declare smobs in alloc.c
[bpt/emacs.git] / etc / NEWS.1-17
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a933dad1 1GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes. 26-Mar-1986
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ba318903 3Copyright (C) 1985-1986, 2006-2014 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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4See the end of the file for license conditions.
5
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7This file is about changes in emacs versions 1 through 17.
8
9
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10\f
11Changes in Emacs 17
12
13* Frustrated?
14
15Try M-x doctor.
16
17* Bored?
18
19Try M-x hanoi.
20
21* Brain-damaged?
22
23Try M-x yow.
24
25* Sun3, Tahoe, Apollo, HP9000s300, Celerity, NCR Tower 32,
26 Sequent, Stride, Encore, Plexus and AT&T 7300 machines supported.
27
28The Tahoe, Sun3, Sequent and Celerity use 4.2. In regard to the
29Apollo, see the file APOLLO in this directory. NCR Tower32,
30HP9000s300, Stride and Nu run forms of System V. System V rel 2 also
31works on Vaxes now. See etc/MACHINES.
32
33* System V Unix supported, including subprocesses.
34
35It should be possible now to bring up Emacs on a machine running
36mere unameliorated system V Unix with no major work; just possible bug
37fixes. But you can expect to find a handful of those on any machine
38that Emacs has not been run on before.
39
40* Berkeley 4.1 Unix supported.
41
42See etc/MACHINES.
43
44* Portable `alloca' provided.
45
46Emacs can now run on machines that do not and cannot support the library
47subroutine `alloca' in the canonical fashion, using an `alloca' emulation
48written in C.
49
50* On-line manual.
51
52Info now contains an Emacs manual, with essentially the same text
53as in the printed manual.
54
55The manual can now be printed with a standard TeX.
56
57Nicely typeset and printed copies of the manual are available
58from the Free Software Foundation.
59
60* Backup file version numbers.
61
62Emacs now supports version numbers in backup files.
63
64The first time you save a particular file in one editing session,
65the old file is copied or renamed to serve as a backup file.
66In the past, the name for the backup file was made by appending `~'
67to the end of the original file name.
68
69Now the backup file name can instead be made by appending ".~NN~" to
70the original file name, where NN stands for a numeric version. Each
71time this is done, the new version number is one higher than the
72highest previously used.
73
74Thus, the active, current file does not have a version number.
75Only the backups have them.
76
77This feature is controlled by the variable `version-control'. If it
78is `nil', as normally, then numbered backups are made only for files
79that already have numbered backups. Backup names with just `~' are
80used for files that have no numbered backups.
81
82If `version-control' is `never', then the backup file's name is
83made with just `~' in any case.
84
85If `version-control' is not `nil' or `never', numbered backups are
86made unconditionally.
87
88To prevent unlimited consumption of disk space, Emacs can delete
89old backup versions automatically. Generally Emacs keeps the first
90few backups and the latest few backups, deleting any in between.
91This happens every time a new backup is made. The two variables that
92control the deletion are `kept-old-versions' and `kept-new-versions'.
93Their values are, respectively, the number of oldest backups to keep
94and the number of newest ones to keep, each time a new backup is made.
95The value of `kept-new-versions' includes the backup just created.
96By default, both values are 2.
97
98If `trim-versions-without-asking' is non-`nil', the excess middle versions
99are deleted without a murmur. If it is `nil', the default, then you
100are asked whether the excess middle versions should really be deleted.
101
102Dired has a new command `.' which marks for deletion all but the latest
103and oldest few of every numeric series of backups. `kept-old-versions'
104controls the number of oldest versions to keep, and `dired-kept-versions'
105controls the number of latest versions to keep. A numeric argument to
106the `.' command, if positive, specifies the number of latest versions
107to keep, overriding `dired-kept-versions'. A negative argument specifies
108the number of oldest versions to keep, using minus the argument to override
109`kept-old-versions'.
110
111* Immediate conflict detection.
112
113Emacs now locks the files it is modifying, so that if
114you start to modify within Emacs a file that is being
115modified in another Emacs, you get an immediate warning.
116
117The warning gives you three choices:
1181. Give up, and do not make any changes.
1192. Make changes anyway at your own risk.
1203. Make changes anyway, and record yourself as
121 the person locking the file (instead of whoever
122 was previously recorded.)
123
124Just visiting a file does not lock it. It is locked
125when you try to change the buffer that is visiting the file.
126Saving the file unlocks it until you make another change.
127
128Locking is done by writing a lock file in a special designated
129directory. If such a directory is not provided and told to
130Emacs as part of configuring it for your machine, the lock feature
131is turned off.
132
133* M-x recover-file.
134
135This command is used to get a file back from an auto-save
136(after a system crash, for example). It takes a file name
137as argument and visits that file, but gets the data from the
138file's last auto save rather than from the file itself.
139
140* M-x normal-mode.
141
142This command resets the current buffer's major mode and local
143variables to be as specified by the visit filename, the -*- line
144and/or the Local Variables: block at the end of the buffer.
145It is the same thing normally done when a file is first visited.
146
147* Echo area messages disappear shortly if minibuffer is in use.
148
149Any message in the echo area disappears after 2 seconds
150if the minibuffer is active. This allows the minibuffer
151to become visible again.
152
153* C-z on System V runs a subshell.
154
155On systems which do not allow programs to be suspended, the C-z command
156forks a subshell that talks directly to the terminal, and then waits
157for the subshell to exit. This gets almost the effect of suspending
158in that you can run other programs and then return to Emacs. However,
159you cannot log out from the subshell.
160
161* C-c is always a prefix character.
162
163Also, subcommands of C-c which are letters are always
164reserved for the user. No standard Emacs major mode
165defines any of them.
166
167* Picture mode C-c commands changed.
168
169The old C-c k command is now C-c C-w.
170The old C-c y command is now C-c C-x.
171
172* Shell mode commands changed.
173
174All the special commands of Shell mode are now moved onto
175the C-c prefix. Most are not changed aside from that.
176Thus, the old Shell mode C-c command (kill current job)
177is now C-c C-c; the old C-z (suspend current job) is now C-c C-z,
178etc.
179
180The old C-x commands are now C-c commands. C-x C-k (kill output)
181is now C-c C-o, and C-x C-v (show output) is now C-c C-r.
182
183The old M-= (copy previous input) command is now C-c C-y.
184
185* Shell mode recognizes aliases for `pushd', `popd' and `cd'.
186
187Shell mode now uses the variable `shell-pushd-regexp' as a
188regular expression to recognize any command name that is
189equivalent to a `pushd' command. By default it is set up
190to recognize just `pushd' itself. If you use aliases for
191`pushd', change the regexp to recognize them as well.
192
193There are also `shell-popd-regexp' to recognize commands
194with the effect of a `popd', and `shell-cd-regexp' to recognize
195commands with the effect of a `cd'.
196
197* "Exit" command in certain modes now C-c C-c.
198
199These include electric buffer menu mode, electric command history
200mode, Info node edit mode, and Rmail edit mode. In all these
201modes, the command to exit used to be just C-c.
202
203* Outline mode changes.
204
205Lines that are not heading lines are now called "body" lines.
206The command `hide-text' is renamed to `hide-body'.
207The key M-H is renamed to C-c C-h.
208The key M-S is renamed to C-c C-s.
209The key M-s is renamed to C-c C-i.
210
211Changes of line visibility are no longer undoable. As a result,
212they no longer use up undo memory and no longer interfere with
213undoing earlier commands.
214
215* Rmail changes.
216
217The s and q commands now both expunge deleted messages before saving;
218use C-x C-s to save without expunging.
219
220The u command now undeletes the current message if it is deleted;
221otherwise, it backs up as far as necessary to reach a deleted message,
222and undeletes that one. The u command in the summary behaves likewise,
223but considers only messages listed in the summary. The M-u command
224has been eliminated.
225
226The o and C-o keys' meanings are interchanged.
227o now outputs to an Rmail file, and C-o to a Unix mail file.
228
229The F command (rmail-find) is renamed to M-s (rmail-search).
230Various new commands and features exist; see the Emacs manual.
231
232* Local bindings described first in describe-bindings.
233
234* [...], {...} now balance in Fundamental mode.
235
236* Nroff mode and TeX mode.
237
88dbda51 238There are two new major modes for editing nroff input and TeX input.
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239See the Emacs manual for full information.
240
241* New C indentation style variable `c-brace-imaginary-offset'.
242
243The value of `c-brace-imaginary-offset', normally zero, controls the
244indentation of a statement inside a brace-group where the open-brace
245is not the first thing on a line. The value says where the open-brace
246is imagined to be, relative to the first nonblank character on the line.
247
248* Dired improvements.
249
250Dired now normally keeps the cursor at the beginning of the file name,
251not at the beginning of the line. The most used motion commands are
252redefined in Dired to position the cursor this way.
253
254`n' and `p' are now equivalent in dired to `C-n' and `C-p'.
255
256If any files to be deleted cannot be deleted, their names are
257printed in an error message.
258
259If the `v' command is invoked on a file which is a directory,
260dired is run on that directory.
261
262* `visit-tag-table' renamed `visit-tags-table'.
263
264This is so apropos of `tags' finds everything you need to
265know about in connection with Tags.
266
267* `mh-e' library uses C-c as prefix.
268
269All the special commands of `mh-rmail' now are placed on a
270C-c prefix rather than on the C-x prefix. This is for
271consistency with other special modes with their own commands.
272
273* M-$ or `spell-word' checks word before point.
274
275It used to check the word after point.
276
277* Quitting during autoloading no longer causes trouble.
278
279Now, when a file is autoloaded, all function redefinitions
280and `provide' calls are recorded and are undone if you quit
281before the file is finished loading.
282
283As a result, it no longer happens that some of the entry points
284which are normally autoloading have been defined already, but the
285entire file is not really present to support them.
286
287* `else' can now be indented correctly in C mode.
288
289TAB in C mode now knows which `if' statement an `else' matches
290up with, and can indent the `else' correctly under the `if',
291even if the `if' contained such things as another `if' statement,
292or a `while' or `for' statement, with no braces around it.
293
294* `batch-byte-compile'
295
296Runs byte-compile-file on the files specified on the command line.
297All the rest of the command line arguments are taken as files to
298compile (or, if directories, to do byte-recompile-directory on).
299Must be used only with -batch, and kills emacs on completion.
300Each file will be processed even if an error occurred previously.
301For example, invoke `emacs -batch -f batch-byte-compile *.el'.
302
303* `-batch' changes.
304
305`-batch' now implies `-q': no init file is loaded by Emacs when
306`-batch' is used. Also, no `term/TERMTYPE.el' file is loaded. Auto
307saving is not done except in buffers in which it is explicitly
308requested. Also, many echo-area printouts describing what is going on
309are inhibited in batch mode, so that the only output you get is the
310output you program specifically.
311
312One echo-area message that is not suppressed is the one that says
313that a file is being loaded. That is because you can prevent this
314message by passing `t' as the third argument to `load'.
315
316* Display of search string in incremental search.
317
318Now, when you type C-s or C-r to reuse the previous search
319string, that search string is displayed immediately in the echo area.
320
321Three dots are displayed after the search string while search
322is actually going on.
323
324* View commands.
325
326The commands C-x ], C-x [, C-x /, C-x j and C-x o are now
327available inside `view-buffer' and `view-file', with their
328normal meanings.
329
330* Full-width windows preferred.
331
332The ``other-window'' commands prefer other full width windows,
333and will split only full width windows.
334
335* M-x rename-file can copy if necessary.
336
337When used between different file systems, since actual renaming does
338not work, the old file will be copied and deleted.
339
340* Within C-x ESC, you can pick the command to repeat.
341
342While editing a previous command to be repeated, inside C-x ESC,
343you can now use the commands M-p and M-n to pick an earlier or
344later command to repeat. M-n picks the next earlier command
345and M-p picks the next later one. The new command appears in
346the minibuffer, and you can go ahead and edit it, and repeat it
347when you exit the minibuffer.
