1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes.
3 Copyright (C) 2007 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 See the end of the file for license conditions.
6 Please send Emacs bug reports to emacs-pretest-bug@gnu.org.
7 If possible, use M-x report-emacs-bug.
9 This file is about changes in Emacs version 23.
11 See files NEWS.22, NEWS.21, NEWS.20, NEWS.19, NEWS.18, and NEWS.1-17
12 for changes in older Emacs versions.
14 You can narrow news to a specific version by calling `view-emacs-news'
15 with a prefix argument or by typing C-u C-h C-n.
18 +++ indicates that the appropriate manual has already been updated.
19 --- means no change in the manuals is called for.
20 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
21 so we will look at it and add it to the manual.
24 * About external Lisp packages
27 * Installation Changes in Emacs 23.1
29 ** The default X toolkit is now Gtk+, rather than Lucid.
31 ** The Mac Carbon port is no longer supported.
32 Instead, use... [what?]
34 ** configure now checks for libgif before libungif when searching for
37 ** Support for systems without alloca has been removed.
39 ** Support for Sun windows has been removed.
41 ** The `emacstool' utility has been removed.
43 ** The new configuration option "--with-dbus" enables D-Bus language
46 * Changes in Emacs 23.1
48 ** Emacs now supports using both X displays and ttys in one session.
49 You can also use any number of different ttys.
51 You can test for the presence of this feature in your Lisp code by
52 testing for the `multi-tty' feature.
54 ** Emacs comes with a new set of icons for Mac OS X.
55 OS-X-style icons (an application icon and a relevant document icon)
56 were contributed by Kentaro Ohkouchi.
57 Source files for these icons can be found in Emacs.app/Contents/Resources.
58 PNG versions are available as etc/images/icons/emacs*_mac.png.
60 ** Built-in functions (subr) can now have an interactive specification
61 that is not a prompt string. If the `intspec' parameter of a `DEFUN'
62 starts with a `(', the string is evaluated as a Lisp form.
64 ** set-file-modes is now interactive and can take the mode value in
65 symbolic notation thanks to auxiliary functions.
67 ** split-window-preferred-function specifies whether display-buffer should
68 split windows vertically or horizontally.
70 ** Emacsclient has been extended to support opening a new terminal
71 frame. Its behavior has been changed to open a new Emacs frame by
72 default. Use the -c option to get the old behavior of opening files in
73 the currently selected Emacs frame.
75 ** The refcards are now shipped as PDF files.
77 ** Emacs now supports the SVG image format through librsvg2.
79 ** If you set find-file-confirm-nonexistent-file to t, then C-x C-f
80 requires confirmation before opening a non-existent file.
82 ** If the gpm mouse server is running and t-mouse-mode enabled, Emacs uses a
83 Unix socket in a GNU/Linux console to talk to server, rather than faking events
84 using the client program mev. This C level approach provides mouse
85 highlighting, and help echoing in the minibuffer.
87 ** The new variable next-error-recenter specifies how next-error should
88 recenter the visited source file. Its value can be a number (for example,
89 0 for top line, -1 for bottom line), or nil for no recentering.
91 ** The mode-line displays a `@' if the default-directory for the current buffer
92 is on a remote machine, or a hyphen otherwise.
94 ** The mode-line displays a mode menu when mouse-1 is clicked on a minor mode,
95 in the same way as it already did for major modes.
97 ** The new command balance-windows-area balances windows both vertically
100 ** The new command close-display-connection can be used to close a connection
101 to a remote display, e.g. because the display is about to become unreachable.
103 ** The command shell prompts for the default directory, when it is
104 called with a prefix, and the default directory is a remote file name.
105 This is because some file name handlers (like ange-ftp) are not able to
106 run processes remotely.
108 ** The new command `display-time-world' starts an updating time display
109 using several time zones, in a buffer.
111 * Startup Changes in Emacs 23.1
113 ** New user option `initial-buffer-choice' specifies what to display
114 after starting Emacs: startup screen, *scratch* buffer, visiting a
117 ** New alias `argv' for `command-line-args-left'
118 This is a convenience alias, so that one can write `(pop argv)'
119 inside of --eval command line arguments in order to access
122 ** The abbrev file is no longer read at startup in batch mode.
124 * Incompatible Editing Changes in Emacs 23.1
127 ** In Dired-x, all command guesses for ! are now added to the default
128 list accessible by M-n instead of pushing all guesses temporarily into
132 * Editing Changes in Emacs 23.1
135 ** C-M-% now shows replacement as it would look in the buffer, with
136 `\N' and `\&' substituted according to the match. Old behavior can be
137 restored by customizing `query-replace-show-replacement'.
140 ** M-q now fills the region if the region is active and
141 `transient-mark-mode' is turned on. Otherwise, it fills the current
145 ** M-$ now checks spelling of the region if the region is active and
146 `transient-mark-mode' is turned on. Otherwise, it checks spelling of the
149 ** TAB now indents the region if the region is active and
150 `transient-mark-mode' is turned on.
152 ** `use-empty-active-region' controls whether an empty active region
153 in Transient Mark mode should make commands operate on that empty region.
155 ** C-z now invokes `suspend-frame', C-x C-c now invokes
156 `save-buffers-kill-terminal'.
158 ** New command kill-matching-buffers kills buffers whose name matches a regexp.
160 ** You can disable kill ring commands from accessing the primary selection
161 by setting `x-select-enable-primary' to nil.
163 ** If `select-active-regions' is t, setting the mark automatically
164 makes the new region into the primary selection (for interaction with
165 other window applications). If you enable this, you might want to bind
166 `mouse-yank-primary' to Mouse-2.
168 ** If `yank-pop-change-selection' is t, rotating the kill ring
169 also updates the selection or clipboard to the current yank,
170 just as M-w would do so with the text it copies to the kill ring.
172 ** Minibuffer changes:
174 *** In C-x d, if you type M-n you get the visited file name of the
177 *** In Dired, a list of commands for ! extracted from mailcap according to
178 file extensions are added to the default list accessible by M-n.
180 *** A list of regexp default values is available via M-n for `occur',
181 `keep-lines', `flush-lines' and `how-many'. This list includes the active
182 region in transient-mark-mode, the word under the cursor, the last isearch
183 regexp, the last isearch string and the last replacement regexp.
185 *** isearch started in the minibuffer searches in the minibuffer history.
186 Reverse isearch commands (C-r, C-M-r) search in previous minibuffer
187 history elements, and forward isearch commands (C-s, C-M-s) search in
188 next history elements. When the reverse search reaches the first history
189 element, it wraps to the last history element, and the forward search
190 wraps to the first history element. When the search is terminated, the
191 history element containing the search string becomes the current.
194 * New Modes and Packages in Emacs 23.1
196 ** FIXME add details of new packages imported from lisp/gnus.
198 ** The package doc-view.el has been added. It supports viewing of PDF,
199 PostScript and DVI documents inside an Emacs buffer by converting the
200 document to a set of PNG images first. One can also search for a
201 regular expression in the document. The commentary of the file explains
204 ** The nXML package has been added.
205 [FIXME someone who uses this, please write a brief description.]
207 ** A new game called `bubbles' has been added.
209 ** minibuffer-indicate-depth-mode shows the minibuffer depth in the prompt.
211 ** Remember Mode (remember.el) is now included with Emacs. It is a
212 mode for quickly jotting down things to remember. Included with
213 remember.el is a backend that can save notes to a Diary file. Please
214 consult the Remember Manual for usage details.
216 ** D-Bus language bindings for Elisp are provided by the package
217 dbus.el and by extensions to the C modules of Emacs. D-Bus is an
218 inter-process communication mechanism for applications residing on the
219 same host, based on messages. See the manual for further details.
221 * Changes in Specialized Modes and Packages in Emacs 23.1
223 ** abbrev was rewritten in Elisp and extended with more flexibility.
224 *** New functions: abbrev-get, abbrev-put, abbrev-table-get, abbrev-table-put,
226 *** Special hook `abbrev-expand-functions' obsoletes `pre-abbrev-expand-hook'.
227 *** `make-abbrev-table', `define-abbrev', `define-abbrev-table' all take
228 extra arguments for arbitrary properties.
229 *** New variable `abbrev-minor-mode-table-alist'.
230 *** `local-abbrev-table' can hold a list of abbrev-tables.
231 *** Abbrevs have now the following special properties:
232 `:count', `:system', `:enable-function', `:case-fixed'.
233 *** Abbrev-tables have now the following special properties:
234 `:parents', `:case-fixed', `:enable-function', `:regexp',
235 `abbrev-table-modiff'.
238 *** New macro `with-help-window' should set up help windows better
239 than `with-output-to-temp-buffer' with `print-help-return-message'.
240 *** New option `help-window-select' permits to customize whether help
241 window shall be automatically selected when invoking help.
242 *** New variable `help-window-point-marker' permits to specify new
243 position of point in help window (for example in `view-lossage').
245 ** view-remove-frame-by-deleting is now by default t
246 since users found iconification of view-mode frames distracting.
250 *** New command `isearch-occur' bound to `M-s o' in isearch mode
251 runs `occur' with the current search string.
253 *** isearch can now search through multiple ChangeLog files.
254 When running isearch in a ChangeLog file, if the search fails,
255 then another C-s tries searching the previous ChangeLog,
256 if there is one (e.g. go from ChangeLog to ChangeLog.12).
258 This is enabled if isearch-buffers-multi is non-nil.
260 ** smerge-refine highlights word-level details of changes in conflict.
261 It's used automatically as you move through conflicts, see smerge-auto-refine.
263 ** diff-refine-hunk highlights word-level details of changes in a diff hunk.
264 It's used automatically as you move through hunks, see diff-auto-refine.
266 ** archive-mode has basic support to browse Rar archives.
268 ** talk.el has been extended for multiple tty support.
270 ** compilation-auto-jump-to-first-error tells `compile' to jump to
271 the first error encountered during compilations.
273 ** In the `copyright' package, you can specify your copyright holders' names.
274 Only copyright lines with holders matching copyright-names-regexp will be
275 considered for update.
277 ** eldoc highlights the function argument under point
278 with the face `eldoc-highlight-function-argument'.
281 ** defcustom accepts new keyword arguments, `:safe' and `:risky', which
282 set a variable's `safe-local-variable' and `risky-local-variable' property.
285 *** The --members option is now the default.
287 Use --no-members if you want the old default behaviour of not tagging
288 struct members in C, members variables in C++ and variables in PHP.
291 *** Clicking on the VC mode-line entry now pops the VC menu.
293 *** The VC mode-line entry now has a tooltip that explains the VC file status.
295 *** VC now supports applying VC operations to a set of files at a time.
297 This enables VC to work much more effectively with changeset-oriented
298 version-control systems such as Subversion, GNU Arch, Mercurial, and
299 Bzr. VC will now pass a multiple-file commit to these systems
300 as a single changeset.
302 *** In VC Annotate mode, you can type V to toggle the annotation visibility.
304 ** log-edit now has a command bound to C-c C-d to show the diff for
307 ** sgml-electric-tag-pair-mode lets you simultaneously edit matched tag pairs.
309 ** The appearance of superscript and subscript in TeX is more customizable.
310 See the documentation of the variables: tex-fontify-script,
311 tex-font-script-display, tex-suscript-height-ratio, and
312 tex-suscript-height-minimum.
316 *** New command `bibtex-initialize' (re)initializes BibTeX buffers.
318 *** New `bibtex-entry-format' options `whitespace', `braces', and
319 `string', disabled by default.
321 *** New variable `bibtex-cite-matcher-alist' contains rules to
322 identify cited keys in BibTeX entries, used by `bibtex-find-crossref'.
324 *** Command `bibtex-url' allows multiple URLs per entry.
329 *** New connection methods.
330 The new methods "plinkx", "plink2", "psftp", "sftp" and "fish" have
331 been introduced. There are also new so-called gateway methods
332 "tunnel" and "socks".
334 *** Multihop syntax has been removed.
335 The pseudo-method "multi" has been removed. Instead of, multi hops
336 can be specified by the new variable `tramp-default-proxies-alist'.
338 *** More default settings.
339 Default values can be set via the variables `tramp-default-user',
340 `tramp-default-user-alist' and `tramp-default-host'.
342 *** Connection information is cached.
343 In order to reduce connection setup, information about used
344 connections are kept persistent in a file. The name of this file is
345 defined in the variable `tramp-persistency-file-name'.
347 *** Control of remote processes.
348 Running processes on a remote host can be controlled by settings in
349 `tramp-remote-path' and `tramp-remote-process-environment'.
351 *** Success of remote copy is checked.
352 When the variable `file-precious-flag' is set, the success of a remote
353 file copy is checked via the file's checksum.
355 ** Miscellaneous programming mode changes
357 *** The file etc/emacs.py now supports both Python 2 and 3, meaning
358 that either version can be used as inferior Python by python.el.
360 *** The variable `fortran-line-length' can change the fixed-form line-length.
362 *** In Fortran mode, M-; is now bound to the standard comment-dwim,
363 rather than fortran-indent-comment.
366 *** (The increasingly misnamed) F90 mode supports Fortran 2003 syntax.
370 *** The Gnus package has been updated
372 *** There are many news features, bug fixes and improvements.
374 See the file GNUS-NEWS or the node "No Gnus" in the Gnus manual for details.
378 *** comint-mode uses `start-file-process' now (see Lisp Changes).
379 If `default-directory' is a remote file name, subprocesses are started
380 on the corresponding remote system.
382 *** C-x C-q in dired-mode now runs the command wdired-change-to-wdired-mode,
383 and C-x C-q in wdired-mode exits it with asking a question about
386 *** The new command `eshell/info' runs info in an eshell buffer.
389 * Changes in Emacs 23.1 on non-free operating systems
392 ** IPv6 is supported on MS-Windows.
393 Emacs now supports IPv6 on Windows XP and later, and earlier versions
394 of Windows with third party IPv6 stacks installed. Previously IPv6 was
395 supported on other platforms, but not on Windows due to using the winsock
396 1.1 header file, even though Emacs was linking to the winsock 2 library.
398 ** More keys available on MS-Windows.
399 Keys normally associated with IMEs, and some exotic keys not normally found
400 on standard keyboards have been given names so they can be bound to functions
401 inside Emacs. If there are keys on your keyboard that have not been exposed
402 to Emacs in the past, try C-h k to see if they are available now.
404 Emacs can now bind functions to the extra buttons for media player and
405 browser control present on some keyboards. These buttons are disabled
406 by default, since enabling them prevents their system-wide use when
407 Emacs has focus. To enable them, set the variable
408 w32-pass-multimedia-buttons to nil. See the doc string of that variable
409 for the list of extra keys that are available.
411 * Incompatible Lisp Changes in Emacs 23.1
414 ** The function `dired-call-process' has been removed.
416 ** The variable `byte-compile-warnings' can now be a list starting with `not',
417 meaning to disable the specified warnings. The meaning of this list
418 may therefore be the reverse of what you expect (of course, this is
419 only an issue if you make use of the new `not' syntax). Rather than
420 checking/manipulating elements directly, use the new functions
421 `byte-compile-warning-enabled-p', `byte-compile-disable-warning', and
422 `byte-compile-enable-warning.'
424 ** shell.el no longer defines the aliases `dirtrack-toggle' and
425 `dirtrack-mode' for `shell-dirtrack-mode'. These names were removed
426 because they clash with commands provided by dirtrack.el. Use
427 `shell-dirtrack-mode' instead.
430 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 23.1
432 ** `beginning-of-defun-function' now takes one argument, the count
433 given to `beginning-of-defun'.
435 ** The variable `inhibit-changing-match-data', if non-nil, prevents the
436 search and match primitives from changing the match data.
439 ** New function `match-substitute-replacement' returns the result of
440 `replace-match' without actually using it in the buffer.
443 ** A list of default values can be specified for the DEFAULT argument of
444 functions `read-from-minibuffer', `read-string', `read-command',
445 `read-variable', `read-buffer', `completing-read'. Elements of this list
446 are available for inserting into the minibuffer by typing `M-n'.
447 For empty input these functions return the first element of this list.
449 ** `custom-note-var-changed' tells Custom to treat the change in a certain
450 variable as having been made within Custom.
452 ** `frame-inherited-parameters' lets new frames inherit parameters from
455 ** Commands should use `use-region-p' to test whether there is
456 an active region that they should operate on.
458 ** `region-active-p' returns non-nil when Transient Mark mode
459 is enabled and there is an active region. This is NOT the best function
460 to use to test whether a command should operate on the region instead
461 of the usual behavior -- for that, use `use-region-p'.
463 ** New keymap `input-decode-map' overrides like key-translation-map, but
464 applies before function-key-map. Also it is terminal-local contrary to
465 key-translation-map. Terminal-specific key-sequences are generally added to
466 this map rather than to function-key-map now.
468 ** The new macro `declare-function' suppresses compiler warnings about
469 undefined functions. The new `check-declare' package verifies that such
470 statements are accurate (i.e. the functions are actually defined in
471 the specified files).
473 ** The new function `read-color' reads a color name using the minibuffer.
475 ** The new function `face-all-attributes' returns an alist
476 describing all the basic attributes of a given face.
478 ** `interprogram-paste-function' can now return one string or a list
479 of strings. In the latter case, Emacs puts the second and following
480 strings on the kill ring.
482 ** Changes related to multiple tty support.
484 *** $TERM is now set to `dumb' for subprocesses. If you want to know the
485 $TERM inherited by Emacs you will have to look inside initial-environment.
487 *** $DISPLAY is now dynamically inherited from the frame's `display'.
489 *** The `window-system' variable has been made frame-local. The new
490 `initial-window-system' variable contains the `window-system' value
493 *** You can specify a terminal device (`tty' parameter) and a terminal
494 type (`tty-type' parameter) to `make-terminal-frame'.
496 *** The new function `make-frame-on-tty' allows you to create a new
497 frame on another tty device interactively.
499 *** The function `make-frame-on-display' now works during a tty
500 session, and `make-frame-on-tty' works during a graphical session.
502 *** New functions: `delete-tty', `suspend-tty', `resume-tty'.
504 *** A new data type for terminals with functions: `get-device-terminal',
505 `terminal-parameters', `terminal-parameter', `set-terminal-parameter'.
507 *** New hooks: `suspend-tty-functions' and `resume-tty-functions'
508 are called after a tty frame has been suspended or resumed,
509 respectively. The functions are called with the terminal id of the frame
510 being suspended/resumed as a parameter.
512 *** New function: `environment'.
514 *** New variable: `local-function-key-map'.
515 This in addition to the global function-key-map variable that
516 already existed. The global variable is not used directly any more;
517 instead, the local-function-key-map is initialized so as to inherit from
520 *** `initial-environment' holds the environment inherited from Emacs's parent.
522 *** The `keyboard-translate-table' variable and the terminal and
523 keyboard coding systems have been made terminal-local.
525 *** In addition to the global function-key-map, Emacs has terminal-local
526 local-function-key-map variables, and uses them instead of the
527 global keymaps to set up translations and function key sequences
528 relevant to a specific terminal device.
531 ** You can now also pass the value of the `invisible' property to invisible-p
532 to check whether it would cause the text to be invisible. Convenient when
533 checking invisibility of text which has no buffer position
534 (e.g. in before/after-strings).
536 ** Non-breaking space now acts as whitespace.
539 ** In `condition-case', a handler can specify "let the debugger run first".
541 You do this by writing `debug' in the list of conditions to be handled,
548 ** The `require-match' argument to `completing-read' accepts a new value
552 ** The regexp form \(?<num>:<regexp>\) specifies the group number explicitly.
554 ** New function `window-full-width-p' returns t if a window is as wide
557 ** The new function `split-string-and-unquote' does (what?)
559 ** The new function `combine-and-quote-strings' does (what?)
561 ** The new function `image-refresh' refreshes all images associated
562 with a given image specification.
565 ** New variable `user-emacs-directory'.
566 Use this instead of "~/.emacs.d".
569 ** The new function `start-file-process' is similar to `start-process',
570 but obeys file handlers. The file handler is chosen based on
571 `default-directory'. The functions `start-file-process-shell-command'
572 and `process-file-shell-command' are also new; they call internally
573 `start-file-process' and `process-file', respectively.
575 ** The new function `process-lines' executes an external program and
576 returns its output as a list of lines.
579 ** `file-remote-p' has new optional parameters IDENTIFICATION and CONNECTED.
580 IDENTIFICATION specifies which part of the remote identifier has to be
581 returned. With CONNECTED passed non-nil, it is checked whether a
582 remote connection has been established already.
584 ** The two new functions `looking-at-p' and `string-match-p' can do
585 the same matching as `looking-at' and `string-match' without changing
588 ** The interactive-form of a function can be added post-facto via the
589 `interactive-form' symbol property. Mostly useful to add complex interactive
590 forms to subroutines.
592 * New Packages for Lisp Programming in Emacs 23.1
594 ** The package isearch-multi.el has been added. It implements a new mode
595 `isearch-buffers-minor-mode' that allows isearch to search through
596 multiple buffers. In this mode a new variable
597 `isearch-buffers-next-buffer-function' defines the function to call
598 to get the next buffer to search in the series of multiple buffers.
600 ** The new package avl-tree.el deals with the AVL tree data structure.
603 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
604 This file is part of GNU Emacs.
606 GNU Emacs is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
607 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
608 the Free Software Foundation; either version 3, or (at your option)
611 GNU Emacs is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
612 but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
613 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
614 GNU General Public License for more details.
616 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
617 along with GNU Emacs; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the
618 Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
619 Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
624 paragraph-separate: "[
\f]*$"
627 arch-tag: e759449d-88b3-4de4-9900-3a6c3dfa23e2