*** empty log message ***
[bpt/emacs.git] / etc / NEWS
CommitLineData
75d80cc6
DL
1GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes. 2001-01-16
2Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
a933dad1
DL
3See the end for copying conditions.
4
5Please send Emacs bug reports to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.
3787e12e 6For older news, see the file ONEWS
a933dad1
DL
7
8\f
251584f3
DL
9* Installation Changes in Emacs 21.1
10
f4988be7
GM
11** Support for GNU/Linux on IA64 machines has been added.
12
424d8b44
DL
13** Support for LynxOS has been added.
14
1fa28578
GM
15** `movemail' defaults to supporting POP. You can turn this off using
16the --without-pop configure option, should that be necessary.
17
18** There are new configure options associated with the support for
163ea954
RS
19images and toolkit scrollbars. Use the --help option in `configure'
20to list them.
6344985d 21
d5483ab1 22** There is a new configure option `--without-xim' that instructs
d874e913 23Emacs to not use X Input Methods (XIM), if these are available.
5ed8d5af
DL
24
25** There is a new configure option `--disable-largefile' to omit
26Unix-98-style support for large files if that is available.
27
28** You can build a 64-bit Emacs for SPARC/Solaris systems which
60dd7e0e 29support 64-bit executables and also on Irix 6.5. This increases the
8628686a
DL
30maximum buffer size. See etc/MACHINES for instructions. Changes to
31build on other 64-bit systems should be straightforward modulo any
32necessary changes to unexec.
f4988be7 33
d9c9b920
DL
34** Note that the MS-Windows port does not yet implement various of the
35new display features described below.
36
e90813b8 37** This version can be built for the Macintosh, but does not implement
a7c13351 38all of the new display features described below. The port currently
d69aa2e3
EZ
39lacks unexec, asynchronous processes, and networking support. See the
40"Emacs and the Mac OS" appendix in the Emacs manual, for the
41description of aspects specific to the Mac.
d9c9b920 42
1fa28578
GM
43\f
44* Changes in Emacs 21.1
45
75d80cc6
DL
46** The user option `backward-delete-char-untabify-method' controls the
47behaviour of `backward-delete-char-untabify'. [This change was made
48in Emacs 20.3 but not mentioned then.]
49
cf523f0e
GM
50** The new user-option `confirm-kill-emacs' can be customized to
51let Emacs ask for confirmation before exiting.
52
a23e6d3c 53** The <home> and <end> keys now move to the beginning or end of the
fc46ca23
GM
54current line, respectively. C-<home> and C-<end> move to the
55beginning and end of the buffer.
56
8416e94a
DL
57** In Cperl mode `cperl-invalid-face' should now be a normal face
58symbol, not double-quoted.
59
2a64f8c2 60** Some packages are declared obsolete, to be removed in a future
8416e94a
DL
61version. They are: auto-show, c-mode, hilit19, hscroll, ooutline,
62rnews, rnewspost. Their implementations have been moved to
63lisp/obsolete.
2a64f8c2 64
22adbe54
DL
65+++
66** The new Custom option `keyboard-coding-system' specifies a coding
67system for keyboard input.
68
eb1b0c74
GM
69+++
70** The new user-option `even-window-heights' can be set to nil
71to prevent `display-buffer' from evening out window heights.
72
7495f7ca
EZ
73+++
74** The new command `msdos-set-mouse-buttons' forces Emacs to behave
75as if the mouse had a specified number of buttons. This comes handy
76with mice that don't report their number of buttons correctly. One
77example is the wheeled mice, which report 3 buttons, but clicks on the
78middle button are not passed to the MS-DOS version of Emacs.
79
1636ca09 80+++
a01cfb77
GM
81** The default for user-option `next-line-add-newlines' has been
82changed to nil, i.e. C-n will no longer add newlines at the end of a
83buffer by default.
84
c607d53d 85** The new command M-x delete-trailing-whitespace RET will delete the
346598f1 86trailing whitespace within the current restriction. You can also add
c607d53d
SS
87this function to `write-file-hooks' or `local-write-file-hooks'.
88
4104194e
GM
89** When visiting a file with M-x find-file-literally, no newlines will
90be added to the end of the buffer because of `require-final-newline'.
91
c6f01e00
MB
92** auto-compression mode is no longer enabled just by loading jka-compr.el.
93To control it, set `auto-compression-mode' via Custom or use the
94`auto-compression-mode' command.
95
4c724b32
DL
96** `browse-url-gnome-moz' is a new option for
97`browse-url-browser-function', invoking Mozilla in GNOME.
98
b856f39c 99+++
068127d6
GM
100** The functions `keep-lines', `flush-lines' and `how-many' now
101operate on the active region in Transient Mark mode.
102
fd06c7da
MB
103** The header line in an Info buffer is now displayed as an emacs header-line
104(which is like a mode-line, but at the top of the window), so that it
105remains visible even when the buffer has been scrolled. This behavior
106may be disabled by customizing the option `Info-use-header-line'.
107
8ac08dea 108+++
62c273d7
DL
109** `gnus-user-agent' is a new possibility for `mail-user-agent'. It
110is like `message-user-agent', but with all the Gnus paraphernalia.
111
112+++
113** The recommended way of using Iswitchb is via the new global minor
114mode `iswitchb-mode'.
115
8ac08dea 116+++
f393cf90
DL
117** Gnus changes.
118
119The Gnus NEWS entries are short, but they reflect sweeping changes in
120four areas: Article display treatment, MIME treatment,
121internationalization and mail-fetching.
122
123*** The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
124many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
125
126If you used procmail like in
127
128(setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
129(setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
130(setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
131(setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
132
327652be 133this now has changed to
f393cf90
DL
134
135(setq mail-sources
136 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
137 :suffix ".in")))
138
139More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
140Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
141
142*** Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
143Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
31446945
KH
144Separate MIME packages like RMIME, mime-compose etc., will probably no
145longer work; remove them and use the native facilities.
146
657706fa
DL
147The FLIM/SEMI package still works with Emacs 21, but if you want to
148use the native facilities, you must remove any mailcap.el[c] that was
149installed by FLIM/SEMI version 1.13 or earlier.
f393cf90 150
60dd7e0e 151*** Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too many
4301cf66
DL
152parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables. There
153are built-in facilities equivalent to those of gnus-mule.el, which is
154now just a compatibility layer.
f393cf90
DL
155
156*** gnus-auto-select-first can now be a function to be
157called to position point.
158
159*** The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
160summary buffers and NOV files.
161
162*** `gnus-article-display-hook' has been removed. Instead, a number
163of variables starting with `gnus-treat-' have been added.
164
165*** The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now work in a
166subtly different manner.
167
168*** New web-based backends have been added: nnslashdot, nnwarchive
169and nnultimate. nnweb has been revamped, again, to keep up with
170ever-changing layouts.
171
172*** Gnus can now read IMAP mail via nnimap.
173
72190b84 174*** There is image support of various kinds and some sound support.
f393cf90
DL
175
176** When your terminal can't display characters from some of the ISO
d1e68bce
DL
1778859 character sets but can display Latin-1, you can display
178more-or-less mnemonic sequences of ASCII/Latin-1 characters instead of
179empty boxes (under a window system) or question marks (not under a
180window system). Customize the option `latin1-display' to turn this
181on.
182
ba9eeda1
GM
183** The new user-option `find-file-suppress-same-file-warnings' can be
184set to suppress warnings ``X and Y are the same file'' when visiting a
185file that is already visited under a different name.
186
42ac0ae5
GM
187** The new user-option `electric-help-shrink-window' can be set to
188nil to prevent adjusting the help window size to the buffer size.
189
190** Emacs now checks for recursive loads of Lisp files. If the
191recursion depth exceeds `recursive-load-depth-limit', an error is
192signaled.
193
ba9eeda1 194** The Strokes package has been updated. If your Emacs has XPM
dab96841
DL
195support, you can use it for pictographic editing. In Strokes mode,
196use C-mouse-2 to compose a complex stoke and insert it into the
197buffer. You can encode or decode a strokes buffer with new commands
198M-x strokes-encode-buffer and M-x strokes-decode-buffer. There is a
199new command M-x strokes-list-strokes.
200
b941a14b 201+++
ba9eeda1 202** New command M-x describe-character-set reads a character set name
eb27839a 203and displays information about that.
b941a14b 204
ba9eeda1 205** When an error is signaled during the loading of the user's init
83b6997f
GM
206file, Emacs now pops up the *Messages* buffer.
207
5e56e175
GM
208** Polish, German, and French translations of Emacs' reference card
209have been added. They are named `pl-refcard.tex', `de-refcard.tex' and
210`fr-refcard.tex'. Postscript files are included.
d7b38c05 211
657706fa
DL
212** An `Emacs Survival Guide', etc/survival.tex, is available.
213
d7b38c05 214** A reference card for Dired has been added. Its name is
5e56e175
GM
215`dired-ref.tex'. A French translation is available in
216`fr-drdref.tex'.
d7b38c05 217
25ad1371
GM
218** The new variable `auto-mode-interpreter-regexp' contains a regular
219expression matching interpreters, for file mode determination.
220
221This regular expression is matched against the first line of a file to
222determine the file's mode in `set-auto-mode' when Emacs can't deduce a
223mode from the file's name. If it matches, the file is assumed to be
224interpreted by the interpreter matched by the second group of the
225regular expression. The mode is then determined as the mode
226associated with that interpreter in `interpreter-mode-alist'.
227
b856f39c 228+++
f0298744
DL
229** C-down-mouse-3 is bound differently. Now if the menu bar is not
230displayed it pops up a menu containing the items which would be on the
231menu bar. If the menu bar is displayed, it pops up the major mode
232menu or the Edit menu if there is no major mode menu.
233
9a8d84ca
DL
234** Variable `load-path' is no longer customizable because it contains
235a version-dependent component.
236
89d57763 237** The new user-option `delete-key-deletes-forward' can be set to
5f368d29
GM
238let the Delete function key delete forward instead of backward.
239
240On window systems, the default value of this option is chosen
241according to the keyboard used. If the keyboard has both a Backspace
242key and a Delete key, and both are mapped to their usual meanings, the
243option's default value is set to t, so that Backspace can be used to
244delete backward, and Delete can be used used to delete forward
245
246If not running under a window system, setting this option accomplishes
247a similar effect by mapping C-h, which is usually generated by the
248Backspace key, to DEL, and by mapping DEL to C-d via
249`keyboard-translate'. The former functionality of C-h is available on
250the F1 key. You should probably not use this setting if you don't
251have both Backspace, Delete and F1 keys.
252
253Programmatically, you can call function
254delete-key-deletes-forward-mode to toggle the behavior of the Delete
255key.
d76c03ea 256
3b4fa1b2
DL
257** Item Save Options on the Options menu allows saving options set
258using that menu.
259
40e857ea 260** New function executable-make-buffer-file-executable-if-script-p is
424d8b44 261suitable as an after-save-hook as an alternative to `executable-chmod'.
40e857ea 262
beb2eb00 263+++
c08398de
DL
264** The most preferred coding-system is now used to save a buffer if
265buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and it is safe for the buffer
266contents. (The most preferred is set by set-language-environment or
267by M-x prefer-coding-system.) Thus if you visit an ASCII file and
268insert a non-ASCII character from your current language environment,
269the file will be saved silently with the appropriate coding.
270Previously you would be prompted for a safe coding system.
271
db7a3ede 272+++
3d6cd763
GM
273** New variable `inhibit-iso-escape-detection' determines if Emacs'
274coding system detection algorithm should pay attention to ISO2022's
275escape sequences. If this variable is non-nil, the algorithm ignores
276such escape sequences. The default value is nil, and it is
277recommended not to change it except for the special case that you
07b14857 278always want to read any escape code verbatim. If you just want to
3d6cd763 279read a specific file without decoding escape codes, use C-x RET c
07b14857
KH
280(`universal-coding-system-argument'). For instance, C-x RET c latin-1
281RET C-x C-f filename RET.
26ae8525 282
0b8a3a6d
DL
283** Variable `default-korean-keyboard' is initialized properly from the
284environment variable `HANGUL_KEYBOARD_TYPE'.
285
424d8b44 286+++
0b8a3a6d
DL
287** C-u C-x = provides detailed information about the character at
288point in a pop-up window.
289
6d35b49f 290+++
0b8a3a6d
DL
291** New command M-x list-charset-chars reads a character set name and
292displays all characters in that character set.
293
294** M-x set-terminal-coding-system (C-x RET t) now allows CCL-based
295coding systems such as cpXXX and cyrillic-koi8.
296
a4067978 297+++
5cb6a58e 298** M-; now calls comment-dwim which tries to do something clever based
a4067978 299on the context. M-x kill-comment is now an alias to comment-kill,
a5e350c9
SM
300defined in newcomment.el. You can choose different styles of region
301commenting with the variable `comment-style'.
5cb6a58e 302
424d8b44 303+++
a1b8d58b
GM
304** The function `getenv' is now callable interactively.
305
6e417ca5
DL
306** The many obsolete language `setup-...-environment' commands have
307been removed -- use `set-language-environment'.
308
424d8b44 309+++
5898e075
DL
310** New user options `display-time-mail-face' and
311`display-time-use-mail-icon' control the appearance of mode-line mail
312indicator used by the display-time package. On a suitable display the
313indicator can be an icon and is mouse-sensitive.
314
424d8b44 315+++
abfcc168
GM
316** Emacs' auto-save list files are now by default stored in a
317sub-directory `.emacs.d/auto-save-list/' of the user's home directory.
874d1079 318(On MS-DOS, this subdirectory's name is `_emacs.d/auto-save.list/'.)
abfcc168
GM
319You can customize `auto-save-list-prefix' to change this location.
320
424d8b44 321+++
cc181e95
GM
322** On window-systems, additional space can be put between text lines
323on the display using several methods
324
424d8b44 325+++
cc181e95
GM
326- By setting frame parameter `line-spacing' to PIXELS. PIXELS must be
327a positive integer, and specifies that PIXELS number of pixels should
328be put below text lines on the affected frame or frames.
329
424d8b44 330+++
cc181e95 331- By setting X resource `lineSpacing', class `LineSpacing'. This is
5820dead 332equivalent to specifying the frame parameter.
cc181e95 333
da4496b6 334- By specifying `--line-spacing=N' or `-lsp N' on the command line.
cc181e95
GM
335
336- By setting buffer-local variable `line-spacing'. The meaning is
337the same, but applies to the a particular buffer only.
338
424d8b44 339+++
3b4fa1b2 340** The new command `clone-indirect-buffer' can be used to create
1c459486 341an indirect buffer that is a twin copy of the current buffer. The
3b4fa1b2 342command `clone-indirect-buffer-other-window', bound to C-x 4 c,
1c459486 343does the same but displays the indirect buffer in another window.
0daee095 344
424d8b44 345+++
176256a1 346** New user options `backup-directory-alist' and
3bbc50af
DL
347`make-backup-file-name-function' control the placement of backups,
348typically in a single directory or in an invisible sub-directory.
176256a1 349
dd0add8e
DL
350** New commands iso-iso2sgml and iso-sgml2iso convert between Latin-1
351characters and the corresponding SGML (HTML) entities.
352
bf3ba9ac 353+++
699238d9
GM
354** Emacs now refuses to load compiled Lisp files which weren't
355compiled with Emacs. Set `load-dangerous-libraries' to t to change
356this behavior.
357
358The reason for this change is an incompatible change in XEmacs' byte
359compiler. Files compiled with XEmacs can contain byte codes that let
360Emacs dump core.
361
424d8b44 362+++
699238d9 363** New X resources recognized
100b3cbb 364
7233c5bd
GM
365*** The X resource `synchronous', class `Synchronous', specifies
366whether Emacs should run in synchronous mode. Synchronous mode
367is useful for debugging X problems.
368
369Example:
370
699238d9 371 emacs.synchronous: true
7233c5bd 372
100b3cbb
GM
373*** The X resource `visualClass, class `VisualClass', specifies the
374visual Emacs should use. The resource's value should be a string of
375the form `CLASS-DEPTH', where CLASS is the name of the visual class,
376and DEPTH is the requested color depth as a decimal number. Valid
377visual class names are
378
379 TrueColor
380 PseudoColor
381 DirectColor
382 StaticColor
383 GrayScale
384 StaticGray
385
386Visual class names specified as X resource are case-insensitive, i.e.
387`pseudocolor', `Pseudocolor' and `PseudoColor' all have the same
388meaning.
389
390The program `xdpyinfo' can be used to list the visual classes
391supported on your display, and which depths they have. If
392`visualClass' is not specified, Emacs uses the display's default
393visual.
394
395Example:
396
699238d9 397 emacs.visualClass: TrueColor-8
100b3cbb
GM
398
399*** The X resource `privateColormap', class `PrivateColormap',
400specifies that Emacs should use a private colormap if it is using the
401default visual, and that visual is of class PseudoColor. Recognized
402resource values are `true' or `on'.
403
404Example:
405
699238d9 406 emacs.privateColormap: true
100b3cbb 407
0d0c76b8
EZ
408** The menu bar configuration has changed. The new configuration is
409more CUA-compliant. The most significant change is that Options is
410now a separate menu-bar item, with Mule and Customize as its submenus.
411
e921a911 412+++
42088c12 413** User-option `show-cursor-in-non-selected-windows' controls how to
c60ea02e 414display the cursor in non-selected windows. If nil, no cursor is
42088c12
GM
415shown, if non-nil a hollow box cursor is shown. This option can
416be customized.
c60ea02e 417
424d8b44 418+++
31047e0d
DL
419** The variable `echo-keystrokes' may now have a floating point value.
420
424d8b44 421+++
b02786f9
GM
422** C-x 5 1 runs the new command delete-other-frames which deletes
423all frames except the selected one.
424
3261c1d8
DL
425** If your init file is compiled (.emacs.elc), `user-init-file' is set
426to the source name (.emacs.el), if that exists, after loading it.
427
ffe36136 428** The help string specified for a menu-item whose definition contains
aa78a4f3
EZ
429the property `:help HELP' is now displayed under X, on MS-Windows, and
430MS-DOS, either in the echo area or with tooltips. Many standard menus
431displayed by Emacs now have help strings.
432
0292b49f 433+++
aa78a4f3
EZ
434** Highlighting of mouse-sensitive regions is now supported in the
435MS-DOS version of Emacs.
ffe36136 436
559cee90
DL
437** New user option `read-mail-command' specifies a command to use to
438read mail from the menu etc.
439
480b5773 440+++
271b4185
GM
441** Hexl contains a new command `hexl-insert-hex-string' which inserts
442a string of hexadecimal numbers read from the mini-buffer.
443
0daee095
GM
444** Changes in Texinfo mode.
445
a5e350c9 446*** A couple of new key bindings have been added for inserting Texinfo
0daee095
GM
447macros
448
449 Key binding Macro
450 -------------------------
451 C-c C-c C-s @strong
452 C-c C-c C-e @emph
105602b1 453 C-c C-c u @uref
0daee095 454 C-c C-c q @quotation
105602b1 455 C-c C-c m @email
a5e350c9
SM
456 C-c C-o @<block> ... @end <block>
457 M-RET @item
458
459*** The " key now inserts either " or `` or '' depending on context.
0daee095 460
559cee90
DL
461** Changes in Outline mode.
462
463There is now support for Imenu to index headings. A new command
464`outline-headers-as-kill' copies the visible headings in the region to
465the kill ring, e.g. to produce a table of contents.
466
327652be 467** Changes to Emacs Server
7a912f63 468
c0a8c108
EZ
469+++
470*** The new option `server-kill-new-buffers' specifies what to do
7a912f63
GM
471with buffers when done with them. If non-nil, the default, buffers
472are killed, unless they were already present before visiting them with
473Emacs Server. If nil, `server-temp-file-regexp' specifies which
474buffers to kill, as before.
475
476Please note that only buffers are killed that still have a client,
c0a8c108 477i.e. buffers visited with `emacsclient --no-wait' are never killed in
7a912f63
GM
478this way.
479
956777b3
GM
480** Changes to Show Paren mode.
481
482*** Overlays used by Show Paren mode now use a priority property.
483The new user option show-paren-priority specifies the priority to
484use. Default is 1000.
485
f6989277 486+++
404fa7d6
DL
487** New command M-x check-parens can be used to find unbalanced paren
488groups and strings in buffers in Lisp mode (or other modes).
489
424d8b44
DL
490+++
491** You can now easily create new *Info* buffers using either
492M-x clone-buffer, C-u m <entry> RET or C-u g <entry> RET.
493M-x clone-buffer can also be used on *Help* and several other special
494buffers.
8964fec7 495
424d8b44 496+++
39783d73
WP
497** Emacs can now support 'wheeled' mice (such as the MS IntelliMouse)
498under XFree86. To enable this, simply put (mwheel-install) in your
499.emacs file.
500
501The variables `mwheel-follow-mouse' and `mwheel-scroll-amount'
502determine where and by how much buffers are scrolled.
503
d35fce81
GM
504** Listing buffers with M-x list-buffers (C-x C-b) now shows
505abbreviated file names. Abbreviations can be customized by changing
506`directory-abbrev-alist'.
507
a933dad1
DL
508** Faces and frame parameters.
509
510There are four new faces `scroll-bar', `border', `cursor' and `mouse'.
511Setting the frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
512`scroll-bar-background' sets foreground and background color of face
513`scroll-bar' and vice versa. Setting frame parameter `border-color'
514sets the background color of face `border' and vice versa. Likewise
515for frame parameters `cursor-color' and face `cursor', and frame
516parameter `mouse-color' and face `mouse'.
517
518Changing frame parameter `font' sets font-related attributes of the
519`default' face and vice versa. Setting frame parameters
79214ddf 520`foreground-color' or `background-color' sets the colors of the
a933dad1
DL
521`default' face and vice versa.
522
d80061fa 523+++
f77a4a8a
GM
524** New face `menu'.
525
526The face `menu' can be used to change colors and font of Emacs' menus.
527Setting the font of LessTif/Motif menus is currently not supported;
528attempts to set the font are ignored in this case.
529
424d8b44 530+++
a933dad1
DL
531** New frame parameter `screen-gamma' for gamma correction.
532
533The new frame parameter `screen-gamma' specifies gamma-correction for
534colors. Its value may be nil, the default, in which case no gamma
535correction occurs, or a number > 0, usually a float, that specifies
536the screen gamma of a frame's display.
537
538PC monitors usually have a screen gamma of 2.2. smaller values result
539in darker colors. You might want to try a screen gamma of 1.5 for LCD
540color displays. The viewing gamma Emacs uses is 0.4545. (1/2.2).
541
542The X resource name of this parameter is `screenGamma', class
543`ScreenGamma'.
544
545** Emacs has a new redisplay engine.
546
547The new redisplay handles characters of variable width and height.
548Italic text can be used without redisplay problems. Fonts containing
549oversized characters, i.e. characters larger than the logical height
550of a font can be used. Images of various formats can be displayed in
551the text.
552
553** Emacs has a new face implementation.
554
555The new faces no longer fundamentally use X font names to specify the
556font. Instead, each face has several independent attributes--family,
557height, width, weight and slant--that it may or may not specify.
558These attributes can be merged from various faces, and then together
559specify a font.
560
561Faces are supported on terminals that can display color or fonts.
562These terminal capabilities are auto-detected. Details can be found
563under Lisp changes, below.
564
7f90b826 565** New default font is Courier 12pt under X.
a933dad1 566
424d8b44
DL
567+++
568** When using a windowing terminal, each Emacs window now has a cursor
569of its own. When the window is selected, the cursor is solid;
570otherwise, it is hollow.
a933dad1
DL
571
572** Bitmap areas to the left and right of windows are used to display
573truncation marks, continuation marks, overlay arrows and alike. The
574foreground, background, and stipple of these areas can be changed by
575customizing face `fringe'.
576
8d0f00fd
MB
577** The mode line under X is now drawn with shadows by default.
578You can change its appearance by modifying the face `mode-line'.
ccd87890
EZ
579In particular, setting the `:box' attribute to nil turns off the 3D
580appearance of the mode line. (The 3D appearance makes the mode line
581occupy more space, and thus might cause the first or the last line of
582the window to be partially obscured.)
8d0f00fd
MB
583
584The variable `mode-line-inverse-video', which was used in older
585versions of emacs to make the mode-line stand out, now defaults to nil,
586and its use is deprecated.
a933dad1
DL
587
588** LessTif support.
589
424d8b44
DL
590Emacs now runs with the LessTif toolkit (see <http://www.lesstif.org>).
591You will need a version 0.88.1 or later.
a933dad1
DL
592
593** Toolkit scroll bars.
594
595Emacs now uses toolkit scrollbars if available. When configured for
596LessTif/Motif, it will use that toolkit's scrollbar. Otherwise, when
597configured for Lucid and Athena widgets, it will use the Xaw3d scroll
598bar if Xaw3d is available. You can turn off the use of toolkit scroll
599bars by specifying `--with-toolkit-scroll-bars=no' when configuring
600Emacs.
601
602When you encounter problems with the Xaw3d scroll bar, watch out how
603Xaw3d is compiled on your system. If the Makefile generated from
604Xaw3d's Imakefile contains a `-DNARROWPROTO' compiler option, and your
605Emacs system configuration file `s/your-system.h' does not contain a
606define for NARROWPROTO, you might consider adding it. Take
607`s/freebsd.h' as an example.
608
609Alternatively, if you don't have access to the Xaw3d source code, take
610a look at your system's imake configuration file, for example in the
611directory `/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/config' (paths are different on
612different systems). You will find files `*.cf' there. If your
613system's cf-file contains a line like `#define NeedWidePrototypes NO',
614add a `#define NARROWPROTO' to your Emacs system configuration file.
615
616The reason for this is that one Xaw3d function uses `double' or
617`float' function parameters depending on the setting of NARROWPROTO.
618This is not a problem when Imakefiles are used because each system's
619image configuration file contains the necessary information. Since
620Emacs doesn't use imake, this has do be done manually.
621
622** Toggle buttons and radio buttons in menus.
623
624When compiled with LessTif (or Motif) support, Emacs uses toolkit
625widgets for radio and toggle buttons in menus. When configured for
626Lucid, Emacs draws radio buttons and toggle buttons similar to Motif.
627
424d8b44 628+++
a933dad1
DL
629** Highlighting of trailing whitespace.
630
631When `show-trailing-whitespace' is non-nil, Emacs displays trailing
632whitespace in the face `trailing-whitespace'. Trailing whitespace is
633defined as spaces or tabs at the end of a line. To avoid busy
634highlighting when entering new text, trailing whitespace is not
635displayed if point is at the end of the line containing the
636whitespace.
637
6e612d4d 638+++
a933dad1
DL
639** Busy-cursor.
640
641Emacs can optionally display a busy-cursor under X. You can turn the
642display on or off by customizing group `cursor'.
643
424d8b44 644+++
a933dad1
DL
645** Blinking cursor
646
647M-x blink-cursor-mode toggles a blinking cursor under X and on
648terminals having terminal capabilities `vi', `vs', and `ve'. Blinking
649and related parameters like frequency and delay can be customized in
650the group `cursor'.
651
8ac08dea 652+++
a933dad1
DL
653** New font-lock support mode `jit-lock-mode'.
654
655This support mode is roughly equivalent to `lazy-lock' but is
656generally faster. It supports stealth and deferred fontification.
657See the documentation of the function `jit-lock-mode' for more
658details.
659
660Font-lock uses jit-lock-mode as default support mode, so you don't
661have to do anything to activate it.
662
663** Tabs and variable-width text.
664
665Tabs are now displayed with stretch properties; the width of a tab is
666defined as a multiple of the normal character width of a frame, and is
667independent of the fonts used in the text where the tab appears.
668Thus, tabs can be used to line up text in different fonts.
669
670** Enhancements of the Lucid menu bar
671
424d8b44 672+++
a933dad1
DL
673*** The Lucid menu bar now supports the resource "margin".
674
675 emacs.pane.menubar.margin: 5
676
79dd1637
RS
677The default margin is 4 which makes the menu bar appear like the
678LessTif/Motif one.
a933dad1 679
79dd1637
RS
680*** Arrows that indicate sub-menus are now drawn with shadows, as in
681LessTif and Motif.
a933dad1 682
34d90e29 683+++
a933dad1
DL
684** Hscrolling in C code.
685
cc181e95
GM
686Horizontal scrolling now happens automatically if
687`automatic-hscrolling' is set (the default). This setting can be
688customized.
a933dad1 689
03ff8aab
GM
690If a window is scrolled horizontally with set-window-hscroll, or
691scroll-left/scroll-right (C-x <, C-x >), this serves as a lower bound
692for automatic horizontal scrolling. Automatic scrolling will scroll
693the text more to the left if necessary, but won't scroll the text more
694to the right than the column set with set-window-hscroll etc.
695
8ac08dea 696+++
a933dad1
DL
697** Tool bar support.
698
699Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. For details
d9c9b920
DL
700of how to define a tool bar, see the page describing Lisp-level
701changes. Tool-bar global minor mode controls whether or not it is
b97cd2cc
DL
702displayed and is on by default. The appearance of the bar is improved
703if Emacs has been built with XPM image support. Otherwise monochrome
704icons will be used.
705
706To make the tool bar more useful, we need contributions of extra icons
707for specific modes (with copyright assignments). Contributions would
708also be useful manually to touch up some of the PBM icons.
a933dad1 709
424d8b44 710+++
a933dad1
DL
711** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
712
713Different parts of the mode line under X have been made
714mouse-sensitive. Moving the mouse to a mouse-sensitive part in the mode
715line changes the appearance of the mouse pointer to an arrow, and help
716about available mouse actions is displayed either in the echo area, or
717in the tooltip window if you have enabled one.
718
719Currently, the following actions have been defined:
720
721- Mouse-1 on the buffer name in the mode line switches between two
722buffers.
723
724- Mouse-2 on the buffer-name switches to the next buffer, and
725M-mouse-2 switches to the previous buffer in the buffer list.
726
727- Mouse-3 on the buffer-name displays a buffer menu.
728
424d8b44
DL
729- Mouse-2 on the read-only or modified status in the mode line (`%' or
730`*') toggles the status.
a933dad1 731
3b6936cc 732- Mouse-3 on the mode name displays a minor-mode menu.
a933dad1
DL
733
734** LessTif/Motif file selection dialog.
735
736When Emacs is configured to use LessTif or Motif, reading a file name
e33b0397 737from a menu will pop up a file selection dialog if `use-dialog-box' is
a933dad1
DL
738non-nil.
739
740** Emacs can display faces on TTY frames.
741
742Emacs automatically detects terminals that are able to display colors.
743Faces with a weight greater than normal are displayed extra-bright, if
744the terminal supports it. Faces with a weight less than normal and
745italic faces are displayed dimmed, if the terminal supports it.
746Underlined faces are displayed underlined if possible. Other face
163ea954
RS
747attributes such as `overline', `strike-through', and `box' are ignored
748on terminals.
a933dad1 749
54a9404d
EZ
750The command-line options `-fg COLOR', `-bg COLOR', and `-rv' are now
751supported on character terminals.
752
a933dad1
DL
753** Sound support
754
2f516940 755Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and FreeBSD (Voxware
0b50c67f 756driver and native BSD driver, a.k.a. Luigi's driver). Currently
2f516940 757supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio (*.au).
a933dad1 758
424d8b44 759+++
a933dad1
DL
760** A new variable, backup-by-copying-when-privileged-mismatch, gives
761the highest file uid for which backup-by-copying-when-mismatch will be
762forced on. The assumption is that uids less than or equal to this
763value are special uids (root, bin, daemon, etc.--not real system
764users) and that files owned by these users should not change ownership,
765even if your system policy allows users other than root to edit them.
766
767The default is 200; set the variable to nil to disable the feature.
768
0e18b431 769+++
a933dad1
DL
770** A block cursor can be drawn as wide as the glyph under it under X.
771
772As an example: if a block cursor is over a tab character, it will be
773drawn as wide as that tab on the display. To do this, set
774`x-stretch-cursor' to a non-nil value.
775
fdd8bb68 776+++
a933dad1
DL
777** Empty display lines at the end of a buffer may be marked with a
778bitmap (this is similar to the tilde displayed by vi).
779
780This behavior is activated by setting the buffer-local variable
781`indicate-empty-lines' to a non-nil value. The default value of this
782variable is found in `default-indicate-empty-lines'.
783
c5d00c64 784+++
a933dad1
DL
785** There is a new "aggressive" scrolling method.
786
787When scrolling up because point is above the window start, if the
d9e66103 788value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-up-aggressively' is a
a933dad1 789number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
d5951185 790fraction of the window's height from the top of the window.
a933dad1
DL
791
792When scrolling down because point is below the window end, if the
793value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-down-aggessively' is a
794number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
d5951185 795fraction of the window's height from the bottom of the window.
a933dad1
DL
796
797** The rectangle commands now avoid inserting undesirable spaces,
798notably at the end of lines.
799
800All these functions have been rewritten to avoid inserting unwanted
801spaces, and an optional prefix now allows them to behave the old way.
802
424d8b44 803+++
eee54b0e
DL
804There is a new command M-x replace-rectangle.
805
a933dad1
DL
806** The new command M-x query-replace-regexp-eval acts like
807query-replace-regexp, but takes a Lisp expression which is evaluated
808after each match to get the replacement text.
809
00782214 810+++
d5483ab1
GM
811** M-x query-replace recognizes a new command `e' (or `E') that lets
812you edit the replacement string.
4ff40dd0 813
424d8b44 814** The new command mail-abbrev-complete-alias, bound to `M-TAB', lets
4ff40dd0
GM
815you complete mail aliases in the text, analogous to
816lisp-complete-symbol.
817
7af69644 818+++
a933dad1
DL
819** Emacs now resizes mini-windows if appropriate.
820
163ea954 821If a message is longer than one line, or minibuffer contents are
a299a6f0
GM
822longer than one line, Emacs can resize the minibuffer window unless it
823is on a frame of its own. You can control resizing and the maximum
824minibuffer window size by setting the following variables:
a933dad1
DL
825
826- User option: max-mini-window-height
827
828Maximum height for resizing mini-windows. If a float, it specifies a
829fraction of the mini-window frame's height. If an integer, it
a299a6f0 830specifies a number of lines.
a933dad1
DL
831
832Default is 0.25.
833
a299a6f0
GM
834- User option: resize-mini-windows
835
836How to resize mini-windows. If nil, don't resize. If t, always
5820dead 837resize to fit the size of the text. If `grow-only', let mini-windows
a299a6f0
GM
838grow only, until they become empty, at which point they are shrunk
839again.
840
841Default is `grow-only'.
842
2f72fd2f
GM
843** The command `Info-search' now uses a search history.
844
0d43b60d
GM
845** Changes to hideshow.el
846
847Hideshow is now at version 5.x. It uses a new algorithms for block
327652be
TTN
848selection and traversal, includes more isearch support, and has more
849conventional keybindings.
0d43b60d
GM
850
851*** Generalized block selection and traversal
852
853A block is now recognized by three things: its start and end regexps
854(both strings), and a match-data selector (an integer) specifying
855which sub-expression in the start regexp serves as the place where a
856`forward-sexp'-like function can operate. Hideshow always adjusts
857point to this sub-expression before calling `hs-forward-sexp-func'
858(which for most modes evaluates to `forward-sexp').
859
860If the match-data selector is not specified, it defaults to zero,
861i.e., the entire start regexp is valid, w/ no prefix. This is
862backwards compatible with previous versions of hideshow. Please see
863the docstring for variable `hs-special-modes-alist' for details.
864
865*** Isearch support for updating mode line
866
867During incremental search, if Hideshow minor mode is active, hidden
868blocks are temporarily shown. The variable `hs-headline' records the
869line at the beginning of the opened block (preceding the hidden
870portion of the buffer), and the mode line is refreshed. When a block
871is re-hidden, the variable is set to nil.
872
873To show `hs-headline' in the mode line, you may wish to include
874something like this in your .emacs.
875
876 (add-hook 'hs-minor-mode-hook
877 (lambda ()
878 (add-to-list 'mode-line-format 'hs-headline)))
879
327652be
TTN
880*** New customization var: `hs-hide-all-non-comment-function'
881
882Normally, `hs-hide-all' hides everything, leaving only the
883header lines of top-level forms (and comments, unless var
884`hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all' is non-nil). It does this by
885moving point to each top-level block beginning and hiding the
886block there. In some major modes (for example, Java), this
887behavior results in few blocks left visible, which may not be so
888useful.
889
890You can now set var `hs-hide-all-non-comment-function' to a
891function to be called at each top-level block beginning, instead
892of the normal block-hiding function. For example, the following
893code defines a function to hide one level down and move point
894appropriately, and then tells hideshow to use the new function.
895
896(defun ttn-hs-hide-level-1 ()
897 (hs-hide-level 1)
898 (forward-sexp 1))
899(setq hs-hide-all-non-comment-function 'ttn-hs-hide-level-1)
900
901The name `hs-hide-all-non-comment-function' was chosen to
902emphasize that this function is not called for comment blocks,
903only for code blocks.
904
905*** Command deleted: `hs-show-region'
906
907Historical Note: This command was added to handle "unbalanced
908parentheses" emergencies back when hideshow.el used selective
909display for implementation.
910
911*** Commands rebound to more conventional keys
912
913The hideshow commands used to be bound to keys of the form "C-c
914LETTER". This is contrary to the Emacs keybinding convention,
915which reserves that space for user modification. Here are the
916new bindings (which includes the addition of `hs-toggle-hiding'):
917
918 hs-hide-block C-c C-h
919 hs-show-block C-c C-s
920 hs-hide-all C-c C-M-h
921 hs-show-all C-c C-M-s
922 hs-hide-level C-c C-l
923 hs-toggle-hiding C-c C-c
924 hs-mouse-toggle-hiding [(shift button-2)]
925
926These were chosen to roughly imitate those used by Outline mode.
927
559cee90
DL
928** Changes to Change Log mode and Add-Log functions
929
424d8b44 930+++
1b24b888
GM
931*** If you invoke `add-change-log-entry' from a backup file, it makes
932an entry appropriate for the file's parent. This is useful for making
559cee90
DL
933log entries by comparing a version with deleted functions.
934
424d8b44 935+++
1b24b888
GM
936**** New command M-x change-log-merge merges another log into the
937current buffer.
424d8b44
DL
938
939+++
1b24b888
GM
940*** New command M-x change-log-redate fixes any old-style date entries
941in a log file.
eb2aac9d 942
502004be 943+++
1b24b888
GM
944*** Change Log mode now adds a file's version number to change log
945entries if user-option `change-log-version-info-enabled' is non-nil.
eb2aac9d 946
502004be 947+++
1b24b888 948*** Unless the file is under version control the search for a file's
424d8b44
DL
949version number is performed based on regular expressions from
950`change-log-version-number-regexp-list' which can be cutomized.
951Version numbers are only found in the first 10 percent of a file.
eb2aac9d 952
2c63c979 953*** Change Log mode now defines its own faces for font-lock highlighting.
1b24b888 954
79c78e77
GM
955** Changes to cmuscheme
956
957*** The user-option `scheme-program-name' has been renamed
958`cmuscheme-program-name' due to conflicts with xscheme.el.
959
3476b54a
GM
960** Changes in Font Lock
961
962*** The new function `font-lock-remove-keywords' can be used to remove
a5e350c9 963font-lock keywords from the current buffer or from a specific major mode.
3476b54a 964
2be6ecc6
GM
965*** Multiline patterns are now supported. Modes using this, should
966set font-lock-multiline to t in their font-lock-defaults.
2c63c979 967
a5e350c9
SM
968*** `font-lock-syntactic-face-function' allows major-modes to choose
969the face used for each string/comment.
c607d53d 970
601e0081
SM
971*** A new standard face `font-lock-doc-face'.
972Meant for Lisp docstrings, Javadoc comments and other "documentation in code".
973
b3b98592
GM
974** Comint (subshell) changes
975
988cded7
MB
976These changes generally affect all modes derived from comint mode, which
977include shell-mode, gdb-mode, scheme-interaction-mode, etc.
978
979*** By default, comint no longer uses the variable `comint-prompt-regexp'
980to distinguish prompts from user-input. Instead, it notices which
981parts of the text were output by the process, and which entered by the
982user, and attaches `field' properties to allow emacs commands to use
983this information. Common movement commands, notably beginning-of-line,
984respect field boundaries in a fairly natural manner. To disable this
985feature, and use the old behavior, customize the user option
986`comint-use-prompt-regexp-instead-of-fields'.
987
988*** Comint now includes new features to send commands to running processes
b3b98592
GM
989and redirect the output to a designated buffer or buffers.
990
988cded7 991*** The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command reads a command and
b3b98592
GM
992buffer name from the mini-buffer. The command is sent to the current
993buffer's process, and its output is inserted into the specified buffer.
994
995The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command-to-process acts like
996M-x comint-redirect-send-command but additionally reads the name of
997the buffer whose process should be used from the mini-buffer.
998
988cded7
MB
999*** Packages based on comint now highlight user input and program prompts,
1000and support choosing previous input with mouse-2. To control these features,
1001see the user-options `comint-highlight-input' and `comint-highlight-prompt'.
31fc5d15 1002
988cded7 1003*** The new command `comint-write-output' (usually bound to `C-c C-s')
d648cc45
MB
1004saves the output from the most recent command to a file. With a prefix
1005argument, it appends to the file.
1006
988cded7 1007*** The command `comint-kill-output' has been renamed `comint-delete-output'
d648cc45
MB
1008(usually bound to `C-c C-o'); the old name is aliased to it for
1009compatibility.
1010
0e40b809
EL
1011*** The new function `comint-add-to-input-history' adds commands to the input
1012ring (history).
d648cc45 1013
fe5d5d8c 1014*** The new variable `comint-input-history-ignore' is a regexp for
6dde6abc
GM
1015identifying history lines that should be ignored, like tcsh time-stamp
1016strings, starting with a `#'. The default value of this variable is "^#".
fe5d5d8c 1017
e26cec67
GM
1018** Changes to Rmail mode
1019
b97cd2cc 1020*** The new user-option rmail-user-mail-address-regexp can be
c0510d27
GM
1021set to fine tune the identification of of the correspondent when
1022receiving new mail. If it matches the address of the sender, the
1023recipient is taken as correspondent of a mail. If nil, the default,
1024`user-login-name' and `user-mail-address' are used to exclude yourself
1025as correspondent.
1026
1027Usually you don't have to set this variable, except if you collect
1028mails sent by you under different user names. Then it should be a
993d8b7d 1029regexp matching your mail addresses.
c0510d27 1030
3b55acc9
GM
1031*** The new user-option rmail-confirm-expunge controls whether and how
1032to ask for confirmation before expunging deleted messages from an
1033Rmail file. You can choose between no confirmation, confirmation
1034with y-or-n-p, or confirmation with yes-or-no-p. Default is to ask
1035for confirmation with yes-or-no-p.
1036
6a1950ec
GM
1037*** RET is now bound in the Rmail summary to rmail-summary-goto-msg,
1038like `j'.
1039
5bb6f079
RS
1040*** There is a new user option `rmail-digest-end-regexps' that
1041specifies the regular expressions to detect the line that ends a
2d5e9b54 1042digest message.
e26cec67 1043
993d8b7d
DL
1044*** The new user option `rmail-automatic-folder-directives' specifies
1045in which folder to put messages automatically.
1046
400a1ed0
GM
1047** Changes to TeX mode
1048
a5e350c9 1049*** The default mode has been changed from `plain-tex-mode' to
400a1ed0
GM
1050`latex-mode'.
1051
a5e350c9
SM
1052*** latex-mode now has a simple indentation algorithm.
1053
1054*** M-f and M-p jump around \begin...\end pairs.
1055
1056*** Added support for outline-minor-mode.
c607d53d 1057
a933dad1
DL
1058** Changes to RefTeX mode
1059
1060*** RefTeX has new support for index generation. Index entries can be
1061 created with `C-c <', with completion available on index keys.
1062 Pressing `C-c /' indexes the word at the cursor with a default
1063 macro. `C-c >' compiles all index entries into an alphabetically
1064 sorted *Index* buffer which looks like the final index. Entries
1065 can be edited from that buffer.
1066
1067*** Label and citation key selection now allow to select several
1068 items and reference them together (use `m' to mark items, `a' or
1069 `A' to use all marked entries).
1070
1071*** reftex.el has been split into a number of smaller files to reduce
1072 memory use when only a part of RefTeX is being used.
1073
1074*** a new command `reftex-view-crossref-from-bibtex' (bound to `C-c &'
1075 in BibTeX-mode) can be called in a BibTeX database buffer in order
1076 to show locations in LaTeX documents where a particular entry has
1077 been cited.
1078
38de9631
GM
1079** Emacs Lisp mode now allows multiple levels of outline headings.
1080The level of a heading is determined from the number of leading
1081semicolons in a heading line. Toplevel forms starting with a `('
1082in column 1 are always made leaves.
1083
a933dad1
DL
1084** The M-x time-stamp command (most commonly used on write-file-hooks)
1085has the following new features:
1086
1087*** The patterns for finding the time stamp and for updating a pattern
1088may match text spanning multiple lines. For example, some people like
1089to have the filename and date on separate lines. The new variable
1090time-stamp-inserts-lines controls the matching for multi-line patterns.
1091
1092*** More than one time stamp can be updated in the same file. This
1093feature is useful if you need separate time stamps in a program source
1094file to both include in formatted documentation and insert in the
1095compiled binary. The same time-stamp will be written at each matching
1096pattern. The variable time-stamp-count enables this new feature; it
1097defaults to 1.
1098
5d94f558 1099** Partial Completion mode now completes environment variables in
b675095c
GM
1100file names.
1101
424d8b44 1102+++
a933dad1
DL
1103** Tooltips.
1104
1105Tooltips are small X windows displaying a help string at the current
01242779
DL
1106mouse position. The Lisp package `tooltip' implements them. You can
1107turn them off via the user option `tooltip-mode'.
a933dad1
DL
1108
1109Tooltips also provides support for GUD debugging. If activated,
1110variable values can be displayed in tooltips by pointing at them with
1111the mouse in source buffers. You can customize various aspects of the
1112tooltip display in the group `tooltip'.
