GNU Emacs NEWS -- history of user-visible changes.
-Copyright (C) 2007, 2008 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
+Copyright (C) 2007, 2008, 2009 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
See the end of the file for license conditions.
Please send Emacs bug reports to emacs-pretest-bug@gnu.org.
so we will look at it and add it to the manual.
\f
-* About external Lisp packages
-
-\f
* Installation Changes in Emacs 23.1
** The default X toolkit is now Gtk+, rather than Lucid.
This provides support for GNUstep (via the GNUstep libraries) and Mac
OS X (via the Cocoa libraries).
-Specify --with-ns to configure for this. By default, a self-contained
+Specify --with-ns to configure for this. By default, a self-contained
app will be built (containing all lisp). To install/share lisp with
other emacsen (e.g. X11 build) use --disable-ns-self-contained. See
nextstep/README and nextstep/INSTALL in the Emacs source directory.
starts the server. Clients can connect and create graphical or
terminal frames using emacsclient.
+**** emacsclient starts emacs in daemon mode and connects to it when
+--alternate-editor="" is used (or when the evironment variable
+ALTERNATE_EDITOR is set to "") and emacsclient cannot connect to an
+emacs server.
+
*** The new command close-display-connection closes a connection to a
-remote display.
+remote display. There are some bugs for Gtk+. See etc/PROBLEMS.
*** Emacs now supports the XEmbed specification.
You can embed Emacs in another application on X11. The new command line
*** Emacs can now set the frame opacity.
The opacity of a frame can be controlled by setting the `alpha' frame
parameter. This only takes effect on a compositing window manager for
-the X Window System, such as Compiz, Beryl and Compiz Fusion, or on
-Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows.
+the X Window System, such as Compiz, Beryl and Compiz Fusion, on Mac
+OS X, or on Windows 2000 and later versions of Windows.
The alpha parameter should be an integer between 0 (transparent) and
100 (opaque), or a float number between 0.0 and 1.0. It can also be a
+++
** File deletion can make use of the Recycle Bin or system Trash folder.
Set `delete-by-moving-to-trash' non-nil to use this. Deleted files
-and directories will then be sent to the Recyle Bin on Windows, and
+and directories will then be sent to the Recycle Bin on Windows, and
to `trash-directory' on other systems.
+++
the minibuffer that toggles word search (i.e. using key sequences
`C-s RET C-w' or `C-s M-e C-w') is obsolete. You can use the global key
`M-s w' to start word search, or type `M-s w' in Isearch mode to
-toggle word search.
+toggle word search. To start nonincremental word search you can now use
+`M-s w RET' and `M-s w C-r RET' instead of `C-s RET C-w' and `C-r RET C-w'.
+
++++
+** In Info, `Info-search' is unbound from `M-s' to allow using `M-s w'
+for word search as well as other search commands from the global prefix
+key `M-s'. `Info-search' is still bound to `s', and also incremental
+search commands `C-s', `C-M-s', `C-r', `C-M-r' are available for searching
+through multiple Info nodes, together with their nonincremental versions
+`C-s RET', `C-r RET', `C-M-s RET', `C-M-r RET', `M-s w RET'.
+---
** In Text mode, `center-line' and `center-paragraph' are rebound
from `M-s' and `M-S' to global keys `M-o M-s' and `M-o M-S' on the
global prefix map `M-o' intended for such formatting commands.
and swedish-alt-postfix. Use the versions without "alt-", which are
identical.
++++
+** If a function in write-region-annotate-functions returns with a
+different buffer current, Emacs no longer kills that buffer
+automatically. This behavior existed in previous versions of Emacs,
+but was undocumented. To kill a buffer after write-region, give the
+variable `write-region-post-annotation-function' a buffer-local value
+of `kill-buffer'.
+
\f
* Editing Changes in Emacs 23.1
** Minibuffer and completion changes
+++
+*** Emacs may ask for confirmation before opening a non-existent file
+or buffer. By default, Emacs requests confirmation if you type RET
+immediately after TAB, and the resulting input is not an existing file
+or buffer; this usually happens when the minibuffer input did not
+complete far enough and you entered RET by mistake. In that case,
+Emacs puts the message "[Confirm]" in the minibuffer; type RET again
+to create the file or buffer.
+
+The new variable confirm-nonexistent-file-or-buffer determines whether
+Emacs asks for confirmation. The default value is `after-completion'.
+If you change it to t, Emacs always asks for confirmation; if you
+change it to nil, Emacs never asks for confirmation.
++++
*** When M-n in the minibuffer reaches the end of the list of defaults,
it adds the completion list to the end, so next M-n continues putting
completion items to the minibuffer. The same principle applies to
*** You can disable kill ring commands from accessing the primary
selection by setting `x-select-enable-primary' to nil.
+---
** Continuation lines can now be wrapped at word boundaries
(word-wrapping). This is controlled by the new per-buffer variable
`word-wrap'. Word wrapping does not take place if continuation lines
New Modes and Packages, below.
** Window management changes
-
++++
*** truncate-partial-width-windows now accepts integer values, which
specify a minimum window width for partial-width windows, below which
lines are truncated. The default has been changed to 50.
*** The new command balance-windows-area balances windows both
vertically and horizontally.
-
+---
*** pop-to-buffer now always sets input focus when the popped-to window
is on a different frame.
+++
*** C-l is bound to the new command recenter-top-bottom, rather than recenter.
This moves the current line to window center, top and bottom on
-successive invokations.
-
+successive invocations.
++++
*** scroll-preserve-screen-position also preserves the column position.
+++
*** If `yank-pop-change-selection' is t, rotating the kill ring also
+++
*** The new command kill-matching-buffers kills buffers whose name
matches a regexp.
-
+---
*** The new commands `pp-macroexpand-expression' and
`pp-macroexpand-last-sexp' pretty-print macro expansions.
-
++++
*** The new command `set-file-modes' allows to set file's mode bits.
The mode bits can be specified in symbolic notation, like with GNU
-Coreutils, in addition to an octal number.
-+++
-*** Emacs requires confirmation before opening a non-existent file or buffer.
-You can recover the previous behavior by setting
-confirm-nonexistent-file-or-buffer to nil.
+Coreutils, in addition to an octal number. `chmod' is a new
+convenience alias for this function.
*** `next-error-recenter' specifies how next-error should recenter the
visited source file. Its value can be a number (for example, 0 for
+++
*** When typing in a password in the echo area, C-y yanks the current
kill into the password.
+
+*** `mkdir' is a new convenience alias for `make-directory'.
\f
* New Modes and Packages in Emacs 23.1
It uses `auto-composition-function' (default `auto-compose-chars').
** Bubbles, a new game, is similar to SameGame.
+---
+** butterfly flips the desired bit on the drive platter.
+See http://xkcd.com/378/
** bug-reference.el provides clickable links to bug reports.
D-Bus is an inter-process communication mechanism for applications
residing on the same host. See the manual for details.
-** Doc View mode allows viewing of PDF, PostScript and DVI documents.
++++
+** DocView mode allows viewing of PDF, PostScript and DVI documents.
One can also search for a regular expression in the document. For
details, see the commentary in doc-view.el.
** minibuffer-depth-indicate-mode shows the minibuffer depth in the prompt.
++++
** nXML Mode
This is a new mode for editing XML documents. It allows a schema to
be associated with the XML document being edited, using Relax NG as
attribute name or data value by using information about what is
allowed by the schema in that context.
-** proced.el provides a Dired-like interface for operating on processes.
-Proced makes an Emacs buffer containing a listing of the current
-processes (using ps(1)). You can use the normal Emacs commands to
-move around in this buffer, and special Proced commands to operate on
-the processes listed.
+** proced.el provides a Dired-like interface for operating on
+processes. Proced makes an Emacs buffer containing a listing of the
+current processes. You can use the normal Emacs commands to move
+around in this buffer, and special Proced commands to operate on the
+processes listed. It is currently only functional on GNU/Linux,
+MS-Windows and Solaris.
** Remember Mode is a mode for jotting down things to remember.
Notes can be saved to a Diary file. For details, see the Remember
Manual.
-** RST mode is a major mode for editing ReSTructured-Text files.
+** RST mode is a major mode for editing reStructuredText files.
+
++++
+** Ruby mode is a major mode for Ruby files.
+++
** Visual Line mode provides support for editing by visual lines.
Note, however, that the free version of the unrar command only handles
versions 1 and 2 of the Rar format.
+---
** BibTeX mode
*** New command `bibtex-initialize' (re)initializes BibTeX buffers.
says to stop auto scrolling at the first error that occurs.
---
*** The `cc' alias for C++ files in `grep-file-aliases' has been
-improved. `hh' can be used to match C++ header files and `cchh' both
+improved. `hh' can be used to match C++ header files and `cchh' both
C++ sources and headers.
** Copyright
buffer and tries to create ChangeLog entries for each change.
It is bound to `C-x 4 A'.
+++
-*** The new function `diff-show-trailing-whitespaces' shows
-trailing whitespace problems in the modified lines of a diff buffer.
+*** Turning on `whitespace-mode' in a diff buffer will show trailing
+whitespace problems in the modified lines.
** Dired
+++
+++
** MH-E
-*** Upgraded to MH-E version 8.1. See MH-E-NEWS for details.
+*** Upgraded to MH-E version 8.1. See MH-E-NEWS for details.
** Python
*** The file etc/emacs.py now supports both Python 2 and 3, meaning
remote files, if there is no established connection to the
corresponding remote host.
-** TeX modes
+** Rmail
+
++++
+*** Rmail no longer converts the messages to Babyl format.
+Instead, it uses UNIX mbox format, both on disk and in Rmail buffers,
+and does conversion and decoding when a message is displayed.
+
+The first time you visit an Rmail file in Babyl format, Rmail
+automatically converts it to mbox format. This is a one-time
+conversion, but it can take a few minutes, depending on how fast is
+your machine and on the size of the file. You should find the rest of
+Rmail usage unaltered.
+
+However, M-x set-rmail-inbox-list now lasts only for one session
+because there is no way to save the list of inbox files in an
+mbox-format file.
+
+If you have written any extensions to Rmail, they are likely to need
+updating. Conceptually, the Rmail buffer that you see is no longer
+just a narrowed portion of the whole. So you cannot access the whole
+of a message (or message collection) by a simple save-restriction and
+widen. Instead, there are two buffers: the rmail-buffer, and the
+rmail-view-buffer. The former is the buffer that you see, the latter
+is invisible. Most of the time, the invisible `view' buffer contains
+the full contents of the Rmail file, and the Rmail buffer contains a
+decoded copy of the current message (with only a subset of the
+headers). In this state, Rmail is said to be `swapped'.
+You may find the following functions useful:
+
+`rmail-get-header' and `rmail-set-header' get or set the value of a
+message header, whether or not it is currently visible.
+
+`rmail-apply-in-message' is a general purpose function that calls a
+function (with arguments) which you specify on the full text of a given
+message. To further narrow to just the headers, search forward for "\n\n".
+
++++
+*** The new command `rmail-mime' displays MIME messages.
+It is bound to `v' in Rmail buffers and summaries. It displays plain
+text and multipart messages in a temporary buffer, and offers buttons
+to save attachments.
+
+---
+*** The command `rmail-redecode-body' no longer accepts the optional arg RAW.
+Since Rmail now holds messages in their original undecoded form in a
+separate buffer, `rmail-redecode-body' no longer encodes the original
+message, and therefore there should be no need to avoid encoding it.
+
++++
+*** The o command is now `rmail-output'. It is an all-purpose command
+for copying messages from Rmail and appending them to files. It
+handles Babyl-format files as well as mbox-format files, and it
+handles both kinds properly when they are visited in Emacs. It always
+copies the full headers of the message.
+
++++
+*** The C-o command is now `rmail-output-as-seen'. It uses
+the message as displayed, appending it to an mbox file.
+
+---
+*** The modified status of the Rmail buffer is reported in the mode-line.
+Previously, this information was hidden.
+
+** TeX modes
+---
*** New option latex-indent-within-escaped-parens
permits to customize indentation of LaTeX environments delimited
by escaped parens.
been introduced. There are also new so-called gateway methods
"tunnel" and "socks".
+*** IPv6 addresses.
+IPv6 addresses are supported now as host names. They must be embedded
+in square brackets, like in "/ssh:[::1]:".
+
*** Multihop syntax has been removed.
The pseudo-method "multi" has been removed. Instead of, multi hops
can be specified by the new variable `tramp-default-proxies-alist'.
status. It allows to apply various VC operations to a file, a
directory or a set of files/directories.
+++
+*** VC switches are no longer appended, rather the first non-nil value is used.
+(This was for the most part true in Emacs 22, but was not advertised).
+This is because there is an increasing variety of VC systems, and they
+do not all accept the same "common" options. For example, a CVS diff
+command used to append the values of `vc-cvs-diff-switches',
+`vc-diff-switches', and `diff-switches'. Now the first non-nil value
+from that sequence is used. The special value `t' means "no switches".
++++
*** Clicking on the VC mode-line entry now pops the VC menu.
+++
*** The VC mode-line entry now has a tooltip that explains the VC file status.
*** comint-mode uses `start-file-process' now (see Lisp Changes).
If `default-directory' is a remote file name, subprocesses are started
on the corresponding remote system.
-
+---
*** Eldoc highlights the function argument under point
with the face `eldoc-highlight-function-argument'.
+++
*** The new variable `ffap-rfc-directories' specifies a list of local
directories in which `ffap-rfc' will first search for RFCs.
-
++++
*** hide-ifdef-mode allows shadowing ifdef-blocks instead of hiding them.
See option `hide-ifdef-shadow' and function `hide-ifdef-toggle-shadowing'.
*** view-remove-frame-by-deleting is now by default t
since users found iconification of view-mode frames distracting.
-
+---
*** WoMan tries to add locale-specific manual page directories to the
search path. This can be disabled by setting `woman-locale' to nil.
for the list of extra keys that are available.
** BDF fonts no longer supported on MS-Windows.
-The font backend was completely rewritten for this release. The focus
+The font backend was completely rewritten for this release. The focus
on Windows has been getting acceptable performance and full unicode
support, including complex script shaping for native Windows fonts. A
rewrite of the BDF font support has not happened due to lack of time
** `mode-name' is no longer guaranteed to be a string.
Use `(format-mode-line mode-name)' to ensure a string value.
++++
+** The function x-font-family-list has been removed.
+Use the new function font-family-list (see Lisp Changes, below).
+
** Internationalization changes
*** The value of the function `charset-id' is now always 0.
**** `tamil' and `tml-util, and all associated tamil-* and tml-*
functions and variables (formerly used for Tamil script).
+---
+** The variable temp-file-name-pattern has been removed.
+This variable was only used by call-process-region, which now uses
+temporary-file-directory instead.
+
\f
* Lisp Changes in Emacs 23.1
** New coding system alias `emacs-internal'.
+++
-** New primitives `list-system-processes' and `system-process-attributes'
+** The new variable `generate-autoload-cookie' controls the magic comment
+string used by `update-file-autoloads' to find autoloaded forms. The
+variable `generated-autoload-file' similarly controls the name of the
+file where `update-file-autoloads' writes the calls to `autoload'.
+The default values are ";;;###autoload" and `loaddefs.el',
+respectively.
+
++++
+** New primitives `list-system-processes' and `process-attributes'
let Lisp programs access the processes that are running on the local
machine. See the doc strings of these functions for more details.
Not all platforms support accessing this information; on those that
an active region that they should operate on.
*** `region-active-p' returns non-nil when Transient Mark mode is
-enabled and there is an active region. This is NOT the best function
-to use to test whether a command should operate on the region instead
-of the usual behavior -- for that, use `use-region-p'.
+enabled and the mark is active. Most commands that act specially on
+the active region in Transient Mark mode should use `use-region-p'
+instead of `region-active-p', because `use-region-p' obeys the new
+user option `use-empty-active-region' (see Editing Changes, above).
+++
*** If a command sets `transient-mark-mode' to (only . OLDVAL), that
*** minibuffer-local-must-match-filename-map is now named
minibuffer-local-filename-must-match-map.
----
-*** `all-completions' may now return the base size in the last cdr.
-Since this means the returned list is not properly nil-terminated, this
-is an incompatible change and is thus enabled by the new variable
-completion-all-completions-with-base-size.
-
+++
-*** The `require-match' argument to `completing-read' accepts a new value
-`confirm-only'.
+*** The `require-match' argument to `completing-read' accepts the new
+values `confirm-only' and `confirm-after-completion'.
** Search and replacement changes
+++
variables defined in the current buffer.
** Face-remapping
-
++++
*** Each face can be remapped to a different face definition using the
variable `face-remapping-alist'. This is an alist that maps faces to
replacement definitions (which can be face names, lists of face names,
remapping occurs only in that buffer.
*** text-scale-mode remaps the default face to a larger or smaller
-size in the current buffer. This feature is used by the Buffer Face
+size in the current buffer. This feature is used by the Buffer Face
menu and the new `C-x C-+', `C-x C--', and `C-x C-0' commands (see
Editing Changes, above).
*** New functions:
-
++++
**** `face-remap-add-relative' adds a face remapping entry to the
current buffer.
-
++++
**** ``face-remap-remove-relative' removes a face remapping entry from
the current buffer.
-
++++
**** `face-remap-reset-base' restores a face to its global definition.
-
++++
**** `face-remap-set-base' sets the base remapping of a face.
-** Process changes +++
+** Process changes
++++
*** The new function `start-file-process' is similar to `start-process',
but obeys file handlers. The file handler is chosen based on
`default-directory'. The functions `start-file-process-shell-command'
+++
*** The functions `encode-char' and `decode-char' now accept any character sets.
+---
*** The function `define-charset' now accepts a completely different
form of arguments (old-style arguments still work).
*** The value of the function `char-charset' depends on the current
priorities of charsets.
++++
*** The function get-char-code-property now accepts many Unicode base
character properties. They are `name', `general-category',
`canonical-combining-class', `bidi-class', `decomposition',
entries in that range of characters.
+++
-*** `translation-table-for-input' is now obsolete.
+*** Use of `translation-table-for-input' for character code unification
+is now obsolete, since Emacs 23.1 and later uses Unicode as basis for
+internal representation of characters.
*** New functions:
**** `characterp' returns t if and only if the argument is a character.
This replaces `char-valid-p', which is now obsolete.
++++
**** `max-char' returns the maximum character code (currently #x3FFFFF).
+---
**** `define-charset-alias' defines an alias of a charset.
+++
+++
**** `unibyte-string' makes a unibyte string from bytes.
+---
**** `define-char-code-property' defines a character code property.
++++
**** `char-code-property-description' returns the description string of
a character code property.
**** `find-word-boundary-function-table' is a char-table of functions to
search for a word boundary.
++++
**** `char-script-table' is a char-table of script names.
++++
**** `char-width-table' is a char-table of character widths.
+---
**** `print-charset-text-property' controls how to handle `charset' text
property on printing a string.
++++
**** `printable-chars' is a char-table of printable characters.
** Code conversion changes
+---
*** The new function `define-coding-system' should be used to define a
coding system instead of `make-coding-system' (which is now obsolete).
++++
*** The functions `encode-coding-region' and `decode-coding-region'
have an optional 4th argument to specify where the result of
conversion should go.
++++
*** The functions `encode-coding-string' and `decode-coding-string'
have an optional 4th argument specifying a buffer to store the result
of conversion.
++++
+*** The new variable `inhibit-null-byte-detection' controls whether to
+consider text with null bytes as binary data. By default, it is
+`nil', and Emacs uses `no-conversion' for any text containing null
+bytes.
+
+---
*** The functions `set-coding-priority' and `make-coding-system' are obsolete.
*** New functions:
++++
**** `with-coding-priority' executes Lisp code using the specified
coding system priority order.
++++
**** `check-coding-systems-region' checks if the text in the region is
encodable by the specified coding systems.
++++
**** `coding-system-aliases' returns a list of aliases of a coding system.
++++
**** `coding-system-charset-list' returns a list of charsets supported
by a coding system.
++++
**** `coding-system-priority-list' returns a list of coding systems
ordered by their priorities.
++++
**** `set-coding-system-priority' sets priorities of coding systems.
+**** `coding-system-from-name' returns a coding system matching with
+the argument name.
+
+
** There is a new input method, Robin, different from Quail.
It has three functionalities:
i) a simple input method (converts an ASCII sequence into a string).
set the font.
*** New functions:
-
++++
**** `fontp' checks if the argument is a font-spec or font-entity.
-
++++
**** `font-spec' creates a new font-spec object.
-
++++
**** `font-get' returns a font property value.
-
++++
**** `font-put' sets a font property value.
-
++++
**** `font-face-attributes' returns a plist of face attributes set by a font.
-
++++
**** `list-fonts' returns a list of font-entities matching a font spec.
-
-**** `font-font' returns the font-entity best matching the given font spec.
-
-**** `list-families' returns a list of family names of available fonts.
-
++++
+**** `find-font' returns the font-entity best matching the given font spec.
++++
+**** `font-family-list' returns a list of family names of available fonts.
++++
**** `font-xlfd-name' returns an XLFD name of a given font spec, font
entity, or font object.
-
+---
**** `clear-font-cache' clears all font caches.
** Changes related to multiple-terminal (multi-tty) support
+---
*** $TERM is now set to `dumb' for subprocesses. If you want to know the
$TERM inherited by Emacs you will have to look inside initial-environment.
+---
*** $DISPLAY is now dynamically inherited from the frame's `display'.
++++
*** The `window-system' variable is now frame-local. The new
`initial-window-system' variable contains the `window-system' value
for the first frame. `window-system' is also now a function that
takes a frame argument.
++++
*** The `keyboard-translate-table' variable and the terminal and
keyboard coding systems are now terminal-local.
+---
*** You can specify a terminal device (`tty' parameter) and a terminal
type (`tty-type' parameter) to `make-terminal-frame'.
+---
*** The function `make-frame-on-display' now works during a tty
-session, and `make-frame-on-tty' works during a graphical session.
+session.
-*** A new data type for terminals with functions: `get-device-terminal',
-`terminal-parameters', `terminal-parameter', `set-terminal-parameter'.
++++
+*** A new `terminal' data type.
+The functions `get-device-terminal', `terminal-parameters',
+`terminal-parameter', `set-terminal-parameter' use this data type.
++++
*** Function key sequences are now mapped using `local-function-key-map',
a new variable. This inherits from the global variable function-key-map,
which is not used directly any more.
variable file-local-variables-alist, and before actually applying the
file-local variables.
++++
**** `suspend-tty-functions' and `resume-tty-functions' are called
after a tty frame has been suspended or resumed, respectively. The
functions are called with the terminal id of the frame being
suspended/resumed as a parameter.
++++
**** The special hook `delete-terminal-functions' is called before
deleting a terminal.
*** New functions:
-**** `environment'
-
-**** `make-frame-on-tty' creates a new frame on another tty device.
-
-**** `delete-tty'
++++
+**** `delete-terminal'
++++
**** `suspend-tty'
++++
**** `resume-tty'.
++++
*** `initial-environment' holds the environment inherited from Emacs's parent.
** Redisplay changes
*** `buffer-swap-text' swaps text between two buffers. This can be
useful for modes such as tar-mode, archive-mode, RMAIL.
+*** New variable `buffer-swapped-with' lets the modes that use
+`buffer-swap-text' arrange to save the file from the proper buffer.
+
+++
*** `read-color' reads a color name using the minibuffer.
HCoop / bpt / emacs.git / blobdiff