Merge from emacs--rel--22
[bpt/emacs.git] / etc / tutorials / TUTORIAL
1 Emacs tutorial. See end for copying conditions.
2
3 Emacs commands generally involve the CONTROL key (sometimes labeled
4 CTRL or CTL) or the META key (sometimes labeled EDIT or ALT). Rather than
5 write that in full each time, we'll use the following abbreviations:
6
7 C-<chr> means hold the CONTROL key while typing the character <chr>
8 Thus, C-f would be: hold the CONTROL key and type f.
9 M-<chr> means hold the META or EDIT or ALT key down while typing <chr>.
10 If there is no META, EDIT or ALT key, instead press and release the
11 ESC key and then type <chr>. We write <ESC> for the ESC key.
12
13 Important note: to end the Emacs session, type C-x C-c. (Two characters.)
14 To quit a partially entered command, type C-g.
15 The characters ">>" at the left margin indicate directions for you to
16 try using a command. For instance:
17 <<Blank lines inserted around following line by help-with-tutorial>>
18 [Middle of page left blank for didactic purposes. Text continues below]
19 >> Now type C-v (View next screen) to move to the next screen.
20 (go ahead, do it by holding down the CONTROL key while typing v).
21 From now on, you should do this again whenever you finish
22 reading the screen.
23
24 Note that there is an overlap of two lines when you move from screen
25 to screen; this provides some continuity so you can continue reading
26 the text.
27
28 The first thing that you need to know is how to move around from place
29 to place in the text. You already know how to move forward one screen,
30 with C-v. To move backwards one screen, type M-v (hold down the META key
31 and type v, or type <ESC>v if you do not have a META, EDIT, or ALT key).
32
33 >> Try typing M-v and then C-v, a few times.
34
35
36 * SUMMARY
37 ---------
38
39 The following commands are useful for viewing screenfuls:
40
41 C-v Move forward one screenful
42 M-v Move backward one screenful
43 C-l Clear screen and redisplay all the text,
44 moving the text around the cursor
45 to the center of the screen.
46 (That's CONTROL-L, not CONTROL-1.)
47
48 >> Find the cursor, and note what text is near it.
49 Then type C-l.
50 Find the cursor again and notice that the same text
51 is near the cursor now.
52
53 You can also use the PageUp and PageDn keys to move by screenfuls, if
54 your terminal has them, but you can edit more efficiently if you use
55 C-v and M-v.
56
57
58 * BASIC CURSOR CONTROL
59 ----------------------
60
61 Moving from screenful to screenful is useful, but how do you
62 move to a specific place within the text on the screen?
63
64 There are several ways you can do this. You can use the arrow keys,
65 but it's more efficient to keep your hands in the standard position
66 and use the commands C-p, C-b, C-f, and C-n. These characters
67 are equivalent to the four arrow keys, like this:
68
69 Previous line, C-p
70 :
71 :
72 Backward, C-b .... Current cursor position .... Forward, C-f
73 :
74 :
75 Next line, C-n
76
77 >> Move the cursor to the line in the middle of that diagram
78 using C-n or C-p. Then type C-l to see the whole diagram
79 centered in the screen.
80
81 You'll find it easy to remember these letters by words they stand for:
82 P for previous, N for next, B for backward and F for forward. You
83 will be using these basic cursor positioning commands all the time.
84
85 >> Do a few C-n's to bring the cursor down to this line.
86
87 >> Move into the line with C-f's and then up with C-p's.
88 See what C-p does when the cursor is in the middle of the line.
89
90 Each line of text ends with a Newline character, which serves to
91 separate it from the following line. The last line in your file ought
92 to have a Newline at the end (but Emacs does not require it to have
93 one).
94
95 >> Try to C-b at the beginning of a line. It should move to
96 the end of the previous line. This is because it moves back
97 across the Newline character.
98
99 C-f can move across a Newline just like C-b.
100
101 >> Do a few more C-b's, so you get a feel for where the cursor is.
102 Then do C-f's to return to the end of the line.
103 Then do one more C-f to move to the following line.
104
105 When you move past the top or bottom of the screen, the text beyond
106 the edge shifts onto the screen. This is called "scrolling". It
107 enables Emacs to move the cursor to the specified place in the text
108 without moving it off the screen.
109
110 >> Try to move the cursor off the bottom of the screen with C-n, and
111 see what happens.
112
113 If moving by characters is too slow, you can move by words. M-f
114 (META-f) moves forward a word and M-b moves back a word.
115
116 >> Type a few M-f's and M-b's.
117
118 When you are in the middle of a word, M-f moves to the end of the word.
119 When you are in whitespace between words, M-f moves to the end of the
120 following word. M-b works likewise in the opposite direction.
121
122 >> Type M-f and M-b a few times, interspersed with C-f's and C-b's
123 so that you can observe the action of M-f and M-b from various
124 places inside and between words.
125
126 Notice the parallel between C-f and C-b on the one hand, and M-f and
127 M-b on the other hand. Very often Meta characters are used for
128 operations related to the units defined by language (words, sentences,
129 paragraphs), while Control characters operate on basic units that are
130 independent of what you are editing (characters, lines, etc).
131
132 This parallel applies between lines and sentences: C-a and C-e move to
133 the beginning or end of a line, and M-a and M-e move to the beginning
134 or end of a sentence.
135
136 >> Try a couple of C-a's, and then a couple of C-e's.
137 Try a couple of M-a's, and then a couple of M-e's.
138
139 See how repeated C-a's do nothing, but repeated M-a's keep moving one
140 more sentence. Although these are not quite analogous, each one seems
141 natural.
142
143 The location of the cursor in the text is also called "point". To
144 paraphrase, the cursor shows on the screen where point is located in
145 the text.
146
147 Here is a summary of simple cursor-moving operations, including the
148 word and sentence moving commands:
149
150 C-f Move forward a character
151 C-b Move backward a character
152
153 M-f Move forward a word
154 M-b Move backward a word
155
156 C-n Move to next line
157 C-p Move to previous line
158
159 C-a Move to beginning of line
160 C-e Move to end of line
161
162 M-a Move back to beginning of sentence
163 M-e Move forward to end of sentence
164
165 >> Try all of these commands now a few times for practice.
166 These are the most often used commands.
167
168 Two other important cursor motion commands are M-< (META Less-than),
169 which moves to the beginning of the whole text, and M-> (META
170 Greater-than), which moves to the end of the whole text.
171
172 On most terminals, the "<" is above the comma, so you must use the
173 shift key to type it. On these terminals you must use the shift key
174 to type M-< also; without the shift key, you would be typing M-comma.
175
176 >> Try M-< now, to move to the beginning of the tutorial.
177 Then use C-v repeatedly to move back here.
178
179 >> Try M-> now, to move to the end of the tutorial.
180 Then use M-v repeatedly to move back here.
181
182 You can also move the cursor with the arrow keys, if your terminal has
183 arrow keys. We recommend learning C-b, C-f, C-n and C-p for three
184 reasons. First, they work on all kinds of terminals. Second, once
185 you gain practice at using Emacs, you will find that typing these Control
186 characters is faster than typing the arrow keys (because you do not
187 have to move your hands away from touch-typing position). Third, once
188 you form the habit of using these Control character commands, you can
189 easily learn to use other advanced cursor motion commands as well.
190
191 Most Emacs commands accept a numeric argument; for most commands, this
192 serves as a repeat-count. The way you give a command a repeat count
193 is by typing C-u and then the digits before you type the command. If
194 you have a META (or EDIT or ALT) key, there is another, alternative way
195 to enter a numeric argument: type the digits while holding down the
196 META key. We recommend learning the C-u method because it works on
197 any terminal. The numeric argument is also called a "prefix argument",
198 because you type the argument before the command it applies to.
199
200 For instance, C-u 8 C-f moves forward eight characters.
201
202 >> Try using C-n or C-p with a numeric argument, to move the cursor
203 to a line near this one with just one command.
204
205 Most commands use the numeric argument as a repeat count, but some
206 commands use it in some other way. Several commands (but none of
207 those you have learned so far) use it as a flag--the presence of a
208 prefix argument, regardless of its value, makes the command do
209 something different.
210
211 C-v and M-v are another kind of exception. When given an argument,
212 they scroll the screen up or down by that many lines, rather than by a
213 screenful. For example, C-u 8 C-v scrolls the screen by 8 lines.
214
215 >> Try typing C-u 8 C-v now.
216
217 This should have scrolled the screen up by 8 lines. If you would like
218 to scroll it down again, you can give an argument to M-v.
219
220 If you are using a windowed display, such as X11 or MS-Windows, there
221 should be a tall rectangular area called a scroll bar at the
222 side of the Emacs window. You can scroll the text by clicking the
223 mouse in the scroll bar.
224
225 >> Try pressing the middle button at the top of the highlighted area
226 within the scroll bar. This should scroll the text to a position
227 determined by how high or low you click.
228
229 >> Try moving the mouse up and down, while holding the middle button
230 pressed down. You'll see that the text scrolls up and down as
231 you move the mouse.
232
233
234 * WHEN EMACS IS HUNG
235 --------------------
236
237 If Emacs stops responding to your commands, you can stop it safely by
238 typing C-g. You can use C-g to stop a command which is taking too
239 long to execute.
240
241 You can also use C-g to discard a numeric argument or the beginning of
242 a command that you do not want to finish.
243
244 >> Type C-u 100 to make a numeric arg of 100, then type C-g.
245 Now type C-f. It should move just one character,
246 because you canceled the argument with C-g.
247
248 If you have typed an <ESC> by mistake, you can get rid of it
249 with a C-g.
250
251
252 * DISABLED COMMANDS
253 -------------------
254
255 Some Emacs commands are "disabled" so that beginning users cannot use
256 them by accident.
257
258 If you type one of the disabled commands, Emacs displays a message
259 saying what the command was, and asking you whether you want to go
260 ahead and execute the command.
261
262 If you really want to try the command, type <SPC> (the Space bar) in
263 answer to the question. Normally, if you do not want to execute the
264 disabled command, answer the question with "n".
265
266 >> Type C-x C-l (which is a disabled command),
267 then type n to answer the question.
268
269
270 * WINDOWS
271 ---------
272
273 Emacs can have several windows, each displaying its own text. We will
274 explain later on how to use multiple windows. Right now we want to
275 explain how to get rid of extra windows and go back to basic
276 one-window editing. It is simple:
277
278 C-x 1 One window (i.e., kill all other windows).
279
280 That is CONTROL-x followed by the digit 1. C-x 1 expands the window
281 which contains the cursor, to occupy the full screen. It deletes all
282 other windows.
283
284 >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l.
285 >> Type CONTROL-h k CONTROL-f.
286 See how this window shrinks, while a new one appears
287 to display documentation on the CONTROL-f command.
288
289 >> Type C-x 1 and see the documentation listing window disappear.
290
291 This command is unlike the other commands you have learned in that it
292 consists of two characters. It starts with the character CONTROL-x.
293 There is a whole series of commands that start with CONTROL-x; many of
294 them have to do with windows, files, buffers, and related things.
295 These commands are two, three or four characters long.
296
297
298 * INSERTING AND DELETING
299 ------------------------
300
301 If you want to insert text, just type the text. Characters which you
302 can see, such as A, 7, *, etc. are taken by Emacs as text and inserted
303 immediately. Type <Return> (the carriage-return key) to insert a
304 Newline character.
305
306 You can delete the last character you typed by typing <Delback>.
307 <Delback> is a key on the keyboard--the same one you normally use,
308 outside Emacs, for deleting the last character you typed. It is
309 normally a large key a couple of lines up from the <Return> key, and
310 it is usually labeled "Delete", "Del" or "Backspace".
311
312 If the large key there is labeled "Backspace", then that's the one you
313 use for <Delback>. There may also be another key labeled "Delete"
314 somewhere else, but that's not <Delback>.
315
316 More generally, <Delback> deletes the character immediately before the
317 current cursor position.
318
319 >> Do this now--type a few characters, then delete them
320 by typing <Delback> a few times. Don't worry about this file
321 being changed; you will not alter the master tutorial. This is
322 your personal copy of it.
323
324 When a line of text gets too big for one line on the screen, the line
325 of text is "continued" onto a second screen line. A backslash ("\")
326 (or, if you're using a windowed display, a little curved arrow) at the
327 right margin indicates a line which has been continued.
328
329 >> Insert text until you reach the right margin, and keep on inserting.
330 You'll see a continuation line appear.
331
332 >> Use <Delback>s to delete the text until the line fits on one screen
333 line again. The continuation line goes away.
334
335 You can delete a Newline character just like any other character.
336 Deleting the Newline character between two lines merges them into
337 one line. If the resulting combined line is too long to fit in the
338 screen width, it will be displayed with a continuation line.
339
340 >> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line and type <Delback>. This
341 merges that line with the previous line.
342
343 >> Type <Return> to reinsert the Newline you deleted.
344
345 Remember that most Emacs commands can be given a repeat count;
346 this includes text characters. Repeating a text character inserts
347 it several times.
348
349 >> Try that now -- type C-u 8 * to insert ********.
350
351 You've now learned the most basic way of typing something in
352 Emacs and correcting errors. You can delete by words or lines
353 as well. Here is a summary of the delete operations:
354
355 <Delback> Delete the character just before the cursor
356 C-d Delete the next character after the cursor
357
358 M-<Delback> Kill the word immediately before the cursor
359 M-d Kill the next word after the cursor
360
361 C-k Kill from the cursor position to end of line
362 M-k Kill to the end of the current sentence
363
364 Notice that <Delback> and C-d vs M-<Delback> and M-d extend the parallel
365 started by C-f and M-f (well, <Delback> is not really a control
366 character, but let's not worry about that). C-k and M-k are like C-e
367 and M-e, sort of, in that lines are opposite sentences.
368
369 You can also kill any part of the text with one uniform method. Move
370 to one end of that part, and type C-@ or C-<SPC> (either one). (<SPC>
371 is the Space bar.) Move to the other end of that part, and type C-w.
372 That kills all the text between the two positions.
373
374 >> Move the cursor to the Y at the start of the previous paragraph.
375 >> Type C-<SPC>. Emacs should display a message "Mark set"
376 at the bottom of the screen.
377 >> Move the cursor to the n in "end", on the second line of the
378 paragraph.
379 >> Type C-w. This will kill the text starting from the Y,
380 and ending just before the n.
381
382 The difference between "killing" and "deleting" is that "killed" text
383 can be reinserted, whereas "deleted" things cannot be reinserted.
384 Reinsertion of killed text is called "yanking". Generally, the
385 commands that can remove a lot of text kill the text (they set up so
386 that you can yank the text), while the commands that remove just one
387 character, or only remove blank lines and spaces, do deletion (so you
388 cannot yank that text). <Delback> and C-d do deletion in the simplest
389 case, with no argument. When given an argument, they kill instead.
390
391 >> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line which is not empty.
392 Then type C-k to kill the text on that line.
393 >> Type C-k a second time. You'll see that it kills the Newline
394 which follows that line.
395
396 Note that a single C-k kills the contents of the line, and a second
397 C-k kills the line itself, and makes all the other lines move up. C-k
398 treats a numeric argument specially: it kills that many lines AND
399 their contents. This is not mere repetition. C-u 2 C-k kills two
400 lines and their newlines; typing C-k twice would not do that.
401
402 Bringing back killed text is called "yanking". (Think of it as
403 yanking back, or pulling back, some text that was taken away.) You
404 can yank the killed text either at the same place where it was killed,
405 or at some other place in the text you are editing, or even in a
406 different file. You can yank the same text several times; that makes
407 multiple copies of it.
408
409 The command for yanking is C-y. It reinserts the last killed text,
410 at the current cursor position.
411
412 >> Try it; type C-y to yank the text back.
413
414 If you do several C-k's in a row, all of the killed text is saved
415 together, so that one C-y will yank all of the lines at once.
416
417 >> Do this now, type C-k several times.
418
419 Now to retrieve that killed text:
420
421 >> Type C-y. Then move the cursor down a few lines and type C-y
422 again. You now see how to copy some text.
423
424 What do you do if you have some text you want to yank back, and then
425 you kill something else? C-y would yank the more recent kill. But
426 the previous text is not lost. You can get back to it using the M-y
427 command. After you have done C-y to get the most recent kill, typing
428 M-y replaces that yanked text with the previous kill. Typing M-y
429 again and again brings in earlier and earlier kills. When you have
430 reached the text you are looking for, you do not have to do anything to
431 keep it. Just go on with your editing, leaving the yanked text where
432 it is.
433
434 If you M-y enough times, you come back to the starting point (the most
435 recent kill).
436
437 >> Kill a line, move around, kill another line.
438 Then do C-y to get back the second killed line.
439 Then do M-y and it will be replaced by the first killed line.
440 Do more M-y's and see what you get. Keep doing them until
441 the second kill line comes back, and then a few more.
442 If you like, you can try giving M-y positive and negative
443 arguments.
444
445
446 * UNDO
447 ------
448
449 If you make a change to the text, and then decide that it was a
450 mistake, you can undo the change with the undo command, C-x u.
451
452 Normally, C-x u undoes the changes made by one command; if you repeat
453 the C-x u several times in a row, each repetition undoes one
454 additional command.
455
456 But there are two exceptions: commands that do not change the text do
457 not count (this includes cursor motion commands and scrolling
458 command), and self-inserting characters are usually handled in groups
459 of up to 20. (This is to reduce the number of C-x u's you have to
460 type to undo insertion of text.)
461
462 >> Kill this line with C-k, then type C-x u and it should reappear.
463
464 C-_ is an alternative undo command; it works just the same as C-x u,
465 but it is easier to type several times in a row. The disadvantage of
466 C-_ is that on some keyboards it is not obvious how to type it. That
467 is why we provide C-x u as well. On some terminals, you can type C-_
468 by typing / while holding down CONTROL.
469
470 A numeric argument to C-_ or C-x u acts as a repeat count.
471
472 You can undo deletion of text just as you can undo killing of text.
473 The distinction between killing something and deleting it affects
474 whether you can yank it with C-y; it makes no difference for undo.
475
476
477 * FILES
478 -------
479
480 In order to make the text you edit permanent, you must put it in a
481 file. Otherwise, it will go away when your invocation of Emacs goes
482 away. In order to put your text in a file, you must "find" the file
483 before you enter the text. (This is also called "visiting" the file.)
484
485 Finding a file means that you see the contents of the file within
486 Emacs. In many ways, it is as if you were editing the file itself.
487 However, the changes you make using Emacs do not become permanent
488 until you "save" the file. This is so you can avoid leaving a
489 half-changed file on the system when you do not want to. Even when
490 you save, Emacs leaves the original file under a changed name in case
491 you later decide that your changes were a mistake.
492
493 If you look near the bottom of the screen you will see a line that
494 begins and ends with dashes, and starts with "--:-- TUTORIAL" or
495 something like that. This part of the screen normally shows the name
496 of the file that you are visiting. Right now, you are visiting a file
497 called "TUTORIAL" which is your personal scratch copy of the Emacs
498 tutorial. When you find a file with Emacs, that file's name will
499 appear in that precise spot.
500
501 One special thing about the command for finding a file is that you
502 have to say what file name you want. We say the command "reads an
503 argument from the terminal" (in this case, the argument is the name of
504 the file). After you type the command
505
506 C-x C-f Find a file
507
508 Emacs asks you to type the file name. The file name you type appears
509 on the bottom line of the screen. The bottom line is called the
510 minibuffer when it is used for this sort of input. You can use
511 ordinary Emacs editing commands to edit the file name.
512
513 While you are entering the file name (or any minibuffer input),
514 you can cancel the command with C-g.
515
516 >> Type C-x C-f, then type C-g. This cancels the minibuffer,
517 and also cancels the C-x C-f command that was using the
518 minibuffer. So you do not find any file.
519
520 When you have finished entering the file name, type <Return> to
521 terminate it. Then C-x C-f command goes to work, and finds the file
522 you chose. The minibuffer disappears when the C-x C-f command is
523 finished.
524
525 In a little while the file contents appear on the screen, and you can
526 edit the contents. When you wish to make your changes permanent,
527 type the command
528
529 C-x C-s Save the file
530
531 This copies the text within Emacs into the file. The first time you
532 do this, Emacs renames the original file to a new name so that it is
533 not lost. The new name is made by adding "~" to the end of the
534 original file's name.
535
536 When saving is finished, Emacs displays the name of the file written.
537 You should save fairly often, so that you will not lose very much
538 work if the system should crash.
539
540 >> Type C-x C-s, saving your copy of the tutorial.
541 This should show "Wrote ...TUTORIAL" at the bottom of the screen.
542
543 You can find an existing file, to view it or edit it. You can also
544 find a file which does not already exist. This is the way to create a
545 file with Emacs: find the file, which will start out empty, and then
546 begin inserting the text for the file. When you ask to "save" the
547 file, Emacs will really create the file with the text that you have
548 inserted. From then on, you can consider yourself to be editing an
549 already existing file.
550
551
552 * BUFFERS
553 ---------
554
555 If you find a second file with C-x C-f, the first file remains
556 inside Emacs. You can switch back to it by finding it again with
557 C-x C-f. This way you can get quite a number of files inside Emacs.
558
559 >> Create a file named "foo" by typing C-x C-f foo <Return>.
560 Then insert some text, edit it, and save "foo" by typing C-x C-s.
561 Finally, type C-x C-f TUTORIAL <Return>
562 to come back to the tutorial.
563
564 Emacs stores each file's text inside an object called a "buffer".
565 Finding a file makes a new buffer inside Emacs. To see a list of the
566 buffers that currently exist in your Emacs job, type
567
568 C-x C-b List buffers
569
570 >> Try C-x C-b now.
571
572 See how each buffer has a name, and it may also have a file name for
573 the file whose contents it holds. ANY text you see in an Emacs window
574 is always part of some buffer.
575
576 >> Type C-x 1 to get rid of the buffer list.
577
578 When you have several buffers, only one of them is "current" at any
579 time. That buffer is the one you edit. If you want to edit another
580 buffer, you need to "switch" to it. If you want to switch to a buffer
581 that corresponds to a file, you can do it by visiting the file again
582 with C-x C-f. But there is an easier way: use the C-x b command.
583 In that command, you have to type the buffer's name.
584
585 >> Type C-x b foo <Return> to go back to the buffer "foo" which holds
586 the text of the file "foo". Then type C-x b TUTORIAL <Return>
587 to come back to this tutorial.
588
589 Most of the time, the buffer's name is the same as the file name
590 (without the file directory part). However, this is not always true.
591 The buffer list you make with C-x C-b always shows you the name of
592 every buffer.
593
594 ANY text you see in an Emacs window is always part of some buffer.
595 Some buffers do not correspond to files. For example, the buffer
596 named "*Buffer List*" does not have any file. It is the buffer which
597 contains the buffer list that you made with C-x C-b. The buffer named
598 "*Messages*" also does not correspond to any file; it contains the
599 messages that have appeared on the bottom line during your Emacs
600 session.
601
602 >> Type C-x b *Messages* <Return> to look at the buffer of messages.
603 Then type C-x b TUTORIAL <Return> to come back to this tutorial.
604
605 If you make changes to the text of one file, then find another file,
606 this does not save the first file. Its changes remain inside Emacs,
607 in that file's buffer. The creation or editing of the second file's
608 buffer has no effect on the first file's buffer. This is very useful,
609 but it also means that you need a convenient way to save the first
610 file's buffer. It would be a nuisance to have to switch back to
611 it with C-x C-f in order to save it with C-x C-s. So we have
612
613 C-x s Save some buffers
614
615 C-x s asks you about each buffer which contains changes that you have
616 not saved. It asks you, for each such buffer, whether to save the
617 buffer.
618
619 >> Insert a line of text, then type C-x s.
620 It should ask you whether to save the buffer named TUTORIAL.
621 Answer yes to the question by typing "y".
622
623
624 * EXTENDING THE COMMAND SET
625 ---------------------------
626
627 There are many, many more Emacs commands than could possibly be put
628 on all the control and meta characters. Emacs gets around this with
629 the X (eXtend) command. This comes in two flavors:
630
631 C-x Character eXtend. Followed by one character.
632 M-x Named command eXtend. Followed by a long name.
633
634 These are commands that are generally useful but used less than the
635 commands you have already learned about. You have already seen a few
636 of them: the file commands C-x C-f to Find and C-x C-s to Save, for
637 example. Another example is the command to end the Emacs
638 session--this is the command C-x C-c. (Do not worry about losing
639 changes you have made; C-x C-c offers to save each changed file before
640 it kills the Emacs.)
641
642 If you are using a graphical display that supports multiple
643 applications in parallel, you don't need any special command to move
644 from Emacs to another application. You can do this with the mouse or
645 with window manager commands. However, if you're using a text
646 terminal which can only show one application at a time, you need to
647 "suspend" Emacs to move to any other program.
648
649 C-z is the command to exit Emacs *temporarily*--so that you can go
650 back to the same Emacs session afterward. When Emacs is running on a
651 text terminal, C-z "suspends" Emacs; that is, it returns to the shell
652 but does not destroy the Emacs. In the most common shells, you can
653 resume Emacs with the `fg' command or with `%emacs'.
654
655 The time to use C-x C-c is when you are about to log out. It's also
656 the right thing to use to exit an Emacs invoked under mail handling
657 programs and other miscellaneous utilities, since they may not know
658 how to cope with suspension of Emacs. In ordinary circumstances,
659 though, if you are not about to log out, it is better to suspend Emacs
660 with C-z instead of exiting Emacs.
661
662 There are many C-x commands. Here is a list of the ones you have learned:
663
664 C-x C-f Find file
665 C-x C-s Save file
666 C-x s Save some buffers
667 C-x C-b List buffers
668 C-x b Switch buffer
669 C-x C-c Quit Emacs
670 C-x 1 Delete all but one window
671 C-x u Undo
672
673 Named eXtended commands are commands which are used even less
674 frequently, or commands which are used only in certain modes. An
675 example is the command replace-string, which globally replaces one
676 string with another. When you type M-x, Emacs prompts you at the
677 bottom of the screen with M-x and you should type the name of the
678 command; in this case, "replace-string". Just type "repl s<TAB>" and
679 Emacs will complete the name. (<TAB> is the Tab key, usually found
680 above the CapsLock or Shift key near the left edge of the keyboard.)
681 End the command name with <Return>.
682
683 The replace-string command requires two arguments--the string to be
684 replaced, and the string to replace it with. You must end each
685 argument with <Return>.
686
687 >> Move the cursor to the blank line two lines below this one.
688 Then type M-x repl s<Return>changed<Return>altered<Return>.
689
690 Notice how this line has changed: you've replaced
691 the word c-h-a-n-g-e-d with "altered" wherever it occurred,
692 after the initial position of the cursor.
693
694
695 * AUTO SAVE
696 -----------
697
698 When you have made changes in a file, but you have not saved them yet,
699 they could be lost if your computer crashes. To protect you from
700 this, Emacs periodically writes an "auto save" file for each file that
701 you are editing. The auto save file name has a # at the beginning and
702 the end; for example, if your file is named "hello.c", its auto save
703 file's name is "#hello.c#". When you save the file in the normal way,
704 Emacs deletes its auto save file.
705
706 If the computer crashes, you can recover your auto-saved editing by
707 finding the file normally (the file you were editing, not the auto
708 save file) and then typing M-x recover file<Return>. When it asks for
709 confirmation, type yes<Return> to go ahead and recover the auto-save
710 data.
711
712
713 * ECHO AREA
714 -----------
715
716 If Emacs sees that you are typing multicharacter commands slowly, it
717 shows them to you at the bottom of the screen in an area called the
718 "echo area". The echo area contains the bottom line of the screen.
719
720
721 * MODE LINE
722 -----------
723
724 The line immediately above the echo area is called the "mode line".
725 The mode line says something like this:
726
727 --:** TUTORIAL 63% L749 (Fundamental)-----------------------
728
729 This line gives useful information about the status of Emacs and
730 the text you are editing.
731
732 You already know what the filename means--it is the file you have
733 found. NN% indicates your current position in the text; it means that
734 NN percent of the text is above the top of the screen. If the top of
735 the file is on the screen, it will say "Top" instead of " 0%". If the
736 bottom of the text is on the screen, it will say "Bot". If you are
737 looking at text so small that all of it fits on the screen, the mode
738 line says "All".
739
740 The L and digits indicate position in another way: they give the
741 current line number of point.
742
743 The stars near the front mean that you have made changes to the text.
744 Right after you visit or save a file, that part of the mode line shows
745 no stars, just dashes.
746
747 The part of the mode line inside the parentheses is to tell you what
748 editing modes you are in. The default mode is Fundamental which is
749 what you are using now. It is an example of a "major mode".
750
751 Emacs has many different major modes. Some of them are meant for
752 editing different languages and/or kinds of text, such as Lisp mode,
753 Text mode, etc. At any time one and only one major mode is active,
754 and its name can always be found in the mode line just where
755 "Fundamental" is now.
756
757 Each major mode makes a few commands behave differently. For example,
758 there are commands for creating comments in a program, and since each
759 programming language has a different idea of what a comment should
760 look like, each major mode has to insert comments differently. Each
761 major mode is the name of an extended command, which is how you can
762 switch to that mode. For example, M-x fundamental-mode is a command to
763 switch to Fundamental mode.
764
765 If you are going to be editing human-language text, such as this file, you
766 should probably use Text Mode.
767
768 >> Type M-x text mode<Return>.
769
770 Don't worry, none of the Emacs commands you have learned changes in
771 any great way. But you can observe that M-f and M-b now treat
772 apostrophes as part of words. Previously, in Fundamental mode,
773 M-f and M-b treated apostrophes as word-separators.
774
775 Major modes usually make subtle changes like that one: most commands
776 do "the same job" in each major mode, but they work a little bit
777 differently.
778
779 To view documentation on your current major mode, type C-h m.
780
781 >> Use C-u C-v once or more to bring this line near the top of screen.
782 >> Type C-h m, to see how Text mode differs from Fundamental mode.
783 >> Type C-x 1 to remove the documentation from the screen.
784
785 Major modes are called major because there are also minor modes.
786 Minor modes are not alternatives to the major modes, just minor
787 modifications of them. Each minor mode can be turned on or off by
788 itself, independent of all other minor modes, and independent of your
789 major mode. So you can use no minor modes, or one minor mode, or any
790 combination of several minor modes.
791
792 One minor mode which is very useful, especially for editing
793 human-language text, is Auto Fill mode. When this mode is on, Emacs
794 breaks the line in between words automatically whenever you insert
795 text and make a line that is too wide.
796
797 You can turn Auto Fill mode on by doing M-x auto fill mode<Return>.
798 When the mode is on, you can turn it off again by doing M-x
799 auto fill mode<Return>. If the mode is off, this command turns it on,
800 and if the mode is on, this command turns it off. We say that the
801 command "toggles the mode".
802
803 >> Type M-x auto fill mode<Return> now. Then insert a line of "asdf "
804 over again until you see it divide into two lines. You must put in
805 spaces between them because Auto Fill breaks lines only at spaces.
806
807 The margin is usually set at 70 characters, but you can change it
808 with the C-x f command. You should give the margin setting you want
809 as a numeric argument.
810
811 >> Type C-x f with an argument of 20. (C-u 2 0 C-x f).
812 Then type in some text and see Emacs fill lines of 20
813 characters with it. Then set the margin back to 70 using
814 C-x f again.
815
816 If you make changes in the middle of a paragraph, Auto Fill mode
817 does not re-fill it for you.
818 To re-fill the paragraph, type M-q (META-q) with the cursor inside
819 that paragraph.
820
821 >> Move the cursor into the previous paragraph and type M-q.
822
823
824 * SEARCHING
825 -----------
826
827 Emacs can do searches for strings (these are groups of contiguous
828 characters or words) either forward through the text or backward
829 through it. Searching for a string is a cursor motion command;
830 it moves the cursor to the next place where that string appears.
831
832 The Emacs search command is different from the search commands
833 of most editors, in that it is "incremental". This means that the
834 search happens while you type in the string to search for.
835
836 The command to initiate a search is C-s for forward search, and C-r
837 for reverse search. BUT WAIT! Don't try them now.
838
839 When you type C-s you'll notice that the string "I-search" appears as
840 a prompt in the echo area. This tells you that Emacs is in what is
841 called an incremental search waiting for you to type the thing that
842 you want to search for. <Return> terminates a search.
843
844 >> Now type C-s to start a search. SLOWLY, one letter at a time,
845 type the word 'cursor', pausing after you type each
846 character to notice what happens to the cursor.
847 Now you have searched for "cursor", once.
848 >> Type C-s again, to search for the next occurrence of "cursor".
849 >> Now type <Delback> four times and see how the cursor moves.
850 >> Type <Return> to terminate the search.
851
852 Did you see what happened? Emacs, in an incremental search, tries to
853 go to the occurrence of the string that you've typed out so far. To
854 go to the next occurrence of 'cursor' just type C-s again. If no such
855 occurrence exists, Emacs beeps and tells you the search is currently
856 "failing". C-g would also terminate the search.
857
858 NOTE: On some systems, typing C-s will freeze the screen and you will
859 see no further output from Emacs. This indicates that an operating
860 system "feature" called "flow control" is intercepting the C-s and not
861 letting it get through to Emacs. To unfreeze the screen, type C-q.
862 Then see the section "Spontaneous Entry to Incremental Search" in the
863 Emacs manual for advice on dealing with this "feature".
864
865 If you are in the middle of an incremental search and type <Delback>,
866 you'll notice that the last character in the search string is erased
867 and the search backs up to the last place of the search. For
868 instance, suppose you have typed "c", to search for the first
869 occurrence of "c". Now if you type "u", the cursor will move
870 to the first occurrence of "cu". Now type <Delback>. This erases
871 the "u" from the search string, and the cursor moves back to
872 the first occurrence of "c".
873
874 If you are in the middle of a search and type a control or meta
875 character (with a few exceptions--characters that are special in
876 a search, such as C-s and C-r), the search is terminated.
877
878 The C-s starts a search that looks for any occurrence of the search
879 string AFTER the current cursor position. If you want to search for
880 something earlier in the text, type C-r instead. Everything that we
881 have said about C-s also applies to C-r, except that the direction of
882 the search is reversed.
883
884
885 * MULTIPLE WINDOWS
886 ------------------
887
888 One of the nice features of Emacs is that you can display more than one
889 window on the screen at the same time.
890
891 >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l (that's CONTROL-L, not
892 CONTROL-1).
893
894 >> Now type C-x 2 which splits the screen into two windows.
895 Both windows display this tutorial. The cursor stays in the top window.
896
897 >> Type C-M-v to scroll the bottom window.
898 (If you do not have a real META key, type <ESC> C-v.)
899
900 >> Type C-x o ("o" for "other") to move the cursor to the bottom window.
901 >> Use C-v and M-v in the bottom window to scroll it.
902 Keep reading these directions in the top window.
903
904 >> Type C-x o again to move the cursor back to the top window.
905 The cursor in the top window is just where it was before.
906
907 You can keep using C-x o to switch between the windows. Each
908 window has its own cursor position, but only one window actually
909 shows the cursor. All the ordinary editing commands apply to the
910 window that the cursor is in. We call this the "selected window".
911
912 The command C-M-v is very useful when you are editing text in one
913 window and using the other window just for reference. You can keep
914 the cursor always in the window where you are editing, and advance
915 through the other window sequentially with C-M-v.
916
917 C-M-v is an example of a CONTROL-META character. If you have a real
918 META key, you can type C-M-v by holding down both CONTROL and META while
919 typing v. It does not matter whether CONTROL or META "comes first,"
920 because both of these keys act by modifying the characters you type.
921
922 If you do not have a real META key, and you use <ESC> instead, the
923 order does matter: you must type <ESC> followed by CONTROL-v, because
924 CONTROL-<ESC> v will not work. This is because <ESC> is a character
925 in its own right, not a modifier key.
926
927 >> Type C-x 1 (in the top window) to get rid of the bottom window.
928
929 (If you had typed C-x 1 in the bottom window, that would get rid
930 of the top one. Think of this command as "Keep just one
931 window--the window I am already in.")
932
933 You do not have to display the same buffer in both windows. If you
934 use C-x C-f to find a file in one window, the other window does not
935 change. You can find a file in each window independently.
936
937 Here is another way to use two windows to display two different
938 things:
939
940 >> Type C-x 4 C-f followed by the name of one of your files.
941 End with <Return>. See the specified file appear in the bottom
942 window. The cursor goes there, too.
943
944 >> Type C-x o to go back to the top window, and C-x 1 to delete
945 the bottom window.
946
947
948 * RECURSIVE EDITING LEVELS
949 --------------------------
950
951 Sometimes you will get into what is called a "recursive editing
952 level". This is indicated by square brackets in the mode line,
953 surrounding the parentheses around the major mode name. For
954 example, you might see [(Fundamental)] instead of (Fundamental).
955
956 To get out of the recursive editing level, type <ESC> <ESC> <ESC>.
957 That is an all-purpose "get out" command. You can also use it for
958 eliminating extra windows, and getting out of the minibuffer.
959
960 >> Type M-x to get into a minibuffer; then type <ESC> <ESC> <ESC> to
961 get out.
962
963 You cannot use C-g to get out of a recursive editing level. This is
964 because C-g is used for canceling commands and arguments WITHIN the
965 recursive editing level.
966
967
968 * GETTING MORE HELP
969 -------------------
970
971 In this tutorial we have tried to supply just enough information to
972 get you started using Emacs. There is so much available in Emacs that
973 it would be impossible to explain it all here. However, you may want
974 to learn more about Emacs since it has many other useful features.
975 Emacs provides commands for reading documentation about Emacs
976 commands. These "help" commands all start with the character
977 CONTROL-h, which is called "the Help character".
978
979 To use the Help features, type the C-h character, and then a
980 character saying what kind of help you want. If you are REALLY lost,
981 type C-h ? and Emacs will tell you what kinds of help it can give.
982 If you have typed C-h and decide you do not want any help, just
983 type C-g to cancel it.
984
985 (Some sites change the meaning of the character C-h. They really
986 should not do this as a blanket measure for all users, so you have
987 grounds to complain to the system administrator. Meanwhile, if C-h
988 does not display a message about help at the bottom of the screen, try
989 typing the F1 key or M-x help <Return> instead.)
990
991 The most basic HELP feature is C-h c. Type C-h, the character c, and
992 a command character or sequence; then Emacs displays a very brief
993 description of the command.
994
995 >> Type C-h c C-p.
996
997 The message should be something like this:
998
999 C-p runs the command previous-line
1000
1001 This tells you the "name of the function". Function names are used
1002 mainly for customizing and extending Emacs. But since function names
1003 are chosen to indicate what the command does, they can serve also as
1004 very brief documentation--sufficient to remind you of commands you
1005 have already learned.
1006
1007 Multi-character commands such as C-x C-s and (if you have no META or
1008 EDIT or ALT key) <ESC>v are also allowed after C-h c.
1009
1010 To get more information about a command, use C-h k instead of C-h c.
1011
1012 >> Type C-h k C-p.
1013
1014 This displays the documentation of the function, as well as its
1015 name, in an Emacs window. When you are finished reading the
1016 output, type C-x 1 to get rid of the help text. You do not have
1017 to do this right away. You can do some editing while referring
1018 to the help text, and then type C-x 1.
1019
1020 Here are some other useful C-h options:
1021
1022 C-h f Describe a function. You type in the name of the
1023 function.
1024
1025 >> Try typing C-h f previous-line<Return>.
1026 This displays all the information Emacs has about the
1027 function which implements the C-p command.
1028
1029 A similar command C-h v displays the documentation of variables whose
1030 values you can set to customize Emacs behavior. You need to type in
1031 the name of the variable when Emacs prompts for it.
1032
1033 C-h a Command Apropos. Type in a keyword and Emacs will list
1034 all the commands whose names contain that keyword.
1035 These commands can all be invoked with META-x.
1036 For some commands, Command Apropos will also list a one
1037 or two character sequence which runs the same command.
1038
1039 >> Type C-h a file<Return>.
1040
1041 This displays in another window a list of all M-x commands with "file"
1042 in their names. You will see character-commands like C-x C-f listed
1043 beside the corresponding command names such as find-file.
1044
1045 >> Type C-M-v to scroll the help window. Do this a few times.
1046
1047 >> Type C-x 1 to delete the help window.
1048
1049 C-h i Read On-line Manuals (a.k.a. Info). This command puts
1050 you into a special buffer called `*info*' where you
1051 can read on-line manuals for the packages installed on
1052 your system. Type m emacs <Return> to read the Emacs
1053 manual. If you have never before used Info, type ?
1054 and Emacs will take you on a guided tour of Info mode
1055 facilities. Once you are through with this tutorial,
1056 you should consult the Emacs Info manual as your
1057 primary documentation.
1058
1059
1060 * MORE FEATURES
1061 ---------------
1062
1063 You can learn more about Emacs by reading its manual, either as a book
1064 or on-line in Info (use the Help menu or type F10 h r). Two features
1065 that you may like especially are completion, which saves typing, and
1066 dired, which simplifies file handling.
1067
1068 Completion is a way to avoid unnecessary typing. For instance, if you
1069 want to switch to the *Messages* buffer, you can type C-x b *M<Tab>
1070 and Emacs will fill in the rest of the buffer name as far as it can
1071 determine from what you have already typed. Completion is described
1072 in Info in the Emacs manual in the node called "Completion".
1073
1074 Dired enables you to list files in a directory (and optionally its
1075 subdirectories), move around that list, visit, rename, delete and
1076 otherwise operate on the files. Dired is described in Info in the
1077 Emacs manual in the node called "Dired".
1078
1079 The manual also describes many other Emacs features.
1080
1081
1082 * CONCLUSION
1083 ------------
1084
1085 Remember, to exit Emacs permanently use C-x C-c. To exit to a shell
1086 temporarily, so that you can come back to Emacs afterward, use C-z.
1087
1088 This tutorial is meant to be understandable to all new users, so if
1089 you found something unclear, don't sit and blame yourself - complain!
1090
1091
1092 * COPYING
1093 ---------
1094
1095 This tutorial descends from a long line of Emacs tutorials
1096 starting with the one written by Stuart Cracraft for the original Emacs.
1097
1098 This version of the tutorial is a part of GNU Emacs. It is copyrighted
1099 and comes with permission to distribute copies on certain conditions:
1100
1101 Copyright (C) 1985, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,
1102 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
1103
1104 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
1105
1106 GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
1107 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
1108 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
1109 (at your option) any later version.
1110
1111 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
1112 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
1113 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
1114 GNU General Public License for more details.
1115
1116 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
1117 along with GNU Emacs. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
1118
1119 Please read the file COPYING and then do give copies of GNU Emacs to
1120 your friends. Help stamp out software obstructionism ("ownership") by
1121 using, writing, and sharing free software!
1122
1123 ;;; arch-tag: a0f84628-777f-4238-8865-451a73167f55