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1 | Copyright (c) 1985 Free Software Foundation, Inc; See end for conditions. |
2 | ||
3 | You are looking at the Emacs tutorial. | |
4 | ||
5 | Emacs commands generally involve the CONTROL key (sometimes labelled | |
6 | CTRL or CTL) or the META key (sometimes labelled EDIT). Rather than | |
7 | write out META or CONTROL each time we want you to prefix a character, | |
8 | we'll use the following abbreviations: | |
9 | ||
10 | C-<chr> means hold the CONTROL key while typing the character <chr> | |
11 | Thus, C-f would be: hold the CONTROL key and type f. | |
12 | M-<chr> means hold the META or EDIT key down while typing <chr>. | |
13 | If there is no META or EDIT key, type <ESC>, release it, | |
14 | then type the character <chr>. "<ESC>" stands for the | |
15 | key labelled "ALT" or "ESC". | |
16 | ||
17 | Important note: to end the Emacs session, type C-x C-c. (Two characters.) | |
18 | The characters ">>" at the left margin indicate directions for you to | |
19 | try using a command. For instance: | |
20 | <<Blank lines inserted here by startup of help-with-tutorial>> | |
21 | >> Now type C-v (View next screen) to move to the next screen. | |
22 | (go ahead, do it by depressing the control key and v together). | |
23 | From now on, you'll be expected to do this whenever you finish | |
24 | reading the screen. | |
25 | ||
26 | Note that there is an overlap when going from screen to screen; this | |
27 | provides some continuity when moving through the file. | |
28 | ||
29 | The first thing that you need to know is how to move around from | |
30 | place to place in the file. You already know how to move forward a | |
31 | screen, with C-v. To move backwards a screen, type M-v (depress the | |
32 | META key and type v, or type <ESC>v if you don't have a META or EDIT | |
33 | key). | |
34 | ||
35 | >> Try typing M-v and then C-v to move back and forth a few times. | |
36 | ||
37 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
38 | * SUMMARY |
39 | --------- | |
f751376f JB |
40 | |
41 | The following commands are useful for viewing screenfuls: | |
42 | ||
43 | C-v Move forward one screenful | |
44 | M-v Move backward one screenful | |
45 | C-l Clear screen and redisplay everything | |
46 | putting the text near the cursor at the center. | |
3242b6f0 | 47 | (That's control-L, not control-1.) |
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48 | |
49 | >> Find the cursor and remember what text is near it. | |
50 | Then type a C-l. | |
51 | Find the cursor again and see what text is near it now. | |
52 | ||
53 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
54 | * BASIC CURSOR CONTROL |
55 | ---------------------- | |
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56 | |
57 | Getting from screenful to screenful is useful, but how do you | |
58 | reposition yourself within a given screen to a specific place? | |
59 | There are several ways you can do this. One way (not the best, but | |
60 | the most basic) is to use the commands previous, backward, forward | |
61 | and next. As you can imagine these commands (which are given to | |
62 | Emacs as C-p, C-b, C-f, and C-n respectively) move the cursor from | |
63 | where it currently is to a new place in the given direction. Here, | |
64 | in a more graphical form are the commands: | |
65 | ||
66 | Previous line, C-p | |
67 | : | |
68 | : | |
69 | Backward, C-b .... Current cursor position .... Forward, C-f | |
70 | : | |
71 | : | |
72 | Next line, C-n | |
73 | ||
74 | >> Move the cursor to the line in the middle of that diagram | |
75 | and type C-l to see the whole diagram centered in the screen. | |
76 | ||
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 | |
79 | the basic cursor positioning commands and you'll be using them ALL | |
80 | the time so it would be of great benefit if you learn them now. | |
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 | ||
87 | Lines are separated by Newline characters. For most applications | |
88 | there should normally be a Newline character at the end of the text, | |
89 | as well, but it is up to you to make sure of this. A file can | |
90 | validly exist without a Newline at the end. | |
91 | ||
92 | >> Try to C-b at the beginning of a line. Do a few more C-b's. | |
93 | Then do C-f's back to the end of the line and beyond. | |
94 | ||
95 | When you go off the top or bottom of the screen, the text beyond | |
96 | the edge is shifted onto the screen so that your instructions can | |
97 | be carried out while keeping the cursor on the screen. | |
98 | ||
99 | >> Try to move the cursor off the bottom of the screen with C-n and | |
100 | see what happens. | |
101 | ||
102 | If moving by characters is too slow, you can move by words. M-f | |
103 | (Meta-f) moves forward a word and M-b moves back a word. | |
104 | ||
105 | >> Type a few M-f's and M-b's. Intersperse them with C-f's and C-b's. | |
106 | ||
107 | Notice the parallel between C-f and C-b on the one hand, and M-f and | |
108 | M-b on the other hand. Very often Meta characters are used for | |
109 | operations related to English text whereas Control characters operate | |
110 | on the basic textual units that are independent of what you are | |
111 | editing (characters, lines, etc). There is a similar parallel between | |
112 | lines and sentences: C-a and C-e move to the beginning or end of a | |
113 | line, and M-a and M-e move to the beginning or end of a sentence. | |
114 | ||
115 | >> Try a couple of C-a's, and then a couple of C-e's. | |
116 | Try a couple of M-a's, and then a couple of M-e's. | |
117 | ||
118 | See how repeated C-a's do nothing, but repeated M-a's keep moving | |
119 | farther. Do you think that this is right? | |
120 | ||
121 | Two other simple cursor motion commands are M-< (Meta Less-than), | |
122 | which moves to the beginning of the file, and M-> (Meta Greater-than), | |
123 | which moves to the end of the file. You probably don't need to try | |
124 | them, since finding this spot again will be boring. On most terminals | |
125 | the "<" is above the comma and you must use the shift key to type it. | |
126 | On these terminals you must use the shift key to type M-< also; | |
127 | without the shift key, you would be typing M-comma. | |
128 | ||
129 | The location of the cursor in the text is also called "point". To | |
130 | paraphrase, the cursor shows on the screen where point is located in | |
131 | the text. | |
132 | ||
133 | Here is a summary of simple moving operations including the word and | |
134 | sentence moving commands: | |
135 | ||
136 | C-f Move forward a character | |
137 | C-b Move backward a character | |
138 | ||
139 | M-f Move forward a word | |
140 | M-b Move backward a word | |
141 | ||
142 | C-n Move to next line | |
143 | C-p Move to previous line | |
144 | ||
145 | C-a Move to beginning of line | |
146 | C-e Move to end of line | |
147 | ||
148 | M-a Move back to beginning of sentence | |
149 | M-e Move forward to end of sentence | |
150 | ||
151 | M-< Go to beginning of file | |
152 | M-> Go to end of file | |
153 | ||
154 | >> Try all of these commands now a few times for practice. | |
155 | Since the last two will take you away from this screen, | |
156 | you can come back here with M-v's and C-v's. These are | |
157 | the most often used commands. | |
158 | ||
159 | Like all other commands in Emacs, these commands can be given | |
160 | arguments which cause them to be executed repeatedly. The way you | |
161 | give a command a repeat count is by typing C-u and then the digits | |
162 | before you type the command. If you have a META or EDIT key, you can | |
163 | omit the C-u if you hold down the META or EDIT key while you type the | |
164 | digits. This is easier, but we recommend the C-u method because it | |
165 | works on any terminal. | |
166 | ||
167 | For instance, C-u 8 C-f moves forward eight characters. | |
168 | ||
169 | >> Try giving a suitable argument to C-n or C-p to come as close | |
170 | as you can to this line in one jump. | |
171 | ||
172 | The only apparent exception to this is the screen moving commands, | |
173 | C-v and M-v. When given an argument, they scroll the screen up or | |
174 | down by that many lines, rather than screenfuls. This proves to be | |
175 | much more useful. | |
176 | ||
177 | >> Try typing C-u 8 C-v now. | |
178 | ||
179 | Did it scroll the screen up by 8 lines? If you would like to | |
180 | scroll it down you can give an argument to M-v. | |
181 | ||
b0874bbd RS |
182 | If you are using X Windows, there is probably a rectangular area |
183 | called a scroll bar at the right hand side of the Emacs window. You | |
184 | can scroll the text by clicking the mouse in the scroll bar. | |
185 | ||
186 | >> Try pressing the middle button at the top of the highlighted area | |
187 | within the scroll bar, then moving the mouse while holding that button | |
188 | down. | |
189 | ||
190 | >> Move the mouse to a point in the scroll bar about three lines from | |
191 | the top, and click the left button a couple of times. Then try the | |
192 | right button a couple of times. | |
193 | ||
f751376f | 194 | |
26dc36e6 JB |
195 | * WHEN EMACS IS HUNG |
196 | -------------------- | |
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197 | |
198 | If Emacs gets into an infinite (or simply very long) computation which | |
199 | you don't want to finish, you can stop it safely by typing C-g. | |
200 | You can also use C-g to discard a numeric argument or the beginning of | |
201 | a command that you don't want to finish. | |
202 | ||
203 | >> Type C-u 100 to make a numeric arg of 100, then type C-g. | |
204 | Now type C-f. How many characters does it move? | |
205 | If you have typed an <ESC> by mistake, you can get rid of it | |
206 | with a C-g. | |
207 | ||
208 | If you type <ESC> <ESC>, you get a new window appearing on | |
209 | the screen, telling you that M-ESC is a "disabled command" | |
210 | and asking whether you really want to execute it. The command | |
211 | M-ESC is marked as disabled because you probably don't want to | |
212 | use it until you know more about Emacs, and we expect it would | |
213 | confuse you if it were allowed to go ahead and run. If you really | |
214 | want to try the M-ESC command, you could type a Space in answer | |
215 | to the question and M-ESC would go ahead. Normally, if you do | |
216 | not want to execute M-ESC, you would type "n" to answer the question. | |
217 | ||
218 | >> Type <ESC> <ESC>, then type n. | |
219 | ||
220 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
221 | * WINDOWS |
222 | --------- | |
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223 | |
224 | Emacs can have several windows, each displaying its own text. | |
225 | At this stage it is better not to go into the techniques of | |
226 | using multiple windows. But you do need to know how to get | |
227 | rid of extra windows that may appear to display help or | |
228 | output from certain commands. It is simple: | |
229 | ||
230 | C-x 1 One window (i.e., kill all other windows). | |
231 | ||
232 | That is Control-x followed by the digit 1. | |
233 | C-x 1 makes the window which the cursor is in become | |
234 | the full screen, by getting rid of any other windows. | |
235 | ||
236 | >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l. | |
237 | >> Type Control-h k Control-f. | |
238 | See how this window shrinks, while a new one appears | |
239 | to display documentation on the Control-f command. | |
240 | ||
241 | >> Type C-x 1 and see the documentation listing window disappear. | |
242 | ||
243 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
244 | * INSERTING AND DELETING |
245 | ------------------------ | |
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246 | |
247 | If you want to insert text, just type it. Characters which you can | |
248 | see, such as A, 7, *, etc. are taken by Emacs as text and inserted | |
249 | immediately. Type <Return> (the carriage-return key) to insert a | |
250 | Newline character. | |
251 | ||
252 | You can delete the last character you typed by typing <Rubout>. | |
253 | <Rubout> is a key on the keyboard, which might be labelled "Delete" | |
254 | instead of "Rubout" on some terminals. More generally, <Rubout> | |
255 | deletes the character immediately before the current cursor position. | |
256 | ||
257 | >> Do this now, type a few characters and then delete them | |
258 | by typing <Rubout> a few times. Don't worry about this file | |
259 | being changed; you won't affect the master tutorial. This is just | |
260 | a copy of it. | |
261 | ||
262 | >> Now start typing text until you reach the right margin, and keep | |
263 | typing. When a line of text gets too big for one line on the | |
264 | screen, the line of text is "continued" onto a second screen line. | |
265 | The backslash at the right margin indicates a line which has | |
266 | been continued. | |
267 | >> Use <Rubout>s to delete the text until the line fits on one screen | |
268 | line again. The continuation line goes away. | |
269 | ||
270 | >> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line and type <Rubout>. This | |
271 | deletes the newline before the line and merges the line onto | |
272 | the previous line. The resulting line may be too long to fit, in | |
273 | which case it has a continuation line. | |
274 | >> Type <Return> to reinsert the Newline you deleted. | |
275 | ||
276 | Remember that most Emacs commands can be given a repeat count; | |
277 | this includes characters which insert themselves. | |
278 | ||
279 | >> Try that now -- type C-u 8 * and see what happens. | |
280 | ||
281 | You've now learned the most basic way of typing something in | |
282 | Emacs and correcting errors. You can delete by words or lines | |
283 | as well. Here is a summary of the delete operations: | |
284 | ||
285 | <Rubout> delete the character just before the cursor | |
286 | C-d delete the next character after the cursor | |
287 | ||
288 | M-<Rubout> kill the word immediately before the cursor | |
289 | M-d kill the next word after the cursor | |
290 | ||
291 | C-k kill from the cursor position to end of line | |
292 | M-k kill to the end of the current sentence | |
293 | ||
294 | Notice that <Rubout> and C-d vs M-<Rubout> and M-d extend the parallel | |
295 | started by C-f and M-f (well, <Rubout> isn't really a control | |
296 | character, but let's not worry about that). C-k and M-k are like C-e | |
297 | and M-e, sort of, in that lines are opposite sentences. | |
298 | ||
299 | Now suppose you kill something, and then you decide that you want to | |
300 | get it back? Well, whenever you kill something bigger than a | |
301 | character, Emacs saves it for you. To yank it back, use C-y. You | |
302 | can kill text in one place, move elsewhere, and then do C-y; this is | |
303 | a good way to move text around. Note that the difference | |
304 | between "Killing" and "Deleting" something is that "Killed" things | |
305 | can be yanked back, and "Deleted" things cannot. Generally, the | |
306 | commands that can destroy a lot of text save it, while the ones that | |
307 | attack only one character, or nothing but blank lines and spaces, do | |
308 | not save. | |
309 | ||
89758ab8 | 310 | For instance, type C-n a couple times to position the cursor |
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311 | at some line on this screen. |
312 | ||
313 | >> Do this now, move the cursor and kill that line with C-k. | |
314 | ||
315 | Note that a single C-k kills the contents of the line, and a second | |
316 | C-k kills the line itself, and make all the other lines move up. If | |
317 | you give C-k a repeat count, it kills that many lines AND their | |
318 | contents. | |
319 | ||
320 | The text that has just disappeared is saved so that you can | |
321 | retrieve it. To retrieve the last killed text and put it where | |
322 | the cursor currently is, type C-y. | |
323 | ||
324 | >> Try it; type C-y to yank the text back. | |
325 | ||
326 | Think of C-y as if you were yanking something back that someone | |
327 | took away from you. Notice that if you do several C-k's in a row | |
328 | the text that is killed is all saved together so that one C-y will | |
329 | yank all of the lines. | |
330 | ||
331 | >> Do this now, type C-k several times. | |
332 | ||
333 | Now to retrieve that killed text: | |
334 | ||
335 | >> Type C-y. Then move the cursor down a few lines and type C-y | |
336 | again. You now see how to copy some text. | |
337 | ||
338 | What do you do if you have some text you want to yank back, and then | |
339 | you kill something else? C-y would yank the more recent kill. But | |
340 | the previous text is not lost. You can get back to it using the M-y | |
341 | command. After you have done C-y to get the most recent kill, typing | |
342 | M-Y replaces that yanked text with the previous kill. Typing M-y | |
343 | again and again brings in earlier and earlier kills. When you | |
344 | have reached the text you are looking for, you can just go away and | |
345 | leave it there. If you M-y enough times, you come back to the | |
346 | starting point (the most recent kill). | |
347 | ||
348 | >> Kill a line, move around, kill another line. | |
349 | Then do C-y to get back the second killed line. | |
350 | Then do M-y and it will be replaced by the first killed line. | |
351 | Do more M-y's and see what you get. Keep doing them until | |
352 | the second kill line comes back, and then a few more. | |
353 | If you like, you can try giving M-y positive and negative | |
354 | arguments. | |
355 | ||
356 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
357 | * UNDO |
358 | ------ | |
f751376f JB |
359 | |
360 | Any time you make a change to the text and wish you had not done so, | |
361 | you can undo the change (return the text to its previous state) | |
362 | with the undo command, C-x u. Normally, C-x u undoes one command's | |
363 | worth of changes; if you repeat the C-x u several times in a row, | |
364 | each time undoes one more command. There are two exceptions: | |
365 | commands that made no change (just moved the cursor) do not count, | |
366 | and self-inserting characters are often lumped together in groups | |
367 | of up to 20. This is to reduce the number of C-x u's you have to type. | |
368 | ||
369 | >> Kill this line with C-k, then type C-x u and it should reappear. | |
370 | ||
371 | C-_ is another command for undoing; it is just the same as C-x u | |
372 | but easier to type several times in a row. The problem with C-_ is | |
373 | that on some keyboards it is not obvious how to type it. That is | |
374 | why C-x u is provided as well. On some DEC terminals, you can type | |
375 | C-_ by typing / while holding down CTRL. Illogical, but what can | |
376 | you expect from DEC? | |
377 | ||
378 | Giving a numeric argument to C-_ or C-x u is equivalent to repeating | |
379 | it as many times as the argument says. | |
380 | ||
381 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
382 | * FILES |
383 | ------- | |
f751376f JB |
384 | |
385 | In order to make the text you edit permanent, you must put it in a | |
386 | file. Otherwise, it will go away when your invocation of Emacs goes | |
387 | away. You put your editing in a file by "finding" the file. What | |
388 | finding means is that you see the contents of the file in your Emacs; | |
389 | and, loosely speaking, what you are editing is the file itself. | |
390 | However, the changes still don't become permanent until you "save" the | |
391 | file. This is so you can have control to avoid leaving a half-changed | |
392 | file around when you don't want to. Even then, Emacs leaves the | |
393 | original file under a changed name in case your changes turn out | |
394 | to be a mistake. | |
395 | ||
396 | If you look near the bottom of the screen you will see a line that | |
397 | begins and ends with dashes, and contains the string "Emacs: TUTORIAL". | |
398 | Your copy of the Emacs tutorial is called "TUTORIAL". Whatever | |
399 | file you find, that file's name will appear in that precise | |
400 | spot. | |
401 | ||
402 | The commands for finding and saving files are unlike the other | |
403 | commands you have learned in that they consist of two characters. | |
404 | They both start with the character Control-x. There is a whole series | |
405 | of commands that start with Control-x; many of them have to do with | |
406 | files, buffers, and related things, and all of them consist of | |
407 | Control-x followed by some other character. | |
408 | ||
409 | Another thing about the command for finding a file is that you have | |
410 | to say what file name you want. We say the command "reads an argument | |
411 | from the terminal" (in this case, the argument is the name of the | |
412 | file). After you type the command | |
413 | ||
414 | C-x C-f Find a file | |
415 | ||
416 | Emacs asks you to type the file name. It echoes on the bottom | |
417 | line of the screen. You are using the minibuffer now! this is | |
418 | what the minibuffer is for. When you type <Return> to end the | |
419 | file name, the minibuffer is no longer needed, so it disappears. | |
420 | ||
421 | >> Type C-x C-f, then type C-g. This cancels the minibuffer, | |
422 | and also cancels the C-x C-f command that was using the | |
423 | minibuffer. So you do not find any file. | |
424 | ||
425 | In a little while the file contents appear on the screen. You can | |
426 | edit the contents. When you wish to make the changes permanent, | |
427 | issue the command | |
428 | ||
429 | C-x C-s Save the file | |
430 | ||
431 | The contents of Emacs are written into the file. The first time you | |
432 | do this, the original file is renamed to a new name so that it | |
433 | is not lost. The new name is made by appending "~" to the end | |
434 | of the original file's name. | |
435 | ||
436 | When saving is finished, Emacs prints the name of the file written. | |
437 | You should save fairly often, so that you will not lose very much | |
438 | work if the system should crash. | |
439 | ||
440 | >> Type C-x C-s, saving your copy of the tutorial. | |
441 | This should print "Wrote .../TUTORIAL" at the bottom of the screen. | |
442 | On VMS it will print "Wrote ...[...]TUTORIAL." | |
443 | ||
444 | To make a new file, just find it "as if" it already existed. Then | |
445 | start typing in the text. When you ask to "save" the file, Emacs | |
446 | will really create the file with the text that you have inserted. | |
447 | From then on, you can consider yourself to be editing an already | |
448 | existing file. | |
449 | ||
450 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
451 | * BUFFERS |
452 | --------- | |
f751376f JB |
453 | |
454 | If you find a second file with C-x C-f, the first file remains | |
455 | inside Emacs. You can switch back to it by finding it again with | |
456 | C-x C-f. This way you can get quite a number of files inside Emacs. | |
457 | ||
458 | The object inside Emacs which holds the text read from one file | |
459 | is called a "buffer." Finding a file makes a new buffer inside Emacs. | |
460 | To see a list of the buffers that exist in Emacs, type | |
461 | ||
462 | C-x C-b List buffers | |
463 | ||
464 | >> Try C-x C-b now. | |
465 | ||
466 | See how each buffer has a name, and it may also have a file name | |
467 | for the file whose contents it holds. Some buffers do not correspond | |
468 | to files. For example, the buffer named "*Buffer List*" does | |
469 | not have any file. It is the buffer which contains the buffer | |
470 | list that was made by C-x C-b. ANY text you see in an Emacs window | |
471 | has to be in some buffer. | |
472 | ||
473 | >> Type C-x 1 to get rid of the buffer list. | |
474 | ||
475 | If you make changes to the text of one file, then find another file, | |
476 | this does not save the first file. Its changes remain inside Emacs, | |
477 | in that file's buffer. The creation or editing of the second file's | |
478 | buffer has no effect on the first file's buffer. This is very useful, | |
479 | but it also means that you need a convenient way to save the first | |
480 | file's buffer. It would be a nuisance to have to switch back to | |
481 | it with C-x C-f in order to save it with C-x C-s. So we have | |
482 | ||
483 | C-x s Save some buffers | |
484 | ||
485 | C-x s goes through the list of all the buffers you have | |
486 | and finds the ones that contain files you have changed. | |
487 | For each such buffer, C-x s asks you whether to save it. | |
488 | ||
489 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
490 | * EXTENDING THE COMMAND SET |
491 | --------------------------- | |
f751376f JB |
492 | |
493 | There are many, many more Emacs commands than could possibly be put | |
494 | on all the control and meta characters. Emacs gets around this with | |
495 | the X (eXtend) command. This comes in two flavors: | |
496 | ||
497 | C-x Character eXtend. Followed by one character. | |
498 | M-x Named command eXtend. Followed by a long name. | |
499 | ||
500 | These are commands that are generally useful but used less than the | |
501 | commands you have already learned about. You have already seen two | |
502 | of them: the file commands C-x C-f to Find and C-x C-s to Save. | |
503 | Another example is the command to tell Emacs that you'd like to stop | |
504 | editing and get rid of Emacs. The command to do this is C-x C-c. | |
505 | (Don't worry; it offers to save each changed file before it kills the | |
506 | Emacs.) | |
507 | ||
508 | C-z is the usual way to exit Emacs, because it is always better not to | |
509 | kill the Emacs if you are going to do any more editing. On systems | |
510 | which allow it, C-z exits from Emacs to the shell but does not destroy | |
511 | the Emacs; if you use the C shell, you can resume Emacs with the `fg' | |
512 | command (or, more generally, with `%emacs', which works even if your | |
513 | most recent job was some other). On systems where suspending is not | |
514 | possible, C-z creates a subshell running under Emacs to give you the | |
515 | chance to run other programs and return to Emacs afterward, but it | |
516 | does not truly "exit" from Emacs. In this case, the shell command | |
517 | `exit' is the usual way to get back to Emacs from the subshell. | |
518 | ||
519 | You would use C-x C-c if you were about to log out. You would | |
520 | also use it to exit an Emacs invoked under mail handling programs | |
521 | and other random utilities, since they may not believe you have | |
522 | really finished using the Emacs if it continues to exist. | |
523 | ||
524 | There are many C-x commands. The ones you know are: | |
525 | ||
526 | C-x C-f Find file. | |
527 | C-x C-s Save file. | |
528 | C-x C-b List buffers. | |
529 | C-x C-c Quit Emacs. | |
530 | C-x u Undo. | |
531 | ||
532 | Named eXtended commands are commands which are used even less | |
533 | frequently, or commands which are used only in certain modes. These | |
534 | commands are usually called "functions". An example is the function | |
535 | replace-string, which globally replaces one string with another. When | |
536 | you type M-x, Emacs prompts you at the bottom of the screen with | |
537 | M-x and you should type the name of the function you wish to call; in | |
538 | this case, "replace-string". Just type "repl s<TAB>" and Emacs will | |
539 | complete the name. End the command name with <Return>. | |
540 | Then type the two "arguments"--the string to be replaced, and the string | |
541 | to replace it with--each one ended with a Return. | |
542 | ||
543 | >> Move the cursor to the blank line two lines below this one. | |
544 | Then type M-x repl s<Return>changed<Return>altered<Return>. | |
545 | ||
546 | Notice how this line has changed: you've replaced | |
89758ab8 | 547 | the word c-h-a-n-g-e-d with "altered" wherever it occurred |
f751376f JB |
548 | after the cursor. |
549 | ||
550 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
551 | * MODE LINE |
552 | ----------- | |
f751376f JB |
553 | |
554 | If Emacs sees that you are typing commands slowly it shows them to you | |
555 | at the bottom of the screen in an area called the "echo area." The echo | |
556 | area contains the bottom line of the screen. The line immediately above | |
557 | it is called the MODE LINE. The mode line says something like | |
558 | ||
3242b6f0 | 559 | --**-Emacs: TUTORIAL (Fundamental)--58%---------------------- |
f751376f JB |
560 | |
561 | This is a very useful "information" line. | |
562 | ||
563 | You already know what the filename means--it is the file you have | |
564 | found. What the --NN%-- means is that NN percent of the file is | |
565 | above the top of the screen. If the top of the file is on the screen, | |
3242b6f0 RS |
566 | it will say --Top-- instead of --00%--. If the bottom of the file is |
567 | on the screen, it will say --Bot--. If you are looking at a file so | |
568 | small it all fits on the screen, it says --All--. | |
f751376f JB |
569 | |
570 | The stars near the front mean that you have made changes to the text. | |
571 | Right after you visit or save a file, there are no stars, just dashes. | |
572 | ||
573 | The part of the mode line inside the parentheses is to tell you what | |
574 | modes you are in. The default mode is Fundamental which is what you | |
575 | are in now. It is an example of a "major mode". There are several | |
576 | major modes in Emacs for editing different languages and text, such as | |
577 | Lisp mode, Text mode, etc. At any time one and only one major mode is | |
578 | active, and its name can always be found in the mode line just where | |
579 | "Fundamental" is now. Each major mode makes a few commands behave | |
580 | differently. For example, there are commands for creating comments in | |
581 | a program, and since each programming language has a different idea of | |
582 | what a comment should look like, each major mode has to insert | |
583 | comments differently. Each major mode is the name of an extended | |
584 | command, which is how you get into the mode. For example, | |
3242b6f0 | 585 | M-x fundamental-mode is how to get into Fundamental mode. |
f751376f JB |
586 | |
587 | If you are going to be editing English text, such as this file, you | |
588 | should probably use Text Mode. | |
589 | >> Type M-x text-mode<Return>. | |
590 | ||
591 | Don't worry, none of the commands you have learned changes Emacs in | |
31930711 RS |
592 | any great way. But you can observe that apostrophes are now part of |
593 | words when you do M-f or M-b. Major modes are usually like that: | |
594 | commands don't change into completely unrelated things, but they work | |
595 | a little bit differently. | |
f751376f JB |
596 | |
597 | To get documentation on your current major mode, type C-h m. | |
598 | ||
599 | >> Use C-u C-v once or more to bring this line near the top of screen. | |
600 | >> Type C-h m, to see how Text mode differs from Fundamental mode. | |
601 | >> Type C-x 1 to remove the documentation from the screen. | |
602 | ||
603 | Major modes are called major because there are also minor modes. | |
604 | They are called minor because they aren't alternatives to the major | |
605 | modes, just minor modifications of them. Each minor mode can be | |
606 | turned on or off by itself, regardless of what major mode you are in, | |
607 | and regardless of the other minor modes. So you can use no minor | |
608 | modes, or one minor mode, or any combination of several minor modes. | |
609 | ||
610 | One minor mode which is very useful, especially for editing English | |
611 | text, is Auto Fill mode. When this mode is on, Emacs breaks the line | |
612 | in between words automatically whenever the line gets too long. You | |
613 | can turn this mode on by doing M-x auto-fill-mode<Return>. When the | |
614 | mode is on, you can turn it off by doing M-x auto-fill-mode<Return>. | |
615 | If the mode is off, this function turns it on, and if the mode is on, | |
616 | this function turns it off. This is called "toggling". | |
617 | ||
618 | >> Type M-x auto-fill-mode<Return> now. Then insert a line of "asdf " | |
619 | over again until you see it divide into two lines. You must put in | |
620 | spaces between them because Auto Fill breaks lines only at spaces. | |
621 | ||
622 | The margin is usually set at 70 characters, but you can change it | |
623 | with the C-x f command. You should give the margin setting you want | |
624 | as a numeric argument. | |
625 | ||
626 | >> Type C-x f with an argument of 20. (C-u 2 0 C-x f). | |
627 | Then type in some text and see Emacs fill lines of 20 | |
628 | characters with it. Then set the margin back to 70 using | |
629 | C-x f again. | |
630 | ||
631 | If you makes changes in the middle of a paragraph, Auto Fill mode | |
632 | does not re-fill it for you. | |
633 | To re-fill the paragraph, type M-q (Meta-q) with the cursor inside | |
634 | that paragraph. | |
635 | ||
636 | >> Move the cursor into the previous paragraph and type M-q. | |
637 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
638 | * SEARCHING |
639 | ----------- | |
f751376f JB |
640 | |
641 | Emacs can do searches for strings (these are groups of contiguous | |
642 | characters or words) either forward through the file or backward | |
643 | through it. To search for the string means that you are trying to | |
644 | locate it somewhere in the file and have Emacs show you where the | |
645 | occurrences of the string exist. This type of search is somewhat | |
646 | different from what you may be familiar with. It is a search that is | |
647 | performed as you type in the thing to search for. The command to | |
648 | initiate a search is C-s for forward search, and C-r for reverse | |
649 | search. BUT WAIT! Don't do them now. When you type C-s you'll | |
650 | notice that the string "I-search" appears as a prompt in the echo | |
651 | area. This tells you that Emacs is in what is called an incremental | |
652 | search waiting for you to type the thing that you want to search for. | |
525a7dc4 | 653 | <RET> terminates a search. |
f751376f JB |
654 | |
655 | >> Now type C-s to start a search. SLOWLY, one letter at a time, | |
656 | type the word 'cursor', pausing after you type each | |
657 | character to notice what happens to the cursor. | |
658 | >> Type C-s to find the next occurrence of "cursor". | |
659 | >> Now type <Rubout> four times and see how the cursor moves. | |
525a7dc4 | 660 | >> Type <RET> to terminate the search. |
f751376f JB |
661 | |
662 | Did you see what happened? Emacs, in an incremental search, tries to | |
663 | go to the occurrence of the string that you've typed out so far. To go | |
664 | to the next occurrence of 'cursor' just type C-s again. If no such | |
665 | occurrence exists Emacs beeps and tells you that it is a failing | |
666 | search. C-g would also terminate the search. | |
667 | ||
668 | If you are in the middle of an incremental search and type <Rubout>, | |
669 | you'll notice that the last character in the search string is erased | |
670 | and the search backs up to the last place of the search. For | |
671 | instance, suppose you currently have typed 'cu' and you see that your | |
672 | cursor is at the first occurrence of 'cu'. If you now type <Rubout>, | |
673 | the 'u' on the search line is erased and you'll be repositioned in the | |
674 | text to the occurrence of 'c' where the search took you before you | |
675 | typed the 'u'. This provides a useful means for backing up while you | |
676 | are searching. | |
677 | ||
3242b6f0 RS |
678 | If you are in the middle of a search and type a control or meta |
679 | character (with a few exceptions--characters that are special in | |
680 | a search, such as C-s and C-r), the search is terminated. | |
f751376f JB |
681 | |
682 | The C-s starts a search that looks for any occurrence of the search | |
683 | string AFTER the current cursor position. But what if you want to | |
684 | search for something earlier in the text? To do this, type C-r for | |
685 | Reverse search. Everything that applies to C-s applies to C-r except | |
686 | that the direction of the search is reversed. | |
687 | ||
688 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
689 | * MULTIPLE WINDOWS |
690 | ------------------ | |
e652a34a JB |
691 | |
692 | One of the nice features of Emacs is that you can display more than one | |
693 | window on the screen at the same time. | |
694 | ||
695 | >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l. | |
696 | ||
697 | >> Now type C-x 2 which splits the screen into two windows. | |
698 | Both windows display this tutorial. The cursor stays in the top window. | |
699 | ||
700 | >> Type C-M-v to scroll the bottom window. | |
701 | ||
702 | >> Type C-x o ("o" for "other") to move the cursor to the bottom window. | |
703 | >> Use C-v and M-v in the bottom window to scroll it. | |
704 | Keep reading these directions in the top window. | |
705 | ||
706 | >> Type C-x o again to move the cursor back to the top window. | |
707 | The cursor is still just where it was in the top window before. | |
708 | ||
709 | You can keep using C-x o to switch between the windows. Each | |
710 | window has its own cursor position, but only one window actually | |
711 | shows the cursor. All the ordinary editing commands apply to the | |
712 | window that the cursor is in. | |
713 | ||
714 | The command C-M-v is very useful when you are editing text in one | |
715 | window and using the other window just for reference. You can keep | |
716 | the cursor always in the window where you are editing, and edit | |
717 | there as you advance through the other window. | |
718 | ||
719 | >> Type C-x 1 (in the top window) to get rid of the bottom window. | |
720 | ||
721 | (If you had typed C-x 1 in the bottom window, that would get rid | |
722 | of the top one. Think of this command as "Keep just one | |
723 | window--the window I am already in.") | |
724 | ||
725 | You don't have to display the same buffer in both windows. If | |
726 | you use C-x C-f to find a file in one window, the other window | |
727 | doesn't change. You can pick a file in each window | |
728 | independently. | |
729 | ||
730 | Here is another way to use two windows to display two different | |
731 | things: | |
732 | ||
733 | >> Type C-x 4 C-f followed by the name of one of your files. | |
734 | End with <RETURN>. See the specified file appear in the bottom | |
735 | window. The cursor goes there, too. | |
736 | ||
737 | >> Type C-x o to go back to the top window, and C-x 1 to delete | |
738 | the bottom window. | |
739 | ||
740 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
741 | * RECURSIVE EDITING LEVELS |
742 | -------------------------- | |
f751376f JB |
743 | |
744 | Sometimes you will get into what is called a "recursive editing | |
745 | level". This is indicated by square brackets in the mode line, | |
746 | surrounding the parentheses around the major mode name. For | |
747 | example, you might see [(Fundamental)] instead of (Fundamental). | |
748 | ||
749 | To get out of the recursive editing level, type | |
750 | M-x top-level<Return>. | |
751 | ||
752 | >> Try that now; it should display "Back to top level" | |
753 | at the bottom of the screen. | |
754 | ||
755 | In fact, you were ALREADY at top level (not inside a recursive editing | |
756 | level) if you have obeyed instructions. M-x top-level does not care; | |
757 | it gets out of any number of recursive editing levels, perhaps zero, | |
758 | to get back to top level. | |
759 | ||
760 | You can't use C-g to get out of a recursive editing level because C-g | |
761 | is used for discarding numeric arguments and partially typed commands | |
762 | WITHIN the recursive editing level. | |
763 | ||
764 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
765 | * GETTING MORE HELP |
766 | ------------------- | |
f751376f JB |
767 | |
768 | In this tutorial we have tried to supply just enough information to | |
769 | get you started using Emacs. There is so much available in Emacs that | |
770 | it would be impossible to explain it all here. However, you may want | |
771 | to learn more about Emacs since it has numerous desirable features | |
772 | that you don't know about yet. Emacs has a great deal of internal | |
773 | documentation. All of these commands can be accessed through | |
774 | the character Control-h, which we call "the Help character" | |
775 | because of the function it serves. | |
776 | ||
777 | To use the HELP features, type the C-h character, and then a | |
778 | character saying what kind of help you want. If you are REALLY lost, | |
779 | type C-h ? and Emacs will tell you what kinds of help it can give. | |
780 | If you have typed C-h and decide you don't want any help, just | |
3242b6f0 | 781 | type C-g to cancel it. |
f751376f JB |
782 | |
783 | The most basic HELP feature is C-h c. Type C-h, a c, and a | |
784 | command character or sequence, and Emacs displays a very brief | |
785 | description of the command. | |
786 | ||
787 | >> Type C-h c Control-p. | |
788 | The message should be something like | |
789 | ||
790 | C-p runs the command previous-line | |
791 | ||
792 | This tells you the "name of the function". That is important in | |
793 | writing Lisp code to extend Emacs; it also is enough to remind | |
794 | you of what the command does if you have seen it before but did | |
795 | not remember. | |
796 | ||
797 | Multi-character commands such as C-x C-s and (if you have no META or | |
798 | EDIT key) <ESC>v are also allowed after C-h c. | |
799 | ||
800 | To get more information on the command, use C-h k instead of C-h c. | |
801 | ||
802 | >> Type C-h k Control-p. | |
803 | ||
10a4c11f JB |
804 | This displays the documentation of the function, as well as its |
805 | name, in an Emacs window. When you are finished reading the | |
806 | output, type C-x 1 to get rid of the help text. You do not have | |
807 | to do this right away. You can do some editing while referring | |
808 | to the help text and then type C-x 1. | |
f751376f JB |
809 | |
810 | Here are some other useful C-h options: | |
811 | ||
812 | C-h f Describe a function. You type in the name of the | |
813 | function. | |
814 | ||
815 | >> Try typing C-h f previous-line<Return>. | |
816 | This prints all the information Emacs has about the | |
3242b6f0 | 817 | function which implements the C-p command. |
f751376f JB |
818 | |
819 | C-h a Command Apropos. Type in a keyword and Emacs will list | |
820 | all the commands whose names contain that keyword. | |
821 | These commands can all be invoked with Meta-x. | |
822 | For some commands, Command Apropos will also list a one | |
823 | or two character sequence which has the same effect. | |
824 | ||
10a4c11f JB |
825 | >> Type C-h a file<Return>. |
826 | ||
827 | This displays in another window a list of all M-x commands with | |
828 | "file" in their names. You will also see commands like C-x C-f | |
829 | and C-x C-w, listed beside the command names find-file and | |
830 | write-file. | |
831 | ||
832 | >> Type C-M-v to scroll the help window. Do this a few times. | |
833 | ||
834 | >> Type C-x 1 to delete the help window. | |
f751376f JB |
835 | |
836 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
837 | * CONCLUSION |
838 | ------------ | |
f751376f JB |
839 | |
840 | Remember, to exit Emacs permanently use C-x C-c. To exit to a shell | |
841 | temporarily, so that you can come back in, use C-z. | |
842 | ||
843 | This tutorial is meant to be understandable to all new users, so if | |
844 | you found something unclear, don't sit and blame yourself - complain! | |
845 | ||
846 | ||
847 | COPYING | |
848 | ------- | |
849 | ||
850 | This tutorial descends from a long line of Emacs tutorials | |
851 | starting with the one written by Stuart Cracraft for the original Emacs. | |
852 | ||
853 | This version of the tutorial, like GNU Emacs, is copyrighted, and | |
854 | comes with permission to distribute copies on certain conditions: | |
855 | ||
856 | Copyright (c) 1985 Free Software Foundation | |
857 | ||
858 | Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies | |
859 | of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the | |
860 | copyright notice and permission notice are preserved, | |
861 | and that the distributor grants the recipient permission | |
862 | for further redistribution as permitted by this notice. | |
863 | ||
864 | Permission is granted to distribute modified versions | |
865 | of this document, or of portions of it, | |
866 | under the above conditions, provided also that they | |
867 | carry prominent notices stating who last altered them. | |
868 | ||
869 | The conditions for copying Emacs itself are slightly different | |
870 | but in the same spirit. Please read the file COPYING and then | |
871 | do give copies of GNU Emacs to your friends. | |
872 | Help stamp out software obstructionism ("ownership") by using, | |
873 | writing, and sharing free software! |