end table
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@kindex C-t
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@findex transpose-chars
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The common error of transposing two characters can be fixed, when they
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are adjacent, with the @kbd{C-t} command (@code{transpose-chars}). Normally,
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@kbd{C-t} transposes the two characters on either side of point. When
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given at the end of a line, rather than transposing the last character of
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the line with the newline, which would be useless, @kbd{C-t} transposes the
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last two characters on the line. So, if you catch your transposition error
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right away, you can fix it with just a @kbd{C-t}. If you don't catch it so
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fast, you must move the cursor back to between the two transposed
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characters. If you transposed a space with the last character of the word
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before it, the word motion commands are a good way of getting there.
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Otherwise, a reverse search (@kbd{C-r}) is often the best way.
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@xref{Search}.
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@kindex C-x C-t
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@findex transpose-lines
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@kindex M-t
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@findex transpose-words
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@kindex C-M-t
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@findex transpose-sexps
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@kbd{M-t} (@code{transpose-words}) transposes the word before point
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with the word after point. It moves point forward over a word, dragging
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the word preceding or containing point forward as well. The punctuation
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characters between the words do not move. For example, @w{@samp{FOO, BAR}}
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transposes into @w{@samp{BAR, FOO}} rather than @samp{@w{BAR FOO,}}.
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@kbd{C-M-t} (@code{transpose-sexps}) is a similar command for transposing
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two expressions (@pxref{Lists}), and @kbd{C-x C-t} (@code{transpose-lines})
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exchanges lines. They work like @kbd{M-t} except in determining the
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division of the text into syntactic units.
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A numeric argument to a transpose command serves as a repeat count: it
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tells the transpose command to move the character (word, sexp, line)
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before or containing point across several other characters (words,
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sexps, lines). For example, @kbd{C-u 3 C-t} moves the character before
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point forward across three other characters. It would change
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@samp{f@point{}oobar} into @samp{oobf@point{}ar}. This is equivalent to
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repeating @kbd{C-t} three times. @kbd{C-u - 4 M-t} moves the word
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before point backward across four words. @kbd{C-u - C-M-t} would cancel
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the effect of plain @kbd{C-M-t}.@refill
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A numeric argument of zero is assigned a special meaning (because
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otherwise a command with a repeat count of zero would do nothing): to
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transpose the character (word, sexp, line) ending after point with the
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one ending after the mark.
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@node Fixing Case
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@section Case Conversion
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@table @kbd
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@item M-- M-l
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Convert last word to lower case. Note @kbd{Meta--} is Meta-minus.
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@item M-- M-u
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Convert last word to all upper case.
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@item M-- M-c
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Convert last word to lower case with capital initial.
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@end table
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@kindex M-@t{-} M-l
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@kindex M-@t{-} M-u
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@kindex M-@t{-} M-c
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A very common error is to type words in the wrong case. Because of this,
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the word case-conversion commands @kbd{M-l}, @kbd{M-u} and @kbd{M-c} have a
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special feature when used with a negative argument: they do not move the
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cursor. As soon as you see you have mistyped the last word, you can simply
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case-convert it and go on typing. @xref{Case}.@refill
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@node Spelling
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@section Checking and Correcting Spelling
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@cindex spelling, checking and correcting
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@cindex checking spelling
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@cindex correcting spelling
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This section describes the commands to check the spelling of a single
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word or of a portion of a buffer. These commands work with the spelling
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checker program Ispell, which is not part of Emacs.
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@ifinfo
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@xref{Top, Ispell, Overview ispell, ispell.info, The Ispell Manual}.
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@end ifinfo
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@table @kbd
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@item M-x flyspell-mode
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Enable Flyspell mode, which highlights all misspelled words.
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@item M-$
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Check and correct spelling of the word at point (@code{ispell-word}).
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@item M-@key{TAB}
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Complete the word before point based on the spelling dictionary
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(@code{ispell-complete-word}).
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@item M-x ispell-buffer
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Check and correct spelling of each word in the buffer.
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@item M-x ispell-region
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Check and correct spelling of each word in the region.
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@item M-x ispell-message
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Check and correct spelling of each word in a draft mail message,
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excluding cited material.
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@item M-x ispell-change-dictionary @key{RET} @var{dict} @key{RET}
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Restart the Ispell process, using @var{dict} as the dictionary.
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@item M-x ispell-kill-ispell
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Kill the Ispell subprocess.
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@end table
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@cindex Flyspell mode
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@findex flyspell-mode
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Flyspell mode is a fully-automatic way to check spelling as you edit
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in Emacs. It operates by checking words as you change or insert them.
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When it finds a word that it does not recognize, it highlights that
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word. This does not interfere with your editing, but when you see the
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highlighted word, you can move to it and fix it. Type @kbd{M-x
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flyspell-mode} to enable or disable this mode in the current buffer.
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When Flyspell mode highlights a word as misspelled, you can click on
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it with @kbd{Mouse-2} to display a menu of possible corrections and
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actions. You can also correct the word by editing it manually in any
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way you like.
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The other Emacs spell-checking features check or look up words when
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you give an explicit command to do so. Checking all or part of the
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buffer is useful when you have text that was written outside of this
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Emacs session and might contain any number of misspellings.
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@kindex M-$
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@findex ispell-word
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To check the spelling of the word around or next to point, and
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optionally correct it as well, use the command @kbd{M-$}
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(@code{ispell-word}). If the word is not correct, the command offers
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you various alternatives for what to do about it.
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@findex ispell-buffer
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@findex ispell-region
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To check the entire current buffer, use @kbd{M-x ispell-buffer}. Use
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@kbd{M-x ispell-region} to check just the current region. To check
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spelling in an email message you are writing, use @kbd{M-x
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ispell-message}; that checks the whole buffer, but does not check
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material that is indented or appears to be cited from other messages.
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Each time these commands encounter an incorrect word, they ask you
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what to do. They display a list of alternatives, usually including
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several ``near-misses''---words that are close to the word being
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checked. Then you must type a character. Here are the valid responses:
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@table @kbd
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@item @key{SPC}
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Skip this word---continue to consider it incorrect, but don't change it
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here.
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@item r @var{new} @key{RET}
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Replace the word (just this time) with @var{new}.
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@item R @var{new} @key{RET}
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Replace the word with @var{new}, and do a @code{query-replace} so you
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can replace it elsewhere in the buffer if you wish.
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@item @var{digit}
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Replace the word (just this time) with one of the displayed
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near-misses. Each near-miss is listed with a digit; type that digit to
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select it.
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@item a
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Accept the incorrect word---treat it as correct, but only in this
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editing session.
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@item A
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Accept the incorrect word---treat it as correct, but only in this
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editing session and for this buffer.
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@item i
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Insert this word in your private dictionary file so that Ispell will
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consider it correct it from now on, even in future sessions.
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@item u
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Insert the lower-case version of this word in your private dictionary
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file.
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@item m
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Like @kbd{i}, but you can also specify dictionary completion
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information.
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@item l @var{word} @key{RET}
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Look in the dictionary for words that match @var{word}. These words
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become the new list of ``near-misses''; you can select one of them to
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replace with by typing a digit. You can use @samp{*} in @var{word} as a
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wildcard.
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@item C-g
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Quit interactive spell checking. You can restart it again afterward
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with @kbd{C-u M-$}.
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@item X
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Same as @kbd{C-g}.
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@item x
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Quit interactive spell checking and move point back to where it was
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when you started spell checking.
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@item q
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Quit interactive spell checking and kill the Ispell subprocess.
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@item C-l
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Refresh the screen.
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@item C-z
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This key has its normal command meaning (suspend Emacs or iconify this
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frame).
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@end table
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@findex ispell-complete-word
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The command @code{ispell-complete-word}, which is bound to the key
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@kbd{M-@key{TAB}} in Text mode and related modes, shows a list of
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completions based on spelling correction. Insert the beginning of a
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word, and then type @kbd{M-@key{TAB}}; the command displays a completion
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list window. To choose one of the completions listed, click
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@kbd{Mouse-2} on it, or move the cursor there in the completions window
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and type @key{RET}. @xref{Text Mode}.
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@ignore
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@findex reload-ispell
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The first time you use any of the spell checking commands, it starts
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an Ispell subprocess. The first thing the subprocess does is read your
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private dictionary, which defaults to the file @file{~/ispell.words}.
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Words that you ``insert'' with the @kbd{i} command are added to that
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file, but not right away---only at the end of the interactive
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replacement procedure. Use the @kbd{M-x reload-ispell} command to
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reload your private dictionary if you edit the file outside of Ispell.
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@end ignore
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@cindex @code{ispell} program
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@findex ispell-kill-ispell
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Once started, the Ispell subprocess continues to run (waiting for
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something to do), so that subsequent spell checking commands complete
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more quickly. If you want to get rid of the Ispell process, use
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@kbd{M-x ispell-kill-ispell}. This is not usually necessary, since the
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process uses no time except when you do spelling correction.
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@vindex ispell-dictionary
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Ispell uses two dictionaries: the standard dictionary and your private
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dictionary. The variable @code{ispell-dictionary} specifies the file
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name of the standard dictionary to use. A value of @code{nil} says to
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use the default dictionary. The command @kbd{M-x
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ispell-change-dictionary} sets this variable and then restarts the
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Ispell subprocess, so that it will use a different dictionary.
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