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f751376f | 1 | Copyright (c) 1985 Free Software Foundation, Inc; See end for conditions. |
f751376f JB |
2 | You are looking at the Emacs tutorial. |
3 | ||
1869e50a KH |
4 | Emacs commands generally involve the CONTROL key (sometimes labeled |
5 | CTRL or CTL) or the META key (sometimes labeled EDIT or ALT). Rather than | |
4a3142d2 | 6 | write that in full each time, we'll use the following abbreviations: |
f751376f JB |
7 | |
8 | C-<chr> means hold the CONTROL key while typing the character <chr> | |
9 | Thus, C-f would be: hold the CONTROL key and type f. | |
8a4aff68 | 10 | M-<chr> means hold the META or EDIT or ALT key down while typing <chr>. |
4a3142d2 KH |
11 | If there is no META, EDIT or ALT key, instead press and release the |
12 | ESC key and then type <chr>. We write <ESC> for the ESC key. | |
f751376f JB |
13 | |
14 | Important note: to end the Emacs session, type C-x C-c. (Two characters.) | |
15 | The characters ">>" at the left margin indicate directions for you to | |
16 | try using a command. For instance: | |
17 | <<Blank lines inserted here by startup of help-with-tutorial>> | |
18 | >> Now type C-v (View next screen) to move to the next screen. | |
82e312c7 RS |
19 | (go ahead, do it by holding down the control key while typing v). |
20 | From now on, you should do this again whenever you finish | |
f751376f JB |
21 | reading the screen. |
22 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
23 | Note that there is an overlap of two lines when you move from screen |
24 | to screen; this provides some continuity so you can continue reading | |
25 | the text. | |
f751376f | 26 | |
82e312c7 RS |
27 | The first thing that you need to know is how to move around from place |
28 | to place in the text. You already know how to move forward one screen, | |
29 | with C-v. To move backwards one screen, type M-v (hold down the META key | |
bec1289c | 30 | and type v, or type <ESC>v if you do not have a META, EDIT, or ALT key). |
f751376f | 31 | |
82e312c7 | 32 | >> Try typing M-v and then C-v, a few times. |
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33 | |
34 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
35 | * SUMMARY |
36 | --------- | |
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37 | |
38 | The following commands are useful for viewing screenfuls: | |
39 | ||
40 | C-v Move forward one screenful | |
41 | M-v Move backward one screenful | |
82e312c7 RS |
42 | C-l Clear screen and redisplay all the text, |
43 | moving the text around the cursor | |
44 | to the center of the screen. | |
3242b6f0 | 45 | (That's control-L, not control-1.) |
f751376f | 46 | |
82e312c7 RS |
47 | >> Find the cursor, and note what text is near it. |
48 | Then type C-l. | |
49 | Find the cursor again and notice that the same text | |
50 | is near the cursor now. | |
f751376f JB |
51 | |
52 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
53 | * BASIC CURSOR CONTROL |
54 | ---------------------- | |
f751376f | 55 | |
82e312c7 RS |
56 | Moving from screenful to screenful is useful, but how do you |
57 | move to a specific place within the text on the screen? | |
58 | ||
59 | There are several ways you can do this. The most basic way is to use | |
60 | the commands C-p, C-b, C-f, and C-n. Each of these commands moves the | |
61 | cursor one row or column in a particular direction on the screen. | |
6f108a37 RS |
62 | Here is a table showing these four commands and the directions they |
63 | move: | |
f751376f JB |
64 | |
65 | Previous line, C-p | |
66 | : | |
67 | : | |
68 | Backward, C-b .... Current cursor position .... Forward, C-f | |
69 | : | |
70 | : | |
82e312c7 | 71 | Next line, C-n |
f751376f JB |
72 | |
73 | >> Move the cursor to the line in the middle of that diagram | |
82e312c7 RS |
74 | using C-n or C-p. Then type C-l to see the whole diagram |
75 | centered in the screen. | |
f751376f | 76 | |
82e312c7 RS |
77 | You'll probably find it easy to think of these by letter: P for |
78 | previous, N for next, B for backward and F for forward. These are the | |
79 | basic cursor positioning commands, and you'll be using them ALL the | |
80 | time, so it would be of great benefit if you learn them now. | |
f751376f JB |
81 | |
82 | >> Do a few C-n's to bring the cursor down to this line. | |
83 | ||
84 | >> Move into the line with C-f's and then up with C-p's. | |
85 | See what C-p does when the cursor is in the middle of the line. | |
86 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
87 | Each of text line ends with a Newline character, which serves to |
88 | separate it from the following line. The last line in your file ought | |
bec1289c KH |
89 | to have a Newline at the end (but Emacs does not require it to have |
90 | one). | |
82e312c7 RS |
91 | |
92 | >> Try to C-b at the beginning of a line. It should move to | |
93 | the end of the previous line. This is because it moves back | |
94 | across the Newline character. | |
f751376f | 95 | |
82e312c7 | 96 | C-f can move across a Newline just like C-b. |
f751376f | 97 | |
82e312c7 RS |
98 | >> Do a few more C-b's, so you get a feel for where the cursor is. |
99 | Then do C-f's to return to the end of the line. | |
100 | Then do one more C-f to move to the following line. | |
f751376f | 101 | |
82e312c7 RS |
102 | When you move past the top or bottom of the screen, the text beyond |
103 | the edge shifts onto the screen. This is called "scrolling". It | |
104 | enables Emacs to move the cursor to the specified place in the text | |
105 | without moving it off the screen. | |
106 | ||
107 | >> Try to move the cursor off the bottom of the screen with C-n, and | |
f751376f JB |
108 | see what happens. |
109 | ||
110 | If moving by characters is too slow, you can move by words. M-f | |
111 | (Meta-f) moves forward a word and M-b moves back a word. | |
112 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
113 | >> Type a few M-f's and M-b's. |
114 | ||
115 | When you are in the middle of a word, M-f moves to the end of the word. | |
116 | When you are in whitespace between words, M-f moves to the end of the | |
117 | following word. M-b works likewise in the opposite direction. | |
118 | ||
119 | >> Type M-f and M-b a few times, interspersed with C-f's and C-b's | |
120 | so that you can observe the action of M-f and M-b from various | |
121 | places inside and between words. | |
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122 | |
123 | Notice the parallel between C-f and C-b on the one hand, and M-f and | |
124 | M-b on the other hand. Very often Meta characters are used for | |
82e312c7 RS |
125 | operations related to the units defined by language (words, sentences, |
126 | paragraphs), while Control characters operate on basic units that are | |
127 | independent of what you are editing (characters, lines, etc). | |
128 | ||
129 | This parallel applies between lines and sentences: C-a and C-e move to | |
130 | the beginning or end of a line, and M-a and M-e move to the beginning | |
131 | or end of a sentence. | |
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132 | |