1113
424d8b44 1114+++
a933dad1
DL
1115** Customize changes
1116
1117*** Customize now supports comments about customized items. Use the
34f94cf9
DL
1118`State' menu to add comments. Note that customization comments will
1119cause the customizations to fail in earlier versions of Emacs.
a933dad1
DL
1120
1121*** The new option `custom-buffer-done-function' says whether to kill
1122Custom buffers when you've done with them or just bury them (the
1123default).
1124
0ae51efb
GM
1125*** The keyword :set-after in defcustom allows to specify dependencies
1126between custom options. Example:
1127
1128 (defcustom default-input-method nil
1129 "*Default input method for multilingual text (a string).
1130 This is the input method activated automatically by the command
1131 `toggle-input-method' (\\[toggle-input-method])."
1132 :group 'mule
1133 :type '(choice (const nil) string)
1134 :set-after '(current-language-environment))
1135
1136This specifies that default-input-method should be set after
1137current-language-environment even if default-input-method appears
1138first in a custom-set-variables statement.
1139
a933dad1
DL
1140** New features in evaluation commands
1141
5e03eb84 1142*** The commands to evaluate Lisp expressions, such as C-M-x in Lisp
a933dad1
DL
1143modes, C-j in Lisp Interaction mode, and M-:, now bind the variables
1144print-level, print-length, and debug-on-error based on the
1145customizable variables eval-expression-print-level,
1146eval-expression-print-length, and eval-expression-debug-on-error.
1147
5e03eb84
GM
1148*** The function `eval-defun' (M-C-x) now loads Edebug and instruments
1149code when called with a prefix argument.
1150
ead53494
GM
1151** Ispell changes
1152
37d8a691 1153+++
bbe15990
EZ
1154*** The command `ispell' now spell-checks a region if
1155transient-mark-mode is on, and the mark is active. Otherwise it
ead53494
GM
1156spell-checks the current buffer.
1157
37d8a691 1158+++
385ff9e3
GM
1159*** Support for synchronous subprocesses - DOS/Windoze - has been
1160added.
1161
1162*** An "alignment error" bug was fixed when a manual spelling
1163correction is made and re-checked.
1164
74ec6045 1165*** An Italian and a Portuguese dictionary definition has been added.
385ff9e3
GM
1166
1167*** Region skipping performance has been vastly improved in some
1168cases.
1169
1170*** Spell checking HTML buffers has been improved and isn't so strict
1171on syntax errors.
1172
1173*** The buffer-local words are now always placed on a new line at the
1174end of the buffer.
1175
a933dad1
DL
1176** Dired changes
1177
1178*** New variable `dired-recursive-deletes' determines if the delete
1179command will delete non-empty directories recursively. The default
1180is, delete only empty directories.
1181
1182*** New variable `dired-recursive-copies' determines if the copy
1183command will copy directories recursively. The default is, do not
1184copy directories recursively.
1185
f6737cde
GM
1186*** In command `dired-do-shell-command' (usually bound to `!') a `?'
1187in the shell command has a special meaning similar to `*', but with
1188the difference that the command will be run on each file individually.
1189
2f72fd2f
GM
1190*** The new command `dired-find-alternate-file' (usually bound to `a')
1191replaces the Dired buffer with the buffer for an alternate file or
1192directory.
1193
7381ae05
MB
1194*** The new command `dired-show-file-type' (usually bound to `w') shows
1195a message in the echo area describing what type of file the point is on.
1196This command invokes the external program `file' do its work, and so
1197will only work on systems with that program, and will be only as
1198accurate or inaccurate as it is.
1199
e024b101
GM
1200*** Dired now properly handles undo changes of adding/removing `-R'
1201from ls switches.
1202
60b392a7
MB
1203*** Dired commands that prompt for a destination file now allow the use
1204of the `M-n' command in the minibuffer to insert the source filename,
1205which the user can then edit. This only works if there is a single
1206source file, not when operating on multiple marked files.
1207
a933dad1
DL
1208** The variable mail-specify-envelope-from controls whether to
1209use the -f option when sending mail.
1210
b1c609b1
GM
1211** CC mode changes.
1212
1213Note: This release contains changes that might not be compatible with
1214current user setups (although it's believed that these
1215incompatibilities will only show in very uncommon circumstances).
1216However, since the impact is uncertain, these changes may be rolled
1217back depending on user feedback. Therefore there's no forward
1218compatibility guarantee wrt the new features introduced in this
1219release.
1220
7972fcfc
GM
1221*** c-style-variables-are-local-p now defaults to t.
1222This is an incompatible change that has been made to make the behavior
1223of the style system wrt global variable settings less confusing for
1224non-advanced users. If you know what this variable does you might
1225want to set it to nil in your .emacs, otherwise you probably don't
1226have to bother.
1227
1228Defaulting c-style-variables-are-local-p to t avoids the confusing
1229situation that occurs when a user sets some style variables globally
487522fe 1230and edits both a Java and a non-Java file in the same Emacs session.
7972fcfc
GM
1231If the style variables aren't buffer local in this case, loading of
1232the second file will cause the default style (either "gnu" or "java"
1233by default) to override the global settings made by the user.
1234
b1c609b1
GM
1235*** New initialization procedure for the style system.
1236When the initial style for a buffer is determined by CC Mode (from the
1237variable c-default-style), the global values of style variables now
1238take precedence over the values specified by the chosen style. This
1239is different than the old behavior: previously, the style-specific
1240settings would override the global settings. This change makes it
1241possible to do simple configuration in the intuitive way with
1242Customize or with setq lines in one's .emacs file.
1243
1244By default, the global value of every style variable is the new
1245special symbol set-from-style, which causes the value to be taken from
1246the style system. This means that in effect, only an explicit setting
1247of a style variable will cause the "overriding" behavior described
1248above.
1249
1250Also note that global settings override style-specific settings *only*
1251when the initial style of a buffer is chosen by a CC Mode major mode
1252function. When a style is chosen in other ways --- for example, by a
1253call like (c-set-style "gnu") in a hook, or via M-x c-set-style ---
1254then the style-specific values take precedence over any global style
1255values. In Lisp terms, global values override style-specific values
1256only when the new second argument to c-set-style is non-nil; see the
1257function documentation for more info.
1258
1259The purpose of these changes is to make it easier for users,
1260especially novice users, to do simple customizations with Customize or
1261with setq in their .emacs files. On the other hand, the new system is
1262intended to be compatible with advanced users' customizations as well,
1263such as those that choose styles in hooks or whatnot. This new system
1264is believed to be almost entirely compatible with current
1265configurations, in spite of the changed precedence between style and
1266global variable settings when a buffer's default style is set.
1267
1268(Thanks to Eric Eide for clarifying this explanation a bit.)
1269
1270**** c-offsets-alist is now a customizable variable.
1271This became possible as a result of the new initialization behavior.
1272
1273This variable is treated slightly differently from the other style
1274variables; instead of using the symbol set-from-style, it will be
1275completed with the syntactic symbols it doesn't already contain when
1276the style is first initialized. This means it now defaults to the
1277empty list to make all syntactic elements get their values from the
1278style system.
1279
1280**** Compatibility variable to restore the old behavior.
1281In case your configuration doesn't work with this change, you can set
1282c-old-style-variable-behavior to non-nil to get the old behavior back
1283as far as possible.
1284
1285*** Improvements to line breaking and text filling.
1286CC Mode now handles this more intelligently and seamlessly wrt the
1287surrounding code, especially inside comments. For details see the new
1288chapter about this in the manual.
1289
1290**** New variable to recognize comment line prefix decorations.
1291The variable c-comment-prefix-regexp has been added to properly
1292recognize the line prefix in both block and line comments. It's
1293primarily used to initialize the various paragraph recognition and
1294adaptive filling variables that the text handling functions uses.
1295
1296**** New variable c-block-comment-prefix.
1297This is a generalization of the now obsolete variable
1298c-comment-continuation-stars to handle arbitrary strings.
1299
1300**** CC Mode now uses adaptive fill mode.
1301This to make it adapt better to the paragraph style inside comments.
1302
1303It's also possible to use other adaptive filling packages inside CC
1304Mode, notably Kyle E. Jones' Filladapt mode (http://wonderworks.com/).
1305A new convenience function c-setup-filladapt sets up Filladapt for use
1306inside CC Mode.
1307
1308Note though that the 2.12 version of Filladapt lacks a feature that
1309causes it to work suboptimally when c-comment-prefix-regexp can match
1310the empty string (which it commonly does). A patch for that is
1311available from the CC Mode web site (http://www.python.org/emacs/
1312cc-mode/).
1313
1314**** It's now possible to selectively turn off auto filling.
1315The variable c-ignore-auto-fill is used to ignore auto fill mode in
1316specific contexts, e.g. in preprocessor directives and in string
1317literals.
1318
1319**** New context sensitive line break function c-context-line-break.
1320It works like newline-and-indent in normal code, and adapts the line
1321prefix according to the comment style when used inside comments. If
1322you're normally using newline-and-indent, you might want to switch to
1323this function.
1324
1325*** Fixes to IDL mode.
1326It now does a better job in recognizing only the constructs relevant
1327to IDL. E.g. it no longer matches "class" as the beginning of a
1328struct block, but it does match the CORBA 2.3 "valuetype" keyword.
1329Thanks to Eric Eide.
1330
1331*** Improvements to the Whitesmith style.
1332It now keeps the style consistently on all levels and both when
1333opening braces hangs and when they don't.
1334
1335**** New lineup function c-lineup-whitesmith-in-block.
1336
1337*** New lineup functions c-lineup-template-args and c-indent-multi-line-block.
1338See their docstrings for details. c-lineup-template-args does a
1339better job of tracking the brackets used as parens in C++ templates,
1340and is used by default to line up continued template arguments.
1341
1342*** c-lineup-comment now preserves alignment with a comment on the
1343previous line. It used to instead preserve comments that started in
1344the column specified by comment-column.
1345
1346*** c-lineup-C-comments handles "free form" text comments.
1347In comments with a long delimiter line at the start, the indentation
1348is kept unchanged for lines that start with an empty comment line
1349prefix. This is intended for the type of large block comments that
1350contain documentation with its own formatting. In these you normally
1351don't want CC Mode to change the indentation.
1352
1353*** The `c' syntactic symbol is now relative to the comment start
1354instead of the previous line, to make integers usable as lineup
1355arguments.
1356
1357*** All lineup functions have gotten docstrings.
1358
1359*** More preprocessor directive movement functions.
1360c-down-conditional does the reverse of c-up-conditional.
1361c-up-conditional-with-else and c-down-conditional-with-else are
1362variants of these that also stops at "#else" lines (suggested by Don
1363Provan).
1364
1365*** Minor improvements to many movement functions in tricky situations.
1366
c407c570
GM
1367** Makefile mode changes
1368
1369*** The mode now uses the abbrev table `makefile-mode-abbrev-table'.
1370
5d94f558 1371*** Conditionals and include statements are now highlighted when
c407c570
GM
1372Fontlock mode is active.
1373
87be76f6
GM
1374** Isearch changes
1375
3353ef5a
GM
1376*** Isearch now puts a call to `isearch-resume' in the command history,
1377so that searches can be resumed.
1378
1379*** In Isearch mode, M-C-s and M-C-r are now bound like C-s and C-r,
c407c570
GM
1380respectively, i.e. you can repeat a regexp isearch with the same keys
1381that started the search.
1382
87be76f6 1383*** In Isearch mode, mouse-2 in the echo area now yanks the current
a933dad1
DL
1384selection into the search string rather than giving an error.
1385
c8a8458a 1386+++
87be76f6
GM
1387*** There is a new lazy highlighting feature in incremental search.
1388
d35fce81 1389Lazy highlighting is switched on/off by customizing variable
87be76f6
GM
1390`isearch-lazy-highlight'. When active, all matches for the current
1391search string are highlighted. The current match is highlighted as
1392before using face `isearch' or `region'. All other matches are
1393highlighted using face `isearch-lazy-highlight-face' which defaults to
5d94f558 1394`secondary-selection'.
87be76f6
GM
1395
1396The extra highlighting makes it easier to anticipate where the cursor
1397will end up each time you press C-s or C-r to repeat a pending search.
1398Highlighting of these additional matches happens in a deferred fashion
1399using "idle timers," so the cycles needed do not rob isearch of its
1400usual snappy response.
1401
1402If `isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup' is set to t, highlights for
1403matches are automatically cleared when you end the search. If it is
1404set to nil, you can remove the highlights manually with `M-x
1405isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup'.
1406
21bc6203 1407+++
35384f06
GM
1408** Changes in sort.el
1409
1410The function sort-numeric-fields interprets numbers starting with `0'
12c25bdc 1411as octal and numbers starting with `0x' or `0X' as hexadecimal. The
21bc6203 1412new user-option sort-numeric-base can be used to specify a default
35384f06 1413numeric base.
87be76f6 1414
d7b511c4
GM
1415** Changes to Ange-ftp
1416
424d8b44 1417+++
d7b511c4 1418*** Ange-ftp allows you to specify of a port number in remote file
d67f47e4
DL
1419names cleanly. It is appended to the host name, separated by a hash
1420sign, e.g. `/foo@bar.org#666:mumble'. (This syntax comes from EFS.)
1421
d7b511c4
GM
1422*** If the new user-option `ange-ftp-try-passive-mode' is set, passive
1423ftp mode will be used if the ftp client supports that.
1424
9d453139
SS
1425*** Ange-ftp handles the output of the w32-style clients which
1426output ^M at the end of lines.
1427
4b9347b3
GM
1428** Shell script mode changes.
1429
1430Shell script mode (sh-script) can now indent scripts for shells
1431derived from sh and rc. The indentation style is customizeable, and
1432sh-script can attempt to "learn" the current buffer's style.
1433
79214ddf
FP
1434** Etags changes.
1435
1436*** In DOS, etags looks for file.cgz if it cannot find file.c.
1437
aca0be23 1438*** New option --ignore-case-regex is an alternative to --regex. It is now
8dc78b52
FP
1439possible to bind a regexp to a language, by prepending the regexp with
1440{lang}, where lang is one of the languages that `etags --help' prints out.
1441This feature is useful especially for regex files, where each line contains
1442a regular expression. The manual contains details.
aca0be23 1443
79214ddf
FP
1444*** In C and derived languages, etags creates tags for function
1445declarations when given the --declarations option.
1446
1447*** In C++, tags are created for "operator". The tags have the form
aca0be23 1448"operator+", without spaces between the keyword and the operator.
79214ddf
FP
1449
1450*** New language Ada: tags are functions, procedures, packages, tasks, and
1451types.
1452
de370c4c 1453*** In Fortran, `procedure' is not tagged.
79214ddf
FP
1454
1455*** In Java, tags are created for "interface".
1456
1457*** In Lisp, "(defstruct (foo", "(defun (operator" and similar constructs
1458are now tagged.
1459
89d57763
FP
1460*** In makefiles, tags the targets.
1461
79214ddf
FP
1462*** In Perl, the --globals option tags global variables. my and local
1463variables are tagged.
1464
1465*** New language Python: def and class at the beginning of a line are tags.
1466
8dc78b52
FP
1467*** .ss files are Scheme files, .pdb is Postscript with C syntax, .psw is
1468for PSWrap.
79214ddf 1469
c8d94f86 1470+++
f6737cde
GM
1471** Changes in etags.el
1472
3f6e4b8b
GM
1473*** The new user-option tags-case-fold-search can be used to make
1474tags operations case-sensitive or case-insensitive. The default
1475is to use the same setting as case-fold-search.
1476
f6737cde
GM
1477*** You can display additional output with M-x tags-apropos by setting
1478the new variable tags-apropos-additional-actions.
1479
1480If non-nil, the variable's value should be a list of triples (TITLE
1481FUNCTION TO-SEARCH). For each triple, M-x tags-apropos processes
1482TO-SEARCH and lists tags from it. TO-SEARCH should be an alist,
1483obarray, or symbol. If it is a symbol, the symbol's value is used.
1484
1485TITLE is a string to use to label the list of tags from TO-SEARCH.
1486
1487FUNCTION is a function to call when an entry is selected in the Tags
1488List buffer. It is called with one argument, the selected symbol.
1489
1490A useful example value for this variable might be something like:
1491
1492 '(("Emacs Lisp" Info-goto-emacs-command-node obarray)
1493 ("Common Lisp" common-lisp-hyperspec common-lisp-hyperspec-obarray)
1494 ("SCWM" scwm-documentation scwm-obarray))
1495
1496*** The face tags-tag-face can be used to customize the appearance
1497of tags in the output of M-x tags-apropos.
1498
1499*** Setting tags-apropos-verbose to a non-nil value displays the
1500names of tags files in the *Tags List* buffer.
1501
0c68ce6f
GM
1502*** You can now search for tags that are part of the filename itself.
1503If you have tagged the files topfile.c subdir/subfile.c
1504/tmp/tempfile.c, you can now search for tags "topfile.c", "subfile.c",
1505"dir/sub", "tempfile", "tempfile.c". If the tag matches the filename,
1506point will go to the beginning of the file.
1507
424d8b44 1508+++
fbc164de
PE
1509** Emacs now attempts to determine the initial language environment
1510and preferred and locale coding systems systematically from the
1511LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG environment variables during startup.
1512
c3eb1f10 1513+++
0b8a3a6d
DL
1514** New language environments `Polish', `Latin-8' and `Latin-9'.
1515Latin-8 and Latin-9 correspond respectively to the ISO character sets
15168859-14 (Celtic) and 8859-15 (updated Latin-1, with the Euro sign).
f6499c03
DL
1517GNU Intlfonts doesn't support these yet; there are basic 8859-14 and
15188859-15 fonts at <URL:http://czyborra.com/charsets/> and recent X
1519releases have 8859-15. There are new Latin-8 and Latin-9 prefix
1520(only) and Polish slash input methods in Leim.
59c1bf85 1521
732b9cdd
GM
1522+++
1523** New language environments `Dutch' and `Spanish'.
89d57763 1524These new environments mainly select appropriate translations
732b9cdd
GM
1525of the tutorial.
1526
424d8b44 1527+++
163ea954 1528** Fortran mode has a new command `fortran-strip-sequence-nos' to
e33b0397
DL
1529remove text past column 72. The syntax class of `\' in Fortran is now
1530appropriate for C-style escape sequences in strings.
1531
1532** SGML mode's default `sgml-validate-command' is now `nsgmls'.
1533
424d8b44 1534+++
6f8ea2ae
DL
1535** A new command `view-emacs-problems' (C-h P) displays the PROBLEMS file.
1536
6ab8d72d 1537+++
f6499c03 1538** The Dabbrev package has a new user-option `dabbrev-ignored-regexps'
c0510d27
GM
1539containing a list of regular expressions. Buffers matching a regular
1540expression from that list, are not checked.
1541
5d94f558
SS
1542** Emacs can now figure out modification times of remote files.
1543When you do C-x C-f /user@host:/path/file RET and edit the file,
1544and someone else modifies the file, you will be prompted to revert
1545the buffer, just like for the local files.
1546
dc28878c
GM
1547** The buffer menu (C-x C-b) no longer lists the *Buffer List* buffer.
1548
df8a9f78 1549+++
95931eb1
GM
1550** When invoked with a prefix argument, the command `list-abbrevs' now
1551displays local abbrevs, only.
1552
54baed30
GM
1553** VC Changes
1554
1555VC has been overhauled internally. It is now modular, making it
1556easier to plug-in arbitrary version control backends. (See Lisp
1557Changes for details on the new structure.) As a result, the mechanism
1558to enable and disable support for particular version systems has
1559changed: everything is now controlled by the new variable
1560`vc-handled-backends'. Its value is a list of atoms that identify
1561version systems; the default is '(RCS CVS SCCS). When finding a file,
1562each of the backends in that list is tried in order to see whether the
1563file is registered in that backend.
1564
1565When registering a new file, VC first tries each of the listed
1566backends to see if any of them considers itself "responsible" for the
1567directory of the file (e.g. because a corresponding subdirectory for
1568master files exists). If none of the backends is responsible, then
1569the first backend in the list that could register the file is chosen.
1570As a consequence, the variable `vc-default-back-end' is now obsolete.
1571
1572The old variable `vc-master-templates' is also obsolete, although VC
1573still supports it for backward compatibility. To define templates for
1574RCS or SCCS, you should rather use the new variables
1575vc-{rcs,sccs}-master-templates. (There is no such feature under CVS
1576where it doesn't make sense.)
1577
1578The variables `vc-ignore-vc-files' and `vc-handle-cvs' are also
1579obsolete now, you must set `vc-handled-backends' to nil or exclude
1580`CVS' from the list, respectively, to achieve their effect now.
1581
1582*** General Changes
1583
1584The variable `vc-checkout-carefully' is obsolete: the corresponding
1585checks are always done now.
1586
327652be 1587VC Dired buffers are now kept up-to-date during all version control
54baed30
GM
1588operations.
1589
c286608e
SM
1590`vc-diff' output is now displayed in `diff-mode'.
1591`vc-print-log' uses `log-view-mode'.
1592`vc-log-mode' (used for *VC-Log*) has been replaced by `log-edit-mode'.
1593
22933be8
AS
1594The command C-x v m (vc-merge) now accepts an empty argument as the
1595first revision number. This means that any recent changes on the
1596current branch should be picked up from the repository and merged into
1597the working file (``merge news'').
1598
1599The commands C-x v s (vc-create-snapshot) and C-x v r
1600(vc-retrieve-snapshot) now ask for a directory name from which to work
1601downwards.
1602
1603*** Multiple Backends
1604
1605VC now lets you register files in more than one backend. This is
1606useful, for example, if you are working with a slow remote CVS
1607repository. You can then use RCS for local editing, and occasionally
1608commit your changes back to CVS, or pick up changes from CVS into your
1609local RCS archives.
1610
1611To make this work, the ``more local'' backend (RCS in our example)
1612should come first in `vc-handled-backends', and the ``more remote''
1613backend (CVS) should come later. (The default value of
1614`vc-handled-backends' already has it that way.)
1615
1616If you have a file registered in one backend already, you can register
1617it in a second one by using C-x v i (vc-register) again.
1618Alternatively, you can commit changes to another backend (say, RCS),
1619by typing C-u C-x v v RCS RET (i.e. vc-next-action now accepts a
1620backend name as a revision number). When using the latter approach,
1621VC registers the file in the more local backend if that hasn't already
1622happened, and commits to a branch based on the current revision number
1623from the more remote backend.
1624
1625If a file is registered in multiple backends, you can switch to
1626another one using C-x v b (vc-switch-backend). This does not change
1627any files, it only changes VC's perspective on the file. Use this to
1628pick up changes from CVS while working under RCS locally.
1629
1630After you are done with your local RCS editing, you can commit your
1631changes back to CVS using C-u C-x v v CVS RET. In this case, the
1632local RCS archive is removed after the commit, and the log entry
1633buffer is initialized to contain the entire RCS change log of the file.
1634
54baed30
GM
1635*** Changes for CVS
1636
1637There is a new user option, `vc-cvs-stay-local'. If it is `t' (the
1638default), then VC avoids network queries for files registered in
1639remote repositories. The state of such files is then only determined
1640by heuristics and past information. `vc-cvs-stay-local' can also be a
1641regexp to match against repository hostnames; only files from hosts
1642that match it are treated locally. If the variable is nil, then VC
1643queries the repository just as often as it does for local files.
1644
22933be8
AS
1645If `vc-cvs-stay-local' is on, then VC also makes local backups of
1646repository versions. This means that ordinary diffs (C-x v =) and
1647revert operations (C-x v u) can be done completely locally, without
1648any repository interactions at all. The name of a local version
1649backup of FILE is FILE.~REV.~, where REV is the repository version
1650number. This format is similar to that used by C-x v ~
1651(vc-version-other-window), except for the trailing dot. As a matter
1652of fact, the two features can each use the files created by the other,
1653the only difference being that files with a trailing `.' are deleted
105602b1
EZ
1654automatically after commit. (This feature doesn't work on MS-DOS,
1655since DOS disallows more than a single dot in the trunk of a file
1656name.)
22933be8 1657
54baed30
GM
1658If `vc-cvs-stay-local' is on, and there have been changes in the
1659repository, VC notifies you about it when you actually try to commit.
1660If you want to check for updates from the repository without trying to
22933be8 1661commit, you can either use C-x v m RET to perform an update on the
54baed30
GM
1662current file, or you can use C-x v r RET to get an update for an
1663entire directory tree.
1664
1665The new user option `vc-cvs-use-edit' indicates whether VC should call
1666"cvs edit" to make files writeable; it defaults to `t'. (This option
1667is only meaningful if the CVSREAD variable is set, or if files are
1668"watched" by other developers.)
1669
22933be8
AS
1670The commands C-x v s (vc-create-snapshot) and C-x v r
1671(vc-retrieve-snapshot) are now also implemented for CVS. If you give
1672an empty argument to the latter, that performs a `cvs update',
1673starting at the given directory.
1674
54baed30
GM
1675*** Lisp Changes in VC
1676
1677VC has been restructured internally to make it modular. You can now
1678add support for arbitrary version control backends by writing a
1679library that provides a certain set of backend-specific functions, and
1680then telling VC to use that library. For example, to add support for
1681a version system named FOO, you write a library named vc-foo.el, which
1682provides a number of functions vc-foo-... (see commentary at the end
1683of vc.el for a detailed list of them). To make VC use that library,
1684you need to put it somewhere into Emacs' load path and add the atom
1685`FOO' to the list `vc-handled-backends'.
1686
732b9cdd
GM
1687*** The customizable EDT emulation package now supports the EDT
1688SUBS command and EDT scroll margins. It also works with more
1689terminal/keyboard configurations and it now works under XEmacs.
1690See etc/edt-user.doc for more information.
1691
a933dad1
DL
1692** New modes and packages
1693
79b9f6e0
MB
1694*** The new global minor mode `minibuffer-electric-default-mode'
1695automatically hides the `(default ...)' part of minibuffer prompts when
1696the default is not applicable.
1697
b95b34e5
GM
1698*** Artist is an Emacs lisp package that allows you to draw lines,
1699rectangles and ellipses by using your mouse and/or keyboard. The
1700shapes are made up with the ascii characters |, -, / and \.
1701
1702Features are:
1703
1704- Intersecting: When a `|' intersects with a `-', a `+' is
1705 drawn, like this: | \ /
c607d53d 1706 --+-- X
b95b34e5
GM
1707 | / \
1708
1709- Rubber-banding: When drawing lines you can interactively see the
1710 result while holding the mouse button down and moving the mouse. If
1711 your machine is not fast enough (a 386 is a bit too slow, but a
1712 pentium is well enough), you can turn this feature off. You will
1713 then see 1's and 2's which mark the 1st and 2nd endpoint of the line
1714 you are drawing.
1715
1716- Arrows: After having drawn a (straight) line or a (straight)
1717 poly-line, you can set arrows on the line-ends by typing < or >.
1718
1719- Flood-filling: You can fill any area with a certain character by
1720 flood-filling.
1721
1722- Cut copy and paste: You can cut, copy and paste rectangular
1723 regions. Artist also interfaces with the rect package (this can be
1724 turned off if it causes you any trouble) so anything you cut in
1725 artist can be yanked with C-x r y and vice versa.
c607d53d 1726
b95b34e5
GM
1727- Drawing with keys: Everything you can do with the mouse, you can
1728 also do without the mouse.
1729
1730- Aspect-ratio: You can set the variable artist-aspect-ratio to
1731 reflect the height-width ratio for the font you are using. Squares
1732 and circles are then drawn square/round. Note, that once your
1733 ascii-file is shown with font with a different height-width ratio,
1734 the squares won't be square and the circles won't be round.
1735
1736- Drawing operations: The following drawing operations are implemented:
1737
1738 lines straight-lines
1739 rectangles squares
1740 poly-lines straight poly-lines
1741 ellipses circles
1742 text (see-thru) text (overwrite)
1743 spray-can setting size for spraying
1744 vaporize line vaporize lines
1745 erase characters erase rectangles
1746
1747 Straight lines are lines that go horizontally, vertically or
1748 diagonally. Plain lines go in any direction. The operations in
1749 the right column are accessed by holding down the shift key while
1750 drawing.
1751
1752 It is possible to vaporize (erase) entire lines and connected lines
1753 (rectangles for example) as long as the lines being vaporized are
1754 straight and connected at their endpoints. Vaporizing is inspired
1755 by the drawrect package by Jari Aalto <jari.aalto@poboxes.com>.
1756
1757- Picture mode compatibility: Artist is picture mode compatible (this
1758 can be turned off).
1759
4473cdd9
JW
1760+++
1761*** The new package Eshell is an operating system command shell
1762implemented entirely in Emacs Lisp. Use `M-x eshell' to invoke it.
1763It functions similarly to bash and zsh, and allows running of Lisp
1764functions and external commands using the same syntax. It supports
1765history lists, aliases, extended globbing, smart scrolling, etc. It
1766will work on any platform Emacs has been ported to. And since most of
1767the basic commands -- ls, rm, mv, cp, ln, du, cat, etc. -- have been
1768rewritten in Lisp, it offers an operating-system independent shell,
1769all within the scope of your Emacs process.
1770
ff332647 1771+++
90cbf47e
GM
1772*** The new package timeclock.el is a mode is for keeping track of time
1773intervals. You can use it for whatever purpose you like, but the
1774typical scenario is to keep track of how much time you spend working
1775on certain projects.
1776
894ca69e 1777+++
90cbf47e 1778*** The new package hi-lock.el, text matching interactively entered
d96d6bb0 1779regexp's can be highlighted. For example,
abb2db1c 1780
d96d6bb0 1781 M-x highlight-regexp RET clearly RET RET
abb2db1c
GM
1782
1783will highlight all occurrences of `clearly' using a yellow background
1784face. New occurrences of `clearly' will be highlighted as they are
1785typed. `M-x unhighlight-regexp RET' will remove the highlighting.
1786Any existing face can be used for highlighting and a set of
1787appropriate faces is provided. The regexps can be written into the
1788current buffer in a form that will be recognized the next time the
1789corresponding file is read.
1790
424d8b44 1791+++
d96d6bb0 1792*** The new package zone.el plays games with Emacs' display when
abb2db1c
GM
1793Emacs is idle.
1794
31fc5d15
GM
1795*** The new package xml.el provides a simple but generic XML
1796parser. It doesn't parse the DTDs however.
1797
5cb6a58e
SM
1798*** The comment operations are now provided by the newcomment.el
1799package which allows different styles of comment-region and should
1800be more robust while offering the same functionality.
601e0081
SM
1801`comment-region' now doesn't always comment a-line-at-a-time, but only
1802comments the region, breaking the line at point if necessary.
5cb6a58e 1803
424d8b44 1804+++
578979ee
GM
1805*** The Ebrowse package implements a C++ class browser and tags
1806facilities tailored for use with C++. It is documented in a
1807separate Texinfo file.
1808
424d8b44
DL
1809+++
1810*** The PCL-CVS package available by either running M-x cvs-examine or
1811by visiting a CVS administrative directory (with a prefix argument)
1812provides an alternative interface to VC-dired for CVS. It comes with
1813`log-view-mode' to view RCS and SCCS logs and `log-edit-mode' used to
1814enter checkin log messages.
dc1178bf 1815
424d8b44 1816+++
6abca616
EZ
1817*** The new package called `woman' allows to browse Unix man pages
1818without invoking external programs.
1819
1820The command `M-x woman' formats manual pages entirely in Emacs Lisp
1821and then displays them, like `M-x manual-entry' does. Unlike
1822`manual-entry', `woman' does not invoke any external programs, so it
1823is useful on systems such as MS-DOS/MS-Windows where the `man' and
490f2e7b 1824Groff or `troff' commands are not readily available.
6abca616
EZ
1825
1826The command `M-x woman-find-file' asks for the file name of a man
1827page, then formats and displays it like `M-x woman' does.
1828
719e2c6e 1829+++
5e5dff44
GM
1830*** The new command M-x re-builder offers a convenient interface for
1831authoring regular expressions with immediate visual feedback.
1832
1833The buffer from which the command was called becomes the target for
1834the regexp editor popping up in a separate window. Matching text in
1835the target buffer is immediately color marked during the editing.
1836Each sub-expression of the regexp will show up in a different face so
1837even complex regexps can be edited and verified on target data in a
1838single step.
1839
1840On displays not supporting faces the matches instead blink like
1841matching parens to make them stand out. On such a setup you will
1842probably also want to use the sub-expression mode when the regexp
1843contains such to get feedback about their respective limits.
1844
424d8b44 1845+++
f7136ee8
GM
1846*** glasses-mode is a minor mode that makes
1847unreadableIdentifiersLikeThis readable. It works as glasses, without
1848actually modifying content of a buffer.
1849
bbd9b566
GM
1850*** The package ebnf2ps translates an EBNF to a syntactic chart in
1851PostScript.
1852
1853Currently accepts ad-hoc EBNF, ISO EBNF and Bison/Yacc.
1854
1855The ad-hoc default EBNF syntax has the following elements:
1856
1857 ; comment (until end of line)
1858 A non-terminal
1859 "C" terminal
1860 ?C? special
1861 $A default non-terminal
1862 $"C" default terminal
1863 $?C? default special
1864 A = B. production (A is the header and B the body)
1865 C D sequence (C occurs before D)
1866 C | D alternative (C or D occurs)
1867 A - B exception (A excluding B, B without any non-terminal)
1868 n * A repetition (A repeats n (integer) times)
1869 (C) group (expression C is grouped together)
1870 [C] optional (C may or not occurs)
1871 C+ one or more occurrences of C
1872 {C}+ one or more occurrences of C
1873 {C}* zero or more occurrences of C
1874 {C} zero or more occurrences of C
1875 C / D equivalent to: C {D C}*
1876 {C || D}+ equivalent to: C {D C}*
1877 {C || D}* equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
1878 {C || D} equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
1879
1880Please, see ebnf2ps documentation for EBNF syntax and how to use it.
1881
99453a38
GM
1882*** The package align.el will align columns within a region, using M-x
1883align. Its mode-specific rules, based on regular expressions,
1884determine where the columns should be split. In C and C++, for
1885example, it will align variable names in declaration lists, or the
1886equal signs of assignments.
1887
424d8b44 1888+++
559cee90
DL
1889*** `paragraph-indent-minor-mode' is a new minor mode supporting
1890paragraphs in the same style as `paragraph-indent-text-mode'.
1891
424d8b44 1892+++
6448a6b3
GM
1893*** bs.el is a new package for buffer selection similar to
1894list-buffers or electric-buffer-list. Use M-x bs-show to display a
1895buffer menu with this package. You can use M-x bs-customize to
1896customize the package.
1897
6344985d
GM
1898*** find-lisp.el is a package emulating the Unix find command in Lisp.
1899
249652b1
GM
1900*** calculator.el is a small calculator package that is intended to
1901replace desktop calculators such as xcalc and calc.exe. Actually, it
1902is not too small - it has more features than most desktop calculators,
1903and can be customized easily to get many more functions. It should
1904not be confused with "calc" which is a much bigger mathematical tool
1905which answers different needs.
1906
424d8b44 1907+++
3476b54a
GM
1908*** The minor modes cwarn-mode and global-cwarn-mode highlights
1909suspicious C and C++ constructions. Currently, assignments inside
1910expressions, semicolon following `if', `for' and `while' (except, of
1911course, after a `do .. while' statement), and C++ functions with
1912reference parameters are recognized. The modes require font-lock mode
1913to be enabled.
1914
424d8b44 1915+++
8964fec7
SM
1916*** smerge-mode.el provides `smerge-mode', a simple minor-mode for files
1917containing diff3-style conflict markers, such as generated by RCS.
1918
424d8b44 1919+++
a933dad1
DL
1920*** 5x5.el is a simple puzzle game.
1921
424d8b44 1922+++
a933dad1
DL
1923*** hl-line.el provides a minor mode to highlight the current line.
1924
1925*** ansi-color.el translates ANSI terminal escapes into text-properties.
1926
21c2bbe0 1927Please note: if `ansi-color-for-comint-mode and
8901d1ac
GM
1928`global-font-lock-mode' are non-nil, loading ansi-color.el will
1929disable font-lock and add `ansi-color-apply' to
1930`comint-preoutput-filter-functions' for all shell-mode buffers. This
1931displays the output of "ls --color=yes" using the correct foreground
1932and background colors.
1933
a933dad1
DL
1934*** delphi.el provides a major mode for editing the Delphi (Object
1935Pascal) language.
1936
f6499c03 1937+++
a933dad1
DL
1938*** quickurl.el provides a simple method of inserting a URL based on
1939the text at point.
1940
1941*** sql.el provides an interface to SQL data bases.
1942
424d8b44 1943+++
8d54eb69
DL
1944*** fortune.el uses the fortune program to create mail/news signatures.
1945
732b9cdd
GM
1946*** whitespace.el is a package for warning about and cleaning bogus
1947whitespace in a file.
a933dad1 1948
ebcfda83
GM
1949*** PostScript mode (ps-mode) is a new major mode for editing PostScript
1950files. It offers: interaction with a PostScript interpreter, including
1951(very basic) error handling; fontification, easily customizable for
1952interpreter messages; auto-indentation; insertion of EPSF templates and
1953often used code snippets; viewing of BoundingBox; commenting out /
1954uncommenting regions; conversion of 8bit characters to PostScript octal
1955codes. All functionality is accessible through a menu.
1956
1957*** delim-col helps to prettify columns in a text region or rectangle.
1958
1959Here is an example of columns:
1960
1961horse apple bus
1962dog pineapple car EXTRA
1963porcupine strawberry airplane
1964
1965Doing the following settings:
1966
1967 (setq delimit-columns-str-before "[ ")
1968 (setq delimit-columns-str-after " ]")
1969 (setq delimit-columns-str-separator ", ")
1970 (setq delimit-columns-separator "\t")
1971
1972
1973Selecting the lines above and typing:
1974
1975 M-x delimit-columns-region
1976
1977It results:
1978
1979[ horse , apple , bus , ]
1980[ dog , pineapple , car , EXTRA ]
1981[ porcupine, strawberry, airplane, ]
1982
1983delim-col has the following options:
1984
1985 delimit-columns-str-before Specify a string to be inserted
1986 before all columns.
1987
1988 delimit-columns-str-separator Specify a string to be inserted
1989 between each column.
1990
1991 delimit-columns-str-after Specify a string to be inserted
1992 after all columns.
1993
1994 delimit-columns-separator Specify a regexp which separates
1995 each column.
1996
1997delim-col has the following commands:
1998
1999 delimit-columns-region Prettify all columns in a text region.
2000 delimit-columns-rectangle Prettify all columns in a text rectangle.
2001
424d8b44 2002+++
f507826c 2003*** The package recentf.el maintains a menu for visiting files that
31fc5d15
GM
2004were operated on recently.
2005
2006M-x recentf-mode RET toggles recentf mode.
f507826c 2007
31fc5d15
GM
2008M-x customize-variable RET recentf-mode RET can be used to enable
2009recentf at Emacs startup.
f507826c 2010
31fc5d15
GM
2011M-x customize-variable RET recentf-menu-filter RET to specify a menu
2012filter function to change the menu appearance. For example, the recent
2013file list can be displayed:
f507826c 2014
31fc5d15
GM
2015- organized by major modes, directories or user defined rules.
2016- sorted by file pathes, file names, ascending or descending.
2017- showing pathes relative to the current default-directory
f507826c 2018
31fc5d15
GM
2019The `recentf-filter-changer' menu filter function allows to
2020dynamically change the menu appearance.
f507826c 2021
8062f458
DL
2022*** elide-head.el provides a mechanism for eliding boilerplate header
2023text.
2024
424d8b44 2025+++
36e24b82 2026*** footnote.el provides `footnote-mode', a minor mode supporting use
91735437
DL
2027of footnotes. It is intended for use with Message mode, but isn't
2028specific to Message mode.
2029
424d8b44 2030+++
36e24b82
DL
2031*** diff-mode.el provides `diff-mode', a major mode for
2032viewing/editing context diffs (patches). It is selected for files
2033with extension `.diff', `.diffs', `.patch' and `.rej'.
2034
424d8b44 2035+++
aaa659ef
DL
2036*** EUDC, the Emacs Unified Directory Client, provides a common user
2037interface to access directory servers using different directory
2038protocols. It has a separate manual.
2039
eee54b0e
DL
2040*** autoconf.el provides a major mode for editing configure.in files
2041for Autoconf, selected automatically.
2042
424d8b44 2043+++
612839b6
GM
2044*** windmove.el provides moving between windows.
2045
5d94f558 2046*** crm.el provides a facility to read multiple strings from the
612839b6 2047minibuffer with completion.
aaa659ef 2048
399da7e3
DL
2049*** todo-mode.el provides management of TODO lists and integration
2050with the diary features.
2051
6e417ca5
DL
2052*** autoarg.el provides a feature reported from Twenex Emacs whereby
2053numeric keys supply prefix args rather than self inserting.
2054
4a27bdfb
GM
2055*** The function `turn-off-auto-fill' unconditionally turns off Auto
2056Fill mode.
2057
60dd7e0e
DL
2058*** gnus-mule.el is now just a compatibility layer over the built-in
2059Gnus facilities.
2060
dace60cf
JW
2061*** pcomplete.el is a library that provides programmable completion
2062facilities for Emacs, similar to what zsh and tcsh offer. The main
2063difference is that completion functions are written in Lisp, meaning
2064they can be profiled, debugged, etc.
a18a342d 2065
965bc065
DL
2066+++
2067** Refill minor mode provides preliminary support for keeping
2068paragraphs filled as you modify them.
2069
2070+++
2071** The new global minor mode `auto-image-file-mode' allows image files
2072to be visited as images.
2073
a933dad1
DL
2074** Withdrawn packages
2075
2076*** mldrag.el has been removed. mouse.el provides the same
2077functionality with aliases for the mldrag functions.
25a81338 2078
3261c1d8
DL
2079*** eval-reg.el has been obsoleted by changes to edebug.el and removed.
2080
2081*** ph.el has been obsoleted by EUDC and removed.
ce75fd23
GM
2082
2083\f
01242779
DL
2084* Incompatible Lisp changes
2085
2086There are a few Lisp changes which are not backwards-compatible and
2087may require changes to existing code. Here is a list for reference.
3b6936cc 2088See the sections below for details.
01242779 2089
89d57763 2090** Since `format' preserves text properties, the idiom
3b6936cc
DL
2091`(format %s foo)' no longer works to copy and remove properties.
2092Use `copy-sequence' and `set-text-properties'.
01242779
DL
2093
2094** Since the `keymap' text property now has significance, some code
2095which uses both `local-map' and `keymap' properties (for portability)
2096may, for instance, give rise to duplicate menus when the keymaps from
2097these properties are active.
2098
4dd4cc14 2099** The change in the treatment of non-ASCII characters in search
01242779 2100ranges may affect some code.
1c14ba45
DL
2101
2102** A non-nil value for the LOCAL arg of add-hook makes the hook
2103buffer-local even if `make-local-hook' hasn't been called, which might
2104make a difference to some code.
2105
4dd4cc14
DL
2106** The new treatment of the minibuffer prompt might affect code which
2107operates on the minibuffer.
2108
7c94ccf6
EZ
2109** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
2110cause `no-conversion' and `emacs-mule-unix' coding systems to produce
2111different results when reading files with non-ASCII characters
2112(previously, both coding systems would produce the same results).
2113Specifically, `no-conversion' interprets each 8-bit byte as a separate
2114character. This makes `no-conversion' inappropriate for reading
2115multibyte text, e.g. buffers written to disk in their internal MULE
2116encoding (auto-saving does that, for example). If a Lisp program
2117reads such files with `no-conversion', each byte of the multibyte
2118sequence, including the MULE leading codes such as \201, is treated as
2119a separate character, which prevents them from being interpreted in
2120the buffer as multibyte characters.
2121
2122Therefore, Lisp programs that read files which contain the internal
2123MULE encoding should use `emacs-mule-unix'. `no-conversion' is only
2124appropriate for reading truly binary files.
2125
7a39158f 2126** Code that relies on the obsolete `before-change-function' and
3280fbe8
EZ
2127`after-change-function' to detect buffer changes will now fail. Use
2128`before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions' instead.
7a39158f
DL
2129
2130** Code that uses `concat' with integer args now gets an error, as
2131long promised.
2132
2a64f8c2
DL
2133** `scroll-left' and `scroll-right' are only effective when
2134`automatic-hscrolling' is nil.
2135
01242779 2136\f
ce75fd23
GM
2137* Lisp changes made after edition 2.6 of the Emacs Lisp Manual,
2138(Display-related features are described in a page of their own below.)
2139
a758f97d
GM
2140** The new hook `kbd-macro-termination-hook' is run at the end of of
2141function execute-kbd-macro. Functions on this hook are called with no
2142args. The hook is run independent of how the macro was terminated
2143(signal or normal termination).
2144
023045d6
DL
2145+++
2146** Functions `butlast' and `nbutlast' for removing trailing elements
2147from a list are now available without requiring the CL package.
2148
eb1b0c74
GM
2149+++
2150** The new user-option `even-window-heights' can be set to nil
2151to prevent `display-buffer' from evening out window heights.
2152
52d89894
GM
2153+++
2154** The user-option `face-font-registry-alternatives' specifies
2155alternative font registry names to try when looking for a font.
2156
693c4692 2157** Function `md5' calculates the MD5 "message digest"/"checksum".
4301cf66 2158
1c14ba45 2159+++
6bc92b2e
GM
2160** Function `delete-frame' runs `delete-frame-hook' before actually
2161deleting the frame. The hook is called with one arg, the frame
2162being deleted.
2163
1c14ba45 2164+++
39e776cd
SM
2165** `add-hook' now makes the hook local if called with a non-nil LOCAL arg.
2166
a18a342d 2167+++
1396138a 2168** The treatment of non-ASCII characters in search ranges has changed.
a18a342d
DL
2169If a range in a regular expression or the arg of
2170skip-chars-forward/backward starts with a unibyte character C and ends
2171with a multibyte character C2, the range is divided into two: one is
2172C..?\377, the other is C1..C2, where C1 is the first character of C2's
2173charset.
2174
4fbdfdcf
MB
2175+++
2176** The new function `display-message-or-buffer' displays a message in
2177the echo area or pops up a buffer, depending on the length of the
2178message.
2179
6a0b0752
MB
2180** The new macro `with-auto-compression-mode' allows evaluating an
2181expression with auto-compression-mode enabled.
2182
1c14ba45 2183+++
47e351a3
GM
2184** In image specifications, `:heuristic-mask' has been replaced
2185with the more general `:mask' property.
2186
1c14ba45 2187+++
f864120f 2188** Image specifications accept more `:conversion's.
ba9eeda1 2189
a2bd77b8
GM
2190** A `?' can be used in a symbol name without escaping it with a
2191backslash.
2192
424d8b44
DL
2193+++
2194** Reading from the mini-buffer now reads from standard input if Emacs
2195is running in batch mode. For example,
2196
2197 (message "%s" (read t))
2198
2199will read a Lisp expression from standard input and print the result
2200to standard output.
2201
2202+++
2203** The argument of `down-list', `backward-up-list', `up-list',
2204`kill-sexp', `backward-kill-sexp' and `mark-sexp' is now optional.
2205
ead53494
GM
2206** If `display-buffer-reuse-frames' is set, function `display-buffer'
2207will raise frames displaying a buffer, instead of creating a new
2208frame or window.
2209
f6499c03 2210+++
27848c01
GM
2211** Two new functions for removing elements from lists/sequences
2212were added
2213
2214- Function: remove ELT SEQ
2215
2216Return a copy of SEQ with all occurences of ELT removed. SEQ must be
2217a list, vector, or string. The comparison is done with `equal'.
2218
2219- Function: remq ELT LIST
2220
2221Return a copy of LIST with all occurences of ELT removed. The
2222comparison is done with `eq'.
2223
1c14ba45 2224+++
27848c01 2225** The function `delete' now also works with vectors and strings.
3ab82477 2226
b548072f
GM
2227** The meaning of the `:weakness WEAK' argument of make-hash-table
2228has been changed.
2229
424d8b44 2230+++
07b14857
KH
2231** Function `aset' stores any multibyte character in any string
2232without signaling "Attempt to change char length of a string". It may
2233convert a unibyte string to multibyte if necessary.
2234
1c14ba45 2235+++
9662da0b
GM
2236** The value of the `help-echo' text property is called as a function
2237or evaluated, if it is not a string already, to obtain a help string.
d5aa31d8 2238
7fce7efb
DL
2239** Function `make-obsolete' now has an optional arg to say when the
2240function was declared obsolete.
2241
1c14ba45 2242+++
5d94f558 2243** Function `plist-member' is renamed from `widget-plist-member' (which is
7fce7efb
DL
2244retained as an alias).
2245
f98d3086
SM
2246** Easy-menu's :filter now works as in XEmacs.
2247It takes the unconverted (i.e. XEmacs) form of the menu and the result
2248is automatically converted to Emacs' form.
2249
87efd256
GM
2250** The new function `window-list' has been defined
2251
39b39373
GM
2252- Function: window-list &optional FRAME WINDOW MINIBUF
2253
2254Return a list of windows on FRAME, starting with WINDOW. FRAME nil or
2255omitted means use the selected frame. WINDOW nil or omitted means use
2256the selected window. MINIBUF t means include the minibuffer window,
2257even if it isn't active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means include the
2258minibuffer window only if it's active. MINIBUF neither nil nor t
2259means never include the minibuffer window.
87efd256 2260
67c9a1d2
GM
2261** There's a new function `some-window' defined as follows
2262
2263- Function: some-window PREDICATE &optional MINIBUF ALL-FRAMES DEFAULT
2264
2265Return a window satisfying PREDICATE.
2266
2267This function cycles through all visible windows using `walk-windows',
2268calling PREDICATE on each one. PREDICATE is called with a window as
2269argument. The first window for which PREDICATE returns a non-nil
2270value is returned. If no window satisfies PREDICATE, DEFAULT is
2271returned.
2272
2273Optional second arg MINIBUF t means count the minibuffer window even
2274if not active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means count the minibuffer iff
2275it is active. MINIBUF neither t nor nil means not to count the
2276minibuffer even if it is active.
2277
2278Several frames may share a single minibuffer; if the minibuffer
2279counts, all windows on all frames that share that minibuffer count
2280too. Therefore, if you are using a separate minibuffer frame
2281and the minibuffer is active and MINIBUF says it counts,
2282`walk-windows' includes the windows in the frame from which you
2283entered the minibuffer, as well as the minibuffer window.
2284
2285ALL-FRAMES is the optional third argument.
2286ALL-FRAMES nil or omitted means cycle within the frames as specified above.
2287ALL-FRAMES = `visible' means include windows on all visible frames.
2288ALL-FRAMES = 0 means include windows on all visible and iconified frames.
2289ALL-FRAMES = t means include windows on all frames including invisible frames.
2290If ALL-FRAMES is a frame, it means include windows on that frame.
2291Anything else means restrict to the selected frame.
2292
ead53494
GM
2293** The function `single-key-description' now encloses function key and
2294event names in angle brackets. When called with a second optional
2295argument non-nil, angle brackets won't be printed.
dce6b995 2296
25fa6deb
GM
2297** If the variable `message-truncate-lines' is bound to t around a
2298call to `message', the echo area will not be resized to display that
088831a6
GM
2299message; it will be truncated instead, as it was done in 20.x.
2300Default value is nil.
25fa6deb 2301
5d94f558 2302** The user option `line-number-display-limit' can now be set to nil,
1681ead6
GM
2303meaning no limit.
2304
5d94f558 2305** `select-safe-coding-system' now also checks the most preferred
c08398de
DL
2306coding-system if buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and
2307DEFAULT-CODING-SYSTEM is not specified,
2308
9b2999d0
DL
2309+++
2310** The function `subr-arity' provides information about the argument
2311list of a primitive.
de370c4c 2312
c286608e
SM
2313** `where-is-internal' now also accepts a list of keymaps.
2314
9b2999d0 2315+++
80c05bd3
DL
2316** The text property `keymap' specifies a key map which overrides the
2317buffer's local map and the map specified by the `local-map' property.
2318This is probably what most current uses of `local-map' want, rather
2319than replacing the local map.
2320
14fd0da3
DL
2321** The obsolete variables `before-change-function' and
2322`after-change-function' are no longer acted upon and have been
2323removed. Use `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions'
2324instead.
45f485a6
GM
2325
2326** The function `apropos-mode' runs the hook `apropos-mode-hook'.
2327
f6499c03 2328+++
c286608e
SM
2329** `concat' no longer accepts individual integer arguments,
2330as promised long ago.
f0298744 2331
5d94f558 2332** The new function `float-time' returns the current time as a float.
a933dad1
DL
2333\f
2334* Lisp changes in Emacs 21.1 (see following page for display-related features)
2335
2336Note that +++ before an item means the Lisp manual has been updated.
2337--- means that I have decided it does not need to be in the Lisp manual.
2338When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
2339so I will know I still need to look at it -- rms.
2340
85c75536
MB
2341*** The special form `save-restriction' now works correctly even if the
2342buffer is widened inside the save-restriction and changes made outside
2343the original restriction. Previously, doing this would cause the saved
2344restriction to be restored incorrectly.
2345
0b8a3a6d
DL
2346*** The functions `find-charset-region' and `find-charset-string' include
2347`eight-bit-control' and/or `eight-bit-graphic' in the returned list
2348when it finds 8-bit characters. Previously, it included `ascii' in a
2349multibyte buffer and `unknown' in a unibyte buffer.
2350
2351*** The functions `set-buffer-modified', `string-as-multibyte' and
2352`string-as-unibyte' change the byte sequence of a buffer if it
2353contains a character from the `eight-bit-control' character set.
2354
2355*** The handling of multibyte sequences in a multibyte buffer is
2356changed. Previously, a byte sequence matching the pattern
2357[\200-\237][\240-\377]+ was interpreted as a single character
2358regardless of the length of the trailing bytes [\240-\377]+. Thus, if
2359the sequence was longer than what the leading byte indicated, the
2360extra trailing bytes were ignored by Lisp functions. Now such extra
2361bytes are independent 8-bit characters belonging to the charset
2362eight-bit-graphic.
2363
2364** Fontsets are now implemented using char-tables.
2365
2366A fontset can now be specified for for each independent character, for
2367a group of characters or for a character set rather than just for a
2368character set as previously.
2369
2370*** The arguments of the function `set-fontset-font' are changed.
2371They are NAME, CHARACTER, FONTNAME, and optional FRAME. The function
2372modifies fontset NAME to use FONTNAME for CHARACTER.
2373
2374CHARACTER may be a cons (FROM . TO), where FROM and TO are non-generic
2375characters. In that case FONTNAME is used for all characters in the
2376range FROM and TO (inclusive). CHARACTER may be a charset. In that
2377case FONTNAME is used for all character in the charset.
2378
2379FONTNAME may be a cons (FAMILY . REGISTRY), where FAMILY is the family
2380name of a font and REGSITRY is a registry name of a font.
2381
2382*** Variable x-charset-registry has been deleted. The default charset
2383registries of character sets are set in the default fontset
2384"fontset-default".
2385
2386*** The function `create-fontset-from-fontset-spec' ignores the second
2387argument STYLE-VARIANT. It never creates style-variant fontsets.
2388
2389** The method of composing characters is changed. Now character
2390composition is done by a special text property `composition' in
2391buffers and strings.
2392
2393*** Charset composition is deleted. Emacs never creates a `composite
2394character' which is an independent character with a unique character
2395code. Thus the following functions handling `composite characters'
2396have been deleted: composite-char-component,
2397composite-char-component-count, composite-char-composition-rule,
2398composite-char-composition-rule and decompose-composite-char delete.
2399The variables leading-code-composition and min-composite-char have
2400also been deleted.
2401
2402*** Three more glyph reference points are added. They can be used to
2403specify a composition rule. See the documentation of the variable
2404`reference-point-alist' for more detail.
2405
2406*** The function `compose-region' takes new arguments COMPONENTS and
2407MODIFICATION-FUNC. With COMPONENTS, you can specify not only a
2408composition rule but also characters to be composed. Such characters
2409may differ between buffer and string text.
2410
2411*** The function `compose-string' takes new arguments START, END,
2412COMPONENTS, and MODIFICATION-FUNC.
2413
2414*** The function `compose-string' puts text property `composition'
2415directly on the argument STRING instead of returning a new string.
2416Likewise, the function `decompose-string' just removes text property
2417`composition' from STRING.
2418
2419*** The new function `find-composition' returns information about
2420a composition at a specified position in a buffer or a string.
2421
2422*** The function `decompose-composite-char' is now labeled as
2423obsolete.
2424
965bc065 2425** The new character sets `mule-unicode-0100-24ff',
f620908e 2426`mule-unicode-2500-33ff', and `mule-unicode-e000-ffff' are introduced
965bc065 2427for Unicode characters in the range U+0100..U+24FF, U+2500..U+33FF,
f620908e 2428U+E000..U+FFFF respectively.
0b8a3a6d
DL
2429
2430** The new character sets `japanese-jisx0213-1' and
2431`japanese-jisx0213-2' are introduced for the new Japanese standard JIS
2432X 0213 Plane 1 and Plane 2.
2433
2434+++
2435** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
2436are introduced for 8-bit characters in the ranges 0x80..0x9F and
f98d3086 24370xA0..0xFF respectively.
0b8a3a6d 2438
399da7e3 2439+++
f0124b4a
DL
2440** If the APPEND argument of `write-region' is an integer, it seeks to
2441that offset in the file before writing.
2442
f98d3086
SM
2443** The function `add-minor-mode' has been added for convenience and
2444compatibility with XEmacs (and is used internally by define-minor-mode).
7464346d 2445
612839b6
GM
2446** The function `shell-command' now sets the default directory of the
2447`*Shell Command Output*' buffer to the default directory of the buffer
2448from which the command was issued.
2449
2450** The functions `query-replace', `query-replace-regexp',
2451`query-replace-regexp-eval' `map-query-replace-regexp',
2452`replace-string', `replace-regexp', and `perform-replace' take two
2453additional optional arguments START and END that specify the region to
2454operate on.
2455
271b4185
GM
2456** The new function `count-screen-lines' is a more flexible alternative
2457to `window-buffer-height'.
2458
2459- Function: count-screen-lines &optional BEG END COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE WINDOW
2460
2461Return the number of screen lines in the region between BEG and END.
2462The number of screen lines may be different from the number of actual
2463lines, due to line breaking, display table, etc.
2464
2465Optional arguments BEG and END default to `point-min' and `point-max'
2466respectively.
2467
2468If region ends with a newline, ignore it unless optinal third argument
2469COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE is non-nil.
2470
2471The optional fourth argument WINDOW specifies the window used for
2472obtaining parameters such as width, horizontal scrolling, and so
2473on. The default is to use the selected window's parameters.
2474
2475Like `vertical-motion', `count-screen-lines' always uses the current
2476buffer, regardless of which buffer is displayed in WINDOW. This makes
2477possible to use `count-screen-lines' in any buffer, whether or not it
2478is currently displayed in some window.
2479
3c30cb6e
DL
2480** The new function `mapc' is like `mapcar' but doesn't collect the
2481argument function's results.
2482
62f20204
GM
2483** The functions base64-decode-region and base64-decode-string now
2484signal an error instead of returning nil if decoding fails.
2485
c0510d27 2486** The function sendmail-user-agent-compose now recognizes a `body'
b4da8dfa 2487header in the list of headers passed to it.
c0510d27
GM
2488
2489** The new function member-ignore-case works like `member', but
2490ignores differences in case and text representation.
2491
2492** The buffer-local variable cursor-type can be used to specify the
19d1bc27
GM
2493cursor to use in windows displaying a buffer. Values are interpreted
2494as follows:
2495
2496 t use the cursor specified for the frame (default)
2497 nil don't display a cursor
2498 `bar' display a bar cursor with default width
2499 (bar . WIDTH) display a bar cursor with width WIDTH
2500 others display a box cursor.
2501
9a0dd3dc
GM
2502** The variable open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start controls whether
2503an open parenthesis in column 0 is considered to be the start of a
2504defun. If set, the default, it is considered a defun start. If not
2505set, an open parenthesis in column 0 has no special meaning.
2506
d7b511c4 2507** The new function `string-to-syntax' can be used to translate syntax
dc1178bf 2508specifications in string form as accepted by `modify-syntax-entry' to
d7b511c4
GM
2509the cons-cell form that is used for the values of the `syntax-table'
2510text property, and in `font-lock-syntactic-keywords'.
2511
2512Example:
2513
2514 (string-to-syntax "()")
2515 => (4 . 41)
2516
1fa28578
GM
2517** Emacs' reader supports CL read syntax for integers in bases
2518other than 10.
2519
2520*** `#BINTEGER' or `#bINTEGER' reads INTEGER in binary (radix 2).
2521INTEGER optionally contains a sign.
2522
5d94f558 2523 #b1111
1fa28578 2524 => 15
5d94f558 2525 #b-1111
1fa28578
GM
2526 => -15
2527
2528*** `#OINTEGER' or `#oINTEGER' reads INTEGER in octal (radix 8).
2529
5d94f558 2530 #o666
1fa28578
GM
2531 => 438
2532
2533*** `#XINTEGER' or `#xINTEGER' reads INTEGER in hexadecimal (radix 16).
2534
5d94f558 2535 #xbeef
1fa28578
GM
2536 => 48815
2537
2538*** `#RADIXrINTEGER' reads INTEGER in radix RADIX, 2 <= RADIX <= 36.
2539
5d94f558 2540 #2R-111
1fa28578 2541 => -7
5d94f558 2542 #25rah
1fa28578
GM
2543 => 267
2544
3d4ff2dd 2545** The function `documentation-property' now evaluates the value of
f98d3086 2546the given property to obtain a string if it doesn't refer to etc/DOC
e9b4e5ff
GM
2547and isn't a string.
2548
3d4ff2dd
GM
2549** If called for a symbol, the function `documentation' now looks for
2550a `function-documentation' property of that symbol. If it has a non-nil
2551value, the documentation is taken from that value. If the value is
2552not a string, it is evaluated to obtain a string.
2553
16ce590d
DL
2554+++
2555** The last argument of `define-key-after' defaults to t for convenience.
2556
73825616 2557** The new function `replace-regexp-in-string' replaces all matches
16ce590d
DL
2558for a regexp in a string.
2559
2560** `mouse-position' now runs the abnormal hook
2561`mouse-position-function'.
2562
723e779c
GM
2563** The function string-to-number now returns a float for numbers
2564that don't fit into a Lisp integer.
2565
d1e103b2
GM
2566** The variable keyword-symbols-constants-flag has been removed.
2567Keywords are now always considered constants.
2568
31047e0d
DL
2569+++
2570** The new function `delete-and-extract-region' deletes text and
2571returns it.
2572
7a85e4df
GM
2573** The function `clear-this-command-keys' now also clears the vector
2574returned by function `recent-keys'.
2575
02b14400
RS
2576+++
2577** Variables `beginning-of-defun-function' and `end-of-defun-function'
2578can be used to define handlers for the functions that find defuns.
2579Major modes can define these locally instead of rebinding M-C-a
2580etc. if the normal conventions for defuns are not appropriate for the
2581mode.
404fa7d6 2582
02b14400 2583+++
8964fec7
SM
2584** easy-mmode-define-minor-mode now takes an additional BODY argument
2585and is renamed `define-minor-mode'.
2586
02b14400
RS
2587+++
2588** If an abbrev has a hook function which is a symbol, and that symbol
2589has a non-nil `no-self-insert' property, the return value of the hook
2590function specifies whether an expansion has been done or not. If it
2591returns nil, abbrev-expand also returns nil, meaning "no expansion has
2592been performed."
2593
2594When abbrev expansion is done by typing a self-inserting character,
2595and the abbrev has a hook with the `no-self-insert' property, and the
2596hook function returns non-nil meaning expansion has been done,
2597then the self-inserting character is not inserted.
ef961722 2598
02b14400 2599+++
81da8b32
GM
2600** The function `intern-soft' now accepts a symbol as first argument.
2601In this case, that exact symbol is looked up in the specified obarray,
2602and the function's value is nil if it is not found.
2603
02b14400 2604+++
9e207b90
GM
2605** The new macro `with-syntax-table' can be used to evaluate forms
2606with the syntax table of the current buffer temporarily set to a
2607specified table.
2608
2609 (with-syntax-table TABLE &rest BODY)
2610
2611Evaluate BODY with syntax table of current buffer set to a copy of
03d9c64c
GM
2612TABLE. The current syntax table is saved, BODY is evaluated, and the
2613saved table is restored, even in case of an abnormal exit. Value is
2614what BODY returns.
9e207b90 2615
02b14400 2616+++
d7f89643 2617** Regular expressions now support intervals \{n,m\} as well as
95cd4c40 2618Perl's shy-groups \(?:...\) and non-greedy *? +? and ?? operators.
601e0081
SM
2619Also backreferences like \2 are now considered as an error if the
2620corresponding subgroup does not exist (or is not closed yet).
2621Previously it would have been silently turned into `2' (ignoring the `\').
8964fec7 2622
02b14400 2623+++
dde9e75a
GM
2624** The optional argument BUFFER of function file-local-copy has been
2625removed since it wasn't used by anything.
2626
02b14400 2627+++
9da30515
GM
2628** The file name argument of function `file-locked-p' is now required
2629instead of being optional.
2630
02b14400 2631+++
d20679eb
GM
2632** The new built-in error `text-read-only' is signaled when trying to
2633modify read-only text.
2634
02b14400 2635+++
fbc164de
PE
2636** New functions and variables for locales.
2637
2638The new variable `locale-coding-system' specifies how to encode and
2639decode strings passed to low-level message functions like strerror and
b718982a
PE
2640time functions like strftime. The new variables
2641`system-messages-locale' and `system-time-locale' give the system
2642locales to be used when invoking these two types of functions.
fbc164de
PE
2643
2644The new function `set-locale-environment' sets the language
2645environment, preferred coding system, and locale coding system from
2646the system locale as specified by the LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG
b718982a
PE
2647environment variables. Normally, it is invoked during startup and need
2648not be invoked thereafter. It uses the new variables
2649`locale-language-names', `locale-charset-language-names', and
2650`locale-preferred-coding-systems' to make its decisions.
fbc164de 2651
02b14400 2652+++
863476d1
SM
2653** syntax tables now understand nested comments.
2654To declare a comment syntax as allowing nesting, just add an `n'
2655modifier to either of the characters of the comment end and the comment
2656start sequences.
2657
02b14400 2658+++
ef6d912c
GM
2659** The function `pixmap-spec-p' has been renamed `bitmap-spec-p'
2660because `bitmap' is more in line with the usual X terminology.
2661
02b14400 2662+++
a933dad1
DL
2663** New function `propertize'
2664
2665The new function `propertize' can be used to conveniently construct
2666strings with text properties.
2667
2668- Function: propertize STRING &rest PROPERTIES
2669
2670Value is a copy of STRING with text properties assigned as specified
2671by PROPERTIES. PROPERTIES is a sequence of pairs PROPERTY VALUE, with
2672PROPERTY being the name of a text property and VALUE being the
2673specified value of that property. Example:
2674
2675 (propertize "foo" 'face 'bold 'read-only t)
2676
2677+++
2678** push and pop macros.
2679
02b14400
RS
2680Simple versions of the push and pop macros of Common Lisp
2681are now defined in Emacs Lisp. These macros allow only symbols
a933dad1
DL
2682as the place that holds the list to be changed.
2683
2684(push NEWELT LISTNAME) add NEWELT to the front of LISTNAME's value.
2685(pop LISTNAME) return first elt of LISTNAME, and remove it
2686 (thus altering the value of LISTNAME).
2687
02b14400
RS
2688** New dolist and dotimes macros.
2689
6c7fd5aa
RS
2690Simple versions of the dolist and dotimes macros of Common Lisp
2691are now defined in Emacs Lisp.
02b14400
RS
2692
2693(dolist (VAR LIST [RESULT]) BODY...)
2694 Execute body once for each element of LIST,
2695 using the variable VAR to hold the current element.
2696 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
2697
2698(dotimes (VAR COUNT [RESULT]) BODY...)
2699 Execute BODY with VAR bound to successive integers running from 0,
2700 inclusive, to COUNT, exclusive.
2701 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
2702
a933dad1 2703+++
6c083b4c
GM
2704** Regular expressions now support Posix character classes such as
2705[:alpha:], [:space:] and so on. These must be used within a character
2706class--for instance, [-[:digit:].+] matches digits or a period
2707or a sign.
a933dad1
DL
2708
2709[:digit:] matches 0 through 9
2710[:cntrl:] matches ASCII control characters
2711[:xdigit:] matches 0 through 9, a through f and A through F.
2712[:blank:] matches space and tab only
2713[:graph:] matches graphic characters--everything except ASCII control chars,
2714 space, and DEL.
2715[:print:] matches printing characters--everything except ASCII control chars
2716 and DEL.
2717[:alnum:] matches letters and digits.
2718 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
2719 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
2720[:alpha:] matches letters.
2721 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
2722 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
2723[:ascii:] matches ASCII (unibyte) characters.
2724[:nonascii:] matches non-ASCII (multibyte) characters.
2725[:lower:] matches anything lower-case.
2726[:punct:] matches punctuation.
2727 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
2728 it matches anything that has non-word syntax.)
2729[:space:] matches anything that has whitespace syntax.
2730[:upper:] matches anything upper-case.
2731[:word:] matches anything that has word syntax.
2732
2733+++
2734** Emacs now has built-in hash tables.
2735
2736The following functions are defined for hash tables:
2737
2738- Function: make-hash-table ARGS
2739
2740The argument list ARGS consists of keyword/argument pairs. All arguments
2741are optional. The following arguments are defined:
2742
2743:test TEST
2744
2745TEST must be a symbol specifying how to compare keys. Default is `eql'.
2746Predefined are `eq', `eql' and `equal'. If TEST is not predefined,
2747it must have been defined with `define-hash-table-test'.
2748
2749:size SIZE
2750
2751SIZE must be an integer > 0 giving a hint to the implementation how
2752many elements will be put in the hash table. Default size is 65.
2753
2754:rehash-size REHASH-SIZE
2755
2756REHASH-SIZE specifies by how much to grow a hash table once it becomes
2757full. If REHASH-SIZE is an integer, add that to the hash table's old
2758size to get the new size. Otherwise, REHASH-SIZE must be a float >
27591.0, and the new size is computed by multiplying REHASH-SIZE with the
2760old size. Default rehash size is 1.5.
2761
2762:rehash-threshold THRESHOLD
2763
2764THRESHOLD must be a float > 0 and <= 1.0 specifying when to resize the
2765hash table. It is resized when the ratio of (number of entries) /
2766(size of hash table) is >= THRESHOLD. Default threshold is 0.8.
2767
2768:weakness WEAK
2769
b548072f
GM
2770WEAK must be either nil, one of the symbols `key, `value',
2771`key-or-value', `key-and-value', or t, meaning the same as
2772`key-and-value'. Entries are removed from weak tables during garbage
2773collection if their key and/or value are not referenced elsewhere
2774outside of the hash table. Default are non-weak hash tables.
a933dad1
DL
2775
2776- Function: makehash &optional TEST
2777
2778Similar to make-hash-table, but only TEST can be specified.
2779
2780- Function: hash-table-p TABLE
2781
2782Returns non-nil if TABLE is a hash table object.
2783
2784- Function: copy-hash-table TABLE
2785
2786Returns a copy of TABLE. Only the table itself is copied, keys and
2787values are shared.
2788
2789- Function: hash-table-count TABLE
2790
2791Returns the number of entries in TABLE.
2792
2793- Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
2794
2795Returns the rehash size of TABLE.
2796
2797- Function: hash-table-rehash-threshold TABLE
2798
2799Returns the rehash threshold of TABLE.
2800
2801- Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
2802
2803Returns the size of TABLE.
2804
d96d6bb0 2805- Function: hash-table-test TABLE
a933dad1
DL
2806
2807Returns the test TABLE uses to compare keys.
2808
2809- Function: hash-table-weakness TABLE
2810
2811Returns the weakness specified for TABLE.
2812
2813- Function: clrhash TABLE
2814
2815Clear TABLE.
2816
2817- Function: gethash KEY TABLE &optional DEFAULT
2818
2819Look up KEY in TABLE and return its associated VALUE or DEFAULT if
2820not found.
2821
79214ddf 2822- Function: puthash KEY VALUE TABLE
a933dad1
DL
2823
2824Associate KEY with VALUE in TABLE. If KEY is already associated with
2825another value, replace the old value with VALUE.
2826
2827- Function: remhash KEY TABLE
2828
2829Remove KEY from TABLE if it is there.
2830
2831- Function: maphash FUNCTION TABLE
2832
2833Call FUNCTION for all elements in TABLE. FUNCTION must take two
2834arguments KEY and VALUE.
2835
2836- Function: sxhash OBJ
2837
2838Return a hash code for Lisp object OBJ.
2839
2840- Function: define-hash-table-test NAME TEST-FN HASH-FN
2841
2842Define a new hash table test named NAME. If NAME is specified as
2843a test in `make-hash-table', the table created will use TEST-FN for
79214ddf 2844comparing keys, and HASH-FN to compute hash codes for keys. Test
a933dad1
DL
2845and hash function are stored as symbol property `hash-table-test'
2846of NAME with a value of (TEST-FN HASH-FN).
2847
2848TEST-FN must take two arguments and return non-nil if they are the same.
2849
2850HASH-FN must take one argument and return an integer that is the hash
2851code of the argument. The function should use the whole range of
2852integer values for hash code computation, including negative integers.
2853
2854Example: The following creates a hash table whose keys are supposed to
2855be strings that are compared case-insensitively.
2856
2857 (defun case-fold-string= (a b)
2858 (compare-strings a nil nil b nil nil t))
2859
2860 (defun case-fold-string-hash (a)
2861 (sxhash (upcase a)))
2862
79214ddf 2863 (define-hash-table-test 'case-fold 'case-fold-string=
a933dad1
DL
2864 'case-fold-string-hash))
2865
2866 (make-hash-table :test 'case-fold)
2867
2868+++
2869** The Lisp reader handles circular structure.
2870
2871It now works to use the #N= and #N# constructs to represent
2872circular structures. For example, #1=(a . #1#) represents
2873a cons cell which is its own cdr.
2874
2875+++
2876** The Lisp printer handles circular structure.
2877
2878If you bind print-circle to a non-nil value, the Lisp printer outputs
2879#N= and #N# constructs to represent circular and shared structure.
2880
a933dad1
DL
2881+++
2882** If the second argument to `move-to-column' is anything but nil or
2883t, that means replace a tab with spaces if necessary to reach the
2884specified column, but do not add spaces at the end of the line if it
2885is too short to reach that column.
2886
2887+++
2888** perform-replace has a new feature: the REPLACEMENTS argument may
2889now be a cons cell (FUNCTION . DATA). This means to call FUNCTION
2890after each match to get the replacement text. FUNCTION is called with
2891two arguments: DATA, and the number of replacements already made.
2892
2893If the FROM-STRING contains any upper-case letters,
2894perform-replace also turns off `case-fold-search' temporarily
2895and inserts the replacement text without altering case in it.
2896
2897+++
2898** The function buffer-size now accepts an optional argument
2899to specify which buffer to return the size of.
2900
2901+++
2902** The calendar motion commands now run the normal hook
2903calendar-move-hook after moving point.
2904
2905+++
2906** The new variable small-temporary-file-directory specifies a
2907directory to use for creating temporary files that are likely to be
2908small. (Certain Emacs features use this directory.) If
2909small-temporary-file-directory is nil, they use
2910temporary-file-directory instead.
2911
2912+++
2913** The variable `inhibit-modification-hooks', if non-nil, inhibits all
2914the hooks that track changes in the buffer. This affects
2915`before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions', as well as
2916hooks attached to text properties and overlay properties.
2917
2918+++
2919** assoc-delete-all is a new function that deletes all the
2920elements of an alist which have a particular value as the car.
2921
2922+++
2923** make-temp-file provides a more reliable way to create a temporary file.
2924
2925make-temp-file is used like make-temp-name, except that it actually
2926creates the file before it returns. This prevents a timing error,
2927ensuring that no other job can use the same name for a temporary file.
2928
2929+++
2930** New exclusive-open feature in `write-region'
2931
2932The optional seventh arg is now called MUSTBENEW. If non-nil, it insists
2933on a check for an existing file with the same name. If MUSTBENEW
2934is `excl', that means to get an error if the file already exists;
2935never overwrite. If MUSTBENEW is neither nil nor `excl', that means
2936ask for confirmation before overwriting, but do go ahead and
2937overwrite the file if the user gives confirmation.
2938
2939If the MUSTBENEW argument in `write-region' is `excl',
2940that means to use a special feature in the `open' system call
2941to get an error if the file exists at that time.
2942The error reported is `file-already-exists'.
2943
2944+++
2945** Function `format' now handles text properties.
2946
2947Text properties of the format string are applied to the result string.
2948If the result string is longer than the format string, text properties
2949ending at the end of the format string are extended to the end of the
2950result string.
2951
2952Text properties from string arguments are applied to the result
2953string where arguments appear in the result string.
2954
2955Example:
2956
2957 (let ((s1 "hello, %s")
2958 (s2 "world"))
2959 (put-text-property 0 (length s1) 'face 'bold s1)
2960 (put-text-property 0 (length s2) 'face 'italic s2)
b246b1f6 2961 (format s1 s2))
a933dad1
DL
2962
2963results in a bold-face string with an italic `world' at the end.
2964
2965+++
2966** Messages can now be displayed with text properties.
2967
2968Text properties are handled as described above for function `format'.
2969The following example displays a bold-face message with an italic
2970argument in it.
2971
2972 (let ((msg "hello, %s!")
2973 (arg "world"))
2974 (put-text-property 0 (length msg) 'face 'bold msg)
2975 (put-text-property 0 (length arg) 'face 'italic arg)
2976 (message msg arg))
2977
2978+++
2979** Sound support
2980
2981Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and the free BSDs
2982(Voxware driver and native BSD driver, aka as Luigi's driver).
2983
2984Currently supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio
2985(*.au). You must configure Emacs with the option `--with-sound=yes'
2986to enable sound support.
2987
2988Sound files can be played by calling (play-sound SOUND). SOUND is a
2989list of the form `(sound PROPERTY...)'. The function is only defined
2990when sound support is present for the system on which Emacs runs. The
2991functions runs `play-sound-functions' with one argument which is the
2992sound to play, before playing the sound.
2993
2994The following sound properties are supported:
2995
2996- `:file FILE'
2997
2998FILE is a file name. If FILE isn't an absolute name, it will be
2999searched relative to `data-directory'.
3000
6fb40beb
GM
3001- `:data DATA'
3002
3003DATA is a string containing sound data. Either :file or :data
3004may be present, but not both.
3005
a933dad1
DL
3006- `:volume VOLUME'
3007
3008VOLUME must be an integer in the range 0..100 or a float in the range
30090..1. This property is optional.
3010
01242779
DL
3011- `:device DEVICE'
3012
3013DEVICE is a string specifying the system device on which to play the
3014sound. The default device is system-dependent.
3015
a933dad1
DL
3016Other properties are ignored.
3017
01242779
DL
3018An alternative interface is called as
3019(play-sound-file FILE &optional VOLUME DEVICE).
3020
a933dad1 3021** `multimedia' is a new Finder keyword and Custom group.
356673d4 3022
9b2999d0 3023+++
356673d4
DL
3024** keywordp is a new predicate to test efficiently for an object being
3025a keyword symbol.
fc91dc2d
GM
3026
3027** Changes to garbage collection
3028
3029*** The function garbage-collect now additionally returns the number
3030of live and free strings.
3031
3032*** There is a new variable `strings-consed' holding the number of
3033strings that have been consed so far.
3034
a933dad1 3035\f
04545643
GM
3036* Lisp-level Display features added after release 2.6 of the Emacs
3037Lisp Manual
3038
f7eb32aa 3039+++
a299a6f0
GM
3040** The user-option `resize-mini-windows' controls how Emacs resizes
3041mini-windows.
3042
9b2999d0 3043+++
26fcde61
MB
3044** The function `pos-visible-in-window-p' now has a third optional
3045argument, PARTIALLY. If a character is only partially visible, nil is
3046returned, unless PARTIALLY is non-nil.
ea4c1b7c 3047
a299a6f0 3048** On window systems, `glyph-table' is no longer used.
82a452c8 3049
9a8d84ca
DL
3050+++
3051** Help strings in menu items are now used to provide `help-echo' text.
2c69ced2 3052
9b2999d0 3053+++
2c69ced2
GM
3054** The function `image-size' can be used to determine the size of an
3055image.
3056
3057- Function: image-size SPEC &optional PIXELS FRAME
3058
3059Return the size of an image as a pair (WIDTH . HEIGHT).
3060
3061SPEC is an image specification. PIXELS non-nil means return sizes
3062measured in pixels, otherwise return sizes measured in canonical
3063character units (fractions of the width/height of the frame's default
3064font). FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed.
3065FRAME nil or omitted means use the selected frame.
3066
9b2999d0 3067+++
ebb8f116
GM
3068** The function `image-mask-p' can be used to determine if an image
3069has a mask bitmap.
3070
3071- Function: image-mask-p SPEC &optional FRAME
3072
3073Return t if image SPEC has a mask bitmap.
3074FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed. FRAME nil
3075or omitted means use the selected frame.
3076
f6499c03 3077+++
0b8a3a6d
DL
3078** The function `find-image' can be used to find a usable image
3079satisfying one of a list of specifications.
3080
3081+++
3082** The STRING argument of `put-image' and `insert-image' is now
3083optional.
3084
f6499c03
DL
3085+++
3086** Image specifications may contain the property `:ascent center' (see
3087below).
04545643
GM
3088
3089\f
a933dad1
DL
3090* New Lisp-level Display features in Emacs 21.1
3091
3092Note that +++ before an item means the Lisp manual has been updated.
3093--- means that I have decided it does not need to be in the Lisp manual.
3094When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
3095so I will know I still need to look at it -- rms.
3096
f6d3257b
GM
3097** The function tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors can be used
3098to make Emacs avoid displaying text with bold black foreground on TTYs.
3099
3100Some terminals, notably PC consoles, emulate bold text by displaying
3101text in brighter colors. On such a console, a bold black foreground
3102is displayed in a gray color. If this turns out to be hard to read on
3103your monitor---the problem occurred with the mode line on
3104laptops---you can instruct Emacs to ignore the text's boldness, and to
3105just display it black instead.
3106
3107This situation can't be detected automatically. You will have to put
3108a line like
3109
3110 (tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors t)
3111
3112in your `.emacs'.
3113
a933dad1
DL
3114** New face implementation.
3115
3116Emacs faces have been reimplemented from scratch. They don't use XLFD
3117font names anymore and face merging now works as expected.
3118
3119+++
3120*** New faces.
3121
3122Each face can specify the following display attributes:
3123
3124 1. Font family or fontset alias name.
79214ddf 3125
a933dad1
DL
3126 2. Relative proportionate width, aka character set width or set
3127 width (swidth), e.g. `semi-compressed'.
79214ddf 3128
a933dad1 3129 3. Font height in 1/10pt
79214ddf 3130
a933dad1 3131 4. Font weight, e.g. `bold'.
79214ddf 3132
a933dad1 3133 5. Font slant, e.g. `italic'.
79214ddf 3134
a933dad1 3135 6. Foreground color.
79214ddf 3136
a933dad1
DL
3137 7. Background color.
3138
3139 8. Whether or not characters should be underlined, and in what color.
3140
3141 9. Whether or not characters should be displayed in inverse video.
3142
3143 10. A background stipple, a bitmap.
3144
3145 11. Whether or not characters should be overlined, and in what color.
3146
3147 12. Whether or not characters should be strike-through, and in what
3148 color.
3149
3150 13. Whether or not a box should be drawn around characters, its
3151 color, the width of the box lines, and 3D appearance.
3152
3153Faces are frame-local by nature because Emacs allows to define the
3154same named face (face names are symbols) differently for different
3155frames. Each frame has an alist of face definitions for all named
3156faces. The value of a named face in such an alist is a Lisp vector
3157with the symbol `face' in slot 0, and a slot for each each of the face
3158attributes mentioned above.
3159
3160There is also a global face alist `face-new-frame-defaults'. Face
3161definitions from this list are used to initialize faces of newly
3162created frames.
79214ddf 3163
a933dad1
DL
3164A face doesn't have to specify all attributes. Those not specified
3165have a nil value. Faces specifying all attributes are called
3166`fully-specified'.
3167
3168+++
3169*** Face merging.
3170
3171The display style of a given character in the text is determined by
3172combining several faces. This process is called `face merging'. Any
3173aspect of the display style that isn't specified by overlays or text
3174properties is taken from the `default' face. Since it is made sure
3175that the default face is always fully-specified, face merging always
3176results in a fully-specified face.
3177
3178+++
3179*** Face realization.
3180
3181After all face attributes for a character have been determined by
3182merging faces of that character, that face is `realized'. The
3183realization process maps face attributes to what is physically
3184available on the system where Emacs runs. The result is a `realized
3185face' in form of an internal structure which is stored in the face
3186cache of the frame on which it was realized.
3187
3188Face realization is done in the context of the charset of the
3189character to display because different fonts and encodings are used
3190for different charsets. In other words, for characters of different
3191charsets, different realized faces are needed to display them.
3192
3193Except for composite characters, faces are always realized for a
3194specific character set and contain a specific font, even if the face
3195being realized specifies a fontset. The reason is that the result of
3196the new font selection stage is better than what can be done with
3197statically defined font name patterns in fontsets.
3198
3199In unibyte text, Emacs' charsets aren't applicable; function
3200`char-charset' reports ASCII for all characters, including those >
32010x7f. The X registry and encoding of fonts to use is determined from
3202the variable `face-default-registry' in this case. The variable is
3203initialized at Emacs startup time from the font the user specified for
3204Emacs.
3205
3206Currently all unibyte text, i.e. all buffers with
3207`enable-multibyte-characters' nil are displayed with fonts of the same
3208registry and encoding `face-default-registry'. This is consistent
3209with the fact that languages can also be set globally, only.
3210
a7c13351 3211+++
a933dad1
DL
3212**** Clearing face caches.
3213
3214The Lisp function `clear-face-cache' can be called to clear face caches
3215on all frames. If called with a non-nil argument, it will also unload
3216unused fonts.
3217
3218+++
3219*** Font selection.
79214ddf 3220
a933dad1
DL
3221Font selection tries to find the best available matching font for a
3222given (charset, face) combination. This is done slightly differently
3223for faces specifying a fontset, or a font family name.
3224
3225If the face specifies a fontset name, that fontset determines a
3226pattern for fonts of the given charset. If the face specifies a font
3227family, a font pattern is constructed. Charset symbols have a
3228property `x-charset-registry' for that purpose that maps a charset to
3229an XLFD registry and encoding in the font pattern constructed.
3230
3231Available fonts on the system on which Emacs runs are then matched
3232against the font pattern. The result of font selection is the best
3233match for the given face attributes in this font list.
3234
3235Font selection can be influenced by the user.
3236
3237The user can specify the relative importance he gives the face
3238attributes width, height, weight, and slant by setting
3239face-font-selection-order (faces.el) to a list of face attribute
3240names. The default is (:width :height :weight :slant), and means
3241that font selection first tries to find a good match for the font
3242width specified by a face, then---within fonts with that width---tries
3243to find a best match for the specified font height, etc.
3244
52d89894
GM
3245Setting `face-font-family-alternatives' allows the user to specify
3246alternative font families to try if a family specified by a face
89d57763 3247doesn't exist.
af4bb4c8
KH
3248
3249Setting `face-font-registry-alternatives' allows the user to specify
3250all alternative font registry names to try for a face speciying a
3251registry.
3252
3253Please note that the iterpretations of the above two variables are
3254slightly different.
3255
3256Setting face-ignored-fonts allows the user to ignore specific fonts.
3257
a933dad1
DL
3258
3259+++
3260**** Scalable fonts
3261
3262Emacs can make use of scalable fonts but doesn't do so by default,
3263since the use of too many or too big scalable fonts may crash XFree86
3264servers.
3265
3266To enable scalable font use, set the variable
b246b1f6 3267`scalable-fonts-allowed'. A value of nil, the default, means never use
a933dad1
DL
3268scalable fonts. A value of t means any scalable font may be used.
3269Otherwise, the value must be a list of regular expressions. A
3270scalable font may then be used if it matches a regular expression from
3271that list. Example:
3272
3273 (setq scalable-fonts-allowed '("muleindian-2$"))
3274
3275allows the use of scalable fonts with registry `muleindian-2'.
3276
3277+++
3278*** Functions and variables related to font selection.
3279
3280- Function: x-family-fonts &optional FAMILY FRAME
3281
3282Return a list of available fonts of family FAMILY on FRAME. If FAMILY
3283is omitted or nil, list all families. Otherwise, FAMILY must be a
3284string, possibly containing wildcards `?' and `*'.
3285
3286If FRAME is omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Each element of
3287the result is a vector [FAMILY WIDTH POINT-SIZE WEIGHT SLANT FIXED-P
3288FULL REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING]. FAMILY is the font family name.
3289POINT-SIZE is the size of the font in 1/10 pt. WIDTH, WEIGHT, and
3290SLANT are symbols describing the width, weight and slant of the font.
3291These symbols are the same as for face attributes. FIXED-P is non-nil
3292if the font is fixed-pitch. FULL is the full name of the font, and
3293REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING is a string giving the registry and encoding of
3294the font. The result list is sorted according to the current setting
3295of the face font sort order.
3296
79214ddf 3297- Function: x-font-family-list
a933dad1
DL
3298
3299Return a list of available font families on FRAME. If FRAME is
3300omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Value is a list of conses
3301(FAMILY . FIXED-P) where FAMILY is a font family, and FIXED-P is
3302non-nil if fonts of that family are fixed-pitch.
3303
3304- Variable: font-list-limit
3305
3306Limit for font matching. If an integer > 0, font matching functions
3307won't load more than that number of fonts when searching for a
3308matching font. The default is currently 100.
3309
3310+++
3311*** Setting face attributes.
3312
3313For the most part, the new face implementation is interface-compatible
3314with the old one. Old face attribute related functions are now
3315implemented in terms of the new functions `set-face-attribute' and
3316`face-attribute'.
3317
3318Face attributes are identified by their names which are keyword
3319symbols. All attributes can be set to `unspecified'.
3320
3321The following attributes are recognized:
3322
3323`:family'
3324
3325VALUE must be a string specifying the font family, e.g. ``courier'',
3326or a fontset alias name. If a font family is specified, wild-cards `*'
3327and `?' are allowed.
3328
3329`:width'
3330
3331VALUE specifies the relative proportionate width of the font to use.
3332It must be one of the symbols `ultra-condensed', `extra-condensed',
3333`condensed', `semi-condensed', `normal', `semi-expanded', `expanded',
3334`extra-expanded', or `ultra-expanded'.
3335
3336`:height'
3337
787345ff
MB
3338VALUE must be either an integer specifying the height of the font to use
3339in 1/10 pt, a floating point number specifying the amount by which to
3340scale any underlying face, or a function, which is called with the old
3341height (from the underlying face), and should return the new height.
a933dad1
DL
3342
3343`:weight'
3344
3345VALUE specifies the weight of the font to use. It must be one of the
3346symbols `ultra-bold', `extra-bold', `bold', `semi-bold', `normal',
3347`semi-light', `light', `extra-light', `ultra-light'.
3348
3349`:slant'
3350
3351VALUE specifies the slant of the font to use. It must be one of the
3352symbols `italic', `oblique', `normal', `reverse-italic', or
3353`reverse-oblique'.
3354
3355`:foreground', `:background'
3356
3357VALUE must be a color name, a string.
3358
3359`:underline'
3360
3361VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be underlined. If
3362VALUE is t, underline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is
3363a string, underline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly
3364don't underline.
3365
3366`:overline'
3367
3368VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be overlined. If
3369VALUE is t, overline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is a
3370string, overline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't
3371overline.
3372
3373`:strike-through'
3374
3375VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be drawn with a line
3376striking through them. If VALUE is t, use the foreground color of the
3377face. If VALUE is a string, strike-through with that color. If VALUE
3378is nil, explicitly don't strike through.
3379
3380`:box'
3381
3382VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should have a box drawn
3383around them. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't draw boxes. If
3384VALUE is t, draw a box with lines of width 1 in the foreground color
3385of the face. If VALUE is a string, the string must be a color name,
3386and the box is drawn in that color with a line width of 1. Otherwise,
3387VALUE must be a property list of the form `(:line-width WIDTH
3388:color COLOR :style STYLE)'. If a keyword/value pair is missing from
3389the property list, a default value will be used for the value, as
3390specified below. WIDTH specifies the width of the lines to draw; it
3391defaults to 1. COLOR is the name of the color to draw in, default is
3392the foreground color of the face for simple boxes, and the background
3393color of the face for 3D boxes. STYLE specifies whether a 3D box
3394should be draw. If STYLE is `released-button', draw a box looking
3395like a released 3D button. If STYLE is `pressed-button' draw a box
3396that appears like a pressed button. If STYLE is nil, the default if
3397the property list doesn't contain a style specification, draw a 2D
3398box.
3399
3400`:inverse-video'
3401
3402VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be displayed in
3403inverse video. VALUE must be one of t or nil.
3404
3405`:stipple'
3406
3407If VALUE is a string, it must be the name of a file of pixmap data.
3408The directories listed in the `x-bitmap-file-path' variable are
3409searched. Alternatively, VALUE may be a list of the form (WIDTH
3410HEIGHT DATA) where WIDTH and HEIGHT are the size in pixels, and DATA
3411is a string containing the raw bits of the bitmap. VALUE nil means
3412explicitly don't use a stipple pattern.
3413
3414For convenience, attributes `:family', `:width', `:height', `:weight',
3415and `:slant' may also be set in one step from an X font name:
3416
3417`:font'
3418
3419Set font-related face attributes from VALUE. VALUE must be a valid
3420XLFD font name. If it is a font name pattern, the first matching font
3421is used--this is for compatibility with the behavior of previous
3422versions of Emacs.
3423
3424For compatibility with Emacs 20, keywords `:bold' and `:italic' can
3425be used to specify that a bold or italic font should be used. VALUE
3426must be t or nil in that case. A value of `unspecified' is not allowed."
3427
3428Please see also the documentation of `set-face-attribute' and
3429`defface'.
3430
787345ff
MB
3431`:inherit'
3432
3433VALUE is the name of a face from which to inherit attributes, or a list
3434of face names. Attributes from inherited faces are merged into the face
3435like an underlying face would be, with higher priority than underlying faces.
3436
a933dad1
DL
3437*** Face attributes and X resources
3438
3439The following X resource names can be used to set face attributes
3440from X resources:
3441
3442 Face attribute X resource class
3443-----------------------------------------------------------------------
3444 :family attributeFamily . Face.AttributeFamily
3445 :width attributeWidth Face.AttributeWidth
3446 :height attributeHeight Face.AttributeHeight
3447 :weight attributeWeight Face.AttributeWeight
3448 :slant attributeSlant Face.AttributeSlant
3449 foreground attributeForeground Face.AttributeForeground
3450 :background attributeBackground . Face.AttributeBackground
3451 :overline attributeOverline Face.AttributeOverline
3452 :strike-through attributeStrikeThrough Face.AttributeStrikeThrough
3453 :box attributeBox Face.AttributeBox
3454 :underline attributeUnderline Face.AttributeUnderline
3455 :inverse-video attributeInverse Face.AttributeInverse
3456 :stipple attributeStipple Face.AttributeStipple
79214ddf 3457 or attributeBackgroundPixmap
a933dad1
DL
3458 Face.AttributeBackgroundPixmap
3459 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
3460 :bold attributeBold Face.AttributeBold
3461 :italic attributeItalic . Face.AttributeItalic
3462 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
3463
3464+++
3465*** Text property `face'.
3466
3467The value of the `face' text property can now be a single face
3468specification or a list of such specifications. Each face
3469specification can be
3470
34711. A symbol or string naming a Lisp face.
3472
34732. A property list of the form (KEYWORD VALUE ...) where each
3474 KEYWORD is a face attribute name, and VALUE is an appropriate value
3475 for that attribute. Please see the doc string of `set-face-attribute'
3476 for face attribute names.
3477
34783. Conses of the form (FOREGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) or
3479 (BACKGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) where COLOR is a color name. This is
3480 for compatibility with previous Emacs versions.
3481
3482+++
3483** Support functions for colors on text-only terminals.
3484
acf3ecb7
EZ
3485The function `tty-color-define' can be used to define colors for use
3486on TTY and MSDOS frames. It maps a color name to a color number on
3487the terminal. Emacs defines a couple of common color mappings by
a933dad1 3488default. You can get defined colors with a call to
acf3ecb7 3489`defined-colors'. The function `tty-color-clear' can be
a933dad1
DL
3490used to clear the mapping table.
3491
acf3ecb7
EZ
3492** Unified support for colors independent of frame type.
3493
3494The new functions `defined-colors', `color-defined-p', `color-values',
3495and `display-color-p' work for any type of frame. On frames whose
3496type is neither x nor w32, these functions transparently map X-style
3497color specifications to the closest colors supported by the frame
3498display. Lisp programs should use these new functions instead of the
3499old `x-defined-colors', `x-color-defined-p', `x-color-values', and
3500`x-display-color-p'. (The old function names are still available for
3501compatibility; they are now aliases of the new names.) Lisp programs
3502should no more look at the value of the variable window-system to
3503modify their color-related behavior.
3504
3505The primitives `color-gray-p' and `color-supported-p' also work for
3506any frame type.
3507
8a5719f0
EZ
3508** Platform-independent functions to describe display capabilities.
3509
3510The new functions `display-mouse-p', `display-popup-menus-p',
3511`display-graphic-p', `display-selections-p', `display-screens',
3512`display-pixel-width', `display-pixel-height', `display-mm-width',
3513`display-mm-height', `display-backing-store', `display-save-under',
3514`display-planes', `display-color-cells', `display-visual-class', and
3515`display-grayscale-p' describe the basic capabilities of a particular
3516display. Lisp programs should call these functions instead of testing
3517the value of the variables `window-system' or `system-type', or calling
3518platform-specific functions such as `x-display-pixel-width'.
3519
a933dad1
DL
3520+++
3521** The minibuffer prompt is now actually inserted in the minibuffer.
a933dad1 3522
463cac2d 3523This makes it possible to scroll through the prompt, if you want to.
3b51cca0
MB
3524To disallow this completely (like previous versions of emacs), customize
3525the variable `minibuffer-prompt-properties', and turn on the
3526`Inviolable' option.
a933dad1
DL
3527
3528The function minubuffer-prompt-end returns the current position of the
3529end of the minibuffer prompt, if the minibuffer is current.
3530Otherwise, it returns zero.
3531
463cac2d
GM
3532** New `field' abstraction in buffers.
3533
3534There is now code to support an abstraction called `fields' in emacs
3535buffers. A field is a contiguous region of text with the same `field'
59927f88 3536property (which can be a text property or an overlay).
463cac2d 3537
9a9dfda8 3538Many emacs functions, such as forward-word, forward-sentence,
463cac2d 3539forward-paragraph, beginning-of-line, etc., stop moving when they come
9a9dfda8 3540to the boundary between fields; beginning-of-line and end-of-line will
463cac2d 3541not let the point move past the field boundary, but other movement
fc7ac24f
GM
3542commands continue into the next field if repeated. Stopping at field
3543boundaries can be suppressed programmatically by binding
3544`inhibit-field-text-motion' to a non-nil value around calls to these
3545functions.
463cac2d
GM
3546
3547Now that the minibuffer prompt is inserted into the minibuffer, it is in
9a9dfda8 3548a separate field from the user-input part of the buffer, so that common
463cac2d 3549editing commands treat the user's text separately from the prompt.
a933dad1 3550
9a9dfda8
GM
3551The following functions are defined for operating on fields:
3552
59927f88 3553- Function: constrain-to-field NEW-POS OLD-POS &optional ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE ONLY-IN-LINE INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY
9a9dfda8
GM
3554
3555Return the position closest to NEW-POS that is in the same field as OLD-POS.
59927f88 3556
9a9dfda8
GM
3557A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
3558If NEW-POS is nil, then the current point is used instead, and set to the
3559constrained position if that is is different.
3560
3561If OLD-POS is at the boundary of two fields, then the allowable
3562positions for NEW-POS depends on the value of the optional argument
3563ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE: If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is nil, then NEW-POS is
59927f88 3564constrained to the field that has the same `field' char-property
9a9dfda8
GM
3565as any new characters inserted at OLD-POS, whereas if ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
3566is non-nil, NEW-POS is constrained to the union of the two adjacent
59927f88
MB
3567fields. Additionally, if two fields are separated by another field with
3568the special value `boundary', then any point within this special field is
3569also considered to be `on the boundary'.
9a9dfda8
GM
3570
3571If the optional argument ONLY-IN-LINE is non-nil and constraining
3572NEW-POS would move it to a different line, NEW-POS is returned
3573unconstrained. This useful for commands that move by line, like
3574C-n or C-a, which should generally respect field boundaries
3575only in the case where they can still move to the right line.
3576
59927f88
MB
3577If the optional argument INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY is non-nil, and OLD-POS has
3578a non-nil property of that name, then any field boundaries are ignored.
3579
3580Field boundaries are not noticed if `inhibit-field-text-motion' is non-nil.
3581
3582- Function: delete-field &optional POS
9a9dfda8 3583
59927f88 3584Delete the field surrounding POS.
9a9dfda8 3585A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
59927f88 3586If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9a9dfda8
GM
3587
3588- Function: field-beginning &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
3589
3590Return the beginning of the field surrounding POS.
3591A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
59927f88
MB
3592If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
3593If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the beginning of its
9a9dfda8
GM
3594field, then the beginning of the *previous* field is returned.
3595
3596- Function: field-end &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
3597
3598Return the end of the field surrounding POS.
3599A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
59927f88
MB
3600If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
3601If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the end of its field,
9a9dfda8
GM
3602then the end of the *following* field is returned.
3603
3604- Function: field-string &optional POS
3605
3606Return the contents of the field surrounding POS as a string.
3607A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
59927f88 3608If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9a9dfda8
GM
3609
3610- Function: field-string-no-properties &optional POS
3611
3612Return the contents of the field around POS, without text-properties.
3613A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
59927f88 3614If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
9a9dfda8 3615
a933dad1
DL
3616+++
3617** Image support.
3618
3619Emacs can now display images. Images are inserted into text by giving
3620strings or buffer text a `display' text property containing one of
3621(AREA IMAGE) or IMAGE. The display of the `display' property value
3622replaces the display of the characters having that property.
3623
3624If the property value has the form (AREA IMAGE), AREA must be one of
3625`(margin left-margin)', `(margin right-margin)' or `(margin nil)'. If
3626AREA is `(margin nil)', IMAGE will be displayed in the text area of a
3627window, otherwise it will be displayed in the left or right marginal
3628area.
3629
3630IMAGE is an image specification.
3631
3632*** Image specifications
3633
3634Image specifications are lists of the form `(image PROPS)' where PROPS
3635is a property list whose keys are keyword symbols. Each
3636specifications must contain a property `:type TYPE' with TYPE being a
35a5514b
GM
3637symbol specifying the image type, e.g. `xbm'. Properties not
3638described below are ignored.
a933dad1
DL
3639
3640The following is a list of properties all image types share.
3641
3642`:ascent ASCENT'
3643
576da55d
GM
3644ASCENT must be a number in the range 0..100, or the symbol `center'.
3645If it is a number, it specifies the percentage of the image's height
5d94f558 3646to use for its ascent.
576da55d
GM
3647
3648If not specified, ASCENT defaults to the value 50 which means that the
3649image will be centered with the base line of the row it appears in.
3650
5d94f558 3651If ASCENT is `center' the image is vertically centered around a
04545643
GM
3652centerline which is the vertical center of text drawn at the position
3653of the image, in the manner specified by the text properties and
3654overlays that apply to the image.
a933dad1
DL
3655
3656`:margin MARGIN'
3657
b30623be
GM
3658MARGIN must be either a number >= 0 specifying how many pixels to put
3659as margin around the image, or a pair (X . Y) with X specifying the
3660horizontal margin and Y specifying the vertical margin. Default is 0.
a933dad1
DL
3661
3662`:relief RELIEF'
3663
3664RELIEF is analogous to the `:relief' attribute of faces. Puts a relief
3665around an image.
3666
f864120f 3667`:conversion ALGO'
a933dad1 3668
47e351a3
GM
3669Apply an image algorithm to the image before displaying it.
3670
3671ALGO `laplace' or `emboss' means apply a Laplace or ``emboss''
3672edge-detection algorithm to the image.
3673
3674ALGO `(edge-detection :matrix MATRIX :color-adjust ADJUST)' means
3675apply a general edge-detection algorithm. MATRIX must be either a
3676nine-element list or a nine-element vector of numbers. A pixel at
3677position x/y in the transformed image is computed from original pixels
3678around that position. MATRIX specifies, for each pixel in the
3679neighborhood of x/y, a factor with which that pixel will influence the
3680transformed pixel; element 0 specifies the factor for the pixel at
3681x-1/y-1, element 1 the factor for the pixel at x/y-1 etc. as shown
3682below.
3683
3684 (x-1/y-1 x/y-1 x+1/y-1
3685 x-1/y x/y x+1/y
3686 x-1/y+1 x/y+1 x+1/y+1)
3687
3688The resulting pixel is computed from the color intensity of the color
3689resulting from summing up the RGB values of surrounding pixels,
3690multiplied by the specified factors, and dividing that sum by the sum
3691of the factors' absolute values.
3692
327652be 3693Laplace edge-detection currently uses a matrix of
a933dad1 3694
47e351a3
GM
3695 (1 0 0
3696 0 0 0
3697 9 9 -1)
3698
3699Emboss edge-detection uses a matrix of
3700
3701 ( 2 -1 0
3702 -1 0 1
3703 0 1 -2)
3704
ba9eeda1
GM
3705ALGO `disabled' means transform the image so that it looks
3706``disabled''.
3707
47e351a3
GM
3708`:mask MASK'
3709
3710If MASK is `heuristic' or `(heuristic BG)', build a clipping mask for
3711the image, so that the background of a frame is visible behind the
3712image. If BG is not specified, or if BG is t, determine the
3713background color of the image by looking at the 4 corners of the
3714image, assuming the most frequently occuring color from the corners is
3715the background color of the image. Otherwise, BG must be a list `(RED
3716GREEN BLUE)' specifying the color to assume for the background of the
3717image.
a933dad1 3718
47e351a3
GM
3719If MASK is nil, remove a mask from the image, if it has one. Images
3720in some formats include a mask which can be removed by specifying
3721`:mask nil'.
a933dad1
DL
3722
3723`:file FILE'
3724
3725Load image from FILE. If FILE is not absolute after expanding it,
3726search for the image in `data-directory'. Some image types support
3727building images from data. When this is done, no `:file' property
3728may be present in the image specification.
3729
518df5c4
GM
3730`:data DATA'
3731
3732Get image data from DATA. (As of this writing, this is not yet
3733supported for image type `postscript'). Either :file or :data may be
3734present in an image specification, but not both. All image types
3735support strings as DATA, some types allow additional types of DATA.
3736
a933dad1
DL
3737*** Supported image types
3738
b246b1f6 3739**** XBM, image type `xbm'.
a933dad1
DL
3740
3741XBM images don't require an external library. Additional image
3742properties supported are
3743
3744`:foreground FG'
3745
3746FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color. Default
3747is the frame's foreground.
3748
46c5af7f 3749`:background BG'
a933dad1
DL
3750
3751BG must be a string specifying the image foreground color. Default is
3752the frame's background color.
3753
3754XBM images can be constructed from data instead of file. In this
3755case, the image specification must contain the following properties
3756instead of a `:file' property.
3757
3758`:width WIDTH'
3759
3760WIDTH specifies the width of the image in pixels.
3761
3762`:height HEIGHT'
3763
3764HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pixels.
3765
3766`:data DATA'
3767
3768DATA must be either
3769
3770 1. a string large enough to hold the bitmap data, i.e. it must
3771 have a size >= (WIDTH + 7) / 8 * HEIGHT
3772
3773 2. a bool-vector of size >= WIDTH * HEIGHT
3774
3775 3. a vector of strings or bool-vectors, one for each line of the
3776 bitmap.
3777
c76e04a8
GM
3778 4. a string that's an in-memory XBM file. Neither width nor
3779 height may be specified in this case because these are defined
3780 in the file.
3781
a933dad1
DL
3782**** XPM, image type `xpm'
3783
3784XPM images require the external library `libXpm', package
3785`xpm-3.4k.tar.gz', version 3.4k or later. Make sure the library is
3786found when Emacs is configured by supplying appropriate paths via
3787`--x-includes' and `--x-libraries'.
3788
3789Additional image properties supported are:
3790
3791`:color-symbols SYMBOLS'
3792
3793SYMBOLS must be a list of pairs (NAME . COLOR), with NAME being the
3794name of color as it appears in an XPM file, and COLOR being an X color
3795name.
3796
3797XPM images can be built from memory instead of files. In that case,
3798add a `:data' property instead of a `:file' property.
3799
a933dad1
DL
3800The XPM library uses libz in its implementation so that it is able
3801to display compressed images.
3802
3803**** PBM, image type `pbm'
3804
3805PBM images don't require an external library. Color, gray-scale and
2b8e9c91
GM
3806mono images are supported. Additional image properties supported for
3807mono images are
3808
3809`:foreground FG'
3810
3811FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color. Default
3812is the frame's foreground.
3813
3814`:background FG'
3815
3816BG must be a string specifying the image foreground color. Default is
3817the frame's background color.
a933dad1
DL
3818
3819**** JPEG, image type `jpeg'
3820
3821Support for JPEG images requires the external library `libjpeg',
3bd37feb
GM
3822package `jpegsrc.v6a.tar.gz', or later. Additional image properties
3823are:
3824
a933dad1
DL
3825**** TIFF, image type `tiff'
3826
3827Support for TIFF images requires the external library `libtiff',
3828package `tiff-v3.4-tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
3829properties defined.
3830
3831**** GIF, image type `gif'
3832
3833Support for GIF images requires the external library `libungif', package
3834`libungif-4.1.0', or later.
3835
3836Additional image properties supported are:
3837
3838`:index INDEX'
3839
3840INDEX must be an integer >= 0. Load image number INDEX from a
3841multi-image GIF file. An error is signalled if INDEX is too large.
3842
3843This could be used to implement limited support for animated GIFs.
3844For example, the following function displays a multi-image GIF file
3845at point-min in the current buffer, switching between sub-images
3846every 0.1 seconds.
3847
3848(defun show-anim (file max)
3849 "Display multi-image GIF file FILE which contains MAX subimages."
3850 (display-anim (current-buffer) file 0 max t))
3851
3852(defun display-anim (buffer file idx max first-time)
3853 (when (= idx max)
3854 (setq idx 0))
518df5c4 3855 (let ((img (create-image file nil nil :index idx)))
a933dad1
DL
3856 (save-excursion
3857 (set-buffer buffer)
3858 (goto-char (point-min))
3859 (unless first-time (delete-char 1))
3860 (insert-image img "x"))
3861 (run-with-timer 0.1 nil 'display-anim buffer file (1+ idx) max nil)))
3862
3863**** PNG, image type `png'
3864
3865Support for PNG images requires the external library `libpng',
3866package `libpng-1.0.2.tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
3867properties defined.
3868
3869**** Ghostscript, image type `postscript'.
3870
3871Additional image properties supported are:
3872
3873`:pt-width WIDTH'
3874
3875WIDTH is width of the image in pt (1/72 inch). WIDTH must be an
b246b1f6 3876integer. This is a required property.
a933dad1
DL
3877
3878`:pt-height HEIGHT'
3879
3880HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pt (1/72 inch). HEIGHT
b246b1f6 3881must be a integer. This is an required property.
a933dad1
DL
3882
3883`:bounding-box BOX'
3884
3885BOX must be a list or vector of 4 integers giving the bounding box of
3886the PS image, analogous to the `BoundingBox' comment found in PS
3887files. This is an required property.
3888
3889Part of the Ghostscript interface is implemented in Lisp. See
3890lisp/gs.el.
3891
3892*** Lisp interface.
3893
79214ddf
FP
3894The variable `image-types' contains a list of those image types
3895which are supported in the current configuration.
a933dad1
DL
3896
3897Images are stored in an image cache and removed from the cache when
3898they haven't been displayed for `image-cache-eviction-delay seconds.
3899The function `clear-image-cache' can be used to clear the image cache
084cec2f
GM
3900manually. Images in the cache are compared with `equal', i.e. all
3901images with `equal' specifications share the same image.
a933dad1
DL
3902
3903*** Simplified image API, image.el
3904
3905The new Lisp package image.el contains functions that simplify image
3906creation and putting images into text. The function `create-image'
3907can be used to create images. The macro `defimage' can be used to
3908define an image based on available image types. The functions
3909`put-image' and `insert-image' can be used to insert an image into a
3910buffer.
3911
3912+++
3913** Display margins.
3914
3915Windows can now have margins which are used for special text
3916and images.
3917
3918To give a window margins, either set the buffer-local variables
3919`left-margin-width' and `right-margin-width', or call
3920`set-window-margins'. The function `window-margins' can be used to
3921obtain the current settings. To make `left-margin-width' and
3922`right-margin-width' take effect, you must set them before displaying
3923the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force an update
3924of the display margins.
3925
3926You can put text in margins by giving it a `display' text property
3927containing a pair of the form `(LOCATION . VALUE)', where LOCATION is
3928one of `left-margin' or `right-margin' or nil. VALUE can be either a
3929string, an image specification or a stretch specification (see later
3930in this file).
3931
3932+++
3933** Help display
3934
3935Emacs displays short help messages in the echo area, when the mouse
3936moves over a tool-bar item or a piece of text that has a text property
3937`help-echo'. This feature also applies to strings in the mode line
3938that have a `help-echo' property.
3939
9662da0b 3940If the value of the `help-echo' property is a function, that function
85a8aca9 3941is called with three arguments WINDOW, OBJECT and POSITION. WINDOW is
c20aeb83
GM
3942the window in which the help was found.
3943
3944If OBJECT is a buffer, POS is the position in the buffer where the
3945`help-echo' text property was found.
3946
3947If OBJECT is an overlay, that overlay has a `help-echo' property, and
3948POS is the position in the overlay's buffer under the mouse.
3949
3950If OBJECT is a string (an overlay string or a string displayed with
5ed8d5af 3951the `display' property), POS is the position in that string under the
c20aeb83 3952mouse.
d5aa31d8 3953
9662da0b
GM
3954If the value of the `help-echo' property is neither a function nor a
3955string, it is evaluated to obtain a help string.
3956
3957For tool-bar and menu-bar items, their key definition is used to
3958determine the help to display. If their definition contains a
3959property `:help FORM', FORM is evaluated to determine the help string.
3960For tool-bar items without a help form, the caption of the item is
3961used as help string.
a933dad1
DL
3962
3963The hook `show-help-function' can be set to a function that displays
f0298744
DL
3964the help string differently. For example, enabling a tooltip window
3965causes the help display to appear there instead of in the echo area.
a933dad1
DL
3966
3967+++
3968** Vertical fractional scrolling.
3969
3970The display of text in windows can be scrolled smoothly in pixels.
3971This is useful, for example, for making parts of large images visible.
3972
3973The function `window-vscroll' returns the current value of vertical
3974scrolling, a non-negative fraction of the canonical character height.
3975The function `set-window-vscroll' can be used to set the vertical
3976scrolling value. Here is an example of how these function might be
3977used.
3978
79214ddf
FP
3979 (global-set-key [A-down]
3980 #'(lambda ()
a933dad1 3981 (interactive)
79214ddf 3982 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
a933dad1 3983 (+ 0.5 (window-vscroll)))))
79214ddf 3984 (global-set-key [A-up]
a933dad1
DL
3985 #'(lambda ()
3986 (interactive)
79214ddf 3987 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
a933dad1
DL
3988 (- (window-vscroll) 0.5)))))
3989
3990+++
3991** New hook `fontification-functions'.
3992
3993Functions from `fontification-functions' are called from redisplay
3994when it encounters a region of text that is not yet fontified. This
3995variable automatically becomes buffer-local when set. Each function
3996is called with one argument, POS.
3997
3998At least one of the hook functions should fontify one or more
3999characters starting at POS in the current buffer. It should mark them
4000as fontified by giving them a non-nil value of the `fontified' text
4001property. It may be reasonable for these functions to check for the
4002`fontified' property and not put it back on, but they do not have to.
4003
4004+++
4005** Tool bar support.
4006
4007Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. The frame
4008parameter `tool-bar-lines' (X resource "toolBar", class "ToolBar")
4009controls how may lines to reserve for the tool bar. A zero value
4010suppresses the tool bar. If the value is non-zero and
4011`auto-resize-tool-bars' is non-nil the tool bar's size will be changed
4012automatically so that all tool bar items are visible.
4013
4014*** Tool bar item definitions
4015
4016Tool bar items are defined using `define-key' with a prefix-key
4017`tool-bar'. For example `(define-key global-map [tool-bar item1] ITEM)'
4018where ITEM is a list `(menu-item CAPTION BINDING PROPS...)'.
79214ddf 4019
a933dad1
DL
4020CAPTION is the caption of the item, If it's not a string, it is
4021evaluated to get a string. The caption is currently not displayed in
4022the tool bar, but it is displayed if the item doesn't have a `:help'
4023property (see below).
79214ddf 4024
a933dad1
DL
4025BINDING is the tool bar item's binding. Tool bar items with keymaps as
4026binding are currently ignored.
4027
4028The following properties are recognized:
4029
4030`:enable FORM'.
79214ddf 4031
a933dad1
DL
4032FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is enabled
4033or disabled.
79214ddf 4034
a933dad1 4035`:visible FORM'
79214ddf 4036
a933dad1 4037FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is displayed.
79214ddf 4038
a933dad1
DL
4039`:filter FUNCTION'
4040
4041FUNCTION is called with one parameter, the same list BINDING in which
4042FUNCTION is specified as the filter. The value FUNCTION returns is
4043used instead of BINDING to display this item.
79214ddf 4044
a933dad1
DL
4045`:button (TYPE SELECTED)'
4046
4047TYPE must be one of `:radio' or `:toggle'. SELECTED is evaluated
4048and specifies whether the button is selected (pressed) or not.
79214ddf 4049
a933dad1
DL
4050`:image IMAGES'
4051
4052IMAGES is either a single image specification or a vector of four
4053image specifications. If it is a vector, this table lists the
4054meaning of each of the four elements:
4055
4056 Index Use when item is
4057 ----------------------------------------
4058 0 enabled and selected
4059 1 enabled and deselected
4060 2 disabled and selected
4061 3 disabled and deselected
79214ddf 4062
4ba7246d
GM
4063If IMAGE is a single image specification, a Laplace edge-detection
4064algorithm is used on that image to draw the image in disabled state.
4065
a933dad1 4066`:help HELP-STRING'.
79214ddf 4067
a933dad1
DL
4068Gives a help string to display for the tool bar item. This help
4069is displayed when the mouse is moved over the item.
4070
dab96841 4071The function `toolbar-add-item' is a convenience function for adding
d1e68bce
DL
4072toolbar items generally, and `tool-bar-add-item-from-menu' can be used
4073to define a toolbar item with a binding copied from an item on the
4074menu bar.
dab96841 4075
8628686a
DL
4076The default bindings use a menu-item :filter to derive the tool-bar
4077dynamically from variable `tool-bar-map' which may be set
4078buffer-locally to override the global map.
4079
a933dad1
DL
4080*** Tool-bar-related variables.
4081
4082If `auto-resize-tool-bar' is non-nil, the tool bar will automatically
4083resize to show all defined tool bar items. It will never grow larger
4084than 1/4 of the frame's size.
4085
79214ddf 4086If `auto-raise-tool-bar-buttons' is non-nil, tool bar buttons will be
a933dad1
DL
4087raised when the mouse moves over them.
4088
4089You can add extra space between tool bar items by setting
4090`tool-bar-button-margin' to a positive integer specifying a number of
b30623be
GM
4091pixels, or a pair of integers (X . Y) specifying horizontal and
4092vertical margins . Default is 1.
a933dad1
DL
4093
4094You can change the shadow thickness of tool bar buttons by setting
4095`tool-bar-button-relief' to an integer. Default is 3.
4096
4097*** Tool-bar clicks with modifiers.
4098
4099You can bind commands to clicks with control, shift, meta etc. on
79214ddf 4100a tool bar item. If
a933dad1
DL
4101
4102 (define-key global-map [tool-bar shell]
4103 '(menu-item "Shell" shell
4104 :image (image :type xpm :file "shell.xpm")))
4105
4106is the original tool bar item definition, then
4107
4108 (define-key global-map [tool-bar S-shell] 'some-command)
4109
4110makes a binding to run `some-command' for a shifted click on the same
4111item.
4112
4113** Mode line changes.
4114
4115+++
4116*** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
4117
4118The mode line can be made mouse-sensitive by displaying strings there
4119that have a `local-map' text property. There are three ways to display
4120a string with a `local-map' property in the mode line.
4121
41221. The mode line spec contains a variable whose string value has
4123a `local-map' text property.
4124
41252. The mode line spec contains a format specifier (e.g. `%12b'), and
4126that format specifier has a `local-map' property.
4127
41283. The mode line spec contains a list containing `:eval FORM'. FORM
4129is evaluated. If the result is a string, and that string has a
4130`local-map' property.
4131
4132The same mechanism is used to determine the `face' and `help-echo'
4133properties of strings in the mode line. See `bindings.el' for an
4134example.
4135
54522c9f
GM
4136*** If a mode line element has the form `(:eval FORM)', FORM is
4137evaluated and the result is used as mode line element.
4138
a933dad1
DL
4139+++
4140*** You can suppress mode-line display by setting the buffer-local
4141variable mode-line-format to nil.
4142
4143+++
4144*** A headerline can now be displayed at the top of a window.
4145
4146This mode line's contents are controlled by the new variable
4147`header-line-format' and `default-header-line-format' which are
4148completely analogous to `mode-line-format' and
4149`default-mode-line-format'. A value of nil means don't display a top
4150line.
4151
4152The appearance of top mode lines is controlled by the face
4153`header-line'.
4154
4155The function `coordinates-in-window-p' returns `header-line' for a
4156position in the header-line.
4157
4158+++
4159** Text property `display'
4160
623a0aae
GM
4161The `display' text property is used to insert images into text,
4162replace text with other text, display text in marginal area, and it is
4163also used to control other aspects of how text displays. The value of
4164the `display' property should be a display specification, as described
a933dad1
DL
4165below, or a list or vector containing display specifications.
4166
623a0aae
GM
4167*** Replacing text, displaying text in marginal areas
4168
4169To replace the text having the `display' property with some other
4170text, use a display specification of the form `(LOCATION STRING)'.
4171
4172If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)', STRING is displayed in the left
4173marginal area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in
4174the right marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' STRING
4175is displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
4176simpler form STRING as property value.
4177
a933dad1
DL
4178*** Variable width and height spaces
4179
4180To display a space of fractional width or height, use a display
4181specification of the form `(LOCATION STRECH)'. If LOCATION is
4182`(margin left-margin)', the space is displayed in the left marginal
4183area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in the right
4184marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the space is
4185displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
4186simpler form STRETCH as property value.
4187
4188The stretch specification STRETCH itself is a list of the form `(space
4189PROPS)', where PROPS is a property list which can contain the
4190properties described below.
4191
4192The display of the fractional space replaces the display of the
4193characters having the `display' property.
4194
4195- :width WIDTH
4196
4197Specifies that the space width should be WIDTH times the normal
4198character width. WIDTH can be an integer or floating point number.
4199
4200- :relative-width FACTOR
4201
4202Specifies that the width of the stretch should be computed from the
4203first character in a group of consecutive characters that have the
4204same `display' property. The computation is done by multiplying the
4205width of that character by FACTOR.
4206
4207- :align-to HPOS
4208
4209Specifies that the space should be wide enough to reach HPOS. The
4210value HPOS is measured in units of the normal character width.
4211
4212Exactly one of the above properties should be used.
4213
4214- :height HEIGHT
4215
4216Specifies the height of the space, as HEIGHT, measured in terms of the
4217normal line height.
4218
4219- :relative-height FACTOR
4220
4221The height of the space is computed as the product of the height
4222of the text having the `display' property and FACTOR.
4223
4224- :ascent ASCENT
4225
4226Specifies that ASCENT percent of the height of the stretch should be
4227used for the ascent of the stretch, i.e. for the part above the
4228baseline. The value of ASCENT must be a non-negative number less or
4229equal to 100.
4230
4231You should not use both `:height' and `:relative-height' together.
4232
4233*** Images
4234
4235A display specification for an image has the form `(LOCATION
4236. IMAGE)', where IMAGE is an image specification. The image replaces,
4237in the display, the characters having this display specification in
4238their `display' text property. If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)',
4239the image will be displayed in the left marginal area, if it is
4240`(margin right-margin)' it will be displayed in the right marginal
4241area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the image will be displayed in
4242the text. In the latter case you can also use the simpler form IMAGE
4243as display specification.
4244
4245*** Other display properties
4246
c9e73000 4247- (space-width FACTOR)
a933dad1
DL
4248
4249Specifies that space characters in the text having that property
4250should be displayed FACTOR times as wide as normal; FACTOR must be an
4251integer or float.
4252
c9e73000 4253- (height HEIGHT)
a933dad1
DL
4254
4255Display text having this property in a font that is smaller or larger.
4256
4257If HEIGHT is a list of the form `(+ N)', where N is an integer, that
4258means to use a font that is N steps larger. If HEIGHT is a list of
4259the form `(- N)', that means to use a font that is N steps smaller. A
4260``step'' is defined by the set of available fonts; each size for which
4261a font is available counts as a step.
4262
4263If HEIGHT is a number, that means to use a font that is HEIGHT times
4264as tall as the frame's default font.
4265
4266If HEIGHT is a symbol, it is called as a function with the current
4267height as argument. The function should return the new height to use.
4268
4269Otherwise, HEIGHT is evaluated to get the new height, with the symbol
4270`height' bound to the current specified font height.
4271
c9e73000 4272- (raise FACTOR)
a933dad1
DL
4273
4274FACTOR must be a number, specifying a multiple of the current
4275font's height. If it is positive, that means to display the characters
4276raised. If it is negative, that means to display them lower down. The
4277amount of raising or lowering is computed without taking account of the
c9e73000 4278`height' subproperty.
a933dad1
DL
4279
4280*** Conditional display properties
4281
4282All display specifications can be conditionalized. If a specification
4283has the form `(:when CONDITION . SPEC)', the specification SPEC
4284applies only when CONDITION yields a non-nil value when evaluated.
4285During evaluattion, point is temporarily set to the end position of
4286the text having the `display' property.
4287
4288The normal specification consisting of SPEC only is equivalent to
4289`(:when t SPEC)'.
4290
4291+++
4292** New menu separator types.
4293
4294Emacs now supports more than one menu separator type. Menu items with
4295item names consisting of dashes only (including zero dashes) are
4296treated like before. In addition, the following item names are used
4297to specify other menu separator types.
4298
4299- `--no-line' or `--space', or `--:space', or `--:noLine'
4300
4301No separator lines are drawn, but a small space is inserted where the
4302separator occurs.
4303
4304- `--single-line' or `--:singleLine'
4305
4306A single line in the menu's foreground color.
4307
4308- `--double-line' or `--:doubleLine'
4309
4310A double line in the menu's foreground color.
4311
4312- `--single-dashed-line' or `--:singleDashedLine'
4313
4314A single dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
4315
4316- `--double-dashed-line' or `--:doubleDashedLine'
4317
4318A double dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
4319
4320- `--shadow-etched-in' or `--:shadowEtchedIn'
4321
4322A single line with 3D sunken appearance. This is the the form
4323displayed for item names consisting of dashes only.
4324
4325- `--shadow-etched-out' or `--:shadowEtchedOut'
4326
4327A single line with 3D raised appearance.
4328
4329- `--shadow-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedInDash'
4330
4331A single dashed line with 3D sunken appearance.
4332
4333- `--shadow-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedOutDash'
4334
4335A single dashed line with 3D raise appearance.
4336
4337- `--shadow-double-etched-in' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedIn'
4338
4339Two lines with 3D sunken appearance.
4340
4341- `--shadow-double-etched-out' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOut'
4342
4343Two lines with 3D raised appearance.
4344
4345- `--shadow-double-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedInDash'
4346
4347Two dashed lines with 3D sunken appearance.
4348
4349- `--shadow-double-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOutDash'
4350
4351Two dashed lines with 3D raised appearance.
4352
4353Under LessTif/Motif, the last four separator types are displayed like
4354the corresponding single-line separators.
4355
4356+++
4357** New frame parameters for scroll bar colors.
4358
4359The new frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
4360`scroll-bar-background' can be used to change scroll bar colors.
4361Their value must be either a color name, a string, or nil to specify
4362that scroll bars should use a default color. For toolkit scroll bars,
4363default colors are toolkit specific. For non-toolkit scroll bars, the
4364default background is the background color of the frame, and the
4365default foreground is black.
4366
4367The X resource name of these parameters are `scrollBarForeground'
4368(class ScrollBarForeground) and `scrollBarBackground' (class
4369`ScrollBarBackground').
4370
4371Setting these parameters overrides toolkit specific X resource
4372settings for scroll bar colors.
4373
4374+++
4375** You can set `redisplay-dont-pause' to a non-nil value to prevent
4376display updates from being interrupted when input is pending.
4377
4378---
4379** Changing a window's width may now change its window start if it
4380starts on a continuation line. The new window start is computed based
4381on the window's new width, starting from the start of the continued
4382line as the start of the screen line with the minimum distance from
4383the original window start.
4384
4385---
4386** The variable `hscroll-step' and the functions
4387`hscroll-point-visible' and `hscroll-window-column' have been removed
4388now that proper horizontal scrolling is implemented.
4389
4390+++
4391** Windows can now be made fixed-width and/or fixed-height.
4392
4393A window is fixed-size if its buffer has a buffer-local variable
4394`window-size-fixed' whose value is not nil. A value of `height' makes
4395windows fixed-height, a value of `width' makes them fixed-width, any
4396other non-nil value makes them both fixed-width and fixed-height.
4397
4398The following code makes all windows displaying the current buffer
4399fixed-width and fixed-height.
4400
4401 (set (make-local-variable 'window-size-fixed) t)
4402
4403A call to enlarge-window on a window gives an error if that window is
4404fixed-width and it is tried to change the window's width, or if the
4405window is fixed-height, and it is tried to change its height. To
4406change the size of a fixed-size window, bind `window-size-fixed'
4407temporarily to nil, for example
4408
4409 (let ((window-size-fixed nil))
4410 (enlarge-window 10))
4411
79214ddf 4412Likewise, an attempt to split a fixed-height window vertically,
a933dad1 4413or a fixed-width window horizontally results in a error.
e411ce4b
EZ
4414
4415** The cursor-type frame parameter is now supported on MS-DOS
4416terminals. When Emacs starts, it by default changes the cursor shape
4417to a solid box, as it does on Unix. The `cursor-type' frame parameter
4418overrides this as it does on Unix, except that the bar cursor is
4419horizontal rather than vertical (since the MS-DOS display doesn't
4420support a vertical-bar cursor).
76299050 4421
3787e12e 4422
79dfd2cd 4423\f
3787e12e
GM
4424* Emacs 20.7 is a bug-fix release with few user-visible changes
4425
4426** It is now possible to use CCL-based coding systems for keyboard
4427input.
4428
4429** ange-ftp now handles FTP security extensions, like Kerberos.
4430
4431** Rmail has been extended to recognize more forms of digest messages.
4432
4433** Now, most coding systems set in keyboard coding system work not
4434only for character input, but also in incremental search. The
4435exceptions are such coding systems that handle 2-byte character sets
4436(e.g euc-kr, euc-jp) and that use ISO's escape sequence
4437(e.g. iso-2022-jp). They are ignored in incremental search.
4438
4439** Support for Macintosh PowerPC-based machines running GNU/Linux has
4440been added.
4441
79dfd2cd 4442\f
3787e12e
GM
4443* Emacs 20.6 is a bug-fix release with one user-visible change
4444
4445** Support for ARM-based non-RISCiX machines has been added.
4446
79dfd2cd 4447\f
3787e12e
GM
4448* Emacs 20.5 is a bug-fix release with no user-visible changes.
4449
4450** Not new, but not mentioned before:
4451M-w when Transient Mark mode is enabled disables the mark.
4452\f
4453* Changes in Emacs 20.4
4454
4455** Init file may be called .emacs.el.
4456
4457You can now call the Emacs init file `.emacs.el'.
4458Formerly the name had to be `.emacs'. If you use the name
4459`.emacs.el', you can byte-compile the file in the usual way.
4460
4461If both `.emacs' and `.emacs.el' exist, the latter file
4462is the one that is used.
4463
4464** shell-command, and shell-command-on-region, now return
4465the exit code of the command (unless it is asynchronous).
4466Also, you can specify a place to put the error output,
4467separate from the command's regular output.
4468Interactively, the variable shell-command-default-error-buffer
4469says where to put error output; set it to a buffer name.
4470In calls from Lisp, an optional argument ERROR-BUFFER specifies
4471the buffer name.
4472
4473When you specify a non-nil error buffer (or buffer name), any error
4474output is inserted before point in that buffer, with \f\n to separate
4475it from the previous batch of error output. The error buffer is not
4476cleared, so error output from successive commands accumulates there.
4477
4478** Setting the default value of enable-multibyte-characters to nil in
4479the .emacs file, either explicitly using setq-default, or via Custom,
4480is now essentially equivalent to using --unibyte: all buffers
4481created during startup will be made unibyte after loading .emacs.
4482
4483** C-x C-f now handles the wildcards * and ? in file names. For
4484example, typing C-x C-f c*.c RET visits all the files whose names
4485match c*.c. To visit a file whose name contains * or ?, add the
4486quoting sequence /: to the beginning of the file name.
4487
4488** The M-x commands keep-lines, flush-lines and count-matches
4489now have the same feature as occur and query-replace:
4490if the pattern contains any upper case letters, then
4491they never ignore case.
4492
4493** The end-of-line format conversion feature previously mentioned
4494under `* Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows' actually
4495applies to all operating systems. Emacs recognizes from the contents
4496of a file what convention it uses to separate lines--newline, CRLF, or
4497just CR--and automatically converts the contents to the normal Emacs
4498convention (using newline to separate lines) for editing. This is a
4499part of the general feature of coding system conversion.
4500
4501If you subsequently save the buffer, Emacs converts the text back to
4502the same format that was used in the file before.
4503
4504You can turn off end-of-line conversion by setting the variable
4505`inhibit-eol-conversion' to non-nil, e.g. with Custom in the MULE group.
4506
4507** The character set property `prefered-coding-system' has been
4508renamed to `preferred-coding-system', for the sake of correct spelling.
4509This is a fairly internal feature, so few programs should be affected.
4510
4511** Mode-line display of end-of-line format is changed.
4512The indication of the end-of-line format of the file visited by a
4513buffer is now more explicit when that format is not the usual one for
4514your operating system. For example, the DOS-style end-of-line format
4515is displayed as "(DOS)" on Unix and GNU/Linux systems. The usual
4516end-of-line format is still displayed as a single character (colon for
4517Unix, backslash for DOS and Windows, and forward slash for the Mac).
4518
4519The values of the variables eol-mnemonic-unix, eol-mnemonic-dos,
4520eol-mnemonic-mac, and eol-mnemonic-undecided, which are strings,
4521control what is displayed in the mode line for each end-of-line
4522format. You can now customize these variables.
4523
4524** In the previous version of Emacs, tar-mode didn't work well if a
4525filename contained non-ASCII characters. Now this is fixed. Such a
4526filename is decoded by file-name-coding-system if the default value of
4527enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil.
4528
4529** The command temp-buffer-resize-mode toggles a minor mode
4530in which temporary buffers (such as help buffers) are given
4531windows just big enough to hold the whole contents.
4532
4533** If you use completion.el, you must now run the function
4534dynamic-completion-mode to enable it. Just loading the file
4535doesn't have any effect.
4536
4537** In Flyspell mode, the default is now to make just one Ispell process,
4538not one per buffer.
4539
4540** If you use iswitchb but do not call (iswitchb-default-keybindings) to
4541use the default keybindings, you will need to add the following line:
4542 (add-hook 'minibuffer-setup-hook 'iswitchb-minibuffer-setup)
4543
4544** Auto-show mode is no longer enabled just by loading auto-show.el.
4545To control it, set `auto-show-mode' via Custom or use the
4546`auto-show-mode' command.
4547
4548** Handling of X fonts' ascent/descent parameters has been changed to
4549avoid redisplay problems. As a consequence, compared with previous
4550versions the line spacing and frame size now differ with some font
4551choices, typically increasing by a pixel per line. This change
4552occurred in version 20.3 but was not documented then.
4553
4554** If you select the bar cursor style, it uses the frame's
4555cursor-color, rather than the cursor foreground pixel.
4556
4557** In multibyte mode, Rmail decodes incoming MIME messages using the
4558character set specified in the message. If you want to disable this
4559feature, set the variable rmail-decode-mime-charset to nil.
4560
4561** Not new, but not mentioned previously in NEWS: when you use #! at
4562the beginning of a file to make it executable and specify an
4563interpreter program, Emacs looks on the second line for the -*- mode
4564and variable specification, as well as on the first line.
4565
4566** Support for IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters.
4567
4568The new command M-x codepage-setup creates a special coding system
4569that can be used to convert text between a specific IBM codepage and
4570one of the character sets built into Emacs which matches that
4571codepage. For example, codepage 850 corresponds to Latin-1 character
4572set, codepage 855 corresponds to Cyrillic-ISO character set, etc.
4573
4574Windows codepages 1250, 1251 and some others, where Windows deviates
4575from the corresponding ISO character set, are also supported.
4576
4577IBM box-drawing characters and other glyphs which don't have
4578equivalents in the corresponding ISO character set, are converted to
4579a character defined by dos-unsupported-char-glyph on MS-DOS, and to
4580`?' on other systems.
4581
4582IBM codepages are widely used on MS-DOS and MS-Windows, so this
4583feature is most useful on those platforms, but it can also be used on
4584Unix.
4585
4586Emacs compiled for MS-DOS automatically loads the support for the
4587current codepage when it starts.
4588
4589** Mail changes
4590
4591*** When mail is sent using compose-mail (C-x m), and if
4592`mail-send-nonascii' is set to the new default value `mime',
4593appropriate MIME headers are added. The headers are added only if
4594non-ASCII characters are present in the body of the mail, and no other
4595MIME headers are already present. For example, the following three
4596headers are added if the coding system used in the *mail* buffer is
4597latin-1:
4598
4599 MIME-version: 1.0
4600 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
4601 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
4602
4603*** The new variable default-sendmail-coding-system specifies the
4604default way to encode outgoing mail. This has higher priority than
4605default-buffer-file-coding-system but has lower priority than
4606sendmail-coding-system and the local value of
4607buffer-file-coding-system.
4608
4609You should not set this variable manually. Instead, set
4610sendmail-coding-system to specify a fixed encoding for all outgoing
4611mail.
4612
4613*** When you try to send a message that contains non-ASCII characters,
4614if the coding system specified by those variables doesn't handle them,
4615Emacs will ask you to select a suitable coding system while showing a
4616list of possible coding systems.
4617
4618** CC Mode changes
4619
4620*** c-default-style can now take an association list that maps major
4621modes to style names. When this variable is an alist, Java mode no
4622longer hardcodes a setting to "java" style. See the variable's
4623docstring for details.
4624
4625*** It's now possible to put a list as the offset on a syntactic
4626symbol. The list is evaluated recursively until a non-nil offset is
4627found. This is useful to combine several lineup functions to act in a
4628prioritized order on a single line. However, none of the supplied
4629lineup functions use this feature currently.
4630
4631*** New syntactic symbol catch-clause, which is used on the "catch" and
4632"finally" lines in try-catch constructs in C++ and Java.
4633
4634*** New cleanup brace-catch-brace on c-cleanup-list, which does for
4635"catch" lines what brace-elseif-brace does for "else if" lines.
4636
4637*** The braces of Java anonymous inner classes are treated separately
4638from the braces of other classes in auto-newline mode. Two new
4639symbols inexpr-class-open and inexpr-class-close may be used on
4640c-hanging-braces-alist to control the automatic newlines used for
4641anonymous classes.
4642
4643*** Support for the Pike language added, along with new Pike specific
4644syntactic symbols: inlambda, lambda-intro-cont
4645
4646*** Support for Java anonymous classes via new syntactic symbol
4647inexpr-class. New syntactic symbol inexpr-statement for Pike
4648support and gcc-style statements inside expressions. New lineup
4649function c-lineup-inexpr-block.
4650
4651*** New syntactic symbol brace-entry-open which is used in brace lists
4652(i.e. static initializers) when a list entry starts with an open
4653brace. These used to be recognized as brace-list-entry's.
4654c-electric-brace also recognizes brace-entry-open braces
4655(brace-list-entry's can no longer be electrified).
4656
4657*** New command c-indent-line-or-region, not bound by default.
4658
4659*** `#' is only electric when typed in the indentation of a line.
4660
4661*** Parentheses are now electric (via the new command c-electric-paren)
4662for auto-reindenting lines when parens are typed.
4663
4664*** In "gnu" style, inline-open offset is now set to zero.
4665
4666*** Uniform handling of the inclass syntactic symbol. The indentation
4667associated with it is now always relative to the class opening brace.
4668This means that the indentation behavior has changed in some
4669circumstances, but only if you've put anything besides 0 on the
4670class-open syntactic symbol (none of the default styles do that).
4671
4672** Gnus changes.
4673
4674*** New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
4675added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See the
4676Gnus manual for the full story.
4677
4678*** The nndraft backend has returned, but works differently than
4679before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the nndraft
4680group, which is created automatically.
4681
4682*** `gnus-alter-header-function' can now be used to alter header
4683values.
4684
4685*** `gnus-summary-goto-article' now accept Message-ID's.
4686
4687*** A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
4688outside the region: `C-c C-v'.
4689
4690*** You can now post to component group in nnvirtual groups with
4691`C-u C-c C-c'.
4692
4693*** `nntp-rlogin-program' -- new variable to ease customization.
4694
4695*** `C-u C-c C-c' in `gnus-article-edit-mode' will now inhibit
4696re-highlighting of the article buffer.
4697
4698*** New element in `gnus-boring-article-headers' -- `long-to'.
4699
4700*** `M-i' symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
4701Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
4702
4703*** `L' and `I' in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
4704`a' to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
4705
4706*** `gnus-simplify-subject-functions' variable to allow greater
4707control over simplification.
4708
4709*** `A T' -- new command for fetching the current thread.
4710
4711*** `/ T' -- new command for including the current thread in the
4712limit.
4713
4714*** `M-RET' is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
4715
4716*** \\1-expressions are now valid in `nnmail-split-methods'.
4717
4718*** The `custom-face-lookup' function has been removed.
4719If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
4720rewrite them to use `face-spec-set' instead.
4721
4722*** Cancelling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
4723`a' forces normal posting method.
4724
4725*** New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper text
4726-- `W d'.
4727
4728*** For easier debugging of nntp, you can set `nntp-record-commands'
4729to a non-nil value.
4730
4731*** nntp now uses ~/.authinfo, a .netrc-like file, for controlling
4732where and how to send AUTHINFO to NNTP servers.
4733
4734*** A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
4735has been added.
4736
4737*** A history of where mails have been split is available.
4738
4739*** A new article date command has been added -- `article-date-iso8601'.
4740
4741*** Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
4742`gnus-score-thread-simplify'.
4743
4744*** A new function for citing in Message has been added --
4745`message-cite-original-without-signature'.
4746
4747*** `article-strip-all-blank-lines' -- new article command.
4748
4749*** A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
4750been added.
4751
4752*** A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
4753`gnus-adaptive-word-minimum' variable.
4754
4755*** The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
4756updated by the `gnus-start-date-timer' command.
4757
4758*** Web listserv archives can be read with the nnlistserv backend.
4759
4760*** Old dejanews archives can now be read by nnweb.
4761
4762*** `gnus-posting-styles' has been re-activated.
4763
4764** Changes to TeX and LaTeX mode
4765
4766*** The new variable `tex-start-options-string' can be used to give
4767options for the TeX run. The default value causes TeX to run in
4768nonstopmode. For an interactive TeX run set it to nil or "".
4769
4770*** The command `tex-feed-input' sends input to the Tex Shell. In a
4771TeX buffer it is bound to the keys C-RET, C-c RET, and C-c C-m (some
4772of these keys may not work on all systems). For instance, if you run
4773TeX interactively and if the TeX run stops because of an error, you
4774can continue it without leaving the TeX buffer by typing C-RET.
4775
4776*** The Tex Shell Buffer is now in `compilation-shell-minor-mode'.
4777All error-parsing commands of the Compilation major mode are available
4778but bound to keys that don't collide with the shell. Thus you can use
4779the Tex Shell for command line executions like a usual shell.
4780
4781*** The commands `tex-validate-region' and `tex-validate-buffer' check
4782the matching of braces and $'s. The errors are listed in a *Occur*
4783buffer and you can use C-c C-c or mouse-2 to go to a particular
4784mismatch.
4785
4786** Changes to RefTeX mode
4787
4788*** The table of contents buffer can now also display labels and
4789file boundaries in addition to sections. Use `l', `i', and `c' keys.
4790
4791*** Labels derived from context (the section heading) are now
4792lowercase by default. To make the label legal in LaTeX, latin-1
4793characters will lose their accent. All Mule characters will be
4794removed from the label.
4795
4796*** The automatic display of cross reference information can also use
4797a window instead of the echo area. See variable `reftex-auto-view-crossref'.
4798
4799*** kpsewhich can be used by RefTeX to find TeX and BibTeX files. See the
4800customization group `reftex-finding-files'.
4801
4802*** The option `reftex-bibfile-ignore-list' has been renamed to
4803`reftex-bibfile-ignore-regexps' and indeed can be fed with regular
4804expressions.
4805
4806*** Multiple Selection buffers are now hidden buffers.
4807
4808** New/deleted modes and packages
4809
4810*** The package snmp-mode.el provides major modes for editing SNMP and
4811SNMPv2 MIBs. It has entries on `auto-mode-alist'.
4812
4813*** The package sql.el provides a major mode, M-x sql-mode, for
4814editing SQL files, and M-x sql-interactive-mode for interacting with
4815SQL interpreters. It has an entry on `auto-mode-alist'.
4816
4817*** M-x highlight-changes-mode provides a minor mode displaying buffer
4818changes with a special face.
4819
4820*** ispell4.el has been deleted. It got in the way of ispell.el and
4821this was hard to fix reliably. It has long been obsolete -- use
4822Ispell 3.1 and ispell.el.
4823\f
4824* MS-DOS changes in Emacs 20.4
4825
4826** Emacs compiled for MS-DOS now supports MULE features better.
4827This includes support for display of all ISO 8859-N character sets,
4828conversion to and from IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters,
4829and automatic setup of the MULE environment at startup. For details,
4830check out the section `MS-DOS and MULE' in the manual.
4831
4832The MS-DOS installation procedure automatically configures and builds
4833Emacs with input method support if it finds an unpacked Leim
4834distribution when the config.bat script is run.
4835
4836** Formerly, the value of lpr-command did not affect printing on
4837MS-DOS unless print-region-function was set to nil, but now it
4838controls whether an external program is invoked or output is written
4839directly to a printer port. Similarly, in the previous version of
4840Emacs, the value of ps-lpr-command did not affect PostScript printing
4841on MS-DOS unless ps-printer-name was set to something other than a
4842string (eg. t or `pipe'), but now it controls whether an external
4843program is used. (These changes were made so that configuration of
4844printing variables would be almost identical across all platforms.)
4845
4846** In the previous version of Emacs, PostScript and non-PostScript
4847output was piped to external programs, but because most print programs
4848available for MS-DOS and MS-Windows cannot read data from their standard
4849input, on those systems the data to be output is now written to a
4850temporary file whose name is passed as the last argument to the external
4851program.
4852
4853An exception is made for `print', a standard program on Windows NT,
4854and `nprint', a standard program on Novell Netware. For both of these
4855programs, the command line is constructed in the appropriate syntax
4856automatically, using only the value of printer-name or ps-printer-name
4857as appropriate--the value of the relevant `-switches' variable is
4858ignored, as both programs have no useful switches.
4859
4860** The value of the variable dos-printer (cf. dos-ps-printer), if it has
4861a value, overrides the value of printer-name (cf. ps-printer-name), on
4862MS-DOS and MS-Windows only. This has been true since version 20.3, but
4863was not documented clearly before.
4864
4865** All the Emacs games now work on MS-DOS terminals.
4866This includes Tetris and Snake.
4867\f
4868* Lisp changes in Emacs 20.4
4869
4870** New functions line-beginning-position and line-end-position
4871return the position of the beginning or end of the current line.
4872They both accept an optional argument, which has the same
4873meaning as the argument to beginning-of-line or end-of-line.
4874
4875** find-file and allied functions now have an optional argument
4876WILDCARD. If this is non-nil, they do wildcard processing,
4877and visit all files that match the wildcard pattern.
4878
4879** Changes in the file-attributes function.
4880
4881*** The file size returned by file-attributes may be an integer or a float.
4882It is an integer if the size fits in a Lisp integer, float otherwise.
4883
4884*** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
4885the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a cons cell containing two
4886integers.
4887
4888** The new function directory-files-and-attributes returns a list of
4889files in a directory and their attributes. It accepts the same
4890arguments as directory-files and has similar semantics, except that
4891file names and attributes are returned.
4892
4893** The new function file-attributes-lessp is a helper function for
4894sorting the list generated by directory-files-and-attributes. It
4895accepts two arguments, each a list of a file name and its atttributes.
4896It compares the file names of each according to string-lessp and
4897returns the result.
4898
4899** The new function file-expand-wildcards expands a wildcard-pattern
4900to produce a list of existing files that match the pattern.
4901
4902** New functions for base64 conversion:
4903
4904The function base64-encode-region converts a part of the buffer
4905into the base64 code used in MIME. base64-decode-region
4906performs the opposite conversion. Line-breaking is supported
4907optionally.
4908
4909Functions base64-encode-string and base64-decode-string do a similar
4910job on the text in a string. They return the value as a new string.
4911
4912**
4913The new function process-running-child-p
4914will tell you if a subprocess has given control of its
4915terminal to its own child process.
4916
4917** interrupt-process and such functions have a new feature:
4918when the second argument is `lambda', they send a signal
4919to the running child of the subshell, if any, but if the shell
4920itself owns its terminal, no signal is sent.
4921
4922** There are new widget types `plist' and `alist' which can
4923be used for customizing variables whose values are plists or alists.
4924
4925** easymenu.el Now understands `:key-sequence' and `:style button'.
4926:included is an alias for :visible.
4927
4928easy-menu-add-item now understands the values returned by
4929easy-menu-remove-item and easy-menu-item-present-p. This can be used
4930to move or copy menu entries.
4931
4932** Multibyte editing changes
4933
4934*** The definitions of sref and char-bytes are changed. Now, sref is
4935an alias of aref and char-bytes always returns 1. This change is to
4936make some Emacs Lisp code which works on 20.2 and earlier also
4937work on the latest Emacs. Such code uses a combination of sref and
4938char-bytes in a loop typically as below:
4939 (setq char (sref str idx)
4940 idx (+ idx (char-bytes idx)))
4941The byte-compiler now warns that this is obsolete.
4942
4943If you want to know how many bytes a specific multibyte character
4944(say, CH) occupies in a multibyte buffer, use this code:
4945 (charset-bytes (char-charset ch))
4946
4947*** In multibyte mode, when you narrow a buffer to some region, and the
4948region is preceded or followed by non-ASCII codes, inserting or
4949deleting at the head or the end of the region may signal this error:
4950
4951 Byte combining across boundary of accessible buffer text inhibitted
4952
4953This is to avoid some bytes being combined together into a character
4954across the boundary.
4955
4956*** The functions find-charset-region and find-charset-string include
4957`unknown' in the returned list in the following cases:
4958 o The current buffer or the target string is unibyte and
4959 contains 8-bit characters.
4960 o The current buffer or the target string is multibyte and
4961 contains invalid characters.
4962
4963*** The functions decode-coding-region and encode-coding-region remove
4964text properties of the target region. Ideally, they should correctly
4965preserve text properties, but for the moment, it's hard. Removing
4966text properties is better than preserving them in a less-than-correct
4967way.
4968
4969*** prefer-coding-system sets EOL conversion of default coding systems.
4970If the argument to prefer-coding-system specifies a certain type of
4971end of line conversion, the default coding systems set by
4972prefer-coding-system will specify that conversion type for end of line.
4973
4974*** The new function thai-compose-string can be used to properly
4975compose Thai characters in a string.
4976
4977** The primitive `define-prefix-command' now takes an optional third
4978argument NAME, which should be a string. It supplies the menu name
4979for the created keymap. Keymaps created in order to be displayed as
4980menus should always use the third argument.
4981
4982** The meanings of optional second arguments for read-char,
4983read-event, and read-char-exclusive are flipped. Now the second
4984arguments are INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. These functions use the current
4985input method (if any) if and only if INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD is non-nil.
4986
4987** The new function clear-this-command-keys empties out the contents
4988of the vector that (this-command-keys) returns. This is useful in
4989programs that read passwords, to prevent the passwords from echoing
4990inadvertently as part of the next command in certain cases.
4991
4992** The new macro `with-temp-message' displays a temporary message in
4993the echo area, while executing some Lisp code. Like `progn', it
4994returns the value of the last form, but it also restores the previous
4995echo area contents.
4996
4997 (with-temp-message MESSAGE &rest BODY)
4998
4999** The function `require' now takes an optional third argument
5000NOERROR. If it is non-nil, then there is no error if the
5001requested feature cannot be loaded.
5002
5003** In the function modify-face, an argument of (nil) for the
5004foreground color, background color or stipple pattern
5005means to clear out that attribute.
5006
5007** The `outer-window-id' frame property of an X frame
5008gives the window number of the outermost X window for the frame.
5009
5010** Temporary buffers made with with-output-to-temp-buffer are now
5011read-only by default, and normally use the major mode Help mode
5012unless you put them in some other non-Fundamental mode before the
5013end of with-output-to-temp-buffer.
5014
5015** The new functions gap-position and gap-size return information on
5016the gap of the current buffer.
5017
5018** The new functions position-bytes and byte-to-position provide a way
5019to convert between character positions and byte positions in the
5020current buffer.
5021
5022** vc.el defines two new macros, `edit-vc-file' and `with-vc-file', to
5023facilitate working with version-controlled files from Lisp programs.
5024These macros check out a given file automatically if needed, and check
5025it back in after any modifications have been made.
5026\f
5027* Installation Changes in Emacs 20.3
5028
5029** The default value of load-path now includes most subdirectories of
5030the site-specific directories /usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp and
5031/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp, in addition to those
5032directories themselves. Both immediate subdirectories and
5033subdirectories multiple levels down are added to load-path.
5034
5035Not all subdirectories are included, though. Subdirectories whose
5036names do not start with a letter or digit are excluded.
5037Subdirectories named RCS or CVS are excluded. Also, a subdirectory
5038which contains a file named `.nosearch' is excluded. You can use
5039these methods to prevent certain subdirectories from being searched.
5040
5041Emacs finds these subdirectories and adds them to load-path when it
5042starts up. While it would be cleaner to find the subdirectories each
5043time Emacs loads a file, that would be much slower.
5044
5045This feature is an incompatible change. If you have stored some Emacs
5046Lisp files in a subdirectory of the site-lisp directory specifically
5047to prevent them from being used, you will need to rename the
5048subdirectory to start with a non-alphanumeric character, or create a
5049`.nosearch' file in it, in order to continue to achieve the desired
5050results.
5051
5052** Emacs no longer includes an old version of the C preprocessor from
5053GCC. This was formerly used to help compile Emacs with C compilers
5054that had limits on the significant length of an identifier, but in
5055fact we stopped supporting such compilers some time ago.
5056\f
5057* Changes in Emacs 20.3
5058
5059** The new command C-x z (repeat) repeats the previous command
5060including its argument. If you repeat the z afterward,
5061it repeats the command additional times; thus, you can
5062perform many repetitions with one keystroke per repetition.
5063
5064** Emacs now supports "selective undo" which undoes only within a
5065specified region. To do this, set point and mark around the desired
5066region and type C-u C-x u (or C-u C-_). You can then continue undoing
5067further, within the same region, by repeating the ordinary undo
5068command C-x u or C-_. This will keep undoing changes that were made
5069within the region you originally specified, until either all of them
5070are undone, or it encounters a change which crosses the edge of that
5071region.
5072
5073In Transient Mark mode, undoing when a region is active requests
5074selective undo.
5075
5076** If you specify --unibyte when starting Emacs, then all buffers are
5077unibyte, except when a Lisp program specifically creates a multibyte
5078buffer. Setting the environment variable EMACS_UNIBYTE has the same
5079effect. The --no-unibyte option overrides EMACS_UNIBYTE and directs
5080Emacs to run normally in multibyte mode.
5081
5082The option --unibyte does not affect the reading of Emacs Lisp files,
5083though. If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode, use
5084-*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line. That will force Emacs to
5085load that file in unibyte mode, regardless of how Emacs was started.
5086
5087** toggle-enable-multibyte-characters no longer has a key binding and
5088no longer appears in the menu bar. We've realized that changing the
5089enable-multibyte-characters variable in an existing buffer is
5090something that most users not do.
5091
5092** You can specify a coding system to use for the next cut or paste
5093operations through the window system with the command C-x RET X.
5094The coding system can make a difference for communication with other
5095applications.
5096
5097C-x RET x specifies a coding system for all subsequent cutting and
5098pasting operations.
5099
5100** You can specify the printer to use for commands that do printing by
5101setting the variable `printer-name'. Just what a printer name looks
5102like depends on your operating system. You can specify a different
5103printer for the Postscript printing commands by setting
5104`ps-printer-name'.
5105
5106** Emacs now supports on-the-fly spell checking by the means of a
5107minor mode. It is called M-x flyspell-mode. You don't have to remember
5108any other special commands to use it, and you will hardly notice it
5109except when you make a spelling error. Flyspell works by highlighting
5110incorrect words as soon as they are completed or as soon as the cursor
5111hits a new word.
5112
5113Flyspell mode works with whichever dictionary you have selected for
5114Ispell in Emacs. In TeX mode, it understands TeX syntax so as not
5115to be confused by TeX commands.
5116
5117You can correct a misspelled word by editing it into something
5118correct. You can also correct it, or accept it as correct, by
5119clicking on the word with Mouse-2; that gives you a pop-up menu
5120of various alternative replacements and actions.
5121
5122Flyspell mode also proposes "automatic" corrections. M-TAB replaces
5123the current misspelled word with a possible correction. If several
5124corrections are made possible, M-TAB cycles through them in
5125alphabetical order, or in order of decreasing likelihood if
5126flyspell-sort-corrections is nil.
5127
5128Flyspell mode also flags an error when a word is repeated, if
5129flyspell-mark-duplications-flag is non-nil.
5130
5131** Changes in input method usage.
5132
5133Now you can use arrow keys (right, left, down, up) for selecting among
5134the alternatives just the same way as you do by C-f, C-b, C-n, and C-p
5135respectively.
5136
5137You can use the ENTER key to accept the current conversion.
5138
5139If you type TAB to display a list of alternatives, you can select one
5140of the alternatives with Mouse-2.
5141
5142The meaning of the variable `input-method-verbose-flag' is changed so
5143that you can set it to t, nil, `default', or `complex-only'.
5144
5145 If the value is nil, extra guidance is never given.
5146
5147 If the value is t, extra guidance is always given.
5148
5149 If the value is `complex-only', extra guidance is always given only
5150 when you are using complex input methods such as chinese-py.
5151
5152 If the value is `default' (this is the default), extra guidance is
5153 given in the following case:
5154 o When you are using a complex input method.
5155 o When you are using a simple input method but not in the minibuffer.
5156
5157If you are using Emacs through a very slow line, setting
5158input-method-verbose-flag to nil or to complex-only is a good choice,
5159and if you are using an input method you are not familiar with,
5160setting it to t is helpful.
5161
5162The old command select-input-method is now called set-input-method.
5163
5164In the language environment "Korean", you can use the following
5165keys:
5166 Shift-SPC toggle-korean-input-method
5167 C-F9 quail-hangul-switch-symbol-ksc
5168 F9 quail-hangul-switch-hanja
5169These key bindings are canceled when you switch to another language
5170environment.
5171
5172** The minibuffer history of file names now records the specified file
5173names, not the entire minibuffer input. For example, if the
5174minibuffer starts out with /usr/foo/, you might type in /etc/passwd to
5175get
5176
5177 /usr/foo//etc/passwd
5178
5179which stands for the file /etc/passwd.
5180
5181Formerly, this used to put /usr/foo//etc/passwd in the history list.
5182Now this puts just /etc/passwd in the history list.
5183
5184** If you are root, Emacs sets backup-by-copying-when-mismatch to t
5185at startup, so that saving a file will be sure to preserve
5186its owner and group.
5187
5188** find-func.el can now also find the place of definition of Emacs
5189Lisp variables in user-loaded libraries.
5190
5191** C-x r t (string-rectangle) now deletes the existing rectangle
5192contents before inserting the specified string on each line.
5193
5194** There is a new command delete-whitespace-rectangle
5195which deletes whitespace starting from a particular column
5196in all the lines on a rectangle. The column is specified
5197by the left edge of the rectangle.
5198
5199** You can now store a number into a register with C-u NUMBER C-x r n REG,
5200increment it by INC with C-u INC C-x r + REG (to increment by one, omit
5201C-u INC), and insert it in the buffer with C-x r g REG. This is useful
5202for writing keyboard macros.
5203
5204** The new command M-x speedbar displays a frame in which directories,
5205files, and tags can be displayed, manipulated, and jumped to. The
5206frame defaults to 20 characters in width, and is the same height as
5207the frame that it was started from. Some major modes define
5208additional commands for the speedbar, including Rmail, GUD/GDB, and
5209info.
5210
5211** query-replace-regexp is now bound to C-M-%.
5212
5213** In Transient Mark mode, when the region is active, M-x
5214query-replace and the other replace commands now operate on the region
5215contents only.
5216
5217** M-x write-region, when used interactively, now asks for
5218confirmation before overwriting an existing file. When you call
5219the function from a Lisp program, a new optional argument CONFIRM
5220says whether to ask for confirmation in this case.
5221
5222** If you use find-file-literally and the file is already visited
5223non-literally, the command asks you whether to revisit the file
5224literally. If you say no, it signals an error.
5225
5226** Major modes defined with the "derived mode" feature
5227now use the proper name for the mode hook: WHATEVER-mode-hook.
5228Formerly they used the name WHATEVER-mode-hooks, but that is
5229inconsistent with Emacs conventions.
5230
5231** shell-command-on-region (and shell-command) reports success or
5232failure if the command produces no output.
5233
5234** Set focus-follows-mouse to nil if your window system or window
5235manager does not transfer focus to another window when you just move
5236the mouse.
5237
5238** mouse-menu-buffer-maxlen has been renamed to
5239mouse-buffer-menu-maxlen to be consistent with the other related
5240function and variable names.
5241
5242** The new variable auto-coding-alist specifies coding systems for
5243reading specific files. This has higher priority than
5244file-coding-system-alist.
5245
5246** If you set the variable unibyte-display-via-language-environment to
5247t, then Emacs displays non-ASCII characters are displayed by
5248converting them to the equivalent multibyte characters according to
5249the current language environment. As a result, they are displayed
5250according to the current fontset.
5251
5252** C-q's handling of codes in the range 0200 through 0377 is changed.
5253
5254The codes in the range 0200 through 0237 are inserted as one byte of
5255that code regardless of the values of nonascii-translation-table and
5256nonascii-insert-offset.
5257
5258For the codes in the range 0240 through 0377, if
5259enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil and nonascii-translation-table
5260nor nonascii-insert-offset can't convert them to valid multibyte
5261characters, they are converted to Latin-1 characters.
5262
5263** If you try to find a file that is not read-accessible, you now get
5264an error, rather than an empty buffer and a warning.
5265
5266** In the minibuffer history commands M-r and M-s, an upper case
5267letter in the regular expression forces case-sensitive search.
5268
5269** In the *Help* buffer, cross-references to commands and variables
5270are inferred and hyperlinked. Use C-h m in Help mode for the relevant
5271command keys.
5272
5273** M-x apropos-command, with a prefix argument, no longer looks for
5274user option variables--instead it looks for noninteractive functions.
5275
5276Meanwhile, the command apropos-variable normally searches for
5277user option variables; with a prefix argument, it looks at
5278all variables that have documentation.
5279
5280** When you type a long line in the minibuffer, and the minibuffer
5281shows just one line, automatically scrolling works in a special way
5282that shows you overlap with the previous line of text. The variable
5283minibuffer-scroll-overlap controls how many characters of overlap
5284it should show; the default is 20.
5285
5286Meanwhile, Resize Minibuffer mode is still available; in that mode,
5287the minibuffer grows taller (up to a point) as needed to show the whole
5288of your input.
5289
5290** The new command M-x customize-changed-options lets you customize
5291all the options whose meanings or default values have changed in
5292recent Emacs versions. You specify a previous Emacs version number as
5293argument, and the command creates a customization buffer showing all
5294the customizable options which were changed since that version.
5295Newly added options are included as well.
5296
5297If you don't specify a particular version number argument,
5298then the customization buffer shows all the customizable options
5299for which Emacs versions of changes are recorded.
5300
5301This function is also bound to the Changed Options entry in the
5302Customize menu.
5303
5304** When you run M-x grep with a prefix argument, it figures out
5305the tag around point and puts that into the default grep command.
5306
5307** The new command M-* (pop-tag-mark) pops back through a history of
5308buffer positions from which M-. or other tag-finding commands were
5309invoked.
5310
5311** The new variable comment-padding specifies the number of spaces
5312that `comment-region' will insert before the actual text of the comment.
5313The default is 1.
5314
5315** In Fortran mode the characters `.', `_' and `$' now have symbol
5316syntax, not word syntax. Fortran mode now supports `imenu' and has
5317new commands fortran-join-line (M-^) and fortran-narrow-to-subprogram
5318(C-x n d). M-q can be used to fill a statement or comment block
5319sensibly.
5320
5321** GUD now supports jdb, the Java debugger, and pdb, the Python debugger.
5322
5323** If you set the variable add-log-keep-changes-together to a non-nil
5324value, the command `C-x 4 a' will automatically notice when you make
5325two entries in one day for one file, and combine them.
5326
5327** You can use the command M-x diary-mail-entries to mail yourself a
5328reminder about upcoming diary entries. See the documentation string
5329for a sample shell script for calling this function automatically
5330every night.
5331
5332** Desktop changes
5333
5334*** All you need to do to enable use of the Desktop package, is to set
5335the variable desktop-enable to t with Custom.
5336
5337*** Minor modes are now restored. Which minor modes are restored
5338and how modes are restored is controlled by `desktop-minor-mode-table'.
5339
5340** There is no need to do anything special, now, to enable Gnus to
5341read and post multi-lingual articles.
5342
5343** Outline mode has now support for showing hidden outlines when
5344doing an isearch. In order for this to happen search-invisible should
5345be set to open (the default). If an isearch match is inside a hidden
5346outline the outline is made visible. If you continue pressing C-s and
5347the match moves outside the formerly invisible outline, the outline is
5348made invisible again.
5349
5350** Mail reading and sending changes
5351
5352*** The Rmail e command now switches to displaying the whole header of
5353the message before it lets you edit the message. This is so that any
5354changes you make in the header will not be lost if you subsequently
5355toggle.
5356
5357*** The w command in Rmail, which writes the message body into a file,
5358now works in the summary buffer as well. (The command to delete the
5359summary buffer is now Q.) The default file name for the w command, if
5360the message has no subject, is stored in the variable
5361rmail-default-body-file.
5362
5363*** Most of the commands and modes that operate on mail and netnews no
5364longer depend on the value of mail-header-separator. Instead, they
5365handle whatever separator the buffer happens to use.
5366
5367*** If you set mail-signature to a value which is not t, nil, or a string,
5368it should be an expression. When you send a message, this expression
5369is evaluated to insert the signature.
5370
5371*** The new Lisp library feedmail.el (version 8) enhances processing of
5372outbound email messages. It works in coordination with other email
5373handling packages (e.g., rmail, VM, gnus) and is responsible for
5374putting final touches on messages and actually submitting them for
5375transmission. Users of the emacs program "fakemail" might be
5376especially interested in trying feedmail.
5377
5378feedmail is not enabled by default. See comments at the top of
5379feedmail.el for set-up instructions. Among the bigger features
5380provided by feedmail are:
5381
5382**** you can park outgoing messages into a disk-based queue and
5383stimulate sending some or all of them later (handy for laptop users);
5384there is also a queue for draft messages
5385
5386**** you can get one last look at the prepped outbound message and
5387be prompted for confirmation
5388
5389**** does smart filling of address headers
5390
5391**** can generate a MESSAGE-ID: line and a DATE: line; the date can be
5392the time the message was written or the time it is being sent; this
5393can make FCC copies more closely resemble copies that recipients get
5394
5395**** you can specify an arbitrary function for actually transmitting
5396the message; included in feedmail are interfaces for /bin/[r]mail,
5397/usr/lib/sendmail, and elisp smtpmail; it's easy to write a new
5398function for something else (10-20 lines of elisp)
5399
5400** Dired changes
5401
5402*** The Dired function dired-do-toggle, which toggles marked and unmarked
5403files, is now bound to "t" instead of "T".
5404
5405*** dired-at-point has been added to ffap.el. It allows one to easily
5406run Dired on the directory name at point.
5407
5408*** Dired has a new command: %g. It searches the contents of
5409files in the directory and marks each file that contains a match
5410for a specified regexp.
5411
5412** VC Changes
5413
5414*** New option vc-ignore-vc-files lets you turn off version control
5415conveniently.
5416
5417*** VC Dired has been completely rewritten. It is now much
5418faster, especially for CVS, and works very similar to ordinary
5419Dired.
5420
5421VC Dired is invoked by typing C-x v d and entering the name of the
5422directory to display. By default, VC Dired gives you a recursive
5423listing of all files at or below the given directory which are
5424currently locked (for CVS, all files not up-to-date are shown).
5425
5426You can change the listing format by setting vc-dired-recurse to nil,
5427then it shows only the given directory, and you may also set
5428vc-dired-terse-display to nil, then it shows all files under version
5429control plus the names of any subdirectories, so that you can type `i'
5430on such lines to insert them manually, as in ordinary Dired.
5431
5432All Dired commands operate normally in VC Dired, except for `v', which
5433is redefined as the version control prefix. That means you may type
5434`v l', `v =' etc. to invoke `vc-print-log', `vc-diff' and the like on
5435the file named in the current Dired buffer line. `v v' invokes
5436`vc-next-action' on this file, or on all files currently marked.
5437
5438The new command `v t' (vc-dired-toggle-terse-mode) allows you to
5439toggle between terse display (only locked files) and full display (all
5440VC files plus subdirectories). There is also a special command,
5441`* l', to mark all files currently locked.
5442
5443Giving a prefix argument to C-x v d now does the same thing as in
5444ordinary Dired: it allows you to supply additional options for the ls
5445command in the minibuffer, to fine-tune VC Dired's output.
5446
5447*** Under CVS, if you merge changes from the repository into a working
5448file, and CVS detects conflicts, VC now offers to start an ediff
5449session to resolve them.
5450
5451Alternatively, you can use the new command `vc-resolve-conflicts' to
5452resolve conflicts in a file at any time. It works in any buffer that
5453contains conflict markers as generated by rcsmerge (which is what CVS
5454uses as well).
5455
5456*** You can now transfer changes between branches, using the new
5457command vc-merge (C-x v m). It is implemented for RCS and CVS. When
5458you invoke it in a buffer under version-control, you can specify
5459either an entire branch or a pair of versions, and the changes on that
5460branch or between the two versions are merged into the working file.
5461If this results in any conflicts, they may be resolved interactively,
5462using ediff.
5463
5464** Changes in Font Lock
5465
5466*** The face and variable previously known as font-lock-reference-face
5467are now called font-lock-constant-face to better reflect their typical
5468use for highlighting constants and labels. (Its face properties are
5469unchanged.) The variable font-lock-reference-face remains for now for
5470compatibility reasons, but its value is font-lock-constant-face.
5471
5472** Frame name display changes
5473
5474*** The command set-frame-name lets you set the name of the current
5475frame. You can use the new command select-frame-by-name to select and
5476raise a frame; this is mostly useful on character-only terminals, or
5477when many frames are invisible or iconified.
5478
5479*** On character-only terminal (not a window system), changing the
5480frame name is now reflected on the mode line and in the Buffers/Frames
5481menu.
5482
5483** Comint (subshell) changes
5484
5485*** In Comint modes, the commands to kill, stop or interrupt a
5486subjob now also kill pending input. This is for compatibility
5487with ordinary shells, where the signal characters do this.
5488
5489*** There are new commands in Comint mode.
5490
5491C-c C-x fetches the "next" line from the input history;
5492that is, the line after the last line you got.
5493You can use this command to fetch successive lines, one by one.
5494
5495C-c SPC accumulates lines of input. More precisely, it arranges to
5496send the current line together with the following line, when you send
5497the following line.
5498
5499C-c C-a if repeated twice consecutively now moves to the process mark,
5500which separates the pending input from the subprocess output and the
5501previously sent input.
5502
5503C-c M-r now runs comint-previous-matching-input-from-input;
5504it searches for a previous command, using the current pending input
5505as the search string.
5506
5507*** New option compilation-scroll-output can be set to scroll
5508automatically in compilation-mode windows.
5509
5510** C mode changes
5511
5512*** Multiline macros are now handled, both as they affect indentation,
5513and as recognized syntax. New syntactic symbol cpp-macro-cont is
5514assigned to second and subsequent lines of a multiline macro
5515definition.
5516
5517*** A new style "user" which captures all non-hook-ified
5518(i.e. top-level) .emacs file variable settings and customizations.
5519Style "cc-mode" is an alias for "user" and is deprecated. "gnu"
5520style is still the default however.
5521
5522*** "java" style now conforms to Sun's JDK coding style.
5523
5524*** There are new commands c-beginning-of-defun, c-end-of-defun which
5525are alternatives which you could bind to C-M-a and C-M-e if you prefer
5526them. They do not have key bindings by default.
5527
5528*** New and improved implementations of M-a (c-beginning-of-statement)
5529and M-e (c-end-of-statement).
5530
5531*** C++ namespace blocks are supported, with new syntactic symbols
5532namespace-open, namespace-close, and innamespace.
5533
5534*** File local variable settings of c-file-style and c-file-offsets
5535makes the style variables local to that buffer only.
5536
5537*** New indentation functions c-lineup-close-paren,
5538c-indent-one-line-block, c-lineup-dont-change.
5539
5540*** Improvements (hopefully!) to the way CC Mode is loaded. You
5541should now be able to do a (require 'cc-mode) to get the entire
5542package loaded properly for customization in your .emacs file. A new
5543variable c-initialize-on-load controls this and is t by default.
5544
5545** Changes to hippie-expand.
5546
5547*** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-skip-space'. If
5548non-nil, trailing spaces may be included in the abbreviation to search for,
5549which then gives the same behavior as the original `dabbrev-expand'.
5550
5551*** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-as-symbol'. If
5552non-nil, characters of syntax '_' is considered part of the word when
5553expanding dynamically.
5554
5555*** New customization variable `hippie-expand-no-restriction'. If
5556non-nil, narrowed buffers are widened before they are searched.
5557
5558*** New customization variable `hippie-expand-only-buffers'. If
5559non-empty, buffers searched are restricted to the types specified in
5560this list. Useful for example when constructing new special-purpose
5561expansion functions with `make-hippie-expand-function'.
5562
5563*** Text properties of the expansion are no longer copied.
5564
5565** Changes in BibTeX mode.
5566
5567*** Any titleword matching a regexp in the new variable
5568bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore (case sensitive) is ignored during
5569automatic key generation. This replaces variable
5570bibtex-autokey-titleword-first-ignore, which only checked for matches
5571against the first word in the title.
5572
5573*** Autokey generation now uses all words from the title, not just
5574capitalized words. To avoid conflicts with existing customizations,
5575bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore is set up such that words starting with
5576lowerkey characters will still be ignored. Thus, if you want to use
5577lowercase words from the title, you will have to overwrite the
5578bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore standard setting.
5579
5580*** Case conversion of names and title words for automatic key
5581generation is more flexible. Variable bibtex-autokey-preserve-case is
5582replaced by bibtex-autokey-titleword-case-convert and
5583bibtex-autokey-name-case-convert.
5584
5585** Changes in vcursor.el.
5586
5587*** Support for character terminals is available: there is a new keymap
5588and the vcursor will appear as an arrow between buffer text. A
5589variable `vcursor-interpret-input' allows input from the vcursor to be
5590entered exactly as if typed. Numerous functions, including
5591`vcursor-compare-windows', have been rewritten to improve consistency
5592in the selection of windows and corresponding keymaps.
5593
5594*** vcursor options can now be altered with M-x customize under the
5595Editing group once the package is loaded.
5596
5597*** Loading vcursor now does not define keys by default, as this is
5598generally a bad side effect. Use M-x customize to set
5599vcursor-key-bindings to t to restore the old behaviour.
5600
5601*** vcursor-auto-disable can be `copy', which turns off copying from the
5602vcursor, but doesn't disable it, after any non-vcursor command.
5603
5604** Ispell changes.
5605
5606*** You can now spell check comments and strings in the current
5607buffer with M-x ispell-comments-and-strings. Comments and strings
5608are identified by syntax tables in effect.
5609
5610*** Generic region skipping implemented.
5611A single buffer can be broken into a number of regions where text will
5612and will not be checked. The definitions of the regions can be user
5613defined. New applications and improvements made available by this
5614include:
5615
5616 o URLs are automatically skipped
5617 o EMail message checking is vastly improved.
5618
5619*** Ispell can highlight the erroneous word even on non-window terminals.
5620
5621** Changes to RefTeX mode
5622
5623RefTeX has been updated in order to make it more usable with very
5624large projects (like a several volume math book). The parser has been
5625re-written from scratch. To get maximum speed from RefTeX, check the
5626section `Optimizations' in the manual.
5627
5628*** New recursive parser.
5629
5630The old version of RefTeX created a single large buffer containing the
5631entire multifile document in order to parse the document. The new
5632recursive parser scans the individual files.
5633
5634*** Parsing only part of a document.
5635
5636Reparsing of changed document parts can now be made faster by enabling
5637partial scans. To use this feature, read the documentation string of
5638the variable `reftex-enable-partial-scans' and set the variable to t.
5639
5640 (setq reftex-enable-partial-scans t)
5641
5642*** Storing parsing information in a file.
5643
5644This can improve startup times considerably. To turn it on, use
5645
5646 (setq reftex-save-parse-info t)
5647
5648*** Using multiple selection buffers
5649
5650If the creation of label selection buffers is too slow (this happens
5651for large documents), you can reuse these buffers by setting
5652
5653 (setq reftex-use-multiple-selection-buffers t)
5654
5655*** References to external documents.
5656
5657The LaTeX package `xr' allows to cross-reference labels in external
5658documents. RefTeX can provide information about the external
5659documents as well. To use this feature, set up the \externaldocument
5660macros required by the `xr' package and rescan the document with
5661RefTeX. The external labels can then be accessed with the `x' key in
5662the selection buffer provided by `reftex-reference' (bound to `C-c )').
5663The `x' key also works in the table of contents buffer.
5664
5665*** Many more labeled LaTeX environments are recognized by default.
5666
5667The builtin command list now covers all the standard LaTeX commands,
5668and all of the major packages included in the LaTeX distribution.
5669
5670Also, RefTeX now understands the \appendix macro and changes
5671the enumeration of sections in the *toc* buffer accordingly.
5672
5673*** Mouse support for selection and *toc* buffers
5674
5675The mouse can now be used to select items in the selection and *toc*
5676buffers. See also the new option `reftex-highlight-selection'.
5677
5678*** New keymaps for selection and table of contents modes.
5679
5680The selection processes for labels and citation keys, and the table of
5681contents buffer now have their own keymaps: `reftex-select-label-map',
5682`reftex-select-bib-map', `reftex-toc-map'. The selection processes
5683have a number of new keys predefined. In particular, TAB lets you
5684enter a label with completion. Check the on-the-fly help (press `?'
5685at the selection prompt) or read the Info documentation to find out
5686more.
5687
5688*** Support for the varioref package
5689
5690The `v' key in the label selection buffer toggles \ref versus \vref.
5691
5692*** New hooks
5693
5694Three new hooks can be used to redefine the way labels, references,
5695and citations are created. These hooks are
5696`reftex-format-label-function', `reftex-format-ref-function',
5697`reftex-format-cite-function'.
5698
5699*** Citations outside LaTeX
5700
5701The command `reftex-citation' may also be used outside LaTeX (e.g. in
5702a mail buffer). See the Info documentation for details.
5703
5704*** Short context is no longer fontified.
5705
5706The short context in the label menu no longer copies the
5707fontification from the text in the buffer. If you prefer it to be
5708fontified, use
5709
5710 (setq reftex-refontify-context t)
5711
5712** file-cache-minibuffer-complete now accepts a prefix argument.
5713With a prefix argument, it does not try to do completion of
5714the file name within its directory; it only checks for other
5715directories that contain the same file name.
5716
5717Thus, given the file name Makefile, and assuming that a file
5718Makefile.in exists in the same directory, ordinary
5719file-cache-minibuffer-complete will try to complete Makefile to
5720Makefile.in and will therefore never look for other directories that
5721have Makefile. A prefix argument tells it not to look for longer
5722names such as Makefile.in, so that instead it will look for other
5723directories--just as if the name were already complete in its present
5724directory.
5725
5726** New modes and packages
5727
5728*** There is a new alternative major mode for Perl, Cperl mode.
5729It has many more features than Perl mode, and some people prefer
5730it, but some do not.
5731
5732*** There is a new major mode, M-x vhdl-mode, for editing files of VHDL
5733code.
5734
5735*** M-x which-function-mode enables a minor mode that displays the
5736current function name continuously in the mode line, as you move
5737around in a buffer.
5738
5739Which Function mode is effective in major modes which support Imenu.
5740
5741*** Gametree is a major mode for editing game analysis trees. The author
5742uses it for keeping notes about his postal Chess games, but it should
5743be helpful for other two-player games as well, as long as they have an
5744established system of notation similar to Chess.
5745
5746*** The new minor mode checkdoc-minor-mode provides Emacs Lisp
5747documentation string checking for style and spelling. The style
5748guidelines are found in the Emacs Lisp programming manual.
5749
5750*** The net-utils package makes some common networking features
5751available in Emacs. Some of these functions are wrappers around
5752system utilities (ping, nslookup, etc); others are implementations of
5753simple protocols (finger, whois) in Emacs Lisp. There are also
5754functions to make simple connections to TCP/IP ports for debugging and
5755the like.
5756
5757*** highlight-changes-mode is a minor mode that uses colors to
5758identify recently changed parts of the buffer text.
5759
5760*** The new package `midnight' lets you specify things to be done
5761within Emacs at midnight--by default, kill buffers that you have not
5762used in a considerable time. To use this feature, customize
5763the user option `midnight-mode' to t.
5764
5765*** The file generic-x.el defines a number of simple major modes.
5766
5767 apache-generic-mode: For Apache and NCSA httpd configuration files
5768 samba-generic-mode: Samba configuration files
5769 fvwm-generic-mode: For fvwm initialization files
5770 x-resource-generic-mode: For X resource files
5771 hosts-generic-mode: For hosts files (.rhosts, /etc/hosts, etc)
5772 mailagent-rules-generic-mode: For mailagent .rules files
5773 javascript-generic-mode: For JavaScript files
5774 vrml-generic-mode: For VRML files
5775 java-manifest-generic-mode: For Java MANIFEST files
5776 java-properties-generic-mode: For Java property files
5777 mailrc-generic-mode: For .mailrc files
5778
5779 Platform-specific modes:
5780
5781 prototype-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V prototype files
5782 pkginfo-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V pkginfo files
5783 alias-generic-mode: For C shell alias files
5784 inf-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INF files
5785 ini-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INI files
5786 reg-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Registry files
5787 bat-generic-mode: For MS-Windows BAT scripts
5788 rc-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Resource files
5789 rul-generic-mode: For InstallShield scripts
5790\f
5791* Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 since the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
5792
5793** If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode,
5794use -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line.
5795That will force Emacs to read that file in unibyte mode.
5796Otherwise, the file will be loaded and byte-compiled in multibyte mode.
5797
5798Thus, each lisp file is read in a consistent way regardless of whether
5799you started Emacs with --unibyte, so that a Lisp program gives
5800consistent results regardless of how Emacs was started.
5801
5802** The new function assoc-default is useful for searching an alist,
5803and using a default value if the key is not found there. You can
5804specify a comparison predicate, so this function is useful for
5805searching comparing a string against an alist of regular expressions.
5806
5807** The functions unibyte-char-to-multibyte and
5808multibyte-char-to-unibyte convert between unibyte and multibyte
5809character codes, in a way that is appropriate for the current language
5810environment.
5811
5812** The functions read-event, read-char and read-char-exclusive now
5813take two optional arguments. PROMPT, if non-nil, specifies a prompt
5814string. SUPPRESS-INPUT-METHOD, if non-nil, says to disable the
5815current input method for reading this one event.
5816
5817** Two new variables print-escape-nonascii and print-escape-multibyte
5818now control whether to output certain characters as
5819backslash-sequences. print-escape-nonascii applies to single-byte
5820non-ASCII characters; print-escape-multibyte applies to multibyte
5821characters. Both of these variables are used only when printing
5822in readable fashion (prin1 uses them, princ does not).
5823\f
5824* Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 before the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
5825
5826** Compiled Emacs Lisp files made with the modified "MBSK" version
5827of Emacs 20.2 do not work in Emacs 20.3.
5828
5829** Buffer positions are now measured in characters, as they were
5830in Emacs 19 and before. This means that (forward-char 1)
5831always increases point by 1.
5832
5833The function chars-in-region now just subtracts its arguments. It is
5834considered obsolete. The function char-boundary-p has been deleted.
5835
5836See below for additional changes relating to multibyte characters.
5837
5838** defcustom, defface and defgroup now accept the keyword `:version'.
5839Use this to specify in which version of Emacs a certain variable's
5840default value changed. For example,
5841
5842 (defcustom foo-max 34 "*Maximum number of foo's allowed."
5843 :type 'integer
5844 :group 'foo
5845 :version "20.3")
5846
5847 (defgroup foo-group nil "The foo group."
5848 :version "20.3")
5849
5850If an entire new group is added or the variables in it have the
5851default values changed, then just add a `:version' to that group. It
5852is recommended that new packages added to the distribution contain a
5853`:version' in the top level group.
5854
5855This information is used to control the customize-changed-options command.
5856
5857** It is now an error to change the value of a symbol whose name
5858starts with a colon--if it is interned in the standard obarray.
5859
5860However, setting such a symbol to its proper value, which is that
5861symbol itself, is not an error. This is for the sake of programs that
5862support previous Emacs versions by explicitly setting these variables
5863to themselves.
5864
5865If you set the variable keyword-symbols-constant-flag to nil,
5866this error is suppressed, and you can set these symbols to any
5867values whatever.
5868
5869** There is a new debugger command, R.
5870It evaluates an expression like e, but saves the result
5871in the buffer *Debugger-record*.
5872
5873** Frame-local variables.
5874
5875You can now make a variable local to various frames. To do this, call
5876the function make-variable-frame-local; this enables frames to have
5877local bindings for that variable.
5878
5879These frame-local bindings are actually frame parameters: you create a
5880frame-local binding in a specific frame by calling
5881modify-frame-parameters and specifying the variable name as the
5882parameter name.
5883
5884Buffer-local bindings take precedence over frame-local bindings.
5885Thus, if the current buffer has a buffer-local binding, that binding is
5886active; otherwise, if the selected frame has a frame-local binding,
5887that binding is active; otherwise, the default binding is active.
5888
5889It would not be hard to implement window-local bindings, but it is not
5890clear that this would be very useful; windows tend to come and go in a
5891very transitory fashion, so that trying to produce any specific effect
5892through a window-local binding would not be very robust.
5893
5894** `sregexq' and `sregex' are two new functions for constructing
5895"symbolic regular expressions." These are Lisp expressions that, when
5896evaluated, yield conventional string-based regexps. The symbolic form
5897makes it easier to construct, read, and maintain complex patterns.
5898See the documentation in sregex.el.
5899
5900** parse-partial-sexp's return value has an additional element which
5901is used to pass information along if you pass it to another call to
5902parse-partial-sexp, starting its scan where the first call ended.
5903The contents of this field are not yet finalized.
5904
5905** eval-region now accepts a fourth optional argument READ-FUNCTION.
5906If it is non-nil, that function is used instead of `read'.
5907
5908** unload-feature by default removes the feature's functions from
5909known hooks to avoid trouble, but a package providing FEATURE can
5910define a hook FEATURE-unload-hook to be run by unload-feature instead.
5911
5912** read-from-minibuffer no longer returns the argument DEFAULT-VALUE
5913when the user enters empty input. It now returns the null string, as
5914it did in Emacs 19. The default value is made available in the
5915history via M-n, but it is not applied here as a default.
5916
5917The other, more specialized minibuffer-reading functions continue to
5918return the default value (not the null string) when the user enters
5919empty input.
5920
5921** The new variable read-buffer-function controls which routine to use
5922for selecting buffers. For example, if you set this variable to
5923`iswitchb-read-buffer', iswitchb will be used to read buffer names.
5924Other functions can also be used if they accept the same arguments as
5925`read-buffer' and return the selected buffer name as a string.
5926
5927** The new function read-passwd reads a password from the terminal,
5928echoing a period for each character typed. It takes three arguments:
5929a prompt string, a flag which says "read it twice to make sure", and a
5930default password to use if the user enters nothing.
5931
5932** The variable fill-nobreak-predicate gives major modes a way to
5933specify not to break a line at certain places. Its value is a
5934function which is called with no arguments, with point located at the
5935place where a break is being considered. If the function returns
5936non-nil, then the line won't be broken there.
5937
5938** window-end now takes an optional second argument, UPDATE.
5939If this is non-nil, then the function always returns an accurate
5940up-to-date value for the buffer position corresponding to the
5941end of the window, even if this requires computation.
5942
5943** other-buffer now takes an optional argument FRAME
5944which specifies which frame's buffer list to use.
5945If it is nil, that means use the selected frame's buffer list.
5946
5947** The new variable buffer-display-time, always local in every buffer,
5948holds the value of (current-time) as of the last time that a window
5949was directed to display this buffer.
5950
5951** It is now meaningful to compare two window-configuration objects
5952with `equal'. Two window-configuration objects are equal if they
5953describe equivalent arrangements of windows, in the same frame--in
5954other words, if they would give the same results if passed to
5955set-window-configuration.
5956
5957** compare-window-configurations is a new function that compares two
5958window configurations loosely. It ignores differences in saved buffer
5959positions and scrolling, and considers only the structure and sizes of
5960windows and the choice of buffers to display.
5961
5962** The variable minor-mode-overriding-map-alist allows major modes to
5963override the key bindings of a minor mode. The elements of this alist
5964look like the elements of minor-mode-map-alist: (VARIABLE . KEYMAP).
5965
5966If the VARIABLE in an element of minor-mode-overriding-map-alist has a
5967non-nil value, the paired KEYMAP is active, and totally overrides the
5968map (if any) specified for the same variable in minor-mode-map-alist.
5969
5970minor-mode-overriding-map-alist is automatically local in all buffers,
5971and it is meant to be set by major modes.
5972
5973** The function match-string-no-properties is like match-string
5974except that it discards all text properties from the result.
5975
5976** The function load-average now accepts an optional argument
5977USE-FLOATS. If it is non-nil, the load average values are returned as
5978floating point numbers, rather than as integers to be divided by 100.
5979
5980** The new variable temporary-file-directory specifies the directory
5981to use for creating temporary files. The default value is determined
5982in a reasonable way for your operating system; on GNU and Unix systems
5983it is based on the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables.
5984
5985** Menu changes
5986
5987*** easymenu.el now uses the new menu item format and supports the
5988keywords :visible and :filter. The existing keyword :keys is now
5989better supported.
5990
5991The variable `easy-menu-precalculate-equivalent-keybindings' controls
5992a new feature which calculates keyboard equivalents for the menu when
5993you define the menu. The default is t. If you rarely use menus, you
5994can set the variable to nil to disable this precalculation feature;
5995then the calculation is done only if you use the menu bar.
5996
5997*** A new format for menu items is supported.
5998
5999In a keymap, a key binding that has the format
6000 (STRING . REAL-BINDING) or (STRING HELP-STRING . REAL-BINDING)
6001defines a menu item. Now a menu item definition may also be a list that
6002starts with the symbol `menu-item'.
6003
6004The format is:
6005 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) or
6006 (menu-item ITEM-NAME REAL-BINDING . ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST)
6007where ITEM-NAME is an expression which evaluates to the menu item
6008string, and ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST has the form of a property list.
6009The supported properties include
6010
6011:enable FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
6012 item is enabled.
6013:visible FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
6014 item should appear in the menu.
6015:filter FILTER-FN
6016 FILTER-FN is a function of one argument,
6017 which will be REAL-BINDING.
6018 It should return a binding to use instead.
6019:keys DESCRIPTION
6020 DESCRIPTION is a string that describes an equivalent keyboard
6021 binding for for REAL-BINDING. DESCRIPTION is expanded with
6022 `substitute-command-keys' before it is used.
6023:key-sequence KEY-SEQUENCE
6024 KEY-SEQUENCE is a key-sequence for an equivalent
6025 keyboard binding.
6026:key-sequence nil
6027 This means that the command normally has no
6028 keyboard equivalent.
6029:help HELP HELP is the extra help string (not currently used).
6030:button (TYPE . SELECTED)
6031 TYPE is :toggle or :radio.
6032 SELECTED is a form, to be evaluated, and its
6033 value says whether this button is currently selected.
6034
6035Buttons are at the moment only simulated by prefixes in the menu.
6036Eventually ordinary X-buttons may be supported.
6037
6038(menu-item ITEM-NAME) defines unselectable item.
6039
6040** New event types
6041
6042*** The new event type `mouse-wheel' is generated by a wheel on a
6043mouse (such as the MS Intellimouse). The event contains a delta that
6044corresponds to the amount and direction that the wheel is rotated,
6045which is typically used to implement a scroll or zoom. The format is:
6046
6047 (mouse-wheel POSITION DELTA)
6048
6049where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
6050same format as a mouse-click event, and DELTA is a signed number
6051indicating the number of increments by which the wheel was rotated. A
6052negative DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated backwards, towards
6053the user, and a positive DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated
6054forward, away from the user.
6055
6056As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
6057
6058*** The new event type `drag-n-drop' is generated when a group of
6059files is selected in an application outside of Emacs, and then dragged
6060and dropped onto an Emacs frame. The event contains a list of
6061filenames that were dragged and dropped, which are then typically
6062loaded into Emacs. The format is:
6063
6064 (drag-n-drop POSITION FILES)
6065
6066where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
6067same format as a mouse-click event, and FILES is the list of filenames
6068that were dragged and dropped.
6069
6070As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
6071
6072** Changes relating to multibyte characters.
6073
6074*** The variable enable-multibyte-characters is now read-only;
6075any attempt to set it directly signals an error. The only way
6076to change this value in an existing buffer is with set-buffer-multibyte.
6077
6078*** In a string constant, `\ ' now stands for "nothing at all". You
6079can use it to terminate a hex escape which is followed by a character
6080that could otherwise be read as part of the hex escape.
6081
6082*** String indices are now measured in characters, as they were
6083in Emacs 19 and before.
6084
6085The function chars-in-string has been deleted.
6086The function concat-chars has been renamed to `string'.
6087
6088*** The function set-buffer-multibyte sets the flag in the current
6089buffer that says whether the buffer uses multibyte representation or
6090unibyte representation. If the argument is nil, it selects unibyte
6091representation. Otherwise it selects multibyte representation.
6092
6093This function does not change the contents of the buffer, viewed
6094as a sequence of bytes. However, it does change the contents
6095viewed as characters; a sequence of two bytes which is treated as
6096one character when the buffer uses multibyte representation
6097will count as two characters using unibyte representation.
6098
6099This function sets enable-multibyte-characters to record which
6100representation is in use. It also adjusts various data in the buffer
6101(including its markers, overlays and text properties) so that they are
6102consistent with the new representation.
6103
6104*** string-make-multibyte takes a string and converts it to multibyte
6105representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care
6106about the representation, because Emacs converts when necessary;
6107however, it makes a difference when you compare strings.
6108
6109The conversion of non-ASCII characters works by adding the value of
6110nonascii-insert-offset to each character, or by translating them
6111using the table nonascii-translation-table.
6112
6113*** string-make-unibyte takes a string and converts it to unibyte
6114representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care about the
6115representation, but it makes a difference when you compare strings.
6116
6117The conversion from multibyte to unibyte representation
6118loses information; the only time Emacs performs it automatically
6119is when inserting a multibyte string into a unibyte buffer.
6120
6121*** string-as-multibyte takes a string, and returns another string
6122which contains the same bytes, but treats them as multibyte.
6123
6124*** string-as-unibyte takes a string, and returns another string
6125which contains the same bytes, but treats them as unibyte.
6126
6127*** The new function compare-strings lets you compare
6128portions of two strings. Unibyte strings are converted to multibyte,
6129so that a unibyte string can match a multibyte string.
6130You can specify whether to ignore case or not.
6131
6132*** assoc-ignore-case now uses compare-strings so that
6133it can treat unibyte and multibyte strings as equal.
6134
6135*** Regular expression operations and buffer string searches now
6136convert the search pattern to multibyte or unibyte to accord with the
6137buffer or string being searched.
6138
6139One consequence is that you cannot always use \200-\377 inside of
6140[...] to match all non-ASCII characters. This does still work when
6141searching or matching a unibyte buffer or string, but not when
6142searching or matching a multibyte string. Unfortunately, there is no
6143obvious choice of syntax to use within [...] for that job. But, what
6144you want is just to match all non-ASCII characters, the regular
6145expression [^\0-\177] works for it.
6146
6147*** Structure of coding system changed.
6148
6149All coding systems (including aliases and subsidiaries) are named
6150by symbols; the symbol's `coding-system' property is a vector
6151which defines the coding system. Aliases share the same vector
6152as the principal name, so that altering the contents of this
6153vector affects the principal name and its aliases. You can define
6154your own alias name of a coding system by the function
6155define-coding-system-alias.
6156
6157The coding system definition includes a property list of its own. Use
6158the new functions `coding-system-get' and `coding-system-put' to
6159access such coding system properties as post-read-conversion,
6160pre-write-conversion, character-translation-table-for-decode,
6161character-translation-table-for-encode, mime-charset, and
6162safe-charsets. For instance, (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1
6163'mime-charset) gives the corresponding MIME-charset parameter
6164`iso-8859-1'.
6165
6166Among the coding system properties listed above, safe-charsets is new.
6167The value of this property is a list of character sets which this
6168coding system can correctly encode and decode. For instance:
6169(coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1 'safe-charsets) => (ascii latin-iso8859-1)
6170
6171Here, "correctly encode" means that the encoded character sets can
6172also be handled safely by systems other than Emacs as far as they
6173are capable of that coding system. Though, Emacs itself can encode
6174the other character sets and read it back correctly.
6175
6176*** The new function select-safe-coding-system can be used to find a
6177proper coding system for encoding the specified region or string.
6178This function requires a user interaction.
6179
6180*** The new functions find-coding-systems-region and
6181find-coding-systems-string are helper functions used by
6182select-safe-coding-system. They return a list of all proper coding
6183systems to encode a text in some region or string. If you don't want
6184a user interaction, use one of these functions instead of
6185select-safe-coding-system.
6186
6187*** The explicit encoding and decoding functions, such as
6188decode-coding-region and encode-coding-string, now set
6189last-coding-system-used to reflect the actual way encoding or decoding
6190was done.
6191
6192*** The new function detect-coding-with-language-environment can be
6193used to detect a coding system of text according to priorities of
6194coding systems used by some specific language environment.
6195
6196*** The functions detect-coding-region and detect-coding-string always
6197return a list if the arg HIGHEST is nil. Thus, if only ASCII
6198characters are found, they now return a list of single element
6199`undecided' or its subsidiaries.
6200
6201*** The new functions coding-system-change-eol-conversion and
6202coding-system-change-text-conversion can be used to get a different
6203coding system than what specified only in how end-of-line or text is
6204converted.
6205
6206*** The new function set-selection-coding-system can be used to set a
6207coding system for communicating with other X clients.
6208
6209*** The function `map-char-table' now passes as argument only valid
6210character codes, plus generic characters that stand for entire
6211character sets or entire subrows of a character set. In other words,
6212each time `map-char-table' calls its FUNCTION argument, the key value
6213either will be a valid individual character code, or will stand for a
6214range of characters.
6215
6216*** The new function `char-valid-p' can be used for checking whether a
6217Lisp object is a valid character code or not.
6218
6219*** The new function `charset-after' returns a charset of a character
6220in the current buffer at position POS.
6221
6222*** Input methods are now implemented using the variable
6223input-method-function. If this is non-nil, its value should be a
6224function; then, whenever Emacs reads an input event that is a printing
6225character with no modifier bits, it calls that function, passing the
6226event as an argument. Often this function will read more input, first
6227binding input-method-function to nil.
6228
6229The return value should be a list of the events resulting from input
6230method processing. These events will be processed sequentially as
6231input, before resorting to unread-command-events. Events returned by
6232the input method function are not passed to the input method function,
6233not even if they are printing characters with no modifier bits.
6234
6235The input method function is not called when reading the second and
6236subsequent events of a key sequence.
6237
6238*** You can customize any language environment by using
6239set-language-environment-hook and exit-language-environment-hook.
6240
6241The hook `exit-language-environment-hook' should be used to undo
6242customizations that you made with set-language-environment-hook. For
6243instance, if you set up a special key binding for a specific language
6244environment by set-language-environment-hook, you should set up
6245exit-language-environment-hook to restore the normal key binding.
6246\f
6247* Changes in Emacs 20.1
6248
6249** Emacs has a new facility for customization of its many user
6250options. It is called M-x customize. With this facility you can look
6251at the many user options in an organized way; they are grouped into a
6252tree structure.
6253
6254M-x customize also knows what sorts of values are legitimate for each
6255user option and ensures that you don't use invalid values.
6256
6257With M-x customize, you can set options either for the present Emacs
6258session or permanently. (Permanent settings are stored automatically
6259in your .emacs file.)
6260
6261** Scroll bars are now on the left side of the window.
6262You can change this with M-x customize-option scroll-bar-mode.
6263
6264** The mode line no longer includes the string `Emacs'.
6265This makes more space in the mode line for other information.
6266
6267** When you select a region with the mouse, it is highlighted
6268immediately afterward. At that time, if you type the DELETE key, it
6269kills the region.
6270
6271The BACKSPACE key, and the ASCII character DEL, do not do this; they
6272delete the character before point, as usual.
6273
6274** In an incremental search the whole current match is highlighted
6275on terminals which support this. (You can disable this feature
6276by setting search-highlight to nil.)
6277
6278** In the minibuffer, in some cases, you can now use M-n to
6279insert the default value into the minibuffer as text. In effect,
6280the default value (if the minibuffer routines know it) is tacked
6281onto the history "in the future". (The more normal use of the
6282history list is to use M-p to insert minibuffer input used in the
6283past.)
6284
6285** In Text mode, now only blank lines separate paragraphs.
6286This makes it possible to get the full benefit of Adaptive Fill mode
6287in Text mode, and other modes derived from it (such as Mail mode).
6288TAB in Text mode now runs the command indent-relative; this
6289makes a practical difference only when you use indented paragraphs.
6290
6291As a result, the old Indented Text mode is now identical to Text mode,
6292and is an alias for it.
6293
6294If you want spaces at the beginning of a line to start a paragraph,
6295use the new mode, Paragraph Indent Text mode.
6296
6297** Scrolling changes
6298
6299*** Scroll commands to scroll a whole screen now preserve the screen
6300position of the cursor, if scroll-preserve-screen-position is non-nil.
6301
6302In this mode, if you scroll several screens back and forth, finishing
6303on the same screen where you started, the cursor goes back to the line
6304where it started.
6305
6306*** If you set scroll-conservatively to a small number, then when you
6307move point a short distance off the screen, Emacs will scroll the
6308screen just far enough to bring point back on screen, provided that
6309does not exceed `scroll-conservatively' lines.
6310
6311*** The new variable scroll-margin says how close point can come to the
6312top or bottom of a window. It is a number of screen lines; if point
6313comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of the window, Emacs
6314recenters the window.
6315
6316** International character set support (MULE)
6317
6318Emacs now supports a wide variety of international character sets,
6319including European variants of the Latin alphabet, as well as Chinese,
6320Devanagari (Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopian, Greek, IPA, Japanese,
6321Korean, Lao, Russian, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. These
6322features have been merged from the modified version of Emacs known as
6323MULE (for "MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs")
6324
6325Users of these scripts have established many more-or-less standard
6326coding systems for storing files. Emacs uses a single multibyte
6327character encoding within Emacs buffers; it can translate from a wide
6328variety of coding systems when reading a file and can translate back
6329into any of these coding systems when saving a file.
6330
6331Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used,
6332generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs
6333supports various "input methods", typically one for each script or
6334language, to make it possible to type them.
6335
6336The Emacs internal multibyte encoding represents a non-ASCII
6337character as a sequence of bytes in the range 0200 through 0377.
6338
6339The new prefix key C-x RET is used for commands that pertain
6340to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods.
6341
6342You can disable multibyte character support as follows:
6343
6344 (setq-default enable-multibyte-characters nil)
6345
6346Calling the function standard-display-european turns off multibyte
6347characters, unless you specify a non-nil value for the second
6348argument, AUTO. This provides compatibility for people who are
6349already using standard-display-european to continue using unibyte
6350characters for their work until they want to change.
6351
6352*** Input methods
6353
6354An input method is a kind of character conversion which is designed
6355specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language
6356has its own input method (though sometimes several languages which use
6357the same characters can share one input method). Some languages
6358support several input methods.
6359
6360The simplest kind of input method works by mapping ASCII letters into
6361another alphabet. This is how the Greek and Russian input methods
6362work.
6363
6364A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of
6365characters into one letter. Many European input methods use
6366composition to produce a single non-ASCII letter from a sequence which
6367consists of a letter followed by diacritics. For example, a' is one
6368sequence of two characters that might be converted into a single
6369letter.
6370
6371The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed
6372by conversion. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way.
6373First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone
6374marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are
6375mapped into one syllable sign--most often a "composite character".
6376
6377None of these methods works very well for Chinese and Japanese, so
6378they are handled specially. First you input a whole word using
6379phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs
6380converts it into one or more characters using a large dictionary.
6381
6382Since there is more than one way to represent a phonetically spelled
6383word using Chinese characters, Emacs can only guess which one to use;
6384typically these input methods give you a way to say "guess again" if
6385the first guess is wrong.
6386
6387*** The command C-x RET m (toggle-enable-multibyte-characters)
6388turns multibyte character support on or off for the current buffer.
6389
6390If multibyte character support is turned off in a buffer, then each
6391byte is a single character, even codes 0200 through 0377--exactly as
6392they did in Emacs 19.34. This includes the features for support for
6393the European characters, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2.
6394
6395However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to
6396use ISO Latin-1 or ISO Latin-2; the Emacs multibyte character set
6397includes all the characters in these character sets, and Emacs can
6398translate automatically to and from either one.
6399
6400*** Visiting a file in unibyte mode.
6401
6402Turning off multibyte character support in the buffer after visiting a
6403file with multibyte code conversion will display the multibyte
6404sequences already in the buffer, byte by byte. This is probably not
6405what you want.
6406
6407If you want to edit a file of unibyte characters (Latin-1, for
6408example), you can do it by specifying `no-conversion' as the coding
6409system when reading the file. This coding system also turns off
6410multibyte characters in that buffer.
6411
6412If you turn off multibyte character support entirely, this turns off
6413character conversion as well.
6414
6415*** Displaying international characters on X Windows.
6416
6417A font for X typically displays just one alphabet or script.
6418Therefore, displaying the entire range of characters Emacs supports
6419requires using many fonts.
6420
6421Therefore, Emacs now supports "fontsets". Each fontset is a
6422collection of fonts, each assigned to a range of character codes.
6423
6424A fontset has a name, like a font. Individual fonts are defined by
6425the X server; fontsets are defined within Emacs itself. But once you
6426have defined a fontset, you can use it in a face or a frame just as
6427you would use a font.
6428
6429If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it
6430specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot
6431display that character. It will display an empty box instead.
6432
6433The fontset height and width are determined by the ASCII characters
6434(that is, by the font in the fontset which is used for ASCII
6435characters). If another font in the fontset has a different height,
6436or the wrong width, then characters assigned to that font are clipped,
6437and displayed within a box if highlight-wrong-size-font is non-nil.
6438
6439*** Defining fontsets.
6440
6441Emacs does not use any fontset by default. Its default font is still
6442chosen as in previous versions. You can tell Emacs to use a fontset
6443with the `-fn' option or the `Font' X resource.
6444
6445Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value
6446of standard-fontset-spec. This fontset's short name is
6447`fontset-standard'. Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the
6448standard fontset are created automatically.
6449
6450If you specify a default ASCII font with the `Font' resource or `-fn'
6451argument, a fontset is generated from it. This works by replacing the
6452FOUNDARY, FAMILY, ADD_STYLE, and AVERAGE_WIDTH fields of the font name
6453with `*' then using this to specify a fontset. This fontset's short
6454name is `fontset-startup'.
6455
6456Emacs checks resources of the form Fontset-N where N is 0, 1, 2...
6457The resource value should have this form:
6458 FONTSET-NAME, [CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME]...
6459FONTSET-NAME should have the form of a standard X font name, except:
6460 * most fields should be just the wild card "*".
6461 * the CHARSET_REGISTRY field should be "fontset"
6462 * the CHARSET_ENCODING field can be any nickname of the fontset.
6463The construct CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME can be repeated any number
6464of times; each time specifies the font for one character set.
6465CHARSET-NAME should be the name name of a character set, and
6466FONT-NAME should specify an actual font to use for that character set.
6467
6468Each of these fontsets has an alias which is made from the
6469last two font name fields, CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING.
6470You can refer to the fontset by that alias or by its full name.
6471
6472For any character sets that you don't mention, Emacs tries to choose a
6473font by substituting into FONTSET-NAME. For instance, with the
6474following resource,
6475 Emacs*Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24
6476the font for ASCII is generated as below:
6477 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1
6478Here is the substitution rule:
6479 Change CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING to that of the charset
6480 defined in the variable x-charset-registries. For instance, ASCII has
6481 the entry (ascii . "ISO8859-1") in this variable. Then, reduce
6482 sequences of wild cards -*-...-*- with a single wildcard -*-.
6483 (This is to prevent use of auto-scaled fonts.)
6484
6485The function which processes the fontset resource value to create the
6486fontset is called create-fontset-from-fontset-spec. You can also call
6487that function explicitly to create a fontset.
6488
6489With the X resource Emacs.Font, you can specify a fontset name just
6490like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset
6491name in a wildcard resource like Emacs*Font--that tries to specify the
6492fontset for other purposes including menus, and they cannot handle
6493fontsets.
6494
6495*** The command M-x set-language-environment sets certain global Emacs
6496defaults for a particular choice of language.
6497
6498Selecting a language environment typically specifies a default input
6499method and which coding systems to recognize automatically when
6500visiting files. However, it does not try to reread files you have
6501already visited; the text in those buffers is not affected. The
6502language environment may also specify a default choice of coding
6503system for new files that you create.
6504
6505It makes no difference which buffer is current when you use
6506set-language-environment, because these defaults apply globally to the
6507whole Emacs session.
6508
6509For example, M-x set-language-environment RET Latin-1 RET
6510chooses the Latin-1 character set. In the .emacs file, you can do this
6511with (set-language-environment "Latin-1").
6512
6513*** The command C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system)
6514specifies the file coding system for the current buffer. This
6515specifies what sort of character code translation to do when saving
6516the file. As an argument, you must specify the name of one of the
6517coding systems that Emacs supports.
6518
6519*** The command C-x RET c (universal-coding-system-argument)
6520lets you specify a coding system when you read or write a file.
6521This command uses the minibuffer to read a coding system name.
6522After you exit the minibuffer, the specified coding system
6523is used for *the immediately following command*.
6524
6525So if the immediately following command is a command to read or
6526write a file, it uses the specified coding system for that file.
6527
6528If the immediately following command does not use the coding system,
6529then C-x RET c ultimately has no effect.
6530
6531For example, C-x RET c iso-8859-1 RET C-x C-f temp RET
6532visits the file `temp' treating it as ISO Latin-1.
6533
6534*** You can specify the coding system for a file using the -*-
6535construct. Include `coding: CODINGSYSTEM;' inside the -*-...-*-
6536to specify use of coding system CODINGSYSTEM. You can also
6537specify the coding system in a local variable list at the end
6538of the file.
6539
6540*** The command C-x RET t (set-terminal-coding-system) specifies
6541the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a character
6542code for terminal output, all characters output to the terminal are
6543translated into that character code.
6544
6545This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built in
6546various countries to support the languages of those countries.
6547
6548By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all.
6549
6550*** The command C-x RET k (set-keyboard-coding-system) specifies
6551the coding system for keyboard input.
6552
6553Character code translation of keyboard input is useful for terminals
6554with keys that send non-ASCII graphic characters--for example,
6555some terminals designed for ISO Latin-1 or subsets of it.
6556
6557By default, keyboard input is not translated at all.
6558
6559Character code translation of keyboard input is similar to using an
6560input method, in that both define sequences of keyboard input that
6561translate into single characters. However, input methods are designed
6562to be convenient for interactive use, while the code translations are
6563designed to work with terminals.
6564
6565*** The command C-x RET p (set-buffer-process-coding-system)
6566specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess.
6567This command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess
6568has its own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify
6569translation to and from a particular subprocess by giving the command
6570in the corresponding buffer.
6571
6572By default, process input and output are not translated at all.
6573
6574*** The variable file-name-coding-system specifies the coding system
6575to use for encoding file names before operating on them.
6576It is also used for decoding file names obtained from the system.
6577
6578*** The command C-\ (toggle-input-method) activates or deactivates
6579an input method. If no input method has been selected before, the
6580command prompts for you to specify the language and input method you
6581want to use.
6582
6583C-u C-\ (select-input-method) lets you switch to a different input
6584method. C-h C-\ (or C-h I) describes the current input method.
6585
6586*** Some input methods remap the keyboard to emulate various keyboard
6587layouts commonly used for particular scripts. How to do this
6588remapping properly depends on your actual keyboard layout. To specify
6589which layout your keyboard has, use M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout.
6590
6591*** The command C-h C (describe-coding-system) displays
6592the coding systems currently selected for various purposes, plus
6593related information.
6594
6595*** The command C-h h (view-hello-file) displays a file called
6596HELLO, which has examples of text in many languages, using various
6597scripts.
6598
6599*** The command C-h L (describe-language-support) displays
6600information about the support for a particular language.
6601You specify the language as an argument.
6602
6603*** The mode line now contains a letter or character that identifies
6604the coding system used in the visited file. It normally follows the
6605first dash.
6606
6607A dash indicates the default state of affairs: no code conversion
6608(except CRLF => newline if appropriate). `=' means no conversion
6609whatsoever. The ISO 8859 coding systems are represented by digits
66101 through 9. Other coding systems are represented by letters:
6611
6612 A alternativnyj (Russian)
6613 B big5 (Chinese)
6614 C cn-gb-2312 (Chinese)
6615 C iso-2022-cn (Chinese)
6616 D in-is13194-devanagari (Indian languages)
6617 E euc-japan (Japanese)
6618 I iso-2022-cjk or iso-2022-ss2 (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
6619 J junet (iso-2022-7) or old-jis (iso-2022-jp-1978-irv) (Japanese)
6620 K euc-korea (Korean)
6621 R koi8 (Russian)
6622 Q tibetan
6623 S shift_jis (Japanese)
6624 T lao
6625 T tis620 (Thai)
6626 V viscii or vscii (Vietnamese)
6627 i iso-2022-lock (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
6628 k iso-2022-kr (Korean)
6629 v viqr (Vietnamese)
6630 z hz (Chinese)
6631
6632When you are using a character-only terminal (not a window system),
6633two additional characters appear in between the dash and the file
6634coding system. These two characters describe the coding system for
6635keyboard input, and the coding system for terminal output.
6636
6637*** The new variable rmail-file-coding-system specifies the code
6638conversion to use for RMAIL files. The default value is nil.
6639
6640When you read mail with Rmail, each message is decoded automatically
6641into Emacs' internal format. This has nothing to do with
6642rmail-file-coding-system. That variable controls reading and writing
6643Rmail files themselves.
6644
6645*** The new variable sendmail-coding-system specifies the code
6646conversion for outgoing mail. The default value is nil.
6647
6648Actually, there are three different ways of specifying the coding system
6649for sending mail:
6650
6651- If you use C-x RET f in the mail buffer, that takes priority.
6652- Otherwise, if you set sendmail-coding-system non-nil, that specifies it.
6653- Otherwise, the default coding system for new files is used,
6654 if that is non-nil. That comes from your language environment.
6655- Otherwise, Latin-1 is used.
6656
6657*** The command C-h t (help-with-tutorial) accepts a prefix argument
6658to specify the language for the tutorial file. Currently, English,
6659Japanese, Korean and Thai are supported. We welcome additional
6660translations.
6661
6662** An easy new way to visit a file with no code or format conversion
6663of any kind: Use M-x find-file-literally. There is also a command
6664insert-file-literally which inserts a file into the current buffer
6665without any conversion.
6666
6667** C-q's handling of octal character codes is changed.
6668You can now specify any number of octal digits.
6669RET terminates the digits and is discarded;
6670any other non-digit terminates the digits and is then used as input.
6671
6672** There are new commands for looking up Info documentation for
6673functions, variables and file names used in your programs.
6674
6675Type M-x info-lookup-symbol to look up a symbol in the buffer at point.
6676Type M-x info-lookup-file to look up a file in the buffer at point.
6677
6678Precisely which Info files are used to look it up depends on the major
6679mode. For example, in C mode, the GNU libc manual is used.
6680
6681** M-TAB in most programming language modes now runs the command
6682complete-symbol. This command performs completion on the symbol name
6683in the buffer before point.
6684
6685With a numeric argument, it performs completion based on the set of
6686symbols documented in the Info files for the programming language that
6687you are using.
6688
6689With no argument, it does completion based on the current tags tables,
6690just like the old binding of M-TAB (complete-tag).
6691
6692** File locking works with NFS now.
6693
6694The lock file for FILENAME is now a symbolic link named .#FILENAME,
6695in the same directory as FILENAME.
6696
6697This means that collision detection between two different machines now
6698works reasonably well; it also means that no file server or directory
6699can become a bottleneck.
6700
6701The new method does have drawbacks. It means that collision detection
6702does not operate when you edit a file in a directory where you cannot
6703create new files. Collision detection also doesn't operate when the
6704file server does not support symbolic links. But these conditions are
6705rare, and the ability to have collision detection while using NFS is
6706so useful that the change is worth while.
6707
6708When Emacs or a system crashes, this may leave behind lock files which
6709are stale. So you may occasionally get warnings about spurious
6710collisions. When you determine that the collision is spurious, just
6711tell Emacs to go ahead anyway.
6712
6713** If you wish to use Show Paren mode to display matching parentheses,
6714it is no longer sufficient to load paren.el. Instead you must call
6715show-paren-mode.
6716
6717** If you wish to use Delete Selection mode to replace a highlighted
6718selection when you insert new text, it is no longer sufficient to load
6719delsel.el. Instead you must call the function delete-selection-mode.
6720
6721** If you wish to use Partial Completion mode to complete partial words
6722within symbols or filenames, it is no longer sufficient to load
6723complete.el. Instead you must call the function partial-completion-mode.
6724
6725** If you wish to use uniquify to rename buffers for you,
6726it is no longer sufficient to load uniquify.el. You must also
6727set uniquify-buffer-name-style to one of the non-nil legitimate values.
6728
6729** Changes in View mode.
6730
6731*** Several new commands are available in View mode.
6732Do H in view mode for a list of commands.
6733
6734*** There are two new commands for entering View mode:
6735view-file-other-frame and view-buffer-other-frame.
6736
6737*** Exiting View mode does a better job of restoring windows to their
6738previous state.
6739
6740*** New customization variable view-scroll-auto-exit. If non-nil,
6741scrolling past end of buffer makes view mode exit.
6742
6743*** New customization variable view-exits-all-viewing-windows. If
6744non-nil, view-mode will at exit restore all windows viewing buffer,
6745not just the selected window.
6746
6747*** New customization variable view-read-only. If non-nil, visiting a
6748read-only file automatically enters View mode, and toggle-read-only
6749turns View mode on or off.
6750
6751*** New customization variable view-remove-frame-by-deleting controls
6752how to remove a not needed frame at view mode exit. If non-nil,
6753delete the frame, if nil make an icon of it.
6754
6755** C-x v l, the command to print a file's version control log,
6756now positions point at the entry for the file's current branch version.
6757
6758** C-x v =, the command to compare a file with the last checked-in version,
6759has a new feature. If the file is currently not locked, so that it is
6760presumably identical to the last checked-in version, the command now asks
6761which version to compare with.
6762
6763** When using hideshow.el, incremental search can temporarily show hidden
6764blocks if a match is inside the block.
6765
6766The block is hidden again if the search is continued and the next match
6767is outside the block. By customizing the variable
6768isearch-hide-immediately you can choose to hide all the temporarily
6769shown blocks only when exiting from incremental search.
6770
6771By customizing the variable hs-isearch-open you can choose what kind
6772of blocks to temporarily show during isearch: comment blocks, code
6773blocks, all of them or none.
6774
6775** The new command C-x 4 0 (kill-buffer-and-window) kills the
6776current buffer and deletes the selected window. It asks for
6777confirmation first.
6778
6779** C-x C-w, which saves the buffer into a specified file name,
6780now changes the major mode according to that file name.
6781However, the mode will not be changed if
6782(1) a local variables list or the `-*-' line specifies a major mode, or
6783(2) the current major mode is a "special" mode,
6784 not suitable for ordinary files, or
6785(3) the new file name does not particularly specify any mode.
6786
6787This applies to M-x set-visited-file-name as well.
6788
6789However, if you set change-major-mode-with-file-name to nil, then
6790these commands do not change the major mode.
6791
6792** M-x occur changes.
6793
6794*** If the argument to M-x occur contains upper case letters,
6795it performs a case-sensitive search.
6796
6797*** In the *Occur* buffer made by M-x occur,
6798if you type g or M-x revert-buffer, this repeats the search
6799using the same regular expression and the same buffer as before.
6800
6801** In Transient Mark mode, the region in any one buffer is highlighted
6802in just one window at a time. At first, it is highlighted in the
6803window where you set the mark. The buffer's highlighting remains in
6804that window unless you select to another window which shows the same
6805buffer--then the highlighting moves to that window.
6806
6807** The feature to suggest key bindings when you use M-x now operates
6808after the command finishes. The message suggesting key bindings
6809appears temporarily in the echo area. The previous echo area contents
6810come back after a few seconds, in case they contain useful information.
6811
6812** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
6813selected buffers, so that the default for C-x b is now based on the
6814buffers recently selected in the selected frame.
6815
6816** Outline mode changes.
6817
6818*** Outline mode now uses overlays (this is the former noutline.el).
6819
6820*** Incremental searches skip over invisible text in Outline mode.
6821
6822** When a minibuffer window is active but not the selected window, if
6823you try to use the minibuffer, you used to get a nested minibuffer.
6824Now, this not only gives an error, it also cancels the minibuffer that
6825was already active.
6826
6827The motive for this change is so that beginning users do not
6828unknowingly move away from minibuffers, leaving them active, and then
6829get confused by it.
6830
6831If you want to be able to have recursive minibuffers, you must
6832set enable-recursive-minibuffers to non-nil.
6833
6834** Changes in dynamic abbrevs.
6835
6836*** Expanding dynamic abbrevs with M-/ is now smarter about case
6837conversion. If the expansion has mixed case not counting the first
6838character, and the abbreviation matches the beginning of the expansion
6839including case, then the expansion is copied verbatim.
6840
6841The expansion is also copied verbatim if the abbreviation itself has
6842mixed case. And using SPC M-/ to copy an additional word always
6843copies it verbatim except when the previous copied word is all caps.
6844
6845*** The values of `dabbrev-case-replace' and `dabbrev-case-fold-search'
6846are no longer Lisp expressions. They have simply three possible
6847values.
6848
6849`dabbrev-case-replace' has these three values: nil (don't preserve
6850case), t (do), or `case-replace' (do like M-x query-replace).
6851`dabbrev-case-fold-search' has these three values: nil (don't ignore
6852case), t (do), or `case-fold-search' (do like search).
6853
6854** Minibuffer history lists are truncated automatically now to a
6855certain length. The variable history-length specifies how long they
6856can be. The default value is 30.
6857
6858** Changes in Mail mode.
6859
6860*** The key C-x m no longer runs the `mail' command directly.
6861Instead, it runs the command `compose-mail', which invokes the mail
6862composition mechanism you have selected with the variable
6863`mail-user-agent'. The default choice of user agent is
6864`sendmail-user-agent', which gives behavior compatible with the old
6865behavior.
6866
6867C-x 4 m now runs compose-mail-other-window, and C-x 5 m runs
6868compose-mail-other-frame.
6869
6870*** While composing a reply to a mail message, from Rmail, you can use
6871the command C-c C-r to cite just the region from the message you are
6872replying to. This copies the text which is the selected region in the
6873buffer that shows the original message.
6874
6875*** The command C-c C-i inserts a file at the end of the message,
6876with separator lines around the contents.
6877
6878*** The command M-x expand-mail-aliases expands all mail aliases
6879in suitable mail headers. Emacs automatically extracts mail alias
6880definitions from your mail alias file (e.g., ~/.mailrc). You do not
6881need to expand mail aliases yourself before sending mail.
6882
6883*** New features in the mail-complete command.
6884
6885**** The mail-complete command now inserts the user's full name,
6886for local users or if that is known. The variable mail-complete-style
6887controls the style to use, and whether to do this at all.
6888Its values are like those of mail-from-style.
6889
6890**** The variable mail-passwd-command lets you specify a shell command
6891to run to fetch a set of password-entries that add to the ones in
6892/etc/passwd.
6893
6894**** The variable mail-passwd-file now specifies a list of files to read
6895to get the list of user ids. By default, one file is used:
6896/etc/passwd.
6897
6898** You can "quote" a file name to inhibit special significance of
6899special syntax, by adding `/:' to the beginning. Thus, if you have a
6900directory named `/foo:', you can prevent it from being treated as a
6901reference to a remote host named `foo' by writing it as `/:/foo:'.
6902
6903Emacs uses this new construct automatically when necessary, such as
6904when you start it with a working directory whose name might otherwise
6905be taken to be magic.
6906
6907** There is a new command M-x grep-find which uses find to select
6908files to search through, and grep to scan them. The output is
6909available in a Compile mode buffer, as with M-x grep.
6910
6911M-x grep now uses the -e option if the grep program supports that.
6912(-e prevents problems if the search pattern starts with a dash.)
6913
6914** In Dired, the & command now flags for deletion the files whose names
6915suggest they are probably not needed in the long run.
6916
6917In Dired, * is now a prefix key for mark-related commands.
6918
6919new key dired.el binding old key
6920------- ---------------- -------
6921 * c dired-change-marks c
6922 * m dired-mark m
6923 * * dired-mark-executables * (binding deleted)
6924 * / dired-mark-directories / (binding deleted)
6925 * @ dired-mark-symlinks @ (binding deleted)
6926 * u dired-unmark u
6927 * DEL dired-unmark-backward DEL
6928 * ? dired-unmark-all-files M-C-?
6929 * ! dired-unmark-all-marks
6930 * % dired-mark-files-regexp % m
6931 * C-n dired-next-marked-file M-}
6932 * C-p dired-prev-marked-file M-{
6933
6934** Rmail changes.
6935
6936*** When Rmail cannot convert your incoming mail into Babyl format, it
6937saves the new mail in the file RMAILOSE.n, where n is an integer
6938chosen to make a unique name. This way, Rmail will not keep crashing
6939each time you run it.
6940
6941*** In Rmail, the variable rmail-summary-line-count-flag now controls
6942whether to include the line count in the summary. Non-nil means yes.
6943
6944*** In Rmail summary buffers, d and C-d (the commands to delete
6945messages) now take repeat counts as arguments. A negative argument
6946means to move in the opposite direction.
6947
6948*** In Rmail, the t command now takes an optional argument which lets
6949you specify whether to show the message headers in full or pruned.
6950
6951*** In Rmail, the new command w (rmail-output-body-to-file) writes
6952just the body of the current message into a file, without the headers.
6953It takes the file name from the message subject, by default, but you
6954can edit that file name in the minibuffer before it is actually used
6955for output.
6956
6957** Gnus changes.
6958
6959*** nntp.el has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
6960
6961*** Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
6962Gnus.
6963
6964*** Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like
6965`and', `or', `not', and parent redirection.
6966
6967*** Article washing status can be displayed in the
6968article mode line.
6969
6970*** gnus.el has been split into many smaller files.
6971
6972*** Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID.
6973
6974(setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
6975
6976*** New variables for specifying what score and adapt files
6977are to be considered home score and adapt files. See
6978`gnus-home-score-file' and `gnus-home-adapt-files'.
6979
6980*** Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics.
6981
6982*** Article editing has been revamped and is now usable.
6983
6984*** Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions.
6985See `gnus-signature-separator' and `gnus-signature-limit'.
6986
6987*** Summary pick mode has been made to look more nn-like.
6988Line numbers are displayed and the `.' command can be
6989used to pick articles.
6990
6991*** Commands for moving the .newsrc.eld from one server to
6992another have been added.
6993
6994 `M-x gnus-change-server'
6995
6996*** A way to specify that "uninteresting" fields be suppressed when
6997generating lines in buffers.
6998
6999*** Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with
7000`M-C-_'.
7001
7002*** Scoring can be done on words using the new score type `w'.
7003
7004*** Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis:
7005
7006 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
7007
7008*** Scores can be decayed.
7009
7010 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
7011
7012*** Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The
7013Date is normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first.
7014
7015*** A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
7016the native server.
7017
7018 `M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups'
7019
7020*** A new command for reading collections of documents
7021(nndoc with nnvirtual on top) has been added -- `M-C-d'.
7022
7023*** Process mark sets can be pushed and popped.
7024
7025*** A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post
7026even when the NNTP server doesn't allow posting.
7027
7028*** A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
7029(DejaNews, Alta Vista, InReference) has been added.
7030
7031 Use the `G w' command in the group buffer to create such
7032 a group.
7033
7034*** Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard
7035sorting functions, and each topic can be sorted independently.
7036
7037 See the commands under the `T S' submap.
7038
7039*** Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently.
7040
7041 See the commands under the `G P' submap.
7042
7043*** Cached articles can be pulled into the groups.
7044
7045 Use the `Y c' command.
7046
7047*** Score files are now applied in a more reliable order.
7048
7049*** Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated.
7050
7051 `M-x nnmail-split-history'
7052
7053*** More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk
7054from incoming mail before saving the mail.
7055
7056 See `nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook'.
7057
7058*** The nnml mail backend now understands compressed article files.
7059
7060*** To enable Gnus to read/post multi-lingual articles, you must execute
7061the following code, for instance, in your .emacs.
7062
7063 (add-hook 'gnus-startup-hook 'gnus-mule-initialize)
7064
7065Then, when you start Gnus, it will decode non-ASCII text automatically
7066and show appropriate characters. (Note: if you are using gnus-mime
7067from the SEMI package, formerly known as TM, you should NOT add this
7068hook to gnus-startup-hook; gnus-mime has its own method of handling
7069this issue.)
7070
7071Since it is impossible to distinguish all coding systems
7072automatically, you may need to specify a choice of coding system for a
7073particular news group. This can be done by:
7074
7075 (gnus-mule-add-group NEWSGROUP 'CODING-SYSTEM)
7076
7077Here NEWSGROUP should be a string which names a newsgroup or a tree
7078of newsgroups. If NEWSGROUP is "XXX.YYY", all news groups under
7079"XXX.YYY" (including "XXX.YYY.ZZZ") will use the specified coding
7080system. CODING-SYSTEM specifies which coding system to use (for both
7081for reading and posting).
7082
7083CODING-SYSTEM can also be a cons cell of the form
7084 (READ-CODING-SYSTEM . POST-CODING-SYSTEM)
7085Then READ-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you read messages from the
7086newsgroups, while POST-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you post messages
7087there.
7088
7089Emacs knows the right coding systems for certain newsgroups by
7090default. Here are some of these default settings:
7091
7092 (gnus-mule-add-group "fj" 'iso-2022-7)
7093 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text" 'hz-gb-2312)
7094 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.hk" 'hz-gb-2312)
7095 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text.big5" 'cn-big5)
7096 (gnus-mule-add-group "soc.culture.vietnamese" '(nil . viqr))
7097
7098When you reply by mail to an article, these settings are ignored;
7099the mail is encoded according to sendmail-coding-system, as usual.
7100
7101** CC mode changes.
7102
7103*** If you edit primarily one style of C (or C++, Objective-C, Java)
7104code, you may want to make the CC Mode style variables have global
7105values so that you can set them directly in your .emacs file. To do
7106this, set c-style-variables-are-local-p to nil in your .emacs file.
7107Note that this only takes effect if you do it *before* cc-mode.el is
7108loaded.
7109
7110If you typically edit more than one style of C (or C++, Objective-C,
7111Java) code in a single Emacs session, you may want to make the CC Mode
7112style variables have buffer local values. By default, all buffers
7113share the same style variable settings; to make them buffer local, set
7114c-style-variables-are-local-p to t in your .emacs file. Note that you
7115must do this *before* CC Mode is loaded.
7116
7117*** The new variable c-indentation-style holds the C style name
7118of the current buffer.
7119
7120*** The variable c-block-comments-indent-p has been deleted, because
7121it is no longer necessary. C mode now handles all the supported styles
7122of block comments, with no need to say which one you will use.
7123
7124*** There is a new indentation style "python", which specifies the C
7125style that the Python developers like.
7126
7127*** There is a new c-cleanup-list option: brace-elseif-brace.
7128This says to put ...} else if (...) {... on one line,
7129just as brace-else-brace says to put ...} else {... on one line.
7130
7131** VC Changes [new]
7132
7133** In vc-retrieve-snapshot (C-x v r), if you don't specify a snapshot
7134name, it retrieves the *latest* versions of all files in the current
7135directory and its subdirectories (aside from files already locked).
7136
7137This feature is useful if your RCS directory is a link to a common
7138master directory, and you want to pick up changes made by other
7139developers.
7140
7141You can do the same thing for an individual file by typing C-u C-x C-q
7142RET in a buffer visiting that file.
7143
7144*** VC can now handle files under CVS that are being "watched" by
7145other developers. Such files are made read-only by CVS. To get a
7146writable copy, type C-x C-q in a buffer visiting such a file. VC then
7147calls "cvs edit", which notifies the other developers of it.
7148
7149*** vc-version-diff (C-u C-x v =) now suggests reasonable defaults for
7150version numbers, based on the current state of the file.
7151
7152** Calendar changes.
7153
7154A new function, list-holidays, allows you list holidays or subclasses
7155of holidays for ranges of years. Related menu items allow you do this
7156for the year of the selected date, or the following/previous years.
7157
7158** ps-print changes
7159
7160There are some new user variables for customizing the page layout.
7161
7162*** Paper size, paper orientation, columns
7163
7164The variable `ps-paper-type' determines the size of paper ps-print
7165formats for; it should contain one of the symbols:
7166`a4' `a3' `letter' `legal' `letter-small' `tabloid'
7167`ledger' `statement' `executive' `a4small' `b4' `b5'
7168It defaults to `letter'.
7169If you need other sizes, see the variable `ps-page-dimensions-database'.
7170
7171The variable `ps-landscape-mode' determines the orientation
7172of the printing on the page. nil, the default, means "portrait" mode,
7173non-nil means "landscape" mode.
7174
7175The variable `ps-number-of-columns' must be a positive integer.
7176It determines the number of columns both in landscape and portrait mode.
7177It defaults to 1.
7178
7179*** Horizontal layout
7180
7181The horizontal layout is determined by the variables
7182`ps-left-margin', `ps-inter-column', and `ps-right-margin'.
7183All are measured in points.
7184
7185*** Vertical layout
7186
7187The vertical layout is determined by the variables
7188`ps-bottom-margin', `ps-top-margin', and `ps-header-offset'.
7189All are measured in points.
7190
7191*** Headers
7192
7193If the variable `ps-print-header' is nil, no header is printed. Then
7194`ps-header-offset' is not relevant and `ps-top-margin' represents the
7195margin above the text.
7196
7197If the variable `ps-print-header-frame' is non-nil, a gaudy
7198framing box is printed around the header.
7199
7200The contents of the header are determined by `ps-header-lines',
7201`ps-show-n-of-n', `ps-left-header' and `ps-right-header'.
7202
7203The height of the header is determined by `ps-header-line-pad',
7204`ps-header-font-family', `ps-header-title-font-size' and
7205`ps-header-font-size'.
7206
7207*** Font managing
7208
7209The variable `ps-font-family' determines which font family is to be
7210used for ordinary text. Its value must be a key symbol in the alist
7211`ps-font-info-database'. You can add other font families by adding
7212elements to this alist.
7213
7214The variable `ps-font-size' determines the size of the font
7215for ordinary text. It defaults to 8.5 points.
7216
7217** hideshow changes.
7218
7219*** now supports hiding of blocks of single line comments (like // for
7220C++, ; for lisp).
7221
7222*** Support for java-mode added.
7223
7224*** When doing `hs-hide-all' it is now possible to also hide the comments
7225in the file if `hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all' is set.
7226
7227*** The new function `hs-hide-initial-comment' hides the the comments at
7228the beginning of the files. Finally those huge RCS logs don't stay in your
7229way! This is run by default when entering the `hs-minor-mode'.
7230
7231*** Now uses overlays instead of `selective-display', so is more
7232robust and a lot faster.
7233
7234*** A block beginning can span multiple lines.
7235
7236*** The new variable `hs-show-hidden-short-form' if t, directs hideshow
7237to show only the beginning of a block when it is hidden. See the
7238documentation for more details.
7239
7240** Changes in Enriched mode.
7241
7242*** When you visit a file in enriched-mode, Emacs will make sure it is
7243filled to the current fill-column. This behavior is now independent
7244of the size of the window. When you save the file, the fill-column in
7245use is stored as well, so that the whole buffer need not be refilled
7246the next time unless the fill-column is different.
7247
7248*** use-hard-newlines is now a minor mode. When it is enabled, Emacs
7249distinguishes between hard and soft newlines, and treats hard newlines
7250as paragraph boundaries. Otherwise all newlines inserted are marked
7251as soft, and paragraph boundaries are determined solely from the text.
7252
7253** Font Lock mode
7254
7255*** Custom support
7256
7257The variables font-lock-face-attributes, font-lock-display-type and
7258font-lock-background-mode are now obsolete; the recommended way to specify the
7259faces to use for Font Lock mode is with M-x customize-group on the new custom
7260group font-lock-highlighting-faces. If you set font-lock-face-attributes in
7261your ~/.emacs file, Font Lock mode will respect its value. However, you should
7262consider converting from setting that variable to using M-x customize.
7263
7264You can still use X resources to specify Font Lock face appearances.
7265
7266*** Maximum decoration
7267
7268Fontification now uses the maximum level of decoration supported by
7269default. Previously, fontification used a mode-specific default level
7270of decoration, which is typically the minimum level of decoration
7271supported. You can set font-lock-maximum-decoration to nil
7272to get the old behavior.
7273
7274*** New support
7275
7276Support is now provided for Java, Objective-C, AWK and SIMULA modes.
7277
7278Note that Font Lock mode can be turned on without knowing exactly what modes
7279support Font Lock mode, via the command global-font-lock-mode.
7280
7281*** Configurable support
7282
7283Support for C, C++, Objective-C and Java can be more easily configured for
7284additional types and classes via the new variables c-font-lock-extra-types,
7285c++-font-lock-extra-types, objc-font-lock-extra-types and, you guessed it,
7286java-font-lock-extra-types. These value of each of these variables should be a
7287list of regexps matching the extra type names. For example, the default value
7288of c-font-lock-extra-types is ("\\sw+_t") which means fontification follows the
7289convention that C type names end in _t. This results in slower fontification.
7290
7291Of course, you can change the variables that specify fontification in whatever
7292way you wish, typically by adding regexps. However, these new variables make
7293it easier to make specific and common changes for the fontification of types.
7294
7295*** Adding highlighting patterns to existing support
7296
7297You can use the new function font-lock-add-keywords to add your own
7298highlighting patterns, such as for project-local or user-specific constructs,
7299for any mode.
7300
7301For example, to highlight `FIXME:' words in C comments, put:
7302
7303 (font-lock-add-keywords 'c-mode '(("\\<FIXME:" 0 font-lock-warning-face t)))
7304
7305in your ~/.emacs.
7306
7307*** New faces
7308
7309Font Lock now defines two new faces, font-lock-builtin-face and
7310font-lock-warning-face. These are intended to highlight builtin keywords,
7311distinct from a language's normal keywords, and objects that should be brought
7312to user attention, respectively. Various modes now use these new faces.
7313
7314*** Changes to fast-lock support mode
7315
7316The fast-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now process
7317cache files silently. You can use the new variable fast-lock-verbose, in the
7318same way as font-lock-verbose, to control this feature.
7319
7320*** Changes to lazy-lock support mode
7321
7322The lazy-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now fontify
7323according to the true syntactic context relative to other lines. You can use
7324the new variable lazy-lock-defer-contextually to control this feature. If
7325non-nil, changes to the buffer will cause subsequent lines in the buffer to be
7326refontified after lazy-lock-defer-time seconds of idle time. If nil, then only
7327the modified lines will be refontified; this is the same as the previous Lazy
7328Lock mode behaviour and the behaviour of Font Lock mode.
7329
7330This feature is useful in modes where strings or comments can span lines.
7331For example, if a string or comment terminating character is deleted, then if
7332this feature is enabled subsequent lines in the buffer will be correctly
7333refontified to reflect their new syntactic context. Previously, only the line
7334containing the deleted character would be refontified and you would have to use
7335the command M-g M-g (font-lock-fontify-block) to refontify some lines.
7336
7337As a consequence of this new feature, two other variables have changed:
7338
7339Variable `lazy-lock-defer-driven' is renamed `lazy-lock-defer-on-scrolling'.
7340Variable `lazy-lock-defer-time' can now only be a time, i.e., a number.
7341Buffer modes for which on-the-fly deferral applies can be specified via the
7342new variable `lazy-lock-defer-on-the-fly'.
7343
7344If you set these variables in your ~/.emacs, then you may have to change those
7345settings.
7346
7347** Ada mode changes.
7348
7349*** There is now better support for using find-file.el with Ada mode.
7350If you switch between spec and body, the cursor stays in the same
7351procedure (modulo overloading). If a spec has no body file yet, but
7352you try to switch to its body file, Ada mode now generates procedure
7353stubs.
7354
7355*** There are two new commands:
7356 - `ada-make-local' : invokes gnatmake on the current buffer
7357 - `ada-check-syntax' : check syntax of current buffer.
7358
7359The user options `ada-compiler-make', `ada-make-options',
7360`ada-language-version', `ada-compiler-syntax-check', and
7361`ada-compile-options' are used within these commands.
7362
7363*** Ada mode can now work with Outline minor mode. The outline level
7364is calculated from the indenting, not from syntactic constructs.
7365Outlining does not work if your code is not correctly indented.
7366
7367*** The new function `ada-gnat-style' converts the buffer to the style of
7368formatting used in GNAT. It places two blanks after a comment start,
7369places one blank between a word end and an opening '(', and puts one
7370space between a comma and the beginning of a word.
7371
7372** Scheme mode changes.
7373
7374*** Scheme mode indentation now uses many of the facilities of Lisp
7375mode; therefore, the variables to customize it are the variables used
7376for Lisp mode which have names starting with `lisp-'. The variables
7377with names starting with `scheme-' which used to do this no longer
7378have any effect.
7379
7380If you want to use different indentation for Scheme and Lisp, this is
7381still possible, but now you must do it by adding a hook to
7382scheme-mode-hook, which could work by setting the `lisp-' indentation
7383variables as buffer-local variables.
7384
7385*** DSSSL mode is a variant of Scheme mode, for editing DSSSL scripts.
7386Use M-x dsssl-mode.
7387
7388** Changes to the emacsclient program
7389
7390*** If a socket can't be found, and environment variables LOGNAME or
7391USER are set, emacsclient now looks for a socket based on the UID
7392associated with the name. That is an emacsclient running as root
7393can connect to an Emacs server started by a non-root user.
7394
7395*** The emacsclient program now accepts an option --no-wait which tells
7396it to return immediately without waiting for you to "finish" the
7397buffer in Emacs.
7398
7399*** The new option --alternate-editor allows to specify an editor to
7400use if Emacs is not running. The environment variable
7401ALTERNATE_EDITOR can be used for the same effect; the command line
7402option takes precedence.
7403
7404** M-x eldoc-mode enables a minor mode in which the echo area
7405constantly shows the parameter list for function being called at point
7406(in Emacs Lisp and Lisp Interaction modes only).
7407
7408** C-x n d now runs the new command narrow-to-defun,
7409which narrows the accessible parts of the buffer to just
7410the current defun.
7411
7412** Emacs now handles the `--' argument in the standard way; all
7413following arguments are treated as ordinary file names.
7414
7415** On MSDOS and Windows, the bookmark file is now called _emacs.bmk,
7416and the saved desktop file is now called _emacs.desktop (truncated if
7417necessary).
7418
7419** When you kill a buffer that visits a file,
7420if there are any registers that save positions in the file,
7421these register values no longer become completely useless.
7422If you try to go to such a register with C-x j, then you are
7423asked whether to visit the file again. If you say yes,
7424it visits the file and then goes to the same position.
7425
7426** When you visit a file that changes frequently outside Emacs--for
7427example, a log of output from a process that continues to run--it may
7428be useful for Emacs to revert the file without querying you whenever
7429you visit the file afresh with C-x C-f.
7430
7431You can request this behavior for certain files by setting the
7432variable revert-without-query to a list of regular expressions. If a
7433file's name matches any of these regular expressions, find-file and
7434revert-buffer revert the buffer without asking for permission--but
7435only if you have not edited the buffer text yourself.
7436
7437** set-default-font has been renamed to set-frame-font
7438since it applies only to the current frame.
7439
7440** In TeX mode, you can use the variable tex-main-file to specify the
7441file for tex-file to run TeX on. (By default, tex-main-file is nil,
7442and tex-file runs TeX on the current visited file.)
7443
7444This is useful when you are editing a document that consists of
7445multiple files. In each of the included files, you can set up a local
7446variable list which specifies the top-level file of your document for
7447tex-main-file. Then tex-file will run TeX on the whole document
7448instead of just the file you are editing.
7449
7450** RefTeX mode
7451
7452RefTeX mode is a new minor mode with special support for \label, \ref
7453and \cite macros in LaTeX documents. RefTeX distinguishes labels of
7454different environments (equation, figure, ...) and has full support for
7455multifile documents. To use it, select a buffer with a LaTeX document and
7456turn the mode on with M-x reftex-mode. Here are the main user commands:
7457
7458C-c ( reftex-label
7459 Creates a label semi-automatically. RefTeX is context sensitive and
7460 knows which kind of label is needed.
7461
7462C-c ) reftex-reference
7463 Offers in a menu all labels in the document, along with context of the
7464 label definition. The selected label is referenced as \ref{LABEL}.
7465
7466C-c [ reftex-citation
7467 Prompts for a regular expression and displays a list of matching BibTeX
7468 database entries. The selected entry is cited with a \cite{KEY} macro.
7469
7470C-c & reftex-view-crossref
7471 Views the cross reference of a \ref or \cite command near point.
7472
7473C-c = reftex-toc
7474 Shows a table of contents of the (multifile) document. From there you
7475 can quickly jump to every section.
7476
7477Under X, RefTeX installs a "Ref" menu in the menu bar, with additional
7478commands. Press `?' to get help when a prompt mentions this feature.
7479Full documentation and customization examples are in the file
7480reftex.el. You can use the finder to view the file documentation:
7481C-h p --> tex --> reftex.el
7482
7483** Changes in BibTeX mode.
7484
7485*** Info documentation is now available.
7486
7487*** Don't allow parentheses in string constants anymore. This confused
7488both the BibTeX program and Emacs BibTeX mode.
7489
7490*** Renamed variable bibtex-mode-user-optional-fields to
7491bibtex-user-optional-fields.
7492
7493*** Removed variable bibtex-include-OPTannote
7494(use bibtex-user-optional-fields instead).
7495
7496*** New interactive functions to copy and kill fields and complete
7497entries to the BibTeX kill ring, from where they can be yanked back by
7498appropriate functions.
7499
7500*** New interactive functions for repositioning and marking of
7501entries. They are bound by default to M-C-l and M-C-h.
7502
7503*** New hook bibtex-clean-entry-hook. It is called after entry has
7504been cleaned.
7505
7506*** New variable bibtex-field-delimiters, which replaces variables
7507bibtex-field-{left|right}-delimiter.
7508
7509*** New variable bibtex-entry-delimiters to determine how entries
7510shall be delimited.
7511
7512*** Allow preinitialization of fields. See documentation of
7513bibtex-user-optional-fields, bibtex-entry-field-alist, and
7514bibtex-include-OPTkey for details.
7515
7516*** Book and InBook entries require either an author or an editor
7517field. This is now supported by bibtex.el. Alternative fields are
7518prefixed with `ALT'.
7519
7520*** New variable bibtex-entry-format, which replaces variable
7521bibtex-clean-entry-zap-empty-opts and allows specification of many
7522formatting options performed on cleaning an entry (see variable
7523documentation).
7524
7525*** Even more control on how automatic keys are generated. See
7526documentation of bibtex-generate-autokey for details. Transcriptions
7527for foreign languages other than German are now handled, too.
7528
7529*** New boolean user option bibtex-comma-after-last-field to decide if
7530comma should be inserted at end of last field.
7531
7532*** New boolean user option bibtex-align-at-equal-sign to determine if
7533alignment should be made at left side of field contents or at equal
7534signs. New user options to control entry layout (e.g. indentation).
7535
7536*** New function bibtex-fill-entry to realign entries.
7537
7538*** New function bibtex-reformat to reformat region or buffer.
7539
7540*** New function bibtex-convert-alien to convert a BibTeX database
7541from alien sources.
7542
7543*** New function bibtex-complete-key (similar to bibtex-complete-string)
7544to complete prefix to a key defined in buffer. Mainly useful in
7545crossref entries.
7546
7547*** New function bibtex-count-entries to count entries in buffer or
7548region.
7549
7550*** Added support for imenu.
7551
7552*** The function `bibtex-validate' now checks current region instead
7553of buffer if mark is active. Now it shows all errors of buffer in a
7554`compilation mode' buffer. You can use the normal commands (e.g.
7555`next-error') for compilation modes to jump to errors.
7556
7557*** New variable `bibtex-string-file-path' to determine where the files
7558from `bibtex-string-files' are searched.
7559
7560** Iso Accents mode now supports Latin-3 as an alternative.
7561
7562** The command next-error now opens blocks hidden by hideshow.
7563
7564** The function using-unix-filesystems has been replaced by the
7565functions add-untranslated-filesystem and remove-untranslated-filesystem.
7566Each of these functions takes the name of a drive letter or directory
7567as an argument.
7568
7569When a filesystem is added as untranslated, all files on it are read
7570and written in binary mode (no cr/lf translation is performed).
7571
7572** browse-url changes
7573
7574*** New methods for: Grail (browse-url-generic), MMM (browse-url-mmm),
7575Lynx in a separate xterm (browse-url-lynx-xterm) or in an Emacs window
7576(browse-url-lynx-emacs), remote W3 (browse-url-w3-gnudoit), generic
7577non-remote-controlled browsers (browse-url-generic) and associated
7578customization variables.
7579
7580*** New commands `browse-url-of-region' and `browse-url'.
7581
7582*** URLs marked up with <URL:...> (RFC1738) work if broken across
7583lines. Browsing methods can be associated with URL regexps
7584(e.g. mailto: URLs) via `browse-url-browser-function'.
7585
7586** Changes in Ediff
7587
7588*** Clicking Mouse-2 on a brief command description in Ediff control panel
7589pops up the Info file for this command.
7590
7591*** There is now a variable, ediff-autostore-merges, which controls whether
7592the result of a merge is saved in a file. By default, this is done only when
7593merge is done from a session group (eg, when merging files in two different
7594directories).
7595
7596*** Since Emacs 19.31 (this hasn't been announced before), Ediff can compare
7597and merge groups of files residing in different directories, or revisions of
7598files in the same directory.
7599
7600*** Since Emacs 19.31, Ediff can apply multi-file patches interactively.
7601The patches must be in the context format or GNU unified format. (The bug
7602related to the GNU format has now been fixed.)
7603
7604** Changes in Viper
7605
7606*** The startup file is now .viper instead of .vip
7607*** All variable/function names have been changed to start with viper-
7608 instead of vip-.
7609*** C-\ now simulates the meta-key in all Viper states.
7610*** C-z in Insert state now escapes to Vi for the duration of the next
7611Viper command. In Vi and Insert states, C-z behaves as before.
7612*** C-c \ escapes to Vi for one command if Viper is in Insert or Emacs states.
7613*** _ is no longer the meta-key in Vi state.
7614*** The variable viper-insert-state-cursor-color can be used to change cursor
7615color when Viper is in insert state.
7616*** If search lands the cursor near the top or the bottom of the window,
7617Viper pulls the window up or down to expose more context. The variable
7618viper-adjust-window-after-search controls this behavior.
7619
7620** Etags changes.
7621
7622*** In C, C++, Objective C and Java, Etags tags global variables by
7623default. The resulting tags files are inflated by 30% on average.
7624Use --no-globals to turn this feature off. Etags can also tag
7625variables which are members of structure-like constructs, but it does
7626not by default. Use --members to turn this feature on.
7627
7628*** C++ member functions are now recognized as tags.
7629
7630*** Java is tagged like C++. In addition, "extends" and "implements"
7631constructs are tagged. Files are recognised by the extension .java.
7632
7633*** Etags can now handle programs written in Postscript. Files are
7634recognised by the extensions .ps and .pdb (Postscript with C syntax).
7635In Postscript, tags are lines that start with a slash.
7636
7637*** Etags now handles Objective C and Objective C++ code. The usual C and
7638C++ tags are recognized in these languages; in addition, etags
7639recognizes special Objective C syntax for classes, class categories,
7640methods and protocols.
7641
7642*** Etags also handles Cobol. Files are recognised by the extension
7643.cobol. The tagged lines are those containing a word that begins in
7644column 8 and ends in a full stop, i.e. anything that could be a
7645paragraph name.
7646
7647*** Regexps in Etags now support intervals, as in ed or grep. The syntax of
7648an interval is \{M,N\}, and it means to match the preceding expression
7649at least M times and as many as N times.
7650
7651** The format for specifying a custom format for time-stamp to insert
7652in files has changed slightly.
7653
7654With the new enhancements to the functionality of format-time-string,
7655time-stamp-format will change to be eventually compatible with it.
7656This conversion is being done in two steps to maintain compatibility
7657with old time-stamp-format values.
7658
7659In the new scheme, alternate case is signified by the number-sign
7660(`#') modifier, rather than changing the case of the format character.
7661This feature is as yet incompletely implemented for compatibility
7662reasons.
7663
7664In the old time-stamp-format, all numeric fields defaulted to their
7665natural width. (With format-time-string, each format has a
7666fixed-width default.) In this version, you can specify the colon
7667(`:') modifier to a numeric conversion to mean "give me the historical
7668time-stamp-format width default." Do not use colon if you are
7669specifying an explicit width, as in "%02d".
7670
7671Numbers are no longer truncated to the requested width, except in the
7672case of "%02y", which continues to give a two-digit year. Digit
7673truncation probably wasn't being used for anything else anyway.
7674
7675The new formats will work with old versions of Emacs. New formats are
7676being recommended now to allow time-stamp-format to change in the
7677future to be compatible with format-time-string. The new forms being
7678recommended now will continue to work then.
7679
7680See the documentation string for the variable time-stamp-format for
7681details.
7682
7683** There are some additional major modes:
7684
7685dcl-mode, for editing VMS DCL files.
7686m4-mode, for editing files of m4 input.
7687meta-mode, for editing MetaFont and MetaPost source files.
7688
7689** In Shell mode, the command shell-copy-environment-variable lets you
7690copy the value of a specified environment variable from the subshell
7691into Emacs.
7692
7693** New Lisp packages include:
7694
7695*** battery.el displays battery status for laptops.
7696
7697*** M-x bruce (named after Lenny Bruce) is a program that might
7698be used for adding some indecent words to your email.
7699
7700*** M-x crisp-mode enables an emulation for the CRiSP editor.
7701
7702*** M-x dirtrack arranges for better tracking of directory changes
7703in shell buffers.
7704
7705*** The new library elint.el provides for linting of Emacs Lisp code.
7706See the documentation for `elint-initialize', `elint-current-buffer'
7707and `elint-defun'.
7708
7709*** M-x expand-add-abbrevs defines a special kind of abbrev which is
7710meant for programming constructs. These abbrevs expand like ordinary
7711ones, when you type SPC, but only at the end of a line and not within
7712strings or comments.
7713
7714These abbrevs can act as templates: you can define places within an
7715abbrev for insertion of additional text. Once you expand the abbrev,
7716you can then use C-x a p and C-x a n to move back and forth to these
7717insertion points. Thus you can conveniently insert additional text
7718at these points.
7719
7720*** filecache.el remembers the location of files so that you
7721can visit them by short forms of their names.
7722
7723*** find-func.el lets you find the definition of the user-loaded
7724Emacs Lisp function at point.
7725
7726*** M-x handwrite converts text to a "handwritten" picture.
7727
7728*** M-x iswitchb-buffer is a command for switching to a buffer, much like
7729switch-buffer, but it reads the argument in a more helpful way.
7730
7731*** M-x landmark implements a neural network for landmark learning.
7732
7733*** M-x locate provides a convenient interface to the `locate' program.
7734
7735*** M4 mode is a new mode for editing files of m4 input.
7736
7737*** mantemp.el creates C++ manual template instantiations
7738from the GCC error messages which indicate which instantiations are needed.
7739
7740*** mouse-copy.el provides a one-click copy and move feature.
7741You can drag a region with M-mouse-1, and it is automatically
7742inserted at point. M-Shift-mouse-1 deletes the text from its
7743original place after inserting the copy.
7744
7745*** mouse-drag.el lets you do scrolling by dragging Mouse-2
7746on the buffer.
7747
7748You click the mouse and move; that distance either translates into the
7749velocity to scroll (with mouse-drag-throw) or the distance to scroll
7750(with mouse-drag-drag). Horizontal scrolling is enabled when needed.
7751
7752Enable mouse-drag with:
7753 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-throw)
7754-or-
7755 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-drag)
7756
7757*** mspools.el is useful for determining which mail folders have
7758mail waiting to be read in them. It works with procmail.
7759
7760*** Octave mode is a major mode for editing files of input for Octave.
7761It comes with a facility for communicating with an Octave subprocess.
7762
7763*** ogonek
7764
7765The ogonek package provides functions for changing the coding of
7766Polish diacritic characters in buffers. Codings known from various
7767platforms are supported such as ISO8859-2, Mazovia, IBM Latin2, and
7768TeX. For example, you can change the coding from Mazovia to
7769ISO8859-2. Another example is a change of coding from ISO8859-2 to
7770prefix notation (in which `/a' stands for the aogonek character, for
7771instance) and vice versa.
7772
7773To use this package load it using
7774 M-x load-library [enter] ogonek
7775Then, you may get an explanation by calling one of
7776 M-x ogonek-jak -- in Polish
7777 M-x ogonek-how -- in English
7778The info specifies the commands and variables provided as well as the
7779ways of customization in `.emacs'.
7780
7781*** Interface to ph.
7782
7783Emacs provides a client interface to CCSO Nameservers (ph/qi)
7784
7785The CCSO nameserver is used in many universities to provide directory
7786services about people. ph.el provides a convenient Emacs interface to
7787these servers.
7788
7789*** uce.el is useful for replying to unsolicited commercial email.
7790
7791*** vcursor.el implements a "virtual cursor" feature.
7792You can move the virtual cursor with special commands
7793while the real cursor does not move.
7794
7795*** webjump.el is a "hot list" package which you can set up
7796for visiting your favorite web sites.
7797
7798*** M-x winner-mode is a minor mode which saves window configurations,
7799so you can move back to other configurations that you have recently used.
7800
7801** movemail change
7802
7803Movemail no longer needs to be installed setuid root in order for POP
7804mail retrieval to function properly. This is because it no longer
7805supports the RPOP (reserved-port POP) protocol; instead, it uses the
7806user's POP password to authenticate to the mail server.
7807
7808This change was made earlier, but not reported in NEWS before.
7809\f
7810* Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows.
7811
7812** Changes in handling MS-DOS/MS-Windows text files.
7813
7814Emacs handles three different conventions for representing
7815end-of-line: CRLF for MSDOS, LF for Unix and GNU, and CR (used on the
7816Macintosh). Emacs determines which convention is used in a specific
7817file based on the contents of that file (except for certain special
7818file names), and when it saves the file, it uses the same convention.
7819
7820To save the file and change the end-of-line convention, you can use
7821C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system) to specify a different
7822coding system for the buffer. Then, when you save the file, the newly
7823specified coding system will take effect. For example, to save with
7824LF, specify undecided-unix (or some other ...-unix coding system); to
7825save with CRLF, specify undecided-dos.
7826\f
7827* Lisp Changes in Emacs 20.1
7828
7829** Byte-compiled files made with Emacs 20 will, in general, work in
7830Emacs 19 as well, as long as the source code runs in Emacs 19. And
7831vice versa: byte-compiled files made with Emacs 19 should also run in
7832Emacs 20, as long as the program itself works in Emacs 20.
7833
7834** Windows-specific functions and variables have been renamed
7835to start with w32- instead of win32-.
7836
7837In hacker language, calling something a "win" is a form of praise. We
7838don't want to praise a non-free Microsoft system, so we don't call it
7839"win".
7840
7841** Basic Lisp changes
7842
7843*** A symbol whose name starts with a colon now automatically
7844evaluates to itself. Therefore such a symbol can be used as a constant.
7845
7846*** The defined purpose of `defconst' has been changed. It should now
7847be used only for values that should not be changed whether by a program
7848or by the user.
7849
7850The actual behavior of defconst has not been changed.
7851
7852*** There are new macros `when' and `unless'
7853
7854(when CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION (progn BODY...))
7855(unless CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION nil BODY...)
7856
7857*** Emacs now defines functions caar, cadr, cdar and cddr with their
7858usual Lisp meanings. For example, caar returns the car of the car of
7859its argument.
7860
7861*** equal, when comparing strings, now ignores their text properties.
7862
7863*** The new function `functionp' tests whether an object is a function.
7864
7865*** arrayp now returns t for char-tables and bool-vectors.
7866
7867*** Certain primitives which use characters (as integers) now get an
7868error if the integer is not a valid character code. These primitives
7869include insert-char, char-to-string, and the %c construct in the
7870`format' function.
7871
7872*** The `require' function now insists on adding a suffix, either .el
7873or .elc, to the file name. Thus, (require 'foo) will not use a file
7874whose name is just foo. It insists on foo.el or foo.elc.
7875
7876*** The `autoload' function, when the file name does not contain
7877either a directory name or the suffix .el or .elc, insists on
7878adding one of these suffixes.
7879
7880*** string-to-number now takes an optional second argument BASE
7881which specifies the base to use when converting an integer.
7882If BASE is omitted, base 10 is used.
7883
7884We have not implemented other radices for floating point numbers,
7885because that would be much more work and does not seem useful.
7886
7887*** substring now handles vectors as well as strings.
7888
7889*** The Common Lisp function eql is no longer defined normally.
7890You must load the `cl' library to define it.
7891
7892*** The new macro `with-current-buffer' lets you evaluate an expression
7893conveniently with a different current buffer. It looks like this:
7894
7895 (with-current-buffer BUFFER BODY-FORMS...)
7896
7897BUFFER is the expression that says which buffer to use.
7898BODY-FORMS say what to do in that buffer.
7899
7900*** The new primitive `save-current-buffer' saves and restores the
7901choice of current buffer, like `save-excursion', but without saving or
7902restoring the value of point or the mark. `with-current-buffer'
7903works using `save-current-buffer'.
7904
7905*** The new macro `with-temp-file' lets you do some work in a new buffer and
7906write the output to a specified file. Like `progn', it returns the value
7907of the last form.
7908
7909*** The new macro `with-temp-buffer' lets you do some work in a new buffer,
7910which is discarded after use. Like `progn', it returns the value of the
7911last form. If you wish to return the buffer contents, use (buffer-string)
7912as the last form.
7913
7914*** The new function split-string takes a string, splits it at certain
7915characters, and returns a list of the substrings in between the
7916matches.
7917
7918For example, (split-string "foo bar lose" " +") returns ("foo" "bar" "lose").
7919
7920*** The new macro with-output-to-string executes some Lisp expressions
7921with standard-output set up so that all output feeds into a string.
7922Then it returns that string.
7923
7924For example, if the current buffer name is `foo',
7925
7926(with-output-to-string
7927 (princ "The buffer is ")
7928 (princ (buffer-name)))
7929
7930returns "The buffer is foo".
7931
7932** Non-ASCII characters are now supported, if enable-multibyte-characters
7933is non-nil.
7934
7935These characters have character codes above 256. When inserted in the
7936buffer or stored in a string, they are represented as multibyte
7937characters that occupy several buffer positions each.
7938
7939*** When enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, a single character in
7940a buffer or string can be two or more bytes (as many as four).
7941
7942Buffers and strings are still made up of unibyte elements;
7943character positions and string indices are always measured in bytes.
7944Therefore, moving forward one character can increase the buffer
7945position by 2, 3 or 4. The function forward-char moves by whole
7946characters, and therefore is no longer equivalent to
7947 (lambda (n) (goto-char (+ (point) n))).
7948
7949ASCII characters (codes 0 through 127) are still single bytes, always.
7950Sequences of byte values 128 through 255 are used to represent
7951non-ASCII characters. These sequences are called "multibyte
7952characters".
7953
7954The first byte of a multibyte character is always in the range 128
7955through 159 (octal 0200 through 0237). These values are called
7956"leading codes". The second and subsequent bytes are always in the
7957range 160 through 255 (octal 0240 through 0377). The first byte, the
7958leading code, determines how many bytes long the sequence is.
7959
7960*** The function forward-char moves over characters, and therefore
7961(forward-char 1) may increase point by more than 1 if it moves over a
7962multibyte character. Likewise, delete-char always deletes a
7963character, which may be more than one buffer position.
7964
7965This means that some Lisp programs, which assume that a character is
7966always one buffer position, need to be changed.
7967
7968However, all ASCII characters are always one buffer position.
7969
7970*** The regexp [\200-\377] no longer matches all non-ASCII characters,
7971because when enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, these characters
7972have codes that are not in the range octal 200 to octal 377. However,
7973the regexp [^\000-\177] does match all non-ASCII characters,
7974guaranteed.
7975
7976*** The function char-boundary-p returns non-nil if position POS is
7977between two characters in the buffer (not in the middle of a
7978character).
7979
7980When the value is non-nil, it says what kind of character follows POS:
7981
7982 0 if POS is at an ASCII character or at the end of range,
7983 1 if POS is before a 2-byte length multi-byte form,
7984 2 if POS is at a head of 3-byte length multi-byte form,
7985 3 if POS is at a head of 4-byte length multi-byte form,
7986 4 if POS is at a head of multi-byte form of a composite character.
7987
7988*** The function char-bytes returns how many bytes the character CHAR uses.
7989
7990*** Strings can contain multibyte characters. The function
7991`length' returns the string length counting bytes, which may be
7992more than the number of characters.
7993
7994You can include a multibyte character in a string constant by writing
7995it literally. You can also represent it with a hex escape,
7996\xNNNNNNN..., using as many digits as necessary. Any character which
7997is not a valid hex digit terminates this construct. If you want to
7998follow it with a character that is a hex digit, write backslash and
7999newline in between; that will terminate the hex escape.
8000
8001*** The function concat-chars takes arguments which are characters
8002and returns a string containing those characters.
8003
8004*** The function sref access a multibyte character in a string.
8005(sref STRING INDX) returns the character in STRING at INDEX. INDEX
8006counts from zero. If INDEX is at a position in the middle of a
8007character, sref signals an error.
8008
8009*** The function chars-in-string returns the number of characters
8010in a string. This is less than the length of the string, if the
8011string contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
8012
8013*** The function chars-in-region returns the number of characters
8014in a region from BEG to END. This is less than (- END BEG) if the
8015region contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
8016
8017*** The function string-to-list converts a string to a list of
8018the characters in it. string-to-vector converts a string
8019to a vector of the characters in it.
8020
8021*** The function store-substring alters part of the contents
8022of a string. You call it as follows:
8023
8024 (store-substring STRING IDX OBJ)
8025
8026This says to alter STRING, by storing OBJ starting at index IDX in
8027STRING. OBJ may be either a character or a (smaller) string.
8028This function really does alter the contents of STRING.
8029Since it is impossible to change the length of an existing string,
8030it is an error if OBJ doesn't fit within STRING's actual length.
8031
8032*** char-width returns the width (in columns) of the character CHAR,
8033if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
8034
8035*** string-width returns the width (in columns) of the text in STRING,
8036if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
8037
8038*** truncate-string-to-width shortens a string, if necessary,
8039to fit within a certain number of columns. (Of course, it does
8040not alter the string that you give it; it returns a new string
8041which contains all or just part of the existing string.)
8042
8043(truncate-string-to-width STR END-COLUMN &optional START-COLUMN PADDING)
8044
8045This returns the part of STR up to column END-COLUMN.
8046
8047The optional argument START-COLUMN specifies the starting column.
8048If this is non-nil, then the first START-COLUMN columns of the string
8049are not included in the resulting value.
8050
8051The optional argument PADDING, if non-nil, is a padding character to be added
8052at the beginning and end the resulting string, to extend it to exactly
8053WIDTH columns. If PADDING is nil, that means do not pad; then, if STRING
8054is narrower than WIDTH, the value is equal to STRING.
8055
8056If PADDING and START-COLUMN are both non-nil, and if there is no clean
8057place in STRING that corresponds to START-COLUMN (because one
8058character extends across that column), then the padding character
8059PADDING is added one or more times at the beginning of the result
8060string, so that its columns line up as if it really did start at
8061column START-COLUMN.
8062
8063*** When the functions in the list after-change-functions are called,
8064the third argument is the number of bytes in the pre-change text, not
8065necessarily the number of characters. It is, in effect, the
8066difference in buffer position between the beginning and the end of the
8067changed text, before the change.
8068
8069*** The characters Emacs uses are classified in various character
8070sets, each of which has a name which is a symbol. In general there is
8071one character set for each script, not for each language.
8072
8073**** The function charsetp tests whether an object is a character set name.
8074
8075**** The variable charset-list holds a list of character set names.
8076
8077**** char-charset, given a character code, returns the name of the character
8078set that the character belongs to. (The value is a symbol.)
8079
8080**** split-char, given a character code, returns a list containing the
8081name of the character set, followed by one or two byte-values
8082which identify the character within that character set.
8083
8084**** make-char, given a character set name and one or two subsequent
8085byte-values, constructs a character code. This is roughly the
8086opposite of split-char.
8087
8088**** find-charset-region returns a list of the character sets
8089of all the characters between BEG and END.
8090
8091**** find-charset-string returns a list of the character sets
8092of all the characters in a string.
8093
8094*** Here are the Lisp facilities for working with coding systems
8095and specifying coding systems.
8096
8097**** The function coding-system-list returns a list of all coding
8098system names (symbols). With optional argument t, it returns a list
8099of all distinct base coding systems, not including variants.
8100(Variant coding systems are those like latin-1-dos, latin-1-unix
8101and latin-1-mac which specify the end-of-line conversion as well
8102as what to do about code conversion.)
8103
8104**** coding-system-p tests a symbol to see if it is a coding system
8105name. It returns t if so, nil if not.
8106
8107**** file-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
8108for certain file names. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
8109except that the PATTERN is matched against the file name.
8110
8111Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
8112which file names the element applies to. PATTERN should be a regexp
8113to match against a file name.
8114
8115VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
8116a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
8117decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
8118to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
8119systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
8120specifies the coding system for encoding.
8121
8122If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
8123or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
8124
8125**** The variable network-coding-system-alist specifies
8126the coding system to use for network sockets.
8127
8128Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
8129which network sockets the element applies to. PATTERN should be
8130either a port number or a regular expression matching some network
8131service names.
8132
8133VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
8134a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
8135decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
8136to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
8137systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
8138specifies the coding system for encoding.
8139
8140If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
8141or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
8142
8143**** process-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
8144for certain subprocess. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
8145except that the PATTERN is matched against the program name used to
8146start the subprocess.
8147
8148**** The variable default-process-coding-system specifies the coding
8149systems to use for subprocess (and net connection) input and output,
8150when nothing else specifies what to do. The value is a cons cell
8151(OUTPUT-CODING . INPUT-CODING). OUTPUT-CODING applies to output
8152to the subprocess, and INPUT-CODING applies to input from it.
8153
8154**** The variable coding-system-for-write, if non-nil, specifies the
8155coding system to use for writing a file, or for output to a synchronous
8156subprocess.
8157
8158It also applies to any asynchronous subprocess or network connection,
8159but in a different way: the value of coding-system-for-write when you
8160start the subprocess or connection affects that subprocess or
8161connection permanently or until overridden.
8162
8163The variable coding-system-for-write takes precedence over
8164file-coding-system-alist, process-coding-system-alist and
8165network-coding-system-alist, and all other methods of specifying a
8166coding system for output. But most of the time this variable is nil.
8167It exists so that Lisp programs can bind it to a specific coding
8168system for one operation at a time.
8169
8170**** coding-system-for-read applies similarly to input from
8171files, subprocesses or network connections.
8172
8173**** The function process-coding-system tells you what
8174coding systems(s) an existing subprocess is using.
8175The value is a cons cell,
8176 (DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM . ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM)
8177where DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for decoding output from
8178the subprocess, and ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for encoding
8179input to the subprocess.
8180
8181**** The function set-process-coding-system can be used to
8182change the coding systems in use for an existing subprocess.
8183
8184** Emacs has a new facility to help users manage the many
8185customization options. To make a Lisp program work with this facility,
8186you need to use the new macros defgroup and defcustom.
8187
8188You use defcustom instead of defvar, for defining a user option
8189variable. The difference is that you specify two additional pieces of
8190information (usually): the "type" which says what values are
8191legitimate, and the "group" which specifies the hierarchy for
8192customization.
8193
8194Thus, instead of writing
8195
8196 (defvar foo-blurgoze nil
8197 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely.")
8198
8199you would now write this:
8200
8201 (defcustom foo-blurgoze nil
8202 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely."
8203 :type 'boolean
8204 :group foo)
8205
8206The type `boolean' means that this variable has only
8207two meaningful states: nil and non-nil. Other type values
8208describe other possibilities; see the manual for Custom
8209for a description of them.
8210
8211The "group" argument is used to specify a group which the option
8212should belong to. You define a new group like this:
8213
8214 (defgroup ispell nil
8215 "Spell checking using Ispell."
8216 :group 'processes)
8217
8218The "group" argument in defgroup specifies the parent group. The root
8219group is called `emacs'; it should not contain any variables itself,
8220but only other groups. The immediate subgroups of `emacs' correspond
8221to the keywords used by C-h p. Under these subgroups come
8222second-level subgroups that belong to individual packages.
8223
8224Each Emacs package should have its own set of groups. A simple
8225package should have just one group; a more complex package should
8226have a hierarchy of its own groups. The sole or root group of a
8227package should be a subgroup of one or more of the "keyword"
8228first-level subgroups.
8229
8230** New `widget' library for inserting UI components in buffers.
8231
8232This library, used by the new custom library, is documented in a
8233separate manual that accompanies Emacs.
8234
8235** easy-mmode
8236
8237The easy-mmode package provides macros and functions that make
8238developing minor modes easier. Roughly, the programmer has to code
8239only the functionality of the minor mode. All the rest--toggles,
8240predicate, and documentation--can be done in one call to the macro
8241`easy-mmode-define-minor-mode' (see the documentation). See also
8242`easy-mmode-define-keymap'.
8243
8244** Text property changes
8245
8246*** The `intangible' property now works on overlays as well as on a
8247text property.
8248
8249*** The new functions next-char-property-change and
8250previous-char-property-change scan through the buffer looking for a
8251place where either a text property or an overlay might change. The
8252functions take two arguments, POSITION and LIMIT. POSITION is the
8253starting position for the scan. LIMIT says where to stop the scan.
8254
8255If no property change is found before LIMIT, the value is LIMIT. If
8256LIMIT is nil, scan goes to the beginning or end of the accessible part
8257of the buffer. If no property change is found, the value is the
8258position of the beginning or end of the buffer.
8259
8260*** In the `local-map' text property or overlay property, the property
8261value can now be a symbol whose function definition is a keymap. This
8262is an alternative to using the keymap itself.
8263
8264** Changes in invisibility features
8265
8266*** Isearch can now temporarily show parts of the buffer which are
8267hidden by an overlay with a invisible property, when the search match
8268is inside that portion of the buffer. To enable this the overlay
8269should have a isearch-open-invisible property which is a function that
8270would be called having the overlay as an argument, the function should
8271make the overlay visible.
8272
8273During incremental search the overlays are shown by modifying the
8274invisible and intangible properties, if beside this more actions are
8275needed the overlay should have a isearch-open-invisible-temporary
8276which is a function. The function is called with 2 arguments: one is
8277the overlay and the second is nil when it should show the overlay and
8278t when it should hide it.
8279
8280*** add-to-invisibility-spec, remove-from-invisibility-spec
8281
8282Modes that use overlays to hide portions of a buffer should set the
8283invisible property of the overlay to the mode's name (or another symbol)
8284and modify the `buffer-invisibility-spec' to include that symbol.
8285Use `add-to-invisibility-spec' and `remove-from-invisibility-spec' to
8286manipulate the `buffer-invisibility-spec'.
8287Here is an example of how to do this:
8288
8289 ;; If we want to display an ellipsis:
8290 (add-to-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
8291 ;; If you don't want ellipsis:
8292 (add-to-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
8293
8294 ...
8295 (overlay-put (make-overlay beginning end) 'invisible 'my-symbol)
8296
8297 ...
8298 ;; When done with the overlays:
8299 (remove-from-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
8300 ;; Or respectively:
8301 (remove-from-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
8302
8303** Changes in syntax parsing.
8304
8305*** The syntax-directed buffer-scan functions (such as
8306`parse-partial-sexp', `forward-word' and similar functions) can now
8307obey syntax information specified by text properties, if the variable
8308`parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil.
8309
8310If the value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is nil, the behavior
8311is as before: the syntax-table of the current buffer is always
8312used to determine the syntax of the character at the position.
8313
8314When `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil, the syntax of a
8315character in the buffer is calculated thus:
8316
8317 a) if the `syntax-table' text-property of that character
8318 is a cons, this cons becomes the syntax-type;
8319
8320 Valid values of `syntax-table' text-property are: nil, a valid
8321 syntax-table, and a valid syntax-table element, i.e.,
8322 a cons cell of the form (SYNTAX-CODE . MATCHING-CHAR).
8323
8324 b) if the character's `syntax-table' text-property
8325 is a syntax table, this syntax table is used
8326 (instead of the syntax-table of the current buffer) to
8327 determine the syntax type of the character.
8328
8329 c) otherwise the syntax-type is determined by the syntax-table
8330 of the current buffer.
8331
8332*** The meaning of \s in regular expressions is also affected by the
8333value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties'. The details are the same as
8334for the syntax-directed buffer-scan functions.
8335
8336*** There are two new syntax-codes, `!' and `|' (numeric values 14
8337and 15). A character with a code `!' starts a comment which is ended
8338only by another character with the same code (unless quoted). A
8339character with a code `|' starts a string which is ended only by
8340another character with the same code (unless quoted).
8341
8342These codes are mainly meant for use as values of the `syntax-table'
8343text property.
8344
8345*** The function `parse-partial-sexp' has new semantics for the sixth
8346arg COMMENTSTOP. If it is `syntax-table', parse stops after the start
8347of a comment or a string, or after end of a comment or a string.
8348
8349*** The state-list which the return value from `parse-partial-sexp'
8350(and can also be used as an argument) now has an optional ninth
8351element: the character address of the start of last comment or string;
8352nil if none. The fourth and eighth elements have special values if the
8353string/comment is started by a "!" or "|" syntax-code.
8354
8355*** Since new features of `parse-partial-sexp' allow a complete
8356syntactic parsing, `font-lock' no longer supports
8357`font-lock-comment-start-regexp'.
8358
8359** Changes in face features
8360
8361*** The face functions are now unconditionally defined in Emacs, even
8362if it does not support displaying on a device that supports faces.
8363
8364*** The function face-documentation returns the documentation string
8365of a face (or nil if it doesn't have one).
8366
8367*** The function face-bold-p returns t if a face should be bold.
8368set-face-bold-p sets that flag.
8369
8370*** The function face-italic-p returns t if a face should be italic.
8371set-face-italic-p sets that flag.
8372
8373*** You can now specify foreground and background colors for text
8374by adding elements of the form (foreground-color . COLOR-NAME)
8375and (background-color . COLOR-NAME) to the list of faces in
8376the `face' property (either the character's text property or an
8377overlay property).
8378
8379This means that you no longer need to create named faces to use
8380arbitrary colors in a Lisp package.
8381
8382** Changes in file-handling functions
8383
8384*** File-access primitive functions no longer discard an extra redundant
8385directory name from the beginning of the file name. In other words,
8386they no longer do anything special with // or /~. That conversion
8387is now done only in substitute-in-file-name.
8388
8389This makes it possible for a Lisp program to open a file whose name
8390begins with ~.
8391
8392*** If copy-file is unable to set the date of the output file,
8393it now signals an error with the condition file-date-error.
8394
8395*** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
8396the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a list of integers.
8397
8398*** insert-file-contents can now read from a special file,
8399as long as the arguments VISIT and REPLACE are nil.
8400
8401*** The RAWFILE arg to find-file-noselect, if non-nil, now suppresses
8402character code conversion as well as other things.
8403
8404Meanwhile, this feature does work with remote file names
8405(formerly it did not).
8406
8407*** Lisp packages which create temporary files should use the TMPDIR
8408environment variable to decide which directory to put them in.
8409
8410*** interpreter-mode-alist elements now specify regexps
8411instead of constant strings.
8412
8413*** expand-file-name no longer treats `//' or `/~' specially. It used
8414to delete all the text of a file name up through the first slash of
8415any `//' or `/~' sequence. Now it passes them straight through.
8416
8417substitute-in-file-name continues to treat those sequences specially,
8418in the same way as before.
8419
8420*** The variable `format-alist' is more general now.
8421The FROM-FN and TO-FN in a format definition can now be strings
8422which specify shell commands to use as filters to perform conversion.
8423
8424*** The new function access-file tries to open a file, and signals an
8425error if that fails. If the open succeeds, access-file does nothing
8426else, and returns nil.
8427
8428*** The function insert-directory now signals an error if the specified
8429directory cannot be listed.
8430
8431** Changes in minibuffer input
8432
8433*** The functions read-buffer, read-variable, read-command, read-string
8434read-file-name, read-from-minibuffer and completing-read now take an
8435additional argument which specifies the default value. If this
8436argument is non-nil, it should be a string; that string is used in two
8437ways:
8438
8439 It is returned if the user enters empty input.
8440 It is available through the history command M-n.
8441
8442*** The functions read-string, read-from-minibuffer,
8443read-no-blanks-input and completing-read now take an additional
8444argument INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. If this is non-nil, then the
8445minibuffer inherits the current input method and the setting of
8446enable-multibyte-characters from the previously current buffer.
8447
8448In an interactive spec, you can use M instead of s to read an
8449argument in this way.
8450
8451*** All minibuffer input functions discard text properties
8452from the text you enter in the minibuffer, unless the variable
8453minibuffer-allow-text-properties is non-nil.
8454
8455** Echo area features
8456
8457*** Clearing the echo area now runs the normal hook
8458echo-area-clear-hook. Note that the echo area can be used while the
8459minibuffer is active; in that case, the minibuffer is still active
8460after the echo area is cleared.
8461
8462*** The function current-message returns the message currently displayed
8463in the echo area, or nil if there is none.
8464
8465** Keyboard input features
8466
8467*** tty-erase-char is a new variable that reports which character was
8468set up as the terminal's erase character when time Emacs was started.
8469
8470*** num-nonmacro-input-events is the total number of input events
8471received so far from the terminal. It does not count those generated
8472by keyboard macros.
8473
8474** Frame-related changes
8475
8476*** make-frame runs the normal hook before-make-frame-hook just before
8477creating a frame, and just after creating a frame it runs the abnormal
8478hook after-make-frame-functions with the new frame as arg.
8479
8480*** The new hook window-configuration-change-hook is now run every time
8481the window configuration has changed. The frame whose configuration
8482has changed is the selected frame when the hook is run.
8483
8484*** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
8485selected buffers, in its buffer-list frame parameter, so that the
8486value of other-buffer is now based on the buffers recently displayed
8487in the selected frame.
8488
8489*** The value of the frame parameter vertical-scroll-bars
8490is now `left', `right' or nil. A non-nil value specifies
8491which side of the window to put the scroll bars on.
8492
8493** X Windows features
8494
8495*** You can examine X resources for other applications by binding
8496x-resource-class around a call to x-get-resource. The usual value of
8497x-resource-class is "Emacs", which is the correct value for Emacs.
8498
8499*** In menus, checkboxes and radio buttons now actually work.
8500The menu displays the current status of the box or button.
8501
8502*** The function x-list-fonts now takes an optional fourth argument
8503MAXIMUM which sets a limit on how many matching fonts to return.
8504A smaller value of MAXIMUM makes the function faster.
8505
8506If the only question is whether *any* font matches the pattern,
8507it is good to supply 1 for this argument.
8508
8509** Subprocess features
8510
8511*** A reminder: it is no longer necessary for subprocess filter
8512functions and sentinels to do save-match-data, because Emacs does this
8513automatically.
8514
8515*** The new function shell-command-to-string executes a shell command
8516and returns the output from the command as a string.
8517
8518*** The new function process-contact returns t for a child process,
8519and (HOSTNAME SERVICE) for a net connection.
8520
8521** An error in running pre-command-hook or post-command-hook
8522does clear the variable to nil. The documentation was wrong before.
8523
8524** In define-key-after, if AFTER is t, the new binding now always goes
8525at the end of the keymap. If the keymap is a menu, this means it
8526goes after the other menu items.
8527
8528** If you have a program that makes several changes in the same area
8529of the buffer, you can use the macro combine-after-change-calls
8530around that Lisp code to make it faster when after-change hooks
8531are in use.
8532
8533The macro arranges to call the after-change functions just once for a
8534series of several changes--if that seems safe.
8535
8536Don't alter the variables after-change-functions and
8537after-change-function within the body of a combine-after-change-calls
8538form.
8539
8540** If you define an abbrev (with define-abbrev) whose EXPANSION
8541is not a string, then the abbrev does not expand in the usual sense,
8542but its hook is still run.
8543
8544** Normally, the Lisp debugger is not used (even if you have enabled it)
8545for errors that are handled by condition-case.
8546
8547If you set debug-on-signal to a non-nil value, then the debugger is called
8548regardless of whether there is a handler for the condition. This is
8549useful for debugging problems that happen inside of a condition-case.
8550
8551This mode of operation seems to be unreliable in other ways. Errors that
8552are normal and ought to be handled, perhaps in timers or process
8553filters, will instead invoke the debugger. So don't say you weren't
8554warned.
8555
8556** The new variable ring-bell-function lets you specify your own
8557way for Emacs to "ring the bell".
8558
8559** If run-at-time's TIME argument is t, the action is repeated at
8560integral multiples of REPEAT from the epoch; this is useful for
8561functions like display-time.
8562
8563** You can use the function locate-library to find the precise file
8564name of a Lisp library. This isn't new, but wasn't documented before.
8565
8566** Commands for entering view mode have new optional arguments that
8567can be used from Lisp. Low-level entrance to and exit from view mode
8568is done by functions view-mode-enter and view-mode-exit.
8569
8570** batch-byte-compile-file now makes Emacs return a nonzero status code
8571if there is an error in compilation.
8572
8573** pop-to-buffer, switch-to-buffer-other-window and
8574switch-to-buffer-other-frame now accept an additional optional
8575argument NORECORD, much like switch-to-buffer. If it is non-nil,
8576they don't put the buffer at the front of the buffer list.
8577
8578** If your .emacs file leaves the *scratch* buffer non-empty,
8579Emacs does not display the startup message, so as to avoid changing
8580the *scratch* buffer.
8581
8582** The new function regexp-opt returns an efficient regexp to match a string.
8583The arguments are STRINGS and (optionally) PAREN. This function can be used
8584where regexp matching or searching is intensively used and speed is important,
8585e.g., in Font Lock mode.
8586
8587** The variable buffer-display-count is local to each buffer,
8588and is incremented each time the buffer is displayed in a window.
8589It starts at 0 when the buffer is created.
8590
8591** The new function compose-mail starts composing a mail message
8592using the user's chosen mail composition agent (specified with the
8593variable mail-user-agent). It has variants compose-mail-other-window
8594and compose-mail-other-frame.
8595
8596** The `user-full-name' function now takes an optional parameter which
8597can either be a number (the UID) or a string (the login name). The
8598full name of the specified user will be returned.
8599
8600** Lisp packages that load files of customizations, or any other sort
8601of user profile, should obey the variable init-file-user in deciding
8602where to find it. They should load the profile of the user name found
8603in that variable. If init-file-user is nil, meaning that the -q
8604option was used, then Lisp packages should not load the customization
8605files at all.
8606
8607** format-time-string now allows you to specify the field width
8608and type of padding. This works as in printf: you write the field
8609width as digits in the middle of a %-construct. If you start
8610the field width with 0, it means to pad with zeros.
8611
8612For example, %S normally specifies the number of seconds since the
8613minute; %03S means to pad this with zeros to 3 positions, %_3S to pad
8614with spaces to 3 positions. Plain %3S pads with zeros, because that
8615is how %S normally pads to two positions.
8616
8617** thing-at-point now supports a new kind of "thing": url.
8618
8619** imenu.el changes.
8620
8621You can now specify a function to be run when selecting an
8622item from menu created by imenu.
8623
8624An example of using this feature: if we define imenu items for the
8625#include directives in a C file, we can open the included file when we
8626select one of those items.
8627\f
8628* Emacs 19.34 is a bug-fix release with no user-visible changes.
8629\f
8630* Changes in Emacs 19.33.
8631
8632** Bibtex mode no longer turns on Auto Fill automatically. (No major
8633mode should do that--it is the user's choice.)
8634
8635** The variable normal-auto-fill-function specifies the function to
8636use for auto-fill-function, if and when Auto Fill is turned on.
8637Major modes can set this locally to alter how Auto Fill works.
8638\f
8639* Editing Changes in Emacs 19.32
8640
8641** C-x f with no argument now signals an error.
8642To set the fill column at the current column, use C-u C-x f.
8643
8644** Expanding dynamic abbrevs with M-/ is now smarter about case
8645conversion. If you type the abbreviation with mixed case, and it
8646matches the beginning of the expansion including case, then the
8647expansion is copied verbatim. Using SPC M-/ to copy an additional
8648word always copies it verbatim except when the previous copied word is
8649all caps.
8650
8651** On a non-windowing terminal, which can display only one Emacs frame
8652at a time, creating a new frame with C-x 5 2 also selects that frame.
8653
8654When using a display that can show multiple frames at once, C-x 5 2
8655does make the frame visible, but does not select it. This is the same
8656as in previous Emacs versions.
8657
8658** You can use C-x 5 2 to create multiple frames on MSDOS, just as on a
8659non-X terminal on Unix. Of course, only one frame is visible at any
8660time, since your terminal doesn't have the ability to display multiple
8661frames.
8662
8663** On Windows, set win32-pass-alt-to-system to a non-nil value
8664if you would like tapping the Alt key to invoke the Windows menu.
8665This feature is not enabled by default; since the Alt key is also the
8666Meta key, it is too easy and painful to activate this feature by
8667accident.
8668
8669** The command apply-macro-to-region-lines repeats the last defined
8670keyboard macro once for each complete line within the current region.
8671It does this line by line, by moving point to the beginning of that
8672line and then executing the macro.
8673
8674This command is not new, but was never documented before.
8675
8676** You can now use Mouse-1 to place the region around a string constant
8677(something surrounded by doublequote characters or other delimiter
8678characters of like syntax) by double-clicking on one of the delimiting
8679characters.
8680
8681** Font Lock mode
8682
8683*** Font Lock support modes
8684
8685Font Lock can be configured to use Fast Lock mode and Lazy Lock mode (see
8686below) in a flexible way. Rather than adding the appropriate function to the
8687hook font-lock-mode-hook, you can use the new variable font-lock-support-mode
8688to control which modes have Fast Lock mode or Lazy Lock mode turned on when
8689Font Lock mode is enabled.
8690
8691For example, to use Fast Lock mode when Font Lock mode is turned on, put:
8692
8693 (setq font-lock-support-mode 'fast-lock-mode)
8694
8695in your ~/.emacs.
8696
8697*** lazy-lock
8698
8699The lazy-lock package speeds up Font Lock mode by making fontification occur
8700only when necessary, such as when a previously unfontified part of the buffer
8701becomes visible in a window. When you create a buffer with Font Lock mode and
8702Lazy Lock mode turned on, the buffer is not fontified. When certain events
8703occur (such as scrolling), Lazy Lock makes sure that the visible parts of the
8704buffer are fontified. Lazy Lock also defers on-the-fly fontification until
8705Emacs has been idle for a given amount of time.
8706
8707To use this package, put in your ~/.emacs:
8708
8709 (setq font-lock-support-mode 'lazy-lock-mode)
8710
8711To control the package behaviour, see the documentation for `lazy-lock-mode'.
8712
8713** Changes in BibTeX mode.
8714
8715*** For all entries allow spaces and tabs between opening brace or
8716paren and key.
8717
8718*** Non-escaped double-quoted characters (as in `Sch"of') are now
8719supported.
8720
8721** Gnus changes.
8722
8723Gnus, the Emacs news reader, has undergone further rewriting. Many new
8724commands and variables have been added. There should be no
8725significant incompatibilities between this Gnus version and the
8726previously released version, except in the message composition area.
8727
8728Below is a list of the more user-visible changes. Coding changes
8729between Gnus 5.1 and 5.2 are more extensive.
8730
8731*** A new message composition mode is used. All old customization
8732variables for mail-mode, rnews-reply-mode and gnus-msg are now
8733obsolete.
8734
8735*** Gnus is now able to generate "sparse" threads -- threads where
8736missing articles are represented by empty nodes.
8737
8738 (setq gnus-build-sparse-threads 'some)
8739
8740*** Outgoing articles are stored on a special archive server.
8741
8742 To disable this: (setq gnus-message-archive-group nil)
8743
8744*** Partial thread regeneration now happens when articles are
8745referred.
8746
8747*** Gnus can make use of GroupLens predictions:
8748
8749 (setq gnus-use-grouplens t)
8750
8751*** A trn-line tree buffer can be displayed.
8752
8753 (setq gnus-use-trees t)
8754
8755*** An nn-like pick-and-read minor mode is available for the summary
8756buffers.
8757
8758 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-mode-hook 'gnus-pick-mode)
8759
8760*** In binary groups you can use a special binary minor mode:
8761
8762 `M-x gnus-binary-mode'
8763
8764*** Groups can be grouped in a folding topic hierarchy.
8765
8766 (add-hook 'gnus-group-mode-hook 'gnus-topic-mode)
8767
8768*** Gnus can re-send and bounce mail.
8769
8770 Use the `S D r' and `S D b'.
8771
8772*** Groups can now have a score, and bubbling based on entry frequency
8773is possible.
8774
8775 (add-hook 'gnus-summary-exit-hook 'gnus-summary-bubble-group)
8776
8777*** Groups can be process-marked, and commands can be performed on
8778groups of groups.
8779
8780*** Caching is possible in virtual groups.
8781
8782*** nndoc now understands all kinds of digests, mail boxes, rnews news
8783batches, ClariNet briefs collections, and just about everything else.
8784
8785*** Gnus has a new backend (nnsoup) to create/read SOUP packets.
8786
8787*** The Gnus cache is much faster.
8788
8789*** Groups can be sorted according to many criteria.
8790
8791 For instance: (setq gnus-group-sort-function 'gnus-group-sort-by-rank)
8792
8793*** New group parameters have been introduced to set list-address and
8794expiration times.
8795
8796*** All formatting specs allow specifying faces to be used.
8797
8798*** There are several more commands for setting/removing/acting on
8799process marked articles on the `M P' submap.
8800
8801*** The summary buffer can be limited to show parts of the available
8802articles based on a wide range of criteria. These commands have been
8803bound to keys on the `/' submap.
8804
8805*** Articles can be made persistent -- as an alternative to saving
8806articles with the `*' command.
8807
8808*** All functions for hiding article elements are now toggles.
8809
8810*** Article headers can be buttonized.
8811
8812 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-add-buttons-to-head)
8813
8814*** All mail backends support fetching articles by Message-ID.
8815
8816*** Duplicate mail can now be treated properly. See the
8817`nnmail-treat-duplicates' variable.
8818
8819*** All summary mode commands are available directly from the article
8820buffer.
8821
8822*** Frames can be part of `gnus-buffer-configuration'.
8823
8824*** Mail can be re-scanned by a daemonic process.
8825
8826*** Gnus can make use of NoCeM files to filter spam.
8827
8828 (setq gnus-use-nocem t)
8829
8830*** Groups can be made permanently visible.
8831
8832 (setq gnus-permanently-visible-groups "^nnml:")
8833
8834*** Many new hooks have been introduced to make customizing easier.
8835
8836*** Gnus respects the Mail-Copies-To header.
8837
8838*** Threads can be gathered by looking at the References header.
8839
8840 (setq gnus-summary-thread-gathering-function
8841 'gnus-gather-threads-by-references)
8842
8843*** Read articles can be stored in a special backlog buffer to avoid
8844refetching.
8845
8846 (setq gnus-keep-backlog 50)
8847
8848*** A clean copy of the current article is always stored in a separate
8849buffer to allow easier treatment.
8850
8851*** Gnus can suggest where to save articles. See `gnus-split-methods'.
8852
8853*** Gnus doesn't have to do as much prompting when saving.
8854
8855 (setq gnus-prompt-before-saving t)
8856
8857*** gnus-uu can view decoded files asynchronously while fetching
8858articles.
8859
8860 (setq gnus-uu-grabbed-file-functions 'gnus-uu-grab-view)
8861
8862*** Filling in the article buffer now works properly on cited text.
8863
8864*** Hiding cited text adds buttons to toggle hiding, and how much
8865cited text to hide is now customizable.
8866
8867 (setq gnus-cited-lines-visible 2)
8868
8869*** Boring headers can be hidden.
8870
8871 (add-hook 'gnus-article-display-hook 'gnus-article-hide-boring-headers)
8872
8873*** Default scoring values can now be set from the menu bar.
8874
8875*** Further syntax checking of outgoing articles have been added.
8876
8877The Gnus manual has been expanded. It explains all these new features
8878in greater detail.
8879\f
8880* Lisp Changes in Emacs 19.32
8881
8882** The function set-visited-file-name now accepts an optional
8883second argument NO-QUERY. If it is non-nil, then the user is not
8884asked for confirmation in the case where the specified file already
8885exists.
8886
8887** The variable print-length applies to printing vectors and bitvectors,
8888as well as lists.
8889
8890** The new function keymap-parent returns the parent keymap
8891of a given keymap.
8892
8893** The new function set-keymap-parent specifies a new parent for a
8894given keymap. The arguments are KEYMAP and PARENT. PARENT must be a
8895keymap or nil.
8896
8897** Sometimes menu keymaps use a command name, a symbol, which is really
8898an automatically generated alias for some other command, the "real"
8899name. In such a case, you should give that alias symbol a non-nil
8900menu-alias property. That property tells the menu system to look for
8901equivalent keys for the real name instead of equivalent keys for the
8902alias.
8903\f
8904* Editing Changes in Emacs 19.31
8905
8906** Freedom of the press restricted in the United States.
8907
8908Emacs has been censored in accord with the Communications Decency Act.
8909This includes removing some features of the doctor program. That law
8910was described by its supporters as a ban on pornography, but it bans
8911far more than that. The Emacs distribution has never contained any
8912pornography, but parts of it were nonetheless prohibited.
8913
8914For information on US government censorship of the Internet, and what
8915you can do to bring back freedom of the press, see the web site
8916`http://www.vtw.org/'.
8917
8918** A note about C mode indentation customization.
8919
8920The old (Emacs 19.29) ways of specifying a C indentation style
8921do not normally work in the new implementation of C mode.
8922It has its own methods of customizing indentation, which are
8923much more powerful than the old C mode. See the Editing Programs
8924chapter of the manual for details.
8925
8926However, you can load the library cc-compat to make the old
8927customization variables take effect.
8928
8929** Marking with the mouse.
8930
8931When you mark a region with the mouse, the region now remains
8932highlighted until the next input event, regardless of whether you are
8933using M-x transient-mark-mode.
8934
8935** Improved Windows NT/95 support.
8936
8937*** Emacs now supports scroll bars on Windows NT and Windows 95.
8938
8939*** Emacs now supports subprocesses on Windows 95. (Subprocesses used
8940to work on NT only and not on 95.)
8941
8942*** There are difficulties with subprocesses, though, due to problems
8943in Windows, beyond the control of Emacs. They work fine as long as
8944you run Windows applications. The problems arise when you run a DOS
8945application in a subprocesses. Since current shells run as DOS
8946applications, these problems are significant.
8947
8948If you run a DOS application in a subprocess, then the application is
8949likely to busy-wait, which means that your machine will be 100% busy.
8950However, if you don't mind the temporary heavy load, the subprocess
8951will work OK as long as you tell it to terminate before you start any
8952other DOS application as a subprocess.
8953
8954Emacs is unable to terminate or interrupt a DOS subprocess.
8955You have to do this by providing input directly to the subprocess.
8956
8957If you run two DOS applications at the same time in two separate
8958subprocesses, even if one of them is asynchronous, you will probably
8959have to reboot your machine--until then, it will remain 100% busy.
8960Windows simply does not cope when one Windows process tries to run two
8961separate DOS subprocesses. Typing CTL-ALT-DEL and then choosing
8962Shutdown seems to work although it may take a few minutes.
8963
8964** M-x resize-minibuffer-mode.
8965
8966This command, not previously mentioned in NEWS, toggles a mode in
8967which the minibuffer window expands to show as many lines as the
8968minibuffer contains.
8969
8970** `title' frame parameter and resource.
8971
8972The `title' X resource now specifies just the frame title, nothing else.
8973It does not affect the name used for looking up other X resources.
8974It works by setting the new `title' frame parameter, which likewise
8975affects just the displayed title of the frame.
8976
8977The `name' parameter continues to do what it used to do:
8978it specifies the frame name for looking up X resources,
8979and also serves as the default for the displayed title
8980when the `title' parameter is unspecified or nil.
8981
8982** Emacs now uses the X toolkit by default, if you have a new
8983enough version of X installed (X11R5 or newer).
8984
8985** When you compile Emacs with the Motif widget set, Motif handles the
8986F10 key by activating the menu bar. To avoid confusion, the usual
8987Emacs binding of F10 is replaced with a no-op when using Motif.
8988
8989If you want to be able to use F10 in Emacs, you can rebind the Motif
8990menubar to some other key which you don't use. To do so, add
8991something like this to your X resources file. This example rebinds
8992the Motif menu bar activation key to S-F12:
8993
8994 Emacs*defaultVirtualBindings: osfMenuBar : Shift<Key>F12
8995
8996** In overwrite mode, DEL now inserts spaces in most cases
8997to replace the characters it "deletes".
8998
8999** The Rmail summary now shows the number of lines in each message.
9000
9001** Rmail has a new command M-x unforward-rmail-message, which extracts
9002a forwarded message from the message that forwarded it. To use it,
9003select a message which contains a forwarded message and then type the command.
9004It inserts the forwarded message as a separate Rmail message
9005immediately after the selected one.
9006
9007This command also undoes the textual modifications that are standardly
9008made, as part of forwarding, by Rmail and other mail reader programs.
9009
9010** Turning off saving of .saves-... files in your home directory.
9011
9012Each Emacs session writes a file named .saves-... in your home
9013directory to record which files M-x recover-session should recover.
9014If you exit Emacs normally with C-x C-c, it deletes that file. If
9015Emacs or the operating system crashes, the file remains for M-x
9016recover-session.
9017
9018You can turn off the writing of these files by setting
9019auto-save-list-file-name to nil. If you do this, M-x recover-session
9020will not work.
9021
9022Some previous Emacs versions failed to delete these files even on
9023normal exit. This is fixed now. If you are thinking of turning off
9024this feature because of past experiences with versions that had this
9025bug, it would make sense to check whether you still want to do so
9026now that the bug is fixed.
9027
9028** Changes to Version Control (VC)
9029
9030There is a new variable, vc-follow-symlinks. It indicates what to do
9031when you visit a link to a file that is under version control.
9032Editing the file through the link bypasses the version control system,
9033which is dangerous and probably not what you want.
9034
9035If this variable is t, VC follows the link and visits the real file,
9036telling you about it in the echo area. If it is `ask' (the default),
9037VC asks for confirmation whether it should follow the link. If nil,
9038the link is visited and a warning displayed.
9039
9040** iso-acc.el now lets you specify a choice of language.
9041Languages include "latin-1" (the default) and "latin-2" (which
9042is designed for entering ISO Latin-2 characters).
9043
9044There are also choices for specific human languages such as French and
9045Portuguese. These are subsets of Latin-1, which differ in that they
9046enable only the accent characters needed for particular language.
9047The other accent characters, not needed for the chosen language,
9048remain normal.
9049
9050** Posting articles and sending mail now has M-TAB completion on various
9051header fields (Newsgroups, To, CC, ...).
9052
9053Completion in the Newsgroups header depends on the list of groups
9054known to your news reader. Completion in the Followup-To header
9055offers those groups which are in the Newsgroups header, since
9056Followup-To usually just holds one of those.
9057
9058Completion in fields that hold mail addresses works based on the list
9059of local users plus your aliases. Additionally, if your site provides
9060a mail directory or a specific host to use for any unrecognized user
9061name, you can arrange to query that host for completion also. (See the
9062documentation of variables `mail-directory-process' and
9063`mail-directory-stream'.)
9064
9065** A greatly extended sgml-mode offers new features such as (to be configured)
9066skeletons with completing read for tags and attributes, typing named
9067characters including optionally all 8bit characters, making tags invisible
9068with optional alternate display text, skipping and deleting tag(pair)s.
9069
9070Note: since Emacs' syntax feature cannot limit the special meaning of ', " and
9071- to inside <>, for some texts the result, especially of font locking, may be
9072wrong (see `sgml-specials' if you get wrong results).
9073
9074The derived html-mode configures this with tags and attributes more or
9075less HTML3ish. It also offers optional quick keys like C-c 1 for
9076headline or C-c u for unordered list (see `html-quick-keys'). Edit /
9077Text Properties / Face or M-g combinations create tags as applicable.
9078Outline minor mode is supported and level 1 font-locking tries to
9079fontify tag contents (which only works when they fit on one line, due
9080to a limitation in font-lock).
9081
9082External viewing via browse-url can occur automatically upon saving.
9083
9084** M-x imenu-add-to-menubar now adds to the menu bar for the current
9085buffer only. If you want to put an Imenu item in the menu bar for all
9086buffers that use a particular major mode, use the mode hook, as in
9087this example:
9088
9089 (add-hook 'emacs-lisp-mode-hook
9090 '(lambda () (imenu-add-to-menubar "Index")))
9091
9092** Changes in BibTeX mode.
9093
9094*** Field names may now contain digits, hyphens, and underscores.
9095
9096*** Font Lock mode is now supported.
9097
9098*** bibtex-make-optional-field is no longer interactive.
9099
9100*** If bibtex-maintain-sorted-entries is non-nil, inserting new
9101entries is now done with a faster algorithm. However, inserting
9102will fail in this case if the buffer contains invalid entries or
9103isn't in sorted order, so you should finish each entry with C-c C-c
9104(bibtex-close-entry) after you have inserted or modified it.
9105The default value of bibtex-maintain-sorted-entries is nil.
9106
9107*** Function `show-all' is no longer bound to a key, since C-u C-c C-q
9108does the same job.
9109
9110*** Entries with quotes inside quote-delimited fields (as `author =
9111"Stefan Sch{\"o}f"') are now supported.
9112
9113*** Case in field names doesn't matter anymore when searching for help
9114text.
9115
9116** Font Lock mode
9117
9118*** Global Font Lock mode
9119
9120Font Lock mode can be turned on globally, in buffers that support it, by the
9121new command global-font-lock-mode. You can use the new variable
9122font-lock-global-modes to control which modes have Font Lock mode automagically
9123turned on. By default, this variable is set so that Font Lock mode is turned
9124on globally where the buffer mode supports it.
9125
9126For example, to automagically turn on Font Lock mode where supported, put:
9127
9128 (global-font-lock-mode t)
9129
9130in your ~/.emacs.
9131
9132*** Local Refontification
9133
9134In Font Lock mode, editing a line automatically refontifies that line only.
9135However, if your change alters the syntactic context for following lines,
9136those lines remain incorrectly fontified. To refontify them, use the new
9137command M-g M-g (font-lock-fontify-block).
9138
9139In certain major modes, M-g M-g refontifies the entire current function.
9140(The variable font-lock-mark-block-function controls how to find the
9141current function.) In other major modes, M-g M-g refontifies 16 lines
9142above and below point.
9143
9144With a prefix argument N, M-g M-g refontifies N lines above and below point.
9145
9146** Follow mode
9147
9148Follow mode is a new minor mode combining windows showing the same
9149buffer into one tall "virtual window". The windows are typically two
9150side-by-side windows. Follow mode makes them scroll together as if
9151they were a unit. To use it, go to a frame with just one window,
9152split it into two side-by-side windows using C-x 3, and then type M-x
9153follow-mode.
9154
9155M-x follow-mode turns off Follow mode if it is already enabled.
9156
9157To display two side-by-side windows and activate Follow mode, use the
9158command M-x follow-delete-other-windows-and-split.
9159
9160** hide-show changes.
9161
9162The hooks hs-hide-hooks and hs-show-hooks have been renamed
9163to hs-hide-hook and hs-show-hook, to follow the convention for
9164normal hooks.
9165
9166** Simula mode now has a menu containing the most important commands.
9167The new command simula-indent-exp is bound to C-M-q.
9168
9169** etags can now handle programs written in Erlang. Files are
9170recognised by the extensions .erl and .hrl. The tagged lines are
9171those that begin a function, record, or macro.
9172
9173** MSDOS Changes
9174
9175*** It is now possible to compile Emacs with the version 2 of DJGPP.
9176Compilation with DJGPP version 1 also still works.
9177
9178*** The documentation of DOS-specific aspects of Emacs was rewritten
9179and expanded; see the ``MS-DOS'' node in the on-line docs.
9180
9181*** Emacs now uses ~ for backup file names, not .bak.
9182
9183*** You can simulate mouse-3 on two-button mice by simultaneously
9184pressing both mouse buttons.
9185
9186*** A number of packages and commands which previously failed or had
9187restricted functionality on MS-DOS, now work. The most important ones
9188are:
9189
9190**** Printing (both with `M-x lpr-buffer' and with `ps-print' package)
9191now works.
9192
9193**** `Ediff' works (in a single-frame mode).
9194
9195**** `M-x display-time' can be used on MS-DOS (due to the new
9196implementation of Emacs timers, see below).
9197
9198**** `Dired' supports Unix-style shell wildcards.
9199
9200**** The `c-macro-expand' command now works as on other platforms.
9201
9202**** `M-x recover-session' works.
9203
9204**** `M-x list-colors-display' displays all the available colors.
9205
9206**** The `TPU-EDT' package works.
9207\f
9208* Lisp changes in Emacs 19.31.
9209
9210** The function using-unix-filesystems on Windows NT and Windows 95
9211tells Emacs to read and write files assuming that they reside on a
9212remote Unix filesystem. No CR/LF translation is done on any files in
9213this case. Invoking using-unix-filesystems with t activates this
9214behavior, and invoking it with any other value deactivates it.
9215
9216** Change in system-type and system-configuration values.
9217
9218The value of system-type on a Linux-based GNU system is now `lignux',
9219not `linux'. This means that some programs which use `system-type'
9220need to be changed. The value of `system-configuration' will also
9221be different.
9222
9223It is generally recommended to use `system-configuration' rather
9224than `system-type'.
9225
9226See the file LINUX-GNU in this directory for more about this.
9227
9228** The functions shell-command and dired-call-process
9229now run file name handlers for default-directory, if it has them.
9230
9231** Undoing the deletion of text now restores the positions of markers
9232that pointed into or next to the deleted text.
9233
9234** Timers created with run-at-time now work internally to Emacs, and
9235no longer use a separate process. Therefore, they now work more
9236reliably and can be used for shorter time delays.
9237
9238The new function run-with-timer is a convenient way to set up a timer
9239to run a specified amount of time after the present. A call looks
9240like this:
9241
9242 (run-with-timer SECS REPEAT FUNCTION ARGS...)
9243
9244SECS says how many seconds should elapse before the timer happens.
9245It may be an integer or a floating point number. When the timer
9246becomes ripe, the action is to call FUNCTION with arguments ARGS.
9247
9248REPEAT gives the interval for repeating the timer (measured in
9249seconds). It may be an integer or a floating point number. nil or 0
9250means don't repeat at all--call FUNCTION just once.
9251
9252*** with-timeout provides an easy way to do something but give
9253up if too much time passes.
9254
9255 (with-timeout (SECONDS TIMEOUT-FORMS...) BODY...)
9256
9257This executes BODY, but gives up after SECONDS seconds.
9258If it gives up, it runs the TIMEOUT-FORMS and returns the value
9259of the last one of them. Normally it returns the value of the last
9260form in BODY.
9261
9262*** You can now arrange to call a function whenever Emacs is idle for
9263a certain length of time. To do this, call run-with-idle-timer. A
9264call looks like this:
9265
9266 (run-with-idle-timer SECS REPEAT FUNCTION ARGS...)
9267
9268SECS says how many seconds of idleness should elapse before the timer
9269runs. It may be an integer or a floating point number. When the
9270timer becomes ripe, the action is to call FUNCTION with arguments
9271ARGS.
9272
9273Emacs becomes idle whenever it finishes executing a keyboard or mouse
9274command. It remains idle until it receives another keyboard or mouse
9275command.
9276
9277REPEAT, if non-nil, means this timer should be activated again each
9278time Emacs becomes idle and remains idle for SECS seconds The timer
9279does not repeat if Emacs *remains* idle; it runs at most once after
9280each time Emacs becomes idle.
9281
9282If REPEAT is nil, the timer runs just once, the first time Emacs is
9283idle for SECS seconds.
9284
9285*** post-command-idle-hook is now obsolete; you shouldn't use it at
9286all, because it interferes with the idle timer mechanism. If your
9287programs use post-command-idle-hook, convert them to use idle timers
9288instead.
9289
9290*** y-or-n-p-with-timeout lets you ask a question but give up if
9291there is no answer within a certain time.
9292
9293 (y-or-n-p-with-timeout PROMPT SECONDS DEFAULT-VALUE)
9294
9295asks the question PROMPT (just like y-or-n-p). If the user answers
9296within SECONDS seconds, it returns the answer that the user gave.
9297Otherwise it gives up after SECONDS seconds, and returns DEFAULT-VALUE.
9298
9299** Minor change to `encode-time': you can now pass more than seven
9300arguments. If you do that, the first six arguments have the usual
9301meaning, the last argument is interpreted as the time zone, and the
9302arguments in between are ignored.
9303
9304This means that it works to use the list returned by `decode-time' as
9305the list of arguments for `encode-time'.
9306
9307** The default value of load-path now includes the directory
9308/usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp In addition to
9309/usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp. You can use this new directory for
9310site-specific Lisp packages that belong with a particular Emacs
9311version.
9312
9313It is not unusual for a Lisp package that works well in one Emacs
9314version to cause trouble in another. Sometimes packages need updating
9315for incompatible changes; sometimes they look at internal data that
9316has changed; sometimes the package has been installed in Emacs itself
9317and the installed version should be used. Whatever the reason for the
9318problem, this new feature makes it easier to solve.
9319
9320** When your program contains a fixed file name (like .completions or
9321.abbrev.defs), the file name usually needs to be different on operating
9322systems with limited file name syntax.
9323
9324Now you can avoid ad-hoc conditionals by using the function
9325convert-standard-filename to convert the file name to a proper form
9326for each operating system. Here is an example of use, from the file
9327completions.el:
9328
9329(defvar save-completions-file-name
9330 (convert-standard-filename "~/.completions")
9331 "*The filename to save completions to.")
9332
9333This sets the variable save-completions-file-name to a value that
9334depends on the operating system, because the definition of
9335convert-standard-filename depends on the operating system. On
9336Unix-like systems, it returns the specified file name unchanged. On
9337MS-DOS, it adapts the name to fit the limitations of that system.
9338
9339** The interactive spec N now returns the numeric prefix argument
9340rather than the raw prefix argument. (It still reads a number using the
9341minibuffer if there is no prefix argument at all.)
9342
9343** When a process is deleted, this no longer disconnects the process
9344marker from its buffer position.
9345
9346** The variable garbage-collection-messages now controls whether
9347Emacs displays a message at the beginning and end of garbage collection.
9348The default is nil, meaning there are no messages.
9349
9350** The variable debug-ignored-errors specifies certain kinds of errors
9351that should not enter the debugger. Its value is a list of error
9352condition symbols and/or regular expressions. If the error has any
9353of the condition symbols listed, or if any of the regular expressions
9354matches the error message, then that error does not enter the debugger,
9355regardless of the value of debug-on-error.
9356
9357This variable is initialized to match certain common but uninteresting
9358errors that happen often during editing.
9359
9360** The new function error-message-string converts an error datum
9361into its error message. The error datum is what condition-case
9362puts into the variable, to describe the error that happened.
9363
9364** Anything that changes which buffer appears in a given window
9365now runs the window-scroll-functions for that window.
9366
9367** The new function get-buffer-window-list returns a list of windows displaying
9368a buffer. The function is called with the buffer (a buffer object or a buffer
9369name) and two optional arguments specifying the minibuffer windows and frames
9370to search. Therefore this function takes optional args like next-window etc.,
9371and not get-buffer-window.
9372
9373** buffer-substring now runs the hook buffer-access-fontify-functions,
9374calling each function with two arguments--the range of the buffer
9375being accessed. buffer-substring-no-properties does not call them.
9376
9377If you use this feature, you should set the variable
9378buffer-access-fontified-property to a non-nil symbol, which is a
9379property name. Then, if all the characters in the buffer range have a
9380non-nil value for that property, the buffer-access-fontify-functions
9381are not called. When called, these functions should put a non-nil
9382property on the text that they fontify, so that they won't get called
9383over and over for the same text.
9384
9385** Changes in lisp-mnt.el
9386
9387*** The lisp-mnt package can now recognize file headers that are written
9388in the formats used by the `what' command and the RCS `ident' command:
9389
9390;; @(#) HEADER: text
9391;; $HEADER: text $
9392
9393in addition to the normal
9394
9395;; HEADER: text
9396
9397*** The commands lm-verify and lm-synopsis are now interactive. lm-verify
9398checks that the library file has proper sections and headers, and
9399lm-synopsis extracts first line "synopsis'"information.
9400
9401
a933dad1 9402\f
3787e12e 9403* For older news, see the file ONEWS
a933dad1
DL
9404
9405----------------------------------------------------------------------
9406Copyright information:
9407
75d80cc6 9408Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
a933dad1
DL
9409
9410 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
9411 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
9412 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
9413 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
9414
9415 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
9416 of this document, or of portions of it,
9417 under the above conditions, provided also that they
9418 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
9419\f
9420Local variables:
9421mode: outline
9422paragraph-separate: "[ \f]*$"
9423end: