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author | Gerd Moellmann <gerd@gnu.org> |
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date | Mon, 14 Aug 2000 12:43:13 +0000 |
parents | e9948dd313fa |
children | fb3d8e6e0497 |
rev | line source |
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25829 | 1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual. |
27749 | 2 @c Copyright (C) 1985,86,87,93,94,95,97,2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc. |
25829 | 3 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions. |
4 @iftex | |
5 @chapter Killing and Moving Text | |
6 | |
7 @dfn{Killing} means erasing text and copying it into the @dfn{kill | |
8 ring}, from which it can be retrieved by @dfn{yanking} it. Some systems | |
9 use the terms ``cutting'' and ``pasting'' for these operations. | |
10 | |
11 The commonest way of moving or copying text within Emacs is to kill it | |
12 and later yank it elsewhere in one or more places. This is very safe | |
13 because Emacs remembers several recent kills, not just the last one. It | |
14 is versatile, because the many commands for killing syntactic units can | |
15 also be used for moving those units. But there are other ways of | |
16 copying text for special purposes. | |
17 | |
18 Emacs has only one kill ring for all buffers, so you can kill text in | |
19 one buffer and yank it in another buffer. | |
20 | |
21 @end iftex | |
22 | |
23 @node Killing, Yanking, Mark, Top | |
24 @section Deletion and Killing | |
25 | |
26 @cindex killing text | |
27 @cindex cutting text | |
28 @cindex deletion | |
29 Most commands which erase text from the buffer save it in the kill | |
30 ring so that you can move or copy it to other parts of the buffer. | |
31 These commands are known as @dfn{kill} commands. The rest of the | |
32 commands that erase text do not save it in the kill ring; they are known | |
33 as @dfn{delete} commands. (This distinction is made only for erasure of | |
34 text in the buffer.) If you do a kill or delete command by mistake, you | |
35 can use the @kbd{C-x u} (@code{undo}) command to undo it | |
36 (@pxref{Undo}). | |
37 | |
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38 @vindex kill-read-only-ok |
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39 @cindex read-only text, killing |
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40 By default, Emacs does not allow to kill text in read-only buffers. |
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41 Setting the variable @code{kill-read-only-ok} to a non-@code{nil} value |
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42 overrides that. To alert you to the fact that you killed read-only |
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43 text, Emacs prints a message to that effect in the echo area. |
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44 |
25829 | 45 The delete commands include @kbd{C-d} (@code{delete-char}) and |
46 @key{DEL} (@code{delete-backward-char}), which delete only one character at | |
47 a time, and those commands that delete only spaces or newlines. Commands | |
48 that can destroy significant amounts of nontrivial data generally kill. | |
49 The commands' names and individual descriptions use the words @samp{kill} | |
50 and @samp{delete} to say which they do. | |
51 | |
52 @menu | |
53 * Deletion:: Commands for deleting small amounts of text and | |
54 blank areas. | |
55 * Killing by Lines:: How to kill entire lines of text at one time. | |
56 * Other Kill Commands:: Commands to kill large regions of text and | |
57 syntactic units such as words and sentences. | |
58 @end menu | |
59 | |
60 @node Deletion | |
61 @subsection Deletion | |
62 @c ??? Should be backward-delete-char | |
63 @findex delete-backward-char | |
64 @findex delete-char | |
65 @kindex DEL | |
66 @kindex C-d | |
67 | |
68 @table @kbd | |
69 @item C-d | |
70 Delete next character (@code{delete-char}). | |
71 @item @key{DEL} | |
72 Delete previous character (@code{delete-backward-char}). | |
73 @item M-\ | |
74 Delete spaces and tabs around point (@code{delete-horizontal-space}). | |
75 @item M-@key{SPC} | |
76 Delete spaces and tabs around point, leaving one space | |
77 (@code{just-one-space}). | |
78 @item C-x C-o | |
79 Delete blank lines around the current line (@code{delete-blank-lines}). | |
80 @item M-^ | |
81 Join two lines by deleting the intervening newline, along with any | |
82 indentation following it (@code{delete-indentation}). | |
83 @end table | |
84 | |
85 The most basic delete commands are @kbd{C-d} (@code{delete-char}) and | |
86 @key{DEL} (@code{delete-backward-char}). @kbd{C-d} deletes the | |
87 character after point, the one the cursor is ``on top of.'' This | |
88 doesn't move point. @key{DEL} deletes the character before the cursor, | |
89 and moves point back. You can delete newlines like any other characters | |
90 in the buffer; deleting a newline joins two lines. Actually, @kbd{C-d} | |
91 and @key{DEL} aren't always delete commands; when given arguments, they | |
92 kill instead, since they can erase more than one character this way. | |
93 | |
94 @kindex M-\ | |
95 @findex delete-horizontal-space | |
96 @kindex M-SPC | |
97 @findex just-one-space | |
98 The other delete commands are those which delete only whitespace | |
99 characters: spaces, tabs and newlines. @kbd{M-\} | |
100 (@code{delete-horizontal-space}) deletes all the spaces and tab | |
101 characters before and after point. @kbd{M-@key{SPC}} | |
102 (@code{just-one-space}) does likewise but leaves a single space after | |
103 point, regardless of the number of spaces that existed previously (even | |
104 zero). | |
105 | |
106 @kbd{C-x C-o} (@code{delete-blank-lines}) deletes all blank lines | |
107 after the current line. If the current line is blank, it deletes all | |
108 blank lines preceding the current line as well (leaving one blank line, | |
109 the current line). | |
110 | |
111 @kbd{M-^} (@code{delete-indentation}) joins the current line and the | |
112 previous line, by deleting a newline and all surrounding spaces, usually | |
113 leaving a single space. @xref{Indentation,M-^}. | |
114 | |
115 @node Killing by Lines | |
116 @subsection Killing by Lines | |
117 | |
118 @table @kbd | |
119 @item C-k | |
120 Kill rest of line or one or more lines (@code{kill-line}). | |
121 @end table | |
122 | |
123 @kindex C-k | |
124 @findex kill-line | |
125 The simplest kill command is @kbd{C-k}. If given at the beginning of | |
126 a line, it kills all the text on the line, leaving it blank. When used | |
127 on a blank line, it kills the whole line including its newline. To kill | |
128 an entire non-blank line, go to the beginning and type @kbd{C-k} twice. | |
129 | |
130 More generally, @kbd{C-k} kills from point up to the end of the line, | |
131 unless it is at the end of a line. In that case it kills the newline | |
132 following point, thus merging the next line into the current one. | |
133 Spaces and tabs that you can't see at the end of the line are ignored | |
134 when deciding which case applies, so if point appears to be at the end | |
135 of the line, you can be sure @kbd{C-k} will kill the newline. | |
136 | |
137 When @kbd{C-k} is given a positive argument, it kills that many lines | |
138 and the newlines that follow them (however, text on the current line | |
139 before point is spared). With a negative argument @minus{}@var{n}, it | |
140 kills @var{n} lines preceding the current line (together with the text | |
141 on the current line before point). Thus, @kbd{C-u - 2 C-k} at the front | |
142 of a line kills the two previous lines. | |
143 | |
144 @kbd{C-k} with an argument of zero kills the text before point on the | |
145 current line. | |
146 | |
147 @vindex kill-whole-line | |
148 If the variable @code{kill-whole-line} is non-@code{nil}, @kbd{C-k} at | |
149 the very beginning of a line kills the entire line including the | |
150 following newline. This variable is normally @code{nil}. | |
151 | |
152 @node Other Kill Commands | |
153 @subsection Other Kill Commands | |
154 @findex kill-region | |
155 @kindex C-w | |
156 | |
157 @c DoubleWideCommands | |
158 @table @kbd | |
159 @item C-w | |
160 Kill region (from point to the mark) (@code{kill-region}). | |
161 @item M-d | |
162 Kill word (@code{kill-word}). @xref{Words}. | |
163 @item M-@key{DEL} | |
164 Kill word backwards (@code{backward-kill-word}). | |
165 @item C-x @key{DEL} | |
166 Kill back to beginning of sentence (@code{backward-kill-sentence}). | |
167 @xref{Sentences}. | |
168 @item M-k | |
169 Kill to end of sentence (@code{kill-sentence}). | |
170 @item C-M-k | |
171 Kill sexp (@code{kill-sexp}). @xref{Lists}. | |
172 @item M-z @var{char} | |
173 Kill through the next occurrence of @var{char} (@code{zap-to-char}). | |
174 @end table | |
175 | |
176 A kill command which is very general is @kbd{C-w} | |
177 (@code{kill-region}), which kills everything between point and the | |
178 mark. With this command, you can kill any contiguous sequence of | |
179 characters, if you first set the region around them. | |
180 | |
181 @kindex M-z | |
182 @findex zap-to-char | |
183 A convenient way of killing is combined with searching: @kbd{M-z} | |
184 (@code{zap-to-char}) reads a character and kills from point up to (and | |
185 including) the next occurrence of that character in the buffer. A | |
186 numeric argument acts as a repeat count. A negative argument means to | |
187 search backward and kill text before point. | |
188 | |
189 Other syntactic units can be killed: words, with @kbd{M-@key{DEL}} and | |
190 @kbd{M-d} (@pxref{Words}); sexps, with @kbd{C-M-k} (@pxref{Lists}); and | |
191 sentences, with @kbd{C-x @key{DEL}} and @kbd{M-k} | |
192 (@pxref{Sentences}).@refill | |
193 | |
194 You can use kill commands in read-only buffers. They don't actually | |
195 change the buffer, and they beep to warn you of that, but they do copy | |
196 the text you tried to kill into the kill ring, so you can yank it into | |
197 other buffers. Most of the kill commands move point across the text | |
198 they copy in this way, so that successive kill commands build up a | |
199 single kill ring entry as usual. | |
200 | |
201 @node Yanking, Accumulating Text, Killing, Top | |
202 @section Yanking | |
203 @cindex moving text | |
204 @cindex copying text | |
205 @cindex kill ring | |
206 @cindex yanking | |
207 @cindex pasting | |
208 | |
209 @dfn{Yanking} means reinserting text previously killed. This is what | |
210 some systems call ``pasting.'' The usual way to move or copy text is to | |
211 kill it and then yank it elsewhere one or more times. | |
212 | |
213 @table @kbd | |
214 @item C-y | |
215 Yank last killed text (@code{yank}). | |
216 @item M-y | |
217 Replace text just yanked with an earlier batch of killed text | |
218 (@code{yank-pop}). | |
219 @item M-w | |
220 Save region as last killed text without actually killing it | |
221 (@code{kill-ring-save}). | |
222 @item C-M-w | |
223 Append next kill to last batch of killed text (@code{append-next-kill}). | |
224 @end table | |
225 | |
226 @menu | |
227 * Kill Ring:: Where killed text is stored. Basic yanking. | |
228 * Appending Kills:: Several kills in a row all yank together. | |
229 * Earlier Kills:: Yanking something killed some time ago. | |
230 @end menu | |
231 | |
232 @node Kill Ring | |
233 @subsection The Kill Ring | |
234 | |
235 All killed text is recorded in the @dfn{kill ring}, a list of blocks of | |
236 text that have been killed. There is only one kill ring, shared by all | |
237 buffers, so you can kill text in one buffer and yank it in another buffer. | |
238 This is the usual way to move text from one file to another. | |
239 (@xref{Accumulating Text}, for some other ways.) | |
240 | |
241 @kindex C-y | |
242 @findex yank | |
243 The command @kbd{C-y} (@code{yank}) reinserts the text of the most recent | |
244 kill. It leaves the cursor at the end of the text. It sets the mark at | |
245 the beginning of the text. @xref{Mark}. | |
246 | |
247 @kbd{C-u C-y} leaves the cursor in front of the text, and sets the | |
248 mark after it. This happens only if the argument is specified with just | |
249 a @kbd{C-u}, precisely. Any other sort of argument, including @kbd{C-u} | |
250 and digits, specifies an earlier kill to yank (@pxref{Earlier Kills}). | |
251 | |
252 @kindex M-w | |
253 @findex kill-ring-save | |
254 To copy a block of text, you can use @kbd{M-w} | |
255 (@code{kill-ring-save}), which copies the region into the kill ring | |
256 without removing it from the buffer. This is approximately equivalent | |
257 to @kbd{C-w} followed by @kbd{C-x u}, except that @kbd{M-w} does not | |
258 alter the undo history and does not temporarily change the screen. | |
259 | |
260 @node Appending Kills | |
261 @subsection Appending Kills | |
262 | |
263 @cindex appending kills in the ring | |
264 @cindex television | |
265 Normally, each kill command pushes a new entry onto the kill ring. | |
266 However, two or more kill commands in a row combine their text into a | |
267 single entry, so that a single @kbd{C-y} yanks all the text as a unit, | |
268 just as it was before it was killed. | |
269 | |
270 Thus, if you want to yank text as a unit, you need not kill all of it | |
271 with one command; you can keep killing line after line, or word after | |
272 word, until you have killed it all, and you can still get it all back at | |
273 once. | |
274 | |
275 Commands that kill forward from point add onto the end of the previous | |
276 killed text. Commands that kill backward from point add text onto the | |
277 beginning. This way, any sequence of mixed forward and backward kill | |
278 commands puts all the killed text into one entry without rearrangement. | |
279 Numeric arguments do not break the sequence of appending kills. For | |
280 example, suppose the buffer contains this text: | |
281 | |
282 @example | |
283 This is a line @point{}of sample text. | |
284 @end example | |
285 | |
286 @noindent | |
287 with point shown by @point{}. If you type @kbd{M-d M-@key{DEL} M-d | |
288 M-@key{DEL}}, killing alternately forward and backward, you end up with | |
289 @samp{a line of sample} as one entry in the kill ring, and @samp{This | |
290 is@ @ text.} in the buffer. (Note the double space, which you can clean | |
291 up with @kbd{M-@key{SPC}} or @kbd{M-q}.) | |
292 | |
293 Another way to kill the same text is to move back two words with | |
294 @kbd{M-b M-b}, then kill all four words forward with @kbd{C-u M-d}. | |
295 This produces exactly the same results in the buffer and in the kill | |
296 ring. @kbd{M-f M-f C-u M-@key{DEL}} kills the same text, all going | |
297 backward; once again, the result is the same. The text in the kill ring | |
298 entry always has the same order that it had in the buffer before you | |
299 killed it. | |
300 | |
301 @kindex C-M-w | |
302 @findex append-next-kill | |
303 If a kill command is separated from the last kill command by other | |
304 commands (not just numeric arguments), it starts a new entry on the kill | |
305 ring. But you can force it to append by first typing the command | |
306 @kbd{C-M-w} (@code{append-next-kill}) right before it. The @kbd{C-M-w} | |
307 tells the following command, if it is a kill command, to append the text | |
308 it kills to the last killed text, instead of starting a new entry. With | |
309 @kbd{C-M-w}, you can kill several separated pieces of text and | |
310 accumulate them to be yanked back in one place.@refill | |
311 | |
312 A kill command following @kbd{M-w} does not append to the text that | |
313 @kbd{M-w} copied into the kill ring. | |
314 | |
315 @node Earlier Kills | |
316 @subsection Yanking Earlier Kills | |
317 | |
318 @cindex yanking previous kills | |
319 @kindex M-y | |
320 @findex yank-pop | |
321 To recover killed text that is no longer the most recent kill, use the | |
322 @kbd{M-y} command (@code{yank-pop}). It takes the text previously | |
323 yanked and replaces it with the text from an earlier kill. So, to | |
324 recover the text of the next-to-the-last kill, first use @kbd{C-y} to | |
325 yank the last kill, and then use @kbd{M-y} to replace it with the | |
326 previous kill. @kbd{M-y} is allowed only after a @kbd{C-y} or another | |
327 @kbd{M-y}. | |
328 | |
329 You can understand @kbd{M-y} in terms of a ``last yank'' pointer which | |
330 points at an entry in the kill ring. Each time you kill, the ``last | |
331 yank'' pointer moves to the newly made entry at the front of the ring. | |
332 @kbd{C-y} yanks the entry which the ``last yank'' pointer points to. | |
333 @kbd{M-y} moves the ``last yank'' pointer to a different entry, and the | |
334 text in the buffer changes to match. Enough @kbd{M-y} commands can move | |
335 the pointer to any entry in the ring, so you can get any entry into the | |
336 buffer. Eventually the pointer reaches the end of the ring; the next | |
337 @kbd{M-y} moves it to the first entry again. | |
338 | |
339 @kbd{M-y} moves the ``last yank'' pointer around the ring, but it does | |
340 not change the order of the entries in the ring, which always runs from | |
341 the most recent kill at the front to the oldest one still remembered. | |
342 | |
343 @kbd{M-y} can take a numeric argument, which tells it how many entries | |
344 to advance the ``last yank'' pointer by. A negative argument moves the | |
345 pointer toward the front of the ring; from the front of the ring, it | |
346 moves ``around'' to the last entry and continues forward from there. | |
347 | |
348 Once the text you are looking for is brought into the buffer, you can | |
349 stop doing @kbd{M-y} commands and it will stay there. It's just a copy | |
350 of the kill ring entry, so editing it in the buffer does not change | |
351 what's in the ring. As long as no new killing is done, the ``last | |
352 yank'' pointer remains at the same place in the kill ring, so repeating | |
353 @kbd{C-y} will yank another copy of the same previous kill. | |
354 | |
355 If you know how many @kbd{M-y} commands it would take to find the text | |
356 you want, you can yank that text in one step using @kbd{C-y} with a | |
357 numeric argument. @kbd{C-y} with an argument restores the text the | |
358 specified number of entries back in the kill ring. Thus, @kbd{C-u 2 | |
359 C-y} gets the next-to-the-last block of killed text. It is equivalent | |
360 to @kbd{C-y M-y}. @kbd{C-y} with a numeric argument starts counting | |
361 from the ``last yank'' pointer, and sets the ``last yank'' pointer to | |
362 the entry that it yanks. | |
363 | |
364 @vindex kill-ring-max | |
365 The length of the kill ring is controlled by the variable | |
366 @code{kill-ring-max}; no more than that many blocks of killed text are | |
367 saved. | |
368 | |
369 @vindex kill-ring | |
370 The actual contents of the kill ring are stored in a variable named | |
371 @code{kill-ring}; you can view the entire contents of the kill ring with | |
372 the command @kbd{C-h v kill-ring}. | |
373 | |
374 @node Accumulating Text, Rectangles, Yanking, Top | |
375 @section Accumulating Text | |
376 @findex append-to-buffer | |
377 @findex prepend-to-buffer | |
378 @findex copy-to-buffer | |
379 @findex append-to-file | |
380 | |
381 @cindex accumulating scattered text | |
382 Usually we copy or move text by killing it and yanking it, but there | |
383 are other methods convenient for copying one block of text in many | |
384 places, or for copying many scattered blocks of text into one place. To | |
385 copy one block to many places, store it in a register | |
386 (@pxref{Registers}). Here we describe the commands to accumulate | |
387 scattered pieces of text into a buffer or into a file. | |
388 | |
389 @table @kbd | |
390 @item M-x append-to-buffer | |
391 Append region to contents of specified buffer. | |
392 @item M-x prepend-to-buffer | |
393 Prepend region to contents of specified buffer. | |
394 @item M-x copy-to-buffer | |
395 Copy region into specified buffer, deleting that buffer's old contents. | |
396 @item M-x insert-buffer | |
397 Insert contents of specified buffer into current buffer at point. | |
398 @item M-x append-to-file | |
399 Append region to contents of specified file, at the end. | |
400 @end table | |
401 | |
402 To accumulate text into a buffer, use @kbd{M-x append-to-buffer}. | |
403 This reads a buffer name, then inserts a copy of the region into the | |
404 buffer specified. If you specify a nonexistent buffer, | |
405 @code{append-to-buffer} creates the buffer. The text is inserted | |
406 wherever point is in that buffer. If you have been using the buffer for | |
407 editing, the copied text goes into the middle of the text of the buffer, | |
408 wherever point happens to be in it. | |
409 | |
410 Point in that buffer is left at the end of the copied text, so | |
411 successive uses of @code{append-to-buffer} accumulate the text in the | |
412 specified buffer in the same order as they were copied. Strictly | |
413 speaking, @code{append-to-buffer} does not always append to the text | |
414 already in the buffer---it appends only if point in that buffer is at the end. | |
415 However, if @code{append-to-buffer} is the only command you use to alter | |
416 a buffer, then point is always at the end. | |
417 | |
418 @kbd{M-x prepend-to-buffer} is just like @code{append-to-buffer} | |
419 except that point in the other buffer is left before the copied text, so | |
420 successive prependings add text in reverse order. @kbd{M-x | |
421 copy-to-buffer} is similar except that any existing text in the other | |
422 buffer is deleted, so the buffer is left containing just the text newly | |
423 copied into it. | |
424 | |
425 To retrieve the accumulated text from another buffer, use the command | |
426 @kbd{M-x insert-buffer}; this too takes @var{buffername} as an argument. | |
427 It inserts a copy of the text in buffer @var{buffername} into the | |
428 selected buffer. You can alternatively select the other buffer for | |
429 editing, then optionally move text from it by killing. @xref{Buffers}, | |
430 for background information on buffers. | |
431 | |
432 Instead of accumulating text within Emacs, in a buffer, you can append | |
433 text directly into a file with @kbd{M-x append-to-file}, which takes | |
434 @var{filename} as an argument. It adds the text of the region to the end | |
435 of the specified file. The file is changed immediately on disk. | |
436 | |
437 You should use @code{append-to-file} only with files that are | |
438 @emph{not} being visited in Emacs. Using it on a file that you are | |
439 editing in Emacs would change the file behind Emacs's back, which | |
440 can lead to losing some of your editing. | |
441 | |
442 @node Rectangles, Registers, Accumulating Text, Top | |
443 @section Rectangles | |
444 @cindex rectangle | |
445 @cindex columns (and rectangles) | |
446 @cindex killing rectangular areas of text | |
447 | |
448 The rectangle commands operate on rectangular areas of the text: all | |
449 the characters between a certain pair of columns, in a certain range of | |
450 lines. Commands are provided to kill rectangles, yank killed rectangles, | |
451 clear them out, fill them with blanks or text, or delete them. Rectangle | |
452 commands are useful with text in multicolumn formats, and for changing | |
453 text into or out of such formats. | |
454 | |
455 When you must specify a rectangle for a command to work on, you do it | |
456 by putting the mark at one corner and point at the opposite corner. The | |
457 rectangle thus specified is called the @dfn{region-rectangle} because | |
458 you control it in about the same way the region is controlled. But | |
459 remember that a given combination of point and mark values can be | |
460 interpreted either as a region or as a rectangle, depending on the | |
461 command that uses them. | |
462 | |
463 If point and the mark are in the same column, the rectangle they | |
464 delimit is empty. If they are in the same line, the rectangle is one | |
465 line high. This asymmetry between lines and columns comes about | |
466 because point (and likewise the mark) is between two columns, but within | |
467 a line. | |
468 | |
469 @table @kbd | |
470 @item C-x r k | |
471 Kill the text of the region-rectangle, saving its contents as the | |
472 ``last killed rectangle'' (@code{kill-rectangle}). | |
473 @item C-x r d | |
474 Delete the text of the region-rectangle (@code{delete-rectangle}). | |
475 @item C-x r y | |
476 Yank the last killed rectangle with its upper left corner at point | |
477 (@code{yank-rectangle}). | |
478 @item C-x r o | |
479 Insert blank space to fill the space of the region-rectangle | |
480 (@code{open-rectangle}). This pushes the previous contents of the | |
481 region-rectangle rightward. | |
482 @item M-x clear-rectangle | |
483 Clear the region-rectangle by replacing its contents with spaces. | |
484 @item M-x delete-whitespace-rectangle | |
485 Delete whitespace in each of the lines on the specified rectangle, | |
486 starting from the left edge column of the rectangle. | |
27749 | 487 @item C-x r t @var{string} @key{RET} |
25829 | 488 Insert @var{string} on each line of the region-rectangle |
489 (@code{string-rectangle}). | |
490 @end table | |
491 | |
492 The rectangle operations fall into two classes: commands deleting and | |
493 inserting rectangles, and commands for blank rectangles. | |
494 | |
495 @kindex C-x r k | |
496 @kindex C-x r d | |
497 @findex kill-rectangle | |
498 @findex delete-rectangle | |
499 There are two ways to get rid of the text in a rectangle: you can | |
500 discard the text (delete it) or save it as the ``last killed'' | |
501 rectangle. The commands for these two ways are @kbd{C-x r d} | |
502 (@code{delete-rectangle}) and @kbd{C-x r k} (@code{kill-rectangle}). In | |
503 either case, the portion of each line that falls inside the rectangle's | |
504 boundaries is deleted, causing following text (if any) on the line to | |
505 move left into the gap. | |
506 | |
507 Note that ``killing'' a rectangle is not killing in the usual sense; the | |
508 rectangle is not stored in the kill ring, but in a special place that | |
509 can only record the most recent rectangle killed. This is because yanking | |
510 a rectangle is so different from yanking linear text that different yank | |
511 commands have to be used and yank-popping is hard to make sense of. | |
512 | |
513 @kindex C-x r y | |
514 @findex yank-rectangle | |
515 To yank the last killed rectangle, type @kbd{C-x r y} | |
516 (@code{yank-rectangle}). Yanking a rectangle is the opposite of killing | |
517 one. Point specifies where to put the rectangle's upper left corner. | |
518 The rectangle's first line is inserted there, the rectangle's second | |
519 line is inserted at a position one line vertically down, and so on. The | |
520 number of lines affected is determined by the height of the saved | |
521 rectangle. | |
522 | |
523 You can convert single-column lists into double-column lists using | |
524 rectangle killing and yanking; kill the second half of the list as a | |
525 rectangle and then yank it beside the first line of the list. | |
526 @xref{Two-Column}, for another way to edit multi-column text. | |
527 | |
528 You can also copy rectangles into and out of registers with @kbd{C-x r | |
529 r @var{r}} and @kbd{C-x r i @var{r}}. @xref{RegRect,,Rectangle | |
530 Registers}. | |
531 | |
532 @kindex C-x r o | |
533 @findex open-rectangle | |
534 @findex clear-rectangle | |
535 There are two commands you can use for making blank rectangles: | |
536 @kbd{M-x clear-rectangle} which blanks out existing text, and @kbd{C-x r | |
537 o} (@code{open-rectangle}) which inserts a blank rectangle. Clearing a | |
538 rectangle is equivalent to deleting it and then inserting a blank | |
539 rectangle of the same size. | |
540 | |
541 @findex delete-whitespace-rectangle | |
542 The command @kbd{M-x delete-whitespace-rectangle} deletes horizontal | |
543 whitespace starting from a particular column. This applies to each of | |
544 the lines in the rectangle, and the column is specified by the left | |
545 edge of the rectangle. The right edge of the rectangle does not make | |
546 any difference to this command. | |
547 | |
548 @kindex C-x r t | |
549 @findex string-rectangle | |
550 The command @kbd{C-x r t} (@code{M-x string-rectangle}) replaces the | |
551 rectangle with a specified string (inserted once on each line). The | |
552 string's width need not be the same as the width of the rectangle. If | |
553 the string's width is less, the text after the rectangle shifts left; if | |
554 the string is wider than the rectangle, the text after the rectangle | |
555 shifts right. |