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[bpt/emacs.git] / etc / NEWS
1 GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes. 2001-03-15
2 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 See the end for copying conditions.
4
5 Please send Emacs bug reports to bug-gnu-emacs@gnu.org.
6 For older news, see the file ONEWS
7
8 \f
9 * Changes in Emacs 21.3
10
11 ** Display of hollow cursors now obeys the buffer-local value (if any)
12 of `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' in the buffer that the cursor
13 appears in.
14
15 ** The default values of `tooltip-delay' and `tooltip-hide-delay'
16 were changed.
17
18 ** On terminals whose erase-char is ^H (Backspace), Emacs
19 now uses normal-erase-is-backspace-mode.
20
21 +++
22 ** The command line option --no-windows has been changed to
23 --no-window-system. The old one still works, but is deprecated.
24
25 ** `buffer-menu' and `list-buffers' now list buffers whose names begin
26 with a space, if they visit files.
27
28 ** You can now customize fill-nobreak-predicate to control where
29 filling can break lines. We provide two sample predicates,
30 fill-single-word-nobreak-p and fill-french-nobreak-p.
31
32 ** In Texinfo mode, when Font-Lock is enabled, updating one of the
33 `foo's in `@foo ... @end foo' updates the other one on the fly.
34
35 ** New user option `add-log-always-start-new-record'.
36 When this option is enabled, M-x add-change-log-entry will always
37 start a new record regardless of when the last record is.
38
39 ** New user option `sgml-xml'.
40 When this option is enabled, SGML tags are inserted in XML style,
41 i.e., there is always a closing tag.
42 When not customized, it becomes buffer-local when it can be inferred
43 from the file name or buffer contents.
44
45 ** When the *scratch* buffer is recreated, its mode is set from
46 initial-major-mode, which normally is lisp-interaction-mode,
47 instead of using default-major-mode.
48
49 ** Byte compiler warning and error messages have been brought more
50 in line with the output of other GNU tools.
51
52 ** Lisp-mode now uses font-lock-doc-face for the docstrings.
53
54 ** perl-mode has a new variable `perl-indent-continued-arguments'.
55
56 ** `special-display-buffer-names' and `special-display-regexps' now
57 understand two new boolean pseudo-frame-parameters `same-frame' and
58 `same-window'.
59
60 ** When pure storage overflows while dumping, Emacs now prints how
61 much pure storage it will approximately need.
62
63 ** M-x setenv now expands environment variables of the form `$foo' and
64 `${foo}' in the specified new value of the environment variable. To
65 include a `$' in the value, use `$$'.
66
67 +++
68 ** File-name completion can now ignore directories.
69 If an element of the list in `completion-ignored-extensions' ends in a
70 slash `/', it indicates a subdirectory that should be ignored when
71 completing file names. Elements of `completion-ignored-extensions'
72 which do not end in a slash are never considered when a completion
73 candidate is a directory.
74
75 ** New user option `inhibit-startup-buffer-menu'.
76 When loading many files, for instance with `emacs *', Emacs normally
77 displays a buffer menu. This option turns the buffer menu off.
78
79 ** Rmail now displays 5-digit message ids in its summary buffer.
80
81 ** When using M-x revert-buffer in a compilation buffer to rerun a
82 compilation, it is now made sure that the compilation buffer is reused
83 in case it has been renamed.
84
85 ** New modes and packages
86
87 +++
88 *** Calc is now part of the Emacs distribution.
89
90 Calc is an advanced desk calculator and mathematical tool written in
91 Emacs Lisp. Its documentation is in a separate manual; within Emacs,
92 type "C-h i m calc RET" to read that manual. A reference card is
93 available in `etc/calccard.tex' and `etc/calccard.ps'.
94
95 *** The ruler-mode.el library provides a minor mode for displaying an
96 "active" ruler in the header line. You can use the mouse to visually
97 change the `fill-column', `window-margins' and `tab-stop-list'
98 settings.
99
100 *** master-mode.el implements a minor mode for scrolling a slave
101 buffer without leaving your current buffer, the master buffer.
102
103 It can be used by sql.el, for example: the SQL buffer is the master
104 and its SQLi buffer is the slave. This allows you to scroll the SQLi
105 buffer containing the output from the SQL buffer containing the
106 commands.
107
108 This is how to use sql.el and master.el together: the variable
109 sql-buffer contains the slave buffer. It is a local variable in the
110 SQL buffer.
111
112 (add-hook 'sql-mode-hook
113 (function (lambda ()
114 (master-mode t)
115 (master-set-slave sql-buffer))))
116 (add-hook 'sql-set-sqli-hook
117 (function (lambda ()
118 (master-set-slave sql-buffer))))
119
120 \f
121 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 21.3
122
123 ** New function `buffer-local-value'.
124
125 - Function: buffer-local-value variable buffer
126
127 This function returns the buffer-local binding of VARIABLE (a symbol)
128 in buffer BUFFER. If VARIABLE does not have a buffer-local binding in
129 buffer BUFFER, it returns the default value of VARIABLE instead.
130
131 ** The default value of paragraph-start and indent-line-function has
132 been changed to reflect the one used in text-mode rather than the one
133 used in indented-text-mode.
134
135 ** New function `text-clone-create'. Text clones are chunks of text
136 that are kept identical by transparently propagating changes from one
137 clone to the other.
138
139 ** font-lock can manage arbitrary text-properties beside `face'.
140 *** the FACENAME returned in font-lock-keywords can be a list
141 of the form (face FACE PROP1 VAL1 PROP@ VAL2 ...) so you can set
142 other properties than `face'.
143 *** font-lock-extra-managed-props can be set to make sure those extra
144 properties are automatically cleaned up by font-lock.
145
146 ** The new function `run-mode-hooks' and the new macro `delay-mode-hooks'
147 are used by define-derived-mode to make sure the mode hook for the
148 parent mode is run at the end of the child mode.
149
150 ** `provide' and `featurep' now accept an optional second argument
151 to test/provide subfeatures. Also `provide' now checks `after-load-alist'
152 and run any code associated with the provided feature.
153
154 ** The variable `compilation-parse-errors-filename-function' can
155 be used to transform filenames found in compilation output.
156
157 +++
158 ** Functions `file-name-sans-extension' and `file-name-extension' now
159 ignore the leading dots in file names, so that file names such as
160 `.emacs' are treated as extensionless.
161
162 ** Functions `user-uid' and `user-real-uid' now return floats if the
163 user UID doesn't fit in a Lisp integer. Function `user-full-name'
164 accepts a float as UID parameter.
165
166 ** `define-key-after' now accepts keys longer than 1.
167
168 ** `define-derived-mode' now accepts nil as the parent.
169
170 ** The local variable `no-byte-compile' in elisp files is now obeyed.
171
172 ** New functions `keymap-prompt' and `current-active-maps'.
173
174 ** New function `describe-buffer-bindings'.
175
176 ** New vars `exec-suffixes' and `load-suffixes' used when
177 searching for an executable resp. an elisp file.
178
179 ** Variable aliases have been implemented
180
181 - Macro: defvaralias ALIAS-VAR BASE-VAR
182
183 This defines the symbol ALIAS-VAR as a variable alias for symbol
184 BASE-VAR. This means that retrieving the value of ALIAS-VAR returns
185 the value of BASE-VAR, and changing the value of ALIAS-VAR changes the
186 value of BASE-VAR.
187
188 - Function: indirect-variable VARIABLE
189
190 This function returns the variable at the end of the chain of aliases
191 of VARIABLE. If VARIABLE is not a symbol, or if VARIABLE is not
192 defined as an alias, the function returns VARIABLE.
193
194 It might be noteworthy that variables aliases work for all kinds of
195 variables, including buffer-local and frame-local variables.
196
197 ** Functions from `post-gc-hook' are run at the end of garbage
198 collection. The hook is run with GC inhibited, so use it with care.
199
200 ** If the second argument to `copy-file' is the name of a directory,
201 the file is copied to that directory instead of signaling an error.
202
203 ** The variables most-positive-fixnum and most-negative-fixnum
204 have been moved from the CL package to the core.
205
206 ** New packages:
207
208 *** The new package syntax.el provides an efficient way to find the
209 current syntactic context (as returned by parse-partial-sexp).
210
211 \f
212 * Installation Changes in Emacs 21.1
213
214 See the INSTALL file for information on installing extra libraries and
215 fonts to take advantage of the new graphical features and extra
216 charsets in this release.
217
218 ** Support for GNU/Linux on IA64 machines has been added.
219
220 ** Support for LynxOS has been added.
221
222 ** There are new configure options associated with the support for
223 images and toolkit scrollbars. Use the --help option in `configure'
224 to list them.
225
226 ** You can build a 64-bit Emacs for SPARC/Solaris systems which
227 support 64-bit executables and also on Irix 6.5. This increases the
228 maximum buffer size. See etc/MACHINES for instructions. Changes to
229 build on other 64-bit systems should be straightforward modulo any
230 necessary changes to unexec.
231
232 ** There is a new configure option `--disable-largefile' to omit
233 Unix-98-style support for large files if that is available.
234
235 ** There is a new configure option `--without-xim' that instructs
236 Emacs to not use X Input Methods (XIM), if these are available.
237
238 ** `movemail' defaults to supporting POP. You can turn this off using
239 the --without-pop configure option, should that be necessary.
240
241 ** This version can be built for the Macintosh, but does not implement
242 all of the new display features described below. The port currently
243 lacks unexec, asynchronous processes, and networking support. See the
244 "Emacs and the Mac OS" appendix in the Emacs manual, for the
245 description of aspects specific to the Mac.
246
247 ** Note that the MS-Windows port does not yet implement various of the
248 new display features described below.
249
250 \f
251 * Changes in Emacs 21.1
252
253 ** Emacs has a new redisplay engine.
254
255 The new redisplay handles characters of variable width and height.
256 Italic text can be used without redisplay problems. Fonts containing
257 oversized characters, i.e. characters larger than the logical height
258 of a font can be used. Images of various formats can be displayed in
259 the text.
260
261 ** Emacs has a new face implementation.
262
263 The new faces no longer fundamentally use X font names to specify the
264 font. Instead, each face has several independent attributes--family,
265 height, width, weight and slant--that it may or may not specify.
266 These attributes can be merged from various faces, and then together
267 specify a font.
268
269 Faces are supported on terminals that can display color or fonts.
270 These terminal capabilities are auto-detected. Details can be found
271 under Lisp changes, below.
272
273 ** Emacs can display faces on TTY frames.
274
275 Emacs automatically detects terminals that are able to display colors.
276 Faces with a weight greater than normal are displayed extra-bright, if
277 the terminal supports it. Faces with a weight less than normal and
278 italic faces are displayed dimmed, if the terminal supports it.
279 Underlined faces are displayed underlined if possible. Other face
280 attributes such as `overline', `strike-through', and `box' are ignored
281 on terminals.
282
283 The command-line options `-fg COLOR', `-bg COLOR', and `-rv' are now
284 supported on character terminals.
285
286 Emacs automatically remaps all X-style color specifications to one of
287 the colors supported by the terminal. This means you could have the
288 same color customizations that work both on a windowed display and on
289 a TTY or when Emacs is invoked with the -nw option.
290
291 ** New default font is Courier 12pt under X.
292
293 ** Sound support
294
295 Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and FreeBSD (Voxware
296 driver and native BSD driver, a.k.a. Luigi's driver). Currently
297 supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio (*.au).
298 You must configure Emacs with the option `--with-sound=yes' to enable
299 sound support.
300
301 ** Emacs now resizes mini-windows if appropriate.
302
303 If a message is longer than one line, or minibuffer contents are
304 longer than one line, Emacs can resize the minibuffer window unless it
305 is on a frame of its own. You can control resizing and the maximum
306 minibuffer window size by setting the following variables:
307
308 - User option: max-mini-window-height
309
310 Maximum height for resizing mini-windows. If a float, it specifies a
311 fraction of the mini-window frame's height. If an integer, it
312 specifies a number of lines.
313
314 Default is 0.25.
315
316 - User option: resize-mini-windows
317
318 How to resize mini-windows. If nil, don't resize. If t, always
319 resize to fit the size of the text. If `grow-only', let mini-windows
320 grow only, until they become empty, at which point they are shrunk
321 again.
322
323 Default is `grow-only'.
324
325 ** LessTif support.
326
327 Emacs now runs with the LessTif toolkit (see
328 <http://www.lesstif.org>). You will need version 0.92.26, or later.
329
330 ** LessTif/Motif file selection dialog.
331
332 When Emacs is configured to use LessTif or Motif, reading a file name
333 from a menu will pop up a file selection dialog if `use-dialog-box' is
334 non-nil.
335
336 ** File selection dialog on MS-Windows is supported.
337
338 When a file is visited by clicking File->Open, the MS-Windows version
339 now pops up a standard file selection dialog where you can select a
340 file to visit. File->Save As also pops up that dialog.
341
342 ** Toolkit scroll bars.
343
344 Emacs now uses toolkit scroll bars if available. When configured for
345 LessTif/Motif, it will use that toolkit's scroll bar. Otherwise, when
346 configured for Lucid and Athena widgets, it will use the Xaw3d scroll
347 bar if Xaw3d is available. You can turn off the use of toolkit scroll
348 bars by specifying `--with-toolkit-scroll-bars=no' when configuring
349 Emacs.
350
351 When you encounter problems with the Xaw3d scroll bar, watch out how
352 Xaw3d is compiled on your system. If the Makefile generated from
353 Xaw3d's Imakefile contains a `-DNARROWPROTO' compiler option, and your
354 Emacs system configuration file `s/your-system.h' does not contain a
355 define for NARROWPROTO, you might consider adding it. Take
356 `s/freebsd.h' as an example.
357
358 Alternatively, if you don't have access to the Xaw3d source code, take
359 a look at your system's imake configuration file, for example in the
360 directory `/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/config' (paths are different on
361 different systems). You will find files `*.cf' there. If your
362 system's cf-file contains a line like `#define NeedWidePrototypes NO',
363 add a `#define NARROWPROTO' to your Emacs system configuration file.
364
365 The reason for this is that one Xaw3d function uses `double' or
366 `float' function parameters depending on the setting of NARROWPROTO.
367 This is not a problem when Imakefiles are used because each system's
368 imake configuration file contains the necessary information. Since
369 Emacs doesn't use imake, this has do be done manually.
370
371 ** Tool bar support.
372
373 Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. For details
374 of how to define a tool bar, see the page describing Lisp-level
375 changes. Tool-bar global minor mode controls whether or not it is
376 displayed and is on by default. The appearance of the bar is improved
377 if Emacs has been built with XPM image support. Otherwise monochrome
378 icons will be used.
379
380 To make the tool bar more useful, we need contributions of extra icons
381 for specific modes (with copyright assignments). Contributions would
382 also be useful to touch up some of the PBM icons manually.
383
384 ** Tooltips.
385
386 Tooltips are small X windows displaying a help string at the current
387 mouse position. The Lisp package `tooltip' implements them. You can
388 turn them off via the user option `tooltip-mode'.
389
390 Tooltips also provides support for GUD debugging. If activated,
391 variable values can be displayed in tooltips by pointing at them with
392 the mouse in source buffers. You can customize various aspects of the
393 tooltip display in the group `tooltip'.
394
395 ** Automatic Hscrolling
396
397 Horizontal scrolling now happens automatically if
398 `automatic-hscrolling' is set (the default). This setting can be
399 customized.
400
401 If a window is scrolled horizontally with set-window-hscroll, or
402 scroll-left/scroll-right (C-x <, C-x >), this serves as a lower bound
403 for automatic horizontal scrolling. Automatic scrolling will scroll
404 the text more to the left if necessary, but won't scroll the text more
405 to the right than the column set with set-window-hscroll etc.
406
407 ** When using a windowing terminal, each Emacs window now has a cursor
408 of its own. By default, when a window is selected, the cursor is
409 solid; otherwise, it is hollow. The user-option
410 `cursor-in-non-selected-windows' controls how to display the
411 cursor in non-selected windows. If nil, no cursor is shown, if
412 non-nil a hollow box cursor is shown.
413
414 ** Fringes to the left and right of windows are used to display
415 truncation marks, continuation marks, overlay arrows and alike. The
416 foreground, background, and stipple of these areas can be changed by
417 customizing face `fringe'.
418
419 ** The mode line under X is now drawn with shadows by default.
420 You can change its appearance by modifying the face `mode-line'.
421 In particular, setting the `:box' attribute to nil turns off the 3D
422 appearance of the mode line. (The 3D appearance makes the mode line
423 occupy more space, and thus might cause the first or the last line of
424 the window to be partially obscured.)
425
426 The variable `mode-line-inverse-video', which was used in older
427 versions of emacs to make the mode-line stand out, is now deprecated.
428 However, setting it to nil will cause the `mode-line' face to be
429 ignored, and mode-lines to be drawn using the default text face.
430
431 ** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
432
433 Different parts of the mode line have been made mouse-sensitive on all
434 systems which support the mouse. Moving the mouse to a
435 mouse-sensitive part in the mode line changes the appearance of the
436 mouse pointer to an arrow, and help about available mouse actions is
437 displayed either in the echo area, or in the tooltip window if you
438 have enabled one.
439
440 Currently, the following actions have been defined:
441
442 - Mouse-1 on the buffer name in the mode line switches between two
443 buffers.
444
445 - Mouse-2 on the buffer-name switches to the next buffer, and
446 M-mouse-2 switches to the previous buffer in the buffer list.
447
448 - Mouse-3 on the buffer-name displays a buffer menu.
449
450 - Mouse-2 on the read-only or modified status in the mode line (`%' or
451 `*') toggles the status.
452
453 - Mouse-3 on the mode name displays a minor-mode menu.
454
455 ** Hourglass pointer
456
457 Emacs can optionally display an hourglass pointer under X. You can
458 turn the display on or off by customizing group `cursor'.
459
460 ** Blinking cursor
461
462 M-x blink-cursor-mode toggles a blinking cursor under X and on
463 terminals having terminal capabilities `vi', `vs', and `ve'. Blinking
464 and related parameters like frequency and delay can be customized in
465 the group `cursor'.
466
467 ** New font-lock support mode `jit-lock-mode'.
468
469 This support mode is roughly equivalent to `lazy-lock' but is
470 generally faster. It supports stealth and deferred fontification.
471 See the documentation of the function `jit-lock-mode' for more
472 details.
473
474 Font-lock uses jit-lock-mode as default support mode, so you don't
475 have to do anything to activate it.
476
477 ** The default binding of the Delete key has changed.
478
479 The new user-option `normal-erase-is-backspace' can be set to
480 determine the effect of the Delete and Backspace function keys.
481
482 On window systems, the default value of this option is chosen
483 according to the keyboard used. If the keyboard has both a Backspace
484 key and a Delete key, and both are mapped to their usual meanings, the
485 option's default value is set to t, so that Backspace can be used to
486 delete backward, and Delete can be used to delete forward. On
487 keyboards which either have only one key (usually labeled DEL), or two
488 keys DEL and BS which produce the same effect, the option's value is
489 set to nil, and these keys delete backward.
490
491 If not running under a window system, setting this option accomplishes
492 a similar effect by mapping C-h, which is usually generated by the
493 Backspace key, to DEL, and by mapping DEL to C-d via
494 `keyboard-translate'. The former functionality of C-h is available on
495 the F1 key. You should probably not use this setting on a text-only
496 terminal if you don't have both Backspace, Delete and F1 keys.
497
498 Programmatically, you can call function normal-erase-is-backspace-mode
499 to toggle the behavior of the Delete and Backspace keys.
500
501 ** The default for user-option `next-line-add-newlines' has been
502 changed to nil, i.e. C-n will no longer add newlines at the end of a
503 buffer by default.
504
505 ** The <home> and <end> keys now move to the beginning or end of the
506 current line, respectively. C-<home> and C-<end> move to the
507 beginning and end of the buffer.
508
509 ** Emacs now checks for recursive loads of Lisp files. If the
510 recursion depth exceeds `recursive-load-depth-limit', an error is
511 signaled.
512
513 ** When an error is signaled during the loading of the user's init
514 file, Emacs now pops up the *Messages* buffer.
515
516 ** Emacs now refuses to load compiled Lisp files which weren't
517 compiled with Emacs. Set `load-dangerous-libraries' to t to change
518 this behavior.
519
520 The reason for this change is an incompatible change in XEmacs's byte
521 compiler. Files compiled with XEmacs can contain byte codes that let
522 Emacs dump core.
523
524 ** Toggle buttons and radio buttons in menus.
525
526 When compiled with LessTif (or Motif) support, Emacs uses toolkit
527 widgets for radio and toggle buttons in menus. When configured for
528 Lucid, Emacs draws radio buttons and toggle buttons similar to Motif.
529
530 ** The menu bar configuration has changed. The new configuration is
531 more CUA-compliant. The most significant change is that Options is
532 now a separate menu-bar item, with Mule and Customize as its submenus.
533
534 ** Item Save Options on the Options menu allows saving options set
535 using that menu.
536
537 ** Highlighting of trailing whitespace.
538
539 When `show-trailing-whitespace' is non-nil, Emacs displays trailing
540 whitespace in the face `trailing-whitespace'. Trailing whitespace is
541 defined as spaces or tabs at the end of a line. To avoid busy
542 highlighting when entering new text, trailing whitespace is not
543 displayed if point is at the end of the line containing the
544 whitespace.
545
546 ** C-x 5 1 runs the new command delete-other-frames which deletes
547 all frames except the selected one.
548
549 ** The new user-option `confirm-kill-emacs' can be customized to
550 let Emacs ask for confirmation before exiting.
551
552 ** The header line in an Info buffer is now displayed as an emacs
553 header-line (which is like a mode-line, but at the top of the window),
554 so that it remains visible even when the buffer has been scrolled.
555 This behavior may be disabled by customizing the option
556 `Info-use-header-line'.
557
558 ** Polish, Czech, German, and French translations of Emacs' reference card
559 have been added. They are named `pl-refcard.tex', `cs-refcard.tex',
560 `de-refcard.tex' and `fr-refcard.tex'. Postscript files are included.
561
562 ** An `Emacs Survival Guide', etc/survival.tex, is available.
563
564 ** A reference card for Dired has been added. Its name is
565 `dired-ref.tex'. A French translation is available in
566 `fr-drdref.tex'.
567
568 ** C-down-mouse-3 is bound differently. Now if the menu bar is not
569 displayed it pops up a menu containing the items which would be on the
570 menu bar. If the menu bar is displayed, it pops up the major mode
571 menu or the Edit menu if there is no major mode menu.
572
573 ** Variable `load-path' is no longer customizable through Customize.
574
575 You can no longer use `M-x customize-variable' to customize `load-path'
576 because it now contains a version-dependent component. You can still
577 use `add-to-list' and `setq' to customize this variable in your
578 `~/.emacs' init file or to modify it from any Lisp program in general.
579
580 ** C-u C-x = provides detailed information about the character at
581 point in a pop-up window.
582
583 ** Emacs can now support 'wheeled' mice (such as the MS IntelliMouse)
584 under XFree86. To enable this, use the `mouse-wheel-mode' command, or
585 customize the variable `mouse-wheel-mode'.
586
587 The variables `mouse-wheel-follow-mouse' and `mouse-wheel-scroll-amount'
588 determine where and by how much buffers are scrolled.
589
590 ** Emacs' auto-save list files are now by default stored in a
591 sub-directory `.emacs.d/auto-save-list/' of the user's home directory.
592 (On MS-DOS, this subdirectory's name is `_emacs.d/auto-save.list/'.)
593 You can customize `auto-save-list-file-prefix' to change this location.
594
595 ** The function `getenv' is now callable interactively.
596
597 ** The new user-option `even-window-heights' can be set to nil
598 to prevent `display-buffer' from evening out window heights.
599
600 ** The new command M-x delete-trailing-whitespace RET will delete the
601 trailing whitespace within the current restriction. You can also add
602 this function to `write-file-hooks' or `local-write-file-hooks'.
603
604 ** When visiting a file with M-x find-file-literally, no newlines will
605 be added to the end of the buffer even if `require-final-newline' is
606 non-nil.
607
608 ** The new user-option `find-file-suppress-same-file-warnings' can be
609 set to suppress warnings ``X and Y are the same file'' when visiting a
610 file that is already visited under a different name.
611
612 ** The new user-option `electric-help-shrink-window' can be set to
613 nil to prevent adjusting the help window size to the buffer size.
614
615 ** New command M-x describe-character-set reads a character set name
616 and displays information about that.
617
618 ** The new variable `auto-mode-interpreter-regexp' contains a regular
619 expression matching interpreters, for file mode determination.
620
621 This regular expression is matched against the first line of a file to
622 determine the file's mode in `set-auto-mode' when Emacs can't deduce a
623 mode from the file's name. If it matches, the file is assumed to be
624 interpreted by the interpreter matched by the second group of the
625 regular expression. The mode is then determined as the mode
626 associated with that interpreter in `interpreter-mode-alist'.
627
628 ** New function executable-make-buffer-file-executable-if-script-p is
629 suitable as an after-save-hook as an alternative to `executable-chmod'.
630
631 ** The most preferred coding-system is now used to save a buffer if
632 buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and it is safe for the buffer
633 contents. (The most preferred is set by set-language-environment or
634 by M-x prefer-coding-system.) Thus if you visit an ASCII file and
635 insert a non-ASCII character from your current language environment,
636 the file will be saved silently with the appropriate coding.
637 Previously you would be prompted for a safe coding system.
638
639 ** The many obsolete language `setup-...-environment' commands have
640 been removed -- use `set-language-environment'.
641
642 ** The new Custom option `keyboard-coding-system' specifies a coding
643 system for keyboard input.
644
645 ** New variable `inhibit-iso-escape-detection' determines if Emacs'
646 coding system detection algorithm should pay attention to ISO2022's
647 escape sequences. If this variable is non-nil, the algorithm ignores
648 such escape sequences. The default value is nil, and it is
649 recommended not to change it except for the special case that you
650 always want to read any escape code verbatim. If you just want to
651 read a specific file without decoding escape codes, use C-x RET c
652 (`universal-coding-system-argument'). For instance, C-x RET c latin-1
653 RET C-x C-f filename RET.
654
655 ** Variable `default-korean-keyboard' is initialized properly from the
656 environment variable `HANGUL_KEYBOARD_TYPE'.
657
658 ** New command M-x list-charset-chars reads a character set name and
659 displays all characters in that character set.
660
661 ** M-x set-terminal-coding-system (C-x RET t) now allows CCL-based
662 coding systems such as cpXXX and cyrillic-koi8.
663
664 ** Emacs now attempts to determine the initial language environment
665 and preferred and locale coding systems systematically from the
666 LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG environment variables during startup.
667
668 ** New language environments `Polish', `Latin-8' and `Latin-9'.
669 Latin-8 and Latin-9 correspond respectively to the ISO character sets
670 8859-14 (Celtic) and 8859-15 (updated Latin-1, with the Euro sign).
671 GNU Intlfonts doesn't support these yet but recent X releases have
672 8859-15. See etc/INSTALL for information on obtaining extra fonts.
673 There are new Leim input methods for Latin-8 and Latin-9 prefix (only)
674 and Polish `slash'.
675
676 ** New language environments `Dutch' and `Spanish'.
677 These new environments mainly select appropriate translations
678 of the tutorial.
679
680 ** In Ethiopic language environment, special key bindings for
681 function keys are changed as follows. This is to conform to "Emacs
682 Lisp Coding Convention".
683
684 new command old-binding
685 --- ------- -----------
686 f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-buffer f5
687 S-f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-region f5
688 C-f3 ethio-fidel-to-sera-mail-or-marker f5
689
690 f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-buffer unchanged
691 S-f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-region unchanged
692 C-f4 ethio-sera-to-fidel-mail-or-marker unchanged
693
694 S-f5 ethio-toggle-punctuation f3
695 S-f6 ethio-modify-vowel f6
696 S-f7 ethio-replace-space f7
697 S-f8 ethio-input-special-character f8
698 S-f9 ethio-replace-space unchanged
699 C-f9 ethio-toggle-space f2
700
701 ** There are new Leim input methods.
702 New input methods "turkish-postfix", "turkish-alt-postfix",
703 "greek-mizuochi", "TeX", and "greek-babel" are now part of the Leim
704 package.
705
706 ** The rule of input method "slovak" is slightly changed. Now the
707 rules for translating "q" and "Q" to "`" (backquote) are deleted, thus
708 typing them inserts "q" and "Q" respectively. Rules for translating
709 "=q", "+q", "=Q", and "+Q" to "`" are also deleted. Now, to input
710 "`", you must type "=q".
711
712 ** When your terminal can't display characters from some of the ISO
713 8859 character sets but can display Latin-1, you can display
714 more-or-less mnemonic sequences of ASCII/Latin-1 characters instead of
715 empty boxes (under a window system) or question marks (not under a
716 window system). Customize the option `latin1-display' to turn this
717 on.
718
719 ** M-; now calls comment-dwim which tries to do something clever based
720 on the context. M-x kill-comment is now an alias to comment-kill,
721 defined in newcomment.el. You can choose different styles of region
722 commenting with the variable `comment-style'.
723
724 ** New user options `display-time-mail-face' and
725 `display-time-use-mail-icon' control the appearance of mode-line mail
726 indicator used by the display-time package. On a suitable display the
727 indicator can be an icon and is mouse-sensitive.
728
729 ** On window-systems, additional space can be put between text lines
730 on the display using several methods
731
732 - By setting frame parameter `line-spacing' to PIXELS. PIXELS must be
733 a positive integer, and specifies that PIXELS number of pixels should
734 be put below text lines on the affected frame or frames.
735
736 - By setting X resource `lineSpacing', class `LineSpacing'. This is
737 equivalent to specifying the frame parameter.
738
739 - By specifying `--line-spacing=N' or `-lsp N' on the command line.
740
741 - By setting buffer-local variable `line-spacing'. The meaning is
742 the same, but applies to the a particular buffer only.
743
744 ** The new command `clone-indirect-buffer' can be used to create
745 an indirect buffer that is a twin copy of the current buffer. The
746 command `clone-indirect-buffer-other-window', bound to C-x 4 c,
747 does the same but displays the indirect buffer in another window.
748
749 ** New user options `backup-directory-alist' and
750 `make-backup-file-name-function' control the placement of backups,
751 typically in a single directory or in an invisible sub-directory.
752
753 ** New commands iso-iso2sgml and iso-sgml2iso convert between Latin-1
754 characters and the corresponding SGML (HTML) entities.
755
756 ** New X resources recognized
757
758 *** The X resource `synchronous', class `Synchronous', specifies
759 whether Emacs should run in synchronous mode. Synchronous mode
760 is useful for debugging X problems.
761
762 Example:
763
764 emacs.synchronous: true
765
766 *** The X resource `visualClass, class `VisualClass', specifies the
767 visual Emacs should use. The resource's value should be a string of
768 the form `CLASS-DEPTH', where CLASS is the name of the visual class,
769 and DEPTH is the requested color depth as a decimal number. Valid
770 visual class names are
771
772 TrueColor
773 PseudoColor
774 DirectColor
775 StaticColor
776 GrayScale
777 StaticGray
778
779 Visual class names specified as X resource are case-insensitive, i.e.
780 `pseudocolor', `Pseudocolor' and `PseudoColor' all have the same
781 meaning.
782
783 The program `xdpyinfo' can be used to list the visual classes
784 supported on your display, and which depths they have. If
785 `visualClass' is not specified, Emacs uses the display's default
786 visual.
787
788 Example:
789
790 emacs.visualClass: TrueColor-8
791
792 *** The X resource `privateColormap', class `PrivateColormap',
793 specifies that Emacs should use a private colormap if it is using the
794 default visual, and that visual is of class PseudoColor. Recognized
795 resource values are `true' or `on'.
796
797 Example:
798
799 emacs.privateColormap: true
800
801 ** Faces and frame parameters.
802
803 There are four new faces `scroll-bar', `border', `cursor' and `mouse'.
804 Setting the frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
805 `scroll-bar-background' sets foreground and background color of face
806 `scroll-bar' and vice versa. Setting frame parameter `border-color'
807 sets the background color of face `border' and vice versa. Likewise
808 for frame parameters `cursor-color' and face `cursor', and frame
809 parameter `mouse-color' and face `mouse'.
810
811 Changing frame parameter `font' sets font-related attributes of the
812 `default' face and vice versa. Setting frame parameters
813 `foreground-color' or `background-color' sets the colors of the
814 `default' face and vice versa.
815
816 ** New face `menu'.
817
818 The face `menu' can be used to change colors and font of Emacs' menus.
819
820 ** New frame parameter `screen-gamma' for gamma correction.
821
822 The new frame parameter `screen-gamma' specifies gamma-correction for
823 colors. Its value may be nil, the default, in which case no gamma
824 correction occurs, or a number > 0, usually a float, that specifies
825 the screen gamma of a frame's display.
826
827 PC monitors usually have a screen gamma of 2.2. smaller values result
828 in darker colors. You might want to try a screen gamma of 1.5 for LCD
829 color displays. The viewing gamma Emacs uses is 0.4545. (1/2.2).
830
831 The X resource name of this parameter is `screenGamma', class
832 `ScreenGamma'.
833
834 ** Tabs and variable-width text.
835
836 Tabs are now displayed with stretch properties; the width of a tab is
837 defined as a multiple of the normal character width of a frame, and is
838 independent of the fonts used in the text where the tab appears.
839 Thus, tabs can be used to line up text in different fonts.
840
841 ** Enhancements of the Lucid menu bar
842
843 *** The Lucid menu bar now supports the resource "margin".
844
845 emacs.pane.menubar.margin: 5
846
847 The default margin is 4 which makes the menu bar appear like the
848 LessTif/Motif one.
849
850 *** Arrows that indicate sub-menus are now drawn with shadows, as in
851 LessTif and Motif.
852
853 ** A block cursor can be drawn as wide as the glyph under it under X.
854
855 As an example: if a block cursor is over a tab character, it will be
856 drawn as wide as that tab on the display. To do this, set
857 `x-stretch-cursor' to a non-nil value.
858
859 ** Empty display lines at the end of a buffer may be marked with a
860 bitmap (this is similar to the tilde displayed by vi and Less).
861
862 This behavior is activated by setting the buffer-local variable
863 `indicate-empty-lines' to a non-nil value. The default value of this
864 variable is found in `default-indicate-empty-lines'.
865
866 ** There is a new "aggressive" scrolling method.
867
868 When scrolling up because point is above the window start, if the
869 value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-up-aggressively' is a
870 number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
871 fraction of the window's height from the top of the window.
872
873 When scrolling down because point is below the window end, if the
874 value of the buffer-local variable `scroll-down-aggressively' is a
875 number, Emacs chooses a new window start so that point ends up that
876 fraction of the window's height from the bottom of the window.
877
878 ** You can now easily create new *Info* buffers using either
879 M-x clone-buffer, C-u m <entry> RET or C-u g <entry> RET.
880 M-x clone-buffer can also be used on *Help* and several other special
881 buffers.
882
883 ** The command `Info-search' now uses a search history.
884
885 ** Listing buffers with M-x list-buffers (C-x C-b) now shows
886 abbreviated file names. Abbreviations can be customized by changing
887 `directory-abbrev-alist'.
888
889 ** A new variable, backup-by-copying-when-privileged-mismatch, gives
890 the highest file uid for which backup-by-copying-when-mismatch will be
891 forced on. The assumption is that uids less than or equal to this
892 value are special uids (root, bin, daemon, etc.--not real system
893 users) and that files owned by these users should not change ownership,
894 even if your system policy allows users other than root to edit them.
895
896 The default is 200; set the variable to nil to disable the feature.
897
898 ** The rectangle commands now avoid inserting undesirable spaces,
899 notably at the end of lines.
900
901 All these functions have been rewritten to avoid inserting unwanted
902 spaces, and an optional prefix now allows them to behave the old way.
903
904 ** The function `replace-rectangle' is an alias for `string-rectangle'.
905
906 ** The new command M-x string-insert-rectangle is like `string-rectangle',
907 but inserts text instead of replacing it.
908
909 ** The new command M-x query-replace-regexp-eval acts like
910 query-replace-regexp, but takes a Lisp expression which is evaluated
911 after each match to get the replacement text.
912
913 ** M-x query-replace recognizes a new command `e' (or `E') that lets
914 you edit the replacement string.
915
916 ** The new command mail-abbrev-complete-alias, bound to `M-TAB'
917 (if you load the library `mailabbrev'), lets you complete mail aliases
918 in the text, analogous to lisp-complete-symbol.
919
920 ** The variable `echo-keystrokes' may now have a floating point value.
921
922 ** If your init file is compiled (.emacs.elc), `user-init-file' is set
923 to the source name (.emacs.el), if that exists, after loading it.
924
925 ** The help string specified for a menu-item whose definition contains
926 the property `:help HELP' is now displayed under X, on MS-Windows, and
927 MS-DOS, either in the echo area or with tooltips. Many standard menus
928 displayed by Emacs now have help strings.
929
930 --
931 ** New user option `read-mail-command' specifies a command to use to
932 read mail from the menu etc.
933
934 ** The environment variable `EMACSLOCKDIR' is no longer used on MS-Windows.
935 This environment variable was used when creating lock files. Emacs on
936 MS-Windows does not use this variable anymore. This change was made
937 before Emacs 21.1, but wasn't documented until now.
938
939 ** Highlighting of mouse-sensitive regions is now supported in the
940 MS-DOS version of Emacs.
941
942 ** The new command `msdos-set-mouse-buttons' forces the MS-DOS version
943 of Emacs to behave as if the mouse had a specified number of buttons.
944 This comes handy with mice that don't report their number of buttons
945 correctly. One example is the wheeled mice, which report 3 buttons,
946 but clicks on the middle button are not passed to the MS-DOS version
947 of Emacs.
948
949 ** Customize changes
950
951 *** Customize now supports comments about customized items. Use the
952 `State' menu to add comments, or give a prefix argument to
953 M-x customize-set-variable or M-x customize-set-value. Note that
954 customization comments will cause the customizations to fail in
955 earlier versions of Emacs.
956
957 *** The new option `custom-buffer-done-function' says whether to kill
958 Custom buffers when you've done with them or just bury them (the
959 default).
960
961 *** If Emacs was invoked with the `-q' or `--no-init-file' options, it
962 does not allow you to save customizations in your `~/.emacs' init
963 file. This is because saving customizations from such a session would
964 wipe out all the other customizationss you might have on your init
965 file.
966
967 ** New features in evaluation commands
968
969 *** The commands to evaluate Lisp expressions, such as C-M-x in Lisp
970 modes, C-j in Lisp Interaction mode, and M-:, now bind the variables
971 print-level, print-length, and debug-on-error based on the new
972 customizable variables eval-expression-print-level,
973 eval-expression-print-length, and eval-expression-debug-on-error.
974
975 The default values for the first two of these variables are 12 and 4
976 respectively, which means that `eval-expression' now prints at most
977 the first 12 members of a list and at most 4 nesting levels deep (if
978 the list is longer or deeper than that, an ellipsis `...' is
979 printed).
980
981 <RET> or <mouse-2> on the printed text toggles between an abbreviated
982 printed representation and an unabbreviated one.
983
984 The default value of eval-expression-debug-on-error is t, so any error
985 during evaluation produces a backtrace.
986
987 *** The function `eval-defun' (C-M-x) now loads Edebug and instruments
988 code when called with a prefix argument.
989
990 ** CC mode changes.
991
992 Note: This release contains changes that might not be compatible with
993 current user setups (although it's believed that these
994 incompatibilities will only show in very uncommon circumstances).
995 However, since the impact is uncertain, these changes may be rolled
996 back depending on user feedback. Therefore there's no forward
997 compatibility guarantee wrt the new features introduced in this
998 release.
999
1000 *** The hardcoded switch to "java" style in Java mode is gone.
1001 CC Mode used to automatically set the style to "java" when Java mode
1002 is entered. This has now been removed since it caused too much
1003 confusion.
1004
1005 However, to keep backward compatibility to a certain extent, the
1006 default value for c-default-style now specifies the "java" style for
1007 java-mode, but "gnu" for all other modes (as before). So you won't
1008 notice the change if you haven't touched that variable.
1009
1010 *** New cleanups, space-before-funcall and compact-empty-funcall.
1011 Two new cleanups have been added to c-cleanup-list:
1012
1013 space-before-funcall causes a space to be inserted before the opening
1014 parenthesis of a function call, which gives the style "foo (bar)".
1015
1016 compact-empty-funcall causes any space before a function call opening
1017 parenthesis to be removed if there are no arguments to the function.
1018 It's typically useful together with space-before-funcall to get the
1019 style "foo (bar)" and "foo()".
1020
1021 *** Some keywords now automatically trigger reindentation.
1022 Keywords like "else", "while", "catch" and "finally" have been made
1023 "electric" to make them reindent automatically when they continue an
1024 earlier statement. An example:
1025
1026 for (i = 0; i < 17; i++)
1027 if (a[i])
1028 res += a[i]->offset;
1029 else
1030
1031 Here, the "else" should be indented like the preceding "if", since it
1032 continues that statement. CC Mode will automatically reindent it after
1033 the "else" has been typed in full, since it's not until then it's
1034 possible to decide whether it's a new statement or a continuation of
1035 the preceding "if".
1036
1037 CC Mode uses Abbrev mode to achieve this, which is therefore turned on
1038 by default.
1039
1040 *** M-a and M-e now moves by sentence in multiline strings.
1041 Previously these two keys only moved by sentence in comments, which
1042 meant that sentence movement didn't work in strings containing
1043 documentation or other natural language text.
1044
1045 The reason it's only activated in multiline strings (i.e. strings that
1046 contain a newline, even when escaped by a '\') is to avoid stopping in
1047 the short strings that often reside inside statements. Multiline
1048 strings almost always contain text in a natural language, as opposed
1049 to other strings that typically contain format specifications,
1050 commands, etc. Also, it's not that bothersome that M-a and M-e misses
1051 sentences in single line strings, since they're short anyway.
1052
1053 *** Support for autodoc comments in Pike mode.
1054 Autodoc comments for Pike are used to extract documentation from the
1055 source, like Javadoc in Java. Pike mode now recognize this markup in
1056 comment prefixes and paragraph starts.
1057
1058 *** The comment prefix regexps on c-comment-prefix may be mode specific.
1059 When c-comment-prefix is an association list, it specifies the comment
1060 line prefix on a per-mode basis, like c-default-style does. This
1061 change came about to support the special autodoc comment prefix in
1062 Pike mode only.
1063
1064 *** Better handling of syntactic errors.
1065 The recovery after unbalanced parens earlier in the buffer has been
1066 improved; CC Mode now reports them by dinging and giving a message
1067 stating the offending line, but still recovers and indent the
1068 following lines in a sane way (most of the time). An "else" with no
1069 matching "if" is handled similarly. If an error is discovered while
1070 indenting a region, the whole region is still indented and the error
1071 is reported afterwards.
1072
1073 *** Lineup functions may now return absolute columns.
1074 A lineup function can give an absolute column to indent the line to by
1075 returning a vector with the desired column as the first element.
1076
1077 *** More robust and warning-free byte compilation.
1078 Although this is strictly not a user visible change (well, depending
1079 on the view of a user), it's still worth mentioning that CC Mode now
1080 can be compiled in the standard ways without causing trouble. Some
1081 code have also been moved between the subpackages to enhance the
1082 modularity somewhat. Thanks to Martin Buchholz for doing the
1083 groundwork.
1084
1085 *** c-style-variables-are-local-p now defaults to t.
1086 This is an incompatible change that has been made to make the behavior
1087 of the style system wrt global variable settings less confusing for
1088 non-advanced users. If you know what this variable does you might
1089 want to set it to nil in your .emacs, otherwise you probably don't
1090 have to bother.
1091
1092 Defaulting c-style-variables-are-local-p to t avoids the confusing
1093 situation that occurs when a user sets some style variables globally
1094 and edits both a Java and a non-Java file in the same Emacs session.
1095 If the style variables aren't buffer local in this case, loading of
1096 the second file will cause the default style (either "gnu" or "java"
1097 by default) to override the global settings made by the user.
1098
1099 *** New initialization procedure for the style system.
1100 When the initial style for a buffer is determined by CC Mode (from the
1101 variable c-default-style), the global values of style variables now
1102 take precedence over the values specified by the chosen style. This
1103 is different than the old behavior: previously, the style-specific
1104 settings would override the global settings. This change makes it
1105 possible to do simple configuration in the intuitive way with
1106 Customize or with setq lines in one's .emacs file.
1107
1108 By default, the global value of every style variable is the new
1109 special symbol set-from-style, which causes the value to be taken from
1110 the style system. This means that in effect, only an explicit setting
1111 of a style variable will cause the "overriding" behavior described
1112 above.
1113
1114 Also note that global settings override style-specific settings *only*
1115 when the initial style of a buffer is chosen by a CC Mode major mode
1116 function. When a style is chosen in other ways --- for example, by a
1117 call like (c-set-style "gnu") in a hook, or via M-x c-set-style ---
1118 then the style-specific values take precedence over any global style
1119 values. In Lisp terms, global values override style-specific values
1120 only when the new second argument to c-set-style is non-nil; see the
1121 function documentation for more info.
1122
1123 The purpose of these changes is to make it easier for users,
1124 especially novice users, to do simple customizations with Customize or
1125 with setq in their .emacs files. On the other hand, the new system is
1126 intended to be compatible with advanced users' customizations as well,
1127 such as those that choose styles in hooks or whatnot. This new system
1128 is believed to be almost entirely compatible with current
1129 configurations, in spite of the changed precedence between style and
1130 global variable settings when a buffer's default style is set.
1131
1132 (Thanks to Eric Eide for clarifying this explanation a bit.)
1133
1134 **** c-offsets-alist is now a customizable variable.
1135 This became possible as a result of the new initialization behavior.
1136
1137 This variable is treated slightly differently from the other style
1138 variables; instead of using the symbol set-from-style, it will be
1139 completed with the syntactic symbols it doesn't already contain when
1140 the style is first initialized. This means it now defaults to the
1141 empty list to make all syntactic elements get their values from the
1142 style system.
1143
1144 **** Compatibility variable to restore the old behavior.
1145 In case your configuration doesn't work with this change, you can set
1146 c-old-style-variable-behavior to non-nil to get the old behavior back
1147 as far as possible.
1148
1149 *** Improvements to line breaking and text filling.
1150 CC Mode now handles this more intelligently and seamlessly wrt the
1151 surrounding code, especially inside comments. For details see the new
1152 chapter about this in the manual.
1153
1154 **** New variable to recognize comment line prefix decorations.
1155 The variable c-comment-prefix-regexp has been added to properly
1156 recognize the line prefix in both block and line comments. It's
1157 primarily used to initialize the various paragraph recognition and
1158 adaptive filling variables that the text handling functions uses.
1159
1160 **** New variable c-block-comment-prefix.
1161 This is a generalization of the now obsolete variable
1162 c-comment-continuation-stars to handle arbitrary strings.
1163
1164 **** CC Mode now uses adaptive fill mode.
1165 This to make it adapt better to the paragraph style inside comments.
1166
1167 It's also possible to use other adaptive filling packages inside CC
1168 Mode, notably Kyle E. Jones' Filladapt mode (http://wonderworks.com/).
1169 A new convenience function c-setup-filladapt sets up Filladapt for use
1170 inside CC Mode.
1171
1172 Note though that the 2.12 version of Filladapt lacks a feature that
1173 causes it to work suboptimally when c-comment-prefix-regexp can match
1174 the empty string (which it commonly does). A patch for that is
1175 available from the CC Mode web site (http://www.python.org/emacs/
1176 cc-mode/).
1177
1178 **** The variables `c-hanging-comment-starter-p' and
1179 `c-hanging-comment-ender-p', which controlled how comment starters and
1180 enders were filled, are not used anymore. The new version of the
1181 function `c-fill-paragraph' keeps the comment starters and enders as
1182 they were before the filling.
1183
1184 **** It's now possible to selectively turn off auto filling.
1185 The variable c-ignore-auto-fill is used to ignore auto fill mode in
1186 specific contexts, e.g. in preprocessor directives and in string
1187 literals.
1188
1189 **** New context sensitive line break function c-context-line-break.
1190 It works like newline-and-indent in normal code, and adapts the line
1191 prefix according to the comment style when used inside comments. If
1192 you're normally using newline-and-indent, you might want to switch to
1193 this function.
1194
1195 *** Fixes to IDL mode.
1196 It now does a better job in recognizing only the constructs relevant
1197 to IDL. E.g. it no longer matches "class" as the beginning of a
1198 struct block, but it does match the CORBA 2.3 "valuetype" keyword.
1199 Thanks to Eric Eide.
1200
1201 *** Improvements to the Whitesmith style.
1202 It now keeps the style consistently on all levels and both when
1203 opening braces hangs and when they don't.
1204
1205 **** New lineup function c-lineup-whitesmith-in-block.
1206
1207 *** New lineup functions c-lineup-template-args and c-indent-multi-line-block.
1208 See their docstrings for details. c-lineup-template-args does a
1209 better job of tracking the brackets used as parens in C++ templates,
1210 and is used by default to line up continued template arguments.
1211
1212 *** c-lineup-comment now preserves alignment with a comment on the
1213 previous line. It used to instead preserve comments that started in
1214 the column specified by comment-column.
1215
1216 *** c-lineup-C-comments handles "free form" text comments.
1217 In comments with a long delimiter line at the start, the indentation
1218 is kept unchanged for lines that start with an empty comment line
1219 prefix. This is intended for the type of large block comments that
1220 contain documentation with its own formatting. In these you normally
1221 don't want CC Mode to change the indentation.
1222
1223 *** The `c' syntactic symbol is now relative to the comment start
1224 instead of the previous line, to make integers usable as lineup
1225 arguments.
1226
1227 *** All lineup functions have gotten docstrings.
1228
1229 *** More preprocessor directive movement functions.
1230 c-down-conditional does the reverse of c-up-conditional.
1231 c-up-conditional-with-else and c-down-conditional-with-else are
1232 variants of these that also stops at "#else" lines (suggested by Don
1233 Provan).
1234
1235 *** Minor improvements to many movement functions in tricky situations.
1236
1237 ** Dired changes
1238
1239 *** New variable `dired-recursive-deletes' determines if the delete
1240 command will delete non-empty directories recursively. The default
1241 is, delete only empty directories.
1242
1243 *** New variable `dired-recursive-copies' determines if the copy
1244 command will copy directories recursively. The default is, do not
1245 copy directories recursively.
1246
1247 *** In command `dired-do-shell-command' (usually bound to `!') a `?'
1248 in the shell command has a special meaning similar to `*', but with
1249 the difference that the command will be run on each file individually.
1250
1251 *** The new command `dired-find-alternate-file' (usually bound to `a')
1252 replaces the Dired buffer with the buffer for an alternate file or
1253 directory.
1254
1255 *** The new command `dired-show-file-type' (usually bound to `y') shows
1256 a message in the echo area describing what type of file the point is on.
1257 This command invokes the external program `file' do its work, and so
1258 will only work on systems with that program, and will be only as
1259 accurate or inaccurate as it is.
1260
1261 *** Dired now properly handles undo changes of adding/removing `-R'
1262 from ls switches.
1263
1264 *** Dired commands that prompt for a destination file now allow the use
1265 of the `M-n' command in the minibuffer to insert the source filename,
1266 which the user can then edit. This only works if there is a single
1267 source file, not when operating on multiple marked files.
1268
1269 ** Gnus changes.
1270
1271 The Gnus NEWS entries are short, but they reflect sweeping changes in
1272 four areas: Article display treatment, MIME treatment,
1273 internationalization and mail-fetching.
1274
1275 *** The mail-fetching functions have changed. See the manual for the
1276 many details. In particular, all procmail fetching variables are gone.
1277
1278 If you used procmail like in
1279
1280 (setq nnmail-use-procmail t)
1281 (setq nnmail-spool-file 'procmail)
1282 (setq nnmail-procmail-directory "~/mail/incoming/")
1283 (setq nnmail-procmail-suffix "\\.in")
1284
1285 this now has changed to
1286
1287 (setq mail-sources
1288 '((directory :path "~/mail/incoming/"
1289 :suffix ".in")))
1290
1291 More information is available in the info doc at Select Methods ->
1292 Getting Mail -> Mail Sources
1293
1294 *** Gnus is now a MIME-capable reader. This affects many parts of
1295 Gnus, and adds a slew of new commands. See the manual for details.
1296 Separate MIME packages like RMIME, mime-compose etc., will probably no
1297 longer work; remove them and use the native facilities.
1298
1299 The FLIM/SEMI package still works with Emacs 21, but if you want to
1300 use the native facilities, you must remove any mailcap.el[c] that was
1301 installed by FLIM/SEMI version 1.13 or earlier.
1302
1303 *** Gnus has also been multilingualized. This also affects too many
1304 parts of Gnus to summarize here, and adds many new variables. There
1305 are built-in facilities equivalent to those of gnus-mule.el, which is
1306 now just a compatibility layer.
1307
1308 *** gnus-mule.el is now just a compatibility layer over the built-in
1309 Gnus facilities.
1310
1311 *** gnus-auto-select-first can now be a function to be
1312 called to position point.
1313
1314 *** The user can now decide which extra headers should be included in
1315 summary buffers and NOV files.
1316
1317 *** `gnus-article-display-hook' has been removed. Instead, a number
1318 of variables starting with `gnus-treat-' have been added.
1319
1320 *** The Gnus posting styles have been redone again and now work in a
1321 subtly different manner.
1322
1323 *** New web-based backends have been added: nnslashdot, nnwarchive
1324 and nnultimate. nnweb has been revamped, again, to keep up with
1325 ever-changing layouts.
1326
1327 *** Gnus can now read IMAP mail via nnimap.
1328
1329 *** There is image support of various kinds and some sound support.
1330
1331 ** Changes in Texinfo mode.
1332
1333 *** A couple of new key bindings have been added for inserting Texinfo
1334 macros
1335
1336 Key binding Macro
1337 -------------------------
1338 C-c C-c C-s @strong
1339 C-c C-c C-e @emph
1340 C-c C-c u @uref
1341 C-c C-c q @quotation
1342 C-c C-c m @email
1343 C-c C-o @<block> ... @end <block>
1344 M-RET @item
1345
1346 *** The " key now inserts either " or `` or '' depending on context.
1347
1348 ** Changes in Outline mode.
1349
1350 There is now support for Imenu to index headings. A new command
1351 `outline-headers-as-kill' copies the visible headings in the region to
1352 the kill ring, e.g. to produce a table of contents.
1353
1354 ** Changes to Emacs Server
1355
1356 *** The new option `server-kill-new-buffers' specifies what to do
1357 with buffers when done with them. If non-nil, the default, buffers
1358 are killed, unless they were already present before visiting them with
1359 Emacs Server. If nil, `server-temp-file-regexp' specifies which
1360 buffers to kill, as before.
1361
1362 Please note that only buffers are killed that still have a client,
1363 i.e. buffers visited with `emacsclient --no-wait' are never killed in
1364 this way.
1365
1366 ** Both emacsclient and Emacs itself now accept command line options
1367 of the form +LINE:COLUMN in addition to +LINE.
1368
1369 ** Changes to Show Paren mode.
1370
1371 *** Overlays used by Show Paren mode now use a priority property.
1372 The new user option show-paren-priority specifies the priority to
1373 use. Default is 1000.
1374
1375 ** New command M-x check-parens can be used to find unbalanced paren
1376 groups and strings in buffers in Lisp mode (or other modes).
1377
1378 ** Changes to hideshow.el
1379
1380 *** Generalized block selection and traversal
1381
1382 A block is now recognized by its start and end regexps (both strings),
1383 and an integer specifying which sub-expression in the start regexp
1384 serves as the place where a `forward-sexp'-like function can operate.
1385 See the documentation of variable `hs-special-modes-alist'.
1386
1387 *** During incremental search, if Hideshow minor mode is active,
1388 hidden blocks are temporarily shown. The variable `hs-headline' can
1389 be used in the mode line format to show the line at the beginning of
1390 the open block.
1391
1392 *** User option `hs-hide-all-non-comment-function' specifies a
1393 function to be called at each top-level block beginning, instead of
1394 the normal block-hiding function.
1395
1396 *** The command `hs-show-region' has been removed.
1397
1398 *** The key bindings have changed to fit the Emacs conventions,
1399 roughly imitating those of Outline minor mode. Notably, the prefix
1400 for all bindings is now `C-c @'. For details, see the documentation
1401 for `hs-minor-mode'.
1402
1403 *** The variable `hs-show-hidden-short-form' has been removed, and
1404 hideshow.el now always behaves as if this variable were set to t.
1405
1406 ** Changes to Change Log mode and Add-Log functions
1407
1408 *** If you invoke `add-change-log-entry' from a backup file, it makes
1409 an entry appropriate for the file's parent. This is useful for making
1410 log entries by comparing a version with deleted functions.
1411
1412 **** New command M-x change-log-merge merges another log into the
1413 current buffer.
1414
1415 *** New command M-x change-log-redate fixes any old-style date entries
1416 in a log file.
1417
1418 *** Change Log mode now adds a file's version number to change log
1419 entries if user-option `change-log-version-info-enabled' is non-nil.
1420 Unless the file is under version control the search for a file's
1421 version number is performed based on regular expressions from
1422 `change-log-version-number-regexp-list' which can be customized.
1423 Version numbers are only found in the first 10 percent of a file.
1424
1425 *** Change Log mode now defines its own faces for font-lock highlighting.
1426
1427 ** Changes to cmuscheme
1428
1429 *** The user-option `scheme-program-name' has been renamed
1430 `cmuscheme-program-name' due to conflicts with xscheme.el.
1431
1432 ** Changes in Font Lock
1433
1434 *** The new function `font-lock-remove-keywords' can be used to remove
1435 font-lock keywords from the current buffer or from a specific major mode.
1436
1437 *** Multi-line patterns are now supported. Modes using this, should
1438 set font-lock-multiline to t in their font-lock-defaults.
1439
1440 *** `font-lock-syntactic-face-function' allows major-modes to choose
1441 the face used for each string/comment.
1442
1443 *** A new standard face `font-lock-doc-face'.
1444 Meant for Lisp docstrings, Javadoc comments and other "documentation in code".
1445
1446 ** Changes to Shell mode
1447
1448 *** The `shell' command now accepts an optional argument to specify the buffer
1449 to use, which defaults to "*shell*". When used interactively, a
1450 non-default buffer may be specified by giving the `shell' command a
1451 prefix argument (causing it to prompt for the buffer name).
1452
1453 ** Comint (subshell) changes
1454
1455 These changes generally affect all modes derived from comint mode, which
1456 include shell-mode, gdb-mode, scheme-interaction-mode, etc.
1457
1458 *** Comint now by default interprets some carriage-control characters.
1459 Comint now removes CRs from CR LF sequences, and treats single CRs and
1460 BSs in the output in a way similar to a terminal (by deleting to the
1461 beginning of the line, or deleting the previous character,
1462 respectively). This is achieved by adding `comint-carriage-motion' to
1463 the `comint-output-filter-functions' hook by default.
1464
1465 *** By default, comint no longer uses the variable `comint-prompt-regexp'
1466 to distinguish prompts from user-input. Instead, it notices which
1467 parts of the text were output by the process, and which entered by the
1468 user, and attaches `field' properties to allow emacs commands to use
1469 this information. Common movement commands, notably beginning-of-line,
1470 respect field boundaries in a fairly natural manner. To disable this
1471 feature, and use the old behavior, customize the user option
1472 `comint-use-prompt-regexp-instead-of-fields'.
1473
1474 *** Comint now includes new features to send commands to running processes
1475 and redirect the output to a designated buffer or buffers.
1476
1477 *** The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command reads a command and
1478 buffer name from the mini-buffer. The command is sent to the current
1479 buffer's process, and its output is inserted into the specified buffer.
1480
1481 The command M-x comint-redirect-send-command-to-process acts like
1482 M-x comint-redirect-send-command but additionally reads the name of
1483 the buffer whose process should be used from the mini-buffer.
1484
1485 *** Packages based on comint now highlight user input and program prompts,
1486 and support choosing previous input with mouse-2. To control these features,
1487 see the user-options `comint-highlight-input' and `comint-highlight-prompt'.
1488
1489 *** The new command `comint-write-output' (usually bound to `C-c C-s')
1490 saves the output from the most recent command to a file. With a prefix
1491 argument, it appends to the file.
1492
1493 *** The command `comint-kill-output' has been renamed `comint-delete-output'
1494 (usually bound to `C-c C-o'); the old name is aliased to it for
1495 compatibility.
1496
1497 *** The new function `comint-add-to-input-history' adds commands to the input
1498 ring (history).
1499
1500 *** The new variable `comint-input-history-ignore' is a regexp for
1501 identifying history lines that should be ignored, like tcsh time-stamp
1502 strings, starting with a `#'. The default value of this variable is "^#".
1503
1504 ** Changes to Rmail mode
1505
1506 *** The new user-option rmail-user-mail-address-regexp can be
1507 set to fine tune the identification of the correspondent when
1508 receiving new mail. If it matches the address of the sender, the
1509 recipient is taken as correspondent of a mail. If nil, the default,
1510 `user-login-name' and `user-mail-address' are used to exclude yourself
1511 as correspondent.
1512
1513 Usually you don't have to set this variable, except if you collect
1514 mails sent by you under different user names. Then it should be a
1515 regexp matching your mail addresses.
1516
1517 *** The new user-option rmail-confirm-expunge controls whether and how
1518 to ask for confirmation before expunging deleted messages from an
1519 Rmail file. You can choose between no confirmation, confirmation
1520 with y-or-n-p, or confirmation with yes-or-no-p. Default is to ask
1521 for confirmation with yes-or-no-p.
1522
1523 *** RET is now bound in the Rmail summary to rmail-summary-goto-msg,
1524 like `j'.
1525
1526 *** There is a new user option `rmail-digest-end-regexps' that
1527 specifies the regular expressions to detect the line that ends a
1528 digest message.
1529
1530 *** The new user option `rmail-automatic-folder-directives' specifies
1531 in which folder to put messages automatically.
1532
1533 *** The new function `rmail-redecode-body' allows to fix a message
1534 with non-ASCII characters if Emacs happens to decode it incorrectly
1535 due to missing or malformed "charset=" header.
1536
1537 ** The new user-option `mail-envelope-from' can be used to specify
1538 an envelope-from address different from user-mail-address.
1539
1540 ** The variable mail-specify-envelope-from controls whether to
1541 use the -f option when sending mail.
1542
1543 ** The Rmail command `o' (`rmail-output-to-rmail-file') now writes the
1544 current message in the internal `emacs-mule' encoding, rather than in
1545 the encoding taken from the variable `buffer-file-coding-system'.
1546 This allows to save messages whose characters cannot be safely encoded
1547 by the buffer's coding system, and makes sure the message will be
1548 displayed correctly when you later visit the target Rmail file.
1549
1550 If you want your Rmail files be encoded in a specific coding system
1551 other than `emacs-mule', you can customize the variable
1552 `rmail-file-coding-system' to set its value to that coding system.
1553
1554 ** Changes to TeX mode
1555
1556 *** The default mode has been changed from `plain-tex-mode' to
1557 `latex-mode'.
1558
1559 *** latex-mode now has a simple indentation algorithm.
1560
1561 *** M-f and M-p jump around \begin...\end pairs.
1562
1563 *** Added support for outline-minor-mode.
1564
1565 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
1566
1567 *** RefTeX has new support for index generation. Index entries can be
1568 created with `C-c <', with completion available on index keys.
1569 Pressing `C-c /' indexes the word at the cursor with a default
1570 macro. `C-c >' compiles all index entries into an alphabetically
1571 sorted *Index* buffer which looks like the final index. Entries
1572 can be edited from that buffer.
1573
1574 *** Label and citation key selection now allow to select several
1575 items and reference them together (use `m' to mark items, `a' or
1576 `A' to use all marked entries).
1577
1578 *** reftex.el has been split into a number of smaller files to reduce
1579 memory use when only a part of RefTeX is being used.
1580
1581 *** a new command `reftex-view-crossref-from-bibtex' (bound to `C-c &'
1582 in BibTeX-mode) can be called in a BibTeX database buffer in order
1583 to show locations in LaTeX documents where a particular entry has
1584 been cited.
1585
1586 ** Emacs Lisp mode now allows multiple levels of outline headings.
1587 The level of a heading is determined from the number of leading
1588 semicolons in a heading line. Toplevel forms starting with a `('
1589 in column 1 are always made leaves.
1590
1591 ** The M-x time-stamp command (most commonly used on write-file-hooks)
1592 has the following new features:
1593
1594 *** The patterns for finding the time stamp and for updating a pattern
1595 may match text spanning multiple lines. For example, some people like
1596 to have the filename and date on separate lines. The new variable
1597 time-stamp-inserts-lines controls the matching for multi-line patterns.
1598
1599 *** More than one time stamp can be updated in the same file. This
1600 feature is useful if you need separate time stamps in a program source
1601 file to both include in formatted documentation and insert in the
1602 compiled binary. The same time-stamp will be written at each matching
1603 pattern. The variable time-stamp-count enables this new feature; it
1604 defaults to 1.
1605
1606 ** Partial Completion mode now completes environment variables in
1607 file names.
1608
1609 ** Ispell changes
1610
1611 *** The command `ispell' now spell-checks a region if
1612 transient-mark-mode is on, and the mark is active. Otherwise it
1613 spell-checks the current buffer.
1614
1615 *** Support for synchronous subprocesses - DOS/Windoze - has been
1616 added.
1617
1618 *** An "alignment error" bug was fixed when a manual spelling
1619 correction is made and re-checked.
1620
1621 *** An Italian, Portuguese, and Slovak dictionary definition has been added.
1622
1623 *** Region skipping performance has been vastly improved in some
1624 cases.
1625
1626 *** Spell checking HTML buffers has been improved and isn't so strict
1627 on syntax errors.
1628
1629 *** The buffer-local words are now always placed on a new line at the
1630 end of the buffer.
1631
1632 *** Spell checking now works in the MS-DOS version of Emacs.
1633
1634 ** Makefile mode changes
1635
1636 *** The mode now uses the abbrev table `makefile-mode-abbrev-table'.
1637
1638 *** Conditionals and include statements are now highlighted when
1639 Fontlock mode is active.
1640
1641 ** Isearch changes
1642
1643 *** Isearch now puts a call to `isearch-resume' in the command history,
1644 so that searches can be resumed.
1645
1646 *** In Isearch mode, C-M-s and C-M-r are now bound like C-s and C-r,
1647 respectively, i.e. you can repeat a regexp isearch with the same keys
1648 that started the search.
1649
1650 *** In Isearch mode, mouse-2 in the echo area now yanks the current
1651 selection into the search string rather than giving an error.
1652
1653 *** There is a new lazy highlighting feature in incremental search.
1654
1655 Lazy highlighting is switched on/off by customizing variable
1656 `isearch-lazy-highlight'. When active, all matches for the current
1657 search string are highlighted. The current match is highlighted as
1658 before using face `isearch' or `region'. All other matches are
1659 highlighted using face `isearch-lazy-highlight-face' which defaults to
1660 `secondary-selection'.
1661
1662 The extra highlighting makes it easier to anticipate where the cursor
1663 will end up each time you press C-s or C-r to repeat a pending search.
1664 Highlighting of these additional matches happens in a deferred fashion
1665 using "idle timers," so the cycles needed do not rob isearch of its
1666 usual snappy response.
1667
1668 If `isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup' is set to t, highlights for
1669 matches are automatically cleared when you end the search. If it is
1670 set to nil, you can remove the highlights manually with `M-x
1671 isearch-lazy-highlight-cleanup'.
1672
1673 ** VC Changes
1674
1675 VC has been overhauled internally. It is now modular, making it
1676 easier to plug-in arbitrary version control backends. (See Lisp
1677 Changes for details on the new structure.) As a result, the mechanism
1678 to enable and disable support for particular version systems has
1679 changed: everything is now controlled by the new variable
1680 `vc-handled-backends'. Its value is a list of symbols that identify
1681 version systems; the default is '(RCS CVS SCCS). When finding a file,
1682 each of the backends in that list is tried in order to see whether the
1683 file is registered in that backend.
1684
1685 When registering a new file, VC first tries each of the listed
1686 backends to see if any of them considers itself "responsible" for the
1687 directory of the file (e.g. because a corresponding subdirectory for
1688 master files exists). If none of the backends is responsible, then
1689 the first backend in the list that could register the file is chosen.
1690 As a consequence, the variable `vc-default-back-end' is now obsolete.
1691
1692 The old variable `vc-master-templates' is also obsolete, although VC
1693 still supports it for backward compatibility. To define templates for
1694 RCS or SCCS, you should rather use the new variables
1695 vc-{rcs,sccs}-master-templates. (There is no such feature under CVS
1696 where it doesn't make sense.)
1697
1698 The variables `vc-ignore-vc-files' and `vc-handle-cvs' are also
1699 obsolete now, you must set `vc-handled-backends' to nil or exclude
1700 `CVS' from the list, respectively, to achieve their effect now.
1701
1702 *** General Changes
1703
1704 The variable `vc-checkout-carefully' is obsolete: the corresponding
1705 checks are always done now.
1706
1707 VC Dired buffers are now kept up-to-date during all version control
1708 operations.
1709
1710 `vc-diff' output is now displayed in `diff-mode'.
1711 `vc-print-log' uses `log-view-mode'.
1712 `vc-log-mode' (used for *VC-Log*) has been replaced by `log-edit-mode'.
1713
1714 The command C-x v m (vc-merge) now accepts an empty argument as the
1715 first revision number. This means that any recent changes on the
1716 current branch should be picked up from the repository and merged into
1717 the working file (``merge news'').
1718
1719 The commands C-x v s (vc-create-snapshot) and C-x v r
1720 (vc-retrieve-snapshot) now ask for a directory name from which to work
1721 downwards.
1722
1723 *** Multiple Backends
1724
1725 VC now lets you register files in more than one backend. This is
1726 useful, for example, if you are working with a slow remote CVS
1727 repository. You can then use RCS for local editing, and occasionally
1728 commit your changes back to CVS, or pick up changes from CVS into your
1729 local RCS archives.
1730
1731 To make this work, the ``more local'' backend (RCS in our example)
1732 should come first in `vc-handled-backends', and the ``more remote''
1733 backend (CVS) should come later. (The default value of
1734 `vc-handled-backends' already has it that way.)
1735
1736 You can then commit changes to another backend (say, RCS), by typing
1737 C-u C-x v v RCS RET (i.e. vc-next-action now accepts a backend name as
1738 a revision number). VC registers the file in the more local backend
1739 if that hasn't already happened, and commits to a branch based on the
1740 current revision number from the more remote backend.
1741
1742 If a file is registered in multiple backends, you can switch to
1743 another one using C-x v b (vc-switch-backend). This does not change
1744 any files, it only changes VC's perspective on the file. Use this to
1745 pick up changes from CVS while working under RCS locally.
1746
1747 After you are done with your local RCS editing, you can commit your
1748 changes back to CVS using C-u C-x v v CVS RET. In this case, the
1749 local RCS archive is removed after the commit, and the log entry
1750 buffer is initialized to contain the entire RCS change log of the file.
1751
1752 *** Changes for CVS
1753
1754 There is a new user option, `vc-cvs-stay-local'. If it is `t' (the
1755 default), then VC avoids network queries for files registered in
1756 remote repositories. The state of such files is then only determined
1757 by heuristics and past information. `vc-cvs-stay-local' can also be a
1758 regexp to match against repository hostnames; only files from hosts
1759 that match it are treated locally. If the variable is nil, then VC
1760 queries the repository just as often as it does for local files.
1761
1762 If `vc-cvs-stay-local' is on, then VC also makes local backups of
1763 repository versions. This means that ordinary diffs (C-x v =) and
1764 revert operations (C-x v u) can be done completely locally, without
1765 any repository interactions at all. The name of a local version
1766 backup of FILE is FILE.~REV.~, where REV is the repository version
1767 number. This format is similar to that used by C-x v ~
1768 (vc-version-other-window), except for the trailing dot. As a matter
1769 of fact, the two features can each use the files created by the other,
1770 the only difference being that files with a trailing `.' are deleted
1771 automatically after commit. (This feature doesn't work on MS-DOS,
1772 since DOS disallows more than a single dot in the trunk of a file
1773 name.)
1774
1775 If `vc-cvs-stay-local' is on, and there have been changes in the
1776 repository, VC notifies you about it when you actually try to commit.
1777 If you want to check for updates from the repository without trying to
1778 commit, you can either use C-x v m RET to perform an update on the
1779 current file, or you can use C-x v r RET to get an update for an
1780 entire directory tree.
1781
1782 The new user option `vc-cvs-use-edit' indicates whether VC should call
1783 "cvs edit" to make files writeable; it defaults to `t'. (This option
1784 is only meaningful if the CVSREAD variable is set, or if files are
1785 "watched" by other developers.)
1786
1787 The commands C-x v s (vc-create-snapshot) and C-x v r
1788 (vc-retrieve-snapshot) are now also implemented for CVS. If you give
1789 an empty snapshot name to the latter, that performs a `cvs update',
1790 starting at the given directory.
1791
1792 *** Lisp Changes in VC
1793
1794 VC has been restructured internally to make it modular. You can now
1795 add support for arbitrary version control backends by writing a
1796 library that provides a certain set of backend-specific functions, and
1797 then telling VC to use that library. For example, to add support for
1798 a version system named SYS, you write a library named vc-sys.el, which
1799 provides a number of functions vc-sys-... (see commentary at the top
1800 of vc.el for a detailed list of them). To make VC use that library,
1801 you need to put it somewhere into Emacs' load path and add the symbol
1802 `SYS' to the list `vc-handled-backends'.
1803
1804 ** The customizable EDT emulation package now supports the EDT
1805 SUBS command and EDT scroll margins. It also works with more
1806 terminal/keyboard configurations and it now works under XEmacs.
1807 See etc/edt-user.doc for more information.
1808
1809 ** New modes and packages
1810
1811 *** The new global minor mode `minibuffer-electric-default-mode'
1812 automatically hides the `(default ...)' part of minibuffer prompts when
1813 the default is not applicable.
1814
1815 *** Artist is an Emacs lisp package that allows you to draw lines,
1816 rectangles and ellipses by using your mouse and/or keyboard. The
1817 shapes are made up with the ascii characters |, -, / and \.
1818
1819 Features are:
1820
1821 - Intersecting: When a `|' intersects with a `-', a `+' is
1822 drawn, like this: | \ /
1823 --+-- X
1824 | / \
1825
1826 - Rubber-banding: When drawing lines you can interactively see the
1827 result while holding the mouse button down and moving the mouse. If
1828 your machine is not fast enough (a 386 is a bit too slow, but a
1829 pentium is well enough), you can turn this feature off. You will
1830 then see 1's and 2's which mark the 1st and 2nd endpoint of the line
1831 you are drawing.
1832
1833 - Arrows: After having drawn a (straight) line or a (straight)
1834 poly-line, you can set arrows on the line-ends by typing < or >.
1835
1836 - Flood-filling: You can fill any area with a certain character by
1837 flood-filling.
1838
1839 - Cut copy and paste: You can cut, copy and paste rectangular
1840 regions. Artist also interfaces with the rect package (this can be
1841 turned off if it causes you any trouble) so anything you cut in
1842 artist can be yanked with C-x r y and vice versa.
1843
1844 - Drawing with keys: Everything you can do with the mouse, you can
1845 also do without the mouse.
1846
1847 - Aspect-ratio: You can set the variable artist-aspect-ratio to
1848 reflect the height-width ratio for the font you are using. Squares
1849 and circles are then drawn square/round. Note, that once your
1850 ascii-file is shown with font with a different height-width ratio,
1851 the squares won't be square and the circles won't be round.
1852
1853 - Drawing operations: The following drawing operations are implemented:
1854
1855 lines straight-lines
1856 rectangles squares
1857 poly-lines straight poly-lines
1858 ellipses circles
1859 text (see-thru) text (overwrite)
1860 spray-can setting size for spraying
1861 vaporize line vaporize lines
1862 erase characters erase rectangles
1863
1864 Straight lines are lines that go horizontally, vertically or
1865 diagonally. Plain lines go in any direction. The operations in
1866 the right column are accessed by holding down the shift key while
1867 drawing.
1868
1869 It is possible to vaporize (erase) entire lines and connected lines
1870 (rectangles for example) as long as the lines being vaporized are
1871 straight and connected at their endpoints. Vaporizing is inspired
1872 by the drawrect package by Jari Aalto <jari.aalto@poboxes.com>.
1873
1874 - Picture mode compatibility: Artist is picture mode compatible (this
1875 can be turned off).
1876
1877 *** The new package Eshell is an operating system command shell
1878 implemented entirely in Emacs Lisp. Use `M-x eshell' to invoke it.
1879 It functions similarly to bash and zsh, and allows running of Lisp
1880 functions and external commands using the same syntax. It supports
1881 history lists, aliases, extended globbing, smart scrolling, etc. It
1882 will work on any platform Emacs has been ported to. And since most of
1883 the basic commands -- ls, rm, mv, cp, ln, du, cat, etc. -- have been
1884 rewritten in Lisp, it offers an operating-system independent shell,
1885 all within the scope of your Emacs process.
1886
1887 *** The new package timeclock.el is a mode is for keeping track of time
1888 intervals. You can use it for whatever purpose you like, but the
1889 typical scenario is to keep track of how much time you spend working
1890 on certain projects.
1891
1892 *** The new package hi-lock.el provides commands to highlight matches
1893 of interactively entered regexps. For example,
1894
1895 M-x highlight-regexp RET clearly RET RET
1896
1897 will highlight all occurrences of `clearly' using a yellow background
1898 face. New occurrences of `clearly' will be highlighted as they are
1899 typed. `M-x unhighlight-regexp RET' will remove the highlighting.
1900 Any existing face can be used for highlighting and a set of
1901 appropriate faces is provided. The regexps can be written into the
1902 current buffer in a form that will be recognized the next time the
1903 corresponding file is read. There are commands to highlight matches
1904 to phrases and to highlight entire lines containing a match.
1905
1906 *** The new package zone.el plays games with Emacs' display when
1907 Emacs is idle.
1908
1909 *** The new package tildify.el allows to add hard spaces or other text
1910 fragments in accordance with the current major mode.
1911
1912 *** The new package xml.el provides a simple but generic XML
1913 parser. It doesn't parse the DTDs however.
1914
1915 *** The comment operations are now provided by the newcomment.el
1916 package which allows different styles of comment-region and should
1917 be more robust while offering the same functionality.
1918 `comment-region' now doesn't always comment a-line-at-a-time, but only
1919 comments the region, breaking the line at point if necessary.
1920
1921 *** The Ebrowse package implements a C++ class browser and tags
1922 facilities tailored for use with C++. It is documented in a
1923 separate Texinfo file.
1924
1925 *** The PCL-CVS package available by either running M-x cvs-examine or
1926 by visiting a CVS administrative directory (with a prefix argument)
1927 provides an alternative interface to VC-dired for CVS. It comes with
1928 `log-view-mode' to view RCS and SCCS logs and `log-edit-mode' used to
1929 enter check-in log messages.
1930
1931 *** The new package called `woman' allows to browse Unix man pages
1932 without invoking external programs.
1933
1934 The command `M-x woman' formats manual pages entirely in Emacs Lisp
1935 and then displays them, like `M-x manual-entry' does. Unlike
1936 `manual-entry', `woman' does not invoke any external programs, so it
1937 is useful on systems such as MS-DOS/MS-Windows where the `man' and
1938 Groff or `troff' commands are not readily available.
1939
1940 The command `M-x woman-find-file' asks for the file name of a man
1941 page, then formats and displays it like `M-x woman' does.
1942
1943 *** The new command M-x re-builder offers a convenient interface for
1944 authoring regular expressions with immediate visual feedback.
1945
1946 The buffer from which the command was called becomes the target for
1947 the regexp editor popping up in a separate window. Matching text in
1948 the target buffer is immediately color marked during the editing.
1949 Each sub-expression of the regexp will show up in a different face so
1950 even complex regexps can be edited and verified on target data in a
1951 single step.
1952
1953 On displays not supporting faces the matches instead blink like
1954 matching parens to make them stand out. On such a setup you will
1955 probably also want to use the sub-expression mode when the regexp
1956 contains such to get feedback about their respective limits.
1957
1958 *** glasses-mode is a minor mode that makes
1959 unreadableIdentifiersLikeThis readable. It works as glasses, without
1960 actually modifying content of a buffer.
1961
1962 *** The package ebnf2ps translates an EBNF to a syntactic chart in
1963 PostScript.
1964
1965 Currently accepts ad-hoc EBNF, ISO EBNF and Bison/Yacc.
1966
1967 The ad-hoc default EBNF syntax has the following elements:
1968
1969 ; comment (until end of line)
1970 A non-terminal
1971 "C" terminal
1972 ?C? special
1973 $A default non-terminal
1974 $"C" default terminal
1975 $?C? default special
1976 A = B. production (A is the header and B the body)
1977 C D sequence (C occurs before D)
1978 C | D alternative (C or D occurs)
1979 A - B exception (A excluding B, B without any non-terminal)
1980 n * A repetition (A repeats n (integer) times)
1981 (C) group (expression C is grouped together)
1982 [C] optional (C may or not occurs)
1983 C+ one or more occurrences of C
1984 {C}+ one or more occurrences of C
1985 {C}* zero or more occurrences of C
1986 {C} zero or more occurrences of C
1987 C / D equivalent to: C {D C}*
1988 {C || D}+ equivalent to: C {D C}*
1989 {C || D}* equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
1990 {C || D} equivalent to: [C {D C}*]
1991
1992 Please, see ebnf2ps documentation for EBNF syntax and how to use it.
1993
1994 *** The package align.el will align columns within a region, using M-x
1995 align. Its mode-specific rules, based on regular expressions,
1996 determine where the columns should be split. In C and C++, for
1997 example, it will align variable names in declaration lists, or the
1998 equal signs of assignments.
1999
2000 *** `paragraph-indent-minor-mode' is a new minor mode supporting
2001 paragraphs in the same style as `paragraph-indent-text-mode'.
2002
2003 *** bs.el is a new package for buffer selection similar to
2004 list-buffers or electric-buffer-list. Use M-x bs-show to display a
2005 buffer menu with this package. See the Custom group `bs'.
2006
2007 *** find-lisp.el is a package emulating the Unix find command in Lisp.
2008
2009 *** calculator.el is a small calculator package that is intended to
2010 replace desktop calculators such as xcalc and calc.exe. Actually, it
2011 is not too small - it has more features than most desktop calculators,
2012 and can be customized easily to get many more functions. It should
2013 not be confused with "calc" which is a much bigger mathematical tool
2014 which answers different needs.
2015
2016 *** The minor modes cwarn-mode and global-cwarn-mode highlights
2017 suspicious C and C++ constructions. Currently, assignments inside
2018 expressions, semicolon following `if', `for' and `while' (except, of
2019 course, after a `do .. while' statement), and C++ functions with
2020 reference parameters are recognized. The modes require font-lock mode
2021 to be enabled.
2022
2023 *** smerge-mode.el provides `smerge-mode', a simple minor-mode for files
2024 containing diff3-style conflict markers, such as generated by RCS.
2025
2026 *** 5x5.el is a simple puzzle game.
2027
2028 *** hl-line.el provides `hl-line-mode', a minor mode to highlight the
2029 current line in the current buffer. It also provides
2030 `global-hl-line-mode' to provide the same behaviour in all buffers.
2031
2032 *** ansi-color.el translates ANSI terminal escapes into text-properties.
2033
2034 Please note: if `ansi-color-for-comint-mode' and
2035 `global-font-lock-mode' are non-nil, loading ansi-color.el will
2036 disable font-lock and add `ansi-color-apply' to
2037 `comint-preoutput-filter-functions' for all shell-mode buffers. This
2038 displays the output of "ls --color=yes" using the correct foreground
2039 and background colors.
2040
2041 *** delphi.el provides a major mode for editing the Delphi (Object
2042 Pascal) language.
2043
2044 *** quickurl.el provides a simple method of inserting a URL based on
2045 the text at point.
2046
2047 *** sql.el provides an interface to SQL data bases.
2048
2049 *** fortune.el uses the fortune program to create mail/news signatures.
2050
2051 *** whitespace.el is a package for warning about and cleaning bogus
2052 whitespace in a file.
2053
2054 *** PostScript mode (ps-mode) is a new major mode for editing PostScript
2055 files. It offers: interaction with a PostScript interpreter, including
2056 (very basic) error handling; fontification, easily customizable for
2057 interpreter messages; auto-indentation; insertion of EPSF templates and
2058 often used code snippets; viewing of BoundingBox; commenting out /
2059 uncommenting regions; conversion of 8bit characters to PostScript octal
2060 codes. All functionality is accessible through a menu.
2061
2062 *** delim-col helps to prettify columns in a text region or rectangle.
2063
2064 Here is an example of columns:
2065
2066 horse apple bus
2067 dog pineapple car EXTRA
2068 porcupine strawberry airplane
2069
2070 Doing the following settings:
2071
2072 (setq delimit-columns-str-before "[ ")
2073 (setq delimit-columns-str-after " ]")
2074 (setq delimit-columns-str-separator ", ")
2075 (setq delimit-columns-separator "\t")
2076
2077
2078 Selecting the lines above and typing:
2079
2080 M-x delimit-columns-region
2081
2082 It results:
2083
2084 [ horse , apple , bus , ]
2085 [ dog , pineapple , car , EXTRA ]
2086 [ porcupine, strawberry, airplane, ]
2087
2088 delim-col has the following options:
2089
2090 delimit-columns-str-before Specify a string to be inserted
2091 before all columns.
2092
2093 delimit-columns-str-separator Specify a string to be inserted
2094 between each column.
2095
2096 delimit-columns-str-after Specify a string to be inserted
2097 after all columns.
2098
2099 delimit-columns-separator Specify a regexp which separates
2100 each column.
2101
2102 delim-col has the following commands:
2103
2104 delimit-columns-region Prettify all columns in a text region.
2105 delimit-columns-rectangle Prettify all columns in a text rectangle.
2106
2107 *** Recentf mode maintains a menu for visiting files that were
2108 operated on recently. User option recentf-menu-filter specifies a
2109 menu filter function to change the menu appearance. For example, the
2110 recent file list can be displayed:
2111
2112 - organized by major modes, directories or user defined rules.
2113 - sorted by file paths, file names, ascending or descending.
2114 - showing paths relative to the current default-directory
2115
2116 The `recentf-filter-changer' menu filter function allows to
2117 dynamically change the menu appearance.
2118
2119 *** elide-head.el provides a mechanism for eliding boilerplate header
2120 text.
2121
2122 *** footnote.el provides `footnote-mode', a minor mode supporting use
2123 of footnotes. It is intended for use with Message mode, but isn't
2124 specific to Message mode.
2125
2126 *** diff-mode.el provides `diff-mode', a major mode for
2127 viewing/editing context diffs (patches). It is selected for files
2128 with extension `.diff', `.diffs', `.patch' and `.rej'.
2129
2130 *** EUDC, the Emacs Unified Directory Client, provides a common user
2131 interface to access directory servers using different directory
2132 protocols. It has a separate manual.
2133
2134 *** autoconf.el provides a major mode for editing configure.in files
2135 for Autoconf, selected automatically.
2136
2137 *** windmove.el provides moving between windows.
2138
2139 *** crm.el provides a facility to read multiple strings from the
2140 minibuffer with completion.
2141
2142 *** todo-mode.el provides management of TODO lists and integration
2143 with the diary features.
2144
2145 *** autoarg.el provides a feature reported from Twenex Emacs whereby
2146 numeric keys supply prefix args rather than self inserting.
2147
2148 *** The function `turn-off-auto-fill' unconditionally turns off Auto
2149 Fill mode.
2150
2151 *** pcomplete.el is a library that provides programmable completion
2152 facilities for Emacs, similar to what zsh and tcsh offer. The main
2153 difference is that completion functions are written in Lisp, meaning
2154 they can be profiled, debugged, etc.
2155
2156 *** antlr-mode is a new major mode for editing ANTLR grammar files.
2157 It is automatically turned on for files whose names have the extension
2158 `.g'.
2159
2160 ** Changes in sort.el
2161
2162 The function sort-numeric-fields interprets numbers starting with `0'
2163 as octal and numbers starting with `0x' or `0X' as hexadecimal. The
2164 new user-option sort-numeric-base can be used to specify a default
2165 numeric base.
2166
2167 ** Changes to Ange-ftp
2168
2169 *** Ange-ftp allows you to specify of a port number in remote file
2170 names cleanly. It is appended to the host name, separated by a hash
2171 sign, e.g. `/foo@bar.org#666:mumble'. (This syntax comes from EFS.)
2172
2173 *** If the new user-option `ange-ftp-try-passive-mode' is set, passive
2174 ftp mode will be used if the ftp client supports that.
2175
2176 *** Ange-ftp handles the output of the w32-style clients which
2177 output ^M at the end of lines.
2178
2179 ** The recommended way of using Iswitchb is via the new global minor
2180 mode `iswitchb-mode'.
2181
2182 ** Just loading the msb package doesn't switch on Msb mode anymore.
2183 If you have `(require 'msb)' in your .emacs, please replace it with
2184 `(msb-mode 1)'.
2185
2186 ** Flyspell mode has various new options. See the `flyspell' Custom
2187 group.
2188
2189 ** The user option `backward-delete-char-untabify-method' controls the
2190 behavior of `backward-delete-char-untabify'. The following values
2191 are recognized:
2192
2193 `untabify' -- turn a tab to many spaces, then delete one space;
2194 `hungry' -- delete all whitespace, both tabs and spaces;
2195 `all' -- delete all whitespace, including tabs, spaces and newlines;
2196 nil -- just delete one character.
2197
2198 Default value is `untabify'.
2199
2200 [This change was made in Emacs 20.3 but not mentioned then.]
2201
2202 ** In Cperl mode `cperl-invalid-face' should now be a normal face
2203 symbol, not double-quoted.
2204
2205 ** Some packages are declared obsolete, to be removed in a future
2206 version. They are: auto-show, c-mode, hilit19, hscroll, ooutline,
2207 profile, rnews, rnewspost, and sc. Their implementations have been
2208 moved to lisp/obsolete.
2209
2210 ** auto-compression mode is no longer enabled just by loading jka-compr.el.
2211 To control it, set `auto-compression-mode' via Custom or use the
2212 `auto-compression-mode' command.
2213
2214 ** `browse-url-gnome-moz' is a new option for
2215 `browse-url-browser-function', invoking Mozilla in GNOME, and
2216 `browse-url-kde' can be chosen for invoking the KDE browser.
2217
2218 ** The user-option `browse-url-new-window-p' has been renamed to
2219 `browse-url-new-window-flag'.
2220
2221 ** The functions `keep-lines', `flush-lines' and `how-many' now
2222 operate on the active region in Transient Mark mode.
2223
2224 ** `gnus-user-agent' is a new possibility for `mail-user-agent'. It
2225 is like `message-user-agent', but with all the Gnus paraphernalia.
2226
2227 ** The Strokes package has been updated. If your Emacs has XPM
2228 support, you can use it for pictographic editing. In Strokes mode,
2229 use C-mouse-2 to compose a complex stoke and insert it into the
2230 buffer. You can encode or decode a strokes buffer with new commands
2231 M-x strokes-encode-buffer and M-x strokes-decode-buffer. There is a
2232 new command M-x strokes-list-strokes.
2233
2234 ** Hexl contains a new command `hexl-insert-hex-string' which inserts
2235 a string of hexadecimal numbers read from the mini-buffer.
2236
2237 ** Hexl mode allows to insert non-ASCII characters.
2238
2239 The non-ASCII characters are encoded using the same encoding as the
2240 file you are visiting in Hexl mode.
2241
2242 ** Shell script mode changes.
2243
2244 Shell script mode (sh-script) can now indent scripts for shells
2245 derived from sh and rc. The indentation style is customizable, and
2246 sh-script can attempt to "learn" the current buffer's style.
2247
2248 ** Etags changes.
2249
2250 *** In DOS, etags looks for file.cgz if it cannot find file.c.
2251
2252 *** New option --ignore-case-regex is an alternative to --regex. It is now
2253 possible to bind a regexp to a language, by prepending the regexp with
2254 {lang}, where lang is one of the languages that `etags --help' prints out.
2255 This feature is useful especially for regex files, where each line contains
2256 a regular expression. The manual contains details.
2257
2258 *** In C and derived languages, etags creates tags for function
2259 declarations when given the --declarations option.
2260
2261 *** In C++, tags are created for "operator". The tags have the form
2262 "operator+", without spaces between the keyword and the operator.
2263
2264 *** You shouldn't generally need any more the -C or -c++ option: etags
2265 automatically switches to C++ parsing when it meets the `class' or
2266 `template' keywords.
2267
2268 *** Etags now is able to delve at arbitrary deeps into nested structures in
2269 C-like languages. Previously, it was limited to one or two brace levels.
2270
2271 *** New language Ada: tags are functions, procedures, packages, tasks, and
2272 types.
2273
2274 *** In Fortran, `procedure' is not tagged.
2275
2276 *** In Java, tags are created for "interface".
2277
2278 *** In Lisp, "(defstruct (foo", "(defun (operator" and similar constructs
2279 are now tagged.
2280
2281 *** In makefiles, tags the targets.
2282
2283 *** In Perl, the --globals option tags global variables. my and local
2284 variables are tagged.
2285
2286 *** New language Python: def and class at the beginning of a line are tags.
2287
2288 *** .ss files are Scheme files, .pdb is Postscript with C syntax, .psw is
2289 for PSWrap.
2290
2291 ** Changes in etags.el
2292
2293 *** The new user-option tags-case-fold-search can be used to make
2294 tags operations case-sensitive or case-insensitive. The default
2295 is to use the same setting as case-fold-search.
2296
2297 *** You can display additional output with M-x tags-apropos by setting
2298 the new variable tags-apropos-additional-actions.
2299
2300 If non-nil, the variable's value should be a list of triples (TITLE
2301 FUNCTION TO-SEARCH). For each triple, M-x tags-apropos processes
2302 TO-SEARCH and lists tags from it. TO-SEARCH should be an alist,
2303 obarray, or symbol. If it is a symbol, the symbol's value is used.
2304
2305 TITLE is a string to use to label the list of tags from TO-SEARCH.
2306
2307 FUNCTION is a function to call when an entry is selected in the Tags
2308 List buffer. It is called with one argument, the selected symbol.
2309
2310 A useful example value for this variable might be something like:
2311
2312 '(("Emacs Lisp" Info-goto-emacs-command-node obarray)
2313 ("Common Lisp" common-lisp-hyperspec common-lisp-hyperspec-obarray)
2314 ("SCWM" scwm-documentation scwm-obarray))
2315
2316 *** The face tags-tag-face can be used to customize the appearance
2317 of tags in the output of M-x tags-apropos.
2318
2319 *** Setting tags-apropos-verbose to a non-nil value displays the
2320 names of tags files in the *Tags List* buffer.
2321
2322 *** You can now search for tags that are part of the filename itself.
2323 If you have tagged the files topfile.c subdir/subfile.c
2324 /tmp/tempfile.c, you can now search for tags "topfile.c", "subfile.c",
2325 "dir/sub", "tempfile", "tempfile.c". If the tag matches the file name,
2326 point will go to the beginning of the file.
2327
2328 *** Compressed files are now transparently supported if
2329 auto-compression-mode is active. You can tag (with Etags) and search
2330 (with find-tag) both compressed and uncompressed files.
2331
2332 *** Tags commands like M-x tags-search no longer change point
2333 in buffers where no match is found. In buffers where a match is
2334 found, the original value of point is pushed on the marker ring.
2335
2336 ** Fortran mode has a new command `fortran-strip-sequence-nos' to
2337 remove text past column 72. The syntax class of `\' in Fortran is now
2338 appropriate for C-style escape sequences in strings.
2339
2340 ** SGML mode's default `sgml-validate-command' is now `nsgmls'.
2341
2342 ** A new command `view-emacs-problems' (C-h P) displays the PROBLEMS file.
2343
2344 ** The Dabbrev package has a new user-option `dabbrev-ignored-regexps'
2345 containing a list of regular expressions. Buffers matching a regular
2346 expression from that list, are not checked.
2347
2348 ** Emacs can now figure out modification times of remote files.
2349 When you do C-x C-f /user@host:/path/file RET and edit the file,
2350 and someone else modifies the file, you will be prompted to revert
2351 the buffer, just like for the local files.
2352
2353 ** The buffer menu (C-x C-b) no longer lists the *Buffer List* buffer.
2354
2355 ** When invoked with a prefix argument, the command `list-abbrevs' now
2356 displays local abbrevs, only.
2357
2358 ** Refill minor mode provides preliminary support for keeping
2359 paragraphs filled as you modify them.
2360
2361 ** The variable `double-click-fuzz' specifies how much the mouse
2362 may be moved between clicks that are recognized as a pair. Its value
2363 is measured in pixels.
2364
2365 ** The new global minor mode `auto-image-file-mode' allows image files
2366 to be visited as images.
2367
2368 ** Two new user-options `grep-command' and `grep-find-command'
2369 were added to compile.el.
2370
2371 ** Withdrawn packages
2372
2373 *** mldrag.el has been removed. mouse.el provides the same
2374 functionality with aliases for the mldrag functions.
2375
2376 *** eval-reg.el has been obsoleted by changes to edebug.el and removed.
2377
2378 *** ph.el has been obsoleted by EUDC and removed.
2379
2380 \f
2381 * Incompatible Lisp changes
2382
2383 There are a few Lisp changes which are not backwards-compatible and
2384 may require changes to existing code. Here is a list for reference.
2385 See the sections below for details.
2386
2387 ** Since `format' preserves text properties, the idiom
2388 `(format "%s" foo)' no longer works to copy and remove properties.
2389 Use `copy-sequence' and `set-text-properties'.
2390
2391 ** Since the `keymap' text property now has significance, some code
2392 which uses both `local-map' and `keymap' properties (for portability)
2393 may, for instance, give rise to duplicate menus when the keymaps from
2394 these properties are active.
2395
2396 ** The change in the treatment of non-ASCII characters in search
2397 ranges may affect some code.
2398
2399 ** A non-nil value for the LOCAL arg of add-hook makes the hook
2400 buffer-local even if `make-local-hook' hasn't been called, which might
2401 make a difference to some code.
2402
2403 ** The new treatment of the minibuffer prompt might affect code which
2404 operates on the minibuffer.
2405
2406 ** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
2407 cause `no-conversion' and `emacs-mule-unix' coding systems to produce
2408 different results when reading files with non-ASCII characters
2409 (previously, both coding systems would produce the same results).
2410 Specifically, `no-conversion' interprets each 8-bit byte as a separate
2411 character. This makes `no-conversion' inappropriate for reading
2412 multibyte text, e.g. buffers written to disk in their internal MULE
2413 encoding (auto-saving does that, for example). If a Lisp program
2414 reads such files with `no-conversion', each byte of the multibyte
2415 sequence, including the MULE leading codes such as \201, is treated as
2416 a separate character, which prevents them from being interpreted in
2417 the buffer as multibyte characters.
2418
2419 Therefore, Lisp programs that read files which contain the internal
2420 MULE encoding should use `emacs-mule-unix'. `no-conversion' is only
2421 appropriate for reading truly binary files.
2422
2423 ** Code that relies on the obsolete `before-change-function' and
2424 `after-change-function' to detect buffer changes will now fail. Use
2425 `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions' instead.
2426
2427 ** Code that uses `concat' with integer args now gets an error, as
2428 long promised.
2429
2430 ** The function base64-decode-string now always returns a unibyte
2431 string.
2432
2433 ** Not a Lisp incompatibility as such but, with the introduction of
2434 extra private charsets, there is now only one slot free for a new
2435 dimension-2 private charset. User code which tries to add more than
2436 one extra will fail unless you rebuild Emacs with some standard
2437 charset(s) removed; that is probably inadvisable because it changes
2438 the emacs-mule encoding. Also, files stored in the emacs-mule
2439 encoding using Emacs 20 with additional private charsets defined will
2440 probably not be read correctly by Emacs 21.
2441
2442 ** The variable `directory-sep-char' is slated for removal.
2443 Not really a change (yet), but a projected one that you should be
2444 aware of: The variable `directory-sep-char' is deprecated, and should
2445 not be used. It was always ignored on GNU/Linux and Unix systems and
2446 on MS-DOS, but the MS-Windows port tried to support it by adapting the
2447 behavior of certain primitives to the value of this variable. It
2448 turned out that such support cannot be reliable, so it was decided to
2449 remove this variable in the near future. Lisp programs are well
2450 advised not to set it to anything but '/', because any different value
2451 will not have any effect when support for this variable is removed.
2452
2453 \f
2454 * Lisp changes made after edition 2.6 of the Emacs Lisp Manual,
2455 (Display-related features are described in a page of their own below.)
2456
2457 ** Function assq-delete-all replaces function assoc-delete-all.
2458
2459 ** The new function amimate-string, from lisp/play/animate.el
2460 allows the animated display of strings.
2461
2462 ** The new function `interactive-form' can be used to obtain the
2463 interactive form of a function.
2464
2465 ** The keyword :set-after in defcustom allows to specify dependencies
2466 between custom options. Example:
2467
2468 (defcustom default-input-method nil
2469 "*Default input method for multilingual text (a string).
2470 This is the input method activated automatically by the command
2471 `toggle-input-method' (\\[toggle-input-method])."
2472 :group 'mule
2473 :type '(choice (const nil) string)
2474 :set-after '(current-language-environment))
2475
2476 This specifies that default-input-method should be set after
2477 current-language-environment even if default-input-method appears
2478 first in a custom-set-variables statement.
2479
2480 ** The new hook `kbd-macro-termination-hook' is run at the end of
2481 function execute-kbd-macro. Functions on this hook are called with no
2482 args. The hook is run independent of how the macro was terminated
2483 (signal or normal termination).
2484
2485 ** Functions `butlast' and `nbutlast' for removing trailing elements
2486 from a list are now available without requiring the CL package.
2487
2488 ** The new user-option `even-window-heights' can be set to nil
2489 to prevent `display-buffer' from evening out window heights.
2490
2491 ** The user-option `face-font-registry-alternatives' specifies
2492 alternative font registry names to try when looking for a font.
2493
2494 ** Function `md5' calculates the MD5 "message digest"/"checksum".
2495
2496 ** Function `delete-frame' runs `delete-frame-hook' before actually
2497 deleting the frame. The hook is called with one arg, the frame
2498 being deleted.
2499
2500 ** `add-hook' now makes the hook local if called with a non-nil LOCAL arg.
2501
2502 ** The treatment of non-ASCII characters in search ranges has changed.
2503 If a range in a regular expression or the arg of
2504 skip-chars-forward/backward starts with a unibyte character C and ends
2505 with a multibyte character C2, the range is divided into two: one is
2506 C..?\377, the other is C1..C2, where C1 is the first character of C2's
2507 charset.
2508
2509 ** The new function `display-message-or-buffer' displays a message in
2510 the echo area or pops up a buffer, depending on the length of the
2511 message.
2512
2513 ** The new macro `with-auto-compression-mode' allows evaluating an
2514 expression with auto-compression-mode enabled.
2515
2516 ** In image specifications, `:heuristic-mask' has been replaced
2517 with the more general `:mask' property.
2518
2519 ** Image specifications accept more `:conversion's.
2520
2521 ** A `?' can be used in a symbol name without escaping it with a
2522 backslash.
2523
2524 ** Reading from the mini-buffer now reads from standard input if Emacs
2525 is running in batch mode. For example,
2526
2527 (message "%s" (read t))
2528
2529 will read a Lisp expression from standard input and print the result
2530 to standard output.
2531
2532 ** The argument of `down-list', `backward-up-list', `up-list',
2533 `kill-sexp', `backward-kill-sexp' and `mark-sexp' is now optional.
2534
2535 ** If `display-buffer-reuse-frames' is set, function `display-buffer'
2536 will raise frames displaying a buffer, instead of creating a new
2537 frame or window.
2538
2539 ** Two new functions for removing elements from lists/sequences
2540 were added
2541
2542 - Function: remove ELT SEQ
2543
2544 Return a copy of SEQ with all occurrences of ELT removed. SEQ must be
2545 a list, vector, or string. The comparison is done with `equal'.
2546
2547 - Function: remq ELT LIST
2548
2549 Return a copy of LIST with all occurrences of ELT removed. The
2550 comparison is done with `eq'.
2551
2552 ** The function `delete' now also works with vectors and strings.
2553
2554 ** The meaning of the `:weakness WEAK' argument of make-hash-table
2555 has been changed: WEAK can now have new values `key-or-value' and
2556 `key-and-value', in addition the `nil', `key', `value', and `t'.
2557
2558 ** Function `aset' stores any multibyte character in any string
2559 without signaling "Attempt to change char length of a string". It may
2560 convert a unibyte string to multibyte if necessary.
2561
2562 ** The value of the `help-echo' text property is called as a function
2563 or evaluated, if it is not a string already, to obtain a help string.
2564
2565 ** Function `make-obsolete' now has an optional arg to say when the
2566 function was declared obsolete.
2567
2568 ** Function `plist-member' is renamed from `widget-plist-member' (which is
2569 retained as an alias).
2570
2571 ** Easy-menu's :filter now works as in XEmacs.
2572 It takes the unconverted (i.e. XEmacs) form of the menu and the result
2573 is automatically converted to Emacs' form.
2574
2575 ** The new function `window-list' has been defined
2576
2577 - Function: window-list &optional FRAME WINDOW MINIBUF
2578
2579 Return a list of windows on FRAME, starting with WINDOW. FRAME nil or
2580 omitted means use the selected frame. WINDOW nil or omitted means use
2581 the selected window. MINIBUF t means include the minibuffer window,
2582 even if it isn't active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means include the
2583 minibuffer window only if it's active. MINIBUF neither nil nor t
2584 means never include the minibuffer window.
2585
2586 ** There's a new function `get-window-with-predicate' defined as follows
2587
2588 - Function: get-window-with-predicate PREDICATE &optional MINIBUF ALL-FRAMES DEFAULT
2589
2590 Return a window satisfying PREDICATE.
2591
2592 This function cycles through all visible windows using `walk-windows',
2593 calling PREDICATE on each one. PREDICATE is called with a window as
2594 argument. The first window for which PREDICATE returns a non-nil
2595 value is returned. If no window satisfies PREDICATE, DEFAULT is
2596 returned.
2597
2598 Optional second arg MINIBUF t means count the minibuffer window even
2599 if not active. MINIBUF nil or omitted means count the minibuffer iff
2600 it is active. MINIBUF neither t nor nil means not to count the
2601 minibuffer even if it is active.
2602
2603 Several frames may share a single minibuffer; if the minibuffer
2604 counts, all windows on all frames that share that minibuffer count
2605 too. Therefore, if you are using a separate minibuffer frame
2606 and the minibuffer is active and MINIBUF says it counts,
2607 `walk-windows' includes the windows in the frame from which you
2608 entered the minibuffer, as well as the minibuffer window.
2609
2610 ALL-FRAMES is the optional third argument.
2611 ALL-FRAMES nil or omitted means cycle within the frames as specified above.
2612 ALL-FRAMES = `visible' means include windows on all visible frames.
2613 ALL-FRAMES = 0 means include windows on all visible and iconified frames.
2614 ALL-FRAMES = t means include windows on all frames including invisible frames.
2615 If ALL-FRAMES is a frame, it means include windows on that frame.
2616 Anything else means restrict to the selected frame.
2617
2618 ** The function `single-key-description' now encloses function key and
2619 event names in angle brackets. When called with a second optional
2620 argument non-nil, angle brackets won't be printed.
2621
2622 ** If the variable `message-truncate-lines' is bound to t around a
2623 call to `message', the echo area will not be resized to display that
2624 message; it will be truncated instead, as it was done in 20.x.
2625 Default value is nil.
2626
2627 ** The user option `line-number-display-limit' can now be set to nil,
2628 meaning no limit.
2629
2630 ** The new user option `line-number-display-limit-width' controls
2631 the maximum width of lines in a buffer for which Emacs displays line
2632 numbers in the mode line. The default is 200.
2633
2634 ** `select-safe-coding-system' now also checks the most preferred
2635 coding-system if buffer-file-coding-system is `undecided' and
2636 DEFAULT-CODING-SYSTEM is not specified,
2637
2638 ** The function `subr-arity' provides information about the argument
2639 list of a primitive.
2640
2641 ** `where-is-internal' now also accepts a list of keymaps.
2642
2643 ** The text property `keymap' specifies a key map which overrides the
2644 buffer's local map and the map specified by the `local-map' property.
2645 This is probably what most current uses of `local-map' want, rather
2646 than replacing the local map.
2647
2648 ** The obsolete variables `before-change-function' and
2649 `after-change-function' are no longer acted upon and have been
2650 removed. Use `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions'
2651 instead.
2652
2653 ** The function `apropos-mode' runs the hook `apropos-mode-hook'.
2654
2655 ** `concat' no longer accepts individual integer arguments,
2656 as promised long ago.
2657
2658 ** The new function `float-time' returns the current time as a float.
2659
2660 ** The new variable auto-coding-regexp-alist specifies coding systems
2661 for reading specific files, analogous to auto-coding-alist, but
2662 patterns are checked against file contents instead of file names.
2663
2664 \f
2665 * Lisp changes in Emacs 21.1 (see following page for display-related features)
2666
2667 Note that +++ before an item means the Lisp manual has been updated.
2668 --- means that I have decided it does not need to be in the Lisp manual.
2669 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
2670 so I will know I still need to look at it -- rms.
2671
2672 ** The new package rx.el provides an alternative sexp notation for
2673 regular expressions.
2674
2675 - Function: rx-to-string SEXP
2676
2677 Translate SEXP into a regular expression in string notation.
2678
2679 - Macro: rx SEXP
2680
2681 Translate SEXP into a regular expression in string notation.
2682
2683 The following are valid subforms of regular expressions in sexp
2684 notation.
2685
2686 STRING
2687 matches string STRING literally.
2688
2689 CHAR
2690 matches character CHAR literally.
2691
2692 `not-newline'
2693 matches any character except a newline.
2694 .
2695 `anything'
2696 matches any character
2697
2698 `(any SET)'
2699 matches any character in SET. SET may be a character or string.
2700 Ranges of characters can be specified as `A-Z' in strings.
2701
2702 '(in SET)'
2703 like `any'.
2704
2705 `(not (any SET))'
2706 matches any character not in SET
2707
2708 `line-start'
2709 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of a line
2710 in the text being matched
2711
2712 `line-end'
2713 is similar to `line-start' but matches only at the end of a line
2714
2715 `string-start'
2716 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of the
2717 string being matched against.
2718
2719 `string-end'
2720 matches the empty string, but only at the end of the
2721 string being matched against.
2722
2723 `buffer-start'
2724 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning of the
2725 buffer being matched against.
2726
2727 `buffer-end'
2728 matches the empty string, but only at the end of the
2729 buffer being matched against.
2730
2731 `point'
2732 matches the empty string, but only at point.
2733
2734 `word-start'
2735 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or end of a
2736 word.
2737
2738 `word-end'
2739 matches the empty string, but only at the end of a word.
2740
2741 `word-boundary'
2742 matches the empty string, but only at the beginning or end of a
2743 word.
2744
2745 `(not word-boundary)'
2746 matches the empty string, but not at the beginning or end of a
2747 word.
2748
2749 `digit'
2750 matches 0 through 9.
2751
2752 `control'
2753 matches ASCII control characters.
2754
2755 `hex-digit'
2756 matches 0 through 9, a through f and A through F.
2757
2758 `blank'
2759 matches space and tab only.
2760
2761 `graphic'
2762 matches graphic characters--everything except ASCII control chars,
2763 space, and DEL.
2764
2765 `printing'
2766 matches printing characters--everything except ASCII control chars
2767 and DEL.
2768
2769 `alphanumeric'
2770 matches letters and digits. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
2771 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
2772
2773 `letter'
2774 matches letters. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
2775 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
2776
2777 `ascii'
2778 matches ASCII (unibyte) characters.
2779
2780 `nonascii'
2781 matches non-ASCII (multibyte) characters.
2782
2783 `lower'
2784 matches anything lower-case.
2785
2786 `upper'
2787 matches anything upper-case.
2788
2789 `punctuation'
2790 matches punctuation. (But at present, for multibyte characters,
2791 it matches anything that has non-word syntax.)
2792
2793 `space'
2794 matches anything that has whitespace syntax.
2795
2796 `word'
2797 matches anything that has word syntax.
2798
2799 `(syntax SYNTAX)'
2800 matches a character with syntax SYNTAX. SYNTAX must be one
2801 of the following symbols.
2802
2803 `whitespace' (\\s- in string notation)
2804 `punctuation' (\\s.)
2805 `word' (\\sw)
2806 `symbol' (\\s_)
2807 `open-parenthesis' (\\s()
2808 `close-parenthesis' (\\s))
2809 `expression-prefix' (\\s')
2810 `string-quote' (\\s\")
2811 `paired-delimiter' (\\s$)
2812 `escape' (\\s\\)
2813 `character-quote' (\\s/)
2814 `comment-start' (\\s<)
2815 `comment-end' (\\s>)
2816
2817 `(not (syntax SYNTAX))'
2818 matches a character that has not syntax SYNTAX.
2819
2820 `(category CATEGORY)'
2821 matches a character with category CATEGORY. CATEGORY must be
2822 either a character to use for C, or one of the following symbols.
2823
2824 `consonant' (\\c0 in string notation)
2825 `base-vowel' (\\c1)
2826 `upper-diacritical-mark' (\\c2)
2827 `lower-diacritical-mark' (\\c3)
2828 `tone-mark' (\\c4)
2829 `symbol' (\\c5)
2830 `digit' (\\c6)
2831 `vowel-modifying-diacritical-mark' (\\c7)
2832 `vowel-sign' (\\c8)
2833 `semivowel-lower' (\\c9)
2834 `not-at-end-of-line' (\\c<)
2835 `not-at-beginning-of-line' (\\c>)
2836 `alpha-numeric-two-byte' (\\cA)
2837 `chinse-two-byte' (\\cC)
2838 `greek-two-byte' (\\cG)
2839 `japanese-hiragana-two-byte' (\\cH)
2840 `indian-tow-byte' (\\cI)
2841 `japanese-katakana-two-byte' (\\cK)
2842 `korean-hangul-two-byte' (\\cN)
2843 `cyrillic-two-byte' (\\cY)
2844 `ascii' (\\ca)
2845 `arabic' (\\cb)
2846 `chinese' (\\cc)
2847 `ethiopic' (\\ce)
2848 `greek' (\\cg)
2849 `korean' (\\ch)
2850 `indian' (\\ci)
2851 `japanese' (\\cj)
2852 `japanese-katakana' (\\ck)
2853 `latin' (\\cl)
2854 `lao' (\\co)
2855 `tibetan' (\\cq)
2856 `japanese-roman' (\\cr)
2857 `thai' (\\ct)
2858 `vietnamese' (\\cv)
2859 `hebrew' (\\cw)
2860 `cyrillic' (\\cy)
2861 `can-break' (\\c|)
2862
2863 `(not (category CATEGORY))'
2864 matches a character that has not category CATEGORY.
2865
2866 `(and SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
2867 matches what SEXP1 matches, followed by what SEXP2 matches, etc.
2868
2869 `(submatch SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
2870 like `and', but makes the match accessible with `match-end',
2871 `match-beginning', and `match-string'.
2872
2873 `(group SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
2874 another name for `submatch'.
2875
2876 `(or SEXP1 SEXP2 ...)'
2877 matches anything that matches SEXP1 or SEXP2, etc. If all
2878 args are strings, use `regexp-opt' to optimize the resulting
2879 regular expression.
2880
2881 `(minimal-match SEXP)'
2882 produce a non-greedy regexp for SEXP. Normally, regexps matching
2883 zero or more occurrances of something are \"greedy\" in that they
2884 match as much as they can, as long as the overall regexp can
2885 still match. A non-greedy regexp matches as little as possible.
2886
2887 `(maximal-match SEXP)'
2888 produce a greedy regexp for SEXP. This is the default.
2889
2890 `(zero-or-more SEXP)'
2891 matches zero or more occurrences of what SEXP matches.
2892
2893 `(0+ SEXP)'
2894 like `zero-or-more'.
2895
2896 `(* SEXP)'
2897 like `zero-or-more', but always produces a greedy regexp.
2898
2899 `(*? SEXP)'
2900 like `zero-or-more', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
2901
2902 `(one-or-more SEXP)'
2903 matches one or more occurrences of A.
2904
2905 `(1+ SEXP)'
2906 like `one-or-more'.
2907
2908 `(+ SEXP)'
2909 like `one-or-more', but always produces a greedy regexp.
2910
2911 `(+? SEXP)'
2912 like `one-or-more', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
2913
2914 `(zero-or-one SEXP)'
2915 matches zero or one occurrences of A.
2916
2917 `(optional SEXP)'
2918 like `zero-or-one'.
2919
2920 `(? SEXP)'
2921 like `zero-or-one', but always produces a greedy regexp.
2922
2923 `(?? SEXP)'
2924 like `zero-or-one', but always produces a non-greedy regexp.
2925
2926 `(repeat N SEXP)'
2927 matches N occurrences of what SEXP matches.
2928
2929 `(repeat N M SEXP)'
2930 matches N to M occurrences of what SEXP matches.
2931
2932 `(eval FORM)'
2933 evaluate FORM and insert result. If result is a string,
2934 `regexp-quote' it.
2935
2936 `(regexp REGEXP)'
2937 include REGEXP in string notation in the result.
2938
2939 *** The features `md5' and `overlay' are now provided by default.
2940
2941 *** The special form `save-restriction' now works correctly even if the
2942 buffer is widened inside the save-restriction and changes made outside
2943 the original restriction. Previously, doing this would cause the saved
2944 restriction to be restored incorrectly.
2945
2946 *** The functions `find-charset-region' and `find-charset-string' include
2947 `eight-bit-control' and/or `eight-bit-graphic' in the returned list
2948 when they find 8-bit characters. Previously, they included `ascii' in a
2949 multibyte buffer and `unknown' in a unibyte buffer.
2950
2951 *** The functions `set-buffer-multibyte', `string-as-multibyte' and
2952 `string-as-unibyte' change the byte sequence of a buffer or a string
2953 if it contains a character from the `eight-bit-control' character set.
2954
2955 *** The handling of multibyte sequences in a multibyte buffer is
2956 changed. Previously, a byte sequence matching the pattern
2957 [\200-\237][\240-\377]+ was interpreted as a single character
2958 regardless of the length of the trailing bytes [\240-\377]+. Thus, if
2959 the sequence was longer than what the leading byte indicated, the
2960 extra trailing bytes were ignored by Lisp functions. Now such extra
2961 bytes are independent 8-bit characters belonging to the charset
2962 eight-bit-graphic.
2963
2964 ** Fontsets are now implemented using char-tables.
2965
2966 A fontset can now be specified for each independent character, for
2967 a group of characters or for a character set rather than just for a
2968 character set as previously.
2969
2970 *** The arguments of the function `set-fontset-font' are changed.
2971 They are NAME, CHARACTER, FONTNAME, and optional FRAME. The function
2972 modifies fontset NAME to use FONTNAME for CHARACTER.
2973
2974 CHARACTER may be a cons (FROM . TO), where FROM and TO are non-generic
2975 characters. In that case FONTNAME is used for all characters in the
2976 range FROM and TO (inclusive). CHARACTER may be a charset. In that
2977 case FONTNAME is used for all character in the charset.
2978
2979 FONTNAME may be a cons (FAMILY . REGISTRY), where FAMILY is the family
2980 name of a font and REGISTRY is a registry name of a font.
2981
2982 *** Variable x-charset-registry has been deleted. The default charset
2983 registries of character sets are set in the default fontset
2984 "fontset-default".
2985
2986 *** The function `create-fontset-from-fontset-spec' ignores the second
2987 argument STYLE-VARIANT. It never creates style-variant fontsets.
2988
2989 ** The method of composing characters is changed. Now character
2990 composition is done by a special text property `composition' in
2991 buffers and strings.
2992
2993 *** Charset composition is deleted. Emacs never creates a `composite
2994 character' which is an independent character with a unique character
2995 code. Thus the following functions handling `composite characters'
2996 have been deleted: composite-char-component,
2997 composite-char-component-count, composite-char-composition-rule,
2998 composite-char-composition-rule and decompose-composite-char delete.
2999 The variables leading-code-composition and min-composite-char have
3000 also been deleted.
3001
3002 *** Three more glyph reference points are added. They can be used to
3003 specify a composition rule. See the documentation of the variable
3004 `reference-point-alist' for more detail.
3005
3006 *** The function `compose-region' takes new arguments COMPONENTS and
3007 MODIFICATION-FUNC. With COMPONENTS, you can specify not only a
3008 composition rule but also characters to be composed. Such characters
3009 may differ between buffer and string text.
3010
3011 *** The function `compose-string' takes new arguments START, END,
3012 COMPONENTS, and MODIFICATION-FUNC.
3013
3014 *** The function `compose-string' puts text property `composition'
3015 directly on the argument STRING instead of returning a new string.
3016 Likewise, the function `decompose-string' just removes text property
3017 `composition' from STRING.
3018
3019 *** The new function `find-composition' returns information about
3020 a composition at a specified position in a buffer or a string.
3021
3022 *** The function `decompose-composite-char' is now labeled as
3023 obsolete.
3024
3025 ** The new coding system `mac-roman' is primarily intended for use on
3026 the Macintosh but may be used generally for Macintosh-encoded text.
3027
3028 ** The new character sets `mule-unicode-0100-24ff',
3029 `mule-unicode-2500-33ff', and `mule-unicode-e000-ffff' have been
3030 introduced for Unicode characters in the range U+0100..U+24FF,
3031 U+2500..U+33FF, U+E000..U+FFFF respectively.
3032
3033 Note that the character sets are not yet unified in Emacs, so
3034 characters which belong to charsets such as Latin-2, Greek, Hebrew,
3035 etc. and the same characters in the `mule-unicode-*' charsets are
3036 different characters, as far as Emacs is concerned. For example, text
3037 which includes Unicode characters from the Latin-2 locale cannot be
3038 encoded by Emacs with ISO 8859-2 coding system.
3039
3040 ** The new coding system `mule-utf-8' has been added.
3041 It provides limited support for decoding/encoding UTF-8 text. For
3042 details, please see the documentation string of this coding system.
3043
3044 ** The new character sets `japanese-jisx0213-1' and
3045 `japanese-jisx0213-2' have been introduced for the new Japanese
3046 standard JIS X 0213 Plane 1 and Plane 2.
3047
3048 ** The new character sets `latin-iso8859-14' and `latin-iso8859-15'
3049 have been introduced.
3050
3051 ** The new character sets `eight-bit-control' and `eight-bit-graphic'
3052 have been introduced for 8-bit characters in the ranges 0x80..0x9F and
3053 0xA0..0xFF respectively. Note that the multibyte representation of
3054 eight-bit-control is never exposed; this leads to an exception in the
3055 emacs-mule coding system, which encodes everything else to the
3056 buffer/string internal representation. Note that to search for
3057 eight-bit-graphic characters in a multibyte buffer, the search string
3058 must be multibyte, otherwise such characters will be converted to
3059 their multibyte equivalent.
3060
3061 ** If the APPEND argument of `write-region' is an integer, it seeks to
3062 that offset in the file before writing.
3063
3064 ** The function `add-minor-mode' has been added for convenience and
3065 compatibility with XEmacs (and is used internally by define-minor-mode).
3066
3067 ** The function `shell-command' now sets the default directory of the
3068 `*Shell Command Output*' buffer to the default directory of the buffer
3069 from which the command was issued.
3070
3071 ** The functions `query-replace', `query-replace-regexp',
3072 `query-replace-regexp-eval' `map-query-replace-regexp',
3073 `replace-string', `replace-regexp', and `perform-replace' take two
3074 additional optional arguments START and END that specify the region to
3075 operate on.
3076
3077 ** The new function `count-screen-lines' is a more flexible alternative
3078 to `window-buffer-height'.
3079
3080 - Function: count-screen-lines &optional BEG END COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE WINDOW
3081
3082 Return the number of screen lines in the region between BEG and END.
3083 The number of screen lines may be different from the number of actual
3084 lines, due to line breaking, display table, etc.
3085
3086 Optional arguments BEG and END default to `point-min' and `point-max'
3087 respectively.
3088
3089 If region ends with a newline, ignore it unless optional third argument
3090 COUNT-FINAL-NEWLINE is non-nil.
3091
3092 The optional fourth argument WINDOW specifies the window used for
3093 obtaining parameters such as width, horizontal scrolling, and so
3094 on. The default is to use the selected window's parameters.
3095
3096 Like `vertical-motion', `count-screen-lines' always uses the current
3097 buffer, regardless of which buffer is displayed in WINDOW. This makes
3098 possible to use `count-screen-lines' in any buffer, whether or not it
3099 is currently displayed in some window.
3100
3101 ** The new function `mapc' is like `mapcar' but doesn't collect the
3102 argument function's results.
3103
3104 ** The functions base64-decode-region and base64-decode-string now
3105 signal an error instead of returning nil if decoding fails. Also,
3106 `base64-decode-string' now always returns a unibyte string (in Emacs
3107 20, it returned a multibyte string when the result was a valid multibyte
3108 sequence).
3109
3110 ** The function sendmail-user-agent-compose now recognizes a `body'
3111 header in the list of headers passed to it.
3112
3113 ** The new function member-ignore-case works like `member', but
3114 ignores differences in case and text representation.
3115
3116 ** The buffer-local variable cursor-type can be used to specify the
3117 cursor to use in windows displaying a buffer. Values are interpreted
3118 as follows:
3119
3120 t use the cursor specified for the frame (default)
3121 nil don't display a cursor
3122 `bar' display a bar cursor with default width
3123 (bar . WIDTH) display a bar cursor with width WIDTH
3124 others display a box cursor.
3125
3126 ** The variable open-paren-in-column-0-is-defun-start controls whether
3127 an open parenthesis in column 0 is considered to be the start of a
3128 defun. If set, the default, it is considered a defun start. If not
3129 set, an open parenthesis in column 0 has no special meaning.
3130
3131 ** The new function `string-to-syntax' can be used to translate syntax
3132 specifications in string form as accepted by `modify-syntax-entry' to
3133 the cons-cell form that is used for the values of the `syntax-table'
3134 text property, and in `font-lock-syntactic-keywords'.
3135
3136 Example:
3137
3138 (string-to-syntax "()")
3139 => (4 . 41)
3140
3141 ** Emacs' reader supports CL read syntax for integers in bases
3142 other than 10.
3143
3144 *** `#BINTEGER' or `#bINTEGER' reads INTEGER in binary (radix 2).
3145 INTEGER optionally contains a sign.
3146
3147 #b1111
3148 => 15
3149 #b-1111
3150 => -15
3151
3152 *** `#OINTEGER' or `#oINTEGER' reads INTEGER in octal (radix 8).
3153
3154 #o666
3155 => 438
3156
3157 *** `#XINTEGER' or `#xINTEGER' reads INTEGER in hexadecimal (radix 16).
3158
3159 #xbeef
3160 => 48815
3161
3162 *** `#RADIXrINTEGER' reads INTEGER in radix RADIX, 2 <= RADIX <= 36.
3163
3164 #2R-111
3165 => -7
3166 #25rah
3167 => 267
3168
3169 ** The function `documentation-property' now evaluates the value of
3170 the given property to obtain a string if it doesn't refer to etc/DOC
3171 and isn't a string.
3172
3173 ** If called for a symbol, the function `documentation' now looks for
3174 a `function-documentation' property of that symbol. If it has a non-nil
3175 value, the documentation is taken from that value. If the value is
3176 not a string, it is evaluated to obtain a string.
3177
3178 ** The last argument of `define-key-after' defaults to t for convenience.
3179
3180 ** The new function `replace-regexp-in-string' replaces all matches
3181 for a regexp in a string.
3182
3183 ** `mouse-position' now runs the abnormal hook
3184 `mouse-position-function'.
3185
3186 ** The function string-to-number now returns a float for numbers
3187 that don't fit into a Lisp integer.
3188
3189 ** The variable keyword-symbols-constants-flag has been removed.
3190 Keywords are now always considered constants.
3191
3192 ** The new function `delete-and-extract-region' deletes text and
3193 returns it.
3194
3195 ** The function `clear-this-command-keys' now also clears the vector
3196 returned by function `recent-keys'.
3197
3198 ** Variables `beginning-of-defun-function' and `end-of-defun-function'
3199 can be used to define handlers for the functions that find defuns.
3200 Major modes can define these locally instead of rebinding C-M-a
3201 etc. if the normal conventions for defuns are not appropriate for the
3202 mode.
3203
3204 ** easy-mmode-define-minor-mode now takes an additional BODY argument
3205 and is renamed `define-minor-mode'.
3206
3207 ** If an abbrev has a hook function which is a symbol, and that symbol
3208 has a non-nil `no-self-insert' property, the return value of the hook
3209 function specifies whether an expansion has been done or not. If it
3210 returns nil, abbrev-expand also returns nil, meaning "no expansion has
3211 been performed."
3212
3213 When abbrev expansion is done by typing a self-inserting character,
3214 and the abbrev has a hook with the `no-self-insert' property, and the
3215 hook function returns non-nil meaning expansion has been done,
3216 then the self-inserting character is not inserted.
3217
3218 ** The function `intern-soft' now accepts a symbol as first argument.
3219 In this case, that exact symbol is looked up in the specified obarray,
3220 and the function's value is nil if it is not found.
3221
3222 ** The new macro `with-syntax-table' can be used to evaluate forms
3223 with the syntax table of the current buffer temporarily set to a
3224 specified table.
3225
3226 (with-syntax-table TABLE &rest BODY)
3227
3228 Evaluate BODY with syntax table of current buffer set to a copy of
3229 TABLE. The current syntax table is saved, BODY is evaluated, and the
3230 saved table is restored, even in case of an abnormal exit. Value is
3231 what BODY returns.
3232
3233 ** Regular expressions now support intervals \{n,m\} as well as
3234 Perl's shy-groups \(?:...\) and non-greedy *? +? and ?? operators.
3235 Also back-references like \2 are now considered as an error if the
3236 corresponding subgroup does not exist (or is not closed yet).
3237 Previously it would have been silently turned into `2' (ignoring the `\').
3238
3239 ** The optional argument BUFFER of function file-local-copy has been
3240 removed since it wasn't used by anything.
3241
3242 ** The file name argument of function `file-locked-p' is now required
3243 instead of being optional.
3244
3245 ** The new built-in error `text-read-only' is signaled when trying to
3246 modify read-only text.
3247
3248 ** New functions and variables for locales.
3249
3250 The new variable `locale-coding-system' specifies how to encode and
3251 decode strings passed to low-level message functions like strerror and
3252 time functions like strftime. The new variables
3253 `system-messages-locale' and `system-time-locale' give the system
3254 locales to be used when invoking these two types of functions.
3255
3256 The new function `set-locale-environment' sets the language
3257 environment, preferred coding system, and locale coding system from
3258 the system locale as specified by the LC_ALL, LC_CTYPE, and LANG
3259 environment variables. Normally, it is invoked during startup and need
3260 not be invoked thereafter. It uses the new variables
3261 `locale-language-names', `locale-charset-language-names', and
3262 `locale-preferred-coding-systems' to make its decisions.
3263
3264 ** syntax tables now understand nested comments.
3265 To declare a comment syntax as allowing nesting, just add an `n'
3266 modifier to either of the characters of the comment end and the comment
3267 start sequences.
3268
3269 ** The function `pixmap-spec-p' has been renamed `bitmap-spec-p'
3270 because `bitmap' is more in line with the usual X terminology.
3271
3272 ** New function `propertize'
3273
3274 The new function `propertize' can be used to conveniently construct
3275 strings with text properties.
3276
3277 - Function: propertize STRING &rest PROPERTIES
3278
3279 Value is a copy of STRING with text properties assigned as specified
3280 by PROPERTIES. PROPERTIES is a sequence of pairs PROPERTY VALUE, with
3281 PROPERTY being the name of a text property and VALUE being the
3282 specified value of that property. Example:
3283
3284 (propertize "foo" 'face 'bold 'read-only t)
3285
3286 ** push and pop macros.
3287
3288 Simple versions of the push and pop macros of Common Lisp
3289 are now defined in Emacs Lisp. These macros allow only symbols
3290 as the place that holds the list to be changed.
3291
3292 (push NEWELT LISTNAME) add NEWELT to the front of LISTNAME's value.
3293 (pop LISTNAME) return first elt of LISTNAME, and remove it
3294 (thus altering the value of LISTNAME).
3295
3296 ** New dolist and dotimes macros.
3297
3298 Simple versions of the dolist and dotimes macros of Common Lisp
3299 are now defined in Emacs Lisp.
3300
3301 (dolist (VAR LIST [RESULT]) BODY...)
3302 Execute body once for each element of LIST,
3303 using the variable VAR to hold the current element.
3304 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
3305
3306 (dotimes (VAR COUNT [RESULT]) BODY...)
3307 Execute BODY with VAR bound to successive integers running from 0,
3308 inclusive, to COUNT, exclusive.
3309 Then return the value of RESULT, or nil if RESULT is omitted.
3310
3311 ** Regular expressions now support Posix character classes such as
3312 [:alpha:], [:space:] and so on. These must be used within a character
3313 class--for instance, [-[:digit:].+] matches digits or a period
3314 or a sign.
3315
3316 [:digit:] matches 0 through 9
3317 [:cntrl:] matches ASCII control characters
3318 [:xdigit:] matches 0 through 9, a through f and A through F.
3319 [:blank:] matches space and tab only
3320 [:graph:] matches graphic characters--everything except ASCII control chars,
3321 space, and DEL.
3322 [:print:] matches printing characters--everything except ASCII control chars
3323 and DEL.
3324 [:alnum:] matches letters and digits.
3325 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
3326 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
3327 [:alpha:] matches letters.
3328 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
3329 it matches anything that has word syntax.)
3330 [:ascii:] matches ASCII (unibyte) characters.
3331 [:nonascii:] matches non-ASCII (multibyte) characters.
3332 [:lower:] matches anything lower-case.
3333 [:punct:] matches punctuation.
3334 (But at present, for multibyte characters,
3335 it matches anything that has non-word syntax.)
3336 [:space:] matches anything that has whitespace syntax.
3337 [:upper:] matches anything upper-case.
3338 [:word:] matches anything that has word syntax.
3339
3340 ** Emacs now has built-in hash tables.
3341
3342 The following functions are defined for hash tables:
3343
3344 - Function: make-hash-table ARGS
3345
3346 The argument list ARGS consists of keyword/argument pairs. All arguments
3347 are optional. The following arguments are defined:
3348
3349 :test TEST
3350
3351 TEST must be a symbol specifying how to compare keys. Default is `eql'.
3352 Predefined are `eq', `eql' and `equal'. If TEST is not predefined,
3353 it must have been defined with `define-hash-table-test'.
3354
3355 :size SIZE
3356
3357 SIZE must be an integer > 0 giving a hint to the implementation how
3358 many elements will be put in the hash table. Default size is 65.
3359
3360 :rehash-size REHASH-SIZE
3361
3362 REHASH-SIZE specifies by how much to grow a hash table once it becomes
3363 full. If REHASH-SIZE is an integer, add that to the hash table's old
3364 size to get the new size. Otherwise, REHASH-SIZE must be a float >
3365 1.0, and the new size is computed by multiplying REHASH-SIZE with the
3366 old size. Default rehash size is 1.5.
3367
3368 :rehash-threshold THRESHOLD
3369
3370 THRESHOLD must be a float > 0 and <= 1.0 specifying when to resize the
3371 hash table. It is resized when the ratio of (number of entries) /
3372 (size of hash table) is >= THRESHOLD. Default threshold is 0.8.
3373
3374 :weakness WEAK
3375
3376 WEAK must be either nil, one of the symbols `key, `value',
3377 `key-or-value', `key-and-value', or t, meaning the same as
3378 `key-and-value'. Entries are removed from weak tables during garbage
3379 collection if their key and/or value are not referenced elsewhere
3380 outside of the hash table. Default are non-weak hash tables.
3381
3382 - Function: makehash &optional TEST
3383
3384 Similar to make-hash-table, but only TEST can be specified.
3385
3386 - Function: hash-table-p TABLE
3387
3388 Returns non-nil if TABLE is a hash table object.
3389
3390 - Function: copy-hash-table TABLE
3391
3392 Returns a copy of TABLE. Only the table itself is copied, keys and
3393 values are shared.
3394
3395 - Function: hash-table-count TABLE
3396
3397 Returns the number of entries in TABLE.
3398
3399 - Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
3400
3401 Returns the rehash size of TABLE.
3402
3403 - Function: hash-table-rehash-threshold TABLE
3404
3405 Returns the rehash threshold of TABLE.
3406
3407 - Function: hash-table-rehash-size TABLE
3408
3409 Returns the size of TABLE.
3410
3411 - Function: hash-table-test TABLE
3412
3413 Returns the test TABLE uses to compare keys.
3414
3415 - Function: hash-table-weakness TABLE
3416
3417 Returns the weakness specified for TABLE.
3418
3419 - Function: clrhash TABLE
3420
3421 Clear TABLE.
3422
3423 - Function: gethash KEY TABLE &optional DEFAULT
3424
3425 Look up KEY in TABLE and return its associated VALUE or DEFAULT if
3426 not found.
3427
3428 - Function: puthash KEY VALUE TABLE
3429
3430 Associate KEY with VALUE in TABLE. If KEY is already associated with
3431 another value, replace the old value with VALUE.
3432
3433 - Function: remhash KEY TABLE
3434
3435 Remove KEY from TABLE if it is there.
3436
3437 - Function: maphash FUNCTION TABLE
3438
3439 Call FUNCTION for all elements in TABLE. FUNCTION must take two
3440 arguments KEY and VALUE.
3441
3442 - Function: sxhash OBJ
3443
3444 Return a hash code for Lisp object OBJ.
3445
3446 - Function: define-hash-table-test NAME TEST-FN HASH-FN
3447
3448 Define a new hash table test named NAME. If NAME is specified as
3449 a test in `make-hash-table', the table created will use TEST-FN for
3450 comparing keys, and HASH-FN to compute hash codes for keys. Test
3451 and hash function are stored as symbol property `hash-table-test'
3452 of NAME with a value of (TEST-FN HASH-FN).
3453
3454 TEST-FN must take two arguments and return non-nil if they are the same.
3455
3456 HASH-FN must take one argument and return an integer that is the hash
3457 code of the argument. The function should use the whole range of
3458 integer values for hash code computation, including negative integers.
3459
3460 Example: The following creates a hash table whose keys are supposed to
3461 be strings that are compared case-insensitively.
3462
3463 (defun case-fold-string= (a b)
3464 (compare-strings a nil nil b nil nil t))
3465
3466 (defun case-fold-string-hash (a)
3467 (sxhash (upcase a)))
3468
3469 (define-hash-table-test 'case-fold 'case-fold-string=
3470 'case-fold-string-hash))
3471
3472 (make-hash-table :test 'case-fold)
3473
3474 ** The Lisp reader handles circular structure.
3475
3476 It now works to use the #N= and #N# constructs to represent
3477 circular structures. For example, #1=(a . #1#) represents
3478 a cons cell which is its own cdr.
3479
3480 ** The Lisp printer handles circular structure.
3481
3482 If you bind print-circle to a non-nil value, the Lisp printer outputs
3483 #N= and #N# constructs to represent circular and shared structure.
3484
3485 ** If the second argument to `move-to-column' is anything but nil or
3486 t, that means replace a tab with spaces if necessary to reach the
3487 specified column, but do not add spaces at the end of the line if it
3488 is too short to reach that column.
3489
3490 ** perform-replace has a new feature: the REPLACEMENTS argument may
3491 now be a cons cell (FUNCTION . DATA). This means to call FUNCTION
3492 after each match to get the replacement text. FUNCTION is called with
3493 two arguments: DATA, and the number of replacements already made.
3494
3495 If the FROM-STRING contains any upper-case letters,
3496 perform-replace also turns off `case-fold-search' temporarily
3497 and inserts the replacement text without altering case in it.
3498
3499 ** The function buffer-size now accepts an optional argument
3500 to specify which buffer to return the size of.
3501
3502 ** The calendar motion commands now run the normal hook
3503 calendar-move-hook after moving point.
3504
3505 ** The new variable small-temporary-file-directory specifies a
3506 directory to use for creating temporary files that are likely to be
3507 small. (Certain Emacs features use this directory.) If
3508 small-temporary-file-directory is nil, they use
3509 temporary-file-directory instead.
3510
3511 ** The variable `inhibit-modification-hooks', if non-nil, inhibits all
3512 the hooks that track changes in the buffer. This affects
3513 `before-change-functions' and `after-change-functions', as well as
3514 hooks attached to text properties and overlay properties.
3515
3516 ** assq-delete-all is a new function that deletes all the
3517 elements of an alist which have a car `eq' to a particular value.
3518
3519 ** make-temp-file provides a more reliable way to create a temporary file.
3520
3521 make-temp-file is used like make-temp-name, except that it actually
3522 creates the file before it returns. This prevents a timing error,
3523 ensuring that no other job can use the same name for a temporary file.
3524
3525 ** New exclusive-open feature in `write-region'
3526
3527 The optional seventh arg is now called MUSTBENEW. If non-nil, it insists
3528 on a check for an existing file with the same name. If MUSTBENEW
3529 is `excl', that means to get an error if the file already exists;
3530 never overwrite. If MUSTBENEW is neither nil nor `excl', that means
3531 ask for confirmation before overwriting, but do go ahead and
3532 overwrite the file if the user gives confirmation.
3533
3534 If the MUSTBENEW argument in `write-region' is `excl',
3535 that means to use a special feature in the `open' system call
3536 to get an error if the file exists at that time.
3537 The error reported is `file-already-exists'.
3538
3539 ** Function `format' now handles text properties.
3540
3541 Text properties of the format string are applied to the result string.
3542 If the result string is longer than the format string, text properties
3543 ending at the end of the format string are extended to the end of the
3544 result string.
3545
3546 Text properties from string arguments are applied to the result
3547 string where arguments appear in the result string.
3548
3549 Example:
3550
3551 (let ((s1 "hello, %s")
3552 (s2 "world"))
3553 (put-text-property 0 (length s1) 'face 'bold s1)
3554 (put-text-property 0 (length s2) 'face 'italic s2)
3555 (format s1 s2))
3556
3557 results in a bold-face string with an italic `world' at the end.
3558
3559 ** Messages can now be displayed with text properties.
3560
3561 Text properties are handled as described above for function `format'.
3562 The following example displays a bold-face message with an italic
3563 argument in it.
3564
3565 (let ((msg "hello, %s!")
3566 (arg "world"))
3567 (put-text-property 0 (length msg) 'face 'bold msg)
3568 (put-text-property 0 (length arg) 'face 'italic arg)
3569 (message msg arg))
3570
3571 ** Sound support
3572
3573 Emacs supports playing sound files on GNU/Linux and the free BSDs
3574 (Voxware driver and native BSD driver, aka as Luigi's driver).
3575
3576 Currently supported file formats are RIFF-WAVE (*.wav) and Sun Audio
3577 (*.au). You must configure Emacs with the option `--with-sound=yes'
3578 to enable sound support.
3579
3580 Sound files can be played by calling (play-sound SOUND). SOUND is a
3581 list of the form `(sound PROPERTY...)'. The function is only defined
3582 when sound support is present for the system on which Emacs runs. The
3583 functions runs `play-sound-functions' with one argument which is the
3584 sound to play, before playing the sound.
3585
3586 The following sound properties are supported:
3587
3588 - `:file FILE'
3589
3590 FILE is a file name. If FILE isn't an absolute name, it will be
3591 searched relative to `data-directory'.
3592
3593 - `:data DATA'
3594
3595 DATA is a string containing sound data. Either :file or :data
3596 may be present, but not both.
3597
3598 - `:volume VOLUME'
3599
3600 VOLUME must be an integer in the range 0..100 or a float in the range
3601 0..1. This property is optional.
3602
3603 - `:device DEVICE'
3604
3605 DEVICE is a string specifying the system device on which to play the
3606 sound. The default device is system-dependent.
3607
3608 Other properties are ignored.
3609
3610 An alternative interface is called as
3611 (play-sound-file FILE &optional VOLUME DEVICE).
3612
3613 ** `multimedia' is a new Finder keyword and Custom group.
3614
3615 ** keywordp is a new predicate to test efficiently for an object being
3616 a keyword symbol.
3617
3618 ** Changes to garbage collection
3619
3620 *** The function garbage-collect now additionally returns the number
3621 of live and free strings.
3622
3623 *** There is a new variable `strings-consed' holding the number of
3624 strings that have been consed so far.
3625
3626 \f
3627 * Lisp-level Display features added after release 2.6 of the Emacs
3628 Lisp Manual
3629
3630 ** The user-option `resize-mini-windows' controls how Emacs resizes
3631 mini-windows.
3632
3633 ** The function `pos-visible-in-window-p' now has a third optional
3634 argument, PARTIALLY. If a character is only partially visible, nil is
3635 returned, unless PARTIALLY is non-nil.
3636
3637 ** On window systems, `glyph-table' is no longer used.
3638
3639 ** Help strings in menu items are now used to provide `help-echo' text.
3640
3641 ** The function `image-size' can be used to determine the size of an
3642 image.
3643
3644 - Function: image-size SPEC &optional PIXELS FRAME
3645
3646 Return the size of an image as a pair (WIDTH . HEIGHT).
3647
3648 SPEC is an image specification. PIXELS non-nil means return sizes
3649 measured in pixels, otherwise return sizes measured in canonical
3650 character units (fractions of the width/height of the frame's default
3651 font). FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed.
3652 FRAME nil or omitted means use the selected frame.
3653
3654 ** The function `image-mask-p' can be used to determine if an image
3655 has a mask bitmap.
3656
3657 - Function: image-mask-p SPEC &optional FRAME
3658
3659 Return t if image SPEC has a mask bitmap.
3660 FRAME is the frame on which the image will be displayed. FRAME nil
3661 or omitted means use the selected frame.
3662
3663 ** The function `find-image' can be used to find a usable image
3664 satisfying one of a list of specifications.
3665
3666 ** The STRING argument of `put-image' and `insert-image' is now
3667 optional.
3668
3669 ** Image specifications may contain the property `:ascent center' (see
3670 below).
3671
3672 \f
3673 * New Lisp-level Display features in Emacs 21.1
3674
3675 Note that +++ before an item means the Lisp manual has been updated.
3676 --- means that I have decided it does not need to be in the Lisp manual.
3677 When you add a new item, please add it without either +++ or ---
3678 so I will know I still need to look at it -- rms.
3679
3680 ** The function tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors can be used
3681 to make Emacs avoid displaying text with bold black foreground on TTYs.
3682
3683 Some terminals, notably PC consoles, emulate bold text by displaying
3684 text in brighter colors. On such a console, a bold black foreground
3685 is displayed in a gray color. If this turns out to be hard to read on
3686 your monitor---the problem occurred with the mode line on
3687 laptops---you can instruct Emacs to ignore the text's boldness, and to
3688 just display it black instead.
3689
3690 This situation can't be detected automatically. You will have to put
3691 a line like
3692
3693 (tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors t)
3694
3695 in your `.emacs'.
3696
3697 ** New face implementation.
3698
3699 Emacs faces have been reimplemented from scratch. They don't use XLFD
3700 font names anymore and face merging now works as expected.
3701
3702 *** New faces.
3703
3704 Each face can specify the following display attributes:
3705
3706 1. Font family or fontset alias name.
3707
3708 2. Relative proportionate width, aka character set width or set
3709 width (swidth), e.g. `semi-compressed'.
3710
3711 3. Font height in 1/10pt
3712
3713 4. Font weight, e.g. `bold'.
3714
3715 5. Font slant, e.g. `italic'.
3716
3717 6. Foreground color.
3718
3719 7. Background color.
3720
3721 8. Whether or not characters should be underlined, and in what color.
3722
3723 9. Whether or not characters should be displayed in inverse video.
3724
3725 10. A background stipple, a bitmap.
3726
3727 11. Whether or not characters should be overlined, and in what color.
3728
3729 12. Whether or not characters should be strike-through, and in what
3730 color.
3731
3732 13. Whether or not a box should be drawn around characters, its
3733 color, the width of the box lines, and 3D appearance.
3734
3735 Faces are frame-local by nature because Emacs allows to define the
3736 same named face (face names are symbols) differently for different
3737 frames. Each frame has an alist of face definitions for all named
3738 faces. The value of a named face in such an alist is a Lisp vector
3739 with the symbol `face' in slot 0, and a slot for each of the face
3740 attributes mentioned above.
3741
3742 There is also a global face alist `face-new-frame-defaults'. Face
3743 definitions from this list are used to initialize faces of newly
3744 created frames.
3745
3746 A face doesn't have to specify all attributes. Those not specified
3747 have a nil value. Faces specifying all attributes are called
3748 `fully-specified'.
3749
3750 *** Face merging.
3751
3752 The display style of a given character in the text is determined by
3753 combining several faces. This process is called `face merging'. Any
3754 aspect of the display style that isn't specified by overlays or text
3755 properties is taken from the `default' face. Since it is made sure
3756 that the default face is always fully-specified, face merging always
3757 results in a fully-specified face.
3758
3759 *** Face realization.
3760
3761 After all face attributes for a character have been determined by
3762 merging faces of that character, that face is `realized'. The
3763 realization process maps face attributes to what is physically
3764 available on the system where Emacs runs. The result is a `realized
3765 face' in form of an internal structure which is stored in the face
3766 cache of the frame on which it was realized.
3767
3768 Face realization is done in the context of the charset of the
3769 character to display because different fonts and encodings are used
3770 for different charsets. In other words, for characters of different
3771 charsets, different realized faces are needed to display them.
3772
3773 Except for composite characters, faces are always realized for a
3774 specific character set and contain a specific font, even if the face
3775 being realized specifies a fontset. The reason is that the result of
3776 the new font selection stage is better than what can be done with
3777 statically defined font name patterns in fontsets.
3778
3779 In unibyte text, Emacs' charsets aren't applicable; function
3780 `char-charset' reports ASCII for all characters, including those >
3781 0x7f. The X registry and encoding of fonts to use is determined from
3782 the variable `face-default-registry' in this case. The variable is
3783 initialized at Emacs startup time from the font the user specified for
3784 Emacs.
3785
3786 Currently all unibyte text, i.e. all buffers with
3787 `enable-multibyte-characters' nil are displayed with fonts of the same
3788 registry and encoding `face-default-registry'. This is consistent
3789 with the fact that languages can also be set globally, only.
3790
3791 **** Clearing face caches.
3792
3793 The Lisp function `clear-face-cache' can be called to clear face caches
3794 on all frames. If called with a non-nil argument, it will also unload
3795 unused fonts.
3796
3797 *** Font selection.
3798
3799 Font selection tries to find the best available matching font for a
3800 given (charset, face) combination. This is done slightly differently
3801 for faces specifying a fontset, or a font family name.
3802
3803 If the face specifies a fontset name, that fontset determines a
3804 pattern for fonts of the given charset. If the face specifies a font
3805 family, a font pattern is constructed. Charset symbols have a
3806 property `x-charset-registry' for that purpose that maps a charset to
3807 an XLFD registry and encoding in the font pattern constructed.
3808
3809 Available fonts on the system on which Emacs runs are then matched
3810 against the font pattern. The result of font selection is the best
3811 match for the given face attributes in this font list.
3812
3813 Font selection can be influenced by the user.
3814
3815 The user can specify the relative importance he gives the face
3816 attributes width, height, weight, and slant by setting
3817 face-font-selection-order (faces.el) to a list of face attribute
3818 names. The default is (:width :height :weight :slant), and means
3819 that font selection first tries to find a good match for the font
3820 width specified by a face, then---within fonts with that width---tries
3821 to find a best match for the specified font height, etc.
3822
3823 Setting `face-font-family-alternatives' allows the user to specify
3824 alternative font families to try if a family specified by a face
3825 doesn't exist.
3826
3827 Setting `face-font-registry-alternatives' allows the user to specify
3828 all alternative font registry names to try for a face specifying a
3829 registry.
3830
3831 Please note that the interpretations of the above two variables are
3832 slightly different.
3833
3834 Setting face-ignored-fonts allows the user to ignore specific fonts.
3835
3836
3837 **** Scalable fonts
3838
3839 Emacs can make use of scalable fonts but doesn't do so by default,
3840 since the use of too many or too big scalable fonts may crash XFree86
3841 servers.
3842
3843 To enable scalable font use, set the variable
3844 `scalable-fonts-allowed'. A value of nil, the default, means never use
3845 scalable fonts. A value of t means any scalable font may be used.
3846 Otherwise, the value must be a list of regular expressions. A
3847 scalable font may then be used if it matches a regular expression from
3848 that list. Example:
3849
3850 (setq scalable-fonts-allowed '("muleindian-2$"))
3851
3852 allows the use of scalable fonts with registry `muleindian-2'.
3853
3854 *** Functions and variables related to font selection.
3855
3856 - Function: x-family-fonts &optional FAMILY FRAME
3857
3858 Return a list of available fonts of family FAMILY on FRAME. If FAMILY
3859 is omitted or nil, list all families. Otherwise, FAMILY must be a
3860 string, possibly containing wildcards `?' and `*'.
3861
3862 If FRAME is omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Each element of
3863 the result is a vector [FAMILY WIDTH POINT-SIZE WEIGHT SLANT FIXED-P
3864 FULL REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING]. FAMILY is the font family name.
3865 POINT-SIZE is the size of the font in 1/10 pt. WIDTH, WEIGHT, and
3866 SLANT are symbols describing the width, weight and slant of the font.
3867 These symbols are the same as for face attributes. FIXED-P is non-nil
3868 if the font is fixed-pitch. FULL is the full name of the font, and
3869 REGISTRY-AND-ENCODING is a string giving the registry and encoding of
3870 the font. The result list is sorted according to the current setting
3871 of the face font sort order.
3872
3873 - Function: x-font-family-list
3874
3875 Return a list of available font families on FRAME. If FRAME is
3876 omitted or nil, use the selected frame. Value is a list of conses
3877 (FAMILY . FIXED-P) where FAMILY is a font family, and FIXED-P is
3878 non-nil if fonts of that family are fixed-pitch.
3879
3880 - Variable: font-list-limit
3881
3882 Limit for font matching. If an integer > 0, font matching functions
3883 won't load more than that number of fonts when searching for a
3884 matching font. The default is currently 100.
3885
3886 *** Setting face attributes.
3887
3888 For the most part, the new face implementation is interface-compatible
3889 with the old one. Old face attribute related functions are now
3890 implemented in terms of the new functions `set-face-attribute' and
3891 `face-attribute'.
3892
3893 Face attributes are identified by their names which are keyword
3894 symbols. All attributes can be set to `unspecified'.
3895
3896 The following attributes are recognized:
3897
3898 `:family'
3899
3900 VALUE must be a string specifying the font family, e.g. ``courier'',
3901 or a fontset alias name. If a font family is specified, wild-cards `*'
3902 and `?' are allowed.
3903
3904 `:width'
3905
3906 VALUE specifies the relative proportionate width of the font to use.
3907 It must be one of the symbols `ultra-condensed', `extra-condensed',
3908 `condensed', `semi-condensed', `normal', `semi-expanded', `expanded',
3909 `extra-expanded', or `ultra-expanded'.
3910
3911 `:height'
3912
3913 VALUE must be either an integer specifying the height of the font to use
3914 in 1/10 pt, a floating point number specifying the amount by which to
3915 scale any underlying face, or a function, which is called with the old
3916 height (from the underlying face), and should return the new height.
3917
3918 `:weight'
3919
3920 VALUE specifies the weight of the font to use. It must be one of the
3921 symbols `ultra-bold', `extra-bold', `bold', `semi-bold', `normal',
3922 `semi-light', `light', `extra-light', `ultra-light'.
3923
3924 `:slant'
3925
3926 VALUE specifies the slant of the font to use. It must be one of the
3927 symbols `italic', `oblique', `normal', `reverse-italic', or
3928 `reverse-oblique'.
3929
3930 `:foreground', `:background'
3931
3932 VALUE must be a color name, a string.
3933
3934 `:underline'
3935
3936 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be underlined. If
3937 VALUE is t, underline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is
3938 a string, underline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly
3939 don't underline.
3940
3941 `:overline'
3942
3943 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be overlined. If
3944 VALUE is t, overline with foreground color of the face. If VALUE is a
3945 string, overline with that color. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't
3946 overline.
3947
3948 `:strike-through'
3949
3950 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be drawn with a line
3951 striking through them. If VALUE is t, use the foreground color of the
3952 face. If VALUE is a string, strike-through with that color. If VALUE
3953 is nil, explicitly don't strike through.
3954
3955 `:box'
3956
3957 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should have a box drawn
3958 around them. If VALUE is nil, explicitly don't draw boxes. If
3959 VALUE is t, draw a box with lines of width 1 in the foreground color
3960 of the face. If VALUE is a string, the string must be a color name,
3961 and the box is drawn in that color with a line width of 1. Otherwise,
3962 VALUE must be a property list of the form `(:line-width WIDTH
3963 :color COLOR :style STYLE)'. If a keyword/value pair is missing from
3964 the property list, a default value will be used for the value, as
3965 specified below. WIDTH specifies the width of the lines to draw; it
3966 defaults to 1. COLOR is the name of the color to draw in, default is
3967 the foreground color of the face for simple boxes, and the background
3968 color of the face for 3D boxes. STYLE specifies whether a 3D box
3969 should be draw. If STYLE is `released-button', draw a box looking
3970 like a released 3D button. If STYLE is `pressed-button' draw a box
3971 that appears like a pressed button. If STYLE is nil, the default if
3972 the property list doesn't contain a style specification, draw a 2D
3973 box.
3974
3975 `:inverse-video'
3976
3977 VALUE specifies whether characters in FACE should be displayed in
3978 inverse video. VALUE must be one of t or nil.
3979
3980 `:stipple'
3981
3982 If VALUE is a string, it must be the name of a file of pixmap data.
3983 The directories listed in the `x-bitmap-file-path' variable are
3984 searched. Alternatively, VALUE may be a list of the form (WIDTH
3985 HEIGHT DATA) where WIDTH and HEIGHT are the size in pixels, and DATA
3986 is a string containing the raw bits of the bitmap. VALUE nil means
3987 explicitly don't use a stipple pattern.
3988
3989 For convenience, attributes `:family', `:width', `:height', `:weight',
3990 and `:slant' may also be set in one step from an X font name:
3991
3992 `:font'
3993
3994 Set font-related face attributes from VALUE. VALUE must be a valid
3995 XLFD font name. If it is a font name pattern, the first matching font
3996 is used--this is for compatibility with the behavior of previous
3997 versions of Emacs.
3998
3999 For compatibility with Emacs 20, keywords `:bold' and `:italic' can
4000 be used to specify that a bold or italic font should be used. VALUE
4001 must be t or nil in that case. A value of `unspecified' is not allowed."
4002
4003 Please see also the documentation of `set-face-attribute' and
4004 `defface'.
4005
4006 `:inherit'
4007
4008 VALUE is the name of a face from which to inherit attributes, or a list
4009 of face names. Attributes from inherited faces are merged into the face
4010 like an underlying face would be, with higher priority than underlying faces.
4011
4012 *** Face attributes and X resources
4013
4014 The following X resource names can be used to set face attributes
4015 from X resources:
4016
4017 Face attribute X resource class
4018 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
4019 :family attributeFamily . Face.AttributeFamily
4020 :width attributeWidth Face.AttributeWidth
4021 :height attributeHeight Face.AttributeHeight
4022 :weight attributeWeight Face.AttributeWeight
4023 :slant attributeSlant Face.AttributeSlant
4024 foreground attributeForeground Face.AttributeForeground
4025 :background attributeBackground . Face.AttributeBackground
4026 :overline attributeOverline Face.AttributeOverline
4027 :strike-through attributeStrikeThrough Face.AttributeStrikeThrough
4028 :box attributeBox Face.AttributeBox
4029 :underline attributeUnderline Face.AttributeUnderline
4030 :inverse-video attributeInverse Face.AttributeInverse
4031 :stipple attributeStipple Face.AttributeStipple
4032 or attributeBackgroundPixmap
4033 Face.AttributeBackgroundPixmap
4034 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
4035 :bold attributeBold Face.AttributeBold
4036 :italic attributeItalic . Face.AttributeItalic
4037 :font attributeFont Face.AttributeFont
4038
4039 *** Text property `face'.
4040
4041 The value of the `face' text property can now be a single face
4042 specification or a list of such specifications. Each face
4043 specification can be
4044
4045 1. A symbol or string naming a Lisp face.
4046
4047 2. A property list of the form (KEYWORD VALUE ...) where each
4048 KEYWORD is a face attribute name, and VALUE is an appropriate value
4049 for that attribute. Please see the doc string of `set-face-attribute'
4050 for face attribute names.
4051
4052 3. Conses of the form (FOREGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) or
4053 (BACKGROUND-COLOR . COLOR) where COLOR is a color name. This is
4054 for compatibility with previous Emacs versions.
4055
4056 ** Support functions for colors on text-only terminals.
4057
4058 The function `tty-color-define' can be used to define colors for use
4059 on TTY and MSDOS frames. It maps a color name to a color number on
4060 the terminal. Emacs defines a couple of common color mappings by
4061 default. You can get defined colors with a call to
4062 `defined-colors'. The function `tty-color-clear' can be
4063 used to clear the mapping table.
4064
4065 ** Unified support for colors independent of frame type.
4066
4067 The new functions `defined-colors', `color-defined-p', `color-values',
4068 and `display-color-p' work for any type of frame. On frames whose
4069 type is neither x nor w32, these functions transparently map X-style
4070 color specifications to the closest colors supported by the frame
4071 display. Lisp programs should use these new functions instead of the
4072 old `x-defined-colors', `x-color-defined-p', `x-color-values', and
4073 `x-display-color-p'. (The old function names are still available for
4074 compatibility; they are now aliases of the new names.) Lisp programs
4075 should no more look at the value of the variable window-system to
4076 modify their color-related behavior.
4077
4078 The primitives `color-gray-p' and `color-supported-p' also work for
4079 any frame type.
4080
4081 ** Platform-independent functions to describe display capabilities.
4082
4083 The new functions `display-mouse-p', `display-popup-menus-p',
4084 `display-graphic-p', `display-selections-p', `display-screens',
4085 `display-pixel-width', `display-pixel-height', `display-mm-width',
4086 `display-mm-height', `display-backing-store', `display-save-under',
4087 `display-planes', `display-color-cells', `display-visual-class', and
4088 `display-grayscale-p' describe the basic capabilities of a particular
4089 display. Lisp programs should call these functions instead of testing
4090 the value of the variables `window-system' or `system-type', or calling
4091 platform-specific functions such as `x-display-pixel-width'.
4092
4093 The new function `display-images-p' returns non-nil if a particular
4094 display can display image files.
4095
4096 ** The minibuffer prompt is now actually inserted in the minibuffer.
4097
4098 This makes it possible to scroll through the prompt, if you want to.
4099 To disallow this completely (like previous versions of emacs), customize
4100 the variable `minibuffer-prompt-properties', and turn on the
4101 `Inviolable' option.
4102
4103 The function minibuffer-prompt-end returns the current position of the
4104 end of the minibuffer prompt, if the minibuffer is current.
4105 Otherwise, it returns zero.
4106
4107 ** New `field' abstraction in buffers.
4108
4109 There is now code to support an abstraction called `fields' in emacs
4110 buffers. A field is a contiguous region of text with the same `field'
4111 property (which can be a text property or an overlay).
4112
4113 Many emacs functions, such as forward-word, forward-sentence,
4114 forward-paragraph, beginning-of-line, etc., stop moving when they come
4115 to the boundary between fields; beginning-of-line and end-of-line will
4116 not let the point move past the field boundary, but other movement
4117 commands continue into the next field if repeated. Stopping at field
4118 boundaries can be suppressed programmatically by binding
4119 `inhibit-field-text-motion' to a non-nil value around calls to these
4120 functions.
4121
4122 Now that the minibuffer prompt is inserted into the minibuffer, it is in
4123 a separate field from the user-input part of the buffer, so that common
4124 editing commands treat the user's text separately from the prompt.
4125
4126 The following functions are defined for operating on fields:
4127
4128 - Function: constrain-to-field NEW-POS OLD-POS &optional ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE ONLY-IN-LINE INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY
4129
4130 Return the position closest to NEW-POS that is in the same field as OLD-POS.
4131
4132 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
4133 If NEW-POS is nil, then the current point is used instead, and set to the
4134 constrained position if that is different.
4135
4136 If OLD-POS is at the boundary of two fields, then the allowable
4137 positions for NEW-POS depends on the value of the optional argument
4138 ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE: If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is nil, then NEW-POS is
4139 constrained to the field that has the same `field' char-property
4140 as any new characters inserted at OLD-POS, whereas if ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
4141 is non-nil, NEW-POS is constrained to the union of the two adjacent
4142 fields. Additionally, if two fields are separated by another field with
4143 the special value `boundary', then any point within this special field is
4144 also considered to be `on the boundary'.
4145
4146 If the optional argument ONLY-IN-LINE is non-nil and constraining
4147 NEW-POS would move it to a different line, NEW-POS is returned
4148 unconstrained. This useful for commands that move by line, like
4149 C-n or C-a, which should generally respect field boundaries
4150 only in the case where they can still move to the right line.
4151
4152 If the optional argument INHIBIT-CAPTURE-PROPERTY is non-nil, and OLD-POS has
4153 a non-nil property of that name, then any field boundaries are ignored.
4154
4155 Field boundaries are not noticed if `inhibit-field-text-motion' is non-nil.
4156
4157 - Function: delete-field &optional POS
4158
4159 Delete the field surrounding POS.
4160 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
4161 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
4162
4163 - Function: field-beginning &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
4164
4165 Return the beginning of the field surrounding POS.
4166 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
4167 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
4168 If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the beginning of its
4169 field, then the beginning of the *previous* field is returned.
4170
4171 - Function: field-end &optional POS ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE
4172
4173 Return the end of the field surrounding POS.
4174 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
4175 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
4176 If ESCAPE-FROM-EDGE is non-nil and POS is at the end of its field,
4177 then the end of the *following* field is returned.
4178
4179 - Function: field-string &optional POS
4180
4181 Return the contents of the field surrounding POS as a string.
4182 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
4183 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
4184
4185 - Function: field-string-no-properties &optional POS
4186
4187 Return the contents of the field around POS, without text-properties.
4188 A field is a region of text with the same `field' property.
4189 If POS is nil, the value of point is used for POS.
4190
4191 ** Image support.
4192
4193 Emacs can now display images. Images are inserted into text by giving
4194 strings or buffer text a `display' text property containing one of
4195 (AREA IMAGE) or IMAGE. The display of the `display' property value
4196 replaces the display of the characters having that property.
4197
4198 If the property value has the form (AREA IMAGE), AREA must be one of
4199 `(margin left-margin)', `(margin right-margin)' or `(margin nil)'. If
4200 AREA is `(margin nil)', IMAGE will be displayed in the text area of a
4201 window, otherwise it will be displayed in the left or right marginal
4202 area.
4203
4204 IMAGE is an image specification.
4205
4206 *** Image specifications
4207
4208 Image specifications are lists of the form `(image PROPS)' where PROPS
4209 is a property list whose keys are keyword symbols. Each
4210 specifications must contain a property `:type TYPE' with TYPE being a
4211 symbol specifying the image type, e.g. `xbm'. Properties not
4212 described below are ignored.
4213
4214 The following is a list of properties all image types share.
4215
4216 `:ascent ASCENT'
4217
4218 ASCENT must be a number in the range 0..100, or the symbol `center'.
4219 If it is a number, it specifies the percentage of the image's height
4220 to use for its ascent.
4221
4222 If not specified, ASCENT defaults to the value 50 which means that the
4223 image will be centered with the base line of the row it appears in.
4224
4225 If ASCENT is `center' the image is vertically centered around a
4226 centerline which is the vertical center of text drawn at the position
4227 of the image, in the manner specified by the text properties and
4228 overlays that apply to the image.
4229
4230 `:margin MARGIN'
4231
4232 MARGIN must be either a number >= 0 specifying how many pixels to put
4233 as margin around the image, or a pair (X . Y) with X specifying the
4234 horizontal margin and Y specifying the vertical margin. Default is 0.
4235
4236 `:relief RELIEF'
4237
4238 RELIEF is analogous to the `:relief' attribute of faces. Puts a relief
4239 around an image.
4240
4241 `:conversion ALGO'
4242
4243 Apply an image algorithm to the image before displaying it.
4244
4245 ALGO `laplace' or `emboss' means apply a Laplace or ``emboss''
4246 edge-detection algorithm to the image.
4247
4248 ALGO `(edge-detection :matrix MATRIX :color-adjust ADJUST)' means
4249 apply a general edge-detection algorithm. MATRIX must be either a
4250 nine-element list or a nine-element vector of numbers. A pixel at
4251 position x/y in the transformed image is computed from original pixels
4252 around that position. MATRIX specifies, for each pixel in the
4253 neighborhood of x/y, a factor with which that pixel will influence the
4254 transformed pixel; element 0 specifies the factor for the pixel at
4255 x-1/y-1, element 1 the factor for the pixel at x/y-1 etc. as shown
4256 below.
4257
4258 (x-1/y-1 x/y-1 x+1/y-1
4259 x-1/y x/y x+1/y
4260 x-1/y+1 x/y+1 x+1/y+1)
4261
4262 The resulting pixel is computed from the color intensity of the color
4263 resulting from summing up the RGB values of surrounding pixels,
4264 multiplied by the specified factors, and dividing that sum by the sum
4265 of the factors' absolute values.
4266
4267 Laplace edge-detection currently uses a matrix of
4268
4269 (1 0 0
4270 0 0 0
4271 9 9 -1)
4272
4273 Emboss edge-detection uses a matrix of
4274
4275 ( 2 -1 0
4276 -1 0 1
4277 0 1 -2)
4278
4279 ALGO `disabled' means transform the image so that it looks
4280 ``disabled''.
4281
4282 `:mask MASK'
4283
4284 If MASK is `heuristic' or `(heuristic BG)', build a clipping mask for
4285 the image, so that the background of a frame is visible behind the
4286 image. If BG is not specified, or if BG is t, determine the
4287 background color of the image by looking at the 4 corners of the
4288 image, assuming the most frequently occurring color from the corners is
4289 the background color of the image. Otherwise, BG must be a list `(RED
4290 GREEN BLUE)' specifying the color to assume for the background of the
4291 image.
4292
4293 If MASK is nil, remove a mask from the image, if it has one. Images
4294 in some formats include a mask which can be removed by specifying
4295 `:mask nil'.
4296
4297 `:file FILE'
4298
4299 Load image from FILE. If FILE is not absolute after expanding it,
4300 search for the image in `data-directory'. Some image types support
4301 building images from data. When this is done, no `:file' property
4302 may be present in the image specification.
4303
4304 `:data DATA'
4305
4306 Get image data from DATA. (As of this writing, this is not yet
4307 supported for image type `postscript'). Either :file or :data may be
4308 present in an image specification, but not both. All image types
4309 support strings as DATA, some types allow additional types of DATA.
4310
4311 *** Supported image types
4312
4313 **** XBM, image type `xbm'.
4314
4315 XBM images don't require an external library. Additional image
4316 properties supported are
4317
4318 `:foreground FG'
4319
4320 FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color, or nil
4321 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's foreground.
4322
4323 `:background BG'
4324
4325 BG must be a string specifying the image foreground color, or nil
4326 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's background color.
4327
4328 XBM images can be constructed from data instead of file. In this
4329 case, the image specification must contain the following properties
4330 instead of a `:file' property.
4331
4332 `:width WIDTH'
4333
4334 WIDTH specifies the width of the image in pixels.
4335
4336 `:height HEIGHT'
4337
4338 HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pixels.
4339
4340 `:data DATA'
4341
4342 DATA must be either
4343
4344 1. a string large enough to hold the bitmap data, i.e. it must
4345 have a size >= (WIDTH + 7) / 8 * HEIGHT
4346
4347 2. a bool-vector of size >= WIDTH * HEIGHT
4348
4349 3. a vector of strings or bool-vectors, one for each line of the
4350 bitmap.
4351
4352 4. a string that's an in-memory XBM file. Neither width nor
4353 height may be specified in this case because these are defined
4354 in the file.
4355
4356 **** XPM, image type `xpm'
4357
4358 XPM images require the external library `libXpm', package
4359 `xpm-3.4k.tar.gz', version 3.4k or later. Make sure the library is
4360 found when Emacs is configured by supplying appropriate paths via
4361 `--x-includes' and `--x-libraries'.
4362
4363 Additional image properties supported are:
4364
4365 `:color-symbols SYMBOLS'
4366
4367 SYMBOLS must be a list of pairs (NAME . COLOR), with NAME being the
4368 name of color as it appears in an XPM file, and COLOR being an X color
4369 name.
4370
4371 XPM images can be built from memory instead of files. In that case,
4372 add a `:data' property instead of a `:file' property.
4373
4374 The XPM library uses libz in its implementation so that it is able
4375 to display compressed images.
4376
4377 **** PBM, image type `pbm'
4378
4379 PBM images don't require an external library. Color, gray-scale and
4380 mono images are supported. Additional image properties supported for
4381 mono images are
4382
4383 `:foreground FG'
4384
4385 FG must be a string specifying the image foreground color, or nil
4386 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's foreground.
4387
4388 `:background FG'
4389
4390 BG must be a string specifying the image foreground color, or nil
4391 meaning to use the default. Default is the frame's background color.
4392
4393 **** JPEG, image type `jpeg'
4394
4395 Support for JPEG images requires the external library `libjpeg',
4396 package `jpegsrc.v6a.tar.gz', or later. Additional image properties
4397 are:
4398
4399 **** TIFF, image type `tiff'
4400
4401 Support for TIFF images requires the external library `libtiff',
4402 package `tiff-v3.4-tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
4403 properties defined.
4404
4405 **** GIF, image type `gif'
4406
4407 Support for GIF images requires the external library `libungif', package
4408 `libungif-4.1.0', or later.
4409
4410 Additional image properties supported are:
4411
4412 `:index INDEX'
4413
4414 INDEX must be an integer >= 0. Load image number INDEX from a
4415 multi-image GIF file. An error is signaled if INDEX is too large.
4416
4417 This could be used to implement limited support for animated GIFs.
4418 For example, the following function displays a multi-image GIF file
4419 at point-min in the current buffer, switching between sub-images
4420 every 0.1 seconds.
4421
4422 (defun show-anim (file max)
4423 "Display multi-image GIF file FILE which contains MAX subimages."
4424 (display-anim (current-buffer) file 0 max t))
4425
4426 (defun display-anim (buffer file idx max first-time)
4427 (when (= idx max)
4428 (setq idx 0))
4429 (let ((img (create-image file nil nil :index idx)))
4430 (save-excursion
4431 (set-buffer buffer)
4432 (goto-char (point-min))
4433 (unless first-time (delete-char 1))
4434 (insert-image img "x"))
4435 (run-with-timer 0.1 nil 'display-anim buffer file (1+ idx) max nil)))
4436
4437 **** PNG, image type `png'
4438
4439 Support for PNG images requires the external library `libpng',
4440 package `libpng-1.0.2.tar.gz', or later. There are no additional image
4441 properties defined.
4442
4443 **** Ghostscript, image type `postscript'.
4444
4445 Additional image properties supported are:
4446
4447 `:pt-width WIDTH'
4448
4449 WIDTH is width of the image in pt (1/72 inch). WIDTH must be an
4450 integer. This is a required property.
4451
4452 `:pt-height HEIGHT'
4453
4454 HEIGHT specifies the height of the image in pt (1/72 inch). HEIGHT
4455 must be a integer. This is an required property.
4456
4457 `:bounding-box BOX'
4458
4459 BOX must be a list or vector of 4 integers giving the bounding box of
4460 the PS image, analogous to the `BoundingBox' comment found in PS
4461 files. This is an required property.
4462
4463 Part of the Ghostscript interface is implemented in Lisp. See
4464 lisp/gs.el.
4465
4466 *** Lisp interface.
4467
4468 The variable `image-types' contains a list of those image types
4469 which are supported in the current configuration.
4470
4471 Images are stored in an image cache and removed from the cache when
4472 they haven't been displayed for `image-cache-eviction-delay seconds.
4473 The function `clear-image-cache' can be used to clear the image cache
4474 manually. Images in the cache are compared with `equal', i.e. all
4475 images with `equal' specifications share the same image.
4476
4477 *** Simplified image API, image.el
4478
4479 The new Lisp package image.el contains functions that simplify image
4480 creation and putting images into text. The function `create-image'
4481 can be used to create images. The macro `defimage' can be used to
4482 define an image based on available image types. The functions
4483 `put-image' and `insert-image' can be used to insert an image into a
4484 buffer.
4485
4486 ** Display margins.
4487
4488 Windows can now have margins which are used for special text
4489 and images.
4490
4491 To give a window margins, either set the buffer-local variables
4492 `left-margin-width' and `right-margin-width', or call
4493 `set-window-margins'. The function `window-margins' can be used to
4494 obtain the current settings. To make `left-margin-width' and
4495 `right-margin-width' take effect, you must set them before displaying
4496 the buffer in a window, or use `set-window-buffer' to force an update
4497 of the display margins.
4498
4499 You can put text in margins by giving it a `display' text property
4500 containing a pair of the form `(LOCATION . VALUE)', where LOCATION is
4501 one of `left-margin' or `right-margin' or nil. VALUE can be either a
4502 string, an image specification or a stretch specification (see later
4503 in this file).
4504
4505 ** Help display
4506
4507 Emacs displays short help messages in the echo area, when the mouse
4508 moves over a tool-bar item or a piece of text that has a text property
4509 `help-echo'. This feature also applies to strings in the mode line
4510 that have a `help-echo' property.
4511
4512 If the value of the `help-echo' property is a function, that function
4513 is called with three arguments WINDOW, OBJECT and POSITION. WINDOW is
4514 the window in which the help was found.
4515
4516 If OBJECT is a buffer, POS is the position in the buffer where the
4517 `help-echo' text property was found.
4518
4519 If OBJECT is an overlay, that overlay has a `help-echo' property, and
4520 POS is the position in the overlay's buffer under the mouse.
4521
4522 If OBJECT is a string (an overlay string or a string displayed with
4523 the `display' property), POS is the position in that string under the
4524 mouse.
4525
4526 If the value of the `help-echo' property is neither a function nor a
4527 string, it is evaluated to obtain a help string.
4528
4529 For tool-bar and menu-bar items, their key definition is used to
4530 determine the help to display. If their definition contains a
4531 property `:help FORM', FORM is evaluated to determine the help string.
4532 For tool-bar items without a help form, the caption of the item is
4533 used as help string.
4534
4535 The hook `show-help-function' can be set to a function that displays
4536 the help string differently. For example, enabling a tooltip window
4537 causes the help display to appear there instead of in the echo area.
4538
4539 ** Vertical fractional scrolling.
4540
4541 The display of text in windows can be scrolled smoothly in pixels.
4542 This is useful, for example, for making parts of large images visible.
4543
4544 The function `window-vscroll' returns the current value of vertical
4545 scrolling, a non-negative fraction of the canonical character height.
4546 The function `set-window-vscroll' can be used to set the vertical
4547 scrolling value. Here is an example of how these function might be
4548 used.
4549
4550 (global-set-key [A-down]
4551 #'(lambda ()
4552 (interactive)
4553 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
4554 (+ 0.5 (window-vscroll)))))
4555 (global-set-key [A-up]
4556 #'(lambda ()
4557 (interactive)
4558 (set-window-vscroll (selected-window)
4559 (- (window-vscroll) 0.5)))))
4560
4561 ** New hook `fontification-functions'.
4562
4563 Functions from `fontification-functions' are called from redisplay
4564 when it encounters a region of text that is not yet fontified. This
4565 variable automatically becomes buffer-local when set. Each function
4566 is called with one argument, POS.
4567
4568 At least one of the hook functions should fontify one or more
4569 characters starting at POS in the current buffer. It should mark them
4570 as fontified by giving them a non-nil value of the `fontified' text
4571 property. It may be reasonable for these functions to check for the
4572 `fontified' property and not put it back on, but they do not have to.
4573
4574 ** Tool bar support.
4575
4576 Emacs supports a tool bar at the top of a frame under X. The frame
4577 parameter `tool-bar-lines' (X resource "toolBar", class "ToolBar")
4578 controls how may lines to reserve for the tool bar. A zero value
4579 suppresses the tool bar. If the value is non-zero and
4580 `auto-resize-tool-bars' is non-nil the tool bar's size will be changed
4581 automatically so that all tool bar items are visible.
4582
4583 *** Tool bar item definitions
4584
4585 Tool bar items are defined using `define-key' with a prefix-key
4586 `tool-bar'. For example `(define-key global-map [tool-bar item1] ITEM)'
4587 where ITEM is a list `(menu-item CAPTION BINDING PROPS...)'.
4588
4589 CAPTION is the caption of the item, If it's not a string, it is
4590 evaluated to get a string. The caption is currently not displayed in
4591 the tool bar, but it is displayed if the item doesn't have a `:help'
4592 property (see below).
4593
4594 BINDING is the tool bar item's binding. Tool bar items with keymaps as
4595 binding are currently ignored.
4596
4597 The following properties are recognized:
4598
4599 `:enable FORM'.
4600
4601 FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is enabled
4602 or disabled.
4603
4604 `:visible FORM'
4605
4606 FORM is evaluated and specifies whether the tool bar item is displayed.
4607
4608 `:filter FUNCTION'
4609
4610 FUNCTION is called with one parameter, the same list BINDING in which
4611 FUNCTION is specified as the filter. The value FUNCTION returns is
4612 used instead of BINDING to display this item.
4613
4614 `:button (TYPE SELECTED)'
4615
4616 TYPE must be one of `:radio' or `:toggle'. SELECTED is evaluated
4617 and specifies whether the button is selected (pressed) or not.
4618
4619 `:image IMAGES'
4620
4621 IMAGES is either a single image specification or a vector of four
4622 image specifications. If it is a vector, this table lists the
4623 meaning of each of the four elements:
4624
4625 Index Use when item is
4626 ----------------------------------------
4627 0 enabled and selected
4628 1 enabled and deselected
4629 2 disabled and selected
4630 3 disabled and deselected
4631
4632 If IMAGE is a single image specification, a Laplace edge-detection
4633 algorithm is used on that image to draw the image in disabled state.
4634
4635 `:help HELP-STRING'.
4636
4637 Gives a help string to display for the tool bar item. This help
4638 is displayed when the mouse is moved over the item.
4639
4640 The function `toolbar-add-item' is a convenience function for adding
4641 toolbar items generally, and `tool-bar-add-item-from-menu' can be used
4642 to define a toolbar item with a binding copied from an item on the
4643 menu bar.
4644
4645 The default bindings use a menu-item :filter to derive the tool-bar
4646 dynamically from variable `tool-bar-map' which may be set
4647 buffer-locally to override the global map.
4648
4649 *** Tool-bar-related variables.
4650
4651 If `auto-resize-tool-bar' is non-nil, the tool bar will automatically
4652 resize to show all defined tool bar items. It will never grow larger
4653 than 1/4 of the frame's size.
4654
4655 If `auto-raise-tool-bar-buttons' is non-nil, tool bar buttons will be
4656 raised when the mouse moves over them.
4657
4658 You can add extra space between tool bar items by setting
4659 `tool-bar-button-margin' to a positive integer specifying a number of
4660 pixels, or a pair of integers (X . Y) specifying horizontal and
4661 vertical margins . Default is 1.
4662
4663 You can change the shadow thickness of tool bar buttons by setting
4664 `tool-bar-button-relief' to an integer. Default is 3.
4665
4666 *** Tool-bar clicks with modifiers.
4667
4668 You can bind commands to clicks with control, shift, meta etc. on
4669 a tool bar item. If
4670
4671 (define-key global-map [tool-bar shell]
4672 '(menu-item "Shell" shell
4673 :image (image :type xpm :file "shell.xpm")))
4674
4675 is the original tool bar item definition, then
4676
4677 (define-key global-map [tool-bar S-shell] 'some-command)
4678
4679 makes a binding to run `some-command' for a shifted click on the same
4680 item.
4681
4682 ** Mode line changes.
4683
4684 *** Mouse-sensitive mode line.
4685
4686 The mode line can be made mouse-sensitive by displaying strings there
4687 that have a `local-map' text property. There are three ways to display
4688 a string with a `local-map' property in the mode line.
4689
4690 1. The mode line spec contains a variable whose string value has
4691 a `local-map' text property.
4692
4693 2. The mode line spec contains a format specifier (e.g. `%12b'), and
4694 that format specifier has a `local-map' property.
4695
4696 3. The mode line spec contains a list containing `:eval FORM'. FORM
4697 is evaluated. If the result is a string, and that string has a
4698 `local-map' property.
4699
4700 The same mechanism is used to determine the `face' and `help-echo'
4701 properties of strings in the mode line. See `bindings.el' for an
4702 example.
4703
4704 *** If a mode line element has the form `(:eval FORM)', FORM is
4705 evaluated and the result is used as mode line element.
4706
4707 *** You can suppress mode-line display by setting the buffer-local
4708 variable mode-line-format to nil.
4709
4710 *** A headerline can now be displayed at the top of a window.
4711
4712 This mode line's contents are controlled by the new variable
4713 `header-line-format' and `default-header-line-format' which are
4714 completely analogous to `mode-line-format' and
4715 `default-mode-line-format'. A value of nil means don't display a top
4716 line.
4717
4718 The appearance of top mode lines is controlled by the face
4719 `header-line'.
4720
4721 The function `coordinates-in-window-p' returns `header-line' for a
4722 position in the header-line.
4723
4724 ** Text property `display'
4725
4726 The `display' text property is used to insert images into text,
4727 replace text with other text, display text in marginal area, and it is
4728 also used to control other aspects of how text displays. The value of
4729 the `display' property should be a display specification, as described
4730 below, or a list or vector containing display specifications.
4731
4732 *** Replacing text, displaying text in marginal areas
4733
4734 To replace the text having the `display' property with some other
4735 text, use a display specification of the form `(LOCATION STRING)'.
4736
4737 If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)', STRING is displayed in the left
4738 marginal area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in
4739 the right marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' STRING
4740 is displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
4741 simpler form STRING as property value.
4742
4743 *** Variable width and height spaces
4744
4745 To display a space of fractional width or height, use a display
4746 specification of the form `(LOCATION STRECH)'. If LOCATION is
4747 `(margin left-margin)', the space is displayed in the left marginal
4748 area, if it is `(margin right-margin)', it is displayed in the right
4749 marginal area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the space is
4750 displayed in the text. In the latter case you can also use the
4751 simpler form STRETCH as property value.
4752
4753 The stretch specification STRETCH itself is a list of the form `(space
4754 PROPS)', where PROPS is a property list which can contain the
4755 properties described below.
4756
4757 The display of the fractional space replaces the display of the
4758 characters having the `display' property.
4759
4760 - :width WIDTH
4761
4762 Specifies that the space width should be WIDTH times the normal
4763 character width. WIDTH can be an integer or floating point number.
4764
4765 - :relative-width FACTOR
4766
4767 Specifies that the width of the stretch should be computed from the
4768 first character in a group of consecutive characters that have the
4769 same `display' property. The computation is done by multiplying the
4770 width of that character by FACTOR.
4771
4772 - :align-to HPOS
4773
4774 Specifies that the space should be wide enough to reach HPOS. The
4775 value HPOS is measured in units of the normal character width.
4776
4777 Exactly one of the above properties should be used.
4778
4779 - :height HEIGHT
4780
4781 Specifies the height of the space, as HEIGHT, measured in terms of the
4782 normal line height.
4783
4784 - :relative-height FACTOR
4785
4786 The height of the space is computed as the product of the height
4787 of the text having the `display' property and FACTOR.
4788
4789 - :ascent ASCENT
4790
4791 Specifies that ASCENT percent of the height of the stretch should be
4792 used for the ascent of the stretch, i.e. for the part above the
4793 baseline. The value of ASCENT must be a non-negative number less or
4794 equal to 100.
4795
4796 You should not use both `:height' and `:relative-height' together.
4797
4798 *** Images
4799
4800 A display specification for an image has the form `(LOCATION
4801 . IMAGE)', where IMAGE is an image specification. The image replaces,
4802 in the display, the characters having this display specification in
4803 their `display' text property. If LOCATION is `(margin left-margin)',
4804 the image will be displayed in the left marginal area, if it is
4805 `(margin right-margin)' it will be displayed in the right marginal
4806 area, and if LOCATION is `(margin nil)' the image will be displayed in
4807 the text. In the latter case you can also use the simpler form IMAGE
4808 as display specification.
4809
4810 *** Other display properties
4811
4812 - (space-width FACTOR)
4813
4814 Specifies that space characters in the text having that property
4815 should be displayed FACTOR times as wide as normal; FACTOR must be an
4816 integer or float.
4817
4818 - (height HEIGHT)
4819
4820 Display text having this property in a font that is smaller or larger.
4821
4822 If HEIGHT is a list of the form `(+ N)', where N is an integer, that
4823 means to use a font that is N steps larger. If HEIGHT is a list of
4824 the form `(- N)', that means to use a font that is N steps smaller. A
4825 ``step'' is defined by the set of available fonts; each size for which
4826 a font is available counts as a step.
4827
4828 If HEIGHT is a number, that means to use a font that is HEIGHT times
4829 as tall as the frame's default font.
4830
4831 If HEIGHT is a symbol, it is called as a function with the current
4832 height as argument. The function should return the new height to use.
4833
4834 Otherwise, HEIGHT is evaluated to get the new height, with the symbol
4835 `height' bound to the current specified font height.
4836
4837 - (raise FACTOR)
4838
4839 FACTOR must be a number, specifying a multiple of the current
4840 font's height. If it is positive, that means to display the characters
4841 raised. If it is negative, that means to display them lower down. The
4842 amount of raising or lowering is computed without taking account of the
4843 `height' subproperty.
4844
4845 *** Conditional display properties
4846
4847 All display specifications can be conditionalized. If a specification
4848 has the form `(when CONDITION . SPEC)', the specification SPEC applies
4849 only when CONDITION yields a non-nil value when evaluated. During the
4850 evaluation, `object' is bound to the string or buffer having the
4851 conditional display property; `position' and `buffer-position' are
4852 bound to the position within `object' and the buffer position where
4853 the display property was found, respectively. Both positions can be
4854 different when object is a string.
4855
4856 The normal specification consisting of SPEC only is equivalent to
4857 `(when t . SPEC)'.
4858
4859 ** New menu separator types.
4860
4861 Emacs now supports more than one menu separator type. Menu items with
4862 item names consisting of dashes only (including zero dashes) are
4863 treated like before. In addition, the following item names are used
4864 to specify other menu separator types.
4865
4866 - `--no-line' or `--space', or `--:space', or `--:noLine'
4867
4868 No separator lines are drawn, but a small space is inserted where the
4869 separator occurs.
4870
4871 - `--single-line' or `--:singleLine'
4872
4873 A single line in the menu's foreground color.
4874
4875 - `--double-line' or `--:doubleLine'
4876
4877 A double line in the menu's foreground color.
4878
4879 - `--single-dashed-line' or `--:singleDashedLine'
4880
4881 A single dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
4882
4883 - `--double-dashed-line' or `--:doubleDashedLine'
4884
4885 A double dashed line in the menu's foreground color.
4886
4887 - `--shadow-etched-in' or `--:shadowEtchedIn'
4888
4889 A single line with 3D sunken appearance. This is the form
4890 displayed for item names consisting of dashes only.
4891
4892 - `--shadow-etched-out' or `--:shadowEtchedOut'
4893
4894 A single line with 3D raised appearance.
4895
4896 - `--shadow-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedInDash'
4897
4898 A single dashed line with 3D sunken appearance.
4899
4900 - `--shadow-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowEtchedOutDash'
4901
4902 A single dashed line with 3D raise appearance.
4903
4904 - `--shadow-double-etched-in' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedIn'
4905
4906 Two lines with 3D sunken appearance.
4907
4908 - `--shadow-double-etched-out' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOut'
4909
4910 Two lines with 3D raised appearance.
4911
4912 - `--shadow-double-etched-in-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedInDash'
4913
4914 Two dashed lines with 3D sunken appearance.
4915
4916 - `--shadow-double-etched-out-dash' or `--:shadowDoubleEtchedOutDash'
4917
4918 Two dashed lines with 3D raised appearance.
4919
4920 Under LessTif/Motif, the last four separator types are displayed like
4921 the corresponding single-line separators.
4922
4923 ** New frame parameters for scroll bar colors.
4924
4925 The new frame parameters `scroll-bar-foreground' and
4926 `scroll-bar-background' can be used to change scroll bar colors.
4927 Their value must be either a color name, a string, or nil to specify
4928 that scroll bars should use a default color. For toolkit scroll bars,
4929 default colors are toolkit specific. For non-toolkit scroll bars, the
4930 default background is the background color of the frame, and the
4931 default foreground is black.
4932
4933 The X resource name of these parameters are `scrollBarForeground'
4934 (class ScrollBarForeground) and `scrollBarBackground' (class
4935 `ScrollBarBackground').
4936
4937 Setting these parameters overrides toolkit specific X resource
4938 settings for scroll bar colors.
4939
4940 ** You can set `redisplay-dont-pause' to a non-nil value to prevent
4941 display updates from being interrupted when input is pending.
4942
4943 ** Changing a window's width may now change its window start if it
4944 starts on a continuation line. The new window start is computed based
4945 on the window's new width, starting from the start of the continued
4946 line as the start of the screen line with the minimum distance from
4947 the original window start.
4948
4949 ** The variable `hscroll-step' and the functions
4950 `hscroll-point-visible' and `hscroll-window-column' have been removed
4951 now that proper horizontal scrolling is implemented.
4952
4953 ** Windows can now be made fixed-width and/or fixed-height.
4954
4955 A window is fixed-size if its buffer has a buffer-local variable
4956 `window-size-fixed' whose value is not nil. A value of `height' makes
4957 windows fixed-height, a value of `width' makes them fixed-width, any
4958 other non-nil value makes them both fixed-width and fixed-height.
4959
4960 The following code makes all windows displaying the current buffer
4961 fixed-width and fixed-height.
4962
4963 (set (make-local-variable 'window-size-fixed) t)
4964
4965 A call to enlarge-window on a window gives an error if that window is
4966 fixed-width and it is tried to change the window's width, or if the
4967 window is fixed-height, and it is tried to change its height. To
4968 change the size of a fixed-size window, bind `window-size-fixed'
4969 temporarily to nil, for example
4970
4971 (let ((window-size-fixed nil))
4972 (enlarge-window 10))
4973
4974 Likewise, an attempt to split a fixed-height window vertically,
4975 or a fixed-width window horizontally results in a error.
4976
4977 ** The cursor-type frame parameter is now supported on MS-DOS
4978 terminals. When Emacs starts, it by default changes the cursor shape
4979 to a solid box, as it does on Unix. The `cursor-type' frame parameter
4980 overrides this as it does on Unix, except that the bar cursor is
4981 horizontal rather than vertical (since the MS-DOS display doesn't
4982 support a vertical-bar cursor).
4983
4984
4985 \f
4986 * Emacs 20.7 is a bug-fix release with few user-visible changes
4987
4988 ** It is now possible to use CCL-based coding systems for keyboard
4989 input.
4990
4991 ** ange-ftp now handles FTP security extensions, like Kerberos.
4992
4993 ** Rmail has been extended to recognize more forms of digest messages.
4994
4995 ** Now, most coding systems set in keyboard coding system work not
4996 only for character input, but also in incremental search. The
4997 exceptions are such coding systems that handle 2-byte character sets
4998 (e.g euc-kr, euc-jp) and that use ISO's escape sequence
4999 (e.g. iso-2022-jp). They are ignored in incremental search.
5000
5001 ** Support for Macintosh PowerPC-based machines running GNU/Linux has
5002 been added.
5003
5004 \f
5005 * Emacs 20.6 is a bug-fix release with one user-visible change
5006
5007 ** Support for ARM-based non-RISCiX machines has been added.
5008
5009
5010 \f
5011 * Emacs 20.5 is a bug-fix release with no user-visible changes.
5012
5013 ** Not new, but not mentioned before:
5014 M-w when Transient Mark mode is enabled disables the mark.
5015 \f
5016 * Changes in Emacs 20.4
5017
5018 ** Init file may be called .emacs.el.
5019
5020 You can now call the Emacs init file `.emacs.el'.
5021 Formerly the name had to be `.emacs'. If you use the name
5022 `.emacs.el', you can byte-compile the file in the usual way.
5023
5024 If both `.emacs' and `.emacs.el' exist, the latter file
5025 is the one that is used.
5026
5027 ** shell-command, and shell-command-on-region, now return
5028 the exit code of the command (unless it is asynchronous).
5029 Also, you can specify a place to put the error output,
5030 separate from the command's regular output.
5031 Interactively, the variable shell-command-default-error-buffer
5032 says where to put error output; set it to a buffer name.
5033 In calls from Lisp, an optional argument ERROR-BUFFER specifies
5034 the buffer name.
5035
5036 When you specify a non-nil error buffer (or buffer name), any error
5037 output is inserted before point in that buffer, with \f\n to separate
5038 it from the previous batch of error output. The error buffer is not
5039 cleared, so error output from successive commands accumulates there.
5040
5041 ** Setting the default value of enable-multibyte-characters to nil in
5042 the .emacs file, either explicitly using setq-default, or via Custom,
5043 is now essentially equivalent to using --unibyte: all buffers
5044 created during startup will be made unibyte after loading .emacs.
5045
5046 ** C-x C-f now handles the wildcards * and ? in file names. For
5047 example, typing C-x C-f c*.c RET visits all the files whose names
5048 match c*.c. To visit a file whose name contains * or ?, add the
5049 quoting sequence /: to the beginning of the file name.
5050
5051 ** The M-x commands keep-lines, flush-lines and count-matches
5052 now have the same feature as occur and query-replace:
5053 if the pattern contains any upper case letters, then
5054 they never ignore case.
5055
5056 ** The end-of-line format conversion feature previously mentioned
5057 under `* Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows' actually
5058 applies to all operating systems. Emacs recognizes from the contents
5059 of a file what convention it uses to separate lines--newline, CRLF, or
5060 just CR--and automatically converts the contents to the normal Emacs
5061 convention (using newline to separate lines) for editing. This is a
5062 part of the general feature of coding system conversion.
5063
5064 If you subsequently save the buffer, Emacs converts the text back to
5065 the same format that was used in the file before.
5066
5067 You can turn off end-of-line conversion by setting the variable
5068 `inhibit-eol-conversion' to non-nil, e.g. with Custom in the MULE group.
5069
5070 ** The character set property `prefered-coding-system' has been
5071 renamed to `preferred-coding-system', for the sake of correct spelling.
5072 This is a fairly internal feature, so few programs should be affected.
5073
5074 ** Mode-line display of end-of-line format is changed.
5075 The indication of the end-of-line format of the file visited by a
5076 buffer is now more explicit when that format is not the usual one for
5077 your operating system. For example, the DOS-style end-of-line format
5078 is displayed as "(DOS)" on Unix and GNU/Linux systems. The usual
5079 end-of-line format is still displayed as a single character (colon for
5080 Unix, backslash for DOS and Windows, and forward slash for the Mac).
5081
5082 The values of the variables eol-mnemonic-unix, eol-mnemonic-dos,
5083 eol-mnemonic-mac, and eol-mnemonic-undecided, which are strings,
5084 control what is displayed in the mode line for each end-of-line
5085 format. You can now customize these variables.
5086
5087 ** In the previous version of Emacs, tar-mode didn't work well if a
5088 filename contained non-ASCII characters. Now this is fixed. Such a
5089 filename is decoded by file-name-coding-system if the default value of
5090 enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil.
5091
5092 ** The command temp-buffer-resize-mode toggles a minor mode
5093 in which temporary buffers (such as help buffers) are given
5094 windows just big enough to hold the whole contents.
5095
5096 ** If you use completion.el, you must now run the function
5097 dynamic-completion-mode to enable it. Just loading the file
5098 doesn't have any effect.
5099
5100 ** In Flyspell mode, the default is now to make just one Ispell process,
5101 not one per buffer.
5102
5103 ** If you use iswitchb but do not call (iswitchb-default-keybindings) to
5104 use the default keybindings, you will need to add the following line:
5105 (add-hook 'minibuffer-setup-hook 'iswitchb-minibuffer-setup)
5106
5107 ** Auto-show mode is no longer enabled just by loading auto-show.el.
5108 To control it, set `auto-show-mode' via Custom or use the
5109 `auto-show-mode' command.
5110
5111 ** Handling of X fonts' ascent/descent parameters has been changed to
5112 avoid redisplay problems. As a consequence, compared with previous
5113 versions the line spacing and frame size now differ with some font
5114 choices, typically increasing by a pixel per line. This change
5115 occurred in version 20.3 but was not documented then.
5116
5117 ** If you select the bar cursor style, it uses the frame's
5118 cursor-color, rather than the cursor foreground pixel.
5119
5120 ** In multibyte mode, Rmail decodes incoming MIME messages using the
5121 character set specified in the message. If you want to disable this
5122 feature, set the variable rmail-decode-mime-charset to nil.
5123
5124 ** Not new, but not mentioned previously in NEWS: when you use #! at
5125 the beginning of a file to make it executable and specify an
5126 interpreter program, Emacs looks on the second line for the -*- mode
5127 and variable specification, as well as on the first line.
5128
5129 ** Support for IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters.
5130
5131 The new command M-x codepage-setup creates a special coding system
5132 that can be used to convert text between a specific IBM codepage and
5133 one of the character sets built into Emacs which matches that
5134 codepage. For example, codepage 850 corresponds to Latin-1 character
5135 set, codepage 855 corresponds to Cyrillic-ISO character set, etc.
5136
5137 Windows codepages 1250, 1251 and some others, where Windows deviates
5138 from the corresponding ISO character set, are also supported.
5139
5140 IBM box-drawing characters and other glyphs which don't have
5141 equivalents in the corresponding ISO character set, are converted to
5142 a character defined by dos-unsupported-char-glyph on MS-DOS, and to
5143 `?' on other systems.
5144
5145 IBM codepages are widely used on MS-DOS and MS-Windows, so this
5146 feature is most useful on those platforms, but it can also be used on
5147 Unix.
5148
5149 Emacs compiled for MS-DOS automatically loads the support for the
5150 current codepage when it starts.
5151
5152 ** Mail changes
5153
5154 *** When mail is sent using compose-mail (C-x m), and if
5155 `mail-send-nonascii' is set to the new default value `mime',
5156 appropriate MIME headers are added. The headers are added only if
5157 non-ASCII characters are present in the body of the mail, and no other
5158 MIME headers are already present. For example, the following three
5159 headers are added if the coding system used in the *mail* buffer is
5160 latin-1:
5161
5162 MIME-version: 1.0
5163 Content-type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
5164 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
5165
5166 *** The new variable default-sendmail-coding-system specifies the
5167 default way to encode outgoing mail. This has higher priority than
5168 default-buffer-file-coding-system but has lower priority than
5169 sendmail-coding-system and the local value of
5170 buffer-file-coding-system.
5171
5172 You should not set this variable manually. Instead, set
5173 sendmail-coding-system to specify a fixed encoding for all outgoing
5174 mail.
5175
5176 *** When you try to send a message that contains non-ASCII characters,
5177 if the coding system specified by those variables doesn't handle them,
5178 Emacs will ask you to select a suitable coding system while showing a
5179 list of possible coding systems.
5180
5181 ** CC Mode changes
5182
5183 *** c-default-style can now take an association list that maps major
5184 modes to style names. When this variable is an alist, Java mode no
5185 longer hardcodes a setting to "java" style. See the variable's
5186 docstring for details.
5187
5188 *** It's now possible to put a list as the offset on a syntactic
5189 symbol. The list is evaluated recursively until a non-nil offset is
5190 found. This is useful to combine several lineup functions to act in a
5191 prioritized order on a single line. However, none of the supplied
5192 lineup functions use this feature currently.
5193
5194 *** New syntactic symbol catch-clause, which is used on the "catch" and
5195 "finally" lines in try-catch constructs in C++ and Java.
5196
5197 *** New cleanup brace-catch-brace on c-cleanup-list, which does for
5198 "catch" lines what brace-elseif-brace does for "else if" lines.
5199
5200 *** The braces of Java anonymous inner classes are treated separately
5201 from the braces of other classes in auto-newline mode. Two new
5202 symbols inexpr-class-open and inexpr-class-close may be used on
5203 c-hanging-braces-alist to control the automatic newlines used for
5204 anonymous classes.
5205
5206 *** Support for the Pike language added, along with new Pike specific
5207 syntactic symbols: inlambda, lambda-intro-cont
5208
5209 *** Support for Java anonymous classes via new syntactic symbol
5210 inexpr-class. New syntactic symbol inexpr-statement for Pike
5211 support and gcc-style statements inside expressions. New lineup
5212 function c-lineup-inexpr-block.
5213
5214 *** New syntactic symbol brace-entry-open which is used in brace lists
5215 (i.e. static initializers) when a list entry starts with an open
5216 brace. These used to be recognized as brace-list-entry's.
5217 c-electric-brace also recognizes brace-entry-open braces
5218 (brace-list-entry's can no longer be electrified).
5219
5220 *** New command c-indent-line-or-region, not bound by default.
5221
5222 *** `#' is only electric when typed in the indentation of a line.
5223
5224 *** Parentheses are now electric (via the new command c-electric-paren)
5225 for auto-reindenting lines when parens are typed.
5226
5227 *** In "gnu" style, inline-open offset is now set to zero.
5228
5229 *** Uniform handling of the inclass syntactic symbol. The indentation
5230 associated with it is now always relative to the class opening brace.
5231 This means that the indentation behavior has changed in some
5232 circumstances, but only if you've put anything besides 0 on the
5233 class-open syntactic symbol (none of the default styles do that).
5234
5235 ** Gnus changes.
5236
5237 *** New functionality for using Gnus as an offline newsreader has been
5238 added. A plethora of new commands and modes have been added. See the
5239 Gnus manual for the full story.
5240
5241 *** The nndraft backend has returned, but works differently than
5242 before. All Message buffers are now also articles in the nndraft
5243 group, which is created automatically.
5244
5245 *** `gnus-alter-header-function' can now be used to alter header
5246 values.
5247
5248 *** `gnus-summary-goto-article' now accept Message-ID's.
5249
5250 *** A new Message command for deleting text in the body of a message
5251 outside the region: `C-c C-v'.
5252
5253 *** You can now post to component group in nnvirtual groups with
5254 `C-u C-c C-c'.
5255
5256 *** `nntp-rlogin-program' -- new variable to ease customization.
5257
5258 *** `C-u C-c C-c' in `gnus-article-edit-mode' will now inhibit
5259 re-highlighting of the article buffer.
5260
5261 *** New element in `gnus-boring-article-headers' -- `long-to'.
5262
5263 *** `M-i' symbolic prefix command. See the section "Symbolic
5264 Prefixes" in the Gnus manual for details.
5265
5266 *** `L' and `I' in the summary buffer now take the symbolic prefix
5267 `a' to add the score rule to the "all.SCORE" file.
5268
5269 *** `gnus-simplify-subject-functions' variable to allow greater
5270 control over simplification.
5271
5272 *** `A T' -- new command for fetching the current thread.
5273
5274 *** `/ T' -- new command for including the current thread in the
5275 limit.
5276
5277 *** `M-RET' is a new Message command for breaking cited text.
5278
5279 *** \\1-expressions are now valid in `nnmail-split-methods'.
5280
5281 *** The `custom-face-lookup' function has been removed.
5282 If you used this function in your initialization files, you must
5283 rewrite them to use `face-spec-set' instead.
5284
5285 *** Canceling now uses the current select method. Symbolic prefix
5286 `a' forces normal posting method.
5287
5288 *** New command to translate M******** sm*rtq**t*s into proper text
5289 -- `W d'.
5290
5291 *** For easier debugging of nntp, you can set `nntp-record-commands'
5292 to a non-nil value.
5293
5294 *** nntp now uses ~/.authinfo, a .netrc-like file, for controlling
5295 where and how to send AUTHINFO to NNTP servers.
5296
5297 *** A command for editing group parameters from the summary buffer
5298 has been added.
5299
5300 *** A history of where mails have been split is available.
5301
5302 *** A new article date command has been added -- `article-date-iso8601'.
5303
5304 *** Subjects can be simplified when threading by setting
5305 `gnus-score-thread-simplify'.
5306
5307 *** A new function for citing in Message has been added --
5308 `message-cite-original-without-signature'.
5309
5310 *** `article-strip-all-blank-lines' -- new article command.
5311
5312 *** A new Message command to kill to the end of the article has
5313 been added.
5314
5315 *** A minimum adaptive score can be specified by using the
5316 `gnus-adaptive-word-minimum' variable.
5317
5318 *** The "lapsed date" article header can be kept continually
5319 updated by the `gnus-start-date-timer' command.
5320
5321 *** Web listserv archives can be read with the nnlistserv backend.
5322
5323 *** Old dejanews archives can now be read by nnweb.
5324
5325 *** `gnus-posting-styles' has been re-activated.
5326
5327 ** Changes to TeX and LaTeX mode
5328
5329 *** The new variable `tex-start-options-string' can be used to give
5330 options for the TeX run. The default value causes TeX to run in
5331 nonstopmode. For an interactive TeX run set it to nil or "".
5332
5333 *** The command `tex-feed-input' sends input to the Tex Shell. In a
5334 TeX buffer it is bound to the keys C-RET, C-c RET, and C-c C-m (some
5335 of these keys may not work on all systems). For instance, if you run
5336 TeX interactively and if the TeX run stops because of an error, you
5337 can continue it without leaving the TeX buffer by typing C-RET.
5338
5339 *** The Tex Shell Buffer is now in `compilation-shell-minor-mode'.
5340 All error-parsing commands of the Compilation major mode are available
5341 but bound to keys that don't collide with the shell. Thus you can use
5342 the Tex Shell for command line executions like a usual shell.
5343
5344 *** The commands `tex-validate-region' and `tex-validate-buffer' check
5345 the matching of braces and $'s. The errors are listed in a *Occur*
5346 buffer and you can use C-c C-c or mouse-2 to go to a particular
5347 mismatch.
5348
5349 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
5350
5351 *** The table of contents buffer can now also display labels and
5352 file boundaries in addition to sections. Use `l', `i', and `c' keys.
5353
5354 *** Labels derived from context (the section heading) are now
5355 lowercase by default. To make the label legal in LaTeX, latin-1
5356 characters will lose their accent. All Mule characters will be
5357 removed from the label.
5358
5359 *** The automatic display of cross reference information can also use
5360 a window instead of the echo area. See variable `reftex-auto-view-crossref'.
5361
5362 *** kpsewhich can be used by RefTeX to find TeX and BibTeX files. See the
5363 customization group `reftex-finding-files'.
5364
5365 *** The option `reftex-bibfile-ignore-list' has been renamed to
5366 `reftex-bibfile-ignore-regexps' and indeed can be fed with regular
5367 expressions.
5368
5369 *** Multiple Selection buffers are now hidden buffers.
5370
5371 ** New/deleted modes and packages
5372
5373 *** The package snmp-mode.el provides major modes for editing SNMP and
5374 SNMPv2 MIBs. It has entries on `auto-mode-alist'.
5375
5376 *** The package sql.el provides a major mode, M-x sql-mode, for
5377 editing SQL files, and M-x sql-interactive-mode for interacting with
5378 SQL interpreters. It has an entry on `auto-mode-alist'.
5379
5380 *** M-x highlight-changes-mode provides a minor mode displaying buffer
5381 changes with a special face.
5382
5383 *** ispell4.el has been deleted. It got in the way of ispell.el and
5384 this was hard to fix reliably. It has long been obsolete -- use
5385 Ispell 3.1 and ispell.el.
5386 \f
5387 * MS-DOS changes in Emacs 20.4
5388
5389 ** Emacs compiled for MS-DOS now supports MULE features better.
5390 This includes support for display of all ISO 8859-N character sets,
5391 conversion to and from IBM codepage encoding of non-ASCII characters,
5392 and automatic setup of the MULE environment at startup. For details,
5393 check out the section `MS-DOS and MULE' in the manual.
5394
5395 The MS-DOS installation procedure automatically configures and builds
5396 Emacs with input method support if it finds an unpacked Leim
5397 distribution when the config.bat script is run.
5398
5399 ** Formerly, the value of lpr-command did not affect printing on
5400 MS-DOS unless print-region-function was set to nil, but now it
5401 controls whether an external program is invoked or output is written
5402 directly to a printer port. Similarly, in the previous version of
5403 Emacs, the value of ps-lpr-command did not affect PostScript printing
5404 on MS-DOS unless ps-printer-name was set to something other than a
5405 string (eg. t or `pipe'), but now it controls whether an external
5406 program is used. (These changes were made so that configuration of
5407 printing variables would be almost identical across all platforms.)
5408
5409 ** In the previous version of Emacs, PostScript and non-PostScript
5410 output was piped to external programs, but because most print programs
5411 available for MS-DOS and MS-Windows cannot read data from their standard
5412 input, on those systems the data to be output is now written to a
5413 temporary file whose name is passed as the last argument to the external
5414 program.
5415
5416 An exception is made for `print', a standard program on Windows NT,
5417 and `nprint', a standard program on Novell Netware. For both of these
5418 programs, the command line is constructed in the appropriate syntax
5419 automatically, using only the value of printer-name or ps-printer-name
5420 as appropriate--the value of the relevant `-switches' variable is
5421 ignored, as both programs have no useful switches.
5422
5423 ** The value of the variable dos-printer (cf. dos-ps-printer), if it has
5424 a value, overrides the value of printer-name (cf. ps-printer-name), on
5425 MS-DOS and MS-Windows only. This has been true since version 20.3, but
5426 was not documented clearly before.
5427
5428 ** All the Emacs games now work on MS-DOS terminals.
5429 This includes Tetris and Snake.
5430 \f
5431 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.4
5432
5433 ** New functions line-beginning-position and line-end-position
5434 return the position of the beginning or end of the current line.
5435 They both accept an optional argument, which has the same
5436 meaning as the argument to beginning-of-line or end-of-line.
5437
5438 ** find-file and allied functions now have an optional argument
5439 WILDCARD. If this is non-nil, they do wildcard processing,
5440 and visit all files that match the wildcard pattern.
5441
5442 ** Changes in the file-attributes function.
5443
5444 *** The file size returned by file-attributes may be an integer or a float.
5445 It is an integer if the size fits in a Lisp integer, float otherwise.
5446
5447 *** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
5448 the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a cons cell containing two
5449 integers.
5450
5451 ** The new function directory-files-and-attributes returns a list of
5452 files in a directory and their attributes. It accepts the same
5453 arguments as directory-files and has similar semantics, except that
5454 file names and attributes are returned.
5455
5456 ** The new function file-attributes-lessp is a helper function for
5457 sorting the list generated by directory-files-and-attributes. It
5458 accepts two arguments, each a list of a file name and its attributes.
5459 It compares the file names of each according to string-lessp and
5460 returns the result.
5461
5462 ** The new function file-expand-wildcards expands a wildcard-pattern
5463 to produce a list of existing files that match the pattern.
5464
5465 ** New functions for base64 conversion:
5466
5467 The function base64-encode-region converts a part of the buffer
5468 into the base64 code used in MIME. base64-decode-region
5469 performs the opposite conversion. Line-breaking is supported
5470 optionally.
5471
5472 Functions base64-encode-string and base64-decode-string do a similar
5473 job on the text in a string. They return the value as a new string.
5474
5475 **
5476 The new function process-running-child-p
5477 will tell you if a subprocess has given control of its
5478 terminal to its own child process.
5479
5480 ** interrupt-process and such functions have a new feature:
5481 when the second argument is `lambda', they send a signal
5482 to the running child of the subshell, if any, but if the shell
5483 itself owns its terminal, no signal is sent.
5484
5485 ** There are new widget types `plist' and `alist' which can
5486 be used for customizing variables whose values are plists or alists.
5487
5488 ** easymenu.el Now understands `:key-sequence' and `:style button'.
5489 :included is an alias for :visible.
5490
5491 easy-menu-add-item now understands the values returned by
5492 easy-menu-remove-item and easy-menu-item-present-p. This can be used
5493 to move or copy menu entries.
5494
5495 ** Multibyte editing changes
5496
5497 *** The definitions of sref and char-bytes are changed. Now, sref is
5498 an alias of aref and char-bytes always returns 1. This change is to
5499 make some Emacs Lisp code which works on 20.2 and earlier also
5500 work on the latest Emacs. Such code uses a combination of sref and
5501 char-bytes in a loop typically as below:
5502 (setq char (sref str idx)
5503 idx (+ idx (char-bytes idx)))
5504 The byte-compiler now warns that this is obsolete.
5505
5506 If you want to know how many bytes a specific multibyte character
5507 (say, CH) occupies in a multibyte buffer, use this code:
5508 (charset-bytes (char-charset ch))
5509
5510 *** In multibyte mode, when you narrow a buffer to some region, and the
5511 region is preceded or followed by non-ASCII codes, inserting or
5512 deleting at the head or the end of the region may signal this error:
5513
5514 Byte combining across boundary of accessible buffer text inhibited
5515
5516 This is to avoid some bytes being combined together into a character
5517 across the boundary.
5518
5519 *** The functions find-charset-region and find-charset-string include
5520 `unknown' in the returned list in the following cases:
5521 o The current buffer or the target string is unibyte and
5522 contains 8-bit characters.
5523 o The current buffer or the target string is multibyte and
5524 contains invalid characters.
5525
5526 *** The functions decode-coding-region and encode-coding-region remove
5527 text properties of the target region. Ideally, they should correctly
5528 preserve text properties, but for the moment, it's hard. Removing
5529 text properties is better than preserving them in a less-than-correct
5530 way.
5531
5532 *** prefer-coding-system sets EOL conversion of default coding systems.
5533 If the argument to prefer-coding-system specifies a certain type of
5534 end of line conversion, the default coding systems set by
5535 prefer-coding-system will specify that conversion type for end of line.
5536
5537 *** The new function thai-compose-string can be used to properly
5538 compose Thai characters in a string.
5539
5540 ** The primitive `define-prefix-command' now takes an optional third
5541 argument NAME, which should be a string. It supplies the menu name
5542 for the created keymap. Keymaps created in order to be displayed as
5543 menus should always use the third argument.
5544
5545 ** The meanings of optional second arguments for read-char,
5546 read-event, and read-char-exclusive are flipped. Now the second
5547 arguments are INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. These functions use the current
5548 input method (if any) if and only if INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD is non-nil.
5549
5550 ** The new function clear-this-command-keys empties out the contents
5551 of the vector that (this-command-keys) returns. This is useful in
5552 programs that read passwords, to prevent the passwords from echoing
5553 inadvertently as part of the next command in certain cases.
5554
5555 ** The new macro `with-temp-message' displays a temporary message in
5556 the echo area, while executing some Lisp code. Like `progn', it
5557 returns the value of the last form, but it also restores the previous
5558 echo area contents.
5559
5560 (with-temp-message MESSAGE &rest BODY)
5561
5562 ** The function `require' now takes an optional third argument
5563 NOERROR. If it is non-nil, then there is no error if the
5564 requested feature cannot be loaded.
5565
5566 ** In the function modify-face, an argument of (nil) for the
5567 foreground color, background color or stipple pattern
5568 means to clear out that attribute.
5569
5570 ** The `outer-window-id' frame property of an X frame
5571 gives the window number of the outermost X window for the frame.
5572
5573 ** Temporary buffers made with with-output-to-temp-buffer are now
5574 read-only by default, and normally use the major mode Help mode
5575 unless you put them in some other non-Fundamental mode before the
5576 end of with-output-to-temp-buffer.
5577
5578 ** The new functions gap-position and gap-size return information on
5579 the gap of the current buffer.
5580
5581 ** The new functions position-bytes and byte-to-position provide a way
5582 to convert between character positions and byte positions in the
5583 current buffer.
5584
5585 ** vc.el defines two new macros, `edit-vc-file' and `with-vc-file', to
5586 facilitate working with version-controlled files from Lisp programs.
5587 These macros check out a given file automatically if needed, and check
5588 it back in after any modifications have been made.
5589 \f
5590 * Installation Changes in Emacs 20.3
5591
5592 ** The default value of load-path now includes most subdirectories of
5593 the site-specific directories /usr/local/share/emacs/site-lisp and
5594 /usr/local/share/emacs/VERSION/site-lisp, in addition to those
5595 directories themselves. Both immediate subdirectories and
5596 subdirectories multiple levels down are added to load-path.
5597
5598 Not all subdirectories are included, though. Subdirectories whose
5599 names do not start with a letter or digit are excluded.
5600 Subdirectories named RCS or CVS are excluded. Also, a subdirectory
5601 which contains a file named `.nosearch' is excluded. You can use
5602 these methods to prevent certain subdirectories from being searched.
5603
5604 Emacs finds these subdirectories and adds them to load-path when it
5605 starts up. While it would be cleaner to find the subdirectories each
5606 time Emacs loads a file, that would be much slower.
5607
5608 This feature is an incompatible change. If you have stored some Emacs
5609 Lisp files in a subdirectory of the site-lisp directory specifically
5610 to prevent them from being used, you will need to rename the
5611 subdirectory to start with a non-alphanumeric character, or create a
5612 `.nosearch' file in it, in order to continue to achieve the desired
5613 results.
5614
5615 ** Emacs no longer includes an old version of the C preprocessor from
5616 GCC. This was formerly used to help compile Emacs with C compilers
5617 that had limits on the significant length of an identifier, but in
5618 fact we stopped supporting such compilers some time ago.
5619 \f
5620 * Changes in Emacs 20.3
5621
5622 ** The new command C-x z (repeat) repeats the previous command
5623 including its argument. If you repeat the z afterward,
5624 it repeats the command additional times; thus, you can
5625 perform many repetitions with one keystroke per repetition.
5626
5627 ** Emacs now supports "selective undo" which undoes only within a
5628 specified region. To do this, set point and mark around the desired
5629 region and type C-u C-x u (or C-u C-_). You can then continue undoing
5630 further, within the same region, by repeating the ordinary undo
5631 command C-x u or C-_. This will keep undoing changes that were made
5632 within the region you originally specified, until either all of them
5633 are undone, or it encounters a change which crosses the edge of that
5634 region.
5635
5636 In Transient Mark mode, undoing when a region is active requests
5637 selective undo.
5638
5639 ** If you specify --unibyte when starting Emacs, then all buffers are
5640 unibyte, except when a Lisp program specifically creates a multibyte
5641 buffer. Setting the environment variable EMACS_UNIBYTE has the same
5642 effect. The --no-unibyte option overrides EMACS_UNIBYTE and directs
5643 Emacs to run normally in multibyte mode.
5644
5645 The option --unibyte does not affect the reading of Emacs Lisp files,
5646 though. If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode, use
5647 -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line. That will force Emacs to
5648 load that file in unibyte mode, regardless of how Emacs was started.
5649
5650 ** toggle-enable-multibyte-characters no longer has a key binding and
5651 no longer appears in the menu bar. We've realized that changing the
5652 enable-multibyte-characters variable in an existing buffer is
5653 something that most users not do.
5654
5655 ** You can specify a coding system to use for the next cut or paste
5656 operations through the window system with the command C-x RET X.
5657 The coding system can make a difference for communication with other
5658 applications.
5659
5660 C-x RET x specifies a coding system for all subsequent cutting and
5661 pasting operations.
5662
5663 ** You can specify the printer to use for commands that do printing by
5664 setting the variable `printer-name'. Just what a printer name looks
5665 like depends on your operating system. You can specify a different
5666 printer for the Postscript printing commands by setting
5667 `ps-printer-name'.
5668
5669 ** Emacs now supports on-the-fly spell checking by the means of a
5670 minor mode. It is called M-x flyspell-mode. You don't have to remember
5671 any other special commands to use it, and you will hardly notice it
5672 except when you make a spelling error. Flyspell works by highlighting
5673 incorrect words as soon as they are completed or as soon as the cursor
5674 hits a new word.
5675
5676 Flyspell mode works with whichever dictionary you have selected for
5677 Ispell in Emacs. In TeX mode, it understands TeX syntax so as not
5678 to be confused by TeX commands.
5679
5680 You can correct a misspelled word by editing it into something
5681 correct. You can also correct it, or accept it as correct, by
5682 clicking on the word with Mouse-2; that gives you a pop-up menu
5683 of various alternative replacements and actions.
5684
5685 Flyspell mode also proposes "automatic" corrections. M-TAB replaces
5686 the current misspelled word with a possible correction. If several
5687 corrections are made possible, M-TAB cycles through them in
5688 alphabetical order, or in order of decreasing likelihood if
5689 flyspell-sort-corrections is nil.
5690
5691 Flyspell mode also flags an error when a word is repeated, if
5692 flyspell-mark-duplications-flag is non-nil.
5693
5694 ** Changes in input method usage.
5695
5696 Now you can use arrow keys (right, left, down, up) for selecting among
5697 the alternatives just the same way as you do by C-f, C-b, C-n, and C-p
5698 respectively.
5699
5700 You can use the ENTER key to accept the current conversion.
5701
5702 If you type TAB to display a list of alternatives, you can select one
5703 of the alternatives with Mouse-2.
5704
5705 The meaning of the variable `input-method-verbose-flag' is changed so
5706 that you can set it to t, nil, `default', or `complex-only'.
5707
5708 If the value is nil, extra guidance is never given.
5709
5710 If the value is t, extra guidance is always given.
5711
5712 If the value is `complex-only', extra guidance is always given only
5713 when you are using complex input methods such as chinese-py.
5714
5715 If the value is `default' (this is the default), extra guidance is
5716 given in the following case:
5717 o When you are using a complex input method.
5718 o When you are using a simple input method but not in the minibuffer.
5719
5720 If you are using Emacs through a very slow line, setting
5721 input-method-verbose-flag to nil or to complex-only is a good choice,
5722 and if you are using an input method you are not familiar with,
5723 setting it to t is helpful.
5724
5725 The old command select-input-method is now called set-input-method.
5726
5727 In the language environment "Korean", you can use the following
5728 keys:
5729 Shift-SPC toggle-korean-input-method
5730 C-F9 quail-hangul-switch-symbol-ksc
5731 F9 quail-hangul-switch-hanja
5732 These key bindings are canceled when you switch to another language
5733 environment.
5734
5735 ** The minibuffer history of file names now records the specified file
5736 names, not the entire minibuffer input. For example, if the
5737 minibuffer starts out with /usr/foo/, you might type in /etc/passwd to
5738 get
5739
5740 /usr/foo//etc/passwd
5741
5742 which stands for the file /etc/passwd.
5743
5744 Formerly, this used to put /usr/foo//etc/passwd in the history list.
5745 Now this puts just /etc/passwd in the history list.
5746
5747 ** If you are root, Emacs sets backup-by-copying-when-mismatch to t
5748 at startup, so that saving a file will be sure to preserve
5749 its owner and group.
5750
5751 ** find-func.el can now also find the place of definition of Emacs
5752 Lisp variables in user-loaded libraries.
5753
5754 ** C-x r t (string-rectangle) now deletes the existing rectangle
5755 contents before inserting the specified string on each line.
5756
5757 ** There is a new command delete-whitespace-rectangle
5758 which deletes whitespace starting from a particular column
5759 in all the lines on a rectangle. The column is specified
5760 by the left edge of the rectangle.
5761
5762 ** You can now store a number into a register with C-u NUMBER C-x r n REG,
5763 increment it by INC with C-u INC C-x r + REG (to increment by one, omit
5764 C-u INC), and insert it in the buffer with C-x r g REG. This is useful
5765 for writing keyboard macros.
5766
5767 ** The new command M-x speedbar displays a frame in which directories,
5768 files, and tags can be displayed, manipulated, and jumped to. The
5769 frame defaults to 20 characters in width, and is the same height as
5770 the frame that it was started from. Some major modes define
5771 additional commands for the speedbar, including Rmail, GUD/GDB, and
5772 info.
5773
5774 ** query-replace-regexp is now bound to C-M-%.
5775
5776 ** In Transient Mark mode, when the region is active, M-x
5777 query-replace and the other replace commands now operate on the region
5778 contents only.
5779
5780 ** M-x write-region, when used interactively, now asks for
5781 confirmation before overwriting an existing file. When you call
5782 the function from a Lisp program, a new optional argument CONFIRM
5783 says whether to ask for confirmation in this case.
5784
5785 ** If you use find-file-literally and the file is already visited
5786 non-literally, the command asks you whether to revisit the file
5787 literally. If you say no, it signals an error.
5788
5789 ** Major modes defined with the "derived mode" feature
5790 now use the proper name for the mode hook: WHATEVER-mode-hook.
5791 Formerly they used the name WHATEVER-mode-hooks, but that is
5792 inconsistent with Emacs conventions.
5793
5794 ** shell-command-on-region (and shell-command) reports success or
5795 failure if the command produces no output.
5796
5797 ** Set focus-follows-mouse to nil if your window system or window
5798 manager does not transfer focus to another window when you just move
5799 the mouse.
5800
5801 ** mouse-menu-buffer-maxlen has been renamed to
5802 mouse-buffer-menu-maxlen to be consistent with the other related
5803 function and variable names.
5804
5805 ** The new variable auto-coding-alist specifies coding systems for
5806 reading specific files. This has higher priority than
5807 file-coding-system-alist.
5808
5809 ** If you set the variable unibyte-display-via-language-environment to
5810 t, then Emacs displays non-ASCII characters are displayed by
5811 converting them to the equivalent multibyte characters according to
5812 the current language environment. As a result, they are displayed
5813 according to the current fontset.
5814
5815 ** C-q's handling of codes in the range 0200 through 0377 is changed.
5816
5817 The codes in the range 0200 through 0237 are inserted as one byte of
5818 that code regardless of the values of nonascii-translation-table and
5819 nonascii-insert-offset.
5820
5821 For the codes in the range 0240 through 0377, if
5822 enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil and nonascii-translation-table
5823 nor nonascii-insert-offset can't convert them to valid multibyte
5824 characters, they are converted to Latin-1 characters.
5825
5826 ** If you try to find a file that is not read-accessible, you now get
5827 an error, rather than an empty buffer and a warning.
5828
5829 ** In the minibuffer history commands M-r and M-s, an upper case
5830 letter in the regular expression forces case-sensitive search.
5831
5832 ** In the *Help* buffer, cross-references to commands and variables
5833 are inferred and hyperlinked. Use C-h m in Help mode for the relevant
5834 command keys.
5835
5836 ** M-x apropos-command, with a prefix argument, no longer looks for
5837 user option variables--instead it looks for noninteractive functions.
5838
5839 Meanwhile, the command apropos-variable normally searches for
5840 user option variables; with a prefix argument, it looks at
5841 all variables that have documentation.
5842
5843 ** When you type a long line in the minibuffer, and the minibuffer
5844 shows just one line, automatically scrolling works in a special way
5845 that shows you overlap with the previous line of text. The variable
5846 minibuffer-scroll-overlap controls how many characters of overlap
5847 it should show; the default is 20.
5848
5849 Meanwhile, Resize Minibuffer mode is still available; in that mode,
5850 the minibuffer grows taller (up to a point) as needed to show the whole
5851 of your input.
5852
5853 ** The new command M-x customize-changed-options lets you customize
5854 all the options whose meanings or default values have changed in
5855 recent Emacs versions. You specify a previous Emacs version number as
5856 argument, and the command creates a customization buffer showing all
5857 the customizable options which were changed since that version.
5858 Newly added options are included as well.
5859
5860 If you don't specify a particular version number argument,
5861 then the customization buffer shows all the customizable options
5862 for which Emacs versions of changes are recorded.
5863
5864 This function is also bound to the Changed Options entry in the
5865 Customize menu.
5866
5867 ** When you run M-x grep with a prefix argument, it figures out
5868 the tag around point and puts that into the default grep command.
5869
5870 ** The new command M-* (pop-tag-mark) pops back through a history of
5871 buffer positions from which M-. or other tag-finding commands were
5872 invoked.
5873
5874 ** The new variable comment-padding specifies the number of spaces
5875 that `comment-region' will insert before the actual text of the comment.
5876 The default is 1.
5877
5878 ** In Fortran mode the characters `.', `_' and `$' now have symbol
5879 syntax, not word syntax. Fortran mode now supports `imenu' and has
5880 new commands fortran-join-line (M-^) and fortran-narrow-to-subprogram
5881 (C-x n d). M-q can be used to fill a statement or comment block
5882 sensibly.
5883
5884 ** GUD now supports jdb, the Java debugger, and pdb, the Python debugger.
5885
5886 ** If you set the variable add-log-keep-changes-together to a non-nil
5887 value, the command `C-x 4 a' will automatically notice when you make
5888 two entries in one day for one file, and combine them.
5889
5890 ** You can use the command M-x diary-mail-entries to mail yourself a
5891 reminder about upcoming diary entries. See the documentation string
5892 for a sample shell script for calling this function automatically
5893 every night.
5894
5895 ** Desktop changes
5896
5897 *** All you need to do to enable use of the Desktop package, is to set
5898 the variable desktop-enable to t with Custom.
5899
5900 *** Minor modes are now restored. Which minor modes are restored
5901 and how modes are restored is controlled by `desktop-minor-mode-table'.
5902
5903 ** There is no need to do anything special, now, to enable Gnus to
5904 read and post multi-lingual articles.
5905
5906 ** Outline mode has now support for showing hidden outlines when
5907 doing an isearch. In order for this to happen search-invisible should
5908 be set to open (the default). If an isearch match is inside a hidden
5909 outline the outline is made visible. If you continue pressing C-s and
5910 the match moves outside the formerly invisible outline, the outline is
5911 made invisible again.
5912
5913 ** Mail reading and sending changes
5914
5915 *** The Rmail e command now switches to displaying the whole header of
5916 the message before it lets you edit the message. This is so that any
5917 changes you make in the header will not be lost if you subsequently
5918 toggle.
5919
5920 *** The w command in Rmail, which writes the message body into a file,
5921 now works in the summary buffer as well. (The command to delete the
5922 summary buffer is now Q.) The default file name for the w command, if
5923 the message has no subject, is stored in the variable
5924 rmail-default-body-file.
5925
5926 *** Most of the commands and modes that operate on mail and netnews no
5927 longer depend on the value of mail-header-separator. Instead, they
5928 handle whatever separator the buffer happens to use.
5929
5930 *** If you set mail-signature to a value which is not t, nil, or a string,
5931 it should be an expression. When you send a message, this expression
5932 is evaluated to insert the signature.
5933
5934 *** The new Lisp library feedmail.el (version 8) enhances processing of
5935 outbound email messages. It works in coordination with other email
5936 handling packages (e.g., rmail, VM, gnus) and is responsible for
5937 putting final touches on messages and actually submitting them for
5938 transmission. Users of the emacs program "fakemail" might be
5939 especially interested in trying feedmail.
5940
5941 feedmail is not enabled by default. See comments at the top of
5942 feedmail.el for set-up instructions. Among the bigger features
5943 provided by feedmail are:
5944
5945 **** you can park outgoing messages into a disk-based queue and
5946 stimulate sending some or all of them later (handy for laptop users);
5947 there is also a queue for draft messages
5948
5949 **** you can get one last look at the prepped outbound message and
5950 be prompted for confirmation
5951
5952 **** does smart filling of address headers
5953
5954 **** can generate a MESSAGE-ID: line and a DATE: line; the date can be
5955 the time the message was written or the time it is being sent; this
5956 can make FCC copies more closely resemble copies that recipients get
5957
5958 **** you can specify an arbitrary function for actually transmitting
5959 the message; included in feedmail are interfaces for /bin/[r]mail,
5960 /usr/lib/sendmail, and elisp smtpmail; it's easy to write a new
5961 function for something else (10-20 lines of elisp)
5962
5963 ** Dired changes
5964
5965 *** The Dired function dired-do-toggle, which toggles marked and unmarked
5966 files, is now bound to "t" instead of "T".
5967
5968 *** dired-at-point has been added to ffap.el. It allows one to easily
5969 run Dired on the directory name at point.
5970
5971 *** Dired has a new command: %g. It searches the contents of
5972 files in the directory and marks each file that contains a match
5973 for a specified regexp.
5974
5975 ** VC Changes
5976
5977 *** New option vc-ignore-vc-files lets you turn off version control
5978 conveniently.
5979
5980 *** VC Dired has been completely rewritten. It is now much
5981 faster, especially for CVS, and works very similar to ordinary
5982 Dired.
5983
5984 VC Dired is invoked by typing C-x v d and entering the name of the
5985 directory to display. By default, VC Dired gives you a recursive
5986 listing of all files at or below the given directory which are
5987 currently locked (for CVS, all files not up-to-date are shown).
5988
5989 You can change the listing format by setting vc-dired-recurse to nil,
5990 then it shows only the given directory, and you may also set
5991 vc-dired-terse-display to nil, then it shows all files under version
5992 control plus the names of any subdirectories, so that you can type `i'
5993 on such lines to insert them manually, as in ordinary Dired.
5994
5995 All Dired commands operate normally in VC Dired, except for `v', which
5996 is redefined as the version control prefix. That means you may type
5997 `v l', `v =' etc. to invoke `vc-print-log', `vc-diff' and the like on
5998 the file named in the current Dired buffer line. `v v' invokes
5999 `vc-next-action' on this file, or on all files currently marked.
6000
6001 The new command `v t' (vc-dired-toggle-terse-mode) allows you to
6002 toggle between terse display (only locked files) and full display (all
6003 VC files plus subdirectories). There is also a special command,
6004 `* l', to mark all files currently locked.
6005
6006 Giving a prefix argument to C-x v d now does the same thing as in
6007 ordinary Dired: it allows you to supply additional options for the ls
6008 command in the minibuffer, to fine-tune VC Dired's output.
6009
6010 *** Under CVS, if you merge changes from the repository into a working
6011 file, and CVS detects conflicts, VC now offers to start an ediff
6012 session to resolve them.
6013
6014 Alternatively, you can use the new command `vc-resolve-conflicts' to
6015 resolve conflicts in a file at any time. It works in any buffer that
6016 contains conflict markers as generated by rcsmerge (which is what CVS
6017 uses as well).
6018
6019 *** You can now transfer changes between branches, using the new
6020 command vc-merge (C-x v m). It is implemented for RCS and CVS. When
6021 you invoke it in a buffer under version-control, you can specify
6022 either an entire branch or a pair of versions, and the changes on that
6023 branch or between the two versions are merged into the working file.
6024 If this results in any conflicts, they may be resolved interactively,
6025 using ediff.
6026
6027 ** Changes in Font Lock
6028
6029 *** The face and variable previously known as font-lock-reference-face
6030 are now called font-lock-constant-face to better reflect their typical
6031 use for highlighting constants and labels. (Its face properties are
6032 unchanged.) The variable font-lock-reference-face remains for now for
6033 compatibility reasons, but its value is font-lock-constant-face.
6034
6035 ** Frame name display changes
6036
6037 *** The command set-frame-name lets you set the name of the current
6038 frame. You can use the new command select-frame-by-name to select and
6039 raise a frame; this is mostly useful on character-only terminals, or
6040 when many frames are invisible or iconified.
6041
6042 *** On character-only terminal (not a window system), changing the
6043 frame name is now reflected on the mode line and in the Buffers/Frames
6044 menu.
6045
6046 ** Comint (subshell) changes
6047
6048 *** In Comint modes, the commands to kill, stop or interrupt a
6049 subjob now also kill pending input. This is for compatibility
6050 with ordinary shells, where the signal characters do this.
6051
6052 *** There are new commands in Comint mode.
6053
6054 C-c C-x fetches the "next" line from the input history;
6055 that is, the line after the last line you got.
6056 You can use this command to fetch successive lines, one by one.
6057
6058 C-c SPC accumulates lines of input. More precisely, it arranges to
6059 send the current line together with the following line, when you send
6060 the following line.
6061
6062 C-c C-a if repeated twice consecutively now moves to the process mark,
6063 which separates the pending input from the subprocess output and the
6064 previously sent input.
6065
6066 C-c M-r now runs comint-previous-matching-input-from-input;
6067 it searches for a previous command, using the current pending input
6068 as the search string.
6069
6070 *** New option compilation-scroll-output can be set to scroll
6071 automatically in compilation-mode windows.
6072
6073 ** C mode changes
6074
6075 *** Multiline macros are now handled, both as they affect indentation,
6076 and as recognized syntax. New syntactic symbol cpp-macro-cont is
6077 assigned to second and subsequent lines of a multiline macro
6078 definition.
6079
6080 *** A new style "user" which captures all non-hook-ified
6081 (i.e. top-level) .emacs file variable settings and customizations.
6082 Style "cc-mode" is an alias for "user" and is deprecated. "gnu"
6083 style is still the default however.
6084
6085 *** "java" style now conforms to Sun's JDK coding style.
6086
6087 *** There are new commands c-beginning-of-defun, c-end-of-defun which
6088 are alternatives which you could bind to C-M-a and C-M-e if you prefer
6089 them. They do not have key bindings by default.
6090
6091 *** New and improved implementations of M-a (c-beginning-of-statement)
6092 and M-e (c-end-of-statement).
6093
6094 *** C++ namespace blocks are supported, with new syntactic symbols
6095 namespace-open, namespace-close, and innamespace.
6096
6097 *** File local variable settings of c-file-style and c-file-offsets
6098 makes the style variables local to that buffer only.
6099
6100 *** New indentation functions c-lineup-close-paren,
6101 c-indent-one-line-block, c-lineup-dont-change.
6102
6103 *** Improvements (hopefully!) to the way CC Mode is loaded. You
6104 should now be able to do a (require 'cc-mode) to get the entire
6105 package loaded properly for customization in your .emacs file. A new
6106 variable c-initialize-on-load controls this and is t by default.
6107
6108 ** Changes to hippie-expand.
6109
6110 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-skip-space'. If
6111 non-nil, trailing spaces may be included in the abbreviation to search for,
6112 which then gives the same behavior as the original `dabbrev-expand'.
6113
6114 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-dabbrev-as-symbol'. If
6115 non-nil, characters of syntax '_' is considered part of the word when
6116 expanding dynamically.
6117
6118 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-no-restriction'. If
6119 non-nil, narrowed buffers are widened before they are searched.
6120
6121 *** New customization variable `hippie-expand-only-buffers'. If
6122 non-empty, buffers searched are restricted to the types specified in
6123 this list. Useful for example when constructing new special-purpose
6124 expansion functions with `make-hippie-expand-function'.
6125
6126 *** Text properties of the expansion are no longer copied.
6127
6128 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
6129
6130 *** Any titleword matching a regexp in the new variable
6131 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore (case sensitive) is ignored during
6132 automatic key generation. This replaces variable
6133 bibtex-autokey-titleword-first-ignore, which only checked for matches
6134 against the first word in the title.
6135
6136 *** Autokey generation now uses all words from the title, not just
6137 capitalized words. To avoid conflicts with existing customizations,
6138 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore is set up such that words starting with
6139 lowerkey characters will still be ignored. Thus, if you want to use
6140 lowercase words from the title, you will have to overwrite the
6141 bibtex-autokey-titleword-ignore standard setting.
6142
6143 *** Case conversion of names and title words for automatic key
6144 generation is more flexible. Variable bibtex-autokey-preserve-case is
6145 replaced by bibtex-autokey-titleword-case-convert and
6146 bibtex-autokey-name-case-convert.
6147
6148 ** Changes in vcursor.el.
6149
6150 *** Support for character terminals is available: there is a new keymap
6151 and the vcursor will appear as an arrow between buffer text. A
6152 variable `vcursor-interpret-input' allows input from the vcursor to be
6153 entered exactly as if typed. Numerous functions, including
6154 `vcursor-compare-windows', have been rewritten to improve consistency
6155 in the selection of windows and corresponding keymaps.
6156
6157 *** vcursor options can now be altered with M-x customize under the
6158 Editing group once the package is loaded.
6159
6160 *** Loading vcursor now does not define keys by default, as this is
6161 generally a bad side effect. Use M-x customize to set
6162 vcursor-key-bindings to t to restore the old behavior.
6163
6164 *** vcursor-auto-disable can be `copy', which turns off copying from the
6165 vcursor, but doesn't disable it, after any non-vcursor command.
6166
6167 ** Ispell changes.
6168
6169 *** You can now spell check comments and strings in the current
6170 buffer with M-x ispell-comments-and-strings. Comments and strings
6171 are identified by syntax tables in effect.
6172
6173 *** Generic region skipping implemented.
6174 A single buffer can be broken into a number of regions where text will
6175 and will not be checked. The definitions of the regions can be user
6176 defined. New applications and improvements made available by this
6177 include:
6178
6179 o URLs are automatically skipped
6180 o EMail message checking is vastly improved.
6181
6182 *** Ispell can highlight the erroneous word even on non-window terminals.
6183
6184 ** Changes to RefTeX mode
6185
6186 RefTeX has been updated in order to make it more usable with very
6187 large projects (like a several volume math book). The parser has been
6188 re-written from scratch. To get maximum speed from RefTeX, check the
6189 section `Optimizations' in the manual.
6190
6191 *** New recursive parser.
6192
6193 The old version of RefTeX created a single large buffer containing the
6194 entire multifile document in order to parse the document. The new
6195 recursive parser scans the individual files.
6196
6197 *** Parsing only part of a document.
6198
6199 Reparsing of changed document parts can now be made faster by enabling
6200 partial scans. To use this feature, read the documentation string of
6201 the variable `reftex-enable-partial-scans' and set the variable to t.
6202
6203 (setq reftex-enable-partial-scans t)
6204
6205 *** Storing parsing information in a file.
6206
6207 This can improve startup times considerably. To turn it on, use
6208
6209 (setq reftex-save-parse-info t)
6210
6211 *** Using multiple selection buffers
6212
6213 If the creation of label selection buffers is too slow (this happens
6214 for large documents), you can reuse these buffers by setting
6215
6216 (setq reftex-use-multiple-selection-buffers t)
6217
6218 *** References to external documents.
6219
6220 The LaTeX package `xr' allows to cross-reference labels in external
6221 documents. RefTeX can provide information about the external
6222 documents as well. To use this feature, set up the \externaldocument
6223 macros required by the `xr' package and rescan the document with
6224 RefTeX. The external labels can then be accessed with the `x' key in
6225 the selection buffer provided by `reftex-reference' (bound to `C-c )').
6226 The `x' key also works in the table of contents buffer.
6227
6228 *** Many more labeled LaTeX environments are recognized by default.
6229
6230 The built-in command list now covers all the standard LaTeX commands,
6231 and all of the major packages included in the LaTeX distribution.
6232
6233 Also, RefTeX now understands the \appendix macro and changes
6234 the enumeration of sections in the *toc* buffer accordingly.
6235
6236 *** Mouse support for selection and *toc* buffers
6237
6238 The mouse can now be used to select items in the selection and *toc*
6239 buffers. See also the new option `reftex-highlight-selection'.
6240
6241 *** New keymaps for selection and table of contents modes.
6242
6243 The selection processes for labels and citation keys, and the table of
6244 contents buffer now have their own keymaps: `reftex-select-label-map',
6245 `reftex-select-bib-map', `reftex-toc-map'. The selection processes
6246 have a number of new keys predefined. In particular, TAB lets you
6247 enter a label with completion. Check the on-the-fly help (press `?'
6248 at the selection prompt) or read the Info documentation to find out
6249 more.
6250
6251 *** Support for the varioref package
6252
6253 The `v' key in the label selection buffer toggles \ref versus \vref.
6254
6255 *** New hooks
6256
6257 Three new hooks can be used to redefine the way labels, references,
6258 and citations are created. These hooks are
6259 `reftex-format-label-function', `reftex-format-ref-function',
6260 `reftex-format-cite-function'.
6261
6262 *** Citations outside LaTeX
6263
6264 The command `reftex-citation' may also be used outside LaTeX (e.g. in
6265 a mail buffer). See the Info documentation for details.
6266
6267 *** Short context is no longer fontified.
6268
6269 The short context in the label menu no longer copies the
6270 fontification from the text in the buffer. If you prefer it to be
6271 fontified, use
6272
6273 (setq reftex-refontify-context t)
6274
6275 ** file-cache-minibuffer-complete now accepts a prefix argument.
6276 With a prefix argument, it does not try to do completion of
6277 the file name within its directory; it only checks for other
6278 directories that contain the same file name.
6279
6280 Thus, given the file name Makefile, and assuming that a file
6281 Makefile.in exists in the same directory, ordinary
6282 file-cache-minibuffer-complete will try to complete Makefile to
6283 Makefile.in and will therefore never look for other directories that
6284 have Makefile. A prefix argument tells it not to look for longer
6285 names such as Makefile.in, so that instead it will look for other
6286 directories--just as if the name were already complete in its present
6287 directory.
6288
6289 ** New modes and packages
6290
6291 *** There is a new alternative major mode for Perl, Cperl mode.
6292 It has many more features than Perl mode, and some people prefer
6293 it, but some do not.
6294
6295 *** There is a new major mode, M-x vhdl-mode, for editing files of VHDL
6296 code.
6297
6298 *** M-x which-function-mode enables a minor mode that displays the
6299 current function name continuously in the mode line, as you move
6300 around in a buffer.
6301
6302 Which Function mode is effective in major modes which support Imenu.
6303
6304 *** Gametree is a major mode for editing game analysis trees. The author
6305 uses it for keeping notes about his postal Chess games, but it should
6306 be helpful for other two-player games as well, as long as they have an
6307 established system of notation similar to Chess.
6308
6309 *** The new minor mode checkdoc-minor-mode provides Emacs Lisp
6310 documentation string checking for style and spelling. The style
6311 guidelines are found in the Emacs Lisp programming manual.
6312
6313 *** The net-utils package makes some common networking features
6314 available in Emacs. Some of these functions are wrappers around
6315 system utilities (ping, nslookup, etc); others are implementations of
6316 simple protocols (finger, whois) in Emacs Lisp. There are also
6317 functions to make simple connections to TCP/IP ports for debugging and
6318 the like.
6319
6320 *** highlight-changes-mode is a minor mode that uses colors to
6321 identify recently changed parts of the buffer text.
6322
6323 *** The new package `midnight' lets you specify things to be done
6324 within Emacs at midnight--by default, kill buffers that you have not
6325 used in a considerable time. To use this feature, customize
6326 the user option `midnight-mode' to t.
6327
6328 *** The file generic-x.el defines a number of simple major modes.
6329
6330 apache-generic-mode: For Apache and NCSA httpd configuration files
6331 samba-generic-mode: Samba configuration files
6332 fvwm-generic-mode: For fvwm initialization files
6333 x-resource-generic-mode: For X resource files
6334 hosts-generic-mode: For hosts files (.rhosts, /etc/hosts, etc)
6335 mailagent-rules-generic-mode: For mailagent .rules files
6336 javascript-generic-mode: For JavaScript files
6337 vrml-generic-mode: For VRML files
6338 java-manifest-generic-mode: For Java MANIFEST files
6339 java-properties-generic-mode: For Java property files
6340 mailrc-generic-mode: For .mailrc files
6341
6342 Platform-specific modes:
6343
6344 prototype-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V prototype files
6345 pkginfo-generic-mode: For Solaris/Sys V pkginfo files
6346 alias-generic-mode: For C shell alias files
6347 inf-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INF files
6348 ini-generic-mode: For MS-Windows INI files
6349 reg-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Registry files
6350 bat-generic-mode: For MS-Windows BAT scripts
6351 rc-generic-mode: For MS-Windows Resource files
6352 rul-generic-mode: For InstallShield scripts
6353 \f
6354 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 since the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
6355
6356 ** If you want a Lisp file to be read in unibyte mode,
6357 use -*-unibyte: t;-*- on its first line.
6358 That will force Emacs to read that file in unibyte mode.
6359 Otherwise, the file will be loaded and byte-compiled in multibyte mode.
6360
6361 Thus, each lisp file is read in a consistent way regardless of whether
6362 you started Emacs with --unibyte, so that a Lisp program gives
6363 consistent results regardless of how Emacs was started.
6364
6365 ** The new function assoc-default is useful for searching an alist,
6366 and using a default value if the key is not found there. You can
6367 specify a comparison predicate, so this function is useful for
6368 searching comparing a string against an alist of regular expressions.
6369
6370 ** The functions unibyte-char-to-multibyte and
6371 multibyte-char-to-unibyte convert between unibyte and multibyte
6372 character codes, in a way that is appropriate for the current language
6373 environment.
6374
6375 ** The functions read-event, read-char and read-char-exclusive now
6376 take two optional arguments. PROMPT, if non-nil, specifies a prompt
6377 string. SUPPRESS-INPUT-METHOD, if non-nil, says to disable the
6378 current input method for reading this one event.
6379
6380 ** Two new variables print-escape-nonascii and print-escape-multibyte
6381 now control whether to output certain characters as
6382 backslash-sequences. print-escape-nonascii applies to single-byte
6383 non-ASCII characters; print-escape-multibyte applies to multibyte
6384 characters. Both of these variables are used only when printing
6385 in readable fashion (prin1 uses them, princ does not).
6386 \f
6387 * Lisp changes in Emacs 20.3 before the Emacs Lisp Manual was published
6388
6389 ** Compiled Emacs Lisp files made with the modified "MBSK" version
6390 of Emacs 20.2 do not work in Emacs 20.3.
6391
6392 ** Buffer positions are now measured in characters, as they were
6393 in Emacs 19 and before. This means that (forward-char 1)
6394 always increases point by 1.
6395
6396 The function chars-in-region now just subtracts its arguments. It is
6397 considered obsolete. The function char-boundary-p has been deleted.
6398
6399 See below for additional changes relating to multibyte characters.
6400
6401 ** defcustom, defface and defgroup now accept the keyword `:version'.
6402 Use this to specify in which version of Emacs a certain variable's
6403 default value changed. For example,
6404
6405 (defcustom foo-max 34 "*Maximum number of foo's allowed."
6406 :type 'integer
6407 :group 'foo
6408 :version "20.3")
6409
6410 (defgroup foo-group nil "The foo group."
6411 :version "20.3")
6412
6413 If an entire new group is added or the variables in it have the
6414 default values changed, then just add a `:version' to that group. It
6415 is recommended that new packages added to the distribution contain a
6416 `:version' in the top level group.
6417
6418 This information is used to control the customize-changed-options command.
6419
6420 ** It is now an error to change the value of a symbol whose name
6421 starts with a colon--if it is interned in the standard obarray.
6422
6423 However, setting such a symbol to its proper value, which is that
6424 symbol itself, is not an error. This is for the sake of programs that
6425 support previous Emacs versions by explicitly setting these variables
6426 to themselves.
6427
6428 If you set the variable keyword-symbols-constant-flag to nil,
6429 this error is suppressed, and you can set these symbols to any
6430 values whatever.
6431
6432 ** There is a new debugger command, R.
6433 It evaluates an expression like e, but saves the result
6434 in the buffer *Debugger-record*.
6435
6436 ** Frame-local variables.
6437
6438 You can now make a variable local to various frames. To do this, call
6439 the function make-variable-frame-local; this enables frames to have
6440 local bindings for that variable.
6441
6442 These frame-local bindings are actually frame parameters: you create a
6443 frame-local binding in a specific frame by calling
6444 modify-frame-parameters and specifying the variable name as the
6445 parameter name.
6446
6447 Buffer-local bindings take precedence over frame-local bindings.
6448 Thus, if the current buffer has a buffer-local binding, that binding is
6449 active; otherwise, if the selected frame has a frame-local binding,
6450 that binding is active; otherwise, the default binding is active.
6451
6452 It would not be hard to implement window-local bindings, but it is not
6453 clear that this would be very useful; windows tend to come and go in a
6454 very transitory fashion, so that trying to produce any specific effect
6455 through a window-local binding would not be very robust.
6456
6457 ** `sregexq' and `sregex' are two new functions for constructing
6458 "symbolic regular expressions." These are Lisp expressions that, when
6459 evaluated, yield conventional string-based regexps. The symbolic form
6460 makes it easier to construct, read, and maintain complex patterns.
6461 See the documentation in sregex.el.
6462
6463 ** parse-partial-sexp's return value has an additional element which
6464 is used to pass information along if you pass it to another call to
6465 parse-partial-sexp, starting its scan where the first call ended.
6466 The contents of this field are not yet finalized.
6467
6468 ** eval-region now accepts a fourth optional argument READ-FUNCTION.
6469 If it is non-nil, that function is used instead of `read'.
6470
6471 ** unload-feature by default removes the feature's functions from
6472 known hooks to avoid trouble, but a package providing FEATURE can
6473 define a hook FEATURE-unload-hook to be run by unload-feature instead.
6474
6475 ** read-from-minibuffer no longer returns the argument DEFAULT-VALUE
6476 when the user enters empty input. It now returns the null string, as
6477 it did in Emacs 19. The default value is made available in the
6478 history via M-n, but it is not applied here as a default.
6479
6480 The other, more specialized minibuffer-reading functions continue to
6481 return the default value (not the null string) when the user enters
6482 empty input.
6483
6484 ** The new variable read-buffer-function controls which routine to use
6485 for selecting buffers. For example, if you set this variable to
6486 `iswitchb-read-buffer', iswitchb will be used to read buffer names.
6487 Other functions can also be used if they accept the same arguments as
6488 `read-buffer' and return the selected buffer name as a string.
6489
6490 ** The new function read-passwd reads a password from the terminal,
6491 echoing a period for each character typed. It takes three arguments:
6492 a prompt string, a flag which says "read it twice to make sure", and a
6493 default password to use if the user enters nothing.
6494
6495 ** The variable fill-nobreak-predicate gives major modes a way to
6496 specify not to break a line at certain places. Its value is a
6497 function which is called with no arguments, with point located at the
6498 place where a break is being considered. If the function returns
6499 non-nil, then the line won't be broken there.
6500
6501 ** window-end now takes an optional second argument, UPDATE.
6502 If this is non-nil, then the function always returns an accurate
6503 up-to-date value for the buffer position corresponding to the
6504 end of the window, even if this requires computation.
6505
6506 ** other-buffer now takes an optional argument FRAME
6507 which specifies which frame's buffer list to use.
6508 If it is nil, that means use the selected frame's buffer list.
6509
6510 ** The new variable buffer-display-time, always local in every buffer,
6511 holds the value of (current-time) as of the last time that a window
6512 was directed to display this buffer.
6513
6514 ** It is now meaningful to compare two window-configuration objects
6515 with `equal'. Two window-configuration objects are equal if they
6516 describe equivalent arrangements of windows, in the same frame--in
6517 other words, if they would give the same results if passed to
6518 set-window-configuration.
6519
6520 ** compare-window-configurations is a new function that compares two
6521 window configurations loosely. It ignores differences in saved buffer
6522 positions and scrolling, and considers only the structure and sizes of
6523 windows and the choice of buffers to display.
6524
6525 ** The variable minor-mode-overriding-map-alist allows major modes to
6526 override the key bindings of a minor mode. The elements of this alist
6527 look like the elements of minor-mode-map-alist: (VARIABLE . KEYMAP).
6528
6529 If the VARIABLE in an element of minor-mode-overriding-map-alist has a
6530 non-nil value, the paired KEYMAP is active, and totally overrides the
6531 map (if any) specified for the same variable in minor-mode-map-alist.
6532
6533 minor-mode-overriding-map-alist is automatically local in all buffers,
6534 and it is meant to be set by major modes.
6535
6536 ** The function match-string-no-properties is like match-string
6537 except that it discards all text properties from the result.
6538
6539 ** The function load-average now accepts an optional argument
6540 USE-FLOATS. If it is non-nil, the load average values are returned as
6541 floating point numbers, rather than as integers to be divided by 100.
6542
6543 ** The new variable temporary-file-directory specifies the directory
6544 to use for creating temporary files. The default value is determined
6545 in a reasonable way for your operating system; on GNU and Unix systems
6546 it is based on the TMP and TMPDIR environment variables.
6547
6548 ** Menu changes
6549
6550 *** easymenu.el now uses the new menu item format and supports the
6551 keywords :visible and :filter. The existing keyword :keys is now
6552 better supported.
6553
6554 The variable `easy-menu-precalculate-equivalent-keybindings' controls
6555 a new feature which calculates keyboard equivalents for the menu when
6556 you define the menu. The default is t. If you rarely use menus, you
6557 can set the variable to nil to disable this precalculation feature;
6558 then the calculation is done only if you use the menu bar.
6559
6560 *** A new format for menu items is supported.
6561
6562 In a keymap, a key binding that has the format
6563 (STRING . REAL-BINDING) or (STRING HELP-STRING . REAL-BINDING)
6564 defines a menu item. Now a menu item definition may also be a list that
6565 starts with the symbol `menu-item'.
6566
6567 The format is:
6568 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) or
6569 (menu-item ITEM-NAME REAL-BINDING . ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST)
6570 where ITEM-NAME is an expression which evaluates to the menu item
6571 string, and ITEM-PROPERTY-LIST has the form of a property list.
6572 The supported properties include
6573
6574 :enable FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
6575 item is enabled.
6576 :visible FORM Evaluate FORM to determine whether the
6577 item should appear in the menu.
6578 :filter FILTER-FN
6579 FILTER-FN is a function of one argument,
6580 which will be REAL-BINDING.
6581 It should return a binding to use instead.
6582 :keys DESCRIPTION
6583 DESCRIPTION is a string that describes an equivalent keyboard
6584 binding for REAL-BINDING. DESCRIPTION is expanded with
6585 `substitute-command-keys' before it is used.
6586 :key-sequence KEY-SEQUENCE
6587 KEY-SEQUENCE is a key-sequence for an equivalent
6588 keyboard binding.
6589 :key-sequence nil
6590 This means that the command normally has no
6591 keyboard equivalent.
6592 :help HELP HELP is the extra help string (not currently used).
6593 :button (TYPE . SELECTED)
6594 TYPE is :toggle or :radio.
6595 SELECTED is a form, to be evaluated, and its
6596 value says whether this button is currently selected.
6597
6598 Buttons are at the moment only simulated by prefixes in the menu.
6599 Eventually ordinary X-buttons may be supported.
6600
6601 (menu-item ITEM-NAME) defines unselectable item.
6602
6603 ** New event types
6604
6605 *** The new event type `mouse-wheel' is generated by a wheel on a
6606 mouse (such as the MS Intellimouse). The event contains a delta that
6607 corresponds to the amount and direction that the wheel is rotated,
6608 which is typically used to implement a scroll or zoom. The format is:
6609
6610 (mouse-wheel POSITION DELTA)
6611
6612 where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
6613 same format as a mouse-click event, and DELTA is a signed number
6614 indicating the number of increments by which the wheel was rotated. A
6615 negative DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated backwards, towards
6616 the user, and a positive DELTA indicates that the wheel was rotated
6617 forward, away from the user.
6618
6619 As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
6620
6621 *** The new event type `drag-n-drop' is generated when a group of
6622 files is selected in an application outside of Emacs, and then dragged
6623 and dropped onto an Emacs frame. The event contains a list of
6624 filenames that were dragged and dropped, which are then typically
6625 loaded into Emacs. The format is:
6626
6627 (drag-n-drop POSITION FILES)
6628
6629 where POSITION is a list describing the position of the event in the
6630 same format as a mouse-click event, and FILES is the list of filenames
6631 that were dragged and dropped.
6632
6633 As of now, this event type is generated only on MS Windows.
6634
6635 ** Changes relating to multibyte characters.
6636
6637 *** The variable enable-multibyte-characters is now read-only;
6638 any attempt to set it directly signals an error. The only way
6639 to change this value in an existing buffer is with set-buffer-multibyte.
6640
6641 *** In a string constant, `\ ' now stands for "nothing at all". You
6642 can use it to terminate a hex escape which is followed by a character
6643 that could otherwise be read as part of the hex escape.
6644
6645 *** String indices are now measured in characters, as they were
6646 in Emacs 19 and before.
6647
6648 The function chars-in-string has been deleted.
6649 The function concat-chars has been renamed to `string'.
6650
6651 *** The function set-buffer-multibyte sets the flag in the current
6652 buffer that says whether the buffer uses multibyte representation or
6653 unibyte representation. If the argument is nil, it selects unibyte
6654 representation. Otherwise it selects multibyte representation.
6655
6656 This function does not change the contents of the buffer, viewed
6657 as a sequence of bytes. However, it does change the contents
6658 viewed as characters; a sequence of two bytes which is treated as
6659 one character when the buffer uses multibyte representation
6660 will count as two characters using unibyte representation.
6661
6662 This function sets enable-multibyte-characters to record which
6663 representation is in use. It also adjusts various data in the buffer
6664 (including its markers, overlays and text properties) so that they are
6665 consistent with the new representation.
6666
6667 *** string-make-multibyte takes a string and converts it to multibyte
6668 representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care
6669 about the representation, because Emacs converts when necessary;
6670 however, it makes a difference when you compare strings.
6671
6672 The conversion of non-ASCII characters works by adding the value of
6673 nonascii-insert-offset to each character, or by translating them
6674 using the table nonascii-translation-table.
6675
6676 *** string-make-unibyte takes a string and converts it to unibyte
6677 representation. Most of the time, you don't need to care about the
6678 representation, but it makes a difference when you compare strings.
6679
6680 The conversion from multibyte to unibyte representation
6681 loses information; the only time Emacs performs it automatically
6682 is when inserting a multibyte string into a unibyte buffer.
6683
6684 *** string-as-multibyte takes a string, and returns another string
6685 which contains the same bytes, but treats them as multibyte.
6686
6687 *** string-as-unibyte takes a string, and returns another string
6688 which contains the same bytes, but treats them as unibyte.
6689
6690 *** The new function compare-strings lets you compare
6691 portions of two strings. Unibyte strings are converted to multibyte,
6692 so that a unibyte string can match a multibyte string.
6693 You can specify whether to ignore case or not.
6694
6695 *** assoc-ignore-case now uses compare-strings so that
6696 it can treat unibyte and multibyte strings as equal.
6697
6698 *** Regular expression operations and buffer string searches now
6699 convert the search pattern to multibyte or unibyte to accord with the
6700 buffer or string being searched.
6701
6702 One consequence is that you cannot always use \200-\377 inside of
6703 [...] to match all non-ASCII characters. This does still work when
6704 searching or matching a unibyte buffer or string, but not when
6705 searching or matching a multibyte string. Unfortunately, there is no
6706 obvious choice of syntax to use within [...] for that job. But, what
6707 you want is just to match all non-ASCII characters, the regular
6708 expression [^\0-\177] works for it.
6709
6710 *** Structure of coding system changed.
6711
6712 All coding systems (including aliases and subsidiaries) are named
6713 by symbols; the symbol's `coding-system' property is a vector
6714 which defines the coding system. Aliases share the same vector
6715 as the principal name, so that altering the contents of this
6716 vector affects the principal name and its aliases. You can define
6717 your own alias name of a coding system by the function
6718 define-coding-system-alias.
6719
6720 The coding system definition includes a property list of its own. Use
6721 the new functions `coding-system-get' and `coding-system-put' to
6722 access such coding system properties as post-read-conversion,
6723 pre-write-conversion, character-translation-table-for-decode,
6724 character-translation-table-for-encode, mime-charset, and
6725 safe-charsets. For instance, (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1
6726 'mime-charset) gives the corresponding MIME-charset parameter
6727 `iso-8859-1'.
6728
6729 Among the coding system properties listed above, safe-charsets is new.
6730 The value of this property is a list of character sets which this
6731 coding system can correctly encode and decode. For instance:
6732 (coding-system-get 'iso-latin-1 'safe-charsets) => (ascii latin-iso8859-1)
6733
6734 Here, "correctly encode" means that the encoded character sets can
6735 also be handled safely by systems other than Emacs as far as they
6736 are capable of that coding system. Though, Emacs itself can encode
6737 the other character sets and read it back correctly.
6738
6739 *** The new function select-safe-coding-system can be used to find a
6740 proper coding system for encoding the specified region or string.
6741 This function requires a user interaction.
6742
6743 *** The new functions find-coding-systems-region and
6744 find-coding-systems-string are helper functions used by
6745 select-safe-coding-system. They return a list of all proper coding
6746 systems to encode a text in some region or string. If you don't want
6747 a user interaction, use one of these functions instead of
6748 select-safe-coding-system.
6749
6750 *** The explicit encoding and decoding functions, such as
6751 decode-coding-region and encode-coding-string, now set
6752 last-coding-system-used to reflect the actual way encoding or decoding
6753 was done.
6754
6755 *** The new function detect-coding-with-language-environment can be
6756 used to detect a coding system of text according to priorities of
6757 coding systems used by some specific language environment.
6758
6759 *** The functions detect-coding-region and detect-coding-string always
6760 return a list if the arg HIGHEST is nil. Thus, if only ASCII
6761 characters are found, they now return a list of single element
6762 `undecided' or its subsidiaries.
6763
6764 *** The new functions coding-system-change-eol-conversion and
6765 coding-system-change-text-conversion can be used to get a different
6766 coding system than what specified only in how end-of-line or text is
6767 converted.
6768
6769 *** The new function set-selection-coding-system can be used to set a
6770 coding system for communicating with other X clients.
6771
6772 *** The function `map-char-table' now passes as argument only valid
6773 character codes, plus generic characters that stand for entire
6774 character sets or entire subrows of a character set. In other words,
6775 each time `map-char-table' calls its FUNCTION argument, the key value
6776 either will be a valid individual character code, or will stand for a
6777 range of characters.
6778
6779 *** The new function `char-valid-p' can be used for checking whether a
6780 Lisp object is a valid character code or not.
6781
6782 *** The new function `charset-after' returns a charset of a character
6783 in the current buffer at position POS.
6784
6785 *** Input methods are now implemented using the variable
6786 input-method-function. If this is non-nil, its value should be a
6787 function; then, whenever Emacs reads an input event that is a printing
6788 character with no modifier bits, it calls that function, passing the
6789 event as an argument. Often this function will read more input, first
6790 binding input-method-function to nil.
6791
6792 The return value should be a list of the events resulting from input
6793 method processing. These events will be processed sequentially as
6794 input, before resorting to unread-command-events. Events returned by
6795 the input method function are not passed to the input method function,
6796 not even if they are printing characters with no modifier bits.
6797
6798 The input method function is not called when reading the second and
6799 subsequent events of a key sequence.
6800
6801 *** You can customize any language environment by using
6802 set-language-environment-hook and exit-language-environment-hook.
6803
6804 The hook `exit-language-environment-hook' should be used to undo
6805 customizations that you made with set-language-environment-hook. For
6806 instance, if you set up a special key binding for a specific language
6807 environment by set-language-environment-hook, you should set up
6808 exit-language-environment-hook to restore the normal key binding.
6809 \f
6810 * Changes in Emacs 20.1
6811
6812 ** Emacs has a new facility for customization of its many user
6813 options. It is called M-x customize. With this facility you can look
6814 at the many user options in an organized way; they are grouped into a
6815 tree structure.
6816
6817 M-x customize also knows what sorts of values are legitimate for each
6818 user option and ensures that you don't use invalid values.
6819
6820 With M-x customize, you can set options either for the present Emacs
6821 session or permanently. (Permanent settings are stored automatically
6822 in your .emacs file.)
6823
6824 ** Scroll bars are now on the left side of the window.
6825 You can change this with M-x customize-option scroll-bar-mode.
6826
6827 ** The mode line no longer includes the string `Emacs'.
6828 This makes more space in the mode line for other information.
6829
6830 ** When you select a region with the mouse, it is highlighted
6831 immediately afterward. At that time, if you type the DELETE key, it
6832 kills the region.
6833
6834 The BACKSPACE key, and the ASCII character DEL, do not do this; they
6835 delete the character before point, as usual.
6836
6837 ** In an incremental search the whole current match is highlighted
6838 on terminals which support this. (You can disable this feature
6839 by setting search-highlight to nil.)
6840
6841 ** In the minibuffer, in some cases, you can now use M-n to
6842 insert the default value into the minibuffer as text. In effect,
6843 the default value (if the minibuffer routines know it) is tacked
6844 onto the history "in the future". (The more normal use of the
6845 history list is to use M-p to insert minibuffer input used in the
6846 past.)
6847
6848 ** In Text mode, now only blank lines separate paragraphs.
6849 This makes it possible to get the full benefit of Adaptive Fill mode
6850 in Text mode, and other modes derived from it (such as Mail mode).
6851 TAB in Text mode now runs the command indent-relative; this
6852 makes a practical difference only when you use indented paragraphs.
6853
6854 As a result, the old Indented Text mode is now identical to Text mode,
6855 and is an alias for it.
6856
6857 If you want spaces at the beginning of a line to start a paragraph,
6858 use the new mode, Paragraph Indent Text mode.
6859
6860 ** Scrolling changes
6861
6862 *** Scroll commands to scroll a whole screen now preserve the screen
6863 position of the cursor, if scroll-preserve-screen-position is non-nil.
6864
6865 In this mode, if you scroll several screens back and forth, finishing
6866 on the same screen where you started, the cursor goes back to the line
6867 where it started.
6868
6869 *** If you set scroll-conservatively to a small number, then when you
6870 move point a short distance off the screen, Emacs will scroll the
6871 screen just far enough to bring point back on screen, provided that
6872 does not exceed `scroll-conservatively' lines.
6873
6874 *** The new variable scroll-margin says how close point can come to the
6875 top or bottom of a window. It is a number of screen lines; if point
6876 comes within that many lines of the top or bottom of the window, Emacs
6877 recenters the window.
6878
6879 ** International character set support (MULE)
6880
6881 Emacs now supports a wide variety of international character sets,
6882 including European variants of the Latin alphabet, as well as Chinese,
6883 Devanagari (Hindi and Marathi), Ethiopian, Greek, IPA, Japanese,
6884 Korean, Lao, Russian, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese scripts. These
6885 features have been merged from the modified version of Emacs known as
6886 MULE (for "MULti-lingual Enhancement to GNU Emacs")
6887
6888 Users of these scripts have established many more-or-less standard
6889 coding systems for storing files. Emacs uses a single multibyte
6890 character encoding within Emacs buffers; it can translate from a wide
6891 variety of coding systems when reading a file and can translate back
6892 into any of these coding systems when saving a file.
6893
6894 Keyboards, even in the countries where these character sets are used,
6895 generally don't have keys for all the characters in them. So Emacs
6896 supports various "input methods", typically one for each script or
6897 language, to make it possible to type them.
6898
6899 The Emacs internal multibyte encoding represents a non-ASCII
6900 character as a sequence of bytes in the range 0200 through 0377.
6901
6902 The new prefix key C-x RET is used for commands that pertain
6903 to multibyte characters, coding systems, and input methods.
6904
6905 You can disable multibyte character support as follows:
6906
6907 (setq-default enable-multibyte-characters nil)
6908
6909 Calling the function standard-display-european turns off multibyte
6910 characters, unless you specify a non-nil value for the second
6911 argument, AUTO. This provides compatibility for people who are
6912 already using standard-display-european to continue using unibyte
6913 characters for their work until they want to change.
6914
6915 *** Input methods
6916
6917 An input method is a kind of character conversion which is designed
6918 specifically for interactive input. In Emacs, typically each language
6919 has its own input method (though sometimes several languages which use
6920 the same characters can share one input method). Some languages
6921 support several input methods.
6922
6923 The simplest kind of input method works by mapping ASCII letters into
6924 another alphabet. This is how the Greek and Russian input methods
6925 work.
6926
6927 A more powerful technique is composition: converting sequences of
6928 characters into one letter. Many European input methods use
6929 composition to produce a single non-ASCII letter from a sequence which
6930 consists of a letter followed by diacritics. For example, a' is one
6931 sequence of two characters that might be converted into a single
6932 letter.
6933
6934 The input methods for syllabic scripts typically use mapping followed
6935 by conversion. The input methods for Thai and Korean work this way.
6936 First, letters are mapped into symbols for particular sounds or tone
6937 marks; then, sequences of these which make up a whole syllable are
6938 mapped into one syllable sign--most often a "composite character".
6939
6940 None of these methods works very well for Chinese and Japanese, so
6941 they are handled specially. First you input a whole word using
6942 phonetic spelling; then, after the word is in the buffer, Emacs
6943 converts it into one or more characters using a large dictionary.
6944
6945 Since there is more than one way to represent a phonetically spelled
6946 word using Chinese characters, Emacs can only guess which one to use;
6947 typically these input methods give you a way to say "guess again" if
6948 the first guess is wrong.
6949
6950 *** The command C-x RET m (toggle-enable-multibyte-characters)
6951 turns multibyte character support on or off for the current buffer.
6952
6953 If multibyte character support is turned off in a buffer, then each
6954 byte is a single character, even codes 0200 through 0377--exactly as
6955 they did in Emacs 19.34. This includes the features for support for
6956 the European characters, ISO Latin-1 and ISO Latin-2.
6957
6958 However, there is no need to turn off multibyte character support to
6959 use ISO Latin-1 or ISO Latin-2; the Emacs multibyte character set
6960 includes all the characters in these character sets, and Emacs can
6961 translate automatically to and from either one.
6962
6963 *** Visiting a file in unibyte mode.
6964
6965 Turning off multibyte character support in the buffer after visiting a
6966 file with multibyte code conversion will display the multibyte
6967 sequences already in the buffer, byte by byte. This is probably not
6968 what you want.
6969
6970 If you want to edit a file of unibyte characters (Latin-1, for
6971 example), you can do it by specifying `no-conversion' as the coding
6972 system when reading the file. This coding system also turns off
6973 multibyte characters in that buffer.
6974
6975 If you turn off multibyte character support entirely, this turns off
6976 character conversion as well.
6977
6978 *** Displaying international characters on X Windows.
6979
6980 A font for X typically displays just one alphabet or script.
6981 Therefore, displaying the entire range of characters Emacs supports
6982 requires using many fonts.
6983
6984 Therefore, Emacs now supports "fontsets". Each fontset is a
6985 collection of fonts, each assigned to a range of character codes.
6986
6987 A fontset has a name, like a font. Individual fonts are defined by
6988 the X server; fontsets are defined within Emacs itself. But once you
6989 have defined a fontset, you can use it in a face or a frame just as
6990 you would use a font.
6991
6992 If a fontset specifies no font for a certain character, or if it
6993 specifies a font that does not exist on your system, then it cannot
6994 display that character. It will display an empty box instead.
6995
6996 The fontset height and width are determined by the ASCII characters
6997 (that is, by the font in the fontset which is used for ASCII
6998 characters). If another font in the fontset has a different height,
6999 or the wrong width, then characters assigned to that font are clipped,
7000 and displayed within a box if highlight-wrong-size-font is non-nil.
7001
7002 *** Defining fontsets.
7003
7004 Emacs does not use any fontset by default. Its default font is still
7005 chosen as in previous versions. You can tell Emacs to use a fontset
7006 with the `-fn' option or the `Font' X resource.
7007
7008 Emacs creates a standard fontset automatically according to the value
7009 of standard-fontset-spec. This fontset's short name is
7010 `fontset-standard'. Bold, italic, and bold-italic variants of the
7011 standard fontset are created automatically.
7012
7013 If you specify a default ASCII font with the `Font' resource or `-fn'
7014 argument, a fontset is generated from it. This works by replacing the
7015 FOUNDARY, FAMILY, ADD_STYLE, and AVERAGE_WIDTH fields of the font name
7016 with `*' then using this to specify a fontset. This fontset's short
7017 name is `fontset-startup'.
7018
7019 Emacs checks resources of the form Fontset-N where N is 0, 1, 2...
7020 The resource value should have this form:
7021 FONTSET-NAME, [CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME]...
7022 FONTSET-NAME should have the form of a standard X font name, except:
7023 * most fields should be just the wild card "*".
7024 * the CHARSET_REGISTRY field should be "fontset"
7025 * the CHARSET_ENCODING field can be any nickname of the fontset.
7026 The construct CHARSET-NAME:FONT-NAME can be repeated any number
7027 of times; each time specifies the font for one character set.
7028 CHARSET-NAME should be the name of a character set, and FONT-NAME
7029 should specify an actual font to use for that character set.
7030
7031 Each of these fontsets has an alias which is made from the
7032 last two font name fields, CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING.
7033 You can refer to the fontset by that alias or by its full name.
7034
7035 For any character sets that you don't mention, Emacs tries to choose a
7036 font by substituting into FONTSET-NAME. For instance, with the
7037 following resource,
7038 Emacs*Fontset-0: -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-*-*-*-*-fontset-24
7039 the font for ASCII is generated as below:
7040 -*-fixed-medium-r-normal-*-24-*-ISO8859-1
7041 Here is the substitution rule:
7042 Change CHARSET_REGISTRY and CHARSET_ENCODING to that of the charset
7043 defined in the variable x-charset-registries. For instance, ASCII has
7044 the entry (ascii . "ISO8859-1") in this variable. Then, reduce
7045 sequences of wild cards -*-...-*- with a single wildcard -*-.
7046 (This is to prevent use of auto-scaled fonts.)
7047
7048 The function which processes the fontset resource value to create the
7049 fontset is called create-fontset-from-fontset-spec. You can also call
7050 that function explicitly to create a fontset.
7051
7052 With the X resource Emacs.Font, you can specify a fontset name just
7053 like an actual font name. But be careful not to specify a fontset
7054 name in a wildcard resource like Emacs*Font--that tries to specify the
7055 fontset for other purposes including menus, and they cannot handle
7056 fontsets.
7057
7058 *** The command M-x set-language-environment sets certain global Emacs
7059 defaults for a particular choice of language.
7060
7061 Selecting a language environment typically specifies a default input
7062 method and which coding systems to recognize automatically when
7063 visiting files. However, it does not try to reread files you have
7064 already visited; the text in those buffers is not affected. The
7065 language environment may also specify a default choice of coding
7066 system for new files that you create.
7067
7068 It makes no difference which buffer is current when you use
7069 set-language-environment, because these defaults apply globally to the
7070 whole Emacs session.
7071
7072 For example, M-x set-language-environment RET Latin-1 RET
7073 chooses the Latin-1 character set. In the .emacs file, you can do this
7074 with (set-language-environment "Latin-1").
7075
7076 *** The command C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system)
7077 specifies the file coding system for the current buffer. This
7078 specifies what sort of character code translation to do when saving
7079 the file. As an argument, you must specify the name of one of the
7080 coding systems that Emacs supports.
7081
7082 *** The command C-x RET c (universal-coding-system-argument)
7083 lets you specify a coding system when you read or write a file.
7084 This command uses the minibuffer to read a coding system name.
7085 After you exit the minibuffer, the specified coding system
7086 is used for *the immediately following command*.
7087
7088 So if the immediately following command is a command to read or
7089 write a file, it uses the specified coding system for that file.
7090
7091 If the immediately following command does not use the coding system,
7092 then C-x RET c ultimately has no effect.
7093
7094 For example, C-x RET c iso-8859-1 RET C-x C-f temp RET
7095 visits the file `temp' treating it as ISO Latin-1.
7096
7097 *** You can specify the coding system for a file using the -*-
7098 construct. Include `coding: CODINGSYSTEM;' inside the -*-...-*-
7099 to specify use of coding system CODINGSYSTEM. You can also
7100 specify the coding system in a local variable list at the end
7101 of the file.
7102
7103 *** The command C-x RET t (set-terminal-coding-system) specifies
7104 the coding system for terminal output. If you specify a character
7105 code for terminal output, all characters output to the terminal are
7106 translated into that character code.
7107
7108 This feature is useful for certain character-only terminals built in
7109 various countries to support the languages of those countries.
7110
7111 By default, output to the terminal is not translated at all.
7112
7113 *** The command C-x RET k (set-keyboard-coding-system) specifies
7114 the coding system for keyboard input.
7115
7116 Character code translation of keyboard input is useful for terminals
7117 with keys that send non-ASCII graphic characters--for example,
7118 some terminals designed for ISO Latin-1 or subsets of it.
7119
7120 By default, keyboard input is not translated at all.
7121
7122 Character code translation of keyboard input is similar to using an
7123 input method, in that both define sequences of keyboard input that
7124 translate into single characters. However, input methods are designed
7125 to be convenient for interactive use, while the code translations are
7126 designed to work with terminals.
7127
7128 *** The command C-x RET p (set-buffer-process-coding-system)
7129 specifies the coding system for input and output to a subprocess.
7130 This command applies to the current buffer; normally, each subprocess
7131 has its own buffer, and thus you can use this command to specify
7132 translation to and from a particular subprocess by giving the command
7133 in the corresponding buffer.
7134
7135 By default, process input and output are not translated at all.
7136
7137 *** The variable file-name-coding-system specifies the coding system
7138 to use for encoding file names before operating on them.
7139 It is also used for decoding file names obtained from the system.
7140
7141 *** The command C-\ (toggle-input-method) activates or deactivates
7142 an input method. If no input method has been selected before, the
7143 command prompts for you to specify the language and input method you
7144 want to use.
7145
7146 C-u C-\ (select-input-method) lets you switch to a different input
7147 method. C-h C-\ (or C-h I) describes the current input method.
7148
7149 *** Some input methods remap the keyboard to emulate various keyboard
7150 layouts commonly used for particular scripts. How to do this
7151 remapping properly depends on your actual keyboard layout. To specify
7152 which layout your keyboard has, use M-x quail-set-keyboard-layout.
7153
7154 *** The command C-h C (describe-coding-system) displays
7155 the coding systems currently selected for various purposes, plus
7156 related information.
7157
7158 *** The command C-h h (view-hello-file) displays a file called
7159 HELLO, which has examples of text in many languages, using various
7160 scripts.
7161
7162 *** The command C-h L (describe-language-support) displays
7163 information about the support for a particular language.
7164 You specify the language as an argument.
7165
7166 *** The mode line now contains a letter or character that identifies
7167 the coding system used in the visited file. It normally follows the
7168 first dash.
7169
7170 A dash indicates the default state of affairs: no code conversion
7171 (except CRLF => newline if appropriate). `=' means no conversion
7172 whatsoever. The ISO 8859 coding systems are represented by digits
7173 1 through 9. Other coding systems are represented by letters:
7174
7175 A alternativnyj (Russian)
7176 B big5 (Chinese)
7177 C cn-gb-2312 (Chinese)
7178 C iso-2022-cn (Chinese)
7179 D in-is13194-devanagari (Indian languages)
7180 E euc-japan (Japanese)
7181 I iso-2022-cjk or iso-2022-ss2 (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
7182 J junet (iso-2022-7) or old-jis (iso-2022-jp-1978-irv) (Japanese)
7183 K euc-korea (Korean)
7184 R koi8 (Russian)
7185 Q tibetan
7186 S shift_jis (Japanese)
7187 T lao
7188 T tis620 (Thai)
7189 V viscii or vscii (Vietnamese)
7190 i iso-2022-lock (Chinese, Japanese, Korean)
7191 k iso-2022-kr (Korean)
7192 v viqr (Vietnamese)
7193 z hz (Chinese)
7194
7195 When you are using a character-only terminal (not a window system),
7196 two additional characters appear in between the dash and the file
7197 coding system. These two characters describe the coding system for
7198 keyboard input, and the coding system for terminal output.
7199
7200 *** The new variable rmail-file-coding-system specifies the code
7201 conversion to use for RMAIL files. The default value is nil.
7202
7203 When you read mail with Rmail, each message is decoded automatically
7204 into Emacs' internal format. This has nothing to do with
7205 rmail-file-coding-system. That variable controls reading and writing
7206 Rmail files themselves.
7207
7208 *** The new variable sendmail-coding-system specifies the code
7209 conversion for outgoing mail. The default value is nil.
7210
7211 Actually, there are three different ways of specifying the coding system
7212 for sending mail:
7213
7214 - If you use C-x RET f in the mail buffer, that takes priority.
7215 - Otherwise, if you set sendmail-coding-system non-nil, that specifies it.
7216 - Otherwise, the default coding system for new files is used,
7217 if that is non-nil. That comes from your language environment.
7218 - Otherwise, Latin-1 is used.
7219
7220 *** The command C-h t (help-with-tutorial) accepts a prefix argument
7221 to specify the language for the tutorial file. Currently, English,
7222 Japanese, Korean and Thai are supported. We welcome additional
7223 translations.
7224
7225 ** An easy new way to visit a file with no code or format conversion
7226 of any kind: Use M-x find-file-literally. There is also a command
7227 insert-file-literally which inserts a file into the current buffer
7228 without any conversion.
7229
7230 ** C-q's handling of octal character codes is changed.
7231 You can now specify any number of octal digits.
7232 RET terminates the digits and is discarded;
7233 any other non-digit terminates the digits and is then used as input.
7234
7235 ** There are new commands for looking up Info documentation for
7236 functions, variables and file names used in your programs.
7237
7238 Type M-x info-lookup-symbol to look up a symbol in the buffer at point.
7239 Type M-x info-lookup-file to look up a file in the buffer at point.
7240
7241 Precisely which Info files are used to look it up depends on the major
7242 mode. For example, in C mode, the GNU libc manual is used.
7243
7244 ** M-TAB in most programming language modes now runs the command
7245 complete-symbol. This command performs completion on the symbol name
7246 in the buffer before point.
7247
7248 With a numeric argument, it performs completion based on the set of
7249 symbols documented in the Info files for the programming language that
7250 you are using.
7251
7252 With no argument, it does completion based on the current tags tables,
7253 just like the old binding of M-TAB (complete-tag).
7254
7255 ** File locking works with NFS now.
7256
7257 The lock file for FILENAME is now a symbolic link named .#FILENAME,
7258 in the same directory as FILENAME.
7259
7260 This means that collision detection between two different machines now
7261 works reasonably well; it also means that no file server or directory
7262 can become a bottleneck.
7263
7264 The new method does have drawbacks. It means that collision detection
7265 does not operate when you edit a file in a directory where you cannot
7266 create new files. Collision detection also doesn't operate when the
7267 file server does not support symbolic links. But these conditions are
7268 rare, and the ability to have collision detection while using NFS is
7269 so useful that the change is worth while.
7270
7271 When Emacs or a system crashes, this may leave behind lock files which
7272 are stale. So you may occasionally get warnings about spurious
7273 collisions. When you determine that the collision is spurious, just
7274 tell Emacs to go ahead anyway.
7275
7276 ** If you wish to use Show Paren mode to display matching parentheses,
7277 it is no longer sufficient to load paren.el. Instead you must call
7278 show-paren-mode.
7279
7280 ** If you wish to use Delete Selection mode to replace a highlighted
7281 selection when you insert new text, it is no longer sufficient to load
7282 delsel.el. Instead you must call the function delete-selection-mode.
7283
7284 ** If you wish to use Partial Completion mode to complete partial words
7285 within symbols or filenames, it is no longer sufficient to load
7286 complete.el. Instead you must call the function partial-completion-mode.
7287
7288 ** If you wish to use uniquify to rename buffers for you,
7289 it is no longer sufficient to load uniquify.el. You must also
7290 set uniquify-buffer-name-style to one of the non-nil legitimate values.
7291
7292 ** Changes in View mode.
7293
7294 *** Several new commands are available in View mode.
7295 Do H in view mode for a list of commands.
7296
7297 *** There are two new commands for entering View mode:
7298 view-file-other-frame and view-buffer-other-frame.
7299
7300 *** Exiting View mode does a better job of restoring windows to their
7301 previous state.
7302
7303 *** New customization variable view-scroll-auto-exit. If non-nil,
7304 scrolling past end of buffer makes view mode exit.
7305
7306 *** New customization variable view-exits-all-viewing-windows. If
7307 non-nil, view-mode will at exit restore all windows viewing buffer,
7308 not just the selected window.
7309
7310 *** New customization variable view-read-only. If non-nil, visiting a
7311 read-only file automatically enters View mode, and toggle-read-only
7312 turns View mode on or off.
7313
7314 *** New customization variable view-remove-frame-by-deleting controls
7315 how to remove a not needed frame at view mode exit. If non-nil,
7316 delete the frame, if nil make an icon of it.
7317
7318 ** C-x v l, the command to print a file's version control log,
7319 now positions point at the entry for the file's current branch version.
7320
7321 ** C-x v =, the command to compare a file with the last checked-in version,
7322 has a new feature. If the file is currently not locked, so that it is
7323 presumably identical to the last checked-in version, the command now asks
7324 which version to compare with.
7325
7326 ** When using hideshow.el, incremental search can temporarily show hidden
7327 blocks if a match is inside the block.
7328
7329 The block is hidden again if the search is continued and the next match
7330 is outside the block. By customizing the variable
7331 isearch-hide-immediately you can choose to hide all the temporarily
7332 shown blocks only when exiting from incremental search.
7333
7334 By customizing the variable hs-isearch-open you can choose what kind
7335 of blocks to temporarily show during isearch: comment blocks, code
7336 blocks, all of them or none.
7337
7338 ** The new command C-x 4 0 (kill-buffer-and-window) kills the
7339 current buffer and deletes the selected window. It asks for
7340 confirmation first.
7341
7342 ** C-x C-w, which saves the buffer into a specified file name,
7343 now changes the major mode according to that file name.
7344 However, the mode will not be changed if
7345 (1) a local variables list or the `-*-' line specifies a major mode, or
7346 (2) the current major mode is a "special" mode,
7347 not suitable for ordinary files, or
7348 (3) the new file name does not particularly specify any mode.
7349
7350 This applies to M-x set-visited-file-name as well.
7351
7352 However, if you set change-major-mode-with-file-name to nil, then
7353 these commands do not change the major mode.
7354
7355 ** M-x occur changes.
7356
7357 *** If the argument to M-x occur contains upper case letters,
7358 it performs a case-sensitive search.
7359
7360 *** In the *Occur* buffer made by M-x occur,
7361 if you type g or M-x revert-buffer, this repeats the search
7362 using the same regular expression and the same buffer as before.
7363
7364 ** In Transient Mark mode, the region in any one buffer is highlighted
7365 in just one window at a time. At first, it is highlighted in the
7366 window where you set the mark. The buffer's highlighting remains in
7367 that window unless you select to another window which shows the same
7368 buffer--then the highlighting moves to that window.
7369
7370 ** The feature to suggest key bindings when you use M-x now operates
7371 after the command finishes. The message suggesting key bindings
7372 appears temporarily in the echo area. The previous echo area contents
7373 come back after a few seconds, in case they contain useful information.
7374
7375 ** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
7376 selected buffers, so that the default for C-x b is now based on the
7377 buffers recently selected in the selected frame.
7378
7379 ** Outline mode changes.
7380
7381 *** Outline mode now uses overlays (this is the former noutline.el).
7382
7383 *** Incremental searches skip over invisible text in Outline mode.
7384
7385 ** When a minibuffer window is active but not the selected window, if
7386 you try to use the minibuffer, you used to get a nested minibuffer.
7387 Now, this not only gives an error, it also cancels the minibuffer that
7388 was already active.
7389
7390 The motive for this change is so that beginning users do not
7391 unknowingly move away from minibuffers, leaving them active, and then
7392 get confused by it.
7393
7394 If you want to be able to have recursive minibuffers, you must
7395 set enable-recursive-minibuffers to non-nil.
7396
7397 ** Changes in dynamic abbrevs.
7398
7399 *** Expanding dynamic abbrevs with M-/ is now smarter about case
7400 conversion. If the expansion has mixed case not counting the first
7401 character, and the abbreviation matches the beginning of the expansion
7402 including case, then the expansion is copied verbatim.
7403
7404 The expansion is also copied verbatim if the abbreviation itself has
7405 mixed case. And using SPC M-/ to copy an additional word always
7406 copies it verbatim except when the previous copied word is all caps.
7407
7408 *** The values of `dabbrev-case-replace' and `dabbrev-case-fold-search'
7409 are no longer Lisp expressions. They have simply three possible
7410 values.
7411
7412 `dabbrev-case-replace' has these three values: nil (don't preserve
7413 case), t (do), or `case-replace' (do like M-x query-replace).
7414 `dabbrev-case-fold-search' has these three values: nil (don't ignore
7415 case), t (do), or `case-fold-search' (do like search).
7416
7417 ** Minibuffer history lists are truncated automatically now to a
7418 certain length. The variable history-length specifies how long they
7419 can be. The default value is 30.
7420
7421 ** Changes in Mail mode.
7422
7423 *** The key C-x m no longer runs the `mail' command directly.
7424 Instead, it runs the command `compose-mail', which invokes the mail
7425 composition mechanism you have selected with the variable
7426 `mail-user-agent'. The default choice of user agent is
7427 `sendmail-user-agent', which gives behavior compatible with the old
7428 behavior.
7429
7430 C-x 4 m now runs compose-mail-other-window, and C-x 5 m runs
7431 compose-mail-other-frame.
7432
7433 *** While composing a reply to a mail message, from Rmail, you can use
7434 the command C-c C-r to cite just the region from the message you are
7435 replying to. This copies the text which is the selected region in the
7436 buffer that shows the original message.
7437
7438 *** The command C-c C-i inserts a file at the end of the message,
7439 with separator lines around the contents.
7440
7441 *** The command M-x expand-mail-aliases expands all mail aliases
7442 in suitable mail headers. Emacs automatically extracts mail alias
7443 definitions from your mail alias file (e.g., ~/.mailrc). You do not
7444 need to expand mail aliases yourself before sending mail.
7445
7446 *** New features in the mail-complete command.
7447
7448 **** The mail-complete command now inserts the user's full name,
7449 for local users or if that is known. The variable mail-complete-style
7450 controls the style to use, and whether to do this at all.
7451 Its values are like those of mail-from-style.
7452
7453 **** The variable mail-passwd-command lets you specify a shell command
7454 to run to fetch a set of password-entries that add to the ones in
7455 /etc/passwd.
7456
7457 **** The variable mail-passwd-file now specifies a list of files to read
7458 to get the list of user ids. By default, one file is used:
7459 /etc/passwd.
7460
7461 ** You can "quote" a file name to inhibit special significance of
7462 special syntax, by adding `/:' to the beginning. Thus, if you have a
7463 directory named `/foo:', you can prevent it from being treated as a
7464 reference to a remote host named `foo' by writing it as `/:/foo:'.
7465
7466 Emacs uses this new construct automatically when necessary, such as
7467 when you start it with a working directory whose name might otherwise
7468 be taken to be magic.
7469
7470 ** There is a new command M-x grep-find which uses find to select
7471 files to search through, and grep to scan them. The output is
7472 available in a Compile mode buffer, as with M-x grep.
7473
7474 M-x grep now uses the -e option if the grep program supports that.
7475 (-e prevents problems if the search pattern starts with a dash.)
7476
7477 ** In Dired, the & command now flags for deletion the files whose names
7478 suggest they are probably not needed in the long run.
7479
7480 In Dired, * is now a prefix key for mark-related commands.
7481
7482 new key dired.el binding old key
7483 ------- ---------------- -------
7484 * c dired-change-marks c
7485 * m dired-mark m
7486 * * dired-mark-executables * (binding deleted)
7487 * / dired-mark-directories / (binding deleted)
7488 * @ dired-mark-symlinks @ (binding deleted)
7489 * u dired-unmark u
7490 * DEL dired-unmark-backward DEL
7491 * ? dired-unmark-all-files C-M-?
7492 * ! dired-unmark-all-marks
7493 * % dired-mark-files-regexp % m
7494 * C-n dired-next-marked-file M-}
7495 * C-p dired-prev-marked-file M-{
7496
7497 ** Rmail changes.
7498
7499 *** When Rmail cannot convert your incoming mail into Babyl format, it
7500 saves the new mail in the file RMAILOSE.n, where n is an integer
7501 chosen to make a unique name. This way, Rmail will not keep crashing
7502 each time you run it.
7503
7504 *** In Rmail, the variable rmail-summary-line-count-flag now controls
7505 whether to include the line count in the summary. Non-nil means yes.
7506
7507 *** In Rmail summary buffers, d and C-d (the commands to delete
7508 messages) now take repeat counts as arguments. A negative argument
7509 means to move in the opposite direction.
7510
7511 *** In Rmail, the t command now takes an optional argument which lets
7512 you specify whether to show the message headers in full or pruned.
7513
7514 *** In Rmail, the new command w (rmail-output-body-to-file) writes
7515 just the body of the current message into a file, without the headers.
7516 It takes the file name from the message subject, by default, but you
7517 can edit that file name in the minibuffer before it is actually used
7518 for output.
7519
7520 ** Gnus changes.
7521
7522 *** nntp.el has been totally rewritten in an asynchronous fashion.
7523
7524 *** Article prefetching functionality has been moved up into
7525 Gnus.
7526
7527 *** Scoring can now be performed with logical operators like
7528 `and', `or', `not', and parent redirection.
7529
7530 *** Article washing status can be displayed in the
7531 article mode line.
7532
7533 *** gnus.el has been split into many smaller files.
7534
7535 *** Suppression of duplicate articles based on Message-ID.
7536
7537 (setq gnus-suppress-duplicates t)
7538
7539 *** New variables for specifying what score and adapt files
7540 are to be considered home score and adapt files. See
7541 `gnus-home-score-file' and `gnus-home-adapt-files'.
7542
7543 *** Groups can inherit group parameters from parent topics.
7544
7545 *** Article editing has been revamped and is now usable.
7546
7547 *** Signatures can be recognized in more intelligent fashions.
7548 See `gnus-signature-separator' and `gnus-signature-limit'.
7549
7550 *** Summary pick mode has been made to look more nn-like.
7551 Line numbers are displayed and the `.' command can be
7552 used to pick articles.
7553
7554 *** Commands for moving the .newsrc.eld from one server to
7555 another have been added.
7556
7557 `M-x gnus-change-server'
7558
7559 *** A way to specify that "uninteresting" fields be suppressed when
7560 generating lines in buffers.
7561
7562 *** Several commands in the group buffer can be undone with
7563 `C-M-_'.
7564
7565 *** Scoring can be done on words using the new score type `w'.
7566
7567 *** Adaptive scoring can be done on a Subject word-by-word basis:
7568
7569 (setq gnus-use-adaptive-scoring '(word))
7570
7571 *** Scores can be decayed.
7572
7573 (setq gnus-decay-scores t)
7574
7575 *** Scoring can be performed using a regexp on the Date header. The
7576 Date is normalized to compact ISO 8601 format first.
7577
7578 *** A new command has been added to remove all data on articles from
7579 the native server.
7580
7581 `M-x gnus-group-clear-data-on-native-groups'
7582
7583 *** A new command for reading collections of documents
7584 (nndoc with nnvirtual on top) has been added -- `C-M-d'.
7585
7586 *** Process mark sets can be pushed and popped.
7587
7588 *** A new mail-to-news backend makes it possible to post
7589 even when the NNTP server doesn't allow posting.
7590
7591 *** A new backend for reading searches from Web search engines
7592 (DejaNews, Alta Vista, InReference) has been added.
7593
7594 Use the `G w' command in the group buffer to create such
7595 a group.
7596
7597 *** Groups inside topics can now be sorted using the standard
7598 sorting functions, and each topic can be sorted independently.
7599
7600 See the commands under the `T S' submap.
7601
7602 *** Subsets of the groups can be sorted independently.
7603
7604 See the commands under the `G P' submap.
7605
7606 *** Cached articles can be pulled into the groups.
7607
7608 Use the `Y c' command.
7609
7610 *** Score files are now applied in a more reliable order.
7611
7612 *** Reports on where mail messages end up can be generated.
7613
7614 `M-x nnmail-split-history'
7615
7616 *** More hooks and functions have been added to remove junk
7617 from incoming mail before saving the mail.
7618
7619 See `nnmail-prepare-incoming-header-hook'.
7620
7621 *** The nnml mail backend now understands compressed article files.
7622
7623 *** To enable Gnus to read/post multi-lingual articles, you must execute
7624 the following code, for instance, in your .emacs.
7625
7626 (add-hook 'gnus-startup-hook 'gnus-mule-initialize)
7627
7628 Then, when you start Gnus, it will decode non-ASCII text automatically
7629 and show appropriate characters. (Note: if you are using gnus-mime
7630 from the SEMI package, formerly known as TM, you should NOT add this
7631 hook to gnus-startup-hook; gnus-mime has its own method of handling
7632 this issue.)
7633
7634 Since it is impossible to distinguish all coding systems
7635 automatically, you may need to specify a choice of coding system for a
7636 particular news group. This can be done by:
7637
7638 (gnus-mule-add-group NEWSGROUP 'CODING-SYSTEM)
7639
7640 Here NEWSGROUP should be a string which names a newsgroup or a tree
7641 of newsgroups. If NEWSGROUP is "XXX.YYY", all news groups under
7642 "XXX.YYY" (including "XXX.YYY.ZZZ") will use the specified coding
7643 system. CODING-SYSTEM specifies which coding system to use (for both
7644 for reading and posting).
7645
7646 CODING-SYSTEM can also be a cons cell of the form
7647 (READ-CODING-SYSTEM . POST-CODING-SYSTEM)
7648 Then READ-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you read messages from the
7649 newsgroups, while POST-CODING-SYSTEM is used when you post messages
7650 there.
7651
7652 Emacs knows the right coding systems for certain newsgroups by
7653 default. Here are some of these default settings:
7654
7655 (gnus-mule-add-group "fj" 'iso-2022-7)
7656 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text" 'hz-gb-2312)
7657 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.hk" 'hz-gb-2312)
7658 (gnus-mule-add-group "alt.chinese.text.big5" 'cn-big5)
7659 (gnus-mule-add-group "soc.culture.vietnamese" '(nil . viqr))
7660
7661 When you reply by mail to an article, these settings are ignored;
7662 the mail is encoded according to sendmail-coding-system, as usual.
7663
7664 ** CC mode changes.
7665
7666 *** If you edit primarily one style of C (or C++, Objective-C, Java)
7667 code, you may want to make the CC Mode style variables have global
7668 values so that you can set them directly in your .emacs file. To do
7669 this, set c-style-variables-are-local-p to nil in your .emacs file.
7670 Note that this only takes effect if you do it *before* cc-mode.el is
7671 loaded.
7672
7673 If you typically edit more than one style of C (or C++, Objective-C,
7674 Java) code in a single Emacs session, you may want to make the CC Mode
7675 style variables have buffer local values. By default, all buffers
7676 share the same style variable settings; to make them buffer local, set
7677 c-style-variables-are-local-p to t in your .emacs file. Note that you
7678 must do this *before* CC Mode is loaded.
7679
7680 *** The new variable c-indentation-style holds the C style name
7681 of the current buffer.
7682
7683 *** The variable c-block-comments-indent-p has been deleted, because
7684 it is no longer necessary. C mode now handles all the supported styles
7685 of block comments, with no need to say which one you will use.
7686
7687 *** There is a new indentation style "python", which specifies the C
7688 style that the Python developers like.
7689
7690 *** There is a new c-cleanup-list option: brace-elseif-brace.
7691 This says to put ...} else if (...) {... on one line,
7692 just as brace-else-brace says to put ...} else {... on one line.
7693
7694 ** VC Changes [new]
7695
7696 *** In vc-retrieve-snapshot (C-x v r), if you don't specify a snapshot
7697 name, it retrieves the *latest* versions of all files in the current
7698 directory and its subdirectories (aside from files already locked).
7699
7700 This feature is useful if your RCS directory is a link to a common
7701 master directory, and you want to pick up changes made by other
7702 developers.
7703
7704 You can do the same thing for an individual file by typing C-u C-x C-q
7705 RET in a buffer visiting that file.
7706
7707 *** VC can now handle files under CVS that are being "watched" by
7708 other developers. Such files are made read-only by CVS. To get a
7709 writable copy, type C-x C-q in a buffer visiting such a file. VC then
7710 calls "cvs edit", which notifies the other developers of it.
7711
7712 *** vc-version-diff (C-u C-x v =) now suggests reasonable defaults for
7713 version numbers, based on the current state of the file.
7714
7715 ** Calendar changes.
7716
7717 *** A new function, list-holidays, allows you list holidays or
7718 subclasses of holidays for ranges of years. Related menu items allow
7719 you do this for the year of the selected date, or the
7720 following/previous years.
7721
7722 *** There is now support for the Baha'i calendar system. Use `pb' in
7723 the *Calendar* buffer to display the current Baha'i date. The Baha'i
7724 calendar, or "Badi calendar" is a system of 19 months with 19 days
7725 each, and 4 intercalary days (5 during a Gregorian leap year). The
7726 calendar begins May 23, 1844, with each of the months named after a
7727 supposed attribute of God.
7728
7729 ** ps-print changes
7730
7731 There are some new user variables and subgroups for customizing the page
7732 layout.
7733
7734 *** Headers & Footers (subgroup)
7735
7736 Some printer systems print a header page and force the first page to
7737 be printed on the back of the header page when using duplex. If your
7738 printer system has this behavior, set variable
7739 `ps-banner-page-when-duplexing' to t.
7740
7741 If variable `ps-banner-page-when-duplexing' is non-nil, it prints a
7742 blank page as the very first printed page. So, it behaves as if the
7743 very first character of buffer (or region) were a form feed ^L (\014).
7744
7745 The variable `ps-spool-config' specifies who is responsible for
7746 setting duplex mode and page size. Valid values are:
7747
7748 lpr-switches duplex and page size are configured by `ps-lpr-switches'.
7749 Don't forget to set `ps-lpr-switches' to select duplex
7750 printing for your printer.
7751
7752 setpagedevice duplex and page size are configured by ps-print using the
7753 setpagedevice PostScript operator.
7754
7755 nil duplex and page size are configured by ps-print *not* using
7756 the setpagedevice PostScript operator.
7757
7758 The variable `ps-spool-tumble' specifies how the page images on
7759 opposite sides of a sheet are oriented with respect to each other. If
7760 `ps-spool-tumble' is nil, ps-print produces output suitable for
7761 bindings on the left or right. If `ps-spool-tumble' is non-nil,
7762 ps-print produces output suitable for bindings at the top or bottom.
7763 This variable takes effect only if `ps-spool-duplex' is non-nil.
7764 The default value is nil.
7765
7766 The variable `ps-header-frame-alist' specifies a header frame
7767 properties alist. Valid frame properties are:
7768
7769 fore-color Specify the foreground frame color.
7770 Value should be a float number between 0.0 (black
7771 color) and 1.0 (white color), or a string which is a
7772 color name, or a list of 3 float numbers which
7773 correspond to the Red Green Blue color scale, each
7774 float number between 0.0 (dark color) and 1.0 (bright
7775 color). The default is 0 ("black").
7776
7777 back-color Specify the background frame color (similar to fore-color).
7778 The default is 0.9 ("gray90").
7779
7780 shadow-color Specify the shadow color (similar to fore-color).
7781 The default is 0 ("black").
7782
7783 border-color Specify the border color (similar to fore-color).
7784 The default is 0 ("black").
7785
7786 border-width Specify the border width.
7787 The default is 0.4.
7788
7789 Any other property is ignored.
7790
7791 Don't change this alist directly; instead use Custom, or the
7792 `ps-value', `ps-get', `ps-put' and `ps-del' functions (see there for
7793 documentation).
7794
7795 Ps-print can also print footers. The footer variables are:
7796 `ps-print-footer', `ps-footer-offset', `ps-print-footer-frame',
7797 `ps-footer-font-family', `ps-footer-font-size', `ps-footer-line-pad',
7798 `ps-footer-lines', `ps-left-footer', `ps-right-footer' and
7799 `ps-footer-frame-alist'. These variables are similar to those
7800 controlling headers.
7801
7802 *** Color management (subgroup)
7803
7804 If `ps-print-color-p' is non-nil, the buffer's text will be printed in
7805 color.
7806
7807 *** Face Management (subgroup)
7808
7809 If you need to print without worrying about face background colors,
7810 set the variable `ps-use-face-background' which specifies if face
7811 background should be used. Valid values are:
7812
7813 t always use face background color.
7814 nil never use face background color.
7815 (face...) list of faces whose background color will be used.
7816
7817 *** N-up printing (subgroup)
7818
7819 The variable `ps-n-up-printing' specifies the number of pages per
7820 sheet of paper.
7821
7822 The variable `ps-n-up-margin' specifies the margin in points (pt)
7823 between the sheet border and the n-up printing.
7824
7825 If variable `ps-n-up-border-p' is non-nil, a border is drawn around
7826 each page.
7827
7828 The variable `ps-n-up-filling' specifies how the page matrix is filled
7829 on each sheet of paper. Following are the valid values for
7830 `ps-n-up-filling' with a filling example using a 3x4 page matrix:
7831
7832 `left-top' 1 2 3 4 `left-bottom' 9 10 11 12
7833 5 6 7 8 5 6 7 8
7834 9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4
7835
7836 `right-top' 4 3 2 1 `right-bottom' 12 11 10 9
7837 8 7 6 5 8 7 6 5
7838 12 11 10 9 4 3 2 1
7839
7840 `top-left' 1 4 7 10 `bottom-left' 3 6 9 12
7841 2 5 8 11 2 5 8 11
7842 3 6 9 12 1 4 7 10
7843
7844 `top-right' 10 7 4 1 `bottom-right' 12 9 6 3
7845 11 8 5 2 11 8 5 2
7846 12 9 6 3 10 7 4 1
7847
7848 Any other value is treated as `left-top'.
7849
7850 *** Zebra stripes (subgroup)
7851
7852 The variable `ps-zebra-color' controls the zebra stripes grayscale or
7853 RGB color.
7854
7855 The variable `ps-zebra-stripe-follow' specifies how zebra stripes
7856 continue on next page. Visually, valid values are (the character `+'
7857 to the right of each column indicates that a line is printed):
7858
7859 `nil' `follow' `full' `full-follow'
7860 Current Page -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
7861 1 XXXXX + 1 XXXXXXXX + 1 XXXXXX + 1 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
7862 2 XXXXX + 2 XXXXXXXX + 2 XXXXXX + 2 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
7863 3 XXXXX + 3 XXXXXXXX + 3 XXXXXX + 3 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
7864 4 + 4 + 4 + 4 +
7865 5 + 5 + 5 + 5 +
7866 6 + 6 + 6 + 6 +
7867 7 XXXXX + 7 XXXXXXXX + 7 XXXXXX + 7 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
7868 8 XXXXX + 8 XXXXXXXX + 8 XXXXXX + 8 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
7869 9 XXXXX + 9 XXXXXXXX + 9 XXXXXX + 9 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
7870 10 + 10 +
7871 11 + 11 +
7872 -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
7873 Next Page -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
7874 12 XXXXX + 12 + 10 XXXXXX + 10 +
7875 13 XXXXX + 13 XXXXXXXX + 11 XXXXXX + 11 +
7876 14 XXXXX + 14 XXXXXXXX + 12 XXXXXX + 12 +
7877 15 + 15 XXXXXXXX + 13 + 13 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
7878 16 + 16 + 14 + 14 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
7879 17 + 17 + 15 + 15 XXXXXXXXXXXXX +
7880 18 XXXXX + 18 + 16 XXXXXX + 16 +
7881 19 XXXXX + 19 XXXXXXXX + 17 XXXXXX + 17 +
7882 20 XXXXX + 20 XXXXXXXX + 18 XXXXXX + 18 +
7883 21 + 21 XXXXXXXX +
7884 22 + 22 +
7885 -------- ----------- --------- ----------------
7886
7887 Any other value is treated as `nil'.
7888
7889
7890 *** Printer management (subgroup)
7891
7892 The variable `ps-printer-name-option' determines the option used by
7893 some utilities to indicate the printer name; it's used only when
7894 `ps-printer-name' is a non-empty string. If you're using the lpr
7895 utility to print, for example, `ps-printer-name-option' should be set
7896 to "-P".
7897
7898 The variable `ps-manual-feed' indicates if the printer requires manual
7899 paper feeding. If it's nil, automatic feeding takes place. If it's
7900 non-nil, manual feeding takes place.
7901
7902 The variable `ps-end-with-control-d' specifies whether C-d (\x04)
7903 should be inserted at end of the generated PostScript. Non-nil means
7904 do so.
7905
7906 *** Page settings (subgroup)
7907
7908 If variable `ps-warn-paper-type' is nil, it's *not* treated as an
7909 error if the PostScript printer doesn't have a paper with the size
7910 indicated by `ps-paper-type'; the default paper size will be used
7911 instead. If `ps-warn-paper-type' is non-nil, an error is signaled if
7912 the PostScript printer doesn't support a paper with the size indicated
7913 by `ps-paper-type'. This is used when `ps-spool-config' is set to
7914 `setpagedevice'.
7915
7916 The variable `ps-print-upside-down' determines the orientation for
7917 printing pages: nil means `normal' printing, non-nil means
7918 `upside-down' printing (that is, the page is rotated by 180 degrees).
7919
7920 The variable `ps-selected-pages' specifies which pages to print. If
7921 it's nil, all pages are printed. If it's a list, list elements may be
7922 integers specifying a single page to print, or cons cells (FROM . TO)
7923 specifying to print from page FROM to TO. Invalid list elements, that
7924 is integers smaller than one, or elements whose FROM is greater than
7925 its TO, are ignored.
7926
7927 The variable `ps-even-or-odd-pages' specifies how to print even/odd
7928 pages. Valid values are:
7929
7930 nil print all pages.
7931
7932 `even-page' print only even pages.
7933
7934 `odd-page' print only odd pages.
7935
7936 `even-sheet' print only even sheets.
7937 That is, if `ps-n-up-printing' is 1, it behaves like
7938 `even-page', but for values greater than 1, it'll
7939 print only the even sheet of paper.
7940
7941 `odd-sheet' print only odd sheets.
7942 That is, if `ps-n-up-printing' is 1, it behaves like
7943 `odd-page'; but for values greater than 1, it'll print
7944 only the odd sheet of paper.
7945
7946 Any other value is treated as nil.
7947
7948 If you set `ps-selected-pages' (see there for documentation), pages
7949 are filtered by `ps-selected-pages', and then by
7950 `ps-even-or-odd-pages'. For example, if we have:
7951
7952 (setq ps-selected-pages '(1 4 (6 . 10) (12 . 16) 20))
7953
7954 and we combine this with `ps-even-or-odd-pages' and
7955 `ps-n-up-printing', we get:
7956
7957 `ps-n-up-printing' = 1:
7958 `ps-even-or-odd-pages' PAGES PRINTED
7959 nil 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20
7960 even-page 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20
7961 odd-page 1, 7, 9, 13, 15
7962 even-sheet 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 20
7963 odd-sheet 1, 7, 9, 13, 15
7964
7965 `ps-n-up-printing' = 2:
7966 `ps-even-or-odd-pages' PAGES PRINTED
7967 nil 1/4, 6/7, 8/9, 10/12, 13/14, 15/16, 20
7968 even-page 4/6, 8/10, 12/14, 16/20
7969 odd-page 1/7, 9/13, 15
7970 even-sheet 6/7, 10/12, 15/16
7971 odd-sheet 1/4, 8/9, 13/14, 20
7972
7973 *** Miscellany (subgroup)
7974
7975 The variable `ps-error-handler-message' specifies where error handler
7976 messages should be sent.
7977
7978 It is also possible to add a user-defined PostScript prologue code in
7979 front of all generated prologue code by setting the variable
7980 `ps-user-defined-prologue'.
7981
7982 The variable `ps-line-number-font' specifies the font for line numbers.
7983
7984 The variable `ps-line-number-font-size' specifies the font size in
7985 points for line numbers.
7986
7987 The variable `ps-line-number-color' specifies the color for line
7988 numbers. See `ps-zebra-color' for documentation.
7989
7990 The variable `ps-line-number-step' specifies the interval in which
7991 line numbers are printed. For example, if `ps-line-number-step' is set
7992 to 2, the printing will look like:
7993
7994 1 one line
7995 one line
7996 3 one line
7997 one line
7998 5 one line
7999 one line
8000 ...
8001
8002 Valid values are:
8003
8004 integer an integer specifying the interval in which line numbers are
8005 printed. If it's smaller than or equal to zero, 1
8006 is used.
8007
8008 `zebra' specifies that only the line number of the first line in a
8009 zebra stripe is to be printed.
8010
8011 Any other value is treated as `zebra'.
8012
8013 The variable `ps-line-number-start' specifies the starting point in
8014 the interval given by `ps-line-number-step'. For example, if
8015 `ps-line-number-step' is set to 3, and `ps-line-number-start' is set to
8016 3, the output will look like:
8017
8018 one line
8019 one line
8020 3 one line
8021 one line
8022 one line
8023 6 one line
8024 one line
8025 one line
8026 9 one line
8027 one line
8028 ...
8029
8030 The variable `ps-postscript-code-directory' specifies the directory
8031 where the PostScript prologue file used by ps-print is found.
8032
8033 The variable `ps-line-spacing' determines the line spacing in points,
8034 for ordinary text, when generating PostScript (similar to
8035 `ps-font-size').
8036
8037 The variable `ps-paragraph-spacing' determines the paragraph spacing,
8038 in points, for ordinary text, when generating PostScript (similar to
8039 `ps-font-size').
8040
8041 The variable `ps-paragraph-regexp' specifies the paragraph delimiter.
8042
8043 The variable `ps-begin-cut-regexp' and `ps-end-cut-regexp' specify the
8044 start and end of a region to cut out when printing.
8045
8046 ** hideshow changes.
8047
8048 *** now supports hiding of blocks of single line comments (like // for
8049 C++, ; for lisp).
8050
8051 *** Support for java-mode added.
8052
8053 *** When doing `hs-hide-all' it is now possible to also hide the comments
8054 in the file if `hs-hide-comments-when-hiding-all' is set.
8055
8056 *** The new function `hs-hide-initial-comment' hides the comments at
8057 the beginning of the files. Finally those huge RCS logs don't stay in your
8058 way! This is run by default when entering the `hs-minor-mode'.
8059
8060 *** Now uses overlays instead of `selective-display', so is more
8061 robust and a lot faster.
8062
8063 *** A block beginning can span multiple lines.
8064
8065 *** The new variable `hs-show-hidden-short-form' if t, directs hideshow
8066 to show only the beginning of a block when it is hidden. See the
8067 documentation for more details.
8068
8069 ** Changes in Enriched mode.
8070
8071 *** When you visit a file in enriched-mode, Emacs will make sure it is
8072 filled to the current fill-column. This behavior is now independent
8073 of the size of the window. When you save the file, the fill-column in
8074 use is stored as well, so that the whole buffer need not be refilled
8075 the next time unless the fill-column is different.
8076
8077 *** use-hard-newlines is now a minor mode. When it is enabled, Emacs
8078 distinguishes between hard and soft newlines, and treats hard newlines
8079 as paragraph boundaries. Otherwise all newlines inserted are marked
8080 as soft, and paragraph boundaries are determined solely from the text.
8081
8082 ** Font Lock mode
8083
8084 *** Custom support
8085
8086 The variables font-lock-face-attributes, font-lock-display-type and
8087 font-lock-background-mode are now obsolete; the recommended way to specify the
8088 faces to use for Font Lock mode is with M-x customize-group on the new custom
8089 group font-lock-highlighting-faces. If you set font-lock-face-attributes in
8090 your ~/.emacs file, Font Lock mode will respect its value. However, you should
8091 consider converting from setting that variable to using M-x customize.
8092
8093 You can still use X resources to specify Font Lock face appearances.
8094
8095 *** Maximum decoration
8096
8097 Fontification now uses the maximum level of decoration supported by
8098 default. Previously, fontification used a mode-specific default level
8099 of decoration, which is typically the minimum level of decoration
8100 supported. You can set font-lock-maximum-decoration to nil
8101 to get the old behavior.
8102
8103 *** New support
8104
8105 Support is now provided for Java, Objective-C, AWK and SIMULA modes.
8106
8107 Note that Font Lock mode can be turned on without knowing exactly what modes
8108 support Font Lock mode, via the command global-font-lock-mode.
8109
8110 *** Configurable support
8111
8112 Support for C, C++, Objective-C and Java can be more easily configured for
8113 additional types and classes via the new variables c-font-lock-extra-types,
8114 c++-font-lock-extra-types, objc-font-lock-extra-types and, you guessed it,
8115 java-font-lock-extra-types. These value of each of these variables should be a
8116 list of regexps matching the extra type names. For example, the default value
8117 of c-font-lock-extra-types is ("\\sw+_t") which means fontification follows the
8118 convention that C type names end in _t. This results in slower fontification.
8119
8120 Of course, you can change the variables that specify fontification in whatever
8121 way you wish, typically by adding regexps. However, these new variables make
8122 it easier to make specific and common changes for the fontification of types.
8123
8124 *** Adding highlighting patterns to existing support
8125
8126 You can use the new function font-lock-add-keywords to add your own
8127 highlighting patterns, such as for project-local or user-specific constructs,
8128 for any mode.
8129
8130 For example, to highlight `FIXME:' words in C comments, put:
8131
8132 (font-lock-add-keywords 'c-mode '(("\\<FIXME:" 0 font-lock-warning-face t)))
8133
8134 in your ~/.emacs.
8135
8136 *** New faces
8137
8138 Font Lock now defines two new faces, font-lock-builtin-face and
8139 font-lock-warning-face. These are intended to highlight builtin keywords,
8140 distinct from a language's normal keywords, and objects that should be brought
8141 to user attention, respectively. Various modes now use these new faces.
8142
8143 *** Changes to fast-lock support mode
8144
8145 The fast-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now process
8146 cache files silently. You can use the new variable fast-lock-verbose, in the
8147 same way as font-lock-verbose, to control this feature.
8148
8149 *** Changes to lazy-lock support mode
8150
8151 The lazy-lock package, one of the two Font Lock support modes, can now fontify
8152 according to the true syntactic context relative to other lines. You can use
8153 the new variable lazy-lock-defer-contextually to control this feature. If
8154 non-nil, changes to the buffer will cause subsequent lines in the buffer to be
8155 refontified after lazy-lock-defer-time seconds of idle time. If nil, then only
8156 the modified lines will be refontified; this is the same as the previous Lazy
8157 Lock mode behaviour and the behaviour of Font Lock mode.
8158
8159 This feature is useful in modes where strings or comments can span lines.
8160 For example, if a string or comment terminating character is deleted, then if
8161 this feature is enabled subsequent lines in the buffer will be correctly
8162 refontified to reflect their new syntactic context. Previously, only the line
8163 containing the deleted character would be refontified and you would have to use
8164 the command M-g M-g (font-lock-fontify-block) to refontify some lines.
8165
8166 As a consequence of this new feature, two other variables have changed:
8167
8168 Variable `lazy-lock-defer-driven' is renamed `lazy-lock-defer-on-scrolling'.
8169 Variable `lazy-lock-defer-time' can now only be a time, i.e., a number.
8170 Buffer modes for which on-the-fly deferral applies can be specified via the
8171 new variable `lazy-lock-defer-on-the-fly'.
8172
8173 If you set these variables in your ~/.emacs, then you may have to change those
8174 settings.
8175
8176 ** Ada mode changes.
8177
8178 *** There is now better support for using find-file.el with Ada mode.
8179 If you switch between spec and body, the cursor stays in the same
8180 procedure (modulo overloading). If a spec has no body file yet, but
8181 you try to switch to its body file, Ada mode now generates procedure
8182 stubs.
8183
8184 *** There are two new commands:
8185 - `ada-make-local' : invokes gnatmake on the current buffer
8186 - `ada-check-syntax' : check syntax of current buffer.
8187
8188 The user options `ada-compiler-make', `ada-make-options',
8189 `ada-language-version', `ada-compiler-syntax-check', and
8190 `ada-compile-options' are used within these commands.
8191
8192 *** Ada mode can now work with Outline minor mode. The outline level
8193 is calculated from the indenting, not from syntactic constructs.
8194 Outlining does not work if your code is not correctly indented.
8195
8196 *** The new function `ada-gnat-style' converts the buffer to the style of
8197 formatting used in GNAT. It places two blanks after a comment start,
8198 places one blank between a word end and an opening '(', and puts one
8199 space between a comma and the beginning of a word.
8200
8201 ** Scheme mode changes.
8202
8203 *** Scheme mode indentation now uses many of the facilities of Lisp
8204 mode; therefore, the variables to customize it are the variables used
8205 for Lisp mode which have names starting with `lisp-'. The variables
8206 with names starting with `scheme-' which used to do this no longer
8207 have any effect.
8208
8209 If you want to use different indentation for Scheme and Lisp, this is
8210 still possible, but now you must do it by adding a hook to
8211 scheme-mode-hook, which could work by setting the `lisp-' indentation
8212 variables as buffer-local variables.
8213
8214 *** DSSSL mode is a variant of Scheme mode, for editing DSSSL scripts.
8215 Use M-x dsssl-mode.
8216
8217 ** Changes to the emacsclient program
8218
8219 *** If a socket can't be found, and environment variables LOGNAME or
8220 USER are set, emacsclient now looks for a socket based on the UID
8221 associated with the name. That is an emacsclient running as root
8222 can connect to an Emacs server started by a non-root user.
8223
8224 *** The emacsclient program now accepts an option --no-wait which tells
8225 it to return immediately without waiting for you to "finish" the
8226 buffer in Emacs.
8227
8228 *** The new option --alternate-editor allows to specify an editor to
8229 use if Emacs is not running. The environment variable
8230 ALTERNATE_EDITOR can be used for the same effect; the command line
8231 option takes precedence.
8232
8233 ** M-x eldoc-mode enables a minor mode in which the echo area
8234 constantly shows the parameter list for function being called at point
8235 (in Emacs Lisp and Lisp Interaction modes only).
8236
8237 ** C-x n d now runs the new command narrow-to-defun,
8238 which narrows the accessible parts of the buffer to just
8239 the current defun.
8240
8241 ** Emacs now handles the `--' argument in the standard way; all
8242 following arguments are treated as ordinary file names.
8243
8244 ** On MSDOS and Windows, the bookmark file is now called _emacs.bmk,
8245 and the saved desktop file is now called _emacs.desktop (truncated if
8246 necessary).
8247
8248 ** When you kill a buffer that visits a file,
8249 if there are any registers that save positions in the file,
8250 these register values no longer become completely useless.
8251 If you try to go to such a register with C-x j, then you are
8252 asked whether to visit the file again. If you say yes,
8253 it visits the file and then goes to the same position.
8254
8255 ** When you visit a file that changes frequently outside Emacs--for
8256 example, a log of output from a process that continues to run--it may
8257 be useful for Emacs to revert the file without querying you whenever
8258 you visit the file afresh with C-x C-f.
8259
8260 You can request this behavior for certain files by setting the
8261 variable revert-without-query to a list of regular expressions. If a
8262 file's name matches any of these regular expressions, find-file and
8263 revert-buffer revert the buffer without asking for permission--but
8264 only if you have not edited the buffer text yourself.
8265
8266 ** set-default-font has been renamed to set-frame-font
8267 since it applies only to the current frame.
8268
8269 ** In TeX mode, you can use the variable tex-main-file to specify the
8270 file for tex-file to run TeX on. (By default, tex-main-file is nil,
8271 and tex-file runs TeX on the current visited file.)
8272
8273 This is useful when you are editing a document that consists of
8274 multiple files. In each of the included files, you can set up a local
8275 variable list which specifies the top-level file of your document for
8276 tex-main-file. Then tex-file will run TeX on the whole document
8277 instead of just the file you are editing.
8278
8279 ** RefTeX mode
8280
8281 RefTeX mode is a new minor mode with special support for \label, \ref
8282 and \cite macros in LaTeX documents. RefTeX distinguishes labels of
8283 different environments (equation, figure, ...) and has full support for
8284 multifile documents. To use it, select a buffer with a LaTeX document and
8285 turn the mode on with M-x reftex-mode. Here are the main user commands:
8286
8287 C-c ( reftex-label
8288 Creates a label semi-automatically. RefTeX is context sensitive and
8289 knows which kind of label is needed.
8290
8291 C-c ) reftex-reference
8292 Offers in a menu all labels in the document, along with context of the
8293 label definition. The selected label is referenced as \ref{LABEL}.
8294
8295 C-c [ reftex-citation
8296 Prompts for a regular expression and displays a list of matching BibTeX
8297 database entries. The selected entry is cited with a \cite{KEY} macro.
8298
8299 C-c & reftex-view-crossref
8300 Views the cross reference of a \ref or \cite command near point.
8301
8302 C-c = reftex-toc
8303 Shows a table of contents of the (multifile) document. From there you
8304 can quickly jump to every section.
8305
8306 Under X, RefTeX installs a "Ref" menu in the menu bar, with additional
8307 commands. Press `?' to get help when a prompt mentions this feature.
8308 Full documentation and customization examples are in the file
8309 reftex.el. You can use the finder to view the file documentation:
8310 C-h p --> tex --> reftex.el
8311
8312 ** Changes in BibTeX mode.
8313
8314 *** Info documentation is now available.
8315
8316 *** Don't allow parentheses in string constants anymore. This confused
8317 both the BibTeX program and Emacs BibTeX mode.
8318
8319 *** Renamed variable bibtex-mode-user-optional-fields to
8320 bibtex-user-optional-fields.
8321
8322 *** Removed variable bibtex-include-OPTannote
8323 (use bibtex-user-optional-fields instead).
8324
8325 *** New interactive functions to copy and kill fields and complete
8326 entries to the BibTeX kill ring, from where they can be yanked back by
8327 appropriate functions.
8328
8329 *** New interactive functions for repositioning and marking of
8330 entries. They are bound by default to C-M-l and C-M-h.
8331
8332 *** New hook bibtex-clean-entry-hook. It is called after entry has
8333 been cleaned.
8334
8335 *** New variable bibtex-field-delimiters, which replaces variables
8336 bibtex-field-{left|right}-delimiter.
8337
8338 *** New variable bibtex-entry-delimiters to determine how entries
8339 shall be delimited.
8340
8341 *** Allow preinitialization of fields. See documentation of
8342 bibtex-user-optional-fields, bibtex-entry-field-alist, and
8343 bibtex-include-OPTkey for details.
8344
8345 *** Book and InBook entries require either an author or an editor
8346 field. This is now supported by bibtex.el. Alternative fields are
8347 prefixed with `ALT'.
8348
8349 *** New variable bibtex-entry-format, which replaces variable
8350 bibtex-clean-entry-zap-empty-opts and allows specification of many
8351 formatting options performed on cleaning an entry (see variable
8352 documentation).
8353
8354 *** Even more control on how automatic keys are generated. See
8355 documentation of bibtex-generate-autokey for details. Transcriptions
8356 for foreign languages other than German are now handled, too.
8357
8358 *** New boolean user option bibtex-comma-after-last-field to decide if
8359 comma should be inserted at end of last field.
8360
8361 *** New boolean user option bibtex-align-at-equal-sign to determine if
8362 alignment should be made at left side of field contents or at equal
8363 signs. New user options to control entry layout (e.g. indentation).
8364
8365 *** New function bibtex-fill-entry to realign entries.
8366
8367 *** New function bibtex-reformat to reformat region or buffer.
8368
8369 *** New function bibtex-convert-alien to convert a BibTeX database
8370 from alien sources.
8371
8372 *** New function bibtex-complete-key (similar to bibtex-complete-string)
8373 to complete prefix to a key defined in buffer. Mainly useful in
8374 crossref entries.
8375
8376 *** New function bibtex-count-entries to count entries in buffer or
8377 region.
8378
8379 *** Added support for imenu.
8380
8381 *** The function `bibtex-validate' now checks current region instead
8382 of buffer if mark is active. Now it shows all errors of buffer in a
8383 `compilation mode' buffer. You can use the normal commands (e.g.
8384 `next-error') for compilation modes to jump to errors.
8385
8386 *** New variable `bibtex-string-file-path' to determine where the files
8387 from `bibtex-string-files' are searched.
8388
8389 ** Iso Accents mode now supports Latin-3 as an alternative.
8390
8391 ** The command next-error now opens blocks hidden by hideshow.
8392
8393 ** The function using-unix-filesystems has been replaced by the
8394 functions add-untranslated-filesystem and remove-untranslated-filesystem.
8395 Each of these functions takes the name of a drive letter or directory
8396 as an argument.
8397
8398 When a filesystem is added as untranslated, all files on it are read
8399 and written in binary mode (no cr/lf translation is performed).
8400
8401 ** browse-url changes
8402
8403 *** New methods for: Grail (browse-url-generic), MMM (browse-url-mmm),
8404 Lynx in a separate xterm (browse-url-lynx-xterm) or in an Emacs window
8405 (browse-url-lynx-emacs), remote W3 (browse-url-w3-gnudoit), generic
8406 non-remote-controlled browsers (browse-url-generic) and associated
8407 customization variables.
8408
8409 *** New commands `browse-url-of-region' and `browse-url'.
8410
8411 *** URLs marked up with <URL:...> (RFC1738) work if broken across
8412 lines. Browsing methods can be associated with URL regexps
8413 (e.g. mailto: URLs) via `browse-url-browser-function'.
8414
8415 ** Changes in Ediff
8416
8417 *** Clicking Mouse-2 on a brief command description in Ediff control panel
8418 pops up the Info file for this command.
8419
8420 *** There is now a variable, ediff-autostore-merges, which controls whether
8421 the result of a merge is saved in a file. By default, this is done only when
8422 merge is done from a session group (eg, when merging files in two different
8423 directories).
8424
8425 *** Since Emacs 19.31 (this hasn't been announced before), Ediff can compare
8426 and merge groups of files residing in different directories, or revisions of
8427 files in the same directory.
8428
8429 *** Since Emacs 19.31, Ediff can apply multi-file patches interactively.
8430 The patches must be in the context format or GNU unified format. (The bug
8431 related to the GNU format has now been fixed.)
8432
8433 ** Changes in Viper
8434
8435 *** The startup file is now .viper instead of .vip
8436 *** All variable/function names have been changed to start with viper-
8437 instead of vip-.
8438 *** C-\ now simulates the meta-key in all Viper states.
8439 *** C-z in Insert state now escapes to Vi for the duration of the next
8440 Viper command. In Vi and Insert states, C-z behaves as before.
8441 *** C-c \ escapes to Vi for one command if Viper is in Insert or Emacs states.
8442 *** _ is no longer the meta-key in Vi state.
8443 *** The variable viper-insert-state-cursor-color can be used to change cursor
8444 color when Viper is in insert state.
8445 *** If search lands the cursor near the top or the bottom of the window,
8446 Viper pulls the window up or down to expose more context. The variable
8447 viper-adjust-window-after-search controls this behavior.
8448
8449 ** Etags changes.
8450
8451 *** In C, C++, Objective C and Java, Etags tags global variables by
8452 default. The resulting tags files are inflated by 30% on average.
8453 Use --no-globals to turn this feature off. Etags can also tag
8454 variables which are members of structure-like constructs, but it does
8455 not by default. Use --members to turn this feature on.
8456
8457 *** C++ member functions are now recognized as tags.
8458
8459 *** Java is tagged like C++. In addition, "extends" and "implements"
8460 constructs are tagged. Files are recognised by the extension .java.
8461
8462 *** Etags can now handle programs written in Postscript. Files are
8463 recognised by the extensions .ps and .pdb (Postscript with C syntax).
8464 In Postscript, tags are lines that start with a slash.
8465
8466 *** Etags now handles Objective C and Objective C++ code. The usual C and
8467 C++ tags are recognized in these languages; in addition, etags
8468 recognizes special Objective C syntax for classes, class categories,
8469 methods and protocols.
8470
8471 *** Etags also handles Cobol. Files are recognised by the extension
8472 .cobol. The tagged lines are those containing a word that begins in
8473 column 8 and ends in a full stop, i.e. anything that could be a
8474 paragraph name.
8475
8476 *** Regexps in Etags now support intervals, as in ed or grep. The syntax of
8477 an interval is \{M,N\}, and it means to match the preceding expression
8478 at least M times and as many as N times.
8479
8480 ** The format for specifying a custom format for time-stamp to insert
8481 in files has changed slightly.
8482
8483 With the new enhancements to the functionality of format-time-string,
8484 time-stamp-format will change to be eventually compatible with it.
8485 This conversion is being done in two steps to maintain compatibility
8486 with old time-stamp-format values.
8487
8488 In the new scheme, alternate case is signified by the number-sign
8489 (`#') modifier, rather than changing the case of the format character.
8490 This feature is as yet incompletely implemented for compatibility
8491 reasons.
8492
8493 In the old time-stamp-format, all numeric fields defaulted to their
8494 natural width. (With format-time-string, each format has a
8495 fixed-width default.) In this version, you can specify the colon
8496 (`:') modifier to a numeric conversion to mean "give me the historical
8497 time-stamp-format width default." Do not use colon if you are
8498 specifying an explicit width, as in "%02d".
8499
8500 Numbers are no longer truncated to the requested width, except in the
8501 case of "%02y", which continues to give a two-digit year. Digit
8502 truncation probably wasn't being used for anything else anyway.
8503
8504 The new formats will work with old versions of Emacs. New formats are
8505 being recommended now to allow time-stamp-format to change in the
8506 future to be compatible with format-time-string. The new forms being
8507 recommended now will continue to work then.
8508
8509 See the documentation string for the variable time-stamp-format for
8510 details.
8511
8512 ** There are some additional major modes:
8513
8514 dcl-mode, for editing VMS DCL files.
8515 m4-mode, for editing files of m4 input.
8516 meta-mode, for editing MetaFont and MetaPost source files.
8517
8518 ** In Shell mode, the command shell-copy-environment-variable lets you
8519 copy the value of a specified environment variable from the subshell
8520 into Emacs.
8521
8522 ** New Lisp packages include:
8523
8524 *** battery.el displays battery status for laptops.
8525
8526 *** M-x bruce (named after Lenny Bruce) is a program that might
8527 be used for adding some indecent words to your email.
8528
8529 *** M-x crisp-mode enables an emulation for the CRiSP editor.
8530
8531 *** M-x dirtrack arranges for better tracking of directory changes
8532 in shell buffers.
8533
8534 *** The new library elint.el provides for linting of Emacs Lisp code.
8535 See the documentation for `elint-initialize', `elint-current-buffer'
8536 and `elint-defun'.
8537
8538 *** M-x expand-add-abbrevs defines a special kind of abbrev which is
8539 meant for programming constructs. These abbrevs expand like ordinary
8540 ones, when you type SPC, but only at the end of a line and not within
8541 strings or comments.
8542
8543 These abbrevs can act as templates: you can define places within an
8544 abbrev for insertion of additional text. Once you expand the abbrev,
8545 you can then use C-x a p and C-x a n to move back and forth to these
8546 insertion points. Thus you can conveniently insert additional text
8547 at these points.
8548
8549 *** filecache.el remembers the location of files so that you
8550 can visit them by short forms of their names.
8551
8552 *** find-func.el lets you find the definition of the user-loaded
8553 Emacs Lisp function at point.
8554
8555 *** M-x handwrite converts text to a "handwritten" picture.
8556
8557 *** M-x iswitchb-buffer is a command for switching to a buffer, much like
8558 switch-buffer, but it reads the argument in a more helpful way.
8559
8560 *** M-x landmark implements a neural network for landmark learning.
8561
8562 *** M-x locate provides a convenient interface to the `locate' program.
8563
8564 *** M4 mode is a new mode for editing files of m4 input.
8565
8566 *** mantemp.el creates C++ manual template instantiations
8567 from the GCC error messages which indicate which instantiations are needed.
8568
8569 *** mouse-copy.el provides a one-click copy and move feature.
8570 You can drag a region with M-mouse-1, and it is automatically
8571 inserted at point. M-Shift-mouse-1 deletes the text from its
8572 original place after inserting the copy.
8573
8574 *** mouse-drag.el lets you do scrolling by dragging Mouse-2
8575 on the buffer.
8576
8577 You click the mouse and move; that distance either translates into the
8578 velocity to scroll (with mouse-drag-throw) or the distance to scroll
8579 (with mouse-drag-drag). Horizontal scrolling is enabled when needed.
8580
8581 Enable mouse-drag with:
8582 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-throw)
8583 -or-
8584 (global-set-key [down-mouse-2] 'mouse-drag-drag)
8585
8586 *** mspools.el is useful for determining which mail folders have
8587 mail waiting to be read in them. It works with procmail.
8588
8589 *** Octave mode is a major mode for editing files of input for Octave.
8590 It comes with a facility for communicating with an Octave subprocess.
8591
8592 *** ogonek
8593
8594 The ogonek package provides functions for changing the coding of
8595 Polish diacritic characters in buffers. Codings known from various
8596 platforms are supported such as ISO8859-2, Mazovia, IBM Latin2, and
8597 TeX. For example, you can change the coding from Mazovia to
8598 ISO8859-2. Another example is a change of coding from ISO8859-2 to
8599 prefix notation (in which `/a' stands for the aogonek character, for
8600 instance) and vice versa.
8601
8602 To use this package load it using
8603 M-x load-library [enter] ogonek
8604 Then, you may get an explanation by calling one of
8605 M-x ogonek-jak -- in Polish
8606 M-x ogonek-how -- in English
8607 The info specifies the commands and variables provided as well as the
8608 ways of customization in `.emacs'.
8609
8610 *** Interface to ph.
8611
8612 Emacs provides a client interface to CCSO Nameservers (ph/qi)
8613
8614 The CCSO nameserver is used in many universities to provide directory
8615 services about people. ph.el provides a convenient Emacs interface to
8616 these servers.
8617
8618 *** uce.el is useful for replying to unsolicited commercial email.
8619
8620 *** vcursor.el implements a "virtual cursor" feature.
8621 You can move the virtual cursor with special commands
8622 while the real cursor does not move.
8623
8624 *** webjump.el is a "hot list" package which you can set up
8625 for visiting your favorite web sites.
8626
8627 *** M-x winner-mode is a minor mode which saves window configurations,
8628 so you can move back to other configurations that you have recently used.
8629
8630 ** movemail change
8631
8632 Movemail no longer needs to be installed setuid root in order for POP
8633 mail retrieval to function properly. This is because it no longer
8634 supports the RPOP (reserved-port POP) protocol; instead, it uses the
8635 user's POP password to authenticate to the mail server.
8636
8637 This change was made earlier, but not reported in NEWS before.
8638 \f
8639 * Emacs 20.1 changes for MS-DOS and MS-Windows.
8640
8641 ** Changes in handling MS-DOS/MS-Windows text files.
8642
8643 Emacs handles three different conventions for representing
8644 end-of-line: CRLF for MSDOS, LF for Unix and GNU, and CR (used on the
8645 Macintosh). Emacs determines which convention is used in a specific
8646 file based on the contents of that file (except for certain special
8647 file names), and when it saves the file, it uses the same convention.
8648
8649 To save the file and change the end-of-line convention, you can use
8650 C-x RET f (set-buffer-file-coding-system) to specify a different
8651 coding system for the buffer. Then, when you save the file, the newly
8652 specified coding system will take effect. For example, to save with
8653 LF, specify undecided-unix (or some other ...-unix coding system); to
8654 save with CRLF, specify undecided-dos.
8655 \f
8656 * Lisp Changes in Emacs 20.1
8657
8658 ** Byte-compiled files made with Emacs 20 will, in general, work in
8659 Emacs 19 as well, as long as the source code runs in Emacs 19. And
8660 vice versa: byte-compiled files made with Emacs 19 should also run in
8661 Emacs 20, as long as the program itself works in Emacs 20.
8662
8663 ** Windows-specific functions and variables have been renamed
8664 to start with w32- instead of win32-.
8665
8666 In hacker language, calling something a "win" is a form of praise. We
8667 don't want to praise a non-free Microsoft system, so we don't call it
8668 "win".
8669
8670 ** Basic Lisp changes
8671
8672 *** A symbol whose name starts with a colon now automatically
8673 evaluates to itself. Therefore such a symbol can be used as a constant.
8674
8675 *** The defined purpose of `defconst' has been changed. It should now
8676 be used only for values that should not be changed whether by a program
8677 or by the user.
8678
8679 The actual behavior of defconst has not been changed.
8680
8681 *** There are new macros `when' and `unless'
8682
8683 (when CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION (progn BODY...))
8684 (unless CONDITION BODY...) is short for (if CONDITION nil BODY...)
8685
8686 *** Emacs now defines functions caar, cadr, cdar and cddr with their
8687 usual Lisp meanings. For example, caar returns the car of the car of
8688 its argument.
8689
8690 *** equal, when comparing strings, now ignores their text properties.
8691
8692 *** The new function `functionp' tests whether an object is a function.
8693
8694 *** arrayp now returns t for char-tables and bool-vectors.
8695
8696 *** Certain primitives which use characters (as integers) now get an
8697 error if the integer is not a valid character code. These primitives
8698 include insert-char, char-to-string, and the %c construct in the
8699 `format' function.
8700
8701 *** The `require' function now insists on adding a suffix, either .el
8702 or .elc, to the file name. Thus, (require 'foo) will not use a file
8703 whose name is just foo. It insists on foo.el or foo.elc.
8704
8705 *** The `autoload' function, when the file name does not contain
8706 either a directory name or the suffix .el or .elc, insists on
8707 adding one of these suffixes.
8708
8709 *** string-to-number now takes an optional second argument BASE
8710 which specifies the base to use when converting an integer.
8711 If BASE is omitted, base 10 is used.
8712
8713 We have not implemented other radices for floating point numbers,
8714 because that would be much more work and does not seem useful.
8715
8716 *** substring now handles vectors as well as strings.
8717
8718 *** The Common Lisp function eql is no longer defined normally.
8719 You must load the `cl' library to define it.
8720
8721 *** The new macro `with-current-buffer' lets you evaluate an expression
8722 conveniently with a different current buffer. It looks like this:
8723
8724 (with-current-buffer BUFFER BODY-FORMS...)
8725
8726 BUFFER is the expression that says which buffer to use.
8727 BODY-FORMS say what to do in that buffer.
8728
8729 *** The new primitive `save-current-buffer' saves and restores the
8730 choice of current buffer, like `save-excursion', but without saving or
8731 restoring the value of point or the mark. `with-current-buffer'
8732 works using `save-current-buffer'.
8733
8734 *** The new macro `with-temp-file' lets you do some work in a new buffer and
8735 write the output to a specified file. Like `progn', it returns the value
8736 of the last form.
8737
8738 *** The new macro `with-temp-buffer' lets you do some work in a new buffer,
8739 which is discarded after use. Like `progn', it returns the value of the
8740 last form. If you wish to return the buffer contents, use (buffer-string)
8741 as the last form.
8742
8743 *** The new function split-string takes a string, splits it at certain
8744 characters, and returns a list of the substrings in between the
8745 matches.
8746
8747 For example, (split-string "foo bar lose" " +") returns ("foo" "bar" "lose").
8748
8749 *** The new macro with-output-to-string executes some Lisp expressions
8750 with standard-output set up so that all output feeds into a string.
8751 Then it returns that string.
8752
8753 For example, if the current buffer name is `foo',
8754
8755 (with-output-to-string
8756 (princ "The buffer is ")
8757 (princ (buffer-name)))
8758
8759 returns "The buffer is foo".
8760
8761 ** Non-ASCII characters are now supported, if enable-multibyte-characters
8762 is non-nil.
8763
8764 These characters have character codes above 256. When inserted in the
8765 buffer or stored in a string, they are represented as multibyte
8766 characters that occupy several buffer positions each.
8767
8768 *** When enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, a single character in
8769 a buffer or string can be two or more bytes (as many as four).
8770
8771 Buffers and strings are still made up of unibyte elements;
8772 character positions and string indices are always measured in bytes.
8773 Therefore, moving forward one character can increase the buffer
8774 position by 2, 3 or 4. The function forward-char moves by whole
8775 characters, and therefore is no longer equivalent to
8776 (lambda (n) (goto-char (+ (point) n))).
8777
8778 ASCII characters (codes 0 through 127) are still single bytes, always.
8779 Sequences of byte values 128 through 255 are used to represent
8780 non-ASCII characters. These sequences are called "multibyte
8781 characters".
8782
8783 The first byte of a multibyte character is always in the range 128
8784 through 159 (octal 0200 through 0237). These values are called
8785 "leading codes". The second and subsequent bytes are always in the
8786 range 160 through 255 (octal 0240 through 0377). The first byte, the
8787 leading code, determines how many bytes long the sequence is.
8788
8789 *** The function forward-char moves over characters, and therefore
8790 (forward-char 1) may increase point by more than 1 if it moves over a
8791 multibyte character. Likewise, delete-char always deletes a
8792 character, which may be more than one buffer position.
8793
8794 This means that some Lisp programs, which assume that a character is
8795 always one buffer position, need to be changed.
8796
8797 However, all ASCII characters are always one buffer position.
8798
8799 *** The regexp [\200-\377] no longer matches all non-ASCII characters,
8800 because when enable-multibyte-characters is non-nil, these characters
8801 have codes that are not in the range octal 200 to octal 377. However,
8802 the regexp [^\000-\177] does match all non-ASCII characters,
8803 guaranteed.
8804
8805 *** The function char-boundary-p returns non-nil if position POS is
8806 between two characters in the buffer (not in the middle of a
8807 character).
8808
8809 When the value is non-nil, it says what kind of character follows POS:
8810
8811 0 if POS is at an ASCII character or at the end of range,
8812 1 if POS is before a 2-byte length multi-byte form,
8813 2 if POS is at a head of 3-byte length multi-byte form,
8814 3 if POS is at a head of 4-byte length multi-byte form,
8815 4 if POS is at a head of multi-byte form of a composite character.
8816
8817 *** The function char-bytes returns how many bytes the character CHAR uses.
8818
8819 *** Strings can contain multibyte characters. The function
8820 `length' returns the string length counting bytes, which may be
8821 more than the number of characters.
8822
8823 You can include a multibyte character in a string constant by writing
8824 it literally. You can also represent it with a hex escape,
8825 \xNNNNNNN..., using as many digits as necessary. Any character which
8826 is not a valid hex digit terminates this construct. If you want to
8827 follow it with a character that is a hex digit, write backslash and
8828 newline in between; that will terminate the hex escape.
8829
8830 *** The function concat-chars takes arguments which are characters
8831 and returns a string containing those characters.
8832
8833 *** The function sref access a multibyte character in a string.
8834 (sref STRING INDX) returns the character in STRING at INDEX. INDEX
8835 counts from zero. If INDEX is at a position in the middle of a
8836 character, sref signals an error.
8837
8838 *** The function chars-in-string returns the number of characters
8839 in a string. This is less than the length of the string, if the
8840 string contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
8841
8842 *** The function chars-in-region returns the number of characters
8843 in a region from BEG to END. This is less than (- END BEG) if the
8844 region contains multibyte characters (the length counts bytes).
8845
8846 *** The function string-to-list converts a string to a list of
8847 the characters in it. string-to-vector converts a string
8848 to a vector of the characters in it.
8849
8850 *** The function store-substring alters part of the contents
8851 of a string. You call it as follows:
8852
8853 (store-substring STRING IDX OBJ)
8854
8855 This says to alter STRING, by storing OBJ starting at index IDX in
8856 STRING. OBJ may be either a character or a (smaller) string.
8857 This function really does alter the contents of STRING.
8858 Since it is impossible to change the length of an existing string,
8859 it is an error if OBJ doesn't fit within STRING's actual length.
8860
8861 *** char-width returns the width (in columns) of the character CHAR,
8862 if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
8863
8864 *** string-width returns the width (in columns) of the text in STRING,
8865 if it were displayed in the current buffer and the selected window.
8866
8867 *** truncate-string-to-width shortens a string, if necessary,
8868 to fit within a certain number of columns. (Of course, it does
8869 not alter the string that you give it; it returns a new string
8870 which contains all or just part of the existing string.)
8871
8872 (truncate-string-to-width STR END-COLUMN &optional START-COLUMN PADDING)
8873
8874 This returns the part of STR up to column END-COLUMN.
8875
8876 The optional argument START-COLUMN specifies the starting column.
8877 If this is non-nil, then the first START-COLUMN columns of the string
8878 are not included in the resulting value.
8879
8880 The optional argument PADDING, if non-nil, is a padding character to be added
8881 at the beginning and end the resulting string, to extend it to exactly
8882 WIDTH columns. If PADDING is nil, that means do not pad; then, if STRING
8883 is narrower than WIDTH, the value is equal to STRING.
8884
8885 If PADDING and START-COLUMN are both non-nil, and if there is no clean
8886 place in STRING that corresponds to START-COLUMN (because one
8887 character extends across that column), then the padding character
8888 PADDING is added one or more times at the beginning of the result
8889 string, so that its columns line up as if it really did start at
8890 column START-COLUMN.
8891
8892 *** When the functions in the list after-change-functions are called,
8893 the third argument is the number of bytes in the pre-change text, not
8894 necessarily the number of characters. It is, in effect, the
8895 difference in buffer position between the beginning and the end of the
8896 changed text, before the change.
8897
8898 *** The characters Emacs uses are classified in various character
8899 sets, each of which has a name which is a symbol. In general there is
8900 one character set for each script, not for each language.
8901
8902 **** The function charsetp tests whether an object is a character set name.
8903
8904 **** The variable charset-list holds a list of character set names.
8905
8906 **** char-charset, given a character code, returns the name of the character
8907 set that the character belongs to. (The value is a symbol.)
8908
8909 **** split-char, given a character code, returns a list containing the
8910 name of the character set, followed by one or two byte-values
8911 which identify the character within that character set.
8912
8913 **** make-char, given a character set name and one or two subsequent
8914 byte-values, constructs a character code. This is roughly the
8915 opposite of split-char.
8916
8917 **** find-charset-region returns a list of the character sets
8918 of all the characters between BEG and END.
8919
8920 **** find-charset-string returns a list of the character sets
8921 of all the characters in a string.
8922
8923 *** Here are the Lisp facilities for working with coding systems
8924 and specifying coding systems.
8925
8926 **** The function coding-system-list returns a list of all coding
8927 system names (symbols). With optional argument t, it returns a list
8928 of all distinct base coding systems, not including variants.
8929 (Variant coding systems are those like latin-1-dos, latin-1-unix
8930 and latin-1-mac which specify the end-of-line conversion as well
8931 as what to do about code conversion.)
8932
8933 **** coding-system-p tests a symbol to see if it is a coding system
8934 name. It returns t if so, nil if not.
8935
8936 **** file-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
8937 for certain file names. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
8938 except that the PATTERN is matched against the file name.
8939
8940 Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
8941 which file names the element applies to. PATTERN should be a regexp
8942 to match against a file name.
8943
8944 VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
8945 a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
8946 decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
8947 to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
8948 systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
8949 specifies the coding system for encoding.
8950
8951 If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
8952 or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
8953
8954 **** The variable network-coding-system-alist specifies
8955 the coding system to use for network sockets.
8956
8957 Each element has the format (PATTERN . VAL), where PATTERN determines
8958 which network sockets the element applies to. PATTERN should be
8959 either a port number or a regular expression matching some network
8960 service names.
8961
8962 VAL is a coding system, a cons cell containing two coding systems, or
8963 a function symbol. If VAL is a coding system, it is used for both
8964 decoding what received from the network stream and encoding what sent
8965 to the network stream. If VAL is a cons cell containing two coding
8966 systems, the car specifies the coding system for decoding, and the cdr
8967 specifies the coding system for encoding.
8968
8969 If VAL is a function symbol, the function must return a coding system
8970 or a cons cell containing two coding systems, which is used as above.
8971
8972 **** process-coding-system-alist specifies which coding systems to use
8973 for certain subprocess. It works like network-coding-system-alist,
8974 except that the PATTERN is matched against the program name used to
8975 start the subprocess.
8976
8977 **** The variable default-process-coding-system specifies the coding
8978 systems to use for subprocess (and net connection) input and output,
8979 when nothing else specifies what to do. The value is a cons cell
8980 (OUTPUT-CODING . INPUT-CODING). OUTPUT-CODING applies to output
8981 to the subprocess, and INPUT-CODING applies to input from it.
8982
8983 **** The variable coding-system-for-write, if non-nil, specifies the
8984 coding system to use for writing a file, or for output to a synchronous
8985 subprocess.
8986
8987 It also applies to any asynchronous subprocess or network connection,
8988 but in a different way: the value of coding-system-for-write when you
8989 start the subprocess or connection affects that subprocess or
8990 connection permanently or until overridden.
8991
8992 The variable coding-system-for-write takes precedence over
8993 file-coding-system-alist, process-coding-system-alist and
8994 network-coding-system-alist, and all other methods of specifying a
8995 coding system for output. But most of the time this variable is nil.
8996 It exists so that Lisp programs can bind it to a specific coding
8997 system for one operation at a time.
8998
8999 **** coding-system-for-read applies similarly to input from
9000 files, subprocesses or network connections.
9001
9002 **** The function process-coding-system tells you what
9003 coding systems(s) an existing subprocess is using.
9004 The value is a cons cell,
9005 (DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM . ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM)
9006 where DECODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for decoding output from
9007 the subprocess, and ENCODING-CODING-SYSTEM is used for encoding
9008 input to the subprocess.
9009
9010 **** The function set-process-coding-system can be used to
9011 change the coding systems in use for an existing subprocess.
9012
9013 ** Emacs has a new facility to help users manage the many
9014 customization options. To make a Lisp program work with this facility,
9015 you need to use the new macros defgroup and defcustom.
9016
9017 You use defcustom instead of defvar, for defining a user option
9018 variable. The difference is that you specify two additional pieces of
9019 information (usually): the "type" which says what values are
9020 legitimate, and the "group" which specifies the hierarchy for
9021 customization.
9022
9023 Thus, instead of writing
9024
9025 (defvar foo-blurgoze nil
9026 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely.")
9027
9028 you would now write this:
9029
9030 (defcustom foo-blurgoze nil
9031 "*Non-nil means that foo will act very blurgozely."
9032 :type 'boolean
9033 :group foo)
9034
9035 The type `boolean' means that this variable has only
9036 two meaningful states: nil and non-nil. Other type values
9037 describe other possibilities; see the manual for Custom
9038 for a description of them.
9039
9040 The "group" argument is used to specify a group which the option
9041 should belong to. You define a new group like this:
9042
9043 (defgroup ispell nil
9044 "Spell checking using Ispell."
9045 :group 'processes)
9046
9047 The "group" argument in defgroup specifies the parent group. The root
9048 group is called `emacs'; it should not contain any variables itself,
9049 but only other groups. The immediate subgroups of `emacs' correspond
9050 to the keywords used by C-h p. Under these subgroups come
9051 second-level subgroups that belong to individual packages.
9052
9053 Each Emacs package should have its own set of groups. A simple
9054 package should have just one group; a more complex package should
9055 have a hierarchy of its own groups. The sole or root group of a
9056 package should be a subgroup of one or more of the "keyword"
9057 first-level subgroups.
9058
9059 ** New `widget' library for inserting UI components in buffers.
9060
9061 This library, used by the new custom library, is documented in a
9062 separate manual that accompanies Emacs.
9063
9064 ** easy-mmode
9065
9066 The easy-mmode package provides macros and functions that make
9067 developing minor modes easier. Roughly, the programmer has to code
9068 only the functionality of the minor mode. All the rest--toggles,
9069 predicate, and documentation--can be done in one call to the macro
9070 `easy-mmode-define-minor-mode' (see the documentation). See also
9071 `easy-mmode-define-keymap'.
9072
9073 ** Text property changes
9074
9075 *** The `intangible' property now works on overlays as well as on a
9076 text property.
9077
9078 *** The new functions next-char-property-change and
9079 previous-char-property-change scan through the buffer looking for a
9080 place where either a text property or an overlay might change. The
9081 functions take two arguments, POSITION and LIMIT. POSITION is the
9082 starting position for the scan. LIMIT says where to stop the scan.
9083
9084 If no property change is found before LIMIT, the value is LIMIT. If
9085 LIMIT is nil, scan goes to the beginning or end of the accessible part
9086 of the buffer. If no property change is found, the value is the
9087 position of the beginning or end of the buffer.
9088
9089 *** In the `local-map' text property or overlay property, the property
9090 value can now be a symbol whose function definition is a keymap. This
9091 is an alternative to using the keymap itself.
9092
9093 ** Changes in invisibility features
9094
9095 *** Isearch can now temporarily show parts of the buffer which are
9096 hidden by an overlay with a invisible property, when the search match
9097 is inside that portion of the buffer. To enable this the overlay
9098 should have a isearch-open-invisible property which is a function that
9099 would be called having the overlay as an argument, the function should
9100 make the overlay visible.
9101
9102 During incremental search the overlays are shown by modifying the
9103 invisible and intangible properties, if beside this more actions are
9104 needed the overlay should have a isearch-open-invisible-temporary
9105 which is a function. The function is called with 2 arguments: one is
9106 the overlay and the second is nil when it should show the overlay and
9107 t when it should hide it.
9108
9109 *** add-to-invisibility-spec, remove-from-invisibility-spec
9110
9111 Modes that use overlays to hide portions of a buffer should set the
9112 invisible property of the overlay to the mode's name (or another symbol)
9113 and modify the `buffer-invisibility-spec' to include that symbol.
9114 Use `add-to-invisibility-spec' and `remove-from-invisibility-spec' to
9115 manipulate the `buffer-invisibility-spec'.
9116 Here is an example of how to do this:
9117
9118 ;; If we want to display an ellipsis:
9119 (add-to-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
9120 ;; If you don't want ellipsis:
9121 (add-to-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
9122
9123 ...
9124 (overlay-put (make-overlay beginning end) 'invisible 'my-symbol)
9125
9126 ...
9127 ;; When done with the overlays:
9128 (remove-from-invisibility-spec '(my-symbol . t))
9129 ;; Or respectively:
9130 (remove-from-invisibility-spec 'my-symbol)
9131
9132 ** Changes in syntax parsing.
9133
9134 *** The syntax-directed buffer-scan functions (such as
9135 `parse-partial-sexp', `forward-word' and similar functions) can now
9136 obey syntax information specified by text properties, if the variable
9137 `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil.
9138
9139 If the value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is nil, the behavior
9140 is as before: the syntax-table of the current buffer is always
9141 used to determine the syntax of the character at the position.
9142
9143 When `parse-sexp-lookup-properties' is non-nil, the syntax of a
9144 character in the buffer is calculated thus:
9145
9146 a) if the `syntax-table' text-property of that character
9147 is a cons, this cons becomes the syntax-type;
9148
9149 Valid values of `syntax-table' text-property are: nil, a valid
9150 syntax-table, and a valid syntax-table element, i.e.,
9151 a cons cell of the form (SYNTAX-CODE . MATCHING-CHAR).
9152
9153 b) if the character's `syntax-table' text-property
9154 is a syntax table, this syntax table is used
9155 (instead of the syntax-table of the current buffer) to
9156 determine the syntax type of the character.
9157
9158 c) otherwise the syntax-type is determined by the syntax-table
9159 of the current buffer.
9160
9161 *** The meaning of \s in regular expressions is also affected by the
9162 value of `parse-sexp-lookup-properties'. The details are the same as
9163 for the syntax-directed buffer-scan functions.
9164
9165 *** There are two new syntax-codes, `!' and `|' (numeric values 14
9166 and 15). A character with a code `!' starts a comment which is ended
9167 only by another character with the same code (unless quoted). A
9168 character with a code `|' starts a string which is ended only by
9169 another character with the same code (unless quoted).
9170
9171 These codes are mainly meant for use as values of the `syntax-table'
9172 text property.
9173
9174 *** The function `parse-partial-sexp' has new semantics for the sixth
9175 arg COMMENTSTOP. If it is `syntax-table', parse stops after the start
9176 of a comment or a string, or after end of a comment or a string.
9177
9178 *** The state-list which the return value from `parse-partial-sexp'
9179 (and can also be used as an argument) now has an optional ninth
9180 element: the character address of the start of last comment or string;
9181 nil if none. The fourth and eighth elements have special values if the
9182 string/comment is started by a "!" or "|" syntax-code.
9183
9184 *** Since new features of `parse-partial-sexp' allow a complete
9185 syntactic parsing, `font-lock' no longer supports
9186 `font-lock-comment-start-regexp'.
9187
9188 ** Changes in face features
9189
9190 *** The face functions are now unconditionally defined in Emacs, even
9191 if it does not support displaying on a device that supports faces.
9192
9193 *** The function face-documentation returns the documentation string
9194 of a face (or nil if it doesn't have one).
9195
9196 *** The function face-bold-p returns t if a face should be bold.
9197 set-face-bold-p sets that flag.
9198
9199 *** The function face-italic-p returns t if a face should be italic.
9200 set-face-italic-p sets that flag.
9201
9202 *** You can now specify foreground and background colors for text
9203 by adding elements of the form (foreground-color . COLOR-NAME)
9204 and (background-color . COLOR-NAME) to the list of faces in
9205 the `face' property (either the character's text property or an
9206 overlay property).
9207
9208 This means that you no longer need to create named faces to use
9209 arbitrary colors in a Lisp package.
9210
9211 ** Changes in file-handling functions
9212
9213 *** File-access primitive functions no longer discard an extra redundant
9214 directory name from the beginning of the file name. In other words,
9215 they no longer do anything special with // or /~. That conversion
9216 is now done only in substitute-in-file-name.
9217
9218 This makes it possible for a Lisp program to open a file whose name
9219 begins with ~.
9220
9221 *** If copy-file is unable to set the date of the output file,
9222 it now signals an error with the condition file-date-error.
9223
9224 *** The inode number returned by file-attributes may be an integer (if
9225 the number fits in a Lisp integer) or a list of integers.
9226
9227 *** insert-file-contents can now read from a special file,
9228 as long as the arguments VISIT and REPLACE are nil.
9229
9230 *** The RAWFILE arg to find-file-noselect, if non-nil, now suppresses
9231 character code conversion as well as other things.
9232
9233 Meanwhile, this feature does work with remote file names
9234 (formerly it did not).
9235
9236 *** Lisp packages which create temporary files should use the TMPDIR
9237 environment variable to decide which directory to put them in.
9238
9239 *** interpreter-mode-alist elements now specify regexps
9240 instead of constant strings.
9241
9242 *** expand-file-name no longer treats `//' or `/~' specially. It used
9243 to delete all the text of a file name up through the first slash of
9244 any `//' or `/~' sequence. Now it passes them straight through.
9245
9246 substitute-in-file-name continues to treat those sequences specially,
9247 in the same way as before.
9248
9249 *** The variable `format-alist' is more general now.
9250 The FROM-FN and TO-FN in a format definition can now be strings
9251 which specify shell commands to use as filters to perform conversion.
9252
9253 *** The new function access-file tries to open a file, and signals an
9254 error if that fails. If the open succeeds, access-file does nothing
9255 else, and returns nil.
9256
9257 *** The function insert-directory now signals an error if the specified
9258 directory cannot be listed.
9259
9260 ** Changes in minibuffer input
9261
9262 *** The functions read-buffer, read-variable, read-command, read-string
9263 read-file-name, read-from-minibuffer and completing-read now take an
9264 additional argument which specifies the default value. If this
9265 argument is non-nil, it should be a string; that string is used in two
9266 ways:
9267
9268 It is returned if the user enters empty input.
9269 It is available through the history command M-n.
9270
9271 *** The functions read-string, read-from-minibuffer,
9272 read-no-blanks-input and completing-read now take an additional
9273 argument INHERIT-INPUT-METHOD. If this is non-nil, then the
9274 minibuffer inherits the current input method and the setting of
9275 enable-multibyte-characters from the previously current buffer.
9276
9277 In an interactive spec, you can use M instead of s to read an
9278 argument in this way.
9279
9280 *** All minibuffer input functions discard text properties
9281 from the text you enter in the minibuffer, unless the variable
9282 minibuffer-allow-text-properties is non-nil.
9283
9284 ** Echo area features
9285
9286 *** Clearing the echo area now runs the normal hook
9287 echo-area-clear-hook. Note that the echo area can be used while the
9288 minibuffer is active; in that case, the minibuffer is still active
9289 after the echo area is cleared.
9290
9291 *** The function current-message returns the message currently displayed
9292 in the echo area, or nil if there is none.
9293
9294 ** Keyboard input features
9295
9296 *** tty-erase-char is a new variable that reports which character was
9297 set up as the terminal's erase character when time Emacs was started.
9298
9299 *** num-nonmacro-input-events is the total number of input events
9300 received so far from the terminal. It does not count those generated
9301 by keyboard macros.
9302
9303 ** Frame-related changes
9304
9305 *** make-frame runs the normal hook before-make-frame-hook just before
9306 creating a frame, and just after creating a frame it runs the abnormal
9307 hook after-make-frame-functions with the new frame as arg.
9308
9309 *** The new hook window-configuration-change-hook is now run every time
9310 the window configuration has changed. The frame whose configuration
9311 has changed is the selected frame when the hook is run.
9312
9313 *** Each frame now independently records the order for recently
9314 selected buffers, in its buffer-list frame parameter, so that the
9315 value of other-buffer is now based on the buffers recently displayed
9316 in the selected frame.
9317
9318 *** The value of the frame parameter vertical-scroll-bars
9319 is now `left', `right' or nil. A non-nil value specifies
9320 which side of the window to put the scroll bars on.
9321
9322 ** X Windows features
9323
9324 *** You can examine X resources for other applications by binding
9325 x-resource-class around a call to x-get-resource. The usual value of
9326 x-resource-class is "Emacs", which is the correct value for Emacs.
9327
9328 *** In menus, checkboxes and radio buttons now actually work.
9329 The menu displays the current status of the box or button.
9330
9331 *** The function x-list-fonts now takes an optional fourth argument
9332 MAXIMUM which sets a limit on how many matching fonts to return.
9333 A smaller value of MAXIMUM makes the function faster.
9334
9335 If the only question is whether *any* font matches the pattern,
9336 it is good to supply 1 for this argument.
9337
9338 ** Subprocess features
9339
9340 *** A reminder: it is no longer necessary for subprocess filter
9341 functions and sentinels to do save-match-data, because Emacs does this
9342 automatically.
9343
9344 *** The new function shell-command-to-string executes a shell command
9345 and returns the output from the command as a string.
9346
9347 *** The new function process-contact returns t for a child process,
9348 and (HOSTNAME SERVICE) for a net connection.
9349
9350 ** An error in running pre-command-hook or post-command-hook
9351 does clear the variable to nil. The documentation was wrong before.
9352
9353 ** In define-key-after, if AFTER is t, the new binding now always goes
9354 at the end of the keymap. If the keymap is a menu, this means it
9355 goes after the other menu items.
9356
9357 ** If you have a program that makes several changes in the same area
9358 of the buffer, you can use the macro combine-after-change-calls
9359 around that Lisp code to make it faster when after-change hooks
9360 are in use.
9361
9362 The macro arranges to call the after-change functions just once for a
9363 series of several changes--if that seems safe.
9364
9365 Don't alter the variables after-change-functions and
9366 after-change-function within the body of a combine-after-change-calls
9367 form.
9368
9369 ** If you define an abbrev (with define-abbrev) whose EXPANSION
9370 is not a string, then the abbrev does not expand in the usual sense,
9371 but its hook is still run.
9372
9373 ** Normally, the Lisp debugger is not used (even if you have enabled it)
9374 for errors that are handled by condition-case.
9375
9376 If you set debug-on-signal to a non-nil value, then the debugger is called
9377 regardless of whether there is a handler for the condition. This is
9378 useful for debugging problems that happen inside of a condition-case.
9379
9380 This mode of operation seems to be unreliable in other ways. Errors that
9381 are normal and ought to be handled, perhaps in timers or process
9382 filters, will instead invoke the debugger. So don't say you weren't
9383 warned.
9384
9385 ** The new variable ring-bell-function lets you specify your own
9386 way for Emacs to "ring the bell".
9387
9388 ** If run-at-time's TIME argument is t, the action is repeated at
9389 integral multiples of REPEAT from the epoch; this is useful for
9390 functions like display-time.
9391
9392 ** You can use the function locate-library to find the precise file
9393 name of a Lisp library. This isn't new, but wasn't documented before.
9394
9395 ** Commands for entering view mode have new optional arguments that
9396 can be used from Lisp. Low-level entrance to and exit from view mode
9397 is done by functions view-mode-enter and view-mode-exit.
9398
9399 ** batch-byte-compile-file now makes Emacs return a nonzero status code
9400 if there is an error in compilation.
9401
9402 ** pop-to-buffer, switch-to-buffer-other-window and
9403 switch-to-buffer-other-frame now accept an additional optional
9404 argument NORECORD, much like switch-to-buffer. If it is non-nil,
9405 they don't put the buffer at the front of the buffer list.
9406
9407 ** If your .emacs file leaves the *scratch* buffer non-empty,
9408 Emacs does not display the startup message, so as to avoid changing
9409 the *scratch* buffer.
9410
9411 ** The new function regexp-opt returns an efficient regexp to match a string.
9412 The arguments are STRINGS and (optionally) PAREN. This function can be used
9413 where regexp matching or searching is intensively used and speed is important,
9414 e.g., in Font Lock mode.
9415
9416 ** The variable buffer-display-count is local to each buffer,
9417 and is incremented each time the buffer is displayed in a window.
9418 It starts at 0 when the buffer is created.
9419
9420 ** The new function compose-mail starts composing a mail message
9421 using the user's chosen mail composition agent (specified with the
9422 variable mail-user-agent). It has variants compose-mail-other-window
9423 and compose-mail-other-frame.
9424
9425 ** The `user-full-name' function now takes an optional parameter which
9426 can either be a number (the UID) or a string (the login name). The
9427 full name of the specified user will be returned.
9428
9429 ** Lisp packages that load files of customizations, or any other sort
9430 of user profile, should obey the variable init-file-user in deciding
9431 where to find it. They should load the profile of the user name found
9432 in that variable. If init-file-user is nil, meaning that the -q
9433 option was used, then Lisp packages should not load the customization
9434 files at all.
9435
9436 ** format-time-string now allows you to specify the field width
9437 and type of padding. This works as in printf: you write the field
9438 width as digits in the middle of a %-construct. If you start
9439 the field width with 0, it means to pad with zeros.
9440
9441 For example, %S normally specifies the number of seconds since the
9442 minute; %03S means to pad this with zeros to 3 positions, %_3S to pad
9443 with spaces to 3 positions. Plain %3S pads with zeros, because that
9444 is how %S normally pads to two positions.
9445
9446 ** thing-at-point now supports a new kind of "thing": url.
9447
9448 ** imenu.el changes.
9449
9450 You can now specify a function to be run when selecting an
9451 item from menu created by imenu.
9452
9453 An example of using this feature: if we define imenu items for the
9454 #include directives in a C file, we can open the included file when we
9455 select one of those items.
9456 \f
9457 * For older news, see the file ONEWS
9458
9459 ----------------------------------------------------------------------
9460 Copyright information:
9461
9462 Copyright (C) 1999, 2000, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
9463
9464 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
9465 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
9466 copyright notice and this permission notice are preserved,
9467 thus giving the recipient permission to redistribute in turn.
9468
9469 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
9470 of this document, or of portions of it,
9471 under the above conditions, provided also that they
9472 carry prominent notices stating who last changed them.
9473 \f
9474 Local variables:
9475 mode: outline
9476 paragraph-separate: "[ \f]*$"
9477 end: