1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes. 2003-05-21
2 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005
3 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 See the end for copying conditions.
6 Please send Emacs bug reports to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.
7 For older news, see the file ONEWS
8 You can narrow news to the specific version by calling
9 `view-emacs-news' with a prefix argument or by typing C-u C-h C-n.
12 +++ indicates that the appropriate manual has already been updated.
13 --- means no change in the manuals is called for.
14 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
15 so we will look at it and add it to the manual.
18 * Installation Changes in Emacs 21.4
20 ** Emacs includes now support for loading image libraries on demand.
21 (Currently this feature is only used on MS Windows.) You can configure
22 the supported image types and their associated dynamic libraries by
23 setting the variable `image-library-alist'.
26 ** New translations of the Emacs Tutorial are available in the following
27 languages: Brasilian, Bulgarian, Chinese (both with simplified and
28 traditional characters), French, and Italian. Type `C-u C-h t' to
29 choose one of them in case your language setup doesn't automatically
32 ** You can build Emacs with Gtk+ widgets by specifying `--with-x-toolkit=gtk'
33 when you run configure. This requires Gtk+ 2.0 or newer. This port
34 provides a way to display multilingual text in menus (with some caveats).
37 ** Emacs can now be built without sound support.
39 ** The `emacsserver' program has been removed, replaced with elisp code.
42 ** Emacs now supports new configure options `--program-prefix',
43 `--program-suffix' and `--program-transform-name' that affect the names of
47 ** By default, Emacs now uses a setgid helper program to update game
48 scores. The directory ${localstatedir}/games/emacs is the normal
49 place for game scores to be stored. This may be controlled by the
50 configure option `--with-game-dir'. The specific user that Emacs uses
51 to own the game scores is controlled by `--with-game-user'. If access
52 to a game user is not available, then scores will be stored separately
53 in each user's home directory.
56 ** Leim is now part of the Emacs distribution.
57 You no longer need to download a separate tarball in order to build
61 ** The Emacs Lisp Reference Manual is now part of the distribution.
63 The ELisp reference manual in Info format is built as part of the
64 Emacs build procedure and installed together with the Emacs User
65 Manual. A menu item was added to the menu bar that makes it easy
66 accessible (Help->More Manuals->Emacs Lisp Reference).
69 ** The Introduction to Programming in Emacs Lisp manual is now part of
72 This manual is now part of the standard distribution and is installed,
73 together with the Emacs User Manual, into the Info directory. A menu
74 item was added to the menu bar that makes it easy accessible
75 (Help->More Manuals->Introduction to Emacs Lisp).
77 ** Support for Cygwin was added.
80 ** Support for FreeBSD/Alpha has been added.
83 ** Support for GNU/Linux systems on S390 machines was added.
86 ** Support for MacOS X was added.
87 See the files mac/README and mac/INSTALL for build instructions.
90 ** Support for GNU/Linux systems on X86-64 machines was added.
93 ** A French translation of the `Emacs Survival Guide' is available.
96 ** Building with -DENABLE_CHECKING does not automatically build with union
97 types any more. Add -DUSE_LISP_UNION_TYPE if you want union types.
100 * Changes in Emacs 21.4
102 ** Emacs now responds to mouse-clicks on the mode-line, header-line and
103 display margin, when run in an xterm.
105 ** M-SPC (just-one-space) when given a numeric argument N
106 converts whitespace around point to N spaces.
108 ** Control characters and escape glyphs are now shown in the new
111 ** Non-breaking space and hyphens are now prefixed with an escape
112 character, unless the new user variable `show-nonbreak-escape' is set
116 ** The type-break package now allows `type-break-file-name' to be nil
117 and if so, doesn't store any data across sessions. This is handy if
118 you don't want the .type-break file in your home directory or are
119 annoyed by the need for interaction when you kill Emacs.
121 ** display-battery has been replaced by display-battery-mode.
123 ** calculator.el now has radix grouping mode, which is available when
124 `calculator-output-radix' is non-nil. In this mode a separator
125 character is used every few digits, making it easier to see byte
126 boundries etc. For more info, see the documentation of the variable
127 `calculator-radix-grouping-mode'.
130 ** You can now follow links by clicking Mouse-1 on the link.
132 Traditionally, Emacs uses a Mouse-1 click to set point and a Mouse-2
133 click to follow a link, whereas most other applications use a Mouse-1
134 click for both purposes, depending on whether you click outside or
135 inside a link. Now the behavior of a Mouse-1 click has been changed
136 to match this context-sentitive dual behavior.
138 Depending on the current mode, a Mouse-2 click in Emacs may do much
139 more than just follow a link, so the new Mouse-1 behavior is only
140 activated for modes which explicitly mark a clickable text as a "link"
141 (see the new function `mouse-on-link-p' for details). The Lisp
142 packages that are included in release 21.4 have been adapted to do
143 this, but external packages may not yet support this. However, there
144 is no risk in using such packages, as the worst thing that could
145 happen is that you get the original Mouse-1 behavior when you click
146 on a link, which typically means that you set point where you click.
148 If you want to get the original Mouse-1 action also inside a link, you
149 just need to press the Mouse-1 button a little longer than a normal
150 click (i.e. press and hold the Mouse-1 button for half a second before
153 Dragging the Mouse-1 inside a link still performs the original
154 drag-mouse-1 action, typically copy the text.
156 You can customize the new Mouse-1 behavior via the new user option
157 `mouse-1-click-follows-link'.
160 ** require-final-newline now has two new possible values:
162 `visit' means add a newline (as an undoable change) if it's needed
163 when visiting the file.
165 `visit-save' means add a newline (as an undoable change) if it's
166 needed when visiting the file, and also add a newline if it's needed
167 when saving the file.
170 ** The new option mode-require-final-newline controls how certain
171 major modes enable require-final-newline. Any major mode that's
172 designed for a kind of file that should normally end in a newline
173 sets require-final-newline based on mode-require-final-newline.
174 So you can customize mode-require-final-newline to control what these
178 ** When the undo information of the current command gets really large
179 (beyond the value of `undo-outer-limit'), Emacs discards it and warns
182 ** line-move-ignore-invisible now defaults to t.
184 ** In Outline mode, hide-body no longer hides lines at the top
185 of the file that precede the first header line.
188 ** In Enriched mode, `set-left-margin' and `set-right-margin' are now
189 by default bound to `C-c [' and `C-c ]' instead of the former `C-c C-l'
193 ** In processing a local variables list, Emacs strips the prefix and
194 suffix are from every line before processing all the lines.
197 ** `apply-macro-to-region-lines' now operates on all lines that begin
198 in the region, rather than on all complete lines in the region.
200 ** global-whitespace-mode is a new alias for whitespace-global-mode.
203 ** There are now two new regular expression operators, \_< and \_>,
204 for matching the beginning and end of a symbol. A symbol is a
205 non-empty sequence of either word or symbol constituent characters, as
206 specified by the syntax table.
208 ** Passing resources on the command line now works on MS Windows.
209 You can use --xrm to pass resource settings to Emacs, overriding any
210 existing values. For example:
212 emacs --xrm "Emacs.Background:red" --xrm "Emacs.Geometry:100x20"
214 will start up Emacs on an initial frame of 100x20 with red background,
215 irrespective of geometry or background setting on the Windows registry.
217 ** The terminal emulation code in term.el has been improved, it can
218 run most curses applications now.
220 ** New features in evaluation commands
223 *** The function `eval-defun' (C-M-x) called on defface reinitializes
224 the face to the value specified in the defface expression.
226 *** Typing C-x C-e twice prints the value of the integer result
227 in additional formats (octal, hexadecimal, character) specified
228 by the new function `eval-expression-print-format'. The same
229 function also defines the result format for `eval-expression' (M-:),
230 `eval-print-last-sexp' (C-j) and some edebug evaluation functions.
232 ** New input method chinese-sisheng for inputting Chinese Pinyin
235 ** New command quail-show-key shows what key (or key sequence) to type
236 in the current input method to input a character at point.
238 ** Convenient commands to switch buffers in a cyclic order are C-x <left>
239 (prev-buffer) and C-x <right> (next-buffer).
241 ** Commands winner-redo and winner-undo, from winner.el, are now bound to
242 C-c <left> and C-c <right>, respectively. This is an incompatible change.
244 ** Help commands `describe-function' and `describe-key' now show function
245 arguments in lowercase italics on displays that support it. To change the
246 default, customize face `help-argument-name' or redefine the function
247 `help-default-arg-highlight'.
250 ** The comint prompt can now be made read-only, using the new user
251 option `comint-prompt-read-only'. This is not enabled by default,
252 except in IELM buffers. The read-only status of IELM prompts can be
253 controlled with the new user option `ielm-prompt-read-only', which
254 overrides `comint-prompt-read-only'.
256 The new commands `comint-kill-whole-line' and `comint-kill-region'
257 support editing comint buffers with read-only prompts.
259 `comint-kill-whole-line' is like `kill-whole-line', but ignores both
260 read-only and field properties. Hence, it always kill entire
261 lines, including any prompts.
263 `comint-kill-region' is like `kill-region', except that it ignores
264 read-only properties, if it is safe to do so. This means that if any
265 part of a prompt is deleted, then the entire prompt must be deleted
266 and that all prompts must stay at the beginning of a line. If this is
267 not the case, then `comint-kill-region' behaves just like
268 `kill-region' if read-only are involved: it copies the text to the
269 kill-ring, but does not delete it.
271 ** You can now use next-error (C-x `) and previous-error to advance to
272 the next/previous matching line found by M-x occur.
274 ** Telnet now prompts you for a port number with C-u M-x telnet.
277 ** New command line option -Q.
279 This is like using -q --no-site-file, but in addition it also disables
280 the menu-bar, the tool-bar, the scroll-bars, tool tips, the blinking
281 cursor, and the fancy startup screen.
283 ** C-h v and C-h f commands now include a hyperlink to the C source for
284 variables and functions defined in C (if the C source is available).
286 ** When used interactively, `format-write-file' now asks for confirmation
287 before overwriting an existing file, unless a prefix argument is
288 supplied. This behavior is analogous to `write-file'.
290 ** You can now use Auto Revert mode to `tail' a file.
291 If point is at the end of a file buffer before reverting, Auto Revert
292 mode keeps it at the end after reverting. Similarly if point is
293 displayed at the end of a file buffer in any window, it stays at
294 the end of the buffer in that window. This allows to tail a file:
295 just put point at the end of the buffer and it stays there. This
296 rule applies to file buffers. For non-file buffers, the behavior may
299 If you are sure that the file will only change by growing at the end,
300 then you can tail the file more efficiently by using the new minor
301 mode Auto Revert Tail mode. The function `auto-revert-tail-mode'
304 ** Auto Revert mode is now more careful to avoid excessive reverts and
305 other potential problems when deciding which non-file buffers to
306 revert. This matters especially if Global Auto Revert mode is enabled
307 and `global-auto-revert-non-file-buffers' is non-nil. Auto Revert
308 mode only reverts a non-file buffer if the buffer has a non-nil
309 `revert-buffer-function' and a non-nil `buffer-stale-function', which
310 decides whether the buffer should be reverted. Currently, this means
311 that auto reverting works for Dired buffers (although this may not
312 work properly on all operating systems) and for the Buffer Menu.
314 ** If the new user option `auto-revert-check-vc-info' is non-nil, Auto
315 Revert mode reliably updates version control info (such as the version
316 control number in the mode line), in all version controlled buffers in
317 which it is active. If the option is nil, the default, then this info
318 only gets updated whenever the buffer gets reverted.
320 ** New command `Buffer-menu-toggle-files-only' toggles display of file
321 buffers only in the Buffer Menu. It is bound to `T' in Buffer Menu
324 ** M-x compile has become more robust and reliable
326 Quite a few more kinds of messages are recognized. Messages that are
327 recognized as warnings or informational come in orange or green, instead of
328 red. Informational messages are by default skipped with `next-error'
329 (controlled by `compilation-skip-threshold').
331 Location data is collected on the fly as the *compilation* buffer changes.
332 This means you could modify messages to make them point to different files.
333 This also means you can not go to locations of messages you may have deleted.
335 The variable `compilation-error-regexp-alist' has now become customizable. If
336 you had added your own regexps to this, you'll probably need to include a
337 leading `^', otherwise they'll match anywhere on a line. There is now also a
338 `compilation-mode-font-lock-keywords' and it nicely handles all the checks
339 that configure outputs and -o options so you see at a glance where you are.
341 The new file etc/compilation.txt gives examples of each type of message.
343 ** Compilation mode enhancements:
346 *** New user option `compilation-environment'.
347 This option allows you to specify environment variables for inferior
348 compilation processes without affecting the environment that all
349 subprocesses inherit.
351 ** Grep has been decoupled from compilation mode setup.
353 *** There's a new separate package grep.el.
355 *** M-x grep has been adapted to new compile
357 Hits are fontified in green, and hits in binary files in orange. Grep buffers
358 can be saved and automatically revisited with the new Grep mode.
360 *** Grep commands now have their own submenu and customization group.
363 *** `grep-find' is now also available under the name `find-grep' where
364 people knowing `find-grep-dired' would probably expect it.
366 *** The new variables `grep-window-height', `grep-auto-highlight', and
367 `grep-scroll-output' can be used to override the corresponding
368 compilation mode settings for grep commands.
370 *** New option `grep-highlight-matches' highlightes matches in *grep*
371 buffer. It uses a special feature of some grep programs which accept
372 --color option to output markers around matches. When going to the next
373 match with `next-error' the exact match is highlighted in the source
374 buffer. Otherwise, if `grep-highlight-matches' is nil, the whole
375 source line is highlighted.
377 *** New key bindings in grep output window:
378 SPC and DEL scrolls window up and down. C-n and C-p moves to next and
379 previous match in the grep window. RET jumps to the source line of
380 the current match. `n' and `p' shows next and previous match in
381 other window, but does not switch buffer. `{' and `}' jumps to the
382 previous or next file in the grep output. TAB also jumps to the next
385 ** New options `next-error-highlight' and `next-error-highlight-no-select'
386 specify the method of highlighting of the corresponding source line
387 in new face `next-error'.
389 ** A new minor mode `next-error-follow-minor-mode' can be used in
390 compilation-mode, grep-mode, occur-mode, and diff-mode (i.e. all the
391 modes that can use `next-error'). In this mode, cursor motion in the
392 buffer causes automatic display in another window of the corresponding
393 matches, compilation errors, etc. This minor mode can be toggled with
396 ** M-x diff uses diff-mode instead of compilation-mode.
398 ** M-x compare-windows now can automatically skip non-matching text to
399 resync points in both windows.
401 ** New command `strokes-global-set-stroke-string'.
402 This is like `strokes-global-set-stroke', but it allows you to bind
403 the stroke directly to a string to insert. This is convenient for
404 using strokes as an input method.
408 *** Gnus now includes Sieve and PGG
409 Sieve is a library for managing Sieve scripts. PGG is a library to handle
412 *** There are many news features, bug fixes and improvements.
413 See the file GNUS-NEWS or the node "Oort Gnus" in the Gnus manual for details.
418 *** Desktop saving is now a minor mode, desktop-save-mode. Variable
419 desktop-enable is obsolete. Customize desktop-save-mode to enable desktop
422 *** Buffers are saved in the desktop file in the same order as that in the
425 *** The desktop package can be customized to restore only some buffers immediately,
426 remaining buffers are restored lazily (when Emacs is idle).
429 - desktop-revert reverts to the last loaded desktop.
430 - desktop-change-dir kills current desktop and loads a new.
431 - desktop-save-in-desktop-dir saves desktop in the directory from which
433 - desktop-lazy-complete runs the desktop load to completion.
434 - desktop-lazy-abort aborts lazy loading of the desktop.
436 *** New customizable variables:
437 - desktop-save. Determins whether the desktop should be saved when it is
439 - desktop-file-name-format. Format in which desktop file names should be saved.
440 - desktop-path. List of directories in which to lookup the desktop file.
441 - desktop-locals-to-save. List of local variables to save.
442 - desktop-globals-to-clear. List of global variables that `desktop-clear' will clear.
443 - desktop-clear-preserve-buffers-regexp. Regexp identifying buffers that `desktop-clear'
445 - desktop-restore-eager. Number of buffers to restore immediately. Remaining buffers are
446 restored lazily (when Emacs is idle).
447 - desktop-lazy-verbose. Verbose reporting of lazily created buffers.
448 - desktop-lazy-idle-delay. Idle delay before starting to create buffers.
450 *** New command line option --no-desktop
453 - desktop-after-read-hook run after a desktop is loaded.
454 - desktop-no-desktop-file-hook run when no desktop file is found.
457 ** The saveplace.el package now filters out unreadable files.
458 When you exit Emacs, the saved positions in visited files no longer
459 include files that aren't readable, e.g. files that don't exist.
460 Customize the new option `save-place-forget-unreadable-files' to nil
461 to get the old behavior. The new options `save-place-save-skipped'
462 and `save-place-skip-check-regexp' allow further fine-tuning of this
465 ** You can have several Emacs servers on the same machine.
467 % emacs --eval '(setq server-name "foo")' -f server-start &
468 % emacs --eval '(setq server-name "bar")' -f server-start &
469 % emacsclient -s foo file1
470 % emacsclient -s bar file2
473 ** On window systems, lines which are exactly as wide as the window
474 (not counting the final newline character) are no longer broken into
475 two lines on the display (with just the newline on the second line).
476 Instead, the newline now "overflows" into the right fringe, and the
477 cursor will be displayed in the fringe when positioned on that newline.
479 The new user option 'overflow-newline-into-fringe' may be set to nil to
480 revert to the old behavior of continuing such lines.
483 ** The buffer boundaries (i.e. first and last line in the buffer) may
484 now be marked with angle bitmaps in the fringes. In addition, up and
485 down arrow bitmaps may be shown at the top and bottom of the left or
486 right fringe if the window can be scrolled in either direction.
488 This behavior is activated by setting the buffer-local variable
489 `indicate-buffer-boundaries' to a non-nil value. The default value of
490 this variable is found in `default-indicate-buffer-boundaries'.
492 If value is `left' or `right', both angle and arrow bitmaps are
493 displayed in the left or right fringe, resp.
495 Value may also be an alist which specifies the presense and position
496 of each bitmap individually.
498 For example, ((top . left) (t . right)) places the top angle bitmap
499 in left fringe, the bottom angle bitmap in right fringe, and both
500 arrow bitmaps in right fringe. To show just the angle bitmaps in the
501 left fringe, but no arrow bitmaps, use ((top . left) (bottom . left)).
503 ** New command `display-local-help' displays any local help at point
504 in the echo area. It is bound to `C-h .'. It normally displays the
505 same string that would be displayed on mouse-over using the
506 `help-echo' property, but, in certain cases, it can display a more
507 keyboard oriented alternative.
509 ** New user option `help-at-pt-display-when-idle' allows to
510 automatically show the help provided by `display-local-help' on
511 point-over, after suitable idle time. The amount of idle time is
512 determined by the user option `help-at-pt-timer-delay' and defaults
513 to one second. This feature is turned off by default.
515 ** New commands `scan-buf-next-region' and `scan-buf-previous-region'
516 move to the start of the next (previous, respectively) region with
517 non-nil help-echo property and display any help found there in the
518 echo area, using `display-local-help'.
521 ** Help mode now only makes hyperlinks for faces when the face name is
522 preceded or followed by the word `face'. It no longer makes
523 hyperlinks for variables without variable documentation, unless
524 preceded by one of the words `variable' or `option'. It now makes
525 hyperlinks to Info anchors (or nodes) if the anchor (or node) name is
526 enclosed in single quotes and preceded by `info anchor' or `Info
527 anchor' (in addition to earlier `info node' and `Info node').
529 ** The max size of buffers and integers has been doubled.
530 On 32bit machines, it is now 256M (i.e. 268435455).
533 ** The -f option, used from the command line to call a function,
534 now reads arguments for the function interactively if it is
535 an interactively callable function.
540 *** The variable `sql-product' controls the highlightng of different
541 SQL dialects. This variable can be set globally via Customize, on a
542 buffer-specific basis via local variable settings, or for the current
543 session using the new SQL->Product submenu. (This menu replaces the
544 SQL->Highlighting submenu.)
546 The following values are supported:
548 ansi ANSI Standard (default)
562 The current product name will be shown on the mode line following the
565 The technique of setting `sql-mode-font-lock-defaults' directly in
566 your .emacs will no longer establish the default highlighting -- Use
567 `sql-product' to accomplish this.
569 ANSI keywords are always highlighted.
571 *** The function `sql-add-product-keywords' can be used to add
572 font-lock rules to the product specific rules. For example, to have
573 all identifiers ending in "_t" under MS SQLServer treated as a type,
574 you would use the following line in your .emacs file:
576 (sql-add-product-keywords 'ms
577 '(("\\<\\w+_t\\>" . font-lock-type-face)))
579 *** Oracle support includes keyword highlighting for Oracle 9i. Most
580 SQL and PL/SQL keywords are implemented. SQL*Plus commands are
581 highlighted in `font-lock-doc-face'.
583 *** Microsoft SQLServer support has been significantly improved.
584 Keyword highlighting for SqlServer 2000 is implemented.
585 sql-interactive-mode defaults to use osql, rather than isql, because
586 osql flushes its error stream more frequently. Thus error messages
587 are displayed when they occur rather than when the session is
590 If the username and password are not provided to `sql-ms', osql is
591 called with the -E command line argument to use the operating system
592 credentials to authenticate the user.
594 *** Postgres support is enhanced.
595 Keyword highlighting of Postgres 7.3 is implemented. Prompting for
596 the username and the pgsql `-U' option is added.
598 *** MySQL support is enhanced.
599 Keyword higlighting of MySql 4.0 is implemented.
601 *** Imenu support has been enhanced to locate tables, views, indexes,
602 packages, procedures, functions, triggers, sequences, rules, and
605 *** Added SQL->Start SQLi Session menu entry which calls the
606 appropriate sql-interactive-mode wrapper for the current setting of
609 ** M-x view-file and commands that use it now avoid interfering
610 with special modes such as Tar mode.
612 ** Enhancements to apropos commands:
614 *** The apropos commands now accept a list of words to match.
615 When more than one word is specified, at least two of those words must
616 be present for an item to match. Regular expression matching is still
619 *** The new option `apropos-sort-by-scores' causes the matching items
620 to be sorted according to their score. The score for an item is a
621 number calculated to indicate how well the item matches the words or
622 regular expression that you entered to the apropos command. The best
623 match is listed first, and the calculated score is shown for each
627 ** The old bindings C-M-delete and C-M-backspace have been deleted,
628 since there are situations where one or the other will shut down
629 the operating system or your X server.
631 ** New minor mode, Visible mode, toggles invisibility in the current buffer.
632 When enabled, it makes all invisible text visible. When disabled, it
633 restores the previous value of `buffer-invisibility-spec'.
635 ** New command `kill-whole-line' kills an entire line at once.
636 By default, it is bound to C-S-<backspace>.
638 ** New commands to operate on pairs of open and close characters:
639 `insert-pair', `delete-pair', `raise-sexp'.
641 ** A prefix argument of C-M-q in Emacs Lisp mode pretty-printifies the
642 list starting after point.
646 *** New faces dired-header, dired-mark, dired-marked, dired-flagged,
647 dired-ignored, dired-directory, dired-symlink, dired-warning
648 introduced for Dired mode instead of font-lock faces.
650 *** New Dired command `dired-compare-directories' marks files
651 with different file attributes in two dired buffers.
654 *** New Dired command `dired-do-touch' (bound to T) changes timestamps
655 of marked files with the value entered in the minibuffer.
658 *** In Dired's ! command (dired-do-shell-command), `*' and `?' now
659 control substitution of the file names only when they are surrounded
660 by whitespace. This means you can now use them as shell wildcards
661 too. If you want to use just plain `*' as a wildcard, type `*""'; the
662 doublequotes make no difference in the shell, but they prevent
663 special treatment in `dired-do-shell-command'.
665 *** In Dired, the w command now copies the current line's file name
666 into the kill ring. With a zero prefix arg, copies absolute file names.
671 *** Omitting files is now a minor mode, dired-omit-mode. The mode toggling
672 command is bound to M-o. A new command dired-mark-omitted, bound to M-O,
673 marks omitted files. The variable dired-omit-files-p is obsoleted, use the
674 mode toggling function instead.
677 ** find-file-read-only visits multiple files in read-only mode,
678 when the file name contains wildcard characters.
681 ** find-alternate-file replaces the current file with multiple files,
682 when the file name contains wildcard characters.
687 *** New ffap commands and keybindings: C-x C-r (`ffap-read-only'),
688 C-x C-v (`ffap-alternate-file'), C-x C-d (`ffap-list-directory'),
689 C-x 4 r (`ffap-read-only-other-window'), C-x 4 d (`ffap-dired-other-window'),
690 C-x 5 r (`ffap-read-only-other-frame'), C-x 5 d (`ffap-dired-other-frame').
693 *** FFAP accepts wildcards in a file name by default. C-x C-f passes
694 it to `find-file' with non-nil WILDCARDS argument, which visits
695 multiple files, and C-x d passes it to `dired'.
699 *** A numeric prefix argument of `info' selects an Info buffer
700 with the number appended to the *info* buffer name (e.g. "*info*<2>").
702 *** Regexp isearch (C-M-s and C-M-r) can search through multiple nodes.
703 Failed isearch wraps to the top/final node.
705 *** New search commands: `Info-search-case-sensitively' (bound to S),
706 `Info-search-backward', and `Info-search-next' which repeats the last
707 search without prompting for a new search string.
709 *** New command `Info-history-forward' (bound to r and new toolbar icon)
710 moves forward in history to the node you returned from after using
711 `Info-history-back' (renamed from `Info-last').
713 *** New command `Info-history' (bound to L) displays a menu of visited nodes.
715 *** New command `Info-toc' (bound to T) creates a node with table of contents
716 from the tree structure of menus of the current Info file.
718 *** New command `info-apropos' searches the indices of the known
719 Info files on your system for a string, and builds a menu of the
722 *** New command `Info-copy-current-node-name' (bound to w) copies
723 the current Info node name into the kill ring. With a zero prefix
724 arg, puts the node name inside the `info' function call.
726 *** New face `info-xref-visited' distinguishes visited nodes from unvisited
727 and a new option `Info-fontify-visited-nodes' to control this.
729 *** http and ftp links in Info are now operational: they look like cross
730 references and following them calls `browse-url'.
733 *** Info now hides node names in menus and cross references by default.
734 If you prefer the old behavior, you can set the new user option
735 `Info-hide-note-references' to nil.
737 *** Images in Info pages are supported.
738 Info pages show embedded images, in Emacs frames with image support.
739 Info documentation that includes images, processed with makeinfo
740 version 4.7 or newer, compiles to Info pages with embedded images.
743 *** The default value for `Info-scroll-prefer-subnodes' is now nil.
746 *** Info-index offers completion.
748 ** Support for the SQLite interpreter has been added to sql.el by calling
752 *** The new command bibtex-url browses a URL for the BibTeX entry at
753 point (bound to C-c C-l and mouse-2, RET on clickable fields).
755 *** The new command bibtex-entry-update (bound to C-c C-u) updates
756 an existing BibTeX entry.
758 *** New `bibtex-entry-format' option `required-fields', enabled by default.
760 *** bibtex-maintain-sorted-entries can take values `plain',
761 `crossref', and `entry-class' which control the sorting scheme used
762 for BibTeX entries. `bibtex-sort-entry-class' controls the sorting
763 scheme `entry-class'. TAB completion for reference keys and
764 automatic detection of duplicates does not require anymore that
765 bibtex-maintain-sorted-entries is non-nil.
767 *** If the new variable bibtex-parse-keys-fast is non-nil,
768 use fast but simplified algorithm for parsing BibTeX keys.
770 *** If the new variable bibtex-autoadd-commas is non-nil,
771 automatically add missing commas at end of BibTeX fields.
773 *** The new variable bibtex-autofill-types contains a list of entry
774 types for which fields are filled automatically (if possible).
776 *** The new command bibtex-complete completes word fragment before
777 point according to context (bound to M-tab).
779 *** The new commands bibtex-find-entry and bibtex-find-crossref
780 locate entries and crossref'd entries (bound to C-c C-s and C-c C-x).
781 Crossref fields are clickable (bound to mouse-2, RET).
783 *** In BibTeX mode the command fill-paragraph (bound to M-q) fills
784 individual fields of a BibTeX entry.
786 *** The new variables bibtex-files and bibtex-file-path define a set
787 of BibTeX files that are searched for entry keys.
789 *** The new command bibtex-validate-globally checks for duplicate keys
790 in multiple BibTeX files.
792 *** The new command bibtex-copy-summary-as-kill pushes summary
793 of BibTeX entry to kill ring (bound to C-c C-t).
795 ** When display margins are present in a window, the fringes are now
796 displayed between the margins and the buffer's text area, rather than
797 at the edges of the window.
799 ** A window may now have individual fringe and scroll-bar settings,
800 in addition to the individual display margin settings.
802 Such individual settings are now preserved when windows are split
803 horizontally or vertically, a saved window configuration is restored,
804 or when the frame is resized.
806 ** New functions frame-current-scroll-bars and window-current-scroll-bars.
808 These functions return the current locations of the vertical and
809 horizontal scroll bars in a frame or window.
812 ** Emacs now supports drag and drop for X. Dropping a file on a window
813 opens it, dropping text inserts the text. Dropping a file on a dired
814 buffer copies or moves the file to that directory.
816 ** Under X, mouse-wheel-mode is turned on by default.
818 ** The X resource useXIM can be used to turn off use of XIM, which may
819 speed up Emacs with slow networking to the X server.
821 If the configure option `--without-xim' was used to turn off use of
822 XIM by default, the X resource useXIM can be used to turn it on.
824 ** `undo-only' does an undo which does not redo any previous undo.
826 ** `uniquify-strip-common-suffix' tells uniquify to prefer
827 `file|dir1' and `file|dir2' to `file|dir1/subdir' and `file|dir2/subdir'.
829 ** If the user visits a file larger than `large-file-warning-threshold',
830 Emacs prompts her for confirmation.
832 ** A UTF-7 coding system is available in the library `utf-7'.
834 ** GUD mode has its own tool bar for controlling execution of the inferior
835 and other common debugger commands.
839 The recent file list is now automatically cleanup when recentf mode is
840 enabled. The new option `recentf-auto-cleanup' controls when to do
843 With the more advanced option: `recentf-filename-handler', you can
844 specify a function that transforms filenames handled by recentf. For
845 example, if set to `file-truename', the same file will not be in the
846 recent list with different symbolic links.
848 To follow naming convention, `recentf-keep-non-readable-files-flag'
849 and `recentf-menu-append-commands-flag' respectively replace the
850 misnamed options `recentf-keep-non-readable-files-p' and
851 `recentf-menu-append-commands-p'. The old names remain available as
852 aliases, but have been marked obsolete.
854 ** The default for the paper size (variable ps-paper-type) is taken
859 You can now put the init files .emacs and .emacs_SHELL under
860 ~/.emacs.d or directly under ~. Emacs will find them in either place.
862 ** partial-completion-mode now does partial completion on directory names.
864 ** skeleton.el now supports using - to mark the skeleton-point without
865 interregion interaction. @ has reverted to only setting
866 skeleton-positions and no longer sets skeleton-point. Skeletons
867 which used @ to mark skeleton-point independent of _ should now use -
868 instead. The updated skeleton-insert docstring explains these new
869 features along with other details of skeleton construction.
873 Upgraded to MH-E version 7.82. There have been major changes since
874 version 5.0.2; see MH-E-NEWS for details.
877 ** The `emacsclient' command understands the options `--eval' and
878 `--display' which tell Emacs respectively to evaluate the given elisp
879 expression and to use the given display when visiting files.
881 ** User option `server-mode' can be used to start a server process.
884 ** The mode line position information now comes before the major mode.
885 When the file is maintained under version control, that information
886 appears between the position information and the major mode.
888 ** C-x s (save-some-buffers) now offers an option `d' to diff a buffer
889 against its file, so you can see what changes you would be saving.
892 ** You can now customize the use of window fringes. To control this
893 for all frames, use M-x fringe-mode or the Show/Hide submenu of the
894 top-level Options menu, or customize the `fringe-mode' variable. To
895 control this for a specific frame, use the command M-x
899 ** There is a new user option `mail-default-directory' that allows you
900 to specify the value of `default-directory' for mail buffers. This
901 directory is used for auto-save files of mail buffers. It defaults to
905 ** When you are root, and you visit a file whose modes specify
906 read-only, the Emacs buffer is now read-only too. Type C-x C-q if you
907 want to make the buffer writable. (As root, you can in fact alter the
910 ** The new command `revert-buffer-with-coding-system' (C-x RET r)
911 revisits the current file using a coding system that you specify.
913 ** The new command `recode-file-name' changes the encoding of the name
917 ** `ps-print' can now print characters from the mule-unicode charsets.
919 Printing text with characters from the mule-unicode-* sets works with
920 ps-print, provided that you have installed the appropriate BDF fonts.
921 See the file INSTALL for URLs where you can find these fonts.
924 ** The new options `buffers-menu-show-directories' and
925 `buffers-menu-show-status' let you control how buffers are displayed
926 in the menu dropped down when you click "Buffers" from the menu bar.
928 `buffers-menu-show-directories' controls whether the menu displays
929 leading directories as part of the file name visited by the buffer.
930 If its value is `unless-uniquify', the default, directories are
931 shown unless uniquify-buffer-name-style' is non-nil. The value of nil
932 and t turn the display of directories off and on, respectively.
934 `buffers-menu-show-status' controls whether the Buffers menu includes
935 the modified and read-only status of the buffers. By default it is
936 t, and the status is shown.
938 Setting these variables directly does not take effect until next time
939 the Buffers menu is regenerated.
942 ** The commands M-x customize-face and M-x customize-face-other-window
943 now look at the character after point. If a face or faces are
944 specified for that character, the commands by default customize those
947 ** New language environments: French, Ukrainian, Tajik,
948 Bulgarian, Belarusian, Ukrainian, UTF-8, Windows-1255, Welsh, Latin-6,
949 Latin-7, Lithuanian, Latvian, Swedish, Slovenian, Croatian, Georgian,
950 Italian, Russian, Malayalam, Tamil, Russian, Chinese-EUC-TW. (Set up
951 automatically according to the locale.)
953 ** Indian support has been updated.
954 The in-is13194 coding system is now Unicode-based. CDAC fonts are
955 assumed. There is a framework for supporting various
956 Indian scripts, but currently only Devanagari, Malayalam and Tamil are
960 ** New input methods: latin-alt-postfix, latin-postfix, latin-prefix,
961 ukrainian-computer, belarusian, bulgarian-bds, russian-computer,
962 vietnamese-telex, lithuanian-numeric, lithuanian-keyboard,
963 latvian-keyboard, welsh, georgian, rfc1345, ucs, sgml,
964 bulgarian-phonetic, dutch, slovenian, croatian, malayalam-inscript,
968 ** A new coding system `euc-tw' has been added for traditional Chinese
969 in CNS encoding; it accepts both Big 5 and CNS as input; on saving,
970 Big 5 is then converted to CNS.
973 ** Many new coding systems are available by loading the `code-pages'
974 library. These include complete versions of most of those in
975 codepage.el, based on Unicode mappings. `codepage-setup' is now
976 obsolete and is used only in the MS-DOS port of Emacs. windows-1252
977 and windows-1251 are preloaded since the former is so common and the
978 latter is used by GNU locales.
980 ** The utf-8/16 coding systems have been enhanced.
981 By default, untranslatable utf-8 sequences are simply composed into
982 single quasi-characters. User option `utf-translate-cjk-mode' (it is
983 turned on by default) arranges to translate many utf-8 CJK character
984 sequences into real Emacs characters in a similar way to the Mule-UCS
985 system. As this loads a fairly big data on demand, people who are not
986 interested in CJK characters may want to customize it to nil.
987 You can augment/amend the CJK translation via hash tables
988 `ucs-mule-cjk-to-unicode' and `ucs-unicode-to-mule-cjk'. The utf-8
989 coding system now also encodes characters from most of Emacs's
990 one-dimensional internal charsets, specifically the ISO-8859 ones.
991 The utf-16 coding system is affected similarly.
993 ** New variable `utf-translate-cjk-unicode-range' controls which
994 Unicode characters to translate in `utf-translate-cjk-mode'.
996 ** iso-10646-1 (`Unicode') fonts can be used to display any range of
997 characters encodable by the utf-8 coding system. Just specify the
998 fontset appropriately.
1000 ** New command `ucs-insert' inserts a character specified by its
1004 ** Limited support for character `unification' has been added.
1005 Emacs now knows how to translate between different representations of
1006 the same characters in various Emacs charsets according to standard
1007 Unicode mappings. This applies mainly to characters in the ISO 8859
1008 sets plus some other 8-bit sets, but can be extended. For instance,
1009 translation works amongst the Emacs ...-iso8859-... charsets and the
1010 mule-unicode-... ones.
1012 By default this translation happens automatically on encoding.
1013 Self-inserting characters are translated to make the input conformant
1014 with the encoding of the buffer in which it's being used, where
1017 You can force a more complete unification with the user option
1018 unify-8859-on-decoding-mode. That maps all the Latin-N character sets
1019 into Unicode characters (from the latin-iso8859-1 and
1020 mule-unicode-0100-24ff charsets) on decoding. Note that this mode
1021 will often effectively clobber data with an iso-2022 encoding.
1023 ** There is support for decoding Greek and Cyrillic characters into
1024 either Unicode (the mule-unicode charsets) or the iso-8859 charsets,
1025 when possible. The latter are more space-efficient. This is
1026 controlled by user option utf-fragment-on-decoding.
1028 ** The new command `set-file-name-coding-system' (C-x RET F) sets
1029 coding system for encoding and decoding file names. A new menu item
1030 (Options->Mule->Set Coding Systems->For File Name) invokes this
1034 ** The scrollbar under LessTif or Motif has a smoother drag-scrolling.
1035 On the other hand, the size of the thumb does not represent the actual
1036 amount of text shown any more (only a crude approximation of it).
1039 ** The pop up menus for Lucid now stay up if you do a fast click and can
1040 be navigated with the arrow keys (like Gtk+, Mac and W32).
1043 ** Dialogs for Lucid/Athena and Lesstif/Motif now pops down when pressing
1044 ESC, like they do for Gtk+, Mac and W32.
1047 ** Dialogs and menus pop down when pressing C-g.
1050 ** The menu item "Open File..." has been split into two items, "New File..."
1051 and "Open File...". "Open File..." now opens only existing files. This is
1052 to support existing GUI file selection dialogs better.
1055 ** The file selection dialog for Gtk+, Mac, W32 and Motif/Lesstif can be
1056 disabled by customizing the variable `use-file-dialog'.
1059 ** For Gtk+ version 2.4, you can make Emacs use the old file dialog
1060 by setting the variable `x-use-old-gtk-file-dialog' to t. Default is to use
1064 ** Emacs can produce an underscore-like (horizontal bar) cursor.
1065 The underscore cursor is set by putting `(cursor-type . hbar)' in
1066 default-frame-alist. It supports variable heights, like the `bar'
1070 ** On X, MS Windows, and Mac OS, the blinking cursor's "off" state is
1071 now controlled by the variable `blink-cursor-alist'.
1073 ** Filesets are collections of files. You can define a fileset in
1074 various ways, such as based on a directory tree or based on
1075 program files that include other program files.
1077 Once you have defined a fileset, you can perform various operations on
1078 all the files in it, such as visiting them or searching and replacing
1082 ** PO translation files are decoded according to their MIME headers
1083 when Emacs visits them.
1086 ** The game `mpuz' is enhanced.
1088 `mpuz' now allows the 2nd factor not to have two identical digits. By
1089 default, all trivial operations involving whole lines are performed
1090 automatically. The game uses faces for better visual feedback.
1092 ** The new variable `x-select-request-type' controls how Emacs
1093 requests X selection. The default value is nil, which means that
1094 Emacs requests X selection with types COMPOUND_TEXT and UTF8_STRING,
1095 and use the more appropriately result.
1098 ** The parameters of automatic hscrolling can now be customized.
1099 The variable `hscroll-margin' determines how many columns away from
1100 the window edge point is allowed to get before automatic hscrolling
1101 will horizontally scroll the window. The default value is 5.
1103 The variable `hscroll-step' determines how many columns automatic
1104 hscrolling scrolls the window when point gets too close to the
1105 window edge. If its value is zero, the default, Emacs scrolls the
1106 window so as to center point. If its value is an integer, it says how
1107 many columns to scroll. If the value is a floating-point number, it
1108 gives the fraction of the window's width to scroll the window.
1110 The variable `automatic-hscrolling' was renamed to
1111 `auto-hscroll-mode'. The old name is still available as an alias.
1114 *** C-c C-c prompts for a command to run, and tries to offer a good default.
1116 *** The user option `tex-start-options-string' has been replaced
1117 by two new user options: `tex-start-options', which should hold
1118 command-line options to feed to TeX, and `tex-start-commands' which should hold
1119 TeX commands to use at startup.
1120 *** verbatim environments are now highlighted in courier by font-lock
1121 and super/sub-scripts are made into super/sub-scripts.
1123 *** New major mode doctex-mode for *.dtx files.
1126 ** New display feature: focus follows the mouse from one Emacs window
1127 to another, even within a frame. If you set the variable
1128 mouse-autoselect-window to non-nil value, moving the mouse to a
1129 different Emacs window will select that window (minibuffer window can
1130 be selected only when it is active). The default is nil, so that this
1131 feature is not enabled.
1133 ** On X, when the window manager requires that you click on a frame to
1134 select it (give it focus), the selected window and cursor position
1135 normally changes according to the mouse click position. If you set
1136 the variable x-mouse-click-focus-ignore-position to t, the selected
1137 window and cursor position do not change when you click on a frame
1141 ** The new command `describe-char' (C-u C-x =) pops up a buffer with
1142 description various information about a character, including its
1143 encodings and syntax, its text properties, how to input, overlays, and
1144 widgets at point. You can get more information about some of them, by
1145 clicking on mouse-sensitive areas or moving there and pressing RET.
1148 ** The new command `multi-occur' is just like `occur', except it can
1149 search multiple buffers. There is also a new command
1150 `multi-occur-by-filename-regexp' which allows you to specify the
1151 buffers to search by their filename. Internally, Occur mode has been
1152 rewritten, and now uses font-lock, among other changes.
1154 ** The default values of paragraph-start and indent-line-function have
1155 been changed to reflect those used in Text mode rather than those used
1156 in Indented-Text mode.
1158 ** New user option `query-replace-skip-read-only': when non-nil,
1159 `query-replace' and related functions simply ignore
1160 a match if part of it has a read-only property.
1162 ** When used interactively, the commands `query-replace-regexp' and
1163 `replace-regexp' allow \,expr to be used in a replacement string,
1164 where expr is an arbitrary Lisp expression evaluated at replacement
1165 time. In many cases, this will be more convenient than using
1166 `query-replace-regexp-eval'. `\#' in a replacement string now refers
1167 to the count of replacements already made by the replacement command.
1168 All regular expression replacement commands now allow `\?' in the
1169 replacement string to specify a position where the replacement string
1170 can be edited for each replacement.
1172 ** query-replace uses isearch lazy highlighting when the new user option
1173 `query-replace-lazy-highlight' is non-nil.
1175 ** The current match in query-replace is highlighted in new face
1176 `query-replace' which by default inherits from isearch face.
1179 ** Emacs normally highlights mouse sensitive text whenever the mouse
1180 is over the text. By setting the new variable `mouse-highlight', you
1181 can optionally enable mouse highlighting only after you move the
1182 mouse, so that highlighting disappears when you press a key. You can
1183 also disable mouse highlighting.
1185 ** You can now customize if selecting a region by dragging the mouse
1186 shall not copy the selected text to the kill-ring by setting the new
1187 variable mouse-drag-copy-region to nil.
1190 ** font-lock: in modes like C and Lisp where the fontification assumes that
1191 an open-paren in column 0 is always outside of any string or comment,
1192 font-lock now highlights any such open-paren-in-column-zero in bold-red
1193 if it is inside a string or a comment, to indicate that it can cause
1194 trouble with fontification and/or indentation.
1197 ** There's a new face `minibuffer-prompt'.
1198 Emacs adds this face to the list of text properties stored in the
1199 variable `minibuffer-prompt-properties', which is used to display the
1203 ** The new face `mode-line-inactive' is used to display the mode line
1204 of non-selected windows. The `mode-line' face is now used to display
1205 the mode line of the currently selected window.
1207 The new variable `mode-line-in-non-selected-windows' controls whether
1208 the `mode-line-inactive' face is used.
1211 ** A menu item "Show/Hide" was added to the top-level menu "Options".
1212 This menu allows you to turn various display features on and off (such
1213 as the fringes, the tool bar, the speedbar, and the menu bar itself).
1214 You can also move the vertical scroll bar to either side here or turn
1215 it off completely. There is also a menu-item to toggle displaying of
1216 current date and time, current line and column number in the
1220 ** Speedbar has moved from the "Tools" top level menu to "Show/Hide".
1223 ** Emacs can now indicate in the mode-line the presence of new e-mail
1224 in a directory or in a file. See the documentation of the user option
1225 `display-time-mail-directory'.
1228 ** LDAP support now defaults to ldapsearch from OpenLDAP version 2.
1231 ** You can now disable pc-selection-mode after enabling it.
1232 M-x pc-selection-mode behaves like a proper minor mode, and with no
1233 argument it toggles the mode.
1235 Turning off PC-Selection mode restores the global key bindings
1236 that were replaced by turning on the mode.
1239 ** Emacs now displays a splash screen by default even if command-line
1240 arguments were given. The new command-line option --no-splash
1241 disables the splash screen; see also the variable
1242 `inhibit-startup-message' (which is also aliased as
1243 `inhibit-splash-screen').
1245 ** Changes in support of colors on character terminals
1248 *** The new command-line option --color=MODE lets you specify a standard
1249 mode for a tty color support. It is meant to be used on character
1250 terminals whose capabilities are not set correctly in the terminal
1251 database, or with terminal emulators which support colors, but don't
1252 set the TERM environment variable to a name of a color-capable
1253 terminal. "emacs --color" uses the same color commands as GNU `ls'
1254 when invoked with "ls --color", so if your terminal can support colors
1255 in "ls --color", it will support "emacs --color" as well. See the
1256 user manual for the possible values of the MODE parameter.
1259 *** Emacs now supports several character terminals which provide more
1260 than 8 colors. For example, for `xterm', 16-color, 88-color, and
1261 256-color modes are supported. Emacs automatically notes at startup
1262 the extended number of colors, and defines the appropriate entries for
1263 all of these colors.
1266 *** Emacs now uses the full range of available colors for the default
1267 faces when running on a color terminal, including 16-, 88-, and
1268 256-color xterms. This means that when you run "emacs -nw" on an
1269 88-color or 256-color xterm, you will see essentially the same face
1273 *** There's a new support for colors on `rxvt' terminal emulator.
1276 ** Emacs can now be invoked in full-screen mode on a windowed display.
1278 When Emacs is invoked on a window system, the new command-line options
1279 `--fullwidth', `--fullheight', and `--fullscreen' produce a frame
1280 whose width, height, or both width and height take up the entire
1281 screen size. (For now, this does not work with some window managers.)
1284 ** Emacs now tries to set up buffer coding systems for HTML/XML files
1288 ** The new command `comint-insert-previous-argument' in comint-derived
1289 modes (shell-mode etc) inserts arguments from previous command lines,
1290 like bash's `ESC .' binding. It is bound by default to `C-c .', but
1291 otherwise behaves quite similarly to the bash version.
1294 ** Changes in C-h bindings:
1296 C-h e displays the *Messages* buffer.
1298 C-h followed by a control character is used for displaying files
1301 C-h C-f displays the FAQ.
1302 C-h C-e displays the PROBLEMS file.
1304 The info-search bindings on C-h C-f, C-h C-k and C-h C-i
1305 have been moved to C-h F, C-h K and C-h S.
1307 C-h c, C-h k, C-h w, and C-h f now handle remapped interactive commands.
1309 - C-h c and C-h k report the actual command (after possible remapping)
1310 run by the key sequence.
1312 - C-h w and C-h f on a command which has been remapped now report the
1313 command it is remapped to, and the keys which can be used to run
1316 For example, if C-k is bound to kill-line, and kill-line is remapped
1317 to new-kill-line, these commands now report:
1319 - C-h c and C-h k C-k reports:
1320 C-k runs the command new-kill-line
1322 - C-h w and C-h f kill-line reports:
1323 kill-line is remapped to new-kill-line which is on C-k, <deleteline>
1325 - C-h w and C-h f new-kill-line reports:
1326 new-kill-line is on C-k
1329 ** Vertical scrolling is now possible within incremental search.
1330 To enable this feature, customize the new user option
1331 `isearch-allow-scroll'. User written commands which satisfy stringent
1332 constraints can be marked as "scrolling commands". See the Emacs manual
1336 ** C-w in incremental search now grabs either a character or a word,
1337 making the decision in a heuristic way. This new job is done by the
1338 command `isearch-yank-word-or-char'. To restore the old behavior,
1339 bind C-w to `isearch-yank-word' in `isearch-mode-map'.
1342 ** C-y in incremental search now grabs the next line if point is already
1343 at the end of a line.
1346 ** C-M-w deletes and C-M-y grabs a character in isearch mode.
1347 Another method to grab a character is to enter the minibuffer by `M-e'
1348 and to type `C-f' at the end of the search string in the minibuffer.
1351 ** M-% typed in isearch mode invokes `query-replace' or
1352 `query-replace-regexp' (depending on search mode) with the current
1353 search string used as the string to replace.
1356 ** Isearch no longer adds `isearch-resume' commands to the command
1357 history by default. To enable this feature, customize the new
1358 user option `isearch-resume-in-command-history'.
1361 ** New user option `history-delete-duplicates'.
1362 If set to t when adding a new history element, all previous identical
1363 elements are deleted.
1366 ** Yanking text now discards certain text properties that can
1367 be inconvenient when you did not expect them. The variable
1368 `yank-excluded-properties' specifies which ones. Insertion
1369 of register contents and rectangles also discards these properties.
1372 ** Occur, Info, and comint-derived modes now support using
1373 M-x font-lock-mode to toggle fontification. The variable
1374 `Info-fontify' is no longer applicable; to disable fontification,
1375 remove `turn-on-font-lock' from `Info-mode-hook'.
1378 ** M-x grep now tries to avoid appending `/dev/null' to the command line
1379 by using GNU grep `-H' option instead. M-x grep automatically
1380 detects whether this is possible or not the first time it is invoked.
1381 When `-H' is used, the grep command line supplied by the user is passed
1382 unchanged to the system to execute, which allows more complicated
1383 command lines to be used than was possible before.
1386 ** The face-customization widget has been reworked to be less confusing.
1387 In particular, when you enable a face attribute using the corresponding
1388 check-box, there's no longer a redundant `*' option in value selection
1389 for that attribute; the values you can choose are only those which make
1390 sense for the attribute. When an attribute is de-selected by unchecking
1391 its check-box, then the (now ignored, but still present temporarily in
1392 case you re-select the attribute) value is hidden.
1395 ** When you set or reset a variable's value in a Customize buffer,
1396 the previous value becomes the "backup value" of the variable.
1397 You can go back to that backup value by selecting "Use Backup Value"
1398 under the "[State]" button.
1400 ** The new customization type `float' specifies numbers with floating
1401 point (no integers are allowed).
1404 ** In GUD mode, when talking to GDB, C-x C-a C-j "jumps" the program
1405 counter to the specified source line (the one where point is).
1408 ** GUD mode improvements for jdb:
1410 *** Search for source files using jdb classpath and class
1411 information. Fast startup since there is no need to scan all
1412 source files up front. There is also no need to create and maintain
1413 lists of source directories to scan. Look at `gud-jdb-use-classpath'
1414 and `gud-jdb-classpath' customization variables documentation.
1416 *** Supports the standard breakpoint (gud-break, gud-clear)
1417 set/clear operations from java source files under the classpath, stack
1418 traversal (gud-up, gud-down), and run until current stack finish
1421 *** Supports new jdb (Java 1.2 and later) in addition to oldjdb
1424 *** The previous method of searching for source files has been
1425 preserved in case someone still wants/needs to use it.
1426 Set gud-jdb-use-classpath to nil.
1428 Added Customization Variables
1430 *** gud-jdb-command-name. What command line to use to invoke jdb.
1432 *** gud-jdb-use-classpath. Allows selection of java source file searching
1433 method: set to t for new method, nil to scan gud-jdb-directories for
1434 java sources (previous method).
1436 *** gud-jdb-directories. List of directories to scan and search for java
1437 classes using the original gud-jdb method (if gud-jdb-use-classpath
1442 *** The STARTTLS elisp wrapper (starttls.el) can now use GNUTLS
1443 instead of the OpenSSL based "starttls" tool. For backwards
1444 compatibility, it prefers "starttls", but you can toggle
1445 `starttls-use-gnutls' to switch to GNUTLS (or simply remove the
1448 *** Do not allow debugger output history variable to grow without bounds.
1451 ** hide-ifdef-mode now uses overlays rather than selective-display
1452 to hide its text. This should be mostly transparent but slightly
1453 changes the behavior of motion commands like C-e and C-p.
1456 ** Unquoted `$' in file names do not signal an error any more when
1457 the corresponding environment variable does not exist.
1458 Instead, the `$ENVVAR' text is left as is, so that `$$' quoting
1459 is only rarely needed.
1463 *** jit-lock can now be delayed with `jit-lock-defer-time'.
1465 If this variable is non-nil, its value should be the amount of Emacs
1466 idle time in seconds to wait before starting fontification. For
1467 example, if you set `jit-lock-defer-time' to 0.25, fontification will
1468 only happen after 0.25s of idle time.
1470 *** contextual refontification is now separate from stealth fontification.
1472 jit-lock-defer-contextually is renamed jit-lock-contextually and
1473 jit-lock-context-time determines the delay after which contextual
1474 refontification takes place.
1477 ** Marking commands extend the region when invoked multiple times. If
1478 you hit M-C-SPC (mark-sexp), M-@ (mark-word), M-h (mark-paragraph), or
1479 C-M-h (mark-defun) repeatedly, the marked region extends each time, so
1480 you can mark the next two sexps with M-C-SPC M-C-SPC, for example.
1481 This feature also works for mark-end-of-sentence, if you bind that to
1482 a key. It also extends the region when the mark is active in Transient
1483 Mark mode, regardless of the last command. To start a new region with
1484 one of marking commands in Transient Mark mode, you can deactivate the
1485 active region with C-g, or set the new mark with C-SPC.
1488 ** Some commands do something special in Transient Mark mode when the
1489 mark is active--for instance, they limit their operation to the
1490 region. Even if you don't normally use Transient Mark mode, you might
1491 want to get this behavior from a particular command. There are two
1492 ways you can enable Transient Mark mode and activate the mark, for one
1495 One method is to type C-SPC C-SPC; this enables Transient Mark mode
1496 and sets the mark at point. The other method is to type C-u C-x C-x.
1497 This enables Transient Mark mode temporarily but does not alter the
1500 After these commands, Transient Mark mode remains enabled until you
1501 deactivate the mark. That typically happens when you type a command
1502 that alters the buffer, but you can also deactivate the mark by typing
1506 ** A prefix argument is no longer required to repeat a jump to a
1507 previous mark, i.e. C-u C-SPC C-SPC C-SPC ... cycles through the
1508 mark ring. Use C-u C-u C-SPC to set the mark immediately after a jump.
1510 ** Movement commands `beginning-of-buffer', `end-of-buffer',
1511 `beginning-of-defun', `end-of-defun' do not set the mark if the mark
1512 is already active in Transient Mark mode.
1515 ** In the *Occur* buffer, `o' switches to it in another window, and
1516 C-o displays the current line's occurrence in another window without
1520 ** When you specify a frame size with --geometry, the size applies to
1521 all frames you create. A position specified with --geometry only
1522 affects the initial frame.
1525 ** M-h (mark-paragraph) now accepts a prefix arg.
1526 With positive arg, M-h marks the current and the following paragraphs;
1527 if the arg is negative, it marks the current and the preceding
1531 ** The variables dired-free-space-program and dired-free-space-args
1532 have been renamed to directory-free-space-program and
1533 directory-free-space-args, and they now apply whenever Emacs puts a
1534 directory listing into a buffer.
1537 ** mouse-wheels can now scroll a specific fraction of the window
1538 (rather than a fixed number of lines) and the scrolling is `progressive'.
1540 ** Unexpected yanking of text due to accidental clicking on the mouse
1541 wheel button (typically mouse-2) during wheel scrolling is now avoided.
1542 This behavior can be customized via the mouse-wheel-click-event and
1543 mouse-wheel-inhibit-click-time variables.
1546 ** The keyboard-coding-system is now automatically set based on your
1547 current locale settings if you are not using a window system. This
1548 may mean that the META key doesn't work but generates non-ASCII
1549 characters instead, depending on how the terminal (or terminal
1550 emulator) works. Use `set-keyboard-coding-system' (or customize
1551 keyboard-coding-system) if you prefer META to work (the old default)
1552 or if the locale doesn't describe the character set actually generated
1553 by the keyboard. See Info node `Single-Byte Character Support'.
1556 ** Emacs now reads the standard abbrevs file ~/.abbrev_defs
1557 automatically at startup, if it exists. When Emacs offers to save
1558 modified buffers, it saves the abbrevs too if they have changed. It
1559 can do this either silently or asking for confirmation first,
1560 according to the value of `save-abbrevs'.
1563 ** Display of hollow cursors now obeys the buffer-local value (if any)
1564 of `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' in the buffer that the cursor
1567 ** The variable `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' can now be set to any
1568 of the recognized cursor types.
1571 ** The variable `auto-save-file-name-transforms' now has a third element that
1572 controls whether or not the function `make-auto-save-file-name' will
1573 attempt to construct a unique auto-save name (e.g. for remote files).
1576 ** There is a new calendar package, icalendar.el, that can be used to
1577 convert Emacs diary entries to/from the iCalendar format.
1580 ** Diary sexp entries can have custom marking in the calendar.
1581 Diary sexp functions which only apply to certain days (such as
1582 `diary-block' or `diary-cyclic') now take an optional parameter MARK,
1583 which is the name of a face or a single-character string indicating
1584 how to highlight the day in the calendar display. Specifying a
1585 single-character string as @var{mark} places the character next to the
1586 day in the calendar. Specifying a face highlights the day with that
1587 face. This lets you have different colors or markings for vacations,
1588 appointments, paydays or anything else using a sexp.
1591 ** The new function `calendar-goto-day-of-year' (g D) prompts for a
1592 year and day number, and moves to that date. Negative day numbers
1593 count backward from the end of the year.
1596 ** The new Calendar function `calendar-goto-iso-week' (g w)
1597 prompts for a year and a week number, and moves to the first
1598 day of that ISO week.
1601 ** The functions `holiday-easter-etc' and `holiday-advent' now take
1602 optional arguments, in order to only report on the specified holiday
1603 rather than all. This makes customization of variables such as
1604 `christian-holidays' simpler.
1606 ** The function `simple-diary-display' now by default sets a header line.
1607 This can be controlled through the variables `diary-header-line-flag'
1608 and `diary-header-line-format'.
1611 ** The procedure for activating appointment reminders has changed: use
1612 the new function `appt-activate'. The new variable
1613 `appt-display-format' controls how reminders are displayed, replacing
1614 appt-issue-message, appt-visible, and appt-msg-window.
1616 ** The new functions `diary-from-outlook', `diary-from-outlook-gnus',
1617 and `diary-from-outlook-rmail' can be used to import diary entries
1618 from Outlook-format appointments in mail messages. The variable
1619 `diary-outlook-formats' can be customized to recognize additional
1625 *** The key C-x C-q no longer checks files in or out, it only changes
1626 the read-only state of the buffer (toggle-read-only). We made this
1627 change because we held a poll and found that many users were unhappy
1628 with the previous behavior. If you do prefer this behavior, you
1629 can bind `vc-toggle-read-only' to C-x C-q in your .emacs:
1631 (global-set-key "\C-x\C-q" 'vc-toggle-read-only)
1633 The function `vc-toggle-read-only' will continue to exist.
1636 *** There is a new user option `vc-cvs-global-switches' that allows
1637 you to specify switches that are passed to any CVS command invoked
1638 by VC. These switches are used as "global options" for CVS, which
1639 means they are inserted before the command name. For example, this
1640 allows you to specify a compression level using the "-z#" option for
1643 *** New backends for Subversion and Meta-CVS.
1648 *** When comparing directories.
1649 Typing D brings up a buffer that lists the differences between the contents of
1650 directories. Now it is possible to use this buffer to copy the missing files
1651 from one directory to another.
1654 *** When comparing files or buffers.
1655 Typing the = key now offers to perform the word-by-word comparison of the
1656 currently highlighted regions in an inferior Ediff session. If you answer 'n'
1657 then it reverts to the old behavior and asks the user to select regions for
1660 *** The new command `ediff-backup' compares a file with its most recent
1661 backup using `ediff'. If you specify the name of a backup file,
1662 `ediff-backup' compares it with the file of which it is a backup.
1667 *** New regular expressions features
1669 **** New syntax for regular expressions, multi-line regular expressions.
1670 The syntax --ignore-case-regexp=/regex/ is now undocumented and retained
1671 only for backward compatibility. The new equivalent syntax is
1672 --regex=/regex/i. More generally, it is --regex=/TAGREGEX/TAGNAME/MODS,
1673 where `/TAGNAME' is optional, as usual, and MODS is a string of 0 or
1674 more characters among `i' (ignore case), `m' (multi-line) and `s'
1675 (single-line). The `m' and `s' modifiers behave as in Perl regular
1676 expressions: `m' allows regexps to match more than one line, while `s'
1677 (which implies `m') means that `.' matches newlines. The ability to
1678 span newlines allows writing of much more powerful regular expressions
1679 and rapid prototyping for tagging new languages.
1681 **** Regular expressions can use char escape sequences as in Gcc.
1682 The escaped character sequence \a, \b, \d, \e, \f, \n, \r, \t, \v,
1683 respectively, stand for the ASCII characters BEL, BS, DEL, ESC, FF, NL,
1686 **** Regular expressions can be bound to a given language.
1687 The syntax --regex={LANGUAGE}REGEX means that REGEX is used to make tags
1688 only for files of language LANGUAGE, and ignored otherwise. This is
1689 particularly useful when storing regexps in a file.
1691 **** Regular expressions can be read from a file.
1692 The --regex=@regexfile option means read the regexps from a file, one
1693 per line. Lines beginning with space or tab are ignored.
1695 *** New language parsing features
1697 **** The `::' qualifier triggers C++ parsing in C file.
1698 Previously, only the `template' and `class' keywords had this effect.
1700 **** The gnucc __attribute__ keyword is now recognised and ignored.
1702 **** New language HTML.
1703 Title and h1, h2, h3 are tagged. Also, tags are generated when name= is
1704 used inside an anchor and whenever id= is used.
1706 **** In Makefiles, constants are tagged.
1707 If you want the old behavior instead, thus avoiding to increase the
1708 size of the tags file, use the --no-globals option.
1710 **** New language Lua.
1711 All functions are tagged.
1713 **** In Perl, packages are tags.
1714 Subroutine tags are named from their package. You can jump to sub tags
1715 as you did before, by the sub name, or additionally by looking for
1718 **** In Prolog, etags creates tags for rules in addition to predicates.
1720 **** New language PHP.
1721 Tags are functions, classes and defines.
1722 If the --members option is specified to etags, tags are variables also.
1724 **** New default keywords for TeX.
1725 The new keywords are def, newcommand, renewcommand, newenvironment and
1728 *** Honour #line directives.
1729 When Etags parses an input file that contains C preprocessor's #line
1730 directives, it creates tags using the file name and line number
1731 specified in those directives. This is useful when dealing with code
1732 created from Cweb source files. When Etags tags the generated file, it
1733 writes tags pointing to the source file.
1735 *** New option --parse-stdin=FILE.
1736 This option is mostly useful when calling etags from programs. It can
1737 be used (only once) in place of a file name on the command line. Etags
1738 reads from standard input and marks the produced tags as belonging to
1744 *** Font lock support.
1745 CC Mode now provides font lock support for all its languages. This
1746 supersedes the font lock patterns that have been in the core font lock
1747 package for C, C++, Java and Objective-C. Like indentation, font
1748 locking is done in a uniform way across all languages (except the new
1749 AWK mode - see below). That means that the new font locking will be
1750 different from the old patterns in various details for most languages.
1752 The main goal of the font locking in CC Mode is accuracy, to provide a
1753 dependable aid in recognizing the various constructs. Some, like
1754 strings and comments, are easy to recognize while others like
1755 declarations and types can be very tricky. CC Mode can go to great
1756 lengths to recognize declarations and casts correctly, especially when
1757 the types aren't recognized by standard patterns. This is a fairly
1758 demanding analysis which can be slow on older hardware, and it can
1759 therefore be disabled by choosing a lower decoration level with the
1760 variable font-lock-maximum-decoration.
1762 Note that the most demanding font lock level has been tuned with lazy
1763 fontification in mind, i.e. there should be a support mode that waits
1764 with the fontification until the text is actually shown
1765 (e.g. Just-in-time Lock mode, which is the default, or Lazy Lock
1766 mode). Fontifying a file with several thousand lines in one go can
1767 take the better part of a minute.
1769 **** The (c|c++|objc|java|idl|pike)-font-lock-extra-types variables
1770 are now used by CC Mode to recognize identifiers that are certain to
1771 be types. (They are also used in cases that aren't related to font
1772 locking.) At the maximum decoration level, types are often recognized
1773 properly anyway, so these variables should be fairly restrictive and
1774 not contain patterns for uncertain types.
1776 **** Support for documentation comments.
1777 There is a "plugin" system to fontify documentation comments like
1778 Javadoc and the markup within them. It's independent of the host
1779 language, so it's possible to e.g. turn on Javadoc font locking in C
1780 buffers. See the variable c-doc-comment-style for details.
1782 Currently two kinds of doc comment styles are recognized: Suns Javadoc
1783 and Autodoc which is used in Pike. This is by no means a complete
1784 list of the most common tools; if your doc comment extractor of choice
1785 is missing then please drop a note to bug-cc-mode@gnu.org.
1787 **** Better handling of C++ templates.
1788 As a side effect of the more accurate font locking, C++ templates are
1789 now handled much better. The angle brackets that delimit them are
1790 given parenthesis syntax so that they can be navigated like other
1793 This also improves indentation of templates, although there still is
1794 work to be done in that area. E.g. it's required that multiline
1795 template clauses are written in full and then refontified to be
1796 recognized, and the indentation of nested templates is a bit odd and
1797 not as configurable as it ought to be.
1799 **** Improved handling of Objective-C and CORBA IDL.
1800 Especially the support for Objective-C and IDL has gotten an overhaul.
1801 The special "@" declarations in Objective-C are handled correctly.
1802 All the keywords used in CORBA IDL, PSDL, and CIDL are recognized and
1803 handled correctly, also wrt indentation.
1805 *** Support for the AWK language.
1806 Support for the AWK language has been introduced. The implementation is
1807 based around GNU AWK version 3.1, but it should work pretty well with
1808 any AWK. As yet, not all features of CC Mode have been adapted for AWK.
1811 **** Indentation Engine
1812 The CC Mode indentation engine fully supports AWK mode.
1814 AWK mode handles code formatted in the conventional AWK fashion: `{'s
1815 which start actions, user-defined functions, or compound statements are
1816 placed on the same line as the associated construct; the matching `}'s
1817 are normally placed under the start of the respective pattern, function
1818 definition, or structured statement.
1820 The predefined indentation functions haven't yet been adapted for AWK
1821 mode, though some of them may work serendipitously. There shouldn't be
1822 any problems writing custom indentation functions for AWK mode.
1824 The command C-c C-q (c-indent-defun) hasn't yet been adapted for AWK,
1825 though in practice it works properly nearly all the time. Should it
1826 fail, explicitly set the region around the function (using C-u C-SPC:
1827 C-M-h probably won't work either) then do C-M-\ (indent-region).
1830 There is a single level of font locking in AWK mode, rather than the
1831 three distinct levels the other modes have. There are several
1832 idiosyncrasies in AWK mode's font-locking due to the peculiarities of
1833 the AWK language itself.
1835 **** Comment Commands
1836 M-; (indent-for-comment) works fine. None of the other CC Mode
1837 comment formatting commands have yet been adapted for AWK mode.
1839 **** Movement Commands
1840 Most of the movement commands work in AWK mode. The most important
1841 exceptions are M-a (c-beginning-of-statement) and M-e
1842 (c-end-of-statement) which haven't yet been adapted.
1844 The notion of "defun" has been augmented to include AWK pattern-action
1845 pairs. C-M-a (c-awk-beginning-of-defun) and C-M-e (c-awk-end-of-defun)
1846 recognise these pattern-action pairs, as well as user defined
1849 **** Auto-newline Insertion and Clean-ups
1850 Auto-newline insertion hasn't yet been adapted for AWK. Some of
1851 the clean-ups can actually convert good AWK code into syntactically
1852 invalid code. These features are best disabled in AWK buffers.
1854 *** New syntactic symbols in IDL mode.
1855 The top level constructs "module" and "composition" (from CIDL) are
1856 now handled like "namespace" in C++: They are given syntactic symbols
1857 module-open, module-close, inmodule, composition-open,
1858 composition-close, and incomposition.
1860 *** New functions to do hungry delete without enabling hungry delete mode.
1861 The functions c-hungry-backspace and c-hungry-delete-forward can be
1862 bound to keys to get this feature without toggling a mode.
1863 Contributed by Kevin Ryde.
1865 *** Better control over require-final-newline. The variable that
1866 controls how to handle a final newline when the buffer is saved,
1867 require-final-newline, is now customizable on a per-mode basis through
1868 c-require-final-newline. That is a list of modes, and only those
1869 modes set require-final-newline. By default that's C, C++ and
1872 The specified modes set require-final-newline based on
1873 mode-require-final-newline, as usual.
1875 *** Format change for syntactic context elements.
1876 The elements in the syntactic context returned by c-guess-basic-syntax
1877 and stored in c-syntactic-context has been changed somewhat to allow
1878 attaching more information. They are now lists instead of single cons
1879 cells. E.g. a line that previously had the syntactic analysis
1881 ((inclass . 11) (topmost-intro . 13))
1885 ((inclass 11) (topmost-intro 13))
1887 In some cases there are more than one position given for a syntactic
1890 This change might affect code that call c-guess-basic-syntax directly,
1891 and custom lineup functions if they use c-syntactic-context. However,
1892 the argument given to lineup functions is still a single cons cell
1893 with nil or an integer in the cdr.
1895 *** API changes for derived modes.
1896 There have been extensive changes "under the hood" which can affect
1897 derived mode writers. Some of these changes are likely to cause
1898 incompatibilities with existing derived modes, but on the other hand
1899 care has now been taken to make it possible to extend and modify CC
1900 Mode with less risk of such problems in the future.
1902 **** New language variable system.
1903 See the comment blurb near the top of cc-langs.el.
1905 **** New initialization functions.
1906 The initialization procedure has been split up into more functions to
1907 give better control: c-basic-common-init, c-font-lock-init, and
1908 c-init-language-vars.
1910 *** Changes in analysis of nested syntactic constructs.
1911 The syntactic analysis engine has better handling of cases where
1912 several syntactic constructs appear nested on the same line. They are
1913 now handled as if each construct started on a line of its own.
1915 This means that CC Mode now indents some cases differently, and
1916 although it's more consistent there might be cases where the old way
1917 gave results that's more to one's liking. So if you find a situation
1918 where you think that the indentation has become worse, please report
1919 it to bug-cc-mode@gnu.org.
1921 **** New syntactic symbol substatement-label.
1922 This symbol is used when a label is inserted between a statement and
1923 its substatement. E.g:
1929 *** Better handling of multiline macros.
1931 **** Syntactic indentation inside macros.
1932 The contents of multiline #define's are now analyzed and indented
1933 syntactically just like other code. This can be disabled by the new
1934 variable c-syntactic-indentation-in-macros. A new syntactic symbol
1935 cpp-define-intro has been added to control the initial indentation
1938 **** New lineup function c-lineup-cpp-define.
1939 Now used by default to line up macro continuation lines. The behavior
1940 of this function closely mimics the indentation one gets if the macro
1941 is indented while the line continuation backslashes are temporarily
1942 removed. If syntactic indentation in macros is turned off, it works
1943 much line c-lineup-dont-change, which was used earlier, but handles
1944 empty lines within the macro better.
1946 **** Automatically inserted newlines continues the macro if used within one.
1947 This applies to the newlines inserted by the auto-newline mode, and to
1948 c-context-line-break and c-context-open-line.
1950 **** Better alignment of line continuation backslashes.
1951 c-backslash-region tries to adapt to surrounding backslashes. New
1952 variable c-backslash-max-column which put a limit on how far out
1953 backslashes can be moved.
1955 **** Automatic alignment of line continuation backslashes.
1956 This is controlled by the new variable c-auto-align-backslashes. It
1957 affects c-context-line-break, c-context-open-line and newlines
1958 inserted in auto-newline mode.
1960 **** Line indentation works better inside macros.
1961 Regardless whether syntactic indentation and syntactic indentation
1962 inside macros are enabled or not, line indentation now ignores the
1963 line continuation backslashes. This is most noticeable when syntactic
1964 indentation is turned off and there are empty lines (save for the
1965 backslash) in the macro.
1967 *** indent-for-comment is more customizable.
1968 The behavior of M-; (indent-for-comment) is now configurable through
1969 the variable c-indent-comment-alist. The indentation behavior based
1970 on the preceding code on the line, e.g. to get two spaces after #else
1971 and #endif but indentation to comment-column in most other cases
1972 (something which was hardcoded earlier).
1974 *** New function c-context-open-line.
1975 It's the open-line equivalent of c-context-line-break.
1977 *** New lineup functions
1979 **** c-lineup-string-cont
1980 This lineup function lines up a continued string under the one it
1983 result = prefix + "A message "
1984 "string."; <- c-lineup-string-cont
1986 **** c-lineup-cascaded-calls
1987 Lines up series of calls separated by "->" or ".".
1989 **** c-lineup-knr-region-comment
1990 Gives (what most people think is) better indentation of comments in
1991 the "K&R region" between the function header and its body.
1993 **** c-lineup-gcc-asm-reg
1994 Provides better indentation inside asm blocks. Contributed by Kevin
1997 **** c-lineup-argcont
1998 Lines up continued function arguments after the preceding comma.
1999 Contributed by Kevin Ryde.
2001 *** Better caching of the syntactic context.
2002 CC Mode caches the positions of the opening parentheses (of any kind)
2003 of the lists surrounding the point. Those positions are used in many
2004 places as anchor points for various searches. The cache is now
2005 improved so that it can be reused to a large extent when the point is
2006 moved. The less it moves, the less needs to be recalculated.
2008 The effect is that CC Mode should be fast most of the time even when
2009 opening parens are hung (i.e. aren't in column zero). It's typically
2010 only the first time after the point is moved far down in a complex
2011 file that it'll take noticeable time to find out the syntactic
2014 *** Statements are recognized in a more robust way.
2015 Statements are recognized most of the time even when they occur in an
2016 "invalid" context, e.g. in a function argument. In practice that can
2017 happen when macros are involved.
2019 *** Improved the way c-indent-exp chooses the block to indent.
2020 It now indents the block for the closest sexp following the point
2021 whose closing paren ends on a different line. This means that the
2022 point doesn't have to be immediately before the block to indent.
2023 Also, only the block and the closing line is indented; the current
2024 line is left untouched.
2026 *** Added toggle for syntactic indentation.
2027 The function c-toggle-syntactic-indentation can be used to toggle
2028 syntactic indentation.
2030 ** The command line option --no-windows has been changed to
2031 --no-window-system. The old one still works, but is deprecated.
2034 ** The command `list-text-properties-at' has been deleted because
2035 C-u C-x = gives the same information and more.
2038 ** `buffer-menu' and `list-buffers' now list buffers whose names begin
2039 with a space, when those buffers are visiting files. Normally buffers
2040 whose names begin with space are omitted.
2043 ** You can now customize fill-nobreak-predicate to control where
2044 filling can break lines. We provide two sample predicates,
2045 fill-single-word-nobreak-p and fill-french-nobreak-p.
2048 ** New user option `add-log-always-start-new-record'.
2049 When this option is enabled, M-x add-change-log-entry always
2050 starts a new record regardless of when the last record is.
2053 ** SGML mode has indentation and supports XML syntax.
2054 The new variable `sgml-xml-mode' tells SGML mode to use XML syntax.
2055 When this option is enabled, SGML tags are inserted in XML style,
2056 i.e., there is always a closing tag.
2057 By default, its setting is inferred on a buffer-by-buffer basis
2058 from the file name or buffer contents.
2061 ** `xml-mode' is now an alias for `sgml-mode', which has XML support.
2064 ** Lisp mode now uses font-lock-doc-face for the docstrings.
2067 ** Perl mode has a new variable `perl-indent-continued-arguments'.
2070 ** Fortran mode has a new variable `fortran-directive-re'.
2071 Adapt this to match the format of any compiler directives you use.
2072 Lines that match are never indented, and are given distinctive font-locking.
2075 ** F90 mode has new navigation commands `f90-end-of-block',
2076 `f90-beginning-of-block', `f90-next-block', `f90-previous-block'.
2078 ** F90 mode now has support for hs-minor-mode (hideshow).
2079 It cannot deal with every code format, but ought to handle a sizeable
2083 ** The new function `f90-backslash-not-special' can be used to change
2084 the syntax of backslashes in F90 buffers.
2087 ** Prolog mode has a new variable `prolog-font-lock-keywords'
2088 to support use of font-lock.
2091 ** `special-display-buffer-names' and `special-display-regexps' now
2092 understand two new boolean pseudo-frame-parameters `same-frame' and
2096 ** M-x setenv now expands environment variables of the form `$foo' and
2097 `${foo}' in the specified new value of the environment variable. To
2098 include a `$' in the value, use `$$'.
2101 ** File-name completion can now ignore directories.
2102 If an element of the list in `completion-ignored-extensions' ends in a
2103 slash `/', it indicates a subdirectory that should be ignored when
2104 completing file names. Elements of `completion-ignored-extensions'
2105 which do not end in a slash are never considered when a completion
2106 candidate is a directory.
2109 ** The completion commands TAB, SPC and ? in the minibuffer apply only
2110 to the text before point. If there is text in the buffer after point,
2111 it remains unchanged.
2113 ** Enhanced visual feedback in *Completions* buffer.
2115 Completions lists use faces to highlight what all completions
2116 have in common and where they begin to differ.
2118 The common prefix shared by all possible completions uses the face
2119 `completions-common-part', while the first character that isn't the
2120 same uses the face `completions-first-difference'. By default,
2121 `completions-common-part' inherits from `default', and
2122 `completions-first-difference' inherits from `bold'. The idea of
2123 `completions-common-part' is that you can use it to make the common
2124 parts less visible than normal, so that the rest of the differing
2125 parts is, by contrast, slightly highlighted.
2128 ** New user option `inhibit-startup-buffer-menu'.
2129 When loading many files, for instance with `emacs *', Emacs normally
2130 displays a buffer menu. This option turns the buffer menu off.
2133 ** Rmail now displays 5-digit message ids in its summary buffer.
2136 ** Support for `movemail' from GNU mailutils was added to Rmail.
2137 This version of `movemail' allows to read mail from a wide range of
2138 mailbox formats, including remote POP3 and IMAP4 mailboxes with or
2139 without TLS encryption. If GNU mailutils is installed on the system
2140 and its version of `movemail' can be found in exec-path, it will be
2141 used instead of the native one.
2144 ** On MS Windows, the "system caret" now follows the cursor.
2145 This enables Emacs to work better with programs that need to track
2146 the cursor, for example screen magnifiers and text to speech programs.
2149 ** Tooltips now work on MS Windows.
2150 See the Emacs 21.1 NEWS entry for tooltips for details.
2153 ** Images are now supported on MS Windows.
2154 PBM and XBM images are supported out of the box. Other image formats
2155 depend on external libraries. All of these libraries have been ported
2156 to Windows, and can be found in both source and binary form at
2157 http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/. Note that libpng also depends on
2158 zlib, and tiff depends on the version of jpeg that it was compiled
2159 against. For additional information, see nt/INSTALL.
2162 ** Sound is now supported on MS Windows.
2163 WAV format is supported on all versions of Windows, other formats such
2164 as AU, AIFF and MP3 may be supported in the more recent versions of
2165 Windows, or when other software provides hooks into the system level
2166 sound support for those formats.
2169 ** Different shaped mouse pointers are supported on MS Windows.
2170 The mouse pointer changes shape depending on what is under the pointer.
2173 ** Pointing devices with more than 3 buttons are now supported on MS Windows.
2174 The new variable `w32-pass-extra-mouse-buttons-to-system' controls
2175 whether Emacs should handle the extra buttons itself (the default), or
2176 pass them to Windows to be handled with system-wide functions.
2179 ** Emacs takes note of colors defined in Control Panel on MS-Windows.
2180 The Control Panel defines some default colors for applications in much
2181 the same way as wildcard X Resources do on X. Emacs now adds these
2182 colors to the colormap prefixed by System (eg SystemMenu for the
2183 default Menu background, SystemMenuText for the foreground), and uses
2184 some of them to initialize some of the default faces.
2185 `list-colors-display' shows the list of System color names, in case
2186 you wish to use them in other faces.
2189 ** Under X11, it is possible to swap Alt and Meta (and Super and Hyper).
2190 The new variables `x-alt-keysym', `x-hyper-keysym', `x-meta-keysym',
2191 and `x-super-keysym' can be used to choose which keysyms Emacs should
2192 use for the modifiers. For example, the following two lines swap
2194 (setq x-alt-keysym 'meta)
2195 (setq x-meta-keysym 'alt)
2198 ** vc-annotate-mode enhancements
2200 In vc-annotate mode, you can now use the following key bindings for
2201 enhanced functionality to browse the annotations of past revisions, or
2202 to view diffs or log entries directly from vc-annotate-mode:
2204 P: annotates the previous revision
2205 N: annotates the next revision
2206 J: annotates the revision at line
2207 A: annotates the revision previous to line
2208 D: shows the diff of the revision at line with its previous revision
2209 L: shows the log of the revision at line
2210 W: annotates the workfile (most up to date) version
2213 ** In pcl-cvs mode, there is a new `d y' command to view the diffs
2214 between the local version of the file and yesterday's head revision
2218 ** In pcl-cvs mode, there is a new `d r' command to view the changes
2219 anyone has committed to the repository since you last executed
2220 "checkout", "update" or "commit". That means using cvs diff options
2223 ** New variable `hs-set-up-overlay' allows customization of the overlay
2224 used to effect hiding for hideshow minor mode. Integration with isearch
2225 handles the overlay property `display' specially, preserving it during
2226 temporary overlay showing in the course of an isearch operation.
2228 ** New command `recode-region' decodes the region again by a specified
2232 * New modes and packages in Emacs 21.4
2234 ** The new package conf-mode.el handles thousands of configuration files, with
2235 varying syntaxes for comments (;, #, //, /* */ or !), assignment (var = value,
2236 var : value, var value or keyword var value) and sections ([section] or
2237 section { }). Many files under /etc/, or with suffixes like .cf through
2238 .config, .properties (Java), .desktop (KDE/Gnome), .ini and many others are
2241 ** The new package password.el provide a password cache and expiring mechanism.
2243 ** The new package dns-mode.el add syntax highlight of DNS master files.
2244 The key binding C-c C-s (`dns-mode-soa-increment-serial') can be used
2245 to increment the SOA serial.
2247 ** The new package flymake.el does on-the-fly syntax checking of program
2248 source files. See the Flymake's Info manual for more details.
2250 ** The library tree-widget.el provides a new widget to display a set
2251 of hierarchical data as an outline. For example, the tree-widget is
2252 well suited to display a hierarchy of directories and files.
2254 ** The wdired.el package allows you to use normal editing commands on Dired
2255 buffers to change filenames, permissions, etc...
2257 ** The thumbs.el package allows you to preview image files as thumbnails
2258 and can be invoked from a Dired buffer.
2260 ** The new python.el package is used to edit Python and Jython programs.
2262 ** The URL package (which had been part of W3) is now part of Emacs.
2265 ** The new global minor mode `size-indication-mode' (off by default)
2266 shows the size of accessible part of the buffer on the mode line.
2268 ** GDB-Script-mode is used for files like .gdbinit.
2271 ** Ido mode is now part of the Emacs distribution.
2273 The ido (interactively do) package is an extension of the iswitchb
2274 package to do interactive opening of files and directories in addition
2275 to interactive buffer switching. Ido is a superset of iswitchb (with
2276 a few exceptions), so don't enable both packages.
2279 ** CUA mode is now part of the Emacs distribution.
2281 The new cua package provides CUA-like keybindings using C-x for
2282 cut (kill), C-c for copy, C-v for paste (yank), and C-z for undo.
2283 With cua, the region can be set and extended using shifted movement
2284 keys (like pc-selection-mode) and typed text replaces the active
2285 region (like delete-selection-mode). Do not enable these modes with
2286 cua-mode. Customize the variable `cua-mode' to enable cua.
2288 In addition, cua provides unified rectangle support with visible
2289 rectangle highlighting: Use S-return to start a rectangle, extend it
2290 using the movement commands (or mouse-3), and cut or copy it using C-x
2291 or C-c (using C-w and M-w also works).
2293 Use M-o and M-c to `open' or `close' the rectangle, use M-b or M-f, to
2294 fill it with blanks or another character, use M-u or M-l to upcase or
2295 downcase the rectangle, use M-i to increment the numbers in the
2296 rectangle, use M-n to fill the rectangle with a numeric sequence (such
2297 as 10 20 30...), use M-r to replace a regexp in the rectangle, and use
2298 M-' or M-/ to restrict command on the rectangle to a subset of the
2299 rows. See the commentary in cua-base.el for more rectangle commands.
2301 Cua also provides unified support for registers: Use a numeric
2302 prefix argument between 0 and 9, i.e. M-0 .. M-9, for C-x, C-c, and
2303 C-v to cut or copy into register 0-9, or paste from register 0-9.
2305 The last text deleted (not killed) is automatically stored in
2306 register 0. This includes text deleted by typing text.
2308 Finally, cua provides a global mark which is set using S-C-space.
2309 When the global mark is active, any text which is cut or copied is
2310 automatically inserted at the global mark position. See the
2311 commentary in cua-base.el for more global mark related commands.
2313 The features of cua also works with the standard emacs bindings for
2314 kill, copy, yank, and undo. If you want to use cua mode, but don't
2315 want the C-x, C-c, C-v, and C-z bindings, you may customize the
2316 `cua-enable-cua-keys' variable.
2318 Note: This version of cua mode is not backwards compatible with older
2319 versions of cua.el and cua-mode.el. To ensure proper operation, you
2320 must remove older versions of cua.el or cua-mode.el as well as the
2321 loading and customization of those packages from the .emacs file.
2323 ** The new keypad setup package provides several common bindings for
2324 the numeric keypad which is available on most keyboards. The numeric
2325 keypad typically has the digits 0 to 9, a decimal point, keys marked
2326 +, -, /, and *, an Enter key, and a NumLock toggle key. The keypad
2327 package only controls the use of the digit and decimal keys.
2329 By customizing the variables `keypad-setup', `keypad-shifted-setup',
2330 `keypad-numlock-setup', and `keypad-numlock-shifted-setup', or by
2331 using the function `keypad-setup', you can rebind all digit keys and
2332 the decimal key of the keypad in one step for each of the four
2333 possible combinations of the Shift key state (not pressed/pressed) and
2334 the NumLock toggle state (off/on).
2336 The choices for the keypad keys in each of the above states are:
2337 `Plain numeric keypad' where the keys generates plain digits,
2338 `Numeric keypad with decimal key' where the character produced by the
2339 decimal key can be customized individually (for internationalization),
2340 `Numeric Prefix Arg' where the keypad keys produce numeric prefix args
2341 for emacs editing commands, `Cursor keys' and `Shifted Cursor keys'
2342 where the keys work like (shifted) arrow keys, home/end, etc., and
2343 `Unspecified/User-defined' where the keypad keys (kp-0, kp-1, etc.)
2344 are left unspecified and can be bound individually through the global
2348 ** The new kmacro package provides a simpler user interface to
2349 emacs' keyboard macro facilities.
2351 Basically, it uses two function keys (default F3 and F4) like this:
2352 F3 starts a macro, F4 ends the macro, and pressing F4 again executes
2353 the last macro. While defining the macro, F3 inserts a counter value
2354 which automatically increments every time the macro is executed.
2356 There is now a keyboard macro ring which stores the most recently
2359 The C-x C-k sequence is now a prefix for the kmacro keymap which
2360 defines bindings for moving through the keyboard macro ring,
2361 C-x C-k C-p and C-x C-k C-n, editing the last macro C-x C-k C-e,
2362 manipulating the macro counter and format via C-x C-k C-c,
2363 C-x C-k C-a, and C-x C-k C-f. See the commentary in kmacro.el
2366 The normal macro bindings C-x (, C-x ), and C-x e now interfaces to
2367 the keyboard macro ring.
2369 The C-x e command now automatically terminates the current macro
2370 before calling it, if used while defining a macro.
2372 In addition, when ending or calling a macro with C-x e, the macro can
2373 be repeated immediately by typing just the `e'. You can customize
2374 this behavior via the variable kmacro-call-repeat-key and
2375 kmacro-call-repeat-with-arg.
2377 Keyboard macros can now be debugged and edited interactively.
2378 C-x C-k SPC steps through the last keyboard macro one key sequence
2379 at a time, prompting for the actions to take.
2382 ** The old Octave mode bindings C-c f and C-c i have been changed
2383 to C-c C-f and C-c C-i. The C-c C-i subcommands now have duplicate
2384 bindings on control characters--thus, C-c C-i C-b is the same as
2385 C-c C-i b, and so on.
2387 ** The printing package is now part of the Emacs distribution.
2389 If you enable the printing package by including (require 'printing) in
2390 the .emacs file, the normal Print item on the File menu is replaced
2391 with a Print sub-menu which allows you to preview output through
2392 ghostview, use ghostscript to print (if you don't have a PostScript
2393 printer) or send directly to printer a PostScript code generated by
2394 `ps-print' package. Use M-x pr-help for more information.
2397 ** Calc is now part of the Emacs distribution.
2399 Calc is an advanced desk calculator and mathematical tool written in
2400 Emacs Lisp. Its documentation is in a separate manual; within Emacs,
2401 type "C-h i m calc RET" to read that manual. A reference card is
2402 available in `etc/calccard.tex' and `etc/calccard.ps'.
2405 ** Tramp is now part of the distribution.
2407 This package is similar to Ange-FTP: it allows you to edit remote
2408 files. But whereas Ange-FTP uses FTP to access the remote host,
2409 Tramp uses a shell connection. The shell connection is always used
2410 for filename completion and directory listings and suchlike, but for
2411 the actual file transfer, you can choose between the so-called
2412 `inline' methods (which transfer the files through the shell
2413 connection using base64 or uu encoding) and the `out-of-band' methods
2414 (which invoke an external copying program such as `rcp' or `scp' or
2415 `rsync' to do the copying).
2417 Shell connections can be acquired via `rsh', `ssh', `telnet' and also
2421 ** The new global minor mode `file-name-shadow-mode' modifies the way
2422 filenames being entered by the user in the minibuffer are displayed, so
2423 that it's clear when part of the entered filename will be ignored due to
2424 emacs' filename parsing rules. The ignored portion can be made dim,
2425 invisible, or otherwise less visually noticable. The display method may
2426 be displayed by customizing the variable `file-name-shadow-properties'.
2429 ** The ruler-mode.el library provides a minor mode for displaying an
2430 "active" ruler in the header line. You can use the mouse to visually
2431 change the `fill-column', `window-margins' and `tab-stop-list'
2435 ** The minor mode Reveal mode makes text visible on the fly as you
2436 move your cursor into hidden regions of the buffer.
2437 It should work with any package that uses overlays to hide parts
2438 of a buffer, such as outline-minor-mode, hs-minor-mode, hide-ifdef-mode, ...
2440 There is also Global Reveal mode which affects all buffers.
2443 ** The new package ibuffer provides a powerful, completely
2444 customizable replacement for buff-menu.el.
2446 ** The new package table.el implements editable, WYSIWYG, embedded
2447 `text tables' in Emacs buffers. It simulates the effect of putting
2448 these tables in a special major mode. The package emulates WYSIWYG
2449 table editing available in modern word processors. The package also
2450 can generate a table source in typesetting and markup languages such
2451 as latex and html from the visually laid out text table.
2454 ** SES mode (ses-mode) is a new major mode for creating and editing
2455 spreadsheet files. Besides the usual Emacs features (intuitive command
2456 letters, undo, cell formulas in Lisp, plaintext files, etc.) it also offers
2457 viral immunity and import/export of tab-separated values.
2460 ** Support for `magic cookie' standout modes has been removed.
2461 Emacs will still work on terminals that require magic cookies in order
2462 to use standout mode, however they will not be able to display
2463 mode-lines in inverse-video.
2466 ** cplus-md.el has been removed to avoid problems with Custom.
2468 ** New package benchmark.el contains simple support for convenient
2469 timing measurements of code (including the garbage collection component).
2471 ** The new Lisp library fringe.el controls the appearance of fringes.
2473 ** `cfengine-mode' is a major mode for editing GNU Cfengine
2474 configuration files.
2476 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 21.4
2479 ** `suppress-keymap' now works by remapping `self-insert-command' to
2480 the command `undefined'. (In earlier Emacs versions, it used
2481 `substitute-key-definition' to rebind self inserting characters to
2485 ** Mode line display ignores text properties as well as the
2486 :propertize and :eval forms in the value of a variable whose
2487 `risky-local-variable' property is nil.
2489 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 21.4
2491 ** An element of buffer-undo-list can now have the form (FUNNAME .
2492 ARGS), where FUNNAME is a symbol other than t or nil. That stands for
2493 a high-level change that should be undone by evaluating (apply FUNNAME
2497 ** The line-move, scroll-up, and scroll-down functions will now
2498 modify the window vscroll to scroll through display rows that are
2499 taller that the height of the window, for example in the presense of
2500 large images. To disable this feature, Lisp code may bind the new
2501 variable `auto-window-vscroll' to nil.
2504 ** If a buffer sets buffer-save-without-query to non-nil,
2505 save-some-buffers will always save that buffer without asking
2509 ** The function symbol-file tells you which file defined
2510 a certain function or variable.
2512 ** Lisp code can now test if a given buffer position is inside a
2513 clickable link with the new function `mouse-on-link-p'. This is the
2514 function used by the new `mouse-1-click-follows-link' functionality.
2517 ** (while-no-input BODY...) runs BODY, but only so long as no input
2518 arrives. If the user types or clicks anything, BODY stops as if a
2519 quit had occurred. while-no-input returns the value of BODY, if BODY
2520 finishes. It returns nil if BODY was aborted.
2523 ** `set-auto-mode' now gives the interpreter magic line (if present)
2524 precedence over the file name. Likewise an <?xml or <!DOCTYPE declaration
2525 will give the buffer XML or SGML mode, based on the new var
2529 ** New function `looking-back' checks whether a regular expression matches
2530 the text before point. Specifying the LIMIT argument bounds how far
2531 back the match can start; this is a way to keep it from taking too long.
2534 ** New functions `make-progress-reporter', `progress-reporter-update',
2535 `progress-reporter-force-update', `progress-reporter-done', and
2536 `dotimes-with-progress-reporter' provide a simple and efficient way for
2537 a command to present progress messages for the user.
2540 ** To manipulate the File menu using easy-menu, you must specify the
2541 proper name "file". In previous Emacs versions, you had to specify
2542 "files", even though the menu item itself was changed to say "File"
2543 several versions ago.
2546 ** read-from-minibuffer now accepts an additional argument KEEP-ALL
2547 saying to put all inputs in the history list, even empty ones.
2550 ** The new variable search-spaces-regexp controls how to search
2551 for spaces in a regular expression. If it is non-nil, it should be a
2552 regular expression, and any series of spaces stands for that regular
2553 expression. If it is nil, spaces stand for themselves.
2555 Spaces inside of constructs such as [..] and *, +, ? are never
2556 replaced with search-spaces-regexp.
2559 ** list-buffers-noselect now takes an additional argument, BUFFER-LIST.
2560 If it is non-nil, it specifies which buffers to list.
2563 ** set-buffer-file-coding-system now takes an additional argument,
2564 NOMODIFY. If it is non-nil, it means don't mark the buffer modified.
2567 ** The new function syntax-after returns the syntax code
2568 of the character after a specified buffer position, taking account
2569 of text properties as well as the character code.
2572 ** The new primitive `get-internal-run-time' returns the processor
2573 run time used by Emacs since start-up.
2576 ** The new function `called-interactively-p' does what many people
2577 have mistakenly believed `interactive-p' did: it returns t if the
2578 calling function was called through `call-interactively'. This should
2579 only be used when you cannot add a new "interactive" argument to the
2583 ** The new function `assoc-string' replaces `assoc-ignore-case' and
2584 `assoc-ignore-representation', which are still available, but have
2585 been declared obsolete.
2588 ** An interactive specification may now use the code letter 'U' to get
2589 the up-event that was discarded in case the last key sequence read for a
2590 previous 'k' or 'K' argument was a down-event; otherwise nil is used.
2592 ** Function `translate-region' accepts also a char-table as TABLE
2596 ** Major mode functions now run the new normal hook
2597 `after-change-major-mode-hook', at their very end, after the mode hooks.
2600 ** `auto-save-file-format' has been renamed to
2601 `buffer-auto-save-file-format' and made into a permanent local.
2604 ** Both the variable and the function `disabled-command-hook' have
2605 been renamed to `disabled-command-function'. The variable
2606 `disabled-command-hook' has been kept as an obsolete alias.
2608 ** Function `compute-motion' now calculates the usable window
2609 width if the WIDTH argument is nil. If the TOPOS argument is nil,
2610 the usable window height and width is used.
2613 ** `visited-file-modtime' and `calendar-time-from-absolute' now return
2614 a list of two integers, instead of a cons.
2616 ** If a command sets transient-mark-mode to `only', that
2617 enables Transient Mark mode for the following command only.
2618 During that following command, the value of transient-mark-mode
2619 is `identity'. If it is still `identity' at the end of the command,
2623 ** Cleaner way to enter key sequences.
2625 You can enter a constant key sequence in a more natural format, the
2626 same one used for saving keyboard macros, using the macro `kbd'. For
2629 (kbd "C-x C-f") => "\^x\^f"
2631 ** The sentinel is now called when a network process is deleted with
2632 delete-process. The status message passed to the sentinel for a
2633 deleted network process is "deleted". The message passed to the
2634 sentinel when the connection is closed by the remote peer has been
2635 changed to "connection broken by remote peer".
2637 ** If the buffer's undo list for the current command gets longer than
2638 undo-outer-limit, garbage collection empties it. This is to prevent
2639 it from using up the available memory and choking Emacs.
2642 ** New function quail-find-key returns a list of keys to type in the
2643 current input method to input a character.
2646 ** New functions posn-at-point and posn-at-x-y return
2647 click-event-style position information for a given visible buffer
2648 position or for a given window pixel coordinate.
2650 ** skip-chars-forward and skip-chars-backward now handle
2651 character classes such as [:alpha:], along with individual characters
2654 ** Function pos-visible-in-window-p now returns the pixel coordinates
2655 and partial visiblity state of the corresponding row, if the PARTIALLY
2658 ** The function `eql' is now available without requiring the CL package.
2661 ** The new primitive `set-file-times' sets a file's access and
2662 modification times. Magic file name handlers can handle this
2666 ** The display space :width and :align-to text properties are now
2667 supported on text terminals.
2670 ** Support for displaying image slices
2672 *** New display property (slice X Y WIDTH HEIGHT) may be used with
2673 an image property to display only a specific slice of the image.
2675 *** Function insert-image has new optional fourth arg to
2676 specify image slice (X Y WIDTH HEIGHT).
2678 *** New function insert-sliced-image inserts a given image as a
2679 specified number of evenly sized slices (rows x columns).
2682 ** New line-height and line-spacing properties for newline characters
2684 A newline may now have line-height and line-spacing text or overlay
2685 properties that control the height of the corresponding display row.
2687 If the line-height property value is t, the newline does not
2688 contribute to the height of the display row; instead the height of the
2689 newline glyph is reduced. Also, a line-spacing property on this
2690 newline is ignored. This can be used to tile small images or image
2691 slices without adding blank areas between the images.
2693 If the line-height property value is a positive integer, the value
2694 specifies the minimum line height in pixels. If necessary, the line
2695 height it increased by increasing the line's ascent.
2697 If the line-height property value is a float, the minimum line height
2698 is calculated by multiplying the default frame line height by the
2701 If the line-height property value is a cons (FACE . RATIO), the
2702 minimum line height is calculated as RATIO * height of named FACE.
2703 RATIO is int or float. If FACE is t, it specifies the current face.
2705 If the line-height property value is a cons (nil . RATIO), the line
2706 height is calculated as RATIO * actual height of the line's contents.
2708 If the line-height value is a cons (HEIGHT . TOTAL), HEIGHT specifies
2709 the line height as described above, while TOTAL is any of the forms
2710 described above and specifies the total height of the line, causing a
2711 varying number of pixels to be inserted after the line to make it line
2712 exactly that many pixels high.
2714 If the line-spacing property value is an positive integer, the value
2715 is used as additional pixels to insert after the display line; this
2716 overrides the default frame line-spacing and any buffer local value of
2717 the line-spacing variable.
2719 If the line-spacing property may be a float or cons, the line spacing
2720 is calculated as specified above for the line-height property.
2722 ** The buffer local line-spacing variable may now have a float value,
2723 which is used as a height relative to the default frame line height.
2726 ** Enhancements to stretch display properties
2728 The display property stretch specification form `(space PROPS)', where
2729 PROPS is a property list now allows pixel based width and height
2730 specifications, as well as enhanced horizontal text alignment.
2732 The value of these properties can now be a (primitive) expression
2733 which is evaluated during redisplay. The following expressions
2736 EXPR ::= NUM | (NUM) | UNIT | ELEM | POS | IMAGE | FORM
2737 NUM ::= INTEGER | FLOAT | SYMBOL
2738 UNIT ::= in | mm | cm | width | height
2739 ELEM ::= left-fringe | right-fringe | left-margin | right-margin
2741 POS ::= left | center | right
2742 FORM ::= (NUM . EXPR) | (OP EXPR ...)
2745 The form `NUM' specifies a fractional width or height of the default
2746 frame font size. The form `(NUM)' specifies an absolute number of
2747 pixels. If a symbol is specified, its buffer-local variable binding
2748 is used. The `in', `mm', and `cm' units specifies the number of
2749 pixels per inch, milli-meter, and centi-meter, resp. The `width' and
2750 `height' units correspond to the width and height of the current face
2751 font. An image specification corresponds to the width or height of
2754 The `left-fringe', `right-fringe', `left-margin', `right-margin',
2755 `scroll-bar', and `text' elements specify to the width of the
2756 corresponding area of the window.
2758 The `left', `center', and `right' positions can be used with :align-to
2759 to specify a position relative to the left edge, center, or right edge
2760 of the text area. One of the above window elements (except `text')
2761 can also be used with :align-to to specify that the position is
2762 relative to the left edge of the given area. Once the base offset for
2763 a relative position has been set (by the first occurrence of one of
2764 these symbols), further occurences of these symbols are interpreted as
2765 the width of the area.
2767 For example, to align to the center of the left-margin, use
2768 :align-to (+ left-margin (0.5 . left-margin))
2770 If no specific base offset is set for alignment, it is always relative
2771 to the left edge of the text area. For example, :align-to 0 in a
2772 header-line aligns with the first text column in the text area.
2774 The value of the form `(NUM . EXPR)' is the value of NUM multiplied by
2775 the value of the expression EXPR. For example, (2 . in) specifies a
2776 width of 2 inches, while (0.5 . IMAGE) specifies half the width (or
2777 height) of the specified image.
2779 The form `(+ EXPR ...)' adds up the value of the expressions.
2780 The form `(- EXPR ...)' negates or subtracts the value of the expressions.
2783 ** Normally, the cursor is displayed at the end of any overlay and
2784 text property string that may be present at the current window
2785 position. The cursor may now be placed on any character of such
2786 strings by giving that character a non-nil `cursor' text property.
2788 ** New macro with-local-quit temporarily sets inhibit-quit to nil for use
2789 around potentially blocking or long-running code in timers
2790 and post-command-hooks.
2792 ** The first face specification element in a defface can specify
2793 `default' instead of frame classification. Then its attributes act as
2794 defaults that apply to all the subsequent cases (and may be overridden
2798 ** New face attribute `min-colors' can be used to tailor the face color
2799 to the number of colors supported by a display, and define the
2800 foreground and background colors accordingly so that they look best on
2801 a terminal that supports at least this many colors. This is now the
2802 preferred method for defining default faces in a way that makes a good
2803 use of the capabilities of the display.
2806 ** Customizable fringe bitmaps
2808 *** New function 'define-fringe-bitmap' can now be used to create new
2809 fringe bitmaps, as well as change the built-in fringe bitmaps.
2811 To change a built-in bitmap, do (require 'fringe) and use the symbol
2812 identifing the bitmap such as `left-truncation or `continued-line'.
2814 *** New function 'destroy-fringe-bitmap' may be used to destroy a
2815 previously created bitmap, or restore a built-in bitmap.
2817 *** New function 'set-fringe-bitmap-face' can now be used to set a
2818 specific face to be used for a specific fringe bitmap. Normally,
2819 this should be a face derived from the `fringe' face, specifying
2820 the foreground color as the desired color of the bitmap.
2822 *** There are new display properties, left-fringe and right-fringe,
2823 that can be used to show a specific bitmap in the left or right fringe
2824 bitmap of the display line.
2826 Format is 'display '(left-fringe BITMAP [FACE]), where BITMAP is a
2827 symbol identifying a fringe bitmap, either built-in or defined with
2828 `define-fringe-bitmap', and FACE is an optional face name to be used
2829 for displaying the bitmap.
2831 *** New function `fringe-bitmaps-at-pos' returns the current fringe
2832 bitmaps in the display line at a given buffer position.
2834 ** Multiple overlay arrows can now be defined and managed via the new
2835 variable `overlay-arrow-variable-list'. It contains a list of
2836 varibles which contain overlay arrow position markers, including
2837 the original `overlay-arrow-position' variable.
2839 Each variable on this list may have individual `overlay-arrow-string'
2840 and `overlay-arrow-bitmap' properties that specify an overlay arrow
2841 string (for non-window terminals) or fringe bitmap (for window
2842 systems) to display at the corresponding overlay arrow position.
2843 If either property is not set, the default `overlay-arrow-string' or
2844 'overlay-arrow-fringe-bitmap' will be used.
2847 ** New function `line-number-at-pos' returns line number of current
2848 line in current buffer, or if optional buffer position is given, line
2849 number of corresponding line in current buffer.
2852 ** The default value of `sentence-end' is now defined using the new
2853 variable `sentence-end-without-space' which contains such characters
2854 that end a sentence without following spaces.
2857 ** The function `sentence-end' should be used to obtain the value of
2858 the variable `sentence-end'. If the variable `sentence-end' is nil,
2859 then this function returns the regexp constructed from the variables
2860 `sentence-end-without-period', `sentence-end-double-space' and
2861 `sentence-end-without-space'.
2864 ** The flags, width, and precision options for %-specifications in function
2865 `format' are now documented. Some flags that were accepted but not
2866 implemented (such as "*") are no longer accepted.
2868 ** New function `macroexpand-all' expands all macros in a form.
2869 It is similar to the Common-Lisp function of the same name.
2870 One difference is that it guarantees to return the original argument
2871 if no expansion is done, which may be tested using `eq'.
2874 ** New function `delete-dups' destructively removes `equal' duplicates
2875 from a list. Of several `equal' occurrences of an element in the list,
2876 the first one is kept.
2879 ** `declare' is now a macro. This change was made mostly for
2880 documentation purposes and should have no real effect on Lisp code.
2882 ** The new hook `before-save-hook' is invoked by `basic-save-buffer'
2883 before saving buffers. This allows packages to perform various final
2884 tasks, for example; it can be used by the copyright package to make
2885 sure saved files have the current year in any copyright headers.
2888 ** The function `insert-for-yank' now supports strings where the
2889 `yank-handler' property does not span the first character of the
2890 string. The old behavior is available if you call
2891 `insert-for-yank-1' instead.
2893 ** New function `get-char-property-and-overlay' accepts the same
2894 arguments as `get-char-property' and returns a cons whose car is the
2895 return value of `get-char-property' called with those arguments and
2896 whose cdr is the overlay in which the property was found, or nil if
2897 it was found as a text property or not found at all.
2901 ** The mouse pointer shape in void text areas (i.e. after the end of a
2902 line or below the last line in the buffer) of the text window is now
2903 controlled by the new variable `void-text-area-pointer'. The default
2904 is to use the `arrow' (non-text) pointer. Other choices are `text'
2905 (or nil), `hand', `vdrag', `hdrag', `modeline', and `hourglass'.
2908 ** The mouse pointer shape over an image can now be controlled by the
2909 :pointer image property.
2912 ** The mouse pointer shape over ordinary text or images may now be
2913 controlled/overriden via the `pointer' text property.
2916 ** Images may now have an associated image map via the :map property.
2918 An image map is an alist where each element has the format (AREA ID PLIST).
2919 An AREA is specified as either a rectangle, a circle, or a polygon:
2920 A rectangle is a cons (rect . ((x0 . y0) . (x1 . y1))) specifying the
2921 pixel coordinates of the upper left and bottom right corners.
2922 A circle is a cons (circle . ((x0 . y0) . r)) specifying the center
2923 and the radius of the circle; r may be a float or integer.
2924 A polygon is a cons (poly . [x0 y0 x1 y1 ...]) where each pair in the
2925 vector describes one corner in the polygon.
2927 When the mouse pointer is above a hot-spot area of an image, the
2928 PLIST of that hot-spot is consulted; if it contains a `help-echo'
2929 property it defines a tool-tip for the hot-spot, and if it contains
2930 a `pointer' property, it defines the shape of the mouse cursor when
2931 it is over the hot-spot. See the variable 'void-area-text-pointer'
2932 for possible pointer shapes.
2934 When you click the mouse when the mouse pointer is over a hot-spot,
2935 an event is composed by combining the ID of the hot-spot with the
2936 mouse event, e.g. [area4 mouse-1] if the hot-spot's ID is `area4'.
2938 ** Mouse event enhancements:
2940 *** Mouse clicks on fringes now generates left-fringe or right-fringes
2941 events, rather than a text area click event.
2943 *** Mouse clicks in the left and right marginal areas now includes a
2944 sensible buffer position corresponding to the first character in the
2945 corresponding text row.
2947 *** Function `mouse-set-point' now works for events outside text area.
2950 *** Mouse events now includes buffer position for all event types.
2953 *** `posn-point' now returns buffer position for non-text area events.
2956 *** New function `posn-area' returns window area clicked on (nil means
2960 *** Mouse events include actual glyph column and row for all event types.
2963 *** New function `posn-actual-col-row' returns actual glyph coordinates.
2966 *** Mouse events may now include image object in addition to string object.
2969 *** Mouse events include relative x and y pixel coordinates relative to
2970 the top left corner of the object (image or character) clicked on.
2973 *** Mouse events include the pixel width and height of the object
2974 (image or character) clicked on.
2977 *** New functions 'posn-object', 'posn-object-x-y', and
2978 'posn-object-width-height' return the image or string object of a mouse
2979 click, the x and y pixel coordinates relative to the top left corner
2980 of that object, and the total width and height of that object.
2982 ** New function `force-window-update' can initiate a full redisplay of
2983 one or all windows. Normally, this is not needed as changes in window
2984 contents are detected automatically. However, certain implicit
2985 changes to mode lines, header lines, or display properties may require
2986 forcing an explicit window update.
2988 ** New function `redirect-debugging-output' can be used to redirect
2989 debugging output on the stderr file handle to a file.
2992 ** `split-string' now includes null substrings in the returned list if
2993 the optional argument SEPARATORS is non-nil and there are matches for
2994 SEPARATORS at the beginning or end of the string. If SEPARATORS is
2995 nil, or if the new optional third argument OMIT-NULLS is non-nil, all
2996 empty matches are omitted from the returned list.
2999 ** `makehash' is now obsolete. Use `make-hash-table' instead.
3002 ** If optional third argument APPEND to `add-to-list' is non-nil, a
3003 new element gets added at the end of the list instead of at the
3004 beginning. This change actually occurred in Emacs-21.1, but was not
3007 ** Major modes can define `eldoc-print-current-symbol-info-function'
3008 locally to provide Eldoc functionality by some method appropriate to
3012 ** New coding system property `mime-text-unsuitable' indicates that
3013 the coding system's `mime-charset' is not suitable for MIME text
3017 ** The argument to forward-word, backward-word, forward-to-indentation
3018 and backward-to-indentation is now optional, and defaults to 1.
3021 ** (char-displayable-p CHAR) returns non-nil if Emacs ought to be able
3022 to display CHAR. More precisely, if the selected frame's fontset has
3023 a font to display the character set that CHAR belongs to.
3025 Fontsets can specify a font on a per-character basis; when the fontset
3026 does that, this value may not be accurate.
3029 ** The new function `window-inside-edges' returns the edges of the
3030 actual text portion of the window, not including the scroll bar or
3031 divider line, the fringes, the display margins, the header line and
3035 ** The new functions `window-pixel-edges' and `window-inside-pixel-edges'
3036 return window edges in units of pixels, rather than columns and lines.
3039 ** The kill-buffer-hook is now permanent-local.
3042 ** `select-window' takes an optional second argument `norecord', like
3046 ** The new macro `with-selected-window' temporarily switches the
3047 selected window without impacting the order of buffer-list.
3050 ** The `keymap' property now also works at the ends of overlays and
3051 text-properties, according to their stickiness. This also means that it
3052 works with empty overlays. The same hold for the `local-map' property.
3055 ** (map-keymap FUNCTION KEYMAP) applies the function to each binding
3059 ** VC changes for backends:
3060 *** (vc-switches BACKEND OPERATION) is a new function for use by backends.
3061 *** The new `find-version' backend function replaces the `destfile'
3062 parameter of the `checkout' backend function.
3063 Old code still works thanks to a default `find-version' behavior that
3064 uses the old `destfile' parameter.
3067 ** The new macro dynamic-completion-table supports using functions
3068 as a dynamic completion table.
3070 (dynamic-completion-table FUN)
3072 FUN is called with one argument, the string for which completion is required,
3073 and it should return an alist containing all the intended possible
3074 completions. This alist may be a full list of possible completions so that FUN
3075 can ignore the value of its argument. If completion is performed in the
3076 minibuffer, FUN will be called in the buffer from which the minibuffer was
3077 entered. dynamic-completion-table then computes the completion.
3080 ** The new macro lazy-completion-table initializes a variable
3081 as a lazy completion table.
3083 (lazy-completion-table VAR FUN &rest ARGS)
3085 If the completion table VAR is used for the first time (e.g., by passing VAR
3086 as an argument to `try-completion'), the function FUN is called with arguments
3087 ARGS. FUN must return the completion table that will be stored in VAR. If
3088 completion is requested in the minibuffer, FUN will be called in the buffer
3089 from which the minibuffer was entered. The return value of
3090 `lazy-completion-table' must be used to initialize the value of VAR.
3093 ** `minor-mode-list' now holds a list of minor mode commands.
3096 ** The new function `modify-all-frames-parameters' modifies parameters
3097 for all (existing and future) frames.
3100 ** `sit-for' can now be called with args (SECONDS &optional NODISP).
3103 ** New standard font-lock face `font-lock-preprocessor-face'.
3106 ** The macro `with-syntax-table' does not copy the table any more.
3109 ** The variable `face-font-rescale-alist' specifies how much larger
3110 (or smaller) font we should use. For instance, if the value is
3111 '((SOME-FONTNAME-PATTERN . 1.3)) and a face requests a font of 10
3112 point, we actually use a font of 13 point if the font matches
3113 SOME-FONTNAME-PATTERN.
3116 ** The function `number-sequence' returns a list of equally-separated
3117 numbers. For instance, (number-sequence 4 9) returns (4 5 6 7 8 9).
3118 By default, the separation is 1, but you can specify a different separation
3119 as the third argument. (number-sequence 1.5 6 2) returns (1.5 3.5 5.5).
3122 ** `file-chase-links' now takes an optional second argument LIMIT which
3123 specifies the maximum number of links to chase through. If after that
3124 many iterations the file name obtained is still a symbolic link,
3125 `file-chase-links' returns it anyway.
3128 ** `set-fontset-font', `fontset-info', `fontset-font' now operate on
3129 the default fontset if the argument NAME is nil..
3132 ** The escape sequence \s is now interpreted as a SPACE character,
3133 unless it is followed by a `-' in a character constant (e.g. ?\s-A),
3134 in which case it is still interpreted as the super modifier.
3135 In strings, \s is always interpreted as a space.
3138 ** New function `set-process-filter-multibyte' sets the multibyteness
3139 of a string given to a process's filter.
3142 ** New function `process-filter-multibyte-p' returns t if
3143 a string given to a process's filter is multibyte.
3146 ** A filter function of a process is called with a multibyte string if
3147 the filter's multibyteness is t. That multibyteness is decided by the
3148 value of `default-enable-multibyte-characters' when the process is
3149 created and can be changed later by `set-process-filter-multibyte'.
3152 ** If a process's coding system is raw-text or no-conversion and its
3153 buffer is multibyte, the output of the process is at first converted
3154 to multibyte by `string-to-multibyte' then inserted in the buffer.
3155 Previously, it was converted to multibyte by `string-as-multibyte',
3156 which was not compatible with the behavior of file reading.
3159 ** New function `string-to-multibyte' converts a unibyte string to a
3160 multibyte string with the same individual character codes.
3163 ** New variables `gc-elapsed' and `gcs-done' provide extra information
3164 on garbage collection.
3167 ** New function `decode-coding-inserted-region' decodes a region as if
3168 it is read from a file without decoding.
3171 ** New function `locale-info' accesses locale information.
3174 ** `save-selected-window' now saves and restores the selected window
3175 of every frame. This way, it restores everything that can be changed
3176 by calling `select-window'.
3179 ** `easy-menu-define' now allows you to use nil for the symbol name
3180 if you don't need to give the menu a name. If you install the menu
3181 into other keymaps right away (MAPS is non-nil), it usually doesn't
3182 need to have a name.
3184 ** Byte compiler changes:
3187 *** `(featurep 'xemacs)' is treated by the compiler as nil. This
3188 helps to avoid noisy compiler warnings in code meant to run under both
3189 Emacs and XEmacs and may sometimes make the result significantly more
3190 efficient. Since byte code from recent versions of XEmacs won't
3191 generally run in Emacs and vice versa, this optimization doesn't lose
3195 *** You can avoid warnings for possibly-undefined symbols with a
3196 simple convention that the compiler understands. (This is mostly
3197 useful in code meant to be portable to different Emacs versions.)
3198 Write forms like the following, or code that macroexpands into such
3201 (if (fboundp 'foo) <then> <else>)
3202 (if (boundp 'foo) <then> <else)
3204 In the first case, using `foo' as a function inside the <then> form
3205 won't produce a warning if it's not defined as a function, and in the
3206 second case, using `foo' as a variable won't produce a warning if it's
3207 unbound. The test must be in exactly one of the above forms (after
3208 macro expansion), but such tests may be nested. Note that `when' and
3209 `unless' expand to `if', but `cond' doesn't.
3212 *** The new macro `with-no-warnings' suppresses all compiler warnings
3213 inside its body. In terms of execution, it is equivalent to `progn'.
3216 ** The new translation table `translation-table-for-input'
3217 is used for customizing self-insertion. The character to
3218 be inserted is translated through it.
3221 ** `load-history' can now have elements of the form (t . FUNNAME),
3222 which means FUNNAME was previously defined as an autoload (before the
3223 current file redefined it).
3226 ** `load-history' now records (defun . FUNNAME) when a function is
3227 defined. For a variable, it records just the variable name.
3230 ** New Lisp library testcover.el works with edebug to help you determine
3231 whether you've tested all your Lisp code. Function testcover-start
3232 instruments all functions in a given file. Then test your code. Function
3233 testcover-mark-all adds overlay "splotches" to the Lisp file's buffer to
3234 show where coverage is lacking. Command testcover-next-mark (bind it to
3235 a key!) will move point forward to the next spot that has a splotch.
3237 *** Normally, a red splotch indicates the form was never completely evaluated;
3238 a brown splotch means it always evaluated to the same value. The red
3239 splotches are skipped for forms that can't possibly complete their evaluation,
3240 such as `error'. The brown splotches are skipped for forms that are expected
3241 to always evaluate to the same value, such as (setq x 14).
3243 *** For difficult cases, you can add do-nothing macros to your code to help
3244 out the test coverage tool. The macro `noreturn' suppresses a red splotch.
3245 It is an error if the argument to `noreturn' does return. The macro 1value
3246 suppresses a brown splotch for its argument. This macro is a no-op except
3247 during test-coverage -- then it signals an error if the argument actually
3248 returns differing values.
3251 ** New function unsafep returns nil if the given Lisp form can't possibly
3252 do anything dangerous; otherwise it returns a reason why the form might be
3253 unsafe (calls dangerous function, alters global variable, etc).
3256 ** The new variable `print-continuous-numbering', when non-nil, says
3257 that successive calls to print functions should use the same
3258 numberings for circular structure references. This is only relevant
3259 when `print-circle' is non-nil.
3261 When you bind `print-continuous-numbering' to t, you should
3262 also bind `print-number-table' to nil.
3265 ** When using non-toolkit scroll bars with the default width,
3266 the scroll-bar-width frame parameter value is nil.
3269 ** The new function copy-abbrev-table returns a new abbrev table that
3270 is a copy of a given abbrev table.
3273 ** The option --script FILE runs Emacs in batch mode and loads FILE.
3274 It is useful for writing Emacs Lisp shell script files, because they
3275 can start with this line:
3277 #!/usr/bin/emacs --script
3279 ** The option --directory DIR now modifies `load-path' immediately.
3280 Directories are added to the front of `load-path' in the order they
3281 appear on the command line. For example, with this command line:
3283 emacs -batch -L .. -L /tmp --eval "(require 'foo)"
3285 Emacs looks for library `foo' in the parent directory, then in /tmp, then
3286 in the other directories in `load-path'. (-L is short for --directory.)
3289 ** A function's docstring can now hold the function's usage info on
3290 its last line. It should match the regexp "\n\n(fn.*)\\'".
3293 ** New CCL functions `lookup-character' and `lookup-integer' access
3294 hash tables defined by the Lisp function `define-translation-hash-table'.
3297 ** The new function `minibufferp' returns non-nil if its optional buffer
3298 argument is a minibuffer. If the argument is omitted it defaults to
3302 ** There is a new Warnings facility; see the functions `warn'
3303 and `display-warning'.
3306 ** The functions all-completions and try-completion now accept lists
3307 of strings as well as hash-tables additionally to alists, obarrays
3308 and functions. Furthermore, the function `test-completion' is now
3312 ** When pure storage overflows while dumping, Emacs now prints how
3313 much pure storage it will approximately need.
3316 ** The new variable `auto-coding-functions' lets you specify functions
3317 to examine a file being visited and deduce the proper coding system
3318 for it. (If the coding system is detected incorrectly for a specific
3319 file, you can put a `coding:' tags to override it.)
3322 ** The new function `merge-coding-systems' fills in unspecified aspects
3323 of one coding system from another coding system.
3326 ** The variable `safe-local-eval-forms' specifies a list of forms that
3327 are ok to evaluate when they appear in an `eval' local variables
3328 specification. Normally Emacs asks for confirmation before evaluating
3329 such a form, but if the form appears in this list, no confirmation is
3333 ** If a function has a non-nil `safe-local-eval-function' property,
3334 that means it is ok to evaluate some calls to that function when it
3335 appears in an `eval' local variables specification. If the property
3336 is t, then any form calling that function with constant arguments is
3337 ok. If the property is a function or list of functions, they are called
3338 with the form as argument, and if any returns t, the form is ok to call.
3340 If the form is not "ok to call", that means Emacs asks for
3341 confirmation as before.
3344 ** Controlling the default left and right fringe widths.
3346 The default left and right fringe widths for all windows of a frame
3347 can now be controlled by setting the `left-fringe' and `right-fringe'
3348 frame parameters to an integer value specifying the width in pixels.
3349 Setting the width to 0 effectively removes the corresponding fringe.
3351 The actual default fringe widths for the frame may deviate from the
3352 specified widths, since the combined fringe widths must match an
3353 integral number of columns. The extra width is distributed evenly
3354 between the left and right fringe. For force a specific fringe width,
3355 specify the width as a negative integer (if both widths are negative,
3356 only the left fringe gets the specified width).
3358 Setting the width to nil (the default), restores the default fringe
3359 width which is the minimum number of pixels necessary to display any
3360 of the currently defined fringe bitmaps. The width of the built-in
3361 fringe bitmaps is 8 pixels.
3364 ** Per-window fringes settings
3366 Windows can now have their own individual fringe widths and position
3369 To control the fringe widths of a window, either set the buffer-local
3370 variables `left-fringe-width', `right-fringe-width', or call
3371 `set-window-fringes'.
3373 To control the fringe position in a window, that is, whether fringes
3374 are positioned between the display margins and the window's text area,
3375 or at the edges of the window, either set the buffer-local variable
3376 `fringes-outside-margins' or call `set-window-fringes'.
3378 The function `window-fringes' can be used to obtain the current
3379 settings. To make `left-fringe-width', `right-fringe-width', and
3380 `fringes-outside-margins' take effect, you must set them before
3381 displaying the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force
3382 an update of the display margins.
3385 ** Per-window vertical scroll-bar settings
3387 Windows can now have their own individual scroll-bar settings
3388 controlling the width and position of scroll-bars.
3390 To control the scroll-bar of a window, either set the buffer-local
3391 variables `scroll-bar-mode' and `scroll-bar-width', or call
3392 `set-window-scroll-bars'. The function `window-scroll-bars' can be
3393 used to obtain the current settings. To make `scroll-bar-mode' and
3394 `scroll-bar-width' take effect, you must set them before displaying
3395 the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force an update
3396 of the display margins.
3399 ** The function `set-window-buffer' now has an optional third argument
3400 KEEP-MARGINS which will preserve the window's current margin, fringe,
3401 and scroll-bar settings if non-nil.
3404 ** Renamed hooks to better follow the naming convention:
3405 find-file-hooks to find-file-hook,
3406 find-file-not-found-hooks to find-file-not-found-functions,
3407 write-file-hooks to write-file-functions,
3408 write-contents-hooks to write-contents-functions,
3409 x-lost-selection-hooks to x-lost-selection-functions,
3410 x-sent-selection-hooks to x-sent-selection-functions.
3411 Marked local-write-file-hooks as obsolete (use the LOCAL arg of `add-hook').
3414 ** The new variable `delete-frame-functions' replaces `delete-frame-hook'.
3415 It was renamed to follow the naming conventions for abnormal hooks. The old
3416 name remains available as an alias, but has been marked obsolete.
3419 ** The `read-file-name' function now takes an additional argument which
3420 specifies a predicate which the file name read must satify. The
3421 new variable `read-file-name-predicate' contains the predicate argument
3422 while reading the file name from the minibuffer; the predicate in this
3423 variable is used by read-file-name-internal to filter the completion list.
3426 ** The new variable `read-file-name-function' can be used by lisp code
3427 to override the internal read-file-name function.
3430 ** The new variable `read-file-name-completion-ignore-case' specifies
3431 whether completion ignores case when reading a file name with the
3432 `read-file-name' function.
3435 ** The new function `read-directory-name' can be used instead of
3436 `read-file-name' to read a directory name; when used, completion
3437 will only show directories.
3440 ** The new function `file-remote-p' tests a file name and returns
3441 non-nil if it specifies a remote file (one that Emacs accesses using
3442 its own special methods and not directly through the file system).
3443 The value in that case is an identifier for the remote file system.
3446 ** When a Lisp file uses CL functions at run-time, compiling the file
3447 now issues warnings about these calls, unless the file performs
3448 (require 'cl) when loaded.
3451 ** The `defmacro' form may contain declarations specifying how to
3452 indent the macro in Lisp mode and how to debug it with Edebug. The
3453 syntax of defmacro has been extended to
3455 (defmacro NAME LAMBDA-LIST [DOC-STRING] [DECLARATION ...] ...)
3457 DECLARATION is a list `(declare DECLARATION-SPECIFIER ...)'. The
3458 declaration specifiers supported are:
3461 Set NAME's `lisp-indent-function' property to INDENT.
3464 Set NAME's `edebug-form-spec' property to DEBUG. (This is
3465 equivalent to writing a `def-edebug-spec' for the macro.
3468 ** Interactive commands can be remapped through keymaps.
3470 This is an alternative to using defadvice or substitute-key-definition
3471 to modify the behavior of a key binding using the normal keymap
3472 binding and lookup functionality.
3474 When a key sequence is bound to a command, and that command is
3475 remapped to another command, that command is run instead of the
3479 Suppose that minor mode my-mode has defined the commands
3480 my-kill-line and my-kill-word, and it wants C-k (and any other key
3481 bound to kill-line) to run the command my-kill-line instead of
3482 kill-line, and likewise it wants to run my-kill-word instead of
3485 Instead of rebinding C-k and the other keys in the minor mode map,
3486 command remapping allows you to directly map kill-line into
3487 my-kill-line and kill-word into my-kill-word through the minor mode
3488 map using define-key:
3490 (define-key my-mode-map [remap kill-line] 'my-kill-line)
3491 (define-key my-mode-map [remap kill-word] 'my-kill-word)
3493 Now, when my-mode is enabled, and the user enters C-k or M-d,
3494 the commands my-kill-line and my-kill-word are run.
3496 Notice that only one level of remapping is supported. In the above
3497 example, this means that if my-kill-line is remapped to other-kill,
3498 then C-k still runs my-kill-line.
3500 The following changes have been made to provide command remapping:
3502 - Command remappings are defined using `define-key' with a prefix-key
3503 `remap', i.e. `(define-key MAP [remap CMD] DEF)' remaps command CMD
3504 to definition DEF in keymap MAP. The definition is not limited to
3505 another command; it can be anything accepted for a normal binding.
3507 - The new function `command-remapping' returns the binding for a
3508 remapped command in the current keymaps, or nil if not remapped.
3510 - key-binding now remaps interactive commands unless the optional
3511 third argument NO-REMAP is non-nil.
3513 - where-is-internal now returns nil for a remapped command (e.g.
3514 kill-line if my-mode is enabled), and the actual key binding for
3515 the command it is remapped to (e.g. C-k for my-kill-line).
3516 It also has a new optional fifth argument, NO-REMAP, which inhibits
3517 remapping if non-nil (e.g. it returns C-k for kill-line and
3518 <kill-line> for my-kill-line).
3520 - The new variable `this-original-command' contains the original
3521 command before remapping. It is equal to `this-command' when the
3522 command was not remapped.
3525 ** New variable emulation-mode-map-alists.
3527 Lisp packages using many minor mode keymaps can now maintain their own
3528 keymap alist separate from minor-mode-map-alist by adding their keymap
3532 ** Atomic change groups.
3534 To perform some changes in the current buffer "atomically" so that
3535 they either all succeed or are all undone, use `atomic-change-group'
3536 around the code that makes changes. For instance:
3538 (atomic-change-group
3540 (delete-region x y))
3542 If an error (or other nonlocal exit) occurs inside the body of
3543 `atomic-change-group', it unmakes all the changes in that buffer that
3544 were during the execution of the body. The change group has no effect
3545 on any other buffers--any such changes remain.
3547 If you need something more sophisticated, you can directly call the
3548 lower-level functions that `atomic-change-group' uses. Here is how.
3550 To set up a change group for one buffer, call `prepare-change-group'.
3551 Specify the buffer as argument; it defaults to the current buffer.
3552 This function returns a "handle" for the change group. You must save
3553 the handle to activate the change group and then finish it.
3555 Before you change the buffer again, you must activate the change
3556 group. Pass the handle to `activate-change-group' afterward to
3559 After you make the changes, you must finish the change group. You can
3560 either accept the changes or cancel them all. Call
3561 `accept-change-group' to accept the changes in the group as final;
3562 call `cancel-change-group' to undo them all.
3564 You should use `unwind-protect' to make sure the group is always
3565 finished. The call to `activate-change-group' should be inside the
3566 `unwind-protect', in case the user types C-g just after it runs.
3567 (This is one reason why `prepare-change-group' and
3568 `activate-change-group' are separate functions.) Once you finish the
3569 group, don't use the handle again--don't try to finish the same group
3572 To make a multibuffer change group, call `prepare-change-group' once
3573 for each buffer you want to cover, then use `nconc' to combine the
3574 returned values, like this:
3576 (nconc (prepare-change-group buffer-1)
3577 (prepare-change-group buffer-2))
3579 You can then activate the multibuffer change group with a single call
3580 to `activate-change-group', and finish it with a single call to
3581 `accept-change-group' or `cancel-change-group'.
3583 Nested use of several change groups for the same buffer works as you
3584 would expect. Non-nested use of change groups for the same buffer
3585 will lead to undesirable results, so don't let it happen; the first
3586 change group you start for any given buffer should be the last one
3590 ** New variable char-property-alias-alist.
3592 This variable allows you to create alternative names for text
3593 properties. It works at the same level as `default-text-properties',
3594 although it applies to overlays as well. This variable was introduced
3595 to implement the `font-lock-face' property.
3598 ** New special text property `font-lock-face'.
3600 This property acts like the `face' property, but it is controlled by
3601 M-x font-lock-mode. It is not, strictly speaking, a builtin text
3602 property. Instead, it is implemented inside font-core.el, using the
3603 new variable `char-property-alias-alist'.
3606 ** New function remove-list-of-text-properties.
3608 The new function `remove-list-of-text-properties' is almost the same
3609 as `remove-text-properties'. The only difference is that it takes
3610 a list of property names as argument rather than a property list.
3613 ** New function insert-for-yank.
3615 This function normally works like `insert' but removes the text
3616 properties in the `yank-excluded-properties' list. However, if the
3617 inserted text has a `yank-handler' text property on the first
3618 character of the string, the insertion of the text may be modified in
3619 a number of ways. See the description of `yank-handler' below.
3622 ** New function insert-buffer-substring-as-yank.
3624 This function works like `insert-buffer-substring', but removes the
3625 text properties in the `yank-excluded-properties' list.
3628 ** New function insert-buffer-substring-no-properties.
3630 This function is like insert-buffer-substring, but removes all
3631 text properties from the inserted substring.
3634 ** New `yank-handler' text property may be used to control how
3635 previously killed text on the kill-ring is reinserted.
3637 The value of the yank-handler property must be a list with one to four
3638 elements with the following format:
3639 (FUNCTION PARAM NOEXCLUDE UNDO).
3641 The `insert-for-yank' function looks for a yank-handler property on
3642 the first character on its string argument (typically the first
3643 element on the kill-ring). If a yank-handler property is found,
3644 the normal behavior of `insert-for-yank' is modified in various ways:
3646 When FUNCTION is present and non-nil, it is called instead of `insert'
3647 to insert the string. FUNCTION takes one argument--the object to insert.
3648 If PARAM is present and non-nil, it replaces STRING as the object
3649 passed to FUNCTION (or `insert'); for example, if FUNCTION is
3650 `yank-rectangle', PARAM should be a list of strings to insert as a
3652 If NOEXCLUDE is present and non-nil, the normal removal of the
3653 yank-excluded-properties is not performed; instead FUNCTION is
3654 responsible for removing those properties. This may be necessary
3655 if FUNCTION adjusts point before or after inserting the object.
3656 If UNDO is present and non-nil, it is a function that will be called
3657 by `yank-pop' to undo the insertion of the current object. It is
3658 called with two arguments, the start and end of the current region.
3659 FUNCTION may set `yank-undo-function' to override the UNDO value.
3661 *** The functions kill-new, kill-append, and kill-region now have an
3662 optional argument to specify the yank-handler text property to put on
3665 *** The function yank-pop will now use a non-nil value of the variable
3666 `yank-undo-function' (instead of delete-region) to undo the previous
3667 yank or yank-pop command (or a call to insert-for-yank). The function
3668 insert-for-yank automatically sets that variable according to the UNDO
3669 element of the string argument's yank-handler text property if present.
3672 ** New function display-supports-face-attributes-p may be used to test
3673 whether a given set of face attributes is actually displayable.
3675 A new predicate `supports' has also been added to the `defface' face
3676 specification language, which can be used to do this test for faces
3677 defined with defface.
3679 ** The function face-differs-from-default-p now truly checks whether the
3680 given face displays differently from the default face or not (previously
3681 it did only a very cursory check).
3684 ** face-attribute, face-foreground, face-background, and face-stipple now
3685 accept a new optional argument, INHERIT, which controls how face
3686 inheritance is used when determining the value of a face attribute.
3689 ** New functions face-attribute-relative-p and merge-face-attribute
3690 help with handling relative face attributes.
3692 ** The priority of faces in an :inherit attribute face-list is reversed.
3693 If a face contains an :inherit attribute with a list of faces, earlier
3694 faces in the list override later faces in the list; in previous releases
3695 of Emacs, the order was the opposite. This change was made so that
3696 :inherit face-lists operate identically to face-lists in text `face'
3700 ** Enhancements to process support
3702 *** Function list-processes now has an optional argument; if non-nil,
3703 only the processes whose query-on-exit flag is set are listed.
3705 *** New set-process-query-on-exit-flag and process-query-on-exit-flag
3706 functions. The existing process-kill-without-query function is still
3707 supported, but new code should use the new functions.
3709 *** Function signal-process now accepts a process object or process
3710 name in addition to a process id to identify the signalled process.
3712 *** Processes now have an associated property list where programs can
3713 maintain process state and other per-process related information.
3715 The new functions process-get and process-put are used to access, add,
3716 and modify elements on this property list.
3718 The new low-level functions process-plist and set-process-plist are
3719 used to access and replace the entire property list of a process.
3721 *** Function accept-process-output now has an optional fourth arg
3722 `just-this-one'. If non-nil, only output from the specified process
3723 is handled, suspending output from other processes. If value is an
3724 integer, also inhibit running timers. This feature is generally not
3725 recommended, but may be necessary for specific applications, such as
3728 *** Adaptive read buffering of subprocess output.
3730 On some systems, when emacs reads the output from a subprocess, the
3731 output data is read in very small blocks, potentially resulting in
3732 very poor performance. This behavior can be remedied to some extent
3733 by setting the new variable process-adaptive-read-buffering to a
3734 non-nil value (the default), as it will automatically delay reading
3735 from such processes, to allowing them to produce more output before
3736 emacs tries to read it.
3739 ** Enhanced networking support.
3741 *** There is a new `make-network-process' function which supports
3742 opening of stream and datagram connections to a server, as well as
3743 create a stream or datagram server inside emacs.
3745 - A server is started using :server t arg.
3746 - Datagram connection is selected using :type 'datagram arg.
3747 - A server can open on a random port using :service t arg.
3748 - Local sockets are supported using :family 'local arg.
3749 - Non-blocking connect is supported using :nowait t arg.
3750 - The process' property list may be initialized using :plist PLIST arg;
3751 a copy of the server process' property list is automatically inherited
3752 by new client processes created to handle incoming connections.
3754 To test for the availability of a given feature, use featurep like this:
3755 (featurep 'make-network-process '(:type datagram))
3757 *** Original open-network-stream is now emulated using make-network-process.
3759 *** New function open-network-stream-nowait.
3761 This function initiates a non-blocking connect and returns immediately
3762 without waiting for the connection to be established. It takes the
3763 filter and sentinel functions as arguments; when the non-blocking
3764 connect completes, the sentinel is called with a status string
3765 matching "open" or "failed".
3767 *** New function open-network-stream-server.
3769 This function creates a network server process for a TCP service.
3770 When a client connects to the specified service, a new subprocess
3771 is created to handle the new connection, and the sentinel function
3772 is called for the new process.
3774 *** New functions process-datagram-address and set-process-datagram-address.
3776 These functions are used with datagram-based network processes to get
3777 and set the current address of the remote partner.
3779 *** New function format-network-address.
3781 This function reformats the lisp representation of a network address
3782 to a printable string. For example, an IP address A.B.C.D and port
3783 number P is represented as a five element vector [A B C D P], and the
3784 printable string returned for this vector is "A.B.C.D:P". See the doc
3785 string for other formatting options.
3787 *** By default, the function process-contact still returns (HOST SERVICE)
3788 for a network process. Using the new optional KEY arg, the complete list
3789 of network process properties or a specific property can be selected.
3791 Using :local and :remote as the KEY, the address of the local or
3792 remote end-point is returned. An Inet address is represented as a 5
3793 element vector, where the first 4 elements contain the IP address and
3794 the fifth is the port number.
3796 *** Network processes can now be stopped and restarted with
3797 `stop-process' and `continue-process'. For a server process, no
3798 connections are accepted in the stopped state. For a client process,
3799 no input is received in the stopped state.
3801 *** New function network-interface-list.
3803 This function returns a list of network interface names and their
3804 current network addresses.
3806 *** New function network-interface-info.
3808 This function returns the network address, hardware address, current
3809 status, and other information about a specific network interface.
3812 ** New function copy-tree.
3815 ** New function substring-no-properties.
3818 ** New function minibuffer-selected-window.
3821 ** New function `call-process-shell-command'.
3823 ** New function `process-file'.
3825 This is similar to `call-process', but obeys file handlers. The file
3826 handler is chosen based on default-directory.
3829 ** The dummy function keys made by easymenu
3830 are now always lower case. If you specify the
3831 menu item name "Ada", for instance, it uses `ada'
3832 as the "key" bound by that key binding.
3834 This is relevant only if Lisp code looks for
3835 the bindings that were made with easymenu.
3838 ** The function `commandp' takes an additional optional
3839 argument. If it is non-nil, then `commandp' checks
3840 for a function that could be called with `call-interactively',
3841 and does not return t for keyboard macros.
3844 ** master-mode.el implements a minor mode for scrolling a slave
3845 buffer without leaving your current buffer, the master buffer.
3847 It can be used by sql.el, for example: the SQL buffer is the master
3848 and its SQLi buffer is the slave. This allows you to scroll the SQLi
3849 buffer containing the output from the SQL buffer containing the
3852 This is how to use sql.el and master.el together: the variable
3853 sql-buffer contains the slave buffer. It is a local variable in the
3856 (add-hook 'sql-mode-hook
3857 (function (lambda ()
3859 (master-set-slave sql-buffer))))
3860 (add-hook 'sql-set-sqli-hook
3861 (function (lambda ()
3862 (master-set-slave sql-buffer))))
3865 ** File local variables.
3867 A file local variables list cannot specify a string with text
3868 properties--any specified text properties are discarded.
3871 ** New function window-body-height.
3873 This is like window-height but does not count the mode line
3877 ** New function format-mode-line.
3879 This returns the mode-line or header-line of the selected (or a
3880 specified) window as a string with or without text properties.
3883 ** New function safe-plist-get.
3885 This function is like plist-get, but never signals an error for
3886 a malformed property list.
3889 ** New functions `lax-plist-get' and `lax-plist-put'.
3891 These functions are like `plist-get' and `plist-put' except that they
3892 compare the property name using `equal' rather than `eq'.
3895 ** New function `tool-bar-local-item-from-menu'
3897 The `tool-bar-add-item-from-menu' must not be used (as previously
3898 recommended) for making entries in the tool bar for local keymaps.
3899 Instead, use the function `tool-bar-local-item-from-menu', which lets
3900 you specify the map to use as an argument.
3903 ** The function `atan' now accepts an optional second argument.
3905 When called with 2 arguments, as in `(atan Y X)', `atan' returns the
3906 angle in radians between the vector [X, Y] and the X axis. (This is
3907 equivalent to the standard C library function `atan2'.)
3910 ** You can now make a window as short as one line.
3912 A window that is just one line tall does not display either a mode
3913 line or a header line, even if the variables `mode-line-format' and
3914 `header-line-format' call for them. A window that is two lines tall
3915 cannot display both a mode line and a header line at once; if the
3916 variables call for both, only the mode line actually appears.
3919 ** The new frame parameter `tty-color-mode' specifies the mode to use
3920 for color support on character terminal frames. Its value can be a
3921 number of colors to support, or a symbol. See the Emacs Lisp
3922 Reference manual for more detailed documentation.
3925 ** The new mode-line construct `(:propertize ELT PROPS...)' can be
3926 used to add text properties to mode-line elements.
3929 ** The new `%i' and `%I' constructs for `mode-line-format' can be used
3930 to display the size of the accessible part of the buffer on the mode
3934 ** Indentation of simple and extended loop forms has been added to the
3935 cl-indent package. The new user options
3936 `lisp-loop-keyword-indentation', `lisp-loop-forms-indentation', and
3937 `lisp-simple-loop-indentation' can be used to customize the
3938 indentation of keywords and forms in loop forms.
3941 ** Indentation of backquoted forms has been made customizable in the
3942 cl-indent package. See the new user option `lisp-backquote-indentation'.
3945 ** Already true in Emacs 21.1, but not emphasized clearly enough:
3947 Multibyte buffers can now faithfully record all 256 character codes
3948 from 0 to 255. As a result, most of the past reasons to use unibyte
3949 buffers no longer exist. We only know of three reasons to use them
3952 1. If you prefer to use unibyte text all of the time.
3954 2. For reading files into temporary buffers, when you want to avoid
3955 the time it takes to convert the format.
3957 3. For binary files where format conversion would be pointless and
3961 ** If text has a `keymap' property, that keymap takes precedence
3962 over minor mode keymaps.
3965 ** A hex escape in a string forces the string to be multibyte.
3966 An octal escape makes it unibyte.
3969 ** At the end of a command, point moves out from within invisible
3970 text, in the same way it moves out from within text covered by an
3971 image or composition property.
3973 This makes it generally unnecessary to mark invisible text as intangible.
3974 This is particularly good because the intangible property often has
3975 unexpected side-effects since the property applies to everything
3976 (including `goto-char', ...) whereas this new code is only run after
3977 post-command-hook and thus does not care about intermediate states.
3980 ** field-beginning and field-end now accept an additional optional
3984 ** define-abbrev now accepts an optional argument SYSTEM-FLAG. If
3985 non-nil, this marks the abbrev as a "system" abbrev, which means that
3986 it won't be stored in the user's abbrevs file if he saves the abbrevs.
3987 Major modes that predefine some abbrevs should always specify this
3991 ** Support for Mocklisp has been removed.
3994 ** The function insert-string is now obsolete.
3997 ** The precedence of file-name-handlers has been changed.
3998 Instead of blindly choosing the first handler that matches,
3999 find-file-name-handler now gives precedence to a file-name handler
4000 that matches near the end of the file name. More specifically, the
4001 handler whose (match-beginning 0) is the largest is chosen.
4002 In case of ties, the old "first matched" rule applies.
4005 ** Dense keymaps now handle inheritance correctly.
4006 Previously a dense keymap would hide all of the simple-char key
4007 bindings of the parent keymap.
4010 ** jit-lock obeys a new text-property `jit-lock-defer-multiline'.
4011 If a piece of text with that property gets contextually refontified
4012 (see jit-lock-defer-contextually), then all of that text will
4013 be refontified. This is useful when the syntax of a textual element
4014 depends on text several lines further down (and when font-lock-multiline
4015 is not appropriate to solve that problem). For example in Perl:
4023 Adding/removing the last `e' changes the `bar' from being a piece of
4024 text to being a piece of code, so you'd put a jit-lock-defer-multiline
4025 property over the second half of the command to force (deferred)
4026 refontification of `bar' whenever the `e' is added/removed.
4029 ** describe-vector now takes a second argument `describer' which is
4030 called to print the entries' values. It defaults to `princ'.
4032 ** defcustom and other custom declarations now use a default group
4033 (the last prior group defined in the same file) when no :group was given.
4036 ** emacsserver now runs pre-command-hook and post-command-hook when
4037 it receives a request from emacsclient.
4040 ** The variable `recursive-load-depth-limit' has been deleted.
4041 Emacs now signals an error if the same file is loaded with more
4042 than 3 levels of nesting.
4045 ** If a major mode function has a non-nil `no-clone-indirect'
4046 property, `clone-indirect-buffer' signals an error if you use
4050 ** In `replace-match', the replacement text no longer inherits
4051 properties from surrounding text.
4054 ** The list returned by `(match-data t)' now has the buffer as a final
4055 element, if the last match was on a buffer. `set-match-data'
4056 accepts such a list for restoring the match state.
4059 ** New function `buffer-local-value'.
4061 This function returns the buffer-local binding of VARIABLE (a symbol)
4062 in buffer BUFFER. If VARIABLE does not have a buffer-local binding in
4063 buffer BUFFER, it returns the default value of VARIABLE instead.
4066 ** New function `text-clone-create'. Text clones are chunks of text
4067 that are kept identical by transparently propagating changes from one
4071 ** font-lock can manage arbitrary text-properties beside `face'.
4072 *** the FACENAME returned in font-lock-keywords can be a list
4073 of the form (face FACE PROP1 VAL1 PROP2 VAL2 ...) so you can set
4074 other properties than `face'.
4075 *** font-lock-extra-managed-props can be set to make sure those extra
4076 properties are automatically cleaned up by font-lock.
4079 ** The special treatment of faces whose names are of the form `fg:COLOR'
4080 or `bg:COLOR' has been removed. Lisp programs should use the
4081 `defface' facility for defining faces with specific colors, or use
4082 the feature of specifying the face attributes :foreground and :background
4083 directly in the `face' property instead of using a named face.
4086 ** The new function `run-mode-hooks' and the new macro `delay-mode-hooks'
4087 are used by define-derived-mode to make sure the mode hook for the
4088 parent mode is run at the end of the child mode.
4091 ** define-minor-mode now accepts arbitrary additional keyword arguments
4092 and simply passes them to defcustom, if applicable.
4095 ** define-derived-mode by default creates a new empty abbrev table.
4096 It does not copy abbrevs from the parent mode's abbrev table.
4099 ** `provide' and `featurep' now accept an optional second argument
4100 to test/provide subfeatures. Also `provide' now checks `after-load-alist'
4101 and runs any code associated with the provided feature.
4104 ** Functions `file-name-sans-extension' and `file-name-extension' now
4105 ignore the leading dots in file names, so that file names such as
4106 `.emacs' are treated as extensionless.
4109 ** Functions `user-uid' and `user-real-uid' now return floats if the
4110 user UID doesn't fit in a Lisp integer. Function `user-full-name'
4111 accepts a float as UID parameter.
4114 ** `define-key-after' now accepts keys longer than 1.
4117 ** The local variable `no-byte-compile' in elisp files is now obeyed.
4120 ** The Emacs Lisp byte-compiler now displays the actual line and
4121 character position of errors, where possible. Additionally, the form
4122 of its warning and error messages have been brought more in line with
4123 the output of other GNU tools.
4126 ** New functions `keymap-prompt' and `current-active-maps'.
4129 ** New function `describe-buffer-bindings'.
4132 ** New vars `exec-suffixes' and `load-suffixes' used when
4133 searching for an executable resp. an elisp file.
4136 ** Variable aliases have been implemented:
4138 *** defvaralias ALIAS-VAR BASE-VAR [DOCSTRING]
4140 This function defines the symbol ALIAS-VAR as a variable alias for
4141 symbol BASE-VAR. This means that retrieving the value of ALIAS-VAR
4142 returns the value of BASE-VAR, and changing the value of ALIAS-VAR
4143 changes the value of BASE-VAR.
4145 DOCSTRING, if present, is the documentation for ALIAS-VAR; else it has
4146 the same documentation as BASE-VAR.
4148 *** indirect-variable VARIABLE
4150 This function returns the variable at the end of the chain of aliases
4151 of VARIABLE. If VARIABLE is not a symbol, or if VARIABLE is not
4152 defined as an alias, the function returns VARIABLE.
4154 It might be noteworthy that variables aliases work for all kinds of
4155 variables, including buffer-local and frame-local variables.
4158 ** Functions from `post-gc-hook' are run at the end of garbage
4159 collection. The hook is run with GC inhibited, so use it with care.
4162 ** If the second argument to `copy-file' is the name of a directory,
4163 the file is copied to that directory instead of signaling an error.
4166 ** The variables most-positive-fixnum and most-negative-fixnum
4167 hold the largest and smallest possible integer values.
4170 ** On MS Windows, locale-coding-system is used to interact with the OS.
4171 The Windows specific variable w32-system-coding-system, which was
4172 formerly used for that purpose is now an alias for locale-coding-system.
4174 ** Functions y-or-n-p, read-char, read-key-sequence and the like, that
4175 display a prompt but don't use the minibuffer, now display the prompt
4176 using the text properties (esp. the face) of the prompt string.
4178 ** New function x-send-client-message sends a client message when
4181 ** Arguments for remove-overlays are now optional, so that you can remove
4182 all overlays in the buffer by just calling (remove-overlay).
4186 *** The new package gdb-ui.el provides an enhanced graphical interface to
4187 GDB. You can interact with GDB through the GUD buffer in the usual way, but
4188 there are also further buffers which control the execution and describe the
4189 state of your program. It separates the input/output of your program from
4190 that of GDB and watches expressions in the speedbar. It also uses features of
4191 Emacs 21 such as the display margin for breakpoints, and the toolbar.
4193 Use M-x gdba to start GDB-UI.
4195 *** The new package syntax.el provides an efficient way to find the
4196 current syntactic context (as returned by parse-partial-sexp).
4198 *** The new package bindat.el provides functions to unpack and pack
4199 binary data structures, such as network packets, to and from Lisp
4202 *** The TCL package tcl-mode.el was replaced by tcl.el.
4203 This was actually done in Emacs-21.1, and was not documented.
4205 *** The new package button.el implements simple and fast `clickable buttons'
4206 in emacs buffers. `buttons' are much lighter-weight than the `widgets'
4207 implemented by widget.el, and can be used by lisp code that doesn't
4208 require the full power of widgets. Emacs uses buttons for such things
4209 as help and apropos buffers.
4212 * Installation changes in Emacs 21.3
4214 ** Support for GNU/Linux on little-endian MIPS and on IBM S390 has
4218 * Changes in Emacs 21.3
4220 ** The obsolete C mode (c-mode.el) has been removed to avoid problems
4223 ** UTF-16 coding systems are available, encoding the same characters
4226 ** There is a new language environment for UTF-8 (set up automatically
4229 ** Translation tables are available between equivalent characters in
4230 different Emacs charsets -- for instance `e with acute' coming from the
4231 Latin-1 and Latin-2 charsets. User options `unify-8859-on-encoding-mode'
4232 and `unify-8859-on-decoding-mode' respectively turn on translation
4233 between ISO 8859 character sets (`unification') on encoding
4234 (e.g. writing a file) and decoding (e.g. reading a file). Note that
4235 `unify-8859-on-encoding-mode' is useful and safe, but
4236 `unify-8859-on-decoding-mode' can cause text to change when you read
4237 it and write it out again without edits, so it is not generally advisable.
4238 By default `unify-8859-on-encoding-mode' is turned on.
4240 ** In Emacs running on the X window system, the default value of
4241 `selection-coding-system' is now `compound-text-with-extensions'.
4243 If you want the old behavior, set selection-coding-system to
4244 compound-text, which may be significantly more efficient. Using
4245 compound-text-with-extensions seems to be necessary only for decoding
4246 text from applications under XFree86 4.2, whose behavior is actually
4247 contrary to the compound text specification.
4250 * Installation changes in Emacs 21.2
4252 ** Support for BSD/OS 5.0 has been added.
4254 ** Support for AIX 5.1 was added.
4257 * Changes in Emacs 21.2
4259 ** Emacs now supports compound-text extended segments in X selections.
4261 X applications can use `extended segments' to encode characters in
4262 compound text that belong to character sets which are not part of the
4263 list of approved standard encodings for X, e.g. Big5. To paste
4264 selections with such characters into Emacs, use the new coding system
4265 compound-text-with-extensions as the value of selection-coding-system.
4267 ** The default values of `tooltip-delay' and `tooltip-hide-delay'
4270 ** On terminals whose erase-char is ^H (Backspace), Emacs
4271 now uses normal-erase-is-backspace-mode.
4273 ** When the *scratch* buffer is recreated, its mode is set from
4274 initial-major-mode, which normally is lisp-interaction-mode,
4275 instead of using default-major-mode.
4277 ** The new option `Info-scroll-prefer-subnodes' causes Info to behave
4278 like the stand-alone Info reader (from the GNU Texinfo package) as far
4279 as motion between nodes and their subnodes is concerned. If it is t
4280 (the default), Emacs behaves as before when you type SPC in a menu: it
4281 visits the subnode pointed to by the first menu entry. If this option
4282 is nil, SPC scrolls to the end of the current node, and only then goes
4283 to the first menu item, like the stand-alone reader does.
4285 This change was already in Emacs 21.1, but wasn't advertised in the
4289 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 21.2
4291 ** The meanings of scroll-up-aggressively and scroll-down-aggressively
4292 have been interchanged, so that the former now controls scrolling up,
4293 and the latter now controls scrolling down.
4295 ** The variable `compilation-parse-errors-filename-function' can
4296 be used to transform filenames found in compilation output.
4299 * Installation Changes in Emacs 21.1
4301 See the INSTALL file for information on installing extra libraries and
4302 fonts to take advantage of the new graphical features and extra
4303 charsets in this release.
4305 ** Support for GNU/Linux on IA64 machines has been added.
4307 ** Support for LynxOS has been added.
4309 ** There are new configure options associated with the support for
4310 images and toolkit scrollbars. Use the --help option in `configure'
4313 ** You can build a 64-bit Emacs for SPARC/Solaris systems which
4314 support 64-bit executables and also on Irix 6.5. This increases the
4315 maximum buffer size. See etc/MACHINES for instructions. Changes to
4316 build on other 64-bit systems should be straightforward modulo any
4317 necessary changes to unexec.
4319 ** There is a new configure option `--disable-largefile' to omit
4320 Unix-98-style support for large files if that is available.
4322 ** There is a new configure option `--without-xim' that instructs
4323 Emacs to not use X Input Methods (XIM), if these are available.
4325 ** `movemail' defaults to supporting POP. You can turn this off using
4326 the --without-pop configure option, should that be necessary.
4328 ** This version can be built for the Macintosh, but does not implement
4329 all of the new display features described below. The port currently
4330 lacks unexec, asynchronous processes, and networking support. See the
4331 "Emacs and the Mac OS" appendix in the Emacs manual, for the
4332 description of aspects specific to the Mac.
4334 ** Note that the MS-Windows port does not yet implement various of the
4335 new display features described below.
4338 * Changes in Emacs 21.1
4340 ** Emacs has a new redisplay engine.
4342 The new redisplay handles characters of variable width and height.
4343 Italic text can be used without redisplay problems. Fonts containing
4344 oversized characters, i.e. characters larger than the logical height
4345 of a font can be used. Images of various formats can be displayed in
4348 ** Emacs has a new face implementation.
4350 The new faces no longer fundamentally use X font names to specify the
4351 font. Instead, each face has several independent attributes--family,
4352 height, width, weight and slant--that it may or may not specify.
4353 These attributes can be merged from various faces, and then together
4356 Faces are supported on terminals that can display color or fonts.
4357 These terminal capabilities are auto-detected. Details can be found
4358 under Lisp changes, below.
4360 ** Emacs can display faces on TTY frames.
4362 Emacs automatically detects terminals that are able to display colors.
4363 Faces with a weight greater than normal are displayed extra-bright, if
4364 the terminal supports it. Faces with a weight less than normal and
4365 italic faces are displayed dimmed, if the terminal supports it.
4366 Underlined faces are displayed underlined if possible. Other face
4367 attributes such as `overline', `strike-through', and `box' are ignored
4370 The command-line options `-fg COLOR', `-bg COLOR', and `-rv' are now
4371 supported on character terminals.
4373 Emacs automatically remaps all X-style color specifications to one of
4374 the colors supported by the terminal. This means you could have the
4375 same color customizations that work both on a windowed display and on
4376 a TTY or when Emacs is invoked with the -nw option.
4378 ** New default font is Courier 12pt under X.
4382 Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and FreeBSD (Voxware
4383 driver and native BSD driver, a.k.a. Luigi's driver). Currently
4384 supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio (*.au).
4385 You must configure Emacs with the option `--with-sound=yes' to enable
4388 ** Emacs now resizes mini-windows if appropriate.
4390 If a message is longer than one line, or minibuffer contents are
4391 longer than one line, Emacs can resize the minibuffer window unless it
4392 is on a frame of its own. You can control resizing and the maximum
4393 minibuffer window size by setting the following variables:
4395 - User option: max-mini-window-height
4397 Maximum height for resizing mini-windows. If a float, it specifies a
4398 fraction of the mini-window frame's height. If an integer, it
4399 specifies a number of lines.
4403 - User option: resize-mini-windows
4405 How to resize mini-windows. If nil, don't resize. If t, always
4406 resize to fit the size of the text. If `grow-only', let mini-windows
4407 grow only, until they become empty, at which point they are shrunk
4410 Default is `grow-only'.
4414 Emacs now runs with the LessTif toolkit (see
4415 <http://www.lesstif.org>). You will need version 0.92.26, or later.
4417 ** LessTif/Motif file selection dialog.
4419 When Emacs is configured to use LessTif or Motif, reading a file name
4420 from a menu will pop up a file selection dialog if `use-dialog-box' is
4423 ** File selection dialog on MS-Windows is supported.
4425 When a file is visited by clicking File->Open, the MS-Windows version
4426 now pops up a standard file selection dialog where you can select a
4427 file to visit. File->Save As also pops up that dialog.
4429 ** Toolkit scroll bars.
4431 Emacs now uses toolkit scroll bars if available. When configured for
4432 LessTif/Motif, it will use that toolkit's scroll bar. Otherwise, when
4433 configured for Lucid and Athena widgets, it will use the Xaw3d scroll
4434 bar if Xaw3d is available. You can turn off the use of toolkit scroll
4435 bars by specifying `--with-toolkit-scroll-bars=no' when configuring
4438 When you encounter problems with the Xaw3d scroll bar, watch out how
4439 Xaw3d is compiled on your system. If the Makefile generated from
4440 Xaw3d's Imakefile contains a `-DNARROWPROTO' compiler option, and your
4441 Emacs system configuration file `s/your-system.h' does not contain a
4442 define for NARROWPROTO, you might consider adding it. Take
4443 `s/freebsd.h' as an example.
4445 Alternatively, if you don't have access to the Xaw3d source code, take
4446 a look at your system's imake configuration file, for example in the
4447 directory `/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/config' (paths are different on
4448 different systems). You will find files `*.cf' there. If your
4449 system's cf-file contains a line like `#define NeedWidePrototypes NO',
4450 add a `#define NARROWPROTO' to your Emacs system configuration file.
4452 The reason for this is that one Xaw3d function uses `double' or
4453 `float' function parameters depending on the setting of NARROWPROTO.
4454 This is not a problem when Imakefiles are used because each system's
4455 imake configuration file contains the necessary information. Since
4456 Emacs doesn't use imake, this has do be done manually.
4458 ** Tool bar support.
4460 Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. For details
4461 of how to define a tool bar, see the page describing Lisp-level
4462 changes. Tool-bar global minor mode controls whether or not it is
4463 displayed and is on by default. The appearance of the bar is improved
4464 if Emacs has been built with XPM image support. Otherwise monochrome
4467 To make the tool bar more useful, we need contributions of extra icons
4468 for specific modes (with copyright assignments).
4472 Tooltips are small X windows displaying a help string at the current
4473 mouse position. The Lisp package `tooltip' implements them. You can
4474 turn them off via the user option `tooltip-mode'.
4476 Tooltips also provides support for GUD debugging. If activated,
4477 variable values can be displayed in tooltips by pointing at them with
4478 the mouse in source buffers. You can customize various aspects of the
4479 tooltip display in the group `tooltip'.
4481 ** Automatic Hscrolling
4483 Horizontal scrolling now happens automatically if
4484 `automatic-hscrolling' is set (the default). This setting can be
4487 If a window is scrolled horizontally with set-window-hscroll, or
4488 scroll-left/scroll-right (C-x <, C-x >), this serves as a lower bound
4489 for automatic horizontal scrolling. Automatic scrolling will scroll
4490 the text more to the left if necessary, but won't scroll the text more
4491 to the right than the column set with set-window-hscroll etc.
4493 ** When using a windowing terminal, each Emacs window now has a cursor
4494 of its own. By default, when a window is selected, the cursor is
4495 solid; otherwise, it is hollow. The user-option
4496 `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' controls how to display the
4497 cursor in non-selected windows. If nil, no cursor is shown, if
4498 non-nil a hollow box cursor is shown.
4500 ** Fringes to the left and right of windows are used to display
4501 truncation marks, continuation marks, overlay arrows and alike. The
4502 foreground, background, and stipple of these areas can be changed by
4503 customizing face `fringe'.
4505 ** The mode line under X is now drawn with shadows by default.
4506 You can change its appearance by modifying the face `mode-line'.
4507 In particular, setting the `:box' attribute to nil turns off the 3D
4508 appearance of the mode line. (The 3D appearance makes the mode line
4509 occupy more space, and thus might cause the first or the last line of
4510 the window to be partially obscured.)
4512 The variable `mode-line-inverse-video', which was used in older
4513 versions of emacs to make the mode-line stand out, is now deprecated.
4514 However, setting it to nil will cause the `mode-line' face to be
4515 ignored, and mode-lines to be drawn using the default text face.
4517 ** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
4519 Different parts of the mode line have been made mouse-sensitive on all
4520 systems which support the mouse. Moving the mouse to a
4521 mouse-sensitive part in the mode line changes the appearance of the
4522 mouse pointer to an arrow, and help about available mouse actions is
4523 displayed either in the echo area, or in the tooltip window if you
4526 Currently, the following actions have been defined:
4528 - Mouse-1 on the buffer name in the mode line goes to the next buffer.
4530 - Mouse-3 on the buffer-name goes to the previous buffer.
4532 - Mouse-2 on the read-only or modified status in the mode line (`%' or
4533 `*') toggles the status.
4535 - Mouse-3 on the mode name displays a minor-mode menu.
4537 ** Hourglass pointer
4539 Emacs can optionally display an hourglass pointer under X. You can
4540 turn the display on or off by customizing group `cursor'.
4544 M-x blink-cursor-mode toggles a blinking cursor under X and on
4545 terminals having terminal capabilities `vi', `vs', and `ve'. Blinking
4546 and related parameters like frequency and delay can be customized in
4549 ** New font-lock support mode `jit-lock-mode'.
4551 This support mode is roughly equivalent to `lazy-lock' but is
4552 generally faster. It supports stealth and deferred fontification.
4553 See the documentation of the function `jit-lock-mode' for more
4556 Font-lock uses jit-lock-mode as default support mode, so you don't
4557 have to do anything to activate it.
4559 ** The default binding of the Delete key has changed.
4561 The new user-option `normal-erase-is-backspace' can be set to
4562 determine the effect of the Delete and Backspace function keys.
4564 On window systems, the default value of this option is chosen
4565 according to the keyboard used. If the keyboard has both a Backspace
4566 key and a Delete key, and both are mapped to their usual meanings, the
4567 option's default value is set to t, so that Backspace can be used to
4568 delete backward, and Delete can be used to delete forward. On
4569 keyboards which either have only one key (usually labeled DEL), or two
4570 keys DEL and BS which produce the same effect, the option's value is
4571 set to nil, and these keys delete backward.
4573 If not running under a window system, setting this option accomplishes
4574 a similar effect by mapping C-h, which is usually generated by the
4575 Backspace key, to DEL, and by mapping DEL to C-d via
4576 `keyboard-translate'. The former functionality of C-h is available on
4577 the F1 key. You should probably not use this setting on a text-only
4578 terminal if you don't have both Backspace, Delete and F1 keys.
4580 Programmatically, you can call function normal-erase-is-backspace-mode
4581 to toggle the behavior of the Delete and Backspace keys.
4583 ** The default for user-option `next-line-add-newlines' has been
4584 changed to nil, i.e. C-n will no longer add newlines at the end of a
4587 ** The <home> and <end> keys now move to the beginning or end of the
4588 current line, respectively. C-<home> and C-<end> move to the
4589 beginning and end of the buffer.
4591 ** Emacs now checks for recursive loads of Lisp files. If the
4592 recursion depth exceeds `recursive-load-depth-limit', an error is
4595 ** When an error is signaled during the loading of the user's init
4596 file, Emacs now pops up the *Messages* buffer.
4598 ** Emacs now refuses to load compiled Lisp files which weren't
4599 compiled with Emacs. Set `load-dangerous-libraries' to t to change
4602 The reason for this change is an incompatible change in XEmacs's byte
4603 compiler. Files compiled with XEmacs can contain byte codes that let
4606 ** Toggle buttons and radio buttons in menus.
4608 When compiled with LessTif (or Motif) support, Emacs uses toolkit
4609 widgets for radio and toggle buttons in menus. When configured for
4610 Lucid, Emacs draws radio buttons and toggle buttons similar to Motif.
4612 ** The menu bar configuration has changed. The new configuration is
4613 more CUA-compliant. The most significant change is that Options is
4614 now a separate menu-bar item, with Mule and Customize as its submenus.
4616 ** Item Save Options on the Options menu allows saving options set
4619 ** Highlighting of trailing whitespace.
4621 When `show-trailing-whitespace' is non-nil, Emacs displays trailing
4622 whitespace in the face `trailing-whitespace'. Trailing whitespace is
4623 defined as spaces or tabs at the end of a line. To avoid busy
4624 highlighting when entering new text, trailing whitespace is not
4625 displayed if point is at the end of the line containing the
4628 ** C-x 5 1 runs the new command delete-other-frames which deletes
4629 all frames except the selected one.
4631 ** The new user-option `confirm-kill-emacs' can be customized to
4632 let Emacs ask for confirmation before exiting.
4634 ** The header line in an Info buffer is now displayed as an emacs
4635 header-line (which is like a mode-line, but at the top of the window),
4636 so that it remains visible even when the buffer has been scrolled.
4637 This behavior may be disabled by customizing the option
4638 `Info-use-header-line'.
4640 ** Polish, Czech, German, and French translations of Emacs' reference card
4641 have been added. They are named `pl-refcard.tex', `cs-refcard.tex',
4642 `de-refcard.tex' and `fr-refcard.tex'. Postscript files are included.
4644 ** An `Emacs Survival Guide', etc/survival.tex, is available.
4646 ** A reference card for Dired has been added. Its name is
4647 `dired-ref.tex'. A French translation is available in
4650 ** C-down-mouse-3 is bound differently. Now if the menu bar is not
4651 displayed it pops up a menu containing the items which would be on the
4652 menu bar. If the menu bar is displayed, it pops up the major mode
4653 menu or the Edit menu if there is no major mode menu.
4655 ** Variable `load-path' is no longer customizable through Customize.
4657 You can no longer use `M-x customize-variable' to customize `load-path'
4658 because it now contains a version-dependent component. You can still
4659 use `add-to-list' and `setq' to customize this variable in your
4660 `~/.emacs' init file or to modify it from any Lisp program in general.
4662 ** C-u C-x = provides detailed information about the character at
4663 point in a pop-up window.
4665 ** Emacs can now support 'wheeled' mice (such as the MS IntelliMouse)
4666 under XFree86. To enable this, use the `mouse-wheel-mode' command, or
4667 customize the variable `mouse-wheel-mode'.
4669 The variables `mouse-wheel-follow-mouse' and `mouse-wheel-scroll-amount'
4670 determine where and by how much buffers are scrolled.
4672 ** Emacs' auto-save list files are now by default stored in a
4673 sub-directory `.emacs.d/auto-save-list/' of the user's home directory.
4674 (On MS-DOS, this subdirectory's name is `_emacs.d/auto-save.list/'.)
4675 You can customize `auto-save-list-file-prefix' to change this location.
4677 ** The function `getenv' is now callable interactively.
4679 ** The new user-option `even-window-heights' can be set to nil
4680 to prevent `display-buffer' from evening out window heights.
4682 ** The new command M-x delete-trailing-whitespace RET will delete the
4683 trailing whitespace within the current restriction. You can also add
4684 this function to `write-file-hooks' or `local-write-file-hooks'.
4686 ** When visiting a file with M-x find-file-literally, no newlines will
4687 be added to the end of the buffer even if `require-final-newline' is
4690 ** The new user-option `find-file-suppress-same-file-warnings' can be
4691 set to suppress warnings ``X and Y are the same file'' when visiting a
4692 file that is already visited under a different name.
4694 ** The new user-option `electric-help-shrink-window' can be set to
4695 nil to prevent adjusting the help window size to the buffer size.
4697 ** New command M-x describe-character-set reads a character set name
4698 and displays information about that.
4700 ** The new variable `auto-mode-interpreter-regexp' contains a regular
4701 expression matching interpreters, for file mode determination.
4703 This regular expression is matched against the first line of a file to
4704 determine the file's mode in `set-auto-mode' when Emacs can't deduce a
4705 mode from the file's name. If it matches, the file is assumed to be
4706 interpreted by the interpreter matched by the second group of the
4707 regular expression. The mode is then determined as the mode
4708 associated with that interpreter in `interpreter-mode-alist'.
4710 ** New function executable-make-buffer-file-executable-if-script-p is
4711 suitable as an after-save-hook as an alternative to `executable-chmod'.
4713 ** The most preferred coding-system is now used to save a buffer if
4714 buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and it is safe for the buffer
4715 contents. (The most preferred is set by set-language-environment or
4716 by M-x prefer-coding-system.) Thus if you visit an ASCII file and
4717 insert a non-ASCII character from your current language environment,
4718 the file will be saved silently with the appropriate coding.
4719 Previously you would be prompted for a safe coding system.
4721 ** The many obsolete language `setup-...-environment' commands have
4722 been removed -- use `set-language-environment'.
4724 ** The new Custom option `keyboard-coding-system' specifies a coding
4725 system for keyboard input.
4727 ** New variable `inhibit-iso-escape-detection' determines if Emacs'
4728 coding system detection algorithm should pay attention to ISO2022's
4729 escape sequences. If this variable is non-nil, the algorithm ignores
4730 such escape sequences. The default value is nil, and it is
4731 recommended not to change it except for the special case that you
4732 always want to read any escape code verbatim. If you just want to
4733 read a specific file without decoding escape codes, use C-x RET c
4734 (`universal-coding-system-argument'). For instance, C-x RET c latin-1
4735 RET C-x C-f filename RET.
4737 ** Variable `default-korean-keyboard' is initialized properly from the
4738 environment variable `HANGUL_KEYBOARD_TYPE'.
4740 ** New command M-x list-charset-chars reads a character set name and
4741 displays all characters in that character set.
4743 ** M-x set-terminal-coding-system (C-x RET t) now allows CCL-based
4744 coding systems such as cpXXX and cyrillic-koi8.
4746 ** Emacs now attempts to determine the initial language environment
4747 and preferred and locale coding systems systematically from the
4748 LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG environment variables during startup.
4750 ** New language environments `Polish', `Latin-8' and `Latin-9'.
4751 Latin-8 and Latin-9 correspond respectively to the ISO character sets
4752 8859-14 (Celtic) and 8859-15 (updated Latin-1, with the Euro sign).
4753 GNU Intlfonts doesn't support these yet but recent X releases have
4754 8859-15. See etc/INSTALL for information on obtaining extra fonts.
4755 There are new Leim input methods for Latin-8 and Latin-9 prefix (only)
4758 ** New language environments `Dutch' and `Spanish'.
4759 These new environments mainly select appropriate translations
4762 ** In Ethiopic language environment, special key bindings for
4763 function keys are changed as follows. This is to conform to "Emacs
4764 Lisp Coding Convention".
4766 new command old-binding
4767 --- ------- -----------
4768 f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-buffer f5
4769 S-f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-region f5
4770 C-f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-mail-or-marker f5
4772 f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-buffer unchanged
4773 S-f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-region unchanged
4774 C-f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-mail-or-marker unchanged
4776 S-f5 ethio-toggle-punctuation f3
4777 S-f6 ethio-modify-vowel f6
4778 S-f7 ethio-replace-space f7
4779 S-f8 ethio-input-special-character f8
4780 S-f9 ethio-replace-space unchanged
4781 C-f9 ethio-toggle-space f2
4783 ** There are new Leim input methods.
4784 New input methods "turkish-postfix", "turkish-alt-postfix",
4785 "greek-mizuochi", "TeX", and "greek-babel" are now part of the Leim
4788 ** The rule of input method "slovak" is slightly changed. Now the
4789 rules for translating "q" and "Q" to "`" (backquote) are deleted, thus
4790 typing them inserts "q" and "Q" respectively. Rules for translating
4791 "=q", "+q", "=Q", and "+Q" to "`" are also deleted. Now, to input
4792 "`", you must type "=q".
4794 ** When your terminal can't display characters from some of the ISO
4795 8859 character sets but can display Latin-1, you can display
4796 more-or-less mnemonic sequences of ASCII/Latin-1 characters instead of
4797 empty boxes (under a window system) or question marks (not under a
4798 window system). Customize the option `latin1-display' to turn this
4801 ** M-; now calls comment-dwim which tries to do something clever based
4802 on the context. M-x kill-comment is now an alias to comment-kill,
4803 defined in newcomment.el. You can choose different styles of region
4804 commenting with the variable `comment-style'.
4806 ** New user options `display-time-mail-face' and
4807 `display-time-use-mail-icon' control the appearance of mode-line mail
4808 indicator used by the display-time package. On a suitable display the
4809 indicator can be an icon and is mouse-sensitive.
4811 ** On window-systems, additional space can be put between text lines
4812 on the display using several methods
4814 - By setting frame parameter `line-spacing' to PIXELS. PIXELS must be
4815 a positive integer, and specifies that PIXELS number of pixels should
4816 be put below text lines on the affected frame or frames.
4818 - By setting X resource `lineSpacing', class `LineSpacing'. This is
4819 equivalent to specifying the frame parameter.
4821 - By specifying `--line-spacing=N' or `-lsp N' on the command line.
4823 - By setting buffer-local variable `line-spacing'. The meaning is
4824 the same, but applies to the a particular buffer only.
4826 ** The new command `clone-indirect-buffer' can be used to create
4827 an indirect buffer that is a twin copy of the current buffer. The
4828 command `clone-indirect-buffer-other-window', bound to C-x 4 c,
4829 does the same but displays the indirect buffer in another window.
4831 ** New user options `backup-directory-alist' and
4832 `make-backup-file-name-function' control the placement of backups,
4833 typically in a single directory or in an invisible sub-directory.
4835 ** New commands iso-iso2sgml and iso-sgml2iso convert between Latin-1
4836 characters and the corresponding SGML (HTML) entities.
4838 ** New X resources recognized
4840 *** The X resource `synchronous', class `Synchronous', specifies
4841 whether Emacs should run in synchronous mode. Synchronous mode
4842 is useful for debugging X problems.
4846 emacs.synchronous: true
4848 *** The X resource `visualClass, class `VisualClass', specifies the
4849 visual Emacs should use. The resource's value should be a string of
4850 the form `CLASS-DEPTH', where CLASS is the name of the visual class,
4851 and DEPTH is the requested color depth as a decimal number. Valid
4852 visual class names are
4861 Visual class names specified as X resource are case-insensitive, i.e.
4862 `pseudocolor', `Pseudocolor' and `PseudoColor' all have the same
4865 The program `xdpyinfo' can be used to list the visual classes
4866 supported on your display, and which depths they have. If
4867 `visualClass' is not specified, Emacs uses the display's default
4872 emacs.visualClass: TrueColor-8
4874 *** The X resource `privateColormap', class `PrivateColormap',
4875 specifies that Emacs should use a private colormap if it is using the
4876 default visual, and that visual is of class PseudoColor. Recognized
4877 resource values are `true' or `on'.
4881 emacs.privateColormap: true
4883 ** Faces and frame parameters.
4885 There are four new faces `scroll-bar', `border', `cursor' and `mouse'.
4886 Setting the frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
4887 `scroll-bar-background' sets foreground and background color of face
4888 `scroll-bar' and vice versa. Setting frame parameter `border-color'
4889 sets the background color of face `border' and vice versa. Likewise
4890 for frame parameters `cursor-color' and face `cursor', and frame
4891 parameter `mouse-color' and face `mouse'.
4893 Changing frame parameter `font' sets font-related attributes of the
4894 `default' face and vice versa. Setting frame parameters
4895 `foreground-color' or `background-color' sets the colors of the
4896 `default' face and vice versa.
4900 The face `menu' can be used to change colors and font of Emacs' menus.
4902 ** New frame parameter `screen-gamma' for gamma correction.
4904 The new frame parameter `screen-gamma' specifies gamma-correction for
4905 colors. Its value may be nil, the default, in which case no gamma
4906 correction occurs, or a number > 0, usually a float, that specifies
4907 the screen gamma of a frame's display.
4909 PC monitors usually have a screen gamma of 2.2. smaller values result
4910 in darker colors. You might want to try a screen gamma of 1.5 for LCD
4911 color displays. The viewing gamma Emacs uses is 0.4545. (1/2.2).
4913 The X resource name of this parameter is `screenGamma', class
4916 ** Tabs and variable-width text.
4918 Tabs are now displayed with stretch properties; the width of a tab is
4919 defined as a multiple of the normal character width of a frame, and is
4920 independent of the fonts used in the text where the tab appears.
4921 Thus, tabs can be used to line up text in different fonts.
4923 ** Enhancements of the Lucid menu bar
4925 *** The Lucid menu bar now supports the resource "margin".
4927 emacs.pane.menubar.margin: 5
4929 The default margin is 4 which makes the menu bar appear like the
4932 *** Arrows that indicate sub-menus are now drawn with shadows, as in
4935 ** A block cursor can be drawn as wide as the glyph under it under X.
4937 As an example: if a block cursor is over a tab character, it will be
4938 drawn as wide as that tab on the display. To do this, set
4939 `x-stretch-cursor' to a non-nil value.
4941 ** Empty display lines at the end of a buffer may be marked with a
4942 bitmap (this is similar to the tilde displayed by vi and Less).
4944 This behavior is activated by setting the buffer-local variable
4945 `indicate-empty-lines' to a non-nil value. The default value of this
4946 variable is found in `default-indicate-empty-lines'.
4948 ** There is a new "aggressive" scrolling method.
4950 When scrolling up because point is above the window start, if the
4951 value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-up-aggressively' is a
4952 number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
4953 fraction of the window's height from the top of the window.
4955 When scrolling down because point is below the window end, if the
4956 value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-down-aggressively' is a
4957 number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
4958 fraction of the window's height from the bottom of the window.
4960 ** You can now easily create new *Info* buffers using either
4961 M-x clone-buffer, C-u m <entry> RET or C-u g <entry> RET.
4962 M-x clone-buffer can also be used on *Help* and several other special
4965 ** The command `Info-search' now uses a search history.
4967 ** Listing buffers with M-x list-buffers (C-x C-b) now shows
4968 abbreviated file names. Abbreviations can be customized by changing
4969 `directory-abbrev-alist'.
4971 ** A new variable, backup-by-copying-when-privileged-mismatch, gives
4972 the highest file uid for which backup-by-copying-when-mismatch will be
4973 forced on. The assumption is that uids less than or equal to this
4974 value are special uids (root, bin, daemon, etc.--not real system
4975 users) and that files owned by these users should not change ownership,
4976 even if your system policy allows users other than root to edit them.
4978 The default is 200; set the variable to nil to disable the feature.
4980 ** The rectangle commands now avoid inserting undesirable spaces,
4981 notably at the end of lines.
4983 All these functions have been rewritten to avoid inserting unwanted
4984 spaces, and an optional prefix now allows them to behave the old way.
4986 ** The function `replace-rectangle' is an alias for `string-rectangle'.
4988 ** The new command M-x string-insert-rectangle is like `string-rectangle',
4989 but inserts text instead of replacing it.
4991 ** The new command M-x query-replace-regexp-eval acts like
4992 query-replace-regexp, but takes a Lisp expression which is evaluated
4993 after each match to get the replacement text.
4995 ** M-x query-replace recognizes a new command `e' (or `E') that lets
4996 you edit the replacement string.
4998 ** The new command mail-abbrev-complete-alias, bound to `M-TAB'
4999 (if you load the library `mailabbrev'), lets you complete mail aliases
5000 in the text, analogous to lisp-complete-symbol.
5002 ** The variable `echo-keystrokes' may now have a floating point value.
5004 ** If your init file is compiled (.emacs.elc), `user-init-file' is set
5005 to the source name (.emacs.el), if that exists, after loading it.
5007 ** The help string specified for a menu-item whose definition contains
5008 the property `:help HELP' is now displayed under X, on MS-Windows, and
5009 MS-DOS, either in the echo area or with tooltips. Many standard menus
5010 displayed by Emacs now have help strings.
5013 ** New user option `read-mail-command' specifies a command to use to
5014 read mail from the menu etc.
5016 ** The environment variable `EMACSLOCKDIR' is no longer used on MS-Windows.
5017 This environment variable was used when creating lock files. Emacs on
5018 MS-Windows does not use this variable anymore. This change was made
5019 before Emacs 21.1, but wasn't documented until now.
5021 ** Highlighting of mouse-sensitive regions is now supported in the
5022 MS-DOS version of Emacs.
5024 ** The new command `msdos-set-mouse-buttons' forces the MS-DOS version
5025 of Emacs to behave as if the mouse had a specified number of buttons.
5026 This comes handy with mice that don't report their number of buttons
5027 correctly. One example is the wheeled mice, which report 3 buttons,
5028 but clicks on the middle button are not passed to the MS-DOS version
5031 ** Customize changes
5033 *** Customize now supports comments about customized items. Use the
5034 `State' menu to add comments, or give a prefix argument to
5035 M-x customize-set-variable or M-x customize-set-value. Note that
5036 customization comments will cause the customizations to fail in
5037 earlier versions of Emacs.
5039 *** The new option `custom-buffer-done-function' says whether to kill
5040 Custom buffers when you've done with them or just bury them (the
5043 *** If Emacs was invoked with the `-q' or `--no-init-file' options, it
5044 does not allow you to save customizations in your `~/.emacs' init
5045 file. This is because saving customizations from such a session would
5046 wipe out all the other customizationss you might have on your init
5049 ** If Emacs was invoked with the `-q' or `--no-init-file' options, it
5050 does not save disabled and enabled commands for future sessions, to
5051 avoid overwriting existing customizations of this kind that are
5052 already in your init file.
5054 ** New features in evaluation commands
5056 *** The commands to evaluate Lisp expressions, such as C-M-x in Lisp
5057 modes, C-j in Lisp Interaction mode, and M-:, now bind the variables
5058 print-level, print-length, and debug-on-error based on the new
5059 customizable variables eval-expression-print-level,
5060 eval-expression-print-length, and eval-expression-debug-on-error.
5062 The default values for the first two of these variables are 12 and 4
5063 respectively, which means that `eval-expression' now prints at most
5064 the first 12 members of a list and at most 4 nesting levels deep (if
5065 the list is longer or deeper than that, an ellipsis `...' is
5068 <RET> or <mouse-2> on the printed text toggles between an abbreviated
5069 printed representation and an unabbreviated one.
5071 The default value of eval-expression-debug-on-error is t, so any error
5072 during evaluation produces a backtrace.
5074 *** The function `eval-defun' (C-M-x) now loads Edebug and instruments
5075 code when called with a prefix argument.
5079 Note: This release contains changes that might not be compatible with
5080 current user setups (although it's believed that these
5081 incompatibilities will only show in very uncommon circumstances).
5082 However, since the impact is uncertain, these changes may be rolled
5083 back depending on user feedback. Therefore there's no forward
5084 compatibility guarantee wrt the new features introduced in this
5087 *** The hardcoded switch to "java" style in Java mode is gone.
5088 CC Mode used to automatically set the style to "java" when Java mode
5089 is entered. This has now been removed since it caused too much
5092 However, to keep backward compatibility to a certain extent, the
5093 default value for c-default-style now specifies the "java" style for
5094 java-mode, but "gnu" for all other modes (as before). So you won't
5095 notice the change if you haven't touched that variable.
5097 *** New cleanups, space-before-funcall and compact-empty-funcall.
5098 Two new cleanups have been added to c-cleanup-list:
5100 space-before-funcall causes a space to be inserted before the opening
5101 parenthesis of a function call, which gives the style "foo (bar)".
5103 compact-empty-funcall causes any space before a function call opening
5104 parenthesis to be removed if there are no arguments to the function.
5105 It's typically useful together with space-before-funcall to get the
5106 style "foo (bar)" and "foo()".
5108 *** Some keywords now automatically trigger reindentation.
5109 Keywords like "else", "while", "catch" and "finally" have been made
5110 "electric" to make them reindent automatically when they continue an
5111 earlier statement. An example:
5113 for (i = 0; i < 17; i++)
5115 res += a[i]->offset;
5118 Here, the "else" should be indented like the preceding "if", since it
5119 continues that statement. CC Mode will automatically reindent it after
5120 the "else" has been typed in full, since it's not until then it's
5121 possible to decide whether it's a new statement or a continuation of
5124 CC Mode uses Abbrev mode to achieve this, which is therefore turned on
5127 *** M-a and M-e now moves by sentence in multiline strings.
5128 Previously these two keys only moved by sentence in comments, which
5129 meant that sentence movement didn't work in strings containing
5130 documentation or other natural language text.
5132 The reason it's only activated in multiline strings (i.e. strings that
5133 contain a newline, even when escaped by a '\') is to avoid stopping in
5134 the short strings that often reside inside statements. Multiline
5135 strings almost always contain text in a natural language, as opposed
5136 to other strings that typically contain format specifications,
5137 commands, etc. Also, it's not that bothersome that M-a and M-e misses
5138 sentences in single line strings, since they're short anyway.
5140 *** Support for autodoc comments in Pike mode.
5141 Autodoc comments for Pike are used to extract documentation from the
5142 source, like Javadoc in Java. Pike mode now recognize this markup in
5143 comment prefixes and paragraph starts.
5145 *** The comment prefix regexps on c-comment-prefix may be mode specific.
5146 When c-comment-prefix is an association list, it specifies the comment
5147 line prefix on a per-mode basis, like c-default-style does. This
5148 change came about to support the special autodoc comment prefix in
5151 *** Better handling of syntactic errors.
5152 The recovery after unbalanced parens earlier in the buffer has been
5153 improved; CC Mode now reports them by dinging and giving a message
5154 stating the offending line, but still recovers and indent the
5155 following lines in a sane way (most of the time). An "else" with no
5156 matching "if" is handled similarly. If an error is discovered while
5157 indenting a region, the whole region is still indented and the error
5158 is reported afterwards.
5160 *** Lineup functions may now return absolute columns.
5161 A lineup function can give an absolute column to indent the line to by
5162 returning a vector with the desired column as the first element.
5164 *** More robust and warning-free byte compilation.
5165 Although this is strictly not a user visible change (well, depending
5166 on the view of a user), it's still worth mentioning that CC Mode now
5167 can be compiled in the standard ways without causing trouble. Some
5168 code have also been moved between the subpackages to enhance the
5169 modularity somewhat. Thanks to Martin Buchholz for doing the
5172 *** c-style-variables-are-local-p now defaults to t.
5173 This is an incompatible change that has been made to make the behavior
5174 of the style system wrt global variable settings less confusing for
5175 non-advanced users. If you know what this variable does you might
5176 want to set it to nil in your .emacs, otherwise you probably don't
5179 Defaulting c-style-variables-are-local-p to t avoids the confusing
5180 situation that occurs when a user sets some style variables globally
5181 and edits both a Java and a non-Java file in the same Emacs session.
5182 If the style variables aren't buffer local in this case, loading of
5183 the second file will cause the default style (either "gnu" or "java"
5184 by default) to override the global settings made by the user.
5186 *** New initialization procedure for the style system.
5187 When the initial style for a buffer is determined by CC Mode (from the
5188 variable c-default-style), the global values of style variables now
5189 take precedence over the values specified by the chosen style. This
5190 is different than the old behavior: previously, the style-specific
5191 settings would override the global settings. This change makes it
5192 possible to do simple configuration in the intuitive way with
5193 Customize or with setq lines in one's .emacs file.
5195 By default, the global value of every style variable is the new
5196 special symbol set-from-style, which causes the value to be taken from
5197 the style system. This means that in effect, only an explicit setting
5198 of a style variable will cause the "overriding" behavior described
5201 Also note that global settings override style-specific settings *only*
5202 when the initial style of a buffer is chosen by a CC Mode major mode
5203 function. When a style is chosen in other ways --- for example, by a
5204 call like (c-set-style "gnu") in a hook, or via M-x c-set-style ---
5205 then the style-specific values take precedence over any global style
5206 values. In Lisp terms, global values override style-specific values
5207 only when the new second argument to c-set-style is non-nil; see the
5208 function documentation for more info.
5210 The purpose of these changes is to make it easier for users,
5211 especially novice users, to do simple customizations with Customize or
5212 with setq in their .emacs files. On the other hand, the new system is
5213 intended to be compatible with advanced users' customizations as well,
5214 such as those that choose styles in hooks or whatnot. This new system
5215 is believed to be almost entirely compatible with current
5216 configurations, in spite of the changed precedence between style and
5217 global variable settings when a buffer's default style is set.
5219 (Thanks to Eric Eide for clarifying this explanation a bit.)
5221 **** c-offsets-alist is now a customizable variable.
5222 This became possible as a result of the new initialization behavior.
5224 This variable is treated slightly differently from the other style
5225 variables; instead of using the symbol set-from-style, it will be
5226 completed with the syntactic symbols it doesn't already contain when
5227 the style is first initialized. This means it now defaults to the
5228 empty list to make all syntactic elements get their values from the
5231 **** Compatibility variable to restore the old behavior.
5232 In case your configuration doesn't work with this change, you can set
5233 c-old-style-variable-behavior to non-nil to get the old behavior back
5236 *** Improvements to line breaking and text filling.
5237 CC Mode now handles this more intelligently and seamlessly wrt the
5238 surrounding code, especially inside comments. For details see the new
5239 chapter about this in the manual.
5241 **** New variable to recognize comment line prefix decorations.
5242 The variable c-comment-prefix-regexp has been added to properly
5243 recognize the line prefix in both block and line comments. It's
5244 primarily used to initialize the various paragraph recognition and
5245 adaptive filling variables that the text handling functions uses.
5247 **** New variable c-block-comment-prefix.
5248 This is a generalization of the now obsolete variable
5249 c-comment-continuation-stars to handle arbitrary strings.
5251 **** CC Mode now uses adaptive fill mode.
5252 This to make it adapt better to the paragraph style inside comments.
5254 It's also possible to use other adaptive filling packages inside CC
5255 Mode, notably Kyle E. Jones' Filladapt mode (http://wonderworks.com/).
5256 A new convenience function c-setup-filladapt sets up Filladapt for use
5259 Note though that the 2.12 version of Filladapt lacks a feature that
5260 causes it to work suboptimally when c-comment-prefix-regexp can match
5261 the empty string (which it commonly does). A patch for that is
5262 available from the CC Mode web site (http://www.python.org/emacs/
5265 **** The variables `c-hanging-comment-starter-p' and
5266 `c-hanging-comment-ender-p', which controlled how comment starters and
5267 enders were filled, are not used anymore. The new version of the
5268 function `c-fill-paragraph' keeps the comment starters and enders as
5269 they were before the filling.
5271 **** It's now possible to selectively turn off auto filling.
5272 The variable c-ignore-auto-fill is used to ignore auto fill mode in
5273 specific contexts, e.g. in preprocessor directives and in string
5276 **** New context sensitive line break function c-context-line-break.
5277 It works like newline-and-indent in normal code, and adapts the line
5278 prefix according to the comment style when used inside comments. If
5279 you're normally using newline-and-indent, you might want to switch to
5282 *** Fixes to IDL mode.
5283 It now does a better job in recognizing only the constructs relevant
5284 to IDL. E.g. it no longer matches "class" as the beginning of a
5285 struct block, but it does match the CORBA 2.3 "valuetype" keyword.
5286 Thanks to Eric Eide.
5288 *** Improvements to the Whitesmith style.
5289 It now keeps the style consistently on all levels and both when
5290 opening braces hangs and when they don't.
5292 **** New lineup function c-lineup-whitesmith-in-block.
5294 *** New lineup functions c-lineup-template-args and c-indent-multi-line-block.
5295 See their docstrings for details. c-lineup-template-args does a
5296 better job of tracking the brackets used as parens in C++ templates,
5297 and is used by default to line up continued template arguments.
5299 *** c-lineup-comment now preserves alignment with a comment on the
5300 previous line. It used to instead preserve comments that started in
5301 the column specified by comment-column.
5303 *** c-lineup-C-comments handles "free form" text comments.
5304 In comments with a long delimiter line at the start, the indentation
5305 is kept unchanged for lines that start with an empty comment line
5306 prefix. This is intended for the type of large block comments that
5307 contain documentation with its own formatting. In these you normally
5308 don't want CC Mode to change the indentation.
5310 *** The `c' syntactic symbol is now relative to the comment start
5311 instead of the previous line, to make integers usable as lineup
5314 *** All lineup functions have gotten docstrings.
5316 *** More preprocessor directive movement functions.
5317 c-down-conditional does the reverse of c-up-conditional.
5318 c-up-conditional-with-else and c-down-conditional-with-else are
5319 variants of these that also stops at "#else" lines (suggested by Don
5322 *** Minor improvements to many movement functions in tricky situations.
5326 *** New variable `dired-recursive-deletes' determines if the delete
5327 command will delete non-empty directories recursively. The default
5328 is, delete only empty directories.
5330 *** New variable `dired-recursive-copies' determines if the copy
5331 command will copy directories recursively. The default is, do not
5332 copy directories recursively.
5334 *** In command `dired-do-shell-command' (usually bound to `!') a `?'
5335 in the shell command has a special meaning similar to `*', but with
5336 the difference that the command will be run on each file individually.
5338 *** The new command `dired-find-alternate-file' (usually bound to `a')
5339 replaces the Dired buffer with the buffer for an alternate file or
5342 *** The new command `dired-show-file-type' (usually bound to `y') shows
5343 a message in the echo area describing what type of file the point is on.
5344 This command invokes the external program `file' do its work, and so
5345 will only work on systems with that program, and will be only as
5346 accurate or inaccurate as it is.
5348 *** Dired now properly handles undo changes of adding/removing `-R'
5351 *** Dired commands that prompt for a destination file now allow the use
5352 of the `M-n' command in the minibuffer to insert the source filename,
5353 which the user can then edit. This only works if there is a single
5354 source file, not when operating on multiple marked files.
5358 The Gnus NEWS entries are short, but they reflect sweeping changes in
5359 four areas: Article display treatment, MIME treatment,
5360 internationalization and mail-fetching.
5362 *** The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
5363 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
5365 If you used procmail like in
5367 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
5368 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
5369 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
5370 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
5372 this now has changed to
5375 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
5378 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
5379 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
5381 *** Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
5382 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
5383 Separate MIME packages like RMIME, mime-compose etc., will probably no
5384 longer work; remove them and use the native facilities.
5386 The FLIM/SEMI package still works with Emacs 21, but if you want to
5387 use the native facilities, you must remove any mailcap.el[c] that was
5388 installed by FLIM/SEMI version 1.13 or earlier.
5390 *** Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too many
5391 parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables. There
5392 are built-in facilities equivalent to those of gnus-mule.el, which is
5393 now just a compatibility layer.
5395 *** gnus-mule.el is now just a compatibility layer over the built-in
5398 *** gnus-auto-select-first can now be a function to be
5399 called to position point.
5401 *** The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
5402 summary buffers and NOV files.
5404 *** `gnus-article-display-hook' has been removed. Instead, a number
5405 of variables starting with `gnus-treat-' have been added.
5407 *** The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now work in a
5408 subtly different manner.
5410 *** New web-based backends have been added: nnslashdot, nnwarchive
5411 and nnultimate. nnweb has been revamped, again, to keep up with
5412 ever-changing layouts.
5414 *** Gnus can now read IMAP mail via nnimap.
5416 *** There is image support of various kinds and some sound support.
5418 ** Changes in Texinfo mode.
5420 *** A couple of new key bindings have been added for inserting Texinfo
5424 -------------------------
5428 C-c C-c q @quotation
5430 C-c C-o @<block> ... @end <block>
5433 *** The " key now inserts either " or `` or '' depending on context.
5435 ** Changes in Outline mode.
5437 There is now support for Imenu to index headings. A new command
5438 `outline-headers-as-kill' copies the visible headings in the region to
5439 the kill ring, e.g. to produce a table of contents.
5441 ** Changes to Emacs Server
5443 *** The new option `server-kill-new-buffers' specifies what to do
5444 with buffers when done with them. If non-nil, the default, buffers
5445 are killed, unless they were already present before visiting them with
5446 Emacs Server. If nil, `server-temp-file-regexp' specifies which
5447 buffers to kill, as before.
5449 Please note that only buffers are killed that still have a client,
5450 i.e. buffers visited with `emacsclient --no-wait' are never killed in
5453 ** Both emacsclient and Emacs itself now accept command line options
5454 of the form +LINE:COLUMN in addition to +LINE.
5456 ** Changes to Show Paren mode.
5458 *** Overlays used by Show Paren mode now use a priority property.
5459 The new user option show-paren-priority specifies the priority to
5460 use. Default is 1000.
5462 ** New command M-x check-parens can be used to find unbalanced paren
5463 groups and strings in buffers in Lisp mode (or other modes).
5465 ** Changes to hideshow.el
5467 *** Generalized block selection and traversal
5469 A block is now recognized by its start and end regexps (both strings),
5470 and an integer specifying which sub-expression in the start regexp
5471 serves as the place where a `forward-sexp'-like function can operate.
5472 See the documentation of variable `hs-special-modes-alist'.
5474 *** During incremental search, if Hideshow minor mode is active,
5475 hidden blocks are temporarily shown. The variable `hs-headline' can
5476 be used in the mode line format to show the line at the beginning of
5479 *** User option `hs-hide-all-non-comment-function' specifies a
5480 function to be called at each top-level block beginning, instead of
5481 the normal block-hiding function.
5483 *** The command `hs-show-region' has been removed.
5485 *** The key bindings have changed to fit the Emacs conventions,
5486 roughly imitating those of Outline minor mode. Notably, the prefix
5487 for all bindings is now `C-c @'. For details, see the documentation
5488 for `hs-minor-mode'.
5490 *** The variable `hs-show-hidden-short-form' has been removed, and
5491 hideshow.el now always behaves as if this variable were set to t.
5493 ** Changes to Change Log mode and Add-Log functions
5495 *** If you invoke `add-change-log-entry' from a backup file, it makes
5496 an entry appropriate for the file's parent. This is useful for making
5497 log entries by comparing a version with deleted functions.
5499 **** New command M-x change-log-merge merges another log into the
5502 *** New command M-x change-log-redate fixes any old-style date entries
5505 *** Change Log mode now adds a file's version number to change log
5506 entries if user-option `change-log-version-info-enabled' is non-nil.
5507 Unless the file is under version control the search for a file's
5508 version number is performed based on regular expressions from
5509 `change-log-version-number-regexp-list' which can be customized.
5510 Version numbers are only found in the first 10 percent of a file.
5512 *** Change Log mode now defines its own faces for font-lock highlighting.
5514 ** Changes to cmuscheme
5516 *** The user-option `scheme-program-name' has been renamed
5517 `cmuscheme-program-name' due to conflicts with xscheme.el.
5519 ** Changes in Font Lock
5521 *** The new function `font-lock-remove-keywords' can be used to remove
5522 font-lock keywords from the current buffer or from a specific major mode.
5524 *** Multi-line patterns are now supported. Modes using this, should
5525 set font-lock-multiline to t in their font-lock-defaults.
5527 *** `font-lock-syntactic-face-function' allows major-modes to choose
5528 the face used for each string/comment.
5530 *** A new standard face `font-lock-doc-face'.
5531 Meant for Lisp docstrings, Javadoc comments and other "documentation in code".
5533 ** Changes to Shell mode
5535 *** The `shell' command now accepts an optional argument to specify the buffer
5536 to use, which defaults to "*shell*". When used interactively, a
5537 non-default buffer may be specified by giving the `shell' command a
5538 prefix argument (causing it to prompt for the buffer name).
5540 ** Comint (subshell) changes
5542 These changes generally affect all modes derived from comint mode, which
5543 include shell-mode, gdb-mode, scheme-interaction-mode, etc.
5545 *** Comint now by default interprets some carriage-control characters.
5546 Comint now removes CRs from CR LF sequences, and treats single CRs and
5547 BSs in the output in a way similar to a terminal (by deleting to the
5548 beginning of the line, or deleting the previous character,
5549 respectively). This is achieved by adding `comint-carriage-motion' to
5550 the `comint-output-filter-functions' hook by default.
5552 *** By default, comint no longer uses the variable `comint-prompt-regexp'
5553 to distinguish prompts from user-input. Instead, it notices which
5554 parts of the text were output by the process, and which entered by the
5555 user, and attaches `field' properties to allow emacs commands to use
5556 this information. Common movement commands, notably beginning-of-line,
5557 respect field boundaries in a fairly natural manner. To disable this
5558 feature, and use the old behavior, customize the user option
5559 `comint-use-prompt-regexp-instead-of-fields'.
5561 *** Comint now includes new features to send commands to running processes
5562 and redirect the output to a designated buffer or buffers.
5564 *** The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command reads a command and
5565 buffer name from the mini-buffer. The command is sent to the current
5566 buffer's process, and its output is inserted into the specified buffer.
5568 The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command-to-process acts like
5569 M-x comint-redirect-send-command but additionally reads the name of
5570 the buffer whose process should be used from the mini-buffer.
5572 *** Packages based on comint now highlight user input and program prompts,
5573 and support choosing previous input with mouse-2. To control these features,
5574 see the user-options `comint-highlight-input' and `comint-highlight-prompt'.
5576 *** The new command `comint-write-output' (usually bound to `C-c C-s')
5577 saves the output from the most recent command to a file. With a prefix
5578 argument, it appends to the file.
5580 *** The command `comint-kill-output' has been renamed `comint-delete-output'
5581 (usually bound to `C-c C-o'); the old name is aliased to it for
5584 *** The new function `comint-add-to-input-history' adds commands to the input
5587 *** The new variable `comint-input-history-ignore' is a regexp for
5588 identifying history lines that should be ignored, like tcsh time-stamp
5589 strings, starting with a `#'. The default value of this variable is "^#".
5591 ** Changes to Rmail mode
5593 *** The new user-option rmail-user-mail-address-regexp can be
5594 set to fine tune the identification of the correspondent when
5595 receiving new mail. If it matches the address of the sender, the
5596 recipient is taken as correspondent of a mail. If nil, the default,
5597 `user-login-name' and `user-mail-address' are used to exclude yourself
5600 Usually you don't have to set this variable, except if you collect
5601 mails sent by you under different user names. Then it should be a
5602 regexp matching your mail addresses.
5604 *** The new user-option rmail-confirm-expunge controls whether and how
5605 to ask for confirmation before expunging deleted messages from an
5606 Rmail file. You can choose between no confirmation, confirmation
5607 with y-or-n-p, or confirmation with yes-or-no-p. Default is to ask
5608 for confirmation with yes-or-no-p.
5610 *** RET is now bound in the Rmail summary to rmail-summary-goto-msg,
5613 *** There is a new user option `rmail-digest-end-regexps' that
5614 specifies the regular expressions to detect the line that ends a
5617 *** The new user option `rmail-automatic-folder-directives' specifies
5618 in which folder to put messages automatically.
5620 *** The new function `rmail-redecode-body' allows to fix a message
5621 with non-ASCII characters if Emacs happens to decode it incorrectly
5622 due to missing or malformed "charset=" header.
5624 ** The new user-option `mail-envelope-from' can be used to specify
5625 an envelope-from address different from user-mail-address.
5627 ** The variable mail-specify-envelope-from controls whether to
5628 use the -f option when sending mail.
5630 ** The Rmail command `o' (`rmail-output-to-rmail-file') now writes the
5631 current message in the internal `emacs-mule' encoding, rather than in
5632 the encoding taken from the variable `buffer-file-coding-system'.
5633 This allows to save messages whose characters cannot be safely encoded
5634 by the buffer's coding system, and makes sure the message will be
5635 displayed correctly when you later visit the target Rmail file.
5637 If you want your Rmail files be encoded in a specific coding system
5638 other than `emacs-mule', you can customize the variable
5639 `rmail-file-coding-system' to set its value to that coding system.
5641 ** Changes to TeX mode
5643 *** The default mode has been changed from `plain-tex-mode' to
5646 *** latex-mode now has a simple indentation algorithm.
5648 *** M-f and M-p jump around \begin...\end pairs.
5650 *** Added support for outline-minor-mode.
5652 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
5654 *** RefTeX has new support for index generation. Index entries can be
5655 created with `C-c <', with completion available on index keys.
5656 Pressing `C-c /' indexes the word at the cursor with a default
5657 macro. `C-c >' compiles all index entries into an alphabetically
5658 sorted *Index* buffer which looks like the final index. Entries
5659 can be edited from that buffer.
5661 *** Label and citation key selection now allow to select several
5662 items and reference them together (use `m' to mark items, `a' or
5663 `A' to use all marked entries).
5665 *** reftex.el has been split into a number of smaller files to reduce
5666 memory use when only a part of RefTeX is being used.
5668 *** a new command `reftex-view-crossref-from-bibtex' (bound to `C-c &'
5669 in BibTeX-mode) can be called in a BibTeX database buffer in order
5670 to show locations in LaTeX documents where a particular entry has
5673 ** Emacs Lisp mode now allows multiple levels of outline headings.
5674 The level of a heading is determined from the number of leading
5675 semicolons in a heading line. Toplevel forms starting with a `('
5676 in column 1 are always made leaves.
5678 ** The M-x time-stamp command (most commonly used on write-file-hooks)
5679 has the following new features:
5681 *** The patterns for finding the time stamp and for updating a pattern
5682 may match text spanning multiple lines. For example, some people like
5683 to have the filename and date on separate lines. The new variable
5684 time-stamp-inserts-lines controls the matching for multi-line patterns.
5686 *** More than one time stamp can be updated in the same file. This
5687 feature is useful if you need separate time stamps in a program source
5688 file to both include in formatted documentation and insert in the
5689 compiled binary. The same time-stamp will be written at each matching
5690 pattern. The variable time-stamp-count enables this new feature; it
5693 ** Partial Completion mode now completes environment variables in
5698 *** The command `ispell' now spell-checks a region if
5699 transient-mark-mode is on, and the mark is active. Otherwise it
5700 spell-checks the current buffer.
5702 *** Support for synchronous subprocesses - DOS/Windoze - has been
5705 *** An "alignment error" bug was fixed when a manual spelling
5706 correction is made and re-checked.
5708 *** Italian, Portuguese, and Slovak dictionary definitions have been added.
5710 *** Region skipping performance has been vastly improved in some
5713 *** Spell checking HTML buffers has been improved and isn't so strict
5716 *** The buffer-local words are now always placed on a new line at the
5719 *** Spell checking now works in the MS-DOS version of Emacs.
5721 ** Makefile mode changes
5723 *** The mode now uses the abbrev table `makefile-mode-abbrev-table'.
5725 *** Conditionals and include statements are now highlighted when
5726 Fontlock mode is active.
5730 *** Isearch now puts a call to `isearch-resume' in the command history,
5731 so that searches can be resumed.
5733 *** In Isearch mode, C-M-s and C-M-r are now bound like C-s and C-r,
5734 respectively, i.e. you can repeat a regexp isearch with the same keys
5735 that started the search.
5737 *** In Isearch mode, mouse-2 in the echo area now yanks the current
5738 selection into the search string rather than giving an error.
5740 *** There is a new lazy highlighting feature in incremental search.
5742 Lazy highlighting is switched on/off by customizing variable
5743 `isearch-lazy-highlight'. When active, all matches for the current
5744 search string are highlighted. The current match is highlighted as
5745 before using face `isearch' or `region'. All other matches are
5746 highlighted using face `isearch-lazy-highlight-face' which defaults to
5747 `secondary-selection'.
5749 The extra highlighting makes it easier to anticipate where the cursor
5750 will end up each time you press C-s or C-r to repeat a pending search.
5751 Highlighting of these additional matches happens in a deferred fashion
5752 using "idle timers," so the cycles needed do not rob isearch of its
5753 usual snappy response.
5755 If `isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup' is set to t, highlights for
5756 matches are automatically cleared when you end the search. If it is
5757 set to nil, you can remove the highlights manually with `M-x
5758 isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup'.
5762 VC has been overhauled internally. It is now modular, making it
5763 easier to plug-in arbitrary version control backends. (See Lisp
5764 Changes for details on the new structure.) As a result, the mechanism
5765 to enable and disable support for particular version systems has
5766 changed: everything is now controlled by the new variable
5767 `vc-handled-backends'. Its value is a list of symbols that identify
5768 version systems; the default is '(RCS CVS SCCS). When finding a file,
5769 each of the backends in that list is tried in order to see whether the
5770 file is registered in that backend.
5772 When registering a new file, VC first tries each of the listed
5773 backends to see if any of them considers itself "responsible" for the
5774 directory of the file (e.g. because a corresponding subdirectory for
5775 master files exists). If none of the backends is responsible, then
5776 the first backend in the list that could register the file is chosen.
5777 As a consequence, the variable `vc-default-back-end' is now obsolete.
5779 The old variable `vc-master-templates' is also obsolete, although VC
5780 still supports it for backward compatibility. To define templates for
5781 RCS or SCCS, you should rather use the new variables
5782 vc-{rcs,sccs}-master-templates. (There is no such feature under CVS
5783 where it doesn't make sense.)
5785 The variables `vc-ignore-vc-files' and `vc-handle-cvs' are also
5786 obsolete now, you must set `vc-handled-backends' to nil or exclude
5787 `CVS' from the list, respectively, to achieve their effect now.
5791 The variable `vc-checkout-carefully' is obsolete: the corresponding
5792 checks are always done now.
5794 VC Dired buffers are now kept up-to-date during all version control
5797 `vc-diff' output is now displayed in `diff-mode'.
5798 `vc-print-log' uses `log-view-mode'.
5799 `vc-log-mode' (used for *VC-Log*) has been replaced by `log-edit-mode'.
5801 The command C-x v m (vc-merge) now accepts an empty argument as the
5802 first revision number. This means that any recent changes on the
5803 current branch should be picked up from the repository and merged into
5804 the working file (``merge news'').
5806 The commands C-x v s (vc-create-snapshot) and C-x v r
5807 (vc-retrieve-snapshot) now ask for a directory name from which to work
5810 *** Multiple Backends
5812 VC now lets you register files in more than one backend. This is
5813 useful, for example, if you are working with a slow remote CVS
5814 repository. You can then use RCS for local editing, and occasionally
5815 commit your changes back to CVS, or pick up changes from CVS into your
5818 To make this work, the ``more local'' backend (RCS in our example)
5819 should come first in `vc-handled-backends', and the ``more remote''
5820 backend (CVS) should come later. (The default value of
5821 `vc-handled-backends' already has it that way.)
5823 You can then commit changes to another backend (say, RCS), by typing
5824 C-u C-x v v RCS RET (i.e. vc-next-action now accepts a backend name as
5825 a revision number). VC registers the file in the more local backend
5826 if that hasn't already happened, and commits to a branch based on the
5827 current revision number from the more remote backend.
5829 If a file is registered in multiple backends, you can switch to
5830 another one using C-x v b (vc-switch-backend). This does not change
5831 any files, it only changes VC's perspective on the file. Use this to
5832 pick up changes from CVS while working under RCS locally.
5834 After you are done with your local RCS editing, you can commit your
5835 changes back to CVS using C-u C-x v v CVS RET. In this case, the
5836 local RCS archive is removed after the commit, and the log entry
5837 buffer is initialized to contain the entire RCS change log of the file.
5841 There is a new user option, `vc-cvs-stay-local'. If it is `t' (the
5842 default), then VC avoids network queries for files registered in
5843 remote repositories. The state of such files is then only determined
5844 by heuristics and past information. `vc-cvs-stay-local' can also be a
5845 regexp to match against repository hostnames; only files from hosts
5846 that match it are treated locally. If the variable is nil, then VC
5847 queries the repository just as often as it does for local files.
5849 If `vc-cvs-stay-local' is on, then VC also makes local backups of
5850 repository versions. This means that ordinary diffs (C-x v =) and
5851 revert operations (C-x v u) can be done completely locally, without
5852 any repository interactions at all. The name of a local version
5853 backup of FILE is FILE.~REV.~, where REV is the repository version
5854 number. This format is similar to that used by C-x v ~
5855 (vc-version-other-window), except for the trailing dot. As a matter
5856 of fact, the two features can each use the files created by the other,
5857 the only difference being that files with a trailing `.' are deleted
5858 automatically after commit. (This feature doesn't work on MS-DOS,
5859 since DOS disallows more than a single dot in the trunk of a file
5862 If `vc-cvs-stay-local' is on, and there have been changes in the
5863 repository, VC notifies you about it when you actually try to commit.
5864 If you want to check for updates from the repository without trying to
5865 commit, you can either use C-x v m RET to perform an update on the
5866 current file, or you can use C-x v r RET to get an update for an
5867 entire directory tree.
5869 The new user option `vc-cvs-use-edit' indicates whether VC should call
5870 "cvs edit" to make files writeable; it defaults to `t'. (This option
5871 is only meaningful if the CVSREAD variable is set, or if files are
5872 "watched" by other developers.)
5874 The commands C-x v s (vc-create-snapshot) and C-x v r
5875 (vc-retrieve-snapshot) are now also implemented for CVS. If you give
5876 an empty snapshot name to the latter, that performs a `cvs update',
5877 starting at the given directory.
5879 *** Lisp Changes in VC
5881 VC has been restructured internally to make it modular. You can now
5882 add support for arbitrary version control backends by writing a
5883 library that provides a certain set of backend-specific functions, and
5884 then telling VC to use that library. For example, to add support for
5885 a version system named SYS, you write a library named vc-sys.el, which
5886 provides a number of functions vc-sys-... (see commentary at the top
5887 of vc.el for a detailed list of them). To make VC use that library,
5888 you need to put it somewhere into Emacs' load path and add the symbol
5889 `SYS' to the list `vc-handled-backends'.
5891 ** The customizable EDT emulation package now supports the EDT
5892 SUBS command and EDT scroll margins. It also works with more
5893 terminal/keyboard configurations and it now works under XEmacs.
5894 See etc/edt-user.doc for more information.
5896 ** New modes and packages
5898 *** The new global minor mode `minibuffer-electric-default-mode'
5899 automatically hides the `(default ...)' part of minibuffer prompts when
5900 the default is not applicable.
5902 *** Artist is an Emacs lisp package that allows you to draw lines,
5903 rectangles and ellipses by using your mouse and/or keyboard. The
5904 shapes are made up with the ascii characters |, -, / and \.
5908 - Intersecting: When a `|' intersects with a `-', a `+' is
5909 drawn, like this: | \ /
5913 - Rubber-banding: When drawing lines you can interactively see the
5914 result while holding the mouse button down and moving the mouse. If
5915 your machine is not fast enough (a 386 is a bit too slow, but a
5916 pentium is well enough), you can turn this feature off. You will
5917 then see 1's and 2's which mark the 1st and 2nd endpoint of the line
5920 - Arrows: After having drawn a (straight) line or a (straight)
5921 poly-line, you can set arrows on the line-ends by typing < or >.
5923 - Flood-filling: You can fill any area with a certain character by
5926 - Cut copy and paste: You can cut, copy and paste rectangular
5927 regions. Artist also interfaces with the rect package (this can be
5928 turned off if it causes you any trouble) so anything you cut in
5929 artist can be yanked with C-x r y and vice versa.
5931 - Drawing with keys: Everything you can do with the mouse, you can
5932 also do without the mouse.
5934 - Aspect-ratio: You can set the variable artist-aspect-ratio to
5935 reflect the height-width ratio for the font you are using. Squares
5936 and circles are then drawn square/round. Note, that once your
5937 ascii-file is shown with font with a different height-width ratio,
5938 the squares won't be square and the circles won't be round.
5940 - Drawing operations: The following drawing operations are implemented:
5942 lines straight-lines
5944 poly-lines straight poly-lines
5946 text (see-thru) text (overwrite)
5947 spray-can setting size for spraying
5948 vaporize line vaporize lines
5949 erase characters erase rectangles
5951 Straight lines are lines that go horizontally, vertically or
5952 diagonally. Plain lines go in any direction. The operations in
5953 the right column are accessed by holding down the shift key while
5956 It is possible to vaporize (erase) entire lines and connected lines
5957 (rectangles for example) as long as the lines being vaporized are
5958 straight and connected at their endpoints. Vaporizing is inspired
5959 by the drawrect package by Jari Aalto <jari.aalto@poboxes.com>.
5961 - Picture mode compatibility: Artist is picture mode compatible (this
5964 *** The new package Eshell is an operating system command shell
5965 implemented entirely in Emacs Lisp. Use `M-x eshell' to invoke it.
5966 It functions similarly to bash and zsh, and allows running of Lisp
5967 functions and external commands using the same syntax. It supports
5968 history lists, aliases, extended globbing, smart scrolling, etc. It
5969 will work on any platform Emacs has been ported to. And since most of
5970 the basic commands -- ls, rm, mv, cp, ln, du, cat, etc. -- have been
5971 rewritten in Lisp, it offers an operating-system independent shell,
5972 all within the scope of your Emacs process.
5974 *** The new package timeclock.el is a mode is for keeping track of time
5975 intervals. You can use it for whatever purpose you like, but the
5976 typical scenario is to keep track of how much time you spend working
5977 on certain projects.
5979 *** The new package hi-lock.el provides commands to highlight matches
5980 of interactively entered regexps. For example,
5982 M-x highlight-regexp RET clearly RET RET
5984 will highlight all occurrences of `clearly' using a yellow background
5985 face. New occurrences of `clearly' will be highlighted as they are
5986 typed. `M-x unhighlight-regexp RET' will remove the highlighting.
5987 Any existing face can be used for highlighting and a set of
5988 appropriate faces is provided. The regexps can be written into the
5989 current buffer in a form that will be recognized the next time the
5990 corresponding file is read. There are commands to highlight matches
5991 to phrases and to highlight entire lines containing a match.
5993 *** The new package zone.el plays games with Emacs' display when
5996 *** The new package tildify.el allows to add hard spaces or other text
5997 fragments in accordance with the current major mode.
5999 *** The new package xml.el provides a simple but generic XML
6000 parser. It doesn't parse the DTDs however.
6002 *** The comment operations are now provided by the newcomment.el
6003 package which allows different styles of comment-region and should
6004 be more robust while offering the same functionality.
6005 `comment-region' now doesn't always comment a-line-at-a-time, but only
6006 comments the region, breaking the line at point if necessary.
6008 *** The Ebrowse package implements a C++ class browser and tags
6009 facilities tailored for use with C++. It is documented in a
6010 separate Texinfo file.
6012 *** The PCL-CVS package available by either running M-x cvs-examine or
6013 by visiting a CVS administrative directory (with a prefix argument)
6014 provides an alternative interface to VC-dired for CVS. It comes with
6015 `log-view-mode' to view RCS and SCCS logs and `log-edit-mode' used to
6016 enter check-in log messages.
6018 *** The new package called `woman' allows to browse Unix man pages
6019 without invoking external programs.
6021 The command `M-x woman' formats manual pages entirely in Emacs Lisp
6022 and then displays them, like `M-x manual-entry' does. Unlike
6023 `manual-entry', `woman' does not invoke any external programs, so it
6024 is useful on systems such as MS-DOS/MS-Windows where the `man' and
6025 Groff or `troff' commands are not readily available.
6027 The command `M-x woman-find-file' asks for the file name of a man
6028 page, then formats and displays it like `M-x woman' does.
6030 *** The new command M-x re-builder offers a convenient interface for
6031 authoring regular expressions with immediate visual feedback.
6033 The buffer from which the command was called becomes the target for
6034 the regexp editor popping up in a separate window. Matching text in
6035 the target buffer is immediately color marked during the editing.
6036 Each sub-expression of the regexp will show up in a different face so
6037 even complex regexps can be edited and verified on target data in a
6040 On displays not supporting faces the matches instead blink like
6041 matching parens to make them stand out. On such a setup you will
6042 probably also want to use the sub-expression mode when the regexp
6043 contains such to get feedback about their respective limits.
6045 *** glasses-mode is a minor mode that makes
6046 unreadableIdentifiersLikeThis readable. It works as glasses, without
6047 actually modifying content of a buffer.
6049 *** The package ebnf2ps translates an EBNF to a syntactic chart in
6052 Currently accepts ad-hoc EBNF, ISO EBNF and Bison/Yacc.
6054 The ad-hoc default EBNF syntax has the following elements:
6056 ; comment (until end of line)
6060 $A default non-terminal
6061 $"C" default terminal
6062 $?C? default special
6063 A = B. production (A is the header and B the body)
6064 C D sequence (C occurs before D)
6065 C | D alternative (C or D occurs)
6066 A - B exception (A excluding B, B without any non-terminal)
6067 n * A repetition (A repeats n (integer) times)
6068 (C) group (expression C is grouped together)
6069 [C] optional (C may or not occurs)
6070 C+ one or more occurrences of C
6071 {C}+ one or more occurrences of C
6072 {C}* zero or more occurrences of C
6073 {C} zero or more occurrences of C
6074 C / D equivalent to: C {D C}*
6075 {C || D}+ equivalent to: C {D C}*
6076 {C || D}* equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
6077 {C || D} equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
6079 Please, see ebnf2ps documentation for EBNF syntax and how to use it.
6081 *** The package align.el will align columns within a region, using M-x
6082 align. Its mode-specific rules, based on regular expressions,
6083 determine where the columns should be split. In C and C++, for
6084 example, it will align variable names in declaration lists, or the
6085 equal signs of assignments.
6087 *** `paragraph-indent-minor-mode' is a new minor mode supporting
6088 paragraphs in the same style as `paragraph-indent-text-mode'.
6090 *** bs.el is a new package for buffer selection similar to
6091 list-buffers or electric-buffer-list. Use M-x bs-show to display a
6092 buffer menu with this package. See the Custom group `bs'.
6094 *** find-lisp.el is a package emulating the Unix find command in Lisp.
6096 *** calculator.el is a small calculator package that is intended to
6097 replace desktop calculators such as xcalc and calc.exe. Actually, it
6098 is not too small - it has more features than most desktop calculators,
6099 and can be customized easily to get many more functions. It should
6100 not be confused with "calc" which is a much bigger mathematical tool
6101 which answers different needs.
6103 *** The minor modes cwarn-mode and global-cwarn-mode highlights
6104 suspicious C and C++ constructions. Currently, assignments inside
6105 expressions, semicolon following `if', `for' and `while' (except, of
6106 course, after a `do .. while' statement), and C++ functions with
6107 reference parameters are recognized. The modes require font-lock mode
6110 *** smerge-mode.el provides `smerge-mode', a simple minor-mode for files
6111 containing diff3-style conflict markers, such as generated by RCS.
6113 *** 5x5.el is a simple puzzle game.
6115 *** hl-line.el provides `hl-line-mode', a minor mode to highlight the
6116 current line in the current buffer. It also provides
6117 `global-hl-line-mode' to provide the same behavior in all buffers.
6119 *** ansi-color.el translates ANSI terminal escapes into text-properties.
6121 Please note: if `ansi-color-for-comint-mode' and
6122 `global-font-lock-mode' are non-nil, loading ansi-color.el will
6123 disable font-lock and add `ansi-color-apply' to
6124 `comint-preoutput-filter-functions' for all shell-mode buffers. This
6125 displays the output of "ls --color=yes" using the correct foreground
6126 and background colors.
6128 *** delphi.el provides a major mode for editing the Delphi (Object
6131 *** quickurl.el provides a simple method of inserting a URL based on
6134 *** sql.el provides an interface to SQL data bases.
6136 *** fortune.el uses the fortune program to create mail/news signatures.
6138 *** whitespace.el is a package for warning about and cleaning bogus
6139 whitespace in a file.
6141 *** PostScript mode (ps-mode) is a new major mode for editing PostScript
6142 files. It offers: interaction with a PostScript interpreter, including
6143 (very basic) error handling; fontification, easily customizable for
6144 interpreter messages; auto-indentation; insertion of EPSF templates and
6145 often used code snippets; viewing of BoundingBox; commenting out /
6146 uncommenting regions; conversion of 8bit characters to PostScript octal
6147 codes. All functionality is accessible through a menu.
6149 *** delim-col helps to prettify columns in a text region or rectangle.
6151 Here is an example of columns:
6154 dog pineapple car EXTRA
6155 porcupine strawberry airplane
6157 Doing the following settings:
6159 (setq delimit-columns-str-before "[ ")
6160 (setq delimit-columns-str-after " ]")
6161 (setq delimit-columns-str-separator ", ")
6162 (setq delimit-columns-separator "\t")
6165 Selecting the lines above and typing:
6167 M-x delimit-columns-region
6171 [ horse , apple , bus , ]
6172 [ dog , pineapple , car , EXTRA ]
6173 [ porcupine, strawberry, airplane, ]
6175 delim-col has the following options:
6177 delimit-columns-str-before Specify a string to be inserted
6180 delimit-columns-str-separator Specify a string to be inserted
6181 between each column.
6183 delimit-columns-str-after Specify a string to be inserted
6186 delimit-columns-separator Specify a regexp which separates
6189 delim-col has the following commands:
6191 delimit-columns-region Prettify all columns in a text region.
6192 delimit-columns-rectangle Prettify all columns in a text rectangle.
6194 *** Recentf mode maintains a menu for visiting files that were
6195 operated on recently. User option recentf-menu-filter specifies a
6196 menu filter function to change the menu appearance. For example, the
6197 recent file list can be displayed:
6199 - organized by major modes, directories or user defined rules.
6200 - sorted by file paths, file names, ascending or descending.
6201 - showing paths relative to the current default-directory
6203 The `recentf-filter-changer' menu filter function allows to
6204 dynamically change the menu appearance.
6206 *** elide-head.el provides a mechanism for eliding boilerplate header
6209 *** footnote.el provides `footnote-mode', a minor mode supporting use
6210 of footnotes. It is intended for use with Message mode, but isn't
6211 specific to Message mode.
6213 *** diff-mode.el provides `diff-mode', a major mode for
6214 viewing/editing context diffs (patches). It is selected for files
6215 with extension `.diff', `.diffs', `.patch' and `.rej'.
6217 *** EUDC, the Emacs Unified Directory Client, provides a common user
6218 interface to access directory servers using different directory
6219 protocols. It has a separate manual.
6221 *** autoconf.el provides a major mode for editing configure.in files
6222 for Autoconf, selected automatically.
6224 *** windmove.el provides moving between windows.
6226 *** crm.el provides a facility to read multiple strings from the
6227 minibuffer with completion.
6229 *** todo-mode.el provides management of TODO lists and integration
6230 with the diary features.
6232 *** autoarg.el provides a feature reported from Twenex Emacs whereby
6233 numeric keys supply prefix args rather than self inserting.
6235 *** The function `turn-off-auto-fill' unconditionally turns off Auto
6238 *** pcomplete.el is a library that provides programmable completion
6239 facilities for Emacs, similar to what zsh and tcsh offer. The main
6240 difference is that completion functions are written in Lisp, meaning
6241 they can be profiled, debugged, etc.
6243 *** antlr-mode is a new major mode for editing ANTLR grammar files.
6244 It is automatically turned on for files whose names have the extension
6247 ** Changes in sort.el
6249 The function sort-numeric-fields interprets numbers starting with `0'
6250 as octal and numbers starting with `0x' or `0X' as hexadecimal. The
6251 new user-option sort-numeric-base can be used to specify a default
6254 ** Changes to Ange-ftp
6256 *** Ange-ftp allows you to specify of a port number in remote file
6257 names cleanly. It is appended to the host name, separated by a hash
6258 sign, e.g. `/foo@bar.org#666:mumble'. (This syntax comes from EFS.)
6260 *** If the new user-option `ange-ftp-try-passive-mode' is set, passive
6261 ftp mode will be used if the ftp client supports that.
6263 *** Ange-ftp handles the output of the w32-style clients which
6264 output ^M at the end of lines.
6266 ** The recommended way of using Iswitchb is via the new global minor
6267 mode `iswitchb-mode'.
6269 ** Just loading the msb package doesn't switch on Msb mode anymore.
6270 If you have `(require 'msb)' in your .emacs, please replace it with
6273 ** Flyspell mode has various new options. See the `flyspell' Custom
6276 ** The user option `backward-delete-char-untabify-method' controls the
6277 behavior of `backward-delete-char-untabify'. The following values
6280 `untabify' -- turn a tab to many spaces, then delete one space;
6281 `hungry' -- delete all whitespace, both tabs and spaces;
6282 `all' -- delete all whitespace, including tabs, spaces and newlines;
6283 nil -- just delete one character.
6285 Default value is `untabify'.
6287 [This change was made in Emacs 20.3 but not mentioned then.]
6289 ** In Cperl mode `cperl-invalid-face' should now be a normal face
6290 symbol, not double-quoted.
6292 ** Some packages are declared obsolete, to be removed in a future
6293 version. They are: auto-show, c-mode, hilit19, hscroll, ooutline,
6294 profile, rnews, rnewspost, and sc. Their implementations have been
6295 moved to lisp/obsolete.
6297 ** auto-compression mode is no longer enabled just by loading jka-compr.el.
6298 To control it, set `auto-compression-mode' via Custom or use the
6299 `auto-compression-mode' command.
6301 ** `browse-url-gnome-moz' is a new option for
6302 `browse-url-browser-function', invoking Mozilla in GNOME, and
6303 `browse-url-kde' can be chosen for invoking the KDE browser.
6305 ** The user-option `browse-url-new-window-p' has been renamed to
6306 `browse-url-new-window-flag'.
6308 ** The functions `keep-lines', `flush-lines' and `how-many' now
6309 operate on the active region in Transient Mark mode.
6311 ** `gnus-user-agent' is a new possibility for `mail-user-agent'. It
6312 is like `message-user-agent', but with all the Gnus paraphernalia.
6314 ** The Strokes package has been updated. If your Emacs has XPM
6315 support, you can use it for pictographic editing. In Strokes mode,
6316 use C-mouse-2 to compose a complex stoke and insert it into the
6317 buffer. You can encode or decode a strokes buffer with new commands
6318 M-x strokes-encode-buffer and M-x strokes-decode-buffer. There is a
6319 new command M-x strokes-list-strokes.
6321 ** Hexl contains a new command `hexl-insert-hex-string' which inserts
6322 a string of hexadecimal numbers read from the mini-buffer.
6324 ** Hexl mode allows to insert non-ASCII characters.
6326 The non-ASCII characters are encoded using the same encoding as the
6327 file you are visiting in Hexl mode.
6329 ** Shell script mode changes.
6331 Shell script mode (sh-script) can now indent scripts for shells
6332 derived from sh and rc. The indentation style is customizable, and
6333 sh-script can attempt to "learn" the current buffer's style.
6337 *** In DOS, etags looks for file.cgz if it cannot find file.c.
6339 *** New option --ignore-case-regex is an alternative to --regex. It is now
6340 possible to bind a regexp to a language, by prepending the regexp with
6341 {lang}, where lang is one of the languages that `etags --help' prints out.
6342 This feature is useful especially for regex files, where each line contains
6343 a regular expression. The manual contains details.
6345 *** In C and derived languages, etags creates tags for function
6346 declarations when given the --declarations option.
6348 *** In C++, tags are created for "operator". The tags have the form
6349 "operator+", without spaces between the keyword and the operator.
6351 *** You shouldn't generally need any more the -C or -c++ option: etags
6352 automatically switches to C++ parsing when it meets the `class' or
6353 `template' keywords.
6355 *** Etags now is able to delve at arbitrary deeps into nested structures in
6356 C-like languages. Previously, it was limited to one or two brace levels.
6358 *** New language Ada: tags are functions, procedures, packages, tasks, and
6361 *** In Fortran, `procedure' is not tagged.
6363 *** In Java, tags are created for "interface".
6365 *** In Lisp, "(defstruct (foo", "(defun (operator" and similar constructs
6368 *** In makefiles, tags the targets.
6370 *** In Perl, the --globals option tags global variables. my and local
6371 variables are tagged.
6373 *** New language Python: def and class at the beginning of a line are tags.
6375 *** .ss files are Scheme files, .pdb is Postscript with C syntax, .psw is
6378 ** Changes in etags.el
6380 *** The new user-option tags-case-fold-search can be used to make
6381 tags operations case-sensitive or case-insensitive. The default
6382 is to use the same setting as case-fold-search.
6384 *** You can display additional output with M-x tags-apropos by setting
6385 the new variable tags-apropos-additional-actions.
6387 If non-nil, the variable's value should be a list of triples (TITLE
6388 FUNCTION TO-SEARCH). For each triple, M-x tags-apropos processes
6389 TO-SEARCH and lists tags from it. TO-SEARCH should be an alist,
6390 obarray, or symbol. If it is a symbol, the symbol's value is used.
6392 TITLE is a string to use to label the list of tags from TO-SEARCH.
6394 FUNCTION is a function to call when an entry is selected in the Tags
6395 List buffer. It is called with one argument, the selected symbol.
6397 A useful example value for this variable might be something like:
6399 '(("Emacs Lisp" Info-goto-emacs-command-node obarray)
6400 ("Common Lisp" common-lisp-hyperspec common-lisp-hyperspec-obarray)
6401 ("SCWM" scwm-documentation scwm-obarray))
6403 *** The face tags-tag-face can be used to customize the appearance
6404 of tags in the output of M-x tags-apropos.
6406 *** Setting tags-apropos-verbose to a non-nil value displays the
6407 names of tags files in the *Tags List* buffer.
6409 *** You can now search for tags that are part of the filename itself.
6410 If you have tagged the files topfile.c subdir/subfile.c
6411 /tmp/tempfile.c, you can now search for tags "topfile.c", "subfile.c",
6412 "dir/sub", "tempfile", "tempfile.c". If the tag matches the file name,
6413 point will go to the beginning of the file.
6415 *** Compressed files are now transparently supported if
6416 auto-compression-mode is active. You can tag (with Etags) and search
6417 (with find-tag) both compressed and uncompressed files.
6419 *** Tags commands like M-x tags-search no longer change point
6420 in buffers where no match is found. In buffers where a match is
6421 found, the original value of point is pushed on the marker ring.
6423 ** Fortran mode has a new command `fortran-strip-sequence-nos' to
6424 remove text past column 72. The syntax class of `\' in Fortran is now
6425 appropriate for C-style escape sequences in strings.
6427 ** SGML mode's default `sgml-validate-command' is now `nsgmls'.
6429 ** A new command `view-emacs-problems' (C-h P) displays the PROBLEMS file.
6431 ** The Dabbrev package has a new user-option `dabbrev-ignored-regexps'
6432 containing a list of regular expressions. Buffers matching a regular
6433 expression from that list, are not checked.
6435 ** Emacs can now figure out modification times of remote files.
6436 When you do C-x C-f /user@host:/path/file RET and edit the file,
6437 and someone else modifies the file, you will be prompted to revert
6438 the buffer, just like for the local files.
6440 ** The buffer menu (C-x C-b) no longer lists the *Buffer List* buffer.
6442 ** When invoked with a prefix argument, the command `list-abbrevs' now
6443 displays local abbrevs, only.
6445 ** Refill minor mode provides preliminary support for keeping
6446 paragraphs filled as you modify them.
6448 ** The variable `double-click-fuzz' specifies how much the mouse
6449 may be moved between clicks that are recognized as a pair. Its value
6450 is measured in pixels.
6452 ** The new global minor mode `auto-image-file-mode' allows image files
6453 to be visited as images.
6455 ** Two new user-options `grep-command' and `grep-find-command'
6456 were added to compile.el.
6458 ** Withdrawn packages
6460 *** mldrag.el has been removed. mouse.el provides the same
6461 functionality with aliases for the mldrag functions.
6463 *** eval-reg.el has been obsoleted by changes to edebug.el and removed.
6465 *** ph.el has been obsoleted by EUDC and removed.
6468 * Incompatible Lisp changes
6470 There are a few Lisp changes which are not backwards-compatible and
6471 may require changes to existing code. Here is a list for reference.
6472 See the sections below for details.
6474 ** Since `format' preserves text properties, the idiom
6475 `(format "%s" foo)' no longer works to copy and remove properties.
6476 Use `copy-sequence' to copy the string, then use `set-text-properties'
6477 to remove the properties of the copy.
6479 ** Since the `keymap' text property now has significance, some code
6480 which uses both `local-map' and `keymap' properties (for portability)
6481 may, for instance, give rise to duplicate menus when the keymaps from
6482 these properties are active.
6484 ** The change in the treatment of non-ASCII characters in search
6485 ranges may affect some code.
6487 ** A non-nil value for the LOCAL arg of add-hook makes the hook
6488 buffer-local even if `make-local-hook' hasn't been called, which might
6489 make a difference to some code.
6491 ** The new treatment of the minibuffer prompt might affect code which
6492 operates on the minibuffer.
6494 ** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
6495 cause `no-conversion' and `emacs-mule-unix' coding systems to produce
6496 different results when reading files with non-ASCII characters
6497 (previously, both coding systems would produce the same results).
6498 Specifically, `no-conversion' interprets each 8-bit byte as a separate
6499 character. This makes `no-conversion' inappropriate for reading
6500 multibyte text, e.g. buffers written to disk in their internal MULE
6501 encoding (auto-saving does that, for example). If a Lisp program
6502 reads such files with `no-conversion', each byte of the multibyte
6503 sequence, including the MULE leading codes such as \201, is treated as
6504 a separate character, which prevents them from being interpreted in
6505 the buffer as multibyte characters.
6507 Therefore, Lisp programs that read files which contain the internal
6508 MULE encoding should use `emacs-mule-unix'. `no-conversion' is only
6509 appropriate for reading truly binary files.
6511 ** Code that relies on the obsolete `before-change-function' and
6512 `after-change-function' to detect buffer changes will now fail. Use
6513 `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions' instead.
6515 ** Code that uses `concat' with integer args now gets an error, as
6516 long promised. So does any code that uses derivatives of `concat',
6517 such as `mapconcat'.
6519 ** The function base64-decode-string now always returns a unibyte
6522 ** Not a Lisp incompatibility as such but, with the introduction of
6523 extra private charsets, there is now only one slot free for a new
6524 dimension-2 private charset. User code which tries to add more than
6525 one extra will fail unless you rebuild Emacs with some standard
6526 charset(s) removed; that is probably inadvisable because it changes
6527 the emacs-mule encoding. Also, files stored in the emacs-mule
6528 encoding using Emacs 20 with additional private charsets defined will
6529 probably not be read correctly by Emacs 21.
6531 ** The variable `directory-sep-char' is slated for removal.
6532 Not really a change (yet), but a projected one that you should be
6533 aware of: The variable `directory-sep-char' is deprecated, and should
6534 not be used. It was always ignored on GNU/Linux and Unix systems and
6535 on MS-DOS, but the MS-Windows port tried to support it by adapting the
6536 behavior of certain primitives to the value of this variable. It
6537 turned out that such support cannot be reliable, so it was decided to
6538 remove this variable in the near future. Lisp programs are well
6539 advised not to set it to anything but '/', because any different value
6540 will not have any effect when support for this variable is removed.
6543 * Lisp changes made after edition 2.6 of the Emacs Lisp Manual,
6544 (Display-related features are described in a page of their own below.)
6546 ** Function assq-delete-all replaces function assoc-delete-all.
6548 ** The new function animate-string, from lisp/play/animate.el
6549 allows the animated display of strings.
6551 ** The new function `interactive-form' can be used to obtain the
6552 interactive form of a function.
6554 ** The keyword :set-after in defcustom allows to specify dependencies
6555 between custom options. Example:
6557 (defcustom default-input-method nil
6558 "*Default input method for multilingual text (a string).
6559 This is the input method activated automatically by the command
6560 `toggle-input-method' (\\[toggle-input-method])."
6562 :type '(choice (const nil) string)
6563 :set-after '(current-language-environment))
6565 This specifies that default-input-method should be set after
6566 current-language-environment even if default-input-method appears
6567 first in a custom-set-variables statement.
6569 ** The new hook `kbd-macro-termination-hook' is run at the end of
6570 function execute-kbd-macro. Functions on this hook are called with no
6571 args. The hook is run independent of how the macro was terminated
6572 (signal or normal termination).
6574 ** Functions `butlast' and `nbutlast' for removing trailing elements
6575 from a list are now available without requiring the CL package.
6577 ** The new user-option `even-window-heights' can be set to nil
6578 to prevent `display-buffer' from evening out window heights.
6580 ** The user-option `face-font-registry-alternatives' specifies
6581 alternative font registry names to try when looking for a font.
6583 ** Function `md5' calculates the MD5 "message digest"/"checksum".
6585 ** Function `delete-frame' runs `delete-frame-hook' before actually
6586 deleting the frame. The hook is called with one arg, the frame
6589 ** `add-hook' now makes the hook local if called with a non-nil LOCAL arg.
6591 ** The treatment of non-ASCII characters in search ranges has changed.
6592 If a range in a regular expression or the arg of
6593 skip-chars-forward/backward starts with a unibyte character C and ends
6594 with a multibyte character C2, the range is divided into two: one is
6595 C..?\377, the other is C1..C2, where C1 is the first character of C2's
6598 ** The new function `display-message-or-buffer' displays a message in
6599 the echo area or pops up a buffer, depending on the length of the
6602 ** The new macro `with-auto-compression-mode' allows evaluating an
6603 expression with auto-compression-mode enabled.
6605 ** In image specifications, `:heuristic-mask' has been replaced
6606 with the more general `:mask' property.
6608 ** Image specifications accept more `:conversion's.
6610 ** A `?' can be used in a symbol name without escaping it with a
6613 ** Reading from the mini-buffer now reads from standard input if Emacs
6614 is running in batch mode. For example,
6616 (message "%s" (read t))
6618 will read a Lisp expression from standard input and print the result
6621 ** The argument of `down-list', `backward-up-list', `up-list',
6622 `kill-sexp', `backward-kill-sexp' and `mark-sexp' is now optional.
6624 ** If `display-buffer-reuse-frames' is set, function `display-buffer'
6625 will raise frames displaying a buffer, instead of creating a new
6628 ** Two new functions for removing elements from lists/sequences
6631 - Function: remove ELT SEQ
6633 Return a copy of SEQ with all occurrences of ELT removed. SEQ must be
6634 a list, vector, or string. The comparison is done with `equal'.
6636 - Function: remq ELT LIST
6638 Return a copy of LIST with all occurrences of ELT removed. The
6639 comparison is done with `eq'.
6641 ** The function `delete' now also works with vectors and strings.
6643 ** The meaning of the `:weakness WEAK' argument of make-hash-table
6644 has been changed: WEAK can now have new values `key-or-value' and
6645 `key-and-value', in addition to `nil', `key', `value', and `t'.
6647 ** Function `aset' stores any multibyte character in any string
6648 without signaling "Attempt to change char length of a string". It may
6649 convert a unibyte string to multibyte if necessary.
6651 ** The value of the `help-echo' text property is called as a function
6652 or evaluated, if it is not a string already, to obtain a help string.
6654 ** Function `make-obsolete' now has an optional arg to say when the
6655 function was declared obsolete.
6657 ** Function `plist-member' is renamed from `widget-plist-member' (which is
6658 retained as an alias).
6660 ** Easy-menu's :filter now takes the unconverted form of the menu and
6661 the result is automatically converted to Emacs' form.
6663 ** The new function `window-list' has been defined
6665 - Function: window-list &optional FRAME WINDOW MINIBUF
6667 Return a list of windows on FRAME, starting with WINDOW. FRAME nil or
6668 omitted means use the selected frame. WINDOW nil or omitted means use
6669 the selected window. MINIBUF t means include the minibuffer window,
6670 even if it isn't active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means include the
6671 minibuffer window only if it's active. MINIBUF neither nil nor t
6672 means never include the minibuffer window.
6674 ** There's a new function `get-window-with-predicate' defined as follows
6676 - Function: get-window-with-predicate PREDICATE &optional MINIBUF ALL-FRAMES DEFAULT
6678 Return a window satisfying PREDICATE.
6680 This function cycles through all visible windows using `walk-windows',
6681 calling PREDICATE on each one. PREDICATE is called with a window as
6682 argument. The first window for which PREDICATE returns a non-nil
6683 value is returned. If no window satisfies PREDICATE, DEFAULT is
6686 Optional second arg MINIBUF t means count the minibuffer window even
6687 if not active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means count the minibuffer iff
6688 it is active. MINIBUF neither t nor nil means not to count the
6689 minibuffer even if it is active.
6691 Several frames may share a single minibuffer; if the minibuffer
6692 counts, all windows on all frames that share that minibuffer count
6693 too. Therefore, if you are using a separate minibuffer frame
6694 and the minibuffer is active and MINIBUF says it counts,
6695 `walk-windows' includes the windows in the frame from which you
6696 entered the minibuffer, as well as the minibuffer window.
6698 ALL-FRAMES is the optional third argument.
6699 ALL-FRAMES nil or omitted means cycle within the frames as specified above.
6700 ALL-FRAMES = `visible' means include windows on all visible frames.
6701 ALL-FRAMES = 0 means include windows on all visible and iconified frames.
6702 ALL-FRAMES = t means include windows on all frames including invisible frames.
6703 If ALL-FRAMES is a frame, it means include windows on that frame.
6704 Anything else means restrict to the selected frame.
6706 ** The function `single-key-description' now encloses function key and
6707 event names in angle brackets. When called with a second optional
6708 argument non-nil, angle brackets won't be printed.
6710 ** If the variable `message-truncate-lines' is bound to t around a
6711 call to `message', the echo area will not be resized to display that
6712 message; it will be truncated instead, as it was done in 20.x.
6713 Default value is nil.
6715 ** The user option `line-number-display-limit' can now be set to nil,
6718 ** The new user option `line-number-display-limit-width' controls
6719 the maximum width of lines in a buffer for which Emacs displays line
6720 numbers in the mode line. The default is 200.
6722 ** `select-safe-coding-system' now also checks the most preferred
6723 coding-system if buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and
6724 DEFAULT-CODING-SYSTEM is not specified,
6726 ** The function `subr-arity' provides information about the argument
6727 list of a primitive.
6729 ** `where-is-internal' now also accepts a list of keymaps.
6731 ** The text property `keymap' specifies a key map which overrides the
6732 buffer's local map and the map specified by the `local-map' property.
6733 This is probably what most current uses of `local-map' want, rather
6734 than replacing the local map.
6736 ** The obsolete variables `before-change-function' and
6737 `after-change-function' are no longer acted upon and have been
6738 removed. Use `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions'
6741 ** The function `apropos-mode' runs the hook `apropos-mode-hook'.
6743 ** `concat' no longer accepts individual integer arguments,
6744 as promised long ago.
6746 ** The new function `float-time' returns the current time as a float.
6748 ** The new variable auto-coding-regexp-alist specifies coding systems
6749 for reading specific files, analogous to auto-coding-alist, but
6750 patterns are checked against file contents instead of file names.
6753 * Lisp changes in Emacs 21.1 (see following page for display-related features)
6755 ** The new package rx.el provides an alternative sexp notation for
6756 regular expressions.
6758 - Function: rx-to-string SEXP
6760 Translate SEXP into a regular expression in string notation.
6764 Translate SEXP into a regular expression in string notation.
6766 The following are valid subforms of regular expressions in sexp
6770 matches string STRING literally.
6773 matches character CHAR literally.
6776 matches any character except a newline.
6779 matches any character
6782 matches any character in SET. SET may be a character or string.
6783 Ranges of characters can be specified as `A-Z' in strings.
6789 matches any character not in SET
6792 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of a line
6793 in the text being matched
6796 is similar to `line-start' but matches only at the end of a line
6799 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of the
6800 string being matched against.
6803 matches the empty string, but only at the end of the
6804 string being matched against.
6807 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of the
6808 buffer being matched against.
6811 matches the empty string, but only at the end of the
6812 buffer being matched against.
6815 matches the empty string, but only at point.
6818 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or end of a
6822 matches the empty string, but only at the end of a word.
6825 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or end of a
6828 `(not word-boundary)'
6829 matches the empty string, but not at the beginning or end of a
6833 matches 0 through 9.
6836 matches ASCII control characters.
6839 matches 0 through 9, a through f and A through F.
6842 matches space and tab only.
6845 matches graphic characters--everything except ASCII control chars,
6849 matches printing characters--everything except ASCII control chars
6853 matches letters and digits. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
6854 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
6857 matches letters. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
6858 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
6861 matches ASCII (unibyte) characters.
6864 matches non-ASCII (multibyte) characters.
6867 matches anything lower-case.
6870 matches anything upper-case.
6873 matches punctuation. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
6874 it matches anything that has non-word syntax.)
6877 matches anything that has whitespace syntax.
6880 matches anything that has word syntax.
6883 matches a character with syntax SYNTAX. SYNTAX must be one
6884 of the following symbols.
6886 `whitespace' (\\s- in string notation)
6887 `punctuation' (\\s.)
6890 `open-parenthesis' (\\s()
6891 `close-parenthesis' (\\s))
6892 `expression-prefix' (\\s')
6893 `string-quote' (\\s\")
6894 `paired-delimiter' (\\s$)
6896 `character-quote' (\\s/)
6897 `comment-start' (\\s<)
6898 `comment-end' (\\s>)
6900 `(not (syntax SYNTAX))'
6901 matches a character that has not syntax SYNTAX.
6903 `(category CATEGORY)'
6904 matches a character with category CATEGORY. CATEGORY must be
6905 either a character to use for C, or one of the following symbols.
6907 `consonant' (\\c0 in string notation)
6909 `upper-diacritical-mark' (\\c2)
6910 `lower-diacritical-mark' (\\c3)
6914 `vowel-modifying-diacritical-mark' (\\c7)
6916 `semivowel-lower' (\\c9)
6917 `not-at-end-of-line' (\\c<)
6918 `not-at-beginning-of-line' (\\c>)
6919 `alpha-numeric-two-byte' (\\cA)
6920 `chinse-two-byte' (\\cC)
6921 `greek-two-byte' (\\cG)
6922 `japanese-hiragana-two-byte' (\\cH)
6923 `indian-two-byte' (\\cI)
6924 `japanese-katakana-two-byte' (\\cK)
6925 `korean-hangul-two-byte' (\\cN)
6926 `cyrillic-two-byte' (\\cY)
6935 `japanese-katakana' (\\ck)
6939 `japanese-roman' (\\cr)
6946 `(not (category CATEGORY))'
6947 matches a character that has not category CATEGORY.
6949 `(and SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
6950 matches what SEXP1 matches, followed by what SEXP2 matches, etc.
6952 `(submatch SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
6953 like `and', but makes the match accessible with `match-end',
6954 `match-beginning', and `match-string'.
6956 `(group SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
6957 another name for `submatch'.
6959 `(or SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
6960 matches anything that matches SEXP1 or SEXP2, etc. If all
6961 args are strings, use `regexp-opt' to optimize the resulting
6964 `(minimal-match SEXP)'
6965 produce a non-greedy regexp for SEXP. Normally, regexps matching
6966 zero or more occurrences of something are \"greedy\" in that they
6967 match as much as they can, as long as the overall regexp can
6968 still match. A non-greedy regexp matches as little as possible.
6970 `(maximal-match SEXP)'
6971 produce a greedy regexp for SEXP. This is the default.
6973 `(zero-or-more SEXP)'
6974 matches zero or more occurrences of what SEXP matches.
6977 like `zero-or-more'.
6980 like `zero-or-more', but always produces a greedy regexp.
6983 like `zero-or-more', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
6985 `(one-or-more SEXP)'
6986 matches one or more occurrences of A.
6992 like `one-or-more', but always produces a greedy regexp.
6995 like `one-or-more', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
6997 `(zero-or-one SEXP)'
6998 matches zero or one occurrences of A.
7004 like `zero-or-one', but always produces a greedy regexp.
7007 like `zero-or-one', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
7010 matches N occurrences of what SEXP matches.
7013 matches N to M occurrences of what SEXP matches.
7016 evaluate FORM and insert result. If result is a string,
7020 include REGEXP in string notation in the result.
7022 *** The features `md5' and `overlay' are now provided by default.
7024 *** The special form `save-restriction' now works correctly even if the
7025 buffer is widened inside the save-restriction and changes made outside
7026 the original restriction. Previously, doing this would cause the saved
7027 restriction to be restored incorrectly.
7029 *** The functions `find-charset-region' and `find-charset-string' include
7030 `eight-bit-control' and/or `eight-bit-graphic' in the returned list
7031 when they find 8-bit characters. Previously, they included `ascii' in a
7032 multibyte buffer and `unknown' in a unibyte buffer.
7034 *** The functions `set-buffer-multibyte', `string-as-multibyte' and
7035 `string-as-unibyte' change the byte sequence of a buffer or a string
7036 if it contains a character from the `eight-bit-control' character set.
7038 *** The handling of multibyte sequences in a multibyte buffer is
7039 changed. Previously, a byte sequence matching the pattern
7040 [\200-\237][\240-\377]+ was interpreted as a single character
7041 regardless of the length of the trailing bytes [\240-\377]+. Thus, if
7042 the sequence was longer than what the leading byte indicated, the
7043 extra trailing bytes were ignored by Lisp functions. Now such extra
7044 bytes are independent 8-bit characters belonging to the charset
7047 ** Fontsets are now implemented using char-tables.
7049 A fontset can now be specified for each independent character, for
7050 a group of characters or for a character set rather than just for a
7051 character set as previously.
7053 *** The arguments of the function `set-fontset-font' are changed.
7054 They are NAME, CHARACTER, FONTNAME, and optional FRAME. The function
7055 modifies fontset NAME to use FONTNAME for CHARACTER.
7057 CHARACTER may be a cons (FROM . TO), where FROM and TO are non-generic
7058 characters. In that case FONTNAME is used for all characters in the
7059 range FROM and TO (inclusive). CHARACTER may be a charset. In that
7060 case FONTNAME is used for all character in the charset.
7062 FONTNAME may be a cons (FAMILY . REGISTRY), where FAMILY is the family
7063 name of a font and REGISTRY is a registry name of a font.
7065 *** Variable x-charset-registry has been deleted. The default charset
7066 registries of character sets are set in the default fontset
7069 *** The function `create-fontset-from-fontset-spec' ignores the second
7070 argument STYLE-VARIANT. It never creates style-variant fontsets.
7072 ** The method of composing characters is changed. Now character
7073 composition is done by a special text property `composition' in
7074 buffers and strings.
7076 *** Charset composition is deleted. Emacs never creates a `composite
7077 character' which is an independent character with a unique character
7078 code. Thus the following functions handling `composite characters'
7079 have been deleted: composite-char-component,
7080 composite-char-component-count, composite-char-composition-rule,
7081 composite-char-composition-rule and decompose-composite-char delete.
7082 The variables leading-code-composition and min-composite-char have
7085 *** Three more glyph reference points are added. They can be used to
7086 specify a composition rule. See the documentation of the variable
7087 `reference-point-alist' for more detail.
7089 *** The function `compose-region' takes new arguments COMPONENTS and
7090 MODIFICATION-FUNC. With COMPONENTS, you can specify not only a
7091 composition rule but also characters to be composed. Such characters
7092 may differ between buffer and string text.
7094 *** The function `compose-string' takes new arguments START, END,
7095 COMPONENTS, and MODIFICATION-FUNC.
7097 *** The function `compose-string' puts text property `composition'
7098 directly on the argument STRING instead of returning a new string.
7099 Likewise, the function `decompose-string' just removes text property
7100 `composition' from STRING.
7102 *** The new function `find-composition' returns information about
7103 a composition at a specified position in a buffer or a string.
7105 *** The function `decompose-composite-char' is now labeled as
7108 ** The new coding system `mac-roman' is primarily intended for use on
7109 the Macintosh but may be used generally for Macintosh-encoded text.
7111 ** The new character sets `mule-unicode-0100-24ff',
7112 `mule-unicode-2500-33ff', and `mule-unicode-e000-ffff' have been
7113 introduced for Unicode characters in the range U+0100..U+24FF,
7114 U+2500..U+33FF, U+E000..U+FFFF respectively.
7116 Note that the character sets are not yet unified in Emacs, so
7117 characters which belong to charsets such as Latin-2, Greek, Hebrew,
7118 etc. and the same characters in the `mule-unicode-*' charsets are
7119 different characters, as far as Emacs is concerned. For example, text
7120 which includes Unicode characters from the Latin-2 locale cannot be
7121 encoded by Emacs with ISO 8859-2 coding system.
7123 ** The new coding system `mule-utf-8' has been added.
7124 It provides limited support for decoding/encoding UTF-8 text. For
7125 details, please see the documentation string of this coding system.
7127 ** The new character sets `japanese-jisx0213-1' and
7128 `japanese-jisx0213-2' have been introduced for the new Japanese
7129 standard JIS X 0213 Plane 1 and Plane 2.
7131 ** The new character sets `latin-iso8859-14' and `latin-iso8859-15'
7132 have been introduced.
7134 ** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
7135 have been introduced for 8-bit characters in the ranges 0x80..0x9F and
7136 0xA0..0xFF respectively. Note that the multibyte representation of
7137 eight-bit-control is never exposed; this leads to an exception in the
7138 emacs-mule coding system, which encodes everything else to the
7139 buffer/string internal representation. Note that to search for
7140 eight-bit-graphic characters in a multibyte buffer, the search string
7141 must be multibyte, otherwise such characters will be converted to
7142 their multibyte equivalent.
7144 ** If the APPEND argument of `write-region' is an integer, it seeks to
7145 that offset in the file before writing.
7147 ** The function `add-minor-mode' has been added for convenience and
7148 compatibility with XEmacs (and is used internally by define-minor-mode).
7150 ** The function `shell-command' now sets the default directory of the
7151 `*Shell Command Output*' buffer to the default directory of the buffer
7152 from which the command was issued.
7154 ** The functions `query-replace', `query-replace-regexp',
7155 `query-replace-regexp-eval' `map-query-replace-regexp',
7156 `replace-string', `replace-regexp', and `perform-replace' take two
7157 additional optional arguments START and END that specify the region to
7160 ** The new function `count-screen-lines' is a more flexible alternative
7161 to `window-buffer-height'.
7163 - Function: count-screen-lines &optional BEG END COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE WINDOW
7165 Return the number of screen lines in the region between BEG and END.
7166 The number of screen lines may be different from the number of actual
7167 lines, due to line breaking, display table, etc.
7169 Optional arguments BEG and END default to `point-min' and `point-max'
7172 If region ends with a newline, ignore it unless optional third argument
7173 COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE is non-nil.
7175 The optional fourth argument WINDOW specifies the window used for
7176 obtaining parameters such as width, horizontal scrolling, and so
7177 on. The default is to use the selected window's parameters.
7179 Like `vertical-motion', `count-screen-lines' always uses the current
7180 buffer, regardless of which buffer is displayed in WINDOW. This makes
7181 possible to use `count-screen-lines' in any buffer, whether or not it
7182 is currently displayed in some window.
7184 ** The new function `mapc' is like `mapcar' but doesn't collect the
7185 argument function's results.
7187 ** The functions base64-decode-region and base64-decode-string now
7188 signal an error instead of returning nil if decoding fails. Also,
7189 `base64-decode-string' now always returns a unibyte string (in Emacs
7190 20, it returned a multibyte string when the result was a valid multibyte
7193 ** The function sendmail-user-agent-compose now recognizes a `body'
7194 header in the list of headers passed to it.
7196 ** The new function member-ignore-case works like `member', but
7197 ignores differences in case and text representation.
7199 ** The buffer-local variable cursor-type can be used to specify the
7200 cursor to use in windows displaying a buffer. Values are interpreted
7203 t use the cursor specified for the frame (default)
7204 nil don't display a cursor
7205 `bar' display a bar cursor with default width
7206 (bar . WIDTH) display a bar cursor with width WIDTH
7207 others display a box cursor.
7209 ** The variable open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start controls whether
7210 an open parenthesis in column 0 is considered to be the start of a
7211 defun. If set, the default, it is considered a defun start. If not
7212 set, an open parenthesis in column 0 has no special meaning.
7214 ** The new function `string-to-syntax' can be used to translate syntax
7215 specifications in string form as accepted by `modify-syntax-entry' to
7216 the cons-cell form that is used for the values of the `syntax-table'
7217 text property, and in `font-lock-syntactic-keywords'.
7221 (string-to-syntax "()")
7224 ** Emacs' reader supports CL read syntax for integers in bases
7227 *** `#BINTEGER' or `#bINTEGER' reads INTEGER in binary (radix 2).
7228 INTEGER optionally contains a sign.
7235 *** `#OINTEGER' or `#oINTEGER' reads INTEGER in octal (radix 8).
7240 *** `#XINTEGER' or `#xINTEGER' reads INTEGER in hexadecimal (radix 16).
7245 *** `#RADIXrINTEGER' reads INTEGER in radix RADIX, 2 <= RADIX <= 36.
7252 ** The function `documentation-property' now evaluates the value of
7253 the given property to obtain a string if it doesn't refer to etc/DOC
7256 ** If called for a symbol, the function `documentation' now looks for
7257 a `function-documentation' property of that symbol. If it has a non-nil
7258 value, the documentation is taken from that value. If the value is
7259 not a string, it is evaluated to obtain a string.
7261 ** The last argument of `define-key-after' defaults to t for convenience.
7263 ** The new function `replace-regexp-in-string' replaces all matches
7264 for a regexp in a string.
7266 ** `mouse-position' now runs the abnormal hook
7267 `mouse-position-function'.
7269 ** The function string-to-number now returns a float for numbers
7270 that don't fit into a Lisp integer.
7272 ** The variable keyword-symbols-constants-flag has been removed.
7273 Keywords are now always considered constants.
7275 ** The new function `delete-and-extract-region' deletes text and
7278 ** The function `clear-this-command-keys' now also clears the vector
7279 returned by function `recent-keys'.
7281 ** Variables `beginning-of-defun-function' and `end-of-defun-function'
7282 can be used to define handlers for the functions that find defuns.
7283 Major modes can define these locally instead of rebinding C-M-a
7284 etc. if the normal conventions for defuns are not appropriate for the
7287 ** easy-mmode-define-minor-mode now takes an additional BODY argument
7288 and is renamed `define-minor-mode'.
7290 ** If an abbrev has a hook function which is a symbol, and that symbol
7291 has a non-nil `no-self-insert' property, the return value of the hook
7292 function specifies whether an expansion has been done or not. If it
7293 returns nil, abbrev-expand also returns nil, meaning "no expansion has
7296 When abbrev expansion is done by typing a self-inserting character,
7297 and the abbrev has a hook with the `no-self-insert' property, and the
7298 hook function returns non-nil meaning expansion has been done,
7299 then the self-inserting character is not inserted.
7301 ** The function `intern-soft' now accepts a symbol as first argument.
7302 In this case, that exact symbol is looked up in the specified obarray,
7303 and the function's value is nil if it is not found.
7305 ** The new macro `with-syntax-table' can be used to evaluate forms
7306 with the syntax table of the current buffer temporarily set to a
7309 (with-syntax-table TABLE &rest BODY)
7311 Evaluate BODY with syntax table of current buffer set to a copy of
7312 TABLE. The current syntax table is saved, BODY is evaluated, and the
7313 saved table is restored, even in case of an abnormal exit. Value is
7316 ** Regular expressions now support intervals \{n,m\} as well as
7317 Perl's shy-groups \(?:...\) and non-greedy *? +? and ?? operators.
7318 Also back-references like \2 are now considered as an error if the
7319 corresponding subgroup does not exist (or is not closed yet).
7320 Previously it would have been silently turned into `2' (ignoring the `\').
7322 ** The optional argument BUFFER of function file-local-copy has been
7323 removed since it wasn't used by anything.
7325 ** The file name argument of function `file-locked-p' is now required
7326 instead of being optional.
7328 ** The new built-in error `text-read-only' is signaled when trying to
7329 modify read-only text.
7331 ** New functions and variables for locales.
7333 The new variable `locale-coding-system' specifies how to encode and
7334 decode strings passed to low-level message functions like strerror and
7335 time functions like strftime. The new variables
7336 `system-messages-locale' and `system-time-locale' give the system
7337 locales to be used when invoking these two types of functions.
7339 The new function `set-locale-environment' sets the language
7340 environment, preferred coding system, and locale coding system from
7341 the system locale as specified by the LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG
7342 environment variables. Normally, it is invoked during startup and need
7343 not be invoked thereafter. It uses the new variables
7344 `locale-language-names', `locale-charset-language-names', and
7345 `locale-preferred-coding-systems' to make its decisions.
7347 ** syntax tables now understand nested comments.
7348 To declare a comment syntax as allowing nesting, just add an `n'
7349 modifier to either of the characters of the comment end and the comment
7352 ** The function `pixmap-spec-p' has been renamed `bitmap-spec-p'
7353 because `bitmap' is more in line with the usual X terminology.
7355 ** New function `propertize'
7357 The new function `propertize' can be used to conveniently construct
7358 strings with text properties.
7360 - Function: propertize STRING &rest PROPERTIES
7362 Value is a copy of STRING with text properties assigned as specified
7363 by PROPERTIES. PROPERTIES is a sequence of pairs PROPERTY VALUE, with
7364 PROPERTY being the name of a text property and VALUE being the
7365 specified value of that property. Example:
7367 (propertize "foo" 'face 'bold 'read-only t)
7369 ** push and pop macros.
7371 Simple versions of the push and pop macros of Common Lisp
7372 are now defined in Emacs Lisp. These macros allow only symbols
7373 as the place that holds the list to be changed.
7375 (push NEWELT LISTNAME) add NEWELT to the front of LISTNAME's value.
7376 (pop LISTNAME) return first elt of LISTNAME, and remove it
7377 (thus altering the value of LISTNAME).
7379 ** New dolist and dotimes macros.
7381 Simple versions of the dolist and dotimes macros of Common Lisp
7382 are now defined in Emacs Lisp.
7384 (dolist (VAR LIST [RESULT]) BODY...)
7385 Execute body once for each element of LIST,
7386 using the variable VAR to hold the current element.
7387 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
7389 (dotimes (VAR COUNT [RESULT]) BODY...)
7390 Execute BODY with VAR bound to successive integers running from 0,
7391 inclusive, to COUNT, exclusive.
7392 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
7394 ** Regular expressions now support Posix character classes such as
7395 [:alpha:], [:space:] and so on. These must be used within a character
7396 class--for instance, [-[:digit:].+] matches digits or a period
7399 [:digit:] matches 0 through 9
7400 [:cntrl:] matches ASCII control characters
7401 [:xdigit:] matches 0 through 9, a through f and A through F.
7402 [:blank:] matches space and tab only
7403 [:graph:] matches graphic characters--everything except ASCII control chars,
7405 [:print:] matches printing characters--everything except ASCII control chars
7407 [:alnum:] matches letters and digits.
7408 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
7409 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
7410 [:alpha:] matches letters.
7411 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
7412 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
7413 [:ascii:] matches ASCII (unibyte) characters.
7414 [:nonascii:] matches non-ASCII (multibyte) characters.
7415 [:lower:] matches anything lower-case.
7416 [:punct:] matches punctuation.
7417 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
7418 it matches anything that has non-word syntax.)
7419 [:space:] matches anything that has whitespace syntax.
7420 [:upper:] matches anything upper-case.
7421 [:word:] matches anything that has word syntax.
7423 ** Emacs now has built-in hash tables.
7425 The following functions are defined for hash tables:
7427 - Function: make-hash-table ARGS
7429 The argument list ARGS consists of keyword/argument pairs. All arguments
7430 are optional. The following arguments are defined:
7434 TEST must be a symbol specifying how to compare keys. Default is `eql'.
7435 Predefined are `eq', `eql' and `equal'. If TEST is not predefined,
7436 it must have been defined with `define-hash-table-test'.
7440 SIZE must be an integer > 0 giving a hint to the implementation how
7441 many elements will be put in the hash table. Default size is 65.
7443 :rehash-size REHASH-SIZE
7445 REHASH-SIZE specifies by how much to grow a hash table once it becomes
7446 full. If REHASH-SIZE is an integer, add that to the hash table's old
7447 size to get the new size. Otherwise, REHASH-SIZE must be a float >
7448 1.0, and the new size is computed by multiplying REHASH-SIZE with the
7449 old size. Default rehash size is 1.5.
7451 :rehash-threshold THRESHOLD
7453 THRESHOLD must be a float > 0 and <= 1.0 specifying when to resize the
7454 hash table. It is resized when the ratio of (number of entries) /
7455 (size of hash table) is >= THRESHOLD. Default threshold is 0.8.
7459 WEAK must be either nil, one of the symbols `key, `value',
7460 `key-or-value', `key-and-value', or t, meaning the same as
7461 `key-and-value'. Entries are removed from weak tables during garbage
7462 collection if their key and/or value are not referenced elsewhere
7463 outside of the hash table. Default are non-weak hash tables.
7465 - Function: makehash &optional TEST
7467 Similar to make-hash-table, but only TEST can be specified.
7469 - Function: hash-table-p TABLE
7471 Returns non-nil if TABLE is a hash table object.
7473 - Function: copy-hash-table TABLE
7475 Returns a copy of TABLE. Only the table itself is copied, keys and
7478 - Function: hash-table-count TABLE
7480 Returns the number of entries in TABLE.
7482 - Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
7484 Returns the rehash size of TABLE.
7486 - Function: hash-table-rehash-threshold TABLE
7488 Returns the rehash threshold of TABLE.
7490 - Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
7492 Returns the size of TABLE.
7494 - Function: hash-table-test TABLE
7496 Returns the test TABLE uses to compare keys.
7498 - Function: hash-table-weakness TABLE
7500 Returns the weakness specified for TABLE.
7502 - Function: clrhash TABLE
7506 - Function: gethash KEY TABLE &optional DEFAULT
7508 Look up KEY in TABLE and return its associated VALUE or DEFAULT if
7511 - Function: puthash KEY VALUE TABLE
7513 Associate KEY with VALUE in TABLE. If KEY is already associated with
7514 another value, replace the old value with VALUE.
7516 - Function: remhash KEY TABLE
7518 Remove KEY from TABLE if it is there.
7520 - Function: maphash FUNCTION TABLE
7522 Call FUNCTION for all elements in TABLE. FUNCTION must take two
7523 arguments KEY and VALUE.
7525 - Function: sxhash OBJ
7527 Return a hash code for Lisp object OBJ.
7529 - Function: define-hash-table-test NAME TEST-FN HASH-FN
7531 Define a new hash table test named NAME. If NAME is specified as
7532 a test in `make-hash-table', the table created will use TEST-FN for
7533 comparing keys, and HASH-FN to compute hash codes for keys. Test
7534 and hash function are stored as symbol property `hash-table-test'
7535 of NAME with a value of (TEST-FN HASH-FN).
7537 TEST-FN must take two arguments and return non-nil if they are the same.
7539 HASH-FN must take one argument and return an integer that is the hash
7540 code of the argument. The function should use the whole range of
7541 integer values for hash code computation, including negative integers.
7543 Example: The following creates a hash table whose keys are supposed to
7544 be strings that are compared case-insensitively.
7546 (defun case-fold-string= (a b)
7547 (compare-strings a nil nil b nil nil t))
7549 (defun case-fold-string-hash (a)
7550 (sxhash (upcase a)))
7552 (define-hash-table-test 'case-fold 'case-fold-string=
7553 'case-fold-string-hash))
7555 (make-hash-table :test 'case-fold)
7557 ** The Lisp reader handles circular structure.
7559 It now works to use the #N= and #N# constructs to represent
7560 circular structures. For example, #1=(a . #1#) represents
7561 a cons cell which is its own cdr.
7563 ** The Lisp printer handles circular structure.
7565 If you bind print-circle to a non-nil value, the Lisp printer outputs
7566 #N= and #N# constructs to represent circular and shared structure.
7568 ** If the second argument to `move-to-column' is anything but nil or
7569 t, that means replace a tab with spaces if necessary to reach the
7570 specified column, but do not add spaces at the end of the line if it
7571 is too short to reach that column.
7573 ** perform-replace has a new feature: the REPLACEMENTS argument may
7574 now be a cons cell (FUNCTION . DATA). This means to call FUNCTION
7575 after each match to get the replacement text. FUNCTION is called with
7576 two arguments: DATA, and the number of replacements already made.
7578 If the FROM-STRING contains any upper-case letters,
7579 perform-replace also turns off `case-fold-search' temporarily
7580 and inserts the replacement text without altering case in it.
7582 ** The function buffer-size now accepts an optional argument
7583 to specify which buffer to return the size of.
7585 ** The calendar motion commands now run the normal hook
7586 calendar-move-hook after moving point.
7588 ** The new variable small-temporary-file-directory specifies a
7589 directory to use for creating temporary files that are likely to be
7590 small. (Certain Emacs features use this directory.) If
7591 small-temporary-file-directory is nil, they use
7592 temporary-file-directory instead.
7594 ** The variable `inhibit-modification-hooks', if non-nil, inhibits all
7595 the hooks that track changes in the buffer. This affects
7596 `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions', as well as
7597 hooks attached to text properties and overlay properties.
7599 ** assq-delete-all is a new function that deletes all the
7600 elements of an alist which have a car `eq' to a particular value.
7602 ** make-temp-file provides a more reliable way to create a temporary file.
7604 make-temp-file is used like make-temp-name, except that it actually
7605 creates the file before it returns. This prevents a timing error,
7606 ensuring that no other job can use the same name for a temporary file.
7608 ** New exclusive-open feature in `write-region'
7610 The optional seventh arg is now called MUSTBENEW. If non-nil, it insists
7611 on a check for an existing file with the same name. If MUSTBENEW
7612 is `excl', that means to get an error if the file already exists;
7613 never overwrite. If MUSTBENEW is neither nil nor `excl', that means
7614 ask for confirmation before overwriting, but do go ahead and
7615 overwrite the file if the user gives confirmation.
7617 If the MUSTBENEW argument in `write-region' is `excl',
7618 that means to use a special feature in the `open' system call
7619 to get an error if the file exists at that time.
7620 The error reported is `file-already-exists'.
7622 ** Function `format' now handles text properties.
7624 Text properties of the format string are applied to the result string.
7625 If the result string is longer than the format string, text properties
7626 ending at the end of the format string are extended to the end of the
7629 Text properties from string arguments are applied to the result
7630 string where arguments appear in the result string.
7634 (let ((s1 "hello, %s")
7636 (put-text-property 0 (length s1) 'face 'bold s1)
7637 (put-text-property 0 (length s2) 'face 'italic s2)
7640 results in a bold-face string with an italic `world' at the end.
7642 ** Messages can now be displayed with text properties.
7644 Text properties are handled as described above for function `format'.
7645 The following example displays a bold-face message with an italic
7648 (let ((msg "hello, %s!")
7650 (put-text-property 0 (length msg) 'face 'bold msg)
7651 (put-text-property 0 (length arg) 'face 'italic arg)
7656 Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and the free BSDs
7657 (Voxware driver and native BSD driver, aka as Luigi's driver).
7659 Currently supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio
7660 (*.au). You must configure Emacs with the option `--with-sound=yes'
7661 to enable sound support.
7663 Sound files can be played by calling (play-sound SOUND). SOUND is a
7664 list of the form `(sound PROPERTY...)'. The function is only defined
7665 when sound support is present for the system on which Emacs runs. The
7666 functions runs `play-sound-functions' with one argument which is the
7667 sound to play, before playing the sound.
7669 The following sound properties are supported:
7673 FILE is a file name. If FILE isn't an absolute name, it will be
7674 searched relative to `data-directory'.
7678 DATA is a string containing sound data. Either :file or :data
7679 may be present, but not both.
7683 VOLUME must be an integer in the range 0..100 or a float in the range
7684 0..1. This property is optional.
7688 DEVICE is a string specifying the system device on which to play the
7689 sound. The default device is system-dependent.
7691 Other properties are ignored.
7693 An alternative interface is called as
7694 (play-sound-file FILE &optional VOLUME DEVICE).
7696 ** `multimedia' is a new Finder keyword and Custom group.
7698 ** keywordp is a new predicate to test efficiently for an object being
7701 ** Changes to garbage collection
7703 *** The function garbage-collect now additionally returns the number
7704 of live and free strings.
7706 *** There is a new variable `strings-consed' holding the number of
7707 strings that have been consed so far.
7710 * Lisp-level Display features added after release 2.6 of the Emacs
7713 ** The user-option `resize-mini-windows' controls how Emacs resizes
7716 ** The function `pos-visible-in-window-p' now has a third optional
7717 argument, PARTIALLY. If a character is only partially visible, nil is
7718 returned, unless PARTIALLY is non-nil.
7720 ** On window systems, `glyph-table' is no longer used.
7722 ** Help strings in menu items are now used to provide `help-echo' text.
7724 ** The function `image-size' can be used to determine the size of an
7727 - Function: image-size SPEC &optional PIXELS FRAME
7729 Return the size of an image as a pair (WIDTH . HEIGHT).
7731 SPEC is an image specification. PIXELS non-nil means return sizes
7732 measured in pixels, otherwise return sizes measured in canonical
7733 character units (fractions of the width/height of the frame's default
7734 font). FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed.
7735 FRAME nil or omitted means use the selected frame.
7737 ** The function `image-mask-p' can be used to determine if an image
7740 - Function: image-mask-p SPEC &optional FRAME
7742 Return t if image SPEC has a mask bitmap.
7743 FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed. FRAME nil
7744 or omitted means use the selected frame.
7746 ** The function `find-image' can be used to find a usable image
7747 satisfying one of a list of specifications.
7749 ** The STRING argument of `put-image' and `insert-image' is now
7752 ** Image specifications may contain the property `:ascent center' (see
7756 * New Lisp-level Display features in Emacs 21.1
7758 ** The function tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors can be used
7759 to make Emacs avoid displaying text with bold black foreground on TTYs.
7761 Some terminals, notably PC consoles, emulate bold text by displaying
7762 text in brighter colors. On such a console, a bold black foreground
7763 is displayed in a gray color. If this turns out to be hard to read on
7764 your monitor---the problem occurred with the mode line on
7765 laptops---you can instruct Emacs to ignore the text's boldness, and to
7766 just display it black instead.
7768 This situation can't be detected automatically. You will have to put
7771 (tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors t)
7775 ** New face implementation.
7777 Emacs faces have been reimplemented from scratch. They don't use XLFD
7778 font names anymore and face merging now works as expected.
7782 Each face can specify the following display attributes:
7784 1. Font family or fontset alias name.
7786 2. Relative proportionate width, aka character set width or set
7787 width (swidth), e.g. `semi-compressed'.
7789 3. Font height in 1/10pt
7791 4. Font weight, e.g. `bold'.
7793 5. Font slant, e.g. `italic'.
7795 6. Foreground color.
7797 7. Background color.
7799 8. Whether or not characters should be underlined, and in what color.
7801 9. Whether or not characters should be displayed in inverse video.
7803 10. A background stipple, a bitmap.
7805 11. Whether or not characters should be overlined, and in what color.
7807 12. Whether or not characters should be strike-through, and in what
7810 13. Whether or not a box should be drawn around characters, its
7811 color, the width of the box lines, and 3D appearance.
7813 Faces are frame-local by nature because Emacs allows to define the
7814 same named face (face names are symbols) differently for different
7815 frames. Each frame has an alist of face definitions for all named
7816 faces. The value of a named face in such an alist is a Lisp vector
7817 with the symbol `face' in slot 0, and a slot for each of the face
7818 attributes mentioned above.
7820 There is also a global face alist `face-new-frame-defaults'. Face
7821 definitions from this list are used to initialize faces of newly
7824 A face doesn't have to specify all attributes. Those not specified
7825 have a nil value. Faces specifying all attributes are called
7830 The display style of a given character in the text is determined by
7831 combining several faces. This process is called `face merging'. Any
7832 aspect of the display style that isn't specified by overlays or text
7833 properties is taken from the `default' face. Since it is made sure
7834 that the default face is always fully-specified, face merging always
7835 results in a fully-specified face.
7837 *** Face realization.
7839 After all face attributes for a character have been determined by
7840 merging faces of that character, that face is `realized'. The
7841 realization process maps face attributes to what is physically
7842 available on the system where Emacs runs. The result is a `realized
7843 face' in form of an internal structure which is stored in the face
7844 cache of the frame on which it was realized.
7846 Face realization is done in the context of the charset of the
7847 character to display because different fonts and encodings are used
7848 for different charsets. In other words, for characters of different
7849 charsets, different realized faces are needed to display them.
7851 Except for composite characters, faces are always realized for a
7852 specific character set and contain a specific font, even if the face
7853 being realized specifies a fontset. The reason is that the result of
7854 the new font selection stage is better than what can be done with
7855 statically defined font name patterns in fontsets.
7857 In unibyte text, Emacs' charsets aren't applicable; function
7858 `char-charset' reports ASCII for all characters, including those >
7859 0x7f. The X registry and encoding of fonts to use is determined from
7860 the variable `face-default-registry' in this case. The variable is
7861 initialized at Emacs startup time from the font the user specified for
7864 Currently all unibyte text, i.e. all buffers with
7865 `enable-multibyte-characters' nil are displayed with fonts of the same
7866 registry and encoding `face-default-registry'. This is consistent
7867 with the fact that languages can also be set globally, only.
7869 **** Clearing face caches.
7871 The Lisp function `clear-face-cache' can be called to clear face caches
7872 on all frames. If called with a non-nil argument, it will also unload
7877 Font selection tries to find the best available matching font for a
7878 given (charset, face) combination. This is done slightly differently
7879 for faces specifying a fontset, or a font family name.
7881 If the face specifies a fontset name, that fontset determines a
7882 pattern for fonts of the given charset. If the face specifies a font
7883 family, a font pattern is constructed. Charset symbols have a
7884 property `x-charset-registry' for that purpose that maps a charset to
7885 an XLFD registry and encoding in the font pattern constructed.
7887 Available fonts on the system on which Emacs runs are then matched
7888 against the font pattern. The result of font selection is the best
7889 match for the given face attributes in this font list.
7891 Font selection can be influenced by the user.
7893 The user can specify the relative importance he gives the face
7894 attributes width, height, weight, and slant by setting
7895 face-font-selection-order (faces.el) to a list of face attribute
7896 names. The default is (:width :height :weight :slant), and means
7897 that font selection first tries to find a good match for the font
7898 width specified by a face, then---within fonts with that width---tries
7899 to find a best match for the specified font height, etc.
7901 Setting `face-font-family-alternatives' allows the user to specify
7902 alternative font families to try if a family specified by a face
7905 Setting `face-font-registry-alternatives' allows the user to specify
7906 all alternative font registry names to try for a face specifying a
7909 Please note that the interpretations of the above two variables are
7912 Setting face-ignored-fonts allows the user to ignore specific fonts.
7917 Emacs can make use of scalable fonts but doesn't do so by default,
7918 since the use of too many or too big scalable fonts may crash XFree86
7921 To enable scalable font use, set the variable
7922 `scalable-fonts-allowed'. A value of nil, the default, means never use
7923 scalable fonts. A value of t means any scalable font may be used.
7924 Otherwise, the value must be a list of regular expressions. A
7925 scalable font may then be used if it matches a regular expression from
7928 (setq scalable-fonts-allowed '("muleindian-2$"))
7930 allows the use of scalable fonts with registry `muleindian-2'.
7932 *** Functions and variables related to font selection.
7934 - Function: x-family-fonts &optional FAMILY FRAME
7936 Return a list of available fonts of family FAMILY on FRAME. If FAMILY
7937 is omitted or nil, list all families. Otherwise, FAMILY must be a
7938 string, possibly containing wildcards `?' and `*'.
7940 If FRAME is omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Each element of
7941 the result is a vector [FAMILY WIDTH POINT-SIZE WEIGHT SLANT FIXED-P
7942 FULL REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING]. FAMILY is the font family name.
7943 POINT-SIZE is the size of the font in 1/10 pt. WIDTH, WEIGHT, and
7944 SLANT are symbols describing the width, weight and slant of the font.
7945 These symbols are the same as for face attributes. FIXED-P is non-nil
7946 if the font is fixed-pitch. FULL is the full name of the font, and
7947 REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING is a string giving the registry and encoding of
7948 the font. The result list is sorted according to the current setting
7949 of the face font sort order.
7951 - Function: x-font-family-list
7953 Return a list of available font families on FRAME. If FRAME is
7954 omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Value is a list of conses
7955 (FAMILY . FIXED-P) where FAMILY is a font family, and FIXED-P is
7956 non-nil if fonts of that family are fixed-pitch.
7958 - Variable: font-list-limit
7960 Limit for font matching. If an integer > 0, font matching functions
7961 won't load more than that number of fonts when searching for a
7962 matching font. The default is currently 100.
7964 *** Setting face attributes.
7966 For the most part, the new face implementation is interface-compatible
7967 with the old one. Old face attribute related functions are now
7968 implemented in terms of the new functions `set-face-attribute' and
7971 Face attributes are identified by their names which are keyword
7972 symbols. All attributes can be set to `unspecified'.
7974 The following attributes are recognized:
7978 VALUE must be a string specifying the font family, e.g. ``courier'',
7979 or a fontset alias name. If a font family is specified, wild-cards `*'
7980 and `?' are allowed.
7984 VALUE specifies the relative proportionate width of the font to use.
7985 It must be one of the symbols `ultra-condensed', `extra-condensed',
7986 `condensed', `semi-condensed', `normal', `semi-expanded', `expanded',
7987 `extra-expanded', or `ultra-expanded'.
7991 VALUE must be either an integer specifying the height of the font to use
7992 in 1/10 pt, a floating point number specifying the amount by which to
7993 scale any underlying face, or a function, which is called with the old
7994 height (from the underlying face), and should return the new height.
7998 VALUE specifies the weight of the font to use. It must be one of the
7999 symbols `ultra-bold', `extra-bold', `bold', `semi-bold', `normal',
8000 `semi-light', `light', `extra-light', `ultra-light'.
8004 VALUE specifies the slant of the font to use. It must be one of the
8005 symbols `italic', `oblique', `normal', `reverse-italic', or
8008 `:foreground', `:background'
8010 VALUE must be a color name, a string.
8014 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be underlined. If
8015 VALUE is t, underline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is
8016 a string, underline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly
8021 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be overlined. If
8022 VALUE is t, overline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is a
8023 string, overline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't
8028 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be drawn with a line
8029 striking through them. If VALUE is t, use the foreground color of the
8030 face. If VALUE is a string, strike-through with that color. If VALUE
8031 is nil, explicitly don't strike through.
8035 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should have a box drawn
8036 around them. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't draw boxes. If
8037 VALUE is t, draw a box with lines of width 1 in the foreground color
8038 of the face. If VALUE is a string, the string must be a color name,
8039 and the box is drawn in that color with a line width of 1. Otherwise,
8040 VALUE must be a property list of the form `(:line-width WIDTH
8041 :color COLOR :style STYLE)'. If a keyword/value pair is missing from
8042 the property list, a default value will be used for the value, as
8043 specified below. WIDTH specifies the width of the lines to draw; it
8044 defaults to 1. COLOR is the name of the color to draw in, default is
8045 the foreground color of the face for simple boxes, and the background
8046 color of the face for 3D boxes. STYLE specifies whether a 3D box
8047 should be draw. If STYLE is `released-button', draw a box looking
8048 like a released 3D button. If STYLE is `pressed-button' draw a box
8049 that appears like a pressed button. If STYLE is nil, the default if
8050 the property list doesn't contain a style specification, draw a 2D
8055 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be displayed in
8056 inverse video. VALUE must be one of t or nil.
8060 If VALUE is a string, it must be the name of a file of pixmap data.
8061 The directories listed in the `x-bitmap-file-path' variable are
8062 searched. Alternatively, VALUE may be a list of the form (WIDTH
8063 HEIGHT DATA) where WIDTH and HEIGHT are the size in pixels, and DATA
8064 is a string containing the raw bits of the bitmap. VALUE nil means
8065 explicitly don't use a stipple pattern.
8067 For convenience, attributes `:family', `:width', `:height', `:weight',
8068 and `:slant' may also be set in one step from an X font name:
8072 Set font-related face attributes from VALUE. VALUE must be a valid
8073 XLFD font name. If it is a font name pattern, the first matching font
8074 is used--this is for compatibility with the behavior of previous
8077 For compatibility with Emacs 20, keywords `:bold' and `:italic' can
8078 be used to specify that a bold or italic font should be used. VALUE
8079 must be t or nil in that case. A value of `unspecified' is not allowed."
8081 Please see also the documentation of `set-face-attribute' and
8086 VALUE is the name of a face from which to inherit attributes, or a list
8087 of face names. Attributes from inherited faces are merged into the face
8088 like an underlying face would be, with higher priority than underlying faces.
8090 *** Face attributes and X resources
8092 The following X resource names can be used to set face attributes
8095 Face attribute X resource class
8096 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
8097 :family attributeFamily . Face.AttributeFamily
8098 :width attributeWidth Face.AttributeWidth
8099 :height attributeHeight Face.AttributeHeight
8100 :weight attributeWeight Face.AttributeWeight
8101 :slant attributeSlant Face.AttributeSlant
8102 foreground attributeForeground Face.AttributeForeground
8103 :background attributeBackground . Face.AttributeBackground
8104 :overline attributeOverline Face.AttributeOverline
8105 :strike-through attributeStrikeThrough Face.AttributeStrikeThrough
8106 :box attributeBox Face.AttributeBox
8107 :underline attributeUnderline Face.AttributeUnderline
8108 :inverse-video attributeInverse Face.AttributeInverse
8109 :stipple attributeStipple Face.AttributeStipple
8110 or attributeBackgroundPixmap
8111 Face.AttributeBackgroundPixmap
8112 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
8113 :bold attributeBold Face.AttributeBold
8114 :italic attributeItalic . Face.AttributeItalic
8115 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
8117 *** Text property `face'.
8119 The value of the `face' text property can now be a single face
8120 specification or a list of such specifications. Each face
8121 specification can be
8123 1. A symbol or string naming a Lisp face.
8125 2. A property list of the form (KEYWORD VALUE ...) where each
8126 KEYWORD is a face attribute name, and VALUE is an appropriate value
8127 for that attribute. Please see the doc string of `set-face-attribute'
8128 for face attribute names.
8130 3. Conses of the form (FOREGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) or
8131 (BACKGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) where COLOR is a color name. This is
8132 for compatibility with previous Emacs versions.
8134 ** Support functions for colors on text-only terminals.
8136 The function `tty-color-define' can be used to define colors for use
8137 on TTY and MSDOS frames. It maps a color name to a color number on
8138 the terminal. Emacs defines a couple of common color mappings by
8139 default. You can get defined colors with a call to
8140 `defined-colors'. The function `tty-color-clear' can be
8141 used to clear the mapping table.
8143 ** Unified support for colors independent of frame type.
8145 The new functions `defined-colors', `color-defined-p', `color-values',
8146 and `display-color-p' work for any type of frame. On frames whose
8147 type is neither x nor w32, these functions transparently map X-style
8148 color specifications to the closest colors supported by the frame
8149 display. Lisp programs should use these new functions instead of the
8150 old `x-defined-colors', `x-color-defined-p', `x-color-values', and
8151 `x-display-color-p'. (The old function names are still available for
8152 compatibility; they are now aliases of the new names.) Lisp programs
8153 should no more look at the value of the variable window-system to
8154 modify their color-related behavior.
8156 The primitives `color-gray-p' and `color-supported-p' also work for
8159 ** Platform-independent functions to describe display capabilities.
8161 The new functions `display-mouse-p', `display-popup-menus-p',
8162 `display-graphic-p', `display-selections-p', `display-screens',
8163 `display-pixel-width', `display-pixel-height', `display-mm-width',
8164 `display-mm-height', `display-backing-store', `display-save-under',
8165 `display-planes', `display-color-cells', `display-visual-class', and
8166 `display-grayscale-p' describe the basic capabilities of a particular
8167 display. Lisp programs should call these functions instead of testing
8168 the value of the variables `window-system' or `system-type', or calling
8169 platform-specific functions such as `x-display-pixel-width'.
8171 The new function `display-images-p' returns non-nil if a particular
8172 display can display image files.
8174 ** The minibuffer prompt is now actually inserted in the minibuffer.
8176 This makes it possible to scroll through the prompt, if you want to.
8177 To disallow this completely (like previous versions of emacs), customize
8178 the variable `minibuffer-prompt-properties', and turn on the
8179 `Inviolable' option.
8181 The function `minibuffer-prompt-end' returns the current position of the
8182 end of the minibuffer prompt, if the minibuffer is current.
8183 Otherwise, it returns `(point-min)'.
8185 ** New `field' abstraction in buffers.
8187 There is now code to support an abstraction called `fields' in emacs
8188 buffers. A field is a contiguous region of text with the same `field'
8189 property (which can be a text property or an overlay).
8191 Many emacs functions, such as forward-word, forward-sentence,
8192 forward-paragraph, beginning-of-line, etc., stop moving when they come
8193 to the boundary between fields; beginning-of-line and end-of-line will
8194 not let the point move past the field boundary, but other movement
8195 commands continue into the next field if repeated. Stopping at field
8196 boundaries can be suppressed programmatically by binding
8197 `inhibit-field-text-motion' to a non-nil value around calls to these
8200 Now that the minibuffer prompt is inserted into the minibuffer, it is in
8201 a separate field from the user-input part of the buffer, so that common
8202 editing commands treat the user's text separately from the prompt.
8204 The following functions are defined for operating on fields:
8206 - Function: constrain-to-field NEW-POS OLD-POS &optional ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE ONLY-IN-LINE INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY
8208 Return the position closest to NEW-POS that is in the same field as OLD-POS.
8210 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
8211 If NEW-POS is nil, then the current point is used instead, and set to the
8212 constrained position if that is different.
8214 If OLD-POS is at the boundary of two fields, then the allowable
8215 positions for NEW-POS depends on the value of the optional argument
8216 ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE: If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is nil, then NEW-POS is
8217 constrained to the field that has the same `field' char-property
8218 as any new characters inserted at OLD-POS, whereas if ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
8219 is non-nil, NEW-POS is constrained to the union of the two adjacent
8220 fields. Additionally, if two fields are separated by another field with
8221 the special value `boundary', then any point within this special field is
8222 also considered to be `on the boundary'.
8224 If the optional argument ONLY-IN-LINE is non-nil and constraining
8225 NEW-POS would move it to a different line, NEW-POS is returned
8226 unconstrained. This useful for commands that move by line, like
8227 C-n or C-a, which should generally respect field boundaries
8228 only in the case where they can still move to the right line.
8230 If the optional argument INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY is non-nil, and OLD-POS has
8231 a non-nil property of that name, then any field boundaries are ignored.
8233 Field boundaries are not noticed if `inhibit-field-text-motion' is non-nil.
8235 - Function: delete-field &optional POS
8237 Delete the field surrounding POS.
8238 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
8239 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
8241 - Function: field-beginning &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
8243 Return the beginning of the field surrounding POS.
8244 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
8245 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
8246 If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the beginning of its
8247 field, then the beginning of the *previous* field is returned.
8249 - Function: field-end &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
8251 Return the end of the field surrounding POS.
8252 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
8253 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
8254 If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the end of its field,
8255 then the end of the *following* field is returned.
8257 - Function: field-string &optional POS
8259 Return the contents of the field surrounding POS as a string.
8260 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
8261 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
8263 - Function: field-string-no-properties &optional POS
8265 Return the contents of the field around POS, without text-properties.
8266 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
8267 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
8271 Emacs can now display images. Images are inserted into text by giving
8272 strings or buffer text a `display' text property containing one of
8273 (AREA IMAGE) or IMAGE. The display of the `display' property value
8274 replaces the display of the characters having that property.
8276 If the property value has the form (AREA IMAGE), AREA must be one of
8277 `(margin left-margin)', `(margin right-margin)' or `(margin nil)'. If
8278 AREA is `(margin nil)', IMAGE will be displayed in the text area of a
8279 window, otherwise it will be displayed in the left or right marginal
8282 IMAGE is an image specification.
8284 *** Image specifications
8286 Image specifications are lists of the form `(image PROPS)' where PROPS
8287 is a property list whose keys are keyword symbols. Each
8288 specifications must contain a property `:type TYPE' with TYPE being a
8289 symbol specifying the image type, e.g. `xbm'. Properties not
8290 described below are ignored.
8292 The following is a list of properties all image types share.
8296 ASCENT must be a number in the range 0..100, or the symbol `center'.
8297 If it is a number, it specifies the percentage of the image's height
8298 to use for its ascent.
8300 If not specified, ASCENT defaults to the value 50 which means that the
8301 image will be centered with the base line of the row it appears in.
8303 If ASCENT is `center' the image is vertically centered around a
8304 centerline which is the vertical center of text drawn at the position
8305 of the image, in the manner specified by the text properties and
8306 overlays that apply to the image.
8310 MARGIN must be either a number >= 0 specifying how many pixels to put
8311 as margin around the image, or a pair (X . Y) with X specifying the
8312 horizontal margin and Y specifying the vertical margin. Default is 0.
8316 RELIEF is analogous to the `:relief' attribute of faces. Puts a relief
8321 Apply an image algorithm to the image before displaying it.
8323 ALGO `laplace' or `emboss' means apply a Laplace or ``emboss''
8324 edge-detection algorithm to the image.
8326 ALGO `(edge-detection :matrix MATRIX :color-adjust ADJUST)' means
8327 apply a general edge-detection algorithm. MATRIX must be either a
8328 nine-element list or a nine-element vector of numbers. A pixel at
8329 position x/y in the transformed image is computed from original pixels
8330 around that position. MATRIX specifies, for each pixel in the
8331 neighborhood of x/y, a factor with which that pixel will influence the
8332 transformed pixel; element 0 specifies the factor for the pixel at
8333 x-1/y-1, element 1 the factor for the pixel at x/y-1 etc. as shown
8336 (x-1/y-1 x/y-1 x+1/y-1
8338 x-1/y+1 x/y+1 x+1/y+1)
8340 The resulting pixel is computed from the color intensity of the color
8341 resulting from summing up the RGB values of surrounding pixels,
8342 multiplied by the specified factors, and dividing that sum by the sum
8343 of the factors' absolute values.
8345 Laplace edge-detection currently uses a matrix of
8351 Emboss edge-detection uses a matrix of
8357 ALGO `disabled' means transform the image so that it looks
8362 If MASK is `heuristic' or `(heuristic BG)', build a clipping mask for
8363 the image, so that the background of a frame is visible behind the
8364 image. If BG is not specified, or if BG is t, determine the
8365 background color of the image by looking at the 4 corners of the
8366 image, assuming the most frequently occurring color from the corners is
8367 the background color of the image. Otherwise, BG must be a list `(RED
8368 GREEN BLUE)' specifying the color to assume for the background of the
8371 If MASK is nil, remove a mask from the image, if it has one. Images
8372 in some formats include a mask which can be removed by specifying
8377 Load image from FILE. If FILE is not absolute after expanding it,
8378 search for the image in `data-directory'. Some image types support
8379 building images from data. When this is done, no `:file' property
8380 may be present in the image specification.
8384 Get image data from DATA. (As of this writing, this is not yet
8385 supported for image type `postscript'). Either :file or :data may be
8386 present in an image specification, but not both. All image types
8387 support strings as DATA, some types allow additional types of DATA.
8389 *** Supported image types
8391 **** XBM, image type `xbm'.
8393 XBM images don't require an external library. Additional image
8394 properties supported are:
8398 FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color, or nil
8399 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's foreground color.
8403 BG must be a string specifying the image background color, or nil
8404 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's background color.
8406 XBM images can be constructed from data instead of file. In this
8407 case, the image specification must contain the following properties
8408 instead of a `:file' property.
8412 WIDTH specifies the width of the image in pixels.
8416 HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pixels.
8422 1. a string large enough to hold the bitmap data, i.e. it must
8423 have a size >= (WIDTH + 7) / 8 * HEIGHT
8425 2. a bool-vector of size >= WIDTH * HEIGHT
8427 3. a vector of strings or bool-vectors, one for each line of the
8430 4. a string that's an in-memory XBM file. Neither width nor
8431 height may be specified in this case because these are defined
8434 **** XPM, image type `xpm'
8436 XPM images require the external library `libXpm', package
8437 `xpm-3.4k.tar.gz', version 3.4k or later. Make sure the library is
8438 found when Emacs is configured by supplying appropriate paths via
8439 `--x-includes' and `--x-libraries'.
8441 Additional image properties supported are:
8443 `:color-symbols SYMBOLS'
8445 SYMBOLS must be a list of pairs (NAME . COLOR), with NAME being the
8446 name of color as it appears in an XPM file, and COLOR being an X color
8449 XPM images can be built from memory instead of files. In that case,
8450 add a `:data' property instead of a `:file' property.
8452 The XPM library uses libz in its implementation so that it is able
8453 to display compressed images.
8455 **** PBM, image type `pbm'
8457 PBM images don't require an external library. Color, gray-scale and
8458 mono images are supported. Additional image properties supported for
8463 FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color, or nil
8464 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's foreground color.
8468 BG must be a string specifying the image background color, or nil
8469 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's background color.
8471 **** JPEG, image type `jpeg'
8473 Support for JPEG images requires the external library `libjpeg',
8474 package `jpegsrc.v6a.tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
8477 **** TIFF, image type `tiff'
8479 Support for TIFF images requires the external library `libtiff',
8480 package `tiff-v3.4-tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
8483 **** GIF, image type `gif'
8485 Support for GIF images requires the external library `libungif', package
8486 `libungif-4.1.0', or later.
8488 Additional image properties supported are:
8492 INDEX must be an integer >= 0. Load image number INDEX from a
8493 multi-image GIF file. If INDEX is too large, the image displays
8496 This could be used to implement limited support for animated GIFs.
8497 For example, the following function displays a multi-image GIF file
8498 at point-min in the current buffer, switching between sub-images
8501 (defun show-anim (file max)
8502 "Display multi-image GIF file FILE which contains MAX subimages."
8503 (display-anim (current-buffer) file 0 max t))
8505 (defun display-anim (buffer file idx max first-time)
8508 (let ((img (create-image file nil nil :index idx)))
8511 (goto-char (point-min))
8512 (unless first-time (delete-char 1))
8513 (insert-image img "x"))
8514 (run-with-timer 0.1 nil 'display-anim buffer file (1+ idx) max nil)))
8516 **** PNG, image type `png'
8518 Support for PNG images requires the external library `libpng',
8519 package `libpng-1.0.2.tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
8522 **** Ghostscript, image type `postscript'.
8524 Additional image properties supported are:
8528 WIDTH is width of the image in pt (1/72 inch). WIDTH must be an
8529 integer. This is a required property.
8533 HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pt (1/72 inch). HEIGHT
8534 must be a integer. This is an required property.
8538 BOX must be a list or vector of 4 integers giving the bounding box of
8539 the PS image, analogous to the `BoundingBox' comment found in PS
8540 files. This is an required property.
8542 Part of the Ghostscript interface is implemented in Lisp. See
8547 The variable `image-types' contains a list of those image types
8548 which are supported in the current configuration.
8550 Images are stored in an image cache and removed from the cache when
8551 they haven't been displayed for `image-cache-eviction-delay seconds.
8552 The function `clear-image-cache' can be used to clear the image cache
8553 manually. Images in the cache are compared with `equal', i.e. all
8554 images with `equal' specifications share the same image.
8556 *** Simplified image API, image.el
8558 The new Lisp package image.el contains functions that simplify image
8559 creation and putting images into text. The function `create-image'
8560 can be used to create images. The macro `defimage' can be used to
8561 define an image based on available image types. The functions
8562 `put-image' and `insert-image' can be used to insert an image into a
8567 Windows can now have margins which are used for special text
8570 To give a window margins, either set the buffer-local variables
8571 `left-margin-width' and `right-margin-width', or call
8572 `set-window-margins'. The function `window-margins' can be used to
8573 obtain the current settings. To make `left-margin-width' and
8574 `right-margin-width' take effect, you must set them before displaying
8575 the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force an update
8576 of the display margins.
8578 You can put text in margins by giving it a `display' text property
8579 containing a pair of the form `(LOCATION . VALUE)', where LOCATION is
8580 one of `left-margin' or `right-margin' or nil. VALUE can be either a
8581 string, an image specification or a stretch specification (see later
8586 Emacs displays short help messages in the echo area, when the mouse
8587 moves over a tool-bar item or a piece of text that has a text property
8588 `help-echo'. This feature also applies to strings in the mode line
8589 that have a `help-echo' property.
8591 If the value of the `help-echo' property is a function, that function
8592 is called with three arguments WINDOW, OBJECT and POSITION. WINDOW is
8593 the window in which the help was found.
8595 If OBJECT is a buffer, POS is the position in the buffer where the
8596 `help-echo' text property was found.
8598 If OBJECT is an overlay, that overlay has a `help-echo' property, and
8599 POS is the position in the overlay's buffer under the mouse.
8601 If OBJECT is a string (an overlay string or a string displayed with
8602 the `display' property), POS is the position in that string under the
8605 If the value of the `help-echo' property is neither a function nor a
8606 string, it is evaluated to obtain a help string.
8608 For tool-bar and menu-bar items, their key definition is used to
8609 determine the help to display. If their definition contains a
8610 property `:help FORM', FORM is evaluated to determine the help string.
8611 For tool-bar items without a help form, the caption of the item is
8612 used as help string.
8614 The hook `show-help-function' can be set to a function that displays
8615 the help string differently. For example, enabling a tooltip window
8616 causes the help display to appear there instead of in the echo area.
8618 ** Vertical fractional scrolling.
8620 The display of text in windows can be scrolled smoothly in pixels.
8621 This is useful, for example, for making parts of large images visible.
8623 The function `window-vscroll' returns the current value of vertical
8624 scrolling, a non-negative fraction of the canonical character height.
8625 The function `set-window-vscroll' can be used to set the vertical
8626 scrolling value. Here is an example of how these function might be
8629 (global-set-key [A-down]
8632 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
8633 (+ 0.5 (window-vscroll)))))
8634 (global-set-key [A-up]
8637 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
8638 (- (window-vscroll) 0.5)))))
8640 ** New hook `fontification-functions'.
8642 Functions from `fontification-functions' are called from redisplay
8643 when it encounters a region of text that is not yet fontified. This
8644 variable automatically becomes buffer-local when set. Each function
8645 is called with one argument, POS.
8647 At least one of the hook functions should fontify one or more
8648 characters starting at POS in the current buffer. It should mark them
8649 as fontified by giving them a non-nil value of the `fontified' text
8650 property. It may be reasonable for these functions to check for the
8651 `fontified' property and not put it back on, but they do not have to.
8653 ** Tool bar support.
8655 Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. The frame
8656 parameter `tool-bar-lines' (X resource "toolBar", class "ToolBar")
8657 controls how may lines to reserve for the tool bar. A zero value
8658 suppresses the tool bar. If the value is non-zero and
8659 `auto-resize-tool-bars' is non-nil the tool bar's size will be changed
8660 automatically so that all tool bar items are visible.
8662 *** Tool bar item definitions
8664 Tool bar items are defined using `define-key' with a prefix-key
8665 `tool-bar'. For example `(define-key global-map [tool-bar item1] ITEM)'
8666 where ITEM is a list `(menu-item CAPTION BINDING PROPS...)'.
8668 CAPTION is the caption of the item, If it's not a string, it is
8669 evaluated to get a string. The caption is currently not displayed in
8670 the tool bar, but it is displayed if the item doesn't have a `:help'
8671 property (see below).
8673 BINDING is the tool bar item's binding. Tool bar items with keymaps as
8674 binding are currently ignored.
8676 The following properties are recognized:
8680 FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is enabled
8685 FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is displayed.
8689 FUNCTION is called with one parameter, the same list BINDING in which
8690 FUNCTION is specified as the filter. The value FUNCTION returns is
8691 used instead of BINDING to display this item.
8693 `:button (TYPE SELECTED)'
8695 TYPE must be one of `:radio' or `:toggle'. SELECTED is evaluated
8696 and specifies whether the button is selected (pressed) or not.
8700 IMAGES is either a single image specification or a vector of four
8701 image specifications. If it is a vector, this table lists the
8702 meaning of each of the four elements:
8704 Index Use when item is
8705 ----------------------------------------
8706 0 enabled and selected
8707 1 enabled and deselected
8708 2 disabled and selected
8709 3 disabled and deselected
8711 If IMAGE is a single image specification, a Laplace edge-detection
8712 algorithm is used on that image to draw the image in disabled state.
8714 `:help HELP-STRING'.
8716 Gives a help string to display for the tool bar item. This help
8717 is displayed when the mouse is moved over the item.
8719 The function `toolbar-add-item' is a convenience function for adding
8720 toolbar items generally, and `tool-bar-add-item-from-menu' can be used
8721 to define a toolbar item with a binding copied from an item on the
8724 The default bindings use a menu-item :filter to derive the tool-bar
8725 dynamically from variable `tool-bar-map' which may be set
8726 buffer-locally to override the global map.
8728 *** Tool-bar-related variables.
8730 If `auto-resize-tool-bar' is non-nil, the tool bar will automatically
8731 resize to show all defined tool bar items. It will never grow larger
8732 than 1/4 of the frame's size.
8734 If `auto-raise-tool-bar-buttons' is non-nil, tool bar buttons will be
8735 raised when the mouse moves over them.
8737 You can add extra space between tool bar items by setting
8738 `tool-bar-button-margin' to a positive integer specifying a number of
8739 pixels, or a pair of integers (X . Y) specifying horizontal and
8740 vertical margins . Default is 1.
8742 You can change the shadow thickness of tool bar buttons by setting
8743 `tool-bar-button-relief' to an integer. Default is 3.
8745 *** Tool-bar clicks with modifiers.
8747 You can bind commands to clicks with control, shift, meta etc. on
8750 (define-key global-map [tool-bar shell]
8751 '(menu-item "Shell" shell
8752 :image (image :type xpm :file "shell.xpm")))
8754 is the original tool bar item definition, then
8756 (define-key global-map [tool-bar S-shell] 'some-command)
8758 makes a binding to run `some-command' for a shifted click on the same
8761 ** Mode line changes.
8763 *** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
8765 The mode line can be made mouse-sensitive by displaying strings there
8766 that have a `local-map' text property. There are three ways to display
8767 a string with a `local-map' property in the mode line.
8769 1. The mode line spec contains a variable whose string value has
8770 a `local-map' text property.
8772 2. The mode line spec contains a format specifier (e.g. `%12b'), and
8773 that format specifier has a `local-map' property.
8775 3. The mode line spec contains a list containing `:eval FORM'. FORM
8776 is evaluated. If the result is a string, and that string has a
8777 `local-map' property.
8779 The same mechanism is used to determine the `face' and `help-echo'
8780 properties of strings in the mode line. See `bindings.el' for an
8783 *** If a mode line element has the form `(:eval FORM)', FORM is
8784 evaluated and the result is used as mode line element.
8786 *** You can suppress mode-line display by setting the buffer-local
8787 variable mode-line-format to nil.
8789 *** A headerline can now be displayed at the top of a window.
8791 This mode line's contents are controlled by the new variable
8792 `header-line-format' and `default-header-line-format' which are
8793 completely analogous to `mode-line-format' and
8794 `default-mode-line-format'. A value of nil means don't display a top
8797 The appearance of top mode lines is controlled by the face
8800 The function `coordinates-in-window-p' returns `header-line' for a
8801 position in the header-line.
8803 ** Text property `display'
8805 The `display' text property is used to insert images into text,
8806 replace text with other text, display text in marginal area, and it is
8807 also used to control other aspects of how text displays. The value of
8808 the `display' property should be a display specification, as described
8809 below, or a list or vector containing display specifications.
8811 *** Replacing text, displaying text in marginal areas
8813 To replace the text having the `display' property with some other
8814 text, use a display specification of the form `(LOCATION STRING)'.
8816 If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)', STRING is displayed in the left
8817 marginal area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in
8818 the right marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' STRING
8819 is displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
8820 simpler form STRING as property value.
8822 *** Variable width and height spaces
8824 To display a space of fractional width or height, use a display
8825 specification of the form `(LOCATION STRECH)'. If LOCATION is
8826 `(margin left-margin)', the space is displayed in the left marginal
8827 area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in the right
8828 marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the space is
8829 displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
8830 simpler form STRETCH as property value.
8832 The stretch specification STRETCH itself is a list of the form `(space
8833 PROPS)', where PROPS is a property list which can contain the
8834 properties described below.
8836 The display of the fractional space replaces the display of the
8837 characters having the `display' property.
8841 Specifies that the space width should be WIDTH times the normal
8842 character width. WIDTH can be an integer or floating point number.
8844 - :relative-width FACTOR
8846 Specifies that the width of the stretch should be computed from the
8847 first character in a group of consecutive characters that have the
8848 same `display' property. The computation is done by multiplying the
8849 width of that character by FACTOR.
8853 Specifies that the space should be wide enough to reach HPOS. The
8854 value HPOS is measured in units of the normal character width.
8856 Exactly one of the above properties should be used.
8860 Specifies the height of the space, as HEIGHT, measured in terms of the
8863 - :relative-height FACTOR
8865 The height of the space is computed as the product of the height
8866 of the text having the `display' property and FACTOR.
8870 Specifies that ASCENT percent of the height of the stretch should be
8871 used for the ascent of the stretch, i.e. for the part above the
8872 baseline. The value of ASCENT must be a non-negative number less or
8875 You should not use both `:height' and `:relative-height' together.
8879 A display specification for an image has the form `(LOCATION
8880 . IMAGE)', where IMAGE is an image specification. The image replaces,
8881 in the display, the characters having this display specification in
8882 their `display' text property. If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)',
8883 the image will be displayed in the left marginal area, if it is
8884 `(margin right-margin)' it will be displayed in the right marginal
8885 area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the image will be displayed in
8886 the text. In the latter case you can also use the simpler form IMAGE
8887 as display specification.
8889 *** Other display properties
8891 - (space-width FACTOR)
8893 Specifies that space characters in the text having that property
8894 should be displayed FACTOR times as wide as normal; FACTOR must be an
8899 Display text having this property in a font that is smaller or larger.
8901 If HEIGHT is a list of the form `(+ N)', where N is an integer, that
8902 means to use a font that is N steps larger. If HEIGHT is a list of
8903 the form `(- N)', that means to use a font that is N steps smaller. A
8904 ``step'' is defined by the set of available fonts; each size for which
8905 a font is available counts as a step.
8907 If HEIGHT is a number, that means to use a font that is HEIGHT times
8908 as tall as the frame's default font.
8910 If HEIGHT is a symbol, it is called as a function with the current
8911 height as argument. The function should return the new height to use.
8913 Otherwise, HEIGHT is evaluated to get the new height, with the symbol
8914 `height' bound to the current specified font height.
8918 FACTOR must be a number, specifying a multiple of the current
8919 font's height. If it is positive, that means to display the characters
8920 raised. If it is negative, that means to display them lower down. The
8921 amount of raising or lowering is computed without taking account of the
8922 `height' subproperty.
8924 *** Conditional display properties
8926 All display specifications can be conditionalized. If a specification
8927 has the form `(when CONDITION . SPEC)', the specification SPEC applies
8928 only when CONDITION yields a non-nil value when evaluated. During the
8929 evaluation, `object' is bound to the string or buffer having the
8930 conditional display property; `position' and `buffer-position' are
8931 bound to the position within `object' and the buffer position where
8932 the display property was found, respectively. Both positions can be
8933 different when object is a string.
8935 The normal specification consisting of SPEC only is equivalent to
8938 ** New menu separator types.
8940 Emacs now supports more than one menu separator type. Menu items with
8941 item names consisting of dashes only (including zero dashes) are
8942 treated like before. In addition, the following item names are used
8943 to specify other menu separator types.
8945 - `--no-line' or `--space', or `--:space', or `--:noLine'
8947 No separator lines are drawn, but a small space is inserted where the
8950 - `--single-line' or `--:singleLine'
8952 A single line in the menu's foreground color.
8954 - `--double-line' or `--:doubleLine'
8956 A double line in the menu's foreground color.
8958 - `--single-dashed-line' or `--:singleDashedLine'
8960 A single dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
8962 - `--double-dashed-line' or `--:doubleDashedLine'
8964 A double dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
8966 - `--shadow-etched-in' or `--:shadowEtchedIn'
8968 A single line with 3D sunken appearance. This is the form
8969 displayed for item names consisting of dashes only.
8971 - `--shadow-etched-out' or `--:shadowEtchedOut'
8973 A single line with 3D raised appearance.
8975 - `--shadow-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedInDash'
8977 A single dashed line with 3D sunken appearance.
8979 - `--shadow-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedOutDash'
8981 A single dashed line with 3D raise appearance.
8983 - `--shadow-double-etched-in' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedIn'
8985 Two lines with 3D sunken appearance.
8987 - `--shadow-double-etched-out' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOut'
8989 Two lines with 3D raised appearance.
8991 - `--shadow-double-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedInDash'
8993 Two dashed lines with 3D sunken appearance.
8995 - `--shadow-double-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOutDash'
8997 Two dashed lines with 3D raised appearance.
8999 Under LessTif/Motif, the last four separator types are displayed like
9000 the corresponding single-line separators.
9002 ** New frame parameters for scroll bar colors.
9004 The new frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
9005 `scroll-bar-background' can be used to change scroll bar colors.
9006 Their value must be either a color name, a string, or nil to specify
9007 that scroll bars should use a default color. For toolkit scroll bars,
9008 default colors are toolkit specific. For non-toolkit scroll bars, the
9009 default background is the background color of the frame, and the
9010 default foreground is black.
9012 The X resource name of these parameters are `scrollBarForeground'
9013 (class ScrollBarForeground) and `scrollBarBackground' (class
9014 `ScrollBarBackground').
9016 Setting these parameters overrides toolkit specific X resource
9017 settings for scroll bar colors.
9019 ** You can set `redisplay-dont-pause' to a non-nil value to prevent
9020 display updates from being interrupted when input is pending.
9022 ** Changing a window's width may now change its window start if it
9023 starts on a continuation line. The new window start is computed based
9024 on the window's new width, starting from the start of the continued
9025 line as the start of the screen line with the minimum distance from
9026 the original window start.
9028 ** The variable `hscroll-step' and the functions
9029 `hscroll-point-visible' and `hscroll-window-column' have been removed
9030 now that proper horizontal scrolling is implemented.
9032 ** Windows can now be made fixed-width and/or fixed-height.
9034 A window is fixed-size if its buffer has a buffer-local variable
9035 `window-size-fixed' whose value is not nil. A value of `height' makes
9036 windows fixed-height, a value of `width' makes them fixed-width, any
9037 other non-nil value makes them both fixed-width and fixed-height.
9039 The following code makes all windows displaying the current buffer
9040 fixed-width and fixed-height.
9042 (set (make-local-variable 'window-size-fixed) t)
9044 A call to enlarge-window on a window gives an error if that window is
9045 fixed-width and it is tried to change the window's width, or if the
9046 window is fixed-height, and it is tried to change its height. To
9047 change the size of a fixed-size window, bind `window-size-fixed'
9048 temporarily to nil, for example
9050 (let ((window-size-fixed nil))
9051 (enlarge-window 10))
9053 Likewise, an attempt to split a fixed-height window vertically,
9054 or a fixed-width window horizontally results in a error.
9056 ** The cursor-type frame parameter is now supported on MS-DOS
9057 terminals. When Emacs starts, it by default changes the cursor shape
9058 to a solid box, as it does on Unix. The `cursor-type' frame parameter
9059 overrides this as it does on Unix, except that the bar cursor is
9060 horizontal rather than vertical (since the MS-DOS display doesn't
9061 support a vertical-bar cursor).
9065 * Emacs 20.7 is a bug-fix release with few user-visible changes
9067 ** It is now possible to use CCL-based coding systems for keyboard
9070 ** ange-ftp now handles FTP security extensions, like Kerberos.
9072 ** Rmail has been extended to recognize more forms of digest messages.
9074 ** Now, most coding systems set in keyboard coding system work not
9075 only for character input, but also in incremental search. The
9076 exceptions are such coding systems that handle 2-byte character sets
9077 (e.g euc-kr, euc-jp) and that use ISO's escape sequence
9078 (e.g. iso-2022-jp). They are ignored in incremental search.
9080 ** Support for Macintosh PowerPC-based machines running GNU/Linux has
9084 * Emacs 20.6 is a bug-fix release with one user-visible change
9086 ** Support for ARM-based non-RISCiX machines has been added.
9090 * Emacs 20.5 is a bug-fix release with no user-visible changes.
9092 ** Not new, but not mentioned before:
9093 M-w when Transient Mark mode is enabled disables the mark.
9095 * Changes in Emacs 20.4
9097 ** Init file may be called .emacs.el.
9099 You can now call the Emacs init file `.emacs.el'.
9100 Formerly the name had to be `.emacs'. If you use the name
9101 `.emacs.el', you can byte-compile the file in the usual way.
9103 If both `.emacs' and `.emacs.el' exist, the latter file
9104 is the one that is used.
9106 ** shell-command, and shell-command-on-region, now return
9107 the exit code of the command (unless it is asynchronous).
9108 Also, you can specify a place to put the error output,
9109 separate from the command's regular output.
9110 Interactively, the variable shell-command-default-error-buffer
9111 says where to put error output; set it to a buffer name.
9112 In calls from Lisp, an optional argument ERROR-BUFFER specifies
9115 When you specify a non-nil error buffer (or buffer name), any error
9116 output is inserted before point in that buffer, with \f\n to separate
9117 it from the previous batch of error output. The error buffer is not
9118 cleared, so error output from successive commands accumulates there.
9120 ** Setting the default value of enable-multibyte-characters to nil in
9121 the .emacs file, either explicitly using setq-default, or via Custom,
9122 is now essentially equivalent to using --unibyte: all buffers
9123 created during startup will be made unibyte after loading .emacs.
9125 ** C-x C-f now handles the wildcards * and ? in file names. For
9126 example, typing C-x C-f c*.c RET visits all the files whose names
9127 match c*.c. To visit a file whose name contains * or ?, add the
9128 quoting sequence /: to the beginning of the file name.
9130 ** The M-x commands keep-lines, flush-lines and count-matches
9131 now have the same feature as occur and query-replace:
9132 if the pattern contains any upper case letters, then
9133 they never ignore case.
9135 ** The end-of-line format conversion feature previously mentioned
9136 under `* Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows' actually
9137 applies to all operating systems. Emacs recognizes from the contents
9138 of a file what convention it uses to separate lines--newline, CRLF, or
9139 just CR--and automatically converts the contents to the normal Emacs
9140 convention (using newline to separate lines) for editing. This is a
9141 part of the general feature of coding system conversion.
9143 If you subsequently save the buffer, Emacs converts the text back to
9144 the same format that was used in the file before.
9146 You can turn off end-of-line conversion by setting the variable
9147 `inhibit-eol-conversion' to non-nil, e.g. with Custom in the MULE group.
9149 ** The character set property `prefered-coding-system' has been
9150 renamed to `preferred-coding-system', for the sake of correct spelling.
9151 This is a fairly internal feature, so few programs should be affected.
9153 ** Mode-line display of end-of-line format is changed.
9154 The indication of the end-of-line format of the file visited by a
9155 buffer is now more explicit when that format is not the usual one for
9156 your operating system. For example, the DOS-style end-of-line format
9157 is displayed as "(DOS)" on Unix and GNU/Linux systems. The usual
9158 end-of-line format is still displayed as a single character (colon for
9159 Unix, backslash for DOS and Windows, and forward slash for the Mac).
9161 The values of the variables eol-mnemonic-unix, eol-mnemonic-dos,
9162 eol-mnemonic-mac, and eol-mnemonic-undecided, which are strings,
9163 control what is displayed in the mode line for each end-of-line
9164 format. You can now customize these variables.
9166 ** In the previous version of Emacs, tar-mode didn't work well if a
9167 filename contained non-ASCII characters. Now this is fixed. Such a
9168 filename is decoded by file-name-coding-system if the default value of
9169 enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil.
9171 ** The command temp-buffer-resize-mode toggles a minor mode
9172 in which temporary buffers (such as help buffers) are given
9173 windows just big enough to hold the whole contents.
9175 ** If you use completion.el, you must now run the function
9176 dynamic-completion-mode to enable it. Just loading the file
9177 doesn't have any effect.
9179 ** In Flyspell mode, the default is now to make just one Ispell process,
9182 ** If you use iswitchb but do not call (iswitchb-default-keybindings) to
9183 use the default keybindings, you will need to add the following line:
9184 (add-hook 'minibuffer-setup-hook 'iswitchb-minibuffer-setup)
9186 ** Auto-show mode is no longer enabled just by loading auto-show.el.
9187 To control it, set `auto-show-mode' via Custom or use the
9188 `auto-show-mode' command.
9190 ** Handling of X fonts' ascent/descent parameters has been changed to
9191 avoid redisplay problems. As a consequence, compared with previous
9192 versions the line spacing and frame size now differ with some font
9193 choices, typically increasing by a pixel per line. This change
9194 occurred in version 20.3 but was not documented then.
9196 ** If you select the bar cursor style, it uses the frame's
9197 cursor-color, rather than the cursor foreground pixel.
9199 ** In multibyte mode, Rmail decodes incoming MIME messages using the
9200 character set specified in the message. If you want to disable this
9201 feature, set the variable rmail-decode-mime-charset to nil.
9203 ** Not new, but not mentioned previously in NEWS: when you use #! at
9204 the beginning of a file to make it executable and specify an
9205 interpreter program, Emacs looks on the second line for the -*- mode
9206 and variable specification, as well as on the first line.
9208 ** Support for IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters.
9210 The new command M-x codepage-setup creates a special coding system
9211 that can be used to convert text between a specific IBM codepage and
9212 one of the character sets built into Emacs which matches that
9213 codepage. For example, codepage 850 corresponds to Latin-1 character
9214 set, codepage 855 corresponds to Cyrillic-ISO character set, etc.
9216 Windows codepages 1250, 1251 and some others, where Windows deviates
9217 from the corresponding ISO character set, are also supported.
9219 IBM box-drawing characters and other glyphs which don't have
9220 equivalents in the corresponding ISO character set, are converted to
9221 a character defined by dos-unsupported-char-glyph on MS-DOS, and to
9222 `?' on other systems.
9224 IBM codepages are widely used on MS-DOS and MS-Windows, so this
9225 feature is most useful on those platforms, but it can also be used on
9228 Emacs compiled for MS-DOS automatically loads the support for the
9229 current codepage when it starts.
9233 *** When mail is sent using compose-mail (C-x m), and if
9234 `mail-send-nonascii' is set to the new default value `mime',
9235 appropriate MIME headers are added. The headers are added only if
9236 non-ASCII characters are present in the body of the mail, and no other
9237 MIME headers are already present. For example, the following three
9238 headers are added if the coding system used in the *mail* buffer is
9242 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
9243 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
9245 *** The new variable default-sendmail-coding-system specifies the
9246 default way to encode outgoing mail. This has higher priority than
9247 default-buffer-file-coding-system but has lower priority than
9248 sendmail-coding-system and the local value of
9249 buffer-file-coding-system.
9251 You should not set this variable manually. Instead, set
9252 sendmail-coding-system to specify a fixed encoding for all outgoing
9255 *** When you try to send a message that contains non-ASCII characters,
9256 if the coding system specified by those variables doesn't handle them,
9257 Emacs will ask you to select a suitable coding system while showing a
9258 list of possible coding systems.
9262 *** c-default-style can now take an association list that maps major
9263 modes to style names. When this variable is an alist, Java mode no
9264 longer hardcodes a setting to "java" style. See the variable's
9265 docstring for details.
9267 *** It's now possible to put a list as the offset on a syntactic
9268 symbol. The list is evaluated recursively until a non-nil offset is
9269 found. This is useful to combine several lineup functions to act in a
9270 prioritized order on a single line. However, none of the supplied
9271 lineup functions use this feature currently.
9273 *** New syntactic symbol catch-clause, which is used on the "catch" and
9274 "finally" lines in try-catch constructs in C++ and Java.
9276 *** New cleanup brace-catch-brace on c-cleanup-list, which does for
9277 "catch" lines what brace-elseif-brace does for "else if" lines.
9279 *** The braces of Java anonymous inner classes are treated separately
9280 from the braces of other classes in auto-newline mode. Two new
9281 symbols inexpr-class-open and inexpr-class-close may be used on
9282 c-hanging-braces-alist to control the automatic newlines used for
9285 *** Support for the Pike language added, along with new Pike specific
9286 syntactic symbols: inlambda, lambda-intro-cont
9288 *** Support for Java anonymous classes via new syntactic symbol
9289 inexpr-class. New syntactic symbol inexpr-statement for Pike
9290 support and gcc-style statements inside expressions. New lineup
9291 function c-lineup-inexpr-block.
9293 *** New syntactic symbol brace-entry-open which is used in brace lists
9294 (i.e. static initializers) when a list entry starts with an open
9295 brace. These used to be recognized as brace-list-entry's.
9296 c-electric-brace also recognizes brace-entry-open braces
9297 (brace-list-entry's can no longer be electrified).
9299 *** New command c-indent-line-or-region, not bound by default.
9301 *** `#' is only electric when typed in the indentation of a line.
9303 *** Parentheses are now electric (via the new command c-electric-paren)
9304 for auto-reindenting lines when parens are typed.
9306 *** In "gnu" style, inline-open offset is now set to zero.
9308 *** Uniform handling of the inclass syntactic symbol. The indentation
9309 associated with it is now always relative to the class opening brace.
9310 This means that the indentation behavior has changed in some
9311 circumstances, but only if you've put anything besides 0 on the
9312 class-open syntactic symbol (none of the default styles do that).
9316 *** New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
9317 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See the
9318 Gnus manual for the full story.
9320 *** The nndraft backend has returned, but works differently than
9321 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the nndraft
9322 group, which is created automatically.
9324 *** `gnus-alter-header-function' can now be used to alter header
9327 *** `gnus-summary-goto-article' now accept Message-ID's.
9329 *** A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
9330 outside the region: `C-c C-v'.
9332 *** You can now post to component group in nnvirtual groups with
9335 *** `nntp-rlogin-program' -- new variable to ease customization.
9337 *** `C-u C-c C-c' in `gnus-article-edit-mode' will now inhibit
9338 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
9340 *** New element in `gnus-boring-article-headers' -- `long-to'.
9342 *** `M-i' symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
9343 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
9345 *** `L' and `I' in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
9346 `a' to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
9348 *** `gnus-simplify-subject-functions' variable to allow greater
9349 control over simplification.
9351 *** `A T' -- new command for fetching the current thread.
9353 *** `/ T' -- new command for including the current thread in the
9356 *** `M-RET' is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
9358 *** \\1-expressions are now valid in `nnmail-split-methods'.
9360 *** The `custom-face-lookup' function has been removed.
9361 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
9362 rewrite them to use `face-spec-set' instead.
9364 *** Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
9365 `a' forces normal posting method.
9367 *** New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper text
9370 *** For easier debugging of nntp, you can set `nntp-record-commands'
9373 *** nntp now uses ~/.authinfo, a .netrc-like file, for controlling
9374 where and how to send AUTHINFO to NNTP servers.
9376 *** A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
9379 *** A history of where mails have been split is available.
9381 *** A new article date command has been added -- `article-date-iso8601'.
9383 *** Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
9384 `gnus-score-thread-simplify'.
9386 *** A new function for citing in Message has been added --
9387 `message-cite-original-without-signature'.
9389 *** `article-strip-all-blank-lines' -- new article command.
9391 *** A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
9394 *** A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
9395 `gnus-adaptive-word-minimum' variable.
9397 *** The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
9398 updated by the `gnus-start-date-timer' command.
9400 *** Web listserv archives can be read with the nnlistserv backend.
9402 *** Old dejanews archives can now be read by nnweb.
9404 *** `gnus-posting-styles' has been re-activated.
9406 ** Changes to TeX and LaTeX mode
9408 *** The new variable `tex-start-options-string' can be used to give
9409 options for the TeX run. The default value causes TeX to run in
9410 nonstopmode. For an interactive TeX run set it to nil or "".
9412 *** The command `tex-feed-input' sends input to the Tex Shell. In a
9413 TeX buffer it is bound to the keys C-RET, C-c RET, and C-c C-m (some
9414 of these keys may not work on all systems). For instance, if you run
9415 TeX interactively and if the TeX run stops because of an error, you
9416 can continue it without leaving the TeX buffer by typing C-RET.
9418 *** The Tex Shell Buffer is now in `compilation-shell-minor-mode'.
9419 All error-parsing commands of the Compilation major mode are available
9420 but bound to keys that don't collide with the shell. Thus you can use
9421 the Tex Shell for command line executions like a usual shell.
9423 *** The commands `tex-validate-region' and `tex-validate-buffer' check
9424 the matching of braces and $'s. The errors are listed in a *Occur*
9425 buffer and you can use C-c C-c or mouse-2 to go to a particular
9428 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
9430 *** The table of contents buffer can now also display labels and
9431 file boundaries in addition to sections. Use `l', `i', and `c' keys.
9433 *** Labels derived from context (the section heading) are now
9434 lowercase by default. To make the label legal in LaTeX, latin-1
9435 characters will lose their accent. All Mule characters will be
9436 removed from the label.
9438 *** The automatic display of cross reference information can also use
9439 a window instead of the echo area. See variable `reftex-auto-view-crossref'.
9441 *** kpsewhich can be used by RefTeX to find TeX and BibTeX files. See the
9442 customization group `reftex-finding-files'.
9444 *** The option `reftex-bibfile-ignore-list' has been renamed to
9445 `reftex-bibfile-ignore-regexps' and indeed can be fed with regular
9448 *** Multiple Selection buffers are now hidden buffers.
9450 ** New/deleted modes and packages
9452 *** The package snmp-mode.el provides major modes for editing SNMP and
9453 SNMPv2 MIBs. It has entries on `auto-mode-alist'.
9455 *** The package sql.el provides a major mode, M-x sql-mode, for
9456 editing SQL files, and M-x sql-interactive-mode for interacting with
9457 SQL interpreters. It has an entry on `auto-mode-alist'.
9459 *** M-x highlight-changes-mode provides a minor mode displaying buffer
9460 changes with a special face.
9462 *** ispell4.el has been deleted. It got in the way of ispell.el and
9463 this was hard to fix reliably. It has long been obsolete -- use
9464 Ispell 3.1 and ispell.el.
9466 * MS-DOS changes in Emacs 20.4
9468 ** Emacs compiled for MS-DOS now supports MULE features better.
9469 This includes support for display of all ISO 8859-N character sets,
9470 conversion to and from IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters,
9471 and automatic setup of the MULE environment at startup. For details,
9472 check out the section `MS-DOS and MULE' in the manual.
9474 The MS-DOS installation procedure automatically configures and builds
9475 Emacs with input method support if it finds an unpacked Leim
9476 distribution when the config.bat script is run.
9478 ** Formerly, the value of lpr-command did not affect printing on
9479 MS-DOS unless print-region-function was set to nil, but now it
9480 controls whether an external program is invoked or output is written
9481 directly to a printer port. Similarly, in the previous version of
9482 Emacs, the value of ps-lpr-command did not affect PostScript printing
9483 on MS-DOS unless ps-printer-name was set to something other than a
9484 string (eg. t or `pipe'), but now it controls whether an external
9485 program is used. (These changes were made so that configuration of
9486 printing variables would be almost identical across all platforms.)
9488 ** In the previous version of Emacs, PostScript and non-PostScript
9489 output was piped to external programs, but because most print programs
9490 available for MS-DOS and MS-Windows cannot read data from their standard
9491 input, on those systems the data to be output is now written to a
9492 temporary file whose name is passed as the last argument to the external
9495 An exception is made for `print', a standard program on Windows NT,
9496 and `nprint', a standard program on Novell Netware. For both of these
9497 programs, the command line is constructed in the appropriate syntax
9498 automatically, using only the value of printer-name or ps-printer-name
9499 as appropriate--the value of the relevant `-switches' variable is
9500 ignored, as both programs have no useful switches.
9502 ** The value of the variable dos-printer (cf. dos-ps-printer), if it has
9503 a value, overrides the value of printer-name (cf. ps-printer-name), on
9504 MS-DOS and MS-Windows only. This has been true since version 20.3, but
9505 was not documented clearly before.
9507 ** All the Emacs games now work on MS-DOS terminals.
9508 This includes Tetris and Snake.
9510 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.4
9512 ** New functions line-beginning-position and line-end-position
9513 return the position of the beginning or end of the current line.
9514 They both accept an optional argument, which has the same
9515 meaning as the argument to beginning-of-line or end-of-line.
9517 ** find-file and allied functions now have an optional argument
9518 WILDCARD. If this is non-nil, they do wildcard processing,
9519 and visit all files that match the wildcard pattern.
9521 ** Changes in the file-attributes function.
9523 *** The file size returned by file-attributes may be an integer or a float.
9524 It is an integer if the size fits in a Lisp integer, float otherwise.
9526 *** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
9527 the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a cons cell containing two
9530 ** The new function directory-files-and-attributes returns a list of
9531 files in a directory and their attributes. It accepts the same
9532 arguments as directory-files and has similar semantics, except that
9533 file names and attributes are returned.
9535 ** The new function file-attributes-lessp is a helper function for
9536 sorting the list generated by directory-files-and-attributes. It
9537 accepts two arguments, each a list of a file name and its attributes.
9538 It compares the file names of each according to string-lessp and
9541 ** The new function file-expand-wildcards expands a wildcard-pattern
9542 to produce a list of existing files that match the pattern.
9544 ** New functions for base64 conversion:
9546 The function base64-encode-region converts a part of the buffer
9547 into the base64 code used in MIME. base64-decode-region
9548 performs the opposite conversion. Line-breaking is supported
9551 Functions base64-encode-string and base64-decode-string do a similar
9552 job on the text in a string. They return the value as a new string.
9555 The new function process-running-child-p
9556 will tell you if a subprocess has given control of its
9557 terminal to its own child process.
9559 ** interrupt-process and such functions have a new feature:
9560 when the second argument is `lambda', they send a signal
9561 to the running child of the subshell, if any, but if the shell
9562 itself owns its terminal, no signal is sent.
9564 ** There are new widget types `plist' and `alist' which can
9565 be used for customizing variables whose values are plists or alists.
9567 ** easymenu.el now understands `:key-sequence' and `:style button'.
9568 :included is an alias for :visible.
9570 easy-menu-add-item now understands the values returned by
9571 easy-menu-remove-item and easy-menu-item-present-p. This can be used
9572 to move or copy menu entries.
9574 ** Multibyte editing changes
9576 *** The definitions of sref and char-bytes are changed. Now, sref is
9577 an alias of aref and char-bytes always returns 1. This change is to
9578 make some Emacs Lisp code which works on 20.2 and earlier also
9579 work on the latest Emacs. Such code uses a combination of sref and
9580 char-bytes in a loop typically as below:
9581 (setq char (sref str idx)
9582 idx (+ idx (char-bytes idx)))
9583 The byte-compiler now warns that this is obsolete.
9585 If you want to know how many bytes a specific multibyte character
9586 (say, CH) occupies in a multibyte buffer, use this code:
9587 (charset-bytes (char-charset ch))
9589 *** In multibyte mode, when you narrow a buffer to some region, and the
9590 region is preceded or followed by non-ASCII codes, inserting or
9591 deleting at the head or the end of the region may signal this error:
9593 Byte combining across boundary of accessible buffer text inhibited
9595 This is to avoid some bytes being combined together into a character
9596 across the boundary.
9598 *** The functions find-charset-region and find-charset-string include
9599 `unknown' in the returned list in the following cases:
9600 o The current buffer or the target string is unibyte and
9601 contains 8-bit characters.
9602 o The current buffer or the target string is multibyte and
9603 contains invalid characters.
9605 *** The functions decode-coding-region and encode-coding-region remove
9606 text properties of the target region. Ideally, they should correctly
9607 preserve text properties, but for the moment, it's hard. Removing
9608 text properties is better than preserving them in a less-than-correct
9611 *** prefer-coding-system sets EOL conversion of default coding systems.
9612 If the argument to prefer-coding-system specifies a certain type of
9613 end of line conversion, the default coding systems set by
9614 prefer-coding-system will specify that conversion type for end of line.
9616 *** The new function thai-compose-string can be used to properly
9617 compose Thai characters in a string.
9619 ** The primitive `define-prefix-command' now takes an optional third
9620 argument NAME, which should be a string. It supplies the menu name
9621 for the created keymap. Keymaps created in order to be displayed as
9622 menus should always use the third argument.
9624 ** The meanings of optional second arguments for read-char,
9625 read-event, and read-char-exclusive are flipped. Now the second
9626 arguments are INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. These functions use the current
9627 input method (if any) if and only if INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD is non-nil.
9629 ** The new function clear-this-command-keys empties out the contents
9630 of the vector that (this-command-keys) returns. This is useful in
9631 programs that read passwords, to prevent the passwords from echoing
9632 inadvertently as part of the next command in certain cases.
9634 ** The new macro `with-temp-message' displays a temporary message in
9635 the echo area, while executing some Lisp code. Like `progn', it
9636 returns the value of the last form, but it also restores the previous
9639 (with-temp-message MESSAGE &rest BODY)
9641 ** The function `require' now takes an optional third argument
9642 NOERROR. If it is non-nil, then there is no error if the
9643 requested feature cannot be loaded.
9645 ** In the function modify-face, an argument of (nil) for the
9646 foreground color, background color or stipple pattern
9647 means to clear out that attribute.
9649 ** The `outer-window-id' frame property of an X frame
9650 gives the window number of the outermost X window for the frame.
9652 ** Temporary buffers made with with-output-to-temp-buffer are now
9653 read-only by default, and normally use the major mode Help mode
9654 unless you put them in some other non-Fundamental mode before the
9655 end of with-output-to-temp-buffer.
9657 ** The new functions gap-position and gap-size return information on
9658 the gap of the current buffer.
9660 ** The new functions position-bytes and byte-to-position provide a way
9661 to convert between character positions and byte positions in the
9664 ** vc.el defines two new macros, `edit-vc-file' and `with-vc-file', to
9665 facilitate working with version-controlled files from Lisp programs.
9666 These macros check out a given file automatically if needed, and check
9667 it back in after any modifications have been made.
9669 * Installation Changes in Emacs 20.3
9671 ** The default value of load-path now includes most subdirectories of
9672 the site-specific directories /usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp and
9673 /usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp, in addition to those
9674 directories themselves. Both immediate subdirectories and
9675 subdirectories multiple levels down are added to load-path.
9677 Not all subdirectories are included, though. Subdirectories whose
9678 names do not start with a letter or digit are excluded.
9679 Subdirectories named RCS or CVS are excluded. Also, a subdirectory
9680 which contains a file named `.nosearch' is excluded. You can use
9681 these methods to prevent certain subdirectories from being searched.
9683 Emacs finds these subdirectories and adds them to load-path when it
9684 starts up. While it would be cleaner to find the subdirectories each
9685 time Emacs loads a file, that would be much slower.
9687 This feature is an incompatible change. If you have stored some Emacs
9688 Lisp files in a subdirectory of the site-lisp directory specifically
9689 to prevent them from being used, you will need to rename the
9690 subdirectory to start with a non-alphanumeric character, or create a
9691 `.nosearch' file in it, in order to continue to achieve the desired
9694 ** Emacs no longer includes an old version of the C preprocessor from
9695 GCC. This was formerly used to help compile Emacs with C compilers
9696 that had limits on the significant length of an identifier, but in
9697 fact we stopped supporting such compilers some time ago.
9699 * Changes in Emacs 20.3
9701 ** The new command C-x z (repeat) repeats the previous command
9702 including its argument. If you repeat the z afterward,
9703 it repeats the command additional times; thus, you can
9704 perform many repetitions with one keystroke per repetition.
9706 ** Emacs now supports "selective undo" which undoes only within a
9707 specified region. To do this, set point and mark around the desired
9708 region and type C-u C-x u (or C-u C-_). You can then continue undoing
9709 further, within the same region, by repeating the ordinary undo
9710 command C-x u or C-_. This will keep undoing changes that were made
9711 within the region you originally specified, until either all of them
9712 are undone, or it encounters a change which crosses the edge of that
9715 In Transient Mark mode, undoing when a region is active requests
9718 ** If you specify --unibyte when starting Emacs, then all buffers are
9719 unibyte, except when a Lisp program specifically creates a multibyte
9720 buffer. Setting the environment variable EMACS_UNIBYTE has the same
9721 effect. The --no-unibyte option overrides EMACS_UNIBYTE and directs
9722 Emacs to run normally in multibyte mode.
9724 The option --unibyte does not affect the reading of Emacs Lisp files,
9725 though. If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode, use
9726 -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line. That will force Emacs to
9727 load that file in unibyte mode, regardless of how Emacs was started.
9729 ** toggle-enable-multibyte-characters no longer has a key binding and
9730 no longer appears in the menu bar. We've realized that changing the
9731 enable-multibyte-characters variable in an existing buffer is
9732 something that most users not do.
9734 ** You can specify a coding system to use for the next cut or paste
9735 operations through the window system with the command C-x RET X.
9736 The coding system can make a difference for communication with other
9739 C-x RET x specifies a coding system for all subsequent cutting and
9742 ** You can specify the printer to use for commands that do printing by
9743 setting the variable `printer-name'. Just what a printer name looks
9744 like depends on your operating system. You can specify a different
9745 printer for the Postscript printing commands by setting
9748 ** Emacs now supports on-the-fly spell checking by the means of a
9749 minor mode. It is called M-x flyspell-mode. You don't have to remember
9750 any other special commands to use it, and you will hardly notice it
9751 except when you make a spelling error. Flyspell works by highlighting
9752 incorrect words as soon as they are completed or as soon as the cursor
9755 Flyspell mode works with whichever dictionary you have selected for
9756 Ispell in Emacs. In TeX mode, it understands TeX syntax so as not
9757 to be confused by TeX commands.
9759 You can correct a misspelled word by editing it into something
9760 correct. You can also correct it, or accept it as correct, by
9761 clicking on the word with Mouse-2; that gives you a pop-up menu
9762 of various alternative replacements and actions.
9764 Flyspell mode also proposes "automatic" corrections. M-TAB replaces
9765 the current misspelled word with a possible correction. If several
9766 corrections are made possible, M-TAB cycles through them in
9767 alphabetical order, or in order of decreasing likelihood if
9768 flyspell-sort-corrections is nil.
9770 Flyspell mode also flags an error when a word is repeated, if
9771 flyspell-mark-duplications-flag is non-nil.
9773 ** Changes in input method usage.
9775 Now you can use arrow keys (right, left, down, up) for selecting among
9776 the alternatives just the same way as you do by C-f, C-b, C-n, and C-p
9779 You can use the ENTER key to accept the current conversion.
9781 If you type TAB to display a list of alternatives, you can select one
9782 of the alternatives with Mouse-2.
9784 The meaning of the variable `input-method-verbose-flag' is changed so
9785 that you can set it to t, nil, `default', or `complex-only'.
9787 If the value is nil, extra guidance is never given.
9789 If the value is t, extra guidance is always given.
9791 If the value is `complex-only', extra guidance is always given only
9792 when you are using complex input methods such as chinese-py.
9794 If the value is `default' (this is the default), extra guidance is
9795 given in the following case:
9796 o When you are using a complex input method.
9797 o When you are using a simple input method but not in the minibuffer.
9799 If you are using Emacs through a very slow line, setting
9800 input-method-verbose-flag to nil or to complex-only is a good choice,
9801 and if you are using an input method you are not familiar with,
9802 setting it to t is helpful.
9804 The old command select-input-method is now called set-input-method.
9806 In the language environment "Korean", you can use the following
9808 Shift-SPC toggle-korean-input-method
9809 C-F9 quail-hangul-switch-symbol-ksc
9810 F9 quail-hangul-switch-hanja
9811 These key bindings are canceled when you switch to another language
9814 ** The minibuffer history of file names now records the specified file
9815 names, not the entire minibuffer input. For example, if the
9816 minibuffer starts out with /usr/foo/, you might type in /etc/passwd to
9819 /usr/foo//etc/passwd
9821 which stands for the file /etc/passwd.
9823 Formerly, this used to put /usr/foo//etc/passwd in the history list.
9824 Now this puts just /etc/passwd in the history list.
9826 ** If you are root, Emacs sets backup-by-copying-when-mismatch to t
9827 at startup, so that saving a file will be sure to preserve
9828 its owner and group.
9830 ** find-func.el can now also find the place of definition of Emacs
9831 Lisp variables in user-loaded libraries.
9833 ** C-x r t (string-rectangle) now deletes the existing rectangle
9834 contents before inserting the specified string on each line.
9836 ** There is a new command delete-whitespace-rectangle
9837 which deletes whitespace starting from a particular column
9838 in all the lines on a rectangle. The column is specified
9839 by the left edge of the rectangle.
9841 ** You can now store a number into a register with C-u NUMBER C-x r n REG,
9842 increment it by INC with C-u INC C-x r + REG (to increment by one, omit
9843 C-u INC), and insert it in the buffer with C-x r g REG. This is useful
9844 for writing keyboard macros.
9846 ** The new command M-x speedbar displays a frame in which directories,
9847 files, and tags can be displayed, manipulated, and jumped to. The
9848 frame defaults to 20 characters in width, and is the same height as
9849 the frame that it was started from. Some major modes define
9850 additional commands for the speedbar, including Rmail, GUD/GDB, and
9853 ** query-replace-regexp is now bound to C-M-%.
9855 ** In Transient Mark mode, when the region is active, M-x
9856 query-replace and the other replace commands now operate on the region
9859 ** M-x write-region, when used interactively, now asks for
9860 confirmation before overwriting an existing file. When you call
9861 the function from a Lisp program, a new optional argument CONFIRM
9862 says whether to ask for confirmation in this case.
9864 ** If you use find-file-literally and the file is already visited
9865 non-literally, the command asks you whether to revisit the file
9866 literally. If you say no, it signals an error.
9868 ** Major modes defined with the "derived mode" feature
9869 now use the proper name for the mode hook: WHATEVER-mode-hook.
9870 Formerly they used the name WHATEVER-mode-hooks, but that is
9871 inconsistent with Emacs conventions.
9873 ** shell-command-on-region (and shell-command) reports success or
9874 failure if the command produces no output.
9876 ** Set focus-follows-mouse to nil if your window system or window
9877 manager does not transfer focus to another window when you just move
9880 ** mouse-menu-buffer-maxlen has been renamed to
9881 mouse-buffer-menu-maxlen to be consistent with the other related
9882 function and variable names.
9884 ** The new variable auto-coding-alist specifies coding systems for
9885 reading specific files. This has higher priority than
9886 file-coding-system-alist.
9888 ** If you set the variable unibyte-display-via-language-environment to
9889 t, then Emacs displays non-ASCII characters are displayed by
9890 converting them to the equivalent multibyte characters according to
9891 the current language environment. As a result, they are displayed
9892 according to the current fontset.
9894 ** C-q's handling of codes in the range 0200 through 0377 is changed.
9896 The codes in the range 0200 through 0237 are inserted as one byte of
9897 that code regardless of the values of nonascii-translation-table and
9898 nonascii-insert-offset.
9900 For the codes in the range 0240 through 0377, if
9901 enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil and nonascii-translation-table
9902 nor nonascii-insert-offset can't convert them to valid multibyte
9903 characters, they are converted to Latin-1 characters.
9905 ** If you try to find a file that is not read-accessible, you now get
9906 an error, rather than an empty buffer and a warning.
9908 ** In the minibuffer history commands M-r and M-s, an upper case
9909 letter in the regular expression forces case-sensitive search.
9911 ** In the *Help* buffer, cross-references to commands and variables
9912 are inferred and hyperlinked. Use C-h m in Help mode for the relevant
9915 ** M-x apropos-command, with a prefix argument, no longer looks for
9916 user option variables--instead it looks for noninteractive functions.
9918 Meanwhile, the command apropos-variable normally searches for
9919 user option variables; with a prefix argument, it looks at
9920 all variables that have documentation.
9922 ** When you type a long line in the minibuffer, and the minibuffer
9923 shows just one line, automatically scrolling works in a special way
9924 that shows you overlap with the previous line of text. The variable
9925 minibuffer-scroll-overlap controls how many characters of overlap
9926 it should show; the default is 20.
9928 Meanwhile, Resize Minibuffer mode is still available; in that mode,
9929 the minibuffer grows taller (up to a point) as needed to show the whole
9932 ** The new command M-x customize-changed-options lets you customize
9933 all the options whose meanings or default values have changed in
9934 recent Emacs versions. You specify a previous Emacs version number as
9935 argument, and the command creates a customization buffer showing all
9936 the customizable options which were changed since that version.
9937 Newly added options are included as well.
9939 If you don't specify a particular version number argument,
9940 then the customization buffer shows all the customizable options
9941 for which Emacs versions of changes are recorded.
9943 This function is also bound to the Changed Options entry in the
9946 ** When you run M-x grep with a prefix argument, it figures out
9947 the tag around point and puts that into the default grep command.
9949 ** The new command M-* (pop-tag-mark) pops back through a history of
9950 buffer positions from which M-. or other tag-finding commands were
9953 ** The new variable comment-padding specifies the number of spaces
9954 that `comment-region' will insert before the actual text of the comment.
9957 ** In Fortran mode the characters `.', `_' and `$' now have symbol
9958 syntax, not word syntax. Fortran mode now supports `imenu' and has
9959 new commands fortran-join-line (M-^) and fortran-narrow-to-subprogram
9960 (C-x n d). M-q can be used to fill a statement or comment block
9963 ** GUD now supports jdb, the Java debugger, and pdb, the Python debugger.
9965 ** If you set the variable add-log-keep-changes-together to a non-nil
9966 value, the command `C-x 4 a' will automatically notice when you make
9967 two entries in one day for one file, and combine them.
9969 ** You can use the command M-x diary-mail-entries to mail yourself a
9970 reminder about upcoming diary entries. See the documentation string
9971 for a sample shell script for calling this function automatically
9976 *** All you need to do to enable use of the Desktop package, is to set
9977 the variable desktop-enable to t with Custom.
9979 *** Minor modes are now restored. Which minor modes are restored
9980 and how modes are restored is controlled by `desktop-minor-mode-table'.
9982 ** There is no need to do anything special, now, to enable Gnus to
9983 read and post multi-lingual articles.
9985 ** Outline mode has now support for showing hidden outlines when
9986 doing an isearch. In order for this to happen search-invisible should
9987 be set to open (the default). If an isearch match is inside a hidden
9988 outline the outline is made visible. If you continue pressing C-s and
9989 the match moves outside the formerly invisible outline, the outline is
9990 made invisible again.
9992 ** Mail reading and sending changes
9994 *** The Rmail e command now switches to displaying the whole header of
9995 the message before it lets you edit the message. This is so that any
9996 changes you make in the header will not be lost if you subsequently
9999 *** The w command in Rmail, which writes the message body into a file,
10000 now works in the summary buffer as well. (The command to delete the
10001 summary buffer is now Q.) The default file name for the w command, if
10002 the message has no subject, is stored in the variable
10003 rmail-default-body-file.
10005 *** Most of the commands and modes that operate on mail and netnews no
10006 longer depend on the value of mail-header-separator. Instead, they
10007 handle whatever separator the buffer happens to use.
10009 *** If you set mail-signature to a value which is not t, nil, or a string,
10010 it should be an expression. When you send a message, this expression
10011 is evaluated to insert the signature.
10013 *** The new Lisp library feedmail.el (version 8) enhances processing of
10014 outbound email messages. It works in coordination with other email
10015 handling packages (e.g., rmail, VM, gnus) and is responsible for
10016 putting final touches on messages and actually submitting them for
10017 transmission. Users of the emacs program "fakemail" might be
10018 especially interested in trying feedmail.
10020 feedmail is not enabled by default. See comments at the top of
10021 feedmail.el for set-up instructions. Among the bigger features
10022 provided by feedmail are:
10024 **** you can park outgoing messages into a disk-based queue and
10025 stimulate sending some or all of them later (handy for laptop users);
10026 there is also a queue for draft messages
10028 **** you can get one last look at the prepped outbound message and
10029 be prompted for confirmation
10031 **** does smart filling of address headers
10033 **** can generate a MESSAGE-ID: line and a DATE: line; the date can be
10034 the time the message was written or the time it is being sent; this
10035 can make FCC copies more closely resemble copies that recipients get
10037 **** you can specify an arbitrary function for actually transmitting
10038 the message; included in feedmail are interfaces for /bin/[r]mail,
10039 /usr/lib/sendmail, and elisp smtpmail; it's easy to write a new
10040 function for something else (10-20 lines of elisp)
10044 *** The Dired function dired-do-toggle, which toggles marked and unmarked
10045 files, is now bound to "t" instead of "T".
10047 *** dired-at-point has been added to ffap.el. It allows one to easily
10048 run Dired on the directory name at point.
10050 *** Dired has a new command: %g. It searches the contents of
10051 files in the directory and marks each file that contains a match
10052 for a specified regexp.
10056 *** New option vc-ignore-vc-files lets you turn off version control
10059 *** VC Dired has been completely rewritten. It is now much
10060 faster, especially for CVS, and works very similar to ordinary
10063 VC Dired is invoked by typing C-x v d and entering the name of the
10064 directory to display. By default, VC Dired gives you a recursive
10065 listing of all files at or below the given directory which are
10066 currently locked (for CVS, all files not up-to-date are shown).
10068 You can change the listing format by setting vc-dired-recurse to nil,
10069 then it shows only the given directory, and you may also set
10070 vc-dired-terse-display to nil, then it shows all files under version
10071 control plus the names of any subdirectories, so that you can type `i'
10072 on such lines to insert them manually, as in ordinary Dired.
10074 All Dired commands operate normally in VC Dired, except for `v', which
10075 is redefined as the version control prefix. That means you may type
10076 `v l', `v =' etc. to invoke `vc-print-log', `vc-diff' and the like on
10077 the file named in the current Dired buffer line. `v v' invokes
10078 `vc-next-action' on this file, or on all files currently marked.
10080 The new command `v t' (vc-dired-toggle-terse-mode) allows you to
10081 toggle between terse display (only locked files) and full display (all
10082 VC files plus subdirectories). There is also a special command,
10083 `* l', to mark all files currently locked.
10085 Giving a prefix argument to C-x v d now does the same thing as in
10086 ordinary Dired: it allows you to supply additional options for the ls
10087 command in the minibuffer, to fine-tune VC Dired's output.
10089 *** Under CVS, if you merge changes from the repository into a working
10090 file, and CVS detects conflicts, VC now offers to start an ediff
10091 session to resolve them.
10093 Alternatively, you can use the new command `vc-resolve-conflicts' to
10094 resolve conflicts in a file at any time. It works in any buffer that
10095 contains conflict markers as generated by rcsmerge (which is what CVS
10098 *** You can now transfer changes between branches, using the new
10099 command vc-merge (C-x v m). It is implemented for RCS and CVS. When
10100 you invoke it in a buffer under version-control, you can specify
10101 either an entire branch or a pair of versions, and the changes on that
10102 branch or between the two versions are merged into the working file.
10103 If this results in any conflicts, they may be resolved interactively,
10106 ** Changes in Font Lock
10108 *** The face and variable previously known as font-lock-reference-face
10109 are now called font-lock-constant-face to better reflect their typical
10110 use for highlighting constants and labels. (Its face properties are
10111 unchanged.) The variable font-lock-reference-face remains for now for
10112 compatibility reasons, but its value is font-lock-constant-face.
10114 ** Frame name display changes
10116 *** The command set-frame-name lets you set the name of the current
10117 frame. You can use the new command select-frame-by-name to select and
10118 raise a frame; this is mostly useful on character-only terminals, or
10119 when many frames are invisible or iconified.
10121 *** On character-only terminal (not a window system), changing the
10122 frame name is now reflected on the mode line and in the Buffers/Frames
10125 ** Comint (subshell) changes
10127 *** In Comint modes, the commands to kill, stop or interrupt a
10128 subjob now also kill pending input. This is for compatibility
10129 with ordinary shells, where the signal characters do this.
10131 *** There are new commands in Comint mode.
10133 C-c C-x fetches the "next" line from the input history;
10134 that is, the line after the last line you got.
10135 You can use this command to fetch successive lines, one by one.
10137 C-c SPC accumulates lines of input. More precisely, it arranges to
10138 send the current line together with the following line, when you send
10139 the following line.
10141 C-c C-a if repeated twice consecutively now moves to the process mark,
10142 which separates the pending input from the subprocess output and the
10143 previously sent input.
10145 C-c M-r now runs comint-previous-matching-input-from-input;
10146 it searches for a previous command, using the current pending input
10147 as the search string.
10149 *** New option compilation-scroll-output can be set to scroll
10150 automatically in compilation-mode windows.
10154 *** Multiline macros are now handled, both as they affect indentation,
10155 and as recognized syntax. New syntactic symbol cpp-macro-cont is
10156 assigned to second and subsequent lines of a multiline macro
10159 *** A new style "user" which captures all non-hook-ified
10160 (i.e. top-level) .emacs file variable settings and customizations.
10161 Style "cc-mode" is an alias for "user" and is deprecated. "gnu"
10162 style is still the default however.
10164 *** "java" style now conforms to Sun's JDK coding style.
10166 *** There are new commands c-beginning-of-defun, c-end-of-defun which
10167 are alternatives which you could bind to C-M-a and C-M-e if you prefer
10168 them. They do not have key bindings by default.
10170 *** New and improved implementations of M-a (c-beginning-of-statement)
10171 and M-e (c-end-of-statement).
10173 *** C++ namespace blocks are supported, with new syntactic symbols
10174 namespace-open, namespace-close, and innamespace.
10176 *** File local variable settings of c-file-style and c-file-offsets
10177 makes the style variables local to that buffer only.
10179 *** New indentation functions c-lineup-close-paren,
10180 c-indent-one-line-block, c-lineup-dont-change.
10182 *** Improvements (hopefully!) to the way CC Mode is loaded. You
10183 should now be able to do a (require 'cc-mode) to get the entire
10184 package loaded properly for customization in your .emacs file. A new
10185 variable c-initialize-on-load controls this and is t by default.
10187 ** Changes to hippie-expand.
10189 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-skip-space'. If
10190 non-nil, trailing spaces may be included in the abbreviation to search for,
10191 which then gives the same behavior as the original `dabbrev-expand'.
10193 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-as-symbol'. If
10194 non-nil, characters of syntax '_' is considered part of the word when
10195 expanding dynamically.
10197 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-no-restriction'. If
10198 non-nil, narrowed buffers are widened before they are searched.
10200 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-only-buffers'. If
10201 non-empty, buffers searched are restricted to the types specified in
10202 this list. Useful for example when constructing new special-purpose
10203 expansion functions with `make-hippie-expand-function'.
10205 *** Text properties of the expansion are no longer copied.
10207 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
10209 *** Any titleword matching a regexp in the new variable
10210 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore (case sensitive) is ignored during
10211 automatic key generation. This replaces variable
10212 bibtex-autokey-titleword-first-ignore, which only checked for matches
10213 against the first word in the title.
10215 *** Autokey generation now uses all words from the title, not just
10216 capitalized words. To avoid conflicts with existing customizations,
10217 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore is set up such that words starting with
10218 lowerkey characters will still be ignored. Thus, if you want to use
10219 lowercase words from the title, you will have to overwrite the
10220 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore standard setting.
10222 *** Case conversion of names and title words for automatic key
10223 generation is more flexible. Variable bibtex-autokey-preserve-case is
10224 replaced by bibtex-autokey-titleword-case-convert and
10225 bibtex-autokey-name-case-convert.
10227 ** Changes in vcursor.el.
10229 *** Support for character terminals is available: there is a new keymap
10230 and the vcursor will appear as an arrow between buffer text. A
10231 variable `vcursor-interpret-input' allows input from the vcursor to be
10232 entered exactly as if typed. Numerous functions, including
10233 `vcursor-compare-windows', have been rewritten to improve consistency
10234 in the selection of windows and corresponding keymaps.
10236 *** vcursor options can now be altered with M-x customize under the
10237 Editing group once the package is loaded.
10239 *** Loading vcursor now does not define keys by default, as this is
10240 generally a bad side effect. Use M-x customize to set
10241 vcursor-key-bindings to t to restore the old behavior.
10243 *** vcursor-auto-disable can be `copy', which turns off copying from the
10244 vcursor, but doesn't disable it, after any non-vcursor command.
10248 *** You can now spell check comments and strings in the current
10249 buffer with M-x ispell-comments-and-strings. Comments and strings
10250 are identified by syntax tables in effect.
10252 *** Generic region skipping implemented.
10253 A single buffer can be broken into a number of regions where text will
10254 and will not be checked. The definitions of the regions can be user
10255 defined. New applications and improvements made available by this
10258 o URLs are automatically skipped
10259 o EMail message checking is vastly improved.
10261 *** Ispell can highlight the erroneous word even on non-window terminals.
10263 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
10265 RefTeX has been updated in order to make it more usable with very
10266 large projects (like a several volume math book). The parser has been
10267 re-written from scratch. To get maximum speed from RefTeX, check the
10268 section `Optimizations' in the manual.
10270 *** New recursive parser.
10272 The old version of RefTeX created a single large buffer containing the
10273 entire multifile document in order to parse the document. The new
10274 recursive parser scans the individual files.
10276 *** Parsing only part of a document.
10278 Reparsing of changed document parts can now be made faster by enabling
10279 partial scans. To use this feature, read the documentation string of
10280 the variable `reftex-enable-partial-scans' and set the variable to t.
10282 (setq reftex-enable-partial-scans t)
10284 *** Storing parsing information in a file.
10286 This can improve startup times considerably. To turn it on, use
10288 (setq reftex-save-parse-info t)
10290 *** Using multiple selection buffers
10292 If the creation of label selection buffers is too slow (this happens
10293 for large documents), you can reuse these buffers by setting
10295 (setq reftex-use-multiple-selection-buffers t)
10297 *** References to external documents.
10299 The LaTeX package `xr' allows to cross-reference labels in external
10300 documents. RefTeX can provide information about the external
10301 documents as well. To use this feature, set up the \externaldocument
10302 macros required by the `xr' package and rescan the document with
10303 RefTeX. The external labels can then be accessed with the `x' key in
10304 the selection buffer provided by `reftex-reference' (bound to `C-c )').
10305 The `x' key also works in the table of contents buffer.
10307 *** Many more labeled LaTeX environments are recognized by default.
10309 The built-in command list now covers all the standard LaTeX commands,
10310 and all of the major packages included in the LaTeX distribution.
10312 Also, RefTeX now understands the \appendix macro and changes
10313 the enumeration of sections in the *toc* buffer accordingly.
10315 *** Mouse support for selection and *toc* buffers
10317 The mouse can now be used to select items in the selection and *toc*
10318 buffers. See also the new option `reftex-highlight-selection'.
10320 *** New keymaps for selection and table of contents modes.
10322 The selection processes for labels and citation keys, and the table of
10323 contents buffer now have their own keymaps: `reftex-select-label-map',
10324 `reftex-select-bib-map', `reftex-toc-map'. The selection processes
10325 have a number of new keys predefined. In particular, TAB lets you
10326 enter a label with completion. Check the on-the-fly help (press `?'
10327 at the selection prompt) or read the Info documentation to find out
10330 *** Support for the varioref package
10332 The `v' key in the label selection buffer toggles \ref versus \vref.
10336 Three new hooks can be used to redefine the way labels, references,
10337 and citations are created. These hooks are
10338 `reftex-format-label-function', `reftex-format-ref-function',
10339 `reftex-format-cite-function'.
10341 *** Citations outside LaTeX
10343 The command `reftex-citation' may also be used outside LaTeX (e.g. in
10344 a mail buffer). See the Info documentation for details.
10346 *** Short context is no longer fontified.
10348 The short context in the label menu no longer copies the
10349 fontification from the text in the buffer. If you prefer it to be
10352 (setq reftex-refontify-context t)
10354 ** file-cache-minibuffer-complete now accepts a prefix argument.
10355 With a prefix argument, it does not try to do completion of
10356 the file name within its directory; it only checks for other
10357 directories that contain the same file name.
10359 Thus, given the file name Makefile, and assuming that a file
10360 Makefile.in exists in the same directory, ordinary
10361 file-cache-minibuffer-complete will try to complete Makefile to
10362 Makefile.in and will therefore never look for other directories that
10363 have Makefile. A prefix argument tells it not to look for longer
10364 names such as Makefile.in, so that instead it will look for other
10365 directories--just as if the name were already complete in its present
10368 ** New modes and packages
10370 *** There is a new alternative major mode for Perl, Cperl mode.
10371 It has many more features than Perl mode, and some people prefer
10372 it, but some do not.
10374 *** There is a new major mode, M-x vhdl-mode, for editing files of VHDL
10377 *** M-x which-function-mode enables a minor mode that displays the
10378 current function name continuously in the mode line, as you move
10379 around in a buffer.
10381 Which Function mode is effective in major modes which support Imenu.
10383 *** Gametree is a major mode for editing game analysis trees. The author
10384 uses it for keeping notes about his postal Chess games, but it should
10385 be helpful for other two-player games as well, as long as they have an
10386 established system of notation similar to Chess.
10388 *** The new minor mode checkdoc-minor-mode provides Emacs Lisp
10389 documentation string checking for style and spelling. The style
10390 guidelines are found in the Emacs Lisp programming manual.
10392 *** The net-utils package makes some common networking features
10393 available in Emacs. Some of these functions are wrappers around
10394 system utilities (ping, nslookup, etc); others are implementations of
10395 simple protocols (finger, whois) in Emacs Lisp. There are also
10396 functions to make simple connections to TCP/IP ports for debugging and
10399 *** highlight-changes-mode is a minor mode that uses colors to
10400 identify recently changed parts of the buffer text.
10402 *** The new package `midnight' lets you specify things to be done
10403 within Emacs at midnight--by default, kill buffers that you have not
10404 used in a considerable time. To use this feature, customize
10405 the user option `midnight-mode' to t.
10407 *** The file generic-x.el defines a number of simple major modes.
10409 apache-generic-mode: For Apache and NCSA httpd configuration files
10410 samba-generic-mode: Samba configuration files
10411 fvwm-generic-mode: For fvwm initialization files
10412 x-resource-generic-mode: For X resource files
10413 hosts-generic-mode: For hosts files (.rhosts, /etc/hosts, etc)
10414 mailagent-rules-generic-mode: For mailagent .rules files
10415 javascript-generic-mode: For JavaScript files
10416 vrml-generic-mode: For VRML files
10417 java-manifest-generic-mode: For Java MANIFEST files
10418 java-properties-generic-mode: For Java property files
10419 mailrc-generic-mode: For .mailrc files
10421 Platform-specific modes:
10423 prototype-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V prototype files
10424 pkginfo-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V pkginfo files
10425 alias-generic-mode: For C shell alias files
10426 inf-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INF files
10427 ini-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INI files
10428 reg-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Registry files
10429 bat-generic-mode: For MS-Windows BAT scripts
10430 rc-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Resource files
10431 rul-generic-mode: For InstallShield scripts
10433 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 since the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
10435 ** If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode,
10436 use -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line.
10437 That will force Emacs to read that file in unibyte mode.
10438 Otherwise, the file will be loaded and byte-compiled in multibyte mode.
10440 Thus, each lisp file is read in a consistent way regardless of whether
10441 you started Emacs with --unibyte, so that a Lisp program gives
10442 consistent results regardless of how Emacs was started.
10444 ** The new function assoc-default is useful for searching an alist,
10445 and using a default value if the key is not found there. You can
10446 specify a comparison predicate, so this function is useful for
10447 searching comparing a string against an alist of regular expressions.
10449 ** The functions unibyte-char-to-multibyte and
10450 multibyte-char-to-unibyte convert between unibyte and multibyte
10451 character codes, in a way that is appropriate for the current language
10454 ** The functions read-event, read-char and read-char-exclusive now
10455 take two optional arguments. PROMPT, if non-nil, specifies a prompt
10456 string. SUPPRESS-INPUT-METHOD, if non-nil, says to disable the
10457 current input method for reading this one event.
10459 ** Two new variables print-escape-nonascii and print-escape-multibyte
10460 now control whether to output certain characters as
10461 backslash-sequences. print-escape-nonascii applies to single-byte
10462 non-ASCII characters; print-escape-multibyte applies to multibyte
10463 characters. Both of these variables are used only when printing
10464 in readable fashion (prin1 uses them, princ does not).
10466 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 before the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
10468 ** Compiled Emacs Lisp files made with the modified "MBSK" version
10469 of Emacs 20.2 do not work in Emacs 20.3.
10471 ** Buffer positions are now measured in characters, as they were
10472 in Emacs 19 and before. This means that (forward-char 1)
10473 always increases point by 1.
10475 The function chars-in-region now just subtracts its arguments. It is
10476 considered obsolete. The function char-boundary-p has been deleted.
10478 See below for additional changes relating to multibyte characters.
10480 ** defcustom, defface and defgroup now accept the keyword `:version'.
10481 Use this to specify in which version of Emacs a certain variable's
10482 default value changed. For example,
10484 (defcustom foo-max 34 "*Maximum number of foo's allowed."
10489 (defgroup foo-group nil "The foo group."
10492 If an entire new group is added or the variables in it have the
10493 default values changed, then just add a `:version' to that group. It
10494 is recommended that new packages added to the distribution contain a
10495 `:version' in the top level group.
10497 This information is used to control the customize-changed-options command.
10499 ** It is now an error to change the value of a symbol whose name
10500 starts with a colon--if it is interned in the standard obarray.
10502 However, setting such a symbol to its proper value, which is that
10503 symbol itself, is not an error. This is for the sake of programs that
10504 support previous Emacs versions by explicitly setting these variables
10507 If you set the variable keyword-symbols-constant-flag to nil,
10508 this error is suppressed, and you can set these symbols to any
10511 ** There is a new debugger command, R.
10512 It evaluates an expression like e, but saves the result
10513 in the buffer *Debugger-record*.
10515 ** Frame-local variables.
10517 You can now make a variable local to various frames. To do this, call
10518 the function make-variable-frame-local; this enables frames to have
10519 local bindings for that variable.
10521 These frame-local bindings are actually frame parameters: you create a
10522 frame-local binding in a specific frame by calling
10523 modify-frame-parameters and specifying the variable name as the
10526 Buffer-local bindings take precedence over frame-local bindings.
10527 Thus, if the current buffer has a buffer-local binding, that binding is
10528 active; otherwise, if the selected frame has a frame-local binding,
10529 that binding is active; otherwise, the default binding is active.
10531 It would not be hard to implement window-local bindings, but it is not
10532 clear that this would be very useful; windows tend to come and go in a
10533 very transitory fashion, so that trying to produce any specific effect
10534 through a window-local binding would not be very robust.
10536 ** `sregexq' and `sregex' are two new functions for constructing
10537 "symbolic regular expressions." These are Lisp expressions that, when
10538 evaluated, yield conventional string-based regexps. The symbolic form
10539 makes it easier to construct, read, and maintain complex patterns.
10540 See the documentation in sregex.el.
10542 ** parse-partial-sexp's return value has an additional element which
10543 is used to pass information along if you pass it to another call to
10544 parse-partial-sexp, starting its scan where the first call ended.
10545 The contents of this field are not yet finalized.
10547 ** eval-region now accepts a fourth optional argument READ-FUNCTION.
10548 If it is non-nil, that function is used instead of `read'.
10550 ** unload-feature by default removes the feature's functions from
10551 known hooks to avoid trouble, but a package providing FEATURE can
10552 define a hook FEATURE-unload-hook to be run by unload-feature instead.
10554 ** read-from-minibuffer no longer returns the argument DEFAULT-VALUE
10555 when the user enters empty input. It now returns the null string, as
10556 it did in Emacs 19. The default value is made available in the
10557 history via M-n, but it is not applied here as a default.
10559 The other, more specialized minibuffer-reading functions continue to
10560 return the default value (not the null string) when the user enters
10563 ** The new variable read-buffer-function controls which routine to use
10564 for selecting buffers. For example, if you set this variable to
10565 `iswitchb-read-buffer', iswitchb will be used to read buffer names.
10566 Other functions can also be used if they accept the same arguments as
10567 `read-buffer' and return the selected buffer name as a string.
10569 ** The new function read-passwd reads a password from the terminal,
10570 echoing a period for each character typed. It takes three arguments:
10571 a prompt string, a flag which says "read it twice to make sure", and a
10572 default password to use if the user enters nothing.
10574 ** The variable fill-nobreak-predicate gives major modes a way to
10575 specify not to break a line at certain places. Its value is a
10576 function which is called with no arguments, with point located at the
10577 place where a break is being considered. If the function returns
10578 non-nil, then the line won't be broken there.
10580 ** window-end now takes an optional second argument, UPDATE.
10581 If this is non-nil, then the function always returns an accurate
10582 up-to-date value for the buffer position corresponding to the
10583 end of the window, even if this requires computation.
10585 ** other-buffer now takes an optional argument FRAME
10586 which specifies which frame's buffer list to use.
10587 If it is nil, that means use the selected frame's buffer list.
10589 ** The new variable buffer-display-time, always local in every buffer,
10590 holds the value of (current-time) as of the last time that a window
10591 was directed to display this buffer.
10593 ** It is now meaningful to compare two window-configuration objects
10594 with `equal'. Two window-configuration objects are equal if they
10595 describe equivalent arrangements of windows, in the same frame--in
10596 other words, if they would give the same results if passed to
10597 set-window-configuration.
10599 ** compare-window-configurations is a new function that compares two
10600 window configurations loosely. It ignores differences in saved buffer
10601 positions and scrolling, and considers only the structure and sizes of
10602 windows and the choice of buffers to display.
10604 ** The variable minor-mode-overriding-map-alist allows major modes to
10605 override the key bindings of a minor mode. The elements of this alist
10606 look like the elements of minor-mode-map-alist: (VARIABLE . KEYMAP).
10608 If the VARIABLE in an element of minor-mode-overriding-map-alist has a
10609 non-nil value, the paired KEYMAP is active, and totally overrides the
10610 map (if any) specified for the same variable in minor-mode-map-alist.
10612 minor-mode-overriding-map-alist is automatically local in all buffers,
10613 and it is meant to be set by major modes.
10615 ** The function match-string-no-properties is like match-string
10616 except that it discards all text properties from the result.
10618 ** The function load-average now accepts an optional argument
10619 USE-FLOATS. If it is non-nil, the load average values are returned as
10620 floating point numbers, rather than as integers to be divided by 100.
10622 ** The new variable temporary-file-directory specifies the directory
10623 to use for creating temporary files. The default value is determined
10624 in a reasonable way for your operating system; on GNU and Unix systems
10625 it is based on the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables.
10629 *** easymenu.el now uses the new menu item format and supports the
10630 keywords :visible and :filter. The existing keyword :keys is now
10633 The variable `easy-menu-precalculate-equivalent-keybindings' controls
10634 a new feature which calculates keyboard equivalents for the menu when
10635 you define the menu. The default is t. If you rarely use menus, you
10636 can set the variable to nil to disable this precalculation feature;
10637 then the calculation is done only if you use the menu bar.
10639 *** A new format for menu items is supported.
10641 In a keymap, a key binding that has the format
10642 (STRING . REAL-BINDING) or (STRING HELP-STRING . REAL-BINDING)
10643 defines a menu item. Now a menu item definition may also be a list that
10644 starts with the symbol `menu-item'.
10647 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) or
10648 (menu-item ITEM-NAME REAL-BINDING . ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST)
10649 where ITEM-NAME is an expression which evaluates to the menu item
10650 string, and ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST has the form of a property list.
10651 The supported properties include
10653 :enable FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
10655 :visible FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
10656 item should appear in the menu.
10658 FILTER-FN is a function of one argument,
10659 which will be REAL-BINDING.
10660 It should return a binding to use instead.
10662 DESCRIPTION is a string that describes an equivalent keyboard
10663 binding for REAL-BINDING. DESCRIPTION is expanded with
10664 `substitute-command-keys' before it is used.
10665 :key-sequence KEY-SEQUENCE
10666 KEY-SEQUENCE is a key-sequence for an equivalent
10669 This means that the command normally has no
10670 keyboard equivalent.
10671 :help HELP HELP is the extra help string (not currently used).
10672 :button (TYPE . SELECTED)
10673 TYPE is :toggle or :radio.
10674 SELECTED is a form, to be evaluated, and its
10675 value says whether this button is currently selected.
10677 Buttons are at the moment only simulated by prefixes in the menu.
10678 Eventually ordinary X-buttons may be supported.
10680 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) defines unselectable item.
10684 *** The new event type `mouse-wheel' is generated by a wheel on a
10685 mouse (such as the MS Intellimouse). The event contains a delta that
10686 corresponds to the amount and direction that the wheel is rotated,
10687 which is typically used to implement a scroll or zoom. The format is:
10689 (mouse-wheel POSITION DELTA)
10691 where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
10692 same format as a mouse-click event, and DELTA is a signed number
10693 indicating the number of increments by which the wheel was rotated. A
10694 negative DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated backwards, towards
10695 the user, and a positive DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated
10696 forward, away from the user.
10698 As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
10700 *** The new event type `drag-n-drop' is generated when a group of
10701 files is selected in an application outside of Emacs, and then dragged
10702 and dropped onto an Emacs frame. The event contains a list of
10703 filenames that were dragged and dropped, which are then typically
10704 loaded into Emacs. The format is:
10706 (drag-n-drop POSITION FILES)
10708 where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
10709 same format as a mouse-click event, and FILES is the list of filenames
10710 that were dragged and dropped.
10712 As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
10714 ** Changes relating to multibyte characters.
10716 *** The variable enable-multibyte-characters is now read-only;
10717 any attempt to set it directly signals an error. The only way
10718 to change this value in an existing buffer is with set-buffer-multibyte.
10720 *** In a string constant, `\ ' now stands for "nothing at all". You
10721 can use it to terminate a hex escape which is followed by a character
10722 that could otherwise be read as part of the hex escape.
10724 *** String indices are now measured in characters, as they were
10725 in Emacs 19 and before.
10727 The function chars-in-string has been deleted.
10728 The function concat-chars has been renamed to `string'.
10730 *** The function set-buffer-multibyte sets the flag in the current
10731 buffer that says whether the buffer uses multibyte representation or
10732 unibyte representation. If the argument is nil, it selects unibyte
10733 representation. Otherwise it selects multibyte representation.
10735 This function does not change the contents of the buffer, viewed
10736 as a sequence of bytes. However, it does change the contents
10737 viewed as characters; a sequence of two bytes which is treated as
10738 one character when the buffer uses multibyte representation
10739 will count as two characters using unibyte representation.
10741 This function sets enable-multibyte-characters to record which
10742 representation is in use. It also adjusts various data in the buffer
10743 (including its markers, overlays and text properties) so that they are
10744 consistent with the new representation.
10746 *** string-make-multibyte takes a string and converts it to multibyte
10747 representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care
10748 about the representation, because Emacs converts when necessary;
10749 however, it makes a difference when you compare strings.
10751 The conversion of non-ASCII characters works by adding the value of
10752 nonascii-insert-offset to each character, or by translating them
10753 using the table nonascii-translation-table.
10755 *** string-make-unibyte takes a string and converts it to unibyte
10756 representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care about the
10757 representation, but it makes a difference when you compare strings.
10759 The conversion from multibyte to unibyte representation
10760 loses information; the only time Emacs performs it automatically
10761 is when inserting a multibyte string into a unibyte buffer.
10763 *** string-as-multibyte takes a string, and returns another string
10764 which contains the same bytes, but treats them as multibyte.
10766 *** string-as-unibyte takes a string, and returns another string
10767 which contains the same bytes, but treats them as unibyte.
10769 *** The new function compare-strings lets you compare
10770 portions of two strings. Unibyte strings are converted to multibyte,
10771 so that a unibyte string can match a multibyte string.
10772 You can specify whether to ignore case or not.
10774 *** assoc-ignore-case now uses compare-strings so that
10775 it can treat unibyte and multibyte strings as equal.
10777 *** Regular expression operations and buffer string searches now
10778 convert the search pattern to multibyte or unibyte to accord with the
10779 buffer or string being searched.
10781 One consequence is that you cannot always use \200-\377 inside of
10782 [...] to match all non-ASCII characters. This does still work when
10783 searching or matching a unibyte buffer or string, but not when
10784 searching or matching a multibyte string. Unfortunately, there is no
10785 obvious choice of syntax to use within [...] for that job. But, what
10786 you want is just to match all non-ASCII characters, the regular
10787 expression [^\0-\177] works for it.
10789 *** Structure of coding system changed.
10791 All coding systems (including aliases and subsidiaries) are named
10792 by symbols; the symbol's `coding-system' property is a vector
10793 which defines the coding system. Aliases share the same vector
10794 as the principal name, so that altering the contents of this
10795 vector affects the principal name and its aliases. You can define
10796 your own alias name of a coding system by the function
10797 define-coding-system-alias.
10799 The coding system definition includes a property list of its own. Use
10800 the new functions `coding-system-get' and `coding-system-put' to
10801 access such coding system properties as post-read-conversion,
10802 pre-write-conversion, character-translation-table-for-decode,
10803 character-translation-table-for-encode, mime-charset, and
10804 safe-charsets. For instance, (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1
10805 'mime-charset) gives the corresponding MIME-charset parameter
10808 Among the coding system properties listed above, safe-charsets is new.
10809 The value of this property is a list of character sets which this
10810 coding system can correctly encode and decode. For instance:
10811 (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1 'safe-charsets) => (ascii latin-iso8859-1)
10813 Here, "correctly encode" means that the encoded character sets can
10814 also be handled safely by systems other than Emacs as far as they
10815 are capable of that coding system. Though, Emacs itself can encode
10816 the other character sets and read it back correctly.
10818 *** The new function select-safe-coding-system can be used to find a
10819 proper coding system for encoding the specified region or string.
10820 This function requires a user interaction.
10822 *** The new functions find-coding-systems-region and
10823 find-coding-systems-string are helper functions used by
10824 select-safe-coding-system. They return a list of all proper coding
10825 systems to encode a text in some region or string. If you don't want
10826 a user interaction, use one of these functions instead of
10827 select-safe-coding-system.
10829 *** The explicit encoding and decoding functions, such as
10830 decode-coding-region and encode-coding-string, now set
10831 last-coding-system-used to reflect the actual way encoding or decoding
10834 *** The new function detect-coding-with-language-environment can be
10835 used to detect a coding system of text according to priorities of
10836 coding systems used by some specific language environment.
10838 *** The functions detect-coding-region and detect-coding-string always
10839 return a list if the arg HIGHEST is nil. Thus, if only ASCII
10840 characters are found, they now return a list of single element
10841 `undecided' or its subsidiaries.
10843 *** The new functions coding-system-change-eol-conversion and
10844 coding-system-change-text-conversion can be used to get a different
10845 coding system than what specified only in how end-of-line or text is
10848 *** The new function set-selection-coding-system can be used to set a
10849 coding system for communicating with other X clients.
10851 *** The function `map-char-table' now passes as argument only valid
10852 character codes, plus generic characters that stand for entire
10853 character sets or entire subrows of a character set. In other words,
10854 each time `map-char-table' calls its FUNCTION argument, the key value
10855 either will be a valid individual character code, or will stand for a
10856 range of characters.
10858 *** The new function `char-valid-p' can be used for checking whether a
10859 Lisp object is a valid character code or not.
10861 *** The new function `charset-after' returns a charset of a character
10862 in the current buffer at position POS.
10864 *** Input methods are now implemented using the variable
10865 input-method-function. If this is non-nil, its value should be a
10866 function; then, whenever Emacs reads an input event that is a printing
10867 character with no modifier bits, it calls that function, passing the
10868 event as an argument. Often this function will read more input, first
10869 binding input-method-function to nil.
10871 The return value should be a list of the events resulting from input
10872 method processing. These events will be processed sequentially as
10873 input, before resorting to unread-command-events. Events returned by
10874 the input method function are not passed to the input method function,
10875 not even if they are printing characters with no modifier bits.
10877 The input method function is not called when reading the second and
10878 subsequent events of a key sequence.
10880 *** You can customize any language environment by using
10881 set-language-environment-hook and exit-language-environment-hook.
10883 The hook `exit-language-environment-hook' should be used to undo
10884 customizations that you made with set-language-environment-hook. For
10885 instance, if you set up a special key binding for a specific language
10886 environment by set-language-environment-hook, you should set up
10887 exit-language-environment-hook to restore the normal key binding.
10889 * Changes in Emacs 20.1
10891 ** Emacs has a new facility for customization of its many user
10892 options. It is called M-x customize. With this facility you can look
10893 at the many user options in an organized way; they are grouped into a
10896 M-x customize also knows what sorts of values are legitimate for each
10897 user option and ensures that you don't use invalid values.
10899 With M-x customize, you can set options either for the present Emacs
10900 session or permanently. (Permanent settings are stored automatically
10901 in your .emacs file.)
10903 ** Scroll bars are now on the left side of the window.
10904 You can change this with M-x customize-option scroll-bar-mode.
10906 ** The mode line no longer includes the string `Emacs'.
10907 This makes more space in the mode line for other information.
10909 ** When you select a region with the mouse, it is highlighted
10910 immediately afterward. At that time, if you type the DELETE key, it
10913 The BACKSPACE key, and the ASCII character DEL, do not do this; they
10914 delete the character before point, as usual.
10916 ** In an incremental search the whole current match is highlighted
10917 on terminals which support this. (You can disable this feature
10918 by setting search-highlight to nil.)
10920 ** In the minibuffer, in some cases, you can now use M-n to
10921 insert the default value into the minibuffer as text. In effect,
10922 the default value (if the minibuffer routines know it) is tacked
10923 onto the history "in the future". (The more normal use of the
10924 history list is to use M-p to insert minibuffer input used in the
10927 ** In Text mode, now only blank lines separate paragraphs.
10928 This makes it possible to get the full benefit of Adaptive Fill mode
10929 in Text mode, and other modes derived from it (such as Mail mode).
10930 TAB in Text mode now runs the command indent-relative; this
10931 makes a practical difference only when you use indented paragraphs.
10933 As a result, the old Indented Text mode is now identical to Text mode,
10934 and is an alias for it.
10936 If you want spaces at the beginning of a line to start a paragraph,
10937 use the new mode, Paragraph Indent Text mode.
10939 ** Scrolling changes
10941 *** Scroll commands to scroll a whole screen now preserve the screen
10942 position of the cursor, if scroll-preserve-screen-position is non-nil.
10944 In this mode, if you scroll several screens back and forth, finishing
10945 on the same screen where you started, the cursor goes back to the line
10948 *** If you set scroll-conservatively to a small number, then when you
10949 move point a short distance off the screen, Emacs will scroll the
10950 screen just far enough to bring point back on screen, provided that
10951 does not exceed `scroll-conservatively' lines.
10953 *** The new variable scroll-margin says how close point can come to the
10954 top or bottom of a window. It is a number of screen lines; if point
10955 comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of the window, Emacs
10956 recenters the window.
10958 ** International character set support (MULE)
10960 Emacs now supports a wide variety of international character sets,
10961 including European variants of the Latin alphabet, as well as Chinese,
10962 Devanagari (Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopian, Greek, IPA, Japanese,
10963 Korean, Lao, Russian, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. These
10964 features have been merged from the modified version of Emacs known as
10965 MULE (for "MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs")
10967 Users of these scripts have established many more-or-less standard
10968 coding systems for storing files. Emacs uses a single multibyte
10969 character encoding within Emacs buffers; it can translate from a wide
10970 variety of coding systems when reading a file and can translate back
10971 into any of these coding systems when saving a file.
10973 Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used,
10974 generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs
10975 supports various "input methods", typically one for each script or
10976 language, to make it possible to type them.
10978 The Emacs internal multibyte encoding represents a non-ASCII
10979 character as a sequence of bytes in the range 0200 through 0377.
10981 The new prefix key C-x RET is used for commands that pertain
10982 to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods.
10984 You can disable multibyte character support as follows:
10986 (setq-default enable-multibyte-characters nil)
10988 Calling the function standard-display-european turns off multibyte
10989 characters, unless you specify a non-nil value for the second
10990 argument, AUTO. This provides compatibility for people who are
10991 already using standard-display-european to continue using unibyte
10992 characters for their work until they want to change.
10996 An input method is a kind of character conversion which is designed
10997 specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language
10998 has its own input method (though sometimes several languages which use
10999 the same characters can share one input method). Some languages
11000 support several input methods.
11002 The simplest kind of input method works by mapping ASCII letters into
11003 another alphabet. This is how the Greek and Russian input methods
11006 A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of
11007 characters into one letter. Many European input methods use
11008 composition to produce a single non-ASCII letter from a sequence which
11009 consists of a letter followed by diacritics. For example, a' is one
11010 sequence of two characters that might be converted into a single
11013 The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed
11014 by conversion. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way.
11015 First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone
11016 marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are
11017 mapped into one syllable sign--most often a "composite character".
11019 None of these methods works very well for Chinese and Japanese, so
11020 they are handled specially. First you input a whole word using
11021 phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs
11022 converts it into one or more characters using a large dictionary.
11024 Since there is more than one way to represent a phonetically spelled
11025 word using Chinese characters, Emacs can only guess which one to use;
11026 typically these input methods give you a way to say "guess again" if
11027 the first guess is wrong.
11029 *** The command C-x RET m (toggle-enable-multibyte-characters)
11030 turns multibyte character support on or off for the current buffer.
11032 If multibyte character support is turned off in a buffer, then each
11033 byte is a single character, even codes 0200 through 0377--exactly as
11034 they did in Emacs 19.34. This includes the features for support for
11035 the European characters, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2.
11037 However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to
11038 use ISO Latin-1 or ISO Latin-2; the Emacs multibyte character set
11039 includes all the characters in these character sets, and Emacs can
11040 translate automatically to and from either one.
11042 *** Visiting a file in unibyte mode.
11044 Turning off multibyte character support in the buffer after visiting a
11045 file with multibyte code conversion will display the multibyte
11046 sequences already in the buffer, byte by byte. This is probably not
11049 If you want to edit a file of unibyte characters (Latin-1, for
11050 example), you can do it by specifying `no-conversion' as the coding
11051 system when reading the file. This coding system also turns off
11052 multibyte characters in that buffer.
11054 If you turn off multibyte character support entirely, this turns off
11055 character conversion as well.
11057 *** Displaying international characters on X Windows.
11059 A font for X typically displays just one alphabet or script.
11060 Therefore, displaying the entire range of characters Emacs supports
11061 requires using many fonts.
11063 Therefore, Emacs now supports "fontsets". Each fontset is a
11064 collection of fonts, each assigned to a range of character codes.
11066 A fontset has a name, like a font. Individual fonts are defined by
11067 the X server; fontsets are defined within Emacs itself. But once you
11068 have defined a fontset, you can use it in a face or a frame just as
11069 you would use a font.
11071 If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it
11072 specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot
11073 display that character. It will display an empty box instead.
11075 The fontset height and width are determined by the ASCII characters
11076 (that is, by the font in the fontset which is used for ASCII
11079 *** Defining fontsets.
11081 Emacs does not use any fontset by default. Its default font is still
11082 chosen as in previous versions. You can tell Emacs to use a fontset
11083 with the `-fn' option or the `Font' X resource.
11085 Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value
11086 of standard-fontset-spec. This fontset's short name is
11087 `fontset-standard'. Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the
11088 standard fontset are created automatically.
11090 If you specify a default ASCII font with the `Font' resource or `-fn'
11091 argument, a fontset is generated from it. This works by replacing the
11092 FOUNDARY, FAMILY, ADD_STYLE, and AVERAGE_WIDTH fields of the font name
11093 with `*' then using this to specify a fontset. This fontset's short
11094 name is `fontset-startup'.
11096 Emacs checks resources of the form Fontset-N where N is 0, 1, 2...
11097 The resource value should have this form:
11098 FONTSET-NAME, [CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME]...
11099 FONTSET-NAME should have the form of a standard X font name, except:
11100 * most fields should be just the wild card "*".
11101 * the CHARSET_REGISTRY field should be "fontset"
11102 * the CHARSET_ENCODING field can be any nickname of the fontset.
11103 The construct CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME can be repeated any number
11104 of times; each time specifies the font for one character set.
11105 CHARSET-NAME should be the name of a character set, and FONT-NAME
11106 should specify an actual font to use for that character set.
11108 Each of these fontsets has an alias which is made from the
11109 last two font name fields, CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING.
11110 You can refer to the fontset by that alias or by its full name.
11112 For any character sets that you don't mention, Emacs tries to choose a
11113 font by substituting into FONTSET-NAME. For instance, with the
11114 following resource,
11115 Emacs*Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24
11116 the font for ASCII is generated as below:
11117 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1
11118 Here is the substitution rule:
11119 Change CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING to that of the charset
11120 defined in the variable x-charset-registries. For instance, ASCII has
11121 the entry (ascii . "ISO8859-1") in this variable. Then, reduce
11122 sequences of wild cards -*-...-*- with a single wildcard -*-.
11123 (This is to prevent use of auto-scaled fonts.)
11125 The function which processes the fontset resource value to create the
11126 fontset is called create-fontset-from-fontset-spec. You can also call
11127 that function explicitly to create a fontset.
11129 With the X resource Emacs.Font, you can specify a fontset name just
11130 like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset
11131 name in a wildcard resource like Emacs*Font--that tries to specify the
11132 fontset for other purposes including menus, and they cannot handle
11135 *** The command M-x set-language-environment sets certain global Emacs
11136 defaults for a particular choice of language.
11138 Selecting a language environment typically specifies a default input
11139 method and which coding systems to recognize automatically when
11140 visiting files. However, it does not try to reread files you have
11141 already visited; the text in those buffers is not affected. The
11142 language environment may also specify a default choice of coding
11143 system for new files that you create.
11145 It makes no difference which buffer is current when you use
11146 set-language-environment, because these defaults apply globally to the
11147 whole Emacs session.
11149 For example, M-x set-language-environment RET Latin-1 RET
11150 chooses the Latin-1 character set. In the .emacs file, you can do this
11151 with (set-language-environment "Latin-1").
11153 *** The command C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system)
11154 specifies the file coding system for the current buffer. This
11155 specifies what sort of character code translation to do when saving
11156 the file. As an argument, you must specify the name of one of the
11157 coding systems that Emacs supports.
11159 *** The command C-x RET c (universal-coding-system-argument)
11160 lets you specify a coding system when you read or write a file.
11161 This command uses the minibuffer to read a coding system name.
11162 After you exit the minibuffer, the specified coding system
11163 is used for *the immediately following command*.
11165 So if the immediately following command is a command to read or
11166 write a file, it uses the specified coding system for that file.
11168 If the immediately following command does not use the coding system,
11169 then C-x RET c ultimately has no effect.
11171 For example, C-x RET c iso-8859-1 RET C-x C-f temp RET
11172 visits the file `temp' treating it as ISO Latin-1.
11174 *** You can specify the coding system for a file using the -*-
11175 construct. Include `coding: CODINGSYSTEM;' inside the -*-...-*-
11176 to specify use of coding system CODINGSYSTEM. You can also
11177 specify the coding system in a local variable list at the end
11180 *** The command C-x RET t (set-terminal-coding-system) specifies
11181 the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a character
11182 code for terminal output, all characters output to the terminal are
11183 translated into that character code.
11185 This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built in
11186 various countries to support the languages of those countries.
11188 By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all.
11190 *** The command C-x RET k (set-keyboard-coding-system) specifies
11191 the coding system for keyboard input.
11193 Character code translation of keyboard input is useful for terminals
11194 with keys that send non-ASCII graphic characters--for example,
11195 some terminals designed for ISO Latin-1 or subsets of it.
11197 By default, keyboard input is not translated at all.
11199 Character code translation of keyboard input is similar to using an
11200 input method, in that both define sequences of keyboard input that
11201 translate into single characters. However, input methods are designed
11202 to be convenient for interactive use, while the code translations are
11203 designed to work with terminals.
11205 *** The command C-x RET p (set-buffer-process-coding-system)
11206 specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess.
11207 This command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess
11208 has its own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify
11209 translation to and from a particular subprocess by giving the command
11210 in the corresponding buffer.
11212 By default, process input and output are not translated at all.
11214 *** The variable file-name-coding-system specifies the coding system
11215 to use for encoding file names before operating on them.
11216 It is also used for decoding file names obtained from the system.
11218 *** The command C-\ (toggle-input-method) activates or deactivates
11219 an input method. If no input method has been selected before, the
11220 command prompts for you to specify the language and input method you
11223 C-u C-\ (select-input-method) lets you switch to a different input
11224 method. C-h C-\ (or C-h I) describes the current input method.
11226 *** Some input methods remap the keyboard to emulate various keyboard
11227 layouts commonly used for particular scripts. How to do this
11228 remapping properly depends on your actual keyboard layout. To specify
11229 which layout your keyboard has, use M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout.
11231 *** The command C-h C (describe-coding-system) displays
11232 the coding systems currently selected for various purposes, plus
11233 related information.
11235 *** The command C-h h (view-hello-file) displays a file called
11236 HELLO, which has examples of text in many languages, using various
11239 *** The command C-h L (describe-language-support) displays
11240 information about the support for a particular language.
11241 You specify the language as an argument.
11243 *** The mode line now contains a letter or character that identifies
11244 the coding system used in the visited file. It normally follows the
11247 A dash indicates the default state of affairs: no code conversion
11248 (except CRLF => newline if appropriate). `=' means no conversion
11249 whatsoever. The ISO 8859 coding systems are represented by digits
11250 1 through 9. Other coding systems are represented by letters:
11252 A alternativnyj (Russian)
11254 C cn-gb-2312 (Chinese)
11255 C iso-2022-cn (Chinese)
11256 D in-is13194-devanagari (Indian languages)
11257 E euc-japan (Japanese)
11258 I iso-2022-cjk or iso-2022-ss2 (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
11259 J junet (iso-2022-7) or old-jis (iso-2022-jp-1978-irv) (Japanese)
11260 K euc-korea (Korean)
11263 S shift_jis (Japanese)
11266 V viscii or vscii (Vietnamese)
11267 i iso-2022-lock (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
11268 k iso-2022-kr (Korean)
11269 v viqr (Vietnamese)
11272 When you are using a character-only terminal (not a window system),
11273 two additional characters appear in between the dash and the file
11274 coding system. These two characters describe the coding system for
11275 keyboard input, and the coding system for terminal output.
11277 *** The new variable rmail-file-coding-system specifies the code
11278 conversion to use for RMAIL files. The default value is nil.
11280 When you read mail with Rmail, each message is decoded automatically
11281 into Emacs' internal format. This has nothing to do with
11282 rmail-file-coding-system. That variable controls reading and writing
11283 Rmail files themselves.
11285 *** The new variable sendmail-coding-system specifies the code
11286 conversion for outgoing mail. The default value is nil.
11288 Actually, there are three different ways of specifying the coding system
11291 - If you use C-x RET f in the mail buffer, that takes priority.
11292 - Otherwise, if you set sendmail-coding-system non-nil, that specifies it.
11293 - Otherwise, the default coding system for new files is used,
11294 if that is non-nil. That comes from your language environment.
11295 - Otherwise, Latin-1 is used.
11297 *** The command C-h t (help-with-tutorial) accepts a prefix argument
11298 to specify the language for the tutorial file. Currently, English,
11299 Japanese, Korean and Thai are supported. We welcome additional
11302 ** An easy new way to visit a file with no code or format conversion
11303 of any kind: Use M-x find-file-literally. There is also a command
11304 insert-file-literally which inserts a file into the current buffer
11305 without any conversion.
11307 ** C-q's handling of octal character codes is changed.
11308 You can now specify any number of octal digits.
11309 RET terminates the digits and is discarded;
11310 any other non-digit terminates the digits and is then used as input.
11312 ** There are new commands for looking up Info documentation for
11313 functions, variables and file names used in your programs.
11315 Type M-x info-lookup-symbol to look up a symbol in the buffer at point.
11316 Type M-x info-lookup-file to look up a file in the buffer at point.
11318 Precisely which Info files are used to look it up depends on the major
11319 mode. For example, in C mode, the GNU libc manual is used.
11321 ** M-TAB in most programming language modes now runs the command
11322 complete-symbol. This command performs completion on the symbol name
11323 in the buffer before point.
11325 With a numeric argument, it performs completion based on the set of
11326 symbols documented in the Info files for the programming language that
11329 With no argument, it does completion based on the current tags tables,
11330 just like the old binding of M-TAB (complete-tag).
11332 ** File locking works with NFS now.
11334 The lock file for FILENAME is now a symbolic link named .#FILENAME,
11335 in the same directory as FILENAME.
11337 This means that collision detection between two different machines now
11338 works reasonably well; it also means that no file server or directory
11339 can become a bottleneck.
11341 The new method does have drawbacks. It means that collision detection
11342 does not operate when you edit a file in a directory where you cannot
11343 create new files. Collision detection also doesn't operate when the
11344 file server does not support symbolic links. But these conditions are
11345 rare, and the ability to have collision detection while using NFS is
11346 so useful that the change is worth while.
11348 When Emacs or a system crashes, this may leave behind lock files which
11349 are stale. So you may occasionally get warnings about spurious
11350 collisions. When you determine that the collision is spurious, just
11351 tell Emacs to go ahead anyway.
11353 ** If you wish to use Show Paren mode to display matching parentheses,
11354 it is no longer sufficient to load paren.el. Instead you must call
11357 ** If you wish to use Delete Selection mode to replace a highlighted
11358 selection when you insert new text, it is no longer sufficient to load
11359 delsel.el. Instead you must call the function delete-selection-mode.
11361 ** If you wish to use Partial Completion mode to complete partial words
11362 within symbols or filenames, it is no longer sufficient to load
11363 complete.el. Instead you must call the function partial-completion-mode.
11365 ** If you wish to use uniquify to rename buffers for you,
11366 it is no longer sufficient to load uniquify.el. You must also
11367 set uniquify-buffer-name-style to one of the non-nil legitimate values.
11369 ** Changes in View mode.
11371 *** Several new commands are available in View mode.
11372 Do H in view mode for a list of commands.
11374 *** There are two new commands for entering View mode:
11375 view-file-other-frame and view-buffer-other-frame.
11377 *** Exiting View mode does a better job of restoring windows to their
11380 *** New customization variable view-scroll-auto-exit. If non-nil,
11381 scrolling past end of buffer makes view mode exit.
11383 *** New customization variable view-exits-all-viewing-windows. If
11384 non-nil, view-mode will at exit restore all windows viewing buffer,
11385 not just the selected window.
11387 *** New customization variable view-read-only. If non-nil, visiting a
11388 read-only file automatically enters View mode, and toggle-read-only
11389 turns View mode on or off.
11391 *** New customization variable view-remove-frame-by-deleting controls
11392 how to remove a not needed frame at view mode exit. If non-nil,
11393 delete the frame, if nil make an icon of it.
11395 ** C-x v l, the command to print a file's version control log,
11396 now positions point at the entry for the file's current branch version.
11398 ** C-x v =, the command to compare a file with the last checked-in version,
11399 has a new feature. If the file is currently not locked, so that it is
11400 presumably identical to the last checked-in version, the command now asks
11401 which version to compare with.
11403 ** When using hideshow.el, incremental search can temporarily show hidden
11404 blocks if a match is inside the block.
11406 The block is hidden again if the search is continued and the next match
11407 is outside the block. By customizing the variable
11408 isearch-hide-immediately you can choose to hide all the temporarily
11409 shown blocks only when exiting from incremental search.
11411 By customizing the variable hs-isearch-open you can choose what kind
11412 of blocks to temporarily show during isearch: comment blocks, code
11413 blocks, all of them or none.
11415 ** The new command C-x 4 0 (kill-buffer-and-window) kills the
11416 current buffer and deletes the selected window. It asks for
11417 confirmation first.
11419 ** C-x C-w, which saves the buffer into a specified file name,
11420 now changes the major mode according to that file name.
11421 However, the mode will not be changed if
11422 (1) a local variables list or the `-*-' line specifies a major mode, or
11423 (2) the current major mode is a "special" mode,
11424 not suitable for ordinary files, or
11425 (3) the new file name does not particularly specify any mode.
11427 This applies to M-x set-visited-file-name as well.
11429 However, if you set change-major-mode-with-file-name to nil, then
11430 these commands do not change the major mode.
11432 ** M-x occur changes.
11434 *** If the argument to M-x occur contains upper case letters,
11435 it performs a case-sensitive search.
11437 *** In the *Occur* buffer made by M-x occur,
11438 if you type g or M-x revert-buffer, this repeats the search
11439 using the same regular expression and the same buffer as before.
11441 ** In Transient Mark mode, the region in any one buffer is highlighted
11442 in just one window at a time. At first, it is highlighted in the
11443 window where you set the mark. The buffer's highlighting remains in
11444 that window unless you select to another window which shows the same
11445 buffer--then the highlighting moves to that window.
11447 ** The feature to suggest key bindings when you use M-x now operates
11448 after the command finishes. The message suggesting key bindings
11449 appears temporarily in the echo area. The previous echo area contents
11450 come back after a few seconds, in case they contain useful information.
11452 ** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
11453 selected buffers, so that the default for C-x b is now based on the
11454 buffers recently selected in the selected frame.
11456 ** Outline mode changes.
11458 *** Outline mode now uses overlays (this is the former noutline.el).
11460 *** Incremental searches skip over invisible text in Outline mode.
11462 ** When a minibuffer window is active but not the selected window, if
11463 you try to use the minibuffer, you used to get a nested minibuffer.
11464 Now, this not only gives an error, it also cancels the minibuffer that
11465 was already active.
11467 The motive for this change is so that beginning users do not
11468 unknowingly move away from minibuffers, leaving them active, and then
11469 get confused by it.
11471 If you want to be able to have recursive minibuffers, you must
11472 set enable-recursive-minibuffers to non-nil.
11474 ** Changes in dynamic abbrevs.
11476 *** Expanding dynamic abbrevs with M-/ is now smarter about case
11477 conversion. If the expansion has mixed case not counting the first
11478 character, and the abbreviation matches the beginning of the expansion
11479 including case, then the expansion is copied verbatim.
11481 The expansion is also copied verbatim if the abbreviation itself has
11482 mixed case. And using SPC M-/ to copy an additional word always
11483 copies it verbatim except when the previous copied word is all caps.
11485 *** The values of `dabbrev-case-replace' and `dabbrev-case-fold-search'
11486 are no longer Lisp expressions. They have simply three possible
11489 `dabbrev-case-replace' has these three values: nil (don't preserve
11490 case), t (do), or `case-replace' (do like M-x query-replace).
11491 `dabbrev-case-fold-search' has these three values: nil (don't ignore
11492 case), t (do), or `case-fold-search' (do like search).
11494 ** Minibuffer history lists are truncated automatically now to a
11495 certain length. The variable history-length specifies how long they
11496 can be. The default value is 30.
11498 ** Changes in Mail mode.
11500 *** The key C-x m no longer runs the `mail' command directly.
11501 Instead, it runs the command `compose-mail', which invokes the mail
11502 composition mechanism you have selected with the variable
11503 `mail-user-agent'. The default choice of user agent is
11504 `sendmail-user-agent', which gives behavior compatible with the old
11507 C-x 4 m now runs compose-mail-other-window, and C-x 5 m runs
11508 compose-mail-other-frame.
11510 *** While composing a reply to a mail message, from Rmail, you can use
11511 the command C-c C-r to cite just the region from the message you are
11512 replying to. This copies the text which is the selected region in the
11513 buffer that shows the original message.
11515 *** The command C-c C-i inserts a file at the end of the message,
11516 with separator lines around the contents.
11518 *** The command M-x expand-mail-aliases expands all mail aliases
11519 in suitable mail headers. Emacs automatically extracts mail alias
11520 definitions from your mail alias file (e.g., ~/.mailrc). You do not
11521 need to expand mail aliases yourself before sending mail.
11523 *** New features in the mail-complete command.
11525 **** The mail-complete command now inserts the user's full name,
11526 for local users or if that is known. The variable mail-complete-style
11527 controls the style to use, and whether to do this at all.
11528 Its values are like those of mail-from-style.
11530 **** The variable mail-passwd-command lets you specify a shell command
11531 to run to fetch a set of password-entries that add to the ones in
11534 **** The variable mail-passwd-file now specifies a list of files to read
11535 to get the list of user ids. By default, one file is used:
11538 ** You can "quote" a file name to inhibit special significance of
11539 special syntax, by adding `/:' to the beginning. Thus, if you have a
11540 directory named `/foo:', you can prevent it from being treated as a
11541 reference to a remote host named `foo' by writing it as `/:/foo:'.
11543 Emacs uses this new construct automatically when necessary, such as
11544 when you start it with a working directory whose name might otherwise
11545 be taken to be magic.
11547 ** There is a new command M-x grep-find which uses find to select
11548 files to search through, and grep to scan them. The output is
11549 available in a Compile mode buffer, as with M-x grep.
11551 M-x grep now uses the -e option if the grep program supports that.
11552 (-e prevents problems if the search pattern starts with a dash.)
11554 ** In Dired, the & command now flags for deletion the files whose names
11555 suggest they are probably not needed in the long run.
11557 In Dired, * is now a prefix key for mark-related commands.
11559 new key dired.el binding old key
11560 ------- ---------------- -------
11561 * c dired-change-marks c
11563 * * dired-mark-executables * (binding deleted)
11564 * / dired-mark-directories / (binding deleted)
11565 * @ dired-mark-symlinks @ (binding deleted)
11567 * DEL dired-unmark-backward DEL
11568 * ? dired-unmark-all-files C-M-?
11569 * ! dired-unmark-all-marks
11570 * % dired-mark-files-regexp % m
11571 * C-n dired-next-marked-file M-}
11572 * C-p dired-prev-marked-file M-{
11576 *** When Rmail cannot convert your incoming mail into Babyl format, it
11577 saves the new mail in the file RMAILOSE.n, where n is an integer
11578 chosen to make a unique name. This way, Rmail will not keep crashing
11579 each time you run it.
11581 *** In Rmail, the variable rmail-summary-line-count-flag now controls
11582 whether to include the line count in the summary. Non-nil means yes.
11584 *** In Rmail summary buffers, d and C-d (the commands to delete
11585 messages) now take repeat counts as arguments. A negative argument
11586 means to move in the opposite direction.
11588 *** In Rmail, the t command now takes an optional argument which lets
11589 you specify whether to show the message headers in full or pruned.
11591 *** In Rmail, the new command w (rmail-output-body-to-file) writes
11592 just the body of the current message into a file, without the headers.
11593 It takes the file name from the message subject, by default, but you
11594 can edit that file name in the minibuffer before it is actually used
11599 *** nntp.el has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
11601 *** Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
11604 *** Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like
11605 `and', `or', `not', and parent redirection.
11607 *** Article washing status can be displayed in the
11610 *** gnus.el has been split into many smaller files.
11612 *** Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID.
11614 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
11616 *** New variables for specifying what score and adapt files
11617 are to be considered home score and adapt files. See
11618 `gnus-home-score-file' and `gnus-home-adapt-files'.
11620 *** Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics.
11622 *** Article editing has been revamped and is now usable.
11624 *** Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions.
11625 See `gnus-signature-separator' and `gnus-signature-limit'.
11627 *** Summary pick mode has been made to look more nn-like.
11628 Line numbers are displayed and the `.' command can be
11629 used to pick articles.
11631 *** Commands for moving the .newsrc.eld from one server to
11632 another have been added.
11634 `M-x gnus-change-server'
11636 *** A way to specify that "uninteresting" fields be suppressed when
11637 generating lines in buffers.
11639 *** Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with
11642 *** Scoring can be done on words using the new score type `w'.
11644 *** Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis:
11646 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
11648 *** Scores can be decayed.
11650 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
11652 *** Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The
11653 Date is normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first.
11655 *** A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
11658 `M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups'
11660 *** A new command for reading collections of documents
11661 (nndoc with nnvirtual on top) has been added -- `C-M-d'.
11663 *** Process mark sets can be pushed and popped.
11665 *** A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post
11666 even when the NNTP server doesn't allow posting.
11668 *** A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
11669 (DejaNews, Alta Vista, InReference) has been added.
11671 Use the `G w' command in the group buffer to create such
11674 *** Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard
11675 sorting functions, and each topic can be sorted independently.
11677 See the commands under the `T S' submap.
11679 *** Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently.
11681 See the commands under the `G P' submap.
11683 *** Cached articles can be pulled into the groups.
11685 Use the `Y c' command.
11687 *** Score files are now applied in a more reliable order.
11689 *** Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated.
11691 `M-x nnmail-split-history'
11693 *** More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk
11694 from incoming mail before saving the mail.
11696 See `nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook'.
11698 *** The nnml mail backend now understands compressed article files.
11700 *** To enable Gnus to read/post multi-lingual articles, you must execute
11701 the following code, for instance, in your .emacs.
11703 (add-hook 'gnus-startup-hook 'gnus-mule-initialize)
11705 Then, when you start Gnus, it will decode non-ASCII text automatically
11706 and show appropriate characters. (Note: if you are using gnus-mime
11707 from the SEMI package, formerly known as TM, you should NOT add this
11708 hook to gnus-startup-hook; gnus-mime has its own method of handling
11711 Since it is impossible to distinguish all coding systems
11712 automatically, you may need to specify a choice of coding system for a
11713 particular news group. This can be done by:
11715 (gnus-mule-add-group NEWSGROUP 'CODING-SYSTEM)
11717 Here NEWSGROUP should be a string which names a newsgroup or a tree
11718 of newsgroups. If NEWSGROUP is "XXX.YYY", all news groups under
11719 "XXX.YYY" (including "XXX.YYY.ZZZ") will use the specified coding
11720 system. CODING-SYSTEM specifies which coding system to use (for both
11721 for reading and posting).
11723 CODING-SYSTEM can also be a cons cell of the form
11724 (READ-CODING-SYSTEM . POST-CODING-SYSTEM)
11725 Then READ-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you read messages from the
11726 newsgroups, while POST-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you post messages
11729 Emacs knows the right coding systems for certain newsgroups by
11730 default. Here are some of these default settings:
11732 (gnus-mule-add-group "fj" 'iso-2022-7)
11733 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text" 'hz-gb-2312)
11734 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.hk" 'hz-gb-2312)
11735 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text.big5" 'cn-big5)
11736 (gnus-mule-add-group "soc.culture.vietnamese" '(nil . viqr))
11738 When you reply by mail to an article, these settings are ignored;
11739 the mail is encoded according to sendmail-coding-system, as usual.
11741 ** CC mode changes.
11743 *** If you edit primarily one style of C (or C++, Objective-C, Java)
11744 code, you may want to make the CC Mode style variables have global
11745 values so that you can set them directly in your .emacs file. To do
11746 this, set c-style-variables-are-local-p to nil in your .emacs file.
11747 Note that this only takes effect if you do it *before* cc-mode.el is
11750 If you typically edit more than one style of C (or C++, Objective-C,
11751 Java) code in a single Emacs session, you may want to make the CC Mode
11752 style variables have buffer local values. By default, all buffers
11753 share the same style variable settings; to make them buffer local, set
11754 c-style-variables-are-local-p to t in your .emacs file. Note that you
11755 must do this *before* CC Mode is loaded.
11757 *** The new variable c-indentation-style holds the C style name
11758 of the current buffer.
11760 *** The variable c-block-comments-indent-p has been deleted, because
11761 it is no longer necessary. C mode now handles all the supported styles
11762 of block comments, with no need to say which one you will use.
11764 *** There is a new indentation style "python", which specifies the C
11765 style that the Python developers like.
11767 *** There is a new c-cleanup-list option: brace-elseif-brace.
11768 This says to put ...} else if (...) {... on one line,
11769 just as brace-else-brace says to put ...} else {... on one line.
11771 ** VC Changes [new]
11773 *** In vc-retrieve-snapshot (C-x v r), if you don't specify a snapshot
11774 name, it retrieves the *latest* versions of all files in the current
11775 directory and its subdirectories (aside from files already locked).
11777 This feature is useful if your RCS directory is a link to a common
11778 master directory, and you want to pick up changes made by other
11781 You can do the same thing for an individual file by typing C-u C-x C-q
11782 RET in a buffer visiting that file.
11784 *** VC can now handle files under CVS that are being "watched" by
11785 other developers. Such files are made read-only by CVS. To get a
11786 writable copy, type C-x C-q in a buffer visiting such a file. VC then
11787 calls "cvs edit", which notifies the other developers of it.
11789 *** vc-version-diff (C-u C-x v =) now suggests reasonable defaults for
11790 version numbers, based on the current state of the file.
11792 ** Calendar changes.
11794 *** A new function, list-holidays, allows you list holidays or
11795 subclasses of holidays for ranges of years. Related menu items allow
11796 you do this for the year of the selected date, or the
11797 following/previous years.
11799 *** There is now support for the Baha'i calendar system. Use `pb' in
11800 the *Calendar* buffer to display the current Baha'i date. The Baha'i
11801 calendar, or "Badi calendar" is a system of 19 months with 19 days
11802 each, and 4 intercalary days (5 during a Gregorian leap year). The
11803 calendar begins May 23, 1844, with each of the months named after a
11804 supposed attribute of God.
11806 ** ps-print changes
11808 There are some new user variables and subgroups for customizing the page
11811 *** Headers & Footers (subgroup)
11813 Some printer systems print a header page and force the first page to
11814 be printed on the back of the header page when using duplex. If your
11815 printer system has this behavior, set variable
11816 `ps-banner-page-when-duplexing' to t.
11818 If variable `ps-banner-page-when-duplexing' is non-nil, it prints a
11819 blank page as the very first printed page. So, it behaves as if the
11820 very first character of buffer (or region) were a form feed ^L (\014).
11822 The variable `ps-spool-config' specifies who is responsible for
11823 setting duplex mode and page size. Valid values are:
11825 lpr-switches duplex and page size are configured by `ps-lpr-switches'.
11826 Don't forget to set `ps-lpr-switches' to select duplex
11827 printing for your printer.
11829 setpagedevice duplex and page size are configured by ps-print using the
11830 setpagedevice PostScript operator.
11832 nil duplex and page size are configured by ps-print *not* using
11833 the setpagedevice PostScript operator.
11835 The variable `ps-spool-tumble' specifies how the page images on
11836 opposite sides of a sheet are oriented with respect to each other. If
11837 `ps-spool-tumble' is nil, ps-print produces output suitable for
11838 bindings on the left or right. If `ps-spool-tumble' is non-nil,
11839 ps-print produces output suitable for bindings at the top or bottom.
11840 This variable takes effect only if `ps-spool-duplex' is non-nil.
11841 The default value is nil.
11843 The variable `ps-header-frame-alist' specifies a header frame
11844 properties alist. Valid frame properties are:
11846 fore-color Specify the foreground frame color.
11847 Value should be a float number between 0.0 (black
11848 color) and 1.0 (white color), or a string which is a
11849 color name, or a list of 3 float numbers which
11850 correspond to the Red Green Blue color scale, each
11851 float number between 0.0 (dark color) and 1.0 (bright
11852 color). The default is 0 ("black").
11854 back-color Specify the background frame color (similar to fore-color).
11855 The default is 0.9 ("gray90").
11857 shadow-color Specify the shadow color (similar to fore-color).
11858 The default is 0 ("black").
11860 border-color Specify the border color (similar to fore-color).
11861 The default is 0 ("black").
11863 border-width Specify the border width.
11864 The default is 0.4.
11866 Any other property is ignored.
11868 Don't change this alist directly; instead use Custom, or the
11869 `ps-value', `ps-get', `ps-put' and `ps-del' functions (see there for
11872 Ps-print can also print footers. The footer variables are:
11873 `ps-print-footer', `ps-footer-offset', `ps-print-footer-frame',
11874 `ps-footer-font-family', `ps-footer-font-size', `ps-footer-line-pad',
11875 `ps-footer-lines', `ps-left-footer', `ps-right-footer' and
11876 `ps-footer-frame-alist'. These variables are similar to those
11877 controlling headers.
11879 *** Color management (subgroup)
11881 If `ps-print-color-p' is non-nil, the buffer's text will be printed in
11884 *** Face Management (subgroup)
11886 If you need to print without worrying about face background colors,
11887 set the variable `ps-use-face-background' which specifies if face
11888 background should be used. Valid values are:
11890 t always use face background color.
11891 nil never use face background color.
11892 (face...) list of faces whose background color will be used.
11894 *** N-up printing (subgroup)
11896 The variable `ps-n-up-printing' specifies the number of pages per
11899 The variable `ps-n-up-margin' specifies the margin in points (pt)
11900 between the sheet border and the n-up printing.
11902 If variable `ps-n-up-border-p' is non-nil, a border is drawn around
11905 The variable `ps-n-up-filling' specifies how the page matrix is filled
11906 on each sheet of paper. Following are the valid values for
11907 `ps-n-up-filling' with a filling example using a 3x4 page matrix:
11909 `left-top' 1 2 3 4 `left-bottom' 9 10 11 12
11913 `right-top' 4 3 2 1 `right-bottom' 12 11 10 9
11917 `top-left' 1 4 7 10 `bottom-left' 3 6 9 12
11921 `top-right' 10 7 4 1 `bottom-right' 12 9 6 3
11925 Any other value is treated as `left-top'.
11927 *** Zebra stripes (subgroup)
11929 The variable `ps-zebra-color' controls the zebra stripes grayscale or
11932 The variable `ps-zebra-stripe-follow' specifies how zebra stripes
11933 continue on next page. Visually, valid values are (the character `+'
11934 to the right of each column indicates that a line is printed):
11936 `nil' `follow' `full' `full-follow'
11937 Current Page -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
11938 1 XXXXX + 1 XXXXXXXX + 1 XXXXXX + 1 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
11939 2 XXXXX + 2 XXXXXXXX + 2 XXXXXX + 2 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
11940 3 XXXXX + 3 XXXXXXXX + 3 XXXXXX + 3 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
11944 7 XXXXX + 7 XXXXXXXX + 7 XXXXXX + 7 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
11945 8 XXXXX + 8 XXXXXXXX + 8 XXXXXX + 8 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
11946 9 XXXXX + 9 XXXXXXXX + 9 XXXXXX + 9 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
11949 -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
11950 Next Page -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
11951 12 XXXXX + 12 + 10 XXXXXX + 10 +
11952 13 XXXXX + 13 XXXXXXXX + 11 XXXXXX + 11 +
11953 14 XXXXX + 14 XXXXXXXX + 12 XXXXXX + 12 +
11954 15 + 15 XXXXXXXX + 13 + 13 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
11955 16 + 16 + 14 + 14 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
11956 17 + 17 + 15 + 15 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
11957 18 XXXXX + 18 + 16 XXXXXX + 16 +
11958 19 XXXXX + 19 XXXXXXXX + 17 XXXXXX + 17 +
11959 20 XXXXX + 20 XXXXXXXX + 18 XXXXXX + 18 +
11962 -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
11964 Any other value is treated as `nil'.
11967 *** Printer management (subgroup)
11969 The variable `ps-printer-name-option' determines the option used by
11970 some utilities to indicate the printer name; it's used only when
11971 `ps-printer-name' is a non-empty string. If you're using the lpr
11972 utility to print, for example, `ps-printer-name-option' should be set
11975 The variable `ps-manual-feed' indicates if the printer requires manual
11976 paper feeding. If it's nil, automatic feeding takes place. If it's
11977 non-nil, manual feeding takes place.
11979 The variable `ps-end-with-control-d' specifies whether C-d (\x04)
11980 should be inserted at end of the generated PostScript. Non-nil means
11983 *** Page settings (subgroup)
11985 If variable `ps-warn-paper-type' is nil, it's *not* treated as an
11986 error if the PostScript printer doesn't have a paper with the size
11987 indicated by `ps-paper-type'; the default paper size will be used
11988 instead. If `ps-warn-paper-type' is non-nil, an error is signaled if
11989 the PostScript printer doesn't support a paper with the size indicated
11990 by `ps-paper-type'. This is used when `ps-spool-config' is set to
11993 The variable `ps-print-upside-down' determines the orientation for
11994 printing pages: nil means `normal' printing, non-nil means
11995 `upside-down' printing (that is, the page is rotated by 180 degrees).
11997 The variable `ps-selected-pages' specifies which pages to print. If
11998 it's nil, all pages are printed. If it's a list, list elements may be
11999 integers specifying a single page to print, or cons cells (FROM . TO)
12000 specifying to print from page FROM to TO. Invalid list elements, that
12001 is integers smaller than one, or elements whose FROM is greater than
12002 its TO, are ignored.
12004 The variable `ps-even-or-odd-pages' specifies how to print even/odd
12005 pages. Valid values are:
12007 nil print all pages.
12009 `even-page' print only even pages.
12011 `odd-page' print only odd pages.
12013 `even-sheet' print only even sheets.
12014 That is, if `ps-n-up-printing' is 1, it behaves like
12015 `even-page', but for values greater than 1, it'll
12016 print only the even sheet of paper.
12018 `odd-sheet' print only odd sheets.
12019 That is, if `ps-n-up-printing' is 1, it behaves like
12020 `odd-page'; but for values greater than 1, it'll print
12021 only the odd sheet of paper.
12023 Any other value is treated as nil.
12025 If you set `ps-selected-pages' (see there for documentation), pages
12026 are filtered by `ps-selected-pages', and then by
12027 `ps-even-or-odd-pages'. For example, if we have:
12029 (setq ps-selected-pages '(1 4 (6 . 10) (12 . 16) 20))
12031 and we combine this with `ps-even-or-odd-pages' and
12032 `ps-n-up-printing', we get:
12034 `ps-n-up-printing' = 1:
12035 `ps-even-or-odd-pages' PAGES PRINTED
12036 nil 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20
12037 even-page 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20
12038 odd-page 1, 7, 9, 13, 15
12039 even-sheet 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20
12040 odd-sheet 1, 7, 9, 13, 15
12042 `ps-n-up-printing' = 2:
12043 `ps-even-or-odd-pages' PAGES PRINTED
12044 nil 1/4, 6/7, 8/9, 10/12, 13/14, 15/16, 20
12045 even-page 4/6, 8/10, 12/14, 16/20
12046 odd-page 1/7, 9/13, 15
12047 even-sheet 6/7, 10/12, 15/16
12048 odd-sheet 1/4, 8/9, 13/14, 20
12050 *** Miscellany (subgroup)
12052 The variable `ps-error-handler-message' specifies where error handler
12053 messages should be sent.
12055 It is also possible to add a user-defined PostScript prologue code in
12056 front of all generated prologue code by setting the variable
12057 `ps-user-defined-prologue'.
12059 The variable `ps-line-number-font' specifies the font for line numbers.
12061 The variable `ps-line-number-font-size' specifies the font size in
12062 points for line numbers.
12064 The variable `ps-line-number-color' specifies the color for line
12065 numbers. See `ps-zebra-color' for documentation.
12067 The variable `ps-line-number-step' specifies the interval in which
12068 line numbers are printed. For example, if `ps-line-number-step' is set
12069 to 2, the printing will look like:
12081 integer an integer specifying the interval in which line numbers are
12082 printed. If it's smaller than or equal to zero, 1
12085 `zebra' specifies that only the line number of the first line in a
12086 zebra stripe is to be printed.
12088 Any other value is treated as `zebra'.
12090 The variable `ps-line-number-start' specifies the starting point in
12091 the interval given by `ps-line-number-step'. For example, if
12092 `ps-line-number-step' is set to 3, and `ps-line-number-start' is set to
12093 3, the output will look like:
12107 The variable `ps-postscript-code-directory' specifies the directory
12108 where the PostScript prologue file used by ps-print is found.
12110 The variable `ps-line-spacing' determines the line spacing in points,
12111 for ordinary text, when generating PostScript (similar to
12114 The variable `ps-paragraph-spacing' determines the paragraph spacing,
12115 in points, for ordinary text, when generating PostScript (similar to
12118 The variable `ps-paragraph-regexp' specifies the paragraph delimiter.
12120 The variable `ps-begin-cut-regexp' and `ps-end-cut-regexp' specify the
12121 start and end of a region to cut out when printing.
12123 ** hideshow changes.
12125 *** now supports hiding of blocks of single line comments (like // for
12128 *** Support for java-mode added.
12130 *** When doing `hs-hide-all' it is now possible to also hide the comments
12131 in the file if `hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all' is set.
12133 *** The new function `hs-hide-initial-comment' hides the comments at
12134 the beginning of the files. Finally those huge RCS logs don't stay in your
12135 way! This is run by default when entering the `hs-minor-mode'.
12137 *** Now uses overlays instead of `selective-display', so is more
12138 robust and a lot faster.
12140 *** A block beginning can span multiple lines.
12142 *** The new variable `hs-show-hidden-short-form' if t, directs hideshow
12143 to show only the beginning of a block when it is hidden. See the
12144 documentation for more details.
12146 ** Changes in Enriched mode.
12148 *** When you visit a file in enriched-mode, Emacs will make sure it is
12149 filled to the current fill-column. This behavior is now independent
12150 of the size of the window. When you save the file, the fill-column in
12151 use is stored as well, so that the whole buffer need not be refilled
12152 the next time unless the fill-column is different.
12154 *** use-hard-newlines is now a minor mode. When it is enabled, Emacs
12155 distinguishes between hard and soft newlines, and treats hard newlines
12156 as paragraph boundaries. Otherwise all newlines inserted are marked
12157 as soft, and paragraph boundaries are determined solely from the text.
12163 The variables font-lock-face-attributes, font-lock-display-type and
12164 font-lock-background-mode are now obsolete; the recommended way to specify the
12165 faces to use for Font Lock mode is with M-x customize-group on the new custom
12166 group font-lock-highlighting-faces. If you set font-lock-face-attributes in
12167 your ~/.emacs file, Font Lock mode will respect its value. However, you should
12168 consider converting from setting that variable to using M-x customize.
12170 You can still use X resources to specify Font Lock face appearances.
12172 *** Maximum decoration
12174 Fontification now uses the maximum level of decoration supported by
12175 default. Previously, fontification used a mode-specific default level
12176 of decoration, which is typically the minimum level of decoration
12177 supported. You can set font-lock-maximum-decoration to nil
12178 to get the old behavior.
12182 Support is now provided for Java, Objective-C, AWK and SIMULA modes.
12184 Note that Font Lock mode can be turned on without knowing exactly what modes
12185 support Font Lock mode, via the command global-font-lock-mode.
12187 *** Configurable support
12189 Support for C, C++, Objective-C and Java can be more easily configured for
12190 additional types and classes via the new variables c-font-lock-extra-types,
12191 c++-font-lock-extra-types, objc-font-lock-extra-types and, you guessed it,
12192 java-font-lock-extra-types. These value of each of these variables should be a
12193 list of regexps matching the extra type names. For example, the default value
12194 of c-font-lock-extra-types is ("\\sw+_t") which means fontification follows the
12195 convention that C type names end in _t. This results in slower fontification.
12197 Of course, you can change the variables that specify fontification in whatever
12198 way you wish, typically by adding regexps. However, these new variables make
12199 it easier to make specific and common changes for the fontification of types.
12201 *** Adding highlighting patterns to existing support
12203 You can use the new function font-lock-add-keywords to add your own
12204 highlighting patterns, such as for project-local or user-specific constructs,
12207 For example, to highlight `FIXME:' words in C comments, put:
12209 (font-lock-add-keywords 'c-mode '(("\\<FIXME:" 0 font-lock-warning-face t)))
12215 Font Lock now defines two new faces, font-lock-builtin-face and
12216 font-lock-warning-face. These are intended to highlight builtin keywords,
12217 distinct from a language's normal keywords, and objects that should be brought
12218 to user attention, respectively. Various modes now use these new faces.
12220 *** Changes to fast-lock support mode
12222 The fast-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now process
12223 cache files silently. You can use the new variable fast-lock-verbose, in the
12224 same way as font-lock-verbose, to control this feature.
12226 *** Changes to lazy-lock support mode
12228 The lazy-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now fontify
12229 according to the true syntactic context relative to other lines. You can use
12230 the new variable lazy-lock-defer-contextually to control this feature. If
12231 non-nil, changes to the buffer will cause subsequent lines in the buffer to be
12232 refontified after lazy-lock-defer-time seconds of idle time. If nil, then only
12233 the modified lines will be refontified; this is the same as the previous Lazy
12234 Lock mode behavior and the behavior of Font Lock mode.
12236 This feature is useful in modes where strings or comments can span lines.
12237 For example, if a string or comment terminating character is deleted, then if
12238 this feature is enabled subsequent lines in the buffer will be correctly
12239 refontified to reflect their new syntactic context. Previously, only the line
12240 containing the deleted character would be refontified and you would have to use
12241 the command M-g M-g (font-lock-fontify-block) to refontify some lines.
12243 As a consequence of this new feature, two other variables have changed:
12245 Variable `lazy-lock-defer-driven' is renamed `lazy-lock-defer-on-scrolling'.
12246 Variable `lazy-lock-defer-time' can now only be a time, i.e., a number.
12247 Buffer modes for which on-the-fly deferral applies can be specified via the
12248 new variable `lazy-lock-defer-on-the-fly'.
12250 If you set these variables in your ~/.emacs, then you may have to change those
12253 ** Ada mode changes.
12255 *** There is now better support for using find-file.el with Ada mode.
12256 If you switch between spec and body, the cursor stays in the same
12257 procedure (modulo overloading). If a spec has no body file yet, but
12258 you try to switch to its body file, Ada mode now generates procedure
12261 *** There are two new commands:
12262 - `ada-make-local' : invokes gnatmake on the current buffer
12263 - `ada-check-syntax' : check syntax of current buffer.
12265 The user options `ada-compiler-make', `ada-make-options',
12266 `ada-language-version', `ada-compiler-syntax-check', and
12267 `ada-compile-options' are used within these commands.
12269 *** Ada mode can now work with Outline minor mode. The outline level
12270 is calculated from the indenting, not from syntactic constructs.
12271 Outlining does not work if your code is not correctly indented.
12273 *** The new function `ada-gnat-style' converts the buffer to the style of
12274 formatting used in GNAT. It places two blanks after a comment start,
12275 places one blank between a word end and an opening '(', and puts one
12276 space between a comma and the beginning of a word.
12278 ** Scheme mode changes.
12280 *** Scheme mode indentation now uses many of the facilities of Lisp
12281 mode; therefore, the variables to customize it are the variables used
12282 for Lisp mode which have names starting with `lisp-'. The variables
12283 with names starting with `scheme-' which used to do this no longer
12286 If you want to use different indentation for Scheme and Lisp, this is
12287 still possible, but now you must do it by adding a hook to
12288 scheme-mode-hook, which could work by setting the `lisp-' indentation
12289 variables as buffer-local variables.
12291 *** DSSSL mode is a variant of Scheme mode, for editing DSSSL scripts.
12292 Use M-x dsssl-mode.
12294 ** Changes to the emacsclient program
12296 *** If a socket can't be found, and environment variables LOGNAME or
12297 USER are set, emacsclient now looks for a socket based on the UID
12298 associated with the name. That is an emacsclient running as root
12299 can connect to an Emacs server started by a non-root user.
12301 *** The emacsclient program now accepts an option --no-wait which tells
12302 it to return immediately without waiting for you to "finish" the
12305 *** The new option --alternate-editor allows to specify an editor to
12306 use if Emacs is not running. The environment variable
12307 ALTERNATE_EDITOR can be used for the same effect; the command line
12308 option takes precedence.
12310 ** M-x eldoc-mode enables a minor mode in which the echo area
12311 constantly shows the parameter list for function being called at point
12312 (in Emacs Lisp and Lisp Interaction modes only).
12314 ** C-x n d now runs the new command narrow-to-defun,
12315 which narrows the accessible parts of the buffer to just
12318 ** Emacs now handles the `--' argument in the standard way; all
12319 following arguments are treated as ordinary file names.
12321 ** On MSDOS and Windows, the bookmark file is now called _emacs.bmk,
12322 and the saved desktop file is now called _emacs.desktop (truncated if
12325 ** When you kill a buffer that visits a file,
12326 if there are any registers that save positions in the file,
12327 these register values no longer become completely useless.
12328 If you try to go to such a register with C-x j, then you are
12329 asked whether to visit the file again. If you say yes,
12330 it visits the file and then goes to the same position.
12332 ** When you visit a file that changes frequently outside Emacs--for
12333 example, a log of output from a process that continues to run--it may
12334 be useful for Emacs to revert the file without querying you whenever
12335 you visit the file afresh with C-x C-f.
12337 You can request this behavior for certain files by setting the
12338 variable revert-without-query to a list of regular expressions. If a
12339 file's name matches any of these regular expressions, find-file and
12340 revert-buffer revert the buffer without asking for permission--but
12341 only if you have not edited the buffer text yourself.
12343 ** set-default-font has been renamed to set-frame-font
12344 since it applies only to the current frame.
12346 ** In TeX mode, you can use the variable tex-main-file to specify the
12347 file for tex-file to run TeX on. (By default, tex-main-file is nil,
12348 and tex-file runs TeX on the current visited file.)
12350 This is useful when you are editing a document that consists of
12351 multiple files. In each of the included files, you can set up a local
12352 variable list which specifies the top-level file of your document for
12353 tex-main-file. Then tex-file will run TeX on the whole document
12354 instead of just the file you are editing.
12358 RefTeX mode is a new minor mode with special support for \label, \ref
12359 and \cite macros in LaTeX documents. RefTeX distinguishes labels of
12360 different environments (equation, figure, ...) and has full support for
12361 multifile documents. To use it, select a buffer with a LaTeX document and
12362 turn the mode on with M-x reftex-mode. Here are the main user commands:
12365 Creates a label semi-automatically. RefTeX is context sensitive and
12366 knows which kind of label is needed.
12368 C-c ) reftex-reference
12369 Offers in a menu all labels in the document, along with context of the
12370 label definition. The selected label is referenced as \ref{LABEL}.
12372 C-c [ reftex-citation
12373 Prompts for a regular expression and displays a list of matching BibTeX
12374 database entries. The selected entry is cited with a \cite{KEY} macro.
12376 C-c & reftex-view-crossref
12377 Views the cross reference of a \ref or \cite command near point.
12380 Shows a table of contents of the (multifile) document. From there you
12381 can quickly jump to every section.
12383 Under X, RefTeX installs a "Ref" menu in the menu bar, with additional
12384 commands. Press `?' to get help when a prompt mentions this feature.
12385 Full documentation and customization examples are in the file
12386 reftex.el. You can use the finder to view the file documentation:
12387 C-h p --> tex --> reftex.el
12389 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
12391 *** Info documentation is now available.
12393 *** Don't allow parentheses in string constants anymore. This confused
12394 both the BibTeX program and Emacs BibTeX mode.
12396 *** Renamed variable bibtex-mode-user-optional-fields to
12397 bibtex-user-optional-fields.
12399 *** Removed variable bibtex-include-OPTannote
12400 (use bibtex-user-optional-fields instead).
12402 *** New interactive functions to copy and kill fields and complete
12403 entries to the BibTeX kill ring, from where they can be yanked back by
12404 appropriate functions.
12406 *** New interactive functions for repositioning and marking of
12407 entries. They are bound by default to C-M-l and C-M-h.
12409 *** New hook bibtex-clean-entry-hook. It is called after entry has
12412 *** New variable bibtex-field-delimiters, which replaces variables
12413 bibtex-field-{left|right}-delimiter.
12415 *** New variable bibtex-entry-delimiters to determine how entries
12416 shall be delimited.
12418 *** Allow preinitialization of fields. See documentation of
12419 bibtex-user-optional-fields, bibtex-entry-field-alist, and
12420 bibtex-include-OPTkey for details.
12422 *** Book and InBook entries require either an author or an editor
12423 field. This is now supported by bibtex.el. Alternative fields are
12424 prefixed with `ALT'.
12426 *** New variable bibtex-entry-format, which replaces variable
12427 bibtex-clean-entry-zap-empty-opts and allows specification of many
12428 formatting options performed on cleaning an entry (see variable
12431 *** Even more control on how automatic keys are generated. See
12432 documentation of bibtex-generate-autokey for details. Transcriptions
12433 for foreign languages other than German are now handled, too.
12435 *** New boolean user option bibtex-comma-after-last-field to decide if
12436 comma should be inserted at end of last field.
12438 *** New boolean user option bibtex-align-at-equal-sign to determine if
12439 alignment should be made at left side of field contents or at equal
12440 signs. New user options to control entry layout (e.g. indentation).
12442 *** New function bibtex-fill-entry to realign entries.
12444 *** New function bibtex-reformat to reformat region or buffer.
12446 *** New function bibtex-convert-alien to convert a BibTeX database
12447 from alien sources.
12449 *** New function bibtex-complete-key (similar to bibtex-complete-string)
12450 to complete prefix to a key defined in buffer. Mainly useful in
12453 *** New function bibtex-count-entries to count entries in buffer or
12456 *** Added support for imenu.
12458 *** The function `bibtex-validate' now checks current region instead
12459 of buffer if mark is active. Now it shows all errors of buffer in a
12460 `compilation mode' buffer. You can use the normal commands (e.g.
12461 `next-error') for compilation modes to jump to errors.
12463 *** New variable `bibtex-string-file-path' to determine where the files
12464 from `bibtex-string-files' are searched.
12466 ** Iso Accents mode now supports Latin-3 as an alternative.
12468 ** The command next-error now opens blocks hidden by hideshow.
12470 ** The function using-unix-filesystems has been replaced by the
12471 functions add-untranslated-filesystem and remove-untranslated-filesystem.
12472 Each of these functions takes the name of a drive letter or directory
12475 When a filesystem is added as untranslated, all files on it are read
12476 and written in binary mode (no cr/lf translation is performed).
12478 ** browse-url changes
12480 *** New methods for: Grail (browse-url-generic), MMM (browse-url-mmm),
12481 Lynx in a separate xterm (browse-url-lynx-xterm) or in an Emacs window
12482 (browse-url-lynx-emacs), remote W3 (browse-url-w3-gnudoit), generic
12483 non-remote-controlled browsers (browse-url-generic) and associated
12484 customization variables.
12486 *** New commands `browse-url-of-region' and `browse-url'.
12488 *** URLs marked up with <URL:...> (RFC1738) work if broken across
12489 lines. Browsing methods can be associated with URL regexps
12490 (e.g. mailto: URLs) via `browse-url-browser-function'.
12492 ** Changes in Ediff
12494 *** Clicking Mouse-2 on a brief command description in Ediff control panel
12495 pops up the Info file for this command.
12497 *** There is now a variable, ediff-autostore-merges, which controls whether
12498 the result of a merge is saved in a file. By default, this is done only when
12499 merge is done from a session group (eg, when merging files in two different
12502 *** Since Emacs 19.31 (this hasn't been announced before), Ediff can compare
12503 and merge groups of files residing in different directories, or revisions of
12504 files in the same directory.
12506 *** Since Emacs 19.31, Ediff can apply multi-file patches interactively.
12507 The patches must be in the context format or GNU unified format. (The bug
12508 related to the GNU format has now been fixed.)
12510 ** Changes in Viper
12512 *** The startup file is now .viper instead of .vip
12513 *** All variable/function names have been changed to start with viper-
12515 *** C-\ now simulates the meta-key in all Viper states.
12516 *** C-z in Insert state now escapes to Vi for the duration of the next
12517 Viper command. In Vi and Insert states, C-z behaves as before.
12518 *** C-c \ escapes to Vi for one command if Viper is in Insert or Emacs states.
12519 *** _ is no longer the meta-key in Vi state.
12520 *** The variable viper-insert-state-cursor-color can be used to change cursor
12521 color when Viper is in insert state.
12522 *** If search lands the cursor near the top or the bottom of the window,
12523 Viper pulls the window up or down to expose more context. The variable
12524 viper-adjust-window-after-search controls this behavior.
12528 *** In C, C++, Objective C and Java, Etags tags global variables by
12529 default. The resulting tags files are inflated by 30% on average.
12530 Use --no-globals to turn this feature off. Etags can also tag
12531 variables which are members of structure-like constructs, but it does
12532 not by default. Use --members to turn this feature on.
12534 *** C++ member functions are now recognized as tags.
12536 *** Java is tagged like C++. In addition, "extends" and "implements"
12537 constructs are tagged. Files are recognised by the extension .java.
12539 *** Etags can now handle programs written in Postscript. Files are
12540 recognised by the extensions .ps and .pdb (Postscript with C syntax).
12541 In Postscript, tags are lines that start with a slash.
12543 *** Etags now handles Objective C and Objective C++ code. The usual C and
12544 C++ tags are recognized in these languages; in addition, etags
12545 recognizes special Objective C syntax for classes, class categories,
12546 methods and protocols.
12548 *** Etags also handles Cobol. Files are recognised by the extension
12549 .cobol. The tagged lines are those containing a word that begins in
12550 column 8 and ends in a full stop, i.e. anything that could be a
12553 *** Regexps in Etags now support intervals, as in ed or grep. The syntax of
12554 an interval is \{M,N\}, and it means to match the preceding expression
12555 at least M times and as many as N times.
12557 ** The format for specifying a custom format for time-stamp to insert
12558 in files has changed slightly.
12560 With the new enhancements to the functionality of format-time-string,
12561 time-stamp-format will change to be eventually compatible with it.
12562 This conversion is being done in two steps to maintain compatibility
12563 with old time-stamp-format values.
12565 In the new scheme, alternate case is signified by the number-sign
12566 (`#') modifier, rather than changing the case of the format character.
12567 This feature is as yet incompletely implemented for compatibility
12570 In the old time-stamp-format, all numeric fields defaulted to their
12571 natural width. (With format-time-string, each format has a
12572 fixed-width default.) In this version, you can specify the colon
12573 (`:') modifier to a numeric conversion to mean "give me the historical
12574 time-stamp-format width default." Do not use colon if you are
12575 specifying an explicit width, as in "%02d".
12577 Numbers are no longer truncated to the requested width, except in the
12578 case of "%02y", which continues to give a two-digit year. Digit
12579 truncation probably wasn't being used for anything else anyway.
12581 The new formats will work with old versions of Emacs. New formats are
12582 being recommended now to allow time-stamp-format to change in the
12583 future to be compatible with format-time-string. The new forms being
12584 recommended now will continue to work then.
12586 See the documentation string for the variable time-stamp-format for
12589 ** There are some additional major modes:
12591 dcl-mode, for editing VMS DCL files.
12592 m4-mode, for editing files of m4 input.
12593 meta-mode, for editing MetaFont and MetaPost source files.
12595 ** In Shell mode, the command shell-copy-environment-variable lets you
12596 copy the value of a specified environment variable from the subshell
12599 ** New Lisp packages include:
12601 *** battery.el displays battery status for laptops.
12603 *** M-x bruce (named after Lenny Bruce) is a program that might
12604 be used for adding some indecent words to your email.
12606 *** M-x crisp-mode enables an emulation for the CRiSP editor.
12608 *** M-x dirtrack arranges for better tracking of directory changes
12611 *** The new library elint.el provides for linting of Emacs Lisp code.
12612 See the documentation for `elint-initialize', `elint-current-buffer'
12615 *** M-x expand-add-abbrevs defines a special kind of abbrev which is
12616 meant for programming constructs. These abbrevs expand like ordinary
12617 ones, when you type SPC, but only at the end of a line and not within
12618 strings or comments.
12620 These abbrevs can act as templates: you can define places within an
12621 abbrev for insertion of additional text. Once you expand the abbrev,
12622 you can then use C-x a p and C-x a n to move back and forth to these
12623 insertion points. Thus you can conveniently insert additional text
12626 *** filecache.el remembers the location of files so that you
12627 can visit them by short forms of their names.
12629 *** find-func.el lets you find the definition of the user-loaded
12630 Emacs Lisp function at point.
12632 *** M-x handwrite converts text to a "handwritten" picture.
12634 *** M-x iswitchb-buffer is a command for switching to a buffer, much like
12635 switch-buffer, but it reads the argument in a more helpful way.
12637 *** M-x landmark implements a neural network for landmark learning.
12639 *** M-x locate provides a convenient interface to the `locate' program.
12641 *** M4 mode is a new mode for editing files of m4 input.
12643 *** mantemp.el creates C++ manual template instantiations
12644 from the GCC error messages which indicate which instantiations are needed.
12646 *** mouse-copy.el provides a one-click copy and move feature.
12647 You can drag a region with M-mouse-1, and it is automatically
12648 inserted at point. M-Shift-mouse-1 deletes the text from its
12649 original place after inserting the copy.
12651 *** mouse-drag.el lets you do scrolling by dragging Mouse-2
12654 You click the mouse and move; that distance either translates into the
12655 velocity to scroll (with mouse-drag-throw) or the distance to scroll
12656 (with mouse-drag-drag). Horizontal scrolling is enabled when needed.
12658 Enable mouse-drag with:
12659 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-throw)
12661 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-drag)
12663 *** mspools.el is useful for determining which mail folders have
12664 mail waiting to be read in them. It works with procmail.
12666 *** Octave mode is a major mode for editing files of input for Octave.
12667 It comes with a facility for communicating with an Octave subprocess.
12671 The ogonek package provides functions for changing the coding of
12672 Polish diacritic characters in buffers. Codings known from various
12673 platforms are supported such as ISO8859-2, Mazovia, IBM Latin2, and
12674 TeX. For example, you can change the coding from Mazovia to
12675 ISO8859-2. Another example is a change of coding from ISO8859-2 to
12676 prefix notation (in which `/a' stands for the aogonek character, for
12677 instance) and vice versa.
12679 To use this package load it using
12680 M-x load-library [enter] ogonek
12681 Then, you may get an explanation by calling one of
12682 M-x ogonek-jak -- in Polish
12683 M-x ogonek-how -- in English
12684 The info specifies the commands and variables provided as well as the
12685 ways of customization in `.emacs'.
12687 *** Interface to ph.
12689 Emacs provides a client interface to CCSO Nameservers (ph/qi)
12691 The CCSO nameserver is used in many universities to provide directory
12692 services about people. ph.el provides a convenient Emacs interface to
12695 *** uce.el is useful for replying to unsolicited commercial email.
12697 *** vcursor.el implements a "virtual cursor" feature.
12698 You can move the virtual cursor with special commands
12699 while the real cursor does not move.
12701 *** webjump.el is a "hot list" package which you can set up
12702 for visiting your favorite web sites.
12704 *** M-x winner-mode is a minor mode which saves window configurations,
12705 so you can move back to other configurations that you have recently used.
12709 Movemail no longer needs to be installed setuid root in order for POP
12710 mail retrieval to function properly. This is because it no longer
12711 supports the RPOP (reserved-port POP) protocol; instead, it uses the
12712 user's POP password to authenticate to the mail server.
12714 This change was made earlier, but not reported in NEWS before.
12716 * Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows.
12718 ** Changes in handling MS-DOS/MS-Windows text files.
12720 Emacs handles three different conventions for representing
12721 end-of-line: CRLF for MSDOS, LF for Unix and GNU, and CR (used on the
12722 Macintosh). Emacs determines which convention is used in a specific
12723 file based on the contents of that file (except for certain special
12724 file names), and when it saves the file, it uses the same convention.
12726 To save the file and change the end-of-line convention, you can use
12727 C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system) to specify a different
12728 coding system for the buffer. Then, when you save the file, the newly
12729 specified coding system will take effect. For example, to save with
12730 LF, specify undecided-unix (or some other ...-unix coding system); to
12731 save with CRLF, specify undecided-dos.
12733 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 20.1
12735 ** Byte-compiled files made with Emacs 20 will, in general, work in
12736 Emacs 19 as well, as long as the source code runs in Emacs 19. And
12737 vice versa: byte-compiled files made with Emacs 19 should also run in
12738 Emacs 20, as long as the program itself works in Emacs 20.
12740 ** Windows-specific functions and variables have been renamed
12741 to start with w32- instead of win32-.
12743 In hacker language, calling something a "win" is a form of praise. We
12744 don't want to praise a non-free Microsoft system, so we don't call it
12747 ** Basic Lisp changes
12749 *** A symbol whose name starts with a colon now automatically
12750 evaluates to itself. Therefore such a symbol can be used as a constant.
12752 *** The defined purpose of `defconst' has been changed. It should now
12753 be used only for values that should not be changed whether by a program
12756 The actual behavior of defconst has not been changed.
12758 *** There are new macros `when' and `unless'
12760 (when CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION (progn BODY...))
12761 (unless CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION nil BODY...)
12763 *** Emacs now defines functions caar, cadr, cdar and cddr with their
12764 usual Lisp meanings. For example, caar returns the car of the car of
12767 *** equal, when comparing strings, now ignores their text properties.
12769 *** The new function `functionp' tests whether an object is a function.
12771 *** arrayp now returns t for char-tables and bool-vectors.
12773 *** Certain primitives which use characters (as integers) now get an
12774 error if the integer is not a valid character code. These primitives
12775 include insert-char, char-to-string, and the %c construct in the
12778 *** The `require' function now insists on adding a suffix, either .el
12779 or .elc, to the file name. Thus, (require 'foo) will not use a file
12780 whose name is just foo. It insists on foo.el or foo.elc.
12782 *** The `autoload' function, when the file name does not contain
12783 either a directory name or the suffix .el or .elc, insists on
12784 adding one of these suffixes.
12786 *** string-to-number now takes an optional second argument BASE
12787 which specifies the base to use when converting an integer.
12788 If BASE is omitted, base 10 is used.
12790 We have not implemented other radices for floating point numbers,
12791 because that would be much more work and does not seem useful.
12793 *** substring now handles vectors as well as strings.
12795 *** The Common Lisp function eql is no longer defined normally.
12796 You must load the `cl' library to define it.
12798 *** The new macro `with-current-buffer' lets you evaluate an expression
12799 conveniently with a different current buffer. It looks like this:
12801 (with-current-buffer BUFFER BODY-FORMS...)
12803 BUFFER is the expression that says which buffer to use.
12804 BODY-FORMS say what to do in that buffer.
12806 *** The new primitive `save-current-buffer' saves and restores the
12807 choice of current buffer, like `save-excursion', but without saving or
12808 restoring the value of point or the mark. `with-current-buffer'
12809 works using `save-current-buffer'.
12811 *** The new macro `with-temp-file' lets you do some work in a new buffer and
12812 write the output to a specified file. Like `progn', it returns the value
12815 *** The new macro `with-temp-buffer' lets you do some work in a new buffer,
12816 which is discarded after use. Like `progn', it returns the value of the
12817 last form. If you wish to return the buffer contents, use (buffer-string)
12820 *** The new function split-string takes a string, splits it at certain
12821 characters, and returns a list of the substrings in between the
12824 For example, (split-string "foo bar lose" " +") returns ("foo" "bar" "lose").
12826 *** The new macro with-output-to-string executes some Lisp expressions
12827 with standard-output set up so that all output feeds into a string.
12828 Then it returns that string.
12830 For example, if the current buffer name is `foo',
12832 (with-output-to-string
12833 (princ "The buffer is ")
12834 (princ (buffer-name)))
12836 returns "The buffer is foo".
12838 ** Non-ASCII characters are now supported, if enable-multibyte-characters
12841 These characters have character codes above 256. When inserted in the
12842 buffer or stored in a string, they are represented as multibyte
12843 characters that occupy several buffer positions each.
12845 *** When enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, a single character in
12846 a buffer or string can be two or more bytes (as many as four).
12848 Buffers and strings are still made up of unibyte elements;
12849 character positions and string indices are always measured in bytes.
12850 Therefore, moving forward one character can increase the buffer
12851 position by 2, 3 or 4. The function forward-char moves by whole
12852 characters, and therefore is no longer equivalent to
12853 (lambda (n) (goto-char (+ (point) n))).
12855 ASCII characters (codes 0 through 127) are still single bytes, always.
12856 Sequences of byte values 128 through 255 are used to represent
12857 non-ASCII characters. These sequences are called "multibyte
12860 The first byte of a multibyte character is always in the range 128
12861 through 159 (octal 0200 through 0237). These values are called
12862 "leading codes". The second and subsequent bytes are always in the
12863 range 160 through 255 (octal 0240 through 0377). The first byte, the
12864 leading code, determines how many bytes long the sequence is.
12866 *** The function forward-char moves over characters, and therefore
12867 (forward-char 1) may increase point by more than 1 if it moves over a
12868 multibyte character. Likewise, delete-char always deletes a
12869 character, which may be more than one buffer position.
12871 This means that some Lisp programs, which assume that a character is
12872 always one buffer position, need to be changed.
12874 However, all ASCII characters are always one buffer position.
12876 *** The regexp [\200-\377] no longer matches all non-ASCII characters,
12877 because when enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, these characters
12878 have codes that are not in the range octal 200 to octal 377. However,
12879 the regexp [^\000-\177] does match all non-ASCII characters,
12882 *** The function char-boundary-p returns non-nil if position POS is
12883 between two characters in the buffer (not in the middle of a
12886 When the value is non-nil, it says what kind of character follows POS:
12888 0 if POS is at an ASCII character or at the end of range,
12889 1 if POS is before a 2-byte length multi-byte form,
12890 2 if POS is at a head of 3-byte length multi-byte form,
12891 3 if POS is at a head of 4-byte length multi-byte form,
12892 4 if POS is at a head of multi-byte form of a composite character.
12894 *** The function char-bytes returns how many bytes the character CHAR uses.
12896 *** Strings can contain multibyte characters. The function
12897 `length' returns the string length counting bytes, which may be
12898 more than the number of characters.
12900 You can include a multibyte character in a string constant by writing
12901 it literally. You can also represent it with a hex escape,
12902 \xNNNNNNN..., using as many digits as necessary. Any character which
12903 is not a valid hex digit terminates this construct. If you want to
12904 follow it with a character that is a hex digit, write backslash and
12905 newline in between; that will terminate the hex escape.
12907 *** The function concat-chars takes arguments which are characters
12908 and returns a string containing those characters.
12910 *** The function sref access a multibyte character in a string.
12911 (sref STRING INDX) returns the character in STRING at INDEX. INDEX
12912 counts from zero. If INDEX is at a position in the middle of a
12913 character, sref signals an error.
12915 *** The function chars-in-string returns the number of characters
12916 in a string. This is less than the length of the string, if the
12917 string contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
12919 *** The function chars-in-region returns the number of characters
12920 in a region from BEG to END. This is less than (- END BEG) if the
12921 region contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
12923 *** The function string-to-list converts a string to a list of
12924 the characters in it. string-to-vector converts a string
12925 to a vector of the characters in it.
12927 *** The function store-substring alters part of the contents
12928 of a string. You call it as follows:
12930 (store-substring STRING IDX OBJ)
12932 This says to alter STRING, by storing OBJ starting at index IDX in
12933 STRING. OBJ may be either a character or a (smaller) string.
12934 This function really does alter the contents of STRING.
12935 Since it is impossible to change the length of an existing string,
12936 it is an error if OBJ doesn't fit within STRING's actual length.
12938 *** char-width returns the width (in columns) of the character CHAR,
12939 if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
12941 *** string-width returns the width (in columns) of the text in STRING,
12942 if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
12944 *** truncate-string-to-width shortens a string, if necessary,
12945 to fit within a certain number of columns. (Of course, it does
12946 not alter the string that you give it; it returns a new string
12947 which contains all or just part of the existing string.)
12949 (truncate-string-to-width STR END-COLUMN &optional START-COLUMN PADDING)
12951 This returns the part of STR up to column END-COLUMN.
12953 The optional argument START-COLUMN specifies the starting column.
12954 If this is non-nil, then the first START-COLUMN columns of the string
12955 are not included in the resulting value.
12957 The optional argument PADDING, if non-nil, is a padding character to be added
12958 at the beginning and end the resulting string, to extend it to exactly
12959 WIDTH columns. If PADDING is nil, that means do not pad; then, if STRING
12960 is narrower than WIDTH, the value is equal to STRING.
12962 If PADDING and START-COLUMN are both non-nil, and if there is no clean
12963 place in STRING that corresponds to START-COLUMN (because one
12964 character extends across that column), then the padding character
12965 PADDING is added one or more times at the beginning of the result
12966 string, so that its columns line up as if it really did start at
12967 column START-COLUMN.
12969 *** When the functions in the list after-change-functions are called,
12970 the third argument is the number of bytes in the pre-change text, not
12971 necessarily the number of characters. It is, in effect, the
12972 difference in buffer position between the beginning and the end of the
12973 changed text, before the change.
12975 *** The characters Emacs uses are classified in various character
12976 sets, each of which has a name which is a symbol. In general there is
12977 one character set for each script, not for each language.
12979 **** The function charsetp tests whether an object is a character set name.
12981 **** The variable charset-list holds a list of character set names.
12983 **** char-charset, given a character code, returns the name of the character
12984 set that the character belongs to. (The value is a symbol.)
12986 **** split-char, given a character code, returns a list containing the
12987 name of the character set, followed by one or two byte-values
12988 which identify the character within that character set.
12990 **** make-char, given a character set name and one or two subsequent
12991 byte-values, constructs a character code. This is roughly the
12992 opposite of split-char.
12994 **** find-charset-region returns a list of the character sets
12995 of all the characters between BEG and END.
12997 **** find-charset-string returns a list of the character sets
12998 of all the characters in a string.
13000 *** Here are the Lisp facilities for working with coding systems
13001 and specifying coding systems.
13003 **** The function coding-system-list returns a list of all coding
13004 system names (symbols). With optional argument t, it returns a list
13005 of all distinct base coding systems, not including variants.
13006 (Variant coding systems are those like latin-1-dos, latin-1-unix
13007 and latin-1-mac which specify the end-of-line conversion as well
13008 as what to do about code conversion.)
13010 **** coding-system-p tests a symbol to see if it is a coding system
13011 name. It returns t if so, nil if not.
13013 **** file-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
13014 for certain file names. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
13015 except that the PATTERN is matched against the file name.
13017 Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
13018 which file names the element applies to. PATTERN should be a regexp
13019 to match against a file name.
13021 VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
13022 a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
13023 decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
13024 to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
13025 systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
13026 specifies the coding system for encoding.
13028 If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
13029 or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
13031 **** The variable network-coding-system-alist specifies
13032 the coding system to use for network sockets.
13034 Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
13035 which network sockets the element applies to. PATTERN should be
13036 either a port number or a regular expression matching some network
13039 VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
13040 a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
13041 decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
13042 to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
13043 systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
13044 specifies the coding system for encoding.
13046 If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
13047 or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
13049 **** process-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
13050 for certain subprocess. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
13051 except that the PATTERN is matched against the program name used to
13052 start the subprocess.
13054 **** The variable default-process-coding-system specifies the coding
13055 systems to use for subprocess (and net connection) input and output,
13056 when nothing else specifies what to do. The value is a cons cell
13057 (OUTPUT-CODING . INPUT-CODING). OUTPUT-CODING applies to output
13058 to the subprocess, and INPUT-CODING applies to input from it.
13060 **** The variable coding-system-for-write, if non-nil, specifies the
13061 coding system to use for writing a file, or for output to a synchronous
13064 It also applies to any asynchronous subprocess or network connection,
13065 but in a different way: the value of coding-system-for-write when you
13066 start the subprocess or connection affects that subprocess or
13067 connection permanently or until overridden.
13069 The variable coding-system-for-write takes precedence over
13070 file-coding-system-alist, process-coding-system-alist and
13071 network-coding-system-alist, and all other methods of specifying a
13072 coding system for output. But most of the time this variable is nil.
13073 It exists so that Lisp programs can bind it to a specific coding
13074 system for one operation at a time.
13076 **** coding-system-for-read applies similarly to input from
13077 files, subprocesses or network connections.
13079 **** The function process-coding-system tells you what
13080 coding systems(s) an existing subprocess is using.
13081 The value is a cons cell,
13082 (DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM . ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM)
13083 where DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for decoding output from
13084 the subprocess, and ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for encoding
13085 input to the subprocess.
13087 **** The function set-process-coding-system can be used to
13088 change the coding systems in use for an existing subprocess.
13090 ** Emacs has a new facility to help users manage the many
13091 customization options. To make a Lisp program work with this facility,
13092 you need to use the new macros defgroup and defcustom.
13094 You use defcustom instead of defvar, for defining a user option
13095 variable. The difference is that you specify two additional pieces of
13096 information (usually): the "type" which says what values are
13097 legitimate, and the "group" which specifies the hierarchy for
13100 Thus, instead of writing
13102 (defvar foo-blurgoze nil
13103 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely.")
13105 you would now write this:
13107 (defcustom foo-blurgoze nil
13108 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely."
13112 The type `boolean' means that this variable has only
13113 two meaningful states: nil and non-nil. Other type values
13114 describe other possibilities; see the manual for Custom
13115 for a description of them.
13117 The "group" argument is used to specify a group which the option
13118 should belong to. You define a new group like this:
13120 (defgroup ispell nil
13121 "Spell checking using Ispell."
13124 The "group" argument in defgroup specifies the parent group. The root
13125 group is called `emacs'; it should not contain any variables itself,
13126 but only other groups. The immediate subgroups of `emacs' correspond
13127 to the keywords used by C-h p. Under these subgroups come
13128 second-level subgroups that belong to individual packages.
13130 Each Emacs package should have its own set of groups. A simple
13131 package should have just one group; a more complex package should
13132 have a hierarchy of its own groups. The sole or root group of a
13133 package should be a subgroup of one or more of the "keyword"
13134 first-level subgroups.
13136 ** New `widget' library for inserting UI components in buffers.
13138 This library, used by the new custom library, is documented in a
13139 separate manual that accompanies Emacs.
13143 The easy-mmode package provides macros and functions that make
13144 developing minor modes easier. Roughly, the programmer has to code
13145 only the functionality of the minor mode. All the rest--toggles,
13146 predicate, and documentation--can be done in one call to the macro
13147 `easy-mmode-define-minor-mode' (see the documentation). See also
13148 `easy-mmode-define-keymap'.
13150 ** Text property changes
13152 *** The `intangible' property now works on overlays as well as on a
13155 *** The new functions next-char-property-change and
13156 previous-char-property-change scan through the buffer looking for a
13157 place where either a text property or an overlay might change. The
13158 functions take two arguments, POSITION and LIMIT. POSITION is the
13159 starting position for the scan. LIMIT says where to stop the scan.
13161 If no property change is found before LIMIT, the value is LIMIT. If
13162 LIMIT is nil, scan goes to the beginning or end of the accessible part
13163 of the buffer. If no property change is found, the value is the
13164 position of the beginning or end of the buffer.
13166 *** In the `local-map' text property or overlay property, the property
13167 value can now be a symbol whose function definition is a keymap. This
13168 is an alternative to using the keymap itself.
13170 ** Changes in invisibility features
13172 *** Isearch can now temporarily show parts of the buffer which are
13173 hidden by an overlay with a invisible property, when the search match
13174 is inside that portion of the buffer. To enable this the overlay
13175 should have a isearch-open-invisible property which is a function that
13176 would be called having the overlay as an argument, the function should
13177 make the overlay visible.
13179 During incremental search the overlays are shown by modifying the
13180 invisible and intangible properties, if beside this more actions are
13181 needed the overlay should have a isearch-open-invisible-temporary
13182 which is a function. The function is called with 2 arguments: one is
13183 the overlay and the second is nil when it should show the overlay and
13184 t when it should hide it.
13186 *** add-to-invisibility-spec, remove-from-invisibility-spec
13188 Modes that use overlays to hide portions of a buffer should set the
13189 invisible property of the overlay to the mode's name (or another symbol)
13190 and modify the `buffer-invisibility-spec' to include that symbol.
13191 Use `add-to-invisibility-spec' and `remove-from-invisibility-spec' to
13192 manipulate the `buffer-invisibility-spec'.
13193 Here is an example of how to do this:
13195 ;; If we want to display an ellipsis:
13196 (add-to-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
13197 ;; If you don't want ellipsis:
13198 (add-to-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
13201 (overlay-put (make-overlay beginning end) 'invisible 'my-symbol)
13204 ;; When done with the overlays:
13205 (remove-from-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
13206 ;; Or respectively:
13207 (remove-from-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
13209 ** Changes in syntax parsing.
13211 *** The syntax-directed buffer-scan functions (such as
13212 `parse-partial-sexp', `forward-word' and similar functions) can now
13213 obey syntax information specified by text properties, if the variable
13214 `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil.
13216 If the value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is nil, the behavior
13217 is as before: the syntax-table of the current buffer is always
13218 used to determine the syntax of the character at the position.
13220 When `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil, the syntax of a
13221 character in the buffer is calculated thus:
13223 a) if the `syntax-table' text-property of that character
13224 is a cons, this cons becomes the syntax-type;
13226 Valid values of `syntax-table' text-property are: nil, a valid
13227 syntax-table, and a valid syntax-table element, i.e.,
13228 a cons cell of the form (SYNTAX-CODE . MATCHING-CHAR).
13230 b) if the character's `syntax-table' text-property
13231 is a syntax table, this syntax table is used
13232 (instead of the syntax-table of the current buffer) to
13233 determine the syntax type of the character.
13235 c) otherwise the syntax-type is determined by the syntax-table
13236 of the current buffer.
13238 *** The meaning of \s in regular expressions is also affected by the
13239 value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties'. The details are the same as
13240 for the syntax-directed buffer-scan functions.
13242 *** There are two new syntax-codes, `!' and `|' (numeric values 14
13243 and 15). A character with a code `!' starts a comment which is ended
13244 only by another character with the same code (unless quoted). A
13245 character with a code `|' starts a string which is ended only by
13246 another character with the same code (unless quoted).
13248 These codes are mainly meant for use as values of the `syntax-table'
13251 *** The function `parse-partial-sexp' has new semantics for the sixth
13252 arg COMMENTSTOP. If it is `syntax-table', parse stops after the start
13253 of a comment or a string, or after end of a comment or a string.
13255 *** The state-list which the return value from `parse-partial-sexp'
13256 (and can also be used as an argument) now has an optional ninth
13257 element: the character address of the start of last comment or string;
13258 nil if none. The fourth and eighth elements have special values if the
13259 string/comment is started by a "!" or "|" syntax-code.
13261 *** Since new features of `parse-partial-sexp' allow a complete
13262 syntactic parsing, `font-lock' no longer supports
13263 `font-lock-comment-start-regexp'.
13265 ** Changes in face features
13267 *** The face functions are now unconditionally defined in Emacs, even
13268 if it does not support displaying on a device that supports faces.
13270 *** The function face-documentation returns the documentation string
13271 of a face (or nil if it doesn't have one).
13273 *** The function face-bold-p returns t if a face should be bold.
13274 set-face-bold-p sets that flag.
13276 *** The function face-italic-p returns t if a face should be italic.
13277 set-face-italic-p sets that flag.
13279 *** You can now specify foreground and background colors for text
13280 by adding elements of the form (foreground-color . COLOR-NAME)
13281 and (background-color . COLOR-NAME) to the list of faces in
13282 the `face' property (either the character's text property or an
13285 This means that you no longer need to create named faces to use
13286 arbitrary colors in a Lisp package.
13288 ** Changes in file-handling functions
13290 *** File-access primitive functions no longer discard an extra redundant
13291 directory name from the beginning of the file name. In other words,
13292 they no longer do anything special with // or /~. That conversion
13293 is now done only in substitute-in-file-name.
13295 This makes it possible for a Lisp program to open a file whose name
13298 *** If copy-file is unable to set the date of the output file,
13299 it now signals an error with the condition file-date-error.
13301 *** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
13302 the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a list of integers.
13304 *** insert-file-contents can now read from a special file,
13305 as long as the arguments VISIT and REPLACE are nil.
13307 *** The RAWFILE arg to find-file-noselect, if non-nil, now suppresses
13308 character code conversion as well as other things.
13310 Meanwhile, this feature does work with remote file names
13311 (formerly it did not).
13313 *** Lisp packages which create temporary files should use the TMPDIR
13314 environment variable to decide which directory to put them in.
13316 *** interpreter-mode-alist elements now specify regexps
13317 instead of constant strings.
13319 *** expand-file-name no longer treats `//' or `/~' specially. It used
13320 to delete all the text of a file name up through the first slash of
13321 any `//' or `/~' sequence. Now it passes them straight through.
13323 substitute-in-file-name continues to treat those sequences specially,
13324 in the same way as before.
13326 *** The variable `format-alist' is more general now.
13327 The FROM-FN and TO-FN in a format definition can now be strings
13328 which specify shell commands to use as filters to perform conversion.
13330 *** The new function access-file tries to open a file, and signals an
13331 error if that fails. If the open succeeds, access-file does nothing
13332 else, and returns nil.
13334 *** The function insert-directory now signals an error if the specified
13335 directory cannot be listed.
13337 ** Changes in minibuffer input
13339 *** The functions read-buffer, read-variable, read-command, read-string
13340 read-file-name, read-from-minibuffer and completing-read now take an
13341 additional argument which specifies the default value. If this
13342 argument is non-nil, it should be a string; that string is used in two
13345 It is returned if the user enters empty input.
13346 It is available through the history command M-n.
13348 *** The functions read-string, read-from-minibuffer,
13349 read-no-blanks-input and completing-read now take an additional
13350 argument INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. If this is non-nil, then the
13351 minibuffer inherits the current input method and the setting of
13352 enable-multibyte-characters from the previously current buffer.
13354 In an interactive spec, you can use M instead of s to read an
13355 argument in this way.
13357 *** All minibuffer input functions discard text properties
13358 from the text you enter in the minibuffer, unless the variable
13359 minibuffer-allow-text-properties is non-nil.
13361 ** Echo area features
13363 *** Clearing the echo area now runs the normal hook
13364 echo-area-clear-hook. Note that the echo area can be used while the
13365 minibuffer is active; in that case, the minibuffer is still active
13366 after the echo area is cleared.
13368 *** The function current-message returns the message currently displayed
13369 in the echo area, or nil if there is none.
13371 ** Keyboard input features
13373 *** tty-erase-char is a new variable that reports which character was
13374 set up as the terminal's erase character when time Emacs was started.
13376 *** num-nonmacro-input-events is the total number of input events
13377 received so far from the terminal. It does not count those generated
13378 by keyboard macros.
13380 ** Frame-related changes
13382 *** make-frame runs the normal hook before-make-frame-hook just before
13383 creating a frame, and just after creating a frame it runs the abnormal
13384 hook after-make-frame-functions with the new frame as arg.
13386 *** The new hook window-configuration-change-hook is now run every time
13387 the window configuration has changed. The frame whose configuration
13388 has changed is the selected frame when the hook is run.
13390 *** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
13391 selected buffers, in its buffer-list frame parameter, so that the
13392 value of other-buffer is now based on the buffers recently displayed
13393 in the selected frame.
13395 *** The value of the frame parameter vertical-scroll-bars
13396 is now `left', `right' or nil. A non-nil value specifies
13397 which side of the window to put the scroll bars on.
13399 ** X Windows features
13401 *** You can examine X resources for other applications by binding
13402 x-resource-class around a call to x-get-resource. The usual value of
13403 x-resource-class is "Emacs", which is the correct value for Emacs.
13405 *** In menus, checkboxes and radio buttons now actually work.
13406 The menu displays the current status of the box or button.
13408 *** The function x-list-fonts now takes an optional fourth argument
13409 MAXIMUM which sets a limit on how many matching fonts to return.
13410 A smaller value of MAXIMUM makes the function faster.
13412 If the only question is whether *any* font matches the pattern,
13413 it is good to supply 1 for this argument.
13415 ** Subprocess features
13417 *** A reminder: it is no longer necessary for subprocess filter
13418 functions and sentinels to do save-match-data, because Emacs does this
13421 *** The new function shell-command-to-string executes a shell command
13422 and returns the output from the command as a string.
13424 *** The new function process-contact returns t for a child process,
13425 and (HOSTNAME SERVICE) for a net connection.
13427 ** An error in running pre-command-hook or post-command-hook
13428 does clear the variable to nil. The documentation was wrong before.
13430 ** In define-key-after, if AFTER is t, the new binding now always goes
13431 at the end of the keymap. If the keymap is a menu, this means it
13432 goes after the other menu items.
13434 ** If you have a program that makes several changes in the same area
13435 of the buffer, you can use the macro combine-after-change-calls
13436 around that Lisp code to make it faster when after-change hooks
13439 The macro arranges to call the after-change functions just once for a
13440 series of several changes--if that seems safe.
13442 Don't alter the variables after-change-functions and
13443 after-change-function within the body of a combine-after-change-calls
13446 ** If you define an abbrev (with define-abbrev) whose EXPANSION
13447 is not a string, then the abbrev does not expand in the usual sense,
13448 but its hook is still run.
13450 ** Normally, the Lisp debugger is not used (even if you have enabled it)
13451 for errors that are handled by condition-case.
13453 If you set debug-on-signal to a non-nil value, then the debugger is called
13454 regardless of whether there is a handler for the condition. This is
13455 useful for debugging problems that happen inside of a condition-case.
13457 This mode of operation seems to be unreliable in other ways. Errors that
13458 are normal and ought to be handled, perhaps in timers or process
13459 filters, will instead invoke the debugger. So don't say you weren't
13462 ** The new variable ring-bell-function lets you specify your own
13463 way for Emacs to "ring the bell".
13465 ** If run-at-time's TIME argument is t, the action is repeated at
13466 integral multiples of REPEAT from the epoch; this is useful for
13467 functions like display-time.
13469 ** You can use the function locate-library to find the precise file
13470 name of a Lisp library. This isn't new, but wasn't documented before.
13472 ** Commands for entering view mode have new optional arguments that
13473 can be used from Lisp. Low-level entrance to and exit from view mode
13474 is done by functions view-mode-enter and view-mode-exit.
13476 ** batch-byte-compile-file now makes Emacs return a nonzero status code
13477 if there is an error in compilation.
13479 ** pop-to-buffer, switch-to-buffer-other-window and
13480 switch-to-buffer-other-frame now accept an additional optional
13481 argument NORECORD, much like switch-to-buffer. If it is non-nil,
13482 they don't put the buffer at the front of the buffer list.
13484 ** If your .emacs file leaves the *scratch* buffer non-empty,
13485 Emacs does not display the startup message, so as to avoid changing
13486 the *scratch* buffer.
13488 ** The new function regexp-opt returns an efficient regexp to match a string.
13489 The arguments are STRINGS and (optionally) PAREN. This function can be used
13490 where regexp matching or searching is intensively used and speed is important,
13491 e.g., in Font Lock mode.
13493 ** The variable buffer-display-count is local to each buffer,
13494 and is incremented each time the buffer is displayed in a window.
13495 It starts at 0 when the buffer is created.
13497 ** The new function compose-mail starts composing a mail message
13498 using the user's chosen mail composition agent (specified with the
13499 variable mail-user-agent). It has variants compose-mail-other-window
13500 and compose-mail-other-frame.
13502 ** The `user-full-name' function now takes an optional parameter which
13503 can either be a number (the UID) or a string (the login name). The
13504 full name of the specified user will be returned.
13506 ** Lisp packages that load files of customizations, or any other sort
13507 of user profile, should obey the variable init-file-user in deciding
13508 where to find it. They should load the profile of the user name found
13509 in that variable. If init-file-user is nil, meaning that the -q
13510 option was used, then Lisp packages should not load the customization
13513 ** format-time-string now allows you to specify the field width
13514 and type of padding. This works as in printf: you write the field
13515 width as digits in the middle of a %-construct. If you start
13516 the field width with 0, it means to pad with zeros.
13518 For example, %S normally specifies the number of seconds since the
13519 minute; %03S means to pad this with zeros to 3 positions, %_3S to pad
13520 with spaces to 3 positions. Plain %3S pads with zeros, because that
13521 is how %S normally pads to two positions.
13523 ** thing-at-point now supports a new kind of "thing": url.
13525 ** imenu.el changes.
13527 You can now specify a function to be run when selecting an
13528 item from menu created by imenu.
13530 An example of using this feature: if we define imenu items for the
13531 #include directives in a C file, we can open the included file when we
13532 select one of those items.
13534 * For older news, see the file ONEWS
13536 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
13537 Copyright information:
13539 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
13541 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
13542 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
13543 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
13544 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
13546 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
13547 of this document, or of portions of it,
13548 under the above conditions, provided also that they
13549 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
13553 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"
13556 arch-tag: 1aca9dfa-2ac4-4d14-bebf-0007cee12793