@c This is part of the Emacs manual.
-@c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997, 2000, 2001
+@c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2002
@c Free Software Foundation, Inc.
@c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
@node Display, Search, Registers, Top
* Font Lock:: Minor mode for syntactic highlighting using faces.
* Highlight Changes:: Using colors to show where you changed the buffer.
* Highlight Interactively:: Tell Emacs what text to highlight.
-* Trailing Whitespace:: Showing possibly-spurious trailing whitespace.
* Scrolling:: Moving text up and down in a window.
* Horizontal Scrolling:: Moving text left and right in a window.
+* Fringes:: Enabling or disabling window fringes.
+* Useless Whitespace:: Showing possibly-spurious trailing whitespace.
* Follow Mode:: Follow mode lets two windows scroll as one.
* Selective Display:: Hiding lines with lots of indentation.
* Optional Mode Line:: Optional mode line display features.
@section Using Multiple Typefaces
@cindex faces
- When using Emacs with a window system, you can set up multiple
-styles of displaying characters. Some of the aspects of style that
-you can control are the type font, the foreground color, the
-background color, and whether or not to underline text, and in which
-color.
+ Emacs supports using multiple styles of displaying characters. Each
+style is called a @dfn{face}. Each face can specify various @dfn{face
+attributes}, such as the font family, the height, weight and slant of
+the characters, the foreground and background color, and underlining
+or overlining. A face does not have to specify all of these
+attributes; often it inherits many of them from another face.
+
+ On a window system, all the Emacs face attributes are meaningful.
+On a character terminal, only some of them work. Some character
+terminals support inverse video, bold, and underline attributes; some
+support colors. Character terminals generally do not support changing
+the height and width or the font family.
Features which rely on text in multiple faces (such as Font Lock mode)
will also work on non-windowed terminals that can display more than one
the @option{-nw} option. Emacs determines automatically whether the
terminal has this capability.
- The way you control display style is by defining named @dfn{faces}.
-Each face can specify various attributes, like the type font's height,
-weight and slant, foreground and background color, and underlining,
-but it does not have to specify all of them. By specifying the face
-or faces to use for a given part of the text in the buffer, you
-control how that text appears.
-
- The style of display used for a given character in the text is
-determined by combining several faces. Any aspect of the display
-style that isn't specified by overlays or text properties comes from a
-default face which inherits its settings from the frame itself.
+ You control the appearance of a part of the text in the buffer by
+specifying the face or faces to use for it. The style of display used
+for any given character is determined by combining the attributes of
+all the applicable faces specified for that character. Any attribute
+that isn't specified by these faces is taken from the @code{default} face,
+whose attributes reflect the default settings of the frame itself.
Enriched mode, the mode for editing formatted text, includes several
-commands and menus for specifying faces. @xref{Format Faces}, for how
-to specify the font for text in the buffer. @xref{Format Colors}, for
-how to specify the foreground and background color.
-
- To alter the appearance of a face, use the customization buffer.
-@xref{Face Customization}. You can also use X resources to specify
-attributes of particular faces (@pxref{Resources X}).
+commands and menus for specifying faces for text in the buffer.
+@xref{Format Faces}, for how to specify the font for text in the
+buffer. @xref{Format Colors}, for how to specify the foreground and
+background color.
@cindex face colors, setting
@findex set-face-foreground
@findex set-face-background
- Alternatively, you can change the foreground and background colors
-of a specific face with @kbd{M-x set-face-foreground} and @kbd{M-x
-set-face-background}. These commands prompt in the minibuffer for a
-face name and a color name, with completion, and then set that face to
-use the specified color.
+ To alter the appearance of a face, use the customization buffer.
+@xref{Face Customization}. You can also use X resources to specify
+attributes of particular faces (@pxref{Resources}). Alternatively,
+you can change the foreground and background colors of a specific face
+with @kbd{M-x set-face-foreground} and @kbd{M-x set-face-background}.
+These commands prompt in the minibuffer for a face name and a color
+name, with completion, and then set that face to use the specified
+color. Changing the colors of the @code{default} face also changes
+the foreground and background colors on all frames, both existing and
+those to be created in the future. (You can also set foreground and
+background colors for the current frame only; see @ref{Frame
+Parameters}.)
+
+ Emacs 21 can correctly display variable-width fonts, but Emacs
+commands that calculate width and indentation do not know how to
+calculate variable widths. This can sometimes lead to incorrect
+results when you use variable-width fonts. In particular, indentation
+commands can give inconsistent results, so we recommend you avoid
+variable-width fonts for editing program source code. Filling will
+sometimes make lines too long or too short. We plan to address these
+issues in future Emacs versions.
@findex list-faces-display
To see what faces are currently defined, and what they look like, type
@kbd{M-x list-faces-display}. It's possible for a given face to look
different in different frames; this command shows the appearance in the
-frame in which you type it. Here's a list of the standardly defined
+frame in which you type it. Here's a list of the standard defined
faces:
@table @code
@item default
This face is used for ordinary text that doesn't specify any other face.
@item mode-line
-This face is used for mode lines. By default, it's drawn with shadows
-for a ``raised'' effect on window systems, and drawn as the inverse of
-the default face on non-windowed terminals. @xref{Display Custom}.
+This face is used for the mode line of the currently selected window.
+By default, it's drawn with shadows for a ``raised'' effect on window
+systems, and drawn as the inverse of the default face on non-windowed
+terminals. @xref{Display Custom}.
+@item mode-line-inactive
+Like @code{mode-line}, but used for mode lines of the windows other
+than the selected one (if @code{mode-line-in-non-selected-windows} is
+non-@code{nil}). This face inherits from @code{mode-line}, so changes
+in that face affect mode lines in all windows.
@item header-line
Similar to @code{mode-line} for a window's header line. Most modes
don't use the header line, but the Info mode does.
+@item minibuffer-prompt
+This face is used for the prompt strings displayed in the minibuffer.
@item highlight
This face is used for highlighting portions of text, in various modes.
For example, mouse-sensitive text is highlighted using this face.
the font are ignored in this case.
@item trailing-whitespace
The face for highlighting trailing whitespace when
-@code{show-trailing-whitespace} is non-nil.
+@code{show-trailing-whitespace} is non-@code{nil}; see @ref{Useless
+Whitespace}.
@item variable-pitch
The basic variable-pitch face.
@end table
@cindex mode, Font Lock
@cindex syntax highlighting and coloring
- Font Lock mode is a minor mode, always local to a particular
-buffer, which highlights (or ``fontifies'') using various faces
-according to the syntax of the text you are editing. It can
-recognize comments and strings in most languages; in several
-languages, it can also recognize and properly highlight various other
-important constructs---for example, names of functions being defined
-or reserved keywords.
+ Font Lock mode is a minor mode, always local to a particular buffer,
+which highlights (or ``fontifies'') using various faces according to
+the syntax of the text you are editing. It can recognize comments and
+strings in most languages; in several languages, it can also recognize
+and properly highlight various other important constructs---for
+example, names of functions being defined or reserved keywords.
+Some special modes, such as Occur mode and Info mode, have completely
+specialized ways of assigning fonts for Font Lock mode.
@findex font-lock-mode
@findex turn-on-font-lock
@c @w is used below to prevent a bad page-break.
@vindex font-lock-beginning-of-syntax-function
+@cindex incorrect fontification
+@cindex parenthesis in column zero and fontification
+@cindex brace in column zero and fontification
Comment and string fontification (or ``syntactic'' fontification)
relies on analysis of the syntactic structure of the buffer text. For
-the purposes of speed, some modes including C mode and Lisp mode rely on
-a special convention: an open-parenthesis in the leftmost column always
-defines the @w{beginning} of a defun, and is thus always outside any string
-or comment. (@xref{Defuns}.) If you don't follow this convention,
-then Font Lock mode can misfontify the text after an open-parenthesis in
+the sake of speed, some modes, including C mode and Lisp mode,
+rely on a special convention: an open-parenthesis or open-brace in the
+leftmost column always defines the @w{beginning} of a defun, and is
+thus always outside any string or comment. (@xref{Left Margin
+Paren}.) If you don't follow this convention, Font Lock mode can
+misfontify the text that follows an open-parenthesis or open-brace in
the leftmost column that is inside a string or comment.
@cindex slow display during scrolling
'(("\\<\\(FIXME\\):" 1 font-lock-warning-face t)))
@end example
+@findex font-lock-remove-keywords
+ To remove keywords from the font-lock highlighting patterns, use the
+function @code{font-lock-remove-keywords}. @xref{Search-based
+Fontification,,,elisp}, for documentation of the format of this list.
+
+@cindex just-in-time (JIT) font-lock
+@cindex background syntax highlighting
+ Fontifying large buffers can take a long time. To avoid large
+delays when a file is visited, Emacs fontifies only the visible
+portion of a buffer. As you scroll through the buffer, each portion
+that becomes visible is fontified as soon as it is displayed. The
+parts of the buffer that are not displayed are fontified
+``stealthily'', in the background, i.e.@: when Emacs is idle. You can
+control this background fontification, called @dfn{Just-In-Time}, or
+@dfn{JIT} Font Lock, by customizing various options in the
+customization group @samp{jit-lock}. @xref{Specific Customization}.
+
@node Highlight Changes
@section Highlight Changes Mode
@findex unhighlight-regexp
Unhighlight @var{regexp} (@code{unhighlight-regexp}). You must enter
one of the regular expressions currently specified for highlighting.
-(You can use completion, or a menu, to enter one of them
+(You can use completion, or choose from a menu, to enter one of them
conveniently.)
@item C-x w l @var{regexp} @key{RET} @var{face} @key{RET}
@findex highlight-lines-matching-regexp
@cindex lines, highlighting
@cindex highlighting lines of text
-Highlight lines containing a match for @var{regexp}, using face
+Highlight entire lines containing a match for @var{regexp}, using face
@var{face} (@code{highlight-lines-matching-regexp}).
@item C-x w b
@code{hi-lock-exclude-modes}.
@end table
-@node Trailing Whitespace
-@section Trailing Whitespace
-
-@cindex trailing whitespace
-@cindex whitespace, trailing
-@vindex show-trailing-whitespace
- It is easy to leave unnecessary spaces at the end of a line without
-realizing it. In most cases, this @dfn{trailing whitespace} has no
-effect, but there are special circumstances where it matters.
-
- You can make trailing whitespace visible on the screen by setting
-the variable @code{show-trailing-whitespace} to @code{t}. Then Emacs
-displays trailing whitespace in the face @code{trailing-whitespace}.
-
- Trailing whitespace is defined as spaces or tabs at the end of a
-line. But trailing whitespace is not displayed specially if point is
-at the end of the line containing the whitespace. (Doing that looks
-ugly while you are typing in new text, and the location of point is
-enough in that case to show you that the spaces are present.)
-
-@vindex indicate-empty-lines
-@vindex default-indicate-empty-lines
-@cindex empty lines
- Emacs can indicate empty lines at the end of the buffer with a
-special bitmap on the left fringe of the window. To enable this
-feature, set the buffer-local variable @code{indicate-empty-lines} to
-a non-@code{nil} value. The default value of this variable is
-controlled by the variable @code{default-indicate-empty-lines};
-by setting that variable, you can enable or disable this feature
-for all new buffers.
-
@node Scrolling
@section Scrolling
@item C-v
Scroll forward (a windowful or a specified number of lines) (@code{scroll-up}).
@item @key{NEXT}
+@itemx @key{PAGEDOWN}
Likewise, scroll forward.
@item M-v
Scroll backward (@code{scroll-down}).
@item @key{PRIOR}
+@itemx @key{PAGEUP}
Likewise, scroll backward.
@item @var{arg} C-l
Scroll so point is on line @var{arg} (@code{recenter}).
@kindex M-v
@kindex NEXT
@kindex PRIOR
+@kindex PAGEDOWN
+@kindex PAGEUP
@findex scroll-up
@findex scroll-down
- The scrolling commands @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v} let you move all the text
-in the window up or down a few lines. @kbd{C-v} (@code{scroll-up}) with an
-argument shows you that many more lines at the bottom of the window, moving
-the text and point up together as @kbd{C-l} might. @kbd{C-v} with a
-negative argument shows you more lines at the top of the window.
-@kbd{M-v} (@code{scroll-down}) is like @kbd{C-v}, but moves in the
-opposite direction. The function keys @key{NEXT} and @key{PRIOR} are
-equivalent to @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v}.
-
- The names of scroll commands are based on the direction that the text
-moves in the window. Thus, the command to scroll forward is called
-@code{scroll-up} because it moves the text upward on the screen.
-
@vindex next-screen-context-lines
- To read the buffer a windowful at a time, use @kbd{C-v} with no argument.
-It takes the last two lines at the bottom of the window and puts them at
-the top, followed by nearly a whole windowful of lines not previously
-visible. If point was in the text scrolled off the top, it moves to the
-new top of the window. @kbd{M-v} with no argument moves backward with
-overlap similarly. The number of lines of overlap across a @kbd{C-v} or
-@kbd{M-v} is controlled by the variable @code{next-screen-context-lines}; by
-default, it is 2.
+ To read the buffer a windowful at a time, use @kbd{C-v}
+(@code{scroll-up}) with no argument. This scrolls forward by nearly
+the whole window height. The effect is to take the two lines at the
+bottom of the window and put them at the top, followed by nearly a
+whole windowful of lines that were not previously visible. If point
+was in the text that scrolled off the top, it ends up at the new top
+of the window.
+
+ @kbd{M-v} (@code{scroll-down}) with no argument scrolls backward in
+a similar way, also with overlap. The number of lines of overlap
+across a @kbd{C-v} or @kbd{M-v} is controlled by the variable
+@code{next-screen-context-lines}; by default, it is 2. The function
+keys @key{NEXT} and @key{PRIOR}, or @key{PAGEDOWN} and @key{PAGEUP},
+are equivalent to @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v}.
+
+ The commands @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v} with a numeric argument scroll
+the text in the selected window up or down a few lines. @kbd{C-v}
+with an argument moves the text and point up, together, that many
+lines; it brings the same number of new lines into view at the bottom
+of the window. @kbd{M-v} with numeric argument scrolls the text
+downward, bringing that many new lines into view at the top of the
+window. @kbd{C-v} with a negative argument is like @kbd{M-v} and vice
+versa.
+
+ The names of scroll commands are based on the direction that the
+text moves in the window. Thus, the command to scroll forward is
+called @code{scroll-up} because it moves the text upward on the
+screen. The keys @key{PAGEDOWN} and @key{PAGEUP} derive their names
+and customary meanings from a different convention that developed
+elsewhere; hence the strange result that @key{PAGEDOWN} runs
+@code{scroll-up}.
@vindex scroll-preserve-screen-position
Some users like the full-screen scroll commands to keep point at the
rather, the text and point move rigidly on the screen. @kbd{C-l} with a
negative argument puts point that many lines from the bottom of the window.
For example, @kbd{C-u - 1 C-l} puts point on the bottom line, and @kbd{C-u
-- 5 C-l} puts it five lines from the bottom. Just @kbd{C-u} as argument,
-as in @kbd{C-u C-l}, scrolls point to the center of the selected window.
+- 5 C-l} puts it five lines from the bottom. @kbd{C-u C-l} scrolls to put
+point at the center (vertically) of the selected window.
@kindex C-M-l
@findex reposition-window
entire current defun onto the screen if possible.
@vindex scroll-conservatively
- Scrolling happens automatically if point has moved out of the visible
-portion of the text when it is time to display. Normally, automatic
-scrolling centers point vertically within the window. However, if you
-set @code{scroll-conservatively} to a small number @var{n}, then if you
-move point just a little off the screen---less than @var{n} lines---then
-Emacs scrolls the text just far enough to bring point back on screen.
-By default, @code{scroll-conservatively} is 0.
+ Scrolling happens automatically when point moves out of the visible
+portion of the text. Normally, automatic scrolling centers point
+vertically within the window. However, if you set
+@code{scroll-conservatively} to a small number @var{n}, then if you
+move point just a little off the screen---less than @var{n}
+lines---then Emacs scrolls the text just far enough to bring point
+back on screen. By default, @code{scroll-conservatively} is 0.
@cindex aggressive scrolling
@vindex scroll-up-aggressively
-@vindex scroll-down-aggressively
+@vindex scroll-down-aggressively
When the window does scroll by a longer distance, you can control
how aggressively it scrolls, by setting the variables
@code{scroll-up-aggressively} and @code{scroll-down-aggressively}.
@dfn{Horizontal scrolling} means shifting all the lines sideways
within a window---so that some of the text near the left margin is not
-displayed at all. Emacs does this automatically, in any window that
+displayed at all. Emacs does this automatically in any window that
uses line truncation rather than continuation: whenever point moves
off the left or right edge of the screen, Emacs scrolls the buffer
horizontally to make point visible.
If you scroll a window horizontally by hand, that sets a lower bound
for automatic horizontal scrolling. Automatic scrolling will continue
-to scroll the window, but never further to the right than the amount
+to scroll the window, but never farther to the right than the amount
you previously set by @code{scroll-left}.
-@vindex automatic-hscrolling
+@vindex hscroll-margin
+ The value of the variable @code{hscroll-margin} controls how close
+to the window's edges point is allowed to get before the window will
+be automatically scrolled. It is measured in columns. If the value
+is 5, then moving point within 5 columns of the edge causes horizontal
+scrolling away from that edge.
+
+@vindex hscroll-step
+ The variable @code{hscroll-step} determines how many columns to
+scroll the window when point gets too close to the edge. If it's
+zero, horizontal scrolling centers point horizontally within the
+window. If it's a positive integer, it specifies the number of
+columns to scroll by. If it's a floating-point number, it specifies
+the fraction of the window's width to scroll by. The default is zero.
+
+@vindex auto-hscroll-mode
To disable automatic horizontal scrolling, set the variable
-@code{automatic-hscrolling} to @code{nil}.
+@code{auto-hscroll-mode} to @code{nil}.
+
+@node Fringes
+@section Window Fringes
+@cindex fringes
+
+ On a graphical display, each Emacs window normally has narrow
+@dfn{fringes} on the left and right edges. The fringes display
+indications about the text in the window.
+
+ The most common use of the fringes is to indicate a continuation
+line, when one line of text is split into multiple lines on the
+screen. The left fringe shows a curving arrow for each screen line
+except the first, indicating that ``this is not the real beginning.''
+The right fringe shows a curving arrow for each screen line except the
+last, indicating that ``this is not the real end.''
+
+ The fringes indicate line truncation with short horizontal arrows
+meaning ``there's more text on this line which is scrolled
+horizontally out of view;'' clicking the mouse on one of the arrows
+scrolls the display horizontally in the direction of the arrow. The
+fringes also indicate other things such as empty lines, or where a
+program you are debugging is executing (@pxref{Debuggers}).
+
+@findex set-fringe-style
+@findex fringe-mode
+ You can enable and disable the fringes for all frames using
+@kbd{M-x fringe-mode}. To enable and disable the fringes
+for the selected frame, use @kbd{M-x set-fringe-style}.
+
+@node Useless Whitespace
+@section Useless Whitespace
+
+@cindex trailing whitespace
+@cindex whitespace, trailing
+@vindex show-trailing-whitespace
+ It is easy to leave unnecessary spaces at the end of a line, or
+empty lines at the end of a file, without realizing it. In most
+cases, this @dfn{trailing whitespace} has no effect, but there are
+special circumstances where it matters.
+
+ You can make trailing whitespace at the end of a line visible on the
+screen by setting the buffer-local variable
+@code{show-trailing-whitespace} to @code{t}. Then Emacs displays
+trailing whitespace in the face @code{trailing-whitespace}.
+
+ This feature does not apply when point is at the end of the line
+containing the whitespace. Strictly speaking, that is ``trailing
+whitespace'' nonetheless, but displaying it specially in that case
+looks ugly while you are typing in new text. In this special case,
+the location of point is enough to show you that the spaces are
+present.
+
+@findex delete-trailing-whitespace
+ To delete all trailing whitespace within the current buffer's
+accessible portion (@pxref{Narrowing}), type @kbd{M-x
+delete-trailing-whitespace @key{RET}}. (This command does not remove
+the form-feed characters.)
+
+@vindex indicate-unused-lines
+@vindex default-indicate-empty-lines
+@cindex unused lines
+@cindex fringes, and unused line indication
+ Emacs can indicate unused lines at the end of the window with a
+small image in the left fringe (@pxref{Fringes}). The image appears
+for window lines that do not correspond to any buffer text. Blank
+lines at the end of the buffer then stand out because they do not have
+this image in the fringe.
+
+ To enable this feature, set the buffer-local variable
+@code{indicate-unused-lines} to a non-@code{nil} value. The default
+value of this variable is controlled by the variable
+@code{default-indicate-unused-lines}; by setting that variable, you
+can enable or disable this feature for all new buffers. (This feature
+currently doesn't work on character terminals.)
@node Follow Mode
@section Follow Mode
@node Optional Mode Line
@section Optional Mode Line Features
+@cindex buffer size display
+@cindex display of buffer size
+@findex size-indication-mode
+ The buffer percentage @var{pos} indicates the percentage of the
+buffer above the top of the window. You can additionally display the
+size of the buffer by typing @kbd{M-x size-indication-mode} to turn on
+Size Indication mode. The size will be displayed immediately
+following the buffer percentage like this:
+
+@example
+@var{POS} of @var{SIZE}
+@end example
+
+@noindent
+Here @var{SIZE} is the human readable representation of the number of
+characters in the buffer, which means that @samp{k} for 10^3, @samp{M}
+for 10^6, @samp{G} for 10^9, etc., are used to abbreviate.
+
+@cindex narrowing, and buffer size display
+ If you have narrowed the buffer (@pxref{Narrowing}), the size of the
+accessible part of the buffer is shown.
+
@cindex line number display
@cindex display of line number
@findex line-number-mode
The current line number of point appears in the mode line when Line
Number mode is enabled. Use the command @kbd{M-x line-number-mode} to
turn this mode on and off; normally it is on. The line number appears
-before the buffer percentage @var{pos}, with the letter @samp{L} to
+after the buffer percentage @var{pos}, with the letter @samp{L} to
indicate what it is. @xref{Minor Modes}, for more information about
minor modes and about how to use this command.
+@cindex narrowing, and line number display
+ If you have narrowed the buffer (@pxref{Narrowing}), the displayed
+line number is relative to the accessible portion of the buffer.
+
@vindex line-number-display-limit
If the buffer is very large (larger than the value of
@code{line-number-display-limit}), then the line number doesn't appear.
Emacs doesn't compute the line number when the buffer is large, because
-that would be too slow. Set it to @code{nil} to remove the limit. If
-you have narrowed the buffer (@pxref{Narrowing}), the displayed line
-number is relative to the accessible portion of the buffer.
+that would be too slow. Set it to @code{nil} to remove the limit.
+
+@vindex line-number-display-limit-width
+ Line-number computation can also be slow if the lines in the buffer
+are too long. For this reason, Emacs normally doesn't display line
+numbers if the average width, in characters, of lines near point is
+larger than the value of the variable
+@code{line-number-display-limit-width}. The default value is 200
+characters.
@cindex Column Number mode
@cindex mode, Column Number
@cindex mail (on mode line)
@vindex display-time-use-mail-icon
@vindex display-time-mail-face
+@vindex display-time-mail-file
+@vindex display-time-mail-directory
The word @samp{Mail} appears after the load level if there is mail
for you that you have not read yet. On a graphical display you can use
an icon instead of @samp{Mail} by customizing
@code{display-time-use-mail-icon}; this may save some space on the mode
line. You can customize @code{display-time-mail-face} to make the mail
-indicator prominent.
+indicator prominent. Use @code{display-time-mail-file} to specify
+the mail file to check, or set @code{display-time-mail-directory}
+to specify the directory to check for incoming mail (any nonempty regular
+file in the directory is considered as ``newly arrived mail'').
-@cindex mode line, 3D appearence
+@cindex mode line, 3D appearance
@cindex attributes of mode line, changing
@cindex non-integral number of lines in a window
- By default, the mode line is drawn on graphics displays as a 3D
-released button. Depending on the font used for the mode line's text,
-this might make the mode line use more space than a text line in a
-window, and cause the last line of the window be partially obscured.
-That is, the window displays a non-integral number of text lines. If
-you don't like this effect, you can disable the 3D appearence of the
-mode line by customizing the attributes of the @code{mode-line} face in
-your @file{.emacs} init file, like this:
+ By default, the mode line is drawn on graphics displays with
+3D-style highlighting, like that of a button when it is not being
+pressed. If you don't like this effect, you can disable the 3D
+highlighting of the mode line, by customizing the attributes of the
+@code{mode-line} face in your @file{.emacs} init file, like this:
@example
- (set-face-attribute 'mode-line nil :box nil)
+(set-face-attribute 'mode-line nil :box nil)
@end example
@noindent
-Alternatively, you could turn off the box attribute in your
+Alternatively, you can turn off the box attribute in your
@file{.Xdefaults} file:
@example
- Emacs.mode-line.AttributeBox: off
+Emacs.mode-line.AttributeBox: off
@end example
+@cindex non-selected windows, mode line appearance
+ By default, the mode line of nonselected windows is displayed in a
+different face, called @code{mode-line-inactive}. Only the selected
+window is displayed in the @code{mode-line} face. This helps show
+which window is selected. When the minibuffer is selected, since
+it has no mode line, the window from which you activated the minibuffer
+has its mode line displayed using @code{mode-line}; as a result,
+ordinary entry to the minibuffer does not change any mode lines.
+
+@vindex mode-line-in-non-selected-windows
+ You can disable use of @code{mode-line-inactive} by setting variable
+@code{mode-line-in-non-selected-windows} to @code{nil}; then all mode
+lines are displayed in the @code{mode-line} face.
+
@node Text Display
@section How Text Is Displayed
@cindex characters (in text)
- ASCII printing characters (octal codes 040 through 0176) in Emacs
-buffers are displayed with their graphics. So are non-ASCII multibyte
+ @acronym{ASCII} printing characters (octal codes 040 through 0176) in Emacs
+buffers are displayed with their graphics, as are non-ASCII multibyte
printing characters (octal codes above 0400).
- Some ASCII control characters are displayed in special ways. The
+ Some @acronym{ASCII} control characters are displayed in special ways. The
newline character (octal code 012) is displayed by starting a new line.
The tab character (octal code 011) is displayed by moving to the next
tab stop column (normally every 8 columns).
- Other ASCII control characters are normally displayed as a caret
+ Other @acronym{ASCII} control characters are normally displayed as a caret
(@samp{^}) followed by the non-control version of the character; thus,
control-A is displayed as @samp{^A}.
- Non-ASCII characters 0200 through 0237 (octal) are displayed with
+ Non-@acronym{ASCII} characters 0200 through 0237 (octal) are displayed with
octal escape sequences; thus, character code 0230 (octal) is displayed
as @samp{\230}. The display of character codes 0240 through 0377
(octal) may be either as escape sequences or as graphics. They do not
-normally occur in multibyte buffers but if they do, they are displayed
+normally occur in multibyte buffers, but if they do, they are displayed
as Latin-1 graphics. In unibyte mode, if you enable European display
they are displayed using their graphics (assuming your terminal supports
them), otherwise as escape sequences. @xref{Single-Byte Character
The variable @code{mode-line-inverse-video} is an obsolete way of
controlling whether the mode line is displayed in inverse video; the
preferred way of doing this is to change the @code{mode-line} face.
-@xref{Mode Line}. If you specify the foreground color for the
-@code{mode-line} face, and @code{mode-line-inverse-video} is
-non-@code{nil}, then the default background color for that face is the
-usual foreground color. @xref{Faces}.
+@xref{Mode Line}. However, if @code{mode-line-inverse-video} has a
+value of @code{nil}, then the @code{mode-line} face will be ignored,
+and mode-lines will be drawn using the default text face.
+@xref{Faces}.
@vindex inverse-video
If the variable @code{inverse-video} is non-@code{nil}, Emacs attempts
to start, or zero meaning don't echo at all. @xref{Echo Area}.
@vindex ctl-arrow
- If the variable @code{ctl-arrow} is @code{nil}, control characters in
+ If the variable @code{ctl-arrow} is @code{nil}, all control characters in
the buffer are displayed with octal escape sequences, except for newline
and tab. Altering the value of @code{ctl-arrow} makes it local to the
current buffer; until that time, the default value is in effect. The
amount of time Emacs must remain busy before the busy indicator is
displayed, by setting the variable @code{hourglass-delay}.
+@findex tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors
+ On some text-only terminals, bold face and inverse video together
+result in text that is hard to read. Call the function
+@code{tty-suppress-bold-inverse-default-colors} with a non-@code{nil}
+argument to suppress the effect of bold-face in this case.
+
@node Cursor Display
@section Displaying the Cursor
-@findex hl-line-mode
@findex blink-cursor-mode
+@vindex blink-cursor-alist
@cindex cursor, locating visually
@cindex cursor, blinking
- There are a number of ways to customize the display of the cursor.
-@kbd{M-x hl-line-mode} enables or disables a global minor mode which
-highlights the line containing point. On window systems, the command
-@kbd{M-x blink-cursor-mode} turns on or off the blinking of the
-cursor. (On terminals, the terminal itself blinks the cursor, and
-Emacs has no control over it.)
-
You can customize the cursor's color, and whether it blinks, using
-the @code{cursor} Custom group (@pxref{Easy Customization}).
+the @code{cursor} Custom group (@pxref{Easy Customization}). On
+graphical terminals, the command @kbd{M-x blink-cursor-mode} enables
+or disables the blinking of the cursor. (On text terminals, the
+terminal itself blinks the cursor, and Emacs has no control over it.)
+You can control how the cursor appears when it blinks off by setting
+the variable @code{blink-cursor-alist}.
+
+@cindex cursor in non-selected windows
+@vindex cursor-in-non-selected-windows
+ Normally, the cursor appears in non-selected windows in the ``off''
+state, with the same appearance as when the blinking cursor blinks
+``off''. For a box cursor, this is a hollow box; for a bar cursor,
+this is a thinner bar. To turn off cursors in non-selected windows,
+customize the option @code{cursor-in-non-selected-windows} and assign
+it a @code{nil} value.
@vindex x-stretch-cursor
@cindex wide block cursor
- When displaying on a window system, Emacs can optionally draw the
-block cursor as wide as the character under the cursor---for example,
-if the cursor is on a tab character, it would cover the full width
-occupied by that tab character. To enable this feature, set the
-variable @code{x-stretch-cursor} to a non-@code{nil} value.
+ On graphical terminals, Emacs can optionally draw the block cursor
+as wide as the character under the cursor---for example, if the cursor
+is on a tab character, it would cover the full width occupied by that
+tab character. To enable this feature, set the variable
+@code{x-stretch-cursor} to a non-@code{nil} value.
-@cindex cursor in non-selected windows
-@vindex show-cursor-in-non-selected-windows
-@vindex cursor-in-non-selected-windows
- Normally, the cursor in non-selected windows is shown as a hollow box.
-To turn off cursor display in non-selected windows, customize the option
-@code{show-cursor-in-non-selected-windows}, or set the variable
-@code{cursor-in-non-selected-windows} to @code{nil}.
+@findex hl-line-mode
+@findex global-hl-line-mode
+@cindex highlight current line
+ If you find it hard to see the cursor, you might like HL Line mode,
+a minor mode that highlights the line containing point. Use @kbd{M-x
+hl-line-mode} to enable or disable it in the current buffer. @kbd{M-x
+global-hl-line-mode} enables or disables the same mode globally.
+
+@ignore
+ arch-tag: 2219f910-2ff0-4521-b059-1bd231a536c4
+@end ignore