annotate man/major.texi @ 46103:4bea2ef4c58a

(picture-forward-column) (picture-move-down): Never deactivate the mark.
author Richard M. Stallman <rms@gnu.org>
date Mon, 01 Jul 2002 07:47:22 +0000
parents 5464ee1ba8e2
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1 @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
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2 @c Copyright (C) 1985, 86, 87, 93, 94, 95, 97, 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
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3 @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
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4 @node Major Modes, Indentation, International, Top
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5 @chapter Major Modes
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6 @cindex major modes
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7 @cindex mode, major
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8 @kindex TAB @r{(and major modes)}
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9 @kindex DEL @r{(and major modes)}
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10 @kindex C-j @r{(and major modes)}
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11
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12 Emacs provides many alternative @dfn{major modes}, each of which
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13 customizes Emacs for editing text of a particular sort. The major modes
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14 are mutually exclusive, and each buffer has one major mode at any time.
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15 The mode line normally shows the name of the current major mode, in
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16 parentheses (@pxref{Mode Line}).
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17
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18 The least specialized major mode is called @dfn{Fundamental mode}.
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19 This mode has no mode-specific redefinitions or variable settings, so
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20 that each Emacs command behaves in its most general manner, and each
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21 option is in its default state. For editing text of a specific type
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22 that Emacs knows about, such as Lisp code or English text, you should
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23 switch to the appropriate major mode, such as Lisp mode or Text mode.
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24
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25 Selecting a major mode changes the meanings of a few keys to become
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26 more specifically adapted to the language being edited. The ones that
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27 are changed frequently are @key{TAB}, @key{DEL}, and @kbd{C-j}. The
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28 prefix key @kbd{C-c} normally contains mode-specific commands. In
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29 addition, the commands which handle comments use the mode to determine
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30 how comments are to be delimited. Many major modes redefine the
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31 syntactical properties of characters appearing in the buffer.
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32 @xref{Syntax}.
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33
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34 The major modes fall into three major groups. The first group
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35 contains modes for normal text, either plain or with mark-up. It
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36 includes Text mode, HTML mode, SGML mode, @TeX{} mode and Outline
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37 mode. The second group contains modes for specific programming
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38 languages. These include Lisp mode (which has several variants), C
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39 mode, Fortran mode, and others. The remaining major modes are not
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40 intended for use on users' files; they are used in buffers created for
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41 specific purposes by Emacs, such as Dired mode for buffers made by
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42 Dired (@pxref{Dired}), Mail mode for buffers made by @kbd{C-x m}
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43 (@pxref{Sending Mail}), and Shell mode for buffers used for
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44 communicating with an inferior shell process (@pxref{Interactive
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45 Shell}).
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46
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47 Most programming-language major modes specify that only blank lines
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48 separate paragraphs. This is to make the paragraph commands useful.
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49 (@xref{Paragraphs}.) They also cause Auto Fill mode to use the
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50 definition of @key{TAB} to indent the new lines it creates. This is
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51 because most lines in a program are usually indented
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52 (@pxref{Indentation}).
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53
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54 @menu
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55 * Choosing Modes:: How major modes are specified or chosen.
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56 @end menu
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57
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58 @node Choosing Modes,,Major Modes,Major Modes
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59 @section How Major Modes are Chosen
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60
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61 @cindex choosing a major mode
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62 You can select a major mode explicitly for the current buffer, but
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63 most of the time Emacs determines which mode to use based on the file
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64 name or on special text in the file.
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65
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66 Explicit selection of a new major mode is done with a @kbd{M-x} command.
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67 From the name of a major mode, add @code{-mode} to get the name of a
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68 command to select that mode. Thus, you can enter Lisp mode by executing
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69 @kbd{M-x lisp-mode}.
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70
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71 @vindex auto-mode-alist
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72 When you visit a file, Emacs usually chooses the right major mode based
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73 on the file's name. For example, files whose names end in @samp{.c} are
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74 edited in C mode. The correspondence between file names and major modes is
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75 controlled by the variable @code{auto-mode-alist}. Its value is a list in
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76 which each element has this form,
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77
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78 @example
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79 (@var{regexp} . @var{mode-function})
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80 @end example
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81
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82 @noindent
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83 or this form,
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84
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85 @example
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86 (@var{regexp} @var{mode-function} @var{flag})
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87 @end example
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88
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89 @noindent
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90 For example, one element normally found in the list has the form
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91 @code{(@t{"\\.c\\'"} . c-mode)}, and it is responsible for selecting C
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92 mode for files whose names end in @file{.c}. (Note that @samp{\\} is
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93 needed in Lisp syntax to include a @samp{\} in the string, which must
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94 be used to suppress the special meaning of @samp{.} in regexps.) If the
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95 element has the form @code{(@var{regexp} @var{mode-function}
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96 @var{flag})} and @var{flag} is non-@code{nil}, then after calling
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97 @var{mode-function}, the suffix that matched @var{regexp} is discarded
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98 and the list is searched again for another match.
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99
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100 You can specify which major mode should be used for editing a certain
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101 file by a special sort of text in the first nonblank line of the file. The
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102 mode name should appear in this line both preceded and followed by
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103 @samp{-*-}. Other text may appear on the line as well. For example,
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104
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105 @example
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106 ;-*-Lisp-*-
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107 @end example
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108
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109 @noindent
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110 tells Emacs to use Lisp mode. Such an explicit specification overrides
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111 any defaults based on the file name. Note how the semicolon is used
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112 to make Lisp treat this line as a comment.
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113
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114 Another format of mode specification is
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115
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116 @example
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117 -*- mode: @var{modename};-*-
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118 @end example
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119
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120 @noindent
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121 which allows you to specify local variables as well, like this:
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122
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123 @example
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124 -*- mode: @var{modename}; @var{var}: @var{value}; @dots{} -*-
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125 @end example
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126
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127 @noindent
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128 @xref{File Variables}, for more information about this.
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129
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130 @vindex interpreter-mode-alist
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131 When a file's contents begin with @samp{#!}, it can serve as an
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132 executable shell command, which works by running an interpreter named on
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133 the file's first line. The rest of the file is used as input to the
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134 interpreter.
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135
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136 When you visit such a file in Emacs, if the file's name does not
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137 specify a major mode, Emacs uses the interpreter name on the first line
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138 to choose a mode. If the first line is the name of a recognized
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139 interpreter program, such as @samp{perl} or @samp{tcl}, Emacs uses a
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140 mode appropriate for programs for that interpreter. The variable
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141 @code{interpreter-mode-alist} specifies the correspondence between
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142 interpreter program names and major modes.
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143
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144 When the first line starts with @samp{#!}, you cannot (on many
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145 systems) use the @samp{-*-} feature on the first line, because the
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146 system would get confused when running the interpreter. So Emacs looks
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147 for @samp{-*-} on the second line in such files as well as on the
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148 first line.
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149
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150 @vindex default-major-mode
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151 When you visit a file that does not specify a major mode to use, or
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152 when you create a new buffer with @kbd{C-x b}, the variable
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153 @code{default-major-mode} specifies which major mode to use. Normally
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154 its value is the symbol @code{fundamental-mode}, which specifies
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155 Fundamental mode. If @code{default-major-mode} is @code{nil}, the major
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156 mode is taken from the previously current buffer.
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157
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158 @findex normal-mode
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159 If you change the major mode of a buffer, you can go back to the major
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160 mode Emacs would choose automatically: use the command @kbd{M-x
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161 normal-mode} to do this. This is the same function that
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162 @code{find-file} calls to choose the major mode. It also processes
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163 the file's local variables list (if any).
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164
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165 @vindex change-major-mode-with-file-name
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166 The commands @kbd{C-x C-w} and @code{set-visited-file-name} change to
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167 a new major mode if the new file name implies a mode (@pxref{Saving}).
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168 However, this does not happen if the buffer contents specify a major
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169 mode, and certain ``special'' major modes do not allow the mode to
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170 change. You can turn off this mode-changing feature by setting
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171 @code{change-major-mode-with-file-name} to @code{nil}.