348
349Using M-n or M-p within C-x ESC is like having used a different
350numeric argument when you ran C-x ESC in the first place.
351
352The command you finally execute using C-x ESC is added to the
353front of the command history, unless it is identical with the
354first thing in the command history.
355
356* Use C-c C-c to exit from editing within Info.
357
358It used to be C-z for this. Somehow this use of C-z was
359left out when all the others were moved. The intention is that
360C-z should always suspend Emacs.
361
362* Default arg to C-x < and C-x > now window width minus 2.
363
364These commands, which scroll the current window horizontally
365by a specified number of columns, now scroll a considerable
366distance rather than a single column if used with no argument.
367
368* Auto Save Files Deleted.
369
370The default value of `delete-auto-save-files' is now `t', so that
371when you save a file for real, its auto save file is deleted.
372
373* Rnews changes.
374
375The N, P and J keys in Rnews are renamed to M-n, M-p and M-j.
376These keys move among newsgroups.
377
378The n and p keys for moving sequentially between news articles now
379accept repeat count arguments, and the + and - keys, made redundant by
380this change, are eliminated.
381
382The s command for outputting the current article to a file
383is renamed as o, to be compatible with Rmail.
384
385* Sendmail changes.
386
387If you have a ~/.mailrc file, Emacs searches it for mailing address
388aliases, and these aliases are expanded when you send mail in Emacs.
389
390Fcc fields can now be used in the headers in the *mail* buffer
391to specify files in which copies of the message should be put.
392The message is written into those files in Unix mail file format.
393The message as sent does not contain any Fcc fields in its header.
394You can use any number of Fcc fields, but only one file name in each one.
395The variable `mail-archive-file-name', if non-`nil', can be a string
396which is a file name; an Fcc to that file will be inserted in every
397message when you begin to compose it.
398
399A new command C-c q now exists in Mail mode. It fills the
400paragraphs of an old message that had been inserted with C-c y.
401
402When the *mail* buffer is put in Mail mode, text-mode-hook
403is now run in addition to mail-mode-hook. text-mode-hook
404is run first.
405
406The new variable `mail-header-separator' now specifies the string
407to use on the line that goes between the headers and the message text.
408By default it is still "--text follows this line--".
409
410* Command history truncated automatically.
411
412Just before each garbage collection, all but the last 30 elements
413of the command history are discarded.
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416Incompatible Lisp Programming Changes in Emacs 17
417
418* `&quote' no longer supported.
419
420This feature, which allowed Lisp functions to take arguments
421that were not evaluated, has been eliminated, because it is
422inescapably hard to make the compiler work properly with such
423functions.
424
425You should use macros instead. A simple way to change any
426code that uses `&quote' is to replace
427
428 (defun foo (&quote x y z) ...
429
430with
431
432 (defmacro foo (x y z)
433 (list 'foo-1 (list 'quote x) (list 'quote y) (list 'quote z)))
434
435 (defun foo-1 (x y z) ...
436
437* Functions `region-to-string' and `region-around-match' removed.
438
439These functions were made for compatibility with Gosling Emacs, but it
440turns out to be undesirable to use them in GNU Emacs because they use
441the mark. They have been eliminated from Emacs proper, but are
442present in mlsupport.el for the sake of converted mocklisp programs.
443
444If you were using `region-to-string', you should instead use
445`buffer-substring'; then you can pass the bounds as arguments and
446can avoid setting the mark.
447
448If you were using `region-around-match', you can use instead
449the two functions `match-beginning' and `match-end'. These give
450you one bound at a time, as a numeric value, without changing
451point or the mark.
452
453* Function `function-type' removed.
454
455This just appeared not to be very useful. It can easily be written in
456Lisp if you happen to want it. Just use `symbol-function' to get the
457function definition of a symbol, and look at its data type or its car
458if it is a list.
459
460* Variable `buffer-number' removed.
461
462You can still use the function `buffer-number' to find out
463a buffer's unique number (assigned in order of creation).
464
465* Variable `executing-macro' renamed `executing-kbd-macro'.
466
467This variable is the currently executing keyboard macro, as
468a string, or `nil' when no keyboard macro is being executed.
469
470* Loading term/$TERM.
471
472The library term/$TERM (where $TERM get replaced by your terminal
473type), which is done by Emacs automatically when it starts up, now
474happens after the user's .emacs file is loaded.
475
476In previous versions of Emacs, these files had names of the form
477term-$TERM; thus, for example, term-vt100.el, but now they live
478in a special subdirectory named term, and have names like
479term/vt100.el.
480
481* `command-history' format changed.
482
483The elements of this list are now Lisp expressions which can
484be evaluated directly to repeat a command.
485
486* Unused editing commands removed.
487
488The functions `forward-to-word', `backward-to-word',
489`upcase-char', `mark-beginning-of-buffer' and `mark-end-of-buffer'
177c0ea7 490have been removed. Their definitions can be found in file
a933dad1 491lisp/unused.el if you need them.
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494Upward Compatible Lisp Programming Changes in Emacs 17
495
496* You can now continue after errors and quits.
497
498When the debugger is entered because of a C-g, due to
499a non-`nil' value of `debug-on-quit', the `c' command in the debugger
500resumes execution of the code that was running when the quit happened.
501Use the `q' command to go ahead and quit.
502
503The same applies to some kinds of errors, but not all. Errors
504signaled with the Lisp function `signal' can be continued; the `c'
505command causes `signal' to return. The `r' command causes `signal' to
506return the value you specify. The `c' command is equivalent to `r'
507with the value `nil'.
508
509For a `wrong-type-argument' error, the value returned with the `r'
510command is used in place of the invalid argument. If this new value
511is not valid, another error occurs.
512
513Errors signaled with the function `error' cannot be continued.
514If you try to continue, the error just happens again.
515
516* `dot' renamed `point'.
517
518The word `dot' has been replaced with `point' in all
519function and variable names, including:
520
521 point, point-min, point-max,
522 point-marker, point-min-marker, point-max-marker,
523 window-point, set-window-point,
524 point-to-register, register-to-point,
525 exchange-point-and-mark.
526
527The old names are still supported, for now.
528
529* `string-match' records position of end of match.
530
531After a successful call to `string-match', `(match-end 0)' will
532return the index in the string of the first character after the match.
533Also, `match-begin' and `match-end' with nonzero arguments can be
534used to find the indices of beginnings and ends of substrings matched
535by subpatterns surrounded by parentheses.
536
537* New function `insert-before-markers'.
538
539This function is just like `insert' except in the handling of any
540relocatable markers that are located at the point of insertion.
541With `insert', such markers end up pointing before the inserted text.
542With `insert-before-markers', they end up pointing after the inserted
543text.
544
545* New function `copy-alist'.
546
547This function takes one argument, a list, and makes a disjoint copy
548of the alist structure. The list itself is copied, and each element
549that is a cons cell is copied, but the cars and cdrs of elements
550remain shared with the original argument.
551
552This is what it takes to get two alists disjoint enough that changes
553in one do not change the result of `assq' on the other.
554
555* New function `copy-keymap'.
556
557This function takes a keymap as argument and returns a new keymap
558containing initially the same bindings. Rebindings in either one of
559them will not alter the bindings in the other.
560
561* New function `copy-syntax-table'.
562
563This function takes a syntax table as argument and returns a new
564syntax table containing initially the same syntax settings. Changes
565in either one of them will not alter the other.
566
567* Randomizing the random numbers.
568
569`(random t)' causes the random number generator's seed to be set
570based on the current time and Emacs's process id.
571
572* Third argument to `modify-syntax-entry'.
573
574The optional third argument to `modify-syntax-entry', if specified
575should be a syntax table. The modification is made in that syntax table
576rather than in the current syntax table.
577
578* New function `run-hooks'.
579
580This function takes any number of symbols as arguments.
581It processes the symbols in order. For each symbol which
582has a value (as a variable) that is non-nil, the value is
583called as a function, with no arguments.
584
585This is useful in major mode commands.
586
587* Second arg to `switch-to-buffer'.
588
589If this function is given a non-`nil' second argument, then the
590selection being done is not recorded on the selection history.
591The buffer's position in the history remains unchanged. This
592feature is used by the view commands, so that the selection history
593after exiting from viewing is the same as it was before.
594
595* Second arg to `display-buffer' and `pop-to-buffer'.
596
597These two functions both accept an optional second argument which
598defaults to `nil'. If the argument is not `nil', it means that
599another window (not the selected one) must be found or created to
600display the specified buffer in, even if it is already shown in
601the selected window.
602
603This feature is used by `switch-to-buffer-other-window'.
604
605* New variable `completion-ignore-case'.
606
607If this variable is non-`nil', completion allows strings
608in different cases to be considered matching. The global value
609is `nil'
610
611This variable exists for the sake of commands that are completing
612an argument in which case is not significant. It is possible
613to change the value globally, but you might not like the consequences
614in the many situations (buffer names, command names, file names)
615where case makes a difference.
616
617* Major modes related to Text mode call text-mode-hook, then their own hooks.
618
619For example, turning on Outline mode first calls the value of
620`text-mode-hook' as a function, if it exists and is non-`nil',
621and then does likewise for the variable `outline-mode-hook'.
622
623* Defining new command line switches.
624
625You can define a new command line switch in your .emacs file
626by putting elements on the value of `command-switch-alist'.
627Each element of this list should look like
628 (SWITCHSTRING . FUNCTION)
629where SWITCHSTRING is a string containing the switch to be
630defined, such as "-foo", and FUNCTION is a function to be called
631if such an argument is found in the command line. FUNCTION
632receives the command line argument, a string, as its argument.
633
634To implement a switch that uses up one or more following arguments,
635use the fact that the remaining command line arguments are kept
636as a list in the variable `command-line-args'. FUNCTION can
637examine this variable, and do
638 (setq command-line-args (cdr command-line-args)
639to "use up" an argument.
640
641* New variable `load-in-progress'.
642
643This variable is non-`nil' when a file of Lisp code is being read
644and executed by `load'.
645
646* New variable `print-length'.
647
648The value of this variable is normally `nil'. It may instead be
649a number; in that case, when a list is printed by `prin1' or
650`princ' only that many initial elements are printed; the rest are
651replaced by `...'.
652
653* New variable `find-file-not-found-hook'.
654
655If `find-file' or any of its variants is used on a nonexistent file,
656the value of `find-file-not-found-hook' is called (if it is not `nil')
657with no arguments, after creating an empty buffer. The file's name
658can be found as the value of `buffer-file-name'.
659
660* Processes without buffers.
661
662In the function `start-process', you can now specify `nil' as
663the process's buffer. You can also set a process's buffer to `nil'
664using `set-process-buffer'.
665
666The reason you might want to do this is to prevent the process
667from being killed because any particular buffer is killed.
668When a process has a buffer, killing that buffer kills the
669process too.
670
671When a process has no buffer, its output is lost unless it has a
672filter, and no indication of its being stopped or killed is given
673unless it has a sentinel.
674
675* New function `user-variable-p'. `v' arg prompting changed.
676
677This function takes a symbol as argument and returns `t' if
678the symbol is defined as a user option variable. This means
679that it has a `variable-documentation' property whose value is
680a string starting with `*'.
681
682Code `v' in an interactive arg reading string now accepts
683user variables only, and completion is limited to the space of
684user variables.
685
686The function `read-variable' also now accepts and completes
687over user variables only.
688
689* CBREAK mode input is the default in Unix 4.3 bsd.
690
691In Berkeley 4.3 Unix, there are sufficient features for Emacs to
692work fully correctly using CBREAK mode and not using SIGIO.
693Therefore, this mode is the default when running under 4.3.
694This mode corresponds to `nil' as the first argument to
695`set-input-mode'. You can still select either mode by calling
696that function.
697
698* Information on memory usage.
699
700The new variable `data-bytes-used' contains the number
701of bytes of impure space allocated in Emacs.
702`data-bytes-free' contains the number of additional bytes
703Emacs could allocate. Note that space formerly allocated
704and freed again still counts as `used', since it is still
705in Emacs's address space.
706
707* No limit on size of output from `format'.
708
709The string output from `format' used to be truncated to
710100 characters in length. Now it can have any length.
711
712* New errors `void-variable' and `void-function' replace `void-symbol'.
713
714This change makes it possible to have error messages that
715clearly distinguish undefined variables from undefined functions.
716It also allows `condition-case' to handle one case without the other.
717
718* `replace-match' handling of `\'.
719
720In `replace-match', when the replacement is not literal,
721`\' in the replacement string is always treated as an
722escape marker. The only two special `\' constructs
723are `\&' and `\DIGIT', so `\' followed by anything other than
724`&' or a digit has no effect. `\\' is necessary to include
725a `\' in the replacement text.
726
727This level of escaping is comparable with what goes on in
728a regular expression. It is over and above the level of `\'
729escaping that goes on when strings are read in Lisp syntax.
730
731* New error `invalid-regexp'.
732
733A regexp search signals this type of error if the argument does
734not meet the rules for regexp syntax.
735
736* `kill-emacs' with argument.
737
738If the argument is a number, it is returned as the exit status code
739of the Emacs process. If the argument is a string, its contents
740are stuffed as pending terminal input, to be read by another program
741after Emacs is dead.
742
743* New fifth argument to `subst-char-in-region'.
744
745This argument is optional and defaults to `nil'. If it is not `nil',
746then the substitutions made by this function are not recorded
747in the Undo mechanism.
748
749This feature should be used with great care. It is now used
750by Outline mode to make lines visible or invisible.
751
752* ` *Backtrace*' buffer renamed to `*Backtrace*'.
753
754As a result, you can now reselect this buffer easily if you switch to
755another while in the debugger.
756
757Exiting from the debugger kills the `*Backtrace*' buffer, so you will
758not try to give commands in it when no longer really in the debugger.
759
760* New function `switch-to-buffer-other-window'.
761
762This is the new primitive to select a specified buffer (the
8b9f5fe8 763argument) in another window. It is not quite the same as
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764`pop-to-buffer', because it is guaranteed to create another
765window (assuming there is room on the screen) so that it can
766leave the current window's old buffer displayed as well.
767
768All functions to select a buffer in another window should
769do so by calling this new function.
770
771* New variable `minibuffer-help-form'.
772
773At entry to the minibuffer, the variable `help-form' is bound
774to the value of `minibuffer-help-form'.
775
776`help-form' is expected at all times to contain either `nil'
777or an expression to be executed when C-h is typed (overriding
40ba43b4 778the definition of C-h as a command). `minibuffer-help-form'
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779can be used to provide a different default way of handling
780C-h while in the minibuffer.
781
782* New \{...} documentation construct.
783
784It is now possible to set up the documentation string for
785a major mode in such a way that it always describes the contents
786of the major mode's keymap, as it has been customized.
787To do this, include in the documentation string the characters `\{'
788followed by the name of the variable containing the keymap,
789terminated with `}'. (The `\' at the beginning probably needs to
790be quoted with a second `\', to include it in the doc string.)
791This construct is normally used on a line by itself, with no blank
792lines before or after.
793
794For example, the documentation string for the function `c-mode' contains
795 ...
796 Paragraphs are separated by blank lines only.
797 Delete converts tabs to spaces as it moves back.
798 \\{c-mode-map}
799 Variables controlling indentation style:
800 ...
801
802* New character syntax class "punctuation".
803
804Punctuation characters behave like whitespace in word and
805list parsing, but can be distinguished in regexps and in the
806function `char-syntax'. Punctuation syntax is represented by
807a period in `modify-syntax-entry'.
808
809* `auto-mode-alist' no longer needs entries for backup-file names,
810
811Backup suffixes of all kinds are now stripped from a file's name
812before searching `auto-mode-alist'.
9a21d88b
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813
814
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815\f
816Changes in Emacs 16
817
818* No special code for Ambassadors, VT-100's and Concept-100's.
819
820Emacs now controls these terminals based on the termcap entry, like
821all other terminals. Formerly it did not refer to the termcap entries
822for those terminal types, and often the termcap entries for those
823terminals are wrong or inadequate. If you experience worse behavior
824on these terminals than in version 15, you can probably correct it by
825fixing up the termcap entry. See ./TERMS for more info.
826
827See ./TERMS in any case if you find that some terminal does not work
828right with Emacs now.
829
830* Minibuffer default completion character is TAB (and not ESC).
831
832So that ESC can be used in minibuffer for more useful prefix commands.
833
834* C-z suspends Emacs in all modes.
835
836Formerly, C-z was redefined for other purposes by certain modes,
837such as Buffer Menu mode. Now other keys are used for those purposes,
838to keep the meaning of C-z uniform.
839
840* C-x ESC (repeat-complex-command) allows editing the command it repeats.
841
842Instead of asking for confirmation to re-execute a command from the
843command history, the command is placed, in its Lisp form, into the
844minibuffer for editing. You can confirm by typing RETURN, change some
845arguments and then confirm, or abort with C-g.
846
847* Incremental search does less redisplay on slow terminals.
848
849If the terminal baud rate is <= the value of `isearch-slow-speed',
850incremental searching outside the text on the screen creates
851a single-line window and uses that to display the line on which
852a match has been found. Exiting or quitting the search restores
853the previous window configuration and redisplays the window you
854were searching in.
855
856The initial value of `isearch-slow-speed' is 1200.
857
858This feature is courtesy of crl@purdue.
859
860* Recursive minibuffers not allowed.
861
862If the minibuffer window is selected, most commands that would
863use the minibuffer gets an error instead. (Specific commands
864may override this feature and therefore still be allowed.)
865
866Strictly speaking, recursive entry to the minibuffer is still
867possible, because you can switch to another window after
868entering the minibuffer, and then minibuffer-using commands
869are allowed. This is still allowed by a deliberate decision:
870if you know enough to switch windows while in the minibuffer,
871you can probably understand recursive minibuffers.
872
873This may be overridden by binding the variable
874`enable-recursive-minibuffers' to t.
875
876* New major mode Emacs-Lisp mode, for editing Lisp code to run in Emacs.
877
878The mode in which emacs lisp files is edited is now called emacs-lisp-mode
879and is distinct from lisp-mode. The latter is intended for use with
880lisps external to emacs.
881
882The hook which is funcalled (if non-nil) on entry to elisp-mode is now
883called emacs-lisp-mode-hook. A consequence of this changes is that
884.emacs init files which set the value of lisp-mode-hook may need to be
885changed to use the new names.
886
887* Correct matching of parentheses is checked on insertion.
888
889When you insert a close-paren, the matching open-paren
890is checked for validity. The close paren must be the kind
891of close-paren that the open-paren says it should match.
892Otherwise, a warning message is printed. close-paren immediately
177c0ea7 893preceded by quoting backslash syntax character is not matched.
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894
895This feature was originally written by shane@mit-ajax.
896
897* M-x list-command-history
898* M-x command-history-mode
899* M-x electric-command-history
900
901`list-command-history' displays forms from the command history subject
902to user controlled filtering and limit on number of forms. It leaves
903the buffer in `command-history-mode'. M-x command-history-mode
904recomputes the command history each time it is invoked via
905`list-command-history'. It is like Emacs-Lisp mode except that characters
906don't insert themselves and provision is made for re-evaluating an
907expression from the list. `electric-command-history' pops up a type
908out window with the command history displayed. If the very next
909character is Space, the window goes away and the previous window
910configuration is restored. Otherwise you can move around in the
911history and select an expression for evaluation *inside* the buffer
912which invoked `electric-command-history'. The original window
913configuration is restored on exit unless the command selected changes
914it.
915
916* M-x edit-picture
917
918Enters a temporary major mode (the previous major mode is remembered
919and can is restored on exit) designed for editing pictures and tables.
920Printing characters replace rather than insert themselves with motion
921afterwards that is user controlled (you can specify any of the 8
922compass directions). Special commands for movement are provided.
923Special commands for hacking tabs and tab stops are provided. Special
924commands for killing rectangles and overlaying them are provided. See
925the documentation of function edit-picture for more details.
926
927Calls value of `edit-picture-hook' on entry if non-nil.
928
929* Stupid C-s/C-q `flow control' supported.
930
931Do (set-input-mode nil t) to tell Emacs to use CBREAK mode and interpret
932C-s and C-q as flow control commands. (set-input-mode t nil) switches
933back to interrupt-driven input. (set-input-mode nil nil) uses CBREAK
934mode but no `flow control'; this may make it easier to run Emacs under
935certain debuggers that have trouble dealing with inferiors that use SIGIO.
936
937CBREAK mode has certain inherent disadvantages, which are why it is
938not the default:
939
940 Meta-keys are ignored; CBREAK mode discards the 8th bit of
941 input characters.
942
943 Control-G as keyboard input discards buffered output,
944 and therefore can cause incorrect screen updating.
945
946The use of `flow control' has its own additional disadvantage: the
947characters C-s and C-q are not available as editing commands. You can
948partially compensate for this by setting up a keyboard-translate-table
949(see file ONEWS) that maps two other characters (such as C-^ and C-\) into
950C-s and C-q. Of course, C-^ and C-\ are commonly used as escape
951characters in remote-terminal programs. You really can't win except
952by getting rid of this sort of `flow control.'
953
954The configuration switch CBREAK_INPUT is now eliminated.
955INTERRUPT_INPUT exists only to specify the default mode of operation;
956#define it to make interrupt-driven input the default.
957
958* Completion of directory names provides a slash.
959
960If file name completion yields the name of a directory,
961a slash is appended to it.
962
963* Undo can clear modified-flag.
964
965If you undo changes in a buffer back to a state in which the
09e80d9f 966buffer was not considered "modified", then it is labeled as
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967once again "unmodified".
968
969* M-x run-lisp.
970
971This command creates an inferior Lisp process whose input and output
972appear in the Emacs buffer named `*lisp*'. That buffer uses a major mode
973called inferior-lisp-mode, which has many of the commands of lisp-mode
8b9f5fe8 974and those of shell-mode. Calls the value of shell-mode-hook and
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975lisp-mode-hook, in that order, if non-nil.
976
977Meanwhile, in lisp-mode, the command C-M-x is defined to
978send the current defun as input to the `*lisp*' subprocess.
979
980* Mode line says `Narrow' when buffer is clipped.
981
982If a buffer has a clipping restriction (made by `narrow-to-region')
983then its mode line contains the word `Narrow' after the major and
984minor modes.
985
986* Mode line says `Abbrev' when abbrev mode is on.
987
988* add-change-log-entry takes prefix argument
989
990Giving a prefix argument makes it prompt for login name, full name,
991and site name, with defaults. Otherwise the defaults are used
992with no confirmation.
993
994* M-x view-buffer and M-x view-file
995
996view-buffer selects the named buffer, view-file finds the named file; the
997resulting buffer is placed into view-mode (a recursive edit). The normal
998emacs commands are not available. Instead a set of special commands is
c5e87d10 999provided which facilitate moving around in the buffer, searching and
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1000scrolling by screenfuls. Exiting view-mode returns to the buffer in which
1001the view-file or view-buffer command was given.
1002Type ? or h when viewing for a complete list of view commands.
1003Each calls value of `view-hook' if non-nil on entry.
1004
1005written by shane@mit-ajax.
1006
1007* New key commands in dired.
1008
1009`v' views (like more) the file on the current line.
1010`#' marks auto-save files for deletion.
1011`~' marks backup files for deletion.
1012`r' renames a file and updates the directory listing if the
1013file is renamed to same directory.
1014`c' copies a file and updates the directory listing if the file is
1015copied to the same directory.
1016
1017* New function `electric-buffer-list'.
1018
1019This pops up a buffer describing the set of emacs buffers.
1020Immediately typing space makes the buffer list go away and returns
1021to the buffer and window which were previously selected.
1022
1023Otherwise one may use the c-p and c-n commands to move around in the
1024buffer-list buffer and type Space or C-z to select the buffer on the
1025cursor's line. There are a number of other commands which are the same
1026as those of buffer-menu-mode.
1027
1028This is a useful thing to bind to c-x c-b in your `.emacs' file if the
fffa137c 1029rather non-standard `electric' behavior of the buffer list suits your taste.
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1030Type C-h after invoking electric-buffer-list for more information.
1031
1032Calls value of `electric-buffer-menu-mode-hook' if non-nil on entry.
1033Calls value of `after-electric-buffer-menu' on exit (select) if non-nil.
1034\f
1035Changes in version 16 for mail reading and sending
1036
1037* sendmail prefix character is C-c (and not C-z). New command C-c w.
1038
1039For instance C-c C-c (or C-c C-s) sends mail now rather than C-z C-z.
1040C-c w inserts your `signature' (contents of ~/.signature) at the end
1041of mail.
1042
1043* New feature in C-c y command in sending mail.
1044
1045C-c y is the command to insert the message being replied to.
1046Normally it deletes most header fields and indents everything
1047by three spaces.
1048
1049Now, C-c y does not delete header fields or indent.
1050C-c y with any other numeric argument does delete most header
1051fields, but indents by the amount specified in the argument.
1052
1053* C-r command in Rmail edits current message.
1054
1055It does this by switching to a different major mode
1056which is nearly the same as Text mode. The only difference
1057between it and text mode are the two command C-c and C-].
1058C-c is defined to switch back to Rmail mode, and C-]
1059is defined to restore the original contents of the message
1060and then switch back to Rmail mode.
1061
1062C-c and C-] are the only ways "back into Rmail", but you
1063can switch to other buffers and edit them as usual.
1064C-r in Rmail changes only the handling of the Rmail buffer.
1065
1066* Rmail command `t' toggles header display.
1067
1068Normally Rmail reformats messages to hide most header fields.
1069`t' switches to display of all the header fields of the
1070current message, as long as it remains current.
1071Another `t' switches back to the usual display.
1072
1073* Rmail command '>' goes to the last message.
1074
1075* Rmail commands `a' and `k' set message attributes.
1076`a' adds an attribute and `k' removes one. You specify
91af3942 1077the attribute by name. You can specify either a built-in
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1078flag such as "deleted" or "filed", or a user-defined keyword
1079(anything not recognized as built-in).
1080
1081* Rmail commands `l' and `L' summarize by attributes.
1082
1083These commands create a summary with one line per message,
1084like `h', but they list only some of the messages. You
1085specify which attribute (for `l') or attributes (for `L')
1086the messages should have.
1087
1088* Rmail can parse mmdf mail files.
1089
1090* Interface to MH mail system.
1091
1092mh-e is a front end for GNU emacs and the MH mail system. It
da6062e6 1093provides a friendly and convenient interface to the MH commands.
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1094
1095To read mail, invoke mh-rmail. This will inc new mail and display the
1096scan listing on the screen. To see a summary of the mh-e commands,
1097type ?. Help is available through the usual facilities.
1098
1099To send mail, invoke mh-smail.
1100
1101mh-e requires a copy of MH.5 that has been compiled with the MHE
1102compiler switch.
1103
1104From larus@berkeley.
1105\f
1106New hooks and parameters in version 16
1107
1108* New variable `blink-matching-paren-distance'.
1109
1110This is the maximum number of characters to search for
1111an open-paren to match an inserted close-paren.
1112The matching open-paren is shown and checked if it is found
1113within this distance.
1114
1115`nil' means search all the way to the beginning of the buffer.
1116In this case, a warning message is printed if no matching
1117open-paren is found.
1118
1119This feature was originally written by shane@mit-ajax.
1120
1121* New variable `find-file-run-dired'
1122
1123If nil, find-file will report an error if an attempt to visit a
1124directory is detected; otherwise, it runs dired on that directory.
1125The default is t.
1126
1127* Variable `dired-listing-switches' holds switches given to `ls' by dired.
1128
1129The value should be a string containing `-' followed by letters.
1130The letter `l' had better be included and letter 'F' had better be excluded!
1131The default is "-al".
1132
1133This feature was originally written by shane@mit-ajax.
1134
1135* New variable `display-time-day-and-date'.
1136
1137If this variable is set non-`nil', the function M-x display-time
1138displays the day and date, as well as the time.
1139
1140* New parameter `c-continued-statement-indent'.
1141
1142This controls the extra indentation given to a line
1143that continues a C statement started on the previous line.
1144By default it is 2, which is why you would see
1145
1146 if (foo)
1147 bar ();
1148
1149
1150* Changed meaning of `c-indent-level'.
1151
1152The value of `c-brace-offset' used to be
1153subtracted from the value of `c-indent-level' whenever
1154that value was used. Now it is not.
1155
1156As a result, `c-indent-level' is now the offset of
1157statements within a block, relative to the line containing
1158the open-brace that starts the block.
1159
1160* turn-on-auto-fill is useful value for text-mode-hook.
1161
1162(setq text-mode-hook 'turn-on-auto-fill)
1163is all you have to do to make sure Auto Fill mode is turned
1164on whenever you enter Text mode.
1165
1166* Parameter explicit-shell-file-name for M-x shell.
1167
1168This variable, if non-nil, specifies the file name to use
1169for the shell to run if you do M-x shell.
1170\f
1171Changes in version 16 affecting Lisp programming:
1172
1173* Documentation strings adapt to customization.
1174
1175Often the documentation string for a command wants to mention
1176another command. Simply stating the other command as a
1177character sequence has a disadvantage: if the user customizes
1178Emacs by moving that function to a different command, the
1179cross reference in the documentation becomes wrong.
1180
1181A new feature allows you to write the documentation string
1182using a function name, and the command to run that function
1183is looked up when the documentation is printed.
1184
1185If a documentation string contains `\[' (two characters) then
1186the following text, up to the next `]', is taken as a function name.
1187Instead of printing that function name, the command that runs it is printed.
1188(M-x is used to construct a command if no shorter one exists.)
1189
1190For example, instead of putting `C-n' in a documentation string
1191to refer to the C-n command, put in `\[next-line]'. (In practice
1192you will need to quote the backslash with another backslash,
1193due to the syntax for strings in Lisp and C.)
1194
1195To include the literal characters `\[' in a documentation string,
1196precede them with `\='. To include the characters `\=', precede
1197them with `\='. For example, "\\=\\= is the way to quote \\=\\["
1198will come out as `\= is the way to quote \['.
1199
1200The new function `substitute-command-keys' takes a string possibly
e4769531 1201containing \[...] constructs and replaces those constructs with
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1202the key sequences they currently stand for.
1203
1204* Primitives `find-line-comment' and `find-line-comment-body' flushed.
1205
1206Search for the value of `comment-start-skip' if you want to find
1207whether and where a line has a comment.
1208
1209* New function `auto-save-file-name-p'
1210
d95b32a4 1211Should return non-`nil' if given a string which is the name of an
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1212auto-save file (sans directory name). If you redefine
1213`make-auto-save-file-name', you should redefine this accordingly. By
1214default, this function returns `t' for filenames beginning with
1215character `#'.
1216
1217* The value of `exec-directory' now ends in a slash.
1218
1219This is to be compatible with most directory names in GNU Emacs.
1220
1221* Dribble files and termscript files.
1222
1223(open-dribble-file FILE) opens a dribble file named FILE. When a
1224dribble file is open, every character Emacs reads from the terminal is
1225written to the dribble file.
1226
1227(open-termscript FILE) opens a termscript file named FILE. When a
1228termscript file is open, all characters sent to the terminal by Emacs
1229are also written in the termscript file.
1230
1231The two of these together are very useful for debugging Emacs problems
1232in redisplay.
1233
1234* Upper case command characters by default are same as lower case.
1235
1236If a character in a command is an upper case letter, and is not defined,
1237Emacs uses the definition of the corresponding lower case letter.
1238For example, if C-x U is not directly undefined, it is treated as
1239a synonym for C-x u (undo).
1240
1241* Undefined function errors versus undefined variable errors.
1242
1243Void-symbol errors now say "boundp" if the symbol's value was void
1244or "fboundp" if the function definition was void.
1245
1246* New function `bury-buffer'.
1247
1248The new function `bury-buffer' takes one argument, a buffer object,
1249and puts that buffer at the end of the internal list of buffers.
1250So it is the least preferred candidate for use as the default value
1251of C-x b, or for other-buffer to return.
1252
1253* Already-displayed buffers have low priority for display.
1254
1255When a buffer is chosen automatically for display, or to be the
1256default in C-x b, buffers already displayed in windows have lower
1257priority than buffers not currently visible.
1258
1259* `set-window-start' accepts a third argument NOFORCE.
1260
1261This argument, if non-nil, prevents the window's force_start flag
1262from being set. Setting the force_start flag causes the next
1263redisplay to insist on starting display at the specified starting
1264point, even if dot must be moved to get it onto the screen.
1265
1266* New function `send-string-to-terminal'.
1267
1268This function takes one argument, a string, and outputs its contents
1269to the terminal exactly as specified: control characters, escape
1270sequences, and all.
1271
1272* Keypad put in command mode.
1273
1274The terminal's keypad is now put into command mode, as opposed to
1275numeric mode, while Emacs is running. This is done by means of the
1276termcap `ks' and `ke' strings.
1277
1278* New function `generate-new-buffer'
1279
1280This function takes a string as an argument NAME and looks for a
1281creates and returns a buffer called NAME if one did not already exist.
1282Otherwise, it successively tries appending suffixes of the form "<1>",
1283"<2>" etc to NAME until it creates a string which does not name an
1284existing buffer. A new buffer with that name is the created and returned.
1285
1286* New function `prin1-to-string'
1287This function takes one argument, a lisp object, and returns a string
1288containing that object's printed representation, such as `prin1'
1289would output.
1290
1291* New function `read-from-minibuffer'
1292Lets you supply a prompt, initial-contents, a keymap, and specify
1293whether the result should be interpreted as a string or a lisp object.
1294
1295Old functions `read-minibuffer', `eval-minibuffer', `read-string' all
1296take second optional string argument which is initial contents of
177c0ea7 1297minibuffer.
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DL
1298
1299* minibuffer variable names changed (names of keymaps)
1300
1301minibuf-local-map -> minibuffer-local-map
1302minibuf-local-ns-map -> minibuffer-local-ns-map
1303minibuf-local-completion-map -> minibuffer-local-completion-map
1304minibuf-local-must-match-map -> minibuffer-local-must-match-map
1305\f
1306Changes in version 16 affecting configuring and building Emacs
1307
1308* Configuration switch VT100_INVERSE eliminated.
1309
1310You can control the use of inverse video on any terminal by setting
1311the variable `inverse-video', or by changing the termcap entry. If
1312you like, set `inverse-video' in your `.emacs' file based on
1313examination of (getenv "TERM").
1314
1315* New switch `-batch' makes Emacs run noninteractively.
1316
1317If the switch `-batch' is used, Emacs treats its standard output
1318and input like ordinary files (even if they are a terminal).
1319It does not display buffers or windows; the only output to standard output
1320is what would appear as messages in the echo area, and each
1321message is followed by a newline.
1322
1323The terminal modes are not changed, so that C-z and C-c retain
1324their normal Unix meanings. Emacs does still read commands from
1325the terminal, but the idea of `-batch' is that you use it with
1326other command line arguments that tell Emacs a complete task to perform,
1327including killing itself. `-kill' used as the last argument is a good
1328way to accomplish this.
1329
1330The Lisp variable `noninteractive' is now defined, to be `nil'
1331except when `-batch' has been specified.
1332
1333* Emacs can be built with output redirected to a file.
1334
1335This is because -batch (see above) is now used in building Emacs.
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1336
1337
1338\f
1339Changes in Emacs 15
1340
1341* Emacs now runs on Sun and Megatest 68000 systems;
1342 also on at least one 16000 system running 4.2.
1343
1344* Emacs now alters the output-start and output-stop characters
1345 to prevent C-s and C-q from being considered as flow control
1346 by cretinous rlogin software in 4.2.
1347
1348* It is now possible convert Mocklisp code (for Gosling Emacs) to Lisp code
1349 that can run in GNU Emacs. M-x convert-mocklisp-buffer
1350 converts the contents of the current buffer from Mocklisp to
1351 GNU Emacs Lisp. You should then save the converted buffer with C-x C-w
1352 under a name ending in ".el"
1353
1354 There are probably some Mocklisp constructs that are not handled.
1355 If you encounter one, feel free to report the failure as a bug.
1356 The construct will be handled in a future Emacs release, if that is not
1357 not too hard to do.
1358
1359 Note that lisp code converted from Mocklisp code will not necessarily
1360 run as fast as code specifically written for GNU Emacs, nor will it use
1361 the many features of GNU Emacs which are not present in Gosling's emacs.
1362 (In particular, the byte-compiler (m-x byte-compile-file) knows little
1363 about compilation of code directly converted from mocklisp.)
1364 It is envisaged that old mocklisp code will be incrementally converted
1365 to GNU lisp code, with M-x convert-mocklisp-buffer being the first
1366 step in this process.
1367
1368* Control-x n (narrow-to-region) is now by default a disabled command.
1369
1370 This means that, if you issue this command, it will ask whether
1371 you really mean it. You have the opportunity to enable the
1372 command permanently at that time, so you will not be asked again.
1373 This will place the form "(put 'narrow-to-region 'disabled nil)" in your
1374 .emacs file.
1375
1376* Tags now prompts for the tag table file name to use.
1377
1378 All the tags commands ask for the tag table file name
1379 if you have not yet specified one.
1380
1381 Also, the command M-x visit-tag-table can now be used to
1382 specify the tag table file name initially, or to switch
1383 to a new tag table.
1384
53964682 1385* If truncate-partial-width-windows is non-nil (as it initially is),
9a21d88b
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1386 all windows less than the full screen width (that is,
1387 made by side-by-side splitting) truncate lines rather than continuing
1388 them.
1389
1390* Emacs now checks for Lisp stack overflow to avoid fatal errors.
1391 The depth in eval, apply and funcall may not exceed max-lisp-eval-depth.
1392 The depth in variable bindings and unwind-protects may not exceed
1393 max-specpdl-size. If either limit is exceeded, an error occurs.
1394 You can set the limits to larger values if you wish, but if you make them
1395 too large, you are vulnerable to a fatal error if you invoke
1396 Lisp code that does infinite recursion.
1397
1398* New hooks find-file-hook and write-file-hook.
1399 Both of these variables if non-nil should be functions of no arguments.
1400 At the time they are called (current-buffer) will be the buffer being
1401 read or written respectively.
1402
1403 find-file-hook is called whenever a file is read into its own buffer,
1404 such as by calling find-file, revert-buffer, etc. It is not called by
1405 functions such as insert-file which do not read the file into a buffer of
1406 its own.
1407 find-file-hook is called after the file has been read in and its
1408 local variables (if any) have been processed.
1409
1410 write-file-hook is called just before writing out a file from a buffer.
1411
1412* The initial value of shell-prompt-pattern is now "^[^#$%>]*[#$%>] *"
1413
1414* If the .emacs file sets inhibit-startup-message to non-nil,
1415 the messages normally printed by Emacs at startup time
1416 are inhibited.
1417
1418* Facility for run-time conditionalization on the basis of emacs features.
1419
1420 The new variable features is a list of symbols which represent "features"
1421 of the executing emacs, for use in run-time conditionalization.
1422
1423 The function featurep of one argument may be used to test for the
8b9f5fe8 1424 presence of a feature. It is just the same as
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1425 (not (null (memq FEATURE features))) where FEATURE is its argument.
1426 For example, (if (featurep 'magic-window-hack)
1427 (transmogrify-window 'vertical)
1428 (split-window-vertically))
1429
1430 The function provide of one argument "announces" that FEATURE is present.
1431 It is much the same as (if (not (featurep FEATURE))
1432 (setq features (cons FEATURE features)))
1433
1434 The function require with arguments FEATURE and FILE-NAME loads FILE-NAME
1435 (which should contain the form (provide FEATURE)) unless FEATURE is present.
1436 It is much the same as (if (not (featurep FEATURE))
1437 (progn (load FILE-NAME)
1438 (if (not featurep FEATURE) (error ...))))
1439 FILE-NAME is optional and defaults to FEATURE.
1440
1441* New function load-average.
1442
1443 This returns a list of three integers, which are
1444 the current 1 minute, 5 minute and 15 minute load averages,
1445 each multiplied by a hundred (since normally they are floating
1446 point numbers).
1447
1448* Per-terminal libraries loaded automatically.
1449
1450 Emacs when starting up on terminal type T automatically loads
1451 a library named term-T. T is the value of the TERM environment variable.
1452 Thus, on terminal type vt100, Emacs would do (load "term-vt100" t t).
1453 Such libraries are good places to set the character translation table.
1454
1455 It is a bad idea to redefine lots of commands in a per-terminal library,
1456 since this affects all users. Instead, define a command to do the
1457 redefinitions and let the user's init file, which is loaded later,
1458 call that command or not, as the user prefers.
1459
1460* Programmer's note: detecting killed buffers.
1461
1462 Buffers are eliminated by explicitly killing them, using
1463 the function kill-buffer. This does not eliminate or affect
1464 the pointers to the buffer which may exist in list structure.
1465 If you have a pointer to a buffer and wish to tell whether
1466 the buffer has been killed, use the function buffer-name.
1467 It returns nil on a killed buffer, and a string on a live buffer.
1468
1469* New ways to access the last command input character.
1470
1471 The function last-key-struck, which used to return the last
1472 input character that was read by command input, is eliminated.
1473 Instead, you can find this information as the value of the
1474 variable last-command-char. (This variable used to be called
1475 last-key).
1476
1477 Another new variable, last-input-char, holds the last character
1478 read from the command input stream regardless of what it was
1479 read for. last-input-char and last-command-char are different
1480 only inside a command that has called read-char to read input.
1481
1482* The new switch -kill causes Emacs to exit after processing the
1483 preceding command line arguments. Thus,
1484 emacs -l lib data -e do-it -kill
1485 means to load lib, find file data, call do-it on no arguments,
1486 and then exit.
1487
1488* The config.h file has been modularized.
1489
1490 Options that depend on the machine you are running on are defined
1491 in a file whose name starts with "m-", such as m-vax.h.
1492 Options that depend on the operating system software version you are
1493 running on are defined in a file whose name starts with "s-",
1494 such as s-bsd4.2.h.
1495
1496 config.h includes one m- file and one s- file. It also defines a
1497 few other options whose values do not follow from the machine type
1498 and system type being used. Installers normally will have to
1499 select the correct m- and s- files but will never have to change their
1500 contents.
1501
1502* Termcap AL and DL strings are understood.
1503
1504 If the termcap entry defines AL and DL strings, for insertion
1505 and deletion of multiple lines in one blow, Emacs now uses them.
1506 This matters most on certain bit map display terminals for which
1507 scrolling is comparatively slow.
1508
1509* Bias against scrolling screen far on fast terminals.
1510
1511 Emacs now prefers to redraw a few lines rather than
1512 shift them a long distance on the screen, when the terminal is fast.
1513
1514* New major mode, mim-mode.
1515
1516 This major mode is for editing MDL code. Perhaps a MDL
1517 user can explain why it is not called mdl-mode.
1518 You must load the library mim-mode explicitly to use this.
1519
1520* GNU documentation formatter `texinfo'.
1521
1522 The `texinfo' library defines a format for documentation
1523 files which can be passed through Tex to make a printed manual
1524 or passed through texinfo to make an Info file. Texinfo is
1525 documented fully by its own Info file; compare this file
1526 with its source, texinfo.texinfo, for additional guidance.
1527
1528 All documentation files for GNU utilities should be written
1529 in texinfo input format.
1530
1531 Tex processing of texinfo files requires the Botex macro package.
1532 This is not ready for distribution yet, but will appear at
1533 a later time.
1534
1535* New function read-from-string (emacs 15.29)
1536
1537 read-from-string takes three arguments: a string to read from,
1538 and optionally start and end indices which delimit a substring
1539 from which to read. (They default to 0 and the length of the string,
1540 respectively.)
1541
1542 This function returns a cons cell whose car is the object produced
1543 by reading from the string and whose cdr is a number giving the
8b9f5fe8 1544 index in the string of the first character not read. That index may
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1545 be passed as the second argument to a later call to read-from-string
1546 to read the next form represented by the string.
1547
1548 In addition, the function read now accepts a string as its argument.
1549 In this case, it calls read-from-string on the whole string, and
8b9f5fe8 1550 returns the car of the result (ie the actual object read.)
9a21d88b
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1551
1552
1553\f
1554Changes in Emacs 14
1555
1556* Completion now prints various messages such as [Sole Completion]
1557 or [Next Character Not Unique] to describe the results obtained.
1558 These messages appear after the text in the minibuffer, and remain
1559 on the screen until a few seconds go by or you type a key.
1560
1561* The buffer-read-only flag is implemented.
1562 Setting or binding this per-buffer variable to a non-nil value
1563 makes illegal any operation which would modify the textual content of
1564 the buffer. (Such operations signal a buffer-read-only error)
1565 The read-only state of a buffer may be altered using toggle-read-only
1566 (C-x C-q)
1567 The buffers used by Rmail, Dired, Rnews, and Info are now read-only
1568 by default to prevent accidental damage to the information in those
1569 buffers.
1570
1571* Functions car-safe and cdr-safe.
1572 These functions are like car and cdr when the argument is a cons.
1573 Given an argument not a cons, car-safe always returns nil, with
1574 no error; the same for cdr-safe.
1575
1576* The new function user-real-login-name returns the name corresponding
1577 to the real uid of the Emacs process. This is usually the same
1578 as what user-login-name returns; however, when Emacs is invoked
1579 from su, user-real-login-name returns "root" but user-login-name
1580 returns the name of the user who invoked su.
1581
1582
1583\f
1584Changes in Emacs 13
1585
1586* There is a new version numbering scheme.
1587
1588 What used to be the first version number, which was 1,
1589 has been discarded since it does not seem that I need three
1590 levels of version number.
1591
1592 However, a new third version number has been added to represent
1593 changes by user sites. This number will always be zero in
1594 Emacs when I distribute it; it will be incremented each time
1595 Emacs is built at another site.
1596
1597* There is now a reader syntax for Meta characters:
1598 \M-CHAR means CHAR or'ed with the Meta bit. For example:
1599
1600 ?\M-x is (+ ?x 128)
1601 ?\M-\n is (+ ?\n 128)
1602 ?\M-\^f is (+ ?\^f 128)
1603
1604 This syntax can be used in strings too. Note, however, that
1605 Meta characters are not meaningful in key sequences being passed
1606 to define-key or lookup-key; you must use ESC characters (\e)
1607 in them instead.
1608
1609 ?\C- can be used likewise for control characters. (13.9)
1610
1611* Installation change
1612 The string "../lisp" now adds to the front of the load-path
1613 used for searching for Lisp files during Emacs initialization.
1614 It used to replace the path specified in paths.h entirely.
4c36be58 1615 Now the directory ../lisp is searched first and the directories
9a21d88b
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1616 specified in paths.h are searched afterward.
1617
1618
1619\f
1620Changes in Emacs 1.12
1621
1622* There is a new installation procedure.
1623 See the file INSTALL that comes in the top level
1624 directory in the tar file or tape.
1625
1626* The Meta key is now supported on terminals that have it.
1627 This is a shift key which causes the high bit to be turned on
1628 in all input characters typed while it is held down.
1629
1630 read-char now returns a value in the range 128-255 if
1631 a Meta character is typed. When interpreted as command
1632 input, a Meta character is equivalent to a two character
ee7683eb 1633 sequence, the meta prefix character followed by the unmetized
9a21d88b
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1634 character (Meta-G unmetized is G).
1635
1636 The meta prefix character
1637 is specified by the value of the variable meta-prefix-char.
1638 If this character (normally Escape) has been redefined locally
1639 with a non-prefix definition (such as happens in completing
1640 minibuffers) then the local redefinition is suppressed when
1641 the character is not the last one in a key sequence.
1642 So the local redefinition is effective if you type the character
1643 explicitly, but not effective if the character comes from
1644 the use of the Meta key.
1645
1646* `-' is no longer a completion command in the minibuffer.
1647 It is an ordinary self-inserting character.
1648
1649* The list load-path of directories load to search for Lisp files
1650 is now controlled by the EMACSLOADPATH environment variable
1651[[ Note this was originally EMACS-LOAD-PATH and has been changed
1652 again; sh does not deal properly with hyphens in env variable names]]
1653 rather than the EPATH environment variable. This is to avoid
1654 conflicts with other Emacses.
1655
1656 While Emacs is being built initially, the load-path
1657 is now just ("../lisp"), ignoring paths.h. It does not
1658 ignore EMACSLOADPATH, however; you should avoid having
1659 this variable set while building Emacs.
1660
1661* You can now specify a translation table for keyboard
1662 input characters, as a way of exchanging or substituting
1663 keys on the keyboard.
1664
1665 If the value of keyboard-translate-table is a string,
1666 every character received from the keyboard is used as an
1667 index in that string, and the character at that index in
1668 the string is used as input instead of what was actually
1669 typed. If the actual input character is >= the length of
1670 the string, it is used unchanged.
1671
1672 One way this feature can be used is to fix bad keyboard
4c36be58 1673 designs. For example, on some terminals, Delete is
9a21d88b
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1674 Shift-Underscore. Since Delete is a more useful character
1675 than Underscore, it is an improvement to make the unshifted
1676 character Delete and the shifted one Underscore. This can
1677 be done with
1678
1679 ;; First make a translate table that does the identity translation.
1680 (setq keyboard-translate-table (make-string 128 0))
1681 (let ((i 0))
1682 (while (< i 128)
1683 (aset keyboard-translate-table i i)
1684 (setq i (1+ i))))
1685
1686 ;; Now alter translations of some characters.
1687 (aset keyboard-translate-table ?\_ ?\^?)
1688 (aset keyboard-translate-table ?\^? ?\_)
1689
1690 If your terminal has a Meta key and can therefore send
1691 codes up to 255, Meta characters are translated through
1692 elements 128 through 255 of the translate table, and therefore
1693 are translated independently of the corresponding non-Meta
1694 characters. You must therefore establish translations
1695 independently for the Meta characters if you want them too:
1696
1697 ;; First make a translate table that does the identity translation.
1698 (setq keyboard-translate-table (make-string 256 0))
1699 (let ((i 0))
1700 (while (< i 256)
1701 (aset keyboard-translate-table i i)
1702 (setq i (1+ i))))
1703
1704 ;; Now alter translations of some characters.
1705 (aset keyboard-translate-table ?\_ ?\^?)
1706 (aset keyboard-translate-table ?\^? ?\_)
1707
1708 ;; Now alter translations of some Meta characters.
1709 (aset keyboard-translate-table (+ 128 ?\_) (+ 128 ?\^?))
1710 (aset keyboard-translate-table (+ 128 ?\^?) (+ 128 ?\_))
1711
1712* (process-kill-without-query PROCESS)
1713
1714This marks the process so that, when you kill Emacs,
1715you will not on its account be queried about active subprocesses.
1716
1717
1718\f
1719Changes in Emacs 1.11
1720
1721* The commands C-c and C-z have been interchanged,
1722 for greater compatibility with normal Unix usage.
1723 C-z now runs suspend-emacs and C-c runs exit-recursive-edit.
1724
1725* The value returned by file-name-directory now ends
1726 with a slash. (file-name-directory "foo/bar") => "foo/".
1727 This avoids confusing results when dealing with files
1728 in the root directory.
1729
1730 The value of the per-buffer variable default-directory
1731 is also supposed to have a final slash now.
1732
1733* There are now variables to control the switches passed to
1734 `ls' by the C-x C-d command (list-directory).
1735 list-directory-brief-switches is a string, initially "-CF",
1736 used for brief listings, and list-directory-verbose-switches
1737 is a string, initially "-l", used for verbose ones.
1738
1739* For Ann Arbor Ambassador terminals, the termcap "ti" string
1740 is now used to initialize the screen geometry on entry to Emacs,
1741 and the "te" string is used to set it back on exit.
1742 If the termcap entry does not define the "ti" or "te" string,
1743 Emacs does what it used to do.
1744
1745
1746\f
1747Changes in Emacs 1.10
1748
1749* GNU Emacs has been made almost 1/3 smaller.
1750 It now dumps out as only 530kbytes on Vax 4.2bsd.
1751
1752* The term "checkpoint" has been replaced by "auto save"
1753 throughout the function names, variable names and documentation
1754 of GNU Emacs.
1755
1756* The function load now tries appending ".elc" and ".el"
1757 to the specified filename BEFORE it tries the filename
1758 without change.
1759
1760* rmail now makes the mode line display the total number
1761 of messages and the current message number.
1762 The "f" command now means forward a message to another user.
1763 The command to search through all messages for a string is now "F".
1764 The "u" command now means to move back to the previous
1765 message and undelete it. To undelete the selected message, use Meta-u.
1766
1767* The hyphen character is now equivalent to a Space while
1768 in completing minibuffers. Both mean to complete an additional word.
1769
1770* The Lisp function error now takes args like format
1771 which are used to construct the error message.
1772
1773* Redisplay will refuse to start its display at the end of the buffer.
1774 It will pick a new place to display from, rather than use that.
1775
1776* The value returned by garbage-collect has been changed.
1777 Its first element is no longer a number but a cons,
1778 whose car is the number of cons cells now in use,
1779 and whose cdr is the number of cons cells that have been
1780 made but are now free.
1781 The second element is similar but describes symbols rather than cons cells.
1782 The third element is similar but describes markers.
1783
1784* The variable buffer-name has been eliminated.
1785 The function buffer-name still exists. This is to prevent
1786 user programs from changing buffer names without going
1787 through the rename-buffer function.
1788
1789
1790\f
1791Changes in Emacs 1.9
1792
1793* When a fill prefix is in effect, paragraphs are started
1794 or separated by lines that do not start with the fill prefix.
1795 Also, a line which consists of the fill prefix followed by
1796 white space separates paragraphs.
1797
1798* C-x C-v runs the new function find-alternate-file.
1799 It finds the specified file, switches to that buffer,
1800 and kills the previous current buffer. (It requires
1801 confirmation if that buffer had changes.) This is
1802 most useful after you find the wrong file due to a typo.
1803
1804* Exiting the minibuffer moves the cursor to column 0,
1805 to show you that it has really been exited.
1806
1807* Meta-g (fill-region) now fills each paragraph in the
1808 region individually. To fill the region as if it were
1809 a single paragraph (for when the paragraph-delimiting mechanism
1810 does the wrong thing), use fill-region-as-paragraph.
1811
1812* Tab in text mode now runs the function tab-to-tab-stop.
1813 A new mode called indented-text-mode is like text-mode
1814 except that in it Tab runs the function indent-relative,
1815 which indents the line under the previous line.
1816 If auto fill is enabled while in indented-text-mode,
1817 the new lines that it makes are indented.
1818
1819* Functions kill-rectangle and yank-rectangle.
1820 kill-rectangle deletes the rectangle specified by dot and mark
1821 (or by two arguments) and saves it in the variable killed-rectangle.
1822 yank-rectangle inserts the rectangle in that variable.
1823
1824 Tab characters in a rectangle being saved are replaced
1825 by spaces in such a way that their appearance will
1826 not be changed if the rectangle is later reinserted
1827 at a different column position.
1828
1829* `+' in a regular expression now means
1830 to repeat the previous expression one or more times.
1831 `?' means to repeat it zero or one time.
1832 They are in all regards like `*' except for the
1833 number of repetitions they match.
1834
1835 \< in a regular expression now matches the null string
1836 when it is at the beginning of a word; \> matches
1837 the null string at the end of a word.
1838
1839* C-x p narrows the buffer so that only the current page
1840 is visible.
1841
1842* C-x ) with argument repeats the kbd macro just
1843 defined that many times, counting the definition
1844 as one repetition.
1845
1846* C-x ( with argument begins defining a kbd macro
1847 starting with the last one defined. It executes that
1848 previous kbd macro initially, just as if you began
1849 by typing it over again.
1850
1851* C-x q command queries the user during kbd macro execution.
1852 With prefix argument, enters recursive edit,
1853 reading keyboard commands even within a kbd macro.
1854 You can give different commands each time the macro executes.
1855 Without prefix argument, reads a character. Your options are:
1856 Space -- execute the rest of the macro.
1857 Delete -- skip the rest of the macro; start next repetition.
1858 C-d -- skip rest of the macro and don't repeat it any more.
1859 C-r -- enter a recursive edit, then on exit ask again for a character
1860 C-l -- redisplay screen and ask again."
1861
1862* write-kbd-macro and append-kbd-macro are used to save
1863 a kbd macro definition in a file (as Lisp code to
1864 redefine the macro when the file is loaded).
1865 These commands differ in that write-kbd-macro
1866 discards the previous contents of the file.
1867 If given a prefix argument, both commands
1868 record the keys which invoke the macro as well as the
1869 macro's definition.
1870
1871* The variable global-minor-modes is used to display
1872 strings in the mode line of all buffers. It should be
40ba43b4 1873 a list of elements that are conses whose cdrs are strings
9a21d88b
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1874 to be displayed. This complements the variable
1875 minor-modes, which has the same effect but has a separate
1876 value in each buffer.
1877
1878* C-x = describes horizontal scrolling in effect, if any.
1879
1880* Return now auto-fills the line it is ending, in auto fill mode.
1881 Space with zero as argument auto-fills the line before it
1882 just like Space without an argument.
1883
1884
1885\f
1886Changes in Emacs 1.8
1887
1888This release mostly fixes bugs. There are a few new features:
1889
1890* apropos now sorts the symbols before displaying them.
1891 Also, it returns a list of the symbols found.
1892
1893 apropos now accepts a second arg PRED which should be a function
1894 of one argument; if PRED is non-nil, each symbol is tested
1895 with PRED and only symbols for which PRED returns non-nil
1896 appear in the output or the returned list.
1897
1898 If the third argument to apropos is non-nil, apropos does not
1899 display anything; it merely returns the list of symbols found.
1900
1901 C-h a now runs the new function command-apropos rather than
1902 apropos, and shows only symbols with definitions as commands.
1903
1904* M-x shell sends the command
1905 if (-f ~/.emacs_NAME)source ~/.emacs_NAME
1906 invisibly to the shell when it starts. Here NAME
1907 is replaced by the name of shell used,
1908 as it came from your ESHELL or SHELL environment variable
1909 but with directory name, if any, removed.
1910
1911* M-, now runs the command tags-loop-continue, which is used
1912 to resume a terminated tags-search or tags-query-replace.
1913
1914
1915\f
1916Changes in Emacs 1.7
1917
1918It's Beat CCA Week.
1919
1920* The initial buffer is now called "*scratch*" instead of "scratch",
1921 so that all buffer names used automatically by Emacs now have *'s.
1922
1923* Undo information is now stored separately for each buffer.
1924 The Undo command (C-x u) always applies to the current
1925 buffer only.
1926
1927 C-_ is now a synonym for C-x u.
1928
1929 (buffer-flush-undo BUFFER) causes undo information not to
1930 be kept for BUFFER, and frees the space that would have
1931 been used to hold it. In any case, no undo information is
1932 kept for buffers whose names start with spaces. (These
1933 buffers also do not appear in the C-x C-b display.)
1934
1935* Rectangle operations are now implemented.
1936 C-x r stores the rectangle described by dot and mark
1937 into a register; it reads the register name from the keyboard.
1938 C-x g, the command to insert the contents of a register,
1939 can be used to reinsert the rectangle elsewhere.
1940
1941 Other rectangle commands include
1942 open-rectangle:
1943 insert a blank rectangle in the position and size
1944 described by dot and mark, at its corners;
1945 the existing text is pushed to the right.
1946 clear-rectangle:
1947 replace the rectangle described by dot ane mark
1948 with blanks. The previous text is deleted.
1949 delete-rectangle:
1950 delete the text of the specified rectangle,
1951 moving the text beyond it on each line leftward.
1952
1953* Side-by-side windows are allowed. Use C-x 5 to split the
1954 current window into two windows side by side.
1955 C-x } makes the selected window ARG columns wider at the
1956 expense of the windows at its sides. C-x { makes the selected
1957 window ARG columns narrower. An argument to C-x 5 specifies
1958 how many columns to give to the leftmost of the two windows made.
1959
1960 C-x 2 now accepts a numeric argument to specify the number of
1961 lines to give to the uppermost of the two windows it makes.
1962
1963* Horizontal scrolling of the lines in a window is now implemented.
1964 C-x < (scroll-left) scrolls all displayed lines left,
1965 with the numeric argument (default 1) saying how far to scroll.
1966 When the window is scrolled left, some amount of the beginning
1967 of each nonempty line is replaced by an "$".
1968 C-x > scrolls right. If a window has no text hidden at the left
1969 margin, it cannot be scrolled any farther right than that.
1970 When nonzero leftwards scrolling is in effect in a window.
1971 lines are automatically truncated at the window's right margin
1972 regardless of the value of the variable truncate-lines in the
1973 buffer being displayed.
1974
1975* C-x C-d now uses the default output format of `ls',
1976 which gives just file names in multiple columns.
1977 C-u C-x C-d passes the -l switch to `ls'.
1978
1979* C-t at the end of a line now exchanges the two preceding characters.
1980
1981 All the transpose commands now interpret zero as an argument
1982 to mean to transpose the textual unit after or around dot
1983 with the one after or around the mark.
1984
1985* M-! executes a shell command in an inferior shell
1986 and displays the output from it. With a prefix argument,
1987 it inserts the output in the current buffer after dot
1988 and sets the mark after the output. The shell command
1989 gets /dev/null as its standard input.
1990
1991 M-| is like M-! but passes the contents of the region
1992 as input to the shell command. A prefix argument makes
1993 the output from the command replace the contents of the region.
1994
1995* The mode line will now say "Def" after the major mode
1996 while a keyboard macro is being defined.
1997
1998* The variable fill-prefix is now used by Meta-q.
1999 Meta-q removes the fill prefix from lines that start with it
2000 before filling, and inserts the fill prefix on each line
2001 after filling.
2002
2003 The command C-x . sets the fill prefix equal to the text
2004 on the current line before dot.
2005
2006* The new command Meta-j (indent-new-comment-line),
2007 is like Linefeed (indent-new-line) except when dot is inside a comment;
2008 in that case, Meta-j inserts a comment starter on the new line,
2009 indented under the comment starter above. It also inserts
2010 a comment terminator at the end of the line above,
2011 if the language being edited calls for one.
2012
2013* Rmail should work correctly now, and has some C-h m documentation.
2014
2015
2016\f
2017Changes in Emacs 1.6
2018
2019* save-buffers-kill-emacs is now on C-x C-c
2020 while C-x C-z does suspend-emacs. This is to make
2021 C-x C-c like the normal Unix meaning of C-c
53964682 2022 and C-x C-z like the normal Unix meaning of C-z.
9a21d88b
KS
2023
2024* M-ESC (eval-expression) is now a disabled command by default.
2025 This prevents users who type ESC ESC accidentally from
2026 getting confusing results. Put
2027 (put 'eval-expression 'disabled nil)
2028 in your ~/.emacs file to enable the command.
2029
2030* Self-inserting text is grouped into bunches for undoing.
2031 Each C-x u command undoes up to 20 consecutive self-inserting
2032 characters.
2033
2034* Help f now uses as a default the function being called
2035 in the innermost Lisp expression that dot is in.
2036 This makes it more convenient to use while writing
2037 Lisp code to run in Emacs.
2038 (If the text around dot does not appear to be a call
2039 to a Lisp function, there is no default.)
2040
2041 Likewise, Help v uses the symbol around or before dot
2042 as a default, if that is a variable name.
2043
2044* Commands that read filenames now insert the default
2045 directory in the minibuffer, to become part of your input.
2046 This allows you to see what the default is.
2047 You may type a filename which goes at the end of the
2048 default directory, or you may edit the default directory
2049 as you like to create the input you want to give.
2050 You may also type an absolute pathname (starting with /)
2051 or refer to a home directory (input starting with ~)
2052 after the default; the presence of // or /~ causes
2053 everything up through the slash that precedes your
2054 type-in to be ignored.
2055
2056 Returning the default directory without change,
2057 including the terminating slash, requests the use
2058 of the default file name (usually the visited file's name).
2059
2060 Set the variable insert-default-directory to nil
2061 to turn off this feature.
2062
2063* M-x shell now uses the environment variable ESHELL,
2064 if it exists, as the file name of the shell to run.
2065 If there is no ESHELL variable, the SHELL variable is used.
2066 This is because some shells do not work properly as inferiors
2067 of Emacs (or anything like Emacs).
2068
2069* A new variable minor-modes now exists, with a separate value
2070 in each buffer. Its value should be an alist of elements
2071 (MODE-FUNCTION-SYMBOL . PRETTY-NAME-STRING), one for each
2072 minor mode that is turned on in the buffer. The pretty
2073 name strings are displayed in the mode line after the name of the
2074 major mode (with spaces between them). The mode function
2075 symbols should be symbols whose function definitions will
2076 turn on the minor mode if given 1 as an argument; they are present
2077 so that Help m can find their documentation strings.
2078
2079* The format of tag table files has been changed.
2080 The new format enables Emacs to find tags much faster.
2081
2082 A new program, etags, exists to make the kind of
2083 tag table that Emacs wants. etags is invoked just
2084 like ctags; in fact, if you give it any switches,
2085 it does exactly what ctags would do. Give it the
2086 empty switch ("-") to make it act like ctags with no switches.
2087
2088 etags names the tag table file "TAGS" rather than "tags",
2089 so that these tag tables and the standard Unix ones
2090 can coexist.
2091
2092 The tags library can no longer use standard ctags-style
2093 tag tables files.
2094
2095* The file of Lisp code Emacs reads on startup is now
2096 called ~/.emacs rather than ~/.emacs_pro.
2097
2098* copy-file now gives the copied file the same mode bits
2099 as the original file.
2100
2101* Output from a process inserted into the process's buffer
2102 no longer sets the buffer's mark. Instead it sets a
2103 marker associated with the process to point to the end
2104 of the inserted text. You can access this marker with
2105 (process-mark PROCESS)
2106 and then either examine its position with marker-position
2107 or set its position with set-marker.
2108
2109* completing-read takes a new optional fifth argument which,
2110 if non-nil, should be a string of text to insert into
2111 the minibuffer before reading user commands.
2112
2113* The Lisp function elt now exists:
2114 (elt ARRAY N) is like (aref ARRAY N),
2115 (elt LIST N) is like (nth N LIST).
2116
2117* rplaca is now a synonym for setcar, and rplacd for setcdr.
2118 eql is now a synonym for eq; it turns out that the Common Lisp
2119 distinction between eq and eql is insignificant in Emacs.
2120 numberp is a new synonym for integerp.
2121
2122* auto-save has been renamed to auto-save-mode.
2123
2124* Auto save file names for buffers are now created by the
2125 function make-auto-save-file-name. This is so you can
2126 redefine that function to change the way auto save file names
2127 are chosen.
2128
2129* expand-file-name no longer discards a final slash.
2130 (expand-file-name "foo" "/lose") => "/lose/foo"
2131 (expand-file-name "foo/" "/lose") => "/lose/foo/"
2132
2133 Also, expand-file-name no longer substitutes $ constructs.
2134 A new function substitute-in-file-name does this. Reading
2135 a file name with read-file-name or the `f' or`F' option
2136 of interactive calling uses substitute-in-file-name
2137 on the file name that was read and returns the result.
2138
2139 All I/O primitives including insert-file-contents and
2140 delete-file call expand-file-name on the file name supplied.
2141 This change makes them considerably faster in the usual case.
2142
2143* Interactive calling spec strings allow the new code letter 'D'
2144 which means to read a directory name. It is like 'f' except
2145 that the default if the user makes no change in the minibuffer
2146 is to return the current default directory rather than the
2147 current visited file name.
2148
2149
2150\f
2151Changes in Emacs 1.5
2152
2153* suspend-emacs now accepts an optional argument
2154 which is a string to be stuffed as terminal input
2155 to be read by Emacs's superior shell after Emacs exits.
2156
2157 A library called ledit exists which uses this feature
2158 to transmit text to a Lisp job running as a sibling of
2159 Emacs.
2160
2161* If find-file is given the name of a directory,
2162 it automatically invokes dired on that directory
2163 rather than reading in the binary data that make up
2164 the actual contents of the directory according to Unix.
2165
2166* Saving an Emacs buffer now preserves the file modes
2167 of any previously existing file with the same name.
2168 This works using new Lisp functions file-modes and
2169 set-file-modes, which can be used to read or set the mode
2170 bits of any file.
2171
2172* The Lisp function cond now exists, with its traditional meaning.
2173
2174* defvar and defconst now permit the documentation string
2175 to be omitted. defvar also permits the initial value
2176 to be omitted; then it acts only as a comment.
2177
2178
2179\f
2180Changes in Emacs 1.4
2181
2182* Auto-filling now normally indents the new line it creates
2183 by calling indent-according-to-mode. This function, meanwhile,
2184 has in Fundamental and Text modes the effect of making the line
2185 have an indentation of the value of left-margin, a per-buffer variable.
2186
2187 Tab no longer precisely does indent-according-to-mode;
2188 it does that in all modes that supply their own indentation routine,
2189 but in Fundamental, Text and allied modes it inserts a tab character.
2190
2191* The command M-x grep now invokes grep (on arguments
2192 supplied by the user) and reads the output from grep
2193 asynchronously into a buffer. The command C-x ` can
2194 be used to move to the lines that grep has found.
2195 This is an adaptation of the mechanism used for
2196 running compilations and finding the loci of error messages.
2197
2198 You can now use C-x ` even while grep or compilation
2199 is proceeding; as more matches or error messages arrive,
2200 C-x ` will parse them and be able to find them.
2201
2202* M-x mail now provides a command to send the message
2203 and "exit"--that is, return to the previously selected
2204 buffer. It is C-z C-z.
2205
2206* Tab in C mode now tries harder to adapt to all indentation styles.
2207 If the line being indented is a statement that is not the first
2208 one in the containing compound-statement, it is aligned under
2209 the beginning of the first statement.
2210
2211* The functions screen-width and screen-height return the
2212 total width and height of the screen as it is now being used.
2213 set-screen-width and set-screen-height tell Emacs how big
2214 to assume the screen is; they each take one argument,
2215 an integer.
2216
2217* The Lisp function 'function' now exists. function is the
2218 same as quote, except that it serves as a signal to the
2219 Lisp compiler that the argument should be compiled as
2220 a function. Example:
2221 (mapcar (function (lambda (x) (+ x 5))) list)
2222
2223* The function set-key has been renamed to global-set-key.
2224 undefine-key and local-undefine-key has been renamed to
2225 global-unset-key and local-unset-key.
2226
2227* Emacs now collects input from asynchronous subprocesses
2228 while waiting in the functions sleep-for and sit-for.
2229
2230* Shell mode's Newline command attempts to distinguish subshell
2231 prompts from user input when issued in the middle of the buffer.
2232 It no longer reexecutes from dot to the end of the line;
2233 it reeexecutes the entire line minus any prompt.
2234 The prompt is recognized by searching for the value of
2235 shell-prompt-pattern, starting from the beginning of the line.
2236 Anything thus skipped is not reexecuted.
2237
2238
a933dad1 2239\f
9a21d88b 2240Changes in Emacs 1.3
a933dad1 2241
9a21d88b
KS
2242* An undo facility exists now. Type C-x u to undo a batch of
2243 changes (usually one command's changes, but some commands
2244 such as query-replace divide their changes into multiple
2245 batches. You can repeat C-x u to undo further. As long
2246 as no commands other than C-x u intervene, each one undoes
2247 another batch. A numeric argument to C-x u acts as a repeat
2248 count.
2249
2250 If you keep on undoing, eventually you may be told that
2251 you have used up all the recorded undo information.
2252 Some actions, such as reading in files, discard all
2253 undo information.
2254
2255 The undo information is not currently stored separately
2256 for each buffer, so it is mainly good if you do something
2257 totally spastic. [This has since been fixed.]
2258
2259* A learn-by-doing tutorial introduction to Emacs now exists.
2260 Type C-h t to enter it.
2261
2262* An Info documentation browser exists. Do M-x info to enter it.
2263 It contains a tutorial introduction so that no more documentation
2264 is needed here. As of now, the only documentation in it
2265 is that of Info itself.
2266
2267* Help k and Help c are now different. Help c prints just the
2268 name of the function which the specified key invokes. Help k
2269 prints the documentation of the function as well.
2270
2271* A document of the differences between GNU Emacs and Twenex Emacs
2272 now exists. It is called DIFF, in the same directory as this file.
2273
2274* C mode can now indent comments better, including multi-line ones.
2275 Meta-Control-q now reindents comment lines within the expression
2276 being aligned.
2277
2278* Insertion of a close-parenthesis now shows the matching open-parenthesis
2279 even if it is off screen, by printing the text following it on its line
2280 in the minibuffer.
2281
2282* A file can now contain a list of local variable values
2283 to be in effect when the file is edited. See the file DIFF
2284 in the same directory as this file for full details.
2285
2286* A function nth is defined. It means the same thing as in Common Lisp.
2287
2288* The function install-command has been renamed to set-key.
2289 It now takes the key sequence as the first argument
2290 and the definition for it as the second argument.
2291 Likewise, local-install-command has been renamed to local-set-key.
2292
2293
2294\f
2295Changes in Emacs 1.2
2296
2297* A Lisp single-stepping and debugging facility exists.
2298 To cause the debugger to be entered when an error
2299 occurs, set the variable debug-on-error non-nil.
2300
2301 To cause the debugger to be entered whenever function foo
2302 is called, do (debug-on-entry 'foo). To cancel this,
2303 do (cancel-debug-on-entry 'foo). debug-on-entry does
2304 not work for primitives (written in C), only functions
2305 written in Lisp. Most standard Emacs commands are in Lisp.
2306
2307 When the debugger is entered, the selected window shows
2308 a buffer called " *Backtrace" which displays a series
2309 of stack frames, most recently entered first. For each
2310 frame, the function name called is shown, usually followed
2311 by the argument values unless arguments are still being
2312 calculated. At the beginning of the buffer is a description
2313 of why the debugger was entered: function entry, function exit,
2314 error, or simply that the user called the function `debug'.
2315
2316 To exit the debugger and return to top level, type `q'.
2317
2318 In the debugger, you can evaluate Lisp expressions by
2319 typing `e'. This is equivalent to `M-ESC'.
2320
2321 When the debugger is entered due to an error, that is
2322 all you can do. When it is entered due to function entry
2323 (such as, requested by debug-on-entry), you have two
2324 options:
2325 Continue execution and reenter debugger after the
2326 completion of the function being entered. Type `c'.
2327 Continue execution but enter the debugger before
2328 the next subexpression. Type `d'.
2329
2330 You will see that some stack frames are marked with *.
2331 This means the debugger will be entered when those
2332 frames exit. You will see the value being returned
2333 in the first line of the backtrace buffer. Your options:
2334 Continue execution, and return that value. Type `c'.
2335 Continue execution, and return a specified value. Type `r'.
2336
2337 You can mark a frame to enter the debugger on exit
2338 with the `b' command, or clear such a mark with `u'.
2339
2340* Lisp macros now exist.
2341 For example, you can write
2342 (defmacro cadr (arg) (list 'car (list 'cdr arg)))
2343 and then the expression
2344 (cadr foo)
2345 will expand into
2346 (car (cdr foo))
2347
2348
2349\f
2350Changes in Emacs 1.1
2351
2352* The initial buffer is now called "scratch" and is in a
2353 new major mode, Lisp Interaction mode. This mode is
2354 intended for typing Lisp expressions, evaluating them,
2355 and having the values printed into the buffer.
2356
2357 Type Linefeed after a Lisp expression, to evaluate the
2358 expression and have its value printed into the buffer,
2359 advancing dot.
2360
2361 The other commands of Lisp mode are available.
2362
2363* The C-x C-e command for evaluating the Lisp expression
2364 before dot has been changed to print the value in the
2365 minibuffer line rather than insert it in the buffer.
2366 A numeric argument causes the printed value to appear
2367 in the buffer instead.
2368
2369* In Lisp mode, the command M-C-x evaluates the defun
2370 containing or following dot. The value is printed in
2371 the minibuffer.
2372
2373* The value of a Lisp expression evaluated using M-ESC
2374 is now printed in the minibuffer.
2375
2376* M-q now runs fill-paragraph, independent of major mode.
2377
2378* C-h m now prints documentation on the current buffer's
2379 major mode. What it prints is the documentation of the
2380 major mode name as a function. All major modes have been
2381 equipped with documentation that describes all commands
2382 peculiar to the major mode, for this purpose.
2383
2384* You can display a Unix manual entry with
2385 the M-x manual-entry command.
2386
2387* You can run a shell, displaying its output in a buffer,
2388 with the M-x shell command. The Return key sends input
2389 to the subshell. Output is printed inserted automatically
2390 in the buffer. Commands C-c, C-d, C-u, C-w and C-z are redefined
2391 for controlling the subshell and its subjobs.
2392 "cd", "pushd" and "popd" commands are recognized as you
2393 enter them, so that the default directory of the Emacs buffer
2394 always remains the same as that of the subshell.
2395
2396* C-x $ (that's a real dollar sign) controls line-hiding based
2397 on indentation. With a numeric arg N > 0, it causes all lines
2398 indented by N or more columns to become invisible.
2399 They are, effectively, tacked onto the preceding line, where
2400 they are represented by " ..." on the screen.
2401 (The end of the preceding visible line corresponds to a
2402 screen cursor position before the "...". Anywhere in the
2403 invisible lines that follow appears on the screen as a cursor
2404 position after the "...".)
2405 Currently, all editing commands treat invisible lines just
2406 like visible ones, except for C-n and C-p, which have special
2407 code to count visible lines only.
2408 C-x $ with no argument turns off this mode, which in any case
2409 is remembered separately for each buffer.
2410
2411* Outline mode is another form of selective display.
2412 It is a major mode invoked with M-x outline-mode.
2413 It is intended for editing files that are structured as
2414 outlines, with heading lines (lines that begin with one
2415 or more asterisks) and text lines (all other lines).
2416 The number of asterisks in a heading line are its level;
2417 the subheadings of a heading line are all following heading
2418 lines at higher levels, until but not including the next
2419 heading line at the same or a lower level, regardless
2420 of intervening text lines.
2421
2422 In outline mode, you have commands to hide (remove from display)
2423 or show the text or subheadings under each heading line
2424 independently. Hidden text or subheadings are invisibly
2425 attached to the end of the preceding heading line, so that
3ed8598c 2426 if you kill the heading line and yank it back elsewhere
9a21d88b
KS
2427 all the invisible lines accompany it.
2428
2429 All editing commands treat hidden outline-mode lines
2430 as part of the preceding visible line.
2431
2432* C-x C-z runs save-buffers-kill-emacs
2433 offers to save each file buffer, then exits.
2434
2435* C-c's function is now called suspend-emacs.
2436
2437* The command C-x m runs mail, which switches to a buffer *mail*
2438 and lets you compose a message to send. C-x 4 m runs mail in
2439 another window. Type C-z C-s in the mail buffer to send the
2440 message according to what you have entered in the buffer.
2441
2442 You must separate the headers from the message text with
2443 an empty line.
2444
2445* You can now dired partial directories (specified with names
2446 containing *'s, etc, all processed by the shell). Also, you
2447 can dired more than one directory; dired names the buffer
2448 according to the filespec or directory name. Reinvoking
4c36be58 2449 dired on a directory already diredded just switches back to
9a21d88b
KS
2450 the same directory used last time; do M-x revert if you want
2451 to read in the current contents of the directory.
2452
2453 C-x d runs dired, and C-x 4 d runs dired in another window.
2454
2455 C-x C-d (list-directory) also allows partial directories now.
2456
2457\f
2458Lisp programming changes
2459
2460* t as an output stream now means "print to the minibuffer".
2461 If there is already text in the minibuffer printed via t
2462 as an output stream, the new text is appended to the old
2463 (or is truncated and lost at the margin). If the minibuffer
2464 contains text put there for some other reason, it is cleared
2465 first.
2466
2467 t is now the top-level value of standard-output.
2468
2469 t as an input stream now means "read via the minibuffer".
2470 The minibuffer is used to read a line of input, with editing,
2471 and this line is then parsed. Any excess not used by `read'
2472 is ignored; each `read' from t reads fresh input.
2473 t is now the top-level value of standard-input.
2474
2475* A marker may be used as an input stream or an output stream.
2476 The effect is to grab input from where the marker points,
2477 advancing it over the characters read, or to insert output
2478 at the marker and advance it.
2479
2480* Output from an asynchronous subprocess is now inserted at
2481 the end of the associated buffer, not at the buffer's dot,
2482 and the buffer's mark is set to the end of the inserted output
2483 each time output is inserted.
2484
2485* (pos-visible-in-window-p POS WINDOW)
2486 returns t if position POS in WINDOW's buffer is in the range
2487 that is being displayed in WINDOW; nil if it is scrolled
2488 vertically out of visibility.
2489
2490 If display in WINDOW is not currently up to date, this function
2491 calculates carefully whether POS would appear if display were
2492 done immediately based on the current (window-start WINDOW).
2493
2494 POS defaults to (dot), and WINDOW to (selected-window).
2495
2496* Variable buffer-alist replaced by function (buffer-list).
2497 The actual alist of buffers used internally by Emacs is now
2498 no longer accessible, to prevent the user from crashing Emacs
2499 by modifying it. The function buffer-list returns a list
2500 of all existing buffers. Modifying this list cannot hurt anything
2501 as a new list is constructed by each call to buffer-list.
2502
2503* load now takes an optional third argument NOMSG which, if non-nil,
2504 prevents load from printing a message when it starts and when
2505 it is done.
2506
2507* byte-recompile-directory is a new function which finds all
2508 the .elc files in a directory, and regenerates each one which
2509 is older than the corresponding .el (Lisp source) file.
2510
2511
2512\f
a933dad1 2513----------------------------------------------------------------------
5b87ad55 2514This file is part of GNU Emacs.
a933dad1 2515
ab73e885 2516GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
5b87ad55 2517it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
ab73e885
GM
2518the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
2519(at your option) any later version.
5b87ad55
GM
2520
2521GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
2522but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
2523MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
2524GNU General Public License for more details.
a933dad1 2525
5b87ad55 2526You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
ab73e885 2527along with GNU Emacs. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
a933dad1 2528
a933dad1
DL
2529\f
2530Local variables:
2531mode: text
2532end: