Merge from emacs--rel--22
[bpt/emacs.git] / lispref / elisp.texi
1 \input texinfo @c -*-texinfo-*-
2 @c %**start of header
3 @setfilename elisp
4 @settitle GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual
5 @c %**end of header
6
7 @c Version of the manual and of Emacs.
8 @c Please remember to update the edition number in README as well.
9 @set VERSION 2.9
10 @set EMACSVER 22.0.990
11
12 @dircategory Emacs
13 @direntry
14 * Elisp: (elisp). The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.
15 @end direntry
16
17 @c in general, keep the following line commented out, unless doing a
18 @c copy of this manual that will be published. the manual should go
19 @c onto the distribution in the full, 8.5 x 11" size.
20 @c set smallbook
21
22 @ifset smallbook
23 @smallbook
24 @end ifset
25
26 @c per rms and peterb, use 10pt fonts for the main text, mostly to
27 @c save on paper cost.
28 @c Do this inside @tex for now, so current makeinfo does not complain.
29 @tex
30 @ifset smallbook
31 @fonttextsize 10
32 @set EMACSVER 22
33 \global\let\urlcolor=\Black % don't print links in grayscale
34 \global\let\linkcolor=\Black
35 @end ifset
36 \global\hbadness=6666 % don't worry about not-too-underfull boxes
37 \global\let\urlcolor=\Black % don't print links in grayscale
38 \global\let\linkcolor=\Black
39 @end tex
40
41 @c Combine indices.
42 @synindex cp fn
43 @syncodeindex vr fn
44 @syncodeindex ky fn
45 @syncodeindex pg fn
46 @c We use the "type index" to index new functions and variables.
47 @c @syncodeindex tp fn
48
49 @copying
50 This is edition @value{VERSION} of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual,@*
51 corresponding to Emacs version @value{EMACSVER}.
52
53 Copyright @copyright{} 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998,
54 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 Free Software
55 Foundation, Inc.
56
57 @quotation
58 Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document
59 under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2 or
60 any later version published by the Free Software Foundation; with the
61 Invariant Sections being ``GNU General Public License,'' with the
62 Front-Cover texts being ``A GNU Manual,'' and with the Back-Cover
63 Texts as in (a) below. A copy of the license is included in the
64 section entitled ``GNU Free Documentation License.''
65
66 (a) The FSF's Back-Cover Text is: ``You have freedom to copy and modify
67 this GNU Manual, like GNU software. Copies published by the Free
68 Software Foundation raise funds for GNU development.''
69 @end quotation
70 @end copying
71
72 @titlepage
73 @title GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual
74 @subtitle For Emacs Version @value{EMACSVER}
75 @subtitle Revision @value{VERSION}, April 2007
76
77 @author by Bil Lewis, Dan LaLiberte, Richard Stallman
78 @author and the GNU Manual Group
79 @page
80 @vskip 0pt plus 1filll
81 @insertcopying
82
83 @sp 2
84 Published by the Free Software Foundation @*
85 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor @*
86 Boston, MA 02110-1301 @*
87 USA @*
88 ISBN 1-882114-74-4
89
90 @sp 2
91 Cover art by Etienne Suvasa.
92 @end titlepage
93
94
95 @c Print the tables of contents
96 @summarycontents
97 @contents
98
99
100 @ifnottex
101 @node Top, Introduction, (dir), (dir)
102 @top Emacs Lisp
103
104 This Info file contains edition @value{VERSION} of the GNU Emacs Lisp
105 Reference Manual, corresponding to GNU Emacs version @value{EMACSVER}.
106 @end ifnottex
107
108 @menu
109 * Introduction:: Introduction and conventions used.
110
111 * Lisp Data Types:: Data types of objects in Emacs Lisp.
112 * Numbers:: Numbers and arithmetic functions.
113 * Strings and Characters:: Strings, and functions that work on them.
114 * Lists:: Lists, cons cells, and related functions.
115 * Sequences Arrays Vectors:: Lists, strings and vectors are called sequences.
116 Certain functions act on any kind of sequence.
117 The description of vectors is here as well.
118 * Hash Tables:: Very fast lookup-tables.
119 * Symbols:: Symbols represent names, uniquely.
120
121 * Evaluation:: How Lisp expressions are evaluated.
122 * Control Structures:: Conditionals, loops, nonlocal exits.
123 * Variables:: Using symbols in programs to stand for values.
124 * Functions:: A function is a Lisp program
125 that can be invoked from other functions.
126 * Macros:: Macros are a way to extend the Lisp language.
127 * Customization:: Writing customization declarations.
128
129 * Loading:: Reading files of Lisp code into Lisp.
130 * Byte Compilation:: Compilation makes programs run faster.
131 * Advising Functions:: Adding to the definition of a function.
132 * Debugging:: Tools and tips for debugging Lisp programs.
133
134 * Read and Print:: Converting Lisp objects to text and back.
135 * Minibuffers:: Using the minibuffer to read input.
136 * Command Loop:: How the editor command loop works,
137 and how you can call its subroutines.
138 * Keymaps:: Defining the bindings from keys to commands.
139 * Modes:: Defining major and minor modes.
140 * Documentation:: Writing and using documentation strings.
141
142 * Files:: Accessing files.
143 * Backups and Auto-Saving:: Controlling how backups and auto-save
144 files are made.
145 * Buffers:: Creating and using buffer objects.
146 * Windows:: Manipulating windows and displaying buffers.
147 * Frames:: Making multiple system-level windows.
148 * Positions:: Buffer positions and motion functions.
149 * Markers:: Markers represent positions and update
150 automatically when the text is changed.
151
152 * Text:: Examining and changing text in buffers.
153 * Non-ASCII Characters:: Non-ASCII text in buffers and strings.
154 * Searching and Matching:: Searching buffers for strings or regexps.
155 * Syntax Tables:: The syntax table controls word and list parsing.
156 * Abbrevs:: How Abbrev mode works, and its data structures.
157
158 * Processes:: Running and communicating with subprocesses.
159 * Display:: Features for controlling the screen display.
160 * System Interface:: Getting the user id, system type, environment
161 variables, and other such things.
162
163 Appendices
164
165 * Antinews:: Info for users downgrading to Emacs 21.
166 * GNU Free Documentation License:: The license for this documentation
167 * GPL:: Conditions for copying and changing GNU Emacs.
168 * Tips:: Advice and coding conventions for Emacs Lisp.
169 * GNU Emacs Internals:: Building and dumping Emacs;
170 internal data structures.
171 * Standard Errors:: List of all error symbols.
172 * Standard Buffer-Local Variables::
173 List of variables buffer-local in all buffers.
174 * Standard Keymaps:: List of standard keymaps.
175 * Standard Hooks:: List of standard hook variables.
176
177 * Index:: Index including concepts, functions, variables,
178 and other terms.
179
180 @ignore
181 * New Symbols:: New functions and variables in Emacs @value{EMACSVER}.
182 @end ignore
183
184 @c Do NOT modify the following 3 lines! They must have this form to
185 @c be correctly identified by `texinfo-multiple-files-update'. In
186 @c particular, the detailed menu header line MUST be identical to the
187 @c value of `texinfo-master-menu-header'. See texnfo-upd.el.
188
189 @detailmenu
190 --- The Detailed Node Listing ---
191 ---------------------------------
192
193 Here are other nodes that are inferiors of those already listed,
194 mentioned here so you can get to them in one step:
195
196 Introduction
197
198 * Caveats:: Flaws and a request for help.
199 * Lisp History:: Emacs Lisp is descended from Maclisp.
200 * Conventions:: How the manual is formatted.
201 * Version Info:: Which Emacs version is running?
202 * Acknowledgements:: The authors, editors, and sponsors of this manual.
203
204 Conventions
205
206 * Some Terms:: Explanation of terms we use in this manual.
207 * nil and t:: How the symbols @code{nil} and @code{t} are used.
208 * Evaluation Notation:: The format we use for examples of evaluation.
209 * Printing Notation:: The format we use for examples that print output.
210 * Error Messages:: The format we use for examples of errors.
211 * Buffer Text Notation:: The format we use for buffer contents in examples.
212 * Format of Descriptions:: Notation for describing functions, variables, etc.
213
214 Format of Descriptions
215
216 * A Sample Function Description:: A description of an imaginary
217 function, @code{foo}.
218 * A Sample Variable Description:: A description of an imaginary
219 variable, @code{electric-future-map}.
220
221 Lisp Data Types
222
223 * Printed Representation:: How Lisp objects are represented as text.
224 * Comments:: Comments and their formatting conventions.
225 * Programming Types:: Types found in all Lisp systems.
226 * Editing Types:: Types specific to Emacs.
227 * Circular Objects:: Read syntax for circular structure.
228 * Type Predicates:: Tests related to types.
229 * Equality Predicates:: Tests of equality between any two objects.
230
231 Programming Types
232
233 * Integer Type:: Numbers without fractional parts.
234 * Floating Point Type:: Numbers with fractional parts and with a large range.
235 * Character Type:: The representation of letters, numbers and
236 control characters.
237 * Symbol Type:: A multi-use object that refers to a function,
238 variable, property list, or itself.
239 * Sequence Type:: Both lists and arrays are classified as sequences.
240 * Cons Cell Type:: Cons cells, and lists (which are made from cons cells).
241 * Array Type:: Arrays include strings and vectors.
242 * String Type:: An (efficient) array of characters.
243 * Vector Type:: One-dimensional arrays.
244 * Char-Table Type:: One-dimensional sparse arrays indexed by characters.
245 * Bool-Vector Type:: One-dimensional arrays of @code{t} or @code{nil}.
246 * Hash Table Type:: Super-fast lookup tables.
247 * Function Type:: A piece of executable code you can call from elsewhere.
248 * Macro Type:: A method of expanding an expression into another
249 expression, more fundamental but less pretty.
250 * Primitive Function Type:: A function written in C, callable from Lisp.
251 * Byte-Code Type:: A function written in Lisp, then compiled.
252 * Autoload Type:: A type used for automatically loading seldom-used
253 functions.
254
255 Character Type
256
257 * Basic Char Syntax:: Syntax for regular characters.
258 * General Escape Syntax:: How to specify characters by their codes.
259 * Ctl-Char Syntax:: Syntax for control characters.
260 * Meta-Char Syntax:: Syntax for meta-characters.
261 * Other Char Bits:: Syntax for hyper-, super-, and alt-characters.
262
263 Cons Cell and List Types
264
265 * Box Diagrams:: Drawing pictures of lists.
266 * Dotted Pair Notation:: An alternative syntax for lists.
267 * Association List Type:: A specially constructed list.
268
269 String Type
270
271 * Syntax for Strings:: How to specify Lisp strings.
272 * Non-ASCII in Strings:: International characters in strings.
273 * Nonprinting Characters:: Literal unprintable characters in strings.
274 * Text Props and Strings:: Strings with text properties.
275
276 Editing Types
277
278 * Buffer Type:: The basic object of editing.
279 * Marker Type:: A position in a buffer.
280 * Window Type:: What makes buffers visible.
281 * Frame Type:: Windows subdivide frames.
282 * Window Configuration Type:: Recording the way a frame is subdivided.
283 * Frame Configuration Type:: Recording the status of all frames.
284 * Process Type:: A process running on the underlying OS.
285 * Stream Type:: Receive or send characters.
286 * Keymap Type:: What function a keystroke invokes.
287 * Overlay Type:: How an overlay is represented.
288
289 Numbers
290
291 * Integer Basics:: Representation and range of integers.
292 * Float Basics:: Representation and range of floating point.
293 * Predicates on Numbers:: Testing for numbers.
294 * Comparison of Numbers:: Equality and inequality predicates.
295 * Numeric Conversions:: Converting float to integer and vice versa.
296 * Arithmetic Operations:: How to add, subtract, multiply and divide.
297 * Rounding Operations:: Explicitly rounding floating point numbers.
298 * Bitwise Operations:: Logical and, or, not, shifting.
299 * Math Functions:: Trig, exponential and logarithmic functions.
300 * Random Numbers:: Obtaining random integers, predictable or not.
301
302 Strings and Characters
303
304 * String Basics:: Basic properties of strings and characters.
305 * Predicates for Strings:: Testing whether an object is a string or char.
306 * Creating Strings:: Functions to allocate new strings.
307 * Modifying Strings:: Altering the contents of an existing string.
308 * Text Comparison:: Comparing characters or strings.
309 * String Conversion:: Converting characters to strings and vice versa.
310 * Formatting Strings:: @code{format}: Emacs's analogue of @code{printf}.
311 * Case Conversion:: Case conversion functions.
312 * Case Tables:: Customizing case conversion.
313
314 Lists
315
316 * Cons Cells:: How lists are made out of cons cells.
317 * List-related Predicates:: Is this object a list? Comparing two lists.
318 * List Elements:: Extracting the pieces of a list.
319 * Building Lists:: Creating list structure.
320 * List Variables:: Modifying lists stored in variables.
321 * Modifying Lists:: Storing new pieces into an existing list.
322 * Sets And Lists:: A list can represent a finite mathematical set.
323 * Association Lists:: A list can represent a finite relation or mapping.
324 * Rings:: Managing a fixed-size ring of objects.
325
326 Modifying Existing List Structure
327
328 * Setcar:: Replacing an element in a list.
329 * Setcdr:: Replacing part of the list backbone.
330 This can be used to remove or add elements.
331 * Rearrangement:: Reordering the elements in a list; combining lists.
332
333 Sequences, Arrays, and Vectors
334
335 * Sequence Functions:: Functions that accept any kind of sequence.
336 * Arrays:: Characteristics of arrays in Emacs Lisp.
337 * Array Functions:: Functions specifically for arrays.
338 * Vectors:: Special characteristics of Emacs Lisp vectors.
339 * Vector Functions:: Functions specifically for vectors.
340 * Char-Tables:: How to work with char-tables.
341 * Bool-Vectors:: How to work with bool-vectors.
342
343 Hash Tables
344
345 * Creating Hash:: Functions to create hash tables.
346 * Hash Access:: Reading and writing the hash table contents.
347 * Defining Hash:: Defining new comparison methods
348 * Other Hash:: Miscellaneous.
349
350 Symbols
351
352 * Symbol Components:: Symbols have names, values, function definitions
353 and property lists.
354 * Definitions:: A definition says how a symbol will be used.
355 * Creating Symbols:: How symbols are kept unique.
356 * Property Lists:: Each symbol has a property list
357 for recording miscellaneous information.
358
359 Property Lists
360
361 * Plists and Alists:: Comparison of the advantages of property
362 lists and association lists.
363 * Symbol Plists:: Functions to access symbols' property lists.
364 * Other Plists:: Accessing property lists stored elsewhere.
365
366 Evaluation
367
368 * Intro Eval:: Evaluation in the scheme of things.
369 * Forms:: How various sorts of objects are evaluated.
370 * Quoting:: Avoiding evaluation (to put constants in
371 the program).
372 * Eval:: How to invoke the Lisp interpreter explicitly.
373
374 Kinds of Forms
375
376 * Self-Evaluating Forms:: Forms that evaluate to themselves.
377 * Symbol Forms:: Symbols evaluate as variables.
378 * Classifying Lists:: How to distinguish various sorts of list forms.
379 * Function Indirection:: When a symbol appears as the car of a list,
380 we find the real function via the symbol.
381 * Function Forms:: Forms that call functions.
382 * Macro Forms:: Forms that call macros.
383 * Special Forms:: "Special forms" are idiosyncratic primitives,
384 most of them extremely important.
385 * Autoloading:: Functions set up to load files
386 containing their real definitions.
387
388 Control Structures
389
390 * Sequencing:: Evaluation in textual order.
391 * Conditionals:: @code{if}, @code{cond}, @code{when}, @code{unless}.
392 * Combining Conditions:: @code{and}, @code{or}, @code{not}.
393 * Iteration:: @code{while} loops.
394 * Nonlocal Exits:: Jumping out of a sequence.
395
396 Nonlocal Exits
397
398 * Catch and Throw:: Nonlocal exits for the program's own purposes.
399 * Examples of Catch:: Showing how such nonlocal exits can be written.
400 * Errors:: How errors are signaled and handled.
401 * Cleanups:: Arranging to run a cleanup form if an
402 error happens.
403
404 Errors
405
406 * Signaling Errors:: How to report an error.
407 * Processing of Errors:: What Emacs does when you report an error.
408 * Handling Errors:: How you can trap errors and continue execution.
409 * Error Symbols:: How errors are classified for trapping them.
410 * Standard Errors:: List of all error symbols.
411
412 Variables
413
414 * Global Variables:: Variable values that exist permanently, everywhere.
415 * Constant Variables:: Certain "variables" have values that never change.
416 * Local Variables:: Variable values that exist only temporarily.
417 * Void Variables:: Symbols that lack values.
418 * Defining Variables:: A definition says a symbol is used as a variable.
419 * Tips for Defining:: Things you should think about when you
420 define a variable.
421 * Accessing Variables:: Examining values of variables whose names
422 are known only at run time.
423 * Setting Variables:: Storing new values in variables.
424 * Variable Scoping:: How Lisp chooses among local and global values.
425 * Buffer-Local Variables:: Variable values in effect only in one buffer.
426 * Frame-Local Variables:: Variable values in effect only in one frame.
427 * Future Local Variables:: New kinds of local values we might add some day.
428 * File Local Variables:: Handling local variable lists in files.
429 * Variable Aliases:: Variables that are aliases for other variables.
430 * Variables with Restricted Values:: Non-constant variables whose value can
431 @emph{not} be an arbitrary Lisp object.
432 * Standard Buffer-Local Variables::
433 List of variables buffer-local in all buffers.
434
435 Scoping Rules for Variable Bindings
436
437 * Scope:: Scope means where in the program a value
438 is visible. Comparison with other languages.
439 * Extent:: Extent means how long in time a value exists.
440 * Impl of Scope:: Two ways to implement dynamic scoping.
441 * Using Scoping:: How to use dynamic scoping carefully and
442 avoid problems.
443
444 Buffer-Local Variables
445
446 * Intro to Buffer-Local:: Introduction and concepts.
447 * Creating Buffer-Local:: Creating and destroying buffer-local bindings.
448 * Default Value:: The default value is seen in buffers
449 that don't have their own buffer-local values.
450
451 Functions
452
453 * What Is a Function:: Lisp functions vs primitives; terminology.
454 * Lambda Expressions:: How functions are expressed as Lisp objects.
455 * Function Names:: A symbol can serve as the name of a function.
456 * Defining Functions:: Lisp expressions for defining functions.
457 * Calling Functions:: How to use an existing function.
458 * Mapping Functions:: Applying a function to each element of a list, etc.
459 * Anonymous Functions:: Lambda-expressions are functions with no names.
460 * Function Cells:: Accessing or setting the function definition
461 of a symbol.
462 * Obsolete Functions:: Declaring functions obsolete.
463 * Inline Functions:: Defining functions that the compiler will open code.
464 * Function Safety:: Determining whether a function is safe to call.
465 * Related Topics:: Cross-references to specific Lisp primitives
466 that have a special bearing on how
467 functions work.
468
469 Lambda Expressions
470
471 * Lambda Components:: The parts of a lambda expression.
472 * Simple Lambda:: A simple example.
473 * Argument List:: Details and special features of argument lists.
474 * Function Documentation:: How to put documentation in a function.
475
476 Macros
477
478 * Simple Macro:: A basic example.
479 * Expansion:: How, when and why macros are expanded.
480 * Compiling Macros:: How macros are expanded by the compiler.
481 * Defining Macros:: How to write a macro definition.
482 * Backquote:: Easier construction of list structure.
483 * Problems with Macros:: Don't evaluate the macro arguments too many times.
484 Don't hide the user's variables.
485 * Indenting Macros:: Specifying how to indent macro calls.
486
487 Common Problems Using Macros
488
489 * Wrong Time:: Do the work in the expansion, not in the macro.
490 * Argument Evaluation:: The expansion should evaluate each macro arg once.
491 * Surprising Local Vars:: Local variable bindings in the expansion
492 require special care.
493 * Eval During Expansion:: Don't evaluate them; put them in the expansion.
494 * Repeated Expansion:: Avoid depending on how many times expansion is done.
495
496 Writing Customization Definitions
497
498 * Common Keywords:: Common keyword arguments for all kinds of
499 customization declarations.
500 * Group Definitions:: Writing customization group definitions.
501 * Variable Definitions:: Declaring user options.
502 * Customization Types:: Specifying the type of a user option.
503
504 Customization Types
505
506 * Simple Types:: Simple customization types: sexp, integer, number,
507 string, file, directory, alist.
508 * Composite Types:: Build new types from other types or data.
509 * Splicing into Lists:: Splice elements into list with @code{:inline}.
510 * Type Keywords:: Keyword-argument pairs in a customization type.
511 * Defining New Types:: Give your type a name.
512
513 Loading
514
515 * How Programs Do Loading:: The @code{load} function and others.
516 * Load Suffixes:: Details about the suffixes that @code{load} tries.
517 * Library Search:: Finding a library to load.
518 * Loading Non-ASCII:: Non-@acronym{ASCII} characters in Emacs Lisp files.
519 * Autoload:: Setting up a function to autoload.
520 * Repeated Loading:: Precautions about loading a file twice.
521 * Named Features:: Loading a library if it isn't already loaded.
522 * Where Defined:: Finding which file defined a certain symbol.
523 * Unloading:: How to "unload" a library that was loaded.
524 * Hooks for Loading:: Providing code to be run when
525 particular libraries are loaded.
526
527 Byte Compilation
528
529 * Speed of Byte-Code:: An example of speedup from byte compilation.
530 * Compilation Functions:: Byte compilation functions.
531 * Docs and Compilation:: Dynamic loading of documentation strings.
532 * Dynamic Loading:: Dynamic loading of individual functions.
533 * Eval During Compile:: Code to be evaluated when you compile.
534 * Compiler Errors:: Handling compiler error messages.
535 * Byte-Code Objects:: The data type used for byte-compiled functions.
536 * Disassembly:: Disassembling byte-code; how to read byte-code.
537
538 Advising Emacs Lisp Functions
539
540 * Simple Advice:: A simple example to explain the basics of advice.
541 * Defining Advice:: Detailed description of @code{defadvice}.
542 * Around-Advice:: Wrapping advice around a function's definition.
543 * Computed Advice:: ...is to @code{defadvice} as @code{fset} is to @code{defun}.
544 * Activation of Advice:: Advice doesn't do anything until you activate it.
545 * Enabling Advice:: You can enable or disable each piece of advice.
546 * Preactivation:: Preactivation is a way of speeding up the
547 loading of compiled advice.
548 * Argument Access in Advice:: How advice can access the function's arguments.
549 * Advising Primitives:: Accessing arguments when advising a primitive.
550 * Combined Definition:: How advice is implemented.
551
552 Debugging Lisp Programs
553
554 * Debugger:: How the Emacs Lisp debugger is implemented.
555 * Edebug:: A source-level Emacs Lisp debugger.
556 * Syntax Errors:: How to find syntax errors.
557 * Test Coverage:: Ensuring you have tested all branches in your code.
558 * Compilation Errors:: How to find errors that show up in
559 byte compilation.
560
561 The Lisp Debugger
562
563 * Error Debugging:: Entering the debugger when an error happens.
564 * Infinite Loops:: Stopping and debugging a program that doesn't exit.
565 * Function Debugging:: Entering it when a certain function is called.
566 * Explicit Debug:: Entering it at a certain point in the program.
567 * Using Debugger:: What the debugger does; what you see while in it.
568 * Debugger Commands:: Commands used while in the debugger.
569 * Invoking the Debugger:: How to call the function @code{debug}.
570 * Internals of Debugger:: Subroutines of the debugger, and global variables.
571
572 Edebug
573
574 * Using Edebug:: Introduction to use of Edebug.
575 * Instrumenting:: You must instrument your code
576 in order to debug it with Edebug.
577 * Edebug Execution Modes:: Execution modes, stopping more or less often.
578 * Jumping:: Commands to jump to a specified place.
579 * Edebug Misc:: Miscellaneous commands.
580 * Breaks:: Setting breakpoints to make the program stop.
581 * Trapping Errors:: Trapping errors with Edebug.
582 * Edebug Views:: Views inside and outside of Edebug.
583 * Edebug Eval:: Evaluating expressions within Edebug.
584 * Eval List:: Expressions whose values are displayed
585 each time you enter Edebug.
586 * Printing in Edebug:: Customization of printing.
587 * Trace Buffer:: How to produce trace output in a buffer.
588 * Coverage Testing:: How to test evaluation coverage.
589 * The Outside Context:: Data that Edebug saves and restores.
590 * Edebug and Macros:: Specifying how to handle macro calls.
591 * Edebug Options:: Option variables for customizing Edebug.
592
593 Debugging Invalid Lisp Syntax
594
595 * Excess Open:: How to find a spurious open paren or missing close.
596 * Excess Close:: How to find a spurious close paren or missing open.
597
598 Reading and Printing Lisp Objects
599
600 * Streams Intro:: Overview of streams, reading and printing.
601 * Input Streams:: Various data types that can be used as
602 input streams.
603 * Input Functions:: Functions to read Lisp objects from text.
604 * Output Streams:: Various data types that can be used as
605 output streams.
606 * Output Functions:: Functions to print Lisp objects as text.
607 * Output Variables:: Variables that control what the printing
608 functions do.
609
610 Minibuffers
611
612 * Intro to Minibuffers:: Basic information about minibuffers.
613 * Text from Minibuffer:: How to read a straight text string.
614 * Object from Minibuffer:: How to read a Lisp object or expression.
615 * Minibuffer History:: Recording previous minibuffer inputs
616 so the user can reuse them.
617 * Initial Input:: Specifying initial contents for the minibuffer.
618 * Completion:: How to invoke and customize completion.
619 * Yes-or-No Queries:: Asking a question with a simple answer.
620 * Multiple Queries:: Asking a series of similar questions.
621 * Reading a Password:: Reading a password from the terminal.
622 * Minibuffer Commands:: Commands used as key bindings in minibuffers.
623 * Minibuffer Contents:: How such commands access the minibuffer text.
624 * Minibuffer Windows:: Operating on the special minibuffer windows.
625 * Recursive Mini:: Whether recursive entry to minibuffer is allowed.
626 * Minibuffer Misc:: Various customization hooks and variables.
627
628 Completion
629
630 * Basic Completion:: Low-level functions for completing strings.
631 (These are too low level to use the minibuffer.)
632 * Minibuffer Completion:: Invoking the minibuffer with completion.
633 * Completion Commands:: Minibuffer commands that do completion.
634 * High-Level Completion:: Convenient special cases of completion
635 (reading buffer name, file name, etc.)
636 * Reading File Names:: Using completion to read file names.
637 * Programmed Completion:: Finding the completions for a given file name.
638
639 Command Loop
640
641 * Command Overview:: How the command loop reads commands.
642 * Defining Commands:: Specifying how a function should read arguments.
643 * Interactive Call:: Calling a command, so that it will read arguments.
644 * Command Loop Info:: Variables set by the command loop for you to examine.
645 * Adjusting Point:: Adjustment of point after a command.
646 * Input Events:: What input looks like when you read it.
647 * Reading Input:: How to read input events from the keyboard or mouse.
648 * Special Events:: Events processed immediately and individually.
649 * Waiting:: Waiting for user input or elapsed time.
650 * Quitting:: How @kbd{C-g} works. How to catch or defer quitting.
651 * Prefix Command Arguments:: How the commands to set prefix args work.
652 * Recursive Editing:: Entering a recursive edit,
653 and why you usually shouldn't.
654 * Disabling Commands:: How the command loop handles disabled commands.
655 * Command History:: How the command history is set up, and how accessed.
656 * Keyboard Macros:: How keyboard macros are implemented.
657
658 Defining Commands
659
660 * Using Interactive:: General rules for @code{interactive}.
661 * Interactive Codes:: The standard letter-codes for reading arguments
662 in various ways.
663 * Interactive Examples:: Examples of how to read interactive arguments.
664
665 Input Events
666
667 * Keyboard Events:: Ordinary characters--keys with symbols on them.
668 * Function Keys:: Function keys--keys with names, not symbols.
669 * Mouse Events:: Overview of mouse events.
670 * Click Events:: Pushing and releasing a mouse button.
671 * Drag Events:: Moving the mouse before releasing the button.
672 * Button-Down Events:: A button was pushed and not yet released.
673 * Repeat Events:: Double and triple click (or drag, or down).
674 * Motion Events:: Just moving the mouse, not pushing a button.
675 * Focus Events:: Moving the mouse between frames.
676 * Misc Events:: Other events the system can generate.
677 * Event Examples:: Examples of the lists for mouse events.
678 * Classifying Events:: Finding the modifier keys in an event symbol.
679 * Accessing Events:: Functions to extract info from events.
680 * Strings of Events:: Special considerations for putting
681 keyboard character events in a string.
682
683 Reading Input
684
685 * Key Sequence Input:: How to read one key sequence.
686 * Reading One Event:: How to read just one event.
687 * Event Mod:: How Emacs modifies events as they are read.
688 * Invoking the Input Method:: How reading an event uses the input method.
689 * Quoted Character Input:: Asking the user to specify a character.
690 * Event Input Misc:: How to reread or throw away input events.
691
692 Keymaps
693
694 * Key Sequences:: Key sequences as Lisp objects.
695 * Keymap Basics:: Basic concepts of keymaps.
696 * Format of Keymaps:: What a keymap looks like as a Lisp object.
697 * Creating Keymaps:: Functions to create and copy keymaps.
698 * Inheritance and Keymaps:: How one keymap can inherit the bindings
699 of another keymap.
700 * Prefix Keys:: Defining a key with a keymap as its definition.
701 * Active Keymaps:: How Emacs searches the active keymaps
702 for a key binding.
703 * Searching Keymaps:: A pseudo-Lisp summary of searching active maps.
704 * Controlling Active Maps:: Each buffer has a local keymap
705 to override the standard (global) bindings.
706 A minor mode can also override them.
707 * Key Lookup:: How extracting elements from keymaps works.
708 * Functions for Key Lookup:: How to request key lookup.
709 * Changing Key Bindings:: Redefining a key in a keymap.
710 * Remapping Commands:: A keymap can translate one command to another.
711 * Translation Keymaps:: Keymaps for translating sequences of events.
712 * Key Binding Commands:: Interactive interfaces for redefining keys.
713 * Scanning Keymaps:: Looking through all keymaps, for printing help.
714 * Menu Keymaps:: A keymap can define a menu for X
715 or for use from the terminal.
716 * Standard Keymaps:: List of standard keymaps.
717
718 Major and Minor Modes
719
720 * Hooks:: How to use hooks; how to write code that
721 provides hooks.
722 * Major Modes:: Defining major modes.
723 * Minor Modes:: Defining minor modes.
724 * Mode Line Format:: Customizing the text that appears in the mode line.
725 * Imenu:: How a mode can provide a menu
726 of definitions in the buffer.
727 * Font Lock Mode:: How modes can highlight text according to syntax.
728 * Desktop Save Mode:: How modes can have buffer state saved between
729 Emacs sessions.
730
731 Menu Keymaps
732
733 * Defining Menus:: How to make a keymap that defines a menu.
734 * Mouse Menus:: How users actuate the menu with the mouse.
735 * Keyboard Menus:: How users actuate the menu with the keyboard.
736 * Menu Example:: Making a simple menu.
737 * Menu Bar:: How to customize the menu bar.
738 * Tool Bar:: A tool bar is a row of images.
739 * Modifying Menus:: How to add new items to a menu.
740
741 Defining Menus
742
743 * Simple Menu Items:: A simple kind of menu key binding,
744 limited in capabilities.
745 * Extended Menu Items:: More powerful menu item definitions
746 let you specify keywords to enable
747 various features.
748 * Menu Separators:: Drawing a horizontal line through a menu.
749 * Alias Menu Items:: Using command aliases in menu items.
750
751 Major and Minor Modes
752
753 * Hooks:: How to use hooks; how to write code that provides hooks.
754 * Major Modes:: Defining major modes.
755 * Minor Modes:: Defining minor modes.
756 * Mode Line Format:: Customizing the text that appears in the mode line.
757 * Imenu:: How a mode can provide a menu
758 of definitions in the buffer.
759 * Font Lock Mode:: How modes can highlight text according to syntax.
760 * Desktop Save Mode:: How modes can have buffer state saved between
761 Emacs sessions.
762
763 Major Modes
764
765 * Major Mode Basics::
766 * Major Mode Conventions:: Coding conventions for keymaps, etc.
767 * Example Major Modes:: Text mode and Lisp modes.
768 * Auto Major Mode:: How Emacs chooses the major mode automatically.
769 * Mode Help:: Finding out how to use a mode.
770 * Derived Modes:: Defining a new major mode based on another major
771 mode.
772 * Generic Modes:: Defining a simple major mode that supports
773 comment syntax and Font Lock mode.
774 * Mode Hooks:: Hooks run at the end of major mode functions.
775
776 Minor Modes
777
778 * Minor Mode Conventions:: Tips for writing a minor mode.
779 * Keymaps and Minor Modes:: How a minor mode can have its own keymap.
780 * Defining Minor Modes:: A convenient facility for defining minor modes.
781
782 Mode Line Format
783
784 * Mode Line Basics::
785 * Mode Line Data:: The data structure that controls the mode line.
786 * Mode Line Variables:: Variables used in that data structure.
787 * %-Constructs:: Putting information into a mode line.
788 * Properties in Mode:: Using text properties in the mode line.
789 * Header Lines:: Like a mode line, but at the top.
790 * Emulating Mode Line:: Formatting text as the mode line would.
791
792 Font Lock Mode
793
794 * Font Lock Basics:: Overview of customizing Font Lock.
795 * Search-based Fontification:: Fontification based on regexps.
796 * Customizing Keywords:: Customizing search-based fontification.
797 * Other Font Lock Variables:: Additional customization facilities.
798 * Levels of Font Lock:: Each mode can define alternative levels
799 so that the user can select more or less.
800 * Precalculated Fontification:: How Lisp programs that produce the buffer
801 contents can also specify how to fontify it.
802 * Faces for Font Lock:: Special faces specifically for Font Lock.
803 * Syntactic Font Lock:: Fontification based on syntax tables.
804 * Setting Syntax Properties:: Defining character syntax based on context
805 using the Font Lock mechanism.
806 * Multiline Font Lock:: How to coerce Font Lock into properly
807 highlighting multiline constructs.
808
809 Multiline Font Lock Constructs
810
811 * Font Lock Multiline:: Marking multiline chunks with a text property
812 * Region to Fontify:: Controlling which region gets refontified
813 after a buffer change.
814
815 Documentation
816
817 * Documentation Basics:: Good style for doc strings.
818 Where to put them. How Emacs stores them.
819 * Accessing Documentation:: How Lisp programs can access doc strings.
820 * Keys in Documentation:: Substituting current key bindings.
821 * Describing Characters:: Making printable descriptions of
822 non-printing characters and key sequences.
823 * Help Functions:: Subroutines used by Emacs help facilities.
824
825 Files
826
827 * Visiting Files:: Reading files into Emacs buffers for editing.
828 * Saving Buffers:: Writing changed buffers back into files.
829 * Reading from Files:: Reading files into other buffers.
830 * Writing to Files:: Writing new files from parts of buffers.
831 * File Locks:: Locking and unlocking files, to prevent
832 simultaneous editing by two people.
833 * Information about Files:: Testing existence, accessibility, size of files.
834 * Changing Files:: Renaming files, changing protection, etc.
835 * File Names:: Decomposing and expanding file names.
836 * Contents of Directories:: Getting a list of the files in a directory.
837 * Create/Delete Dirs:: Creating and Deleting Directories.
838 * Magic File Names:: Defining "magic" special handling
839 for certain file names.
840 * Format Conversion:: Conversion to and from various file formats.
841
842 Visiting Files
843
844 * Visiting Functions:: The usual interface functions for visiting.
845 * Subroutines of Visiting:: Lower-level subroutines that they use.
846
847 Information about Files
848
849 * Testing Accessibility:: Is a given file readable? Writable?
850 * Kinds of Files:: Is it a directory? A symbolic link?
851 * Truenames:: Eliminating symbolic links from a file name.
852 * File Attributes:: How large is it? Any other names? Etc.
853 * Locating Files:: How to find a file in standard places.
854
855 File Names
856
857 * File Name Components:: The directory part of a file name, and the rest.
858 * Relative File Names:: Some file names are relative to a
859 current directory.
860 * Directory Names:: A directory's name as a directory
861 is different from its name as a file.
862 * File Name Expansion:: Converting relative file names to absolute ones.
863 * Unique File Names:: Generating names for temporary files.
864 * File Name Completion:: Finding the completions for a given file name.
865 * Standard File Names:: If your package uses a fixed file name,
866 how to handle various operating systems simply.
867
868 Backups and Auto-Saving
869
870 * Backup Files:: How backup files are made; how their names
871 are chosen.
872 * Auto-Saving:: How auto-save files are made; how their
873 names are chosen.
874 * Reverting:: @code{revert-buffer}, and how to customize
875 what it does.
876
877 Backup Files
878
879 * Making Backups:: How Emacs makes backup files, and when.
880 * Rename or Copy:: Two alternatives: renaming the old file
881 or copying it.
882 * Numbered Backups:: Keeping multiple backups for each source file.
883 * Backup Names:: How backup file names are computed; customization.
884
885 Buffers
886
887 * Buffer Basics:: What is a buffer?
888 * Current Buffer:: Designating a buffer as current
889 so primitives will access its contents.
890 * Buffer Names:: Accessing and changing buffer names.
891 * Buffer File Name:: The buffer file name indicates which file
892 is visited.
893 * Buffer Modification:: A buffer is @dfn{modified} if it needs to be saved.
894 * Modification Time:: Determining whether the visited file was changed
895 ``behind Emacs's back''.
896 * Read Only Buffers:: Modifying text is not allowed in a
897 read-only buffer.
898 * The Buffer List:: How to look at all the existing buffers.
899 * Creating Buffers:: Functions that create buffers.
900 * Killing Buffers:: Buffers exist until explicitly killed.
901 * Indirect Buffers:: An indirect buffer shares text with some
902 other buffer.
903 * Buffer Gap:: The gap in the buffer.
904
905 Windows
906
907 * Basic Windows:: Basic information on using windows.
908 * Splitting Windows:: Splitting one window into two windows.
909 * Deleting Windows:: Deleting a window gives its space to other windows.
910 * Selecting Windows:: The selected window is the one that you edit in.
911 * Cyclic Window Ordering:: Moving around the existing windows.
912 * Buffers and Windows:: Each window displays the contents of a buffer.
913 * Displaying Buffers:: Higher-level functions for displaying a buffer
914 and choosing a window for it.
915 * Choosing Window:: How to choose a window for displaying a buffer.
916 * Window Point:: Each window has its own location of point.
917 * Window Start:: The display-start position controls which text
918 is on-screen in the window.
919 * Textual Scrolling:: Moving text up and down through the window.
920 * Vertical Scrolling:: Moving the contents up and down on the window.
921 * Horizontal Scrolling:: Moving the contents sideways on the window.
922 * Size of Window:: Accessing the size of a window.
923 * Resizing Windows:: Changing the size of a window.
924 * Coordinates and Windows:: Converting coordinates to windows.
925 * Window Tree:: The layout and sizes of all windows in a frame.
926 * Window Configurations:: Saving and restoring the state of the screen.
927 * Window Hooks:: Hooks for scrolling, window size changes,
928 redisplay going past a certain point,
929 or window configuration changes.
930
931 Frames
932
933 * Creating Frames:: Creating additional frames.
934 * Multiple Displays:: Creating frames on other displays.
935 * Frame Parameters:: Controlling frame size, position, font, etc.
936 * Frame Titles:: Automatic updating of frame titles.
937 * Deleting Frames:: Frames last until explicitly deleted.
938 * Finding All Frames:: How to examine all existing frames.
939 * Frames and Windows:: A frame contains windows;
940 display of text always works through windows.
941 * Minibuffers and Frames:: How a frame finds the minibuffer to use.
942 * Input Focus:: Specifying the selected frame.
943 * Visibility of Frames:: Frames may be visible or invisible, or icons.
944 * Raising and Lowering:: Raising a frame makes it hide other windows;
945 lowering it puts it underneath the others.
946 * Frame Configurations:: Saving the state of all frames.
947 * Mouse Tracking:: Getting events that say when the mouse moves.
948 * Mouse Position:: Asking where the mouse is, or moving it.
949 * Pop-Up Menus:: Displaying a menu for the user to select from.
950 * Dialog Boxes:: Displaying a box to ask yes or no.
951 * Pointer Shape:: Specifying the shape of the mouse pointer.
952 * Window System Selections::Transferring text to and from other windows.
953 * Drag and Drop:: Internals of Drag-and-Drop implementation.
954 * Color Names:: Getting the definitions of color names.
955 * Text Terminal Colors:: Defining colors for text-only terminals.
956 * Resources:: Getting resource values from the server.
957 * Display Feature Testing:: Determining the features of a terminal.
958
959 Frame Parameters
960
961 * Parameter Access:: How to change a frame's parameters.
962 * Initial Parameters:: Specifying frame parameters when you make a frame.
963 * Window Frame Parameters:: List of frame parameters for window systems.
964 * Size and Position:: Changing the size and position of a frame.
965 * Geometry:: Parsing geometry specifications.
966
967 Window Frame Parameters
968
969 * Basic Parameters:: Parameters that are fundamental.
970 * Position Parameters:: The position of the frame on the screen.
971 * Size Parameters:: Frame's size.
972 * Layout Parameters:: Size of parts of the frame, and
973 enabling or disabling some parts.
974 * Buffer Parameters:: Which buffers have been or should be shown.
975 * Management Parameters:: Communicating with the window manager.
976 * Cursor Parameters:: Controlling the cursor appearance.
977 * Color Parameters:: Colors of various parts of the frame.
978
979 Positions
980
981 * Point:: The special position where editing takes place.
982 * Motion:: Changing point.
983 * Excursions:: Temporary motion and buffer changes.
984 * Narrowing:: Restricting editing to a portion of the buffer.
985
986 Motion
987
988 * Character Motion:: Moving in terms of characters.
989 * Word Motion:: Moving in terms of words.
990 * Buffer End Motion:: Moving to the beginning or end of the buffer.
991 * Text Lines:: Moving in terms of lines of text.
992 * Screen Lines:: Moving in terms of lines as displayed.
993 * List Motion:: Moving by parsing lists and sexps.
994 * Skipping Characters:: Skipping characters belonging to a certain set.
995
996 Markers
997
998 * Overview of Markers:: The components of a marker, and how it relocates.
999 * Predicates on Markers:: Testing whether an object is a marker.
1000 * Creating Markers:: Making empty markers or markers at certain places.
1001 * Information from Markers::Finding the marker's buffer or character
1002 position.
1003 * Marker Insertion Types:: Two ways a marker can relocate when you
1004 insert where it points.
1005 * Moving Markers:: Moving the marker to a new buffer or position.
1006 * The Mark:: How "the mark" is implemented with a marker.
1007 * The Region:: How to access "the region".
1008
1009 Text
1010
1011 * Near Point:: Examining text in the vicinity of point.
1012 * Buffer Contents:: Examining text in a general fashion.
1013 * Comparing Text:: Comparing substrings of buffers.
1014 * Insertion:: Adding new text to a buffer.
1015 * Commands for Insertion:: User-level commands to insert text.
1016 * Deletion:: Removing text from a buffer.
1017 * User-Level Deletion:: User-level commands to delete text.
1018 * The Kill Ring:: Where removed text sometimes is saved for
1019 later use.
1020 * Undo:: Undoing changes to the text of a buffer.
1021 * Maintaining Undo:: How to enable and disable undo information.
1022 How to control how much information is kept.
1023 * Filling:: Functions for explicit filling.
1024 * Margins:: How to specify margins for filling commands.
1025 * Adaptive Fill:: Adaptive Fill mode chooses a fill prefix
1026 from context.
1027 * Auto Filling:: How auto-fill mode is implemented to break lines.
1028 * Sorting:: Functions for sorting parts of the buffer.
1029 * Columns:: Computing horizontal positions, and using them.
1030 * Indentation:: Functions to insert or adjust indentation.
1031 * Case Changes:: Case conversion of parts of the buffer.
1032 * Text Properties:: Assigning Lisp property lists to text characters.
1033 * Substitution:: Replacing a given character wherever it appears.
1034 * Transposition:: Swapping two portions of a buffer.
1035 * Registers:: How registers are implemented. Accessing
1036 the text or position stored in a register.
1037 * Base 64:: Conversion to or from base 64 encoding.
1038 * MD5 Checksum:: Compute the MD5 "message digest"/"checksum".
1039 * Atomic Changes:: Installing several buffer changes "atomically".
1040 * Change Hooks:: Supplying functions to be run when text is changed.
1041
1042 The Kill Ring
1043
1044 * Kill Ring Concepts:: What text looks like in the kill ring.
1045 * Kill Functions:: Functions that kill text.
1046 * Yanking:: How yanking is done.
1047 * Yank Commands:: Commands that access the kill ring.
1048 * Low-Level Kill Ring:: Functions and variables for kill ring access.
1049 * Internals of Kill Ring:: Variables that hold kill-ring data.
1050
1051 Indentation
1052
1053 * Primitive Indent:: Functions used to count and insert indentation.
1054 * Mode-Specific Indent:: Customize indentation for different modes.
1055 * Region Indent:: Indent all the lines in a region.
1056 * Relative Indent:: Indent the current line based on previous lines.
1057 * Indent Tabs:: Adjustable, typewriter-like tab stops.
1058 * Motion by Indent:: Move to first non-blank character.
1059
1060 Text Properties
1061
1062 * Examining Properties:: Looking at the properties of one character.
1063 * Changing Properties:: Setting the properties of a range of text.
1064 * Property Search:: Searching for where a property changes value.
1065 * Special Properties:: Particular properties with special meanings.
1066 * Format Properties:: Properties for representing formatting of text.
1067 * Sticky Properties:: How inserted text gets properties from
1068 neighboring text.
1069 * Lazy Properties:: Computing text properties in a lazy fashion
1070 only when text is examined.
1071 * Clickable Text:: Using text properties to make regions of text
1072 do something when you click on them.
1073 * Links and Mouse-1:: How to make @key{Mouse-1} follow a link.
1074 * Fields:: The @code{field} property defines
1075 fields within the buffer.
1076 * Not Intervals:: Why text properties do not use
1077 Lisp-visible text intervals.
1078
1079 Non-ASCII Characters
1080
1081 * Text Representations:: Unibyte and multibyte representations
1082 * Converting Representations:: Converting unibyte to multibyte and vice versa.
1083 * Selecting a Representation:: Treating a byte sequence as unibyte or multi.
1084 * Character Codes:: How unibyte and multibyte relate to
1085 codes of individual characters.
1086 * Character Sets:: The space of possible character codes
1087 is divided into various character sets.
1088 * Chars and Bytes:: More information about multibyte encodings.
1089 * Splitting Characters:: Converting a character to its byte sequence.
1090 * Scanning Charsets:: Which character sets are used in a buffer?
1091 * Translation of Characters:: Translation tables are used for conversion.
1092 * Coding Systems:: Coding systems are conversions for saving files.
1093 * Input Methods:: Input methods allow users to enter various
1094 non-ASCII characters without special keyboards.
1095 * Locales:: Interacting with the POSIX locale.
1096
1097 Coding Systems
1098
1099 * Coding System Basics:: Basic concepts.
1100 * Encoding and I/O:: How file I/O functions handle coding systems.
1101 * Lisp and Coding Systems:: Functions to operate on coding system names.
1102 * User-Chosen Coding Systems:: Asking the user to choose a coding system.
1103 * Default Coding Systems:: Controlling the default choices.
1104 * Specifying Coding Systems:: Requesting a particular coding system
1105 for a single file operation.
1106 * Explicit Encoding:: Encoding or decoding text without doing I/O.
1107 * Terminal I/O Encoding:: Use of encoding for terminal I/O.
1108 * MS-DOS File Types:: How DOS "text" and "binary" files
1109 relate to coding systems.
1110
1111 Searching and Matching
1112
1113 * String Search:: Search for an exact match.
1114 * Searching and Case:: Case-independent or case-significant searching.
1115 * Regular Expressions:: Describing classes of strings.
1116 * Regexp Search:: Searching for a match for a regexp.
1117 * POSIX Regexps:: Searching POSIX-style for the longest match.
1118 * Match Data:: Finding out which part of the text matched,
1119 after a string or regexp search.
1120 * Search and Replace:: Commands that loop, searching and replacing.
1121 * Standard Regexps:: Useful regexps for finding sentences, pages,...
1122
1123 Regular Expressions
1124
1125 * Syntax of Regexps:: Rules for writing regular expressions.
1126 * Regexp Example:: Illustrates regular expression syntax.
1127 * Regexp Functions:: Functions for operating on regular expressions.
1128
1129 Syntax of Regular Expressions
1130
1131 * Regexp Special:: Special characters in regular expressions.
1132 * Char Classes:: Character classes used in regular expressions.
1133 * Regexp Backslash:: Backslash-sequences in regular expressions.
1134
1135 The Match Data
1136
1137 * Replacing Match:: Replacing a substring that was matched.
1138 * Simple Match Data:: Accessing single items of match data,
1139 such as where a particular subexpression started.
1140 * Entire Match Data:: Accessing the entire match data at once, as a list.
1141 * Saving Match Data:: Saving and restoring the match data.
1142
1143 Syntax Tables
1144
1145 * Syntax Basics:: Basic concepts of syntax tables.
1146 * Syntax Descriptors:: How characters are classified.
1147 * Syntax Table Functions:: How to create, examine and alter syntax tables.
1148 * Syntax Properties:: Overriding syntax with text properties.
1149 * Motion and Syntax:: Moving over characters with certain syntaxes.
1150 * Parsing Expressions:: Parsing balanced expressions
1151 using the syntax table.
1152 * Standard Syntax Tables:: Syntax tables used by various major modes.
1153 * Syntax Table Internals:: How syntax table information is stored.
1154 * Categories:: Another way of classifying character syntax.
1155
1156 Syntax Descriptors
1157
1158 * Syntax Class Table:: Table of syntax classes.
1159 * Syntax Flags:: Additional flags each character can have.
1160
1161 Parsing Expressions
1162
1163 * Motion via Parsing:: Motion functions that work by parsing.
1164 * Position Parse:: Determining the syntactic state of a position.
1165 * Parser State:: How Emacs represents a syntactic state.
1166 * Low-Level Parsing:: Parsing across a specified region.
1167 * Control Parsing:: Parameters that affect parsing.
1168
1169 Abbrevs And Abbrev Expansion
1170
1171 * Abbrev Mode:: Setting up Emacs for abbreviation.
1172 * Abbrev Tables:: Creating and working with abbrev tables.
1173 * Defining Abbrevs:: Specifying abbreviations and their expansions.
1174 * Abbrev Files:: Saving abbrevs in files.
1175 * Abbrev Expansion:: Controlling expansion; expansion subroutines.
1176 * Standard Abbrev Tables:: Abbrev tables used by various major modes.
1177
1178 Processes
1179
1180 * Subprocess Creation:: Functions that start subprocesses.
1181 * Shell Arguments:: Quoting an argument to pass it to a shell.
1182 * Synchronous Processes:: Details of using synchronous subprocesses.
1183 * Asynchronous Processes:: Starting up an asynchronous subprocess.
1184 * Deleting Processes:: Eliminating an asynchronous subprocess.
1185 * Process Information:: Accessing run-status and other attributes.
1186 * Input to Processes:: Sending input to an asynchronous subprocess.
1187 * Signals to Processes:: Stopping, continuing or interrupting
1188 an asynchronous subprocess.
1189 * Output from Processes:: Collecting output from an asynchronous subprocess.
1190 * Sentinels:: Sentinels run when process run-status changes.
1191 * Query Before Exit:: Whether to query if exiting will kill a process.
1192 * Transaction Queues:: Transaction-based communication with subprocesses.
1193 * Network:: Opening network connections.
1194 * Network Servers:: Network servers let Emacs accept net connections.
1195 * Datagrams:: UDP network connections.
1196 * Low-Level Network:: Lower-level but more general function
1197 to create connections and servers.
1198 * Misc Network:: Additional relevant functions for network connections.
1199 * Byte Packing:: Using bindat to pack and unpack binary data.
1200
1201 Receiving Output from Processes
1202
1203 * Process Buffers:: If no filter, output is put in a buffer.
1204 * Filter Functions:: Filter functions accept output from the process.
1205 * Decoding Output:: Filters can get unibyte or multibyte strings.
1206 * Accepting Output:: How to wait until process output arrives.
1207
1208 Low-Level Network Access
1209
1210 * Proc: Network Processes. Using @code{make-network-process}.
1211 * Options: Network Options. Further control over network connections.
1212 * Features: Network Feature Testing.
1213 Determining which network features work on
1214 the machine you are using.
1215
1216 Packing and Unpacking Byte Arrays
1217
1218 * Bindat Spec:: Describing data layout.
1219 * Bindat Functions:: Doing the unpacking and packing.
1220 * Bindat Examples:: Samples of what bindat.el can do for you!
1221
1222 Emacs Display
1223
1224 * Refresh Screen:: Clearing the screen and redrawing everything on it.
1225 * Forcing Redisplay:: Forcing redisplay.
1226 * Truncation:: Folding or wrapping long text lines.
1227 * The Echo Area:: Displaying messages at the bottom of the screen.
1228 * Warnings:: Displaying warning messages for the user.
1229 * Invisible Text:: Hiding part of the buffer text.
1230 * Selective Display:: Hiding part of the buffer text (the old way).
1231 * Temporary Displays:: Displays that go away automatically.
1232 * Overlays:: Use overlays to highlight parts of the buffer.
1233 * Width:: How wide a character or string is on the screen.
1234 * Line Height:: Controlling the height of lines.
1235 * Faces:: A face defines a graphics style
1236 for text characters: font, colors, etc.
1237 * Fringes:: Controlling window fringes.
1238 * Scroll Bars:: Controlling vertical scroll bars.
1239 * Display Property:: Enabling special display features.
1240 * Images:: Displaying images in Emacs buffers.
1241 * Buttons:: Adding clickable buttons to Emacs buffers.
1242 * Abstract Display:: Emacs' Widget for Object Collections.
1243 * Blinking:: How Emacs shows the matching open parenthesis.
1244 * Usual Display:: The usual conventions for displaying nonprinting chars.
1245 * Display Tables:: How to specify other conventions.
1246 * Beeping:: Audible signal to the user.
1247 * Window Systems:: Which window system is being used.
1248
1249 The Echo Area
1250
1251 * Displaying Messages:: Explicitly displaying text in the echo area.
1252 * Progress:: Informing user about progress of a long operation.
1253 * Logging Messages:: Echo area messages are logged for the user.
1254 * Echo Area Customization:: Controlling the echo area.
1255
1256 Reporting Warnings
1257
1258 * Warning Basics:: Warnings concepts and functions to report them.
1259 * Warning Variables:: Variables programs bind to customize their warnings.
1260 * Warning Options:: Variables users set to control display of warnings.
1261
1262 Overlays
1263
1264 * Managing Overlays:: Creating and moving overlays.
1265 * Overlay Properties:: How to read and set properties.
1266 What properties do to the screen display.
1267 * Finding Overlays:: Searching for overlays.
1268
1269 Faces
1270
1271 * Defining Faces:: How to define a face with @code{defface}.
1272 * Face Attributes:: What is in a face?
1273 * Attribute Functions:: Functions to examine and set face attributes.
1274 * Displaying Faces:: How Emacs combines the faces specified for
1275 a character.
1276 * Font Selection:: Finding the best available font for a face.
1277 * Face Functions:: How to define and examine faces.
1278 * Auto Faces:: Hook for automatic face assignment.
1279 * Font Lookup:: Looking up the names of available fonts
1280 and information about them.
1281 * Fontsets:: A fontset is a collection of fonts
1282 that handle a range of character sets.
1283
1284 Fringes
1285
1286 * Fringe Size/Pos:: Specifying where to put the window fringes.
1287 * Fringe Indicators:: Displaying indicator icons in the window fringes.
1288 * Fringe Cursors:: Displaying cursors in the right fringe.
1289 * Fringe Bitmaps:: Specifying bitmaps for fringe indicators.
1290 * Customizing Bitmaps:: Specifying your own bitmaps to use in the fringes.
1291 * Overlay Arrow:: Display of an arrow to indicate position.
1292
1293 The @code{display} Property
1294
1295 * Specified Space:: Displaying one space with a specified width.
1296 * Pixel Specification:: Specifying space width or height in pixels.
1297 * Other Display Specs:: Displaying an image; magnifying text; moving it
1298 up or down on the page; adjusting the width
1299 of spaces within text.
1300 * Display Margins:: Displaying text or images to the side of
1301 the main text.
1302
1303 Images
1304
1305 * Image Descriptors:: How to specify an image for use in @code{:display}.
1306 * XBM Images:: Special features for XBM format.
1307 * XPM Images:: Special features for XPM format.
1308 * GIF Images:: Special features for GIF format.
1309 * PostScript Images:: Special features for PostScript format.
1310 * Other Image Types:: Various other formats are supported.
1311 * Defining Images:: Convenient ways to define an image for later use.
1312 * Showing Images:: Convenient ways to display an image once
1313 it is defined.
1314 * Image Cache:: Internal mechanisms of image display.
1315
1316 Buttons
1317
1318 * Button Properties:: Button properties with special meanings.
1319 * Button Types:: Defining common properties for classes of buttons.
1320 * Making Buttons:: Adding buttons to Emacs buffers.
1321 * Manipulating Buttons:: Getting and setting properties of buttons.
1322 * Button Buffer Commands:: Buffer-wide commands and bindings for buttons.
1323
1324 Abstract Display
1325
1326 * Abstract Display Functions:: Functions in the Ewoc package.
1327 * Abstract Display Example:: Example of using Ewoc.
1328
1329 Display Tables
1330
1331 * Display Table Format:: What a display table consists of.
1332 * Active Display Table:: How Emacs selects a display table to use.
1333 * Glyphs:: How to define a glyph, and what glyphs mean.
1334
1335 Operating System Interface
1336
1337 * Starting Up:: Customizing Emacs start-up processing.
1338 * Getting Out:: How exiting works (permanent or temporary).
1339 * System Environment:: Distinguish the name and kind of system.
1340 * User Identification:: Finding the name and user id of the user.
1341 * Time of Day:: Getting the current time.
1342 * Time Conversion:: Converting a time from numeric form to a string, or
1343 to calendrical data (or vice versa).
1344 * Time Parsing:: Converting a time from numeric form to text
1345 and vice versa.
1346 * Processor Run Time:: Getting the run time used by Emacs.
1347 * Time Calculations:: Adding, subtracting, comparing times, etc.
1348 * Timers:: Setting a timer to call a function at a certain time.
1349 * Idle Timers:: Setting a timer to call a function when Emacs has
1350 been idle for a certain length of time.
1351 * Terminal Input:: Accessing and recording terminal input.
1352 * Terminal Output:: Controlling and recording terminal output.
1353 * Sound Output:: Playing sounds on the computer's speaker.
1354 * X11 Keysyms:: Operating on key symbols for X Windows
1355 * Batch Mode:: Running Emacs without terminal interaction.
1356 * Session Management:: Saving and restoring state with X Session Management.
1357
1358 Starting Up Emacs
1359
1360 * Startup Summary:: Sequence of actions Emacs performs at start-up.
1361 * Init File:: Details on reading the init file (@file{.emacs}).
1362 * Terminal-Specific:: How the terminal-specific Lisp file is read.
1363 * Command-Line Arguments:: How command-line arguments are processed,
1364 and how you can customize them.
1365
1366 Getting Out of Emacs
1367
1368 * Killing Emacs:: Exiting Emacs irreversibly.
1369 * Suspending Emacs:: Exiting Emacs reversibly.
1370
1371 Terminal Input
1372
1373 * Input Modes:: Options for how input is processed.
1374 * Recording Input:: Saving histories of recent or all input events.
1375
1376 Tips and Conventions
1377
1378 * Coding Conventions:: Conventions for clean and robust programs.
1379 * Key Binding Conventions:: Which keys should be bound by which programs.
1380 * Programming Tips:: Making Emacs code fit smoothly in Emacs.
1381 * Compilation Tips:: Making compiled code run fast.
1382 * Warning Tips:: Turning off compiler warnings.
1383 * Documentation Tips:: Writing readable documentation strings.
1384 * Comment Tips:: Conventions for writing comments.
1385 * Library Headers:: Standard headers for library packages.
1386
1387 GNU Emacs Internals
1388
1389 * Building Emacs:: How the dumped Emacs is made.
1390 * Pure Storage:: A kludge to make preloaded Lisp functions sharable.
1391 * Garbage Collection:: Reclaiming space for Lisp objects no longer used.
1392 * Memory Usage:: Info about total size of Lisp objects made so far.
1393 * Writing Emacs Primitives:: Writing C code for Emacs.
1394 * Object Internals:: Data formats of buffers, windows, processes.
1395
1396 Object Internals
1397
1398 * Buffer Internals:: Components of a buffer structure.
1399 * Window Internals:: Components of a window structure.
1400 * Process Internals:: Components of a process structure.
1401 @end detailmenu
1402 @end menu
1403
1404 @include intro.texi
1405 @include objects.texi
1406 @include numbers.texi
1407 @include strings.texi
1408
1409 @include lists.texi
1410 @include sequences.texi
1411 @include hash.texi
1412 @include symbols.texi
1413 @include eval.texi
1414
1415 @include control.texi
1416 @include variables.texi
1417 @include functions.texi
1418 @include macros.texi
1419
1420 @include customize.texi
1421 @include loading.texi
1422 @include compile.texi
1423 @include advice.texi
1424
1425 @include debugging.texi
1426 @include streams.texi
1427 @include minibuf.texi
1428 @include commands.texi
1429
1430 @include keymaps.texi
1431 @include modes.texi
1432 @include help.texi
1433 @include files.texi
1434
1435 @include backups.texi
1436 @include buffers.texi
1437 @include windows.texi
1438 @include frames.texi
1439
1440 @include positions.texi
1441 @include markers.texi
1442 @include text.texi
1443 @include nonascii.texi
1444
1445 @include searching.texi
1446 @include syntax.texi
1447 @include abbrevs.texi
1448 @include processes.texi
1449
1450 @include display.texi
1451 @include os.texi
1452
1453 @c MOVE to Emacs Manual: include misc-modes.texi
1454
1455 @c appendices
1456
1457 @c REMOVE this: include non-hacker.texi
1458
1459 @include anti.texi
1460 @include doclicense.texi
1461 @include gpl.texi
1462 @include tips.texi
1463 @include internals.texi
1464 @include errors.texi
1465 @include locals.texi
1466 @include maps.texi
1467 @include hooks.texi
1468
1469 @include index.texi
1470
1471 @ignore
1472 @node New Symbols, , Index, Top
1473 @unnumbered New Symbols Since the Previous Edition
1474
1475 @printindex tp
1476 @end ignore
1477
1478 @bye
1479
1480 \f
1481 These words prevent "local variables" above from confusing Emacs.
1482
1483 @ignore
1484 arch-tag: f7e9a219-a0e1-4776-b631-08eaa1d49b34
1485 @end ignore