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1 | GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes. 26-Mar-1986 |
2 | Copyright (C) 1986 Richard M. Stallman. | |
3 | See the end for copying conditions. | |
4 | ||
3787e12e | 5 | For older news, see the file NEWS.1. |
a933dad1 DL |
6 | \f |
7 | Changes in Emacs 17 | |
8 | ||
9 | * Frustrated? | |
10 | ||
11 | Try M-x doctor. | |
12 | ||
13 | * Bored? | |
14 | ||
15 | Try M-x hanoi. | |
16 | ||
17 | * Brain-damaged? | |
18 | ||
19 | Try M-x yow. | |
20 | ||
21 | * Sun3, Tahoe, Apollo, HP9000s300, Celerity, NCR Tower 32, | |
22 | Sequent, Stride, Encore, Plexus and AT&T 7300 machines supported. | |
23 | ||
24 | The Tahoe, Sun3, Sequent and Celerity use 4.2. In regard to the | |
25 | Apollo, see the file APOLLO in this directory. NCR Tower32, | |
26 | HP9000s300, Stride and Nu run forms of System V. System V rel 2 also | |
27 | works on Vaxes now. See etc/MACHINES. | |
28 | ||
29 | * System V Unix supported, including subprocesses. | |
30 | ||
31 | It should be possible now to bring up Emacs on a machine running | |
32 | mere unameliorated system V Unix with no major work; just possible bug | |
33 | fixes. But you can expect to find a handful of those on any machine | |
34 | that Emacs has not been run on before. | |
35 | ||
36 | * Berkeley 4.1 Unix supported. | |
37 | ||
38 | See etc/MACHINES. | |
39 | ||
40 | * Portable `alloca' provided. | |
41 | ||
42 | Emacs can now run on machines that do not and cannot support the library | |
43 | subroutine `alloca' in the canonical fashion, using an `alloca' emulation | |
44 | written in C. | |
45 | ||
46 | * On-line manual. | |
47 | ||
48 | Info now contains an Emacs manual, with essentially the same text | |
49 | as in the printed manual. | |
50 | ||
51 | The manual can now be printed with a standard TeX. | |
52 | ||
53 | Nicely typeset and printed copies of the manual are available | |
54 | from the Free Software Foundation. | |
55 | ||
56 | * Backup file version numbers. | |
57 | ||
58 | Emacs now supports version numbers in backup files. | |
59 | ||
60 | The first time you save a particular file in one editing session, | |
61 | the old file is copied or renamed to serve as a backup file. | |
62 | In the past, the name for the backup file was made by appending `~' | |
63 | to the end of the original file name. | |
64 | ||
65 | Now the backup file name can instead be made by appending ".~NN~" to | |
66 | the original file name, where NN stands for a numeric version. Each | |
67 | time this is done, the new version number is one higher than the | |
68 | highest previously used. | |
69 | ||
70 | Thus, the active, current file does not have a version number. | |
71 | Only the backups have them. | |
72 | ||
73 | This feature is controlled by the variable `version-control'. If it | |
74 | is `nil', as normally, then numbered backups are made only for files | |
75 | that already have numbered backups. Backup names with just `~' are | |
76 | used for files that have no numbered backups. | |
77 | ||
78 | If `version-control' is `never', then the backup file's name is | |
79 | made with just `~' in any case. | |
80 | ||
81 | If `version-control' is not `nil' or `never', numbered backups are | |
82 | made unconditionally. | |
83 | ||
84 | To prevent unlimited consumption of disk space, Emacs can delete | |
85 | old backup versions automatically. Generally Emacs keeps the first | |
86 | few backups and the latest few backups, deleting any in between. | |
87 | This happens every time a new backup is made. The two variables that | |
88 | control the deletion are `kept-old-versions' and `kept-new-versions'. | |
89 | Their values are, respectively, the number of oldest backups to keep | |
90 | and the number of newest ones to keep, each time a new backup is made. | |
91 | The value of `kept-new-versions' includes the backup just created. | |
92 | By default, both values are 2. | |
93 | ||
94 | If `trim-versions-without-asking' is non-`nil', the excess middle versions | |
95 | are deleted without a murmur. If it is `nil', the default, then you | |
96 | are asked whether the excess middle versions should really be deleted. | |
97 | ||
98 | Dired has a new command `.' which marks for deletion all but the latest | |
99 | and oldest few of every numeric series of backups. `kept-old-versions' | |
100 | controls the number of oldest versions to keep, and `dired-kept-versions' | |
101 | controls the number of latest versions to keep. A numeric argument to | |
102 | the `.' command, if positive, specifies the number of latest versions | |
103 | to keep, overriding `dired-kept-versions'. A negative argument specifies | |
104 | the number of oldest versions to keep, using minus the argument to override | |
105 | `kept-old-versions'. | |
106 | ||
107 | * Immediate conflict detection. | |
108 | ||
109 | Emacs now locks the files it is modifying, so that if | |
110 | you start to modify within Emacs a file that is being | |
111 | modified in another Emacs, you get an immediate warning. | |
112 | ||
113 | The warning gives you three choices: | |
114 | 1. Give up, and do not make any changes. | |
115 | 2. Make changes anyway at your own risk. | |
116 | 3. Make changes anyway, and record yourself as | |
117 | the person locking the file (instead of whoever | |
118 | was previously recorded.) | |
119 | ||
120 | Just visiting a file does not lock it. It is locked | |
121 | when you try to change the buffer that is visiting the file. | |
122 | Saving the file unlocks it until you make another change. | |
123 | ||
124 | Locking is done by writing a lock file in a special designated | |
125 | directory. If such a directory is not provided and told to | |
126 | Emacs as part of configuring it for your machine, the lock feature | |
127 | is turned off. | |
128 | ||
129 | * M-x recover-file. | |
130 | ||
131 | This command is used to get a file back from an auto-save | |
132 | (after a system crash, for example). It takes a file name | |
133 | as argument and visits that file, but gets the data from the | |
134 | file's last auto save rather than from the file itself. | |
135 | ||
136 | * M-x normal-mode. | |
137 | ||
138 | This command resets the current buffer's major mode and local | |
139 | variables to be as specified by the visit filename, the -*- line | |
140 | and/or the Local Variables: block at the end of the buffer. | |
141 | It is the same thing normally done when a file is first visited. | |
142 | ||
143 | * Echo area messages disappear shortly if minibuffer is in use. | |
144 | ||
145 | Any message in the echo area disappears after 2 seconds | |
146 | if the minibuffer is active. This allows the minibuffer | |
147 | to become visible again. | |
148 | ||
149 | * C-z on System V runs a subshell. | |
150 | ||
151 | On systems which do not allow programs to be suspended, the C-z command | |
152 | forks a subshell that talks directly to the terminal, and then waits | |
153 | for the subshell to exit. This gets almost the effect of suspending | |
154 | in that you can run other programs and then return to Emacs. However, | |
155 | you cannot log out from the subshell. | |
156 | ||
157 | * C-c is always a prefix character. | |
158 | ||
159 | Also, subcommands of C-c which are letters are always | |
160 | reserved for the user. No standard Emacs major mode | |
161 | defines any of them. | |
162 | ||
163 | * Picture mode C-c commands changed. | |
164 | ||
165 | The old C-c k command is now C-c C-w. | |
166 | The old C-c y command is now C-c C-x. | |
167 | ||
168 | * Shell mode commands changed. | |
169 | ||
170 | All the special commands of Shell mode are now moved onto | |
171 | the C-c prefix. Most are not changed aside from that. | |
172 | Thus, the old Shell mode C-c command (kill current job) | |
173 | is now C-c C-c; the old C-z (suspend current job) is now C-c C-z, | |
174 | etc. | |
175 | ||
176 | The old C-x commands are now C-c commands. C-x C-k (kill output) | |
177 | is now C-c C-o, and C-x C-v (show output) is now C-c C-r. | |
178 | ||
179 | The old M-= (copy previous input) command is now C-c C-y. | |
180 | ||
181 | * Shell mode recognizes aliases for `pushd', `popd' and `cd'. | |
182 | ||
183 | Shell mode now uses the variable `shell-pushd-regexp' as a | |
184 | regular expression to recognize any command name that is | |
185 | equivalent to a `pushd' command. By default it is set up | |
186 | to recognize just `pushd' itself. If you use aliases for | |
187 | `pushd', change the regexp to recognize them as well. | |
188 | ||
189 | There are also `shell-popd-regexp' to recognize commands | |
190 | with the effect of a `popd', and `shell-cd-regexp' to recognize | |
191 | commands with the effect of a `cd'. | |
192 | ||
193 | * "Exit" command in certain modes now C-c C-c. | |
194 | ||
195 | These include electric buffer menu mode, electric command history | |
196 | mode, Info node edit mode, and Rmail edit mode. In all these | |
197 | modes, the command to exit used to be just C-c. | |
198 | ||
199 | * Outline mode changes. | |
200 | ||
201 | Lines that are not heading lines are now called "body" lines. | |
202 | The command `hide-text' is renamed to `hide-body'. | |
203 | The key M-H is renamed to C-c C-h. | |
204 | The key M-S is renamed to C-c C-s. | |
205 | The key M-s is renamed to C-c C-i. | |
206 | ||
207 | Changes of line visibility are no longer undoable. As a result, | |
208 | they no longer use up undo memory and no longer interfere with | |
209 | undoing earlier commands. | |
210 | ||
211 | * Rmail changes. | |
212 | ||
213 | The s and q commands now both expunge deleted messages before saving; | |
214 | use C-x C-s to save without expunging. | |
215 | ||
216 | The u command now undeletes the current message if it is deleted; | |
217 | otherwise, it backs up as far as necessary to reach a deleted message, | |
218 | and undeletes that one. The u command in the summary behaves likewise, | |
219 | but considers only messages listed in the summary. The M-u command | |
220 | has been eliminated. | |
221 | ||
222 | The o and C-o keys' meanings are interchanged. | |
223 | o now outputs to an Rmail file, and C-o to a Unix mail file. | |
224 | ||
225 | The F command (rmail-find) is renamed to M-s (rmail-search). | |
226 | Various new commands and features exist; see the Emacs manual. | |
227 | ||
228 | * Local bindings described first in describe-bindings. | |
229 | ||
230 | * [...], {...} now balance in Fundamental mode. | |
231 | ||
232 | * Nroff mode and TeX mode. | |
233 | ||
234 | The are two new major modes for editing nroff input and TeX input. | |
235 | See the Emacs manual for full information. | |
236 | ||
237 | * New C indentation style variable `c-brace-imaginary-offset'. | |
238 | ||
239 | The value of `c-brace-imaginary-offset', normally zero, controls the | |
240 | indentation of a statement inside a brace-group where the open-brace | |
241 | is not the first thing on a line. The value says where the open-brace | |
242 | is imagined to be, relative to the first nonblank character on the line. | |
243 | ||
244 | * Dired improvements. | |
245 | ||
246 | Dired now normally keeps the cursor at the beginning of the file name, | |
247 | not at the beginning of the line. The most used motion commands are | |
248 | redefined in Dired to position the cursor this way. | |
249 | ||
250 | `n' and `p' are now equivalent in dired to `C-n' and `C-p'. | |
251 | ||
252 | If any files to be deleted cannot be deleted, their names are | |
253 | printed in an error message. | |
254 | ||
255 | If the `v' command is invoked on a file which is a directory, | |
256 | dired is run on that directory. | |
257 | ||
258 | * `visit-tag-table' renamed `visit-tags-table'. | |
259 | ||
260 | This is so apropos of `tags' finds everything you need to | |
261 | know about in connection with Tags. | |
262 | ||
263 | * `mh-e' library uses C-c as prefix. | |
264 | ||
265 | All the special commands of `mh-rmail' now are placed on a | |
266 | C-c prefix rather than on the C-x prefix. This is for | |
267 | consistency with other special modes with their own commands. | |
268 | ||
269 | * M-$ or `spell-word' checks word before point. | |
270 | ||
271 | It used to check the word after point. | |
272 | ||
273 | * Quitting during autoloading no longer causes trouble. | |
274 | ||
275 | Now, when a file is autoloaded, all function redefinitions | |
276 | and `provide' calls are recorded and are undone if you quit | |
277 | before the file is finished loading. | |
278 | ||
279 | As a result, it no longer happens that some of the entry points | |
280 | which are normally autoloading have been defined already, but the | |
281 | entire file is not really present to support them. | |
282 | ||
283 | * `else' can now be indented correctly in C mode. | |
284 | ||
285 | TAB in C mode now knows which `if' statement an `else' matches | |
286 | up with, and can indent the `else' correctly under the `if', | |
287 | even if the `if' contained such things as another `if' statement, | |
288 | or a `while' or `for' statement, with no braces around it. | |
289 | ||
290 | * `batch-byte-compile' | |
291 | ||
292 | Runs byte-compile-file on the files specified on the command line. | |
293 | All the rest of the command line arguments are taken as files to | |
294 | compile (or, if directories, to do byte-recompile-directory on). | |
295 | Must be used only with -batch, and kills emacs on completion. | |
296 | Each file will be processed even if an error occurred previously. | |
297 | For example, invoke `emacs -batch -f batch-byte-compile *.el'. | |
298 | ||
299 | * `-batch' changes. | |
300 | ||
301 | `-batch' now implies `-q': no init file is loaded by Emacs when | |
302 | `-batch' is used. Also, no `term/TERMTYPE.el' file is loaded. Auto | |
303 | saving is not done except in buffers in which it is explicitly | |
304 | requested. Also, many echo-area printouts describing what is going on | |
305 | are inhibited in batch mode, so that the only output you get is the | |
306 | output you program specifically. | |
307 | ||
308 | One echo-area message that is not suppressed is the one that says | |
309 | that a file is being loaded. That is because you can prevent this | |
310 | message by passing `t' as the third argument to `load'. | |
311 | ||
312 | * Display of search string in incremental search. | |
313 | ||
314 | Now, when you type C-s or C-r to reuse the previous search | |
315 | string, that search string is displayed immediately in the echo area. | |
316 | ||
317 | Three dots are displayed after the search string while search | |
318 | is actually going on. | |
319 | ||
320 | * View commands. | |
321 | ||
322 | The commands C-x ], C-x [, C-x /, C-x j and C-x o are now | |
323 | available inside `view-buffer' and `view-file', with their | |
324 | normal meanings. | |
325 | ||
326 | * Full-width windows preferred. | |
327 | ||
328 | The ``other-window'' commands prefer other full width windows, | |
329 | and will split only full width windows. | |
330 | ||
331 | * M-x rename-file can copy if necessary. | |
332 | ||
333 | When used between different file systems, since actual renaming does | |
334 | not work, the old file will be copied and deleted. | |
335 | ||
336 | * Within C-x ESC, you can pick the command to repeat. | |
337 | ||
338 | While editing a previous command to be repeated, inside C-x ESC, | |
339 | you can now use the commands M-p and M-n to pick an earlier or | |
340 | later command to repeat. M-n picks the next earlier command | |
341 | and M-p picks the next later one. The new command appears in | |
342 | the minibuffer, and you can go ahead and edit it, and repeat it | |
343 | when you exit the minibuffer. | |
344 | ||
345 | Using M-n or M-p within C-x ESC is like having used a different | |
346 | numeric argument when you ran C-x ESC in the first place. | |
347 | ||
348 | The command you finally execute using C-x ESC is added to the | |
349 | front of the command history, unless it is identical with the | |
350 | first thing in the command history. | |
351 | ||
352 | * Use C-c C-c to exit from editing within Info. | |
353 | ||
354 | It used to be C-z for this. Somehow this use of C-z was | |
355 | left out when all the others were moved. The intention is that | |
356 | C-z should always suspend Emacs. | |
357 | ||
358 | * Default arg to C-x < and C-x > now window width minus 2. | |
359 | ||
360 | These commands, which scroll the current window horizontally | |
361 | by a specified number of columns, now scroll a considerable | |
362 | distance rather than a single column if used with no argument. | |
363 | ||
364 | * Auto Save Files Deleted. | |
365 | ||
366 | The default value of `delete-auto-save-files' is now `t', so that | |
367 | when you save a file for real, its auto save file is deleted. | |
368 | ||
369 | * Rnews changes. | |
370 | ||
371 | The N, P and J keys in Rnews are renamed to M-n, M-p and M-j. | |
372 | These keys move among newsgroups. | |
373 | ||
374 | The n and p keys for moving sequentially between news articles now | |
375 | accept repeat count arguments, and the + and - keys, made redundant by | |
376 | this change, are eliminated. | |
377 | ||
378 | The s command for outputting the current article to a file | |
379 | is renamed as o, to be compatible with Rmail. | |
380 | ||
381 | * Sendmail changes. | |
382 | ||
383 | If you have a ~/.mailrc file, Emacs searches it for mailing address | |
384 | aliases, and these aliases are expanded when you send mail in Emacs. | |
385 | ||
386 | Fcc fields can now be used in the headers in the *mail* buffer | |
387 | to specify files in which copies of the message should be put. | |
388 | The message is written into those files in Unix mail file format. | |
389 | The message as sent does not contain any Fcc fields in its header. | |
390 | You can use any number of Fcc fields, but only one file name in each one. | |
391 | The variable `mail-archive-file-name', if non-`nil', can be a string | |
392 | which is a file name; an Fcc to that file will be inserted in every | |
393 | message when you begin to compose it. | |
394 | ||
395 | A new command C-c q now exists in Mail mode. It fills the | |
396 | paragraphs of an old message that had been inserted with C-c y. | |
397 | ||
398 | When the *mail* buffer is put in Mail mode, text-mode-hook | |
399 | is now run in addition to mail-mode-hook. text-mode-hook | |
400 | is run first. | |
401 | ||
402 | The new variable `mail-header-separator' now specifies the string | |
403 | to use on the line that goes between the headers and the message text. | |
404 | By default it is still "--text follows this line--". | |
405 | ||
406 | * Command history truncated automatically. | |
407 | ||
408 | Just before each garbage collection, all but the last 30 elements | |
409 | of the command history are discarded. | |
410 | \f | |
411 | Incompatible Lisp Programming Changes in Emacs 17 | |
412 | ||
413 | * `"e' no longer supported. | |
414 | ||
415 | This feature, which allowed Lisp functions to take arguments | |
416 | that were not evaluated, has been eliminated, because it is | |
417 | inescapably hard to make the compiler work properly with such | |
418 | functions. | |
419 | ||
420 | You should use macros instead. A simple way to change any | |
421 | code that uses `"e' is to replace | |
422 | ||
423 | (defun foo ("e x y z) ... | |
424 | ||
425 | with | |
426 | ||
427 | (defmacro foo (x y z) | |
428 | (list 'foo-1 (list 'quote x) (list 'quote y) (list 'quote z))) | |
429 | ||
430 | (defun foo-1 (x y z) ... | |
431 | ||
432 | * Functions `region-to-string' and `region-around-match' removed. | |
433 | ||
434 | These functions were made for compatibility with Gosling Emacs, but it | |
435 | turns out to be undesirable to use them in GNU Emacs because they use | |
436 | the mark. They have been eliminated from Emacs proper, but are | |
437 | present in mlsupport.el for the sake of converted mocklisp programs. | |
438 | ||
439 | If you were using `region-to-string', you should instead use | |
440 | `buffer-substring'; then you can pass the bounds as arguments and | |
441 | can avoid setting the mark. | |
442 | ||
443 | If you were using `region-around-match', you can use instead | |
444 | the two functions `match-beginning' and `match-end'. These give | |
445 | you one bound at a time, as a numeric value, without changing | |
446 | point or the mark. | |
447 | ||
448 | * Function `function-type' removed. | |
449 | ||
450 | This just appeared not to be very useful. It can easily be written in | |
451 | Lisp if you happen to want it. Just use `symbol-function' to get the | |
452 | function definition of a symbol, and look at its data type or its car | |
453 | if it is a list. | |
454 | ||
455 | * Variable `buffer-number' removed. | |
456 | ||
457 | You can still use the function `buffer-number' to find out | |
458 | a buffer's unique number (assigned in order of creation). | |
459 | ||
460 | * Variable `executing-macro' renamed `executing-kbd-macro'. | |
461 | ||
462 | This variable is the currently executing keyboard macro, as | |
463 | a string, or `nil' when no keyboard macro is being executed. | |
464 | ||
465 | * Loading term/$TERM. | |
466 | ||
467 | The library term/$TERM (where $TERM get replaced by your terminal | |
468 | type), which is done by Emacs automatically when it starts up, now | |
469 | happens after the user's .emacs file is loaded. | |
470 | ||
471 | In previous versions of Emacs, these files had names of the form | |
472 | term-$TERM; thus, for example, term-vt100.el, but now they live | |
473 | in a special subdirectory named term, and have names like | |
474 | term/vt100.el. | |
475 | ||
476 | * `command-history' format changed. | |
477 | ||
478 | The elements of this list are now Lisp expressions which can | |
479 | be evaluated directly to repeat a command. | |
480 | ||
481 | * Unused editing commands removed. | |
482 | ||
483 | The functions `forward-to-word', `backward-to-word', | |
484 | `upcase-char', `mark-beginning-of-buffer' and `mark-end-of-buffer' | |
485 | have been removed. Their definitions can be found in file | |
486 | lisp/unused.el if you need them. | |
487 | \f | |
488 | Upward Compatible Lisp Programming Changes in Emacs 17 | |
489 | ||
490 | * You can now continue after errors and quits. | |
491 | ||
492 | When the debugger is entered because of a C-g, due to | |
493 | a non-`nil' value of `debug-on-quit', the `c' command in the debugger | |
494 | resumes execution of the code that was running when the quit happened. | |
495 | Use the `q' command to go ahead and quit. | |
496 | ||
497 | The same applies to some kinds of errors, but not all. Errors | |
498 | signaled with the Lisp function `signal' can be continued; the `c' | |
499 | command causes `signal' to return. The `r' command causes `signal' to | |
500 | return the value you specify. The `c' command is equivalent to `r' | |
501 | with the value `nil'. | |
502 | ||
503 | For a `wrong-type-argument' error, the value returned with the `r' | |
504 | command is used in place of the invalid argument. If this new value | |
505 | is not valid, another error occurs. | |
506 | ||
507 | Errors signaled with the function `error' cannot be continued. | |
508 | If you try to continue, the error just happens again. | |
509 | ||
510 | * `dot' renamed `point'. | |
511 | ||
512 | The word `dot' has been replaced with `point' in all | |
513 | function and variable names, including: | |
514 | ||
515 | point, point-min, point-max, | |
516 | point-marker, point-min-marker, point-max-marker, | |
517 | window-point, set-window-point, | |
518 | point-to-register, register-to-point, | |
519 | exchange-point-and-mark. | |
520 | ||
521 | The old names are still supported, for now. | |
522 | ||
523 | * `string-match' records position of end of match. | |
524 | ||
525 | After a successful call to `string-match', `(match-end 0)' will | |
526 | return the index in the string of the first character after the match. | |
527 | Also, `match-begin' and `match-end' with nonzero arguments can be | |
528 | used to find the indices of beginnings and ends of substrings matched | |
529 | by subpatterns surrounded by parentheses. | |
530 | ||
531 | * New function `insert-before-markers'. | |
532 | ||
533 | This function is just like `insert' except in the handling of any | |
534 | relocatable markers that are located at the point of insertion. | |
535 | With `insert', such markers end up pointing before the inserted text. | |
536 | With `insert-before-markers', they end up pointing after the inserted | |
537 | text. | |
538 | ||
539 | * New function `copy-alist'. | |
540 | ||
541 | This function takes one argument, a list, and makes a disjoint copy | |
542 | of the alist structure. The list itself is copied, and each element | |
543 | that is a cons cell is copied, but the cars and cdrs of elements | |
544 | remain shared with the original argument. | |
545 | ||
546 | This is what it takes to get two alists disjoint enough that changes | |
547 | in one do not change the result of `assq' on the other. | |
548 | ||
549 | * New function `copy-keymap'. | |
550 | ||
551 | This function takes a keymap as argument and returns a new keymap | |
552 | containing initially the same bindings. Rebindings in either one of | |
553 | them will not alter the bindings in the other. | |
554 | ||
555 | * New function `copy-syntax-table'. | |
556 | ||
557 | This function takes a syntax table as argument and returns a new | |
558 | syntax table containing initially the same syntax settings. Changes | |
559 | in either one of them will not alter the other. | |
560 | ||
561 | * Randomizing the random numbers. | |
562 | ||
563 | `(random t)' causes the random number generator's seed to be set | |
564 | based on the current time and Emacs's process id. | |
565 | ||
566 | * Third argument to `modify-syntax-entry'. | |
567 | ||
568 | The optional third argument to `modify-syntax-entry', if specified | |
569 | should be a syntax table. The modification is made in that syntax table | |
570 | rather than in the current syntax table. | |
571 | ||
572 | * New function `run-hooks'. | |
573 | ||
574 | This function takes any number of symbols as arguments. | |
575 | It processes the symbols in order. For each symbol which | |
576 | has a value (as a variable) that is non-nil, the value is | |
577 | called as a function, with no arguments. | |
578 | ||
579 | This is useful in major mode commands. | |
580 | ||
581 | * Second arg to `switch-to-buffer'. | |
582 | ||
583 | If this function is given a non-`nil' second argument, then the | |
584 | selection being done is not recorded on the selection history. | |
585 | The buffer's position in the history remains unchanged. This | |
586 | feature is used by the view commands, so that the selection history | |
587 | after exiting from viewing is the same as it was before. | |
588 | ||
589 | * Second arg to `display-buffer' and `pop-to-buffer'. | |
590 | ||
591 | These two functions both accept an optional second argument which | |
592 | defaults to `nil'. If the argument is not `nil', it means that | |
593 | another window (not the selected one) must be found or created to | |
594 | display the specified buffer in, even if it is already shown in | |
595 | the selected window. | |
596 | ||
597 | This feature is used by `switch-to-buffer-other-window'. | |
598 | ||
599 | * New variable `completion-ignore-case'. | |
600 | ||
601 | If this variable is non-`nil', completion allows strings | |
602 | in different cases to be considered matching. The global value | |
603 | is `nil' | |
604 | ||
605 | This variable exists for the sake of commands that are completing | |
606 | an argument in which case is not significant. It is possible | |
607 | to change the value globally, but you might not like the consequences | |
608 | in the many situations (buffer names, command names, file names) | |
609 | where case makes a difference. | |
610 | ||
611 | * Major modes related to Text mode call text-mode-hook, then their own hooks. | |
612 | ||
613 | For example, turning on Outline mode first calls the value of | |
614 | `text-mode-hook' as a function, if it exists and is non-`nil', | |
615 | and then does likewise for the variable `outline-mode-hook'. | |
616 | ||
617 | * Defining new command line switches. | |
618 | ||
619 | You can define a new command line switch in your .emacs file | |
620 | by putting elements on the value of `command-switch-alist'. | |
621 | Each element of this list should look like | |
622 | (SWITCHSTRING . FUNCTION) | |
623 | where SWITCHSTRING is a string containing the switch to be | |
624 | defined, such as "-foo", and FUNCTION is a function to be called | |
625 | if such an argument is found in the command line. FUNCTION | |
626 | receives the command line argument, a string, as its argument. | |
627 | ||
628 | To implement a switch that uses up one or more following arguments, | |
629 | use the fact that the remaining command line arguments are kept | |
630 | as a list in the variable `command-line-args'. FUNCTION can | |
631 | examine this variable, and do | |
632 | (setq command-line-args (cdr command-line-args) | |
633 | to "use up" an argument. | |
634 | ||
635 | * New variable `load-in-progress'. | |
636 | ||
637 | This variable is non-`nil' when a file of Lisp code is being read | |
638 | and executed by `load'. | |
639 | ||
640 | * New variable `print-length'. | |
641 | ||
642 | The value of this variable is normally `nil'. It may instead be | |
643 | a number; in that case, when a list is printed by `prin1' or | |
644 | `princ' only that many initial elements are printed; the rest are | |
645 | replaced by `...'. | |
646 | ||
647 | * New variable `find-file-not-found-hook'. | |
648 | ||
649 | If `find-file' or any of its variants is used on a nonexistent file, | |
650 | the value of `find-file-not-found-hook' is called (if it is not `nil') | |
651 | with no arguments, after creating an empty buffer. The file's name | |
652 | can be found as the value of `buffer-file-name'. | |
653 | ||
654 | * Processes without buffers. | |
655 | ||
656 | In the function `start-process', you can now specify `nil' as | |
657 | the process's buffer. You can also set a process's buffer to `nil' | |
658 | using `set-process-buffer'. | |
659 | ||
660 | The reason you might want to do this is to prevent the process | |
661 | from being killed because any particular buffer is killed. | |
662 | When a process has a buffer, killing that buffer kills the | |
663 | process too. | |
664 | ||
665 | When a process has no buffer, its output is lost unless it has a | |
666 | filter, and no indication of its being stopped or killed is given | |
667 | unless it has a sentinel. | |
668 | ||
669 | * New function `user-variable-p'. `v' arg prompting changed. | |
670 | ||
671 | This function takes a symbol as argument and returns `t' if | |
672 | the symbol is defined as a user option variable. This means | |
673 | that it has a `variable-documentation' property whose value is | |
674 | a string starting with `*'. | |
675 | ||
676 | Code `v' in an interactive arg reading string now accepts | |
677 | user variables only, and completion is limited to the space of | |
678 | user variables. | |
679 | ||
680 | The function `read-variable' also now accepts and completes | |
681 | over user variables only. | |
682 | ||
683 | * CBREAK mode input is the default in Unix 4.3 bsd. | |
684 | ||
685 | In Berkeley 4.3 Unix, there are sufficient features for Emacs to | |
686 | work fully correctly using CBREAK mode and not using SIGIO. | |
687 | Therefore, this mode is the default when running under 4.3. | |
688 | This mode corresponds to `nil' as the first argument to | |
689 | `set-input-mode'. You can still select either mode by calling | |
690 | that function. | |
691 | ||
692 | * Information on memory usage. | |
693 | ||
694 | The new variable `data-bytes-used' contains the number | |
695 | of bytes of impure space allocated in Emacs. | |
696 | `data-bytes-free' contains the number of additional bytes | |
697 | Emacs could allocate. Note that space formerly allocated | |
698 | and freed again still counts as `used', since it is still | |
699 | in Emacs's address space. | |
700 | ||
701 | * No limit on size of output from `format'. | |
702 | ||
703 | The string output from `format' used to be truncated to | |
704 | 100 characters in length. Now it can have any length. | |
705 | ||
706 | * New errors `void-variable' and `void-function' replace `void-symbol'. | |
707 | ||
708 | This change makes it possible to have error messages that | |
709 | clearly distinguish undefined variables from undefined functions. | |
710 | It also allows `condition-case' to handle one case without the other. | |
711 | ||
712 | * `replace-match' handling of `\'. | |
713 | ||
714 | In `replace-match', when the replacement is not literal, | |
715 | `\' in the replacement string is always treated as an | |
716 | escape marker. The only two special `\' constructs | |
717 | are `\&' and `\DIGIT', so `\' followed by anything other than | |
718 | `&' or a digit has no effect. `\\' is necessary to include | |
719 | a `\' in the replacement text. | |
720 | ||
721 | This level of escaping is comparable with what goes on in | |
722 | a regular expression. It is over and above the level of `\' | |
723 | escaping that goes on when strings are read in Lisp syntax. | |
724 | ||
725 | * New error `invalid-regexp'. | |
726 | ||
727 | A regexp search signals this type of error if the argument does | |
728 | not meet the rules for regexp syntax. | |
729 | ||
730 | * `kill-emacs' with argument. | |
731 | ||
732 | If the argument is a number, it is returned as the exit status code | |
733 | of the Emacs process. If the argument is a string, its contents | |
734 | are stuffed as pending terminal input, to be read by another program | |
735 | after Emacs is dead. | |
736 | ||
737 | * New fifth argument to `subst-char-in-region'. | |
738 | ||
739 | This argument is optional and defaults to `nil'. If it is not `nil', | |
740 | then the substitutions made by this function are not recorded | |
741 | in the Undo mechanism. | |
742 | ||
743 | This feature should be used with great care. It is now used | |
744 | by Outline mode to make lines visible or invisible. | |
745 | ||
746 | * ` *Backtrace*' buffer renamed to `*Backtrace*'. | |
747 | ||
748 | As a result, you can now reselect this buffer easily if you switch to | |
749 | another while in the debugger. | |
750 | ||
751 | Exiting from the debugger kills the `*Backtrace*' buffer, so you will | |
752 | not try to give commands in it when no longer really in the debugger. | |
753 | ||
754 | * New function `switch-to-buffer-other-window'. | |
755 | ||
756 | This is the new primitive to select a specified buffer (the | |
757 | argument) in another window. It is not quite the same as | |
758 | `pop-to-buffer', because it is guaranteed to create another | |
759 | window (assuming there is room on the screen) so that it can | |
760 | leave the current window's old buffer displayed as well. | |
761 | ||
762 | All functions to select a buffer in another window should | |
763 | do so by calling this new function. | |
764 | ||
765 | * New variable `minibuffer-help-form'. | |
766 | ||
767 | At entry to the minibuffer, the variable `help-form' is bound | |
768 | to the value of `minibuffer-help-form'. | |
769 | ||
770 | `help-form' is expected at all times to contain either `nil' | |
771 | or an expression to be executed when C-h is typed (overriding | |
772 | teh definition of C-h as a command). `minibuffer-help-form' | |
773 | can be used to provide a different default way of handling | |
774 | C-h while in the minibuffer. | |
775 | ||
776 | * New \{...} documentation construct. | |
777 | ||
778 | It is now possible to set up the documentation string for | |
779 | a major mode in such a way that it always describes the contents | |
780 | of the major mode's keymap, as it has been customized. | |
781 | To do this, include in the documentation string the characters `\{' | |
782 | followed by the name of the variable containing the keymap, | |
783 | terminated with `}'. (The `\' at the beginning probably needs to | |
784 | be quoted with a second `\', to include it in the doc string.) | |
785 | This construct is normally used on a line by itself, with no blank | |
786 | lines before or after. | |
787 | ||
788 | For example, the documentation string for the function `c-mode' contains | |
789 | ... | |
790 | Paragraphs are separated by blank lines only. | |
791 | Delete converts tabs to spaces as it moves back. | |
792 | \\{c-mode-map} | |
793 | Variables controlling indentation style: | |
794 | ... | |
795 | ||
796 | * New character syntax class "punctuation". | |
797 | ||
798 | Punctuation characters behave like whitespace in word and | |
799 | list parsing, but can be distinguished in regexps and in the | |
800 | function `char-syntax'. Punctuation syntax is represented by | |
801 | a period in `modify-syntax-entry'. | |
802 | ||
803 | * `auto-mode-alist' no longer needs entries for backup-file names, | |
804 | ||
805 | Backup suffixes of all kinds are now stripped from a file's name | |
806 | before searching `auto-mode-alist'. | |
807 | \f | |
808 | Changes in Emacs 16 | |
809 | ||
810 | * No special code for Ambassadors, VT-100's and Concept-100's. | |
811 | ||
812 | Emacs now controls these terminals based on the termcap entry, like | |
813 | all other terminals. Formerly it did not refer to the termcap entries | |
814 | for those terminal types, and often the termcap entries for those | |
815 | terminals are wrong or inadequate. If you experience worse behavior | |
816 | on these terminals than in version 15, you can probably correct it by | |
817 | fixing up the termcap entry. See ./TERMS for more info. | |
818 | ||
819 | See ./TERMS in any case if you find that some terminal does not work | |
820 | right with Emacs now. | |
821 | ||
822 | * Minibuffer default completion character is TAB (and not ESC). | |
823 | ||
824 | So that ESC can be used in minibuffer for more useful prefix commands. | |
825 | ||
826 | * C-z suspends Emacs in all modes. | |
827 | ||
828 | Formerly, C-z was redefined for other purposes by certain modes, | |
829 | such as Buffer Menu mode. Now other keys are used for those purposes, | |
830 | to keep the meaning of C-z uniform. | |
831 | ||
832 | * C-x ESC (repeat-complex-command) allows editing the command it repeats. | |
833 | ||
834 | Instead of asking for confirmation to re-execute a command from the | |
835 | command history, the command is placed, in its Lisp form, into the | |
836 | minibuffer for editing. You can confirm by typing RETURN, change some | |
837 | arguments and then confirm, or abort with C-g. | |
838 | ||
839 | * Incremental search does less redisplay on slow terminals. | |
840 | ||
841 | If the terminal baud rate is <= the value of `isearch-slow-speed', | |
842 | incremental searching outside the text on the screen creates | |
843 | a single-line window and uses that to display the line on which | |
844 | a match has been found. Exiting or quitting the search restores | |
845 | the previous window configuration and redisplays the window you | |
846 | were searching in. | |
847 | ||
848 | The initial value of `isearch-slow-speed' is 1200. | |
849 | ||
850 | This feature is courtesy of crl@purdue. | |
851 | ||
852 | * Recursive minibuffers not allowed. | |
853 | ||
854 | If the minibuffer window is selected, most commands that would | |
855 | use the minibuffer gets an error instead. (Specific commands | |
856 | may override this feature and therefore still be allowed.) | |
857 | ||
858 | Strictly speaking, recursive entry to the minibuffer is still | |
859 | possible, because you can switch to another window after | |
860 | entering the minibuffer, and then minibuffer-using commands | |
861 | are allowed. This is still allowed by a deliberate decision: | |
862 | if you know enough to switch windows while in the minibuffer, | |
863 | you can probably understand recursive minibuffers. | |
864 | ||
865 | This may be overridden by binding the variable | |
866 | `enable-recursive-minibuffers' to t. | |
867 | ||
868 | * New major mode Emacs-Lisp mode, for editing Lisp code to run in Emacs. | |
869 | ||
870 | The mode in which emacs lisp files is edited is now called emacs-lisp-mode | |
871 | and is distinct from lisp-mode. The latter is intended for use with | |
872 | lisps external to emacs. | |
873 | ||
874 | The hook which is funcalled (if non-nil) on entry to elisp-mode is now | |
875 | called emacs-lisp-mode-hook. A consequence of this changes is that | |
876 | .emacs init files which set the value of lisp-mode-hook may need to be | |
877 | changed to use the new names. | |
878 | ||
879 | * Correct matching of parentheses is checked on insertion. | |
880 | ||
881 | When you insert a close-paren, the matching open-paren | |
882 | is checked for validity. The close paren must be the kind | |
883 | of close-paren that the open-paren says it should match. | |
884 | Otherwise, a warning message is printed. close-paren immediately | |
885 | preceded by quoting backslash syntax character is not matched. | |
886 | ||
887 | This feature was originally written by shane@mit-ajax. | |
888 | ||
889 | * M-x list-command-history | |
890 | * M-x command-history-mode | |
891 | * M-x electric-command-history | |
892 | ||
893 | `list-command-history' displays forms from the command history subject | |
894 | to user controlled filtering and limit on number of forms. It leaves | |
895 | the buffer in `command-history-mode'. M-x command-history-mode | |
896 | recomputes the command history each time it is invoked via | |
897 | `list-command-history'. It is like Emacs-Lisp mode except that characters | |
898 | don't insert themselves and provision is made for re-evaluating an | |
899 | expression from the list. `electric-command-history' pops up a type | |
900 | out window with the command history displayed. If the very next | |
901 | character is Space, the window goes away and the previous window | |
902 | configuration is restored. Otherwise you can move around in the | |
903 | history and select an expression for evaluation *inside* the buffer | |
904 | which invoked `electric-command-history'. The original window | |
905 | configuration is restored on exit unless the command selected changes | |
906 | it. | |
907 | ||
908 | * M-x edit-picture | |
909 | ||
910 | Enters a temporary major mode (the previous major mode is remembered | |
911 | and can is restored on exit) designed for editing pictures and tables. | |
912 | Printing characters replace rather than insert themselves with motion | |
913 | afterwards that is user controlled (you can specify any of the 8 | |
914 | compass directions). Special commands for movement are provided. | |
915 | Special commands for hacking tabs and tab stops are provided. Special | |
916 | commands for killing rectangles and overlaying them are provided. See | |
917 | the documentation of function edit-picture for more details. | |
918 | ||
919 | Calls value of `edit-picture-hook' on entry if non-nil. | |
920 | ||
921 | * Stupid C-s/C-q `flow control' supported. | |
922 | ||
923 | Do (set-input-mode nil t) to tell Emacs to use CBREAK mode and interpret | |
924 | C-s and C-q as flow control commands. (set-input-mode t nil) switches | |
925 | back to interrupt-driven input. (set-input-mode nil nil) uses CBREAK | |
926 | mode but no `flow control'; this may make it easier to run Emacs under | |
927 | certain debuggers that have trouble dealing with inferiors that use SIGIO. | |
928 | ||
929 | CBREAK mode has certain inherent disadvantages, which are why it is | |
930 | not the default: | |
931 | ||
932 | Meta-keys are ignored; CBREAK mode discards the 8th bit of | |
933 | input characters. | |
934 | ||
935 | Control-G as keyboard input discards buffered output, | |
936 | and therefore can cause incorrect screen updating. | |
937 | ||
938 | The use of `flow control' has its own additional disadvantage: the | |
939 | characters C-s and C-q are not available as editing commands. You can | |
940 | partially compensate for this by setting up a keyboard-translate-table | |
941 | (see file ONEWS) that maps two other characters (such as C-^ and C-\) into | |
942 | C-s and C-q. Of course, C-^ and C-\ are commonly used as escape | |
943 | characters in remote-terminal programs. You really can't win except | |
944 | by getting rid of this sort of `flow control.' | |
945 | ||
946 | The configuration switch CBREAK_INPUT is now eliminated. | |
947 | INTERRUPT_INPUT exists only to specify the default mode of operation; | |
948 | #define it to make interrupt-driven input the default. | |
949 | ||
950 | * Completion of directory names provides a slash. | |
951 | ||
952 | If file name completion yields the name of a directory, | |
953 | a slash is appended to it. | |
954 | ||
955 | * Undo can clear modified-flag. | |
956 | ||
957 | If you undo changes in a buffer back to a state in which the | |
958 | buffer was not considered "modified", then it is labelled as | |
959 | once again "unmodified". | |
960 | ||
961 | * M-x run-lisp. | |
962 | ||
963 | This command creates an inferior Lisp process whose input and output | |
964 | appear in the Emacs buffer named `*lisp*'. That buffer uses a major mode | |
965 | called inferior-lisp-mode, which has many of the commands of lisp-mode | |
966 | and those of shell-mode. Calls the value of shell-mode-hook and | |
967 | lisp-mode-hook, in that order, if non-nil. | |
968 | ||
969 | Meanwhile, in lisp-mode, the command C-M-x is defined to | |
970 | send the current defun as input to the `*lisp*' subprocess. | |
971 | ||
972 | * Mode line says `Narrow' when buffer is clipped. | |
973 | ||
974 | If a buffer has a clipping restriction (made by `narrow-to-region') | |
975 | then its mode line contains the word `Narrow' after the major and | |
976 | minor modes. | |
977 | ||
978 | * Mode line says `Abbrev' when abbrev mode is on. | |
979 | ||
980 | * add-change-log-entry takes prefix argument | |
981 | ||
982 | Giving a prefix argument makes it prompt for login name, full name, | |
983 | and site name, with defaults. Otherwise the defaults are used | |
984 | with no confirmation. | |
985 | ||
986 | * M-x view-buffer and M-x view-file | |
987 | ||
988 | view-buffer selects the named buffer, view-file finds the named file; the | |
989 | resulting buffer is placed into view-mode (a recursive edit). The normal | |
990 | emacs commands are not available. Instead a set of special commands is | |
991 | provided which faclitate moving around in the buffer, searching and | |
992 | scrolling by screenfuls. Exiting view-mode returns to the buffer in which | |
993 | the view-file or view-buffer command was given. | |
994 | Type ? or h when viewing for a complete list of view commands. | |
995 | Each calls value of `view-hook' if non-nil on entry. | |
996 | ||
997 | written by shane@mit-ajax. | |
998 | ||
999 | * New key commands in dired. | |
1000 | ||
1001 | `v' views (like more) the file on the current line. | |
1002 | `#' marks auto-save files for deletion. | |
1003 | `~' marks backup files for deletion. | |
1004 | `r' renames a file and updates the directory listing if the | |
1005 | file is renamed to same directory. | |
1006 | `c' copies a file and updates the directory listing if the file is | |
1007 | copied to the same directory. | |
1008 | ||
1009 | * New function `electric-buffer-list'. | |
1010 | ||
1011 | This pops up a buffer describing the set of emacs buffers. | |
1012 | Immediately typing space makes the buffer list go away and returns | |
1013 | to the buffer and window which were previously selected. | |
1014 | ||
1015 | Otherwise one may use the c-p and c-n commands to move around in the | |
1016 | buffer-list buffer and type Space or C-z to select the buffer on the | |
1017 | cursor's line. There are a number of other commands which are the same | |
1018 | as those of buffer-menu-mode. | |
1019 | ||
1020 | This is a useful thing to bind to c-x c-b in your `.emacs' file if the | |
1021 | rather non-standard `electric' behaviour of the buffer list suits your taste. | |
1022 | Type C-h after invoking electric-buffer-list for more information. | |
1023 | ||
1024 | Calls value of `electric-buffer-menu-mode-hook' if non-nil on entry. | |
1025 | Calls value of `after-electric-buffer-menu' on exit (select) if non-nil. | |
1026 | \f | |
1027 | Changes in version 16 for mail reading and sending | |
1028 | ||
1029 | * sendmail prefix character is C-c (and not C-z). New command C-c w. | |
1030 | ||
1031 | For instance C-c C-c (or C-c C-s) sends mail now rather than C-z C-z. | |
1032 | C-c w inserts your `signature' (contents of ~/.signature) at the end | |
1033 | of mail. | |
1034 | ||
1035 | * New feature in C-c y command in sending mail. | |
1036 | ||
1037 | C-c y is the command to insert the message being replied to. | |
1038 | Normally it deletes most header fields and indents everything | |
1039 | by three spaces. | |
1040 | ||
1041 | Now, C-c y does not delete header fields or indent. | |
1042 | C-c y with any other numeric argument does delete most header | |
1043 | fields, but indents by the amount specified in the argument. | |
1044 | ||
1045 | * C-r command in Rmail edits current message. | |
1046 | ||
1047 | It does this by switching to a different major mode | |
1048 | which is nearly the same as Text mode. The only difference | |
1049 | between it and text mode are the two command C-c and C-]. | |
1050 | C-c is defined to switch back to Rmail mode, and C-] | |
1051 | is defined to restore the original contents of the message | |
1052 | and then switch back to Rmail mode. | |
1053 | ||
1054 | C-c and C-] are the only ways "back into Rmail", but you | |
1055 | can switch to other buffers and edit them as usual. | |
1056 | C-r in Rmail changes only the handling of the Rmail buffer. | |
1057 | ||
1058 | * Rmail command `t' toggles header display. | |
1059 | ||
1060 | Normally Rmail reformats messages to hide most header fields. | |
1061 | `t' switches to display of all the header fields of the | |
1062 | current message, as long as it remains current. | |
1063 | Another `t' switches back to the usual display. | |
1064 | ||
1065 | * Rmail command '>' goes to the last message. | |
1066 | ||
1067 | * Rmail commands `a' and `k' set message attributes. | |
1068 | `a' adds an attribute and `k' removes one. You specify | |
1069 | the attrbute by name. You can specify either a built-in | |
1070 | flag such as "deleted" or "filed", or a user-defined keyword | |
1071 | (anything not recognized as built-in). | |
1072 | ||
1073 | * Rmail commands `l' and `L' summarize by attributes. | |
1074 | ||
1075 | These commands create a summary with one line per message, | |
1076 | like `h', but they list only some of the messages. You | |
1077 | specify which attribute (for `l') or attributes (for `L') | |
1078 | the messages should have. | |
1079 | ||
1080 | * Rmail can parse mmdf mail files. | |
1081 | ||
1082 | * Interface to MH mail system. | |
1083 | ||
1084 | mh-e is a front end for GNU emacs and the MH mail system. It | |
1085 | provides a friendly and convient interface to the MH commands. | |
1086 | ||
1087 | To read mail, invoke mh-rmail. This will inc new mail and display the | |
1088 | scan listing on the screen. To see a summary of the mh-e commands, | |
1089 | type ?. Help is available through the usual facilities. | |
1090 | ||
1091 | To send mail, invoke mh-smail. | |
1092 | ||
1093 | mh-e requires a copy of MH.5 that has been compiled with the MHE | |
1094 | compiler switch. | |
1095 | ||
1096 | From larus@berkeley. | |
1097 | \f | |
1098 | New hooks and parameters in version 16 | |
1099 | ||
1100 | * New variable `blink-matching-paren-distance'. | |
1101 | ||
1102 | This is the maximum number of characters to search for | |
1103 | an open-paren to match an inserted close-paren. | |
1104 | The matching open-paren is shown and checked if it is found | |
1105 | within this distance. | |
1106 | ||
1107 | `nil' means search all the way to the beginning of the buffer. | |
1108 | In this case, a warning message is printed if no matching | |
1109 | open-paren is found. | |
1110 | ||
1111 | This feature was originally written by shane@mit-ajax. | |
1112 | ||
1113 | * New variable `find-file-run-dired' | |
1114 | ||
1115 | If nil, find-file will report an error if an attempt to visit a | |
1116 | directory is detected; otherwise, it runs dired on that directory. | |
1117 | The default is t. | |
1118 | ||
1119 | * Variable `dired-listing-switches' holds switches given to `ls' by dired. | |
1120 | ||
1121 | The value should be a string containing `-' followed by letters. | |
1122 | The letter `l' had better be included and letter 'F' had better be excluded! | |
1123 | The default is "-al". | |
1124 | ||
1125 | This feature was originally written by shane@mit-ajax. | |
1126 | ||
1127 | * New variable `display-time-day-and-date'. | |
1128 | ||
1129 | If this variable is set non-`nil', the function M-x display-time | |
1130 | displays the day and date, as well as the time. | |
1131 | ||
1132 | * New parameter `c-continued-statement-indent'. | |
1133 | ||
1134 | This controls the extra indentation given to a line | |
1135 | that continues a C statement started on the previous line. | |
1136 | By default it is 2, which is why you would see | |
1137 | ||
1138 | if (foo) | |
1139 | bar (); | |
1140 | ||
1141 | ||
1142 | * Changed meaning of `c-indent-level'. | |
1143 | ||
1144 | The value of `c-brace-offset' used to be | |
1145 | subtracted from the value of `c-indent-level' whenever | |
1146 | that value was used. Now it is not. | |
1147 | ||
1148 | As a result, `c-indent-level' is now the offset of | |
1149 | statements within a block, relative to the line containing | |
1150 | the open-brace that starts the block. | |
1151 | ||
1152 | * turn-on-auto-fill is useful value for text-mode-hook. | |
1153 | ||
1154 | (setq text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill) | |
1155 | is all you have to do to make sure Auto Fill mode is turned | |
1156 | on whenever you enter Text mode. | |
1157 | ||
1158 | * Parameter explicit-shell-file-name for M-x shell. | |
1159 | ||
1160 | This variable, if non-nil, specifies the file name to use | |
1161 | for the shell to run if you do M-x shell. | |
1162 | \f | |
1163 | Changes in version 16 affecting Lisp programming: | |
1164 | ||
1165 | * Documentation strings adapt to customization. | |
1166 | ||
1167 | Often the documentation string for a command wants to mention | |
1168 | another command. Simply stating the other command as a | |
1169 | character sequence has a disadvantage: if the user customizes | |
1170 | Emacs by moving that function to a different command, the | |
1171 | cross reference in the documentation becomes wrong. | |
1172 | ||
1173 | A new feature allows you to write the documentation string | |
1174 | using a function name, and the command to run that function | |
1175 | is looked up when the documentation is printed. | |
1176 | ||
1177 | If a documentation string contains `\[' (two characters) then | |
1178 | the following text, up to the next `]', is taken as a function name. | |
1179 | Instead of printing that function name, the command that runs it is printed. | |
1180 | (M-x is used to construct a command if no shorter one exists.) | |
1181 | ||
1182 | For example, instead of putting `C-n' in a documentation string | |
1183 | to refer to the C-n command, put in `\[next-line]'. (In practice | |
1184 | you will need to quote the backslash with another backslash, | |
1185 | due to the syntax for strings in Lisp and C.) | |
1186 | ||
1187 | To include the literal characters `\[' in a documentation string, | |
1188 | precede them with `\='. To include the characters `\=', precede | |
1189 | them with `\='. For example, "\\=\\= is the way to quote \\=\\[" | |
1190 | will come out as `\= is the way to quote \['. | |
1191 | ||
1192 | The new function `substitute-command-keys' takes a string possibly | |
1193 | contaning \[...] constructs and replaces those constructs with | |
1194 | the key sequences they currently stand for. | |
1195 | ||
1196 | * Primitives `find-line-comment' and `find-line-comment-body' flushed. | |
1197 | ||
1198 | Search for the value of `comment-start-skip' if you want to find | |
1199 | whether and where a line has a comment. | |
1200 | ||
1201 | * New function `auto-save-file-name-p' | |
1202 | ||
1203 | Should return non-`nil' iff given a string which is the name of an | |
1204 | auto-save file (sans directory name). If you redefine | |
1205 | `make-auto-save-file-name', you should redefine this accordingly. By | |
1206 | default, this function returns `t' for filenames beginning with | |
1207 | character `#'. | |
1208 | ||
1209 | * The value of `exec-directory' now ends in a slash. | |
1210 | ||
1211 | This is to be compatible with most directory names in GNU Emacs. | |
1212 | ||
1213 | * Dribble files and termscript files. | |
1214 | ||
1215 | (open-dribble-file FILE) opens a dribble file named FILE. When a | |
1216 | dribble file is open, every character Emacs reads from the terminal is | |
1217 | written to the dribble file. | |
1218 | ||
1219 | (open-termscript FILE) opens a termscript file named FILE. When a | |
1220 | termscript file is open, all characters sent to the terminal by Emacs | |
1221 | are also written in the termscript file. | |
1222 | ||
1223 | The two of these together are very useful for debugging Emacs problems | |
1224 | in redisplay. | |
1225 | ||
1226 | * Upper case command characters by default are same as lower case. | |
1227 | ||
1228 | If a character in a command is an upper case letter, and is not defined, | |
1229 | Emacs uses the definition of the corresponding lower case letter. | |
1230 | For example, if C-x U is not directly undefined, it is treated as | |
1231 | a synonym for C-x u (undo). | |
1232 | ||
1233 | * Undefined function errors versus undefined variable errors. | |
1234 | ||
1235 | Void-symbol errors now say "boundp" if the symbol's value was void | |
1236 | or "fboundp" if the function definition was void. | |
1237 | ||
1238 | * New function `bury-buffer'. | |
1239 | ||
1240 | The new function `bury-buffer' takes one argument, a buffer object, | |
1241 | and puts that buffer at the end of the internal list of buffers. | |
1242 | So it is the least preferred candidate for use as the default value | |
1243 | of C-x b, or for other-buffer to return. | |
1244 | ||
1245 | * Already-displayed buffers have low priority for display. | |
1246 | ||
1247 | When a buffer is chosen automatically for display, or to be the | |
1248 | default in C-x b, buffers already displayed in windows have lower | |
1249 | priority than buffers not currently visible. | |
1250 | ||
1251 | * `set-window-start' accepts a third argument NOFORCE. | |
1252 | ||
1253 | This argument, if non-nil, prevents the window's force_start flag | |
1254 | from being set. Setting the force_start flag causes the next | |
1255 | redisplay to insist on starting display at the specified starting | |
1256 | point, even if dot must be moved to get it onto the screen. | |
1257 | ||
1258 | * New function `send-string-to-terminal'. | |
1259 | ||
1260 | This function takes one argument, a string, and outputs its contents | |
1261 | to the terminal exactly as specified: control characters, escape | |
1262 | sequences, and all. | |
1263 | ||
1264 | * Keypad put in command mode. | |
1265 | ||
1266 | The terminal's keypad is now put into command mode, as opposed to | |
1267 | numeric mode, while Emacs is running. This is done by means of the | |
1268 | termcap `ks' and `ke' strings. | |
1269 | ||
1270 | * New function `generate-new-buffer' | |
1271 | ||
1272 | This function takes a string as an argument NAME and looks for a | |
1273 | creates and returns a buffer called NAME if one did not already exist. | |
1274 | Otherwise, it successively tries appending suffixes of the form "<1>", | |
1275 | "<2>" etc to NAME until it creates a string which does not name an | |
1276 | existing buffer. A new buffer with that name is the created and returned. | |
1277 | ||
1278 | * New function `prin1-to-string' | |
1279 | This function takes one argument, a lisp object, and returns a string | |
1280 | containing that object's printed representation, such as `prin1' | |
1281 | would output. | |
1282 | ||
1283 | * New function `read-from-minibuffer' | |
1284 | Lets you supply a prompt, initial-contents, a keymap, and specify | |
1285 | whether the result should be interpreted as a string or a lisp object. | |
1286 | ||
1287 | Old functions `read-minibuffer', `eval-minibuffer', `read-string' all | |
1288 | take second optional string argument which is initial contents of | |
1289 | minibuffer. | |
1290 | ||
1291 | * minibuffer variable names changed (names of keymaps) | |
1292 | ||
1293 | minibuf-local-map -> minibuffer-local-map | |
1294 | minibuf-local-ns-map -> minibuffer-local-ns-map | |
1295 | minibuf-local-completion-map -> minibuffer-local-completion-map | |
1296 | minibuf-local-must-match-map -> minibuffer-local-must-match-map | |
1297 | \f | |
1298 | Changes in version 16 affecting configuring and building Emacs | |
1299 | ||
1300 | * Configuration switch VT100_INVERSE eliminated. | |
1301 | ||
1302 | You can control the use of inverse video on any terminal by setting | |
1303 | the variable `inverse-video', or by changing the termcap entry. If | |
1304 | you like, set `inverse-video' in your `.emacs' file based on | |
1305 | examination of (getenv "TERM"). | |
1306 | ||
1307 | * New switch `-batch' makes Emacs run noninteractively. | |
1308 | ||
1309 | If the switch `-batch' is used, Emacs treats its standard output | |
1310 | and input like ordinary files (even if they are a terminal). | |
1311 | It does not display buffers or windows; the only output to standard output | |
1312 | is what would appear as messages in the echo area, and each | |
1313 | message is followed by a newline. | |
1314 | ||
1315 | The terminal modes are not changed, so that C-z and C-c retain | |
1316 | their normal Unix meanings. Emacs does still read commands from | |
1317 | the terminal, but the idea of `-batch' is that you use it with | |
1318 | other command line arguments that tell Emacs a complete task to perform, | |
1319 | including killing itself. `-kill' used as the last argument is a good | |
1320 | way to accomplish this. | |
1321 | ||
1322 | The Lisp variable `noninteractive' is now defined, to be `nil' | |
1323 | except when `-batch' has been specified. | |
1324 | ||
1325 | * Emacs can be built with output redirected to a file. | |
1326 | ||
1327 | This is because -batch (see above) is now used in building Emacs. | |
1328 | \f | |
3787e12e | 1329 | For older news, see the file NEWS.1. |
a933dad1 DL |
1330 | |
1331 | ---------------------------------------------------------------------- | |
1332 | Copyright information: | |
1333 | ||
1334 | Copyright (C) 1985 Richard M. Stallman | |
1335 | ||
1336 | Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies | |
1337 | of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the | |
1338 | copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved, | |
1339 | thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn. | |
1340 | ||
1341 | Permission is granted to distribute modified versions | |
1342 | of this document, or of portions of it, | |
1343 | under the above conditions, provided also that they | |
1344 | carry prominent notices stating who last changed them. | |
1345 | \f | |
1346 | Local variables: | |
1347 | mode: text | |
1348 | end: |