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1 | @c This is part of the Emacs manual. |
2 | @c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997 Free Software Foundation, Inc. | |
3 | @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions. | |
4 | @node Fixit, Files, Search, Top | |
5 | @chapter Commands for Fixing Typos | |
6 | @cindex typos, fixing | |
7 | @cindex mistakes, correcting | |
8 | ||
9 | In this chapter we describe the commands that are especially useful for | |
10 | the times when you catch a mistake in your text just after you have made | |
11 | it, or change your mind while composing text on the fly. | |
12 | ||
13 | The most fundamental command for correcting erroneous editing is the | |
14 | undo command, @kbd{C-x u} or @kbd{C-_}. This command undoes a single | |
15 | command (usually), a part of a command (in the case of | |
16 | @code{query-replace}), or several consecutive self-inserting characters. | |
17 | Consecutive repetitions of @kbd{C-_} or @kbd{C-x u} undo earlier and | |
18 | earlier changes, back to the limit of the undo information available. | |
b9f152ce | 19 | @xref{Undo}, for more information. |
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20 | |
21 | @menu | |
22 | * Kill Errors:: Commands to kill a batch of recently entered text. | |
23 | * Transpose:: Exchanging two characters, words, lines, lists... | |
24 | * Fixing Case:: Correcting case of last word entered. | |
25 | * Spelling:: Apply spelling checker to a word, or a whole file. | |
26 | @end menu | |
27 | ||
28 | @node Kill Errors | |
29 | @section Killing Your Mistakes | |
30 | ||
31 | @table @kbd | |
32 | @item @key{DEL} | |
33 | Delete last character (@code{delete-backward-char}). | |
34 | @item M-@key{DEL} | |
35 | Kill last word (@code{backward-kill-word}). | |
36 | @item C-x @key{DEL} | |
37 | Kill to beginning of sentence (@code{backward-kill-sentence}). | |
38 | @end table | |
39 | ||
40 | The @key{DEL} character (@code{delete-backward-char}) is the most | |
41 | important correction command. It deletes the character before point. | |
42 | When @key{DEL} follows a self-inserting character command, you can think | |
43 | of it as canceling that command. However, avoid the mistake of thinking | |
44 | of @key{DEL} as a general way to cancel a command! | |
45 | ||
46 | When your mistake is longer than a couple of characters, it might be | |
47 | more convenient to use @kbd{M-@key{DEL}} or @kbd{C-x @key{DEL}}. | |
48 | @kbd{M-@key{DEL}} kills back to the start of the last word, and @kbd{C-x | |
49 | @key{DEL}} kills back to the start of the last sentence. @kbd{C-x | |
50 | @key{DEL}} is particularly useful when you change your mind about the | |
51 | phrasing of the text you are writing. @kbd{M-@key{DEL}} and @kbd{C-x | |
52 | @key{DEL}} save the killed text for @kbd{C-y} and @kbd{M-y} to | |
53 | retrieve. @xref{Yanking}.@refill | |
54 | ||
55 | @kbd{M-@key{DEL}} is often useful even when you have typed only a few | |
56 | characters wrong, if you know you are confused in your typing and aren't | |
57 | sure exactly what you typed. At such a time, you cannot correct with | |
58 | @key{DEL} except by looking at the screen to see what you did. Often it | |
59 | requires less thought to kill the whole word and start again. | |
60 | ||
61 | @node Transpose | |
62 | @section Transposing Text | |
63 | ||
64 | @table @kbd | |
65 | @item C-t | |
66 | Transpose two characters (@code{transpose-chars}). | |
67 | @item M-t | |
68 | Transpose two words (@code{transpose-words}). | |
69 | @item C-M-t | |
70 | Transpose two balanced expressions (@code{transpose-sexps}). | |
71 | @item C-x C-t | |
72 | Transpose two lines (@code{transpose-lines}). | |
73 | @end table | |
74 | ||
75 | @kindex C-t | |
76 | @findex transpose-chars | |
77 | The common error of transposing two characters can be fixed, when they | |
78 | are adjacent, with the @kbd{C-t} command (@code{transpose-chars}). Normally, | |
79 | @kbd{C-t} transposes the two characters on either side of point. When | |
80 | given at the end of a line, rather than transposing the last character of | |
81 | the line with the newline, which would be useless, @kbd{C-t} transposes the | |
82 | last two characters on the line. So, if you catch your transposition error | |
83 | right away, you can fix it with just a @kbd{C-t}. If you don't catch it so | |
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84 | fast, you must move the cursor back between the two transposed |
85 | characters before you type @kbd{C-t}. If you transposed a space with | |
86 | the last character of the word before it, the word motion commands are | |
87 | a good way of getting there. Otherwise, a reverse search (@kbd{C-r}) | |
88 | is often the best way. @xref{Search}. | |
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89 | |
90 | @kindex C-x C-t | |
91 | @findex transpose-lines | |
92 | @kindex M-t | |
93 | @findex transpose-words | |
4946337d EZ |
94 | @c Don't index C-M-t and transpose-sexps here, they are indexed in |
95 | @c programs.texi, in the "List Commands" node. | |
96 | @c @kindex C-M-t | |
97 | @c @findex transpose-sexps | |
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98 | @kbd{M-t} transposes the word before point with the word after point |
99 | (@code{transpose-words}). It moves point forward over a word, | |
100 | dragging the word preceding or containing point forward as well. The | |
101 | punctuation characters between the words do not move. For example, | |
102 | @w{@samp{FOO, BAR}} transposes into @w{@samp{BAR, FOO}} rather than | |
103 | @samp{@w{BAR FOO,}}. | |
6bf7aab6 | 104 | |
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105 | @kbd{C-M-t} (@code{transpose-sexps}) is a similar command for |
106 | transposing two expressions (@pxref{Expressions}), and @kbd{C-x C-t} | |
107 | (@code{transpose-lines}) exchanges lines. They work like @kbd{M-t} | |
0ec1f115 | 108 | except as regards what units of text they transpose. |
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109 | |
110 | A numeric argument to a transpose command serves as a repeat count: it | |
d6921e35 | 111 | tells the transpose command to move the character (word, expression, line) |
6bf7aab6 | 112 | before or containing point across several other characters (words, |
d6921e35 | 113 | expressions, lines). For example, @kbd{C-u 3 C-t} moves the character before |
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114 | point forward across three other characters. It would change |
115 | @samp{f@point{}oobar} into @samp{oobf@point{}ar}. This is equivalent to | |
116 | repeating @kbd{C-t} three times. @kbd{C-u - 4 M-t} moves the word | |
117 | before point backward across four words. @kbd{C-u - C-M-t} would cancel | |
118 | the effect of plain @kbd{C-M-t}.@refill | |
119 | ||
120 | A numeric argument of zero is assigned a special meaning (because | |
121 | otherwise a command with a repeat count of zero would do nothing): to | |
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122 | transpose the character (word, expression, line) ending after point |
123 | with the one ending after the mark. | |
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124 | |
125 | @node Fixing Case | |
126 | @section Case Conversion | |
127 | ||
128 | @table @kbd | |
129 | @item M-- M-l | |
130 | Convert last word to lower case. Note @kbd{Meta--} is Meta-minus. | |
131 | @item M-- M-u | |
132 | Convert last word to all upper case. | |
133 | @item M-- M-c | |
134 | Convert last word to lower case with capital initial. | |
135 | @end table | |
136 | ||
137 | @kindex M-@t{-} M-l | |
138 | @kindex M-@t{-} M-u | |
139 | @kindex M-@t{-} M-c | |
140 | A very common error is to type words in the wrong case. Because of this, | |
141 | the word case-conversion commands @kbd{M-l}, @kbd{M-u} and @kbd{M-c} have a | |
142 | special feature when used with a negative argument: they do not move the | |
143 | cursor. As soon as you see you have mistyped the last word, you can simply | |
144 | case-convert it and go on typing. @xref{Case}.@refill | |
145 | ||
146 | @node Spelling | |
147 | @section Checking and Correcting Spelling | |
148 | @cindex spelling, checking and correcting | |
149 | @cindex checking spelling | |
150 | @cindex correcting spelling | |
151 | ||
152 | This section describes the commands to check the spelling of a single | |
153 | word or of a portion of a buffer. These commands work with the spelling | |
154 | checker program Ispell, which is not part of Emacs. | |
155 | @ifinfo | |
156 | @xref{Top, Ispell, Overview ispell, ispell.info, The Ispell Manual}. | |
157 | @end ifinfo | |
158 | ||
159 | @table @kbd | |
160 | @item M-x flyspell-mode | |
161 | Enable Flyspell mode, which highlights all misspelled words. | |
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162 | @item M-x flyspell-progmode |
163 | Enable Flyspell mode for comments and strings only. | |
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164 | @item M-$ |
165 | Check and correct spelling of the word at point (@code{ispell-word}). | |
166 | @item M-@key{TAB} | |
167 | Complete the word before point based on the spelling dictionary | |
168 | (@code{ispell-complete-word}). | |
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169 | @item M-x ispell |
170 | Spell-check the active region or the current buffer. | |
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171 | @item M-x ispell-buffer |
172 | Check and correct spelling of each word in the buffer. | |
173 | @item M-x ispell-region | |
174 | Check and correct spelling of each word in the region. | |
175 | @item M-x ispell-message | |
177c0ea7 | 176 | Check and correct spelling of each word in a draft mail message, |
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177 | excluding cited material. |
178 | @item M-x ispell-change-dictionary @key{RET} @var{dict} @key{RET} | |
179 | Restart the Ispell process, using @var{dict} as the dictionary. | |
180 | @item M-x ispell-kill-ispell | |
181 | Kill the Ispell subprocess. | |
182 | @end table | |
183 | ||
184 | @cindex Flyspell mode | |
185 | @findex flyspell-mode | |
186 | Flyspell mode is a fully-automatic way to check spelling as you edit | |
187 | in Emacs. It operates by checking words as you change or insert them. | |
188 | When it finds a word that it does not recognize, it highlights that | |
189 | word. This does not interfere with your editing, but when you see the | |
190 | highlighted word, you can move to it and fix it. Type @kbd{M-x | |
191 | flyspell-mode} to enable or disable this mode in the current buffer. | |
192 | ||
193 | When Flyspell mode highlights a word as misspelled, you can click on | |
194 | it with @kbd{Mouse-2} to display a menu of possible corrections and | |
195 | actions. You can also correct the word by editing it manually in any | |
196 | way you like. | |
197 | ||
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198 | @findex flyspell-prog-mode |
199 | Flyspell Prog mode works just like ordinary Flyspell mode, except that | |
200 | it only checks words in comments and string constants. This feature | |
201 | is useful for editing programs. Type @kbd{M-x flyspell-prog-mode} to | |
202 | enable or disable this mode in the current buffer. | |
203 | ||
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204 | The other Emacs spell-checking features check or look up words when |
205 | you give an explicit command to do so. Checking all or part of the | |
206 | buffer is useful when you have text that was written outside of this | |
207 | Emacs session and might contain any number of misspellings. | |
208 | ||
209 | @kindex M-$ | |
210 | @findex ispell-word | |
211 | To check the spelling of the word around or next to point, and | |
212 | optionally correct it as well, use the command @kbd{M-$} | |
213 | (@code{ispell-word}). If the word is not correct, the command offers | |
214 | you various alternatives for what to do about it. | |
215 | ||
216 | @findex ispell-buffer | |
217 | @findex ispell-region | |
218 | To check the entire current buffer, use @kbd{M-x ispell-buffer}. Use | |
219 | @kbd{M-x ispell-region} to check just the current region. To check | |
220 | spelling in an email message you are writing, use @kbd{M-x | |
1f7ebf7c | 221 | ispell-message}; that command checks the whole buffer, except for |
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222 | material that is indented or appears to be cited from other messages. |
223 | ||
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224 | @findex ispell |
225 | @cindex spell-checking the active region | |
226 | The @kbd{M-x ispell} command spell-checks the active region if the | |
227 | Transient Mark mode is on (@pxref{Transient Mark}), otherwise it | |
228 | spell-checks the current buffer. | |
229 | ||
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230 | Each time these commands encounter an incorrect word, they ask you |
231 | what to do. They display a list of alternatives, usually including | |
232 | several ``near-misses''---words that are close to the word being | |
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233 | checked. Then you must type a single-character response. Here are |
234 | the valid responses: | |
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235 | |
236 | @table @kbd | |
237 | @item @key{SPC} | |
238 | Skip this word---continue to consider it incorrect, but don't change it | |
239 | here. | |
240 | ||
241 | @item r @var{new} @key{RET} | |
242 | Replace the word (just this time) with @var{new}. | |
243 | ||
244 | @item R @var{new} @key{RET} | |
245 | Replace the word with @var{new}, and do a @code{query-replace} so you | |
246 | can replace it elsewhere in the buffer if you wish. | |
247 | ||
248 | @item @var{digit} | |
249 | Replace the word (just this time) with one of the displayed | |
250 | near-misses. Each near-miss is listed with a digit; type that digit to | |
251 | select it. | |
252 | ||
253 | @item a | |
254 | Accept the incorrect word---treat it as correct, but only in this | |
255 | editing session. | |
256 | ||
257 | @item A | |
258 | Accept the incorrect word---treat it as correct, but only in this | |
259 | editing session and for this buffer. | |
260 | ||
261 | @item i | |
262 | Insert this word in your private dictionary file so that Ispell will | |
1f7ebf7c | 263 | consider it correct from now on, even in future sessions. |
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264 | |
265 | @item u | |
a5a82fc3 | 266 | Insert the lower-case version of this word in your private dic@-tion@-ary |
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267 | file. |
268 | ||
269 | @item m | |
270 | Like @kbd{i}, but you can also specify dictionary completion | |
271 | information. | |
272 | ||
273 | @item l @var{word} @key{RET} | |
274 | Look in the dictionary for words that match @var{word}. These words | |
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275 | become the new list of ``near-misses''; you can select one of them as |
276 | the replacement by typing a digit. You can use @samp{*} in @var{word} as a | |
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277 | wildcard. |
278 | ||
279 | @item C-g | |
280 | Quit interactive spell checking. You can restart it again afterward | |
281 | with @kbd{C-u M-$}. | |
282 | ||
283 | @item X | |
284 | Same as @kbd{C-g}. | |
285 | ||
286 | @item x | |
287 | Quit interactive spell checking and move point back to where it was | |
288 | when you started spell checking. | |
289 | ||
290 | @item q | |
291 | Quit interactive spell checking and kill the Ispell subprocess. | |
292 | ||
293 | @item C-l | |
294 | Refresh the screen. | |
295 | ||
296 | @item C-z | |
297 | This key has its normal command meaning (suspend Emacs or iconify this | |
298 | frame). | |
299 | @end table | |
300 | ||
301 | @findex ispell-complete-word | |
302 | The command @code{ispell-complete-word}, which is bound to the key | |
303 | @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} in Text mode and related modes, shows a list of | |
304 | completions based on spelling correction. Insert the beginning of a | |
305 | word, and then type @kbd{M-@key{TAB}}; the command displays a completion | |
306 | list window. To choose one of the completions listed, click | |
307 | @kbd{Mouse-2} on it, or move the cursor there in the completions window | |
308 | and type @key{RET}. @xref{Text Mode}. | |
309 | ||
310 | @ignore | |
311 | @findex reload-ispell | |
312 | The first time you use any of the spell checking commands, it starts | |
313 | an Ispell subprocess. The first thing the subprocess does is read your | |
314 | private dictionary, which defaults to the file @file{~/ispell.words}. | |
315 | Words that you ``insert'' with the @kbd{i} command are added to that | |
316 | file, but not right away---only at the end of the interactive | |
317 | replacement procedure. Use the @kbd{M-x reload-ispell} command to | |
318 | reload your private dictionary if you edit the file outside of Ispell. | |
319 | @end ignore | |
320 | ||
321 | @cindex @code{ispell} program | |
322 | @findex ispell-kill-ispell | |
323 | Once started, the Ispell subprocess continues to run (waiting for | |
324 | something to do), so that subsequent spell checking commands complete | |
325 | more quickly. If you want to get rid of the Ispell process, use | |
326 | @kbd{M-x ispell-kill-ispell}. This is not usually necessary, since the | |
327 | process uses no time except when you do spelling correction. | |
328 | ||
329 | @vindex ispell-dictionary | |
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330 | Ispell uses two dictionaries together for spell checking: the |
331 | standard dictionary and your private dictionary. The variable | |
332 | @code{ispell-dictionary} specifies the file name to use for the | |
333 | standard dictionary; a value of @code{nil} selects the default | |
334 | dictionary. The command @kbd{M-x ispell-change-dictionary} sets this | |
335 | variable and then restarts the Ispell subprocess, so that it will use | |
336 | a different standard dictionary. | |
6bf7aab6 | 337 | |
91e27f37 | 338 | @vindex ispell-complete-word-dict |
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339 | Ispell uses a separate dictionary for word completion. The variable |
340 | @code{ispell-complete-word-dict} specifies the file name of this | |
341 | dictionary. The completion dictionary must be different because it | |
342 | cannot use employ root and affix information. For some languages | |
343 | there is a spell checking dictionary but no word completion | |
344 | dictionary. |