133 | >> Try a couple of C-a's, and then a couple of C-e's. | |
134 | Try a couple of M-a's, and then a couple of M-e's. | |
135 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
136 | See how repeated C-a's do nothing, but repeated M-a's keep moving one |
137 | more sentence. Although these are not quite analogous, each one seems | |
138 | natural. | |
f751376f JB |
139 | |
140 | The location of the cursor in the text is also called "point". To | |
141 | paraphrase, the cursor shows on the screen where point is located in | |
142 | the text. | |
143 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
144 | Here is a summary of simple cursor-moving operations, including the |
145 | word and sentence moving commands: | |
f751376f JB |
146 | |
147 | C-f Move forward a character | |
148 | C-b Move backward a character | |
149 | ||
150 | M-f Move forward a word | |
151 | M-b Move backward a word | |
152 | ||
153 | C-n Move to next line | |
154 | C-p Move to previous line | |
155 | ||
156 | C-a Move to beginning of line | |
157 | C-e Move to end of line | |
158 | ||
159 | M-a Move back to beginning of sentence | |
160 | M-e Move forward to end of sentence | |
161 | ||
f751376f | 162 | >> Try all of these commands now a few times for practice. |
82e312c7 RS |
163 | These are the most often used commands. |
164 | ||
165 | Two other important cursor motion commands are M-< (Meta Less-than), | |
166 | which moves to the beginning of the whole text, and M-> (Meta | |
167 | Greater-than), which moves to the end of the whole text. | |
168 | ||
169 | On most terminals, the "<" is above the comma, so you must use the | |
170 | shift key to type it. On these terminals you must use the shift key | |
171 | to type M-< also; without the shift key, you would be typing M-comma. | |
172 | ||
173 | >> Try M-< now, to move to the beginning of the tutorial. | |
174 | Then use C-v repeatedly to move back here. | |
175 | ||
176 | >> Try M-> now, to move to the end of the tutorial. | |
177 | Then use M-v repeatedly to move back here. | |
178 | ||
179 | You can also move the cursor with the arrow keys, if your terminal has | |
180 | arrow keys. We recommend learning C-b, C-f, C-n and C-p for three | |
181 | reasons. First, they work on all kinds of terminals. Second, once | |
8806d20f | 182 | you gain practice at using Emacs, you will find that typing these Control |
82e312c7 RS |
183 | characters is faster than typing the arrow keys (because you do not |
184 | have to move your hands away from touch-typing position). Third, once | |
8806d20f | 185 | you form the habit of using these Control character commands, you can |
82e312c7 RS |
186 | easily learn to use other advanced cursor motion commands as well. |
187 | ||
188 | Most Emacs commands accept a numeric argument; for most commands, this | |
189 | serves as a repeat-count. The way you give a command a repeat count | |
190 | is by typing C-u and then the digits before you type the command. If | |
6f108a37 | 191 | you have a META (or EDIT or ALT) key, there is another, alternative way |
bec1289c KH |
192 | to enter a numeric argument: type the digits while holding down the |
193 | META key. We recommend learning the C-u method because it works on | |
973cefd2 RS |
194 | any terminal. The numeric argument is also called a "prefix argument", |
195 | because you type the argument before the command it applies to. | |
f751376f JB |
196 | |
197 | For instance, C-u 8 C-f moves forward eight characters. | |
198 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
199 | >> Try using C-n or C-p with a numeric argument, to move the cursor |
200 | to a line near this one with just one command. | |
f751376f | 201 | |
973cefd2 RS |
202 | Most commands use the numeric argument as a repeat count, but some |
203 | commands use it in some other way. Several commands (but none of | |
204 | those you have learned so far) use it as a flag--the presence of a | |
205 | prefix argument, regardless of its value, makes the command do | |
206 | something different. | |
207 | ||
208 | C-v and M-v are another kind of exception. When given an argument, | |
209 | they scroll the screen up or down by that many lines, rather than by a | |
210 | screenful. For example, C-u 8 C-v scrolls the screen by 8 lines. | |
f751376f JB |
211 | |
212 | >> Try typing C-u 8 C-v now. | |
213 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
214 | This should have scrolled the screen up by 8 lines. If you would like |
215 | to scroll it down again, you can give an argument to M-v. | |
f751376f | 216 | |
82e312c7 RS |
217 | If you are using X Windows, there should be a tall rectangular area |
218 | called a scroll bar at the left hand side of the Emacs window. You | |
b0874bbd RS |
219 | can scroll the text by clicking the mouse in the scroll bar. |
220 | ||
221 | >> Try pressing the middle button at the top of the highlighted area | |
82e312c7 RS |
222 | within the scroll bar. This should scroll the text to a position |
223 | determined by how high or low you click. | |
b0874bbd | 224 | |
82e312c7 RS |
225 | >> Try moving the mouse up and down, while holding the middle button |
226 | pressed down. You'll see that the text scrolls up and down as | |
227 | you move the mouse. | |
b0874bbd | 228 | |
f751376f | 229 | |
26dc36e6 JB |
230 | * WHEN EMACS IS HUNG |
231 | -------------------- | |
f751376f | 232 | |
82e312c7 RS |
233 | If Emacs stops responding to your commands, you can stop it safely by |
234 | typing C-g. You can use C-g to stop a command which is taking too | |
235 | long to execute. | |
236 | ||
f751376f | 237 | You can also use C-g to discard a numeric argument or the beginning of |
82e312c7 | 238 | a command that you do not want to finish. |
f751376f JB |
239 | |
240 | >> Type C-u 100 to make a numeric arg of 100, then type C-g. | |
82e312c7 RS |
241 | Now type C-f. It should move just one character, |
242 | because you canceled the argument with C-g. | |
f751376f | 243 | |
82e312c7 RS |
244 | If you have typed an <ESC> by mistake, you can get rid of it |
245 | with a C-g. | |
335b1952 | 246 | |
82e312c7 RS |
247 | |
248 | * DISABLED COMMANDS | |
249 | ------------------- | |
250 | ||
251 | Some Emacs commands are "disabled" so that beginning users cannot use | |
252 | them by accident. | |
253 | ||
254 | If you type one of the disabled commands, Emacs displays a message | |
255 | saying what the command was, and asking you whether you want to go | |
256 | ahead and execute the command. | |
257 | ||
258 | If you really want to try the command, type Space in answer to the | |
259 | question. Normally, if you do not want to execute the disabled | |
260 | command, answer the question with "n". | |
261 | ||
70f4a594 | 262 | >> Type C-x C-l (which is a disabled command), |
82e312c7 | 263 | then type n to answer the question. |
f751376f JB |
264 | |
265 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
266 | * WINDOWS |
267 | --------- | |
f751376f | 268 | |
82e312c7 RS |
269 | Emacs can have several windows, each displaying its own text. We will |
270 | explain later on how to use multiple windows. Right now we want to | |
271 | explain how to get rid of extra windows and go back to basic | |
272 | one-window editing. It is simple: | |
f751376f JB |
273 | |
274 | C-x 1 One window (i.e., kill all other windows). | |
275 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
276 | That is Control-x followed by the digit 1. C-x 1 expands the window |
277 | which contains the cursor, to occupy the full screen. It deletes all | |
278 | other windows. | |
f751376f JB |
279 | |
280 | >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l. | |
281 | >> Type Control-h k Control-f. | |
282 | See how this window shrinks, while a new one appears | |
283 | to display documentation on the Control-f command. | |
284 | ||
285 | >> Type C-x 1 and see the documentation listing window disappear. | |
286 | ||
8806d20f RS |
287 | This command is unlike the other commands you have learned in that it |
288 | consists of two characters. It starts with the character Control-x. | |
289 | There is a whole series of commands that start with Control-x; many of | |
290 | them have to do with windows, files, buffers, and related things. | |
291 | These commands are two, three or four characters long. | |
292 | ||
f751376f | 293 | |
26dc36e6 JB |
294 | * INSERTING AND DELETING |
295 | ------------------------ | |
f751376f | 296 | |
82e312c7 RS |
297 | If you want to insert text, just type the text. Characters which you |
298 | can see, such as A, 7, *, etc. are taken by Emacs as text and inserted | |
f751376f JB |
299 | immediately. Type <Return> (the carriage-return key) to insert a |
300 | Newline character. | |
301 | ||
50d326a4 KH |
302 | You can delete the last character you typed by typing <Delete>. |
303 | <Delete> is a key on the keyboard, which may be labeled "Del". In | |
304 | some cases, the "Backspace" key serves as <Delete>, but not always! | |
305 | ||
306 | More generally, <Delete> deletes the character immediately before the | |
307 | current cursor position. | |
f751376f | 308 | |
82e312c7 | 309 | >> Do this now--type a few characters, then delete them |
50d326a4 | 310 | by typing <Delete> a few times. Don't worry about this file |
82e312c7 RS |
311 | being changed; you will not alter the master tutorial. This is |
312 | your personal copy of it. | |
313 | ||
314 | When a line of text gets too big for one line on the screen, the line | |
315 | of text is "continued" onto a second screen line. A backslash ("\") | |
316 | at the right margin indicates a line which has been continued. | |
317 | ||
318 | >> Insert text until you reach the right margin, and keep on inserting. | |
319 | You'll see a continuation line appear. | |
320 | ||
50d326a4 | 321 | >> Use <Delete>s to delete the text until the line fits on one screen |
f751376f JB |
322 | line again. The continuation line goes away. |
323 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
324 | You can delete a Newline character just like any other character. |
325 | Deleting the Newline character between two lines merges them into | |
326 | one line. If the resulting combined line is too long to fit in the | |
327 | screen width, it will be displayed with a continuation line. | |
328 | ||
50d326a4 | 329 | >> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line and type <Delete>. This |
82e312c7 RS |
330 | merges that line with the previous line. |
331 | ||
f751376f JB |
332 | >> Type <Return> to reinsert the Newline you deleted. |
333 | ||
334 | Remember that most Emacs commands can be given a repeat count; | |
82e312c7 RS |
335 | this includes text characters. Repeating a text character inserts |
336 | it several times. | |
f751376f | 337 | |
82e312c7 | 338 | >> Try that now -- type C-u 8 * to insert ********. |
f751376f JB |
339 | |
340 | You've now learned the most basic way of typing something in | |
341 | Emacs and correcting errors. You can delete by words or lines | |
342 | as well. Here is a summary of the delete operations: | |
343 | ||
50d326a4 | 344 | <Delete> delete the character just before the cursor |
f751376f JB |
345 | C-d delete the next character after the cursor |
346 | ||
50d326a4 | 347 | M-<Delete> kill the word immediately before the cursor |
f751376f JB |
348 | M-d kill the next word after the cursor |
349 | ||
350 | C-k kill from the cursor position to end of line | |
351 | M-k kill to the end of the current sentence | |
352 | ||
50d326a4 | 353 | Notice that <Delete> and C-d vs M-<Delete> and M-d extend the parallel |
82e312c7 | 354 | started by C-f and M-f (well, <Delete> is not really a control |
f751376f JB |
355 | character, but let's not worry about that). C-k and M-k are like C-e |
356 | and M-e, sort of, in that lines are opposite sentences. | |
357 | ||
6f311043 KH |
358 | You can also kill any part of the buffer with one uniform method. |
359 | Move to one end of that part, and type C-@ or C-SPC (either one). | |
360 | Move to the other end of that part, and type C-w. That kills | |
361 | all the text between the two positions. | |
362 | ||
363 | >> Move the cursor to the Y at the start of the previous paragraph. | |
364 | >> Type C-SPC. Emacs should display a message "Mark set" | |
365 | at the bottom of the screen. | |
366 | >> Move the cursor to the n in "end", on the second line of the | |
367 | paragraph. | |
368 | >> Type C-w. This will kill the text starting from the Y, | |
369 | and ending just before the n. | |
370 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
371 | When you delete more than one character at a time, Emacs saves the |
372 | deleted text so that you can bring it back. Bringing back killed text | |
373 | is called "yanking". You can yank the killed text either at the same | |
374 | place where it was killed, or at some other place in the text. You | |
375 | can yank the text several times in order to make multiple copies of | |
376 | it. The command to yank is C-y. | |
f751376f | 377 | |
82e312c7 RS |
378 | Note that the difference between "Killing" and "Deleting" something is |
379 | that "Killed" things can be yanked back, and "Deleted" things cannot. | |
380 | Generally, the commands that can remove a lot of text save the text, | |
381 | while the commands that delete just one character, or just blank lines | |
382 | and spaces, do not save the deleted text. | |
f751376f | 383 | |
82e312c7 RS |
384 | >> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line which is not empty. |
385 | Then type C-k to kill the text on that line. | |
386 | >> Type C-k a second time. You'll see that it kills the Newline | |
387 | which follows that line. | |
f751376f JB |
388 | |
389 | Note that a single C-k kills the contents of the line, and a second | |
6f108a37 | 390 | C-k kills the line itself, and makes all the other lines move up. C-k |
82e312c7 RS |
391 | treats a numeric argument specially: it kills that many lines AND |
392 | their contents. This is not mere repetition. C-u 2 C-k kills two | |
393 | lines and their newlines; typing C-k twice would not do that. | |
f751376f | 394 | |
82e312c7 RS |
395 | To retrieve the last killed text and put it where the cursor currently |
396 | is, type C-y. | |
f751376f JB |
397 | |
398 | >> Try it; type C-y to yank the text back. | |
399 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
400 | Think of C-y as if you were yanking something back that someone took |
401 | away from you. Notice that if you do several C-k's in a row, all of | |
402 | the killed text is saved together, so that one C-y will yank all of | |
403 | the lines. | |
f751376f JB |
404 | |
405 | >> Do this now, type C-k several times. | |
406 | ||
407 | Now to retrieve that killed text: | |
408 | ||
409 | >> Type C-y. Then move the cursor down a few lines and type C-y | |
410 | again. You now see how to copy some text. | |
411 | ||
412 | What do you do if you have some text you want to yank back, and then | |
413 | you kill something else? C-y would yank the more recent kill. But | |
414 | the previous text is not lost. You can get back to it using the M-y | |
415 | command. After you have done C-y to get the most recent kill, typing | |
bec1289c | 416 | M-y replaces that yanked text with the previous kill. Typing M-y |
82e312c7 RS |
417 | again and again brings in earlier and earlier kills. When you have |
418 | reached the text you are looking for, you do not have to do anything to | |
419 | keep it. Just go on with your editing, leaving the yanked text where | |
420 | it is. | |
421 | ||
422 | If you M-y enough times, you come back to the starting point (the most | |
423 | recent kill). | |
f751376f JB |
424 | |
425 | >> Kill a line, move around, kill another line. | |
426 | Then do C-y to get back the second killed line. | |
427 | Then do M-y and it will be replaced by the first killed line. | |
428 | Do more M-y's and see what you get. Keep doing them until | |
429 | the second kill line comes back, and then a few more. | |
430 | If you like, you can try giving M-y positive and negative | |
431 | arguments. | |
432 | ||
433 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
434 | * UNDO |
435 | ------ | |
f751376f | 436 | |
82e312c7 RS |
437 | If you make a change to the text, and then decide that it was a |
438 | mistake, you can undo the change with the undo command, C-x u. | |
439 | ||
440 | Normally, C-x u undoes the changes made by one command; if you repeat | |
441 | the C-x u several times in a row, each repetition undoes one | |
442 | additional command. | |
443 | ||
444 | But there are two exceptions: commands that do not change the text do | |
445 | not count (this includes cursor motion commands and scrolling | |
446 | command), and self-inserting characters are usually handled in groups | |
447 | of up to 20. (This is to reduce the number of C-x u's you have to | |
448 | type to undo insertion of text.) | |
f751376f JB |
449 | |
450 | >> Kill this line with C-k, then type C-x u and it should reappear. | |
451 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
452 | C-_ is an alternative undo command; it works just the same as C-x u, |
453 | but it is easier to type several times in a row. The disadvantage of | |
454 | C-_ is that on some keyboards it is not obvious how to type it. That | |
455 | is why we provide C-x u as well. On some terminals, you can type C-_ | |
8806d20f | 456 | by typing / while holding down CONTROL. |
f751376f | 457 | |
82e312c7 | 458 | A numeric argument to C-_ or C-x u acts as a repeat count. |
f751376f JB |
459 | |
460 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
461 | * FILES |
462 | ------- | |
f751376f JB |
463 | |
464 | In order to make the text you edit permanent, you must put it in a | |
465 | file. Otherwise, it will go away when your invocation of Emacs goes | |
8806d20f RS |
466 | away. In order to put your text in a file, you must "find" the file |
467 | before you enter the text. (This is also called "visiting" the file.) | |
82e312c7 RS |
468 | |
469 | Finding a file means that you see the contents of the file within | |
470 | Emacs. In many ways, it is as if you were editing the file itself. | |
471 | However, the changes you make using Emacs do not become permanent | |
472 | until you "save" the file. This is so you can avoid leaving a | |
473 | half-changed file on the system when you do not want to. Even when | |
474 | you save, Emacs leaves the original file under a changed name in case | |
475 | you later decide that your changes were a mistake. | |
f751376f JB |
476 | |
477 | If you look near the bottom of the screen you will see a line that | |
3c72adf2 RS |
478 | begins and ends with dashes, and starts with "--:-- TUTORIAL" or |
479 | something like that. This part of the screen normally shows the name | |
480 | of the file that you are visiting. Right now, you are visiting a file | |
481 | called "TUTORIAL" which is your personal scratch copy of the Emacs | |
482 | tutorial. When you find a file with Emacs, that file's name will | |
483 | appear in that precise spot. | |
f751376f | 484 | |
8806d20f RS |
485 | One special thing about the command for finding a file is that you |
486 | have to say what file name you want. We say the command "reads an | |
487 | argument from the terminal" (in this case, the argument is the name of | |
488 | the file). After you type the command | |
f751376f JB |
489 | |
490 | C-x C-f Find a file | |
491 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
492 | Emacs asks you to type the file name. The file name you type appears |
493 | on the bottom line of the screen. The bottom line is called the | |
494 | minibuffer when it is used for this sort of input. You can use | |
495 | ordinary Emacs editing commands to edit the file name. | |
496 | ||
497 | While you are entering the file name (or any minibuffer input), | |
498 | you can cancel the command with C-g. | |
f751376f JB |
499 | |
500 | >> Type C-x C-f, then type C-g. This cancels the minibuffer, | |
501 | and also cancels the C-x C-f command that was using the | |
502 | minibuffer. So you do not find any file. | |
503 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
504 | When you have finished entering the file name, type <Return> to |
505 | terminate it. Then C-x C-f command goes to work, and finds the file | |
506 | you chose. The minibuffer disappears when the C-x C-f command is | |
507 | finished. | |
508 | ||
509 | In a little while the file contents appear on the screen, and you can | |
510 | edit the contents. When you wish to make your changes permanent, | |
511 | type the command | |
f751376f JB |
512 | |
513 | C-x C-s Save the file | |
514 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
515 | This copies the text within Emacs into the file. The first time you |
516 | do this, Emacs renames the original file to a new name so that it is | |
517 | not lost. The new name is made by adding "~" to the end of the | |
518 | original file's name. | |
f751376f JB |
519 | |
520 | When saving is finished, Emacs prints the name of the file written. | |
521 | You should save fairly often, so that you will not lose very much | |
522 | work if the system should crash. | |
523 | ||
524 | >> Type C-x C-s, saving your copy of the tutorial. | |
82e312c7 | 525 | This should print "Wrote ...TUTORIAL" at the bottom of the screen. |
f751376f | 526 | |
afb7440b RS |
527 | NOTE: On some systems, typing C-x C-s will freeze the screen and you |
528 | will see no further output from Emacs. This indicates that an | |
529 | operating system "feature" called "flow control" is intercepting the | |
530 | C-s and not letting it get through to Emacs. To unfreeze the screen, | |
531 | type C-q. Then see the section "Spontaneous Entry to Incremental | |
532 | Search" in the Emacs manual for advice on dealing with this "feature". | |
533 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
534 | You can find an existing file, to view it or edit it. You can also |
535 | find a file which does not already exist. This is the way to create a | |
536 | file with Emacs: find the file, which will start out empty, and then | |
537 | begin inserting the text for the file. When you ask to "save" the | |
538 | file, Emacs will really create the file with the text that you have | |
539 | inserted. From then on, you can consider yourself to be editing an | |
540 | already existing file. | |
f751376f JB |
541 | |
542 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
543 | * BUFFERS |
544 | --------- | |
f751376f JB |
545 | |
546 | If you find a second file with C-x C-f, the first file remains | |
547 | inside Emacs. You can switch back to it by finding it again with | |
548 | C-x C-f. This way you can get quite a number of files inside Emacs. | |
549 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
550 | >> Create a file named "foo" by typing C-x C-f foo <Return>. |
551 | Then insert some text, edit it, and save "foo" by typing C-x C-s. | |
552 | Finally, type C-x C-f TUTORIAL <Return> | |
553 | to come back to the tutorial. | |
554 | ||
73635959 | 555 | Emacs stores each file's text inside an object called a "buffer". |
82e312c7 | 556 | Finding a file makes a new buffer inside Emacs. To see a list of the |
73635959 | 557 | buffers that currently exist in your Emacs job, type |
f751376f JB |
558 | |
559 | C-x C-b List buffers | |
560 | ||
561 | >> Try C-x C-b now. | |
562 | ||
563 | See how each buffer has a name, and it may also have a file name | |
564 | for the file whose contents it holds. Some buffers do not correspond | |
565 | to files. For example, the buffer named "*Buffer List*" does | |
566 | not have any file. It is the buffer which contains the buffer | |
567 | list that was made by C-x C-b. ANY text you see in an Emacs window | |
82e312c7 | 568 | is always part of some buffer. |
f751376f JB |
569 | |
570 | >> Type C-x 1 to get rid of the buffer list. | |
571 | ||
572 | If you make changes to the text of one file, then find another file, | |
573 | this does not save the first file. Its changes remain inside Emacs, | |
574 | in that file's buffer. The creation or editing of the second file's | |
575 | buffer has no effect on the first file's buffer. This is very useful, | |
576 | but it also means that you need a convenient way to save the first | |
577 | file's buffer. It would be a nuisance to have to switch back to | |
578 | it with C-x C-f in order to save it with C-x C-s. So we have | |
579 | ||
580 | C-x s Save some buffers | |
581 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
582 | C-x s asks you about each buffer which contains changes that you have |
583 | not saved. It asks you, for each such buffer, whether to save the | |
584 | buffer. | |
f751376f | 585 | |
82e312c7 RS |
586 | >> Insert a line of text, then type C-x s. |
587 | It should ask you whether to save the buffer named TUTORIAL. | |
588 | Answer yes to the question by typing "y". | |
f751376f | 589 | |
5577e2b2 | 590 | |
26dc36e6 JB |
591 | * EXTENDING THE COMMAND SET |
592 | --------------------------- | |
f751376f JB |
593 | |
594 | There are many, many more Emacs commands than could possibly be put | |
595 | on all the control and meta characters. Emacs gets around this with | |
596 | the X (eXtend) command. This comes in two flavors: | |
597 | ||
598 | C-x Character eXtend. Followed by one character. | |
599 | M-x Named command eXtend. Followed by a long name. | |
600 | ||
601 | These are commands that are generally useful but used less than the | |
82e312c7 RS |
602 | commands you have already learned about. You have already seen two of |
603 | them: the file commands C-x C-f to Find and C-x C-s to Save. Another | |
604 | example is the command to end the Emacs session--this is the command | |
605 | C-x C-c. (Do not worry about losing changes you have made; C-x C-c | |
606 | offers to save each changed file before it kills the Emacs.) | |
f751376f | 607 | |
e7662099 RS |
608 | C-z is the command to exit Emacs *temporarily*--so that you can go |
609 | back to the same Emacs session afterward. | |
610 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
611 | On systems which allow it, C-z "suspends" Emacs; that is, it returns |
612 | to the shell but does not destroy the Emacs. In the most common | |
613 | shells, you can resume Emacs with the `fg' command or with `%emacs'. | |
614 | ||
615 | On systems which do not implement suspending, C-z creates a subshell | |
616 | running under Emacs to give you the chance to run other programs and | |
617 | return to Emacs afterward; it does not truly "exit" from Emacs. In | |
618 | this case, the shell command `exit' is the usual way to get back to | |
619 | Emacs from the subshell. | |
e7662099 RS |
620 | |
621 | The time to use C-x C-c is when you are about to log out. It's also | |
622 | the right thing to use to exit an Emacs invoked under mail handling | |
82e312c7 RS |
623 | programs and other miscellaneous utilities, since they may not know |
624 | how to cope with suspension of Emacs. In ordinary circumstances, | |
625 | though, if you are not about to log out, it is better to suspend Emacs | |
626 | with C-z instead of exiting Emacs. | |
f751376f | 627 | |
82e312c7 | 628 | There are many C-x commands. Here is a list of the ones you have learned: |
f751376f JB |
629 | |
630 | C-x C-f Find file. | |
631 | C-x C-s Save file. | |
632 | C-x C-b List buffers. | |
633 | C-x C-c Quit Emacs. | |
e64159dd | 634 | C-x 1 Delete all but one window. |
f751376f JB |
635 | C-x u Undo. |
636 | ||
637 | Named eXtended commands are commands which are used even less | |
82e312c7 RS |
638 | frequently, or commands which are used only in certain modes. An |
639 | example is the command replace-string, which globally replaces one | |
640 | string with another. When you type M-x, Emacs prompts you at the | |
641 | bottom of the screen with M-x and you should type the name of the | |
642 | command; in this case, "replace-string". Just type "repl s<TAB>" and | |
643 | Emacs will complete the name. End the command name with <Return>. | |
644 | ||
645 | The replace-string command requires two arguments--the string to be | |
646 | replaced, and the string to replace it with. You must end each | |
647 | argument with <Return>. | |
f751376f JB |
648 | |
649 | >> Move the cursor to the blank line two lines below this one. | |
650 | Then type M-x repl s<Return>changed<Return>altered<Return>. | |
651 | ||
652 | Notice how this line has changed: you've replaced | |
82e312c7 RS |
653 | the word c-h-a-n-g-e-d with "altered" wherever it occurred, |
654 | after the initial position of the cursor. | |
f751376f JB |
655 | |
656 | ||
4a630427 RS |
657 | * AUTO SAVE |
658 | ----------- | |
659 | ||
660 | When you have made changes in a file, but you have not saved them yet, | |
661 | they could be lost if your computer crashes. To protect you from | |
82e312c7 RS |
662 | this, Emacs periodically writes an "auto save" file for each file that |
663 | you are editing. The auto save file name has a # at the beginning and | |
664 | the end; for example, if your file is named "hello.c", its auto save | |
665 | file's name is "#hello.c#". When you save the file in the normal way, | |
666 | Emacs deletes its auto save file. | |
4a630427 RS |
667 | |
668 | If the computer crashes, you can recover your auto-saved editing by | |
669 | finding the file normally (the file you were editing, not the auto | |
73635959 KH |
670 | save file) and then typing M-x recover file<Return>. When it asks for |
671 | confirmation, type yes<Return> to go ahead and recover the auto-save | |
4a630427 RS |
672 | data. |
673 | ||
674 | ||
82e312c7 | 675 | * ECHO AREA |
26dc36e6 | 676 | ----------- |
f751376f | 677 | |
e64159dd RS |
678 | If Emacs sees that you are typing multicharacter commands slowly, it |
679 | shows them to you at the bottom of the screen in an area called the | |
680 | "echo area". The echo area contains the bottom line of the screen. | |
f751376f | 681 | |
f751376f | 682 | |
82e312c7 RS |
683 | * MODE LINE |
684 | ----------- | |
685 | ||
e64159dd | 686 | The line immediately above the echo area is called the "mode line". |
82e312c7 RS |
687 | The mode line says something like this: |
688 | ||
775a19b4 | 689 | --:** TUTORIAL (Fundamental)--L670--58%---------------- |
82e312c7 RS |
690 | |
691 | This line gives useful information about the status of Emacs and | |
692 | the text you are editing. | |
f751376f JB |
693 | |
694 | You already know what the filename means--it is the file you have | |
82e312c7 RS |
695 | found. -NN%-- indicates your current position in the text; it means |
696 | that NN percent of the text is above the top of the screen. If the | |
697 | top of the file is on the screen, it will say --Top-- instead of | |
698 | --00%--. If the bottom of the text is on the screen, it will say | |
699 | --Bot--. If you are looking at text so small that all of it fits on | |
700 | the screen, the mode line says --All--. | |
f751376f | 701 | |
dcf671d2 GM |
702 | The L and digits indicate position in another way: they give the |
703 | current line number of point. | |
704 | ||
f751376f | 705 | The stars near the front mean that you have made changes to the text. |
82e312c7 RS |
706 | Right after you visit or save a file, that part of the mode line shows |
707 | no stars, just dashes. | |
f751376f JB |
708 | |
709 | The part of the mode line inside the parentheses is to tell you what | |
82e312c7 RS |
710 | editing modes you are in. The default mode is Fundamental which is |
711 | what you are using now. It is an example of a "major mode". | |
712 | ||
713 | Emacs has many different major modes. Some of them are meant for | |
bec1289c | 714 | editing different languages and/or kinds of text, such as Lisp mode, |
82e312c7 RS |
715 | Text mode, etc. At any time one and only one major mode is active, |
716 | and its name can always be found in the mode line just where | |
717 | "Fundamental" is now. | |
718 | ||
719 | Each major mode makes a few commands behave differently. For example, | |
720 | there are commands for creating comments in a program, and since each | |
721 | programming language has a different idea of what a comment should | |
722 | look like, each major mode has to insert comments differently. Each | |
723 | major mode is the name of an extended command, which is how you can | |
bec1289c | 724 | switch to that mode. For example, M-x fundamental-mode is a command to |
82e312c7 | 725 | switch to Fundamental mode. |
f751376f JB |
726 | |
727 | If you are going to be editing English text, such as this file, you | |
728 | should probably use Text Mode. | |
73635959 | 729 | >> Type M-x text mode<Return>. |
f751376f | 730 | |
e64159dd | 731 | Don't worry, none of the Emacs commands you have learned changes in |
82e312c7 RS |
732 | any great way. But you can observe that M-f and M-b now treat |
733 | apostrophes as part of words. Previously, in Fundamental mode, | |
734 | M-f and M-b treated apostrophes as word-separators. | |
f751376f | 735 | |
82e312c7 RS |
736 | Major modes usually make subtle changes like that one: most commands |
737 | do "the same job" in each major mode, but they work a little bit | |
738 | differently. | |
739 | ||
740 | To view documentation on your current major mode, type C-h m. | |
f751376f JB |
741 | |
742 | >> Use C-u C-v once or more to bring this line near the top of screen. | |
743 | >> Type C-h m, to see how Text mode differs from Fundamental mode. | |
744 | >> Type C-x 1 to remove the documentation from the screen. | |
745 | ||
746 | Major modes are called major because there are also minor modes. | |
6f108a37 | 747 | Minor modes are not alternatives to the major modes, just minor |
bec1289c KH |
748 | modifications of them. Each minor mode can be turned on or off by |
749 | itself, independent of all other minor modes, and independent of your | |
750 | major mode. So you can use no minor modes, or one minor mode, or any | |
751 | combination of several minor modes. | |
f751376f JB |
752 | |
753 | One minor mode which is very useful, especially for editing English | |
754 | text, is Auto Fill mode. When this mode is on, Emacs breaks the line | |
82e312c7 RS |
755 | in between words automatically whenever you insert text and make a |
756 | line that is too wide. | |
757 | ||
48cc32f0 | 758 | You can turn Auto Fill mode on by doing M-x auto fill mode<Return>. |
6f108a37 | 759 | When the mode is on, you can turn it off again by doing M-x |
48cc32f0 | 760 | auto fill mode<Return>. If the mode is off, this command turns it on, |
82e312c7 RS |
761 | and if the mode is on, this command turns it off. We say that the |
762 | command "toggles the mode". | |
f751376f | 763 | |
48cc32f0 | 764 | >> Type M-x auto fill mode<Return> now. Then insert a line of "asdf " |
f751376f JB |
765 | over again until you see it divide into two lines. You must put in |
766 | spaces between them because Auto Fill breaks lines only at spaces. | |
767 | ||
768 | The margin is usually set at 70 characters, but you can change it | |
769 | with the C-x f command. You should give the margin setting you want | |
770 | as a numeric argument. | |
771 | ||
772 | >> Type C-x f with an argument of 20. (C-u 2 0 C-x f). | |
773 | Then type in some text and see Emacs fill lines of 20 | |
774 | characters with it. Then set the margin back to 70 using | |
775 | C-x f again. | |
776 | ||
e64159dd | 777 | If you make changes in the middle of a paragraph, Auto Fill mode |
f751376f JB |
778 | does not re-fill it for you. |
779 | To re-fill the paragraph, type M-q (Meta-q) with the cursor inside | |
780 | that paragraph. | |
781 | ||
782 | >> Move the cursor into the previous paragraph and type M-q. | |
783 | ||
5577e2b2 | 784 | |
26dc36e6 JB |
785 | * SEARCHING |
786 | ----------- | |
f751376f JB |
787 | |
788 | Emacs can do searches for strings (these are groups of contiguous | |
82e312c7 RS |
789 | characters or words) either forward through the text or backward |
790 | through it. Searching for a string is a cursor motion command; | |
791 | it moves the cursor to the next place where that string appears. | |
792 | ||
793 | The Emacs search command is different from the search commands | |
794 | of most editors, in that it is "incremental". This means that the | |
795 | search happens while you type in the string to search for. | |
796 | ||
797 | The command to initiate a search is C-s for forward search, and C-r | |
798 | for reverse search. BUT WAIT! Don't try them now. | |
799 | ||
800 | When you type C-s you'll notice that the string "I-search" appears as | |
801 | a prompt in the echo area. This tells you that Emacs is in what is | |
802 | called an incremental search waiting for you to type the thing that | |
8806d20f | 803 | you want to search for. <Return> terminates a search. |
f751376f JB |
804 | |
805 | >> Now type C-s to start a search. SLOWLY, one letter at a time, | |
806 | type the word 'cursor', pausing after you type each | |
807 | character to notice what happens to the cursor. | |
82e312c7 RS |
808 | Now you have searched for "cursor", once. |
809 | >> Type C-s again, to search for the next occurrence of "cursor". | |
50d326a4 | 810 | >> Now type <Delete> four times and see how the cursor moves. |
8806d20f | 811 | >> Type <Return> to terminate the search. |
f751376f JB |
812 | |
813 | Did you see what happened? Emacs, in an incremental search, tries to | |
82e312c7 RS |
814 | go to the occurrence of the string that you've typed out so far. To |
815 | go to the next occurrence of 'cursor' just type C-s again. If no such | |
6f108a37 RS |
816 | occurrence exists, Emacs beeps and tells you the search is currently |
817 | "failing". C-g would also terminate the search. | |
f751376f | 818 | |
afb7440b RS |
819 | NOTE: On some systems, typing C-s will freeze the screen and you will |
820 | see no further output from Emacs. This indicates that an operating | |
821 | system "feature" called "flow control" is intercepting the C-s and not | |
822 | letting it get through to Emacs. To unfreeze the screen, type C-q. | |
823 | Then see the section "Spontaneous Entry to Incremental Search" in the | |
824 | Emacs manual for advice on dealing with this "feature". | |
825 | ||
50d326a4 | 826 | If you are in the middle of an incremental search and type <Delete>, |
f751376f JB |
827 | you'll notice that the last character in the search string is erased |
828 | and the search backs up to the last place of the search. For | |
82e312c7 RS |
829 | instance, suppose you have typed "c", to search for the first |
830 | occurrence of "c". Now if you type "u", the cursor will move | |
831 | to the first occurrence of "cu". Now type <Delete>. This erases | |
832 | the "u" from the search string, and the cursor moves back to | |
833 | the first occurrence of "c". | |
f751376f | 834 | |
3242b6f0 RS |
835 | If you are in the middle of a search and type a control or meta |
836 | character (with a few exceptions--characters that are special in | |
837 | a search, such as C-s and C-r), the search is terminated. | |
f751376f JB |
838 | |
839 | The C-s starts a search that looks for any occurrence of the search | |
82e312c7 RS |
840 | string AFTER the current cursor position. If you want to search for |
841 | something earlier in the text, type C-r instead. Everything that we | |
842 | have said about C-s also applies to C-r, except that the direction of | |
843 | the search is reversed. | |
f751376f JB |
844 | |
845 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
846 | * MULTIPLE WINDOWS |
847 | ------------------ | |
e652a34a JB |
848 | |
849 | One of the nice features of Emacs is that you can display more than one | |
850 | window on the screen at the same time. | |
851 | ||
852 | >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l. | |
853 | ||
854 | >> Now type C-x 2 which splits the screen into two windows. | |
855 | Both windows display this tutorial. The cursor stays in the top window. | |
856 | ||
857 | >> Type C-M-v to scroll the bottom window. | |
82e312c7 | 858 | (If you do not have a real Meta key, type ESC C-v.) |
e652a34a JB |
859 | |
860 | >> Type C-x o ("o" for "other") to move the cursor to the bottom window. | |
861 | >> Use C-v and M-v in the bottom window to scroll it. | |
862 | Keep reading these directions in the top window. | |
863 | ||
864 | >> Type C-x o again to move the cursor back to the top window. | |
82e312c7 | 865 | The cursor in the top window is just where it was before. |
e652a34a JB |
866 | |
867 | You can keep using C-x o to switch between the windows. Each | |
868 | window has its own cursor position, but only one window actually | |
869 | shows the cursor. All the ordinary editing commands apply to the | |
82e312c7 | 870 | window that the cursor is in. We call this the "selected window". |
e652a34a JB |
871 | |
872 | The command C-M-v is very useful when you are editing text in one | |
873 | window and using the other window just for reference. You can keep | |
82e312c7 RS |
874 | the cursor always in the window where you are editing, and advance |
875 | through the other window sequentially with C-M-v. | |
e652a34a | 876 | |
8a4aff68 | 877 | C-M-v is an example of a CONTROL-META character. If you have a real |
8806d20f RS |
878 | META key, you can type C-M-v by holding down both CONTROL and META while |
879 | typing v. It does not matter whether CONTROL or META "comes first," | |
82e312c7 | 880 | because both of these keys act by modifying the characters you type. |
8a4aff68 | 881 | |
82e312c7 | 882 | If you do not have a real META key, and you use ESC instead, the order |
8806d20f RS |
883 | does matter: you must type ESC followed by Control-v, because |
884 | Control-ESC v will not work. This is because ESC is a character in | |
885 | its own right, not a modifier key. | |
8a4aff68 | 886 | |
e652a34a JB |
887 | >> Type C-x 1 (in the top window) to get rid of the bottom window. |
888 | ||
889 | (If you had typed C-x 1 in the bottom window, that would get rid | |
890 | of the top one. Think of this command as "Keep just one | |
891 | window--the window I am already in.") | |
892 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
893 | You do not have to display the same buffer in both windows. If you |
894 | use C-x C-f to find a file in one window, the other window does not | |
895 | change. You can find a file in each window independently. | |
e652a34a JB |
896 | |
897 | Here is another way to use two windows to display two different | |
898 | things: | |
899 | ||
900 | >> Type C-x 4 C-f followed by the name of one of your files. | |
82e312c7 | 901 | End with <Return>. See the specified file appear in the bottom |
e652a34a JB |
902 | window. The cursor goes there, too. |
903 | ||
904 | >> Type C-x o to go back to the top window, and C-x 1 to delete | |
905 | the bottom window. | |
906 | ||
907 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
908 | * RECURSIVE EDITING LEVELS |
909 | -------------------------- | |
f751376f JB |
910 | |
911 | Sometimes you will get into what is called a "recursive editing | |
912 | level". This is indicated by square brackets in the mode line, | |
913 | surrounding the parentheses around the major mode name. For | |
914 | example, you might see [(Fundamental)] instead of (Fundamental). | |
915 | ||
289e5a55 RS |
916 | To get out of the recursive editing level, type ESC ESC ESC. That is |
917 | an all-purpose "get out" command. You can also use it for eliminating | |
918 | extra windows, and getting out of the minibuffer. | |
f751376f | 919 | |
289e5a55 | 920 | >> Type M-x to get into a minibuffer; then type ESC ESC ESC to get out. |
f751376f | 921 | |
82e312c7 RS |
922 | You cannot use C-g to get out of a recursive editing level. This is |
923 | because C-g is used for canceling commands and arguments WITHIN the | |
924 | recursive editing level. | |
f751376f JB |
925 | |
926 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
927 | * GETTING MORE HELP |
928 | ------------------- | |
f751376f JB |
929 | |
930 | In this tutorial we have tried to supply just enough information to | |
931 | get you started using Emacs. There is so much available in Emacs that | |
932 | it would be impossible to explain it all here. However, you may want | |
82e312c7 RS |
933 | to learn more about Emacs since it has many other useful features. |
934 | Emacs provides commands for reading documentation about Emacs | |
935 | commands. These "help" commands all start with the character | |
936 | Control-h, which is called "the Help character". | |
f751376f | 937 | |
82e312c7 | 938 | To use the Help features, type the C-h character, and then a |
f751376f JB |
939 | character saying what kind of help you want. If you are REALLY lost, |
940 | type C-h ? and Emacs will tell you what kinds of help it can give. | |
82e312c7 | 941 | If you have typed C-h and decide you do not want any help, just |
3242b6f0 | 942 | type C-g to cancel it. |
f751376f | 943 | |
1c71da93 RS |
944 | (Some sites change the meaning of the character C-h. They really |
945 | should not do this as a blanket measure for all users, so you have | |
946 | grounds to complain to the system administrator. Meanwhile, if C-h | |
947 | does not display a message about help at the bottom of the screen, try | |
8806d20f | 948 | typing the F1 key or M-x help <Return> instead.) |
1c71da93 RS |
949 | |
950 | The most basic HELP feature is C-h c. Type C-h, the character c, and | |
951 | a command character or sequence; then Emacs displays a very brief | |
f751376f JB |
952 | description of the command. |
953 | ||
dcf671d2 | 954 | >> Type C-h c C-p. |
f751376f JB |
955 | The message should be something like |
956 | ||
957 | C-p runs the command previous-line | |
958 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
959 | This tells you the "name of the function". Function names are used |
960 | mainly for customizing and extending Emacs. But since function names | |
961 | are chosen to indicate what the command does, they can serve also as | |
962 | very brief documentation--sufficient to remind you of commands you | |
963 | have already learned. | |
f751376f JB |
964 | |
965 | Multi-character commands such as C-x C-s and (if you have no META or | |
bec1289c | 966 | EDIT or ALT key) <ESC>v are also allowed after C-h c. |
f751376f | 967 | |
82e312c7 | 968 | To get more information about a command, use C-h k instead of C-h c. |
f751376f | 969 | |
dcf671d2 | 970 | >> Type C-h k C-p. |
f751376f | 971 | |
10a4c11f JB |
972 | This displays the documentation of the function, as well as its |
973 | name, in an Emacs window. When you are finished reading the | |
974 | output, type C-x 1 to get rid of the help text. You do not have | |
975 | to do this right away. You can do some editing while referring | |
82e312c7 | 976 | to the help text, and then type C-x 1. |
f751376f JB |
977 | |
978 | Here are some other useful C-h options: | |
979 | ||
980 | C-h f Describe a function. You type in the name of the | |
981 | function. | |
982 | ||
983 | >> Try typing C-h f previous-line<Return>. | |
984 | This prints all the information Emacs has about the | |
3242b6f0 | 985 | function which implements the C-p command. |
f751376f JB |
986 | |
987 | C-h a Command Apropos. Type in a keyword and Emacs will list | |
988 | all the commands whose names contain that keyword. | |
989 | These commands can all be invoked with Meta-x. | |
990 | For some commands, Command Apropos will also list a one | |
bec1289c | 991 | or two character sequence which runs the same command. |
f751376f | 992 | |
10a4c11f JB |
993 | >> Type C-h a file<Return>. |
994 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
995 | This displays in another window a list of all M-x commands with "file" |
996 | in their names. You will see character-commands like C-x C-f listed | |
997 | beside the corresponding command names such as find-file. | |
10a4c11f JB |
998 | |
999 | >> Type C-M-v to scroll the help window. Do this a few times. | |
1000 | ||
1001 | >> Type C-x 1 to delete the help window. | |
f751376f JB |
1002 | |
1003 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
1004 | * CONCLUSION |
1005 | ------------ | |
f751376f JB |
1006 | |
1007 | Remember, to exit Emacs permanently use C-x C-c. To exit to a shell | |
82e312c7 | 1008 | temporarily, so that you can come back to Emacs afterward, use C-z. |
f751376f JB |
1009 | |
1010 | This tutorial is meant to be understandable to all new users, so if | |
1011 | you found something unclear, don't sit and blame yourself - complain! | |
1012 | ||
1013 | ||
5577e2b2 KH |
1014 | * COPYING |
1015 | --------- | |
f751376f JB |
1016 | |
1017 | This tutorial descends from a long line of Emacs tutorials | |
1018 | starting with the one written by Stuart Cracraft for the original Emacs. | |
1019 | ||
1020 | This version of the tutorial, like GNU Emacs, is copyrighted, and | |
1021 | comes with permission to distribute copies on certain conditions: | |
1022 | ||
82e312c7 | 1023 | Copyright (c) 1985, 1996 Free Software Foundation |
f751376f JB |
1024 | |
1025 | Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies | |
1026 | of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the | |
1027 | copyright notice and permission notice are preserved, | |
1028 | and that the distributor grants the recipient permission | |
1029 | for further redistribution as permitted by this notice. | |
1030 | ||
1031 | Permission is granted to distribute modified versions | |
1032 | of this document, or of portions of it, | |
1033 | under the above conditions, provided also that they | |
1034 | carry prominent notices stating who last altered them. | |
1035 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
1036 | The conditions for copying Emacs itself are more complex, but in the |
1037 | same spirit. Please read the file COPYING and then do give copies of | |
1038 | GNU Emacs to your friends. Help stamp out software obstructionism | |
1039 | ("ownership") by using, writing, and sharing free software! |