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1 Copyright (c) 1985 Free Software Foundation, Inc; See end for conditions.
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2 You are looking at the Emacs tutorial.
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3
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4 Emacs commands generally involve the CONTROL key (sometimes labeled
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5 CTRL or CTL) or the META key (sometimes labeled EDIT or ALT). Rather than
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6 write that in full each time, we'll use the following abbreviations:
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7
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8 C-<chr> means hold the CONTROL key while typing the character <chr>
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9 Thus, C-f would be: hold the CONTROL key and type f.
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10 M-<chr> means hold the META or EDIT or ALT key down while typing <chr>.
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11 If there is no META, EDIT or ALT key, instead press and release the
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12 ESC key and then type <chr>. We write <ESC> for the ESC key.
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14 Important note: to end the Emacs session, type C-x C-c. (Two characters.)
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15 The characters ">>" at the left margin indicate directions for you to
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16 try using a command. For instance:
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17 <<Blank lines inserted here by startup of help-with-tutorial>>
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18 >> Now type C-v (View next screen) to move to the next screen.
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19 (go ahead, do it by holding down the control key while typing v).
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20 From now on, you should do this again whenever you finish
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21 reading the screen.
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22
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23 Note that there is an overlap of two lines when you move from screen
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24 to screen; this provides some continuity so you can continue reading
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25 the text.
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26
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27 The first thing that you need to know is how to move around from place
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28 to place in the text. You already know how to move forward one screen,
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29 with C-v. To move backwards one screen, type M-v (hold down the META key
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30 and type v, or type <ESC>v if you do not have a META, EDIT, or ALT key).
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31
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32 >> Try typing M-v and then C-v, a few times.
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33
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34
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35 * SUMMARY
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36 ---------
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37
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38 The following commands are useful for viewing screenfuls:
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39
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40 C-v Move forward one screenful
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41 M-v Move backward one screenful
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42 C-l Clear screen and redisplay all the text,
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43 moving the text around the cursor
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44 to the center of the screen.
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45 (That's control-L, not control-1.)
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46
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47 >> Find the cursor, and note what text is near it.
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48 Then type C-l.
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49 Find the cursor again and notice that the same text
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50 is near the cursor now.
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51
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52
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53 * BASIC CURSOR CONTROL
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54 ----------------------
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55
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56 Moving from screenful to screenful is useful, but how do you
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57 move to a specific place within the text on the screen?
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58
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59 There are several ways you can do this. The most basic way is to use
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60 the commands C-p, C-b, C-f, and C-n. Each of these commands moves the
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61 cursor one row or column in a particular direction on the screen.
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62 Here is a table showing these four commands and the directions they
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63 move:
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64
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65 Previous line, C-p
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66 :
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67 :
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68 Backward, C-b .... Current cursor position .... Forward, C-f
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69 :
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70 :
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71 Next line, C-n
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72
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73 >> Move the cursor to the line in the middle of that diagram
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74 using C-n or C-p. Then type C-l to see the whole diagram
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75 centered in the screen.
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76
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77 You'll probably find it easy to think of these by letter: P for
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78 previous, N for next, B for backward and F for forward. These are the
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79 basic cursor positioning commands, and you'll be using them ALL the
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80 time, so it would be of great benefit if you learn them now.
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81
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82 >> Do a few C-n's to bring the cursor down to this line.
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83
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84 >> Move into the line with C-f's and then up with C-p's.
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85 See what C-p does when the cursor is in the middle of the line.
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86
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87 Each line of text ends with a Newline character, which serves to
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88 separate it from the following line. The last line in your file ought
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89 to have a Newline at the end (but Emacs does not require it to have
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90 one).
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91
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92 >> Try to C-b at the beginning of a line. It should move to
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93 the end of the previous line. This is because it moves back
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94 across the Newline character.
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95
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96 C-f can move across a Newline just like C-b.
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97
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98 >> Do a few more C-b's, so you get a feel for where the cursor is.
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99 Then do C-f's to return to the end of the line.
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100 Then do one more C-f to move to the following line.
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101
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102 When you move past the top or bottom of the screen, the text beyond
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103 the edge shifts onto the screen. This is called "scrolling". It
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104 enables Emacs to move the cursor to the specified place in the text
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105 without moving it off the screen.
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106
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107 >> Try to move the cursor off the bottom of the screen with C-n, and
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108 see what happens.
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109
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110 If moving by characters is too slow, you can move by words. M-f
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111 (Meta-f) moves forward a word and M-b moves back a word.
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112
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113 >> Type a few M-f's and M-b's.
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114
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115 When you are in the middle of a word, M-f moves to the end of the word.
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116 When you are in whitespace between words, M-f moves to the end of the
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117 following word. M-b works likewise in the opposite direction.
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118
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119 >> Type M-f and M-b a few times, interspersed with C-f's and C-b's
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120 so that you can observe the action of M-f and M-b from various
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121 places inside and between words.
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122
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123 Notice the parallel between C-f and C-b on the one hand, and M-f and
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124 M-b on the other hand. Very often Meta characters are used for
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125 operations related to the units defined by language (words, sentences,
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126 paragraphs), while Control characters operate on basic units that are
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127 independent of what you are editing (characters, lines, etc).
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128
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129 This parallel applies between lines and sentences: C-a and C-e move to
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130 the beginning or end of a line, and M-a and M-e move to the beginning
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131 or end of a sentence.
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132
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133 >> Try a couple of C-a's, and then a couple of C-e's.
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134 Try a couple of M-a's, and then a couple of M-e's.
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135
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136 See how repeated C-a's do nothing, but repeated M-a's keep moving one
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137 more sentence. Although these are not quite analogous, each one seems
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138 natural.
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139
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140 The location of the cursor in the text is also called "point". To
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141 paraphrase, the cursor shows on the screen where point is located in
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142 the text.
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143
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144 Here is a summary of simple cursor-moving operations, including the
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145 word and sentence moving commands:
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146
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147 C-f Move forward a character
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148 C-b Move backward a character
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149
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150 M-f Move forward a word
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151 M-b Move backward a word
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152
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153 C-n Move to next line
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154 C-p Move to previous line
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155
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156 C-a Move to beginning of line
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157 C-e Move to end of line
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158
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159 M-a Move back to beginning of sentence
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160 M-e Move forward to end of sentence
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161
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162 >> Try all of these commands now a few times for practice.
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163 These are the most often used commands.
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164
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165 Two other important cursor motion commands are M-< (Meta Less-than),
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166 which moves to the beginning of the whole text, and M-> (Meta
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167 Greater-than), which moves to the end of the whole text.
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168
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169 On most terminals, the "<" is above the comma, so you must use the
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170 shift key to type it. On these terminals you must use the shift key
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171 to type M-< also; without the shift key, you would be typing M-comma.
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172
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173 >> Try M-< now, to move to the beginning of the tutorial.
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174 Then use C-v repeatedly to move back here.
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175
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176 >> Try M-> now, to move to the end of the tutorial.
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177 Then use M-v repeatedly to move back here.
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178
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179 You can also move the cursor with the arrow keys, if your terminal has
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180 arrow keys. We recommend learning C-b, C-f, C-n and C-p for three
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181 reasons. First, they work on all kinds of terminals. Second, once
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182 you gain practice at using Emacs, you will find that typing these Control
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183 characters is faster than typing the arrow keys (because you do not
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184 have to move your hands away from touch-typing position). Third, once
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185 you form the habit of using these Control character commands, you can
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186 easily learn to use other advanced cursor motion commands as well.
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187
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188 Most Emacs commands accept a numeric argument; for most commands, this
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189 serves as a repeat-count. The way you give a command a repeat count
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190 is by typing C-u and then the digits before you type the command. If
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191 you have a META (or EDIT or ALT) key, there is another, alternative way
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192 to enter a numeric argument: type the digits while holding down the
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193 META key. We recommend learning the C-u method because it works on
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194 any terminal. The numeric argument is also called a "prefix argument",
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195 because you type the argument before the command it applies to.
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196
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197 For instance, C-u 8 C-f moves forward eight characters.
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198
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199 >> Try using C-n or C-p with a numeric argument, to move the cursor
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200 to a line near this one with just one command.
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201
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202 Most commands use the numeric argument as a repeat count, but some
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203 commands use it in some other way. Several commands (but none of
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204 those you have learned so far) use it as a flag--the presence of a
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205 prefix argument, regardless of its value, makes the command do
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206 something different.
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207
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208 C-v and M-v are another kind of exception. When given an argument,
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209 they scroll the screen up or down by that many lines, rather than by a
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210 screenful. For example, C-u 8 C-v scrolls the screen by 8 lines.
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211
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212 >> Try typing C-u 8 C-v now.
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213
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214 This should have scrolled the screen up by 8 lines. If you would like
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215 to scroll it down again, you can give an argument to M-v.
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216
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217 If you are using a windowed display, such as X11 or MS-Windows, there
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218 should be a tall rectangular area called a scroll bar at the left hand
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219 side of the Emacs window. You can scroll the text by clicking the
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220 mouse in the scroll bar.
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221
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222 >> Try pressing the middle button at the top of the highlighted area
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223 within the scroll bar. This should scroll the text to a position
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224 determined by how high or low you click.
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225
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226 >> Try moving the mouse up and down, while holding the middle button
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227 pressed down. You'll see that the text scrolls up and down as
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228 you move the mouse.
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229
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230
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231 * WHEN EMACS IS HUNG
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232 --------------------
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233
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234 If Emacs stops responding to your commands, you can stop it safely by
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235 typing C-g. You can use C-g to stop a command which is taking too
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236 long to execute.
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237
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238 You can also use C-g to discard a numeric argument or the beginning of
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239 a command that you do not want to finish.
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240
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241 >> Type C-u 100 to make a numeric arg of 100, then type C-g.
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242 Now type C-f. It should move just one character,
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243 because you canceled the argument with C-g.
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244
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245 If you have typed an <ESC> by mistake, you can get rid of it
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246 with a C-g.
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247
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248
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249 * DISABLED COMMANDS
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250 -------------------
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251
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252 Some Emacs commands are "disabled" so that beginning users cannot use
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253 them by accident.
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254
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255 If you type one of the disabled commands, Emacs displays a message
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256 saying what the command was, and asking you whether you want to go
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257 ahead and execute the command.
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258
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259 If you really want to try the command, type Space in answer to the
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260 question. Normally, if you do not want to execute the disabled
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261 command, answer the question with "n".
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262
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263 >> Type C-x C-l (which is a disabled command),
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264 then type n to answer the question.
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265
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266
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267 * WINDOWS
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268 ---------
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269
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270 Emacs can have several windows, each displaying its own text. We will
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271 explain later on how to use multiple windows. Right now we want to
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272 explain how to get rid of extra windows and go back to basic
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273 one-window editing. It is simple:
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274
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275 C-x 1 One window (i.e., kill all other windows).
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276
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277 That is Control-x followed by the digit 1. C-x 1 expands the window
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278 which contains the cursor, to occupy the full screen. It deletes all
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279 other windows.
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280
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281 >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l.
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282 >> Type Control-h k Control-f.
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283 See how this window shrinks, while a new one appears
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284 to display documentation on the Control-f command.
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285
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286 >> Type C-x 1 and see the documentation listing window disappear.
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287
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288 This command is unlike the other commands you have learned in that it
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289 consists of two characters. It starts with the character Control-x.
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290 There is a whole series of commands that start with Control-x; many of
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291 them have to do with windows, files, buffers, and related things.
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292 These commands are two, three or four characters long.
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293
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294
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295 * INSERTING AND DELETING
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296 ------------------------
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297
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298 If you want to insert text, just type the text. Characters which you
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299 can see, such as A, 7, *, etc. are taken by Emacs as text and inserted
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300 immediately. Type <Return> (the carriage-return key) to insert a
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301 Newline character.
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302
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303 You can delete the last character you typed by typing <Delete>.
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304 <Delete> is a key on the keyboard, which may be labeled "Del". In
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305 some cases, the "Backspace" key serves as <Delete>, but not always!
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306
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307 More generally, <Delete> deletes the character immediately before the
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308 current cursor position.
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309
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310 >> Do this now--type a few characters, then delete them
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311 by typing <Delete> a few times. Don't worry about this file
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312 being changed; you will not alter the master tutorial. This is
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313 your personal copy of it.
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314
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315 When a line of text gets too big for one line on the screen, the line
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316 of text is "continued" onto a second screen line. A backslash ("\")
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317 at the right margin indicates a line which has been continued.
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318
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319 >> Insert text until you reach the right margin, and keep on inserting.
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320 You'll see a continuation line appear.
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321
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322 >> Use <Delete>s to delete the text until the line fits on one screen
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323 line again. The continuation line goes away.
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324
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325 You can delete a Newline character just like any other character.
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326 Deleting the Newline character between two lines merges them into
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327 one line. If the resulting combined line is too long to fit in the
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328 screen width, it will be displayed with a continuation line.
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329
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330 >> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line and type <Delete>. This
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331 merges that line with the previous line.
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332
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333 >> Type <Return> to reinsert the Newline you deleted.
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334
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335 Remember that most Emacs commands can be given a repeat count;
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336 this includes text characters. Repeating a text character inserts
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337 it several times.
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338
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339 >> Try that now -- type C-u 8 * to insert ********.
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340
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341 You've now learned the most basic way of typing something in
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342 Emacs and correcting errors. You can delete by words or lines
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343 as well. Here is a summary of the delete operations:
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344
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345 <Delete> delete the character just before the cursor
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346 C-d delete the next character after the cursor
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347
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348 M-<Delete> kill the word immediately before the cursor
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349 M-d kill the next word after the cursor
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350
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351 C-k kill from the cursor position to end of line
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352 M-k kill to the end of the current sentence
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353
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354 Notice that <Delete> and C-d vs M-<Delete> and M-d extend the parallel
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355 started by C-f and M-f (well, <Delete> is not really a control
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356 character, but let's not worry about that). C-k and M-k are like C-e
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357 and M-e, sort of, in that lines are opposite sentences.
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358
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359 You can also kill any part of the buffer with one uniform method.
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360 Move to one end of that part, and type C-@ or C-SPC (either one).
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Minor wording changes, suggested by Per Starback <starback@ling.uu.se>.
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361 (SPC is the Space bar.) Move to the other end of that part, and type
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Minor wording changes, suggested by Per Starback <starback@ling.uu.se>.
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362 C-w. That kills all the text between the two positions.
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363
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364 >> Move the cursor to the Y at the start of the previous paragraph.
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365 >> Type C-SPC. Emacs should display a message "Mark set"
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366 at the bottom of the screen.
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367 >> Move the cursor to the n in "end", on the second line of the
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368 paragraph.
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369 >> Type C-w. This will kill the text starting from the Y,
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370 and ending just before the n.
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371
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372 The difference between "killing" and "deleting" is that "killed" text
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373 can be reinserted, whereas "deleted" things cannot be reinserted.
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374 Reinsertion of killed text is called "yanking". Generally, the
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375 commands that can remove a lot of text kill the text (they set up so
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376 that you can yank the text), while the commands that remove just one
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377 character, or just blank lines and spaces, do deletion (so you cannot
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378 yank that text).
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379
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380 >> Move the cursor to the beginning of a line which is not empty.
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381 Then type C-k to kill the text on that line.
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382 >> Type C-k a second time. You'll see that it kills the Newline
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383 which follows that line.
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384
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385 Note that a single C-k kills the contents of the line, and a second
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386 C-k kills the line itself, and makes all the other lines move up. C-k
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387 treats a numeric argument specially: it kills that many lines AND
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388 their contents. This is not mere repetition. C-u 2 C-k kills two
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389 lines and their newlines; typing C-k twice would not do that.
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390
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391 Bringing back killed text is called "yanking". (Think of it as
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392 yanking back, or pulling back, some text that was taken away.) You
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393 can yank the killed text either at the same place where it was killed,
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394 or at some other place in the buffer, or even in a different file.
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395 You can yank the text several times, which makes multiple copies of
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396 it.
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397
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398 The command for yanking is C-y. It reinserts the last killed text,
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399 at the current cursor position.
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400
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401 >> Try it; type C-y to yank the text back.
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402
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403 If you do several C-k's in a row, all of the killed text is saved
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404 together, so that one C-y will yank all of the lines at once.
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405
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406 >> Do this now, type C-k several times.
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407
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408 Now to retrieve that killed text:
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409
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410 >> Type C-y. Then move the cursor down a few lines and type C-y
|
|
411 again. You now see how to copy some text.
|
|
412
|
|
413 What do you do if you have some text you want to yank back, and then
|
|
414 you kill something else? C-y would yank the more recent kill. But
|
|
415 the previous text is not lost. You can get back to it using the M-y
|
|
416 command. After you have done C-y to get the most recent kill, typing
|
17128
|
417 M-y replaces that yanked text with the previous kill. Typing M-y
|
16730
|
418 again and again brings in earlier and earlier kills. When you have
|
|
419 reached the text you are looking for, you do not have to do anything to
|
|
420 keep it. Just go on with your editing, leaving the yanked text where
|
|
421 it is.
|
|
422
|
|
423 If you M-y enough times, you come back to the starting point (the most
|
|
424 recent kill).
|
13
|
425
|
|
426 >> Kill a line, move around, kill another line.
|
|
427 Then do C-y to get back the second killed line.
|
|
428 Then do M-y and it will be replaced by the first killed line.
|
|
429 Do more M-y's and see what you get. Keep doing them until
|
|
430 the second kill line comes back, and then a few more.
|
|
431 If you like, you can try giving M-y positive and negative
|
|
432 arguments.
|
|
433
|
|
434
|
1375
|
435 * UNDO
|
|
436 ------
|
13
|
437
|
16730
|
438 If you make a change to the text, and then decide that it was a
|
|
439 mistake, you can undo the change with the undo command, C-x u.
|
|
440
|
|
441 Normally, C-x u undoes the changes made by one command; if you repeat
|
|
442 the C-x u several times in a row, each repetition undoes one
|
|
443 additional command.
|
|
444
|
|
445 But there are two exceptions: commands that do not change the text do
|
|
446 not count (this includes cursor motion commands and scrolling
|
|
447 command), and self-inserting characters are usually handled in groups
|
|
448 of up to 20. (This is to reduce the number of C-x u's you have to
|
|
449 type to undo insertion of text.)
|
13
|
450
|
|
451 >> Kill this line with C-k, then type C-x u and it should reappear.
|
|
452
|
16730
|
453 C-_ is an alternative undo command; it works just the same as C-x u,
|
|
454 but it is easier to type several times in a row. The disadvantage of
|
|
455 C-_ is that on some keyboards it is not obvious how to type it. That
|
|
456 is why we provide C-x u as well. On some terminals, you can type C-_
|
21296
|
457 by typing / while holding down CONTROL.
|
13
|
458
|
16730
|
459 A numeric argument to C-_ or C-x u acts as a repeat count.
|
13
|
460
|
34913
|
461 You can undo deletion of text just as you can undo killing of text.
|
|
462 The distinction between killing something and deleting it affects
|
|
463 whether you can yank it with C-y; it makes no difference for undo.
|
|
464
|
13
|
465
|
1375
|
466 * FILES
|
|
467 -------
|
13
|
468
|
|
469 In order to make the text you edit permanent, you must put it in a
|
|
470 file. Otherwise, it will go away when your invocation of Emacs goes
|
21296
|
471 away. In order to put your text in a file, you must "find" the file
|
|
472 before you enter the text. (This is also called "visiting" the file.)
|
16730
|
473
|
|
474 Finding a file means that you see the contents of the file within
|
|
475 Emacs. In many ways, it is as if you were editing the file itself.
|
|
476 However, the changes you make using Emacs do not become permanent
|
|
477 until you "save" the file. This is so you can avoid leaving a
|
|
478 half-changed file on the system when you do not want to. Even when
|
|
479 you save, Emacs leaves the original file under a changed name in case
|
|
480 you later decide that your changes were a mistake.
|
13
|
481
|
|
482 If you look near the bottom of the screen you will see a line that
|
19772
|
483 begins and ends with dashes, and starts with "--:-- TUTORIAL" or
|
|
484 something like that. This part of the screen normally shows the name
|
|
485 of the file that you are visiting. Right now, you are visiting a file
|
|
486 called "TUTORIAL" which is your personal scratch copy of the Emacs
|
|
487 tutorial. When you find a file with Emacs, that file's name will
|
|
488 appear in that precise spot.
|
13
|
489
|
21296
|
490 One special thing about the command for finding a file is that you
|
|
491 have to say what file name you want. We say the command "reads an
|
|
492 argument from the terminal" (in this case, the argument is the name of
|
|
493 the file). After you type the command
|
13
|
494
|
|
495 C-x C-f Find a file
|
|
496
|
16730
|
497 Emacs asks you to type the file name. The file name you type appears
|
|
498 on the bottom line of the screen. The bottom line is called the
|
|
499 minibuffer when it is used for this sort of input. You can use
|
|
500 ordinary Emacs editing commands to edit the file name.
|
|
501
|
|
502 While you are entering the file name (or any minibuffer input),
|
|
503 you can cancel the command with C-g.
|
13
|
504
|
|
505 >> Type C-x C-f, then type C-g. This cancels the minibuffer,
|
|
506 and also cancels the C-x C-f command that was using the
|
|
507 minibuffer. So you do not find any file.
|
|
508
|
16730
|
509 When you have finished entering the file name, type <Return> to
|
|
510 terminate it. Then C-x C-f command goes to work, and finds the file
|
|
511 you chose. The minibuffer disappears when the C-x C-f command is
|
|
512 finished.
|
|
513
|
|
514 In a little while the file contents appear on the screen, and you can
|
|
515 edit the contents. When you wish to make your changes permanent,
|
|
516 type the command
|
13
|
517
|
|
518 C-x C-s Save the file
|
|
519
|
16730
|
520 This copies the text within Emacs into the file. The first time you
|
|
521 do this, Emacs renames the original file to a new name so that it is
|
|
522 not lost. The new name is made by adding "~" to the end of the
|
|
523 original file's name.
|
13
|
524
|
|
525 When saving is finished, Emacs prints the name of the file written.
|
|
526 You should save fairly often, so that you will not lose very much
|
|
527 work if the system should crash.
|
|
528
|
|
529 >> Type C-x C-s, saving your copy of the tutorial.
|
16730
|
530 This should print "Wrote ...TUTORIAL" at the bottom of the screen.
|
13
|
531
|
8128
|
532 NOTE: On some systems, typing C-x C-s will freeze the screen and you
|
|
533 will see no further output from Emacs. This indicates that an
|
|
534 operating system "feature" called "flow control" is intercepting the
|
|
535 C-s and not letting it get through to Emacs. To unfreeze the screen,
|
|
536 type C-q. Then see the section "Spontaneous Entry to Incremental
|
|
537 Search" in the Emacs manual for advice on dealing with this "feature".
|
|
538
|
16730
|
539 You can find an existing file, to view it or edit it. You can also
|
|
540 find a file which does not already exist. This is the way to create a
|
|
541 file with Emacs: find the file, which will start out empty, and then
|
|
542 begin inserting the text for the file. When you ask to "save" the
|
|
543 file, Emacs will really create the file with the text that you have
|
|
544 inserted. From then on, you can consider yourself to be editing an
|
|
545 already existing file.
|
13
|
546
|
|
547
|
1375
|
548 * BUFFERS
|
|
549 ---------
|
13
|
550
|
|
551 If you find a second file with C-x C-f, the first file remains
|
|
552 inside Emacs. You can switch back to it by finding it again with
|
|
553 C-x C-f. This way you can get quite a number of files inside Emacs.
|
|
554
|
16730
|
555 >> Create a file named "foo" by typing C-x C-f foo <Return>.
|
|
556 Then insert some text, edit it, and save "foo" by typing C-x C-s.
|
|
557 Finally, type C-x C-f TUTORIAL <Return>
|
|
558 to come back to the tutorial.
|
|
559
|
21494
|
560 Emacs stores each file's text inside an object called a "buffer".
|
16730
|
561 Finding a file makes a new buffer inside Emacs. To see a list of the
|
21494
|
562 buffers that currently exist in your Emacs job, type
|
13
|
563
|
|
564 C-x C-b List buffers
|
|
565
|
|
566 >> Try C-x C-b now.
|
|
567
|
|
568 See how each buffer has a name, and it may also have a file name
|
|
569 for the file whose contents it holds. Some buffers do not correspond
|
|
570 to files. For example, the buffer named "*Buffer List*" does
|
|
571 not have any file. It is the buffer which contains the buffer
|
|
572 list that was made by C-x C-b. ANY text you see in an Emacs window
|
16730
|
573 is always part of some buffer.
|
13
|
574
|
|
575 >> Type C-x 1 to get rid of the buffer list.
|
|
576
|
|
577 If you make changes to the text of one file, then find another file,
|
|
578 this does not save the first file. Its changes remain inside Emacs,
|
|
579 in that file's buffer. The creation or editing of the second file's
|
|
580 buffer has no effect on the first file's buffer. This is very useful,
|
|
581 but it also means that you need a convenient way to save the first
|
|
582 file's buffer. It would be a nuisance to have to switch back to
|
|
583 it with C-x C-f in order to save it with C-x C-s. So we have
|
|
584
|
|
585 C-x s Save some buffers
|
|
586
|
16730
|
587 C-x s asks you about each buffer which contains changes that you have
|
|
588 not saved. It asks you, for each such buffer, whether to save the
|
|
589 buffer.
|
13
|
590
|
16730
|
591 >> Insert a line of text, then type C-x s.
|
|
592 It should ask you whether to save the buffer named TUTORIAL.
|
|
593 Answer yes to the question by typing "y".
|
13
|
594
|
23387
|
595
|
1375
|
596 * EXTENDING THE COMMAND SET
|
|
597 ---------------------------
|
13
|
598
|
|
599 There are many, many more Emacs commands than could possibly be put
|
|
600 on all the control and meta characters. Emacs gets around this with
|
|
601 the X (eXtend) command. This comes in two flavors:
|
|
602
|
|
603 C-x Character eXtend. Followed by one character.
|
|
604 M-x Named command eXtend. Followed by a long name.
|
|
605
|
|
606 These are commands that are generally useful but used less than the
|
16730
|
607 commands you have already learned about. You have already seen two of
|
|
608 them: the file commands C-x C-f to Find and C-x C-s to Save. Another
|
|
609 example is the command to end the Emacs session--this is the command
|
|
610 C-x C-c. (Do not worry about losing changes you have made; C-x C-c
|
|
611 offers to save each changed file before it kills the Emacs.)
|
13
|
612
|
9560
|
613 C-z is the command to exit Emacs *temporarily*--so that you can go
|
|
614 back to the same Emacs session afterward.
|
13
|
615
|
16730
|
616 On systems which allow it, C-z "suspends" Emacs; that is, it returns
|
|
617 to the shell but does not destroy the Emacs. In the most common
|
|
618 shells, you can resume Emacs with the `fg' command or with `%emacs'.
|
|
619
|
|
620 On systems which do not implement suspending, C-z creates a subshell
|
|
621 running under Emacs to give you the chance to run other programs and
|
|
622 return to Emacs afterward; it does not truly "exit" from Emacs. In
|
|
623 this case, the shell command `exit' is the usual way to get back to
|
|
624 Emacs from the subshell.
|
9560
|
625
|
|
626 The time to use C-x C-c is when you are about to log out. It's also
|
|
627 the right thing to use to exit an Emacs invoked under mail handling
|
16730
|
628 programs and other miscellaneous utilities, since they may not know
|
|
629 how to cope with suspension of Emacs. In ordinary circumstances,
|
|
630 though, if you are not about to log out, it is better to suspend Emacs
|
|
631 with C-z instead of exiting Emacs.
|
13
|
632
|
16730
|
633 There are many C-x commands. Here is a list of the ones you have learned:
|
13
|
634
|
|
635 C-x C-f Find file.
|
|
636 C-x C-s Save file.
|
|
637 C-x C-b List buffers.
|
|
638 C-x C-c Quit Emacs.
|
23442
|
639 C-x 1 Delete all but one window.
|
13
|
640 C-x u Undo.
|
|
641
|
|
642 Named eXtended commands are commands which are used even less
|
16730
|
643 frequently, or commands which are used only in certain modes. An
|
|
644 example is the command replace-string, which globally replaces one
|
|
645 string with another. When you type M-x, Emacs prompts you at the
|
|
646 bottom of the screen with M-x and you should type the name of the
|
|
647 command; in this case, "replace-string". Just type "repl s<TAB>" and
|
32393
0fe223923f61
Minor wording changes, suggested by Per Starback <starback@ling.uu.se>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
diff
changeset
|
648 Emacs will complete the name. (<TAB> is the Tab key, usually found
|
32492
|
649 above the CapsLock or Shift key near the left edge of the keyboard.)
|
32393
0fe223923f61
Minor wording changes, suggested by Per Starback <starback@ling.uu.se>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
diff
changeset
|
650 End the command name with <Return>.
|
16730
|
651
|
|
652 The replace-string command requires two arguments--the string to be
|
|
653 replaced, and the string to replace it with. You must end each
|
|
654 argument with <Return>.
|
13
|
655
|
|
656 >> Move the cursor to the blank line two lines below this one.
|
|
657 Then type M-x repl s<Return>changed<Return>altered<Return>.
|
|
658
|
|
659 Notice how this line has changed: you've replaced
|
16730
|
660 the word c-h-a-n-g-e-d with "altered" wherever it occurred,
|
|
661 after the initial position of the cursor.
|
13
|
662
|
|
663
|
10698
|
664 * AUTO SAVE
|
|
665 -----------
|
|
666
|
|
667 When you have made changes in a file, but you have not saved them yet,
|
|
668 they could be lost if your computer crashes. To protect you from
|
16730
|
669 this, Emacs periodically writes an "auto save" file for each file that
|
|
670 you are editing. The auto save file name has a # at the beginning and
|
|
671 the end; for example, if your file is named "hello.c", its auto save
|
|
672 file's name is "#hello.c#". When you save the file in the normal way,
|
|
673 Emacs deletes its auto save file.
|
10698
|
674
|
|
675 If the computer crashes, you can recover your auto-saved editing by
|
|
676 finding the file normally (the file you were editing, not the auto
|
21494
|
677 save file) and then typing M-x recover file<Return>. When it asks for
|
|
678 confirmation, type yes<Return> to go ahead and recover the auto-save
|
10698
|
679 data.
|
|
680
|
|
681
|
16730
|
682 * ECHO AREA
|
1375
|
683 -----------
|
13
|
684
|
23442
|
685 If Emacs sees that you are typing multicharacter commands slowly, it
|
|
686 shows them to you at the bottom of the screen in an area called the
|
|
687 "echo area". The echo area contains the bottom line of the screen.
|
16730
|
688
|
|
689
|
|
690 * MODE LINE
|
|
691 -----------
|
13
|
692
|
23442
|
693 The line immediately above the echo area is called the "mode line".
|
16730
|
694 The mode line says something like this:
|
13
|
695
|
20125
|
696 --:** TUTORIAL (Fundamental)--L670--58%----------------
|
16730
|
697
|
|
698 This line gives useful information about the status of Emacs and
|
|
699 the text you are editing.
|
13
|
700
|
|
701 You already know what the filename means--it is the file you have
|
16730
|
702 found. -NN%-- indicates your current position in the text; it means
|
|
703 that NN percent of the text is above the top of the screen. If the
|
|
704 top of the file is on the screen, it will say --Top-- instead of
|
|
705 --00%--. If the bottom of the text is on the screen, it will say
|
|
706 --Bot--. If you are looking at text so small that all of it fits on
|
|
707 the screen, the mode line says --All--.
|
13
|
708
|
29395
|
709 The L and digits indicate position in another way: they give the
|
|
710 current line number of point.
|
|
711
|
13
|
712 The stars near the front mean that you have made changes to the text.
|
16730
|
713 Right after you visit or save a file, that part of the mode line shows
|
|
714 no stars, just dashes.
|
13
|
715
|
|
716 The part of the mode line inside the parentheses is to tell you what
|
16730
|
717 editing modes you are in. The default mode is Fundamental which is
|
|
718 what you are using now. It is an example of a "major mode".
|
|
719
|
|
720 Emacs has many different major modes. Some of them are meant for
|
17128
|
721 editing different languages and/or kinds of text, such as Lisp mode,
|
16730
|
722 Text mode, etc. At any time one and only one major mode is active,
|
|
723 and its name can always be found in the mode line just where
|
|
724 "Fundamental" is now.
|
|
725
|
|
726 Each major mode makes a few commands behave differently. For example,
|
|
727 there are commands for creating comments in a program, and since each
|
|
728 programming language has a different idea of what a comment should
|
|
729 look like, each major mode has to insert comments differently. Each
|
|
730 major mode is the name of an extended command, which is how you can
|
17128
|
731 switch to that mode. For example, M-x fundamental-mode is a command to
|
16730
|
732 switch to Fundamental mode.
|
13
|
733
|
|
734 If you are going to be editing English text, such as this file, you
|
|
735 should probably use Text Mode.
|
21494
|
736 >> Type M-x text mode<Return>.
|
13
|
737
|
23442
|
738 Don't worry, none of the Emacs commands you have learned changes in
|
16730
|
739 any great way. But you can observe that M-f and M-b now treat
|
|
740 apostrophes as part of words. Previously, in Fundamental mode,
|
|
741 M-f and M-b treated apostrophes as word-separators.
|
13
|
742
|
16730
|
743 Major modes usually make subtle changes like that one: most commands
|
|
744 do "the same job" in each major mode, but they work a little bit
|
|
745 differently.
|
|
746
|
|
747 To view documentation on your current major mode, type C-h m.
|
13
|
748
|
|
749 >> Use C-u C-v once or more to bring this line near the top of screen.
|
|
750 >> Type C-h m, to see how Text mode differs from Fundamental mode.
|
|
751 >> Type C-x 1 to remove the documentation from the screen.
|
|
752
|
|
753 Major modes are called major because there are also minor modes.
|
24287
|
754 Minor modes are not alternatives to the major modes, just minor
|
17128
|
755 modifications of them. Each minor mode can be turned on or off by
|
|
756 itself, independent of all other minor modes, and independent of your
|
|
757 major mode. So you can use no minor modes, or one minor mode, or any
|
|
758 combination of several minor modes.
|
13
|
759
|
|
760 One minor mode which is very useful, especially for editing English
|
|
761 text, is Auto Fill mode. When this mode is on, Emacs breaks the line
|
16730
|
762 in between words automatically whenever you insert text and make a
|
|
763 line that is too wide.
|
|
764
|
21593
|
765 You can turn Auto Fill mode on by doing M-x auto fill mode<Return>.
|
24287
|
766 When the mode is on, you can turn it off again by doing M-x
|
21593
|
767 auto fill mode<Return>. If the mode is off, this command turns it on,
|
16730
|
768 and if the mode is on, this command turns it off. We say that the
|
|
769 command "toggles the mode".
|
13
|
770
|
21593
|
771 >> Type M-x auto fill mode<Return> now. Then insert a line of "asdf "
|
13
|
772 over again until you see it divide into two lines. You must put in
|
|
773 spaces between them because Auto Fill breaks lines only at spaces.
|
|
774
|
|
775 The margin is usually set at 70 characters, but you can change it
|
|
776 with the C-x f command. You should give the margin setting you want
|
|
777 as a numeric argument.
|
|
778
|
|
779 >> Type C-x f with an argument of 20. (C-u 2 0 C-x f).
|
|
780 Then type in some text and see Emacs fill lines of 20
|
|
781 characters with it. Then set the margin back to 70 using
|
|
782 C-x f again.
|
|
783
|
23442
|
784 If you make changes in the middle of a paragraph, Auto Fill mode
|
13
|
785 does not re-fill it for you.
|
|
786 To re-fill the paragraph, type M-q (Meta-q) with the cursor inside
|
|
787 that paragraph.
|
|
788
|
|
789 >> Move the cursor into the previous paragraph and type M-q.
|
|
790
|
23387
|
791
|
1375
|
792 * SEARCHING
|
|
793 -----------
|
13
|
794
|
|
795 Emacs can do searches for strings (these are groups of contiguous
|
16730
|
796 characters or words) either forward through the text or backward
|
|
797 through it. Searching for a string is a cursor motion command;
|
|
798 it moves the cursor to the next place where that string appears.
|
|
799
|
|
800 The Emacs search command is different from the search commands
|
|
801 of most editors, in that it is "incremental". This means that the
|
|
802 search happens while you type in the string to search for.
|
|
803
|
|
804 The command to initiate a search is C-s for forward search, and C-r
|
|
805 for reverse search. BUT WAIT! Don't try them now.
|
|
806
|
|
807 When you type C-s you'll notice that the string "I-search" appears as
|
|
808 a prompt in the echo area. This tells you that Emacs is in what is
|
|
809 called an incremental search waiting for you to type the thing that
|
21296
|
810 you want to search for. <Return> terminates a search.
|
13
|
811
|
|
812 >> Now type C-s to start a search. SLOWLY, one letter at a time,
|
|
813 type the word 'cursor', pausing after you type each
|
|
814 character to notice what happens to the cursor.
|
16730
|
815 Now you have searched for "cursor", once.
|
|
816 >> Type C-s again, to search for the next occurrence of "cursor".
|
11903
|
817 >> Now type <Delete> four times and see how the cursor moves.
|
21296
|
818 >> Type <Return> to terminate the search.
|
13
|
819
|
|
820 Did you see what happened? Emacs, in an incremental search, tries to
|
16730
|
821 go to the occurrence of the string that you've typed out so far. To
|
|
822 go to the next occurrence of 'cursor' just type C-s again. If no such
|
24287
|
823 occurrence exists, Emacs beeps and tells you the search is currently
|
|
824 "failing". C-g would also terminate the search.
|
13
|
825
|
8128
|
826 NOTE: On some systems, typing C-s will freeze the screen and you will
|
|
827 see no further output from Emacs. This indicates that an operating
|
|
828 system "feature" called "flow control" is intercepting the C-s and not
|
|
829 letting it get through to Emacs. To unfreeze the screen, type C-q.
|
|
830 Then see the section "Spontaneous Entry to Incremental Search" in the
|
|
831 Emacs manual for advice on dealing with this "feature".
|
|
832
|
11903
|
833 If you are in the middle of an incremental search and type <Delete>,
|
13
|
834 you'll notice that the last character in the search string is erased
|
|
835 and the search backs up to the last place of the search. For
|
16730
|
836 instance, suppose you have typed "c", to search for the first
|
|
837 occurrence of "c". Now if you type "u", the cursor will move
|
|
838 to the first occurrence of "cu". Now type <Delete>. This erases
|
|
839 the "u" from the search string, and the cursor moves back to
|
|
840 the first occurrence of "c".
|
13
|
841
|
4351
|
842 If you are in the middle of a search and type a control or meta
|
|
843 character (with a few exceptions--characters that are special in
|
|
844 a search, such as C-s and C-r), the search is terminated.
|
13
|
845
|
|
846 The C-s starts a search that looks for any occurrence of the search
|
16730
|
847 string AFTER the current cursor position. If you want to search for
|
|
848 something earlier in the text, type C-r instead. Everything that we
|
|
849 have said about C-s also applies to C-r, except that the direction of
|
|
850 the search is reversed.
|
13
|
851
|
|
852
|
1375
|
853 * MULTIPLE WINDOWS
|
|
854 ------------------
|
476
|
855
|
|
856 One of the nice features of Emacs is that you can display more than one
|
|
857 window on the screen at the same time.
|
|
858
|
32393
0fe223923f61
Minor wording changes, suggested by Per Starback <starback@ling.uu.se>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
diff
changeset
|
859 >> Move the cursor to this line and type C-u 0 C-l (that's control-L, not
|
0fe223923f61
Minor wording changes, suggested by Per Starback <starback@ling.uu.se>.
Eli Zaretskii <eliz@gnu.org>
diff
changeset
|
860 control-1).
|
476
|
861
|
|
862 >> Now type C-x 2 which splits the screen into two windows.
|
|
863 Both windows display this tutorial. The cursor stays in the top window.
|
|
864
|
|
865 >> Type C-M-v to scroll the bottom window.
|
16730
|
866 (If you do not have a real Meta key, type ESC C-v.)
|
476
|
867
|
|
868 >> Type C-x o ("o" for "other") to move the cursor to the bottom window.
|
|
869 >> Use C-v and M-v in the bottom window to scroll it.
|
|
870 Keep reading these directions in the top window.
|
|
871
|
|
872 >> Type C-x o again to move the cursor back to the top window.
|
16730
|
873 The cursor in the top window is just where it was before.
|
476
|
874
|
|
875 You can keep using C-x o to switch between the windows. Each
|
|
876 window has its own cursor position, but only one window actually
|
|
877 shows the cursor. All the ordinary editing commands apply to the
|
16730
|
878 window that the cursor is in. We call this the "selected window".
|
476
|
879
|
|
880 The command C-M-v is very useful when you are editing text in one
|
|
881 window and using the other window just for reference. You can keep
|
16730
|
882 the cursor always in the window where you are editing, and advance
|
|
883 through the other window sequentially with C-M-v.
|
476
|
884
|
12647
|
885 C-M-v is an example of a CONTROL-META character. If you have a real
|
21296
|
886 META key, you can type C-M-v by holding down both CONTROL and META while
|
|
887 typing v. It does not matter whether CONTROL or META "comes first,"
|
16730
|
888 because both of these keys act by modifying the characters you type.
|
12647
|
889
|
16730
|
890 If you do not have a real META key, and you use ESC instead, the order
|
21296
|
891 does matter: you must type ESC followed by Control-v, because
|
|
892 Control-ESC v will not work. This is because ESC is a character in
|
|
893 its own right, not a modifier key.
|
12647
|
894
|
476
|
895 >> Type C-x 1 (in the top window) to get rid of the bottom window.
|
|
896
|
|
897 (If you had typed C-x 1 in the bottom window, that would get rid
|
|
898 of the top one. Think of this command as "Keep just one
|
|
899 window--the window I am already in.")
|
|
900
|
16730
|
901 You do not have to display the same buffer in both windows. If you
|
|
902 use C-x C-f to find a file in one window, the other window does not
|
|
903 change. You can find a file in each window independently.
|
476
|
904
|
|
905 Here is another way to use two windows to display two different
|
|
906 things:
|
|
907
|
|
908 >> Type C-x 4 C-f followed by the name of one of your files.
|
16730
|
909 End with <Return>. See the specified file appear in the bottom
|
476
|
910 window. The cursor goes there, too.
|
|
911
|
|
912 >> Type C-x o to go back to the top window, and C-x 1 to delete
|
|
913 the bottom window.
|
|
914
|
|
915
|
1375
|
916 * RECURSIVE EDITING LEVELS
|
|
917 --------------------------
|
13
|
918
|
|
919 Sometimes you will get into what is called a "recursive editing
|
|
920 level". This is indicated by square brackets in the mode line,
|
|
921 surrounding the parentheses around the major mode name. For
|
|
922 example, you might see [(Fundamental)] instead of (Fundamental).
|
|
923
|
15443
|
924 To get out of the recursive editing level, type ESC ESC ESC. That is
|
|
925 an all-purpose "get out" command. You can also use it for eliminating
|
|
926 extra windows, and getting out of the minibuffer.
|
13
|
927
|
15443
|
928 >> Type M-x to get into a minibuffer; then type ESC ESC ESC to get out.
|
13
|
929
|
16730
|
930 You cannot use C-g to get out of a recursive editing level. This is
|
|
931 because C-g is used for canceling commands and arguments WITHIN the
|
|
932 recursive editing level.
|
13
|
933
|
|
934
|
1375
|
935 * GETTING MORE HELP
|
|
936 -------------------
|
13
|
937
|
|
938 In this tutorial we have tried to supply just enough information to
|
|
939 get you started using Emacs. There is so much available in Emacs that
|
|
940 it would be impossible to explain it all here. However, you may want
|
16730
|
941 to learn more about Emacs since it has many other useful features.
|
|
942 Emacs provides commands for reading documentation about Emacs
|
|
943 commands. These "help" commands all start with the character
|
|
944 Control-h, which is called "the Help character".
|
13
|
945
|
16730
|
946 To use the Help features, type the C-h character, and then a
|
13
|
947 character saying what kind of help you want. If you are REALLY lost,
|
|
948 type C-h ? and Emacs will tell you what kinds of help it can give.
|
16730
|
949 If you have typed C-h and decide you do not want any help, just
|
4351
|
950 type C-g to cancel it.
|
13
|
951
|
18579
|
952 (Some sites change the meaning of the character C-h. They really
|
|
953 should not do this as a blanket measure for all users, so you have
|
|
954 grounds to complain to the system administrator. Meanwhile, if C-h
|
|
955 does not display a message about help at the bottom of the screen, try
|
21296
|
956 typing the F1 key or M-x help <Return> instead.)
|
6597
|
957
|
18579
|
958 The most basic HELP feature is C-h c. Type C-h, the character c, and
|
|
959 a command character or sequence; then Emacs displays a very brief
|
13
|
960 description of the command.
|
|
961
|
29395
|
962 >> Type C-h c C-p.
|
13
|
963 The message should be something like
|
|
964
|
|
965 C-p runs the command previous-line
|
|
966
|
16730
|
967 This tells you the "name of the function". Function names are used
|
|
968 mainly for customizing and extending Emacs. But since function names
|
|
969 are chosen to indicate what the command does, they can serve also as
|
|
970 very brief documentation--sufficient to remind you of commands you
|
|
971 have already learned.
|
13
|
972
|
|
973 Multi-character commands such as C-x C-s and (if you have no META or
|
17128
|
974 EDIT or ALT key) <ESC>v are also allowed after C-h c.
|
13
|
975
|
16730
|
976 To get more information about a command, use C-h k instead of C-h c.
|
13
|
977
|
29395
|
978 >> Type C-h k C-p.
|
13
|
979
|
477
|
980 This displays the documentation of the function, as well as its
|
|
981 name, in an Emacs window. When you are finished reading the
|
|
982 output, type C-x 1 to get rid of the help text. You do not have
|
|
983 to do this right away. You can do some editing while referring
|
16730
|
984 to the help text, and then type C-x 1.
|
13
|
985
|
|
986 Here are some other useful C-h options:
|
|
987
|
|
988 C-h f Describe a function. You type in the name of the
|
|
989 function.
|
|
990
|
|
991 >> Try typing C-h f previous-line<Return>.
|
|
992 This prints all the information Emacs has about the
|
4351
|
993 function which implements the C-p command.
|
13
|
994
|
|
995 C-h a Command Apropos. Type in a keyword and Emacs will list
|
|
996 all the commands whose names contain that keyword.
|
|
997 These commands can all be invoked with Meta-x.
|
|
998 For some commands, Command Apropos will also list a one
|
17128
|
999 or two character sequence which runs the same command.
|
13
|
1000
|
477
|
1001 >> Type C-h a file<Return>.
|
|
1002
|
16730
|
1003 This displays in another window a list of all M-x commands with "file"
|
|
1004 in their names. You will see character-commands like C-x C-f listed
|
|
1005 beside the corresponding command names such as find-file.
|
477
|
1006
|
|
1007 >> Type C-M-v to scroll the help window. Do this a few times.
|
|
1008
|
|
1009 >> Type C-x 1 to delete the help window.
|
13
|
1010
|
|
1011
|
1375
|
1012 * CONCLUSION
|
|
1013 ------------
|
13
|
1014
|
|
1015 Remember, to exit Emacs permanently use C-x C-c. To exit to a shell
|
16730
|
1016 temporarily, so that you can come back to Emacs afterward, use C-z.
|
13
|
1017
|
|
1018 This tutorial is meant to be understandable to all new users, so if
|
|
1019 you found something unclear, don't sit and blame yourself - complain!
|
|
1020
|
|
1021
|
23387
|
1022 * COPYING
|
|
1023 ---------
|
13
|
1024
|
|
1025 This tutorial descends from a long line of Emacs tutorials
|
|
1026 starting with the one written by Stuart Cracraft for the original Emacs.
|
|
1027
|
|
1028 This version of the tutorial, like GNU Emacs, is copyrighted, and
|
|
1029 comes with permission to distribute copies on certain conditions:
|
|
1030
|
16730
|
1031 Copyright (c) 1985, 1996 Free Software Foundation
|
13
|
1032
|
|
1033 Permission is granted to anyone to make or distribute verbatim copies
|
|
1034 of this document as received, in any medium, provided that the
|
|
1035 copyright notice and permission notice are preserved,
|
|
1036 and that the distributor grants the recipient permission
|
|
1037 for further redistribution as permitted by this notice.
|
|
1038
|
|
1039 Permission is granted to distribute modified versions
|
|
1040 of this document, or of portions of it,
|
|
1041 under the above conditions, provided also that they
|
|
1042 carry prominent notices stating who last altered them.
|
|
1043
|
16730
|
1044 The conditions for copying Emacs itself are more complex, but in the
|
|
1045 same spirit. Please read the file COPYING and then do give copies of
|
|
1046 GNU Emacs to your friends. Help stamp out software obstructionism
|
|
1047 ("ownership") by using, writing, and sharing free software!
|