Add yank-handled-properties; use it for `font-lock-face' and `category'
[bpt/emacs.git] / etc / NEWS
1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes.
2
3 Copyright (C) 2010-2012 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 See the end of the file for license conditions.
5
6 Please send Emacs bug reports to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.
7 If possible, use M-x report-emacs-bug.
8
9 This file is about changes in Emacs version 24.
10
11 See files NEWS.23, NEWS.22, NEWS.21, NEWS.20, NEWS.19, NEWS.18,
12 and NEWS.1-17 for changes in older Emacs versions.
13
14 You can narrow news to a specific version by calling `view-emacs-news'
15 with a prefix argument or by typing C-u C-h C-n.
16
17 Temporary note:
18 +++ indicates that the appropriate manual has already been updated.
19 --- means no change in the manuals is called for.
20 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
21 so we will look at it and add it to the manual.
22
23 \f
24 * Installation Changes in Emacs 24.3
25
26 ** New configure option '--without-all' to disable additonal features.
27 This disables most of the features that are normally enabled by default.
28
29 ** New configure option '--enable-link-time-optimization' to utilize
30 an appropriate feature provided by GCC since version 4.5.0.
31
32 ** New configure option '--enable-gcc-warnings', intended for developers.
33 If building with GCC, this enables compile-time checks that warn about
34 possibly-questionable C code. On a recent GNU system there should be
35 no warnings; on older and on non-GNU systems the generated warnings
36 may be useful.
37
38 ** The configure option '--disable-maintainer-mode' has been removed,
39 as it was confusingly-named and rarely useful.
40
41 ---
42 ** Emacs uses libtinfo in preference to libncurses, if available.
43
44 ---
45 ** On FreeBSD and NetBSD, configure no longer adds /usr/local/lib and
46 /usr/pkg/lib to the linker search path. You must add them yourself if
47 you want them.
48
49 ---
50 ** On Mac OS X, configure no longer automatically adds the Fink /sw
51 directories to the search path. You must add them yourself if you want them.
52
53 ---
54 ** The standalone scripts rcs-checkin and vcdiff have been removed
55 (from the bin and libexec directories, respectively). The former is
56 no longer relevant, the latter is replaced by lisp (in vc-sccs.el).
57
58 ** The configuration option '--enable-use-lisp-union-type' has been
59 renamed to '--enable-check-lisp-object-type', as the resulting
60 Lisp_Object type no longer uses a union to implement the compile time
61 check that this option enables.
62
63 \f
64 * Startup Changes in Emacs 24.3
65
66 ** Emacs no longer searches for `leim-list.el' files beneath the standard
67 lisp/ directory. There should not be any there anyway. If you have
68 been adding them there, put them somewhere else, eg site-lisp.
69
70 ---
71 ** The `--no-site-lisp' command line option now works for Nextstep builds.
72
73 \f
74 * Changes in Emacs 24.3
75
76 ** Help changes
77
78 *** `C-h f' (describe-function) can now perform autoloading.
79 When this command is called for an autoloaded function whose docstring
80 contains a key substitution construct, that function's library is
81 automatically loaded, so that the documentation can be shown
82 correctly. To disable this, set `help-enable-auto-load' to nil.
83
84 *** `C-h f' now reports previously-autoloaded functions as "autoloaded",
85 even after their associated libraries have been loaded (and the
86 autoloads have been redefined as functions).
87
88 ** The function `current-time' now returns extended-format time stamps
89 (HIGH LOW USEC PSEC) that use picosecond resolution; the PSEC
90 component is new. PSEC is typically a multiple of 1000 on current
91 machines. Other functions that use this format, such as
92 file-attributes and format-time-string, have been changed accordingly.
93 Old-format time stamps are still accepted.
94
95 ** New functions `system-users', `system-groups' return lists of the user
96 name, group names known to the system (where possible).
97
98 ** If your Emacs was built from a bzr checkout, the new variable
99 `emacs-bzr-version' contains information about which bzr revision was used.
100
101 ** ImageMagick support, if available, is automatically enabled.
102 It is no longer necessary to call `imagemagick-register-types'
103 explicitly to install ImageMagick image types; that function is called
104 automatically at startup, or when customizing a relevant imagemagick-
105 option.
106
107 *** Setting `imagemagick-types-inhibit' to t now disables the use of
108 ImageMagick to view images. You must call imagemagick-register-types
109 afterwards if you do not use customize to change this.
110
111 *** The new variable `imagemagick-enabled-types' also affects which
112 ImageMagick types are treated as images. The function
113 `imagemagick-filter-types' returns the list of types that will be
114 treated as images.
115
116 *** Images displayed via ImageMagick now support transparency and the
117 :background image spec property.
118
119 ** Internationalization changes
120
121 *** New language environment: Persian.
122
123 ** Face underlining can now use a wave.
124 See the "Face Attributes" section of the Elisp manual.
125
126 ** New fringe bitmap exclamation-mark.
127
128 ** String values for `initial-buffer-choice' also apply to emacsclient
129 frames, if emacsclient is only told to open a new frame without
130 specifying any file to visit or expression to evaluate.
131
132 +++
133 ** You can prevent the creation of lock files by setting `create-lockfiles'
134 to nil. Use with caution, and only if you really need to.
135
136 +++
137 ** Using "unibyte: t" in Lisp source files is obsolete.
138 Use "coding: raw-text" instead.
139
140 ** Mode line changes
141
142 *** New option `mode-line-default-help-echo' specifies the help text
143 (shown in a tooltip or in the echo area) for any part of the mode line
144 that does not have its own specialized help text.
145
146 *** You can now click mouse-3 in the coding system indicator to
147 invokes `set-buffer-file-coding-system'.
148
149 +++
150 ** Setting `enable-remote-dir-locals' to non-nil allows directory
151 local variables on remote hosts.
152
153 +++
154 ** `insert-char' is now a command, and `ucs-insert' an obsolete alias
155 for it.
156
157 ** The entry for PCL-CVS has been removed from the Tools menu.
158 The PCL-CVS commands are still available via the keyboard.
159
160 \f
161 * Editing Changes in Emacs 24.3
162
163 ** New option `yank-handled-properties' allows processing of text
164 properties on yanked text, in more ways that are more general than
165 just removing them, as done by `yank-excluded-properties'.
166
167 ** New option `delete-trailing-lines' specifies whether the M-x
168 delete-trailing-whitespace command should delete trailing lines at the
169 end of the buffer. It defaults to t.
170
171 ** Search changes
172
173 *** Global `M-s _' starts a symbol (identifier) incremental search,
174 and `M-s _' in Isearch toggles symbol search mode.
175 `M-s c' in Isearch toggles search case-sensitivity.
176
177 ** M-x move-to-column, if called interactively with no prefix arg, now
178 prompts for a column number.
179
180 ** `mouse-avoidance-banish-position' can now be used to customize
181 `mouse-avoidance-mode' further.
182
183 ** `C-u M-=' now counts lines/words/characters in the entire buffer.
184
185 ** `C-M-f' and `C-M-b' will now move to the path name separator
186 character when doing minibuffer filename prompts.
187
188 ** `goto-char' is now bound to `M-g c'.
189
190 ** New command `C-x r M-w' (copy-rectangle-as-kill).
191 It copies the region-rectangle as the last rectangle kill.
192
193 ** New input method `vietnamese-vni'.
194
195 \f
196 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.3
197
198 ** Term changes
199
200 The variables `term-default-fg-color' and `term-default-bg-color' are
201 now deprecated in favor of the `term-face' face, that you can
202 customize. Also, it is now possible to customize how are displayed the
203 ANSI terminal colors and styles by customizing the corresponding
204 `term-color-<COLOR>', `term-color-underline' and `term-color-bold'
205 faces.
206
207 ** CL
208 *** CL's main entry is now (require 'cl-lib).
209 `cl-lib' is like the old `cl' except that it uses the namespace cleanly,
210 i.e. all its definitions have the "cl-" prefix (and internal definitions use
211 the "cl--" prefix).
212
213 If `cl' provided a feature under the name `foo', then `cl-lib' provides it
214 under the name `cl-foo' instead, with the exceptions of the few definitions
215 that had to use `foo*' to avoid conflicts with pre-existing Elisp entities,
216 which have not been renamed to `cl-foo*' but just `cl-foo'.
217
218 The old `cl' is now deprecated and is just a bunch of aliases that
219 provide the old non-prefixed names.
220
221 *** `cl-flet' is not like `flet' (which is deprecated).
222 Instead it obeys the behavior of Common-Lisp's `flet'.
223
224 *** `cl-labels' is slightly different from `labels'.
225 The difference is that it relies on the `lexical-binding' machinery (as opposed
226 to the `lexical-let' machinery used previously) to capture definitions in
227 closures, so such closures will only work if `lexical-binding' is in use.
228
229 *** `progv' was rewritten to use the `let' machinery.
230 A side effect is that vars without corresponding value are bound to nil
231 rather than making them unbound.
232
233 ** Desktop
234
235 *** `desktop-path' no longer includes the "." directory. Desktop
236 files are now located in ~/.emacs.d by default.
237
238 ** Python mode
239
240 A new version of python.el, which provides several new features, including:
241 per-buffer shells, better indentation, Python 3 support, and improved
242 shell-interaction compatible with iPython (and virtually any other
243 text based shell).
244
245 *** Some user options have been replaced/renamed:
246 Old defcustom: | New defcustom:
247 python-indent | python-indent-offset
248 python-guess-indent | python-indent-guess-indent-offset
249 python-pdbtrack-do-tracking-p | python-pdbtrack-activate
250 python-use-skeletons | python-skeleton-autoinsert
251
252 *** Some user options have been removed:
253
254 **** `python-indent-string-contents': Strings are never indented.
255
256 **** `python-honour-comment-indentation':
257 Comments are never considered as indentation markers themselves.
258
259 **** `python-continuation-offset': Indentation is automatically
260 calculated in a pep8 compliant way depending on the context.
261
262 **** `python-shell-prompt-alist', `python-shell-continuation-prompt-alist':
263 Have no direct mapping as the shell interaction is completely different.
264
265 **** `python-python-command', `python-jython-command':
266 Replaced by `python-shell-interpreter'.
267
268 **** `inferior-python-filter-regexp', `python-remove-cwd-from-path',
269 `python-pdbtrack-minor-mode-string', `python-source-modes':
270 No longer relevant.
271
272 *** Some commands have been replaced:
273 Old command | New command
274 python-insert-class | python-skeleton-class
275 python-insert-def | python-skeleton-def
276 python-insert-for | python-skeleton-for
277 python-insert-if | python-skeleton-if
278 python-insert-try/except | python-skeleton-try
279 python-insert-try/finally | python-skeleton-try
280 python-insert-while | python-skeleton-while
281 python-find-function | python-nav-jump-to-defun
282 python-next-statement | python-nav-forward-sentence
283 python-previous-statement | python-nav-backward-sentence
284 python-send-buffer | python-shell-send-buffer
285 python-send-defun | python-shell-send-defun
286 python-send-region | python-shell-send-region
287 python-send-region-and-go | Emulate with python-shell-send-region and
288 python-shell-switch-to-shell
289 python-send-string | python-shell-send-string
290 python-switch-to-python | python-shell-switch-to-shell
291 python-describe-symbol | python-eldoc-at-point
292
293 ** VHDL mode
294
295 *** The free software compiler GHDL is supported (and now the default).
296
297 *** Support for the VHDL-AMS packages has been added/updated.
298
299 *** Updated to the 2002 revision of the VHDL standard.
300
301 *** Accepts \r and \f as whitespace.
302
303 ** Diff mode
304
305 Faces for changes now use the same diff color scheme as in modern VCSes
306 where deletions are displayed in red (new faces `diff-refine-removed'
307 and `smerge-refined-removed' and new definition of `diff-removed'),
308 insertions in green (new faces `diff-refine-added' and
309 `smerge-refined-added' and new definition of `diff-added').
310 The variable `diff-use-changed-face' defines whether to use
311 the face `diff-changed', or `diff-removed' and `diff-added'
312 to highlight changes in context diffs.
313
314 ** Ediff now uses the same color scheme as Diff mode
315 on high color displays.
316
317 ** Flymake uses fringe bitmaps to indicate errors and warnings.
318 See flymake-fringe-indicator-position, flymake-error-bitmap and
319 flymake-warning-bitmap.
320
321 ** `sh-script'
322 *** Pairing of parens/quotes uses electric-pair-mode instead of skeleton-pair.
323 *** `sh-electric-here-document-mode' now controls auto-insertion of here-docs.
324 *** `sh-use-smie' lets you choose a new indentation and navigation code.
325
326 ** reStructuredText mode
327
328 *** Rebind nearly all keys making room for more keys and complying
329 better to usage in other modes. Describe bindings with C-c C-h.
330
331 *** Major revision of indentation working very similar to other
332 modes. TAB is your friend.
333
334 *** Major revision of filling working fine with most of
335 reStructuredText syntax. Support auto-filling.
336
337 *** Major revision of comment handling.
338
339 *** Major revision of fontification working with `jit-lock-mode'.
340
341 *** Cover reStructuredText syntax more closely. Improve
342 the experience for Sphinx users.
343
344 *** `rst-insert-list' inserts new list or continues existing lists.
345
346 *** Extend correct and improve customization.
347
348 *** Negative prefix argument always works for `rst-adjust'.
349
350 *** Reset window configuration after displaying TOC.
351
352 *** Package version in `rst-version'.
353
354 ** New `derived-mode' filter for Ibuffer, bound to `/ M'.
355 `/ m' is now bound to filter by used-mode, which used to be bound to `/ M'.
356
357 ** Apropos
358
359 *** The faces used by Apropos are now directly customizable.
360 These faces are named `apropos-symbol', `apropos-keybinding', and so on;
361 see the `apropos' Custom group for details.
362
363 **** The old options whose values specified faces to use were removed
364 (i.e. `apropos-symbol-face', `apropos-keybinding-face', etc.).
365
366 ** Buffer Menu
367 This package has been rewritten to use Tabulated List mode.
368
369 *** Option `Buffer-menu-buffer+size-width' is now obsolete.
370 Use `Buffer-menu-name-width' and `Buffer-menu-size-width' instead.
371
372 ** Calendar
373
374 *** The calendars produced by cal-html include holidays.
375 Customize cal-html-holidays to change this.
376
377 ** Customize
378
379 *** `custom-reset-button-menu' now defaults to t.
380
381 *** Non-option variables are never matched in `customize-apropos' and
382 `customize-apropos-options' (i.e. the prefix argument does nothing for
383 these commands now).
384
385 ** erc will look up server/channel names via auth-source and use the
386 channel keys found, if any.
387
388 ** Dired
389
390 *** `dired-do-async-shell-command' executes each file sequentially
391 if the command ends in `;' (when operating on multiple files).
392 Otherwise, it executes the command on each file in parallel.
393
394 ** Shell
395
396 *** New option `async-shell-command-buffer' specifies what buffer to use
397 for a new asynchronous shell command when the default output buffer
398 `*Async Shell Command*' is already taken by another running command.
399
400 ** FFAP
401
402 *** The option `ffap-url-unwrap-remote' can now be a list of strings,
403 specifying URL types which should be converted to remote file names at
404 the FFAP prompt. The default is now '("ftp").
405
406 ** Follow mode
407
408 *** The obsolete variable `follow-mode-off-hook' has been removed.
409
410 *** Follow mode no longer works by using advice.
411 The option `follow-intercept-processes' has been removed.
412
413 ** The `server-auth-key' variable can be used to set a permanent
414 shared key for Emacs Server.
415
416 ** In Perl mode, new option `perl-indent-parens-as-block' causes non-block
417 closing brackets to be aligned with the line of the opening bracket.
418
419 ** FIXME something happened to ses.el, 2012-04-17.
420
421 ** which-function-mode now applies to all applicable major modes by default.
422
423 ** Tramp
424
425 +++
426 *** The syntax has been extended in order to allow ad-hoc proxy
427 definitions. See the manual for details.
428
429 +++
430 *** Remote processes are now supported also on remote Windows host.
431
432 ** D-Bus
433
434 +++
435 *** New variables `dbus-compiled-version' and `dbus-runtime-version'.
436
437 +++
438 *** The D-Bus object manager interface is implemented.
439
440 +++
441 *** Variables of type :(u)int32 and :(u)int64 accept floating points,
442 if their value does not fit into Emacs's integer range.
443
444 +++
445 *** The function `dbus-call-method' works non-blocking now, it can be
446 interrupted by C-g. `dbus-call-method-non-blocking' is obsolete.
447
448 +++
449 *** Signals can be sent also as unicast message.
450
451 +++
452 *** The argument list of `dbus-register-signal' has been extended,
453 according to the new match rule types of D-Bus. See the manual for
454 details.
455
456 +++
457 *** `dbus-init-bus' supports private connections.
458
459 +++
460 *** There is a new function `dbus-setenv'.
461
462 +++
463 ** notifications.el supports now version 1.2 of the Notifications API.
464 The function `notifications-get-capabilities' returns the supported
465 server properties.
466
467 ** Package Menu
468
469 *** Newly-available packages are listed in the Package Menu as "new",
470 and sorted above the other "available" packages by default.
471
472 ** Tabulated List and packages derived from it
473
474 *** New command `tabulated-list-sort', bound to `S', sorts the column
475 at point, or the Nth column if a numeric prefix argument is given.
476
477 ** URL
478
479 *** Structs made by `url-generic-parse-url' have nil `attributes' slot.
480 Previously, this slot stored semicolon-separated attribute-value pairs
481 appended to some imap URLs, but this is not compatible with RFC 3986.
482 So now the `filename' slot stores the entire path and query components
483 and the `attributes' slot is always nil.
484
485 *** New function `url-encode-url' for encoding a URI string.
486 The `url-retrieve' function now uses this to encode its URL argument,
487 in case that is not properly encoded.
488
489 ** Obsolete packages:
490
491 *** assoc.el
492 In most cases, assoc+member+push+delq work just as well.
493 And in any case it's just a terrible package: ugly semantics, terrible
494 inefficiency, and not namespace-clean.
495
496 *** bruce.el
497
498 *** ledit.el
499
500 *** mailpost.el
501
502 *** mouse-sel.el
503
504 *** patcomp.el
505
506 *** cust-print.el
507
508 \f
509 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.3
510 \f
511 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.3
512
513 ** The function `x-select-font' can return a font spec, instead of a
514 font name as a string. Whether it returns a font spec or a font name
515 depends on the graphical library.
516
517 ** If the NEWTEXT arg to `replace-match' contains a substring "\?",
518 that substring is inserted literally even if the LITERAL arg is
519 non-nil, instead of causing an error to be signaled.
520
521 +++
522 ** Docstrings starting with `*' no longer indicate user options.
523 Only variables defined using `defcustom' are considered user options.
524 The function `user-variable-p' is now an obsolete alias for
525 `custom-variable-p'.
526
527 +++
528 ** The return values of `defalias', `defun' and `defmacro' have changed,
529 and are now undefined. For backwards compatibility, defun and
530 defmacro currently return the name of the newly defined function/macro
531 but this should not be relied upon.
532
533 ** `face-spec-set' no longer sets frame-specific attributes when the
534 third argument is a frame (that usage was obsolete since Emacs 22.2).
535
536 +++
537 ** The arguments of `dbus-register-signal' are no longer just strings,
538 but keywords or keyword-string pairs. The old argument list will
539 still be supported for Emacs 24.x.
540
541 ** Spelling changes.
542 Some Lisp symbols have been renamed to avoid problems with spelling
543 that is incorrect or inconsistent with how Emacs normally spells a word.
544
545 *** Renamed functions
546
547 **** hangul-input-method-inactivate -> hangul-input-method-deactivate
548 **** inactivate-input-method -> deactivate-input-method
549 **** quail-inactivate -> quail-deactivate
550 **** robin-inactivate -> robin-deactivate
551 **** viper-inactivate-input-method -> viper-deactivate-input-method
552 **** viper-inactivate-input-method-action ->
553 viper-deactivate-input-method-action
554 **** ucs-input-inactivate -> ucs-input-deactivate
555
556 *** Renamed hooks
557 The old hooks are still supported for backward compatibility, but they
558 are deprecated and will be removed eventually.
559
560 **** input-method-inactivate-hook -> input-method-deactivate-hook
561 **** robin-inactivate-hook -> robin-deactivate-hook
562 **** quail-inactivate-hook -> quail-deactivate-hook
563
564 *** Renamed Lisp variables
565
566 **** follow-deactive-menu -> follow-inactive-menu
567 **** inactivate-current-input-method-function ->
568 deactivate-current-input-method-function
569
570 ** The following obsolete variables and varaliases have been removed:
571
572 *** `facemenu-unlisted-faces'
573 *** `rmail-decode-mime-charset'
574 *** `last-input-char' and `last-command-char'
575
576 \f
577 * Lisp changes in Emacs 24.3
578
579 ** New functions `autoloadp' and `autoload-do-load'.
580
581 ** New function `posnp' to test if an object is a `posn'.
582
583 ** `function-get' fetches the property of a function, following aliases.
584
585 ** `toggle-read-only' accepts a second argument specifying whether to
586 print a message, if called from Lisp.
587
588 ** CL-style generalized variables are now in core Elisp.
589 `setf' is autoloaded and `push' and `pop' accept generalized variables.
590
591 ** `defun' also accepts a (declare DECLS) form, like `defmacro'.
592 The interpretation of the DECLS is determined by `defun-declarations-alist'.
593
594 ** `macro-declaration-function' is obsolete, use `macro-declarations-alist'.
595
596 ** New function `set-temporary-overlay-map'.
597
598 ** New macros `setq-local' and `defvar-local'.
599
600 ** New error type and new function `user-error'. Doesn't trigger the debugger.
601
602 ** Window changes
603
604 *** The functions get-lru-window, get-mru-window and get-largest-window
605 now accept a third argument to avoid choosing the selected window.
606
607 *** New display action alist `inhibit-switch-frame', if non-nil, tells
608 display action functions to avoid changing which frame is selected.
609
610 ** Completion
611
612 *** New function `completion-table-with-quoting' to handle completion
613 in the presence of quoting, such as file completion in shell buffers.
614
615 *** New function `completion-table-subvert' to use an existing completion
616 table, but with a different prefix.
617
618 ** Time
619
620 *** `current-time-string' no longer requires that its argument's year
621 must be in the range 1000..9999. It now works with any year supported
622 by the underlying C implementation.
623
624 ** New function file-name-base.
625
626 ** New function `tty-top-frame' returns the topmost frame of a text terminal.
627
628 ** `automount-dir-prefix' is obsolete.
629 ** `buffer-has-markers-at' is obsolete.
630 \f
631 * Changes in Emacs 24.3 on non-free operating systems
632
633 ** New configure.bat options on MS-Windows:
634
635 *** --without-libxml2 omits support for libxml2, even if its presence
636 is detected.
637
638 ** When invoked with the -nw switch to run on the Windows text-mode terminal,
639 Emacs now supports mouse highlight, help-echo (in the echo area), and
640 mouse-autoselect-window.
641
642 ** On MS-Windows Vista and later Emacs now supports symbolic links.
643 \f
644 * Changes in Emacs 24.2
645
646 ** This is mainly a bug-fix release.
647
648 \f
649 * Installation Changes in Emacs 24.1
650
651 ** Emacs can be compiled with Gtk+ 3.0 if you pass --with-x-toolkit=gtk3
652 to configure. Note that other libraries used by Emacs, RSVG and GConf,
653 also depend on Gtk+. You can disable them with --without-rsvg and
654 --without-gconf.
655
656 ** Emacs can be compiled with GnuTLS support.
657 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
658 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
659 `--without-gnutls'. See below for GnuTLS features.
660
661 ** Emacs can be compiled with SELinux support.
662 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
663 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
664 `--without-selinux'. See below for SELinux features.
665
666 ** Emacs can be compiled with ImageMagick support.
667 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
668 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
669 `--without-imagemagick'. See below for ImageMagick features.
670 This feature is not available for the Nextstep or MS ports.
671
672 ** Emacs can be compiled with libxml2 support.
673 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
674 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
675 `--without-xml2'. See below for libxml2 features.
676
677 ** By default, the installed Info and man pages are compressed.
678 You can disable this by configuring --without-compress-info.
679
680 ** New configure option --with-wide-int.
681 With it, Emacs integers typically have 62 bits, even on 32-bit machines.
682 On 32-bit hosts, this raises the limit on buffer sizes from about 512 MiB
683 to about 2 GiB.
684
685 ** New configure options: --with-mmdf, --with-mail-unlink, --with-mailhost.
686 These provide no new functionality, they just remove the need to edit
687 lib-src/Makefile by hand in order to use the associated features.
688
689 ** New configure option --enable-use-lisp-union-type.
690 This is only useful for Emacs developers to debug certain types of bugs.
691 This is not a new feature; only the configure flag is new.
692
693 ** The standalone programs digest-doc and sorted-doc are removed.
694 Emacs now uses Lisp commands `doc-file-to-man' and `doc-file-to-info'.
695
696 ** The standalone program `fakemail' is removed.
697 If you need it, feedmail.el provides a superset of the functionality.
698
699 \f
700 * Startup Changes in Emacs 24.1
701
702 ** The --unibyte, --multibyte, --no-multibyte, and --no-unibyte
703 command line arguments, and the EMACS_UNIBYTE environment variable, no
704 longer have any effect. (They were declared obsolete in Emacs 23.)
705
706 ** New command line option `--no-site-lisp' removes site-lisp directories
707 from load-path. -Q now implies this. This option does not affect the
708 EMACSLOADPATH environment variable (and hence has no effect for
709 Nextstep builds).
710
711 \f
712 * Changes in Emacs 24.1
713
714 ** Completion
715
716 *** Many packages now use the `completion-at-point' command,
717 rather than implementing separate completion commands.
718
719 *** `completion-at-point' now handles tags and semantic completion.
720
721 *** Completion in a non-minibuffer now tries to detect the end of completion
722 and pops down the *Completions* buffer accordingly.
723
724 *** New option `completion-cycle-threshold' allows completion cycling.
725
726 *** New option `completion-category-overrides' for overriding the
727 default completion style in certain circumstances.
728
729 *** New completion style `substring'.
730
731 *** Completion of buffer names uses `substring' completion by default.
732
733 *** The option `widget-complete-field' has been removed.
734
735 ** Mail changes
736
737 *** The first time you try sending mail, Emacs asks for a mail method.
738 This is implemented by a new default for `send-mail-function', which
739 is `sendmail-query-once'. This offers to use the smtpmail package, or
740 to use the old defaults relying on external mail facilities
741 (`sendmail-send-it' on GNU/Linux and other Unix-like systems, and
742 `mailclient-send-it' on Windows).
743
744 *** Typing C-c m in the buffer made by M-x report-emacs-bug transfers
745 the report to your desktop's preferred mail client, if there is one.
746 This uses either the "xdg-email" utility, or Mac OS's "open" command.
747
748 *** See Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages for SMTPmail changes
749 and Mail mode changes
750
751 ** Emacs server and client changes
752
753 *** New option `server-port' specifies the port for TCP Emacs servers.
754
755 *** New emacsclient argument -q/--quiet suppresses some status messages.
756
757 *** New emacsclient argument --frame-parameters specifies the frame
758 parameters of any newly-created graphical frame.
759
760 *** If emacsclient shuts down due to Emacs signaling an error,
761 its exit status is 1.
762
763 *** New emacsclient argument --parent-id ID.
764 This opens a client frame in parent X window ID, via XEmbed, similar
765 to the --parent-id argument to Emacs.
766
767 ** Internationalization changes
768
769 *** Emacs now supports display and editing of bidirectional text.
770 Right-to-left (RTL) scripts, such as Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew, are
771 displayed in the correct visual order as expected by users of those
772 scripts. The display reordering is a "full bidirectionality" class
773 implementation of the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm (UBA). Buffers
774 with no RTL text should look exactly the same as before.
775
776 **** New buffer-local variable `bidi-display-reordering'.
777 To disable display reordering in a buffer, change this to nil.
778
779 **** New buffer-local variable `bidi-paragraph-direction'.
780 If nil (the default), Emacs determines the base direction of each
781 paragraph from its text, as specified by the UBA. Setting the value
782 to `right-to-left' or `left-to-right' forces a base direction on each
783 paragraph.
784
785 Paragraphs with right-to-left base direction are displayed starting at
786 the right window edge.
787
788 *** Enhanced support for characters with no glyphs in available fonts,
789 or, on text terminals, characters that cannot be encoded by the
790 terminal coding system. The new option `glyphless-char-display-control'
791 specifies how to display them: as a hexadecimal code in a box, a thin
792 1-pixel space, an empty box, etc.
793
794 *** New input methods for Farsi and Bulgarian
795 (farsi-isiri-9147, farsi-transliterate-banan, bulgarian-alt-phonetic).
796
797 *** `nobreak-char-display' now also highlights Unicode hyphen chars
798 (U+2010 and U+2011).
799
800 *** New Hebrew translation of the Emacs Tutorial.
801 Type `C-u C-h t' to choose it in case your language setup doesn't
802 automatically select it.
803
804 ** An Emacs Lisp package manager is now included.
805 This is a convenient way to download and install additional packages,
806 from a package repository at http://elpa.gnu.org.
807
808 *** M-x list-packages shows a list of packages, which can be
809 selected for installation.
810
811 *** New command `describe-package', bound to `C-h P'.
812
813 *** By default, all installed packages are loaded automatically when
814 Emacs starts up. To disable this, set `package-enable-at-startup' to
815 nil. To specify the packages to load, customize `package-load-list'.
816
817 ** Custom theme changes
818
819 *** New command `M-x customize-themes', which provides a convenient
820 interface for enabling and disabling Custom themes.
821
822 *** New option `custom-theme-load-path' is the load path for themes.
823 Emacs no longer looks for Custom themes in `load-path'. The default
824 value of `custom-theme-load-path' says to look for themes in
825 `custom-theme-directory', followed by a subdirectory of
826 `data-directory' named "themes/", which contains a small selection of
827 built-in Custom themes.
828
829 *** New option `custom-safe-themes' records known-safe theme files.
830 If a theme is not in this list, Emacs queries before loading it, and
831 offers to save the theme to `custom-safe-themes' automatically. By
832 default, all themes included in Emacs are treated as safe.
833
834 ** Improved GTK integration
835
836 *** GTK scroll-bars are now placed on the right by default.
837 The function `set-scroll-bar-mode' can change this.
838
839 *** GTK tool bars can have just text, just images or images and text.
840 Customize `tool-bar-style' to choose the style. On a Gnome desktop,
841 the default is taken from desktop settings.
842
843 *** GTK tool bars can be placed on any edge of the frame.
844 The frame-parameter tool-bar-position controls this. It takes the
845 values top, left, right or bottom. The Options => Show/Hide menu has
846 entries for this.
847
848 *** The default colors for selected text (the `region' face) are taken
849 from the GTK theme when Emacs is built with GTK.
850
851 *** Emacs uses GTK tooltips by default if built with GTK.
852 You can disable this by changing `x-gtk-use-system-tooltips' to nil.
853
854 ** Graphical interface changes
855
856 *** On graphical displays, the mode-line no longer ends in dashes.
857 Also, the first dash (which does not indicate anything) is just
858 displayed as a space.
859
860 *** `menu-bar-select-buffer-function' lets you choose another operation
861 instead of `switch-to-buffer' when selecting an item in the Buffers menu.
862
863 *** Lucid menus and dialogs can display antialiased fonts if Emacs is
864 built with Xft. These fonts can be set via X resources, for example:
865 Emacs.pane.menubar.font: Courier-12
866
867 ** Exiting changes
868
869 *** Emacs now calls `kill-emacs' if it receives SIGTERM or SIGHUP,
870 or if it receives a SIGINT signal in batch mode.
871
872 *** `kill-emacs-hook' is now also run in batch mode.
873 Third-party code which adds to `kill-emacs-hook' should check if they
874 do the right thing in batch mode.
875
876 ** Scrolling changes
877
878 *** New scrolling commands `scroll-up-command' and `scroll-down-command'
879 (bound to C-v/[next] and M-v/[prior]) do not signal errors at top/bottom
880 of buffer at first key-press (instead they move to top/bottom of buffer)
881 when `scroll-error-top-bottom' is non-nil.
882
883 *** New option `scroll-error-top-bottom' (see above).
884
885 *** New scrolling commands `scroll-up-line' and `scroll-down-line'
886 scroll a line instead of full screen.
887
888 *** New property `scroll-command' should be set on a command's symbol to
889 define it as a scroll command affected by `scroll-preserve-screen-position'.
890
891 *** If you customize `scroll-conservatively' to a value greater than 100,
892 Emacs will never recenter point in the window when it scrolls due to
893 cursor motion commands or commands that move point (e.f., `M-g M-g').
894 Previously, you needed to use `most-positive-fixnum' as the value of
895 `scroll-conservatively' to achieve the same effect.
896
897 *** "Aggressive" scrolling now honors the scroll margins.
898 If you customize `scroll-up-aggressively' or
899 `scroll-down-aggressively' and move point off the window, Emacs now
900 scrolls the window so as to avoid positioning point inside the scroll
901 margin.
902
903 ** Basic SELinux support has been added.
904 This requires Emacs to be linked with libselinux at build time.
905
906 *** Emacs preserves the SELinux file context when backing up.
907 Also, the function `copy-file' has an extra optional argument for
908 preserving SELinux context, and the return value of `backup-buffer'
909 now includes the SELinux context.
910
911 *** New functions `file-selinux-context' and `set-file-selinux-context'
912 get and set the SELinux context of a file.
913
914 ** Trash changes
915
916 *** `delete-by-moving-to-trash' now only affects commands that specify
917 trashing. This avoids inadvertently trashing temporary files.
918
919 *** Calling `delete-file' or `delete-directory' with a prefix argument
920 now forces true deletion, regardless of `delete-by-moving-to-trash'.
921
922 ** File- and directory-local variable changes
923
924 *** You can stop directory local vars from applying to subdirectories.
925 Add an element (subdirs . nil) to the alist portion of any variables
926 settings to indicate that the section should not apply to
927 subdirectories.
928
929 *** Directory local variables can apply to some file-less buffers.
930 Affected modes include dired, vc-dir, and log-edit. For example,
931 adding "(diff-mode . ((mode . whitespace)))" to .dir-locals.el will
932 turn on `whitespace-mode' for *vc-diff* buffers. Modes should call
933 `hack-dir-local-variables-non-file-buffer' to support this.
934
935 *** Using "mode: MINOR-MODE" to enable a minor mode is deprecated.
936 Instead, use "eval: (minor-mode 1)".
937
938 *** The variable `inhibit-first-line-modes-regexps' has been renamed
939 to `inhibit-local-variables-regexps'. As the name suggests, it now
940 applies to ALL file local variables, not just -*- lines. The
941 associated `inhibit-first-line-modes-suffixes' has been renamed in the
942 corresponding way.
943
944 ** Window changes
945
946 *** The `quit-window' command now restores the last buffer displayed
947 in the quitted window.
948
949 *** Resizing an Emacs frame now preserves proportional window sizes,
950 modulo restrictions like window minimum sizes and fixed-size windows.
951
952 *** The behavior of `display-buffer' is now customizable in detail.
953
954 **** New option `display-buffer-base-action' specifies a list of
955 user-determined display "actions" (functions and optional arguments
956 for choosing the displaying window).
957
958 This takes precedence over the default display action, which is
959 specified by `display-buffer-fallback-action'.
960
961 **** New option `display-buffer-alist' maps buffer name regexps to
962 display actions, taking precedence over `display-buffer-base-action'.
963
964 *** New option `window-combination-limit'.
965 The new option `window-combination-limit' allows to return the space
966 obtained for resizing or creating a window more reliably to the window
967 from which such space was obtained.
968
969 *** New option `window-combination-resize'.
970 The new option `window-combination-resize' allows to split a window that
971 otherwise cannot be split because it's too small by stealing space from
972 other windows in the same combination. Subsequent resizing or deletion
973 of the window will resize all windows in the same combination as well.
974
975 *** New option `frame-auto-hide-function' lets you choose between
976 iconifying or deleting a frame when burying a buffer in a dedicated
977 frame, or quitting a window showing a buffer in a frame of its own.
978
979 *** New commands `maximize-window' and `minimize-window'.
980 These maximize and minimize the size of a window within its frame.
981
982 *** New commands `switch-to-prev-buffer' and `switch-to-next-buffer'.
983 These functions allow to navigate through the live buffers that have
984 been shown in a specific window.
985
986 ** Minibuffer changes
987
988 *** The inactive minibuffer has its own major mode `minibuffer-inactive-mode'.
989 This is handy for minibuffer-only frames, and is also used for the feature
990 where mouse-1 pops up *Messages*"', which can now easily be changed.
991
992 *** Minibuffers set `truncate-lines' to nil.
993 If you want to change the value to something else, you could use
994 for example `minibuffer-setup-hook'.
995
996 ** `auto-mode-case-fold' is now enabled by default.
997
998 ** `backup-by-copying-when-mismatch' now defaults to t.
999
1000 ** New basic faces `error', `warning', `success'.
1001 These are used to highlight text indicating failure, caution or
1002 successful operation.
1003
1004 ** New option `list-colors-sort' defines the color sort order
1005 for `list-colors-display'.
1006
1007 ** The variable `focus-follows-mouse' now always defaults to nil.
1008
1009 \f
1010 * Editing Changes in Emacs 24.1
1011
1012 ** Search changes
1013
1014 *** C-y in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-kill', instead of
1015 `isearch-yank-line'.
1016
1017 *** M-y in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-pop', instead of
1018 `isearch-yank-kill'.
1019
1020 *** M-s C-e in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-line'.
1021
1022 ** New commands `count-words-region' and `count-words'.
1023
1024 *** M-= is bound to `count-words-region', not `count-lines-region'.
1025 The `count-words-region' command, when called interactively, reports
1026 the number of lines, words, and characters in the region. It is a
1027 superset of the old `count-lines-region', which is now an obsolete
1028 alias for it.
1029
1030 ** The command `just-one-space' (M-SPC), if given a negative argument,
1031 also deletes newlines around point.
1032
1033 ** Deletion changes
1034
1035 *** New option `delete-active-region'.
1036 If non-nil, [delete] and DEL delete the region if it is active and no
1037 prefix argument is given. If set to `kill', those commands kill
1038 instead.
1039
1040 *** New command `delete-forward-char', bound to [delete].
1041 This is meant for interactive use, and obeys `delete-active-region'.
1042 The command `delete-char' does not obey `delete-active-region'.
1043
1044 *** `delete-backward-char' is now a Lisp function.
1045 Apart from obeying `delete-active-region', its behavior is unchanged.
1046 However, the byte compiler now warns if it is called from Lisp; Lisp
1047 callers should use delete-char with a negative argument instead.
1048
1049 *** The option `mouse-region-delete-keys' has been deleted.
1050
1051 ** Selection changes.
1052
1053 The default handling of clipboard and primary selections has been
1054 changed to conform with modern X applications. In short, most
1055 commands for killing and yanking text now use the clipboard, while
1056 mouse commands use the primary selection.
1057
1058 In the following, we provide a list of these changes, followed by a
1059 list of steps to get the old behavior back if you prefer that.
1060
1061 *** `select-active-regions' now defaults to t.
1062 Merely selecting text (e.g. with drag-mouse-1) no longer puts it in
1063 the kill ring. The selected text is put in the primary selection, if
1064 the system possesses a separate primary selection facility (e.g. X).
1065
1066 **** `select-active-regions' also accepts a new value, `only'.
1067 This means to only set the primary selection for temporarily active
1068 regions (usually made by mouse-dragging or shift-selection);
1069 "ordinary" active regions, such as those made with C-SPC followed by
1070 point motion, do not alter the primary selection.
1071
1072 **** `mouse-drag-copy-region' now defaults to nil.
1073
1074 *** mouse-2 is now bound to `mouse-yank-primary'.
1075 This pastes from the primary selection, ignoring the kill-ring.
1076 Previously, mouse-2 was bound to `mouse-yank-at-click'.
1077
1078 *** `x-select-enable-clipboard' now defaults to t on all platforms.
1079
1080 *** `x-select-enable-primary' now defaults to nil.
1081 Thus, commands that kill text or copy it to the kill-ring (such as
1082 M-w, C-w, and C-k) also use the clipboard---not the primary selection.
1083
1084 **** The "Copy", "Cut", and "Paste" items in the "Edit" menu are now
1085 exactly equivalent to M-w, C-w, and C-y respectively.
1086
1087 **** Note that on MS-Windows, `x-select-enable-clipboard' was already
1088 non-nil by default, as Windows does not support the primary selection
1089 between applications.
1090
1091 *** To return to the previous behavior, do the following:
1092
1093 **** Change `select-active-regions' to nil.
1094 **** Change `mouse-drag-copy-region' to t.
1095 **** Change `x-select-enable-primary' to t (on X only).
1096 **** Change `x-select-enable-clipboard' to nil.
1097 **** Bind `mouse-yank-at-click' to mouse-2.
1098
1099 *** Support for X cut buffers has been removed.
1100
1101 *** X clipboard managers are now supported.
1102 To inhibit this, change `x-select-enable-clipboard-manager' to nil.
1103
1104 ** New command `C-x r N' (`rectangle-number-lines') numbers the lines
1105 in the current rectangle. With a prefix argument, this prompts for a
1106 number to count from and for a format string.
1107
1108 ** `redisplay-dont-pause' now defaults to t.
1109 This makes Emacs feel more responsive to editing commands that arrive
1110 at high rate, e.g. if you lean on some key, because stopping redisplay
1111 in the middle (when this variable is nil) forces more expensive
1112 updates later on, and Emacs appears to be unable to keep up.
1113
1114 ** The behavior of <TAB> for active regions in Text mode has changed.
1115 In Text and related modes, typing <TAB> (`indent-for-tab-command')
1116 when the region is active causes Emacs to indent all the lines in the
1117 region, aligning them with the line previous to the first line in the
1118 region (or with the left margin if there is no previous line).
1119
1120 ** When `occur' is called with a prefix argument, matching strings are
1121 collected into the `*Occur*' buffer without line numbers. If there
1122 are parenthesized subexpressions in the specified regexp, `occur'
1123 reads replacement text that may contain \\& and \\N whose convention
1124 follows `replace-match'.
1125
1126 \f
1127 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.1
1128
1129 ** Archive Mode has basic support for browsing and updating 7z archives.
1130
1131 ** BibTeX mode
1132
1133 *** BibTeX mode now supports biblatex.
1134 Use the variable `bibtex-dialect' to select different BibTeX dialects.
1135 `bibtex-entry-field-alist' is now an obsolete alias for
1136 `bibtex-BibTeX-entry-alist'.
1137
1138 *** New command `bibtex-search-entries', bound to C-c C-a.
1139
1140 *** New `bibtex-entry-format' option `sort-fields', disabled by default.
1141
1142 *** New variable `bibtex-search-entry-globally'.
1143
1144 ** Browse-url
1145
1146 *** New option `browse-url-mailto-function' specifies how to handle "mailto:"s.
1147
1148 *** The default browser used by the package is now the "xdg-open" program,
1149 on platforms that support it. This calls your desktop's preferred browser.
1150
1151 ** Calendar, Diary, and Appt
1152
1153 *** Diary entries can contain non-printing "comments".
1154 See the variable `diary-comment-start'.
1155
1156 *** Appointments can specify their individual warning times.
1157 See the variable `appt-warning-time-regexp'.
1158
1159 *** The function specified by `appt-disp-window-function' may be passed
1160 lists of arguments if multiple appointments are due at similar times.
1161 If you are using a custom function for this, you should update it.
1162
1163 *** New function `diary-hebrew-birthday'.
1164
1165 *** Elements of `calendar-day-abbrev-array' and `calendar-month-abbrev-array'
1166 may no longer be nil, but must all be strings.
1167
1168 *** The obsolete (since Emacs 22.1) method of enabling the appt
1169 package by adding `appt-make-list' to `diary-hook' has been removed.
1170 Use `appt-activate' instead.
1171
1172 *** Some appt variables (obsolete since Emacs 22.1) have been removed:
1173 appt-issue-message (use the function appt-activate)
1174 appt-visible/appt-msg-window (use the variable appt-display-format)
1175
1176 *** Some diary function aliases (obsolete since Emacs 22.1) have been removed:
1177 view-diary-entries, list-diary-entries, show-all-diary-entries
1178
1179 ** CC Mode
1180
1181 *** New feature to "guess" the style in an existing buffer.
1182 The main entry point is M-x c-guess.
1183
1184 *** Java Mode now supports Java 5.0 (Tiger) and 6 (Mustang).
1185
1186 *** `c-beginning-of-defun' and `c-end-of-defun' now respect nested scopes.
1187 Thus C-M-a will, by default, go to the beginning of the immediate function,
1188 not the top level.
1189
1190 *** "Macros with semicolons" can be registered for correct indentation.
1191 Where such a macro ends a line (no semicolon) the next statement is no longer
1192 parsed as a statement continuation.
1193
1194 ** Comint and modes derived from it use the standard completion code.
1195
1196 ** Compilation mode
1197
1198 *** Compilation mode can be used without Font Lock mode.
1199 `compilation-parse-errors-function' is now obsolete.
1200
1201 *** New variable `compilation-filter-start', which is bound while
1202 `compilation-filter-hook' runs. It records the start position of the
1203 text inserted by `compilation-filter'.
1204
1205 *** `compilation-error-screen-columns' and `compilation-first-column'
1206 are obeyed in the editing buffer. So programming language modes can
1207 set them, whereas previously only the value in the *Compilation*
1208 buffer was used.
1209
1210 ** Customize
1211
1212 *** Customize buffers now contain a search field.
1213 The search is performed using `customize-apropos'.
1214 To turn off the search field, set `custom-search-field' to nil.
1215
1216 *** Options in customize group buffers start out hidden if not customized.
1217 Use the arrow to the left of the option name to toggle visibility.
1218
1219 *** custom-buffer-sort-alphabetically now defaults to t.
1220
1221 *** The color widget now has a "Choose" button, which allows you to
1222 choose a color via `list-colors-display'.
1223
1224 ** D-Bus
1225
1226 *** It is now possible to access buses other than the default system
1227 or session bus.
1228
1229 *** The `dbus-register-method' and `dbus-register-property' functions
1230 optionally do not register names.
1231
1232 *** The new function `dbus-register-service' registers a known service
1233 name on a D-Bus without also registering a property or a method.
1234
1235 ** Dired-x
1236
1237 *** C-x C-j (`dired-jump') and C-x 4 C-j (`dired-jump-other-window'),
1238 if called with a prefix argument, read a file name from the minibuffer
1239 instead of using the current buffer.
1240
1241 *** The "dired local variables" feature of Dired-x is obsolete.
1242 The standard directory local variables feature replaces it.
1243
1244 ** ERC changes
1245
1246 *** New options `erc-autojoin-timing' and `erc-autojoin-delay',
1247 controlling attempts to autojoin a channel.
1248
1249 *** New variable `erc-coding-system-precedence': If we use `undecided'
1250 as the server coding system, this variable will then be consulted.
1251 The default is to decode strings that can be decoded as utf-8 as
1252 utf-8, and do the normal `undecided' decoding for the rest.
1253
1254 ** Eshell changes
1255
1256 *** The default value of `eshell-directory-name' has changed
1257 to be an "eshell" directory in `user-emacs-directory'.
1258 The old "~/.eshell/" directory is still used if it exists, though.
1259
1260 ** gdb-mi
1261
1262 *** The M-x gdb command now uses the GDB Machine Interface protocol.
1263 It now supports multithread non-stop debugging and simultaneous
1264 debugging of several threads.
1265
1266 ** Image mode
1267
1268 *** RET (`image-toggle-animation') toggles animation, if applicable.
1269 Animation plays once, unless the option `image-animate-loop' is non-nil.
1270
1271 ** Info
1272
1273 *** New command M-x info-display-manual displays a named Info manual.
1274 If that manual is already visited in some Info buffer, it displays
1275 that buffer. (This is handy if you have many manuals in many *info*
1276 buffers, and don't remember the name of the buffer visiting the manual
1277 you want to consult.) Otherwise, it loads and displays the manual.
1278
1279 *** `e' is now bound to `end-of-buffer' rather than to `Info-edit'.
1280 This is for compatibility with the stand-alone Info reader program,
1281 and also because `Info-edit' is a rarely used command that is disabled
1282 by default.
1283
1284 ** Mail mode changes (not Message mode)
1285
1286 *** New command M-x mail-add-attachment for adding MIME attachments
1287
1288 *** The command M-x mail-attach-file was renamed to M-x mail-insert-file.
1289 (Its name is misleading, since it has nothing to do with MIME
1290 attachments.) The old name is now an obsolete alias to the new name.
1291
1292 ** MH-E has been updated to MH-E version 8.3.1.
1293 See MH-E-NEWS for details.
1294
1295 ** Modula-2 mode provides auto-indentation.
1296
1297 ** mpc.el: Can use pseudo tags of the form tag1|tag2 as a union of two tags.
1298
1299 ** nXML mode no longer binds C-RET to `nxml-complete'.
1300 Completion is now performed via `completion-at-point', bound to C-M-i
1301 or M-TAB. If `nxml-bind-meta-tab-to-complete-flag' is non-nil (the
1302 default), this performs tag completion.
1303
1304 ** Org mode has been updated to version 7.8.09.
1305 See ORG-NEWS for details.
1306
1307 ** Prolog mode has been completely revamped, with lots of additional
1308 functionality such as more intelligent indentation, electricity,
1309 support for more variants, including Mercury, and a lot more.
1310
1311 ** Rmail
1312
1313 *** The command `rmail-epa-decrypt' decrypts OpenPGP data
1314 in the Rmail incoming message.
1315
1316 *** The variable `rmail-message-filter' no longer has any effect.
1317 This change was made in Emacs 23.1 but was not advertised at the time.
1318 Try using `rmail-show-message-hook' instead.
1319
1320 ** Shell mode
1321
1322 *** M-x shell prompts for the shell path name if the default directory
1323 is a remote file name and neither the environment variable $ESHELL nor
1324 the variable `explicit-shell-file-name' is set.
1325
1326 *** TAB is now bound to the standard `completion-at-point' command,
1327 which now implements the pcomplete rules for shell command completion.
1328
1329 ** SMTPmail
1330
1331 *** SMTPmail now uses encrypted connections (via STARTTLS) by default
1332 if the mail server supports them. This uses either built-in GnuTLS
1333 support, or the starttls.el library. Customize `smtpmail-stream-type'
1334 to change this.
1335
1336 *** The variable `smtpmail-auth-credentials' has been removed.
1337 By default, the information is now stored in the file ~/.authinfo.
1338 This was the default value of smtpmail-auth-credentials. If you had
1339 customized smtpmail-auth-credentials to a list of user names and
1340 passwords, those settings are not used. During your first connection
1341 to the smtp server, Emacs will prompt for the user name and password,
1342 and offer to save them to ~/.authinfo. Or you can manually copy the
1343 credentials to ~/.authinfo. For example, if you had
1344
1345 (setq smtpmail-auth-credentials
1346 '(("mail.example.org" 25 "jim" "s!cret")))
1347
1348 then the equivalent line in ~/.authinfo would be
1349
1350 machine mail.example.org port 25 login jim password s!cret
1351
1352 See the auth-source manual for more information, e.g. on encrypting
1353 the credentials file.
1354
1355 *** The variable `smtpmail-starttls-credentials' has been removed.
1356 If you had that set, you need to put
1357
1358 machine smtp.whatever.foo port 25 key "~/.my_smtp_tls.key" cert "~/.my_smtp_tls.cert"
1359
1360 in your ~/.authinfo file instead.
1361
1362 ** SQL mode
1363
1364 *** New options `sql-port', `sql-connection-alist', `sql-send-terminator',
1365 and `sql-oracle-scan-on'.
1366
1367 *** New options controlling prompting for login parameters.
1368 Each supported product has a custom variable `sql-*-login-params',
1369 which is a list of the parameters to be prompted for before a
1370 connection is established.
1371
1372 *** The command `sql-product-interactive' now takes a prefix argument,
1373 which causes it to prompt for an SQL product.
1374
1375 *** Product-specific SQL interactive commands now take prefix arguments.
1376 These commands (`sql-sqlite', `sql-postgres', `sql-mysql', etc.),
1377 given a prefix argument, prompt for a name for the SQL interactive
1378 buffer. This reduces the need for calling `sql-rename-buffer'.
1379
1380 *** SQL interactive modes suppress command continuation prompts, and
1381 replace tabs with spaces. The first change impacts multiple line SQL
1382 statements entered with C-j between each line, statements yanked into
1383 the buffer and statements sent with `sql-send-*' functions. The
1384 second prevents the MySQL and Postgres interpreters from listing
1385 object name completions when sent text via `sql-send-*' functions.
1386
1387 *** New command `sql-connect' starts a predefined SQLi session,
1388 using the login parameters from `sql-connection-alist'.
1389
1390 *** New "Save Connection" menu item in SQLi buffers.
1391 This gathers the login params specified for the SQLi session, if it
1392 was not started by a connection, and saves them as a new connection.
1393
1394 *** New commands for listing database objects and details:
1395 sql-list-all and sql-list-table.
1396
1397 *** An API for manipulating SQL product definitions has been added.
1398
1399 ** TeX modes
1400
1401 *** latex-electric-env-pair-mode keeps \begin..\end matched on the fly.
1402
1403 ** Tramp
1404
1405 *** New inline access method "ksu" (kerberized su).
1406
1407 *** The following access methods are discontinued: "ssh1_old",
1408 "ssh2_old", "scp1_old", "scp2_old", "imap", "imaps" and "fish".
1409
1410 *** The user option `remote-file-name-inhibit-cache' controls whether
1411 remote file attributes are cached for better performance.
1412
1413 *** The option `ange-ftp-binary-file-name-regexp' has changed its
1414 default value to "".
1415
1416 *** Handlers for `file-selinux-context' and `set-file-selinux-context'
1417 for remote machines which support SELinux.
1418
1419 ** New function `url-queue-retrieve', which behaves like url-retrieve,
1420 but with limits (`url-queue-parallel-processes', `url-queue-timeout') on
1421 the degree of parallelism.
1422
1423 ** VC and related modes
1424
1425 *** Support for pulling on distributed version control systems.
1426 The command C-x v + (`vc-pull') runs a "pull" operation, if it is
1427 supported (currently with Bzr, Git, and Mercurial), to update the
1428 current branch and working tree. A prefix argument means to prompt
1429 the user for specifics, e.g. a pull location.
1430
1431 *** `vc-update' is now an alias for `vc-pull'.
1432
1433 *** Support for merging on distributed version control systems.
1434 The command C-x v m (`vc-merge') now runs a "merge" operation, if it
1435 is supported (currently with Bzr, Git, and Mercurial), to merge
1436 changes from another branch into the current one. It prompts for
1437 specifics, e.g. a merge source.
1438
1439 *** New option `vc-revert-show-diff' controls whether `vc-revert'
1440 shows a diff while querying the user. It defaults to t.
1441
1442 *** Log entries in some Log View buffers can be toggled to display a
1443 longer description by typing RET (log-view-toggle-entry-display).
1444 This is currently supported for Bzr, Git, and Mercurial (to support
1445 another backend, define a `log-view-expanded-log-entry-function').
1446 In the Log View buffers made by C-x v L (`vc-print-root-log'), you can
1447 use this to display the full log entry for the revision at point.
1448
1449 *** New command `vc-ediff' allows visual comparison of two revisions
1450 of a file similar to `vc-diff', but using ediff backend.
1451
1452 *** The option `vc-initial-comment' was removed in Emacs 23.2, but
1453 this was not advertised at the time.
1454
1455 *** `vc-toggle-read-only' is an obsolete alias for `toggle-read-only'.
1456 Since Emacs 23, it has done the same thing as `toggle-read-only', but
1457 this was not advertised at the time.
1458
1459 ** Obsolete modes
1460
1461 *** abbrevlist.el
1462
1463 *** erc-hecomplete.el (use erc-pcomplete.el instead)
1464
1465 *** partial-completion-mode (complete.el) is obsolete.
1466 You can get a comparable behavior with:
1467 (setq completion-styles '(partial-completion initials))
1468 (setq completion-pcm-complete-word-inserts-delimiters t)
1469
1470 *** pc-mode.el is obsolete (CUA mode is much more comprehensive).
1471
1472 *** pgg is obsolete (use EasyPG instead).
1473
1474 *** sregex.el is obsolete, since rx.el is a strict superset.
1475
1476 *** s-region.el and pc-select.el are obsolete.
1477 They are superseded by shift-select-mode, enabled by default since 23.1.
1478
1479 *** vc-mcvs.el is obsolete (for lack of a maintainer).
1480
1481 ** Miscellaneous
1482
1483 *** The Landmark game is now invoked with `landmark', not `lm'.
1484 Its functions and variables have been similarly renamed.
1485
1486 *** In `ido-file-completion-map', C-v is no longer bound to `ido-toggle-vc'.
1487 (This interfered with cua-mode.)
1488
1489 *** f90.el has some support for Fortran 2008 syntax.
1490
1491 *** `copyright-fix-years' can optionally convert consecutive years to ranges.
1492
1493 *** New command `nato-region' converts text to NATO phonetic alphabet.
1494
1495 \f
1496 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.1
1497
1498 ** Occur Edit mode applies edits made in *Occur* buffers to the
1499 original buffers. It is bound to "e" in Occur mode.
1500
1501 ** New global minor mode electric-pair-mode.
1502 When enabled, typing an open parenthesis automatically inserts the
1503 matching closing one.
1504
1505 ** New global minor mode electric-indent-mode.
1506 When enabled, typing certain characters triggers reindentation.
1507 Major modes wishing to use this can set electric-indent-chars or
1508 electric-indent-functions.
1509
1510 ** New global minor mode electric-layout-mode.
1511 When enabled, typing certain characters automatically inserts newlines.
1512 Major modes wishing to use this can set electric-layout-rules.
1513
1514 ** tabulated-list.el provides a generic major mode for tabulated data,
1515 from which other modes can be derived.
1516
1517 ** pcase.el provides the ML-style pattern matching macro `pcase'.
1518
1519 ** secrets.el is an implementation of the Secret Service API, an
1520 interface to password managers like GNOME Keyring or KDE Wallet. The
1521 Secret Service API requires D-Bus for communication. The command
1522 `secrets-show-secrets' offers a buffer with a visualization of the
1523 secrets.
1524
1525 ** notifications.el provides an implementation of the Desktop
1526 Notifications API. It requires D-Bus for communication.
1527
1528 ** soap-client.el supports access to SOAP web services from Emacs.
1529 soap-inspect.el is an interactive inspector for SOAP WSDL structures.
1530
1531 ** New generic mode, xmodmap-generic-mode, for xmodmap files.
1532
1533 ** New emacs-lock.el package.
1534 The previous version has been moved to obsolete/old-emacs-lock.el.
1535 Now, there is a proper minor mode `emacs-lock-mode'. Protection
1536 against exiting Emacs and killing the buffer can be set separately.
1537 The mechanism for automatically turning off protection for buffers
1538 with dead inferior processes has been generalized.
1539
1540 \f
1541 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.1
1542
1543 ** Passing a nil argument to a minor mode function call now ENABLES
1544 the minor mode unconditionally. This is so that you can write e.g.
1545
1546 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'foo-mode)
1547
1548 to enable foo-mode in Text mode buffers, removing the need for
1549 `turn-on-foo-mode' style functions. This affects all mode commands
1550 defined by `define-minor-mode'. If called interactively, the mode
1551 command still toggles the minor mode.
1552
1553 ** The return value of `backup-buffer' has changed.
1554 It is now a list of three elements, where the second element is a list
1555 describing the original file's SELinux context. If Emacs or the
1556 system lacks SELinux support, the context list is (nil nil nil nil).
1557 See "Basic SELinux support" above, under "Changes in Emacs 24.1".
1558
1559 ** `char-direction-table' and the `char-direction' function were deleted.
1560 They were buggy and inferior to the new support of bidirectional
1561 editing introduced in Emacs 24. If you need the bidirectional
1562 properties of a character, use `get-char-code-property' with the last
1563 argument `bidi-class'.
1564
1565 ** `copy-directory' now copies the source directory as a subdirectory
1566 of the target directory, if the latter is an existing directory. The
1567 new optional arg COPY-CONTENTS, if non-nil, makes the function copy
1568 the contents directly into a pre-existing target directory.
1569
1570 ** For mouse click input events in the text area, the Y pixel
1571 coordinate in the POSITION list now counts from the top of the text
1572 area, excluding any header line. Previously, it counted from the top
1573 of the header line.
1574
1575 ** Support for "old-style" backquotes, obsolete for 10+ years, has
1576 been further reduced. Now a backquote not followed by a space is
1577 always treated as a "new-style" backquote. Please remove all
1578 "old-style" backquotes from your code. If your code uses backquotes
1579 as documented in the Elisp manual, and compiles without warning, then
1580 you have nothing to do in this regard. Code not following the
1581 appropriate conventions may fail to compile.
1582
1583 The most common cause of trouble seems to be an old-style backquote
1584 followed by a newline. Another cause of trouble is vector notation
1585 for key sequence notation: instead of [(control ,)] and [(control ')],
1586 you should write [(control ?,)] and [(control ?')], which will work in
1587 older Emacsen too.
1588
1589 ** The macro `eval-at-startup' was removed in Emacs 23.2, but this
1590 was not advertised at the time. The function `custom-initialize-delay'
1591 replaced all known uses.
1592
1593 ** `view-buffer' now treats special mode-class in the same way that
1594 `view-file' has since Emacs 22 (i.e. it won't enable View mode if the
1595 major mode is special).
1596
1597 ** Menu and tool bar changes
1598
1599 *** During startup, Emacs no longer adds entries for `menu-bar-lines'
1600 and `tool-bar-lines' to `default-frame-alist' and `initial-frame-alist'.
1601 With these alist entries omitted, `make-frame' checks the value of the
1602 variable `menu-bar-mode'/`tool-bar-mode' to determine whether to create
1603 a menu-bar or tool-bar, respectively. If the alist entries are added,
1604 they override the value of `menu-bar-mode'/`tool-bar-mode'.
1605
1606 *** The menu bar bindings's caches are not used any more.
1607 Use (where-is-internal <def> nil t) instead.
1608
1609 ** Regions created by mouse dragging are now normal active regions,
1610 similar to those created by shift-selection (see Selection changes
1611 above). In previous Emacs versions, these regions were delineated by
1612 `mouse-drag-overlay'; that variable has been removed.
1613
1614 ** The fourth argument of `filter-buffer-substring' has been removed.
1615 If you want to remove text properties from the final result, simply
1616 pass the result through substring-no-properties.
1617
1618 ** cl.el no longer provides `cl-19'.
1619
1620 ** The following obsolete functions and aliases have been removed
1621 (the appropriate new function is given in parentheses; "not needed"
1622 means you can just remove all calls to the function in question):
1623
1624 *** `comint-kill-output' (`comint-delete-output')
1625 *** `decompose-composite-char' (`char-to-string')
1626 *** `outline-visible' (`outline-invisible-p')
1627 *** `internal-find-face' (`facep')
1628 *** `internal-get-face' (`facep and check-face')
1629 *** `frame-update-faces' (not needed)
1630 *** `frame-update-face-colors' (`frame-set-background-mode')
1631 *** `x-frob-font-weight' and `x-frob-font-slant' (`make-face-*' functions)
1632 *** `x-make-font-bold and x-make-font-demibold (`make-face-bold')
1633 *** `x-make-font-italic' and `x-make-font-oblique' (`make-face-italic')
1634 *** `x-make-font-bold-italic' (`make-face-bold-italic')
1635 *** `x-make-font-unbold' (`make-face-unbold')
1636 *** `x-make-font-unitalic' (`make-face-unitalic')
1637 *** `mldrag-drag-mode-line' (`mouse-drag-mode-line')
1638 *** `mldrag-drag-vertical-line' (`mouse-drag-vertical-line')
1639 *** `iswitchb-default-keybindings' (`iswitchb-mode')
1640 *** `char-bytes' (== 1)
1641 *** `isearch-return-char' (`isearch-printing-char')
1642 *** `make-local-hook' (not needed)
1643 *** `set-screen-height' (`set-frame-height')
1644 *** `set-screen-width' (`set-frame-width')
1645
1646 ** The following obsolete variables and varaliases have been removed
1647 (the appropriate new variable is given in parentheses):
1648
1649 *** `checkdoc-minor-keymap' (`checkdoc-minor-mode-map')
1650 *** `vc-header-alist' (`vc-BACKEND-header')
1651 *** `directory-sep-char' (== ?/)
1652 *** `font-lock-defaults-alist' (`font-lock-defaults')
1653 *** `e' (`float-e').
1654
1655 ** The following obsolete files were removed:
1656 sc.el, x-menu.el, rnews.el, rnewspost.el
1657
1658 ** The format of the finder-inf.el file has changed, since the Finder
1659 mechanism is now based on the package system. The variable
1660 `finder-package-info' is replaced by `package--builtins' and
1661 `finder-keywords-hash'.
1662
1663 ** When generating autoloads, `update-directory-autoloads' no longer
1664 assumes every inspected file is in your `load-path'. It instead
1665 generates relative names according to the current `load-path'.
1666
1667 \f
1668 * Lisp changes in Emacs 24.1
1669
1670 ** Code can now use lexical scoping by default instead of dynamic scoping.
1671 The `lexical-binding' variable enables lexical scoping for local
1672 variables. It is typically set via a file-local variable in the first
1673 line of the file, in which case it applies to all the code in that
1674 file.
1675
1676 *** `eval' takes a new optional argument `lexical' to choose the new lexical
1677 binding instead of the old dynamic binding mode.
1678
1679 *** Lexically scoped interpreted functions are represented with a new form
1680 of function value which looks like (closure ENV ARGS &rest BODY).
1681
1682 *** New macro `letrec' to define recursive local functions.
1683
1684 *** `defvar' and `defconst' now mark the variable as special (dynamic).
1685 So do `defcustom' and other forms that call `defvar' as a subroutine.
1686
1687 *** New function `special-variable-p' to check whether a variable is
1688 declared as dynamically bound.
1689
1690 *** The form ((lambda ...) ...) is deprecated.
1691
1692 ** An Emacs Lisp testing tool is now included.
1693 Emacs Lisp developers can use this tool to write automated tests for
1694 their code. See the ERT info manual for details.
1695
1696 ** Changes for bidirectional display and editing
1697
1698 *** New function `current-bidi-paragraph-direction'.
1699 This returns the base direction of the paragraph at point.
1700
1701 *** New function `bidi-string-mark-left-to-right'.
1702 Given a string containing characters from right-to-left scripts, this
1703 function returns another string which can be safely inserted into a
1704 buffer, such that any following text will be always displayed to the
1705 right of that string. (This works by appending an invisible Unicode
1706 "LEFT-TO-RIGHT MARK" character if the argument string might need it.)
1707
1708 This is useful when the buffer has overall left-to-right paragraph
1709 direction and you need to insert a string whose contents are not known
1710 in advance, without disrupting the layout of the line.
1711
1712 ** Window changes
1713
1714 *** Window tree functions are accessible in Elisp.
1715 Functions are provided to return the parent, siblings or child windows
1716 of any window including internal windows (windows not associated with a
1717 buffer) in the window tree.
1718
1719 **** New function `window-valid-p' gives non-nil for live and internal
1720 windows.
1721
1722 **** Window manipulation can deal with internal windows.
1723 Many window handling functions like `split-window', `delete-window', or
1724 `delete-other-windows' as well as the window resizing functions can now
1725 act on any window including internal ones.
1726
1727 *** window-total-height/-width vs window-body-height/-width.
1728 The function `window-height' has been renamed to `window-total-height'
1729 and `window-width' has been renamed to `window-body-width'. The old
1730 names are provided as aliases. Two new functions `window-total-width'
1731 and `window-body-height' are provided.
1732
1733 *** Window parameters specific to window handling functions.
1734 For each window you can specify a parameter to override the default
1735 behavior of a number of functions like `split-window', `delete-window'
1736 and `delete-other-windows'. The variable `ignore-window-parameters'
1737 allows to ignore processing such parameters.
1738
1739 *** New semantics of third argument of `split-window'.
1740 The third argument of `split-window' has been renamed to SIDE and can be
1741 set to any of the values 'below, 'right, 'above, or 'left to make the
1742 new window appear on the corresponding side of the window that shall be
1743 split. Any other value of SIDE will cause `split-window' to split the
1744 window into two side-by-side windows as before.
1745
1746 *** Window resizing functions.
1747 A new standard function for resizing windows called `window-resize' has
1748 been introduced. This and all other functions for resizing windows no
1749 longer delete any windows when they become too small.
1750
1751 *** Deleting the selected window now selects the most recently selected
1752 live window on that frame instead.
1753
1754 *** `adjust-window-trailing-edge' adjustments.
1755 `adjust-window-trailing-edge' can now deal with fixed-size windows and
1756 is able to resize other windows if a window adjacent to the trailing
1757 edge cannot be shrunk any more. This makes its behavior more similar to
1758 that of Emacs 21 without compromising, however, its inability to delete
1759 windows which was introduced in Emacs 22.
1760
1761 *** Window-local buffer lists.
1762 Windows now have local buffer lists. This means that removing a buffer
1763 from display in a window will preferably show the buffer previously
1764 shown in that window with its previous window-start and window-point
1765 positions. This also means that the same buffer may be automatically
1766 shown twice even if it already appears in another window.
1767
1768 *** `switch-to-buffer' has a new optional argument FORCE-SAME-WINDOW,
1769 which if non-nil requires the buffer to be displayed in the currently
1770 selected window, signaling an error otherwise. If nil, another window
1771 can be used, e.g. if the selected one is strongly dedicated.
1772
1773 *** `split-window-vertically' and `split-window-horizontally' renamed
1774 to `split-window-below' and `split-window-right' respectively.
1775 The old names are kept as aliases.
1776
1777 *** Display actions
1778
1779 **** The second arg to `display-buffer' and `pop-to-buffer' is now
1780 named ACTION, and takes a display action of the same form as
1781 `display-buffer-base-action' (see Changes, above). A non-nil,
1782 non-list value is treated specially, as the old meaning.
1783
1784 **** New variable `display-buffer-overriding-action'.
1785
1786 **** The procedure of `display-buffer' etc. to choose a window is
1787 determined by combining `display-buffer-overriding-action',
1788 `display-buffer-alist', the ACTION arg, `display-buffer-base-action',
1789 and `display-buffer-fallback-action'. The second and fourth of these
1790 are user-customizable variables.
1791
1792 See the docstring of `display-buffer' for details.
1793
1794 *** New functions `window-state-get' and `window-state-put'.
1795 These functions allow to save and restore the state of an arbitrary
1796 frame or window as an Elisp object.
1797
1798 ** Completion
1799
1800 *** New variable `completion-extra-properties' used to specify extra
1801 properties of the current completion:
1802 - :annotate-function, same as the old completion-annotate-function.
1803 - :exit-function, function to call after completion took place.
1804
1805 *** Functions on `completion-at-point-functions' can return any of the
1806 properties valid for `completion-extra-properties'.
1807
1808 *** `completion-annotate-function' is obsolete.
1809
1810 *** New `metadata' method for completion tables. The metadata thus returned
1811 can specify various details of the data returned by `all-completions':
1812 - `category' is the kind of objects returned (e.g., `buffer', `file', ...),
1813 used to select a style in completion-category-overrides.
1814 - `annotation-function' to add annotations in *Completions*.
1815 - `display-sort-function' to specify how to sort entries in *Completions*.
1816 - `cycle-sort-function' to specify how to sort entries when cycling.
1817
1818 *** `minibuffer-local-filename-must-match-map' is not used any more.
1819 Instead, the bindings in `minibuffer-local-filename-completion-map'
1820 are combined with `minibuffer-local-must-match-map'.
1821
1822 *** New variable `completing-read-function' allows overriding the
1823 behavior of `completing-read'.
1824
1825 ** `glyphless-char-display' can now distinguish between graphical and
1826 text terminal display, via a char-table entry that is a cons cell.
1827
1828 ** `pre-command-hook'/`post-command-hook' are not reset to nil on error.
1829 Instead, the offending function is removed.
1830
1831 ** New hook types
1832
1833 *** New function `run-hook-wrapped' for running an abnormal hook by
1834 passing the hook functions as arguments to a "wrapping" function.
1835 Like `run-hook-with-args-until-success', it stops at the first
1836 non-nil return value.
1837
1838 *** New macro `with-wrapper-hook' for running an abnormal hook as a
1839 set of "wrapping" filters, similar to around advice.
1840 (A version of this macro was actually added in Emacs 23.2 but was not
1841 advertised at the time.)
1842
1843 ** Debugger changes
1844
1845 *** New macro `condition-case-unless-debug' (this was actually added in
1846 Emacs 23.1 as condition-case-no-debug, but not advertised)
1847
1848 *** The macro `with-demoted-errors' was added in Emacs 23.1, but not advertised.
1849
1850 *** Variable `stack-trace-on-error' removed.
1851
1852 *** The debugger can now "continue" from an error, which means it will
1853 jump to the error handler as if the debugger had not been invoked
1854 instead of jumping all the way to the top-level.
1855
1856 *** Set `debug-on-event' to enter the debugger on events like SIGUSR1.
1857 This can be useful when `inhibit-quit' is set.
1858
1859 ** The new function `server-eval-at' allows evaluation of Lisp forms on
1860 named Emacs server instances.
1861
1862 ** `call-process' and `call-process-region' allow a `(:file "file")' spec
1863 to redirect STDOUT to a file.
1864
1865 ** The function `format-time-string' now supports the %N directive,
1866 for higher-resolution time stamps.
1867
1868 ** New input reading functions
1869
1870 *** New function `read-char-choice' reads a restricted set of
1871 characters, discarding any inputs not inside the set.
1872
1873 *** The command `read-color' now requires a match for a color name
1874 or RGB triplet, instead of signaling an error if the user provides
1875 invalid input.
1876
1877 **** `facemenu-read-color' is now an alias for `read-color'.
1878
1879 ** `image-library-alist' is renamed to `dynamic-library-alist'.
1880 The variable is now used to load all kind of supported dynamic libraries,
1881 not just image libraries. The previous name is still available as an
1882 obsolete alias.
1883
1884 ** Syntax parsing changes
1885
1886 *** New variable `syntax-propertize-function'.
1887 This replaces `font-lock-syntactic-keywords' which is now obsolete.
1888 This allows syntax-table properties to be set independently from font-lock:
1889 just call syntax-propertize to make sure the text is propertized.
1890 Together with this new variable come a new hook
1891 syntax-propertize-extend-region-functions, as well as two helper functions:
1892 syntax-propertize-via-font-lock to reuse old font-lock-syntactic-keywords
1893 as-is; and syntax-propertize-rules which provides a new way to specify
1894 syntactic rules.
1895
1896 *** Syntax tables support a new "comment style c" additionally to style b.
1897
1898 ** New hook `post-self-insert-hook', run after `self-insert-command'.
1899
1900 ** frame-local variables cannot be let-bound any more.
1901
1902 ** Major and minor mode changes
1903
1904 *** `set-auto-mode' now respects mode: local variables at the end of files,
1905 as well as those in the -*- line.
1906
1907 *** `prog-mode' is a new major mode from which programming modes
1908 should be derived.
1909
1910 **** `prog-mode-hook' can be used to enable features for programming
1911 modes, e.g. (add-hook 'prog-mode-hook 'flyspell-prog-mode) to enable
1912 on-the-fly spell checking for comments and strings.
1913
1914 *** New hook `change-major-mode-after-body-hook', run by
1915 `run-mode-hooks' just before any other mode hooks.
1916
1917 *** Enabled globalized minor modes can be disabled in specific major modes.
1918 If the global mode is global-FOO-mode, then run (FOO-mode -1) in the
1919 major mode's hook, where FOO-mode toggles the mode on a per-buffer basis.
1920
1921 *** `define-minor-mode' accepts new keywords :variable, :after-hook.
1922
1923 ** File-handling changes
1924
1925 *** `delete-file' and `delete-directory' now accept optional arg TRASH.
1926 Trashing is performed if TRASH and `delete-by-moving-to-trash' are
1927 both non-nil. Interactively, TRASH defaults to t, unless a prefix
1928 argument is supplied (see Trash changes, above).
1929
1930 *** New file predicates: `file-equal-p', `file-in-directory-p'.
1931
1932 ** Tool-bars can display separators.
1933 Tool-bar separators are handled like menu separators in menu-bar maps,
1934 i.e. via menu entries of the form `(menu-item "--")'.
1935
1936 ** Image API
1937
1938 *** Animated images support (currently animated gifs only).
1939
1940 **** `image-animated-p' returns non-nil if an image can be animated.
1941
1942 **** `image-animate' animates a supplied image spec.
1943
1944 **** `image-animate-timer' returns the timer object for an image that
1945 is being animated.
1946
1947 *** `image-extension-data' has been renamed to `image-metadata'.
1948 The old name is an obsolete alias to the new one.
1949
1950 *** Image mode can view any image type that ImageMagick supports.
1951 This requires Emacs to be built with ImageMagick support.
1952
1953 **** New function `imagemagick-types', defined if ImageMagick support
1954 is enabled, returns a list of image file extensions that your
1955 ImageMagick installation supports.
1956
1957 **** New function `imagemagick-register-types' enables ImageMagick
1958 image types in Image mode and in `create-image' and other helper
1959 functions.
1960
1961 **** New option `imagemagick-types-inhibit' excludes certain
1962 ImageMagick image types from `imagemagick-register-types'.
1963
1964 **** With ImageMagick support, there are extra Image mode commands to
1965 resize and rotate images: `image-transform-fit-to-height',
1966 `image-transform-fit-to-width', `image-transform-set-rotation', and
1967 `image-transform-set-scale'.
1968
1969 ** `compose-mail' now accepts an optional 8th arg, RETURN-ACTION, and
1970 passes it to the mail user agent function. This argument specifies an
1971 action for returning to the caller after finishing with the mail. For
1972 example, this is used by Rmail to optionally delete a mail window.
1973
1974 ** XML and HTML parsing
1975 If Emacs is compiled with libxml2 support, there are two new
1976 functions: `libxml-parse-html-region' (which parses "real world" HTML)
1977 and `libxml-parse-xml-region' (which parses XML). Both return an
1978 Emacs Lisp parse tree.
1979
1980 ** Networking and encryption changes
1981
1982 *** `open-network-stream' can now be used to open an encrypted stream.
1983 It now accepts an optional `:type' parameter for initiating a TLS
1984 connection, directly or via STARTTLS. To do STARTTLS, additional
1985 parameters (`:end-of-command', `:success', `:capabilities-command')
1986 must also be supplied.
1987
1988 *** New library gnutls.el.
1989 The new function `gnutls-available-p' returns non-nil if Emacs is
1990 built with GnuTLS support. The main entry points are
1991 `open-gnutls-stream' and `gnutls-negotiate'. It's easiest to use
1992 these functions through `open-network-stream', because that can
1993 upgrade connections through STARTTLS opportunistically or use plain
1994 SSL, depending on your needs. For debugging, set `gnutls-log-level'
1995 greater than 0.
1996
1997 *** New primitive `secure-hash' that supports many secure hash algorithms:
1998 md5, sha1, sha2, sha224, sha256, sha384, and sha512. The lisp library
1999 sha1.el has been removed. The `sha1' feature is provided by default.
2000
2001 ** Isearch
2002
2003 *** New hook `isearch-update-post-hook' that runs in `isearch-update'.
2004
2005 ** Progress reporters can now "spin".
2006 The MIN-VALUE and MAX-VALUE arguments of `make-progress-reporter' can
2007 now be nil, or omitted. This makes a "non-numeric" reporter. Each
2008 time you call `progress-reporter-update' on that progress reporter,
2009 with a nil or omitted VALUE argument, the reporter message is
2010 displayed with a "spinning bar".
2011
2012 ** New variable `revert-buffer-in-progress-p' is true while a buffer is
2013 being reverted, even if the buffer has a local `revert-buffer-function'.
2014
2015 ** New variables `delayed-warnings-list' and `delayed-warnings-hook'.
2016 If delayed-warnings-list is non-nil, the command loop calls
2017 `delayed-warnings-hook' after `post-command-hook'. At present, this
2018 is only used by Emacs on some platforms to display warnings during
2019 startup, which might otherwise not be noticed. This uses the
2020 functions `display-delayed-warnings' and `collapse-delayed-warnings'.
2021
2022 ** rx.el has a new `group-n' construct for explicitly numbered groups.
2023
2024 ** New function `make-composed-keymap' that constructs a new keymap
2025 from multiple input maps. You can use this to make a keymap that
2026 inherits from multiple maps, eg:
2027 (set-keymap-parent newmap (make-composed-keymap othermap parent))
2028
2029 ** New function `string-prefix-p'.
2030 (This was actually added in Emacs 23.2 but was not advertised at the time.)
2031
2032 ** New reader macro ## that stands for the empty symbol.
2033 This means that the empty symbol can now be read back. Also, #: by itself
2034 (when not immediately followed by a possible symbol character) stands for
2035 an empty uninterned symbol.
2036
2037 ** New math functions `isnan', `copysign', `frexp', `ldexp'.
2038
2039 ** The following functions and variables are obsolete:
2040
2041 *** `tooltip-use-echo-area' is obsolete.
2042 Rather than setting this to t, disable Tooltip mode instead.
2043
2044 *** buffer-substring-filters is obsolete.
2045 Use `filter-buffer-substring-functions' instead.
2046
2047 *** `byte-compile-disable-print-circle' is obsolete.
2048
2049 *** `deferred-action-list' and `deferred-action-function' are obsolete.
2050 Use `post-command-hook' instead.
2051
2052 *** `font-lock-maximum-size' is obsolete.
2053
2054 \f
2055 * Changes in Emacs 24.1 on non-free operating systems
2056
2057 ** On MS Windows, Emacs warns when using the obsolete init file _emacs,
2058 and also when HOME is set to C:\ by default.
2059
2060 ** New configure.bat options
2061
2062 *** --enable-checking builds Emacs with extra runtime checks.
2063
2064 *** --distfiles specifies files to be included in binary distribution.
2065
2066 *** --without-gnutls disables automatic GnuTLS detection.
2067
2068 *** --lib for general library linkage, works with the USER_LIBS build variable.
2069
2070 ** New make target `dist' to create binary distribution for MS Windows.
2071
2072 ** The Lisp function `w32-default-color-map' is now obsolete.
2073 (It is only used internally in the Emacs C code.)
2074
2075 ** Customize ns-auto-hide-menu-bar to have the menu-bar hidden, but
2076 reappear on mouse-over. (Requires OS X 10.6 or later.)
2077
2078 ** On Mac OS X, dragging a file into Emacs visits the file, like on
2079 other platforms, rather than inserting its contents into the buffer.
2080
2081 \f
2082 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
2083 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
2084
2085 GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
2086 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
2087 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
2088 (at your option) any later version.
2089
2090 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
2091 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
2092 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
2093 GNU General Public License for more details.
2094
2095 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
2096 along with GNU Emacs. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
2097
2098 \f
2099 Local variables:
2100 mode: outline
2101 paragraph-separate: "[ \f]*$"
2102 end: