* lisp/electric.el (electric-indent-mode): Enable by default.
[bpt/emacs.git] / etc / NEWS
1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes.
2
3 Copyright (C) 2010-2013 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 See the end of the file for license conditions.
5
6 Please send Emacs bug reports to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.
7 If possible, use M-x report-emacs-bug.
8
9 This file is about changes in Emacs version 24.
10
11 See files NEWS.23, NEWS.22, NEWS.21, NEWS.20, NEWS.19, NEWS.18,
12 and NEWS.1-17 for changes in older Emacs versions.
13
14 You can narrow news to a specific version by calling `view-emacs-news'
15 with a prefix argument or by typing C-u C-h C-n.
16
17 Temporary note:
18 +++ indicates that all necessary updates to the manuals in doc/ are complete.
19 --- means no change in the manuals is needed.
20 When you add a new item, use the appropriate mark if you know it applies,
21 otherwise leave it unmarked.
22
23 \f
24 * Installation Changes in Emacs 24.4
25
26 ** Emacs can be compiled with ACL support.
27 This happens by default if a suitable support library is found at
28 build time, like libacl on GNU/Linux. To prevent this, use the
29 configure option `--disable-acl'.
30
31 ** Emacs can be compiled with file notification support.
32 This happens by default if a suitable system library is found at
33 build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
34 `--with-file-notification-no'. See below for file-notify features.
35 FIXME? This feature is not available for the Nextstep port. (?)
36
37 ** The configure option `without-compress-info' has been generalized,
38 and renamed to `without-compress-install'. It now prevents compression
39 of _any_ files during installation.
40
41 ** The configure option --with-crt-dir has been removed.
42 It is no longer needed, as the crt*.o files are no longer linked
43 specially.
44
45 ** Directories passed to configure option `--enable-locallisppath' are
46 no longer created during installation.
47
48 ** Emacs can be compiled with zlib support. If this library is present
49 (which it normally is on most systems), the function
50 `zlib-decompress-region' becomes available, which can decompress gzip-
51 and zlib-format compressed data.
52
53 ---
54 ** Emacs for NS (OSX, GNUStep) can be built with ImageMagick support.
55 pkg-config is required to find ImageMagick libraries.
56
57 ** For OSX >= 10.5, the Core text based font backend from the Mac port is used.
58 For GNUStep and OSX 10.4 the old backend is used.
59 To use the old backend by default, do on the command line:
60 % defaults write org.gnu.Emacs FontBackend ns
61
62 \f
63 * Startup Changes in Emacs 24.4
64
65 +++
66 ** When initializing `load-path', an empty element in the EMACSLOADPATH
67 environment variable (either leading, e.g., ":/foo"; trailing, e.g.,
68 "/foo:"; or embedded, e.g., "/foo::/bar") is replaced with the default
69 load-path (the one that would have been used if EMACSLOADPATH was unset).
70 This makes it easier to _extend_ the load-path via EMACSLOADPATH
71 (previously, EMACSLOADPATH had to specify the complete load-path,
72 including the defaults). (In older versions of Emacs, an empty element
73 was replaced by ".", so use an explicit "." now if that is what you want.)
74
75 +++
76 ** The -L option, which normally prepends its argument to load-path,
77 will instead append, if the argument begins with `:' (or `;' on MS Windows;
78 i.e., `path-separator').
79
80 \f
81 * Changes in Emacs 24.4
82
83 +++
84 ** Emacs now supports menus on text-mode terminals.
85 If the terminal supports a mouse, clicking on the menu bar, or on
86 sensitive portions of the mode line or header line, will drop down the
87 menu defined at that position. Likewise, clicking C-mouse-2 or
88 C-mouse-2 or C-mouse-3 on the text area will pop up the menus defined
89 for those locations.
90
91 If the text terminal does not support a mouse, you can activate the
92 first menu-bar menu by typing F10, which invokes `menu-bar-open'.
93
94 If you want the previous behavior, whereby F10 invoked `tmm-menubar',
95 customize the option `tty-menu-open-use-tmm' to a non-nil value.
96 (Typing M-` will always invoke `tmm-menubar', even if
97 `tty-menu-open-use-tmm' is nil.)
98
99 ** Key ? also describes prefix bindings like C-h.
100
101 +++
102 ** `cache-long-line-scans' has been renamed to `cache-long-scans'
103 because it affects caching of paragraph scanning results as well.
104
105 +++
106 ** `apropos-variable' is now `apropos-user-option'
107 `apropos-user-option' shows all user options while `apropos-variable'
108 shows all variables. When called with a universal prefix argument,
109 the two commands swap their behaviors. When `apropos-do-all' is
110 non-nil, they output the same results.
111
112 +++
113 ** `eval-defun' on an already defined defcustom calls the :set function,
114 if there is one.
115
116 ** If the new variable `enable-dir-local-variables' is nil,
117 directory local variables are ignored. May be useful for some modes
118 that want to ignore directory-locals while still respecting file-locals.
119
120 ** The option `set-mark-default-inactive' has been deleted.
121 This unfinished feature was introduced by accident in Emacs 23.1;
122 simply disabling Transient Mark mode does the same thing.
123
124 ** `initial-buffer-choice' can now specify a function to set up the
125 initial buffer.
126
127 ** The *Messages* buffer is created in a new major mode `messages-buffer-mode',
128 and read-only. Code that might create the *Messages* buffer should
129 call the function `messages-buffer' to do so and set the mode.
130
131 ** `remember-notes' creates a buffer whose content is saved on kill-emacs.
132 You may think of it as a *scratch* buffer whose content is preserved.
133 In fact, it was designed as a replacement for *scratch* buffer and can
134 be used that way by setting `initial-buffer-choice' to `remember-notes'
135 and `remember-notes-buffer-name' to "*scratch*". Without the second
136 change, *scratch* buffer will still be there for notes that do not
137 need to be preserved.
138
139 ** `write-region-inhibit-fsync' now defaults to t in batch mode.
140
141 ** ACL support has been added.
142 +++
143 *** Emacs preserves the ACL entries of files when backing up.
144 +++
145 *** New functions `file-acl' and `set-file-acl' get and set the ACL
146 entries of a file. On GNU/Linux, the POSIX ACL interface is used via
147 libacl. On MS-Windows, the NT Security APIs are used to emulate the
148 POSIX ACL interfaces.
149
150 ** New option `scroll-bar-adjust-thumb-portion'.
151 Available only on X, this option allows to control over-scrolling
152 using the scroll bar (i.e. dragging the thumb down even when the end
153 of the buffer is visible).
154
155 ** New function `add-face-text-property' has been added, which can be
156 used to conveniently prepend/append new face attributes to text.
157
158 ** In compiled Lisp files, the header no longer includes a timestamp.
159
160 ** Multi-monitor support has been added.
161
162 *** New functions `display-monitor-attributes-list' and
163 `frame-monitor-attributes' can be used to obtain information about
164 each physical monitor on multi-monitor setups.
165
166 *** The functions `display-pixel-width' and `display-pixel-height' now
167 behave consistently among the platforms: they return the pixel width
168 or height for all physical monitors associated with the given display
169 as just they were on X11. To get information for each physical
170 monitor, use the new functions above. Similar notes also apply to
171 `x-display-pixel-width', `x-display-pixel-height', `display-mm-width',
172 `display-mm-height', `x-display-mm-width', and `x-display-mm-height'.
173
174 ** New macro `alternatives-define' can be used to define generic commands.
175 Generic commands are interactive functions whose implementation can be
176 selected among several alternatives, as a matter of user preference.
177
178 ** New hooks `focus-in-hook', `focus-out-hook'.
179 These are normal hooks run when an Emacs frame gains or loses input focus.
180
181 ** The blink cursor stops blinking after 10 blinks (default) on X and NS.
182 You can change the default by customizing the variable blink-cursor-blinks.
183 Also timers for blinking are stopped when no blinking is done, so Emacs does
184 not consume CPU cycles.
185
186 ** New command `frameset-to-register' is now bound to `C-x r f', replacing
187 `frame-configuration-to-register'. It offers similar functionality, plus
188 some enhancements, like the ability to restore deleted frames. Command
189 `frame-configuration-to-register' is still available, but unbound.
190
191 ** The command `quail-help' is deleted. Use `C-h C-\'
192 (`describe-input-method') instead.
193
194 ** The default value of `comment-use-global-state' is changed to t,
195 and this variable has been marked obsolete.
196
197 ** `fill-single-char-nobreak-p' prevents fill from breaking a line after
198 a 1-letter word, which is an error according to Polish and
199 Czech typography rules. To globally enable this feature, evaluate:
200
201 (add-hook 'fill-nobreak-predicate 'fill-single-char-nobreak-p)
202
203 \f
204 * Editing Changes in Emacs 24.4
205
206 ** `electric-indent-mode' is enabled by default.
207
208 ** Command `rectangle-mark-mode' bound to C-x SPC makes a rectangular region.
209 Most commands are still unaware of it, but kill/yank do work on the rectangle.
210
211 ** C-x TAB enters a transient interactive mode.
212 You can then use the left/right cursor keys to move the block of text.
213
214 ** `tab-stop-list' is now implicitly extended to infinity by repeating
215 the last step. Its default value is changed to nil which means a tab
216 stop every `tab-width' columns.
217
218 ** `split-window' is no longer a command, just a non-interactive function.
219 As a command it was a special case of `split-window-below', and as such
220 superfluous. After being reimplemented in Lisp, its interactive form
221 was mistakenly retained.
222
223 ** New commands `toggle-frame-fullscreen' and `toggle-frame-maximized',
224 bound to <f11> and M-<f10>, respectively.
225
226 ** In keymaps where SPC scrolls, S-SPC now scrolls in the reverse direction.
227 Eg View mode, etc.
228
229 +++
230 ** New option `visual-order-cursor-movement'.
231 If this is non-nil, cursor motion with arrow keys will follow the
232 visual order of characters on the screen: <left> always moves to the
233 left, <right> always moves to the right, disregarding the surrounding
234 bidirectional context.
235
236 ** All register commands can now show help with preview.
237
238 ** New command `kmacro-to-register' to store keyboard macros in registers.
239
240 ** Shell Script mode
241
242 *** `sh-mode' now has the mode own `add-log-current-defun-function'.
243 You can pick the name of the function and the variables with `C-x 4 a'.
244
245 \f
246 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.4
247
248 ** prolog-use-smie has been removed, along with the non-SMIE indentation code.
249
250 ** SMIE indentation can be customized via `smie-config'.
251 The customization can be guessed by Emacs by providing a sample indented
252 file and letting SMIE learn from it.
253
254 ** sh-script now uses its SMIE indentation algorithm by default.
255
256 ** The debugger's `e' command evaluates the code in the context at point.
257 This includes using the lexical environment at point, which means that
258 `e' now lets you access lexical variables as well.
259
260 ** `eshell' now supports visual subcommands and options
261 Eshell has been able to handle "visual" commands (interactive,
262 non-line oriented commands such as top that require display
263 capabilities not provided by eshell) by running them in an Emacs
264 terminal emulator. See `eshell-visual-commands'.
265
266 This feature has been extended to subcommands and options that make a
267 usually line-oriented command a visual command. Typical examples are
268 "git log" and "git <command> --help" which display their output in a
269 pager by default. See `eshell-visual-subcommands' and
270 `eshell-visual-options'.
271
272 ** If your Emacs is compiled with libxml2 support, you can use the new
273 built-in web browser `eww'.
274
275 ** `remember' can now store notes in separates files
276 You can use the new function `remember-store-in-files' within the
277 `remember-handler-functions' option.
278
279 See `remember-data-directory' and `remember-directory-file-name-format'
280 for new options related to this function.
281
282 ** More packages look for ~/.emacs.d/<foo> additionally to ~/.<foo>.
283 Affected files:
284 ~/.emacs.d/timelog replaces ~/.timelog
285 ~/.emacs.d/vip replaces ~/.vip
286 ~/.emacs.d/viper replaces ~/.viper
287 ~/.emacs.d/ido.last replaces ~/.ido.last
288 ~/.emacs.d/kkcrc replaces ~/.kkcrc
289 ~/.emacs.d/quickurls replaces ~/.quickurls
290 ~/.emacs.d/idlwave replaces ~/.idlwave
291 ~/.emacs.d/bdfcache.el replaces ~/.bdfcache.el
292 ~/.emacs.d/places replaces ~/.emacs-places
293 ~/.emacs.d/shadows replaces ~/.shadows
294 ~/.emacs.d/shadow_todo replaces ~/.shadow_todo
295 ~/.emacs.d/strokes replaces ~/.strokes
296 ~/.emacs.d/notes replaces ~/.notes
297 ~/.emacs.d/type-break replaces ~/.type-break
298 Also the following files used by the now obsolete otodo-mode.el:
299 ~/.emacs.d/todo-do replaces ~/.todo-do
300 ~/.emacs.d/todo-done replaces ~/.todo-done
301 ~/.emacs.d/todo-top replaces ~/.todo-top
302
303
304 ** Delphi mode is now called OPascal mode.
305 *** All delphi-* variables and functions have been renamed to opascal-*.
306 *** `delphi-newline-always-indents' is not supported any more.
307 Use `electric-indent-mode' instead.
308 *** `delphi-tab' is gone, replaced by `indent-for-tab-command'.
309
310 ** Eldoc Mode works properly in the minibuffer.
311
312 ** jit-lock-debug-mode lets you use the debuggers on code run via jit-lock.
313
314 ** completing-read-multiple's separator can now be a regexp.
315 The default separator is changed to allow surrounding spaces around the comma.
316
317 ** Battery
318
319 *** Battery information via the BSD `apm' utility is now supported.
320
321 ** Buffer Menu
322
323 *** `M-s a C-o' shows lines matching a regexp in marked buffers using Occur.
324
325 ** Calendar and Diary
326
327 *** New faces: `calendar-weekday-header', `calendar-weekend-header',
328 `calendar-month-header'.
329
330 *** New option `calendar-day-header-array'.
331
332 *** The variable `calendar-font-lock-keywords' is obsolete.
333
334 +++
335 *** New variable `diary-from-outlook-function', used by the command
336 `diary-from-outlook'.
337
338 ** VC and related modes
339
340 *** In VC directory mode, `D' displays diffs between VC-controlled
341 whole tree revisions.
342
343 *** In VC directory mode, `L' lists the change log for the current VC
344 controlled tree in a window.
345
346 *** In VC directory mode, `I' shows a log of changes that will be
347 received with a pull operation.
348
349 *** `C-x v G' (globally) and `G' (in VC directory mode) ignores a file
350 under current version control system. When called with a prefix
351 argument, you can remove a file from the ignored file list.
352
353 *** `cvs-append-to-ignore' has been renamed to `vc-cvs-append-to-ignore'
354 because it is moved to vc-cvs.el.
355
356 ** cl-lib
357
358 *** New macro cl-tagbody.
359
360 +++
361 *** letf is now just an alias for cl-letf.
362
363 ** Calc
364
365 *** Calc by default now uses the Gregorian calendar for all dates, and
366 uses January 1, 1 AD as its day number 1. Previously Calc used the
367 Julian calendar for dates before September 14, 1752, and it used
368 December 31, 1 BC as its day number 1; the new scheme is more
369 consistent with Calendar's calendrical system and day numbering.
370
371 *** The new variable `calc-gregorian-switch' lets you configure the
372 date when Calc switches from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar.
373 Nil, the default value, means to always use the Gregorian calendar.
374 The value (YEAR MONTH DAY) means to start using the Gregorian calendar
375 on the given date.
376
377 *** Support for ISO 8601 dates.
378
379 ** Desktop
380
381 *** `desktop-auto-save-timeout' defines the number of seconds between
382 auto-saves of the desktop.
383
384 *** `desktop-restore-frames', enabled by default, allows saving and
385 restoring the frame/window configuration (frameset). Additional options
386 `desktop-restore-in-current-display', `desktop-restore-reuses-frames'
387 and `desktop-restore-forces-onscreen' offer further customization.
388
389 ** Dired
390
391 *** New minor mode `dired-hide-details-mode' hides details.
392
393 ** ERC
394
395 *** New option `erc-accidental-paste-threshold-seconds'.
396 If set to a number, this can be used to avoid accidentally paste large
397 amounts of data into the ERC input.
398
399 ** EPA
400
401 *** New option `epa-mail-aliases'.
402
403 You can set this to a list of alias expansions for keys to use
404 in `epa-mail-encrypt'.
405
406 If one element of the variable's value is ("foo@bar.com" "foo@hello.org"),
407 that means: when one of the recipients of the message being encrypted
408 is `foo@bar.com', encrypt the message for `foo@hello.org' instead.
409
410 If one element of the variable's value is ("foo@bar.com"),
411 that means: when one of the recipients of the message being encrypted
412 is `foo@bar.com', ignore that name as regards encryption.
413 This is useful to avoid a query when you have no key for that name.
414
415 ---
416 ** New F90 mode option `f90-smart-end-names'.
417
418 ** Icomplete is a bit more like Ido.
419 *** key bindings to navigate through and select the completions.
420 *** The icomplete-separator is customizable, and its default has changed.
421 *** Removed icomplete-show-key-bindings.
422 *** Icomplete-mode by defaults applies to all forms of minibuffer completion.
423 (setq icomplete-with-completion-tables '(internal-complete-buffer))
424 will revert to the old behavior.
425
426
427 ** New features for Octave mode:
428 *** Font locking for texinfo comments and new keywords
429 *** Completion in Octave file buffers
430 *** Eldoc support
431 *** Jump to definition
432 *** Documentation lookup/search
433 *** Code cleanup and various bug fixes
434
435 ** Ido
436 *** Ido has a manual now.
437 *** `ido-use-virtual-buffers' takes a new value 'auto.
438 *** `ido-decorations' has been slightly extended to give a bit more control.
439
440 ** Image mode
441
442 *** New commands `n' (`image-next-file') and `p' (`image-previous-file')
443 visit the next image file and the previous image file in the same
444 directory, respectively.
445
446 *** New commands to show specific frames of multi-frame images.
447 `f' (`image-next-frame') and `b' (`image-previous-frame') visit the
448 next or previous frame. `F' (`image-goto-frame') shows a specific frame.
449
450 *** New commands to speed up, slow down, or reverse animation.
451
452 ---
453 *** The command `image-mode-fit-frame' deletes other windows.
454 When toggling, it restores the frame's previous window configuration.
455 It also has an optional frame argument, which can be used by Lisp
456 callers to fit the image to a frame other than the selected frame.
457
458 ** Info
459
460 *** New face `info-index-match' is used to highlight matches in index
461 entries displayed by `Info-index-next', `Info-virtual-index' and
462 `info-apropos'.
463
464 ** Hi-Lock
465
466 *** New option `hi-lock-auto-select-face'. When non-nil, hi-lock commands
467 will cycle through faces in `hi-lock-face-defaults' without prompting.
468
469 +++
470 *** New global command `M-s h .' (`highlight-symbol-at-point')
471 highlights the symbol found near point without prompting,
472 using the next face automatically.
473
474 ** Search and Replace
475
476 *** New global command `M-s .' (`isearch-forward-symbol-at-point')
477 starts a symbol (identifier) incremental search forward with the
478 symbol found near point added to the search string initially.
479
480 *** `C-x 8 RET' in Isearch mode reads a character by its Unicode name
481 and adds it to the search string.
482
483 *** `M-s i' in Isearch mode toggles the variable `isearch-invisible'
484 between nil and the value of the option `search-invisible' (or `open'
485 when it's nil).
486
487 *** `query-replace' skips invisible text when `search-invisible' is nil,
488 and opens overlays with hidden text when `search-invisible' is `open'.
489
490 +++
491 *** By default, prefix arguments do not now terminate Isearch mode.
492 Set `isearch-allow-prefix' to nil to restore old behavior.
493
494 *** More Isearch commands accept prefix arguments, namely
495 `isearch-printing-char', `isearch-quote-char', `isearch-yank-word',
496 `isearch-yank-line'.
497
498 *** Word search now matches whitespace at the beginning/end
499 of the search string if it contains leading/trailing whitespace.
500 In an incremental word search or when using a non-nil LAX argument
501 of `word-search-regexp', the lax matching can also match part of
502 the first word (in addition to the lax matching of the last word).
503 The same rules are now applied to the symbol search with the difference
504 that it matches symbols, and non-symbol characters between symbols.
505
506 ** MH-E has been updated to MH-E version 8.5.
507 See MH-E-NEWS for details.
508
509 ---
510 ** The unrmail command converts from BABYL to mboxrd rather than mboxo.
511 Customize `unrmail-mbox-format' to change this.
512
513 ---
514 ** Similarly, customize `rmail-mbox-format' to influence some minor aspects
515 of how Rmail displays non-MIME messages.
516
517 +++
518 ** New function `ses-rename-cell' to give SES cells arbitrary names.
519
520 ** trace-function was largely rewritten.
521 New features include:
522 - no prompting for the destination buffer, unless a prefix-arg was used.
523 - additionally to prompting for a destination buffer, when a prefix-arg is
524 used, the user can enter a "context", i.e. Lisp expression whose value at the
525 time the function is entered/exited will be printed along with the function
526 name and arguments. Useful to trace the value of (current-buffer) or
527 (point) when the function is invoked.
528
529 ** New command `delete-duplicate-lines' has new types of operation:
530 When its arg ADJACENT is non-nil (when called interactively with C-u C-u)
531 it works like the utility `uniq'. Otherwise by default it deletes
532 duplicate lines everywhere in the region without regard to adjacency.
533 When its arg KEEP-BLANKS is non-nil (when called interactively with
534 C-u C-u C-u), duplicate blank lines are preserved.
535
536 ** New `cycle-spacing' command allows cycling between having just one
537 space, no spaces, or reverting to the original spacing. Like
538 `just-one-space' command it can handle or ignore newlines and
539 leave different number of spaces.
540
541 ** Todo mode has been rewritten and enhanced.
542 New features include:
543 - support for multiple todo files and archive files of done items;
544 - renaming, reordering, moving, merging, and deleting categories;
545 - sortable tabular summaries of categories and the types of items they contain;
546 - cross-category lists of items filtered by specific criteria;
547 - more fine-grained interaction with the Emacs diary, by being able to decide
548 for each todo item whether it appears in the Fancy Diary display;
549 - highly flexible new item insertion and item editing;
550 - moving items between categories, storing done items in their category or in
551 archive files, undoing or unarchiving done items;
552 - reprioritizing items by inputting a numerical priority;
553 - extensive customizability of operation and display, including numerous faces.
554 The Todo mode user manual describes all commands and most user options.
555 To support some of these features, a new file format is used, which is
556 incompatible with the old format; however, you can convert old todo and done
557 item files to the new format on initializing the first new todo file, or at any
558 later time with the provided conversion command. The old version of
559 todo-mode.el has been made obsolete and renamed otodo-mode.el.
560
561 ** Tramp
562
563 *** The experimental url syntax for remote file names is withdrawn.
564
565 +++
566 *** New connection method "adb", which allows to access Android
567 devices by the Android Debug Bridge. The variable `tramp-adb-program'
568 can be used to adapt the path of the "adb" program, if needed.
569
570 *** The connection methods "plink1", "ssh1", "ssh2", "scp1", "scp2",
571 "scpc" and "rsyncc" are discontinued. The ssh option
572 "ControlMaster=auto" is set automatically in all ssh-based methods,
573 when possible.
574
575 +++
576 *** Handlers for `file-acl' and `set-file-acl' for remote machines
577 which support POSIX ACLs.
578
579 +++
580 *** Handlers for `file-notify-add-watch' and `file-notify-rm-watch'
581 for remote machines which support filesystem notifications.
582
583 ** VHDL mode
584
585 *** New options: `vhdl-actual-generic-name', `vhdl-beautify-options'.
586
587 *** New commands: `vhdl-fix-statement-region', `vhdl-fix-statement-buffer'.
588
589 ** Woman
590
591 *** The commands `woman-default-faces' and `woman-monochrome-faces'
592 are obsolete. Customize the `woman-*' faces instead.
593
594 ** Eshell
595
596 *** Added Eshell-Tramp module
597 External su and sudo commands are now the default; the internal,
598 Tramp-using variants can still be used by enabling the eshell-tramp
599 module.
600
601 ** Package
602
603 *** The format of `archive-contents' files, generated by package
604 repositories, has changed to allow a new (fifth) element in the data
605 vectors, containing an associative list with extra properties.
606
607 *** `describe-package' buffer uses the `:url' extra property to
608 display a `Homepage' header, if it's present.
609
610 ** New term.el option `term-suppress-hard-newline'.
611
612 ** Obsolete packages:
613
614 *** Iswitchb is made obsolete by icomplete-mode.
615
616 *** longlines.el is obsolete; use visual-line-mode instead.
617
618 +++
619 *** sup-mouse.el.
620
621 *** terminal.el is obsolete; use term.el instead.
622
623 *** The previous version of todo-mode.el is obsolete and renamed otodo-mode.el.
624
625 *** xesam.el.
626
627 +++
628 *** yow.el is obsolete; use fortune.el or cookie1.el instead.
629
630 ---
631 *** The Info-edit command is obsolete. Editing Info nodes by hand
632 has not been relevant for some time.
633
634 ** Shell
635
636 *** `explicit-bash-args' now always defaults to use --noediting.
637 During initialization, Emacs no longer expends a process to decide
638 whether it is safe to use Bash's --noediting option. These days
639 --noediting is ubiquitous; it was introduced in 1996 in Bash version 2.
640
641 +++
642 ** There is a new macro `skip-unless' for skipping ERT tests. See the manual.
643
644 ** Imenu
645
646 *** New option `imenu-generic-skip-comments-and-strings'.
647
648 ** Ruby mode
649
650 *** New option `ruby-encoding-magic-comment-style'.
651
652 *** New option `ruby-custom-encoding-magic-comment-template'.
653
654 *** New mode menu.
655
656 *** Improved syntax highlighting and indentation.
657
658 *** Add more Ruby file types to `auto-mode-alist'.
659
660 \f
661 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.4
662
663 ** New `superword-mode' in subword.el
664 `superword-mode' overrides the default word motion commands to treat
665 symbol_words as a single word, similar to what `subword-mode' does and
666 using the same internal functions.
667
668 ** New nadvice.el package offering lighter-weight advice facilities.
669 It is layered as:
670 - add-function/remove-function which can be used to add/remove code on any
671 function-carrying place, such as process-filters or `<foo>-function' hooks.
672 - advice-add/advice-remove to add/remove a piece of advice on a named function,
673 much like `defadvice' does.
674
675 ** New frameset.el package.
676 It provides a set of operations to save a frameset (the state of all
677 or a subset of the existing frames and windows, somewhat similar to a
678 frame configuration), both in-session and persistently, and restore it
679 at some point in the future.
680
681 +++
682 ** The package filenotify.el provides an interface for file system
683 notifications. It requires, that Emacs is compiled with one of the
684 low-level libraries gfilenotify.c, inotify.c or w32notify.c.
685
686 \f
687 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.4
688
689 ** `kill-region' lost its `yank-handler' optional argument.
690
691 ** `(input-pending-p)' no longer runs other timers which are ready to
692 run. The new optional CHECK-TIMERS param allows for the prior behavior.
693
694 ** `defvar' and `defcustom' in a let-binding affect the "external" default.
695
696 ** The syntax of ?» and ?« is now punctuation instead of matched parens.
697 Some languages match those as »...« and others as «...» so better stay neutral.
698
699 ** The default file coding for Emacs Lisp files is now utf-8.
700 (See file-coding-system-alist.) In most cases, this change is transparent, but
701 files that contain unusual characters without specifying an explicit coding
702 system may fail to load with obscure errors.
703 You should either convert them to utf-8 or add an explicit `coding:' cookie.
704
705 ** overriding-terminal-local-map does not replace the local keymaps any more.
706 It used to disable the minor mode, major mode, and text-property keymaps,
707 whereas now it simply has higher precedence.
708
709 ** Default process filters and sentinels are not nil any more.
710 Instead they default to a function which does what the nil value used to do.
711
712 ** `read-event' does not return decoded chars in ttys any more.
713 Just as was the case in Emacs-22 and before, decoding of tty input according to
714 keyboard-coding-system is not performed in read-event any more. But contrary
715 to that past, it is still done before input-decode-map/function-key-map/...
716
717 ** Removed inhibit-local-menu-bar-menus.
718
719 ** frame-local variables that affect redisplay do not work any more.
720 More specifically, the redisplay does not bother to check for a frame-local
721 value when looking up variables.
722
723 ** nil and "unbound" are indistinguishable in symbol-function.
724 `symbol-function' never signals `void-function' any more.
725 `fboundp' returns non-nil if the symbol was `fset' to nil.
726
727 ** `defadvice' does not honor the `freeze' flag and cannot advise
728 special-forms any more.
729
730 ** `dolist' in lexical-binding mode does not bind VAR in RESULT any more.
731 VAR was bound to nil which was not tremendously useful and just lead to
732 spurious warnings about an unused var.
733
734 ** The return value of `backup-buffer' has changed.
735 The second argument is no longer an SELinux context, instead it is an
736 alist of extended attributes as returned by the new function
737 `file-extended-attributes'. The attributes can be applied to another
738 file using `set-file-extended-attributes'.
739
740 ** `visited-file-modtime' now returns -1 for nonexistent files.
741 Formerly it returned a list (-1 LOW USEC PSEC), but this was ambiguous
742 in the presence of files with negative time stamps.
743
744 ** The cars of the elements in `interpreter-mode-alist' are now treated
745 as regexps rather than literal strings. Technically this is an
746 incompatible change, but unless you are using interpreter-mode-alist
747 for something (not just adding elements to it), it ought not to affect you.
748
749 \f
750 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.4
751
752 ** New function get-pos-property.
753
754 ** New hook `pre-redisplay-function'.
755
756 +++
757 ** Functions that pop up menus and dialogs now work on all terminal types,
758 including TTYs.
759 This includes `x-popup-menu', `x-popup-dialog', `message-box',
760 `yes-or-no-p', etc.
761
762 The function `display-popup-menus-p' will now return non-nil for a
763 display or frame whenever a mouse is supported on that display or
764 frame.
765
766 ** New bool-vector set operation functions:
767 *** `bool-vector-exclusive-or'
768 *** `bool-vector-union'
769 *** `bool-vector-intersection'
770 *** `bool-vector-set-difference'
771 *** `bool-vector-not'
772 *** `bool-vector-subsetp'
773 *** `bool-vector-count-consecutive'
774 *** `bool-vector-count-population'
775
776 ** Comparison functions =, <, >, <=, >= now take many arguments.
777
778 ** The second argument of `eval' can now be a lexical-environment.
779
780 ** `with-demoted-errors' takes an additional argument `format'.
781 +++
782 ** New function `define-error'.
783
784 ** New hook `tty-setup-hook'.
785
786 +++
787 ** New macro with-eval-after-load. Like eval-after-load, but better behaved.
788
789 ** New library helpers.el for misc helper functions
790 *** `hash-table-keys'
791 *** `hash-table-values'
792 *** `string-blank-p`
793 *** `string-empty-p`
794 *** `string-join`
795 *** `string-reverse`
796 *** `string-trim-left'
797 *** `string-trim-right'
798 *** `string-trim'
799
800 ** Obsoleted functions:
801 *** `log10'
802 *** `dont-compile'
803 *** `lisp-complete-symbol'
804 *** `field-complete'
805 *** `minibuffer-completion-contents'
806 *** `isearch-nonincremental-exit-minibuffer'
807 *** `isearch-filter-visible'
808 *** `generic-make-keywords-list'
809
810 ** `with-wrapper-hook' is obsoleted by `add-function'.
811 The few hooks that used with-wrapper-hook are replaced as follows:
812 *** `abbrev-expand-function' obsoletes `abbrev-expand-functions'.
813 *** `completion-in-region-function' obsoletes `completion-in-region-functions'.
814 *** `filter-buffer-substring-function' obsoletes `filter-buffer-substring-functions'.
815
816 ** `byte-compile-interactive-only-functions' is now obsolete.
817 It has been replaced by the symbol property 'interactive-only.
818
819 ** `split-string' now takes an optional argument TRIM.
820 The value, if non-nil, is a regexp that specifies what to trim from
821 the start and end of each substring.
822
823 ** New function `string-suffix-p'.
824
825 ** `get-upcase-table' is obsoleted by the new `case-table-get-table'.
826
827 ** Support for filesystem notifications.
828 Emacs now supports notifications of filesystem changes, such as
829 creation, modification, and deletion of files. This requires the
830 `glib' API, or the 'inotify' API (on GNU/Linux systems only). On
831 MS-Windows systems, this is supported for Windows XP and newer
832 versions.
833
834 ** Changes in autorevert.el
835
836 ---
837 *** If Emacs is compiled with file notification support, notifications
838 are used instead of checking the time stamp of the files. You can
839 disable this by setting the user option `auto-revert-use-notify' to
840 nil. Alternatively, a regular expression of directories to be
841 excluded from file notifications can be specified by
842 `auto-revert-notify-exclude-dir-regexp'.
843
844 ---
845 *** The new user option `auto-revert-remote-files' enables reversion
846 of remote files when set to non-nil.
847
848 ** Face changes
849
850 *** The function `face-spec-set' is now analogous to `setq' for face specs.
851 Its third arg now accepts values specifying exactly which face spec to
852 set (defface, custom, or user spec), and it directly sets the relevant
853 property using the supplied face spec.
854
855 *** Face specs set via Custom themes now replace the `defface' spec
856 rather than inheriting from it (as do face specs set via Customize).
857
858 *** New face characteristic (supports :underline (:style wave))
859 specifies whether or not the terminal can display a wavy line.
860
861 *** New face spec attribute :distant-foreground
862 specifies foreground to use if background color is near the foreground
863 color that would otherwise have been used.
864
865 ** Image API
866
867 +++
868 *** `image-animated-p' is now `image-multi-frame-p'.
869 It returns non-nil for any image that contains multiple frames,
870 whether or not it specifies a frame delay.
871
872 +++
873 *** When animating images that do not specify a frame delay,
874 Emacs uses `image-default-frame-delay'.
875
876 +++
877 *** New functions `image-current-frame' and `image-show-frame' for getting
878 and setting the current frame of a multi-frame image.
879
880 *** You can change the speed of animated images.
881
882 ** Changes in encoding and decoding of text
883
884 ---
885 *** New coding-system `prefer-utf-8'.
886 This is like `undecided' but prefers UTF-8 on decoding if the text to
887 be decoded does not contain any invalid UTF-8 sequences. On encoding,
888 any non-ASCII characters are automatically encoded as UTF-8.
889
890 ---
891 *** New attributes of coding-systems whose type is `undecided'.
892 Two new attributes, `:inhibit-null-byte-detection' and
893 `:inhibit-iso-escape-detection', determine how to detect encoding of
894 text that includes null bytes and ISO-2022 escape sequences,
895 respectively. Each of these attributes can be either nil, zero, or
896 t. If it is t, decoding text ignores null bytes and, respectively,
897 ISO-2022 sequences. If it is nil, null bytes cause text to be decoded
898 with no-conversion and ISO-2022 sequences cause Emacs to assume the
899 text is encoded in one of the ISO-2022 encodings, such as
900 iso-2022-7bit. If the value is zero, Emacs consults the variables
901 inhibit-null-byte-detection and inhibit-iso-escape-detection, which
902 see.
903 The new attribute `:prefer-utf-8', if non-nil, causes Emacs to prefer
904 UTF-8 encoding and decoding, whenever possible.
905
906 These attributes are only meaningful for coding-systems of type
907 `undecided'. (The type of a coding-system is determined by its
908 `:coding-type' attribute and can be accessed by calling the
909 `coding-system-type' function.)
910
911 ** The function `set-visited-file-modtime' now accepts a 0 or -1 argument
912 with the same interpretation as the returned value of `visited-file-modtime'.
913
914 ** time-to-seconds is not obsolete any more.
915 ** New functions special-form-p and macrop.
916 ** Docstrings can be made dynamic by adding a `dynamic-docstring-function'
917 text-property on the first char.
918
919 ** The `defalias-fset-function' property lets you catch calls to defalias
920 and redirect them to your own function instead of `fset'.
921
922 ** The lock for 'DIR/FILE' is now 'DIR/.#FILE' and may be a regular file.
923 When you edit DIR/FILE, Emacs normally creates a symbolic link
924 DIR/.#FILE as a lock that warns other instances of Emacs that DIR/FILE
925 is being edited. Formerly, if there was already a non-symlink file
926 named DIR/.#FILE, Emacs fell back on the lock names DIR/.#FILE.0
927 through DIR/.#FILE.9. These fallbacks have been removed, so that
928 Emacs now no longer locks DIR/FILE in that case.
929
930 On file systems that do not support symbolic links, the lock is now a
931 regular file with contents being what would have been in the symlink.
932
933 ** The 9th element returned by `file-attributes' is now unspecified.
934 Formerly, it was t if the file's gid would change if file were deleted
935 and recreated. This value has been inaccurate for years on many
936 platforms, and nobody seems to have noticed or cared.
937
938 ** The function `file-ownership-preserved-p' now has an optional
939 argument GROUP which causes it check for file group too. This can be
940 used in place of the 9th element of `file-attributes'.
941
942 ** New functions `group-gid' and `group-real-gid'.
943
944 ** The 6th argument to `copy-file' has been renamed to
945 `preserve-extended-attributes' as it now handles both SELinux context
946 and ACL entries.
947
948 ** The `common-substring' argument of display-completion-list is obsolete.
949 Either use `completion-all-completions' which already returns highlighted
950 strings (including for partial or substring completion) or call
951 `completion-hilit-commonality' to add the highlight.
952
953 ** Changes to the Emacs Lisp Coding Conventions in Emacs 24.4
954
955 *** The package descriptor and name of global variables, constants,
956 and functions should be separated by two hyphens if the symbol is not
957 meant to be used by other packages.
958
959 \f
960 * Changes in Emacs 24.4 on Non-Free Operating Systems
961
962 ** The procedure for building Emacs on MS-Windows has changed.
963 It is now built by running the same configure script as on all other
964 platforms. This requires the MSYS environment and MinGW development
965 tools. See the updated instructions in nt/INSTALL for details.
966
967 Using the Posix configure script and Makefile's also means a change in
968 the directory structure of the Emacs installation on Windows. It is
969 now the same as on GNU and Unix systems. In particular, the auxiliary
970 programs, such as cmdproxy.exe and hexl.exe, are in
971 libexec/emacs/VERSION/i686-pc-mingw32 (where VERSION is the Emacs
972 version), version-independent site-lisp is in share/emacs/site-lisp,
973 version-specific Lisp files are in share/emacs/VERSION/lisp and in
974 share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp, Info docs are in share/info, and data
975 files are in share/emacs/VERSION/etc. (Emacs knows about all these
976 directories and will find the files in there automatically; there's no
977 need to set any variables due to this change.)
978
979 +++
980 ** The "generate a backtrace on fatal error" feature now works on MS Windows.
981 The backtrace is written to the 'emacs_backtrace.txt' file in the
982 directory where Emacs was running.
983
984 +++
985 ** The variable `buffer-file-type' is no longer supported.
986 Setting it has no effect, and %t in the mode-line format is ignored.
987 Likewise, `file-name-buffer-file-type-alist' is now obsolete, and
988 modifying it has no effect.
989
990 ---
991 ** Lock files now work on MS-Windows.
992 This allows to avoid losing your edits if the same file is being
993 edited in another Emacs session or by another user. See the node
994 "Interlocking" in the Emacs User Manual for the details. To disable
995 file locking, customize `create-lockfiles' to nil.
996
997 ** Improved fullscreen support on Mac OS X.
998 Both native (>= OSX 10.7) and "old style" fullscreen are supported.
999 Customize `ns-use-native-fullscreen' to change style. For >= 10.7
1000 native is the default.
1001
1002 \f
1003 * Installation Changes in Emacs 24.3
1004
1005 ** The default X toolkit is now Gtk+ version 3.
1006 If you don't pass `--with-x-toolkit' to configure, or if you use
1007 `--with-x-toolkit=gtk' or `--with-x-toolkit=yes', configure will try
1008 to build with Gtk+ version 3, and if that fails, try Gtk+ version 2.
1009 You can explicitly require a specific version by passing
1010 `--with-x-toolkit=gtk2' or `--with-x-toolkit=gtk3' to configure.
1011
1012 ** New configure option `--enable-link-time-optimization', to utilize
1013 an appropriate feature provided by GCC since version 4.5.0.
1014
1015 ** New configure option `--without-all' to disable most of the optional
1016 features (image support, etc.) that are normally enabled by default.
1017
1018 ** New configure option `--enable-gcc-warnings' (for developing/debugging
1019 Emacs). If building with GCC, this enables compile-time checks that
1020 warn/give errors about possibly-questionable C code. On a recent GNU
1021 system there should be no warnings; on older and on non-GNU systems
1022 the results may be useful to developers.
1023
1024 ** The configure option `--enable-use-lisp-union-type' has been
1025 renamed to `--enable-check-lisp-object-type', as the resulting
1026 Lisp_Object type no longer uses a union to implement the compile time
1027 check that this option enables.
1028
1029 ** The configure option `--disable-maintainer-mode' has been removed,
1030 as it was confusingly-named and rarely useful.
1031
1032 ** The configure options `--program-prefix', `--program-suffix', and
1033 `--program-transform-name' apply to more than just the installed
1034 binaries. Now they also affect the man pages, icons, and the
1035 etc/emacs.desktop file; but not the info pages, since this would break
1036 links between the various manuals.
1037
1038 ** You can use `NO_BIN_LINK=t make install' to prevent the installation
1039 overwriting "emacs" in the installation bin/ directory with a link
1040 to "emacs-VERSION".
1041
1042 ** Emacs uses libtinfo in preference to libncurses, if available.
1043
1044 ** On FreeBSD and NetBSD, configure no longer adds /usr/local/lib and
1045 /usr/pkg/lib to the linker search path. You must add them yourself if
1046 you want them.
1047
1048 ** The standalone scripts `rcs-checkin' and `vcdiff' have been removed
1049 (from the bin and libexec directories, respectively). The former is
1050 no longer relevant, the latter is replaced by lisp (in vc-sccs.el).
1051
1052 \f
1053 * Startup Changes in Emacs 24.3
1054
1055 ** Emacs no longer searches for `leim-list.el' files beneath the standard
1056 lisp/ directory. There should not be any there anyway. If you have
1057 been adding them there, put them somewhere else; e.g., site-lisp.
1058
1059 ** The `--no-site-lisp' command line option now works for Nextstep builds.
1060
1061 \f
1062 * Changes in Emacs 24.3
1063
1064 ** Help
1065
1066 *** `C-h f' (`describe-function') can now perform autoloading.
1067 When this command is called for an autoloaded function whose docstring
1068 contains a key substitution construct, that function's library is
1069 automatically loaded, so that the documentation can be shown
1070 correctly. To disable this, set `help-enable-auto-load' to nil.
1071
1072 *** `C-h f' now reports previously-autoloaded functions as "autoloaded",
1073 even after their associated libraries have been loaded (and the
1074 autoloads have been redefined as functions).
1075
1076 ** ImageMagick
1077
1078 *** Images displayed via ImageMagick now support transparency and the
1079 :background image specification property.
1080
1081 *** When available, ImageMagick support is automatically enabled.
1082 It is no longer necessary to call `imagemagick-register-types'
1083 explicitly to install ImageMagick image types; that function is called
1084 automatically at startup, or when customizing an imagemagick- option.
1085
1086 *** Setting `imagemagick-types-inhibit' to t now disables the use of
1087 ImageMagick to view images. (You must call `imagemagick-register-types'
1088 afterwards if you do not use customize to change this.)
1089
1090 *** The new variable `imagemagick-enabled-types' also affects which
1091 ImageMagick types are treated as images. The function
1092 `imagemagick-filter-types' returns the list of types that will be
1093 treated as images.
1094
1095 *** ImageMagick images now support the :max-width and :max-height
1096 keywords.
1097
1098 *** Some data types aren't auto-detected by ImageMagick. Adding
1099 :format to `create-image' may help if the content type is in the
1100 new variable `image-format-suffixes'.
1101
1102 ** Minibuffer
1103
1104 *** In minibuffer filename prompts, `C-M-f' and `C-M-b' now move to the
1105 next and previous path separator, respectively.
1106
1107 *** `minibuffer-electric-default-mode' can shorten "(default ...)" to "[...]"
1108 in minibuffer prompts. Just set `minibuffer-eldef-shorten-default'
1109 non-nil before enabling the mode.
1110
1111 ** Mode line
1112
1113 *** New option `mode-line-default-help-echo' specifies the help text
1114 (shown in a tooltip or in the echo area) for any part of the mode line
1115 that does not have its own specialized help text.
1116
1117 *** You can now click mouse-3 in the coding system indicator to invoke
1118 `set-buffer-file-coding-system'.
1119
1120 ** Server and client
1121
1122 *** emacsclient now obeys string values for `initial-buffer-choice',
1123 if it is told to open a new frame without specifying any file to visit
1124 or expression to evaluate.
1125
1126 *** New option `server-auth-key' specifies a shared server key.
1127
1128 ** Emacs now generates backtraces on fatal errors.
1129 On encountering a fatal error, Emacs now outputs a textual description
1130 of the fatal signal, and a short backtrace on platforms like glibc
1131 that support backtraces.
1132
1133 ** `C-x C-q' is now bound to the new minor mode `read-only-mode'.
1134 This minor mode replaces `toggle-read-only', which is now obsolete.
1135
1136 ** Most `y-or-n' prompts now allow you to scroll the selected window.
1137 Typing `C-v' or `M-v' at a y-or-n prompt scrolls forward or backward
1138 respectively, without exiting from the prompt.
1139
1140 ** In the Package Menu, newly-available packages are listed as "new",
1141 and sorted above the other "available" packages by default.
1142
1143 ** If your Emacs was built from a bzr checkout, the new variable
1144 `emacs-bzr-version' contains information about the bzr revision used.
1145
1146 ** New option `create-lockfiles' specifies usage of lockfiles.
1147 It defaults to t. Changing it to nil inhibits the creation of lock
1148 files (use this with caution).
1149
1150 ** New option `enable-remote-dir-locals', if non-nil, allows directory-local
1151 variables on remote hosts.
1152
1153 ** The entry for PCL-CVS has been removed from the Tools menu.
1154 The PCL-CVS commands are still available via the keyboard.
1155
1156 ** Using "unibyte: t" in Lisp source files is obsolete.
1157 Use "coding: raw-text" instead.
1158
1159 ** In the buffer made by `M-x report-emacs-bug', the `C-c m' binding
1160 has been changed to `C-c M-i' (`report-emacs-bug-insert-to-mailer').
1161 The previous binding, introduced in Emacs 24.1, was a mistake, because
1162 `C-c LETTER' bindings are reserved for user customizations.
1163
1164 ** Internationalization
1165
1166 *** New language environment: Persian.
1167
1168 *** New input method `vietnamese-vni'.
1169
1170 ** Nextstep (GNUstep / Mac OS X) port
1171
1172 *** Support for fullscreen and the frame parameter fullscreen.
1173
1174 *** A file dialog is used for open/save operations initiated from the
1175 menu/toolbar.
1176
1177 \f
1178 * Editing Changes in Emacs 24.3
1179
1180 ** Search and Replace
1181
1182 *** Non-regexp Isearch now performs "lax" space matching.
1183 Each sequence of spaces in the supplied search string may match any
1184 sequence of one or more whitespace characters, as specified by the
1185 variable `search-whitespace-regexp'. (This variable is also used by a
1186 similar existing feature for regexp Isearch.)
1187
1188 *** New Isearch command `M-s SPC' toggles lax space matching.
1189 This applies to both ordinary and regexp Isearch.
1190
1191 *** New option `replace-lax-whitespace'.
1192 If non-nil, `query-replace' uses flexible whitespace matching too.
1193 The default is nil.
1194
1195 *** Global `M-s _' starts a symbol (identifier) incremental search,
1196 and `M-s _' in Isearch toggles symbol search mode.
1197 `M-s c' in Isearch toggles search case-sensitivity.
1198
1199 ** Navigation commands
1200
1201 *** New binding `M-g c' for `goto-char'.
1202
1203 *** New binding `M-g TAB' for `move-to-column'.
1204
1205 *** `M-g TAB' (`move-to-column') prompts for a column number if called
1206 interactively with no prefix arg. Previously, it moved to column 1.
1207
1208 ** New option `yank-handled-properties' allows processing of text
1209 properties on yanked text, in ways that are more general than just
1210 removing them (as is done by `yank-excluded-properties').
1211
1212 ** New option `delete-trailing-lines' specifies whether
1213 M-x delete-trailing-whitespace should delete trailing lines at the end
1214 of the buffer. It defaults to t.
1215
1216 ** `C-u M-=' now counts lines/words/characters in the entire buffer.
1217
1218 ** `C-x 8 RET' is now bound to `insert-char', which is now a command.
1219 `ucs-insert' is now an obsolete alias for `insert-char'.
1220
1221 ** The `z' key no longer has a binding in most special modes.
1222 It used to be bound to `kill-this-buffer', but `z' is too easy to
1223 accidentally type.
1224
1225 ** New command `C-x r M-w' (`copy-rectangle-as-kill').
1226 It copies the region-rectangle as the last rectangle kill.
1227
1228 ** Registers
1229
1230 *** `C-x r +' is now overloaded to invoke `append-to-register'.
1231
1232 *** New option `register-separator' specifies the register containing
1233 the text to put between collected texts for use with
1234 M-x append-to-register and M-x prepend-to-register.
1235
1236 \f
1237 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.3
1238
1239 ** Common Lisp emulation (CL)
1240
1241 *** CL's main entry is now (require 'cl-lib).
1242 `cl-lib' is like the old `cl' except that it uses the namespace cleanly;
1243 i.e., all its definitions have the "cl-" prefix (and internal definitions
1244 use the "cl--" prefix).
1245
1246 If `cl' provided a feature under the name `foo', then `cl-lib'
1247 provides it under the name `cl-foo' instead; with the exceptions of the
1248 few `cl' definitions that had to use `foo*' to avoid conflicts with
1249 pre-existing Elisp entities. These have been renamed to `cl-foo'
1250 rather than `cl-foo*'.
1251
1252 The old `cl' is now deprecated and is mainly just a bunch of aliases that
1253 provide the old, non-prefixed names. Some exceptions are listed below:
1254
1255 *** `cl-flet' is not like `flet' (which is deprecated).
1256 Instead it obeys the behavior of Common-Lisp's `flet'.
1257 In particular, in cl-flet function definitions are lexically scoped,
1258 whereas in flet the scoping is dynamic.
1259
1260 *** `cl-labels' is slightly different from `labels'.
1261 The difference is that it relies on the `lexical-binding' machinery
1262 (as opposed to the `lexical-let' machinery used previously) to capture
1263 definitions in closures, so such closures will only work if `lexical-binding'
1264 is in use.
1265
1266 *** `cl-letf' is not exactly like `letf'.
1267 The only difference is in details that relate to some deprecated usage
1268 of `symbol-function' in place forms.
1269
1270 *** `progv' was rewritten to use the `let' machinery.
1271 A side effect is that variables without corresponding values are bound
1272 to nil rather than being made unbound.
1273
1274 *** The following methods of extending `setf' are obsolete
1275 (use features from gv.el instead):
1276 `define-modify-macro' (use `gv-letplace')
1277 `defsetf' (use `gv-define-simple-setter' or `gv-define-setter')
1278 `define-setf-expander' (use `gv-define-setter' or `gv-define-expander')
1279 `get-setf-method' no longer exists (see "Incompatible Lisp Changes")
1280
1281 ** Diff mode
1282
1283 *** Changes are now highlighted using the same color scheme as in
1284 modern VCSes. Deletions are displayed in red (new faces
1285 `diff-refine-removed' and `smerge-refined-removed', and new definition
1286 of `diff-removed'), insertions in green (new faces `diff-refine-added'
1287 and `smerge-refined-added', and new definition of `diff-added').
1288
1289 *** The variable `diff-use-changed-face' defines whether to use the
1290 face `diff-changed', or `diff-removed' and `diff-added' to highlight
1291 changes in context diffs.
1292
1293 *** The new command `diff-delete-trailing-whitespace' removes trailing
1294 whitespace introduced by a diff.
1295
1296 ** Ediff now uses the same color scheme as Diff mode.
1297
1298 ** Python mode
1299
1300 A new version of python.el, which provides several new features, including:
1301 per-buffer shells, better indentation, Python 3 support, and improved
1302 shell-interaction compatible with iPython (and virtually any other
1303 text based shell).
1304
1305 *** Some user options have been replaced/renamed, including (old -> new):
1306 **** python-indent -> python-indent-offset
1307 **** python-guess-indent -> python-indent-guess-indent-offset
1308 **** python-pdbtrack-do-tracking-p -> python-pdbtrack-activate
1309 **** python-use-skeletons -> python-skeleton-autoinsert
1310
1311 *** Some user options have been removed, including:
1312
1313 **** `python-indent-string-contents': Strings are never indented.
1314
1315 **** `python-honour-comment-indentation':
1316 Comments are always considered as indentation markers.
1317
1318 **** `python-continuation-offset': Indentation is automatically
1319 calculated in a pep8 compliant way depending on the context.
1320
1321 **** `python-shell-prompt-alist', `python-shell-continuation-prompt-alist':
1322 Have no direct mapping as the shell interaction is completely different.
1323
1324 **** `python-python-command', `python-jython-command':
1325 Replaced by `python-shell-interpreter'.
1326
1327 **** `inferior-python-filter-regexp', `python-remove-cwd-from-path',
1328 `python-pdbtrack-minor-mode-string', `python-source-modes':
1329 No longer relevant.
1330
1331 *** Some commands have been replaced (old -> new):
1332 **** python-insert-class -> python-skeleton-class
1333 **** python-insert-def -> python-skeleton-def
1334 **** python-insert-for -> python-skeleton-for
1335 **** python-insert-if -> python-skeleton-if
1336 **** python-insert-try/except -> python-skeleton-try
1337 **** python-insert-try/finally -> python-skeleton-try
1338 **** python-insert-while -> python-skeleton-while
1339 **** python-find-function -> python-nav-jump-to-defun
1340 **** python-next-statement -> python-nav-forward-sentence
1341 **** python-previous-statement -> python-nav-backward-sentence
1342 **** python-beginning-of-defun-function -> python-nav-beginning-of-defun
1343 **** python-end-of-defun-function -> python-nav-end-of-defun
1344 **** python-send-buffer -> python-shell-send-buffer
1345 **** python-send-defun -> python-shell-send-defun
1346 **** python-send-region -> python-shell-send-region
1347 **** python-send-region-and-go -> emulate with python-shell-send-region
1348 and python-shell-switch-to-shell
1349 **** python-send-string -> python-shell-send-string
1350 **** python-switch-to-python -> python-shell-switch-to-shell
1351 **** python-describe-symbol -> python-eldoc-at-point
1352
1353 ** D-Bus
1354
1355 *** New variables `dbus-compiled-version' and `dbus-runtime-version'.
1356
1357 *** The D-Bus object manager interface is implemented.
1358
1359 *** Variables of type :(u)int32 and :(u)int64 accept floating points,
1360 if their value does not fit into Emacs's integer range.
1361
1362 *** The function `dbus-call-method' is now non-blocking.
1363 It can be interrupted by `C-g'. `dbus-call-method-non-blocking' is obsolete.
1364
1365 *** Signals can also be sent as unicast messages.
1366
1367 *** The argument list of `dbus-register-signal' has been extended,
1368 according to the new match rule types of D-Bus.
1369
1370 *** `dbus-init-bus' supports private connections.
1371
1372 *** There is a new function `dbus-setenv'.
1373
1374 ** `desktop-path' no longer includes the "." directory.
1375 Desktop files are now located in ~/.emacs.d by default.
1376
1377 ** Dired
1378
1379 *** `dired-do-async-shell-command' executes each file sequentially
1380 if the command ends in `;' (when operating on multiple files).
1381 Otherwise, it executes the command on each file in parallel.
1382
1383 *** Typing `M-n' in the minibuffer of `dired-do-chmod', `dired-do-chgrp',
1384 `dired-do-chown', and `dired-do-touch' yanks the attributes of the
1385 file at point.
1386
1387 *** When the region is active, `m' (`dired-mark'), `u' (`dired-unmark'),
1388 `DEL' (`dired-unmark-backward'), and `d' (`dired-flag-file-deletion')
1389 mark/unmark/flag all files in the active region.
1390
1391 *** The minibuffer default for `=' (`dired-diff') has changed.
1392 It is now the backup file for the file at point, if one exists.
1393 In Transient Mark mode the default is the file at the active mark.
1394
1395 *** `M-=' is no longer bound to `dired-backup-diff' in Dired buffers.
1396 The global binding for `M-=', `count-words-region' is in effect.
1397
1398 ** ERC
1399
1400 *** New module "notifications", which can send a notification when you
1401 receive a private message or your nickname is mentioned.
1402
1403 *** ERC will look up server/channel names via auth-source and use any
1404 channel keys found.
1405
1406 *** New option `erc-lurker-hide-list', similar to `erc-hide-list', but
1407 only applies to messages sent by lurkers.
1408
1409 ** reStructuredText mode
1410
1411 *** Keybindings (see `C-c C-h'), TAB indentation, filling and auto-filling,
1412 fontification, comment handling, and customization have all been revised
1413 and improved.
1414
1415 *** Support for `imenu' and `which-function-mode'.
1416
1417 *** The reStructuredText syntax is more closely covered.
1418 Sphinx support has been improved.
1419
1420 *** `rst-insert-list' inserts new list or continues existing lists.
1421
1422 *** A negative prefix argument always works for `rst-adjust'.
1423
1424 *** The window configuration is reset after displaying a TOC.
1425
1426 *** The constant `rst-version' describes the rst.el package version.
1427
1428 ** Ruby mode
1429
1430 *** Support for percent literals and recognition of regular expressions
1431 in method calls without parentheses with more methods, including Cucumber
1432 steps definitions.
1433
1434 *** Improved syntax highlighting and indentation.
1435
1436 *** New command `ruby-toggle-block', bound to `C-c {'.
1437
1438 *** Some non-standard keybindings/commands have been removed:
1439
1440 **** `ruby-electric-brace'; use `electric-indent-mode' instead.
1441
1442 **** `ruby-mark-defun'; use `mark-defun'.
1443
1444 **** `ruby-beginning-of-defun' and `ruby-end-of-defun' are replaced by
1445 appropriate settings for the variables `beginning-of-defun-function'
1446 and `end-of-defun-function'.
1447
1448 **** Non-standard keybindings for `backward-kill-word', `comment-region',
1449 `reindent-then-newline-and-indent' and `newline' have been removed.
1450
1451 ** Shell Script mode
1452
1453 *** Pairing of parens/quotes uses `electric-pair-mode' instead of skeleton-pair.
1454
1455 *** `sh-electric-here-document-mode' now controls auto-insertion of here-docs.
1456
1457 *** `sh-use-smie' lets you choose a new indentation and navigation code.
1458
1459 ** VHDL mode
1460
1461 *** The free software compiler GHDL is supported (and now the default).
1462
1463 *** Support for the VHDL-AMS packages has been added/updated.
1464
1465 *** Updated to the 2002 revision of the VHDL standard.
1466
1467 *** Accepts \r and \f as whitespace.
1468
1469 ** Apropos
1470
1471 *** The faces used by Apropos are now directly customizable.
1472 These faces are named `apropos-symbol', `apropos-keybinding', and so on;
1473 see the `apropos' Custom group for details.
1474
1475 *** The old options whose values specified faces to use have been removed
1476 (i.e. `apropos-symbol-face', `apropos-keybinding-face', etc.).
1477
1478 ** Buffer Menu
1479
1480 *** This package has been rewritten to use Tabulated List mode.
1481
1482 *** Option `Buffer-menu-buffer+size-width' is now obsolete.
1483 Use `Buffer-menu-name-width' and `Buffer-menu-size-width' instead.
1484
1485 ** Calc
1486
1487 *** Algebraic simplification mode is now the default.
1488 To restrict to the limited simplifications given by the former
1489 default simplification mode, use `m I'.
1490
1491 ** Calendar
1492
1493 *** You can customize the header text that appears above each calendar month.
1494 See the variable `calendar-month-header'.
1495
1496 *** New LaTeX calendar style, produced by `cal-tex-cursor-week2-summary'.
1497
1498 *** The calendars produced by cal-html include holidays.
1499 Customize `cal-html-holidays' to change this.
1500
1501 ** CEDET
1502
1503 *** The major modes from the parser generators "Bovine" and "Wisent"
1504 are now properly integrated in Emacs. The file suffixes ".by" and ".wy"
1505 are in `auto-mode-alist', and the corresponding manuals are included.
1506
1507 *** EDE
1508
1509 **** Menu support for the "Configuration" feature. This allows users to
1510 choose the active configuration (such as debug or install) from the menu.
1511
1512 **** New command `ede-set' to interactively set project-local variables.
1513
1514 **** Support for compiling, debugging, and running in "generic" projects.
1515
1516 **** Autoconf editing support for M4 macros with complex arguments.
1517
1518 **** Compilation support for the "linux" project type.
1519
1520 **** "simple" projects have been removed; use "generic" projects instead.
1521
1522 *** Semantic
1523
1524 **** Support for parsing #include statements inside a namespace in C/C++.
1525
1526 **** Improved support for 'extern "C"' declarations in C/C++.
1527
1528 **** The ability to ignore more common special C/C++ preprocessor symbols,
1529 such as '__nonnull' and '__asm'. Add '__cplusplus' macro when parsing C++.
1530 If available, include cdefs.h as an additional source of preprocessor symbols.
1531
1532 **** Improved C/C++ function pointer parsing.
1533
1534 **** In Python, support for converting imports to include file names.
1535
1536 **** Ability to dynamically determine the Python load path.
1537
1538 **** Support for the Python 'WITH' and 'AT' keywords.
1539
1540 **** Improved tooltip completion.
1541
1542 *** SRecode
1543
1544 **** The SRecode manual is now included.
1545
1546 **** Tag generation supports constructor/destructor settings and system
1547 include differentiation.
1548
1549 **** Addition of 'Framework' support: Frameworks are specified when a
1550 particular kind of library (such as Android) is needed in a common language
1551 mode (like Java).
1552
1553 **** Support for nested templates and let variables override based on priority.
1554
1555 **** Support for merging tables from multiple related modes, such as
1556 default -> c++ -> arduino.
1557
1558 ** Compile has a new option `compilation-always-kill'.
1559
1560 ** Customize
1561
1562 *** `custom-reset-button-menu' now defaults to t.
1563
1564 *** Non-option variables are never matched in `customize-apropos' and
1565 `customize-apropos-options' (i.e., the prefix argument does nothing for
1566 these commands now).
1567
1568 ** Term
1569
1570 *** The variables `term-default-fg-color' and `term-default-bg-color'
1571 are now deprecated in favor of the customizable face `term'.
1572
1573 *** You can customize how to display ANSI terminal colors and styles
1574 by customizing the corresponding `term-color-<COLOR>',
1575 `term-color-underline' and `term-color-bold' faces.
1576
1577 ** Tramp
1578
1579 *** The syntax has been extended in order to allow ad-hoc proxy definitions.
1580
1581 *** Remote processes are now also supported on remote MS-Windows hosts.
1582
1583 ** URL
1584
1585 *** Structs made by `url-generic-parse-url' have nil `attributes' slot.
1586 Previously, this slot stored semicolon-separated attribute-value pairs
1587 appended to some imap URLs, but this is not compatible with RFC 3986.
1588 So now the `filename' slot stores the entire path and query components,
1589 and the `attributes' slot is always nil.
1590
1591 *** New function `url-encode-url' for encoding a URI string.
1592 The `url-retrieve' function now uses this to encode its URL argument,
1593 in case that is not properly encoded.
1594
1595 *** New command `url-cookie-list' displays all the current cookies, and
1596 allows deleting selected cookies.
1597
1598 ** notifications.el supports now version 1.2 of the Notifications API.
1599 The function `notifications-get-capabilities' returns the supported
1600 server properties.
1601
1602 ** Flymake uses fringe bitmaps to indicate errors and warnings.
1603 See `flymake-fringe-indicator-position', `flymake-error-bitmap' and
1604 `flymake-warning-bitmap'.
1605
1606 ** The FFAP option `ffap-url-unwrap-remote' can now be a list of strings,
1607 specifying URL types that should be converted to remote file names at
1608 the FFAP prompt. The default is now '("ftp").
1609
1610 ** New Ibuffer `derived-mode' filter, bound to `/ M'.
1611 The old binding for `/ M' (filter by used-mode) is now bound to `/ m'.
1612
1613 ** New option `mouse-avoidance-banish-position' specifies where the
1614 `banish' mouse avoidance setting moves the mouse.
1615
1616 ** In Perl mode, new option `perl-indent-parens-as-block' causes non-block
1617 closing brackets to be aligned with the line of the opening bracket.
1618
1619 ** In Proced mode, new command `proced-renice' renices marked processes.
1620
1621 ** New option `async-shell-command-buffer' specifies the buffer to use
1622 for a new asynchronous `shell-command' when the default output buffer
1623 `*Async Shell Command*' is already in use.
1624
1625 ** SQL mode has a new option `sql-db2-escape-newlines'.
1626 If non-nil, newlines sent to the command interpreter will be escaped
1627 by a backslash. The default does not escape the newlines and assumes
1628 that the sql statement will be terminated by a semicolon.
1629
1630 ** New command `tabulated-list-sort', bound to `S' in Tabulated List mode
1631 (and modes that derive from it), sorts the column at point, or the Nth
1632 column if a numeric prefix argument is given.
1633
1634 ** `which-func-modes' now defaults to t, so Which Function mode, when
1635 enabled, applies to all applicable major modes.
1636
1637 ** `winner-mode-hook' now runs when the mode is disabled, as well as when
1638 it is enabled.
1639
1640 ** Follow mode no longer works by using advice.
1641 The option `follow-intercept-processes' has been removed.
1642
1643 ** `javascript-generic-mode' is now an obsolete alias for `js-mode'.
1644
1645 ** Hooks renamed to avoid obsolete "-hooks" suffix:
1646 *** semantic-lex-reset-hooks -> semantic-lex-reset-functions
1647 *** semantic-change-hooks -> semantic-change-functions
1648 *** semantic-edits-new-change-hooks -> semantic-edits-new-change-functions
1649 *** semantic-edits-delete-change-hooks -> semantic-edits-delete-change-functions
1650 *** semantic-edits-reparse-change-hooks -> semantic-edits-reparse-change-functions
1651 *** semanticdb-save-database-hooks -> semanticdb-save-database-functions
1652 *** c-prepare-bug-report-hooks -> c-prepare-bug-report-hook
1653 *** rcirc-sentinel-hooks -> rcirc-sentinel-functions
1654 *** rcirc-receive-message-hooks -> rcirc-receive-message-functions
1655 *** rcirc-activity-hooks -> rcirc-activity-functions
1656 *** rcirc-print-hooks -> rcirc-print-functions
1657 *** dbus-event-error-hooks -> dbus-event-error-functions
1658 *** eieio-pre-method-execution-hooks -> eieio-pre-method-execution-functions
1659 *** checkdoc-style-hooks -> checkdoc-style-functions
1660 *** checkdoc-comment-style-hooks -> checkdoc-comment-style-functions
1661 *** archive-extract-hooks -> archive-extract-hook
1662 *** filesets-cache-fill-content-hooks -> filesets-cache-fill-content-hook
1663 *** hfy-post-html-hooks -> hfy-post-html-hook
1664 *** nndiary-request-create-group-hooks -> nndiary-request-create-group-functions
1665 *** nndiary-request-update-info-hooks -> nndiary-request-update-info-functions
1666 *** nndiary-request-accept-article-hooks -> nndiary-request-accept-article-functions
1667 *** gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-hooks -> gnus-subscribe-newsgroup-functions
1668
1669 ** Obsolete packages
1670
1671 *** assoc.el
1672 In most cases, assoc+member+push+delq work just as well.
1673 And in any case it's just a terrible package: ugly semantics, terrible
1674 inefficiency, and not namespace-clean.
1675 *** bruce.el
1676 *** cust-print.el
1677 *** ledit.el
1678 *** mailpost.el
1679 *** mouse-sel.el
1680 *** patcomp.el
1681
1682 \f
1683 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.3
1684
1685 ** Docstrings starting with `*' no longer indicate user options.
1686 Only variables defined using `defcustom' are considered user options.
1687 The function `user-variable-p' is now an obsolete alias for
1688 `custom-variable-p'.
1689
1690 ** The return values of `defalias', `defun' and `defmacro' have changed,
1691 and are now undefined. For backwards compatibility, `defun' and
1692 `defmacro' currently return the name of the newly defined
1693 function/macro, but this should not be relied upon.
1694
1695 ** `random' by default now returns a different random sequence in
1696 every Emacs run. Use `(random S)', where S is a string, to set the
1697 random seed to a value based on S, in order to get a repeatable
1698 sequence in later calls.
1699
1700 ** If the NEWTEXT arg to `replace-match' contains a substring "\?",
1701 that substring is inserted literally even if the LITERAL arg is
1702 non-nil, instead of causing an error to be signaled.
1703
1704 ** `select-window' now always makes the window's buffer current.
1705 It does so even if the window was selected before.
1706
1707 ** The function `x-select-font' can return a font spec, instead of a
1708 font name as a string. Whether it returns a font spec or a font name
1709 depends on the graphical library.
1710
1711 ** `face-spec-set' no longer sets frame-specific attributes when the
1712 third argument is a frame (that usage was obsolete since Emacs 22.2).
1713
1714 ** `set-buffer-multibyte' now signals an error in narrowed buffers.
1715
1716 ** The CL package's `get-setf-method' function no longer exists.
1717 Generalized variables are now part of core Emacs Lisp, and implemented
1718 differently to the way cl.el used to do it. It is not possible to
1719 define a compatible replacement for `get-setf-method'. See the file
1720 gv.el for internal details of the new implementation.
1721
1722 ** The arguments of `dbus-register-signal' are no longer just strings,
1723 but keywords or keyword-string pairs. The old argument list will
1724 still be supported for Emacs 24.x.
1725
1726 ** Miscellaneous name changes
1727 Some Lisp symbols have been renamed to correct their spelling,
1728 or to be more consistent with standard Emacs terminology.
1729
1730 *** Renamed functions
1731 **** hangul-input-method-inactivate -> hangul-input-method-deactivate
1732 **** inactivate-input-method -> deactivate-input-method
1733 **** quail-inactivate -> quail-deactivate
1734 **** robin-inactivate -> robin-deactivate
1735 **** viper-inactivate-input-method -> viper-deactivate-input-method
1736 **** viper-inactivate-input-method-action ->
1737 viper-deactivate-input-method-action
1738 **** ucs-input-inactivate -> ucs-input-deactivate
1739
1740 *** Renamed hooks
1741 The old hooks are still supported for backward compatibility, but they
1742 are deprecated and will be removed eventually.
1743 **** input-method-inactivate-hook -> input-method-deactivate-hook
1744 **** robin-inactivate-hook -> robin-deactivate-hook
1745 **** quail-inactivate-hook -> quail-deactivate-hook
1746
1747 *** Renamed variables
1748 **** follow-deactive-menu -> follow-inactive-menu
1749 **** inactivate-current-input-method-function ->
1750 deactivate-current-input-method-function
1751
1752 ** Some obsolete functions, variables, and faces have been removed:
1753 *** `last-input-char', `last-command-char', `unread-command-char'
1754 *** `facemenu-unlisted-faces'
1755 *** `rmail-decode-mime-charset'
1756 *** `iswitchb-read-buffer'
1757 *** `sc-version', `sc-submit-bug-report'
1758 *** `set-char-table-default'
1759 *** `string-to-sequence' (use `string-to-list' or `string-to-vector')
1760 *** `compile-internal'
1761 *** `modeline'
1762 *** `mode-line-inverse-video'
1763 *** `follow-mode-off-hook'
1764 *** `cvs-commit-buffer-require-final-newline'
1765 (use `log-edit-require-final-newline' instead)
1766 *** `cvs-changelog-full-paragraphs'
1767 (use `log-edit-changelog-full-paragraphs' instead)
1768 *** `cvs-diff-ignore-marks', `cvs-diff-buffer-name'
1769 *** `vc-ignore-vc-files' (use `vc-handled-backends' instead)
1770 *** `vc-master-templates' (use `vc-handled-backends' instead)
1771 *** `vc-checkout-carefully'
1772
1773 \f
1774 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.3
1775
1776 ** CL-style generalized variables are now in core Elisp.
1777 `setf' is autoloaded; `push' and `pop' accept generalized variables.
1778 You can define your own generalized variables using `gv-define-simple-setter',
1779 `gv-define-setter', etc.
1780
1781 ** Emacs tries to macroexpand interpreted (non-compiled) files during load.
1782 This can significantly speed up execution of non-byte-compiled code,
1783 but can also bump into previously unnoticed cyclic dependencies.
1784 These are generally harmless: they will simply cause the macro calls
1785 to be left for later expansion (as before), but will result in a
1786 warning ("Eager macro-expansion skipped due to cycle") describing the cycle.
1787 You may wish to restructure your code so this does not happen.
1788
1789 ** New sampling-based Elisp profiler.
1790 Try M-x profiler-start, do some work, and then call M-x profiler-report.
1791 When finished, use M-x profiler-stop. The sampling rate can be based on
1792 CPU time or memory allocations.
1793
1794 ** `defun' also accepts a (declare DECLS) form, like `defmacro'.
1795 The interpretation of the DECLS is determined by `defun-declarations-alist'.
1796
1797 ** New macros `setq-local' and `defvar-local'.
1798
1799 ** Face underlining can now use a wave.
1800
1801 ** `read-regexp' has a new argument HISTORY; the first argument PROMPT
1802 of `read-regexp' accepts a string ending with a colon and space, and its
1803 second argument DEFAULTS can be a list of strings accessible via `M-n'
1804 in the minibuffer ahead of other hard-coded useful regexp-related values.
1805 More commands use `read-regexp' now to read their regexp arguments.
1806
1807 ** Completion
1808
1809 *** New function `completion-table-with-quoting' to handle completion
1810 in the presence of quoting, such as file completion in shell buffers.
1811
1812 *** New function `completion-table-subvert' to use an existing completion
1813 table, but with a different prefix.
1814
1815 ** Debugger
1816
1817 *** New error type and new function `user-error'.
1818 These do not trigger the debugger.
1819
1820 *** New option `debugger-bury-or-kill', saying what to do with the
1821 debugger buffer when exiting debug.
1822
1823 *** Set `debug-on-message' to enter the debugger when a certain
1824 message is displayed in the echo area. This can be useful when trying
1825 to work out which code is doing something.
1826
1827 *** New var `inhibit-debugger', automatically set to prevent accidental
1828 recursive invocations.
1829
1830 ** Window handling
1831
1832 *** New command `fit-frame-to-buffer' adjusts the frame height to
1833 fit the contents.
1834
1835 *** The command `fit-window-to-buffer' can adjust the frame height
1836 if the new option `fit-frame-to-buffer' is non-nil.
1837
1838 *** New macro `with-temp-buffer-window', similar to
1839 `with-output-to-temp-buffer'.
1840
1841 *** `temp-buffer-resize-mode' no longer resizes windows that have been
1842 reused.
1843
1844 *** New option `switch-to-buffer-preserve-window-point' to restore a
1845 window's point when switching buffers.
1846
1847 *** New display action alist entry `no-display-ok' to indicate the
1848 caller of `display-buffer' is ready to handle the case of not
1849 displaying the buffer.
1850
1851 *** New display action alist entries `window-height' and `window-width'
1852 specify the size of new windows created by `display-buffer'.
1853
1854 *** New display action alist entry `pop-up-frame-parameters', if
1855 non-nil, specifies frame parameters to give any newly-created frame.
1856
1857 *** New display action alist entry `inhibit-switch-frame', if non-nil,
1858 tells display action functions to avoid changing which frame is
1859 selected.
1860
1861 *** New display action alist entry `previous-window', if non-nil,
1862 specifies window to reuse in `display-buffer-in-previous-window'.
1863
1864 *** New display action functions `display-buffer-below-selected',
1865 and `display-buffer-in-previous-window'.
1866
1867 *** The functions `get-lru-window', `get-mru-window' and `get-largest-window'
1868 now accept a third argument to avoid choosing the selected window.
1869
1870 *** Additional values recognized for option `window-combination-limit'.
1871
1872 *** The following variables are obsolete, as they can be replaced by
1873 appropriate entries in the `display-buffer-alist' function introduced
1874 in Emacs 24.1:
1875 **** `dired-shrink-to-fit'
1876 **** `display-buffer-reuse-frames'
1877 **** `display-buffer-function'
1878 **** `special-display-buffer-names'
1879 **** `special-display-frame-alist'
1880 **** `special-display-function'
1881 **** `special-display-regexps'
1882
1883 ** Time
1884
1885 *** `current-time-string' no longer requires that its argument's year
1886 must be in the range 1000..9999. It now works with any year supported
1887 by the underlying C implementation.
1888
1889 *** `current-time' now returns extended-format time stamps
1890 (HIGH LOW USEC PSEC), where the new PSEC slot specifies picoseconds.
1891 PSEC is typically a multiple of 1000 on current machines. Other
1892 functions that use this format, such as `file-attributes' and
1893 `format-time-string', have been changed accordingly. Old-format time
1894 stamps are still accepted.
1895
1896 *** The format of timers in `timer-list' and `timer-idle-list' is now
1897 [TRIGGERED-P HI-SECS LO-SECS USECS REPEAT-DELAY FUNCTION ARGS IDLE-DELAY PSECS].
1898 The PSECS slot is new, and uses picosecond resolution. It can be
1899 accessed via the new `timer--psecs' accessor.
1900
1901 *** Last-modified time stamps in undo lists now are of the form
1902 (t HI-SECS LO-SECS USECS PSECS) instead of (t HI-SECS . LO-SECS).
1903
1904 ** EIEIO
1905
1906 *** Improved security when handling persistent objects:
1907
1908 **** `eieio-persistent-read' now features optional arguments for specifying
1909 the class to load, as well as a flag stating whether subclasses are allowed;
1910 if provided, other classes will be rejected by the reader. For
1911 compatibility with existing code, if the class is omitted only a
1912 warning is issued.
1913
1914 **** New specialized reader for pulling in classes and signaling errors
1915 without evaluation of suspicious code.
1916
1917 **** All slots that contain objects must have a :type. Slots with lists
1918 of objects must use a new type predicate for a list of an object type.
1919
1920 *** Support for `find-function' and similar utilities, through the addition
1921 of filename support to generated symbols.
1922
1923 ** Floating point functions now always return special values like NaN,
1924 instead of signaling errors, if given invalid args; e.g., (log -1.0).
1925 Previously, they returned NaNs on some platforms but signaled errors
1926 on others. The affected functions are acos, asin, tan, exp, expt,
1927 log, log10, sqrt, and mod.
1928
1929 ** New fringe bitmap `exclamation-mark'.
1930
1931 ** Miscellaneous changes to special forms and macros
1932
1933 *** `defun' and `defmacro' are now macros rather than special forms.
1934
1935 *** `kbd' is now a function rather than a macro.
1936
1937 ** Miscellaneous new functions
1938
1939 *** `set-temporary-overlay-map' sets up a temporary keymap that
1940 takes precedence over most other maps for a short while (normally one key).
1941
1942 *** `autoloadp' tests if its argument is an autoloaded object.
1943
1944 *** `autoload-do-load' performs the autoloading operation.
1945
1946 *** `buffer-narrowed-p' tests if the buffer is narrowed.
1947
1948 *** `file-name-base' returns a file name sans directory and extension.
1949
1950 *** `function-get' fetches a function property, following aliases.
1951
1952 *** `posnp' tests if an object is a `posn'.
1953
1954 *** `system-users' returns the user names on the system.
1955
1956 *** `system-groups' returns the group names on the system.
1957
1958 *** `tty-top-frame' returns the topmost frame of a text terminal.
1959
1960 ** The following functions and variables are obsolete:
1961 *** `automount-dir-prefix' (use `directory-abbrev-alist')
1962 *** `buffer-has-markers-at'
1963 *** `macro-declaration-function' (use `macro-declarations-alist')
1964 *** `window-system-version' (provides no useful information)
1965 *** `dired-pop-to-buffer' (use `dired-mark-pop-up')
1966 *** `query-replace-interactive'
1967 *** `font-list-limit' (has had no effect since Emacs < 23)
1968
1969 \f
1970 * Changes in Emacs 24.3 on Non-Free Operating Systems
1971
1972 ** Cygwin builds can use the native MS Windows user interface.
1973 Pass `--with-w32' to configure. The default remains the X11 interface.
1974
1975 ** Two new functions are available in Cygwin builds:
1976 `cygwin-convert-file-name-from-windows' and
1977 `cygwin-convert-file-name-to-windows'. These functions allow Lisp
1978 code to access the Cygwin file-name mapping machinery to convert
1979 between Cygwin and Windows-native file and directory names.
1980
1981 ** When invoked with the -nw switch to run on the Windows text-mode terminal,
1982 Emacs now supports `mouse-highlight', help-echo (in the echo area), and
1983 `mouse-autoselect-window'.
1984
1985 ** On MS Windows Vista and later Emacs now supports symbolic links.
1986
1987 ** On MS Windows, you can pass `--without-libxml2' to configure.bat to omit
1988 support for libxml2, even if its presence is detected.
1989
1990 ** On Mac OS X, the Nextstep port requires OS X 10.4 or later.
1991
1992 ** On Mac OS X, configure no longer automatically adds the Fink "/sw"
1993 directories to the search path. You must add them yourself if you want them.
1994
1995 \f
1996 * Changes in Emacs 24.2
1997
1998 ** This is mainly a bug-fix release.
1999
2000 \f
2001 * Installation Changes in Emacs 24.1
2002
2003 ** Emacs can be compiled with Gtk+ 3.0 if you pass --with-x-toolkit=gtk3
2004 to configure. Note that other libraries used by Emacs, RSVG and GConf,
2005 also depend on Gtk+. You can disable them with --without-rsvg and
2006 --without-gconf.
2007
2008 ** Emacs can be compiled with GnuTLS support.
2009 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
2010 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
2011 `--without-gnutls'. See below for GnuTLS features.
2012
2013 ** Emacs can be compiled with SELinux support.
2014 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
2015 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
2016 `--without-selinux'. See below for SELinux features.
2017
2018 ** Emacs can be compiled with ImageMagick support.
2019 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
2020 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
2021 `--without-imagemagick'. See below for ImageMagick features.
2022 This feature is not available for the Nextstep or MS ports.
2023
2024 ** Emacs can be compiled with libxml2 support.
2025 This happens by default if a suitably recent version of the library is
2026 found at build time. To prevent this, use the configure option
2027 `--without-xml2'. See below for libxml2 features.
2028
2029 ** By default, the installed Info and man pages are compressed.
2030 You can disable this by configuring --without-compress-info.
2031
2032 ** New configure option --with-wide-int.
2033 With it, Emacs integers typically have 62 bits, even on 32-bit machines.
2034 On 32-bit hosts, this raises the limit on buffer sizes from about 512 MiB
2035 to about 2 GiB.
2036
2037 ** New configure options: --with-mmdf, --with-mail-unlink, --with-mailhost.
2038 These provide no new functionality, they just remove the need to edit
2039 lib-src/Makefile by hand in order to use the associated features.
2040
2041 ** New configure option --enable-use-lisp-union-type.
2042 This is only useful for Emacs developers to debug certain types of bugs.
2043 This is not a new feature; only the configure flag is new.
2044
2045 ** The standalone programs digest-doc and sorted-doc are removed.
2046 Emacs now uses Lisp commands `doc-file-to-man' and `doc-file-to-info'.
2047
2048 ** The standalone program `fakemail' is removed.
2049 If you need it, feedmail.el provides a superset of the functionality.
2050
2051 \f
2052 * Startup Changes in Emacs 24.1
2053
2054 ** The --unibyte, --multibyte, --no-multibyte, and --no-unibyte
2055 command line arguments, and the EMACS_UNIBYTE environment variable, no
2056 longer have any effect. (They were declared obsolete in Emacs 23.)
2057
2058 ** New command line option `--no-site-lisp' removes site-lisp directories
2059 from load-path. -Q now implies this. This option does not affect the
2060 EMACSLOADPATH environment variable (and hence has no effect for
2061 Nextstep builds).
2062
2063 \f
2064 * Changes in Emacs 24.1
2065
2066 ** Completion
2067
2068 *** Many packages now use the `completion-at-point' command,
2069 rather than implementing separate completion commands.
2070
2071 *** `completion-at-point' now handles tags and semantic completion.
2072
2073 *** Completion in a non-minibuffer now tries to detect the end of completion
2074 and pops down the *Completions* buffer accordingly.
2075
2076 *** New option `completion-cycle-threshold' allows completion cycling.
2077
2078 *** New option `completion-category-overrides' for overriding the
2079 default completion style in certain circumstances.
2080
2081 *** New completion style `substring'.
2082
2083 *** Completion of buffer names uses `substring' completion by default.
2084
2085 *** The option `widget-complete-field' has been removed.
2086
2087 ** Mail changes
2088
2089 *** The first time you try sending mail, Emacs asks for a mail method.
2090 This is implemented by a new default for `send-mail-function', which
2091 is `sendmail-query-once'. This offers to use the smtpmail package, or
2092 to use the old defaults relying on external mail facilities
2093 (`sendmail-send-it' on GNU/Linux and other Unix-like systems, and
2094 `mailclient-send-it' on Windows).
2095
2096 *** Typing `C-c m' in the buffer made by `M-x report-emacs-bug'
2097 transfers the report to your desktop's preferred mail client, if there
2098 is one. This uses either the "xdg-email" utility, or Mac OS's "open"
2099 command.
2100
2101 *** See Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages for SMTPmail changes
2102 and Mail mode changes
2103
2104 ** Emacs server and client changes
2105
2106 *** New option `server-port' specifies the port for TCP Emacs servers.
2107
2108 *** New emacsclient argument -q/--quiet suppresses some status messages.
2109
2110 *** New emacsclient argument --frame-parameters specifies the frame
2111 parameters of any newly-created graphical frame.
2112
2113 *** If emacsclient shuts down due to Emacs signaling an error,
2114 its exit status is 1.
2115
2116 *** New emacsclient argument --parent-id ID.
2117 This opens a client frame in parent X window ID, via XEmbed, similar
2118 to the --parent-id argument to Emacs.
2119
2120 ** Internationalization changes
2121
2122 *** Emacs now supports display and editing of bidirectional text.
2123 Right-to-left (RTL) scripts, such as Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew, are
2124 displayed in the correct visual order as expected by users of those
2125 scripts. The display reordering is a "full bidirectionality" class
2126 implementation of the Unicode Bidirectional Algorithm (UBA). Buffers
2127 with no RTL text should look exactly the same as before.
2128
2129 **** New buffer-local variable `bidi-display-reordering'.
2130 To disable display reordering in a buffer, change this to nil.
2131
2132 **** New buffer-local variable `bidi-paragraph-direction'.
2133 If nil (the default), Emacs determines the base direction of each
2134 paragraph from its text, as specified by the UBA. Setting the value
2135 to `right-to-left' or `left-to-right' forces a base direction on each
2136 paragraph.
2137
2138 Paragraphs with right-to-left base direction are displayed starting at
2139 the right window edge.
2140
2141 *** Enhanced support for characters with no glyphs in available fonts,
2142 or, on text terminals, characters that cannot be encoded by the
2143 terminal coding system. The new option `glyphless-char-display-control'
2144 specifies how to display them: as a hexadecimal code in a box, a thin
2145 1-pixel space, an empty box, etc.
2146
2147 *** New input methods for Farsi and Bulgarian
2148 (farsi-isiri-9147, farsi-transliterate-banan, bulgarian-alt-phonetic).
2149
2150 *** `nobreak-char-display' now also highlights Unicode hyphen chars
2151 (U+2010 and U+2011).
2152
2153 *** New Hebrew translation of the Emacs Tutorial.
2154 Type `C-u C-h t' to choose it in case your language setup doesn't
2155 automatically select it.
2156
2157 ** An Emacs Lisp package manager is now included.
2158 This is a convenient way to download and install additional packages,
2159 from a package repository at http://elpa.gnu.org.
2160
2161 *** M-x list-packages shows a list of packages, which can be
2162 selected for installation.
2163
2164 *** New command `describe-package', bound to `C-h P'.
2165
2166 *** By default, all installed packages are loaded automatically when
2167 Emacs starts up. To disable this, set `package-enable-at-startup' to
2168 nil. To specify the packages to load, customize `package-load-list'.
2169
2170 ** Custom theme changes
2171
2172 *** New command `M-x customize-themes', which provides a convenient
2173 interface for enabling and disabling Custom themes.
2174
2175 *** New option `custom-theme-load-path' is the load path for themes.
2176 Emacs no longer looks for Custom themes in `load-path'. The default
2177 value of `custom-theme-load-path' says to look for themes in
2178 `custom-theme-directory', followed by a subdirectory of
2179 `data-directory' named "themes/", which contains a small selection of
2180 built-in Custom themes.
2181
2182 *** New option `custom-safe-themes' records known-safe theme files.
2183 If a theme is not in this list, Emacs queries before loading it, and
2184 offers to save the theme to `custom-safe-themes' automatically. By
2185 default, all themes included in Emacs are treated as safe.
2186
2187 ** Improved GTK integration
2188
2189 *** GTK scroll-bars are now placed on the right by default.
2190 The function `set-scroll-bar-mode' can change this.
2191
2192 *** GTK tool bars can have just text, just images or images and text.
2193 Customize `tool-bar-style' to choose the style. On a Gnome desktop,
2194 the default is taken from desktop settings.
2195
2196 *** GTK tool bars can be placed on any edge of the frame.
2197 The frame-parameter tool-bar-position controls this. It takes the
2198 values top, left, right or bottom. The Options => Show/Hide menu has
2199 entries for this.
2200
2201 *** The default colors for selected text (the `region' face) are taken
2202 from the GTK theme when Emacs is built with GTK.
2203
2204 *** Emacs uses GTK tooltips by default if built with GTK.
2205 You can disable this by changing `x-gtk-use-system-tooltips' to nil.
2206
2207 ** Graphical interface changes
2208
2209 *** On graphical displays, the mode-line no longer ends in dashes.
2210 Also, the first dash (which does not indicate anything) is just
2211 displayed as a space.
2212
2213 *** `menu-bar-select-buffer-function' lets you choose another operation
2214 instead of `switch-to-buffer' when selecting an item in the Buffers menu.
2215
2216 *** Lucid menus and dialogs can display antialiased fonts if Emacs is
2217 built with Xft. These fonts can be set via X resources, for example:
2218 Emacs.pane.menubar.font: Courier-12
2219
2220 ** Exiting changes
2221
2222 *** Emacs now calls `kill-emacs' if it receives SIGTERM or SIGHUP,
2223 or if it receives a SIGINT signal in batch mode.
2224
2225 *** `kill-emacs-hook' is now also run in batch mode.
2226 Third-party code which adds to `kill-emacs-hook' should check if they
2227 do the right thing in batch mode.
2228
2229 ** Scrolling changes
2230
2231 *** New scrolling commands `scroll-up-command' and `scroll-down-command'
2232 (bound to C-v/[next] and M-v/[prior]) do not signal errors at top/bottom
2233 of buffer at first key-press (instead they move to top/bottom of buffer)
2234 when `scroll-error-top-bottom' is non-nil.
2235
2236 *** New option `scroll-error-top-bottom' (see above).
2237
2238 *** New scrolling commands `scroll-up-line' and `scroll-down-line'
2239 scroll a line instead of full screen.
2240
2241 *** New property `scroll-command' should be set on a command's symbol to
2242 define it as a scroll command affected by `scroll-preserve-screen-position'.
2243
2244 *** If you customize `scroll-conservatively' to a value greater than 100,
2245 Emacs will never recenter point in the window when it scrolls due to
2246 cursor motion commands or commands that move point (e.f., `M-g M-g').
2247 Previously, you needed to use `most-positive-fixnum' as the value of
2248 `scroll-conservatively' to achieve the same effect.
2249
2250 *** "Aggressive" scrolling now honors the scroll margins.
2251 If you customize `scroll-up-aggressively' or
2252 `scroll-down-aggressively' and move point off the window, Emacs now
2253 scrolls the window so as to avoid positioning point inside the scroll
2254 margin.
2255
2256 ** Basic SELinux support has been added.
2257 This requires Emacs to be linked with libselinux at build time.
2258
2259 *** Emacs preserves the SELinux file context when backing up.
2260 Also, the function `copy-file' has an extra optional argument for
2261 preserving SELinux context, and the return value of `backup-buffer'
2262 now includes the SELinux context.
2263
2264 *** New functions `file-selinux-context' and `set-file-selinux-context'
2265 get and set the SELinux context of a file.
2266
2267 ** Trash changes
2268
2269 *** `delete-by-moving-to-trash' now only affects commands that specify
2270 trashing. This avoids inadvertently trashing temporary files.
2271
2272 *** Calling `delete-file' or `delete-directory' with a prefix argument
2273 now forces true deletion, regardless of `delete-by-moving-to-trash'.
2274
2275 ** File- and directory-local variable changes
2276
2277 *** You can stop directory local vars from applying to subdirectories.
2278 Add an element (subdirs . nil) to the alist portion of any variables
2279 settings to indicate that the section should not apply to
2280 subdirectories.
2281
2282 *** Directory local variables can apply to some file-less buffers.
2283 Affected modes include dired, vc-dir, and log-edit. For example,
2284 adding "(diff-mode . ((mode . whitespace)))" to .dir-locals.el will
2285 turn on `whitespace-mode' for *vc-diff* buffers. Modes should call
2286 `hack-dir-local-variables-non-file-buffer' to support this.
2287
2288 *** Using "mode: MINOR-MODE" to enable a minor mode is deprecated.
2289 Instead, use "eval: (minor-mode 1)".
2290
2291 *** The variable `inhibit-first-line-modes-regexps' has been renamed
2292 to `inhibit-local-variables-regexps'. As the name suggests, it now
2293 applies to ALL file local variables, not just -*- lines. The
2294 associated `inhibit-first-line-modes-suffixes' has been renamed in the
2295 corresponding way.
2296
2297 ** Window changes
2298
2299 *** The `quit-window' command now restores the last buffer displayed
2300 in the quitted window.
2301
2302 *** Resizing an Emacs frame now preserves proportional window sizes,
2303 modulo restrictions like window minimum sizes and fixed-size windows.
2304
2305 *** The behavior of `display-buffer' is now customizable in detail.
2306
2307 **** New option `display-buffer-base-action' specifies a list of
2308 user-determined display "actions" (functions and optional arguments
2309 for choosing the displaying window).
2310
2311 This takes precedence over the default display action, which is
2312 specified by `display-buffer-fallback-action'.
2313
2314 **** New option `display-buffer-alist' maps buffer name regexps to
2315 display actions, taking precedence over `display-buffer-base-action'.
2316
2317 *** New option `window-combination-limit'.
2318 The new option `window-combination-limit' allows to return the space
2319 obtained for resizing or creating a window more reliably to the window
2320 from which such space was obtained.
2321
2322 *** New option `window-combination-resize'.
2323 The new option `window-combination-resize' allows to split a window that
2324 otherwise cannot be split because it's too small by stealing space from
2325 other windows in the same combination. Subsequent resizing or deletion
2326 of the window will resize all windows in the same combination as well.
2327
2328 *** New option `frame-auto-hide-function' lets you choose between
2329 iconifying or deleting a frame when burying a buffer in a dedicated
2330 frame, or quitting a window showing a buffer in a frame of its own.
2331
2332 *** New commands `maximize-window' and `minimize-window'.
2333 These maximize and minimize the size of a window within its frame.
2334
2335 *** New commands `switch-to-prev-buffer' and `switch-to-next-buffer'.
2336 These functions allow to navigate through the live buffers that have
2337 been shown in a specific window.
2338
2339 ** Minibuffer changes
2340
2341 *** The inactive minibuffer has its own major mode `minibuffer-inactive-mode'.
2342 This is handy for minibuffer-only frames, and is also used for the feature
2343 where mouse-1 pops up *Messages*"', which can now easily be changed.
2344
2345 *** Minibuffers set `truncate-lines' to nil.
2346 If you want to change the value to something else, you could use
2347 for example `minibuffer-setup-hook'.
2348
2349 ** `auto-mode-case-fold' is now enabled by default.
2350
2351 ** `backup-by-copying-when-mismatch' now defaults to t.
2352
2353 ** New basic faces `error', `warning', `success'.
2354 These are used to highlight text indicating failure, caution or
2355 successful operation.
2356
2357 ** New option `list-colors-sort' defines the color sort order
2358 for `list-colors-display'.
2359
2360 ** The variable `focus-follows-mouse' now always defaults to nil.
2361
2362 \f
2363 * Editing Changes in Emacs 24.1
2364
2365 ** Search changes
2366
2367 *** C-y in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-kill', instead of
2368 `isearch-yank-line'.
2369
2370 *** M-y in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-pop', instead of
2371 `isearch-yank-kill'.
2372
2373 *** M-s C-e in Isearch is now bound to `isearch-yank-line'.
2374
2375 ** New commands `count-words-region' and `count-words'.
2376
2377 *** M-= is bound to `count-words-region', not `count-lines-region'.
2378 The `count-words-region' command, when called interactively, reports
2379 the number of lines, words, and characters in the region. It is a
2380 superset of the old `count-lines-region', which is now an obsolete
2381 alias for it.
2382
2383 ** The command `just-one-space' (M-SPC), if given a negative argument,
2384 also deletes newlines around point.
2385
2386 ** Deletion changes
2387
2388 *** New option `delete-active-region'.
2389 If non-nil, [delete] and DEL delete the region if it is active and no
2390 prefix argument is given. If set to `kill', those commands kill
2391 instead.
2392
2393 *** New command `delete-forward-char', bound to [delete].
2394 This is meant for interactive use, and obeys `delete-active-region'.
2395 The command `delete-char' does not obey `delete-active-region'.
2396
2397 *** `delete-backward-char' is now a Lisp function.
2398 Apart from obeying `delete-active-region', its behavior is unchanged.
2399 However, the byte compiler now warns if it is called from Lisp; Lisp
2400 callers should use delete-char with a negative argument instead.
2401
2402 *** The option `mouse-region-delete-keys' has been deleted.
2403
2404 ** Selection changes.
2405
2406 The default handling of clipboard and primary selections has been
2407 changed to conform with modern X applications. In short, most
2408 commands for killing and yanking text now use the clipboard, while
2409 mouse commands use the primary selection.
2410
2411 In the following, we provide a list of these changes, followed by a
2412 list of steps to get the old behavior back if you prefer that.
2413
2414 *** `select-active-regions' now defaults to t.
2415 Merely selecting text (e.g. with drag-mouse-1) no longer puts it in
2416 the kill ring. The selected text is put in the primary selection, if
2417 the system possesses a separate primary selection facility (e.g. X).
2418
2419 **** `select-active-regions' also accepts a new value, `only'.
2420 This means to only set the primary selection for temporarily active
2421 regions (usually made by mouse-dragging or shift-selection);
2422 "ordinary" active regions, such as those made with C-SPC followed by
2423 point motion, do not alter the primary selection.
2424
2425 **** `mouse-drag-copy-region' now defaults to nil.
2426
2427 *** mouse-2 is now bound to `mouse-yank-primary'.
2428 This pastes from the primary selection, ignoring the kill-ring.
2429 Previously, mouse-2 was bound to `mouse-yank-at-click'.
2430
2431 *** `x-select-enable-clipboard' now defaults to t on all platforms.
2432
2433 *** `x-select-enable-primary' now defaults to nil.
2434 Thus, commands that kill text or copy it to the kill-ring (such as
2435 M-w, C-w, and C-k) also use the clipboard---not the primary selection.
2436
2437 **** The "Copy", "Cut", and "Paste" items in the "Edit" menu are now
2438 exactly equivalent to M-w, C-w, and C-y respectively.
2439
2440 **** Note that on MS-Windows, `x-select-enable-clipboard' was already
2441 non-nil by default, as Windows does not support the primary selection
2442 between applications.
2443
2444 *** To return to the previous behavior, do the following:
2445
2446 **** Change `select-active-regions' to nil.
2447 **** Change `mouse-drag-copy-region' to t.
2448 **** Change `x-select-enable-primary' to t (on X only).
2449 **** Change `x-select-enable-clipboard' to nil.
2450 **** Bind `mouse-yank-at-click' to mouse-2.
2451
2452 *** Support for X cut buffers has been removed.
2453
2454 *** X clipboard managers are now supported.
2455 To inhibit this, change `x-select-enable-clipboard-manager' to nil.
2456
2457 ** New command `C-x r N' (`rectangle-number-lines') numbers the lines
2458 in the current rectangle. With a prefix argument, this prompts for a
2459 number to count from and for a format string.
2460
2461 ** `redisplay-dont-pause' now defaults to t.
2462 This makes Emacs feel more responsive to editing commands that arrive
2463 at high rate, e.g. if you lean on some key, because stopping redisplay
2464 in the middle (when this variable is nil) forces more expensive
2465 updates later on, and Emacs appears to be unable to keep up.
2466
2467 ** The behavior of <TAB> for active regions in Text mode has changed.
2468 In Text and related modes, typing <TAB> (`indent-for-tab-command')
2469 when the region is active causes Emacs to indent all the lines in the
2470 region, aligning them with the line previous to the first line in the
2471 region (or with the left margin if there is no previous line).
2472
2473 ** When `occur' is called with a prefix argument, matching strings are
2474 collected into the `*Occur*' buffer without line numbers. If there
2475 are parenthesized subexpressions in the specified regexp, `occur'
2476 reads replacement text that may contain \\& and \\N whose convention
2477 follows `replace-match'.
2478
2479 \f
2480 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.1
2481
2482 ** Archive Mode has basic support for browsing and updating 7z archives.
2483
2484 ** BibTeX mode
2485
2486 *** BibTeX mode now supports biblatex.
2487 Use the variable `bibtex-dialect' to select different BibTeX dialects.
2488 `bibtex-entry-field-alist' is now an obsolete alias for
2489 `bibtex-BibTeX-entry-alist'.
2490
2491 *** New command `bibtex-search-entries', bound to C-c C-a.
2492
2493 *** New `bibtex-entry-format' option `sort-fields', disabled by default.
2494
2495 *** New variable `bibtex-search-entry-globally'.
2496
2497 ** Browse-url
2498
2499 *** New option `browse-url-mailto-function' specifies how to handle "mailto:"s.
2500
2501 *** The default browser used by the package is now the "xdg-open" program,
2502 on platforms that support it. This calls your desktop's preferred browser.
2503
2504 ** Calc
2505
2506 *** Support for musical notes.
2507
2508 *** Support for logarithmic units.
2509
2510 *** No longer uses the tex prefix for TeX specific unit names when
2511 using TeX or LaTeX mode.
2512
2513 *** New option to highlight selections using faces.
2514
2515 *** `calc-histogram' has the option of using a vector to determine the bins.
2516
2517 *** New "O" option prefix.
2518
2519 *** Use the "O" prefix to "d r" (`calc-radix') to turn on twos-complement mode.
2520
2521 ** Calendar, Diary, and Appt
2522
2523 *** Diary entries can contain non-printing "comments".
2524 See the variable `diary-comment-start'.
2525
2526 *** Appointments can specify their individual warning times.
2527 See the variable `appt-warning-time-regexp'.
2528
2529 *** The function specified by `appt-disp-window-function' may be passed
2530 lists of arguments if multiple appointments are due at similar times.
2531 If you are using a custom function for this, you should update it.
2532
2533 *** New function `diary-hebrew-birthday'.
2534
2535 *** Elements of `calendar-day-abbrev-array' and `calendar-month-abbrev-array'
2536 may no longer be nil, but must all be strings.
2537
2538 *** The obsolete (since Emacs 22.1) method of enabling the appt
2539 package by adding `appt-make-list' to `diary-hook' has been removed.
2540 Use `appt-activate' instead.
2541
2542 *** Some appt variables (obsolete since Emacs 22.1) have been removed:
2543 appt-issue-message (use the function appt-activate)
2544 appt-visible/appt-msg-window (use the variable appt-display-format)
2545
2546 *** Some diary function aliases (obsolete since Emacs 22.1) have been removed:
2547 view-diary-entries, list-diary-entries, show-all-diary-entries
2548
2549 ** CC Mode
2550
2551 *** New feature to "guess" the style in an existing buffer.
2552 The main entry point is M-x c-guess.
2553
2554 *** Java Mode now supports Java 5.0 (Tiger) and 6 (Mustang).
2555
2556 *** `c-beginning-of-defun' and `c-end-of-defun' now respect nested scopes.
2557 Thus C-M-a will, by default, go to the beginning of the immediate function,
2558 not the top level.
2559
2560 *** "Macros with semicolons" can be registered for correct indentation.
2561 Where such a macro ends a line (no semicolon) the next statement is no longer
2562 parsed as a statement continuation.
2563
2564 ** Comint and modes derived from it use the standard completion code.
2565
2566 ** Compilation mode
2567
2568 *** Compilation mode can be used without Font Lock mode.
2569 `compilation-parse-errors-function' is now obsolete.
2570
2571 *** New variable `compilation-filter-start', which is bound while
2572 `compilation-filter-hook' runs. It records the start position of the
2573 text inserted by `compilation-filter'.
2574
2575 *** `compilation-error-screen-columns' and `compilation-first-column'
2576 are obeyed in the editing buffer. So programming language modes can
2577 set them, whereas previously only the value in the *Compilation*
2578 buffer was used.
2579
2580 ** Customize
2581
2582 *** Customize buffers now contain a search field.
2583 The search is performed using `customize-apropos'.
2584 To turn off the search field, set `custom-search-field' to nil.
2585
2586 *** Options in customize group buffers start out hidden if not customized.
2587 Use the arrow to the left of the option name to toggle visibility.
2588
2589 *** custom-buffer-sort-alphabetically now defaults to t.
2590
2591 *** The color widget now has a "Choose" button, which allows you to
2592 choose a color via `list-colors-display'.
2593
2594 ** D-Bus
2595
2596 *** It is now possible to access buses other than the default system
2597 or session bus.
2598
2599 *** The `dbus-register-method' and `dbus-register-property' functions
2600 optionally do not register names.
2601
2602 *** The new function `dbus-register-service' registers a known service
2603 name on a D-Bus without also registering a property or a method.
2604
2605 ** Dired-x
2606
2607 *** C-x C-j (`dired-jump') and C-x 4 C-j (`dired-jump-other-window'),
2608 if called with a prefix argument, read a file name from the minibuffer
2609 instead of using the current buffer.
2610
2611 *** The "dired local variables" feature of Dired-x is obsolete.
2612 The standard directory local variables feature replaces it.
2613
2614 ** ERC changes
2615
2616 *** New options `erc-autojoin-timing' and `erc-autojoin-delay',
2617 controlling attempts to autojoin a channel.
2618
2619 *** New variable `erc-coding-system-precedence': If we use `undecided'
2620 as the server coding system, this variable will then be consulted.
2621 The default is to decode strings that can be decoded as utf-8 as
2622 utf-8, and do the normal `undecided' decoding for the rest.
2623
2624 ** Eshell changes
2625
2626 *** The default value of `eshell-directory-name' has changed
2627 to be an "eshell" directory in `user-emacs-directory'.
2628 The old "~/.eshell/" directory is still used if it exists, though.
2629
2630 ** gdb-mi
2631
2632 *** The M-x gdb command now uses the GDB Machine Interface protocol.
2633 It now supports multithread non-stop debugging and simultaneous
2634 debugging of several threads.
2635
2636 ** Image mode
2637
2638 *** RET (`image-toggle-animation') toggles animation, if applicable.
2639 Animation plays once, unless the option `image-animate-loop' is non-nil.
2640
2641 ** Info
2642
2643 *** New command M-x info-display-manual displays a named Info manual.
2644 If that manual is already visited in some Info buffer, it displays
2645 that buffer. (This is handy if you have many manuals in many *info*
2646 buffers, and don't remember the name of the buffer visiting the manual
2647 you want to consult.) Otherwise, it loads and displays the manual.
2648
2649 *** `e' is now bound to `end-of-buffer' rather than to `Info-edit'.
2650 This is for compatibility with the stand-alone Info reader program,
2651 and also because `Info-edit' is a rarely used command that is disabled
2652 by default.
2653
2654 ** Mail mode changes (not Message mode)
2655
2656 *** New command M-x mail-add-attachment for adding MIME attachments
2657
2658 *** The command M-x mail-attach-file was renamed to M-x mail-insert-file.
2659 (Its name is misleading, since it has nothing to do with MIME
2660 attachments.) The old name is now an obsolete alias to the new name.
2661
2662 ** MH-E has been updated to MH-E version 8.3.1.
2663 See MH-E-NEWS for details.
2664
2665 ** Modula-2 mode provides auto-indentation.
2666
2667 ** mpc.el: Can use pseudo tags of the form tag1|tag2 as a union of two tags.
2668
2669 ** nXML mode no longer binds C-RET to `nxml-complete'.
2670 Completion is now performed via `completion-at-point', bound to C-M-i
2671 or M-TAB. If `nxml-bind-meta-tab-to-complete-flag' is non-nil (the
2672 default), this performs tag completion.
2673
2674 ** Org mode has been updated to version 7.8.09.
2675 See ORG-NEWS for details.
2676
2677 ** Prolog mode has been completely revamped, with lots of additional
2678 functionality such as more intelligent indentation, electricity,
2679 support for more variants, including Mercury, and a lot more.
2680
2681 ** Rmail
2682
2683 *** The command `rmail-epa-decrypt' decrypts OpenPGP data
2684 in the Rmail incoming message.
2685
2686 *** The variable `rmail-message-filter' no longer has any effect.
2687 This change was made in Emacs 23.1 but was not advertised at the time.
2688 Try using `rmail-show-message-hook' instead.
2689
2690 ** Shell mode
2691
2692 *** M-x shell prompts for the shell path name if the default directory
2693 is a remote file name and neither the environment variable $ESHELL nor
2694 the variable `explicit-shell-file-name' is set.
2695
2696 *** TAB is now bound to the standard `completion-at-point' command,
2697 which now implements the pcomplete rules for shell command completion.
2698
2699 ** SMTPmail
2700
2701 *** SMTPmail now uses encrypted connections (via STARTTLS) by default
2702 if the mail server supports them. This uses either built-in GnuTLS
2703 support, or the starttls.el library. Customize `smtpmail-stream-type'
2704 to change this.
2705
2706 *** The variable `smtpmail-auth-credentials' has been removed.
2707 By default, the information is now stored in the file ~/.authinfo.
2708 This was the default value of smtpmail-auth-credentials. If you had
2709 customized smtpmail-auth-credentials to a list of user names and
2710 passwords, those settings are not used. During your first connection
2711 to the smtp server, Emacs will prompt for the user name and password,
2712 and offer to save them to ~/.authinfo. Or you can manually copy the
2713 credentials to ~/.authinfo. For example, if you had
2714
2715 (setq smtpmail-auth-credentials
2716 '(("mail.example.org" 25 "jim" "s!cret")))
2717
2718 then the equivalent line in ~/.authinfo would be
2719
2720 machine mail.example.org port 25 login jim password s!cret
2721
2722 See the auth-source manual for more information, e.g. on encrypting
2723 the credentials file.
2724
2725 *** The variable `smtpmail-starttls-credentials' has been removed.
2726 If you had that set, you need to put
2727
2728 machine smtp.whatever.foo port 25 key "~/.my_smtp_tls.key" cert "~/.my_smtp_tls.cert"
2729
2730 in your ~/.authinfo file instead.
2731
2732 *** SMTPmail defaults to using the address in the From: header as the
2733 SMTP MAIL FROM envelope. To override this, set `mail-envelope-from'
2734 to the address you wish to use instead.
2735
2736 ** SQL mode
2737
2738 *** New options `sql-port', `sql-connection-alist', `sql-send-terminator',
2739 and `sql-oracle-scan-on'.
2740
2741 *** New options controlling prompting for login parameters.
2742 Each supported product has a custom variable `sql-*-login-params',
2743 which is a list of the parameters to be prompted for before a
2744 connection is established.
2745
2746 *** The command `sql-product-interactive' now takes a prefix argument,
2747 which causes it to prompt for an SQL product.
2748
2749 *** Product-specific SQL interactive commands now take prefix arguments.
2750 These commands (`sql-sqlite', `sql-postgres', `sql-mysql', etc.),
2751 given a prefix argument, prompt for a name for the SQL interactive
2752 buffer. This reduces the need for calling `sql-rename-buffer'.
2753
2754 *** SQL interactive modes suppress command continuation prompts, and
2755 replace tabs with spaces. The first change impacts multiple line SQL
2756 statements entered with C-j between each line, statements yanked into
2757 the buffer and statements sent with `sql-send-*' functions. The
2758 second prevents the MySQL and Postgres interpreters from listing
2759 object name completions when sent text via `sql-send-*' functions.
2760
2761 *** New command `sql-connect' starts a predefined SQLi session,
2762 using the login parameters from `sql-connection-alist'.
2763
2764 *** New "Save Connection" menu item in SQLi buffers.
2765 This gathers the login params specified for the SQLi session, if it
2766 was not started by a connection, and saves them as a new connection.
2767
2768 *** New commands for listing database objects and details:
2769 sql-list-all and sql-list-table.
2770
2771 *** An API for manipulating SQL product definitions has been added.
2772
2773 ** TeX modes
2774
2775 *** latex-electric-env-pair-mode keeps \begin..\end matched on the fly.
2776
2777 ** Tramp
2778
2779 *** New inline access method "ksu" (kerberized su).
2780
2781 *** The following access methods are discontinued: "ssh1_old",
2782 "ssh2_old", "scp1_old", "scp2_old", "imap", "imaps" and "fish".
2783
2784 *** The user option `remote-file-name-inhibit-cache' controls whether
2785 remote file attributes are cached for better performance.
2786
2787 *** The option `ange-ftp-binary-file-name-regexp' has changed its
2788 default value to "".
2789
2790 *** Handlers for `file-selinux-context' and `set-file-selinux-context'
2791 for remote machines which support SELinux.
2792
2793 ** New function `url-queue-retrieve', which behaves like url-retrieve,
2794 but with limits (`url-queue-parallel-processes', `url-queue-timeout') on
2795 the degree of parallelism.
2796
2797 ** VC and related modes
2798
2799 *** Support for pulling on distributed version control systems.
2800 The command C-x v + (`vc-pull') runs a "pull" operation, if it is
2801 supported (currently with Bzr, Git, and Mercurial), to update the
2802 current branch and working tree. A prefix argument means to prompt
2803 the user for specifics, e.g. a pull location.
2804
2805 *** `vc-update' is now an alias for `vc-pull'.
2806
2807 *** Support for merging on distributed version control systems.
2808 The command C-x v m (`vc-merge') now runs a "merge" operation, if it
2809 is supported (currently with Bzr, Git, and Mercurial), to merge
2810 changes from another branch into the current one. It prompts for
2811 specifics, e.g. a merge source.
2812
2813 *** New option `vc-revert-show-diff' controls whether `vc-revert'
2814 shows a diff while querying the user. It defaults to t.
2815
2816 *** Log entries in some Log View buffers can be toggled to display a
2817 longer description by typing RET (log-view-toggle-entry-display).
2818 This is currently supported for Bzr, Git, and Mercurial (to support
2819 another backend, define a `log-view-expanded-log-entry-function').
2820 In the Log View buffers made by C-x v L (`vc-print-root-log'), you can
2821 use this to display the full log entry for the revision at point.
2822
2823 *** New command `vc-ediff' allows visual comparison of two revisions
2824 of a file similar to `vc-diff', but using ediff backend.
2825
2826 *** The option `vc-initial-comment' was removed in Emacs 23.2, but
2827 this was not advertised at the time.
2828
2829 *** `vc-toggle-read-only' is an obsolete alias for `toggle-read-only'.
2830 Since Emacs 23, it has done the same thing as `toggle-read-only', but
2831 this was not advertised at the time.
2832
2833 ** Obsolete modes
2834
2835 *** abbrevlist.el
2836
2837 *** erc-hecomplete.el (use erc-pcomplete.el instead)
2838
2839 *** partial-completion-mode (complete.el) is obsolete.
2840 You can get a comparable behavior with:
2841 (setq completion-styles '(partial-completion initials))
2842 (setq completion-pcm-complete-word-inserts-delimiters t)
2843
2844 *** pc-mode.el is obsolete (CUA mode is much more comprehensive).
2845
2846 *** pgg is obsolete (use EasyPG instead).
2847
2848 *** sregex.el is obsolete, since rx.el is a strict superset.
2849
2850 *** s-region.el and pc-select.el are obsolete.
2851 They are superseded by shift-select-mode, enabled by default since 23.1.
2852
2853 *** vc-mcvs.el is obsolete (for lack of a maintainer).
2854
2855 ** Miscellaneous
2856
2857 *** The Landmark game is now invoked with `landmark', not `lm'.
2858 Its functions and variables have been similarly renamed.
2859
2860 *** In `ido-file-completion-map', C-v is no longer bound to `ido-toggle-vc'.
2861 (This interfered with cua-mode.)
2862
2863 *** f90.el has some support for Fortran 2008 syntax.
2864
2865 *** `copyright-fix-years' can optionally convert consecutive years to ranges.
2866
2867 *** New command `nato-region' converts text to NATO phonetic alphabet.
2868
2869 \f
2870 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 24.1
2871
2872 ** Occur Edit mode applies edits made in *Occur* buffers to the
2873 original buffers. It is bound to "e" in Occur mode.
2874
2875 ** New global minor mode electric-pair-mode.
2876 When enabled, typing an open parenthesis automatically inserts the
2877 matching closing one.
2878
2879 ** New global minor mode electric-indent-mode.
2880 When enabled, typing certain characters triggers reindentation.
2881 Major modes wishing to use this can set electric-indent-chars or
2882 electric-indent-functions.
2883
2884 ** New global minor mode electric-layout-mode.
2885 When enabled, typing certain characters automatically inserts newlines.
2886 Major modes wishing to use this can set electric-layout-rules.
2887
2888 ** tabulated-list.el provides a generic major mode for tabulated data,
2889 from which other modes can be derived.
2890
2891 ** pcase.el provides the ML-style pattern matching macro `pcase'.
2892
2893 ** secrets.el is an implementation of the Secret Service API, an
2894 interface to password managers like GNOME Keyring or KDE Wallet. The
2895 Secret Service API requires D-Bus for communication. The command
2896 `secrets-show-secrets' offers a buffer with a visualization of the
2897 secrets.
2898
2899 ** notifications.el provides an implementation of the Desktop
2900 Notifications API. It requires D-Bus for communication.
2901
2902 ** soap-client.el supports access to SOAP web services from Emacs.
2903 soap-inspect.el is an interactive inspector for SOAP WSDL structures.
2904
2905 ** New generic mode, xmodmap-generic-mode, for xmodmap files.
2906
2907 ** New emacs-lock.el package.
2908 The previous version has been moved to obsolete/old-emacs-lock.el.
2909 Now, there is a proper minor mode `emacs-lock-mode'. Protection
2910 against exiting Emacs and killing the buffer can be set separately.
2911 The mechanism for automatically turning off protection for buffers
2912 with dead inferior processes has been generalized.
2913
2914 \f
2915 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.1
2916
2917 ** Passing a nil argument to a minor mode function call now ENABLES
2918 the minor mode unconditionally. This is so that you can write e.g.
2919
2920 (add-hook 'text-mode-hook 'foo-mode)
2921
2922 to enable foo-mode in Text mode buffers, removing the need for
2923 `turn-on-foo-mode' style functions. This affects all mode commands
2924 defined by `define-minor-mode'. If called interactively, the mode
2925 command still toggles the minor mode.
2926
2927 ** The return value of `backup-buffer' has changed.
2928 It is now a list of three elements, where the second element is a list
2929 describing the original file's SELinux context. If Emacs or the
2930 system lacks SELinux support, the context list is (nil nil nil nil).
2931 See "Basic SELinux support" above, under "Changes in Emacs 24.1".
2932
2933 ** `char-direction-table' and the `char-direction' function were deleted.
2934 They were buggy and inferior to the new support of bidirectional
2935 editing introduced in Emacs 24. If you need the bidirectional
2936 properties of a character, use `get-char-code-property' with the last
2937 argument `bidi-class'.
2938
2939 ** `copy-directory' now copies the source directory as a subdirectory
2940 of the target directory, if the latter is an existing directory. The
2941 new optional arg COPY-CONTENTS, if non-nil, makes the function copy
2942 the contents directly into a pre-existing target directory.
2943
2944 ** For mouse click input events in the text area, the Y pixel
2945 coordinate in the POSITION list now counts from the top of the text
2946 area, excluding any header line. Previously, it counted from the top
2947 of the header line.
2948
2949 ** Support for "old-style" backquotes, obsolete for 10+ years, has
2950 been further reduced. Now a backquote not followed by a space is
2951 always treated as a "new-style" backquote. Please remove all
2952 "old-style" backquotes from your code. If your code uses backquotes
2953 as documented in the Elisp manual, and compiles without warning, then
2954 you have nothing to do in this regard. Code not following the
2955 appropriate conventions may fail to compile.
2956
2957 The most common cause of trouble seems to be an old-style backquote
2958 followed by a newline. Another cause of trouble is vector notation
2959 for key sequence notation: instead of [(control ,)] and [(control ')],
2960 you should write [(control ?,)] and [(control ?')], which will work in
2961 older Emacsen too.
2962
2963 ** The macro `eval-at-startup' was removed in Emacs 23.2, but this
2964 was not advertised at the time. The function `custom-initialize-delay'
2965 replaced all known uses.
2966
2967 ** `view-buffer' now treats special mode-class in the same way that
2968 `view-file' has since Emacs 22 (i.e. it won't enable View mode if the
2969 major mode is special).
2970
2971 ** Menu and tool bar changes
2972
2973 *** During startup, Emacs no longer adds entries for `menu-bar-lines'
2974 and `tool-bar-lines' to `default-frame-alist' and `initial-frame-alist'.
2975 With these alist entries omitted, `make-frame' checks the value of the
2976 variable `menu-bar-mode'/`tool-bar-mode' to determine whether to create
2977 a menu-bar or tool-bar, respectively. If the alist entries are added,
2978 they override the value of `menu-bar-mode'/`tool-bar-mode'.
2979
2980 *** The menu bar bindings's caches are not used any more.
2981 Use (where-is-internal <def> nil t) instead.
2982
2983 ** Regions created by mouse dragging are now normal active regions,
2984 similar to those created by shift-selection (see Selection changes
2985 above). In previous Emacs versions, these regions were delineated by
2986 `mouse-drag-overlay'; that variable has been removed.
2987
2988 ** The fourth argument of `filter-buffer-substring' has been removed.
2989 If you want to remove text properties from the final result, simply
2990 pass the result through substring-no-properties.
2991
2992 ** cl.el no longer provides `cl-19'.
2993
2994 ** The following obsolete functions and aliases have been removed
2995 (the appropriate new function is given in parentheses; "not needed"
2996 means you can just remove all calls to the function in question):
2997
2998 *** `comint-kill-output' (`comint-delete-output')
2999 *** `decompose-composite-char' (`char-to-string')
3000 *** `outline-visible' (`outline-invisible-p')
3001 *** `internal-find-face' (`facep')
3002 *** `internal-get-face' (`facep and check-face')
3003 *** `frame-update-faces' (not needed)
3004 *** `frame-update-face-colors' (`frame-set-background-mode')
3005 *** `x-frob-font-weight' and `x-frob-font-slant' (`make-face-*' functions)
3006 *** `x-make-font-bold and x-make-font-demibold (`make-face-bold')
3007 *** `x-make-font-italic' and `x-make-font-oblique' (`make-face-italic')
3008 *** `x-make-font-bold-italic' (`make-face-bold-italic')
3009 *** `x-make-font-unbold' (`make-face-unbold')
3010 *** `x-make-font-unitalic' (`make-face-unitalic')
3011 *** `mldrag-drag-mode-line' (`mouse-drag-mode-line')
3012 *** `mldrag-drag-vertical-line' (`mouse-drag-vertical-line')
3013 *** `iswitchb-default-keybindings' (`iswitchb-mode')
3014 *** `char-bytes' (== 1)
3015 *** `isearch-return-char' (`isearch-printing-char')
3016 *** `make-local-hook' (not needed)
3017 *** `set-screen-height' (`set-frame-height')
3018 *** `set-screen-width' (`set-frame-width')
3019
3020 ** The following obsolete variables and varaliases have been removed
3021 (the appropriate new variable is given in parentheses):
3022
3023 *** `checkdoc-minor-keymap' (`checkdoc-minor-mode-map')
3024 *** `vc-header-alist' (`vc-BACKEND-header')
3025 *** `directory-sep-char' (== ?/)
3026 *** `font-lock-defaults-alist' (`font-lock-defaults')
3027 *** `e' (`float-e').
3028
3029 ** The following obsolete files were removed:
3030 sc.el, x-menu.el, rnews.el, rnewspost.el
3031
3032 ** The format of the finder-inf.el file has changed, since the Finder
3033 mechanism is now based on the package system. The variable
3034 `finder-package-info' is replaced by `package--builtins' and
3035 `finder-keywords-hash'.
3036
3037 ** When generating autoloads, `update-directory-autoloads' no longer
3038 assumes every inspected file is in your `load-path'. It instead
3039 generates relative names according to the current `load-path'.
3040
3041 \f
3042 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 24.1
3043
3044 ** Code can now use lexical scoping by default instead of dynamic scoping.
3045 The `lexical-binding' variable enables lexical scoping for local
3046 variables. It is typically set via a file-local variable in the first
3047 line of the file, in which case it applies to all the code in that
3048 file.
3049
3050 *** `eval' takes a new optional argument `lexical' to choose the new lexical
3051 binding instead of the old dynamic binding mode.
3052
3053 *** Lexically scoped interpreted functions are represented with a new form
3054 of function value which looks like (closure ENV ARGS &rest BODY).
3055
3056 *** New macro `letrec' to define recursive local functions.
3057
3058 *** `defvar' and `defconst' now mark the variable as special (dynamic).
3059 So do `defcustom' and other forms that call `defvar' as a subroutine.
3060
3061 *** New function `special-variable-p' to check whether a variable is
3062 declared as dynamically bound.
3063
3064 *** The form ((lambda ...) ...) is deprecated.
3065
3066 ** An Emacs Lisp testing tool is now included.
3067 Emacs Lisp developers can use this tool to write automated tests for
3068 their code. See the ERT info manual for details.
3069
3070 ** Changes for bidirectional display and editing
3071
3072 *** New function `current-bidi-paragraph-direction'.
3073 This returns the base direction of the paragraph at point.
3074
3075 *** New function `bidi-string-mark-left-to-right'.
3076 Given a string containing characters from right-to-left scripts, this
3077 function returns another string which can be safely inserted into a
3078 buffer, such that any following text will be always displayed to the
3079 right of that string. (This works by appending an invisible Unicode
3080 "LEFT-TO-RIGHT MARK" character if the argument string might need it.)
3081
3082 This is useful when the buffer has overall left-to-right paragraph
3083 direction and you need to insert a string whose contents are not known
3084 in advance, without disrupting the layout of the line.
3085
3086 ** Window changes
3087
3088 *** Window tree functions are accessible in Elisp.
3089 Functions are provided to return the parent, siblings or child windows
3090 of any window including internal windows (windows not associated with a
3091 buffer) in the window tree.
3092
3093 **** New function `window-valid-p' gives non-nil for live and internal
3094 windows.
3095
3096 **** Window manipulation can deal with internal windows.
3097 Many window handling functions like `split-window', `delete-window', or
3098 `delete-other-windows' as well as the window resizing functions can now
3099 act on any window including internal ones.
3100
3101 *** window-total-height/-width vs window-body-height/-width.
3102 The function `window-height' has been renamed to `window-total-height'
3103 and `window-width' has been renamed to `window-body-width'. The old
3104 names are provided as aliases. Two new functions `window-total-width'
3105 and `window-body-height' are provided.
3106
3107 *** Window parameters specific to window handling functions.
3108 For each window you can specify a parameter to override the default
3109 behavior of a number of functions like `split-window', `delete-window'
3110 and `delete-other-windows'. The variable `ignore-window-parameters'
3111 allows to ignore processing such parameters.
3112
3113 *** New semantics of third argument of `split-window'.
3114 The third argument of `split-window' has been renamed to SIDE and can be
3115 set to any of the values 'below, 'right, 'above, or 'left to make the
3116 new window appear on the corresponding side of the window that shall be
3117 split. Any other value of SIDE will cause `split-window' to split the
3118 window into two side-by-side windows as before.
3119
3120 *** Window resizing functions.
3121 A new standard function for resizing windows called `window-resize' has
3122 been introduced. This and all other functions for resizing windows no
3123 longer delete any windows when they become too small.
3124
3125 *** Deleting the selected window now selects the most recently selected
3126 live window on that frame instead.
3127
3128 *** `adjust-window-trailing-edge' adjustments.
3129 `adjust-window-trailing-edge' can now deal with fixed-size windows and
3130 is able to resize other windows if a window adjacent to the trailing
3131 edge cannot be shrunk any more. This makes its behavior more similar to
3132 that of Emacs 21 without compromising, however, its inability to delete
3133 windows which was introduced in Emacs 22.
3134
3135 *** Window-local buffer lists.
3136 Windows now have local buffer lists. This means that removing a buffer
3137 from display in a window will preferably show the buffer previously
3138 shown in that window with its previous window-start and window-point
3139 positions. This also means that the same buffer may be automatically
3140 shown twice even if it already appears in another window.
3141
3142 *** `switch-to-buffer' has a new optional argument FORCE-SAME-WINDOW,
3143 which if non-nil requires the buffer to be displayed in the currently
3144 selected window, signaling an error otherwise. If nil, another window
3145 can be used, e.g. if the selected one is strongly dedicated.
3146
3147 *** `split-window-vertically' and `split-window-horizontally' renamed
3148 to `split-window-below' and `split-window-right' respectively.
3149 The old names are kept as aliases.
3150
3151 *** Display actions
3152
3153 **** The second arg to `display-buffer' and `pop-to-buffer' is now
3154 named ACTION, and takes a display action of the same form as
3155 `display-buffer-base-action' (see Changes, above). A non-nil,
3156 non-list value is treated specially, as the old meaning.
3157
3158 **** New variable `display-buffer-overriding-action'.
3159
3160 **** The procedure of `display-buffer' etc. to choose a window is
3161 determined by combining `display-buffer-overriding-action',
3162 `display-buffer-alist', the ACTION arg, `display-buffer-base-action',
3163 and `display-buffer-fallback-action'. The second and fourth of these
3164 are user-customizable variables.
3165
3166 See the docstring of `display-buffer' for details.
3167
3168 *** New functions `window-state-get' and `window-state-put'.
3169 These functions allow to save and restore the state of an arbitrary
3170 frame or window as an Elisp object.
3171
3172 ** Completion
3173
3174 *** New variable `completion-extra-properties' used to specify extra
3175 properties of the current completion:
3176 - :annotate-function, same as the old completion-annotate-function.
3177 - :exit-function, function to call after completion took place.
3178
3179 *** Functions on `completion-at-point-functions' can return any of the
3180 properties valid for `completion-extra-properties'.
3181
3182 *** `completion-annotate-function' is obsolete.
3183
3184 *** New `metadata' method for completion tables. The metadata thus returned
3185 can specify various details of the data returned by `all-completions':
3186 - `category' is the kind of objects returned (e.g., `buffer', `file', ...),
3187 used to select a style in completion-category-overrides.
3188 - `annotation-function' to add annotations in *Completions*.
3189 - `display-sort-function' to specify how to sort entries in *Completions*.
3190 - `cycle-sort-function' to specify how to sort entries when cycling.
3191
3192 *** `minibuffer-local-filename-must-match-map' is not used any more.
3193 Instead, the bindings in `minibuffer-local-filename-completion-map'
3194 are combined with `minibuffer-local-must-match-map'.
3195
3196 *** New variable `completing-read-function' allows overriding the
3197 behavior of `completing-read'.
3198
3199 ** `glyphless-char-display' can now distinguish between graphical and
3200 text terminal display, via a char-table entry that is a cons cell.
3201
3202 ** `pre-command-hook'/`post-command-hook' are not reset to nil on error.
3203 Instead, the offending function is removed.
3204
3205 ** New hook types
3206
3207 *** New function `run-hook-wrapped' for running an abnormal hook by
3208 passing the hook functions as arguments to a "wrapping" function.
3209 Like `run-hook-with-args-until-success', it stops at the first
3210 non-nil return value.
3211
3212 *** New macro `with-wrapper-hook' for running an abnormal hook as a
3213 set of "wrapping" filters, similar to around advice.
3214 (A version of this macro was actually added in Emacs 23.2 but was not
3215 advertised at the time.)
3216
3217 ** Debugger changes
3218
3219 *** New macro `condition-case-unless-debug' (this was actually added in
3220 Emacs 23.1 as condition-case-no-debug, but not advertised)
3221
3222 *** The macro `with-demoted-errors' was added in Emacs 23.1, but not advertised.
3223
3224 *** Variable `stack-trace-on-error' removed.
3225
3226 *** The debugger can now "continue" from an error, which means it will
3227 jump to the error handler as if the debugger had not been invoked
3228 instead of jumping all the way to the top-level.
3229
3230 *** Set `debug-on-event' to enter the debugger on events like SIGUSR1.
3231 This can be useful when `inhibit-quit' is set.
3232
3233 ** The new function `server-eval-at' allows evaluation of Lisp forms on
3234 named Emacs server instances.
3235
3236 ** `call-process' and `call-process-region' allow a `(:file "file")' spec
3237 to redirect STDOUT to a file.
3238
3239 ** The function `format-time-string' now supports the %N directive,
3240 for higher-resolution time stamps.
3241
3242 ** New input reading functions
3243
3244 *** New function `read-char-choice' reads a restricted set of
3245 characters, discarding any inputs not inside the set.
3246
3247 *** The command `read-color' now requires a match for a color name
3248 or RGB triplet, instead of signaling an error if the user provides
3249 invalid input.
3250
3251 **** `facemenu-read-color' is now an alias for `read-color'.
3252
3253 ** `image-library-alist' is renamed to `dynamic-library-alist'.
3254 The variable is now used to load all kind of supported dynamic libraries,
3255 not just image libraries. The previous name is still available as an
3256 obsolete alias.
3257
3258 ** Syntax parsing changes
3259
3260 *** New variable `syntax-propertize-function'.
3261 This replaces `font-lock-syntactic-keywords' which is now obsolete.
3262 This allows syntax-table properties to be set independently from font-lock:
3263 just call syntax-propertize to make sure the text is propertized.
3264 Together with this new variable come a new hook
3265 syntax-propertize-extend-region-functions, as well as two helper functions:
3266 syntax-propertize-via-font-lock to reuse old font-lock-syntactic-keywords
3267 as-is; and syntax-propertize-rules which provides a new way to specify
3268 syntactic rules.
3269
3270 *** Syntax tables support a new "comment style c" additionally to style b.
3271
3272 ** New hook `post-self-insert-hook', run after `self-insert-command'.
3273
3274 ** frame-local variables cannot be let-bound any more.
3275
3276 ** Major and minor mode changes
3277
3278 *** `set-auto-mode' now respects mode: local variables at the end of files,
3279 as well as those in the -*- line.
3280
3281 *** `prog-mode' is a new major mode from which programming modes
3282 should be derived.
3283
3284 **** `prog-mode-hook' can be used to enable features for programming
3285 modes, e.g. (add-hook 'prog-mode-hook 'flyspell-prog-mode) to enable
3286 on-the-fly spell checking for comments and strings.
3287
3288 **** New minor modes `prettify-symbols-mode' and
3289 `global-prettify-symbols-mode' let the user enable symbol
3290 prettification (replacing a string like "lambda" with the Greek lambda
3291 character).
3292
3293 *** New hook `change-major-mode-after-body-hook', run by
3294 `run-mode-hooks' just before any other mode hooks.
3295
3296 *** Enabled globalized minor modes can be disabled in specific major modes.
3297 If the global mode is global-FOO-mode, then run (FOO-mode -1) in the
3298 major mode's hook, where FOO-mode toggles the mode on a per-buffer basis.
3299
3300 *** `define-minor-mode' accepts new keywords :variable, :after-hook.
3301
3302 ** File-handling changes
3303
3304 *** `delete-file' and `delete-directory' now accept optional arg TRASH.
3305 Trashing is performed if TRASH and `delete-by-moving-to-trash' are
3306 both non-nil. Interactively, TRASH defaults to t, unless a prefix
3307 argument is supplied (see Trash changes, above).
3308
3309 *** New file predicates: `file-equal-p', `file-in-directory-p'.
3310
3311 ** Tool-bars can display separators.
3312 Tool-bar separators are handled like menu separators in menu-bar maps,
3313 i.e. via menu entries of the form `(menu-item "--")'.
3314
3315 ** Image API
3316
3317 *** Animated images support (currently animated gifs only).
3318
3319 **** `image-animated-p' returns non-nil if an image can be animated.
3320
3321 **** `image-animate' animates a supplied image spec.
3322
3323 **** `image-animate-timer' returns the timer object for an image that
3324 is being animated.
3325
3326 *** `image-extension-data' has been renamed to `image-metadata'.
3327 The old name is an obsolete alias to the new one.
3328
3329 *** Image mode can view any image type that ImageMagick supports.
3330 This requires Emacs to be built with ImageMagick support.
3331
3332 **** New function `imagemagick-types', defined if ImageMagick support
3333 is enabled, returns a list of image file extensions that your
3334 ImageMagick installation supports.
3335
3336 **** New function `imagemagick-register-types' enables ImageMagick
3337 image types in Image mode and in `create-image' and other helper
3338 functions.
3339
3340 **** New option `imagemagick-types-inhibit' excludes certain
3341 ImageMagick image types from `imagemagick-register-types'.
3342
3343 **** With ImageMagick support, there are extra Image mode commands to
3344 resize and rotate images: `image-transform-fit-to-height',
3345 `image-transform-fit-to-width', `image-transform-set-rotation', and
3346 `image-transform-set-scale'.
3347
3348 ** `compose-mail' now accepts an optional 8th arg, RETURN-ACTION, and
3349 passes it to the mail user agent function. This argument specifies an
3350 action for returning to the caller after finishing with the mail. For
3351 example, this is used by Rmail to optionally delete a mail window.
3352
3353 ** XML and HTML parsing
3354 If Emacs is compiled with libxml2 support, there are two new
3355 functions: `libxml-parse-html-region' (which parses "real world" HTML)
3356 and `libxml-parse-xml-region' (which parses XML). Both return an
3357 Emacs Lisp parse tree.
3358
3359 ** Networking and encryption changes
3360
3361 *** `open-network-stream' can now be used to open an encrypted stream.
3362 It now accepts an optional `:type' parameter for initiating a TLS
3363 connection, directly or via STARTTLS. To do STARTTLS, additional
3364 parameters (`:end-of-command', `:success', `:capabilities-command')
3365 must also be supplied.
3366
3367 *** New library gnutls.el.
3368 The new function `gnutls-available-p' returns non-nil if Emacs is
3369 built with GnuTLS support. The main entry points are
3370 `open-gnutls-stream' and `gnutls-negotiate'. It's easiest to use
3371 these functions through `open-network-stream', because that can
3372 upgrade connections through STARTTLS opportunistically or use plain
3373 SSL, depending on your needs. For debugging, set `gnutls-log-level'
3374 greater than 0.
3375
3376 *** New primitive `secure-hash' that supports many secure hash algorithms:
3377 md5, sha1, sha2, sha224, sha256, sha384, and sha512. The lisp library
3378 sha1.el has been removed. The `sha1' feature is provided by default.
3379
3380 ** Isearch
3381
3382 *** New hook `isearch-update-post-hook' that runs in `isearch-update'.
3383
3384 ** Progress reporters can now "spin".
3385 The MIN-VALUE and MAX-VALUE arguments of `make-progress-reporter' can
3386 now be nil, or omitted. This makes a "non-numeric" reporter. Each
3387 time you call `progress-reporter-update' on that progress reporter,
3388 with a nil or omitted VALUE argument, the reporter message is
3389 displayed with a "spinning bar".
3390
3391 ** New variable `revert-buffer-in-progress-p' is true while a buffer is
3392 being reverted, even if the buffer has a local `revert-buffer-function'.
3393
3394 ** New variables `delayed-warnings-list' and `delayed-warnings-hook'.
3395 If delayed-warnings-list is non-nil, the command loop calls
3396 `delayed-warnings-hook' after `post-command-hook'. At present, this
3397 is only used by Emacs on some platforms to display warnings during
3398 startup, which might otherwise not be noticed. This uses the
3399 functions `display-delayed-warnings' and `collapse-delayed-warnings'.
3400
3401 ** rx.el has a new `group-n' construct for explicitly numbered groups.
3402
3403 ** New function `make-composed-keymap' that constructs a new keymap
3404 from multiple input maps. You can use this to make a keymap that
3405 inherits from multiple maps, eg:
3406 (set-keymap-parent newmap (make-composed-keymap othermap parent))
3407
3408 ** New function `string-prefix-p'.
3409 (This was actually added in Emacs 23.2 but was not advertised at the time.)
3410
3411 ** New reader macro ## that stands for the empty symbol.
3412 This means that the empty symbol can now be read back. Also, #: by itself
3413 (when not immediately followed by a possible symbol character) stands for
3414 an empty uninterned symbol.
3415
3416 ** New math functions `isnan', `copysign', `frexp', `ldexp'.
3417
3418 ** The following functions and variables are obsolete:
3419
3420 *** `tooltip-use-echo-area' is obsolete.
3421 Rather than setting this to t, disable Tooltip mode instead.
3422
3423 *** buffer-substring-filters is obsolete.
3424 Use `filter-buffer-substring-functions' instead.
3425
3426 *** `byte-compile-disable-print-circle' is obsolete.
3427
3428 *** `deferred-action-list' and `deferred-action-function' are obsolete.
3429 Use `post-command-hook' instead.
3430
3431 *** `font-lock-maximum-size' is obsolete.
3432
3433 \f
3434 * Changes in Emacs 24.1 on Non-Free Operating Systems
3435
3436 ** On MS Windows, Emacs warns when using the obsolete init file _emacs,
3437 and also when HOME is set to C:\ by default.
3438
3439 ** New configure.bat options
3440
3441 *** --enable-checking builds Emacs with extra runtime checks.
3442
3443 *** --distfiles specifies files to be included in binary distribution.
3444
3445 *** --without-gnutls disables automatic GnuTLS detection.
3446
3447 *** --lib for general library linkage, works with the USER_LIBS build variable.
3448
3449 ** New make target `dist' to create binary distribution for MS Windows.
3450
3451 ** The Lisp function `w32-default-color-map' is now obsolete.
3452 (It is only used internally in the Emacs C code.)
3453
3454 ** Customize ns-auto-hide-menu-bar to have the menu-bar hidden, but
3455 reappear on mouse-over. (Requires OS X 10.6 or later.)
3456
3457 ** On Mac OS X, dragging a file into Emacs visits the file, like on
3458 other platforms, rather than inserting its contents into the buffer.
3459
3460 \f
3461 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
3462 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
3463
3464 GNU Emacs is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
3465 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
3466 the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
3467 (at your option) any later version.
3468
3469 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
3470 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
3471 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
3472 GNU General Public License for more details.
3473
3474 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
3475 along with GNU Emacs. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
3476
3477 \f
3478 Local variables:
3479 mode: outline
3480 paragraph-separate: "[ \f]*$"
3481 end: