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802b0ea7 1@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
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2@c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997, 2000, 2001
3@c Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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4@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
5@node Display, Search, Registers, Top
6@chapter Controlling the Display
7
8 Since only part of a large buffer fits in the window, Emacs tries to
9show a part that is likely to be interesting. Display-control commands
10allow you to specify which part of the text you want to see, and how to
11display it.
12
13@menu
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14* Faces:: How to change the display style using faces.
15* Font Lock:: Minor mode for syntactic highlighting using faces.
16* Highlight Changes:: Using colors to show where you changed the buffer.
17* Highlight Interactively:: Tell Emacs what text to highlight.
18* Trailing Whitespace:: Showing possibly-spurious trailing whitespace.
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19* Scrolling:: Moving text up and down in a window.
20* Horizontal Scrolling:: Moving text left and right in a window.
21* Follow Mode:: Follow mode lets two windows scroll as one.
22* Selective Display:: Hiding lines with lots of indentation.
23* Optional Mode Line:: Optional mode line display features.
24* Text Display:: How text characters are normally displayed.
e598186c 25* Display Custom:: Information on variables for customizing display.
099bfef9 26* Cursor Display:: Features for displaying the cursor.
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27@end menu
28
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29@node Faces
30@section Using Multiple Typefaces
31@cindex faces
32
33 When using Emacs with a window system, you can set up multiple
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34styles of displaying characters. Each style is called a @dfn{face}.
35Each face can specify various attributes, such as the height, weight
36and slant of the characters, the foreground and background color, and
37underlining. But it does not have to specify all of them.
b8f3a9e3 38
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39 Features which rely on text in multiple faces (such as Font Lock mode)
40will also work on non-windowed terminals that can display more than one
41face, whether by colors or underlining and emboldening. This includes
42the console on GNU/Linux, an @code{xterm} which supports colors, the
43MS-DOS display (@pxref{MS-DOS}), and the MS-Windows version invoked with
44the @option{-nw} option. Emacs determines automatically whether the
45terminal has this capability.
b8f3a9e3 46
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47 You control the appearance of a part of the text in the buffer by
48specifying the face or faces to use for it. The style of display used
49for any given character is determined by combining the attributes of
50all the applicable faces specified for that character. Any attribute
0ec1f115 51that isn't specified by these faces is taken from the @code{default} face,
04d0b662 52whose attributes reflect the default settings of the frame itself.
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53
54 Enriched mode, the mode for editing formatted text, includes several
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55commands and menus for specifying faces for text in the buffer.
56@xref{Format Faces}, for how to specify the font for text in the
57buffer. @xref{Format Colors}, for how to specify the foreground and
58background color.
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59
60@cindex face colors, setting
61@findex set-face-foreground
62@findex set-face-background
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63 To alter the appearance of a face, use the customization buffer.
64@xref{Face Customization}. You can also use X resources to specify
65attributes of particular faces (@pxref{Resources X}). Alternatively,
66you can change the foreground and background colors of a specific face
67with @kbd{M-x set-face-foreground} and @kbd{M-x set-face-background}.
68These commands prompt in the minibuffer for a face name and a color
69name, with completion, and then set that face to use the specified
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70color. Changing the colors of the @code{default} face also changes
71the foreground and background colors on all frames, both existing and
72those to be created in the future. (You can also set foreground and
73background colors for the current frame only; see @ref{Frame
74Parameters}.)
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75
76 Emacs 21 can correctly display variable-width fonts, but Emacs
77commands that calculate width and indentation do not know how to
78calculate variable widths. This can sometimes lead to incorrect
79results when you use variable-width fonts. In particular, indentation
80commands can give inconsistent results, so we recommend you avoid
81variable-width fonts for editing program source code. Filling will
82sometimes make lines too long or too short. We plan to address these
83issues in future Emacs versions.
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84
85@findex list-faces-display
86 To see what faces are currently defined, and what they look like, type
87@kbd{M-x list-faces-display}. It's possible for a given face to look
88different in different frames; this command shows the appearance in the
04d0b662 89frame in which you type it. Here's a list of the standard defined
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90faces:
91
92@table @code
93@item default
94This face is used for ordinary text that doesn't specify any other face.
95@item mode-line
96This face is used for mode lines. By default, it's drawn with shadows
97for a ``raised'' effect on window systems, and drawn as the inverse of
98the default face on non-windowed terminals. @xref{Display Custom}.
99@item header-line
100Similar to @code{mode-line} for a window's header line. Most modes
101don't use the header line, but the Info mode does.
102@item highlight
103This face is used for highlighting portions of text, in various modes.
104For example, mouse-sensitive text is highlighted using this face.
105@item isearch
106This face is used for highlighting Isearch matches.
107@item isearch-lazy-highlight-face
108This face is used for lazy highlighting of Isearch matches other than
109the current one.
110@item region
111This face is used for displaying a selected region (when Transient Mark
112mode is enabled---see below).
113@item secondary-selection
114This face is used for displaying a secondary X selection (@pxref{Secondary
115Selection}).
116@item bold
117This face uses a bold variant of the default font, if it has one.
118@item italic
119This face uses an italic variant of the default font, if it has one.
120@item bold-italic
121This face uses a bold italic variant of the default font, if it has one.
122@item underline
123This face underlines text.
124@item fixed-pitch
125The basic fixed-pitch face.
126@item fringe
127@cindex fringe
128The face for the fringes to the left and right of windows on graphic
129displays. (The fringes are the narrow portions of the Emacs frame
940627fe 130between the text area and the window's right and left borders.)
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131@item scroll-bar
132This face determines the visual appearance of the scroll bar.
133@item border
134This face determines the color of the frame border.
135@item cursor
136This face determines the color of the cursor.
137@item mouse
138This face determines the color of the mouse pointer.
139@item tool-bar
140This is the basic tool-bar face. No text appears in the tool bar, but the
141colors of this face affect the appearance of tool bar icons.
142@item tooltip
143This face is used for tooltips.
144@item menu
145This face determines the colors and font of Emacs's menus. Setting the
146font of LessTif/Motif menus is currently not supported; attempts to set
147the font are ignored in this case.
148@item trailing-whitespace
149The face for highlighting trailing whitespace when
86354bc0 150@code{show-trailing-whitespace} is non-nil; see @ref{Trailing Whitespace}.
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151@item variable-pitch
152The basic variable-pitch face.
153@end table
154
155@cindex @code{region} face
156 When Transient Mark mode is enabled, the text of the region is
157highlighted when the mark is active. This uses the face named
158@code{region}; you can control the style of highlighting by changing the
159style of this face (@pxref{Face Customization}). @xref{Transient Mark},
160for more information about Transient Mark mode and activation and
161deactivation of the mark.
162
163 One easy way to use faces is to turn on Font Lock mode. This minor
164mode, which is always local to a particular buffer, arranges to
165choose faces according to the syntax of the text you are editing. It
166can recognize comments and strings in most languages; in several
167languages, it can also recognize and properly highlight various other
168important constructs. @xref{Font Lock}, for more information about
169Font Lock mode and syntactic highlighting.
170
171 You can print out the buffer with the highlighting that appears
172on your screen using the command @code{ps-print-buffer-with-faces}.
173@xref{PostScript}.
174
175@node Font Lock
176@section Font Lock mode
177@cindex Font Lock mode
178@cindex mode, Font Lock
179@cindex syntax highlighting and coloring
180
181 Font Lock mode is a minor mode, always local to a particular
182buffer, which highlights (or ``fontifies'') using various faces
183according to the syntax of the text you are editing. It can
184recognize comments and strings in most languages; in several
185languages, it can also recognize and properly highlight various other
186important constructs---for example, names of functions being defined
187or reserved keywords.
188
189@findex font-lock-mode
190@findex turn-on-font-lock
191 The command @kbd{M-x font-lock-mode} turns Font Lock mode on or off
192according to the argument, and toggles the mode when it has no argument.
193The function @code{turn-on-font-lock} unconditionally enables Font Lock
194mode. This is useful in mode-hook functions. For example, to enable
195Font Lock mode whenever you edit a C file, you can do this:
196
197@example
198(add-hook 'c-mode-hook 'turn-on-font-lock)
199@end example
200
201@findex global-font-lock-mode
202@vindex global-font-lock-mode
203 To turn on Font Lock mode automatically in all modes which support
204it, customize the user option @code{global-font-lock-mode} or use the
205function @code{global-font-lock-mode} in your @file{.emacs} file, like
206this:
207
208@example
209(global-font-lock-mode 1)
210@end example
211
212 Font Lock mode uses several specifically named faces to do its job,
213including @code{font-lock-string-face}, @code{font-lock-comment-face},
214and others. The easiest way to find them all is to use completion
215on the face name in @code{set-face-foreground}.
216
217 To change the colors or the fonts used by Font Lock mode to fontify
218different parts of text, just change these faces. There are
219two ways to do it:
220
221@itemize @bullet
222@item
223Invoke @kbd{M-x set-face-foreground} or @kbd{M-x set-face-background}
224to change the colors of a particular face used by Font Lock.
225@xref{Faces}. The command @kbd{M-x list-faces-display} displays all
226the faces currently known to Emacs, including those used by Font Lock.
227
228@item
229Customize the faces interactively with @kbd{M-x customize-face}, as
230described in @ref{Face Customization}.
231@end itemize
232
233 To get the full benefit of Font Lock mode, you need to choose a
234default font which has bold, italic, and bold-italic variants; or else
235you need to have a color or gray-scale screen.
236
237@vindex font-lock-maximum-decoration
238 The variable @code{font-lock-maximum-decoration} specifies the
239preferred level of fontification, for modes that provide multiple
240levels. Level 1 is the least amount of fontification; some modes
241support levels as high as 3. The normal default is ``as high as
242possible.'' You can specify an integer, which applies to all modes, or
243you can specify different numbers for particular major modes; for
244example, to use level 1 for C/C++ modes, and the default level
245otherwise, use this:
246
247@example
248(setq font-lock-maximum-decoration
249 '((c-mode . 1) (c++-mode . 1)))
250@end example
251
252@vindex font-lock-maximum-size
253 Fontification can be too slow for large buffers, so you can suppress
254it. The variable @code{font-lock-maximum-size} specifies a buffer size,
255beyond which buffer fontification is suppressed.
256
257@c @w is used below to prevent a bad page-break.
258@vindex font-lock-beginning-of-syntax-function
259 Comment and string fontification (or ``syntactic'' fontification)
260relies on analysis of the syntactic structure of the buffer text. For
0ec1f115 261the sake of speed, some modes, including C mode and Lisp mode,
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262rely on a special convention: an open-parenthesis or open-brace in the
263leftmost column always defines the @w{beginning} of a defun, and is
ee6038a6 264thus always outside any string or comment. (@xref{Left Margin
9048ad82 265Paren}.) If you don't follow this convention, Font Lock mode can
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266misfontify the text that follows an open-parenthesis or open-brace in
267the leftmost column that is inside a string or comment.
b8f3a9e3 268
6bb2ed9b 269@cindex slow display during scrolling
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270 The variable @code{font-lock-beginning-of-syntax-function} (always
271buffer-local) specifies how Font Lock mode can find a position
272guaranteed to be outside any comment or string. In modes which use the
273leftmost column parenthesis convention, the default value of the variable
274is @code{beginning-of-defun}---that tells Font Lock mode to use the
275convention. If you set this variable to @code{nil}, Font Lock no longer
276relies on the convention. This avoids incorrect results, but the price
277is that, in some cases, fontification for a changed text must rescan
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278buffer text from the beginning of the buffer. This can considerably
279slow down redisplay while scrolling, particularly if you are close to
280the end of a large buffer.
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281
282@findex font-lock-add-keywords
283 Font Lock highlighting patterns already exist for many modes, but you
284may want to fontify additional patterns. You can use the function
285@code{font-lock-add-keywords}, to add your own highlighting patterns for
286a particular mode. For example, to highlight @samp{FIXME:} words in C
287comments, use this:
288
289@example
290(font-lock-add-keywords
291 'c-mode
292 '(("\\<\\(FIXME\\):" 1 font-lock-warning-face t)))
293@end example
294
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295@findex font-lock-remove-keywords
296 To remove keywords from the font-lock highlighting patterns, use the
297function @code{font-lock-remove-keywords}.
298
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299@node Highlight Changes
300@section Highlight Changes Mode
301
302@findex highlight-changes-mode
303 Use @kbd{M-x highlight-changes-mode} to enable a minor mode
304that uses faces (colors, typically) to indicate which parts of
305the buffer were changed most recently.
306
307@node Highlight Interactively
308@section Interactive Highlighting by Matching
309@cindex highlighting by matching
310@cindex interactive highlighting
311
312 It is sometimes useful to highlight the strings that match a certain
313regular expression. For example, you might wish to see all the
314references to a certain variable in a program source file, or highlight
315certain parts in a voluminous output of some program, or make certain
316cliches stand out in an article.
317
318@findex hi-lock-mode
319 Use the @kbd{M-x hi-lock-mode} command to turn on a minor mode that
320allows you to specify regular expressions of the text to be
321highlighted. Hi-lock mode works like Font Lock (@pxref{Font Lock}),
322except that it lets you specify explicitly what parts of text to
323highlight. You control Hi-lock mode with these commands:
324
325@table @kbd
326@item C-x w h @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
327@kindex C-x w h
328@findex highlight-regexp
329Highlight text that matches
330@var{regexp} using face @var{face} (@code{highlight-regexp}).
331By using this command more than once, you can highlight various
332parts of the text in different ways.
333
334@item C-x w r @var{regexp} @key{RET}
335@kindex C-x w r
336@findex unhighlight-regexp
337Unhighlight @var{regexp} (@code{unhighlight-regexp}). You must enter
338one of the regular expressions currently specified for highlighting.
04d0b662 339(You can use completion, or choose from a menu, to enter one of them
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340conveniently.)
341
342@item C-x w l @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
343@kindex C-x w l
344@findex highlight-lines-matching-regexp
345@cindex lines, highlighting
346@cindex highlighting lines of text
04d0b662 347Highlight entire lines containing a match for @var{regexp}, using face
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348@var{face} (@code{highlight-lines-matching-regexp}).
349
350@item C-x w b
351@kindex C-x w b
352@findex hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns
353Insert all the current highlighting regexp/face pairs into the buffer
354at point, with comment delimiters to prevent them from changing your
355program. This key binding runs the
356@code{hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns} command.
357
358These patterns will be read the next time you visit the file while
359Hi-lock mode is enabled, or whenever you use the @kbd{M-x
360hi-lock-find-patterns} command.
361
362@item C-x w i
363@kindex C-x w i
364@findex hi-lock-find-patterns
365@vindex hi-lock-exclude-modes
366Re-read regexp/face pairs in the current buffer
367(@code{hi-lock-write-interactive-patterns}). The list of pairs is
368found no matter where in the buffer it may be.
369
370This command does nothing if the major mode is a member of the list
371@code{hi-lock-exclude-modes}.
372@end table
373
374@node Trailing Whitespace
375@section Trailing Whitespace
376
377@cindex trailing whitespace
378@cindex whitespace, trailing
379@vindex show-trailing-whitespace
380 It is easy to leave unnecessary spaces at the end of a line without
381realizing it. In most cases, this @dfn{trailing whitespace} has no
382effect, but there are special circumstances where it matters.
383
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384 You can make trailing whitespace visible on the screen by setting the
385buffer-local variable @code{show-trailing-whitespace} to @code{t}. Then
386Emacs displays trailing whitespace in the face
387@code{trailing-whitespace}.
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388
389 Trailing whitespace is defined as spaces or tabs at the end of a
390line. But trailing whitespace is not displayed specially if point is
391at the end of the line containing the whitespace. (Doing that looks
392ugly while you are typing in new text, and the location of point is
393enough in that case to show you that the spaces are present.)
394
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395@findex delete-trailing-whitespace
396 To delete all trailing whitespace within the current buffer's
397restriction (@pxref{Narrowing}), type @kbd{M-x
398delete-trailing-whitespace @key{RET}}. (This command does not remove
399the form-feed characters.)
400
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401@vindex indicate-empty-lines
402@vindex default-indicate-empty-lines
403@cindex empty lines
404 Emacs can indicate empty lines at the end of the buffer with a
405special bitmap on the left fringe of the window. To enable this
406feature, set the buffer-local variable @code{indicate-empty-lines} to
407a non-@code{nil} value. The default value of this variable is
408controlled by the variable @code{default-indicate-empty-lines};
409by setting that variable, you can enable or disable this feature
410for all new buffers.
411
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412@node Scrolling
413@section Scrolling
414
415 If a buffer contains text that is too large to fit entirely within a
416window that is displaying the buffer, Emacs shows a contiguous portion of
417the text. The portion shown always contains point.
418
419@cindex scrolling
420 @dfn{Scrolling} means moving text up or down in the window so that
421different parts of the text are visible. Scrolling forward means that text
422moves up, and new text appears at the bottom. Scrolling backward moves
423text down and new text appears at the top.
424
425 Scrolling happens automatically if you move point past the bottom or top
426of the window. You can also explicitly request scrolling with the commands
427in this section.
428
429@table @kbd
430@item C-l
431Clear screen and redisplay, scrolling the selected window to center
432point vertically within it (@code{recenter}).
433@item C-v
434Scroll forward (a windowful or a specified number of lines) (@code{scroll-up}).
435@item @key{NEXT}
04d0b662 436@itemx @key{PAGEDOWN}
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437Likewise, scroll forward.
438@item M-v
439Scroll backward (@code{scroll-down}).
440@item @key{PRIOR}
04d0b662 441@itemx @key{PAGEUP}
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442Likewise, scroll backward.
443@item @var{arg} C-l
444Scroll so point is on line @var{arg} (@code{recenter}).
445@item C-M-l
446Scroll heuristically to bring useful information onto the screen
447(@code{reposition-window}).
448@end table
449
450@kindex C-l
451@findex recenter
452 The most basic scrolling command is @kbd{C-l} (@code{recenter}) with
453no argument. It clears the entire screen and redisplays all windows.
454In addition, it scrolls the selected window so that point is halfway
455down from the top of the window.
456
457@kindex C-v
458@kindex M-v
459@kindex NEXT
460@kindex PRIOR
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461@kindex PAGEDOWN
462@kindex PAGEUP
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463@findex scroll-up
464@findex scroll-down
6bf7aab6 465@vindex next-screen-context-lines
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466 To read the buffer a windowful at a time, use @kbd{C-v}
467(@code{scroll-up}) with no argument. This scrolls forward by nearly
468the whole window height. The effect is to take the two lines at the
469bottom of the window and put them at the top, followed by nearly a
470whole windowful of lines that were not previously visible. If point
471was in the text that scrolled off the top, it ends up at the new top
472of the window.
473
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474 @kbd{M-v} (@code{scroll-down}) with no argument scrolls backward in
475a similar way, also with overlap. The number of lines of overlap
476across a @kbd{C-v} or @kbd{M-v} is controlled by the variable
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477@code{next-screen-context-lines}; by default, it is 2. The function
478keys @key{NEXT} and @key{PRIOR}, or @key{PAGEDOWN} and @key{PAGEUP},
479are equivalent to @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v}.
480
481 The commands @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v} with a numeric argument scroll
482the text in the selected window up or down a few lines. @kbd{C-v}
483with an argument moves the text and point up, together, that many
484lines; it brings the same number of new lines into view at the bottom
485of the window. @kbd{M-v} with numeric argument scrolls the text
486downward, bringing that many new lines into view at the top of the
487window. @kbd{C-v} with a negative argument is like @kbd{M-v} and vice
488versa.
489
490 The names of scroll commands are based on the direction that the
491text moves in the window. Thus, the command to scroll forward is
492called @code{scroll-up} because it moves the text upward on the
493screen. The keys @key{PAGEDOWN} and @key{PAGEUP} derive their names
494and customary meanings from a different convention that developed
495elsewhere; hence the strange result that @key{PAGEDOWN} runs
496@code{scroll-up}.
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497
498@vindex scroll-preserve-screen-position
499 Some users like the full-screen scroll commands to keep point at the
500same screen line. To enable this behavior, set the variable
501@code{scroll-preserve-screen-position} to a non-@code{nil} value. This
502mode is convenient for browsing through a file by scrolling by
503screenfuls; if you come back to the screen where you started, point goes
504back to the line where it started. However, this mode is inconvenient
505when you move to the next screen in order to move point to the text
506there.
507
508 Another way to do scrolling is with @kbd{C-l} with a numeric argument.
509@kbd{C-l} does not clear the screen when given an argument; it only scrolls
510the selected window. With a positive argument @var{n}, it repositions text
511to put point @var{n} lines down from the top. An argument of zero puts
512point on the very top line. Point does not move with respect to the text;
513rather, the text and point move rigidly on the screen. @kbd{C-l} with a
514negative argument puts point that many lines from the bottom of the window.
515For example, @kbd{C-u - 1 C-l} puts point on the bottom line, and @kbd{C-u
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516- 5 C-l} puts it five lines from the bottom. @kbd{C-u C-l} scrolls to put
517point at the center (vertically) of the selected window.
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518
519@kindex C-M-l
520@findex reposition-window
521 The @kbd{C-M-l} command (@code{reposition-window}) scrolls the current
522window heuristically in a way designed to get useful information onto
523the screen. For example, in a Lisp file, this command tries to get the
524entire current defun onto the screen if possible.
525
526@vindex scroll-conservatively
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527 Scrolling happens automatically when point moves out of the visible
528portion of the text. Normally, automatic scrolling centers point
529vertically within the window. However, if you set
530@code{scroll-conservatively} to a small number @var{n}, then if you
531move point just a little off the screen---less than @var{n}
532lines---then Emacs scrolls the text just far enough to bring point
533back on screen. By default, @code{scroll-conservatively} is 0.
6bf7aab6 534
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535@cindex aggressive scrolling
536@vindex scroll-up-aggressively
537@vindex scroll-down-aggressively
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538 When the window does scroll by a longer distance, you can control
539how aggressively it scrolls, by setting the variables
540@code{scroll-up-aggressively} and @code{scroll-down-aggressively}.
541The value of @code{scroll-up-aggressively} should be either
542@code{nil}, or a fraction @var{f} between 0 and 1. A fraction
543specifies where on the screen to put point when scrolling upward.
544More precisely, when a window scrolls up because point is above the
545window start, the new start position is chosen to put point @var{f}
546part of the window height from the top. The larger @var{f}, the more
547aggressive the scrolling.
548
549 @code{nil}, which is the default, scrolls to put point at the center.
550So it is equivalent to .5.
551
552 Likewise, @code{scroll-down-aggressively} is used for scrolling
553down. The value, @var{f}, specifies how far point should be placed
554from the bottom of the window; thus, as with
555@code{scroll-up-aggressively}, a larger value is more aggressive.
6dd5e8cc 556
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557@vindex scroll-margin
558 The variable @code{scroll-margin} restricts how close point can come
559to the top or bottom of a window. Its value is a number of screen
560lines; if point comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of the
561window, Emacs recenters the window. By default, @code{scroll-margin} is
5620.
563
564@node Horizontal Scrolling
565@section Horizontal Scrolling
566@cindex horizontal scrolling
567
568 @dfn{Horizontal scrolling} means shifting all the lines sideways
e598186c 569within a window---so that some of the text near the left margin is not
04d0b662 570displayed at all. Emacs does this automatically in any window that
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571uses line truncation rather than continuation: whenever point moves
572off the left or right edge of the screen, Emacs scrolls the buffer
573horizontally to make point visible.
574
575 When a window has been scrolled horizontally, text lines are truncated
576rather than continued (@pxref{Continuation Lines}), with a @samp{$}
577appearing in the first column when there is text truncated to the left,
578and in the last column when there is text truncated to the right.
579
580 You can use these commands to do explicit horizontal scrolling.
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581
582@table @kbd
583@item C-x <
584Scroll text in current window to the left (@code{scroll-left}).
585@item C-x >
586Scroll to the right (@code{scroll-right}).
587@end table
588
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589@kindex C-x <
590@kindex C-x >
591@findex scroll-left
592@findex scroll-right
593 The command @kbd{C-x <} (@code{scroll-left}) scrolls the selected
594window to the left by @var{n} columns with argument @var{n}. This moves
595part of the beginning of each line off the left edge of the window.
596With no argument, it scrolls by almost the full width of the window (two
597columns less, to be precise).
598
599 @kbd{C-x >} (@code{scroll-right}) scrolls similarly to the right. The
600window cannot be scrolled any farther to the right once it is displayed
601normally (with each line starting at the window's left margin);
602attempting to do so has no effect. This means that you don't have to
603calculate the argument precisely for @w{@kbd{C-x >}}; any sufficiently large
604argument will restore the normal display.
605
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606 If you scroll a window horizontally by hand, that sets a lower bound
607for automatic horizontal scrolling. Automatic scrolling will continue
97357fc9 608to scroll the window, but never farther to the right than the amount
e598186c 609you previously set by @code{scroll-left}.
6bf7aab6 610
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611@vindex automatic-hscrolling
612 To disable automatic horizontal scrolling, set the variable
613@code{automatic-hscrolling} to @code{nil}.
03ff8aab 614
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615@node Follow Mode
616@section Follow Mode
617@cindex Follow mode
618@cindex mode, Follow
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619@findex follow-mode
620@cindex windows, synchronizing
621@cindex synchronizing windows
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622
623 @dfn{Follow mode} is a minor mode that makes two windows showing the
624same buffer scroll as one tall ``virtual window.'' To use Follow mode,
625go to a frame with just one window, split it into two side-by-side
626windows using @kbd{C-x 3}, and then type @kbd{M-x follow-mode}. From
627then on, you can edit the buffer in either of the two windows, or scroll
628either one; the other window follows it.
629
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630 In Follow mode, if you move point outside the portion visible in one
631window and into the portion visible in the other window, that selects
632the other window---again, treating the two as if they were parts of
633one large window.
634
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635 To turn off Follow mode, type @kbd{M-x follow-mode} a second time.
636
637@node Selective Display
638@section Selective Display
4946337d 639@cindex selective display
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640@findex set-selective-display
641@kindex C-x $
642
643 Emacs has the ability to hide lines indented more than a certain number
644of columns (you specify how many columns). You can use this to get an
645overview of a part of a program.
646
647 To hide lines, type @kbd{C-x $} (@code{set-selective-display}) with a
648numeric argument @var{n}. Then lines with at least @var{n} columns of
649indentation disappear from the screen. The only indication of their
650presence is that three dots (@samp{@dots{}}) appear at the end of each
651visible line that is followed by one or more hidden ones.
652
653 The commands @kbd{C-n} and @kbd{C-p} move across the hidden lines as
654if they were not there.
655
656 The hidden lines are still present in the buffer, and most editing
657commands see them as usual, so you may find point in the middle of the
658hidden text. When this happens, the cursor appears at the end of the
659previous line, after the three dots. If point is at the end of the
660visible line, before the newline that ends it, the cursor appears before
661the three dots.
662
663 To make all lines visible again, type @kbd{C-x $} with no argument.
664
665@vindex selective-display-ellipses
666 If you set the variable @code{selective-display-ellipses} to
667@code{nil}, the three dots do not appear at the end of a line that
668precedes hidden lines. Then there is no visible indication of the
669hidden lines. This variable becomes local automatically when set.
670
671@node Optional Mode Line
672@section Optional Mode Line Features
673
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674@cindex line number display
675@cindex display of line number
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676@findex line-number-mode
677 The current line number of point appears in the mode line when Line
678Number mode is enabled. Use the command @kbd{M-x line-number-mode} to
679turn this mode on and off; normally it is on. The line number appears
680before the buffer percentage @var{pos}, with the letter @samp{L} to
681indicate what it is. @xref{Minor Modes}, for more information about
682minor modes and about how to use this command.
683
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684@cindex narrowing, and line number display
685 If you have narrowed the buffer (@pxref{Narrowing}), the displayed
686line number is relative to the accessible portion of the buffer.
687
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688@vindex line-number-display-limit
689 If the buffer is very large (larger than the value of
690@code{line-number-display-limit}), then the line number doesn't appear.
691Emacs doesn't compute the line number when the buffer is large, because
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692that would be too slow. Set it to @code{nil} to remove the limit.
693
694@vindex line-number-display-limit-width
695 Line-number computation can also be slow if the lines in the buffer
696are too long. For this reason, Emacs normally doesn't display line
697numbers if the average width, in characters, of lines near point is
698larger than the value of the variable
699@code{line-number-display-limit-width}. The default value is 200
700characters.
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701
702@cindex Column Number mode
703@cindex mode, Column Number
704@findex column-number-mode
705 You can also display the current column number by turning on Column
706Number mode. It displays the current column number preceded by the
707letter @samp{C}. Type @kbd{M-x column-number-mode} to toggle this mode.
708
709@findex display-time
710@cindex time (on mode line)
711 Emacs can optionally display the time and system load in all mode
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712lines. To enable this feature, type @kbd{M-x display-time} or customize
713the option @code{display-time-mode}. The information added to the mode
714line usually appears after the buffer name, before the mode names and
715their parentheses. It looks like this:
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716
717@example
718@var{hh}:@var{mm}pm @var{l.ll}
719@end example
720
721@noindent
722@vindex display-time-24hr-format
723Here @var{hh} and @var{mm} are the hour and minute, followed always by
724@samp{am} or @samp{pm}. @var{l.ll} is the average number of running
725processes in the whole system recently. (Some fields may be missing if
726your operating system cannot support them.) If you prefer time display
727in 24-hour format, set the variable @code{display-time-24hr-format}
728to @code{t}.
729
730@cindex mail (on mode line)
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731@vindex display-time-use-mail-icon
732@vindex display-time-mail-face
6bf7aab6 733 The word @samp{Mail} appears after the load level if there is mail
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734for you that you have not read yet. On a graphical display you can use
735an icon instead of @samp{Mail} by customizing
736@code{display-time-use-mail-icon}; this may save some space on the mode
737line. You can customize @code{display-time-mail-face} to make the mail
738indicator prominent.
6bf7aab6 739
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740@cindex mode line, 3D appearence
741@cindex attributes of mode line, changing
742@cindex non-integral number of lines in a window
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743 By default, the mode line is drawn on graphics displays with
7443D-style highlighting, like that of a button when it is not being
745pressed. If you don't like this effect, you can disable the 3D
746highlighting of the mode line, by customizing the attributes of the
747@code{mode-line} face in your @file{.emacs} init file, like this:
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748
749@example
04d0b662 750(set-face-attribute 'mode-line nil :box nil)
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751@end example
752
753@noindent
04d0b662 754Alternatively, you can turn off the box attribute in your
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755@file{.Xdefaults} file:
756
757@example
04d0b662 758Emacs.mode-line.AttributeBox: off
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759@end example
760
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761@node Text Display
762@section How Text Is Displayed
763@cindex characters (in text)
764
765 ASCII printing characters (octal codes 040 through 0176) in Emacs
13b9ee95 766buffers are displayed with their graphics, as are non-ASCII multibyte
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767printing characters (octal codes above 0400).
768
769 Some ASCII control characters are displayed in special ways. The
770newline character (octal code 012) is displayed by starting a new line.
771The tab character (octal code 011) is displayed by moving to the next
772tab stop column (normally every 8 columns).
773
774 Other ASCII control characters are normally displayed as a caret
775(@samp{^}) followed by the non-control version of the character; thus,
776control-A is displayed as @samp{^A}.
777
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778 Non-ASCII characters 0200 through 0237 (octal) are displayed with
779octal escape sequences; thus, character code 0230 (octal) is displayed
780as @samp{\230}. The display of character codes 0240 through 0377
781(octal) may be either as escape sequences or as graphics. They do not
04d0b662 782normally occur in multibyte buffers, but if they do, they are displayed
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783as Latin-1 graphics. In unibyte mode, if you enable European display
784they are displayed using their graphics (assuming your terminal supports
785them), otherwise as escape sequences. @xref{Single-Byte Character
786Support}.
6bf7aab6 787
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788@node Display Custom
789@section Customization of Display
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790
791 This section contains information for customization only. Beginning
792users should skip it.
793
794@vindex mode-line-inverse-video
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795 The variable @code{mode-line-inverse-video} is an obsolete way of
796controlling whether the mode line is displayed in inverse video; the
797preferred way of doing this is to change the @code{mode-line} face.
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798@xref{Mode Line}. However, if @code{mode-line-inverse-video} has a
799value of @code{nil}, then the @code{mode-line} face will be ignored,
800and mode-lines will be drawn using the default text face.
801@xref{Faces}.
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802
803@vindex inverse-video
804 If the variable @code{inverse-video} is non-@code{nil}, Emacs attempts
805to invert all the lines of the display from what they normally are.
806
807@vindex visible-bell
808 If the variable @code{visible-bell} is non-@code{nil}, Emacs attempts
809to make the whole screen blink when it would normally make an audible bell
810sound. This variable has no effect if your terminal does not have a way
811to make the screen blink.@refill
812
813@vindex no-redraw-on-reenter
814 When you reenter Emacs after suspending, Emacs normally clears the
815screen and redraws the entire display. On some terminals with more than
816one page of memory, it is possible to arrange the termcap entry so that
817the @samp{ti} and @samp{te} strings (output to the terminal when Emacs
818is entered and exited, respectively) switch between pages of memory so
819as to use one page for Emacs and another page for other output. Then
820you might want to set the variable @code{no-redraw-on-reenter}
821non-@code{nil}; this tells Emacs to assume, when resumed, that the
822screen page it is using still contains what Emacs last wrote there.
823
824@vindex echo-keystrokes
825 The variable @code{echo-keystrokes} controls the echoing of multi-character
826keys; its value is the number of seconds of pause required to cause echoing
827to start, or zero meaning don't echo at all. @xref{Echo Area}.
828
829@vindex ctl-arrow
13b9ee95 830 If the variable @code{ctl-arrow} is @code{nil}, all control characters in
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831the buffer are displayed with octal escape sequences, except for newline
832and tab. Altering the value of @code{ctl-arrow} makes it local to the
833current buffer; until that time, the default value is in effect. The
834default is initially @code{t}. @xref{Display Tables,, Display Tables,
835elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
836
837@vindex tab-width
838 Normally, a tab character in the buffer is displayed as whitespace which
839extends to the next display tab stop position, and display tab stops come
840at intervals equal to eight spaces. The number of spaces per tab is
841controlled by the variable @code{tab-width}, which is made local by
842changing it, just like @code{ctl-arrow}. Note that how the tab character
843in the buffer is displayed has nothing to do with the definition of
844@key{TAB} as a command. The variable @code{tab-width} must have an
845integer value between 1 and 1000, inclusive.
846
847@c @vindex truncate-lines @c No index entry here, because we have one
848@c in the continuation section.
849 If the variable @code{truncate-lines} is non-@code{nil}, then each
850line of text gets just one screen line for display; if the text line is
851too long, display shows only the part that fits. If
852@code{truncate-lines} is @code{nil}, then long text lines display as
853more than one screen line, enough to show the whole text of the line.
854@xref{Continuation Lines}. Altering the value of @code{truncate-lines}
855makes it local to the current buffer; until that time, the default value
856is in effect. The default is initially @code{nil}.
857
858@c @vindex truncate-partial-width-windows @c Idx entry is in Split Windows.
859 If the variable @code{truncate-partial-width-windows} is
860non-@code{nil}, it forces truncation rather than continuation in any
861window less than the full width of the screen or frame, regardless of
862the value of @code{truncate-lines}. For information about side-by-side
863windows, see @ref{Split Window}. See also @ref{Display,, Display,
864elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
865
866@vindex baud-rate
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867 The variable @code{baud-rate} holds the output speed of the
868terminal, as far as Emacs knows. Setting this variable does not
869change the speed of actual data transmission, but the value is used
870for calculations. On terminals, it affects padding, and decisions
871about whether to scroll part of the screen or redraw it instead.
c39937ea 872It also affects the behavior of incremental search.
860dab78 873
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874 On window-systems, @code{baud-rate} is only used to determine how
875frequently to look for pending input during display updating. A
876higher value of @code{baud-rate} means that check for pending input
877will be done less frequently.
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878
879 You can customize the way any particular character code is displayed
880by means of a display table. @xref{Display Tables,, Display Tables,
881elisp, The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}.
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883@cindex hourglass pointer display
884@vindex hourglass-delay
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885 On a window system, Emacs can optionally display the mouse pointer
886in a special shape to say that Emacs is busy. To turn this feature on
887or off, customize the group @code{cursor}. You can also control the
888amount of time Emacs must remain busy before the busy indicator is
62095f01 889displayed, by setting the variable @code{hourglass-delay}.
099bfef9 890
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891@findex tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors
892 On some text-only terminals, bold face and inverse video together
893result in text that is hard to read. Call the function
894@code{tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors} with a non-@code{nil}
895argument to suppress the effect of bold-face in this case.
896
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897@node Cursor Display
898@section Displaying the Cursor
899
e598186c 900@findex hl-line-mode
843c16a5 901@cindex highlight current line
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902@findex blink-cursor-mode
903@cindex cursor, locating visually
904@cindex cursor, blinking
905 There are a number of ways to customize the display of the cursor.
777fcecf 906@kbd{M-x hl-line-mode} enables or disables a minor mode which
099bfef9 907highlights the line containing point. On window systems, the command
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908@kbd{M-x blink-cursor-mode} turns on or off the blinking of the
909cursor. (On terminals, the terminal itself blinks the cursor, and
87c8b5fd 910Emacs has no control over it.)
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911
912 You can customize the cursor's color, and whether it blinks, using
913the @code{cursor} Custom group (@pxref{Easy Customization}).
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914
915@vindex x-stretch-cursor
916@cindex wide block cursor
917 When displaying on a window system, Emacs can optionally draw the
918block cursor as wide as the character under the cursor---for example,
919if the cursor is on a tab character, it would cover the full width
920occupied by that tab character. To enable this feature, set the
921variable @code{x-stretch-cursor} to a non-@code{nil} value.
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922
923@cindex cursor in non-selected windows
924@vindex cursor-in-non-selected-windows
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925 Normally, the cursor in non-selected windows is shown as a hollow box.
926To turn off cursor display in non-selected windows, customize the option
5359ed91 927@code{cursor-in-non-selected-windows} to assign it a @code{nil} value.