(Bugs): Fix PROBLEMS keybinding.
[bpt/emacs.git] / doc / emacs / programs.texi
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6bf7aab6 1@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
40279251 2@c Copyright (C) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2000,
114f9c96 3@c 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
324a4f6a 4@c Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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5@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
6@node Programs, Building, Text, Top
7@chapter Editing Programs
8@cindex Lisp editing
9@cindex C editing
10@cindex program editing
11
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12 Emacs provides many features to facilitate editing programs. Some
13of these features can
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14
15@itemize @bullet
16@item
93da5dff 17Find or move over top-level definitions (@pxref{Defuns}).
6bf7aab6 18@item
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19Apply the usual indentation conventions of the language
20(@pxref{Program Indent}).
6bf7aab6 21@item
93da5dff 22Balance parentheses (@pxref{Parentheses}).
cf1c48d4 23@item
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24Insert, kill or align comments (@pxref{Comments}).
25@item
cf1c48d4 26Highlight program syntax (@pxref{Font Lock}).
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27@end itemize
28
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29 This chapter describes these features and many more.
30
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31@menu
32* Program Modes:: Major modes for editing programs.
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33* Defuns:: Commands to operate on major top-level parts
34 of a program.
6bf7aab6 35* Program Indent:: Adjusting indentation to show the nesting.
93da5dff 36* Parentheses:: Commands that operate on parentheses.
c8b21b5e 37* Comments:: Inserting, killing, and aligning comments.
93da5dff 38* Documentation:: Getting documentation of functions you plan to call.
51ed0ea0 39* Hideshow:: Displaying blocks selectively.
93da5dff 40* Symbol Completion:: Completion on symbol names of your program or language.
3b8b8888 41* Glasses:: Making identifiersLikeThis more readable.
93da5dff 42* Misc for Programs:: Other Emacs features useful for editing programs.
79214ddf 43* C Modes:: Special commands of C, C++, Objective-C,
6bf7aab6 44 Java, and Pike modes.
51ed0ea0 45* Asm Mode:: Asm mode and its special features.
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46@ifnottex
47* Fortran:: Fortran mode and its special features.
48@end ifnottex
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49@end menu
50
51@node Program Modes
52@section Major Modes for Programming Languages
6bf7aab6 53@cindex modes for programming languages
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54
55 Emacs has specialized major modes for various programming languages.
56@xref{Major Modes}. A programming language major mode typically
57specifies the syntax of expressions, the customary rules for
58indentation, how to do syntax highlighting for the language, and how
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59to find the beginning or end of a function definition. It often
60customizes or provides facilities for compiling and debugging programs
61as well.
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62
63 Ideally, Emacs should provide a major mode for each programming
64language that you might want to edit; if it doesn't have a mode for
65your favorite language, you can contribute one. But often the mode
66for one language can serve for other syntactically similar languages.
67The major mode for language @var{l} is called @code{@var{l}-mode},
e79c6b89 68and you can select it by typing @kbd{M-x @var{l}-mode @key{RET}}.
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69@xref{Choosing Modes}.
70
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71@cindex Perl mode
72@cindex Icon mode
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73@cindex Makefile mode
74@cindex Tcl mode
75@cindex CPerl mode
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76@cindex DSSSL mode
77@cindex Octave mode
78@cindex Metafont mode
79@cindex Modula2 mode
80@cindex Prolog mode
7b703414 81@cindex Python mode
e37d4360 82@cindex Ruby mode
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83@cindex Simula mode
84@cindex VHDL mode
85@cindex M4 mode
86@cindex Shell-script mode
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87@cindex Delphi mode
88@cindex PostScript mode
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89@cindex Conf mode
90@cindex DNS mode
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91 The existing programming language major modes include Lisp, Scheme
92(a variant of Lisp) and the Scheme-based DSSSL expression language,
93Ada, ASM, AWK, C, C++, Delphi (Object Pascal), Fortran, Icon, IDL
94(CORBA), IDLWAVE, Java, Metafont (@TeX{}'s companion for font
95creation), Modula2, Objective-C, Octave, Pascal, Perl, Pike,
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96PostScript, Prolog, Python, Ruby, Simula, Tcl, and VHDL. An
97alternative mode for Perl is called CPerl mode. Modes are available
98for the scripting languages of the common GNU and Unix shells, VMS
99DCL, and MS-DOS/MS-Windows @samp{BAT} files. There are also major
100modes for editing makefiles, DNS master files, and various sorts of
e722aa81 101configuration files.
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102
103@kindex DEL @r{(programming modes)}
4f7666dc 104@findex c-electric-backspace
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105 In most programming languages, indentation should vary from line to
106line to illustrate the structure of the program. So the major modes
e79c6b89 107for programming languages arrange for @key{TAB} to update the
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108indentation of the current line (@pxref{Program Indent}). They also
109rebind @key{DEL} to treat a tab as if it were the equivalent number of
110spaces; this lets you delete one column of indentation without
111worrying whether the whitespace consists of spaces or tabs. Use
112@kbd{C-b C-d} to delete a tab character before point, in these modes.
6bf7aab6 113
cf1c48d4 114 Separate manuals are available for the modes for Ada (@pxref{Top, , Ada
7ae8ad94 115Mode, ada-mode, Ada Mode}), C/C++/Objective C/Java/Corba IDL/Pike/AWK
cf1c48d4 116(@pxref{Top, , CC Mode, ccmode, CC Mode}) and the IDLWAVE modes
e0fc8fa2 117(@pxref{Top, , IDLWAVE, idlwave, IDLWAVE User Manual}). For Fortran
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118mode, see
119@iftex
9dc999d3 120@ref{Fortran,,, emacs-xtra, Specialized Emacs Features}.
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121@end iftex
122@ifnottex
123@ref{Fortran}.
124@end ifnottex
125
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126@cindex mode hook
127@vindex c-mode-hook
128@vindex lisp-mode-hook
129@vindex emacs-lisp-mode-hook
130@vindex lisp-interaction-mode-hook
131@vindex scheme-mode-hook
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132 Turning on a major mode runs a normal hook called the @dfn{mode
133hook}, which is the value of a Lisp variable. Each major mode has a
134mode hook, and the hook's name is always made from the mode command's
135name by adding @samp{-hook}. For example, turning on C mode runs the
136hook @code{c-mode-hook}, while turning on Lisp mode runs the hook
137@code{lisp-mode-hook}. The purpose of the mode hook is to give you a
138place to set up customizations for that major mode. @xref{Hooks}.
6bf7aab6 139
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140@node Defuns
141@section Top-Level Definitions, or Defuns
6bf7aab6 142
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143 In Emacs, a major definition at the top level in the buffer, such as
144a function, is called a @dfn{defun}. The name comes from Lisp, but in
145Emacs we use it for all languages.
6bf7aab6 146
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147@menu
148* Left Margin Paren:: An open-paren or similar opening delimiter
149 starts a defun if it is at the left margin.
150* Moving by Defuns:: Commands to move over or mark a major definition.
151* Imenu:: Making buffer indexes as menus.
152* Which Function:: Which Function mode shows which function you are in.
153@end menu
6bf7aab6 154
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155@node Left Margin Paren
156@subsection Left Margin Convention
6bf7aab6 157
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158@cindex open-parenthesis in leftmost column
159@cindex ( in leftmost column
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160 Many programming-language modes assume by default that any opening
161delimiter found at the left margin is the start of a top-level
162definition, or defun. Therefore, @strong{don't put an opening
163delimiter at the left margin unless it should have that significance}.
164For instance, never put an open-parenthesis at the left margin in a
165Lisp file unless it is the start of a top-level list.
166
167 The convention speeds up many Emacs operations, which would
168otherwise have to scan back to the beginning of the buffer to analyze
169the syntax of the code.
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170
171 If you don't follow this convention, not only will you have trouble
172when you explicitly use the commands for motion by defuns; other
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173features that use them will also give you trouble. This includes the
174indentation commands (@pxref{Program Indent}) and Font Lock mode
175(@pxref{Font Lock}).
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176
177 The most likely problem case is when you want an opening delimiter
178at the start of a line inside a string. To avoid trouble, put an
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179escape character (@samp{\}, in C and Emacs Lisp, @samp{/} in some
180other Lisp dialects) before the opening delimiter. This will not
181affect the contents of the string, but will prevent that opening
182delimiter from starting a defun. Here's an example:
6bf7aab6 183
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184@example
185 (insert "Foo:
186\(bar)
187")
188@end example
6bf7aab6 189
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190 To help you catch violations of this convention, Font Lock mode
191highlights confusing opening delimiters (those that ought to be
192quoted) in bold red.
193
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194 If you need to override this convention, you can do so by setting
195this user option:
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196
197@defvar open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start
198If this user option is set to @code{t} (the default), opening
199parentheses or braces at column zero always start defuns. When it's
200@code{nil}, defuns are found by searching for parens or braces at the
201outermost level.
202@end defvar
203
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204 Usually, you should leave this option at its default value of
205@code{t}. If your buffer contains parentheses or braces in column
206zero which don't start defuns, and it is somehow impractical to remove
207these parentheses or braces, it might be helpful to set the option to
208@code{nil}. Be aware that this might make scrolling and display in
209large buffers quite sluggish. Furthermore, the parentheses and braces
210must be correctly matched throughout the buffer for it to work
211properly.
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212
213@node Moving by Defuns
214@subsection Moving by Defuns
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215@cindex defuns
216
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217 These commands move point or set up the region based on top-level
218major definitions, also called @dfn{defuns}.
520c3f4c 219
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220@table @kbd
221@item C-M-a
222Move to beginning of current or preceding defun
223(@code{beginning-of-defun}).
224@item C-M-e
225Move to end of current or following defun (@code{end-of-defun}).
226@item C-M-h
227Put region around whole current or following defun (@code{mark-defun}).
228@end table
229
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230@cindex move to beginning or end of function
231@cindex function, move to beginning or end
232@kindex C-M-a
233@kindex C-M-e
234@kindex C-M-h
235@findex beginning-of-defun
236@findex end-of-defun
237@findex mark-defun
238 The commands to move to the beginning and end of the current defun
239are @kbd{C-M-a} (@code{beginning-of-defun}) and @kbd{C-M-e}
240(@code{end-of-defun}). If you repeat one of these commands, or use a
241positive numeric argument, each repetition moves to the next defun in
242the direction of motion.
243
244 @kbd{C-M-a} with a negative argument @minus{}@var{n} moves forward
245@var{n} times to the next beginning of a defun. This is not exactly
246the same place that @kbd{C-M-e} with argument @var{n} would move to;
247the end of this defun is not usually exactly the same place as the
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248beginning of the following defun. (Whitespace, comments, and perhaps
249declarations can separate them.) Likewise, @kbd{C-M-e} with a
250negative argument moves back to an end of a defun, which is not quite
251the same as @kbd{C-M-a} with a positive argument.
f772775c 252
4946337d 253@kindex C-M-h @r{(C mode)}
6bf7aab6 254@findex c-mark-function
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255 To operate on the current defun, use @kbd{C-M-h}
256(@code{mark-defun}), which sets the mark at the end of the current
257defun and puts point at its beginning. @xref{Marking Objects}. This
258is the easiest way to get ready to kill the defun in order to move it
259to a different place in the file. If you use the command while point
260is between defuns, it uses the following defun. If you use the
261command while the mark is already active, it sets the mark but does
262not move point; furthermore, each successive use of @kbd{C-M-h}
263extends the end of the region to include one more defun.
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264
265 In C mode, @kbd{C-M-h} runs the function @code{c-mark-function},
266which is almost the same as @code{mark-defun}; the difference is that
267it backs up over the argument declarations, function name and returned
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268data type so that the entire C function is inside the region. This is
269an example of how major modes adjust the standard key bindings so that
270they do their standard jobs in a way better fitting a particular
271language. Other major modes may replace any or all of these key
272bindings for that purpose.
6bf7aab6 273
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274@node Imenu
275@subsection Imenu
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276@cindex index of buffer definitions
277@cindex buffer definitions index
93da5dff 278
269b7745 279 The Imenu facility offers a way to find the major definitions in
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280a file by name. It is also useful in text formatter major modes,
281where it treats each chapter, section, etc., as a definition.
e79c6b89 282(@xref{Tags}, for a more powerful feature that handles multiple files
5e6f9132 283together.)
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284
285@findex imenu
5e6f9132 286 If you type @kbd{M-x imenu}, it reads the name of a definition using
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287the minibuffer, then moves point to that definition. You can use
288completion to specify the name; the command always displays the whole
289list of valid names.
d2fab838 290
5e6f9132 291@findex imenu-add-menubar-index
d2fab838 292 Alternatively, you can bind the command @code{imenu} to a mouse
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293click. Then it displays mouse menus for you to select a definition
294name. You can also add the buffer's index to the menu bar by calling
295@code{imenu-add-menubar-index}. If you want to have this menu bar
296item available for all buffers in a certain major mode, you can do
297this by adding @code{imenu-add-menubar-index} to its mode hook. But
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298if you have done that, you will have to wait a little while each time
299you visit a file in that mode, while Emacs finds all the definitions
300in that buffer.
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301
302@vindex imenu-auto-rescan
303 When you change the contents of a buffer, if you add or delete
e79c6b89 304definitions, you can update the buffer's index based on the
d2fab838 305new contents by invoking the @samp{*Rescan*} item in the menu.
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306Rescanning happens automatically if you set @code{imenu-auto-rescan} to
307a non-@code{nil} value. There is no need to rescan because of small
e79c6b89 308changes in the text.
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309
310@vindex imenu-sort-function
d2fab838 311 You can customize the way the menus are sorted by setting the
e79c6b89 312variable @code{imenu-sort-function}. By default, names are ordered as
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313they occur in the buffer; if you want alphabetic sorting, use the
314symbol @code{imenu--sort-by-name} as the value. You can also
315define your own comparison function by writing Lisp code.
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316
317 Imenu provides the information to guide Which Function mode
318@ifnottex
319(@pxref{Which Function}).
320@end ifnottex
321@iftex
322(see below).
323@end iftex
324The Speedbar can also use it (@pxref{Speedbar}).
325
326@node Which Function
327@subsection Which Function Mode
af056954 328@cindex current function name in mode line
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329
330 Which Function mode is a minor mode that displays the current
331function name in the mode line, updating it as you move around in a
332buffer.
333
334@findex which-function-mode
335@vindex which-func-modes
df7593dd 336 To either enable or disable Which Function mode, use the command
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337@kbd{M-x which-function-mode}. This command applies to all buffers,
338both existing ones and those yet to be created. However, it takes
339effect only in certain major modes, those listed in the value of
340@code{which-func-modes}. If the value of @code{which-func-modes} is
341@code{t} rather than a list of modes, then Which Function mode applies
342to all major modes that know how to support it---in other words, all
343the major modes that support Imenu.
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344
345@node Program Indent
346@section Indentation for Programs
347@cindex indentation for programs
348
349 The best way to keep a program properly indented is to use Emacs to
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350reindent it as you change it. Emacs has commands to indent either a
351single line, a specified number of lines, or all of the lines inside a
352single parenthetical grouping.
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353
354@menu
355* Basic Indent:: Indenting a single line.
356* Multi-line Indent:: Commands to reindent many lines at once.
357* Lisp Indent:: Specifying how each Lisp function should be indented.
358* C Indent:: Extra features for indenting C and related modes.
359* Custom C Indent:: Controlling indentation style for C and related modes.
360@end menu
361
d2fab838 362@cindex pretty-printer
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363 Emacs also provides a Lisp pretty-printer in the library @code{pp}.
364This program reformats a Lisp object with indentation chosen to look nice.
365
366@node Basic Indent
367@subsection Basic Program Indentation Commands
368
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369 The basic indentation commands indent a single line according to the
370usual conventions of the language you are editing.
cf1c48d4 371
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372@table @kbd
373@item @key{TAB}
374Adjust indentation of current line.
375@item C-j
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376Insert a newline, then adjust indentation of following line
377(@code{newline-and-indent}).
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378@end table
379
380@kindex TAB @r{(programming modes)}
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381@findex c-indent-command
382@findex indent-line-function
f772775c 383@findex indent-for-tab-command
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384 The basic indentation command is @key{TAB}. In any
385programming-language major mode, @key{TAB} gives the current line the
386correct indentation as determined from the previous lines. It does
387this by inserting or deleting whitespace at the beginning of the
388current line. If point was inside the whitespace at the beginning of
389the line, @key{TAB} puts it at the end of that whitespace; otherwise,
390@key{TAB} keeps point fixed with respect to the characters around it.
391If the region is active (@pxref{Mark}), @key{TAB} indents every line
392within the region instead of just the current line. The function that
393@key{TAB} runs depends on the major mode; for instance, it is
394@code{c-indent-line-or-region} in C mode. Each function is aware of
395the syntax and conventions for its particular language.
6bf7aab6 396
64e207c0 397 Use @kbd{C-q @key{TAB}} to insert a tab character at point.
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398
399@kindex C-j
400@findex newline-and-indent
cf1c48d4 401 When entering lines of new code, use @kbd{C-j}
bb63d706 402(@code{newline-and-indent}), which inserts a newline and then adjusts
14f4194d 403indentation after it. (It also deletes any trailing whitespace which
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404remains before the new newline.) For instance, @kbd{C-j} at the end
405of a line creates a blank line with appropriate indentation. In
406programming language modes, it is equivalent to @key{RET} @key{TAB}.
407
408 When Emacs indents a line that starts within a parenthetical
409grouping, it usually places the start of the line under the preceding
410line within the group, or under the text after the parenthesis. If
411you manually give one of these lines a nonstandard indentation, the
412lines below will tend to follow it. This behavior is convenient in
413cases where you have overridden the standard result of @key{TAB}
414indentation (e.g., for aesthetic purposes).
415
416 Many programming-language modes assume that an open-parenthesis,
417open-brace or other opening delimiter at the left margin is the start
418of a function. This assumption speeds up indentation commands. If
419the text you are editing contains opening delimiters in column zero
420that aren't the beginning of a functions---even if these delimiters
421occur inside strings or comments---then you must set
108262a0 422@code{open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start}. @xref{Left Margin
e722aa81 423Paren}.
6bf7aab6 424
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425 Normally, Emacs indents lines using an ``optimal'' mix of tab and
426space characters. If you want Emacs to use spaces only, set
427@code{indent-tabs-mode} (@pxref{Just Spaces}).
5151db0c 428
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429@node Multi-line Indent
430@subsection Indenting Several Lines
431
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432 Sometimes, you may want to reindent several lines of code at a time.
433One way to do this is to use the mark; when the mark is active and the
434region is non-empty, @key{TAB} indents every line within the region.
435In addition, Emacs provides several other commands for indenting large
436chunks of code:
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437
438@table @kbd
439@item C-M-q
e722aa81 440Reindent all the lines within one parenthetical grouping.
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441@item C-M-\
442Reindent all lines in the region (@code{indent-region}).
6bf7aab6 443@item C-u @key{TAB}
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444Shift an entire parenthetical grouping rigidly sideways so that its
445first line is properly indented.
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446@item M-x indent-code-rigidly
447Shift all the lines in the region rigidly sideways, but do not alter
448lines that start inside comments and strings.
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449@end table
450
451@kindex C-M-q
6daf3e15 452@findex indent-pp-sexp
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453 To reindent the contents of a single parenthetical grouping,
454position point before the beginning of the grouping and type
455@kbd{C-M-q}. This changes the relative indentation within the
456grouping, without affecting its overall indentation (i.e., the
457indentation of the line where the grouping starts). The function that
458@kbd{C-M-q} runs depends on the major mode; it is
459@code{indent-pp-sexp} in Lisp mode, @code{c-indent-exp} in C mode,
460etc. To correct the overall indentation as well, type @key{TAB}
461first.
462
463 @kbd{C-M-\} (@code{indent-region}) applies @key{TAB} to the region.
464This is useful when Transient Mark mode is disabled (@pxref{Persistent
465Mark}), because in that case @key{TAB} does not act on the region.
e79c6b89 466
6bf7aab6 467@kindex C-u TAB
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468 If you like the relative indentation within a grouping but not the
469indentation of its first line, move point to that first line and type
470@kbd{C-u @key{TAB}}. In Lisp, C, and some other major modes,
471@key{TAB} with a numeric argument reindents the current line as usual,
472then reindents by the same amount all the lines in the parenthetical
473grouping starting on the current line. It is clever, though, and does
474not alter lines that start inside strings. Neither does it alter C
475preprocessor lines when in C mode, but it does reindent any
476continuation lines that may be attached to them.
6bf7aab6 477
5cc06e0b 478@findex indent-code-rigidly
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479 The command @kbd{M-x indent-code-rigidly} rigidly shifts all the
480lines in the region sideways, like @code{indent-rigidly} does
481(@pxref{Indentation Commands}). It doesn't alter the indentation of
482lines that start inside a string, unless the region also starts inside
483that string. The prefix arg specifies the number of columns to
484indent.
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485
486@node Lisp Indent
487@subsection Customizing Lisp Indentation
488@cindex customizing Lisp indentation
489
490 The indentation pattern for a Lisp expression can depend on the function
491called by the expression. For each Lisp function, you can choose among
492several predefined patterns of indentation, or define an arbitrary one with
493a Lisp program.
494
495 The standard pattern of indentation is as follows: the second line of the
496expression is indented under the first argument, if that is on the same
497line as the beginning of the expression; otherwise, the second line is
498indented underneath the function name. Each following line is indented
499under the previous line whose nesting depth is the same.
500
501@vindex lisp-indent-offset
502 If the variable @code{lisp-indent-offset} is non-@code{nil}, it overrides
503the usual indentation pattern for the second line of an expression, so that
504such lines are always indented @code{lisp-indent-offset} more columns than
505the containing list.
506
507@vindex lisp-body-indent
d2fab838 508 Certain functions override the standard pattern. Functions whose
269b7745 509names start with @code{def} treat the second lines as the start of
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510a @dfn{body}, by indenting the second line @code{lisp-body-indent}
511additional columns beyond the open-parenthesis that starts the
512expression.
6bf7aab6 513
b771b258 514@cindex @code{lisp-indent-function} property
d2fab838 515 You can override the standard pattern in various ways for individual
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516functions, according to the @code{lisp-indent-function} property of
517the function name. Normally you would use this for macro definitions
518and specify it using the @code{declare} construct (@pxref{Defining
519Macros,,, elisp, the Emacs Lisp Reference Manual}).
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520
521@node C Indent
522@subsection Commands for C Indentation
523
93da5dff 524 Here are special features for indentation in C mode and related modes:
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525
526@table @code
527@item C-c C-q
528@kindex C-c C-q @r{(C mode)}
529@findex c-indent-defun
530Reindent the current top-level function definition or aggregate type
531declaration (@code{c-indent-defun}).
532
533@item C-M-q
534@kindex C-M-q @r{(C mode)}
535@findex c-indent-exp
536Reindent each line in the balanced expression that follows point
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537(@code{c-indent-exp}). A prefix argument inhibits warning messages
538about invalid syntax.
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539
540@item @key{TAB}
541@findex c-indent-command
542Reindent the current line, and/or in some cases insert a tab character
543(@code{c-indent-command}).
544
7ae8ad94 545@vindex c-tab-always-indent
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546If @code{c-tab-always-indent} is @code{t}, this command always reindents
547the current line and does nothing else. This is the default.
548
549If that variable is @code{nil}, this command reindents the current line
550only if point is at the left margin or in the line's indentation;
551otherwise, it inserts a tab (or the equivalent number of spaces,
552if @code{indent-tabs-mode} is @code{nil}).
553
554Any other value (not @code{nil} or @code{t}) means always reindent the
7ae8ad94 555line, and also insert a tab if within a comment or a string.
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556@end table
557
558 To reindent the whole current buffer, type @kbd{C-x h C-M-\}. This
559first selects the whole buffer as the region, then reindents that
560region.
561
562 To reindent the current block, use @kbd{C-M-u C-M-q}. This moves
563to the front of the block and then reindents it all.
564
565@node Custom C Indent
566@subsection Customizing C Indentation
93da5dff 567@cindex style (for indentation)
6bf7aab6 568
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569 C mode and related modes use a flexible mechanism for customizing
570indentation. C mode indents a source line in two steps: first it
571classifies the line syntactically according to its contents and
572context; second, it determines the indentation offset associated by
573your selected @dfn{style} with the syntactic construct and adds this
574onto the indentation of the @dfn{anchor statement}.
6bf7aab6 575
93da5dff 576@table @kbd
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577@item C-c . @key{RET} @var{style} @key{RET}
578Select a predefined style @var{style} (@code{c-set-style}).
93da5dff 579@end table
6bf7aab6 580
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581 A @dfn{style} is a named collection of customizations that can be
582used in C mode and the related modes. @ref{Styles,,, ccmode, The CC
583Mode Manual}, for a complete description. Emacs comes with several
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584predefined styles, including @code{gnu}, @code{k&r}, @code{bsd},
585@code{stroustrup}, @code{linux}, @code{python}, @code{java},
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586@code{whitesmith}, @code{ellemtel}, and @code{awk}. Some of these
587styles are primarily intended for one language, but any of them can be
588used with any of the languages supported by these modes. To find out
589what a style looks like, select it and reindent some code, e.g., by
590typing @key{C-M-q} at the start of a function definition.
6bf7aab6 591
7ae8ad94 592@kindex C-c . @r{(C mode)}
93da5dff 593@findex c-set-style
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594 To choose a style for the current buffer, use the command @w{@kbd{C-c
595.}}. Specify a style name as an argument (case is not significant).
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596This command affects the current buffer only, and it affects only
597future invocations of the indentation commands; it does not reindent
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598the code already in the buffer. To reindent the whole buffer in the
599new style, you can type @kbd{C-x h C-M-\}.
6bf7aab6 600
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601@vindex c-default-style
602 You can also set the variable @code{c-default-style} to specify the
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603default style for various major modes. Its value should be either the
604style's name (a string) or an alist, in which each element specifies
605one major mode and which indentation style to use for it. For
606example,
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607
608@example
93da5dff 609(setq c-default-style
108262a0 610 '((java-mode . "java") (awk-mode . "awk") (other . "gnu")))
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611@end example
612
93da5dff 613@noindent
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614specifies explicit choices for Java and AWK modes, and the default
615@samp{gnu} style for the other C-like modes. (These settings are
616actually the defaults.) This variable takes effect when you select
617one of the C-like major modes; thus, if you specify a new default
618style for Java mode, you can make it take effect in an existing Java
619mode buffer by typing @kbd{M-x java-mode} there.
6bf7aab6 620
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621 The @code{gnu} style specifies the formatting recommended by the GNU
622Project for C; it is the default, so as to encourage use of our
623recommended style.
6bf7aab6 624
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625 @xref{Indentation Engine Basics,,, ccmode, the CC Mode Manual}, and
626@ref{Customizing Indentation,,, ccmode, the CC Mode Manual}, for more
627information on customizing indentation for C and related modes,
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628including how to override parts of an existing style and how to define
629your own styles.
6bf7aab6 630
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631@node Parentheses
632@section Commands for Editing with Parentheses
6bf7aab6 633
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634@findex check-parens
635@cindex unbalanced parentheses and quotes
636 This section describes the commands and features that take advantage
637of the parenthesis structure in a program, or help you keep it
638balanced.
6bf7aab6 639
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640 When talking about these facilities, the term ``parenthesis'' also
641includes braces, brackets, or whatever delimiters are defined to match
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642in pairs. The major mode controls which delimiters are significant,
643through the syntax table (@pxref{Syntax}). In Lisp, only parentheses
644count; in C, these commands apply to braces and brackets too.
6bf7aab6 645
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646 You can use @kbd{M-x check-parens} to find any unbalanced
647parentheses and unbalanced string quotes in the buffer.
6bf7aab6 648
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649@menu
650* Expressions:: Expressions with balanced parentheses.
651* Moving by Parens:: Commands for moving up, down and across
652 in the structure of parentheses.
653* Matching:: Insertion of a close-delimiter flashes matching open.
654@end menu
6bf7aab6 655
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656@node Expressions
657@subsection Expressions with Balanced Parentheses
6bf7aab6 658
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659@cindex sexp
660@cindex expression
661@cindex balanced expression
662 These commands deal with balanced expressions, also called
663@dfn{sexps}@footnote{The word ``sexp'' is used to refer to an
664expression in Lisp.}.
6bf7aab6 665
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666@table @kbd
667@item C-M-f
668Move forward over a balanced expression (@code{forward-sexp}).
669@item C-M-b
ea118de1 670Move backward over a balanced expression (@code{backward-sexp}).
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671@item C-M-k
672Kill balanced expression forward (@code{kill-sexp}).
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673@item C-M-t
674Transpose expressions (@code{transpose-sexps}).
675@item C-M-@@
649d1cbe 676@itemx C-M-@key{SPC}
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677Put mark after following expression (@code{mark-sexp}).
678@end table
6bf7aab6 679
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680 Each programming language major mode customizes the definition of
681balanced expressions to suit that language. Balanced expressions
682typically include symbols, numbers, and string constants, as well as
e79c6b89 683any pair of matching delimiters and their contents. Some languages
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684have obscure forms of expression syntax that nobody has bothered to
685implement in Emacs.
6bf7aab6 686
93da5dff 687@cindex Control-Meta
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688 By convention, the keys for these commands are all Control-Meta
689characters. They usually act on expressions just as the corresponding
690Meta characters act on words. For instance, the command @kbd{C-M-b}
691moves backward over a balanced expression, just as @kbd{M-b} moves
692back over a word.
6bf7aab6 693
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694@kindex C-M-f
695@kindex C-M-b
696@findex forward-sexp
697@findex backward-sexp
698 To move forward over a balanced expression, use @kbd{C-M-f}
699(@code{forward-sexp}). If the first significant character after point
700is an opening delimiter (@samp{(} in Lisp; @samp{(}, @samp{[} or
701@samp{@{} in C), @kbd{C-M-f} moves past the matching closing
702delimiter. If the character begins a symbol, string, or number,
703@kbd{C-M-f} moves over that.
6bf7aab6 704
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705 The command @kbd{C-M-b} (@code{backward-sexp}) moves backward over a
706balanced expression. The detailed rules are like those above for
707@kbd{C-M-f}, but with directions reversed. If there are prefix
708characters (single-quote, backquote and comma, in Lisp) preceding the
709expression, @kbd{C-M-b} moves back over them as well. The balanced
710expression commands move across comments as if they were whitespace,
711in most modes.
6bf7aab6 712
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713 @kbd{C-M-f} or @kbd{C-M-b} with an argument repeats that operation the
714specified number of times; with a negative argument, it moves in the
715opposite direction.
6bf7aab6 716
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717@cindex killing expressions
718@kindex C-M-k
719@findex kill-sexp
93da5dff 720 Killing a whole balanced expression can be done with @kbd{C-M-k}
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721(@code{kill-sexp}). @kbd{C-M-k} kills the characters that @kbd{C-M-f}
722would move over.
6bf7aab6 723
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724@cindex transposition of expressions
725@kindex C-M-t
726@findex transpose-sexps
727 A somewhat random-sounding command which is nevertheless handy is
728@kbd{C-M-t} (@code{transpose-sexps}), which drags the previous
729balanced expression across the next one. An argument serves as a
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730repeat count, moving the previous expression over that many following
731ones. A negative argument drags the previous balanced expression
732backwards across those before it (thus canceling out the effect of
733@kbd{C-M-t} with a positive argument). An argument of zero, rather
734than doing nothing, transposes the balanced expressions ending at or
735after point and the mark.
6bf7aab6 736
93da5dff 737@kindex C-M-@@
649d1cbe 738@kindex C-M-@key{SPC}
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739@findex mark-sexp
740 To set the region around the next balanced expression in the buffer,
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741use @kbd{C-M-@key{SPC}} (@code{mark-sexp}), which sets mark at the
742same place that @kbd{C-M-f} would move to. @kbd{C-M-@key{SPC}} treats
743numeric arguments in the same way as @kbd{C-M-f}; in particular, a
744negative argument puts the mark at the beginning of the previous
745balanced expression. The alias @kbd{C-M-@@} is equivalent to
746@kbd{C-M-@key{SPC}}. While the mark is active, each successive use of
747@kbd{C-M-@key{SPC}} extends the region by shifting the mark by one
748sexp.
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749
750 In languages that use infix operators, such as C, it is not possible
751to recognize all balanced expressions as such because there can be
752multiple possibilities at a given position. For example, C mode does
753not treat @samp{foo + bar} as a single expression, even though it
754@emph{is} one C expression; instead, it recognizes @samp{foo} as one
755expression and @samp{bar} as another, with the @samp{+} as punctuation
756between them. Both @samp{foo + bar} and @samp{foo} are legitimate
757choices for ``the expression following point'' when point is at the
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758@samp{f}, so the expression commands must perforce choose one or the
759other to operate on. Note that @samp{(foo + bar)} is recognized as a
760single expression in C mode, because of the parentheses.
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761
762@node Moving by Parens
763@subsection Moving in the Parenthesis Structure
764
765@cindex parenthetical groupings
766@cindex parentheses, moving across
767@cindex matching parenthesis and braces, moving to
768@cindex braces, moving across
769@cindex list commands
3fbb05ff 770
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771 The Emacs commands for handling parenthetical groupings see nothing
772except parentheses (or whatever characters must balance in the
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773language you are working with). They ignore strings and comments
774(including any parentheses within them) and ignore parentheses quoted
775by an escape character. They are mainly intended for editing
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776programs, but can be useful for editing any text that has parentheses.
777They are sometimes called ``list'' commands because in Lisp these
778groupings are lists.
6bf7aab6 779
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780These commands assume that the starting point is not inside a string
781or a comment. Sometimes you can invoke them usefully from one of
782these places (for example, when you have a parenthesised clause in a
783comment) but this is unreliable.
784
6bf7aab6 785@table @kbd
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786@item C-M-n
787Move forward over a parenthetical group (@code{forward-list}).
788@item C-M-p
ea118de1 789Move backward over a parenthetical group (@code{backward-list}).
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790@item C-M-u
791Move up in parenthesis structure (@code{backward-up-list}).
792@item C-M-d
793Move down in parenthesis structure (@code{down-list}).
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794@end table
795
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796@kindex C-M-n
797@kindex C-M-p
798@findex forward-list
799@findex backward-list
800 The ``list'' commands @kbd{C-M-n} (@code{forward-list}) and
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801@kbd{C-M-p} (@code{backward-list}) move forward or backward over one
802(or @var{n}) parenthetical groupings.
6bf7aab6 803
93da5dff 804@kindex C-M-u
93da5dff 805@findex backward-up-list
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806 @kbd{C-M-n} and @kbd{C-M-p} try to stay at the same level in the
807parenthesis structure. To move @emph{up} one (or @var{n}) levels, use
808@kbd{C-M-u} (@code{backward-up-list}). @kbd{C-M-u} moves backward up
809past one unmatched opening delimiter. A positive argument serves as a
810repeat count; a negative argument reverses the direction of motion, so
d2fab838 811that the command moves forward and up one or more levels.
93da5dff 812
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813@kindex C-M-d
814@findex down-list
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815 To move @emph{down} in the parenthesis structure, use @kbd{C-M-d}
816(@code{down-list}). In Lisp mode, where @samp{(} is the only opening
817delimiter, this is nearly the same as searching for a @samp{(}. An
818argument specifies the number of levels to go down.
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819
820@node Matching
93da5dff 821@subsection Automatic Display Of Matching Parentheses
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822@cindex matching parentheses
823@cindex parentheses, displaying matches
824
825 The Emacs parenthesis-matching feature is designed to show
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826automatically how parentheses (and other matching delimiters) match in
827the text. Whenever you type a self-inserting character that is a
828closing delimiter, the cursor moves momentarily to the location of the
829matching opening delimiter, provided that is on the screen. If it is
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830not on the screen, Emacs displays some of the text near it in the echo
831area. Either way, you can tell which grouping you are closing off.
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832
833 If the opening delimiter and closing delimiter are mismatched---such
834as in @samp{[x)}---a warning message is displayed in the echo area.
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835
836@vindex blink-matching-paren
837@vindex blink-matching-paren-distance
838@vindex blink-matching-delay
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839 Three variables control parenthesis match display:
840
841 @code{blink-matching-paren} turns the feature on or off: @code{nil}
93da5dff 842disables it, but the default is @code{t} to enable match display.
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843
844 @code{blink-matching-delay} says how many seconds to leave the
93da5dff 845cursor on the matching opening delimiter, before bringing it back to
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846the real location of point; the default is 1, but on some systems it
847is useful to specify a fraction of a second.
848
849 @code{blink-matching-paren-distance} specifies how many characters
850back to search to find the matching opening delimiter. If the match
8b6f4c0a 851is not found in that distance, scanning stops, and nothing is displayed.
93da5dff 852This is to prevent the scan for the matching delimiter from wasting
324a4f6a 853lots of time when there is no match. The default is 102400.
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854
855@cindex Show Paren mode
79f9f655 856@cindex highlighting matching parentheses
6bf7aab6 857@findex show-paren-mode
93da5dff 858 Show Paren mode provides a more powerful kind of automatic matching.
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859Whenever point is before an opening delimiter or after a closing
860delimiter, both that delimiter and its opposite delimiter are
861highlighted. Use the command @kbd{M-x show-paren-mode} to enable or
862disable this mode.
79f9f655 863
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864 Show Paren mode uses the faces @code{show-paren-match} and
865@code{show-paren-mismatch} to highlight parentheses; you can customize
866them to control how highlighting looks. @xref{Face Customization}.
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867
868@node Comments
869@section Manipulating Comments
870@cindex comments
871
872 Because comments are such an important part of programming, Emacs
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873provides special commands for editing and inserting comments. It can
874also do spell checking on comments with Flyspell Prog mode
875(@pxref{Spelling}).
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876
877@menu
5b31640c 878* Comment Commands:: Inserting, killing, and aligning comments.
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879* Multi-Line Comments:: Commands for adding and editing multi-line comments.
880* Options for Comments::Customizing the comment features.
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881@end menu
882
883@node Comment Commands
884@subsection Comment Commands
6bf7aab6 885@cindex indentation for comments
5b31640c 886@cindex alignment for comments
6bf7aab6 887
e722aa81 888 The commands in this table insert, kill and align comments:
6bf7aab6 889
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890@table @asis
891@item @kbd{M-;}
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892Insert or realign comment on current line; alternatively, comment or
893uncomment the region (@code{comment-dwim}).
7ae8ad94 894@item @kbd{C-u M-;}
9234c238 895Kill comment on current line (@code{comment-kill}).
7ae8ad94 896@item @kbd{C-x ;}
47c1b5f4 897Set comment column (@code{comment-set-column}).
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898@item @kbd{C-M-j}
899@itemx @kbd{M-j}
6bf7aab6 900Like @key{RET} followed by inserting and aligning a comment
108262a0 901(@code{comment-indent-new-line}). @xref{Multi-Line Comments}.
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902@item @kbd{M-x comment-region}
903@itemx @kbd{C-c C-c} (in C-like modes)
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904Add or remove comment delimiters on all the lines in the region.
905@end table
906
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907@kindex M-;
908@findex comment-dwim
909 The command to create or align a comment is @kbd{M-;}
910(@code{comment-dwim}). The word ``dwim'' is an acronym for ``Do What
911I Mean''; it indicates that this command can be used for many
912different jobs relating to comments, depending on the situation where
913you use it.
914
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915 When a region is active, @kbd{M-;} either adds or removes comment
916delimiters on each line of the region. @xref{Mark}. If every line in
917the region is a comment, it removes comment delimiters from each;
918otherwise, it adds comment delimiters to each. You can also use the
919commands @code{comment-region} and @code{uncomment-region} to
920explicitly comment or uncomment the text in the region
921(@pxref{Multi-Line Comments}). If you supply a prefix argument to
922@kbd{M-;} when a region is active, that specifies how many comment
923delimiters to add or how many to delete.
924
925 If the region is not active, @kbd{M-;} inserts a new comment if
926there is no comment already on the line. The new comment is normally
927aligned at a specific column called the @dfn{comment column}; if the
928text of the line extends past the comment column, @kbd{M-;} aligns the
929comment start string to a suitable boundary (usually, at least one
930space is inserted). The comment begins with the string Emacs thinks
931comments should start with (the value of @code{comment-start}; see
932below). Emacs places point after that string, so you can insert the
933text of the comment right away. If the major mode has specified a
934string to terminate comments, @kbd{M-;} inserts that string after
935point, to keep the syntax valid.
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936
937 You can also use @kbd{M-;} to align an existing comment. If a line
5b31640c 938already contains the comment-start string, @kbd{M-;} realigns it to
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939the conventional alignment and moves point after it. (Exception:
940comments starting in column 0 are not moved.) Even when an existing
941comment is properly aligned, @kbd{M-;} is still useful for moving
942directly to the start of the text inside the comment.
943
944@findex comment-kill
945@kindex C-u M-;
946 @kbd{C-u M-;} kills any comment on the current line, along with the
947whitespace before it. To reinsert the comment on another line, move
948to the end of that line, do @kbd{C-y}, and then do @kbd{M-;} to
949realign it.
950
951 Note that @kbd{C-u M-;} is not a distinct key; it is @kbd{M-;}
952(@code{comment-dwim}) with a prefix argument. That command is
953programmed so that when it receives a prefix argument it calls
954@code{comment-kill}. However, @code{comment-kill} is a valid command
955in its own right, and you can bind it directly to a key if you wish.
956
5b31640c 957 Some major modes have special rules for aligning certain kinds of
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958comments in certain contexts. For example, in Lisp code, comments which
959start with two semicolons are indented as if they were lines of code,
960instead of at the comment column. Comments which start with three
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961semicolons are supposed to start at the left margin and are often used
962for sectioning purposes. Emacs understands
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963these conventions by indenting a double-semicolon comment using @key{TAB},
964and by not changing the indentation of a triple-semicolon comment at all.
965
966@example
91ec56a9 967;; This function is just an example.
24a768a0 968;;; Here either two or three semicolons are appropriate.
6bf7aab6 969(defun foo (x)
91ec56a9 970;;; And now, the first part of the function:
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971 ;; The following line adds one.
972 (1+ x)) ; This line adds one.
973@end example
974
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975 For C-like modes, you can configure the exact effect of @kbd{M-;} by
976setting the variables @code{c-indent-comment-alist} and
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977@code{c-indent-comments-syntactically-p}. For example, on a line
978ending in a closing brace, @kbd{M-;} puts the comment one space after
979the brace rather than at @code{comment-column}. For full details see
e722aa81 980@ref{Comment Commands,,, ccmode, The CC Mode Manual}.
6bf7aab6 981
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DL
982@node Multi-Line Comments
983@subsection Multiple Lines of Comments
984
985@kindex C-M-j
7ae8ad94 986@kindex M-j
6bf7aab6 987@cindex blank lines in programs
47c1b5f4 988@findex comment-indent-new-line
108262a0 989
6bf7aab6 990 If you are typing a comment and wish to continue it on another line,
7ae8ad94 991you can use the command @kbd{C-M-j} or @kbd{M-j}
f5eb910a
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992(@code{comment-indent-new-line}). If @code{comment-multi-line}
993(@pxref{Options for Comments}) is non-@code{nil}, it moves to a new
994line within the comment. Otherwise it closes the comment and starts a
995new comment on a new line. When Auto Fill mode is on, going past the
996fill column while typing a comment causes the comment to be continued
997in just this fashion.
7ae8ad94
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998
999@kindex C-c C-c (C mode)
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DL
1000@findex comment-region
1001 To turn existing lines into comment lines, use the @kbd{M-x
dfec8297 1002comment-region} command (or type @kbd{C-c C-c} in C-like modes). It
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1003adds comment delimiters to the lines that start in the region, thus
1004commenting them out. With a negative argument, it does the
1005opposite---it deletes comment delimiters from the lines in the region.
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1006
1007 With a positive argument, @code{comment-region} duplicates the last
5b31640c
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1008character of the comment start sequence it adds; the argument
1009specifies how many copies of the character to insert. Thus, in Lisp
1010mode, @kbd{C-u 2 M-x comment-region} adds @samp{;;} to each line.
1011Duplicating the comment delimiter is a way of calling attention to the
1012comment. It can also affect how the comment is aligned or indented.
1013In Lisp, for proper indentation, you should use an argument of two or
1014three, if between defuns; if within a defun, it must be three.
6bf7aab6 1015
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1016 You can configure C Mode such that when you type a @samp{/} at the
1017start of a line in a multi-line block comment, this closes the
1018comment. Enable the @code{comment-close-slash} clean-up for this.
1019@xref{Clean-ups,,, ccmode, The CC Mode Manual}.
1020
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1021@node Options for Comments
1022@subsection Options Controlling Comments
1023
1024@vindex comment-column
1025@kindex C-x ;
47c1b5f4 1026@findex comment-set-column
7ae8ad94
RS
1027 The @dfn{comment column}, the column at which Emacs tries to place
1028comments, is stored in the variable @code{comment-column}. You can
1029set it to a number explicitly. Alternatively, the command @kbd{C-x ;}
1030(@code{comment-set-column}) sets the comment column to the column
1031point is at. @kbd{C-u C-x ;} sets the comment column to match the
1032last comment before point in the buffer, and then does a @kbd{M-;} to
1033align the current line's comment under the previous one.
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DL
1034
1035 The variable @code{comment-column} is per-buffer: setting the variable
1036in the normal fashion affects only the current buffer, but there is a
1037default value which you can change with @code{setq-default}.
1038@xref{Locals}. Many major modes initialize this variable for the
1039current buffer.
1040
1041@vindex comment-start-skip
1042 The comment commands recognize comments based on the regular
1043expression that is the value of the variable @code{comment-start-skip}.
1044Make sure this regexp does not match the null string. It may match more
1045than the comment starting delimiter in the strictest sense of the word;
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RS
1046for example, in C mode the value of the variable is
1047@c This stops M-q from breaking the line inside that @code.
7ae8ad94 1048@code{@w{"/\\*+ *\\|//+ *"}}, which matches extra stars and spaces
47c1b5f4 1049after the @samp{/*} itself, and accepts C++ style comments also.
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1050(Note that @samp{\\} is needed in Lisp syntax to include a @samp{\} in
1051the string, which is needed to deny the first star its special meaning
bd428736 1052in regexp syntax. @xref{Regexp Backslash}.)
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1053
1054@vindex comment-start
1055@vindex comment-end
1056 When a comment command makes a new comment, it inserts the value of
1057@code{comment-start} to begin it. The value of @code{comment-end} is
aa2d3478
RS
1058inserted after point, so that it will follow the text that you will
1059insert into the comment. When @code{comment-end} is non-empty, it
1060should start with a space. For example, in C mode,
1061@code{comment-start} has the value @w{@code{"/* "}} and
1062@code{comment-end} has the value @w{@code{" */"}}.
6bf7aab6 1063
9234c238
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1064@vindex comment-padding
1065 The variable @code{comment-padding} specifies how many spaces
7ae8ad94
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1066@code{comment-region} should insert on each line between the comment
1067delimiter and the line's original text. The default is 1, to insert
1068one space. @code{nil} means 0. Alternatively, @code{comment-padding}
1069can hold the actual string to insert.
9234c238 1070
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1071@vindex comment-multi-line
1072 The variable @code{comment-multi-line} controls how @kbd{C-M-j}
7ae8ad94 1073(@code{indent-new-comment-line}) behaves when used inside a comment.
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1074Specifically, when @code{comment-multi-line} is @code{nil}, the
1075command inserts a comment terminator, begins a new line, and finally
1076inserts a comment starter. Otherwise it does not insert the
1077terminator and starter, so it effectively continues the current
1078comment across multiple lines. In languages that allow multi-line
1079comments, the choice of value for this variable is a matter of taste.
1080The default for this variable depends on the major mode.
6bf7aab6 1081
4190ce5c 1082@vindex comment-indent-function
6bf7aab6 1083 The variable @code{comment-indent-function} should contain a function
5b31640c 1084that will be called to compute the alignment for a newly inserted
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DL
1085comment or for aligning an existing comment. It is set differently by
1086various major modes. The function is called with no arguments, but with
1087point at the beginning of the comment, or at the end of a line if a new
1088comment is to be inserted. It should return the column in which the
1089comment ought to start. For example, in Lisp mode, the indent hook
1090function bases its decision on how many semicolons begin an existing
1091comment, and on the code in the preceding lines.
1092
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1093@node Documentation
1094@section Documentation Lookup
6bf7aab6 1095
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1096 Emacs provides several features you can use to look up the
1097documentation of functions, variables and commands that you plan to
1098use in your program.
6bf7aab6 1099
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1100@menu
1101* Info Lookup:: Looking up library functions and commands
1102 in Info files.
1103* Man Page:: Looking up man pages of library functions and commands.
1104* Lisp Doc:: Looking up Emacs Lisp functions, etc.
1105@end menu
6bf7aab6 1106
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1107@node Info Lookup
1108@subsection Info Documentation Lookup
85750656 1109
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1110@findex info-lookup-symbol
1111@findex info-lookup-file
d2f9ea87 1112@kindex C-h S
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CY
1113 For major modes that apply to languages which have documentation in
1114Info, you can use @kbd{C-h S} (@code{info-lookup-symbol}) to view the
1115Info documentation for a symbol used in the program. You specify the
1116symbol with the minibuffer; the default is the symbol appearing in the
1117buffer at point. For example, in C mode this looks for the symbol in
1118the C Library Manual. The command only works if the appropriate
1119manual's Info files are installed.
6bf7aab6 1120
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1121 The major mode determines where to look for documentation for the
1122symbol---which Info files to look in, and which indices to search.
1123You can also use @kbd{M-x info-lookup-file} to look for documentation
1124for a file name.
6bf7aab6 1125
dfec8297 1126 If you use @kbd{C-h S} in a major mode that does not support it,
5a7f4c1b 1127it asks you to specify the ``symbol help mode.'' You should enter
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1128a command such as @code{c-mode} that would select a major
1129mode which @kbd{C-h S} does support.
6bf7aab6 1130
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1131@node Man Page
1132@subsection Man Page Lookup
6bf7aab6 1133
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1134@cindex manual page
1135 On Unix, the main form of on-line documentation was the @dfn{manual
dfec8297 1136page} or @dfn{man page}. In the GNU operating system, we aim to
e79c6b89
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1137replace man pages with better-organized manuals that you can browse
1138with Info (@pxref{Misc Help}). This process is not finished, so it is
1139still useful to read manual pages.
6bf7aab6 1140
93da5dff 1141@findex manual-entry
e79c6b89 1142 You can read the man page for an operating system command, library
7ae8ad94 1143function, or system call, with the @kbd{M-x man} command. It
e79c6b89
RS
1144runs the @code{man} program to format the man page; if the system
1145permits, it runs @code{man} asynchronously, so that you can keep on
1146editing while the page is being formatted. (On MS-DOS and MS-Windows
11473, you cannot edit while Emacs waits for @code{man} to finish.) The
1148result goes in a buffer named @samp{*Man @var{topic}*}. These buffers
1149use a special major mode, Man mode, that facilitates scrolling and
1150jumping to other manual pages. For details, type @kbd{C-h m} while in
1151a man page buffer.
6bf7aab6 1152
93da5dff 1153@cindex sections of manual pages
e79c6b89
RS
1154 Each man page belongs to one of ten or more @dfn{sections}, each
1155named by a digit or by a digit and a letter. Sometimes there are
1156multiple man pages with the same name in different sections. To read
1157a man page from a specific section, type
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1158@samp{@var{topic}(@var{section})} or @samp{@var{section} @var{topic}}
1159when @kbd{M-x manual-entry} prompts for the topic. For example, to
1160read the man page for the C library function @code{chmod} (as opposed
e79c6b89 1161to a command of the same name), type @kbd{M-x manual-entry @key{RET}
dfec8297
RS
1162chmod(2) @key{RET}}. (@code{chmod} is a system call, so it is in
1163section @samp{2}.)
6bf7aab6 1164
08220274 1165@vindex Man-switches
93da5dff 1166 If you do not specify a section, the results depend on how the
08220274 1167@code{man} program works on your system. Some of them display only
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1168the first man page they find. Others display all man pages that have
1169the specified name, so you can move between them with the @kbd{M-n}
08220274
EZ
1170and @kbd{M-p} keys@footnote{On some systems, the @code{man} program
1171accepts a @samp{-a} command-line option which tells it to display all
1172the man pages for the specified topic. If you want this behavior, you
1173can add this option to the value of the variable @code{Man-switches}.}.
1174The mode line shows how many manual pages are present in the Man buffer.
6bf7aab6 1175
93da5dff 1176@vindex Man-fontify-manpage-flag
e79c6b89
RS
1177 By default, Emacs highlights the text in man pages. For a long man
1178page, highlighting can take substantial time. You can turn off
1179highlighting of man pages by setting the variable
1180@code{Man-fontify-manpage-flag} to @code{nil}.
6bf7aab6 1181
93da5dff
RS
1182@findex Man-fontify-manpage
1183 If you insert the text of a man page into an Emacs buffer in some
1184other fashion, you can use the command @kbd{M-x Man-fontify-manpage} to
1185perform the same conversions that @kbd{M-x manual-entry} does.
1186
1187@findex woman
1188@cindex manual pages, on MS-DOS/MS-Windows
1189 An alternative way of reading manual pages is the @kbd{M-x woman}
1190command@footnote{The name of the command, @code{woman}, is an acronym
1191for ``w/o (without) man,'' since it doesn't use the @code{man}
1192program.}. Unlike @kbd{M-x man}, it does not run any external
1193programs to format and display the man pages; instead it does the job
1194in Emacs Lisp, so it works on systems such as MS-Windows, where the
ea118de1 1195@code{man} program (and other programs it uses) are not generally
d2fab838
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1196available.
1197
1198 @kbd{M-x woman} prompts for a name of a manual page, and provides
1199completion based on the list of manual pages that are installed on
1200your machine; the list of available manual pages is computed
1201automatically the first time you invoke @code{woman}. The word at
1202point in the current buffer is used to suggest the default for the
1203name the manual page.
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RS
1204
1205 With a numeric argument, @kbd{M-x woman} recomputes the list of the
1206manual pages used for completion. This is useful if you add or delete
1207manual pages.
1208
1209 If you type a name of a manual page and @kbd{M-x woman} finds that
1210several manual pages by the same name exist in different sections, it
1211pops up a window with possible candidates asking you to choose one of
1212them.
1213
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1214 For more information about setting up and using @kbd{M-x woman}, see
1215@ref{Top, WoMan, Browse UN*X Manual Pages WithOut Man, woman, The WoMan
1216Manual}.
1217
1218@node Lisp Doc
1219@subsection Emacs Lisp Documentation Lookup
1220
1221 As you edit Lisp code to be run in Emacs, you can use the commands
1222@kbd{C-h f} (@code{describe-function}) and @kbd{C-h v}
1223(@code{describe-variable}) to view documentation of functions and
1224variables that you want to use. These commands use the minibuffer to
1225read the name of a function or variable to document, and display the
1226documentation in a window. Their default arguments are based on the
1227code in the neighborhood of point. For @kbd{C-h f}, the default is
1228the function called in the innermost list containing point. @kbd{C-h
1229v} uses the symbol name around or adjacent to point as its default.
1230
1231@cindex Eldoc mode
1232@findex eldoc-mode
1233 A more automatic but less powerful method is Eldoc mode. This minor
1234mode constantly displays in the echo area the argument list for the
1235function being called at point. (In other words, it finds the
1236function call that point is contained in, and displays the argument
054af0fd 1237list of that function.) If point is over a documented variable, it
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LT
1238shows the first line of the variable's docstring. Eldoc mode applies
1239in Emacs Lisp and Lisp Interaction modes, and perhaps a few others
1240that provide special support for looking up doc strings. Use the
1241command @kbd{M-x eldoc-mode} to enable or disable this feature.
6bf7aab6 1242
51ed0ea0
DL
1243@node Hideshow
1244@section Hideshow minor mode
1245
1246@findex hs-minor-mode
9234c238 1247 Hideshow minor mode provides selective display of portions of a
93da5dff
RS
1248program, known as @dfn{blocks}. You can use @kbd{M-x hs-minor-mode}
1249to enable or disable this mode, or add @code{hs-minor-mode} to the
1250mode hook for certain major modes in order to enable it automatically
1251for those modes.
51ed0ea0 1252
9234c238
RS
1253 Just what constitutes a block depends on the major mode. In C mode
1254or C++ mode, they are delimited by braces, while in Lisp mode and
1255similar modes they are delimited by parentheses. Multi-line comments
1256also count as blocks.
51ed0ea0
DL
1257
1258@findex hs-hide-all
1259@findex hs-hide-block
1260@findex hs-show-all
1261@findex hs-show-block
1262@findex hs-show-region
1263@findex hs-hide-level
1264@findex hs-minor-mode
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EZ
1265@kindex C-c @@ C-h
1266@kindex C-c @@ C-s
1267@kindex C-c @@ C-M-h
1268@kindex C-c @@ C-M-s
1269@kindex C-c @@ C-r
1270@kindex C-c @@ C-l
9234c238
RS
1271@kindex S-Mouse-2
1272@table @kbd
6401dc86 1273@item C-c @@ C-h
9234c238 1274Hide the current block (@code{hs-hide-block}).
6401dc86 1275@item C-c @@ C-s
9234c238 1276Show the current block (@code{hs-show-block}).
6401dc86 1277@item C-c @@ C-c
ea118de1 1278Either hide or show the current block (@code{hs-toggle-hiding}).
9234c238 1279@item S-Mouse-2
ea118de1 1280Either hide or show the block you click on (@code{hs-mouse-toggle-hiding}).
6401dc86 1281@item C-c @@ C-M-h
9234c238 1282Hide all top-level blocks (@code{hs-hide-all}).
6401dc86 1283@item C-c @@ C-M-s
9234c238 1284Show everything in the buffer (@code{hs-show-all}).
6401dc86 1285@item C-c @@ C-l
9234c238
RS
1286Hide all blocks @var{n} levels below this block
1287(@code{hs-hide-level}).
1288@end table
51ed0ea0
DL
1289
1290@vindex hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all
51ed0ea0
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1291@vindex hs-isearch-open
1292@vindex hs-special-modes-alist
19b2c4ca 1293 These variables exist for customizing Hideshow mode.
9234c238 1294
51ed0ea0
DL
1295@table @code
1296@item hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all
9234c238 1297Non-@code{nil} says that @kbd{hs-hide-all} should hide comments too.
d2fab838 1298
51ed0ea0 1299@item hs-isearch-open
dfec8297
RS
1300Specifies what kind of hidden blocks incremental search should make
1301visible. The value should be one of these four symbols:
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1302
1303@table @code
9198a323
RS
1304@item code
1305Open only code blocks.
d2fab838
RS
1306@item comment
1307Open only comments.
1308@item t
9198a323 1309Open both code blocks and comments.
d2fab838 1310@item nil
9198a323 1311Open neither code blocks nor comments.
d2fab838
RS
1312@end table
1313
51ed0ea0 1314@item hs-special-modes-alist
e79c6b89 1315A list of elements, each specifying how to initialize Hideshow
d2fab838
RS
1316variables for one major mode. See the variable's documentation string
1317for more information.
51ed0ea0
DL
1318@end table
1319
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1320@node Symbol Completion
1321@section Completion for Symbol Names
1322@cindex completion (symbol names)
3b8b8888 1323
e722aa81
CY
1324 In Emacs, completion is something you normally do in the minibuffer
1325(@pxref{Completion}). But one kind of completion is available in all
1326buffers: completion for symbol names.
3b8b8888 1327
93da5dff 1328@kindex M-TAB
e79c6b89
RS
1329 The character @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} runs a command to complete the
1330partial symbol before point against the set of meaningful symbol
1331names. This command inserts at point any additional characters that
3a8d6df3
RS
1332it can determine from the partial name.
1333
1334 If your window manager defines @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} to switch windows,
1335you can type @kbd{@key{ESC} @key{TAB}} or @kbd{C-M-i} instead.
8474de5b
CY
1336However, most window managers let you customize these shortcuts, so
1337you can change any that interfere with the way you use Emacs.
6bf7aab6 1338
e79c6b89
RS
1339 If the partial name in the buffer has multiple possible completions
1340that differ in the very next character, so that it is impossible to
1341complete even one more character, @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} displays a list of
1342all possible completions in another window.
6bf7aab6 1343
93da5dff
RS
1344@cindex tags-based completion
1345@cindex Info index completion
1346@findex complete-symbol
1347 In most programming language major modes, @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} runs the
1348command @code{complete-symbol}, which provides two kinds of completion.
1349Normally it does completion based on a tags table (@pxref{Tags}); with a
1350numeric argument (regardless of the value), it does completion based on
1351the names listed in the Info file indexes for your language. Thus, to
1352complete the name of a symbol defined in your own program, use
1353@kbd{M-@key{TAB}} with no argument; to complete the name of a standard
1354library function, use @kbd{C-u M-@key{TAB}}. Of course, Info-based
1355completion works only if there is an Info file for the standard library
1356functions of your language, and only if it is installed at your site.
6bf7aab6 1357
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1358@cindex Lisp symbol completion
1359@cindex completion (Lisp symbols)
1360@findex lisp-complete-symbol
1361 In Emacs-Lisp mode, the name space for completion normally consists of
1362nontrivial symbols present in Emacs---those that have function
1363definitions, values or properties. However, if there is an
1364open-parenthesis immediately before the beginning of the partial symbol,
1365only symbols with function definitions are considered as completions.
1366The command which implements this is @code{lisp-complete-symbol}.
6bf7aab6 1367
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RS
1368 In Text mode and related modes, @kbd{M-@key{TAB}} completes words
1369based on the spell-checker's dictionary. @xref{Spelling}.
6bf7aab6 1370
93da5dff
RS
1371@node Glasses
1372@section Glasses minor mode
1373@cindex Glasses mode
1374@cindex identifiers, making long ones readable
1375@cindex StudlyCaps, making them readable
1376@findex glasses-mode
6bf7aab6 1377
93da5dff 1378 Glasses minor mode makes @samp{unreadableIdentifiersLikeThis}
e79c6b89
RS
1379readable by altering the way they display. It knows two different
1380ways to do this: by displaying underscores between a lower-case letter
1381and the following capital letter, and by emboldening the capital
1382letters. It does not alter the buffer text, only the way they
1383display, so you can use it even on read-only buffers. You can use the
1384command @kbd{M-x glasses-mode} to enable or disable the mode in the
1385current buffer; you can also add @code{glasses-mode} to the mode hook
1386of the programming language major modes in which you normally want
177c0ea7 1387to use Glasses mode.
6bf7aab6 1388
93da5dff
RS
1389@node Misc for Programs
1390@section Other Features Useful for Editing Programs
6bf7aab6 1391
93da5dff 1392 A number of Emacs commands that aren't designed specifically for
e79c6b89 1393editing programs are useful for that nonetheless.
6bf7aab6 1394
93da5dff
RS
1395 The Emacs commands that operate on words, sentences and paragraphs
1396are useful for editing code. Most symbols names contain words
1397(@pxref{Words}); sentences can be found in strings and comments
e79c6b89 1398(@pxref{Sentences}). Paragraphs in the strict sense can be found in
93da5dff
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1399program code (in long comments), but the paragraph commands are useful
1400in other places too, because programming language major modes define
1401paragraphs to begin and end at blank lines (@pxref{Paragraphs}).
1402Judicious use of blank lines to make the program clearer will also
1403provide useful chunks of text for the paragraph commands to work on.
1404Auto Fill mode, if enabled in a programming language major mode,
1405indents the new lines which it creates.
6bf7aab6 1406
93da5dff
RS
1407 The selective display feature is useful for looking at the overall
1408structure of a function (@pxref{Selective Display}). This feature
1409hides the lines that are indented more than a specified amount.
1410Programming modes often support Outline minor mode (@pxref{Outline
1411Mode}). The Foldout package provides folding-editor features
1412(@pxref{Foldout}).
6bf7aab6 1413
93da5dff
RS
1414 The ``automatic typing'' features may be useful for writing programs.
1415@xref{Top,,Autotyping, autotype, Autotyping}.
6bf7aab6
DL
1416
1417@node C Modes
1418@section C and Related Modes
1419@cindex C mode
1420@cindex Java mode
1421@cindex Pike mode
1422@cindex IDL mode
1423@cindex CORBA IDL mode
1424@cindex Objective C mode
1425@cindex C++ mode
7ae8ad94 1426@cindex AWK mode
6bf7aab6
DL
1427@cindex mode, Java
1428@cindex mode, C
7ae8ad94 1429@cindex mode, C++
6bf7aab6
DL
1430@cindex mode, Objective C
1431@cindex mode, CORBA IDL
1432@cindex mode, Pike
7ae8ad94 1433@cindex mode, AWK
6bf7aab6 1434
9234c238 1435 This section gives a brief description of the special features
7ae8ad94 1436available in C, C++, Objective-C, Java, CORBA IDL, Pike and AWK modes.
5d80fe1f
EZ
1437(These are called ``C mode and related modes.'') @xref{Top, , CC Mode,
1438ccmode, CC Mode}, for a more extensive description of these modes
9234c238 1439and their special features.
51ed0ea0 1440
6bf7aab6 1441@menu
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1442* Motion in C:: Commands to move by C statements, etc.
1443* Electric C:: Colon and other chars can automatically reindent.
1444* Hungry Delete:: A more powerful DEL command.
1445* Other C Commands:: Filling comments, viewing expansion of macros,
1446 and other neat features.
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1447@end menu
1448
1449@node Motion in C
1450@subsection C Mode Motion Commands
1451
1452 This section describes commands for moving point, in C mode and
1453related modes.
1454
1455@table @code
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1456@item M-x c-beginning-of-defun
1457@itemx M-x c-end-of-defun
1458@findex c-beginning-of-defun
1459@findex c-end-of-defun
1460Move point to the beginning or end of the current function or
1461top-level definition. These are found by searching for the least
1462enclosing braces. (By contrast, @code{beginning-of-defun} and
1463@code{end-of-defun} search for braces in column zero.) If you are
1464editing code where the opening brace of a function isn't placed in
1465column zero, you may wish to bind @code{C-M-a} and @code{C-M-e} to
1466these commands. @xref{Moving by Defuns}.
1467
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1468@item C-c C-u
1469@kindex C-c C-u @r{(C mode)}
1470@findex c-up-conditional
1471Move point back to the containing preprocessor conditional, leaving the
1472mark behind. A prefix argument acts as a repeat count. With a negative
1473argument, move point forward to the end of the containing
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1474preprocessor conditional.
1475
1476@samp{#elif} is equivalent to @samp{#else} followed by @samp{#if}, so
1477the function will stop at a @samp{#elif} when going backward, but not
1478when going forward.
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1479
1480@item C-c C-p
1481@kindex C-c C-p @r{(C mode)}
1482@findex c-backward-conditional
1483Move point back over a preprocessor conditional, leaving the mark
1484behind. A prefix argument acts as a repeat count. With a negative
1485argument, move forward.
1486
1487@item C-c C-n
1488@kindex C-c C-n @r{(C mode)}
1489@findex c-forward-conditional
1490Move point forward across a preprocessor conditional, leaving the mark
1491behind. A prefix argument acts as a repeat count. With a negative
1492argument, move backward.
1493
1494@item M-a
7ae8ad94 1495@kindex M-a (C mode)
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1496@findex c-beginning-of-statement
1497Move point to the beginning of the innermost C statement
1498(@code{c-beginning-of-statement}). If point is already at the beginning
1499of a statement, move to the beginning of the preceding statement. With
1500prefix argument @var{n}, move back @var{n} @minus{} 1 statements.
1501
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1502In comments or in strings which span more than one line, this command
1503moves by sentences instead of statements.
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1504
1505@item M-e
7ae8ad94 1506@kindex M-e (C mode)
6bf7aab6 1507@findex c-end-of-statement
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1508Move point to the end of the innermost C statement or sentence; like
1509@kbd{M-a} except that it moves in the other direction
1510(@code{c-end-of-statement}).
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1511@end table
1512
1513@node Electric C
1514@subsection Electric C Characters
1515
1516 In C mode and related modes, certain printing characters are
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1517@dfn{electric}---in addition to inserting themselves, they also
1518reindent the current line, and optionally also insert newlines. The
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1519``electric'' characters are @kbd{@{}, @kbd{@}}, @kbd{:}, @kbd{#},
1520@kbd{;}, @kbd{,}, @kbd{<}, @kbd{>}, @kbd{/}, @kbd{*}, @kbd{(}, and
f5eb910a 1521@kbd{)}.
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1522
1523 You might find electric indentation inconvenient if you are editing
1524chaotically indented code. If you are new to CC Mode, you might find
1525it disconcerting. You can toggle electric action with the command
1526@kbd{C-c C-l}; when it is enabled, @samp{/l} appears in the mode line
1527after the mode name:
6bf7aab6 1528
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1529@table @kbd
1530@item C-c C-l
1531@kindex C-c C-l @r{(C mode)}
1532@findex c-toggle-electric-state
1533Toggle electric action (@code{c-toggle-electric-state}). With a
1534prefix argument, this command enables electric action if the argument
1535is positive, disables it if it is negative.
1536@end table
1537
1538 Electric characters insert newlines only when, in addition to the
1539electric state, the @dfn{auto-newline} feature is enabled (indicated
1540by @samp{/la} in the mode line after the mode name). You can turn
1541this feature on or off with the command @kbd{C-c C-a}:
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1542
1543@table @kbd
1544@item C-c C-a
1545@kindex C-c C-a @r{(C mode)}
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1546@findex c-toggle-auto-newline
1547Toggle the auto-newline feature (@code{c-toggle-auto-newline}). With a
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1548prefix argument, this command turns the auto-newline feature on if the
1549argument is positive, and off if it is negative.
1550@end table
1551
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1552 Usually the CC Mode style configures the exact circumstances in
1553which Emacs inserts auto-newlines. You can also configure this
1554directly. @xref{Custom Auto-newlines,,, ccmode, The CC Mode Manual}.
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1555
1556@node Hungry Delete
1557@subsection Hungry Delete Feature in C
7ae8ad94 1558@cindex hungry deletion (C Mode)
6bf7aab6 1559
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1560 If you want to delete an entire block of whitespace at point, you
1561can use @dfn{hungry deletion}. This deletes all the contiguous
1562whitespace either before point or after point in a single operation.
1563@dfn{Whitespace} here includes tabs and newlines, but not comments or
1564preprocessor commands.
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1565
1566@table @kbd
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1567@item C-c C-@key{DEL}
1568@itemx C-c @key{DEL}
aca2cfd2 1569@findex c-hungry-delete-backwards
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1570@kindex C-c C-@key{DEL} (C Mode)
1571@kindex C-c @key{DEL} (C Mode)
aca2cfd2 1572@code{c-hungry-delete-backwards}---Delete the entire block of whitespace
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1573preceding point.
1574
6bf7aab6 1575@item C-c C-d
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1576@itemx C-c C-@key{DELETE}
1577@itemx C-c @key{DELETE}
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1578@findex c-hungry-delete-forward
1579@kindex C-c C-d (C Mode)
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1580@kindex C-c C-@key{DELETE} (C Mode)
1581@kindex C-c @key{DELETE} (C Mode)
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1582@code{c-hungry-delete-forward}---Delete the entire block of whitespace
1583following point.
1584@end table
1585
1586 As an alternative to the above commands, you can enable @dfn{hungry
1587delete mode}. When this feature is enabled (indicated by @samp{/h} in
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1588the mode line after the mode name), a single @key{DEL} deletes all
1589preceding whitespace, not just one space, and a single @kbd{C-c C-d}
1590(but @emph{not} plain @key{DELETE}) deletes all following whitespace.
6bf7aab6 1591
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1592@table @kbd
1593@item M-x c-toggle-hungry-state
1594@findex c-toggle-hungry-state
1595Toggle the hungry-delete feature
1596(@code{c-toggle-hungry-state})@footnote{This command had the binding
1597@kbd{C-c C-d} in earlier versions of Emacs. @kbd{C-c C-d} is now
1598bound to @code{c-hungry-delete-forward}.}. With a prefix argument,
1599this command turns the hungry-delete feature on if the argument is
1600positive, and off if it is negative.
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1601@end table
1602
1603@vindex c-hungry-delete-key
1604 The variable @code{c-hungry-delete-key} controls whether the
1605hungry-delete feature is enabled.
1606
1607@node Other C Commands
1608@subsection Other Commands for C Mode
1609
1610@table @kbd
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1611@item C-c C-w
1612@itemx M-x c-subword-mode
1613@findex c-subword-mode
f5eb910a 1614Enable (or disable) @dfn{subword mode}. In subword mode, Emacs's word
8a75579f 1615commands recognize upper case letters in
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1616@samp{StudlyCapsIdentifiers} as word boundaries. This is indicated by
1617the flag @samp{/w} on the mode line after the mode name
1618(e.g. @samp{C/law}). You can even use @kbd{M-x c-subword-mode} in
1619non-CC Mode buffers.
108262a0 1620
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1621In the GNU project, we recommend using underscores to separate words
1622within an identifier in C or C++, rather than using case distinctions.
1623
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1624@item M-x c-context-line-break
1625@findex c-context-line-break
1626This command inserts a line break and indents the new line in a manner
1627appropriate to the context. In normal code, it does the work of
1628@kbd{C-j} (@code{newline-and-indent}), in a C preprocessor line it
1629additionally inserts a @samp{\} at the line break, and within comments
1630it's like @kbd{M-j} (@code{c-indent-new-comment-line}).
1631
1632@code{c-context-line-break} isn't bound to a key by default, but it
1633needs a binding to be useful. The following code will bind it to
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1634@kbd{C-j}. We use @code{c-initialization-hook} here to make sure
1635the keymap is loaded before we try to change it.
1636
444246ca 1637@smallexample
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1638(defun my-bind-clb ()
1639 (define-key c-mode-base-map "\C-j" 'c-context-line-break))
1640(add-hook 'c-initialization-hook 'my-bind-clb)
444246ca 1641@end smallexample
7ae8ad94 1642
6bf7aab6 1643@item C-M-h
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1644Put mark at the end of a function definition, and put point at the
1645beginning (@code{c-mark-function}).
1646
1647@item M-q
1648@kindex M-q @r{(C mode)}
1649@findex c-fill-paragraph
1650Fill a paragraph, handling C and C++ comments (@code{c-fill-paragraph}).
1651If any part of the current line is a comment or within a comment, this
1652command fills the comment or the paragraph of it that point is in,
1653preserving the comment indentation and comment delimiters.
1654
1655@item C-c C-e
1656@cindex macro expansion in C
1657@cindex expansion of C macros
1658@findex c-macro-expand
1659@kindex C-c C-e @r{(C mode)}
1660Run the C preprocessor on the text in the region, and show the result,
1661which includes the expansion of all the macro calls
1662(@code{c-macro-expand}). The buffer text before the region is also
1663included in preprocessing, for the sake of macros defined there, but the
1664output from this part isn't shown.
1665
1666When you are debugging C code that uses macros, sometimes it is hard to
1667figure out precisely how the macros expand. With this command, you
1668don't have to figure it out; you can see the expansions.
1669
1670@item C-c C-\
1671@findex c-backslash-region
1672@kindex C-c C-\ @r{(C mode)}
1673Insert or align @samp{\} characters at the ends of the lines of the
1674region (@code{c-backslash-region}). This is useful after writing or
1675editing a C macro definition.
1676
1677If a line already ends in @samp{\}, this command adjusts the amount of
1678whitespace before it. Otherwise, it inserts a new @samp{\}. However,
1679the last line in the region is treated specially; no @samp{\} is
1680inserted on that line, and any @samp{\} there is deleted.
1681
1682@item M-x cpp-highlight-buffer
1683@cindex preprocessor highlighting
1684@findex cpp-highlight-buffer
1685Highlight parts of the text according to its preprocessor conditionals.
1686This command displays another buffer named @samp{*CPP Edit*}, which
1687serves as a graphic menu for selecting how to display particular kinds
1688of conditionals and their contents. After changing various settings,
1689click on @samp{[A]pply these settings} (or go to that buffer and type
1690@kbd{a}) to rehighlight the C mode buffer accordingly.
1691
1692@item C-c C-s
1693@findex c-show-syntactic-information
1694@kindex C-c C-s @r{(C mode)}
1695Display the syntactic information about the current source line
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1696(@code{c-show-syntactic-information}). This information directs how
1697the line is indented.
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1698
1699@item M-x cwarn-mode
1700@itemx M-x global-cwarn-mode
1701@findex cwarn-mode
1702@findex global-cwarn-mode
7ae8ad94 1703@vindex global-cwarn-mode
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1704@cindex CWarn mode
1705@cindex suspicious constructions in C, C++
9234c238 1706CWarn minor mode highlights certain suspicious C and C++ constructions:
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1707
1708@itemize @bullet{}
1709@item
9234c238 1710Assignments inside expressions.
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1711@item
1712Semicolon following immediately after @samp{if}, @samp{for}, and @samp{while}
1713(except after a @samp{do @dots{} while} statement);
1714@item
1715C++ functions with reference parameters.
1716@end itemize
1717
1718@noindent
9234c238
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1719You can enable the mode for one buffer with the command @kbd{M-x
1720cwarn-mode}, or for all suitable buffers with the command @kbd{M-x
1721global-cwarn-mode} or by customizing the variable
1722@code{global-cwarn-mode}. You must also enable Font Lock mode to make
1723it work.
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1724
1725@item M-x hide-ifdef-mode
1726@findex hide-ifdef-mode
1727@cindex Hide-ifdef mode
8474de5b 1728@vindex hide-ifdef-shadow
3b8b8888 1729Hide-ifdef minor mode hides selected code within @samp{#if} and
8474de5b
CY
1730@samp{#ifdef} preprocessor blocks. If you change the variable
1731@code{hide-ifdef-shadow} to @code{t}, Hide-ifdef minor mode
1732``shadows'' preprocessor blocks by displaying them with a less
1733prominent face, instead of hiding them entirely. See the
1734documentation string of @code{hide-ifdef-mode} for more information.
9234c238
RS
1735
1736@item M-x ff-find-related-file
1737@cindex related files
1738@findex ff-find-related-file
1739@vindex ff-related-file-alist
1740Find a file ``related'' in a special way to the file visited by the
1741current buffer. Typically this will be the header file corresponding
1742to a C/C++ source file, or vice versa. The variable
1743@code{ff-related-file-alist} specifies how to compute related file
1744names.
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1745@end table
1746
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1747@node Asm Mode
1748@section Asm Mode
1749
1750@cindex Asm mode
9234c238 1751@cindex assembler mode
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1752Asm mode is a major mode for editing files of assembler code. It
1753defines these commands:
1754
1755@table @kbd
1756@item @key{TAB}
1757@code{tab-to-tab-stop}.
1758@item C-j
1759Insert a newline and then indent using @code{tab-to-tab-stop}.
1760@item :
1761Insert a colon and then remove the indentation from before the label
1762preceding colon. Then do @code{tab-to-tab-stop}.
1763@item ;
1764Insert or align a comment.
1765@end table
1766
1767 The variable @code{asm-comment-char} specifies which character
1768starts comments in assembler syntax.
ab5796a9 1769
b23ef7a5
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1770@ifnottex
1771@include fortran-xtra.texi
1772@end ifnottex
1773
ab5796a9
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1774@ignore
1775 arch-tag: c7ee7409-40a4-45c7-bfb7-ae7f2c74d0c0
1776@end ignore