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4873755c | 1 | Emacs tutorial. See end for copying conditions. |
f751376f | 2 | |
1869e50a KH |
3 | Emacs commands generally involve the CONTROL key (sometimes labeled |
4 | CTRL or CTL) or the META key (sometimes labeled EDIT or ALT). Rather than | |
4a3142d2 | 5 | write that in full each time, we'll use the following abbreviations: |
f751376f JB |
6 | |
7 | C-<chr> means hold the CONTROL key while typing the character <chr> | |
8 | Thus, C-f would be: hold the CONTROL key and type f. | |
8a4aff68 | 9 | M-<chr> means hold the META or EDIT or ALT key down while typing <chr>. |
4a3142d2 KH |
10 | If there is no META, EDIT or ALT key, instead press and release the |
11 | ESC key and then type <chr>. We write <ESC> for the ESC key. | |
f751376f JB |
12 | |
13 | Important note: to end the Emacs session, type C-x C-c. (Two characters.) | |
14 | The characters ">>" at the left margin indicate directions for you to | |
15 | try using a command. For instance: | |
39296e3a RS |
16 | <<Blank lines inserted around following line by help-with-tutorial>> |
17 | [Middle of page left blank for didactic purposes. Text continues below] | |
f751376f | 18 | >> Now type C-v (View next screen) to move to the next screen. |
1e78d347 | 19 | (go ahead, do it by holding down the CONTROL key while typing v). |
82e312c7 | 20 | From now on, you should do this again whenever you finish |
f751376f JB |
21 | reading the screen. |
22 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
23 | Note that there is an overlap of two lines when you move from screen |
24 | to screen; this provides some continuity so you can continue reading | |
25 | the text. | |
f751376f | 26 | |
82e312c7 RS |
27 | The first thing that you need to know is how to move around from place |
28 | to place in the text. You already know how to move forward one screen, | |
29 | with C-v. To move backwards one screen, type M-v (hold down the META key | |
bec1289c | 30 | and type v, or type <ESC>v if you do not have a META, EDIT, or ALT key). |
f751376f | 31 | |
82e312c7 | 32 | >> Try typing M-v and then C-v, a few times. |
f751376f JB |
33 | |
34 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
35 | * SUMMARY |
36 | --------- | |
f751376f JB |
37 | |
38 | The following commands are useful for viewing screenfuls: | |
39 | ||
40 | C-v Move forward one screenful | |
41 | M-v Move backward one screenful | |
82e312c7 RS |
42 | C-l Clear screen and redisplay all the text, |
43 | moving the text around the cursor | |
44 | to the center of the screen. | |
1e78d347 | 45 | (That's CONTROL-L, not CONTROL-1.) |
f751376f | 46 | |
82e312c7 RS |
47 | >> Find the cursor, and note what text is near it. |
48 | Then type C-l. | |
49 | Find the cursor again and notice that the same text | |
50 | is near the cursor now. | |
f751376f | 51 | |
3d9a3367 RS |
52 | You can also use the PageUp and PageDn keys to move by screenfuls, if |
53 | your terminal has them, but you can edit more efficiently if you use | |
54 | C-v and M-v. | |
49a8a2f5 | 55 | |
f751376f | 56 | |
26dc36e6 JB |
57 | * BASIC CURSOR CONTROL |
58 | ---------------------- | |
f751376f | 59 | |
82e312c7 RS |
60 | Moving from screenful to screenful is useful, but how do you |
61 | move to a specific place within the text on the screen? | |
62 | ||
49a8a2f5 RS |
63 | There are several ways you can do this. You can use the arrow keys, |
64 | but it's more efficient to keep your hands in the standard position | |
65 | and use the commands C-p, C-b, C-f, and C-n. These characters | |
66 | are equivalent to the four arrow keys, like this: | |
177c0ea7 | 67 | |
f751376f JB |
68 | Previous line, C-p |
69 | : | |
70 | : | |
71 | Backward, C-b .... Current cursor position .... Forward, C-f | |
72 | : | |
73 | : | |
82e312c7 | 74 | Next line, C-n |
f751376f JB |
75 | |
76 | >> Move the cursor to the line in the middle of that diagram | |
82e312c7 RS |
77 | using C-n or C-p. Then type C-l to see the whole diagram |
78 | centered in the screen. | |
f751376f | 79 | |
49a8a2f5 RS |
80 | You'll find it easy to remember these letters by words they stand for: |
81 | P for previous, N for next, B for backward and F for forward. You | |
82 | will be using these basic cursor positioning commands all the time. | |
f751376f JB |
83 | |
84 | >> Do a few C-n's to bring the cursor down to this line. | |
85 | ||
86 | >> Move into the line with C-f's and then up with C-p's. | |
87 | See what C-p does when the cursor is in the middle of the line. | |
88 | ||
5b85892b RS |
89 | Each line of text ends with a Newline character, which serves to |
90 | separate it from the following line. The last line in your file ought | |
91 | to have a Newline at the end (but Emacs does not require it to have | |
92 | one). | |
82e312c7 RS |
93 | |
94 | >> Try to C-b at the beginning of a line. It should move to | |
95 | the end of the previous line. This is because it moves back | |
96 | across the Newline character. | |
f751376f | 97 | |
82e312c7 | 98 | C-f can move across a Newline just like C-b. |
f751376f | 99 | |
82e312c7 RS |
100 | >> Do a few more C-b's, so you get a feel for where the cursor is. |
101 | Then do C-f's to return to the end of the line. | |
102 | Then do one more C-f to move to the following line. | |
f751376f | 103 | |
82e312c7 RS |
104 | When you move past the top or bottom of the screen, the text beyond |
105 | the edge shifts onto the screen. This is called "scrolling". It | |
106 | enables Emacs to move the cursor to the specified place in the text | |
107 | without moving it off the screen. | |
108 | ||
109 | >> Try to move the cursor off the bottom of the screen with C-n, and | |
f751376f JB |
110 | see what happens. |
111 | ||
112 | If moving by characters is too slow, you can move by words. M-f | |
1e78d347 | 113 | (META-f) moves forward a word and M-b moves back a word. |
f751376f | 114 | |
82e312c7 RS |
115 | >> Type a few M-f's and M-b's. |
116 | ||
117 | When you are in the middle of a word, M-f moves to the end of the word. | |
118 | When you are in whitespace between words, M-f moves to the end of the | |
119 | following word. M-b works likewise in the opposite direction. | |
120 | ||
121 | >> Type M-f and M-b a few times, interspersed with C-f's and C-b's | |
122 | so that you can observe the action of M-f and M-b from various | |
123 | places inside and between words. | |
f751376f JB |
124 | |
125 | Notice the parallel between C-f and C-b on the one hand, and M-f and | |
126 | M-b on the other hand. Very often Meta characters are used for | |
82e312c7 RS |
127 | operations related to the units defined by language (words, sentences, |
128 | paragraphs), while Control characters operate on basic units that are | |
129 | independent of what you are editing (characters, lines, etc). | |
130 | ||
131 | This parallel applies between lines and sentences: C-a and C-e move to | |
132 | the beginning or end of a line, and M-a and M-e move to the beginning | |
133 | or end of a sentence. | |
f751376f JB |
134 | |
135 | >> Try a couple of C-a's, and then a couple of C-e's. | |
136 | Try a couple of M-a's, and then a couple of M-e's. | |
137 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
138 | See how repeated C-a's do nothing, but repeated M-a's keep moving one |
139 | more sentence. Although these are not quite analogous, each one seems | |
140 | natural. | |
f751376f JB |
141 | |
142 | The location of the cursor in the text is also called "point". To | |
143 | paraphrase, the cursor shows on the screen where point is located in | |
144 | the text. | |
145 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
146 | Here is a summary of simple cursor-moving operations, including the |
147 | word and sentence moving commands: | |
f751376f JB |
148 | |
149 | C-f Move forward a character | |
150 | C-b Move backward a character | |
151 | ||
152 | M-f Move forward a word | |
153 | M-b Move backward a word | |
154 | ||
155 | C-n Move to next line | |
156 | C-p Move to previous line | |
157 | ||
158 | C-a Move to beginning of line | |
159 | C-e Move to end of line | |
160 | ||
161 | M-a Move back to beginning of sentence | |
162 | M-e Move forward to end of sentence | |
163 | ||
f751376f | 164 | >> Try all of these commands now a few times for practice. |
82e312c7 RS |
165 | These are the most often used commands. |
166 | ||
1e78d347 PJ |
167 | Two other important cursor motion commands are M-< (META Less-than), |
168 | which moves to the beginning of the whole text, and M-> (META | |
82e312c7 RS |
169 | Greater-than), which moves to the end of the whole text. |
170 | ||
171 | On most terminals, the "<" is above the comma, so you must use the | |
172 | shift key to type it. On these terminals you must use the shift key | |
173 | to type M-< also; without the shift key, you would be typing M-comma. | |
174 | ||
175 | >> Try M-< now, to move to the beginning of the tutorial. | |
176 | Then use C-v repeatedly to move back here. | |
177 | ||
178 | >> Try M-> now, to move to the end of the tutorial. | |
179 | Then use M-v repeatedly to move back here. | |
180 | ||
181 | You can also move the cursor with the arrow keys, if your terminal has | |
182 | arrow keys. We recommend learning C-b, C-f, C-n and C-p for three | |
183 | reasons. First, they work on all kinds of terminals. Second, once | |
8806d20f | 184 | you gain practice at using Emacs, you will find that typing these Control |
82e312c7 RS |
185 | characters is faster than typing the arrow keys (because you do not |
186 | have to move your hands away from touch-typing position). Third, once | |
8806d20f | 187 | you form the habit of using these Control character commands, you can |
82e312c7 RS |
188 | easily learn to use other advanced cursor motion commands as well. |
189 | ||
190 | Most Emacs commands accept a numeric argument; for most commands, this | |
191 | serves as a repeat-count. The way you give a command a repeat count | |
192 | is by typing C-u and then the digits before you type the command. If | |
6f108a37 | 193 | you have a META (or EDIT or ALT) key, there is another, alternative way |
bec1289c KH |
194 | to enter a numeric argument: type the digits while holding down the |
195 | META key. We recommend learning the C-u method because it works on | |
973cefd2 RS |
196 | any terminal. The numeric argument is also called a "prefix argument", |
197 | because you type the argument before the command it applies to. | |
f751376f JB |
198 | |
199 | For instance, C-u 8 C-f moves forward eight characters. | |
177c0ea7 | 200 | |
82e312c7 RS |
201 | >> Try using C-n or C-p with a numeric argument, to move the cursor |
202 | to a line near this one with just one command. | |
f751376f | 203 | |
973cefd2 RS |
204 | Most commands use the numeric argument as a repeat count, but some |
205 | commands use it in some other way. Several commands (but none of | |
206 | those you have learned so far) use it as a flag--the presence of a | |
207 | prefix argument, regardless of its value, makes the command do | |
208 | something different. | |
209 | ||
210 | C-v and M-v are another kind of exception. When given an argument, | |
211 | they scroll the screen up or down by that many lines, rather than by a | |
212 | screenful. For example, C-u 8 C-v scrolls the screen by 8 lines. | |
f751376f JB |
213 | |
214 | >> Try typing C-u 8 C-v now. | |
215 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
216 | This should have scrolled the screen up by 8 lines. If you would like |
217 | to scroll it down again, you can give an argument to M-v. | |
f751376f | 218 | |
fc19ea9d EZ |
219 | If you are using a windowed display, such as X11 or MS-Windows, there |
220 | should be a tall rectangular area called a scroll bar at the left hand | |
221 | side of the Emacs window. You can scroll the text by clicking the | |
222 | mouse in the scroll bar. | |
b0874bbd RS |
223 | |
224 | >> Try pressing the middle button at the top of the highlighted area | |
82e312c7 RS |
225 | within the scroll bar. This should scroll the text to a position |
226 | determined by how high or low you click. | |
b0874bbd | 227 | |
82e312c7 RS |
228 | >> Try moving the mouse up and down, while holding the middle button |
229 | pressed down. You'll see that the text scrolls up and down as | |
230 | you move the mouse. | |
b0874bbd | 231 | |
f751376f | 232 | |
26dc36e6 JB |
233 | * WHEN EMACS IS HUNG |
234 | -------------------- | |
f751376f | 235 | |
82e312c7 RS |
236 | If Emacs stops responding to your commands, you can stop it safely by |
237 | typing C-g. You can use C-g to stop a command which is taking too | |
238 | long to execute. | |
239 | ||
f751376f | 240 | You can also use C-g to discard a numeric argument or the beginning of |
82e312c7 | 241 | a command that you do not want to finish. |
f751376f JB |
242 | |
243 | >> Type C-u 100 to make a numeric arg of 100, then type C-g. | |
82e312c7 RS |
244 | Now type C-f. It should move just one character, |
245 | because you canceled the argument with C-g. | |
f751376f | 246 | |
82e312c7 RS |
247 | If you have typed an <ESC> by mistake, you can get rid of it |
248 | with a C-g. | |
335b1952 | 249 | |
82e312c7 RS |
250 | |
251 | * DISABLED COMMANDS | |
252 | ------------------- | |
253 | ||
254 | Some Emacs commands are "disabled" so that beginning users cannot use | |
255 | them by accident. | |
256 | ||
257 | If you type one of the disabled commands, Emacs displays a message | |
258 | saying what the command was, and asking you whether you want to go | |
259 | ahead and execute the command. | |
260 | ||
41835686 LK |
261 | If you really want to try the command, type <SPC> (the Space bar) in |
262 | answer to the question. Normally, if you do not want to execute the | |
263 | disabled command, answer the question with "n". | |
82e312c7 | 264 | |
70f4a594 | 265 | >> Type C-x C-l (which is a disabled command), |
82e312c7 | 266 | then type n to answer the question. |
f751376f JB |
267 | |
268 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
269 | * WINDOWS |
270 | --------- | |
f751376f | 271 | |
82e312c7 RS |
272 | Emacs can have several windows, each displaying its own text. We will |
273 | explain later on how to use multiple windows. Right now we want to | |
274 | explain how to get rid of extra windows and go back to basic | |
275 | one-window editing. It is simple: | |
f751376f JB |
276 | |
277 | C-x 1 One window (i.e., kill all other windows). | |
278 | ||
1e78d347 | 279 | That is CONTROL-x followed by the digit 1. C-x 1 expands the window |
82e312c7 RS |
280 | which contains the cursor, to occupy the full screen. It deletes all |
281 | other windows. | |
f751376f JB |
282 | |
283 | >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l. | |
1e78d347 | 284 | >> Type CONTROL-h k CONTROL-f. |
f751376f | 285 | See how this window shrinks, while a new one appears |
1e78d347 | 286 | to display documentation on the CONTROL-f command. |
f751376f JB |
287 | |
288 | >> Type C-x 1 and see the documentation listing window disappear. | |
289 | ||
8806d20f | 290 | This command is unlike the other commands you have learned in that it |
1e78d347 PJ |
291 | consists of two characters. It starts with the character CONTROL-x. |
292 | There is a whole series of commands that start with CONTROL-x; many of | |
8806d20f RS |
293 | them have to do with windows, files, buffers, and related things. |
294 | These commands are two, three or four characters long. | |
295 | ||
f751376f | 296 | |
26dc36e6 JB |
297 | * INSERTING AND DELETING |
298 | ------------------------ | |
f751376f | 299 | |
82e312c7 RS |
300 | If you want to insert text, just type the text. Characters which you |
301 | can see, such as A, 7, *, etc. are taken by Emacs as text and inserted | |
f751376f JB |
302 | immediately. Type <Return> (the carriage-return key) to insert a |
303 | Newline character. | |
304 | ||
d6635fa1 RS |
305 | You can delete the last character you typed by typing <Delback>. |
306 | <Delback> is a key on the keyboard--the same one you normally use, | |
307 | outside Emacs, for deleting the last character you typed. It is | |
308 | normally a large key a couple of lines up from the <Return> key, and | |
309 | it is usually labeled "Delete", "Del" or "Backspace". | |
50d326a4 | 310 | |
d6635fa1 RS |
311 | If the large key there is labeled "Backspace", then that's the one you |
312 | use for <Delback>. There may also be another key labeled "Delete" | |
313 | somewhere else, but that's not <Delback>. | |
314 | ||
315 | More generally, <Delback> deletes the character immediately before the | |
50d326a4 | 316 | current cursor position. |
f751376f | 317 | |
82e312c7 | 318 | >> Do this now--type a few characters, then delete them |
d6635fa1 | 319 | by typing <Delback> a few times. Don't worry about this file |
82e312c7 RS |
320 | being changed; you will not alter the master tutorial. This is |
321 | your personal copy of it. | |
322 | ||
323 | When a line of text gets too big for one line on the screen, the line | |
324 | of text is "continued" onto a second screen line. A backslash ("\") | |
bc2973c0 GM |
325 | (or, if you're using a windowed display, a little curved arrow) at the |
326 | right margin indicates a line which has been continued. | |
82e312c7 RS |
327 | |
328 | >> Insert text until you reach the right margin, and keep on inserting. | |
329 | You'll see a continuation line appear. | |
330 | ||
d6635fa1 | 331 | >> Use <Delback>s to delete the text until the line fits on one screen |
f751376f JB |
332 | line again. The continuation line goes away. |
333 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
334 | You can delete a Newline character just like any other character. |
335 | Deleting the Newline character between two lines merges them into | |
336 | one line. If the resulting combined line is too long to fit in the | |
337 | screen width, it will be displayed with a continuation line. | |
338 | ||
d6635fa1 | 339 | >> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line and type <Delback>. This |
82e312c7 RS |
340 | merges that line with the previous line. |
341 | ||
f751376f JB |
342 | >> Type <Return> to reinsert the Newline you deleted. |
343 | ||
344 | Remember that most Emacs commands can be given a repeat count; | |
82e312c7 RS |
345 | this includes text characters. Repeating a text character inserts |
346 | it several times. | |
f751376f | 347 | |
82e312c7 | 348 | >> Try that now -- type C-u 8 * to insert ********. |
f751376f JB |
349 | |
350 | You've now learned the most basic way of typing something in | |
351 | Emacs and correcting errors. You can delete by words or lines | |
352 | as well. Here is a summary of the delete operations: | |
353 | ||
41835686 LK |
354 | <Delback> Delete the character just before the cursor |
355 | C-d Delete the next character after the cursor | |
f751376f | 356 | |
41835686 LK |
357 | M-<Delback> Kill the word immediately before the cursor |
358 | M-d Kill the next word after the cursor | |
f751376f | 359 | |
41835686 LK |
360 | C-k Kill from the cursor position to end of line |
361 | M-k Kill to the end of the current sentence | |
f751376f | 362 | |
d6635fa1 RS |
363 | Notice that <Delback> and C-d vs M-<Delback> and M-d extend the parallel |
364 | started by C-f and M-f (well, <Delback> is not really a control | |
f751376f JB |
365 | character, but let's not worry about that). C-k and M-k are like C-e |
366 | and M-e, sort of, in that lines are opposite sentences. | |
367 | ||
41835686 LK |
368 | You can also kill any part of the text with one uniform method. Move |
369 | to one end of that part, and type C-@ or C-<SPC> (either one). (<SPC> | |
370 | is the Space bar.) Move to the other end of that part, and type C-w. | |
371 | That kills all the text between the two positions. | |
6f311043 KH |
372 | |
373 | >> Move the cursor to the Y at the start of the previous paragraph. | |
41835686 | 374 | >> Type C-<SPC>. Emacs should display a message "Mark set" |
6f311043 KH |
375 | at the bottom of the screen. |
376 | >> Move the cursor to the n in "end", on the second line of the | |
377 | paragraph. | |
378 | >> Type C-w. This will kill the text starting from the Y, | |
379 | and ending just before the n. | |
380 | ||
5b85892b RS |
381 | The difference between "killing" and "deleting" is that "killed" text |
382 | can be reinserted, whereas "deleted" things cannot be reinserted. | |
383 | Reinsertion of killed text is called "yanking". Generally, the | |
384 | commands that can remove a lot of text kill the text (they set up so | |
385 | that you can yank the text), while the commands that remove just one | |
3d9a3367 RS |
386 | character, or only remove blank lines and spaces, do deletion (so you |
387 | cannot yank that text). | |
f751376f | 388 | |
82e312c7 RS |
389 | >> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line which is not empty. |
390 | Then type C-k to kill the text on that line. | |
391 | >> Type C-k a second time. You'll see that it kills the Newline | |
392 | which follows that line. | |
f751376f JB |
393 | |
394 | Note that a single C-k kills the contents of the line, and a second | |
6f108a37 | 395 | C-k kills the line itself, and makes all the other lines move up. C-k |
82e312c7 RS |
396 | treats a numeric argument specially: it kills that many lines AND |
397 | their contents. This is not mere repetition. C-u 2 C-k kills two | |
398 | lines and their newlines; typing C-k twice would not do that. | |
f751376f | 399 | |
5b85892b RS |
400 | Bringing back killed text is called "yanking". (Think of it as |
401 | yanking back, or pulling back, some text that was taken away.) You | |
402 | can yank the killed text either at the same place where it was killed, | |
41835686 LK |
403 | or at some other place in the text you are editing, or even in a |
404 | different file. You can yank the same text several times; that makes | |
405 | multiple copies of it. | |
5b85892b RS |
406 | |
407 | The command for yanking is C-y. It reinserts the last killed text, | |
408 | at the current cursor position. | |
f751376f JB |
409 | |
410 | >> Try it; type C-y to yank the text back. | |
411 | ||
5b85892b RS |
412 | If you do several C-k's in a row, all of the killed text is saved |
413 | together, so that one C-y will yank all of the lines at once. | |
f751376f JB |
414 | |
415 | >> Do this now, type C-k several times. | |
416 | ||
417 | Now to retrieve that killed text: | |
418 | ||
419 | >> Type C-y. Then move the cursor down a few lines and type C-y | |
420 | again. You now see how to copy some text. | |
421 | ||
422 | What do you do if you have some text you want to yank back, and then | |
423 | you kill something else? C-y would yank the more recent kill. But | |
424 | the previous text is not lost. You can get back to it using the M-y | |
425 | command. After you have done C-y to get the most recent kill, typing | |
bec1289c | 426 | M-y replaces that yanked text with the previous kill. Typing M-y |
82e312c7 RS |
427 | again and again brings in earlier and earlier kills. When you have |
428 | reached the text you are looking for, you do not have to do anything to | |
429 | keep it. Just go on with your editing, leaving the yanked text where | |
430 | it is. | |
431 | ||
432 | If you M-y enough times, you come back to the starting point (the most | |
433 | recent kill). | |
f751376f JB |
434 | |
435 | >> Kill a line, move around, kill another line. | |
436 | Then do C-y to get back the second killed line. | |
437 | Then do M-y and it will be replaced by the first killed line. | |
438 | Do more M-y's and see what you get. Keep doing them until | |
439 | the second kill line comes back, and then a few more. | |
440 | If you like, you can try giving M-y positive and negative | |
441 | arguments. | |
442 | ||
443 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
444 | * UNDO |
445 | ------ | |
f751376f | 446 | |
82e312c7 RS |
447 | If you make a change to the text, and then decide that it was a |
448 | mistake, you can undo the change with the undo command, C-x u. | |
449 | ||
450 | Normally, C-x u undoes the changes made by one command; if you repeat | |
451 | the C-x u several times in a row, each repetition undoes one | |
452 | additional command. | |
453 | ||
454 | But there are two exceptions: commands that do not change the text do | |
455 | not count (this includes cursor motion commands and scrolling | |
456 | command), and self-inserting characters are usually handled in groups | |
457 | of up to 20. (This is to reduce the number of C-x u's you have to | |
458 | type to undo insertion of text.) | |
f751376f JB |
459 | |
460 | >> Kill this line with C-k, then type C-x u and it should reappear. | |
461 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
462 | C-_ is an alternative undo command; it works just the same as C-x u, |
463 | but it is easier to type several times in a row. The disadvantage of | |
464 | C-_ is that on some keyboards it is not obvious how to type it. That | |
465 | is why we provide C-x u as well. On some terminals, you can type C-_ | |
8806d20f | 466 | by typing / while holding down CONTROL. |
f751376f | 467 | |
82e312c7 | 468 | A numeric argument to C-_ or C-x u acts as a repeat count. |
f751376f | 469 | |
5b85892b RS |
470 | You can undo deletion of text just as you can undo killing of text. |
471 | The distinction between killing something and deleting it affects | |
472 | whether you can yank it with C-y; it makes no difference for undo. | |
473 | ||
f751376f | 474 | |
26dc36e6 JB |
475 | * FILES |
476 | ------- | |
f751376f JB |
477 | |
478 | In order to make the text you edit permanent, you must put it in a | |
479 | file. Otherwise, it will go away when your invocation of Emacs goes | |
8806d20f RS |
480 | away. In order to put your text in a file, you must "find" the file |
481 | before you enter the text. (This is also called "visiting" the file.) | |
82e312c7 RS |
482 | |
483 | Finding a file means that you see the contents of the file within | |
484 | Emacs. In many ways, it is as if you were editing the file itself. | |
485 | However, the changes you make using Emacs do not become permanent | |
486 | until you "save" the file. This is so you can avoid leaving a | |
487 | half-changed file on the system when you do not want to. Even when | |
488 | you save, Emacs leaves the original file under a changed name in case | |
489 | you later decide that your changes were a mistake. | |
f751376f JB |
490 | |
491 | If you look near the bottom of the screen you will see a line that | |
3c72adf2 RS |
492 | begins and ends with dashes, and starts with "--:-- TUTORIAL" or |
493 | something like that. This part of the screen normally shows the name | |
494 | of the file that you are visiting. Right now, you are visiting a file | |
495 | called "TUTORIAL" which is your personal scratch copy of the Emacs | |
496 | tutorial. When you find a file with Emacs, that file's name will | |
497 | appear in that precise spot. | |
f751376f | 498 | |
8806d20f RS |
499 | One special thing about the command for finding a file is that you |
500 | have to say what file name you want. We say the command "reads an | |
501 | argument from the terminal" (in this case, the argument is the name of | |
502 | the file). After you type the command | |
f751376f JB |
503 | |
504 | C-x C-f Find a file | |
505 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
506 | Emacs asks you to type the file name. The file name you type appears |
507 | on the bottom line of the screen. The bottom line is called the | |
508 | minibuffer when it is used for this sort of input. You can use | |
509 | ordinary Emacs editing commands to edit the file name. | |
510 | ||
511 | While you are entering the file name (or any minibuffer input), | |
512 | you can cancel the command with C-g. | |
f751376f JB |
513 | |
514 | >> Type C-x C-f, then type C-g. This cancels the minibuffer, | |
515 | and also cancels the C-x C-f command that was using the | |
516 | minibuffer. So you do not find any file. | |
517 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
518 | When you have finished entering the file name, type <Return> to |
519 | terminate it. Then C-x C-f command goes to work, and finds the file | |
520 | you chose. The minibuffer disappears when the C-x C-f command is | |
521 | finished. | |
522 | ||
523 | In a little while the file contents appear on the screen, and you can | |
524 | edit the contents. When you wish to make your changes permanent, | |
525 | type the command | |
f751376f JB |
526 | |
527 | C-x C-s Save the file | |
528 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
529 | This copies the text within Emacs into the file. The first time you |
530 | do this, Emacs renames the original file to a new name so that it is | |
531 | not lost. The new name is made by adding "~" to the end of the | |
532 | original file's name. | |
f751376f | 533 | |
fafee579 | 534 | When saving is finished, Emacs displays the name of the file written. |
f751376f JB |
535 | You should save fairly often, so that you will not lose very much |
536 | work if the system should crash. | |
537 | ||
538 | >> Type C-x C-s, saving your copy of the tutorial. | |
fafee579 | 539 | This should show "Wrote ...TUTORIAL" at the bottom of the screen. |
f751376f | 540 | |
afb7440b RS |
541 | NOTE: On some systems, typing C-x C-s will freeze the screen and you |
542 | will see no further output from Emacs. This indicates that an | |
543 | operating system "feature" called "flow control" is intercepting the | |
544 | C-s and not letting it get through to Emacs. To unfreeze the screen, | |
545 | type C-q. Then see the section "Spontaneous Entry to Incremental | |
546 | Search" in the Emacs manual for advice on dealing with this "feature". | |
547 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
548 | You can find an existing file, to view it or edit it. You can also |
549 | find a file which does not already exist. This is the way to create a | |
550 | file with Emacs: find the file, which will start out empty, and then | |
551 | begin inserting the text for the file. When you ask to "save" the | |
552 | file, Emacs will really create the file with the text that you have | |
553 | inserted. From then on, you can consider yourself to be editing an | |
554 | already existing file. | |
f751376f JB |
555 | |
556 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
557 | * BUFFERS |
558 | --------- | |
f751376f JB |
559 | |
560 | If you find a second file with C-x C-f, the first file remains | |
561 | inside Emacs. You can switch back to it by finding it again with | |
562 | C-x C-f. This way you can get quite a number of files inside Emacs. | |
563 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
564 | >> Create a file named "foo" by typing C-x C-f foo <Return>. |
565 | Then insert some text, edit it, and save "foo" by typing C-x C-s. | |
566 | Finally, type C-x C-f TUTORIAL <Return> | |
567 | to come back to the tutorial. | |
568 | ||
73635959 | 569 | Emacs stores each file's text inside an object called a "buffer". |
82e312c7 | 570 | Finding a file makes a new buffer inside Emacs. To see a list of the |
73635959 | 571 | buffers that currently exist in your Emacs job, type |
f751376f JB |
572 | |
573 | C-x C-b List buffers | |
574 | ||
575 | >> Try C-x C-b now. | |
576 | ||
8d60818b RS |
577 | See how each buffer has a name, and it may also have a file name for |
578 | the file whose contents it holds. ANY text you see in an Emacs window | |
82e312c7 | 579 | is always part of some buffer. |
f751376f JB |
580 | |
581 | >> Type C-x 1 to get rid of the buffer list. | |
582 | ||
f458a8e0 | 583 | When you have several buffers, only one of them is "current" at any |
8d60818b RS |
584 | time. That buffer is the one you edit. If you want to edit another |
585 | buffer, you need to "switch" to it. If you want to switch to a buffer | |
586 | that corresponds to a file, you can do it by visiting the file again | |
587 | with C-x C-f. But there is an easier way: use the C-x b command. | |
588 | In that command, you have to type the buffer's name. | |
589 | ||
590 | >> Type C-x b foo <Return> to go back to the buffer "foo" which holds | |
591 | the text of the file "foo". Then type C-x b TUTORIAL <Return> | |
592 | to come back to this tutorial. | |
593 | ||
594 | Most of the time, the buffer's name is the same as the file name | |
595 | (without the file directory part). However, this is not always true. | |
596 | The buffer list you make with C-x C-b always shows you the name of | |
597 | every buffer. | |
598 | ||
599 | ANY text you see in an Emacs window is always part of some buffer. | |
600 | Some buffers do not correspond to files. For example, the buffer | |
601 | named "*Buffer List*" does not have any file. It is the buffer which | |
602 | contains the buffer list that you made with C-x C-b. The buffer named | |
603 | "*Messages*" also does not correspond to any file; it contains the | |
604 | messages that have appeared on the bottom line during your Emacs | |
605 | session. | |
606 | ||
607 | >> Type C-x b *Messages* <Return> to look at the buffer of messages. | |
ff7de4ee | 608 | Then type C-x b TUTORIAL <Return> to come back to this tutorial. |
8d60818b | 609 | |
f751376f JB |
610 | If you make changes to the text of one file, then find another file, |
611 | this does not save the first file. Its changes remain inside Emacs, | |
612 | in that file's buffer. The creation or editing of the second file's | |
613 | buffer has no effect on the first file's buffer. This is very useful, | |
614 | but it also means that you need a convenient way to save the first | |
615 | file's buffer. It would be a nuisance to have to switch back to | |
616 | it with C-x C-f in order to save it with C-x C-s. So we have | |
617 | ||
618 | C-x s Save some buffers | |
619 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
620 | C-x s asks you about each buffer which contains changes that you have |
621 | not saved. It asks you, for each such buffer, whether to save the | |
622 | buffer. | |
f751376f | 623 | |
82e312c7 RS |
624 | >> Insert a line of text, then type C-x s. |
625 | It should ask you whether to save the buffer named TUTORIAL. | |
626 | Answer yes to the question by typing "y". | |
f751376f | 627 | |
5577e2b2 | 628 | |
26dc36e6 JB |
629 | * EXTENDING THE COMMAND SET |
630 | --------------------------- | |
f751376f JB |
631 | |
632 | There are many, many more Emacs commands than could possibly be put | |
633 | on all the control and meta characters. Emacs gets around this with | |
634 | the X (eXtend) command. This comes in two flavors: | |
635 | ||
636 | C-x Character eXtend. Followed by one character. | |
637 | M-x Named command eXtend. Followed by a long name. | |
638 | ||
639 | These are commands that are generally useful but used less than the | |
41835686 LK |
640 | commands you have already learned about. You have already seen a few |
641 | of them: the file commands C-x C-f to Find and C-x C-s to Save, for | |
642 | example. Another example is the command to end the Emacs | |
643 | session--this is the command C-x C-c. (Do not worry about losing | |
644 | changes you have made; C-x C-c offers to save each changed file before | |
645 | it kills the Emacs.) | |
f751376f | 646 | |
e7662099 RS |
647 | C-z is the command to exit Emacs *temporarily*--so that you can go |
648 | back to the same Emacs session afterward. | |
649 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
650 | On systems which allow it, C-z "suspends" Emacs; that is, it returns |
651 | to the shell but does not destroy the Emacs. In the most common | |
652 | shells, you can resume Emacs with the `fg' command or with `%emacs'. | |
653 | ||
654 | On systems which do not implement suspending, C-z creates a subshell | |
655 | running under Emacs to give you the chance to run other programs and | |
656 | return to Emacs afterward; it does not truly "exit" from Emacs. In | |
657 | this case, the shell command `exit' is the usual way to get back to | |
658 | Emacs from the subshell. | |
e7662099 RS |
659 | |
660 | The time to use C-x C-c is when you are about to log out. It's also | |
661 | the right thing to use to exit an Emacs invoked under mail handling | |
82e312c7 RS |
662 | programs and other miscellaneous utilities, since they may not know |
663 | how to cope with suspension of Emacs. In ordinary circumstances, | |
664 | though, if you are not about to log out, it is better to suspend Emacs | |
665 | with C-z instead of exiting Emacs. | |
f751376f | 666 | |
82e312c7 | 667 | There are many C-x commands. Here is a list of the ones you have learned: |
f751376f | 668 | |
41835686 LK |
669 | C-x C-f Find file |
670 | C-x C-s Save file | |
671 | C-x s Save some buffers | |
672 | C-x C-b List buffers | |
673 | C-x b Switch buffer | |
674 | C-x C-c Quit Emacs | |
675 | C-x 1 Delete all but one window | |
676 | C-x u Undo | |
f751376f JB |
677 | |
678 | Named eXtended commands are commands which are used even less | |
82e312c7 RS |
679 | frequently, or commands which are used only in certain modes. An |
680 | example is the command replace-string, which globally replaces one | |
681 | string with another. When you type M-x, Emacs prompts you at the | |
682 | bottom of the screen with M-x and you should type the name of the | |
683 | command; in this case, "replace-string". Just type "repl s<TAB>" and | |
dcb14dc0 | 684 | Emacs will complete the name. (<TAB> is the Tab key, usually found |
2f6e6410 | 685 | above the CapsLock or Shift key near the left edge of the keyboard.) |
dcb14dc0 | 686 | End the command name with <Return>. |
82e312c7 RS |
687 | |
688 | The replace-string command requires two arguments--the string to be | |
689 | replaced, and the string to replace it with. You must end each | |
690 | argument with <Return>. | |
f751376f JB |
691 | |
692 | >> Move the cursor to the blank line two lines below this one. | |
693 | Then type M-x repl s<Return>changed<Return>altered<Return>. | |
694 | ||
695 | Notice how this line has changed: you've replaced | |
82e312c7 RS |
696 | the word c-h-a-n-g-e-d with "altered" wherever it occurred, |
697 | after the initial position of the cursor. | |
f751376f JB |
698 | |
699 | ||
4a630427 RS |
700 | * AUTO SAVE |
701 | ----------- | |
702 | ||
703 | When you have made changes in a file, but you have not saved them yet, | |
704 | they could be lost if your computer crashes. To protect you from | |
82e312c7 RS |
705 | this, Emacs periodically writes an "auto save" file for each file that |
706 | you are editing. The auto save file name has a # at the beginning and | |
707 | the end; for example, if your file is named "hello.c", its auto save | |
708 | file's name is "#hello.c#". When you save the file in the normal way, | |
709 | Emacs deletes its auto save file. | |
4a630427 RS |
710 | |
711 | If the computer crashes, you can recover your auto-saved editing by | |
712 | finding the file normally (the file you were editing, not the auto | |
73635959 KH |
713 | save file) and then typing M-x recover file<Return>. When it asks for |
714 | confirmation, type yes<Return> to go ahead and recover the auto-save | |
4a630427 RS |
715 | data. |
716 | ||
717 | ||
82e312c7 | 718 | * ECHO AREA |
26dc36e6 | 719 | ----------- |
f751376f | 720 | |
e64159dd RS |
721 | If Emacs sees that you are typing multicharacter commands slowly, it |
722 | shows them to you at the bottom of the screen in an area called the | |
723 | "echo area". The echo area contains the bottom line of the screen. | |
f751376f | 724 | |
f751376f | 725 | |
82e312c7 RS |
726 | * MODE LINE |
727 | ----------- | |
728 | ||
e64159dd | 729 | The line immediately above the echo area is called the "mode line". |
82e312c7 RS |
730 | The mode line says something like this: |
731 | ||
41835686 | 732 | --:** TUTORIAL 63% L749 (Fundamental)----------------------- |
82e312c7 RS |
733 | |
734 | This line gives useful information about the status of Emacs and | |
735 | the text you are editing. | |
f751376f JB |
736 | |
737 | You already know what the filename means--it is the file you have | |
41835686 LK |
738 | found. NN% indicates your current position in the text; it means that |
739 | NN percent of the text is above the top of the screen. If the top of | |
740 | the file is on the screen, it will say "Top" instead of " 0%". If the | |
741 | bottom of the text is on the screen, it will say "Bot". If you are | |
742 | looking at text so small that all of it fits on the screen, the mode | |
743 | line says "All". | |
f751376f | 744 | |
dcf671d2 GM |
745 | The L and digits indicate position in another way: they give the |
746 | current line number of point. | |
747 | ||
f751376f | 748 | The stars near the front mean that you have made changes to the text. |
82e312c7 RS |
749 | Right after you visit or save a file, that part of the mode line shows |
750 | no stars, just dashes. | |
f751376f JB |
751 | |
752 | The part of the mode line inside the parentheses is to tell you what | |
82e312c7 | 753 | editing modes you are in. The default mode is Fundamental which is |
177c0ea7 | 754 | what you are using now. It is an example of a "major mode". |
82e312c7 RS |
755 | |
756 | Emacs has many different major modes. Some of them are meant for | |
bec1289c | 757 | editing different languages and/or kinds of text, such as Lisp mode, |
82e312c7 RS |
758 | Text mode, etc. At any time one and only one major mode is active, |
759 | and its name can always be found in the mode line just where | |
760 | "Fundamental" is now. | |
761 | ||
762 | Each major mode makes a few commands behave differently. For example, | |
763 | there are commands for creating comments in a program, and since each | |
764 | programming language has a different idea of what a comment should | |
765 | look like, each major mode has to insert comments differently. Each | |
766 | major mode is the name of an extended command, which is how you can | |
bec1289c | 767 | switch to that mode. For example, M-x fundamental-mode is a command to |
82e312c7 | 768 | switch to Fundamental mode. |
f751376f | 769 | |
ab380f51 | 770 | If you are going to be editing human-language text, such as this file, you |
f751376f | 771 | should probably use Text Mode. |
41835686 | 772 | |
73635959 | 773 | >> Type M-x text mode<Return>. |
f751376f | 774 | |
e64159dd | 775 | Don't worry, none of the Emacs commands you have learned changes in |
82e312c7 RS |
776 | any great way. But you can observe that M-f and M-b now treat |
777 | apostrophes as part of words. Previously, in Fundamental mode, | |
778 | M-f and M-b treated apostrophes as word-separators. | |
f751376f | 779 | |
82e312c7 RS |
780 | Major modes usually make subtle changes like that one: most commands |
781 | do "the same job" in each major mode, but they work a little bit | |
782 | differently. | |
783 | ||
784 | To view documentation on your current major mode, type C-h m. | |
f751376f JB |
785 | |
786 | >> Use C-u C-v once or more to bring this line near the top of screen. | |
787 | >> Type C-h m, to see how Text mode differs from Fundamental mode. | |
788 | >> Type C-x 1 to remove the documentation from the screen. | |
789 | ||
790 | Major modes are called major because there are also minor modes. | |
6f108a37 | 791 | Minor modes are not alternatives to the major modes, just minor |
bec1289c KH |
792 | modifications of them. Each minor mode can be turned on or off by |
793 | itself, independent of all other minor modes, and independent of your | |
794 | major mode. So you can use no minor modes, or one minor mode, or any | |
795 | combination of several minor modes. | |
f751376f | 796 | |
ab380f51 RS |
797 | One minor mode which is very useful, especially for editing |
798 | human-language text, is Auto Fill mode. When this mode is on, Emacs | |
799 | breaks the line in between words automatically whenever you insert | |
800 | text and make a line that is too wide. | |
82e312c7 | 801 | |
48cc32f0 | 802 | You can turn Auto Fill mode on by doing M-x auto fill mode<Return>. |
6f108a37 | 803 | When the mode is on, you can turn it off again by doing M-x |
48cc32f0 | 804 | auto fill mode<Return>. If the mode is off, this command turns it on, |
82e312c7 RS |
805 | and if the mode is on, this command turns it off. We say that the |
806 | command "toggles the mode". | |
f751376f | 807 | |
48cc32f0 | 808 | >> Type M-x auto fill mode<Return> now. Then insert a line of "asdf " |
f751376f JB |
809 | over again until you see it divide into two lines. You must put in |
810 | spaces between them because Auto Fill breaks lines only at spaces. | |
811 | ||
812 | The margin is usually set at 70 characters, but you can change it | |
813 | with the C-x f command. You should give the margin setting you want | |
814 | as a numeric argument. | |
815 | ||
816 | >> Type C-x f with an argument of 20. (C-u 2 0 C-x f). | |
817 | Then type in some text and see Emacs fill lines of 20 | |
818 | characters with it. Then set the margin back to 70 using | |
819 | C-x f again. | |
820 | ||
e64159dd | 821 | If you make changes in the middle of a paragraph, Auto Fill mode |
f751376f | 822 | does not re-fill it for you. |
1e78d347 | 823 | To re-fill the paragraph, type M-q (META-q) with the cursor inside |
f751376f JB |
824 | that paragraph. |
825 | ||
826 | >> Move the cursor into the previous paragraph and type M-q. | |
827 | ||
5577e2b2 | 828 | |
26dc36e6 JB |
829 | * SEARCHING |
830 | ----------- | |
f751376f JB |
831 | |
832 | Emacs can do searches for strings (these are groups of contiguous | |
82e312c7 RS |
833 | characters or words) either forward through the text or backward |
834 | through it. Searching for a string is a cursor motion command; | |
835 | it moves the cursor to the next place where that string appears. | |
836 | ||
837 | The Emacs search command is different from the search commands | |
838 | of most editors, in that it is "incremental". This means that the | |
839 | search happens while you type in the string to search for. | |
840 | ||
841 | The command to initiate a search is C-s for forward search, and C-r | |
842 | for reverse search. BUT WAIT! Don't try them now. | |
843 | ||
844 | When you type C-s you'll notice that the string "I-search" appears as | |
845 | a prompt in the echo area. This tells you that Emacs is in what is | |
846 | called an incremental search waiting for you to type the thing that | |
8806d20f | 847 | you want to search for. <Return> terminates a search. |
f751376f JB |
848 | |
849 | >> Now type C-s to start a search. SLOWLY, one letter at a time, | |
850 | type the word 'cursor', pausing after you type each | |
851 | character to notice what happens to the cursor. | |
82e312c7 RS |
852 | Now you have searched for "cursor", once. |
853 | >> Type C-s again, to search for the next occurrence of "cursor". | |
d6635fa1 | 854 | >> Now type <Delback> four times and see how the cursor moves. |
8806d20f | 855 | >> Type <Return> to terminate the search. |
f751376f JB |
856 | |
857 | Did you see what happened? Emacs, in an incremental search, tries to | |
82e312c7 RS |
858 | go to the occurrence of the string that you've typed out so far. To |
859 | go to the next occurrence of 'cursor' just type C-s again. If no such | |
6f108a37 RS |
860 | occurrence exists, Emacs beeps and tells you the search is currently |
861 | "failing". C-g would also terminate the search. | |
f751376f | 862 | |
afb7440b RS |
863 | NOTE: On some systems, typing C-s will freeze the screen and you will |
864 | see no further output from Emacs. This indicates that an operating | |
865 | system "feature" called "flow control" is intercepting the C-s and not | |
866 | letting it get through to Emacs. To unfreeze the screen, type C-q. | |
867 | Then see the section "Spontaneous Entry to Incremental Search" in the | |
868 | Emacs manual for advice on dealing with this "feature". | |
869 | ||
d6635fa1 | 870 | If you are in the middle of an incremental search and type <Delback>, |
f751376f JB |
871 | you'll notice that the last character in the search string is erased |
872 | and the search backs up to the last place of the search. For | |
82e312c7 RS |
873 | instance, suppose you have typed "c", to search for the first |
874 | occurrence of "c". Now if you type "u", the cursor will move | |
d6635fa1 | 875 | to the first occurrence of "cu". Now type <Delback>. This erases |
82e312c7 RS |
876 | the "u" from the search string, and the cursor moves back to |
877 | the first occurrence of "c". | |
f751376f | 878 | |
3242b6f0 RS |
879 | If you are in the middle of a search and type a control or meta |
880 | character (with a few exceptions--characters that are special in | |
881 | a search, such as C-s and C-r), the search is terminated. | |
f751376f JB |
882 | |
883 | The C-s starts a search that looks for any occurrence of the search | |
82e312c7 RS |
884 | string AFTER the current cursor position. If you want to search for |
885 | something earlier in the text, type C-r instead. Everything that we | |
886 | have said about C-s also applies to C-r, except that the direction of | |
887 | the search is reversed. | |
f751376f JB |
888 | |
889 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
890 | * MULTIPLE WINDOWS |
891 | ------------------ | |
e652a34a JB |
892 | |
893 | One of the nice features of Emacs is that you can display more than one | |
894 | window on the screen at the same time. | |
895 | ||
1e78d347 PJ |
896 | >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l (that's CONTROL-L, not |
897 | CONTROL-1). | |
e652a34a JB |
898 | |
899 | >> Now type C-x 2 which splits the screen into two windows. | |
900 | Both windows display this tutorial. The cursor stays in the top window. | |
901 | ||
902 | >> Type C-M-v to scroll the bottom window. | |
41835686 | 903 | (If you do not have a real META key, type <ESC> C-v.) |
e652a34a JB |
904 | |
905 | >> Type C-x o ("o" for "other") to move the cursor to the bottom window. | |
906 | >> Use C-v and M-v in the bottom window to scroll it. | |
907 | Keep reading these directions in the top window. | |
908 | ||
909 | >> Type C-x o again to move the cursor back to the top window. | |
82e312c7 | 910 | The cursor in the top window is just where it was before. |
e652a34a JB |
911 | |
912 | You can keep using C-x o to switch between the windows. Each | |
913 | window has its own cursor position, but only one window actually | |
914 | shows the cursor. All the ordinary editing commands apply to the | |
82e312c7 | 915 | window that the cursor is in. We call this the "selected window". |
e652a34a JB |
916 | |
917 | The command C-M-v is very useful when you are editing text in one | |
918 | window and using the other window just for reference. You can keep | |
82e312c7 RS |
919 | the cursor always in the window where you are editing, and advance |
920 | through the other window sequentially with C-M-v. | |
e652a34a | 921 | |
8a4aff68 | 922 | C-M-v is an example of a CONTROL-META character. If you have a real |
8806d20f RS |
923 | META key, you can type C-M-v by holding down both CONTROL and META while |
924 | typing v. It does not matter whether CONTROL or META "comes first," | |
82e312c7 | 925 | because both of these keys act by modifying the characters you type. |
8a4aff68 | 926 | |
41835686 LK |
927 | If you do not have a real META key, and you use <ESC> instead, the |
928 | order does matter: you must type <ESC> followed by CONTROL-v, because | |
929 | CONTROL-<ESC> v will not work. This is because <ESC> is a character | |
930 | in its own right, not a modifier key. | |
8a4aff68 | 931 | |
e652a34a JB |
932 | >> Type C-x 1 (in the top window) to get rid of the bottom window. |
933 | ||
934 | (If you had typed C-x 1 in the bottom window, that would get rid | |
935 | of the top one. Think of this command as "Keep just one | |
936 | window--the window I am already in.") | |
937 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
938 | You do not have to display the same buffer in both windows. If you |
939 | use C-x C-f to find a file in one window, the other window does not | |
940 | change. You can find a file in each window independently. | |
e652a34a JB |
941 | |
942 | Here is another way to use two windows to display two different | |
943 | things: | |
944 | ||
945 | >> Type C-x 4 C-f followed by the name of one of your files. | |
82e312c7 | 946 | End with <Return>. See the specified file appear in the bottom |
e652a34a JB |
947 | window. The cursor goes there, too. |
948 | ||
949 | >> Type C-x o to go back to the top window, and C-x 1 to delete | |
950 | the bottom window. | |
951 | ||
952 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
953 | * RECURSIVE EDITING LEVELS |
954 | -------------------------- | |
f751376f JB |
955 | |
956 | Sometimes you will get into what is called a "recursive editing | |
957 | level". This is indicated by square brackets in the mode line, | |
958 | surrounding the parentheses around the major mode name. For | |
959 | example, you might see [(Fundamental)] instead of (Fundamental). | |
960 | ||
41835686 LK |
961 | To get out of the recursive editing level, type <ESC> <ESC> <ESC>. |
962 | That is an all-purpose "get out" command. You can also use it for | |
963 | eliminating extra windows, and getting out of the minibuffer. | |
f751376f | 964 | |
41835686 LK |
965 | >> Type M-x to get into a minibuffer; then type <ESC> <ESC> <ESC> to |
966 | get out. | |
f751376f | 967 | |
82e312c7 RS |
968 | You cannot use C-g to get out of a recursive editing level. This is |
969 | because C-g is used for canceling commands and arguments WITHIN the | |
970 | recursive editing level. | |
f751376f JB |
971 | |
972 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
973 | * GETTING MORE HELP |
974 | ------------------- | |
f751376f JB |
975 | |
976 | In this tutorial we have tried to supply just enough information to | |
977 | get you started using Emacs. There is so much available in Emacs that | |
978 | it would be impossible to explain it all here. However, you may want | |
82e312c7 RS |
979 | to learn more about Emacs since it has many other useful features. |
980 | Emacs provides commands for reading documentation about Emacs | |
981 | commands. These "help" commands all start with the character | |
1e78d347 | 982 | CONTROL-h, which is called "the Help character". |
f751376f | 983 | |
82e312c7 | 984 | To use the Help features, type the C-h character, and then a |
f751376f JB |
985 | character saying what kind of help you want. If you are REALLY lost, |
986 | type C-h ? and Emacs will tell you what kinds of help it can give. | |
82e312c7 | 987 | If you have typed C-h and decide you do not want any help, just |
3242b6f0 | 988 | type C-g to cancel it. |
f751376f | 989 | |
1c71da93 RS |
990 | (Some sites change the meaning of the character C-h. They really |
991 | should not do this as a blanket measure for all users, so you have | |
992 | grounds to complain to the system administrator. Meanwhile, if C-h | |
993 | does not display a message about help at the bottom of the screen, try | |
8806d20f | 994 | typing the F1 key or M-x help <Return> instead.) |
1c71da93 RS |
995 | |
996 | The most basic HELP feature is C-h c. Type C-h, the character c, and | |
997 | a command character or sequence; then Emacs displays a very brief | |
f751376f JB |
998 | description of the command. |
999 | ||
dcf671d2 | 1000 | >> Type C-h c C-p. |
ff7de4ee RS |
1001 | |
1002 | The message should be something like this: | |
f751376f JB |
1003 | |
1004 | C-p runs the command previous-line | |
1005 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
1006 | This tells you the "name of the function". Function names are used |
1007 | mainly for customizing and extending Emacs. But since function names | |
1008 | are chosen to indicate what the command does, they can serve also as | |
1009 | very brief documentation--sufficient to remind you of commands you | |
1010 | have already learned. | |
f751376f JB |
1011 | |
1012 | Multi-character commands such as C-x C-s and (if you have no META or | |
bec1289c | 1013 | EDIT or ALT key) <ESC>v are also allowed after C-h c. |
f751376f | 1014 | |
82e312c7 | 1015 | To get more information about a command, use C-h k instead of C-h c. |
f751376f | 1016 | |
dcf671d2 | 1017 | >> Type C-h k C-p. |
f751376f | 1018 | |
10a4c11f JB |
1019 | This displays the documentation of the function, as well as its |
1020 | name, in an Emacs window. When you are finished reading the | |
1021 | output, type C-x 1 to get rid of the help text. You do not have | |
1022 | to do this right away. You can do some editing while referring | |
82e312c7 | 1023 | to the help text, and then type C-x 1. |
f751376f JB |
1024 | |
1025 | Here are some other useful C-h options: | |
1026 | ||
1027 | C-h f Describe a function. You type in the name of the | |
1028 | function. | |
1029 | ||
1030 | >> Try typing C-h f previous-line<Return>. | |
fafee579 | 1031 | This displays all the information Emacs has about the |
3242b6f0 | 1032 | function which implements the C-p command. |
f751376f | 1033 | |
fafee579 | 1034 | A similar command C-h v displays the documentation of variables whose |
ee31752e EZ |
1035 | values you can set to customize Emacs behavior. You need to type in |
1036 | the name of the variable when Emacs prompts for it. | |
1037 | ||
f751376f JB |
1038 | C-h a Command Apropos. Type in a keyword and Emacs will list |
1039 | all the commands whose names contain that keyword. | |
1e78d347 | 1040 | These commands can all be invoked with META-x. |
f751376f | 1041 | For some commands, Command Apropos will also list a one |
bec1289c | 1042 | or two character sequence which runs the same command. |
f751376f | 1043 | |
10a4c11f JB |
1044 | >> Type C-h a file<Return>. |
1045 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
1046 | This displays in another window a list of all M-x commands with "file" |
1047 | in their names. You will see character-commands like C-x C-f listed | |
1048 | beside the corresponding command names such as find-file. | |
10a4c11f JB |
1049 | |
1050 | >> Type C-M-v to scroll the help window. Do this a few times. | |
1051 | ||
1052 | >> Type C-x 1 to delete the help window. | |
f751376f | 1053 | |
ee31752e EZ |
1054 | C-h i Read On-line Manuals (a.k.a. Info). This command puts |
1055 | you into a special buffer called `*info*' where you | |
1056 | can read on-line manuals for the packages installed on | |
1057 | your system. Type m emacs <Return> to read the Emacs | |
1058 | manual. If you have never before used Info, type ? | |
1059 | and Emacs will take you on a guided tour of Info mode | |
1060 | facilities. Once you are through with this tutorial, | |
1061 | you should consult the Emacs Info manual as your | |
1062 | primary documentation. | |
1063 | ||
f751376f | 1064 | |
da40fe46 RS |
1065 | * MORE FEATURES |
1066 | --------------- | |
1067 | ||
1068 | You can learn more about Emacs by reading its manual, either as a book | |
1069 | or on-line in Info (use the Help menu or type F10 h r). Two features | |
1070 | that you may like especially are completion, which saves typing, and | |
1071 | dired, which simplifies file handling. | |
1072 | ||
1073 | Completion is a way to avoid unnecessary typing. For instance, if you | |
1074 | want to switch to the *Messages* buffer, you can type C-x b *M<Tab> | |
1075 | and Emacs will fill in the rest of the buffer name as far as it can | |
1076 | determine from what you have already typed. Completion is described | |
1077 | in Info in the Emacs manual in the node called "Completion". | |
1078 | ||
1079 | Dired enables you to list files in a directory (and optionally its | |
1080 | subdirectories), move around that list, visit, rename, delete and | |
1081 | otherwise operate on the files. Dired is described in Info in the | |
1082 | Emacs manual in the node called "Dired". | |
1083 | ||
1084 | The manual also describes many other Emacs features. | |
1085 | ||
1086 | ||
26dc36e6 JB |
1087 | * CONCLUSION |
1088 | ------------ | |
f751376f JB |
1089 | |
1090 | Remember, to exit Emacs permanently use C-x C-c. To exit to a shell | |
82e312c7 | 1091 | temporarily, so that you can come back to Emacs afterward, use C-z. |
f751376f JB |
1092 | |
1093 | This tutorial is meant to be understandable to all new users, so if | |
1094 | you found something unclear, don't sit and blame yourself - complain! | |
1095 | ||
1096 | ||
5577e2b2 KH |
1097 | * COPYING |
1098 | --------- | |
f751376f JB |
1099 | |
1100 | This tutorial descends from a long line of Emacs tutorials | |
1101 | starting with the one written by Stuart Cracraft for the original Emacs. | |
1102 | ||
1103 | This version of the tutorial, like GNU Emacs, is copyrighted, and | |
1104 | comes with permission to distribute copies on certain conditions: | |
1105 | ||
bfd6d01a | 1106 | Copyright (C) 1985, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, |
5b0d63bc | 1107 | 2005, 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
f751376f JB |
1108 | |
1109 | Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies | |
1110 | of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the | |
1111 | copyright notice and permission notice are preserved, | |
1112 | and that the distributor grants the recipient permission | |
1113 | for further redistribution as permitted by this notice. | |
1114 | ||
1115 | Permission is granted to distribute modified versions | |
1116 | of this document, or of portions of it, | |
1117 | under the above conditions, provided also that they | |
1118 | carry prominent notices stating who last altered them. | |
1119 | ||
82e312c7 RS |
1120 | The conditions for copying Emacs itself are more complex, but in the |
1121 | same spirit. Please read the file COPYING and then do give copies of | |
1122 | GNU Emacs to your friends. Help stamp out software obstructionism | |
1123 | ("ownership") by using, writing, and sharing free software! | |
ab5796a9 MB |
1124 | |
1125 | ;;; arch-tag: a0f84628-777f-4238-8865-451a73167f55 |